Down the Frozen River

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  • February 14 – Day 126 – Valentine’s rivalry

    It’s another busy day in the world of hockey!

    As we’ve done all week, we start today’s activities in Pyeongchang at the Olympics. However, today is a little bit different since it marks the beginning of the men’s tournaments. Both Slovakia vs. the OAR and the USA vs. Slovenia will drop the puck at 7:10 a.m. Eastern time this morning in Group B play.

    The NHL will take to the ice at 7 p.m. this evening when Columbus visits Toronto (NHLN/SN/TVAS), followed by Montréal at Colorado (RDS/TSN2) at 9:30 p.m. and Florida at Vancouver (SN) – tonight’s NHL nightcap – half an hour later. All times Eastern.

    We return our attention to South Korea at 10:10 p.m. when Team USA’s women take on Team Canada to determine the winner of Group A, as well as the Finnish men against the Germans in Group C. Lastly, the OAR women will take on Finland to complete the women’s group stage at 2:40 a.m., joined by the Norwegian men playing Sweden at the same time. All times Eastern.

    I’d include a list of the games I definitely have my eye on, but it only includes Olympic play. Of course, the most important game taking place in South Korea tonight is a matchup of the top two teams in the women’s game.

    The weird part about this game is that it matters, and doesn’t matter, all at the same time.

    Team Canada and Team USA have both already clinched their spots in the Olympic Semifinals, meaning they’ve already assured themselves two more games in South Korea (the semifinal and a medal game).

    However, there’s still seeding on the line, as the winner of tonight’s game will square off against the winner of Sweden vs. the third place team from Group A (which will be determined when the OAR and Finland play in the wee hours of the morning), while tonight’s loser will take on the winner of Switzerland vs. the remaining Group A team’s quarterfinal.

    As things currently stand, 2-0-0-0 Team Canada leads Group A based on a superior goal-differential, as both Canada and the USA have allowed only one goal in two games played but the Canadians have scored one more goal.

    No offense has been finer than Canada’s during these Olympic Games. Albeit in only two games played, the Canadians lead the tournament averaging 4.5 goals per game. Three players are averaging at least a point per game, and that group is headlined by forwards Melodie Daoust (3-1-4 totals), Rebecca Johnston (2-2-4) and Marie-Philip Poulin (1-3-4) – all of whom are managing two points per game.

    As made evident of their reflective totals, Daoust and Poulin are continuing the incredible chemistry they’ve displayed throughout their careers playing together on Canada’s top line. However, the standout of the group just might be Johnston, who has been equal part play-maker and goalscorer on the second line.

    Having allowed only 20.5 shots against per game these Olympics (the third-best effort in the group stage) there’s little doubting Canada’s defense. However, the backbone of this corps is still its deep goaltending.

    Both G Ann-Renee Desbiens and G Shannon Szabados have drawn starts so far, with Desbiens technically being the more impressive of the two considering her perfect 18-save shutout against the OAR. However, it would seem likely that Szabados, even with her inferior 22-for-23 (.957 save percentage) performance against Finland, would be the netminder pegged to take on the world’s top-ranked squad.

    Speaking of, 2-0-0-0 Team USA has been just as impressive as Canada even though it sits behind it in the Group B standings. So far, the Americans have played arguably the best defensive game of all eight teams in the tournament, as they’ve matched Canada’s .5 goals against-per-game and allowed a superior 18.5 shots against average.

    Just like Canada, the Americans have employed two goaltenders so far this tournament with much success. G Nicole Hensley has technically been the superior of the two considering her perfect 13-save shutout against the OAR, but it would seem probable that G Maddie Rooney, who posted a 23-for-24 (.958 save percentage) performance against a vastly superior Finnish side.

    And that doesn’t even get us started on the United States’ offense, which currently ranks third by averaging four goals per game with two fixtures remaining to be played in the entirety of the group stage.

    A total of five players are averaging at least a point per game, but none have been better through their first two showings than F Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson. Not only do her three points lead the team, but she’s also scored a team-high two goals.

    One last note on America’s attack involves D Megan Keller – Group A’s lone defensewoman to average a point per game. She may be just the wild card that can give Team USA the edge against their bitter rivals.

    The last time Team Canada and Team USA squared off was at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla. November 12, 2017, in the Championship Game of the Four Nations Cup. It was a surprisingly dominant victory by the hosts, as the United States beat Canada 5-1. Hannah Brandt provided the opening and game-winning goals both in the second period.

    In fact, Team USA is riding a five-game winning streak against Team Canada dating back to the 2016 Four Nations Championship Game. Since successfully defending their 2015 title at the same tournament, the Americans have beaten Canada twice at the 2017 IIHF Women’s World Championship and two more times at the ’17 Four Nations Cup.

    Of course, the Americans would willingly give away that winning streak if it meant they could trade in their two silver medals at the last two Olympics for a gold this year, snapping Canada’s run of four-consecutive titles at the quadrennial tournament.

    But, that million dollar question will have to wait until February 22. How will today’s game pan out?

    If this were any other tournament, I’d feel very comfortable picking the Americans to beat Team Canada. However, the Canadians always seem to have Team USA’s numbers when playing under the Olympic Rings. I think America can win this game, but this tilt will have no baring on a potential probable Gold Medal matchup.

    Though they needed a shootout, the New Jersey Devils beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4 at Wells Fargo Center in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    Almost all the action in this game took place in the second period, but that didn’t happen until after F Travis Konecny‘s (F Claude Giroux and D Shayne Gostisbehere) snap shot at the 1:54 mark of the first frame to give the Flyers an early lead.

    In total, a whopping six goals were struck in the middle 20 minutes – three by each side. The first marker was struck at the 4:06 mark, and it belonged to F Taylor Hall (D Sami Vatanen) to level the game at 1-1. However, Philadelphia reclaimed the lead only 43 seconds later when C Scott Laughton (W Michael Raffl and D Andrew MacDonald) buried a wrist shot. A D Radko Gudas (F Valtteri Filppula and RW Dale Weise) slap shot with 9:24 remaining in the period gave the Flyers a 3-1 advantage, but it lasted only 2:41 before D John Moore (C Travis Zajac and W Jesper Bratt) pulled Jersey back within a goal.

    Only one power play goal was struck in the contest, and it belonged to Giroux (W Jakub Voracek and Gostisbehere) with 4:01 remaining in the period. With Zajac in the box for cross-checking F Jordan Weal, Giroux buried a snapper to return a two-goal advantage to Philly. It didn’t last long though, as C Nico Hischier (Bratt) scored only 10 seconds later to set the score at 4-3.

    The third period was a fairly defensive affair, as only a combined 19 shots were fired by both club. Only one tickled the twine, and it belonged to Hall (Hischier and Zajac) with only 1:21 remaining in regulation. A former fan of orange, Hall took advantage of the six-on-five advantage to level the game with a wrister.

    After all those goals in regulation, it’s beyond a surprise that neither club could find an overtime game-winner during the five minutes of three-on-three play. However, the tie remained, meaning the game advanced into the shootout. As host, Head Coach Dave Hakstol had the option of shooting first or second…

    1. Like most do, Hakstol elected to shoot first, sending Weal to center ice. Unfortunately, the forward didn’t make good on the decision, as his wrister was saved by G Keith Kinkaid.
    2. However, a saved shot is better than a miss. That’s exactly what W Kyle Palmieri did, leaving the shootout tied at 0-0 through the first round.
    3. Konecny was tapped to turn the tide for Philly in the second round, but his attempt met the same fate as Weal’s: saved by Kinkaid.
    4. The opportunity to score the first goal of the shootout fell next to W Drew Stafford, and he didn’t disappoint. He beat G Michal Neuvirth to force a miss-and-lose situation for the Flyers in the third round.
    5. In such situations, there’s few Flyers better to call upon than Voracek. However, he couldn’t answer the bell yesterday, as Kinkaid saved all three shootout shots he faced.

    Kinkaid earned the victory after saving 31-of-35 shots faced (.886 save percentage), leaving the shootout loss to Neuvirth, who saved 32-of-36 (.889).

    That’s three straight wins for visitors in the DtFR Game of the Day series, pulling them within 22 points of the 68-41-17 hosts.

  • TRADE: Sens deal Phaneuf to Kings, add Gaborik

    Welcome to the 2018 NHL Trade Season, folks. We finally have our first “big” deal before the looming 2018 NHL Trade Deadline later this month (February 26th).

    On Tuesday night the Ottawa Senators sent D Dion Phaneuf and F Nate Thompson to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for F Marian Gaborik and F Nick Shore. Ottawa retained 25% of Phaneuf’s salary as part of the transaction.

    Unknown-3Phaneuf, 32, is in the midst of his 13th NHL season and had 3-13–16 totals in 52 games for Ottawa entering Tuesday night’s matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

    The veteran defenseman was pulled from the action during the game as the final details of the trade were being sorted out– reminiscent of how current Senators forward, Matt Duchene, was pulled out of a game between the Colorado Avalanche and New York Islanders the night Colorado, Ottawa and the Nashville Predators pulled off a three-team trade.

    Phaneuf has 133 goals and 345 assists (478 points) in 955 career NHL games between the Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames. The Flames’s 9th overall pick in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft is a native of Edmonton, Alberta and will now be playing for his first non-Canadian NHL team.

    He has played in 51 career Stanley Cup playoff games.

    Thompson, 33, was a 6th round pick (183rd overall) of the Boston Bruins in that same 2003 draft. He had four goals and seven assists (11 points) in 43 games for Ottawa this season entering Tuesday night.

    The Anchorage, Alaska native has 52-70–122 totals in 593 career NHL games with the Senators, Anaheim Ducks, Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Islanders and Bruins and has appeared in 58 career playoff games. He carries a $1.650 million cap hit and may become an unrestricted free agent at the end of next season (2018-19).

    He missed Tuesday night’s game in Pittsburgh due to an injury, but is expected to travel there soon and meet up with the Kings as they take on the Penguins on Thursday. Phaneuf is already in Pittsburgh and will await the arrival of his new Los Angeles teammates.

    Unknown-6Gaborik, 36, has recently been plagued by injuries and has been a healthy scratch on many other nights. The 3rd overall pick of the Minnesota Wild at the 2000 NHL Entry Draft had 7-7–14 totals in 30 games played this season with the Los Angeles Kings entering their Tuesday night battle with the Carolina Hurricanes.

    The 17-season NHL veteran has 808 points (403 goals, 405 assists) in 1,019 career games played with the Kings, Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers and Wild. Gaborik was a key component of Los Angeles’s 2014 Stanley Cup championship amassing 14 goals and eight assists in 26 games.

    A native of Trencin, Slovakia, his current contract expires at the end of the 2020-21 NHL season and carries a $4.875 million cap hit.

    Shore, 25, broke into the league in 2014-15 with Los Angeles after being drafted in the 3rd round (82nd overall) by the Kings in 2011. Through 49 games played this season, Shore has four goals and 11 assists (15 points).

    In 221 career NHL games, he has 14-35–49 totals all with Los Angeles and has a career plus/minus of minus-16. The Denver, Colorado native is currently making $925,000 and is a pending restricted free agent at season’s end.

    With the Senators retaining 25% of Phaneuf’s $7.000 million annual cap hit, the Kings will be charged with a $5.250 million cap hit on Phaneuf for the remainder of his contract that runs through the 2020-21 NHL season.

    This trade comes a little more than two years after the Senators acquired Phaneuf from Toronto. Meanwhile, Thompson is headed back to California after spending the last three seasons with Anaheim before signing with Ottawa on a two-year, $3.300 million contract on July 1, 2017.

  • February 13 – Day 125 – Battle of the Turnpikes

    That adventure to Asia yesterday was excellent, but there’s more hockey to be watched today.

    At 7:10 a.m. Eastern time this morning, the Team USA women took on the OAR in Group A play. Needing a regulation victory to keep pace with the Canadians, the Americans shutout OAR 5-0.

    Meanwhile, the NHL is still going strong in North America. Today’s action begins at 7 p.m. with six games (Calgary at Boston [TVAS], Tampa Bay at Buffalo, Columbus at the New York Islanders, New Jersey at Philadelphia, Ottawa at Pittsburgh [RDS] and Los Angeles at Carolina), followed half an hour later by Anaheim at Detroit. Next up is a pair of tilts (St. Louis at Nashville and the New York Rangers at Minnesota) at 8 p.m., trailed by Washington at Winnipeg 30 minutes later. The final wave of games starts at 10 p.m. when Chicago visits Vegas, with tonight’s nightcap – Arizona at San Jose – dropping the puck only half an hour after. All times Eastern.

    Back in South Korea, Group B of the women’s tournament will complete play this evening when Sweden takes on Switzerland at 10:10 p.m., followed by the unified Koreans vs. Japan at 2:40 a.m. Wednesday morning. All times Eastern.

    Here’s just a few of the games that are drawing my eye:

    • New Jersey at Philadelphia: The Battle of the Turnpikes is even more important when these teams are battling for playoff positioning!
    • Ottawa at Pittsburgh: It’s a rematch of the Eastern Conference Finals from a season ago!
    • Anaheim at Detroit: Back when the Red Wings were in the Western Conference, this was quite the nasty rivalry.
    • St. Louis at Nashville: Another playoff rematch, this one from the Western Semifinals.
    • Sweden vs. Switzerland: Which team will win Group B of the women’s Olympic tournament? This game will determine just that.
    • Korea vs. Japan: The unified hosts are still looking for their first win. Is this the night?

    Of all of those, there’s two games that stand out the most. Let’s make the trip to Broad Street to a big battle in the Metropolitan Division.

     

    Starting with the visiting 27-20-8 Devils, who are currently the top wild card in the Eastern Conference, we find a team that has had a rough go of things lately. In its past four games, New Jersey has failed to register even one point in the standings, losing the tilts by a combined 19-9 score.

    The biggest difference between these Devils and the club that exploded into the playoff picture at the beginning of the season is the fact that 17-11-6 G Cory Schneider is occupying a seat in the press box instead of the Jersey crease.

    While he’s been out with a groin injury, that’s also meant the Devils haven’t had his .913 season save percentage and 2.79 GAA at their disposal, and that’s been a major problem. While 10-7-2 G Keith Kinkaid has been impressive in his sporadic time this season, assuming starting duties in Schneider’s stead since he went down has not been a success. Kinkaid has started three of Jersey’s four games, posting a measly .863 save percentage and 5.29 GAA for an 0-3-0 record in that time.

    However, Kinkaid doesn’t have to shoulder all of the blame, as his defense has not been doing him many favors. Even with F Blake Coleman (3.3 hits per game since February 6), D Andy Greene (2.5 blocks per game in his last four showings) and C Pavel Zacha‘s (team-leading three takeaways over this run) trying their hardest, New Jersey has allowed a 12th-worst 33.5 shots against per game in its last four, well above their its season average of 31.6.

    Between Kinkaid and his defense, New Jersey has allowed an average of 4.75 goals per game since February 6, the second-worst effort in the league in that time.

    Making matters even worse, the Devils’ offense has also struggled mightily of late, scoring a second-worst 2.25 goals per game since February 6.

    What had made Jersey’s attack so successful earlier in the season was, among other things, the involvement of blueliner Will Butcher (2-28-30 season totals) on the offensive end. Whether it’s him paying more attention to the defensive end with Schneider out or simply an unfortunate scoring slump, Butcher has only provided one assist over the past four games – well off his pace of registering .55 points per game.

    But he’s not the only one in a slump. Only four Devils have registered more than one point in their last four games, led by F Taylor Hall (3-3-6 since February 6, 21-36-57 overall) and W Kyle Palmieri (3-1-4 since February 6, 13-11-24 overall) averaging at least a point per game from the first line. Butcher can only earn assists when his forwards find the back of the net, so that puts the pressure on Hall, LW Miles Wood (15-9-24 totals) and Palmieri to complete plays.

    Meanwhile, the 28-19-9 Flyers are among the hottest teams in the league right now having posted a four-game winning streak and five-game point streak, and they’ve ridden that energy into third place in the Metropolitan Division.

    Over this point streak, the most impressive facets of Philadelphia’s success has easily been 21-11-7 G Brian Elliott and 7-7-2 G Michal Neuvirth.

    Elliott has started three of Philly’s last five games, earning a 2-0-0 record with a .916 save percentage and 2.21 GAA. The reason he doesn’t have the same number of results as starts is because he suffered a lower-body injury February 10 during the shootout in Arizona.

    Enter Neuvirth, who became the first goaltender in NHL history to win a shootout after entering midway (per Craig Morgan of NHL.com) and has since assumed starting responsibilities while Elliott has been on the mend. Unlike Kinkaid, who’s been thrust into a similar situation, Neuvirth has performed phenomenally in his three appearances, posting an incredible .978 save percentage for an unbelievable .72 GAA, improving his season marks to a .917 save percentage and 2.5 GAA.

    As a result of Neuvirth’s – who’ll be in net tonight – amazing performance, the Flyers have allowed an average of only 2.2 goals against per game since February 3, the (t)third-best effort in the NHL in that time.

    Though the season series between these clubs began only a month ago, this is their fourth and final (barring a playoff matchup) meeting of the year. The Flyers took the opening two tilts, winning January 13 in New Jersey 5-3 (C Sean Couturier took First Star honors with a two-goal, three point night) and January 20 in Philly 3-1 (D Shayne Gostisbehere was the First Star). However, a 4-3 home victory by the Devils on February 1 (C Nico Hischier provided the game-winning goal with 1:27 remaining in regulation) has set them up with an opportunity to tie the series with a regulation win tonight.

    Considering the Flyers are one of, if not the hottest team in the league, it’s hard to pick against them. Jersey’s offense will need to come alive for the Devils to even have a chance at earning a point tonight.

    The Team Canada women dominated Finland in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day, winning 4-1 at Kwandong Hockey Centre.

    The Canadians needed only 35 seconds to take a 1-0 lead. Meghan Agosta (Melodie Daoust) took credit for that tally, her first of the tournament. Canada found its winner 16:36 later, as Marie-Philip Poulin intercepted an errant Finnish pass and proceeded to tuck a backhanded shot underneath the crossbar. The play happened so quickly that the officials actually revoked the tally after their initial look, but video review proved that the captain had successfully beaten G Noora Raty.

    Two goals were scored in the second period, and once again they both belonged to the team in black sweaters. Daoust (Laura Fortino and Agosta) registered the first at the 8:19 mark of the frame, followed 10:07 later by Jillian Saulnier’s (Rebecca Johnston) first Olympic goal.

    Finland finally got on the scoreboard at the 7:17 mark of the third period with a tally from Riikka Valila (Susanna Tapani and Michelle Karvinen), but the comeback effort was too little, too late to make any real impact on this game.

    G Shannon Szabados earned the victory after saving 22-of-23 shots faced (.957 save percentage), leaving the loss to Raty, who saved 28-of-32 (.875).

    With Canada wearing its colored uniforms, it was officially the road team in this morning’s tilt. That means the roadies in the DtFR Game of the Day series have pulled within 23 points of the 68-41-16 hosts.

  • The Customer Is Always Right—Sports Fans Should Not Be Silent

    Just over six years ago, on January 28, 2012, approximately 300 Blue Jackets fans braved bitter cold to hold a protest as a Blue Jackets season that held great promise spiraled into chaos.  Earlier in the month, the team had fired Head Coach Scott Arniel ending a tenure that was probably most notable for Arniel’s infamous quip after a question from Lori Schmidt in a press conference (“so just keep piling on”).  Days later it would come out that the team’s superstar and captain, Rick Nash, had demanded a trade.

    The preceding offseason looked good on paper.  A team that had only made the playoffs once seemed to have finally acquired the center it had needed for so long when an offseason trade landed them Jeff Carter.  They had also attempted to address their problems on defense by adding free agent James Wisniewski.  The Nikita Filatov era ended as the former first round pick was shipped to Ottawa for the Sens’ third round pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

    However, there was also a conspicuous failure to address concerns about the goaltending situation.  Mark Dekanich was signed to backup Steve Mason with Curtis Sanford, out of the NHL for two years at that point, signed as the primary goaltender for the AHL affiliate in Springfield.  Sadly, Dekanich would never see a game with the Jackets due to injury.

    Things quickly went off the rails and never recovered.  Wisniewski would be suspended as a “repeat offender” for a preseason incident with Cal Clutterbuck in a preseason game that meant he didn’t start his first game for the Jackets until Game 9 of the season, which was, coincidentally, the team’s first win of the season.  Carter would get injured and be out for 10 games.  Steve Mason struggled.  Management, desperate to turn things around, made trades for Mark Letestu and Nikita Nikitin.  Rumors started to surface that, grasping at straws, the Jackets might bring back Ken Hitchcock as head coach. Fortunately for Hitchcock, he instead took a job with St. Louis.  Ownership seemed to be questioning management when they brought in former Pens GM, Craig Patrick as a “special advisor.”

    Just six months after they enacted one plan to right the ship, they were about to enact a new plan—blow it all up.  And, to that point, it looked like they would let the architects of the prior failed plan—GM Scott Howson and President Mike Priest—carry out the new plan.

    With the All-Star Break approaching, on January 23, 2012, the Jackets played a seemingly meaningless game against the Predators in Nashville and got shellacked, 4-1.  In many ways, it was a typical Blue Jackets loss for that era.  The Preds always seemed to have the Jackets’ number.  Mike Fisher had two goals in the game, bringing his total goals that season against the Jackets to six.  Over half of his goals to that point in the season were against Columbus, to which he responded after the game: “It’s kind of a funny stat. I know I’ve got to make sure I keep going and see if I can score against some other teams.”  The Jackets were 13-29-6 after that game. One loss shouldn’t have been any different than the 28 that preceded it.

    But the fact that the loss was so typical, so ordinary, was probably what set me off.  It was a Monday night.  With the All-Star Break coming up, the team wouldn’t be in town on Saturday, but, as luck would have it, I would.  I had moved to the West Coast, but I was back visiting family.  That night I was in Northeast Ohio when I went on HFBoards and posted that we needed to have a fan protest to make it known that casual losses and being dead last in the league weren’t acceptable for a team that had been in the league as long as the Jackets had.  I didn’t really expect much to come out of it, but it struck a nerve and soon it was like a snowball rolling downhill.

    I was driving south to Columbus the next afternoon when a fellow HFBoards member called me on my cellphone.  One of the local radio stations wanted to talk to the “organizers.”  To this point, no one was really organizing anything.  Suddenly there was a level of expectation.  Suddenly we had to think about things like permits, PA equipment, some sort of riser for speakers, a podium, speeches, etc., on a Tuesday afternoon, for something that was now, apparently, really going to take place on Saturday morning.  In the next 48 hours, somehow a core group of six of us came together to coordinate these things.

    I had never met any of these guys in person before.  One of them was a guy I had sparred with over the years on HFBoards.  One was a musician and Day 1 season ticket holder.  One was a fan who traveled up to games from Kentucky.  One was an Iraq war vet and another was a father who brought his kids to games.  Other people volunteered to help in various ways including lending us PA equipment, picking things up where we couldn’t, etc. It was the first experience I really had of how quickly you could organize something with social media and with crowd-sourcing.  The protest would have never happened without the contributions of a number of people, and I cannot thank them enough.

    Meanwhile, people debated the protest online, particularly at HFBoards.  Some thought it was a joke or an embarrassment. When national hockey media started to cover it, I think some started to fear that this would make the Jackets and, by extension, Columbus, a punchline.

    The Jackets, for their part, were concerned about how this would play and, allegedly, hired a PR firm out of Chicago to address the situation.  On the eve of the protest, owner John P. McConnell wrote a letter to the fans and via the press let protesters know that they would be welcomed with a cup of hot coffee on what was expected to be a blustery day as a way of the organization showing its appreciation to the fans.  A nice gesture by McConnell which pretty much wrote my speech for me since I had a 2/3 replica Stanley Cup at my disposal.  (“You offered us a cup of coffee, but that’s not the Cup we want!”)

    IMG_0633

    The night before the core group of six of us and my always patient wife met up at a bar in the Arena District to make our final arrangements as to order of speakers and what we wanted to cover.  Who happened to walk into the same bar?  John P. McConnell’s son!  You really can’t make this stuff up. We finalized our plans in hushed tones about 10 feet away from him.

    The next morning, the rumors about the Jackets being awarded an All-Star Game were everywhere.  I showed up at Nationwide at least an hour before the start time for our protest.  The Arena District was dead quiet.  It was bitterly cold.  I wasn’t sure if, after all of this, anyone would actually show up.  It didn’t look good 15 minutes before start time.  Then, suddenly, people started spilling out of the various bars and restaurants in the Arena District.  Probably 10-20 people at first.  With minutes to go before the start time the courtyard was nearly filled.  With only a few days’ notice, approximately 250-300 people had showed up on a cold day.  They showed up with signs supporting the team, but questioning management.

    As we kicked things off with Bush’s “Machinehead,” the Jumbotron across the street carried the news that the Blue Jackets had been awarded an All-Star Game.  It was a bittersweet moment given the state of the team, but it was the first sign that maybe things would get better.  Over the next year, Rick Nash would be traded to the Rangers in a blockbuster deal, Mike Priest would be “promoted” and replaced by John Davidson, Scott Howson would be fired, and current GM Jarmo Kekalainen would be hired to replace him.  I don’t know if we influenced any of those decisions, but I’m glad the decisions were made.

    In the aftermath, a lot of people who had been skeptical about the protest felt that it was well done and that it wasn’t the embarrassment they feared it would be.  At All-Star Weekend, Gary Bettman was forced to address the protest, doing so in the way you’d expect Gary Bettman to respond to such a question:

    “I saw that somebody was trying to organize a pep rally. But that’s a good sign.  It’s kind of like when you get booed when you go out on the ice, it’s better than when it’s quiet. I know about that firsthand.”

    It was interesting to see the Browns Perfect Season Parade last month.  I heard a lot of the same things I remember hearing when we were planning the protest about whether it should be done, whether it would be an embarrassment.  You had another element that we didn’t have—players taking to social media to voice their anger over the parade.  In the end, Chris McNeil and the organizers deserve a lot of credit.  They raised over $15,000 for a good cause–wish we would have had the time and forethought to do this.  McNeil and his fellow organizers should be very proud in what they did, bringing out over 3,000 fans on another cold Ohio day.  Hopefully the Browns ownership and management takes the frustration of their fans to heart.  Bettman was right:  having 3,000 fans show up to voice their anger beats having 30,000 empty seats in your stadium.

    That is the challenge for fans of dysfunctional sports franchises.  Some would propose boycotts as a way motivate teams, but boycotts can backfire.  Sometimes a boycott isn’t an option.  Witness the situation with the Columbus Crew where, once again, a dedicated fan base is speaking up.  In the case of the Crew, the issue isn’t as much the team’s performance as it is ownership’s desire to move the team and mischaracterize the fan base in the process.  Columbus was the first team to have a soccer-specific stadium, but the old house is starting to show its age.  Instead of sitting down in good faith with officials of the City of Columbus, team owner, Anthony Precourt, is more focused on moving the team to Austin and is doing everything he can to paint a picture of a franchise that no longer has local support from fans or businesses.  While John P. McConnell did all he could to show that he heard the fans concerns, Anthony Precourt is content to thumb his nose at Crew supporters, area businesses and local government officials.

    Morgan Hughes and others behind the #SaveTheCrew effort have done a brilliant job of attempting to disprove Precourt’s anti-Columbus narrative by getting support not just from fans, but from businesses in Columbus.  They’ve put up billboards and have developed a “community kit” complete with a corporate sponsor.  We still don’t know how the story will end with the Crew, but I applaud the creative efforts of all of those behind #SaveTheCrew and I hope it shows other fans of troubled franchises in other cities that they don’t have to be hopeless, that they can attempt to do something about it instead of just accepting the loss of their franchise.  Show them some support in their efforts even if it is a little thing like sending them a few bucks.

    I don’t know what the future will hold for fan advocacy, but I think fans are better off speaking up than being silent.  For years, fans of teams were the one group without a voice.  Fans have been used as pawns in disputes between players and owners over labor matters and in disputes between owners and government officials over financing matters.  At the end of the day, the fans are a team’s consumer base and they shouldn’t be silent about an investment of hundreds or thousands of dollars any more than they would be silent if they went to a restaurant and were given the wrong food, much less if they got the wrong food every time they went to that same restaurant.  Remember the words of Gary Bettman—it is better for owners to hear your “boos” than silence. Sometimes that means you need to hold a “pep rally.”

  • February 12 – Day 124 – Welcome to South Korea

    Since I did this last Monday, I suppose I’ll do it again today: including today, there’s only 15 days until the NHL Trade Deadline. Be on your toes, because things are going to start happening before you know it.

    As we’ve been doing since the Olympics began, we started today’s action at 7:10 a.m. Eastern time in PyeongChang when fifth-ranked Sweden took on the host unified Korean women’s team. The visiting Swedes showed no mercy, as they dominated Korea to an 8-0 victory. That will set up a Group B-determining game between Sweden and Switzerland tomorrow.

    Back home in the NHL, there’s three games on the schedule, starting with Tampa Bay at Toronto (NHLN/TVAS) at 7 p.m. Eastern time. Tonight’s co-nightcaps – Florida at Edmonton and Chicago at Arizona – drop the puck two hours later to close out the evening.

    Lastly, we’ll include the first of two games going down in Group A of the women’s Olympic tournament before the sun comes up on North America’s east coast. Second-ranked Canada is taking on third-ranked Finland at 2:40 a.m. Eastern time.

    Here’s the list of games that are drawing my attention:

    • Sweden vs. Korea: It’s the Koreans’ second chance to defend home ice. Can they do it?
    • Chicago at Arizona: W Anthony Duclair was part of the Coyotes’ future… until he was traded to the Blackhawks last month.
    • Canada vs. Finland: Another regulation win by the Canadians would earn them a bye into the semifinals of the knockout round.

    You’ll notice I didn’t include the Atlantic Division game between the Bolts and Leafs. Considering we’ve featured those teams a combined three times in the past eight days, I think we can let some of the other teams have a turn.

    Did I sound like your kindergarten teacher there?

    Anyways, of our remaining tilts, there’s only one is worthy of Game of the Day honors. Grab your coffee – and tune your TV to NBCSN if you’re in the United States – because we’re staying up late!

     

    Oh boy, the first time the DtFR Game of the Day series has featured something outside the NHL!

    After only one game played apiece by the teams in Group A, Team Canada comes into tonight’s fixture in first place. Though they’re tied with Team USA in the points category, Canada’s +5 goal-differential is three tallies superior to the effort of the Americans.

    As the numbers currently stand right now (again, there’s only been six games played at the Olympics so far), Canada is employing the tournament’s second best offense by scoring five goals in one game (Switzerland is leading the way in offensive production by averaging 5.5 goals per game).

    Leading that charge is none other than F Rebecca Johnston, who scored two of Canada’s goals – including the game-winner at the 1:55 mark of the second period – and provided an assist on a third against the Olympic Athletes from Russia.

    F Marie-Philip Poulin (the Sidney Crosby of women’s hockey according to the CBC in 2010) was also very successful in that opening bout, as the captain provided three assists. Of those assists, two were for Canadian sniper F Melodie Daoust, who matched Johnston’s goal-scoring effort by burying two of her three shots.

    Though she only has assists to her name right now, don’t think that Poulin isn’t willing to make her own plays. After all, she scored the gold medal-winning goal in both the 2010 Vancouver and the 2014 Sochi Games – not to mention the game-tying goal in Sochi as well.

    Of note, the Canadian’s power play seems fully capable of taking advantage of any uneven scenarios. They managed to score on two of their seven power plays for a 28.6 percent success rate, the second-best at the Olympics.

    Defensively, the Canadians are no slouches either, as they held the OAR to only 18 shots on goal – all of which were saved by G Ann-Renee Desbiens.

    Meanwhile, third place Finland had its hands full against the United States in their first showing at these Olympic Games. Though the Finns scored the first goal of the game with six ticks left on the first period clock, the Americans stormed back to take a 3-1 victory.

    F Venla Hovi scored that goal with assists from F Petra Nieminen and F Linda Valimaki, and that top line – not to mention the other three – will need to perform even better for a chance to beat Canada.

    Of course, almost every Finnish national team of either sex has had some of the best goaltending in the world at its disposal, and that looks to be the same for this year’s women’s side. Although she ended up with the loss, G Noora Raty performed solidly against the Americans, saving 39-of-41 for a .951 save percentage. With eight different Canadians finding the scorecard in their opening match, Raty will be front and center this evening.

    The last time Canada and Finland squared off was November 10, 2017 in the Four Nations Cup in Wesley Chapel, Fla. Canada dominated that game to a 4-0 victory. Both Meghan Agosta (0-2-2) and Poulin (1-1-2) registered two points apiece, and G Genevieve Lacasse posted the eight-save shutout. Raty saved 24-of-28 (.857 save percentage) in the loss.

    Considering the Canadians are riding a two-game winning streak against Finland, it’s hard to imagine the Naiseleijonat pulling off the upset. Canada’s defense limiting the Lady Lions to only eight shots in their last meeting is very telling, and I predict a similar showing tonight.

    Having trailed 2-0 in the third period, the San Jose Sharks came back to beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 after a shootout at Honda Center in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    The first of Anaheim’s goals was struck only 2:39 into the game. With his 15th marker of the season, Second Star of the Game RW Ondrej Kase (C Adam Henrique and LW Nick Ritchie) took credit with a snap shot.

    The Ducks’ final goal of the match wasn’t registered until the 6:28 mark of the third period, scored by a D Cam Fowler (Kase and Ritchie) wrist shot. San Jose’s comeback began 4:28 later courtesy of a F Logan Couture (F Tomas Hertl and D Marc-Edouard Vlasic) slap shot, but it didn’t level the game at 2-2 until only 54 seconds remained in regulation. With G Martin Jones pulled for the extra attacker, First Star W Timo Meier (Couture and D Brent Burns) buried a tip-in to force what proved to be a scoreless three-on-three overtime.

    That forced yet another shootout in the series between these two teams this season, their third in four meetings. As hosts, the Ducks had the option of shooting first or second…

    1. Head Coach Randy Carlyle elected to shoot first, sending Henrique to center ice. His clapper was saved by Jones.
    2. F Joe Pavelski had the opportunity to earn an early shootout lead, and he did just that by sneaking his shot past Third Star G John Gibson.
    3. Having scored a team-leading 22 goals on the season, F Rickard Rakell seemed like a logical choice to keep Anaheim alive in the shootout. Unfortunately, his attempt found iron instead of the net, giving the Sharks a make-to-win situation.
    4. Who else to take such an opportunity than Couture? He added to his two-point night by winning the game with the final shootout goal.

    Jones earned the victory after saving 25-of-27 shots faced (.926 save percentage), leaving the shootout loss to Gibson, who saved 33-of-35 (.949).

    The Sharks’ victory means road teams in the DtFR Game of the Day have earned at least a point in four of the last five games. As such, the roadies have pulled within 25 points of the 68-40-16 hosts.

  • Merkle’s Weekly Bumblings: Week 18

    Skater of the Week: Connor McDavid

    It feels sort of wrong that he hadn’t won this until now. Just doesn’t seem possible, right?

    Likely a byproduct of the abysmal season Edmonton is having, McDavid has been enjoying a solid if less-than-stellar season (he’s still put up 64 points in 54 games, we’re just talking about the arguable best player in the world) and hadn’t made this esteemed list until now. But with eight points in four games this week (including a four-goal, five-point performance against the almighty Lightning), Edmonton’s lord and savior has claimed the throne.

    McDavid saw a five-game point scoring streak (seven goals, 11 points) come to an end in Edmonton’s final game of the week, but managed to put up eight points in the week’s three prior contests, so he definitely is worthy of the nod.

    Tendy of the Week: Devan Dubnyk

    In a week of slim standout goaltending performances (apart from Andrei Vasilevskiy making what might actually be the greatest save in the history of hockey), Dubnyk’s 2-0-1 record manages to stand out, particularly paired with his .950 save percentage and 1.96 GAA.

    Apart from giving up four goals in the overtime loss to Arizona (which came on 40 shots, allowing Dubnyk to still manage a .900 save percentage), Dubnyk backstopped two victories over division rivals to cap a stellar week, turning aside 35-of-37 shots faced against St. Louis, and posting a 44-save blanking of Chicago.

    The lanky Saskatchawinian (I have no idea if that’s a real word, but it was fun to say) hasn’t quite matched his ridiculous numbers from last season to this point, but he’s still been more than solid and has the Wild poised for another playoff run.

    *Editor’s note: It’s “Saskatchewanian,” Pete. But close enough.*

    Game of the Week: Detroit Red Wings 6 @ New York Islanders 7 (OT), Friday February 9th, 2018

    Someone pick up the damn phone, the 1980s are calling.

    This was one of those games that just made you laugh, because nothing about it made any sense. Three goaltenders played in the game, none of them posting a save percentage higher than .857 (Petr Mrazek had a frankly disturbing .759 and played for the team that DIDN’T switch goaltenders). Nine, count them, nine skaters had multi-point games, including a hat trick for Brock Nelson, a four-point outing for Henrik Zetterberg, and Mathew Barzal‘s five-assist performance making him the first rookie in 100 years to post three five-point games in a season.

    But perhaps the zaniest stat of all was the way the goals were posted.

    Detroit was all over the Isles early, dominating the first period and taking a 3-0 lead into the locker room. New York could only answer one time in the second period, before drawing to within one early in the third, only to have the Wings score twice more in a 2:12 span to regain a three-goal lead. But with about six minutes to play, Tyler Bertuzzi would attempt to chop off the leg of Cal Clutterbuck, giving the Islanders a five-minute major power play opportunity. An opportunity they would capitalize upon thoroughly.

    Brock Nelson. 5-3. Anders Lee. 5-4. Nick Leddy. Tie game. Josh Bailey. The Isles now somehow lead this game 6-5 with 1:49 to play after scoring four times on a single power play. Who could have predicted this? Who could even believe this? Who is writing the script for this movie? Who’s got Mike Green in the slot? Oh, nobody does, and with 29 seconds to play the Red Wings complete the circus act to tie the game at six and force overtime.

    Nelson would complete his hat trick to finally end the chaos 3:15 into the extra frame, but if we’re honest, everyone who watched this game were the real winners*.

    *Except my father, who is still questioning how his team could score six goals and lose a hockey game.

    News, Notes, & Nonsense:

    Sidney Crosby scored the 400th goal of his career on Sunday against the Blues. I can only speak positively of him for so long at any given time, so I’ll just end this right here.

    Lars Eller got himself a five-year, $17.5M extension with the Capitals, making him probably the highest-paid person in the world named Lars that doesn’t play drums.

    Alexandre Burrows decided not to appeal his 10-game suspension for being an absolute piece of…err…I mean kneeing Taylor Hall in the head…a lot. Personally, I was really hoping he would appeal the suspension, and the league would respond by making it an 11-game suspension, just because it’s Alex Burrows.

    Mark Scheifele is back off of IR, adding even more firepower to a Jets squad that might just screw around and grab a Presidents’ Trophy.

    The Rangers basically announced in a letter to their fans that they are dropping the franchise on a landmine and starting over, which is probably disheartening to the fanbase, but New York was only one point behind my Blue Jackets when the letter was published so, like, I’m definitely not thinking about that when I try to go to sleep or anything.

    Jack Eichel is out for at least a month after suffering a high-ankle sprain. This is devastating news for the Sabres, as they lose a key piece in their pursuit of a playoff spot. (Nobody say anything and let’s see if any Buffalo fans know that was sarcasm)

  • February 11 – Day 123 – It’s easy as…

    Do your Sunday right with a full day of hockey.

    Like yesterday, we’ll start our daily hockey schedule with group play in the women’s Olympic tournament. Scheduled for 7:10 a.m. Eastern time, Canada’s women will be squaring off against the Olympic Athletes from Russia in PyeongChang.

    Back in North America, the NHL is raring to get its nine-game schedule underway, as Pittsburgh at St. Louis (NBC/TVAS) will drop the day’s opening puck at high noon. The next wave of matinees is scheduled for 3 p.m. (the New York Rangers at Winnipeg [NHLN] and Detroit at Washington [SN1/TVAS]), followed an hour later by Vancouver at Dallas. Three tilts (Colorado at Buffalo, Boston at New Jersey and Calgary at the New York Islanders [SN]) get underway at the usual 7 p.m. starting time, trailed 60 minutes later by tonight’s co-nightcaps: Philadelphia at Vegas and San Jose at Anaheim. All times Eastern.

    To close out this list of games, we return our attention to South Korea in time to catch the 2:40 a.m. Eastern time puck drop of Switzerland vs. Japan in the women’s Olympic tournament.

    My list of important matchups? I thought you’d never ask!

    • Canada vs. OAR: The second and fourth-ranked women’s sides in the world are squaring off? No need to tell me twice.
    • Pittsburgh at St. Louis: Penguins fans have a hot-cold relationship with RW Ryan Reaves, but he’ll be welcomed with open arms today in the Gateway City.
    • New York at Winnipeg: Speaking of prodigal sons returning home, G Ondrej Pavelec – a 10-year resident of Manitoba’s capital – is back in town with the Rangers.
    • Calgary at New York: Another return to a former home arena, D Travis Hamonic makes his Brooklyn debut in a Flames sweater.
    • San Jose at Anaheim: No returns here; just a good, old-fashioned rivalry.
    • Switzerland vs. Japan: This is an important game in the battle for playoff qualification from Group B, as the loser will probably end up in the consolation tournament.

    What. A. List.

    Let’s shoot for what should be the most important game of the day. That means we’re headed out to The Pond!

     

    With only two points separating second-place San Jose and fifth-place Anaheim, it goes without saying that every game within the Pacific Division is huge.

    Beginning with the visiting 29-18-6 Sharks, life has been a bit of a roller coaster since returning from the All-Star Break. San Jose has posted only a 3-3-1 record since January 30, but it’s been decent play in the defensive zone that has kept the Sharks in their spot in the division table.

    Behind the efforts of D Justin Braun (1.9 hits per game since January 30), D Marc-Edouard Vlasic (averaging 2.3 blocks over his past seven showings) and F Barclay Goodrow and F Tomas Hertl (both averaging a takeaway-per-game over this run), the Sharks have limited their opposition to an average of 31.14 shots against since the All-Star Break, the 14th-best effort in the NHL.

    While that performance may be little better than average in the league in that time, San Jose is fortunate enough to have the luxury of employing 15-14-5 G Martin Jones on an almost nightly basis. In his five starts since the break, Jones has played well to post a .922 save percentage and 2.39 GAA, improving his season numbers to .911 and 2.64.

    Between those two efforts, San Jose’s collective defense has allowed an average of only 2.86 goals per game since returning from break, the 14th-best performance in the NHL in that time.

    Meanwhile, 27-19-10 Anaheim has done little better than San Jose since returning to action, as the Ducks have posted only a 3-2-1 record over their past six games.

    When the Ducks have earned those seven points, it would seem that they earned them on the offensive end. Since January 30, Anaheim has scored an 18th-best (also known as 14th-worst…) 2.83 goals per game.

    Leading that charge has been none other than F Rickard Rakell. the 24-year-old Swede has posted 4-5-9 totals in his past six showings to average well over a point per game and improve his season numbers to a team-leading 22-23-45. He’s joined by W Corey Perry (3-4-7 since the All-Star Break, 11-21-32 overall) and D Cam Fowler (0-6-6 since the break, 6-18-24 overall) in averaging a point per game over this run.

    In particular, Fowler and Rakell have had some incredible chemistry of late. All six of Fowler’s assists have involved Rakell in some way, including the defenseman providing a helper on half of the forward’s most recent goals.

    Tonight’s game is the important finale of the four-game regular season series between these two clubs. Posting a 2-0-1 record against the Ducks, San Jose has a commanding lead in the series, but Anaheim can still level with a regulation win this evening. The Sharks won the first meeting 2-1 on November 4 thanks to a clutch save by Jones in the sixth round of a shootout, but Anaheim matched that shootout victory with one of its own 16 days later. F Antoine Vermette scored the game-winning goal in the ninth round of the shootout to give the Ducks a 3-2 victory. More recently, San Jose dominated Anaheim to a 6-2 victory in Southern California on January 21. 14-4-3 G Aaron Dell earned First Star honors with a .943 save percentage.

    Though the Sharks did have to play last night at home to a 6-4 victory against the Oilers, I like their chances at upsetting the Ducks at Honda Center. Though Anaheim has sported a slightly better offense of late by comparison, the Sharks’ defense should be able to keep it contained to earn two points.

    After raising C Vincent Lecavalier‘s sweater to the Amalie Arena rafters, the Tampa Bay Lightning successfully defended home ice against the Los Angeles Kings to a 4-3 victory in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    On a night honoring a former captain, who else to register Tampa’s first goal than Second Star of the Game C Steven Stamkos (F Yanni Gourde and F Tyler Johnson)? His snap shot found the back of the net only 65 seconds into the game to give the Lightning an early lead. However, that advantage didn’t last long, as F Jonny Brodzinski (F Andy Andreoff and C Nick Shore) pulled the Kings even only 3:57 later. Thanks to F Alex Killorn‘s (Stamkos and D Braydon Coburn) wrist shot at the 9:45 mark, the Bolts were able to set the score at 2-1 to take a one-goal advantage into the first intermission.

    The Lightning absolutely dominated the second period, as they scored both goals of the frame and out-shot Los Angeles 14-9. F Cedric Paquette (RW Ryan Callahan) provided the first tally with a wrister at the 3:12 mark, followed 11:31 later by a RW Nikita Kucherov (D Victor Hedman) power play wrister that eventually became the game-winner.

    With LW Kyle Clifford in the penalty box serving W Dustin Brown‘s kneeing five-minute major penalty at the 14:30 mark against D Mikhail Sergachev (Brown also earned a misconduct on the play), the Lightning’s power play was quick to jump on the opportunity. After Kucherov reset the play to Hedman at the blue line, the puck was returned to the Russian above the right face-off circle. Kucherov advanced a few paces towards G Jonathan Quick‘s net before ripping a quick wrister over the netminder’s glove.

    As good as Tampa Bay was in the second period to set the score at 4-1, Los Angeles was able to match that effort in the third. Clifford (Third Star C Anze Kopitar and D Derek Forbort) registered the frame’s first goal at the 3:17 mark, followed 10:48 later by D Christian Folin‘s (Andreoff and Shore) slap shot to pull the Kings back within a goal. However, the Kings were only able to match Tampa’s second period performance – not exceed it – as they failed to find a leveling goal in the remaining 6:55 of regulation.

    First Star G Andrei Vasilevskiy earned the victory after saving 44-of-47 shots faced (.936 save percentage), leaving the loss to Quick, who saved 13-of-14 (.929). G Darcy Kuemper started the game for Los Angeles, put he was pulled after Paquette set the score at 3-1. Kuemper saved 11-of-14 (.786) for no decision.

    The Bolts’ victory snapped a two-game losing skid by home teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series, returning a 26-point advantage to the series’ 68-40-15 hosts.

  • February 10 – Day 122 – Only 4 the Captain

    Get ready, because there’s a whole lot of hockey coming at you today.

    With the Olympics underway, the hockey festivities get an early start today. Switzerland and the unified Korean women’s hockey teams will square off in Group B play at 7:10 a.m. Eastern time.

    As for NHL action, the first five of nine games (Buffalo at Boston, Ottawa at Toronto [SN/TVAS], Nashville at Montréal [CITY/NHLN/SN360/TVAS], Los Angeles at Tampa Bay and New Jersey at Columbus) wait until the usual 7 p.m. starting time before getting underway. Next up is the three tilts (Philadelphia at Arizona, Chicago at Minnesota and Colorado at Carolina) scheduled for 8 p.m., followed two hours later by Edmonton at San Jose (CITY/SN/SN360), tonight’s NHL nightcap. All times Eastern.

    Finally, we’ll also include Finland vs. the United States’ women’s hockey team’s Group A tilt in today’s listing. That puck drop is scheduled for Sunday at 2:40 a.m. Eastern time.

    Here’s just a few of the games on today’s slate that stuck out to me:

    • Switzerland vs. Korea: Let’s see if this unified Korean team can shock the sixth-ranked women’s side in the world.
    • Buffalo at Boston: It’s rivalry night in New England!
    • Ottawa at Toronto: Speaking of rivalries, the Battle of Ontario rages on in the Queen City tonight.
    • Nashville at Montréal: Another former Canadiens defenseman moved to Nashville this offseason. This year, it was Alexei Emelin.
    • Los Angeles at Tampa Bay: C Vincent Lecavalier‘s sweater is being sent where it belongs tonight: hanging above the Amalie Arena ice.
    • Chicago at Minnesota: Saturdays are apparently for rivalries, because every game between the Blackhawks and Wild is a good one.
    • Edmonton at San Jose: This tilt may not be a rivalry, but it is a rematch of one of last year’s Western Conference Quarterfinals.
    • Finland vs. USA: Every game in Group A of the women’s Olympic tournament is a big deal. This one is no exception.

    A sweater can only be retired once, so it looks like we’re headed to Florida!

     

     

     

     

     

    Lecavalier’s outstanding story of an NHL career began on June 27, 1998. It was a beautiful 78 degree day in Buffalo (that’s 25.5 degrees to you Canadians) outside Marine Midland Arena, but that didn’t interest the 18-year-old L’Île-Bizard, Quebec native all that much, as he was the top-overall pick in that year’s NHL Entry Draft –  the Bolts’ second such pick in six years.

    With only two years of play under his belt with QMJHL side Rimouski, Lecavalier immediately joined a Tampa Bay team that had posted a horrendous 17-55-10 record the year before to finish dead last in the league standings, 19 points behind second-worst Florida.

    The rookie didn’t exactly put up stellar numbers, finishing with 13-15-28 marks, but he did play all 82 games of his first regular season to help the Lightning improve, albeit moderately, to 19-54-9. Lecavalier finished 14th in Calder Trophy voting, well behind winner C Chris Drury, the 22-year-old center of the Colorado Avalanche.

    Considering then-new Lightning owner Art Williams had dubbed Lecavalier “the Michael Jordan of hockey,” his rookie season must have been a disappointment. However, real champions are those that learn and grow from their struggles.

    That’s exactly what Lecavalier did over the summer, and he reaped the benefits during his sophomore season. The still teen-aged youngster exploded during the 1999-’00 season, more than doubling his rookie production with 25-42-67 totals in two fewer games played- far and away the best marks on the team. Though the Bolts held firm in fourth place in the Southeast Division, Lecavalier was starting to show that he was worth the top-overall pick.

    After stumbling a bit and continuing to grow into the NHL game over his next two seasons (not to mention assuming captaincy of the Lighting for the 2000-’01 season), Lecavalier’s next breakthrough came during the 2002-’03 campaign. In 80 games played, he posted a then career-best 33-45-78 score line, barely missing out on averaging a point-per-game for the first time since his dominant 44-71-115 effort during his final year in the QMJHL. Additionally, he posted his first non-negative season goal-differential, which is just as much a testament to his improved play as it is to the improvement of the squad around him.

    This improved team effort earned Tampa Bay a 36-25-16-5 record, good enough for its first-ever division title and second-ever playoff berth. Lecavalier and the Lightning performed well in the postseason, advancing to the Eastern Semifinals before falling to the mighty Devils in five games.

    That sparked a run of four-consecutive postseason appearances for the Bolts (ignoring, of course, the locked-out 2004-’05 season), which included what is probably the pinnacle of Lecavalier’s NHL career: hoisting the 2004 Stanley Cup after a seven-game war against the Calgary Flames.

    After taking a back seat in Tampa’s five-game victory over the Isles in the Eastern Quarterfinals, Lecavalier absolutely dominated his hometown Canadiens in the semifinals (growing up a Red Wings fan, he probably brought some Original Six bad blood into the matchup). In only four games, he posted unbelievable 5-2-7 totals to have a hand in half of the Bolts’ goals.

    Lecavalier continued his scoring ways in the Conference Finals against third-seeded Philadelphia, nearly managing a point per match with 4-2-6 totals in the seven-game series.

    Though not to the extreme of his 0-0-0 performance against New York, Lecavalier struggled to find much traction in the Stanley Cup Finals against Calgary – the West’s sixth-seeded team – and its dominant defense. He posted only 0-3-3 totals in the seven-game series, but one of those assists proved to be the primary helper on LW Ruslan Fedotenko‘s Cup-clinching goal.

    But Lord Stanley’s Cup is not the only piece of hardware associated with Lecavalier. The same year he was named to the Second All-Star Team (not the group that competes during the break in late January, but the arguably more important season-ending honor), he took home the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy for his career-best 52-56-108 performance in 2006-’07, beating Ottawa’s LW Dany Heatley by two tallies.

    In addition to being a stellar hockey player, Lecavalier was – and undoubtedly still is – an incredible human being. Only a year after winning one of the most prestigious awards for achievements in the rink (and finishing in fourth place for the Hart Memorial Trophy as well), Lecavalier was bestowed the 2008 King Clancy Memorial Trophy for pledging $3 million to build the Vincent Lecavalier Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at St. Petersburg’s All Children’s Hospital (now Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital).

    As for Lecavalier on the ice, things started to decline following his respective 108 and 92-point seasons in 2006-’07 and 2007-’08. Though he came close in 2012-’13 with his 10-22-32 totals in 39 games played, never again would Lecavalier reach the illustrious point-per-game mark that all forwards strive for.

    As such, the Lightning were forced to buyout the remaining seven years of Lecavalier’s contract on June 27, 2013 – 15 years to the day after being drafted by the club.

    However, that didn’t mark the end of Lecavalier’s career. He would go on to play three more seasons in the NHL, including 42 regular season games in the 2015-’16 campaign with tonight’s opponent: the Los Angeles Kings. After five postseason games with the Kings, in which he managed 1-1-2 totals before being eliminated by San Jose, Lecavalier retired from the league on June 21, 2016, six days before the 18th anniversary of an 18-year-old boy from L’Île-Bizard being drafted first overall.

    It was a beautiful 89 degrees that day in Los Angeles, but that didn’t interest Lecavalier all that much.

    Made known by his Richard Trophy, there’s nothing Lecavalier loved more than scoring. Though he won’t be lacing up the skates this evening, he would certainly fit in with his would-be teammates on the league-leading 37-14-3 Lightning, as they’ve posted a 6-2-0 record since January 22 with an imposing 3.75 goals per game, the third-best mark in the league in that time.

    If the leaders of an offense during a run like this are those that average at least a point per game, Tampa has had three stars in its past eight tilts: F Yanni Gourde (6-4-10 points over this run, 20-20-40 overall), C Steven Stamkos (3-5-8 over this run, 20-42-62 overall) and sophomore LW Adam Erne (1-0-1 in his one NHL game of the season so far, Thursday’s 5-2 victory against the Canucks).

    In all seriousness, the Lightning’s top line – which currently consists of Gourde, Stamkos and F Tyler Johnson – has been playing lights out over the past 19 days. Whether it’s been on the power play or at even-strength (Tampa’s 24.1 percent power play success rate on the season is [t]second-best in the league), the Bolts have been an imposing threat every time they have the puck on their sticks.

    Of course, it would be wildly irresponsible to discuss Tampa Bay’s offense without bringing up RW Nikita Kucherov. The Russian has been unstoppable all season, as his 68 points on the year is the most in the league, followed by his (t)sixth-most 28 goals. Stamkos has also been the consistent threat everyone expects him to be, as his 62 points on the year is (t)seventh-most in the NHL and his 42 assists (t)eighth-most.

    Of course, the Lighting aren’t just all offense. They dominate the defensive end too, allowing a ninth-fewest 2.63 goals against per game since January 22.

    Considering Tampa’s defense has allowed an abysmal 36.25 shots against per game over its past eight games (third-worst since January 22), no one but 32-10-2 G Andrei Vasilevskiy deserves any credit for that success. Vasilevskiy has posted a dominant .938 save percentage and 2.29 GAA over his past six starts to improve his season marks to .929 and 2.27, and he’s all but certain to be in net this evening.

    As for the visiting 30-19-5 Kings, it’s been an up-and-down season so far. However, Los Angeles seems to be experiencing one of its ups lately, as it’s posted a 5-1-0 record in its past six games to jump into second place in the Pacific Division.

    The person behind these recent winning ways is none other than 9-1-3 G Darcy Kuemper. He’s started four of the past six games for an undefeated record, sporting an almost unbreakable .973 save percentage and .74 GAA to improve his season marks to .942 and 1.78. With 21-18-2 G Jonathan Quick dominating the crease to a 3-1 victory in Sunrise last night, it seems probable that Kuemper will be in net this evening

    Of course, Kuemper has also had the luxury of the league’s (t)ninth-best defense since January 24 playing in front of him. Led by the efforts of LW Kyle Clifford (2.5 hits per game since January 24), F Alex Iafallo (four takeaways over this run) and D Alec Martinez (4.5 blocks per game in his past four appearances), the Kings have allowed an average of only 30.83 shots against to help Kuemper earn these victories.

    For the icing on the cake, Los Angeles has also been able to turn Kuemper’s confidence in the crease into goals on the other end. With C Anze Kopitar (3-5-8 totals since January 24, 22-36-58 overall) and D Drew Doughty (1-5-6 totals in his past six games, 8-31-39 overall) leading the way, the Kings have scored an impressive 3.17 goals per game over their past six tilts – the 10th-best effort in that time.

    Back on November 9, the Lightning made their annual trip to Tinseltown and found much success, beating the Kings 5-2. Kucherov took home First Star honors from that tilt with his one-goal, three-point effort.

    Two teams come into this game playing with confidence, but only one can earn two points. Considering the Kings had to travel to Tampa last night, it’s hard to pick against the Bolts. However, considering how well Kuemper has been playing of late, the Lightning just might need more than 60 minutes to get enough pucks past him.

    With three goals in the second period, the St. Louis Blues beat the Winnipeg Jets 5-2 in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day at Bell MTS Centre.

    Before the Jets even got on their own scoreboard, St. Louis had already earned found its game-winner. First Star of the Game RW Vladimir Tarasenko (Third Star F Alex Steen) scored the first goal of the game with a wrist shot 24:18 into the contest.

    Once that opening tally was out of the way, the Blues were able to score seemingly at will. With 9:47 remaining in the second frame, F Patrik Berglund (D Robert Bortuzzo and F Jaden Schwartz) doubled St. Louis’ advantage, followed only 1:26 later by Steen’s (D Alex Pietrangelo) game-winning snap shot.

    Though Pietrangelo technically goes down as providing the only helper on Steen’s tally, he should really receive the secondary assist while handing the primary honors over to G Connor Hellebuyck. Pietrangelo fired a low wrister from the right face-off circle that the netminder easily deflected with his pads, but that save ended up right on Steen’s stick. Having scored 11 goals on the season before this one, the forward knew exactly what to do with the opportunity, burying a snapper in Hellebuyck’s wide open net before he could figure out what was going on.

    Second Star LW Kyle Connor (F Jack Roslovic) made sure the period didn’t totally belong to the visitors, as he pulled the Jets back within a 3-1 deficit with 2:27 remaining in the frame.

    Winnipeg’s comeback attempt continued in the third period, as W Patrik Laine (Connor and RW Blake Wheeler) took advantage of F Vladimir Sobotka hooking him only 39 seconds before to score a power play slap shot with 8:21 remaining in regulation. With Winnipeg now only a goal away from tying the game, Tarasenko (C Paul Stastny and D Jay Bouwmeester) set the score at 4-2 with an insurance snapper 66 seconds after the horn stopped blaring for Laine. Finally Schwartz tacked on another insurance tally with three seconds remaining on the clock, scoring a shorthanded wrister on an empty net.

    G Jake Allen earned the victory after saving 20-of-22 shots faced (.909 save percentage), leaving the loss to Hellebuyck, who saved 22-of-26 (.846).

    With points in three-straight games, the road teams in the DtFR Game of the Day are trying to do all they can to get back into the season series. With the Notes’ victory in white sweaters, the roadies are now 24 points behind the series’ 67-40-15 hosts.

  • Down the Frozen River Podcast #92- Our Canada Wins Gold

    Down the Frozen River Podcast #92- Our Canada Wins Gold

    After NHLers were not allowed to participate in the 2018 Winter Games and due to the success of last week’s episode, Nick and Connor decided to create rosters with NHL players anyway for Team Canada. Also discussed, Alexandre Burrows, Max Domi and the New York Rangers plan for the future.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) and/or on Stitcher.

  • February 9 – Day 121 – Blue Angels

    Fridays are the bomb.com. This one is no exception, as the league has eight games on the schedule.

    Like most nights, the action finds its start at 7 p.m. when three games drop the puck (Detroit at the New York Islanders, Calgary at the New York Rangers and Columbus at Washington), followed half an hour later by two more (Los Angeles at Florida and Vancouver at Carolina). Next up is St. Louis at Winnipeg at 8 p.m., while Pittsburgh at Dallas (SN1) waits 30 minutes before getting underway. Finally, Edmonton at Anaheim closes out the evening at 10 p.m. All times Eastern.

    In addition to those NHL tilts, the women’s hockey tournament at the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang is also getting underway, as Japan is taking on Sweden in Group B play at 2:40 a.m. Eastern time Saturday morning.

    Among the games that stick out, here’s a few I selected…

    • Pittsburgh at Dallas: Drafted in 2011, D Jamie Oleksiak spent six seasons within the Stars organization. Tonight marks his first return to American Airlines Center since being traded in December.
    • Edmonton at Anaheim: It’s a rematch of last year’s Western Semifinals! One team looks capable of making a return to that round, one… doesn’t.
    • Japan vs. Sweden: I mean, this is hockey’s opening act of the 2018 Olympics we’re talking about here. How can this not be an important game?

    However, there’s one more NHL game that sticks out above the rest, so it looks like we won’t be headed to Pyeongchang today. Maybe tomorrow!

     

    In all honesty, if the Blues’ offense had performed yesterday like it did against Minnesota on Tuesday, we very well might be focusing on the Japan vs. Sweden game.

    And that’s coming from somebody who will be wearing the Note at work this evening.

    Instead, Head Coach Mike Yeo worked some magic with his line blender to lead his Notes to an explosive 6-1 victory against the Avs, the most goals they’ve scored in a game since another six-marker performance on December 9 in Detroit.

    Don’t let C Paul Stastny‘s two points in last night’s game fool you: St. Louis’ top line is still a work in progress. In both instances when he found the scoresheet, he was the only forward listed, as he and D Vince Dunn assisted D Alex Pietrangelo to the captain’s second period goal and D Jay Bouwmeester and D Carl Gunnarsson assisted Stastny to his third period insurance tally.

    Instead, it would seem that these new look Blues’ most dominant line might be its second, as F Patrik Berglund and F Brayden Schenn seemed to show some chemistry on the former Flyer’s second period goal. That line was completed by F Jaden Schwartz, whose +24 is (t)seventh-best in the league.

    The fourth line also found the scorecard in the second frame when D Colton Parayko and LW Scottie Upshall provided helpers on F Ivan Barbashev‘s game-winner.

    It will be interesting to see if Yeo lets his current lines play another game as they currently are (I’d put my chips in that pile) or if he’ll shake things up again tonight.

    Though offense has certainly been a struggle of late for St. Louis, that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been finding wins. In fact, the Blues have won seven of their past 10 games to hold on to third place in the Central Division and keep the surging Stars at bay.

    Logic would lead us to believe the Notes have been one of the best defensive teams in the league during that run, but that’s only half true. The defensive skaters have been nothing worth writing home about considering their 30.9 shots against-per-game since January 16 is only 13th best in the league in that time, but 15-5-1 G Carter Hutton has been incredible in spite of that considerable workload.

    Few goaltenders in the NHL have been as dominant as Hutton since January 16. He’s posted a 7-2-0 record in his past nine starts with an outstanding .95 save percentage and 1.47, improving his season numbers to a .944 save percentage and 1.7 GAA – both of which are best in the league. In fact, with the exception of G Tuukka Rask‘s 1.43 GAA since mid-January, no goaltender with more than six starts in that time even comes close to Hutton’s performance.

    In other words, Hutton has been the Blues’ biggest weapon for the past two weeks – if not longer.

    Of note, Hutton was in net last night in St. Louis for the Blues’ victory over the Avalanche. That leads me to believe the likely starter this evening will be 18-15-2 G Jake Allen, who has lost five consecutive decisions since December 27 with a combined .892 save percentage. If he does in fact draw the start, the Blues’ offense had better be prepared to keep pace with the Jets’ otherworldly firepower (aka RW Blake Wheeler, who’s 44 assists are sixth-most in the league).

    Whichever netminder is in the crease, he has the unenviable job of trying to slow down 32-13-9 Winnipeg, who has posted a dominant 6-0-2 record over its past eight games to keep pace with the Central Division-leading Predators (the Jets are tied in points, but have one more game played than Nashville).

    Of course, the Jets simply haven’t looked the same since C Mark Scheifele went down with an upper-body injury on December 27. In his absence, they’ve become a bit of a defensive team, allowing only 1.88 goals per game since January 20, the third-best mark in the NHL in that time.

    While 28-6-8 G Connor Hellebuyck has looked extremely solid over this stretch (more on him in a moment), I’ve been most impressed with the efforts of his defense. Led by the efforts of D Josh Morrissey (2.9 blocks per game over this run), D Dustin Byfuglien and F Mathieu Perreault (both with seven takeaways since January 20, and Perreault with 2.1 hits per game in that time), Winnipeg has allowed only 29.5 shots against per game over this streak, the fifth-fewest in the NHL in that time.

    With a workload that light, it’s hard for the league’s second-best goaltender in terms of wins to do much besides succeed. He’s started all but one of the Jets’ past eight games, earning a 5-0-2 record with a solid .934 save percentage and 1.94 GAA to improve his season numbers to .924 and 2.32, both of which are eighth-best in the NHL this season.

    Halfway through the four-game series between these two clubs, we’re knotted at one game apiece with both teams winning their first home game against the other. St. Louis was the first to don its home colors, and Hutton shutout the Jets’ potent offense to a 2-0 victory on December 16 (Hutton’s three shutouts on the season are [t]seventh-most in the NHL). However, Hellebuyck and Winnipeg matched the Blues’ shutout with one of its own the next day (one of a [t]second-best five on the season), as the Jets won 4-0 at Bell MTS Centre.

    In what looked like a battle of the offenses when the season started, this game will be decided by which offense can simply manage to muster up a goal against these two stellar defensive efforts. Since the Jets are playing at home this evening and they didn’t have to travel overnight like St. Louis, I’m leaning towards them earning two points tonight to surpass Nashville for the division lead (at least for a night) and pull within a point of Vegas for the Western Conference lead.

    An explosive three-goal second period is all the Calgary Flames needed to beat the New Jersey Devils 3-2 in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day at Prudential Center.

    Since no goals were struck in the first period, First Star of the Game C Sean Monahan‘s (D Dougie Hamilton and D Mark Giordano) wrist shot 4:16 into the second frame gave the Flames a one-goal lead. Second Star F Taylor Hall provided an unassisted wrister only 3:07 later to level the game, but Calgary was just getting its scoring started. Third Star LW Johnny Gaudreau (W Micheal Ferland) reclaimed the lead with 5:27 in the frame, but it was Monahan’s (Gaudreau and D T.J. Brodie) second marker of the period that proved to be the game-winner.

    Just like Flames play-by-play announcer Rick Ball said, “persistence pays off.” After receiving a pass from Gaudreau at the blue line, Monahan attacked up the boards and through the left face-off circle before trying to beat G Keith Kinkaid near side. His initial shot found the goal post, but Monahan’s momentum carried him behind the net to Kinkaid’s left, just in time for him to collect his own aerial rebound. He one-timed his own miss-turned-assist (I mean, it was intentional, right?) past Kinkaid’s glove, clipping the left goal post before finding the back of the net 1:55 before the end of the frame.

    C Pavel Zacha (F Brian Boyle and Hall) took advantage of D Travis Hamonic‘s hi-stick against F Blake Coleman to score a power play backhanded shot 7:23 into the third period, but Jersey could not find a third goal to level the game.

    G David Rittich earned the victory after saving 30-of-32 shots faced (.938 save percentage), leaving the loss to Kinkaid, who saved 22-of-25 (.88).

    That’s three points in the last two games for road teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series. As such, they’ve pulled within 26 points of the 67-39-15 hosts.