Who's In, Who's Out?

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Written on 1/20/2011 by Jim Cerny

There's an old saying in sports for teams suffering from many injuries that goes something like "you can't tell them without a scorecard".

Well if that saying really holds true, scorecard and program sales must be skyrocketing this year in the National Hockey League because the amount of injuries---and injuries to key players---has just seemed off the charts this season.

Just taking the past 24 hours as an example, the number of big names returning from injury stints is balanced out by a number of equally important performers in a dizzying display of in one door, out the other.

Let's take a look...

Returning: Tonight will see the return to action of four pretty important players to their teams. Chris Pronger (pictured), out since December 17 with a foot injury, returns to further bolster a Flyers team which is already sitting atop the Eastern Conference. Shawn Horcoff, captain of the Oilers, makes an earlier-than-expected return to the lineup from an MCL sprain that has sidelined him since December 8. Skilled winger Kyle Okposo, out since the pre-season, will see his first game action for the Islanders tonight at a time when the Isles are playing some of their best hockey of the season. And Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard gets the start in St. Louis this evening after being set back briefly by a sore knee.

Those are four very important players to their team, and fans benefit with their collective return this evening.

But with the positive comes negative news, as well.

Sidelined: Montreal Canadiens winger Mike Cammalleri was diagnosed with a separated shoulder and was placed on Injured Reserve today. Even though his production has been down this season he is a vital cog in everything Montreal does. Penguins superstar Evgeni Malkin was scratched from the lineup last night due to an undisclosed injury. St. Louis today placed defenseman Carlo Colaiacavo on Injured Reserve with an eye injury. And the Rangers---who are already without Ryan Callahan, Vinny Prospal, Alex Frolov, Erik Christensen, and Derek Boogaard in their lineup because of injuries---were hit with the double whammy yesterday, losing the team's top scorer Brandon Dubinsky for 3-4 weeks because of a stress fracture in his left leg and dependable 3rd-liner Ruslan Fedotenko for 2-4 weeks with a sprained left shoulder.

And this is just the injury-related news---both good and bad---from the past 24 hours. Keep in mind that earlier in the week Bryan McCabe broke his jaw and Ryan Whitney was placed on season ending long-term IR.

It's been a crazy cycle of injuries in the NHL this year, it seems more so than in the past, but I'd have to research that out.

For some reason it stands out more to me this year than ever before.

Follow Me On Twitter: @jimcerny

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Gaborik Most Valuable in First Quarter

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Written on 11/24/2009 by Jim Cerny


A quarter of the way through the 2009-10 NHL season is a good time to assess the good, bad, and ugly in the National Hockey League.

To me, the top story has been the plethora of injuries sweeping through the league. That, and the amount of injuries caused by blows to the head, as well as the GMs consideration of tougher penalty calls for such violent hits.

The biggest surprise, in my opinion, is the play of the Colorado Avalanche, though both the Islanders and Coyotes deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as the Avs. First place in the Northwest and third overall in the Western Conference, the sorry Avs of a year ago have been replaced by a plucky bunch backstopped by the somewhat-suprising, and quite dependable, Craig Anderson.

The most disappointing team has been the Carolina Hurricanes, hands down. An Eastern Conference finalist last spring, the 'Canes returned much of the same lineup this season, just with much worse results. Their 14-game winless skid (0-10-4) was as shocking as it was embarrassing.

The top rookie? Tough call because this is a really, really deep freshman class this year. Two that have really impressed me ar Philly's James Van Riemsdyk (6-12-18 in 17 games, with four game-winning goals) and Evander Kane of Atlanta (7-5-12 in 20 games, with three game-winners and, like Van Riemsdyk, a +7 plus/minus mark). John Tavares of the Islanders, Victor Hedman of Tampa Bay, Michael Del Zotto of the Rangers, and the Avs precocious duo of Matt Duchene and Ryan O'Reilly will all continue to bear watching as the season moves along due to their strong play, too.

Now, who has been the most valuable player through one-quarter of the season? Anderson deserves consideration for what he has done in Colorado, though his numbers are not eye-popping great. Alex Ovechkin and Ilya Kovalchuk, despite injuries that sidelined both for a spell, are averaging just about a goal-per-game and have both been phenomenal so far this season. Philly's Chris Pronger has been a beast, playing 27 minutes a night in every important game situation, averaging nearly a point-per-game as a defenseman, and carrying a +13 along the way. Anze Kopitar leads the league in scoring and has helped push the Kings into second place in the Pacific Division.

And what about Joe Thornton or Dany Heatley, both of whom have played huge roles in helping the Sharks stay ahead of the resurgent Kings? Or Ryan Miller and his sub 2.00 goals against average and 12-3-2 record for the Sabres?

There are a host of players off to great starts this season. But who is most valuable to his own team? I'd have to say Marian Gaborik of the Rangers.

Gaborik's numbers certainly back this argument. In 21 games played (he missed two because of an injury), Gaborik has 18 goals---nearly one-per-game---and 32 points. He is tied with Heatley for the league lead in goals, and is second behind Kopitar in points. He has also scored at least one point in 19 of the 21 games in which he has played, showing tremendous consistency this season.

Dig deeper and you find out that Gaborik has also been a workhorse, averaging more than 22 minutes of ice-time, among the leaders for all forwards in the NHL. He has also been an excellent penalty killer, while thriving on the power play with seven power play goals, second most in the league.

But dig some more and you find out the real reason why I think Gaborik is the MVP of the first quarter of this season.

Gaborik has put up these elite-level numbers with little-to-no help from his teammates. In fact in a stretch that spanned more than 200 minutes of hockey and ended in the first period of last night's victory over the Blue Jackets, the Rangers did not have a goal scored by a player not named Marian Gaborik or Vinny Prospal. That's a total of six goals, and Gaborik either scored or assisted on all six.

The Rangers have scored 71 goals this season, and Gaborik has a hand in 32 of them.

So even as the only legitimate offensive threat wearing a Rangers jersey every night, Gaborik has still found a way to keep scoring. With that target etched on his jersey, and every coach game-planning against him---and pretty much only worrying about him---Gaborik has delivered game-in and game-out.

Even last night when the story was about a seven-goal outburst by the Rangers, with five goals tallied by others on the Rangers' roster, it was Gaborik who scored the biggest goal of the game. The Rangers surrendered the first two goals of the contest, and trailed 2-0 just 9:31 into play. As head coach John Tortorella and goalie Henrik Lundqvist both told me after the game, had Columbus scored a third goal before the Rangers scored their first, it would likely have been lights out for the Blueshirts. But instead Gaborik scored a huge goal two minutes after the Blue Jackets went up 2-0, and the Rangers took off from there.

"Who else but number 10," Lundqvist said of Gaborik.

There's plenty of hockey left to be played yet this season. But one quarter of the way through, Marian Gaborik has been the most valuable to his team.

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Flyers Could be Filthy Good This Year

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Written on 9/09/2009 by Jim Cerny

The Philadelphia Flyers were the most penalized team in the National Hockey League last year. So what did GM Paul Holmgren do in the off-season? Of course, he went out and acquired two of the grittiest---dare we say, dirtiest---players in the game in Chris Pronger and Ian Laperriere. Plus, he also added a feisty battler between the pipes with the signing of goaltender Ray Emery.

This Flyers team is going to be an absolute bitch to play against this year, adding Pronger and Laperriere to the rugged and abrasive group that consists of Daniel Carcillo, Scott Hartnell, Riley Cote, Arron Asham, and Braydon Coburn.

But like the Broad Street Bully Flyers of the mid-'70's, this group is not just filthy. They are filthy good.

The team toughness is there in spades. However, so is the explosive offensive talent.

Last year, the Flyers had the fifth most potent offense in the NHL, featuring four 30+ goal scorers on the roster, and six players who netted 25 or more. Though two of those players---forwards Mike Knuble and Joffrey Lupul---are no longer with the club, there is still plenty of offensive skill on this Flyers' squad.

Jeff Carter is emerging as one of the true superstars in the league. The 24 year-old exploded last season with career-high numbers across the board---46 goals, 38 assists, and 84 points---and surrounded by so much skill and muscle up front, he should be able to continue to meet and exceed those numbers again.

Captain Mike Richards is a powerful offensive force, as well, as his 30-50-80 numbers indicate. Plus he plays with an edge that belies his smallish (5'11", 195 pound) frame. He is the quintessential Philadephia Flyers player, cut right from the Bobby Clarke mold.

Richards did have off-season surgery on both shoulders, which raises some concern heading into training camp. But all in all, this crop of forwards---led by Carter and Richards, and assisted by Danny Briere, Simon Gagne, and the youthful pair of Claude Giroux and Darroll Powe---is as deep as any in the entire league.

And in my opinion, the Flyers made a quietly smart move that winning teams make the other day when they invited penalty killer extraordinaire Blair Betts to their training camp. Betts, who led the Rangers league-best penalty kill a year ago, is coming off a concussion in last spring's playoffs, but he is a tremendously hard-working player who is well respected by his peers. Teams with championship aspirations---like the Flyers---go out and add character players like Betts, and Laperriere.

If there is an achilles heel for Philly, as it has been for years and years, it is in goal where Martin Biron and Antero Niittymaki have been replaced by Emery and Brian Boucher. Is that really an upgrade over last season?

Emery is the X Factor here. He has shown in flashes what he is capable of in the NHL, like when he helped lead the Ottawa Senators to the Stanley Cup Finals in the spring of 2007. But Emery has also proven to be a difficult talent who has had several run-ins with coaches and teammates, and who last year played in the KHL in Russia to reestablish himself.

He should be quite motivated to prove that he belongs in the best hockey league in the world. And he will benefit from a strong corps of defensemen playing in front of him, led by Pronger, who even at age 35, is a threat to win the Norris Trophy.

This could be a special year for Philadelphia. It is true that they still play in a tough division that features the Stanley Cup champs in the Penguins and the perenially good Devils, who won the division last year. But these Flyers seem poised to improve upon a 99-point regular season and first-round playoff ouster at the hands of the Penguins a year ago.

They look to be scary good.

Make that filthy good.

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