STATEN ISLAND, NY- The offense is here. It had to happen eventually.
After a slow start in which they produced only four total runs in three straight losses to fall to 1-4, the Baby Bombers have finally got it going during a current three-game win streak in which they've outscored opponents 24-13.
That included an 8-5 victory at home last night over Hudson Valley to get back to .500. In the win, Staten Island produced its first two home runs of the season with second baseman Damon Sublett smacking a two-run line drive to right in the fifth and first baseman Chase Odenreider two innings later going deep to left with his own two-run shot which gave the ballclub some much needed insurance.
Especially when the Renegades' Henry Wrigley cameback with a two-run shot of his own an inning later which proved to be the final margin.
“It’s always big to keep adding runs. It gets them down and then if you look back, the kid hits a two-run homer, it’s a different game,” right fielder David Williams pointed out.
“I finally connected with one but I got to give it to our defense played well and our pitchers threw really well also," Odenreider added.
The offensive production was a welcome sight.
“We’re starting to come around a little bit. It’s a lot more fun winning and looking forward to the next few games,” the first baseman also said as his team got ready to leave for Hudson Valley. They'll attempt to complete a sweep later tonight before playing three at Aberdeen starting Thursday.
One of the things most agreed on was that getting adjusted at this level would take a little time because you had a lot of college players who used metal bats as compared to wood.
"I think with all the college kids coming from the aluminum bats over to the wood, it takes a little time adjusting," left fielder D.J. Hollingsworth eluded to. "They're really good players. So I think it's starting to click for them."
"Yeah. I think everybody is getting pretty comfortable now and we're getting lofty a little bit. This is going to be a good team. So hopefully, we can keep swinging it," Sublett noted after his first professional homer.
"I think it's just time to come around," Williams added after a two hit night. "A lot of us are coming out of college. We're using metal bats. Obviously, pitching is a step up and using the metal bat, there's always an adjustment. So I think probably a week, two weeks in, we're starting to get the hang of it. We're getting good pitches to hit."
The recent turnaround couldn't have come at a better time for first-year skipper Mike Gillespie.
“It’s giant. Giant," he explained. "I think guys are getting to know each other a little more. Getting a feel for what this level is all about. I’m very encouraged by what we’ve seen. Not just the wins. But by the way they’ve looked and the way they’ve handled themselves.”
One aspect the former USC manager has been encouraged by is that it's not just a couple of guys.
"It's the best nights we've had with the bats. And down through the lineup. Several guys. Guys that don't get to play all the time who haven't done a whole lot when they have played. The homerun by Odenreider was giant. Hollingsworth had a good night. Did a couple of things real well. Sublett has done a lot of good things for us. [Austin] Krum has come to life a little bit."
He also singled out one of his key role players who could be vital this summer to the team's success.
"[Justin] Snyder's a good player. He's a versatile player. He's a real valuable player. This summer, I wouldn't be surprised if he'll play six different positions," about the leadoff man who manned the hot corner Tuesday night and was on-base four different times (2 hits, 2 walks) with a run scored.
"He's got a good chance to be a real good professional utility player."
With three more players coming who Gillespie hinted should all see playing time, things are looking up for the Bombers.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Baby Bombers use long ball to power past Renegades
Baby Bombers use long ball to power past Renegades
Posted by Derek Felix under Staten Island Yanks(edit this)No Comments
STATEN ISLAND, NY- The long ball helped the Baby Bombers win their third consecutive game. Behind two-run home runs by second baseman Damon Sublett and first baseman Chase Odenreider, the Staten Island Yankees got back to .500 (4-4) by posting an 8-5 win before 5,094 at Richmond County Bank Ballpark Tuesday night.
The homers were the team’s first of the season in the eighth game.
“It was big. We’ve kind of been up and down with how we’ve been playing and stuff like that. We’ve been trying to put it together. So these first two victories in this series have been pretty good for us,” expressed left fielder D.J. Hollingsworth after a productive two-for-four night which included an RBI single in the third to give his ballclub an early two-run lead.
Leading by two, the Bombers knocked knuckleballer Diego Echeverria (0-2) out of the game in the fifth. With third baseman Justin Snyder having led off the inning with a walk and a swipe of second, it set the stage for Sublett who came up against reliever Claudio Rodriguez after Echeverria got Luis Nunez to line out to left.
Rodriguez fell behind Sublett 3-1 and paid the price when the second baseman lined his first professional homer over the right field fence to double the Bombers’ lead.
“I got some pitches to hit today and I was actually able to do something with it instead of fouling it off like I’ve been doing the last week,” he said after two hits, two walks and a couple of runs scored to go with his first dinger. “[Rodriguez] threw the same pitch earlier in the at bat and so he came back with the same one and this time, I didn’t miss it this time.”
Of the long ball, he remarked, “Hopefully there will be a whole bunch more of those to come.”
Before the inning was out, they would add a run on a two out single by DH Chris Raber. In the sixth, a Nunez sacrifice fly scored Hollingsworth to put them up six after the speedy outfielder ledoff with a bunt single.
Trailing 6-0, the Renegades made things interesting against reliever Angel Reyes by batting around for three runs in the seventh.
Angel Fermin’s double to left was just out of a diving Hollingsworth’s reach to score a couple and break up the shutout. After Reyes got the second out, he didn’t retire another batter. The southpaw loaded the bases on a walk and single. He walked in the third run when he lost Shawn O’Malley to suddenly make it 6-3. But Jason Kiley came in to put out the fire by getting Greg Sexton swinging.
With their lead sliced in half, they responded thanks to Odenreider, who drove a Noah Booth pitch over the left field wall to score center fielder Austin Krum after he ledoff the seventh with a ground rule double. It put them back up five.
“We needed this boost. Our pitching is doing great,” a pleased Odenreider explained. “I finally connected with one but I got to give it to our defense played well and our pitchers threw really well also.”
“Definitely a big home run,” pointed out right fielder David Williams who was right in the middle of things with two hits of his own plus an RBI and run scored.
“It’s always big to keep adding runs. It gets them down and then if you look back, the kid hits a two-run homer, it’s a different game.”
Hudson Valley didn’t go away. The very next inning, Henry Wrigley went yard off Kiley to cut it to 8-5. But that was as close as they got.
Closer Nick Peterson worked around a one out double, fanning Sexton to end it for his second save.
“We’re starting to come around a little bit. It’s a lot more fun winning and looking forward to the next few games,” added Odenreider as his team gets ready for one more at Hudson Valley before a three-game trip to Aberdeen.
Notes: Somewhat lost in the shuffle of all the offense was a solid performance from victorious starter Ryan Zink, who permitted just one hit while walking two and striking out one over the first five to notch his first win.
“He’s awesome. Just like all our pitchers who are throwing strikes, getting people out and we’re starting to put runs up on the board. So they get wins,” Williams added. “They deserve it.”
“Tremendous,” skipper Mike Gillespie said. “I don’t know if we were all in the room the other day but we were talking about the program of number of innings and or number of pitches. I think after four, he threw 41 pitches. So he could’ve gone more. That’s the deal. We know it.”
The former USC manager was equally as impressed with how his players have responded to a tough start by stringing together the last three to get out of the basement in the McNamara Division:
“It’s giant. Giant. I think guys are getting to know each other a little more. Getting a feel for what this level is all about. I’m very encouraged by what we’ve seen. Not just the wins. But by the way they’ve looked and the way they’ve handled themselves.”
According to him, the club will be getting another catcher later today when Brian Baisley returns from Charleston. It’s expected that Brandon Ketron will move up. Baisley was on last year’s championship team and should provide some much needed experience.
Four S.I. Yanks had multi-hit games including Sublett, Hollingsworth, Williams and Snyder (2-for-3, 1 run).
The Baby Bombers don’t return home until Sunday for a matinee against Hudson Valley in another three-game set.
Friday, March 16, 2007
Powerless in Atlanta
If there was a charger, it would be on empty. That's how dreadful the Ranger power play continued to be in another crushing defeat to Atlanta, 2-1 in overtime at Philips Arena Friday night.
Once again, the Blueshirts failed miserably on six power plays- making it 0 for their last four games (0-for-19). The trouble is time much like their too predictable man-advantage is running out on them. Instead of getting two points, they settled for one in a game they controlled a vast majority of outshooting the Thrashers 39-20 in regulation (28-10 final two frames).
"We have to stay the course," coach Tom Renney said. "One thing we do not want to do is get frustrated. Bottom line is we have to keep working here and start getting two points instead of one."
With a golden opportunity to gain ground on the idle Islanders and Hurricanes where a win would've put them in a three-way tie for seventh, the Rangers just wouldn't alter the strategy. One in which Renney continued to send out his all-Euro unit of Michael Nylander, Jaromir Jagr, Petr Prucha, Michal Rozsival and Martin Straka. Content to just skate on the perimeter and pass the puck around instead of registering shots, they helped Atlanta kill off valuable time. The dilemma for the coaching staff was that their more aggressive second unit which gets shots through hardly saw the ice.
Unable to take advantage, the Rangers let a point slip when ex-Islander Alexei Zhitnik one-timed a point shot past Henrik Lundqvist at 2:18 of OT. Cashing in on an undisciplined Matt Cullen hook in the offensive zone, Zhitnik took a feed from Slava Kozlov and bombed his sixth in for the winner. It ended another frustrating game in which the Blueshirts only managed to beat backup goalie Johan Hedberg once. Moose finished with 38 saves earning First Star honors.
"That's a game we should win," Lundqvist pointed out after failing to pickup his 30th win. "Still a good point. We had our chance to get two...I have to stay sharp and not allow any mistakes. Hopefully our power play can step up and get some goals."
The lost point was particularly damaging because instead of guaranteeing themselves of at least a share for seventh with 11 games remaining, New York made the task even more difficult. And while the Leafs were somehow losing in Washington 5-1 making one wonder if there was a Lunar Eclipse, so too were the Canadiens, who fell at Pittsburgh 6-3. Gone was a chance to pull ahead of the Leafs and move two points ahead of the Habs.
Instead, when the Rangers take on Boston tonight on St. Patty's Day, they'll find themselves tied with the Leafs for ninth with each having 77 points and the same 11 left with one pivotal Garden match-up on April Fool's Day. Maybe by that time, Renney's club will fool a lot of people and actually shoot the puck on the power play.
Without Karel Rachunek on the blueline, the Rangers recalled rookie David Liffiton from Hartford. He saw the ice only sparingly though getting 7:26 of ice-time with two shots while taking a questionable holding penalty. What that meant for the rest of the D were major minutes for Rozsival and (30:47), Marek Malik (24:08). Renney doubleshifted both a lot splitting them most of the night with Rozsival working with Thomas Pock (16:25) and Malik teaming with Daniel Girardi (17:53). Paul Mara, who struggled in his end taking two minors also received 19:51.
Despite the heavy workload, they would get the game's first goal late in the first when Sean Avery took a Michael Nylander feed in the slot and wristed one past Hedberg with 53 seconds left. During a change, Jagr fed the puck to Mara down low, who got it to Nylander behind the net. He then found a wide open Avery for his 13th (3rd as a Ranger).
It gave them momentum after a wide open first where each team registered 10 shots. In particular, Lundqvist was sharp in stoning a couple of Thrashers from in close, including a tough pad stop on Marian Hossa.
But the Thrashers would draw even early in the second thanks to some sloppy play by the Rangers. After getting nothing accomplished during a four-on-four, Nylander returned from the box as did Ilya Kovalchuk 13 seconds later to put the clubs at even strength. But with Atlanta pressing on the forecheck, they forced Nylander into a bad turnover. After intercepting his mistimed feed through the middle of the ice, Kozlov fed Kovalchuk, who fired a shot which was redirected home by Hossa for his Thrasher-leading 41st which tied it at 2:51.
Afterwards, the Rangers would dominate play by generating plenty of chances off an aggressive attack. Rookie recall Ryan Callahan nearly had his first but Hedberg got a piece of his backhand from in close. The Hartford leading scorer played very well, getting four shots on goal in 15:06. The Rochester native replaced flu-ridden Ryan Hollweg and made a strong case to stay, also finishing with a team high three hits.
Unfortunately, his inspired play wasn't enough to get the Rangers that second goal. Nor was it enough to merit power play time. There's always that reliable top Euro unit.
Notes: Rookie center Brandon Dubinsky had a solid showing. Despite only receiving 7:40 of ice-time, he was very effective on the forecheck and registered three shots, nearly converting on one. ... Club enforcer Colton Orr (4:14) got into a first period scrap with Eric Boulton, dropping a decision. ... Making his 33rd start in the last 34, Lundqvist finished with 20 saves. ... Despite scoring only 12 goals in their last seven, the Rangers somehow are 4-1-2- managing to get 10 of a possible 14 points. They have scored two-or-less in seven straight.
Once again, the Blueshirts failed miserably on six power plays- making it 0 for their last four games (0-for-19). The trouble is time much like their too predictable man-advantage is running out on them. Instead of getting two points, they settled for one in a game they controlled a vast majority of outshooting the Thrashers 39-20 in regulation (28-10 final two frames).
"We have to stay the course," coach Tom Renney said. "One thing we do not want to do is get frustrated. Bottom line is we have to keep working here and start getting two points instead of one."
With a golden opportunity to gain ground on the idle Islanders and Hurricanes where a win would've put them in a three-way tie for seventh, the Rangers just wouldn't alter the strategy. One in which Renney continued to send out his all-Euro unit of Michael Nylander, Jaromir Jagr, Petr Prucha, Michal Rozsival and Martin Straka. Content to just skate on the perimeter and pass the puck around instead of registering shots, they helped Atlanta kill off valuable time. The dilemma for the coaching staff was that their more aggressive second unit which gets shots through hardly saw the ice.
Unable to take advantage, the Rangers let a point slip when ex-Islander Alexei Zhitnik one-timed a point shot past Henrik Lundqvist at 2:18 of OT. Cashing in on an undisciplined Matt Cullen hook in the offensive zone, Zhitnik took a feed from Slava Kozlov and bombed his sixth in for the winner. It ended another frustrating game in which the Blueshirts only managed to beat backup goalie Johan Hedberg once. Moose finished with 38 saves earning First Star honors.
"That's a game we should win," Lundqvist pointed out after failing to pickup his 30th win. "Still a good point. We had our chance to get two...I have to stay sharp and not allow any mistakes. Hopefully our power play can step up and get some goals."
The lost point was particularly damaging because instead of guaranteeing themselves of at least a share for seventh with 11 games remaining, New York made the task even more difficult. And while the Leafs were somehow losing in Washington 5-1 making one wonder if there was a Lunar Eclipse, so too were the Canadiens, who fell at Pittsburgh 6-3. Gone was a chance to pull ahead of the Leafs and move two points ahead of the Habs.
Instead, when the Rangers take on Boston tonight on St. Patty's Day, they'll find themselves tied with the Leafs for ninth with each having 77 points and the same 11 left with one pivotal Garden match-up on April Fool's Day. Maybe by that time, Renney's club will fool a lot of people and actually shoot the puck on the power play.
Without Karel Rachunek on the blueline, the Rangers recalled rookie David Liffiton from Hartford. He saw the ice only sparingly though getting 7:26 of ice-time with two shots while taking a questionable holding penalty. What that meant for the rest of the D were major minutes for Rozsival and (30:47), Marek Malik (24:08). Renney doubleshifted both a lot splitting them most of the night with Rozsival working with Thomas Pock (16:25) and Malik teaming with Daniel Girardi (17:53). Paul Mara, who struggled in his end taking two minors also received 19:51.
Despite the heavy workload, they would get the game's first goal late in the first when Sean Avery took a Michael Nylander feed in the slot and wristed one past Hedberg with 53 seconds left. During a change, Jagr fed the puck to Mara down low, who got it to Nylander behind the net. He then found a wide open Avery for his 13th (3rd as a Ranger).
It gave them momentum after a wide open first where each team registered 10 shots. In particular, Lundqvist was sharp in stoning a couple of Thrashers from in close, including a tough pad stop on Marian Hossa.
But the Thrashers would draw even early in the second thanks to some sloppy play by the Rangers. After getting nothing accomplished during a four-on-four, Nylander returned from the box as did Ilya Kovalchuk 13 seconds later to put the clubs at even strength. But with Atlanta pressing on the forecheck, they forced Nylander into a bad turnover. After intercepting his mistimed feed through the middle of the ice, Kozlov fed Kovalchuk, who fired a shot which was redirected home by Hossa for his Thrasher-leading 41st which tied it at 2:51.
Afterwards, the Rangers would dominate play by generating plenty of chances off an aggressive attack. Rookie recall Ryan Callahan nearly had his first but Hedberg got a piece of his backhand from in close. The Hartford leading scorer played very well, getting four shots on goal in 15:06. The Rochester native replaced flu-ridden Ryan Hollweg and made a strong case to stay, also finishing with a team high three hits.
Unfortunately, his inspired play wasn't enough to get the Rangers that second goal. Nor was it enough to merit power play time. There's always that reliable top Euro unit.
Notes: Rookie center Brandon Dubinsky had a solid showing. Despite only receiving 7:40 of ice-time, he was very effective on the forecheck and registered three shots, nearly converting on one. ... Club enforcer Colton Orr (4:14) got into a first period scrap with Eric Boulton, dropping a decision. ... Making his 33rd start in the last 34, Lundqvist finished with 20 saves. ... Despite scoring only 12 goals in their last seven, the Rangers somehow are 4-1-2- managing to get 10 of a possible 14 points. They have scored two-or-less in seven straight.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Roger King Of Court Down Under Again, Sweeps Past Gonzalez Into History
After Andy Roddick was eliminated in embarrassing fashion by Roger Federer, he was asked to assess remaining semifinalists Fernando Gonzalez or Tommy Haas' chances of getting the better of the Swiss world No.1 in the final. He answered in one word: "Slim."
Ultimately, the American was proven right. Even a solid performance by red hot No.10 seeded Chilean Gonzalez couldn't threaten Federer in Sunday night's epic final in which the incomparable top seed swept past his worthy opponent in a competitive straight sets, 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4 before a capacity audience at Rod Laver Arena to repeat as champion, claiming his third Australian Open in four years.
Not surprisingly, the 25 year-old Federer made history by becoming the first Grand Slam champion on the men's side to not drop a set since the legendary Bjorn Borg accomplished the feat back in 1980 when he won the French Open. He became only the fourth player in the Open Era to pull it off and just the second to ever win down under without losing a set since legend Ken Rosewall in 1971. Fittingly, he was in attendance and was acknowledged by a jovial Federer during the trophy presentation.
"Equalling records, doing something that hasn't been done for a long time, it's really nice, there's no doubt," the very pleased winner said afterwards to the AP. "It wasn't ever a goal for me up to win a Slam without dropping a set."
"All I care in the end is to hopefully hold that trophy, even though it might be 20-18 in the fifth set. I don't mind, as long as I win. Of course, now that it's all over, it's great to think, 'Wow', you know, not having dropped a set. It's quite amazing."
Amazing is just one of the many adjectives which can be used to describe Federer's dominant play over the past few years which has now seen him win 10 career slams since claiming his first one back in 2003 at Wimbledon. By doing so, he joined exclusive company which includes Bill Tilden (10), Rod Laver and Borg (11), Roy Emerson (12) and Pete Sampras (14).
"All these Grand Slams since 2003, that's what, for me, is really scary, how many I've won," the very modest champ admitted. "I was thinking about it this morning actually when I woke up."
"Like if somebody would have told me I'd win 10 Grand Slams from mid '03 till today, I never would have thought there was any chance of doing something like that. I would have signed up for just one, you know."
Entering his record-tying seventh consecutive final, the Swiss maestro was the overwhelming favorite against a hot player who had dismissed Lleyton Hewitt, James Blake, Rafael Nadal and Haas en route to his first career slam final. Certainly, in playing his best tennis of his career, the 26 year-old Gonzalez was no slouch. It was in the first set that the very talented Chilean gave Federer all he could handle.
With both players looking to take control of points early in rallies with their lethal groundstrokes and use of every part of the court, each committed more unforced errors than usual. Taking big swings at the ball in an attempt to attack each other's serves, they produced a topsy turvy set which took almost as long for either to get through their semis. The one hour 10-minute set could've easily gone to Gonzalez. It was his resilient play during the eighth game which kept it on serve. Digging out of a hole, he fought off break points to hold and square the match at four all. Continuing to play aggressively, he cameback from 30-0 down to break Federer thanks to drawing a few wild misses. It gave him a golden opportunity to serve out the set. One point from it, he blew the chance as Federer saved two set points before bouncing right back to break. If only he had nailed that open forehand down the line on the second set point instead of hitting the net. But it wasn't to be.
After Federer held for 6-5, he applied heavy pressure on Gonzalez in the 11th game. But to Gonzalez' credit, he saved four set points before ripping a clean backhand winner up the line to force a tiebreaker. So many instances during his brilliant career, Federer has raised his level in these breaking the will of opponents. He did it to recently retired American icon Andre Agassi two years ago during the U.S. Open final. Once again, Federer saved his best for the breaker by getting into a zone taking the first five points before closing out the set on his serve thanks to a crosscourt forehand winner.
"It's just a different game, especially the first set. I was missing a few of them to give him the upper hand. He should have won the first, but I came back and won. That might have been crucial," he said.
"The match may have been different if I had won the first set," Gonzalez admitted after falling to 0-10 against Federer. "Every time I have played Roger, I've never won the first set, so that really may be the key."
But if Federer thought it would be easy, his opponent had other ideas. After having his right shoulder treated by a trainer during a break, Gonzalez never went away holding serve the first three times thanks to some outstanding shotmaking which produced 31 winners. The problem was that his opponent was having an even easier time holding. In fact, Federer only dropped two points on his serve the entire set. When he finally broke Gonzalez in the seventh game for a 4-3 lead, the writing was on the wall. After each exchanged holds, he easily served out the set finishing it off with a sliced ace down the middle to pull within one set of his ultimate destiny.
The third set proved to be eerily similar as Gonzalez did everything he could to stay with Federer. But the world No.1's uncanny ability to find ridiculous angles like a short crosscourt forehand which setup a couple of break points in a pivotal seventh game during the competitive 43-minute set proved to be too much. Along with some impressive net play which saw Federer convert 34-of-43 (79 percent) and not allowing Gonzalez another look at his serve, the repeat winner held twice more closing it out in style by striking a backhand winner down the line on the full run. After the crowd pleasing shot which produced his 45th winner, he dropped his racket and fell to the court rolling around in celebration before getting a warm reception at the net from Gonzalez.
"I have to congratulate again Roger," Gonzalez told the crowd after being presented with the runner's up crown. "He's on the way to be maybe the best player ever. He is a great champion who played a really good match today, all week-- almost all his life. So I can take a lot out of this tournament."
" He makes tennis very simple, and when he gets a chance he takes it."
Ultimately, the American was proven right. Even a solid performance by red hot No.10 seeded Chilean Gonzalez couldn't threaten Federer in Sunday night's epic final in which the incomparable top seed swept past his worthy opponent in a competitive straight sets, 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4 before a capacity audience at Rod Laver Arena to repeat as champion, claiming his third Australian Open in four years.
Not surprisingly, the 25 year-old Federer made history by becoming the first Grand Slam champion on the men's side to not drop a set since the legendary Bjorn Borg accomplished the feat back in 1980 when he won the French Open. He became only the fourth player in the Open Era to pull it off and just the second to ever win down under without losing a set since legend Ken Rosewall in 1971. Fittingly, he was in attendance and was acknowledged by a jovial Federer during the trophy presentation.
"Equalling records, doing something that hasn't been done for a long time, it's really nice, there's no doubt," the very pleased winner said afterwards to the AP. "It wasn't ever a goal for me up to win a Slam without dropping a set."
"All I care in the end is to hopefully hold that trophy, even though it might be 20-18 in the fifth set. I don't mind, as long as I win. Of course, now that it's all over, it's great to think, 'Wow', you know, not having dropped a set. It's quite amazing."
Amazing is just one of the many adjectives which can be used to describe Federer's dominant play over the past few years which has now seen him win 10 career slams since claiming his first one back in 2003 at Wimbledon. By doing so, he joined exclusive company which includes Bill Tilden (10), Rod Laver and Borg (11), Roy Emerson (12) and Pete Sampras (14).
"All these Grand Slams since 2003, that's what, for me, is really scary, how many I've won," the very modest champ admitted. "I was thinking about it this morning actually when I woke up."
"Like if somebody would have told me I'd win 10 Grand Slams from mid '03 till today, I never would have thought there was any chance of doing something like that. I would have signed up for just one, you know."
Entering his record-tying seventh consecutive final, the Swiss maestro was the overwhelming favorite against a hot player who had dismissed Lleyton Hewitt, James Blake, Rafael Nadal and Haas en route to his first career slam final. Certainly, in playing his best tennis of his career, the 26 year-old Gonzalez was no slouch. It was in the first set that the very talented Chilean gave Federer all he could handle.
With both players looking to take control of points early in rallies with their lethal groundstrokes and use of every part of the court, each committed more unforced errors than usual. Taking big swings at the ball in an attempt to attack each other's serves, they produced a topsy turvy set which took almost as long for either to get through their semis. The one hour 10-minute set could've easily gone to Gonzalez. It was his resilient play during the eighth game which kept it on serve. Digging out of a hole, he fought off break points to hold and square the match at four all. Continuing to play aggressively, he cameback from 30-0 down to break Federer thanks to drawing a few wild misses. It gave him a golden opportunity to serve out the set. One point from it, he blew the chance as Federer saved two set points before bouncing right back to break. If only he had nailed that open forehand down the line on the second set point instead of hitting the net. But it wasn't to be.
After Federer held for 6-5, he applied heavy pressure on Gonzalez in the 11th game. But to Gonzalez' credit, he saved four set points before ripping a clean backhand winner up the line to force a tiebreaker. So many instances during his brilliant career, Federer has raised his level in these breaking the will of opponents. He did it to recently retired American icon Andre Agassi two years ago during the U.S. Open final. Once again, Federer saved his best for the breaker by getting into a zone taking the first five points before closing out the set on his serve thanks to a crosscourt forehand winner.
"It's just a different game, especially the first set. I was missing a few of them to give him the upper hand. He should have won the first, but I came back and won. That might have been crucial," he said.
"The match may have been different if I had won the first set," Gonzalez admitted after falling to 0-10 against Federer. "Every time I have played Roger, I've never won the first set, so that really may be the key."
But if Federer thought it would be easy, his opponent had other ideas. After having his right shoulder treated by a trainer during a break, Gonzalez never went away holding serve the first three times thanks to some outstanding shotmaking which produced 31 winners. The problem was that his opponent was having an even easier time holding. In fact, Federer only dropped two points on his serve the entire set. When he finally broke Gonzalez in the seventh game for a 4-3 lead, the writing was on the wall. After each exchanged holds, he easily served out the set finishing it off with a sliced ace down the middle to pull within one set of his ultimate destiny.
The third set proved to be eerily similar as Gonzalez did everything he could to stay with Federer. But the world No.1's uncanny ability to find ridiculous angles like a short crosscourt forehand which setup a couple of break points in a pivotal seventh game during the competitive 43-minute set proved to be too much. Along with some impressive net play which saw Federer convert 34-of-43 (79 percent) and not allowing Gonzalez another look at his serve, the repeat winner held twice more closing it out in style by striking a backhand winner down the line on the full run. After the crowd pleasing shot which produced his 45th winner, he dropped his racket and fell to the court rolling around in celebration before getting a warm reception at the net from Gonzalez.
"I have to congratulate again Roger," Gonzalez told the crowd after being presented with the runner's up crown. "He's on the way to be maybe the best player ever. He is a great champion who played a really good match today, all week-- almost all his life. So I can take a lot out of this tournament."
" He makes tennis very simple, and when he gets a chance he takes it."
Federer has often been referred to as a genius.
"I mean, look, I guess I'm the best tennis player in the world," he said.
"You can call me a genius because I'm outplaying many of my opponents, kind of maybe playing a bit different, you know, winning when I'm not playing my best. All of that maybe means a little bit of that. So it's nice."
Nice would be one way to describe his tennis along with how well he handles himself off the court. After winning his third straight major and sixth in the last seven with the exception of last year's French falling to repeat winner Rafael Nadal, is a Grand Slam on the horizon this year? First he'll attempt to complete the career Grand Slam this May.
Stay tuned.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Unseeded Serena Simply The Best, Pummels Sharapova For Third Australian Open Title
Just call her the Queen down under. When it comes to winning big matches in Australia, Serena Williams is much like rock star Tina Turner's hit: Simply The Best.
Doubted by many entering the tournament as an unseeded 81st ranked player in the world, Williams finished off her improbable run by taking apart top seeded Russian Maria Sharapova in a lopsided final, 6-1, 6-2 in front of a capacity Rod Laver Arena Saturday in Melbourne Park. Needing only an hour and three minutes, she became only the second unseeded woman to ever win the title joining Chris O'Neill, who accomplished it back in 1978 as a No.111.
It was the 25 year-old American's third Australian Open and eighth career slam. Her last one came two years ago in the same setting when she fought off match points against Sharapova in an epic semifinal before saving championship points against Lindsay Davenport before coming back to take the trophy.
This time, it came much easier for Williams as she played arguably her best match of a storied career. With the spotlight on, she came out extremely focused with an intense look in her eyes staring across at her accomplished 19 year-old opponent who the last time they met for a Grand Slam beat her soundly to win Wimbledon three years ago. Maybe that was on her mind as she then went out and executed a gameplan to perfection.
Dictating rallies from the very first toss of the ball, Williams was in a zone. Keeping Sharapova way behind the baseline and stepping in to take full advantage of a weak second serve, the popular American champion struck winners from both sides, finishing with 16 more (28-12) in dealing her opponent the worst slam defeat of the Russian's career.
After holding easily in the opening game, Williams battled back from 40-15 down to break the No.1 seed. Following another routine service hold, she broke Sharapova for a second straight time at love in impressive fashion. Having taken 10 straight points to get within two of another break, Serena emphatically won those points via a sizzling backhand winner down the line and then a forehand return winner to go ahead 4-0. She saved a break point in the fifth game before holding.
After Sharapova had a rare easy service game to get on the board for 1-5, Williams closed out the set without a problem. When she drew a long Sharapova backhand, the American yelled, "Come on!"
Not even a new set could revitalize the resilient Sharapova. Broken for the third time in the match in the opening game, it was an uphill battle just to get into the match. With Serena serving to consolidate the break, the Russian was given a big chance to get back on serve thanks to two consecutive double faults which produced only her second break opportunity. But it was quickly erased by an ace before Sharapova committed two unforced errors to give Williams a 2-0 lead.
It would become a double break cushion for Serena thanks to a Sharapova double and netted forehand. On cruise control, Williams easily held for 4-0. At that point, she had a shot to produce the most lopsided women's final in Aussie Open history.
But to Sharapova's credit, she had her two strongest holds and forced Williams to serve for the title. After winning the longest point of the match on a Sharapova forehand error, she nailed two aces to setup three championship points. When a big serve up the tee produced a short reply from her overmatched foe, Serena put the exclamation point on the huge victory with a backhand winner down the line before falling to the court in jubilation.
Congratulated at the net by Sharapova, an excited Williams then walked over to her corner to slap hands with her Mom Oracene Price and other supporters. It was a special moment for a player written off by skeptics after only playing in four tournaments last year due to a knee injury. But as her runner-up pointed out during the trophy ceremony, she shouldn't have been overlooked.
"You can never underestimate her as a performer...I know what she's capable of and she showed that today," a gracious Sharapova admitted to the audience. "She has showed it many, many times."
For the three-time Australian Open winner who seems to like odd years as evidenced by her victories in '03, '05 and now '07, it was clearly very emotional.
"I'm really enjoying this!" she boasted after lifting her ranking to No. 14 in the world.
"I'd like to thank my mom. I was a bad student this fortnight," she joked to the crowd's amusement. "I yelled at her, said some things under my breath. But she just kept coming. I really appreciate it."
As she thanked her family, coach and trainer, Serena made it a point to remember her late half-sister Yetunde Price, who died tragically of gunshot wounds in 2003.
"Most of all I would like to dedicate this win to my sister, who's not here. Her name is Yetunde. I just love her so much," she said getting emotional. "I'll try not to get teary-eyed but I said a couple of days ago, if I win this it's going to be for her. So thanks Tunde."
If that's what inspired her, it was truly a memorable tribute which won't soon be forgotten.
Gonzalez Routs Haas To Reach First Grand Slam Final, Faces Federer: The easy part is over for Fernando Gonzalez. That's if you consider the No.10 seeded Chilean's impressive wins over No. 19 Lleyton Hewitt, No. 5 James Blake, No.2 Rafael Nadal and No.12 Tommy Haas easy. All would probably conclude the same thing about the rejuvenated Gonzalez. That the 26 year-old is playing the best tennis of his career.
With a new coach, he's playing terrific and continued his run Friday night by dominating Haas in straight sets 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 to reach his first career Grand Slam final. So dominant was Gonzalez that he took the first 11 points of the match to set the tone. Moving freely from the baseline and using an effective slice backhand to setup a monster forehand which produced a ridiculous 18 of his 44 winners, he controlled the match from start to finish never allowing Haas to get untracked.
Serving flawlessly and attacking the German's serve, Gonzalez was never threatened in a match which took only an hour and 31 minutes to complete. Remarkably, the Chilean made only three unforced errors with them all coming in the second set. The only one which was marginally close. Striking an array of winners which featured backhands up the line and crosscourt, forehands every which way including one on the dead run which spun in, Gonzalez kept his opponent off balance even mixing in some deft touch on drop shots. He even finished it off with a running backhand crosscourt winner.
So overwhelming was his performance that invoked memories of defending champion Roger Federer's destruction of Andy Roddick the previous night. In that match, Federer allowed just six games and struck an eerily similar 45 winners as Roddick searched for answers. So can the man known as "Speedy" keep up this wonderful display against the best player in the world?
"He's the No. 1 player in the world by far...I lost many times with him," he admitted afterwards. "But now I'm playing much better than the last time we played. And it's only one match. I'm going to give everything that I have to try to win my first Slam."
For his career, he's never beaten Federer losing all nine times they've played. But he's also never played this well. In past years Gonzalez would go for broke too much and usually compile a large amount of errors to go with his winners making for a risky proposition when it came to just advancing. Now he's cleaned that up and will enter with a lot of confidence as he attempts to stop Federer from claiming his 10th career slam.
"I'm going to try to do the same thing that I've been doing: playing good tennis, don't do it too much, because my forehand side I feel I can do whatever I want. Is going to be a tough, but I'm playing a great level."
If he can maintain his high level, it could make for a compelling final. The action will take place live on ESPN2 Sunday morning at 3:30 Eastern time, 7:30 PM Australian time. If you can't catch it live, it will be replayed Sunday at noon. The way Gonzalez has played, there could be a surprise in store. We'll soon find out late tomorrow night.
Doubted by many entering the tournament as an unseeded 81st ranked player in the world, Williams finished off her improbable run by taking apart top seeded Russian Maria Sharapova in a lopsided final, 6-1, 6-2 in front of a capacity Rod Laver Arena Saturday in Melbourne Park. Needing only an hour and three minutes, she became only the second unseeded woman to ever win the title joining Chris O'Neill, who accomplished it back in 1978 as a No.111.
It was the 25 year-old American's third Australian Open and eighth career slam. Her last one came two years ago in the same setting when she fought off match points against Sharapova in an epic semifinal before saving championship points against Lindsay Davenport before coming back to take the trophy.
This time, it came much easier for Williams as she played arguably her best match of a storied career. With the spotlight on, she came out extremely focused with an intense look in her eyes staring across at her accomplished 19 year-old opponent who the last time they met for a Grand Slam beat her soundly to win Wimbledon three years ago. Maybe that was on her mind as she then went out and executed a gameplan to perfection.
Dictating rallies from the very first toss of the ball, Williams was in a zone. Keeping Sharapova way behind the baseline and stepping in to take full advantage of a weak second serve, the popular American champion struck winners from both sides, finishing with 16 more (28-12) in dealing her opponent the worst slam defeat of the Russian's career.
After holding easily in the opening game, Williams battled back from 40-15 down to break the No.1 seed. Following another routine service hold, she broke Sharapova for a second straight time at love in impressive fashion. Having taken 10 straight points to get within two of another break, Serena emphatically won those points via a sizzling backhand winner down the line and then a forehand return winner to go ahead 4-0. She saved a break point in the fifth game before holding.
After Sharapova had a rare easy service game to get on the board for 1-5, Williams closed out the set without a problem. When she drew a long Sharapova backhand, the American yelled, "Come on!"
Not even a new set could revitalize the resilient Sharapova. Broken for the third time in the match in the opening game, it was an uphill battle just to get into the match. With Serena serving to consolidate the break, the Russian was given a big chance to get back on serve thanks to two consecutive double faults which produced only her second break opportunity. But it was quickly erased by an ace before Sharapova committed two unforced errors to give Williams a 2-0 lead.
It would become a double break cushion for Serena thanks to a Sharapova double and netted forehand. On cruise control, Williams easily held for 4-0. At that point, she had a shot to produce the most lopsided women's final in Aussie Open history.
But to Sharapova's credit, she had her two strongest holds and forced Williams to serve for the title. After winning the longest point of the match on a Sharapova forehand error, she nailed two aces to setup three championship points. When a big serve up the tee produced a short reply from her overmatched foe, Serena put the exclamation point on the huge victory with a backhand winner down the line before falling to the court in jubilation.
Congratulated at the net by Sharapova, an excited Williams then walked over to her corner to slap hands with her Mom Oracene Price and other supporters. It was a special moment for a player written off by skeptics after only playing in four tournaments last year due to a knee injury. But as her runner-up pointed out during the trophy ceremony, she shouldn't have been overlooked.
"You can never underestimate her as a performer...I know what she's capable of and she showed that today," a gracious Sharapova admitted to the audience. "She has showed it many, many times."
For the three-time Australian Open winner who seems to like odd years as evidenced by her victories in '03, '05 and now '07, it was clearly very emotional.
"I'm really enjoying this!" she boasted after lifting her ranking to No. 14 in the world.
"I'd like to thank my mom. I was a bad student this fortnight," she joked to the crowd's amusement. "I yelled at her, said some things under my breath. But she just kept coming. I really appreciate it."
As she thanked her family, coach and trainer, Serena made it a point to remember her late half-sister Yetunde Price, who died tragically of gunshot wounds in 2003.
"Most of all I would like to dedicate this win to my sister, who's not here. Her name is Yetunde. I just love her so much," she said getting emotional. "I'll try not to get teary-eyed but I said a couple of days ago, if I win this it's going to be for her. So thanks Tunde."
If that's what inspired her, it was truly a memorable tribute which won't soon be forgotten.
Gonzalez Routs Haas To Reach First Grand Slam Final, Faces Federer: The easy part is over for Fernando Gonzalez. That's if you consider the No.10 seeded Chilean's impressive wins over No. 19 Lleyton Hewitt, No. 5 James Blake, No.2 Rafael Nadal and No.12 Tommy Haas easy. All would probably conclude the same thing about the rejuvenated Gonzalez. That the 26 year-old is playing the best tennis of his career.
With a new coach, he's playing terrific and continued his run Friday night by dominating Haas in straight sets 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 to reach his first career Grand Slam final. So dominant was Gonzalez that he took the first 11 points of the match to set the tone. Moving freely from the baseline and using an effective slice backhand to setup a monster forehand which produced a ridiculous 18 of his 44 winners, he controlled the match from start to finish never allowing Haas to get untracked.
Serving flawlessly and attacking the German's serve, Gonzalez was never threatened in a match which took only an hour and 31 minutes to complete. Remarkably, the Chilean made only three unforced errors with them all coming in the second set. The only one which was marginally close. Striking an array of winners which featured backhands up the line and crosscourt, forehands every which way including one on the dead run which spun in, Gonzalez kept his opponent off balance even mixing in some deft touch on drop shots. He even finished it off with a running backhand crosscourt winner.
So overwhelming was his performance that invoked memories of defending champion Roger Federer's destruction of Andy Roddick the previous night. In that match, Federer allowed just six games and struck an eerily similar 45 winners as Roddick searched for answers. So can the man known as "Speedy" keep up this wonderful display against the best player in the world?
"He's the No. 1 player in the world by far...I lost many times with him," he admitted afterwards. "But now I'm playing much better than the last time we played. And it's only one match. I'm going to give everything that I have to try to win my first Slam."
For his career, he's never beaten Federer losing all nine times they've played. But he's also never played this well. In past years Gonzalez would go for broke too much and usually compile a large amount of errors to go with his winners making for a risky proposition when it came to just advancing. Now he's cleaned that up and will enter with a lot of confidence as he attempts to stop Federer from claiming his 10th career slam.
"I'm going to try to do the same thing that I've been doing: playing good tennis, don't do it too much, because my forehand side I feel I can do whatever I want. Is going to be a tough, but I'm playing a great level."
If he can maintain his high level, it could make for a compelling final. The action will take place live on ESPN2 Sunday morning at 3:30 Eastern time, 7:30 PM Australian time. If you can't catch it live, it will be replayed Sunday at noon. The way Gonzalez has played, there could be a surprise in store. We'll soon find out late tomorrow night.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Federer Shows Roddick Who's In Charge
Just cue up the theme from Charles 'N Charge and change the theme song to "Roger In Charge."
Throughout the 2007 Australian Open, there was plenty of build up for a semifinal clash between top seeded Roger Federer and sixth seeded Andy Roddick. After how well the 24 year-old American finished up last year under the guidance of tennis legend Jimmy Connors, it was clear that more was expected of the former 2003 U.S. Open champion. Especially after falling in four hard fought sets to Federer for the U.S. Open and then even having match points at the Masters Cup before the Swiss sensation rallied to defeat him.
A couple of weeks ago at the warm-up exhibition, he beat the world No.1 in three sets at the AAMI Classic to give him even more confidence that the gap was finally closing. Though the match didn't count on the ATP Tour, it had to be considered a huge step.
Clearly, Roddick came into this year's first slam believing he could finally exorcise the demons against Federer and finally snap the eight match losing streak if they met in the Final Four and reach his first Aussie Open final. After posting impressive well earned victories over '05 winner Marat Safin and ninth seeded Croatian Mario Ancic, he blitzed former high school pal Mardy Fish in straight sets to setup the much talked about rematch with the defending champion down under.
Maybe it was because of all the talk from Roddick and even some media who really believed the affable American had a real chance to finally reverse his luck against Federer. Or maybe it was just the nine-time slam winner's immense talent which was on full display in a 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 dismantling of his biggest threat at Rod Laver Arena Thursday night in Melbourne. Or maybe it was Roddick's nerves getting the best of him knowing what was at stake.
Whatever the reason, the out of this world Swiss maestro was in a different stratosphere than his opponent to improve his career head-to-head record to 13-1 against Roddick, advancing to his seventh consecutive final at a major which matched a record established by Jack Crawford in 1934.
Hitting 45 winners from every conceivable angle, the 25 year-old took apart Roddick in the first men's semifinal, which lasted only an hour and 23 minutes. So stunning was the performance that it even left his part-time coach Tony Roche and 68 year-old Aussie legend Rod Laver who made the trip from California in shock. One point in particular early in the second set told the story. Taking it to Federer, Roddick moved him from corner to corner and was in a winning position at the net but somehow, the two-time Australian Open champ ran down a deep approach and then in one motion knifed a backhand crosscourt winner off the frame which drew quite a reaction from the audience even leaving Roche to smile.
Amazingly, a match which had started so competitively turned into a tennis clinic by maybe arguably the best to ever play the sport. Though Federer broke Roddick in the opening game to start, the fiery American fought back to get on serve with a break of his own in the fourth game, taking advantage of a rare gift game from the Swede in which he commited four unforced errors. Defying logic, he made only eight the rest of the match.
After each held serve twice more for four apiece in the first set, Federer took control by breaking Roddick a second time. He would then serve out the set, finishing it off in style with an ace. As fate would have it, that would be the end of the match. From the point he trailed 3-4 in the opening set, Federer ran off the next 11 games en route to what amounted to a routine victory. Something that even left him at a loss for words.
"I had one of these days when everything worked," he admitted to the AP. "I was unbeatable. I was playing out of my mind. I am shocked myself."
So dominant was Federer on one of the biggest servers that he converted all seven break points. An unlikely scenario which probably won't be repeated.
Not surprisingly, the extraordinary level of his play was something he wasn't used to in Melbourne even though he was accustomed to it at the other three slams.
"I've played good matches here, but never really almost destroyed somebody. I've done it at the US Open, Wimbledon, French Open. Maybe not so much here because I didn't get so many chances yet," he noted.
"Here at the Australian Open I've won good matches, but never outright dominated another top player in the big stage in the semis or the final. For me, that's a highlight of my career to do it right here tonight, so I'm very, very happy about it."
Federer awaits Friday night's winner in the second semifinal between 10th seeded Chilean Fernando Gonzalez and 12th seeded German Tommy Haas. Neither has ever reached a slam final. Whoever prevails will try to do what Roddick couldn't. Make Federer sweat.
For Roddick, though he tried to stick to Connors' strategy of being more aggressive coming into net and applying pressure to Federer, he had little success only winning nine of 31 points there as too often he watched winner after winner sail out of reach. Never before had he been so outplayed at a major.
"It was frustrating. You know, it was miserable. It sucked. It was terrible. Besides that, it was fine," Roddick sarcastically remarked during an entertaining postmatch conference.
"I was playing well coming in. There's no reason to think...if you would have told me this beforehand, I probably didn't foresee it."
For the down to earth American who was clearly frustrated last night, it's back to work.
"You do your best not to get discouraged. I caught an absolute beating tonight, no two ways about it. You deal with it and you go back to the drawing board."
"I thought it was a good tournament. But I've proven to myself that I can get to the semifinals of Grand Slams," he added. "I'd love more than anything to get past that, to get over that hurdle for sure."
In order for that to happen, he'll still have to find a way to climb the ladder against the best the game has to offer and forget about this one. It just wasn't his night. There should be plenty of opportunities to gain revenge the rest of the year. Hopefully for tennis, he'll finally breakthrough.
Comebacking Serena To Take On Sharapova For Title: Before Roddick was dismissed by Federer, the women took center stage in the semis.
Serena Williams continued her successful comeback down under by posting a straight sets 7-6 (5), 6-4 victory over 10th seeded Czech Nicole Vaidisova. Ranked No.81 entering the tournament due to injuries, the two-time Australian Open champion once again was tougher during the most crucial points in her hard fought win to go from longshot to making the final. It's her first final in two years since winning down under over Lindsay Davenport.
In a seesaw first set, the 25 year-old seven-time slam winner traded breaks with Vaidisova before fighting off a set point to force a tiebreaker. In it, she built a 5-1 lead but couldn't hang on as her 17 year-old opponent valiantly fought back to square it at five all. But then as she usually does in the biggest moments, Williams stepped up by smacking a backhand winner to get a minibreak before closing out the set by drawing an error.
It looked like she would cruise to victory in the second set as she jumped out to a 5-1 double break lead. But one game away from the final, Williams couldn't put away her fiesty opponent. After Vaidisova held, she got one break back with a backhand winner to cut the lead to 5-3. Then the match got even more intense as Vaidisova fought off four match points before holding for 4-5. With Williams serving for the match, she even saved a fifth match point. But when Serena emphatically slammed an overhead, she had finally secured a spot in the final leaving the intense American thrilled with the result.
"I can't believe it," she expressed. "That's awesome. If I play well, which I don't think I've even reached yet at all in this tournament...it's really hard for anyone on the women's tour to beat me."
That kind of confidence will be huge against her opponent, Maria Sharapova. The top seeded 19 year-old Russian advanced into her first Aussie Open final by posting a straight sets 6-4, 6-2 win over fourth seeded Belgian Kim Clijsters.
It was last year that the same two met in the quarterfinals and Clijsters proved to have too much in three grueling sets over Sharapova. But a year older with a U.S. Open fresh in her repertoire, the two-time slam champion outslugged her opponent from the baseline, finishing with 16 more winners- 27-11.
Though she got off to a slow start, Sharapova fought back twice from a break down in the opening set before going on to claim the up and down frame. After Clijsters broke her to go ahead 4-3, she raised her level to break consecutive times, taking the final three games of the set.
When she broke Clijsters for 2-0 in the second set, the Russian was in control. But the triumph wouldn't come without a challenge. In the fifth game, she overcame four double faults and fought off three break points to hold for 4-1. After each held serve, Sharapova broke for the fifth time in eight chances ripping a clean forehand winner down the line to clinch the match and end the retiring Clijsters' Australian Open career.
The 23 year-old former 2005 U.S. Open champ is planning to retire at the end of the season and start a family with fiancee Brian Lynch. It was an emotional sendoff for the popular player who once dated Australia's own Lleyton Hewitt.
"There are a lot of people I want to talk to face to face, people that work here and people I want to keep in touch with," she pointed out. "I have so many great memories from my times in Australia, not just tennis wise but also all the friends I have made."
The good news for Aussie fans is she hinted that she still planned to comeback as a spectator in future years and enjoy the event.
For Sharapova, she'll try to avenge her crushing three set semifinal defeat two years ago against Williams. It was an epic battle in which eventual champion Serena fought off match points before coming out on top. It won't be easy.
"I think she has nothing to lose," said Sharapova, who already has secured the No.1 spot in the world no matter the result Saturday. "Those are always dangerous opponents."
Throughout the 2007 Australian Open, there was plenty of build up for a semifinal clash between top seeded Roger Federer and sixth seeded Andy Roddick. After how well the 24 year-old American finished up last year under the guidance of tennis legend Jimmy Connors, it was clear that more was expected of the former 2003 U.S. Open champion. Especially after falling in four hard fought sets to Federer for the U.S. Open and then even having match points at the Masters Cup before the Swiss sensation rallied to defeat him.
A couple of weeks ago at the warm-up exhibition, he beat the world No.1 in three sets at the AAMI Classic to give him even more confidence that the gap was finally closing. Though the match didn't count on the ATP Tour, it had to be considered a huge step.
Clearly, Roddick came into this year's first slam believing he could finally exorcise the demons against Federer and finally snap the eight match losing streak if they met in the Final Four and reach his first Aussie Open final. After posting impressive well earned victories over '05 winner Marat Safin and ninth seeded Croatian Mario Ancic, he blitzed former high school pal Mardy Fish in straight sets to setup the much talked about rematch with the defending champion down under.
Maybe it was because of all the talk from Roddick and even some media who really believed the affable American had a real chance to finally reverse his luck against Federer. Or maybe it was just the nine-time slam winner's immense talent which was on full display in a 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 dismantling of his biggest threat at Rod Laver Arena Thursday night in Melbourne. Or maybe it was Roddick's nerves getting the best of him knowing what was at stake.
Whatever the reason, the out of this world Swiss maestro was in a different stratosphere than his opponent to improve his career head-to-head record to 13-1 against Roddick, advancing to his seventh consecutive final at a major which matched a record established by Jack Crawford in 1934.
Hitting 45 winners from every conceivable angle, the 25 year-old took apart Roddick in the first men's semifinal, which lasted only an hour and 23 minutes. So stunning was the performance that it even left his part-time coach Tony Roche and 68 year-old Aussie legend Rod Laver who made the trip from California in shock. One point in particular early in the second set told the story. Taking it to Federer, Roddick moved him from corner to corner and was in a winning position at the net but somehow, the two-time Australian Open champ ran down a deep approach and then in one motion knifed a backhand crosscourt winner off the frame which drew quite a reaction from the audience even leaving Roche to smile.
Amazingly, a match which had started so competitively turned into a tennis clinic by maybe arguably the best to ever play the sport. Though Federer broke Roddick in the opening game to start, the fiery American fought back to get on serve with a break of his own in the fourth game, taking advantage of a rare gift game from the Swede in which he commited four unforced errors. Defying logic, he made only eight the rest of the match.
After each held serve twice more for four apiece in the first set, Federer took control by breaking Roddick a second time. He would then serve out the set, finishing it off in style with an ace. As fate would have it, that would be the end of the match. From the point he trailed 3-4 in the opening set, Federer ran off the next 11 games en route to what amounted to a routine victory. Something that even left him at a loss for words.
"I had one of these days when everything worked," he admitted to the AP. "I was unbeatable. I was playing out of my mind. I am shocked myself."
So dominant was Federer on one of the biggest servers that he converted all seven break points. An unlikely scenario which probably won't be repeated.
Not surprisingly, the extraordinary level of his play was something he wasn't used to in Melbourne even though he was accustomed to it at the other three slams.
"I've played good matches here, but never really almost destroyed somebody. I've done it at the US Open, Wimbledon, French Open. Maybe not so much here because I didn't get so many chances yet," he noted.
"Here at the Australian Open I've won good matches, but never outright dominated another top player in the big stage in the semis or the final. For me, that's a highlight of my career to do it right here tonight, so I'm very, very happy about it."
Federer awaits Friday night's winner in the second semifinal between 10th seeded Chilean Fernando Gonzalez and 12th seeded German Tommy Haas. Neither has ever reached a slam final. Whoever prevails will try to do what Roddick couldn't. Make Federer sweat.
For Roddick, though he tried to stick to Connors' strategy of being more aggressive coming into net and applying pressure to Federer, he had little success only winning nine of 31 points there as too often he watched winner after winner sail out of reach. Never before had he been so outplayed at a major.
"It was frustrating. You know, it was miserable. It sucked. It was terrible. Besides that, it was fine," Roddick sarcastically remarked during an entertaining postmatch conference.
"I was playing well coming in. There's no reason to think...if you would have told me this beforehand, I probably didn't foresee it."
For the down to earth American who was clearly frustrated last night, it's back to work.
"You do your best not to get discouraged. I caught an absolute beating tonight, no two ways about it. You deal with it and you go back to the drawing board."
"I thought it was a good tournament. But I've proven to myself that I can get to the semifinals of Grand Slams," he added. "I'd love more than anything to get past that, to get over that hurdle for sure."
In order for that to happen, he'll still have to find a way to climb the ladder against the best the game has to offer and forget about this one. It just wasn't his night. There should be plenty of opportunities to gain revenge the rest of the year. Hopefully for tennis, he'll finally breakthrough.
Comebacking Serena To Take On Sharapova For Title: Before Roddick was dismissed by Federer, the women took center stage in the semis.
Serena Williams continued her successful comeback down under by posting a straight sets 7-6 (5), 6-4 victory over 10th seeded Czech Nicole Vaidisova. Ranked No.81 entering the tournament due to injuries, the two-time Australian Open champion once again was tougher during the most crucial points in her hard fought win to go from longshot to making the final. It's her first final in two years since winning down under over Lindsay Davenport.
In a seesaw first set, the 25 year-old seven-time slam winner traded breaks with Vaidisova before fighting off a set point to force a tiebreaker. In it, she built a 5-1 lead but couldn't hang on as her 17 year-old opponent valiantly fought back to square it at five all. But then as she usually does in the biggest moments, Williams stepped up by smacking a backhand winner to get a minibreak before closing out the set by drawing an error.
It looked like she would cruise to victory in the second set as she jumped out to a 5-1 double break lead. But one game away from the final, Williams couldn't put away her fiesty opponent. After Vaidisova held, she got one break back with a backhand winner to cut the lead to 5-3. Then the match got even more intense as Vaidisova fought off four match points before holding for 4-5. With Williams serving for the match, she even saved a fifth match point. But when Serena emphatically slammed an overhead, she had finally secured a spot in the final leaving the intense American thrilled with the result.
"I can't believe it," she expressed. "That's awesome. If I play well, which I don't think I've even reached yet at all in this tournament...it's really hard for anyone on the women's tour to beat me."
That kind of confidence will be huge against her opponent, Maria Sharapova. The top seeded 19 year-old Russian advanced into her first Aussie Open final by posting a straight sets 6-4, 6-2 win over fourth seeded Belgian Kim Clijsters.
It was last year that the same two met in the quarterfinals and Clijsters proved to have too much in three grueling sets over Sharapova. But a year older with a U.S. Open fresh in her repertoire, the two-time slam champion outslugged her opponent from the baseline, finishing with 16 more winners- 27-11.
Though she got off to a slow start, Sharapova fought back twice from a break down in the opening set before going on to claim the up and down frame. After Clijsters broke her to go ahead 4-3, she raised her level to break consecutive times, taking the final three games of the set.
When she broke Clijsters for 2-0 in the second set, the Russian was in control. But the triumph wouldn't come without a challenge. In the fifth game, she overcame four double faults and fought off three break points to hold for 4-1. After each held serve, Sharapova broke for the fifth time in eight chances ripping a clean forehand winner down the line to clinch the match and end the retiring Clijsters' Australian Open career.
The 23 year-old former 2005 U.S. Open champ is planning to retire at the end of the season and start a family with fiancee Brian Lynch. It was an emotional sendoff for the popular player who once dated Australia's own Lleyton Hewitt.
"There are a lot of people I want to talk to face to face, people that work here and people I want to keep in touch with," she pointed out. "I have so many great memories from my times in Australia, not just tennis wise but also all the friends I have made."
The good news for Aussie fans is she hinted that she still planned to comeback as a spectator in future years and enjoy the event.
For Sharapova, she'll try to avenge her crushing three set semifinal defeat two years ago against Williams. It was an epic battle in which eventual champion Serena fought off match points before coming out on top. It won't be easy.
"I think she has nothing to lose," said Sharapova, who already has secured the No.1 spot in the world no matter the result Saturday. "Those are always dangerous opponents."
Monday, January 15, 2007
Islanders Blowing Golden Opportunity
They lost a tough one to the Lightning on home ice 4-3 before a near capacity crowd in a rare noon start on Martin Luther King Day. For Ted Nolan's Islanders, it was a missed opportunity against a club they've had little success against recently. The latest defeat dropped them to 0-2-1 this season with a final meeting set for March 20 in St. Petersburg.
Their last win against John Tortorella's club came almost three years ago via a 3-0 shutout at Nassau Coliseum back on March 21, 2004. A month later that same year, they were eliminated during the first round in five games by the eventual Stanley Cup winners.
"It was a tough loss," losing netminder Rick DiPietro told the AP after finishing with 20 saves to drop his club four points behind eighth in the East Tampa Bay and the seventh ranked Rangers. "That was a big two points we let get away."
Had they gotten them, they would've tied the Bolts in the standings and had a couple of games at hand in what continues to be a tight playoff race in the Eastern Conference. Seven total points separate the seventh seeded Rangers from 14th ranked Florida. So there isn't much margin for error in what should be an exciting race the final three months.
Truth be told, there isn't much difference between these clubs which is why when a potential four point swing game takes place, you must take advantage. But against a team they're battling, DiPietro's club wasn't disciplined enough in dropping their fourth straight at home. Ironically, their last victory there came against the archrival Rangers three weeks ago, a 2-0 blanking by the former 2000 first overall pick. If only they could play the Blueshirts more. They've dominated the series so far taking the first four with four crucial contests left.
"You have to expect a team like that to do well on the power play," the frustrated goalie pointed out after his team gave up two power play goals in five chances against. "We've got to stay out of the (penalty) box."
Instead, they once again allowed Islander killer Martin St. Louis to strike for his league-leading 29th goal. The former 2004 Hart recipient has made a living of destroying the Isles. His dominance began during that first round three years ago in which he torched them for four goals including the series clincher against DiPietro in overtime from a sharp angle. Since then, he's made life miserable for the Islanders by finding the back of the net six times in the last seven Lightning wins totaling nine points (6-3-9) including a goal and assist Monday.
The 31 year-old Vermont product helped put his club up 3-1 after two periods. After Viktor Kozlov cut it to one with a power play goal 1:10 into the final stanza, the Bolts' waterbug notched a helper on Vincent Lecavalier's eventual winner just over six minutes later to increase his point total to 62. It tied him with Caps' sniper Alexander Ovechkin for second, trailing just Sidney Crosby (21-45-66) for the Art Ross.
To their credit, the Isles didn't quit. Trailing by two, Trent Hunter scored his ninth of the season to cut it to one with 9:20 left. But in a period they controlled outshooting Tampa 16-5, they couldn't come up with the equalizer to at least get a point. With DiPietro pulled in the final minute-plus, Miroslav Satan came close but Johan Holmqvist held the post. The one-time Ranger stopped 33 Islander shots en route to his third consecutive victory over them. Maybe it's the logo.
Even though they probably deserved a better fate, the Isles were left with nothing and fell to just 2-7-1 in their last 10. Clearly not good enough if Nolan's team wants to make the postseason and silence many critics. Something they're capable of accomplishing. Most nights, the effort has been there. But it's all about getting more W's.
Right now, they're a mediocre 21-20-4 with 46 points, which puts them in a three-way tie for ninth in the East with Boston and Toronto. Both Pittsburgh and Washington are one point behind while Florida trails by three. There's plenty of time for the Islanders to separate themselves from the pack and challenge both the Rangers and Lightning for the final two spots.
They have 37 games remaining and will need to get back to the formula which worked over a month ago and had them challenging for the Atlantic lead. Now 12 points behind the red hot first place Devils, they've got a lot of work to do. The good news is that struggling team captain Alexei Yashin finally scored breaking a 12-game drought. Maybe it will get him going. Since returning from a knee sprain last month, he's only had points in seven of 15 games. That must change.
They'll also need lone All Star representative Jason Blake to start finishing again. The gritty 33 year-old Minnesota native is without a goal in his last six. He leads the club with 23 for the season including a team best 11 on the man-advantage. If Blake can rediscover his scoring touch, it should provide a lift.
In the mean time, Nolan's bunch will look to bounceback Tuesday night against one of those teams they're competing with in Pittsburgh before traveling to Philadelphia Thursday for the final game before the All Star break. The Pennsylvania trip is a chance to reestablish momentum in what's been a nice season.
It's time for their best players to step up.
Their last win against John Tortorella's club came almost three years ago via a 3-0 shutout at Nassau Coliseum back on March 21, 2004. A month later that same year, they were eliminated during the first round in five games by the eventual Stanley Cup winners.
"It was a tough loss," losing netminder Rick DiPietro told the AP after finishing with 20 saves to drop his club four points behind eighth in the East Tampa Bay and the seventh ranked Rangers. "That was a big two points we let get away."
Had they gotten them, they would've tied the Bolts in the standings and had a couple of games at hand in what continues to be a tight playoff race in the Eastern Conference. Seven total points separate the seventh seeded Rangers from 14th ranked Florida. So there isn't much margin for error in what should be an exciting race the final three months.
Truth be told, there isn't much difference between these clubs which is why when a potential four point swing game takes place, you must take advantage. But against a team they're battling, DiPietro's club wasn't disciplined enough in dropping their fourth straight at home. Ironically, their last victory there came against the archrival Rangers three weeks ago, a 2-0 blanking by the former 2000 first overall pick. If only they could play the Blueshirts more. They've dominated the series so far taking the first four with four crucial contests left.
"You have to expect a team like that to do well on the power play," the frustrated goalie pointed out after his team gave up two power play goals in five chances against. "We've got to stay out of the (penalty) box."
Instead, they once again allowed Islander killer Martin St. Louis to strike for his league-leading 29th goal. The former 2004 Hart recipient has made a living of destroying the Isles. His dominance began during that first round three years ago in which he torched them for four goals including the series clincher against DiPietro in overtime from a sharp angle. Since then, he's made life miserable for the Islanders by finding the back of the net six times in the last seven Lightning wins totaling nine points (6-3-9) including a goal and assist Monday.
The 31 year-old Vermont product helped put his club up 3-1 after two periods. After Viktor Kozlov cut it to one with a power play goal 1:10 into the final stanza, the Bolts' waterbug notched a helper on Vincent Lecavalier's eventual winner just over six minutes later to increase his point total to 62. It tied him with Caps' sniper Alexander Ovechkin for second, trailing just Sidney Crosby (21-45-66) for the Art Ross.
To their credit, the Isles didn't quit. Trailing by two, Trent Hunter scored his ninth of the season to cut it to one with 9:20 left. But in a period they controlled outshooting Tampa 16-5, they couldn't come up with the equalizer to at least get a point. With DiPietro pulled in the final minute-plus, Miroslav Satan came close but Johan Holmqvist held the post. The one-time Ranger stopped 33 Islander shots en route to his third consecutive victory over them. Maybe it's the logo.
Even though they probably deserved a better fate, the Isles were left with nothing and fell to just 2-7-1 in their last 10. Clearly not good enough if Nolan's team wants to make the postseason and silence many critics. Something they're capable of accomplishing. Most nights, the effort has been there. But it's all about getting more W's.
Right now, they're a mediocre 21-20-4 with 46 points, which puts them in a three-way tie for ninth in the East with Boston and Toronto. Both Pittsburgh and Washington are one point behind while Florida trails by three. There's plenty of time for the Islanders to separate themselves from the pack and challenge both the Rangers and Lightning for the final two spots.
They have 37 games remaining and will need to get back to the formula which worked over a month ago and had them challenging for the Atlantic lead. Now 12 points behind the red hot first place Devils, they've got a lot of work to do. The good news is that struggling team captain Alexei Yashin finally scored breaking a 12-game drought. Maybe it will get him going. Since returning from a knee sprain last month, he's only had points in seven of 15 games. That must change.
They'll also need lone All Star representative Jason Blake to start finishing again. The gritty 33 year-old Minnesota native is without a goal in his last six. He leads the club with 23 for the season including a team best 11 on the man-advantage. If Blake can rediscover his scoring touch, it should provide a lift.
In the mean time, Nolan's bunch will look to bounceback Tuesday night against one of those teams they're competing with in Pittsburgh before traveling to Philadelphia Thursday for the final game before the All Star break. The Pennsylvania trip is a chance to reestablish momentum in what's been a nice season.
It's time for their best players to step up.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Calling Out Mr. Lupica
It's way past time someone called out this little hypocritical weasel who writes for the Daily News. I can only be referring to the overly biased Mike Lupica. This is only one of the most accomplished writers out there. But I have had enough of this clown!
This guy is a first rate nerd who shows off his disgusting biases at every turn in his columns. According to Lupica, the Mets have never overpaid for an aging pitcher or two while the BIG BAD Yankees have done it repeatedly breaking some sort of unwritten rule.
Oh really? Didn't Mets GM Omar Minaya give two years to 50 year-old El Duque? We kid. Nobody really knows the real age of the Cuban pitcher who's done quite well for himself in the majors, helping the Yankees three-peat from '98-00 and of course playing a pivotal role in the White Sox World title a couple of years ago. But let's be honest. Why would any GM give him two years? At any minute he could breakdown. How come Lupica never mentioned how the same pitcher injured himself in warmups and was done for last postseason? Because that would've required this Mets phony to take his own team to task. He would never do it because he has no backbone.
Only an angry Lupica would make his column today solely on bashing the Yankees when they finally came to their collective senses and unloaded the Old Unit back to Arizona for reliever Luis Vizcaino and three prospects. And only this idiot would make some off the wall comment like if Randy Johnson had performed better in October and led the Bronx Bombers to that elusive 27th World championship, then they would've treated him differently. Duh!
Are the Yanks going to go after the biggest money grabber in baseball Roger Clemens? They could. But should it take away from what Yankee GM Brian Cashman was able to get for a 43 year-old washed up pitcher coming off back surgery? Of course not. But in Lupica's warped world, he would never recognize the fact that for the third time this offseason, Cashman has gotten rid of dead weight for younger players cutting payroll in the process and pissing off Mets fans. He has done so much more than Minaya to improve his club this winter. Though Doug Mientkiewicz doesn't count.
Lupica contended in his column that because Johnson pitched in the AL, he had as good a season as returning 34 year-old Yankee Andy Pettite. Johnson won 17 games and had a 5.00 ERA while Pettite won 14 games with a 4.20 ERA in the Senior Circuit. Considering that the AL has much better lineups, it looks like he has a point. But Lupica didn't do his homework. While Johnson continued to be up and down all season, Pettite turned it up finishing 7-4 with a 2.80 ERA after the All Star Break. Even more impressive was his 86 strikeouts in 93.1 innings. The best news for Yankee fans was that the southpaw got stronger down the stretch posting a 5-2 record with a 2.40 ERA the final two months to almost vault the Astros over the Cardinals for the NL Central. More than you can say for Johnson, who limped to the finish line with a 5.47 ERA in September before another disappointing October outing in the Yanks' first round loss to Detroit.
Here's a question to New York baseball fans. Who would you rather have? Thirty-eight year-old Mike Mussina or 41 year-old Tom Glavine? Who's more durable? Pettite or El Duque? You decide which staff is older and has more question marks. Oh btw...26 year-old real Yankee ace Chien-Ming Wang won 19 games with a 3.63 ERA in his second year and finished second to Johan Santana for the Cy Young. Is that young enough for Lupica?
Was it my imagination that while Lupica's Amazins added another 40+ year-old outfielder in Moises Alou who won't play more than 100 games, the Yanks got rid of 38 year-old knucklehead Gary Sheffield and somehow managed to get three prospects including highly rated pitcher Humberto Sanchez?
So who's had the more productive offseason? You decide.
This guy is a first rate nerd who shows off his disgusting biases at every turn in his columns. According to Lupica, the Mets have never overpaid for an aging pitcher or two while the BIG BAD Yankees have done it repeatedly breaking some sort of unwritten rule.
Oh really? Didn't Mets GM Omar Minaya give two years to 50 year-old El Duque? We kid. Nobody really knows the real age of the Cuban pitcher who's done quite well for himself in the majors, helping the Yankees three-peat from '98-00 and of course playing a pivotal role in the White Sox World title a couple of years ago. But let's be honest. Why would any GM give him two years? At any minute he could breakdown. How come Lupica never mentioned how the same pitcher injured himself in warmups and was done for last postseason? Because that would've required this Mets phony to take his own team to task. He would never do it because he has no backbone.
Only an angry Lupica would make his column today solely on bashing the Yankees when they finally came to their collective senses and unloaded the Old Unit back to Arizona for reliever Luis Vizcaino and three prospects. And only this idiot would make some off the wall comment like if Randy Johnson had performed better in October and led the Bronx Bombers to that elusive 27th World championship, then they would've treated him differently. Duh!
Are the Yanks going to go after the biggest money grabber in baseball Roger Clemens? They could. But should it take away from what Yankee GM Brian Cashman was able to get for a 43 year-old washed up pitcher coming off back surgery? Of course not. But in Lupica's warped world, he would never recognize the fact that for the third time this offseason, Cashman has gotten rid of dead weight for younger players cutting payroll in the process and pissing off Mets fans. He has done so much more than Minaya to improve his club this winter. Though Doug Mientkiewicz doesn't count.
Lupica contended in his column that because Johnson pitched in the AL, he had as good a season as returning 34 year-old Yankee Andy Pettite. Johnson won 17 games and had a 5.00 ERA while Pettite won 14 games with a 4.20 ERA in the Senior Circuit. Considering that the AL has much better lineups, it looks like he has a point. But Lupica didn't do his homework. While Johnson continued to be up and down all season, Pettite turned it up finishing 7-4 with a 2.80 ERA after the All Star Break. Even more impressive was his 86 strikeouts in 93.1 innings. The best news for Yankee fans was that the southpaw got stronger down the stretch posting a 5-2 record with a 2.40 ERA the final two months to almost vault the Astros over the Cardinals for the NL Central. More than you can say for Johnson, who limped to the finish line with a 5.47 ERA in September before another disappointing October outing in the Yanks' first round loss to Detroit.
Here's a question to New York baseball fans. Who would you rather have? Thirty-eight year-old Mike Mussina or 41 year-old Tom Glavine? Who's more durable? Pettite or El Duque? You decide which staff is older and has more question marks. Oh btw...26 year-old real Yankee ace Chien-Ming Wang won 19 games with a 3.63 ERA in his second year and finished second to Johan Santana for the Cy Young. Is that young enough for Lupica?
Was it my imagination that while Lupica's Amazins added another 40+ year-old outfielder in Moises Alou who won't play more than 100 games, the Yanks got rid of 38 year-old knucklehead Gary Sheffield and somehow managed to get three prospects including highly rated pitcher Humberto Sanchez?
So who's had the more productive offseason? You decide.
Monday, January 01, 2007
League's Hypocrisy Unbelievable
A month ago, Caps' sophomore star forward Alexander Ovechkin caught Buffalo's Daniel Briere with a blatant cheapshot during a line change. The 2005-06 Calder winner's check from behind knocked the Sabres' offensive leader into the boards. For all parties involved during that December 2 incident at Verizon Center in the nation's capital, they were fortunate that the Buffalo captain wasn't seriously injured. Especially on a dangerous blindside hit which could've resulted in a concussion.
If you give Ovechkin the benefit of the doubt, maybe he didn't realize his strength. The fiery 21 year-old Russian plays the game like a bull giving everything he has every shift. It's resulted so far in another great season with the former 2004 first overall pick tied for the league lead with Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis in goalscoring with 25 goals. With an assist in Monday afternoon's 3-2 loss to Phoenix, the Washington sniper moved into fifth in scoring with 51 points.
There's little doubt that he is a special player who gets the most of his talent. And that is a good thing for not only his team but for the NHL. He is a superstar who the league should promote at every turn. However, they shouldn't turn the other cheek when he makes a mistake and nearly injures another player. Unfortunately, that's essentially what happened. Instead of facing suspension, the affable Russian got a slap on the wrist, instead being fined $1,000.
Fast forward to the rematch between the teams last week in Buffalo. The Sabres made a statement by scoring the game's first six goals in a dominant first before cruising to a 6-3 win at HSBC Arena on December 26. In the same game, Briere took a cheapshot of his own spearing Ovechkin to the ice while officials were screened out by Buffalo teammate Brian Campbell, causing it to be undetected. To Ovechkin's credit, he got up and challenged Briere to a fight. But Briere's teammates prevented it.
According to the rulebook, a deliberate spear attempt is cause for a five minute major, automatic game misconduct and a league review. A few days ago, this incident was reviewed by the league before the Sabres took on Carolina. Predictably, nothing happened allowing Briere to dress and notch an assist in a 4-1 win over the Hurricanes on December 28.
So, in two instances where a star player was involved in a cheap play, they didn't miss a game and only one was fined.
Now let's examine what took place this past Saturday night at the Garden during the Rangers' 4-1 victory over the Caps. Throughout the relatively chippy contest, Washington goon and NHL bad boy Donald Brashear ran several Rangers including star captain Jaromir Jagr. This wasn't any surprise as playing the moody Czech physical has seemed to get him off his game. However, during a faceoff in the third period, the ex-Flyer enforcer elbowed Jagr. On the same shift, No.68 retaliated by taking down the big man drawing an interference penalty. When Brashear returned to the bench, he was called out by Ranger star Brendan Shanahan. During their next shift, Shanahan challenged Brashear to a fight, sticking up for Jagr and gaining a ton of respect from teammates and the home crowd who ate it up chanting, "Shanny, Shanny, Shanny."
It was quite a statement made by the 37 year-old leading goalscorer for the Blueshirts. Never one to back away from a challenge he issues, the 600 goal member took his lumps and did relatively well even landing a couple of uppercuts. When the scrap concluded, Brashear's theatrics weren't over. Apparently Ranger defenseman Aaron Ward uttered something to him which he didn't like. He reacted by suckerpunching Ward in the face, drawing a match penalty and automatic ejection ending his night.
Not to be outdone was Ranger enforcer Colton Orr, who late in the second stuck up for Ryan Hollweg and took on Brashear. With under five minutes remaining in the contest, the 24 year-old Manitoban cheapshotted Ovechkin with a high hit to the head knocking down the star and drawing a charging minor before accepting Washington defenseman Shaone Morrisonn's challenge.
There's little doubt that Orr's move was dangerous and could've resulted in serious injury to Ovechkin. So when NHL Senior Executive VP of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell ruled on it yesterday, it was no surprise that the former Bruin faced serious suspension. As a first time offender, he was given five games and lost $13,235.29.
Now consider that 34 year-old Brashear has been in the league much longer and was a repeat offender who had already been suspended three games this season. Somehow, he only got one game for his suckerpunch.
Here was Mr. Campbell's statement on why Orr received four extra games:
"The Rangers player’s actions with his stick were reckless and dangerous. Although no injury resulted, the action is unacceptable."
This seems like a fair assessment. For the record, I don't have a problem with why Orr got five games. However, how does Brashear get only a game? Was that not dangerous? He could've fractured Ward's cheekbone. Was it as bad as what Orr did? Probably not. But it should have been worth at least three games.
Punches like that can do damage. Just ask former Ranger Jeff Beukeboom, who suffered a career ending concussion after a Matt Johnson cheapshot to the back of the head.
But what's the sense trying to make sense of a league which has gone soft? This is the new corporate NHL. Where they protect superstars even when those stars are in the wrong committing violent acts like the ones Ovechkin and Briere got away with on each other. Do you think for one second if it was a little known fourth liner, they wouldn't have been severely punished?
And that is what's wrong with this newer softer product which is full of hypocrisy. Why should one set of players be held to a higher standard? Shouldn't there be some consistency? Not anymore.
All commish Gary Bettman's game is doing is turning off diehard supporters. If you don't believe me, just look at the responses this got on TSN:
http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=190421&hubname=nhl
The real hockey fans know the deal with what they're seeing. But they no longer matter in Bettman's NHL. An NHL which has turned its back on the diehards.
Is it worth it? But hey. As long as they have enough corporate sponsors telling them what to do, it's not going to change anytime soon. That's who they're selling the game to.
If you give Ovechkin the benefit of the doubt, maybe he didn't realize his strength. The fiery 21 year-old Russian plays the game like a bull giving everything he has every shift. It's resulted so far in another great season with the former 2004 first overall pick tied for the league lead with Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis in goalscoring with 25 goals. With an assist in Monday afternoon's 3-2 loss to Phoenix, the Washington sniper moved into fifth in scoring with 51 points.
There's little doubt that he is a special player who gets the most of his talent. And that is a good thing for not only his team but for the NHL. He is a superstar who the league should promote at every turn. However, they shouldn't turn the other cheek when he makes a mistake and nearly injures another player. Unfortunately, that's essentially what happened. Instead of facing suspension, the affable Russian got a slap on the wrist, instead being fined $1,000.
Fast forward to the rematch between the teams last week in Buffalo. The Sabres made a statement by scoring the game's first six goals in a dominant first before cruising to a 6-3 win at HSBC Arena on December 26. In the same game, Briere took a cheapshot of his own spearing Ovechkin to the ice while officials were screened out by Buffalo teammate Brian Campbell, causing it to be undetected. To Ovechkin's credit, he got up and challenged Briere to a fight. But Briere's teammates prevented it.
According to the rulebook, a deliberate spear attempt is cause for a five minute major, automatic game misconduct and a league review. A few days ago, this incident was reviewed by the league before the Sabres took on Carolina. Predictably, nothing happened allowing Briere to dress and notch an assist in a 4-1 win over the Hurricanes on December 28.
So, in two instances where a star player was involved in a cheap play, they didn't miss a game and only one was fined.
Now let's examine what took place this past Saturday night at the Garden during the Rangers' 4-1 victory over the Caps. Throughout the relatively chippy contest, Washington goon and NHL bad boy Donald Brashear ran several Rangers including star captain Jaromir Jagr. This wasn't any surprise as playing the moody Czech physical has seemed to get him off his game. However, during a faceoff in the third period, the ex-Flyer enforcer elbowed Jagr. On the same shift, No.68 retaliated by taking down the big man drawing an interference penalty. When Brashear returned to the bench, he was called out by Ranger star Brendan Shanahan. During their next shift, Shanahan challenged Brashear to a fight, sticking up for Jagr and gaining a ton of respect from teammates and the home crowd who ate it up chanting, "Shanny, Shanny, Shanny."
It was quite a statement made by the 37 year-old leading goalscorer for the Blueshirts. Never one to back away from a challenge he issues, the 600 goal member took his lumps and did relatively well even landing a couple of uppercuts. When the scrap concluded, Brashear's theatrics weren't over. Apparently Ranger defenseman Aaron Ward uttered something to him which he didn't like. He reacted by suckerpunching Ward in the face, drawing a match penalty and automatic ejection ending his night.
Not to be outdone was Ranger enforcer Colton Orr, who late in the second stuck up for Ryan Hollweg and took on Brashear. With under five minutes remaining in the contest, the 24 year-old Manitoban cheapshotted Ovechkin with a high hit to the head knocking down the star and drawing a charging minor before accepting Washington defenseman Shaone Morrisonn's challenge.
There's little doubt that Orr's move was dangerous and could've resulted in serious injury to Ovechkin. So when NHL Senior Executive VP of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell ruled on it yesterday, it was no surprise that the former Bruin faced serious suspension. As a first time offender, he was given five games and lost $13,235.29.
Now consider that 34 year-old Brashear has been in the league much longer and was a repeat offender who had already been suspended three games this season. Somehow, he only got one game for his suckerpunch.
Here was Mr. Campbell's statement on why Orr received four extra games:
"The Rangers player’s actions with his stick were reckless and dangerous. Although no injury resulted, the action is unacceptable."
This seems like a fair assessment. For the record, I don't have a problem with why Orr got five games. However, how does Brashear get only a game? Was that not dangerous? He could've fractured Ward's cheekbone. Was it as bad as what Orr did? Probably not. But it should have been worth at least three games.
Punches like that can do damage. Just ask former Ranger Jeff Beukeboom, who suffered a career ending concussion after a Matt Johnson cheapshot to the back of the head.
But what's the sense trying to make sense of a league which has gone soft? This is the new corporate NHL. Where they protect superstars even when those stars are in the wrong committing violent acts like the ones Ovechkin and Briere got away with on each other. Do you think for one second if it was a little known fourth liner, they wouldn't have been severely punished?
And that is what's wrong with this newer softer product which is full of hypocrisy. Why should one set of players be held to a higher standard? Shouldn't there be some consistency? Not anymore.
All commish Gary Bettman's game is doing is turning off diehard supporters. If you don't believe me, just look at the responses this got on TSN:
http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=190421&hubname=nhl
The real hockey fans know the deal with what they're seeing. But they no longer matter in Bettman's NHL. An NHL which has turned its back on the diehards.
Is it worth it? But hey. As long as they have enough corporate sponsors telling them what to do, it's not going to change anytime soon. That's who they're selling the game to.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Rangers Drop Tough One In Carolina
A night removed from an emotional comeback home win over the Devils, the Rangers played on fairly even terms with the defending Cup champion Hurricanes in Raleigh. But one mistake was all it took to decide a tightly contested game which Carolina pulled out 2-1 thanks to a Rod Brind'Amour goal with just 6:05 left at RBC Center Wednesday night.
With the teams knotted at one, an icing proved costly. Forced to keep the same players out while Carolina changed, the Blueshirts paid the price. Even though ex-Cane Matt Cullen beat Brind'Amour in the faceoff circle, an Aaron Ward reverse got intercepted by Justin Williams, who quickly setup a vacated Brind'Amour in the slot for a quick shot which beat Kevin Weekes inside the crossbar for the Hurricane captain's eighth.
Though the Rangers pressed late for the equalizer, they couldn't beat Cam Ward. The second-year Conn Smythe winner turned aside 23 of 24 shots to pickup the win, including a couple of big stops on Cullen and Fedor Tyutin.
Making his first start in five to give Henrik Lundqvist a night off, Weekes was solid in making 22 saves. But the ex-Carolina netminder got out to a tough start when Ranger killer Craig Adams tipped home an Anton Babchuk feed only 2:51 in. Chad LaRose also notched an assist.
After looking a couple of steps behind, the Rangers found their game and nearly tied it a couple of minutes later when Michael Nylander found Jaromir Jagr all alone for a breakaway. But the Ranger captain's forehand deke was denied by a sprawling Ward.
Weekes made some big stops in a busy second (14 saves) to keep his team down one. With the backup providing solid netminding, Jagr wouldn't miss the next time when Brendan Shanahan set him up in the slot for a one-timer which beat Ward five-hole on a power play at 16:02 to tie it. It was Jagr's third in two games and 599th of his NHL career. With his next goal, he'll become the 16th player to reach 600. Martin Straka also picked up a helper.
After killing off a Canes' man-advantage late in the second, they had a great opportunity to surge ahead early in the third when Eric Staal was assessed a double minor for high sticking Cullen. But New York failed to capitalize and it was cut short by a Jagr tripping penalty.
The Canes' Erik Cole came close to beating Weekes when his shot rang off the right post with less than 13:00 to go. It was the third post they hit to that point. Unfortunately for Weekes and his teammates, they wouldn't be as fortunate late.
Notes: After seeing over 3:00 of ice-time the first period, Colton Orr (4:31) rarely saw the ice and was replaced by Jagr in the third, who took a doubleshift with the fourth line a night after it worked so well against the Devils. The formula nearly paid dividends again when Jagr almost banked one past Ward. ... This was Cullen and Ward's first return to Carolina since helping them win the Cup last June. ... Canes won 29 of 51 draws including 20-11 from Brind'Amour. ... Rangers (10-8-1) are idle the next two days before visiting Pittsburgh Saturday and then returning home to MSG Sunday against Tampa Bay.
With the teams knotted at one, an icing proved costly. Forced to keep the same players out while Carolina changed, the Blueshirts paid the price. Even though ex-Cane Matt Cullen beat Brind'Amour in the faceoff circle, an Aaron Ward reverse got intercepted by Justin Williams, who quickly setup a vacated Brind'Amour in the slot for a quick shot which beat Kevin Weekes inside the crossbar for the Hurricane captain's eighth.
Though the Rangers pressed late for the equalizer, they couldn't beat Cam Ward. The second-year Conn Smythe winner turned aside 23 of 24 shots to pickup the win, including a couple of big stops on Cullen and Fedor Tyutin.
Making his first start in five to give Henrik Lundqvist a night off, Weekes was solid in making 22 saves. But the ex-Carolina netminder got out to a tough start when Ranger killer Craig Adams tipped home an Anton Babchuk feed only 2:51 in. Chad LaRose also notched an assist.
After looking a couple of steps behind, the Rangers found their game and nearly tied it a couple of minutes later when Michael Nylander found Jaromir Jagr all alone for a breakaway. But the Ranger captain's forehand deke was denied by a sprawling Ward.
Weekes made some big stops in a busy second (14 saves) to keep his team down one. With the backup providing solid netminding, Jagr wouldn't miss the next time when Brendan Shanahan set him up in the slot for a one-timer which beat Ward five-hole on a power play at 16:02 to tie it. It was Jagr's third in two games and 599th of his NHL career. With his next goal, he'll become the 16th player to reach 600. Martin Straka also picked up a helper.
After killing off a Canes' man-advantage late in the second, they had a great opportunity to surge ahead early in the third when Eric Staal was assessed a double minor for high sticking Cullen. But New York failed to capitalize and it was cut short by a Jagr tripping penalty.
The Canes' Erik Cole came close to beating Weekes when his shot rang off the right post with less than 13:00 to go. It was the third post they hit to that point. Unfortunately for Weekes and his teammates, they wouldn't be as fortunate late.
Notes: After seeing over 3:00 of ice-time the first period, Colton Orr (4:31) rarely saw the ice and was replaced by Jagr in the third, who took a doubleshift with the fourth line a night after it worked so well against the Devils. The formula nearly paid dividends again when Jagr almost banked one past Ward. ... This was Cullen and Ward's first return to Carolina since helping them win the Cup last June. ... Canes won 29 of 51 draws including 20-11 from Brind'Amour. ... Rangers (10-8-1) are idle the next two days before visiting Pittsburgh Saturday and then returning home to MSG Sunday against Tampa Bay.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
The King Of Shootouts Gets Blueshirts Victory
The King was back in net for the Rangers. And that was definitely a good thing as Henrik Lundqvist continued his shootout dominance by stopping all three shooters in a 4-3 shootout victory over the Panthers at Bank Atlantic Center Wednesday night. It was the Blueshirts' third win in four and improved them to 3-0-1 during that stretch with just a home OT loss to Buffalo.
After sitting out the last three in favor of backup Kevin Weekes, Lundqvist was sharp enough to spark his team to a much needed win in the first of a three-game four-day Southeast trip with stops in Atlanta Friday and Washington Saturday.
In a game he made 37 saves just to get his team to its third shootout of the season, the 24 year-old Swedish gold medallist was the difference once again in improving the club to a perfect 3-0 under such instances. Forcing an Olli Jokinen miss while stoning Nathan Horton and Joe Nieuwendyk, Lundqvist made Michael Nylander's backhand deke stand up. In the three shootout victories, the King hasn't allowed a goal in 19 tries, including that memorable 13 round triumph over the Flyers back on October 7.
"I always feel pretty confident going into a shootout, but at the same time I know they (Panthers) have some good shooters," Lundqvist told the AP. "So I knew it would be a challenge."
"We really don't mind going into a shootout," added Rangers coach Tom Renney. "We feel like we have an advantage with our shooters."
It was all Rangers early as they took advantage of some undisciplined penalties by Florida to connect twice on the power play thanks to Martin Straka. With Martin Gelinas off for hooking, it took Straka just 10 seconds to blast a shot from the left point past Ed Belfour to give them the lead 3:13 into the contest. Brendan Shanahan and Nylander picked up assists.
Though they failed to capitalize on three more power plays during a onesided first which saw them control play and outshoot Florida 11-6, another penalty would lead to Straka's second of the night only 2:07 into the second. Off a faceoff win from Nylander with help from Shanahan, the left wing stepped into another point shot and beat Belfour inside the post to put New York comfortably in front by two.
"I was in good position to get off decent shots (on both goals) and it just worked out tonight," Straka said. "It's nice to get that early lead, but we have to maintain it throughout the game."
Continuing to dictate play, they drew two more penalties including a double minor on Chris Gratton. But instead of seizing complete control, a Straka hooking penalty led to a four-on-four goal by Ruslan Salei at 11:13 which cut it to one. With the Panthers back in it, they drew even 6:05 later when Horton rebounded home a Gary Roberts deflection on the power play. Suddenly, the Panthers came at the Rangers in waves outshooting them 12-1 over the final few minutes. Despite being outshot 18-7 for the period, New York escaped further damage thanks to Lundqvist (16 saves).
Even on the scoreboard, the Blueshirts once again got an early goal in the third thanks to a brilliant individual effort from Blair Betts. The checking pivot took the puck from his own blueline and then went around Florida defenseman Mike Van Ryn flipping a backhand on net and putting home his own rebound for his third unassisted at 1:34. It was the second highlight reel goal he scored in the last three. Betts also pulled off a similar play at Anaheim when he went coast to coast undressing Scott Niedermayer before beating Jean-Sebastien Giguere.
But Florida responded by tying it when defenseman Jay Bouwmeester put home his third with 11:07 remaining to force OT. In it, both teams played an unconventional three-on-three before the Rangers killed off a brief Panthers man-advantage to force the shootout leading to Lundqvist's theatrics.
Notes: Straka has three goals and four points in his last three. After starting the season with three goals in his first eight, he's got six in his last seven. ... Belfour finished with 27 saves. ... In an oddity, the Rangers' 4-3 shootout win was almost a year to the date of last year's identical margin last November 9th in the same building. "Yeah, I was thinking about that during the shootout, you know, maybe it's in the stars again," Renney pointed out. "We were able to prevail and win, so, yeah, history does repeat itself."
After sitting out the last three in favor of backup Kevin Weekes, Lundqvist was sharp enough to spark his team to a much needed win in the first of a three-game four-day Southeast trip with stops in Atlanta Friday and Washington Saturday.
In a game he made 37 saves just to get his team to its third shootout of the season, the 24 year-old Swedish gold medallist was the difference once again in improving the club to a perfect 3-0 under such instances. Forcing an Olli Jokinen miss while stoning Nathan Horton and Joe Nieuwendyk, Lundqvist made Michael Nylander's backhand deke stand up. In the three shootout victories, the King hasn't allowed a goal in 19 tries, including that memorable 13 round triumph over the Flyers back on October 7.
"I always feel pretty confident going into a shootout, but at the same time I know they (Panthers) have some good shooters," Lundqvist told the AP. "So I knew it would be a challenge."
"We really don't mind going into a shootout," added Rangers coach Tom Renney. "We feel like we have an advantage with our shooters."
It was all Rangers early as they took advantage of some undisciplined penalties by Florida to connect twice on the power play thanks to Martin Straka. With Martin Gelinas off for hooking, it took Straka just 10 seconds to blast a shot from the left point past Ed Belfour to give them the lead 3:13 into the contest. Brendan Shanahan and Nylander picked up assists.
Though they failed to capitalize on three more power plays during a onesided first which saw them control play and outshoot Florida 11-6, another penalty would lead to Straka's second of the night only 2:07 into the second. Off a faceoff win from Nylander with help from Shanahan, the left wing stepped into another point shot and beat Belfour inside the post to put New York comfortably in front by two.
"I was in good position to get off decent shots (on both goals) and it just worked out tonight," Straka said. "It's nice to get that early lead, but we have to maintain it throughout the game."
Continuing to dictate play, they drew two more penalties including a double minor on Chris Gratton. But instead of seizing complete control, a Straka hooking penalty led to a four-on-four goal by Ruslan Salei at 11:13 which cut it to one. With the Panthers back in it, they drew even 6:05 later when Horton rebounded home a Gary Roberts deflection on the power play. Suddenly, the Panthers came at the Rangers in waves outshooting them 12-1 over the final few minutes. Despite being outshot 18-7 for the period, New York escaped further damage thanks to Lundqvist (16 saves).
Even on the scoreboard, the Blueshirts once again got an early goal in the third thanks to a brilliant individual effort from Blair Betts. The checking pivot took the puck from his own blueline and then went around Florida defenseman Mike Van Ryn flipping a backhand on net and putting home his own rebound for his third unassisted at 1:34. It was the second highlight reel goal he scored in the last three. Betts also pulled off a similar play at Anaheim when he went coast to coast undressing Scott Niedermayer before beating Jean-Sebastien Giguere.
But Florida responded by tying it when defenseman Jay Bouwmeester put home his third with 11:07 remaining to force OT. In it, both teams played an unconventional three-on-three before the Rangers killed off a brief Panthers man-advantage to force the shootout leading to Lundqvist's theatrics.
Notes: Straka has three goals and four points in his last three. After starting the season with three goals in his first eight, he's got six in his last seven. ... Belfour finished with 27 saves. ... In an oddity, the Rangers' 4-3 shootout win was almost a year to the date of last year's identical margin last November 9th in the same building. "Yeah, I was thinking about that during the shootout, you know, maybe it's in the stars again," Renney pointed out. "We were able to prevail and win, so, yeah, history does repeat itself."
Friday, November 03, 2006
Oduya Growing In Confidence
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ -Before training camp, Johnny Oduya was just another player who was trying to make an impression with the Devils. After a solid camp and preseason, the Swedish 25 year-old defenseman suddenly found himself not only on the roster but in the lineup for their opening night 4-0 win at Carolina October 6.
So far, he's suited up in every game and is a respectable plus-one for the season. After playing the last few years overseas back home, the former Capitals 2001 seventh round pick understands how much tougher it is now that he's finally in the NHL.
"The game is a bit different for sure," Oduya pointed out after falling to the Islanders 5-2 Thursday night. "It's faster and there's not as much time with the puck. Unlike Europe, there's skilled players on every team. But you got to be aware when you're on the ice so much more. Like if you make a mistake here, they score right away."
As the season has gone on, Devils coach Claude Julien has given the rookie more ice-time and responsibility, which has helped boost his confidence.
"It's always, especially for a defenseman to play more. It helps you get in the game faster and makes you more confident," he pointed out after logging 18:49 including 2:09 of power play time last night. "Even if you make a mistake, you got time to get it back. I'm happy for every minute I can get on the ice. Just try to play the game they want me to play. Pretty smart defensively and try to skate as much as I can."
With Brad Lukowich missing some time due to a bruised left foot, Oduya has even gotten a chance to play with Brian Rafalski. So far, it's gone well.
"Rafy is an All Star player and he's got a lot of experience and helps me out a lot," he remarked. "He knows when to make the plays and not to. It's great for me to learn from. I think it's pretty good now."
On a veteran-laiden team, it's helped Oduya feel more comfortable. He's especially eager to improve and help the club have success on the ice.
"For sure. Like the guys have been around. They know what it takes. That's the thing you want to learn as a newcomer. How to win. We had a tough one today and had a couple of tough ones before. I think this is the place to be and learn from it."
Though he never got a chance to debut with Washington, Oduya is very pleased to finally be here and hopes to continue to impress with his new club.
"Anytime you get the chance to play in the NHL, I think that's a big thing for any player when you break in."
"It didn't workout in Washington for me but I was happy I came here. I'm happy I'm playing here and I'll try to do my best and we'll see what happens."
So far, he's suited up in every game and is a respectable plus-one for the season. After playing the last few years overseas back home, the former Capitals 2001 seventh round pick understands how much tougher it is now that he's finally in the NHL.
"The game is a bit different for sure," Oduya pointed out after falling to the Islanders 5-2 Thursday night. "It's faster and there's not as much time with the puck. Unlike Europe, there's skilled players on every team. But you got to be aware when you're on the ice so much more. Like if you make a mistake here, they score right away."
As the season has gone on, Devils coach Claude Julien has given the rookie more ice-time and responsibility, which has helped boost his confidence.
"It's always, especially for a defenseman to play more. It helps you get in the game faster and makes you more confident," he pointed out after logging 18:49 including 2:09 of power play time last night. "Even if you make a mistake, you got time to get it back. I'm happy for every minute I can get on the ice. Just try to play the game they want me to play. Pretty smart defensively and try to skate as much as I can."
With Brad Lukowich missing some time due to a bruised left foot, Oduya has even gotten a chance to play with Brian Rafalski. So far, it's gone well.
"Rafy is an All Star player and he's got a lot of experience and helps me out a lot," he remarked. "He knows when to make the plays and not to. It's great for me to learn from. I think it's pretty good now."
On a veteran-laiden team, it's helped Oduya feel more comfortable. He's especially eager to improve and help the club have success on the ice.
"For sure. Like the guys have been around. They know what it takes. That's the thing you want to learn as a newcomer. How to win. We had a tough one today and had a couple of tough ones before. I think this is the place to be and learn from it."
Though he never got a chance to debut with Washington, Oduya is very pleased to finally be here and hopes to continue to impress with his new club.
"Anytime you get the chance to play in the NHL, I think that's a big thing for any player when you break in."
"It didn't workout in Washington for me but I was happy I came here. I'm happy I'm playing here and I'll try to do my best and we'll see what happens."
Isles Continue Domination Over Devils
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ -Sometimes in sports, a particular opponent has a team's number. Apparently, that's still the case with the Islanders, who continued their recent mastery over the Devils with a dominant 5-2 victory before a sparse 8,269 at the Continental Airlines Arena Thursday night.
"It's tough to say but as long as it is we'll take it," chuckled Islander captain Alexei Yashin after setting up three goals while Jason Blake added a goal and two assists in the Isles' seventh win in the last nine against New Jersey.
"What it is is that we don't play our game against these guys," explained frustrated Devils' captain Patrik Elias. "We played into their hands and they were good."
The Isles' fifth win in six improved them to 6-4-2 and into a first place tie with Pittsburgh in the Atlantic.
"It's very nice to see," said a pleased Yashin. "It was nice to see the team respond like that. I think it's important like we really recognize the situation and importance of the game. What I want to say is, 'Game over today. There's a next game on Saturday.' We have to continue. Atlanta has been playing great hockey. So we have to be ready for that."
After owning the season series last year by taking six of eight meetings, the Islanders outworked and outplayed the Devils (6-5-1) by a wide margin, even limiting them to just 16 shots (10 first two periods).
Not even Martin Brodeur aiming for his third consecutive shutout could prevent them from finding the back of the net. It took Trent Hunter 8:00 to solve the Devils' netminder with a quick wrister which snapped Brodeur's shutout streak at 136:28 and gave the Islanders an early lead. It also broke a seven-game goal drought for Hunter.
After New York pressed for a two-goal lead, the Devils would respond by tying it thanks to rookie Travis Zajac, who finished off an impressive shift by one-timing a Jamie Langenbrunner backhand off an Isles' defenseman past Rick DiPietro at 15:30. But any momentum was shortlived as the Isles got it right back just 32 seconds later when Miroslav Satan rebounded home a Hunter shot. Mike York made the play possible by stealing the puck from Scott Gomez and setting up the goal.
Alexei Zhitnik padded the lead halfway through the second when his wrister from the point through traffic beat Brodeur. Taking a Yashin feed, his one-timer looked to change direction with Blake in front.
Briefly after, the Devils had a huge opportunity to get back in the game when two Isles were sent to the box five seconds apart giving them a two-man advantage for 1:55. But instead of capitalizing, they failed to force DiPietro to make any big stops and frequently missed the net, drawing boos instead.
"That could've brought us closer to make the game more interesting obviously and getting shots. We just haven't been able to hit the net on those and we were missing chances," Elias lamented.
Feeding off the huge kill, the Isles went up three thanks to some more nifty playmaking from Yashin. Taking a Blake drop pass at the blueline on a three-on-two, the Russian center drew two Devils and then made a perfect pass across to a wide open Viktor Kozlov in the slot for an easy one-timer goal for the ex-Devil's fourth of the season.
The Devils cut it to two 3:32 later thanks to another great shift from the Zajac line. Off a steal by Zajac which setup an odd-man rush, Langenbrunner chipped a pass to Zach Parise, who deflected it home for his sixth to give New Jersey some life heading to the third.
"We had one line going and that was about it," Elias pointed out. "We got to have obviously four lines with everybody on the same page and once again, we haven't done it."
Instead of making another comeback, New Jersey repeatedly took uncharacteristic bad penalties. After killing off one, an undisciplined Colin White slash would prove costly. Once again, a great play by Yashin resulted in a goal. Victimizing the shorthanded Devils on another three-on-two, he worked a give-and-go with Mike Sillinger and then slid the puck through a sliding Alex Brooks to setup a wide open Blake at the doorstep for a PPG at 4:46 to regain a three-goal lead.
"To beat great goalies, you have to move them from side-to-side...It's the only way to beat great goalies like Marty," Yashin concluded.
The formula worked to perfection.
Notes: York finished with two assists while Hunter matched his season output with a goal and assist. ... Isles' Arron Asham and Devils' Cam Janssen squared off and battled to a draw 2:47 in. ... Yashin has five points (2-3-5) in his last three games and has only been held without a point twice this season while leading the Islanders with 16 points. ... DiPietro turned aside 14 of 16 shots for his fourth win while Brodeur finished with 22 saves. ... Back after missing the Columbus game, Gomez played the first two periods (14:05) before reaggravating a groin injury. ... Making his return in a Devils uniform for the first time in a decade after helping them win their first Stanley Cup, Brick native Jim Dowd took 12 shifts (10:12) while playing on the fourth line with Janssen and Erik Rasmussen. ... As part of their 25th Anniversary celebration, the Devils honored their 1983-84 team before the game with a brief tribute.
"It's tough to say but as long as it is we'll take it," chuckled Islander captain Alexei Yashin after setting up three goals while Jason Blake added a goal and two assists in the Isles' seventh win in the last nine against New Jersey.
"What it is is that we don't play our game against these guys," explained frustrated Devils' captain Patrik Elias. "We played into their hands and they were good."
The Isles' fifth win in six improved them to 6-4-2 and into a first place tie with Pittsburgh in the Atlantic.
"It's very nice to see," said a pleased Yashin. "It was nice to see the team respond like that. I think it's important like we really recognize the situation and importance of the game. What I want to say is, 'Game over today. There's a next game on Saturday.' We have to continue. Atlanta has been playing great hockey. So we have to be ready for that."
After owning the season series last year by taking six of eight meetings, the Islanders outworked and outplayed the Devils (6-5-1) by a wide margin, even limiting them to just 16 shots (10 first two periods).
Not even Martin Brodeur aiming for his third consecutive shutout could prevent them from finding the back of the net. It took Trent Hunter 8:00 to solve the Devils' netminder with a quick wrister which snapped Brodeur's shutout streak at 136:28 and gave the Islanders an early lead. It also broke a seven-game goal drought for Hunter.
After New York pressed for a two-goal lead, the Devils would respond by tying it thanks to rookie Travis Zajac, who finished off an impressive shift by one-timing a Jamie Langenbrunner backhand off an Isles' defenseman past Rick DiPietro at 15:30. But any momentum was shortlived as the Isles got it right back just 32 seconds later when Miroslav Satan rebounded home a Hunter shot. Mike York made the play possible by stealing the puck from Scott Gomez and setting up the goal.
Alexei Zhitnik padded the lead halfway through the second when his wrister from the point through traffic beat Brodeur. Taking a Yashin feed, his one-timer looked to change direction with Blake in front.
Briefly after, the Devils had a huge opportunity to get back in the game when two Isles were sent to the box five seconds apart giving them a two-man advantage for 1:55. But instead of capitalizing, they failed to force DiPietro to make any big stops and frequently missed the net, drawing boos instead.
"That could've brought us closer to make the game more interesting obviously and getting shots. We just haven't been able to hit the net on those and we were missing chances," Elias lamented.
Feeding off the huge kill, the Isles went up three thanks to some more nifty playmaking from Yashin. Taking a Blake drop pass at the blueline on a three-on-two, the Russian center drew two Devils and then made a perfect pass across to a wide open Viktor Kozlov in the slot for an easy one-timer goal for the ex-Devil's fourth of the season.
The Devils cut it to two 3:32 later thanks to another great shift from the Zajac line. Off a steal by Zajac which setup an odd-man rush, Langenbrunner chipped a pass to Zach Parise, who deflected it home for his sixth to give New Jersey some life heading to the third.
"We had one line going and that was about it," Elias pointed out. "We got to have obviously four lines with everybody on the same page and once again, we haven't done it."
Instead of making another comeback, New Jersey repeatedly took uncharacteristic bad penalties. After killing off one, an undisciplined Colin White slash would prove costly. Once again, a great play by Yashin resulted in a goal. Victimizing the shorthanded Devils on another three-on-two, he worked a give-and-go with Mike Sillinger and then slid the puck through a sliding Alex Brooks to setup a wide open Blake at the doorstep for a PPG at 4:46 to regain a three-goal lead.
"To beat great goalies, you have to move them from side-to-side...It's the only way to beat great goalies like Marty," Yashin concluded.
The formula worked to perfection.
Notes: York finished with two assists while Hunter matched his season output with a goal and assist. ... Isles' Arron Asham and Devils' Cam Janssen squared off and battled to a draw 2:47 in. ... Yashin has five points (2-3-5) in his last three games and has only been held without a point twice this season while leading the Islanders with 16 points. ... DiPietro turned aside 14 of 16 shots for his fourth win while Brodeur finished with 22 saves. ... Back after missing the Columbus game, Gomez played the first two periods (14:05) before reaggravating a groin injury. ... Making his return in a Devils uniform for the first time in a decade after helping them win their first Stanley Cup, Brick native Jim Dowd took 12 shifts (10:12) while playing on the fourth line with Janssen and Erik Rasmussen. ... As part of their 25th Anniversary celebration, the Devils honored their 1983-84 team before the game with a brief tribute.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Parise Looking To Carry On Solid Play
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ -So far, so good for Devils' forward Zach Parise in year number two. After a solid finish to his first season, the 22 year-old Minnesota native came into 2006-07 expecting bigger things from himself.
"I really thought things were kind of coming together at the end of last year and I was just trying to carry it over from when Gomez, Gionta and I were playing together," Parise expressed after notching a power play goal in the Devils' 3-2 victory over Philadelphia Saturday night. It was his third in four games to go with an assist but the second-year North Dakota product was keeping it in perspective.
"I just want to kind of carry that on and so far it's early. Three, four games. But it's been going pretty good so far," he pointed out.
The key for Parise is to be consistent and continue excelling while playing with two dynamic talented players in Gomez and Gionta on the Devils' top line. After starting slowly his rookie season, he finished well with his American linemates, concluding with 14 goals and 18 assists for 32 points in 81 games while tallying a goal and two helpers in his first postseason. The former 2003 first round pick knows that that experience should make him feel more comfortable this season.
"No question. Especially cause you just kind of see what it's all about. The more experience, the better. Especially here. I feel a lot better now at this time this year than I did last year."
Since being teamed with Gomez and Gionta, he's formed excellent chemistry with them adding even more speed and making the trio more dangerous on rushes. But he also realizes his good fortune to play with such talent.
"I'm pretty fortunate to play with those guys," he noted. "They make it pretty easy for me and they're helpful. That's the most important thing. I think we just kind of click pretty well so far together."
Parise also understands who he replaced on that line when then Coach/GM Lou Lamoriello moved him up while shifting present team captain Patrik Elias to the second line to give the Devils more balance and spark them to their sixth Atlantic title.
"It was tough because Patty was on that line. So it's kind of hard. Kind of big shoes to fill but I think it's gone pretty good so far."
While it's been a smooth transition thus far for Parise, he's also excited to have another North Dakota product alongside him in former 2004 Devils' first round pick Travis Zajac.
"North Dakota is a good place to go play and we chat a little bit about it but got to turn the page. He's doing real well for us this year. I think he's going to be a really good player in the league."
One thing Parise is happy about is that his older brother Jordan, who also starred as a goalie at North Dakota, was signed as a free agent by the Devils and is playing for AHL affiliate Lowell. With him closeby, they speak frequently.
"I talk to him all the time. He's down at Lowell right now and hopefully, he'll get a chance to play down there and who knows what will happen down the road. But he's enjoying himself so far."
Who knows? Maybe one day the two brothers could lead the Devils to victory.
"I really thought things were kind of coming together at the end of last year and I was just trying to carry it over from when Gomez, Gionta and I were playing together," Parise expressed after notching a power play goal in the Devils' 3-2 victory over Philadelphia Saturday night. It was his third in four games to go with an assist but the second-year North Dakota product was keeping it in perspective.
"I just want to kind of carry that on and so far it's early. Three, four games. But it's been going pretty good so far," he pointed out.
The key for Parise is to be consistent and continue excelling while playing with two dynamic talented players in Gomez and Gionta on the Devils' top line. After starting slowly his rookie season, he finished well with his American linemates, concluding with 14 goals and 18 assists for 32 points in 81 games while tallying a goal and two helpers in his first postseason. The former 2003 first round pick knows that that experience should make him feel more comfortable this season.
"No question. Especially cause you just kind of see what it's all about. The more experience, the better. Especially here. I feel a lot better now at this time this year than I did last year."
Since being teamed with Gomez and Gionta, he's formed excellent chemistry with them adding even more speed and making the trio more dangerous on rushes. But he also realizes his good fortune to play with such talent.
"I'm pretty fortunate to play with those guys," he noted. "They make it pretty easy for me and they're helpful. That's the most important thing. I think we just kind of click pretty well so far together."
Parise also understands who he replaced on that line when then Coach/GM Lou Lamoriello moved him up while shifting present team captain Patrik Elias to the second line to give the Devils more balance and spark them to their sixth Atlantic title.
"It was tough because Patty was on that line. So it's kind of hard. Kind of big shoes to fill but I think it's gone pretty good so far."
While it's been a smooth transition thus far for Parise, he's also excited to have another North Dakota product alongside him in former 2004 Devils' first round pick Travis Zajac.
"North Dakota is a good place to go play and we chat a little bit about it but got to turn the page. He's doing real well for us this year. I think he's going to be a really good player in the league."
One thing Parise is happy about is that his older brother Jordan, who also starred as a goalie at North Dakota, was signed as a free agent by the Devils and is playing for AHL affiliate Lowell. With him closeby, they speak frequently.
"I talk to him all the time. He's down at Lowell right now and hopefully, he'll get a chance to play down there and who knows what will happen down the road. But he's enjoying himself so far."
Who knows? Maybe one day the two brothers could lead the Devils to victory.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Gionta The Difference In Devils' Win Over Flyers
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ -Brian Gionta remained hot. Coming off his first career hat trick which rallied his team from three down to help pull out a wild 7-6 shootout victory over Toronto in their home opener, the Devils' sniper once again delivered.
Gionta's team-leading fourth goal snapped a 2-2 tie and ultimately proved the difference in New Jersey's 3-2 comeback victory over the rival Flyers before an energized 14,177 at Continental Airlines Arena Saturday night.
"It's big for us," forward Zach Parise pointed out. "Philly's in our division obviously. It's a division game obviously and we battled back- another come from behind win. We played well when we stayed out of the box."
With the game knotted early in the third period, the Devils' little big man perfectly redirected a Brian Rafalski point shot by Flyers' netminder Antero Niittymaki at 3:33 to give his team its second straight win and improve to 3-1-0 on the season.
"It's just one of those things," he said after helping the Devils to their fifth consecutive triumph at home over their Turnpike neighbors. "I just try to get to the net when it counts. We have to create traffic and try to get some tips and rebounds."
"[Gionta] has been a clutch performer for us for the last couple of years," right wing Jamie Langenbrunner noted. "The last game, he scored the last three there to put us into extra time and then tonight, the game winner. He seems to find a way and it's good to have a guy like that on your team."
Martin Brodeur made Gionta's clutch tally stand up with 25 saves to notch his 449th career victory. He trails just the Panthers' Ed Belfour (457) and Patrick Roy (551) on the NHL all-time list.
"To win the games, you need the goaltender to be sharp and give the team a chance to win and [Brodeur] did a great job tonight," team captain Patrik Elias said. "We played pretty good game tonight. Especially the third period. It was very good for us. First couple of periods, too many penalties and we didn't get a chance to get in a good rhythm. We played a smart third period and gave ourselves a chance to win."
With both teams unable to stay out of the box in the first, each spent plenty of time on the man-advantage. After they killed off back-to-back minors, the Devils cashed in on their second consecutive opportunity to go in front. Parise opened the scoring when he took a Scott Gomez pass and beat Niittymaki with a wrister from the right circle for his third at 9:08. But the lead would be shortlived when the Flyers' Mike Knuble struck right back with a PPG of his own 2:06 later to tie it. With Elias off for a high sticking double minor, Knuble took a Peter Forsberg pass and beat Brodeur in front.
It didn't take long in the second for Knuble to put the Flyers ahead. Off a three-on-two rush, he got his stick on a Geoff Sanderson centering feed and deflected it in at 1:23. A video review confirmed that he had tallied his second of the night and third of the season.
The Flyers threatened to go up by two but a strong stop by Brodeur on a Simon Gagne backhand from in close during a delayed call on Colin White kept them down one. That proved pivotal late in the period when Langenbrunner deflected a Rafalski shot past Niittymaki to tie it on another PP with 1:41 remaining.
Rafalski picked up his third assist on Gionta's deciding goal which gave them another comeback win.
"Any time you're playing against your division, you're going to see them eight times a year. You want to get off on the right foot and it's a little easier. Make it a four point swing...That's huge. It's a good start. We got a big stretch of a couple of more division games coming up," Langenbrunner added.
"Any time you fall behind a team like that early, that's no good," defenseman Paul Martin said. "But the guys showed character and patience and kept plugging away and we were able to get the win."
Notes: After the teams combined for 13 penalties the first two periods, only one minor was called in the third on Knuble as the Devils stayed out of the box while outscoring their opponents 1-0 and outshooting them 11-7. ... Devils finished 2-for-6 on the PP while Philadelphia was just 1-of-8. ... Gomez had two assists and Elias also added a helper. ... Niittymaki turned aside 29 in a losing effort. ... Devils start a two-game road trip by visiting the Garden Monday against the Rangers before concluding at Pittsburgh Wednesday.
Gionta's team-leading fourth goal snapped a 2-2 tie and ultimately proved the difference in New Jersey's 3-2 comeback victory over the rival Flyers before an energized 14,177 at Continental Airlines Arena Saturday night.
"It's big for us," forward Zach Parise pointed out. "Philly's in our division obviously. It's a division game obviously and we battled back- another come from behind win. We played well when we stayed out of the box."
With the game knotted early in the third period, the Devils' little big man perfectly redirected a Brian Rafalski point shot by Flyers' netminder Antero Niittymaki at 3:33 to give his team its second straight win and improve to 3-1-0 on the season.
"It's just one of those things," he said after helping the Devils to their fifth consecutive triumph at home over their Turnpike neighbors. "I just try to get to the net when it counts. We have to create traffic and try to get some tips and rebounds."
"[Gionta] has been a clutch performer for us for the last couple of years," right wing Jamie Langenbrunner noted. "The last game, he scored the last three there to put us into extra time and then tonight, the game winner. He seems to find a way and it's good to have a guy like that on your team."
Martin Brodeur made Gionta's clutch tally stand up with 25 saves to notch his 449th career victory. He trails just the Panthers' Ed Belfour (457) and Patrick Roy (551) on the NHL all-time list.
"To win the games, you need the goaltender to be sharp and give the team a chance to win and [Brodeur] did a great job tonight," team captain Patrik Elias said. "We played pretty good game tonight. Especially the third period. It was very good for us. First couple of periods, too many penalties and we didn't get a chance to get in a good rhythm. We played a smart third period and gave ourselves a chance to win."
With both teams unable to stay out of the box in the first, each spent plenty of time on the man-advantage. After they killed off back-to-back minors, the Devils cashed in on their second consecutive opportunity to go in front. Parise opened the scoring when he took a Scott Gomez pass and beat Niittymaki with a wrister from the right circle for his third at 9:08. But the lead would be shortlived when the Flyers' Mike Knuble struck right back with a PPG of his own 2:06 later to tie it. With Elias off for a high sticking double minor, Knuble took a Peter Forsberg pass and beat Brodeur in front.
It didn't take long in the second for Knuble to put the Flyers ahead. Off a three-on-two rush, he got his stick on a Geoff Sanderson centering feed and deflected it in at 1:23. A video review confirmed that he had tallied his second of the night and third of the season.
The Flyers threatened to go up by two but a strong stop by Brodeur on a Simon Gagne backhand from in close during a delayed call on Colin White kept them down one. That proved pivotal late in the period when Langenbrunner deflected a Rafalski shot past Niittymaki to tie it on another PP with 1:41 remaining.
Rafalski picked up his third assist on Gionta's deciding goal which gave them another comeback win.
"Any time you're playing against your division, you're going to see them eight times a year. You want to get off on the right foot and it's a little easier. Make it a four point swing...That's huge. It's a good start. We got a big stretch of a couple of more division games coming up," Langenbrunner added.
"Any time you fall behind a team like that early, that's no good," defenseman Paul Martin said. "But the guys showed character and patience and kept plugging away and we were able to get the win."
Notes: After the teams combined for 13 penalties the first two periods, only one minor was called in the third on Knuble as the Devils stayed out of the box while outscoring their opponents 1-0 and outshooting them 11-7. ... Devils finished 2-for-6 on the PP while Philadelphia was just 1-of-8. ... Gomez had two assists and Elias also added a helper. ... Niittymaki turned aside 29 in a losing effort. ... Devils start a two-game road trip by visiting the Garden Monday against the Rangers before concluding at Pittsburgh Wednesday.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Wake Up Call Comes Early For Rangers
Four games. That's all it took to see that there's something seriously lacking with this year's Rangers. The same team which came off their first postseason in nine years and was even picked by some experts to win the Stanley Cup. Hold that thought.
In their second straight home defeat- a crushing 6-5 loss to the Pens in which 19 year-old wunderkid Sidney Crosby banked in the winner off Ranger defenseman Aaron Ward's skate with 3.3 seconds left as Ranger captain Jaromir Jagr helplessly watched from the penalty box- time and time again, the 2006-07 Blueshirts paid for their lack of discipline.
Every mistake wound up in the back of the net. Paging Henrik Lundqvist. You are allowed to make a big save once in a while. Yes. The same Swedish netminder who was deemed King of Manhattan in an outstanding rookie season but has somehow allowed 10 goals in the last two losses. Oh. And if you discount the stellar 13 save effort in their shootout win at Philadelphia Saturday, he's given up 14 goals on the last 85 shots his way. For those doing the math, that's an .835 save percentage.
Not that it's all his fault. There's plenty of blame to go around of a team that's made so many glaring mistakes early on, that it's looked eerily similar to their colossal nine-game losing streak which ended last season on such a sour note.
Aside from Lundqvist's early struggles in the dreaded sophomore season which has given plenty of netminders recurring nightmares, the lack of cohesiveness has to be a sore point for Rangers coach Tom Renney. Too many instances last night and especially the previous two, his team didn't seem on the same page. Particularly alarming is the lack of backchecks which have led to odd-man rushes resulting in goals such as the one Pittsburgh's Ryan Whitney connected on just 53 seconds after Michael Nylander's power play tally tied it to give the Pens a 5-4 lead with 12:58 remaining in a seesaw contest.
"We held the majority of the play," a disappointed Brendan Shanahan expressed to the AP after tallying his team-leading fourth goal via the man-advantage to knot the game up again at 11:12 before Crosby's cruel ending resulted in the Blueshirts getting no points. "We've got some work to do as a five-man unit and we've got some work to do on the special teams."
Ah. Special teams. If ever there was an area Renney's troops need to spend time on, it's on a penalty kill which allowed chance after chance to the opportunistic Pens, who cashed in on four of nine. Imagine that the Rangers outshot their opponent 42-22 but wound up on the losing side due to an abysmal effort which allowed the star of the night Crosby to also rack up three assists along with his crushing winner which sent fans to the exits cursing under their breath.
Since going a perfect eight-for-eight against Washington in their season opener triumph, they've now given up seven PPG in the last three games. Translation. Darius Kasparaitis and Jed Ortmeyer can't get back healthy soon enough. Summing up how little confidence the current PK unit has, Adam Hall's failure to attack Mark Recchi at the right point with five seconds to go proved costly when Recchi fed Crosby, who one-timed a pass for Michel Ouellet which went off Ward and in.
"I could have picked a better position to not line up and block the pass in front of the goalie," Ward later said. "I should have stepped out to the side. As a defenseman, you don't want to be the catalyst to their goal."
While the 3-time Cup winner took responsibility for the gutwrenching loss, had Hall been more aggressive, the puck never gets to Crosby and the Rangers come out with at worst a point on an otherwise poorly executed night which saw them shoot themselves in the foot literally.
Outside of that play, Hall, who was acquired for current Pen Dominic Moore in a three-team deal with Nashville has been one of the few Rangers who's played well. It was the ex-Predator who one-timed a Martin Straka pass to help his struggling team finally break a power play drought in the second period. So it wasn't all bad for the 26 year-old Kalamazoo Michigan native who tallied 10 of his 14 goals on the PP last season.
Before that PPG, the lack of execution on the Rangers' power play was disturbing. With predictable collective groans coming from an MSG crowd at the ridiculous amount of passes made before even a shot was attempted, their worst fears were realized when 18 year-old Pens' second overall pick Jordan Staal forced Michal Rozsival into a turnover on an illtimed Jagr pass and took full advantage by beating Lundqvist for his first NHL goal shorthanded. One could only wonder if the younger brother of 2005 Rangers' first rounder Marc would've been able to make the same play and convert on a breakaway if that Staal was on the ice. We'll have to wait another year at the very least before that happens.
The good news for New York was that after Hall's PPG, they did score twice more in the nine chances they got. So maybe they can get hot in time for what promises to be a difficult road game at Buffalo Saturday night before returning home to host the rival Devils, who finished off a three-goal comeback in another wild game Thursday to pull out a 7-6 shootout win over Toronto in their home opener.
So it won't get any easier for a team that's clearly not clicking on all cylinders and has turned over the puck at an alarming rate. Not a great recipe against two of the East's quicker transition teams.
Aside from all their issues, the team's best player Jagr is clearly not close to 100 percent. Though the Rangers' leader converted his second on a patented wrister in transition, he has been hesitant to shoot the puck due to the recovering shoulder he injured against the Devils last Spring. Especially on the man-advantage where he set a franchise record last season with 24. It's not like Nylander or Straka are going to pull the trigger. Outside of Shanahan, Hall and Petr Prucha (12:18 TOI), nobody is really going to finish plays. Until Renney adjusts and puts acquisition Matt Cullen on the right point where he can get his top heavy shot through, teams will continue to overplay Jagr and not pay much attention to the point.
Everyone knows they don't have a PP quarterback. And no. A 38 year-old Brian Leetch is not the answer unless they're willing to play him as an extra defenseman. He doesn't have the mobility anymore and is far too much of an injury risk. No. 2 belongs up in the Garden rafters next to Mark Messier's 11.
The good news. Renney's staff still have plenty of time to get this and other things fixed before it gets late early. That would include playing his second leading goalscorer Prucha (30 last year) more than he saw last night. It also should include getting fourth liners Jason Ward (6:59) and Ryan Hollweg (4:48) out more even if his team takes the ridiculous amount of penalties it did. Both provided energy and finished on the plus-side of the ledger helping setup a Cullen goal and almost another tally on their next shift.
Last season, Renney tried to establish all four lines. He needs to get back to that. It also wouldn't hurt to give backup goalie Kevin Weekes the start at HSBC Arena. Maybe the likeable vet will make a save or two which provide a spark which has been missing.
Either way, we're going to find out something about Renney's club the next few days. With expectations way up, the pressure is on.
In their second straight home defeat- a crushing 6-5 loss to the Pens in which 19 year-old wunderkid Sidney Crosby banked in the winner off Ranger defenseman Aaron Ward's skate with 3.3 seconds left as Ranger captain Jaromir Jagr helplessly watched from the penalty box- time and time again, the 2006-07 Blueshirts paid for their lack of discipline.
Every mistake wound up in the back of the net. Paging Henrik Lundqvist. You are allowed to make a big save once in a while. Yes. The same Swedish netminder who was deemed King of Manhattan in an outstanding rookie season but has somehow allowed 10 goals in the last two losses. Oh. And if you discount the stellar 13 save effort in their shootout win at Philadelphia Saturday, he's given up 14 goals on the last 85 shots his way. For those doing the math, that's an .835 save percentage.
Not that it's all his fault. There's plenty of blame to go around of a team that's made so many glaring mistakes early on, that it's looked eerily similar to their colossal nine-game losing streak which ended last season on such a sour note.
Aside from Lundqvist's early struggles in the dreaded sophomore season which has given plenty of netminders recurring nightmares, the lack of cohesiveness has to be a sore point for Rangers coach Tom Renney. Too many instances last night and especially the previous two, his team didn't seem on the same page. Particularly alarming is the lack of backchecks which have led to odd-man rushes resulting in goals such as the one Pittsburgh's Ryan Whitney connected on just 53 seconds after Michael Nylander's power play tally tied it to give the Pens a 5-4 lead with 12:58 remaining in a seesaw contest.
"We held the majority of the play," a disappointed Brendan Shanahan expressed to the AP after tallying his team-leading fourth goal via the man-advantage to knot the game up again at 11:12 before Crosby's cruel ending resulted in the Blueshirts getting no points. "We've got some work to do as a five-man unit and we've got some work to do on the special teams."
Ah. Special teams. If ever there was an area Renney's troops need to spend time on, it's on a penalty kill which allowed chance after chance to the opportunistic Pens, who cashed in on four of nine. Imagine that the Rangers outshot their opponent 42-22 but wound up on the losing side due to an abysmal effort which allowed the star of the night Crosby to also rack up three assists along with his crushing winner which sent fans to the exits cursing under their breath.
Since going a perfect eight-for-eight against Washington in their season opener triumph, they've now given up seven PPG in the last three games. Translation. Darius Kasparaitis and Jed Ortmeyer can't get back healthy soon enough. Summing up how little confidence the current PK unit has, Adam Hall's failure to attack Mark Recchi at the right point with five seconds to go proved costly when Recchi fed Crosby, who one-timed a pass for Michel Ouellet which went off Ward and in.
"I could have picked a better position to not line up and block the pass in front of the goalie," Ward later said. "I should have stepped out to the side. As a defenseman, you don't want to be the catalyst to their goal."
While the 3-time Cup winner took responsibility for the gutwrenching loss, had Hall been more aggressive, the puck never gets to Crosby and the Rangers come out with at worst a point on an otherwise poorly executed night which saw them shoot themselves in the foot literally.
Outside of that play, Hall, who was acquired for current Pen Dominic Moore in a three-team deal with Nashville has been one of the few Rangers who's played well. It was the ex-Predator who one-timed a Martin Straka pass to help his struggling team finally break a power play drought in the second period. So it wasn't all bad for the 26 year-old Kalamazoo Michigan native who tallied 10 of his 14 goals on the PP last season.
Before that PPG, the lack of execution on the Rangers' power play was disturbing. With predictable collective groans coming from an MSG crowd at the ridiculous amount of passes made before even a shot was attempted, their worst fears were realized when 18 year-old Pens' second overall pick Jordan Staal forced Michal Rozsival into a turnover on an illtimed Jagr pass and took full advantage by beating Lundqvist for his first NHL goal shorthanded. One could only wonder if the younger brother of 2005 Rangers' first rounder Marc would've been able to make the same play and convert on a breakaway if that Staal was on the ice. We'll have to wait another year at the very least before that happens.
The good news for New York was that after Hall's PPG, they did score twice more in the nine chances they got. So maybe they can get hot in time for what promises to be a difficult road game at Buffalo Saturday night before returning home to host the rival Devils, who finished off a three-goal comeback in another wild game Thursday to pull out a 7-6 shootout win over Toronto in their home opener.
So it won't get any easier for a team that's clearly not clicking on all cylinders and has turned over the puck at an alarming rate. Not a great recipe against two of the East's quicker transition teams.
Aside from all their issues, the team's best player Jagr is clearly not close to 100 percent. Though the Rangers' leader converted his second on a patented wrister in transition, he has been hesitant to shoot the puck due to the recovering shoulder he injured against the Devils last Spring. Especially on the man-advantage where he set a franchise record last season with 24. It's not like Nylander or Straka are going to pull the trigger. Outside of Shanahan, Hall and Petr Prucha (12:18 TOI), nobody is really going to finish plays. Until Renney adjusts and puts acquisition Matt Cullen on the right point where he can get his top heavy shot through, teams will continue to overplay Jagr and not pay much attention to the point.
Everyone knows they don't have a PP quarterback. And no. A 38 year-old Brian Leetch is not the answer unless they're willing to play him as an extra defenseman. He doesn't have the mobility anymore and is far too much of an injury risk. No. 2 belongs up in the Garden rafters next to Mark Messier's 11.
The good news. Renney's staff still have plenty of time to get this and other things fixed before it gets late early. That would include playing his second leading goalscorer Prucha (30 last year) more than he saw last night. It also should include getting fourth liners Jason Ward (6:59) and Ryan Hollweg (4:48) out more even if his team takes the ridiculous amount of penalties it did. Both provided energy and finished on the plus-side of the ledger helping setup a Cullen goal and almost another tally on their next shift.
Last season, Renney tried to establish all four lines. He needs to get back to that. It also wouldn't hurt to give backup goalie Kevin Weekes the start at HSBC Arena. Maybe the likeable vet will make a save or two which provide a spark which has been missing.
Either way, we're going to find out something about Renney's club the next few days. With expectations way up, the pressure is on.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Cap Behind Them, Devils Set To Challenge For Cup
You just knew in your heart of hearts, the Devils would find a way out of this cap mess and get all their key players signed in time to kickoff what could be another banner season.
Now that Team President and GM Lou Lamoriello miraculously rid himself of the $7.1 million owed to Vlad Malakhov (dealt to Sharks) and Alexander Mogilny (Long Term Injury Exception) in a three day span, he was able to re-sign RFA's Brian Gionta, Paul Martin, David Hale, Erik Rasmussen and Scott Clemmensen.
The team's leading goalscorer Gionta from last season inked a three-year deal worth an average of $4 million-per-season. Meanwhile, third-year defenseman Martin will make $2 million. Rasmussen and Clemmensen each signed for $450,000 while Hale got $550,000.
All in a frantic attempt to finally meet the $44 million cap a day before the season officially begins. And with the madness of the past couple of days finally behind them, what Lamoriello has assembled is a roster which could deliver the club's fourth Stanley Cup in 12 years.
Let's take a closer look at why:
FORWARDS: With 48 goal man Gionta signed, the Devils could reunite their dynamic top unit of Patrik Elias, Scott Gomez and Gionta (EGG Line). With Elias fully healthy this time around and probably the new team captain, that should provide an immediate boost. If new coach Claude Julien opts to keep that line intact, he could roll the dice on rookie pivot Travis Zajac. The 2004 first round selection out of North Dakota impressed during preseason and made the team. A second line comprising of second-year forward Zach Parise, Zajac and right wing Jamie Langenbrunner could be possible. If that's the case, Parise will be looked upon for an increase in production. Playing primarily with Gomez and Gionta down the stretch last year, he improved significantly. Used more on the wing, the center was more effective in all facets. The checking line of Jay Pandolfo and John Madden will be getting a new linemate. Gone is vet Grant Marshall. In his place could be interchangeable forward Sergei Brylin. Only Brylin and Martin Brodeur are left from all three Cup wins. Brylin tends to fly under the radar but can be used in any facet. With Jason Wiemer out possibly for the season, Rasmussen will be back to center a grind line which includes bruising forward Cam Janssen and 2003 Game 7 hero Mike Rupp. Julien also might opt to use recently signed Dan LaCouture. Aside from dropping the gloves, LaCouture can skate better than Janssen. It could depend on the opponent how much that line is utilized.
DEFENSE: Anchored by veteran Brian Rafalski, this unit should once again be effective. Especially in Julien's familiar system which he used with Montreal. Rafalski should begin the season teamed with Brad Lukowich. Towards the end of last season, they worked well together after Lukowich replaced the injured Richard Matvichuk. Matvichuk will start the season on the injured list due to a bad back and his return is uncertain. Meanwhile, the Devils will send out a second pair of Colin White and Paul Martin to match-up against opposing top lines. The duo had solid chemistry in their first year together and will look to build on it. While White will provide physicality, the mobile Martin can jump into the play and contribute offensively. If he can improve on his 37 points (20 power play) from last season, it would be a tremdendous boost for New Jersey's blueline. Rounding out the D should be Hale and ex-Shark Jim Fahey. Fahey was part of the Malakhov deal and should be serviceable. In a bit of a surprise, Tomas Harant also made the roster over Johnny Oduya, who was optioned back to Lowell. Harant will bid for playing time.
GOALIE: The Devils might have decided to take three netminders to start the season with due to Frank Doyle's impressive preseason but only one is capable of making them an instant contender and backstopping them to another championship. That's the impact the game's best goalie Martin Brodeur has on his team. Always their most important player, the two-time Vezina and three-time Cup winner will once again be relied on heavily. In better shape than last year, look for the 34 year-old veteran to get his usual workload of 70-75 starts. Maybe Julien will even give him the odd day off and get both Doyle and Clemmensen into more than five combined games. But make no mistake about it. Any run at another Cup depends on the durable Brodeur. If he goes down, all bets are off.
COACH: A year removed from a crazy scenario which saw Lamoriello step behind the bench to rally his troops to its sixth Atlantic Division crown, the do-everything executive moved back upstairs and went back to a formula that's had success before. Bringing in a former Montreal coach. Like Jacques Lemaire, Larry Robinson and Pat Burns, Julien was the Habs' coach before being axed last season. And like his predecessors who all delivered Cups in East Rutherford, he believes in defensively responsible teams who will sacrifice to win at all costs. He's with the right organization and shouldn't have any problem getting his players to buy in. They're all about winning.
Prediction: One can look at this team two ways. They didn't really improve due to Lamoriello's hands being tied. However, a full season of Elias and a more mature Parise should pay dividends. The real key could be Zajac. If he proves ready, that could give the Devils two scoring lines and the usual reliable checking line which Madden's unit provides. Due to where they are pertaining to the cap, Lamoriello won't have much maneuverability to improve the team at the trade deadline. So, it will largely depend on the core already in place. The time is now to win another Cup. Expect another Atlantic championship and a deep postseason run.
Atlantic Division Champions
Predicted Record: 48-25-9, 105 points, 2nd overall East
Now that Team President and GM Lou Lamoriello miraculously rid himself of the $7.1 million owed to Vlad Malakhov (dealt to Sharks) and Alexander Mogilny (Long Term Injury Exception) in a three day span, he was able to re-sign RFA's Brian Gionta, Paul Martin, David Hale, Erik Rasmussen and Scott Clemmensen.
The team's leading goalscorer Gionta from last season inked a three-year deal worth an average of $4 million-per-season. Meanwhile, third-year defenseman Martin will make $2 million. Rasmussen and Clemmensen each signed for $450,000 while Hale got $550,000.
All in a frantic attempt to finally meet the $44 million cap a day before the season officially begins. And with the madness of the past couple of days finally behind them, what Lamoriello has assembled is a roster which could deliver the club's fourth Stanley Cup in 12 years.
Let's take a closer look at why:
FORWARDS: With 48 goal man Gionta signed, the Devils could reunite their dynamic top unit of Patrik Elias, Scott Gomez and Gionta (EGG Line). With Elias fully healthy this time around and probably the new team captain, that should provide an immediate boost. If new coach Claude Julien opts to keep that line intact, he could roll the dice on rookie pivot Travis Zajac. The 2004 first round selection out of North Dakota impressed during preseason and made the team. A second line comprising of second-year forward Zach Parise, Zajac and right wing Jamie Langenbrunner could be possible. If that's the case, Parise will be looked upon for an increase in production. Playing primarily with Gomez and Gionta down the stretch last year, he improved significantly. Used more on the wing, the center was more effective in all facets. The checking line of Jay Pandolfo and John Madden will be getting a new linemate. Gone is vet Grant Marshall. In his place could be interchangeable forward Sergei Brylin. Only Brylin and Martin Brodeur are left from all three Cup wins. Brylin tends to fly under the radar but can be used in any facet. With Jason Wiemer out possibly for the season, Rasmussen will be back to center a grind line which includes bruising forward Cam Janssen and 2003 Game 7 hero Mike Rupp. Julien also might opt to use recently signed Dan LaCouture. Aside from dropping the gloves, LaCouture can skate better than Janssen. It could depend on the opponent how much that line is utilized.
DEFENSE: Anchored by veteran Brian Rafalski, this unit should once again be effective. Especially in Julien's familiar system which he used with Montreal. Rafalski should begin the season teamed with Brad Lukowich. Towards the end of last season, they worked well together after Lukowich replaced the injured Richard Matvichuk. Matvichuk will start the season on the injured list due to a bad back and his return is uncertain. Meanwhile, the Devils will send out a second pair of Colin White and Paul Martin to match-up against opposing top lines. The duo had solid chemistry in their first year together and will look to build on it. While White will provide physicality, the mobile Martin can jump into the play and contribute offensively. If he can improve on his 37 points (20 power play) from last season, it would be a tremdendous boost for New Jersey's blueline. Rounding out the D should be Hale and ex-Shark Jim Fahey. Fahey was part of the Malakhov deal and should be serviceable. In a bit of a surprise, Tomas Harant also made the roster over Johnny Oduya, who was optioned back to Lowell. Harant will bid for playing time.
GOALIE: The Devils might have decided to take three netminders to start the season with due to Frank Doyle's impressive preseason but only one is capable of making them an instant contender and backstopping them to another championship. That's the impact the game's best goalie Martin Brodeur has on his team. Always their most important player, the two-time Vezina and three-time Cup winner will once again be relied on heavily. In better shape than last year, look for the 34 year-old veteran to get his usual workload of 70-75 starts. Maybe Julien will even give him the odd day off and get both Doyle and Clemmensen into more than five combined games. But make no mistake about it. Any run at another Cup depends on the durable Brodeur. If he goes down, all bets are off.
COACH: A year removed from a crazy scenario which saw Lamoriello step behind the bench to rally his troops to its sixth Atlantic Division crown, the do-everything executive moved back upstairs and went back to a formula that's had success before. Bringing in a former Montreal coach. Like Jacques Lemaire, Larry Robinson and Pat Burns, Julien was the Habs' coach before being axed last season. And like his predecessors who all delivered Cups in East Rutherford, he believes in defensively responsible teams who will sacrifice to win at all costs. He's with the right organization and shouldn't have any problem getting his players to buy in. They're all about winning.
Prediction: One can look at this team two ways. They didn't really improve due to Lamoriello's hands being tied. However, a full season of Elias and a more mature Parise should pay dividends. The real key could be Zajac. If he proves ready, that could give the Devils two scoring lines and the usual reliable checking line which Madden's unit provides. Due to where they are pertaining to the cap, Lamoriello won't have much maneuverability to improve the team at the trade deadline. So, it will largely depend on the core already in place. The time is now to win another Cup. Expect another Atlantic championship and a deep postseason run.
Atlantic Division Champions
Predicted Record: 48-25-9, 105 points, 2nd overall East
Monday, October 02, 2006
NHL '06-07 Preview: Sabres and Predators To Star In Epic Slug Battle
It's only been a year since the new cap era kicked off. However, if it's anything like last season which resulted in the surprising Hurricanes winning their first ever Cup in seven over Edmonton, expect the unexpected.
Once again this past summer, big names moved around as teams scrambled to address their rosters in hopes they too could go from playoff outcast to bonafide contender. None of the NHL's final four which also included Anaheim and Buffalo even qualified for the postseason under the previous CBA. Such are now the endless possibilities in this new era which rewards well thought out personnel strategy instead of just the old mighty buck.
If the games are anything like last season, the best teams will have enough speed to continue taking advantage of the new rules which put more of emphasis on special teams and allow for precision passing leading to quicker transition and odd-man rushes.
So, who will emerge?
Eastern Conference
1.Buffalo Sabres- Only injuries prevented them from beating the Hurricanes and probably winning their first championship. Can an ugly slug logo keep them from competing this year? Though Jay McKee, J.P. Dumont and Mike Grier are gone, they still should be extremely formidable. Daniel Briere and Chris Drury lead perhaps the deepest forward corps. The defense will still be solid with the addition of Jaroslav Spacek to a blueline which already has Teppo Numminen, Henrik Tallinder, Toni Lydman, Brian Campbell and Dmitri Kalinin. With Ryan Miller in net and Martin Biron backing up, Buffalo is primed for another deep run. If Tim Connolly returns from a concussion, watch out.
2.New Jersey Devils- After GM Lou Lamoriello performed more miracles to get under the cap and out of the league's wrath, he's provided new coach Claude Julien with a roster which should challenge for the top of the conference. A healthy Patrik Elias should team with Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta to form a deadly scoring line. Youngsters Zach Parise and Travis Zajac could provide depth. Brian Rafalski, Colin White and Paul Martin lead a steady blueline. They also boast the game's best goalie in Martin Brodeur. Not only will they be stingy but should be able to score more goals. The growing question in light of how all his unsigned players patiently awaited him to get out of that cap mess, just how much spiked Kool Aid did Lamoriello serve them? That's what opponents will be saying in hardly the same fashion.
3.Carolina Hurricanes- The defending champs took it on the chin this offseason with the losses of Matt Cullen, Aaron Ward, Doug Weight, Mark Recchi and Martin Gerber. They'll also start the season without Frantisek Kaberle, Bret Hedican and Cory Stillman. Kaberle and Stillman could miss the entire first half. With pressure to repeat, GM Jim Rutherford rolled the dice by dealing top prospect Jack Johnson and dumping Oleg Tverdovsky to Los Angeles in exchange for Eric Belanger and Tim Gleason. If they perform well, nobody will care. The Canes replaced Gerber with John Grahame, who will serve as the team's backup to Conn Smythe winner Cam Ward. With superstar Eric Staal leading the way up front along with team captain Rod Brind'Amour, Erik Cole and Justin Williams, the Canes should still be good enough to win the Southeast. If there's a weakness, it could be the blueline until they get healthy.
4.Ottawa Senators- So how did everyone's favorite perennial playoff choker respond to another bitter disappointment? By letting towering D Zdeno Chara walk to a division rival and not bringing back Dominik Hasek. They also shipped talented forward Martin Havlat to the NHL's version of Siberia in Chicago. He should have plenty of fun with Bryan Smolinski while cashing a $6 million-a-year salary with a team that loses 45-50 games. Despite losing Chara, GM John Muckler might have made his blueline even deeper with Tom Preissing coming over from San Jose along with signing Joe Corvo and re-signing Wade Redden. Gerber will replace Hasek in net and split time with Ray Emery. The growing question is did the Sens lose too much offense? They could rely more on Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson. But gritty players such as Mike Fisher, Peter Schaefer and Patrick Eaves are overlooked. Is it enough to finally deliver when it counts? Don't bet on it.
5.New York Rangers- After finally making the postseason for the first time in nine years, they were unceremoniously swept out by nemesis New Jersey. Remarkably, they collapsed by dropping their final nine to blow the Atlantic and end a promising season. With superstar Jaromir Jagr needing offensive support, GM Glen Sather went out and added proven finisher Brendan Shanahan along with Cullen and Ward from the Cup champion Hurricanes. They're hoping the 38 year-old Shanahan can continue to light the lamp regularly on a second line with the underrated Cullen and second-year sniper Petr Prucha. If they can provide more offense, the top unit of Jagr, Martin Straka and Michael Nylander shouldn't feel as much pressure. Ward should provide more physicality to a blueline which broke down. Ranger fans will soon discover that Tom Poti's replacement Karel Rachunek will resemble a traffic cone. Hopefully, Henrik Lundqvist isn't taking more pucks out of his net as a result.
6.Philadelphia Flyers- It's the same old story on Broad Street. Solid regular season but goaltending and D let down in postseason. They were embarrassed by Buffalo. With Peter Forsberg back for the season to give the top line of Simon Gagne and Mike Knuble a boost, they should be set up front. Especially with promising sophomores Jeff Carter, Michael Richards and R.J. Umberger. GM Bobby Clarke also took a risk by swapping two-way pivot Michal Handzus for Kyle Calder. Calder is talented but will he fit in? The biggest questions as usual are in net and on the blueline. With Antero Niittymaki not 100 percent due to a torn labrum, Robert Esche should get the nod to start the season. Both netminders are capable of big saves and softies. Ah. Can't you hear a Flyer fan already? They should be more troubled by their D. Outside of Freddy Meyer and Joni Pitkanen (injured), it won't be a treat watching Derian Hatcher and Mike Rathje chase forwards. This team should score plenty and be fun to follow as usual. Any team that has the human IR machine in Forsberg and Jekyll & Hyde goalies along with a schizo GM is as entertaining as the circus. They'll be good again but just not good enough.
7.Boston Bruins- Let's see: Added impact defenseman in Chara. Check. Added bonafide playmaking center in Marc Savard to help offense. Check. Added budding offensive defenseman in Paul Mara to run the power play. Check. And signed number one draft pick Phil Kessel, who made the club and will do quite well. Check. These things all add up to what should be a return to the playoffs for the new look Bruins. To top it all off, new GM Peter Chiarelli also hired new coach Dave Lewis. Lot of new perssonel here added to the dangerous top line of Marco Sturm, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Boyes. Did we mention that we'll take Bergeron in a big spot over Joe Thornton anyday? The only question could be chemistry. If they click under Lewis' system, all systems should be go. Of course, how will second-year netminder Hannu Toivonen respond to such pressure? Or will it fall on veteran backup Tim Thomas' shoulders? Either it could fall apart here or Boston's hired guns just might be able to inject some life into a dead Original Six franchise. Just don't make me look at Lewis' Adolph Hitler-esque mustache.
8.Florida Panthers- Okay, okay. Ex-GM Mike Keenan (now he's losing his job before a season starts) dealt franchise goalie Roberto Luongo to Vancouver in a five player trade which landed troubled power forward Todd Bertuzzi, Alex Auld and Bryan Allen. And this makes them better? No question Luongo was an elite netminder. But the lingering questions surrounding whether he'd re-sign during this season would've been a huge distraction. Auld isn't a bad goalie by any stretch. We're just not sure it's a good thing that now Coach/GM Jacques Martin brought in ageless Ed Belfour as well. How long before his back gives out? That aside, the Panthers boast some talent up front in star captain Olli Jokinen and rising youngsters Nathan Horton and Rotislav Olesz. If supporting cast players such as Chris Gratton, Joe Nieuwendyk, Jozef Stumpel and Martin Gelinas perform well, there should be a nice mix. A healthy Stephen Weiss also could do wonders. Rising D Jay Bouwmeester anchors the blueline with Mike Van Ryn. They added Ruslan Salei for grit. If Branislav Mezei returns to form, along with Allen and Steve Montador, Florida should be alright. It really depends on how Martin manages the goalies. A motivated Bertuzzi would help too.
9.Montreal Canadiens- They didn't really do much this offseason. Sergei Samsonov is a nice player and might mesh well with countryman Alexei Kovalev but the Canadiens are entering this season with team leader Saku Koivu questionable. They traded Mike Ribeiro for soft defenseman Janne Niinimaa. There just isn't much here that screams excitement. Chris Higgins and Michael Ryder are nice players. Guillame Latendresse is a nice story but is he ready for primetime? Defenseman Sheldon Souray just doesn't seem to instill fear in opponents anymore with this new NHL. I still have visions of Spezza going around him for that highlight reel OT winner. Unless former first rounder Mike Komisarek suddenly develops, the Habs' D will make life very difficult on Cristobal Huet and David Aebischer. Unless they perform miracles once again, it's hard to envision this team making the cut.
10.Atlanta Thrashers- They have superstars in Ilya Kovalchuk and Marian Hossa. A potential stud in net with Kari Lehtonen. They also boast the underrated Slava Kozlov. But any team with Bobby Holik and Steve Rucchin as their top centers isn't going anywhere. GM Don Waddell must've lost his mind when he let Savard leave and decided those two along with a trade of Patrik Stefan for Niko Kapanen was enough to transform this team into a playoff one for the first time. Their D is not scaring anyone with Greg de vries and Niclas Havelid. Andy Sutton and Vitaly Vishnevski will keeps opponents honest but there's something missing. Will Waddell be making anymore idiotic guarantees?
11.Tampa Bay Lightning- So they'll be able to score goals with Brad Richards, Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Vinny Prospal, Ruslan Fedotenko and even Ryan Craig. But will they be able to score enough to see the postseason with a D which includes Luke Richardson and now has Cory Sarich playing major minutes due to Pavel Kubina's departure? While GM Jay Feaster added puckmoving D Filip Kuba, there just isn't much to keep pucks out of their zone. Dan Boyle is probably their best defenseman. Acquired for Fredrik Modin, new netminder Marc Denis will have his work cut out for him on a team which will resemble his former Blue Jackets. It says here that Tampa will play a lot of shootouts but just won't win enough.
12.Toronto Maple Leafs- GM John Ferguson finally smartened up and let go of Belfour and vets Jason Allison and Eric Lindros. Popular enforcer Tie Domi called it a career. He also hired ex-Canes boss Paul Maurice to run the bench in place of Pat Quinn. Will it work? After committing a lot of years to Bryan McCabe, he went out and overpaid Kubina and Hal Gill to solidify the blueline. Problem is those big men just might not be good enough to keep up. How many times will each wind up in the box? Ferguson also is banking on ex-Bruin Andrew Raycroft to rediscover the form that saw him win the Calder in '03-04. If not, it won't be pretty in Leafs Nation. Outside of aging star Mats Sundin and superpest Darcy Tucker, the Leafs do have some talented forwards in Alex Steen, Kyle Wellwood and Matt Stajan. It's just that they're still relying on too many vets such as Michael Peca and Jeff O'Neill. Over the grind of an 82-game season, that's not going to work. Expect mixed results.
13.Pittsburgh Penguins- How can you not love the Pens? They boast the game's next superstar in Sidney Crosby and a month from now, Evgeni Malkin will provide a solid 1-2 punch which people will be talking about for years. Even more encouraging is that second overall pick Jordan Staal made the roster and will get valuable experience before probably being sent back to juniors after nine games. There are some other talented forwards in Colby Armstrong, Michel Ouellet and Ryan Malone. They also added ex-Ranger pivot Dominic Moore in a three-team deal with Nashville. Moore will provide solid checking and energy. Vet Mark Recchi is also back along with John LeClair. Jarrko Ruutu is there for toughness. Questions remain on D and in goal. Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney comprise the top pair and Brooks Orpik is still learning. Mark Eaton was added from Nashville. There's just not enough here to help out Marc-Andre Fleury or Dany Sabourin. This team will be exciting and compete hard. Expect Crosby to put up 130 points. Wait another year or two.
14.New York Islanders- So owner Charles Wang hired and then fired GM Neil Smith in just 40 days and replaced him with backup goalie Garth Snow? And for an encore, two months later he gave netminder Rick DiPietro an NHL record 15-year contract worth $67.5 million??? The same cocky former number one overall pick who hasn't proven he can take the next step. Makes plenty of sense from an owner who once handed out a 10-year $90 million contract to classic underachiever Alexei Yashin. So what does this team have going exactly other than a future job getting Wang's coffee? Well, bringing back exiled Coach Ted Nolan is a start. He'll get them to play hard and make everyone accountable. They'll have more physicality on the blueline with Brendan Witt and Sean Hill but both are heading downhill. They'll try to get more out of ex-Ranger Tom Poti and ex-Devil Viktor Kozlov. Chris Simon will provide some beef. There just isn't much here to get excited about. Players like Mike York, Jason Blake and Shawn Bates will do well. But unless Yashin performs, it will be a long year in Long Island.
15.Washington Capitals- We love rating Calder winner Alexander Ovechkin. He's got personality, grit and immense skills. If only he had a supporting cast. Bringing back Alexander Semin is a start. If they team up, that could be a lot of fun to watch. GM George McPhee did trade for Richard Zednik but he's coming off a dismal season with Montreal. Dainius Zubrus has always had ability but is the classic tease. So what is there to get excited about outside AO? Donald Brashear will keep opponents honest. The Caps did add Bryan Pothier to the blueline but he'll soon discover he's not employed by Ottawa. Steve Eminger is a guy we like on that D who should get better. Shaone Morrisonn is still young. If there's one other guy we like up front, it's Brian Sutherby. He plays extremely tough and makes things happen. Got to feel sorry for Olaf Kolzig. The likeable netminder deserves better. If he was on a good team, we're betting he'd still be one of the better goalies in the league. Oh well.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
1.Anaheim Ducks- Teaming Chris Pronger with Scott Niedermayer on the blueline is a stroke of genius by GM Brian Burke. Two franchise defensemen who have won Norris' trophies and can dictate a game in their own unique way. Oh my. They're going to be extremely difficult to beat. Francois Beauchemin is also solid and can contribute offensively. So, what could go wrong? Outside of Teemu Selanne, they're relying on a lot of young forwards and gave up Joffrey Lupul to Edmonton as part of the deal. Still, with a crop that consists of Andy McDonald, Chris Kunitz, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Dustin Penner, they'll be formidable. Vets Rob Niedermayer, Todd Marchant and Samuel Pahlsson provide depth. Former prospect Stanislav Chistov is also back and should find the quicker game better. The biggest question seems to be who will be the number one goalie. Ilya Bryzgalov or former 2003 Conn Smythe winner Jean-Sebastien Giguere? It's a good problem to have. These Ducks are poised for another deep run and maybe even their first ever Cup.
2.Nashville Predators- This team continues to improve all the time. Had number one goalie Tomas Vokoun been healthy this past Spring, they win their first ever playoff round. Like Anaheim, they're going with a lot of young talent. Ryan Sutter and Shea Weber come to mind on the blueline as does budding third-year star Dan Hamhuis. Overlooked due to talented vets Kimmo Timonen and Marek Zidlicky, he's poised to improve on his 38 points last season. There's an awful lot to like about their D. Just as promising is the crop of forwards which features stars Paul Kariya and Steve Sullivan. With center Jason Arnott signed from Dallas, that should be a lethal top line. This will allow David Legwand to move into a secondary scoring role with the underrated Martin Erat and possibly Scott Hartnell. They also added ex-Sabre J.P. Dumont, who should provide more punch. Josef Vasicek was also acquired from Carolina for Scott Walker. This should give Nashville more depth at center. One prospect to keep an eye on is Alexander Radulov. Though he had a good preseason, he was sent down to Milwaukee but could be back soon. Of course, how far the Predators go depends on Vokoun. If healthy, he's a top five goalie. It's time for this franchise to take that next step.
3.Calgary Flames- GM Darryl Sutter might no longer be behind the bench but new coach Jim Playfair will continue Sutter's model of playing a disciplined brand of hockey. How that benefits former Av Alex Tanguay remains to be seen. The talented playmaking left wing was acquired for Jordan Leopold to bolster the Flames' offense alongside Jarome Iginla. They'll team up with Daymond Langkow to comprise a solid top unit. The question is can Jeff Friesen really be relied on for offense? His best years came under Sutter playing back in San Jose. He hasn't been the same player since even if he did score a few big goals helping New Jersey to a Cup in 2003. The Flames will need solid contributions from Chuck Kobasew and Kristian Huselius. A healthy Matt Lombardi should help. They shouldn't expect too much from Tony Amonte. If former Western Canada product Jamie Lundmark could harness his talent, that would help. If anything, the Flames should take solace knowing their stingy D led by Dion Phaneuf and Robyn Regehr should be rock solid. Rhett Warrener and Andrew Ference are no picnic either. Neither is Vezina winner Miikka Kiprusoff to get the puck by. The more things change...The only question is do they have enough offense to take them far?
4.San Jose Sharks- After acquiring Joe Thornton from Boston last year, the Sharks were one of the best teams in the league which allowed him to take home the Hart Trophy. Thornton is an immense talent and got the most out of sniper Jonathan Cheechoo, who led the league with 56 goals. This offseason, GM Doug Wilson went out and added ex-Hawk Mark Bell via a three-team deal with Ottawa. Bell should complete the league's best line. Hopefully, he'll stay out of further trouble off the ice. The dilemma for opponents is that the Sharks can comeback with Patrick Marleau, Milan Michalek and Steve Bernier. They also added grit in ex-Sabre Mike Grier to a mix that includes Ville Nieminen, Curtis Brown and Marcel Goc. Despite parting with Tom Preissing in the Bell deal, the D should still be good with Matt Carle supplying the offense while Scott Hannan and Kyle McLaren supply the beef. Christian Ehrhoff gives them a solid top four. In net, Vesa Toskala will most likely be the number one with vet Evgeni Nabokov backing up. Nolan Schaefer also is there as insurance. This is a very skilled team with lots of speed. But it's up to either Toskala or Nabokov to shine in the postseason.
5.Detroit Red Wings- For the first time since 1982-83, the Winged Wheel will be without emotional leader Steve Yzerman. But with new team captain Nicklas Lidstrom and 44 year-old vet Chris Chelios anchoring the blueline, the transition should be smooth. While they're old on D also with Mathieu Schneider, Niklas Kronwall should continue to improve. Vets Danny Markov and Andreas Lilja round it out. Up front, Henrik Zetterberg is an emerging superstar and Pavel Datsyuk isn't too far behind. Robert Lang can center the second line and Tomas Holmstrom will provide the usual grit in front. If there was a surprise last season, it was the play of Mikael Samuelsson and Jason Williams. They'll be looked to again for offense. Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby once again team up as one of the league's best checking units. If there is a question, it might be how long veteran netminder Dominik Hasek stays healthy for? If he goes down, Chris Osgood backs up. Question nobody wants to hear in Hockeytown: Is this the year some of those vets finally show their age?
6.Minnesota Wild- It took GM Doug Risebrough a few years to finally open the vault and spend. With criticism coming down even from superstar Marian Gaborik who he wisely re-signed long term, Risebrough packaged prospect Patrick O'Sullivan to the Kings for Slovak Pavol Demitra. He also inked sniper Mark Parrish and added defenseman Kim Johnsson as well. Parrish should provide grit and work well with Brian Rolson and possibly Pierre-Marc Bouchard. Johnsson will be looked to for offense and stability on the blueline after they lost Filip Kuba to Tampa and Andrei Zyuzin to Calgary. Johnsson is returning from a concussion. So it was a risk. Kurtis Foster can provide offense while Keith Carney and Brent Burns can supply some physicality. Is this the year Mikko Koivu plays a more prominent role up front? Meanwhile, Manny Fernandez comes in as the clearcut number one goalie and should be ready to backstop the Wild back to the postseason. Looks like they might have fun at the Excel Center.
7.Dallas Stars- Gone is Arnott but still around are key cogs Mike Modano, new team captain Brenden Morrow, Jere Lehtinen, Sergei Zubov, Phillipe Boucher and Marty Turco. During the offseason, GM Doug Armstrong replaced Arnott with Eric Lindros and Jeff Halpern. He also swapped Niko Kapanen for Patrik Stefan and recently added even more depth at the pivot by sending Janne Niinimaa to Montreal for Mike Ribeiro. Throw in emerging Finns Jussi Jokinen and Antti Miettinen and they look pretty balanced. Matt Barnaby and Steve Ott provide energy. On the blueline, 1999 Cup hero Darryl Sydor returns. Jaroslav Modry and Stephane Robidas provide depth. Everything looks good. So what could go wrong? Modano and Zubov show age and Lindros suffers yet another injury. It really is sad what's happened to the Big E. Then there's Turco in net. Can he really get it done when it counts? He's flopped badly so far in his playoff career. That assumes they get there which isn't a given. They should but it will be close.
8.Vancouver Canucks- If big acquisition Robert Luongo doesn't get them here, then he really is an overrated goalie. Sorry. That's just how it should be. Yes. The Canucks lost Ed Jovanovski to Phoenix but considering that he's an accident waiting to happen, that's addition by subtraction. GM Mike Nonis went out and signed Willie Mitchell, who is younger and should provide physicality and actually play more than half the schedule. Mattias Ohlund will anchor the D. Sami Salo is a sound number three. After that, it gets thin. They really need Lukas Krajicek or rookie Luc Bourdon to step up. If either does, they'll be fine. Offensively, it falls on the shoulders of captain Markus Naslund and Brendan Morrison to rebound from down seasons. They're probably better off without Todd Bertuzzi. The Sedin twins have emerged as solid NHLers. Matt Cooke is underrated and Jan Bulis supplies depth at center. After Nonis whined like a baby after matching Bobby Clarke's offersheet to Ryan Kesler, Kesler needs to prove his worth. It would help if Taylor Pyatt emerges. He never really played much in Buffalo. If Luongo answers the questions in goal, the Canucks should be able to squeak back in the playoffs.
9.Edmonton Oilers- This is tough but when you look at GM Kevin Lowe's new look D after Pronger and Jaroslav Spacek left, it's hard to see them making the cut. Captain Jason Smith is still there along with Marc-Andre Bergeron. So is Steve Staios but they never did well with him as a number three. Why will it be any different now? Daniel Tjarnqvist is nothing special and Matt Greene really needs to show a lot more than he did this past June. They'll need Ladislav Smid to be a reliable top four D. That's what the former Duck prospect was projected as before the Pronger deal. We'll see. Up front, we love Lupul and Ales Hemsky to have big seasons. Ryan Smyth, Shawn Horcoff and Jared Stoll should enjoy playing with them. Vet Petr Sykora should be able to finish enough. The pressure will be on Fernando Pisani to duplicate his postseason. Ethan Moreau is underrated. Up front, they're solid. The question marks on the blueline could make life difficult for Dwayne Roloson. If he's under siege routinely, will the vet turned miracle worker crack?
10.Colorado Avalanche- Is this the year the Avs finally miss the postseason? With the losses of Rob Blake and Tanguay, they'll be hardpressed to get in again. Of course, ageless wonder Joe Sakic will once again be there to try to silence the doubters. So too will Milan Hejduk, who needs about the same bounceback season ex-Av Teemu Selanne had with Anaheim. Second-year sniper Marek Svatos returns from shoulder surgery and must be healthy. The Avs are pinning their hopes on free agent pickup Tyler Arnason to provide scoring. He has talent but is a headcase. Rookie Wojtek Wolski has lots of promise and could become the latest Av to emerge up front. Also keep an eye on former 2005 second rounder Paul Stastny. Can gritty center Ian Laperriere repeat his career season? Meanwhile, John-Michael Liles leads the charge from the blueline along with underrated defenders Karlis Skrastins and Ossi Vaananen. Patrice Brisebois can provide offense but is offensive in every sense in his own end. And Ken Klee was awful with New Jersey. Better hope Leopold gets back soon. There are many questions and that continues in net with former Hart and Vezina winner Jose Theodore. Is he an elite netminder or severely overrated? Don't rule out second-year goalie Peter Budaj unseating him. They'll be interesting but the playoff streak has to end some time. As Al Pacino once said to Keanu Reeves at the end of Devil's Advocate, "You can't win'em all."
11.Los Angeles Kings- With the recent acquisition of prospect Jack Johnson along with salary dump Oleg Tverdovsky in a deal which sent Eric Belanger and Tim Gleason to Carolina, it appears new GM Dean Lombardi plans to rebuild. Why else would he dump Demitra on the Wild for O'Sullivan? That's why it's hard to make sense of the Dan Cloutier signing. Maybe it was ex-Canucks' coach Marc Crawford's influence but come on. What are they doing? Rebuilding or trying to win now? Or is it both? Could that also be why they brought back Blake for their blueline to team him up with Lubomir Visnovsky? They also added vet Brent Sopel to a D which includes captain Mattias Norstrom and Aaron Miller. Plus team ornament Tverdovsky. Outside of Visnovsky, they're old. It's a different story up front where Alexander Frolov, Michael Cammalleri, Dustin Brown, superpest Sean Avery, O'Sullivan along with former first rounder Anze Kopitar comprise a youth movement. There's also vets Craig Conroy, Derek Armstrong and Scott Thornton. So what can be expected from them? Is Cloutier that much better than Mathieu Garon? That remains to be seen. This team either could surprise or finish where we're picking them.
12.Columbus Blue Jackets- You would think by now the Blue Jackets would finally be on their way up but it doesn't look that way. Now that GM Doug MacLean has re-signed Nikolai Zherdev, offensively, they should be good with the young Russian talent teaming up with power forward Rick Nash and the underappreciated David Vyborny. Adding Fredrik Modin and Anson Carter should give them two solid lines. But without veteran Sergei Fedorov to start the season, they're lacking in the middle. Unless Alexander Svitov or Dan Fritsche step up, the offense could stagnate. Manny Malhotra is a solid third liner. If someone emerges, it could be former first round pick Gilbert Brule. He is solid overall and has the skills to go with it. They'll also look to Jaroslav Balastik for offense. Even with Adam Foote and Bryan Berard, the D is weak. Ron Hainsey can contribute and David Westcott is decent. But who outside the aging Foote will keep opponents honest? If you say reject Anders Eriksson, you lose. And this is what new number one Pascal Leclaire has in front of him? Like a classic Weezer song, "Say It Ain't So."
13.Phoenix Coyotes- If you look at this roster, it's not awful. However, it seems like a classic tease for Coach Wayne Gretzky to try to bring respectability back to. Shane Doan is a solid power forward and Ladislav Nagy is a gifted finisher. After that, it gets thin quick. Can Mike Comrie really be relied on as a top pivot? Aren't Jeremy Roenick and Owen Nolan washed up? Outside of Steve Reinprecht, there's nothing to get excited about. Heck. Team enforcer Georges Laraque looks good. No wonder they gave him a no-trade clause. We wish we were kidding but it's no joke. It would help when Fredrik Sjostrom returns to the lineup. So, this is what Jovanovski chose? Now, the blueline he joins isn't putrid. Keith Ballard and Zbynek Michalek (try saying that name 10 times fast and get back to us) are solid and can contribute offensively. Nick Boynton who was acquired for Paul Mara is a steady stay-at-home defender. Derek Morris is okay but not as good as he once was hyped to be. Last season, veteran Curtis Joseph played out of his mind in the first half but predictably broke down. He's one year from 40 and well traveled backup Mike Morrison is on his third team in less than a year. What was Gretzky pal GM Mike Barnett thinking? This team was so much better in Winnipeg. Even if there wasn't much success, at least there was an identity.
14.St. Louis Blues- First former MSG boss Dave Checketts took over as team owner. Then he brought in pal and expert NHL analyst John Davidson to run the show as Team President. No question JD knows his stuff but can anyone explain why he added so many veterans? Doug Weight. Bill Guerin. Martin Rucinsky. Dan Hinote. Radek Dvorak. Jay McKee. Manny Legace. The new Blues roster should come with an NHL map. Look. No question they hit rock bottom last season after being in the postseason every year spanning almost three decades. A remarkable accomplishment. How much mileage does a Weight or Guerin have left? They'll most likely team up with Keith Tkachuk to form a vintage Team USA line from 1996. That's 10 years too late. Davidson overpaid for McKee but needed some stability on the blueline. If Barret Jackman ever stayed healthy, they'd be much tougher. Eric Brewer will look to rebound from a nightmarish first season in St. Louis. If you look past all the experience, Petr Cajanek, Lee Stempniak, Christian Backman and Doug Wideman provide hope for the future. Backing up Legace will be the tandem of Curtis Sanford and Jason Bacashihua. So, can this team be competitive? They'll be better than last year but not by much.
15.Chicago Blackhawks- Same old song and dance for Bill Wirtz' Original Six franchise. Do they even count anymore? When is the last time the Hawks were relevant? And we're not talking about that playoff cameo a few years ago where they got swept out by St. Louis. I remember a time when they had a young Eagle, JR, Steve Larmer, Christian Ruutu and even a young Chelios and Gary Suter all on NHL '94. That was Blackhawk hockey! Now, they just suck. What makes anyone think the additions of Martin Havlat and Bryan Smolinski from Ottawa are going to change that? Yes, Havlat is a dynamic talent who should still produce. And the deal of Kyle Calder for Michal Handzus might work as long as Zeus returns to form after offseason surgery. But these are the Hawks. Where overpaying free agents such as Nikolai Khabibulin and Adrian Aucoin turns them into mere mortals. Is there some talent on this roster? Sure. Defensemen Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith both have ability. Former number one Cam Barker will eventually return from injury and get his chance. Center Tuomu Ruutu is an enormous talent but once again will start the season on IR. And left wing Rene Bourque is decent. But when you look at this mix, it seems like they just flipped a coin. If you're pathetic, shouldn't you tear the whole thing up? Can the Bulin Wall rebound? If not, Brian Boucher is the backup. How did Michael Leighton not make the roster? But instead, they have Patrick Lalime as their third stringer. Hawks hockey at its finest.
2007 PLAYOFF CRYSTAL BALL
East
Conference Quarters
Sabres over Panthers in 5
Devils over Bruins in 6
Hurricanes over Flyers in 7
Senators over Rangers in 7
Semis
Sabres over Senators in 6
Devils over Hurricanes in 6
Finals
Sabres over Devils in 7
West
Conference Quarters
Ducks over Canucks in 6
Predators over Stars in 5
Wild over Flames in 6
Sharks over Wings in 6
Semis
Ducks over Wild in 5
Predators over Sharks in 6
Finals
Predators over Ducks in 6
STANLEY CUP FINAL
Sabres over Predators in 7
Once again this past summer, big names moved around as teams scrambled to address their rosters in hopes they too could go from playoff outcast to bonafide contender. None of the NHL's final four which also included Anaheim and Buffalo even qualified for the postseason under the previous CBA. Such are now the endless possibilities in this new era which rewards well thought out personnel strategy instead of just the old mighty buck.
If the games are anything like last season, the best teams will have enough speed to continue taking advantage of the new rules which put more of emphasis on special teams and allow for precision passing leading to quicker transition and odd-man rushes.
So, who will emerge?
Eastern Conference
1.Buffalo Sabres- Only injuries prevented them from beating the Hurricanes and probably winning their first championship. Can an ugly slug logo keep them from competing this year? Though Jay McKee, J.P. Dumont and Mike Grier are gone, they still should be extremely formidable. Daniel Briere and Chris Drury lead perhaps the deepest forward corps. The defense will still be solid with the addition of Jaroslav Spacek to a blueline which already has Teppo Numminen, Henrik Tallinder, Toni Lydman, Brian Campbell and Dmitri Kalinin. With Ryan Miller in net and Martin Biron backing up, Buffalo is primed for another deep run. If Tim Connolly returns from a concussion, watch out.
2.New Jersey Devils- After GM Lou Lamoriello performed more miracles to get under the cap and out of the league's wrath, he's provided new coach Claude Julien with a roster which should challenge for the top of the conference. A healthy Patrik Elias should team with Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta to form a deadly scoring line. Youngsters Zach Parise and Travis Zajac could provide depth. Brian Rafalski, Colin White and Paul Martin lead a steady blueline. They also boast the game's best goalie in Martin Brodeur. Not only will they be stingy but should be able to score more goals. The growing question in light of how all his unsigned players patiently awaited him to get out of that cap mess, just how much spiked Kool Aid did Lamoriello serve them? That's what opponents will be saying in hardly the same fashion.
3.Carolina Hurricanes- The defending champs took it on the chin this offseason with the losses of Matt Cullen, Aaron Ward, Doug Weight, Mark Recchi and Martin Gerber. They'll also start the season without Frantisek Kaberle, Bret Hedican and Cory Stillman. Kaberle and Stillman could miss the entire first half. With pressure to repeat, GM Jim Rutherford rolled the dice by dealing top prospect Jack Johnson and dumping Oleg Tverdovsky to Los Angeles in exchange for Eric Belanger and Tim Gleason. If they perform well, nobody will care. The Canes replaced Gerber with John Grahame, who will serve as the team's backup to Conn Smythe winner Cam Ward. With superstar Eric Staal leading the way up front along with team captain Rod Brind'Amour, Erik Cole and Justin Williams, the Canes should still be good enough to win the Southeast. If there's a weakness, it could be the blueline until they get healthy.
4.Ottawa Senators- So how did everyone's favorite perennial playoff choker respond to another bitter disappointment? By letting towering D Zdeno Chara walk to a division rival and not bringing back Dominik Hasek. They also shipped talented forward Martin Havlat to the NHL's version of Siberia in Chicago. He should have plenty of fun with Bryan Smolinski while cashing a $6 million-a-year salary with a team that loses 45-50 games. Despite losing Chara, GM John Muckler might have made his blueline even deeper with Tom Preissing coming over from San Jose along with signing Joe Corvo and re-signing Wade Redden. Gerber will replace Hasek in net and split time with Ray Emery. The growing question is did the Sens lose too much offense? They could rely more on Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson. But gritty players such as Mike Fisher, Peter Schaefer and Patrick Eaves are overlooked. Is it enough to finally deliver when it counts? Don't bet on it.
5.New York Rangers- After finally making the postseason for the first time in nine years, they were unceremoniously swept out by nemesis New Jersey. Remarkably, they collapsed by dropping their final nine to blow the Atlantic and end a promising season. With superstar Jaromir Jagr needing offensive support, GM Glen Sather went out and added proven finisher Brendan Shanahan along with Cullen and Ward from the Cup champion Hurricanes. They're hoping the 38 year-old Shanahan can continue to light the lamp regularly on a second line with the underrated Cullen and second-year sniper Petr Prucha. If they can provide more offense, the top unit of Jagr, Martin Straka and Michael Nylander shouldn't feel as much pressure. Ward should provide more physicality to a blueline which broke down. Ranger fans will soon discover that Tom Poti's replacement Karel Rachunek will resemble a traffic cone. Hopefully, Henrik Lundqvist isn't taking more pucks out of his net as a result.
6.Philadelphia Flyers- It's the same old story on Broad Street. Solid regular season but goaltending and D let down in postseason. They were embarrassed by Buffalo. With Peter Forsberg back for the season to give the top line of Simon Gagne and Mike Knuble a boost, they should be set up front. Especially with promising sophomores Jeff Carter, Michael Richards and R.J. Umberger. GM Bobby Clarke also took a risk by swapping two-way pivot Michal Handzus for Kyle Calder. Calder is talented but will he fit in? The biggest questions as usual are in net and on the blueline. With Antero Niittymaki not 100 percent due to a torn labrum, Robert Esche should get the nod to start the season. Both netminders are capable of big saves and softies. Ah. Can't you hear a Flyer fan already? They should be more troubled by their D. Outside of Freddy Meyer and Joni Pitkanen (injured), it won't be a treat watching Derian Hatcher and Mike Rathje chase forwards. This team should score plenty and be fun to follow as usual. Any team that has the human IR machine in Forsberg and Jekyll & Hyde goalies along with a schizo GM is as entertaining as the circus. They'll be good again but just not good enough.
7.Boston Bruins- Let's see: Added impact defenseman in Chara. Check. Added bonafide playmaking center in Marc Savard to help offense. Check. Added budding offensive defenseman in Paul Mara to run the power play. Check. And signed number one draft pick Phil Kessel, who made the club and will do quite well. Check. These things all add up to what should be a return to the playoffs for the new look Bruins. To top it all off, new GM Peter Chiarelli also hired new coach Dave Lewis. Lot of new perssonel here added to the dangerous top line of Marco Sturm, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Boyes. Did we mention that we'll take Bergeron in a big spot over Joe Thornton anyday? The only question could be chemistry. If they click under Lewis' system, all systems should be go. Of course, how will second-year netminder Hannu Toivonen respond to such pressure? Or will it fall on veteran backup Tim Thomas' shoulders? Either it could fall apart here or Boston's hired guns just might be able to inject some life into a dead Original Six franchise. Just don't make me look at Lewis' Adolph Hitler-esque mustache.
8.Florida Panthers- Okay, okay. Ex-GM Mike Keenan (now he's losing his job before a season starts) dealt franchise goalie Roberto Luongo to Vancouver in a five player trade which landed troubled power forward Todd Bertuzzi, Alex Auld and Bryan Allen. And this makes them better? No question Luongo was an elite netminder. But the lingering questions surrounding whether he'd re-sign during this season would've been a huge distraction. Auld isn't a bad goalie by any stretch. We're just not sure it's a good thing that now Coach/GM Jacques Martin brought in ageless Ed Belfour as well. How long before his back gives out? That aside, the Panthers boast some talent up front in star captain Olli Jokinen and rising youngsters Nathan Horton and Rotislav Olesz. If supporting cast players such as Chris Gratton, Joe Nieuwendyk, Jozef Stumpel and Martin Gelinas perform well, there should be a nice mix. A healthy Stephen Weiss also could do wonders. Rising D Jay Bouwmeester anchors the blueline with Mike Van Ryn. They added Ruslan Salei for grit. If Branislav Mezei returns to form, along with Allen and Steve Montador, Florida should be alright. It really depends on how Martin manages the goalies. A motivated Bertuzzi would help too.
9.Montreal Canadiens- They didn't really do much this offseason. Sergei Samsonov is a nice player and might mesh well with countryman Alexei Kovalev but the Canadiens are entering this season with team leader Saku Koivu questionable. They traded Mike Ribeiro for soft defenseman Janne Niinimaa. There just isn't much here that screams excitement. Chris Higgins and Michael Ryder are nice players. Guillame Latendresse is a nice story but is he ready for primetime? Defenseman Sheldon Souray just doesn't seem to instill fear in opponents anymore with this new NHL. I still have visions of Spezza going around him for that highlight reel OT winner. Unless former first rounder Mike Komisarek suddenly develops, the Habs' D will make life very difficult on Cristobal Huet and David Aebischer. Unless they perform miracles once again, it's hard to envision this team making the cut.
10.Atlanta Thrashers- They have superstars in Ilya Kovalchuk and Marian Hossa. A potential stud in net with Kari Lehtonen. They also boast the underrated Slava Kozlov. But any team with Bobby Holik and Steve Rucchin as their top centers isn't going anywhere. GM Don Waddell must've lost his mind when he let Savard leave and decided those two along with a trade of Patrik Stefan for Niko Kapanen was enough to transform this team into a playoff one for the first time. Their D is not scaring anyone with Greg de vries and Niclas Havelid. Andy Sutton and Vitaly Vishnevski will keeps opponents honest but there's something missing. Will Waddell be making anymore idiotic guarantees?
11.Tampa Bay Lightning- So they'll be able to score goals with Brad Richards, Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Vinny Prospal, Ruslan Fedotenko and even Ryan Craig. But will they be able to score enough to see the postseason with a D which includes Luke Richardson and now has Cory Sarich playing major minutes due to Pavel Kubina's departure? While GM Jay Feaster added puckmoving D Filip Kuba, there just isn't much to keep pucks out of their zone. Dan Boyle is probably their best defenseman. Acquired for Fredrik Modin, new netminder Marc Denis will have his work cut out for him on a team which will resemble his former Blue Jackets. It says here that Tampa will play a lot of shootouts but just won't win enough.
12.Toronto Maple Leafs- GM John Ferguson finally smartened up and let go of Belfour and vets Jason Allison and Eric Lindros. Popular enforcer Tie Domi called it a career. He also hired ex-Canes boss Paul Maurice to run the bench in place of Pat Quinn. Will it work? After committing a lot of years to Bryan McCabe, he went out and overpaid Kubina and Hal Gill to solidify the blueline. Problem is those big men just might not be good enough to keep up. How many times will each wind up in the box? Ferguson also is banking on ex-Bruin Andrew Raycroft to rediscover the form that saw him win the Calder in '03-04. If not, it won't be pretty in Leafs Nation. Outside of aging star Mats Sundin and superpest Darcy Tucker, the Leafs do have some talented forwards in Alex Steen, Kyle Wellwood and Matt Stajan. It's just that they're still relying on too many vets such as Michael Peca and Jeff O'Neill. Over the grind of an 82-game season, that's not going to work. Expect mixed results.
13.Pittsburgh Penguins- How can you not love the Pens? They boast the game's next superstar in Sidney Crosby and a month from now, Evgeni Malkin will provide a solid 1-2 punch which people will be talking about for years. Even more encouraging is that second overall pick Jordan Staal made the roster and will get valuable experience before probably being sent back to juniors after nine games. There are some other talented forwards in Colby Armstrong, Michel Ouellet and Ryan Malone. They also added ex-Ranger pivot Dominic Moore in a three-team deal with Nashville. Moore will provide solid checking and energy. Vet Mark Recchi is also back along with John LeClair. Jarrko Ruutu is there for toughness. Questions remain on D and in goal. Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney comprise the top pair and Brooks Orpik is still learning. Mark Eaton was added from Nashville. There's just not enough here to help out Marc-Andre Fleury or Dany Sabourin. This team will be exciting and compete hard. Expect Crosby to put up 130 points. Wait another year or two.
14.New York Islanders- So owner Charles Wang hired and then fired GM Neil Smith in just 40 days and replaced him with backup goalie Garth Snow? And for an encore, two months later he gave netminder Rick DiPietro an NHL record 15-year contract worth $67.5 million??? The same cocky former number one overall pick who hasn't proven he can take the next step. Makes plenty of sense from an owner who once handed out a 10-year $90 million contract to classic underachiever Alexei Yashin. So what does this team have going exactly other than a future job getting Wang's coffee? Well, bringing back exiled Coach Ted Nolan is a start. He'll get them to play hard and make everyone accountable. They'll have more physicality on the blueline with Brendan Witt and Sean Hill but both are heading downhill. They'll try to get more out of ex-Ranger Tom Poti and ex-Devil Viktor Kozlov. Chris Simon will provide some beef. There just isn't much here to get excited about. Players like Mike York, Jason Blake and Shawn Bates will do well. But unless Yashin performs, it will be a long year in Long Island.
15.Washington Capitals- We love rating Calder winner Alexander Ovechkin. He's got personality, grit and immense skills. If only he had a supporting cast. Bringing back Alexander Semin is a start. If they team up, that could be a lot of fun to watch. GM George McPhee did trade for Richard Zednik but he's coming off a dismal season with Montreal. Dainius Zubrus has always had ability but is the classic tease. So what is there to get excited about outside AO? Donald Brashear will keep opponents honest. The Caps did add Bryan Pothier to the blueline but he'll soon discover he's not employed by Ottawa. Steve Eminger is a guy we like on that D who should get better. Shaone Morrisonn is still young. If there's one other guy we like up front, it's Brian Sutherby. He plays extremely tough and makes things happen. Got to feel sorry for Olaf Kolzig. The likeable netminder deserves better. If he was on a good team, we're betting he'd still be one of the better goalies in the league. Oh well.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
1.Anaheim Ducks- Teaming Chris Pronger with Scott Niedermayer on the blueline is a stroke of genius by GM Brian Burke. Two franchise defensemen who have won Norris' trophies and can dictate a game in their own unique way. Oh my. They're going to be extremely difficult to beat. Francois Beauchemin is also solid and can contribute offensively. So, what could go wrong? Outside of Teemu Selanne, they're relying on a lot of young forwards and gave up Joffrey Lupul to Edmonton as part of the deal. Still, with a crop that consists of Andy McDonald, Chris Kunitz, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Dustin Penner, they'll be formidable. Vets Rob Niedermayer, Todd Marchant and Samuel Pahlsson provide depth. Former prospect Stanislav Chistov is also back and should find the quicker game better. The biggest question seems to be who will be the number one goalie. Ilya Bryzgalov or former 2003 Conn Smythe winner Jean-Sebastien Giguere? It's a good problem to have. These Ducks are poised for another deep run and maybe even their first ever Cup.
2.Nashville Predators- This team continues to improve all the time. Had number one goalie Tomas Vokoun been healthy this past Spring, they win their first ever playoff round. Like Anaheim, they're going with a lot of young talent. Ryan Sutter and Shea Weber come to mind on the blueline as does budding third-year star Dan Hamhuis. Overlooked due to talented vets Kimmo Timonen and Marek Zidlicky, he's poised to improve on his 38 points last season. There's an awful lot to like about their D. Just as promising is the crop of forwards which features stars Paul Kariya and Steve Sullivan. With center Jason Arnott signed from Dallas, that should be a lethal top line. This will allow David Legwand to move into a secondary scoring role with the underrated Martin Erat and possibly Scott Hartnell. They also added ex-Sabre J.P. Dumont, who should provide more punch. Josef Vasicek was also acquired from Carolina for Scott Walker. This should give Nashville more depth at center. One prospect to keep an eye on is Alexander Radulov. Though he had a good preseason, he was sent down to Milwaukee but could be back soon. Of course, how far the Predators go depends on Vokoun. If healthy, he's a top five goalie. It's time for this franchise to take that next step.
3.Calgary Flames- GM Darryl Sutter might no longer be behind the bench but new coach Jim Playfair will continue Sutter's model of playing a disciplined brand of hockey. How that benefits former Av Alex Tanguay remains to be seen. The talented playmaking left wing was acquired for Jordan Leopold to bolster the Flames' offense alongside Jarome Iginla. They'll team up with Daymond Langkow to comprise a solid top unit. The question is can Jeff Friesen really be relied on for offense? His best years came under Sutter playing back in San Jose. He hasn't been the same player since even if he did score a few big goals helping New Jersey to a Cup in 2003. The Flames will need solid contributions from Chuck Kobasew and Kristian Huselius. A healthy Matt Lombardi should help. They shouldn't expect too much from Tony Amonte. If former Western Canada product Jamie Lundmark could harness his talent, that would help. If anything, the Flames should take solace knowing their stingy D led by Dion Phaneuf and Robyn Regehr should be rock solid. Rhett Warrener and Andrew Ference are no picnic either. Neither is Vezina winner Miikka Kiprusoff to get the puck by. The more things change...The only question is do they have enough offense to take them far?
4.San Jose Sharks- After acquiring Joe Thornton from Boston last year, the Sharks were one of the best teams in the league which allowed him to take home the Hart Trophy. Thornton is an immense talent and got the most out of sniper Jonathan Cheechoo, who led the league with 56 goals. This offseason, GM Doug Wilson went out and added ex-Hawk Mark Bell via a three-team deal with Ottawa. Bell should complete the league's best line. Hopefully, he'll stay out of further trouble off the ice. The dilemma for opponents is that the Sharks can comeback with Patrick Marleau, Milan Michalek and Steve Bernier. They also added grit in ex-Sabre Mike Grier to a mix that includes Ville Nieminen, Curtis Brown and Marcel Goc. Despite parting with Tom Preissing in the Bell deal, the D should still be good with Matt Carle supplying the offense while Scott Hannan and Kyle McLaren supply the beef. Christian Ehrhoff gives them a solid top four. In net, Vesa Toskala will most likely be the number one with vet Evgeni Nabokov backing up. Nolan Schaefer also is there as insurance. This is a very skilled team with lots of speed. But it's up to either Toskala or Nabokov to shine in the postseason.
5.Detroit Red Wings- For the first time since 1982-83, the Winged Wheel will be without emotional leader Steve Yzerman. But with new team captain Nicklas Lidstrom and 44 year-old vet Chris Chelios anchoring the blueline, the transition should be smooth. While they're old on D also with Mathieu Schneider, Niklas Kronwall should continue to improve. Vets Danny Markov and Andreas Lilja round it out. Up front, Henrik Zetterberg is an emerging superstar and Pavel Datsyuk isn't too far behind. Robert Lang can center the second line and Tomas Holmstrom will provide the usual grit in front. If there was a surprise last season, it was the play of Mikael Samuelsson and Jason Williams. They'll be looked to again for offense. Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby once again team up as one of the league's best checking units. If there is a question, it might be how long veteran netminder Dominik Hasek stays healthy for? If he goes down, Chris Osgood backs up. Question nobody wants to hear in Hockeytown: Is this the year some of those vets finally show their age?
6.Minnesota Wild- It took GM Doug Risebrough a few years to finally open the vault and spend. With criticism coming down even from superstar Marian Gaborik who he wisely re-signed long term, Risebrough packaged prospect Patrick O'Sullivan to the Kings for Slovak Pavol Demitra. He also inked sniper Mark Parrish and added defenseman Kim Johnsson as well. Parrish should provide grit and work well with Brian Rolson and possibly Pierre-Marc Bouchard. Johnsson will be looked to for offense and stability on the blueline after they lost Filip Kuba to Tampa and Andrei Zyuzin to Calgary. Johnsson is returning from a concussion. So it was a risk. Kurtis Foster can provide offense while Keith Carney and Brent Burns can supply some physicality. Is this the year Mikko Koivu plays a more prominent role up front? Meanwhile, Manny Fernandez comes in as the clearcut number one goalie and should be ready to backstop the Wild back to the postseason. Looks like they might have fun at the Excel Center.
7.Dallas Stars- Gone is Arnott but still around are key cogs Mike Modano, new team captain Brenden Morrow, Jere Lehtinen, Sergei Zubov, Phillipe Boucher and Marty Turco. During the offseason, GM Doug Armstrong replaced Arnott with Eric Lindros and Jeff Halpern. He also swapped Niko Kapanen for Patrik Stefan and recently added even more depth at the pivot by sending Janne Niinimaa to Montreal for Mike Ribeiro. Throw in emerging Finns Jussi Jokinen and Antti Miettinen and they look pretty balanced. Matt Barnaby and Steve Ott provide energy. On the blueline, 1999 Cup hero Darryl Sydor returns. Jaroslav Modry and Stephane Robidas provide depth. Everything looks good. So what could go wrong? Modano and Zubov show age and Lindros suffers yet another injury. It really is sad what's happened to the Big E. Then there's Turco in net. Can he really get it done when it counts? He's flopped badly so far in his playoff career. That assumes they get there which isn't a given. They should but it will be close.
8.Vancouver Canucks- If big acquisition Robert Luongo doesn't get them here, then he really is an overrated goalie. Sorry. That's just how it should be. Yes. The Canucks lost Ed Jovanovski to Phoenix but considering that he's an accident waiting to happen, that's addition by subtraction. GM Mike Nonis went out and signed Willie Mitchell, who is younger and should provide physicality and actually play more than half the schedule. Mattias Ohlund will anchor the D. Sami Salo is a sound number three. After that, it gets thin. They really need Lukas Krajicek or rookie Luc Bourdon to step up. If either does, they'll be fine. Offensively, it falls on the shoulders of captain Markus Naslund and Brendan Morrison to rebound from down seasons. They're probably better off without Todd Bertuzzi. The Sedin twins have emerged as solid NHLers. Matt Cooke is underrated and Jan Bulis supplies depth at center. After Nonis whined like a baby after matching Bobby Clarke's offersheet to Ryan Kesler, Kesler needs to prove his worth. It would help if Taylor Pyatt emerges. He never really played much in Buffalo. If Luongo answers the questions in goal, the Canucks should be able to squeak back in the playoffs.
9.Edmonton Oilers- This is tough but when you look at GM Kevin Lowe's new look D after Pronger and Jaroslav Spacek left, it's hard to see them making the cut. Captain Jason Smith is still there along with Marc-Andre Bergeron. So is Steve Staios but they never did well with him as a number three. Why will it be any different now? Daniel Tjarnqvist is nothing special and Matt Greene really needs to show a lot more than he did this past June. They'll need Ladislav Smid to be a reliable top four D. That's what the former Duck prospect was projected as before the Pronger deal. We'll see. Up front, we love Lupul and Ales Hemsky to have big seasons. Ryan Smyth, Shawn Horcoff and Jared Stoll should enjoy playing with them. Vet Petr Sykora should be able to finish enough. The pressure will be on Fernando Pisani to duplicate his postseason. Ethan Moreau is underrated. Up front, they're solid. The question marks on the blueline could make life difficult for Dwayne Roloson. If he's under siege routinely, will the vet turned miracle worker crack?
10.Colorado Avalanche- Is this the year the Avs finally miss the postseason? With the losses of Rob Blake and Tanguay, they'll be hardpressed to get in again. Of course, ageless wonder Joe Sakic will once again be there to try to silence the doubters. So too will Milan Hejduk, who needs about the same bounceback season ex-Av Teemu Selanne had with Anaheim. Second-year sniper Marek Svatos returns from shoulder surgery and must be healthy. The Avs are pinning their hopes on free agent pickup Tyler Arnason to provide scoring. He has talent but is a headcase. Rookie Wojtek Wolski has lots of promise and could become the latest Av to emerge up front. Also keep an eye on former 2005 second rounder Paul Stastny. Can gritty center Ian Laperriere repeat his career season? Meanwhile, John-Michael Liles leads the charge from the blueline along with underrated defenders Karlis Skrastins and Ossi Vaananen. Patrice Brisebois can provide offense but is offensive in every sense in his own end. And Ken Klee was awful with New Jersey. Better hope Leopold gets back soon. There are many questions and that continues in net with former Hart and Vezina winner Jose Theodore. Is he an elite netminder or severely overrated? Don't rule out second-year goalie Peter Budaj unseating him. They'll be interesting but the playoff streak has to end some time. As Al Pacino once said to Keanu Reeves at the end of Devil's Advocate, "You can't win'em all."
11.Los Angeles Kings- With the recent acquisition of prospect Jack Johnson along with salary dump Oleg Tverdovsky in a deal which sent Eric Belanger and Tim Gleason to Carolina, it appears new GM Dean Lombardi plans to rebuild. Why else would he dump Demitra on the Wild for O'Sullivan? That's why it's hard to make sense of the Dan Cloutier signing. Maybe it was ex-Canucks' coach Marc Crawford's influence but come on. What are they doing? Rebuilding or trying to win now? Or is it both? Could that also be why they brought back Blake for their blueline to team him up with Lubomir Visnovsky? They also added vet Brent Sopel to a D which includes captain Mattias Norstrom and Aaron Miller. Plus team ornament Tverdovsky. Outside of Visnovsky, they're old. It's a different story up front where Alexander Frolov, Michael Cammalleri, Dustin Brown, superpest Sean Avery, O'Sullivan along with former first rounder Anze Kopitar comprise a youth movement. There's also vets Craig Conroy, Derek Armstrong and Scott Thornton. So what can be expected from them? Is Cloutier that much better than Mathieu Garon? That remains to be seen. This team either could surprise or finish where we're picking them.
12.Columbus Blue Jackets- You would think by now the Blue Jackets would finally be on their way up but it doesn't look that way. Now that GM Doug MacLean has re-signed Nikolai Zherdev, offensively, they should be good with the young Russian talent teaming up with power forward Rick Nash and the underappreciated David Vyborny. Adding Fredrik Modin and Anson Carter should give them two solid lines. But without veteran Sergei Fedorov to start the season, they're lacking in the middle. Unless Alexander Svitov or Dan Fritsche step up, the offense could stagnate. Manny Malhotra is a solid third liner. If someone emerges, it could be former first round pick Gilbert Brule. He is solid overall and has the skills to go with it. They'll also look to Jaroslav Balastik for offense. Even with Adam Foote and Bryan Berard, the D is weak. Ron Hainsey can contribute and David Westcott is decent. But who outside the aging Foote will keep opponents honest? If you say reject Anders Eriksson, you lose. And this is what new number one Pascal Leclaire has in front of him? Like a classic Weezer song, "Say It Ain't So."
13.Phoenix Coyotes- If you look at this roster, it's not awful. However, it seems like a classic tease for Coach Wayne Gretzky to try to bring respectability back to. Shane Doan is a solid power forward and Ladislav Nagy is a gifted finisher. After that, it gets thin quick. Can Mike Comrie really be relied on as a top pivot? Aren't Jeremy Roenick and Owen Nolan washed up? Outside of Steve Reinprecht, there's nothing to get excited about. Heck. Team enforcer Georges Laraque looks good. No wonder they gave him a no-trade clause. We wish we were kidding but it's no joke. It would help when Fredrik Sjostrom returns to the lineup. So, this is what Jovanovski chose? Now, the blueline he joins isn't putrid. Keith Ballard and Zbynek Michalek (try saying that name 10 times fast and get back to us) are solid and can contribute offensively. Nick Boynton who was acquired for Paul Mara is a steady stay-at-home defender. Derek Morris is okay but not as good as he once was hyped to be. Last season, veteran Curtis Joseph played out of his mind in the first half but predictably broke down. He's one year from 40 and well traveled backup Mike Morrison is on his third team in less than a year. What was Gretzky pal GM Mike Barnett thinking? This team was so much better in Winnipeg. Even if there wasn't much success, at least there was an identity.
14.St. Louis Blues- First former MSG boss Dave Checketts took over as team owner. Then he brought in pal and expert NHL analyst John Davidson to run the show as Team President. No question JD knows his stuff but can anyone explain why he added so many veterans? Doug Weight. Bill Guerin. Martin Rucinsky. Dan Hinote. Radek Dvorak. Jay McKee. Manny Legace. The new Blues roster should come with an NHL map. Look. No question they hit rock bottom last season after being in the postseason every year spanning almost three decades. A remarkable accomplishment. How much mileage does a Weight or Guerin have left? They'll most likely team up with Keith Tkachuk to form a vintage Team USA line from 1996. That's 10 years too late. Davidson overpaid for McKee but needed some stability on the blueline. If Barret Jackman ever stayed healthy, they'd be much tougher. Eric Brewer will look to rebound from a nightmarish first season in St. Louis. If you look past all the experience, Petr Cajanek, Lee Stempniak, Christian Backman and Doug Wideman provide hope for the future. Backing up Legace will be the tandem of Curtis Sanford and Jason Bacashihua. So, can this team be competitive? They'll be better than last year but not by much.
15.Chicago Blackhawks- Same old song and dance for Bill Wirtz' Original Six franchise. Do they even count anymore? When is the last time the Hawks were relevant? And we're not talking about that playoff cameo a few years ago where they got swept out by St. Louis. I remember a time when they had a young Eagle, JR, Steve Larmer, Christian Ruutu and even a young Chelios and Gary Suter all on NHL '94. That was Blackhawk hockey! Now, they just suck. What makes anyone think the additions of Martin Havlat and Bryan Smolinski from Ottawa are going to change that? Yes, Havlat is a dynamic talent who should still produce. And the deal of Kyle Calder for Michal Handzus might work as long as Zeus returns to form after offseason surgery. But these are the Hawks. Where overpaying free agents such as Nikolai Khabibulin and Adrian Aucoin turns them into mere mortals. Is there some talent on this roster? Sure. Defensemen Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith both have ability. Former number one Cam Barker will eventually return from injury and get his chance. Center Tuomu Ruutu is an enormous talent but once again will start the season on IR. And left wing Rene Bourque is decent. But when you look at this mix, it seems like they just flipped a coin. If you're pathetic, shouldn't you tear the whole thing up? Can the Bulin Wall rebound? If not, Brian Boucher is the backup. How did Michael Leighton not make the roster? But instead, they have Patrick Lalime as their third stringer. Hawks hockey at its finest.
2007 PLAYOFF CRYSTAL BALL
East
Conference Quarters
Sabres over Panthers in 5
Devils over Bruins in 6
Hurricanes over Flyers in 7
Senators over Rangers in 7
Semis
Sabres over Senators in 6
Devils over Hurricanes in 6
Finals
Sabres over Devils in 7
West
Conference Quarters
Ducks over Canucks in 6
Predators over Stars in 5
Wild over Flames in 6
Sharks over Wings in 6
Semis
Ducks over Wild in 5
Predators over Sharks in 6
Finals
Predators over Ducks in 6
STANLEY CUP FINAL
Sabres over Predators in 7
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