Inside the NHL
When handicapping the Hart, you gotta have Alex
Three coaches already have been fired, fans are moaning about obstruction creeping back into the game and returning hockey to its prehistoric (see: pre-lockout) days, the Sabres need help but haven’t made a trade and the Bills are a month removed from playoff contention.
What does it mean?
The NHL has reached the second week of January, of course, signaling my annual midseason awards. What’s different about this season is that so many teams look alike that it’s becoming more difficult to identify the top individuals. It wasn’t exactly what the league had in mind when it came to parity.
Take the Hart Trophy, given to the league’s most valuable player. Goaltender is the most important position in the game, so common sense suggests a masked man should win the Hart every year. It makes for an interesting debate, which explains e-mail overload at this time of year.
Evgeni Malkin skated into the weekend leading the league in scoring. A poll taken recently in the Sabres’ dressing room pinpointed him as the player they would most like to have on their team, over Sidney Crosby. No problem with either player, but how could anyone other than Mrs. Malkin or Mrs. Crosby vote against Alex Ovechkin?
His play through 41 games gets him H-A now and the R-T later.
Ovechkin is the most dominant player in the game and has led his team to second place in the Eastern Conference while the Penguins slipped to 10th. The Capitals were only 5-4-2 through their first 11 games, when he had two goals. He had 25 goals and 46 points over his next 30 games and led them to a 22-7-1 record.
Ovechkin skated into the weekend tied for the NHL lead with 27 goals, and his 53 points trailed only Malkin (63). He had 65 goals last season, and he’s capable of reaching that mark again despite his slow start. He’s tough, he was a plus-12, and he led a team that was 18-1-1 at home before the weekend.
Norris Trophy (top defenseman): Dan Boyle, Sharks. Usually, we just hand it over to six-time winner Nicklas Lidstrom and move onward, but Boyle has been better this year. He was acquired after Brian Campbell signed with Chicago and has been an upgrade, especially on the power play. Nashville’s Shea Weber isn’t far behind.
Vezina Trophy (top goalie): Niklas Backstrom, Wild. Granted, he plays behind a goalie-friendly (boring) style in Minnesota, but last week he was among the top five in wins (19), goalsagainst average (2.17) and was seventh in save percentage (.927). Columbus netminder Steve Mason has been superb, but there’s another award for him, such as . . .
Calder Trophy (top rookie): Mason, Blue Jackets. The 20-year-old goalie made his debut Nov. 5 and refused to surrender the net to Pascal Leclaire. Mason was leading the league with a 1.82 goalsagainst average and .934 save percentage for a below- average team. Blackhawks winger Kris Versteeg was the rookie points leader. Keep an eye on Kings defenseman Drew Doughty.
Selke Trophy (top defensive forward): Mike Richards, Flyers. Richards was one of three Philly players leading the league with four shorthanded goals, but he’s the guy they use most when looking to shut down the opposing team’s top line and was plus-
16. The fact he’s very good offensively helps his defense and vice versa.
Jack Adams (top coach): Claude Julien, Bruins. He pushed forward a Bruins team that was swimming in mediocrity last season. At one point, the Bruins had the best record in the NHL. They play together, they play tough and they’re exciting.
Lady Byng (sportsmanship): Martin St. Louis, Lightning. The Lightning winger hasn’t lost his competitive edge, but he can’t play much cleaner. He had only one minor penalty in his first 39 games and still had 15 goals and 37 points.
A bite to remember
Red Wings been-there, done-that defenseman Chris Chelios admitted last week that he once bit Tomas Sandstrom during a fight. He couldn’t remember which year, but it must have been during the — gulp — Reagan Administration.
“He tried to gouge my eyes,” said Chelios, 46, in his 26th season. “It was just a natural instinct to do that [bite]. Plus the fact it was him. He was probably one of the most hated guys playing back then.”
Chelios did not receive a penalty, but Sandstrom did.
“Broke skin, blood, the whole works,” Chelios said. “The referee hated him so much, he just told [Sandstrom] to get out of there and go to the box. He tried to show the ref [the bloody finger] and the referee just said, ‘Get out of here.’ ”
Ah, the good ole days.
Staal’s price tag
Fine work last week by the Penguins in getting center Jordan Staal locked up with a four-year deal worth $16 million. Staal likely would have been offered much more as a restricted free agent, and the Pens secured a top asset.
It doesn’t mean he’ll remain in Pittsburgh for the length of the deal. The combined cap hit next season for Staal, Crosby, Malkin, Sergei Gonchar and Marc-Andre Fleury is $32.5 million.
The fact Staal is making only $4 million a year with four seasons remaining makes him a valuable commodity in the trade market. The Pens might need to move a top player if the salary cap decreases, as expected, in the next two years.
Warrener wavers
Old friend Rhett Warrener’s shoulder has deteriorated to the point where doctors are considering whether he’s one injury away from shoulder-replacement surgery. It’s not a good sign for the 32-year-old, still one of the coolest dudes in the game.
“There are all kinds of schools of thought on it,” said Warrener, who plays for Calgary. “Some people say play as long as you can. On the other side, you’ve had a good career. You’ve got fairly good health. You’ve had your run at it. You can’t play forever. You weigh it and try to figure out if it’s worth it to come back for one year.”
If he does hang ’em up after this season, which appeared likely, he could move back to Buffalo with his wife, the former Christina Bager, a Western New York native. Last week, after she gave birth to their first child, he showed up at the rink wearing a Darth Vader costume to hand out cigars.
The child’s name: Luke.
That’s the Tocchet
Tampa Bay hasn’t exactly turned around its season, but the Lightning are playing better under Rick Tocchet than they were under Barry Melrose.
The Dead Bolts had a recent 4-3-1 stretch — hey, that’s improvement — but they had allowed 30 shots or fewer in seven of the eight games. It happened only once in 16 games under Melrose before he was kicked to the curb and retreated back to ESPN.
Tocchet’s credibility has soared to the point that veteran Mark Recchi is leading a charge for management to remove the ever-lurking “interim” tag. Look for GM Brian Lawton to make that move in the near future.
“I think they’ve got their coach,” Recchi said. “They don’t have to look any further. He’s handled himself very well. He has the respect of the players and he deserves it. . . . I hope they reward him.”
Raycroft rules
Colorado, desperate for consistent play in goal all year, has had its No. 1 goalie sitting on the bench. Ex-Bruin and ex-Leaf Andrew Raycroft improved to 8-1 last week with a 43-save effort against the Blackhawks.
Raycroft won six straight and allowed two goals or fewer in four of five starts going into the weekend. His stats were hardly sparkling (2.52 GAA, .908 save percentage) but they were better than those of Peter Budaj (13-18-1, 2.82 GAA, .901 SP) while playing every third game or so.
“He’s done a great job,” Avs coach Tony Granato said. “He’s become what we expected. He’s given us solid performances.”
Raycroft’s win over Chicago came after a strange play. Patrick Sharp was late getting into the faceoff circle, the puck was dropped without him and Chicago took a penalty while scrambling to recover. It led to Wojtek Wolski’s winner on the power play.
Around the boards
• Senators owner Eugene Melnyk quickly denied rumors last week that GM Bryan Murray and coach Craig Hartsburg were headed for the curb in favor of Hockey Canada President Bob Nicholson and coach Pat Quinn. Bad news for Ottawa. Making the change was the best idea since they hired John Muckler.
• Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson, given extra room in his budget, is bummed over his inability to acquire a center in a very quiet market. Fourteen teams were within $2 million of the salary cap, so GMs should be lining up to clear space. So far, none wants to swap warm bodies for second-round draft picks.
• The Thrashers are shopping for prospects who can help get them rebuilt. Mathieu Schneider is the obvious candidate to be shipped out before the March 4 trade deadline. He’s 39 years old and makes $5.7 million, making him a waste of experience and money for a team headed nowhere.
• Blues goalie Manny Legace entered the weekend with an 11-8-3 record, a 3.23 GAA and an .888 save percentage. Backup Chris Mason had a 3-12-1 record, but he had a 3.15 GAA and a .901 save percentage. The true measure of both players’ performances is somewhere in between.
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