Malkin a Stand

Evgeni Malkin has been called a Stanley Cup Champion, a Conn Smythe winner (playoff MVP) , a Hart winner( regular season MVP), an Art Ross winner (scoring champ ), and a Calder winner ( rookie of the year). On the negative side he’s been called a disengaged, lackadaisical, boneheaded, selfish and a typical Russian (a derogatory term in North America). He has never been called a leader and that’s exactly what he has been this year for the Pittsburgh Penguins. On his way to another possible MVP season he has put the beleaguered Penguins on his back and has dominated the ice every shift. 

It used to be when Geno was the best player the world, not playing second banana to Sidney Crosby, the Penguins were the best team on hockey. The salary cap, injuries and Ray Shero’s ignorance or incompetence has made that not true but the Penguins are in first place in the Metro and off to their best start in franchise history. All of this is being done while the team is hit by an array of injuries and illness that make it look more like Cedars Sinai emergency room than an NHL locker room. Goalie Marc Andre Fluery has been lights out and defenseman Kris Letang is playing the best hockey of his career but Malkin has led the charge up front. Malkin has also led the physical charge. Geno has always had a healthy mean streak but now his temper is controlled.  He has been physical on the fore check. A big strong forward who always defended himself Malkin now he is sticking up for his teammates as well.

Geno has been great most of the time his whole career, this year he’s been great all the time. The bonehead plays in his own end are non- existent, the passes to no one in the neutral zone are gone too. Malkin still takes too many penalties but none of them are due to laziness. Malkin still does try to do too much sometimes but you can’t fault a man for trying.

So what’s changed?  The Penguins changed and Malkin matured. The Penguins roster was restructured. Geno looked around the Penguins locker room, saw a leadership vacuum and filled it. Malkin knows after five disappointing seasons in Pittsburgh if the Penguins fortunes are going to change it needs to start with him. 

EASTERN CONFERENCE PREVIEW

I have been doing Pre season rankings for about a decade now and this year , this conference has been the toughest I have ever done. The best teams in the East last year all got worse. All of the middle of the pack teams last year all got better. The only easy things to predict were that Boston is the best team and Carolina is the worst.

1.    1   Boston Bruins- Can Loui Eriksson replace Jarome Iginla?  No , Iggy is a Hall of Famer and Loui has never been just was a decent scorer who has never the same since a concussion. Hence the Bruins number 1 line won’t be as scary as last year but they still have Milan Lucic and David Kreci. The 2^nd line of featuring Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand shut you down and light the lamp. The defense still has the Beast of the East Zdeno Chara, who did 31 pullups in camp and the goaltending is top notch with Tukka Rask. The big, bad bruin may not be as scary but they’re still the best.

2.     2  Pittsburgh Penguins- Will the Penguins miss high scoring winger James Neal? Maybe at the bar picking up chicks but not a much on the ice. Most of Neal’s goals came on the powerplay or when Evgeni Malkin put it on a tee for him. Neal was a fake tough guy who played with a sense of entitlement. Neal  has never won anything. The Penguins still have the 2 best players in the East centers Sidney Crosby and Malkin and more than  a few capable wings including Chris Kunitz, Pascal  Dupuis and Patric Hornqvist. The Penguins also added some much needed grit. The Defense is full of guys can move the puck and Marc - Andre Fluery is a better goalie the most people give him credit for.

3.      3  Montreal Canadiens – Are the Canadiens to small to win the East?  No, because they know how to beat Boston, their blood rival and best team in the East. The Habs are a small but highly skilled group led by Brendan Gallagher, David Desharnais and Alex Galchenyuk. Brandon Prust and Dale Weise will provide enough muscle to keep teams honest. PK Subban is the best all around defensemen in the East and Carey Price is the East’s best goaltender. If Price stay healthy and coach Mike Therrien keeps pushing the right buttons Canada may put a team in the Finals in 2015.

4.      4  New York Rangers – Can the Rangers win the East again? Probably not. Last year everything fell into place for them in the playoffs. They injured a few goalies and came back against the sinking Penguins to claim the East. This year won’t be as easy but they could do it. Number 1 center Derek Stepan is injured now but he will return and they started horrible last year and came back to take East.  The Rangers did lose many valuable pieces from last year’s run Brian Boyle, Anton Stralman , Benoit Pouliot and Brad Richards and weren’t sufficiently replaced . The defense haso the best top pairing, Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi  in the East. King Henry Lundqvist will  get more breaks in net this season with the emergence of Cam Talbot. The Blue Shirts can certainly make a run. Who knows Rick Nash may even contribute.

5.     5  Washington Capitals – Will Barry Trots make a difference? Yes, Alex Ovechkin gets the first competent coach he’s had in North America and the Capitals including Ovi will now play defense. It helps they actually now have some defensemen, Brooks Orpik  and Matt Niskanen and not just the fraud that is Mike Green. Brooks Laich and Nicklas Backstrom will help Ovi get all the goals he needs in Trotz system. Is Braden Holtby a top goaltender?  No, but first let’s play some defense in Washington.

6.    6   New York Islanders – Is John Tavares ready for the elite? The biggest tragedy of last year’s Olympics wasn’t Disco Dan’s  coaching of the US but John Tavaras’ injury. He’s the closest you’ll ever get to Mario without Immaculate Conception. John’s wingers are more than capable. Kyle Okposo should have been on the US team and Michael Grabner is faster than a speeding bullet. They will put up points galore. The new 2^nd line with Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai  Kulemin will also score. . The Isles also acquired 2 defensemen that have won Cups, Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy. They also have their best goaltender in years,  an unintended back handed compliment, Jaroslav Halak.

7.   7    Detroit Red Wings - Do the Red Wings make it 25 years in a row in the playoffs?  Yes, lame duck coach Mike Babcock and GM Ken Holland will not let this impressive streak end. If Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg can dress most nights , them and the Mule ( Johan Franzen) can make one more trip to the tourney. Young guns Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyqvist will need to light lamp frequently though  to make the 25^th year happpen  because the Wings got no help on defense this offseason. Howard also needs to play better between the pipes this year.

8.     8  Columbus Blue Jackets – Was last year a fluke? No. The Blue Jackets are a  big, skilled , Western Conference style heavy team. The sky is the limit for this team when Boone Jenner and Nathan Horton come back from injuries. The Jackets have a franchise center Ryan Johansen and solid goaltending with Sergei Bobrovsky. Scott Hartnell will lead the way for their young forward group. The defense is average but good enough to keep them in the top 8 in the East.

9.   9    Tampa Bay Lightning- Why are they everybody’s darling team this year? Everybody loves Steven. Stamkos is amazing and someone to always root for, but I think they’re counting on too many kids and  Valerie Filppula to have another career year. Ryan Callahan is a leader but not a goal scorer.  They have a good defense led by the monster Victor Hedman and newcomer Anton Stralman  but  Ben Bishop is a fragile  goaltender and I am not drinking the Kool Aid.

1   10   Toronto Maple Leafs –   Can Brendan Shanahan do  the on an impossible and make the Leafs a true contender? Yes, but it’s going to take time. The Leafs have great high end talent in James  Van Riemsdyk and Phil Kessel. If Nazem Kadri ever wakes up they could score enough goals to make up for the Dion Phaneuf and who else defense. Shanny traded toughness for speed throughout the lineup but all the speed in the world will not matter if there’s more James Reimer in net than Jonathan Bernier.

1  11.  Philadelphia Flyers – How much will the loss of Kimmo Timonen hurt? Not much. Fact is Timonen is one of the most overrated players in hockey. He never shows up when it matters, the playoffs. Not to worry the Flyers won’t make the playoffs because their defense is worse than ever. Always big and slow, now with Michael Del Zotto you can add soft and dumb. Claude Giroux and company will score on the power play with Wayne Simmonds doing his thing but not enough. Trading Scott Hartnell for R J Umberger proves this team is still woefully mismanaged.

1   12  New Jersey Devils – Can Jaromir Jagr player forever? Yes, his great butt and greater hands never get old. Hockey fans should treasure this man. After Jags the New Jersey roster is non descript just like GM Lou Lamoriello likes it. If the Devils could ever win a shoot out ( 0-13) last year they can sneak into the playoffs.

1   13 Ottawa Senators – Is Erik Karlsson going to win another Norris trophy? No, because the Senators will not nearly win enough games. The 3 most interesting things about the Senators this season will be watching to see if Bobby Ryan can live up to his new contract and who will snap first rugged winger Chris Neil or owner Eugene Melnyk.

1   14  Buffalo Sabres – Are the Sabres headed in the right direction? Yes, anytime you part ways with useless eyesore John Scott you’re headed in the right direction. Adding Brian Gionta and Josh Gorges from the Habs gives coach Ted Nolan a little more talent and the team some much needed leadership.

1   15  Florida Panthers – Will the influx of veterans help the Panthers? Yes, they will help the team stay out of the number 1 pick in the draft but not out of the “this team should relocate rumours”.Winger Jonathan Huberdeau  will be fun to watch scoring goals. Old man Shawn Thorton will be fun too because he may do something stupid.

1  16  Carolina Hurricanes – Which Staal will be the first one traded? It will be Eric the Captain. He’s the only one anybody wants. New GM Ron Francis has no allegiance to like Staal family “stepfather”  Jim Rutherford did. Jordan has a broken leg and a contract he never lived up to Jared won’t be traded , he’ll probably be waived.

WESTERN CONFERENCE SEASON PREVIEW

BB.WCP

 The Western Conference has 7 haves, 5 have nots , and 2 directly in the middle. I’ll take the Wild to make the playoffs over Vancouver because their style of play is so boring maybe no one will notice if I’m wrong. Here’s my preseason ranking of the 14 Western Conferences Teams and an answer to one of their pressing questions.

1. LA KINGS - Will the Kings suffer a Stanley Cup hangover?  No, this is the Kings 2^nd Stanley Cup in 3 years so they have been here before and know what to expect. They have played more hockey than anybody else in 3 years but this team has a lot of young legs up front ( Toffoli, Pearson, King ) and on D ( Voynov, Muzzin) . Their two best skaters are entering the prime of their careers ( Kopitar, Doughty) They have a better than average backup ( Jones) for their great goaltender Jonathan Quick saving him too much wear and tear. They will also have trade deadline savior Marian Gaborik all season. The Kings have great leadership and a GM who pulls the trigger on deadline deals. The will not fall far from the top if at all this season.

2. CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS- Will Brad Richards regain his old Conn Smythe form? How can he not, hands usually don’t go away and he’ll be playing with an exceptional pair of wingers either Kane, Sharp, Hossa or Saad. The Hawks have the best top five defense in the league ( Keith , Seabrook, Hjalmarsson, Oduya, Leddy) and will be right at the top of the Western Conference again. Super center and Captain Toews knows this maybe his last great shot at Cup number 3 before the salary cap tears this team apart.

3. ANAHEIM DUCKS- Will the acquisition of Ryan Kesler be enough to make Ducks the best team in Southern California? Maybe, the Ducks addition of Kesler started the Western conferences off season arms race. Every good team in the West without two great centers went out and got another center.  Getzlaf and Perry are the NHL’s most formidable center winger pairing, having a line with Kesler behind them makes the Ducks a chore to play against. The Ducks added Clayton Stoner to add  some beef on the blue line jersey sales at the merch stand.  The Ducks still will not overcome their biggest weakness , coach BBQ Bruce Brodeau, just ask Teemu Selanne .

4. ST. LOUIS BLUES- Will Paul Stastny get the Blues to the top of the Western conference ?  Stastny will provide this defense first regular season juggernaut team with more offense then they have seen since the Brett Hull era. If Ken ( Capt Kangaroo) Hitchcock plays Stastny with Oshie and Steen they might not have to worry about how weak their goaltending is because no matter how many minutes excellent defensive center Backes and the awesome defensive core ( Shattenkirk, Pietrangelo, Bouwmeester  play goaltender Elliot can’t stop a beachball.

5. SAN JOSE SHARKS- Will Joe Thorton and the Sharks choke again this year? No, because Thorton won’t be a Shark by the end of the year. San Jose has done everything to get Thorton to remove his no trade short of burning down his house. They ripped the C off his sweater and publicly flogged him. The Sharks have a ton a young talent ( Pavelski, Couture, Hertl , Nieto) and the hull they get from a Thorton and a Marleau trade is what this franchise needs to make the jump to the next level. The fact they kept their maligned coach (McLellan) and moved Burns back to defense I don’t have faith in this franchise.

6. COLORADO AVALANCHE- Will Patrick Roy’s carriage turn into pumpkin?  The Colorado Avalanche will not win the Central division regular season title this season because they realize that and five dollars will get you a cup of coffee and Starbucks. The Avs lost Stastny to the Bliues but still have 2 top centers in Duchene and MacKinnon. Those two centers with wingers O’Reilly and Landeskog the Avs will still score a ton of regular season goals. They went out and got Jerome Iginla and Daniel Briere to score big goals in the playoffs. The Avs problem was a below average defense even before Matt Cooke took cheap shots them.

7. DALLAS STARS- Will Lindy Ruff’s carriage turn into a pumpkin? No, because the great Lindy Ruff is the best coach in the NHL that doesn’t have a Cup (he must hate Brett Hull) and the Stars will be scaring the hell out of some team next spring. The Stars will score a ton of goals. The Stars found their arm’s race center in Ottawa’s Jason Spezza. Dallas has a great number one line combo of Seguin and Benn and a 3^rd line that is becoming stuff of legend ( Roussel, Eakin, Garbutt) . The problem with the Stars will they stop any goals?

8. MINNESOTA WILD- How will the Wild handle their goaltending situation? Poorly, If Ilya Bryzgalov the answer, rip up the question. I get that Backstrom hurt, Harding is sick , and Kuemper is young but if Bryz is the answer make a trade. Parise , Pominville and Vanek can’t score enough goals to overcome the Russian nightmare. Super defenseman Suter may play 35 minutes a game but he doesn’t play goal.

9. VANCOUVER CANUCKS- Why are the Canucks not going to make the playoffs? Because this team needed a complete rebuild not a tweak. Head coach John Tortorella was not the only problem last year. The Sedins aren’t getting any younger or grittier. Ryan Kesler, their best two way forward is now in Anaheim and goaltender Ryan Miller hasn’t stopped in important shot in at least four years. I feel sorry for Kevin Bieksa he always seems to be the only guy in Vancouver that plays with balls and brains.

10. WINNEPEG JETS- Will the Jets wish they were still in Atlanta? Yes, playing in front of nobody wasn’t any fun but neither is playing in the rough and tumble Central Division and at least they weren’t freezing in Winnepeg. The laughable Southeast division doesn’t exist anymore but gifted , talented and troubled Kane and Byfuglien will rack up enough points to bring in a major haul at the deadline for the total rebuild that should have started two years ago.

11. NASHVILLE PREDATORS- Will Peter Laviolette take Nashville to the promised land? If the promised land is the back of the net, yes. If the promised land is the playoffs, no. Lavy will install an actual offense in Nashville. Malcontents Neal, Jokinen and Ribeiro will enjoy Lavy’s on ice freedom but not his intensity. Like a country western song this franchise better enjoy the great defensemen Shea Weber because it will be mighty lonely when he’s gone.

12. EDMONTON OILERS- Will they finally cash in on some of their potential? I have faith in the Edmonton Oilers will be a better team this year and put some heat in frozen Rexall Place. Shipping off Gagne and not having ancient Captain Canada Smith to prop up will enable Hall , Nugent Hopkins and Eberle to mature as a group. Who knows Yakupov may also turn it around this year. May he at least be serviceable enough to bring back some veteran defense at the trade deadline.

13. ARIZONA COYOTES- Will they finally move to Seattle or Las Vegas? No, because even though our Commissioner does not nearly have the psychopathic ego of some pro sports commissioners he still will not back down on keeping an ice hockey team in the desert. Plus Dave Tippett has done such a great job keeping the Dogs relevant all these years he deserves great tee times twelve months a year.

14. CALGARY FLAMES- Will fighting practice in training camp payoff? Yes, because when they are down to two goals in the first people will need a reason to watch. When Monahan  is not on the ice people will need a reason to watch. When you can go to bed or watch the last highlights on NHL Tonight we will need a reason to watch.

The Penguins address team toughness with Downie and Carcillo

The Pittsburgh Penguins signed Steve Downie and Daniel Carcillo because they had to.  Downie is a cheap shot artist with a little skill and Carcillo is goon with even less skill. Carcillo will fight anyone, which is good, but he will always take a stupid penalty…which is bad. Carcillo is a modern day Craig Berube which means he’s a Neanderthal. Downie is a class A rat. A  crap disturber who has more than once gone over the boards just to injure people including Penguins and NHL poster boy Sidney Crosby. Downie has few friends but one of them is newly hired Penguin assistant coach Rick Tocchet. Tocchet is a folk hero in Pittsburgh and he was hired by Pittsburgh’s new management specifically to make the Penguins a tougher team.

The Pittsburgh Penguins needed to get tougher. Tougher not only as a team that would fight more often but also throw more hits, grind in corners and generally just be a harder team to play. The Penguins since their most recent Stanley Cup have become a super talented but small soft team to play against. They are the NHL version of Disney on Ice. A show packed with familiar stars and fun for the whole family but unable to win playoff series.

It wasn’t always that way, the previous regime took over a team with young baby faced stars who they “won” after being at the bottom so long they stockpiled lottery picks. Not only did these stars need protection but the franchise also needed to reacquire respect on the ice. In the rough and tumble world of the NHL respect is bought and it’s earned. The Penguins brought in big ,tough and sometimes dirty players like Gary Roberts, Georges Laraquae, Mike Rupp, Jarkko Ruutu , Matt Cooke to name a few. Along the way they went to two Stanley Cup finals , won one and were near the top of the league in penalties and fighting majors. Everything was swell unto the debacle on Long Island in 2011.

The debacle on Long Island was a game long brawl between the Penguins and the New York Islanders ( who were looking for respect , NHL style). The game’s crimes scenes were so over the top they actually made the lead story on ESPN’s SportsCenter. Lebron must have had the night off.

Penguin’s owner /legend Mario Lemieux was so appalled he wrote a famous letter to the NHL league asking it to clean up its act and he started with his own house. Tough guys were moved out and not replaced. A defenseman Deryk Engelland was asked to play team enforcer as well as take a regular shift on defense and Matt Cooke was rehabilitated then not signed. Big, heavy  forwards who live in the corners and in front of the net were replaced  by  small, light players who would rather make a nice pass than a bone crunching hit.

Since the organizational shift Pittsburgh have not advanced in the playoffs has far as any member of the Penguins organization or their fan base thinks they should have and the main reason/excuse being the  i was  too small and soft. GM Ray Shero was replaced by Jim Rutherford and Head Coach Dan Blysma was replaced by Mike Johnston. Sure Shero and Blysma won but not in June in six years. Prevailing thought was if the team was tougher they would have. The theory of if Crosby isn’t being cross checked in the head he might score.

I agree whole heartily agree the Penguins need to get bigger and tougher but they didn’t not win a Cup in five years solely because of toughness but that’s another column. I don’t hate the signing of Carcillo on principle and just think there were better fits than Carcillo. Mainly three former Penguins Mike Rupp, Ryan Malone or Paul Bissonette. Each is bigger than Carcillo and has more hockey skill the Carcillo even if for Biz Nasty only barely. Sure Daniel is a better fighter but more important than fighting prowess is the former Penguins don’t randomly lose their minds and take stupid penalties that hurt the team. Stevie Downie I don’t want on the Penguins or in the NHL. He has purposely injured people and the Penguins and the league don’t need him. As for Downey I’m trusting Tocchet. Tocchet could probably tame a wild tiger so why not Downie.

 The Penguins realized if the NHL is not going to play nice why should the Penguins. Time to fight fire with fire and reestablish the respect the Penguins once had but lost thinking the NHL would change. You  know the old saying if you can’t beat them, join them

A Quick Review of the 2014 Off Season -So Far

As the calendar hits August let’s take a quick look at what NHL teams have done this offseason. The top teams in the West have improved and the top teams in the East have weakened.

The Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings did the only thing they had to do they resigned winger Marian Gaborik. The Kings did lose steady and clutch defensemen Alec Martinez but someone had to go. The Kings have the best team in hockey and every other team has to catch up to them. Most teams out West figured the best way to win the West was have two great centers like the Kings do (Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter)

The Blackhawks went out and got center Brad Richards, some say he’s past his prime but I’m sure working with wingers like Brandon Saad and Marian Hossa will revive him. They also resigned Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane long term.  

The St. Louis Blues signed Paul Stastny to be their number two center, he should be their number one center and David Backes number two but you know cave man coach Ken Hitchcock won’t see it that way.

The Anaheim Ducks traded to get Ryan Kessler giving them the one two punch of Getzslaf and Kessler arguably the best center combo of scoring and nasty in the league.

The Dallas Stars traded for Ottawa’s center Jason Spezza. Putting Spezza on a 2^nd line behind the dynamic duo of Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin gives the great Lindy Ruff the most offense he’s had to work his whole career , except when he’s Team Canada’s assistant coach.

I loved what the Colorado Avalanche did. Signing Hall of Famer Jerome Iginla and Daniel Briere gives the Avs a much needed veteran presence and payoff toughness they will need next spring. Unfortunately they lost Center Paul Stastny to division rival St. Louis. Losing a top center in this era of the two center model was a mistake.

The other Western playoff teams made made no major moves. The San Jose Sharks have two top centers ( Joe Thorton and Joe Pavelski) but did nothing to improve their chronic underachieving team. The Wild added winger Tomas Vanek. Whoop Dee Doo. Of the West’s bottom feeders Calgary improved themselves the most stabilizing their goaltending by adding Jonas Hiller and yes I do now consider Vancouver a bottom feeder and Ryan Miller does not stabilize their goaltending.

In the Eastern Conference most of the teams got weaker, especially the top teams. The perennial beasts of the East Boston and Pittsburgh lost arguably their best, wingers Jerome Iginla in Boston and James Neal in Boston. Pittsburgh also lost half their blue line, heart and soul defenseman Brooks Oprik and plus minus monster Matt Niskanen while only sort of replacing them with Christain Erhoff. The Eastern Conference winners New York Rangers bought out Brad Richards and lost prime playoff performers D man Victor Stralman and center Brain Boyle.

The Flyers made two stupid moves this off season. They sent Scott Hartnell to Columbus for washed up RJ Umberger and their Captain Claude Giroux got arrested in Ottawa for groping a male cop.

 Montreal lost steady defenseman Josh Gorges to Buffalo as well as their captain Brian Gionta. The Sabres also signed free agent sniper Matt Moulson.

The Sabres weren’t the only also rans who got better. Florida acquired proven Cup winners Willie Mitchell, Shawn Thorton, Jussi Jokenen and Dave Bolland. The Devils added offense with Mike Cammalleri. The Islanders got two wingers, Nikolai Kulemin and Mikhail Grabovski to wingers to play with John Tavares and the Capitals got half the Penguins defense so someone will play defense in DC this year.

THE KINGS DYNASTY

The Kings are a modern ( Cap era) NHL dynasty and are 1 Stanley Cup away from being a dynasty in any era. The Kings have won 2 Cups in 3 years and went to the semifinals the other year. There have been 5 great teams in the post lockout era. The Penguins, Bruins, Blackhawks, Red Wings and Kings, of those teams only the Blackhawks have equaled the Kings 2 Cups. The Penguins and bruins have owned the Eastern Conferences regular seasons but have only 1 Cup apiece. The Red Wings started the Cup era on top and have maintained a playoff presence for the last decade but are not in the same class as the other 4 teams I mentioned.

The Kings have the best goaltender in hockey and certainly the best goaltender of the elite teams. Jonathan Quick is an amazing big game performer. Lunqvist maybe just as good but the Rangers are only a better than average team. Rask and Crawford are steady but not spectacular and Fluery can be spectacular but not always steady. Quick’s back up Martin Jones is no slouch either letting Quick take a breather in the regular season.

The Kings Drew Doughty is the best defenseman in hockey. He’s Kris Letang with a brain and 40lbs. Both the Blackhawks and the Bruins have Norris trophy caliber D men at the top of their 6 ( Duncan Keith, Zdeno Chara) but fall off sharply at the bottom of their 6 ( ancient Michael Rosival, midget Tory Krug). Every King defensemen 1-6 is tough, fast enough and good enough with the puck. Some are better than other but with the exception of Greene , a heart and soul guy, they’re all top 4 on every other NHL team.

The Kings are the best 4 line team in hockey. The addition of Marian Gaborik at the deadline gave the Kings one of the 3 best lines in hockey and the purest best 1^st line in hockey. The Penguins with Sid and Geno and the Hawks with Kane and Toews have amazing 1^st lines but those lines come at the expense of the the 2^nd lines which get broken up to make them. The Kings first line Has a Selkie finalist and all around great player/ beast at center Anze Kopitar , pure sniper who gets his nose dirty Marian Gaborik and the best captain in hockey Dustin Brown.

The Kings 2^nd line is centered by long time NHL lamp lighter Jeff Carter and his wings Tyler Tiffoli and Tanner Pearson are young, fast ,big and both got nice hands.

What more do you want out of your 3^rd and 4^th lines. You got the NHL’s best face off man Jared Stoll and one of the clutchest guy of all time , this year’s Conn Smythe Justin Williams on the 3^rd line  and the win at all cost Mike Richards centering your 4^th line. Most of the Kings 3^rd and 4^th liners would have played on the Pens top 2 lines this year. Boston’s bottom 2 lines never recovered from trading Tyler Seguin and Rich Peverly to Dallas. The Blackhawks are the closest to the Kings in forward depth and may even be stronger up top. That is why they are the Kings biggest challenge to cementing an all time dynasty in Southern California because they’re working on one of their own next to a great lake.

Stanley Cup Final Prediction

The Los Angeles Kings are 4 wins away from being hockey’s salary cap era dynasty. They will have won 2 Stanley Cups in 3 years and the year they lost it was to the era’s other great team the Chicago Blackhawks and it was in Western Conference finals when the Kings were injured. I picked the Kings to beat the Blackhawks this year in what was maybe the greatest hockey ever played. Take that you bullshit Olympic purists. The Kings came from 3-0 down to beat a super talented but gutless San Jose Sharks and from 3-2 down to beat the super talented but BBQ Bruce led Anaheim Ducks. They trailed the defending Cup Champs Chicago in game 7. They won 3 game 7s on the road. Darryl Sutter’s men were undefeated when facing elimination. By contrast the Eastern Conference champs the New York Rangers took a much easier path to the Stanley Cup Finals. The beat the Flyers, maybe the toughest team they played, with their goalie Steve Mason injured. The Flyers had to play goalie Ray Emery, a gangsta thug who is lucky when the puck hits him. They beat the Penguins, a mess of an organization who let them off a 3-1 hook. The Rangers beat the Canadiens after they injured Montreal’s  Gold Medal winning goalie Carey Price in game 1. The Rangers road to the Stanley Cup was so easy it’s like they got a police escort.

So guess who I’m picking in this series….. Not yet. Let’s break it down.

The best player in hockey lately has been a choice of either Crosby, Toews, Getzlaf and Malkin. Well now you can put Anze Kopitar at the top of the list. I used to call Kopitar west coast Malkin but now that is an insult to Anze. Kopitar is superior. A Selke finalist ( defensive award)  who can flat out score. His linemates Dustin Brown (best captain in hockey) and Marian Gaborik ( best deadline deal in a generation) gives LA the best line in hockey. They ate up the Toews line when it mattered. The Kings second line, that 70’s line is as fast a line as you will ever see. The Kings are so loaded Mike Richards is their 4^th line center. The Rangers have some nice players ( St. Louis, Richards, Stephan) but they are tiny compared to the Kings. Rick Nash has size but he plays like Eric Lindros after all the concussions. soft.

The Kings have the best defenseman in hockey Drew Doughty and every other King’s top 6 defensemen would be in the Rangers top four defensemen after Mc Donagh, Girardi and Staal.

The Rangers do have an incredible goaltender in Henrik Lundvist. He may very well steal a couple games but he can’t steal a series. Jonathan Quick is also an incredible goaltender who always rises to the occasion. Even if the Rangers injure Quick I think they can beat the Rangers with back up Martin Jones in net.

KINGS in 5, let dynasty talk begin.  

My Reaction to Another Penguin Playoff Debockle

I’m not upset the Penguins lost to the Rangers in Game 7. Sure if Sidney Crosby played up to half his ability they win the series but it would have only prolonged the in evadible. Funny thing is everybody including Fleury played pretty well, except for a few folks I’m looking at you James Neal,

Knowledgeable Penguin fans, and I think deep down Sid and Geno knew this team was not good enough. Is Dan Blysma to blame? Absolutely, he has made some very questionable personnel decisions, he played favorites and ignored young talent but he can’t turn hamburger helper into a bone in rib eye.

I blame GM Ray Shero. He has mismanaged this team for the last 5 years. This team has gotten soft and easy to play against. Talk all you want about a skilled winger and a puck moving defensemen, hockey, especially the playoffs is about toughness and BALLS, and the Penguins roster lacked both of them. When Shero came to town he immediately made them a tougher team. Tougher in the corners, in front of the net and with the gloves off. In the 2007 regular season the Pens beat the Flyers all seven games and in the last game won every fight (I thought they should have put up a statue to coach Mike Therrien right there).

The Pens remained a tough team until they felt they embarrassed the league after their line brawl with the Islanders in 2011. Since then management has shipped out or not resigned big , tough , on the edge players and brought in finesse players, guys who stay on the outside of the fray, who never get their nose dirty. It’s bad enough to have finesse on your top two lines but the Penguins had those guys on their bottom two lines.

Shero retained too many 3^rd and 4^th liners. He let those players get comfortable. Chicago doesn’t do that and they won two Cups since the Penguins won theirs. I consider Shero’s retention of mediocre 4^th liners his second biggest offense, signing offensively overrated and defensively brain dead Kris Letang to a large, long contract is his biggest offense.

Both Shero and Blysma should and hopefully will be fired. The players will be fired too. Only Sid and Geno are safe and probably Letang because who wants a 8 million dollar stroke victim. Chris Kunitz looked tired in the playoffs and maybe the Olympics wore him out. James Neal needs to GO. He’s acts like he won a Stanley Cup, he has not won anything but rides Geno coattails. He’s a bum. Jussi will want too much money so bye. Sutter played well for a month , if he leaves oh well. As for every other forward don’t let the door hit you. If Craig Adams was a horse he’d be glue. Only forwards I want back are Sid, Geno, Kunitz, Pascal Dupius (get well soon Super Duper) and Beau Bennett.

For the Defense, I’m not as down on them.  I wish Blysma gave the kids a chance to play more in the regular season but obviously those regular season points were needed. I love Robert Bortozzo’s game and Simon Depres is an NHLer. Ollie Maata faded but he’s nineteen. Paul Martin played great this year. Love Paulie. Brooks Orpik, Derek Engelland and Matt Niskanan are gone. Rob Scuderi should be but his contract is another chain around Shero’s neck. I love Scuds but he looked like an orange traffic cone in the playoffs. The Pens have lots of kids in their minors with pedrigee so bring em up. Flower player B+ goal all year and to the surprise of most was not a problem.

All in all, a smarter tougher coach and six new forwards who COMPETE and the Penguins could be back on top and by on top I mean a Stanley Cup winner not racking up a bunch of regular season points.

ROUND 2

I went 7-1 in round one. The Wild took extra time but they stuck it to me. Here’s a look back at round one and a look ahead to round two.

Round 1 Recap –

Boston took care of business and handled the Red Wings in 5 games. They were helped by horrible call on Todd Bertuzzi (who never gets a call) but after a game one scare they were never really challenged. Milan Lucic absolutely imposed his will on the series. Detroit fans have to be happy watching their young guys compete and Zetterberg return. Detroit will be a lot to handle next year but Boston is looking like the beast of the East.  Montreal also took care of business sweeping overmatched Tampa Bay. After hearing Oh Canada sung in French the Lightning had no chance.

The Rangers beat the Flyers because they didn’t let Philly goadthem into their bullshit and make it a special teams game.The Rangers are and were the better team five on five Wayne Simmonds had a classic Simmonds hat trick , three feet from the net but was the Invisible man on game seven.

The Penguins got past Columbus after the Penguins specifically Geno had enough. The Blue Jackets made a big deal out of out hitting the Penguins but hitting means you don’t have the puck. Columbus had heart but not nearly enough talent. Marc Andre Fluery except for one flub had a strong series and seems too have shaken off his post season woes.

Out West the Kings showed their championship hearts with an historic comeback against the San Jose Sharks a franchise that never seems to have any heart. Goaltender Quick was hung out to dry in the first the games but the King’s defense tightened in the final four games and Quick looked like his old Conn Smythe self.

BBQ Bruce reared his clueless head for Anaheim by starting a goalie controversy before game one than healthy scratched the living legend Teemu Selanne but Anaheim Captain and possible league MVP Ryan Getzlaf,  puck to the face and all would not let Lindy Ruff’s overachieving Stars beat them. Lindy and the Stars will be back.

Minnesota and Colorado had the most exciting series in the opening round. Nathan McKinnon had a coming out party but putting up ridiculous Lemieux like numbers at home. Erik Johnson had a inspirational empty net save in game one but got caught up ice in game 7.

Chicago and St Louis played the most intense opening round series. St, Louis lost their Captain Backes to a questionable hit thrown by Seabook who was suspended for that hit. Steve Ott gave Duncan Keith a similar dirty hit but it didn’t stop the Norris trophy candidate form torturing the Blues. The Blues, who never score when it matters could not keep up with the Toews, Kane and Sharps of the world.

Round Two –

The West is very easy to pick. The Kings are rolling. They have four lines of scoring and grit and Quick between the pipes. It’s May so it’s time for BBQ’s chariot to turn into a pumpkin. The Ducks Dynamic Duo will win a few games though.  Kings in 6. The Blackhawks will have no problem with the happy to be there Wild. Blackhawks in 5.

Both East series are almost a pickem. Almost. Montreal is probably the second best built team in the East, the problem is Boston is the best built team in the East. Habs vs Bruins is hockey’s Jews vs Arabs so anything can happen but I say Boston squeaks by. Boston in 7. The Penguins and Rangers will play a fast, skilled and extremely entertaining series. The teams are pretty even so whichever team’s superstar wakes up will determine who wins this series. I’ll go with Sid because Nash has never woken up. Pens in 6.

2014 Playoffs Round 1 Predictions

Yes, the most wonderful time of the year is here, The Stanley Cup Playoffs. The 60 Day War for Lord Stanley’s Cup. I think the Cup is up for grabs this year more than any year since the Lockout. Last year I picked correctly picked the winner in every series except the Finals. This year I can only guarantee won one series, so let’s begin there.

The East-

 Pittsburgh vs Columbus- If the Penguins don’t win this series, the planet better be hit with a meteor because life as we know it will end in Pittsburgh. The Pens will have everybody healthy except Pascal Dupuis. Geno Malkin was flying before his injury and Kris Letang is rounding into shape. The Blue Jackets will be missing their only playoff tested guys in Nathan Horton , R J Umberger and Nick Foligno. I’m not picking Pens in 4 because I’m old school and that means revenge.

PENS in 5

Boston vs Detroit- The Bruins had a great regular season and did not deserve the Red Wings in round 1. Boston is the best team in the East and has the best goaltending but Detroit is fast and skilled. Detroit Mike Babcock will know how to make Zdeno Chara’s life hell but I think the B’s have too much size and depth up front to wear out the smaller Wings. If Wings Nyquist, Tatar and the old witch Datsyuk steal one in Beantown it could get interesting.

Bruins in 6

New York vs Philadelphia – This will be an absolute war. The Flyers have scoring depth up front but the Rangers have the advantage on defense. The Rangers big tough defensemen will not let the Flyers pull their usual bullshit around the crease and King Henry is the difference in this series

Rangers in 7

Tampa vs Montreal – Tampa has had a swell year over coming tons of drama but they will not overcome losing their goaltender Ben Bishop. Montreal has too much tradition and scoring for a back up to handle.

Montreal in 6

This leaves us with an amazing second round. Bruins vs Canadiens is hockey’s Jews vs Arabs and the Penguins would face one of their two biggest New York or Philly. In Pittsburgh losing to New York is equal to your fish dying, losing to Philly is your dog dying but we will save these predictions for the next round, onto the West.

The West -

Anaheim vs Dallas- I love the Stars. Lindy Ruff is a great coach and the power duo of Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin are exciting but the Ducks duo if Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry have a better supporting cast. BBQ Bruce Boudreau will get exposed in the playoffs but not in round one.

Ducks in 5

Los Angeles vs San Jose – Both of these teams could be picked to win the Stanley Cup for a variety of reasons. Both teams have four lines of big, nasty men who can score, a sound defense and Cup winning goalies, so who do you take? I’ll take the Kings because of the goalies. Quick has been sharper than Niemi this year, plus Drew Doughty is just a beast on the Kings blue line.

Kings in 7

Chicago vs St Louis- Chicago was looking like a lock to win the West then their two superstars got hurt but now Toews and Kane are back so lookout West. Chicago DOES have the ability to turn it on and they will this series. St Louis is limping into the playoffs and always has trouble scoring in the playoffs. Ryan Miller is not enough to save their fate.

Blackhawks in 5

Colorado vs Minnesota- Colorado is missing scoring machine Matt Duchene but they still have enough to beat a goal tender that either belong in a hospital (Harding) or a mental institution (Bryzgalov) . The Avs kids came on strong and earned the right to take on the Wild. Roy won’t let them waste that good fortune.

Avs in 6

If you live in the East, stay up a watch LA vs SJ it could be the best series of the entire playoffs.

Crosby is the Best - MVP

Sidney Crosby is the best player in hockey. He is the NHL’s MVP and hockey fans and Sid haters just have to accept it. Sidney Crosby has almost lived up to all the hype bestowed on him at the age of thirteen by Wayne Gretzky no less when Wayne called him the Next Great One. Sid for the most part has lived up to that hype. The other MEGA stars who have are Jordan and Tiger. Sid never quit hockey to play baseball or has had a whore expose his life in US magazine. Sid has been not only the face of a team but the face of a league. Sid has only won one Stanley Cup, and there are many reasons why but that is another column and my personal hell. Sid has won two Olympic gold medals. Sid leads the league in scoring by over twenty points. It’s the first year Sid has been healthy in awhile and he’s tearing up the league. In Sid’s nine years in the league he’s led the league in points per game five times and never finished lower than sixth.

Now why do so many people HATE Crosby. It can’t be all jealousy and it’s not just people from Philadelphia. Haters say Sid is a baby. Sid did whine a lot his first year in the league, but he cut most of it out. Sid wears the C , so he is allowed and supposed to speak to officials.

 Sid plays a tough, grinding game and lives in areas most top scorers rarely find themselves in. Sid takes a beating , has no bodyguard and has never been called for a dive. Something Pierre McGuire’s blow up doll Claude Giroux can’t say.

 Sid’s reputation for whining came from caveman coach Ken Hitchcock in Philly AFTER Sid took a Derian Hatcher stick to the face , lost teeth THEN scored the game winning goal.

 Sid also got a bad rap for talking a second too long to shake hands with the Red Wings after winning the Stanley Cup. The criticism was not from Wings Captain and legend Nick Lindstrom but from 4^th liner Kris Draper. Sid should have raced to shake Draper’s hand because when Draper was a healthy scratch Detroit’s Justin Abdelkader was killing the Penguins. Draper comes back in game six and seven and the Penguins win the Cup.

There are many great players in the league. Stamkos, Tavares and the dynamic duos of Kane & Toews and Getzlaf & Perry. Sid’s Batman, Evgeni Malkin has missed plenty of games this season and as a team the Penguins have almost 500 man games lost and Crosby still led the Penguins to a Metro division title.

Go ahead and hate Sid out of jealousy, but never downplay his skill, heart or leadership and be grateful he’s the face of the NHL. Enjoy watching him because they haven’t found the Next Next one yet. Sid’s a humble man, who rarely talks about himself . He’s the Anti Lebron. If you hate Sid think how awful it would be if he had King James ego.

TRADE DEADLINE GRADES

EAST

Pittsburgh- B- , GM Shero did bare minimum to improve tam. Goc and Stempniak are upgrades for bottom six but they’re not big and tough and Sid still has no RW of pedigree. Moulson and McComick from Buffalo would have been perfect.

Boston - C, Wanted a D man and got Andrej  Meszaros from Philly. I think Boston’s own young D guys better than him . Remember Philly is weak in D and dumped him.

Philly- B, Dumped Mezsaros and picked up steady D Andy MaDonald.

New Jersey- B+, Picked up Tuomo Rutuu   and did not trade Franchise’s all time greatest player Brodeur.

Toronto – D, Did nothing good or bad, nothing, Hmm.

Montreal – A, Got Vanek , now serious player in East.D weaver will help too.

Islanders – D-, got nothing for Vanek and MacDonald.

Buffalo- D-, Didn’t get much for their whole team.

Rangers- B +, Paid a lot for St Louis but didn’t give Callahan a crazy contract.

Tampa- C-, Pissing off St. Louis was dumb, paying Callahan will be almost as dumb

Detroit B+, Legward is a great pickup, GM Ken Holland is the best

Ottawa- B , Hemsky’s offense never hurts

Florida – B, Bobby Loo moves the franchise needle up

Columbus - INC

Washington- A-, Finally got their goalie in Halak and Penner is a big playoff body/performer if they make it

Carolina- INC

WEST-

Kings- A,  Kings right back in Cup talk with Gaborik.

St. Louis- A-, Got your number one goalie Ryan Miller, now no excuses, Ott is this year’s overrated vet.

Chicago- B, Why mess up the champs.

San Jose – B, Why mess with the best we’ve looked in years.

Ducks- B, Love getting Robidas to sure up the D.

Dallas- C- , Gave up Robidas and brought in Tim Thomas.

Minnesota- B, Got Moulsen and McCormick still won’t win a playoff round.

Colorado – C, Respect staying coarse but a vet or two would be nice.

Calgary – B, They needed to trade overlord Burke.

Edmonton- C-, Gotta do something more significant than dumping Hemsky and adding another goalie when you stink

Winnepeg-  INC

Vancouver- F, Last year at this time had two number one goalie, now you have none and some vets who thought they were out but now dragged back in. Bad scene.

Nashville – D, Sad song about being broke

Phoenix- INC

Fallout from Sochi

The NHL stopped its season for three weeks to play what ended up being four, count em four good hockey games. It is now back but every team is in some form of disarray. Players are either tired from being in the Olympics or tired from partying on vacation. This last week of NHL game action has been choppy and backup goaltenders were used when they normally would not have been and these games count. They count in the standings which are used for seeding in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The trade deadline in this week and GMs around the league don’t know what kind of teams they have.

The Olympics handed the gold medal to Canada. The Canadians were expected to win and they did. They even brought their own officials to the games. It was like an election in Cuba. The NHL hierarchy is as childish s Russia’s Putin is if the whole reason they screw up their season is to prove Canada’s hockey supremacy.

We were told the Olympics were going to be a showcase for the game’s stars. It wasn’t. Most of the stars were shut down by stifling defensive systems. The bigger ice meant less offense not more. We were told the games were going to be awesome. Only four were. They were supposed to bring new fans. New fans? The games were on at four in the morning. Did the NHL get fans who were watching the Perfect Egg infomercial?

 The NHL played a prime time outdoor game on NBC Saturday and it was never promoted during the gold medal game even though all three goal scorers in that game were playing in the prime time game. If NBC isn’t going to help get the NHL acquire new fans why is the NHL sending its players to the Olympics, so old boy Canadians can pump their chests. It’s not a good enough reason. NHL players got injured in Socci. The NHL’s premier franchise The Detroit Red Wings, 23 straight playoff appearances, lost their Captain Henrik Zetterberg for the season. The best player in the biggest media market, Islanders John Tavares is also now out for the year. The league’s darling team the Pittsburgh Penguins lost their best defensemen Paul Martin for eight weeks after getting injured in Russia. The only team that appears to have benefited from the break is the LA Kings because they were slumping before the break now they’re on fire.  If helping a team in the number two market end a slum is reason for stopping the season for three weeks then the NHL won , I guess.   

The Key to Who Wins the Stanley Cup?

PD.Girardi

Name one player who controls which team the Stanley Cup lands this year. Crosby? Toews? Getzlaf? Chara? All good answers.  I say Dan Girardi

 Casual fans might not even know who Dan Girardi is. Girardi is a very good , defensive defensemen man with some offense skills. He is also in a contract dispute with the New York Rangers. The Rangers want him to sign a contract extension for much less than he thinks he deserves. If Dan Girardi does not sign a contract extension before the March 5th trade deadline the Rangers said they will trade him. His trade could turn a one and out team into a contender and a contender into a champion.

Dan Girardi contract status affects the East playoff picture dramatically. If he stays and signs with New York the Rangers remain a second tier threat for the Eastern Conference crown. Though Boston and Pittsburgh remain favorites in the East, the Rangers have the top end scoring and goaltending to reverse their bad start and make a Cup. If the Rangers trade him to an Eastern team he immediately upgrades that team’s blue line. In Boston he helps the Bruins overcome the loss of Dennis Sidenberg and fixes the only possible chink in the Bruin armor. If the Rangers trade Girardi to Metro rivals Flyers, Islanders or Capitals all of those teams would a dangerous first round opponent.

They say you can never have enough defensemen so every team out West could use a D man of Girardi caliber. But two teams in particular could really use Girardi. The Colorado Avalanche, who probably even are surprising themselves this year, need some veteran leadership on the blue line to go along with their young talented forwards up front. The Anaheim Ducks, arguably the best team in the league, could use Girardi  to improve their defensive depth. Girardi physicality would help the Ducks against the big contenders out West who play a heavy game like the Kings and the Blues. Girardi is also mobile enough to skate and hopefully shut down the skilled Blackhawks and Sharks.

Offensively Girardi has a decent shot and more importantly makes a good breakout pass.

The important sports news this spring in NYC won’t be if Carmrlo Anthony gets traded but if Dan Girardi does.

Olympic Hockey Prediction 2014

Tomorrow starts the Olympic hockey tournament and since the NHL callously interrupted a great season to plays this games I better make some predictions before Bob Costas eyes heals.  He’ll switch the coverage over to either a Dancing with the Stars competition on skates or a sport rich white parents invented so their kids weren’t just stoners who didn’t play real sports.

12 National hockey teams are competing in the tournament. Only 4 have a chance at winning gold, silver or bronze. Those 4 are the USA, Canada, Russia and Sweden. 

Some countries could steal a game but I don’t see them winning 2 games in the Medal round against the Big 4.

Slovakia has hockey’s One Man Gang Zdeno Chara but is missing game breaker Marian Gaborik who might have caught fire for a game or two.

Slovenia has LA Kings Anze Kopitar and he’ll be excited if a teammate scores.

Finland STILL has Teemu Selanne, I think he was in Lake Placid.

Norway has Mats Zuccarello … exactly.

The Czech Republic has the living legend Jaromir Jagr but he won the gold in 1998.

That leaves us with the Big 4.

I predict Sweden will not win a medal. They have been the trendy pick this year but I’m not buying it. They are playing without Nicholas Lidstrom the greatest defensemen since Bobby Orr, who retired. Henrik one half of the Sedin twins is injured and goalie extradinaire Henrik Lunquist is showing sign of wear and tear. I like their defensemen but their forwards are to quote the great Mike Therrien , “SOFFFT”.

I pick the USA for bronze. Their forwards are a great combination of speed, grit and scoring touch and they will love playing Dan Blysma’s uptempo system but I think their defensemen are weak at the bottom and great hockey teams expose 5^th and 6^th defensemen. I’ve watched Brooks Orpik all year, he’s become a liability. The US also has shaky goaltending. Last August I would have given the US an advantage in net but Jonathan Quick has been hurt and off his game and Ryan Miller , while on a horrible  Buffalo team has been smoked a few times, too many for my liking. Key stat- US has only won Olympic Gold on US soil.

I’ll give Canada the silver. They always have the best team on paper and have the 3 of the 4 best centers in the world on their team ( Crosby, Toews, Getzslaf) but their defense is a tad slow for the big ice and their goaltending is shakier than the Us’s.  Roberto Luongo was the goat 4 years ago until Sid saved him with the Golden Goal. Key Stat- Canada has never won Olympic Gold on Olympic sized ice, only NHL sized ice.

I think Russia will win the Gold. The Russian are putting all their eggs in one basket, Evgeni Malkin and Alex Ovechin playing on the same line. Malkin is playing at the top of his game right now and when he does no one can stop him .Ovechin is also at the top of his game right now. This pair will be lethal. The Russian defensemen are all NHL caliber The KHLers on Russia’s team will be playing with a ton of pride in their league and homeland and will take advantage of their home ice. I think Russia’s biggest advantage is between the pipes. I have seen Columbus’ Sergei Bobrovasky and Colorado’s Seymon Varlamov  stone top NHL offensive teams with average at best defenses in front of them.

So Geno and Ovi do some Stoli shots with Putin and your gold medals and then come back to North America. We have a Stanley Cup to play for.

Sochi stay or Sochi Go

Olympic Hockey is less than a month away and I am not looking forward to it . Sure I will watch every game, God Blesss Tivo but I don’t think NHL players should be participating. I have many reason s for my thinking. The first and foremost being the players own personal safety. One Islamic fuckhead and EVERYTHING is a COMPLETE disaster.

 I hate the disruption of the NHL season. None of the other major sports would lose one month of their season every four years for the Olympics. Not only does the sport just stop for three weeks the rest of the season schedule is so compressed to make up for it players are exposed to more injuries and fans are subjected to some listless hockey. The NHL brass has realized for awhile now they get no tangible pop from the Olympics. People who watch Olympic hockey go back to American Idol when Bob Costas and his fireplace disappear.  The league wasn’t going to send their payers to Sochi but capitulated after they realized they would have a mutiny on their hands because Ovechin, Malkin and other Russia stars were going to play in Sochi whether Gary Bettman wanted them to or not. This will be the last time the NHLers go for gold because no player is going to push to spend 3 weeks in South Korea in 2016.

People will argue back at me that they love Olympic hockey because it’s the best players in the world all competing for gold, playing for keeps, an All Star tournament that matters.  We did have that it back in the nineties , it was called the World Cup of Hockey. It was played in the summer, so it didn’t disrupt the NHL season. It was played on NHL sized ice and with NHL rules, which means it was an All Star game, where everybody cared who won and it had fighting.

I think by NHLer’s going to the Olympics they are undermining the premise that the Stanley Cup is the most important trophy in all of sports.  Do I want the USA to win gold. Yes !!! I mean sure , maybe , right? Look at the consequence for me personally, If the US wins, my ( the Pens coach) Dan Blysma looks like a genius but then my ( Penguins)  superstars have problems.  Sidney Crosby is Canada’s goat and Evgeni Malkin and his parents may be shipped to Siberia. Penguin fans and every fan of the NHL’s elite teams have this problem is some variety, let alone if a player gets injured. That’s the beauty of a Summer World Cup of Hockey, even if a player gets hurt they should be ready by the Stanley Cup playoffs next spring. More important to me that the US wins gold is that all my Penguins come back healthy.

It’s time to end put the NHLer’s in the Olympics. Does Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechen,  Jaromir Jagr need any more on their plate or in their trophy chest. It’s time to let the kids play again. If you’re old enough to remember 1980 you know how special that was. US Captain Mike Eruzione never played completive hockey after that, he didin’t need to. Who care if some countries cheat or the KHLers play. I’ll take my chances with some Boston College or Wisconsin guys. Does anyone think the millionaires really need medals?  I know it’s nice, but they’re already rich and famous let the kids have a chance or retired NHLer’s who don’t have a Cup and a gold medal would be the ultimate consolation prize. To me the US winning gold in Sochi is a consolation prize if the Penguins don’t win the Stanley Cup.

Ovi-rated

Alex Ovechin is overrated. He is not the best hockey player in the world and he will never be the best player in the world. Alex Ovechin is one of the most if not the most exciting player in the world. Ovechin plays a fast, hard hitting game that brings you out of your seat. Ovechin is the most charismatic player in the game. But he does not play a consistent game. He also plays the least important position on the ice. Unfortunately Alex has become somewhat of a powerplay specialist.

I am not and will never be an Ovechin hater and I regularly defend him against the small minded people who hate him because he’s Russian or he doesn’t play on their NHL team. I love watching him play. The puck on his stick or when you see him zeroing in on a big check are two of the best things the NHL has to sell, but those do not make you the best player in hockey. Ovechin is the best power play scorer in the league and probably the best sniper in the game, not the leagues best player.

Holding Ovi back from being the best player in the league are a few things. One , he’s a winger, by nature it’s the least important position on the ice. Two,  Ovi doesn’t not take defense seriously his plus minus is -17, which ranks him 698. That is a disgrace. Three, he only plays a physical game sometimes. Usually at the beginning of games or when he’s pissed. Now his hits are explosive and make the highlight reels but they usually put him out of position and face it when Ovi is running around hitting people he’s not doing what he does best, scoring. Four, he is somewhat predictable, that is why he was in a slump for over a year. Teams had figured him out. He’s back scoring again with the help of his coach Adam Oates. Oates made Ovi  switch sides 5 on 5 and moves him around more on the power play. Ovi still can’t create his own offense like other elite players. He’s creates a fantastic shot off the rush but not chessboard tic tac toe / give and go plays like other superstars. All of these  is not a knock on Ovi just the facts.

When comparing best players in the world comparing forwards to defensemen to goalies is wrong. So let’s just compare forwards. If you judge the best player by who GMs would pick to start a franchise there’s at least a half dozen centers ahead of him, which plays into centers  being a more valuable position than winger but also the one trick pony aspect to Ovi’s game. While you won’t want to start a franchise with him he’s the first player you’d pick to be on your power play. Ovi is like a great power hitter who bats .240 and can’t play defense. You want him to bat when you need a homer but not a single and you definitely don’t want him to play the field. The best description of  Ovi is he’s hockey’s best designated hitter. Hitting in baseball is like scoring in hockey it’s very important but it’s not EVERYTHING. Enjoy Alex. Watch him on tv. Buy a ticket to see him play.The man with the yellow laces is amazing, just not the best player in the NHL.

HATE/LOVE Players

PD-Hate/Love

This column is about guys you hate playing against but would love to have on your team. I pick my top three Hate/Love players. Sure every player that is good you don’t like when you’re playing against them but would love to have on your team, but I’m talking about guys that get under your skin, that you wish took a puck in the face and a stick to the balls. The guys you swear at the television. I’m not talking about guys who are so good like Zdeno Chara that you hate them or Milan Lucic who I admit I have a man crush on and am just jealous he’s not a Penguin because I yearn for a circa 1996 power forward. They just don’t make them like that anymore. I’m not talking about guys that only hurt your team. I’m talking about guys that hurt every team. Brad Marchand hurts every team , quite literally but I hate rats, and don’t want them on my team,  I was ecstatic Matt Cooke is in Minnesota.

Here are 4 guys that almost made the list. Wayne Simmonds of the Flyers. First obviously I hate every Flyer but most Flyers I would NEVER want on my team. Simmonds was an LA King  and learned to play hockey the right way not the Flyer way. Fact is Simmonds  is just a damn good player. The only thing I hate about him is he’s wears creamsicle orange . Daniel Briere the undersized forward for the Montreal Canadiens is a BIG game player. He may do nothing in the regular season but he will come up big in the spring. He’s a midget and he’s scores more garbage goals than guys twice his size. I loved him in Buffalo, hated him in Philly now he’ll probably kill me as a Canadien. Briere is too clutch to ever truly hate, he must be admired.  I could put Nathan Gerbe, on this list because he’s a poor man’s Briere , who never makes the playoffs, but I don’t want him on my team. I just hate that a little person can score so many goals in the crease and not get his head kicked in. If the Penguins were not up to their neck with offense defensemen I would put Montreal’s P K Subban in my top three. He’s a Norris trophy caliber D man whose chippy play has made him more than a few enemies in the league. But I’m SO sick of my D men ( especially Kris Letang) up ice , I just don’t want another freelancer on my team.

He’re’s my top three Hate /Love players. Micheal Grabner of the New York Islanders. He’s faster than the DPT when you’re meter runs out. He’s so fast every time he’s on the ice it becomes an odd man break because in two strides he’s in the play. If he’s hands were 1/8 as good as his wheels he’d be a fifty goal scorer. Even with mitts of stone I’d love to have him on my team. He’s a great penalty killer, not because he even plays defense but he’s so fast the opponent always has to be afraid of a shorthanded goal against. Why do I hate him and not just admire his speed, because you can’t relax when he’s on the ice and he cherry picks. Yes cherry picks !!!

2^nd on my list is Ottawa Senator tough guy Chris Neil. Chris Neil has a head made of cement. Earlier this year he took a puck to the face and didn’t miss a shift. He looks like one of those toys you need to pound on the head to score a goal or kick a field goal. He looks like his head was squeezed with a shoe horn into his helmet. Neil is infuriating because he’s like the Terminator , he just keeps coming at you.  You always have to know when he’s on the ice as well because he will bulldoze anyone. Hits like a freight train and usually clean. When you throw that made hits some will be on the edge He sticks up for his teammates and he takes on all comers, you don’t need a true goon on your team because he’ll fight any goon out there. . He can chip in a goal or two Neil’s probably the toughest guy in the league who can actually score when he tries too. Neil could have been in the movie Slap Shot but he is no joke

This leads me to my number one Hate/Love  guy Flyer’s winger Scott Hartnell. He is a great asshole. He gets under everyone skin. He cheap shots but not in the I’m gonna injure you way just the I’m a jerk off way. He’ll fight when he has too but not for without a good reason, for a Flyer he actually plays with intelligence. He stands RIGHT in front of the net and takes a beating. He has a nice shot and makes some slick passes. Hartnell is also loved by his teammates and is a locker room leader. As much as I despise him I would give him a piggy back ride then length of the PA turnpike if he wants to be Sid or Geno’s winger.