The NHL rumour-of-the-day has the Columbus Blue Jackets entertaining trade offers for their captain and franchise winger, Rick Nash. If a trade does come down prior to the Feb. 27 deadline, then it will have huge implications for your fantasy pool. The 27-year-old Nash is a premiere talent stuck in a very bad situation. The Jackets are a virtual certainty to finish last overall this season, and there is chatter that the franchise is about to embark on a re-build. Excuse me, but hasn't this team been in a constant re-build since entering the league in 2000?
The usual suspects figure to kick the tires on Nash. That list of teams includes Boston, Pittsburgh, the Rangers, Philadelphia, Toronto, Washington, Vancouver and Los Angeles. Central Division rivals Detroit, Chicago and St. Louis may also be interested, but Columbus GM Scott Howson may be reluctant to deal Nash within the division. At any event, Nash has a no-movement clause in his contract, so he is the one calling the shots here. And as loyal as he is to the franchise, it's hard to imagine he's keen to stick around much longer, considering the Jackets appears far from being contenders.
Nash has 18 goals and 39 points in 56 games this season. The past few years he's failed to live up to the lofty expectations he set early in his career. He scored 41 goals as a sophomore and 40 in 2008-09. He had 32 and 33 goals the past two seasons, but keep in mind he accomplished that without the benefit of a quality playmaking centre. Nash is a power forward who needs someone to get him the puck; from there he's more than capable of putting it in the net on a regular basis.
If Nash lands with a good team - and chances are he will - you can expect him to be a perennial 40-goal scorer. He should experience an immediate spike in his production. This is something poolies need to keep in mind, particularly if a fantasy rival owns Nash. Now is the time to be pro-active and look to improve your team. In a few short weeks, there's a pretty good chance someone else's team will be much better.
The Detroit Red Wings assumed a place in history Sunday night by winning their 20th consecutive home game, tying an NHL record shared by the 1929-30 Boston Bruins and 1975-76 Philadelphia Flyers.
Detroit received goals from Niklas Kronwall, Pavel Datysuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen as they edged Philadelphia 4-3 before an enthusiastic and appreciative crowd at Joe Louis Arena. The Red Wings, who haven't loss at home since Nov. 1, have a 23-2-1 home record this season. The only teams to defeat them in regulation this season are the San Jose Sharks and Calgary Flames.
During the streak, Detroit has won three games via the shootout and one in OT, but there have also been a few laughers, including a 7-1 victory over Winnipeg and an 8-2 triumph over Los Angeles. In total, the epic streak has spanned 102 days and covered close to half the team's home schedule.
Overshadowed by the record-tying victory was the fact that captain Nicklas Lidstrom played in his 1,550th career game, setting a NHL record for most games played for one team in a career.
The Wings will attempt to set a new record Tuesday against the Dallas Stars, where The Joe will undoubtedly take on a playoff atmosphere.
Yikes. You know your hockey season maaaay be headed off the rails when your local Catholic church gets involved.
The Archdiocese of Montreal placed the ad in local French-language newspapers today asking people to pray for a playoff spot for the Montreal Canadiens, who currently sit in the Eastern Conference's 14th spot.
The ad shows conference standings but in eighth place, it says, "Prions" or "Let Us Pray."
Hey, they won their last two so maybe the time is right for a lil' divine intervention. But I wouldn't bet on it. Seems God has a fewother problems to deal with. The Habs face the Islanders tonight.
In the course of one night, Sam Gagner immortalized himself in Edmonton Oilers' history by trying a club record with eight points in one game. The 22-year-old joined Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey in that exclusive club.
Gagner's performance that night, along with the four points he collected in his next two games, took him from having close to the worst offensive season of his career to having his best. The lesson learned here is not to judge a player based on a single performance. His out-of-this-world game against the Blackhawks skewed his statistics for this season, something poolies need to recognize.
Take away the eight-point performance and Gagner has only seven goals and 26 points in 45 games. That level of production is actually less than his career points-per-game average, which is troubling if you drafted Gagner with the idea he's about to break out offensively.
I've never been a huge fan of Gagner, truth be told. He doesn't possess a great deal of speed - it's almost as though he's playing the game in slow motion. He's a good playmaker, but just doesn't seem to have the drive that will result in high goal totals, and in turn high point totals. To wit: in his first four seasons he never scored more than 16 goals and has never matched the 49 points he had as an 18-year-old rookie.
But we should be more concerned about what Gagner will do in the future. Unlike teammates Jordan Eberle, Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, I don't see Gagner becoming an elite point producer. His three teammates all have the potential to hit the 100-point mark. Gagner, on the other hand, seems destined to top out in the 65-point range. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's in stark contrast to some of his supporters who argue he's the second-coming of Adam Oates, a player with similiar skills who was a late bloomer.
Congratulations if you were able to deal Gagner in the last week and received significant assets in return. And I'm sorry to say this, but if you acquired him with the hopes that one game will serve as a springboard for him, then I believe you're sadly mistaken.
That crash you heard over the weekend was the Ottawa Senators hitting rock bottom. Well, at least that's what the Sens would like you to believe.
The Ottawa Senators opened a five-game homestand over the weekend with losses to the Islanders and Maple Leafs, extending their season-high losing streak to six games. Saturday's 5-0 loss to their provincial rivals was one of their most disheartening losses of the season. It's one thing to lose a hard-fought game that was close in the end, but it's another thing entirely to never be in the game.
The Leafs thoroughly dominated the first half of the contest, and by 8:25 of the second period the score was 3-0. Sure, the Sens held a distinct shots advantage in the second half - and actually directed a total of 50 at James Reimer in the game - but they never displayed the will required to mount a comeback. There are times when you sense a 3-0 lead can be erased. This was not one of them.
On Friday night the Senators were just as lacklustre, dropping a 2-1 overtime decision to the Isles. The loser point they were awarded is the only point they've picked up over the six-game losing streak.
The homestand continues on Tuesday against a very good Nashville team. On Thursday, the powerful St. Louis Blues will provide the opposition. It's not out of the realm to suggest the slide could reach eight games this week.
This is the bad news.
If you're an eternal optimist, you can point out that the Senators were pegged by many as bottom-feeders before the season. You can also claim, rightly, that Ottawa still occupies a playoff spot by three points, has one more point than Toronto, and is only three points out of fifth place.
All this despite a six-game losing streak. If you asked owner Eugene Melnyk, management, the coaching staff and the players if they would take this position in the standings before the season, they would have shouted an emphatic 'yes.'
The Senators haven't responded particularly well to the adversity associated with their first lengthy losing streak of the season. But there's no reason to press the panic button just yet. There's plenty of hockey to be played, plenty of time to right this ship, which has clearly sprung a few leaks.
Everybody loves some rec hockey. Skills on the decline, glory days long past, it's just one night a week where we can go to yell at each other to get back on defence, miss an open net or two and maybe get in an exagerrated slapfight with a stranger. Fun times.
Four Toronto-area rec teams got their weekly ritual jazzed up this week thanks to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Budweiser. Two separate incidents, same joyous result. (Well, the Bud one probably had more free beer.) First, Budweiser yesterday unveiled its Super Bowl ad for Canadian TV that's being widely hailed as one of the best in a while, and perhaps even better than the U.S. ads. Which would be nice considering Canadians are often blocked from seeing the real big game spots. (Don't start flag-waving just yet, as it was created by an American ad agency.) Anyway, Les Amigos and Toronto Generals in Port Credit, ON were surprised when a rinkful of cheering fans, play-by-play, mascots, trainers, sports casters and more showed up mid-game.
Then this week, the Colts and Delta Force, who play at York University's rink, were treated to new sweaters and Mikhail Grabovski, Nikolai Kulemin, Colby Armstrong and Tim Connolly showed up in their dressing rooms as coaches for the night. According to the Toronto Star, the Adult Safe Hockey League (ASHL) match "was transformed into a Toronto Maple Leafs game experience complete with Joe Bowen broadcasting the play by play for fans and announcer Andy Frost introducing each player as he skated onto the ice." Well, holy makinaw.
I gues this is what you'd call slapstick comedy? HARHARHAR-HARDY-HARHAR. Ok. Seriously, here we have former Nashville Predator and 15th overall pick in the 2004 NHL entry draft Alexander Radulov. He's playing for the KHL's Ufa Salavat Yulaev and clearly has just had a frustrating shift. So far, nothing unusual here. Until he casually turns to his right and THWACKS one of his coaches in the FACE with a backhand. Guy didn't even say anything. Just... THWACK!
Clearly this guy didn't grow up with those coaches who throw water bottles and sticks and threaten physical harm to eight-year-olds. What are they teaching kids about respect over there? First Ovechkin, now this. Who will think of the coaches?!?
Or maybe I'm all wrong here. First of all that coach could've whispered an insult under his breath. Something involving Radulov's mother and his lack of success on the last shift. who knows? That would make this Bashkortostan backhand the hockey verison of the Glove Slap.
Just two years ago, the idea of Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin both missing an All-star game was unthinkable. They were 1 and 1(a) in terms of the best players on the planet and by far the NHL's most marketable players, with both men embracing their roles as ambassadors for the game
Fast forward a couple of years and the unthinkable has happened. Neither player was on hand in Ottawa this weekend, but for vastly different reasons. Crosby missed his second consecutive All-star contest with perhaps the most infamous head injury in the history of professional sports. Ovechkin, meanwhile, skipped the game because he supposedly did not want to be a distraction, having just been assessed a three-game suspension for a dangerous hit on Pittsburgh's Zybnek Michalek.
With Crosby known far and wide as 'Sid the Kid', perhaps we should begin referring to Ovechkin as 'The Incredible Sulk.'
Ovechkin acted like a petchulant child this week. I don't believe for a moment that he was doing the league a service by staying away. If anything, I strongly suspect he wanted to take out his frustration on the league for being suspended. The true victims here were the good people of Ottawa who paid excellent money to attend the skills competition and All-star game. They were expecting to see one of the NHL's great personalities, but instead saw Ovechkin exposed as selfish and immature.
Veterans Teemu Selanne and Nicklas Lidstrom also passed on the game, although they were up front about their desire to rest and quitely asked the league not to select them. So in effect, neither were thumbing their noses at the NHL establishment. Besides, Selanne and Lidstrom have earned the right to decline an invitation; Ovechkin has not.
In the end, there were only a few surprises and memorable moments during the weekend. Zdeno Chara set the new record for hardest shot in the skills competition, Patrick Kane donned a cape and glasses, and Daniel Alfredsson had two goals and an assist in front of the hometown crowd.
All-star weekend in recent years has become more about catering to the fans in the city in which the game is played then attracting new fans or appeasing those from other cities. And it certainly doesn't help the mass appeal of the game when a couple of superstars are missing - particularly when one of them is thumbing his nose at the fans.
The 2012 Tim Hortons NHL All-Star Game gets underway at 4pm ET today (Sunday) in Ottawa. Team Chara takes on crowd favourite Team Alfredsson in what is sure to be a shoot-out.
Be sure to head over to www.TSN.ca/NHL and click on the 'Join The Live Game Day Blog' to chat with other hockey fans about the best goals, best saves (if any happen) and the funniest moments.
Want to get into it with other hockey fans? Head over to www.TSN.ca/NHL and click on the 'live event blog' to chat with fellow fans about the event, results and best moves.
Here is a list of the events:
1) Bridgestone NHL Fastest Skater
2) Allstate Insurance NHL Breakaway Challenge
3) Canadian Tire NHL Accuracy Shooting
4) G Series NHL Skills Challenge Relay
5) BlackBerry NHL Hardest Shot
6) Tim Hortons NHL Elimination Shoot Out
What's your favourite event? Will Chara take the hardest shot, or will there be an upset? Let us know in the comments below!
