Big Scoop Needed to Clean-Up Blueshirts' Bullshit After Blueland Blowout

ATLANTA—Bottom-feeding Atlanta was the latest team to “kick the crap” out of the Rangers … and boy did it stink!

Bolstered by boisterous Blueland* boosters, the Thrashers thoroughly throttled the Rangers throughout tonight’s tilt. The game’s final score of 5-3 was no indication of how one-sided it was for 50 minutes.

Although one could say that Rangers goaltender, Henrik Lundquist, was good enough to keep the Rangers in the game early, it is a moot point because the Rangers didn’t bother to show up for the game at all.

Before the Rangers finally exerted themselves midway through the third period, Atlanta had already built an insurmountable 4-0 lead on goals by Pascal Dupruis, Slava Koslov, Todd White and Bryan Little. Marian Hossa later added the fifth Thrasher goal.

Third period goals by Dan Girardi, Brendan Shanahan** and Scott Gomez would have given the Rangers a respectable result, if they hadn’t just lost to an Atlanta team who came into the game with a record of 0-6-0 and a league worst 4.50 goals against average.

In reality the Rangers play dropped another level, going from the gutter to the sewer.

In trying to direct blame at specific Ranger players, the human body unfortunately doesn’t have enough fingers (or toes) to accomplish the task. But one player who simply cannot escape my finger’s poke is Rangers defenseman, Thomas Pock.

Pock, perpetually posing as a practice pylon, proved to be the perfect replacement for much-maligned, Marek Malik. Although Pock had his share of giveaways (with at least one egregious offender), he probably didn’t quite match Malik’s nightly quota. This, however, was only because Pock was too busy watching Thrashers skate around him all night, while letting other Thrashers plant themselves in front of the net as goals were being scored.

Overall, Pock had a minus 2 rating for the evening and was on the ice for 3 of Atlanta’s 5 goals.

Even the three late Ranger power play goals weren’t much consolation for the Blueshirts special teams, because the Rangers managed to give up 2 power play goals and a short-handed goal themselves.

This chemistry experiment is quickly turning into a dismal failure, while mad professors, Tom Renney and Glen Sather, desperately continue their search for the missing combination of ingredients. Should they fail to find the winning formula, the Rangers laboratory will soon be boarded-up and declared a disaster area by New York governor, Eliot Spitzer.

*Blueland is the nickname for Atlanta’s home rink, Philips Arena.

Humorist’s Hindsight: **That was no misprint—Brendan Shanahan actually scored a goal. This just goes to show you that even an old, broken clock is right twice a day. Now should Shanny net another 25 or 30 goals this season, I will be happy to issue a public apology over my last post entitled: R.I.P.—Shanahan’s Scoring Succumbs to Old Age After 19+ Seasons.

Courtesy of The Hockey Humorist - http://hockeyhumorist.blogspot.com/

Anticipation: Philly Style

After easing my summertime hockey withdraw at rookie camp this morning, I felt it was about time my Philadelphia season preview was written. We have been called the most improved team in the NHL by Sports Illustrated, and unless you've been hiding under a rock this off-season, you know why. We weren't the team that got arguably the top 2 free agent centres (NY Rangers - Drury, Gomez) to bolster our offense, but we were the team that reconstructed it's roster, from top to bottom.

For those of you who haven't beeen enlightened, I'll give a brief synopsis.

Before season's end, the Flyers newly appointed GM, Paul Holmgren started the re-vamping of the roster. As the trade deadline approached, Holmgren decided it was in the best interest of the club to part ways with captain Peter Forsberg. Foppa was sent to Nashville in return for highly regarded defensive prospect Ryan Parent, a 1st round pick in the upcoming Entry Draft, and quick fan favorite Scottie Upshall. If that wasn't enough, he kept going. He acquired Buffalo goaltender Martin Biron for a 2nd round pick (T.J. Brennan), Atlanta defenseman Braydon Coburn, and Chicago defenseman Lasse Kukkonen. Not bad for only a few weeks of work.

Prior to one of the most anticipated free agency periods in recent memory, Holmgren showed the hockey world that he was here to stay by sending the Pred's 1st round pick (Jonathan Blum) back to them and acquiring offensive-defeseman Kimmo Timonen and budding power forward Scott Hartnell. Soon after shocking the hockey community with his bold move, he prepared for a free agency period that would truly change the face of the franchise, as if it wasn't different enough. Just hours into free agency, Holmgren signed star centre Daniel Briere to an 8 year, $52 million, front-loaded contract. Later in the day he continued to reassure fans by trading away frustrating defenseman Joni Pitkanen and talented, but over-the-hill forward Geoff Sanderson to Edmonton. In return the Flyers acquired locker room favorite Jason Smith and potential-driven winger Joffrey Lupul.

Whew...not-so-brief. Thanks for sticking with me. Almost done.

Many analysts are writing the Flyers off as not making the playoffs this upcoming season. What one needs to remember is that the Flyers, prior to last season, were riding a streak of 11 straight seasons making the playoffs. Another thing that people are seeming to forget is that the year prior to last season, the Flyers still had a lot of their leaders from previous years in the lineup, notably Keith Primeau (even injured, his presence was more than enough), Eric Desjardins, and Chris Therien, all of whom retired the following off-season. Point being, last year is not what people should be going by when they think of the Flyers. Even towards the end of last season, we were a competing opponent. Here is a fact that may be making you re-think our team at the end of last year: of our 19 games after the trade deadline, 13 of them were either losses by 1 goal or wins. That's 68%. That same stat before the trade deadline is 33 games out of 63, being 52%. You can't tell me that this year's team should be judged by last years overall measures after that fact.

The keys to success this season lie in chemistry, special teams, and depth. There is no doubt that the Flyers might be the best team on paper going into this season, but if there is no chemistry on the ice, the paper doesn't mean anything. Our powerplay last season was hard to watch. In fact, it felt like we had more scoring chances on our penalty kill - I wouldn't be surprised if the numbers are close. Now that we have powerplay specialist Timonen and penalty kill specialist Smith, we should have improved both areas significantly. Regarding depth, the Flyers need to prove that they can stay healthy, and if not, still succeed. 05-06 was a good year for the Flyers in that area; we set a season high for man days lost to injuries yet still made the playoffs. We had a lot of help from the minors, to say the least. What needs to happen this year is that youngsters like Ryan Potulny (a personal favorite), Steve Downie, Ryan Parent, Lars Jonsson, Stefan Ruzicka, and Ben Eager have to show that if their time comes, they are up to the task.

There aren't too many roster spots open going into training camp as of right now (0 centers, 1 wing, 0 defensemen), so look for the roster to look like it does now going into the regular season. It should be a good one Philadelphia fans. Let's just forget about last year and be excited about this one!

There were a few other points I wanted to touch on (division challenges, possible captainship, etc.), but for the sake of brevity, I'll hold off.

Otherwise, let's go Flyers!!

Michael McKinley...a true hockey writer

This is what CBC tells us about Michael:
A Vancouver resident, Michael McKinley has penned several hockey-themed best-sellers, including The Magnificent One: The Story of Mario Lemieux, Hockey Hall of Fame Legends, Putting a Roof on Winter and Etched on Ice. He has also written for The Guardian (London), The Los Angeles Times and Sports Illustrated. McKinley was selected by the CBC to write the English-language book that will accompany the Hockey: A People's History television series, set for publication in October 2006.

And here's what Random House says about him:
The author of Putting a Roof on Winter and The Magnificent One: The Mario Lemieux Story, Michael McKinley is also a journalist, a documentary filmmaker, and a screenwriter. A Vancouver native, he was educated at the University of British Columbia and at Oxford University. His journalism has appeared in England, the US, and Canada, including the Guardian, Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, and the National Post. He has also written and produced several documentaries for CNN and an episode of South Park.

And here's what Bleu, Blanc et Rouge says about him:
You may have seen him on CBC, read his books, or witnessed him playing pick-up hockey somewhere where ice exists this winter, Michael McKinley's the hockey writer and more importantly, hockey fan, you want to meet.
He was kind enough to offer us some insight on his life and hockey through this interview, and also tells perhaps the best story of Lord Stanley's Cup journey as written in his succesful book Hockey: A People's History and as seen in the television show on CBC (same name).
Thanks again Michael, I hope you all enjoy it!

1) First off, I'd like to congratulate you on your book's "Hockey: A People's History" success.
Tell us, what prompted you to write it in the first place?
Thank you. It was a pleasure to write, and I hope I did the story justice.

I was invited to write the companion book to the CBC TV series “Hockey: A People’s History”, as well as the accompanying children’s book, “Ice Time: The Story of Hockey,” largely because of my previous hockey history, “Putting a Roof on Winter,” which some of the people planning the CBC series had read and liked.

I was inspired by the scope of the project, and the chance to tell as much of the story of this great sport as we could on both page and screen.
It's an epic tale that touches practically all of North America, and this would be the first time that I know of that the (largely North American) history of the game could be found under one cover, as it were.
It was an amazing experience for me, because I benefited so much from working with the TV people, who would send me their research and interviews with people and about places and teams that it would have taken me five years to compile.

2) Growing up, who was your favourite player, your favourite team?
I grew up in Vancouver, and despite having the Canucks to cheer for (or boo and hiss at, for the longest time), I loved the Montreal Canadiens.
I even made my own Montreal hockey sweater using a white sweat shirt and blue and red felt pens when my mother had committed the sin of buying me a Toronto Maple Leaf hockey sweater (yep, I was just like that kid in Roch Carrier's classic tale The Hockey Sweater, except he was in Quebec and I was in Vancouver).
I loved Guy Lafleur for his speed and skill and seemingly effortless ability to light up whatever goalie he was playing against.
The Canadiens of the 1970s defined hockey for me.

3) Now, who is your current favourite player and team?
My favourite player is Trevor Linden, and my favourite team is the Vancouver Canucks (I have a 2.5 year old daughter and she likes the Canucks, so I have to humour her).
I live in just had the pleasure of writing a profile on Linden for Vancouver Magazine, which you can find right here.
Linden is the kind of player who gives you everything he's got in every game he plays.
He's also a tireless worker off ice on behalf of kids with illnesses or who are in tough circumstances, and he does it all without calling any attention to himself.
He scored the winning goal in Vancouver's seventh-game first round playoff victory against Dallas, and he represents the best of that franchise.
He's a great role model to the young Canucks who are coming up, and I hope he signs another deal with the C's next season, as he's currently at the end of a one-year contract.

4) Is Atlanta GM Don Waddell to blame, especially after litteraly selling the farm to get Tkachuk and Zhitnik at the deadline?
I think GM's are under all kinds of quick fix pressures come the trading deadline (and to win the Cup, always), and so I wouldn't single out Don Waddell as being especially ruthless.
He gambled, and his acquisition of Tkachuk and Zhitnik helped Atlanta close out the season quite strongly and got them a playoff spot, because that too was in danger at the trading deadline.
However, Tkachuk bombed in the playoffs, and so did his team.
Waddell just lost his playoff bet; the Thrashers lost the playoff series.
He also gave up some draft picks, and this is the other part of the bet-- hindsight --if those traded picks turn into something.

5) Could Team USA make a serious run to win the upcoming World Hockey Championship? How do the other teams look heading into the event?
You know, I've so preoccupied with the end of the NHL season and the first round of the playoffs that I've paid little attention at all to the Worlds.
I do think that Canada has great goaltending in Cam Ward and Dwayne Roloson, and with a couple of Staal brothers in the line-up should go deep.
The USA has a lot of young guys in their lineup, and who knows-- they might come together as a contender.
It bodes well for the future of US hockey.

6) The Battle of California: the Ducks and Sharks are both very good hockey clubs, wouldn't it be interesting if they faced off and battled to make it to the Stanley Cup Final?
It would be a great series if the Ducks and Sharks met-- but big, tough San Jose has to get through skilled and savvy Detroit, and that's no small task.
Similarly, Anaheim, also a crash and bash team with some serious skill has to contend with the Canucks, who were shocked back into their A-game by Dallas.
The Canucks already had their playoff scare, and I think will play this series in a "nothing to lose" kind of way, and that will be dangerous for the Ducks.

7) Calgary, Vancouver and Ottawa are the only Canadian teams to make the playoffs this year, should the NHL consider bringing new franchises north of the border as to attract more fans in a hockey-crazy Canadian market?
I'd love to see NHL franchises in Winnipeg, Quebec City, Halifax (where the game began), and one in Regina.
The NHL can't seriously say that the inclusion of these cities will harm their ability to get a lucrative TV deal in the USA. I mean, look at the TV deal they have now.
The addition of competitive teams in hockey crazy cities would only make the NHL look good, and attract more hockey fans, period.
The league should be looking for success in place where its already waiting for them.

8) Since we're talking about the playoffs, maybe you could share with us who was this Lord Stanley and how did his "Cup" become the most renowned and sought after trophy in all of sports?
Frederick Stanley (AKA Lord Stanley of Preston) was the Governor-General of Canada from 1888 to 1893.

He was an aristocrat, the younger son of the 14th Earl of Derby, who had also been Prime Minister of England. Stanley had been a Member of Parliament himself, as well as an army officer, but at heart he was a gregarious sportsman who loved the vast potential of the new world—and he loved hockey, when he saw his first game at the Montreal Winter Carnival of 1889.

Soon, Stanley’s sons Arthur and Algernon were playing the game on a team called the Rideau Rebels, after Rideau Hall, the Governor-General’s official residence in Ottawa.
His daughter Isobel played in the first recorded women’s hockey match in Ottawa 1891 (though she—and women –played well before that), and Stanley built himself a rink at Rideau Hall and was known to play as well—even on Sundays, which earned him some grief for blaspheming on the Sabbath.

Stanley owned shares in the Ottawa rink in which his favourite hockey team played, the Ottawa Hockey Club, and while he would have loved to see them win his “Dominion Challenge Trophy”, that was not why he gave the sport this extraordinary gift.

The idea of such a trophy had been around in Canadian journals and saloons from the early 1890s, and Stanley saw that hockey was indeed Canada’s “national winter sport”.
Stanley had traveled across Canada, and he saw a young country of huge size and sparse population that was a British dominion next door to much more populous and republican USA. He saw a challenge trophy as a way to express Canadian national identity and to unite a far-flung people through hockey by making it possible, for example, for a team from the Yukon to play a team from Ottawa (as happened in 1905) for what was soon known as the Stanley Cup.
Stanley also saw the widespread play of hockey as a way to keep young men of military service age in shape during the winter, since there were real fears that the US might try to expand its borders.

So the Stanley Cup has a rich history for its being, and a great irony at its core: Lord Stanley never saw a match played for his trophy because he went back to England on the death of his older brother in July 1893 to become the 16th Earl of Derby.
The first Stanley Cup was awarded a few months later.

To me, it’s the greatest sports trophy in the world not just because it’s the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, nor because you have to win sixteen games over a gruelling two month schedule to win it, but because what began as a nationalistic enterprise is now truly international—hockey players from all over the world can come together to compete for it and to win it, not as a nation, but as a team made up of different nationalities who for this season, prove it belongs to them.

9) In your opinion, what does the NHL need to do in order to draw more fans in a "light" American hockey market?
The NHL needs to change its nutbar schedule, so that we here in Vancouver see the Habs or the Leafs or Sidney Crosby more than once every three years. How can you get fans of any stripe excited here if they're seeing Edmonton or Minnesota for the eighth time in a season (and vice versa)? The NHL they want to build regional rivalries. Yes, well, having exciting players and famous teams come in will make the home side play hard, and rivalry will ensue-- if only for that game. Give us some variety. A lot of GM's feel the same way, but a few Eastern GM's are happy with the current schedule, because they can play in their own time zone for months on end, and life is easy. For instance, Martin Brodeur didn't play a game outside of the eastern time zone from November 27 to the end of the season. Sure, a couple of games were in Florida, but it makes a huge difference to the wear and tear on a team and their budget if they can travel to games by bus.

10) And finally, what do you think of my blog? Does it need more Michael McKinley content to spruce it up?
Your blog is great, and I'd be happy to contribute to it whenever you like.
If the Canucks go deep in the playoffs, I'll have lots more to say!

And that's it!

I hope you've enjoyed this little tidbit of mine, it goes along nicely with two other informative interviews the Ghost posted earlier today.

I wonder what's next from Michael?

Canadiens: The Story of the franchise from the Man whose mother bought him a Maple Leafs jersey.

Just kidding there!

Have a good one everyone!

Thrashers should go back to Hedberg...

After tuning in to last night's MSG Rangers-Thrashers broadcast transmitted on TSN, I noticed that Kari Lehtonen was in net and I was actually very surprised.

Lehtonen had a paltry Game 1 playoff debut, in which he allowed 4 goals on 38 shots, respectable but what wasn't respectable was the two softies he let in, which ultimately cost him his Game 2 start.

Johan Hedberg, a respected figure in the dressing room and a decent goalie, got the nod from Bob Hartley in Game 2, the last game at the Phillips Arena before Atlanta would head to the Big Apple.

Hedberg ended up having a monster of a game and was unlucky on two un-stoppable goals as the Trashers lost 2-1 and went down 2 games to none in the series.
I actually thought Hedberg played more than a monster of a game...but a HELL OF A GAME!

The guy was phenomenal and it looked as if he was the only one willing to win as the Thrashers put up another less-than-stellar performance for their anxious fans.
Had it not been for him and his acrobatic saves-which have followed him through one end of the continent to the other (and no, not like Hasek, his acrobacy was more systematic if you like), the game would've had a similar ending to last night's horrific and certainly embarrassing 7-0 loss to the Rangers.

I understand Hartley's logic to go back to Lehtonen in Game 3, he's their man, and he thought that his young Finnish netminder had understood the message sent to him once he found out his backup goalie would start Game 2.

He obviously didn't, and it made Hartley look like a total fool for putting him in.
I think his going back to Lehtonen after Hedberg's awesome performance was mainly because he wanted to be perceived well by the media and the fans.
Look, I played Hedberg in Game 2 and he played great, but, I'm going with Lehtonen for Game 3.

He was going through with one of those high-risk decisions, kind of like Guy Carbonneau putting Cristobal Huet in net after missing 2 months for the most important game of the season, so if the gamble was pulled-off succesfully, he would be praised, and if not, end up like Carbonneau.

This Cristobal Huet move backfired and Carbonneau's been getting burned by many ignorant fans, and Hartley is almost certainly being seen the same way.

And I can tell you one thing, if the Thrashers want to salvage that last ray of sunshine, Johan Hedberg better play, otherwise, you know Hartley's just being plain stubborn.

And on top of it all, it's a back-to-back situation, with the Thrashers playing tonight at the MSG after playing 24 hours earlier.

Lehtonen is 0-2 these playoffs with a 7.11 GAA and a .849 SPCT%, kind of worse than last season's version of Marty Turco.
Hedberg is also winless but with a 2.04 GAA and a .949 SPCT%.

Is it really that hard to decide who will play?

Goalies Johan and Johan stand tall...

Johan Hedberg, Thrashers.
Johan Holmqvist, Lightning.

in case you hadn't guessed that by now...

Rangers/Thrashers
Johan Hedberg actually played very well for Atlanta, he made 37 saves, and despite the 2-1 loss, he was not to blame.

The first goal was an unlucky bounce after an Avert dump-in along left-wing boards, he went out to play the puck but it ended up taking a funny bounce and going in to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead.
Ilya Kovalchuk scored a great goal early in the 3rd period, he snapped the puck past a screened Lundqvist top-shelf.

It was all for none as Sean Avery buried his second of the game with 4 minutes remaining on a lunging Hedberg in the slot to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead heading back to MSG.

Lightning/Devils
After a paltry performance in Game 1, Johan Holmqvist stepped his game up, and led the Lightning to a surprising 3-2 victory over Brodeur's Devils.

What surprised me more, is that Johan was able to outplay the Devils' netminder, after a really crappy show in Game 1.

The big guys, Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis carried Tampa to victory with a little help from Filip Kuba, who scored a short-handed marker in the first and Martin Brodeur, who clearly wasn't on his game especially after allowing St. Louis' goal from a seemingly impossible angle.

"I was just trying to put it on net and get some air underneath it," St. Louis said. "I don't know where it went but it found its way in."

Brodeur's reply.

"I was there, it just went through me," Brodeur said. "I would love to have it back, but it doesn't work like that in hockey. He had nothing to lose and he hammered it as hard as he could and it went through me."

Zach Parise continued his fine play and scored for the Devils, on the powerplay late in the first, and Jamie Langenbrunner had the other New Jersey goal.

Pens/Sens
Very good game by both teams, especially Ottawa for the most part.
Pittsburgh really woke up in the third period.

The Sens kept their play cool and organised all game long, you can tell there was nothing to complain except the powerplay if Bryan Murray wasn't over his head after the game.
But, the powerplay is not very cool at all. (1 for 9 in this game)

"They got a goal on their first shot and our power play wasn't very good - understatement - but I thought that we really didn't give up any chances for two periods," Senators coach Bryan Murray said. "We couldn't score enough to do any damage and at least get the game in a position where you could just play a checking game. And then they played a great third period."

Sidney Crosby scored on a mirror-play of Alfredsson's setup by Spezza and Heatley ON THE POWERPLAY in the second, that proved to be the game-winner.

Crosby scored just two minutes after another youngstar, Jordan Staal sniped it passed Ray Emery to tie the game at 3.

Jason Spezza scored for Ottawa, and so did Chris Kelly.

Ryan Whitney and Gary Roberts scored powerplay goals for Pittsburgh, respectively in the first and third period and Marc-Andre Fleury rebounded after a terrible playoff debut, and made 34 saves.

He also stoned Mike Fischer with a little over 10 second remaining to steal the win for his team.

Ray Emery was not-so-hot, and he needs to step up his play a notch.
He allowed 4 goals on 21 shots, hardly the .918 SPCT% he put up in the regular season.

Isles/Sabres
Wow, just a good all-around game, thanks for giving us a nice performance!

The Islanders were a completely different team in Game 2, they scored the first goal and even went ahead 2-0 before the Sabres crawled back to tie it.
They had 1 shot in the first period in Game 1, well, in Game 2 they had 12.

Trent Hunter and Bruno Gervais put the Isles up 2-0, and in response, defencemen Tony Lydman and Dmitri Kalinin (who played an awesome game) tied the game at 2.

Rick DiPietro was MARVELOUS in his first game back in nearly a month, and made so many spectacular saves to lead New York to an upset 3-2 win over Buffalo.
The game-winner came from Marc-Andre Begeron on the powerplay, with 10 minutes left to play.

The Sabres, played a good game, but not good enough in Lindy Ruff's eyes.

"We weren't moving our feet," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "Obviously, we want to clean up the first 10 minutes of the game (when the Islanders went up 2-0)."

"It was nice," DiPietro said of the win. "We did a lot of the things we talked about."

It looks like they actually listened to Ted Nolan for a change, anyhow, the series is tied at 1 heading in New York...

-Ottawa will be looking for revenge in PIT, as they face Crosby and the Penguins today at 6:00 PM...Read More

-Calgary tries to even things up today at 1:00 against Detroit while they get Robyn Regehr back while the Wings don't get Bertuzzi back... Read More

-Two "late" games includes Minnesota, at home, trying to come back from a 2-0 deficit to the Anaheim Ducks...Read More...and the 'Nucks trying to take the lead against the Stars in Dallas...Read More

Until later...

Just a few quick notes...

Before I watch the Preds and Sharks on TSN, here's a few headlines that made way in the last few hours:

-Ray Whitney has signed a 3-year $10.5 million contract extension with the Hurricanes.
Whitney's having a good season and he was set to be a UFA this summer.
-Johan Hedberg will start for the Thrashers in Game Two of the Thrash-Rangers series tomorrow, he will replace Kari Lehtonen who allowed 4 goals on 38 shots in a 4-3 loss to the Rangers in Game 1 and the 4th goal the Rangers scored won't be forgotten, and it wasn't by his coach, Bob Hartley.
Hedberg has playoff experiece and he is apparently very respected in the dressing room.

Just about to go...check out the Sharks and Predators on TSN, should be a good game and if you can, Anaheim vs. Minny much later on TSN (10:30 PM).
Vancouver's playing at 9:00 PM instead of 10:00 tonight against the Dallas Stars at General Motors Place.
Brent Sopel, after hurting his back while trying to pick up a cracker, will play; Matt Cooke won't.
Jeff Cowan will play with Markus Naslund and Yannick Hansen will make his NHL debut.
These guys have already played 7 periods in total, man they must be tired, it's like as if they played 2 games in one day.

Three teams fail to gain ground in East playoff run...

Montreal Gazette sport section front page headline (March 17th, 2006)

GOOD MORNING AMERICA!

Here's how your Eastern Conference playoff teams shored up last night -which was very cold and snowy one up here in Montreal...-

Got home late last night so I missed out on the important mix of games on yesterday, namely my Canadiens who were in Steeltown taking on the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Turns out I didn't miss much as all three teams lost.

The Canadiens got shoddy goaltending from David Aebischer (yes, once again) in a 6-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Montreal CJAD 800's Murray Wilson said that: "This kind of goaltending will not get the Canadiens into the playoffs."
He was right indeed as by watching the highlights of the game, I cringed at each and every goal Aebischer allowed, it's like he's fighting the puck out there and that shows on the scoresheet with is 5 goals allowed on 30 shots.
And boy it was late, I thought I was watching Jose Theodore let in those goals...
The Habs got 3 powerplay goals from Chris Higgins and Sheldon Souray in the second and the lone Habs' third period goal from Andrei Markov in a losing cause.
Sidney Crosby and Erik Christensen each had a pair of goals while Gary Roberts and Michel Ouellet scored the other two.

Canadiens' head coach Guy Carbonneau has not yet announced who the starting goaltender will be. It's very likely the young Michael Leighton, plucked off waivers by Bob Gainey at the trade deadline will get the call. Either that, or look for Jaroslav Halak to get the nod.

How it affects the teams: Montreal remains in 11th with 76 points, 2 points out of the 8th spot; the Penguins close in on the Devils with 90 points and are firmly in 4th place and 4 points out of the division lead.
I also missed out on the Rangers-Thrashers game and I only laughed as the Leafs lost to the Capitals.

Damn! The Rangers were the only ones who got a point in a 2-1 overtime loss to the rejuvnated Atlanta Thrashers.

It wasn't a particularly exciting game besides the Colton Orr and Eric Boulton fight...Johan Hedberg did spare Kari Lehtonen as he started in goal...
The Rangers got their lone goal from Sean Avery in the last minute of play of the first period. Marian put one up in the second period to tie the game at one the rest of the way.

In overtime, the Thrashers made way for a powerplay and converted as defenceman Alexei Zhitnik put the Rangers away with his 8th goal of the season and the Thrashers in the "W" column once again. It seems this team will finally earn its first playoff berth (finally is right!).

Oh and a minor note: Yahoo Sports! claims Alexei Zhitnik to be a right-winger on the caption of the picture I used above.

How it affects the teams: The Thrashers are in 3rd place in the Eastern Conference with a 4-point cushion over the second place Tampa Bay Lightning in the Atlantic Division.

The Rangers get a point and advance to the 9th spot in the Eastern Conference tied with the Leafs, 1 point back of the 8th place Hurricanes and only one point ahead of the 11th place Montreal Canadiens.

Ahhh yes! The Capitals finished off the Leafs 5-1 to end a nine-game slide.
Alexander Semin had 1 goal and 2 assists, Alexandre Giroux scored his first NHL goal and goalie Olie Kolzig showed he's the no. 1 man (as he was injured for a bit of time) and finished with 34 saves. Giroux actually arrived at the Verizon Centre just 90 minutes before the game as he was called up earlier yesterday. Giroux's goal was due to a "swing-and-a miss" by Leafs 'tender Andrew Raycroft behind the Toronto goal in the first period.

The flimsy Nik Antropov scored Toronto's only goal as they fail to gain any ground in the Eastern Conference standings. Andrew Raycroft is also a few wins shy of setting a franchise record for most wins by a goaltender in a season for Toronto, Raycroft has been used exclusevily during the second swing of the season and backup J.S. Aubin has played sparingly.

How it affects the teams: The Leafs failed to capitalize on the Canadiens and Rangers both losing and they remain tied with the Rangers in the 8th spot with 77 points, 1 point out of the 8th place Hurricanes. With a win, the Leafs could have taken sole posession of the final playoff spot but they did not. The Capitals are just happy to end a nine-game slide and it couldn't have come at a better time for Habs and Rangers fans.

A city in mourning...Thrashers 6, Canadiens 2

CANADIENS 2, THRASHERS 6

I had posted an article saying how huge this game was for the Canadiens and how badly they needed to win this one.

Guess Guy Carbonneau didn't take out the Sharpie pen like I said and didn't scrawl out the standings on his board for each player to see where their so-called "team" has sunk.

In the first five minutes of the game, I had some hope, the forecheck was aggressive, we were causing turnovers like crazy from a somewhat inconsistent Thrashers defence.
Chris Higgins fired the puck 4 times on Kari Lehtonen in the first period alone.

Sound good so far? I hope this is the image you keep of the game...the first 5 minutes, and forget the rest.

The "rest" consists of Andrei Markov paying for teammates' lousy backchecking by taking a kind of chronic hooking penalty.
With Markov in the box, the Thrashers took control of the game from there.

Newly acquired Alexei Zhtinik, who's been a nice fit for Bob Hartley, faked a slap shot from the right point and threw the puck to teammate Ilja Kovalchuk, playing the high left point who blasted it towards rookie Jaroslav Halak.

Halak was in position to make a left pad save, however he misread the shot as it was coming towards the blocker side. By consequence, the puck hit off the inside of his left pad, bounced off the right, and trickled into the net to give Ilja Kovalchuk his 36th goal of the season, and the Thrashers a one goal lead.
This goal completely demoralized the Canadiens, as they continued for the next couple minutes playing boring, shoddy defensive and a limited offensive style.

Then it was enough.
Things went from bad to worse as the Canadiens just couldn't clear the puck out of their zone, giving the Thrashers glorious chances on which Halak was superb.
Then as you guessed it, exactly two minutes after the first goal, they would pay for this...the unreliable delinquent, Sergei Samsonov didn't help his cause by picking the puck up, skating through centre ice just before he hit the Canadiens blue line giving the puck to Eric Belanger who fired a pass to the front of the goal where Jonathan Sim was all alone! With no one there to stop him, Sim simply tapped the puck through the legs of the exasperated Jaroslav Halak.

2-0 Thrashers and I had enough.

I turned off the television screen and decided to go play hockey myself, during the outdoor game, one of my buddies picked his cell and called to ask the score.

"Please" I was asking myself, "Please God, let them score a goal, " since God is the only thing that can save Montreal now.

My friend shut his phone off and looked me in the eye, I could see it coming.

"It's 6-0 Thrashers", he said.

Those words were like a dagger to the throat, I started yelling like a mad man.
What else could I do? There was no hope for a comeback, not even a small chance.

What did I care? I forgot about the game and played the wonderful game of hockey which was not so wonderful for 23 individuals now dropping even lower in the standings.

And to make my night even more miserable, the Rangers beat the Islanders 2-1 to move up ahead of us in the Standings.

My dad called me and told me Sergei Samsonov was benched the entire 3rd period.
He finished the night at -3 with 1 shot on goal. What a waste of $3.5 million out of George Gillett's pocket.

And to add insult to injury, Francis Bouillon decided to drop 'em against Keith Tkachuk...

God...please, save this team, obviously nobody on this Earth can.

The Battle of the East tightens

The Leafs edged out the Devils 4-3 in a shootout and got goals from Carlo Colaiccovo, Matt Stajan and Nik Antropov. It was Andrew Raycroft's 26th start in a row.
Martin Brodeur is one win shy of the 40-win plateau for the season...Tomas Kaberle suffered a serious head/neck injury and was taken off in a stretcher.
The Leafs now sit 4 points behind the 8th spot in 10th place with 2 games in hand over the Canadiens and Hurricanes.
Despite earning a point, the Devils still sit 4 points back from the East leading Buffalo Sabres

The Penguins drop a contest to the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-2. Sidney Crosby got his 200th career point with Pittsburgh's first goal and Ryan Malone the other while Carolina got some goals from Scottie Walker, twice, and Frantisek Kaberle.
The Hurricanes now move up to the 8th spot in the East with a one point lead over the 9th place Canadiens.
Pittsburgh remains in the 5th spot, 3 points behind Ottawa for 4th and 5 points ahead from falling out the playoff picture.

The Sens lose to the Thrashers 4-2; Dany Heatly provides the offence for Ottawa, potting his 39th and 40th goals.
Newly acquired Pascal Dupuis scored the insurance goal for Atlanta late in the third, whereas equaly newbie Eric Belanger scores twice to propel the Thrashers to a win over the Senators.
The win moves the Thrashers to only 2 points behind the Southeast leading Lightning, they are now in 6th place with a point deficit behind the Penguins.
Ottawa remains firmly in 4th place.

The Sabres win over the Canadiens, 8-5 in a whacky see-saw type game from both clubs.
Derek Roy had 1 goal and 3 assists, Jochen Hecht added 3 helpers, Tomas Vanek and Michael Ryan each scored twice while Teppo Numminen scored his second of the season and added 2 assists.

Tomas Plekanec continues to be hot, scoring twice and adding one assist while Radek Bonk, Micheal Ryder and Mark Streit provided the other Montreal goals.

With this loss, the Canadiens drop a point behind the Hurricanes for the 8th and final playoff spot and Buffalo adds to their thin lead over the New Jersey Devils.

The Cherry on the Puck Bag...

I hope you all enjoyed my 6 hour live online coverage, I sure had fun and I hope you enjoyed reading.

Now here's what I have to say about certain things:

Ryan Smyth an Islander: This hit me from Planet Mars, wow, boy was I surprised; Smyth is a great guy and in this situation, I disagree with Pierre McGuire, Lowe should have pushed harder to sign Smyth. They dealt Pronger at the beginning of the season and you'd think with the cap space they freed up that they'd be able to re-sign their key player. Guess not!
The Oilers got some nice young talent back in Nilsson and O'Marra to go along with a first-round pick, but none of that compensates for this costly loss of "the Oiler".
This is huge, it seemed like there would be no surprises this year and we got one 32 minutes after the 3 PM Trade Deadline.
It remains however to be seen if the Islanders can re-sign him and if this move is the end of Jason Blake in Garth Snow's camp?

Sharks look meaner with Guerin:
Bill Guerin's name was officially off the trade market
around noon today with the San Jose Sharks winning out on the jewel of this trade deadline, Bill Guerin.

He came cheaper to San Jose than Tkachuk to Atlanta, the Blues got a 1st round pick, checker Ville Niemienen and a minor-league prospect.

That's all! And Guerin has more points than Tkachuk. Tkachuk went for a 1st, 3rd, 2nd and a much better player in Glen Metropolit than Ville Niemienen.

The Sharks seem set for the playoffs now, they got Craig Rivet from the Canadiens, he should be a great pickup;

Billy Guerin will probably play with Patrick Marleau and with Vesa Toskala nursing a groing injury, the Sharks still have an excellent goalie in Evgeni Nabokov.

Bertuzzi looks to make impact in Detroit...for Panthers' sake:
Todd Bertuzzi played only 7 games as a Panther and was traded today to the Detroit Red Wings who beat out the Nashville Predators and the Anaheim Ducks for his services.
Holland acquires the controversial winger in hope he excels on a Cup hungry Red Wing team.
Bertuzzi says his back is not yet at 100 % but nonetheless, he should still end up playing for them.
It may take some time for him to adgust but, all and all, he'll probably make an impact down the stretch and during the playoffs.
Now, the Red Wings sent a conditional pick to Jacques Martins' Panthers; if Bertuzzi excels with his new team, the Panthers could get a second round pick; if he takes them to the Cup Final, Florida gets a 1st round pick.
Ingenious move by Kenny Holland, who structured this move perfectly, so his team doesn't suffer if Bertuzzi stumbles. And if he does, the Panthers, at best, will get a 4th or 3rd round pick.
And this is,

Bleu, Blanc et Rouge

Tkachuk shakes up trade market...

Drum roll please...tomorrow's the NHL Trade Deadline we have all been waiting for and which my blog has been spouting out articles for.

FIRST UPDATE: John Muckler was recently quoted by TSN/CP as to that he would not overpay during tomorrow's trade deadline such as Don Waddell and Doug Wilson did to acquire UFA veterans Keith Tkachuk and Craig Rivet.

"After talking to our scouts and talking to our coaching staff, yes we do have a game plan and yes we'd like to do certain things, but the prices are too high right now," Muckler said today following the Senators' practice".

Muckler's is rumoured to be seeking a forward and a defenceman.
--------------------------------

Tkachuk trade shakes up trade market

Bruce Garrioch, for the Ottawa Sun, posted an interesting article in this morning's Sun. He claims that Keith Tkachuk's trade to Atlanta has shaken up the trade market due to the price they paid for him (I discussed that here yesterday). "GMs like Ottawa's John Muckler, Tampa's Jay Feaster, Buffalo's Darcy Regier, Toronto's John Ferguson Jr. and Montreal's Bob Gainey must now decide how they're going to react", wrote Garrioch.

If the Sens rumours involving the acquisition of Gary Roberts for a first round pick and Antoine Vermette are true; we may be witnessing a huge change in the approach to trade deadline dealings that GM's now must learn to confront.

Wow, that is insane!
I was really shocked also at what the Canadiens got for Craig Rivet last night: a first round pick and a young defenceman! All for a potential UFA with defensive problems.

Garrioch also writes that "GM's phones went off the hook, after the Thrashers acquired Keith Tkachuk"
From Garrioch's article: "A lot of guys are worried after what Waddell did," added another GM. "They thought the prices would drop by now and they haven't come down.

"Guys are still giving up the No. 1 picks and players to get unrestricted free agents. It's a big price to pay."

Let's take a wait-and-see approach as we inch closer to deadline day on how these deals will affect the huge names and potential seeking teams out there. It'll definitely be interesting to see how much the Blues will get for Bill Guerin...

TSN/Eklund: 9 players on waivers.

EDIT: TSN just reported this, it is official.

It is Eklund, so until this becomes official (if it does) ...take it with a grain of salt:

He claims a reliable source has informed him that, 9 players have been put on waivers and here they are:

"Brian Boucher, Bryan Berard, Michael Leighton, Denis Hamel, Jason Krog, Niko Kapanen, Marc Chouinard, Aaron Downey, and Petr Cajanek"

Some very interesting names in there, especially Berard, Kapanen, Boucher and Cajanek.

Berard requested a deal out of Columbus, maybe putting him on waivers is the first step, although, I would not understand any logic behind this since Columbus would lose one of its top defencemen and get absolutely nothing in return.

Expect most of these names will likely be claimed.

The Bill Guerin Watch.

Paul, over at Kukla's Korner cited: "Bob McKenzie was just on NHL Live and mentioned Detroit, Atlanta, Ottawa along with the Sharks being in the running for Bill Guerin. He would not be surprised if a deal was done today"

Aww, the GM's have gotta stop trading away, or else, there will be nothing left for Trade Deadline Day!

Anyway, McKenzie was just on the Team 990 here in Montreal and he mentioned some of this. However, it is very interesting to see the Thrashers name be in that list of teams (there are probably more too).

First they acquire Tkachuk for a huge price (Metropolit, 1st round, 3rd round and 2008 2nd round). Since St. Louis is asking for a prospect and a bunch of picks (per RDS), I'm wondering what they have left to give up for Guerin? Next year's first rounder? 2009's first rounder? The Zamboni and the women's bathroom?

If Waddell swings a deal that will send more picks to Saint-Louis, he should damn well be fired.
If he does do what I suggested (next year's pick) -although that probably won't happen- he would be throwing the Thrashers future away just so he can get two players who are in their late 30's and on top of it, would attract a lot of attention on the free-agent market.

Guerin ain't going to Atlanta, I guarantee it.

The Red Wings could use Guerin since Dan Cleary's been kinda "cold" for the last, say 2 months?
The Sharks, well, we know about 'em, but, they gave up their first rounder to Montreal last night, and it could be difficult for them to land him without sacrificing young players such as Joe Pavelski, Matt Carle or Marc-Antoine Vlasic...

The Senators have been on the up since Christmas and now are in posession solidly of a playoff spot, but, as we know, the East is known to be kinda tight and thin on the edges this season. After all, only 3 points seperate the 10th and 6th spot. Guerin might be a good fit here and he would definitely give John Muckler the presence of a playoff experienced vet amongst some young Senators.
He brings experience, strength, leadership and scoring ability (see 2006-2007 season stats...) to the table along with a sharp defensive side.

RDS, the french sister of TSN of Quebec, recently said the Canadiens also could be involved in negotiations with the St. Louis Blues; although this is likely less reliable (no pun intended), Hockeybuzz.com recently mentioned Montreal being in the race for Guerin.

Take these last two with a grain of salt, as RDS only suggested the Canadiens are involved and Eklund is a Habs fan and his trade rumours are usually biased.

And to top this off and to add more spark to the fire...Jeff Gordon reported out of St. Louis on his blog, that the Blues may sign Guerin to a 2-year contract extension.

And this is for your latest hockey news...

Bleu, Blanc et Rouge.

Thrashers hope Tkachuk and Zhitnik are the solution

The Atlanta Thrashers hope their slump will soon be over and that the acquisition of highly-sought star forward Keith Tkachuk was worth the price they paid to acquire him.
The trade was reported early this morning, with reports coming from TSN's Darren Dreger, Paul Kukkla and Eklund.

Tkachuk, who is eligible for unrestricted free-agency in the offseason has notched 43 points (20 goals, 23 assists) in 61 games with St. Louis this season and was their second-leading scorer (behind Bill Guerin) at the time of the trade.

The Thrashers gave up surprising forward Glen Metropolit, whom after a slow start, finally put up decent numbers with the Thrashers, a first and third round pick in this year's draft and a secound rounder in 2008 for Tkachuk.

Mind you, the second rounder in '08 will only be valid if Tkachuk re-signs with the Thrashers this offseason.

Atlanta's current trading spree is disturbing me.
These trades seem like a "quick-fix".
It's true the Thrashers have lost ground in their playoff run; recently dropping out of the division leading spot to 6th in the Eastern Conference and if things keep up, in danger of falling out of the franchise's potential first playoff run ever.

First they give up young defenceman Braydon Coburn to get the aging Alexei Zhitnik from the Philadelphia Flyers yesterday.
Coburn had not developped as fast as Atlanta would have hoped, however, he is still young and there is no reason to doubt him emerging in Philly.

It is the second time Zhitnik has been traded this season (from New York to Philadelphia; from Philadelphia to Atlanta). On top of it all, they sacrifice 3 major picks for the next two seasons in hope a declining but "he's still got it" overweight man in Keith Tkachuk can lift the team out if it's current funk.

If Zhitnik and Tkachuk don't pan out, look for Don Waddell endure a series of hangovers, and, to seem professional, he commented well on the situation:

“The first deal, truthfully, we really needed a defenceman and I really wanted to get that done,” Waddell told The Canadian Press. “Then I knew what I had in terms of assets to put a package together for Keith. I called (Blues GM) Larry Pleau after I was done the Philly deal and we started talking even more and more late into the night about getting this deal done.”
Tkachuk fills the No. 1 need for Atlanta since training camp began: a No. 1 centre.
“He’s a top-line guy,” said Waddell. “He brings competitiveness to our team, he plays with grit. And our intention right off the bat is to play him with (Ilya) Kovalchuk. We think they can make things happen.”

Bleu, Blanc et Rouge...