The Story of the Year

 

 

   Let me start out by saying I don't want to sound like a "homer" because I live in Arizona and have been a fan of the Coyotes since 1997 when they came to the desert from Winnipeg. They are also the main reason I got in to hockey and why it has shaped my life the way it has, but the Phoenix Coyotes are the story of the year as they march into the playoffs. The Coyotes currently sit at 4th place in the Western Conference after a loss on Tuesday Night to the 1st place Chicago Blackhawks. After Sunday night's shoot out victory in Dallas the Coyotes had won 9 straight games dating back to March 3rd at the trade deadline. Phoenix made key additions to their team and look to be very dangerous. One name that I had my eye on was Lee Stempniak due the fact that he has had previous success and that Phoenix got him for very little. He has since scored  9 goals and 2 assists in the 9 of the 10 games he has played in with the Coyotes and has been exciting to watch. All of the additions appear to definitely strengthen this team.

   During the 9 game winning streak the Coyotes have five shoot out victories including their last three. They have admitted to not playing their best hockey yet continue to find ways to win which is what the good teams do, especially at this time of the year. They have set numerous franchise records including wins in a season, wins for a single goaltender, overall points in a season, consecutive home wins, and then tied the most overall consecutive wins with 9 dating back to the 84-85 Winnipeg Jets. The Coyotes have done all of this and will most likely finish the season without a player scoring 30 goals or even 60 points. Many of the top level teams thought of as top contenders for the Cup have one or even two well known stars in the league while the Coyotes are playing great team hockey. The most notable name on the roster even being mentioned for an award at season's end is goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. Ilya has accumulated 39 wins and a league best 8 shut outs and has a save percentage of .921. He is one of two goalies reasonably considered for the Vezina (Best Goalie) and is in the top 5 for the Hart Trophy (MVP). He has been a rock for this team all season and makes the big saves when he has to. An award that will definetly be given out is that of the Jack Adams award for the Coach of the Year to Phoenix head coach Dave Tippett. Tippett was fired from the Dallas Stars last season after failing to reach the playoffs for the first time in the last 7 years that he coached them. He has brought in his great defensive style and the more the team kept winning the more they believed in him.

   The Phoenix Coyotes were expected to finish last in Western Conference according to ESPN's pre-season rankings and many others assumed a similar finish. Stemming from last summer the team is still looking for ownership and is currently owned by the NHL. Some teams cried foul about the teams deadline acquisitions, saying they would not have other wise had the money if they were not owned by the NHL. That is something we will never  know and can not just be assumed. This team was in ruins last summer after several years of the Gretzky experiment not paying off. I personally feel losing Gretzky as coach was less of a reason for the team's success compared to the addition of Dave Tippett. If they playoffs started today then the Coyotes would be set to play the Los Angeles Kings, a team the Coyotes are very familiar with and would be a great first round match-up. I feel that this is a win-able series for the Coyotes looking to win their first playoff series since moving from Winnipeg. This will be their first playoff appearance since 2002. Many of the players on the current roster have little to no playoff experience so only time will tell how they will finish this story book season. No one predicted this team would be here at this time of the year, so hopefully the surprises will continue in the post season.

A few thoughts...

                                            Image provided by the Chicago Tribune
    As the season winds down there are a few circumstances that should be looked at. The big topic right now is hitting and players getting hurt. After a great Game of the Week last Sunday where the Capitals erased a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Blackhawks in overtime without Ovechkin. The reason Ovechkin wasn't playing has been in the news much more than the fantastic comeback itself. Early in the first period Ovechkin pushed Brian Campbell a few feet from the boards causing him to fall forward and ram his shoulder. The severity of the hit appeared to be from the physical strength of Ovechkin and a slight loss of balance on the part of Campbell. The hit looked bad and Ovechkin was given a 5 min penalty and a game misconduct. Under no circumstances should the NHL hand out suspensions based on whether the player is injured or not but it's clear that if Campbell hopped back up right away a suspension would not have occurred. The news came shortly after the game that Campbell would possibly not return this season as he has a broken clavicle and a few broken ribs then yesterday the word from Colin Campbell, the league's disciplinarian, that Ovechkin would be suspended for 2 games.
 
   Colin Campbell is taking some heat for his decisions and this case is no different. Many players from around the league were interviewed after the game calling Alexander Ovechkin "reckless". However most agreed the injury was unintentional and that Alex is not a "dirty" player. He is known for going a 100 mph every game and going all out on every shift. This being the second time he was suspended this season and it was clearly a message being sent to the rest of the league that there will be no special treatment for superstar players. If he didn't suspend him then fans would assume it was only because of who he is, so Campbell was in a lose lose situation. One of the lingering questions is whether these suspensions will change the aggressive style of play that attracts people to Alexander Ovechkin. I personally hope not but also hope that players become more aware and make better decisions when checking others. This doesn't mean there has to be less hitting or full on play from the players its just a matter of being responsible. Brian Campbell mentioned that after the Olympics everyone was raving about hockey but now the Matt Cooke hit and then this is making parents stop and think before letting their kids play hockey. He was quoted saying "This has to stop".

   Right before the situation mentioned above was what I talked about in my last post, the situation involving Matt Cooke and Marc Savard. This story was thrown a new twist as since no one defended Marc Savard directly after the hit, there is expected to be premeditated fights in this Thursday's rematch between the teams. This situation could have been avoided if the Bruins went after Cooke at the time of the incident. Now there is talk of the Bruins going to Sidney Crosby in order to take out there star, an eye for and eye situation. With all the headaches of people talking down on hockey for the current injuries situation the last thing the league needs is another Todd Bertuzzi incident. In that instance Bertuzzi was retaliating for a hit by Steve Moore on then Captain Markus Naslund of the Vancouver Canucks. There was a lot of talk about retaliation before the game and then what happened during that game is something few will forget. This game between the Bruins and Penguins will most likely be filled with controversy but how out of hand will it get? The Bruins need a win right now more then payback if they want to be a part of the postseason.

 

Head Injuries

Pic provided by National Post

   Head injuries are becoming a much too common theme in today's NHL. Last night saw another instance of high hits to the head as Marc Savard of the Boston Bruins was carried off the ice on a stretcher after being blindsided by Matt Cooke of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The GM's of the National Hockey League are meeting to discuss what actions need to be taken to prevent such horrible instances in the future. Players need to be more aware of their body movements when making such hits. It is easy to say that they are moving quickly and sometimes the hits are unavoidable however, the hit on Savard was taking liberties at a player that could not protect himself.

   There have been an over abundance of hits to the head this season that have had devastating affects. The only thing to ask is where do you draw the line? In October Mike Richards nearly decapitated David Booth of the Florida Panthers but there was no suspension for the hit. The hit was within the league rules as a shoulder to the head. David Booth was admiring his pass as he crossed the center of the offensive zone when Richards caught him. This example seems to be more often then not what is happening in most cases, where as with Savard he was shooting the puck with his head out in front and Matt Cooke chose to take advantage. I think when the league goes to look at plays like this there may be gray area. Everyone seems to be saying that there must be a clear cut rule to prevent any future instances like this but that would mean taking out shoulder to head hits. The league does the best it can for policing hits to the head with anything else like elbows but at the end of the day it comes down to the players. The players have to make the decision of possibly letting up when others are in a vulnerable position as opposed to ending their season or possibly career. This doesn't have to mean taking hitting out of the game, it is just a matter of safety for your fellow players. Here is the clip of Matt Cooke's hit on Marc Savard, you decide for yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_F7LEZ78_o

  Another issue is the hard glass that surrounds the boards. Hitting the boards is becoming a dangerous issue for players now as the heavy glass that is made to be perfect to see through for the fans and is causing head injuries as well. Players have been taking seemingly innocent hits against the boards and seriously hurting themselves as their heads bounce off the glass. I was watching the Coyotes game in February just before the Olympic break and witnessed Petr Prucha get taken off on a stretcher due to a hit from James Neal of the Dallas Stars. Neal was not suspended for the hit. Here is a clip of that play as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZzEOVZcz-s 

NHL Game of the Week

The NHL has a contract with NBC that shows a "Game of the Week" on Sundays. The NHL knows this is its only time to premiere its best players to hopefully new fans nationwide. That is why every week it is a match-up of the same few teams as they involve the young superstars that shape the league. The Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers, Detroit Redwings and Chicago Blackhawks are the usual teams seen on Sundays. All but the Capitals have been in a Winter Classic by the way. Yesterday's game included the Detroit Redwings and the Chicago Blackhawks. The game was great, it had 9 goals and a comeback attempt by Chicago but ultimately ended with a 5-4 Detroit win. It is understandable why they chose these games as they are all rivals and involve such great players that the league is trying to market. It is a good start however, there are many other great players and teams out there that are not being showcased anywhere other then their home states. As a huge hockey fan obviously this is disappointing to only see a few teams as NBC and Versus are the only channels showing hockey. Versus is a channel that most sports fans don't have and will not purchase to see a sport they are just thinking about getting interested in. When the NHL's contract with NBC and Versus ends they need to go back to where they were before the lockout, ESPN. When the NHL was on ESPN they were not the biggest sport obviously but there wasn't talk about being behind NASCAR and college sports. After a great Olympics where the gold medal game was seen by 27 million Americans, an extremely large number for hockey, it was expected that the NHL would take advantage of the press and start moving in the right direction. With Gary Bettman in charge making all kinds of claims about how the NHL may not be in the 2014 Olympics just shows how much help is needed. What the NHL needs is a new Commissioner that is committed to improvements and a new contract with ESPN so that they will once again be a watched sport in America.

Trade Deadline

The trade deadline is finally over and there is a lot to look at.  Not a lot of big names moved as many of those happened before the Olympic break. Names like Kovalchuk to New Jersey and Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Dion Phanuef to Toronto. A lot of things that we knew were coming did and then some that were expected that didn't. This wasn't the craziest trade deadline day but significant changes were made and there were definite winners and losers today.

Noteworthy trades
The Phoenix Coyotes were rumored to possibly be looking to dump Peter Mueller and add some offense to their line-up. By the end of the deadline the Coyotes ended up making several moves. Most worth mentioning was that of sending Peter Mueller and Kevin Porter to Colorado for Wojtek Wolski. This is a great move for Phoenix considering the disappointing play of Mueller this season while the team is excelling. Both Wolski and Mueller are looking for new starts in their new homes. The deal that was done shortly before this one was that which brought back defenseman Derek Morris from Boston. Morris was with the Coyotes from 03-09 and was well respected in the Coyotes locker room. Also on defense for a young team going to the playoffs, the Coyotes brought in Mathieu Schneider. He may help on a power play that is ranked 29th in the league or he may not find his way on the team at all. The Coyotes were very busy today as the also added Lee Stempniak, Alexandre Picard, and Petteri Nokelainen.

The Washington Capitals added some depth as well to what is expected to be a long playoff run. The Caps high octane offense needs no help so they added D men Joe Corvo and Milan Jurcina. Jurcina was previously with the club and I'm sure is happy to be back as the Caps are a top the league standings while Columbus is struggling mightily. Washington also added F Scott Walker and F Eric Belanger for 3rd line depth purposes and to help their penalty kill.

The Anaheim Ducks are looking to make a push for a playoff spot and may have helped themselves by adding Lubomir Visnovsky for Ryan Whitney and later Aaron Ward.  Vesa Toskala didn't last long as the back up as he leaves for Calgary in exchange G Curtis McElhinney. G Joey MacDonald was added as well.

The LA Kings had talk of taking F Ray Whitney and before that Ilya Kovalchuk. Instead they have brought on F Fredrik Modin and F Jeff Halpern. Not nearly the same amount of power but still improvements for a good team.

The Pittsburgh Penguins added Jordon Leopold and Alexei Ponikarovsky to their line-up making them again dangerous, especially in the East. Ponikarovsky has yet to play for the Pens as he has issues with his visa for playing in the United States. This problem should soon be resolved and the Pens will be a force in the Eastern Conference yet again come playoff time as they are looking to repeat as champions.

The Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs did their big trades prior to the Olympic break. As I mentioned earlier Toronto brought on Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Dion Phanuef. The Flames recieved Ian White, Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman and Jamal Mayers from Toronto while the Leafs also got Fredrik Sjostrom and Keith Aulie in addition to Phanuef. In order to bring on Giguere the Leafs also traded with Anaheim by giving up Jason Blake and Vesa Toskala. The Flames started the season well but were going through a rough patch and decided to go through with the big change. They also traded away  Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust for Christopher Higgins and Ales Kotalik of the New York Rangers, who don't appear to be any better or worse. It is too early to tell if the Flames made the right choice but GM Brian Burke and the Maple Leafs are clearly looking to make a lot of changes and adding Phanuef and Giguere is a great start. As for the Ducks Jason Blake is a nice addition and they have already traded away G Vesa Toskala for Curtis McElhinney.

There was a long debate on where Ilya Kovalchuk would go after turning down a $101 million deal over 12 years from Atlanta. The Kings seemed like a good fit as they would be able to possibly give him an extention and not make him simply a rental player. I personally enjoyed hearing the possibility of this as I live in Phoenix and would get to see him quite often. This deal never happened because The New Jersey Devils came in an gave the Atlanta Thrashers enough to make them give up their superstar. Although to others looking in it doesn't appear the Devils gave up that much. In the deal the Devils traded youngster Niclas Bergfors, D man Johnny Oduya, the young captain of the world junior Canadian team Patrice Cormier and a 2010 first-round pick. This deal has seemed to make the Thrashers play more like a team while the Devils struggled out of the gate. I'm still unsure whether this deal will pay dividends for the Devils this season. They will try and re-sign him after the season but that may be unlikely, so this is probably a rental situation and the Devils are going for it all this postseason.

The Chicago Blackhawks were very quiet this trade deadline however they have close to the best record in the league and shouldn't need to change much. The only question mark is whether the combo of Cristobal Huet and Antti Niemi is good enough to take the Hawks to the Cup. All the experts were sure the Hawks would at least attempt to make some move at the goaltender position but they didn't and we will see how that works out for them. The one move they did make was trading young defenseman Cam Barker for some experience on D in Kim Johnsson from the Minnesota Wild.


The Ottawa Senators made a couple trades that seem minor but should ensure them a playoff spot. They picked up Matt Cullen and Andy Sutton which in the East are actually good acquisitions. The Eastern Conference is close right now and some poor teams will make the playoffs. The Senators were considered a bad team to start the year but have played well as of late and have the talent to maybe upset in the early rounds but shouldn't go deep in the playoffs.

Winners
The Phoenix Coyotes for the first time were buyers at the deadline and they may have made significant progress in becoming one of the elite teams in the West. (at least for now)The Coyotes have added some scoring and solidified their defense and hope to surprise some people in this years playoffs.

The Washington Capitals made moves that should make them a legitimate contender for the Stanley Cup. I'm sure they were already considered a contender but these moves at least let people know they are leaving it all on the line this year.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have added defense which come playoff time should be very beneficial. The Pens are looking to repeat and have a some what better team than last year and in the East could maybe at least still get to the finals.

It would be hard to say that the New Jersey Devils hurt themselves in any way by adding the likes of prominent 50 goal scorer Ilya Kovalchuk. Kovalchuk has done little lately but it will be interesting to see what happens with him and this team come playoff time.

Losers
There were teams that were expected to make specific moves and chose not to and were considered losers on this day as they did not improve their teams in anyway.

The Philadelphia Flyers lost 1st string goalie Ray Emery for the season and were looked at to make a significant move. With many goalies available the Flyers chose not to make any moves and chose to stick with Michael Leighton as the starter, who has been on waivers 3 or 4 times in his career and that is exactly where the Flyers got him. He replaced Brian Boucher as the back-up with his play and has become the starter. The Flyers will have to look to Leighton in the playoffs even though he has never started a postseason game due to their lack of activity during the trade time period. This move or lack their of may not hurt the Flyers but only time will tell how Leighton will payoff for a team that has been searching for a franchise goalie since Ron Hextall retired.

The Edmonton Oilers have many players on their roster with large contracts that are not paying off and could have been dealt, most notably Sheldon Souray. The Oilers are last in the league but mainly due to injuries however, they could have eased the pain by unloading some money and chose not too. They did unload Visnovsky and will also probably take the number one overall pick in the upcoming draft. 


The Boston Bruins were also expected to make a move for a scorer and chose to stick with their current squad except chose to add defenseman Dennis Seidenberg. A need seemingly not necessary by the fans.

Several other moves were made as it was a busy trade deadline day however, none to important. If I didn't mention the moves made by other teams that is because the team did not improve or decrease they instead stayed the same and will probably not affect the overall standings in many ways. 

Power Rankings. Caps at #1

Now that the Olympics are over the participants have returned to their respective teams and it's time to go back and look at where the teams stand going into the final stretch.

 Washington Capitals-The Caps won 14 games in a row looking to tie the most ever with 17 before the Olympic break. However they instead lost 3 straight, but an angry Alex Ovechkin can get this team going again. 

Chicago Blackhawks-  Kim Johnsson is a nice veteran pick-up for a very young team looking to go far in this year's playoffs. However is Cristobal Huet going to cut it in net for a long playoff run?

San Jose Sharks- The Sharks clearly have the talent to win it all with 4 players playing together on a line for Gold Medal winning team Canada, but is Nabokov going to be able to shake a poor Olympic showing?

Los Angles Kings- The Kings are 8-1-1 in their last 10 and may be looking to add the likes of Ray Whitney to their squad. 

Phoenix Coyotes- The Coyotes have been incredible this season and sit 4th in the overall standings. They may be looking to be buyers for the first time in a while at the trade deadline and will be aiming to add some scoring while Upshall is out. 

Vancouver Canucks- Vancouver has been impressive and now has a confident Roberto Luongo rejoining the team after winning a gold medal. Only issue may be the 6 game road trip to start after the 2 week break.

New Jersey Devils- New Jersey picked up Ilya Kovalchuk to try and separate themselves from the others in the Eastern Conference. Kovalchuk has only scored one goal as a Devil and the team has gone 3-5-2 in their last 10. We will see if the break helped this team at all. 

Pittsburgh Penguins- Sidney Crosby brings his swagger that will come with scoring the overtime game-winning goal for the Gold Medal in the Olympics. The Pens also just picked up Jordan Leopold from the Panthers for a draft pick.

Colorado Avalanche- These youngsters are rolling and are are not looking to stop anytime soon. 

Buffalo Sabers- Ryan Miller was amazing in Vancouver, leaving with a silver medal and MVP honors. He looked dejected at first after the gold medal game was over been then looked very impressive for how well he was taking in the experience of what just happened during the closing ceremonies. 

Ottawa Senators- Ottawa started horribly this season but are 8-2-0 in their last 10 and can do some damage in the East for a solid playoff spot. 

Nashville Predators- The Preds have been solid this year with consistent play from various players and they continue to just swap goalies over the last few years and still win some games. This team gave Detroit a scare in the playoffs a bit ago then Jason Arnott went down with a concussion as did the teams hopes of winning that series. 

Detroit Redwings- The Wings are barely in the playoff picture but that should surely change as they become healthy. 

Philadelphia Flyers- The Flyers would be no where without Micheal Leighton who may see some playoff time if Emery can't stay healthy. Philly is 6-4 in their last 10 including winning 4 straight to go into the break.

Calgary Flames- Jarome Iginla was hitting his stride before the break and continued it in Vancouver with his gold medal while Kiprusoff comes home with a bronze. 

Dallas Stars- Everyone thought Marty Turco was out the door in Dallas and yet he has been impressive and Auld was the one moving on. 

Anaheim Ducks- The Ducks looked dead in the water at the beginning of the season but now with Jonas Hiller playing confident hockey, the Ducks are back in playoff contention. Look out if they once again find themselves as an 8 seed. 

Boston Bruins- The Bruins have won 4 in a row but are the lowest scoring team in the league. This team has battled injuries to Lucic and Savard and need more consistent play from Tim Thomas.    

Minnesota Wild- Looking forward to watching Cam Barker with the Wild and his increase in time and hopefully productivity. 

St. Louis Blues- The Blues have some good young American talent in David Backes and T.J Oshie but they will be watching the playoffs from home. 

Montreal Canadians- Montreal is just bad considering their roster. 

Tampa Bay Lightning- See Montreal. 

New York Rangers- Oli Jokinen has been good but New York could still find themselves watching the playoffs. However I can see them getting in with other names like Marian Gaborik and Henrik Lundqvist. 

Atlanta Thrashers- They are now the Thrashers and no longer the Atlanta Kovalchuks. It will be interesting to see how this team plays together now. 

Carolina Hurricanes- Looking to be sellers at the deadline. 

Florida Panthers- Looking to make some changes and not sure what this team will look like. 

Columbus Bluejackets- Raffi Torres will likely be dealt soon and Steve Mason has been dreadful. 

New York Islanders-  Last season's worst team is not far from it this year. 

Toronto Maple Leafs-  Have made big changes getting Dion Phaneuf and J.S Giguere and GM Brian Burke will look to continue to revamp the Leafs.
 

Edmonton Oilers- The Oilers lost Ales Hemsky, Nikolai Khabibulin, Sheldon Souray, and Sam Gagner making them easily the worst team in hockey. They will be deciding who to take with the number 1 pick this year. In other news G Nikolai Khabibulin was arrested in Scottsdale for an extreme DUI.