Monday Musings

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Written on 9/27/2010 by Jim Cerny

Here's a quick analysis of the top stories from this past weekend in the NHL:

Streit Headed Straight to IR
It can't be easy being an Islanders fan. Or being Garth Snow or Scott Gordon, for that matter. The team holds an open scrimmage for their fans to get excited about its young up-and-coming team, and what happens? The Islanders top defenseman, Mark Streit, suffers a major shoulder injury when checked by teammate Matt Moulson. Word is that Streit will miss 6 months of action due to damage in the labrum and rotator cuff. Other than an injury to John Tavares, could you think of a more important player to go down for the luckless Islanders? I sure can't. Streit is invaluable to this team. It's No. 1 defenseman. It's power play quarterback. A legit 50-60 point player from the back end. A 25-minute per-night ice hog. Respected locker room, and on ice, leader. Barring a trade, and reports say the Isles have no interest in Edmonton's Sheldon Souray, look to James Wisniewski, Jack Hillen, and Andrew McDonald as defensemen asked to step up up offensively. Yikes! What a comedown from Streit, in my opinion one of the most underrated blueliners in the game. Perhaps 19 year-old Calvin de Haan will get a longer look now, though he, too, is coming off shoulder surgery from last season. Plus several scouts have expressed their doubts about de Haan to me, though most reports have him pegged as a solid offensive defenseman. Bottom line, though, Streit's long-term departure is a crippling blow to the Islanders, one that only could be surpassed by a similar injury to Tavares.

Redden Waives Goodbye to Broadway
The news that defenseman Wade Redden was placed on waivers by the Rangers on Saturday was expected. The veteran's play has been in a steep decline for years and his $6.5 million salary cap hit has been an albatross for GM Glen Sather for three seasons. But anytime a team is willing to pay a player that much money not to play---or at least to do so in some minor league outpost like Hartford---is still somewhat of a surprise. I have not spoken yet with Redden, but you would think he and his agent Don Meehan have been preparing for this moment all summer and have thought out all of their options. To keep collecting his mega-salary, Redden must report to the Rangers AHL affiliate. But he and Meehan could try and broker a deal in Europe, similar to what Blackhawks unwanted goalie Christobal Huet has done this season. Either way, Redden is finished on Broadway. And while it is the right move for the team to make, it shouldn't be lost in all of this that Redden is a decent, well-intentioned person. Redden was All-Class all the time. He is not the monster Rangers fans would have you believe. In fact, he is the exact opposite. And I wish Wade and his wife Danica, who just gave birth to the couple's first child last Wednesday, the best moving forward.

Calling Jose Theodore! Calling Jose Theodore!
Josh Harding's gruesome knee injury in which he suffered not only a torn MCL, but a shredded ACL, as well, has Minnesota on the lookout for a No. 2 goalie to play behind Niklas Backstrom this season. While 20 year-old Matt Hackett is viewed as the Wild's goalie of the future, he needs more seasoning and would not benefit playing 20-odd games behind Backstrom. And minor league backstop Anton Khudobin, while being talked up by GM Chuck Fletcher, doesn't fit the bill either. But at the right price, a veteran like 34 year-old Jose Theodore (30 wins, .911 save percentage, 2.81 goals against in Washington last year) or Vesa Toskala (not so pretty in Toronto and Calgary) would be a nice addition. And why wouldn't the price be right? Better to be the Wild's No. 2 than sitting out, staying in shape, and waiting for the phone to ring during the season, all while NOT being paid a cent. Minnesota will head to Finland to begin the season shortly, so Fletcher needs to make a decision soon. If I'm Theodore, I'd make sure my passport is ready to go.

Burke Says Kadri Not Such a Sure Thing
Ok, I'll admit it. When thinking about who the top rookies would be in the NHL this season, I always, and I mean every single time, had Toronto's Nazem Kadri near the top of my list. Not so fast, according to Toronto GM Brian Burke who came down hard on the 19 year-old center this weekend. Burke flat out said that, though, Kadri survived a round of cuts, the kid hasn't shown anything in the pre-season that leads the Maple Leafs to believe he can contribute at the NHL level this season. OUCH! Kadri was a 35-goal, 93 point player in London last year, and his arrival in Toronto has been eagerly anticipated by Leafs fans ever since he was selected in the first round of the 2009 draft. That wait now may just be a bit longer. Burke is a straight shooter. While his words had to have some motivational meaning behind them, I really believe that Burke right now is leaning towards farming the kid out. Kadri's got this week to pick up his play. Let's see how he reacts to a taste of adversity.

Youngsters Shine in Edmonton
19 year-old wing Magnus Paajarvi netted a Hat Trick late last week. 20 year-old Jordan Eberle makes the highlights with two pretty goals and an assist last night. 18 year-old first-overall pick Taylor Hall has a goal and two assists in his first two games. And 23 year-old Linus Omark thrills with his goal-scoring prowess. I know it's only the pre-season, but the Oilers look like they have a lot to be excited about---not just this season, but thinking long-term---with the play of these four exciting rookies. Edmonton coach Tom Renney was loathe to play the kids when he coached the Rangers in the all-consuming win-now atmosphere. But is he now willing to take on this many kids and let them grow together, knowing the inevitable bumps in the road which will come on a regular basis, perhaps more often than victories, to start? I hope so. The potential for the Oilers to be one of the more intriguing and exciting teams to watch this season is growing by the day. Let the Kids Play, Tom!

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Hockey Day Helps Change Course of Several Teams

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Written on 2/01/2010 by Jim Cerny

Canada's Hockey Day on Saturday was its usual great spectacle, and made for great viewing on The NHL Network for this particular US scribe.

But intriguingly each NHL contest played in Canada that day set forth a chain of events that rocked individual teams and the entire league the folllowing day.

First Ottawa continued its impressive climb up the Eastern Conference standings with a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory against the Canadiens. Things are going so well for the Sens, whose win was their ninth in a row, that even Alex Kovalev dented the back of the net against his old club.

The bigger news, though, was Montreal losing its top goal scorer, Mike Cammalleri, to a knee injury. For a team that can be hot-and-cold offensively, seeing their 26-goal scorer go down was a huge blow for the Habs. On Sunday the other shoe dropped, as the Canadiens found out Cammalleri will miss 6-8 weeks of action, a devestating blow for a team battling for a playoff spot.

Next up was Vancouver and Toronto at Air Canada Centre, and Brian Burke's boys must have thought they were dreaming, racing out to a 3-0 lead and chasing Roberto Luongo to the bench in the first period. Dream turned into nightmare, however, as the Canucks scored once in the second and then erupted for four goals in the third to defeat the Leafs 5-3, with Alex Burrows and the Sedin twins taking starring turns.

That collapse was the final straw for Burke who went out and engineered two major trades less than 24 hours later, picking up Dion Phaneuf from Calgary and J-S Giguere from Anaheim in a pair of deals that saw ten players switch jerseys.

Of course Calgary GM Darryl Sutter (above photo) was front and center alongside Burke because it was he---mere hours after his club thrashed Edmonton 6-1 to stem their recent losing ways in the finale of Hockey Day in Canada---who took the leap and traded away the 24 year-old Phaneuf, a First Team NHL All-Star just two years ago.

That pleasing victory over the Oilers did not slow down Sutter's plan to shake up his club. Not only did he ship Phaneuf and two others to Toronto for Niklas Hagman, Matt Stajan, Ian White, and Jamal Mayers, Sutter was right on the verge of casting Olli Jokinen away to New York for Ales Kotalik and Christopher Higgins, but something---rumored to be either Sutter's asking for Ryan Callahan instead of Higgins or Kotalik's refusal to waive his partial no-trade clause---upended the deal.

As of today the Flames and Rangers still have been unable to pull off the trade, or some variation thereof, leaving Sutter with an underperforming star who now quite likely will be a pouting, underperforming star when Jokinen is forced to dress for Calagary at home against the Flyers tonight.

What a mess.

And speaking of blown trades, how about the Oilers, Calgary's victim in the last game Saturday night? They've been looking to move defenseman Sheldon Souray now that he is healthy again. Then Souray goes out and seeks to exact revenge against Jarome Iginla on Saturday for the Calgary captain's injury-inducing hit on the Edmonton defenseman earlier in the season. Souray and Iginla drop the gloves, settle their score in a fairly impressive bout, and in the process Souray breaks his hand.

Cancel those trade discussions!

The Oilers can't catch a break, though in this case, I guess they did, only literally.

One very memorable day on Saturday that bled over into Sunday, with ramifications running for the remainder of the season.

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Burke Wheels and Deals for Phaneuf and Jiggy

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Written on 1/31/2010 by Jim Cerny

As the losses mounted and his team sunk further into the basement of the Eastern Conference you just knew that Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke was itching to pull the trigger on something that would shake up his team. Not just something, something big. A headline grabber that would befit his DNA makeup.

On the last day of January consider it Mission Accomplished. Actually make that Mission Accomplished Times Two.

Burke announced this morning that the Leafs had acquired defenseman Dion Phaneuf (photo) from the Calgary Flames as the headliner in a seven-player trade. Shortly after that announcement Burke was back to confirm that he had picked up goaltender J-S Giguere from Anaheim in a three-player swap.

Phaneuf and Giguere. A couple of years ago Burke would have been heralded as a genius for landing this pair. Then again a couple of years ago there is no way Calgary would have traded Phaneuf or Anaheim would have dealt Giguere, two All Stars playing at the top of their game.

But the last two years have tarnished the on-ice images of both Phaneuf and Giguere as each player has seen a rather steep decline in his play. Burke is banking on both to return to form, and if that happens, he will indeed be heralded as a gutsy genius.

Of course both players will have to resurrect their careers in the crucible that is hockey-mad Toronto, while also trying to lift a marquee Original-Six franchise back to respectability. No easy task for Phaneuf and Giguere. This isn't exactly going to Nashville or Atlanta or Long Island to quietly go about getting your game back on track.

At his best Phaneuf is a monster on the blueline, a vicious hitter with a booming shot. He can be a force in both ends of the ice, a minute-muncher who is deployed in all critical game situations. Two years ago he played in all 82 games, notched 17 goals and 60 points, and racked up 182 penalty minutes while being selected to the NHL's First All-Star Team.

The last year-and-a-half Phaneuf has seen his offensive numbers decline along with his steady play in his own end. He was a minus-11 last year, and often seemed disinterested and not engaged. Did anyone say "Security of long-term contract"?

Though better this season, Phaneuf's play has not quite returned to form. Hence today's deal as the Flames gave up on the 6'3", 214 pounder who is still only 24 years old.

"[Phaneuf] is a warrior. He's got a cannon for a shot," Burke said after the deal was announced. "He plays the game hard and I want players who play the game hard because they're hard to play against."

To get Phaneuf, useful 3rd/4th line winger Fredric Sjostrom, and six-foot-six defense prospect Keith Aulie from Calgary, Burke traded away four players, losing quite a bit of his limited scoring depth along the way. Toronto sent winger Niklas Hagman (a three-time 20-goal scorer who has exactly 20 this year), center Matt Stajan (41 points in 55 games this season), rugged Jamal Mayers, and solid defenseman Ian White (a career-high tying 26 points, plus a respectable plus-1 rating) to Calgary.

From Calgary's point of view they are clearly trying to shake up the mix. The Flames have been struggling, and clearly the Sutter Brothers felt Phaneuf was expendable what with their deep backline. White will fit in quite nicely along with Jay Bouwmeester, Robyn Regehr, et. al in Calgary, though he is due a big raise at the end of the season. Calgary's inconsistent offense gets a boost with Hagman and Stajan.

Good deal from the Flames point of view, UNLESS Phaneuf regains form. Then this trade will haunt them for years to come.

As for Giguere, his future has been in doubt ever since Jonas Hiller challenged his reign as the No. 1 goalie in Anaheim a year ago. Hiller took over the mantle this season, and his inking a four-year $18 million extension on Saturday was the final nail in the coffin for Jiggy.

So Giguere takes his Stanley Cup ring and Conn Smythe Trophy and heads to Toronto to try and resurrect his sagging career. He is only 32 years old, and is just two years removed from a season that saw him post a 2.12 goals against average, four shutouts and 35 wins for a Ducks team that was run at the time, not so coincidentally, by Burke.

It will be interesting to see how Jiggy responds to this challenge. Jonas Gustavvson essentially plays the role of Hiller in Toronto, so his situation has not changed a whole heckuva' lot. Except for the fact that he is now playing for a worse team than he did in Anaheim, where his goals against rose to 3.10 last season and 3.14 in 20 games this year.

Vesa Toskala and Jason Blake were shipped to the Ducks in order for Giguere to be reunited with Burke and goaltending guru Francois Allaire in Toronto. Toskala, an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, replaces Giguere as Hiller's back-up. And Blake is the classic case of addition by subtraction for the Leafs. His play has diminished greatly since signing as a free agent in the summer of 2007 following his breakout 40-goal season with the Islanders. Plus he wore out his welcome with his grating personality rather quickly in TO.

Time will tell if Burke mined some gold today, or if it really is Fool's Gold. But he swung for the fences in a city that demands so much if its hockey team.

Good for Brian Burke. Good day for hockey.

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Langenbrunner Named Team USA Captain

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Written on 1/11/2010 by Jim Cerny


This isn't going to get much play in the press, certainly not when considering the fact that Mark McGwire just announced that---shocker!---he did take steroids during his Major League Baseball career, but USA Hockey announced today that Devils' captain Jamie Langenbrunner will serve as captain of the 2010 US Olympic Hockey Team in Vancouver.

Really this had not been a well-kept secret. Langenbrunner has been spilling the beans to the Devils beat writers himself.

But secret or not, this is a solid choice by the powers-to-be at USA Hockey, including team GM Brian Burke and head coach Ron Wilson.

Langenbrunner is one of the most underrated players---and captains---in the sport, though not to those who follow the game closely, and certainly not to anyone within the Devils organization. Hard-working, intense, respected, no-nonsense, honest, big-game player. Those are just a few of the adjectives that can be used about Langenbrunner.

He is also a two-time Stanley Cup winner---once in Dallas, and once in New Jersey. He is now a two-time Olympian. He is a four-time 20+ goal scorer, coming off a career-best 29 at the age of 34 a year ago. He led the all scorers with 11 goals and 18 points during the 2003 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Langenbrunner's resume is so impressive. Yet so few really appreciate his value.

Now he will have the opportunity to help shape the future of the US Olympic program by leading an extremely young squad in Vancouver that will be the core of future Team USAs---if the NHL continues to take part in the Winter Olympics. And I think he is the right man to captain this band of (mostly) youngsters.

Many believed when Chris Drury was selected to play for Teams USA in '10 that he would be the captain. And though I believe Langenbrunner is the correct choice as captain, what is Drury's true value to this team if he is not the captain? Drury's on-ice play has diminshed so that you can most definitely make the argument that others---even vets like Mike Modano or Bill Guerin---make more sense on this roster.

Drury's value to this team---as a three-time Olympian, captain of two NHL teams, and with one Stanley Cup ring---seems to be as a leader, the captain. But he is not even an alternate. Brian Rafalski, Ryan Suter, Dustin Brown, and Zach Parise landed those slots.

Burke said today on a conference call, "We know what Chris Drury can bring. He doesn't need a letter."

That is true, and Drury will still be a valuable member of the leadership core of Team USA in February. But in hockey, there is something special about wearing a letter. And if this is really Drury's value to the US Olympic Team, then him not wearing a letter stands out more than if he was not selected to play on the team.

After Rangers' practice this morning, Drury replied with a quick "No" when asked if it mattered to him if he would wear a letter with Team USA. But that's all he had to say about it. Hmmmm.

Nonetheless, none of that should take away from the announcement about Jamie Langenbrunner, a well-deserved honor for an understated, but perfect, choice as captain os the 2010 US Olympic Team.

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Ugly Start for Maple Leafs

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Written on 10/13/2009 by Jim Cerny


Are the Toronto Maple Leafs really this bad?!

I mean after Brian Burke's summer of cleaning house, this is what the Maple Leafs are? A team that can't keep the puck out of its own net, is horrid down-low in its own end, has trouble finishing at the other end, and compounds one dumb penalty after another by being a putrid 57.9% on the penalty kill so far this season?

Yikes!

Well at least they can fight (witness Colton Orr tangling with Donald Brashear, above). And to their credit, the Maple Leafs did battle the Rangers for a bit last night before succumbing under the weight of their own ineptitude to the tune of a 7-2 final at Madison Square Garden.

In fact Toronto was the better team---certainly the harder-working team---for stretches of the second period last night, prompting Rangers head coach John Tortorella to say after the game, "They're a quick, hard-working hockey team . Obviously, they are a team that is building again...but they took it to us in the second period."

While that praise is nice, it doesn't clean up the mess the Leafs made for themselves in the opening period or the one that saw the Rangers pull away with four unanswered goals in the third.

Two quick penalties by the Leafs two minutes into the game handed the Rangers a 5-on-3 power play. Seconds later, Toronto was in a 1-0 hole when defenseman Luke Schenn put the puck into his own net. Six minutes later the Maple Leafs allowed Vinny Prospal all the time and space he desired behind Toronto's cage before watching his perfect pass lead to a Wade Redden goal, and a 2-0 deficit.

That the Leafs did not quit is commendable. That they put forth such a horrid start and finish is not acceptable.

The numbers are atrocious to start the season. The Maple Leafs are one of two winless teams in the NHL---at 0-4-1, they are still two points worse than the 0-1-3 Islanders---and they have surrendered a league-worst 24 goals in those five games, nearly five per. Their goals against---4.80---is exactly twice what their goals for average is---2.40. You're not going to win too many games that way.

Throw in the brutal PK, the early disappointing play of their big-time free agent acquisition Mike Komisarek, and the fall-off in the play of the sophomore Schenn, and it's easy to understand the Maple Leafs brutal start to '09-'10.

Many other reporters have written excellent pieces about the state of the Leafs, but I suggest you check out Chris Botta's take on FanHouse. Botts was at the game last night, and was disgusted with Toronto coach Ron Wilson's post-game lack of accountability.

I missed Wilson's huffy post-game exit as I was in the Rangers' locker room. But read Chris' take. Good stuff.

So will things get better in TO this season? I'd think they'd have to, especially with Phil Kessel eventually returning to the lineup. But based on what I witnessed last night---as well as watched on the tube during Saturday's loss to Pittsburgh---this could be one long year for the Leafs.

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Resolution on Horizon for Kessel

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Written on 9/17/2009 by Jim Cerny

I've got a couple of quick hits while in a brief lull here at the Rangers training facility. I'll be back with another post later this afternoon about the Rangers cutting roster to 30 players, as well as the latest on Marian Gaborik's health and first scrimmage.

But first....as I speculated yesterday, Boston GM Peter Chiarelli and his Toronto counterpart Brian Burke did meet face to face to discuss a potential Phil Kessel trade. Pierre Lebrun over at ESPN.com is reporting that the two met for about an hour yesterday since Chiarelli's Bruins were in town to face Burke's Maple Leafs. Lebrun says that a deal could be struck by the weekend or the middle of next week.

I am hearing---and Lebrun is also reporting---that the Nashville Predators are also in the mix for Kessel, and have offered an NHL player or two along with draft picks. Reportedly, the Leafs offer has included only draft picks, though featuring a pair of first rounders.

The Preds really could use Kessel to add juice to their offense up front, which falls off considerably after Jason Arnott. Having Steve Sullivan healthy again is great for Nashville, but he can't be counted on to be a go-to offensive threat. And Martin Erat, David Legwand, and JP Dumont are nice complimentary players, with Colin Wilson an intriguing prospect. Phil Kessel, though, would be the star forward the Preds do not have.

But Toronto needs Keesel, too. Burke has rebuilt his club in the off-season, but the emphasis has been more on grit and size, not so much on skill. Plus the best players brought in by Burke---Mike Komisarek and Francois Beauchemin---are defensemen. Kessel is a 21 year-old stud forward. And the Leafs need him just as much as the Preds---as do many other teams in the NHL, for that matter.

BTW, in their quest to beef up the offense, the Maple Leafs have 34 year-old Jason Allison in camp on a tryout. Allison---a two-time 30-goal scorer---has not played since the 2005-06 season, so this is a reach, for sure. Certainly not a bigger reach than Theo Fleury in camp with the Flames, but really every team has one or two of these veteran invites in camp, looking to catch lightning in a bottle.

Nonetheless, Allison did play last night against one of his former clubs, the Bruins. I didn't see the game---was at The Rock in Newark for Rangers-Devils instead---but the stat sheet reveals a fairly nondescript night for him: a bit more than 14 minutes of ice-time with nearly 4 minutes on the power play, zero shots, zero points, 2 hits, lost 7 of 10 draws.

Speaking of the 41-year-old Fleury, he will suit  up tonight against the Islanders, his first NHL action of any kind in six years. Fleury told the Calgary Sun, "The hardest part for me is leading up to the game. Once the puck's dropped, I know what to do."

Fleury also revealed that he will four years sober tomorrow. Good for him. And good luck to him on his long-shot comeback. May he enjoy it no matter how long or short it lasts.

Back later on with Rangers news and quotes....

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Bruins Visit to Toronto Sparks Kessel Trade Talk

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Written on 9/16/2009 by Jim Cerny

The Phil Kessel rumor mill will be in full swing tonight when the Bruins travel up to Toronto to face the Maple Leafs in pre-season action.

Kessel, of course, is the Bruins coveted RFA who is priced out of cap-stressed Boston, and who is awaiting either an offer sheet from, or more likely a trade to, another team.

That other team---whether it be through offer sheet or trade---has long rumored to be the Toronto Maple Leafs. That, of course, is based largely on the comments from Leafs GM Brian Burke, who has openly expressed his desire to acquire Kessel, the 21 year-old who potted 36 goals a year ago.

"We know we would like this player," Burke said yesterday. "We'll see what happens."

Over at Kukla's Korner, Elliotte Friedman of CBC Sports is quoted as reporting that the Leafs are offering at least a pair of first rounders to Boston as part of a packge for Kessel, even though the talented wing is out until at least November following off-season surgery on both of his shoulders.

With the B's, and GM Peter Chiarelli, in town today, the hockey-mad media in Toronto will be frothing at the mouth in anticipation of Chiarelli and Burke getting together face to face to discuss a possible deal. Don't expect any quick resolution, however, no matter how badly Burke longs to see Kessel in the blue and white this season.

Speaking of the Bruins, Chiarelli had to be happy to see Marco Sturm skating freely, bouncing back from some tough hits, and picking up an assist in last night's 2-1 pre-season victory over the Rangers. With Kessel's departure considered a given, the Bruins need Sturm to have a strong season, coming back from January knee surgery.

Sturm told Stephen Harris of the Boston Herald, "I'm really happy with the game. I had no pain at all. Overall I didn't think very much at all about my knee."

Chiarelli also had to be pleased with Tuukka Rask's first outing of the pre-season between the pipes. The 22 year-old Rask stopped 31 of 32 shots, and seemed to be in perfect position all night long.

With Manny Fernandez no longer serving as Tim Thomas' partner in Boston, Rask needs to beat out Dany Sabourin to claim the #2 spot with the Bruins. I think that Rask not only claims that role, but will start 20-25 games this season, and will play a big part in Boston's success. The kid is that good. And the more work he gets, the fresher Thomas---who turns 36 in April---will be come playoff time.

By the way, the game tonight in Toronto---featuring free tickets to those attending---will be televised by the NHL Network.

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