Morning Skate Update From Tampa

HTML clipboardBlink and everything can change.Barry Melrose addressed the media around 11:15 this morning and at that pointenforcer David Koci was on waivers. Melrose said that he wanted to keep him inthe organization and he was hoping that he didn't get claimed because he likeshaving a heavyweight on the team."That's why the United States has a nuclear arsenal," he said, pausing foreffect. "It's called a deterrent. Do you think Boogard is in the lineup becausehe's gong to get 10 goals? I don't think so."He probably won't be happy to hear thatKoci was claimed by St. Louis. On the other hand, he has a new player towork with. The Lightning claimed Matt Pettinger off re-entry waivers from theCanucks (TSN has it as Mike Pettinger). They also put Jason ward on waiverstoday. He hasn't played in the regular season so that has little impact on theirroster.Also on waivers today according to TSN- Ken Klee. Darren McCarty cleared, asdid Kyle Wellwood.As for the players suiting up tonight, Melrose is concerned but optimisticthat his team will turn it around. They're 0-2-3 but all five of those losseswere by one goal. They're giving up a lot of shots but getting greatgoaltending from Mike Smith and Olaf Kolzig. Smith and his unearthly .944 savepercentage get the nod tonight. Kolzig is only stopping 92% of the shotshe faces. So the big issue for Tampa is scoring. Lecavalier, St. Louis and Prospal eachhave three points but after that it gets pretty thin. Recchi and Ryan Malonehave a goal each. Gary Roberts has no points. Likewise for Radim Vrbata. Melroseis confident his stars will break out and get hot at some point though, andunfortunately they have a tendency to do so against the Thrashers. Vinny Prospalhas 50 points in 43 games against Atlanta. That's significantly higher than hispoints per game average over the course of his/nhl career. He also had six goalsand 10 points against us last year. St. Louis feasted on the Thrashers too, withnine points in eight games (probably as assists on Prospal's goals). So look outfor Prospal, who is playing wing with Lecavalier and St. Louis. Steven Stamkos is centering the second line after a strong showing againstMinny. He's tentatively slated to skate between Malone and Adam Hall. Stamkos isa well-spoken kid who is getting a lot of good advice about adjusting to beingan/nhl center as an 18-year-old from Vinny Lecavalier who did the same thing adecade ago.As for the much-maligned TB defense that's going up a league-worst 36.6 shotsper game- look for Paul Ranger to make a difference and for his fellowblueliners to learn from him. Melrose was asked if Ranger is better than heexpected him to be. His answer was pretty clear."Yes. Yes. By far. Paul is awesome." He added that "He's big. He's a great skater. He's a great passer.""If you have guys that are tentative and they watch Paul play and they watchhim take the body, and watch him jump into the play and pass the puck, all of asudden they're doing the same things," Melrose explained. "Great players dothat. Great players change the way the other guys play."Ranger and Meszaros will play against Kovalchuk's line.But enough about the Lightning. Let's talk about the Thrashers.There are no changes to the lineup for tonight. Kari Lehtonen will start ingoal. Colby Armstrong will play. Brett Sterling and Nathan Oystrick made thetrip but are both healthy scratches.Zach Bogosian is fairly sure that he only faced Steven Stamkos once lastseason (Bogosian might have missed a few games due to suspension for someextra-curricular on-ice activities) but he knows him from the/nhl draft andcombine. He referred to the center as a "good kid." For the record, Stamkos ismore than five months older than Bogosian. In case you were wondering, Bogosiandoesn't feel any pressure to score, even though Drew Doughty, the second overallpick, scored last night. He sees their situations as being very different.Doughty is being asked to be a top pair guy and run the PP. Bogosian is beingeased in a bit more and playing with some solid veterans in Schneider, Hainseyand Havelid. Bogosian added that he's just playing his style of game, andbesides, "Scoring isn't everything." So says Zach Bogosian.The theme of John Anderson's morning scrum was coming together as a team.Tonight is what I would call the first real road game of the season. TheThrashers played in Florida but it was the second night of back-to-back games sothe team got to Florida late the night before so there was no chance to relax orenjoy Miami. In contrast, the team went out to a nice dinner last night as ateam and had a few hours to bond and get to know each other better, and they didit without the coaches who ate at a different restaurant."The team has to go a little bit on their own and not be under my watch24/7," Anderson said. "They need that break from me. They have to listen to meat the rink because I have a captive audience but they don't have to listen tome at seven or eight o'clock at night."To Anderson it's all a start to the bonding process that he hopes continuesthroughout the season."That's just the start of what makes you want to go to war with the guysitting beside you. To know them on a personal basis and not just from sittingacross from them in the locker room. That will come with time and as we go alongwe're going to do stuff for team-building. It's a process."Without enquiring about specific players, Mike Knobler asked Anderson what hesays to players who aren't scoring. Anderson's answer was simple yetinteresting. He doesn't worry about it as long as those players are gettingchances. If they aren't getting chances he sits down with them to figure outwhat they can do differently to get themselves in the position to score, whetherit's gong to the net or positioning themselves better.Anderson sees some similarities between where the Lightning are now with nowins in five games and where the Thrashers were entering Saturday's game afterthree straight losses. He expects them to come out hard and the Thrashers mayhave to weather a storm for the first little while. The key to the game, in my eyes, is to shut down the stars (especiallyProspal) and sow those seeds of doubt that sprung so often in the Thrashers'minds last season. Last year you could sense that when the Thrashers trailedthey started to think "Oh no. Not again." Those are the kinds of thoughts theThrashers need to have the Lighting thinking. If they can get them to do thatthen I like our odds.That's it for me for now. It's time to enjoy the weather and the water. I'llbe blogging during the game for those who want to follow along. And FYI, the CNNpiece on Colby Armstrong will air November 6 during the day and will re-airmultiple times before living on the CNN site. Details to come.Source

Thrashers Rally for Late Tie Point on the Road

Since this game was not televised there is little I can add if you listened to Dan Kamal's broadcast. It sounded like Lehtonen was very strong again as the Thrashers got off to a slow 1st period (out shot 18-5) but Atlanta clawed their way into a point with a strong 3rd period outshooting the Lightning 15-8. It was good to get a point, but White and Christensen messed up key scoring chances and Little took a costly penalty in OT, those mistakes resulted in a division rival receiving two standing points.Speaking of Erick Christensen back at the Pre-Season Townhall Event I was talking with the gentlemen who operate the Blueland Chronicle and I expressed some doubts; "Christensen has been something of a tease so far in the, everyone talks about him being stuck behind Crosby, Malkin and Staal at center (and it's true) but he has done very little with his ES and PP ice time so far in his career."Christensen is one of those players who shows "flashes" of skill but hasn't really established much of a track record of consistent production in the. Many hoped that with consistent ice time and linemates he would have a break out season. Through six games of the 2008-09 season he is getting a steady diet of ice time at ES and has very little to show for it. This is year is big opportunity for Erik and so far the results have been underwhelming. Frankly Brett Sterling is probably deserving of a look--he has consistently scored at the AHL and the Thrashers 2nd line has been pretty quiet since Little moved up to Kovalchuk's line.Another struggling players Jason Williams played a season low 11:55. Assuming that he wasn't injured it seems that the coaching staff is sending him a signal. Perhaps Sterling will dress and Williams will sit next game.Corsi Box Score (ES Thrashers Shots minus Opposition Shots Attempted)TeamLehtonen +3Defense22:09 Schneider +213:38 Bogosian +522:11 Havelid -123:27 Enstrom +0The Hainsey-Exelby combo and Enstrom-Havelid split playing versus Vinny Lecavalier.23:12 Hainsey +017:14 Exelby +0Forwards22:18 Kovalchuk +418:33 White +417:40 Little +316:29 Kozlov +211:55 Williams +015:45 Christensen +214:20 Perrin -114:15 Reasoner +318:23 Armstrong +0Armstrong and Christensen had the heavy defensive work of matching up against Lecavalier most of the night for the Thrashers.8:12 Thorburn -512:08 Slater -56:08 Boulton -3The 4th line was out shot at ES. They played the most ice time against the Recchi-Gratton-Vrbata line not the top line of Lecavalier.Real Eastern Standings (Points - Games Played) This controls for differences in games played by teams+5 MON+5 BUF+4 NYR+3 NJD+2 WAS+1 CAR+2 PIT+1 BOS---------- Playoffs+0 OTT+0 ATL-1 FLA-1 NYI-1 TOR-1 TBL-3 PHIRight now every single team in the East is just two points out of a playoff berth, except for Philadelphia.Source

Thrashers Deserving Some Praise

We are VERY early in the season right but a couple of Thrashers are putting forth a strong effort which has staked the team to a 2-2-2 record, despite playing with one less superstar this season.The website HockeyAnalysis.com has a ranking for forwards, defense and goalies. Right now their formula has the Thrashers own Ron Hainsey ranked as the #1 defensemen in the. His high ranking is due to his outstanding defensive score (which will almost certainly decline with time). Kovalchuk ranks at the 13th best forward and he has not really heated up yet.Kari Lehtonen gets comes out looking pretty good in this analysis by Tyler Dellow. He ranks all the goalies who have seen 2000 shots since the lockout and Lehtonen ends up ranking #11 out of 38 who qualify. If you want to see more about his method, click here to go to the post. I've always said that if you put Kari in front of a respectable defense he would probably look like a star.Source

Thrashers Face Hossa In Detroit

HTML clipboardWhen the Thrashers played the Red Wings in the pre-season Marian Hossa satout. Both games were the second of back-to-backs for Detroit and he wasn't theonly vet to sit. You have to wonder if it had anything to do with theopponent though. Well, tomorrow night Hossa will suit up against the Thrashersfor the first time since being acquired before the 2005-06 season. The Penguinsplayed the Thrashers after Hossa and Pascal Dupuis were dealt for ColbyArmstrong, Erik Christensen, Angelo Esposito and a draft pick but Marian wasinjured by then and didn't play.So now we get to see how he reacts to playing the Thrashers. It would betougher for him if he was playing in Atlanta, so maybe this won't be a big dealgiven that the game is in Detroit. Maybe it will. And maybe it'll be a big dealto some of his former teammates. Last year the Thrashers went into Detroit andwon 5-1 on the strength of a Hossa hat trick. Wouldn't you love to see IlyaKovalchuk torch the defending Cup champions for a hat trick of his own? And will former Red Wings Jason Williams, Mathieu Schneider and Slava Kozlovpull out the stops in a building where they all had so much success?There are more questions than answers heading into the Friday night matchup.Will Johan Hedberg get his first start of the season? Will Brett Sterling getinto a game? Will the offense step up and score more than twice in regulationfor the first time since opening night? The thrashers are 2-2-2 heading intotheir meeting with the Red Wings and have only given up one more goal thanthey've scored. Only one of the losses has been by more than a goal and theyhaven't been blown out, unlike the early portion of last season. While coachJohn Anderson hasn't been happy with all of the results he has been happy withthe effort. Will that effort be rewarded with a win in Motown?A reminder that Friday night's game will be live on SportSouth and onSportSouth HD. JP Dellacamera will be back in the booth on Friday and Saturday.Source

Tomas Vokoun and Florida Panthers withstand 50 shots against to earn a 4-3 win over the San Jose Sharks

FLORIDA GOALTENDER #29 TOMAS VOKOUN - ARCHIVE FLICKR PHOTO KAATIYA The book on 6-foot-0, 200 pound Florida Panthers goaltender Tomas Vokoun has been similar for a number of years. The 2-time/nhl Allstar (Nashville 2004, Florida 2008) plays a traditional upright butterfly style, covers a lot of the net down low, and relies on a spectacular glove hand to bail him out of certain situations. Former/nhl goaltender and current Atlanta Thrashers analyst Darren Eliot described him as a shotblocker, skilled at making the first save but whose suspect rebound control often leaves him vunerable to second and third scoring opportunities. Also mentioned was his attitude, Vokoun is known as a battler in net, a goaltender who will not give up on a play until the whistle is blown. Head coach Todd McLellan said prior to the start of the game that the coaching staff is not happy with San Jose's defensive performance in recent games. The Sharks again stumbled early en route to a 4-3 loss to the Florida Panthers on Friday night. After an Joe Thornton power play goal 51 seconds into the game (which might have been tipped by Jonathan Cheechoo on the doorstep), the Sharks gave up three unanswered first period goals to Cory Stillman, Richard Zednick, and Nathan Horton. The first two goals came as a result of d-to-d passing at the top of the zone to open up shooting lanes, Stillman executed a slick drop pass to set the table for Horton's third goal. The Panthers afforded Tomas Vokoun a 2-goal lead heading into the final 40 minutes of the game, and the Sharks would test him by piling up 50 shots on goal. The Sharks are the top faceoff team in the/nhl (268-205, 56.7%), and a draw won by center Joe Pavelski directly lead to a second period goal by Ryane Clowe. Pavelski pulled the puck back to Rob Blake on the blueline, who passed it down low to Christian Ehrhoff just outside of the left faceoff circle. A quick Ehrhoff snap shot was directed around Tomas Vokoun by an unchecked Ryane Clowe in front of the net to make the score 3-2 Florida. The Sharks tied the game on an excellent individual effort by Patrick Marleau short handed. Marleau beat Jay Bouwmeester to a loose puck on the boards, and then chipped it past him into the neutral zone. Marleau streaked into the Panthers zone on a 2-on-1 with Mike Grier against center Stephen Weiss. A give-and-go with Grier resulted in Patrick Marleau's 5th goal of the season and a 3-3 game. Last season the Sharks struggled to hold on to leads late in periods and late in games. This season, the Sharks are struggling to keep opponents off the board after they score goals. Again on Friday, Cory Stillman answered Patrick Marleau's tally with his second goal of the game 37 seconds later. The goal would hold up as the game winner. The Sharks were better in three areas: scoring in the first period, registering 2 power play goals on 5 opportunities, and keeping Flordia scoreless on 3 power plays. What hurt the Sharks again were defensive lapses, breakdowns in front of their own net, and loose play. Thomas Plihal skated over a puck along the boards instead of clearing it, leaving it to Stephen Weiss which resulted in the second goal by Zednick. The Florida Panthers were able to set up in front of Evgeni Nabokov too often, and the Panthers almost doubled the Sharks in blocked shots (19-10). There are off nights, and then there are nights that are a sign of a larger problem. The Sharks have work to do to tighen up defensively, and Todd McLellan and the San Jose coaching staff will have a stern test when Stanley Cup finalists Pittsburgh and Detroit travel to San Jose next week. [Update] Sharks dropped by Florida 4-3 - San Jose Mercury News.Source

Detroit Clearly More Crisp Than Atlanta

So this was my first time to ever see a Thrashers game in HD. I was invited over to watch the game at a friend-of-the-blogger and we all revealed in the joy of their new DirecTV HD setup. I have to say it was amazing that the viewer can actually see whether the puck is lying flat on the ice or if it is on its edge during the course of play. It really feels like you're sitting at the rink except that the annoying fan who sits in your section isn't there. One person joked that the on HD is better than watching the game "with your own eyes" in person. I'm not sure I would go that far--there's no pasta bar or hot pretzels available at home.As for the game the Thrashers performed better than I expected. The Red Wings are the runaway favorites this year after winning the championship and then adding Marian Hossa and retaining Brad Stuart on their blue line (they only added Stuart at last spring's trading deadline). Hossa essentially replaces Dallas Drake--no offense to Drake but that's a serious upgrade. On the other hand, nobody is picking your Atlanta Thrashers to win much of anything so on paper it was a mismatch of titanic proportions.The Wings displayed their formidable talent by working the puck on the power play until they got a 2 on 1 right in front of the net where Zetterberg made a highly accurate shot to beat Lehtonen. Hossa showed the power forward moves we witnessed in Atlanta for another amazing goal. And before you knew it this game was 3-1 with the Thrashers picking up a once-in-a-Blue-Moon tally from Jim Slater (perhaps playing back at Joe Louis revived his MSU scoring touch?).Just when it seemed to be over two late goals by Ron Hainsey (working hard to keep that #1 D rating I see) and Brett Sterling made it 4-3 and suddenly the Thrashers were close to stealing a point or more. But the Red Wings kept Atlanta off the board and picked up the empty netter to salt it away. There are no moral victories in the, but this yet another game where the Thrashers exceeded my expectations. So far the Thrashers have taken on 5 likely playoff teams in their first 7 games and they have been competitive in each of those 5 contests.Marty Reasoner was injured early in the 2nd and this led to increased ice time for Brett Sterling among others. Personally, I was glad to see him get that goal for multiple reasons. The Thrashers could really benefit from someone who will park themselves right in the crease and go for rebounds and screens. If Sterling has a role in the he needs to become another Holmstrom in my opinion. Sterling isn't very fast--and neither is Holmstrom--but he has good hands and good scoring instincts. Much like Holmstrom Sterling is unlikely to amass big even strength point totals because he lacks that extra gear, but he could become a very valuable power play guy.One more thing I wanted to toss out there for your consideration is this. The Thrashers continue to get out shot this season. Last night the allowed 43 to Detroit. I went back and tracked the shots on goal by situation through the first seven games and here is the break down.Season Totals Through Seven GamesEven Strength Shots: ATL 162, Opposition 179= -17Power Play Shots: ATL 54, Opposition 64= -10Penalty Kill Shots: ATL 2, Opposition 14 = -12It is that last one that really jumps out at me. The Thrashers are allowing 2 shorthanded shots on goal per game and yet creating a short handed shot once every three games. Not only has the Thrashers Power Play struggled to convert but they have given up a surprising number of SH chances. Last night in Detroit they allowed THREE short handed shots on goal.On the flip side the Atlanta PK unit is not getting much pressure on the opposition net. Last year's squad had Hossa, Dupuis and Perrin who would all try to score short handed. Of those three only Perrin is on the current roster. I'm not sure what else to say about this, but I did find it a little surprising so I thought I'd pass it along.Finally a word about match ups in the Detroit game. The Red Wings feature two great offensive lines centered by Zetterberg and Datsyuk. Their 3rd and 4th lines are not bad either with Filppula and Draper. Since this game was in Detroit they had the last change and the advantage of matching lines. So I made some comments below about who played against whom.Corsi Box Score (ES Thrashers Shots minus Opposition Shots Attempted)TeamLehtonen -8DefenseThe defense pairings all received ice time against Detroit's Zetterberg and Datsyuk lines. 17:47 Schneider +114:06 Bogosian +121:24 Havelid -620:50 Enstrom +025:14 Hainsey -715:36 Exelby -7Forwards23:47 Kovalchuk -820:11 White -1020:09 Little -7The 1st line played mostly against Detroit's Datsyuk line. The Datsyuk line out chanced the Kovalchuk line by a rather wide margin. Kovalchuk has great speed and a great shot but so far he has not been very impressive at even strength season--last year he was very impressive in terms of creating ES scoring chances.18:59 Kozlov -416:41 Christensen +418:12 Armstrong +5The 2nd line played most of their minutes versus the Detroit's Zetterberg line.11:25 Perrin 006:51 Reasoner +212:29 Williams +4The 3rd line was matched against Detroit's Filppula line09:15 Thorburn -21036: Slater -210:59 Sterling -4The 4th was out shot mostly by Detroit's checking line centered by Draper.Real Eastern Standings (Points - Games Played) This controls for differences in games played by teams+6 BUF+5 MON+5 NYR+3 NJD+3 PIT+1 CAR+1 FLA+0 WAS---------- Playoffs+0 TOR+0 BOS-1 ATL-1 TBL-2 OTT-2 NYI-2 PHIReal Western Standings (Points - Games Played) +4 SJS+4 DET+4 MIN+2 EDM+1 STL+1 COL+1 CHI+0 CGY--------------Playoffs+0 PHX+0 LAK-1 DAL-1 CBJ-1 VAN-1 NAS-2 ANASource

Format Change for Tonight's Game

There is going to be an odd format to tonight's game in Boston. I'm sure you'll hear all about it on the SportSouth broadcast tonight, but here is the press release from the:TORONTO/BOSTON (October 25, 2008) â?? The Boston Bruins and National Hockey League announced a change in game format for their game tonight against the Atlanta Thrashers at TD Banknorth Garden.The third period in tonightâ??s game will be split, with the teamâ??s switching ends at the first stoppage in play after the 10-minute mark of the period. The Bruins and Thrashers will begin the third period in the same ends that they finished the second period. Following the first stoppage after the 10-minute mark of the third period, the teams will switch ends, and the face-off will take place on the opposite side of where play ended.The change in format is occurring due to incorrect markings on the West End (visitors bench side) of the TD Banknorth Garden ice. In the West End, the two face-off dots are 24 feet from the goal line â?? four feet longer than&nbsp specifications. The corresponding face-off circles arealso four feet further away from the goal line.The ice sheet will be replaced prior to the Bruins next game on Saturday, Nov. 1. Way to go Boston.Source

Mistakes Costly in Boston

Last night's contest up in Boston may have been the most entertaining Thrasher game so far this year. There were many warning signs heading into this game: playing on back to back nights, a rusty goalie, the potential for an emotional let down after facing Hossa and the Cup Champs.Yet the team came out and played with great energy. The 4th line was getting regular ice time. The team finally broke through on the power play. After a lot of tough luck on the PP the puck comes right Ilya Kovalchuk who makes an amazing play by knocking the puck out of the air and into the back of the net. Hedberg made a couple of key saves early and the energy level and commitment from the players looked like it would carry them to victory over the Bruins.But two things did in the Thrashers this night: officiating and youth. Regular readers know I don't spend a lot of time obsessing about bad calls. Officials make mistakes calling the world's fastest game and players simply to find a way to win within that context. Last night the had all 30 teams playing and therefore used 15 different sets of linesmen and referees. I don't know if that had a direct effect on the Atlanta-Boston game, but there were some strange calls. Numerous players were whistled from some very marginal things and yet I saw two different hits from behind that were non-calls. Enstrom's penalty in particular was just a brutal call in my opinion.The non-call on Chara's hit from behind on Armstrong was incredible. Chara hit Armstrong right in the middle of Coby's back. In youth hockey they have the kids wear little STOP signs on their back when they are learning how to check--if there had been a STOP sign on the back of Armstrong's back that's precisely where Chara made contact with him. Coby made an incredible play right after that to deflect the puck to Kozlov who released a laser quick shot to tie the game 4-4 at that point.The Thrashers have shown terrific improvement in their defensive coverage. In years past it was not unusual to see someone wide open adjacent to the net. We hadn't seen that this season until last night. There was a play were Bogosian, Perrin and Slater simply didn't read the play the same way and a wide open man scored an easy goal. On the TV broadcast Darren Eliot seemed to think it was Bogosian who erred, I lean towards putting the blame on Perrin who he appeared to be coming back to take that man in the slot and then curled away to the side boards, Slater comes into the picture very late as the Boston player scores--I'm not sure where he was due to the camera angle.On the game winning goal it was a simple mistake by Little that led to the Boston victory. With less than 2 minutes in the game the puck comes to Little on the side boards--he had time and space to chip it out of the defensive zone, but sees a hit coming and decides to keep the puck and curl back into his own end. The puck is jarred loose and Enstrom is suddenly faced with a two on one. Enstrom goes down to block the passing lane and the man with the puck roofs it over Hedberg. An ugly finish to an otherwise good game. In this game at least the Thrashers youth probably cost them a point. I'm glad to the young guys get their chance but there are going to be nights where this happens.Corsi Box Score (ES Thrashers Shots minus Opposition Shots Attempted)Team -4DefenseThe defense pairings all received ice time against Detroit's Zetterberg and Datsyuk lines. 20:41 Schneider +116:41 Bogosian +219:38 Havelid -321:56 Enstrom -223:08 Hainsey -317:13 Exelby -3ForwardsThe 2nd line really won their ES battle and the 3rd line really lost out.20:35 Kovalchuk -119:30 White -316:28 Little -412:36 Kozlov +811:35 Christensen +816:15 Armstrong +615:10 Perrin -1015:25 Reasoner -814:00 Williams -908:26 Thorburn +112:35: Slater -107:28 Sterling +0Real Eastern Standings (Points - Games Played) This controls for differences in games played by teams+6 BUF+6 NYR+4 MON +3 NJD+3 PIT+2 CAR+1 WAS+1 BOS ---------- Playoffs+1 TOR+0 FLA -1 PHI -2 ATL-2 TBL-3 OTT-3 NYIReal Western Standings (Points - Games Played) +5 SJS+5 DET+5 MIN+2 STL+2 COL+1 EDM +1 CHI+1 CGY--------------Playoffs-0 VAN -0 NAS -1 PHX-1 LAK-1 DAL-1 ANA-2 CBJSource

San Jose Sharks at Tampa Bay Lightning belated gamelog

A belated gamelog of the non-televisised Sharks 3-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning will be posted very late tonight. A reader also emailed in this HF video clip of a Ryan Malone's brutal first period fight with Ryane Clowe. PREGAME:Saturday, Oct. 25, 2008. San Jose Sharks 6-2-0 (2-2-0, Road) at Tampa Bay Lightning1-2-3 (1-1-3, Home). Tampa Bay power play: 3-30 (10%, 27th), penalty kill: 34-39 (87.2%, 7th). San Jose Sharks power play: 8-42 (19%, 19th), penalty kill: 26-32 (81.3%, 15th). Penalties: Tampa Bay 6GP, 85PIMs 14.2/gm (11th NHL); San Jose 8GP, 108 PIMs 13.5/gm (9th NHL); In the last meeting between both teams at the St. Pete Times Forum October 29, 2006, the Sharks earned a 4-2 win. Tampa Bay is 13-9-2 lifetime against the San Jose Sharks, 7-5-1 at home. San Jose Sharks defensemen Dan Boyle and Brad Lukowich will face their former team for the first time, and Tampa Bay defenseman Matt Carle will face the Sharks for the first time since his offseason trade. New Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Barry Melrose (career coaching record 80-104-29-3) faces first year San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan (career coaching record 7-2-0). Newly signed 6-foot-6, 240 pound defenseman Marek Malik will start the game for Tampa Bay. (649GP, 33G, 130A, +136). FIRST PERIOD:The Tampa Bay broadcast began with a mini-horror movie promo with the character from Saw 5, "The Sharks are the scariest team in the Western Conference". According to the Globe and Mail's Allan Maki, Tampa Bay co-owner/Hollywood producer Oren Koules gave the first 230 fans who bought lower bowl seats to a game against the Atlanta Thrashers passes to the recent Saw 5 premiere. Tampa Bay Lightning goaltenders Mike Smith and Olaf Kolzig have also been wearing Saw 5 themed paint scheme goalie masks to help promote the movie. Smith is donning his mask tonight. Dan Boyle on trying to shut down Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier, "I have seen them for a number of years night and night out, they are two of the best players in the league. You have to keep your feet moving and do the best you can, because they are going to get their chances. You have to try to minimize them." Brian Boucher (1-0-0, 0.00GAA, 1.00SV%) is in goal for San Jose, his second start after a 21 save shutout against Los Angeles. Tampa Bay broadcast notes Boucher's first start last season was a shutout against St Louis. In goal for Tampa Bay is former Dallas Star Mike Smith (1-1-2, 1.92GAA, .943SV%). Strong shift by the Marleau-Thornton-Setoguchi line to cycle deep in the Tampa Bay zone, and Dan Boyle keeping the puck in on the right point, results in three seperate scoring sequences for San Jose in the first 40 seconds of play. Two long side-to-side pass from Vlasic to Blake, and Blake to Michalek allow San Jose's second scoring line of Michalek-Pavelski-Cheechoo to drive deep into the zone as well. This time it is Marc-Edouard Vlasic keeping the puck in on the left point. Pavelski misfires on a shot and the Lightning are finally able to gain possession and move the puck up ice. Malone-Stamkos-Recchi line for Tampa Bay breaks into the Sharks zone, Stamkos unloads a hard shot that misses the net wide by a few feet and banks hard off the glass. Malone wins a battle in the corner against Blake, and feeds Stamkos behind the net. Stamkos can't shake Pavelski, but he drives the net, save Boucher. Gary Roberts-Jussi Jokinen-Evgeny Artyukhin line sends a pass through the crease that deflects off defenseman Christian Ehrhoff and into the corner. Lightning broadcast notes that Joe Thornton is the top point producing forward since 02-03 on. Also that he has lead the league for three straight seasons in assists. Only 3 other players to do that: Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr, Stan Mikita. Next shift for Marleau-Thornton they hit the neutral zone with a head of steam. Play started with a short pass from defenseman Douglas Murray, who returned to the lineup after missing a few games with an upper body injury, to Setoguchi up the right side. Thornton drives directly to the net with Marleau trailing and defenseman Christian Ehrhoff on the left side. Ehrhoff shovels the puck behind the net to Thornton, and hits Setoguchi in front with a quick pass. Mike Smith freezes the puck down low as hulking Marek Malik clears Setoguchi out of the crease. It might just be me, but Thornton with the puck on the boards looks like Magic Johnson executing a no look pass. New head coach Todd McLellan wants more Dr J out of Thornton, more driving the net and finishing. Marleau could be a younger, quicker version of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Just points. You can put one body on him, two bodies on him, or you can hammer him or clutch and grab. He is still going to dominate position in front of the net, and he is still going to pile up points. A turnover by Jeremy Roenick in the Sharks defensive zone leads to a quick Stamkos-Recchi give and go in traffic. Stamkos gets the pass in front of the net, but he can not get the shot off before Boucher seals up against the post. Malik holds the puck in deep on the left point, and Stamkos can not find Recchi in front of the net through traffic. Shelley battles to clear the puck on his backhand. Tampa broadcast notes that Matt Carle and Marc-Edouard Vlasic were the first teammates named to the NHL's All Rookie team (2005-06) since Nicklas Lidstrom and Vladimir Konstantinov (1991-92). Carle actually played better a year earlier in his brief 12 game stint with the Sharks in 2005-06. He was confident with the puck, and skilled at keeping the play hemmed in the offensive zone. As his career progressed, he became more aware of how mistakes made at the NHL level can work against you, and it effected the offensive side of his game. A new start in Tampa Bay could pay large dividends for the Lightning going forward, and Barry Melrose is the perfect head coach to get the most out of him. Later in the period, Steven Stamkos throws a nice hit on Jeremy Roenick to free up the puck and allow the Tampa Bay Lightning enough time to clear the puck out of the zone. Clowe-Goc-Grier checking line for San Jose gets the puck deep in the Tampa Bay zone twice, and finishes with a scoring chance for Goc and a pile of bodies in front of the net. Replay shows Grier and Goc take several whacks before the whistle. Tampa broadcast notes a comment from Barry Melrose that the Sharks try to gain position on team's in front of the net, and then try to use that position to punch home rebounds or loose pucks. The Sharks are the largest team in the NHL with a 6-foot-2, 215 pound average, and Todd McLellan's blue collar offense seeks to maximize that advantage. Hard for opposing teams to stop when three lines with size are regularly setting up in front of the crease. Marleau out with Plihal and Shelley for fourth line duty. A point shot by Douglas Murray is wide of the net, but Marleau gains possesion and tries to find Plihal high in the slot. Marleau is in the traditional back to the glass, Joe Thornton mode. Murray has trouble with the puck at the point, but keeps it in and Marleau drives down the left side deep. A shot from a sharp angle just misses a deflection attempt by Plihal, and Christian Ehrhoff follows with a hard shot from the right side. Puck kept in by a streaking Milan Michalek, as Michalek and Cheechoo join Marleau on a line change. Joe Thornton is often looked at as a player who makes his linemates better, or gives them career seasons a la Jonathan Cheechoo. It was Patrick Marleau who centered two rookies Milan Michalek and Steve Bernier, that basically set each winger on the power forward career track. Meszaros quick d-to-d pass to Ranger behind the net, and Ranger connects with a long pass to Lecavalier to break out of the zone. Lecavalier finds Martin St. Louis on the right side, and St. Louis dishes to Vaclav Prospal on the left side. Prospal fires a hard wrist shot that sails wide and off the glass. Tampa d-man keeps the puck in at the point, and Lecavalier feeds Prospal behind the net who tries to stuff a quick wraparound by Boucher. Boucher smothers the shot, but can not control the rebound. Ranger to Lecavalier who sets up behind the net. Lecavalier's centering pass is picked off by Joe Pavelski and moved up ice. Best scoring sequence of the game up to this point for Tampa Bay. Hall-Stamkos-Recchi line drives the net on the next shift, but Boucher is there to make the save down low. Tampa Bay broadcast notes an unsual training regimine for Devin Setoguchi that involves battmitton. Setoguchi says it improves his hand eye coordination and footwork. San Jose has a large Vietnamese community, and battmitton is probably the most popular sport for a large segment of the youth. Quick rush for Pavelski and Michalek down the right side. Michalek pulls up on Malik and generates about 3-4 feet of open space changing direction. He feathers a pass for Cheechoo on the point who unloads a low shot on Smith. Smith makes the save, but Pavelski is inside Jussi Jokinen with his stick on the ice. Pavelski gets one whack at the puck before Jokinen chops him to the ice. Michalek beats two players to the loose rebound to flick another shot on net. The dam is eventually going to burst for Tampa Bay if they do not clear players from in front of the net, and cut down on the second and third efforts on SJ scoring chances. SECOND PERIOD:Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Barry Melrose with Paul Kennedy at intermission, "We have too many turnovers in the neutral zone, we have to make them go 200 feet. We have to play in their end. We did at times, Prospal had a couple great scoring chances but its got to go deep. We have to do to them what they are doing to us. We want to get 15-18 minutes out of Marek (Malik), we have to find out what kind of conditioning he is in. He has played a lot in the NHL. He is a veteran NHL d, so this is a good game for him to get in to." Former Tampa Bay Lightning captain Dave Andreychuk on 18 year old rookie Steven Stamkos, "He is a guy that has progressively gotten better as the game has gone on. You can see he is working hard behind the net and making some plays, but he has got to have the puck more. When he has the puck, he makes plays. He is doing things on the ice that are going to allow him to get more minutes. He is also playing in his own end, and playing defense. The better he plays defensively, the more opportunities he will get offensively." Andreychuk on Matt Carle, "This is a big night for him. This is an organization that has traded him. I have been through a few of those in my career. You try to think that it is just like any other game, but it is not. You want to prove to that organization that you deserved to stay there." The Lightning broadcast also broke down Stamkos's best scoring chance in the first, the give-and-go with Recchi. Stamkos dished the puck and drove the net, but Marc-Edouard Vlasic chopped at his stick on the shot which resulted in the puck dribbling on net. Second period starts with more Saw 5 talk, and Tampa Bay sets up shop deep in the Sharks zone. Another not very discussed aspect of San Jose adding Boyle and Blake to the defense is their ability to negate an opposing team's dump and chase system. More often than not one of Boyle-Lukowich or Blake-Vlasic are going to reach a dump in first, and Boyle and Blake are always looking to push the puck up ice. In rookie tournaments and training camp, Vlasic set him self apart for his vision and first pass, but he has yet to develop that offensive killer instinct to take his game to the next level. Devin Setoguchi drives down the right side, and cuts back to his left one handed as he tries to stickhandle around Paul Ranger. Puck to the front of the net, and Milan Michalek crashes and tries to get a stick on the play. First penalty of the game on Ranger for hooking. Jokinen clears the first Sharks attempt with the man advantage. Second rush up ice the Sharks actually have 5 men in a line as they pass the red line and enter the zone. Boyle and Vlasic drop off on the points, play around the boards to Boyle on the opposite side. Boyle fakes a pass to the right, then a pass to the left, fakes a shot, and then passes to Vlasic on the right. Vlasic holds the puck for a second, and then sets up Boyle for a 1-timer from the point wide right. Prospal wins a battle along the boards, moves the puck past Vlasic but Boyle cheats all the way over to the right point and dumps the puck deep before moving back over to the left side. Michalek-Boyle-Michalek, then Michalek snaps a hard shot with Pavelski again in front of the net. Shot hits Smith in his plastic throat protector, and he is shaken up on the play. Referee helps him to his feet. The play does not result in a scoring chance, but later in the period the Setoguchi-Goc-Roenick line creates a turnover in the neutral zone. Dan Boyle drives the puck into the zone with Setoguchi on his right churning towards the net. Two players skate to Boyle, who pulls up to his right, then spins around up the left side before stopping. Another newly aqcuired defenseman, Former Canuck Lukas Krajicek waives a stick at him. Excellent display of skating by Boyle. Tampa broadcast notes Patrick Marleau's recent 800 game milestone, he was the second youngest player to reach that mark. The youngest was Lightning forward Chris Gratton, 5 years earlier. Patrick Marleau picks the puck off of Matt Carle, and passes to Devin Setoguchi who misses the net with a quick shot. Setoguchi gets his own rebound, and spins off of Andrej Meszaros twice to create an open lane to the net. Shot by Setoguchi looks like it deflects off of the far crossbar. Blake gets rebound on right side, and takes it behind the net. He throws it in front, Setoguchi keeps it in at the point. Marleau down low up high to Blake for a point shot. Evgeny Artyukhin clears for Tampa Bay. Very dangerous sequence for the Lightning. Staggering stat from Tampa Broadcast, "Where did the defense go?". First 4 San Jose Sharks games, 4 goals allowed and a 4-0-0 record. Next 4 San Jose Sharks games, 18 goals allowed and a 2-2-0 record. "The best defense is a good puck possession offense". Tampa right wing Jason Ward and a linemate wins a battle with Joe Thornton and Vlasic for possesion behind the Sharks net. Thornton battle back for possession, then hits Setoguchi who clears the play. The play is more in the Sharks end early in the second period, but not in the danger areas in front of the net. More perimeter play. Grier with the puck against the side boards hits a streaking Dan Boyle at center ice with a pass in stride. Boyle accelerates into the Tampa zone, dishes to an open Marcel Goc on the left side. Goc slaps a shot inside the far post to give the San Jose Sharks a 1-0 lead at 7:57 (assists Boyle, Grier). Goc's first goal of the season. Goaltender Mike Smith came out far to cut down the angle, but he may have been positioned too far to the right allowing too much room far side. Clowe-Goc-Grier still on the ice. Grier again on the side wall, cross ice pass to Clowe on the left side with Goc driving down the middle. Clowe's shot deflects into the left corner, and Goc chases it down trying to split two players defenseman Janne Niskala and Matt Carle. Goc gets out in front of both and he is leveled by a third Lightning player coming in blindside to his left. Artyukhin leveled Goc, and Goc is slow to his feet and slow getting back to the bench. According to David Pollak of the SJ Mercury News, Goc did not return to the ice. Jeremy Roenick took Goc's position between Ryane Clowe and Mike Grier. Tampa Bay Lightning power play on a 2 minute tripping minor called on Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Barry Melrose is debuting a new power play configuration with Martin St. Louis on the point. Stamkos-Lecavalier-Prospal and Ranger also out on the first PP unit. Prospal, orginally labeled player X because I could not see his number and he did very little on the power play. It was Lecavalier digging the puck out from behind the net and finding Martin St. Louis in front for a slap shot off the post. Lots of short passing high in the zone by Tampa is eventually cut short with an interception by Milan Michalek. With 1:08 still on the man advantage, defenseman Paul Ranger takes a 2 minute slashing minor as he leaves the ice. It counts as a penalty kill in the books, assist to Paul Ranger. A back checking Joe Thornton steamrolled over Mark Recchi to gain possession of the puck in his own zone. Thornton takes it behind his own net and banks a 100-foot pass to Dan Boyle who is cherry picking just outside the Tampa blueline on the right side. Two quick strides by Boyle, and he tries to snap a shot 5-hole but Mike Smith closes it down quickly to make the save. Sharks shortened power play opportunity on the Ranger penalty, but they can not do much with the man advantage. 5-on-5, Clowe-Pavelski-Michalek drive deep and Marek Malik is forced to trip up Clowe as two Lightning defenseman run into each other on the right side. Tampa broadcast interviewed Todd McLellan prior to the game. He said he has experienced both extremes, puck possession and offense in Detroit, and defense and good positioning in Minnesota. McLellan said the Sharks have the Detroit offense and puck possession part down, but they need to work on more of the defensive responsible Minnesota style of play. Lots of movement early on the power play, Thornton on the right half boards just misses Marleau to the right side of the net. Tampa clears. Sharks second power play unit, Michalek-Pavelski-Clowe on the ice. Clowe and Michalek force a Martin St. Louis turnover, Clowe throws it up the right boards to Pavelski. Cross ice pass to Ehrhoff, who backs it back to the center to open a lane for a slapshot. Tampa outnumbers San Jose 2-to-1 in front of the net, but it is Clowe who has inside position on two Lightning players. Clowe tips the puck passed Mike Smith for the Sharks second goal of the game at 18:00 (PP, assists Ehrhoff, Pavelski). THIRD PERIOD:Former Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Brad Lukowich interviewed during the second intermission, "There was a lot of emotion coming back, we tried to push it away but the second the puck dropped it was exciting. The fans have been great, they were cheering for us and gave us a salute on the jumbotron. It has been a nice welcome, especially when you are up by 2. I am part of a complete team in San Jose. We have 4 lines, 6 d, and other guys chomping at the bit to get in the lineup. For us, its an amazing team to be a part of and we have to fight every night to stay in the lineup. The meeting (held by the defense that morning) talked about doing the little things, not overextending ourselves, our goaltending has been amazing and for us to leave them hanging with outnumbered rushes the last couple of games is uncharacteristic. For us we wanted to stay back a little more and keep the puck in front of us." Tampa starts the third with 34 seconds left of a power play on Ehrhoff's late holding call. Puck deflects off lineman, picked up and shot on goal by Joe Pavelski shorthanded. Pavelski was the leading scorer for San Jose in the playoffs, but the defensive side of his game is very underrated. Smart hockey player in the Chris Drury/Joe Sakic mould, and only 24. That is a comparison that should not be made lightly, but as Wisconsin-native Sharkspage contributor Max Giese has noted in the past, he has won at every level of hockey he has participated. This season Pavelski has 3 goals and 3 assists in 9 games played. Tampa quickly moves the puck up ice with time winding down on the power play. Paul Rangers hammers a hard slap shot up high on Boucher with gigantic 6-foot-5, 254 pound right wing Evgeny Artyukhin in front. Artyukhin is so large he needs his own zip code. Defenseman Paul Ranger takes another penalty, this time 2 minutes for holding the shoulder of Jonathan Cheechoo as he took the puck behind he net. Along with his slashing penalty to negate a second period TB power play and another hooking call, this is Ranger's third penalty of the game. Tampa's broadcast notes this is his second straight game with 3 penalties. With former Art Ross and Rocket Richard winners Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo, and the second leading playoff goal scorer over the last 3 years (Patrick Marleau tied with Iginla at 24 goals) up front on the top power play unit, not to mention Boyle and Blake on the blueline, mistakes can come back to hurt you quickly. The Sharks ring one shot off the post, and have another baseball swing attempt at a floating puck in front, but they can not connect on the power play opportunity. Stat from Tampa broadcast: Top NHL point leaders since December 1st, 2005 (day after Thornton trade from Boston to SJ): 1 - Joe Thornton 309, Alexander Ovechkin 289, Sidney Crosby 277, Dany Heatley 261, Vincent Lecavalier 251. Faceoff win by Jussi Jokinen, Gary Roberts comes up with the puck on the right side and throws it at the net. Jokinen and Artyukhin are outnumbered 3-to-2 by Sharks in front of the net, but the shot deflects off Boucher wide. Pavelski beat Artyukhin to the rebound. Another breakout by the Tampa Bay Lightning lead by Matt Carle. Gary Roberts dumps it deep, Artyukhin hammers Vlasic against the end boards as he plays the puck behind the net. Tampa wins battle for possession down low, but Rob Blake steals the puck from Roberts and turns it up ice with three Lightning forwards behind the play. Sharks opt for a line change. Ranger starts yet another Tampa Rush, Stamkos is the player to dump the puck deep this time. Lukowich and Recchi battle for possession down low, this time a second Shark pokes the puck up to Ryane Clowe who skates it out of the zone. Two miscues by San Jose, Mike Grier playing his man doesn't see Jeremy Roenick coming in on the play. Roenick down on the ice launches Grier over the top, both ok and head back to the bench. Later moving the puck out of his own zone, Joe Pavelski blows out and turns the puck over to Tampa. The Lightning are not skating with enough intensity, not playing with enough desperation. The Sharks are going to start hanging back, clogging the center of the ice, and might counter punch for a goal of the Lightning get too agressive. Nice rush by Artyukhin. He takes the puck from behind his own net up the right side. Skates by, then outmuscles Joe Thornton while cutting back to his left to avoid an oncoming Patrick Marleau. Artyukhin accelerates while avoiding a stick check by Setoguchi, then cuts to his right to break into the Sharks zone. He keeps position on the puck from Rob Blake, and then fires a centering pass to Gary Roberts in front of the net. Roberts can not get a stick on the play. Sharks instantly turn it into a 3-on-2 rush in the opposite direction as Artyukhin is up against the end boards. Thornton shot wide. Impressive end-to-end rush by the big man Artyukhin. Penalty, two minute minor on Jason Ward for holding the stick of Brad Lukowich. In a play at the side of the net, the blade of Lukowich's stick actually became caught up in the jersey of Ward. Missed call by the refs. Sharks set up in the Tampa Bay zone, and spread wide with good perimeter puck movement. Point blank shot by Pavelski save down low by Lightning goaltender Mike Smith. Sharks get the puck deep twice, both times resulting in deflections just wide of the net. Lots of traffic between Smith and the puck. Lightning kill the power play. Next shift sees the Marleau-Thornton-Setoguchi line up for San Jose. Setoguchi wins a battle along the right side, changes direction, and dumps the puck down low for Joe Thornton. Movement off the puck is key, and Setoguchi circles around Marleau and 3 other Tampa Bay players all with eyes on the puck. Thornton reverses the play back to Setoguchi behind the net, Setouchi cuts hard to the front of the net, protecting the puck with his body against Ryan Malone, and snaps a shot between the legs of Matt Carle inside the near post. Score 3-0 San Jose, Setoguchi's 5th goal of the season. POSTGAME COMMENTS BY TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING HEAD COACH BARRY MELROSE:"Not getting the puck to the net, not playing with speed, totally outworked tonight by San Jose. It was an embarassing effort out of our team tonight. Very embarassing. We have been getting great goaltending, Smitty was awesome. Coming out of the first period 0-0, and not taking advantage of it, was very disappointing. It is something we need to work on to figure out what is going on with our team. Our goaltending has never been a problem for us, but we have scored 11 goals in 7 games. You don't have to be Albert Einstein to figure out that is not enough." "Nothing looked good. If you are looking for bright spots, I thought Ryan Malone looked good, he played with a lot of passion. One guy doing that is not enough. Other guys have to play with passion and win battles. Right now we are just trying to figure it out for ourselves, we need to try to get back to the basics. Things we already taked about, the way we played against Minnesota, the way we played against the Islanders, the way we played against Atlanta. For 3 games it worked, but tonight our guys just wouldn't do it. Wouldn't go and get the puck, and wouldn't make the simple play. It cost us against a very good hockey club." [Update] Tampa Bay Lightning: Lightning shut out by Sharks 3-0 - St Petersburg Times. [Update2] 'An embarrassing effort' - Damian Cristodero. That's all you need to say, really, about what went on during the Lightning's 3-0 loss to the Sharks Saturday night at the St. Pete Times Forum. The stats are one thing: outshot 45-22, winning just 18 of 46 faceoffs, failing to challenge backup goalie Brian Boucher, who got his second shutout in his second start. But the most disturbing thing for the team was its lack of passion. The Sharks simply outworked Tampa Bay in every facet, along the boards, in open ice, in battles for the puck. That is why Tampa Bay's parade to the penalty box continued. When you are a step behind, you take penalties. There were some who tried to play with emotion: Ryan Malone, Mark Recchi and even Steven Stamkos, but few others joined in. Not even the addition of 6-foot-6, 235-pound Marek Malik helped.

Kovalchuk Rumors

Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa sun writes:Talk among GMs is that Atlanta might be willing to make a huge deal before the trade deadline. W Ilya Kovalchuk, 25, is a year away from unrestricted free agency and has another season left on his contract at $7.5 million, but the whisper among executives is he might become available. It would be a tough pill for Atlanta to swallow, but Kovalchuk certainly wouldn't be the first franchise player to be dealt.I really hate having to write about this right now. The Thrashers are playing better than I expected. The last thing the club needs is another black trade speculation cloud hanging over them as was the case last year with all the Hossa talk.Garrioch has a checkered history of these things. He's been terribly wrong and he's also been correct in the past. On the Thrasher Talons scale of rumor mongers he certainly comes in higher than Eklund.The problem is this: no matter what the Thrashers say this kind of chatter will be out there until the Kovalchuk either re-signs next summer or a trade is made. There are no magic words that are going to make these trade rumors cease.Do I believe there have been converstations where Kovalchuk's name was mentioned? Absolutely yes. I'm sure that GMs talk about players all the time just to get a feel for their market value at that moment. I'm not shocked to think that one GM says to another GM "what would you give me for player x?" What really matters is not that a phone conversion about Kovalchuk took place, but how serious that conversation was--and only the two people involved in that conversation know how serious it was.Would trading Kovalchuk be a good idea? I've gone back and forth on this one to be honest. In my head the case for trading Kovlachuk runs like this: a) his defensive lapses are so bad that I believe he would probably cost his team a goal here and there in a tight playoff series--I'm not sure his offensive talent alone will get your team a Cup. b) Kovalchuk is a great player, but his stats are inflated because the Thrashers give him HUGE amounts of PP ice time. Kovalchuk is not early as effective with his ice time as other top stars. c) The Thrashers are not close enough to contending and he probably wouldn't want to stick around until they are close to contending.Would a trade help create a contender in this market? From a Marketing Department perspective trading Kovalchuk would be a disaster, but from a Hockey Operations perspective it might not be so bad. Why? The Thrashers will never be able to spend money like the best teams. The best chance to contend for a Stanley Cup is to load up on quality young players and have the team make a run before the core gets really expensive (age 27+). Once you generate some buzz in this market the revenues will increase and the money will be there to pay their salaries. The Thrashers have some good foundational players who are between the ages of 20-25, but the problem is that there are not ENOUGH of them--the foundation is not big enough for a contender. If you deal Kovlachuk for three young players now you might have the foundation for a contender in 2010.What is the case for not trading Kovalchuk? If you trade for young players who never make it, then you come up short big time. So far out of the Hossa trade only Colby Armstrong is a clear asset to the current team. Christensen continues his existence as a talented tease, Esposito may or may not become a player and Pittsburgh's 1st rounder draft pick is four years away from playing in the. That's one player and three maybes (and I'm only optimistic about one of those maybes).The other consideration is that Kovalchuk has begun to show greater leadership skills last season when he carried the team on his back offensively and this season he has shown more improvement on the defensive side of the ice. Ilya will go from a star to a superstar level if he becomes a sound defensive guy. The potential is there, and it is too great to give up on.What will happen next? If the Thrashers are having serious trade talks that means either that ownership is not willing to offer a $100 million Ovehckin sized contract next summer or that Kovalchuk has privately expressed concerns about re-signing in Atlanta. What I do know that if a decision has been made to move Kovalchuk the team will get the biggest bang for their buck by making a move sooner rather than later. If you trade Kovlachuk with nearly two years remaining, the club that acquires him is going to have two seasons to win him over and get him to re-sign there and thus they will be more likely to offer a better package. Hopefully this is nothing more than the usual slow week rumor chatter and I will not need to write about this topic again.Source

Big Week for the Thrashers

Is the glass half full or half empty?Saturday night's loss in Boston was one of the most entertaining games I'veseen the Thrashers play in the last year. Yes, it stinks that they lost and theofficiating was perplexing at times, but I was entertained from start to finish.I probably enjoyed that game more than I enjoyed any single loss of last season.You could look at the Thrashers' 2-4-2 record and say they're struggling, oryou could look at it and say that of six losses four were by a single goal andone of the other two was only a two-goal loss because of an empty-net goal. You could saythat the Thrashers are 12th in the Eastern Conference, or you could point outthat they're only four points out of the division lead and third place in theconference.John Anderson warned at the beginning of the season that there would be alearning curve and some struggles and that's what we're seeing now, but I'mimpressed that the team is keeping every game close and not getting blown outlike they did last year on a pretty frequent basis. The Thrashers are showingimprovement in many aspects from game-to-game (PP, PK, going to the net, gettingsecond and third chances) and at some point that improvement is going totranslate into wins. The October schedule has been loaded with tough opponentsbut November looks much friendlier with weaker opponents and some nice 3-4 daygaps between games during which they can do some serious practicing. They just have to get through this next week. Four games in six nights. Gamesagainst Philly (who the Thrashers haven't beaten since Nov. 18, 2005), theRangers (at MSG where there are still demons to exorcise), at New Jersey(against the snooze-inducing Devils) and then at versus Florida (who have aworse GF/GA ratio than Atlanta but have won more games). I'd love to see themstart the week off with a win over the banged up Flyers tomorrow night nonational TV. The Thrashers are 5-3-0 on Versus since they started carrying the. Philly is missing Briere and has a very raw blueline that is giving upalmost a full goal per game more than the Thrashers. The big questions is ifthey'll start Antero Niittymaki against Atlanta. If Kari Lehtonen has a nemesisit's Niittymaki. He's never beaten him on North American soil and Niittymaki hasa tendency to play lights out hockey against us (He's 9-0-0 with a 1.68 GAA and.940 save % all-time versus the Thrashers). Keep in min das well that Flyerscoach John Stevens and Thrashers coach John Anderson are well-acquainted witheach form their days in the AHL. The two met in the Calder Cup final in 2005 andStevens (and Niittymaki) came out on top.It should be an interesting game tomorrow, and an interesting week overallfor the Thrashers.Source

Some Quick Hits

Ken Klee was claimed off waivers and will play for Phoenix. I certainly hope Gretzky remembers to send Brian Burke a bouquet of flowers in return for those cheap serviceable players (Brygalov, Klee) he has given the Coyotes lately.I see that the announced attendance up in Columbus was just over 10,000. Keep in mind this is a northern (i.e. "traditional) hockey market. It just goes to show that fans in Columbus will not buy a poor hockey product forever, same as fans in Atlanta. "If you don't build it, they will not come."Three good reads:Why does the considering unorthodox moves to improve scoringAlan Ryder shows what is really going on with scoring the last few years.Source

Canucks face tough Bruins tonight

And one of those Bruins is a Nucks fan still.He still cheers for the Canucks and knows all the stats of all the games there. He’s a really big fan and it’s refreshing to see a young guy who easily could be so cocky and expect people to bow down to him be a really, really good kid.That is what Bruins' defenceman Andrew Ference said of his teammate Milan Lucic.-Lucic (pronounced loo-cheech)is a native of Vancouver. He played for the Vancouver Giants.-He is currently second in scoring on the Bruins with 4 goals and 7 points in 9 games. 3 of those came in the form of a hat trick against Atlanta on October 25.-6'4" 220 pounds. 20 years old. Drafted 50th overall by the Bruins in 2006.-Lucic put Leafs' Van Ryn through the glass on October 23. Don't do that here, Milan.-Watch Lucic, while playing for the Giants, nail a bunch of Tigers and then drop the gloves. The crowd chanted "Luuuuuuu". Good stuff.-Lucic Highlights videoA huge Lucic article, bio, etc and why the Canucks didn't draft him can be found at Crashing The Goalie. The Bruins are right in the middle of a 3-game road trip. They squeezed by the Oilers 1-0 in OT last night (who says Roloson sucks, by the way?). They have won 2 in a row.The Canucks put a half-assed road trip behind them and obliterated the Oilers 6-3 on Saturday night.It's not very often that we get to see the Nucks play the Bruins, so this is going to be a treat to see them tangle in Vancouver.Let's see how Lucic performs, as he will be fired up. That's not a good thing for Canucks fans.Hopefully Kyle Wellwood keeps up his great play, and Krog hits the net.It's time for the Sedins to break out of their mini funk.The Canucks are going to have to shoot high and often on B's goalie Tim Thomas (if he indeed plays). Thomas is one of my faves. He never quits on a play.Are we in for a goaltending battle from hell? Or a goal fest? It's so hard to tell with this Canucks team.**UPDATE**I'd like to give a big shout out to the Bruins bloggers / site owners out there who I have made acquaintance with:GHOSTS OF THE GARDENTHE SPOKED BTHE OLD BRUINS FANHERE COME THE BRUINS!Greetings to you all and may the Canucks kick your teams' ass!GAME TIME: 7:00 PSTTV: TSNT Tags: Canucks Bruins Game Preview October+28+2008 Milan+Lucic+profile Source

Same Old Story, How Will it End?

The Flyers came to Atlanta and crushed the Thrashers...again. The Thrashers made an early mistake (turnover by Boulton) and then fell apart as everyone tried to freelance. The game was a stinker, I watched the third period at Taco Mac where I at least had the pleasure of eating a good meal and some the company of some other long suffering Atlanta fans (Flames fans even!).Thursday is a major test for the Thrashers and Coach Anderson. The old Thrashers club would suffer a brutal loss like this and then struggle to regain their confidence. Quality teams are able to mentally turn the page after a bad game and get right back to doing the good things there were doing before. Will the Thrashers display that sort of mental toughness? They certainly were playing solid hockey before this game--can they turn forget about Tuesday night and get back to where they were before?Can Coach Anderson get them back on track quickly? Coach Hartley and Coach Waddell certainly struggled to get the train back on the tracks here in Atlanta. The Wednesday practice has been moved to Philips Arena which means it is closed to public. It also means Coach Anderson can peel the paint off the walls if he feels that is necessary--without embarrassing players in public.The last thing I have to say is this, how many times does Nittymaki need to outplay Lehtonen before Atlanta will realize they should start the backup against him. Nittymaki has beaten Lehtonen every time he has faced in the. Back in 2005 Nittymaki and the Philadelphia Phantoms swept Lehtonen and the Chicago Wolves. If my math is correct that means Nittymaki has something like an 11-0 record versus Lehtonen if you look at their last 11 contests against one another. Please let's try Hedberg next time. It might not work but they really ought to give a shot.Source

What does Nash at center really tell us?

I said yesterday it was time to panic. Well in a certain way I think Hitch's trial of Nash at center shows he agrees. Although you'd never hear it described that way.How else can you describe the move? Panic, desperation...same thing to me.Even more importantly I think it sends a message to upper management that he is very unhappy with his center situation...and who can blame him?The only guy up the middle doing anything is a rookie in Derek Brassard. He's played wonderful actually and certainly looks like the real deal. Through 9 games he has as many points (7) as Malhotra, Peca, Umberger and Novotny have combined. Not nearly good enough.Lets be honest here, I give the Nash experiment at center a period...maybe two. Its not going to work. Just to cover everyone neither will Modin, Voracek, Filatov. Only a few select players can make that transition and have an immediate impact -- Zetterberg is a guy who comes to mind.After 8 games with RJ up the middle that move has proved to be a bust...he's back at wing at least for now.Peca, Manny, Novotny and Murray are in no/way/shape/form top six centers. They are not the answers.However after thinking about this move through the night I now understand its importance as a signal to management that if we are serious about contending, if you really want to "win now" then something has to be done.The bottom line is that Howson has got to make a move here.Now I'm not talking about giving up the world to land some elite center. While an elite center would be nice, trading away the young players like Brass/Voracek/Filatov/Mayorov/Mason would be counterproductive to the long term success of the franchise as it appears that we are finally hitting on these guys.No, what we need is a capable competent player. Now this player isn't going to be perfect. I mentioned in the comments that a Robert Lang type...a veteran guy who knows the game, can put up points and has a short term contract and could be had for a reasonable price could work.Now if they are willing to part with some young assets then maybe you look for something different which I have an idea I'll share in a bit.So who do the Jackets target?If I'm Howson I start with other teams that are struggling out of the gate that may need a shakeup. Ottawa, Islanders, Tampa, Phoenix, LA, Dallas, Atlanta...Then there are the teams up against the cap like your Wings, Bruins, Ducks, Flyers, Captials. These teams aren't struggling but may want to clear out some salary or make some early adjustments to their squads.Now its early so teams may be reluctant to deal but I at least get conversations started with them.Two ideas I'll throw out there.Michael Nylander. Now stay with me for a sec. I know he's older at age 36 and doesn't have the best contract out there (3 years left at 4.875) but he fills the hole and he's productive (has 8 points in 9 games). He's veteran who is great on the PP and really good with the puck and finding the open man. The risk is that he becomes the new "Fedorov" and he has been injury prone lately. The Caps would likely move him relatively cheap to get out from under his contract.Profile:ASSETS: Has terrific playmaking ability and excellent vision. When hot, he's an assist machine. Is improving his defensive game with experience.FLAWS: Does not possess a knack for scoring goals, and too often will pass up a shot in the slot area. Plays a passive game and can get pushed around physically.CAREER POTENTIAL: Second line center.David Krejci. Now here is a guy at the other end of the spectrum. He's a 22 year old center for the Bruins who is just now finding his way in the. He had 27 points in 56 games last year and has 6 in 10 so far this season. I have watched this kid a lot and I absolutely love him. The B's have Savard, Bergeron, Axlesson, Yell and even Kessel playing some center so may want to unload one as they need puck-movers on the backend. The risk is that he gets to Columbus and flames out or that he commands the world this offseason as he's an RFA. That would also give Hitch two young 22 and under centers as his top 6 guys....and we know how Hitch likes his vets.Proflie:ASSETS: Has excellent vision and passing skills, and profiles as a classic playmaking center. His head is always in the game, and he possesses great hockey sense.FLAWS: Must get physically stronger in order to maximize his offensive potential at the highest level. Needs to work on his play without the puck.CAREER POTENTIAL: Second line center.So there are two names for you. Again not perfect answers but they are top 6 centers who could help this lineup and shouldn't take the sun (and the moon) to acquire.If Dallas continues to struggle another guy I would love to have as a stop gap is Mike Modano. He has one more year left after this one at 3.45 mil and there is the Hitch connection and I think he could really help this Jackets lineup. Would the Stars part with their life long player (including his Minny years) is a very good question?There are some other names as well. Spezza is getting tossed around a lot in the rumor mill. Would the Jackets revisit the Brad Richards scenario as he's not exactly setting the world on fire in Dallas?So what would the Jackets have to give up to get someone? I think anything short of Nash, Leclaire, Voracek, Brassard, Filatov, and Mason has to be on the table. I can't see any of the new faces going anywhere in Commodore, Tyutin, Huselius, Backman or Torres yet.For a young guy like Kreci I think it starts with Russell going the other way -- in fact that is really the only asset the Jackets have defensively that would be of any attraction to the Bruins. They won't want prospects or picks back -- they are in "win now" mode as well.For a guy like Nylander the Jackets would have to send some salary back. The paper has mentioned a few times now that the Jackets are deep at wing. The obvious name for me would be Freddy Modin. He would give the caps another big body who is playoff tested and after Ovechkin they could use some help at LW. His contract has one year left after this at 3.35. Both teams take some risk with the injuries. He could be had for a draft pick/prospect I think but ownership would really have to step up financially in addition to what they already have which, judging by Monday's attendance -- ain't happening anytime soon.So there is a couple of scenarios. I love Russell and like Modin but something has to go the other way.Now I don't see Howson doing anything for a few more games, if at all, but I would be burning up the phone lines right now to see what's available in the middle. This team can't afford to dig a bigger hole that what it has and this franchise can't afford another top 10 draft pick year.As far as what to do now in the immediate short term?1. Its wake up call time. I play the best players in the moment. Brass and Voracek may not be the best players, yet, but they are currently playing like it. They get prime ice time.2. I sure don't break up the only thing that is working for me in the Chimera-Brassard-Voracek line. In fact I elevate them to #1 until the Nash line takes it back over or this line goes sour.3. I take the next best option I have at center and elevate Peca to the #2 hole between Nash & Huselius. Its not ideal but its all we've got.4. Time to take the kid gloves off with Nash. If he's playing well, play him. If not, then play who is. He certainly stays at wing.5. I shake up the defensive pairings. Tyutin goes with Commodore. Hedja goes with Klesla.6. I start LaCosta for a game and give the kid a chance. Its a risk but so is starting Norrena.My lineup tomorrow night:Chimera Brassard VoracekNash Peca HuseliusUmberger Malhotra BollMurray Novotny DorsettKlesla HejdaCommodore TyutinBackman MethotTollefsenLaCostaNorrenaBottom line is that while I don't agree with moving Nash to center Hitch knows you can't just sit still and hope something happens. I think the same applies to Howson.Fire away - time to make a move or to early?-LTLSource

Who is Playing Well On Special Teams?

[Editorial note: I wrote this before the Flyers game and I didn't feel like updating it after the 7-0 loss. Don't complain, I do this for free.]In a typical hockey game roughly one quarter of the contest is spent in special team situations. Some folks call these stretches "high leverage events" because the chances of a goal being scored a much higher than they are at Even Strength.Right now the Thrashers rank 23rd on the PP and 22nd on the PK. Both could stand to be better of course. So which Thrashers are playing well and which are playing poorly so far?In order to answer that question I came up with a system that looks at how the team does when that player is on the ice. Most readers don't care much for the math so I put the explanation down at the bottom of this post.Penalty Kill Rating (Thrashers with 1 minute or more of SH TOI)(Positive numbers indicate the TEAM was more productive when normal when that players was on the ice.)+2.73 Eric Perrin +1.85 Marty Reasoner+1.44 Ron Hainsey+1.40 Garnet Exelby+0.36 Zach Bogosian+0.27 Ilya Kovalchuk+0.25 Nathan Oystrick+0.09 Colby Armstrong-0.22 Erik Christensen-0.64 Todd White (includes one 5 on 3 goal)-1.07 Tobias Enstrom (includes one 5 on 3 goal)-1.14 Mathieu Schneider-1.39 Jim Slater-1.81 Slava Kozlov-2.18 Nic Havelid (includes one 5 on 3 goal)Note: I noted that three of the players have one 5>3 goal counted against them. Defending a 5>3 is much harder of course and being on for one of those goals should probably count less than a 5>4 but I don't have an easy breakdown of PK ice time by manpower situations so it is all lumped together on.com.Discussion: The best forwards are Perrin and Reasoner (not a big surprise) and the best defense are Hainsey and Exelby pairing. On the flip side the worst forwards so far are Kozlov and Slater (who was demoted from the PK early last season) and Havelid and Schneider.Now before anyone gets too carried away with this analysis I must point out that the team has only played 8 games and therefore the sample size is tiny here. A lucky or unlucky bounce of the puck will distort these ratings a great deal early in the season. However, I will say that the ranking roughly reflect my impressions--I certainly expected Perrin and Reasoner to come out on top and I expected Slater to finish near the bottom. I'm a bit surprised to see Exelby doing that well but he has played much better so far this season after being partnered with Ron Hainsey. I'm also a bit surprised to see Havelid doing so poorly.Power Play Rating (Thrashers with 1 minute or more of SH TOI)(Positive numbers indicate the TEAM was more productive when normal when that players was on the ice.)+2.97 Todd White+1.20 Colby Armstrong +1.04 Nic Havelid +1.01 Slava Kozlov +0.91 Tobias Enstrom+0.75 Zach Bogosian-0.06 Ilya Kovalchuk-0.08 Eric Boulton-0.09 Marty Reasoner-0.89 Bryan Little-1.13 Jason Williams-1.30 Ron Hainsey -1.48 Mathieu Schneider-2.54 Erik ChristensenDiscussion: You red hot players are Todd White, Armstrong, Havelid and Enstrom. The team has scored at a higher than expected rate on the PP when they have been out on the PP unit so far this season. Todd White might surprise people but he actually put up some very strong PP scoring rate numbers his last year in Minnesota before coming to Atlanta-so there is a track record of him being fairly effective with the extra man. Todd White has been on the ice for 5 of the 7 PP goals the Thrashers have scored so far this season. He's either extremely lucky or he's doing some good things out there--I'll go with the latter. Note to the Thrashers coaching staff--play Slava more on the PP and less on the PK!As far as the ice cold players (Christensen, Williams, Schneider and Hainesy) I was a little surprised to see Hainsey but he's received a mountain of PP ice time and the team has potted just 2 PP goals in that stretch. Everyone who follows this team knows that Williams and Christensen are off to slow starts--but the depth of Christensen's struggles are pretty amazing. So far this season only Kovalchuk and Schneider have received more PP minutes and Christensen has been out there on the ice for a Thrashers PP goal just once in all those minutes. Based on the team average we would expect the Thrashers to have scored 2.5 more PP goals in those minutes. Note to the staff Erik Christensen probably shouldn't be your 2nd ranked forward in PP ice time--if I were advising the team I'd suggest Eric Perrin get a few more of Erik Christensen's PP minutes (Perrin has just 10 seconds on the PP this season).Again, it is early in the season and lucky or unlucky bounces can certainly skew things in the short run. Even with that caveat, I think I learned a few things by doing this little research project.How I calculated this: Basically for both the PP and PK situations I am comparing the number of Thrashers PP goals scored (or PK goals allowed) to the Expected Goals For (or Expected Goals Allowed) given the number of minutes played by each guy. So the first thing I did is gather the ice time stats and who was on the ice for every special teams goals from the boxscores. Then I calculated the team rate (PPTOI/PPGF) and used each player's ice time to find an expected goals number (PPTOI/ATL average Team PPG per minute) and then subtracted the actual goals from the expected goals (Actual PPG-Expected PP Goals) to produce a rating for each players based upon their special teams ice time and the Thrashers production when that particular player is on the ice.Source