Well, it's 24 hours before Sean Avery and the New York Rangers take on the Toronto Maple Leafs and Sean Avery keeps on opening his mouth. The last time the Rangers were in Toronto, Avery started yapping at the Leafs in the pre-game skate and ended up being fined $2,500 for his comments.

Avery certainly knows how to agitate the Toronto crowd. It was reported in the Toronto Sun on Friday that the Toronto-area native (Pickering Ontario for local fans) stated: "No, I never enjoy going to Toronto, really. So all that will do is motivate me to play better, probably. Why? Let's see ... Because I don't enjoy hockey-obsessed Canadians. The exchange is not very good right now. And it's going to cost me a lot of money in tickets for people I don't even like."

That's a pretty nice way to talk about your family and friends. Believe me, they won't be the only people booing you on Saturday. The whole arena will be.

It should be an interesting evening as I'm sure the Maple Leafs will dress Wade Belak to combat Sean Avery. Since Avery enjoys going after smaller players than himself, I wonder if he'll turtle when Belak comes a-knocking.

Perhaps, it would have been a good idea if Jack Bauer had taken Avery out when Avery broke up with Bauer's daughter. Then we would be able to stop writing about Sean Avery. Because we are sure that Jack Bauer does not like Sean Avery.

Posted by Michael Finewax at 06:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I read a fabulous two part series in the Toronto Star this week from Randy Starkman on concussions in the NHL. The stats are pretty scary and what is worse is that the players tend to play without regard for their future. NHL players come back way too early and they often times still have lingering effects from the hit(s) which make them more prone every time they step back on to the ice. Here are the links to the series.

http://www.thestar.com/article/288194
http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/288370
http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/288366
http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/288368

The player that concerns me at this time is not Patrice Bergeron, but Duvie Westcott and for a different reason. Bergeron will not return to the ice until he is symptom-free, by virtue of the tremendous hit he took from the Flyers Randy Jones. But Westcott has had three concussions in this calandar year and he's back on the ice.
Westcott had a concussion in January that resulted in his missing the rest of the 2006/07 season, a span of 40 games. He was given a clean bill of health by doctors at the beginning of May, but by that time the Blue Jackets season was over.
On October 24th this season, Westcott was involved in a collision with the Blackhawks Kevyn Adams and received his second concussion. He returned to the lineup three weeks later after playing two games in the minors to get back in shape. At this point in time, Westcott was deemed to be symptom-free once again.
On November 24th Westcott was banged into the boards by the Red Wings Niklas Kronwall and suffered his third concussion in less than 11 months. On November 28th, the Columbus Dispatch reported that Westcott stated that he hadn't felt 100% at any point this season and at best maybe 75%. Coach Ken Hitchcock said that Westcott had headaches following the Kronwall hit. "That's when we sent him home," Hitchcock said. "We want to make sure we do what's right for the player."
Westcott returned to the Columbus lineup two weeks later.

Posted by Michael Finewax at 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If J.S. Giguere isn't the luckiest man in hockey, I don't know who is. With the return of Scott Niedermayer, the Ducks boast the league's top defense corps. Niedermayer, Chris Pronger and Mathieu Schneider are all number one defensemen. On most teams, Francois Beachemin would be a solid number-two blueliner. In Anaheim, he slots in as a number four. Add in two of Shane Hnidy, Sean O'Donnell, Kent Huskins and Joe DiPenta and you have the makings of one of the NHL's all-time top bluelines. All Giguere has to do is just not "screw up". In the two games since Niedermayer's return, the Ducks' netminder has allowed only one goal. Expect more of the same from here on in.

Posted by Brian Rosenbaum at 11:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There was news this week that a Russian tycoon wants to start a European hockey league that would rival the NHL, much like the WHA tried to do in the 1970's. The league would get its start in Russian cities such as Moscow and St. Petersburg and in former Soviet Union cities such as Kiev and Riga. The plan would be to hopefully start up in September 2008 and quickly move to cities in Western Europe.

Continue reading "A League of Their Own...In Europe" »

Posted by Michael Finewax at 07:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There seems to be an inordinate number of key fantasy players out of action due to injuries. Consider the following:

The Canucks got a double whammy this week with the injuries to Roberto Luongo and Brendan Morrison.
The Avs' are wondering if Joe Sakic is ever coming back from a groin muscle pull.
The Bruin net is cursed. It is only a matter of time before Alex Auld goes down with some kind of an injury to join Manny Fernandez and Tim Thomas on the sidelines.
The Capitals are playing without top-six forwards Michael Nylander and Chris Clark.
The Flyers have not had the services of their most talented winger (Simon Gagne) since the begining of the season.
The Lightning have improvised on the point of their power play without the injured Dan Boyle.
The Stars are missing Jere Lehtinen and Philippe Boucher.

Other players currently sitting out who are most certainly draft worthy are:
Marc-Andre Fleury, Patrice Bergeron, Cory Murphy, Steve Sullivan, Jonanthan Cheechoo, Cristobal Huet, Tomas Holmstrom and Martin Erat.

If you have a strong reserve list you may be able to survive an injury or two. But if you are not so fortunate, we feel for you. I have five of the players mentioned above. Needless to say, I haven't had a lot of fun this season.

Posted by Brian Rosenbaum at 11:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was going over some old notes and I discovered the goaltending duos used in the NHL at the end of the 2005/06 season, a mere year and a half ago. I was shocked to see that only two teams had the same tandem and five teams had completely different netminders.

Continue reading "Goaltender movement" »

Posted by Michael Finewax at 09:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What's with the Senators? After starting the season with a 15-2 record, they have only won one game in their last six. The defense has been horrible and Martin Gerber has turned back into a pumpkin. Even the offense has dried up. The Sens have two marketable goalies. The best thing GM Bryan Murray can do is settle on a starter, trade the other for a top six forward and a rugged sixth defenseman and promote Jeff Glass.

Despite a modest winning streak, the Maple Leafs are a disaster. Blow it up already. There is absolutely no reason a team with the fan base and financial backing of the Leafs should be fighting for the eighth seed in the conference every season. Despite the fact that Mats Sundin wants to retire as a member of the Blue and White, Toronto management should say, "hasta la vista baby" and trade him for a couple of promising prospects.

The big flame out in Calgary this season is the responsibility of Iron Mike Keenan. He's somehow destroyed Miikka Kiprusoff and made Alex Tanguay his scapegoat. His tactics just don't work in today's NHL. The team should cut its losses and get rid of him before he loses everyone in the room including captain Jarome Iginla.

Posted by Brian Rosenbaum at 07:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)