Colby’s Corner meets Connor for divisional MVP’s. It will be a four part series, where Connor Keith and I (Colby) will pick, by division, the MVP of the forwards, defensemen and goalies. This week, the two of us will discuss the Metropolitan division.
Connor: Forward – Sid the Kid or Ovi? Sid the Kid or Ovi? Who to choose as the Metro forward MVP?
Personally, I’m leaning towards Crosby. I know, go figure, the Pens fan leans that way. But here’s the thing: Crosby led the Metro in points with his 85, which is 14 more than the Alex Ovechkin. Sure, Ovi has the goals lead by over a dozen, and Crosby doesn’t have the division assists lead (that one actually belongs to Evgeny Kuznetsov). But, the fact that Crosby is a versatile player is what sets him apart. He has the second most goals in the division, and the same is true of assists – hence the points lead. That unpredictability of not knowing whether he’s going to take the shot or dump it off makes him an invaluable weapon.
Colby: Alex Ovechkin
I have to agree with Connor on this one, Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby were the best two forwards in this division. Although I’m giving advantage to Ovechkin because Crosby had a horrible start to the season and only really turned it on the final few months of the season. I understand that’s a great time to be hot, but I can’t give a season MVP to a player who didn’t do much in the first half of the year.
Not to mention what Ovechkin did this year: he had a 50 goal season and 70 point year also. Yes, he was on the best team in the league, but a lot of the reasons players like Justin Williams and TJ Oshie are successful is because other teams are trying to focus on Ovechkin. This man had a strong season and ended on a hat-trick in his final few games.
Connor: Defender – Ryan McDonagh
I’m not picking him just because he was a star for my fantasy team this season (But seriously though, he was. Like, fifth highest scorer all season, good for the team that won our league’s President’s Trophy.). Of the three candidates I had for this title, he far and away had the best season. His main competition was Olli Maatta, as Maatta had a +27 on the year to McDonagh’s +26. The thing is though, not only does the Blueshirt lead the Penguin in blocks – in my opinion the primary way of gauging a true defenseman’s efforts – but he also helped himself out by scoring 34 points, including nine goals. Even better than that, not only did he take more shots, but he also connected on 1.7% more of those attempts. What a stud.
The other man that had his hat in the ring was Karl Alzner. I sort of hinted at it before, but I like blocks. A lot. Alzner fits that bill, as he has over 60 more than McDonagh, and even scored more points and assists than Maatta, but you simply can’t look past his +14 rating. I know, what a terrible stat. What some teams wouldn’t give to have that consistency. But, it pales to McDonagh and Maatta’s efforts, eliminating him from contention.
Colby: Kris Letang
I am really surprised Connor didn’t pick this Penguin, so I will. Kris Letang may not be my favorite person but he had a solid year. Letang had 51 assists and 67 points on the year. We also can point out he is 3rd in points by a defenseman. Among those top 3 defensemen, he had the best plus minus of +9. If we gave Erik Karlsson an MVP in Atlantic, we have to consider Letang for Metro. There, I reached my quota for nice comments about the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Connor: Goaltender – Braden Holtby
This one should be a lot easier than I made it, but I think I’m going to have to go with Holtby. I started out with a tough list of five goaltenders to choose from (Marc-Andre Fleury, Thomas Greiss, Holtby, Michal Neuvirth and Cory Schneider), all goaltenders I consider to be very good. Yes, I’m fully aware I did not include Henrik Lundqvist, but I think it’s safe to say that this was not the best season of his incredible career, as the Rangers had 217 goals against, barely below the league average.
Anyways, back to Holtby. There’s obviously the 48 wins to his credit, although with an offense like Washington’s, I don’t think that’s where you fully gauge him. What really sets him apart from Schneider in this instance is his nine losses. Yes, nine, after taking the decision in 64 games. Schneider? 25 losses, only two fewer than his wins (which, just like Holtby, can be partially attributed to New Jersey’s poor offense).
To close things out, I’m most impressed by Holtby’s success given his age. Whether or not you buy into the theory that goaltenders typically peak around the same age, I think it’s safe to assume that experience will improve your game. Schneider is showing that at the ripe age of 29. Holtby is only 26. If he continues improving until that point, God save the Metropolitan Division. Martin Brodeur to Lundqvist to Holtby is definitely not what those teams were hoping for.
Colby: Braden Holtby
I don’t think this is even a question at this point, when you tie the record for most wins in single season and your name is now with Martin Brodeur, you deserve a trophy. He is a big reason the Caps are as good as they are. I think this was a break out year for him and I think after this season you have to consider him an elite goalie in the NHL. He was the best goalie in the whole league and at this point I hope it just translates to the playoffs.
Braden Holtby and the Washington Capitals shutout the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-0, in front of a rowdy crowd on home ice at the Verizon Center on Thursday night.
Holtby made 19 saves en route to the shutout victory, while Steve Mason made 29 saves on 31 shots against in the loss.
About midway into the first period, Brooks Orpik went on a string of taking penalties, including an illegal hit to the head of Nick Cousins, which the Flyers were unable to capitalize on. Philadelphia was leading 11-8 in shots on goal after twenty minutes of play, while failing to convert on three power play opportunities.
The second period saw the Capitals go on the power play early in the period as Flyers defenseman, Mark Streit, was sent to the box for holding almost three minutes into the second frame. Washington was unable to convert on the power play. At 8:50 of the second period, Dmitry Orlov was sent to the sin bin for tripping Philadelphia forward, Sam Gagner, putting the Flyers on the power play to no avail.
Philadelphia then took two penalties about two and half minutes apart, as Ryan White served a charging minor at 13:28 and Brandon Manning was sent to the box for delay of game at 16:02 of the second period. 19 seconds into Manning’s penalty the Capitals scored on the power play on a shot from the point by John Carlson. Marcus Johansson and T.J. Oshie picked up assists on what became the game winning goal by Carlson.
By the end of the 2nd period, Washington was outshooting Philadelphia 22-15, limiting the Flyers to 4 shots on goal in the period.
The pace of the game picked up for the third period in both intensity and undisciplined play.
After killing a too many men on the ice bench minor, served by Ryan White at 2:30 of the 3rd period, the Philadelphia Flyers were shorthanded once again after Sam Gagner took a 4-minute double minor for high sticking Brooks Orpik 5:28 into the final period. This led to a lenthgy penalty kill, which Steve Mason and the Flyers were able to kill off unharmed.
A little under eight minutes later, Wayne Simmonds and Tom Wilson dropped the gloves and squared off after Wilson boarded Flyers defenseman, Andrew MacDonald. Both Simmonds and Wilson picked up 5-minute major penalties for fighting. About a minute later, Shayne Gostisbehere and Andre Burakovsky had a little shoving match that resulted from an interference call on Gostisbehere and a slashing minor on Burakovsky.
At 16:36 of the third period, Jay Beagle sealed the deal for Washington with a shot that beat Mason and reached the back of the twine with help from Marcus Johansson. Trailing by two goals late in the third, the Flyers pulled Mason for an extra attacker, but it was to no avail. Holtby stood tall in goal and the Capitals pulled off the 2-0 shutout with an additional scrum after the sounding of the horn to end the game.
Jakub Voracek picked up a roughing minor, White received a 10-minute misconduct, while Beagle and Karl Alzner each received roughing minors at 20:00 of the third period.
The Capitals outshot the Flyers 31-19 after 60 minutes of play and also led in hits (29-27) and blocked shots (23-21). Philadelphia had a 31-26 advantage on the faceoff dot and led in giveaways 9-5. Washington was 1/6 on the night on the power play, while the Flyers 0/4.
Washington came into Thursday night as this season’s President’s Trophy winners with the best record in the NHL. This series is the 5th Stanley Cup Playoffs matchup between these two teams and their first matchup since Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal on April 22, 2008. This year also marks the 38th playoff appearance in 48 seasons for Philadelphia and the 26th Stanley Cup Playoffs appearance for Washington in 41 seasons.
Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals split the regular season series with Claude Giroux and the Flyers this season, with 8 of their last 12 meetings having been decided by one goal (until Thursday night). Holtby went into the game with a 48-9-7 record on the regular season and a 2.20 GAA and .922 SV% in 66 games played.
The series shifts to Game 2 on Saturday night in Washington with the home team (the Capitals) in command of a 1-0 series lead at 7:00 PM EST on CNBC. The Flyers might be without the services of Sean Couturier, who suffered a shoulder injury in Game 1, while the Capitals are expected to be in full force on home ice at the Verizon Center.
The Blue Jackets surprised me by beating the Sabres 4-1 in Buffalo in yesterday’s Game of the Day.
Only one goal was struck in the first period, belonging to the Jackets. Matt Calvert is the guilty party, assisted by Brandon Dubinsky (his 31st helper of the season) and Ryan Murray to a power play wrister with 1:15 remaining in the frame.
Buffalo leveled at the 13:37 mark of the second period on a Third Star of the Game Sam Reinhart power play tip-in, assisted by Jack Eichel (his 31st helper of the season) and Matt Moulson. Second Star Nick Foligno takes credit for the game winning snap shot 1:39 later, assisted by Boone Jenner (his 19th helper of the season) and Josh Anderson. The first of Columbus‘ two insurance goals found the back of the net with 2:35 remaining in the period, a Dalton Prout wrister assisted by William Karlsson (his 11th helper of the season).
The final goal of the game was struck at the 5:11 mark courtesy of First Star Brandon Saad, assisted by Alexander Wennberg and Oliver Bjorkstrand.
Joonas Korpisalo earns the victory after saving 34 of 35 shots faced (97.1%), while Jason Kasdorf takes the loss, saving 26 of 30 (86.7%).
Columbus ends the two game winning streak by home sides, setting the DtFR Game of the Day series at 82-46-19, favoring the home sides by 40 points.
Every single team is in action today. Yes, that includes your favorite team, your arch rivals, playoff teams, non-playoff teams… all of ’em. The action starts nice and early at half past noon eastern with two games (Ottawa at Boston [RDS/SN1] and Detroit at the New York Rangers), with Pittsburgh at Philadelphia (NBC/SN1) dropping the puck at 3 p.m. eastern. Anaheim at Colorado (SN1) is the next game to get underway, starting at 5:30 p.m. eastern, before five games drop the puck at the usual starting time of 7 p.m. eastern (Calgary at Minnesota [CITY], Tampa Bay at Montréal [TVAS/SN], Carolina at Florida, Toronto at New Jersey [CBC] and Chicago at Columbus), trailed half an hour later by Buffalo at the New York Islanders (BELL TV). The next two games start at 8 p.m. eastern (Washington at St. Louis [NHLN] and Nashville at Dallas), with two more getting underway two hours later (Edmonton at Vancouver [CBC] and Winnipeg at Los Angeles [SN]). Finally, after all that, Arizona at San Jose gets started at 10:30 p.m. eastern, this evening’s nightcap.
A little under half of today’s games are divisional rivalries (Ottawa at Boston, Pittsburgh at Philadelphia, Tampa Bay at Montréal, Nashville at Dallas, Edmonton at Vancouver and Arizona at San Jose), and three are between playoff qualifiers (Detroit at New York, Washington at St. Louis and Nashville at Dallas). Tampa at Montréal is also a rematch of one of last season’s Eastern Conference Semifinals.
There are some great games on the docket this evening, but the one that could be very meaningful is Washington–St. Louis, as T.J. Oshie makes his return to Scottrade Center.
With the 24th overall pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, the St. Louis Blues selected T.J. Oshie from the University of North Dakota. He joined the club during the 2008-’09 season, playing in 57 regular season games and scoring 39 points. He followed that effort with 48 points the following season, including 30 assists.
His breakout season was 2011-’12, when he played in almost every regular season game to score 54 points, including 35 assists. That success carried into the postseason, as he scored three points before falling to the Los Angeles Kings in the Western Semifinals. Excluding the lockout shortened 2013 season, Oshie has continued his success each season, leading to his personal-best 60 point season in 2013-’14 season.
This July, Oshie was shipped to Washington in exchange for Troy Brouwer, Pheonix Copley and a third-round pick in this year’s Entry Draft. In that first year, Oshie has tickled the twine 26 times, the most in his career.
His 55-17-8 Washington Capitals have clinched the President’s Trophy. They’ve earned that position by playing both the second best offense and defense.
Like you’d expect, the entire offense revolves around Alex Ovechkin. His 389 shots has led the Caps to firing the puck 2450 times, with a solid 9.9% finding the back of the net for 247 goals (led by Ovechkin’s 47 tallies), the second most in the NHL. Washington also has a very strong power play, successful on 22.36% of attempts for 55 extra man tallies (led by Ovechkin’s 19 power play goals), the fourth best rate in the league.
Led by Karl Alzner’s 202 blocks, Washington has allowed only 2284 shots to reach 47-9-7 Braden Holtby and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 92.1% for only 190 goals against, the second most in the NHL. Once again, Washington‘s special teams rank fourth best, neutralizing 84.8% of their infractions for 38 power play goals against.
Washington enters tonight’s game on a three game losing skid, with their most recent being Thursday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Penguins.
The 49-23-9 St. Louis Blues currently sit in second in both the Central Division and the Western Conference. They’ve gotten there by playing the fourth best defense, paired with the 14th best offense.
Led by Alex Pietrangelo’s 134 blocks, St. Louis has allowed 2391 shots to reach 23-7-6 Brian Elliott and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 92.5% for 196 goals against, the fourth fewest in the NHL. The penalty kill has also been spectacular, killing 85.04% of their infractions for 41 power play goals against, the third best rate in the league.
Led by Vladimir Tarasenko’s 289 shots, the Blues have fired the puck 2454 times, with 8.9% finding the back of the net for 223 goals (led by Tarasenko’s 39 tallies), the 14th most in the league. It’s another strong special team unit, as the Blues have found success on 21.79% of their power plays for 51 extra man goals (led by Tarasenko’s dozen power play tallies), the sixth best rate in the league.
St. Louis enters the game riding a three game winning streak, with their most recent being Thursday’s 2-1 overtime victory in Chicago. As the Blues are tied with the Stars for the division and conference lead, a win, or even an overtime loss, paired with a Stars loss will propel them to first place, but a Dallas win ensures that they keep home ice until the Stanley Cup Finals.
St. Louis has already made their visit to Washington, which they thoroughly enjoyed, winning 4-0.
Some players to keep an eye on include St. Louis‘ Elliott (two GAA [leads the league] and .932 save percentage [leads the league]), Colton Parayko (+29 [fifth best in the league]) and Tarasenko (39 goals [fourth most in the league]) & Washington‘s Holtby (47 wins [leads the leauge], 2.22 GAA [seventh best in the league] and .921 save percentage [tied for ninth best in the league), Evgeny Kuznetsov (56 assists [fourth most in the league] and 76 points [tied for eighth most in the league]) and Ovechkin (47 goals [leads the league]).
On paper, Washington should win this game. They should easily be able to shut down St. Louis‘ offense. But, the thing that gives the Blues a chance, beyond even their home ice, is that they still have something to play for. It’s for that reason that I think St. Louis will make every effort to win.
The Blackhawks took advantage of the Los Angeles Kings only managing two goals in the first period to claim a 4-2 victory last night.
Chicago opened the scoring after six minutes of play when Ryan Garbutt and Artemi Panarin assisted Jonathan Toews to his fifth goal of the season. The Kings tied the game 8:38 later when Kyle Clifford and Second Star of the Game Jake Muzzin assisted Alec Martinez to his first goal of the year. 4:04 later, the Kings took their only lead of the night when Muzzin and Trevor Lewis assisted Anze Kopitar to his fourth of the season. The 2-1 Kings lead held through both intermissions.
The Blackhawks finally tied the game after 1:22 passed in the third with a First Star Patrick Kane goal, assisted by Brent Seabrook and Viktor Svedberg. The game-winner came 7:40 later when Kane and Artem Anisimov assisted Teuvo Teravainen to his third tally of the year. Anisimov added a shorty for insurance, assisted by Toews, with 1:33 remaining in the game.
Second Star Corey Crawford earned his sixth win of the season by saving 33 of 35 (94.3%), while Jonathan Quick’s record fell to 6-4-0 after he saved only 22 of 26 (84.6%).
The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 17-7-3, favoring the home team by 15 points.
It’s a busy nine-game Tuesday night in the league, especially in comparison to the three games played yesterday. The action gets started at 7 p.m. eastern when three opening pucks drop (Dallas at Boston, New Jersey at the New York Islanders and Washington at the New York Rangers [TVAS]), followed half an hour later by two more games (Ottawa at Montréal and Tampa Bay at Detroit). Starting at 8:30 p.m. eastern is the Los Angeles at St. Louis game (NBCSN), followed half an hour later by two more matchups (Calgary at Colorado and Philadelphia at Edmonton). Finally, at 10:30 p.m. eastern, the nightcap of the evening begins when Columbus visits San Jose in The Tank.
Some notes on tonight’s games:
Four of tonight’s games are divisional rivalries (New Jersey at the Isles, Washington at the Blueshirts, Ottawa at Montréal and Tampa Bay at Detroit).
Four are between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (Dallas at Boston, New Jersey at the Isles, Washington at the Blueshirts and Los Angeles at St. Louis).
Washington at the Blueshirts is an Eastern Conference Semifinals rematch from last season, and Ottawa at Montréal and Tampa Bay at Detroit is an Eastern Conference Quarterfinals rematch.
The only game that qualifies for all three lists will attract my attention this evening, as the Capitals travel up I-95 for their date with the Rangers.
Beginning with the 8-2-0 road team, we find a squad that is living up to expectations on both ends of the ice. The forwards have been scoring and the defenders and goalies have been keeping the opposition off the board to give the Capitals first place in the Metropolitan division and second in the Eastern Conference, albeit through a tiebreaker or two over tonight’s opposition. They are currently riding a two-game win streak, with their most recent victory a 2-1 overtime game over Florida on Halloween.
On the offensive end of the ice, the Caps have put 296 shots on goal, led by Alex Ovechkin’s 41. Although it is 34 fewer than the league average, you wouldn’t know it when you look at their 34 goals, which leads the league average by four tallies. Put those together and you get an 11.5% shot percentage that leads the league average by a considerable 2.4%. Especially spectacular has been the Washington power play, as they’ve scored seven goals (led by T.J. Oshie’s two) on only 29 opportunities, giving them a 24.14% success rate that dwarfs the league average by 5.26%.
On the other end of the ice, the Capitals have been just as strong. Only 248 shots have made it to 6-2-0 Braden Holtby and his backup Philipp Grubauer, thanks in part to Karl Alzner’s 22 blocks. With a save percentage of 91.9%, only 23 shots have become goals, a total that trails the league average by seven tallies. The defense has especially clamped down when facing a man-advantage, as they’ve only allowed four goals (three less than the average hockey team) and killed 87.88% of attempts, 6.76% more than the NHL average.
Their opposition, the 7-2-2 New York Rangers, are also having a successful season so far. They currently own second in the Metropolitan Division and third in the Eastern Conference due to losing a tiebreaker with the Caps. While the offense has been good this season, the defense has certainly been better. They also enter tonight’s game on a two-game win streak, with their most recent game ending in a 3-1 victory over Toronto on October 30.
342 shots have made their way to 5-2-2 Henrik Lundqvist and 2-0-0 Antti Raanta, and they’ve collectively saved 94.7% of those attempts, allowing only 21 goals on the season, a total that bests the league average by nine goals. Just like Washington, the Blueshirts have stepped up their game when they need to, as they’ve only allowed four power play goals so far this season for a penalty kill rate of 87.88% (6.76% better than the league average).
The offense has 320 shots to their credit, and has converted 9.7% of those attempts for 31 goals. While that is one goal over the league average, they’ve had to do it the hard way as they only have four power play goals to their credit after 28 opportunities. Their 14.29% success rate trails the league average by 4.59%.
Last season, New York won the regular season series 3-1-0, and they followed it up with a Game 7 victory in the Conference Semifinals to eventually lose to the Bolts in the Conference Finals.
New York is favored at -125 coming into the game. I still haven’t decided who I think is going to win, as I think Washington is the better team, but the Rangers do have the advantage of playing at home. This game will be a good litmus test of the top of the Metropolitan division.
It’s been a busy offseason around the NHL- and by that I mean it’s been a rather unusual offseason around the NHL.
The Ryan O’Reilly saga finally ended in Colorado and began in Buffalo, but took a side trip into the side of a Tim Horton’s somewhere in Ontario. While the Sabres could use his offense, they could do without his legal offenses (moral of the story, everyone, don’t drink and drive- have a designated driver, be responsible- use common sense).
Mikhail Grigorenko’s been reunited with Patrick Roy in Colorado, although sadly the rest of the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 Quebec Remparts will not be joining the party in Denver.
T.J. Oshie, Brandon Saad, Milan Lucic, Dougie Hamilton, Patrick Sharp, Cam Talbot, Phil Kessel, and others have all been on the move as the result of blockbuster trades.
Boston Bruins general manager, Don Sweeney (pictured), has been wheeling and dealing this offseason- in stark contrast of his predecessor, Peter Chiarelli (bruins.nhl.com).
Don Sweeney’s been on a rampage (more on that later), Peter Chiarelli’s turned around the Edmonton Oilers in one offseason (at least on paper), and the Toronto Maple Leafs front office might be the smartest guys in the game for the first time in a longtime. Wait, what did I just say?
That’s right, on Thursday, 72-year-old hockey front office legend, Lou Lamoriello, resigned as president of the New Jersey Devils only to join the Toronto Maple Leafs (announced on Twitter a mere two minutes apart) as their 16th general manager in franchise history.
Fun fact: Back in 1987, Lamoriello drafted now fellow colleague, Brendan Shanahan, 2nd overall in his first season as the president and general manager of the Devils.
Now, Lamoriello joins Shanahan in Toronto’s front office. Things certainly are weird right now in New Jersey, in the meantime, by the way- where Ray Shero is currently their GM and Marty Brodeur is, well, among the front office of the St. Louis Blues. Yep, it’s safe to say nobody would have predicted that both Brodeur and Lamoriello would move on from the Devils.
In 2009, Lamoriello praised Shanahan after Shanahan attempted one final go in the NHL, with the Devils, only to decide he would not continue his career and thus stepped aside from playing, retiring before the 2009-2010 season. Lamoriello expressed so much praise, in fact, that he blatantly stated that should Shanahan want a job in the Devils front office, Lamoriello would go out of his way to make it happen.
But here we are in 2015, where Shanahan recently transitioned to the helm of the Maple Leafs front office and instead of going to his former boss for a position, he brought in his former boss.
Brendan Shanahan (left) introduces Lou Lamoniello (right) as the new general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. (Galit Rodan/The Canadian Press via AP)
Lamoriello spent 28 years with the New Jersey Devils organization, but now he’s about to embark on his first season with a different organization- just his second as a general manager- the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Maple Leafs, if you recall, hired Mike Babcock this offseason as their latest head coach, by the way. Babcock too, left an organization he spent a lot of time with for the Maple Leafs this summer. Babcock spent the last 10 years with the Detroit Red Wings before joining Toronto.
Both Lamoriello and Babcock have something in common, they both left teams that used red as a primary color for a team that wears a blue maple leaf proudly displayed prominently on their jersey (it’s a bit slow right now in the offseason, cut me some slack).
In other news, the National Hockey League began the formal expansion process this summer, having accepted expansion applications up until Monday.
Two cities formally submitted a bid before the deadline- Las Vegas, Nevada and Quebec City, Quebec.
Las Vegas billionaire, Bill Foley, continues to headman the construction of an arena in Las Vegas as well as a drive for season tickets while aiming to land an expansion team. Meanwhile, Montreal-based media conglomerate, Quebecor, aims to bring the NHL back to Quebec City.
One of Canada’s hockey gods, Don Cherry, has already provided his blessing for a return to Quebec City.
This is the first time the league has formally gone through the expansion process since the late 1990s when the league quickly grew in size adding the Nashville Predators, the Atlanta Thrashers, the Minnesota Wild, and the Columbus Blue Jackets between 1998 and 2000 to become the 30 team league that we all know and love today (with the minor relocation of the Thrashers to Winnipeg having occurred prior to the 2011-2012 season, of course).
Since the Thrashers relocation to Winnipeg, the NHL has continued to take a firm stance against having to move another team for a while. Prior to the formal announcement of the expansion process being officially explored, the Arizona Coyotes and the City of Glendale, Arizona were at odds with one another.
Despite IceArizona’s firm commitment to the State of Arizona, many thought the Coyotes would be on their way out of Glendale this offseason. Given how a short move back to Phoenix in such a short period of time would not be feasible, speculation led to the Coyotes packing their bags and moving to an NHL ready arena.
Downtown Phoenix does not have an appropriate sporting arena for hockey currently, thereby handing the Coyotes a double whammy when their Gila River Arena lease agreement with Glendale was pulled out from under them by the city.
After threatening substantial legal action, IceArizona and the City of Glendale came to terms on amending their agreement- eliminating an outclause from its initial version and adjusting some revenue sharing between the hockey club and the city (the team will now get a larger share, with the city footing less of the bill).
Again, the Coyotes are staying put. No escape route to Seattle, no move from one desert to another desert (Las Vegas), and no move to Quebec City that would further imbalance the conferences in the league.
But then again, the amended lease agreement is only for two years, so the Coyotes aren’t fully out of the woods yet.
There remains so much yet to be seen concerning the Arizona Coyotes and their strained relations with the City of Glendale. While a short-term deal is necessary for their immediate survival in the market, their ultimate situation is not comforting. Things still could get quite ugly in a couple of years, yet the two sides have something to work with right now and can always chip away at improving viability of the franchise in Glendale.
The Arizona Coyotes will be debuting new jerseys this season, but their future in Arizona, despite glimmers of hope, is still uncertain in the long run (coyotes.nhl.com).
If not, perhaps the next two years is all the time the Coyotes need to convince Phoenix, Arizona and the NBA’s Phoenix Suns to construct a new- joint- arena that would be suitable for hockey in the desert and a return to downtown Phoenix for the Coyotes franchise. Otherwise, it could be enough for Seattle to scrap together some plans for a NHL-ready arena and sway the Coyotes into relocation.
Or there’s always Quebec City or Las Vegas, that, should either location not see the expansion process include them in the more immediate future of the league, could always have a stronger say in relocation. Both cities have strong interest from potential ownership groups and physical arena’s that are state of the art and nearing completion.
Speaking of Quebec City and Las Vegas, now is the perfect time to reach into these markets. A return of the Nordiques to the hockey crazed Ville de Québec would be a golden opportunity for the league to return the game to where it belongs and can further drive marketability.
For those that are opposed to adding another team in the Eastern Conference, kindly show yourself to the door. Realignment is never a fun topic, but I think we can all agree that sending the Detroit Red Wings and the Columbus Blue Jackets back to the Western Conference would be a good thing. As fans, we’d see a return of more Detroit and Chicago matchups, providing more fuel to the fire- built into the regular season schedule- when it comes to that longstanding rivalry.
And with the addition of a team in Las Vegas, well, it’s the same old, same old. It’s a never before seen market in all of professional sports and it would balance the conferences under the aforementioned scenario.
REUTERS/Mathieu Belanger
So at the end of the day, why disappoint the good people of Quebec City once again, NHL?
Then again, balanced conferences are overrated, aren’t they?
Come to think of it, the European model for professional sports isn’t too bad when it comes to league structure. Yet, the North American model of conferences, divisions, and such makes for a much more exciting game. We’ll never see the NHL switch to a relegation model based upon Premier League association football, but maybe we’ll see the NHL become more at ease with unbalanced conferences.
Hey if the game works in a market, why ruin it by taking it away from that market just to satisfy conference structure? If the owners are going to squabble over that then they really aren’t looking out for the best interest of the league are they? Management’s number one goal is to profit from growing the game.
Without an interest, there aren’t any fans. Without any fans, there aren’t any marketing opportunities from potential sponsors looking to reach fans. Without any cash flow, there is no game. If there’s an economically viable market or situation, go for it.
Last, but not least, the Boston Bruins have been a busy team this offseason. One can only think that the B’s will make another move or two before training camp in September. Don Sweeney and the Big Bad Bruins front office are in on trying to sign defensemen, Cody Franson, or Christian Ehrhoff.
The Boston fanbase continues to grumble and gripe about the presence of Chris Kelly and Dennis Seidenberg on the Bruins roster. One of the two could be moved before the puck drops in October.
And while we’re still at it, the Bruins still need a backup goaltender. While Peter Budaj or Jonas Gustavsson may not be the first names that come to mind when it comes to free agent backup goalies that are still available and could be dispensable for the Bruins, well, one of them might be all that the Bruins need.
Of course, Ray Emery and Ron Zepp are always still out there, granted Emery is a proven goaltender in the league (well mostly- he could be a backup for Tuukka Rask, but he’s past his number of chances of ever being a number one goalie in the NHL) and Zepp parallels Tim Thomas thus far in his career (minus the two Vezina Trophies, a Conn Smythe, and a Stanley Cup championship).
Matt Beleskey (airborne) has found a new landing spot with the Boston Bruins this offseason. Stephen Dunn/Getty Images
I’ll go more into detail about the Boston Bruins offseason conundrum in another post prior to the season. Quite frankly, I’m still trying to piece together what their plan might be. For now it looks as though Patrice Bergeron could be set with (a recently spotted dancing in Montreal) Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, with Matt Beleskey-David Krejci-Jimmy Hayes, Loui Eriksson-Ryan Spooner-Brett Connolly, Zac Rinaldo-Chris Kelly-Max Talbot filling out the forward lines.
Their blue line still needs work, but can be corrected within a few seasons. What’s more important right now is that the Bruins sign a top four defenseman and obtain a backup goaltender (or at least, implement a plan for a successful backup goaltender). While not necessarily a problem with an elite starting goaltender of Rask’s quality, the revolving door of backup goalies the Bruins have had the last few seasons is something they must work on for the remainder of Rask’s dominance in net.
Anyway, this ends my stream of consciousness. I’ll go back to waiting for Cody Franson to make up his mind and sign somewhere now.
Braden Holtby and the Washington Capitals shutout the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-0, in front of a rowdy crowd on home ice at the Verizon Center on Thursday night.
The pace of the game picked up for the third period in both intensity and undisciplined play.
Down the Frozen River 
You must be logged in to post a comment.