On Friday night, the Hurricanes destroyed the Thrashers 7-1 and restored their division lead to a more comfortable four points. If the stars align correctly, the Hurricanes can clinch the division tonight. If the Canes can win at Tampa and the Capitals lose in regulation at Florida, Carolina will secure the division.
A fully detailed recap will come later, but it was the unusual suspects who did the heavy lifting in this game. Eric Staal got the game's first goal less than a minute in. After that, it was the less glamorous players. Joe Corvo had one goal, Tuomo Ruutu had two, Jeff Hamilton had two, and Trevor Letowski had a shorthanded goal. In addition to the shorty, Carolina notched five power play goals. It was the best power play performance since the 6-4 win against Detroit on the day after Thanksgiving in 2002.
Tonight's puck drop will be at 7:30. Although they swear that they don't do things like this, the Hurricanes will be scoreboard watching, as the Caps and Kitties have a 7:00 start.
The Bolts, like the Thrashers, have nothing to play for at this point. It showed last night, as the Thrashers were undisciplined and got dirty late in the game. I hope it doesn't happen again tonight.
Showing posts with label Thrashers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thrashers. Show all posts
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Southeast getting tight
The Washington Capitals didn't do the Hurricanes any favors last night. They won their game against the Lightning on Thursday night, and have closed the gap in the Southeast division. Now, Carolina has a two point lead with five games to play.
A little while ago, Canes fans looked at tonight's game with the Thrashers as a chance to widen the gap and perhaps clinch the division. Suddenly, it has become a "must win". Florida, by virtue of their loss on Thursday, is effectively out of the picture. Washington, however, could easily overtake Carolina unless the Hurricanes take care of their own business.
Right now, the cut for the Eastern Conference is 88 points. 88 is exactly what Carolina has. Although they would have all the tiebreakers in their favor if the season ended today, nothing is guaranteed. There are five games left for Carolina, and they will need to win three of them. Given their play recently, this isn't too much to ask, but the pressure is really on. If they are able to beat Washington at the Verizon Center on April 1, they will need only one other win. Either way, the only acceptable outcome tonight will be a win.
Chad LaRose will be returning to the lineup tonight after just one day of full contact practice. Justin Williams is back at practice, but won't be in the lineup until the playoffs.
A little while ago, Canes fans looked at tonight's game with the Thrashers as a chance to widen the gap and perhaps clinch the division. Suddenly, it has become a "must win". Florida, by virtue of their loss on Thursday, is effectively out of the picture. Washington, however, could easily overtake Carolina unless the Hurricanes take care of their own business.
Right now, the cut for the Eastern Conference is 88 points. 88 is exactly what Carolina has. Although they would have all the tiebreakers in their favor if the season ended today, nothing is guaranteed. There are five games left for Carolina, and they will need to win three of them. Given their play recently, this isn't too much to ask, but the pressure is really on. If they are able to beat Washington at the Verizon Center on April 1, they will need only one other win. Either way, the only acceptable outcome tonight will be a win.
Chad LaRose will be returning to the lineup tonight after just one day of full contact practice. Justin Williams is back at practice, but won't be in the lineup until the playoffs.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Canes beat Thrash, widen lead
On Wednesday night, the Hurricanes defeated the Thrashers 5-3 and have gained their 85th standings point. As I am typing, Washington trails Chicago 5-0 midway through the second period. This is also good news.
If the game in Chicago holds up, Carolina will end the night with a five point lead over Washington with seven games (all within the division) to play. The road has just gotten a little easier to hoe.
Carolina's next two games could either put it out of reach, or make it really interesting. They will be in Florida on Thursday and at home against the Caps on next Tuesday. The Cats are smoldering hot and will be rested for Thursday's game. They will have the chance to move into second place in the division.
Although the score of Wednesday's game was 5-3, it wasn't that close. This game was all Canes.
Trevor "The Dude" Letowski started it all off at 4:04 of the first with a shot from the right circle. Patty Eaves made a really pretty cross-slot pass. Ruuty got the secondary helper.
Sergei Samsonov got an unassisted goal at 6:58 after putting on a stick-handling show. His shot came from above the right circle, and the rout was on.
At 13:35, the future captain Eric Staal potted his 35th goal of the season. He came fresh off the bench, created a neutral zone turnover, then took a pass from Jeff Hamilton in the high slot to make it 3-0.
Cam Ward's shutout bid didn't last long, as Bryan Little broke it up just 1:56 into the middle frame. Slava Kozlov and Mark Recchi got the helpers.
Joe Jensen, whose claim to fame heretofore was puking on the bench in his NHL debut, potted the game winner at 3:35 of the second. He was low in the right circle, and received a nice pass from Hamilton from below the goal line. He snapped it in on the far side for his first NHL goal. Tim ("don't call me Tom") Conboy got the second assist.
Steve McCarthy made it 4-2 at 4:56, and it was starting to get a little interesting. He scooped up some loose change out front and deposited it into Ward's net for his first goal. Chris Thorburn and the 1989 Hartford Whalers first round draft pick Bobby Holik got the helpers.
Erik Cole scored his 21st goal of the season at 14:51 of the third. From below the goal line, Sergei Samsonov made a phenomenal no-look, behind the back pass to Cole, who was hanging out in the left circle. He got a couple of whacks at it, and finally beat The Moose, making it 5-2. Bret Hedican, whose wife was apparently very good on "Dancing With the Stars" the other night, got the secondary assist.
Kozlov got a late garbage goal at 19:21, assisted by Little and Recchi.
This game had only four penalties. I guess the referees had tickets to Hanna Montana or something like that. They were in a real hurry to get out of there.
Carolina completely dominated the first, then slacked off in the second, then played well in the third. Good enough to beat the Thrashers, but they'll have to have 60 minute efforts against the likes of Washington and Florida, whom they play twice each in the remaining seven games.
The "official" three stars are a bit loopy. Okay. They're a LOT loopy. Word on the street is that these things aren't really selected by the "local media". Sometimes, it's some intern who randomly chooses names. This seems like one of those. The official stars were Steve McCarthy (third), Eric Staal (second) and Cam Ward (first). None of these were even in my top five stars. I don't get that.
The RBH three stars:
THIRD STAR Vyacheslav Kozlov, ATL -- 1 goal, 1 assist.
SECOND STAR Jeffrey Hamilton, CAR -- 2 assists.
FIRST STAR Sergei Samsonov, CAR -- 1 goal, 1 assist, 3 blocked shots.
Carolina will have no time to rest. They're headed to Sunrise for a 7:30 game on Thursday.
A little birdy has told me that Justin Viva Williams is very close to being ready to rejoin the team after missing the last 39 games with MCL/ACL issues. This makes me very happy.
If the game in Chicago holds up, Carolina will end the night with a five point lead over Washington with seven games (all within the division) to play. The road has just gotten a little easier to hoe.
Carolina's next two games could either put it out of reach, or make it really interesting. They will be in Florida on Thursday and at home against the Caps on next Tuesday. The Cats are smoldering hot and will be rested for Thursday's game. They will have the chance to move into second place in the division.
Although the score of Wednesday's game was 5-3, it wasn't that close. This game was all Canes.
Trevor "The Dude" Letowski started it all off at 4:04 of the first with a shot from the right circle. Patty Eaves made a really pretty cross-slot pass. Ruuty got the secondary helper.
Sergei Samsonov got an unassisted goal at 6:58 after putting on a stick-handling show. His shot came from above the right circle, and the rout was on.
At 13:35, the future captain Eric Staal potted his 35th goal of the season. He came fresh off the bench, created a neutral zone turnover, then took a pass from Jeff Hamilton in the high slot to make it 3-0.
Cam Ward's shutout bid didn't last long, as Bryan Little broke it up just 1:56 into the middle frame. Slava Kozlov and Mark Recchi got the helpers.
Joe Jensen, whose claim to fame heretofore was puking on the bench in his NHL debut, potted the game winner at 3:35 of the second. He was low in the right circle, and received a nice pass from Hamilton from below the goal line. He snapped it in on the far side for his first NHL goal. Tim ("don't call me Tom") Conboy got the second assist.
Steve McCarthy made it 4-2 at 4:56, and it was starting to get a little interesting. He scooped up some loose change out front and deposited it into Ward's net for his first goal. Chris Thorburn and the 1989 Hartford Whalers first round draft pick Bobby Holik got the helpers.
Erik Cole scored his 21st goal of the season at 14:51 of the third. From below the goal line, Sergei Samsonov made a phenomenal no-look, behind the back pass to Cole, who was hanging out in the left circle. He got a couple of whacks at it, and finally beat The Moose, making it 5-2. Bret Hedican, whose wife was apparently very good on "Dancing With the Stars" the other night, got the secondary assist.
Kozlov got a late garbage goal at 19:21, assisted by Little and Recchi.
This game had only four penalties. I guess the referees had tickets to Hanna Montana or something like that. They were in a real hurry to get out of there.
Carolina completely dominated the first, then slacked off in the second, then played well in the third. Good enough to beat the Thrashers, but they'll have to have 60 minute efforts against the likes of Washington and Florida, whom they play twice each in the remaining seven games.
The "official" three stars are a bit loopy. Okay. They're a LOT loopy. Word on the street is that these things aren't really selected by the "local media". Sometimes, it's some intern who randomly chooses names. This seems like one of those. The official stars were Steve McCarthy (third), Eric Staal (second) and Cam Ward (first). None of these were even in my top five stars. I don't get that.
The RBH three stars:
THIRD STAR Vyacheslav Kozlov, ATL -- 1 goal, 1 assist.
SECOND STAR Jeffrey Hamilton, CAR -- 2 assists.
FIRST STAR Sergei Samsonov, CAR -- 1 goal, 1 assist, 3 blocked shots.
Carolina will have no time to rest. They're headed to Sunrise for a 7:30 game on Thursday.
A little birdy has told me that Justin Viva Williams is very close to being ready to rejoin the team after missing the last 39 games with MCL/ACL issues. This makes me very happy.
The home stretch
With eight games to play, Carolina is atop the Southeast division with a three point lead over Washington and a five point lead over Florida. All eight remaining games are Southeast matchups. Two against each team in the division.
Every game will be critical, starting tonight in Atlanta. Puck drop at 7:00.
Jeff Hamilton has cleared re-entry waivers. With Matt Cullen out of the lineup indefinitely with post-concussion issues, Hambone will get some quality ice time. Or at least some quantity ice time.
When will the injuries to key players finally be too much?
The top line of Ray Whitney/ Rod Brind'Amour/ Justin Williams is out. Matt Cullen is out.
The newcomers and the "Rat Pack" have played extremely well, but it's gonna be hard to make a deep playoff run with AHL-quality players in the lineup. I hope they prove me wrong.
On the other hand, Justin Williams should be able to return if the Hurricanes can hold on to that SE lead and make the playoffs.
It's going to be a very tight race. Every game is a "must win". For the Panthers, they literally must win every game (and get some outside help). The Thrahsers and Lightning are out of contention, but they could easily play the part of spoiler.
The Caps, who won last night in Nashville, will be on the road tonight at Chicago. Canes fans will have a keen interest in that game, just as the Caps fan will have an interest in the Canes game.
Full game posts late tonight.
Every game will be critical, starting tonight in Atlanta. Puck drop at 7:00.
Jeff Hamilton has cleared re-entry waivers. With Matt Cullen out of the lineup indefinitely with post-concussion issues, Hambone will get some quality ice time. Or at least some quantity ice time.
When will the injuries to key players finally be too much?
The top line of Ray Whitney/ Rod Brind'Amour/ Justin Williams is out. Matt Cullen is out.
The newcomers and the "Rat Pack" have played extremely well, but it's gonna be hard to make a deep playoff run with AHL-quality players in the lineup. I hope they prove me wrong.
On the other hand, Justin Williams should be able to return if the Hurricanes can hold on to that SE lead and make the playoffs.
It's going to be a very tight race. Every game is a "must win". For the Panthers, they literally must win every game (and get some outside help). The Thrahsers and Lightning are out of contention, but they could easily play the part of spoiler.
The Caps, who won last night in Nashville, will be on the road tonight at Chicago. Canes fans will have a keen interest in that game, just as the Caps fan will have an interest in the Canes game.
Full game posts late tonight.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Carolina wins big, gets no help from Buffalo
On Wednesday, the Hurricanes took care of things on their own end, beating Atlanta 6-3. They were hoping for some help from the Sabres, but got none as the Capitals took a 3-1 win there.
Like they have done so many times during their hot streak, Carolina surrendered the game's first goal. They responded by scoring the next four, then trading goals with the Thrashers until the final score was 6-3.
In front of a very sparse crowd that was generously counted as 13,032, Chris Thorburn got the Thrashers on the board at 4:21 with a wrist shot from the low in the left circle. Bobby Holik and Ilya Kovalchuk assisted on the play.
At 8:12, the Canes tied it. From the inside hashmarks of the left circle, Scott Walker re-directed a Frantisek Kaberle shot from the left point. Ryan Bayda was down in the goal mouth creating traffic, and was initially given credit for the goal, but it was later changed. Walker from Kaberle and Keith Aucoin at 9:12.
Bayda ended up getting on the scoreboard at 19:06 when he one-timed a shot from the right dot. Scott Walker got the only assist.
The first period ended with a Canes power play, which would carry over to the second.
The Hurricanes didn't need much time with the fresh sheet of ice to cash in on the power play. Just 27 seconds into the second frame, big Joe Corvo finished a pretty play, tapping one in from the right dot, making the score 3-1. The play was beautifully set up with a crisp pass from Sergei Samsonov in the left circle. Matt Cullen got the secondary assist.
After this, things got a little crazy. At around the 10:00 mark of the second period, Carolina appeared to have scored a crazy lucky bounce, as the puck went in from well beyond center ice. However, the "goal" was immediately waved off because the crazy bounce that it took was off the referee's skate. No goal can be scored directly off the referee.
Just a short time later, the Hurricanes got a goal that counted. As the Canes entered the Thrashers zone on a three-on-two break, Eric Staal dropped a pass for Erik Cole at the top of the left circle. Cole made no mistake, giving Carolina a 4-1 lead at 10:39. The secondary assist went to Kaberle. That would be the end of Kari Lehtonen's night. It also ended up being the game winner.
There was more crazy stuff with the officials. Hurricanes defenseman Tim Gleason got tangled up with a linesman along the dasher, causing a neutral ice turnover. Erik Christensen carried it in alone and beat Ward easily with an unassisted goal at 17:09 of the second.
There was even more crazy stuff with the officials. Early in the third period, while the Canes were applying a lot of pressure deep in the Thrashers' zone, Garnet Exelby carried the puck over to Johan Hedberg, hoping he would cover the puck and get a whistle. The refs wouldn't give a whistle and forced Hedberg to play the puck. The Thrashers never got the puck out of the zone and Carolina scored a really crazy goal about 30 seconds later. Eric Staal attempted a wrap from behind the goal. The puck went off Exelby's stick, off his helmet, then off Hedberg's helmet and behind him into the goal. A very improbable goal that may have been aided by the non-whistle. Officially, Staal from Cole and Trevor Letowski at 3:41 of the third.
Don Waddell flipped a lid. His face was about as red as the Hurricanes' pants. There was steam coming out of his ears. I actually thought he might either punch referee Mike Hasenfratz or have a heart attack. He screamed and stomped and carried on for a good two minutes without being reprimanded. Hasenfratz gave his explanation of why there was no whistle, but we never heard it.
The Thrashers weren't ready to quit. At 12:17 of the third, Kovalchuk redirected a Ken Klee shot to make the score 5-3. Klee and Alex Zhitnik had the helpers.
In the waning minutes, Atlanta had a hard time getting the puck deep enough to pull Hedberg. Just when they did, but before he could make it all the way to the bench, Eric Staal scored into the empty net with a long bomb from the referee's crease. Kaberle got the only assist.
For just a minute, Carolina had stretched their SE lead to five points. However, Washington beat the Sabres 3-1, which means their lead remains three points. Washington has a game in hand.
The "official" three stars were Erik Cole (third), Scott Walker (second) and Eric Staal (first). On TV, they went to Ryan Bayda (third), Scott Walker (second) and Frantisek Kaberle (first). The RBH stars are a bit different.
THIRD STAR Frantisek Kaberle, CAR --- 3 assists, +3
SECOND STAR Erik Cole, CAR --- GWG, assist
FIRST STAR Eric Staal, CAR --- 2 goals, 1 assist
Carolina will come back home to face the Northwest leading Wild Thursday, then the Sabres on Saturday.
Like they have done so many times during their hot streak, Carolina surrendered the game's first goal. They responded by scoring the next four, then trading goals with the Thrashers until the final score was 6-3.
In front of a very sparse crowd that was generously counted as 13,032, Chris Thorburn got the Thrashers on the board at 4:21 with a wrist shot from the low in the left circle. Bobby Holik and Ilya Kovalchuk assisted on the play.
At 8:12, the Canes tied it. From the inside hashmarks of the left circle, Scott Walker re-directed a Frantisek Kaberle shot from the left point. Ryan Bayda was down in the goal mouth creating traffic, and was initially given credit for the goal, but it was later changed. Walker from Kaberle and Keith Aucoin at 9:12.
Bayda ended up getting on the scoreboard at 19:06 when he one-timed a shot from the right dot. Scott Walker got the only assist.
The first period ended with a Canes power play, which would carry over to the second.
The Hurricanes didn't need much time with the fresh sheet of ice to cash in on the power play. Just 27 seconds into the second frame, big Joe Corvo finished a pretty play, tapping one in from the right dot, making the score 3-1. The play was beautifully set up with a crisp pass from Sergei Samsonov in the left circle. Matt Cullen got the secondary assist.
After this, things got a little crazy. At around the 10:00 mark of the second period, Carolina appeared to have scored a crazy lucky bounce, as the puck went in from well beyond center ice. However, the "goal" was immediately waved off because the crazy bounce that it took was off the referee's skate. No goal can be scored directly off the referee.
Just a short time later, the Hurricanes got a goal that counted. As the Canes entered the Thrashers zone on a three-on-two break, Eric Staal dropped a pass for Erik Cole at the top of the left circle. Cole made no mistake, giving Carolina a 4-1 lead at 10:39. The secondary assist went to Kaberle. That would be the end of Kari Lehtonen's night. It also ended up being the game winner.
There was more crazy stuff with the officials. Hurricanes defenseman Tim Gleason got tangled up with a linesman along the dasher, causing a neutral ice turnover. Erik Christensen carried it in alone and beat Ward easily with an unassisted goal at 17:09 of the second.
There was even more crazy stuff with the officials. Early in the third period, while the Canes were applying a lot of pressure deep in the Thrashers' zone, Garnet Exelby carried the puck over to Johan Hedberg, hoping he would cover the puck and get a whistle. The refs wouldn't give a whistle and forced Hedberg to play the puck. The Thrashers never got the puck out of the zone and Carolina scored a really crazy goal about 30 seconds later. Eric Staal attempted a wrap from behind the goal. The puck went off Exelby's stick, off his helmet, then off Hedberg's helmet and behind him into the goal. A very improbable goal that may have been aided by the non-whistle. Officially, Staal from Cole and Trevor Letowski at 3:41 of the third.
Don Waddell flipped a lid. His face was about as red as the Hurricanes' pants. There was steam coming out of his ears. I actually thought he might either punch referee Mike Hasenfratz or have a heart attack. He screamed and stomped and carried on for a good two minutes without being reprimanded. Hasenfratz gave his explanation of why there was no whistle, but we never heard it.
The Thrashers weren't ready to quit. At 12:17 of the third, Kovalchuk redirected a Ken Klee shot to make the score 5-3. Klee and Alex Zhitnik had the helpers.
In the waning minutes, Atlanta had a hard time getting the puck deep enough to pull Hedberg. Just when they did, but before he could make it all the way to the bench, Eric Staal scored into the empty net with a long bomb from the referee's crease. Kaberle got the only assist.
For just a minute, Carolina had stretched their SE lead to five points. However, Washington beat the Sabres 3-1, which means their lead remains three points. Washington has a game in hand.
The "official" three stars were Erik Cole (third), Scott Walker (second) and Eric Staal (first). On TV, they went to Ryan Bayda (third), Scott Walker (second) and Frantisek Kaberle (first). The RBH stars are a bit different.
THIRD STAR Frantisek Kaberle, CAR --- 3 assists, +3
SECOND STAR Erik Cole, CAR --- GWG, assist
FIRST STAR Eric Staal, CAR --- 2 goals, 1 assist
Carolina will come back home to face the Northwest leading Wild Thursday, then the Sabres on Saturday.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Carolina wins big game, Laviolette passes Brooks
On Thursday, the Hurricanes defeated the listless Thrashers 5-3 to widen their lead in the SE division. Atlanta came out as flat as they were when they played that awful game on Long Island. Carolina got a very well rounded game, getting goals from five different players.
Sergei Samsonov got the memo about the rules change concerning kicked pucks. His goal in the second period might have been disallowed under the old "distinct kicking motion" criteria, but was allowed under the new rule.
Scott Walker had a huge game, registering the game winning goal and two assists. Ray Whitney, Ryan Bayda and Keith Aucoin had the other goals.
With the win, Peter Laviolette has 220 NHL coaching victories, which allows him to pass the late Herb Brooks on the list of coaching wins by US-born coaches.
Speaking of Herb Brooks, today (February 22) is the 28th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice. Let's all take off our hats in honor of that.
Carolina will have another huge game on Saturday against Washington, with a chance to really distance themselves from the pelloton. All indications are that the Hurricanes will have Patrick Eaves in the lineup for the first time on Saturday.
Sergei Samsonov got the memo about the rules change concerning kicked pucks. His goal in the second period might have been disallowed under the old "distinct kicking motion" criteria, but was allowed under the new rule.
Scott Walker had a huge game, registering the game winning goal and two assists. Ray Whitney, Ryan Bayda and Keith Aucoin had the other goals.
With the win, Peter Laviolette has 220 NHL coaching victories, which allows him to pass the late Herb Brooks on the list of coaching wins by US-born coaches.
Speaking of Herb Brooks, today (February 22) is the 28th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice. Let's all take off our hats in honor of that.
Carolina will have another huge game on Saturday against Washington, with a chance to really distance themselves from the pelloton. All indications are that the Hurricanes will have Patrick Eaves in the lineup for the first time on Saturday.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Garnet Exelby loses his mind
In Saturday's game between the Islanders and the Thrashers, the Thrashers were down 4-0 in the third when Garnet Exelby simply lost his mind.
After getting checked into the boards by Blake Comeau, Garnet Exelby skated behind Comeau and went on a frustration-fueled rampage. First, Exelby speared Comeau in the balls, then choked him, then punched him. Take a look for yourself:
The punching would be fine, except that they were not engaged in fisticuffs.
Exelby was given two minutes for slashing, although clearly the infraction was "spearing". He was also given five for fighting and a game misconduct. This might be the only time I've ever seen a fighting penalty go to one player only. I guess that's where the game misconduct comes in, although there would have been one anyway if the initial call had been "spearing" rather than "slashing".
I hope the league takes a good look at this and sits Exelby down for more than the standard two games. His actions were malicious and outside the bounds of hockey.
There were about a million fights in the game between the Canucks and Oilers, and there was one nasty stick-swinging incident, but this is a little more disturbing.
For once, there's not a Flyers player doing something dumb.
After getting checked into the boards by Blake Comeau, Garnet Exelby skated behind Comeau and went on a frustration-fueled rampage. First, Exelby speared Comeau in the balls, then choked him, then punched him. Take a look for yourself:
The punching would be fine, except that they were not engaged in fisticuffs.
Exelby was given two minutes for slashing, although clearly the infraction was "spearing". He was also given five for fighting and a game misconduct. This might be the only time I've ever seen a fighting penalty go to one player only. I guess that's where the game misconduct comes in, although there would have been one anyway if the initial call had been "spearing" rather than "slashing".
I hope the league takes a good look at this and sits Exelby down for more than the standard two games. His actions were malicious and outside the bounds of hockey.
There were about a million fights in the game between the Canucks and Oilers, and there was one nasty stick-swinging incident, but this is a little more disturbing.
For once, there's not a Flyers player doing something dumb.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Carolina loses game, Ladd, Walker
On Wednesday night, the Hurricanes played a gritty game against the Thrashers which resulted in a 5-4 overtime loss. There were some good things and some bad things. Then the injuries.
Carolina converted two of seven power play chances. This is a good thing. Eric Staal and Erik Cole each notched power play tallies. These guys need to be Carolina's best players, and they were both good on Wednesday. Just not good enough.
The bad and the ugly was that Carolina's penalty kill, already the worst in the league, got worse. The Canes only committed two penalties during the game, and they surrendered two power play goals. This is completely unacceptable. Maid Marian Hossa's game winning power play goal in overtime was a case of too much time and space. It was an easy goal. However, Ilya Kovalchuk scored the goal of the night. Perhaps the goal of the month. While on the power play, he took the puck coast to coast and beat Cam Ward very easily with a phenomenal and beautiful individual effort. He's leading the league with 33 goals, and this one was a textbook example of "highlight reel goal". I'm still kinda dazed by it.
The good things are that Erik Cole scored a goal at home. It was the first time he's done that all season. Eric Staal continued to pour on the points. His two points on the game put him at 37 (21/16) for the season. He won't finish anywhere near the 100 (45/55) that he had in the year of the Cup, but he's continuing to play at an elite level. He's got 10 (6/4) points in his last 9 games, which is more like the Eric Staal that we know than the guy who went four game pointless streak and a six game goalless streak in November.
Andrew Ladd had surgery today for his eye. He'll be out for a couple of weeks. The Canes were already looking like a MASH unit, but when you add Ladd and Scott Walker (7-10 games, knee) to the already big list, they look awful. Carolina should be making a few callups from Albany. I imagine Nolan will be recalled along with Ryan Bayda. Or Keith Aucoin. For more on the injuries, read Luke's article in the N&O.
In Wednesday's game, Carolina also got even strength goals from Andrew Ladd and Ray Whitney. They had to battle back from down 3-1, and 4-3 to force overtime. They should feel good about accomplishing something on the power play. They should feel good about finding something when their backs were against the wall. They should feel horrible about the penalty kill. They should feel horrible about committing a penalty in overtime. Cam Ward should feel awful about giving up five goals on just 14 shots. They should not have lost this game, but they did. The one standings point shouldn't be a consolation, but rather a scarlet letter.
The same two teams will kick it in the Philips Place Arena on Friday night. There will be a lot of different faces on the Carolina bench, including goaltender Michael Leighton, who has been called up from Albany following the waiving of Johnny Crackers
Carolina converted two of seven power play chances. This is a good thing. Eric Staal and Erik Cole each notched power play tallies. These guys need to be Carolina's best players, and they were both good on Wednesday. Just not good enough.
The bad and the ugly was that Carolina's penalty kill, already the worst in the league, got worse. The Canes only committed two penalties during the game, and they surrendered two power play goals. This is completely unacceptable. Maid Marian Hossa's game winning power play goal in overtime was a case of too much time and space. It was an easy goal. However, Ilya Kovalchuk scored the goal of the night. Perhaps the goal of the month. While on the power play, he took the puck coast to coast and beat Cam Ward very easily with a phenomenal and beautiful individual effort. He's leading the league with 33 goals, and this one was a textbook example of "highlight reel goal". I'm still kinda dazed by it.
The good things are that Erik Cole scored a goal at home. It was the first time he's done that all season. Eric Staal continued to pour on the points. His two points on the game put him at 37 (21/16) for the season. He won't finish anywhere near the 100 (45/55) that he had in the year of the Cup, but he's continuing to play at an elite level. He's got 10 (6/4) points in his last 9 games, which is more like the Eric Staal that we know than the guy who went four game pointless streak and a six game goalless streak in November.
Andrew Ladd had surgery today for his eye. He'll be out for a couple of weeks. The Canes were already looking like a MASH unit, but when you add Ladd and Scott Walker (7-10 games, knee) to the already big list, they look awful. Carolina should be making a few callups from Albany. I imagine Nolan will be recalled along with Ryan Bayda. Or Keith Aucoin. For more on the injuries, read Luke's article in the N&O.
In Wednesday's game, Carolina also got even strength goals from Andrew Ladd and Ray Whitney. They had to battle back from down 3-1, and 4-3 to force overtime. They should feel good about accomplishing something on the power play. They should feel good about finding something when their backs were against the wall. They should feel horrible about the penalty kill. They should feel horrible about committing a penalty in overtime. Cam Ward should feel awful about giving up five goals on just 14 shots. They should not have lost this game, but they did. The one standings point shouldn't be a consolation, but rather a scarlet letter.
The same two teams will kick it in the Philips Place Arena on Friday night. There will be a lot of different faces on the Carolina bench, including goaltender Michael Leighton, who has been called up from Albany following the waiving of Johnny Crackers
Friday, November 16, 2007
Thrashers 3- Canes 0. There's something about Johan.
The highest-scoring team in the NHL has just gone two games with a grand total of ONE goal scored. On Friday night, the visiting Thrashers blanked the home team, and the Hurricanes are on their first losing streak of the season.
After Wednesday night's clunker, I didn't think it could get worse. I thought they'd come out with all cylinders firing. I though wrong.
It wasn't so much that Carolina stunk. They certainly did, but Atlanta showed up and played 60:00 of hockey. They played better offensively, defensively, in transition, and in every way imaginable. Although they are the league's worst team in terms of penalty killing, they killed all four Carolina power plays. At times, they shut down the power play so effectively that it looked like Carolina was the shorthanded team.
In fact, that's how the whole game can be summarized. Carolina looked like they were shorthanded all night.
Maid Marian Hossa got the game winning goal at 5:41 of the first on a mini-breakaway. From the left side half-wall, Todd White hit Hossa with a pass in the slot. Hossa took the pass on his backhand side, and slowly dragged it to his forehand and easily beat Cam Ward. Ilya Kovalchuk got the secondary assist.
At 14:59 of the first, Maid Marian struck again on a pretty give-and-go with Todd White. The whole thing was started with a bad turnover by Bret Hediguchi just inside the Atlanta zone. Hedican's turnover was far and away the worst play of the game, and he earned the "Tevvy" for it.
John CusackIlya Kovalchuk potted an insignificant empty net goal at 19:01 of the third, assisted by Maid Marian. I think Hossa could have gone for the hat-trick, but unselfishly gave it up to the NHL's leading goal scorer.
The stat sheet says that Carolina outshot Atlanta 31-24, but Carolina's chances weren't very good, and they seldomly challenged the 34-year old Johan Hedberg. Hedberg became not only the second consecutive Swede, but the second consecutive Johan to beat the Canes. The winner at Tampa on Wednesday was Johan Holmqvist.
There was one good thing about Carolina's play. Chad LaRose was the hardest working player in red, and he drew all four of Atlanta's penalties. Unfortunately, the Canes couldn't capitalize on any of them, but he worked hard to put his team in a good position.
Carolina won't have much time to reflect on their loss, or mope about it. They'll stay home tomorrow for another SE division matchup. It'll be the Panthers for already the fourth time this season. After losing 4-2 in Sunrise on Halloween night, the Hurricanes have won the last two against the Panthers. Most recently on Monday night, when they won 4-3 but lost Erik Cole to a neck injury.
Fortunately for the Canes, neither Tomas Vokoun nor Craig Anderson is named "Johan" and neither is from Sweden. This will give the Hurricanes the decided edge. I've already looked into it, and Florida doesn't have any Swedish goaltenders in their system.
Speaking of Swedes, defenseman Nic Wallin is expected to return to the lineup tomorrow night against the Kitties. He's missed nine of the last ten games including the last seven in a row with a groin issue. This should help matters a lot, as it will get "Avi" Tanabe back in the press box.
The Kitties will almost certainly be facing Johnny Crackers between the pipes. The last time they saw Grahame was on November 3 in Raleigh when the Canes won 4-2. Last season, the Kitties were 1-2-3 in games versus Grahame.
Tomas Vokoun is the clearcut starter in Florida, and the Canes are 2-1-0 against him this season. Prior to this season, the last time the Canes saw Vokoun was in The Year of the Cup. After Frantisek Kaberle scored on a penalty shot in overtime against the Preds, Vokoun launched his goalie stick into the protective netting above the endboards, earning him an insignificant game misconduct penalty.
Carolina's goaltending, then, earns them an edge. Florida's forwards are looking better than Carolina's right now. The return of Nic Wallin would give Carolina an edge in the "defense" department.
Carolina should win the game on better goaltending. We'll see.
Neither Carolina nor Florida will be televising the game, so it'll be Chuckandtheletterk for me.
Oh yeah. Three stars. The three stars for Friday's game are:
THIRD STAR Ilya Kovalchuk, ATL --- 1 goal, 2 assists
SECOND STAR Todd White, ATL --- 2 assists
FIRST STAR Marian Hossa, ATL --- 2 goals, 1 assist
After Wednesday night's clunker, I didn't think it could get worse. I thought they'd come out with all cylinders firing. I though wrong.
It wasn't so much that Carolina stunk. They certainly did, but Atlanta showed up and played 60:00 of hockey. They played better offensively, defensively, in transition, and in every way imaginable. Although they are the league's worst team in terms of penalty killing, they killed all four Carolina power plays. At times, they shut down the power play so effectively that it looked like Carolina was the shorthanded team.
In fact, that's how the whole game can be summarized. Carolina looked like they were shorthanded all night.
Maid Marian Hossa got the game winning goal at 5:41 of the first on a mini-breakaway. From the left side half-wall, Todd White hit Hossa with a pass in the slot. Hossa took the pass on his backhand side, and slowly dragged it to his forehand and easily beat Cam Ward. Ilya Kovalchuk got the secondary assist.
At 14:59 of the first, Maid Marian struck again on a pretty give-and-go with Todd White. The whole thing was started with a bad turnover by Bret Hediguchi just inside the Atlanta zone. Hedican's turnover was far and away the worst play of the game, and he earned the "Tevvy" for it.
The stat sheet says that Carolina outshot Atlanta 31-24, but Carolina's chances weren't very good, and they seldomly challenged the 34-year old Johan Hedberg. Hedberg became not only the second consecutive Swede, but the second consecutive Johan to beat the Canes. The winner at Tampa on Wednesday was Johan Holmqvist.
There was one good thing about Carolina's play. Chad LaRose was the hardest working player in red, and he drew all four of Atlanta's penalties. Unfortunately, the Canes couldn't capitalize on any of them, but he worked hard to put his team in a good position.
Carolina won't have much time to reflect on their loss, or mope about it. They'll stay home tomorrow for another SE division matchup. It'll be the Panthers for already the fourth time this season. After losing 4-2 in Sunrise on Halloween night, the Hurricanes have won the last two against the Panthers. Most recently on Monday night, when they won 4-3 but lost Erik Cole to a neck injury.
Fortunately for the Canes, neither Tomas Vokoun nor Craig Anderson is named "Johan" and neither is from Sweden. This will give the Hurricanes the decided edge. I've already looked into it, and Florida doesn't have any Swedish goaltenders in their system.
Speaking of Swedes, defenseman Nic Wallin is expected to return to the lineup tomorrow night against the Kitties. He's missed nine of the last ten games including the last seven in a row with a groin issue. This should help matters a lot, as it will get "Avi" Tanabe back in the press box.
The Kitties will almost certainly be facing Johnny Crackers between the pipes. The last time they saw Grahame was on November 3 in Raleigh when the Canes won 4-2. Last season, the Kitties were 1-2-3 in games versus Grahame.
Tomas Vokoun is the clearcut starter in Florida, and the Canes are 2-1-0 against him this season. Prior to this season, the last time the Canes saw Vokoun was in The Year of the Cup. After Frantisek Kaberle scored on a penalty shot in overtime against the Preds, Vokoun launched his goalie stick into the protective netting above the endboards, earning him an insignificant game misconduct penalty.
Carolina's goaltending, then, earns them an edge. Florida's forwards are looking better than Carolina's right now. The return of Nic Wallin would give Carolina an edge in the "defense" department.
Carolina should win the game on better goaltending. We'll see.
Neither Carolina nor Florida will be televising the game, so it'll be Chuckandtheletterk for me.
Oh yeah. Three stars. The three stars for Friday's game are:
THIRD STAR Ilya Kovalchuk, ATL --- 1 goal, 2 assists
SECOND STAR Todd White, ATL --- 2 assists
FIRST STAR Marian Hossa, ATL --- 2 goals, 1 assist
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Canes defeat Thrash 5-3
On Saturday night, the Hurricanes atoned for their bad game on Thursday by beating their host Atlanta Thrashers 5-3. Carolina earned their 23rd standings point of the season, but were unable to widen their divisional lead over Tampa, who beat Washington 5-2.
Eric Perrin got the Birds on the board with an early goal at 2:33, assisted by Slava Kozlov.
In the waning seconds of the first, Carolina's captain notched one of those "momentum changing" goals. It's often said that a goal in the first minute of the game can set the tone, and a goal in the last minute can set (or change) the tone. The Thrashers' Alex Zhitnik was in the box feeling shame when Brind'Amour tapped one in with just one second remaining in the power play and seven seconds remaining in the period. Officially, it was a power play goal at 19:53, assisted by Ray Whitney and Cory Stillman. The assist extended The Wizard's points streak to nine games.
Todd White of the Thrashers went to the box early in the second. Both teams potted a goal during the ensuing power play.
First it was Maid Marian Hossa with the shorthanded goal at 4:47, assisted by Perrin and Ken Klee. It was the second shorty surrendered by the Hurricanes this season.
Just 31 seconds later, Viva knotted it up with a power play goal. It was the Hurricanes' 24th power play goal of the season, which leads the League. The goal was assisted by Eric Staal and Dennis Seidenberg at 5:18.
At 7:44, Brindy notched his second goal of the contest, which ended a four-game goal drought. Whitney and Viva assisted.
Cory Stillman banged in an insurance marker at 2:58 of the third. His ninth of the season ended up being the game-winner. This is his third game-winner of the season. Erik Cole and Bret Hedican got the assists.
Maid Marian made things interesting with his second goal of the night and his sixth of the season at 5:58. Todd White got the lone assist.
Down the stretch, Cam Ward made some dazzling saves to preserve the win, including no fewer than three breakaway chances. Maid Marian had a dandy breakaway chance to pick up the hat trick, but Ward was a stone wall, turning aside the shot and the rebound.
Eric Staal scored a garbage goal at 18:24, before Ondrej Pavelec had a chance to vacate the net. The young Czech netminder was handcuffed by Mike Commodore's shot from the right point, and he had difficulty controlling the rebound. He had this problem all night, and the Hurricanes took advantage. It was Staal's team-leading 12th goal of the season, assisted by Commodore and Stillman.
Staal's two points on the night make 21 (12/9) for the season, which put him on pace for 101 points on the season. That would be a career high.
Brind'Amour's two points on the night make 23 (8/15) for the season, putting him on pace for 111 on the season. That would be a career high.
Whitney's two points on the night make 19 (9/10) for the season, putting him on pace for 92 on the season. That would be a new career high.
Viva's two points on the night make 20 (6/14) for the season, putting him on pace for 96 on the season. That would be a new career high.
Stillman's three points on the night make 22 (9/13) on the season. Since he missed a few games, his PPG is higher, and he's on pace for 129 points on the season. That would be a new career high by quite a bit. His previous best was 80 (25/55) the year that Tampa won the Cup.
This was one of those games where there were a lot of different guys contributing. Nine different players registered at least one point, and the above mentioned five guys had two or more points. This is exactly what a team needs to do well in this league: synergy.
When Andrew Ladd returns, and if Scott Walker returns.... watch out.
With so many guys playing well tonight and contributing in key ways, it was hard to assign the stars.
FSN South gave the stars to Maid Marian (third), Rod Brind'Amour (second) and Cam Ward (first). The "official" three stars went to Ward (third), Maid Marian (second) and Brind'Amour (first). I see it a little differently. The RBH three stars:
THIRD STAR Rod Brind'Amour, CAR --- 2 goals
SECOND STAR Marian Hossa. ATL --- 2 goals, 23:47 TOI
FIRST STAR Cory Stillman, CAR --- GWG, 2 assists, 23:12 TOI
Carolina will continue their road trip with a game in Sunrise on Monday night. Expect the writers in South Florida to continue with their criticism of Carolina's skaters. Their press seems to have influenced the officiating in their favor last time down there, so they will probably try it again. If nothing else, their writers will be bored after having Saturday and Sunday off.
The interview with Rod Brind'Amour came after the game. It was nice, but it was obviously truncated, and there were quite a few breaks in the 30 minute segment entitled "In My Own Words". I learned one thing: after being drafted by the Blues, Brindy actually signed a contract, but immediately had second thoughts, and he got them to void it just seconds before it was to be transmitted to the NHL offices. Instead, he spent one season playing college hockey at Michigan State. After the Spartans were eliminated from the Frozen Four, Brindy signed the Blues' contract, joined them for the playoffs, and he scored a goal in his first game -- on his first shot.
Monday's contest against the Panthers will be nationally televised on Versus.
Eric Perrin got the Birds on the board with an early goal at 2:33, assisted by Slava Kozlov.
In the waning seconds of the first, Carolina's captain notched one of those "momentum changing" goals. It's often said that a goal in the first minute of the game can set the tone, and a goal in the last minute can set (or change) the tone. The Thrashers' Alex Zhitnik was in the box feeling shame when Brind'Amour tapped one in with just one second remaining in the power play and seven seconds remaining in the period. Officially, it was a power play goal at 19:53, assisted by Ray Whitney and Cory Stillman. The assist extended The Wizard's points streak to nine games.
Todd White of the Thrashers went to the box early in the second. Both teams potted a goal during the ensuing power play.
First it was Maid Marian Hossa with the shorthanded goal at 4:47, assisted by Perrin and Ken Klee. It was the second shorty surrendered by the Hurricanes this season.
Just 31 seconds later, Viva knotted it up with a power play goal. It was the Hurricanes' 24th power play goal of the season, which leads the League. The goal was assisted by Eric Staal and Dennis Seidenberg at 5:18.
At 7:44, Brindy notched his second goal of the contest, which ended a four-game goal drought. Whitney and Viva assisted.
Cory Stillman banged in an insurance marker at 2:58 of the third. His ninth of the season ended up being the game-winner. This is his third game-winner of the season. Erik Cole and Bret Hedican got the assists.
Maid Marian made things interesting with his second goal of the night and his sixth of the season at 5:58. Todd White got the lone assist.
Down the stretch, Cam Ward made some dazzling saves to preserve the win, including no fewer than three breakaway chances. Maid Marian had a dandy breakaway chance to pick up the hat trick, but Ward was a stone wall, turning aside the shot and the rebound.
Eric Staal scored a garbage goal at 18:24, before Ondrej Pavelec had a chance to vacate the net. The young Czech netminder was handcuffed by Mike Commodore's shot from the right point, and he had difficulty controlling the rebound. He had this problem all night, and the Hurricanes took advantage. It was Staal's team-leading 12th goal of the season, assisted by Commodore and Stillman.
Staal's two points on the night make 21 (12/9) for the season, which put him on pace for 101 points on the season. That would be a career high.
Brind'Amour's two points on the night make 23 (8/15) for the season, putting him on pace for 111 on the season. That would be a career high.
Whitney's two points on the night make 19 (9/10) for the season, putting him on pace for 92 on the season. That would be a new career high.
Viva's two points on the night make 20 (6/14) for the season, putting him on pace for 96 on the season. That would be a new career high.
Stillman's three points on the night make 22 (9/13) on the season. Since he missed a few games, his PPG is higher, and he's on pace for 129 points on the season. That would be a new career high by quite a bit. His previous best was 80 (25/55) the year that Tampa won the Cup.
This was one of those games where there were a lot of different guys contributing. Nine different players registered at least one point, and the above mentioned five guys had two or more points. This is exactly what a team needs to do well in this league: synergy.
When Andrew Ladd returns, and if Scott Walker returns.... watch out.
With so many guys playing well tonight and contributing in key ways, it was hard to assign the stars.
FSN South gave the stars to Maid Marian (third), Rod Brind'Amour (second) and Cam Ward (first). The "official" three stars went to Ward (third), Maid Marian (second) and Brind'Amour (first). I see it a little differently. The RBH three stars:
THIRD STAR Rod Brind'Amour, CAR --- 2 goals
SECOND STAR Marian Hossa. ATL --- 2 goals, 23:47 TOI
FIRST STAR Cory Stillman, CAR --- GWG, 2 assists, 23:12 TOI
Carolina will continue their road trip with a game in Sunrise on Monday night. Expect the writers in South Florida to continue with their criticism of Carolina's skaters. Their press seems to have influenced the officiating in their favor last time down there, so they will probably try it again. If nothing else, their writers will be bored after having Saturday and Sunday off.
The interview with Rod Brind'Amour came after the game. It was nice, but it was obviously truncated, and there were quite a few breaks in the 30 minute segment entitled "In My Own Words". I learned one thing: after being drafted by the Blues, Brindy actually signed a contract, but immediately had second thoughts, and he got them to void it just seconds before it was to be transmitted to the NHL offices. Instead, he spent one season playing college hockey at Michigan State. After the Spartans were eliminated from the Frozen Four, Brindy signed the Blues' contract, joined them for the playoffs, and he scored a goal in his first game -- on his first shot.
Monday's contest against the Panthers will be nationally televised on Versus.
Canes-Thrash
Tonight, the Hurricanes will take on the Thrashers in Atlanta. It's the first of three SE division road games in a row, and the fifth in a series of nine straight SE division games. It will be the first meeting between the teams this season.
Carolina has recalled Ryan Bayda and reassigned Keith Aucoin for the game. This will already be Bayda's third call-up this season.
After a poor performance on Thursday, especially from the defense, Carolina will hope to rebound with a win tonight. The good news on the defensive front is that Dennis Seidenberg got his immigration issues worked out. He had to miss Thursday's game because his visa was expired. I don't think he was deported, but he was definitely not allowed to play. Since that's taken care of, Snuggles Tanabe can return to the pressbox.
This season, Carolina has had two "bad" losses. Maybe three. Each time, they have responded with a convincing win the next time out. On October 6, they were shut out 2-0 by Washington. They responded three days later with a convincing 7-1 win at Toronto. On October 26, they lost bady at home 7-4 to the Canadiens. They bounced right back with a 8-3 pounding of the Islanders. The 4-2 loss to the Panthers on Haloween night wasn't what I considered to be "bad", but they answered it the next night with a 4-2 win.
The point of all this is that Carolina hasn't had two consecutive regulation losses at any time this season. They'll hope to make that remain true.
No word on who the starter will be in nets, but my guess is that Crackers gets a shot.
If you're in the Carolina viewing area, be sure to tune in a half hour early for the interview with Rod Brind'Amour. According to LSB, it should be a good one.
Carolina has recalled Ryan Bayda and reassigned Keith Aucoin for the game. This will already be Bayda's third call-up this season.
After a poor performance on Thursday, especially from the defense, Carolina will hope to rebound with a win tonight. The good news on the defensive front is that Dennis Seidenberg got his immigration issues worked out. He had to miss Thursday's game because his visa was expired. I don't think he was deported, but he was definitely not allowed to play. Since that's taken care of, Snuggles Tanabe can return to the pressbox.
This season, Carolina has had two "bad" losses. Maybe three. Each time, they have responded with a convincing win the next time out. On October 6, they were shut out 2-0 by Washington. They responded three days later with a convincing 7-1 win at Toronto. On October 26, they lost bady at home 7-4 to the Canadiens. They bounced right back with a 8-3 pounding of the Islanders. The 4-2 loss to the Panthers on Haloween night wasn't what I considered to be "bad", but they answered it the next night with a 4-2 win.
The point of all this is that Carolina hasn't had two consecutive regulation losses at any time this season. They'll hope to make that remain true.
No word on who the starter will be in nets, but my guess is that Crackers gets a shot.
If you're in the Carolina viewing area, be sure to tune in a half hour early for the interview with Rod Brind'Amour. According to LSB, it should be a good one.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Leafs-Thrash
Man, do I love Center Ice!
I just caught the end of the Leafs and Thrashers. I picked it up with about 8 minutes remaining in the third, and that was pretty much all I needed.
There was an interesting thing that happened, though. I wonder if anyone else noticed this. After Todd White finished a two-on-one break to give the Thrashers a 4-3 lead with about 7:00 left, there was a shot of Leafs coach Paul Maurice, who looked a tiny bit upset. Chairman Mo was never one to express emotions one way or the other. That's not the point, though.
The next camera shot was of the Thrashers bench. There was a close shot of Brian Little, whose team had just taken the lead in a tight game. He looked less excited than even Paul Maurice. I thought I had imagined it, but I rewound it a few times, and saw the same thing each time. No emotion. Strange.
I actually felt myself tensing up watching the final minute as the Leafs put crazy pressure on the Thrashers, then I leapt up off the couch when Ponikarovsky tied it with 10 seconds left.
The overtime wasn't much, but I really enjoyed the shootout. It was sort of like a few weeks ago when the Dallas Cowboys won in dramatic fashion against the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football. Two teams that I really dislike, but I was getting worked up about the endgame.
Now, if only I had a high definition TV, I'd be even more geeked up about Center Ice.
I just caught the end of the Leafs and Thrashers. I picked it up with about 8 minutes remaining in the third, and that was pretty much all I needed.
There was an interesting thing that happened, though. I wonder if anyone else noticed this. After Todd White finished a two-on-one break to give the Thrashers a 4-3 lead with about 7:00 left, there was a shot of Leafs coach Paul Maurice, who looked a tiny bit upset. Chairman Mo was never one to express emotions one way or the other. That's not the point, though.
The next camera shot was of the Thrashers bench. There was a close shot of Brian Little, whose team had just taken the lead in a tight game. He looked less excited than even Paul Maurice. I thought I had imagined it, but I rewound it a few times, and saw the same thing each time. No emotion. Strange.
I actually felt myself tensing up watching the final minute as the Leafs put crazy pressure on the Thrashers, then I leapt up off the couch when Ponikarovsky tied it with 10 seconds left.
The overtime wasn't much, but I really enjoyed the shootout. It was sort of like a few weeks ago when the Dallas Cowboys won in dramatic fashion against the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football. Two teams that I really dislike, but I was getting worked up about the endgame.
Now, if only I had a high definition TV, I'd be even more geeked up about Center Ice.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Florida steals one, Atlanta can't shoot.
I just got done watching the game between Montréal and Florida.
WOW!!!
Florida played pretty poorly for 58 minutes, but somehow emerged from the Bell Centre with two points. With seven minutes to go, the Panthers had only registered 15 shots on goal, and it looked like Cristobal Huet was on his way to a shutout.
Mike Komaserik was called for slashing with about two and a half to play, and the Panthers suddenly snapped to attention. They were able to mount some serious pressure on Huet, especially after Vokoun was pulled for the extra attacker. During the furious six-on-four sequence, Huet was forced to make a couple of great stops. The Habs killed the penalty, but just two seconds after the expiration, Nathan Horton got one past Huet to tie the game with 10.2 seconds remaining in the third.
Florida had been outplayed for the entire game, and really only played well for the last 90 seconds, but somehow that was good enough to get them one.
Nothing happened in the overtime, and the frustrated home crowd watched as it went to shootout. Montréal opted to shoot first. All three of their skaters went low on Vokoun, and he easily made all three stops. Florida's first two skaters were stopped, but Jozef Stumpel scored, and the game was over.
This was a great example of why you shouldn't give up on a game. The Cats stank all game, and they seemed down for the count, but they fought their way into the extra frame and ended up "stealing" two points away from les Habs. Although the Canadiens didn't leave the rink empty handed, they can't be happy about pissing away one point.
One standings point may seem petty at this point in the season, but the Maple Leafs missed the playoffs by one point last year. The Avalanche suffered the same fate. I don't mean to be overdramatic, but if the Canadiens just barely miss the playoffs, they can look at this game. They can look at 10.2 seconds.
In other news, the Thrashers got smoked by Philly, and they remain the only winless team. It's a sad commentary when the pathetic NFL Atlanta Falcons aren't the worst team in town. Sure, they've run up against some good teams, but they've only scored nine goals through their first six games. Five of those goals came in one game. Including last season's playoffs and excluding this year's exhibition games the Thrash have lost 10 games in a row. They've scored a total of 15 goals in those 10 games and have surrendered 44. Ouch. They'll get on track eventually, perhaps.
Jennifer over at SESO has been lamenting the fact that the Thrash just aren't shooting the puck. Tonight, they were outshot 33-31, which brings their cumulative total to 206 shots for the opponents to 141 for the Thrash. Their average is 23.5 SOG per game whilst facing 34.3 from their opponents.
The Canes are in the middle of five days in a row off. What else is there for me to do?
WOW!!!
Florida played pretty poorly for 58 minutes, but somehow emerged from the Bell Centre with two points. With seven minutes to go, the Panthers had only registered 15 shots on goal, and it looked like Cristobal Huet was on his way to a shutout.
Mike Komaserik was called for slashing with about two and a half to play, and the Panthers suddenly snapped to attention. They were able to mount some serious pressure on Huet, especially after Vokoun was pulled for the extra attacker. During the furious six-on-four sequence, Huet was forced to make a couple of great stops. The Habs killed the penalty, but just two seconds after the expiration, Nathan Horton got one past Huet to tie the game with 10.2 seconds remaining in the third.
Florida had been outplayed for the entire game, and really only played well for the last 90 seconds, but somehow that was good enough to get them one.
Nothing happened in the overtime, and the frustrated home crowd watched as it went to shootout. Montréal opted to shoot first. All three of their skaters went low on Vokoun, and he easily made all three stops. Florida's first two skaters were stopped, but Jozef Stumpel scored, and the game was over.
This was a great example of why you shouldn't give up on a game. The Cats stank all game, and they seemed down for the count, but they fought their way into the extra frame and ended up "stealing" two points away from les Habs. Although the Canadiens didn't leave the rink empty handed, they can't be happy about pissing away one point.
One standings point may seem petty at this point in the season, but the Maple Leafs missed the playoffs by one point last year. The Avalanche suffered the same fate. I don't mean to be overdramatic, but if the Canadiens just barely miss the playoffs, they can look at this game. They can look at 10.2 seconds.
In other news, the Thrashers got smoked by Philly, and they remain the only winless team. It's a sad commentary when the pathetic NFL Atlanta Falcons aren't the worst team in town. Sure, they've run up against some good teams, but they've only scored nine goals through their first six games. Five of those goals came in one game. Including last season's playoffs and excluding this year's exhibition games the Thrash have lost 10 games in a row. They've scored a total of 15 goals in those 10 games and have surrendered 44. Ouch. They'll get on track eventually, perhaps.
Jennifer over at SESO has been lamenting the fact that the Thrash just aren't shooting the puck. Tonight, they were outshot 33-31, which brings their cumulative total to 206 shots for the opponents to 141 for the Thrash. Their average is 23.5 SOG per game whilst facing 34.3 from their opponents.
The Canes are in the middle of five days in a row off. What else is there for me to do?
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Eastern Conference hot seats (part two)
This is part two of this series.
A few days ago, The Score presented its list of players who will be in "the hot seat" for their respective team. Not necessarily that their job is on the line, but the suggestion is that the success or failure of the team would be predicated upon the success or failure of a single player. Unfortunately, their list puts too much pressure on the goaltender to be the guy. I don't really buy that. Too often, goalies become the fall guy he's not getting any goal support. I like to look elsewhere.
The rest of the crew over at SESO have been kicking this around for a few days, everyone putting their own two cents in. I thought it would be fun to take it team-by-team and give my own unqualified opinion. I'm in no way qualified to comment on Western Conference teams, and in many cases, I have no business commenting on Eastern, but I'll take a shot at all 15 teams in the East. Here are the last seven.
Tampa Bay Lightning Again, The Score picked on the goalie, putting Marc Denis in the "hot seat". I just don't think it's fair. I'd rather put a position player with the weight on his shoulders. In this case, I think it should be Vincent "The Horseman" Lecavalier. Vinny was the #1 overall pick in the 1998 draft. Unlike the #8 pick (Mark Bell) and the #11 pick (Jeff Heerema) from that year's draft, he has avoided a jail sentence this summer. All joking aside, he had his "breakout" season last year, scoring 108 (52/56) points, which shattered his previous personal best by 30 points. It will be on him to repeat that kind of performance and lead his team to a fifth straight playoff appearance. Martin St. Louis also had an explosion last season and will have to do the same this year. Honestly, because they're division foes, I hope they don't help their team, but they sure are fun to watch.
Toronto Maple Leafs The Score once again took the wimpy way out and put the heat on newly acquired goaltender Vesa Toskala. This is utter crap. He'll be duking it out for the #2 spot with former perennial Brodeur backup Scott Clemmensen. In all honesty, he'll probably land with the Marlies or he'll be picked up off the waiver wire. Hot seat? I think not. My pick isn't as wimpy. I'll call out 24-year old Kyle Wellwood. I could have taken the easy way out and picked on the Captain, but Sundin has been probably the most consistent player in all of hockey. You know he's going to give you exactly a point a night. And he's the damn Captain. I say Wellwood because he has shown that he can produce huge numbers at every level, and it's time to do it at the NHL level. Last season, defensemen Tomas Kaberle and Bryan McCabe were #2 and #3 on the the Leafs in terms of points production with 58 and 57 respectively. The forwards have to step up, and I think Wellwood is gonna have to be the guy. It certainly won't be Bates Battaglia. They won't be a Cup contender either way, but if this guy can break out, they'll at least make the playoffs.
Florida Panthers. Again with the goaltender. The Score put Tomas Vokoun in there. I don't see why. He was run out of Nashville on a rail and brought in to Florida to replace Eddie "The Eagle" Belfour, who had become the Adam "Pacman" Jones of hockey with his off-ice antics. In 2006, it was certainly true that the Preds' success was predicated upon the health and performance of Vokoun. When he went down with his pelvic thrombophlebitis late in the '06 seson, the Preds took a nosedive and were quickly eliminated in the first round of those playoffs.
It's true that their goaltending depends upon him. The backup, Craig Anderson, is not a good goalie. I'll pick on Nathan Horton. He was taken 3rd in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft (just behind Eric Staal), and of that class, he's one of a few who hasn't had at least one explosive season. Don't misunderstand me. His 62 (31/31) points last year were good, but I think there's more in the tank.
If Olli Jokinen has a horrible season, this team is done, but that won't happen, so there's no point in discussing that. I think Horton can have more of a hand in making them better. They'll still miss the playoffs, but I think Horton will have his year, and it will benefit the Cats greatly.
Pittsburgh Penguins. The Score put old man Gary Roberts in the "hot seat". I won't do that. I can't quite pick between two sophomores, so I'll make them sit in each other's lap in the hot seat. Jordan Staal had a remarkable rookie season. Most folks figured he'd play in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, but he exploded right out of the gate to earn his spot on the big club. His 42 (29/13) points were way better than the 31 (11/20) that his brother scored during his rookie campaign. His seven shorties were tops in the entire league. If he can do like his brother and have an explosive second year, the Pens will be very happy. Also, second year player Evgeni Malkin has a different challenge. His is to prove that his eye-popping 85 (33/52) points wasn't a fluke. He's a big, big dude, and he's fun to watch. If Malkin can maintain or increase his production, and Staal can increase his, the Pens will be a serious force to be reckoned with.
New York Rangers. The Score says Chris Drury is the guy. I think I agree. He was one of two ultra-expensive free agent acquisitions made by the Rags. He'll not only have to prove that he's worth the $7.1M he'll earn this season. He also has to fill the void left by Michael Nylander. Then again, Scott Gomez will be making $10M. He's never even had a 90 point season in the NHL and he's making stupid money. More money than Jagr. "The Golden Bitch" will probably not like this. Rags fans and Chris Drury himself should hope that there are no hostilities, or Drury will be shown the door. Maybe that is the "hot seat". The relationship between Jagr and Gomez. Yes. I'm sure of it. That's it.
Ottawa Senators. The Score says defenseman Wade Redden. At $6.5M, he's the Sens' highest paid player. I dunno. Daniel Alfredsson had a monstrous 103-point season in '06 , then had a bit of a letdown last season, but he still managed 87 (29/58) points. He was great in the playoffs. At one point in the regular season, though, he went through a drought, and his attitude came into question. I don't know all the details. He and Jason Spezza are both big pieces of the puzzle and they must put up 90 or more points. They must also stay healthy, which is a challenge for Spezza. If one of these guys slacks this year, the other will pick up. I can't decide on anybody. I'm tempted to go against my own rule and pick Ray Emery. He emerged as a star last season, and if he should falter or fall back to Earth (read: Cam Ward), that might make a big difference.
Atlanta Thrashers The Score picked Ilya Kovalchuk. He did drop off his point production by 22 points last season. Sure. Why not? If he drops off again, the Thrash will have no hope of qualifying for the playoffs.
Okay, so that's the Eastern Conference. I doubt that I'll bother with the Western Conference, but we'll see.
A few days ago, The Score presented its list of players who will be in "the hot seat" for their respective team. Not necessarily that their job is on the line, but the suggestion is that the success or failure of the team would be predicated upon the success or failure of a single player. Unfortunately, their list puts too much pressure on the goaltender to be the guy. I don't really buy that. Too often, goalies become the fall guy he's not getting any goal support. I like to look elsewhere.
The rest of the crew over at SESO have been kicking this around for a few days, everyone putting their own two cents in. I thought it would be fun to take it team-by-team and give my own unqualified opinion. I'm in no way qualified to comment on Western Conference teams, and in many cases, I have no business commenting on Eastern, but I'll take a shot at all 15 teams in the East. Here are the last seven.
Tampa Bay Lightning Again, The Score picked on the goalie, putting Marc Denis in the "hot seat". I just don't think it's fair. I'd rather put a position player with the weight on his shoulders. In this case, I think it should be Vincent "The Horseman" Lecavalier. Vinny was the #1 overall pick in the 1998 draft. Unlike the #8 pick (Mark Bell) and the #11 pick (Jeff Heerema) from that year's draft, he has avoided a jail sentence this summer. All joking aside, he had his "breakout" season last year, scoring 108 (52/56) points, which shattered his previous personal best by 30 points. It will be on him to repeat that kind of performance and lead his team to a fifth straight playoff appearance. Martin St. Louis also had an explosion last season and will have to do the same this year. Honestly, because they're division foes, I hope they don't help their team, but they sure are fun to watch.
Toronto Maple Leafs The Score once again took the wimpy way out and put the heat on newly acquired goaltender Vesa Toskala. This is utter crap. He'll be duking it out for the #2 spot with former perennial Brodeur backup Scott Clemmensen. In all honesty, he'll probably land with the Marlies or he'll be picked up off the waiver wire. Hot seat? I think not. My pick isn't as wimpy. I'll call out 24-year old Kyle Wellwood. I could have taken the easy way out and picked on the Captain, but Sundin has been probably the most consistent player in all of hockey. You know he's going to give you exactly a point a night. And he's the damn Captain. I say Wellwood because he has shown that he can produce huge numbers at every level, and it's time to do it at the NHL level. Last season, defensemen Tomas Kaberle and Bryan McCabe were #2 and #3 on the the Leafs in terms of points production with 58 and 57 respectively. The forwards have to step up, and I think Wellwood is gonna have to be the guy. It certainly won't be Bates Battaglia. They won't be a Cup contender either way, but if this guy can break out, they'll at least make the playoffs.
Florida Panthers. Again with the goaltender. The Score put Tomas Vokoun in there. I don't see why. He was run out of Nashville on a rail and brought in to Florida to replace Eddie "The Eagle" Belfour, who had become the Adam "Pacman" Jones of hockey with his off-ice antics. In 2006, it was certainly true that the Preds' success was predicated upon the health and performance of Vokoun. When he went down with his pelvic thrombophlebitis late in the '06 seson, the Preds took a nosedive and were quickly eliminated in the first round of those playoffs.
It's true that their goaltending depends upon him. The backup, Craig Anderson, is not a good goalie. I'll pick on Nathan Horton. He was taken 3rd in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft (just behind Eric Staal), and of that class, he's one of a few who hasn't had at least one explosive season. Don't misunderstand me. His 62 (31/31) points last year were good, but I think there's more in the tank.
If Olli Jokinen has a horrible season, this team is done, but that won't happen, so there's no point in discussing that. I think Horton can have more of a hand in making them better. They'll still miss the playoffs, but I think Horton will have his year, and it will benefit the Cats greatly.
Pittsburgh Penguins. The Score put old man Gary Roberts in the "hot seat". I won't do that. I can't quite pick between two sophomores, so I'll make them sit in each other's lap in the hot seat. Jordan Staal had a remarkable rookie season. Most folks figured he'd play in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, but he exploded right out of the gate to earn his spot on the big club. His 42 (29/13) points were way better than the 31 (11/20) that his brother scored during his rookie campaign. His seven shorties were tops in the entire league. If he can do like his brother and have an explosive second year, the Pens will be very happy. Also, second year player Evgeni Malkin has a different challenge. His is to prove that his eye-popping 85 (33/52) points wasn't a fluke. He's a big, big dude, and he's fun to watch. If Malkin can maintain or increase his production, and Staal can increase his, the Pens will be a serious force to be reckoned with.
New York Rangers. The Score says Chris Drury is the guy. I think I agree. He was one of two ultra-expensive free agent acquisitions made by the Rags. He'll not only have to prove that he's worth the $7.1M he'll earn this season. He also has to fill the void left by Michael Nylander. Then again, Scott Gomez will be making $10M. He's never even had a 90 point season in the NHL and he's making stupid money. More money than Jagr. "The Golden Bitch" will probably not like this. Rags fans and Chris Drury himself should hope that there are no hostilities, or Drury will be shown the door. Maybe that is the "hot seat". The relationship between Jagr and Gomez. Yes. I'm sure of it. That's it.
Ottawa Senators. The Score says defenseman Wade Redden. At $6.5M, he's the Sens' highest paid player. I dunno. Daniel Alfredsson had a monstrous 103-point season in '06 , then had a bit of a letdown last season, but he still managed 87 (29/58) points. He was great in the playoffs. At one point in the regular season, though, he went through a drought, and his attitude came into question. I don't know all the details. He and Jason Spezza are both big pieces of the puzzle and they must put up 90 or more points. They must also stay healthy, which is a challenge for Spezza. If one of these guys slacks this year, the other will pick up. I can't decide on anybody. I'm tempted to go against my own rule and pick Ray Emery. He emerged as a star last season, and if he should falter or fall back to Earth (read: Cam Ward), that might make a big difference.
Atlanta Thrashers The Score picked Ilya Kovalchuk. He did drop off his point production by 22 points last season. Sure. Why not? If he drops off again, the Thrash will have no hope of qualifying for the playoffs.
Okay, so that's the Eastern Conference. I doubt that I'll bother with the Western Conference, but we'll see.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Thrashers sign White
This is what Carolina gets for playing the "wait and see" game.
Todd White has signed a four year deal with the Thrashers. The first signing of the free agent period. Carolina said that it would wait to see how things panned out before they got active, and according to today's N&O, maybe as much as 10-14 days. This is unacceptable.
Todd White was the player that I really wanted us to get, and now he's in the division, just not in the right sweater.
Obviously, Carolina isn't in the Danny Briere or the Chris Drury or the Ryan Smyth or the Scott Gomez sweepstakes, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be aggressive. I'm frustrated with this.
Now Carolina will have to go hard after Dainius Zubrus or Brian Smolinski.
Something tells me we'll end up with Bates Battaglia, which wouldn't even fit our need of a third line center.
Grrrrrrr.
Todd White has signed a four year deal with the Thrashers. The first signing of the free agent period. Carolina said that it would wait to see how things panned out before they got active, and according to today's N&O, maybe as much as 10-14 days. This is unacceptable.
Todd White was the player that I really wanted us to get, and now he's in the division, just not in the right sweater.
Obviously, Carolina isn't in the Danny Briere or the Chris Drury or the Ryan Smyth or the Scott Gomez sweepstakes, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be aggressive. I'm frustrated with this.
Now Carolina will have to go hard after Dainius Zubrus or Brian Smolinski.
Something tells me we'll end up with Bates Battaglia, which wouldn't even fit our need of a third line center.
Grrrrrrr.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Rags advance to round of eight, Thrash out.
On Wednesday night, the Rangers polished off the Thrashers, defeating them 4-2 and sweeping the series. They are the first team to advance to the Conference Semifinals.
Last season, the Rangers were themselves swept by the Devils in the first round.
Matt Cullen, who won the Cup last year with Carolina scored the game- and series-winning goal at 2:06 of the third.Bitch Jaro Jagr scored an empty netter to seal the coffin.
Now, of course, the second-guessers will come out in full force. I didn't mince words at all on this issue back in February, but the proverbial shit is about to hit the proverbial fan on the Keith Tkachuk issue. Proverbially.
The Thrash gave up a LOT to get the 35-year old left wing:
Metropolit is a spare part in this trade, but that's a lot of draft picks. As I said in February, this would have been worth it if the Thrash had gone on to win the Cup, but now they're playing golf with the Canes. Instead of trading away their future for a championship, they have simply traded away their future. Additionally, the trade just got worse. Suddenly the "not so bad" trade of a potentially low first round pick has become a "pretty bad" trade of a middle round first round pick.
Tkachuk is at the end of a contract which paid him $3.8M this season. Everyone understood this to be a "rental", and I just don't think that Atlanta could pay him even if they wanted to keep him.
The Thrash will have a very busy summer ahead of them. 12 players will be UFA and two more will be RFA. They pressed hard up against the cap this season, and it will be difficult to keep this core group and remain under cap. Both goaltenders, and all of the star players are under contract, but they will have to downgrade in some areas, and they won't have the benefit of a first round draft pick.
Look for them to visit the bargain basement and to sign some undrafted players.
Look for the natives to get restless with Don Waddell.
Last season, the Rangers were themselves swept by the Devils in the first round.
Matt Cullen, who won the Cup last year with Carolina scored the game- and series-winning goal at 2:06 of the third.
Now, of course, the second-guessers will come out in full force. I didn't mince words at all on this issue back in February, but the proverbial shit is about to hit the proverbial fan on the Keith Tkachuk issue. Proverbially.
The Thrash gave up a LOT to get the 35-year old left wing:
- 1st round pick in this year's draft
- 3rd round pick in this year's draft
- 2nd round pick in next year's draft
- Glen Metropolit
Metropolit is a spare part in this trade, but that's a lot of draft picks. As I said in February, this would have been worth it if the Thrash had gone on to win the Cup, but now they're playing golf with the Canes. Instead of trading away their future for a championship, they have simply traded away their future. Additionally, the trade just got worse. Suddenly the "not so bad" trade of a potentially low first round pick has become a "pretty bad" trade of a middle round first round pick.
Tkachuk is at the end of a contract which paid him $3.8M this season. Everyone understood this to be a "rental", and I just don't think that Atlanta could pay him even if they wanted to keep him.
The Thrash will have a very busy summer ahead of them. 12 players will be UFA and two more will be RFA. They pressed hard up against the cap this season, and it will be difficult to keep this core group and remain under cap. Both goaltenders, and all of the star players are under contract, but they will have to downgrade in some areas, and they won't have the benefit of a first round draft pick.
Look for them to visit the bargain basement and to sign some undrafted players.
Look for the natives to get restless with Don Waddell.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
not about hockey
Sometimes, I have to remind myself that the sport we all love is "just a game". Even in the playoffs, hockey is still "just a game". In the wake of the horrific events that unfolded in Blacksburg, Virginia yesterday, this is one of those times.I did not go to Virginia Polytechnic Institute. I have never even been to Blacksburg. I don't have any friends presently there. I have some friends who went there in the '90s, and some second-degree friends who presently go there. They're all fine. As a human being, though, this is a very dark day. I watched a bit of the convocation ceremony on television this afternoon, and the looks on the faces of those kids was unbearable.
We, here at RBH wish to express our condolences to the family and friends of the victims, and to anyone close to the matter. Today, we're all Hokies.
Side note #1. It's really unfortunate that this son of a bitch turned the gun on himself. After killing 32 people execution-style, self-inflicted death is not enough of a punishment.
Side note #2. One of the victims was a holocaust survivor.
While it is true that hockey is "just a game", one of the reasons we care about hockey, or sports in general is that it gives is an escape from the real world. Though are hearts may be heavy, we can still enjoy the game. We may even forget, for a second, why our hearts are heavy.
Tonight, there's a full slate of games.
The Rangers will try to go up 3-0 on the Thrashers with the first of two games in MSG. We think they will take that 3-0 lead
Pittsburgh will try to level the series score at 2 with a home game against the Senators. They will.
Dallas will try to level the series score at 2 with a home game against Vancouver. They won't.
The Wild will try to stave off elimination with a home game against the Ducks. They will.
Finally, the Flames will try to get their act together with a home game against the Red Wings, against whom they are down 2-0. They will.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Thrashers make big moves, give up a lot
On Saturday night, the Thrashers issued a press release during the second period of the game with the Canes that they would make a major announcement after the game. I speculated here that it might be Keith Tkatchuk. About an hour after that, it turned out to be much less dramatic than that, but this morning, it indeed turned out to be Tkatchuk.
I'm still going to do a proper game recap on the Canes 4-1 victory over the Thrashers, but for now, I'll get on their transactions.
The first transaction made me scratch my head. They issued a press release during the game to give us a heads-up about this???
Whoop-de-do. An old guy with declining skill for a young guy who hasn't blossomed yet. So what? I figured, though, that they weren't done since they went to the trouble of warning everyone that something was coming.
This morning, the hammer dropped.
This, friends, is what everyone was talking about when they said that "the prices are too high". There is no doubt that Tkatchuk will be an excellent addition to the Thrashers lineup. He's practically old enough to be Jordan Staal's grandpa, but he's steadily produced at nearly a point a night throughout his 73 year career. He's also got a bunch of playoff experience and is one of those guys that you like to have in the room. There are so many upsides to this. But they had to give a lot to get Tkatchuk.
I don't need to be reminded that the Canes gave up a lot to get Doug Weight last January...
* Jesse Boulerice
* Mike Zigomanis
* the rights to mystery man Magnus Kahnburg.
* Carolina's first round pick in 2006
* Toronto's fourth round pick in 2006
* Chicago's fourth round pick in 2007
...but we all know how that turned out.
There is a bit of a difference, though. Boulerice had become useless. Zigomanis was looking like a career AHLer. Kahnburg showed no signs of ever leaving Sweden. That fourth round pick from Toronto was leftover from the "please take Jeff O'Neill off our hands" deal. So Carolina gave up a bunch of things, but nothing that they really wanted. Atlanta is giving up high draft picks in consecutive drafts AND a useful player. Metropolit was scratched last night, but has played well this season after being away from the NHL for three years.
I think in a little picture kind of way, Atlanta has done well with this. Tkachunky is definitely an upgrade over Metropolit. In a big picture, they've given perhaps too much. Of course, if they become the third consecutive SE team to win the Cup, none of this matters and it will have been well worth any price paid.
Now that Tkatchuk has been dealt, there will be no more speculation about Guerin and Tkatchuk going to Anaheim together. It also means that whoever gets Guerin will have to give a ton. It also means that St. Louis will be in a position to rack up big time at this summer's draft.
Buckle up.
I'm still going to do a proper game recap on the Canes 4-1 victory over the Thrashers, but for now, I'll get on their transactions.
The first transaction made me scratch my head. They issued a press release during the game to give us a heads-up about this???
- TO ATLANTA: aging defenseman Alexei Zhitnik
TO PHILLY: defensive prospect Braydon Coburn
Whoop-de-do. An old guy with declining skill for a young guy who hasn't blossomed yet. So what? I figured, though, that they weren't done since they went to the trouble of warning everyone that something was coming.
This morning, the hammer dropped.
- TO ATLANTA: Keith Tkatchuk
TO ST. LOUIS: center Glen Metropolit
first round pick in 2007
third round pick in 2007
second round pick in 2008
This, friends, is what everyone was talking about when they said that "the prices are too high". There is no doubt that Tkatchuk will be an excellent addition to the Thrashers lineup. He's practically old enough to be Jordan Staal's grandpa, but he's steadily produced at nearly a point a night throughout his 73 year career. He's also got a bunch of playoff experience and is one of those guys that you like to have in the room. There are so many upsides to this. But they had to give a lot to get Tkatchuk.
I don't need to be reminded that the Canes gave up a lot to get Doug Weight last January...
* Jesse Boulerice
* Mike Zigomanis
* the rights to mystery man Magnus Kahnburg.
* Carolina's first round pick in 2006
* Toronto's fourth round pick in 2006
* Chicago's fourth round pick in 2007
...but we all know how that turned out.
There is a bit of a difference, though. Boulerice had become useless. Zigomanis was looking like a career AHLer. Kahnburg showed no signs of ever leaving Sweden. That fourth round pick from Toronto was leftover from the "please take Jeff O'Neill off our hands" deal. So Carolina gave up a bunch of things, but nothing that they really wanted. Atlanta is giving up high draft picks in consecutive drafts AND a useful player. Metropolit was scratched last night, but has played well this season after being away from the NHL for three years.
I think in a little picture kind of way, Atlanta has done well with this. Tkachunky is definitely an upgrade over Metropolit. In a big picture, they've given perhaps too much. Of course, if they become the third consecutive SE team to win the Cup, none of this matters and it will have been well worth any price paid.
Now that Tkatchuk has been dealt, there will be no more speculation about Guerin and Tkatchuk going to Anaheim together. It also means that whoever gets Guerin will have to give a ton. It also means that St. Louis will be in a position to rack up big time at this summer's draft.
Buckle up.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Canes lose game, Cole, points
Tuesday was not a good day for team RBH. Almost everything that could go wrong about the game with the Thrashers did. Some non-hockey stuff went slightly wrong too, but that's not what this is about.
Going into Tuesday's game, the Canes were just two points out of first place in the Southeast. They knew that there were basically four points on the line; they would either end up "tied" with Atlanta for second place or four points back, in third. Tampa was sitting atop the division with 69 points and a game in hand on both Atlanta and Carolina.
Carolina scored first and took a 1-0 lead into the room after two periods. Money in the bank, right? This season, they were 21-0 when leading after two. Last season, the Canes were 31-0 when leading after two. In the 03-04 season, Carolina was 23-0-4 when leading after two. The last time Carolina blew a second intermission lead and lost the game was in the 02-03 season.
Until now.
Five minutes into the third frame, the Thrashers scored their first of three unanswered goals on a very freaky play. The Canes were wasting a power play opportunity, Atlanta cleared the puck deep into the Carolina zone, and Eric Staal very nonchalantly went back for it. Just a Sunday skate-around. Maid Marian Hossa had other plans. He skated hard to the northwest corner, beat Staal to the puck and fired a shot towards the goal from literally behind the goal line. Cam Ward didn't give his best effort either, and the puck glanced off his right skate into the net. Marian Hossa might have been more surprised than anyone in the arena. His celebration was delayed, almost as if he had to ask someone if that really just happened.
The freakish goal should be two lessons rolled into one. First: If you're an attacking player, even in a shorthanded situation, good things can happen when you throw the puck in the direction of the net. That was an impossible angle, but he got the crazy bounce. Second: If you're a goaltender in a situation like that, you have to pay better attention, and you have to get your skate flush against the post to prevent just such a carom. Bad, bad, bad.
The Canes went on to blow a five-on-three power play, then gave up two more goals in the final three minutes to turn the night from "promising" to "dismal". A turnover deep in the Carolina zone led to a breakaway for Ilya Kovalchuk, and he didn't miss.
Later, Eric Boulton added an insurance marker and the Canes were done.
Meanwhile, Tampa won their game. Now the Bolts are alone in first with 71 points and a game in hand. Atlanta is second with 71 points, and Carolina is third with 67.
Carolina is barely "in" a playoff spot with one point more than "ninth place" Toronto. However, the Leafs have two games in hand.
To make matters worse, Carolina lost Erik Cole during the pre-game skate. Apparently, he pulled a muscle in the same general area as the hip pointer that caused him to just miss three games. He's out for at least two weeks, maybe four. Ryan Bayda had just been sent down to Albany that day, so they couldn't recall him. Carolina had no choice but to dress 8 defensemen. Peter Laviolette likes to play with seven sometimes, but eight is just too many. Even the defensemen with offensive upside are still wired to play like defensemen.
I'm guessing Bayda will be back up, and we might see a push to get Andrew Hutchinson traded for a forward. I know this might not be a popular stance, but I'd like to see Anson Carter. I've vacillated on this issue a bit, I admit, but I'm mostly in favor of that idea. Perhaps a different post on a different day, I'll get into depth about it, but for now, let's say I'm for it.
All I'll say right now is that Carter likes to wear a sweater with a repeating number and that the numbers 33, 44, 55, 66, 77 and 88 are all available.
The one good thing that happened on Tuesday is that Rod Brind'Amour's goal in the second period helped him pass Henri "Pocket Rocket" Richard on the all-time points list with 1047 (401/646) points in 1245 career games. Richard retired with 11 Stanley Cups and notched 1046 (358/688) points in 1259 games. The more famous Maurice "Rocket" Richard, who was 15 years older than his brother, retired with 965 (544/421) points in 978 career games, and won the Cup eight times. Brindy won't win the Cup nearly as many times as the Richard boys, but he's in some very elite company now.
Going into Tuesday's game, the Canes were just two points out of first place in the Southeast. They knew that there were basically four points on the line; they would either end up "tied" with Atlanta for second place or four points back, in third. Tampa was sitting atop the division with 69 points and a game in hand on both Atlanta and Carolina.
Carolina scored first and took a 1-0 lead into the room after two periods. Money in the bank, right? This season, they were 21-0 when leading after two. Last season, the Canes were 31-0 when leading after two. In the 03-04 season, Carolina was 23-0-4 when leading after two. The last time Carolina blew a second intermission lead and lost the game was in the 02-03 season.
Until now.
Five minutes into the third frame, the Thrashers scored their first of three unanswered goals on a very freaky play. The Canes were wasting a power play opportunity, Atlanta cleared the puck deep into the Carolina zone, and Eric Staal very nonchalantly went back for it. Just a Sunday skate-around. Maid Marian Hossa had other plans. He skated hard to the northwest corner, beat Staal to the puck and fired a shot towards the goal from literally behind the goal line. Cam Ward didn't give his best effort either, and the puck glanced off his right skate into the net. Marian Hossa might have been more surprised than anyone in the arena. His celebration was delayed, almost as if he had to ask someone if that really just happened.
The freakish goal should be two lessons rolled into one. First: If you're an attacking player, even in a shorthanded situation, good things can happen when you throw the puck in the direction of the net. That was an impossible angle, but he got the crazy bounce. Second: If you're a goaltender in a situation like that, you have to pay better attention, and you have to get your skate flush against the post to prevent just such a carom. Bad, bad, bad.
The Canes went on to blow a five-on-three power play, then gave up two more goals in the final three minutes to turn the night from "promising" to "dismal". A turnover deep in the Carolina zone led to a breakaway for Ilya Kovalchuk, and he didn't miss.
Later, Eric Boulton added an insurance marker and the Canes were done.
Meanwhile, Tampa won their game. Now the Bolts are alone in first with 71 points and a game in hand. Atlanta is second with 71 points, and Carolina is third with 67.
Carolina is barely "in" a playoff spot with one point more than "ninth place" Toronto. However, the Leafs have two games in hand.
To make matters worse, Carolina lost Erik Cole during the pre-game skate. Apparently, he pulled a muscle in the same general area as the hip pointer that caused him to just miss three games. He's out for at least two weeks, maybe four. Ryan Bayda had just been sent down to Albany that day, so they couldn't recall him. Carolina had no choice but to dress 8 defensemen. Peter Laviolette likes to play with seven sometimes, but eight is just too many. Even the defensemen with offensive upside are still wired to play like defensemen.
I'm guessing Bayda will be back up, and we might see a push to get Andrew Hutchinson traded for a forward. I know this might not be a popular stance, but I'd like to see Anson Carter. I've vacillated on this issue a bit, I admit, but I'm mostly in favor of that idea. Perhaps a different post on a different day, I'll get into depth about it, but for now, let's say I'm for it.
All I'll say right now is that Carter likes to wear a sweater with a repeating number and that the numbers 33, 44, 55, 66, 77 and 88 are all available.
The one good thing that happened on Tuesday is that Rod Brind'Amour's goal in the second period helped him pass Henri "Pocket Rocket" Richard on the all-time points list with 1047 (401/646) points in 1245 career games. Richard retired with 11 Stanley Cups and notched 1046 (358/688) points in 1259 games. The more famous Maurice "Rocket" Richard, who was 15 years older than his brother, retired with 965 (544/421) points in 978 career games, and won the Cup eight times. Brindy won't win the Cup nearly as many times as the Richard boys, but he's in some very elite company now.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Canes right ship, defeat Habs
On Saturday night, the Canes went to the Bell Centre, and for the seventh time in a row, they emerged victorious. This time it was 5-3.
What a difference 48 hours makes! After Thursday's game, I lamented among other things, a terrible performance by special teams. Tonight, they were golden. The Canes had only two power play opportunities and converted them both. They were shorthanded three times, and killed all of them off. Not only that, but they scored a shorthanded goal. Whereas the special teams got an F- the other night, they got an A+ tonight.
All of the Carolina goals were kind of oddball. The third more so than the rest, but I'll get to that in a second.
During a four-on-four sequence following a fight the Habs got the first goal of the game from Sheldon Souray at 17:36. Tomas Plekanec and Mark Streit got the helpers.
During the first intermission, the team had a closed-door meeting and no interviews were given on tv. I'm not sure what was said, but whatever it was worked.
Off the opening second period faceoff, Michael Ryder was given the gate for hooking, and they were made to pay for it. Rod Brind'Amour found the puck on his stick as he camped out on the left post. He neatly pulled it to his backhand and lifted it high to Aebischer's stick side. Erik Cole and Eric Staal got the assists at 1:18 on the power play goal.
Ten minutes later, the tone changing goal. The Czech Condor was in the box for holding, but the Habs ended up hurting themselves. Mike Commodore made a fine defensive play in the Carolina zone causing a turnover and a two-on-one for Craig Adams and Chad LaRose. Craigasaurus Rex took the puck to the outside and fired a shot from the right circle. Aebischer got a pad on it, but Sharpie was there to knock it in out of mid-air. Officially, LaRose from Adams shorthanded at 11:30 of the second. It was just the third goal of the season for the hard working LaRose and just the fifth helper for Adams. It wasn't the game winner. It was, though --at least in my mind, the play of the game.
Barely a minute later, the Habs tied it up. Radik Bonk was on the doorstep to tip in a shot from Steve Begin. Mike Johnson got the secondary assist.
At 19:26 of the second came another crucial moment in the game. Mike Johnson ran Cam Ward and there was a delayed penalty. For a second, Tim Gleason considered giving Johnson the business, but thought better of it and wisely let the play run its course. As soon as the penalty began, the Canes got fruit from it. And it was the aforementioned extreme oddball goal. Try to follow me here.
Eric Staal fired a shot from above the left circle that went wide of Aebischer. Or perhaps it was tipped wide. At any rate, David Aebischer lost his stick after Micheal Komaserik swatted at the puck and ended up hitting Abby's stick. Off the end wall, Ray Whitney found the puck behind the cage. Again, Rod Brind'Amour was parked on the left post. Whitney made an amazing pass that went between Komaserik's legs right to Brind'Amour. From there, it was kind of like his first goal. He pulled it to his backhand, then lifted it over Aebischer. The stickless Abby sprawled out at the last second and the puck actually glanced off the top of his helmet and eventually went top shelf. He moaned a little to the refs about being interfered with, but it was his own teammate who knocked his stick out of his hand. Officially, it was a power play goal by Brind'Amour from Whitney and Staal at 19:50 of the second. Heading into the room, the Canes were up 3-2.
When leading after 40 minutes, the Canes were 20-0. Make it 21-0.
At 12:42 of the third, Erik "Hab Killa" Cole got what would turn out to be the game winner on a tremendous individual effort. After the Habs had partially cleared the puck following some prolonged pressure by the Canes, Cole burned them badly. The Canes brought it back in, and Cole used Mathieu Dandenault as a screen for his shot. He fired it between Dandenault's wickets from above the right circle, and Aebischer never had a chance. Mike Commodore and Glen Wesley got the assists.
Guy Carbonneau waited too long, in my opinion, to pull his goaltender. Then he did it wrong. He didn't insert the extra attacker until about 1:15 remained, and he immediately had to pay for it. Instead of waiting for his team to get the puck deep, he pulled the keeper after they had cleared their own zone. Eric Staal made a fine play at center ice to steal the puck and fire into the empty net for the security at 18:47. Aebischer wasn't even off the ice yet, but way too far out of net to turn back. A poor coaching choice and poor execution on the pulling of the keeper. That made the score 5-2, but it actually made a difference.
Tomas Plekanec was awarded a penalty shot at 19:07, and he made a nifty move to convert it and make the game a little closer.
5-3 was the final.
Everyone played really well, and I was pleasantly surprised that Justin Willams AND Bret Hedican played. It's hard to pick stars of the game when everyone played so well.
The "official" three stars went to Cam Ward (third), Bret Hedican (second) and Rod Brind'Amour (first). The FSN South stars went to Ward, Cole and Brind'Amour. I can't say those guys don't deserve it, but I feel the need to give a shout to CrAdams, who had the shorthanded assist and made some really fine defensive plays on the penalty kill.
The RBH three stars are a little different:
THIRD STAR Craig Adams, CAR -- 1 assist
SECOND STAR Cam Ward, CAR -- 42 saves
FIRST STAR Eric Staal, CAR -- 1 goal, 2 assists
The Thrashers lost in regulation, and Bolts lost in overtime. These are both good for the Canes. Now Tampa and Atlanta are tied with 69 points. Tampa is in first by virtue of having a game in hand. Carolina is in third place, just two points back with 67. Tuesday's home game against the Dirty Birds will be HUGE.
What a difference 48 hours makes! After Thursday's game, I lamented among other things, a terrible performance by special teams. Tonight, they were golden. The Canes had only two power play opportunities and converted them both. They were shorthanded three times, and killed all of them off. Not only that, but they scored a shorthanded goal. Whereas the special teams got an F- the other night, they got an A+ tonight.
All of the Carolina goals were kind of oddball. The third more so than the rest, but I'll get to that in a second.
During a four-on-four sequence following a fight the Habs got the first goal of the game from Sheldon Souray at 17:36. Tomas Plekanec and Mark Streit got the helpers.
During the first intermission, the team had a closed-door meeting and no interviews were given on tv. I'm not sure what was said, but whatever it was worked.
Off the opening second period faceoff, Michael Ryder was given the gate for hooking, and they were made to pay for it. Rod Brind'Amour found the puck on his stick as he camped out on the left post. He neatly pulled it to his backhand and lifted it high to Aebischer's stick side. Erik Cole and Eric Staal got the assists at 1:18 on the power play goal.
Ten minutes later, the tone changing goal. The Czech Condor was in the box for holding, but the Habs ended up hurting themselves. Mike Commodore made a fine defensive play in the Carolina zone causing a turnover and a two-on-one for Craig Adams and Chad LaRose. Craigasaurus Rex took the puck to the outside and fired a shot from the right circle. Aebischer got a pad on it, but Sharpie was there to knock it in out of mid-air. Officially, LaRose from Adams shorthanded at 11:30 of the second. It was just the third goal of the season for the hard working LaRose and just the fifth helper for Adams. It wasn't the game winner. It was, though --at least in my mind, the play of the game.
Barely a minute later, the Habs tied it up. Radik Bonk was on the doorstep to tip in a shot from Steve Begin. Mike Johnson got the secondary assist.
At 19:26 of the second came another crucial moment in the game. Mike Johnson ran Cam Ward and there was a delayed penalty. For a second, Tim Gleason considered giving Johnson the business, but thought better of it and wisely let the play run its course. As soon as the penalty began, the Canes got fruit from it. And it was the aforementioned extreme oddball goal. Try to follow me here.
Eric Staal fired a shot from above the left circle that went wide of Aebischer. Or perhaps it was tipped wide. At any rate, David Aebischer lost his stick after Micheal Komaserik swatted at the puck and ended up hitting Abby's stick. Off the end wall, Ray Whitney found the puck behind the cage. Again, Rod Brind'Amour was parked on the left post. Whitney made an amazing pass that went between Komaserik's legs right to Brind'Amour. From there, it was kind of like his first goal. He pulled it to his backhand, then lifted it over Aebischer. The stickless Abby sprawled out at the last second and the puck actually glanced off the top of his helmet and eventually went top shelf. He moaned a little to the refs about being interfered with, but it was his own teammate who knocked his stick out of his hand. Officially, it was a power play goal by Brind'Amour from Whitney and Staal at 19:50 of the second. Heading into the room, the Canes were up 3-2.
When leading after 40 minutes, the Canes were 20-0. Make it 21-0.
At 12:42 of the third, Erik "Hab Killa" Cole got what would turn out to be the game winner on a tremendous individual effort. After the Habs had partially cleared the puck following some prolonged pressure by the Canes, Cole burned them badly. The Canes brought it back in, and Cole used Mathieu Dandenault as a screen for his shot. He fired it between Dandenault's wickets from above the right circle, and Aebischer never had a chance. Mike Commodore and Glen Wesley got the assists.
Guy Carbonneau waited too long, in my opinion, to pull his goaltender. Then he did it wrong. He didn't insert the extra attacker until about 1:15 remained, and he immediately had to pay for it. Instead of waiting for his team to get the puck deep, he pulled the keeper after they had cleared their own zone. Eric Staal made a fine play at center ice to steal the puck and fire into the empty net for the security at 18:47. Aebischer wasn't even off the ice yet, but way too far out of net to turn back. A poor coaching choice and poor execution on the pulling of the keeper. That made the score 5-2, but it actually made a difference.
Tomas Plekanec was awarded a penalty shot at 19:07, and he made a nifty move to convert it and make the game a little closer.
5-3 was the final.
Everyone played really well, and I was pleasantly surprised that Justin Willams AND Bret Hedican played. It's hard to pick stars of the game when everyone played so well.
The "official" three stars went to Cam Ward (third), Bret Hedican (second) and Rod Brind'Amour (first). The FSN South stars went to Ward, Cole and Brind'Amour. I can't say those guys don't deserve it, but I feel the need to give a shout to CrAdams, who had the shorthanded assist and made some really fine defensive plays on the penalty kill.
The RBH three stars are a little different:
THIRD STAR Craig Adams, CAR -- 1 assist
SECOND STAR Cam Ward, CAR -- 42 saves
FIRST STAR Eric Staal, CAR -- 1 goal, 2 assists
The Thrashers lost in regulation, and Bolts lost in overtime. These are both good for the Canes. Now Tampa and Atlanta are tied with 69 points. Tampa is in first by virtue of having a game in hand. Carolina is in third place, just two points back with 67. Tuesday's home game against the Dirty Birds will be HUGE.
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