As you've doubtlessly heard by now, the NHL released the Eastern Conference All-Star list.
And, as always, not everyone is going to be happy. The official list is more than slightly different than ours.
My picks who got snubbed: Tim Thomas, Michal Rozsvial, Mike Green, Mats Sundin, Alexei Kovalev and Evgeni Malkin.
So, if you're keeping score at home, aside from the slam dunks (Ovechkin, Heatley, Kovalchuk, etc) we didn't get a single one right really.
Ouch. we still would like my roster/lineup against the real one though. And this isn't baseball, each team is not guaranteed a selection. And even those representatives were flawed to us: Sundin and Rozsival have been better than Scott Gomez and Tomas Kaberle on their respective teams. Choosing from each team handcuffs guys who deserve to be there coughGenocough and lets in a guy like Eric Staal who's having an inferior season by comparision.
Iit is what it is what can you do. We're not really that upset, it's just a glorified exhibition game....But if the Sarge (Sergei Gonchar) was excluded TST would be on the warpath.
Friday, January 11, 2008
The Sweater Ty
No words. Should have sent a poet.
Actually I do have some words, on MalkinGate. We would have loved to have this 10 bell save on Vincent Lecavalier stand alone, but alas.
Pens fans and others are bitching moaning about Evgeni Malkin shooting the puck into an empty net with just over 10 seconds left when he had Sidney Crosby open. Crosby was riding a point streak and is chasing Lecavalier for another scoring title and could have used the gimme point.
We here at TST don’t blame Malkin for doing what he did for many reasons. In hockey, which we doubt most of the complainers played at a very organized level, it is drilled into your head not to do anything cute, to take what they give you. Malkin had a chance to score and he did. That the outcome of the game was over (the Pens were obviously already winning by 2 goals) has nothing to do with it. You score when you can. Period.
What good is it if Malkin tries to pass the puck on bad ice at the end of the period and Crosby is unable to receive it? No goal. What happens if Malkin misfires on the pass? No goal. What happens if Crosby misses the net? No goal. What happens if it takes a bounce on the bad ice and ends up on the stick of an opponent somehow? Likely a goal, but for the other team. As the astute reader can see, the range of good outcomes is uncertain to very bad and the payoff--forcing a goal to Crosby isn't worth forcing if Malkin can score it himself. So why chance it?
The answer: you don’t. Malkin made the right move. As Penguins announcer Paul Steigerwald said when Bob Errey whined about the no-pass to break Crosby’s point streak: it’s no big deal, Bing will likely just start another one very soon. And if you need a last second empty net goal to continue the streak, well that’s like Cal Ripken just getting an at-bat to continue his streak, it kinda cheapens it.
First win in Tampa since before the lockout. Good times all around. Petr Sykora had a huge night, 3 primary assists, one of which should have been a goal if Jordan Staal wasn’t in the way. But good to see young Jordan back on the scoresheet. 3 goals in the first 42 games and 2 goals in just one. Hopefully this will kick off a big second half for him, an additional source of production is always a good thing.
Actually I do have some words, on MalkinGate. We would have loved to have this 10 bell save on Vincent Lecavalier stand alone, but alas.
Pens fans and others are bitching moaning about Evgeni Malkin shooting the puck into an empty net with just over 10 seconds left when he had Sidney Crosby open. Crosby was riding a point streak and is chasing Lecavalier for another scoring title and could have used the gimme point.
We here at TST don’t blame Malkin for doing what he did for many reasons. In hockey, which we doubt most of the complainers played at a very organized level, it is drilled into your head not to do anything cute, to take what they give you. Malkin had a chance to score and he did. That the outcome of the game was over (the Pens were obviously already winning by 2 goals) has nothing to do with it. You score when you can. Period.
What good is it if Malkin tries to pass the puck on bad ice at the end of the period and Crosby is unable to receive it? No goal. What happens if Malkin misfires on the pass? No goal. What happens if Crosby misses the net? No goal. What happens if it takes a bounce on the bad ice and ends up on the stick of an opponent somehow? Likely a goal, but for the other team. As the astute reader can see, the range of good outcomes is uncertain to very bad and the payoff--forcing a goal to Crosby isn't worth forcing if Malkin can score it himself. So why chance it?
The answer: you don’t. Malkin made the right move. As Penguins announcer Paul Steigerwald said when Bob Errey whined about the no-pass to break Crosby’s point streak: it’s no big deal, Bing will likely just start another one very soon. And if you need a last second empty net goal to continue the streak, well that’s like Cal Ripken just getting an at-bat to continue his streak, it kinda cheapens it.
First win in Tampa since before the lockout. Good times all around. Petr Sykora had a huge night, 3 primary assists, one of which should have been a goal if Jordan Staal wasn’t in the way. But good to see young Jordan back on the scoresheet. 3 goals in the first 42 games and 2 goals in just one. Hopefully this will kick off a big second half for him, an additional source of production is always a good thing.
124 million reasons to stay in DC
Now I see why Alex Ovechkin fired his agent….No person in the world would advise him to sign for such a long-term contract. Well, apparently one person in the world, his mother.
The Peerless appropriately points out that AO saved a nice chunk of change by not having to pay the agent’s commission, which is true. But consider the salary cap, which was at $39 million the first season after the lockout (max player contract is 20%: $7.8 million) has grown to $52 million this season (max $10.4 million) and the NHLPA has already stated they expect league-wide revenues to increase, and thus push the cap up further.
With the league looking at an inevitable return to ESPN in some form in the very near future, one could speculate hockey could ‘pop’ in the public image. Especially when young stars like Sidney Crosby and, ironically, Ovechkin push the sport further to more and more revenue. In a sense, Ovechkin could grow the sport with his play, which would raise others salaries but not his own.
Don’t get me wrong, $124 million guaranteed is nothing to sneeze at. It’s financial security for your kids’ kids kids. Just as impressive is the commitment Ovechkin made to the Caps. He could have used what little leverage he had to try to get in a new city on perhaps a team closer to competing or with a bigger (and more visible) market for hockey. But, as he said all along we’ll point out, he wanted to stay in Washington.
Congrats to the Capitals for getting their cornerstone locked up. Congrats to Ovechkin for deservedly breaking the bank. Congrats to the Caps fans for having something to get excited about. Congrats to us all for no longer having to hear morons like Eklund and Larry Brooks and wishful thinkers North of the Border with their crazy fantasies about where he might end up.
The Peerless appropriately points out that AO saved a nice chunk of change by not having to pay the agent’s commission, which is true. But consider the salary cap, which was at $39 million the first season after the lockout (max player contract is 20%: $7.8 million) has grown to $52 million this season (max $10.4 million) and the NHLPA has already stated they expect league-wide revenues to increase, and thus push the cap up further.
With the league looking at an inevitable return to ESPN in some form in the very near future, one could speculate hockey could ‘pop’ in the public image. Especially when young stars like Sidney Crosby and, ironically, Ovechkin push the sport further to more and more revenue. In a sense, Ovechkin could grow the sport with his play, which would raise others salaries but not his own.
Don’t get me wrong, $124 million guaranteed is nothing to sneeze at. It’s financial security for your kids’ kids kids. Just as impressive is the commitment Ovechkin made to the Caps. He could have used what little leverage he had to try to get in a new city on perhaps a team closer to competing or with a bigger (and more visible) market for hockey. But, as he said all along we’ll point out, he wanted to stay in Washington.
Congrats to the Capitals for getting their cornerstone locked up. Congrats to Ovechkin for deservedly breaking the bank. Congrats to the Caps fans for having something to get excited about. Congrats to us all for no longer having to hear morons like Eklund and Larry Brooks and wishful thinkers North of the Border with their crazy fantasies about where he might end up.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
The Flu Claims Two
He's baaaack! (Note: Not Gary, the mustachioed gentleman)
According to PSI, Tyler Kennedy and Erik Christensen are out of the lineup tonight (even though Crusher told the PG he expected to be ready to roll). That means Ryan Stone will be making his NHL debut and also the return from injury by Max Talbot.
I’m not too excited by this turn of events: TK and EC have been two of the Penguins better forwards during this 7 game winning streak and have been playing arguably the best hockey of their short NHL careers in the past 20 games or so.
Stone will be on the 4th line and plays a pretty well-rounded game, he’s physical and energetic and on paper a nice replacement for Kennedy, even if TK had a bigger role than Stone will initially get.
Talbot, on the other hand, has me concerned. He returned in early December after missing 4 or 5 games from a high ankle sprain and ended up re-aggravating it that knocked him out a month. We here at the Sweater Ted don’t have to look far to see how the exact same injury has hobbled Caps sniper Alex Semin and greatly decreased his game by trying to play through (and then coming back to quickly) an ankle sprain.
But Talbot has been eased back into practice over the past 2 weeks or so and must be in good shape if the Pens didn’t want to bring up another well performing farmhand like Tim Brent or Jonathan Filewich.
We’ll see how things click in the Pens quest to beat Tampa Bay for the first time since 2003 and, more importantly, go for their 8th win in a row.
The next Daniel Alfredsson?
One of the many things we would change, if we were calling the shots in the NHL, is some of the drafting rules, specifically pertaining to European players. In Europe, where soccer is king, those clubs obviously want to see the multi-million dollar transfer system to shuffle players over to North America. But, as it looks they are learning, that is not going to happen in the foreseeable future.
The way the current draft rules work now in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (in short: if you draft a player, European or otherwise you have just a few years to sign him; just 2 or 3 years we believe for European players) are not friendly to NHL teams or European players with NHL aspirations. NHL teams would be better off not risking it and drafting more collegiate or CHL players that would have more time to develop and be more open to spending time in the AHL. And, as the data shows, in the past couple years more and more picks (especially high ones) are being used on players playing in North America.
But what about these highly skilled players that play in Europe and need a little more time to develop before jumping to the NHL. Players, like say Daniel Alfredsson, who was drafted in the late rounds (the 6th round of the 1994 draft in this case), and didn’t come over to North America quick enough for his team to retain his rights (though Alfredsson did come over to the NHL for the start of the 1995-96 season, he was 22 years old by then).
We mention Alfredsson by name, because a young player in Sweden, named Fabian Brunnstrom, is said to be perhaps the next Alfredsson, at least by The Hockey News. (follow that link to another link to youtube for a pretty slick highlight reel).
First of all, how awesome is that name; Fabian Brunnstrom. It sounds like he should be some mid-20s hipster heir to a fortune that routinely sips mochas with the likes of Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan or something.
But in this case, Brunnstrom is a name you will likely learn for his skill as a hockey player, and learn it quickly too. At 22 years old, Brunnstrom is playing his first year in the Swedish Elite League for a team called Farjestads, and playing well. According to his hockeydb profile, he’s a team high +11 and has 28 points (7g, team high 21a) in 34 games, one point off the team leader.
Bunnstrom is a unrestricted free agent in terms of the NHL, any team could sign him. In essence, what Japanese players are to Major League Baseball could be what Europeans like Bunnstrom are to the NHL. True, there is a salary cap so the big markets cannot gobble up all the talent with big money, but something doesn’t sit right about the whole process.
In the old days, European prospects went to the team’s that dug those diamonds up in the rough, like Alfredsson, or Pavel Datsyuk (drafted 171th overall in 1998) or Henrik Zetterberg (210th in 1999) or even to a lesser extent someone like Radim Vrbata (212th in ’99).
Now, it seems, the European prospects might be left to see what cream rises to the top and then be signed by the highest bidder.
Somehow, that doesn’t seem right.
The way the current draft rules work now in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (in short: if you draft a player, European or otherwise you have just a few years to sign him; just 2 or 3 years we believe for European players) are not friendly to NHL teams or European players with NHL aspirations. NHL teams would be better off not risking it and drafting more collegiate or CHL players that would have more time to develop and be more open to spending time in the AHL. And, as the data shows, in the past couple years more and more picks (especially high ones) are being used on players playing in North America.
But what about these highly skilled players that play in Europe and need a little more time to develop before jumping to the NHL. Players, like say Daniel Alfredsson, who was drafted in the late rounds (the 6th round of the 1994 draft in this case), and didn’t come over to North America quick enough for his team to retain his rights (though Alfredsson did come over to the NHL for the start of the 1995-96 season, he was 22 years old by then).
We mention Alfredsson by name, because a young player in Sweden, named Fabian Brunnstrom, is said to be perhaps the next Alfredsson, at least by The Hockey News. (follow that link to another link to youtube for a pretty slick highlight reel).
First of all, how awesome is that name; Fabian Brunnstrom. It sounds like he should be some mid-20s hipster heir to a fortune that routinely sips mochas with the likes of Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan or something.
But in this case, Brunnstrom is a name you will likely learn for his skill as a hockey player, and learn it quickly too. At 22 years old, Brunnstrom is playing his first year in the Swedish Elite League for a team called Farjestads, and playing well. According to his hockeydb profile, he’s a team high +11 and has 28 points (7g, team high 21a) in 34 games, one point off the team leader.
Bunnstrom is a unrestricted free agent in terms of the NHL, any team could sign him. In essence, what Japanese players are to Major League Baseball could be what Europeans like Bunnstrom are to the NHL. True, there is a salary cap so the big markets cannot gobble up all the talent with big money, but something doesn’t sit right about the whole process.
In the old days, European prospects went to the team’s that dug those diamonds up in the rough, like Alfredsson, or Pavel Datsyuk (drafted 171th overall in 1998) or Henrik Zetterberg (210th in 1999) or even to a lesser extent someone like Radim Vrbata (212th in ’99).
Now, it seems, the European prospects might be left to see what cream rises to the top and then be signed by the highest bidder.
Somehow, that doesn’t seem right.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
All-Star Rosters
Tommorrow the roster is rounded out for the Western Conference and on Friday it will be for the East. I don't watch enough of the West to offer my picks, but I am very fimiliar with the East and here's my selections.
Starting goalie, as voted by you the fans: Martin Brodeur (NJD)
Reserves: Tim Thomas (BOS), Rick DiPietro (NYI)
Thomas has a 2.23 GAA and a save percentage of .932, that is phemonemal, especially considering he's playing for the Bruins.....It's really hard to leave Henrik Lundqvist off this team but DiPietro has a slightly better save percentage (.912 to .909) and is doing more with less with the Isles. Plus DiPi has 3 assists and is tremendous at moving the puck. Either would be deserving, but I'm giving the ever to slight edge to DiPietro.
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Defensemen named by the fans: Zdeno Chara (BOS), Andrei Markov (MTL)
Reserves: Sergei Gonchar (PIT), Michal Rozsvial (NYR), Brian Campbell (BUF), Mike Green (WSH)
Offensive defensemen are inherently favored, because the all-star game is basically a glorified exhibition. Would the team be better with a more rounded player like David Hale or Wade Redden in the lineup instead of Green? Perhaps. But we don't overlook Green's eye-popping ability on the rush and think that the all-star game should be used to showcase the game's best. An all-star team isn't created with playing this roster for a full season, but just for one night.
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Forwards named by the fans: Sidney Crosby (PIT), Vincent Lecavalier (TB), Daniel Alfredsson (OTT)
Reserves: Ilya Kovalchuk (ATL), Martin St. Louis (TB), Alex Ovechkin (WSH), Dany Heatley (OTT), Jason Spezza (OTT), Mats Sundin (TOR), Alexei Kovalev (MTL), Mike Richards (PHI), Evgeni Malkin (PIT)
We here rank Kovalev and Malkin just over Eric Staal and Marc Savard. Kovalev has had a great year and was even spotted wearing the captain's C while Saku Koivu was out with injury, something that turned many heads. For the rest of the forwards, we feel it's pretty much an open and shut case for guys like Heatley, Kovalchuk, Ovechkin, St. Louis, etc.
And after the opening shift, here's how we'd compose the lines:
Alfredsson-Crosby-Ovechkin
Kovalchuk-Lecavalier-St. Louis
Heatley-Spezza-Malkin
Richards-Sundin-Kovalev
Chara/Rozsvial
Markov/Gonchar
Campbell/Green
An all-star lineup indeed!
Starting goalie, as voted by you the fans: Martin Brodeur (NJD)
Reserves: Tim Thomas (BOS), Rick DiPietro (NYI)
Thomas has a 2.23 GAA and a save percentage of .932, that is phemonemal, especially considering he's playing for the Bruins.....It's really hard to leave Henrik Lundqvist off this team but DiPietro has a slightly better save percentage (.912 to .909) and is doing more with less with the Isles. Plus DiPi has 3 assists and is tremendous at moving the puck. Either would be deserving, but I'm giving the ever to slight edge to DiPietro.
--------------------------------------
Defensemen named by the fans: Zdeno Chara (BOS), Andrei Markov (MTL)
Reserves: Sergei Gonchar (PIT), Michal Rozsvial (NYR), Brian Campbell (BUF), Mike Green (WSH)
Offensive defensemen are inherently favored, because the all-star game is basically a glorified exhibition. Would the team be better with a more rounded player like David Hale or Wade Redden in the lineup instead of Green? Perhaps. But we don't overlook Green's eye-popping ability on the rush and think that the all-star game should be used to showcase the game's best. An all-star team isn't created with playing this roster for a full season, but just for one night.
--------------------------------------
Forwards named by the fans: Sidney Crosby (PIT), Vincent Lecavalier (TB), Daniel Alfredsson (OTT)
Reserves: Ilya Kovalchuk (ATL), Martin St. Louis (TB), Alex Ovechkin (WSH), Dany Heatley (OTT), Jason Spezza (OTT), Mats Sundin (TOR), Alexei Kovalev (MTL), Mike Richards (PHI), Evgeni Malkin (PIT)
We here rank Kovalev and Malkin just over Eric Staal and Marc Savard. Kovalev has had a great year and was even spotted wearing the captain's C while Saku Koivu was out with injury, something that turned many heads. For the rest of the forwards, we feel it's pretty much an open and shut case for guys like Heatley, Kovalchuk, Ovechkin, St. Louis, etc.
And after the opening shift, here's how we'd compose the lines:
Alfredsson-Crosby-Ovechkin
Kovalchuk-Lecavalier-St. Louis
Heatley-Spezza-Malkin
Richards-Sundin-Kovalev
Chara/Rozsvial
Markov/Gonchar
Campbell/Green
An all-star lineup indeed!
Jokes and jokes and jokes
This article on Jarrko Ruutu yesterday got me thinking about all the pranks the Penguins have pulled in the past 12 months….Many have made it to the media so we can only wonder what hasn’t been reported and isn’t common knowledge. My guess: a lot of good stuff.
But here’s what we know:
--Someone (believed to be Ruutu) put baby powder all over Sidney Crosby’s towel so when he used it he was covered in it.
--Someone (again thought to be Ruutu) sewed the pants legs of rookie Kris Letang’s suit together.
--Max Talbot wore Crosby’s jersey and helmet out to a game-day skate duping thousands in Toronto.
--Marc-Andre Fleury stuffed himself inside of Colby Armstrong’s hockey bag while the team was in practice, waited patiently and then jumped out of it when Army was about to put his gear in.
--Armstrong and Georges Laraque staged a locker room confrontation last season just weeks after Laraque was acquired. The rouse was that Laraque found a racist drawing in/near his locker and accused Armstrong of it. Army denied but then admitted to it at which point he was “attacked” by BGL, much to the horror of the team.
As mentioned, we’re sure guys like Armstrong and Talbot have pulled a lot more pranks that have never (and probably never will) reach the light of day.
Why so much goofing around and light-hearted fun? Well, for one it's very a young team, the average age in the lineup last night was 26.15. When Talbot and Fleury return, that age will be lower still. And if you take into account some of the more veteran players (namely Laraque and Ruutu) that do not act their age; well that ought to bring the average down further. Sure there are some pretty vanilla guys like Rob Scuderi and Adam Hall that come to the rink every day to do their job and not much else, but the out-going nature of a whole host of individuals on the team keeps everyone on their toes, on the lookout for no shortage of mischievous activity.
Plus, when you have a winning atmosphere, things are naturally a little looser and a little more jovial than if you're not.
We also like that whether you're the face of the NHL's marketing push or a fresh-faced rookie, you have the same chance of getting a prank pulled on you. It's hard to imagine someone pulling this even on Mario Lemieux back in the mid-80s. Just goes to show, when it comes to the locker room Sid really is "just another one of the boys".
But here’s what we know:
--Someone (believed to be Ruutu) put baby powder all over Sidney Crosby’s towel so when he used it he was covered in it.
--Someone (again thought to be Ruutu) sewed the pants legs of rookie Kris Letang’s suit together.
--Max Talbot wore Crosby’s jersey and helmet out to a game-day skate duping thousands in Toronto.
--Marc-Andre Fleury stuffed himself inside of Colby Armstrong’s hockey bag while the team was in practice, waited patiently and then jumped out of it when Army was about to put his gear in.
--Armstrong and Georges Laraque staged a locker room confrontation last season just weeks after Laraque was acquired. The rouse was that Laraque found a racist drawing in/near his locker and accused Armstrong of it. Army denied but then admitted to it at which point he was “attacked” by BGL, much to the horror of the team.
As mentioned, we’re sure guys like Armstrong and Talbot have pulled a lot more pranks that have never (and probably never will) reach the light of day.
Why so much goofing around and light-hearted fun? Well, for one it's very a young team, the average age in the lineup last night was 26.15. When Talbot and Fleury return, that age will be lower still. And if you take into account some of the more veteran players (namely Laraque and Ruutu) that do not act their age; well that ought to bring the average down further. Sure there are some pretty vanilla guys like Rob Scuderi and Adam Hall that come to the rink every day to do their job and not much else, but the out-going nature of a whole host of individuals on the team keeps everyone on their toes, on the lookout for no shortage of mischievous activity.
Plus, when you have a winning atmosphere, things are naturally a little looser and a little more jovial than if you're not.
We also like that whether you're the face of the NHL's marketing push or a fresh-faced rookie, you have the same chance of getting a prank pulled on you. It's hard to imagine someone pulling this even on Mario Lemieux back in the mid-80s. Just goes to show, when it comes to the locker room Sid really is "just another one of the boys".
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