| Second-half surges |
The Devils are playing extremely good hockey of late, winning their last five and did it on Friday without Patrik Elias in the lineup. John Madden and Jay Pandolfo have shut down the Forsberg line and the Naslund line in their last two wins and Brian Gionta continues his tremendous play. Canada has to love the way Brodeur is playing right now, three shutouts in the past five. With the logjam at the bottom of the playoffs in the East, the Devils are going to be dangerous.
Also, I heard on the Devils broadcast that the Canucks could possibly be shopping for Olaf Kolzig. Auld has been spotty of late from what I've seen and the first goal the Devils scored he should have stopped I felt. Is Vancouver even going to make the playoffs?
Posted by Dan P. at 1/13/2006 10:58:00 PM |
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| Islanders GM job comes with baggage |
The Isles are stuck with Yashin and his albatross contract that makes him un-tradable (and a cancer). That will make it even harder to get a decent GM...Who wants to be saddled with that deal and have to manage a salary cap?
Posted by Peter M. at 1/12/2006 1:38:00 PM |
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| Mad Mike Must Go |
Islanders will fire Steve Stirling - how is Milbury still here? Yes, they had financial concerns during his tenure that forced his hand to trade some players. However, Palffy, McCabe, Redden, Chara, Bertuzzi, Luongo, & Torres would sure look good on the island to me. One could even say they'd have Spezza too if they hadn't traded the pick to the Sens in the Yashin trade.
Posted by John B at 1/12/2006 6:21:00 AM |
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| Crosby and the Olympics |
Canada won't delete anyone from their 23-man roster and 3-man taxi squad unless one (or more) of those 26 guys gets hurt BEFORE the Olympics.
Posted by Captain Canada at 1/10/2006 5:21:00 PM |
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| Sykora to NHL's version of Team Czech |
Sykora to the Rangers is another coup for the Czech Republic team in next month's Olympics. While other countries will have little or no time to get much practice work in before the Olympics, the Czechs have the benefit of 4 (Jagr, Straka, Rucinsky, Sykora) of their top 9 forwards practicing and playing together.
Add Dominik Hasek and they could strike gold.
Posted by Peter Puck at 1/10/2006 5:17:00 PM |
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| Leave Cherry and Crosby Be |
Don Cherry is more often right than he is wrong.
His previous beef with Crosby was a little silly and he has changed his opinion of the young man after seeing how much abuse the kid takes nightly and how he doesn't back down. Crosby is fourth in rookie penalty minutes, so he's no pushover. Crosby is more than just a scorer.
Cherry is old school, he's not into fancy goal-scoring celebrations. Hockey has a code and he takes that code very seriously. He defends it.
Kovalchuk showed no respect for the game or Crosby when he pulled his finger-pointing routine. Maybe he is jealous of all the attention that Crosby is getting, that doesn't change the fact that it was a classless move.
Posted by Peter M. at 1/10/2006 5:10:00 PM |
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| Don Cherry: Stating the obvious |
First Cherry rips Crosby, then he rips Kovalchuk for ripping Crosby. The only one Cherry loves is the reflection in his mirror.
Posted by Topper at 1/9/2006 2:39:00 PM |
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| Petr Sykora: Ranger gamble? |
The Rangers are playing a gambling game, acquiring Petr Sykora.
Nothing new here on Broadway, being that the Blueshirts has had a rich history of making trades for big name players in the past.
But with the team playing well and having much success with the chemistry of the players they already have -- adding Sykora does a few things including:
Throwing in an unknown variable into that mix, and possibly disrupt the chemistry that had been built from day one of training camp; re-shifting the lines that have been for the most part very effective all year long – while in the meantime, trying to "fit" Petr in somewhere.
And really, are they getting the same Sykora in 2000-01 that scored 81 points for the Devils?
Sykora fell out of favor in New Jersey because of attitude problems, and could clash with the Rangers' new philosophy of hard work and grit.
But as the world turns in Ranger land, we'd need to wait this out and let the story unfold -- just another wrinkle in what has been a (surprisingly) soap-opera free season thus far in New York.
Posted by Kenny at 1/9/2006 8:36:00 AM |
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| Sidney Crosby vs Eric Staal or someone else... |
Since the Canadian Olympic Hockey team was announced, Staal has five points (2,3) in eight games and Crosby has 15 points (7,8) in eight games.
In case anyone's been vacationing in Siberia for the last month, Staal was named to the Olympic team as a reserve, and Crosby was left off the roster.
Should the selection committee revisit the issue before February? Can they?
Posted by Topper at 1/8/2006 1:10:00 PM |
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