Isles Captaincy, Rangers Camp, 'Yotes Woes

Written on 9/14/2009 by Jim Cerny

Many topics on the hockey front, what with training camps now in full swing, and I've got a few thoughts to share. If there are topics/questions you want addressed in the days and weeks and months to come, leave them in the Comments section and I promise to blog about them.

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Katie Strang of Newsday is the only reporter from New York covering the Islanders training camp out in the metropolis of Saskatoon, and she is doing an excellent job already. It's a shame for the Islanders organization---as well as it's fan base---that the excitement of John Tavares' first pro camp is an afterthought in the local media since camp is being held thousands of miles away from the team's base on Long Island.

Nonetheless, Katie chatted with veteran Doug Weight today about him possibly being named captain. Not surprisingly, Weight---a former captain of the Edmonton Oilers, and a well-respected man, both on and off the ice---would love that opportunity.

Weight told Katie, "I'd take it in a heartbeat and run with it," if given the chance.

While it makes almost too much sense not to name Weight as Bill Guerin's successor as Isles captain---especially with him already forging a strong relationship with Tavares---I'd reason that a better long-term choice for captain is defenseman Mark Streit.

Weight may only be on the Island for another season---if he doesn't get dealt at the trading deadline---while Streit is going to be a vital cog on this team for years to come. Streit also is coming off an All Star season, is well respected in his own dressing room, and has a strong relationship with the media, all pre-requisites for the position.

This is coming from the outside looking in, but why not name Streit captain, hand an "A" to Weight so that he could help mentor the talented Swiss defenseman, and finally stabilize the captaincy?

By the way---and totally off topic---Isles and Canucks in Hockeyville Game tonight on NHL Network. Let the games begin!

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In a posting here on Rink Rap  a couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the difficult position Don Maloney is in as GM of the Phoenix Coyotes. Of course, things only got worse on the hockey front when training camp started and head coach Wayne Gretzky was a no-show.

I saw Don's brother Dave---the Rangers former captain and current radio analyst---at Rangers camp the other day and asked him how his younger brother is holding up. Dave told me that that Don is doing his best, but that the situation "is just brutal".

And that is just on the hockey operations side of the business. As for selling tickets, forget about it. Not shockingly, it has been nearly impossible to sell any form of season tickets this season in Phoenix, since the fans have no confidence in the future viability of their team.

No matter the outcome of the bankruptcy court ruling, the business is dead in Phoenix. It was dying already---hence the bankruptcy in the first place. But this whole dance between the league and Jim Balsillie, and perhaps the club moving to Hamilton during the season, or being sold and moved next year, has driven a final stake into the Coyotes' surivival in Phoenix---er, Glendale.

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Am up at the Rangers practice facility for training camp, and have just about Tweeted my thumbs off the first three days for all of you hard-core Blueshirt fanatics out there! But here are a few more tidbits following today's first two scrimmages of camp.

• 25 year-old defenseman Matt Gilroy might be a self-professed "late bloomer", but the reigning Hobey Baker Award winner is in peak physical condition, and he really impressed me in the morning scrimmage. Clearly heeding John Tortorella's call for defensemen to jump into the play, Gilroy confidently led the rush over and over again. Though he didn't score a goal---he did ring a shot off of the crossbar---Gilroy created several good scoring opportunities for his team. Good start for the rookie. John Tortorella agreed, saying after practice today, "He's one of the better fit athletes out here...he did some things we wanted him to do...he was up the ice...we'll see as the grind of camp goes on where he sits."
• Marian Gaborik, bothered by a sore groin, not related to his surgically-repaired hip, did not take part in either scrimmage, but he did skate in the afternoon practice. Afterwards he said, "The first few days, I did not want to overdo things, so (today) I went out there to do some skating and felt pretty good." Tortorella, who called Gaborik a "helluva player", said, "He's out practicing, which is good news....we just need to get him healthy, and this is just a little bump."
• Say what you want about Sean Avery, but this guy is a physical speciman. He is in outstanding shape, and really stood out to me during the team's conditioning testing the first two days. Avery showed a lot of jump and spark in the scrimmage, as well. Crazy thought maybe, but does Tortorella consider giving Avery a letter this season? Just a thought...
• Among the newcomers, Vinny Prospal and Donald Brashear had strong scrimmages in the afternoon session. Torts has said that Brash is here instead of Colton Orr because he is a better skater and could play off of the fourth line at times this year, too. Brashear showed that in the scrimmage, for sure.
• Defenseman Nigel Williams, who was picked up in a summer trade with Colorado, threw some big hits during the afternoon scrimmage. A long-shot to make the varsity, the 21 year-old at least tried to make a solid first impression.

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Finally, I will be the guest on the Blueshirt Banter talk show tonight, beginning at 7:30 pm, on BlogTalk Radio. Here is the link to listen. I will also take phone calls from the fans. The phone in number to participate is 646-479-4692.

Hope to chat with you tonight!

Posted in Don Maloney, Donald Brashear, Doug Weight, Jim Balsillie, Mark Streit, Matt Gilroy, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, NHL, Phoenix Coyotes, Rink Rap, Sean Avery, Wayne Gretzky | Comment Now!

Not-So Random Hockey Musings

Written on 9/03/2009 by Jim Cerny

Some interesting stuff from NHL deputy Commisioner Bill Daly, heard on XM's NHL Home Ice this morning. Among the highlights:

• on Jim Balsillie's offer to keep the Coyotes in Glendale for part of the season before moving the club in-season to Hamilton should he be awarded the team through bankruptcy proceedings: "It is disrespectful to the fans and players involved"
• on Balsillie's claim that the Toronto Maple Leafs will sue the NHL if there is ever a team in southern Ontario: "The Maple Leafs do have a say. They have one vote out of 30 on the Board of Directors...the majority vote of the board will apply." and "It is factually untrue. It wreaks of desperation from the Balsillie group."
• on the job Coyotes GM Don Maloney has done despite being surrounded by chaos this off-season: "Don has done a fantastic job in very tough circumstances....he has isolated the hockey operations from everything else...he is executing on his long-term plan."
• on the NHLPA's firing of Executive Director Paul Kelly earlier in the week: "I was very, very surprised by the steps they took there" and "We are committed to working with anybody who's in charge of the Players Association in order to grow the game."
• on Direct TV's decision to drop Versus: "Certainly, at the end of the day we hope this is worked out....there is still time to get a deal done...both sides are working hard at it....we'll be as helpful as possible in the process."

Check out XM Home Ice to listen to the entire interview with Daly.

1. 
   
   The longer deal makes the cap hit less painful for the Canucks.
2. 
   
   BUT, Luongo will be 42 when the deal expires, meaning that a buyout likely will take place at some point and there will be cap ramifications for that.
3. 
   
   BUT GM Mike Gillis surely doesn't expect to be around when that buyout takes place, so his concern is about the here and now.
4. 
   
   AND the here and now is that, in my opinion, the Canucks are a legit Cup contender in the West with a healthy and happy Luongo between then pipes.
5. 
   
   Finally, the cap loophole being exploited in the contracts for the likes of Luongo and Marian Hossa will most assuredly be addressed during the next round of CBA negotiations.

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On a less serious note, I attended the Rangers Season Subscriber "Meet the Blueshirts" Fan Forum last night at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden. I conducted video interviews for the Rangers official team site with Donald Brashear, Marian Gaborik, and Christopher Higgins, had a chance to chat backstage with team captain Chris Drury, and was able to meet some fans who are followers of this blog.

The fans asked the players some hard-hitting questions, but all in all it was a light and fun event.

Here is the story I wrote for the official Rangers web site about the fan forum.

Posted in Bill Daly, Chris Drury, Christopher Higgins, Don Maloney, Donald Brashear, Glenn Healy, Jim Balsillie, Marian Gaborik, NHL, Paul Kelly, Rink Rap, Roberto Luongo | Comment Now!

Howlings in Glendale

Written on 8/27/2009 by Jim Cerny

While all hell has broken loose with the Phoenix Coyotes the past several months, Don Maloney has tried to go about the business of assembling a competitive hockey club on a phantom budget, not knowing if his team will remain in Glendale, move to Hamilton, or even continue to employ its head coach, Wayne Gretzky.

Just consider this the latest imperfect situation for one of the NHL's classiest gentlemen.

That Maloney is indeed as first-class as they come is something I know firsthand, having worked with him in the Islanders organization during the 1990's. At the time of his retirement as a player, on my birthday---January the 17th---in 1991, the Islanders hired Maloney as Assistant General Manager, and heir apparent, to legendary GM Bill Torrey.

While the Isles fully expected the intelligent and hard-working Maloney to one day succeed Torrey---to that point, the only General Manager in franchise history---no one believed that it would happen as quickly as it did. But a new ownership group forced Torrey out after the 1991-92 season, and Maloney---only a year and a half removed from his playing days---was elevated to the GM position at the age of 33.

Just call this "Imperfect Situation No. 1" because Maloney was often overwhelmed---and rightfully so---by the job at hand, and he no longer had one of the sharpest minds in all of the sport to turn to and learn from with Torrey out of the picture.

That 1992-93 Islanders squad actually made a shocking run to the Eastern Conferenec Finals---remember David Volek's OT goal that ended the Pittsburgh Penguins two-year reign as champion?---albeit with a group of players largely acquired by Torrey, not Maloney.

The following season, the Isles barely made the playoffs, and then were embarrassed in a one-sided first-round sweep at the hands of the Rangers. It was their final playoff appearance for the next eight years.

While balancing his own missteps, diminishing returns, learning on the fly, and dealing with a shaky ownership situation, Maloney remained true to himself. He was upbeat, personable, and friendly to all whom he came in contact with. And just like he was as a player, Maloney worked dilgently at his craft.

But in the summer of 1995, he signed his own death certificate when he hired Mike Milbury as head coach. Everyone in the game knew of Milbury's hunger to run his own club---not only on the ice, but in the front office, as well. Not shockingly, Maloney was out as Isles GM before the season was even three months old, replaced by Milbury.

Maloney's reputation as a future management star had taken quite the hit. And things actually got worse over the ensuing months when many in the Islanders organization, likely seeking to curry favor with Milbury, continued to take shots at Maloney's ability to lead a franchise.

Often not mentioned, however, is that under his watch as GM, the Isles had drafted solid NHLers in Darius Kasparaitis, Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan McCabe, Tommy Salo, and Wade Redden (who was flipped for Bryan Berard in a deal with Ottawa). Instead, it was more commonly discussed that he had swung and missed by selecting Brett Lindros with the ninth overall pick in 1994, and Lindros would only play 51 NHL games due to consussion-related issues.

Eventually, Maloney returned to the Rangers, the team that had drafted him and for which he played the majority of his 13-year NHL career. He served as Assistant General Manager under, first, Neil Smith, and then Glen Sather for ten seasons.

Unfortunately for Maloney---and the Rangers---the Blueshirts reached the post-season only twice during those ten years.

To a lesser degree, you can call this the "Imperfect Situation No. 2" for Maloney, considering the fact that it was one of the least successful runs in Rangers' history.

However, it was an excellent learning time for Maloney, who eventually became Vice President of Player Personnel for the Rangers, helping draft the likes of Henrik Lundqvist, Marc Staal, Ryan Callahan, and Brandon Dubinsky, among others.

After being passed over for many GM openings over the years---perhaps the stigma of his time on Long Island haunted him---Maloney was named General Manager of the Coyotes in May of 2007. And since that time, Maloney has actually received deserved respect for the job he has done running the show in the desert.

However, pretty much from Day One with the 'Yotes, it has been "Imperfect Situation No. 3" for Maloney. An extremely tight budget, declining fan base and revenues despite a state-of-the-art arena in Glendale, and then bankruptcy this past spring have overshadowed Maloney's solid work the previous two seasons.

Maloney has had his young squad knocking on the playoff door in the Western Conference two years running. And with the likes of impressive youngsters Kyle Turris, Peter Mueller, Mikael Boedker, and Viktor Tikhonov all on the rise, buoyed by Maloney acquisitions Ilya Bryzgalov, Matthew Lombardi, Scottie Upshall, Petr Prucha, and Lauri Korpikoski, the Coyotes have the look of a team ready to make their first post-season appearance since 2002.

But will that be in Phoenix---err, Glendale---or in Hamilton? And will the NHL own the club or will Jim Balsillie defy all odds---despite his $200+ million plus bid---and be awarded this team by a bankruptcy judge? And will Gretzky be retained---even at a salary less than his current $8 mill a year---by either entity?

And in the end, how will all of this affect the job Maloney has been hired to do? That answer, like so many others in this mess, lies down the road. But what is known, is that Maloney still remains true to the classy individual he has always been.

Like his days on the Island and on Broadway, Maloney continues to forge ahead, still smiling and doling out witty remarks and hearty backslaps. A gentleman who deserves better than he has gotten, though he would never think so, himself.

Posted in Bill Torrey, Don Maloney, Glen Sather, Jim Balsillie, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, NHL, Phoenix Coyotes, Wayne Gretzky | Comment Now!