It's the All-Star weekend in Montreal, which means that after, this is where teams start getting serious and make that push to make the playoffs. For a lot of teams this is a forgone conclusion, but for others, it's make or break time. The margin of error is alot tighter. Slumps and injuries could become a major factor. So let's look at the teams, and what they have to do from the All-Star break until the end of the season, to have a glimer of a chance in making the playoffs. The table below is pretty simple to understand. I put what the teams have put on board in points so far,and what they need to get to 90 points, which I used as the mesuring stick for both conferences. The last number is the maximum amount of points according to the amount of games left to play. Will your team make it ?
Eastern Conference
Team
Pts
PTS needed
Max Possible
Boston
73
17+
70
Washington
63
27+
68
New Jersey
61
29+
70
Montreal
60
30+
72
Rangers
60
30+
68
Philadelphia
59
31+
72
Buffalo
53
37+
70
Carolina
51
39+
68
Florida
50
40+
72
Pittsburgh
50
40+
68
Toronto
42
48+
70
TampaBay
42
48+
70
Ottawa
39
51+
76
Atlanta
39
39+
68
Islanders
31
59+
70
Western Conference
Team
Pts
PTS needed
Max Possible
San Jose
73
17+
74
Detroit
68
22+
72
Calgary
60
30+
72
Chicago
58
32+
74
Phoenix
53
37+
68
Edmonton
51
39+
72
Vancouver
51
39+
68
Anaheim
51
39+
66
Minnesota
49
41+
72
Columbus
49
41+
70
Dallas
47
43+
74
Colorado
47
43+
70
Los Angeles
45
45+
72
Nashville
43
47+
72
ST.Louis
42
48+
72
This is surely the best time of the season. Enjoy the All-Star Weekend
Happy New Year to all. Sorry for the lack of posting, I had health issues, but everything is fine now.
The majority of the teams have past the mid season point, so time to look in the crystal ball and see which teams will be playing in the playoffs this spring. This is the first installment of projections. I will do another after the All-star game, and an another a few weeks after the tradedeadline, so be sure to stay tune.
The world wide financial crisis is now affecting Canadian based NHL teams. As we all know, teams in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver all receive their revenues in canadian currency, then most buy american currency to make payroll. Below is what kind of rate exchange we are talking about. That's alot of money.
Team
Payroll in US $
In Canadian $
Difference
Montreal
$53,699,667.00
$67,183,653.38
$13,483,986.38
Ottawa
$59,237,897.00
$74,112,532.94
$14,874,635.94
Toronto
$48,093,333.00
$60,169,568.92
$12,076,235.92
Edmonton
$52,567,381.00
$65,767,050.37
$13,199,669.37
Calgary
$57,700,000.00
$72,188,470.00
$14,488,470.00
Vancouver
$49,379,167.00
$61,778,275.83
$12,399,108.83
Total
$320,677,445.00
$401,199,551.44
$80,522,106.44
Avg/team
$53,446,240.83
$66,866,591.91
$13,420,351.07
This is actual payroll obligations, and not cap money, which based on the average of the contract. The numbers are based on the closing of the markets on Friday.
Dallas Stars have ceased to recognize Sean Avery as a member of the organization, and are ready to eat up the salary that goes with it, according to the Dallas morning news. The Stars can buy out his contract at the end of the season at two thirds, which comes to 10.3 million spread over six years.
Today is suppose to be the day Mats Sundin decides where he will be playing the rest of the season. The Vancouver Canucks seem to be the front-runners, as they have the cap space to do so. The offer they had made him this summer, still stands. Sundin and his agent have stated, that is what not about the money. Sundin met with the Rangers brass on Saturday. The Rangers, Canadiens, Canucks and BlackHawks are on Sundin's shorten list.
It's the eternel debate in hockey,when one era is compared to an another.This situation was brought up in 1995-96,when the Detroit Red Wings, then coached by the legendary Scotty Bowman, who was also behind the Canadiens bench in 1976-77,finished the season with 62 wins, which had broken Bowman's Canadiens record of 60.When Scotty's great Habs team established that mark, there was no overtime or shootout in the regular season, so they were purely obtained in the 60 minute time frame.Now of course,when Scotty's Red Wings beat the record,some of those wins came in overtime, so did they truely beat ? According to the record books, they did. But hockey historians will undoubtly keep the 1976-77 record intact, for one reason, that great season was crowned with a Stanley Cup, which was not obtained by Bowman's Red Wings. So for it to be meaningful in the end for the San Jose Sharks, they will have to win the cup this year.
You also can look at this in different angles. You can compare both the Sharks and the Canadiens team of the time, position by position, and even behind the bench. No doubt the Sharks lose out at all of the above. In goal, Dryden get's it hands down. On the defense, with the big three, all Hall of famers, no contest. Up front, again no contest, of course, what past or present coach can come close to Scotty Bowman ? It's obvisious, it just wouldn't add up for the Sharks in the end.
So Canadiens fans, don't worry,you can be assured that the record will be remembered for a long time.
What to do with Avery ?
Now that NHL commissionner, Gary Bettman, has made a joke of his league once again by giving it's worse ambassador a light sentence, what's next for Sean Avery ? Worse, he may have tied the hands of the Dallas Stars. I can understand in a way the NHLPA, is in obligation to protect of its own, the question is, can this same association vote him out ? It will be interesting to watch in the coming weeks.
Habs five away from win number 3,000
The NHL's most storied franchise is on mark to write an another great page in it's one hundredth year history. When the Montreal Canadiens hit win number 20 of the season, it will also be their 3,000th win since their existence in the NHL. Guy Carbonneau has been part of the history of this team and organization, has he is the last captain to win a cup in Montreal, but now as a coach, he will be the one that will be remembered as being behind the bench for win number 3,000. If you were to ask to Carbonneau, how he would feel about that, he would probably be flattered, but there is one win that he's waiting for and will gladly share with Saku Koivu, the one that brings the cup back to Montreal. Carbonneau being the team player that is, would pause, and thank the likes of Dick Irvin, Toe Blake and Scotty Bowman, and all others that came before and after them for the chance of being the guy that won win number 3,000.
When Guy Carbonneau became the Canadiens coach in 2006, he wanted to create a team and family spirit. So far he has done pretty well, espacially when he saw all of his players joke around after Thursday's trashing of the New York Rangers 6-2.
Long before a lot of us where born, or even our parents. The game of hockey had already been a uniting force in Canada.Thru international competition or just the backward shinny game on a Saturday morning or afternoon. In the end the love of the game conquered us all.
The passion, the desire to win, the thrill of victory, made us all champions. Even to ask the neighbour if we could borrow their aluminum garbage can, to use as the Stanley cup, imitating the great tradition of celebrating a championship with the routine skate around the rink, hoping to hear the cheers of a roaring crowd, afterour shorten version of the Stanley cup playoffs.
As we would head to the frozen pound or rink, we had already written our scripts, we were going to be the heroes of our game. Often a game would be interupted by frozen faces and feet, agreements would be made to finish what we had started, or for a revenge game to tie up a series. Once home, and unthawing from the blistering cold, Mom would have a nice bowl of hot soup ready for us to gulp down. As we did this and blew on the soup on our spoon to cool it down, Mom asked us, ‘’ Did you have fun ? ‘’ No matteron how our game went, winning or losing, she wantedto know if we had fun. It’s always easier to answer that question when your winning, than losing, but either way Mom always had a way in saying things to cheer us up or to remind us, that in the afternoon you maybe on the losing end, but always cheered us on, no matter what happened.
My family and I moved to a suburb of Canada’s nations capital, as my Dad took a job with the Federal government. If people thought that the winter of 2007-08 was bad, they must of forgot the winter of 1970-71. March 4th, 1971, on my Mom’s birthday, gave us one of the worse storms in our history. That same day, the Montreal Canadiens honored one of their most prestigious captains in history, Jean Beliveau, at the Forum. The missing piece of that great Canadiens cup run had not arrived yet, but was about to write one of the most important pages in that legendary team’s history. Just as Lyle, Ken Dryden had became my idol, and that’swhen I really started to love the game of hockey. In my first year in organized hockey, I wanted to play goal, wasn’t very good, but tried. I guess it may have been because my team was called the Leafs, and got burnt for 9 goals in my first and only time as a goalie. But it never ended my love and passion for the game.
In the fall and winter of 1971-72, I had open heart surgery at the Montreal Children’s hospital, which was about a crawl away from the legendary Forum. My uncle came to see me, brought me a poster of Ken Dryden, a nurse who happened to date one of the Canadiens players at the time, I can’t remember who, arranged to get the legendary goaltender to come visit the ward I was in. Now can you imagine, a 9 year old, getting a visit from Ken Dryden. My eyes where as big as a quarter, Dryden took out a marker from his suit, and autographed the poster I had on the wall in my room. I will always remember that, just as I will remember the kind nurse that set the whole thing up. Where ever you are, thank you so very much.
The passion is still there, our memories, of those games where we were the heroes, the aluminum garbage can that served as an alternate Stanley cup, the heroes we worshiped, the game we still enjoy. But nothing will ever beat Mom’s warm soup and caring on those cold afternoons having fun.
Jason Blake should stop whinning and play. Toronto Maple Leafs head coach,Ron Wilson, is very strong on team concept, and right now, he does think that Blake is pulling his weight, or buying in to the system.
Wilson will not let Blake become a distraction to the team. The worse thing Blake can do is put himself before the team. One it brings down any value he could have on the trade market, which I doubt there is any. The only person at this point that can help Blake, is Blake himself. If he wants some examples on how to do so, all he has to do is look at two guys in the Canadiens line-up, Koivu and Kovalev, how they dispense leadership. Or he could use a formula that legendary coach, Scotty Bowman used when he was coaching those great teams of the 70’s. When one of his star players was in a slump, Bowman would tell them ‘’ If you can’t score make sure the other team can’t either, in time your scoring touch comeback.’’
Now It would not be fair in assuming that Blake is as good or as talented as those stars Bowman coached in Montreal, but he is no slouch either. If you can’t score, make yourself useful in an another way, in time confidence and your scoring touch will comeback. Right now, Blake is concentrating too much on what he thinks he is doing right instead on what he maybe doing wrong, that is what Ron Wilson wants him to do.
It will be interesting to see what happens next. One thing is for sure, Blake will remain a Leaf through out the season.
No doubt the speculation will now run for sure, will Brian Burke become the new GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs ? A good question, if the situation had happened in July, but now, the landscape may have changed a bit in Leaf Nation.
If you go by a process of elimination, you can eliminate all the Western conference teams. Let’s take a look in the East, other than Toronto. Simple math tells you, eliminate Montreal from the get go. Ottawa also, this leaving Buffalo and Boston. Of course Boston would be perfect. Depending what Burke is looking for as far as dollars and cents, guarantees in a contract, would Jeremy Jacobs consider ousting Peter Chiarelli ? He might consider it, espacially that Burke is a proven GM and has won the Stanley Cup. It’s noteveryday that a guy like Brian Burke comes along and is made available.
So folks after enduringclose to four and a half months of where Sundin will play or not play, now we have the Burke is going where lottery. Shouldn’t the focus be on the game on the ice and not about over bolstered egos always trying to make the news ?If I was the league’s commissionner, I would not like this at all.
Renaud Lavoie of RDS, mentionned last night during the Montreal and Phoenix game, that talks had intensified between the Wild and the Habs. Of course we all know that Minnesota's gm Doug Risebrough was a teammate of Montreal's gm, Bob Gainey, along with Jacques Lemaire and Mario Tremblay in the glory years in the 70's. That friendship is there, which most likely helped in getting talks started, but it might just be that, talk. We all know, that Gainey keeps his cards close to the vest, and rarely comments on rumours. There is a General managers meeting this week, and Gainey may have called Risebrough to get his take on certain issues that will be discussed. Who knows.
Let's say for sake of argument, both Gm's are talking to make a deal. It does not mean that once both sides agree on something, that a trade will be done immediatly, this could a wait and see agreement, between Gainey and Risebrough. Once Gaborik comes back to the active roster, the Canadiens gm will appoint a scout, most likely Pierre Gauthier is asst gm, to scout the Wild and see if there can be a deal to be done. Gainey can also ask Guy Carbonneau to give Mario Tremblay a call and get some inside info on Gaborik's attitude in the dressing room. One thing Mr. Lavoie may not know, either do I, that they maybe a third team involved and it could be three way deal in works, and Gaborik never even lands or plays in Montreal. Even if there is no third team involved, there is the cap space issue that Gainey and his CBA specialist, Julien Brisebois, must solve before making a deal. as mentionned in Lyle Richardson's rumour round up this morning, both Higgins and Halak total up 2.7 million in cap space, so the habs have shave off 4 .2million in space in order that Gaborik 6.333 cap hit fits in to Montreal's cap salary structure.
Ok you trade Halak, who is Carey Price's back-up, you then have to call up a goaltender from Hamilton, which will most likely be Marc Denis, and his cap hit is 600 k according to cap central. It will be interesting to see how all of this pans out in the days or weeks to come. Oh yes, of course all cap salaries would be prorated, as in the remaining money owned the players involved.
The Hit on Kostsitsyn
The debate is what is it a shot to the head ? Mike Milbury from Hockey night in Canada, it was fine.Coming from him, we should not be surprised. He also mentionned that it was Laraque that went after Thornton on wednesday night. He and his buddy Cherry, have been going pretty strong on the wacky tobacco. Well Mr.Milbury, look at this and tell me who went after who ? It's pretty clear. Ok let's get back to the issue at point here. I have seen it a few times already, but I will let you be the judge, don't forget to be objective about it. I have to admit that Mike was right on the hit, so was Benoit Brunet from RDS. Did Sauer deserve a penalty ? Maybe a roughing penalty, but not for the hit itself. As they say, blood is thicker than water, well while brother Andrei was being looked after by the excellent medical staff of the Canadiens, one of, if not the best in the league. I can't remember where I read it, but players on other teams that have been seriously injured in games in Montreal, have mentionned, they where well taken care off by that staff. I know it may sound dumb, but maybe they should of had a place in the ring of honor, espacially Dr. Mulder, who has been the team physician for over forty years.
First coaching casualty
After only four games, the Chicago BlackHawks fired Denis Savard on Thursday, and replaced him with Joel Quennville, former Avalanche and Blues coach. Now, is Quennville's Keaneen authoritive style good for this young BlackHawks team ? In his first game behind the Hawks bench, Quennville saw his team lose in a shootout. Yes you can say they got a point, but a loss remains a loss. But of course you have to let Quennville get his system in place. Tonight (Sunday) they play the Canucks in Vancouver, should be interesting. Pierre Lebrun on Hockey night in Canada's hotstove, said that he talked with the legendary coach, Scotty Bowman. Bowman told him that, he was not interested in the Gm job if ever Tallon was fired. Bowman also stated the two reasons he came to Chicago. One to work alongside his son Stan, who by the way was named after the cup that bares Scotty Bowman's name 11 times, 9 as coach and 2 has an executive. The second reason he invoked, was that he could hold the same kind of title he had in Detroit, work from his home in Tampa and see games around the league. Speaking of Bowman, he will be honored by the Canadiens during the celebrations of his former team's 100th season. When will this take place, not sure, but you know he will get a standing ovation by the crowd in Montreal. He was the coach of the last Canadiens dynasty of the 70's.
The NHL's 2008-09 season got underway yesterday in the Czech Republic and in Sweden. In the Czech Republic, the New Yorks Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1. As my good friend Lyle Richardson mentions in blog on the game, it was not very entertaining, I agree. Tampa Bay Lightning new ownership forgot one thing in their summer spree, Defense. They let go Dan Boyle and got weaker on the back end. With all due respect to Olie Kolzig and Mike Smith, they are not the solution. Ever since they let Khabibulin go, the Bolts have struggled in that part of their game, and will continue to. Of course top notch goaltenders are not easy to come by, when a team has one, teams keep them. Jose Theodore was available this summer, but they turned to Kolzig. I think in the short term, Theodore could of been a better asset than what they got now.
New York Rangers, are no better off this season than they were last season, but I think when the chemistry sets in, I think the Rangers have a good possible shot at a playoff spot. Of course that will depend if a third team from the NorthEast division squeezes in, that could make thing difficult. I would say that their matchs-up with cross state rivals New Jersey Devils will make or break their playoff hopes. It's just starting and we have a lot of hockey to play and no time to jump the gun.
The Ottawa Senators and the Pittsburgh Penguins met for the first time since last spring's quick elimination 4-0. The young Penguins drew first blood and quick, this in the first two minutes of play. The Senators then started the parade to the penalty box. In the first period alone, the Sens gave the Penguins a two man advantage, but Sid and his crew could not capitalize. They missed both Gonchar and Whitney on the point. Ray Shero could have to look outside the box for help. Could Bryan Berard be a short term solution, as he was released by Philadelphia yesterday. With both Gonchar and Whitney on the long term injury list, they can seek replacements and be over the cap by a portion of Whitney's salary and all of Gonchar's. They can go over by 2.7 million on Whitney's salary and can go the whole 5 m in Gonchar's case.
According to Kevin Lee, Alex Auld should get the start today against Pittsburgh for game two of the Stockholm tour. Not doubt with the win yesterday and having last line changes today, Michel Therrien will go back with Fleury again. So it should be an interesting game.
Enjoy. The North American part of the season starts on Thurday night. The defending Stanley Cup champions will be bringing up the banner in the Joe, to salute the 2007-08 cup run. The visitors will the Toronto Maple Leafs, a team that has not had that pleasure in 41 years, should be teeth grinding experience for the faithful of white and blue.
For all of you in Canada, you can see the game on Hockey night in Canada.
