Burke a Leaf, Oilers steps to recovery

As anyone and everyone in the hockey world now knows, Brian Burke has signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs (or the center of the hockey universe they would like to think). What does this mean for the NHL? What does this mean for the Maple Leafs? Well I'm going to say that as of right now, not a whole lot. Burke will have a mountain to climb in rebuilding a floundering franchise that does not have the same youth setup as the Ducks did before Burke went there. Players such as Mikhail Grabovski, and Matt Stajan seem to be doing well as of late, but are they maybe just a flash in the pan? We have seen them disappoint in the past, who is to say that this is just a flash, and then its all over? The Leafs aren't exactly turning tons of heads, yes they are not in the basement yet, sitting in 11th and only 1 point ahead of the last place Lightning its not like they are far from the bottom.
The question most people are asking is what moves will Burke make in the near future. Well what does he have to work with? Cliff Fletcher kind of already cleaned most of the house getting rid of McCabe and Tucker, and a few others that had their their numbers written on the wall. However not what does Burke have to work with really? Jason Blake's big contract will not be attractive anywhere, especially with his current numbers. Pavel Kubina is a possibility, but again his massive contract does not justify his stats a whole lot and it would take a desperate team to trade much for him. Who do the Leafs have in the system? Well there definitely aren't any Corey Perry's or Ryan Getzlaf's on their way up, and the players on the roster already aren't nearly that kind of calibre players either. So who does Toronto build around?
One idea is to build around 18 year old Luke Schenn, but he doesn't exactly put up the points of a superstar defenseman (and might i mention he is a -8). Burke will have to pull a rabbit out of his hat for this one, and possibly something out of his rear end. There wont be any Chris Pronger gift wrapped trades for him, and certainly not a whole ton of young talent on its way. This shall prove to be the true test of just how good Brian Burke is as GM.


To the under performing Oilers. The Oilers take on the Blues today, and hopefully come back with a strong win, after the disappointing loss to LA on Wednesday. As my friend Smith pointed out very well, (aside from the rookies) the Oilers have a bunch of under performers and are in desperate need of goals and good goal tending. So the question stands, what to do? Many people will say to wait it out, the goals will come, the rookies will break out of their slump. True enough but how long do you wait? 21 games into the season and a losing record hurts. Yes the Oilers spent alot of time on the road, but that does not justify their play at home. Steve Tambellini has said that he gives the thumbs up to coach Mac T, but he didn't say anything about the players. So is there a trade brewing? Many people have rumored that Dwayne Roloson will not last the weekend. One can only hope the rumors are true as the Oilers desperately need to kill their three headed goalie monster. It is so hard for a goaltender to gain confidence when he has two others ready and willing to come on instead.
With that said, what exactly can we expect in return for Roloson, as my friend Smith stated earlier this week, the Oilers are past compiling draft picks from trades and need quality roster players. So does Roloson garner a quality roster player? Probably not. Which leads me to believe that maybe there is something bigger in the works. The Oilers scouts at the Toronto, Atlanta game garners even more trade talk. Many believe that Kari Lehtonen is on his way out as the Thrashers would rather hand the reins over to up-and-comer Ondrej Pavelec. Are the Oilers possibly dealing for Lehtonen? One would think that if that is so that one of either Roloson or Garon would be heading down through waivers and the other would have to be involved in some sort of trade. The only players i see as possibilities coming out of Atlanta that the Oilers would be interested in and Atlanta would be willing to give up are, RFA Colby Armstrong, and RFA Erik Christensen. Neither of these players seem very attractive however for the Oilers, one would say take what you can get, I beg to differ.
The Oilers need scoring bad. Hemsky is on pace for a career year which is wonderful, but he doesn't have anyone to bury the puck for him. The answer to all of this, is under performing perennial superstar Ilya Kovalchuk. He will be a UFA after next season, and like i stated, he is under performing this year. Also, he has not been the leader or cornerstone the Thrashers need. He is on pace for his worst goal scoring season to date (29 compared to 52, 42, 52, 41, 38), so here come the Oilers. They tried oh so hard to sign winger Marian Hossa last summer and that didn't work out. So why not forget him and just get another superstar winger? Possibly a better one?
Now your asking, OK but what exactly do the Oilers trade for Kovi, and what exactly would the Thrashers want in return. Well, the Thrashers are in that rebuilding stage (it has lasted a while), drafting Zach Bogasian was a step in the right direction, but in giving up Kovalchuk, they would hope to draft a blue chip forward. So the Oilers throw them a 1st round pick, and possible blue chipper, Robbie Schremp. Now of course that is not enough for such a superstar player and the Thrashers will need some forward help in the meantime. So a good idea would be to send them under performing winger Erik Cole, who would give them some size and who knows, maybe a change in scenery will jump start him. Another option that is less likely due to his contract is hulking forward Dustin Penner. Though if i were the Oilers i wouldn't give up on the big guy just yet. Lastly if the Oilers were to sweet talk enough, they may be able to throw in Roloson or Garon, and get Kari Lehtonen in return, if need be throwing in newly acquired yet slightly underachieving Lubomir Visnovsky (mostly because Souray is actually playing well).
This trade could benefit both teams as well. It would send a nice group of young forwards and the possibility of blue chip prospects to Atlanta, and giving them cap room for the summer spending spree. As for the Oilers, it would give them a scoring dimension not seen in Edmonton since maybe Jason Arnott, or even further back to Jari Kurri. Yes this is all just a pipe dream I know, but hey, its fun to dream, and you never do know....

Underperforming Oilers...

Ok, since Sporer has obviously taken a sabbatical from writing in our blog, I have taken that as a sign to write something that will hit a nerve in his body that will make him want to retaliate and actually write something of substance. Yes, you all know where this is going. While Sporer sees the Oilers glass as half full, I will take this opportunity to imagine that the glass is half empty (which in all honesty, it's actually like 80% empty). So, while Sporer may point out that he has 'hope' that the team will turn it around, the numbers suggest that they may need more then hope to turn it around...

The Oilers, when scoring first, get at least one point in two-thirds of their games. Thats not bad, but it ranks 18^th in the league; however, when the Oilers surrender the first goal they only collect points in 25% of their games, 20^th in the league (compared to SJ who collects points in 87.5% of the time when they trail first). In order to lead games, you have to score and the Oilers rank 26^th in the league with only 53 goals on the season (2.52 per game). With supposed perennial 30-goal scorers like Cole, Penner, Hemsky & Horcoff... It's Dman Sheldon Souray who leads the team with 7; that's a bright spot for Edmonton's Dmen, but a dim light on the Oilers forwards and their ineptitude in finding the back of the net. How else does someone find the back of the net? By shooting the puck. The Oilers, as a team, average 27 shots per game which ranks, yep, you guessed it, 4^th worst in the league.

So since the Oilers aren't scoring goals like they should be, they should be focusing on keeping them out of the net. While the goaltending has been a 3-headed monster, and fans saying loses aren't to be blamed on goaltending because the 'effort' is there, the Oilers are ranked 22^nd in the league giving up an average of 3 per game. An area that is essential in keeping goals out, is the penalty killing department; however, while this is a past Oiler strong point, it has been their weakness this year ranking 28^th out of 30 teams and only killing at a 75% rate. Edmonton was supposed to challenge for the division (and runaway with it, according to so many fans), but its the Flames and Wild who are atop and, low and behold, they are both ranked in the top 10 in PK. Another way to avoid being scored on is to not the opposition shoot on your net 33 times a game and rank 3^rd worst in the entire NHL.

Now, lets move on to a sensitive topic... playing at Rexall. Any NHL fan or expert will tell you that need to win 70% of your home games and 50% of your road games to be an elite team (that would give you 45-50 wins) and win your division. While the Oilers are on pace with winning on the road, they are horrible at home. In the eight games they have played at Rexall, they have only 2 wins to show. That's horrendous, especially when Rexall is known for being a hard building for opponents to win in. In fact, their 9 total wins are 2^nd worst in the entire conference.

Alright, now it's time to break down the 'physical play' or lack there of. The team as a whole is 3^rd worst in the league in hits with 326 (in comparison, the NYR lead the league with 684); however, with celebrated big men: Penner, Moreau, Staios, MacIntyre, Stortini, Souray and Cole, the Oilers haven't thrown the body enough. How important is 'throwing the body'? Well, 7 of the top 10 teams in hits are in the playoffs.

Ok, to wrap up the team portion of this blog, here are some other stats about the Oilers....
- 3^rd last in the NHL in face-off %
- rank in the top 10 in giveaways, but rank in the bottom 10 in takeaways
- 17^th in the league in total +/- (-3), every team in the top 10 is in the playoffs
- dead-last in 1^st period production with 11 goals, and 27^th in 3^rd period production with 16
- tied for last in home wins with 2
- Oilers are tied for 23^rd in bench minors (coaches hate those...)
- Oilers win only 40% of games when out-shooting opponents
- 3 of the top 5 Oilers in points are Dmen, not good (Hemsky, Souray, Horcoff, Visnovsky & Gilbert)

Lets pick apart some of the worst performers the Oilers have this year, but don't worry Sporer, Hemsky won't be included in this discussion; however, some of the others aren't so lucky. Before I even start, as of right now, the Oilers only have 2 players who are averaging over 50 points this season, Souray and Hemsky... Everyone else is on-pace for below 50 points. Thats Ridiculous. So, let the individual Oiler bashing BEGIN!

Dustin Penner – How could we not start with this human bag of douche? He's on pace for 16 goals & 23 points this year, while sucking 4.25 million from the Oilers cap space. Pure, unadulterated, highway robbery is what that is. Sure he leads the team with +7, but hes already been a healthy scratch twice! TWICE! That doesn't exactly instill confidence with the fans; however, there is light at the end of the tunnel, as after only 2 more years he is a UFA! Goodbye and good riddance.

Shawn Horcoff – Edmonton shelled out a HUGE contract extension for next season (7 F*CKING MILLION!!!) and hes producing like a 5^th grader would. He is on pace for 46 points and a whopping +4!!! Wow, what a great basket the Oilers have chosen to put their all their eggs into. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Hemsky needs a trigger man, someone who can score 40+ goals on a consistent basis and Horcoff is not that man.

Andrew Cogliano – I was going to lump all of the 'KID line' into one blurb, but I thought I would rip each one of them individually for being completely useless. He leads the kids in production with 9 points in 21 games, but thats about... 35 points over the year. Anyone see a rich man's Marty Reasoner in this guy? Great skater, good battler, but doesn't score at will nor is he a top 6 forward quality player: well, maybe in Edmonton he is...

Robert Nilsson – Here's what he is on pace for... 12G, 16A, 28PT, -20. Enough said.

Sam Gagner – 4 goals. Yep. That's what he is on pace for. You know, everyone knows how much Gagner has under-achieved and hes only 19, so I'm not going to pick on him that much, but how about lending some advice to get home going... Send him to Team Canada for the World Jrs. Maybe running up his point totals again will give him back his confidence in the NHL. Sometimes you need to take one step back to go two steps forward. Another thought, if he keeps on under-performing, maybe we can sign him at a discount when the time comes.

Erik Cole – Let's just lump him in with Dustin Penner and hope Edmonton packages these two douchers up for a 7^th rounder, because that would help the Oilers more then Cole is. They have played him on the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd lines... LW and RW... PP time... PK time... and he's still on pace for only 12 goals. Just three seasons ago, despite playing only 60 he put up 30 goals (41 over the course of a full 82 games). You wonder why Edmonton took a chance on an injury-prone winger with past neck problems...

Zach Stortini/Steve MacIntyre – Useless. The both of 'em. I understand their main objective is to add toughness and protect the skill players, but they are still on the roster and neither of them have a single point and are a combined -4. Why are we wasting a roster spot on someone who can't contribute to a win? Heck, even Big George Laraque averages 20 points a year over his career! Plus, if anyone saw MacIntyre get the crap pounded out of him by Eric Godard, then you would agree that that lose cancels out all his previous wins because it was so humiliating. And, any fighter with the nickname 'huggy bear', obviously is not a good fighter.

Marc-Antoine Pouliot – His 4 years in the QMJHL produced 268 points in 205 games. His 4 (ish) years in the NHL have produced 23 points in 99 games. Great scouting boys.

Kyle Brodziak – From a breakout 31 points last year to 3 this year. Is that even 4^th line material?

Mathieu Garon – Can someone tell me the difference between Garon and Marty Gerber in Ottawa? Both were expected to hold down the #1 job and make a deep run into the playoffs, but both have been relegated to playing half the games due to their inept play and their backups consistently performing well. His GAA is 3.41 and his S% is .889; those numbers rank him 40^th and 38^th out of 44 goaltenders. This was supposed to be his year to solidify himself as a legitimate #1, especially in a contract year, but all he has doneis lower his salary next year and made his future even more blurry...

Not all Oilers have earned a bad grade though (unlike Sporer's previous column, was he drunk?) Ales Hemsky, Sheldon Souray, Ethan Moreau, Tom Gilbert & Denis Grebeshkov have all improved in my eyes. Hemsky is finally on pace to actually SURPASS 20 goals (even though it's three years later then we all expected). Souray is on pace for just under 30 goals and 1 point off his career high. Gilbert and Grebs are set to have career years from 33 & 18 points to 43 & 32 respectively. And Moreau, possibly the most surprising Oiler, is set to reach 20 goals and set a career high in points with 40. Steve Tambellini has recently given his thumbs-up vote of confidence to MacT, so a coaching change is likely not coming any time soon; which leads me to believe that they are more then willing to change players much faster then their coaching staff.

Cheers.
-Smith

Greatest Playoff Team???

Ok, I don't know why I decided to do this, but I thought I would take a stab at creating the best Playoff Team. Now, I don't know squat about pre-expansion hockey (nor do I care too), so this is all relevant from the post-expansion era. Now, this team is built for winning (it has 65 Stanley Cups on it), not just on points or goals (although, the more you had, the better your chance was to get on the team). I have put together two primary scoring lines, a 2-way checking line and a utility line. I even went as far as to name a coach & his assistants. I included all-time greats, clutch performers and proven winners; of course half the team were easy picks (Gretz, Coffey & Roy), but there are some noticeable absences... There is no Guy Lafleur, Scott Stevens or Broadstreet Bullies. There was not enough room for the Chris Chelios', Jaromir Jagr's or Bryan Trottier's of the world. Cut from the team was Sergei Fedorov, Gary Roberts and Eddie Belfour. Also not making the team are perennial playoff heroes: Theo Fleury, Butch Goring, Eric Desjardins and the entire Legion of Doom. And possibly the biggest name left off the team was 'The Moose'. I just couldn't find a niche for him on the team: he doesn't block shots, he doesn't score OT winners and his 2-way game is less then desirable (it also didn't help that I had 4 Oilers already)... He may be the greatest captain of all time, but I think this team has enough leadership to make it through without him. Dominating my team are the high-flyin' Oilers of the 80s (4), the Dynasty from Detroit (4) and the ever-consistent Avs (5). I didn't pay too much attention to C or LW or RW, but I assume my team is like Team Canada, anyone lucky enough to be on it would gladly play any position I ask them too. So, let's get some discussion up in 'hur!!! What would you change? Who would you add and who would you replace? Is my team missing anything? Who would be the GM and what city is this team most suited for? Let the debate rage on!!!
Anderson
- 5th in career goals (93)
- 4th in career points (214)
- 3rd in career OT winners (5)
- 6 Stanley Cups in 11 yrs
- Clutch for Oiler Dynasty

Bossy
- 6th in career goals (85)
- 2nd in career PPG (35)
- 19th in career points (160)
- 4 straight Stanley Cups
- Goal-scoring Machine

Bourque
- 3rd in Dman career goals (41)
- 2nd in Dman career points (180)
- 5th in Dman points for one year (25)
- 2001 Stanley Cup
- Greatest Dman Ever?

Bowman
- 1st in career wins (223)
- 9 Stanley Cups
- Greatest Coach Ever

Brodeur
- 2nd in career wins (95)
- 2nd in career shutouts (22)
- 1st in lowest GAA (1.87)
- 3 Stanley Cups
- Roy's Successor

Coffey
- 5th in career points (196)
- 1st in Dman career goals (59)
- NHL Dman record points in one year (37)
- 5 Stanley Cups
- See Bourque

Drury
- 9th in active goals (46)
- 11 GWG in only 4 years
- 2001 Stanley Cup
- Earned the name 'Captain Clutch'

Forsberg
- 2nd in active goals (64)
- 2nd in active points (171)
- 2 Stanley Cups
- Unstoppable with a 2-way game

Gilmour
- 7^th in career points (188)
- 1 of 2 players to lead in scoring, no finals
- '89 Stanley Cup Winner
- 1 of 2 players to lead the playoffs in scoring, but not make the Finals

Gretz
- 1^st in career goals (122)
- 1^st in career assists (260)
- 1^st in career points (382)
- 4 Stanley Cups
- Greatest Ever

Hasek
- 10^th in career wins (65)
- 4^th in career shutouts (15)
- 4^th in lowest GAA (2.03)
- 2002 Stanley Cup
- 1996-2002, Greatest Stretch Ever?

Hitchcock
- 9^th in career wins (66)
- 1999 Stanley Cup
- Great Defensive Mind

Hull
- 19 consecutive playoffs
- 3^rd in career goals (103)
- 2^nd in GWG (24)
- 1^st in career PP goals (38)
- Deadly Offensive Weapon

Kurri
- 3^rd in career goals (106)
- 3^rd in career points (233)
- NHL record 12 goals in one series
- 5 Stanley Cups
- Gretz' Wingman

C. Lemieux
- 9^th in career goals (80)
- 4 Stanley Cups
- Cups with 3 diff. Teams
- Clutch in the Trenches

M. Lemieux
- 10^th in career goals (76)
- 5^th in career PP goals (29)
- record points in game (8)
- 2 Conn Smythe Trophies
- Second only to Gretz

Lidstrom
- 1^st Euro Captain to win Cup ('08)
- Never missed playoffs (16 years)
- Conn Smythe in 2002
- 4 Stanley Cups
- Greatest European Ever

MacInnis
- 4^th in Dman career goals (39)
- 3^rd in Dman career assists (121)
- 4^th in Dman career points (160)
- Made 19 of 20 playoffs when healthy
- PP Specialist

Potvin
- 2^nd in Dman Career goals (56)
- 3^rd in Dman career points (164)
- 14 straight playoffs
- 4 straight Stanley Cups
- Backbone of those 4 Straight Cups

Robinson
- 20 consecutive playoff appearances
- 6^th in Dman career points (144)
- '78 Conn Smythe Winner
- 6 Stanley Cups
- Unparalleled Playoff Experience

Roy
- 1^st in career games (247)
- 1^st in career wins (151)
- 1^st in career shutouts (23)
- 4 Stanley Cups
- Greatest Goalie Ever?

Sakic
- 8^th in career points (188)
- 1^st in active goals (84)
- 2 Stanley Cups
- Mr. Consistent

Sather
- 6^th in careers wins (89)
- 5 Stanley Cups
- Mastermind of Offensive Dynasty

Yzerman
- 9^th in career points (185)
- 10^th in career assists (115)
- 4 Stanley Cups
- Mr. Everything

Now, I figured the lineup would look something like this...

Hull - - - - - - Gretzky - - - - - - Kurri
Anderson - - M. Lemieux - - - Bossy
C. Lemieux - Sakic - - - - - - - - Forsberg
Drury - - - - - Yzerman - - - - - Gilmour

Coffey - - - - - - Bourque
Robinson - - - - Lidstrom
Potvin - - - - - - MacInnis

Roy
Hasek
Brodeur

Head Coach: Bowman
Ass. Coach: Sather & Hitchcock


Cheers.
-Smith

NHL All-Star Festivities...

The NHL All-Star game turns 62 years old this year and is being hosted by the Montreal Canadians, as part of their 100 year celebration. History could be made as all six starting positions could be filled by Montreal players, which would eclipse the 1986 Edmonton Oilers who had five players voted in. While some people think that is unfair and fans are 'stuffing the ballot', to those people I say... Yea, you are probably right, but that's what you get when you make a stupid rule like fan balloting. Whats next, have Maggie the Monkey pick All-Stars too? In light of the All-Star game coming around, I thought I would give a quick rundown on hockey's All-Star showcase.

1940s - The first All-Star game was in 1947 and, oddly enough, was played three weeks into the season. Could you imagine, three weeks into the year?! Guys like Aaron Voros and Brandon Dubinsky would have been shoe-ins! The league also decided that the format for the annual game would be the Defending Stanley Cup Champs vs. Rest of the League All-Stars, AND the Cup Winner would also host the game too! Yikes. That would be a lot of New Jersey and Detroit All-Star games, heck, as least with the Wings not being able to play on the All-Star team, maybe more Oilers would be selected... Naaaah! Movin' on to the '50s!

1950s – The All-Star game got it's first face lift by 1951, as a new system was adopted. The format would have the 1^st team All-Stars vs. The 2^nd team All-Stars. The rest of the rosters for the 1^st team would be filled by American team players, and the 2^nd team roster was filled by Leafs and Habs players. Weird. That lasted for two seasons, then went back to the original format of the '50s. The game was also criticized for being too early in the year and had to compete with the World Series and NFL season, which caused a columnist to write that the All-Star game be played in mid-season AND have the fans choose the starting lineup, much like the MLB All-Star game. Hmmm... Fast forward to the '60s!

1960s – The shift to a mid-season game was complete, to much scrutiny and debate. Since the 1^st and 2^nd team All-Stars were chosen at the END of the previous season, it would be 8 or 9 months before they played in the All-Star game, which meant that they may have gotten worse and may not be All-Stars anymore. The '60s also featured the first All-Star MVP (won by Eddie Shack in '62). The final game of the 60s lead to the current East vs. West format, as well as rotating cities playing host to the All-Star events. Now, light up a doobie and roll with me into the '70s... Gnarly...

1970s – The '70s brought us face lifts, feminism and a re-birth of international hockey! In 1979, the NHL held a three-game mini-series between the NHL's best vs. the USSR's best. The NHL lost 2-1 (with an embarrassing 6-0 defeat in the 3^rd game), but fans were rewarded with fan balloting! Yay! However, not everyone was pleased with the All-Star game, as players regularly declined invites in order to rest and prepare for a Stanley Cup run. The '70s also brought the first time the NHL All-Star Game MVP would be rewarded with a car/truck! Let's drive on over to the '80s...

1980s – Honorary captains were introduced in 1985 and fan balloting became a regularity as a way to hype the media of the mid-season game. 1987 brought about more international hockey as Rendezvous '87 (a 2 game series this time) was held and pitted the Soviet Union vs. NHL All-Stars (ending 1-1). 1985 would also see the Edmonton Oilers have 8 players (Gretz, Moog, Fuhr, Krushelnyski, Kurri, Anderson, Coffey, Lowe) and 1 coach (Sather) in the All-Star game. And Sporer complains that 6 Habs are going to be in the All-Star game... Anyways, onward to the '90s!

1990s – The '90s would introduce a skills competition; however, the All-Star game would take a hit as '95 gave us a lock-out (which obviously solved nothing, as we had another one 10 years later). 1998 also gave us a change in the format as East vs. West would change into (my personal favorite) North America vs. The World. The '90s also gave us our 1^st three-time All-Star MVP winner as Mario Lemieux took home his 3^rd in 1990, Gretz would equal him in '99. The 90's also introduced an old-timers game, but no one really paid much attention to that. Time to Y2K ourselves into the new millennium!!!

2000s – The game reverted to the East vs. West format, but suffered a severe blow as '05 was a lockout year (Thanks Bob and Gary) and '06 was the travesty known as Turin, Italy (way to go Canada, you really earned that 7^th place finish). One bright spot would be in 2001, as a record 26 goals were scored in North America's 14-12 victory over The World.

Here are some quick stats...
Most Appearances – Gordie Howe, 23
Most Points (All-time) – Wayne Gretzky, 25 (13G 12A)
Most Points (one game) – Mario Lemieux, 6
Most Hosts – Montreal Canadians, 12
Most MVPs – Mario Lemieux & Wayne Gretzky, 3

http://fanballoting.nhl.com/leaders

So, now that we I've gotten the brief history out of the way, let's get to the debate on this years contest... The only players that have been voted in that are not Habs or Wings are Phaneuf and Luongo. If you run down the West, I don't think I could disagree with any of it... Hossa, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Lidstrom round it out with Phaneuf and Luongo. Maybe the Sharks are getting a little bit of a snub, but could you really argue any of those 6 players are not more popular then any San Jose player? Because, really, isn't that all the All-Star game fan balloting is, a popularity contest? Of course it is, Why do you think Sergei Gonchar is 4^th in Eastern Dmen, but he hasn't played a single game all year long? And something tells me, if Edmonton was hosting the game, Sporer would be the one stuffing ballots and Hemsky, Souray & Horcoff would be starting, haha. I don't think I have an issue with fan balloting, my issue comes with needing every team to be represented. There are 22 All-Stars per team (12FW, 6D, 3G) and 15 teams to choose from. If Detroit has (at least) 6 on their team alone, then how can you pick one from a last place team? How can a last place team have an All-Star on it? Either, hes the most selfish player wanting only to pad his own numbers, or hes the lowest caliber All-Star ever! Atlanta, LA, Florida, NYI, St Louis, Phoenix and Dallas may have former All-Stars on their rosters now (Kovi, Kopitar, Bouwmeester, Guerin, Kariya, Jokinen, Turco), but that doesn't mean they are having an All-Star year now, because if they were, THEIR TEAMS WOULDN'T BE OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS! So there, that's my All-Star rant...

On a side note, did anyone see Kovi drop the gloves against White of TO?! Not much of a tilt, but isn't it refreshing to see someone score 40 goals AND be able to back it up? I mean, hes no Iginla or Lecavalier I'll admit, but he throws the body and is willing to drop the mitts when push comes to shove. Just think how many goals this guy would have if he wasn't stuck in the depth of Atlanta, Heatley got out and scores back-to-back 50 goal years. The Leafs say they want to get younger and re-build, could you imagine Kovi, Grabovski and Antropov together? Calling Mr. Burke...

Cheers
-Smith

Monday Morning Recap

Has anyone seen the Guitar Hero World Tour commercial with Kobe, Michael Phelps, A-Rod and Tony Hawk? Good Commercial. Now, has anyone seen the Guitar Hero World Tour commercial with Heidi Klum? Better commercial. Now, has anyone seen the director's cut of the Heidi Klum version? No? Well today is your lucky day. Behave.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4x1ORED5uY

On a side note, here are my NHL thoughts for the week...

1 a – Daily Oiler Bashing: Edmonton lost to Detroit twice in a one week span. I understand the first loss on the road, fine, but the second at home within a week?! Did the Oilers and the staff not learn anything, especially coming off the big win against Columbus? Did they not know that Detroit shoots about 40 times a game, controls the neutral zone at will and rarely turns the puck over? I don't understand how they didn't make the necessary adjustments...

1 b – I don't understand how people can say that Roloson is our #1 goalie. Being a #1 is all about getting results. I understand Roli is playing well and giving it his 110% effort, but that doesn't equal wins and doesn't get Edmonton to the playoffs. Roli is 3-3-2, Garon is 3-5-0. Deslauriers is 3-1-0. Will the real Oiler goalie please stand up.

1 c – Since it's my blog and I can skew the stats however I want... the Oilers are only 1 point back of the playoff race... but are only 4 points from being in the Western Conference basement... Oh my Dallas Stars... how the mighty have fallen... * sigh *

2 – First Brodeur, now Luongo. Whose next, Lundqvist? Jersey has gone 5-4-0 (30GF, 27GA) without Brodeur, but I'm hesistant to think the Canucks can have the same success. Demitra has been a big lift to the Sedins since he has come back and they will have to continue to score because, frankly, they'll need to win games 6-5 instead of 2-1 now...

3 – The recent trend this year seems to be new(er) 3^rd jerseys. With my bias being the Oilers, I'll exclude them in my top 3... LA (gotta love the old-school grey & black), Ottawa and San Jose (that shark looks pretty wicked).

4 a - I saw a recent poll that asked who was the Best Forward of the 2003 Draft... Ryan Getzlaf, Zach Parise, Thomas Vanek, Mike Richards or Eric Staal.
I think I'm going to rank them... Getzlaf, Vanek, Staal, Richards, Parise.

4 b – The same poll asked about the Best Dman of the 2003 Draft... Dion Phaneuf, Brent Seabrook, Braydon Coburn, Ryan Suter or Brent Burns.
I think I'm going to have to go... Phaneuf, Burns, Coburn, Seabrook, Suter.

5 a – Here are some stats to chew on... There are 44 players on a point-per-game pace... There are 21 teams that are .500 or better... Boston and Vancouver, as a team, are +20; Colorado, St. Louis and Calgary are all -12... The highest attendance this year is 22, 690 (Detroit 6 @ Chicago 5), the lowest is 10,183 (Dallas 5 @ NYI 3)... Players are 6/16 on penalty shots...

5 b – Top 5 College Hockey Factories

		# of Current NHL Players	Notable Players
1.	Univ. Of Michigan Wolverines	21	Marty Turco, John Madden, Mike Knuble, Brendan Morrison
2. (tie)	Univ. Of Wisconsin Badgers	14	Chris Chelios, Curtis Joseph, Brian Rafalski, Dany Heatley
2. (tie)	Univ. Of North Dakota Fighting Sioux	14	Jason Blake, Mike Commodore, Zach Parise, Jonathan Toews
4.	Boston College Eagles	13	Brian Gionta, Bill Guerin, Marty Reasoner, Brooks Orpik
5. (tie)	Boston Univ. Terriers	12	Keith Tkachuk, Rick DiPietro, Chris Drury, Jay Pandolfo
5. (tie)	Michigan St. Univ. Spartans	12	Rod Brind'Amour, Bryan Smolinski, Ryan Miller, Shawn Horcoff

5 c – For the 2^nd time this year, Mike Ribeiro has given us a gem of a shootout deke. Although he didn't score, he did have Hiller beat and it would have just been ridiculous if he had scored. The clip is only 26 seconds, check it out...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECXJIaskhQA

Here are my non-NHL thoughts for the week...

1 – The year's BEST psych-out. You absolutely need to watch this clip. I can't even explain the intensity. It's the Rugby World Cup final between Australia (the Red Wings of rugby) and New Zealand (more like Sens of rugby, a good team, but just can't get over the hump) in Australia. The Kiwi's do a 'haka' before the match as a ceremonial prayer (much like a national anthem) and the other team is supposed to act accordingly: some teams go into a huddle, some teams turn their backs and others actually stand and listen. Watch what the Aussie's do. Listen to the crowd, you can't even hear the players yelling. I can only really compare to... If Canada were singing the national anthem, and the Americans got right up in their face while they were singing, could you imagine the emotion and drama? Goosebumps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xF_lreyADM&eurl=http://uk.truveo.com/Australia-New-Zealand-Haka-Face-Down-Rugby-League/id/1851838134

2 – Hey, Drew, USC for life. They moved up to #5 this week (Thanks, Texas Tech) in the BCS. The top 4 are in their sights with #53 Notre Dame (how did they do this past week Drew? Oh right, a humiliating 24-23 lose to #108 SYRACUSE!!!) and #69 UCLA. Brett, we just need to pray to the BCS Gods that #27 Oregon can upset #17 Oregon St.

3 a – Hallelujah Adam Vinatieri! A 51-yarder, with no time left, to win the game for the Colts. They are 7-4, have won 4 straight and (because of tie-breakers) guess who is on the outside of the playoff picture looking in... oh would you look at that! It's the Patriots! Quite the turn-around isn't it, Sporer? On a side note, I beat the Pats 38-0 in my NFL 2K5 dynasty.

3 b – Did anyone even care there was a Grey Cup game on yesterday? I mean, I watched the game because I'm a sports fan, but I certainly wasn't into it. I just hate Calgary so much... and Montreal for that matter, plus when you throw in the 'Riders, BC and Toronto and I actually hate over 60% of the league. I think I might actually hate the league itself. Henry Burris was labeled as 'not being able to win the big game', but Anthony Calvillo is 1-5 in Grey Cups... So... Who actually can't win the 'big game'?

4 – Spanish sensation Sergio Garcia is #2 in the world rankings of golf. I adore him. Spanish sensation Rafael Nadal is #1 in the world rankings of tennis. I wish him to be struck dead. Fernando 'El Nino' Torres plays for the Spanish national soccer team. I love him. Fernando 'El Nino' Torres plays for Liverpool FC. I wish death upon him. Spanish athletes confuse me.

5 – Taco Bell is just not as good as Taco Time and I'll give you three good reasons why: 1. Taco Bell uses a beef like paste rather then real meat... 2. Taco Time has 99 cent Taco Tuesday... 3. Taco Time has a cactus as its logo, those are Mexican. Was the bell created by a Mexican? No. So, what the heck does a bell have to do with Mexico or tacos?

Cheers.
-Smith

p.s. Barry, I'm glad our friendship is still in tact.

Crazy Potentials!

So I was crazy bored the other day so I was looking at tsn.ca's stats on players. TSN does something pretty cool no other sports website does for the NHL. TSN gives you the stats that the particular player is on pace for. For example, Ales Hemsky is on pace for 20 goals and 86 points. Not to shabby. So I was thinking to myself, there must be some players who have some crazy good potential stats right now, and some who don't. So here is a small list of some crazy potential stats for you.
Shea Weber (D) current: 10 goals 11assists, on pace for: 40goals and 44assists!
Evgeni Malkin (C) current: 7goals 24assists, on pace for: 28goals and 98assists! that's 127points!
no goalie is on pace for over 43 wins!
Patrick Kane is on pace for 107 points! That's a major upgrade from his 72 points last year!
Thomas Vanek, Patrick Sharp, Jeff Carter, Alex Semin, and Zach Parise are all on pace to break 50 goals! Talk about a turnover! All of those players are brand new to the 50 goal mark!
Derek Brassard is on pace to take the rookie race by force with 34 goals and 85 points!
Teemu Selanne is on pace to score 33 powerplay goals!
As Simon Gagne is on pace to score 18 shorthanded goals!
Here are a few good Oiler potentials:
Sheldon Souray is on pace for 29 goals and 63 points! That's one point less then his career best 64 just two seasons ago.
Lubomir Visnovsky is on pace for 49 points.
Tom Gilbert is on pace for a career best 45 points.
And the bad ones:
Sam Gagner is on pace for a lowly 4 goals and 21 points, that's wayyyy down from his 49 points last year.
Shawn Horcoff is just barely on pace for 20 goals and 45 points.
Erik Cole is on pace for a horrible 12 goals and 28 points.
Now for the NHL bad potentials:
Alex Ovechkin is on pace for only 35 goals! That's almost half of what he had last year!
Ilya Kovalchuk is on pace for a career low 73 points!
Martin St Louis is only on pace for 17 goals!
True enough these are just mathematical predictions, but its always fun!

-Sporer

Saturday Night's All Right for a Fight!

Ok, I read that Toronto will only retire a player's number for someone, "who have made a significant contribution to the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and have experienced a career-ending incident while a member of the Maple Leaf team", which means that the Maple Leafs are the only team in the NHL unwilling to retire a players number based on performance. Let me take a minute to laugh at that, please. Just another reason why everyone hates the Leafs. So, instead of retiring the number, the player get their number 'honored'. Whoopty-Doo! They have decided to honor Wendel Clark, which is the basis of my blog...

Seriously, this guy? Honored number? Things must really be desperate in leaf-nation to honor a possible draft bust. He was taken as the #1 overall selection in 1985 (ahead of names like Richter, Nieuwendyk and Larionov) and only scored 441 points in 13 seasons (give or take) with the blue shirts; that doesn't even rank in the top 10 of all-time Leafs. In comparison, Doug Weight played about as many games in an Oiler jersey, had 136 MORE points then Clark and was a captain.

	GP w/ Franchise	Goals	Assists	Points	PIM
Clarke	608	260	181	441	1567
Weight	588	157	420	577	527

Weeellllll now, maybe Edmonton should honor his jersey too. Are you stupid? Because that idea is. Weight was nothing more then a good player, which is more then I can say for Clark. He never won an individual award, only topped 60 points in a season twice and certainly didn't bring Lord Stanley's cup back to Toronto. I heard he was regarded as one of, if not the, best captains in Maple Leaf history: you have got to be shitting me, he was captain for 3 years, then they shipped his raggedy ass to Quebec for some role players and a guy named Sundin. They talk about Clark being a man playing against boys... yea, a fragile man. He played 793 games in 15 NHL seasons, that's about 52 games per year, do you know what we call that in today's NHL? Injury-prone. Frail. Brittle. European. Just kidding on that last one, Europeans usually play smart, Wendel didn't do that.

Wendel once had a 271 PIM season that I would like to attempt to breakdown by guessing he had (about) 20 fights that year with (maybe) 10 fights being 10 minute-misconducts and (possibly) 10 being the usual 5 minutes. That's (give-or-take) 150 PIM dedicated to only fighting, okay I can't really live with that but lets pretend I can. What is up with the other 121 PIM?! That's 60 penalties for hooking, holding, slashing, high sticking etc... And he played 80 games that year, so basically, the coach knew he would have to kill off at least one Wendel Clark penalty every night. I thought leaders were supposed to show discipline? Guess not. Heck, I would much rather have had the next 2 guys AFTER Clark as my captain (some guys named Dougie and Mats).

(Yea, that's right. That's Clark in an Isles jersey. That's about as much respect as he's going to get from me...)

And let's all be honest here, it was a nice gesture by the Leafs to give out free mustaches as souvenirs, but Wendel doesn't even have the best mustache in hockey! That distinction goes to Sidney Crosby's petefile playoff 'stache from last years cup run (Lanny MacDonald doesn't get credit here because he played for Calgary and Toronto, and losers like that don't belong in my blog).

Also, on a bit of a side note but still relating to Wendel, how horrible was his 'tribute night'? I think it might have took all of about 10 minutes for: the tribute video, his speech, the ceremonial puck drop and the anthems. There was no line of former Leaf teammates to congratulate him (I didn't see Gilmour, Zezel, Borschevsky, Gill or Ellett there to shake Clark's hand), no skate around the rink for the fans to see him. No ex-coaches or ex-captains. In fact, I think the video was longer than his speech. I'm used to the Oiler ceremonies where the get the all the 'boys' together, dress up the inductee in old gear, have him lap around the rink, score a goal, wave to the fans. Rod Phillips gives a speech about the inductee with Sather & Muckler, among others, in attendance. It's like a family or a community where everyone rallies behind each other and celebrates together. The Leafs just didn't give me that same feeling about their franchise.

The Leafs-Hawks game is over now because of three players making three key plays in succession: 1. Havlat keeps the play alive by circling behind the net and having patience with the puck to wait for his Dman to open up 2. Duncan Keith opens up, walks the blue-line then fires a perfect slap-pass down low to David Bolland 3. Bolland fights off the Dman, out waits Toskala to go down and slides a spinning backhand underneath him. Toronto probably should have won this game, but hey, that's what happens when you honor someone who doesn't deserve to be.

Cheers.
-Smith

One Love......some reminiscing

With 3 minutes left in the final period (it was about this time)of game 3 of the division final. Casey Schellenberg, wound up his carbon one piece stick and let fly a shot destined for the upper left hand corner of the net. The ball seemed to hang in the air for a brief second as it passed the unaware goaltender and found the white mesh of the net. The ball was in! The game was tied! The Maroons were taking this one to overtime!!!! The Maroons went on to win that game soon after overtime started on a goal by Aaron Oevering. With a new season on the horizon, we must look back to some of the great moments of the 2008 Tier 4 Champions, The Maroons.

#19 Kyle Sporer sat in the penalty box (as he did a lot that year), with just 10 minutes left in the final period against the Wildcats. The score was 4-3 and the Wildcats were coming on. Brett Edwards stripped one of the Wildcats and rushed up the rink one on one with the goaltender. Brett went top shelf with a rocket. Brett leaped into the back boards, pumped like never before. The goal seemed to spark the Maroons as they went on to trounce the Wildcats, 9-4.

3 games into the brand new 2008 season the Maroons found themselves a lowly 1-2. However this night against HC Dynamo, the Maroons regular goaltender Chase Miciak, was away on holidays, so they had Drew Urqhuart called up to play. With a minute left in the third period, playing the team that would eventually be one of the worst teams in the league, HC Dynamo, the Maroons were down 3-2.In what would be a hotly contested and continuous issue for the entire season, the Maroons pulled their goalie and pulled the third line off the ice and put the first line on (which was not appreciated by some). With frustrated teammates on the bench, the first
line knew they had to score. Kyle Sporer won the faceoff and the Maroons maintained control in the offensive zone. 30 seconds left...the ball gets fed back to Scott Wilson on the point. Scotty rifles a shot at the net. As became customary throughout the season, Scott's shot missed the net high and left. The ball came bouncing hard off the end boards right to the left side of the net where Brett Edwards was standing. With the ball 2 feet in the air, Brett swatted it hard to the open right side of the net. The Maroons had tied it up! Aaron Oevering would later score a huge overtime goal to set the fire under this future championship team! Drew Urqhuart would go on to help the Maroons win thier next two games and eventaully take over the goaltending reigns, and win 13 games.

The Maroons found themselves down 3-2 to the then first place, Vipers. The game was a real hard fought battle. With chances going either way. Time was slowly starting to run out for the Maroons, and with around 4 minutes left a collision in the corner, and a marginal call, meant another penalty for #19 Kyle Sporer. However Kyle didn't take this one all too well, and angrily slammed his stick on the ground, the referee threatened to kick him out. Kyle was beyond mad at this point and slammed the gate to the penalty box as hard as he could. The referee signalled that Kyle was kicked out. It was kind of the breaking point for the Maroons, as they ended up losing the game 4-2. Kyle never seemed to play that same after his meltdown.

It was game 3 of the semi final series vs. the Swashbucklers, the first game had been forfeit to the Swashbucklers due to the Maroons using an illegal player (my bad, it was unforgivable I know). The Maroons stormed back however taking game 2. Now with a minute to go in game 3 the Maroons looked to be closing out the series, with a 3-2 lead it was almost a certain trip to the finals. Almost. A Battle was going on along the boards and #10 Steve Langer got dumped, no one knows what went through the mind of Aaron Oevering, but he ran over and hauled down a Swashbuckler. This resulted in a penalty in the final minute for the Maroons. The Swashbuckler made everything of the chance. Scoring they sent the game into overtime. Lucky for the Maroons they had Ryan White in their lineup. Overtime waged on for around 10 minutes before the Maroons rushed down the ice and with an absolutely booming slap shot, White beat the Swashbucklers goalie for the overtime winner.

There were many appearances by some great players throughout the season as well, so lets give a shout out to some great substitution players.

Jason Singh (enough with the behind the back passes)
Rich Smith (the younger better Smith)
James Mcteer (loved the bandanna)
John Mcteer (leaped off the bench to defend his teammate......and got a 5 game suspension for it)
Mike Mcdonald (loved the blue visor, though it lasted all but maybe 5 minutes)
Steve Langer (the Mike Bossy of ball hockey)
Clarke Jay (lol our illegal player, I'm sooooo sorry lol)
David White (in the over sized jersey, lol, just awesome)
James Higgs (played just about every position at one point)

Here are some other brief highlights:

Barry's first and only goal.
The brawl (when josh and john leaped off the bench).
Jordan Jeske's five goal game.
Drews mom tossing him out of the van halfway to the rink leaving us goalie less.
The wildcats goalie wearing a Canadian tire kids mask gets kicked out and Kyle Sporer scores 2 empty netters to help the maroons win 6-5.
Brett Edwards 3 hat tricks and one 4 goal game (talk about a pure goal scorer).
Jordan Jeske's electrifying second half of the season, he had only 7 goals in the first half, and 17 in the second half!

Well that's all, and I'm looking forward to the 09 season ahead for a lot more memories.
Peace
-Sporer

Goals Galore!

Ok, Ok, Ok. So, I know last nights blog wasn't all that inspiring nor very informative, my bad. But did you see the grill on that kid?! Wow. Anyways, I read that there are 7 players on pace of 50 goals in the NHL this season and it got me thinking about an earlier debate Sporer and I had on the greatest pure goal scorer. Now, I'm not going to name one or even rank them (in fact, I'm not even going to be opinionated on the subject... That's right, zero sarcasm. Snap.), but I thought I would pour through some stats and talk about some of the best and most electrifying goal scorers to ever lead the NHL in goal scoring...

Cecil Dye – you have to go all the way back to the 1920-21 season to find his first goal scoring title. He led the league three times in a five year span, with totals of 35, 26 & 38 goals.

Charlie Conacher – the NHL's first true goal scorer. He tallied 156 goals in five seasons where he was #1 in goals, his final being in 1936. Did I mention those five seasons were in a six year span?

There was a 10 year span when the consistency of goal-scoring dropped off and no player was able to lead the league more then twice, some of those players are Nels Stewart, Bryan Hextall and Doug Bentley. Now, I'm a pretty avid hockey fan and I consider myself to know more about the game then... I dunno... 95% of people I meet and I definitely don't know any of those guys I just mentioned above. Hallelujah for 1945!

Maurice Richard – Ok, maybe I was a bit hasty in naming Conacher the NHL's first true goal scorer. Richard took the NHL where it had never been before, with one simple word... Fifty. It's the mark that all great scorers shoot for in a season and it's the mark in which fans use to annoit a great scorer. In 1945, not only did he score 50, but set another benchmark for greatness, he did it all in 50 games. Although he wouldn't score 50 goals again (nor would the mark be equaled for another 16 years) The Rocket set his name in history as one of the best goal scorers ever.

Gordie Howe – led the league in goals five times over his 136 year career (close enough), but never did hit the magical 50 mark. I'm not a huge Gordie Howe fan... I'm actually not even a fan of him at all. So this is all he gets.

Bobby Hull – holds the record for having led the league in goals on seven different occasions and was the 2^nd person to hit 50 goals in a season (mind you it took him a 70 game schedule). He would go on to hit 50 goals 5 times in the NHL and another 4 times with the Jets in the WHA. To put it all in perspective, he led the NHL in scoring 47% of the time he played, Howe led for only 19% of the time he played.

Phil Esposito – it's just staggering. Ridiculous. Actually ridiculous. 6 seasons. 6 straight goal scoring titles, with every year having at least 43 goals (and a high of 76 goals, an NHL record at the time). Talk about consistency. He shattered Richard's record by 152% and its a record that has only been equaled by 5 other players. He is also the last player to ever lead the league in goals in 6 or more seasons.

After Esposito, the league went through a new phase of goal scorers. In the next twelve seasons, nine different players would go on to lead the league (a 3-way tie occurred in the 79-80 season) including: Reggie Leach, Steve Shutt, Guy Lafleur, Mike Bossy (twice), Blaine Stoughton, Charlie Simmer, Danny Gare, Wayne Gretzky (five times in four seasons, but im not writing about him because there is just too damn much to write. We all know he is the greatest player to ever lace up a pair of skates. End of story.) and Juri Kurri.

Mario Lemieux – scored 155 goals in his two seasons in which he led the league. The guy goes out and beats a goalie 5 different ways in one game (SH, even, PP, penalty shot, EN), then decides he wants to score 199 points in one season, THEN decides he wants to beat Hodgkin's lymphoma. Simply amazing.

Brett Hull – the Golden Brett. If his father is credited with making the slapshot a regular part of the game, Brett made the slapshot an integral part of the game. No one could hammer puck like Hull. Scored 50 in 50 twice, led the league 3 straight years, and is the only player to score 50 goals in a season at the NCAA, AHL and NHL levels. Honestly, what would Sawchuk do if he saw Hull open up in the slot, on a powerplay, for a patented one-timer? Brett's daddy would be proud.

After 91-92, Europe took over the NHL scoring charts and continue to dominate them today. Guys like Mogilny, Selanne (rookie record 76), Bure and Bondra won 5 of the next 7 season (Tkachuk and Lemiuex the others) and the Euro stranglehold hasn't let up since...

Pavel Bure – led the league on three separate occasions and is arguably the greatest Russian trained player to play in the NHL. His dangles are well documented and he holds the single season goal records for two different franchises (VAN and FLA). Plus, anyone who has banged Anna Kournikova knows how to 'score'. Ya, a sex joke in relation to hockey. What up.

Teemu Selanne – the Finnish Flash also led the league in goals three separate times (including his rookie record 76 in '93) and is the career leader for the Anaheim Ducks, but I often wonder how many he would have had if not for his partner in crime Paul Kariya...

Since Bure's win in 2000-01, there have been 7 different winners (Iginla twice & a 3-way tie in 03-04) in 6 seasons: Iginla, Hejduk, Kovalchuk, Nash, Cheechoo, Lecavalier & Ovechkin. Those 7 winners have combined to average 52 goals per campaign, almost half of what the NHL record is (92 goals in 81-82 by Gretz). Players like Alex O, Gino Malkin and Sid the Kid all have the potential to exceed 50 goals (Ovi already has), or exceed 60 (Ovi has, again), heck maybe even exceed 70 (something that hasnt been done in fifteen years), but what about this years crop of 50 goal potentials: Vanek, Semin, Parise, Gagne, Setoguchi, Carter & Hossa (I'm not counting Iginla, we already know he can break 50). Will any of these past champions or young guns reach the highest stratosphere as Gretzky or Hull? We have 60-odd games left to find out.

Cheers.

-Smith