FTS - 2/27/09

TOP STORY

He's Baaaaaaaaaack

Photo Credit: (Newark Star-Ledger)

Leave it to Martin Brodeur to post a shutout in his first game in four months

Devils goalie Martin Brodeur recorded his 99th career regular-season shutout, making 24 saves in his first game since elbow surgery in early November and the New Jersey Devils beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-0 last night. It was Brodeur's 545th career win - six from tying Patrick Roy for most all-time. Zach Parise scored his 36th goal and added two assists for his sixth three-point game of the season. Jamie Langenbrunner, Patrik Elias (PPG) and Travis Zajac scored the other New Jersey goals.

The four-time Vezina Trophy winner as hockey's best goalie was greeted by a standing ovation from fans when he stepped on the ice for the warmups and they cheered every time he touched the puck, even when he simply directed it to the corner. "The fans were great," Brodeur said. "I don't know if they were sarcastic about cheering me on the saves sometimes but it was definitely nice." "It was an exciting night to get out there and perform," Brodeur said. "I was really anxious all day, more nervous that I thought I was going to be. We pulled it off. It was nice to score early in the game. I didn't get much work. It was a nice game to play."


Marty Brodeur really is unbelievable. An elbow injury isn't devestating to a goalie like it would be to a pitcher in baseball, but it is something akward to deal with. You never want to rush someone back from an injury, but Brodeur looked like he was perfectly ready to come back and showed no signs of rust. With Marty between the pipes and the Devils actually having some offensive punch for the first time in a long time, the Atlantic Division and the rest of the Eastern Conference should be very worried after what we saw at the Prudential Center last night.


ACTION FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE...

-Up in Beantown, Chuck Kobasew and Michael Ryder each scored twice (each had a PPG) in the 2nd period to lead the Bruins (42-12-8) past the Ducks (30-28-5) 6-0. Tim Thomas stopped 35 shots for his fourth shutout this season, as Boston won their 42nd game of the year, surpassing last year's total.

-Patrick Kaleta scored for Buffalo in the 2nd period, Anton Babchuk tied it up for Carolina in the 3rd, and Jussi Jokinen scored the shootout winner (he's 21 for 39 in his career in shootouts) as the Hurricanes (32-26-5) beat the Sabres (31-24-7) 2-1. With the victory, the Hurricanes moved into a tie with the Sabres for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

-Tim Stapleton ended his first NHL game with a decisive shootout goal as the Maple Leafs (24-26-12) beat the Islanders (18-36-7) 5-4. Nikolai Kulemin, Dominic Moore, Pavel Kubina and Nik Antropov scored for Toronto, while Vesa Toskala stopped 40 shots for his third straight victory. The Maple Leafs have also won three straight in extra time.

-The Florida Panthers (31-22-8) spoiled John Tortorella's MSG Ranger coaching debut with a 2-1 win over the Blueshirts (31-24-8). Markus Naslund scored his 19th of the season in the 1st period, but David Booth and Nathan Horton would score a minute apart in the 3rd period. Craig Anderson made 40 saves for Florida. Florida and the Rangers are tied for sixth place in the Eastern Conference with 70 points. They are one point ahead of Buffalo and Carolina.

-Alexander Semin had a goal and two assists and Mike Green added a goal and an assist as the Capitals (39-18-5) beat the Thrashers (22-34-6) 4-3. Three of Washington's four goals came on the power play. Thrashers winger Ilya Kovalchuk added his 32nd of the season on the power play.

-Mike Fisher would open the scoring for Ottawa on the power play in the 1st period, but San Jose answered back with two of their own power play goals in the 2nd period to give the Sharks (42-9-9) a 2-1 win over the Senators (23-28-9). Milan Michalek and Patrick Marleau scored 1:18 apart in the 2nd period and Brian Boucher made 23 saves in the win.

-Steve Sullivan, Jason Arnott, Joel Ward and David Legwand all scored goals for Nashville as the Predators (30-28-4) roll the Coyotes (27-30-5) 4-1. Pekka Rinne made 25 saves in the win while Ilya Bryzgalov made 43 saves in the loss. Even with the win in their 800th game as a franchise, the Predators remained 11th in the Western Conference standings; a point behind Edmonton, Anaheim, Dallas and Minnesota, all tied for seventh with 65 points in the race for the eight playoff spots.

-Patrik Berglund had a goal and an assist while Chris Mason made 41 saves (and got plenty of help from the iron behind him) as the Blues (27-26-8) beat the Stars (29-24-7) 3-1. Jay McClement and TJ Oshie scored the other St. Louis goals as the Blues improve to 11-3-5 in their last 19 games.

-Raffi Torres scored the game winner against his old team on a feed from Jared Boll and Fedor Tyutin as the Blue Jackets (31-25-6) beat the Oilers (30-26-5) 1-0. Steve Mason turned away 19 shots for his 8th shutout of the season (Calder Trophy anyone?) as Columbus moved in to a tie with Vancouver for 5th place in the West. Edmonton remains tied for 7th with Dallas, Anaheim, and Minnesota.

OTHER HEADLINES

-The Pittsburgh Penguins have cleared up a bit of their logjam along their blueline as they have traded Ryan Whitney to the Anaheim Ducks for Chris Kunitz and Eric Tangradi. ''It's a new start and a team that I feel wants me,'' Whitney told The Canadian Press. ''They gave up a good player and a real good prospect. 'Last season was great. We went to the Stanley Cup final and personally, I had a good playoff. Then, I had the foot problem and got that fixed, so I missed a lot of time.'' The 26-year old Whitney was a vital piece of the Penguins' Stanley Cup run last year; however foot surgery caused him to miss the first 31 games of this season. He has two goals and 11 assists in 28 games for Pittsburgh this year. ''I know that I can play better than I have this year and I think I will,'' Whitney said. ''It's about me getting some confidence back and having a new start.'' Whitney is in the second year of a six-year contract he signed with the Penguins last season. He was chosen fifth overall by the Penguins in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. In Kunitz, the Penguins will be getting an offensive-minded player who won the Stanley Cup in 2007. After campaigns where he put up 60 and then 50 points, the 29-year old Regina-native has 16 goals and 19 assists this season. He has spent the majority of his four NHL seasons with Anaheim.

-The Montreal Canadiens have traded Steve Begin to the Dallas Stars for defenceman Doug Janik. The 30-year old Begin has played in 42 games this season for the Canadiens, and recorded 6 goals and 4 assists. He is in his 9th season, having begun his career with the Calgary Flames before being picked up off waivers by the Canadiens prior to the 2003-04 season. The native of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec had a career-high of 23 points in 2005-06. "Steve is a gritty, honest player with a very strong work ethic," said Stars Co-General Manager Les Jackson in a statement. "He's good on the penalty kill and he is a competitor in every sense of the word. We think he'll be a very good addition to our group as we continue to fight toward the playoffs." Janik, 28, has spent the majority of the season with Rockford of the AHL. He has one assist and three penalty minutes in 13 games this year with Dallas. He started his career with the Buffalo Sabres, and played last season with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

-Danny Briere is expected to return to the Flyers lineup on Friday, when Philadelphia plays host to the Montreal Canadiens. "I think we will know in the morning with what is going on," said Flyers head coach John Stevens. "As far as today, we are going to wait and see how he feels tomorrow. I don't think we will wait until game time. We will decide in the morning whether he is going to play or not." The club waived center Glen Metropolit and defenseman Ossi Vaananen on Thursday to clear salary cap space for the pivot's impending return. Briere had surgery on his groin/stomach area last month and has skated in just nine games this season because of injury, registering five goals and four assists.

RUMOR MILL

-Rangers center Scott Gomez's name is coming up all over the place in trade rumors. Jay Bouwmeester from Florida and Olli Jokinen from Phoenix are the two new names popping up. Lets not forget that Coyotes GM Don Maloney was the assistant GM of the Rangers before this season.

-Erik Cole to Boston is hot, but the Devils are starting to come up when it comes to Cole as well. Can you imagine the Devils, who are a great defensive team, adding Erik Cole to their offensive pop with Zach Parise?

-No new updates on the Vinny Lecavalier front, but this could get real intriguing before it's done.

TONIGHTS ACTION:
Montreal @ Philadelphia - 7PM
Los Angeles @ Detroit - 7:30PM
%Pittsburgh @ Chicago - 8:30PM
Minnesota @ Calgary - 9PM
Tampa Bay @ Vancouver - 10PM

% = Game of the Night
^All Times are Eastern

*My weekly power rankings comes back on Monday

~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes out on Thursdays

TO EMAIL FTS, EMAIL FROMTHESLOT@GMAIL.COM

Have a great weekend everyone!

DROPPING THE GLOVES w/ ANDREW BOGUSCH & FTS - 2/26/09

(Photo Credit: NY Daily News)

The blame for the Rangers woes should go to this man, GM Glen Sather

Feel bad for Tom Renney.

He is a good man and a good coach who was usurped on Broadway by a bungled roster. He was no longer getting the most out of that roster, which is why Renney should have been fired Monday – he just shouldn’t have been the lone scapegoat (assistant Perry Pearn aside). General manager Glen Sather deserves the unemployment line as well.

His miscalculations this year left Renney without first-line forwards and a top defensive pairing in a deep and talented Atlantic Division. What formula told Sather that Markus Naslund, Nickolai Zherdev and Aaron Voros would replace Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan and Sean Avery? And what was the rationale for giving Wade Redden, a player in clear decline in Ottawa, a 6-year, $39-million-dollar contract last summer? Dmitri Kalinin was a mistake, too, last July, but we’ll give Sather a pass on Michael Rozsival because he needed some experience on the blueline and Rozsival’s $20m salary is palatable when disconnected from the other big money deals.

Two offseasons ago, it was Sather over-valuing ($86.75 million dollars combined) and miscasting Chris Drury and Scott Gomez. Jagr and Shanahan’s presence negated Drury’s leadership skills, while Gomez never clicked with #68 like the cheaper Michael Nylander did.

We can go back to the summer of 2002 when Sather handed out $45 million over 5 years to Bobby Holik. Or the 2003 Entry Draft, when Sather and friends selected Hugh Jessiman over Zach Parise, Brent Seabrook, Dustin Brown, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Mike Richards, and Brent Burns. Pick almost any season of Sather’s tenure on Broadway and there are glaring mistakes. Splurging on marquee names didn’t work at the start of his regime; mixing stars with youth had marginally better results in recent years.

He has survived to this point because he made the right choice in hiring Renney, because he chose Henrik Lundqvist in the 7th round in 2000, and because the Rangers have made the playoffs the last three years – which endears him to owner Jim Dolan because postseason games mean extra revenue.

However, all that good has been negated by all the bad, which means the Rangers are still far from the Stanley Cup. Sather has little wiggle room as the trade deadline approaches, so no roster makeover is coming.

Welcome back to the NHL, John Tortorella.

* * *

The Shootout…Despite the numerous clauses in the current CBA designed to reign in GMs’ spending, they still write too many bloated checks. But while we roast Mr. Sather for signing Redden, he does deserve one avenue for correcting his mistakes, which we hope shows up in the next CBA: GMs should be able to trade money like their counterparts in other sports. They need the ability to offer to pay part of a player’s salary to facilitate a move. To use another Ranger as an example, Rozsival isn’t too attractive to Buffalo or Dallas at $5 million per year, but might be at $2.5 or $3 million. Sather and his brethren, though, can’t offer cash in any swap right now...

Watching Alex Kovalev takeover Saturday’s game with Ottawa in his return from a 2-game banishment was certainly impressive. But let’s not go crazy praising a player that put himself in that predicament in the first place. He wasn’t coming back from an injury or an illness – he was let back on the ice by his GM after being sent home for playing disinterested hockey. There is no excuse for Kovalev to have such a lackluster year with all that is at stake for the Canadiens during their 100th Anniversary season...

Next week, a full trade deadline day recap. For now, send all comments, complaints, questions to boguschhockey@gmail.com

ACTION FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE...

-Jeff Carter scored his 36th goal of the season on the power play and Martin Biron made 34 saves for his 25th career shutout to give the Flyers (33-17-9) a 2-0 win over the Kings (26-25-9). With their seventh win in nine games, the Flyers moved within four points of New Jersey for third place in the Eastern Conference. Simon Gagne added an empty net goal.

-Henrik Zetterberg scored twice (one SHG, one PPG), Marian Hossa scored his 34th of the season on the power play, and Ville Leino scored his fifth to lead the Red Wings (40-13-8) past San Jose (41-9-9) 4-1 in a battle of the top two teams in the West. Detroit snapped the Sharks four-game win streak as San Jose failed to earn a point for just the seventh time in their last 51 games. Hossa was held out of the 3rd period due to concussion-like symptoms.

-The Penguins improved to 3-1-1 under new coach Dan Bylsma thanks to Petr Sykora's goal with 2:28 remaining as Pittsburgh (30-26-6) beat the Islanders (18-36-6) 1-0. Penguins G Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves for his 3rd shutout of the season and 13th of his career while Sykora's 23rd goal of the year ended Islanders G Yan Danis' five-period shutout streak.

-John Tortorella's debut as Rangers head coach went okay, but not great as the Rangers (31-23-8) lost in a shootout to Toronto (23-26-12) 2-1. Wade Redden scored the Rangers lone goal on the power play (a good for their power play woes perhaps?) and Niklas Hagman tied the game midway through the 3rd period. Nikolai Kulemin scored the shootout winner for Toronto while G Vesa Toskala made 31 saves and turned away all three Rangers shooters in the shootout. Toronto took three of four in the season series with the Blueshirts.

OTHER HEADLINES

-Brent Sutter skated over to Martin Brodeur after the New Jersey Devils practiced Wednesday and had a couple of easy questions for arguably the NHL's top goaltender. The Devils coach asked him how he felt and was he ready to play? The answers were 'Good' and 'Yup.' With that, Brodeur was told he would be returning to the nets on Thursday night against the Colorado Avalanche for his first game since undergoing elbow surgery almost four months ago. "We do something pretty cool playing hockey, so I am excited every game to play," Brodeur said. "But definitely there is a little more emphasis on this. I have not played in a long time and I want to get out there and see how it goes." Brodeur was hurt Nov. 1 in a game against Atlanta and had surgery days later to repair a torn biceps muscle in his left elbow, the first major injury of a 15-year career that has seen him lead the team to three Stanley Cups. "Until something is taken away from you, you don't appreciate it," Brodeur said. "I think it (the injury) puts stuff in perspective. You sit back for so long and wait and look at people, and guys having fun and you're like sitting there, and you'd like to have fun with them but you can't. It's tough because I never lived that before." Brodeur started skating about six weeks ago, practiced with the team for the first time since the injury on Valentine's Day and then got the bulk of the work in practices the past three days, a period during which the four-time Vezina Trophy winner, including last season, was evaluated by the staff. "I feel good," Brodeur said. "I feel I haven't lost much out there practicing and moving around and then feeling the puck and controlling my rebounds and all that. It's a question of seeing game action and I am sure that will take a bit." Sutter would not speculate how much Brodeur, a workhorse in his career, would play over the final 22 regular-season games, saying the decision will be made on what is best for the team. (Courtesy - The Canadian Press)

-St. Louis Blues forward Cam Janssen has been fined $2,500 for his high hit last night on Zbynek Michalek of the Coyotes, but he will not be suspended. The incident happened in the first period behind the Phoenix net. Janssen jumped up during a check and got his elbow up on Michalek. No penalty was called on the play. Janssen was suspended for three games while with New Jersey in 2007 for a hit on Toronto's Tomas Kaberle.

-The Swedes are excited to watch some of their countrymen open the NHL season in Stockholm. Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said Wednesday that tickets for their season-opening games against the St. Louis Blues sold out in less than an hour. Detroit, which features stars from Sweden such as Nicklas Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg, will begin the 2009-10 season on Oct. 2-3 in Stockholm against St. Louis. The NHL announced earlier the matchup earlier this month and also said the Chicago Blackhawks would face the Florida Panthers on the same dates in Helsinki.

-The Carolina Hurricanes have sent center Brandon Sutter to their AHL affiliate in Albany for a conditioning stint. The team said Wednesday that their 2007 first-round draft pick would spend up to two weeks in Albany. He is eligible to play in Wednesday night's game at Bridgeport in the River Rats' first game since four players and a broadcaster were injured when the team bus crashed last week on the way home from a game. The 20-year-old Sutter has one goal and five assists in 50 games of his first full pro season with the Hurricanes. He is the son of New Jersey coach Brent Sutter and was the ninth member of his family drafted into the NHL.

-It looks like the Nashville Predators financial woes could be coming to an end soon:
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=268589&lid=sublink06&lpos=headlines_nhl

RUMOR MILL

-Panthers GM Jacques Martin took in last night's Kings-Flyers game in Philly. If that doesn't give any creedence to the Bouwmeester to Philadelphia rumors, I don't know what will.

-Carolina wants winger Erik Cole back and Tuomo Ruutu would be one of the key pieces heading back to Edmonton

-Alexander Frolov's name is coming up again, and the potential destinations are Pittsburgh, Buffalo, or Colorado

-I'm not sure how much creedence there is to this, but supposedly, when John Tortorella agreed to become the Rangers head coach, he was told "to probably expect to be coaching Sean Avery at some point this season"...interesting.

TONIGHTS ACTION:
Anaheim @ Boston - 7PM
%Buffalo @ Carolina - 7PM
Colorado @ New Jersey - 7PM
Toronto @ NY Islanders - 7PM
Florida @ NY Rangers - 7PM
Atlanta @ Washington - 7PM
San Jose @ Ottawa - 7:30PM
Phoenix @ Nashville - 8PM
St. Louis @ Dallas - 8:30PM
Columbus @ Edmonton - 9PM

% = Game of the Night
^All Times are Eastern

*My weekly power rankings comes back on Monday

~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes out on Thursdays

TO EMAIL FTS, EMAIL FROMTHESLOT@GMAIL.COM

BTW, happy birthday Mom. She will be celebrating her birthday by taking her first Rangers game in with her favorite (and only) son tonight @ MSG against the Panthers.

FTS - 2/25/09

(Photo Credit: AP)

ACTION FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE...

-The Philadelphia Flyers (32-17-9) scored three times in a 3:19 span of the 3rd period to come from behind to beat the Washington Capitals (38-18-5) 4-2

-The Boston Bruins (41-12-8) paid back the Florida Panthers (30-22-8) for last week's loss with a 6-1 win in Boston last night. RW Byron Bitz had two goals for Boston.

-The Anaheim Ducks (30-27-5) defeated the Ryan Miller-less Buffalo Sabres (31-24-6) 3-2 behind 34 saves from Jean-Sebastian Giguere.

-The Atlanta Thrashers (22-33-6) earned their 10th home win in 29 tries over the Colorado Avalanche (28-32-1) 4-3. Defenseman Tobias Enstrom had a goal and an assist in the win.

-Canadiens goalie Jaroslav Halak made 34 saves for his first shutout of the season as Montreal (32-22-7) beat Vancouver (30-22-8) 3-0. It was the first time the Canucks had lost to Montreal since 11/30/2000 (12 games). Mats Sundin was booed every time he touched the puck in this game.

-Dany Heatley scored his 30th goal of the season and Alex Auld made 41 saves to help the Senators (23-27-9) to a 4-2 win over the Hurricanes (31-26-5). The Senators improved to 6-3-2 since Cory Clouston replaced Craig Hartsburg as coach on Feb. 2.

-The Nashville Predators (29-28-4) scored four goals in the 3rd period to beat the Blackhawks (34-17-8) in a come-from-behind effort 5-3. The Predators had only six goals in their previous five games.

-Antti Miettinen scored shorthanded in the 2nd period for Minnesota, Jack Johnson scored on the power play 9 minutes after that for Los Angeles, and Drew Doughty scored the shootout winner as the Kings (26-29-4) tamed the Wild (30-24-5) 2-1.The Doughty SO goal was the first goal Wild G Nicklas Backstrom had given up in a shootout all season.

-David Perron and Jay McClement (SHG) both scored in the 2nd period to give the Blues (26-26-8) a 2-1 win over the Phoenix Coyotes (27-29-5). As the Blues make a playoff push, they are 10-3-5 in their last 18 games.

-Jarome Iginla scored twice (and added two assists), Dion Phaneuf added a power play goal, and Mike Cammalleri scored his 30th goal of the season to lead the Flames (36-18-6) past the Blue Jackets (30-25-6) 4-1.

-Defenseman Sheldon Souray scored twice and center Andrew Cogliano added a goal and an assist as the Oilers () beat the Lightning (20-29-12) 5-3. Goalie Dwayne Roloson won while allowing three goals for the first time since Jan. 20.

OTHER HEADLINES

-Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has left practice early because of a sore groin, but is listed as probable for Wednesday night's home game against the New York Islanders. Crosby's groin bothered him a few minutes into the practice and he decided to leave the ice Tuesday. Crosby did not speak with reporters after practice. Crosby, the 2006-07 NHL scoring champion, is second in scoring with 79 points, eight points behind teammate Evgeni Malkin and two points ahead of last year's champion, Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals. Crosby had two goals and two assists as the Penguins beat the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, but settled for an assist - and a shoving match with Ovechkin - during a 5-2 loss in Washington on Sunday.

-The city of Glendale, Ariz., has been quietly bailing out the money-losing Phoenix Coyotes for several months, according to documents obtained by a Phoenix television station. A record of lease payments by the Coyotes obtained by TV station KPNX shows the city has been letting the team play virtually rent-free at Jobing.com Arena for seven months. The station reported on its website that the break could be worth up to US$4 million over the course of a year. The report says the Coyotes are getting the multi-million-dollar break even as Glendale tries to fill a sizeable hole in its budget. "They're using that money for their operating money when it should have been paid to the city of Glendale," said city councillor Phil Lieberman. Some council members said they were unaware the city was bailing the Coyotes out. Absolutely I should have been told," said Lieberman, a member of the city council for 17 years.

-John Tortorella held his first practice as Rangers head coach, and he's laying down the law already (courtesy of The Canadian Press):
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=268466&lid=sublink011&lpos=headlines_nhl

RUMOR MILL

-Vinny Lecavalier's name is swirling. Despite what Lightning GM Brian Lawton says, Vinny will garner too much in return for Lawton to pass up a deal (probably from Montreal or the Rangers).

-Staying with the Lightning, expect Jeff Halpern to be on the move to either Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Vancouver or Edmonton (all would be good fits for him)

-The Penguins and Capitals are looking at the Ducks defensive forward Sammy Pahlsson

-Islanders winger Bill Guerin could be heading to Calgary (talk about a perfect addition)

-Scott Gomez could be on the trading block. His personality and Tortorella's don't exactly match. While Sather has done dumber things, I can't imagine the Rangers trading him unless it was for the perfect package.

TONIGHTS ACTION:
Los Angeles @ Philadelphia - 7PM
%San Jose @ Detroit - 7:30PM
NY Islanders @ Pittsburgh - 7:30PM
NY Rangers @ Toronto - 7:30PM

% = Game of the Night
^All Times are Eastern

*My weekly power rankings comes back on Monday

~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes out on Thursdays

TO EMAIL FTS, EMAIL FROMTHESLOT@GMAIL.COM

FTS 2/24/09

TOP STORY

Time For Tom Renney to Draw Up a New Plan...

...because John Tortorella is the new boss on Broadway

(Photo Credits: AP)

Steve Zipay of Newsday does an excellent job with all of the details:
http://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/ny-sprang246047649feb24,0,3684959.story

At the end of the day, this was the move that had to be made by GM Glen Sather for a couple of reasons:
1) The age-old saying "You can't fire the team, so you fire the coach"

2) The firing buys Glen Sather some time before he potentially sees the chopping block (however, this is a Jim Dolan run organization, and Isiah got away with a lot worse than Sather has)

Now with the first reason, you can't "fire" a team, but sometimes you can make trades. The Rangers can't make any trades because they are so hamstrung by bad contracts (Wade Redden's 6 year-$39 million deal being the biggest offender), that they would have to move these big contracts just to be in a position to make necessary changes. Whose fault is that? Mr. Glen Sather, please come to the courtesy desk.

It's eight days before the trade deadline, so firing a general manager at this point would be cutting off your nose to spite your face. While Renney isn't a bad coach, something had to be done, and firing the coach is the most logical decision. Tom Renney is a mild-mannered, defense-first coach. It worked for parts of 4 seasons, but the Rangers weren't responding to him anymore. Another Renney problem was that he was too quick to change line combinations. The second he found a line combo that worked, instead of riding that hot streak out, he would try and take the hot line and spark other lines by mixing it up. It never worked and it boggles my mind how he never realized that. I'm not an NHL coach, but that's common sense.

In steps John Tortorella. Torts is the anti-Renney. While Renney didn't hold the top-salary players or big name players as accountable as some of the lesser ones, Tortorella will make everyone accountable, from Scott Gomez all the way down to Dmitri Kalinin. John is the anti-Renney and will coach with fire and passion. He is a coach that the Garden Faithful will fall for, and fall hard for. He's candid with the media and is not afraid to call a spade a spade. Tortorella had a short stint as an interim coach for the Rangers before the strike before he went down to Tampa. Something else Ranger fans will love about "Torts" is that he has a Stanley Cup ring on his hand (in one of the better seven game series in the past 15 years from back in 2004 when Tampa beat Calgary).

I know this may be a stretch, but there's another parallel here. Back in the 1992-93 season, the Rangers had a coach that had done a good job but had fell out of favor in the late Roger Nielson. He was replaced by a guy named Mike Keenan, who happened to lead the Rangers to a Stanley Cup in the 93-94 season. The Rangers needed a coach at that time that would give them a kick in the pants, and that was Keenan. It's now 2009, and the Rangers need a coach who will give them a kick in the pants, and that's John Tortorella. I'm not saying that the Rangers will win the Stanley Cup next year, but it's funny how history has a way of repeating itself from time to time.

ACTION FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE...

-Evgeni Nabokov made 29 saves (45th career shutout) and Devin Setoguchi scored his 25th goal of the season to give San Jose (41-8-9) the 1-0 win over the Stars (29-23-7). San Jose is 4-0 against Dallas this season and has earned a point in 44 of their last 50 games. Nabokov's fifth shutout of the season gives the Sharks 91 points in the standings, good enough for best in the league and a 26 point lead over 2nd place Dallas in the Pacific Division. Marty Turco made 23 saves in the loss in his 30th straight start.

OTHER HEADLINES

-Danny Briere is feeling stronger, fresher and more confident that he can finally return to the lineup this week after missing 33 games with groin problems. Briere had set Wednesday as his target date, but the star center now expects to play in Philadelphia's game against Montreal on Friday night. Briere, in the second year of a US$52-million, eight-year contract, has played in nine games this season for the Flyers and none since he injured his groin against Tampa Bay on Dec. 2. Briere hasn't entirely ruled out Wednesday's game against Los Angeles, but that appears unlikely. He's worked harder just about every day since returning to practice nearly two weeks ago and had perhaps his most exhausting day on Monday. He skated more shifts subbing for Jeff Carter (flu) and was winded after some sprints after practice. ''We had a pretty hard skate there at the end and we'll see tomorrow how it reacts,'' Briere said. ''Last week, after Wednesday's skate, the next couple of days were a little tougher. I'm hoping that I'm going to pull over that hump, and even through a tough practice and tough skate, I can recuperate and be fine the next day.'' He'll travel with the Flyers and practise with the team before Tuesday's game against Washington. The Capitals have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference and the Flyers, who eliminated Washington in last year's playoffs, are fourth (31-17-9). A healthy Briere would be a big bonus for the Flyers as they make their playoff push. He had 31 goals and 72 points last year and helped Philadelphia go from the worst team in the NHL to the Eastern Conference finals. He was in a similar situation when he played for Buffalo in 2005-06, and came back strong after missing 32 games with an abdominal injury to lead the Sabres to their first playoff berth in four years.

-Martin Brodeur is inching closer to his return to the New Jersey Devils lineup. The four-time Vezina trophy winner had a strong practice with the team on Monday and was hoping to make a return to the Devils' net as early as Thursday's game against the Colorado Avalanche. "I told them I am feeling ready," Brodeur told reporters Monday following Devils practice. "It's up to them to see and look at me and feel comfortable. That's what it is, they have to feel comfortable having me there." The team is taking the more cautious approach with a start on the weekend more likely in either Saturday's matinee against the Florida Panthers or Sunday's afternoon encounter with the Philadelphia Flyers. Devils' head coach Brent Sutter admitted that his All-Star netminder looked strong but would not pin down a specific return date, saying only that Brodeur should be back between the pipes within a week. "It's a situation, and I've said it before, it's not training camp," Sutter told reporters. "These last 20 games of the season, you are playing teams at a high level and you need your goaltending to be sharp and good." Complicating matters is a flu bug that forced the future Hall of Famer out of workouts this past weekend. "Right now, four months is four months," Brodeur told THE CANADIAN PRESS. "I don't think one day will be a big deal. I'm really excited about coming back. If it is not Thursday, it will be soon enough. But I am working right now to get back in the nets as quick as possible." The Devils likely do not feel a huge sense of urgency to rush Brodeur back as Scott Clemmensen and Kevin Weekes have done a commendable job in Brodeur's absence. The pair have racked up 32 wins with the Olympic gold medalist on the sidelines and have helped move the Devils to the top of the Atlantic division standings. Brodeur originally suffered an elbow injury during a Devils victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on November 1st. Days later it was revealed that he had a tear in the distal bicep in his left elbow and surgery would be necessary, causing the three-time Stanley Cup champion to miss nearly four months.

-With Ryan Miller out indefinitely because of a mild high ankle sprain, the Sabres will turn to Patrick Lalime for their late-season playoff push. "I've felt good in practice, so I just want to carry it out into the games," Lalime said on Monday. "We'll take it one little step at a time, then build on it." Lalime, who has played in more than 400 games and won close to 200 of them, was brought in over the summer just in case Miller was forced to miss any time. He has played sparingly this season, compiling a 2-7-1 mark with a 3.17 GAA in just 11 games. His last appearance was on Feb. 2 in a 3-2 loss in Anaheim, the same team he will face Tuesday in his first start as the new No. 1 goaltender. "I think he's going to get into a rhythm," Miller said. "He's proven in the past that he's a big-time performer." Miller, meanwhile, was in a walking boot to help immobilize his injured left ankle on Monday. He acknowledged that some of the swelling has gone down, but it's still a little achy. "There's no timetable," he said. "We just have to see how it starts reacting." Miller was hurt in Saturday's win over New York when Rangers forward Scott Gomez upended him behind the Buffalo net early in the third period. After the game, Sabres coach Lindy Ruff accused Gomez of deliberately crashing into Miller, but on Monday said he didn't think Gomez purposely tried to hurt the goalie. "There was no intent to injure Ryan on the play," Ruff said. "The injury was a result of the play, (but) I'm mad about the play. I think Gomez's intent was to make sure that Ryan wasn't able to scramble back to the net." To replace Miller on the roster, the Sabres recalled goalie Jhonas Enroth from Portland of the American Hockey League. Enroth was Buffalo's second-round pick in 2006. The Sabres did receive some good news Monday as leading goal-scorer Thomas Vanek skated for the first time since breaking his jaw against Ottawa on Feb. 7. Vanek, who had his jaw wired shut after surgery to repair the complex fracture, was wearing a full protective face mask.

RUMOR MILL

-Ottawa is going after a top-flight defenseman from the Western Conference. Chris Pronger perhaps?

TONIGHTS ACTION:
Florida @ Boston - 7PM
Anaheim @ Buffalo - 7PM
%Philadelphia @ Washington - 7PM
Colorado @ Atlanta - 7PM
Vancouver @ Montreal - 7:30PM
Carolina @ Ottawa - 7:30PM
Chicago @ Nashville - 8PM
Los Angeles @ Minnesota - 8PM
Phoenix @ St. Louis - 8:30PM
Columbus @ Calgary - 9PM
Tampa Bay @ Edmtonton - 9PM

% = Game of the Night
^All Times are Eastern

*My weekly power rankings takes a week off due to the Renney/Tortorella developments (my day job only allows me so much time)

~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes out on Thursdays

TO EMAIL FTS, EMAIL FROMTHESLOT@GMAIL.COM

FTS 2/23/09

TOP STORY

LET THE BAD BLOOD BOIL

The Crosby-Ovechkin rivalry advanced another step in Washington's win yesterday

(Photo Credit: AP)

Sergei Fedorov, Shaone Morrisonn, Alexander Semin and Alexander Ovechkin each had a goal and an assist in the Capitals (38-17-5) 5-2 route over the Penguins (29-26-6). Jose Theodore made 31 saves for Washington while Pittsburgh goalie Marc Andre Fleury was chased in the 2nd period after allowing the fifth and final goal. Fleury has allowed 21 goals in the past five games.

The real story in this game was the first real visible sign of a Crosby-Oveckin rivalry. The incident happened in the final minute of the second period after the Capitals had taken a three-goal lead. Ovechkin gave Crosby a nudge with the shoulder, and Crosby retaliated by pushing Ovechkin's upper body over the boards at the Capitals' bench. Ovechkin then took his arm and gave Crosby a squeeze around the neck, and Crosby lost his helmet as linesman Greg Devorski stepped in. Crosby, clearly agitated, was restrained by Devorski, and Ovechkin responded with his little wave as he hopped the boards onto the bench. "I was just skating to the bench and he pushed me from behind," Crosby said. "So I just gave him a shot back. That's hockey, and he likes to run around these days, so that was it." There's more. Ovechkin isn't happy that Crosby accused the Capitals star of a "cheap shot" hit in Washington's win at Pittsburgh last month. "I play hard. If he wants to do something like hit me again, try to hit me again -- and I'll talk to you guys [about] who plays dirty," Ovechkin said. "That's my game. It's not cheap shots, it's a game moment. But he doesn't like it, it's his problem."

"What I can say about him?" Ovechkin said. "He is a good player, but he talks too much." And what does Crosby make of Ovechkin's showmanship? Like it or lump it, that's what he does," Crosby said. "Some people like it, some people don't. Personally, I don't like it." Washington has now won three straight against Pittsburgh and four of the last five.

Ohhhhhhhh man, this is going to be beautiful. The top player in the game and the third best player in the game (sorry Sid, Malkin is 2nd best) hating each other and developing a rivlary. If you thought the NHL was marketing the four times a season these two teams met, just wait until they can cherry-pick when they meet next season. Gary Bettman probably didn't sleep much last night, dreaming of what this could blossom in to. In case you're curious, these two teams will meet one more time, and that will be on Sunday, March 8th.

ACTION FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE...

-Hurricanes center Matt Cullen potted his first career hat trick and it proved to be the difference in a Carolina's (31-25-5) 5-2 win over Colorado (28-31-1). Defenseman Joni Pitkanen had a goal and an assist while Chad LaRose and Ray Whitney each had two assists. The Canes have now won three straight, outscoring their opponents 15-5 along the way. The victory snapped Carolina's 15-game winless streak against Colorado. It was the Canes' first victory against the Avs since Feb. 9, 1996, when they were known as the Hartford Whalers.

-One of the league's worst took down one of the league's best as Vinny Prospal's late power play goal (1:33 remaining in the game) lifted the Lightning (20-28-12) over the Bruins (40-12-8) 4-3. Jeff Halpern, Adam Hall and Mark Recchi scored for Tampa Bay while Phil Kessel (25th of the season), Andrew Ference (first goal of the season - PPG) and Zdeno Chara scored for Boston.

-Wild goalie Josh Harding made a career-high 44 saves, Dan Fritsche scored on the power play, and Peter Olvecky scored his first career NHL goal as Minnesota (30-24-4) beat the Blackhawks (34-16-8) 2-1. Jonathan Toews scored the lone Chicago goal in the 2nd period. The Blackhawks returned home following a 3-0 road trip. Entering Sunday's game, Chicago had played 11 of its last 12 games on the road, going 8-3-0 in the road contests and 9-3-0 overall.

-The lowly Rangers (31-23-7) lost for the 10th time in their last 12 games in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Maple Leafs (22-26-12). The game was scoreless for the first two periods before John Mitchell scored his 5th goal of the season on a four on four 3:54 in to the 3rd period. Scott Gomez scored 1:59 late to tie the game, but Ian White broke the tie :25 seconds after that. Michal Rozsival (who changed his number to 33 last night since the #3 was retired in a pregame cermony) tied the game with 39.1 seconds remaining. In overtime, Niklas Hagman redirected a Pavel Kubina (three assists) shot on the power play for the win. Lee Stempniak also had three assists for Toronto while Vesa Toskala made 39 saves in the win. Ranger legends Andy Bathgate (#9) and Harry Howell (#3) had their numbers retired in a pregame ceremony. I was at this game, and the "Fire Renney" and "Fire Sather" chants were rampant.

OTHER HEADLINES

-The Buffalo Sabres tenuous hold on a playoff spot may be in jeopardy as the team awaits word on the severity of an ankle injury to goaltender Ryan Miller. The All-Star netminder suffered a high ankle sprain during Saturday's game against the New York Rangers after being taken down behind the net by Scott Gomez. He struggled to the Sabres bench while not putting any weight on his left leg. The team remain unsure how long they will be without the East Lansing, Michigan native. "It's stiff and it's tender," Miller told reporters following the game. "These are things you have to kind of feel out. There's no timetable, really. It's your comfort level. "Right now I just want to get through the night till the morning and see how my body reacts. I've had a few ankle sprains in my time, and each one's been different. We'll see how this one plays out." Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff was furious at Gomez following the incident. "I don't think there's any secret it was deliberate," Ruff told reporters. "He knew what he was doing." The 28-year old Miller is enjoying a spectacular season for the Sabres, sporting a 29-16-5 record with 5 shutouts. Backup Patrick Lalime will get the majority of starts in net for Buffalo until Miller is able to return. The team has called up Jhonas Enroth to back up Lalime for the time being. Heading into action Sunday, the Sabres are tied for the seventh spot in the East with the Rangers, three points ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes. Buffalo will continue their playoff push on Tuesday against the Anaheim Ducks.

-Los Angeles Kings defenseman Denis Gauthier has been suspended two games as a result of an incident in Thursday's 4-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks. Gauthier was assessed a minor for boarding after making contact with Patrick Marleau on an icing play in the third period. He will be eligible to return to face the Flyers on Feb. 25, missing games against the Coyotes and Wild. Gauthier sat out five games for hitting Canadiens defenceman Josh Gorges with an elbow to the head earlier this month.

RUMOR MILL

-It appears that Brian Burke is close to making his first big move as GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs. It looks like Nik Antropov will be heading to Vancouver.

-Don't expect Jay Bouwmeester to be moved at the deadline the way Florida is playing right now. That being said, something could happen with Philly this week or Florida will try and extend him down in Sunrise, FL

TONIGHTS ACTION:
%San Jose @ Dallas - 8PM

% = Game of the Night
^All Times are Eastern

*My weekly power rankings comes out tomorrow (only one game in the NHL tonight)

~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes out on Thursdays

TO EMAIL FTS, EMAIL FROMTHESLOT@GMAIL.COM