The first game went...well, pretty much as predicted, it was a big loss. Ottawa just peppered Raycroft; 40 shots they had in total, and that's not really acceptable. We've seen that Raycroft had trouble coping under pressure, and a 23-shot first period is too much for our defensive corps to let through. However, I do have to give some credit to them, they are doing a fairly good job this year restricting opposing offences (an average of just over 28.5 shots per game, says David Johnson at Hockey Analysis, a figure almost identical to that of New Jersey's blueliners) - I still don't like the acquisitions of Kubina or Gill because of the cap room the two are eating up, but nonetheless defense isn't our biggest concern at the moment. I like Raycroft, but the criticisms are beginning to build up; anyone else think it might be worth giving Justin Pogge a couple of games at the end of the season? (at least, if the playoff situation has already been resolved. If we're still in with a shot of making it, putting Pogge in would be a dangerous move)
The second game, on the other hand, was an inspiring performance from everyone bar Raycroft. Ottawa had just 22 shots, Darcy Tucker went some way to justifying his new contract with a goal in regulation and the overtime winner and we got two points we badly needed, what with NYR and Carolina tied on 76 points (and especially since Carolina are a game ahead of us at the moment) and Montreal are stuck on 74 points (and have likewise played a game more than we have). Considering Ottawa are solidly ensconced in the postseason places, it actually gives me some potentially ill-placed hope of experiencing some success. It irked me that Perreault didn't play, and also that Raycroft gave up three goals on 17 shots, but there was plenty of good to outweigh these problems. On the subject of injuries, it seems that our walking wounded have been given a liberal injection of gung-ho mentality - Kaberle has said he wants to return this year, Kubina is coming back at a disturbingly rapid pace, Wellwood of course played the second game and Peca is now the only major casualty still missing. Is it optimistic to hope to have him back for the playoffs? Probably, but I'll still hope it happens nonetheless.
Incidentally, is Wade Belak a defenseman or a forward? I can't work out which position he's supposed to be playing, it changes from source to source.
Showing posts with label kaberlabe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kaberlabe. Show all posts
March 12, 2007
March 04, 2007
A Bitter Taste - Toronto 1 - 3 Buffalo
It might have been nice if we could have taken the momentum gained from bitch-slapping New Jersey into this game with the Buffaslugs, but much like in our earlier waxing, Ryan Miller was all but impenetratable (I believe he was the game's first star, saving 26 of the 27 shots we had). It would also have been nice if Darcy Tucker's return could have been a little more successful, but that ties in with Miller being outstanding for the Slugs. Then again, the chances are that with missing part of our top defensive pairing and a number of other players coupled with the 6-1 defeat on Tuesday, few would have expected us to come out of the game with any points. to start with.
Unfortunately, all this was clouded by the continuation of the Janssen situation. I opined that we might not see him suspended at all for his hit, and that Colim Campbell mishandling the case would lead to repercussions throughout the game, but I was proven wrong when the league handed down a three-game suspension on Janssen. While the length is satisfactory, there's another problem that takes precedent - sure, Janssen's out for the next three games, but as Tucker pointed out Janssen rarely plays any significant time for the Devils. His estimate of "two minutes a game" is probably a bit conservative, but I'd be surprised if his average TOI is more than five minutes. Anyway, Janssen is part of the Devils' fourth line, which means that through his three-game suspension they will be without a fourth-line winger.
What the fuck kind of a punishment is that?
Janssen's fined about $7,000 , which would be a stiff fine for a person in a normal line of work, but I'm guessing hockey players don't feel the sting quite as much because of the size of their contracts, and also misses three games. The Devils lose someone who barely plays for them anyway for three games. Toronto, on the other hand, lose Kaberle, a star player, for an undefined length of time at a point in the season when it is absolutely critical to have your team firing on all cylinders. Look at that state of affairs and tell me that's not messed up. The Devils get to sit back and laugh; our burden just grows. If you want to see the incident in glorious Youtubeavision, Ninja of Raking Leafs (http://rakingleafs.blogspot.com/) was nice enough to provide three seperate videos of it.
Erik.
Unfortunately, all this was clouded by the continuation of the Janssen situation. I opined that we might not see him suspended at all for his hit, and that Colim Campbell mishandling the case would lead to repercussions throughout the game, but I was proven wrong when the league handed down a three-game suspension on Janssen. While the length is satisfactory, there's another problem that takes precedent - sure, Janssen's out for the next three games, but as Tucker pointed out Janssen rarely plays any significant time for the Devils. His estimate of "two minutes a game" is probably a bit conservative, but I'd be surprised if his average TOI is more than five minutes. Anyway, Janssen is part of the Devils' fourth line, which means that through his three-game suspension they will be without a fourth-line winger.
What the fuck kind of a punishment is that?
Janssen's fined about $7,000 , which would be a stiff fine for a person in a normal line of work, but I'm guessing hockey players don't feel the sting quite as much because of the size of their contracts, and also misses three games. The Devils lose someone who barely plays for them anyway for three games. Toronto, on the other hand, lose Kaberle, a star player, for an undefined length of time at a point in the season when it is absolutely critical to have your team firing on all cylinders. Look at that state of affairs and tell me that's not messed up. The Devils get to sit back and laugh; our burden just grows. If you want to see the incident in glorious Youtubeavision, Ninja of Raking Leafs (http://rakingleafs.blogspot.com/) was nice enough to provide three seperate videos of it.
Erik.
March 03, 2007
A Dangerous Precedent - Devils 3 - 4 Leafs (OT, SO)
A player sees the puck far away at the other end of the rink, and moves to rejoin the play. Another player, for some unknown slight, takes it upon himself to check our original player from behind with the result that the checkee's head slams into the boards. Now, take away those last four words. The more Leaf-astute of you may already have deduced what I'm referring to, but for those of you who are not, I believe that, last night, we were lucky Tomas Kaberle did not join Ace Bailey in having his career brutally cut short as the result of an unpenalised hit. Bailey was hit by Eddie Shore as retaliation for a hit Shore himself had received earlier, a reason reprehensible enough as it is, but we may never know the real reason Cam Janssen's mind goaded him into attacking Kaberle.
Janssen claims that he was just finishing his check, and that "I've got to take the body and I did"; in another situation, that would be explanation enough. We accept it's the job of defensemen and tough guys to agitate and enforce around the ice, and if they can intimidate a dangerous opponent it gives the whole team a boost as a result. But it is no-one's job to see a player who's noticably behind the run of the play and decide to nail them solely because they're one of the opponent's best players - Andrew Raycroft got it spot on when he said that the hit itself wasn't the problem, it was the fact it was ten seconds late that triggered such outrage. Janssen might not think he did anything wrong with the hit, but few players can truly be this dense, and it's this that earns him the second "F" grade. He joins Andrew Peters as the perpetrator of tremendous faggotry.
Ironically, Janssen's assault seemed to have the opposite effect to what it was intended. While it took Kaberle out of the game, it ended up giving the Leafs the supercharge he no doubt wanted the Devils to take on. Matt Stajan, Carlo Colaiacovo and Nik Antropov all scored to put Toronto ahead 3-2 and, even though Sergei Brylin tied it with a powerplay goal, Yanic Perreault went some way to justifying his cost with a goal in the ensuing shootout and Jeff O'Neill put in the winner. So what do you attribute this to? Was it karma biting the Devils in the ass for Janssen's hit going unpenalised - I doubt it, but I'd like to think so. There are some other observations I made, some of them disturbing in nature.
1) The referees continue to operate above a glass ceiling that we common folk can't break. Neither of the two referees saw fit to call Janssen for his late hit - I don't quite know what a late hit constitutes, but my guess is probably interference - nor penalise him for causing the injury; however, they then refused to be interviewed by the press after the game, knowing full well they'd be torn to pieces for missing something that severe, and the likelihood is that they'll never be brought to task for it. Worse yet, there's a very distinct possibility that Janssen won't even receive a suspension for his actions from someone like Colin Campbell, meaning while we have Kaberle out for an undefined amount of time, the Devils walk away from the incident scot-free.
2) The boys done good. Stajan and Cola scored, Woz and White had assists.
3) The dangerous precedent of the title is too close for comfort. While I can't say anything without it being speculation now, if Janssen goes either unpunished or gets off lightly, we have problems. If he goes unpunished, then all future occurances of something like this have to bear Janssen's mishandled case withBertuzzi's mishandled case as well. If he gets off lightly, it sets a benchmark that will make the league's enforcers not be too concerned with official retributions if they go out and injure a team's stars.
4) I find it funny that Darcy Tucker - scratched for the game due to injury - took it upon himself to talk to Janssen. A fellow Leaf opined that he was making threats of pain to come to the Devil, whereas a Senator claimed Tucker was asking him out to lunch and a Duck swore he was asking for tips. Me? I like the threats angle myself, it gives the impression that there's real team spirit (or it could be that they've taken to contracting their hits out to other teams. If that's ever proven right I want full credit for calling it).
5) Martin Brodeur still has a losing record against us. I only picked that titbit of information myself up yesterday, apparently he has a record above .500 against every team bar Toronto and Vancouver. Who knew?
Janssen claims that he was just finishing his check, and that "I've got to take the body and I did"; in another situation, that would be explanation enough. We accept it's the job of defensemen and tough guys to agitate and enforce around the ice, and if they can intimidate a dangerous opponent it gives the whole team a boost as a result. But it is no-one's job to see a player who's noticably behind the run of the play and decide to nail them solely because they're one of the opponent's best players - Andrew Raycroft got it spot on when he said that the hit itself wasn't the problem, it was the fact it was ten seconds late that triggered such outrage. Janssen might not think he did anything wrong with the hit, but few players can truly be this dense, and it's this that earns him the second "F" grade. He joins Andrew Peters as the perpetrator of tremendous faggotry.
Ironically, Janssen's assault seemed to have the opposite effect to what it was intended. While it took Kaberle out of the game, it ended up giving the Leafs the supercharge he no doubt wanted the Devils to take on. Matt Stajan, Carlo Colaiacovo and Nik Antropov all scored to put Toronto ahead 3-2 and, even though Sergei Brylin tied it with a powerplay goal, Yanic Perreault went some way to justifying his cost with a goal in the ensuing shootout and Jeff O'Neill put in the winner. So what do you attribute this to? Was it karma biting the Devils in the ass for Janssen's hit going unpenalised - I doubt it, but I'd like to think so. There are some other observations I made, some of them disturbing in nature.
1) The referees continue to operate above a glass ceiling that we common folk can't break. Neither of the two referees saw fit to call Janssen for his late hit - I don't quite know what a late hit constitutes, but my guess is probably interference - nor penalise him for causing the injury; however, they then refused to be interviewed by the press after the game, knowing full well they'd be torn to pieces for missing something that severe, and the likelihood is that they'll never be brought to task for it. Worse yet, there's a very distinct possibility that Janssen won't even receive a suspension for his actions from someone like Colin Campbell, meaning while we have Kaberle out for an undefined amount of time, the Devils walk away from the incident scot-free.
2) The boys done good. Stajan and Cola scored, Woz and White had assists.
3) The dangerous precedent of the title is too close for comfort. While I can't say anything without it being speculation now, if Janssen goes either unpunished or gets off lightly, we have problems. If he goes unpunished, then all future occurances of something like this have to bear Janssen's mishandled case withBertuzzi's mishandled case as well. If he gets off lightly, it sets a benchmark that will make the league's enforcers not be too concerned with official retributions if they go out and injure a team's stars.
4) I find it funny that Darcy Tucker - scratched for the game due to injury - took it upon himself to talk to Janssen. A fellow Leaf opined that he was making threats of pain to come to the Devil, whereas a Senator claimed Tucker was asking him out to lunch and a Duck swore he was asking for tips. Me? I like the threats angle myself, it gives the impression that there's real team spirit (or it could be that they've taken to contracting their hits out to other teams. If that's ever proven right I want full credit for calling it).
5) Martin Brodeur still has a losing record against us. I only picked that titbit of information myself up yesterday, apparently he has a record above .500 against every team bar Toronto and Vancouver. Who knew?
February 27, 2007
A Fantasy Player
In my defense, I like doing these things, it's fun. If I were a hockey player...
Team:
Number: 21, mainly because it's my birthday (the 21st). If not 21, then 23 to give the 23 conspiracy theorists something else to rave about.
Position: Defenseman, left-sided.
Nickname: Be. Long story.
Playing in Front of Me: Marian Gaborik, for obvious reasons. Pavol Demitra, ditto. Derek Boogaard, because the Boogeyman is a ridiculously good fighter. Branko Radovojevic, as the more Slovakians the better. And Niklas Backstrom, for coming into the league as an old rookie and actually kicking ass.
Job: Being the yin to the Boogeyman's yin. Every time our pairing gets on the ice, the Wild plays Dogs of War. I requested "SexyBack", because I do bring the sexy back, but apparently Rick Nash claimed that. What a pansy.
Signature Move: A showy shootout move, better known as "OH MALIK WENT BETWEEN HIS LEGS" to the more dirty-minded.
Strengths: Godlike checking and hitting and fighting skills, a decent slapshot and surprising speed.
Weaknesses: No finesse whatsoever. Repetoire consists of hitting and little else (but what else is even needed, mirite?)
Injury Problems? None, I am to make Karlis Skrastins cry his little Latvian eyes out when I shatter his game-streak-record, and possibly his kneecaps as well.
Equipment: If the league didn't make me wear a helmet, I wouldn't. If the league didn't make me wear pads, I wouldn't. Hell, I would be happy wearing pants and a pair of skates, I would be the studliest player going as I broke bones and hearts in equal measure (usually both at once).
Nemesis: Rick Nash, the very epitome of a crease faggot (term copyright R. Perry 2006)
Scandal Involvement:...just read on.
Who I’d Face in the
What I’d Do With the
Would the Media Love Me or Hate Me? Everyone would hate me, I would make it my mission.
(Thanks for this go to E of A Theory of Ice. Don't worry, the entire quiz was decontaminated and unhabbed first to get rid of the French-Canadian influence - http://theoryofice.blogspot.com/)
Erik.
A Seller's Market
For the moment, I'm choosing to ignore everything else that's going on around the trade deadline to focus in on one case, a case so extremely stupid that at least one of the parties involved should be charged with something, be it larceny, corruption, first-degree murder, war crimes; I'm not really bothered, just as long as someone gets shot for it.
Tampa Bay gets: Shane O'Brien, 3rd-round pick in 2008.
Anaheim gets: Gerald Coleman, 1st-round pick in 2007.
Gerald Coleman is sitting behind at least Giguere and Bryzgalov on the Ducks depth chart, and the 3rd-rounder is probably worth about as much as him in this context, so we can strip those away. What we're left with is Shane O'Brien for a 1st-round pick this year. Tampa Bay currently sit third in the Eastern Conference standings and would be sixth overall if the season ended now, putting this pick at #25. This trade implies that Shane O'Brien is worth the same as Zach Hamill, for instance, Colton Gillies, maybe Tyson Sexsmith, and this is the clearest sign yet that the trade market has gone crazy.
You might think that's crazy. You might think the Nagy trade fits the bill better, or possibly the Forsberg trade, and those are fair viewpoints. But look closer at those trades - the Coyotes could probably have strung Dallas out for more, possibly another pick this year or a better quality player than Mathias Tjarnqvist; the Predators already have a stable of great young players, and it's likely neither Upshall nor Parent would have got any significant playing time for a number of years, if at all with Nashville. But while these have contributed to the problems, the O'Brien trade has set the bar at a disturbing level. Jay Feaster had admitted he'd be willing to overpay for a player who'd be a perfect fit with the Bolts, and while O'Brien is far from a perfect fit, it's obvious he has overpaid here. But this seems to have become a theme this year, and it's not one I'm confident about.
The day after the O'Brien trade went through, two trades took place. One saw Craig Rivet go to San Jose, the other saw Atlanta claim Keith Tkachuk. The Rivet trade went like this:
San Jose gets: Craig Rivet, 5th-round pick in 2008.
Montreal gets: Josh Gorges, 1st-round pick in 2007.
Rivet, for all his many faults I have with him, is a good defensemen, definitely a top-4 player; Gorges, on the other hand, is a mediocre prospect who doesn't look like he'll make any real difference to the Montreal defensive corps. While you can't exactly equate Gorges to the 5th-round pick this time, the upshot of the deal is that Montreal have given up a good blueliner for a 1st-round pick that will almost certainly be later than their own. It's not strictly overpaying, because I get the vibe that San Jose went looking for Rivet rather than the other way around, but the deal is disturbing because it is unbalanced.
The other trade mentioned above went as follows:
Atlanta gets: Keith Tkachuk.
St. Louis gets: Glen Metropolit, 1st-round pick in 2007, 3rd-round pick in 2007, 2nd-round pick in 2008 and a conditional 1st-round pick in 2008.
If Tkachuk resigns with the Thrashers in the offseason, St. Louis will have taken two 1st-round picks, a 2nd-round pick and a 3rd-round pick as well as a roster player for one man. Tkachuk may bring something to the table for Atlanta in the postseason, but considering they're still fighting for a place, things look very tenuous for them, and if this gamble doesn't come off for them, they've given up some potentially very valuable pieces of their puzzle by overpaying for Tkachuk's services. Bill Guerin is reportedly on his way to join Rivet in San Jose, and I will looking at what the Sharks give up to secure him with interest.
So what is my point here? Initially, I was planning on simply complaining that Toronto didn't look like making any deadline moves not out of preference, or out of financial problems but because we were handcuffed in terms of what we could offer, and this situation has illustrated that problem nicely. It's a seller's market, and we don't have enough to sell; too much is invested in the young guard, Stajan, Wellwood, Steen and so on, for them to be a factor in any big deals, but at the same time past the "superstars" - Sundin, McCabe and Kaberle - we have very little else that could tip a set of scales. Jeff O'Neill's play hasn't returned the level he reached with Carolina, Hal Gill has been unimpressive and Pavel Kubina definitely wouldn't be an appealing part of a deal, with his five million dollar price-tag (incidentally, he's made a million for every goal he's scored this year. I expect more from an offensive defenseman, personally).
Who knows, maybe next year will see the stars moving for farmhands and low draft picks, I can't say. But for now, and for the forseeable future, things look tough for the teams without sellable assets.
Erik.
Tampa Bay gets: Shane O'Brien, 3rd-round pick in 2008.
Anaheim gets: Gerald Coleman, 1st-round pick in 2007.
Gerald Coleman is sitting behind at least Giguere and Bryzgalov on the Ducks depth chart, and the 3rd-rounder is probably worth about as much as him in this context, so we can strip those away. What we're left with is Shane O'Brien for a 1st-round pick this year. Tampa Bay currently sit third in the Eastern Conference standings and would be sixth overall if the season ended now, putting this pick at #25. This trade implies that Shane O'Brien is worth the same as Zach Hamill, for instance, Colton Gillies, maybe Tyson Sexsmith, and this is the clearest sign yet that the trade market has gone crazy.
You might think that's crazy. You might think the Nagy trade fits the bill better, or possibly the Forsberg trade, and those are fair viewpoints. But look closer at those trades - the Coyotes could probably have strung Dallas out for more, possibly another pick this year or a better quality player than Mathias Tjarnqvist; the Predators already have a stable of great young players, and it's likely neither Upshall nor Parent would have got any significant playing time for a number of years, if at all with Nashville. But while these have contributed to the problems, the O'Brien trade has set the bar at a disturbing level. Jay Feaster had admitted he'd be willing to overpay for a player who'd be a perfect fit with the Bolts, and while O'Brien is far from a perfect fit, it's obvious he has overpaid here. But this seems to have become a theme this year, and it's not one I'm confident about.
The day after the O'Brien trade went through, two trades took place. One saw Craig Rivet go to San Jose, the other saw Atlanta claim Keith Tkachuk. The Rivet trade went like this:
San Jose gets: Craig Rivet, 5th-round pick in 2008.
Montreal gets: Josh Gorges, 1st-round pick in 2007.
Rivet, for all his many faults I have with him, is a good defensemen, definitely a top-4 player; Gorges, on the other hand, is a mediocre prospect who doesn't look like he'll make any real difference to the Montreal defensive corps. While you can't exactly equate Gorges to the 5th-round pick this time, the upshot of the deal is that Montreal have given up a good blueliner for a 1st-round pick that will almost certainly be later than their own. It's not strictly overpaying, because I get the vibe that San Jose went looking for Rivet rather than the other way around, but the deal is disturbing because it is unbalanced.
The other trade mentioned above went as follows:
Atlanta gets: Keith Tkachuk.
St. Louis gets: Glen Metropolit, 1st-round pick in 2007, 3rd-round pick in 2007, 2nd-round pick in 2008 and a conditional 1st-round pick in 2008.
If Tkachuk resigns with the Thrashers in the offseason, St. Louis will have taken two 1st-round picks, a 2nd-round pick and a 3rd-round pick as well as a roster player for one man. Tkachuk may bring something to the table for Atlanta in the postseason, but considering they're still fighting for a place, things look very tenuous for them, and if this gamble doesn't come off for them, they've given up some potentially very valuable pieces of their puzzle by overpaying for Tkachuk's services. Bill Guerin is reportedly on his way to join Rivet in San Jose, and I will looking at what the Sharks give up to secure him with interest.
So what is my point here? Initially, I was planning on simply complaining that Toronto didn't look like making any deadline moves not out of preference, or out of financial problems but because we were handcuffed in terms of what we could offer, and this situation has illustrated that problem nicely. It's a seller's market, and we don't have enough to sell; too much is invested in the young guard, Stajan, Wellwood, Steen and so on, for them to be a factor in any big deals, but at the same time past the "superstars" - Sundin, McCabe and Kaberle - we have very little else that could tip a set of scales. Jeff O'Neill's play hasn't returned the level he reached with Carolina, Hal Gill has been unimpressive and Pavel Kubina definitely wouldn't be an appealing part of a deal, with his five million dollar price-tag (incidentally, he's made a million for every goal he's scored this year. I expect more from an offensive defenseman, personally).
Who knows, maybe next year will see the stars moving for farmhands and low draft picks, I can't say. But for now, and for the forseeable future, things look tough for the teams without sellable assets.
Erik.
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