Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Week 7 Power Poll

I've been out of town this past weekend so today's blog will be brief. I'll share my thoughts on Monday's coaching changes later this week but I will give you this week's Power Poll.

For all the latest news on each team you can click on NHL.com

Here is the Power Poll:


1.    Pittsburgh        14-6-4    32 points
2.    Chicago           14-7-3    31 points
3.    Detroit             14-7-1    29 points
4.    Boston             14-7-1    29 points
5.     Toronto          14-8-2    30 points
6.    Minnesota       14-7-3    31 points
7.     Dallas             14-9-1    29 points
8.    San Jose          13-7-1    27 points
9.    Vancouver      13-9-1    27 points
10.    Buffalo         13-9-1    27 points
11.    Philadelphia  13-7-3    29 points
12.    St. Louis        13-8-2    28 points
13.    NY Rangers  12-5-3    27 points
14.    Washington   12-9-1    25 points
15.     Los Angeles  12-8-4    28 points
16.    New Jersey     12-9-1    25 points
17.    Edmonton      12-10-2    26 points
18.     Florida            12-7-4    28 points
19.    Phoenix           12-7-3    27 points
20.     Tampa Bay     11-10-2    24 points
21.    Nashville          11-8-4    26 points
22.    Ottawa             11-10-2    24 points
23.     Montreal         10-10-4    24 points
24.    Colorado          10-13-1    21 points
25.     Winnipeg          9-10-4    22 points
26.    Calgary              9-12-1    19 points
27.    Carolina             8-13-4    20 points
28.    Anaheim            6-13-4    16 points
29.     NY Islanders    6-11-4    16 points
30.    Columbus           6-14-3    15 points

Thursday, November 24, 2011

News & Notes: Thanksgiving Edition

First of all if you are reading this I want to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving. If any of you are Canadian I hope you are enjoying your Thursday.

There is a lot happening this week in the NHL so here's a notes column to get you through this holiday weekend.

Sidney Crosby returns for the Penguins:

I briefly talked about his return at the start of Monday's Power Poll but I wanted to wait until his first game before sharing my thoughts. After watching on Monday night I just walked away shaking my head in amazement of what I saw.

Crosby scored the first goal of the game 5:24 into the 1st period to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. He would score another goal in the 3rd period with two assists sandwiched in-between en route to Pittsburgh's 5-0 win over the Islanders. All that was missing for Crosby was a fight to give him a Gordie Howe Hat-Trick.

Watching Crosby skate on Monday you couldn't tell he had missed 10 months of NHL action. It looked like he had only been gone for 10 minutes.

I'm always a little leery of the hype a player receives when he enters a professional league because it usually comes with expectations that are nearly impossible to achieve. Not only has Crosby lived up to the level of play people expected, he is exceeding it.

Granted it was the Islanders he was facing but the way Crosby played showed why he is the best player in the NHL. His return makes a deep Penguins team already deeper. If they can stay healthy I don't see anyone in the East beating them.

Welcome back Sid, the NHL missed you. 

Minnesota Wild sign a 51 year old goaltender: 

Yes, you read that headline correctly.

When I arrived at Xcel Energy Center last night I learned that Nicklas Backstrom would not play due to personal reasons leaving Josh Harding to get the start.

The Wild called up Matt Hackett from Houston to back up Harding. Only problem was because Wednesday is considered one of the busiest travel days of the year there was no guarantee he would make it to Xcel in time for the game.

Enter Paul Deutsch, a 51 year old who operates a screen printing shop and plays goalie in a beer-league in Bloomington.

Deutsch, who is friends and played hockey in high school with former Wild assistant coach Mike Ramsey, has filled in at goal in the past at Wild practices when other goalies have been out with injuries.

He received a call yesterday afternoon and because he had no professional experience he was able to sign a contract for an amateur tryout and take place in warm-ups before the game against Nashville.

Hackett did arrive at the arena at around 7:00 PM and was on the bench a minute into the hockey game backing up Harding meaning Deutsch ended up being a healthy scratch.

But stories like this are why I love the NHL. I can't think of another professional league where any average person could be signed to a contract, even for just one day, in case of an emergency. 

Discover Showdown: 

On Friday afternoon the Detroit Red Wings travel to Boston to take on the Bruins in the first ever Discover NHL Thanksgiving Showdown. 

Now this isn't the first time an NHL team has played on a Friday afternoon. In fact for many years the Bruins have been playing on the Friday afternoon after Thanksgiving. (Usually against the Hartford Whalers before they moved to Carolina.)

What makes this game unique is for the first time ever this game will be shown on National Television.

As part of the NHL's new TV Contract signed last spring NBC will now air an NHL game on Black Friday. With Boston being the defending Stanley Cup Champions and traditionally playing at this time it was a no-brainer for them to host the game. As for the opponent, you can't go wrong bringing in an Original Six team that has the fan following Detroit does.

What I like most about this idea is the NHL looks to create an event on a date where a lot of people are able to watch. The NHL has done a nice job of making the Winter Classic a must-see event on New Year's Day which in the past has been reserved for College Bowl Games.

The day after Thanksgiving has usually been reserved for College Football Rivalries. (Nebraska vs. Oklahoma/Colorado) As College Football keeps re-inventing itself (not for the better I might add) a place at the table has opened up for the NHL.

I'm not going to say the NHL is going to draw more TV viewers than any of the college football games but Detroit vs Boston should capture some interest especially with the Bruins on a 10 game winning streak.

If anything it will serve as a good warm-up for Arkansas vs. LSU later that afternoon.

That's all for today. I'll be back next week with the Week 7 Power Poll. In the meantime enjoy your holiday weekend & enjoy the hockey.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Week 6 Power Poll

January 5th, 2011, it was the last day Sidney Crosby would play in an NHL game. 

Coming off a hit from Washington's David Steckel in the Winter Classic, Crosby would suffer another hit from Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman four days later.

Because of these two hits Crosby missed the rest of the 2010-2011 season and the start of the current NHL season. After weeks of speculation as to when he would return word came down yesterday afternoon that Sidney Crosby would make his season debut tonight at home against the New York Islanders. 

How big of a deal is this?

The CBC network announced they were going to air a special edition of Hockey Night in Canada tonight broadcasting Crosby's return. An hour later Versus announced they were dropping their coverage of Boston vs. Montreal so they could also air Crosby's return.

There isn't another player in the NHL, not Ovechkin, not Stamkos that could make this happen. Come to think of it I'm having trouble finding a current athlete in any sport where a TV network would change their broadcasting schedule just because he is returning from injury.

I'll have more on Crosby's return later this week. Here is the Power Poll for Week 6: 

1.    San Jose        12-5-1    25 points
Marc-Edouard Vlasic named 2nd star of the week. (1G, 6A, +7 on ice) 

2.    Minnesota        12-5-3    27 points
Simply put the Wild are beating the teams they need to beat. 

3.    Chicago        12-6-3    27 points
Gave up 5 goals in Calgary and 9 goals in Edmonton on back to back nights. 

4.    Buffalo        12-8-0    24 points
Defenseman Tyler Myers out one month with a broken wrist. 

5.    Pittsburgh        11-6-3    25 points
Welcome back Sid. 

6.    Detroit        11-7-1    23 points
Ended a five game road losing streak with a win in Los Angeles on Saturday. Followed that up by defeating the Ducks in Anaheim. 

7.    Boston        11-7-0    22 points
Hottest team in the NHL has won eight in a row. 

8.    Philadelphia    11-5-3    25 points
Five goals in four games for Matt Read is the best stretch for a Flyers rookie since Mikael Renberg scored five goals in three games from Feb. 15-18, 1994.

9.    Toronto        11-8-2    24 points
Phil Kessel (16G, 13A) leads the NHL in scoring with 29 points. 

10    Dallas        11-8-0      22 points
Big disparity in special teams is a factor in the Stars recent struggles. 

11.    Los Angeles    10-7-3    23 points
Mike Richards has goals in five of his last six games (6g) and has 14 points (7G, 7A) in his last 17 games. 

12.    N.Y. Rangers    10-4-3    23 points
Loss against Montreal ends Rangers seven game win streak. 

13.    Vancouver        10-9-1    21 points
Daniel Sedin has 11 points (2G, 9A) in November. 

14.    Washington    10-7-1    21 points
Capitals are 3-7-1 since starting the year with seven straight wins. 

15.    Nashville        10-5-4    24 points
Top line is producing for the Predators. 

16.    New Jersey        10-7-1    21 points
Devils finish up road trip tonight in Florida. My guess is former Panthers coach Pete DeBoar really wants this one tonight. 

17.    St. Louis        10-7-2    22 points
Blues forward David Perron is cleared for contact and closer to returning to the lineup. He hasn't played since November 4th, 2010 because of a concussion. 

18.    Edmonton        10-7-2      22 points
9-2 win over Chicago ends the Oilers four game losing streak. Hoping to continue momentum as the team starts a four game road trip tonight in Dallas. 

19.    Phoenix        10-5-3    23 points
Game winning goal against Buffalo scored by Paul Bissonnette. I'm pretty confident I'll never type that sentence in my life again. 

20.    Florida        10-6-3    23 points
Your eyes aren't deceiving you. Right now the Panthers are in 1st in the Southeast Division. 

21.    Ottawa        10-9-2    22 points
Senators are 3-1-1 on current road trip. 

22.    Tampa Bay        9-8-2        20 points
Lightning have the fourth ranked home power play in the NHL at 22.6 percent. 

23.    Montreal        9-8-3        21 points
Carey Price (2-0-1, 0.67 GAA, .972 save percentage) named first star of the week. 

24.    Colorado        9-11-1    19 points
This goal by Matt Duchene might be the prettiest goal of the season. 

25.    Winnipeg        8-9-3        19 points
15 goals in two games this year against Philadelphia. The Flyers do know these are the Thrashers in better uniforms don't they? 

26.    Calgary        8-9-1        17 points
Goaltending and defense has been good for the Flames. They just can't score enough goals to win games. 

27.    Carolina        7-11-3    17 points
Hurricanes are 0-5-1 in last six road games as they travel to Philadelphia tonight. 

28.    Anaheim        6-10-4    16 points
Ducks are 1-5-3 in the month of November. 

29.    N.Y. Islanders    5-9-3        13 points
I'm not a fan of the Islanders 3rd jersey. 

30.    Columbus        4-13-2    10 points
The record doesn't show it but the Blue Jackets are starting to play better.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Are The Minnesota Wild Really This Good?

This past week when I did my power poll I had the Minnesota Wild ranked 8th. One of my readers said "Love your optimism, but I don't think they're that good."

Before we continue you should know that when I do my power poll each Monday my rankings are based on what each team has done on the ice not what I think they are going to do & how talented they are especially early in the season when so many teams are bunched together. As the season goes on and teams start to separate themselves, we get a better idea of which teams are good and which teams are bad.

But we are nearly one-forth of a way through the season and right now the Minnesota Wild are first in the Northwest Division and second in the Western Conference. They are tied with Pittsburgh & Philadelphia for the second highest point total with 25 and the trail Chicago by one for most wins this season.

That got me thinking, Are the Minnesota Wild really this good?

I guess that depends on what your definition of good is. If you go by talent then the answer is no. There are at least five teams in the West (Chicago, San Jose, Vancouver, Detroit, & Los Angeles) that are all better from a talent standpoint than Minnesota. But let's compare the Wild to the other playoff teams in the West from last season Nashville, Phoenix, & Anaheim.

Nashville has one of the deepest bluelines in the NHL led by Shea Weber & Ryan Suter and they have one of the best goaltenders in the NHL in Pekka Rinne. That alone should keep the Predators in the playoff hunt.

Phoenix is off to another strong start under coach Dave Tippett although I have my doubts whether Mike Smith can play well enough in goal to lead them to another playoff berth. In Anaheim the Ducks can't stop the puck and only their top line can score. That combination usually means you are watching hockey and not playing in the spring.

So right now in my opinion there are at least two playoff spots that are up for grabs in the West. Minnesota's strong start should keep them in the playoff hunt for the rest of the season.

But that begs the question, Why are the Wild playing so well this season?

You can start with the men in net. The Wild have gotten great goaltending this season from Niklas Backstrom (7-4-2, 1.97 GAA, .935 save percentage) & Josh Harding (4-1-1, 1.78 GAA, .948 save percentage)

Minnesota also has two forwards, Dany Heatley & Devon Setoguchi, that are legit first line players. I love Andrew Brunette as a player but he did not belong on a first line last year with Mikko Koivu. I did not love Antti Mietinen and he also should not have been on a first line. The Wild don't have that problem this season.

I also think the Wild blueline is better overall this season despite the loss of All-Star Brent Burns. Last year both Burns and Cam Barker finished the season a team worst -10 on the ice. So far this year only one Wild player, Marco Scandella is on the minus side and he is at -1 on the ice. That's a stark contrast from a year ago when Clayton Stoner was the only defenseman with a plus rating of +5.

But I think the biggest reason the Wild are playing so well is because of the man behind the bench, Mike Yeo.

Last year with Todd Richards as coach the Wild seemed to be uninspired on the ice. They would play well in the 1st period, struggle mightily in the 2nd period and try to comeback in the 3rd period usually falling a goal or two short.

There were many post-game press conferences that I sat in last year where Richards stood at the podium and had a "deer in the headlights" look on his face. He seemed more relived after a win because it meant he wouldn't be getting grilled with questions of why his team was struggling and what did they need to do to turn it around.

Enter Mike Yeo who seems like he has a plan, he knows what he wants his team to do and he's not shy about telling his team how he wants them to play. More importantly the players seem to be buying into his system.

Now I realize there is still a lot of hockey to be played.  Injuries are going to happen and The Wild are going to hit a slump at some point. Then we will find out what character this team has when facing that adversity.

Right now the Wild are beating the teams they need to beat. Do I expect the Wild to win the Northwest Division? No, Vancouver has way too much talent and within the next month I expect them to take charge in the Northwest.

But I do think Minnesota is better than Calgary, Colorado & Edmonton. That should be good enough for second in the Northwest and keep them hanging around the playoff picture in the West. If you hang around long enough good things can happen.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Week 5 Power Poll

This past Wednesday in Tampa an incident took place that has all of the NHL talking.

In the 1st period of the game between Philadelphia & Tampa Bay the Lightning would set up in the 1-3-1 defensive mode waiting for the Flyers to bring the puck into the neutral zone.

The Flyers would respond by skating around in their own zone daring the Tampa Bay forward to come in after the puck.

What we had as a result of this is a stalemate that in all my years of watching hockey I have never seen.




This would happen numerous times throughout the 1st period where the referee would have to whistle the play dead and have a face-off only to have the process repeat itself.

I have read numerous opinions as to which team, Philadelphia or Tampa Bay, was right in the way they played. My personal opinion is the blame starts with the Flyers.

What happened last Wednesday is nothing new if you follow the Lightning. When Guy Boucher was hired to coach Tampa Bay he implemented a 1-3-1 defensive system where one forward play up front near the blue line of he offensive zone and one defenseman plays behind the blue line of the team's defensive zone. The other three players play between the blue lines waiting for the opponent to bring the puck into the neutral zone hoping to force a turnover.

That system if you recall helped Tampa come within one game of the Stanley Cup. It's not like the Lightning just started playing this way on Wednesday night.

If you watch all 30 teams in the NHL at least half of them use some sort of trap during the game and there is no rule in the rulebook against using a trapping system.

When you are a head coach in the NHL your job is to win games. If the 1-3-1 gives Tampa Bay the best chance to succeed then so be it. It's the other coaches job to figure out a way to beat the Lightning. The Flyers lead the NHL in goals scored. They shouldn't have a problem figuring out a way to play against the 1-3-1.

Because of this incident debates have come up as to whether the NHL needs to implement a rule so this doesn't happen again. A few of the suggestions I have heard was to call illegal defense against teams that use trapping systems or to institute a 10 second clock where teams have to move the puck out of the defensive zone.

My response to this is for everyone to take a deep breath and calm down.

Right now this is an isolated incident. Philadelphia is the first team to do this against Tampa Bay. St. Louis didn't try any stall tactics against the Lightning on Saturday and they won 3-0. My guess is the teams Tampa Bay plays the rest of the year will find a way to move the puck against the Lightning instead of stalling and waiting for them to make the first move.

I have no problem with the General Manager's having a discussion about this when they meet in December but I don't think anything needs to be done. We don't need them to reinvent the wheel just because Philadelphia refused to play the puck against Tampa Bay.

And people wonder why I hate the Flyers.

Here's your Power Poll for Week 5.

1.     Chicago        11-4-3      25 points
Three-game point streak by Jonathan Toews has the Blackhawks on top of the Western Conference.
                    
2.     Pittsburgh        10-4-3    23 points
Penguins still keep moving along while waiting for Sidney Crosby to return.

3.     Dallas        11-5-0      22 points
Stars follow up big road win in Washington with back-to-back losses in Pittsburgh & Detroit.

4.     Washington    10-4-1    21 points
Capitals are finding a way to win despite injuries on the blueline.

5.     N.Y. Rangers    9-3-3        21 points
Rangers have won six in a row.
 
6.     Philadelphia    9-4-3        21 points
JUST PLAY THE FREAKIN PUCK ALREADY!!!!
 
7.     Toronto        10-6-1    21 points
The secondary lines for the Maple Leafs are having trouble scoring right now.
 
8.     Minnesota        9-5-3      21 points
2-2 on current road trip but are beating the teams (Calgary, Anaheim) they need to beat.

9.     Buffalo        10-6-0    20 points
Ryan Miller gets laid out and nobody on the Sabres rushes in to stand up for him? Hmm..

10.     Edmonton        9-6-2      20 points
Oilers finish 2-4 on six game road trip.

11.    San Jose        9-5-1      19 points
Joe Pavelski is tied with three other players for most multi-point games in the NHL this season with eight.

12.    Detroit        9-5-1        19 points
Don't look now but the Red Wings have won four in a row.

13.    Vancouver        9-8-1      19 points
Once again the Sedin Twins have cracked the 20 point barrier.

14.    Los Angeles    8-6-3      19 points
If the Kings can play most of their games the way they did against Minnesota Saturday night they might be the team to beat in the West.

15.     Nashville        8-5-3      19 points
Playoff hero Joel Ward returns to Nashville on Tuesday night when Washington comes to town.

16.    Phoenix        8-4-3      19 points
Upcoming four game road trip out East should tell us what we need to know about the Coyotes.

17.    Florida        8-5-3        19 points
Hard to win against Philadelphia when you go 0-5 on the power play.

18.    Tampa Bay        8-6-2        18 points
Good for you Guy Boucher for sticking to your system of play.
 
19.    New Jersey        8-6-1        17 points
Adam Henrique has 12 points in seven games this season. The puck is finding his stick right now.

20.    St. Louis        8-7-1      17 points
Blues go 2-0-1 in first week under Ken Hitchcock.

21.    Colorado        8-8-1      17 points
Congrats to Milan Hedjuk for being named the 3rd captain in Avalanche history.

22.    Ottawa        8-9-1      17 points
Nice bounce back for Craig Anderson making 31 saves in win over Toronto after being pulled two minutes into the previous game against Buffalo.

23.    Boston        8-7-0        16 points
While there is still plenty of work to do the Bruins are at least over .500.
 
24    Montreal        7-7-2        16 points
Good news for the Canadiens as Mike Cammalieri and Scott Gomez returned to action on Saturday night.

25.    Anaheim          6-8-3      15 points
Ducks claim Niklas Hagman off waivers from Calgary hoping he can provide scoring depth that is needed amongst forwards.

26.    Carolina        6-8-3        15 points
Of the four coaches I listed in Friday's column my guess is Paul Maurice is the next to be fired.

27.    Calgary        7-8-1      15 points
If only they could play Colorado every game. (eight wins in a row)

28.    Winnipeg        5-9-3        13 points
People of Winnipeg we promised you the NHL would return. We didn't say the team would be good.

29.    N.Y. Islanders    4-7-3      11 points
Islanders are 0-7-2 in their last nine road games.

30.    Columbus           3-12-1       7  points

Bright spot for the Blue Jackets is Ryan Johansen (5G, 2A) in last nine games.

Friday, November 11, 2011

The Coaching Carousel

As I wrote earlier this week we had our first coaching change of the season when St. Louis fired Davis Payne and brought in Ken Hitchcock to coach the Blues.

At 4th place in the Central Division it was a move the Blues felt they had to make to stay in the Western Conference playoff race before it was too late. Yes there are still five months left to play on the NHL calendar but usually by Thanksgiving you have an idea of what type of team you have. If you are on the outside of the playoff picture looking in & don't make any adjustments there is a good chance you won't be playing once spring comes around.

I still don't see St. Louis finishing ahead of Detroit, Chicago or Nashville in the Central Division but right now they are only two points out of the final playoff spot. A team coached by Ken Hitchcock has a better chance to hang around than a team coached by Davis Payne. 

That being said I don't think the St. Louis Blues will be the only team making a coaching change this season. Here are a few other teams that could make changes if things don't improve in the near future. 

Montreal Canadiens: 

When the Canadiens started the year 1-5-2 speculation was Jacques Martin was going to take the fall. On October 26th Montreal called a press conference to announce that assistant coach Perry Pearn was being relived of his duties.

The move was a little different but the message sent was that General Manager Pierre Gauthier believes in Martin as head coach and that this move would give him a little more time to straighten things out.

Since then Montreal has gone 5-2 and is currently four points out of a playoff spot in the East. The problem I see is I'm not sure if the Canadiens are good enough to overtake any of the teams currently sitting four through eight in the East.

Montreal right now looks like they are a mediocre hockey team that is capable of playing good in spurts and nothing more. That won't sit well with the Habs faithful. As long as Jacques Martin can keep them in the playoff hunt he should be safe but if they go through another struggle like they had to start the season his job will be in jeopardy once again. 

Carolina Hurricanes: 

Paul Maurice is 44 years old and is in his 14th season as an NHL coach, his 2nd stint with the Hartford/Carolina franchise.

In that time he has lead the Whalers/Hurricanes to two Southeast Division titles, an Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 2009 and a Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2002. He has also missed the postseason 10 of the 14 years he has coached.

Right now Carolina is 13th in the East and five points out of a playoff spot. They are 4th in the Southeast Division behind Florida, Washington, and Tampa Bay.

Right now the Hurricanes have the same problem Montreal has and that they aren't better than any of the teams sitting four through eight in the East. What makes it worse for Carolina is they are in a non-traditional hockey market where the people will show up as long as you are winning.

The Hurricanes have missed the playoffs four out of the last five years since winning the Stanley Cup in 2006. In that time span the Southeast Division has become one of the stronger divisions in the NHL. If things don't improve within the next month I don't see how the Hurricanes can keep Paul Maurice on as head coach. 

Calgary Flames: 

Brent Sutter isn't on this list because he is doing a poor job as coach. He is on this list because the Flames window has been closed for the last couple seasons.

Sutter was hired in 2009 by his brother Darryl to give the franchise a kick start after losing in the 1st round of the playoffs from 2006-2009. Instead the Flames have missed the playoffs both seasons Sutter has been head coach of the team.

At this moment Calgary is last in the Northwest Division and 13th in the Western Conference. The Flames were thought to be the toughest challenge the Vancouver Canucks would face in the Northwest Division. Instead Calgary has seen both Edmonton and Minnesota get off to strong starts this season leaving Flames fans to wonder when the rebuilding will start.

With Jay Feaster now in charge as General Manager changes are likely in Calgary. When the rebuilding begins remains to be seen but you can bet when that happens there will be a new coach for the Flames. 

Los Angeles Kings: 

Now I know a few people reading this will be surprised to see the Kings on the list of teams that may make a coaching change. After all they are currently tied for the final playoff spot in the West and more than likely will be in the post-season come this spring.

But the issue with Los Angeles isn't measured in wins & losses. It's measured by how big of a footprint they can make in the LA market.

With the Lakers & Clippers locked out and the Dodgers have their own struggles with ownership issues The Kings have a very small window to become the talk of the town and create a buzz they haven't had since Wayne Gretzky played for them.

Management realizes this and if the Kings continue to hover around the bottom of the playoff ladder in the West it isn't far fetched to think a coaching change could be made.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Week 4 Power Poll

We had our first coaching change of the NHL this past weekend but it wasn't by the team I thought it would be.

I was in St. Paul on Saturday night to watch the St. Louis Blues & the Minnesota Wild and while I was in the press box I was keeping an eye on the game between Columbus & Philadelphia.

The Flyers jumped out to an 8-0 lead en route to a 9-2 win over Columbus. Rumors had been circulating about the Blue Jackets making a coaching change and bringing back Ken Hitchcock behind the bench.

Sure enough this past weekend Ken Hitchcock was hired to coach again but it wasn't Columbus making the change, it was St. Louis.

The move caught me off guard at first because off all the coaches rumored to be on the hot seat Davis Payne's name was not one that was mentioned. But with the Blues struggling on the ice St. Louis felt it was best to make a change now before things got to late.

General Manager Doug Armstrong worked with Ken Hitchcock when both were in Dallas and I think that is a bigger reason for a change than anything else. He inherited Payne when he took over as GM in St. Louis. Now he gets to bring in his own guy to coach.

As for Hitchcock I think he'll have an impact right away. He's had success coaching in Dallas, Philadelphia, & Columbus. He may wear out his welcome eventually but he'll have plenty of time to turn things around in St. Louis. With this move the onus is clearly on the players.

Here is the Power Poll for this week.

1. Pittsburgh        9-3-3  21 points
Rumors keep circulating about Sidney Crosby's return. Could be as early as Friday.

2. Dallas            10-3-0  20 points

Big road test this week for the Stars with games in Washington, Pittsburgh & Detroit.

3. Chicago            8-3-3  19 points
Duncan Keith is back practicing after missing the last three games with an upper body injury. Could return Tuesday against St. Louis.

4. Toronto            9-4-1  19 points

Despite their good start the Maple Leafs have been outscored 13-2 by Boston in head to head games.

5. Washington        9-3-0  18 points
Nicklas Backstrom (3G, 3A) named NHL's 3rd star of the week.

6. Philadelphia        8-4-2  18 points 

Flyers lead the NHL with 56 goals on the season and is averaging four goals per game.

7. Edmonton        8-3-2  18 points
Oilers had won six in a row before losing 4-2 to Phoenix on Saturday.

8. N.Y. Rangers        7-3-3  17 points
Rangers are playing well but still no word on when defenseman Marc Staal will return.

9. Minnesota        7-3-3  17 points
Josh Harding (3-0-0 with a 0.99 GAA and a .968 save percentage) named NHL 1st star of the week.


10. Buffalo            8-5-0  16 points
Jonas Enroth has been in goal the last two games instead of Ryan Miller who was pulled after giving up three goals in the 1st period against Philadelphia last Wednesday.

11. Tampa Bay        7-5-2  16 points
Anytime Steven Stamkos gets a hat trick there will be video posted on this blog.

12. Nashville        7-4-2  16 points
Big week for the Predators as Pekka Rinne signs a seven year $49 million contract to stay in Nashville.

13. Phoenix        7-4-2  16 points
Congrats to Dave Tippett on his 100 win as head coach of the Coyotes.

14. San Jose         7-4-1  15 points

Big game in the Pacific Division tonight when Sharks play the Kings.

15. Los Angeles        6-4-3  15 points
See above.

16. Vancouver        7-7-1  15 points

Five power play goals in win over Chicago help Canucks rebound after back to back losses in Minnesota & St. Louis.

17. Colorado        7-6-1  15 points
Avalanche has given up nine power play goals in last seven games.

18. Florida            6-4-3  15 points
Goalie Jacob Markstrom sent down to San Antonio to make room for Scott Clemmensen who is returning from a knee injury.

19. Ottawa            7-7-1  15 points
Senators are winless in their last three games after the six game win streak was snapped.

20. Detroit            6-5-1  13 points
5-0 win over Anaheim snaps a six game winless streak.

21. Anaheim        5-6-3  13 points
Forwards Getzlaf, Perry, Ryan & Selanne have a combined 19 goals on the season. The rest of the forwards have 3 goals.

22. New Jersey        6-5-1  13 points
Ilya Kovalchuk is doubtful for game tomorrow night against Carolina.

23. Carolina        5-6-3  13 points
Hurricanes are 2-3-1 when allowing the 1st goal of the season.

24. Calgary        6-6-1  13 points
Win the win on Sunday the Flames have won seven straight over Colorado.

25. Montreal        5-6-2  12 points

Canadiens had won four in a row before losing to New York on Saturday.

26. St. Louis        6-7-0  12 points
Blues special teams (30th on power play, 27th on penalty kill) a big reason for coaching change.

27. Winnipeg        5-7-2  12 points

Jets are 3-2-1 on seven game road trip which wraps up in Buffalo tomorrow night.

28. Boston            5-7-0  10 points
Tyler Seguin scores his 1st NHL hat trick in 7-0 rout of Toronto

29. N.Y. Islanders    4-5-2  10 points
Islanders start a three game road trip tonight in Boston.

30. Columbus         2-11-1   5 points

After 9-2 loss in Philadelphia on Saturday you have to wonder how much longer things will continue before Blue Jackets make a change.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Surprises & Disappointments

We are one month into the NHL season and as is the case every year there things that are the way we thought they would be and there are surprises that nobody saw coming.

Whether these surprises hold up throughout the year remains to be seen but one thing I have learned in my years following the NHL is that if you get off to a bad start it can ruin your season.

(Cut to New Jersey Devils fans nodding their heads grimly while thinking of last year)

Anyway today we will take a look at a few surprises & disappointments of the 2011-2012 NHL season.

SURPRISES:

Edmonton Oilers:

Raise your hand if you thought the Edmonton Oilers would be at the top of the Western Conference after the 1st month of the season.

The Oilers are 8-2-2 on the season with a 6-1-1 record in Edmonton. They have won six in a row and are tied with the Chicago Blackhawks for the best record in the West.

The Oilers young trio of forwards Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (5G, 6A), Jordan Eberle (3G, 7A), & Taylor Hall (3G, 6A) are all near the top in scoring but two veterans are a big reason why the Oilers are where they are.

Nikolai Khabibulin is playing like he did in 2004 when he won a Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay. Khabibulin is 6-0-2 on the season with a GAA of 0.98 which is tops in the NHL and a save percentage of .963. which is 2nd to Josh Harding of the Minnesota Wild.

The other veteran who is having an impact for Edmonton is Ryan Smyth.

Smyth returned to the Oilers this summer after a five year sabbatical took him from Edmonton to Long Island to Denver to Los Angeles before returning to the Oil Capital of Canada this past summer.

While Smyth's return to Edmonton was a feel good story in the off-season his impact on the ice has been felt immediately. Smyth currently leads the Oilers in goals with six on the season and is tied with Nugent-Hopkins for the lead in points with 11.

The Oilers haven't made the playoffs since 2006 when they went to the Stanley Cup Finals. I'm not ready to say they are a playoff team yet but I do know this is a team that can skate well & score goals. If Khabibulin can keep playing at the level he is now there might just be hockey this spring in Edmonton. 

DISAPPOINTMENTS:

Boston Bruins:

When you talk about disappointments this season any list has to start with the defending Stanley Cup champions. 

The Bruins are 4-7-0 on the season and are tied for the worst record in the Eastern Conference. What makes this more disappointing is with the exception of a couple players it is the same team that won the Stanley Cup five months ago.

One thing the Bruins need to do is get David Krejci going. Krejci has played in 8 games this year and has one goal and no assists. Krejci is the Bruins most skilled forward and I have feeling that once he gets going so will the rest of the team. 

Another problem for the Bruins is their power play. Boston is 6 for 46 with the man advantage and are ranked 26 in the NHL. We saw their power play struggle last year in the playoffs and while they were able to overcome it and win the Stanley Cup I don't think they can afford to let this happen again.

I usually don't believe in a Stanley Cup hangover but watching the Bruins the few times I have this season I get the feeling they were a team that played the first month of the season resting on their laurels.

There have been rumors of G.M. Peter Chiarelli making a deal to shake up the team but so far nothing has happened. I'm guessing Chairelli is going to be patient and give the Bruins as much time as possible to play their way out of this funk but if they don't turn it around too soon it might be too late in Beantown.

Ville Leino:

I put him on this list only because he has been a personal disappointment to me.

While never finding his place in Detroit Leino made an impact for Philadelphia in the playoffs the last two years scoring 10 goals and 18 assists. As a result he signed a free agent contract with Buffalo worth 27 million over the next six years.

So far this season Leino has one goal & one assist for the Sabres. Coach Lindy Ruff has juggled his lines with Leino many times this season trying to find the right combination. So far nothing has clicked.

I've seen what Leino can do on the ice and I believe he is capable of being one of the better players in the NHL. Buffalo isn't in the dire strait that Boston is so the Sabres can be a little more patient with him. Hopefully Leino can turn things around soon.