Category: Players
New York Rangers winger Marion Gaborik was taken in the 16th round of last night’s NHL All-Star fantasy draft. More surprising than how late a pick Gaborik was, he was selected by Team Chara.
Team Alfredsson, whose alternate captain is Marion Gaborik’s teammate Henrik Lundqvist, did not choose to pick him in the draft.
When Gaborik received his jersey from Chara, rather than just taking his seat on his side, he walked over to Lundqvist’s podium, winked at him, then walked back to his side.
Lundqvist laughed at this, and it all became clear why when one takes a look back at what transpired during the draft. When Alfredsson and Lundqvist were choosing their team, Alfredsson pointed to a name and Lundqvist said, “No, he wants to verse me,” or something to that effect.
When Gaborik came out and winked at Lundqvist, who did not pick him, it was clear that Gaborik wanted to face Lundqvist in the game one on one, something they obviously cannot do during the regular season.
This matchup is going to be one of the most interesting on Sunday in Ottawa.
Gaborik is the Rangers’ leading scorer and one of the most talented players in the league, while Lundqvist is without a doubt the Rangers’ best goalie, and one of the best (if not the best) in the league.
Gaborik has 39 points on the season, 25 of them from goals; Lundqvist has a 1.87 Goals Against Average, a .937 save percentage and a 22-10-4 record.
Gaborik is one of the most dangerous scorers in the league on the breakaway; Lundqvist is one of the best goalies in the league in stopping the breakaway.
With that being said, it would be very interesting to see Gaborik on a breakaway against Lundqvist in the All-Star game, which I think would be the ideal situation for this friendly rivalry the two teammates have.
Gaborik wanted to face his teammate Lundqvist to prove to him he can score on him. Lundqvist did not choose him so Gaborik could have that chance.
Can the speedy sniper that is Marion Gaborik beat the patient brick wall that is Henrik Lundqvist? Only time will tell, and I hope we get to see the answer on Sunday.
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The New Jersey Devils finished 2011 on a great note with a 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
With the win, New Jersey moves to within three points of the Penguins in the most competitive division in the NHL, the Atlantic Division.
New Jersey stands in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, one spot behind the Penguins and another behind the Philadelphia Flyers who are set for their showdown with the conference-leading New York Rangers in the 2012 Winter Classic.
The Devils have had a great stretch in the past couple weeks and seem to be doing all the right things to claw their way up the ladder.
Their win over the Penguins should offer a few valuable lessons that they can use to develop even further on their quest for the Atlantic Division and ultimately the playoffs.
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On Thursday, the Columbus Blue Jackets achieved their first road regulation victory this season.
Goaltender Steve Mason was near perfect and captain Rick Nash buried two goals to lead the Jackets past the Dallas Stars.
Unfortunately, the win would come with some consequences as defenseman James Wisniewski left the game and would not return after taking a puck to the ankle. The 27-year-old was unable to put weight on his left foot and went straight to the locker room.
It was later revealed that Wisniewski had suffered a fractured ankle and would be out of the Columbus lineup indefinitely.
“The Wiz” was the Jackets’ big free-agent signing this offseason when the team signed him to a six-year deal worth a reported million. Wisniewski was slated to be the Jackets’ power play quarterback, a position that has been an issue for years.
Now, the Jackets are forced to try and find a temporary replacement while their top defenseman is on the mend.
Columbus has a few options to look at and the first is through their farm system.
Players like David Savard or Nick Holden could soon be called up from the Springfield Falcons and could finally receive some consistent playing time. Savard would be the ideal choice as he has excelled in Springfield and is the Jackets’ top defensive prospect.
The other option for the Blue Jackets is to trade for a defenseman before the trade deadline.
Columbus has been in the trade rumors all season after the forgettable start to the year.
Names like Jeff Carter, Derick Brassard, as well as Rick Nash have all popped up.
General manager Scott Howson was quick to deny that Nash and Carter were available, but Brassard’s name has been thrown around since mid-October.
After being a healthy scratch for a considerable amount of time, Brassard has found himself playing a lot on the team’s fourth line, possibly auditioning himself to interested outsiders.
Brassard has struggled this season, but has shown a lot of potential and could excel in a new environment.
According to The Hockey News, the two teams at the most interested in Brassard at the moment are the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers.
Both teams are making a push for the playoffs and may feel that Brassard could be a missing puzzle piece.
One option that the Jackets could be interested in is Toronto’s John-Michael Liles.
Last season, when Columbus was in the middle of the Western Conference standings, the Jackets were looking for roster upgrades and Liles’ name popped up frequently.
Regardless of who the Blue Jackets try and trade for, the injury to Wisniewski is a critical one and should increase the trade rumors immediately.
Update: Just found out via GM Scott Howson’s Twitter that Wisniewski does not require surgery and will be out for six weeks.
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The Chicago Blackhawks were active this past summer in bringing in free agents to improve defensively as well as add grit to the roster.
Six months after purchase, does GM Stan Bowman have buyer’s remorse on any of his pick-ups?
Chicago is currently tops in the NHL with 48 points heading into Monday’s game with Columbus. That doesn’t mean that every July signing is free of any regret.
What follows is a look at the new acquisitions to the ‘Hawks roster. Have they been keepers so far, or candidates for the return desk along with that ugly sweater that’s two sizes too small?
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As much as NHL fans love to boo and berate Gary Bettman, they should give the commissioner at least some credit for deciding to televise the annual Winter Classic Alumni Game prior to the main event between the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers.
The league announced last week that the Alumni Game, with the puck set to drop at 1 p.m. EST on New Year’s Eve, will be broadcast on Versus in the US and CBC in Canada, with Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia providing a local broadcast in the City of Brotherly Love.
The game will feature a host of of legends for both franchises, with 59 former players and coaches currently scheduled to make appearances on the ice at Citizens Bank Park.
Pat Quinn is set to man the bench for a Flyers squad that will include the likes of Jeremy Roenick, Eric Lindros, Mark Howe, Bob Clarke, John LeClair and Reggie Leach. The Rangers, on the other hand, will be coached by Mike Keenan, who led New York to victory in the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals, and represented on the ice by Mark Messier, Adam Graves, Dave Maloney, Ron Duguay, Brian Leetch and Mike Gartner.Of course, the game won’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things, but, like the concept of playing a hockey game outdoors, having it on TV will add to the already tremendous entertainment value of the Winter Classic, which has become one of the coolest events in all of professional sports.
Between this and the 24/7 series on HBO, the NHL has done a magnificent job of marketing its most attractive regular-season product to a wide audience of puck-heads and casual fans alike.
The Winter Classic has become, in essence, what Christmas Day is to the NBA or what Thanksgiving is to the NFL, though with the added benefit of being staged in a unique way for all of North America to see.
And with college football enjoying the peak of its bowl season around New Year’s, it makes perfect sense that the NHL would do everything in its power to pump up the pageantry around the Winter Classic.
Putting the Alumni Game on TV only adds to the appeal of the main event, giving the league an opportunity to preface the actual game between the Flyers and the Rangers with a glimpse into the storied past of one of the NHL’s longest-running and fiercest rivalries.
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Two months ago, every NHL team was a playoff contender. But in the NHL, things change fast.
In the span of just 30 games, hopes of making the playoffs have been dashed for some teams, and these teams are ready to do whatever it takes to line things up for next year.
A handful of teams look doomed already, and with the trade deadline just a few months away, those teams could be selling off their spare parts in hopes for a better future.
Here are 10 of those teams.
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For several years, many hockey teams have been unhappy with their placement within their division. With Winnipeg getting a team, the rumours of a realignment grew stronger. Tonight, those rumours took one step forward in becoming a reality.Teams like the Detroit Red Wings and other western teams will come out winners in a realignment as they will no longer have to use their frequent flier miles as often.
Earlier this evening, the board of governors approved a four conference realignment that will have teams assigned a conference based on geography. The new alignment allows each team to play every team at least twice, giving the fans an opportunity to see every superstar (barring injuries of course). According to CBC, the four new conferences are as follows:
Conference A: Anaheim, Calgary, Colorado, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Jose, Vancouver
Conference B: Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis, Winnipeg
Conference C: Boston, Buffalo, Florida, Montreal, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Toronto
Conference D: Carolina, New Jersey, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington
As of yet, no conference names have been assigned. Perhaps with this new alignment, there is a chance to revert back to the popular names used earlier such as Smythe and Norris.
This new format will feature the top four teams from each conference making the playoffs, with the top ranking team playing the fourth, and the second playing the third-ranked team. The two western-based conferences have eight teams in their respective conferences. Gary Bettman has said the general managers will decide how the playoffs will be played once the conference winners are determined. One potential idea is to re-seed the conference winners. For more information, please go to the NHL site which discusses how the regular season schedule will be organized.
It is important to note that at this time, the National Hockey League’s Player Association has not given input to this proposed design and will do so before things are finalized. If all goes well, this new conference format will be in place next year.
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The San Jose Sharks came into Monday night’s matchup with the division rival Los Angeles Kings with just one road loss in their last eight contests. They had just had a four-game winning streak broken and had not lost back-to-back games since the fourth game of the season.
The Kings lost the first matchup of the teams and had lost three of four. They were only 6-6-1 on the season at home.
Yet the hosts spent more that half of the game with a two-goal lead. That is why they play the games.
The Sharks were once again done in by their slow start, giving up eight of the first 11 shots on goal and 15 of the first 21 attempted. They have scored first in only about a third of their games this season.
L.A.’s seventh shot was from a sharp angle coming on the heels of a bad giveaway by Justin Braun just 8:37 into the game. It surprised Antti Niemi, and the resulting soft goal ended up being the game-winner. The Sharks played great from there; but it was too late.
In the last two and a half periods, San Jose attempted over half-again the shots L.A. but only put five more on goal because of the Kings shot-blocking. They had more than a fourth-again the ratio of blocks to attempts and more than half-again blocks to shots of the Sharks.
For the game, San Jose had 13 more possessions (11 more faceoff wins and two fewer giveaways) but the same number of shots. The extra possession time led to an appropriate number of additional hits for the Kings and resulted in two extra Sharks power plays, but no special teams goals were scored.
For the Sharks, it was the third time they were shutout. All have come against the division rivals they have dominated for four consecutive seasons.
One reason for this is the team’s lack of secondary scoring: Only seven players have double-digit point totals, and two players (Joe Pavelski and Patrick Marleau) have accounted for over a third of the team’s goals.
The loss technically dropped the Sharks out of first place and legitimately left them with the fourth-best record in the Western Conference. They have a couple days to prepare for an invasion of Eastern Conference teams, with the Montreal Canadiens coming to town Thursday and the surprising Florida Panthers on Saturday.
Being ready in the first half of the first period might go a long way to preventing the team’s first true losing streak since the fourth game of the season.
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The poor start to the season is a distant memory for the San Jose Sharks.
November is coming to a close, and the Sharks posted a 7-3-1 record. They now have a 13-7-1 record and are just two points behind the Dallas Stars for the Pacific Division lead. They’ve played three less games than both the Stars and Los Angeles Kings, who are one point ahead of the Sharks.
They’re in seventh place in the Western Conference, but only four points behind the Chicago Blackhawks, but with three less games played. In fact, the Sharks have played the fewest amount of games in the conference, so no need to worry there.
But capturing 15 points this month is great heading into December. Here are some of the things the Sharks did right this month.
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It is no secret that San Jose Sharks‘ GM Doug Wilson has been busy this offseason.
Brent Burns, Martin Havlat, Colin White, Michael Handzus, Jim Vandermeer, Brad Winchester, Andrew Murray and James Sheppard are the new Sharks this season, thanks to the hard work of Doug Wilson.
With so many new faces, it may be hard for them to fit in and produce immediately. However, chemistry is not an issue, as the Sharks’ record is a comfortable 8-4-1 after 13 games.
Read on as I grade each of the Sharks’ new acquisitions.
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