All Star Weekend--NHL Topics

So as we come into All Star weekend, many people get to sit down, take a deep breath and look at all that’s gone on so far. For many teams it’s time to re-evaluate themselves and prepare for a playoff push. For others it’s time to begin planning for this summer as there is no hope of a post season game. For the last group, it’s time to rest and prepare to defend their position, and prepare for the post season. So here are a few hot topics in the NHL going into the All Star break.

I don’t know if anyone else knew this, but the NHL introduced a new rule for All Star game appearances this season. The new rule states that if a player is to miss the All Star game due to injury, they must either miss a game before the break, or after. So guess what?! Crosby, Lidstrom and Datsyuk will all be missing a game after the All Star break. Crazy...

It’s true, as everyone guessed, and some (ducks fans of course) hoped wouldn’t happen, J-S Giguere is suffering horribly with the smaller pads. Going from a .922 save percentage last season to .904 currently. His GAA is also up at 3.08, compared to 2.12 last season. He is 12-12 so far, while so-called backup Jonas Hiller shines with a save percentage of .930, and a GAA of 2.06. Looks like Giguere is slowly becoming second fiddle to Hiller.

Staying on the Ducks, Pronger and Neidermayer also seem to be slowly waning. Age seems to have finally caught up to the both of them, which doesn’t make me (an Oilers fan) sad in the least. Currently Pronger and Neidermayer sit at a combined -7! Compared to a career combined +330! Maybe the Ducks should invest into some younger talent soon...

The great debate wages on. Can the Columbus Blue Jackets finally pop their playoff cherry?! Currently sitting on the outside looking in at 10th in the West. It seems that it’s an uphill battle for the Blue Jackets. Yet I would go as far as saying this is probably one of the best, if not the best, Blue Jackets team yet. Will they make it? Sorry Jackets fans, but I don’t see it happening.

What’s hurting the Edmonton Oilers the most right now? Is it goal scoring? Yes but it has improved as of late, and they sit in the middle of the league for GF/Grand Total GF. Is it the goaltending? Well the goaltending certainly hasn’t been stellar, but it hasn’t been horrible either. Dwayne Roloson has been fairly solid in net for the Oilers so far, and the 3 headed goalie monster is now slayed. So what then is all the trouble? Penalty Killing. The Oilers sit 3rd worst in the league with a 76.3% efficient PK. If the Oilers could only improve this, then we might see them work their way a little higher in the standings.

When is Dan Waddel going to get fired?! This guy is a complete moron. He has to trade Ilya Kovalchuk, the guy is a free agent two summers from now and they would most likely get the best return for him this year, and why wait anyway?! It would be better to bomb and get either Hedman or Tavares (in Atlanta's case id want Tavares, and bring up Esposito and pair them together again). Atlanta needs to rebuild, NOW! They got Bogasian last year which was a great pick, but they need to grab a few younger blue chip prospects. Trading Kovalchuk would be great because it would bring in most likely a boatload of prospects. There would be many takers and many quality packages out there for Kovie; however, Waddel is not the man to pull the trigger.

Talking about management moves, the Pittsburgh Penguins need to move on and fire Michel Therrien. The Penguins have tons of youth and crazy talent in Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, yet they are wallowing on the outside of the playoffs. Therrien never did all too well in Montreal either and many believe he is too hard on his players. All in all change is probably a good thing for Pittsburgh and with Pat Quinn out there for the hiring......why not?!

I would like to ask a question....the Visnovsky for Stoll and Greene trade, who came out the winner? So far this season "LUBO" has 29 points in 46 games, and 4 powerplay goals. He is also a +6. Meanwhile in LA Jarret Stoll has just 24 points in 46 games, and Matt Greene has 8 points. They are a combined +12. The Oilers powerplay has been suffering, and their face-offs were, at are now getting better. The Oilers powerplay however has greatly benefitted from Visnovsky while Stoll hasn’t had nearly the same impact in LA. The Oilers may miss having a gritting stay at home defender like Greene, but the Oilers defensive corp. is one of the top scoring in the league. Edmonton is in 6th spot right now, while the Kings sit in 13th, 6 points back.

The next question I would like to pose, is simply at TD09 (trade deadline 2009) who will be buyers, and who will be sellers? Also maybe, who should be buyers, and who should be sellers.
Anaheim: Buyers
Anaheim needs another good post season run and they need more offense to do it.

Atlanta: Sellers
Duh! They should get rid of anyone over the age of 25 or has UFA status this summer.

Boston: Slight Buyers
Boston I already doing quite well without any outside help, yet they will take any more help at the right price.

Buffalo: Sellers
Even if the Sabres find themselves in 8th spot, they still need to rebuild their team. They have some good youth, but some veteran's need to go, as well as any UFA's.

Carolina: Buyers
They sit currently in 8th and I don’t see much movement, which means they will need help for the post season.

Calgary: Buyers
They will buy if they can get it, however, like Boston, they are doing fine already.

Chicago: Buyers
Chicago will try and go out the best of whatever is out there, this will be their first post season in a while, and they want to make the most of it.

Colorado: Sellers/Buyers
Colorado's glory days have gone, actually their long gone. This team needs to get young again, and trades will help. However if they find themselves in a playoff spot they will want a goalie badly.

Columbus: Buyers
Columbus needs help for a first time playoff push, problem is, where they will be before they get help.

Dallas: Sellers
Dallas also needs to head towards a youth movement, as Loui Erikson has proved; youth is the way to go. The injury to Brendan Morrow hurt them a lot; however the play of Brad Richards and Mike Ribeiro is cause for alarm.

Detroit: Buyers for the right price.
Just like Boston and Calgary, Detroit is fine the way they are, but they will still make a trade for the right price.

Edmonton: Buyers
Edmonton will need some help, offensive help that is. They may even pay a high price for it.

Florida: Buyers
Florida is a borderline playoff team, but they will want to get help to push them into the post season.

Los Angeles: Sellers
The Kings will get rid of anyone with UFA status if they can.

Minnesota: Seller
They will trade Marian Gaborik; it’s all a matter of what they get in return.

Montreal: Buyers
The Canadiens in their centennial season will do whatever they can to bring is as much help as possible.

Nashville: Sellers
The Pred's need to get rid of some excess players and start to rebuild.

New Jersey: Buyers
The Devils will get Brodeur back for the playoffs, but they might some help in other areas, I wouldn’t count them as major buyers, but a few small additions are probable.

New York Islanders: Sellers
They want either Victor Hedman or John Tavares, and they’ll do whatever they can to get either one.

New York Rangers: Buyers
The Rangers need defensive help and they will try their hardest to get it.

Ottawa: Sellers
A seller is what they should be, weather they do or not is yet to be seen. Mucklers job hangs in the balance....

Philadelphia: Buyers
They might be trying to lure Peter Forsberg back, but if they can’t get him then they will look elsewhere.

Phoenix: Buyers
The "Yotes" are in the playoffs to stay and they will make the most of it.

Pittsburgh: Buyers
The Penguins will buy, and buy soon. They want help ASAP, so they can get right back in the playoffs where they belong.

San Jose: Buyers
The Sharks are another team not needing a whole lot of help, but will buy for the right price.

St Louis: Sellers
Keith Tkachuks time in St Louis is over, he will be traded and hopefully for St Louis they will get some good players in return.

Tampa Bay: Sellers
Vincent Lecalvier will not be traded. End of story, however, Martin St Louis is a different story, as is just about everyone else on that team.

Toronto: Sellers
Just as everyone expects. The Leafs would have an orgasm if they were able to draft John Tavares, however, Luke Schenns brother Brayden is a good fit as well.

Vancouver: Buyers
The Canucks still have cap room even after signing Sundin, so they will be out there for some more help, except they may need it soon considering their recent trip BACK DOWN TO EARTH!

Washington: Buyers
Ovie and Co. are doing well, really well, and the Cap's will get more help, imagine Tkachuk centering Ovechkins line? Scary.....


If you go onto tsn.ca/nhl today, you will notice an article about the Canucks complaining about the amount of travel the NHL has been making them do recently. Apparently they blame their recent woes (2-8 in their last 10), on the fact that they have to travel so much! Are you kidding me?! Suck it up?! You are a professional team! They can’t get any more desperate. It’s sad actually.

Anyways that’s all I got today. Enjoy.

-Sporer