Pressure on in TO

Toronto Maple Leafs coach Paul Maurice started training camp by promising this season would see the Leafs, not only make the playoffs, but also be a real contender for the cup next spring. Statements like that are not only bold, but also very stupid. For Toronto, a team that has missed the last two playoffs (by small margins, but still), it seems especially dumb. Why would you put that kind of pressure on a team that has been underachieving and now has the benefit of playing the underdog?

I still don't think Toronto is where GM Ferguson wants them to be. Sure, they may reach the post season, but anything past the second round would be an upset. Now, is that statement as bold as Maurice's? I don't think so.

Not much longer now

It feels like only yesterday that the Anaheim Ducks became the first California team to take home Lord Stanley's Cup. Still, me and thousands of other fans can't wait for the new season to start. And with training camps on the way, the premiere games are just around the corner.

So, what will the 2007-08 season be like? Which team will surprise us by reaching the play-offs and which will do the same by not clinching a berth in the post season. We will, as always, have to wait and see.

Personally, I would have to agree that the Ducks are looking good enough to repeat (with or without the still undecided Niedermayer), San Jose and Detroit will certainly give them a good run for their money. As for my money, I am putting them on Colorado to be the upset team of the west. Edmonton aren't looking too strong (which only indicates that they may be a surprise team), and Calgary and Mike Keenan could be a match made in heaven (though I doubt Kristian Huselius thinks so).

Out east it looks like Ottawa will go far, being one season wiser after losing the final to Anaheim. They are pretty much intact and except for the performance in that final I still think they played the best hockey of all teams during the post season. The Rangers and the Flyers are looking awesome offensively but the Broadway Blues will, as before, leak defensively. Pittsburgh will definitely be better this time around, with experienced guys like two-time cup winner Darryl Sydor on the team, while Washington has the most exciting line-up with Ovechkin, Nylander, Kozlov, and Backstrom. They will surprise a lot of people this season.

So, get the training camps going and out of the way, so we can start the season already!

News draught

With training camps just around the corner there is nothing much going on in around the league. Most teams have all the players they need and a few players are still question
marks. The TSN.ca poll today asks: What do you think Scott Niedermayer will do this season? Re-join Ducks, re-join later, take year off, or retire?

I would like to add an option to the poll. Who the hell really cares?

Still with the jerseys

Since there isn't much going on right now, and most people are talking about the new jerseys still, I thought I might linger on that subject a little longer.

Having seen a few of the new Rbk Edge jerseys, and the damage their design has done, I am hoping that those not yet revealed haven't been mishandled as much. To the following jerseys any change would be only bad, Chicago Blackhawks, Phoenix Coyotes, NY Islander and the NY Rangers. The Coyotes has by far the best looking jersey out of all the newer teams and it would be sad if it was ruined. I mean they really went from ugly (the Lego-looking coyote that made you think you just dropped acid)to cool (the howling coyote on the traditionally clean looking jersey).

It is clear that Reebok has no real sense of what a hockey shirt should look like and I hope that one day CCM will once again provide the NHL with classy uniforms. Until then I urge all fans (even the ones from Beantown) to buy old or replica jerseys.

One thing that really bothers me is that little NHL logo at the front of the neck. What the hell is that for?

New NHL jerseys

I have been searching the internet (not quite all of it though) for pictures of new team jerseys, but have managed to find just a few. So far most of them suck real bad!

However, I do want to start off with the only jersey to get five stars from me (so far), Boston Bruins. This jersey absolutely reeks of tradition and class. Unfortunately, not many teams nowadays seem to value those things. The original six teams have always passed in my book simply because they are all 200 years old and no one dares to mess with tradition in places like Montreal, Toronto and Detroit.

It seems like most of the newer teams just let Rbk do what they felt like and go crazy (which is exactly what they did). Nashville's (a jersey I have always hated) doesn't even look like a hockey jersey anymore. It looks like a really ugly football shirt, that someone threw up on, with way too many vertical lines, designed to attract younger fans how could care less about traditon and probably even like football more than hockey. The Los Angeles jersey is ok I guess (although I never cared much for that purple color), except for the Los Angeles text at the bottom. I always thought the shark logo looked kind of stupid (though not nearly as stupid as that damn duck), but now someone redesigned it so it looks like it's from a Disney comic book. Worse! If the Florida Panthers would lose that big red vertical patch on the arms it actually look alright. I think the Ottawa Senators look ok. There is nothing in that jersey to get me irritated. But, there is also nothing that gets me excited. The old roman logo looked cooler.

That is pretty much all I have seen so far. I will get back with more once I have viewed the rest. I am very excited to see how bad the Canucks will have messed up with their new jersey. Will they perhaps bring in yet another new logo (hate that whale one). I wish they would come to their senses and just stick with one design, preferably the black, red and yellow from the 90s or the blue, green and white from the 70s.

Any greatness left?

With almost two months passed since the UFA circus began, there are still a few high profile names out there. A healing Peter Forsberg has sparked an interest from several teams, including Vancouver, Detroit and Ottawa. In addition to that his previous teams Colorado, Philadelphia and Nashville are also in the hunt for his signature. The injury prone forward is a gamle and every one knows it. He could end up playing 30-40 games scoring around as many points. However, he could just as well be the one to tip the scale, pushing that team all the way to the cup.

Eric Lindros seems to be heading for retirement as a player. I think his main motivation and future is with the NHLPA, which he is putting a lot of work into. Healthy or not, these days he is only average as a player, a shadow of the guy who once led the Legion of Doom.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have shown an interest in Michael Peca, and that seems like a good fit to me. They have an up and coming team with lots of young players. A great defensive-minded veteran like Peca is just what they need. Granted he's not the player he was ten years ago (who is?), I still think he has a couple of miles left.

Last but not least, Ed Belfour has been rumored to be heading to Sweden to play for Leksand Stars in the second division (not the Elite League as stated by TSN.ca). I seriously doubt the truthness to this claim, and I also hope for it to be untrue. I can se it now.. Belfour is paid way to much (as a crowd pleaser) and ends up playing a handful of games before breaking the contract and flying back to Canada after some drunken brawl with some locals somewhere in Sweden. As a supporter of Leksand I am hoping the Eagle will see that it is time to finally draw the curtain on a fantastic carreer.

Penner strikes Oil.. and gold

I can't say I'm surprised over Michael Nylander's choice to play with the Washington Capitals instead of the Edmonton Oilers. For some time I have been wondering what the hell is going on in this former great club, and had I been in Nylander's skates, or anyone else's for that matter, I would have thought long and hard before accepting an offer from Edmonton. This is, of course, unless I was paid $4.25 a year. For that money I guess I would play pretty much anywhere.

Is Dustin Penner worth this much? Of course not! Only a few players in the NHL are worth that much and he certainly isn't one of them. This guy posted 29 goals and 45 points last season, adding 8 points in the Duck's playoff run. I might be wrong here and Penner may very well be a success in Edmonton, but it still can't be worth it financially.

Wouldn't it have been both better and cheaper to keep Ryan Smyth, the heart and soul of the team, than to send him packing over a couple of hundred thousand dollars? The only good thing in this story is both clubs are losers and Smyth and Penner are the only winners.