OK, it is time for the Phoenix Coyotes to find a new goalie. Bryzgalov just isn’t doing it. We’ve got some good prospects and it is time for a change. Stupid Red Wings scored in the first minute tonight. Plus, I’m burned out by all the Coyotes are going to move talk.
I’m still smarting from that spanking by the Blackhawks. But, the Coyotes have won games against the Stars and the Wild.
Anyway, speaking of the Dallas Stars, Why won’t they just release Avery?
No such thing in hockey. They can buy him out, but not until the summer. There’s speculation that they’ll send him to anger management counseling if he agrees to it. It’s a terrible situation for the Stars, but they made this bed. $4 million players don’t get shown the door by every team they play for.
My poor Senators are battling for lottery position right now. That’s not so surprising to me. The shocking thing is that they’re doing so badly yet are ranked 5th in goals against per game. If you had told me before the season began that Ottawa would be top 5 in goals against this season, I would have had no hesitation in saying that they’d be battling for the conference lead.
The reason for the Sens’ downfall is quite easy to see: they’re 29th overall in goals for per game. They haven’t been out of the top 5 since the 1999-2000 season when they were 6th overall, and they were only lower than 3rd overall once in that span. The forwards after Spezza, Heatley and Alfredsson have been terrible offensively(that trio has over half of the team’s goals).
The team’s major problem is the total lack of offensive defencemen. For years, Ottawa has lived and died by their transition game(at both ends of the ice), and the defence’s total inability to move the puck efficiently has completely stalled the offence. Defending Ottawa’s cycle game is way too easy for the same reason: just load all 5 players down low, because you know that if the puck gets back to Ottawa’s point their defencemen aren’t likely to hurt you. Ottawa rode one of the best puck-moving defence corps to the finals in 2007, and I’m still in disbelief that the only defensive starters from that team who remain with the Senators were the worst two puck movers: Phillips and Volchenkov. They’re wonderful defensive players – Crosby has scored one regular season goal in his entire career against Ottawa thanks to those two – but they’ve never been particularly effective with the puck and they’ve seemed to regress in that area this year. I can’t tell you how many promising breakouts Phillips has foiled by putting an easy pass into the skates of his intended target.
Thanks to Muckler, Ottawa’s prospect pool is quite thin at the moment. Murray has worked at re-stocking the farm but his efforts will take time. Our two best prospects, Lee and Karlsson, are puck-moving defencemen but Lee’s at least a year off and Karlsson was just drafted. At forward Ottawa’s prospect pool is a total horror. There’s Zubov, who’ll either be a second-line scorer or a total bust, and there’s a bunch of players who are years off.
Avery won’t return to the Stars
The Dallas Stars have the fewest points in the entire Western Conference. Actually, the Western Conference is basically San Jose, Detoit and then all the rest. It might be fun to see San Jose against either Montreal or Boston in the Stanley Cup. Could you imagine how the Canadians would feel about losing to San Jose!
Canadians, or Canadiens?
I think he meant the Habs…
Avery’s done with Dallas, but someone might be willing to trade now or pick him up at the deadline, but the buyout in July is most likely.
Like him or not, he’s got talent and is a great agitator but he destroys locker rooms. The Rangers didn’t even offer to renew his contract!
As for Phoenix getting another goaltender…Good luck! Rysto and I both know there’s not much out there. Er…umm…there’s always Emery! lol
Cheers!
The SHARKS are kicking ass and taking names. I’m happy. They’re having to work harder to get some tough wins lately, but it’s good practice, and more fun to watch.
I’m rather unhappy that their next two games won’t be on TV, but I’ll live.
See ya in the finals.
PS: Do you like our new Christmas wreath?
I haven’t watched hockey for 2 or 3 years now but it remains my favorite sport. As always, I expect the Kings to win it all. As always, they wont.
I am very curious to see if Boson can keep up the pace that they have set for themselves.
They looked like they were headed the right way last year, but , man this year they are on fire.
They have shown that they can win the big games as well as the easy ones.
IANABBF, but can somebody closer to the Bruins, give me some insight…
Where are the Bruins going to come up short?
So, Mats Sundin decides to bless the Vancouver Canucks with his presence.
Finally. I’m tired of hearing about this story. Sundin isn’t Brett Favre and he didn’t deserve all the attention.
On a better note, Phoenix actually won tonight! The Yotes continue to be maddeningly average with a win, OT loss, and shootout loss.
Columbus and Dallas are playing an interesting game today. The Jackets need to consider giving Steve Mason some more time in goal. Leclaire hasn’t been good at all this year.
I haven’t watched too many Bruins games, but they sure could come out of the East this year.
The real quandary this year is Ottawa. They went to the finals 2 years ago and now they totally suck. It’s not goal tending, they just can’t score. They have the fewest goals-for in the entire league! What the hell happened there? Big contracts? Shitty coaching?
OTOH the Leafs were expected to be a prime John Tavares contender and they’re actually playing at about the same pace as last year when they still had all the big contracts in place. They’ll probably finish 9th again. :smack:
The Leafs played a tough one last night against Boston, to lose in the 3rd.
As a Pens fan, can’t say I’m sad to see Ottawa struggling, although I would like to see Speeza break out of his slump. WTF? 20 min ice time and no shots?
MTRG
puckhead coach
Wings looked good yesterday 
First real domination this year, and against the leading(I will not say best) team.
What is kind of surprising is that they havn’t looked that good until last night. Not theat they were bad obviously, but their record is far above the actual play they’ve had. Defense has a noticable fall of from last year which is scary. Even Lidstrom just hasn’t looked himself. And Ozzie 
poor Ozzie. He just doesn’t look like a Stanley cup netminder this year. He has some of the biggest swings from dominant to barely NHL, never know what you are going to get any year. But the sheer offensive talent and experience to get it done in the clutch pulls them along fairly pretty anyway.
Hossa has been the stud we dreamed of and has put a lot on his shoulders which is impressive for a team as dominant as they were last year.
But they are getting healthier and more cohesive. Looks pretty good for the rest of the season.
