Gutsy move by Habs

The Tuesday trade deadline came and went, and yes, we did see some pretty stunning moves. Mats Sundin exercised his right to stay with his Maple Leafs, in Denver people are preparing for Peter Forsberg's homecoming, and Brian Campbell has decided to test the waters out west with the Sharks. No huge surprises there, while Philadelphia were favorites among most to land the comebacking Forsberg, Colorado has obviously been frontrunners all along.

Sundin's choice to remain a Leaf did come as a surprise to some and while I believe the best way he could have helped his team was to move, I just don't think he is capable of looking at it that way. If he had chosen to leave for a cup contender he thinks fans would have seen him as a traitor or a captain that leaves his sinking ship. Now they are stuck with the captain while they're going down, only to see him leave the ship for retirement this summer. I'm not saying he will call it quits after this season, but, Toronto are stuck in the shit because he could.

I am wondering if Buffalo got a trade offer from Anaheim, because if they did, I can't really see why Campbell wouldn't want to go there since his chances of hoisting the cup later this spring would increase notably. But, San Jose is a contender and for them this is a great trade as Campbell is a potential Norris winner in the future.

Sundin, Forsberg and Campbell aside, the gutsiest move belongs to Bob Gainey and the Montreal Canadiens. They decided to trade goalie Cristobal Huet off to Washington for a 2009 second-round draft pick. With Huet gone, the job of starting goalie now falls on young Carey Price and, while the Habs have been lucky going with rookie goalies, you can't help but wonder if the Canadiens got enough for Huet. It is a good deal for Washington though. Olaf Kolzig isn't getting any younger and with all the young talent they sport they could afford to lose that 2:nd round pick. I will get back to that in a few years when we realize the Habs used that pick to grab some future Hall of Famer.

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Deadline getting closer

I just realized it's been six days since I last published a post. Good thing no one is paying me towrite my blog. However, I can assure you that it is merely for lack of effort than anything else, I mean there has been stuff going on in the NHL with the trade deadline getting closer and all. So what's going to happen before Tuesday? Who is moving where and so on? I obviouslycan't go through all the teams, but I will give you some of my thoughts on the subject.

Sergei Fedorov rejoining his former team, the Detroit Red Wings seems like a lock to me. He is not making anyone happy in Columbus and has welcomed a return to Hockeytown on several occasions. Coach Mike Babcock also seems set on bringing back former Red Wing and three -time Stanley Cup champion Darren McCarty to add some needed grit.

The Toronto Maple leafs are a key player in this trade circus, but they are also a mess and it's hard to figure out what the heck is going on in that organization. They have several players they would like to move in order to rebuild the team for the future, but most of those guys sit on no trade clauses. A star like Mats Sundin would obviously generate a lot of new potential to the crippled Leafs, and he has said that he is commited to Toronto but if asked to move he would not object. And really, why would you stay somewhere you are not wanted? Some of the other players with no-trade clauses, among them Tomas Kaberle, have stated they will not move if asked because they are commited to stay and rebuild. While that to me is strange, you can't really blame them for taking advantage of something they and the team agreed on when signing those contracts. Trading captain Mats Sundin would be a monumental move for the Maple Leafs, but if the Boston Bruins could trade off Joe Thornton, also captain at the time, why can't the Leafs do the same. This move, as opposed to the Thornton trade, actually makes sense.

Buffalo's Brian Campbell isn't likely to resign with the Sabres and could end up with any number of teams, my guess is on either Detroit or New Jersey. Anaheim could also be a good fit for the talented defenseman and, as opposed to a guy like Rob Blake, a good long term option.

With Simon Gagne injured for the better part of this season, Daniel Briere a shadow of his form earlier in the season, Peter Forsberg's return looking more and more uncertain, and now also Mike Richards joining the already long injury list, the Philadelphia Flyers will want to strengthen their offense. The Flyers are definatly a team for the playoffs, but with nine straight losses they desperately have to find a way to start winning games again or else they will drop out of the playoff race. Marian Hossa could very well finish his season in the city of brotherly love.

Thrasher goalie Johan Hedberg is not the focus anyone's attention during these final days before the trade deadline, but he is available and would be a more than solid backup to any cup contender. He hasn't had the greatest of seasons, but we all know what he is capable of in a playoff. Detroit perhaps?

Return of the idiot

When Chris Simon recieved his 30-game suspension I was sure he had played the last game of his career, I was even hoping we had seen the last of this idiot. Unfortunately, Ted Nolan and the Islanders aren't nearly as sensible as I had hoped. I honestly could care less about Simon and if he is playing hockey or not, but he does not belong in the NHL, period. Why are the Islanders giving this moron another chance? It is always sad to see an organization show no backbone what so ever.

"What I love most is playing hockey and when it gets taken away I realize how much I love it. Ted has always been a great help and a great supporter. My teammates were amazing. The whole organization kept checking in on me and seeing how I was doing and what I was up to. I really appreciated that"

Seriously, what is the deal? It sounds like he has been injured. The suspension was the eighth of his 15-year career. How many chances does this guy deserve? Simon also said he had learned from his mistakes. What!? Who honestly believes he has learned anything from this "mistake", as he puts it, and then why did it take eight of them for him to learn?

There is no such thing as a lifetime ban, maybe there should be for 6-8 time offenders like Chris Simon, but I think the New York Islanders had a great opurtunity... no they had an obligation to draw the line (I am trying hard not to swear now) and say enough is enough!

Eventhough I am no advocate of booing of any kind, I really hope this guy is booed at where ever he goes for the rest of his career.

As for the Islanders, they have won two straight games in their quest for a playoff spot, but in the end I doubt they will make it all the way. I actually hope they don't.

Babcock pushes for Lidstrom

Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock is lobbying for his captain Nicklas Lidstrom to win the Hart Trophy as league MVP. This is what he says,

"To me, I think he's the best player in the league. He does it right. He's the most consistent.
If you look at the top scoring defenceman in the league he's there. He's got better plus-minus than anyone else. I don't know how it cannot be him.''

I have to agree one hundred percent. It is easy to get blinded by Ovechkin's dominance and scoring, they same goes for Lecavalier, Iginla, and Zetterberg, but none of these players, not even the phenomenon Ovechkin, are as complete or as consistant as the five-time Norris winner. Every one who plays with him gets better, all of his defense partners in recent years have had career seasons next to him and he makes the whole team better. And like Babcock also says, if you are the best player on the league's best team, the one who holds it together, how can you not be the MVP. The fact that some people out east are still debating who should win the Norris Trophy is just laughable. I don't think Lidstrom will be the MVP, but I hope some will agree he is as clear a candidate as there ever was.

Read more of Babcocks lobbying here at the Red Wings Insider by Ansar Khan.

Hockey videos

Not much to comment on today except that the Dallas Stars, after beating the Phoenix Coyotes 2-1, are looking like possible contenders in the Western Conference, which is getting harder and harder to predict.

Be sure to check out the affiliate hockey site http://www.ultimatehockey.tv/ for a bunch of cool hockey videos from NHL.

Toronto players among my readers

I realize this post should have been written yesterday, but believe it or not, I was busy with other things than hockey during the weekend.

"I seriously do believe they are incapable of defeating the Detroit Red Wings, even on the best of days"

I was obviously dead wrong. However, I am now more convinced than ever that the Maple Leaf players are reading my blog. This is huge! If I keep writing them off they might even make the playoffs this season.

Jokes aside, after the painful loss in Toronto the Detroit Red Wings went home only to recieve their second straight loss, this time to the red hot Ducks from Anaheim. The Ducks seem to have regained some of last years form, which goes to show how much a 38 year old sniper from Finland can do, and are looking increasingly like strong cup contenders. Some of the eastern teams got a taste of their might (although they're just ducks nowadays) during their roadtrip and are for warned. So are the Wings.

Redden turns down trade offer

I have never quite understood the true benefit of no-trade clauses, except that it protects the player. But it is just an economic protection, nothing else. When Ottawa's general manager Bryan Murray asked Wade Redden if he was willing to discuss a trade, since there was an outside interest in the defenseman, Redden said no stating he was still commited to the Senator's cup run. The defenseman, who will become an unrestricted free agent Jult 1st, is unlikely to return to the Sens next season.

In my opinion, this is quite a selfish act. Rumor has it the San Jose Sharks wanted to trade captain Patrick Marleau, who has been sub-par this season, for Redden. If that is true, then that would have been a great trade for the Sens, who struggled offensively without Daniel Alfredsson and Dany Heatley. Redden has been alright so far, but the Ottawa needs offense. A change of scenery might do Marleau good, and if so, he would definately boost the Sens' scoring depth.

But, this won't happen because Wade Redden choses to not be a team player. Mats Sundin, who also has a no-trade clause and is surrounded by more trading rumors than any other player in the NHL, says he has no plans what so ever to leave Toronto, but should they ask him to, of course he would. And really, why would you want to stay with an organization that doesn't want you?

Also, if it in fact was San Jose showing an interest in Redden then he would still be playing for a strong cup contender. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds, I'm sure we haven't heard the last of it. Will the Senators try to do a monster trade for Mats Sundin? I wouldn't rule it out.

Heatley returns ... and more

Florida 4 - Ottawa 5
After missing 11 games with a shoulder injury, Dany Heatley was back in the Senator line-up and that seemed to do the trick for the struggling Sens. He scored twice and was assisted on both goals by Jason Spezza who had trouble carrying the heavy load in Heatley's and Daniel Alfredsson's absence. Ray Emery was back in goal and made 29 saves. After going 3-8-0 without Heatley, this could be a turning point for the reigning Conference Champions. Florida saw their three-game winning streak snapped and currently sit four points behind Boston, who hold the eight spot in the Eastern Conference.

Toronto 4 - Montreal 2
Perhaps the Toronto players read my blog and were pissed off, but likely they didn't. However, they did manage to double up on the neighboring Canadiens. But like Mats Sundin put it, "Any time Montreal and Toronto play it seems it doesn't matter where the teams are in the standings, it's a playoff type of atmosphere and you can feel it in the dressing room."


Anaheim 4 - NY Rangers 1
The Rangers can't seem to win against any Western teams this season, they are 0-7-2 so far. The Ducks seem to have found their scoring touch, after scoring just five goals during a six-game losing streak they have now have seven tallies in two games, both in the big apple (On Tuesday they beat the Islanders 3-0). With an average of 2.37 goals per game - second fewest in the NHL, the Ducks still have a lot of work to do. Perhaps the returning Teemu Salanne, who played in his second straight game, can help polish those numbers. The Rangers now find themselves five points behind division leading Philadelphia and Henrik Lundqvist needs to regain the form that helped carry the team during the start of the season. Right now back-up goalie Stephen Valiquette is ahead of him in both GAA (2.37) and Save PCT (.907). None of those numbers are particularly great so clearly the blue shirts aren't getting what they need from either of their netminders at the moment.


Los Angeles 5 - Detroit 3

The Vancouver Canucks aren't the rallying kind team, so far this season they are 1-19-1 when trailing after two periods. Against the Thrashers a rare comeback in the third to win by one. Roberto Luongo, who have struggled a bit since declining to participate in the All-Star game, had 27 saves and is perhaps finding his form ever so slowly, the Canucks sure need him to.


Vancouver 2 - Atlanta 1
When your team has a record streak going you don't want to play the worst team in the league, ask the Ottawa Senators or the Detroit Red Wings. Earlier this season Washington (then last in the conference) did what all other teams failed to do, they beat the Senators thus ending their winning streak. Last night Los Angeles, currently occupying the last spot in the NHL, did the same to the league-leading Red Wings. This was a bad loss for the Wings. Not only did they lose and miss the chance to tie the franchise record of nine straight wins, but they blew a two-goal lead in the final period to do it. This is most uncharacteristic of the Wings, who will want to forget this ever happened and move on.


NY Islanders 3 - Pittsburgh 4
In Pittsburgh the Mellon Arena was sold out for the 40th consecutive time, and people don't seem to mind their favorite, Sidney Crosby, is playing or not. The Pens are doing find in his absence (he missed his eighth straight game) and Evgeni Malkin, who had three assist against the struggling Isles, has eight points in his last three games. The Islanders have lost six straight and are 2-7-1 in their last ten games. They are also the lowest scoring bunch in the league so things are looking pretty bleak out on Long Island.


Tampa Bay 2 - Nashville 1
The Tampa Bay Lightning seem to think they still have a shot at a playoff berth. After earning their sixth straight road win, the team that use to be the worst in the league away are suddenly looking very comfortable away from the Sunshine State. I don't think they'll make it all the way to the post season, but, I admit, stranger things have happened.


Dallas 1 - Minnesota 0
When the Dallas Stars returned to their old hometown of St. Paul, Mike Modano was honoured by the Minnesota Wild for becoming the career American-born scoring leader. After the ceremony the Stars beat the Wild to earn their fifth straight win and their fith straight road win. They were recently turned down by Peter Forsberg so, though they sit quite comfortably in second place behind the confernce-leading Red Wings, they will be looking to strengthen their offense befor the trade dead-line.


Chicago 3 - Calgary 1
It seems Chicago goalie, Nikolai Khabibulin, has some sort of mental advantage over the Calgary Flames. In the 3-1 win he ended a personal losing streak of ten games and improved to 19-5-2 against the Flames. Both these teams are struggling offensively. The Blackhawks are 5-9-2 without Jonathan Toews, who missed his 16th game, and Flames forward, Alex Tanguay hasn't scored in his last eleven games. I think Calgary will try to trade him and more for Mats Sundin. I also think they will fail.


Columbus 2 - Phoenix 1
Who would have thought the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Phoenix Coyotes would be in a tight race for a playoff spot this spring? Not me. but they sure are, and with the win yesterday, the Jackets are within a point of the Coyotes and are still making life hard for the other teams with their strong defensive style and good netminding. The Coyotes have dropped two straight but are still very much in the race. Ilya Bryzgalov has earned a respectable 20 wins so far and is the key to the team making the playoffs for the first time since the 2001-02 season.

Just accept how bad you are!

When the blow-out was completed in the third period the 19,430 at the Air Canada Centre cheered. The problem was they weren't cheering for the Toronto Maple Leafs but for the visiting Florida Panthers who had just embarraced the hometeam 8-0. Coach Paul Maurice said it felt far worse that the crowd applauded Florida than if they had booed the Leafs. In all fairness, you should be applauding the team that is doing something right on the ice, in this case the Panthers.

What still worries me about the Maple Leafs is that they don't seem to realize how bad they really are. The players keep saying stuff like "We were terrible today ... there are no excuses ... we can still turn this around, and ... on a good day we can beat anybody" This is true, on a really good day Toronto can beat almost any team in the NHL (I seriously do believe they are incapable of defeating the Detroit Red Wings, even on the best of days) but that is just not good enough for a team playing in the NHL. So do they really believe all that optimistic media mumbo-jumbo they throw at reporters after each game? I think they do. I think they still believe that they can turn it around, reach the playoffs, and possibly even win the Stanley Cup.

But isn't that a good thing, one might wonder. Yes and no. Yes, because believing you can win is often half of the effort. And no because if you are this bad it really doesn't matter. The Toronto Maple Leafs are in desperate need of rebuilding (by now I think we all agree on this) and it would be best if they realized their situation and, like a drug user or an alcoholic, accepted it because that is the first step to recovery.

The second step, since they have nothing left to lose, is to give every young and talented prospect a chance to show their stuff against the big boys in the NHL. Perhaps they will find something they didn't know they had.

The third step is trading Mats Sundin, not so that he will finally have a chance to win a cup (because we all know there is not place he would rather do that than in T.O.), but for the good of the team.

The fans in Toronto are faithful believers and it is time to give them something worth their effort.

Ottawa falling apart

The Ottawa Senators still sit on top of the Northeast Divison, but now just three points ahead of the Montreal Canadiens. The team has been miserable lately and are 17-19 since their 15-2 start to the 2007-08 season. After a big loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, head coach John Paddock called a crisis meeting with his players to try to prevent the team from falling apart even further.

The Sens have been playing without their captain, Daniel Alfredsson, for a while, he is recovering from hip injury, and Dany Heatley has missed 10 straight games. Considering how well the Sens played earlier in the season and also how great they were last season and through out the playoffs; who could have guess they of all teams would fall apart at the seams without a couple of key players? Yes, they have a very dominant first line, but they did get a lot of goals from other lines also. Since Heatley is a plus/minus machine, without him the Sens top line gets scored on a lot more. Jason Spezza, the only of the big three who is healthy, and Alfredsson both have great plus/minus stats but after them there is no one among the Ottawa forwards.

I don't to what extent the continuing problem with Ray Emery is affecting the situation, but I am pretty sure it isn't helping the team. It is unfortunate to have a goalie who isn't thinking team first, and I am sure John Paddock would be glad to get rid of Emery if only they weren't in the situation where they still need him.

It is clear, however, more of the Sens need to step up in the absence of Heatley and Alfredsson, especially Spezza. With those two out he is the guy the other players look to and he has to step it up and produce.

I am sure the Senators will get through this, and maybe they will be a stronger team for it, but I also think they have realized they are more vunerable than they thought. For that reason they remain a strong contender in the race to aquire Peter Forsberg.