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Players to Watch in the Olympics

February 17th, 2010

If you haven’t joined an Olympic hockey pool yet or you just want to look smart in front of your hockey buddies, look no further. This is the blog that will lend you instant credibility and will make you look wiser the Shaq in front of lockerroom of reporters. Here’s my look at some of the top and most underrated players to watch during the Men’s Olympic Ice Hockey Tournament in Vancouver.

Jaromir Jagr (CZE) – Jaromir Jagr was one of the most dominant hockey players in recent memory – when he wanted to be. He’s the highest scoring European-born player (goals, assists and points) in NHL history and is very highly regarded by his younger teammates. His skill was never in question, but his motivation and desire usually was. At 38, it’s safe to say that this will likely be Jagr’s final shot at Olympic gold, so I’m sure motivation won’t be a problem for the Czech flagbearer over the next two weeks. I’d love to see one last flash of glory for the player whose long, curly hair captured the hearts of so many hockey mom’s in the 90’s.

Aleksey Morozov (RUS) – One of the reasons why I think many Canadian hockey fans are underrating the Russian team is Aleksey Morozov. He didn’t quite pan out as the Pittsburgh Penguins had hoped, where his best season saw him score 50 points in 74 games. Still, since returning to play in Russia, his game has dramatically improved to a point where he’s the best player in the world not playing in the NHL and has been for some time. Last season in the KHL, he scored 32 goals and 74 points in 49 games. I know it’s only the KHL, but Russia’s captain is much better than most give him credit for. Hypothetically, I bet if he were to join the NHL next year, he would easily be the most sought-after player on the free agent market this summer.

Ryan Getzlaf (CAN) – The big focus for Canada over the past 72 hours has been if Ryan Getzlaf will be in or out of the Canadian lineup. Well, he’s definitely in – for now. He stepped up to answer questions about the strength of his injured ankle Sunday night by scoring 4 points and guiding Anaheim to victory in his final tune-up game before the Olympics. If he can stay healthy, he adds a much more physical and dynamic presence to Canada – far moreso than a player like Jeff Carter. He also makes teammate (and probable linemate) Corey Perry immediately more effective, which will be big on that 2nd line.

Tomas Vokoun (CZE) – Tomas Vokoun had a bit of a lackluster season last year with Florida and this year has been so-so at best. But make no mistake about it – Tomas Vokoun is a very good goalie. He lead the Czech’s to a gold medal in the 2005 World Championships and a bronze medal 4 years ago in Turin. Anybody scoffing at that should think back to how Canada did in that same tournament. He could steal a few games for the Czech’s and that definitely makes the Czech Republic a dark horse in this tournament.

Patrice Bergeron (CAN) – Many were surprised to see Bergeron included in the Summer evaluation camp, and even though his name was buzzed about during the season, many more were surprised when Patrice was actually named to the Canadian Olympic team. The reason he made this team is because he’s a very useful and versatile player. If you’re surprised to see him on the top line with Sidney Crosby, don’t be. Think back to the NHL lock out year where he and Crosby played on Canada’s top line at the WJC. In fact, it was Bergeron who lit up the score sheet and won the tournament MVP award. With Crosby and Nash as linemates, Bergeron looks set to pile up the points.

Jonas Hiller (SWI) – Everyone is on the same page when it comes to the Swiss team – they are a dangerous team but they aren’t true medal contenders. It would be the shock of the Games if they finished on the medal podium. But having said that, I think the Anaheim Ducks management team will be watching Switzerland closely to find out if they chose the right goalie for their future. This tournament will really expose Hiller and we’ll find out soon enough just how good he really is. This tournament could be a big breakout party for Hiller and like Ray Ferraro said on Tuesday, I wouldn’t want to face Switzerland in a quarterfinal elimination game.

Evgeni Nabokov (RUS) – Burgundy says Russia’s great up front, but not so good on the defense and goaltending positions. I disagree and it’s time for ‘Nabby’ to put his money where his mouth is. A strong performance in this tournament would do a lot to elevate San Jose’s playoff prospects, as well as his UFA status this summer. So clearly, the motivation is there. But the big thing with Nabokov is that he doesn’t need to necessarily steal games for Russia, he just needs to hold them in the game if Russia’s offense stalls. Think Grant Fuhr in Edmonton’s glory days.

Peter Forsberg (SWE) – We’re all getting a little sick of Peter Forsberg aren’t we? He’s probably the only person in history who’s staged more career comebacks than Brett Favre. We’re constantly hearing about his annual comeback attempt to the NHL yet, he’s still a player to watch because this is only a two week tournament. Anyone who can miss an entire NHL season, return in the playoffs and flat-out dominate the way he did in Colorado in 2001-2002 is worth keeping on eye on.

Here’s to a great tournament. Let the best team win and for the aforementioned players to make me look good!

Your Reporter in the Field,

Fantana

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Fantana gets it wrong… Again! Kovalchuk is traded to New Jersey!

February 5th, 2010

Okay okay… so I blew another trade rumour. Big deal. It’s not like anyone not named Burgundy is counting, right? The only thing I’m trying to figure out now is if I was dumb enough to actually put money on this or not… oh God… what are the odds Burgundy doesn’t read this blog?

Anyway, for the entire season, I’ve been singing the praises of Ilya Kovalchuk and the Atlanta Thrashers. All along, I’ve been talking about how they would eventually get a deal done and keep Kovy in Hot-lanta. Well, I was wrong.

In case you missed it, here’s the deal:

To Atlanta: Johnny Oduya, Niclas Bergfors, Patrice Cormier, NJ’s 1st and 2nd round picks in 2010

To New Jersey: Ilya Kovalchuk and Anssi Salmela, ATL’s 2nd round pick in 2010

This is a strange deal for both teams. My first thought I saw this trade was “ew”.

To start with, I’m blown away by Ilya Kovalchuk. Just when you think he’s grown up and gained some maturity, he does his best Denace the Menace impression. All season, he acted like he wanted to remain a Thrasher by saying and doing all the right things. Maybe he never explicitly said he wanted to stay in Atlanta, but he never declared that he had no intention of resigning either. He acted like he was all about ‘the team’ and that he wanted to play for a contender. Didn’t he pressure Atlanta GM Don Waddell to bring in a better supporting cast for him to play with? I understand he’s Atlanta’s captain and leader, but does it not seem a little under-handed to make those kind of demands, essentially get them, and not re-sign? Atlanta are a good team this year and I believe they will still make the playoffs. To make matters worse, Kovalchuk’s apparently demanding to become the league’s highest paid player. One question Ilya: Why?

Remember when Paul Kariya was in the prime of his career and became a UFA in Anaheim? The Ducks offered him a few different deals worth $10 Million a season and Kariya rejected them, instead, opting for a 1 year contract for $1.2 Million with Colorado so he could have a chance to win the Stanley Cup. At least you can say Kariya’s decision wasn’t about the money. He truly wanted to play on legitimate Cup contender, and he believed Colorado was his best bet. Fair enough. That sucks if you were a Ducks fan, but fair enough.

Back to Kovalchuk. He rejected two offers from Atlanta this season. The first was a 12 year deal reportedly worth $101 Million. When Ilya voiced his desire to become the league’s highest paid player, Atlanta acquiesced, offering him a $70 Million contract over 7 years because the $101 Million deal only averaged $8.4 Million per season. Somehow, both offers were flatly rejected. I’m guessing Kovalchuk doesn’t follow the stock markets and I’m betting when he reads the daily paper, he skips the business section and goes straight to the cartoons. Is he not aware of the massive global recession? Obama’s Trillion dollar budget deficit? America’s overwhelming unemployment figures? A $70 or $101 Million contract is way more than anyone needs! The Cherry on the top is that from the way Waddell has described the trade talks, apparently neither of those figures were high enough for Kovalchuk.

When I look at Atlanta’s return, it doesn’t seem high enough. I feel like the return they got for Marian Hossa a couple years ago was roughly the same, maybe even a little better. It’s hard to say, but I suppose like all big trades, this one will come down to how the prospects develop, namely Patrice Cormier and that 1st round draft pick, whoever that may be.

However, when you approach the trade from a ‘rental player’ perspective, which Kovalchuk absolutely will be for the Devils, the return doesn’t seem so bad. Bergfors is an emerging young player who will likely become a top 6 forward and have a good NHL career. Oduya is an affordable, defensive blueliner who plays a lot of big minutes for the Devils and their no-name defense. Cormier, for all the bad plays he’s made in 2010, and there are several, will probably play in the NHL next year. So overall, it’s not a terrible return for Kovalchuk. I think those three players will probably offset most of Kovalchuk’s production over the course of a full season, while adding some depth to the Thrasher lineup. There’s no ‘name’ player coming back in return, but there never usually is with this type of trade. Go ask Sens fans if you don’t believe me.

I also wonder about New Jersey in all this. Adding Kovalchuk up front looks good on paper, but giving up Bergfors and Oduya makes me believe they’ve actually lost ground with this deal. Having said that, a Parise-Zajac-Kovalchuk line is a pretty scary thought. This line will need to be really, really good to offset the loss of depth.

I’m also surprised that this was apparently the best offer out there. For all the rumours involving the Los Angeles Kings and the Chicago Blackhawks, I’m surprised nobody could beat New Jersey’s package. It could just be that Atlanta were aiming too high and all the other teams in the mix didn’t want to overpay for a rental player. In that case, I say good call.

Finally, I wonder how Kovalchuk will do in New Jersey’s defense-first system. It should be interesting. My best guess is that he’ll look just like Gaborik did in Minnesota – constantly stymied.

I used to really like Ilya Kovalchuk but this whole ordeal has left me a little sour on him. Here’s to Atlanta having a great finish to their season and to making the playoffs. It would truly be awesome if the Thrashers met the Devils in the playoffs and Atlanta came out on top. That would be some major divine retribution! Let’s hope that happens.

Your Reporter in the Field,

Fantana

Follow Fantana on Twitter or become a fan of Stayclassy.net on Facebook.

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January update: The top NHL rookies of 2009-2010

January 29th, 2010

At the end of each month of the NHL season, we’ve taken a look at some of the year’s Calder candidates. With almost half the season in the books, we’re starting to get a more clear picture on which rookies are the real deal, and which rookies still need some more seasoning. Here’s the January update:

John Tavares (NYI) – John Tavares had a slower month in January, scoring only 5 points in 11 games. The good news is that he continues to lead all rookies with 17 goals this season, while his 33 points is second best among rookies. The other set of good news for Tavares is that while the Islanders currently sit in 13th place in the Eastern Conference, they’re only 1 point out of 6th place, heading into Thursday night’s games. Yeah, the East is that close!

Tyler Myers (BUF) – With 4 complete months of the NHL season in the books, it’s pretty clear to me that Tyler Myers is the front-runner for the Calder trophy. His combination of defensive poise and better-than-expected offensive production makes him not only the best rookie, but one of the best up-and-coming defensemen in the league. The most amazing thing about Myers is how is the go-to guy for the Sabres defense in all major serious situations. He’s also tied with van Riemsdyk for 3rd in rookie scoring and leads all rookies with 23 assists.

Matt Duchene (COL) – Matt Duchene scored 10 points in 12 games in December and has carried his strong play as of late into January, where he scored 5 times and added two more assists in only 9 games. He’s now the leading point-getter among NHL rookies. So just like last season, Duchene is making a big push in the 2nd half of the year.

Niklas Bergfors (NJD) – Bergfors remains in the hunt for the rookie scoring title with 27 points on the year for the Devils. He has 8 powerplay goals, which ties him for the league lead with Tavares, as well as 4 game winning goals. He hasn’t scored a point in his last 10 games, which tells me that he’s due to break out of his cold streak soon. I’m expecting Bergfors to pick up the production in February.

James van Riemsdyk (PHI) – January was a great month for James van Riemsdyk because he scored 5 goals and added 5 assists. This puts JVR third in rookie scoring, only 4 points behind Duchene for the rookie lead. This is great news for Philadelphia too, as December was a pretty dismal month – van Riemsdyk only scored 1 goal in 12 games. It’s no big surprise to see Philadelphia winning games again, in part because their depth forwards, like van Riemsdyk, are scoring timely goals.

Victor Hedman (TBL) – Victor Hedman might be the most under-the-radar 2nd overall pick in recent history and he has quietly put together a very solid debut season. He has 14 points in 49 games this season and he’s become an increasingly important part of Tampa Bay’s defense. In January, he logged over 19 minutes of ice time in 9 of 11 games.

Ryan O’Reilly (COL) – It was another tough month for Ryan O’Reilly. He has scored 1 goal in December and January combined. Having said that, O’Reilly does bring other things to the table for Colorado, including his strong two-way game. He’s +6 this year, which is a pretty good accomplishment for an 18 year old kid.

Dan Sexton (ANA) – After putting up 11 points in his first 13 games, Anaheim decided to keep Sexton in the big leagues! Good call, as he delivered a solid month in January too, scoring 7 points in 14 games. In fact, Sexton currently holds the highest points-per-game average among all NHL rookies. He’s a major longshot for rookie of the year honours, but if he can hold this pace through the rest of the year, he’ll have to at least earn strong consideration.

Michael Del Zotto (NYR) – Del Zotto has 24 points in 54 games this season, and only 4 of those points came in January. It looks like his hot start has began to cool off, and this also explains the Rangers recent decline down the Eastern Conference standings. I hate to say this about such a young player, but you really get the feeling that if New York are going to make the playoffs, Del Zotto has to be a big part of that and while the offense is important, so is strong defensive play. That -17 stat bothers me, especially when your goaltender is Henrik Lundqvist.

Tuukka Rask (BOS) – Like Varlamov, Rask hasn’t played much in the past couples months, as he’s amassed a 3-4-0 record in 11 appearances. I wondered earlier in the year if Boston had a potential goaltending controversy but it looks like that thought have been premature. Tim Thomas is definitely the number one guy in Beantown and will likely get the majority of starts for the Bruins as we enter the homestretch of the regular season.

New Mentions from December

Cody Franson (NSH) – Meet Cody Franson, another one of Nashville’s seemingly endless supply of awesome blueline prospects. Franson has quickly and quietly scored 15 points in his 40 NHL games this season and is +10. Wow! He’s also averaging over 14 minutes of ice time per game, which is quite a feat for a team that’s defense includes names like Weber, Hamhuis and Suter.

Rob Schremp (NYI) – I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a big Rob Schremp fan because he strikes me as the kind of player who believes his own hype and carries around a greater-than-deserved sense of entitlement. However, since getting a new start with the Islanders, Schremp has done a pretty well. He has 17 points in 31 games and seems to be fitting in well. The biggest question about Schremp at this point is that while everyone knows how skilled he is, will he buy into the team-first concept that the Islanders have spent the past few seasons building. Let’s hope he does.

Honourable Mentions for January

Jimmy Howard (DET), Evander Kane (ATL), Artem Anisimov (NYR), Tim Kennedy (BUF), Jason Demers (SJS) and Davis Drewiske (LAK), Jamie Benn (DAL) and Semyon Varlamov (WSH)

In summary, coming into February, I think the stronger rookies are starting to separate from the pack. Tyler Myers is the consensus choice to win the Calder trophy as of today. John Tavares and Matt Duchene are also making noise and if anything, Duchene is the guy that may be the biggest challenge for Myers. Duchene seems to be building more and more momentum as the weeks pass by. To me, Myers, Duchene and Tavares are the top 3 rookies in the league right now but there are 4 or 5 other players right beneath them that could put themselves in this race if they can string together a few strong months.

Your Reporter in the Field,

Fantana

Follow Fantana on Twitter or become a fan of Stayclassy.net on Facebook.

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Does Henrik Sedin’s breakout season make Sweden an Olympic gold medal threat?

January 25th, 2010

Watching the transformation of Henrik Sedin this season has been amazing. He’s always had an incredible chemistry with his brother Daniel but I never really saw Henrik as a true number 1 centre in the league. He had incredible talent, but I never really saw him as an incredible player. In fact, I always saw Henrik and Daniel as the best 2nd line in the NHL. Maybe that’s because I don’t watch the Canucks play as much as I should, and maybe it’s because I live in Toronto and there isn’t much Canuck coverage here. Or maybe they just seemed so comfortable in their role on the 2nd line back when the Bertuzzi-Naslund-Morrison line was ripping it up. Am I really getting that old? It’s hard to say.

Vancouver Canucks star Henrik Sedin leads the NHL in points this season, classy.

Vancouver Canucks star Henrik Sedin leads the NHL in points this season, classy.

Regardless, while I applauded Mike Gillis for resigning the Sedins to reasonable contracts this past summer (cap hit of $6.1M over 5 years, each), the lingering thought in my mind was that they would have to really earn that money now. Those new contracts meant first and foremost, that the Sedins had now absolutely become Vancouver’s top line. And they have definitely stepped up, especially Henrik.

Henrik currently leads the NHL with 74 points in only 51 games, including 23 goals. Assuming he stays healthy, that puts him on pace to score 36 goals and 118 points, both of which would be career highs. In fact, Hank has already achieved a career high in goals this season – as the 22 goals he scored last season was his best previous tally. You can attribute his goal scoring explosion this season, in part, to the fact that he’s simply shot the puck more. He’s taken 105 shots this season compared to 143 in all of last season. I think he’s also played a much stronger defensive game, which has made him a tougher player to shut down and play against. He’s +23 this year, which is a currently a career best as well. Finally, he’s done a lot of this while Vancouver have battled two significant injuries: Roberto Luongo was out for a couple weeks and brother Daniel missed 18 games – at the same time. Henrik’s emergence as one of the top players in the league has come from the simple fact that he’s become the go-to player for the Canucks and that’s kept them in a tight battle with Calgary and Colorado for the division lead. There’s a quiet argument out there that Hank should be a serious contender for the Hart Trophy this year and it’s an argument that’s quickly gaining momentum. At the very least, Henrik Sedin has been one of the best and most consistent players in the NHL this season.

All of this leads me to one question – Does Henrik’s emergence as one of the NHL’s best players make Sweden a real threat to win gold in Vancouver next month? I’ve believed all along that the fight for the gold medal will be a three-horse race between Canada, Russia and a dark horse American team. But like most, I hadn’t really considered Sweden a real threat, despite the fact that they took gold 4 years ago in Turin. To me, the thing that’s always separated the Canadians, Russians and Americans from the rest of the pack was the fact that they all have two, maybe even three lines capable of being their number 1 line. Their depth of high-end talent up front seemed to be too much for the teams from the Czech Republic, Finland and even Sweden.

Yet, when you look down at Sweden’s roster, their top 3 lines look like this:

Daniel Sedin –  Henrik Sedin –  Henrik Zetterberg

Daniel Alfredsson – Nicklas Backstrom – Loui Eriksson

Patric Hornqvist – Peter Forsberg – Tomas Holmstrom

That’s a pretty strong top 9 and I think they’ll be a very good team. I think they’ll be a much stronger and tougher team to play against than most people think. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them earn a position on the medal podium. They’ve got strong goaltending and pretty solid defense, so it could happen. And when you’ve got an emerging world-class player like Henrik Sedin riding a major hot streak, it could definitely happen.

Your Reporter in the Field,

Fantana

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Montreal sacks Georges Laraque

January 22nd, 2010

In case you didn’t hear, the Montreal Canadiens decided to part ways with Georges Laraque this week. Canadiens GM Bob Gainey broke the news to Laraque on Thursday, basically telling him that their coach, Jacques Martin, had no confidence in him. Ouch! According to Gainey, Laraque will not play another game with the Habs this year, and will be bought out of the final year of his 3 year contract this summer (that final year would’ve been next season).

Here are a few thoughts that came to mind when I first learned of this news…

  • Didn’t Jacques Martin learn anything in Ottawa? If by some miracle Montreal do qualify for the playoffs, they’re going to get roughed up and there isn’t much they can do about it. Finally, Habs fans can share something in common with Sens fans: an early first round exit.
  • Also, Habs fans and Sens fans can unite and celebrate the frustration of cheering for an undersized team with no muscle. We know what that’s all about. Martin disputed the notion that he doesn’t believe in toughness but admitted that he did not think that a team needed an enforcer to be successful.
  • Montreal must fire Bob Gainey. Wasn’t the Laraque signing one of their most “high profile” signings of the 2008 offseason? Didn’t they sign him to add some toughness to their lineup because they were easily outmuscled in the 2008 playoffs? Doesn’t Gainey remember how much trouble they had handling Milan Lucic?
  • Given that Laraque’s parents were both born in Haiti, could this decision not have been delayed? I mean, since Montreal are going to pay him regardless, why not make him a healthy scratch for a few more weeks? Why dump another problem on his lap now? This doesn’t sound very classy to me…
  • Is Georges Laraque’s value so low that they couldn’t even find a single team in a 30 team league willing to trade for him? I wonder if Bob Gainey even explored this alternative. My initial thought is no, despite him saying otherwise.
  • On Thursday, Jacques Martin described the situation by saying, “It’s a hockey decision. We felt that he was not helping our team to win games.” Maybe, but isn’t that true of virtually every player on Montreal’s team this season? Names like Scott Gomez, Sergei Kostitsyn, and Carey Price come to mind.
  • Another thought on Martin’s quote from above. Can you really say that Montreal’s 23-23-5 record is all Laraque’s fault? The guy averages between 6-8 minutes per game. The fact that the Habs have given up 12 more goals than they’ve scored this season suggests that perhaps the goal scorers could do more to help the team win games or the goalies could give up fewer goals.
  • And finally, I find the timing of this decision to be pretty ironic and amusing. The day following Carey Price’s decision to ‘drop the gloves’ against Buffalo, the Habs go and sack their resident tough guy. Ha – I bet nobody saw that coming. I guess this settles Montreal’s goaltending debate once and for all. With this in mind, I guess Montreal have to keep Price and trade Halak, right?

I get the feeling that perhaps there is more to this situation than what’s been reported in the media. The timing of this decision is bizarre, as there wasn’t a single, defining incident that led to Laraque’s banishment from his team. It’s also strange because while Laraque may have played his last game as a Montreal Canadian, he’ll still collect a regular pay cheque for the rest of the season. Aren’t we in the midst of slowly recovering from one of the deepest recessions in recent history? Where can I sign up for this kind of deal?

Since Montreal have played roughly 60% of their season, this decision means they are willing to pay Laraque 40% of his salary (close to $600,000) to stay away from the team for the rest of the season, and another million or so for next year’s bought out season. I’ve never really been a big fan of Georges Laraque, but everything about this strikes me as unusual. The only question I have for Montreal, is what could Georges have possibly done that was so bad that the best solution was to immediately kick him off the team?

Your Reporter in the Field,

Fantana

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Has Guillaume Latendresse turned it around in Minnesota?

January 16th, 2010

What were you doing on November 23rd? If you were Guillaume Latendresse, you were probably going through several different emotions like excitement, confusion, fear, and even anger. It was on this day that Montreal apparently gave up on their big francophone player and traded him to Minnesota for another struggling youngster, Benoit Pouliot.

Guillaume Latendresse has had a classy rebound to his career in Minnesota | Stayclassy.net

Guillaume Latendresse has had a classy rebound to his career in Minnesota

Up until the trade, I think it’s fair to say that Latendresse had been, for the most part, a disappointment. I still remember that training camp he had in 2006 where he was awesome and you thought for a second that Montreal had a major power forward on the rise. His first season, he showed good promise, scoring 16 goals and 29 points as a 19 year old. I figured that once he put on some more muscle, could potentially be the next Todd Bertuzzi, when Big Bert was in his prime. I’m sure many Canadians fans felt the same way back then.

However, you know it’s not a good sign when your career season continues to be your rookie season. Latendresse’s point total declined in his sophomore season, where he scored only 27 points, and it dropped again in his third season to just 26 points. Follow that up with his first 23 games this year where he had 2 goals and 1 assist. Ouch. Clearly, the relationship between Montreal and Latendresse was broken and Bob Gainey decided he’d had enough and shipped him out of town. In fact, Latendresse’s season in Montreal was going so badly this year that he failed to register a shot in 10 of his 23 games. By mid-late November, he was playing only 6-7 minutes a game too, which makes sense, seeing as how he didn’t score a single point in his final 8 games as a Montreal Canadian, and only took 3 shots on goal in that span.

Fast forward to January 2010, where he appears to be a completely different player in Minnesota. He’s routinely playing around 17 minutes a game with the Wild, where seems to play a vital role on the team and is having fun again. Here’s the real interesting part. In the 23 games he’s played for the Wild since the trade, he’s scored 10 goals, 6 assists and is +5. He was -4 in Montreal this season. He’s also put together a serious hot streak as of late. As of Saturday, his last 6 games have seen him score 4 goals and 5 assists.

Has Latendresse turned his career around in Minnesota? It’s hard to say. 16 points in his first 23 games is a great start and is far higher than the production he ever generated in Montreal. Yet, the question surrounding Latendresse is whether or not this kind of play can be sustained. Remember back to the training camp in 2006 where he looked dominant? Remember back in junior how he was a star player in the QMJHL but looked lost when playing for Canada at the World Juniors in 2005? According to Brent Sutter, who was the coach of the Canadian squad that year, Latendresse didn’t listen to the coaching staff and always went his own way. If you didn’t realize that Latendresse was on the WJ team that year, don’t feel badly – He was benched for most of the tournament anyway. This was also the WJC team that featured Sidney Crosby, Patrice Bergeron, Jeff Carter, Ryan Getzlaf, Cam Barker, Corey Perry, Mike Richards and Dion Phaneuf, among others. Thank you, NHL lockout. Actually, now I’m wondering how Latendresse even made this team in the first place. Anyway, the point here is that Latendresse is one of those players who so far in his professional career, has only really been able to play well for short periods of time.

Time will tell if he can keep up this kind of play for Minnesota. 23 games is a good quarter of the season and he’s been especially hot lately, so I hope for his sake he can keep his strong play up. It’s worth noting that even though he’s in his fourth year in the NHL, he’s only 22 years old. Some players, especially the power forward types, take a little longer to develop and it does feel a little harsh to write off a 22 year old kid as being washed up. So maybe we should give him a little more time before disregarding him completely. Hopefully, Minnesota can help him develop into the player many of us thought he would have already become by now. If they can do so, they may have found a real diamond in the rough, as Benoit Pouliot wasn’t getting much done for them. For what it’s worth, Pouliot has 5 goals in his first 10 games as a Hab.

In conclusion, I think Guillaume Latendresse has got a great opportunity to become a solid 3rd line player in the NHL, with the ability to play 2nd line minutes if necessary. I think he could potentially be a 40 points per season player with Minnesota. What do you think – will Latendresse turn his career around? Or is his recent hot streak just more of the same from him? You tell us.

Your Reporter in the Field,

Fantana

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Is it too early to talk about the 2010 NHL trade deadline?

January 15th, 2010

It’s the middle of January and while it might seem a little premature to start throwing names around as potential trade bait, the NHL’s 2010 trade deadline is closer than you might think. This year’s deadline is on Wednesday March 3rd, less than 7 weeks away – 47 days away to be exact.

Last year, we saw very little activity leading up to the deadline. In fact, even in the week leading up to the deadline, fans went from wondering when their team was going to make a move to wondering if their team was even going to do anything. General Managers around the league were speaking publicly of how the trade winds were barely blowing, if even at all. The action eventually started to heat up, and we saw 22 trades happen on deadline day, though I’m sure many of those deals had been worked on for the previous week leading up to that day.

Here’s where this year is going to be different. With the Vancouver Olympics coming next month, there will be a league-wide roster freeze that goes into effect from February 12th to February 28th. This is important because it’s going to have a major impact on this year’s ‘trade frenzy’ and it will change the way teams tweak their rosters. It gives GM’s only 3 days after the Olympic roster freeze to get their trades done before the deadline comes and goes. This means that we’re going to see trades happen earlier than usual this year and while I’m sure there will be several of deals on deadline day, I think we’re going to see some moderate-to-heavy trade activity in the first week of February, which is much earlier than usual.

This also raises an interesting dilemma for several teams, notably, the ones in 5th to 11th place in each conference. One of the problems the salary cap has created is parity amongst teams throughout the league. From a competitive point of view, it’s been great to see. Going into Thursday night’s games, the difference between 5th place and 10th place in the Eastern Conference was 3 points. It seems like the standings change every night and a mini 2 game losing stream sends you from 6th to 11th place. The downside, however, is that since there are more teams in contention to make the playoffs, there are fewer sellers leading up to the trade deadline. A great example was last year in Florida. Despite being 5 or 6 points out of a playoff spot, they chose to not trade Jay Bouwmeester, an impending UFA that they weren’t likely to resign, in hopes of making the playoffs. That was a tough call for the Panthers to make and we’ll see plenty of similar issues for teams on the bubble this year.

The 16 day roster freeze next month will have the same effect as if the trade deadline were bumped ahead by a couple weeks. That makes it even tougher for teams on the brink of the playoffs to assess their rosters. Does a team like the New York Islanders make a couple trades to improve their roster and make a push for the playoffs? Well, most of us don’t actually think they’ll finish in the top 8, but they’re actually tied with Ottawa and Montreal (as of Thursday night) for the 8th playoff spot. If they were to win 10 or 11 of their next 15 games, they’d definitely have a good shot at making it. It’s a tough decision to make and they won’t be the only team that has to do it.

At this point, the only teams that are really out of the playoff picture are Carolina and Toronto in the East and Edmonton in the West. That leaves 27 teams fighting for only 16 playoff spots. Things are about to get very interesting and I think we’ll hear a lot of ‘tire kicking’ from those 27 teams in the mix, especially the ones on the bubble.

My prediction is that we’ll see fewer trades this season than in the past, due to the fact that will be fewer teams that are in obvious ‘rebuild’ mode coming out of the Olympic break. As a result, any team that’s going to add a player or two for their Stanley Cup run is going to have to pay a premium to get him. I bet if the Toronto Maple Leafs were trading Domenic Moore this season, they might be able to get that 1st round pick they were seeking last year (I never resist a chance to take a shot against the Leafs!). I also think we’ll see more ‘hockey trades’, where teams exchange player for player, much like the Ottawa-Carolina trade from a couple years ago where Joe Corvo and Patrick Eaves were sent to the ‘Canes in exchange for Mike Commodore and Cory Stillman. Lastly, I predict that the biggest names on the trade block, including Ilya Kovalchuk, Tomas Kaberle and Scott Neidermayer are far less likely to be moved this year than they might have been in previous years.

At the end of the 2010 NHL trade deadline frenzy, things may simply boil down to lots of talk and swirling rumours. But regardless of who gets traded and who doesn’t, the next 47 days promise to be very interesting.

Your Reporter in the Field,

Fantana

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December update: The top NHL rookies of 2009-2010

December 29th, 2009

At the end of each month of the NHL season, we’ve taken a look at some of the year’s Calder candidates. With almost half the season in the books, we’re starting to get a more clear picture on which rookies are the real deal, and which rookies still need some more seasoning. Here’s the December update:

John Tavares (NYI) – John Tavares continued his strong freshman season in December by scoring another 7 goals, giving him 16 for the year. He has 28 points in 40 games this season, which is pretty solid, given that the Islanders are still rebuilding their team. Tavares also continues to lead rookies in goals, points and powerplay goals. The Isles are only 3 points out of a playoff spot right now and although they’re still considered longshots to make the playoffs, they have a chance to make it. You get the feeling that Tavares would have to be a big part of that run and if he could get them into the playoffs, he’d almost be assured the Calder trophy.

Victor Hedman (TBL) – Victor Hedman had a really good month in December. Due to his stay-at-home style of play, his game sometimes gets overlooked, especially when compared against flashier players. Well, Hedman scored his first 3 NHL goals in December and his game has really picked up as of late. I think Hedman is starting to get comfortable in the NHL, as he`s been +1 in each of his last 4 games.

Matt Duchene (COL) – We predicted that after a softer than expected month in November, Matt Duchene would bounce back with a strong December. Well he did! He scored 10 points in 12 games this month, which puts him 2nd in rookie scoring with 24 points. His two-way play picked up, going +2 in December.

Ryan O’Reilly (COL) – Ryan O’Reilly had a tough month in December. He failed to register a point in 12 games and even played 3 games without getting a single shot on goal. He’s still a freshman-best +9 but if Colorado are going continue to battle for a division title, they`ll need some more scoring from O’Reilly.

James van Riemsdyk (PHI) – James van Riemsdyk was looking good at the end of November, having jumped up to 2nd in rookie scoring with 18 points in 19 games. He’s also led all rookies with 4 Game-winning goals and was a surprising +7. In December, he scored only 1 goal in 12 games, was -5 and saw his icetime drop to roughly 10-12 minutes a game. Not a great month for van Riemsdyk, but then again, the Flyers have been stuck in a big tailspin for the past month or so, even with the firing of former coach John Stevens. One has to think that 2010 will be kinder to van Riemsdyk and the Philadelphia Flyers.

Tyler Myers (BUF) – Tyler Myers put up 7 assists in December, as the Sabres have established themselves as one of the teams to beat in the Eastern Conference. The more I watch him play, the more his skating impresses me. I can’t wait to see him play in a couple years once his body has matured – it will be unreal. The most impressive thing about Myers this season is his versatility. While he’s tied with Del Zotto for the scoring lead among rookie defensemen with 20 points each, his +/- is far superior (+7 for Myers, -14 for Del Zotto)

Niklas Bergfors (NJD) – Bergfors is one of those players that New Jersey had a good feeling about when the drafted him. He was their 1st rounder back in 2005 but has played very well as a rookie with the Devils this season. He scored 6 goals and 7 points in December and is now 3rd in rookie scoring. And these aren’t just easy goals he’s scoring – 5 of those goals in December were on the powerplay, and one was a game-winner. He’s now got 8 PPG’s on the year and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him finish the year as the number one rookie goal-getter on the powerplay.

Michael Del Zotto (NYR) – Del Zotto has 20 points in 38 games this season, which is good for 4th in rookie scoring (tied). Offensively, he’s done more than the Rangers expected him to do but defensively, he still has some work to do – since November 27th, he’s -14.

Semyon Varlamov (WSH) – Despite missing most of the most with a groin injury, Varlamov won both of his starts in December, giving him a record of 12-1-2 for the season and a sizzling 2.21 G.A.A. Perhaps the biggest achievement in Varlamov’s rookie season to date was being named to Russia’s 2010 Olympic Team.

Tuukka Rask (BOS) – Like Varlamov, Rask didn’t play much in December, going 2-1 in only three starts in the month. His record for the year stands at 9-3-2, but with Tim Thomas back from injury, it’s unknown how many games he’ll get to play in the second half of the year. Still, he’s one of the best backup goalies in the league.

New Mentions in December

Jamie Benn (DAL) – Jamie Benn has really turned into a great player for Dallas. He has 20 points in 38 games this season, which puts him in a tie for 4th among rookies scorers. I really wouldn’t be surprised to see Benn challenging Duchene for 2nd place in the rookie scoring race by the end of January.

Dan Sexton (ANA) – Where did Dan Sexton come from? He joined the Ducks on December 4th, and has put up 8 points in only 11 games. Sexton was an undrafted player who began the year in the ECHL. He moved up to the AHL, and then joined the Ducks where he scored 4 times in his first 5 games. No wonder Anaheim kept him around! While the media made a big deal about Tyler Bozak and Matt Gilroy as the best unsigned players in college hockey last spring, they forgot about Sexton, who was quickly inked by the Ducks in April.

Honourable Mentions for November

Evander Kane (ATL), Artem Anisimov (NYR), Jason Demers (SJS), Davis Drewiske (LAK), Mathieu Perreault (WSH) and Matt Gilroy (NYR)

In summary, at the halfway point in the year, I think Tyler Myers holds the inside lead for the Calder trophy, closely followed by John Taveres, with Nik Bergfors and Jamie Benn making strong runs through the end of the first half of the year.

Your Reporter in the Field,

Fantana

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NHL Christmas Wish List

December 24th, 2009

It’s that time of year where kids all across the world have spent weeks perfecting their Christmas Wish Lists before sending them straight to the North Pole. Well, the NHL community is no different, as players, teams, and General Managers have been busy doing the exact same thing. At Stayclassy.net, we’ve obtained wish lists from some of hockey’s best and brightest. Enjoy!

  • Ilya Kovalchuk: To be traded
  • Montreal Canadians: Centennial Anniversary season mulligan
  • Ottawa Senators: Some powerplays
  • Jim Balsillie: Three-way cage match with Judge Redfield T. Baum & Gary Bettman
  • Stan Bowman/Chicago Blackhawks: A copy of the NHL’s CBA and a calculator to figure out remaining team cap space
  • Patrick Kane: Calculator to compute proper tips for future cab rides
  • Jason Spezza: Dany Heatley back
  • Alexander Ovechkin: Oven mitts to handle hot sticks
  • Stayclassy.net: More accurate Ottawa Senators Game Day predictions
  • Toronto Maple Leafs: No more games against Buffalo
  • John Tortorella: New GM, season-ending injury to Wade Redden, and for James Duthie to stop talking about him
  • Sean Avery: Congratulate Martin Brodeur with a handshake for his 104th career shutout
  • Ron Wilson: Howard Berger to get fired
  • Boston Bruins: Taylor Hall
  • Vesa Toskala: A bigger glove
  • Carey Price: A glove without a whole in it
  • Brian Elliott: Ditto for what Toskala and Price wanted
  • Bob Gainey: Players to stop asking me about their contracts before the summer
  • Craig MacTavish: For James Duthie to stop asking me about Dustin Penner
  • Phil Kessel: For Geico to stop hiring Kessel lookalikes in their caveman–themed TV commercials
  • Brian Burke: My 1st Round pick back
  • Phil Kessel: For Brian Burke to stop asking for his 1st Round pick back

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays hockey fans!

Your Reporter in the Field,

Fantana

Follow Fantana on Twitter or become a Stayclassy.net fan on Facebook.

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Are the Toronto Maple Leafs for real?

December 14th, 2009

After the Toronto Maple Leafs raced out to the worst start in franchise history, they quickly became the laughing stock of the NHL. They were the bud ends of many jokes and even us Stayclassy guys had some fun at their expense.

Ron Wilson of the Toronto Maple Leafs has some classy quotes

Ron Wilson of the Toronto Maple Leafs

As of Monday morning, the Leafs have gone 8-3-1 in their last twelve games and many die-hard Leafs fans are suggesting that Toronto are on the verge of tearing up the league. Hmm, really? I’m not sure if I’m buying that just yet. Over the past week or so, I’ve even heard discussion that Toronto have a good chance to finish in the top 4 in the Eastern Conference come playoff time. Huh? Wasn’t this the same team that, approximately a month ago, were said to have less than 2% chance of making the playoffs? Regardless, I’m going to dissect Toronto’s season to date and attempt to provide an accurate assessment where the Leafs are right now and where they’ll likely finish at the end of the year.

When Brian Burke revamped the Leafs and injected the team with a heavy dose of truculence and belligerence, we all knew that the 2009-2010 edition of the Maple Leafs would be a very different looking team. Toronto started the year a league-worst 1-7-1, and it’s safe to say that’s not what anybody expected. In fact, Toronto lost their first 8 games in a row, including 7 straight without registering a single point. Despite the brutal hockey the Leafs played, it’s probably fair to say that they weren’t as bad as they looked. Clearly, there was a lack of chemistry on the ice and in the dressing room. Players like Mike Komisarek and Luke Schenn were trying to do too much and it ended up costing Toronto big-time, as 6 of those first 8 losses saw the Leafs give up 4 goals or more.

The losses continued to pile up for Toronto, but the good news was that at least they were getting some points. Toronto lost each of their next 4 games in overtime and it looked as though they were making some progress. The YTD record now stood at 1-7-5 – yep, still last place and Leafs fans were becoming increasingly frustrated with the team.

Phil Kessel makes his classy debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs

Phil Kessel makes his classy debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs

Hope was on the way, as Phil Kessel made his long-awaited and highly anticipated debut. To call him the Leafs saviour might be a little much, but then again, things definitely changed once he got into the lineup. Toronto’s lineup finally had one of the game’s elite, game-breaking players. His presence on the ice drew the attention of the opposing team’s top defenders, which in turn, freed up some time and space for Toronto’s other forwards. Toronto showed some jump in their stride and began the Phil Kessel era 2-0-1, essentially doubling their total number of points for this season. If I recall correctly, Brian Burke was officially labeled a genius for the Kessel trade around this time, although this remains to be seen.

Toronto began another cold streak as the Kessel buzz wore off. Their next eight games netted them only 5 points, which was equal to the number of regulation losses they endured in that same time. Consequently, they fell further away from that elusive playoff spot that Burke said they’d challenge for. Many of these losses featured extremely questionable goaltending from the duo of Jonas Gustavsson and Vesa Toskala. Then something happened – yes, another OT loss. This loss was against the New York Islanders., but really, Toronto deserved to win the game. They outshot the Islanders 61-21 and if not for the brilliance of Dwayne Roloson, probably could’ve won the game by 10 goals. This loss seemed to spark something in Toronto. It was almost like the forwards suddenly realized what they needed to do to score goals and the goaltenders rapidly learned how to stop pucks.

That brings us to Toronto’s latest 10 games, where they’ve gone 7-3 and have restored their fans faith that yes, Toronto are not quite as bad as we thought they were. They were scoring more goals than they were allowing and for the first time all season, were getting some timely goaltending from both goalies. The Leafs moved up to 28th in the NHL in this time.

All of this begs the question, where does Toronto stand now? Well, 32 games into the season, they’re tied for 13th place in the Eastern Conference with Philadelphia (Flyers have 2 games in hand), but only 4 points out of 8th place. That’s the good news. The bad news is that there are 5 teams between Toronto and 8th place Montreal. You get the sense that for the Maple Leafs to leap-frog all of these teams, they’re going to have to win 70% of their remaining games this season. They also need to find a way to win at home – they have the second lowest number of home wins in the league (5 – only Florida has less with 4), as well as the second lowest point total at home. Not good.

The main problems the Leafs need to avoid are the prolonged scoring droughts and losing streaks that have plagued them so far this year. They have this strange affinity to go down by a couple of goals early in the game and they seem to wait until the last 10 minutes of a game before they wake up and attempt to equalize the game. Sometimes this works, but most of the time it doesn’t.

With so many teams ahead of them, I’d be quite surprised to see the Leafs wind up in 7th or 8th place come April, let-alone the 4th place finish I heard talk of earlier this week. Let’s be honest, Toronto are not a 4th place team. They’re not anywhere close to the standard of teams like Washington, Pittsburgh or New Jersey and it’s just foolish to think that they are. I’m not even convinced they’re an 8th place team, especially when I look at the standings and see teams like the Rangers, Lightning and Flyers all ahead of them, none of these three teams are currently in the top eight in the Eastern Conference. I don’t believe the Leafs couldn’t beat any one of those three teams in a best-of-7 series either.

At the end of the season, Toronto are very likely to finish in that same 11th or 12th place spot that they’ve hovered around for the past few years. Toronto are a team on the rise, there’s no doubt about that, but they’ve got a lot of work to do to become a legitimate playoff contender. Winning 7 of 10 games doesn’t make you a 4th place team or an 8th place team. The harsh reality is that Toronto are exactly where we expected them to be, and perhaps more importantly, they are going to stay there for the balance of the year.

Your Reporter in the Field,

Fantana

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