Ranking The Division Leaders As Cup Contenders

With most teams nearing 40 games played, we're essentially halfway through the NHL season, and no clear-cut favorite has emerged. But we do have a few convincing-looking division leaders who figure to be in the mix. Here's a midseason ranking of the current division leaders as Stanley Cup contenders.

4. Tampa Bay Lightning

Tampa Bay has had an impressive season thus far and remains slightly ahead of Montreal and Detroit for the lead in the Atlantic Division. A look at NHL team stats shows that the Lightning are second only to Toronto in goals per game, and that offensive firepower has been good enough for 23 wins through Dec. 30. Yet, it's hard to consider Tampa Bay as a favorite against the other three teams on this list.

The oddsmakers agree, at this stage, with Betfair's page on Stanley Cup favorites showing Tampa with just 15/1 odds, as noted here. These are just the eighth-best odds overall, and they even place Tampa below division foe Montreal. This is all due to a somewhat-unreliable defense. Ben Bishop has had a very good but unspectacular season in net, and Tampa is a middle-of-the-road team in goals allowed. They'll be a playoff threat, but a Stanley Cup run looks unlikely.

3. Anaheim Ducks

The Ducks have the most points through Dec. 30 with 54, though they have also played more games than fellow division leaders Pittsburgh and Chicago. That performance to date has earned them 10/1 Stanley Cup odds at this point (tied for second best), but as to just how they're going to beat teams in the playoffs, it's really anyone's guess.

Simply put, the Ducks don't do anything to overwhelm you. There's no one area on the ice or on the stat sheet in which they dominate opponents and assert themselves as one of the best teams in the league. But here's an interesting thing to consider, pointed out at the Ducks' Fansided page: Anaheim leads the NHL in man games lost this season. This does raise the question of just how strong and consistent they may be if they get healthier.

2. Pittsburgh Penguins

The Penguins will be in the Stanley Cup conversation once more, and as of now their 10/1 odds are even with Anaheim's for second best. They'll have to fend off a tough Islanders team if they want to keep their spot atop the Metropolitan Division, but ultimately Pittsburgh looks to be arguably the most complete team in the NHL. They're also a clear co-favorite to win a title.

Taking a look at the Penguins' team stats page at ESPN, it's incredibly impressive just how good this team is in all areas of the game. They rank fourth in both goals scored and goals allowed, sixth in power play percentage and third in kills. They're also one of only five teams with single-digit losses, despite a recent slide, and that sort of consistency matters come playoff time.

1. Chicago Blackhawks

What's better than Pittsburgh's claim of ranking fourth in both goals scored and goals allowed? How about Chicago's marks of third in goals per game and first in goals allowed. This Blackhawks team has developed an elite defensive standing without sacrificing offensive prowess, and they're the favorite to win the Stanley Cup as a result.

Specifically, the Blackhawks lead the way with 13/2 odds, which are quite strong given how many good teams there are in the league. But as of now, it's difficult to imagine anyone beating the Blackhawks in a playoff series.

Predictions...

Well, I haven't written anything since March on here, and it's 7:16 on the morning of the NHL's first games. In less than 5 hours, the puck will drop in Helsinki between two great teams - Derek Boogaard's former team (the Minnesota Wild) and Bobby Sanguenetti's current team (the Carolina Hurricanes, and yes, he made the NHL team).

Predictions - the best and worst part of October. Everyone is normally wrong, but they're fun to debate anyway. So, here we go...

Eastern Conference
1. Washington Capitals
2. New Jersey Devils
3. Toronto Maple Leafs
4. Pittsburgh Penguins
5. Buffalo Sabres
6. NY Rangers
7. Tampa Bay Lightning
8. Philadelphia Flyers
9. Atlanta Thrashers
10. Boston Bruins
11. NY Islanders
12. Carolina Hurricanes
13. Florida Panthers
14. Ottawa Senators
15. Montreal Canadiens

Notes: The Rangers missed the playoffs by 1 point yet improved a lot over the offseason. They got a better backup goalie than they had (Martin Biron is in fact better than any combination of Chad Johnson and Matt Zaba and Steve Valiquette) and Alex Frolov is going to add much more offense than Aaron Voros.

Tampa Bay has a great forward line up including Lecavilier, Stamkos, St. Louis, Ryan Malone, and Steve Downie. With Victor Hedman and Mattias Ohlund on the blue line and competent goaltending in Dan Ellis and Mike Smith, they should take make the playoffs, edging out a much improved Chicago Blackha err, Atlanta Thrashers team.

In the Northeast, I can't see an aging Ottawa team with questionable goaltending making the playoffs again. Yes, Sergei Gonchar is good, but I think he'll fall apart without Crosby and Malkin on the same PP unit. And Toronto might be unstoppable. The best defense in the NHL (Beauchemin, Kaberle, Komisarek, Lebda, Phaneuf, Schenn), solid goaltending (Giguere, Gustavsson), and a much improved offense featuring Colby Armstrong, Kris Versteeg, and a healthy Phil Kessel. The Leafs... will... be... very... good.

And I don't think Florida will - or should - ever make the playoffs again. Send that stupid team to Canada already!

Western Conference
1. Vancouver Canucks
2. San Jose Sharks
3. Detroit Red Wings
4. Chicago Blackhawks
5. Phoenix Coyotes
6. Los Angeles Kings
7. Colorado Avalance
8. St. Louis Blues
9. Nashville Predators
10. Edmonton Oilers
11. Calgary Flames
12. Columbus Blue Jackets
13. Anaheim Ducks
14. Minnesota Wild
15. Dallas Stars

Notes: Vancouver should win the division because they have the best goaltending of the top contenders. I mean, I guess Chicago would (with Marty Turco) if I were writing predictions for 2003-04. With Raffi Torres, Manny Malhotra, and Dan Hamhuis, the Canucks improved under-the-radar, but all 3 are great additions.

I think the East is a lot stronger this year. The top 5 teams in the West are good, but all have their flaws. Is Detroit getting too old (and Mike Modano is not an injection of youth)? Does San Jose, LA, or Chicago have the goaltending?

Does LA have the offense? They'll need better years from Dustin Brown and Ryan Smyth and a breakout year from Wayne Simmonds. Alex Ponikarovsky replaces Frolov, but can he?

Edmonton, while not a playoff team yet, is building something with Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, and Magnus Paajarvi. Tom Renney will be great there.

Anaheim must be content being middle-of-the-road. All they did was sign 3 marginally good defenseman (Paul Mara, who I love; Toni Lydman; and Andy Sutton, whose best years are far behind him). Dallas, the same (whose less bad, Kari Lehtonen or Andrew Raycroft?).

Playoffs
Washinton vs. Pittsburgh in the East
Canucks vs. Sharks in the West

Washington vs. Vancouver in the Finals
Washington winning

I know it's cheesy to pick your Conference Winners to play each other in the Finals, but that's why I picked them both #1 I guess. To be honest, I can completely see Vancouver stumbling in the playoffs, but they do have a very good team, and when Alex Burrows is back from injury in early-November, they'll be even better.

Enjoy the season, ladies & gentleman. Here's hoping the Islanders and Rangers both improve, both over last season and from the beginning of this one to the end.

Hart Trophy: Ilya Kovalchuk, NJ
Conn Smythe: Alex Ovechkin, WAS
Norris Trophy: Drew Doughty, LA
Vezina Trophy: Ryan Miller, Roberto Luongo, or Henrik Lundqvist (oh, hell, Martin Brodeur is probably going to be given it anyway)

Happy Thanksgiving...

Though it is cold and rainy, it is indeed Thanksgiving. I started to search for a pretty cool Hockey Thanksgiving image to put on here, but as soon as I saw pictures of those creepy fat birds that everyone else in America eats today, I decided not to.

Yes, I'm scared of turkeys.

Anyway, on a day that I'm thankful the Rangers gaining 4 points in 2 games for the first time since they beat LA and Toronto in back-to-backs in mid-October, I wish you the best today. (Sure, these 4 points came against 2 teams that haven't won a combined playoff game since a 1997 series against Wayne Gretzky and the Rangers, but it's still a good feeling.)



As for me, I'll be in sunny San Diego starting tomorrow, and while you would think hockey would be the last thing on my mind, I'll be glued to my cell phone for text message updates for the 3 games I'll miss.

That Tampa Bay game is another big points, and if they can get 3 points against the Penguins, then that's 9 out of 10 and a big step in the right direction. Of course, there's a solid chance that Steven Stamkos will score 2 goals tomorrow, Marian Gaborik will score 1, and nobody else will score anything and they'll lose 2-1. And taking 2 from Pittsburgh is more realistic (they can definitely win the home game on Monday, I believe).

I leave this website in the hands of Bryan, whom I'll be seeing for some Thanksgiving hockey in less than an hour. I know Bryan was all set to write something last night, but then his daughter threw up because she ate too much. Since she ate dinner in my restaurant, I take full responsibility.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Prospal...

If Vinny Prospal actually does become 1st-line center and has a pretty decent year, it will be a huge bargain.

A "pretty decent year" for a 1st-line center in the Rangers' eyes is probably somewhere over 60 points, seeing as Scott Gomez had 58 last year (in 77 games). As in, "Oh, well, it was an improvement over Gomez."

A "pretty decent year" for someone making only $1.1M/year is somewhere around 30 points. As in, "Prospal played 3rd-line winger and scored 30 points. Not bad for 1.1 mill."

So imagine if he does score 65-70 points at only $1.1M? It will make a failure to trade for Brad Richards - a highly rumored, if possibly majorly incorrect school-of-thought - seem like the best thing that never happened.

No, before you attack and ask how many points Gomez would've had with Gaborik on his wing instead of the Ukranian Harry Houdini and an older, slower version of Markus Naslund, the answer is "a lot."

Gomez probably would've hit 80 points with Gaborik knocking the low-angle shots from the perimeter that he always took. But, with Gomez's money on the books, there is no way Gaborik in Manhattan ever would've happen. Thanks to the Great Fleece of '09, Gomez is wearing #91 next year in Quebec and Gaborik resumes the storied career of #10 on Broadway (as long as he triples Nigel Dawes' career-high of 29 points, I'll be happy).

Okay, I've said enough. All I meant today was that I do like the thought of Prospal playing for the Rangers, and if he happens to bounce back from a poor year last year (to be fair, everyone in Tampa Bay had a poor year - St. Louis, 80 points, Lecavalier, 67 points) than that would be fantastic.

And, yes, a great deal.

Rangers Fill Their Quota of Players Named "Vaclav"...

No, his real name isn't Vincent. He isn't Italian; he's Czech.

With the signing of Vaclav "Vinny" Prospal, the Rangers have added one more 3rd/4th line player, to join Artem Anisimov, Tyler Arnason, Donald Brashear, Enver Lisin, Aaron Voros, Brian Boyle, and anyone who might join the team from Hartford, namely Dane Byers, Pat Rissmiller, and P.A. Parenteau.

That's a lot of people for 6 or 7 roster spots. The Rangers also have 7 players for the top 2 lines: Drury, Higgins, Gaborik, Callahan, Dubinsky, Avery, Kotalik.

What am I saying? I'm saying something's got to be up, unless Sather forgot what happened last year.

Last year, he traded away Ryan Hollweg for a draft pick. Excellent move, especially when Hollweg got suspended during the preseason for checking from behind. To replace him, he signed Voros and Rissmiller with Colton Orr, Lauri Korpikoski, and Freddy Sjostrom already on the team. Bad move. That resulted in a salary cap ordeal, with Rissmiller being sent to the AHL and Voros riding pine until he was needed as an injury replacement for Drury and Blair Betts.

This year, there are a lot of forwards again. As the players keep signing and there is only 1 real scoring threat - Gaborik, obviously - the mind gets going.

Trade?

Probably something is in the works.

I'm not going to say that Dany Heatley will be a Ranger in the next 48 hours. I don't even know if I want that or if it's going to happen. But there is a glut of forwards for 13 or 14 roster spots, and that doesn't include a surprise that might happen, like Dale Weise or Brodie Dupont.

I am saying that this situation does lend itself nicely to a trade. It would appear Sather is stocking up forwards to package a few to get a superstar. Maybe not even a superstar, but a first-line center to feed Gaborik the puck, or a second-line sniper to take the defensive pressure off the first-line to free up ice for Gaborik. Of course, we can never underestimate the fact that this is Glen Sather we're talking about, and he might have no actual clue of what he's doing.

Of course, Dubinsky is the name that will be floated around, but don't be surprised if a Voros, Boyle, or Anisimov is included in the mix.

* * *

On Prospal: Prospal himself isn't a bad player, despite being bought out by Tampa Bay. He would've been great as a Ranger in 2005-06 as one of the Czech Mates, when he scored 80 points in 81 games. But since that is not an option, you have to assume that John Tortorella knows enough about him from their time in Tampa that he thinks he can contribute in New York.

He didn't score much last year - 19 goals, 45 points - but he does come at a discount. He had a 4 year, $14M deal with Tampa Bay ($3.5M/year) and since he was bought out, he is still getting $1.67M for the next 6 years, so him being a Ranger at $1.1M for one-year really isn't bad at all for either party.

Live Blog: New York Islanders vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

Today's Games

It wouldn't be a stretch to proclaim today as the biggest day in New York hockey so far this season.

Last night, the results went the way of the local clubs. The Rangers were spared a huge blow when the Panthers inexplicably lost to the Atlanta Thrashers at home. The Islanders' faithful are more than happy with the point Tampa Bay picked up last night against the Devils. The events of last night only serve to make today's action more interesting - as if things weren't already interesting enough.

Boston will have plenty to play for against the Rangers this afternoon - while home ice in the East seems a certainty for the Bruins, they'd love to nab the President's Trophy from San Jose. The Rangers were hardly inspiring on Thursday night, but perhaps last night's debacle in Florida will inspire the Blueshirts. Not only do they control their destiny once again, but a tie in points between the Rangers and Panthers will almost certainly result in a Rangers playoff berth, as Florida would have to make up two wins in four games. If the Rangers can pull off a win today, they'll be infinitely more secure in the top eight.

As for the Islanders, this one is going to be ugly. Both teams will obviously play hard. The Islanders have not laid down for anybody, while Tampa Bay silenced any talk of tanking with a valiant effort against the Devils last night. The atmosphere of the Coliseum will be bizarre, as Islanders fans will be rooting for the home team, but secretly hoping for a Lightning win. How will it play out? Only time will tell. But if the Lightning win, the Islanders will only have to "beat out" Colorado for the first seed in the Draft Lottery. In reality, the odds of the Islanders losing their spot to anybody are extremely long, but for Islanders fans who feel they've earned their crack at John Tavares or Victor Hedman, nothing is secure just yet.

By night's end, we'll know a lot more about the fates of both the Rangers and Islanders. Until then, though, this is going to be one exciting day of hockey.

EDIT, 12:35 PM: Odds are pretty good that I'll be doing a live blog of tonight's Islanders-Lightning game. If any of the other Blog Boxers are doing a live blog, I'll post a link to it later. Either way, this game promises to be excruciating, so there will be plenty of booze involved. There has to be.

Are We Safe?

After tonight's loss to the Wild, the Islanders have 56 points in 73 games. They're eight points clear of Colorado and Tampa Bay, each of whom have played 73 games as well. Atlanta has 66 points in 74 games; they're not catching the Islanders. Nor are the Coyotes, even though they've won like five games in 2009. So, in essence, it's a three-team race for the first overall pick.

The Islanders and Lightning play a proverbial "4-point game" on April 4th at the Coliseum. It'll be interesting to see how the fans respond to that game if things are still in doubt. Quite frankly, I don't think they will be. Aside from the Lightning, the Islanders have road games against Detroit, Washington, Carolina and Pittsburgh, and home games against Philadelphia (twice), Montreal and Boston. That's a lot of playoff teams. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay has games against Ottawa and Atlanta on the docket, while Colorado still has to play Phoenix and a Dallas team that could be out of contention by the time they play on April 9th.

Long story short? It's looking good. Still, we must remember that these are the Islanders we're talking about; NOTHING comes easy. That said, I've already requested a personal day on April 14th to recover from the excessive drinking that will surely come after the Draft Lottery. We can only hope it'll be celebratory drinking, not despair drinking. But hey, even if Tampa Bay wins the Lottery, they're likely to choose Victor Hedman. So, if the Islanders have the worst record and lose the lottery to the Lightning, they may land John Tavares after all.

---

Tonight's game was a bit frustrating. The Islanders dominated the first period, which ended in quite the fracas. And it's possible that the kerfluffle inspired the Wild to wake up and start playing. It probably had more to do with the Wild's goal with just a minute left in the first, but however you slice it, the Isles were outplayed in the final two periods. Hey, it happens, especially against a team fighting for its playoff lives.

But tonight's game was also inspiring. It seemed like once the Wild got comfortably ahead, they wanted to coast to the finish. The Islanders wouldn't let them. It was great to see guys like Blake Comeau and Kyle Okposo assert themselves physically; the only unfortunate part is that Okposo didn't throw down for the first time in his NHL career. Even so, the game proved to be quite the chippy tete-a-tete, the kind nobody thought they'd see between two teams that never play each other. In the middle of all of this was a Wild player named Cal Clutterbuck, a rookie who's proven quite adept at antagonizing pretty much everyone. Last night, he fought Sean Avery. Tonight, he was in the face of every Islander. He's a keeper.

It's always better to see teams play against the teams directly competing with them for playoff position. But this game proved to be a fun one. Or, at least, as much fun as the Wild and Jacques Lemaire will allow. The final eight of the East is almost sewn up. The West has a lot to be resolved in terms of playoff teams and playoff positioning. It's cool to be a part of that. But as for the Islanders' struggle for the first overall pick... it might very well be over.

NOTE: Colorado is getting killed 5-0 by Anaheim - at home, no less - in the second period. Thanks for showing up, guys.

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).

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.

17-8-2?...

From the Looks Can Be Deceiving Department, the Rangers are simply the worst 17-8-2 I've ever seen in my life.

First of all, yes, they have 36 points, and that's very good at the 27 game mark, and right now they are "in" first place. However, they've played more games than the followers. Boston has the same 36 points and have played 3 less games. One shootout loss, and the Bruins have more points. The Penguins have 31 points in 23 games. Hell, is the Devils go on a 5-game winning streak again, they would have the same exact record as our Blueshirts (they're 12-8-2 right now).

What I'm saying there is that while it's impressive, the numbers being spouted by Tom Renney (he said something like "we're 14-7 so I'm not worried" earlier this week) and MSG (specifically Stan Fischler) are false. First in the Eastern Conference. I guess. Until Boston plays their next game.

I don't even want to talk about today's game against Florida, but I guess I have to a minute. Florida, perennial basement-dwellers who came in with a dismal post-lockout, shootout-heavy 19 points in 22 games. The Rangers should've been angry about being taken to a shootout in the first game of this home-and-home, come out strong on home ice, and attacked them.

However, this roster isn't built for attack. Scott Gomez is strong on the puck, so is Chris Drury. Yet, both can't finish. If it's not Drury's stick breaking in half (not his fault, I know), it's Ryan Callahan shooting way too high on a shot 4 feet from the net (on a shot that seemed like an 85 degree angle), or it's Brandon Dubinsky, Drury, or Dan Girardi shooting directly into the Panther logo on Craig Anderson's jersey. 

Dubinsky, by the way, had 12 points in 13 October games and has had 4 since then. I should never have dropped Simon Gagne for him on my fantasy team. (I thought Gagne would get hurt again!)

Defense? What defense? On Thanksgiving, when the Detroit Lions gave up 47 points in their game against the Tennessee Titans, I was pretty sure I saw the Titans' RB Chris Johnson burning past Michal Rozsival while Marc Staal fell down.

What I'm saying is that it's an awful defense. And it shouldn't be. Rozsival was good once for the Rangers (actually, he had 2 good years... the first season after the lockout he wasn't good and didn't deserve an extension). Staal was rushed into the NHL and while he plays well a lot, when he makes mistakes, they glow. Dmitri Kalinin was a filler because they needed a 6th defenseman and were too short-sighted to use Andrew Hutchinson (who led the Wolfpack last year and is now a Dallas Star). Kalinin should've been a 4th line winger instead of a 6th d-man. Wade Redden was bad last year. He is bad this year. How bad will he be when he turns 37 and is in the last year of his Ranger contract? Paul Mara and Girardi do what they can, and while they don't light up the ice, I have no problem with them. In fact, I will proudly wear my Girardi #5 jersey Wednesday night at the Garden.

I know there apparently weren't many good defensemen on the free agent market last year (although Mark Streit is working out for the Islanders pretty well), but Redden was the worst choice they could've possibly made. Yes, he can make that all-important first-pass out of the zone. And yes, he sometimes has good defensive plays. But for $6.5M, was Glen Sather looking for sometimes?

The thing with the Rangers this year is that they normally try hard. While teams past would go down 2 goals and then phone it in the rest of the game, these Rangers normally fight back, and have erased a handful of 2-goal deficits this year. I say normally, because every now-and-today, there is a stinker. Two goals in 12 seconds to Florida? Florida had scored 52 goals in 22 games! And I'm pretty sure that figure includes shootout wins.

There are other good things about the Rangers (mostly Gomez, Blair Betts, and Henrik Lundqvist), but after today's frustrating, emotionless, passionless, half-hearted, heavy-legged "performance" in front of thousands of little kids, I choose not to dwell on them.

The Rangers played well against Phoenix, and well against Tampa Bay this week. Yes, they gave up a last-minute goal to Tampa, but they played well all game until that moment. However, that last-minute goal is beginning to be a problem. When you play two games against Florida and give up a goal with 90 seconds left and then get blown out in the next game, something is wrong. 

They got 6 points in 4 games against mediocre-at-best teams. However, it took an incredible Lundqvist (uh, today notwithstanding) and 2 tiebreaking shootouts for those points.

What happens when they face Montreal, Pittsburgh, Carolina, and Calgary in December? Not to mention 2 games against the suddenly-streaking Devils, a game against the notoriously hard-to-beat Islanders, and a 3-game swing out in California against Anaheim, the Kings, and San Jose?

This ship, starting from different personnel on the power play and out, needs to be righted, or a 7-game losing streak isn't far away. 17-14-2? Not as impressive, is it??

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.

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?

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!

How Good Are Predictions?...

We know the gig. Everyone from a famous magazine, to a beat writer, to a blogger, to a hack buying a sandwich at Hot & Crusty before a Rangers' game makes predictions on the season before the puck drops, based on trades, offseason signings, and personal biases. Yes, personal biases. How else do you explain me picking the Rangers to make the playoffs in 2005-06 when everyone had them as dead? How else do you explain me and Larry Brooks both proclaiming them Stanley Cup champions in 2006-07, or me sending them to the Finals again last year?

Well, ever wonder just how accurate these predictions are? Before last season, I wrote down predictions from 4 sources - me, Newsday's beat writer Steve Zipay, Eklund from that rumor website, and ESPN (don't know who wrote the article, though).

After the season, I wrote down the real finishing order of both conferences, compared, and contrasted. I gave 2 points if the team finished in the exact spot predicted, and 1 point if they finished in or out of the playoffs as predicted, but with a different finishing order. For Newsday, he just listed "playoff teams" without a specific order, so I gave him 2 points for every team that made the playoffs that he predicted. Okay, without further ado, the results...

Second Place (tie)

In last place was ESPN, who only predicted 2 out of 6 division winners correctly (San Jose and Detroit). They thought both Atlanta and the Southeast-winning Capitals would be worse than actual worst-in-the-league Tampa Bay. They did have a lot of playoff teams, especially in the West, where the only team they overlooked was Minnesota (giving the nod to the Canucks, instead). 

24 points

Second Place (tie)

The bronze medal goes to The Rivalry's own Zach, who homered like no other, picking the Rangers to win the Atlantic (2nd overall in the east behind Ottawa), then winning the Stanley Cup by beating Calgary. Wow. Both of my Finals teams were out by the 2nd round. I also only had two spots dead-on, as I correctly predicted the Red Wings-Predators first round match-up that was. I as well had Tampa Bay to win their division, but I also had Washington making the playoffs. Uh, I also had Toronto in the playoffs and conference-winning Montreal on the outside looking in. Predicting the Flyers and Bruins to miss the playoffs? My bad. Like ESPN, I had 7 of 8 playoff teams in, only choosing Vancouver over the Wild.

24 points

Second Place (tie)

Newsday's correspondent Steve Zipay decided to not list an order and just put in who he thought would skate in the playoffs. His East was not too good, picking the Leafs, Hurricanes, and Sabres over actual-playoff teams Boston, Montreal, and Washington. In the West, he redeemed himself, going the ever-popular 7 of 8. The only blemish on his record their was Vancouver's missing of the playoffs. The team he left out - Nashville.

24 points

First Place

As much as it pains me, that Guy from the Site that announced "rumors" came in first place last year. He predicted the Penguins to come in 2nd in the East, the Capitals to come in 3rd, the Red Wings to win the West (easiest and most popular pick there was, apparently). He also capitalized on being from Philadelphia by picking the Flyers to make the playoffs. His only two mistakes in the East were Buffalo and Toronto, as he left out the Bruins and the Devils. He actually predicted the Devils to finish in 14th, with only Atlanta below them. In the West, his one mistake was, yes, Vancouver. He left out Dallas, who ended up 5th and dispatched the defending champion Ducks. He had Dallas coming in 13th, behind lottery teams St. Louis and Los Angeles.

27 points

So, what did we learn here? It's pretty tough to accurately predict, which is why we can't take them too seriously. The time will come on this blog when me and Bryan will make predictions, and both will put our favorite team way too high on the list. Well, at least he will. I'll put the Rangers where they will be at season's end - 1st, and he'll put the Islanders where he hopes they'll be - 9th. 

And the moral of the story is not to pick the Vancouver Canucks to do anything except lose, a tidbit I should've remembered from the year after the lockout, when I predicted them and Ottawa to be in the Stanley Cup finals, only to have them not make the playoffs.

Who Improved and Where the Rangers Stand...

Last year, the Eastern Conference was a crapshoot. Much like David Caruso's career, Ottawa started real hot then dropped off the face of the Earth. Montreal and Pittsburgh, boosted by strong power plays, were the obvious best teams in the East, but they only rose to the top of the standings around early-March. Every other team was mediocre. 

If it was pre-lockout, the Rangers might not have made the playoffs, but they did last season because of Brendan Shanahan, Nigel Dawes, and Henrik Lundqvist's shootout performances. Washington clinched the playoffs on the last day possible. Carolina lost out on a playoff spot on the last day possible. Even the Islanders were relevant until March's injuries piled up. Boston made the playoffs for the first time since 2004 and nearly beat the #1 ranked Canadiens.

What I'm saying is that it's anybody's conference to take. In the West, you knew Detroit will be up there, and Anaheim, San Jose, and Dallas should make the playoffs, while Phoenix, LA, Chicago, Edmonton, St. Louis, and Columbus would be awful. 

Will anything change in the East this year? Probably not. Who really improved in the East in the offseason?

* * * 

Far and away the winners of the East are the Tampa Bay Lightning. Vaclav Prospal returns next season, Matt Carle is in on defense, and they signed Ryan Malone, Radim Vrbata (both people I think the Rangers should have tried to get), Gary Roberts, Olaf Kolzig, Mark Recchi, and power play QB Andrew Hutchinson. Oh, and Steven Stamkos should transition well in the NHL playing alongside Vinny Lecavilier. While their goaltending still is a question mark (Mike Smith and Kolzig are both a half-step up from being backup goaltenders), their beefed up offense should make up for a shaky back half. The only one missing from their team is expensive Dan Boyle, but now that they have an owner who wants to spend money, a trade deadline deal for a top defender is certainly possible.

Atlanta was awful last season and should be this season. They did rob the Penguins blind in the Marian Hossa deal, but Angelo Esposito probably won't catch fire this season, even if he makes the roster. The additions of Erik Christensen and Colby Armstrong from Pittsburgh do help, but they are role players who aren't going to pot you 40 goals like Hossa would have. When your big offseason acquisition is named Ron Hainsley, you aren't moving forward.

Florida is also a team that is going nowhere. They might be the worst franchise in all of professional sports, Knicks included. They traded Olli Jokinen for a bundle of nothing, somehow re-signed Jay Bouwmeester even though we all know that he will not be there next season. Their lone spotlights are Nathan Horton and Tomas Vokoun. These guys are not a threat for anything except John Tavares in next year's Entry Draft.

Finishing off the Southeast, the Hurricanes and Capitals stood pat. While cash-strapped Carolina would up getting the defender they needed in Joni Pitkanen, it cost them heart-and-soul man Erik Cole. Yes, they signed Darcy Hordichuk, but can a 4th line goon lift you over the hump and into the playoffs? After making the playoffs last year, the Capitals decided to go with the same team this year. Sergei Federov, a good deadline deal, is back for another older, slower season, and their goaltending tandem of Jose Theodore and Brent Johnson is not as good as Kolzig and Christobal Huet were last year.

Long story short: One team will make the playoffs from the Southeast, and that's just because those are the rules.

* * * 

In the Northeast division, the Toronto Maple Leafs aim to miss the playoffs for the 4th straight year, which would be a new team record. Overpaying for Jeff Finger, trading for Jamal Mayers and Ryan Hollweg, not-yet-re-signing Mats Sundin or moving Bryan McCabe. I like GM Cliff Fletcher, but what exactly is he doing?

The Montreal Canadiens improved by leaps and bou-- no, they didn't improve at all. They missed the boat on Hossa, they probably won't get Sundin, but don't worry, Georges Laraque has arrived in Montreal! Alex Tanguay should help their already strong offense though and he came cheap in the form of just draft picks. They shouldn't miss Mark Streit on the power play too much, but can Alex Kovalev have another great season? While they are a good team still, the fact is, they aren't much better than last year, if at all.

The Boston Bruins signed unproven, unmotivated forward Blake Wheeler (although he did want to play in Beantown) and overpaid for Michael Ryder to replace Glen Murray. Is that any way to build a playoff contender? However, I think they would take a step forward if they would finally just admit to themselves that Tim Thomas is their starting goaltender. This guy is so motivated it's incredible.

Buffalo... uhhh, did the Sabres have an offseason? Yes, they traded away Steve "Brian Campbell" Bernier. Campbell's replacement is Craig Rivet, a journeyman who, while solid, won't stop a Crosby, Ovechkin, or Malkin from scoring. They also re-signed the aging, unhealthy Teppo Numinen, presumably as a locker room presence. 

Ottawa's big offseason move was what they didn't do - they didn't trade Antoine Vermette, which is huge. He can be a great player if any of their Big 3 - Heatley, Spezza, Alfredsson - falter or get hurt like in 2007-08. Their goaltending is a question mark as well, with Martin Gerber and the well-traveled Alex Auld standing guard. That shouldn't inspire confidence in Canada's capital.

* * * 

Now, the East. I won't dwell too much on the Rangers, but regardless of what you think of their offseason moves, they are a better team today than they were in May.

Wade Redden and Dmitri Kalinin, and whoever turns out to be the 7th d-man are better than the likes of Tyutin, Backman, Malik, and Strudwick. Plus, Paul Mara returned at a discount, and Marc Staal and Dan Girardi should continue to excel this season.

Markus Naslund and Nik Zherdev are being counted on to have comeback years, and that may be asking a lot, but atleast the offense is styled differently. Plus, their power play should click this year without Jaromir Jagr to receive passes from Michal Rozsival and Marty Straka.

The one big loss is Sean Avery, a winger who could change games with his gritty style as well as put the puck home in big situations (just ask Martin Brodeur). Losing Ryan Hollweg for a draft pick was a no-brainer, and Aaron Voros and/or Patrick Rissmiller will take over his role and make it more offensive as well.

Did the Pittsburgh Penguins improve? Not too much. As well as losing roster players in Christensen and Armstrong and a top prospect in Esposito, they essentially traded hometown-boy Ryan Malone and Hossa for Miro Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko, two middling wingers who had bad seasons. Their bright spot of the offseason was getting Brooks Oprik back when it looked like he would be on the way out. They still have their core, and they will be dangerous, no doubt. But they question is, did they improve? The answer has to be no, they did not.

We all know the Islanders' problems, starting with Charles Wang and Garth Snow and moving out. Streit should help the team and make up for losing Marc-Andre Bergeron and Bryan Berard with the man-advantage.  Doug Weight will help as well, that is until February, when he along with a bunch of other expiring-contracts are traded to contenders for draft picks and prospects.

It was Old Timer's Day in July for the Devils, as they signed former players Bobby Holik, Brian Rolston, and Scott Clemmensen as their 3rd goalie. Rolston is a great utility man, but I think the Devils will overuse him. Holik is a serviceable 3rd line center these days, but the days of him shutting down other teams top lines are over. They also overpaid for Bryce Salvador, but they did need a big body on the blueline. While Rolston was a good pick-up, their defense is still holier than the Bible Belt, and their offense can't make up for it. However, while I expect big years from Zach Parise and Travis Zajac, I can't say they improved much.

The Flyers were active in getting Glen Metropolit in his declining years, Steve Eminger, a few Finnish defensemen whose names I can't pronounce, and re-signing Jeff Carter, but it came at the cost of young gun R.J. Umberger and Prospal. Still, I would say the Flyers improved, if only slightly. Their defense is suspect with Derian Hatcher still there and Jaroslav Modry gone, but Braydon Coburn can only get better. Him and Kimmo Timonen on the same pairing could be one of, if not the best in the East.

* * * 

I didn't mean for this to be this long, and if you made it this far, I applaud you.

Who improved? Tampa, for sure. Probably the Flyers. Other teams just swapped one player for another, getting rid of a Malone for a Satan, or a Sergei Brylin for a Holik. That doesn't necessarily make them a better team, just the same team with different names on the back.

On paper, it appears the Rangers are one of the most-improved teams in the East, if not only by their additions then by their subtractions. That's not to say I didn't love Jagr and Straka and Shanahan, but it will be a completely different team, and that can't hurt.

Two Players Our Teams Won't Be Signing...

1) News yesterday broke that Wade Dubielewicz won't be playing in the NHL next season broke, rending my "What to Du?" and other such titled posts irrelevant. 

He will be playing in Russia, and count me in as a surprised party of one. The new Russian league, while it will not nearly be on par as the NHL (Jamie Heward, who spent last season there, said it would be 50 years before the talent level equals the NHL), might steal a few borderline NHL players this year.

If Dubie could have gotten $700,000 this year from an NHL club, it would translate to around $380,000 because the NHL pays players in shares, first of all, not money. Then, minus agent fees and taxes, and that's what he's left with. A nice chunk of change, absolutely, especially for the 25-30 games he would have played at most, but nothing compared to what the Russians are offering, especially if the tax-free rumors are correct.

2) Ryan Malone will not be a Ranger next season. Not that he was ever close (as far as we know). Rumors have him already being signed in Tampa Bay. Huge gain for the Lightning; huge loss for the Rangers. 

Malone, 28, could have given the Rangers a gritty winger who could put the puck in the net, especially on the power play, for the next 6 years. He would be better suited for Chris Dr

ury, but would also seamlessly play with Scott Gomez. 

No doubt the Rangers would have contacted his agent on July 1, but Tampa Bay received his rights for a 3rd round pick (4th round if he didn't sign with them). I believe the Rangers do have their 3rd round pick in 2009, and if not, what about a 2nd round pick if you think you can sign him?

Now, they will no doubt overpay for someone on the free agent market come Tuesday. God help us all if Marian Hossa comes to town.

Revisiting the DP Deal

Word out of Tampa Bay is that the Lightning are on the verge of completing a "lifetime" deal with Vincent Lecavalier. It's supposed to be a nine-year deal to finish out Lecavalier's playing career, followed up by some kind of coaching or front-office job for Lecavalier's golden years. Not a bad idea; Lecavalier certainly is deserving of a big contract and has proven his worth to the Lightning for many years. Good job, guys.

Now can we finally leave Charles Wang alone?

Seriously. The Alexei Yashin deal, we'll ignore for the time being. Not because it wasn't an awful deal (it was), but because it was signed nearly seven years ago. More relevant to the Lecavalier signing is the Rick DiPietro deal from 2006, a deal that was criticized by pretty much everybody. The whole thing was a bit dubious, what with Wang handling the negotiations with DiPietro's agent directly, but the deal isn't nearly as bad as it was made out to be. DiPietro is making $4.25 million a year; he'd get significantly more than that as a free agent. His contract might look bad after year ten or so, but for the seven seasons between then and now, the Islanders will have DiPietro at or below market value.

But the real proof is in the emulation of this deal. Mike Richards for twelve years. Alexander Ovechkin for ten years. Now, Lecavalier for nine. Was Wang really that crazy after all?

I say he wasn't, and it's not because I'm an Islander fan. You need stability in goal to be a good team; look at the Flyers' teams over the past decade for proof of that. Besides, goalies don't take the pounding of average players and so are more durable. If DiPietro's hip troubles don't prove to be chronic, the Isles got themselves a great deal for much of the contract's duration. And the Ovechkin and Lecavalier deals will prove to be just as beneficial for Washington and Tampa Bay respectively.

In these uncertain times, the NHL is heading down a familiar path of fiscal responsibility. Although the salary cap was intended to curtail overspending, teams are tempted more than ever to spend on free agents since the cap is rising each year. Worse, the floor isn't rising with it, so the same economic disparities we became accustomed to around the turn of the century will be back before we know it. It's these long-term deals that may be the best deals of all. Who would you rather have on your team - a 26-year-old DiPietro on the verge of becoming an elite goalie, with thirteen more years at $4.25 per, or a washed-up and untradeable Bryan McCabe? Sort of makes you wonder which GMs are really the smartest.

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.

* * * 

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.

- - - 

 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.

* * * 

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?

- - - 

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.

Jerseys...

Sean Avery, fresh off his gig as an intern at Men's Vogue, edited an article about the 20 worst sports uniforms of all-time.

One of them highlights the Dallas Stars third jersey, as modeled by Marty Turco, which includes a bull's head (because of Texas) with varying stars inside and one flying star on the outside. The jersey is a pretty poor concept for two reasons. One, it doesn't make much sense, and in fact in no way resembles anything close to hockey. However, the real reason is because it's obscene.

Don't see the resemblance to a woman's reproductive system? Let's just say that the only NHLer who should have worn this jersey was Filip Kuba, because his name bears an uncanny resemblence to Fallopian Tube.

By the way, we now have our own domain name, so please bookmark (CTRL + D) http://www.nyhockeyrivalry.com. If you go to the old blogspot site, it will redirect you here.