Vokoun's Availability Doesn't Help Rangers

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Written on 12/11/2009 by Jim Cerny


Chris Botta has himself a nice little scoop over at Fanhouse today.

Botta is reporting that the Florida Panthers have contacted teams about Tomas Vokoun's availability.

Add Vokoun's name to those of fellow netminders J.S. Giguere, Martin Biron, Jaroslav Halak, and, perhaps, Manny Legace and you have quite a group of experienced goaltenders available via trade.

Dealing Vokoun is easier said than done, what with his hefty contract extending past this season. And it's a huge risk for the Panthers because he has been their best player this season; and what would become of the Panthers without their most important player?

But as Botta points out, Florida has top prospect Jacob Markstrom at the ready beginning next season to assume duties in goal, so the Panthers may be willing to make a deal now during the season as other teams become desperate, as opposed to next summer. They would just have to bite the bullet on this season and see if Scott Clemmensen has any New Jersey magic in him left over from a year ago.

Vokoun's contract is a major stumbling block. Clearly the Panthers would have to take serious salary back in any deal for their No. 1 goalie. But how could the Flyers not be interested in Vokoun, especially with the inconsistent state of their goaltending this season and the current injury to starter Ray Emery?

What about Ottawa? They did swing a deal last spring to make Pascal LeClaire their No. 1, but surprise of all surprises, he is injured again.

Then there is Toronto. If Brian Burke believes his club's recent run the past two weeks is for real, does he consider such a big move? Vesa Toskala has been horrible and Jonas Gustavvson has had heart issues. Logic would say no deal for Toronto because Gustavvson is the goalie of the future, but yet with Burke, well, you never know.

I have chronicled Detroit's goaltending issues before here on Rink Rap. Vokoun would look quite nice in red and white, but no way the Red Wings could slip him in under the Cap, right? Right? Hmmmm......

Of course the playing field changes dramatically if another team---in particular, a serious Stanley Cup contender---loses their No. 1 goalie to injury. That would make Vokoun, arguably, the hottest commodity on the NHL market.

As for backup goaltenders, the question on Broadway is: will Henrik Lundqvist play every game the rest of the season now that his backup, Steve Valiquette, has shockingly flamed out and been sent to the minors?

Well maybe that is not exactly the question, but it is close. The Rangers are right up against the salary cap ceiling and really can't afford to add a Halak or Biron---the most affordable options out there---as Lundqvist's caddy. So right now rookies Chad Johnson and Matt Zaba are alternating playing in Hartford for the club's AHL afffiliate, practicing with the Rangers, and backing up Lundqvist on game day. Not exactly the ideal situation.

"It's a mess," Rangers coach John Tortorella said this morning of the goaltending situation behind Lundqvist. "Let's call it what it is. It's a mess."

Tortorella shared that the plan was for the veteran Valiquette, who earns a Cap-friendly $750,000 this season, to make 15-17 starts this season, "especially with Hank set to play in the Olympics."

Now Torts has no idea when, or how, he can give Lundqvist any nights off, in particular because the team is struggling so mightily right now and needs his play to either steal them some victories or keep them in games. At some point, Tortorella explained, Johnson---a rookie who played at Alaska-Fairbanks last season, and who is considered a decent NHL prospect---will be forced to make a start.

"We sent a veteran backup down and he's still struggling down there, and we don't even know what we have in Johnson," explained Tortorella. "I'm not trying to paint a lousy picture, but that's the picture it is."

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By the way, check out the Rangers Radio page at newyorkrangers.com for an interview Steve Gelbs and I conducted with John Halligan, author of "100 Rangers Greats", this week. Halligan, a long-time Rangers employee, is a true historian of all things Rangers, and our conversation is a lot of fun, and sprinkled with many Rangers anecdotes and memories. Not to mention we have some fun debates! For example how can Mike Gartner, perhaps one of the top two or three snipers in franchise history be ranked No. 67? Fun stuff, so go check it out.

Also, for you folk up in Canada, I am a guest this week on The Fourth Period Radio Show. Dan Kingerski and I will be debating topics such as the return of the NHL to Quebec City, who will be the next coach fired in the NHL, and will Wayne Gretzky coach Canada at the World Championships.

If you are not north of the border, http://www.thefourthperiod.com/ should have the show on its site beginning on Saturday.

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Hits by Richards and Scuderi Suspendable or Not?

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Written on 10/26/2009 by Jim Cerny


Frightening scene in Philly on Saturday where David Booth of the Panthers was laid out on a hit by Flyers captain Mike Richards.

Any time you see a player motionless on the ice and then being taken off, immobilized on a stretcher, it give you pause for how dangerous a game this great sport can be.

Fortunately Booth is already out of the hospital, being released yesterday after sustaining a concussion on the play. But it was still extremely scary to watch Booth absorb the hard hit after dropping a pass to his left, and then hit the ice head-first, and remain motionless thereafter.

If you have yet to do so, check out the hit here.

So what do you think? Clean hit by Richards? Or a dirty one, with intent to injure?

The referees called it one way and Colin Campbell saw it another, with the benefit of much video study, of course. The refs handed Richards a five-minute interference major, and a game misconduct for "intent to injure". Campbell, after much review, did not see reason to suspend Richards.

For the most part, the referees and Campbell were both right.

The refs were on the mark with the interference call, as Booth clearly had dished the puck before being leveled, and without the benefit of watching the replay, they had little recourse other than to toss Richards from the game with Booth out cold on the ice.

But with the benefit of studying the video at all speeds and from all angles, Campbell was correct not to suspend Richards. I do not think there was an intent to injure here. And I agree with Richards' post-game analysis that he was just trying to deliver a hard shoulder-to-shoulder check, which, unfortunately flipped Booth to the ice head-first.

"Everything happened so quickly," stated Richards. "I just wanted to separate him from the puck. Obviously, I am not trying to hurt him. I don't have a history of head shots, and I am not even sure it was a head shot."

I was in Montreal at the Bell Centre writing my final game story for the Rangers-Canadiens match that night, while also watching and listening to the reaction to Richards' hit on Hockey Night in Canada. It sounded as if the fellas agreed with my take, that it was interference, for sure, but not a suspendable hit.

In fact the HNIC on-air crew was more upset with a string of knee-to-knee hits that took place around the league that night.

Then last night, the Kings Rob Scuderi sent Columbus' Jason Chimera head-over-heels with a hip-check dangerously close to Chimera's knees. Chimera flipped over Scuderi and landed face-first on the ice,  suffering cuts on his face and inside his mouth.

You can watch that play here.

Scuderi was not penalized on the play, and claimed afterwards that he made a split-second decision on delivereing the hip-check and was not trying to injure Chimera.

Needless to say, Chimera did not agree.

''I don't care what you call it. It was a dirty hit,'' Chimera said. ''I've been hip-checked before, but this wasn't a hip check at all. It was a direct hit on the knees. I mean, I landed on my face on the ice, and my neck was squished against the ice. I'm lucky I didn't come out with a concussion or something."
I have to side with Chimera on this one. Scuderi went way too low, much lower than your normal hip-check. Whether that was his intention or not can be debated.

Ironically when the game was complete, Chimera had racked up 12 minutes in penalties, and Scuderi had zero.

Scuderi needs to pay a post-game penalty for that hit, I think, perhaps two games for going for the knees

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Koistinen's Feel-Good Trip Back Home

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Written on 10/03/2009 by Jim Cerny


I sure didn't have to wait too long to pick my early season favorite moment in the NHL.

On Day Two of the 2009-10 campaign, an unheralded 27 year-old defenseman made me believe that these NHL Premiere games being played over in Europe actually have value beyond the standings points awarded to the winners---and overtime losers.

Ville Koistinen---OK, raise your hand if you knew his name prior to Friday---played the unlikely role of hero in the Panthers' season-opening 4-3 shootout victory over the Blackhawks in Helsinki, Finland.

That he scored an important third period goal, and the eventual winner in the shootout, would make for an impressive story on its own. But that he was the only Finnish-born player from either team taking part in this game is what makes this a really special story.

That 12,000 fans in Helsinki were able to see native-son Koistinen grab first-star honors instead of more famous NHLers like Jonathan Toews or Patrick Kane or Nathan Horton just strikes me as really cool.

I had watched a feature on Koistinen's return to Finland with the Panthers on The NHL Network the other day, and remember thinking what a decent guy he seemed, and how neat it would be if he could have a special moment in his native country during the two games the Panthers and Hawks would play this weekend.

I think neither I, nor Koistinen, could have predicted what took place on Friday night.

"I didn't dream anything about this," Koistinen told nhl.com after the game. "This is more than a dream."

Interestingly, Koistinen---the former Nashville Predtaors defenseman who was picked up by the Panthers over the summer---logged only 9:23 worth of ice-time on Friday night, usually not a number associated with the game's first star. Nearly three of those minutes were part of power play duty.

Yet there he was on a rare even-strength shift, accepting a feed from Cory Stillman at the top of the right circle 7:29 into the third period, and zipping a wrist shot past Cristobal Huet to tie the score 2-2. The crowd in Helsinki loved it! And so did I.

After the Panthers were able to once again tie the game, this time at 3-3, the two teams played a scoreless overtime, setting up the shootout, a specialty of Koistinen's. Few may realize---and I credit George Richards over at the Miami Herald for this one---that Koistinen was 3 for 4 lifetime in shootouts at the NHL level.

Make it 4 for 5.

Shooting third for the Panthers---and with the shootout tied 1-1---Koistinen skated in and buried a backhand shot that created the loudest roar heard in the building all game, and set off a really cool show of emotion for the Florida d-man.

After Tomas Vokoun made one more shootout save, the Panthers had an opening night victory and Koistinen the game-winner in his native Finland.

"This game was unbelievable," Koistinen told Richards afterwards. "First, to play here in Finland, then score a goal and a game-winner. It was unbelievable."

For me, it does not get much better than that.

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