FTS - 1/9/08

LAST NIGHT'S RECAP

(Photo Credit: The Tennesseean)

Nashville Predators D Ryan Suter completes the comeback win against the Penguins

Nashville Predators (18-19-3) over the Pittsburgh Penguins (20-18-4) 5-3
The struggling Penguins held a 3-0 lead early in the 2nd period, but would blow it by the midway point of the 3rd period when Ryan Suter scored on the power play. Martin Erat, David Legwand, and Greg Zanon each had a goal and an assist for the Preds. Martin Erat needs only one goal to tie Scott Walker for the franchise record for career goals with the Predators. Prior to the game, the NHL presented Nashville captain Jason Arnott with a silver stick in honor of his 1,000th game played on Dec. 20.

Boston Bruins (30-7-4) over the Ottawa Senators (13-20-6) 6-4
The Bruins would have a 3-1 lead midway through the 2nd period, but Ottawa stormed back to tie it heading in to the intermission. The Bruins would pull away in the 3rd period thanks to goals from David Krejci and Marc Savard (who was playing in his 700th NHL game). Ottawa lost for the seventh time in its last eight games. Boston avoided losing three straight for the second time this season.

Atlanta Thrashers (14-23-5) over the New Jersey Devils (23-14-3) 4-0
Ilya Kovalchuk had a goal (PPG) and an assist, and Kari Lehtonen made 29 saves for his first shutout of the season as well as Atlanta's first shutout. The Devils were shutout just once in their first 31 games but have been blanked three times in their last nine contests. Colby Armstrong, Jim Slater and Marty Reasoner also scored for the Thrashers.

Philadelphia Flyers (22-10-9) over the Minnesota Wild (20-17-3) 3-1
Mike Knuble, Scott Hartnell and Scottie Upshall all scored goals for the Flyers as they returned home from two weeks on the road (2-2-2). Wild G Nicklas Backstrom was trying for three straight shutouts. Philadelphia is 11-0-2 in its last 13 home games and has regained sole possesion of 1st place in the Atlantic Division.

Detroit Red Wings (28-7-5) over the Dallas Stars (17-17-5) 6-1
Marian Hossa, Dan Cleary, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg each had a goal and an assist in the blowout of the Stars. Kirk Maltby and Tomas Holmstrom also scored in Detroit's fifth straight victory.

Montreal Canadiens (24-10-6) over the Toronto Maple Leafs (16-19-6) 6-2
Andrei Kostitsyn had a goal and two assists, and Jaroslav Halak made 30 saves, and Patrice Brisebois assisted on each of the Canadiens' three first-period goals (Sergei Kostitsyn, Maxim Lapierre and Guillaume Latendresse). The Canadiens, fresh from a 6-2 road win over the New York Rangers on Wednesday night, extended their winning streak to three. Montreal is 8-1-1 since a season-high three-game losing streak.The Maple Leafs have lost six of their last eight and are 1-2 against the Canadiens this season.

Florida Panthers (19-16-6) over the Carolina Hurricanes (21-16-5) 4-2
Jay Bouwmeester broke a tie 31 seconds into the third period to help end the Carolina Hurricanes four game winning streak. Nathan Horton and David Booth also scored for the Panthers, who returned home from a four-game trip. After failing to get points in three of four games, the Panthers have now registered at least a point in four straight. Florida G Thomas Vokoun has now won two straight starts after losing five of his previous seven. Carolina D Tim Gleason left the ice midway through the third period with an injury to his lower-left leg. He was injured when he was checked into the boards by Campbell. 'Canes head coach Paul Maurice said Gleason likely would undergo an MRI today.

Calgary Flames (25-12-4) over the New York Islanders (12-26-4) 5-2
Daymond Langkow scored his 15th goal and added two assists in the Flames sixth straight home win. Mike Cammalleri, Rene Bourque, Curtis Glencross, and Adam Pardy also scored for Calgary, who improved to 9-1-1 in their last 11 games. In his 12th straight start, Miikka Kiprusoff made 24 saves to win his NHL-best 25th game (25-11-3). The Islanders are 0-13-1 in its last 14 road games..

Colorado Avalanche (21-19-1) over the Chicago Blackhawks (22-9-7) 2-1
Avalanche goalie Andrew Raycroft stopped a career-high 43 shots, including a late flurry, to improve his record to 8-1 on the season (including six straight starts). Colorado wingers Wojtek Wolski and Ryan Smith each had a goal and an assist. Chicago F Patrick Kane returned after missing the last two games with a right ankle sprain. He had an assist, his 26th of the season. The Blackhawks have already lost more games in January (2-2-0) than in all of December (10-1-1).

Phoenix Coyotes (20-17-5) over the Tampa Bay Lightning (11-19-10) 3-2
Rookie center Kyle Turris broke a tie with 11:51 remaining and the Coyotes beat Tampa Bay 3-2 on Thursday night for their first victory over the Lightning in nearly eight years. Olli Jokinen and Peter Mueller also scored to help the Coyotes end a two-game losing streak. Besides a three-game win streak from Dec. 23-27, 2008, the Lightning have won just three games since they fired Barry Melrose on Nov. 15, 2008.

Los Angeles Kings (17-17-6) over the Anaheim Ducks (21-16-5) 4-3
Despite the hat trick for Ducks rookie winger Bobby Ryan (15 points in his last 10 games), the Kings managed to pull out the win thanks to Alexander Frolov's (who also had an assist) go-ahead power play goal midway through the 3rd period. Kings winger Anze Kopitar also had a goal and an assist and Dustin Brown scored his 14th of the season for LA. The Kings have two wins in their last seven games vs. the Ducks. A 4.5 earthquake with its epicenter about 55 miles east of Staples Center in San Bernardino was felt in the press box about 12 1/2 minutes into the game. During the next play stoppage, the audio crew played Carole King's "I Feel The Earth Move (Under My Feet)."

OTHER HEADLINES

-Maple Leafs D Tomas Kaberle hinted to the Toronto Sun prior to the Leafs' game in Montreal Thursday that he wouldn't stand in the way of a trade if general manager Brian Burke told him he was no longer part of the team's future. "Obviously when the GM is going to tell you he doesn't want you here any more, you don't want to play for a team if someone doesn't want you any more," he told the Sun. "That's a different story." Kaberle added that he has not been approached by Burke with any requests for a trade. "It's pretty much with Brian if he's going to talk to me or not," Kaberle told the Sun. "I haven"t talked to the GM and my agent didn"t talk to him. Let's leave it at that for now. My thing never changed. I signed here because I love to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs. That never changed. Let's leave it at that." Kaberle has a no-trade clause in his contract, a deal that pays him $4.25 million a season through the 2010-11 campaign.

-The Pittsburgh Penguins have locked up Jordan Staal with a four-year, $16 million contract extension. The new contract begins next season will run through the 2012-13 season. Staal, 20, will play the remainder of this season under the terms of his entry-level contract. He has played 204 games with the Penguins over three NHL seasons, scoring 52 goals and 39 assists for 91 points, along with 98 penalty minutes. This season, Staal has 11 goals and 10 assists for 21 points in 41 games. He also became the youngest player in NHL history to play his 200th career game

-Two severe concussions, one hip surgery and numerous broken bones later, Buffalo Sabres center Tim Connolly is looking forward to his latest comeback. "Yeah, I'm excited to get back," Connolly said. "I'm feeling good." Connolly is ready to return tonight when the Sabres host the New York Rangers. He's back this time after missing 24 games with a broken rib. Before that, he missed the first 10 games of the season with a broken vertebra. And that's just this year for the eight-year veteran who's missed 249 of a possible 368 regular-season games over the past four NHL seasons. "His greatest gift is his ability to draw people to him and open other people up," coach Lindy Ruff said. "And sometimes he puts himself in harm's way. But that's his greatest gift, and there's no fear when he does it." Connolly broke his rib while attempting to make a play at the boards, where he was checked by St. Louis' Keith Tkachuk. Three years ago, Connolly sustained his second concussion when he was skating through the middle with his head down and failed to avoid a clean check by Ottawa's Peter Schaefer. Then there's simple bad luck. In February 2007, Connolly was close to returning from his concussion when he sustained a stress fracture in his leg while working out. He also missed the entire 2003-04 season after sustaining a concussion in a pre-season game.


RUMOR MILL

-It appears the New Jersey Devils are interested in Jaromir Jagr. They big road block would be him Jagr getting out of his KHL contract. I doubt this will happen, but you never know.

-It looks like Northeast Division rivals Montreal and Boston are both in pursuit of Thrashers D Mathieu Schneider

-Expect Doug Weight to head to Western Canada. It's just a matter of if it's Edmonton or Vancouver

AROUND THE BOARDS

-After three and a half years with the Oshawa Generals, John Tavares, the best player in junior hockey, has been traded to the London Knights (OHL). Along with the 18-year-old star, the Knights will also receive defenceman Michael Del Zotto and goaltender Darryl Borden. In return, the Generals will get defenceman Scott Valentine, forward Christian Thomas, goaltender Michael Zador, four second-round draft picks (2009-12) and two third-round picks (2010-11). Del Zotto is expected to play tonight. Tavares was highly sought after by a handful of OHL teams, but the Knights (30-8-0-1) – along with the league-leading Windsor Spitfires – were frontrunners to land the junior phenom, expected to be the top pick at June's NHL draft.

TONIGHT'S ACTION:
Blue Jackets @ Capitals - 7PM
%Rangers @ Sabres - 7:30PM
Sharks @ Oilers - 9PM
Blues @ Canucks - 10PM
Lightning @ Ducks - 10PM

% = Game of the Night
^ALL TIMES EASTERN

*My weekly power rankings, "PLUS/MINUS", comes out Mondays

~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes out Wednesday evenings

FTS - 1/8/08

I know I am incredibly late with today's posting, so just a few notes...

(Photo credit: AP)

I've seen a few headlines that say Mats Sundin was quiet in his debut with the Canucks. Wow. I can't believe it. A guy that hasn't played a game since last April, playing on the ice with players who are in mid-season form, was quiet and didn't get a lot of ice time in his debut? Shocker. C'mon people, it's going to take him a few games to get back in to the swing of things. He'll be ready to rock after the All-Star break. I watched most of this game and Mats came back to a chippy affair with the Oilers. That was probably the best thing for him because it gets his mind in mid-season form. I love the Wellwood-Sundin-Raymond line and I think it will click quicker than people think. I'd love to see Mats on the PP with fellow countrymen Henrik & Daniel Sedin.

The Rangers lost to the Canadiens 6-3 last night. Rangers GM Glen Sather NEEDS to do something, and soon. I watch the Blueshirts in person or on television for just about every game, and they are dealing with the same problems now that started around Thanksgiving. Uninspired play, a crappy power play, taking periods off - these are all problems that can be resolved with one solution. TRADE FOR JAY BOUWMEESTER! He'd help the power play, give the Rangers more brut on the blueline, and any time a big trade is made, the rest of the team wakes up. Bouwmeester is only 25. If you lock him up, you're looking at a rearguard corps of Jay-Bo, Marc Staal, Dan Girardi, Michal Rozsival, Wade Redden and Paul Mara. You might have to give up a young guy like C Brandon Dubinsky to do it, but a 25 year old-perennial All-Star defenseman is much harder to find than a gritty center that can score.

I will try and have this returned to normal tomorrow.

DROPPING THE GLOVES W/ ANDREW BOGUSCH - 1/8/08

Is it time for the NHL to start cracking down on some of it's star players?

The NHL and every other professional league can deny it, but star players receive special treatment from on-ice officials. It might be a quick arm-in-the-air when someone hooked Wayne Gretzky. Or Michael Jordan getting an extra step on a drive to the rim. Or Greg Maddux being given an extra inch on the outside corner of home plate. Whatever the scenario, it happens. And it happens on a nightly basis. What shouldn’t happen is superstars getting a pass for suspend-able offenses. Conspiracy theorists have two new bits of evidence that the NHL is doing just that.
On December 18th, Sidney Crosby jumped into a scrap in front of the Pittsburgh net. Eventually, he threw a punch to the back of the head of Atlanta defenseman Boris Valabik, who was down on all fours engaged with another Penguin. Crosby let-loose twice more, possibly connecting with Valabik’s nether regions.

Did the “attack” warrant more than the 2-minute roughing minor Crosby received? Definitely. Did it deserve a multi-game suspension? Probably not, but we can’t help wonder how Colin Campbell would have reacted had someone lacking Crosby’s “stature” done the same thing.
Last Thursday night, Alex Ovechkin pasted Tampa Bay blueliner Jamie Heward from behind into the boards, resulting in Heward crumpling to the ice and then needing to be placed on a stretcher.

We’ve watched the hit more than a dozen times now, and there is no disputing Ovechkin stepped over the line. He saw only Heward’s numbers as he followed him from the slot into the corner – he should have known he couldn’t run through Heward. Ovechkin deserved to sit out a game or two. His hit was not as vicious as Corey Perry’s elbow on Friday (which garnered a 4-game ban), but just as dangerous. Interestingly enough, Ovechkin’s star power seemed to keep him out of trouble on the ice, too, as the Lightning barely challenged him in the aftermath of the hit.
This lack of consistency was part of our problem with Gary Bettman’s Sean Avery punishment. The Commissioner wasted little time lambasting Avery, but offered little criticism of himself or anyone else after the Predators were allowed to be sold to a group including William “Boots” del Biaggio, who was subsequently charged with fraud.

Of all the things the NHL needs to do to re-establish itself in the mainstream sports world, more transparency and accountability from headquarters wouldn’t hurt.

The Shootout...The Winter Classic at Wrigley Field was an absolute success, unless you are a Blackhawk fan. Mother Nature cooperated unlike last year. The first period was phenomenal. And probably most importantly, the ratings rose 12 percent from last year and were the best overnight ratings for a regular season game in 13 years. We were thinking for a while that a biannual game would be best to avoid any overkill, but the Winter Classic needs to happen every New Year’s Day...

NHL players lost the holiday spirit in a hurry Saturday night with a flurry of fights, some of which featured some unfamiliar combatants: Crosby, Marc Staal, Wade Redden, and Doug Weight. There was the wacky (Alexander Semin using Staal’s back as a pair of bongos) and the unnecessary (Crosby jumping Brett MacLean in the faceoff circle with the Penguins headed for another loss). There’s nothing wrong with the captain of a slumping team trying to rile up his teammates, but Crosby could go about things a bit better. At least give MacLean the opportunity to straighten up after the faceoff and get his gloves off...

Congrats to Canada for winning another World Junior title. Of the players eligible for this summer’s draft, no one was better than John Tavares. Whomever ends up with the first pick better not outthink themselves and take someone else…

I can’t bring myself to rail on the All-Star Game selection process right now, so let’s all agree that fan voting just stinks…

Finally, we’ve lost one significant name from the rumor mill. Wild winger Marian Gaborik is out for 10 weeks following hip surgery. We wrote last week that Minnesota GM Doug Risebrough needed to move Gaborik as soon as possible, but a trade is very unlikely now. And even if a team gambles on Gaborik at the deadline while he is still on IR, Risebrough will miss out on the compensation he was hoping for...

As always, all questions, comments, criticisms go to boguschhockey@gmail.com

FTS - 1/7/08

(Over the next few weeks, my work schedule will be changing a lot so I will not be able to do the usual format everyday. Today is one of those days)

LAST NIGHT'S RECAP

(Photo Credit: AP)

Minnesota Wild (20-16-3) over the Boston Bruins (29-7-4) 1-0
Nicklas Backstrom made 28 saves for the shutout and Marek Zidlicky scorned the lone goal to hand the Bruins their 2nd straight loss

Buffalo Sabres (20-15-5) over the Ottawa Senators (13-19-6) 4-2
Derek Roy had a goal and two assists in the win. The story here is Sens winger Jarkko Ruutu biting the thumb of Sabres winger Andrew Peters. Ruutu denied biting Peters, and instead accused the Sabres player of gouging him in the eye. "Nothing happened there," Ruutu said. "His fingers were by my mouth but I didn't bite him."

Carolina Hurricanes (21-15-5) over the New Jersey Devils (23-13-3) 3-2
Tuomo Ruutu scored the game winner and Cam Ward made 26 saves for the Hurricanes 4th straight win (season-high)

Washington Capitals (27-11-3) over the Philadelphia Flyers (21-10-9) 2-1 (SO)
Viktor Kozlov scored the shootout winner and Jose Theodore made 33 saves, many of them tough, in the win.

Detroit Red Wings (27-7-5) over the Columbus Blue Jackets (18-18-4) 3-0
Pavel Datsyuk had a goal and 2 assists, Marian Hossa scored, and Ty Conklin made 23 saves for his 8th career shutout. Blue Jackets leading scorer Rick Nash went hard into the boards late in the 1st period. "We'll evaluate him tomorrow," said Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock, who would only add that Nash had a lower-body injury.

Pittsburgh Penguins (20-17-4) over the Atlanta Thrashers (13-23-5) 3-1
Evgeni Malkin had three assists, Petr Sykora scored twice and Sidney Crosby had a goal to snap the Pens five game losing streak.

Florida Panthers (18-16-6) over the Toronto Maple Leafs (16-18-6) 4-2
Stephen Weiss, Ville Peltonen, Michael Frolik and Gregory Campbell all scored for the Panthers in the win.

Colorado Avalanche (20-19-1) over the Nashville Predators (17-19-3) 2-1
Wojtek Wolski scored both Avs goals to end a three game skid for the Avs and extend the Predators losing streak to five.

Chicago Blackhawks (22-8-7) over the Phoenix Coyotes (19-17-5) 6-0
Cristobal Huet made 22 saves to earn the shutout while winger Adam Burish had a goal and two assists on his birthday.

Calgary Flames (24-12-4) over the San Jose Sharks (29-5-5) 5-2
Flames C Daymond Langkow scored twice and the Flames were able to chase Evgeni Nabokov early in the 2nd period after Calgary took a 4-0 lead.

Anaheim Ducks (21-15-5) over the Los Angeles Kings (16-17-6) 3-1
Bobby Ryan, Sammy Pahlsson and Rob Niedermayer all scored for Anaheim and Scott Niedermayer chipped in with two assists.

OTHER HEADLINES

-Blues left wing Paul Kariya had left hip surgery on Monday and could miss the rest of the regular season. "We haven't ruled him out, but what's the sense of rushing something as serious as this?" team president John Davidson said Tuesday. "I think he'll be back to 110 percent, whether it's late this season or next season. Probably next season." Kariya had two goals and 13 points in the Blues' first 11 games before injuring the hip Nov. 5 against Anaheim. An MRI had revealed injuries in two spots in the joint area of the left hip. Davidson said the surgery repaired a torn labrum inside the joint along with "some bone work." "He'll be 100 percent a long time before camp," Davidson said. "He'll be back to being Paul Kariya that should be better than he has been for years." The 34-year-old Kariya is in the second season of a three-year, $18 million contract. The surgery was performed in Vail, Colo., and Kariya will stay in Colorado to begin rehab.

RUMOR MILL

Nothing to report today

AROUND THE BOARDS

-The Colorado Avalanche have placed defenseman Adam Foote on the IR with a triceps injury. The move is retroactive to Sunday, when Foote left in the second period of a 2-0 loss to Minnesota. Avalanche coach Tony Granato said Tuesday Foote was apparently hurt in a collision or when he finished off a check. Colorado called up Philippe Dupuis from the Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL.

TONIGHT'S ACTION:
Montreal @ NY Rangers - 7:30PM
%Vancouver @ Edmonton - 10PM (The probable return of Mats Sundin - It appears that he will be on a line with Kyle Wellwood and Mason Raymond)

% = Game of the Night
^ALL TIMES EASTERN

*My weekly power rankings, "PLUS/MINUS", comes out tonight

~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes out tomorrow night

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