It's hard to write this blog right now, especially after the Avs soundly thrashed the New York Islanders, the surprise team of the new season (who would have predicted a start above .500?) by a convincing 5-0 score. Nathan MacKinnon got off the schneid as the saying goes with a 2-goal game and a generally solid performance, the fourth line got some goals of their own, including one from fan whipping boy Marc-Andre Cliche Semyon Varlamov had another game for the ages and the potent Islanders offense was blanked, in a defensive performance including another perfect outing for the Avs successful penalty killers. So how can I write a blog about what's wrong in Colorado? That's the nature of sports: when you're winning, nothing is wrong anywhere! What's to complain about after a game like that? Well, a few things, namely the team's overall struggles, come to mind, and I have a few thoughts on that.
-The Avs miss Paul Stastny. There, I said it. I know the Avs have plenty of depth, and lots of firepower up front, but no team loses a 60 point second line centreman and brushes it off like it's nothing. How much extra breathing room did good ol' Pauly Walnuts give Nathan MacKinnon? How much extra scoring did he provide when Matt Duchene had an off game? Look at the highlights from last season. He brought out the best in Gabe Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon. It's depressing how many of Landeskog's goals came as a result of Stastny's great vision. The Avs have lost more than they know in Stastny.
-The Avs miss P.A. Parenteau. Another depth scoring guy who could have provided the Avs with another weapon up front, he was traded for reasons I'm still not clear on. Rumours of a rift between him and the coaching staff were shot down by both parties, and yet he was shipped out in the offseason for, let's be honest here, a sub-par return. It's pretty clear so far, as it has been from day one, who won the Parenteau-Briere trade. I couldn't believe my eyes when this trade was made. It still stinks. We miss you P.A.
-The Avs miss Steve Downie. I know, this is old news, dating back to about this time last year, but Downie is a spark plug, and how many times have the Avs needed a spark this year that they never got? How useful would he have been in the playoffs against Minnesota last year, especially with all the injuries the Avs had up front? How many times did he throw crushing hits, or chip in with timely offense? Was he a loose cannon? At times yes, but for a team as lifeless as the Avs have seemed at times this year, he would not have been a bad thing; an injection of energy into an at times dead team would have been perfect. Another trade on which the return (Max Talbot) has not matched up to what was lost. We miss you, Steve.
-The Avs miss (or at least I do) the days when they were winning trades. Look at the trades that Joe Sakic has made in his tenure as Avs GM. They're far from inspiring. I'm a die-hard Avs fan, and as such I refuse to believe anything but the best of Super Joe, who is to Avs fans what Mario Lemieux and Steve Yzerman are to Penguins and Wings fans respectively, but his record in trades so far is losing, with the exception of the trade that brought Alex Tanguay back to Colorado (Tanguay, to Sakic's credit, has been a bright spot this year). But that Brad Stuart trade? Hell, what they gave up to land Stewart was more than the Sabres gave up to land the younger and more useful Josh Gorges, who many Avs fans would've and still would love to see in Avs uniform. The Avs dropped the ball on this one as far as I can see.
-The Avs miss MacKinnon moving his feet. It was a little unnerving seeing the kid glide or stand still, but he did both far too often leading up to the game against the Islanders. A player like MacKinnon, with an extra gear of speed to make a speed skater jealous, needs needs needs NEEDS to keep his feet moving to be effective. It makes me wonder if he wasn't playing hurt. He's also not carrying the puck the way we know he can. Hopefully the game against the Islanders, in which he scored twice and looked generally good, is a sign of a return to form. MacKinnon was moving his feet and playing the way we know he can that game. Maybe he's turned a corner. I hope so, because his size, speed, and skill give him a package befitting the games truly elite forwards.
-I miss the feeling of optimism that came with watching games last year. When the Avs played last year, especially after the first ten games or so, there was this feeling of invincibility. If they got up a couple goals, the game was over. If they got down a couple goals, they could (and often did) come back. They were the best team in any game they went into. With Duchene and MacKinnon they were faster than anyone. With Bordeleau and McLeod and Landeskog, they were tougher too. With Varlamov in net, they had the best goaltender. They could win any game, defeat any team at any style of play. It was a wonderful feeling for a fan, and I can only imagine how it must have been for the players. This feeling, this pride and certainty, this faith in the team, this I miss most of all. Here's hoping they bring it back soon.
Friday, October 31, 2014
Saturday, October 25, 2014
A TALE OF TWO CITIES: Tampa Bay and Winnipeg
This blog is going to start off with some Avs/CHL thoughts but that's just me getting the easy stuff out of the way before delving into last night's matchup between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Winnipeg Jets. There's a lot to talk about. I know it's early yet in the season, but the Lightning look good and the Jets really do not. The Lightning have matured into a solid team, perhaps one of the better teams in the NHL's Eastern Conference (certainly now, with Boston falling off a bit in the early going), while the Jets, whether they've been in the west or the east, have failed to make the playoffs every year since 2007 and appear, most unfortunately, poised to do so again. So what happened to these two teams who were so bad at the same time for so many years? Why do the Lightning look like Stanley Cup contenders and the Jets, at best, like an upper-tier AHL team at times? I'm going to spend a good chunk of this blog answering that painful question, but before I dive into that nest of snakes:
-There was a heavyweight tilt of sorts tonight in the OHL between two of the best teams in junior hockey. The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, or the Soo Greyhounds as they are often known, went toe-to-toe with Connor McDavid's Erie Otters. While the Greyhounds held McDavid to just one goal (and few enough teams can say that) they lost the battle of the titans 6-4, with Dylan Strome picking up 2 goals. Say, now there's a player who would look pretty good in a Jets uniform! The Jets likely won't be bad enough to finish last in the league this year (Have you seen Buffalo this season? Yikes!) but they could finish in the range to draft Strome at this rate.
No! Bad Rob! Other stuff now, dump on Jets later!
-Colorado won another game tonight (holy, another one?) bringing their win total on the season up to two. While the total number of wins for the Avs so far is hardly inspiring, the fashion in which they won this game is cause for a sigh of relief. The Avs walloped the Vancouver Canucks by a score of 7-3, and got contributions from all the big guns. Jarome Iginla got his first two goals as an Av, Tyson Barrie put up three points, Matt Duchene looked deadly every time he was on the ice, and Gabriel Landeskog showed off that blistering slap shot of his. The only fly in the ointment (or flies): Nathan MacKinnon played well, but had no goals to show for it. Ryan O'Reilly hasn't played especially well either. Once those two guys get going, the wins will pile up in Denver.
-Former Jet Zach Redmond made his Avalanche debut, and to the surprise of not a single Jets fan he played extremely well. He moved the puck with confidence, had surprisingly little in the way of jitters in spite of it being his first game of the year, and rushed the puck up ice a couple of times. What I really liked was that he rushed the puck well but never once got caught out of position. When he rushed the puck he never overstayed his welcome in the offensive zone, but got right back to his position after leaving the puck for one of his teammates. Remind me again why the Avs had Nate Guenin playing instead of this guy. Or, if you're a Jets fan, remind me again why the Jets could afford to keep Adam Pardy and Paul Postma, but were reluctant to keep Redmond It wasn't like he signed for big money in Colorado, and a player with the kind of calm, slick puck moving ability Redmond displayed for the Avs would have been welcome in the Jets lineup.
Which brings me to tonight.
-Remember the 2011-2012 season? The year before the lockout? Well, I sure do. It was the first year the Jets were back in town, and in spite of how bad the Thrashers had been there was a sense of optimism in the air. Anything was possible, even the playoffs. In fact it took the Jets until game 79 to be officially eliminated, so while there would be no playoffs that year, the hard drive for them at the end had left everyone in Winnipeg feeling pretty good. The last game of the year, which I attended, was between the Jets and Lightning, and it was the game Lightning sniper extraordinaire Steven Stamkos potted his 60th goal of the season. The Jets lost the game in overtime, a hard-fought affair in which current Edmonton Oiler Teddy Purcell scored the winner, his second of the night.
Which, again, brings me to tonight.
I remember this game because it would be easily forgotten, in light of tonight's loss, just how close in terms of development these two teams were at the time. Separated by just one point, the Jets ended up with the 9th overall pick in that year's entry draft and Tampa Bay with the tenth. The two teams looked like they were neck and neck. Now, in the 2014-15 season, Tampa Bay has shot out so far ahead of the Jets we can scarcely see their taillights. What happened?
In Winnipeg's case it might be more appropriate to ask what didn't happen.
First and foremost, I know that Tampa Bay has had several very high draft picks which have turned into the league's best sniper, one of the league's best defensemen and the league's most promising rookie respectively. This is not an excuse to my mind. Even factoring in the fact that Stamkos missed most of last year, even noting that Victor Hedman only broke out last season and looked merely average before that, even pointing out that Jonathan Drouin didn't even play last year, you still haven't hit on the big difference between the two teams. You still haven't given Tampa Bay their due credit or exposed just how badly Winnipeg has missed an opportunity.
Tonight's game was a sterling example of the difference goaltending makes. Ben Bishop stopped 40 shots, while Ondrej Pavelec couldn't even stop half that many, yet still allowed twice as many goals. Ben Bishop was available at one point for trade. Two points, in fact. He was traded to Ottawa for a pittance, and again to Tampa Bay in what turned out to be one of the most lopsided trades of the modern era. Switch the goaltenders tonight, and you switch the result, as has too often been in the case in Winnipeg.
But it doesn't end there, and to put this game solely on Ondrej Pavelec would be doing Tampa Bay's budding offensive stars a disservice.
Look at the Lightning lineup for a moment. It's formidable, no doubt about it. Even leaving Stamkos out of the equation, which for much of last year they did, Tampa boasts a solid team. Look at where those players came from. They weren't all top three draft picks. Look at Namestnikov and Kucherov, who were added 27th and 54th overall. Look at Brendan Morrow, a free agent signing added on the cheap. Look at Radko Gudas, that constant thorn in the side of everyone he plays against, selected 66th overall. Look at almost the entire defensive corps, a mix of trade acquisitions and free agent signees. Look at that lineup.
The Lightning have found gems in the later rounds of the draft better than most teams in the league. They have made shrewd trades and made appropriate free agent signings to supplement those draft picks. They have taken a collection of good players and surrounded them with a decent supporting cast.
Kevin Cheveldayoff has done none of those things.
That's what separates the Lightning from the Jets. No matter how many Stamkoses or Drouins you draft, you need players around them, and a goaltender to back them up. Even if the Jets do get Connor McDavid this year, he won't solve all their problems by himself.
-There was a heavyweight tilt of sorts tonight in the OHL between two of the best teams in junior hockey. The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, or the Soo Greyhounds as they are often known, went toe-to-toe with Connor McDavid's Erie Otters. While the Greyhounds held McDavid to just one goal (and few enough teams can say that) they lost the battle of the titans 6-4, with Dylan Strome picking up 2 goals. Say, now there's a player who would look pretty good in a Jets uniform! The Jets likely won't be bad enough to finish last in the league this year (Have you seen Buffalo this season? Yikes!) but they could finish in the range to draft Strome at this rate.
No! Bad Rob! Other stuff now, dump on Jets later!
-Colorado won another game tonight (holy, another one?) bringing their win total on the season up to two. While the total number of wins for the Avs so far is hardly inspiring, the fashion in which they won this game is cause for a sigh of relief. The Avs walloped the Vancouver Canucks by a score of 7-3, and got contributions from all the big guns. Jarome Iginla got his first two goals as an Av, Tyson Barrie put up three points, Matt Duchene looked deadly every time he was on the ice, and Gabriel Landeskog showed off that blistering slap shot of his. The only fly in the ointment (or flies): Nathan MacKinnon played well, but had no goals to show for it. Ryan O'Reilly hasn't played especially well either. Once those two guys get going, the wins will pile up in Denver.
-Former Jet Zach Redmond made his Avalanche debut, and to the surprise of not a single Jets fan he played extremely well. He moved the puck with confidence, had surprisingly little in the way of jitters in spite of it being his first game of the year, and rushed the puck up ice a couple of times. What I really liked was that he rushed the puck well but never once got caught out of position. When he rushed the puck he never overstayed his welcome in the offensive zone, but got right back to his position after leaving the puck for one of his teammates. Remind me again why the Avs had Nate Guenin playing instead of this guy. Or, if you're a Jets fan, remind me again why the Jets could afford to keep Adam Pardy and Paul Postma, but were reluctant to keep Redmond It wasn't like he signed for big money in Colorado, and a player with the kind of calm, slick puck moving ability Redmond displayed for the Avs would have been welcome in the Jets lineup.
Which brings me to tonight.
-Remember the 2011-2012 season? The year before the lockout? Well, I sure do. It was the first year the Jets were back in town, and in spite of how bad the Thrashers had been there was a sense of optimism in the air. Anything was possible, even the playoffs. In fact it took the Jets until game 79 to be officially eliminated, so while there would be no playoffs that year, the hard drive for them at the end had left everyone in Winnipeg feeling pretty good. The last game of the year, which I attended, was between the Jets and Lightning, and it was the game Lightning sniper extraordinaire Steven Stamkos potted his 60th goal of the season. The Jets lost the game in overtime, a hard-fought affair in which current Edmonton Oiler Teddy Purcell scored the winner, his second of the night.
Which, again, brings me to tonight.
I remember this game because it would be easily forgotten, in light of tonight's loss, just how close in terms of development these two teams were at the time. Separated by just one point, the Jets ended up with the 9th overall pick in that year's entry draft and Tampa Bay with the tenth. The two teams looked like they were neck and neck. Now, in the 2014-15 season, Tampa Bay has shot out so far ahead of the Jets we can scarcely see their taillights. What happened?
In Winnipeg's case it might be more appropriate to ask what didn't happen.
First and foremost, I know that Tampa Bay has had several very high draft picks which have turned into the league's best sniper, one of the league's best defensemen and the league's most promising rookie respectively. This is not an excuse to my mind. Even factoring in the fact that Stamkos missed most of last year, even noting that Victor Hedman only broke out last season and looked merely average before that, even pointing out that Jonathan Drouin didn't even play last year, you still haven't hit on the big difference between the two teams. You still haven't given Tampa Bay their due credit or exposed just how badly Winnipeg has missed an opportunity.
Tonight's game was a sterling example of the difference goaltending makes. Ben Bishop stopped 40 shots, while Ondrej Pavelec couldn't even stop half that many, yet still allowed twice as many goals. Ben Bishop was available at one point for trade. Two points, in fact. He was traded to Ottawa for a pittance, and again to Tampa Bay in what turned out to be one of the most lopsided trades of the modern era. Switch the goaltenders tonight, and you switch the result, as has too often been in the case in Winnipeg.
But it doesn't end there, and to put this game solely on Ondrej Pavelec would be doing Tampa Bay's budding offensive stars a disservice.
Look at the Lightning lineup for a moment. It's formidable, no doubt about it. Even leaving Stamkos out of the equation, which for much of last year they did, Tampa boasts a solid team. Look at where those players came from. They weren't all top three draft picks. Look at Namestnikov and Kucherov, who were added 27th and 54th overall. Look at Brendan Morrow, a free agent signing added on the cheap. Look at Radko Gudas, that constant thorn in the side of everyone he plays against, selected 66th overall. Look at almost the entire defensive corps, a mix of trade acquisitions and free agent signees. Look at that lineup.
The Lightning have found gems in the later rounds of the draft better than most teams in the league. They have made shrewd trades and made appropriate free agent signings to supplement those draft picks. They have taken a collection of good players and surrounded them with a decent supporting cast.
Kevin Cheveldayoff has done none of those things.
That's what separates the Lightning from the Jets. No matter how many Stamkoses or Drouins you draft, you need players around them, and a goaltender to back them up. Even if the Jets do get Connor McDavid this year, he won't solve all their problems by himself.
Monday, October 13, 2014
NHL Season Begins, CHL Season in Full Swing
The season has been underway since last Wednesday, and while it's still far too early to start identifying trends, it's been nice hockey start up again. The first few games have been horribly frustrating for Avs fans and Jets fans alike, but both teams have escaped the first three games with a win. A 1-2 record is hardly something to aspire to, for either time, but the Avs at least have showed some progress, beating the big bad Boston Bruins 2-1 in a hard-fought game earlier today. The Jets, on the other hand, started off brilliantly with a rousing 6-2 victory over the Arizona Coyotes. Unfortunately the real tests soon followed, tough games against the Pacific Division powerhouses, the L.A. Kings and San Jose Sharks. They managed just one goal through those 2 games, though that was one more than Colorado managed in two games against the Minnesota Wild, two games I'd really prefer to forget for any number of reasons.
-Connor McDavid didn't have a great first game of the season by his lofty standards, but man has ever turned it up a notch since then. He now sits first in OHL scoring with 18 points in just 6 games. If there was any doubt about how McDavid would handle the pressure of his draft year (yeah, there really wasn't but let's just say for the sake of argument...) his first six games have been as much of an answer as you could ask for. Right in there with McDavid, tied for the league lead in points in fact, is his Otters teammate Dylan Strome. Strome, also draft eligible this year, has led the charge for the Otters along with McDavid, effectively replacing Dane Fox, Connor Brown, and Andre Burakowsky, who were key cogs in last year's well-oiled machine offensively.
-Sticking with the OHL, and also the Avs, Avalanche prospects Chris Bigras and Kyle Wood are off to strong starts for the Owen Sound Attack and North Bay Battalion respectively. Bigras has eight points in eight games, putting him third in league scoring among defensemen. Wood, on the other hand, has scored four goals in his first six games. The 6'5 Wood is known more for his physical play than his offense, so this goal scoring outburst, while it may be an aberration, is nice to see. Bigras is probably going to end up at the WJC for Canada at this rate, and as a returning player he should have a leg up on the competition.
-A quick look at the 2016 draft, for those who like looking to the future. Two OHL defensemen who should be eligible next year, Sean Day and Jakob Chychrun, are off to strong starts. Day, who was granted exceptional status last year, has six points through his first five games, and at 6'2 and 229 lbs according to the OHL website, he's already man-sized. Chychrun isn't far behind, standing 6'2 himself, and having a very successful rookie season so far, with six points through seven games for an improved but still middle of the pack Sarnia team that also boasts 2015 eligible Czech import Pavel Zacha, himself off to a good start with six points through seven games. Zacha, standing 6'3 and over 200 lbs projects as a power forward and will likely be a high first round pick.
-Out west, in the WHL, two prospects on the West coast are turning heads: 2015 eligible Matt Barzal, the former first overall pick in the WHL Bantam Draft, and another first overall bantam pick, Tyler Benson, eligible in 2016. Playing for Seattle and Vancouver respectively, Barzal and Benson have cemented their status as top-ten picks for their respective draft years. Brandon Wheat Kings defenseman Kale Clague is having a solid year for a very deep Wheat Kings squad, and he too will be up for the draft in 2016. This is the defenseman who broke Dion Phaneuf's scoring record for a AAA defenseman with a whopping 77 points in 33 games as a 14 year old.
-Back to the NHL, the Jets specifically, this most recent road trip wasn't kind to them for the most part, but I will say this: Adam Lowry is proving (as if it wasn't already obvious) that he belongs in the NHL. Hitting anything he gets in his crosshairs, bulling his way to the net and generally causing mayhem on the forecheck. He, Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler all looked good against L.A. and they were just about the only ones. On the other end of the spectrum, Jacob Trouba, who looked like future Norris Trophy material last year at times, has looked weary and worn down this year so far. It might be time to cut his minutes down a bit, but it is a little early to push the panic button on the young man just yet.
-As for the Avs (deep breaths) I'm focussing on the positives. They beat Boston, number one, and the whole team generally looked good. Danny Briere has little chemistry with Nathan MacKinnon, but he did score the winning goal with 0.5 seconds left. Tyson Barrie looks like a future all-star (though, once again, it's early). He's pinching well, getting back in a hurry, making things happen in the offensive zone and being better than solid in the defensive zone. The Avs best d-man to start the season by a mile.
That's it for now, folks, check back later for more NHL/CHL thoughts from yours truly.
-Connor McDavid didn't have a great first game of the season by his lofty standards, but man has ever turned it up a notch since then. He now sits first in OHL scoring with 18 points in just 6 games. If there was any doubt about how McDavid would handle the pressure of his draft year (yeah, there really wasn't but let's just say for the sake of argument...) his first six games have been as much of an answer as you could ask for. Right in there with McDavid, tied for the league lead in points in fact, is his Otters teammate Dylan Strome. Strome, also draft eligible this year, has led the charge for the Otters along with McDavid, effectively replacing Dane Fox, Connor Brown, and Andre Burakowsky, who were key cogs in last year's well-oiled machine offensively.
-Sticking with the OHL, and also the Avs, Avalanche prospects Chris Bigras and Kyle Wood are off to strong starts for the Owen Sound Attack and North Bay Battalion respectively. Bigras has eight points in eight games, putting him third in league scoring among defensemen. Wood, on the other hand, has scored four goals in his first six games. The 6'5 Wood is known more for his physical play than his offense, so this goal scoring outburst, while it may be an aberration, is nice to see. Bigras is probably going to end up at the WJC for Canada at this rate, and as a returning player he should have a leg up on the competition.
-A quick look at the 2016 draft, for those who like looking to the future. Two OHL defensemen who should be eligible next year, Sean Day and Jakob Chychrun, are off to strong starts. Day, who was granted exceptional status last year, has six points through his first five games, and at 6'2 and 229 lbs according to the OHL website, he's already man-sized. Chychrun isn't far behind, standing 6'2 himself, and having a very successful rookie season so far, with six points through seven games for an improved but still middle of the pack Sarnia team that also boasts 2015 eligible Czech import Pavel Zacha, himself off to a good start with six points through seven games. Zacha, standing 6'3 and over 200 lbs projects as a power forward and will likely be a high first round pick.
-Out west, in the WHL, two prospects on the West coast are turning heads: 2015 eligible Matt Barzal, the former first overall pick in the WHL Bantam Draft, and another first overall bantam pick, Tyler Benson, eligible in 2016. Playing for Seattle and Vancouver respectively, Barzal and Benson have cemented their status as top-ten picks for their respective draft years. Brandon Wheat Kings defenseman Kale Clague is having a solid year for a very deep Wheat Kings squad, and he too will be up for the draft in 2016. This is the defenseman who broke Dion Phaneuf's scoring record for a AAA defenseman with a whopping 77 points in 33 games as a 14 year old.
-Back to the NHL, the Jets specifically, this most recent road trip wasn't kind to them for the most part, but I will say this: Adam Lowry is proving (as if it wasn't already obvious) that he belongs in the NHL. Hitting anything he gets in his crosshairs, bulling his way to the net and generally causing mayhem on the forecheck. He, Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler all looked good against L.A. and they were just about the only ones. On the other end of the spectrum, Jacob Trouba, who looked like future Norris Trophy material last year at times, has looked weary and worn down this year so far. It might be time to cut his minutes down a bit, but it is a little early to push the panic button on the young man just yet.
-As for the Avs (deep breaths) I'm focussing on the positives. They beat Boston, number one, and the whole team generally looked good. Danny Briere has little chemistry with Nathan MacKinnon, but he did score the winning goal with 0.5 seconds left. Tyson Barrie looks like a future all-star (though, once again, it's early). He's pinching well, getting back in a hurry, making things happen in the offensive zone and being better than solid in the defensive zone. The Avs best d-man to start the season by a mile.
That's it for now, folks, check back later for more NHL/CHL thoughts from yours truly.
Monday, October 06, 2014
NHL Season Almost Starting
The NHL regular season is creeping closer, and my next post should have plenty of fodder from both the Avs and Jets. As things stand, teams are finalizing their rosters, making big trades to get under the cap, sending players down to the AHL and back to juniors (and ruining the hockey pools of people who don't do their research on that subject). The injuries are piling up, the contract disputes are settling down at last, and the landscape of the league this season is coming into clearer focus at last. With the exhibition schedule over, and the start of the season now mere days away, NHL teams have given their fans lots to talk about in regards to roster decisions this past week. Who stayed and who left has been a major source of angst amongst fans of every team, and some stories in particular have stood out, including:
-The Toronto Maple Leafs can make the news in Canada for sleeping on their left sides instead of their right, so it's no surprise the roster decisions in Leafland were heavily scrutinized by not only their fans but the sports media. When it was revealed the Leafs would be starting the year without a fighter for the first time since they acquired Colton Orr back in 2009. Frazer McLaren was also sent down to the AHL, so the Leafs will be starting the year without a heavyweight fighter. They'll still have some scrappers in David Clarkson and Carter Ashton, but Clarkson is playing in a full cage after Sabres tough guy Cody McCormick damaged his orbital bone in a fight. Kind of a shame. The Leafs/Canadians tilt on opening night always used to feature a good scrap, but may not this year. I'll still be watching just because it's the first meaningful hockey game in way too damn long.
-Still with the Leafs, they sent William Nylander back to Sweden. I'm not really surprised, but then towards the end there I started to wonder if they might keep him. Nylander is amazingly skilled, and should provide the Leafs with another offensive weapon next year or the year after. One player they kept, who I was very happy to see stick with the big club, was Brandon Kozun. I always want to see the guys I cheered for in their junior years do well. Kozun was a victim of a numbers game in L.A. with too many good forwards ahead of him. The former Calgary Hitman has found a home in Toronto for now, and here's hoping it lasts.
-Speaking of juniors, the Winnipeg Jets returned three players to their respective CHL clubs. Nik Ehlers was sent back to join the herd in Halifax, where he'll terrorize the QMJHL for one more year at least, and represent Denmark at this years World Junior Championships. Josh Morrissey was returned to Prince Albert, and Nic Petan was sent back to Portland. Both of them will represent Canada this year at the WJC barring injury, and both are likely going to tear the WHL apart this year (seeing as they did last year). One player who stuck with the big club was Adam Lowry, and boy he earned it with his preseason play. A physical force who killed penalties and showed an ability to chip in offensively, Lowry looks primed to have a solid year, starting on the Jets third line. He'll bring a tenacity on the forecheck that was too often lacking from last years squad. On that note, the Jets did a much better job of forechecking in the preseason than they did in last year's season. Here's hoping that ridiculous one man forecheck is a thing of the past.
-The Avs ended the preseason on a winning note after losing every other game, finally earning a win over the L.A. Kings in the annual Frozen Fury event in Las Vegas. It was a fun game to watch, or so I'm told (the NHL network didn't carry the game in Canada), and from the highlights it looks like Duchene is rounding into form nicely. MacKinnon too. But perhaps the nicest surprise of all was seeing Ryan Wilson flattening Kyle Clifford with a beautiful backwards-skating shoulder check, the kind which he built his reputation on. Wilson was among the league's more devastating open ice hitters before injuries starting to come knocking, derailing basically the entirety of the last two years for the physical defenseman. Wilson at his best is a hard checking, no nonsense defenseman who can occasionally drop the gloves and always punished players with hard, clean checks. He moves the puck pretty well too for a defensive defenseman. It'd be good to see him get back to the form that led to Colorado extending him.
-One hard-hitting defenseman who hasn't slowed down at all is Johnny Boychuk, whose crushing hits have terrorized oncoming forwards for years. A playoff monster with the Bruins, who times his hits perfectly and leaves players wondering what truck hit them, Boychuk was traded by the Bruins to the New York Islanders over the weekend, mainly due to cap constraints. Boychuk will not only instantly make the Islanders harder to play against, but will serve as a mentor to young Travis Hamonic, who plays a similar style.
-The Islanders paid a steep price to get Boychuk (two second round draft picks) which, along with the deals they made to get the rights to Dan Boyle (which didn't pan out) and Jaroslav Halak (which did) tells me just how desperate the Islanders are not to give the Buffalo Sabres a lottery pick this year. The trade that sent Matt Moulson to Buffalo in exchange for Thomas Vanek (who gone less than six months later) may end up costing Garth Snow his job if the first round pick they shipped out with Moulson turns into Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel (or anyone else in the top five for that matter). Since the Sabres are likely looking at a lottery pick of their own, giving them a second such pick in a draft year as incredibly skilled and deep as this one would be creating a monster.
-Oh and finally, the ugly situation between Ryan Johansen and the Columbus Blue Jackets has been resolved as much at it ever will be. Johansen has been signed, and will be in the lineup to start the season, but the bad blood that stemmed from the extremely public feud between his agent, Kurt Overhardt, and Columbus management isn't going to go away just because the contract was signed.
-The Toronto Maple Leafs can make the news in Canada for sleeping on their left sides instead of their right, so it's no surprise the roster decisions in Leafland were heavily scrutinized by not only their fans but the sports media. When it was revealed the Leafs would be starting the year without a fighter for the first time since they acquired Colton Orr back in 2009. Frazer McLaren was also sent down to the AHL, so the Leafs will be starting the year without a heavyweight fighter. They'll still have some scrappers in David Clarkson and Carter Ashton, but Clarkson is playing in a full cage after Sabres tough guy Cody McCormick damaged his orbital bone in a fight. Kind of a shame. The Leafs/Canadians tilt on opening night always used to feature a good scrap, but may not this year. I'll still be watching just because it's the first meaningful hockey game in way too damn long.
-Still with the Leafs, they sent William Nylander back to Sweden. I'm not really surprised, but then towards the end there I started to wonder if they might keep him. Nylander is amazingly skilled, and should provide the Leafs with another offensive weapon next year or the year after. One player they kept, who I was very happy to see stick with the big club, was Brandon Kozun. I always want to see the guys I cheered for in their junior years do well. Kozun was a victim of a numbers game in L.A. with too many good forwards ahead of him. The former Calgary Hitman has found a home in Toronto for now, and here's hoping it lasts.
-Speaking of juniors, the Winnipeg Jets returned three players to their respective CHL clubs. Nik Ehlers was sent back to join the herd in Halifax, where he'll terrorize the QMJHL for one more year at least, and represent Denmark at this years World Junior Championships. Josh Morrissey was returned to Prince Albert, and Nic Petan was sent back to Portland. Both of them will represent Canada this year at the WJC barring injury, and both are likely going to tear the WHL apart this year (seeing as they did last year). One player who stuck with the big club was Adam Lowry, and boy he earned it with his preseason play. A physical force who killed penalties and showed an ability to chip in offensively, Lowry looks primed to have a solid year, starting on the Jets third line. He'll bring a tenacity on the forecheck that was too often lacking from last years squad. On that note, the Jets did a much better job of forechecking in the preseason than they did in last year's season. Here's hoping that ridiculous one man forecheck is a thing of the past.
-The Avs ended the preseason on a winning note after losing every other game, finally earning a win over the L.A. Kings in the annual Frozen Fury event in Las Vegas. It was a fun game to watch, or so I'm told (the NHL network didn't carry the game in Canada), and from the highlights it looks like Duchene is rounding into form nicely. MacKinnon too. But perhaps the nicest surprise of all was seeing Ryan Wilson flattening Kyle Clifford with a beautiful backwards-skating shoulder check, the kind which he built his reputation on. Wilson was among the league's more devastating open ice hitters before injuries starting to come knocking, derailing basically the entirety of the last two years for the physical defenseman. Wilson at his best is a hard checking, no nonsense defenseman who can occasionally drop the gloves and always punished players with hard, clean checks. He moves the puck pretty well too for a defensive defenseman. It'd be good to see him get back to the form that led to Colorado extending him.
-One hard-hitting defenseman who hasn't slowed down at all is Johnny Boychuk, whose crushing hits have terrorized oncoming forwards for years. A playoff monster with the Bruins, who times his hits perfectly and leaves players wondering what truck hit them, Boychuk was traded by the Bruins to the New York Islanders over the weekend, mainly due to cap constraints. Boychuk will not only instantly make the Islanders harder to play against, but will serve as a mentor to young Travis Hamonic, who plays a similar style.
-The Islanders paid a steep price to get Boychuk (two second round draft picks) which, along with the deals they made to get the rights to Dan Boyle (which didn't pan out) and Jaroslav Halak (which did) tells me just how desperate the Islanders are not to give the Buffalo Sabres a lottery pick this year. The trade that sent Matt Moulson to Buffalo in exchange for Thomas Vanek (who gone less than six months later) may end up costing Garth Snow his job if the first round pick they shipped out with Moulson turns into Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel (or anyone else in the top five for that matter). Since the Sabres are likely looking at a lottery pick of their own, giving them a second such pick in a draft year as incredibly skilled and deep as this one would be creating a monster.
-Oh and finally, the ugly situation between Ryan Johansen and the Columbus Blue Jackets has been resolved as much at it ever will be. Johansen has been signed, and will be in the lineup to start the season, but the bad blood that stemmed from the extremely public feud between his agent, Kurt Overhardt, and Columbus management isn't going to go away just because the contract was signed.
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