October 31, 2009
By: Ryan Dadoun
In case you missed it, Marian Gaborik is day-to-day with a knee injury. That's not groundbreaking news, but what made it an interesting story in my mind was Tortorella and the New York Rangers' initial refusal to explain the nature of the injury. Although the Rangers were quick to point out that Gaborik's current injury had nothing to do with any of his priors, Tortorella refused to even specify if it was a lower, mid, or upper-body injury at first. That only added an air of mystery to what could have been a relatively standard story. Especially with a player like Gaborik where your natural tendency is to worry about the worst case scenario whenever you hear that he's hurt.
It's come out now that it's a knee injury, although the team is officially referring to it as a lower-body injury, but that just makes me wonder why they covered it up in the first place. Was it a privacy thing? Is Gaborik ashamed that his knee specifically is injured and he didn't want that to get out? It sounds silly, but when the team doesn't get the information out there, the fans are left to fill in the blanks. The only possibilities that make sense to me is either the Rangers feared or still fear it's a much bigger injury than they're letting on or they didn't know exactly what the injury was at first. The second possibility seems unlikely seeing because Gaborik knew enough off the bat to rule out a hip, groin, or torso injury. Maybe he didn't know exactly what was wrong right away, but they could have come up with a basic explanation of what's bothering him and why they were sure it wasn't related to his previous injuries. If the first possibility turns out to be true, that this is much more than a day-to-day injury, then the Tortorella and the Rangers will just lose credibility later on, especially with regards to Gaborik.
Withholding information regarding an injury isn't anything new and it's not unique to the Rangers organization. However, in my humble opinion, it rarely proves to be helpful from a PR perspective and it leads to people assuming the worst.
October 24, 2009
I can’t tell how anxious some poolies get when key players on their fantasy squads get off to slow starts. A sub -par beginning to the season is most often magnified way out of proportion. My advice is DON’T PANIC!
If a player goes through a stretch of 10 games where he has registered zero points and a minus seven rating starting in game 53, you certainly would notice, but wouldn’t throw him under the bus. If he does it to start the season, you are clambering to drop him.
My recommendation to you is to treat all sluggish beginnings as if they took place starting in game 53. You’ll be a lot happier in the long run.
By: Ryan Dadoun
Well that didn't take long, did it? Carey Price picked up where he left off last season, with a 3.36 GAA and .886 save percentage in six games. As a result, Jaroslav Halak is expected to start in his third straight game tonight. Halak has always had the potential to be a starting goaltender, but it's clear that Price is the horse that Montreal wants to back. Although it looked like Halak had stolen the starter job from Price last season, the Canadiens eventually decided to give Price another shot at the number one job, much to Halak's dismay.
Maybe this season will be different under coach Jacques Martin, but the fact that Price is the Canadiens' desired goaltender of the future hasn't changed. If Halak outplays Price, he should be able to continue to steal playing time from him, but Price's potential alone will keep tempting the Canadiens to give him another shot. If Price gets hot and never looks back, he could still start in 60+ games this season. I don't think the reverse is true for Halak.
It's also worth noting that Halak and Price are both scheduled to be restricted free agents at the end of the season. Price could hinder his future with the Canadiens if he doesn't perform this season and then demands too much in the summer. By the same token, if Price turns things around this season, and Halak demands too much, the Canadiens could look into trading Halak to save themselves some critical cap space. One way or another, this could be the last season Montreal has the luxury of a Price-Halak goaltending tandem.
October 20, 2009
By: Corey Abbott
On last Saturday's edition of the Hotstove on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada, Pierre LeBrun discussed the possibility of Atlanta superstar Ilya Kovalchuk signing in the Kontinental Hockey League. He mentioned that St. Petersburg will likely throw a huge contract his way if he does not re-sign with the Thrashers. If Russia was able to lure Kovalchuk away from the NHL it would be massive for their league and it would not only serve to legitimize them as a legit competitor, it would also give them their first true star and poster boy.
However, Atlanta is committed to keeping their former first overall pick in the 2001 draft. They do not want these negotiations to linger and expect to have Kovalchuk locked up to a long-term deal in the next couple of weeks. The fact that the team is playing so well and that they have done so much in an attempt to please him (signing Pavel Kubina, Nik Antropov and retaining the services of Rich Peverley) will go a long way to showing him they are committed to winning and improving their club. At this point in his career, the talented Russian simply wants to win. All things considered, it is highly likely that he will remain in the NHL and probably with Atlanta. Stay tuned to see how all this unfolds.
Quick note: I started reading Theo Fleury's book, Playing With Fire, and it is both horrifying and strangely compelling. He has seemingly overcome so much in his life and has worked so hard to clean up his act, which I find to be extremely commendable and inspiring.
October 17, 2009
By: Ryan Dadoun
It looks like we are mere weeks away from Phil Kessel's debut in a Leafs uniform, but Leafs fans and Kessel owners should keep their expectations in check. The Leafs 0-5-1 start to the season was the absolute worst thing that could happen to Kessel. The Leafs fanbase and media isn't known for it's easy going, wait-and-see mentality. The pressure Leafs Nation will put on Phil Kessel to produce immediately after his return will be immense.
Toronto acquired Kessel for their 2010 and 2011 first round picks and 2010 second round selection. Although Toronto is only six games into the season, people are already wondering if he was really worth it. Kessel hasn't even taken the ice yet and a section of Leafs Nation has already soured to him. That's bad news for Kessel, who was never likely to score 36 goals in 70 games again this season. He'll be coming off shoulder surgery and Toronto has no equivalent to Marc Savard to set up his goals. All the same, if Kessel isn't scoring goals right off the bat, Leafs Nation will get antsy and we'll find out how Kessel performs under intense pressure and negative feedback.
October 15, 2009
By Liam Casey
Victor Hedman really isn't like other blue-chip defensive prospects. He's better. Way Better. I thought Hedman would be similar to LA's Drew Doughty. Both were taken with the second overall pick and made their respective squads a few months after being drafted. Doughty played a ton in his first season, leading the entire team in minutes played. He was also on the ice in every situation, from first unit power-play to penalty kill. By all accounts, he was one of the Kings' best players. He had plenty of offensive skill, but that only translated into six goals and 27 points in his first year, which was the highest total in the NHL for rookie defenders.
Hedman, it reasoned, would end up with similar numbers, especially if the Lightning brought him along slowly in the first half of the season as they did with Steven Stamkos last year.
Although it's early one, Hedman is proving to be different than Doughty and other first year defensemen. The proof is in the four assists, +2 rating and eight penalty minutes he's put up in five games. It's obviously too early to say whether he can keep this play up, but he's made a much smoother transition to the NHL than even the Lightning thought. Coach Rick Tocchet said he'd bring Hedman along slowly, as he did with Stamkos, but that plan has been burned. Hedman is averaging 25:40 per game. And he's only 18!
October 13, 2009
By: Corey Abbott
It looks like the NHL has another exciting crop of rookies in 2009-10. Watching the Islanders' John Tavares, Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman and Colorado's Matt Duchene has been exciting early into this year. The league's top three picks from this past June's draft have all impressed in their professional introductions and have not looked the least bit out of place playing with the big boys.
Continue reading "Tavares or Hedman? The debate continues... " »
October 11, 2009
By Liam Casey
After four games, the Red Wings are 2-2. They lost their first two games to the Blues in Europe, but then beat two good teams in Chicago and Washington to return to .500. After losing Marian Hossa, Jiri Hudler and Toma Kopecky in the off-season, the Wings now are without Johan Franzen for four months with a torn ACL.
This is a team in transition. To compensate for the loss of Franzen, the Wings reunited Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg on the top line. Then it's a consortium of promising youngsters like Ville Leino and wandering veterans like Jason Williams and Todd Bertuzzi that must now be counted on. Couple that with Detroit's three deep playoff runs in the past four years and it looks like the wheels may come off.
Although even a three-wheeled Red Wing squad will still make the playoffs, but I think it will be a much tougher year for them this season. Their division is much stronger than in years past and they are the oldest team in the NHL. I think it will be an inconsistent year for Detroit with the usual hot streaks followed by some inexplicably poor play. They'll be in tough to win their division this year with Chicago the favorites now. Columbus and St. Louis have also made big gains the past few seasons and Nashville is no slouch either.
October 10, 2009
By: Ryan Dadoun
Missed out on the top-tier goaltenders on draft day? Here are a couple of underrated goaltenders you may be able to acquire cheaply or pick up as a free agent:
Continue reading "Bargain Bin Goaltenders" »
October 06, 2009
By: Corey Abbott
The Montreal Canadiens were the first victims of the injury bug when they lost star defenseman Andrei Markov for up to four months with a torn tendon in his ankle. The injury occurred when he was sliced by goaltender Carey Price's skate during a play for a loose puck in their first game of the year against Toronto. Where do they go from here?
Continue reading "What's next for Markov-less Habs? " »
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