Kukla's Korner

The New Trade Deadline Strategy

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

02/10/12 at 02:00 PM ET | Comments (0)

from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,

The new hard currency at the deadline isn’t draft choices - unless they’re No. 1s, preferably in the top 15 - but prospects already in the pipeline, the Jake Gardiners of the world, the player who came to the Maple Leafs last year as a relative unknown semi-throw-in, in the Joffrey Lupul-for-Francois Beauchemin deal, but was closer to being NHL-ready than many casual observers imagined.

Nobody, among the Blue Jackets , Hurricanes, Ducks and their ilk has the patience any more to wait for that medium-to-long-term prospect who might spend three-to-five years in the pipeline before he’s NHL ready.

Drafting and developing is always the surest ticket to success - you need only examine the performance of teams as disparate as the New York Rangers or the Nashville Predators for proof of that - but it has finally sunk in for many GMs, picking through the ashes of previous deadline fiascos, that the returns they received for all their hot properties weren’t necessarily so hot after all.

more plus other topics…

Filed in: NHL Teams | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Vigneault’s Unique Strategy

Blog: The Puck Stops Here By PuckStopsHere

02/10/12 at 12:25 PM ET | Comments (2)

It takes a good coach to be able to find a new strategy that nobody else has ever used that is a successful strategy that helps your team win.  Alain Vigneault, the coach of the Vancouver Canucks, has developed one such strategy over the last couple of years.  While many coaches match lines with the opposition, Vigneault does not do that.  Vigneault matches lines to the position of the puck on the ice.  Whenever a shift starts in the offensive zone, Vigneault will get his top offensive forward line on the ice as much as possible.  This is the line of Daniel and Henrik Sedin and Alexandre Burrows.  Whenever a shift starts in the defensive zone, Vigneault will get his top defensive forward line on the ice as much as possible.  This is the line of Manny Malhotra, Maxim Lapierre and Dale Wiese.  In fact if you look at the NHL players sorted by zone start percentage, you find that these are the top three and bottom three players in the league.

Continue Reading »

Filed in: | The Puck Stops Here | Permalink
  Tags: Alain+Vigneault, Vancouver+Canucks,

The NHL Gets The 2013 Winter Classic Location Wrong

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

02/10/12 at 12:15 PM ET | Comments (19)

from Rob Parker at WDIV, It’s official.

The NHL should really be called the NGL, as in National Gimmick League.

It seems like that’s all the National Hockey League is about these days, so much so that it messed up an event that was actually pretty cool.

Somehow, the NHL powers-that-be didn’t believe that Hockeytown was good enough to host the 2013 Winter Classic.

Terrible.

Instead, they scheduled the Jan. 1 game against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings to play at Michigan Stadium. The league simply dissed the fact these two Original Six teams having been playing in Detroit for more than 50 years. Instead, they want to set some silly attendance record by using the Big House to sell more than 100,000 tickets.

It’s cheap, it’s tasteless. Especially since a few years ago Michigan and Michigan State did it already in a college

continued

Filed in: NHL Teams, Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: Winter+Classic+2013,

Horton Experiencing Concussion Symptoms Again

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

02/10/12 at 12:11 PM ET | Comments (0)

via Fluto Shinzawa of Bruins Blog at the Boston Globe,

Nathan Horton has stopped skating because of post-concussion syndrome. According to Claude Julien, Horton’s symptoms, which have included headaches, returned once he resumed solo skates.

“He’s been pulled back,” Julien said. “He’s got some symptoms. So we’ve pulled him back. It’s hard for me to come out every day with a step forward, step backward. He’s back to square one. We’re giving him some time here. Those symptoms, once he got on the ice, came back.”

Horton hasn’t played since Jan. 22, when he suffered a concussion after being hit by Philadelphia’s Tom Sestito. Horton first skated on his own on Sunday.

Filed in: NHL Teams, Boston Bruins | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: Nathan+Horton,

How To Improve Bad Officiating

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

02/10/12 at 11:46 AM ET | Comments (2)

from Sean Gordon of the Globe and Mail,

The NHL is a reputation league, and refs also sometimes make flash judgments influenced by a player’s rep.

Best example: Dan O’Rourke calling Erik Karlsson a diver in a conversation with Ottawa coach Paul MacLean - nice work Rourkie.

At least MacLean has big brass ones and smashed the usual omerta by going public and ratting him out.

So in addition to having competence issues with certain refs - ie. Tim Peel, Stephane Auger and, most egregiously, Chris Lee - the NHL is dealing with complicated psychology.

There are no easy fixes to this, but there are a couple of things the NHL could do.

more

Filed in: NHL Teams, NHL Talk, NHL Officiating | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Is Obstruction Back In Play?

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

02/10/12 at 10:13 AM ET | Comments (10)

from Josh Yohe of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review,

Welcome to the new NHL, which is beginning to resemble the old NHL.

Scoring is down, and obstruction again is becoming a common element of play. Referees, many Penguins said, are allowing the clutching and grabbing that became ingrained in the game a decade ago to resurface.

The Penguins are particularly unsettled by this because special teams have marked a significant part of their success this season. Lately, special teams play has been rare.

“I don’t necessarily think the play has gotten cleaner,” Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. “(But) there are few power-play opportunities out there for every team.”

The Penguins averaged more than four power-play opportunities per game through the end of December. Since Jan. 1, they are averaging 2.76 power-play chances.

continued

Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins, NHL Talk, NHL Officiating | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Toronto Needs Goaltending Help

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

02/10/12 at 10:08 AM ET | Comments (3)

from Mike Brophy of Sportsnet,

So perhaps a No. 1 centre may not be the top priority for the Toronto Maple Leafs at the trade deadline after all.

On a night when Tyler Bozak, who skates between Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul on Toronto’s top line, scored two goals, the focus moved off him and directly into the goal crease.

Leafs goalie James Reimer entered the night riding a three-game winning streak—two of which were shutouts—but he struggled in a 4-3 loss to the Flyers in Philadelphia. In a game where the Leafs really needed big saves, he didn’t have enough in his arsenal. And as well as his partner, Jonas Gustavsson, has played when given the chance to start, the Leafs goaltending continues to be an area of concern on a nightly basis.

continued

Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

NHL Sweaters,—Past & Current

Blog: Talk'n Hawks By Vince Maranto

02/10/12 at 10:00 AM ET | Comments (19)

Here’s just a thought that I had. Hearing the GREAT news of the Winter Classic Game being played at “The Big House”, in Ann Arbor—Leafs / Wings, I told my son about it. “We should try and go”, he said. Living in Chicago, the trip is of course, about 4 1/2 hours. This is depending on the weather and how you drive. “We’ll have to get some Leafs jersey’s first”, I said kidding him. “Leafs SUCK”, he said, repeating the chant, from Ottawa, at the All Star Game this year. So it made me think. Every NHL city has at least ONE hated rival, some multiple. Here’s my question to all that read this. Name your city, and the team that you would LEAST wear a jersey of. Then, tell me, both past and present, if you ABSOLUTELY had to, whose jersey would you wear?

I’ll start it off. I live in Chicago, Wearing a WINGS sweater would be torture, to say the least. But, without a doubt, a would wear the # 9, Gordie Howe sweater, in a heart beat. For the current WINGS, no question, Lidstrom. Tell me yours. This is just for fun. I don’t need to hear how you’d rather die than participate. Keep it to yourself, tough guy.

Filed in: | Talk'n Hawks | Permalink
 

Ohlund Appears Done For The Season

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

02/10/12 at 09:59 AM ET | Comments (0)

from Damian Cristodero of the Tampa Bay Times,

Nobody is saying it, but it seems clear Mattias Ohlund will not play this season.

The Lightning defenseman has not played a regular-season game because of two bum knees, is not skating, and GM Steve Yzerman acknow­ledged Thursday there is no timetable for him to do so.

Ohlund contributes, though, as an ad hoc assistant coach. Beginning with the Jan. 20-21 road trip to Dallas and Phoenix, Ohlund has watched games from the press box (with a special eye on the defense), taking notes and passing along what he observes to the coaching staff and players.

“He’s a really bright hockey guy and well-respected,” Yzerman said. “He’s got a lot to offer to us in watching the games and watching our defensemen and being able to work with them, particularly the younger guys, about the finer points of playing the position.”

“He’s a good leader,” coach Guy Boucher said. “So having him around is good for him and good for the team.”

Ohlund, 35, who has four years left on a seven-year, $25.25 million contract, had arthroscopic surgery on both knees over the summer to clean out what the team called “loose bodies.” He has not skated since mid November and declined to comment.

continue for more on Tampa Bay…

Filed in: NHL Teams, Tampa Bay Lightning | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: Mattias+Ohlund,

Richards Wins It for the Blueshirts

Blog: Goal Line Report By Patrick Hoffman

02/10/12 at 08:49 AM ET | Comments (1)

When the New York Rangers went out and signed high-priced free agent Brad Richards to a nine year deal during the off-season, it is games like last night that the Blueshirts had envisioned for him.

After Brian Boyle tied the game up at 3-3 in the third period, the Rangers’ assistant captain Richards scored the game winner in overtime off a great feed from Artem Anisimov to give his team a 4-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. For Richards, it was his seventh game winning goal of the season, which is good for second in the NHL.

While Richards may not have the point totals that people expected (17 goals and 18 assists for 35 points), he has certainly come up big when the team has needed him the most. Everyone remembers the goal he scored at the buzzer to defeat the Phoenix Coyotes. Everyone also probably remembers the game tying goal he scored against the Anaheim Ducks over in Sweden at the beginning of the season.

Richards is keeping up his end of the bargain by coming through in the clutch, something he has done throughout his career. Hopefully, he will come up even bigger come playoff time.

Continue Reading »

Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
  Tags: Anaheim+Ducks, Artem+Anisimov, Brad+Richards, Brian+Boyle, New+York+Rangers, Philadelphia+Flyers, Phoenix+Coyotes, Tampa+Bay+Lightning,

Next »