The Battle of California

BoC 2.0 is LIVE

2008-12-08T12:58:00.000-08:00

Check it out at http://www.battleofcali.com/

Incidentally, if you count the two new posts we've already published on the new site, this new-site pointer now represents BoC's 1,500th published post. Huzzah!

SUPER BIG NEWS (Let's call it SBN for short)

2008-12-08T06:55:00.000-08:00

Yup, that's right. Some big-ass news.

Battle of California is moving to a new home. http://www.battleofcali.com/ (an SBN blog)-- though this link won't work until later today, I think. Once our new site is active, I'll add the link up above, but this does represent the final post of the blogspot site we've inhabited for some 2 1/2 years. That's right, we're selling out.

I guess the first topic to talk about is why we're moving over to SBN, and the answer is pretty much because James Mirtle asked. He's the guy who started this blog back in the day when I had no idea how to start a blog; more or less he's the reason this blog exists. Plus in the two years I've been monitoring blog traffic, roughly 10% of our traffic has come straight from his site, now at From the Rink. Mirtle has been amassing a set of team-specific bloggers to cover the 30 teams at SBN, and it's a pretty cool vision, one I'm willing to support...in spirit.

That's right. I went there.
You see, this is actually where we are letting Mirtle down, as he was originally hoping we could fill his Ducks and Kings vacancies. But I was pretty insistent on keeping our multi-team multi-author Voltron unit together -- as a blogger, I'm way too in love with the BoC dynamic. I'm very interested in the takes of Sharks and Kings fans, it turns out I enjoy writing for both Ducks haters and Ducks fans, and I'm also too lazy to carry a blog on my own.

We've arranged things to hopefully stay exactly as they are -- PJ will still be at Sharkspage, Mike Chen will still be at Kukla's Korner, James O'Brien will still cross-post at Cycle like the Sedins, and I'll still try to do a weekly cartoon at NHL FanHouse -- the way we interacted with BoC yesterday will hopefully be the way we interact with BoC tomorrow.

I'll apologize now for new bookmarks, new hyperlinks, new RSS feeds, new logins, and any other technical nonsense we'll run into because of this (which will all be entirely my fault -- the tech dudes at SBN have been kick-ass), but hopefully it's not too much a pain for anybody. There's some cool new functionality at SBN -- you can post your own FanPost or FanShot content, for one -- plus with the aforementioned kick-ass tech team, I think we'll find some benefit in the move. I do want to say though -- after two and a half years, I don't have anything bad to say about blogspot. They hosted our shit for free for years, and we'll keep this site as-is for as long as they continue that service. We are also in the process of migrating our archives over to SBN, though (one of the reasons we're not live just yet), just in case blogspot turns into a back-stabbing whore.

The last two years of blogspot traffic.
I'll update this post when the new site is fully active, but for now, while we're still just talking about it, it feels appropriate to give a little thanks. Thanks first and foremost to the commenters and fellow bloggers that gave our little website some legs -- you guys are awesome, and hopefully will continue to interact with our SBN posts with the same wit and insight as before. Also, thanks to the Ducks, Kings, Sharks, and Stars for never taking our asses to court. I don't think we've done anything terrible towards our teams, but with NHL politics, you never can quite tell. And finally, thanks to the NHL media's east coast bias -- without it, we may have never found anything in common to develop a collective perspective.

So, that's BoC's Super Big News (SBN). Feel free to react in the comments here or comments at SBN once we're up and active. Betrayed? Excited? Worried? Confused? Good, so are we.

Go BoC.

Ducks Gameday—The Three Patos!

2008-12-07T06:50:00.000-08:00

Columbus Blue Jackets (11-12-3, t-12th in west) at Anaheim Ducks (14-10-3, t-4th in west)
No, we will not die like dogs! We will fight like lions!

"Three Patos, Anaheim, California. You are very great. 100,000 pesos. Come to Santa Poco, put on show, stop. The Infamous El Guapo."

In a way, each of us has an El Guapo to face.
Sometimes that El Guapo is the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Prediction: Ducks 4, Jackets 2. Goals by Little Neddy Niedermayer, Dusty Pronger, Lucky Day Selanne, and Santa Poco resident Pahlsson. Together they prune the hedges of many small villages. For your El Guapo coverage, go visit Bethany's Hockey Rants.

Go Ducks.

Kings Gameday: More Like Dour Play, Right? Right?

2008-12-06T08:55:00.000-08:00

LA Kings (10-11-4) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (11-11-3)

7:30 PST, Fox Sports West

The Kings' power play feels shitty right now. The numbers don't really back me up (the Kings are about where they were last year, around 17th) but I don't know, I'm still not a fan. There's something vaguely unlikable about it; if the Kings' power play were an actor, they'd be Cole Hauser.* I think the problem I have with it is that it relies way too heavily on the Kings' forwards to move the action. When the Kings get the puck in the opposing zone, they end up passing it back and forth between the forwards while the defensemen just kind of stand there. There's no movement, there's no position-switching to confuse the defense. You kind of kill the man advantage when you allow the defense to stand still. What the Kings need is a small, nimble puck mover, one that can get involved in the play. Maybe pair him with a big, aging asshole with a booming shot. That would work.

*Dude just looks like an asshole, you know? By the way, I've always thought a cool movie would be Hauser and Josh Lucas conspiring to kill Matthew McConaughey so they can get his movie roles.

Another problem with the power play? The top defensive pairing (most of the time) is Doughty and Preissing, while the other is Jarret Stoll and Kyle Quincey. Doughty and Preissing are both Feeders, in that they are usually best at corralling the puck and setting up their other defenseman for a one-timer, while Stoll and Quincey are both Boomers and are best at shooting the puck. I would say the Kings should switch things up but I think the reason the lines are this way is probably because Terry Murray doesn't trust Stoll and Preissing defensively. That's probably a good decision. I don't see this changing until Jack Johnson gets back.

Finally, the Kings have absolutely no one that can deflect the puck on the way to the net. Seriously, it seems like other teams are constantly scoring on deflections and tip-ins while the Kings are busting their asses trying to score nice goals like a bunch of chumps. Dustin Brown and Kyle Calder are the men in front of the net on the Kings' power play, but they usually try to sneak open for shots or try to bang in rebounds. Make them stand in front of the net and deflect pucks like they do in peewee.

Unrelated, but how is this guy good at sports betting?

The Kings' power play hasn't been terrible this season, but it hasn't been great like it should be either. I think the power play will go the way of Anze Kopitar and Alex Frolov; if they're doing well then the Kings will be fine. If not, then they're boned. I still think the Kings should switch it up and give Frolov primary ice time on the power play instead of Kopitar, but that's just me. Either way, a good power play can help a team when they're slumping and it's exactly what the Kings need right now.

***

In case you haven't been paying attention, it's fashionable for Kings' fans to declare Erik Ersberg the 2nd Coming while accusing Jason Labarbera of taking 2nds at the pregame spread. The reality is that they were pretty close, Ersberg was just more consistent and had fewer terrible games, but last night kind of changed that. Labs has been playing excellently of late and will probably get the start tonight. He had 30 saves in 2 periods last night and was only really done in by the shootout, which is his Everest. If you're in want of a good time, go on a Kings' messageboard and read how it wasn't Ersberg's fault last night and how even though Labarbera didn't mess up too bad did you see him in the shootout oh he's fat. It's hilarious.

***

The Kings are playing the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight. They played valiantly in a losing effort to the San Jose Sharks last night. Will they be hungry for a win after being denied against the Sharks, or will they be deflated and tired after a game the night before? I'm sure the sportswriters will wait and see how they play and then tell us.

Prediction: Kings win, 4-3. Goals by Brown, Frolov (who is on a 4-game goal scoring streak), Stoll and Calder.

Kings Gameday: Poor Fro

2008-12-05T11:02:00.000-08:00

LA Kings (10-11-3) vs. Edmonton Oilers (11-11-2)

7:30 PST, Fox Sports West

To recap: Sean O'Donnell takes a boneheaded penalty and giftwraps a goal for the other team? Right back on the ice. Dustin Brown takes a bad penalty with the team already down a man? Right back on the ice. Alex Frolov misses an assignment and costs the team a goal? Benched for the rest of the game (despite the fact that the team is down a goal and Fro leads the team in goals), swathed in the red jersey of the 4th liner, and forced into a one-on-one meeting with Terry Murray. That's kind of fucked up. That's like suspending the straight-A kid for talking out of turn. I hope he wasn't sad, that would break my heart.

The Kings haven't been scoring recently, with pretty much all the scoring coming from the Stoll-Handzus-Frolov line. Brownitar has been absent from view since Kyle Calder re-joined their line (I think I should have another line naming contest: Used Condom seems appropriate) and the O'Sullivan/Moller combo doesn't quite have enough juice to feast on the underbelly of other teams. Want to hear a crazy, not true theory of mine? The Kings don't want to bring up Ted Purcell because he has a lot of performance bonuses in his contract and the Kings don't want to pay for them. Insane, but possibly true.

The Kings just had a player's only meeting to try to uncover why they can't put the puck in the GD net, so we'll see how that goes tonight. Something needs to happen, though, because the Kings look pretty terrible right now.

***

If one person boos Lubo tonight, I will freak the fuck out. I will find them and kick them square in the ass.

Prediction: Kings win, 3-2. Goals by Frolov (x3). Then he talks out of turn and gets benched.

Norris Pickles

2008-12-04T10:25:00.000-08:00

There's been plenty of talk about how great Dan Boyle has been for the Sharks this season, how Christian Ehrhoff is coming into his own, how Rob Blake got his groove back.

But Marc-Edouard Vlasic? Sure, he's having a great year -- but a Norris-worthy year? The Hockey News thinks so:

NORRIS TROPHY (top defenseman)
Shea Weber, Nashville – I said several times during the summer that Preds GM David Poile was genius in getting Weber, a restricted free agent to be, to sign a very reasonable deal before other teams had the chance to knock on his agent’s door with an offer sheet.

Five months later, I’m looking prophetic; Weber has dazzled in both ends posting 10 goals and 23 points, both a blueline best, and a plus-12, tied for fourth best among rearguards.

Nashville fans have been calling for years to have Weber’s name spoken in the same breath as Dion Phaneuf’s. Turns out Weber may be in a class of his own.

Runners-up: Marc-Edouard Vlasic, S.J.; Mike Green, Wsh.

I'm just surprised any Shark blueliner outside of Boyle or Blake is actually getting noticed east of Nevada. Folks, are you ready to jump on the Vlasic-for-Norris bandwagon? Fire it up!

The NHL should make lemonade out of Avery's lemons

2008-12-04T02:53:00.000-08:00

LAST BOC/CLS DOUBLE POST FOR A WHILE, REALLY!

This Sean Avery story sure has legs, doesn't it? Before this it seemed like the only time the NHL was the top story was if Todd Bertuzzi broke someone's neck (although hockey being a lead story only when something bad happens still rings true).

On Wednesday, the Avery coverage just wrecked every other big story. It was:

The lead story on "Rome is Burning."
No. 4 on ESPN's insufferable "Around the Horn."
The first topic during "Pardon the Interruption." Among others ...

Is it a slow sports day or is everyone just tired of talking about how much of a dumbass Plaxico Burress can be? (And where the hell does the name Plaxico come from? I guess I'd have a bad attitude too if my name was a combination of a plaque-killing mouthwash and Mexico)

ANYWAY, since this story is quickly getting beaten into the ground, why don't we have some more fun with it? With that in mind, the NHL should take advantage of it's rare moment in the sports spotlight. Here's a few suggestions free of charge:

Sean Avery punching bags - All the satisfaction of slapping the taste out of Avery's mouth without the momentum killing penalty minutes! Deluxe version includes simulated Avery whines and whimpers. Tears of pain and overpaid athlete blood not included.

All this punching bag needs is a designer shirt, molester mustache and a shit-eating grin.

A "Sloppy Seconds" Charity Dinner - With Thanksgiving only a week old, perhaps a hearty helping of the last remaining leftovers is in order. And if the NHL really wants to make Avery regret his comments, why not make the mainstream media's favorite agitator the bus boy? Other recommended celebrity bus boys: Theo Fleury, Claude Lemieux and Barry Melrose.

Avery endorsed "hot water bottles" - Because no one knows them better than the King of the Douches.

Dion Phaneuf made guest editor of GQ- First, Phaneuf steals his girl. Then he becomes the cover star of NHL 09. And the final insult: Phaneuf completes the "anything you can do I can do better" trifecta by trumping Avery's scrawny Vogue internship by guest editing a superior magazine. Admit it, that would be awesome.

Gary Bettman starts his "hey, I'm not THAT bad, right? RIGHT?" tour of Canadian cities without NHL teams - The Napoleonic blunder should seize Avery's "indefinite" suspension by going on a tour to polish his image. Sure, Bettman is to the NHL as George W is to the USA but ... he's not napalming cities, right? For every Joseph Stalin there's an Adolf Hitler.

Apologies to Stalin's mustache for that unfair Bettman comparison.

Even Hitch's 'stache cannot hang

Avery, Cuthbert, Phaneuf and secret guest Avery's childhood baby sitter appear on Dr. Phil - Sure, Dr. Phil is a choad. But can you imagine his twang-heavy chiding of Avery for the sloppy seconds remark? And then a further examining of Avery's alleged cross dressing youth? Gold, you miserable sons of bitches, gold!

-------------------------------------------

Finally, I'd like to apologize for Benedict Arnold-ing the NHL 09 club. But, dammit, I'm impatient and it was hard to get all the ducks in a row. Anyone who joined the club/was thinking of joining the club is more than welcome to join me on the whacky new team I've on. Please, alleviate my guilt.

ALL-EV-I-ATE IT!

Ducks Gameday—The Avery Impact

2008-12-03T07:01:00.000-08:00

Anaheim Ducks (14-9-3, 3rd in west) at Chicago Blackhawks (10-6-6, t-7th in west)
How much will this post cost me in karma dollars?

Instead of talking up this Chicago rematch, I'm going to throw my two rambly cents in on the Avery suspension. I don't like it.

Now don't get me wrong; there's a lot to dislike about Avery, including this recent set of inflammatory remarks, but you have to recognize Avery for what he is -- a sensationalist media creation. Over the years, reporters have glorified his personality and encouraged his bad boy behavior (which I can understand -- NHLers are generally too boring for newsstands). And that's the thing -- I do believe Avery's statements were intended more to feed the hungry media than they were to hurt Dion Phaneuf / Elisha Cuthbert's feelings. He was doing what he was expected to do -- agitate and entertain -- and more or less in the manner that he was trained to do.

It wasn't out of line with the media characterization that was built up over his career, nor with the persona that the Stars signed last summer. I dunno, it's like giving a dog a treat for coming inside six days a week but then beating it for doing so on Sunday -- maybe there was a vague line that was crossed, but I don't think Avery thought he was "detrimental to the League". If anything, he was promoting the league in the best way he knew how.

Sure, it's not normally acceptable behavior to be calling out players for their love lives, and we can debate the shock value of the words "sloppy seconds" compared to other word choices, but it's not as if this elephant wasn't already in the room -- Avery did manage to get himself in trouble without naming a single name. In a practical sense, Avery took a topic that dozens of hockey writers have already made crude jokes about and then shockingly made one himself.

In short, Avery was Avery, and the NHL suspended him for it without any strong precedent. As an isolated incident involving a rival team, I probably don't care about this that much, but I do worry about where it leads. We're already in a period where player interviews are purposefully bland and carefully measured, and while Avery is certainly not the model of ideal media interaction, he was different from the robotic mold and punished because of it. Going forward I think the NHL should probably publish a list of do-not-discuss guidelines -- it's a sham that they can't define a social barrier until after it's been crossed. Even so, as I point out in the cartoon, I suspect we'll see even less personality in front of a microphone from players in the future, and that general insincerity will probably be another barrier between the players and the fans, and that's sort of a shame.

Sean Avery is no hero, and I don't mean to present him as even a likeable figure, but it's really tough for me to see the rationale for the league's suspension. I think it's a dangerous path to discourage personality in front of the microphone without any specific guidelines, and we're probably in for a blander NHL as a result (though in fairness, we were probably in for that anyway). Anyways, I'm open to being convinced -- feel free to agree or disagree or add your own two cents in the comments.

And now to the part where Sleek gets suspended:

------------------------------------
Listen, I love Canada. It's just when it comes to Battle of Ontario teams hiring head coaches and general managers, they really seem to have fallen in love with Anaheim's sloppy seconds. I don't know what that's about.

Ron Wilson, Craig Hartsburg, Bryan Murray, and Brian Burke --
That pretty much spans the entirety of Anaheim's history right there.
Prediction: Last Friday the Ducks and Hawks skated to a 1-0 game in Anaheim, so I suspect Hiller might get the start tonight, but there's no real wrong answer in net right now. The Ducks do need to start scoring some goals, though, so let's say Ducks 5, Hawks 3. Goals by Getzlaf x2, S. Niedermayer, Pahlsson, and Perry.

Go Ducks.

Come on now

2008-12-03T02:40:00.000-08:00

Sloppy seconds? Seriously? The NHL's collective feathers are ruffled over this?

That being said, reactions from Marty Turco, Mike Modano, Brad Richards and Mike Ribeiro do show that this Sean Avery experiment isn't exactly going well. We're only in December and the team is already clearly tired of hearing about Avery (and his gorgeous, cleft-chinned ex-gfs).

Obviously, Avery needs father figures and/or players who obviously wear the pants so he'll tow the line. In Detroit, he was just some annoying gnat of an undrafted free agent in a locker room full of larger than life personalities. After that, he's been in big markets where hockey isn't exactly the main event (LA, New York and Dallas) so he could cultivate his bad boy image without the necessary "But he's actually not all that productive" backlash.

It keeps feeding that gluttonous Avery ego and don't expect it to stop anytime soon.

Kings Gameday: Way to Go, Sean

2008-12-02T10:26:00.000-08:00

LA Kings (10-10-3) @ Phoenix Coyotes (10-11-2)

6:30 PST, Fox Sports West

Last night the Kings were leading, 1-0, going into the 3rd period. They hadn't played particularly well, but had used a fast start to gain an advantage on the scoreboard. During the 2nd intermission, Terry Murray stressed the importance of not taking a penalty because the Kings had just been given a 5-on-3 (which of course they didn't score on) late in the 2nd. The very first shift of the 3rd period, Sean O'Donnell carried the puck up ice and attempted to pass it out of his own zone. Unfortunately, he bounced it off a Toronto player and then hooked another Toronto player that was attempting to skate the puck into the zone. Penalty, Sean O'Donnell. The penalty was exacerbated by an unfortunate Dustin Brown trip and the Maple Leafs scored on the two-man advantage.

Way to go, Sean.

Still, the Kings were tied and only had to kill off the rest of Dustin Brown's penalty. O'Donnell was rested because he had been in the box and came out to kill the penalty. He made a nice play to corral the puck behind his own net and tried to pass it to Drew Doughty. Unfortunately, there was a Toronto player standing in the way; the Toronto player easily intercepted the pass and relayed it to a teammate in front of the net for an easy goal.

Way to go, Sean.

No King had a good game last night, with the possible exception of Alex Frolov, but I don't think I've seen one player screw up a team's chances of winning a game that much since Denis Gauthier thought he was a Red Wing at the beginning of the season. I think of players as contributing positively and negatively; some players, like Tom Preissing, are going to make a lot of good plays that contribute to goals but they're also going to fuck up and cost the team goals. The trick is to get more positive plays than negative plays. Sean O'Donnell does not make many positive plays but he usually doesn't make many negative plays. I like O'Donnell and I don't want to be mean to him or anything, but he cost the Kings the game last night.

***

Kind of funny: last night, some shitheel named Andre Deveaux got feisty with Anze Kopitar, hoping to send a message to the Kings or some such. Brown bumped Deveaux, then Peter Harrold came over and shoved him. Then Raitis Ivanans came out on the ice. Ivanans followed Deveaux all over the ice, trying to convince Deveaux to drop the gloves. Deveaux refused, both because he was trying to goad Ivanans into a penalty and because he didn't want to die. Then, after the whistle, Wayne Simmonds tried to get Devaux to go and again was refused. It's good to see teammates standing up for one another.

***

Phoenix has kind of sucked this year, huh? They're 28th in the league in scoring, which is not what I expected. They're also missing Olli "Big Baby" Jokinen, who is out with a shoulder injury, so this is another game that the Kings should win. Let's hope the Kings play a little better tonight.

Prediction: Kings win, 4-2. Goals by... whoever.

Sharks Gameday: Ron Returns To The Scene Of The Crime

2008-12-02T09:32:00.000-08:00

San Jose Sharks vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

7:30 PM, Comcast Sportsnet

Sharks fans weren’t particularly nice to Brian Campbell when he returned to HP Pavilion. That’s to be expected, as Campbell came with a lot of potential and promise and he failed to deliver, then he said, “Screw you” to the team before cashing in.

So what happens when the guy who came with the most potential and promise returns? Perhaps Ron Wilson himself didn’t embody that potential but his roster – and regular season performance – certainly did, and as the guy who runs the show when it comes to motivating players, the combined lack of inspiration and toughness can fall on Wilson’s shoulders. If only to accentuate the point, Todd McLellan’s got this team doing those things, though it certainly helps that McLellan’s got a better set of defensemen.

Does Ron Wilson deserve a harsh greeting when he steps behind the bench as a visitor for the first time since the axe fell? In my opinion, no. In fact, as critical as I was of the guy, I think he deserves hearty recognition for what he accomplished with the team.

Put it this way: Wilson took a team that focused more on grit than skill and brought the best out of them, if only for a short time. Wilson seemingly has a penchant to make mediocre players good (see: Wayne Primeau) but when the roster become stronger and more skillful, Wilson couldn’t figure out the right combination.

There’s plenty to criticize with Wilson. His stubborn refusal to depart from his “five guys in formation” system gave the team an identity of a fast team that became so entrenched in their roles that they failed to truly use their natural skill and creativity. On the power play, rather than use movement and skill, Wilson’s system simply said, “Go to Joe Thornton on the half boards.” And then there’s his whole public smiting of players, something that Toronto’s getting a taste of now. That sort of abrasiveness only goes so far.

Still, you can’t take away the 2003-04 conference finals away from Wilson, and when you look at a roster filled with the Nils Ekmans and Alex Korolyuks of the world, it’s hard to figure out how that particular squad was so awesome to watch. And you won’t hear me criticizing Wilson on the defensive side of things; the team’s goals-against were always strong and for the most part, the penalty kill was solid. It’s just that after the team moved past the overachieving 03-04 squad, something was always off about the team, be it passion or toughness or chemistry.

The bottom line is that despite the team’s post-season failures and inconsistencies, Wilson’s still got the best record in Sharks history – and he’s taken them farther than Darryl Sutter or Kevin Constantine. For that simple fact, Wilson should get a rousing ovation when he’s shown on the HP Pavilion jumbotron.

You Don't Have Enough Talent to Win on Talent Alone

2008-12-02T00:13:00.000-08:00

Kings Gameday: MAPLE LEAFS MAPLE LEAFS MAPLE LEAFS MAPLE LEAFS MAP

2008-12-01T07:21:00.000-08:00

LA Kings (10-9-3) vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (8-9-3)

7:30 PST, Fox Sports West

Labarbera's in tonight, Boyle's out, hopefully Zeiler's on the bench. The Leafs score more than you'd think but also let in a lot of goals. I've actually liked the Leafs since they moved to the East and I think they'll become good faster than people think. But today I hope the Kings embarrass them in front of their new GM.

Prediction: Kings win, 5-4. Goals by Kopitar (x2), Moller, Frolov and Labarbera.

Ducks Gameday—Streak Comparison: This Season vs. Last

2008-12-01T07:19:00.000-08:00

Anaheim Ducks (14-8-3, 3rd in west) at Detroit Red Wings (15-4-4, 2nd in west)
Battle of the Hangovers

For today's post I threw together a comparison table looking at how the Ducks and Red Wings have been performing compared to a specific stretch of games last season. For the Ducks, the selected stretches have been hand-picked from each season:

07-08: the first 19 games after Scott Niedermayer returned to the lineup.
08-09: the most recent 19 games (excluding the 1-5-0 first six games).

I decided to stick to stretches where the Ducks have been performing well points-wise. In the 07-08 stretch, the Ducks went 12-5-2; in the 08-09 stretch the Ducks went 13-3-3. For the Red Wings, the selection is much more straightforward:

07-08: the first 23 games of the season.
08-09: the first 23 games of the season.

This one's much more obvious: I'm just looking at how Detroit's "hangover" start (15-4-4) compares to its season start from last year (15-6-2). Now I don't want to read too much into these early-season comparisons, but I think it's worth noting that while each of these teams have actually improved their ability to accumulate standings points (for a stretch, anyways), a lot of the underlying numbers have gotten worse. Let's take a look:

Note: excludes shootout goals. Click image to enlarge.
Patterns: For both the Ducks and Red Wings, the current-year versions have been surrendering way more goals than they did last year -- each team is giving up around 2/3 an extra goal-per-game, with some of that comes from a declining penalty kill. Each team has found a way to generate wins despite a shakier defense, though, mainly through an improved team offense.

Offensively, one of the keys has been each team's power play, which has for each team produced more power play goals in fewer power play opportunities than the year before. Overall, each team has improved its offense, though not by the same margin that the defensive numbers have changed; each team this year has a worse goal-differential-per-game than the previous year.

Shot analysis shows a similar story: shots-for per game are marginally improved, but shots-against per game have increased even further; the net shot differential has gotten worse this year for both squads (the Ducks, in fact, are now typically outshot).

So basically, what does this mean? Both squads have shown an improved ability to accumulate standings points this year vs. last year despite some declines in the differential statistics and underlying numbers -- in a way, this suggests that the current win pattern is a bit illusory. I'd expect that each team would have gotten worse results with the current year's statistics, but at least so far, that hasn't really been the case. I wouldn't worry about these patterns just yet for either team (there is absolutely nothing wrong with illusory win streaks in November), but here's some open-ended questions for the comments:

Why do you think these teams have continued to win despite worsened statistics: is there something to the notion of "knowing how to win all styles of hockey" where these veteran rosters are capable of adjusting to a more free-flowing game?

What do you see as the primary drivers for the change in offensive and defensive numbers for these teams? Are opponents treating them differently, or are these squads more careless than they used to be?

Going forward, what do you expect out of each team? Will the numbers eventually tighten up, or is this an offense-friendly evolution for the Ducks and Red Wings? If the statistics do not tighten up, can these teams continue winning the way they currently are?

Food for thought, anyway.

Prediction: Now that I've demonstrated a more offense-friendly tendency for both the Ducks and Red Wings, we're probably in for a tight defensive battle tonight. Ducks 2, Wings 1. Goals by Ryan and Pahlsson. For your Wings coverage, there's always A2Y, Winging it in Motown, and On the Wings.

Go Ducks.

Earl Takes a Request

2008-11-30T14:52:00.000-08:00

Tim Sassone, Chicago Beat Writer, November 25:

Is it being a little too greedy to think the Hawks can go 6-0 on this road trip? Wednesday's game in San Jose won't be easy, but the Sharks can be beat and the Hawks almost did it last week at the United Center. The Hawks led 5-4 going to the third period then took a couple dumb penalties and wound up losing 6-5. It's on to Anaheim Friday and the Ducks aren't anywhere near as good as they were when they won the Stanley Cup. The Hawks close the trip Saturday at Los Angeles against an improved, but nothing special Kings team.

Rudy Kelly, BoC Blogger, November 29:

The Blackhawks have lost both California games (against San Jose and Anaheim) this weekend. Let's make it one more so Earl has to bust out the ol' rape graphic again.

Well, apologies for the absence this week, but with siblings in town for Turkey Day, I was away from the computer for a bit -- but I've had myself a great week. I was even in Row B for Friday's game against the Blackhawks, and had great seats to see Wild Wing trip over some carpeting thanks to his duckbill-obstructed view. It was a pretty fun afternoon and a decent 1-0 game, and it's not hard to see why Blackhawks fans are excited this year -- this looks like a top-eight roster and once a goalie gets moved there's even salary room for improvement. Still, I'm not sure they're ready to call for sweeps just yet on the west coast swing; those are rare even for the great teams since the lockout (see comment #2 in this post), and there's always plenty of legit excuses -- miles, time zones, often back-to-backs, home refereeing, and the fact that SJ is killing all visitors this year. Whatever, the dude called the BoC road trip out and crapped out hard, and will get what he deserves.

San Jose Sharks 3, Chicago Blackhawks 2 (OT)
Anaheim Ducks 1, Chicago Blackhawks 0
Los Angeles Kings 5, Chicago Blackhawks 2
Battle of California 9, Sweep-Talking Blackhawks 4

Modified from the State Rape cartoon that started it all.
Go Ducks (and sure, Kings and Sharks too when it makes for a good graphic).

Frolov-Stoll-Handzus

2008-11-30T09:56:00.000-08:00

You know, I probably come up with a hundred different line combinations between games, and yet Terry Murray always manages to come up with a line that completely blows my mind. The Frolov-Stoll-Handzus line is one such line, and yet it's different from the others because it doesn't make me want to kill someone. The line is actually pretty awesome. All three can play defense very well, all three can put the puck in the net, and all three can play heavy minutes. The line did a fairly good job at shutting down Patrick Kane when they were out there (he got a goal off a line change and an assist on the power play) and contributed 2 goals themselves. If the Kings are going to heavily rely on 2 lines like they have been, they might as well put their best players (and Kyle Calder*) on those lines.

*I'm actually kind of worried about Calder. My brother was at the game yesterday and reported that people were actively decrying Calder's existence, and there were shouts of, "I hate you, Calder!" Watch, someone's going to kill him and then his niece is going to get revenge by killing me in my bathtub and someone's going to paint a famous picture of it. It's been known to happen.

Update: Brian Boyle has been sent down to Manchester, which makes sense since it doesn't seem like he's going to play much. It does kind of suck for him though, seeing as how he got saddled with Zeiler and Ivanans when he played and then Derek Armstrong takes his spot and gets to play with O'Sullivan and Moller.

Also, Denis Gauthier apparently messed up his foot blocking a shot. I'm not one to cheer an injury, but... yay.

Kings Gameday: Breaking Up is Hard to Do

2008-11-29T08:46:00.000-08:00

LA Kings (9-9-3) vs. Chicago Blackhawks (10-5-6!)

1:00 PST, Fox Sports Prime Ticket

Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown have been attached at the hip since Kopitar came into the league. Brown gave Kopitar a steady hand to feed the puck to, while Kopitar seemed to elevate Brown's game from that of a third-line grinder to a top line power forward. Both guys owe much of their success to one another and it's hard to imagine the two of them on different lines. But is it time to break them up, just to see what happens?

Dustin Brown's game has evolved these past two seasons. Kopitar used to be the dynamic playmaker of the two, but Brown has taken it upon himself to carry the puck a lot more this season; that's good, but Kopitar has looked a little lost when he's not the one carrying the puck into the zone. It's like two best friends in middle school, but one came to high school with breasts grown over the summer. It might be better off to throw Brown with Stoll and Frolov, giving that line a guy that can finish his chances, while putting Patrick O'Sullivan and Oscar Moller with Kopitar. The latter line managed to score both goals against the Oilers on Wednesday despite not actually playing together. Sully and Moller give Kopitar 2 players that can shoot well while still keeping the puck on his stick. Brown and Kopitar have been great, but it may be time to break them up.

***

The Blackhawks have lost both California games (against San Jose and Anaheim) this weekend. Let's make it one more so Earl has to bust out the ol' rape graphic again.

Prediction: Kings win, 4-3. Goals by Quincey, Kopitar, Stoll and Handzus.

Kings Gameday: Dean Lombardi is a Dead Man

2008-11-26T09:59:00.001-08:00

LA Kings (8-9-3) @ Edmonton Oilers (9-9-2)

7:00 PST, NHL Network, TSN

What is up, douche bags? This is Lubomir Visnovsky, El Diablo, and I'm running things around here from now on. You may be thinking, "Hey, where's Rudy Kelly?" Well, last time I saw that sniveling son of a bitch he was running towards the Arizona boarder with his pants around his ankles pleading for me to not shoot him in the back, so I don't think you're going to be seeing him for a while. (Not so funny with piss running down you leg, are ya Rudy?) Now I'm in charge, and I'm going to share the real story behind my stay in Los Angeles, and why I am going to get Dean Lombardi.

What? Yeah, that's what I thought.

I was born on the mean streets of Topolcany, Czechoslovakia. We were so poor we couldn't even pronounce the name of our growing up. I was good at 2 things: shooting pucks and killing capitalists. Naturally, I had the opportunity to do one more than the other in Slovakia, but I still tried to shoot pucks whenever I could. This is funny: this one time a guy owed a buddy of mine some money, so I went over to his house while he was sleeping and shot him in front of his kids. It was hilarious. Anyway, eventually I got drafted by the Kings and came over to Los Angeles because I was ready for a new challenge and also things were getting a little hot for me in Slovakia. So I packed up my glock, my tech 9 and my cookboook recipe (I make an excellent cookie) and I headed to LA.

Big pimpin'.

I quickly made LA my town. I had a special corner of the locker room where I made my business deals and baked and my teammates knew better than to get in my way. When they did, they were either left injured (right, Adam Deadmarsh?) or dead (RIP, Jason Allison). Sean Avery made the mistake of crossing me (I don't look like a child, mother fucker!) and had to be traded to prevent his own demise. I'll get him, though. (Here's a hint, Sean: it rhymes with "bomb!") I "convinced" Lombardi to bring over a couple of my associates, like Ladislav Nagy and Pavol Demitra, but they quickly wore out their welcome. I'm a lone wolf. I even got a contract extension from that rat Lombardi. He claims the contract talks weren't fair, but if he can't take a gun to his head than I don't want to play for him. Life was good for me.

Then, out of nowhere, that son of a bitch traded me the day before my no-trade clause kicked in. Not even that, to fucking Edmonton! Have you ever been to Edmonton? How the hell am I supposed to smoke crack up here if the shit freezes? I can't even find a proper ho because they all have this thin layer of blubber to protect from the cold. I hate it almost as much as I hate Dean Lombardi. I don't even know what I did that upset him so much; I mean, I did sleep with his wife, but that's not a big deal in Slovakia. Is it a big deal here?

PIC. He's dead now.

Dean Lombardi. You're dead, hombre. You messed with the wrong Slovakian and I'm going to make you pay. It's going to start on the ice, and then I'm going to move to your office, and then to your home. The last thing you'll ever see is my pretty little face. And I'm going to smile while I do it.

Prediction: Destruction, Lubo-style. Oh, and you better vote for Lubo for the All-Star Game. That's not a prediction, that's a threat.

Sharks Gameday: Guess Who's Back?

2008-11-26T09:51:00.000-08:00

No, it's not Claude Lemieux. That dude's skating in the AHL, not the NHL, and despite some people speculating that this move might be made to intimidate the Detroit Red Wings (uh...I don't think Lemieux's intimidating anyone in the NHL at this point, but interesting theory), we won't be seeing him in San Jose unless he wants to buy Doug Wilson a pizza or something.

Of course, Darren McCarty just got sent to the AHL too, so they can sell some minor-league tickets promoting Avs-Wings circa 1997. That could be fun.

In the meantime, Evgeni Nabokov will return in net today against the Chicago Blackhawks. The crowd gave Nabby a good welcome-back chant on Saturday night when he was shown on the in-house camera. As well as Brian Boucher has played, I don't think anyone's unhappy about having Nabby back between the pipes. That is, except for this guy.

Chicago comes in on a hot streak and they're thinking sweep even though they're only halfway through their six-game road swing. Of course, if the Sharks play like they did last week at the United Center, they'll give the Hawks every opportunity to do so. I'd try and come up with some statistical crunch regarding this but it's a busy pre-holiday work day, so we'll have to save that for another time.

One more thing about tonight: it's the second night of the black jerseys. The victory over Washington pushed aside any bad memories of the old Black Thursday curses, but a second win tonight will put lingering doubts out to pasture.

Join my digi-team

2008-11-25T23:19:00.000-08:00

For the first week or two of its release, I bandied about the interwebs playing NHL '09 with a group of whacky Canadians. Aside from their silly accents, these guys were GOOD. They played like ... dare I say, a team.

Soon enough, though, Time Warner Cable put it in my pooper (metaphorically, I hope). That meant an internet connection as consistent as Oprah's weight and a tragic inability to fight for the polygonal Cup with my Canadian pals. Eventually, the team either dissolved or decided that it would be best if we saw other people.

Enough background, here's the deal: I started an EA Sports League team called Battle of Sedins and my roster includes only my doppelganger Sad Panda. This saddens and enrages me. So, if you have a copy of NHL 09, an X-Box Live account and a modicum of digi-talent, message/friend request/whatever me on X-Box Live so we can represent for our blogging gangstas.

Not sure what kind of demand there will be with this, but at first it will definitely be a first come first serve thing. (Naturally, BoC contributors will get on the team even if they suck balls) Eventually, we might get to the point be a B-team or some roster cuts, but that's another story for another day.

My gamertag is jimbobri. Since this team is for the BoC as well as my fledgling blog, I decided a BoC-team neutral logo would be best (so it's a European league mascot - a polar bear biting through a stick ... fucking sweet, right?). While I'm here let's discuss a few things:

Goalies will be treated as prima donnas, second only to myself and BoC writers. If you're really good at goalie in this game, you'll probably not going to need to worry about going on waivers.
Douches aren't necessarily barred. It just depends on what type of douche you are. Being the wrong kind of douche will get you kicked off the team. Want more specifics? Eh, fuck you. Remember, I make the rules.

(the power's already going to my head)

Don't be a dick about playing defense or a position you don't want to play. Not everyone can be blond haired, blue eyed quarterbacks, you know.
Use a headset. Yes, the headset is ridiculous and its use means you don't deserve to get laid for a week ... but it's necessary. C'mon, you know you want to hear me burn the roof of my mouth with a grilled cheese sandwich and admonish you for my own mistakes. Don't be delusional.

So, right now, that's the criteria. If you're tired of your team, looking for your first team or just want to hear my awful voice and even worse jokes, let me know. Most likely I'll be on and off for much of Wednesday and probably for a bit on Turkey Day (anything to get away from my dreadful family). It would be pretty kick ass if we could get at least 3-5 people on at the same time before my brother says something crazy while eating stuffing. God, I hate Thanksgiving.

Anyway, it's time for you to rejoice. Finally, your meaningless lives can be temporarily satisfying!!!

Bring Back Zeiler

2008-11-25T23:02:00.000-08:00

Derek Armstrong- 11:21 TOI, 0 G, 0 A, -3, 0 SOG, 0 PIM

Brian Boyle- 11:19 TOI, 0 G, 0 A, -3, 0 SOG, 4 PIM

Raitis Ivanans- 9:59 TOI, 0 g, 0 A, -2, 0 SOG, 8 PIM

I'm not even mad, I'm impressed.

Kings Gameday: 20 Games In

2008-11-24T23:13:00.000-08:00

LA Kings @ Calgary Flames (11-9-1)

6:30 PST, RSW (Regehr Sucks Wang?)

Record: 8-8-3 (49 Goals For, 49 Goals Against)

Special Teams: 16.7 PP% (19th), 84.1 PK% (10th)

Top Scorer: Anze Kopitar, 15 points

Best Forward: Dustin Brown?

Best Defenseman: Drew Doughty

Biggest Surprise: Drew Doughty/Erik Ersberg

Biggest Disappointment: Anze Kopitar

(It's only 19 games in, but tomorrow's Lubo Day so I'm doing this now.)

All coaches search for a balance between top-line talent and depth with their forward lines. At the beginning of the season, the Kings were running 3 lines that were of relatively equal strength, with Brownitar on the top line, Frolov/Handzus on line 2, and O'Sullivan/Stoll on the 3rd. These lines helped spread out the Kings' talent but probably did so a little too much and the Kings had trouble hanging with the top-level talent on other teams. Then Terry Murray apparently had a stroke and screwed with the lines for about 4 or 5 games, banishing O'Sullivan to the 4th line while promoting Kyle Calder to the top line. This gave the Kings the worst of both worlds: it hampered their top players while also neutering their depth.* Finally, the Kings moved Patrick O'Sullivan up with Brownitar to form the fearsome Maxi-PAD Line; since their reuniting, the three sleepy musketeers have tallied 7 points in 2 games. (Is that a lot? I don't know.)

*Of course, the Kings won a bunch of games while this was going on. Hockey is weird.

The reuniting of the Maxi-PAD solves one problem (it forms a top line that instills fear into the hearts of Los Angeles' opponents), but it also creates a depth issue that the Kings are ill-equipped to handle right now. Murray has apparently solved this problem by creating two dynamic scoring lines, a pretty good defensive line, and then (sound of toilet flushing here). Alex Frolov, Jarret Stoll and Oscar Moller have generally been getting assigned the other team's top scoring line and have been doing an admirable job of keeping them off the score sheet. Jarret Stoll should have about 15 goals by now but should start rounding into shape as he and Frolov build some chemistry. Michal Handzus has done a pretty great job of shutting down whatever line Murray sees fit to line him up against, but he desperately needs speed on his wings and Kyle Calder isn't cutting it. Wayne Simmonds looks good in spurts but I still think he could use a little time in the minors. 2 points in 20 games isn't good for him. Basically, the Kings are trying to create a overall mismatch with their top line; stop the other team's top offensive line with their 2nd line; and then prevent any line mismatch with their secondary stopper line. So far, so good.

The bottom line has been the source of much of my ire, and I really think the Kings are missing an opportunity to pile up cheap goals. As it stands now, the Kings' 4th line is pretty much worthless because there's no real reason to put them out on the ice. They aren't going to score, they're not going to control possession and wear down the opposition; the only thing they're going to do is take a penalty. The Kings would be wise to use someone with a modicum of offensive talent and get them involved in the game instead of using John Fucking Zeiler.* A line like Armstrong-Boyle-Richardson would actually help the Kings win a game, which is much more than I can say for Ivanans and Zeiler.

*If you buy into the premise that Ivanans prevents injuries to Kings' players, don't you have to believe that Zeiler is likely to get a King injured because he pisses off the other team and causes them to seek retribution? I don't get why that's not the case.

Overall, the Kings seem to have adapted into a system that relies heavily on their top two lines, both offensively and defensively. This has worked pretty well the past few games, although it remains to be seen how well Michal Handzus can be worked into the game without quality linemates. I keep expecting the Kings to start scoring goals any time now, but we're 20 games in and they haven't really shown signs that they're going to break out. Hopefully it comes soon, because I'd rather hit myself in the head with a hammer than root for the Blue Jackets.

***

Defensively, the Kings have been outstanding so far this season. I know, right? Strange. Even crazier: Drew Doughty is leading the team in ice time per game and is third (behind Kopitar and Brown) in power play time per game. The 18 year-old wunderkind is insanely poised for being so young; he looks like he's playing the game at a slower speed than everyone else. He's 5th among defenseman in penalty kill time per game, but that's more because he needs to get rest some time than because he's not good at it. The Kings' 2nd best defenseman? Kyle Quincey, who was waived by the Red Wings earlier in the season and is now leading all Kings' defenseman in points. Third best? Why, that'd be Sean O'Donnell, the wizened greybeard that was forced out of Anaheim due to cap constraints. He's leading Kings' defenseman in both even strength and penalty kill minutes, all while schooling Doughty in the finer aspects of the game. Plus, he kind of looks like Hellboy, so that's cool. 4th best is Matt Greene, who was acquired this last off-season along with Jarret Stoll for Lubomir Visnovsky. Basically, Dean Lombardi rebuilt the entire defense this off-season with one high-profile draft pick and a series of castoffs and renegades. The Kings' blueline looks like the offensive line from The Replacements; no word on whether Denis Gauthier eats a bucket full of eggs before every game. (Although his play makes me feel like I have! Oh snap!)

***

The first 10 games of the season, Jason Labarbera posted a 3.01 GAA and a .884 SV%. The problem wasn't that he was bad in every game, it was that he had a handful of stinkers that crippled the Kings. Since then, Erik Ersberg has started every game and has posted an admirable 2.05 GAA and a .907 SV%. His stats are inflated by the Kings' incredible shot prevention so far this season, kind of like Nabokov's last year, but the point is that Ersberg has been consistent. The Kings know what to expect from Ersberg and thus don't have to overcompensate. His lowest individual save percentage has been .867 and his highest has been .963; everything else has been in the low .900's. Compare that to Labarbera, who had a shutout but also had games like this and this, and you can see why the Kings have stuck with their little cherubic Swede. Of course, teams may start saying, "Hey, why don't we shoot high?" and then Ersberg is doomed, but I'll ride this little wave while it lasts.

Overall, the Kings have been... pretty good. They're limiting shots from their opponents and seem to be building an identity around tough team defense. While I would like them to score more, the reality of the Kings' roster situation makes it hard for them to bring up additional help. If the biggest complaint I can muster is that I'd like to see Brad Richardson play more, than I guess they're doing OK. Now they need to build on their relative success so far this season and make a push towards respectability.

***

Last season the Calgary Flames were the first team to exploit the defensive liabilites of the Maxi-PAD line by teaming up Craig Conroy (who shadowed Kopitar) and Jarome Iginla, who neutralized the Kings' best line by keeping the puck in LA's zone. The game's in Calgary today and the Flames will have the last change, so I expect that strategy to continue. However, that line is much improved defensively and Dustin Brown has actually been shouldering more responsibility carrying the puck, so we'll see how that little strategy looks this time around.

Anyone want to see a Boyle/Phaneuf scrap tonight?

Prediction: Kings win, 4-3. Goals by Moller, Doughty, Calder and... O'Donnell??? Sure why not.

John Zeiler Breaks Foote, Will Miss 3 Games

2008-11-24T16:36:00.000-08:00

John Zeiler is dumb. If you watch the video, Adam Foote looks back behind him twice and sees Zeiler coming at him, and you can see him assume that there's no way Zeiler is going to hit him because it would clearly be boarding. Foote is so positive in this assumption that he doesn't try to protect himself at all. You could even argue that Foote was daring Zeiler to board him. And that's what Zeiler did. He plowed in and boarded the fuck out of Adam Foote. I know some people say that Foote deserved it, or that it's an unfair advantage for a defenseman if a forward can't be aggressive when getting the puck, but the NHL has made clear that if you hit a guy in the back and he hits the boards with his face then you are getting a penalty. John Zeiler hit Foote in the numbers, Foote hit the boards with his face, Zeiler got a penalty. Sounds fair. I only wish Zeiler had gotten the death penalty instead. Well, not the death penalty, that's a little far; maybe a 10-year sentence in federal "pound me in the ass" prison. That sounds about right.

San Jose Sharks vs Washington Capitals photos

2008-11-24T10:03:00.000-08:00

Here are a few photos from the Sharks 7-2 thrashing of the Washington Capitals on Saturday night. Evgeni Nabokov returned to the lineup to backup Brian Boucher, and he is expected to start Wednesday night against Chicago. More photos and notes from the game are available here, and postgame comments from the coaches are available here. Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis was kind enough to answer a lot of questions for me about technology and the NHL prior to the game here, and Offwing.com and AOL's Eric McErlain also answered a few questions for me about the Capitals here.

Naturally Jody Shelley and Donald Brashear fight when I am in the tunnel going from one side of the rink to the other, but hockeyfights.com posted a video clip of the fight here. I am the first to admit I was not as positive about Shelley when he was with Columbus, but scroll through some of his fights this season on HF. He is having an incredible season, and Todd McLellan is throwing him out on a line with Marleau and Thornton late in the game, and sometimes subbing Marleau or Thornton at center on the fourth line. Something to keep an eye on.

Thanks for hitting the highlight video.

Ducks Gameday—Burke Week #5: Finale

2008-11-24T09:28:00.000-08:00

Colorado Avalanche (9-10-0, t-12th in west) at Anaheim Ducks (11-8-3, t-4th in west)

Ah, we finally arrive at the conclusary installment of Burke Week, a five-day gander back at the Anaheim legacy of Brian Burke.

Part I: Defending three "bad" Burke moves that I don't think were that bad.
Part II: Criticizing three Burke moves that I don't think get enough flak.
Part III: Nothing but shout-outs.
Part IV: What I like about Burke the roster-builder.

And now we arrive at Part V: Scattered final thoughts, where I squeeze everything I've missed into a final post for the series. We'll start with some counterpoint: Two things that I didn't like about Burke the roster-builder.

Regret One: Europe, Where Art Thou?

Since Brian Burke's second year in Anaheim, there has been a fairly rigid three-player maximum on players from Europe -- Teemu Selanne from Finland, Sammy Pahlsson from Sweden, and the back-up goalie (first Ilya Bryzgalov from Russia, now Jonas Hiller from Switzerland), but before Burke arrived, Anaheim used to be a melting pot. Burke rid the team of Vitaly Vishnevski (Russia), Ruslan Salei (Belarus), Niclas Havelid (Sweden), Sandis Ozolinsh (Latvia), Petr Sykora (Czech Republic), Sergei Fedorov (Russia), and Ladislav Smid (Czech Republic), among others. Think about this: in 2003 the Ducks went to the Stanley Cup Finals with zero Canadians on their blueline. In 2007 the Ducks won the Stanley Cup with zero non-Canadians on their blueline.

It became very clear over Burke's tenure what sort of player he was building around -- skilled or not, he wanted North American skaters in nearly every roster slot. Now I don't want to attack this mindset too badly -- you can still make an impressive team from mostly one continent. However, one only had to look at the success of Swedish forwards on Detroit or the Finnish forwards on Dallas (or really, the European contribution to any team's success) to see that Burke's one-continent focus was biased against plenty of world-class talent.

It's one reason that I'm not upset to see Brian Burke leave -- he certainly did very good work while he was here, but I don't think too many years of Europe-phobia is good for an NHL franchise. By artificially limiting the available talent pool, the Ducks seemingly ignored a source for creativity and puck control -- and I think that they would be well-served to reintroduce that intercontinental element into their post-Burke philosophy. I just hope that Bob Murray has an open mind to the contributions of overseas players; I think it's an element the Ducks have been missing.

Regret Two: How Bad is Burke at the Entry Draft?

I don't follow prospects that well, so I can't really tell you how much more barren Anaheim's prospect pool is compared to when Burke arrived, but I assume it's been rather depleted. One of the problems, I assume, is Brian Burke's draft record, which will have to be judged in future years, but based on reputation and what I have seen looks unimpressive thus far.

I guess the indicting argument against Burke's draft record is that I believe Bobby Ryan and Brett Festerling represent the only players that Burke has drafted that have tasted NHL ice, and Ryan was selected in a high-expectation slot (2nd overall, one spot behind Sidney Crosby). I'm definitely not an expert here, but I'd expect that a draft-savvier GM would have accumulated more NHL-ready players by now (though granted, a lot of Anaheim's top picks were sent to Edmonton in the Pronger deal). I think it's premature for any hard criticism here (and a lot may be based on Bobby Ryan alone), but so far, it's tough to spot where Burke's draft record has served the Ducks very much.

Of course, there is a flipside to this criticism, which is that Burke has demonstrated that it's possible to build teams almost entirely outside of the draft -- the 2007 cup squad had very few players who were actually drafted by Anaheim (I believe Getzlaf, Perry, and Bryzgalov). Also, with Dave McNab finding lots of talent outside the draft (Anaheim's undrafted talent includes Andy McDonald, Dustin Penner, Chris Kunitz, Ryan Shannon, Ryan Carter, and Jonas Hiller), perhaps the importance of the draft is overstated. Still, the entry draft is a definite source to replenish talent, and it may prove that Burke's draft mediocrity hampers the Ducks in the near future.

But let's not overlook the upside.

I don't want to end Burke Week on all sour notes, though. Even with his drawbacks, Burke did transform the team's image from a Disney sidestory into one of the west's top teams. Burke became a source for franchise legitimacy -- I don't know if the team lands a Scott Niedermayer or a Chris Pronger without the presence of Brian Burke, and I don't know if a Mathieu Schneider or a Brendan Morrison even seriously considers the franchise as a signing option. Burke had the clout to trade away a high-priced Sergei Fedorov and a high-priced Mathieu Schneider for spare parts, and the bravery to stand behind moves like the waiving of Ilya Bryzgalov.

Basically, no matter his flaws and strengths, Burke was a high-profile GM and hockey personality, and he added relevance to the Anaheim Ducks. His coming to SoCal legitimized the franchise and fixed its focus on winning, and without that, the team's fortunes could have gone in a very different direction -- probably one without a Stanley Cup. There's definitely been some baggage to Brian Burke, but the upside has been pretty spectacular.

What I'll miss most about Brian Burke:
What I'll miss least about Brian Burke:

The answer to both of these is his mouth, which has definitely been a regular source for amusement, but also has diverted many of my blogging man-hours to defending the guy's often-malicious quotes. For better or worse, there is no topic in hockey that Brian Burke is too timid to discuss, usually with the spirit of antagonism. There's no doubt that I'm going to miss that mouth -- it sure beats the usual media-timidness that most hockey personalities have, but I won't lie. It's also going to be nice to have a little less controversy coming from the GM's mouth, as well.

Entertaining quotes occasionally do come at a price, not only in terms of franchise perception but also with burnt bridges as well. Anyone want to put an over/under on the number of months before we see another Anaheim-Edmonton trade?

A classic example of Burke's mouth making headlines.
Bottom Line: Overall, I'm a huge Burke supporter, even though over Burke Week I've split my positives and negatives pretty evenly. The upsides to having a strong-willed GM far outweigh the drawbacks (though it's important to remember those, as well). As a Ducks blogger, I've never had much desire to interview Ducks players (though nobody's really given me any opportunity) -- generally, I am disgusted enough with bland cliches that I don't think I'd do very well in that setting. That said, I would have loved to have an opportunity to interview Brian Burke -- even though the interview would have been generally awful (I'd probably conduct it at a bar and wouldn't write or record anything), I imagine shooting the shit with Burke would be ten times as entertaining as doing the same with any player.

Ultimately, Burke built a Stanley Cup Champion team in Anaheim, and nothing should take away from that. We'll miss you, Burkie, and wish you limited success in Toronto/wherever.

--------------------------------------------
So that's the scattered last chapter of my Burke Week -- I definitely had a lot to say about the guy and what he did in Anaheim. For the comments, what's your final analysis? What grade would you give Brian Burke for his GM job in Anaheim, and how much do you think he will be missed? Any final thoughts are welcome in the comments.

Prediction: Ducks win 4-2. Goals by Ryan, Getzlaf, Pahlsson, and Pronger.

Go Ducks.

The Verdict on the Kings' 3rd Jersey

2008-11-23T10:30:00.001-08:00

Who has his arms raised and loves scoring goals? This guy.

-Drew, check out Stastny's face.
-What... oh my God.

Gotta admit, it looks pretty sharp. I hate the crest but the jerseys look pretty amazing while the action is going on. My favorite part are the socks, to be honest. If they put the crown from the regular jerseys on the front, I could see these jerseys becoming full-time. What do you guys think?

***Damn, no hand in this one either.

-John Zeiler should be shot into the Sun.

-Jarret Stoll should have about 30 goals by now.

-Drew Doughty played 29 minutes last night.

-When is Kopitar going to create a goal for himself?

Kings Gameday: Seize the Day

2008-11-22T15:20:00.000-08:00

LA Kings (8-8-2) vs. Colorado Avalanche (8-10)

7:30 PST, Fox Sports West

The Stars have imploded and just lost their best player. The Coyotes haven't sparked offensively and their youth hasn't quite lived up to the height so far. The Ducks look to be rounding into shape after a slow start but aren't quite the dominant team they've been in years past. The Sharks... well, the Sharks are amazing. But after them, there isn't a team that has really made its mark in the Pacific Division. Why not the Kings? They're sitting at .500 right now despite losing their best defenseman in the 2nd game of the season. Their top scorers from last year have underperformed, their goaltending in the first 10 games of the season was subpar, and they just now put together a legitimate top scoring line. And yet they're right there. The Kings have a legitimate shot to make the playoffs, assuming the Stars continue to fall apart and need to use the next month to build up points before they spend the 2nd half of the season on the road. Let's start today.

Prediction: Kings lose, 4-1. Goal by John Zeiler. Fuck these guys.

Cue "Taps"

2008-11-22T13:16:00.001-08:00

WOW. Someone just played Panic's entrance music. If things looked bad for the Stars just a few days ago, now the team is pondering meteor shower insurance. Rudy posted the news but if you have anti-scroll disease, Brenden Morrow is out for the season.

The Stars are effectively "fixed." As in they've been de-balled.

With Marty Turco having a mini-meltdown and Brad Richards giving weepy interviews in emo shirts, trading away Jussi Jokinen and Mike Smith is looking closer to Bochenski for Versteeg these days. Honestly, Richards had enough positive moments in the playoffs that he gained a ... sort of flattering nickname in the "Five Dollar Shake." No Pulp Fiction jokes for him now, though. Although perhaps a "do I LOOK like a bitch?" might work.

So, with chicken little getting on the first trip to DFW Airport, I thought it might be fun to look at the different ways this mess can shake out:

1. The put-your-head-between-your-legs-and-pray approach

The plane's losing cabin pressure. Oxygen masks just popped out over your head. Babies are crying. Virgins are tearing off each others clothes and all you can do is prepare for a fiery grave.

In the Stars case, they are hoping the after-life includes one of the top two draft picks. There seems to be some hockey nerd slap fights over who's going to be the number one pick, but it's pretty hard to imagine John Tavares suffering an Angelo Esposito-type fate (or Aaron Rogers type fate, for you hockey borderliners). But even if Tavares suffers from a Fannie Mae-ish drop in stock, the Stars could benefit from getting the next big hype machine (Tavares) or Victor Hedman, Sweden's answer to Zdeno Chara.

Let's face it, kids, Smokin' Sergei Zubov is aging as hastily as Meg Ryan (seriously, what butcher of a plastic surgeon made her lips into couch cushions?). Turco's struggles are well documented, but even if he rights the ship he's not exactly a young man either. And the Stars' offense is anchored by really old players (Modano) and guys who are hovering around the dreaded 30-zone (Morrow, Mike Ribeiro). (Oh, and of course douche bags like Sean Avery)

In other words, this might be the perfect time for the Stars to have a free fall to a high-end pick. Dallas doesn't have NHL draft savants like Detroit so those perpetual playoff runs and future mortgaging trades make it tough to bring in high-end offensive talent. The defense has some guys who still have a chance to be good again, but no Jack Johnson, no Erik Johnson or any other future franchise D guy not named Johnson.

So maybe the Stars can pull a San Antonio Spurs - a team that hovered around good for years, had one atrocious year and ended up with Tim Duncan. Just sayin'.

2. Us against the world?

Something tells me that Linda Cohn and Co. left the Stars bandwagon in a ditch somewhere in podunkia. Allowing awful end of the period goals, taking stupid penalties and generally shitting the bed means that the Stars can go back to being way under the radar.

Could that be a good formula for a rebound? Stranger things have happened and Morrow, despite his playoff heroics, was struggling too this season. *Shrug*

3. Liquidation time!!! Clearance sale!!! All underperforming players must GO!

Never hurts to dream.

Then again, the Stars COULD go apeshit and go into full-on rebuild mode. After all, the economy is shit and the crowds will get sparser by the meltdown. Carrying an expensive losing roster might not be feasible with the economy getting gang raped. And if nothing else, the Stars have some big contracts and big names who could actually have decent trade value.

Turco might not exactly be at his most valuable level, but he has a huge contract. Who knows ... maybe a miracle could happen and they could move him for Jason Spezza.

WOW! This is fun! Making up completely unsubstantiated rumors is almost as fan as playing Gears of War 2!

In all seriousness, the Stars could look to shop players (kinda doubt Turco will go anywhere though). Zubov is a high-skill, high-age guy who could be a splendid trading deadline candidate. Richards might be too expensive, but he's still a very talented player. Ribeiro is a tool and an injury faking douche. This is undeniable. But he's also been a point per game player. He actually was really good in the playoffs and didn't writhe around on the ice like an asshole last year.

Would there be anyone crazy enough to take Avery off their hands?

If there's anything the NHL has shown me, it's that stupid trades and free agent signings happen all the time. It would be nice if the Stars came out on the winning end this year.

-------------------------------------------------------

So, those seem to be the three paths the Stars can take. Without bias or any "research" to get in the way of my opinions. Hope you enjoyed it.

Sharks Gameday: Black Jerseys, Huh?

2008-11-21T19:19:00.000-08:00

So, you may have heard there's this little thing called, erm, BlackArmor debuting against the Caps on Saturday night. It's black (duh) and not a heck of a lot different from the old black jerseys. Guess those early reports were wrong.

(The good news? There's not a Seagate logo to be found. Fortunately, Euro-style sponsorships haven't crept into the league as some had feared.)

Still, you guys know that I'm just a teeny tiny bit superstitious. The old black jerseys were seemingly cursed, at least for the first few seasons. I don't have specific numbers but I believe that the team's record when wearing them was roughly 0-19573893-2. They did eventually start winning with the black jerseys on, so whatever curse they had was apparently shaken off.

History does tend to repeat itself though, and with the Sharks wearing the new duds on consecutive nights (Caps and Wednesday night against the Blackhawks), I say this: if you lose both games, burn them. Burn them all and never speak of them again.

Oh yeah, and some dudes named Alexander Something-or-other are going to be skating. Fingers crossed that Jose Theodore will be in net. What are the odds of a Donald Brashear/Jody Shelley fight -- and what's the over-under on number of punches Shelley actually gets in before Brashear takes over?

Brenden Morrow Out 6 Months With a Torn ACL

2008-11-21T15:52:00.000-08:00

You know, I've been predicted every season for the past 6 seasons that the Stars were going to falter, and every season they've made me look like a jackass. This season I finally don't predict a letdown and this looks like the season they finally falter. Just thought you'd like to know how this is affecting me personally.

4th Line Checklist

2008-11-21T12:00:00.000-08:00

-Can't score? Check.

-Can't keep the puck out of their own zone? Check.

-Takes 2 penalties, including one when the opposing team has the puck stationary behind their own net? Check.

That Zeiler-Boyle-Ivanans line is terrible. Can make Derek Armstrong a coach, waive Zeiler and bring up Matt Moulson and Ted Purcell?

***

The Maxi-PAD line was matched up against Ovechkin's line all night, with Dustin Brown pretty much shadowing Ovy all night. Ovechkin was getting frustrated and in the third period took it out on Dustin Brown, blindsiding Brown with a little bit of an elbow in front of the net when the puck was in the corner; unfortunately for Ovy, Brown's skate got up and clipped Ovechkin in the ear. He fell to the ice and rolled around for a little while before he got up and realized he was getting a penalty for interference. Suddenly his ear wasn't bothering him that much anymore. Exactly one minute later, Dustin Brown scored on the power play. Hilarious.

***

Does anyone else feel bad for Alex Frolov? He and Kopitar are the opposite: I keep looking at Kopitar's stats and can't understand how he has as many points as he does, while I keep expecting Frolov to have a lot more points than he actually does. He made a great play to get Jarrett Stoll wide open right in the slot but Stoll rang it off the pipe. If we can ever get Anze and Alex going at the same time, the Kings will be pretty dangerous.

***

It's important not to read too much into last night's game. Yeah, the Kings played well and limited the Caps to only 21 shots, but the Capitals were missing this season's best offensive player, their best offensive defenseman and their best checking forward. Plus, the Caps were worn out from lighting up the Ducks so many times the night before. It was a good win but we need to keep perspective about the whole thing.

Ducks Gameday—Burke Week #4: GM Lessons from a Cup Champ

2008-11-21T07:45:00.000-08:00

Anaheim Ducks (10-8-2, 7th in west) at St. Louis Blues (6-8-2, 15th in west)
Ducks had better have a better start or somebody's going to the dentist!

So for Part IV of this series, I thought I'd take a look at some of the ways that Burke was a very good general manager -- things that worked for the Ducks not only on their Cup run but also looking forward. Think of these as a bit of a primer for good ol' Bob Murray, or more accurately, Part IV: What I like about Burke the roster-builder.

Lesson One: If you want depth, don't acquire depth players; instead insert talent at the top of your roster.

While I've stated before that I’m not overly impressed that Burke had the "wisdom" to acquire Niedermayer, Selanne, or Pronger, I don’t want to take away from the fact that Burke knew what he was going after – a superstar. His focus wasn’t on filling in his roster with supplementary depth players, though he certainly put those pieces in place as well; he was looking to acquire top-flight players for the top end of his roster and let his existing roster form the depth. Not only was a superstar able to drop players down to more manageable roles, but Carlyle could even form a legitimate pairing with Scott Niedermayer and a league-minimum Francois Beauchemin, for example, and further benefit from an all-star's abilities. In a nutshell, if you ask me how Burke was able to build a cup winner, the answer is that he took a franchise with a lot of supporting parts and inserted talent at the top. By doing so, he made everyone more effective.

Lesson Two: Shelter your kids – It’s good for them and it’s good for you.

I think the way Getzlaf and Perry were brought into the league was phenomenal. Their rookie year they were played as fourth-liners, with Todd Fedoruk watching their backs – a very no-pressure environment to learn the ropes of the NHL. To effectively remove them from Calder consideration, they were even demoted for a month or so to the AHL Pirates, but played together throughout. Their sophomore year they moved up to second-liners, still sheltered from top defenders (Selanne drew those matchups) and top scorers (Pahlsson of course got those). That year was of course the cup year, so needless to say it worked out well. Then finally last year, their contract year, they were given responsibilities as top-liners, and having been groomed for the role they delivered. The payoff to the Ducks was two well-prepared top-liners who not only proved their abilities but also signed at reasonable rates ($5.6 million apiece, which certainly could have been worse). That salary in part has to do with their limited time on the top line – by holding them back not only were they better prepared but also had less career points come contract time. This also holds true for Bobby Ryan, who I can only speculate on his worth, but will certainly have limited NHL exposure come contract time two summers from now. It will be interesting to see how good Bobby Ryan becomes, or how prepared for NHL duty he is, and how much his sheltering pays off in his next contract for Anaheim.

Lesson Three: Be true to your players and they’ll be true to you.

I can't think of one time Brian Burke didn’t righteously stand up for one of his players in Anaheim – no matter how stupid or how idiotic it was. It’s one reason Brian Burke is as hated as he is by rival fans, but probably one reason why players seem so loyal to him. Whether it’s Bertuzzi’s suckerpunch, Pronger’s elbows or skateblade, Selanneidermayer’s semi-retirements, or even softer stuff like Giguere dealing with his baby’s health – Burke is front-and-center deflecting criticism and supporting his guys. He’s done seemingly honorable things in waiving Bryzgalov and proving Giguere with a no-movement clause, and I think there's payoff to those moves -- I know players are loathe to say anything controversial, but I haven't heard any player critical of Burke, even guys who have left under tough circumstances (Penner, McDonald, Schneider, Bertuzzi). Whether or not fans like or dislike what Brian Burke has to say, it does seem that players do respond favorably to it, and I think that perception is helpful in luring free agents to sign or players to re-sign.

Lesson Four: No Long-Term Deals ... Flexibility = Positivity!

This is a big one for me, too. Brian Burke has committed to two 5-year deals (Getzlaf and Perry), four 4-year deals (both Niedermayers, Kunitz, and Giguere), and only a few 3-year deals (McDonald and Carter, notably). He’s also acquired two deals with 4 years remaining (Marchant and Pronger). He’s stayed away from mammoth-year contracts, though, and I’m glad he’s done so. Burke hasn’t crippled rosters seven or eight years from now, and that has to be the wise move -- with a changing NHL landscape and a newly-implemented salary cap, it's tough to foresee what player values will be five years down the road. Now don't get me wrong -- I'm not against all long-term deals (I once advocated a fifteen-year deal for Getzlaf), but I'm glad it's not a crutch that Burke used to lure players to Anaheim. I think GMs who do that are selfish -- they are trying to win now while risking their franchise's ability to win in the future (partially it's because of mixed motivations -- the roster seven years from now is likely going to be a replacement GM's problem). So while many like to say that Burke has ruined the Ducks, it doesn't seem a long-term problem; in two or three years there will hardly be any Burke contracts on the books at all.

---------------------------------
So that's some of the positive GM lessons that Burke has demonstrated; if you feel like I've missed anything, feel free to add your own lesson from Burke in the comments. Part V I'll try to do a wrap-up; some GM lessons I didn't like, what I'll miss most and least about the guy (first in both categories: his mouth), and a conclusion.

Prediction: Bob Murray's Ducks 5, Andy Murray's Blues 2. Goals by Perry, Ryan, Morrison, Pahlsson, and Montador.

Go Ducks.

What's eating the Dallas Stars?

2008-11-20T20:32:00.000-08:00

The Dallas Stars are stumbling worse than a fat chick after 15 tequila shots. Seriously, tonight's loss to the Chicago Blackhawks (6-3) was ugly. The lowlight was Kris Versteeg's goal on Turco, in which the Stars made the talented rookie look like the second coming of ... well, Jonathan Toews.

(My internet connection has been Turco-like in its consistency, but I'll keep an eye out for Versteeg's goal. Link it in the comments/edit this post if you find it before me.)

It's easy to blame everything on Turco, but it's obvious that this isn't all his fault. Honestly, it's really hard to pin the tail on this blame donkey.* Could it be that, after being unappreciated and hard working for all these years, the Stars relaxed once it started to believe its press clippings? Did Turco morph into Dan Cloutier? Can they find a way to blame Sean Avery?

* - Ever wondered what it looks like to die in print? Wonder no longer ...

ANYWAY, it's getting harder and harder to stick to the "don't panic, it's still early" plan. Really, at this point the Stars can only hope for a dreary #8 seed and an absolute shellacking by the Red Wings or Sharks. The Pacific Division is off in the distance and the NHL doesn't use Mario Kart's "don't make loser kids sad, let them inexplicably go from 12th to 1st place" logic so they might as well kiss that goodbye.

How fucked is this team? Is it time to admit that the Stars just need to cut their losses and get into the Tavares sweepstakes? Do they even have their first round draft pick this year???

What a disaster. So, what now?

Kings Gameday: Red Dawn 2

2008-11-20T08:11:00.000-08:00

LA Kings vs. Washington Bolsheviks

7:30 PST, Fox Sports West

Tonight is Russian Heritage Night at Staples Center, which is a great idea because it gets all of them in one spot so we can capture them. I stopped paying attention to politics in 1989, so I don't know too much, but I do know that commies are bad and I hate them. They tried to trick me with that whole Glasnost thing, but I know what's up: Russians, having failed to take over the world economically, are now trying to take over through hockey. They've infiltrated our nation's capital, led by their furry leader, Alex Ovechkin. His comrades Alex Semin (hehe) and Sergei Fedorov are probably "out" tonight, but I'm pretty sure it's all a ruse for some sort of un-American activity.* Standing in their way? The good, solid, American squad of Los Angeles Kings, led by Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar and Erik Ersberg. The Kings are the only thing standing in the way of a Russian invasion, and I'll be damned if they're going to fail. "Wolverines!"

*We really should start some sort of committee to investigate all these Un-American activities. I think the House of Representatives should get on this.

***

As part of Russian Heritage Night, the Kings are offering a ticket that allows you to get two free vodka drinks. Does that seem offensive to anyone else? Are they going to have a African-American heritage night and offer Kool-Aid? I don't get why we as a society let stuff like that slide and yet when I offer my penis to the girls' soccer team I'm the asshole. Geez, you've never seen 10 year-olds create such a commotion.

***

As promised, here's your chance to vote on a new nickname for the Patrick O'Sullivan-Anze Kopitar-Dustin Brown line. I vow to call this line whatever nickname you pick for the rest of the season or until I get bored. The popular option in the comments was Danzick O'Brownitar, and commenter Reeces came up with this picture (I think he used Kopitar's eyes):

Weird that you can take three ugly guys, combine them, and the result is James Marsden.

What Should We Name the O'Sullivan-Kopitar-Brown Line? ( surveys)

Brian Burke Week Part III: Nothing but shout-outs

2008-11-20T07:40:00.000-08:00

Time to take a break from my normally scheduled Burke Week -- tomorrow I'll get to the positive GM lessons we can learn from the Burke. Today instead I'm just going to toss a few links and call it a day (partially because I feel bad just tossing these at the end of a long post; mostly because I'm lazy).

First off, in keeping with Burke-themed tradition, I was a guest again on The Rink Podcast this week to talk about what the Burke departure means for Anaheim. I'm the first of three guests in a virtual All-Star Game of blog guests -- Steve Lepore of Puck the Media also talks about Versus ratings, and Alanah McGinley of Canucks and Beyond talks about Roberto Luongo's shutout streak. Not my strongest work, but then again, podcasting ain't my forte.

Secondly, I wanted to give an update on the guy sometimes known as Kyle J and sometimes known as "the Swede" -- our mysterious comic book contributor here at BoC (Episode 1: Toronto, Episode II: Detroit). Well since his BoC debut, Comic Book Guy has taken the new name "Good Kyle", and has started his own multi-faceted blog: Good Kyle Versus Evil Kyle. I've added the link under "Hockey + Cartoons = Awesome", even though hockey cartoons seems to be a small portion of what that blog is offering. Good Kyle assures me that there's more hockey-themed artwork coming, though, and sent this image as a token of good positivity:

Why so sad?
And lastly and leastly, I also stayed Burke-themed on today's PuckToon. It was a rush-job, no doubt, but I'm not dissatisfied with the result. Enjoy!

Bobby Ryan = Positivity! Go Ducks.

A Sharkspage films premiere

2008-11-19T09:32:00.000-08:00

A Sharkspage films premiere. Highlights after 20 games to "I am the night, colour me black" by Priestess.

What to Name the O'Sullivan-Kopitar-Brown Line

2008-11-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

Terry Murray has reunited the Patrick O'Sullivan-Anze Kopitar-Dustin Brown line that was such a surprising success in the 2nd half of last season. If that sentence sounds familiar it's because I wrote it about 3 weeks ago the first time Murray did this; then they played one game together and Murray put O'Sullivan on the 4th line. Now O'Sullivan is seemingly back and I think it's time the line deserved a name. because I had this all set up before Murray dicked them (and me around). Here's a few options I came up with, and then I'll take a few good suggestions in the comments and have a vote tomorrow. Hooray for democracy!

Option A: LAPD, Central Division- This option evokes memories of the old LAPD line (Allison-Palffy-Deadmarsh), but it has the added bonus of being a little bit more rough 'n tumble than the old line. The name works because their names work (Anze-Patrick-Dustin) and it's similar to the older incarnation because all three had a niche that complimented the other two. The downside to this name is obviously the fact that all three LAPD members were out of hockey 4 years after they first hooked up. Also, the name isn't entirely original.

Option B: Dawn of the Dead Line- A solid comedy option, the name works because the line is unyielding and relentless; also, all three of them look like zombies. I chose "Dawn" because they're all young and at the dawning of their career. (I'm clever.) This line could also be called the Sandman Line, although I'm starting to think that Dustin Brown should take that name for himself. The best part of this nickname: when they score, the entire arena could moan, "BRAAAIIIINNNSSS." It admittedly wouldn't make much sense, but it would be funny.

Option C: The Whew Line- "Shit, is that Kyle Calder? Oh, it's just Patrick O'Sullivan. Whew."

Option D: The Maxi-PAD Line- So called because their names line up (Patrick-Anze-Dustin) and because they give maximum effort on every shift. The downside is... actually, I can't think of one. Try to make fun of that name, pundits!

So there you go. Let me know if you have any good ideas in the comments. Something involving raccoons would be appreciated.

Update: This doesn't have anything to do with anything, but I'll be damned if it's not the most adorable thing I've ever seen:

Ducks Gameday—Burke Week #2: Let's get critical!

2008-11-19T06:32:00.000-08:00

Washington Capitals (10-4-3, 4th in east) at Anaheim Ducks (10-7-2, t-4th in west)
NHL's other poster child is in town.

Welcome to the second installment of Brian Burke Week, as I ponder back on the Anaheim yester-legacy of the mouthy one. Yesterday I made a case for three moves that I think Burke gets too much flak for; today it's time for Part II: Criticizing three Burke moves that I don't think get enough flak.

A few things (1) I'm not going to include the Todd Bertuzzi signing; that one's so obviously bad that I don't know if it's worth discussing. Just know that my list has these three things plus signing Todd Bertuzzi. I'm still not passing judgment on Brendan Morrison, either (he gets a free pass for a while because two knowledgeable Canucks fans I talked to were shocked that B-Mo was even playing already). (2) I am not saying that any of these moves are guaranteed to fail -- there's still judgment to be made on all of them. It's just that we should keep all these things in mind when remembering Brian Burke. (3) I am not talking about his draft record until later this week.

1. The J.S. Giguere Contract

Sleek's initial reaction: Thanks, Giguere. We may never know what he passed up by signing this contract today and not waiting for a desperate team on July 1st, but I gotta think he would have landed somewhere upwards of $7 M per year, and he probably could have landed something in the 6-year range. Hooray for ambiguous savings!

Now don't get me wrong; I'm quite a fan of J.S. Giguere, and he's still going to be my #1 goalie whenever I get around to posting Anaheim's All-Time Team (a shout-out to my fellow slackers!). But still, not a week goes by that I don't worry about that no movement contract -- $6 million against the cap for two years beyond this one. Now I fully understand why Giguere earned the raise, coming off a Stanley Cup and all, and I have to guess he turned down bigger money to stay in Anaheim. And I know that there's good reasons for the no-movement clause (Burke looked good there because Giguere's newborn child was under local medical care). But still, we're four years into this salary cap and I'm still unsure what the value of goaltenders really should be -- it's not just a question of value on the ice (demand), but also a function of the players available that can do it (supply). And for a team that's invested so heavily in its blueline, was a $6 M goaltender even that necessary?

For the record, I was very happy with Giguere's play last year; I thought he certainly was a $6M goaltender, or at least close enough, but that's the thing -- almost at best, this contract works out. If Giguere becomes average or worse (coughTurco!cough), that can quickly become a handicap, especially for a netminder's contract. If good goalie contracts have to be given away, then bad goalie contracts have to be swallowed. Also, the contract probably means that Jonas Hiller will be goaltending elsewhere in the coming years. One really has to ask the question, though -- if the Ducks really had cheaper alternatives in Ilya Bryzgalov and Jonas Hiller that could sit behind the "best blueline in history", should Burke have let Giguere sign elsewhere the summer after the cup win? Could he have used an extra couple million on his forwards?

I'm honestly not sure here -- there's certainly a playoff monster in J.S. Giguere that I've never seen anything like, and if that ever shows itself again, Brian Burke will be a god for the contract. I really only bring it up because it's a pretty big risk, especially if a team like Detroit can spend significantly less on its netminding and more on its skill players. I probably would have preferred a shorter contract (the Ducks' two most successful postseasons have come in J.S. Giguere's last two contract years, I think). We shall see how we feel about it later; it's all up to Giguere now.

2. Buying Out Todd Bertuzzi's Contract

Sleek's initial take: I didn't say anything useful on this one. But doesn't it look like Todd Bertuzzi is telling some fans to "suck on this"?

Yeah, I know I wasn't going to bring up the Bertuzzi signing, but this is a different matter entirely -- once that contract was signed and a year in, should Burke have bought it out? For those not tuned in to cap math, basically what it amounts to is instead of paying Bertuzzi $4M this year, the Ducks will pay him $1.33M this year and next to not play for them, plus of course paying some player to fill in on a top-six role (Brendan Morrison, give or take).

Now again, I don't want to be misunderstood here -- I am thrilled that the Ducks are playing without Bertuzzi. It's so nice to know that everyone backchecks again, or at least pretends to. And while Morrison has been an offensive letdown early, I'd still take him over Bert anytime. But still, I'm not sure I like that Burke went the buyout route -- it's always struck me that buyouts are what rich teams do, and SoCal's Anaheim is not one of those teams. Burke has effectively spent some of next year's money on a player not in a Duck uniform, and that sort of future-spending should be off-limits for a departing GM.

I really expected the Ducks to suck it up and carry Bertuzzi through his contract year, and I'm not sure it would have been that terrible. Part of what hurt the Ducks last spring, in my opinion, was that they had to carry around both Bertuzzi and Weight among their top six, and couldn't even play them together effectively -- neither guy wanted to shoot the puck or skate, and they were essentially passengers. With Weight departed and Bertuzzi finding a potential center in Ryan Carter (who made Bertuzzi stomachable by backchecking for two), I thought that the Ducks could carry one passenger on a scoring line and just not worry about the sunk cost. I reasoned that a one-year $4M gamble was more stomachable than the original two year gamble -- plus it's a contract year, why not?

Again, we shall see. It may turn out that I'm way wrong on this, and the $1.33M pre-spent next year doesn't impact next year's team much at all. Or perhaps Brendan Morrison could awaken and the Ducks could roll four dangerous lines, and I'll gladly rescind. But still, I probably would have just sucked it up and hid Bertuzzi in the lineup, or found another way to be rid of him (his contract, theoretically, gets more tradeable by the day). Buyouts probably shouldn't have been an option.

3. Becoming a Salary Cap Ceiling Team

This all is related to the notion that not that long ago, the Ducks were an incredibly cheap team. Remember the days when the top line of Kunitz-McDonald-Selanne was playing for about $2.5 million total and the Ducks were millions away from the cap ceiling? Of courses, raises had to happen, especially with the cup win, and I certainly do support most of Burke's maneuvering around Niedemayer and Selanne's semi-retirements. Still, as a result of all that reactionary GMing was that the Ducks quickly became a cap-ceiling team.

The sweet irony, of course, is that they have no business whatsoever being a cap-ceiling team. Playing in Southern California is a double-edged sword, revenue-wise (note: best I understand). For one, there's a pretty tepid fanbase -- ticket prices must remain low enough to keep fans coming. But also, because there are so many people in Southern California, neither the Ducks or Kings can ever collect on revenue sharing, even if needed. That's not a huge deal, but it does mean that on paper, the Ducks should be more near the salary midpoint than the ceiling. Burke got to spend up to the ceiling, but the real question is: What will Bob Murray be allowed to spend?

That's why the $1.33 M to Bertuzzi next year might not matter -- it prevents Anaheim from approaching the ceiling but that's probably going to happen anyway. Should Selanne for some reason retire, his unpaid salary would count against the cap, too, but that might be unspent cushion also. Overall, I'm not too worried -- I do mostly like the contracts that Burke has set up for next year -- Murray may fill in some spots cheap, but I think there's plenty of talent to work around. But it should be understood, Ducks fans and Burke fans -- there will be some natural letdown once payroll returns to a more rational level. To tell you the truth, I'm looking forward to those middling-spending ways -- it's only been one year, but serious cap math makes my head hurt; I'm much more comfortable "sort of" knowing what players' salaries are (you know, without having to know how many days they spend in Bakersfield).

--------------------------------------
So that's Part II -- sorry it got so long-winded. Feel free to agree, disagree, add your Burke criticisms, or insert your own randomness in the comments. Part III is more positive, possibly tomorrow: What we can all learn from Burke the GM.

Prediction: As for this game tonight, oh yeah, some guy named Ovechkin's coming to town. I do feel obligated to report that I was in Anaheim to see Ovechkin's first career hat trick, so just to avoid any suspicion I'm staying home tonight. Anyways, visit your Japers Rink for all things Cap-related (Capitals, not salary cap). Ducks 4, Caps 3, Anaheim channels the spirit of Joffrey Lupul and puts four pucks past Jose Theodore. Goals by Selanne, Marchant, Pahlsson, and Festerling.

Go Ducks.

Getting to know Getzlaf

2008-11-18T18:30:00.000-08:00

David Amber's Q & A sessions started gaining a lot of attention about a year ago for actually getting hockey players to say something interesting. (Keep in mind this was in a time before Russian journalists were quoting Alex Semin slamming Sidney Crosby)

Getzlaf was Amber's most recent guest and it's a pretty interesting interview. It highlights Todd Marchant not as a stone-handed center but a jokester, provides some interesting insight into the Dustin Penner situation and touches on Getzlaf's older brother, who plays in the CFL. Not bad for North American media.

Dustin Penner Sucks, Take 1,783

2008-11-18T15:57:00.000-08:00

I've been an independent observer of this whole Dustin Penner fiasco, and like M*A*S*H* or a penis, it just gets better the longer it goes. To recap: The Oilers sign Dustin Penner to a 5-year, $21.25 million dollar deal after his astounding 43-point season playing alongside 2 scrubs named Ryan Getzly and Chris Perry or something like that. Who cares, they've never done anything anyway. There was much gnashing of the teeth from bloviating jackass Brian Burke, who criticized Lowe for ruining both teams; this was followed by a lot of back-and-forth between the outmatched Anaheim blogging contingent and the Edmonton juggernaut. But, in the end, Brian Burke was right: the Dustin Penner offer sheet not only left Edmonton with an overpaid, unmotivated baby, but also screwed the Ducks over when they had an opportunity to win a 2nd cup. To that I say, "Huzzah!"

The problem with the Edmonton offer sheet from their perspective was that they were not in the position to offer it. The Oilers were coming off a poor season, finishing 11th in the Western Conference. They had just traded their "heart and soul" in Ryan Smyth for a number of prospects and draft picks and had seemingly committed to rebuilding. Then they spent over $4 million dollars a year on Dustin Penner, losing 3 draft picks in the following draft. Strange. Now the Oilers have a weird amalgamation of good young players, overpaid free agents, and aging goaltenders that no one likes. They might make the playoffs but they're not likely to be a favorite at any point in the future and the money given to Penner can't be used on anyone else. The Oilers are a strange team.

The Ducks, on the other hand, were precisely the kind of team that was in a position to poach another team with an offer sheet. The problem, of course, was that they didn't have any money.* The Ducks ended up getting screwed by a problem mostly of their own making because for some weird reason they had signed Todd Bertuzzi and they lost Dustin Penner. This ended up killing them last season because what position did they need to fill the most? 2nd-line left wing, the exact position Penner filled last season. You may wonder why Penner is perfect in this spot yet subpar for the Oilers. One, stop asking questions. Two, when Penner was playing with Getzlaf and Perry he didn't have to bang in the corners (because Getzlaf does that) and he didn't have to fight in front of the net and paw at defenders like a little bitch (because Perry does that). What he could do was hover and find the open space for a Getzlaf pass, and he does that pretty well. Bobby Ryan will most likely fill that position in the future, but by that time Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne will be retired and the Ducks' Stanley Cup window will have temporarily closed. Hooray!

*That's why offer sheets aren't more popular, despite all the hand-wringing by writers and GMs: the teams that would benefit from them are good teams that want one more piece, but those teams are generally near the cap; the teams that can afford to spend the money need the draft picks to rebuild their franchise.

Of course, creating a counterfactual where Dustin Penner stayed on the Ducks creates a whole other set of scenarios: they probably don't sign Mathieu Schneider and they probably trade Andy MacDonald anyway. Maybe they end up trading Penner anyway and get less than the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round pick they got for him. But overall, I think both teams screwed themselves: the Oilers ended up with an overpaid player that doesn't fit their needs and the Ducks were hurt in one of their last years at being competitive for a Stanley Cup. It's pretty awesome if you think about it. You know, for me. The Oilers are one of those teams that could contend for a few years if they got their act together and I hate the Ducks, and in one fell swoop they managed to destroy each other. Now I just need Erik Johnson to get hurt and the Blackhawks to waste all their cap space on a red-headed goof and the Kings should be all set in the Pacific. Oh wait, that happened? Excellent. *strokes white cat

Brian Burke Week Part 1: Sleek defends three "bad" moves

2008-11-18T07:49:00.000-08:00

Hey, everybody! Welcome to Burke Week, where I'll take a scattered look back on what I take to be Brian Burke's legacy in Anaheim. I do have a lot to say about the guy, and rather than cram it all into one post I thought I'd break it into semi-coherent parts throughout the week.

Part I: Defending three "bad" Burke moves that I don't think were that bad. For better or worse, opposing fans love to criticize Brian Burke's management style, and at times, the desire to call out Burke for a "bad" move ignores a lot of important context. Burke's first few years, of course, are now left alone because the Ducks won a cup, but since then it seems that critics are all-too-ready to point out where Burke has made his supposed mistakes.

There's really two things to keep in mind when discussing some of these debatable moves, though: (1) Thanks to salary cap mechanics, it's always going to be difficult, if not impossible, to keep a championship team together. I hold little expectation that any cup-winning roster could or should be fully retained -- there's always got to be adaptation and prioritization after a team experiences success. (2) Behind every one of these moves is the decision to allow Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne to semi-retire. I'll certainly talk more about this later, but basically if you disagree on giving players that freedom (and would rather Burke forced retirement on them), then probably you won't agree with the validity of these moves, but it is important to understand Burke's underlying motivation.

Lastly, I don't want to overstate things in this post -- I'm not saying that these moves were ideal, by any means. My main point is that they are more tolerable to me than people suggest -- I'm not angry with Burke for making them, at any rate.

1. Waiving Ilya Bryzgalov

Sleek's initial take: It seems absolutely amazing to me that a goaltender with the lowball salary and highball postseason success couldn't be traded in today's league, but I've had low expectations ever since the seemingly poor returns for Tomas Vokoun or Vesa Toskala last summer. As much as it might pain rival fans to admit it, I think the departure of Bryzgalov has very little to do with Scott and Teemu, and really has more to do with Bryzgalov trying to be a #1 and Hiller being promoted to the big leagues.

On paper this sounds horrible, because Breezy was definitely a proven playoff performer, given away to a divisional rival for free. And generally, I’m not in favor of losing assets for nothing. However, you also have to consider the Ducks were locked into J.S. Giguere for four years (including a no-movement clause), and had signed a promising netminder in Jonas Hiller as well. Not only was Breezy prevented from upward movement in the organization, but he was even in the youngster’s way, plus he was due for a raise the next summer. Burke claims that the move was done for Bryzgalov’s benefit, and it’s tough to disbelieve him on that statement, and for sure the goalie-trade market was thin (that’s the inherent irony in goalie salaries: they are no doubt the most important player on the ice, yet there are more than 60 players who could play in the NHL). So Burke ensured that Breezy gets picked up by a bottom team while publicly keeping his word to his netminder – there’s definitely payoff in being a “player first” GM like that, and while there was no trade return, you have to remember that Hiller cost the Ducks nothing either. It seems a relative wash to me, with some good PR on the side.

2. Trading Andy McDonald to St. Louis for Doug Weight

Sleek's initial take: Of course, it's sort of a mistake to look at this just as a McDonald-for-Weight trade, as context is huge for this deal. In return for trading away Andy Mac, the Ducks get Doug Weight, the right to play Scott Niedermayer, the right to keep Mathieu Schneider, and the possibility to sign Teemu Selanne. Even if DeadWeight turns out to be a bust, there's still a lot of trade return there.

Yes, this was salary-necessitated, and yes, I’d rather have Andy Mac than Doug Weight on my team any day. Still, this needs context more than anything. As my quote above suggests, it wasn’t just a one-for-one trade; Andy McDonald was traded for Doug Weight + the tag space to keep Mathieu Schneider + the room to welcome back Scott Niedermayer + the room to later sign Teemu Selanne. The salary side sucked, I guess, but the Ducks by the end of that season had more than $24 million tied into three defensemen plus a goalie – a more expensive team than they could have afforded for a full season. As for success, yeah, there was no Stanley Cup, but in the 48 games after the McDonald/Weight trade (Scotty's return), the Ducks dropped nearly a full goal-against-per-game, and played on a pace that would have won them the President’s Trophy and the Jennings Trophy. Hard to be overly critical of a trade that transformed a .500 team into a top-tier contender.

3. Signing Mathieu Schneider

Sleek's initial take: Brian Burke certainly acted as if Niedermayer's retirement is a sure thing. Think about this: if Scott were to play his contract next year, that would mean that the Ducks' goalie and top four defensemen would cost roughly $26 M next year; that's more than half the salary cap. And then the logical move, oddly enough, would probably be to trade away the newly-signed Schneider.

It’s really tough for me to get angry with Burke for this signing, as it seemed a logical reaction to Scott Niedermayer’s effective retirement. It didn’t pan out, obviously, and did put the Ducks in a heck of a salary cap crunch at the end of last summer, but I think the signing made sense in its context and Schneidermayer certainly knew what a potential salary mess he was getting himself into. What clouds this issue somewhat is the poor start that Schneider has had in Atlanta -- certainly his numbers suggest that he is washed up. However, I'd guess that he's being mis-used on the Thrashers; for the past few seasons Schneider has been an extremely effective weapon in easy minutes, playing behind a Nick Lidstrom or a Chris Pronger. In Anaheim, Schneider certainly had a solid year: At even-strength in the regular season, Schneider was on the ice for 50 GF, 23 GA, a better than 2-to-1 ratio. On the power play, he was on the ice for 34 GF, 5 GA. While certainly the team would have been easier to manage last season without Schneider's salary on the books, Burke saw a gaping hole on his blueline and reacted to it. In retrospect, the signing proved excessive, but at the time when Niedermayer's retirement seemed believable enough, I think Burke got a decent replacement option off the UFA market, and that's not something I'll spend too much time criticizing.

So there you have it, three moves that I don't criticize Burke for (at least, not to the extent that others do). Agree or disagree with my assessments, or do you have another example of your own? Feel free to leave it in the comments. Then stay tuned for Burke Week Part II (possibly tomorrow?), where I'll point out some moves where I am more critical on Burke's decision-making.

Go Ducks.

I Apologize to you Doug Wilson

2008-11-17T22:23:00.001-08:00

I owe you an apology Doug Wilson. We traded a #1 pick and Bernier for "the missing piece". Brian Campbell became the best D-man we ever had. He was going to lead us to the promised land. Then the playoffs began, I defended Campbell thinking he was injured when he just sucked and could not stand up to the rough play of the Calgary Flames. You wanted to go back to the East to be closer to your family when in reality you took the highest offer and took your spin-o-rama to Chicago. Can't blame you for taking that contract but F-you anyway. I am thinking what do we do now. We sign an "over the hill" Rob Blake..ok fine. Then 2 days later we trade Matt Carle, Ty Wishart, a #1 pick and a #4 pick for Dan Boyle. Are you out of your mind?

5 months later the Boyle trade looks like a steal. Boyle is a better D-man than Campbell at 500k cheaper. Boyle is the "point guard" for the Sharks, always knowing where everyone else is and controlling the PP. Thank you Campbell for being greedy and leaving and thanks CHI for offering such a ridiculous contract.

The Kings are Disappointing

2008-11-17T13:25:00.000-08:00

The Kings played two games this weekend and scored 1 goal. That sucks. I know the Kings are better this season with this new "defense" thing (some people spell it with a "c," I don't know why) but holy Christ is it boring. Say what you want about last year, but at least the Kings were scoring some fucking goals, man. Can't I just see Kopitar say fuck it and spend the whole game in front of his own blue line? Just once? And I know I keep saying it, but the Kings' bottom 6 is completely fucked. I don't know what the hell is going on with those guys but the 3rd line is posting the following Times on Ice:

Ivanans (3:36)-Handzus (16:36)-Simmonds (8:53)

Handzus is playing good minutes but they're kind of scattered and I doubt he really knows when he's getting used next. And if Ivanans is only going to play 4 minutes, why not just sit him? His playing time is as annoying as that chick who keeps bothering me.* The Kings are calling up John Zeiler and I have to imagine he'll skate in Ivanans' stead next game, which is great because he's the one player I find less effective than Ivanans.

The Kings are weird right now.

*Look, all I'm saying is that she's the one getting the abortion so I don't see why I have to pay for half of it.**

**Too far? I think that was too far.

Stars trade for memories

2008-11-16T09:19:00.000-08:00

In case you didn't hear the news already, the Dallas Stars traded oft-injured defenseman Phillippe Boucher for plays-like-he's-injured Daryl Sydor.

For the Penguins, they get a player who either is damaged goods or a short term boost to their power play. If nothing else, Boucher might be a helpful stop gap while Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney rehab their extensive injuries.

It's harder to see the benefit for the Stars. Sydor was a healthy scratch much of his time with the Penguins and he's making the same money ($2.5 million) as Boucher so it's not getting any cash off the books. Clearly, this is Brett Hull's version of Kevin Smith bringing back his buddies when they normally would just drift through the streets of New Jersey. Realistically speaking, it's a brush with nostalgia.

Then again, maybe it was more of a statement to the old and mid guard in Dallas: get your shit together or you'll get traded. Brad Richards and Brendan Morrow looked borderline weepy after that second straight loss to Los Angeles, so this move might simply be an attempt to light a fire under a listless Stars team.

Boucher wasn't doing much anyway, so it might just be a wash.

BoC Gameday—Prelude to Burke Week

2008-11-16T07:10:00.000-08:00

Los Angeles Kings (7-7-2, t-11th in west) at Anaheim Ducks (9-7-2, 5th in west)
That strange silence you're hearing is a quiet general manager.

Over the next week, I will be writing a series of posts looking back on the legacy of Brian Burke in Anaheim -- moves I liked, moves I didn't like, plus some general observations -- so yeah, look forward to that. For now, though, all I'll say is that I'm fine with the timing of the move, as there's not a lot of GMing that can really be done with the rest this year's roster. The Ducks are so close to the cap ceiling that there's not much to do except (a) promote Bobby Ryan and (b) re-sign some key players before next summer.

We'll get to (a) in a second, but really the re-signing aspect is the key one: once Burke turned down a contract extension, next year's roster became Bob Murray's concern, and better to put that person in charge now than to wait until the offseason. Incidentally, I don't expect to learn very much about Bob Murray's GM tendencies until next summer; for now it's still pretty much Burke's team, and the only clues we'll have about Murray in the coming months will likely be in the form of which UFAs get re-signed and which do not.

Ah, this PuckToon I drew last June seems appropriate.
(It's not as if I've never stolen from work before.)
I missed Friday's game against the Predators, so I was caught off-guard by the announcement that Frenchie Beauchemin will be out six months with a torn ACL. The ramifications of this seem to be twofold: (a) Bobby Ryan and Ryan Festerling got promoted from the AHL under long-term-injury cap relief, and (b) Scott Niedermayer will be getting a new minute-eating defense partner. I hesitate to say who will be getting the promotion, but I think I'd give Steve Montador a shot at some top-four duty -- he's a guy who's been impressing me with his overall game and could play anchor to Niedermayer's roamer game.

As for Bobby Ryan, now's the opportunity for the kid to step up to the big leagues -- on paper, he potentially gives the Ducks a set of six legitimate top-six forwards (sorry Marchant, one of the requirements is "hands") for the first time this season. Between Kunitz-Getzlaf-Perry and Ryan-Morrison-Selanne, I'll be interested to see how the Ducks' offense operates. It may just provide the positivity to offset the downside of losing Beauchemin.

Prediction: Tonight Sleek's lucky green shirt is going up to the Honda Center rafters (translation: I'll be sitting in the nosebleeds), as some hockey-playing friends of mine have taken advantage of a Ducks promotion -- sell enough upper deck seats and they get to play a short beer league-style game on Honda Center ice after the Ducks and Kings end. So if you see a green shirt during the game in Section 430, Row J, feel free to say hi, or if you're bored after the game and want to see some amateurs play, I'll be in the lower bowl for that. Ducks 4, Kings 2. Goals by Ryan (x2), Pahlsson, and Getzlaf.

Go Ducks.

Kings Gameday: Look, a Duck

2008-11-15T10:04:00.001-08:00

LA Kings (7-6-2) vs. Nashville Predators (8-7-1)

7:30 PST, FSN West

Prediction: Kings win, 4-3. I take a nap.

Battle of California Playlist #2

2008-11-14T11:46:00.000-08:00

Hockey

My list is a little bit different from PJ's because I didn't necessarily try to pick songs that I think would sound good in an arena. I mostly picked songs that I really like and seem to symbolize what hockey is to me. I have a CD I listen to on my way to the rink every time that's pretty much all loud, fast and angry music. I've always believed that hockey is an angry sport and when I drive to the rink I think about how much I hate everyone on the other team. I think about their temerity in even getting on the same field of play as me and how they actually think they're good enough to get a puck past me. By the time I get to the rink I'm ready to fight. Then I get to the rink and put on my pads and by the time I'm all warmed up I'm pretty calm and ready to go. But the music helps me get ready to play.

A few explanations:

Trogdor, by Strong Bad- Like my brother mentioned yesterday, the Kings should play "Trogdor" every time Ivanans gets into a fight. He's a dragon-man (or really just a dragon) and he needs his own song.

Bleeding Love, by Leona Lewis- I mean, that's just a good song.

Girls in Black, by Airbourne- This should be the Kings' song.

I am the Night, Coloured Black, by Priestess- That song should be on a highlight video. Just sayin'.

When You Fucked Grandpa, by blink-182- I think this song should be played in the arena, just to see the expressions on people's faces.

Mine Now, by Bullets & Octane- This song gets me really fucking pumped. It's always the last song I listen to before I get out of my car for hockey.

Men In Black

2008-11-14T10:36:00.000-08:00

Perhaps caving to the general dislike of the new-look jerseys (seriously, is there anyone who actually thinks they're an upgrade over the previous ones?), the San Jose Sharks have leaked their third-jersey. And the jersey, well, it looks a hell of a lot like the old black third jersey with an updated logo. Check it out over at Icethetics.

Which I'm totally ok with. I bought a road teal because I wanted a Roenick one but I would have stuck with the previous jersey set had I not wanted a specific player. This one looks a little better, though the stupid thing is that the lack of any real design change from the old black jersey shows what a money grab this whole thing is.

But we're good little NHL fans that keep finding ways to help the league push that salary cap up and up, so I think most of us take these occasional jersey redesigns. At least it's not like the Anaheim fans who got a redesign the year before the RBK jerseys came out. That's a double-dip of crap.

Off topic, last night's MVPP was Joe Thornton with MVPP assists going to Devin Setoguchi and Dan Boyle.

Mmm... Doughnuts

2008-11-13T23:27:00.000-08:00

Drew Doughty played 27 minutes tonight.

Also:

Sean O'Donnell: 0 G, 3 A, +4, 12 PIM

Mathieu Schneider: 1 G, 3 A, -11, 14 PIM

Also:

Kyle Quincey: 11 Games, 2 G, 6 A, Even, 6 PIM

Rob Blake: 17 Games, 2 G, 7 A, -2, 24 PIM

Well played, Lombardi.

Kings Gameday: Enough's Enough

2008-11-13T09:05:00.000-08:00

LA Kings (6-6-2, 4th in Pacific) @ Dallas Stars (5-7-3, Dead Last in Pacific)

5:30 PST, Fox Sports West

Raitis Ivanans can not skate a regular shift in the NHL. I'm sorry, he just can't. It breaks my heart, because I love the lumbering Latvian, but he plays like dog piss tastes. (No, not delicious, terrible and slightly acidic.) Since the Kings began skating Raitis on their "third" line, that line has not recorded a point. Not a one. Ivanans is like the anti-Thornton, he sucks all the talent out of his linemates.

"I just want to see the inside of your skull."

Basically, the Kings are rolling two good 4th lines instead of one good 3rd. There's Ivanans-Handzus-Simmonds and O'Sullivan-Boyle-Harrold, one of whom is okay defensively but can't score while the other can do both but is just kind of... weird. Meanwhile, the Kopitar line and the Frolov line are left fending for themselves on both offense and defense. Terry Murray claims the Kings are rolling 4 lines but they're really just giving more emphasis to the top 2 lines while de-emphasizing the minutes the bottom 2 lines play. That's actually a good thing, but it probably means they need to either move O'Sullivan up and get our best players playing the most minutes or play someone besides Ivanans to give 4 actual lines. If they are going to play Ivanans, then they can't skate Ivanans 9 minutes a game. He needs to be playing 5 or 6, tops.

Ivanans-Hey Jon, look what I did. Yea!

Zeiler-My god, the blood.

I imagine we'll find out later today that Derek Armstrong is going to take Ivanans' spot in the line-up because he played well last game and Ivanans was awful, but who the hell knows. I do know, however, that the biggest guy on the Stars is Phillippe Boucher and Ivanans outweighs him by 40 lbs. No one is going to fight Ivanans tonight and that makes him pretty much worthless.

"The rabbits we're gonna get and I, I get to tend 'em."

You know, the only reason I think he's still playing is because everyone is afraid to tell him he can't play. I imagine it'll go like this:

Terry Murray: Hey Hardy, can you go grab Ivanans for me?
Mark Hardy: Sure thing, boss! *scampers away

(Suddenly there is a loud crash and Ivanans emerges through a hole in the wall)

Raitis Ivanans: Ivanans smash!
TM: Uh, hey Raitis, why don't you have a seat.
RI: ARRRGGGGH!!!!
TM: Umm, okay. Look Raitis, you're doing a wonderful job out there-
RI: Ivanans smash!
TM: Uh, yeah, Ivanans do great job smash. But we think it may be time for you to sit a game.
RI: Ivanans... no smash?
TM: No, not today.
RI: Well, that's your prerogative, Coach. I'm sorry you find my game to be deficient right now and I'll redouble my efforts in practice to regain my spot. No worries, Coach, and I thank you for your time.
TM: Okay, great. Now can you go grab Sully for me? I'm going to have him play defense tonight.
RI: Alright. IVANANS SMASH! *Bursts new hole in wall

***

Does Mike Modano get enough respect? I get the feeling he's overlooked because he's not quite as skilled as Joe Sakic and he's not quite as dreamy as Steve Yzerman, but he's been pretty good for a really long time. It's kind of impressive that he's evolved from a top line scorer to a solid defensive forward. Plus, he's banging Willa Ford. Well done, sir.

Prediction: I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the Stars engage in jackassery.

Battle of California arena playlist #1

2008-11-13T00:01:00.000-08:00

playlist1

Nothing draws the ire of hockey fans more than the topic of music played at the arena. HP Pavilion has recently emerged from a haze of classic rock to adopt a pretty progressive playlist, but gone are the halcyon days of San Jose Arena/NHL 94 organist Dieter Ruehle, and whoever the organist was playing obscure 80's songs at the Cow Palace during the first 2 years in San Francisco.

It may be shocking to hear Motorhead's Ace Of Spades played during the pre-game warmup in San Jose (in a good way), but Philadelphia has made it a staple across the NHL. Metallica's Fuel is a regular. Nothing is going to top last year's entrance song, The Pretender by the Foo Fighters, used to great effect in the playoffs.

A quick perusal of my current mp3 playlist comes up with almost nothing suitable to accompany NHL hockey. The queue contains too many singer/songwriters, ambient or industrial track after track, and music more appropriate for an art exhibit or a coffee house insead of a hockey game. After a little searching, here are six songs that might work well while watching Marty Turco make a late third period turnover. Please suggest songs you think would work best in the comments, and I am sure audiophile Mike Chen will chime in as well.

Imperial Hip Hop - There are few songs if any that might intimidate an opposing team as they step on to the ice at HP Pavilion, but this is one of them. With the refurbished sound system at HP Pavilion that can handle heavy bass, this would be the perfect entrance song for a hockey game. Or in the case of a Sharks-Ducks matchup, a rugby match or an MMA fight. Add in the fan noise the reverberates off the ceiling and it would be impressive.

Chevelle's The Red - Simple, heavy rock that has worked well for hockey over the ages. There is a reason so many classic hockey highlight clips use the Offspring or Mettalica. It fits.

The Whip's Trash - Why is Thrashers center Jason Williams playing Basshunter's Russian Private Jet? Garbage. The Whip is a new-ish band from Manchester, UK that rips off the 80's well enough that you do not mind. Divebomb should be included on this playlist, Sister Siam is solid too. Before you bash The Whip, visit Silicon Valley and sample your target audience.

Folk Implosion's Natural One - An older song with a mesmerizing bass line. The type of song you will be asking a friend for the title after the game.

Damian Marley's Welcome to Jamrock - I first heard this song at an ABA basketball game in San Jose. Walking up to the court a handful of players were throwing down punishing dunk after punishing dunk in the pregame warmup while this was thumping in the background. I sat under the basket to take photos and it felt like they were literally trying to rip the rim off the backboard. This song is hard and it has an edge to it, even if it was performed by a Marley.

Booker T. & the M.G.'s Hip Hugger - This may only be a short sample clip of the full song, but the lack of hockey organists at several venues across the league is a crime. This is the type of obscure soul track that a hockey organist could use to put his stamp on the experience instead of piping in fake crowd noise and asking fans to raise the noise meter, and when you think of a hockey organ you have to think of Booker T and the M.G.'s.

Longtime Chicago Blackhawks organist Frank Pellico talks with the Chicago Tribune about playing at the Chicago Stadium and the United Center for almost 20 years.

[Update] This song has to be added to the NY Islanders playlist.

[Update2] Mike Chen posted another in his "Puck Rock" series with goaltender Sean Burke here. A previous post featured ESPN's John Buccigross here.

Bye Bye Burkie

2008-11-12T10:53:00.001-08:00

Well, so much for that Bucket List.

I certainly didn't see this coming this fast, and I don't have much time for reaction today, but here's the link.

I'll have a proper good-bye for the guy at some point, but for now, welcome to the new Ducks' GM, Bob Murray. Sleek = Stunned.

Go Ducks.

[Update, 11:40 am. Per the Star's Damien Cox (link via KK), Burke reportedly will stay on as a consultant with the Ducks until the end of this season. More to come after the press conference.]

[Update, 1:10 pm. James Mirtle has some quotes from the press conference, but generally it wasn't very enlightening at all. I expect Burke's next press conference, whenever it comes, to reveal a lot more of what his future holds.]

[Update, 2:40 pm. Nobody can keep up with Puck Daddy. A nice piece looking at the Anaheim tenure of Burke, plus some looking ahead to what he might face in Toronto.

[Update, 2:50 pm. Probably my last update today, but the OC Register has many more Burke quotes, and expects Burke to remain with the team for one or two more weeks before being given permission to talk to other clubs about future employment.]

[Update, 10:50 pm. Oh yeah, and here's what I wrote about the rumo"u"r of Burke leaving five months ago.]

Let's Get To Work!

2008-11-12T10:38:00.000-08:00

Ok, so some of us are still hanging our head about Dan Ellis stealing away our pizza goal last night. But sometimes, you just gotta put the past behind you, especially when there's work to be done. Work like putting Devin Setoguchi in the All-Star game. If this was a presidential campaign, I'd nominate Ryane Clowe as his running mate, but the balloting doesn't work that way.

Voting has started NOW, so go here and start stuffing those ballot boxes. Remember, Vote Seto/Gooch/Whatever nickname you want to call him in 2009!

Brown's Hits on Robidas and Ribeiro

2008-11-12T09:34:00.000-08:00

Brown doesn't knock Robidas over the boards, he knocks him above the boards. That's one of the better board shots you're going to see.

Brown got a 5-minute boarding major for this one. Like I pointed out during the off-season, Brown hardly ever gets penalties as a result of his hits and I don't really think this should have been 5 minutes. At the same time, however, Brown hit a guy on the numbers and his face hit the boards, so it's definitely boarding. It was mostly an accident and a result of Ribeiro flinching away from contact, but I wouldn't be too surprised if Brown got a one-game suspension out of it. Morrow got a penalty for instigation and is supposed to get a one-game suspension and a fine, but I assume the league will rescind it after considering the score and the situation.

Ribeiro had a really nice shootout goal and followed it up with pointless showboating, first putting his hand to his pouty lips to silence the crowd and then skating by the Kings bench and mouthing off. I love the idea of a guy talking smack when not 5 minutes earlier he was lying crumpled on the ice, but I guess that's what the Dallas Stars are now. I feel kind of bad for Mike Modano and Segei Zubov: those guys have been class acts their whole careers and have led that team to so much glory and now their twilight years are being spent surrounded by a bunch of crowing jackasses. Oh well, I'm sure they'll have a lot to crow about today, seeing as how they're sitting at the bottom of the Pacific Division.

Kings Gameday: Marty Turco is a Rube, Sean Avery is a Hump

2008-11-11T09:54:00.000-08:00

LA Kings vs. Dallas Stars

7:30 PST, Fox Sports Prime Ticket, Yahoo!

Marty Turco, ladies and gentlemen.

Do you guys remember when Patrick Marleau scored on his own net in overtime against the Sharks? I think he tried to stickhandle it and ended up shooting it right in. I was at the game in Anaheim and when Marleau scored I looked over at Meg and he had his head in his hands. It was hilarious.

***

Icethetics (which I imagine is Sean Avery's favorite blog) has a new picture of the Kings' third jersey logo. Meh, we'll see how it looks on the jersey. At least it doesn't have purple.

***

Sean Avery is a douche bag. Seriously, I can forgive a lot of things, but being bad teammate to a young player isn't one of them. I would hope Brown would crush Avery tonight but the reality is that Avery probably wouldn't have the puck long enough to get hit. I'm sure he'll goad Gauthier or someone like that into a fight and mask the fact that he took 2 bad penalties earlier in the game. Therein lies the essence of Sean Avery.

Prediction: Kings win, 4-1. Goals by O'Donnell, Harrold, Simmonds and Ersberg.

The 16-Game Sniff Test: How do the Sharks measure up?

2008-11-11T05:55:00.000-08:00

As the Sharks have racked up points to start this season, I've had my attention fixed on where they'd sit after the sixteen game mark. Why sixteen games, you ask? For one, it does represent the first 20% of the season, but more importantly, it's where I mentally set the bar two years ago when the Ducks finally suffered a regulation loss in Game 17.

This originally was going to be a comparison of just the 06-07 Ducks and the 08-09 Sharks, but since I started mulling the idea I've been reminded that it's not just the Ducks that started their season on fire en route to a Stanley Cup. Here's a look at the last four cup winners have performed in their (mostly) first sixteen games, with the Sharks thrown in for comparison. In the right-hand column I have included each team's record through 60 minutes -- probably more indicative of projected postseason play.
Overall Records:

Team	Raw Record	GF – GA = GD	PP	PK	Regulation Record
03-04 Lightning*	11-2-2-1, 25 pts 0.781	47 – 29 = 18 2.94 – 1.81 = 1.13	14 / 78 17.9%	7 / 64 89.1%	10-2-4, 24 pts 0.750
05-06 Hurricanes**	12-2-1, 25 pts 0.833	59 – 38 = 21 3.93 – 2.53 = 1.40	21 / 96 21.9%	15 / 81 81.5%	10-2-3, 23 pts 0.767
06-07 Ducks	12-0-4, 28 pts 0.875	57 – 32 = 25 3.56 – 2.00 = 1.56	18 / 86 20.9%	10 / 92 89.1%	9-0-7, 25 pts 0.781
07-08 Red Wings	13-2-1, 27 pts 0.844	54 – 33 = 21 3.38 – 2.06 = 1.31	18 / 77 23.4%	10 / 85 88.2%	11-2-3, 25 pts 0.781
08-09 Sharks	13-3-0, 26 pts 0.813	52 – 38 = 14 3.25 – 2.38 = 0.88	13 / 80 16.3%	9 / 61 85.2%	10-3-3, 23 pts 0.719

* Remember when standings used to have four columns? For those of us who need reminding (I sure did!), the Lightning had 2 ties and 1 overtime loss in their first 16.
** I gave the Hurricanes a break and only showed their first 15 games. In Game 16, the Atlanta Thrashers smoked the 'Canes 9-0 in Raleigh and threw off all the statistics. Mentally add it if you must.

First off, I want to caution reading too much into these comparisons: sixteen games guarantees absolutely nothing except a leg up on a playoff position, and there's no real need for the Sharks to outperform any of these prior cup winners -- San Jose won't be facing these lineups this year.

Secondly, I want to emphasize more about comparisons with the Ducks and Red Wings, and less about the Lightning and Hurricanes. I included the Southeast winners because they did reinforce the pattern, but their Cup Finals were a bit unique -- meeting a bottom seed in the west and requiring a seventh game at home to seize their prize. No offense, but the Ducks and Wings represent teams that cruised to victory over more traditional Finals opponents, and their regular seasons were more similar to today's NHL.

Thirdly, we should always keep in mind sample size -- sixteen games is meaningful, but stats still can certainly be affected by an outlier game. With that in mind, here's the home and road splits, which represent even fewer games :)
Home Records:

Team	Raw Record	GF – GA = GD	PP	PK	Regulation Record
03-04 Lightning	8-1-1-1, 18 pts 0.818	37 – 20 = 17 3.36 – 1.82 = 1.55	11 / 62 17.7%	5 / 47 89.4%	7-1-3, 17 pts 0.773
05-06 Hurricanes	7-0-0, 14 pts 1.000	30 – 18 = 12 4.29 – 2.57 = 1.71	10 / 48 20.8%	9 / 43 79.1%	5-0-2, 12 pts 0.857
06-07 Ducks	7-0-3, 17 pts 0.850	37 – 22 = 15 3.70 – 2.20 = 1.50	13 / 59 22.0%	7 / 58 87.9%	6-0-4, 16 pts 0.800
07-08 Red Wings	7-1-0, 14 pts 0.875	26 – 15 = 11 3.25 – 1.88 = 1.38	10 / 43 23.3%	6 / 38 84.2%	5-1-2, 12 pts 0.750
08-09 Sharks	9-0-0, 18 pts 1.000	32 – 17 = 15 3.56 – 1.89 = 1.67	6 / 47 12.8%	4 / 31 87.1%	7-0-2, 16 pts 0.889

Road Records:

Team	Raw Record	GF – GA = GD	PP	PK	Regulation Record
03-04 Lightning	3-1-1-0, 7 pts 0.700	10 – 9 = 1 2.00 – 1.80 = 0.20	3 / 16 18.8%	2 / 17 88.2%	3-1-1, 7 pts 0.700
05-06 Hurricanes	5-2-1, 11 pts 0.688	29 – 20 = 9 3.63 – 2.50 = 1.13	11 / 48 22.9%	6 / 38 84.2%	5-2-1, 11 pts 0.688
06-07 Ducks	5-0-1, 11 pts 0.917	20 – 10 = 10 3.33 – 1.67 = 1.67	5 / 27 18.5%	3 / 34 91.2%	3-0-3, 9 pts 0.750
07-08 Red Wings	6-1-1, 13 pts 0.813	28 – 18 = 10 3.50 – 2.25 = 1.25	8 / 34 23.5%	4 / 47 91.5%	6-1-1, 13 pts 0.813
08-09 Sharks	4-3-0, 8 pts 0.571	20 – 21 = -1 2.86 – 3.00 = -0.14	7 / 33 21.2%	5 / 30 83.3%	3-3-1, 7 pts 0.500

Takeaways: If the sixteen-game sniff test bears out, the Sharks are certainly keeping pace with Cup darlings from years past. Their goal-differential and special teams seem a little lower than the winners' trend, but it's certainly not an alarming difference.

One thing I didn't include on these tables was shot differential -- on average, the Sharks outshoot their opponents by a margin of 37 - 25, which is a whopping difference. Only last year's Red Wings on this list were able to match that for their first 16 games (34.5 - 22.4); the Lightning, Hurricanes, and Ducks were all only slightly ahead of their opponents in that regard. This is one reason I'm not too critical of the goal-differential and special teams for the Sharks; it seems like it's more a matter of luck than anything.

If you're looking for a spot of potential mediocrity, though, it might be in the Sharks' road record, which is only .500 through regulation (again, small sample size). Still, winning on the road is one thing that the other Cup winners did very well in their season starts, and that ability served them well enough in the postseason. I wouldn't worry about it too much at this point, Sharks fans, but it's something to pay attention to as the season continues along.

From the Ducks' point of view, there is one other key difference to note about the 06-07 Ducks' start and the 08-09 Sharks: the chasers. Even with the Ducks starting 12-0-4, they barely had any divisonal lead to speak of -- the Dallas Stars at that point were 12-4-0 and the Sharks were 12-5-0. It was an incredible start by all three Pacific teams. This year, the Sharks are being followed by the Ducks (2 games above .500) and the Coyotes (1 game above .500), and the immediate threat of being caught is enormously lessened.

I'm not crowning any champions today, and I'm not ruling out any team from next spring's Cup -- by the time the playoffs roll around, I'll care much more about how the last 80% of the season went than the first 20%, but I had the numbers fairly handy and I thought I'd show the comparison stats.

Question for readers: Why does this pattern exist? Does a fast start give a team any particular edge coming out of a long season, or is it just the case that excellent teams tend to have good starts and tend to win Cups? Also, seeing the comparison, what likelihood would you give these Sharks of becoming champions this coming spring? If you have any observations or theories you want to add (or have any questions about the underlying numbers), feel free to throw them in the comments.

Skip this Post

2008-11-10T13:09:00.000-08:00

I was talking to my brother yesterday and we were in agreement that if the Kings could somehow combine Erik Ersberg and Jason Labarbera, they'd have the perfect goaltender (basically, Roberto Luongo). We then decided that if they somehow grew a child in a lab from their genes, he'd grow up to be:

...the dude from Idle Hands and She's All That. (He was also Fulton from Mighty Ducks.) I have a gift for placing faces, what can I say.

My brother also has a similar gift (and a similarly small penis) and pointed out that Edmonton's new goaltender looks exactly like Evgeni Malkin:

Also, and this is completely unrelated, but what the hell is Twilight? I went and saw Role Models this weekend and they had a trailer for this emo vampire movie; I sat there with a confused expression on my face for about 30 seconds and then muttered, "What the fuck is this shit?" Teenagers are retarded.

Ducks Gameday—Sleek starts a campaign

2008-11-09T06:55:00.000-08:00

Florida Panthers (4-8-1, 15th in east) at Anaheim Ducks (9-6-1, 3rd in west)
The truth about cats and birds.

I don't have anything to say about tonight's matchup against the Cats, but I do want to recommend The Litter Box, a Panthers-themed hockey blog that I enjoy thoroughly. Whale4Ever mixes his hockey updates with plenty of awesome images and plenty of snark, and I'm much more pro-Cat thanks to his efforts. Rock on, dude.

Instead, I wanted to ride the coattails of the campaign fever that's been taking over BoC, between Mike Chen's push for Seto/Gooch to the All-Star Game and Rudy Kelly's Doughty for the Calder Trophy movement that's just picking up steam. Well, just because I'm apolitical and anti-voting doesn't mean that I don't care about important issues, and there's certainly one movement I'd like to throw my negligible weight behind. As a bonus, it's not even anything I have to convince you readers to do—the primary audience for this message is for just one person only: Brian Burke.

C'mon, Burkie, you know that Sammy would re-sign you.
As you know, Brian Burke is probably headed elsewhere next year, and I've already stated that he's got my blessing—at least he's left the team in a flexible enough salary position next year that a replacement GM won't be cap-cramped to start the new job. Here's who the Ducks currently have under salary for next year, with everyone else a free agent:

Forwards: Getzlaf, Perry, Kunitz, Selanne, Carter, Ryan + some Bertuzzi money
Defensemen: Pronger
Goalies: Giguere, Hiller

Combined, it comes to some $32.5 M, which is a bit pricy, but at least some expensive positions are pre-filled (goaltending, scoring forwards, top d-man). Well, over the next few weeks I plan on coming up with Burke's Bucket List: a list of items I'd like to see Burke do before hitting "greener pastures" next summer.

First and foremost is re-signing Sammy Pahlsson, who of course I could write volumes about (as we'll see once this campaign really gets rolling), but for now, let's just focus on the penalty killing. Since Burke took over the team, the Ducks have taken strange pride in their ability to take penalties, and Pahlsson has quietly shouldered the brunt of that. Since the lockout (regular season only), Sammy has played nearly 1,103 shorthanded minutes, which is the seventh highest total in the league behind Bouwmeester, Phillips, Lidstrom, Havelid, Chara, and Keith -- all defensemen. His total is 222 more minutes than the next highest forward, Ottawa's Chris Kelly (note: this was a hasty study just looking at just the top 90 minute-getters for each season, but I think it's correct).

So Burke, you owe it to Ducks fans, Ducks players, and especially to Sammy himself -- four more years, dude. I'm not even going to make a recommendation on dollars; whatever it takes is fine by me -- even if it's an overpayment, we still probably owe Sammy for the harsh service he's endured for the past four years.

So anyway, that's the start of my campaign; more to come in future posts. Feel free to lend your support in the comments.

* * *

More Tragedy in the Oilogosphere: You'll of course recall last month's incident between DMFB and the Oilers pressbox that led to Dave's departure from hockey blogging. Well, now the damage is doubled. Mike W, another CiO contributor and inspiration for my hockey blogging has likewise decided to give up his posting, and again, I am crushed by the news.

Mikey, please keep visiting, and trust me, I'll post anything you draw. And don't give up the Chamber of Comics -- it's sheer awesomeness, at least the parts that Internet Explorer will let me see.

I would be remiss if I didn't link to this -- pretty much the best thing any hockey blogger has ever done, ever.

* * *

And lastly, part two of my interview with Tom L. and Tapeleg from The Rink Podcast has now been posted, and this time it's Sleek from start to finish. Lots covered there, from some philosophy of what this blog is all about to remeniscing on the 2003 Cup run, and some follow-up thoughts about Paul Kariya. Enjoy!

Prediction: Ducks 3, Cats 1. Goals by Kunitz, Pahlsson (shorthanded, I'm sure), and Carter.

Go Ducks.

Now That's More Like it

2008-11-08T22:54:00.001-08:00

Sharks Gameday: The Perfect Storm? Maybe Not

2008-11-08T11:10:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I joked with Earl Sleek that tonight's Sharks/Stars game seemed like the perfect storm for the Sharks to get their first loss at home. After all, Evgeni Nabokov is out, Sergei Zubov is in, the Stars have been trying to figure out something to inspire them to a win (signing Mark Parrish, obviously, is the key), and it's a big Saturday-night tilt between conference rivals.

Seems like just the type of situation that used to drive Sharks fans nuts. The team probably had a 30/70 percentage split of meeting the challenge of an occasion last season versus appearing listless and confused.

Now? Maybe the NHL's scheduling staff is on the team's side. First Detroit comes to the Golden State to face Anaheim, then less than 24 hours later, skates out on HP Pavilion ice. Now the Stars have to do the same thing.

Instead of using my "Oh crap!" negative thinking that still lingers from the Ron Wilson era, I'm going to look on the brighter side of things (don't worry Sleek, I'm not stealing positivity). Boucher's played well so far, the Sharks have overcome all of the moments of adversity (big and little), and Dallas is hopefully tired after the game in Anaheim. Zubov is one of those freak-of-nature players that never seems to get rattled or fatigued, but I'm hoping that he won't be in tip-top shape by playing back-to-back against two tough division rivals.

From the Sharks' perspective, I'm not sure if Alexei Semenov is in, but here's an unnerving stat -- in all of the games that Semenov has played, the Sharks have given up 4+ goals in all but one of them. Coincidence? A total trickling down of Semenov's total suckitude? I don't know, but if there were three things I could wave a magic wand and control tonight, it'd be:

1) A better power play
2) More shots in the slot from Jonathan Cheechoo
3) Strong team defense and no minimal bad turnovers, which means sitting Semenov

Kings Gameday: Gettin' Defensive

2008-11-08T09:51:00.000-08:00

LA Kings (4-6-2) vs. St. Louis Blues (5-6-1)

7:30 PST, Fox Sports Prime Ticket

The Kings are currently leading the league in shots allowed per game. That's insane. Last season, if you'll recall, the Kings were atrocious at preventing shots and finished 28th overall with 32 shots/game. This season? 24. In the last game against Florida, the Kings allowed only 15 shots, and at the end of the 2nd the Kings had outshot Florida 25-6. The fuck, man. That's huge both for a team's confidence and for actually winning games. Think about it: even if your team has a fat starter and a small, doe-eyed, Swedish back-up that allow a goal every 10 shots, you're still only allowing 2 or 3 goals a game. I'm kind of used to a more, what's the word, shitty defense, so this has been a nice change of pace so far.

Imagine a picture representing shot differential right here

Of course, there's a yin to this yang: the Kings are allowing less shots but in doing so they're shooting less as well. The Kings are shooting, on average, about 26 and a half shots per game. Last season the Kings shot about 28.6. It's not a huge decrease, but it's something to keep an eye on. As long as the Kings shoot more than they allow, I guess it doesn't really matter what the numbers actually are.

***

You know who's awesome? Kyle Quincey. It's kind of depressing knowing that the Red Wings can cut a guy from their defense and then he comes to the Kings and is immediately their best defenseman. Whenever Jack Johnson comes back I imagine he'll pair up with Drew Doughty because his old partner and Quincey are so good together. Sean O'Donnell with Tom Preissing? Hell yeah! ...I don't have any friends.

***

The Kings are playing the Blues, one of the teams that will challenge them in the future when they're both actually good. This is going to be like watching Smallville, in that it's going to suck and you're going to feel embarrassed for watching it.

Prediction: Kings win, 5-2. Goals by Kopitar, Doughty, Quincey, Brown and Simmonds. I keep predicting the Kings will score a bunch of goals and one day it'll be true.

Secret to Stars success: debuts?

2008-11-08T03:16:00.000-08:00

It could be. First, Fabian Brunnstrom began his NHL career with a hat trick (and a Stars win) then Mark Parrish resumed his NHL career with a hat trick (and a Stars win).

The Stars' strange season keeps getting stranger. Then again, Sergei Zubov and Jere Lehtinen should make their season debuts soon (hopefully) so maybe this year will start making some sense.

You'd hate to see Mike Modano resort to finding an off-ice job before it's all said and done ...

Drew Doughty is My Hero

2008-11-07T09:15:00.000-08:00

I've hesitated to write this piece so far this season because I keep waiting for the roof to cave in, but Drew Doughty is the greatest 18 year-old defenseman I've ever seen. I mean, I haven't watched Luke Schenn or Luca Sbisa so far this season because I don't care about them but I just can't imagine how they can be better than Drew Doughty. Doughty leads all rookies in ice time (despite only playing 15 minutes one game because of an injury) and he's playing most of those minutes alongside Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown, who other teams match their best line against. According to Behind the Net, he leads all defensemen on the team in quality of competition. There's only been one time when he looked like a rookie, when Ryan Smyth turned him inside out, but otherwise he's been outstanding. He's not getting a whole lot of time on the penalty kill, but that's more because he needs some time to rest rather than he can't handle it.

What impresses me the most about Doughty is how he can just control the game. It doesn't matter who's coming after him, Doughty is always in control and doesn't ever rush the play. When you contrast him with someone like Denis Gauthier (who looks like Sonic the Hedgehog when you hold the button so he stays still) or Peter Harrold the difference is stark. When Doughty does go full-speed it is a surprise because he usually looks so smooth you forget what he can actually do.

"Why yes, I am awesome."

Doughty is starting to open his game up a little bit. Last night against Florida, there were a few Niedermayer Moments where someone passed the puck behind the net to Doughty and I thought, "What the hell is he doing back there?" But, like Niedermayer, Doughty is fast and smart enough to get back in position before the opposing team has a chance to exploit it. And he has Sean O'Donnell, who can't really do a whole lot but just does not make mistakes. It's insane. It's still early and everything, but I think I love Drew Doughty. He's already my 2nd favorite player behind Bailey.* I haven't really looked at the whole rookie scene yet, but if Doughty can pick up his offensive production (and I think he will once Kopitar gets going) then he has a very good chance at winning the Calder.

*Did you guys see for the game on Election Day when Bailey wore an Uncle Sam outfit? He's hilarious and topical.

Ducks Gameday—Texasperation

2008-11-07T06:26:00.000-08:00

Dallas Stars (4-6-2, t-12th in west) at Anaheim Ducks (9-5-1, 2nd in west)
Can the Stars re-discover the success they left here last spring?

I can't really tell you what's going wrong with the Dallas Stars this season, as I have yet to even watch a single game. Still, the spreadsheets will tell you, you don't have to look much past the 50 goals allowed in just 12 games. To put that in perspective, the Philadelphia Flyers currently lead the league in goal-scoring at 3.67 goals-per-game (excludes shootouts). The Stars are giving up goals at a rate of 4.17 goals-per-game, half a goal higher than any team can manage offensively.

There's probably plenty of culprits -- Avery and Brunnstrom not adequately replacing Hagman and Miettinen, the absence of Sergei Zubov (who I think returns to the team tonight, along with Mark Parrish), and of course the guy between the pipes.

Marty Turkey. 4.34 GAA, .837 Sv%.
Still, it's still a young season, and it's certainly possible the Stars work a Ducks-style turnaround. It might not even be that bad a time for the Stars to visit Anaheim and San Jose, where they eliminated the BoC last spring. It's going to be important that the Ducks and Sharks avoid thinking too much about revenge in these first meetings, though; the way to really hurt the Stars is to send them home without a win.

The Stars are 3-1 this year when allowing 3 goals or fewer; that's a good winning percentage for that cutoff, though certainly an embarrassingly low number of instances. One other strange sidenote about tonight's game: the Stars for some reason will become the last team this season to play an opponent from their own division. I guess that's one thing a Stars fan can take solace in: there's still time to make plenty of noise in the Pacific.

* * *

I'll be at tonight's game, enjoying my own version of the "Rinkside View" from the Row B seats, look for me in my lucky green shirt. I'll be with my dad and his friends, so it will probably be a muted version of Drinky Sleek, but feel free to say hi if you see me.

Prediction: Ducks 4, Stars 2. Goals by Perry, Scotty, Pahlsson, and Travis "the Omen" Moen.

Go Ducks.

San Jose's MVPP

2008-11-06T19:03:00.000-08:00

What's an MVPP? Pretty simple, really. The Sharks have a promotion -- my personal favorite promotion -- called Four In The Net, Pizza You Get.

Sounds pretty self-explanatory, right? The Sharks score four goals during a home game and the ticket becomes an instant coupon for a personal pan pizza with one topping at Round Table Pizza. If you're like me and you sell a good number of your season tickets, it's a double-bonus -- the tickets pay for themselves and the ticket stub (since I email PDF tickets most of the time) still get me pizza. Simply put, it's awesome. In fact, if you listen closely during home games, there's one guy who always yells, "WEEEEEEEEEE WAAAAAAANT PIIIIIIIIIIIZZAAAAAAAAAAA!" some time after the third goal. Keep an ear open for it on the TV broadcast and I guarantee you you'll hear it.

So, with this in mind, MVPP stands for Most Valuable Pizza Player. It's a new thing I'll be tracking this season, and it'll show just who helps get us the most free pizza.

Here's how it'll work. Whoever scores the fourth goal of a home game will get two points. Whoever assists on it will get one point. There'll be a cumulative tally for all the home games, and the player with the most points will be the MVPP for the season. And unlike the Crappy Player Pick 'Em that I ran at my blog before my server blew up and lost all my data, I'll actually try to keep this updated from time to time.

Through last night's game:
Devin Setoguchi 6 (2, 2)
Patrick Marleau 3 (1, 2)

Ryane Clowe 2 (1, 0)
Joe Pavelski 2 (1, 0)
Rob Blake 1 (0, 1)
Dan Boyle 1 (0, 1)
Mike Grier 1 (0, 1)

Brad Lukowich 1 (0, 1)
Jamie McGinn 1 (0, 1)
Jeremy Roenick (0, 1)

10/9 4-1 over Anaheim (Setoguchi from Marleau/Blake)
10/14 5-2 over Columbus (Marleau from Grier)
10/18 Philadelphia 5-4 (Setoguchi from Roenick/Boyle)
10/30 Detroit 4-2 (Pavelski from Setoguchi/McGinn)
11/6 St. Louis 5-4 Shootout (Clowe from Lukowich/Setoguchi)

Kings Gameday: Getting Our Positivity Back

2008-11-06T08:10:00.000-08:00

LA Kings (3-6-2) vs. Florida Panthers (4-6-1)

7:30 PST, Fox Sports West

In the war for Southern California, we all know who is good and who is evil: the Kings are good, and the Ducks are evil. Not like really evil or anything, more like Saturday morning cartoon evil.* Recently, the Ducks trio of terror (Corey Perry, Teemu Selanne, and Ryan Getzlaf) were all mired in slumps, probably brought on by all the sand in their vaginas. The Kings' good players (Kopitar, O'Sullivan, Frolov and Brown), meanwhile, were continuing being their wonderful selves, picking up about a point a game. The dichotomy was best shown in the Kings' 6-3 win over the Ducks, where the courageous Kings combined for 6 points to the Ducks' 1.

*Teemu is Shredder, Ryan Getzlaf & Corey Perry are Bebop & Rocksteady. I guess that means Kopitar is Leonardo, Brown is Michaelangelo, O'Sullivan is Rafael and Frolov is obviously Donatello. Oh, and I get to be Usagi Yojimbo!

Earl Sleek (artist's rendering)

This was obviously unacceptable to Earl Sleek, who is kind of like Krang. He stumbled upon the key to success in the NHL: Positivity. Positivity is the lifeblood of a hockey player and the Ducks were missing it since their game is based on Negativity. So, like any great villain, it's obvious that Earl Sleek has stolen the Kings' Positivity, resulting in piss-poor play from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Kings since. Consider this: the first 6 games of the season, the Kings' combined for 19 points while the Ducks had only 3; since then, the Kings have only 5 points in 5 games while the Ducks have an unbelievable 46 points. The Kings must get their Positivity back. And I think only I can do it.

Wish me luck.

I'm headed into dark territory now, armed only with my trusty bowstaff and my Positivity. And my gun. I'm going to get the Kings' Positivity back for their game against Florida tonight. It'll be a tough road; Anaheim is pretty far from me and the roads are really confusing, but I'll get there if I have to die trying. Watch the game tonight: if O'Sullivan, Frolov, Brown and Kopitar are their usual selves, then Earl Sleek is probably dead and the world is saved. Otherwise...

Prediction: Kings win, 7-3. Goals by Kopitar (x3), Brown (x2), Frolov and O'Sullivan. Goodbye, Earl.

Ducks keep on climbing, but Helene has her doubts

2008-11-06T07:55:00.000-08:00

Well here's something I thought I'd never live long enough to see: an Anaheim Duck atop the league leaderboard?! Congratulations to Getzlaf, Perry, and Selanne for continuing their offensive surge, including a combined 4 goals and 2 assists against the injury-depleted Blues last night.

The Sharks should probably beat up the Blues again tonight, especially with Paul Kariya leaving last night's game in the second period with an ever-vague lower-body injury.

The Ducks' 8-0-1 record within their last nine games has pulled the team briefly, at least, within three points of the league-leading Sharks. While the Ducks have played at least two more games than 28 NHL teams, it's still brought them up to the third-highest point total in the league, which is the subject of today's PuckToon.

It's still difficult to tell you how good these Anaheim Ducks are or can be, but one thing is true: they are winning games in a lot of different ways, and are becoming awfully difficult to beat. Whether they can keep pace with the hard-charging Sharks remains to be seen, but at least the Pacific is no longer the one-team race it was two weeks ago.

* * *

Brian Kamenetzky of SportsHubLA (link added under L.A. Kings) contacted me yesterday to publicize his latest podcast interview with L.A. Times hockey journalist-legend Helene Elliott. How awesome is it, btw, that Brian's interview schedule moves directly from Rudy Kelly to Helene Elliott -- that's opposite ends of the spectrum of SoCal hockey coverage right there.

Anyways, I gave it a listen last night, and told Brian I'd publicize the interview here. Generally, I don't have very strong feelings about Helene Elliott, but it's nice to hear that she's an actual person. Most of the interview is centered around the Ducks' troubled start and subsequent turnaround (plus more Sundin nonsense), but they touch on the Kings and the Sharks as well. For the most part, she stays pretty realistic about each team's chances, and doesn't sound like a strong believer in any of them.

I can't really fault her for her frank approach; she's a journalist, after all, but Positivity, Helene! As we've seen on this blog in this early 08-09 season, sometimes that can make all the difference.

Go Ducks.

The Real Election

2008-11-05T14:08:00.000-08:00

Well, now that that whole Presidential Something-or-Other is over with, we should get to the election that really matters: the 2009 NHL All-Star Game. And yes, while Patrick Marleau, Evgeni Nabokov, and Joe Thornton are on the ballot, there's one fellow who I think is showing All-Star chops early on.

Did you have an Obama 08 or McCain Country First sticker on your car? It's time to throw those out because here's the official start of Vote Setoguchi 09. It's going to have to be a write-in vote, but thanks to the magic of the inter-tubes and text messaging, we can manipulate, erm, boost the results to give us all the Chomp We Need. After all, it's Sharks Territory First.

Voting begins November 12th.

[image courtesy of commenter Jonny W]

[image modified courtesy of commenter Will]

Ducks Gameday—Mysterious Origin Comics, Part II

2008-11-05T06:42:00.000-08:00

St. Louis Blues (5-5-0, t-10th in west) at Anaheim Ducks (8-5-1, 3rd in west)
Yeah, I was yelling "Blue-urns".

Well, another moderately-deserved two points snatched in L.A. last night, but I'll tell you -- the 2nd and 4th lines looked pretty outmatched through most of the night. Brendan Morrison is still struggling to produce, though I still don't mind his overall positional play, but I also think that Teemu's not fighting through enough checks, and Todd Marchant hasn't carried a scoring line since ever.

But hey, today's a new day and a new opponent -- the St. Louis Blues. Fun Fact: Did you know that St. Louis is in the Central Division, home of the Detroit Red Wings? Yeah, of course you knew that, but I'm horrible at segues.

But now that we're talking about Detroit, our friend, now mysteriously known as "The Swede" (though tireless research has revealed he doesn't live in Sweden), has produced another comic book masterpiece, this time focused on last week's encounter with the Red Wings. Now presented in thrilling two-part format!

Red Wings at Ducks, Oct. 29, 2008:

(click on either image to enlarge)
Overall: brilliant, but I especially like the look of the middle panel on the second page. Fantastic storyline progression, and it just looks damn cool. And I miss Brad May already.

* * *

More ~~internet~~ ~~slutting~~ guest appearances: I'm still not very comfortable in front of an imaginary microphone, but I was a guest on another podcast yesterday afternoon before the Kings game -- The Rink Podcast Episode Six with Tom Luongo and James "Tapeleg" Grailian. We talked a bit about the Ducks and Sundin rumors (I'm not in until the final third), plus there will be a full-length bonus interview sometime later this week. Let's hear it for thrilling two-part formats!

* * *

And lastly, I will put a proper post together sometime later for the Duck nominees, but I wouldn't fret too much about who is or isn't on the NHL All-Star Ballot. If you recall last year, I believe seven of the twelve popularly-elected starters actually showed up to the event, so it's not very meaningful anyways. Plus the vote is probably in boring one-part format, how lame.

Prediction: Maybe all Brendan Morrison needs is an encounter with Teemu's two favorite linemates, Andy McDonald and Paul Kariya, just to see how the Finn prefers to receive his passes. Ducks win, 3-2, in a thrilling two-part game (I dunno, let's say a pane of glass shatters midway through). Goals by Getzlaf, Pahlsson, and Montador.

Go Ducks.

Would you rather?

2008-11-04T22:16:00.000-08:00

So here's what happened, best as I can piece together.

Brian Boyle smashes Rob Niedermayer into the sideboards. Travis Moen skates in to hit Boyle, but is quickly pulled aside by Tom Preissing. Niedermayer comes up swinging, but is wrestled down to the ice by Boyle. Your typical BoC get-together.

Here's the announcer: "Anaheim penalties to #32 Travis Moen, two minutes for roughing. #44 Rob Niedermayer a double minor, four minutes for roughing. Los Angeles penalty to #22 Brian Boyle, two minutes for roughing. Anaheim has the option of playing two men short for two minutes, or one man short for four minutes."

First question: Has anyone ever heard of a coach given an option of how they'd prefer to serve their team's penalties before? Is that even textbook legal, or just something that sort of got slipped in the heat of game action?

But now that it's happened, here's question two: if you were a coach in that situation which option would you choose? Both seem likely to yield a goal, so I guess the question might be which is more liable to yield two goals? Randy Carlyle opted for the 4-minute 1-man-down option (which I think is the correct call the referee should have made), but what would you take as an overpenalized choose-your-own-adventure coach -- two minutes of 5-on-3 or four minutes of 5-on-4? Theoretical answers are welcome in the comments.

BoC Gameday- Kings/Ducks- Those Deck Chairs Need Moving

2008-11-04T08:07:00.000-08:00

Los Angeles Kings (3-6-1) vs. Anaheim Ducks (7-5-1)

7:30 PST, Fox Sports West

Two games ago, the Kings were sitting at 3-4-1 and had just put in a workmanlike effort against the Detroit Red Wings. The Kings had been competitive in every game but the first one and were especially effective in rotating three scoring lines. Then coach Terry Murray decided to reunite the O'Sullivan-Kopitar-Brown line from last season. Okay, fine, our third line sucks now but that line was good last year so maybe it'll work.

The result? 4-0 loss.

"Oscar, please stop hugging me."

Terry Murray then decided that maybe the problem was the Frolov-Handzus connection and moved Alex Frolov to Jarret Stoll's line. Oh, and he also gave up on the O'Sullivan-Kopitar-Brown line after one game and moved O'Sullivan to Frolov's spot with Michal Handzus.

The result? A 3-2 loss, during which Terry Murray decided Patrick O'Sullivan wasn't doing anything and moved him down to the 4th line and moved Raitis Ivanans into his spot. Let me repeat that: Terry Murray decided Raitis Ivanans could do better than Patrick O'Sullivan. Umm, what?

Today the Kings are expected to keep the Frolov-Stoll-Moller line together and probably move Kyle Calder back with Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown. I imagine they're going to use Patrick O'Sullivan with Michal Handzus and Wayne Simmonds because, well, the alternative is so unappealing I can't even bring myself to type it. The basic framework the Kings have followed so far this season is to put Brown-Kopitar together and then Alex Frolov and Patrick O'Sullivan on the next two lines to give scoring on every line. Like I keep saying, the Kings need to bring up Ted Purcell alongside Kopitar and Brown or on the third line to give the Kings more scoring punch. But then I guess it doesn't really matter; it's not like the Kings are going to be any good anyway. This is all just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Not even deck chairs, it's like moving those dining tables the Irish ate off of and Rose danced on.

***

Much has been made of Anze Kopitar's slow start, but so far his shooting percentage is .04%. I am pretty sure that's bad luck and will come up pretty soon.

***

I am one of those weird people that love voting. I get up early every time so I can be there right when the booths open and place my vote. This time sucked, though, because the polling place hadn't gotten their "I voted" stickers yet. The hell, man, how am I supposed to get free Starbucks without my Goddamn sticker? I was outraged. Oh well, I voted for Charles Baldwin so it's not like my vote matters anyway.

Prediction: Kings win, 4-3. Goals by Kopitar, Stoll, Quincey and Obama.

BoC Gameday—Six Games of Jekyll, Seven Games of Hyde

2008-11-04T06:45:00.000-08:00

Anaheim Ducks (7-5-1, t-3rd in west) at Los Angeles Kings (3-6-1, 15th in west)
Let's try this again, shall we?

Lots to talk about on the Anaheim end of things, plus I'm sure Rudy's got plenty of Kings stuff to add, so let's get moving. First off is the Six Games of Jekyll / Seven Games of Hyde that's started off the Ducks' year. 1-5-0 in the first six, then 6-0-1 in the last seven, and the primary difference appears to be offense: the Ducks jumped from 2.17 goals scored per game to 4.14, and the power play jumped from a 1-for-24 success ratio to a 10-for-30 over the last seven games. Meanwhile, defense and penalty killing for the Ducks have stayed remarkably consistent (goals-against per game went from 3.33 to 3.29; penalty killing went from 80.6% to 80.5%).

As noted, the primary driver for this improved offense has been the awakening of the three-headed first star of the week: Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, and Teemu Selanne. The table below shows the improvement that each of the three players has shown both in even-strength and power-play situations. Each statistic (goals/60 minutes, assists/60, points/60, plus/60, minus/60, differential/60) is shown twice for each player -- once to show their rates for the first six games and again to show their rates for the last seven games. Pay particular attention to the points/60 and the plus/60 -- the improvement is phenomenal.

Scoring rate splits for Getzlaf, Perry, and Selanne

Stats are shown: Games 1-6 / Games 7-13
(click image for larger view)

It's really not all good news for the Ducks, though (what? negativity?). Over the last seven games there have definitely been stretches where opponents have carried the play against the Ducks, though usually those have come after the Ducks have taken an early lead. The Ducks allowed two straight goals to Toronto, three straight to Ottawa, three straight to Montreal, two straight to Columbus, two straight to Detroit, five straight to Vancouver, and two straight to Calgary. There have definitely been offsetting stretches where Anaheim has owned the play (the Ducks have led 2-0 in five of the seven games), but there have definitely been stretches where Anaheim has sat back and held on for dear life.

Still, I can't complain. The primary objective of accumulating standings points has been wildly successful, and for every stretch where an opponent has controlled the game, there has been an equal-or-greater stretch that the Ducks have manufactured. Look at some of these Anaheim goal outbursts: @TOR - 2g in 5:14 in the 1st, @OTT - 3g in 10:01 in the 2nd, @MTL - 3g in 13:59 in the 2nd, @CBJ - 2g in 6:46 in the 3rd, DET - 2g in 8:06 in the 3rd, VAN - 3g in 1:40 in the 2nd, CGY - 2g in 0:45 in the 2nd. It's not a typical "shut the opposition down" streak that the Ducks have been known for in the past couple of years, but I'll certainly take it.

* * *

Mats Sundin is apparently intrigued by the Ducks? Uh, OK Mats. The Ducks can't really offer any money, easy travel schedule, or even a spot on the top power play unit, but if you're purely interested in the comfort of anonymity, Anaheim certainly is not a town to judge people for mid-season unretirements. As an added bonus, Sammy Pahlsson would automatically become your best friend -- he'd probably talk your ear off, finally given an opportunity to speak Swedish again. So Mr. Sundin, if you're truly interested, the only question remains: would you prefer a December Niedermayer return package or are you interested in the February Selanne plan?

* * *

The Ducks return to Staples Center tonight where they lost 6-3 in the third game of each team's season. Kings fans may be worried, as they haven't won in their past four games, but the Ducks have been streak-busters as of late. In chronological order, they have ended L.A.'s 2-game losing streak, San Jose's 4-game win streak, Montreal's 5-game win streak, Detroit's 5-game win streak, and Calgary's 6-game win streak. Anaheim's streak-ending trend may be just what the Kings need.

Prediction: In lately-typical Ducks fashion, Ducks win 4-3 by scoring the first four goals of the game, then sitting back and letting the Kings dominate the second half of the game. Goals by Perry, Moen, Pahlsson, and Kunitz.

p.s. Careful readers will note that I have said absolutely nothing about today's presidential election. To tell the truth, I haven't followed this race very well at all. Basically, my opinion of voting is the same it was two years ago; certainly vote if you feel led.

Go Ducks.

10 Games In

2008-11-03T13:11:00.000-08:00

Record: 3-6-1 (27 Goals Scored, 29 Goals Against)

Special Teams: 15.4 PP% (24th), 86.7 PK% (6th)

Top Scorer: Dustin Brown, Alex Frolov, Anze Kopitar tied with 7

Best Forward: Alex Frolov

Best Defenseman: Kyle Quincey

Best Goaltender: Jason Labarbera

Biggest Surprise: Oscar Moller

Biggest Disappointment: Jason Labarbera

Review: Basically, everyone the Kings were counting on have failed while others have come out of nowhere. The Kings needed big seasons out of Jack Johnson, Jason Labarbera, Ted Purcell, Brian Boyle, and Matt Moulson; instead, Johnson's hurt, Labarbera has been lackluster with ample playing time, and the Kings' three-headed Manchester Monster have all failed to secure a spot in the NHL. Meanwhile, teenagers like Drew Doughty and Oscar Moller are playing some of the best hockey on the team and have not been sheltered at all. Wayne Simmonds has been giving energy and an honest effort every night and Patrick O'Sullivan has been excellent despite missing all of training camp.

The Kings still haven't found a rotation that works on offense. Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar have been decent but need to contribute at even strength. Alex Frolov played well with Michal Handzus but has now been combined with Jarret Stoll and Oscar Moller. So far the results have been good. Handzus is now playing with Wayne Simmonds and Patrick O'Sullivan but the line hasn't had time to gel. The 4th line has been pretty terrible: Derek Armstrong has been giving an honest effort, but Raitis Ivanans looks superfluous and Brian Boyle just looks confused.

The team's weakness was supposed to be defense but so far the defense has been great at limiting shots and 2nd chances. The Kings are 10th in goals against, a ranking that shows that the team's record is perhaps deceiving.

Looking Forward: The Kings continue playing most of their games at home, with 7 at home and 3 on the road in the next 1o games. I imagine the Kings will get better as Anze Kopitar gets out of his early-season malaise and the lines firm up, but the Kings need to hurry up and pick up some points pretty soon. Most of their games in the 2nd half of their season are on the road and they have a lot of back-to-back games; even if they're better in the 2nd half of the season, their record isn't likely to show it. They need to pick up points while they're at home and their games are spread out. If the Kings are going to make any noise this season they need to start now.

Dear NHL: Congratulations on not forgetting your east-coast bias

2008-11-03T11:53:00.000-08:00

Now I don't want to over-emphasize the point of this post, as really, I don't care very much at all about the NHL's Three Stars of the Week. It's an announcement that pretty much every week escapes my notice, as generally it's a collection of east-coast players named Sidney or Alexander or something, with an occasional west-coaster tossed in for "parity".

But what is the poor NHL to do when the top three scorers of the week all come from the easy-to-neglect Anaheim Ducks? It certainly couldn't have a weekly ceremony without any mention of its favorite conference, could it?

Nah, of course not. After meeting late into the night, the NHL brass came up with a brilliant compromise: why not just combine all three Duck players as one three-headed "First Star of the Week", conveniently leaving two spots available to throw a nod to Boston's Tim Thomas and Philadelphia's Simon Gagne? Certainly it was a brave maneuver that had never been done before, but considering the outrage that would have surely resulted from an all-west-coast announcement, I think it comes off as a brilliant solution.

Anyways, congratulations are certainly due to the Anaheim trio. Had they not combined for 10 goals and 18 assists this week, it would probably have been yet another east coast three-star sweep (sigh).

Go Ducks.

How Do You Deal With a Missed Game?

2008-11-02T09:24:00.000-08:00

I missed the Kings game last night. Apparently, I should be thanking my lucky stars. Some people avoid the score when they miss a game until they get home, so they can watch the whole thing with fresh eyes and experience the highs and lows of the game. I can't do that. One, I have an impulsive need to know the score; it consumes me and it's all I can think about. Two, avoiding the game means I can't watch SportsCenter, or go here or Inside the Kings, and I can't really avoid doing that for any length of time without losing my mind. So I usually find out the score from my brother or online. Then I'll watch the Yahoo! highlights when they come up, check out the boxscore and the shift charts, and wait for the game to come available on NHL Gamecenter. I still watch the game; it's actually kind of a unique experience because you already know the score so your mind is relaxed and you can focus on the little parts of the game. Then I get pissed because the Kings get outplayed by the opposing goaltender and Drew Doughty slips and misses his coverage, leaving Daymond Langkow wide open in front of the net.

So how do you guys deal when you miss a game? Avoid it and watch it live? Find out the score and move on? Share in the comments.

Kings Gameday: Arr?

2008-11-01T15:41:00.000-07:00

Los Angeles Kings (3-5-1) vs. Calgary Cammalleris (6-3-1)

7:00 PST, Fox Sports West

This are the lines for tonight's game:

Moulson-Kopitar-Brown
Frolov-Moller(?)-Calder
O'Sullivan-Handzus-Simmonds
Stoll(???)-Boyle-Ivanans

Me and Mutton (the name I gave the dog in the picture) are confused. It was just the game prior that the Kings reunited Patrick O'Sullivan with Anze Kopitar and now the lines have been changed again. Basically the Kings have replaced Alexander Frolov with Patrick O'Sullivan on the stopper line (don't know why), moved Moller to center (don't know why), and moved Stoll from 2nd line center to 4th line winger (haven't a clue). Weird. That 2nd line looks pretty terrible, so hopefully they're not playing big minutes. Should be an interesting game to watch. What would I like to see?

Moulson-Kopitar-Brown
Frolov-Handzus-Moller
O'Sullivan-Stoll-Purcell
Richardson-Boyle-Armstrong

***

The Kings' biggest problem this season has been their 3rd defensive pairing. Tom Preissing and Peter Harrold are the Kings' best options for that position but they play pretty much the same game. Denis Gauthier brings a physical element but that's about it and he's been killing the team with his defensive play. The Kings need to look into bringing someone up for Gauthier, I reckon. (Reckon?)

***

Mike Cammalleri is 2nd on the Flames with 11 points in 10 games. He's a fast starter and will probably cool off a little bit, but good for him so far. Todd Bertuzzi is tied for the team lead in goals with 6. He can go fuck himself.

Prediction: Kings win, 5-4 (so). Every goal by Kyle Calder, who then comes to my house and beats me up. Can't say I blame him.

When the ketchup starts flowing...

2008-11-01T13:14:00.000-07:00

Some people wonder why Ducks fans are so patient for Teemu Selanne to make retirement decisions.

Oct. 27, ANA @ CBJ:
16:05 3rd: Selanne 3 PP (Beauchemin, Getzlaf)

Oct. 29, DET @ ANA:
14:11 1st: Selanne 4 PP (Getzlaf, Pronger) (5-on-3)
19:09 2nd: Selanne 5 PP (Getzlaf, Niedermayer) (5-on-3)
4:50 3rd: Selanne 6 PP (Pronger, Getzlaf)

Oct. 31, VAN @ ANA:
12:24 1st: Selanne 7 PP (Pronger, Perry)
17:17 2nd: Selanne 8 PP (Perry, Niedermayer)

Six consecutive regulation periods with a power play goal scored. Talk about one guy resurrecting a stale power play percentage. Pretty damn amazing, Teemu.

* * *

The Ducks' win streak came to an end Halloween night in a game that seemed to be haunted. The Ducks opened with two PP goals (one on a Luongo miscue), but Bernier got one back for the Canucks 19 seconds later. That would end up being the first of five straight Vancouver goals -- over a span of 7:22 in the second, they scored on four consecutive shots. 18 seconds later, the Ducks responded with 3 goals in 1:40 to tie the game at 5.

In total, that was seven goals in just 9:20 of the second period. (Anaheim's goal horn called in sick today, by the way.) Anyways, after exchanging goals in the third the game goes to a shootout. After a Selanne miss, the next two shooters score, then the next twenty-two shooters miss, before Mattias Ohlund put the winner past Jonas Hiller in the spooky 13th round.

Basically, insanity. And you want to know the craziest part? The Sedin twins played over 21 minutes apiece in a game that featured 12 goals, and they weren't on the ice for any of them. As for the Anaheim twins, Corey Perry was able to answer Getzlaf's 5-assist game against Detroit with a 1-goal 4-assist game of his own.

* * *

And yes, that is an accompanying image of the Finnish "Dash" Flash to go along with Mr. Incredible.

Go Ducks.

San Jose Sharks vs Detroit Red Wings photos

2008-10-31T19:06:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos from last night's 4-2 Sharks win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings. After a tight checking game in the first period and several spectacular saves by backup goaltender Ty Conklin, the Sharks opened up for 3 goals in the second and outskated a tired Wings team in the third. More notes and photos from the game will be posted here soon.

Ducks Gameday—A hasty look at the SoCal Two-For-One Special

2008-10-31T13:09:00.000-07:00

Vancouver Canucks (5-5-0, t-7th in west) at Anaheim Ducks (6-5-0, 5th in west)
Trick or treat? Teemu takes Trick.

Sorry this gameday post was so late in coming, but I was under the assumption that the NHL was going to suspend all regular season games until its posterchild Sid Crosby recovered from his mystery injury. Whoops!

At any rate, because I was so bored at work today I thought I'd revisit an old study I did about the success of teams visiting SoCal to play both the Kings and the Ducks. In the table below, I've pooled together all the instances since the lockout when a visiting team played at the Honda Center and the Staples Center within two days of each other, then separated the results according to (a) which arena they visited first, and (b) how many days separated the games. Keep in mind, this table shows visiting opponent results, not the results for the home teams:

(click image to enlarge)
There's a lot of data thrown in this table (and sorry for the shoddy image quality), but here's a few quick takeaways:

1. Given a choice, a visiting team probably prefers to visit the Ducks before they visit the Kings. In the 23 times that has happened since the lockout, teams have won 10 times in the Honda Center, 13 times in the Staples Center, and 7 times a visiting team has won in both venues.

When teams visit the Kings first (as Vancouver did last night), they generally get ripped up by the Ducks in the second game. In the 35 times that has happened since the lockout, only 9 times has a visiting team won the second game in Honda Center and only 2 times has a visiting team been able to walk away with victories in each building (though the Canucks could become the third team to do it tonight).

Interesting to note that if you count the upcoming games against Vancouver and Calgary, that will make the last eleven straight opponents who went to Staples Center first.

2. A day off between games helps a team in either situation. Neither Vancouver nor Calgary will enjoy that luxury, but as you can see, visiting teams do enjoy better results in the second game if they have a day off to prepare for it. It's intuitive, sure, but I thought I'd point it out.

What's less intuitive? Teams with a day off between venues are typically enjoying better results in the first game, also. Possibly this has to do with "looking ahead" at the next day's opponent?

3. There's still plenty of factors that aren't included in this spreadsheet. Part of what makes this study a bit complex is that loosely speaking, the last three-plus seasons the Ducks have been very good and the Kings have been very bad, and it's interesting to see how teams strategize with that in mind. Should a team play its starter against Anaheim and its back-up against L.A., to try to pick up points in each venue? Or should the starter get the easier points in L.A. and let the back-up try to pull an upset in Anaheim?

Also lost a bit in this story is the set of teams that are making these two-stop trips; generally it's teams that have to travel very far (San Jose doesn't appear in this data once, as an example). Just another thing to keep in mind when over-analyzing these results.

At any rate, I've laid out the results in what I think is a logical way; feel free to comment or question any of it, or add observations of your own.

Prediction: Per the spreadsheet, Ducks win 3.5 - 2.2. Goals by Hedican, Morrison, Pahlsson, and half a goal by Perry.

Have a safe and pagan Halloween, everyone! Go Ducks.

To: Sharks Fans

2008-10-31T10:51:00.000-07:00

Hey, your team just beat last year's Stanley Cup Finals participants! Your top line is dominant, your young guys are doing great, and Dan Boyle has been a great acquisition so far. You guys are celebrating, right? Right?

[Update from anonymous Battle of California Blogger] Yes.

Measuring Stick #2: Detroit

2008-10-30T11:40:00.000-07:00

The big story today seems to be the whole Todd McLellan vs. Mike Babcock sub-plot (I was going to do an Obi-Wan/Darth Vader Photoshop of the two with the "When I left you, I was but the learner. Now I am the master," line but I ran out of time) but that whole thing doesn't really mean that much to me. I mean, these guys are professionals and they knew that some day this was probably going to happen.

My bigger focus is on seeing how the Sharks compare as a whole to the Wings. Like it or not, the god damn Red Wings have been the measuring stick for the league since the mid-90s (give or take a few seasons), and the emphasis is even higher now that they're defending champs. Holding Sidney Crosby and company to just a handful of shots showed that the Sharks were ready to put forth a strong defensive effort against an elite opponent, but I got the sense that the Penguins were off their game on Tuesday. I doubt I'm the only one who thought that the whole game was pretty darn boring.

So, what to expect tonight? The Sharks certainly are playing their own version of the Wings attack style, but I see San Jose as more based on speed and the Wings based more on passing/possession. The idea isn't to necessarily outshine Detroit at their own game; instead, it's all about bringing the necessary effort to make the Sharks' own system the superior one.

A few more random notes:

-Joe Thornton's groin injury seems more obvious with each game. He simply doesn't use his legs or lower body to protect the puck the way that he normally does, and assuming he didn't just revert into a craptacular player over the off-season, I'm assuming this is the lingering effects of his injury. Since I'm not a doctor (and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn last night), I don't know if this is one of those injuries where you can't rest it, you just have to work through it. I'm doubting that, though, since it seems like any sort of leg/abdomen injury would heal better with resting rather than playing at elite-level competition. Plus the team is scoring by committee right now, and I'd rather have 100% Thornton later than 75% Thornton for the bulk of the season (since these things linger forever).

-For all you King fans...um...well, I see what you were complaining about with Rob Blake. Those first two games kinda seem like an abberation now, don't they?

-The Sharks power play started using a slightly different look with one guy in the crease and another guy in the high slot. The strategy here seems to have the low guy providing a screen while the high player looks to deflect a shot in. Jonathan Cheechoo had a few dandy deflections against the Penguins and it's nice to get some refreshing special teams strategy after the Ron Wilson days.

Outsourcing: Cartoons from Sweden

2008-10-30T10:55:00.000-07:00

If you recall, this past summer BoC had a brief series called Letters from Switzerland from our generous friend Markus (will it continue? only Markus knows for sure), where we received some overseas updates about some former NHLers. In that same spirit, I present a guest submission from reader Kyle J., a guy I can only assume hails from Sweden (to be completely honest, I'm not sure about this, but based on a few phrases of broken English I've corrected, I'm comfortable being presumptuous). Well, I'm never a guy to turn away free artwork, especially if it's potentially from Sweden!

I am, however, a guy who (for better or worse) will regularly publish e-mails I get.

Dear Earl Sleek.

I have been wanting to find a way to mix my passion for graphic arts and hockey together for a long time. I have finally figured out how. A Graphic Novel of Hockey(Comic book). However I would like to showcase them where people could see them. And reading your blog since the Season We Won the Cup I know that many people in fact read your blog. I have really enjoyed your cartoons. If you wouldn't mind letting me post these on BOC I would very much enjoy some feedback so I could start up on my own or possibly work together on some.

Thanks

BOC Reader of you and Rudy,
Ducks Fan and Hockey enthusiast,
and Fellow Artista,
Kyle J.

Just take a look at the awesomeness below, inspired by last week's Ducks win against the Toronto Maple Leafs (featuring an ill-advised goaltender switch by Ron Wilson for the shootout):

Quite literally the best artwork this blog has ever seen.
(Click image to enlarge.)
I don't even know where to start. The Terminator version of Nik Antropov is killer, the classic Ron Wilson media staredown is spot-on, and I want to run and hide from that George Parros glare. Basically, Kyle, I give this a hearty standing ovation. Outstanding.

One of my side goals here at BoC is to semi-legitimize the notion of internet cartooning, even though I'm pretty much just a hack. Well, fellow hacks, the bar may have just been raised, and I'm pretty excited to see that. Plus, now with Switzerland and Sweden on the BoC contribution list, I can't wait to see what our German or Finnish readers will do to top this.

[1:15 pm edit -- Oh boy did I blow this one. I've now been informed that Kyle J. is from Southern California, not Sweden. Well, this won't be the last fact-checking error that Sleek will ever make, but it is a doozy. Also, a new version of the picture was submitted with "Foliage" instead of "Foilage". Sorry for the mix-up, KJ.]

Go Ducks.

Kings Gameday: Reunited and it Feels So Good

2008-10-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

Los Angeles Kings (3-4-1) vs. Vancouver Canucks (4-5)

7:30 PST, Fox Sports West

Patrick O'Sullivan will skate with Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar tonight, reuniting the Sandman Line* that was so effective in the 2nd half of last season. It's all well and good for those three because they love playing with one another, but the question I have is: why? Kopitar, Brown, and O'Sullivan are all playing over 18 minutes a game and they're all averaging about a point a game on separate lines. Kopitar and Brown have been effective though somewhat smothered by opposing defenses, while O'Sullivan has been the driving force on the third line** alongside Jarret Stoll and Oscar Moller. It seems like this is a move designed to end Kopitar's perceived struggles, but at the expense of the Kings' newfound offensive depth.

*I call them the Sandman Line because they put opponents to sleep. Actually, it's because they all look really tired.

**Can we end the whole charade that Alex Frolov is on the third line? He and Handzus are playing the 3rd and 4th minutes on the team among forwards. They're playing against the other teams top lines. And they're doing awesome. They're not the 3rd line.

There were a few more shifts in the line-up worth mentioning. Well, they're not, but I'm going to anyway. Kyle Calder has joined Jarret Stoll (I keep writing "Stool" instead) and Oscar Moller on the 3rd line. It'll be interesting to see how this line does: will Stoll and Moller be able to create offense on their own, or will Calder drag them down? The answers are, in order, "no" and "yes."

Matt Moulson also rejoins the lineup tonight in place of Brad Richardson. The move is designed to provide a little defensive responsibility. Of course, the defensive problem on that line is not Richardson but instead Ivanans and Armstrong. I dont' know why the Kings don't sit Ivanans for a game because he's been sucking and not fighting lately, but who the hell knows. I think Richardon, Boyle and Moulson should all play one game, just to see how the Kings do with 4 legit lines. Oh well. No one really cares, I guess. Hey look, a duck.

***

The Vancouver Luongos come into town tonight, led by their resolute captain. A lot of people made a big deal out of Luongo being named captain, but why the fuck not? He's their best player, he's probably the best athlete on the team, and he's a pretty outgoing guy. It's not like the past where goalies were dangerous lunatics that couldn't be reasoned with. As a goaltender myself, I am tired of the blatant stereotypes perpetuated upon my race. If a black man can become president, a goalie can become captain. Now that's change I can believe in.

Prediction: Kings win, 3-2. Goals by O'Sullivan, Kopitar, and Brown. Well, they better score, anyway; it's not like anyone else is going to now.

San Jose Sharks vs Pittsburgh Penguins photos

2008-10-30T07:48:00.000-07:00

Underwhelmed to put it mildly with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin at the tank. Thornton and Marleau turned in a dominant performance defensively as well as offensively, and Marleau and Setoguchi were really exploding on the back check to chase down plays. More photos and notes from the game here. Detroit returns tonight.

A Calm Condemnation of the Rinkside View

2008-10-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

As you are all probably aware, Fox Sports West has been experimenting with a new method of presenting a hockey game, called "Rinkside View." The view ~~fucking sucks~~ attempts to give the viewer a more up-close view of the action through cameras right above the penalty box and behind both nets. It was an interesting notion, but the view has been an overwhelming failure with the fans and is quickly becoming an black mark on the network and the Los Angeles Kings. Look at this poll on Inside the Kings: fans have risen up in protest against Rinkside View. If it were a bill, fans could override a president's veto to dismiss Rinkside View. The problems with Rinkside View are voluminous so I hardly see the need to discuss all of them, but I will take time from my busy schedule ~~making my cat chasing a laser point~~ to point out just a few flaws.

1) YOU CAN'T FOLLOW THE GODDAMN PUCK. Ahem, excuse me. The patricians that sit right near the glass won't tell you this, but in places like the Great Western Forum or the Pond it's actually better to sit in the top section, right in the middle. Why? Because you can follow the puck wherever it goes. When you sit close, other fans and players block your view of the action and present a incomplete picture of the play. Through Rinkside View, guys will come flying out of the corner of the screen and get a great shot off before you've had time to recognize them. It is infuriating for an experienced hockey viewer to be forced to watch the game through the eyes of a newcomer.

Classic View Rinkside View

2) YOU CAN'T FUCKING SEE THE POWER PLAY DEVELOP. On the power play, the Rinkside View switches to an end view, right above the goaltender. This is good because it lets you get a better view of where the puck is being aimed, but it comes at too high a cost: you can't follow the puck side-to-side. The camera is too close to the action so you can't see the two guys along the circles at the same time. (Consult my expertly-made chart for an example.) On the Kings' power play, those are the two most important players on the ice and most of the action goes through them. To see one of them the camera must pan over and block out the opposing point player, which often results in missing the shot when those two players connect. (What? Fuck it, I'm not rewriting it, you'll figure it out.) That camera angle is actually a good idea on the power play, but only if it's far enough away that you can see the whole sheet of ice.

3) WHERE THE FUCK DID HE SHOO-OHGODGETOUTOFTHEWAYGAUTHIER. When a forward takes a shot on goal, the defender on the opposite side of the ice always always always goes to the front of the net to help clear any potential rebounds. When the Rinkside View is used, this often means that the shot is obstructed from the far side by the defender going to the net on the near side. It's a Donkey Punch for the viewer and really, really fucking pisses me off.

4) I'M NOT USED TO THIS! I know, you're thinking, "Well that's a terrible reason to be against something," but hear me out. We're all used to the traditional camera angle because that's what works. It's the 2nd best way to watch a game* and the best one that's actually feasible. Rinkside View is like taking a chocolate eclair and then putting poo in it; yeah, it sure is different and exciting but I sure as fuck don't want it anywhere near me.

*I've always thought the best camera was the one high in the corner because you can see the entire ice at once. Sure you can't really see numbers, but if they're Kings I can tell by who they are by watching them skate and if they're not then I don't really care. Plus I can watch line changes!

Basically, the problem with Rinkside View is that it incorrectly presumes that the most important part of hockey is the man with the puck. There's so much more going on (guys crashing the net, the battle in front of the net, the trailing defender) that will actually decide the game that is not being shown so you can watch some asshole get taken into the boards. It forces the experienced viewer to watch the game through a newcomer's eyes and retards the growth of the newcomer by not allowing him to see the other parts of the game. It's like helping someone who can't learn the alphabet by removing the letters "Q," "I," and "T." Sure, they might be able to learn it faster but at what cost and what if they want to spell, "Quisling?" See, madness.

***

I did my first podcast with the awesome Brian Kamenetzky of SportsHubLA. My voice sounds weird. We go over the high points of the season so far and a few of the major storylines so you can listen if you want. If you don't want to then I think you should listen to it anyway and tell me how badly I suck. And check out the rest of SportsHubLA because it's pretty great and covers everything in LA and also the Chargers, for some reason.

Ducks Gameday—The importance of a good dentist

2008-10-29T07:08:00.000-07:00

Detroit Red Wings (7-1-1, 2nd in west) at Anaheim Ducks (5-5-0, t-5th in west)
Ah, it's never felt so good to be back at .500

Well, I don't know if it was a lucky mix of positivity and poetry (Poetrivity!), but somehow the Ducks pulled off a nice 4-game sweep on their road trip, to nicely recover from their 0-4 season start. There's still plenty of things to improve on for the Ducks, but I'm still at the point that I care more that they are getting points than worrying too much about how they're getting them. Suffice to say that it was a fortunate road trip (really? only the third time ever a team has swept eastern Canada?), and it was extremely helpful to score the first two goals in each of the first three games.

But probably the one event on the road trip that probably shouldn't be overlooked was Ryan Getzlaf's trip to the dentist. Getzlaf had a virus removed from his gum that kept him out of the game in Toronto, but apparently the virus was adversely affecting more than just his inner mouth -- his entire forward line showed improvement once the infection was removed from the lineup. Here's the top line's very-much-improved stats from the road trip:

C. Perry 4 gp, 2g-5a-7p, +4
R. Getzlaf 3 gp, 3g-2a-5p, +4
C. Kunitz 4 gp, 1g-4a-5p, +2
Recall that in the six games prior to that dental visit, that trio combined for 18 gp, 0g-2a-2p, -14.

I can only assume this resembles Getzlaf before and after his dental visit.
It certainly mirrors the top line's performance since that pivotal event.
I don't want to seem overly presumptuous, but perhaps it's time to schedule Brendan Morrison for a teeth-cleaning. Ten games in, and he's got 0g-1a-1p and a -5. Just sayin'.

------------------------------
Meanwhile, the Red Wings come into town with a 5-game win streak of their own, thanks to Denis Gauthier's questionable decision-making. Like Anaheim, Detroit's win streak seems a bit illusory as well -- three of the five wins have come in OT/SO, and over the streak they've allowed 3.6 goals per game, which is definitely uncharacteristic.

Here's one stat that definitely differentiates Detroit's win streak from Anaheim's, though. In 5 wins, the Red Wings have outshot their opponents by a margin of 41.2 to 29.8. In 4 wins, the Ducks have been outshot by their opponents by a margin of 25.5 to 37.8. Detroit's also 5-0 on the road this season, and the Ducks haven't won a home game that I haven't attended, so hopefully this battle of the last two cup champions provokes some inspired play from the web-footed ones.

Prediction: Nevertheless, the Ducks pull it out. Ducks 4, Wings 2. Goals by the two-time Wing killers -- the fabulous Niedermayers, Pahlsson, and Pronger. For your Red Wings angles, make sure to hit up Abel to Yzerman, Winging It In Motown, On the Wings, and HockeytownTodd.

[9:30 am edit -- I've just been informed that the Chief over at A2Y will be running a live blog over at his site tonight, and I've agreed to join in the comments there to take my lumps like a good Ducks fan should. Feel free to join in, defend Pronger's elbows, and enjoy a hearty laugh at the persistence of 18-month-old injury excuses.]

Go Ducks.

Measuring Stick #1: Pittsburgh

2008-10-28T09:39:00.000-07:00

During the Stanley Cup Final, my wife was watching a game with me and after several Sidney Crosby shifts, she turned to me and said, "Why don't ANY of the Sharks skate like that?"

Yes, dear, that's a very good question. One of the things that I've been very impressed with so far under new coach Todd McLellan is the fact that the Sharks are constantly moving their feet. It's no longer shuffle in the neutral zone, coast in the offensive zone; instead, it's go-go-go pretty much all the time. I don't know if it's a homer bias or what, but the other teams I see on Center Ice look slow compared to the Sharks, and I know it's not because they lack natural skating ability. It's all about the system.

Speed = good. Go-go-go = good (for the most part; gotta work on choosing when to pinch in so we don't get those crazy odd-man rushes). And that brings us to tonight's game against NHL Golden Child Sidney Crosby.

While the Red Wings are probably the measuring stick for team play (oh hey, they're in town on Thursday), I'm personally looking forward to seeing how the Sharks individually size up to Crosby's work ethic. The thing that makes it hard (at least for me) to dislike the guy is that he always looks like he's working hard, doing little things like taking that extra stride to get back on the backcheck or burst through a pair of defensemen. He doesn't give up on the play, and when you combine that with talent, it's quite a sight to see.

Ok, it sounds like I'm gushing about Crosby right now, but I'm really not. I'm just stating why I couldn't answer that question my wife asked me all those months ago. And I think I'm seeing more of that in San Jose's game so far this season. Let's see how guys like Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton compare in a face-to-face showdown.

By the way, I was totally wrong about my Steven Stamkos prediction. I must have given too much credit to Barry Mullet.

Damn You, Gauthier

2008-10-28T09:22:00.000-07:00

Damn that sucked last night. To see the Kings play such committed defense for 58 minutes and then lose it with one dimwitted pass was awful. Gauthier cemented his dipshit status last night. I felt bad for Kyle Quincey (who played like he wanted to murder everyone who didn't give him a shot in Detroit) and Drew Doughty (who looked a little overmatched but still played nicely). And why the fuck was Ivanans playing against the Red Wings? What, the Kings have to protect Kopitar from Henrik Zetterberg or Andreas Lilja? The worst things they're going to do is fuck him and not call him again. That's damaging psychologically, not physically. (Syphillis, maybe. Hold on, I'm still building this scenario.)

Oh well, it's a long season and the Kings have 6 games left on this homestand. Here's something to make you feel better:

Courtesy TMZ

I love how dogs in clothes are either insanely fucking happy to be wearing clothes* or unbelievably depressed.

*"Holy fuck, man! Check this out, I'm wearing clothes! Have you seen this shit? A dog in clothes! Unbelievable. Dogs should not be wearing clothes but here I am, blowing minds. Look, it even has a spot for my tail!"

Kings Gameday: Wait, the Kings Play Today?

2008-10-27T16:13:00.000-07:00

Los Angeles Kings (3-4) vs. Detroit Red Wings (2009 Stanley Cup Champs)

7:30 PST, FSN West

-Jason Labarbera is playing fucking again today. I actually like it because I wanted him to get a chance to prove himself but give Eric Ersberg a chance, huh? Did Ersberg spit on Terry Murray's grave or something? (Because he looks like a corpse, you see.)

-Anze isn't looking that great to start the season. That's not bad. I've always found hockey to be cyclical: you feel great for a month, then you notice a little hitch that bothers you and it throws you off, then it seems like nothing is going right, and then all of a sudden you're fine again. The important part is that Kopitar is still being productive even though he's struggling. Both him and Frolov look like they're pressing a little bit, probably because they expected to be the leaders of this team, but they'll be fine.

-Detroit is a shithole.

Prediction: Kings win, 4-1, with dominant puck possession hockey while the Red Wings run around with shit in their pants. Now reverse the names on that.

Marty Turco's bizarro world: good playoffs, bad regular season?

2008-10-27T16:05:00.000-07:00

Not pictured: beach ball

It's been a rough start to the season for the Dallas Stars and no one is feeling the brunt more than Marty Turco. Many thought that this would be a big year for Turco considering the departure of more than capable backup turned beleaguered starter Mike Smith and the exorcising of many a playoff demon.

That has not been the case, so the Stars are calling in Andy Moog to try to work out the kinks.

And the kinks, well ... they've been kinky.*

*Kill me. Don't think about it, just murder me.

In nine games, Turco managed three wins and six loses (four in regulation). He's had a save percentage of 90 percent twice with one other game over 85 percent. He had three games in the low-80s and three disastrous games in which his save percentage was in the 70s.

So, looking inside the numbers 2/3 of Turco's starts would have really pissed off John Tortorella with a couple fitting in the ex-Lightning coach's disdainful 75% club. The season is young, but this is a large enough sample to at least generate concern. Not panic, mind you, but a generous helping of concern.

The Kings need a prayer. The Ducks need to continue revitalizing their offense and to stop taking moronic penalties. The Sharks need to keep it up.

The Stars? They need to play better defense, but more than anything else, they need their all-world goaltender back. Maybe Moog can find him.

Move aside, and let the Jonathan Cheechoo go through

2008-10-27T14:03:00.003-07:00

Video of every single one of Jonathan Cheechoo's NHL leading, Rocket Richard winning, 56 goals in 2005-06. Tape delayed play-by-play of the Sharks 3-0 win over Tampa Bay is up here. The Sharks recalled forward Jamie McGinn earlier today, head coach Todd McLellan is scheduled for a conference call today at 3:15PM.

A Sharks/Lightning Prediction

2008-10-25T12:15:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to predict who's going to win this game, but just as a side note -- I guaran-damn-tee you that Steven Stamkos will get his first NHL point tonight against the Sharks.

Why? It's not the news that he's been bumped to the first power play unit or that coach Barry Mullet wants to expand his ice time. It's because the Sharks have consistently wanted to dabble in the history books by being the team that other teams hit milestones against.

You want specifics? Um, well, much of my brain is still recovering from my friend's Halloween party last night (where I dressed as Robert Smith from The Cure during the era where he wore hockey jerseys; my outfit was complemented by a knock-off Vancouver Canucks jersey with the old orange/red/white skate logo) but I know every time it's announced on a broadcast, I slap my forehead and go, "Not again."

If my coffee kicks in before game time, I'll post some specific memories.

But just sayin'. That's my not-so-bold prediction for today.