KK Members' Blog
New York Rangers interested in Edmonton Oilers’ Sheldon Souray
by Slasher98 on 01/19/10 at 10:07 AM ET
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According to Pierre Lebrun of ESPN, the New York Rangers are very interested in the Edmonton defenseman, who would be willing to waive his no-trade clause to help the Oilers and play in New York.
But to make it happen, as Lebrun said, the Rangers would need to create cap room by shedding the contracts of either Michal Rozsival ($5 million cap hit; will earn $4 million next season and $3 million in last year in 2011-12) or Wade Redden ($6.5 million cap hit; four more years left after this season at $6.5 million for 2010-11 and 2011-12 and $5 million per year in 2012-13 and 2013-14). The only real option on Redden is to send him to the AHL and eat his contract. A buyout next summer doesn’t solve anything because the Rangers would still carry a $2 million cap hit from him for the next eight years.
Sheldon Souray (Getty Images)
Filed in: | KK Members Blog | Permalink
Tags: edmonton+oilers, michal+rozsival, new+york+rangers, sheldon+souray, wade+redden,
Penguins scouting heavily Maple Leafs’ Alexei Ponikarovsky
by Slasher98 on 01/15/10 at 12:57 PM ET
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According to Pittsburgh Insider William Depaoli, the Pittsburgh Penguins have been scouting the Toronto Maple Leafs in the past month. Head scout Derek Clancey has been seen at Air Canada Centre many times with winger Alexei Ponikarovsky being a player of interest for the Penguins.
Alexei Ponikarovsky (Getty images)
Ponikarovsky, 29, is a big winger (6′4”, 220 lb) with great hands that has 15 goals and 14 assists for 29 points in 48 games with the Maple Leafs this season. Poni is in the final year of his contract that pays him $2.5 million this season; his cap hit is $2.1 million.
The Kiev-native had a career-year last season in Toronto, recording 23 goals and 38 assists for 61 points in 82 games. He would surely complement well Evgeni Malkin on the Penguins’ second line who is forced to play with pluggers Maxime Talbot and Ruslan Fedotenko. Talbot only has five points in 25 games this season, while Fedotenko only has 16 points in 47 games this year.
The Penguins also need help on the power play; as of today their power play ranks 29th in the league with a dismal 14.8% efficiency. You have to wonder what’s wrong in Steel Town when you have talented players like Sidney Crosby, Sergei Gonchar, Evgeni Malkin, Bill Guerin and Alex Goligoski on your first unit. With his large frame, quick hands and great vision, Ponikarovsky would certainly help the Penguins in that department.
Ponikarovsky, a fourth round (87th overall) pick of the Leafs at the 1998 NHL entry draft, has spent his entire career as a member of the Maple Leafs.
Does Brian Burke envision him as a core player of the Leafs’ future success or does he use him as a trade-bait to get back some of the high draft picks he traded to acquire budding star Phil Kessel from the Boston Bruins before the start of the current season?
Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Members Blog | Permalink
Tags: Burke, Crosby, Fedotenko, Goligoski, Gonchar, Guerin, Kessel, Malkin, Ponikarovsky, Talbot,
Georges Laraque’s demise as an NHL enforcer
by Slasher98 on 01/13/10 at 12:04 PM ET
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Once upon a time Georges Laraque was one of the most feared enforcers in the NHL. He was even unanimously awarded the ‘Best Fighter’ award from The Hockey News in 2003. In 2008, Sports Illustrated named him the number one enforcer in the league. During his days an an Oiler, Laraque racked up the penalty minutes, 826 in 490 games, while scoring the occasional goal here and there. Also known as “Big Georges” or simply “BGL”, Laraque even scored 13 goals and 16 assists for 29 points in 2001-01 with Edmonton.
BGL’s good old days:
Georges Laraque’s fight compilation
After short stints with the Phoenix Coyotes and the Pittsburgh Penguins, Bob Gainey signed BGL to a 3-year $4.5M contract on July 3rd, 2008. Gainey needed to add toughness to a small corps of forwards as his team had been outplayed physically in the 2008 playoffs against the Philadelphia Flyers and the Boston Bruins.
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Tags: bob+gainey, edmonton+oilers, georges+laraque, jacques+martin, montreal+canadiens,
Candidates for Team USA’s roster for Vancouver 2010
by Slasher98 on 12/23/09 at 04:05 PM ET
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Brian Burke, Team USA’s GM, is planning on making the announcement of USA’s final roster on January 1st, 2010, during the Winter Classic. Burke will name his 23 man roster at Fenway Park, during the Flyers vs. Bruins game.
Below you will find the three groupings for the 2010 Olympic hockey tournament:
GROUP A: Canada, United States, Norway, Switzerland
GROUP B: Russia, Czech Republic, Latvia, Slovakia
GROUP C: Finland, Sweden, Germany, Belarus
The countries in bold are the four tournament favorites, without disrespect to the other eight countries.
Filed in: Non-NHL Hockey, International Hockey | KK Members Blog | Permalink
Tags: Alex+Goligoski, Andy+Greene, Bill+Guerin, Bobby+Ryan, Brian+Gionta, Brian+Rafalski, Brooks+Orp,
Candidates for Team Canada’s roster for Vancouver 2010
by Slasher98 on 12/22/09 at 06:18 AM ET
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Steve Yzerman, Team Canada’s GM, is planning on making the announcement of Canada’s final roster on December 30, 2009, a little more than a week from now. Yzerman will name his 23 man roster during the World Junior tournament in Saskatoon, Canada.
Below you will find the three groupings for the 2010 Olympic hockey tournament:
GROUP A: Canada, United States, Norway, Switzerland
GROUP B: Russia, Czech Republic, Latvia, Slovakia
GROUP C: Finland, Sweden, Germany, Belarus
The countries in bold are the four tournament favorites, without disrespect to the other eight countries.
Filed in: | KK Members Blog | Permalink
Tags: Brad+Richards, Brendan+Morrow, Brent+Burns, Brent+Seabrook, Cam+Ward, Carey+Price, chris+prong,
Benoit Pouliot recalled and Halak starts for Canadiens
by Slasher98 on 12/21/09 at 12:28 PM ET
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The Montreal Canadiens announced earlier today that they have called up left winger Benoit Pouliot from the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL. Pouliot will join the Canadiens today for tonight’s game against the Thrashers in Atlanta.
Pouliot, who was sent down last week for a condition stint, recorded three points (1 goal, 2 assists) in three games with the Bulldogs, which were all recorded in yesterday’s 5-4 win against Rochester.
The 6’3’’, 199 lbs forward has yet to play a game with the Habs due to a wrist injury. Pouliot played 14 games earlier this season with the Minnesota Wild, recording only four points (2 goals, 2 assists), along with 12 penalty minutes, playing only an average of 11:56 minutes per game under head coach Todd Richards.
The Canadiens acquired Benoit Pouliot from the Wild on November 23 in exchange for disgruntled forward Guillaume Latendresse. Latendresse has recorded three goals and one assist in 11 games with the Wild since the trade. However, he missed Saturday’s game in Ottawa with the flu.
On another positive note, rearguard Roman Hamrlik has begun skating again, the first time since he injured his right knee against the Devils last Wednesday. No date has been established for his return, but a return on December 26 against the Toronto Maple Leafs is conceivable.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Montreal Canadiens | KK Members Blog | Permalink
Tags: benoit+pouliot, jaroslav+halak, johan+hedberg,
Time to Fire Guy Carbonneau: Montreal Canadiens Sinking Fast
by Slasher98 on 02/12/09 at 03:41 PM ET
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After the Canadiens’ fourth consecutive loss against the Oilers yesterday, it is clear that the Canadiens players don’t want to play for their coach anymore. They have lost nine of their past 11 games, during which they scored only 25 goals (2.27 GF per game) and surrendered an astounding 48 goals (4.36 GA per game).
The Habs have lost their last seven road games and have still four road games to go before returning home on Feb. 21 against Ottawa.
Carbonneau keeps juggling his lines like a Cirque du Soleil juggler, trying to find some chemistry among his players, but since they don’t play together for more than a few shifts, it’s hard to build chemistry.
Carbonneau doesn’t have a game plan. The Canadiens don’t fore-check, can’t make a good first pass, are unable to clear the front of the net, don’t finish their checks, and don’t win one-on-one battles. They clearly need to go back to basics; however, they don’t practice. Carbonneau prefers sending them to a bowling alley to hone their shooting skills.
The Canadiens are lucky to have registered that many points this season, because they’ve been sloppy most of the season, but they have been able to win some games because of their talent. The problem is that the farther we get into the season, the harder it is to win games without working, and the Canadiens don’t work. As soon as they get scored on, they stop hustling and playing hard; they simply give up.
When you give up, it means you don’t care, and that’s the job of the coach to make the players care, which is not happening right now.
I know that Bob Gainey and Guy Carbonneau are close friends, but it’s time to put an end to their working relationship, especially since Gainey can’t find a trading partner just yet because of the salary cap. We are still three weeks away from the deadline, and the Canadiens can’t afford to wait that long to make changes.
The Senators waited way too long before canning Craig Hartsburg, as I had predicted on Jan. 7, 2009 here > Hartsburg to be fired (Hartsburg was fired at the beginning of February).
GM Bob Gainey must make his move NOW! Time to put a veteran coach behind the bench—someone with extensive experience like Larry Robinson, Bob Hartley, or John Tortorella.
Stay tuned!
Filed in: | KK Members Blog | Permalink
Tags: canadiens, carbonneau, gainey, senators,
Pacioretty And Gorges; a Look at Craig Rivet’s Trade By Bob Gainey Two Years Ago
by Slasher98 on 01/09/09 at 10:59 AM ET
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On February 25 2007, the Montreal Canadiens veteran defenseman Craig Rivet and a 5th round selection in 2008 to the San Jose Sharks for young defenseman Josh Gorges and a 1st round selection in 2007 (Max Pacioretty).
Now a member of the Buffalo Sabres, Rivet helped the Sharks go deep in the playoffs the past two seasons even tough they weren’t able to make it to the finals. In 91 games with the Sharks, Rivet scored six goals and 37 assists for 43 points.
He was later traded this summer along with San Jose’s 7th round selection in 2010 to the Buffalo Sabres for a 2nd round choice in 2009 and a 2nd round choice in 2010.
Meanwhile, Josh Gorges blossomed into a very reliable defenseman over his two years in Montreal. At first, things were not quite easy for Gorges as he was a frequent healthy scratch for most of the 2007 season.
However, last season he finally made it as a regular rearguard and played 62 games, notching nine assists besides his partner Francis Bouillon.
Gorges, 24, has seen an increase of ice-time this season being used in every situation (even on the powerplay) and his statistics have improved accordingly. Gorges already has one goal and seven assists for eight points in 40 games. He has a team-best +18 plus/minus differential good for the tenth rank league-wide.
But the key element of that trade is Max Pacioretty who finally made it to the NHL this season thanks to numerous injuries to key Habs players.
After a great season with Michigan University last season where he registered 15 goals and 24 assists for 39 points in 37 games, Pacioretty signed his first NHL contract, a three-year entry-level pact, this summer with the Canadiens.
Recalled from Hamilton on January 1st, 2009, Pacioretty scored his first NHL-goal on his first shot in a 4-1 loss against New Jersey. Now playing on a line with veterans Alex Kovalev and Tomas Plekanec, Max Pax has tallied two goals and 1 assist for three points after only four games.
Pacioretty is a good power forward with above average skills. A good skater with quick feet. He handles the puck very well, and he has a good wrist shot with quick release. His size and tenacity allow him to drive to the net consistently.
Max Pacioretty will likely be this year’s Sergei Kostitsyn even when Koivu, Higgins and Tanguay come back from their injuries.
Filed in: | KK Members Blog | Permalink
Tags: gorges, montreal, pacioretty, rivet, san+jose,
David Krejci’s unexpected rise to stardom
by Slasher98 on 12/18/08 at 05:41 PM ET
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The Bruins’ first pick in the second round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft (63rd overall), David Krecji, 22, has climbed fast on the Bruins depth chart.
Currently the Bruins’ third centre behind point-producer Marc Savard and proven youngster Patrice Bergeron, Krejci is quickly making his mark in the NHL. His new line-mates Blake Wheeler and Michael Ryder have perfectly clicked together. Through 30 games this season with the Bruins, Krejci has eight goals and 21 assists for 29 points, currently on pace for 79 points. He also ranks 10th in the league with a +15 plus/minus differential.
The Sternberk, Czech Republic native, has already surpassed last year’s career-best, 27 points in 56 games, thanks to his plethora of skills. Krejci’s strongest assets are his soft hands and smooth puck-handling abilities. He is good on face-offs and possesses good defensive instincts for a second-year player. Krejci also has a highly accurate wrist shot, and he can make smart, crisp passes to him teammates. He isn’t afraid of playing in heavy traffic and drive the net.
After playing two years in the QMJHL with Gatineau where he recorded 144 points in only 117 games, he smoothly made the transition to the AHL with the Providence Bruins where he notched 74 points in 69 games in 2006-2007. Krejci adjusted very well everywhere he played, and there is no reason he can’t continue with the Bruins this season…
Expect big things from Krejci in the next few years, as Bruins’s coach Claude Julien is not afraid to use him in every situation. Krejci is currently on fire, having notched five goals and fifteen assists for 20 points in the past twelve games!
Filed in: | KK Members Blog | Permalink
Tags: boston, bruins, krecji,
Is the Price really right?
by Slasher98 on 12/15/08 at 01:47 PM ET
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Coming out a phenomenal 2006-2007 hockey season, during which the Anahim Lake, B.C., native won the gold at the IIHF World Junior (U20) Ice Hockey Championship in Sweden (he was named the Tournament MVP) and the Calder Cup with the Hamilton Bulldogs (he was named playoffs MVP), expectations were very high at the beginning of last season in Montreal.
The 6-3, 212 lbs, butterfly goaltender made the team out of training camp. He shared duties with French goaltender Cristobal Huet for the first few months, before being sent down to the AHL in January 2008 to regain his form after a lackluster start. After a one-month stint with the Bulldogs, the Canadiens called him up and gave him plenty of action before trading Huet to the Capitals at the trade deadline. Price responded very well, leading the Canadiens to a strong finish atop the Eastern Conference. Price finished the 2007-2008 season with a 24-12-3 record, a 2.56 GAA and a sparkling .920 save percentage.
Filed in: | KK Members Blog | Permalink
Tags: canadiens, halak, montreal, price,
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