All-Star Breakaway Farce?

So the All-Star game's skills competition has come to a close and it left me with a bitter/sweet feeling. Overall I'd say that the event itself was pretty successful. I will admit to skipping out on the Youngstars game, but the skills competitions is what really gets me watching. The fastest skater competition returned to its normal lap around rink which was a good decision on the league's part. last years straightaway didn't really give me much of a feel for who the fastest skater was. The whipping around the corners is what really shows who's the faster skater. The hardest shot and most accurate shots are always staples in the competition and as usual provided their normal levels of entertainment. The big shock waws Shea Weber, who's slowly making more of a name for himself around the league, in the fact that he was second in the Hardest Shot competition. Zdeno Chara is hard to bet against seeing how, on leverage alone, he holds a huge advantage over the other players. Evgeni Malkin, known for not only his scoring ability but his sudden surge in playmaking, showed why he's a dangerous player with the puck on his stick by going 4 for 4 in the accuracy challenge. A surprise for this Senators fan was seeing Dany Heatley show off his accuracy. hearing him go 3 for 8 in Ottawa's Sens Skills showcase definitely left room for doubting the sniper. Going 4 for 4 as well, it makes you wonder why he doesn't wrist the puck more instead of his trademark huge wind up but that's a discussion for another day. If it seems like I'm avoiding the whole breakaway challenge it's because I am. The whole event seemed....Hokey. Aside from making the players look bad in the way that they almost failed every attempt, news of the random goalie being brought in to basically make a fool of himself was definitely not a smart move on the league. It's tough being the goalie in the competition. Stop the puck and you're almost boo'ed because you did your job; let it in and you look like a fool because you probably let in the most gimmicky goal in your life. I understand that goalies would prefer not to look like the jerks in such a competition but to bring in a junior goalie and tell him not to stop the puck seems a little stupid in my honest opinion. Sadly, in attempting to not save the puck, the players hit him so many times you'd think he was doing it on purpose. You almost feel bad for the players. Here they are trying to make this dazzling move and the goalie stands there like his a cardboard cut-out. If the goalie doesn't move, it kind of makes it hard to really make a move worth watching because the guy in front of you ins't moving in a manner that fits a goalie. No offense to Patrick Kane and Steven Stamkos but the whole slide on your belly and pass the puck from your glove to stick shaft and in isn't all that impressive to me. The highlights for me were Martin St. Louis' fake lacross move and Ryan Getzlaf's around the net lacross flick. Kudos to Ovechkin for the whole hat and glasses gimmick. At least there's someone who knew he was going to make a fool of himself in the competition and ran with it. But of all the competitions, the Elimination Shootout was the best for me. This is exactly what the Breakaway Challenge should have been. It was game related and showed off some of the skills the league's All-Stars and gave some real entertainment (Marc Savard's freebie by Tim Thomas aside). Seeing some of the stars dangle is the type of skill I want to see. A suggestion to the league for next year: Either remove the Breakaway Challenge or take a real hard look at what you're doing for it. If the Breakaway Challenge is to remain, the rules should be the player has to make a deke, no straight shot. You get three attempts in rounds and there's a goalie who's actually going to move in the net. Oh wait, that sounds awfully alot like the Elimination Breakaway minus the dekeing rule...Moral of the story, in its second year, it was a bust...Again.

All-Star Suspensions!?!?!?!!

You've got to feel sorry for Nicklas Lindstrom, and Pavel Datsyuk. Here are two players, deemed stars in their league and the one chance they have to have a break, they are told they are to play in the All-Star Game. Granted, the idea of being selected is a huge honour (at least to a certain degree) and it's an event that should be taken part in with pride. The downside, however, is the fact that players lose that weekend break to be with family. As much as it's great to be a kid going to the game, I'm sure some families would prefer a little time away from the rink. Lindstrom, a 10 time All-Star (9 straight, this weekend would have been his 10th), decided to drop out of the festivities. This, like Datsyuk, will force him to miss the first game back from the break. Why? Because the League deemed it necessary to force players to take part in the game and events, to ensure that the fans get their money's worth. The rule now states that if you do not miss the game before and the game after due to injury, you have no reason to pull out of the All-Star Events. The exception to this rule, at least this year, is Sydney Crosby. Crosby is out with a knee injury and has an MRI to support his decision not to play but he also agreed to show up to the off ice responsibilities. But what of the other players who might have minor injuries? If you tweak your ankle, you might be inclined to play a regular season game and play through the discomfort for the good of the team. But play in a game that's really just for show? Why risk more damage? And what about spending time with family? That should always be considered important. I'm not going to get into how much of a joke the selection process is or how the games have sort of lost their flair but I will say this: It's not worth further injury. And really, Does Nicklas Lindstrom need a 10th appearance to confirm his All-Star Status? I'm sure he can look to his list of Norris Trophies if there's real doubt.

Enough's Enough

What is up with all these mid season returns to the NHL. The ridiculous saga with Mats Sundin seems to be a following trend of players returning midseason to the NHL. Starting with Scott Neidermeyer last year, the NHL has seemed to spawn this ungoing trend of players returning well into the season giving their repsective teams a fresh player going into the playoffs. Now it's not like I'm saying a player should ever return from retirement but to a certain extent it becomes more of a farce. Mats Sundin's return was anticipated all year. Every couple of days there was a report on what he was doing, what teams were interested in him. Teams around the league were constantly trying to get him to sign with them. What of the players on that team? I know it's been discussed before but really how would they feel? Personally, I know that if I went through the training camp, fought for my job, and was suddenly given less ice time or scratched because an outsider decided to show up I'd be pretty upset. And how does Vancouver ownership feel about his return? They're now 1-4-1 with mats Sundin in the line-up. Agreed that it does coincide with Roberto Luongo's injury but in two of those losses, he's been in the box for the game winning goal. To me that's not much of a positive addition. Honestly, I think the NHL should stop players from returning half way into the season. If after 20 Games you haven't made a decision, then you're not going to play this season.
So now Claude Lemieux returns to the NHL at 43 years old. After a five and a half year absence he returns to the NHl with the San Jose Sharks. The question is will this be an effective call up from the minors or will he be a bust. He'll have to play a few games before judgement is passed but at 43 years old, can his body take the physical play the western conference is attributed with? And can he still play that agitating role given that he'll be the target of a lot of frustration as a pest. Time will tell and right now San Jose would certainly like a good 4th line they can throw out to get under other teams skin.

Hmmm.....

So Martin Gerber has been assigned to Binghamton, Ottawa's AHL affiliate, on a two week conditioning stint. Some might say it's a conditioning stint to get him conditioned for his new life in the Minors. The surprise, however, is the sudden outburst by the Senators. Winning two games in a row now, they've managed to suddenly find their offensive touch once again. The question remains though: Are the Senators turning their fortunes around or is it just the blind dog getting a bone? The answer is likely the latter. Some might say that the Senators are finally getting the goaltending they needed to play with confidence. I beg to differ. Looking back at the beginning of the year, Alex Auld was playing so well many were thinking of giving him the MVP based on his play. Ottawa was still sinking in the standings and Auld was certainly not to blame. Despite playing 11 games straight, his record was hardly a winning one but his stats were certainly impressive given his teams play. So what does this mean for Brian Elliot? The jury’s still out on the young rookie. Drafted second last in his draft year, he was hardly touted as the next great goalie for any team. But that same year, Canadiens goaltender Jaroslav Halak was also drafted in the 9th round back in 2003 and he’s providing some decent backup goaltending for Les Habs. As it always has been, drafting goalies reveals itself to be a crapshoot. Personally, as a Sens fan, I'd rather see the Senators fall in the standings and get a decent pick in the draft. As much as it pains me to watch my favourite team lose, I can also look at the team and say they don't have what it takes to go that far. If the Senators win tomorrow night against Montreal, many followers will suddenly start believing in the team. There will, of course, be nay-sayers and I can't help but stick to the skeptics. The team still as the same missing pieces that they've had since the beginning of the year. The team is still lacking that puck moving defenceman and unless Brendan Bell or Alexandre Picard suddenly turn into one over night, their developpment will certainly take a little more time and Erik Karlsson is still another season away at the very least. All in all, the Senators still need help beyond the goaltending that Brian Elliot is giving. As the Leafs have shown in the past few years, consistent 10th or 11th place finishes is not only disappointing but a vicious circle that gets teams stuck in mediocrity for multiple seasons.

NHL Halfway Mark

So the NHL has finally hit the halfway point and all the teams have now had a good look as to what their team has and what it needs. The trade deadline is the next mark to hit and teams have definitely made decisions on what's needed. Just like the free agency period, mobile offensive defencemen have always been a need. Tampa Bay is the biggest example of the lack of a decent defenceman. Dan Boyle aside, defence has always been the major issue for the Lightning.
Looking back, Tampa Bay management might have wanted to reconsider their drafting of Steven Stamkos first overall in the draft. 5 other defencemen were drafted in the top 10, Drew Doughty and Luke Schenn (Before his injury) are both playing considerable roles on their respective teams. The need for an offensive defenceman has been shown to be a heavily needed. The template for this team formula is Detroit. Rafalski, Lindstrom are both strong offensive Defencemen. Even Wade Redden was given a 6million dollar contract over 6 years. Although he's been on the decline in recent years, the need for such a defenceman in New York was obvious. Tamps Bay is now one of the last teams in the league and is a good shot to be either first or second in the draft. Given first, I can hardly see them make the same mistake and pick Tavares over Hedman. It can be argued that Hedman didn't look strong in the World Juniors but many say he was injured. Healthy or not, Hedman's stock has dropped from his performance. Some should take solace in the fact he showed a feistier side by sticking up for his goalie. Regardless of Hedman's current stock value, he is a "puckmoving" defenceman and will be highly coveted by anyone who picks him. Should Tampa pick up Tavares they'll likely end up in the same spot they are this year.
On the topic of the Lightning, the rumour of Lacavalier being moved is a big one. Stamkos is a centre who, despite being so highly touted, hasn't shown the offensive skill he was expected to have. The same result may very well fall on Tavares. Tavares has been labelled as Crosby without the skating ability. In today's NHL, the need for speed is paramount. No matter how skilled you are, if every player can catch up on you, you're not going to go far. If Lacavalier is traded, Tampa will indeed need a number one centre and Tavares or Stamkos will certainly be needed.
The main issue though, is the dysfunction shown in Tampa. The fiasco with Dan Boyle was not only cold hearted, but flat out disloyal. To consistently tell someone they're the centre of the team's defence and turn around and force them to waive their no-trade clause is a huge slap in the face. History is almost bound to repeat with Lecavalier. He now has a long term contract that was to make him a Lightning player for the rest of his career. He's the captain of that team and now rumours swirl about him being traded. As the saying goes, where there's smoke there's fire and right now, there's a whole lot of smoke. Based on the aforementioned Boyle situation, Tampa's denial of a trade offer is hardly anything to take seriously.
Speaking of trade rumours, reports say that the offer Montreal is making is Higgins, Plekanec, Gorges and a 1st round draft pick. Montreal would certainly love to bring in the skilled centre, bringing him home to Montreal. The issue is what they're going to do after the season. Lacavalier is making 8million a year for the next decade and Montreal has currently 11 players up for free agency in the off season. However, unlike most teams, they have Markov locked up for the next 3 years. This ensures that they continueto have their puck-moving defenceman. Following this recurring theme, Tampa lacks such a defenceman and the question remains, what does this trade do to ensure that they get the needed player? The answer is nothing. Josh Gorges is not an offensive player and Montreal's record will certainly keep them from having a high draft pick. As a result, aside from a couple of offensive players, there's nothing else to improve the Lightning. Rumour or not, Montreal will need a better offer unless Tampa Pulls pulls the trigger on the deal just to make a splash.
Following in Tampa's broken template is the Ottawa Senators. Ottawa's struggles have been lingering since last season. Despite their blazing start, the team has lacked consistency and the ability to play the full 60 minutes of a game. The only solace Sens fans have is the rising stock of Erik Karlsson, the first round pick from last year. Karlsson looked good on te smaller ice but he'll likely need a year in the AHL just to get used to the North American style. The Senators will still need a puck moving defenceman next season. Currently, their struggles have left them near the bottom and now they are close to getting a good pick in the draft. The draft would best work for them should they pick Hedman. Just like Tampa, the need for such a player is paramount for Ottawa. The loss of Joe Corvo was the last mobile defenceman Ottawa had following Redden's decline in stature. The acquisition of Brendanbell has not resulted in the dessired way and Ottawa's defence is being forced to play out of character. The team needs a shakeup and players like Mike Fisher and Antoine Vermette will need to step up or be dealt.
Fisher is an interesting case. He's dubbed more of a third line centre and potentially the best third line centre in the league. That said, a 5million dollar contract for a third line player is definitely not a workable contract. Despite being a fan favourite, his 20-game goaless droughts are unacceptable on a team that heavily lacks secondary scoring. It is understandable that Ottawa needed to keep core players but the heavily inflated contracts given to third line players is a binding problem that sadly won't be resolved until either the contracts end or a player is dealt. Word is that the oilers have been interested in Mike Fisher. Ottawa's window has closed and the need to rebuild is evident. Fisher's value could be potentially high and Bryan Murray could get back a draft pick or maybe a prospect. The Oilers are looking for grit and with luck Sam Gagner, who's experiencing his sophomore jinx, may be part of a deal to Ottawa.
Another player being called out is Jason Spezza. The issue with this is that his value is low. To trade away the team's number 1 centre with little hope of such a player in return is hardly something Fans in Ottawa, let alone ownership would allow to occur. Ottawa needs to make a trade to change the room, if not to dump salary.