Sleek's 2nd Annual Anti-Retirement Plea

Well, it's time I got down to business: Just like last summer, Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne stand undecided as to whether they will retire or not. Just like last summer, Scott is under contract while Teemu is an unrestricted free agent. Unlike last summer, though, Brian Burke has given them a draft-day deadline to make their commitments.

Let's open this discussion with a statsy look at the 2007-08 Ducks season, broken down into four segments, with explanations below:

Segment	GP	Record	Win%	GF - GA = GD	PP - PK
1	34	15-15-4	.500	2.4 - 2.8 = -0.4	15.5% - 78.8%
2	22	12-7-3	.614	2.3 - 2.0 = +0.3	17.2% - 87.4%
3	17	13-3-1	.794	2.7 - 1.6 = +1.1	17.3% - 86.4%
4	15	9-6-0	.600	2.2 - 2.5 = -0.3	20.3% - 79.5%

Segment 1 is the first 34 games of the season played without Niedermayer or Selanne. It is a bit skewed by travel, however, as it opens with a six games in five cities in twelve nights stretch where the Ducks flew 11,667 miles, which is pretty far even for an actual duck. It is also skewed because it featured 17 games of Mark Mowers in a scoring role, which was predictably awful (and frankly, contributed to the trading of Andy Mac). The Segment 1 team was fairly mediocre, with some obvious excuses. The penalty kill was atrocious, with no real excuses.

Segment 2 marks the return of Scott Niedermayer, which sparked a phenomenal turnaround for the Ducks. This segment is a bit skewed because it ends with the infamous "Six Games of Suck", when the Ducks scored only five goals in six straight losses after starting the new Niedermayer era 12-2-2. Still, for the most part the team stats were vastly improved, especially the defense and the penalty-killing.

Segment 3 marks the return of Teemu Selanne, who at least saw an end to that offensive drought. This is the stretch that I really turn to when I want to defend against naysayers who think that the moves Brian Burke made last year were shit. If you look at Segments 2 and 3, it's a top-notch team, and Scott and Teemu were probably the two best players over that stretch. Burke certainly had to jump through hoops to enable their returns, but it’s tough to argue with these results, at least.

Segment 4 begins with the first game of Chris Pronger's suspension, and includes the short postseason. This is a sort of sloppy cut, because the Ducks were able to go 7-2 to end the regular season, but Pronger's absence did I think sort of derail the team in preparing for its cup defense. This segment also signifies the injury to Corey Perry, which was also a huge factor and occurred just a few games before. I probably shouldn't have included the playoff games, but they did feature both Niedermayer and Selanne.

I apologize if I've over-explained these segments, but it was a complicated year. Last season's Ducks had lots of lineup variations and strange storylines, which is a far cry from the cup-winning year. That year, stability was the norm: eight of the top ten Ducks forwards played in all 103 games. Still, I did want to break out these segments to make a few quick points regarding Scott, Teemu, their importance to the Ducks, and the ugly monster known as retirement.

1. Scott and Teemu certainly can still play, contribute, and win. They were probably the two most impressive Ducks to me last year, both in sheer talent and in their ability to fix a bleeding lineup. I think I’m going to do a separate post about the contributions of each of them, but here’s the gist: by inserting talent at the top of the lineup, defensemen and forwards were able to fall into more logical roles, and the Ducks’ performance improved dramatically.

Even more so, I'd add that their delayed seasons weren't the problem at all with the Ducks’ early exit last year. It certainly hurt when Andy Mac and Breezy were squeezed out, but I'd argue that the delayed seasons by Niedermayer and Selanne helped the Ducks' chances of repeating. It enabled a roster to be assembled by the postseason that probably wasn't affordable for a full 82-game schedule.

Of the two, I’d argue that just like last summer, the retirement decision of Niedermayer means more to the success of next year’s team. You can read through my Mr. Incredible post to see some of the statistical impact of his return, but the difference between a one-Norris team and a two-Norris team is incredible; two years ago Pronger vastly improved a Niedermayer-led blueline, and last year Scott returned the favor. I don’t mean to undersell the importance of Teemu, a master in the offensive end and on the power play, but if I had to pick one player to return, it’d be Scott.

2. I don’t think either player retires this week, but I’m an optimist. I have no insider information, and I know a lot of Ducks fans have different theories, but I just keep coming back to this fact: here are two guys who had something like six months to get off the retirement fence last year, and neither one could make the call to end their careers early. Why should I expect that their inability to retire has changed, especially given their excellent play last season?

I know that squeezing them into this year’s budget will be a hurdle, but I think both players have a strong sense of their on-ice importance to the Ducks, and I suspect we’ll see both re-assume their roles for training camp.

3. If Scott does not retire, it’s time to move Schneider. He was my first choice to be shipped out when Scott unretired last year, as it didn’t really make sense to keep both Scott and his apparent replacement, especially at their salary levels. I don’t want to overly knock “Schneidermayer”, who even took home some wayward Norris Trophy votes for his easy-minute dominance, but here’s the reality:

Giguere is making $6M, and Pronger and Niedermayer combine for another $13M, and assuming they’re all willing to play, none of them are going anywhere. Schneider’s additional $5.625M salary commitment becomes excessive at that point, because frankly, there’s not that many more minutes available for him to earn or exceed his dollar value. Instead, that money is needed to shore up the forward ranks, both in paying Getzlaf and Perry’s raises, as well as finding some scratch to pay UFA Selanne.

In a lot of ways, the Ducks are painted into a corner in what they can do this offseason—if Niedermayer and Selanne are in next year’s plans, there are more salary commitments than the Ducks can afford, and we may see Brian Burke get trade-active on draft day (“I’ll trade you the rest of that sandwich for Todd Bertuzzi.”). Still, I’m pretty excited for what next year’s squad can do, in what might be the swan song for the Niedermayer-and-Pronger Ducks. I still can’t believe how fortunate we’ve been to see these two different-style all-stars patrol the blue line the last couple of years, and if there’s one more shot at seeing it, I’m fully aboard.

More stats-crunching and salary-talking to come as these retirement decisions become known, but for now, Go Ducks.

Indistinct Chatter

-Hockey's Future writer David Ranier posted a Kings Draft Preview yesterday. It tells you everything you need to know about the Kings before the draft on Friday. He think the Kings will trade down and select Alex Pietrangelo, the big, mobile defenseman who probably has the highest upside of any player in the draft. Who would the Kings trade down to? Probably a team that wanted Nikita Filatov.

-There's a rumor making the rounds that a Joni Pitkanen for Mike Cammalleri swap may be in the works. It's from Eklund, which means that it's probably made up, but the deal does kind of make sense. Just thought you people might want to know these things.

-This trade was offered on Hockey's Future by some guy and I think it's my favorite trade proposal in the history of the internet:

Jack Johnson
#2 pick

for:

Mattias Ohlund
Sammi Salo
Matt Pettinger

I think the Kings should do it.

I Knew He Looked Familiar

This is Nikita Filatov, Russian sniper.


This is Amanda Bynes in She's the Man. It's eerie how similar they look. She's the Man, of course, is a movie about a girl who dresses like a boy to play sports... wait a minute.

Oh my God.

What Did He Just Say?

Paul Pierce, describing Kobe Bryant's steal at the end of last night's game:

"He made a good play, he reached around and tapped the ball..."

Umm, oops.

Is There A Draft In Here?

Can you guess which one doesn't have a vagina? It's a trick question.

The NHL Entry Draft is less than a week away and holy Me and am I excited. I mean, c'mon! It's the draft! I am admittedly a draft junkie and will watch drafts of any type (I even used to do Ninja Turtle drafts with my brother when I was a kid... okay, last week), but the NHL Draft is by far my favorite. There are 3 things I love about the NHL Draft: there's intrigue, it allows you to dream about your team, and there's lots of young bo- wait, don't mind that last one. It's lost a little bit of its appeal lately as I notice that these kids are getting younger and younger and by extension I'm getting older and older, but I still love it.

Last year, Dean Lombardi famously caused the Greater Los Angeles area to collectively shit their pants with his selection of Thomas Hickey 4th overall. Hickey played well this year and assuaged some of our fears (although you still have to think that Karl Alzner would fit in excellently alongside Lubomir Visnosvky), while his 2nd round picks (Oscar Moller and Wayne Simmonds) have worked out beautifully thus far. Pretty much every pick from last year took a step forward this year:

1st- Thomas Hickey (WHL All-Star Team)
2nd- Oscar Moller (WHL All-Star Team)
2nd- Wayne Simmonds (75 points in 60 games, made World Junior team, fought Shane Hnidy)
3rd- Bryan Cameron (78 points in 68 games)
4th- Alec Martinez (ACHA All-America 2nd team)
5th- Dwight King (69 points in 72 games, made WHL Finals)
5th- Linden Rowat (WHL All-Star Team)
5th- Joshua Turnbull (He sucks and for some reason is listed as "Podge Turnbull" by Wisconsin)
7th- Josh Kidd (Played well for Manchester at the end of the year)
7th- Matt Fillier (161 PIM in 65 games in QMJHL)

Not bad, eh?

***

I'm probably not going to do player profiles of possible draft picks like I did last year because 1) you can find the information fairly easily at Hockey's Future, and 2) Dean Lombardi ended up picking some guy I didn't profile. The Kings need a defenseman, obviously, and Zach Bogosian and Drew Doughty both look like they can really help the Kings. Bogosian is a bigger American kid who would fit in well with our defense as it looks to be composed for the next few years, while Doughty carries a lofty reputation (I've heard "Coffey" a few times) and an underrated defensive game. (I'll compare the two more later this week.) There's also rumors Nikita Filatov, the talented Russian, could be taken by the Kings, but I think that is just a smokescreen laid by Dean Lombardi to get one of the two teams directly behind him to trade up. I've been burned before, but I'm fairly confident that either Bogosian or Doughty will be putting on a Kings uniform Friday night.

The Kings have 15 picks in this upcoming draft, with 8 of them in the first 3 rounds. I feel fairly confident that Dean Lombardi has put in more hours preparing for this upcoming draft than any other GM in the NHL. I don't think any other GM actually goes out on the road to scout prospects, but Dean does. Last year, with 10 picks and a brand new staff, Lombardi was able to pull in a very good draft class. I couldn't possibly predict what's going to happen this week, but there are 2 things I can guarantee Dean Lombardi will do:

1) He will move around. With 15 picks, Lombardi will definitely have the opportunity to move around, and we know from his San Jose days that he's not afraid to move up or down to get the guy he wants. The Kings have the 28th and 32nd picks, which Lombardi could use to move up in the 1st to get a guy he wants. The Kings should be active this draft.

2) He will focus on one area to draft from. Dean Lombardi is a smart guy, and he knows that there are areas that are undervalued by traditional draft. He usually finds that area and drafts from it, thinking that he's getting 2nd round talent with a 3rd round pick. When he was with San Jose, Lombardi focused on non-traditional European countries, while last year he focused on the WHL. I don't know where he's going to focus on this year, but you can usually see a trend at the end of the day.

Yep, complete confidence in this man's abilities.

I'll be here all week passing on the latest made-up shit rumors leading up to the draft. I'm pretty stoked because I have a feeling the Kings will make some waves. Dean Lombardi has had a few failures during his time as Kings GM, but he owns the draft. The draft is his home, where he feels comfortable and where he is better than any other GM outside Ken Holland. This draft is what he's been building towards since he took over as Kings GM, and I think he's going to rock it. Should be fun.

Countdown to July 1: Someone save Brian Rolston

Like many of you, I'm suffering from severe hockey withdrawal. With the draft and July 1 Sweepstakes coming up, there's still a solid two or three weeks of juicy storylines.

With that in mind, I thought I'd take a look at some of the most interesting free agents of the Summer of 2008 and define them as a good or bad idea.

Sadly, this first free agent might not even hit the market on July 1. Until otherwise, let's assume he might test the waters...

Good Idea: Brian Rolston

If Rolston's game had a slogan, it would be "Hossa, without the hype." He brings a lot of the same qualities (skating, defense, hockey IQ) along with leadership skills, clutch abilities and a frickin' wicked shot (see the YouTube clip for an example).

He's the sort of forward who would be receiving Buccigross-on-Drury type man crushes by the hockey blogosphere if he wasn't playing for the blander-than-Gumbel Minnesota Wild. I'd beat the Wild down for their Warholian machine of an offense some more, but Wild fans deserve some legit respect.

Seriously, do you think Minnesota fans would have allowed prime playoff seats to go unsold like the Red Wings fans did? There's plenty of semi-valid explanations for the Red Wings not selling out every game, but maybe we should relocate Hockeytown to Minnesota. Just a thought.

Jacques Lemaire and Andy Warhol: basically the same fuckin' guy, eh?

ANYWAY, back to Rolston. The thing that strikes me about him is that I could see him becoming a key ingredient in any of the BoC teams (cap/budget permitting).

He could be a leader and defensive presence on a young, impressionable Los Angeles Kings team that needs better leadership than the "Hey kids, maybe some day you'll be grandfathered into a hockey team" example that Rob Blake is providing.

With Dallas, he'd be the perfect compliment to Brad Richards, a player who's had line mates like Michael Corleone had trustworthy brothers. Seriously, that guy has been slumming since the Lightning won a Cup (although one of his teammates in Tampa was named Ouellet, which is pronounced Wallet. This is undeniably awesome). So yeah, Rolston would be a great fit with the Stars.

What does she have to do with Rolston? It'll make sense later. Kinda.

He could be the missing piece for the Sharks, although it would be hard to imagine the Sharks being able to cough up Rolston-level dough. He could give Joe Thornton a thunderous shot to set up or give Patrick Marleau a line mate who might help him to, you know, suck less. Either way, he probably would become a leader of a team of almost-leaders.

Finally in Anaheim, he would give the Ducks secondary scoring that The Rotting Corpse of Doug Weight and the Floating Bear Todd Bertuzzi could not provide.

Why try to go after the sexiest choice in Mats Sundin when you could get a sneaky sexy choice in Rolston?

Hossa is the big breasted blonde hogging the headlines. Sundin is the cougar being tempted into hockey infidelity by a few eligible pool boys. Rolston is that chick from SuperBad with the cute bangs (except I don't want to see him naked).

Chances are, he'll just stay with that by-the-numbers crew in Minnesota. But it'd be interesting to see what he'd accomplish on a more explosive team. You never know...

Free Agency starts early at BoC

Ah, the complicated life of Earl Sleek. I'm a busy guy lately, though it may not be that obvious from the front-end of a blog. This past March, I started a new job that actually requires my daily attention, and because of work hours and commute time I'm daily getting home two hours later than I used to. As such, my blogging time has been cut into, which is why I'm announcing a new tag-team Ducks blogger who will be joining our BoC staff.

Mostly I'm going to let him introduce himself, but Ken Armer contacted me recently about this possibility and I decided that it was worth a shot; there's certainly Ducks stories that need some more attention than I'm giving them. I haven't had the time to post anything about recent M.A. Bergeron trades or Jonas Hiller contracts, and I'm swamped trying to put together a good Niedermayer/Selanne post before their retirement decisions are due next week.

Now I don't know Ken at all (really that's true of me and all our writers), but he has been writing about the Ducks all season at Bleacher Report and at The Puck Drop, which gives him more credibility than I had when I started blogging. Ironically, in the same week where I decided not to change the blog name to accomodate Stars coverage, I hire a 21-year-old kid from Texas to assist in Ducks duties. Go figure. Anyways, Ken tells me he plans to move to SoCal when he's able, and aspires to one day write for the L.A. Times (side note to Ken: BoC may help with exposure, but not with credibility).

I do want to stress that I'm not going anywhere. I've still got plenty to say about these Ducks, but instead of presenting them in a rushed and sloppy way, I can now take the time to make them well-thought-out and sloppy. Also, I am starting to pack up my Redondo home in preparation for an eventual move down to Orange County where my new job is (I'm house-hunting later today), and when that move gets done my commute will disappear, and I'll be freer and even more local to the team I cover.

So anyways, once all the technical nonsense is worked out, Ken will probably start posting next week, and we'll see how it goes from there. Welcome aboard, Ken.

Sidenote: Sometime next week I am going to do a cleansing out of our blogroll, removing links that haven't been updated in a while. If you're an owner of a lazy blog, you may want to write a post or shoot me a note to let me know your blog's not dead. Also, if ever I'm missing a link, don't hesitate to point it out.

Will Teemu Selanne Go To Montreal?

No.

Who's up for a little game theory?

Kuklas Korner has a piece today on soon-to-be-UFA Ryan Malone and how Columbus might trade for his rights Philadelphia-style in order to get a pre-July-1st negotiating window:

An NHL source said that Malone has been low-balled twice by the Penguins and is ready to leave July 1 as an unrestricted free agent. Malone’s rights could be traded before that day, of course, and the Blue Jackets are a likely destination.

The source said the Penguins have already made the Blue Jackets an offer for Malone’s rights.

Now this is a move that puzzled me when Philadelphia did it last summer with the Nashville Predators (Hartnell and Timonen), and it's a move that puzzles me still today. For certain, I can understand Nashville's and Pittsburgh's motivation -- why lose a player for nothing July 1st if some team is willing to pay assets mid-June? As for the other parties, I really fail to see what the benefits are for Ryan Malone or the Columbus Blue Jackets.

I threw together a simple game theory table together below that oversimplifies the choices of Columbus and Malone, but essentially Columbus has a choice: outbid 29 other teams for Malone, or not. Malone also has a choice: sign before July 1st, or wait.

	Malone will sign before July 1st	Malone won't sign until July 1st
CBJ will offer the highest bid	CBJ loses a draft pick unnecessarily	CBJ loses a draft pick unnecessarily
CBJ will not offer the highest bid	Malone loses salary unnecessarily	CBJ loses Malone, both sides are indifferent to the trade

I've included some loose payoffs where the decisions intersect. If Columbus is willing to pay more for Malone than anyone else, there seems to be no benefit to make a pre-July trade; they can win his services on July 1st without surrendering a draft pick. If another team is willing to pay more than Columbus, however, then there is no benefit for Malone to sign with the Jackets in June.

In other words, there is no great reason I can see for Columbus to trade for Malone's negotiating rights, at least with the payoffs as I've structured it. At best, both sides are indifferent about the trade (if Malone signs elsewhere July 1st), but in all other outcomes one of the parties is worse off because of the trade.

Now I know I've made some strong assumptions here (NHL teams act rationally, or that Malone only considers dollars when making a UFA decision), and I haven't considered all the payoffs: one thing that Philly did get from its trade-and-sign last year was an improved perception from the UFA class ("Those Flyers are serious about winning"), which may have helped them land Briere. Still, even with the turnaround success of the Flyers, I'm dubious as to what advantage they gained by the Nashville trade. Couldn't they have signed Hartnell and Timonen on July 1st, kept their draft pick, and still had that success?

What do you think? Is there a hole in my logic? Comments are open for your criticisms.

Non-live Todd McLellan press conference coverage

New San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan answered questions 1-on-1 with reporters after the press conference earlier today. He spoke about taking advantage of the depth of talent in San Jose, that he has achieved about as much assistant coaching experience as you could possibly need before moving up to the head coaching position, that a number of factors have to fall into place to win a championship at any level, that a puck possession offense may be a little overstated, that he will try to establish more of a puck pursuit and puck recovery game, and that he would like to encorporate the defense into the offense more.

His opening statment from the press conference, will work on a full transcript on Sharkspage:

"This is a special opportunity, there are only 30 of these positions available in the world. I feel very fortunate to be involved with one of if not the top organizations in the National Hockey League. I am very excited about it. There are some very good things that have happened here in the San Jose Sharks organization. You don't win close to 50 games a year by accident. There is an incredible amount of skill on this hockey team. If you combine the skill with the will, good things can happen. We look forward to doing that."

"It is my job as the coach to push this team, push them hard. Push them outside their comfort zone, and get them doing things that they may not be comforable doing but while I am doing that make sure they enjoy the process. That is the only way championship teams evolve. I look forward to that opportunity and can not wait for it to start."

If anyone has a link to the full press conference video or audio, add it in the comments section. The AP's Greg Beacham, Tony Khing of the San Jose Sharks, and a KLIV reporter asked the questions in the above 1-on-1 clip.

- Martin Brodeur was awarded the Vezina Trophy earlier today. It is hard to overly debate the selection, but it appears as if many of the NHL general managers put their eggs in the reputation and save percentage basket. If you look at wins, goals against average, and strength of conference or even strength of division, then Nabokov should have been the clear winner. There should be no debate that three of the best four NHL teams reside in the Pacific Division, and the fourth won the Stanley Cup. It was a brief aside on the blog at the time, but the start of the Sharks monster February road trip began with rocky losses to the Rangers, Islanders, and New Jersey. Dropping three games on the big east coast stage probably solidified Brodeur's dominance among a few general managers.

The NHL, Boring? No Way!

-Did anyone else think it was weird that they had a "NHL Young Guns" feature during tonight's hilarious NHL Awards ceremony and of the 3 California teams they showed... Corey Perry. Really? Perry? Not Getzlaf, who is the same age and way better? Not Kopitar, Brown, O'Sullivan? Hell, not even Milan Michalek? Seems weird to me. Oh, I'm sorry, you were busy showing 10 clips of Carey Price and not even one of Jonathan Toews or Patrick Kane, I'll shut up now. (Did they? I didn't think I saw one.)

-You have to think that Gary Bettman was hoping at least one English-speaking player won an award. Thank God for Vinny Lecavalier.

-When did Adam Graves turn into fucking Edward Scissorhands? I thought he was going to turn Cammi Granato's hair into a lawn figure.

-I knew chemo could make your hair fall out but I had no idea it could turn you into a mole. Hey Jason, it's called the Sun; you should hang out.

-Holy fuck are these the worst award ceremonies ever. I love hockey, and I love making fun of people, but I don't think I can get through this. They should have livened things up a bit by hitting Red Kelly in the face with a pie while screaming, "T-t-today, Junior!" Fuck this, I'm watching Monk. Look, he's afraid to touch things! Oh Monk, your zany ways make me feel better about my miserable life.

Umm, What?

"Dustin Brown and Patrick O'Sullivan progressed almost despite Crawford, not because of him. Anze Kopitar was brilliant as a rookie and seemed to plateau this season when opponents realized how good he is and tried to pound him into submission. The defense was a mess and Crawford's relentless rebukes of Johnson, among others, only made things worse."

-Helene Elliot, LA Times


That seems a little harsh. Say what you want about Crawford, but there's no denying that our young players (including Frolov) have gotten much better the last two seasons. I don't really think Crawford played a big part in that, but he did play a part. O'Sullivan especially seems to have completely changed his game and blossomed into a legitimate NHL player thanks to Crawford. Kopitar added 10 points to his point total and changed his game to counter the scouting reports of other teams. And what "relentless rebukes of Johnson?" Crawford never said anything in the press about him. If he was brutal to him in the locker room then a source needs to be acknowledged.

That's one thing that bothers me about reporters. They'll always say shit like this after a coach gets fired or a player gets traded. If you knew that Crawford had yelled at Johnson, you should tell your readers. That's your Goddamn job. Don't keep it quiet because you're worried about your access being restricted (which Elliot shouldn't have to worry about since she's been writing about other sports all year) and then kill the coach with innuendo after he's gone. It's unfair to Crawford and to the public. And just implying something like that without even giving it a source seems cowardly to me. It's something I could do and I have no access whatsoever. Since Rich Hammond has not made any mention of an abuse of Johnson, and since I ultimately think this season was a very important one in Johnson's development, I'm inclined to not believe it. Crawford wasn't a good coach for the Kings, but to criticize him for the one thing he did well kind of sucks.

Thank you Pronger and Patton

Holy smokes! Hurry up and get your formalwear on. It's awards night!

While the NHL may have already tipped its hat as to who's winning its awards tonight (link credit: Japers'), I'm not talking about that award show. Instead, I've just been informed that today is also the day that We Bleed Teal presents its Bloggies Awards.

And wouldn't you know it? BoC took home the coveted "Battle of the Battles Battle" award! Woo hoo!

Earl Sleek's statistical prowess, Rudy Kelly's cut-to-the-chase ideals, PJ's timely analysis, and O'Brien's pop-culture references make BOC the best place (besides the Sunset Strip during the glam rock days) to be when you're touring the sun soaked West Coast.

Go read the whole thing, as several great blogs took home some hardware. Great job, Mr. Plank!

When you're done with that, you can also check out today's PuckToon, which offers a theory why Marc Crawford was fired this week. As always, alternate theories are welcome.

Welcome to the Todd McLellan Era

Tomorrow at 11:00 we will start the Todd McLellan era. He has cancelled his trip to Atlanta and the Detroit Free Press has reported that he has signed a 3 year contract. Can I be happy with someone who I have never seen? Well..yes. This was the guy I was rooting for the whole time. The only thing I know about him is his Detroit pedigree and he coaches the offense and power play for the Stanley Cup champs. That is enough for me. I didn't want a "retread" like Tortorella or Quenneville even though they are proven winners. I will have to do some more research on McLellan but looking at his resume, he is a proven winner...in the minors. I am curious to see what kind of style he is? Player's coach? Hard-ass? hopefully he is a combination of the two.

Zdeno Chara, sports' best-ever freak?

Really, who doesn't want to hear about Zdeno Chara (except Mike Milbury, heh)? And since there's been a few Battle of California + plus Boston! jokes floating around, I figured this would be the best time to relate a Chara story that might put him in the Gary Roberts - Bill Bradzke*-Chuck Norris league of Guys Whose Toughness Eventually Spawn Urban Legends.

The guy wanted to be completely alert and aware during shoulder surgery!

This also brings into the question: is Chara the best borderline circus act success story in sports?



Shawn Bradley was like a nerdy mormon on stilts whose life was justified by athletic NBA players dunking mercilessly on him. George Mursean was as successful as someone who starred in a mediocre Billy Crystal movie can be.** And the jury's still out on Kimbo Slice.

(Let's not even touch the steep decline of Manute Bol.)

Being that I had a rough day at work, I assume I have to be missing a glaring example of circus act-turned sports great, so lay 'em on me.

P.S.: is Brian Burke the first "lame duck" GM in NHL History??

And, the obligatory Shawn Bradley embed, because I'm a dick...(but not as much of a dick as the folks at Sportscenter, apparently)



* Is that how you'd spell that semi-beloved SNL "character?"

** I call "My Giant" mediocre because I haven't seen it. Which might, nonetheless, make my "critique" one of the gentlest the movie ever received...

Is Brian Burke a Be-Leaf-er?

Now I'm not normally a guy who likes to speculate on rumors very much, but I guess Toronto journalists are salivating at the thought of Brian Burke filling the Maple Leafs GM vacancy when he's done in Anaheim. To my understanding, Burke has committed to this season as GM for the Ducks, but hasn't signed to any extension beyond that.

Ken Armer is a solid Ducks blogger that I've just found out about (I added The Puck Drop in the Ducks sidebar, which features a breaking M.A. Bergeron trade!), and at Bleacher Report he gives a solid enough rundown of what's basically a "wait and see" situation. Tom Benjamin is a bit more pessimistic, and suggests that the Ducks should trade Burke's contract to the Leafs if he doesn't sign a long term deal.

I can't speak that well about what Brian Burke wants, nor should I be a credible advisor about what he should want, but even so I haven't really been stressing about these rumours (hint: use a "u" when the rumours come from Canada). If Brian Burke really does covet the Toronto spotlight and spending budget, if he really does bleed Maple Sap, I'll wish the guy well. Burkie has been a pretty awesome GM for the Ducks, and if he seeks bluer pastures, at least he'll have left the team in manageable shape.

Two things I want to express about Brian Burke:

1. He's gotten lucky at times. Obviously Burke does deserve praise for combining the likes of Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger, and Teemu Selanne into the nucleus of a cup-winning team, but in saying that there was also an element of luck in acquiring any of them. When Scott became a free agent during the lockout, Burke was fortunate enough to have signing rights to his brother Rob. When Selanne was signing for pennies that same summer, Burke obliged, but couldn't have foreseen the dramatic resurrection of the Finnish Flash. When Pronger forced Kevin Lowe to make a trade, Burke was fortunate enough to have the cap room and the assets to swing a deal while other teams tied their own hands.

While Burkie does get kudos for that trio of moves, I really don't consider them indicative of hockey genius -- really, these types of decisions are almost no-brainers. When an all-star opportunity falls into your lap, there shouldn't be a lot of inner deliberation. Instead:

2. Still, Burke's a solid roster planner. Burke's real genius move may turn out to be the ticking time bomb roster he's constructed in Anaheim. He's built a payroll that expires with a bang next summer, sort of a clean slate. Six notable players are signed past next year -- Pronger, Giguere, Getzlaf, Kunitz, Ryan, and Carter. Whenever tagging rules allow I expect Corey Perry to get added to that list also.

As of now, everyone else's contract runs out next summer, including GM Burke, Coach Carlyle, and the occasionally-retiring Niedermayer brothers. This roster timebomb is the result of what I think Burke has done really well as a post-lockout GM: in the face of impending rule changes and a brand new salary cap, Burke refused to commit long-term to an uncertain future. He assembled a championship team with some gutsy trades, and he built in an "out clause" after the fourth year, a good point to reassess and reload the roster.

Sure it would be nice to have certain players tied up longer, but really the key is flexibility. Having seen plenty of new-rules enforcement and salary cap management, Burke or even a replacement GM can assess and reassemble a roster with freedom: plenty of spending money and lots of positions to fill. Burke's smartest strategy may have been restraint, and it's the reason I think if he wants off to Toronto or elsewhere, I won't be panicking. The notion of an unknown replacement GM certainly has its scary side, but at least there is plenty of spending room -- no need to wait for Burke's signings to expire. (Note: this is why I keep calling this offseason "boring" for the Ducks. It's not really a valid label, as there certainly are some meaningful storylines, but next summer is when things will be really interesting for the Ducks, especially if Burke seeks Canadian employment.)

I don't want to sell the point of this post wrong -- overall, I'm a huge fan of Burke, not only in the way he runs a competent team but in the snark he brings to dealing with the media as well. He's done a stellar job in complementing his stars and sheltering the emergence of young kids Getzlaf and Perry. Still, I think his reputation has gotten a bit overblown by hockey media. Burke has his downsides also -- I wish there were more Europeans in the Ducks' system, I think he could have gotten something for Bryzgalov, and he has yet to draft anyone of value -- but those are minor gripes. On the whole he is a level-headed hockey mind, which is certainly a needed element in Toronto and an appreciated aspect from his work in Anaheim. He's free to leave next summer if he wishes, but I'd sure like it if he stayed.

Anyway, this post has gotten a bit longer than anticipated, but as long as Burke keeps the 2009-10 roster pretty clean and doesn't make any suspicious trades this year with the Leafs, I'm cool with him GMing wherever he wants next summer, best wishes and no hard feelings. But hey, maybe that's just my California optimism and I'm not taking this seriously enough; what do you think? Do you believe that Burke craves to be the GM the Leafs (and that they'll hold the position open specifically for him)? And other than the presumption that the Leafs vacancy is automatically more coveted than the Anaheim position, how much does the possibility of Burke bolting bother Ducks fans?

Burkie or no, Go Ducks.

(Side note: Today I stopped procrastinating and finished updating my player spreadsheets -- later this week we'll take a glance at some familiar-feeling Niedermayer and Selanne retirement decisions that are due pretty soon. Feel free to guess on those outcomes, too.)

Predicting the next Kings coach: look out for Boudreau 2.0

So much of sports management is about running after trends. Every NFL coach would prefer a quarterback who can run like a running back. Lower budget baseball teams feel like they can survive because of MoneyBall.

It happens all the time.

And that's why the Los Angeles Kings might end up looking for Bruce Boudreau 2.0. Indeed, if a trend holds true at least one NHL team will probably promote a highly successful AHL coach with the hope of Catching the Next Rising (Coaching) Star.

There had to be a few GMs deeply intrigued by the concept of under-paying a (usually) younger, harder working prodigy/super secret Herb Brooks-type mind. (This would replace the old standby: sign a big name who almost certainly is running on fumes at this point)

Just looking at the playoffs, there were of course the Washington Capitals making a late season surge with Boudreau. Not to be outdone, John Stevens' Philadelphia Flyers managed to be the only true Cinderella team of this year's playoffs.

Despite his sort of Shrek-like features and Crawfordian line changes, Therrien is a success

Some people think that coaching the Penguins would be about as intellectually challenging as changing a tire, but Michel Therrien was able to guide the team to a 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference despite having their two no. 1 picks out for huge chunks of the season.

Maybe the minor leagues are going to be a GMs equivalent to a Gold Rush and the next guy promoted will end up being in over his head. Or maybe the Kings will go for another glitzy, potentially overrated coach in John Tortorella.

But don't be shocked if someone gets called up to be the next Kings head coach...

Requiem for a Madman

As you all are well aware, I wasn't Marc Crawford's biggest fan. I famously (I think it was mentioned on Nightline) called for Crawford's head near the middle of last season when he claimed that the Kings had played their first poor game in months... right at the tail end of a 10-game losing streak. I've softened a little bit since then, but I am still happy with this move. Crawford just didn't mesh with this team and an injection of new blood will hopefully get the whole squad setting their sights a little higher.


My biggest problem with Crawford, obviously, was his obsession with line changes. He constantly double-shifted his best players with the 4th line, a move that was not only ineffective but wasted the talents of our top guys. In contrast, Randy Carlyle will shift his 4th line guys with his top 2 lines when he wanted to give a player a rest. For example, take this line-up configuration:

O'Sullivan-Kopitar-Brown
Ivanans-Ellis-Willsie

Crawford would shift O'Sullivan with Ellis and Willsie, or Brown with Ivanans and Ellis. This shifts the top line player's role (Brown, for example, goes from getting to the front of the net to playmaking) and renders the entire line ineffective (because it doesn't matter how well Kopitar sets up Ellis, he ain't scoring). Carlyle would shift Ivanans with Kopitar and Brown, allowing the other two to work together while the 4th line player can work around them. It's subtle and the players end up playing the same amount of minutes, but it makes the Ducks a lot better and it's something Crawford never did.

"Nope, can't see my career from here either."

Another problem was that Crawford never seemed all that happy with the Kings. He constantly complained that the team wasn't experienced enough, acted like the team was fine when they obviously weren't, and just kind of looked pissed all the time. (I think he always looks like that, though.) I mean, Andy Murray showed more emotion behind the bench, and Andy Murray looks like a wax figurine. I don't know where Crawford goes from here (I personally think he'd make a helluva junior coach if people can get passed the whole, you know, taking out a hit thing), but hopefully he can find a place that makes him happier than he was in LA.



Finally, Crawford's system worked in theory but not in practice. On paper, the Kings do seem like they'd benefit from a coach that encouraged wide open play, but in reality they were often out of position and failed defensively. Forwards didn't backcheck enough, defensemen were misused, and goalies were often hung out to dry. The Kings are going to score plenty no matter what coach they have because they have talented forwards; they need a coach that can shore up the defensive part of the game.

So, where do the Kings go from here? Marc Crawford was an interesting coach because he was offensive-minded but he was also a dick. A coach that would be the opposite of him would be Ron Wilson, who's laid back and an excellent defensive coach. I won't bother you with a rundown of the coaching options because frankly I have no idea who Lombardi is looking at. Tortorella would be nice because he's proven to be a good coach and both he and Lombardi are Italian (Italians are easy to mock), but maybe he's already looking at San Jose. Whoever the coach is, his first priority should be fixing Lubomir Visnovsky. Lubo blossomed under Andy Murray and he needs someone who will work around him and not the other way around. Hopefully he'll work with our secondary young guys (Purcell, Boyle) and instill defensive responsibility into them. Finally, the Kings desperately need to cut down on the number of shots they allow.

Wins would be nice, too.

Marc Crawford Has Been Fired

Holy fuck.

The Tough Swede

Three stories to commemorate Mattias Norstrom's retirement (warning: link in Swedish):

-My favorite Matty Norstrom story occurred when he went down to block a shot on a penalty kill and took it directly in the knee. He got up slowly, using his stick to support his body, and began to head to the bench in obvious pain. The puck didn't clear the zone, however, and the other team still had possession. Norstrom stopped and went back to his position, limping all the way. He was out there for another 30 seconds until he finally got a hold of the puck and iced it, then finally headed to the bench. That was tough.

-My second favorite Matty Norstrom story occurred when he took a puck to the mouth, again on a penalty kill. He collapsed and the whistle was blown to stop the play. The trainer headed out onto the ice but Matty suddenly jumped up, blood pouring from his mouth. He threw his stick into the boards, not because he was in pain but seemingly because he was annoyed that he had to leave the game for a few moments. He brushed past the trainer and went straight to the locker room. That was tough.

-The story that best exemplifies Norstrom happened after their bewildering 11-game losing streak at the end of the 2003-04 season. (I don't want to talk about it.) Norstrom didn't live in LA; he went home to Sweden at the end of every season and it was clear that he truly loved it there. Still, he stayed behind that off-season to work with the Kings, to make sure they didn't collapse like that again. A reporter asked Norstrom what he had been planning to do that off-season and Norstrom replied that he was going to build a deck at his home.

These stories are why I love Matty Norstrom. He's a guy that blocks shots, leads teams and builds decks. He's a guy that gave his captaincy to Luc Robitaille during his last home game. He's a guy that offered his captaincy to Rob Blake when he rejoined the team because he thought it was right. He's a guy that would retire at the age of 36 because he knew that his best days were behind him and it was time to start his second life. He was tough but never dirty and in a weird way you would almost describe his play as "honorable." On a rational level, I was glad the Kings traded Matty to the Dallas Stars because he had a big contract and we got a 1st-round pick out of it; still, there is no denying that he will always be one of my favorite players. Here's hoping you finally get a chance to build that deck, Matty.

So, Battle of the Pacific?

Well, I guess I should get back in the blogging game here at BoC, and what better topic to come back on than official blog business? Specifically, while I’ve been distracting myself with GTA4 and Galactica after the Ducks got eliminated, James O’Brien has been offering thoughts on the Dallas Stars most of this postseason, and has been as subtle as a Pronger-elbow-to-the-head in hinting that this blog should be renamed “The Battle of the Pacific” in the not-too-distant future.

I’ve gone back and forth on this issue, and I think in the end I’m against the notion of blog re-branding at least at this point in time, though I am willing to listen to counterarguments in the comments. For one, there’s the matter of blog contributors—if this blog’s purpose is to be a somewhat even-handed approach to the Pacific Division, that would require definitely a strong Coyotes voice and possibly even another Stars voice—and I’m not even sure that this blog has a glaring need for any more regular contributors.

Secondly, from a technical standpoint, I’m not the savviest blog administrator on the internet, but I do put a huge priority in preserving this blog’s archives. I’m confident that Blogger has the capability to mass-transfer old BoC posts to a new “Battle of the Pacific” domain, but I really don’t want to go around and try to get other sites to update old links, whether in blog listings or in actual posts.

Also, I think I have a bit of a philosophical hurdle to overcome. While the Stars perspective is certainly relevant to the BoC’s Pacific Division standings, there are still some geographical differences that continue to differentiate fans of the two teams, namely two time zones—nobody on the east coast is complaining that they have to stay up too late to see Stars games, or that their team has to travel as far west as Texas. I mean, certainly we’ll have similarities being mocked as non-traditional hockey fans, but Texas is nearer to the NHL’s east-coast bias than any CA team will ever be. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like I empathize with the plight of the Kings fan or the Sharks fan much more than do a Stars fan, and idealistically it’s probably that commonality that this blog promotes.

Suffice to say that there’s a fair amount of work to be done in representing a “Battle of the Pacific” blog, and I don’t think I’m up to it anytime too soon (heck, I’m not sure I’m ready to stop saying “BoC”). Even if Stars and Coyotes posts become regular features, I don’t think that it demands a blog rebranding; accuracy has never been our strong point, why try to start now? So unless I hear of any particularly compelling comments, my plan is to just continue operating under the Battle of California web address, and we’ll continue to write about whatever we want, including opinions on the Dallas Stars.

Anyway, let me open it up to the comments: How important is it that the blog name align with possibly expanded coverage? Also, is anybody interested in supplying Stars or Coyotes posts?

[Author’s note: Earl does plan on covering the Ducks again real soon. First issue to be discussed: why I am not panicking about Brian Burke Leafs GM rumors.]

"Bochenski'd"

I've been thinking more about that TJ Fast trade, and I still don't understand what the hell happened. Neither team was made better and (most likely) neither Fast nor the 2009 5th-round pick will make the NHL. (I love how he didn't even fetch a 2008 5th-rounder.) These inexplicable little trades happen all the time, and I honestly think they happen for no other reason than GMs need something to do. I like to call these trades "Bochenskis," in honor of the poor former Duck who has seen his career manipulated by bored GMs who simply want to make a move. Look at his career:

Oct. 5, 2005: Called up by Ottawa Senators

Mar. 9, 2006: Traded with a 2nd-round pick to Chicago Blackhawks for Tyler Arnason

Feb. 3, 2007: Traded to Boston Bruins for Kris Versteeg and a conditional pick

June 18, 2007: Signs one-year deal with Boston Bruins

Jan. 2, 2008: Traded to Anaheim Ducks for Shane Hnidy and a 6th-round pick

Feb. 26, 2008: Traded to Nashville Predators for future considerations

Nice check, now get to Chicago.

That's 4 times in 3 years Bochenski has been traded, each time for absolutely no gain for either team. The poor guy got one opportunity to actually decide where he wanted to play, and he was rewarded for that by getting traded. That sucks. It's not even like Bochenski is a shitty player or anything. He's good enough that GMs will want him but not good enough that GMs won't want to give him up. It's a tough life, but I guess that's the flipside of hockey immortality. Anyway, I don't know the point of all this, but I thought I'd just point out that hockey can suck sometimes. There are guys behind the names on the transactions wires and all they want to do is play hockey. I'm not sure some of these GMs realize that. Good luck in St. Louis, TJ.

This is why we can't have nice things

When you go to Chelli's Chili Bar, you're never truly safe. People get shanked and even the greatest trophy is sports cannot make it out of that bad karmatic zone of beans and meat without a battle scar.

Other Sports are Ridiculous

Haha, basketball players are pussies. This, of course, is from last night's NBA Final, where Pierce had a booboo on his knee and acted like he was going to die. I think the fact that Paul Pierce came back later in the game made it worse, because if you're going to flail and cry like that you better need hours upon hours of surgery. The guy who got his arm shot off in the beginning of Saving Private Ryan didn't cry like that. I haven't been this embarrassed for a basketball player since Dwyane Wade separated his shoulder and needed a wheelchair to leave the court.

***

"I don't really care, [Tiger] said with an impish smile. "It's all about the Dodgers. I don't think anybody really watches hockey anymore."

Dude, you play golf. Shut up. This is like if the captain of the Chess Club talked shit on the wrestling team because he won the 34th annual Chesstopia! competition. It doesn't matter how popular you are, and how many little green jackets you win, because you still play golf and are therefore a huge pussy. Golf is what real athletes play to relax. And as long as this guy is a competitor in your little game, I don't think you have the right to say anything.

And we all know that nobody wants to watch the Dodgers right now, because they are terrible. Shouldn't he root for the Angels, anyway?

***

The Kings traded TJ Fast to the Blues for a 5th round draft pick. Fast was a 2nd round pick in 2005 (is it sad that I knew that without looking it up?) and played well for the Tri-City Americans of the WHL this past season. This is one of those weird inexplicable trades that happen every once in a while, of which Brian Burke is king. Is Dean Lombardi doing John Davidson a favor so he'll owe him in the future? Is Dean clearing up roster space for the plethora of draft picks we have in the upcoming draft? Am I thinking way too much about the trade of a marginal prospect? The answer to all the above is "yes." Another question with a "yes" answer: am I gorgeous?


And I'll keep this short, because I know you people don't care: Britain is old and rainy and they call their bathrooms toilets, which I feel is a little uncouth. Norway has a ton of tall hot blonde chicks and is sunny for 21 hours a day. And I saw a fjord, which is the greatest word ever.

Battle of California Boston

The Boston Bruins entered the 2007-08 season with guarded expectations. Still reeling from the aftermath of the Joe Thornton trade, the B's ended a short playoff drought clinching the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with one game left in the regular season. Boston finished with a respectable 41-29-12 record, although they were outscored 212-222 and had only two players reach the 20 goal plateau in Marco Sturm (27) and Chuck Kobasew (22). Tim Thomas was a workhorse in goal again this year, registering a 28-19-6 record with a 2.44GAA, .921SV% and 3 shutouts. The NHL's first American franchise dropped a first round Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series to the Montreal Canadiens in 7 games.

According to the Yahoo Sports end of season team report, solid goaltending by Tim Thomas kept the Bruins in the hunt for much of the season but the team lacked overall offensive depth. Yahoo also notes that defenseman Zdeno Chara is recovering from shoulder surgery, goaltending prospect Tuukka Rask had a heart to heart with general manager Peter Chiarelli about the quality of his starts in the AHL, and the B's formally severed ties with former Ducks fifth overall draft pick Stanislav Chistov.

TSN's Scott Cullen published a Boston Bruins season in review at the end of May. Cullen quoted head coach Claude Julien, who said the team needs to transition from a good team to a better team, and that the team will have to rely heavily on youth again next season. He notes that Bruins leading scorer Marco Sturm finished with his sixth straight 20+ goal season, but that he has not reached the 30 goal plateau yet in his career. Not mentioned, the number of breakaways Marco Sturm created that did not lead to a goal. There was a lot of pressure on Phil Kessel this season, but three goals from the 20 year old in the playoff series against Montreal was a bright spot. The Bruins should expect more next year with a healthy Patrice Bergeron and Chuck Kobasew, but Glen Murray is trending downward in the final year of his 5 year contract according to Cullen.

Norris trophies won by Boston Bruins defenseman: Bobby Orr (8): 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1974–75; Ray Bourque (5): 1986–87, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1993–94.

BostonBruins.com blogger John Bishop detailed several comments by general manager Peter Chiarelli made in a conference call about the re-signing of forward Chuck Kobasew, ongoing discussions with Dennis Wideman, Mark Stuart, and Petteri Nokelainen, and Bishop also published a post on the signing of free agent defenseman Aaron Ward and the ongoing discussions with Glen Metropolit.

The Bruins already have a significant salary commitment for 2008-09 (estimated $47 million payroll with a salary cap that could rise to $56.3 million), but Chiarelli needs to perform shrewd maneuvering at every opportunity to add offense for this team next year. The deep 2008 NHL Entry Draft should provide Boston the opportunity to add a secondary scoring element if they are prepared to make a bold trade, a critical evaluation of available free agents needs to be made, and given the salary constraints and elevated salaries impacting the trade market Boston should have scouted the European and Russian leagues heavily to try to find an unsigned goal scoring diamond in the rough.

Boston holds the 16th overall pick in the June 20–21st 2008 NHL Entry Draft, along with a second round pick (47), third round (77), fourth round (108), fifth round (138), sixth round from Anaheim (174), and seventh round (198) picks. A conditional fifth round draft selection sent to Chicago required Brandon Bochenski to play in more than 80 games subsequent to the trade, which was not met.

The photos above are from the San Jose Sharks home opener against Boston, which the Bruins won 2-1 when defenseman Aaron Ward hammered home the game winning goal with 12 seconds left in the third. The "Power Outage Game" was one of the most bizarre games played in San Jose last year. The building lost complete power near the end of the pre-game skate and did not fully re-gain it until halfway through the first period. There were no national anthems sung prior to the game, and an accident on a key offramp and the downtown San Jose rock and roll festival made just getting to HP Pavilion difficult.

Didn't someone request Boston BOC coverage?

Season Review: Brian Willsie

[EARL EDIT: I think Rudy comes back from his trip sometime this weekend, so I'd better put up the last of his "absence posts" before he decides to teach me a lesson with his skate blade. As for Brian Willsie, I don't know if I have very much to add, except it seems silly that such a minor player gets so much flak on a team with obviously larger issues. Then again, I love silly.]

Just read this and replace some of the old stuff. Also, replace those jokes with stuff that makes sense. Good luck in Europe, Brian. I hear the Slovakia is wonderful this time of year. Just go to this place- you haven't seen Hostel, have you?- just go this place and you'll meet a ton of European broads that love American guys. Trust me, you'll love it.

(Also, I'm kind of proud that when you type "Brian Willsie Terrible" into Google, that post is the first thing that pops up. Take that, guidance counselor!)

Nothing left now but the hot stove...

In many ways, this was a playoff run for the ages. After hearing about the best-since-2002 ratings (sort of sad in some ways, really) I cannot help but compare this year to the majestic Mark McGwire - Sammy Sosa home run battle that "saved" baseball after its lockout.

(I guess McGwire = the Red Wings for favorite and team color reasons, although that's stretching an already thin analogy even thinner. Unless we find out that the Penguins were corking their sticks...)

Ultimately, the NHL's best team won. After the Carolina Hurricanes, Edmonton Prongoilers and other Cinderella teams began fighting for and sometimes even winning the Cup, it's really interesting that we've had back to back dominant teams. The Red Wings and Ducks were both the odds-on favorites in their respective Cup runs, which shows you that there's always a trend even when it seems like new ground is being broken.

Anyway, it will be both nice and depressing to have a little break from the nail biting back and forth hockey of the playoffs. But soon enough, October will be upon us. And who knows which team will be the odds-on favorite to win the Pacific.

What are the Sharks, Ducks, and Stars going to look like after retirements, firings and free agency take their course? Will the Kings shock the world and find some competent goaltending? And could the Battle of California become the Battle of the Pacific (that last question is probably my fault)?

There's plenty of stories to follow. Over the hot, hockey-less months I'll throw in some random posts ranging from not particularly hockey related to cockamamie backseat GMing posts. All in the hopes of entertaining the unwashed hockey masses.

Until the draft, though, Old Lady NHL can take a break and rest her weary eyes...

Burnside roofs it with his Stanley Cup Playoffs wrap-up...

More on Patrick Marleau to Columbus for Nikolai Zherdev trade rumor

Two thumbs down on both trade suggestions proffered from the Columbus media so far. No to the initial suggestion of Patrick Marleau and a player to be named later for Nikolai Zherdev and the #6 overall draft pick in 2008. Also, no to any combination of Nikolai Zherdev, Dan Fritsche or Stefan Legein and the #19 pick coming to San Jose for Patrick Marleau.

Rumors are starting to spread throughout the NHL now about a possible Blue Jackets trade with the Sharks. The rumor over the weekend was Nikolai Zherdev, Dan Fritsche or Stefan Legein and the No. 19 pick to San Jose for Patrick Marleau. I spent most of Saturday pursuing this and was told by a handful of close-to-the-situation sources that there's no truth to it, that the two clubs have not put together the framework of any specific trade as of yet. No names have been mentioned.

More detailed thoughts on the trade rumors are up on Sharkspage. Other free agent defenseman on the market if Brian Campbell can not be re-signed: Montreal's Mark Streit, Blue Jackets defenseman Ron Hainsey, Ottawa's Wade Redden, and even former Shark Brad Stuart.

Season Review: Tom Preissing

[EARL EDIT: Rudy is still on vacation a few more days, but he did prepare a few posts, and I've been dutifully publishing them. Quite a game last night (I guess) -- I was stuck in an all-day client conference and dinner and got home in time for the 3rd OT. I was on the phone with my Red Wings buddy, and had the nerve to point out to him before the game was over that in the first two rounds of the 2003 playoffs, Petr Sykora scored only two goals (I think) -- a 5-OT winner against Dallas and a 2-OT winner against Minnesota. Now my friend hates me. Anyways, here's Rudy...]

Tom Preissing is boring and looks like a frog. Instead of making you stare at him, I thought I'd put up pictures of things that were more interesting than Preissing. Enjoy.

77 GP, 8 G, 16 A, 24 pts, -6, 18 PIM, 22 hits (same as Frolov)

Grade: C-

Nicknames: Kermit, “Who?”

Last Season

I have to admit, I don’t know what the hell to write about Tom Preissing. He was basically worthless most of the year. He is the softest player on the team (not on defense, but on the team) and rarely made any plays that made you take notice. On the other hand, he didn’t necessarily make any plays that made you take notice the other way, plays that made you curse the day he was born. Plus, you look at his numbers at the end of the day and you think, "Not bad for a 5th defenseman." I wish Preissing had played much better or much worse because then I could either hope that he’ll continue his play or bounce back. As it stands now, though, I don’t know what to think.

When I was in college, I played with a guy named Conrad. Conrad was a defenseman and never really did anything that made you think he was a great player. You watched him, though, and you realized that he’s a guy that will play to the level of his opponent. He didn’t have the puck-handling or shot skills to stand out, but he was a great skater and was always in the right position. We could play the worst team in the league and he wouldn’t take over the game, but we’d also play the best team in the nation and he would more than hold his own. He was at his best when he could play with a defenseman that could handle those physical battles and forwards that could create something for him. Does that not make him a good player? No, it made him different. People who didn’t understand that couldn’t really see the difference.

Preissing is really a product of his environment, I think. When Preissing was on the Senators, he was a good 4^th defenseman and an asset on the 2^nd power play unit. He feasted on those second unit match-ups. On the Kings, however, Preissing was put on the 3^rd unit because Stuart, Johnson, Visnovsky and Blake all needed their minutes. This meant that Preissing was playing with largely unskilled linemates and couldn’t really play off anyone else. Hopefully as the Kings get better, Preissing will find a role with which he is comfortable and can eventually earn that $2.5 million over the next 3 years.

Next Year

As it stands now, Preissing is our 4^th best defenseman. Playing with a guy like Jack Johnson, Preissing could thrive. The question is, is he good enough to earn that role? The Kings would be best to get a solid defensive player to pair with Preissing, but again, do we really want to accommodate a guy that is not one of our better players? At some point, Preissing will have to prove to the Kings that he can help them, not the other way around.

And I’ve been thinking more about the Kings’ power play (what am I supposed to think about, Darfur?), and I’m starting to fall in love with the Blake-Preissing unit. They could play on the first line with Kopitar, Brown and Cammalleri (giving that line a playmaker and 2 shot takers), while Visnovsky and someone else (Johnson or Harrold) could create with Frolov, Boyle and O’Sullivan. Top 10 power play right there.

Wait, this picture is actually interesting. I like to think he's yelling, "Oh, the irony!" in Polarese. Stupid bear, that's not really irony.

The Sharks can do better than Zherdev in a Marleau trade

Nikolai Zherdev is the kind of hockey player who could live a totally separate life on YouTube and in the icy worlds of Electronic Arts hockey games. He is, at times, a poor man's Rick Nash on a Columbus Blue Jackets team with precious few attractions.



But all of these facts do not detract from the argument that the Sharks could probably find a better deal if they're going to trade Patrick Marleau. Now, I know the 6th pick in the draft would (allegedly) be involved, but although the Sharks are a young team they'd have to be drinking the Upside Kool-Aid to make a deal this foolish.

Although I'll admit I felt much more confident about my stance before looking at Marleau's abysmal 2007-08 regular season stats. Yeeesh.

Still, my post-3 OT, 3 a.m., hasty gut reaction is that Marleau is much better than his stats would tell you and that Zherdev has locker room cancer written all over him (not exactly the magic potion for a Sharks team many feel is in need of a heart transplant). Not to mention the fact that, even on a bad team, being a career -52 in three seasons is a tangible sign of a faulty hockey player.

Then again, I'm no Sharks expert. I'll let the our superior trio of Shark Snarks handle the majority of what I'm sure will be quite a busy sowing circle regarding The Guy Who Was Drafted After Jumbo Joe.

Credit goes to Greg W(ishinsffkskfskfsi...seriously, that guy has a devilishly hard-to-spell last name), the Ultimo Dragon of hockey bloggers, for bringing this rumor to my attention.

Best Stanley Cup Finals game of the 2000s?

Did we just witness the best game of this almost-decade? Just wondering.

(And I'm not just saying that because it delayed the awful Jay Leno for an hour...)

(Also, I wish Rudy Kelly was around to see whether or not he thought the officiating was awful.)

(Pensblog is going to be burning the midnight crack-of-dawn oil for this one...what a game...)

(OK, I'll stop...)

Coaching Rumor Roundup

Take all this with a grain of salt...

-Most people know that Joel Quenneville was in town last week to see Santana Row and the Computer History Museum. Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garioch reports that the Sharks are too penny-pinching for Quenneville's demands. That's gotta be the first time I've ever heard a coach demanding too much money. That's not the first time I've heard the Sharks be too cheap, though.

-I can't remember where I read it, but Detroit assistant Todd McLellan confirmed that he's got an interview with Doug Wilson once the Red Wings finish off the Penguins.

-The CBC is reporting that the Doug Wilson has asked good ol' Brian Burke for permission to speak with Kevin Dineen.

-In the same report, the CBC claims that Toronto really, really, really wants Ron Wilson. Somehow, I'm not surprised.