Friday, September 21, 2007

Goalie Troubles for Kings!

The Los Angeles Kings have major issues in net again this year, culminating today with the waiving of Dan Cloutier and his $6.2 million dollar contract.

The Kings hope that some desperate team will take Cloutier's contract off their hands, but that seems unlikely. If he passes through waivers they intend to send him to their AHL affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs.

This leaves the Kings with two career backups in Jason LaBarbera and J.S Aubin, to challenge their stud prospect, Jonathan Bernier, for the starting role.

Labarbera and Aubin have yet to prove that they possess the necessary qualities to be a starter in the NHL, but they do provide a solid backup option. This leaves only one option for the starting role and that is Canada's Summit Series goalie Jonathan Bernier.

By all accounts, Bernier has had an outstanding camp Obviously, that was enough for the Kings to waiver Cloutier. However, Bernier would be jumping straight from Juniors to the NHL, which is a tough task for the best of goalies.

I'm an advocate for bringing young goalies along slowly, especially when the team in front of them isn't capable of protecting them. I believe goalies should learn the pro game in the AHL and only when they are ready bring them up to the NHL.

There will always be a few goalies that make the instant jump, but they are few and far between and there are many more goalies that have had their careers stunted by being asked to do too much too soon.

The Kings may be in the market for a starting goalie, but they are in short supply. The kings could make a move for the much maligned Andrew Raycroft or the impressive Ilya Bryzgalov. However, they will come with a steep price tag attached to them. A short term option may be to take a chance on a veteran like Curtis Joseph.

If the Kings are going to solve their goalie crisis, they will have to hope that Bernier doesn't crumble under the pressure, or they have to go out and get a legitimate starting goalie. If this fails to happen, their season will be over before it has even started.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Crosby In For The Kill!

Pittsburgh Penguins coach Michel Therrien, has suggested that his team needs more than two penalty killing units. He also suggested that he has penciled in Sidney Crosby for the 3rd penalty killing unit.

Crosby is enthusiastic about adding more responsibilty to his resume. He wants to prove that not only is he the best player in the NHL, but also the most complete player. He wants to show that there isn't any part of the game he can't master.

I have heard it said, that Sidney Crosby isn't the best player in the game, because he isn't a complete player like Vincent Lecavalier, because he doesn't kill penalties. This is complete hogwash and not based in reality.

Just because Crosby doesn't play on the penalty kill doesn't mean he isn't capable of doing so, after all he did that job very successfully while playing for Rimouski.

The Penguins previously believed, that there was no need to add minutes to Crosby's already heavy workload. They wanted Crosby to be fresh and ready to go for every offensive opportunity, not tiring himself by playing on the Penalty kill.

Their thinking has obviously changed and I don't necessarily think that's a good thing. Crosby may be capable of killing penalties, but why waste his energy doing so?

There are other players in the lineup that are less important to the team that are more than capable of filling that role. It is an unnecessary risk to have the best player in the league, facing slapshots from the point and putting his magical limbs at risk while blocking shots.

I suggest that the Pens continue to use him as they have been and only bring him out for the last few seconds of the penalty kill, in hope of creating scoring chances off the back of the tired opposition powerplay.

Crosby may turn out to be a top rate penalty killer, however, the rewards of being a complete player are far outweighed by the possibility of injury. An injury to such an important player, not only to the Penguins, but to the whole NHL, would be a crushing blow.

For the benefit of the Penguins and all the fans around the league who want to see Crosby and his magestical skill, I say, shelve the idea of playing Crosby on the penalty kill.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Schedule Will Change!

According to reports on TSN, it has been decided that the NHL schedule will be changed for the 2008-2009 season, after a 4 hour meeting of the board of governors.

The form of which the schedule will take, will be voted upon when the board of governors meet in late November. But, it is safe to say that every team will meet at least once every season.

I say thank the hockey gods for this piece of news and look forward to seeing what schedule they come up with.

If you want to see my full thoughts on what the new schedule should look like, check out my previous post.

Monday, September 17, 2007

The Globe Has It All Wrong!

After reading this article by David Shoalts, of the Globe and Mail, Where he blogs against the NHL holding an outdoor game, I feel Shoalts is missing the point and in the words of a famous ESPN catchphrase he should "Just Shut Up!"

This game has nothing to do with trying to recreate childhood memories, of playing pickup on the ponds of Canada. This game is about marketing the NHL to a new demographic.

This game is not being televised to attract the already saturated fandom of Canada, it's about attracting new fans in the States and increasing the visibility of the league in a market where is it behind even late night poker.

Americans like flash, they like something different and this game is going to provide exactly that. This game is going to provide the kind of novelty that might attract new viewers and if the league is lucky, long term fans.

What better way to increase the visibility of the league, than have an outdoor game where the best player in the world today, Sidney Crosby, will be broadcast live to millions of American homes by NBC.

This game may be a novelty and may not be a true reflection of the caliber of play in the NHL. However, it will increase the visibility of the league and get a few more extra inches in the back pages of the newspapers and that can only help the growth of the league.

This game has nothing to do with Canada, to even think of it in terms of the Canadian fans and how they feel about it, is irrelevant. This game is about growing the league in a market that is essential for the survival of the league, America.

Canada will support the NHL come rain or shine, but if the league is to continue to grow it has to come up with new ways to attract the American fans.

The more American fans the league can attract, the bigger the television deal will be, the more merchandise will be sold, the more tickets will be purchased, and that will eventually result in more money for every team in the league, including the Canadian teams.

This is why I couldn't disagree more with Shoalts and anyone else who may share his point of view. This outdoor game, will only be a positive thing for the NHL and for all its fans, be they American, Canadian or my case, other.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Capital Gains!

The Washington Capitals should be a much improved team this year The burning question is, can Alexander Ovechkin lead his team to the promised land of the playoffs?

The Capitals have added a lot of veteran experience, with the likes of Michael Nylander, Viktor Kozlov and Tom Poti entering the fold. They also have added arguably best player outside of the NHL, 2006 draft pick Nicklas Backstrom.

The Capitals need to improve on every area of their game, if they are to make the playoffs. Their powerplay, penalty kill and goals against were all in the bottom third of the NHL last season.

The addition of Nylander and Poti should help their powerplay immensely. Poti gives the Capitals a legitimate NHL caliber powerplay quarterback and Nylander will give them another go to option other than Ovechkin.

The arrival of Nylander and Backstrom give the Capitals two legitimate top line centers. This should only help Ovechkin and Alexander Semin, to continue to improve on their impressive play from last year.

The capitals were a one line team last year, but that should not be the case this year. Semin, Backstrom and Kozlov should provide a potent second line and take some of the pressure off the top line. No longer can teams focus all their top defensive players on the top line alone.

Despite all the moves the Capitals have made to improve their offense, they have done nothing to improve their defense. Although they signed Tom Poti, he is a powerplay quarterback and his defensive play is sorely lacking. However, there is hope on the horizon, with the minute crunching machine Karl Alzner not far away.

Alexander Ovechkin has to learn to use his teammates more. Too many times last year, did he leave an open man whistling in the wind, while he tried to take an impossible shot. However, in Ovechkin's defense the caliber of linemates were sorely lacking and that might have had a lot to do with his decision making.

If the Capitals are to make the playoffs, they have to hope everything goes right. Their powerplay has to improve and they have to somehow find a way to solve their penalty killing issues from within and they also have to hope that Semin doesn't suffer from the dreaded sophomore slump, although it's not technically his sophomore year.

There are so many good teams in the Eastern Conference and the Capitals have too many glaring holes, that their chances of making the playoffs are slim to none.