July 1 marked the start of NHL free agency, an amazing time of hope and rebirth for just about every NHL team. Who were some of the big winners and the losers? We’ll examine the Eastern Conference this week, and next week will focus on the Western teams.

Montreal Canadiens

The Habs made a huge splash before free agency even started, trading for Alex Tanguay. Tanguay’s numbers in Calgary weren’t great, but he was used in more of a two-way role. In Montreal, probably playing with Alex Kovalev and Saku Koivu, look for Tanguay to revert to his Colorado numbers, where he flirted with 30-goal seasons. Playing for the Canadiens, Tanguay could finally hit that plateau.

Washington Capitals

The Capitals made some, um, interesting goaltending moves, not re-signing Cristobal Huet whom they had traded for, and not re-signing Olie Kolzig, who suddenly lost his starting job when Huet arrived. Instead, the Caps signed the consistently inconsistent Jose Theodore. Theodore had a solid season in Colorado, but there’s no reason to assume he’ll repeat that success in Washington. He’ll be an OK third goalie on your fantasy roster, but keep an eye on him. He might need a quick hook.

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Penguins made more news for who they didn’t sign (Marian Hossa and Ryan Malone) than for who they did sign (Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko). Both players came off low-scoring seasons with the Islanders, but were playing without much talent around them. Fedotenko’s never been a goal-scorer or a puck distributor, so don’t expect that to change in Pittsburgh. If Satan gets time on the top line, which he might, he could be a 30-goal scorer. But that’s a big if from a player who has lost some speed and some shot accuracy.

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning probably made the biggest splash in the free agent market, grabbing Ryan Malone, Gary Roberts, Mark Recchi, Radim Vrbata, Adam Hall, and goalie Olie Kolzig. Despite all of the off-season attention heaped upon Malone, he’s never had a big season. And he’s played with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. There’s no reason to think the numbers will get any better playing on a second line. While the new acquisitions (and first-round draft pick Steven Stamkos) will take the pressure off Tampa’s big line (Vinny Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and Vinny Prospal), the presence of other players who can score will probably lower everyone’s numbers, since the scoring will be better distributed. Also, while Kolzig doesn’t project to start over goalie Mike Smith, look for Kolzig to get a relatively hefty workload for a backup. Kolzig is a competitor who’ll push Smith and occasionally save games. Sure he’s old, but he’s old and mad about how things ended in Washington.

Florida Panthers

When the Panthers traded Olli Jokinen to the Coyotes, they also traded away their top scorer. Who will fill in for Jokinen? Nathan Horton could have an 80-point season as the Panthers’ only scoring option. And free agent signee Cory Stillman might have the big season he’s never had his whole career, although realistically, he’s much more of a defensive forward.

New York Rangers

The New York Rangers were uncharacteristically quiet during the free agent signing frenzy. Significantly, they didn’t re-sign Jaromir Jagr, who instead opted to play in Russia. They signed Markus Naslund, who didn’t put up great numbers playing with the Sedin Twins, so shouldn’t be counted to do much better playing with Scott Gomez and a winger to be named later. The absence of Jagr should spread the scoring around the Rangers a bit better, though. Gomez, who dished like a madman all season, might get a few more goals, and Chris Drury should see more scoring opportunities. And Petr Prucha, the small, yet speedy wing, might be a sleeper pick, even though he was a healthy scratch down the stretch. He scored 30 goals as a rookie before disappearing into the Ranger depth. It’s possible his goal-scoring touch will return.

July 12th, 2008
Categories: HOCKEY, Ice Chips, Steven Ovadia . Author: Steven Ovadia . Comments: 1 Comment

A lot of times, and across sports, fans are often left with the feeling that a league wants certain teams in the playoffs because of the size of the market, not the quality of the team. There have always been vague rumblings about the NHL doing what it can to keep the New York Rangers competitive, since they represent a huge market. And you always hear how the league (and television networks) felt burned by the 2004 Tampa-Calgary Finals and 2006’s small-market Carolina-Edmonton matchup.

But now, everyone is talking about how happy the league is with Detroit-Pittsburgh, two superstar teams from decent-size markets. The thing is, this is one of those times where what’s good for the NHL is also good for the fans, because this is a pretty amazing matchup of speed and talent and yes, even defense. A Red Wings-Penguins series is good for the NHL from a marketing perspective, but it’ll also be good from a product perspective.

This series is two exciting teams showing the world why people love hockey so much. Not sure what to expect? Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered:

Goaltending

Detroit’s Chris Osgood had a strong season sharing number one duties with Dominik Hasek. Hasek got the nod to start the playoffs, but he couldn’t finish. His erratic play got him pulled right in the middle of the first round against Nashville. Osgood grabbed the starting job and never let go, putting up a 1.60 goals against and .931 save percentage in the playoffs.

Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury missed almost half of the season with a high-ankle sprain and while he was gone, backup Ty Conklin, last seen imploding in Edmonton, did an excellent job as the number one goalie. But Fleury won the job back cleanly, and has been solid, if a bit scrambly, in the playoffs. He’s got a 1.70 goals against and .938 save percentage. The only thing he doesn’t have is Osgood’s Cup-winning experience, and that’s got to count for something.

Defense

Detroit features one of the NHL’s best defenseman in Nicklas Lidstrom. Enough said. Wait. You need more? How about the underrated Brian Rafalski, who is also an excellent puck mover, and who is the recipient of many nice opportunities when forwards try to charge the offense-minded Lidstrom. And don’t forget about Niklas Kronvall, who has the most points by a defenseman in the playoffs, and who has more assists than anyone on the Penguins but Sidney Crosby.

That’s not to say Pittsburgh’s Sergei Gonchar and his cannon of a shot isn’t something to worry about. Or that the less offensively minded Brooks Orpik, Hal Gill, Ryan Whitney and Robert Scuderi aren’t going to be factors in the Finals. Don’t think that for a minute, as this group can be tough to play against. Pittsburgh wins on defensive defensemen, but do the Pens have the speed to contain the Wings? I don’t think they do.

Offense

I saved offense for last because there’s just so much of it between the two teams. Obviously, a lot of the Wing offense starts with their defensemen. For Pittsburgh, its forwards start most, if not all, of the transitions. For Detroit, you have a top line of Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, and Tomas Holmstrom. Together, they’ve put up 23 goals and 27 assists in 16 games.

Compare that to Pittsburgh’s top line of Pascal Dupuis, Crosby, and Marian Hossa, who have a combined 15 goals and 31 assists in 14 games. But before you give Pittsburgh the win, consider the Penguins’ Plan B line, featuring Evgeni Malkin, Petr Sykora, and Ryan Malone, who combine to account for another 20 goals and 22 assists.

Of course, Detroit’s Johan Franzen can practically make that up himself with his 12 goals and three assists. Franzen missed just about all of the Dallas series with concussion symptoms, but it looks like he’ll be ready to go for Saturday and if he’s in anything close to the shape he was in before his injury, Pittsburgh is going to want to consider double-teaming him. But when you talk offense, you have to mention Detroit’s always-involved blue line. And ultimately, that’s going to be the deciding factor in this series.

Does Pittsburgh have the stamina and smarts to not only contain Detroit, but to also launch its own offense? It’s Detroit’s Cup to lose. The Wings will take it in six games.

May 23rd, 2008
Categories: HOCKEY, Ice Chips, Steven Ovadia . Author: Steven Ovadia . Comments: 2 Comments

While the Flyers didn’t end the season with a thud, I don’t think anyone thought they would be playing in the Eastern Conference finals. They were a team that couldn’t hold a lead, with a slow defense, and a top line that seemed to have run out of gas.

Suddenly, they’ve found a second gear, and Daniel Briere is playing like the free agent god-send the Flyers hoped he would be, although he was a bit silent in the Montreal series as he was booed every time he touched the puck. He’s put up 14 points in 12 games, amazingly while averaging a relatively modest 18 minutes or so a night. He’s effective and efficient.

Of course, Briere couldn’t do it alone. He’s joined by Vaclav Prospal, a trade deadline pickup who’s produced 12 points (three goals, nine assists) while clicking very nicely with Briere, and R.J. Umberger who’s put up 11 points (nine goals, two assists). He also has a 25 per cent shot percentage. Effective and efficient. And how about Umberger’s performance against the Habs? Eight goals in five games? Uh, ya. I bet you saw that coming.

Of course, some might argue Philadelphia’s best player has been goalie Marty Biron. If you look at his numbers, they’re really very ordinary (.914 save percentage, 2.72 goals against), but when you consider the Flyers haven’t had a solid presence in goal since Ron Hextall, it suddenly seems very comforting. Because Biron is nothing if not unflappable. And he’s going to need that unflappability with defenseman Kimmo Timonen gone for the rest of the playoffs with a blood clot.

The Flyers have to match up against an increasingly physical Penguin team. Obviously, when people talk about Pittsburgh, they’re going to talk about Sidney Crosby, but he wasn’t a huge factor in the second round. The Penguins’ big man in the second round was Evgeni Malkin, who has six goals and eight assists through two rounds, with four powerplay goals. You have to wonder if the people in Pittsburgh are going to turn in their 87s for 71s. I wish I were a tailor in Pittsburgh.

Powerplays are turning into an interesting indicator of playoff success. If you look at the playoff powerplay leaders from around the league, you see some familiar teams. Philadelphia. Dallas. Detroit. Pittsburgh. Obviously, converting powerplay opportunities is proving to be helpful, which while not surprising, is somehow reassuring. Penalty killing isn’t the answer. Offense still lives in the NHL…

Of course, Thursday night, in Game One of the Detroit-Dallas Western Conference Final, the powerplay was kind of a big deal. Detroit had powerplay goals from Brian Rafalski, Tomas Holmstrom, and of course, the increasingly unstoppable Johan Franzen. Franzen already has 12 playoff goals. That’s the same number of goals he had in his rookie season. An 80-game rookie season.

I don’t actually coach the Stars, but if I did, I wouldn’t give Detroit as much space as Dallas did during Game One. Detroit had the run of the ice, with plenty of red jerseys in front of Stars goalie Marty Turco. Dallas is a defensive team. It needs to remember its tight-checking roots, especially now that defenseman Sergei Zubov is back in the lineup. That guy just doesn’t like to play defense.

May 9th, 2008
Categories: HOCKEY, Ice Chips, Steven Ovadia . Author: Steven Ovadia . Comments: 1 Comment

As the Stanley Cup playoffs march on, player stats become a bit more challenging to interpret. Of course, if you spent the past week watching your team go to a Game Seven, you might not even be aware stats are still being given out.

For instance, looking at Flyer Daniel Briere’s line so far, it’s pretty impressive. He leads the NHL with 11 playoff points. But don’t forget, Briere (who is obviously well-loved in Montreal, by the way) has already played eight games. Compare that with Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby. Crosby has eight points in just four games, a much more economical line. Heck, even New York Ranger Jaromir Jagr, a bit of a dud during the regular season, has eight points over five games. The moral of the story? If you’re not putting up great numbers, see if you can keep your series going. If your numbers are good, then end the series as quickly as you can.

Speaking of ending a series quickly, over in Minnesota, defensemen Kim Johnsson and Brent Burns probably couldn’t wait for their series against the Avs to end. The two blueliners averaged around 28 minutes of ice time per game during the playoffs. I haven’t checked in a while, but the Wild have other blueliners too, right?

One thing you have to love about the playoffs is that it really lets the clutch players rise to the top. Flyer Joffrey Lupul’s regular season line (20 goals, 26 assists) was solid if not spectacular (especially given his late-season struggles), and his playoff run started slowly but culminated in a first round clincher in overtime. Thursday night, in the second round opener against the Habs, Lupul struck again, putting up another goal (although I’m not convinced it should have counted). Sadly, it wasn’t enough as the Flyers went down in overtime.

Over in Round Six of the classic Detroit-Colorado rivalry, Johan Franzen picked up the pace also, scoring two goals and adding an assist in Detroit’s Game One win. Franzen ended the season on fire, but was pretty quiet in the Red Wings’ first round win over Nashville. You have to wonder how long Colorado will last in the second round, though. Peter Forsberg missed the opener with a groin injury, and honestly, if it wasn’t that, it would have been his ankle, or an in-grown hair, or morning sickness or rickets. If that wasn’t bad enough, Colorado goalie Jose Theodore gave up four goals on the first 16 shots he saw, before going home sick to the team hotel. Backup Peter Budaj stopped the next 20 shots, but Colorado does not want a goalie controversy. You know. Like in Detroit, where backup Chris Osgood started Game One over Dominik Hasek.

Round Two Previews

April 25th, 2008
Categories: HOCKEY, Ice Chips, Steven Ovadia . Author: Steven Ovadia . Comments: 2 Comments

Chances are you didn’t pick Marc-Andre Fleury in your playoff pool, but he’s been fantastic so far. (Sean Russell)

The beauty of the NHL playoffs is that it’s a process. You rarely watch just one game and know a team is definitely out. Teams adjust. Teams get embarrassed. Teams fold. There are a lot of variables.

Having said that, though, Ottawa looks pretty done, having gone down 4-0 in its Game One loss to the Penguins. I don’t think Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was a high draft pick in anyone’s playoff league, but he’s put up the first shutout of the playoffs. I don’t think people rushed to grab Pittsburgh’s Gary Roberts either, but he’s already got two goals, which is a little surprising given that he had just 30 goals in 119 previous playoff games. Also, in a bit of a surprise move, defenseman Darryl Sydor, a veteran of over 150 playoff games and two-time Cup-winner (with two different teams, no less), was a healthy scratch for the opener. Obviously, in Pittsburgh the only sure starter has an 87 on his back.

The Rangers-Devils playoff game went a bit more as planned. Scott Gomez, one of New York’s key off-season acquisitions and a former Devil, put up three assists. Henrik Lundquist, the Ranger rock-star goalie, made 26 saves, giving up just one goal. A bit more shocking was the distracted play of Devil goalie Martin Brodeur, who often seemed as if he didn’t realize he was in the crease. While it seems to be the inconsistent post-season Brodeur of the past few playoffs, it’s still a bit surprising for a goalie with 94 playoff wins, a 1.93 goals against and a .920 save percentage.

The Western Conference playoffs had its share of surprises, too. The Dallas Stars, who many have been predicting to implode since the trade deadline, beat the Ducks of Anaheim in Game One of the first round. Dallas goalie Marty Turco, whose reputation is pretty much based upon choking in the playoffs, put up a shutout and Anaheim goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, owner of a 31-13 playoff record going into last night’s loss, gave a .892 save percentage performance. Given all of the padding both goalies wear, it wouldn’t shock me to find out they switched places for the night. That would be a little funny and certainly explain plenty.

Over in Detroit, even they were the West’s top seed, it was still a little surprising the Red Wings managed to beat the Predators in Game One, given Detroit’s recent propensity for early rounds playoff exits. Detroit’s Johan Franzen continues his sick goal-scoring pace. Having ended the season with 15 goals in about a month, he put up a goal last night against Nashville. At this point, if you want to stop Franzen, you’re going to need to bring in the National Guard.

On Tap

April 11th, 2008
Categories: HOCKEY, Ice Chips, Steven Ovadia . Author: Steven Ovadia . Comments: 1 Comment