Every year, I compile the preseason predictions of both writers on this site as well as 3 or 4 other predictions. Last year, I only gathered 5 of them. Besides Bryan and me, I collected Yahoo’s hockey blogger Puck Daddy’s, Eklund from HockeyBuzz.com, and the TSN.ca, who puts together a consensus each year after averaging out their reporters’ picks.
Two straight years, Eklund has been the winner. In the 2008-09 season, however, Islanders’ writer Bryan was nipping on his heels, losing by only 1 points (28-27). I ended with the line, Hey, much like his Islanders, there's always next year.
I was awful last year, scoring only 19 points and coming in 6th out of 6th place.
This year, the most popular pick was Pittsburgh to come in 4th, which they did. Everyone thought Boston would win the Northeast (they didn’t) and everyone thought Carolina would make the playoffs (they didn’t). Lesson learned: don’t always base predictions on last year’s efforts.
The scoring is as follows: 1 point for predicting a team to either make or miss the playoffs, and 2 points for correctly guessing the final conference standing of a team.
5th Place - NYHockeyRivalry.com’s Zach
As is becoming tradition, I came in dead last again. My only two correct spots were the Conference winners, Washington and San Jose. As it turns out, the Rangers, Carolina, and Atlanta didn’t make the playoffs. Buffalo, who I thought would end 14th in the East, came in 3rd. In the West, I only guessed 3 playoff teams correctly (SJ, Detroit, Chicago). Apparently, Calgary and Minnesota weren’t as good as I thought they would be.
16 points
2nd Places - Puck Daddy, Eklund, TSN
All 3 outlets each scored the same amount of points.
Puck Daddy had a great Eastern Conference with just one mistake: Carolina in the playoffs and Ottawa out.
Eklund, the two-time reigning champion, make a crucial error in picking his favorite team - the Flyers - to win the Atlantic, when in reality they snuck into the playoffs.
TSN picked the Rangers and Carolina to make the playoffs, leaving out actual playoff teams Ottawa and Buffalo.
23 points
1st Place - NYHockeyRivalry.com’s Bryan
Bryan correctly predicted the Eastern playoff teams except for one mistake: putting the Rangers in instead of Buffalo. He correctly guessed the Penguins coming in 4th, the Flyers in 7th, and the Islanders in 13th. He did have Washington and NJ winning their divisions like they did, but had the order messed up.
In the West, he not only guessed every eventual division winner, he guessed them in order (San Jose, Chicago, Vancouver). So, in total, he got 5 of 6 division winners correct in the NHL. He also correctly guessed Detroit in 5th in the West, making the 7 correct picks a new record!
Nice job, Bryan. Looks like next year could be this year,
27 points
I also have to give credit to ESPN's John Buccigross and Barry Melrose. Buccigross predicted Philadelphia beating Chicago in the Finals, while Melrose actually predicted the eventual result, Chicago beating the Flyers for the Stanley Cup.
Two friends. Two bitter enemies. Two obsessed fans. One Rivalry.
Showing posts with label barry melrose. Show all posts
Showing posts with label barry melrose. Show all posts
Friday, October 8, 2010
Monday, February 23, 2009
Couple of Tidbits...
A few notes regarding Tom Renney...
First off, out of the 4 teams who started the season in Europe, none of them have the same coach they started out with. Barry Melrose was replaced in Tampa Bay early on. Craig Hartsburg was fired from Ottawa, and then Michel Therrien was fired in Pittsburgh. Peter Laviolette (Carolina) and Denis Savard (Chicago) are the only coaches to have been fired who did not play overseas.
Secondly, out of 32 teams in the NHL, only 9 have made the playoffs every year since the lockout ended. Six of them (Wings, Stars, Flames, Predators, Sharks, Ducks) are from the West. The only East teams to do so? Ottawa, New Jersey, and the Rangers.
Renney ended his Rangers career 164-121-42 (those 42 are overtime/shootout losses, as he had no ties in the 2003-04 season when he went 5-15-0). He received 363 points in 327 games. He was 11-13 in postseason play, winning 2 playoff series (Atlanta, New Jersey) and losing 3 (New Jersey, Buffalo, Pittsburgh).
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Barry Melrose
By now, everyone has heard Barry Melrose's infamous soundbites in which he went off on his former team, the Tampa Bay Lightning. A lot of people are saying he's bitter about being fired; I'm sure that's certainly part of it. But the other part is that he seems to be right about everything.
Imagine for a second you got fired from your job. How would you feel? Would you wish your company the best? Would you hope your successor does a better job? Of course not! You'd pray for that company to go into bankruptcy and curse the person that takes your old position. So why is it not okay for Barry Melrose to say he hopes the Lightning don't win another game all year?
On Hockey Night in Canada on Sirius yesterday, one of the hosts was talking about how people complain when players and coaches aren't honest, yet those same people are the first to rip someone who's candid. And they're exactly right. When the Islanders parted ways with Ted Nolan, I didn't want to hear all this lovey-dovey crap about how it was a "mutual decision" and how each wished the other luck. I wanted the truth. Here's a situation where the truth is being laid out right before us, and people would rather criticize Barry Melrose for speaking his mind than consider what he's saying. Because the evidence is mounting that he wasn't far off at all.
The Lightning, picked by many to be the annual worst-to-first team in the East, have lost eight games in overtime/shootout this season. This suggests that the Lightning aren't as bad as their record indicates. However, since Rick Tocchett replaced Melrose, the Lightning have won only one game. More than that, Tocchett is getting fed up himself, suggesting that any player who is not ready to play will find himself in the press box. Sure, every coach says that, but Tocchett is getting what could be his only chance as a head coach, and he's not going to let the players ruin it for him. So when Melrose made his comments to ESPN immediately after being fired that he didn't get the effort he expected from his team and followed that up by saying he only cared about a handful of players on his team, he might have sounded bitter. That is, until you realize that Tocchett is going through the same thing.
The moral of the story? Be thankful you're not a Lightning fan. Even us Islanders fans can feel secure that our team isn't as messed up as the team in Tampa Bay. Oh, and if the media is going to criticize the Islanders for giving Rick DiPietro a 15-year deal every time he pulls a muscle, maybe it's time to start calling out Tampa's own "lifetime contract" man, Vincent Lecavalier, for not doing something to stop the chaos on his team.
***
Some real quick self-promotional stuff. Yes Islanders is doing a Best Islanders Blog poll and we're one of the nominees. We don't expect to come close to winning this thing, but it's pretty cool to be considered. Feel free to go to the site and vote. They've also provided us with a neat little banner which can be found on the right side of the page. We'll also be part of the running when The NHL Arena starts Round 2 of its Battle of the Blogosphere sometime soon.
Lastly, I'll be guest blogging at Puck The Media on Friday in case anybody is interested in stopping by.
Imagine for a second you got fired from your job. How would you feel? Would you wish your company the best? Would you hope your successor does a better job? Of course not! You'd pray for that company to go into bankruptcy and curse the person that takes your old position. So why is it not okay for Barry Melrose to say he hopes the Lightning don't win another game all year?
On Hockey Night in Canada on Sirius yesterday, one of the hosts was talking about how people complain when players and coaches aren't honest, yet those same people are the first to rip someone who's candid. And they're exactly right. When the Islanders parted ways with Ted Nolan, I didn't want to hear all this lovey-dovey crap about how it was a "mutual decision" and how each wished the other luck. I wanted the truth. Here's a situation where the truth is being laid out right before us, and people would rather criticize Barry Melrose for speaking his mind than consider what he's saying. Because the evidence is mounting that he wasn't far off at all.
The Lightning, picked by many to be the annual worst-to-first team in the East, have lost eight games in overtime/shootout this season. This suggests that the Lightning aren't as bad as their record indicates. However, since Rick Tocchett replaced Melrose, the Lightning have won only one game. More than that, Tocchett is getting fed up himself, suggesting that any player who is not ready to play will find himself in the press box. Sure, every coach says that, but Tocchett is getting what could be his only chance as a head coach, and he's not going to let the players ruin it for him. So when Melrose made his comments to ESPN immediately after being fired that he didn't get the effort he expected from his team and followed that up by saying he only cared about a handful of players on his team, he might have sounded bitter. That is, until you realize that Tocchett is going through the same thing.
The moral of the story? Be thankful you're not a Lightning fan. Even us Islanders fans can feel secure that our team isn't as messed up as the team in Tampa Bay. Oh, and if the media is going to criticize the Islanders for giving Rick DiPietro a 15-year deal every time he pulls a muscle, maybe it's time to start calling out Tampa's own "lifetime contract" man, Vincent Lecavalier, for not doing something to stop the chaos on his team.
***
Some real quick self-promotional stuff. Yes Islanders is doing a Best Islanders Blog poll and we're one of the nominees. We don't expect to come close to winning this thing, but it's pretty cool to be considered. Feel free to go to the site and vote. They've also provided us with a neat little banner which can be found on the right side of the page. We'll also be part of the running when The NHL Arena starts Round 2 of its Battle of the Blogosphere sometime soon.
Lastly, I'll be guest blogging at Puck The Media on Friday in case anybody is interested in stopping by.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Well, That Didn't Take Long...
The Tampa Bay Lightning fired (or, as they say in England, sacked) Barry Melrose after just sixteen games. Lots of people predicted an unhappy ending to this marriage, but it's jarring to see a coach fired so early.
I don't agree with firing a coach any earlier than the midway point of the season. If I were the Lightning's attention-starved new owners, I'd have stuck with Melrose for two main reasons. First, Melrose is just learning the NHL game again after a long time away. When Joe Gibbs returned to the Washington Redskins, he had an awful first year, but it didn't take too long for him to catch up. We'll never know how Melrose would have adapted to the new NHL with more time. Secondly, and more importantly, the Lightning has undergone a ton of change over the past year. Between the eight free agents they added this summer and the three players acquired in the Brad Richards trade, just about half of the Lightning roster consists of new players who haven't learned how to play with each other. That's a tough job for any coach, let alone a coach who hasn't been in the NHL in thirteen years.
It's hard to say what happens with Melrose at this point. Nobody's going to hire him for a head coaching job after the failure of his Lightning stint, and ESPN seems to have moved on with Matthew Barnaby taking over the old Melrose role. The best option for Melrose might be to latch on somewhere as an assistant. He's got a good hockey mind and probably shouldn't have been fired just yet. But the Lightning were last in the league in goals per game and were struggling to stay competitive in an awful division, so the Lightning did what they felt they had to do. After seeing how such a move impacted Washington just one year ago, it's easy to see why they acted now.
So, once again, our world is without Barry Melrose. Which means the NHL Network, now unable to show the Barry Melrose-Carrie Milbank ad, is going to have an awful lot of ad time to fill. "Scouting, scouting... always scouting." Not anymore, Barry. Our reward? More ads for the Iron Gym and Sonic Scrubber. Just what we all need.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Notes From My Bed, 11/6/08...
In January of 2006, I went to see the Rangers against the Lightning at the Garden. The game, quite simply, was atrocious. A 0-0 game until the Rangers game up a goal in overtime. Boring, slow, horrendously played.
Fast forward to November of 2008, and I have two tickets to see the Lightning again at the Garden. So, holding a grudge against the team from Tampa Bay, I sold my tickets to a friend and watched from my bed with my girlfriend and my chubby little dog.
Bad game to sell my tickets! Reminds me of when I sold my tickets to a Devils game in 2006 citing reasons such as the Devils were boring and I hate Martin Brodeur. The Rangers scored 3 goals in 90 seconds in that game and won 3-2.
Good Effort
The Rangers didn't just get lucky today, they outplayed Tampa Bay. Yes, they had some bad plays. A bad line change, a few bad penalties, some sloppy defense; they overcame those flaws with solid defense the rest of the game, hard work, good backchecking, and an offense that clicked more often than not.
Power Play Ineptitude
Gomez-Naslund-Drury-Redden-Rozsival were on the power play for 80 seconds and didn't score. Callahan-Dubinsky-Zherdev get on the ice, and 10 seconds later, put the Rangers up 1-0. If I were coach (which I am not and chances are will never be), I would immediately put the line that scored on the ice first for the next power play. But what does Tom Renney do? He puts the non-performing line back on the ice.
While the Rangers PP did click today, their 5-on-3 was atrocious again, until Chris Drury was in the right place at the right time for his 3rd goal. They consistently play too close to the net, which a) doesn't tire out the penalty killers like it should and b) gives them less room to shoot and more room for the shot to be blocked. If the point men played the blue line, the shots would be deflected more, the PKers would tire out faster, and rebounds would be plentiful. Instead, when a shot is blocked, it is easily cleared.
Hat Tricks
Drury finally had a great game. His second goal was a great one-timer (of which the Rangers need more instead of "setting up the shot"). His first of the game put the soon-to-be-a-backup Mike Smith on his rear and was a great play. His third goal was just good timing and a veteran's shot. A rookie might've missed that but he nailed a low-angle shot.
However, the captain's trio of goals wasn't the only hat trick of the night. Garden fan favorite and now Lightning defenseman #22 had what will now be known as a Marek Malik Hat Trick... two penalties and an assist!
Stunning Conclusion
All together, a very enjoyable game. Isn't that why we watch? Entertainment?
No. I watch so I can dance after a goal and make my dog crazy.
A very fun game to watch, five goals scored, a hat trick by a Ranger on home ice, Aaron Voros with two fights including punching the goalie's mask, a good team effort, a Melrose Mullet, and some great saves by Henrik Lundqvist that guaranteed two points for the good guys. What else can you ask for?
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Quasi-Live Blog - Rangers vs. Lightning, Game 1
Note: Zach posted his predictions for the 2008-09 NHL season just a few hours ago. Don't forget to scroll down and check them out.
Well, here we are. Another season of NHL hockey. Thirty teams are optimistic for the seasons that lie ahead. Approximately 75% of the league has legitimate playoff aspirations. And then there are the teams that have Lord Stanley in their sights. Two of those teams, the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning, meet today in Prague.
Don't think the Lightning are legit Cup contenders? Think again. This Lightning team reminds me a LOT of the 2001-02 Islanders. New owners, new coach, new system, and expensive free agents. And had that Islanders team beaten Toronto in Game 7 of the first round, I guarantee you they would have gone to the Finals and gotten killed by Detroit. So just because the Lightning were awful last year, don't write them off this year.
Anyway, this Lightning has a "measuring stick game" right off the bat, facing the Rangers in a game that will either get Tampa Bay excited for the season or will convince fans they're going to suck again. For the Rangers, it's a chance to show their brand of hockey to an international audience. Part of the NHL's big plan is to create an international following, and getting the big-market teams recognition is part of that. So look for the Rangers to put forth their best effort in these games, both on the ice and off of it.
This isn't a true live blog; we're running a little behind here. How behind? Well, it's 1:33 PM, and the first period just ended. These, my friends, are the joys of parenthood. Anyway, let's get to the game!
- We're live, and we're in HD! Not to beat a dead horse or anything, but the Rangers can get a HD broadcast in Prague, while the Islanders can't even get a VHS camcorder at the Coliseum? Please. You've got to hand it to MSG, though; they're pulling out all the stops for this one. They even got Sam Rosen to take a personal day from his Fox NFL schedule and come over to Prague. Very well done.
- The pre-game show is highlighted by an absolutely excruciating exchange between Al Trautwig and Michal Rozsival in which Rozsival tries to tell Trautwig how to order food in Czech. Invariably, just about everything defaults to its English counterpart - pizza, hamburger, puck, so on and so forth. Hardy har har. Surely, Zach is thinking that it doesn't matter where Trautwig orders food, because he doesn't tip for take-out. Yes, there's a story there.
- I know Sam and Joe are calling the game and all, but I'm not entirely convinced they're actually in Prague. For one, in the open to the game, the arena is completely empty. Joe says something about how "it's going to be full", but I'm not buying it. We'll come back to this one.
- Whoever sings the anthem at the O2 Arena (funnily enough, last season's European opener was played in the O2 Arena in England) deserves a raise. She puts the Americans to shame. Ronan Tynan, you've got some competition.
- Sam's mic is too loud. Joe's is way too low. And you can barely hear the crowd or any of the other hockey noises. Again, it sounds more like they're commentating from a remote studio. If that's the case, boo to MSG. They do this when the Red Bulls are on the road, and the difference is night and day. It's one of those things that saves a ton of money, but ultimately makes the game sound like crap. I'm sure they really are there and are just having technical difficulties, but still.
- Classy move by both Tom Renney and the goatee-less Barry Melrose, putting all their Czech players into the starting lineup. I love little things like this.
- Tampa Bay's goalie, Mike Smith, might have the narrowest leg pads in the league. He actually looks the way a goalie is supposed to look. Maybe it's because he's so tall, or maybe it's because his pads are a horrid purpleish color, but those pads do look rather narrow. Either way, he's good. Get him for your fantasy team.
- Joe is back from his hiatus, and thank God for that. He reminds us that the boards are more curved in the corners (good point), while Sam points out the low endboards which could play tricks on the defensemen and goalies. There's also a neutral zone that might be ten feet long. Personally, I wish they'd play this game with the European-styled wide rinks. That would be cool.
- Our first big chance of the game comes when Vincent Lecavalier gets a breakaway and falls down before he can get a good shot off. It almost looked like he was doing one of those flashy breakaways they did in the All-Star Skills Competition last year.
- Nice benches, O2 arena. It looks more like the Rangers are waiting for a bus than getting ready to take the ice.
- Your Rangers captain: Chris Drury. Your Rangers alternate captains: Markus Naslund and Scott Gomez. It must be frightfully reassuring for Ranger fans that their entire leadership corps has a combined two years of Ranger service time. Then again, who else were they going to give a letter to? Blair Betts? This is a young team, by the way. The only guys who are older than 30 are Drury, Naslund, Wade Redden, and Steve Valiquette.
- Speaking of Redden, he earned his paycheck in the first period. Not only did he blow a wide-open chance from the slot, but his giveaway at the blue line led to a three-on-one rush for the Lightning. Redden, by the way, is being paid $79,268.30 to play in this game. That's approximately the amount of money I've made since graduating college.
- Drury gets open for a quasi-breakaway on the penalty kill, but doesn't have a clear path to the net and has to take a crappy shot from the faceoff circle. Not good for either team, to be honest.
- A note on the uniforms tonight. The Lightning have shoved the NHL Premiere patch on the front of their jerseys because God forbid they remove one of their shoulder patches for one weekend. The Rangers have the patch on their shoulders, as they usually do. One thing about the Rangers, though - they're wearing curved shirttails, which look ridiculous. They'd fixed this at some point last year - NHLuniforms.com shows the Rangers were the only team not to wear curved shirttails last year - but the stupid look is back. Come on. These are hockey jerseys, not dress shirts.
- We end the first period with no score and two quality goaltending performances. The intermission brings yet another airing of that stupid Trautwig-Rozsival Czech "lesson". Ugh. At least it's better than another interview where Al's mic goes out in the middle of a question.
- Random notes on the Lightning's roster. First, Jamie Heward just signed a one-year contract with them. Jamie Heward wasn't even good on a 50-point Islanders team in 2000. Good for him, though. They also have Chris Gratton, who always seems to go to other teams, only to come back to Tampa. This is his third tour of duty with the Lightning. Fun fact about Gratton - he hasn't broken the 20-goal mark since 1997-98. Lastly, there's modeling yourself off of a different team, and then there's out-and-out ripping them off. The Lightning have FOUR players who played for Pittsburgh last year - Gary Roberts, Ryan Malone, Adam Hall, and Mark Recchi. We haven't seen this kind of "emulation" since the Kings and Rangers were fighting for ex-Oilers in the early 90s.
- A short list of things I haven't heard today - a goal horn, a whistle, a slapshot, a received pass, a crunch into the boards, or just about any of the sounds you normally hear while watching a hockey game. That's kind of annoying. Then again, I'm the same person who turns the commentary in NHL 09 off in Be A Pro mode just to hear these sounds, so maybe I'm a bit biased.
- Apparently, Steven Stamkos is living with Gary Roberts this year. Oh boy. Stamkos has the opportunity to learn about the finer points of dirty play from one of the most notorious cheap-shot artists in recent memory. There are parts of Kenny Jonsson's brain that are still stuck in the Air Canada Centre boards. Thanks a lot, you prick.
- I think I've figured Wade Redden out on one level. He seems to know exactly where to be - i.e. when to pinch in from the point, etc. - but he has trouble finishing. He also doesn't seem to be able to get back on D very well. This is going to be a fun six years, Ranger fans.
- The nicest one-on-one move so far has come from Colton Orr, who pulled off a beautiful move along the boards to drive to the net. I'm impressed.
- Mike Smith can handle the puck. He's headed for Brodeur/DiPietro territory, and soon. Smith showed promise in Dallas, but he wasn't going to play in front of Marty Turco. He's got his chance in Tampa. You just hope the defense can hold up. Melrose isn't exactly known as a defensive-minded coach.
- Cliche alert! Joe (paraphrased): "Your goalie has to be your best penalty killer". Soon to come from Joe - if the Rangers want to win this game, they have to take it one shift at a time, win the one-on-one battles, and not try to do too much.
- The second period has honestly been pretty uneventful so far. And by so far, I mean there are two minutes left in it. Some chances for both teams and some technical difficulties from MSG, but that's about it. And just as soon as I type that, Naslund gets open and takes a shot from the faceoff dot. Smith gets a pad on it, but it still goes in. So your first goal of the season is Naslund from Gomez, the two A's getting it done. And, of course, technical difficulties ruin the replay.
- We end the second period with the Rangers winning 1-0 and outshooting the Lightning by a count of 30-11. Wow. Who knew the Lightning would be this bad defensively and offensively? The Rangers have had far more chances on offense, but Smith has been excellent so far.
- The intermission report takes us to the Bohemia Beer Garden, which has been mentioned like five times by Sam. Ron Duguay is there. He's a good-looking guy. Someone painted the Rangers logo on his face. Oh boy!
- Every time they show a shot of Prague, it looks gorgeous. It looks like a town you'd encounter in a role-playing game. What a place. If they attempted to get a picturesque shot of Uniondale, you'd end up looking at the beaten-down facade of a bodega or something.
- Interesting note from Dave Maloney - of Tampa's 11 shots, five belong to Lecavalier. This game is going to break wide open in the third, guaranteed.
- One of the perks of being behind is that I can put the Ottawa-Pittsburgh game on picture-in-picture. It's already 1-0 Pittsburgh just four minutes in. Must be nice.
- Mike Smith is hurt after a nice shot by Dan "Don't Call Me Joe" Girardi. We'll most likely be seeing Olie The Goalie tomorrow, if not sooner.
- Every time they show an ad in the top left corner for MSG programming, I keep thinking it's the Optimum Voice Caller ID thing. A quick recap - the Rangers play again tomorrow at noon, and the Red Bulls play tonight at 7:30. I love soccer, but I can't get into the Red Bulls. Nobody wants to watch soccer being played on a field full of football markings in front of a sea of empty seats. The proposed MLS team in Queens will be a huge hit. The Red Bulls might never be.
- Just a second after Smith makes a huge save, Martin St. Louis skates right by Dmitri Kalinin and backhands one over Lundqvist to tie the game. How often does that happen? Meanwhile, on the little screen, Shean Donovan ties it up for Ottawa; in so doing so, the Senators match their goal tally from the entire first round of last year's playoffs.
- Paul Mara fires one in from the point; Naslund whacks away at Smith's glove to no avail. That had to have killed Smith, who is still feeling the effects from being shaken up earlier this period. The Rangers are now 0-for-6 on the power play.
- Looks like the new ad-nauseum commercial for this year is going to be anti-tobacco commercial with the "hole in the throat" guy. Not that there's anything funny about permanent tracheotomies or anything. But if you're a Mets fan, you've seen these commercials a billion times already on SNY. Now, you get to watch them even more on MSG. But hey, that's what you get for being a Rangers fan. If this ad is as omnipresent on MSG Plus, I'll give myself a permanent tracheotomy by shooting myself in the throat.
- First overall pick Steven Stamkos gets clear on a breakaway - again, blowing right by Kalinin - but Lundqvist makes a tremendous save. Joe tries to give Kalinin credit for good stickwork, but the truth is he's been a statue back there all night. You don't need to whack someone with a stick if you keep him in front of you. His contract terms were not disclosed, so I can't tell you how much he's getting paid to suck today. But you're probably better off not knowing anyway.
- The game finally sounds good. It only took them like 50 minutes to figure it all out. At least tomorrow's broadcast will be much improved.
- "It's a power play goal!" Sam Rosen's favorite phrase comes out for a goal by Brandon Dubinsky on the Rangers' seventh power play of the game. You'd almost expect Smith to make that save, but he was screened by a total of three people. 2-1 Rangers, about five minutes left.
- Speaking of favorite phrases, have we had any Panasonic Digital Replays today? I can't recall one. How am I going to bring back family time without Panasonic - Ideas For Life?
- Chris Drury takes an atrocious offensive-zone penalty. Way to lead by example, moneybags. Anyway, the Lightning get an extra 30 seconds of power play time and get a decent shot off.
- The Lightning get two beautiful chances on the power play, but Lundqvist is capable and the defense does a great job clearing out the crease. Down the stretch, Melrose doesn't pull the goalie until the 20-second mark, Tampa doesn't threaten, and the Rangers win 2-1.
- Good players today - Naslund, Gomez, Dubinsky, Staal, Lecavalier, and Stamkos. Particularly awful players today - Redden and Kalinin.
- We'll do it again tomorrow, same two teams, same location. Only we probably won't be live blogging it. Hope you enjoyed!
Well, here we are. Another season of NHL hockey. Thirty teams are optimistic for the seasons that lie ahead. Approximately 75% of the league has legitimate playoff aspirations. And then there are the teams that have Lord Stanley in their sights. Two of those teams, the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning, meet today in Prague.
Don't think the Lightning are legit Cup contenders? Think again. This Lightning team reminds me a LOT of the 2001-02 Islanders. New owners, new coach, new system, and expensive free agents. And had that Islanders team beaten Toronto in Game 7 of the first round, I guarantee you they would have gone to the Finals and gotten killed by Detroit. So just because the Lightning were awful last year, don't write them off this year.
Anyway, this Lightning has a "measuring stick game" right off the bat, facing the Rangers in a game that will either get Tampa Bay excited for the season or will convince fans they're going to suck again. For the Rangers, it's a chance to show their brand of hockey to an international audience. Part of the NHL's big plan is to create an international following, and getting the big-market teams recognition is part of that. So look for the Rangers to put forth their best effort in these games, both on the ice and off of it.
This isn't a true live blog; we're running a little behind here. How behind? Well, it's 1:33 PM, and the first period just ended. These, my friends, are the joys of parenthood. Anyway, let's get to the game!
- We're live, and we're in HD! Not to beat a dead horse or anything, but the Rangers can get a HD broadcast in Prague, while the Islanders can't even get a VHS camcorder at the Coliseum? Please. You've got to hand it to MSG, though; they're pulling out all the stops for this one. They even got Sam Rosen to take a personal day from his Fox NFL schedule and come over to Prague. Very well done.
- The pre-game show is highlighted by an absolutely excruciating exchange between Al Trautwig and Michal Rozsival in which Rozsival tries to tell Trautwig how to order food in Czech. Invariably, just about everything defaults to its English counterpart - pizza, hamburger, puck, so on and so forth. Hardy har har. Surely, Zach is thinking that it doesn't matter where Trautwig orders food, because he doesn't tip for take-out. Yes, there's a story there.
- I know Sam and Joe are calling the game and all, but I'm not entirely convinced they're actually in Prague. For one, in the open to the game, the arena is completely empty. Joe says something about how "it's going to be full", but I'm not buying it. We'll come back to this one.
- Whoever sings the anthem at the O2 Arena (funnily enough, last season's European opener was played in the O2 Arena in England) deserves a raise. She puts the Americans to shame. Ronan Tynan, you've got some competition.
- Sam's mic is too loud. Joe's is way too low. And you can barely hear the crowd or any of the other hockey noises. Again, it sounds more like they're commentating from a remote studio. If that's the case, boo to MSG. They do this when the Red Bulls are on the road, and the difference is night and day. It's one of those things that saves a ton of money, but ultimately makes the game sound like crap. I'm sure they really are there and are just having technical difficulties, but still.
- Classy move by both Tom Renney and the goatee-less Barry Melrose, putting all their Czech players into the starting lineup. I love little things like this.
- Tampa Bay's goalie, Mike Smith, might have the narrowest leg pads in the league. He actually looks the way a goalie is supposed to look. Maybe it's because he's so tall, or maybe it's because his pads are a horrid purpleish color, but those pads do look rather narrow. Either way, he's good. Get him for your fantasy team.
- Joe is back from his hiatus, and thank God for that. He reminds us that the boards are more curved in the corners (good point), while Sam points out the low endboards which could play tricks on the defensemen and goalies. There's also a neutral zone that might be ten feet long. Personally, I wish they'd play this game with the European-styled wide rinks. That would be cool.
- Our first big chance of the game comes when Vincent Lecavalier gets a breakaway and falls down before he can get a good shot off. It almost looked like he was doing one of those flashy breakaways they did in the All-Star Skills Competition last year.
- Nice benches, O2 arena. It looks more like the Rangers are waiting for a bus than getting ready to take the ice.
- Your Rangers captain: Chris Drury. Your Rangers alternate captains: Markus Naslund and Scott Gomez. It must be frightfully reassuring for Ranger fans that their entire leadership corps has a combined two years of Ranger service time. Then again, who else were they going to give a letter to? Blair Betts? This is a young team, by the way. The only guys who are older than 30 are Drury, Naslund, Wade Redden, and Steve Valiquette.
- Speaking of Redden, he earned his paycheck in the first period. Not only did he blow a wide-open chance from the slot, but his giveaway at the blue line led to a three-on-one rush for the Lightning. Redden, by the way, is being paid $79,268.30 to play in this game. That's approximately the amount of money I've made since graduating college.
- Drury gets open for a quasi-breakaway on the penalty kill, but doesn't have a clear path to the net and has to take a crappy shot from the faceoff circle. Not good for either team, to be honest.
- A note on the uniforms tonight. The Lightning have shoved the NHL Premiere patch on the front of their jerseys because God forbid they remove one of their shoulder patches for one weekend. The Rangers have the patch on their shoulders, as they usually do. One thing about the Rangers, though - they're wearing curved shirttails, which look ridiculous. They'd fixed this at some point last year - NHLuniforms.com shows the Rangers were the only team not to wear curved shirttails last year - but the stupid look is back. Come on. These are hockey jerseys, not dress shirts.
- We end the first period with no score and two quality goaltending performances. The intermission brings yet another airing of that stupid Trautwig-Rozsival Czech "lesson". Ugh. At least it's better than another interview where Al's mic goes out in the middle of a question.
- Random notes on the Lightning's roster. First, Jamie Heward just signed a one-year contract with them. Jamie Heward wasn't even good on a 50-point Islanders team in 2000. Good for him, though. They also have Chris Gratton, who always seems to go to other teams, only to come back to Tampa. This is his third tour of duty with the Lightning. Fun fact about Gratton - he hasn't broken the 20-goal mark since 1997-98. Lastly, there's modeling yourself off of a different team, and then there's out-and-out ripping them off. The Lightning have FOUR players who played for Pittsburgh last year - Gary Roberts, Ryan Malone, Adam Hall, and Mark Recchi. We haven't seen this kind of "emulation" since the Kings and Rangers were fighting for ex-Oilers in the early 90s.
- A short list of things I haven't heard today - a goal horn, a whistle, a slapshot, a received pass, a crunch into the boards, or just about any of the sounds you normally hear while watching a hockey game. That's kind of annoying. Then again, I'm the same person who turns the commentary in NHL 09 off in Be A Pro mode just to hear these sounds, so maybe I'm a bit biased.
- Apparently, Steven Stamkos is living with Gary Roberts this year. Oh boy. Stamkos has the opportunity to learn about the finer points of dirty play from one of the most notorious cheap-shot artists in recent memory. There are parts of Kenny Jonsson's brain that are still stuck in the Air Canada Centre boards. Thanks a lot, you prick.
- I think I've figured Wade Redden out on one level. He seems to know exactly where to be - i.e. when to pinch in from the point, etc. - but he has trouble finishing. He also doesn't seem to be able to get back on D very well. This is going to be a fun six years, Ranger fans.
- The nicest one-on-one move so far has come from Colton Orr, who pulled off a beautiful move along the boards to drive to the net. I'm impressed.
- Mike Smith can handle the puck. He's headed for Brodeur/DiPietro territory, and soon. Smith showed promise in Dallas, but he wasn't going to play in front of Marty Turco. He's got his chance in Tampa. You just hope the defense can hold up. Melrose isn't exactly known as a defensive-minded coach.
- Cliche alert! Joe (paraphrased): "Your goalie has to be your best penalty killer". Soon to come from Joe - if the Rangers want to win this game, they have to take it one shift at a time, win the one-on-one battles, and not try to do too much.
- The second period has honestly been pretty uneventful so far. And by so far, I mean there are two minutes left in it. Some chances for both teams and some technical difficulties from MSG, but that's about it. And just as soon as I type that, Naslund gets open and takes a shot from the faceoff dot. Smith gets a pad on it, but it still goes in. So your first goal of the season is Naslund from Gomez, the two A's getting it done. And, of course, technical difficulties ruin the replay.
- We end the second period with the Rangers winning 1-0 and outshooting the Lightning by a count of 30-11. Wow. Who knew the Lightning would be this bad defensively and offensively? The Rangers have had far more chances on offense, but Smith has been excellent so far.
- The intermission report takes us to the Bohemia Beer Garden, which has been mentioned like five times by Sam. Ron Duguay is there. He's a good-looking guy. Someone painted the Rangers logo on his face. Oh boy!
- Every time they show a shot of Prague, it looks gorgeous. It looks like a town you'd encounter in a role-playing game. What a place. If they attempted to get a picturesque shot of Uniondale, you'd end up looking at the beaten-down facade of a bodega or something.
- Interesting note from Dave Maloney - of Tampa's 11 shots, five belong to Lecavalier. This game is going to break wide open in the third, guaranteed.
- One of the perks of being behind is that I can put the Ottawa-Pittsburgh game on picture-in-picture. It's already 1-0 Pittsburgh just four minutes in. Must be nice.
- Mike Smith is hurt after a nice shot by Dan "Don't Call Me Joe" Girardi. We'll most likely be seeing Olie The Goalie tomorrow, if not sooner.
- Every time they show an ad in the top left corner for MSG programming, I keep thinking it's the Optimum Voice Caller ID thing. A quick recap - the Rangers play again tomorrow at noon, and the Red Bulls play tonight at 7:30. I love soccer, but I can't get into the Red Bulls. Nobody wants to watch soccer being played on a field full of football markings in front of a sea of empty seats. The proposed MLS team in Queens will be a huge hit. The Red Bulls might never be.
- Just a second after Smith makes a huge save, Martin St. Louis skates right by Dmitri Kalinin and backhands one over Lundqvist to tie the game. How often does that happen? Meanwhile, on the little screen, Shean Donovan ties it up for Ottawa; in so doing so, the Senators match their goal tally from the entire first round of last year's playoffs.
- Paul Mara fires one in from the point; Naslund whacks away at Smith's glove to no avail. That had to have killed Smith, who is still feeling the effects from being shaken up earlier this period. The Rangers are now 0-for-6 on the power play.
- Looks like the new ad-nauseum commercial for this year is going to be anti-tobacco commercial with the "hole in the throat" guy. Not that there's anything funny about permanent tracheotomies or anything. But if you're a Mets fan, you've seen these commercials a billion times already on SNY. Now, you get to watch them even more on MSG. But hey, that's what you get for being a Rangers fan. If this ad is as omnipresent on MSG Plus, I'll give myself a permanent tracheotomy by shooting myself in the throat.
- First overall pick Steven Stamkos gets clear on a breakaway - again, blowing right by Kalinin - but Lundqvist makes a tremendous save. Joe tries to give Kalinin credit for good stickwork, but the truth is he's been a statue back there all night. You don't need to whack someone with a stick if you keep him in front of you. His contract terms were not disclosed, so I can't tell you how much he's getting paid to suck today. But you're probably better off not knowing anyway.
- The game finally sounds good. It only took them like 50 minutes to figure it all out. At least tomorrow's broadcast will be much improved.
- "It's a power play goal!" Sam Rosen's favorite phrase comes out for a goal by Brandon Dubinsky on the Rangers' seventh power play of the game. You'd almost expect Smith to make that save, but he was screened by a total of three people. 2-1 Rangers, about five minutes left.
- Speaking of favorite phrases, have we had any Panasonic Digital Replays today? I can't recall one. How am I going to bring back family time without Panasonic - Ideas For Life?
- Chris Drury takes an atrocious offensive-zone penalty. Way to lead by example, moneybags. Anyway, the Lightning get an extra 30 seconds of power play time and get a decent shot off.
- The Lightning get two beautiful chances on the power play, but Lundqvist is capable and the defense does a great job clearing out the crease. Down the stretch, Melrose doesn't pull the goalie until the 20-second mark, Tampa doesn't threaten, and the Rangers win 2-1.
- Good players today - Naslund, Gomez, Dubinsky, Staal, Lecavalier, and Stamkos. Particularly awful players today - Redden and Kalinin.
- We'll do it again tomorrow, same two teams, same location. Only we probably won't be live blogging it. Hope you enjoyed!
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Bryan's 2008-09 Predictions
With the whole world making predictions on the 2008-09 NHL season, The Rivalry is no different. Here are Bryan's picks for the upcoming season.
OK, everyone's going to be doing the same damn preview as everyone else. So let me shake things up a bit. First, we'll go through last year's results and see how these teams compare to how they did a year ago in terms of points - will they have more points, fewer points, or the same number? Next, we'll rank the teams the same way everyone does and do year-end awards. Lastly, we have some random awards that probably won't come true, but why not speculate a bit?
EASTERN CONFERENCE
1) Montreal (104 points in 2007-08): Less points. After struggling in the playoffs last year, the Habs will have trouble overwhelming teams as they did last year. Look for Carey Price to bounce back, though.
- Prediction: 96 points
2) Pittsburgh (102): More. With a full season of Sidney Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury, this team should be better than last year. They lost a lot of role players, but did a good job filling in the gaps.
- Prediction: 108 points
3) Washington (94): More. Eighteen games against Carolina, Atlanta, and Florida will help the Caps continue their momentum from last season. The young players will have more experience, and Jose Theodore should provide capable goaltending.
- Prediction: 102 points
4) New Jersey (99): Less. Even though the whole '95 Cup team is back, the fact is that this is 2008. It seems as though the Devils might be a bit more up-tempo this year, but there might not be enough talent to really pull it off.
- Prediction: 92 points
5) NY Rangers (97): More. Assuming Henrik Lundqvist can play at a high level for the whole season, the Rangers should improve on last year's numbers. The team is better than it was last year; their Cup aspriations are legitimate.
- Prediction: 101 points
6) Philadelphia (96): Same. Philadelphia was one of the league's best teams down the stretch last year. Jeff Carter is poised to make The Leap this year, and the Flyers might have finally found a franchise goalie in Martin Biron.
- Prediction: 96 points
7) Ottawa (94): Less. Ottawa was dreadful for the second half of last season and was even worse in the playoffs. Even though there's a lot of talent in Ottawa, it seems like the current team has gone as far as it's going to go.
- Prediction: 90 points
8) Boston (94): More. Boston was very impressive in last year's playoffs; their young players gained a wealth of experience in their series with Montreal. Playing in a subpar division, the Bruins should continue to climb the ladder in the East.
- Prediction: 98 points
9) Carolina (92): Less. As much as us Islander fans love Peter Laviolette, he'll soon be fired from his second job. Carolina is just a mess these days, and it's unfortunate. They need to rebuild through the draft, and should have a premium pick next year.
- Prediction: 82 points
10) Buffalo (90): Same. On paper, the Sabres underachieved last year... but let's not forget that they've lost Chris Drury, Daniel Briere, and Brian Campbell over the past fifteen months. It's hard to see how they could improve, but Buffalo always finds good players to field a competitive team.
- Prediction: 90 points
11) Florida (85): Same. Will Florida ever be good? Hard to say. They play in the right division, but they don't have the personnel. Tomas Vokoun is great in net, but who's going to score the goals?
- Prediction: 83 points
12) Toronto (83): More. Even though Toronto pretty much blew for much of last year, they did have a run last year when they played pretty decent hockey. They won't be a playoff team, but they do appear to be on the way to something. They need a goalie desperately, though.
- Prediction: 87 points
13) NY Islanders (79): Less. Sorry to say it, but the Islanders have an extremely inexperienced team in what might be the toughest division in the NHL. Those first overall draft pick predictions are quite appropriate.
- Prediction: 72 points
14) Atlanta (76): More. John Anderson was a great coach in the minors, and should be just as good in the NHL. Unfortunately, Atlanta isn't very talented outside of Kari Lehtonen and Ilya Kovalchuk. The Thrashers should be thankful they play in the Southeast Division.
- Prediction: 82 points
15) Tampa Bay (71): More. Seeing as how the new NHL is more about offense, it's shocking that Barry Melrose didn't get hired years ago. He might not have Gretzky and Robitaille, but he has plenty of offensive talent. And Mike Smith is going to be a tremendous goalie.
- Prediction: 94 points
WESTERN CONFERENCE
1) Detroit (115): Less. It's not that the Wings have gotten significantly worse, just that the other teams in their division have gotten a little better. They're still the team to beat until further notice.
- Prediction: 106 points
2) San Jose (108): Less. The Sharks might struggle to find their way this season with a new coach and tons of expectations after their recent playoff failures. They'll find it in plenty of time, though. Evgeni Nabokov might finally win the Vezina - it's about f'ing time.
- Prediction: 103 points
3) Minnesota (98): Less. The Xcel Energy Center has never had an empty seat for a regular season or playoff game. But that might change if the Wild don't make a playoff run soon. Look for yet another season of boring but effective play.
- Prediction: 94 points
4) Anaheim (102): Less. The Ducks, not unlike the Devils, find themselves in salary cap hell. The Ducks have a ton of quality young players, but with so many older players taking up significant cap space, the Ducks can't truly build around them. As such, the Ducks aren't a serious Cup threat.
- Prediction: 96 points
5) Dallas (97): More. The Stars gave up a lot to get Brad Richards, but they intend to make him the focus of their team along with Brenden Morrow and Marty Turco. Sean Avery only helps to make a strong playoff team even stronger.
- Prediction: 101 points
6) Colorado (95): Less. It's a sad state of affairs in Colorado these days. It's a good thing they brought the Adam Footes of the world back, because the team sure isn't going to be doing very much in the playoffs - if they even get that far.
- Prediction: 88 points
7) Calgary (94): More. Last year's playoff performance was no fluke. Mike Keenan's unorthodox methods work, and he's finally starting to have an impact on this Flames team. They've only improved with the acquisition of Mike Cammalleri.
- Prediction: 97 points
8) Nashville (91): Less. The Nashville Predators have only had one coach in their history so far. Will Barry Trotz finally pay the price for not getting past the first round? Probably not. Still, they need a playoff run to get the fans really invested in the team. That won't happen this year.
- Prediction: 86 points
9) Edmonton (88): Same. Sure, the Oilers are better than they were last year... but they won't get fifteen shootout wins this year, either. So the numbers will cancel each other out, and the Oilers will remain on the verge of a playoff spot. One year from now, they'll be ready to make a run.
- Prediction: 88 points
10) Chicago (88): More. Everyone's on the Blackhawks' bandwagon to start the season. And who can blame them? It's not going to come as easy as everyone things, but the Hawks are a clear playoff team. They remind me of the 2006-07 Penguins - a great regular season team that has to learn to win in the playoffs.
- Prediction: 98 points
11) Vancouver (88): More. The big focus this year is going to be getting the Sedins and Roberto Luongo to buy into the team enough to sign long-term. These are guys the Canucks can build around, but they need to convince the players to stick around. That's more important than losing in the first round of the playoffs, which they may well do.
- Prediction: 91 points
12) Phoenix (83): More. The Coyotes were right in the thick of it until the end last year, and they should be able to improve this season. Wayne Gretzky finally seems comfortable as a coach, and you know the young players are working as hard as possible to please him. The playoffs are a definite possibility.
- Prediction: 93 points
13) Columbus (80): More. Michael Peca claims the Blue Jackets are a 100-point team. Not in a division with the Red Wings and Blackhawks, anyway. Maybe in the Southeast. The Jackets desperately need a playoff berth to show fans that the team is worth their time and money.
- Prediction: 86 points
14) St. Louis (79): More. JD's plan is finally starting to take shape, as the Blues have one of the more enviable collections of young talent in the league. If the Blackhawks are the 2006-07 Penguins, the Blues are the 2005-06 Penguins; by season's end, they'll be a team nobody wants to play.
- Prediction: 87 points
15) Los Angeles (71): More. It's hard to get fewer than 71 points, and the Kings have studs like Anze Kopitar that are ready to become stars. Pick up Brian Boyle in your fantasy league and thank me later.
- Prediction: 82 points
OK, everyone's going to be doing the same damn preview as everyone else. So let me shake things up a bit. First, we'll go through last year's results and see how these teams compare to how they did a year ago in terms of points - will they have more points, fewer points, or the same number? Next, we'll rank the teams the same way everyone does and do year-end awards. Lastly, we have some random awards that probably won't come true, but why not speculate a bit?
EASTERN CONFERENCE
1) Montreal (104 points in 2007-08): Less points. After struggling in the playoffs last year, the Habs will have trouble overwhelming teams as they did last year. Look for Carey Price to bounce back, though.
- Prediction: 96 points
2) Pittsburgh (102): More. With a full season of Sidney Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury, this team should be better than last year. They lost a lot of role players, but did a good job filling in the gaps.
- Prediction: 108 points
3) Washington (94): More. Eighteen games against Carolina, Atlanta, and Florida will help the Caps continue their momentum from last season. The young players will have more experience, and Jose Theodore should provide capable goaltending.
- Prediction: 102 points
4) New Jersey (99): Less. Even though the whole '95 Cup team is back, the fact is that this is 2008. It seems as though the Devils might be a bit more up-tempo this year, but there might not be enough talent to really pull it off.
- Prediction: 92 points
5) NY Rangers (97): More. Assuming Henrik Lundqvist can play at a high level for the whole season, the Rangers should improve on last year's numbers. The team is better than it was last year; their Cup aspriations are legitimate.
- Prediction: 101 points
6) Philadelphia (96): Same. Philadelphia was one of the league's best teams down the stretch last year. Jeff Carter is poised to make The Leap this year, and the Flyers might have finally found a franchise goalie in Martin Biron.
- Prediction: 96 points
7) Ottawa (94): Less. Ottawa was dreadful for the second half of last season and was even worse in the playoffs. Even though there's a lot of talent in Ottawa, it seems like the current team has gone as far as it's going to go.
- Prediction: 90 points
8) Boston (94): More. Boston was very impressive in last year's playoffs; their young players gained a wealth of experience in their series with Montreal. Playing in a subpar division, the Bruins should continue to climb the ladder in the East.
- Prediction: 98 points
9) Carolina (92): Less. As much as us Islander fans love Peter Laviolette, he'll soon be fired from his second job. Carolina is just a mess these days, and it's unfortunate. They need to rebuild through the draft, and should have a premium pick next year.
- Prediction: 82 points
10) Buffalo (90): Same. On paper, the Sabres underachieved last year... but let's not forget that they've lost Chris Drury, Daniel Briere, and Brian Campbell over the past fifteen months. It's hard to see how they could improve, but Buffalo always finds good players to field a competitive team.
- Prediction: 90 points
11) Florida (85): Same. Will Florida ever be good? Hard to say. They play in the right division, but they don't have the personnel. Tomas Vokoun is great in net, but who's going to score the goals?
- Prediction: 83 points
12) Toronto (83): More. Even though Toronto pretty much blew for much of last year, they did have a run last year when they played pretty decent hockey. They won't be a playoff team, but they do appear to be on the way to something. They need a goalie desperately, though.
- Prediction: 87 points
13) NY Islanders (79): Less. Sorry to say it, but the Islanders have an extremely inexperienced team in what might be the toughest division in the NHL. Those first overall draft pick predictions are quite appropriate.
- Prediction: 72 points
14) Atlanta (76): More. John Anderson was a great coach in the minors, and should be just as good in the NHL. Unfortunately, Atlanta isn't very talented outside of Kari Lehtonen and Ilya Kovalchuk. The Thrashers should be thankful they play in the Southeast Division.
- Prediction: 82 points
15) Tampa Bay (71): More. Seeing as how the new NHL is more about offense, it's shocking that Barry Melrose didn't get hired years ago. He might not have Gretzky and Robitaille, but he has plenty of offensive talent. And Mike Smith is going to be a tremendous goalie.
- Prediction: 94 points
WESTERN CONFERENCE
1) Detroit (115): Less. It's not that the Wings have gotten significantly worse, just that the other teams in their division have gotten a little better. They're still the team to beat until further notice.
- Prediction: 106 points
2) San Jose (108): Less. The Sharks might struggle to find their way this season with a new coach and tons of expectations after their recent playoff failures. They'll find it in plenty of time, though. Evgeni Nabokov might finally win the Vezina - it's about f'ing time.
- Prediction: 103 points
3) Minnesota (98): Less. The Xcel Energy Center has never had an empty seat for a regular season or playoff game. But that might change if the Wild don't make a playoff run soon. Look for yet another season of boring but effective play.
- Prediction: 94 points
4) Anaheim (102): Less. The Ducks, not unlike the Devils, find themselves in salary cap hell. The Ducks have a ton of quality young players, but with so many older players taking up significant cap space, the Ducks can't truly build around them. As such, the Ducks aren't a serious Cup threat.
- Prediction: 96 points
5) Dallas (97): More. The Stars gave up a lot to get Brad Richards, but they intend to make him the focus of their team along with Brenden Morrow and Marty Turco. Sean Avery only helps to make a strong playoff team even stronger.
- Prediction: 101 points
6) Colorado (95): Less. It's a sad state of affairs in Colorado these days. It's a good thing they brought the Adam Footes of the world back, because the team sure isn't going to be doing very much in the playoffs - if they even get that far.
- Prediction: 88 points
7) Calgary (94): More. Last year's playoff performance was no fluke. Mike Keenan's unorthodox methods work, and he's finally starting to have an impact on this Flames team. They've only improved with the acquisition of Mike Cammalleri.
- Prediction: 97 points
8) Nashville (91): Less. The Nashville Predators have only had one coach in their history so far. Will Barry Trotz finally pay the price for not getting past the first round? Probably not. Still, they need a playoff run to get the fans really invested in the team. That won't happen this year.
- Prediction: 86 points
9) Edmonton (88): Same. Sure, the Oilers are better than they were last year... but they won't get fifteen shootout wins this year, either. So the numbers will cancel each other out, and the Oilers will remain on the verge of a playoff spot. One year from now, they'll be ready to make a run.
- Prediction: 88 points
10) Chicago (88): More. Everyone's on the Blackhawks' bandwagon to start the season. And who can blame them? It's not going to come as easy as everyone things, but the Hawks are a clear playoff team. They remind me of the 2006-07 Penguins - a great regular season team that has to learn to win in the playoffs.
- Prediction: 98 points
11) Vancouver (88): More. The big focus this year is going to be getting the Sedins and Roberto Luongo to buy into the team enough to sign long-term. These are guys the Canucks can build around, but they need to convince the players to stick around. That's more important than losing in the first round of the playoffs, which they may well do.
- Prediction: 91 points
12) Phoenix (83): More. The Coyotes were right in the thick of it until the end last year, and they should be able to improve this season. Wayne Gretzky finally seems comfortable as a coach, and you know the young players are working as hard as possible to please him. The playoffs are a definite possibility.
- Prediction: 93 points
13) Columbus (80): More. Michael Peca claims the Blue Jackets are a 100-point team. Not in a division with the Red Wings and Blackhawks, anyway. Maybe in the Southeast. The Jackets desperately need a playoff berth to show fans that the team is worth their time and money.
- Prediction: 86 points
14) St. Louis (79): More. JD's plan is finally starting to take shape, as the Blues have one of the more enviable collections of young talent in the league. If the Blackhawks are the 2006-07 Penguins, the Blues are the 2005-06 Penguins; by season's end, they'll be a team nobody wants to play.
- Prediction: 87 points
15) Los Angeles (71): More. It's hard to get fewer than 71 points, and the Kings have studs like Anze Kopitar that are ready to become stars. Pick up Brian Boyle in your fantasy league and thank me later.
- Prediction: 82 points
So, having said all that, here's how the actual predictions shake out.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
1) Pittsburgh (108)
2) Washington (102)
3) Boston (98)
4) NY Rangers (101)
5) Philadelphia (96)
6) Montreal (96)
7) Tampa Bay (94)
8) New Jersey (92)
9) Buffalo (90)
10) Ottawa (90)
11) Toronto (87)
12) Florida (83)
13) Atlanta (82)
14) Carolina (82)
15) NY Islanders (72)
FIRST ROUND
- (1)Pittsburgh over (8)New Jersey in 6
- (7)Tampa Bay over (2)Washington in 7
- (6)Montreal over (3)Boston in 6
- (4)NY Rangers over (5)Philadelphia in 7
SECOND ROUND
- (1)Pittsburgh over (7)Tampa Bay in 6
- (4)NY Rangers over (6)Montreal in 4
THIRD ROUND
- (4)NY Rangers over (1)Pittsburgh in 6
WESTERN CONFERENCE
1) Detroit (106)
2) San Jose (103)
3) Dallas (101)
4) Chicago (98)
5) Calgary (97)
6) Anaheim (96)
7) Minnesota (94)
8) Phoenix (93)
9) Vancouver (91)
10) Colorado (88)
11) Edmonton (88)
12) St. Louis (87)
13) Columbus (86)
14) Nashville (86)
15) Los Angeles (82)
FIRST ROUND
- (1)Detroit over (8)Phoenix in 5
- (2)San Jose over (7)Minnesota in 4
- (3)Dallas over (6)Anaheim in 7
- (5)Calgary over (4)Chicago in 7
SECOND ROUND
- (1)Detroit over (5)Calgary in 6
- (2)San Jose over (3)Dallas in 7
THIRD ROUND
- (2)San Jose over (1) Detroit in 7
STANLEY CUP FINAL
- (2)San Jose over (4)NY Rangers in 6
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER AWARDS
- Hart Trophy: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh (130 points)
- Art Ross Trophy: Alexander Ovechkin, Washington (55 goals)
- William Jennings Trophy: Martin Brodeur, New Jersey (2.20 GAA)
- Maurice Richard Trophy: Alexander Ovechkin, Washington
- Norris Trophy: Dan Boyle, San Jose
- Vezina Trophy: Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose
- Jack Adams Trophy: Barry Melrose, Chicago
- Calder Trophy: Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay
- Selke Trophy: Brenden Morrow, Dallas
- Lady Byng Trophy: Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit
- Bill Masteron Trophy: Richard Zednik, Florida
- Conn Smythe Trophy: Milan Michalek, San Jose
RANDOM CATEGORIES
- Most Improved Team: Tampa Bay Lightning
- Least Improved Team: New York Islanders
- Team You Wish You Rooted For: Philadelphia Flyers
- Second-Half Playoff Push Team: Phoenix Coyotes
- Second-Half Out-Of-Nowhere Skater: Eric Nystrom, Calgary
- Second-Half Out-Of-Nowhere Rookie: Claude Giroux, Philadelphia
- Most Underrated Player: Milan Lucic, Boston
- Player Most Likely To Make The Leap: Daniel Carcillo, Phoenix
- Coach That Deserves To Win The Adams, But Won't: Denis Savard, Chicago
- Biggest Free Agent Steal: Andrew Raycroft, Colorado
- Biggest Free Agent Bust: Wade Redden, NY Rangers
- Hot Playoff Goalie: Mike Smith, Tampa Bay
- First Overall Draft Pick Winner: New York Islanders (whoo-hoo!)
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Rick Tocchet and Sean Avery...
Today, I will be using simplified examples that never actually happened in my life to describe why Rick Tocchet is a backstabber and how Glen Sather might be insane.
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Let's say I was accused of something in a legal manner. For argument's sake, maybe I ran a gambling ring at my job (for the record, I work at a restaurant as a bartender). Okay, so I'm running this multi-million dollar gambling ring and I get accused, and it comes crashing down on me.
I don't face jail time, but I do get suspended for 2 years from my job.
While gone, my bar manager supports me fully. I don't receive a paycheck, but he holds my job open while I'm suspended. Imagine that!
Two years to the day later, I return to my job as a bartender.
Four months later, an old friend calls me and tells me he just got put in charge of a new bar, and would like me to be a bartender there. Forsaking my old boss, who treated me very well and stood up for me while the media and the federal court system were against me, I join this new bar.
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Tocchet gets suspended for running a gambling ring. Wayne Gretzky holds his position as assistant coach of the Phoenix Coyotes open for 2 full years, maybe as a "Thank you for not having my wife sent to jail," maybe out of the goodness of the Great One's heart. Who knows. Tocchet returns in February of 2008, only to join Barry Melrose (and Wes Walz) in Tampa Bay when the opportunity arose.
No, I don't know the whole situation. Maybe Gretzky or Coyotes' GM Don Maloney didn't want Tocchet to return. But the way I see it, it is a slap in the face of Gretzky and the whole Phoenix organization the way he handled this. When I first heard Melrose's press conference where he announced Tocchet and Walz as assistant coaches, I thought it was a joke.
And no, that picture isn't of Howie Mandel.
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Let's say that since the feds shut down my gambling operation, I now own a small, small business. Last year, I was given $50 in which to run this business. This year, however, I am given $56 in which to run it, due to a rise in profits last year.
Now, my seat-filler, my enforcer, my agitator, the guy who helped me so much last year and the year before, wants a raise. Last year, he made $1.90. Paltry, I know. This year, I offered him $2.75 and he wanted a whole $4. I could probably talk him down to around $3.75 or maybe $3.80.
Once again, he is a seat-filler. He got my business national attention during a competition we had with a New Jersey store. Two years ago, we competed against an Atlanta-based store, and he closed down their best salesman, even goaded him into a fight. That's what I pay him for. Shouldn't I pay him?
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I like Glen Sather, I do. I think he has done a great job post-lockout, even starting with the "fire sale" of March 2004 (regardless of where Maxim Kondratiev, Josef Balej, and R.J. Umberger are playing now).
However, he would be terribly remiss to not re-sign Sean Avery. When all is said and done, the NY Rangers are a business. Avery gets butts in seats (yes, they would still sell out without him there... probably), he creates excitement. The Rangers were plastered on TV sets all across the country when he danced in front of Martin "The Whiner" Brodeur in the playoffs this year and when Brodeur wouldn't shake his hand after the series.
He made headlines this week with his article in Men's Vogue. He is constant media fodder.
On top of that, he gets under the skin of every player who plays against him, from Brodeur to Jarkko Ruutu to Jaromir Jagr to Marian "Soon to be Overpaid" Hossa.
On top of that, he scores. Sather compares him to Chris Kelly of the Senators. Kelly had 30 points in 75 games. Avery had 33 in 57. In 2007, he had 20 points in 29 games and was a +11 with the Rangers. This year in the playoffs, he stepped it up, scoring 7 points in 8 games with only 3 penalties. He has a wicked wrist shot, brings excitement to the team, and as a winger who can play center, has playmaking abilities.
I know you don't come to this blog for breaking news or inside information. Of that, we have little. You probably read elsewhere that the Rangers are 50-20-10 with him and 9-13-3 without him. I don't have to tell you that they went 8-1-1 with him to reach the playoffs in 2007, and 10-0-3 to rally when he was healthy in 2008. You come here because my first word was "Wangers" and because Bryan (my Islander fan friend) was named after a Hall of Fame Islander. We eat and breathe hockey. We've been watching since we were 3 years old. I believe we know more about hockey than any other person we know.
With that said, I know talent when I see it. Chris Kelly is a marginal player. Ruutu is a pest at best. Ville Nieminen got under people's skin but he couldn't deliver in the points department.
Avery's closest comparison is probably to Esa Tikkanen. An agitator who can fight and score. A player like him doesn't come along often. Remember when he danced in front of Brodeur? He scored about 15 seconds later.
A player like him doesn't come along often.
If I had a store, and my budget went up 6 dollars, I would gladly spend the 125 cents to bring back my moneymaker. And I would do it before July 1, when other teams can (and would) throw money at him.
Because a player like him doesn't come along very often at all.
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