sportsjerseyscanada, Author at Sports Jerseys Canada Blog

This Year is a Good Year to be Bad

The NHL draft is probably something to get excited about if your team continues to suffer year after year, or you are actually involved with one of those teams that are in contention to draft among the highest-rated prospects.

The group of 2015 NHL draft prospects is so deep that success and failure will both have their rewards upon the conclusion of the season; one team will win the Stanley Cup, and a few teams will be choosing what appears to be some beyond-gifted talent at the draft this summer.

“It’s a good year to be bad,” St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said.

While 16 teams compete in the NHL playoffs, the other 14 will be sizing up what is expected to be a draft that will yield a high number of difference-makers.

“The top 10 kids are going to be pretty good at the NHL level,” said Dan Marr, the NHL’s director of scouting.

My team is one of those teams and it excites me little, but for those of you who are sided with teams such as Buffalo, Edmonton, Carolina or the Coyotes, this draft piece is probably aimed towards you.

With the exception of myself, Leaf fans at this time of year get excited for Draft day. I don’t because I couldn’t care less, but for the fans of teams that aren’t going anywhere (playoffs) at this time of year, get all riled up over the possibility of the highest-rated draft pick, landing with their team, whoever that may be.

As it stands today, fans of the following clubs: Buffalo, Edmonton, Arizona, Carolina, Toronto, Columbus, New Jersey, Dallas, Philadelphia, San Jose and the Colorado Avalanche, all play the guessing game from now until Draft day, deciding which of the top-ranked prospects will suit up for their team.

According to most sources out there, the #1 prospect playing today is Connor McDavid. McDavid plays for the Erie Otters of the OHL, and has been on TSN SportsCentre more than Natasha Staniszewski and Kate Beirness together.

Here is my rundown of the top 5 players going into this summer’s Entry Draft:

1) Connor McDavid (Erie Otters):

He is considered by most to be that ‘next generation’ hockey player. He sees the game in a different universe. He is lightning quick, both mentally and physically. And what the mind directs, the hands and feet can both do. With an exceptional ability to recognize both opportunity, and danger, and at the exact same time, then exploit the opportunity to avoid the danger.

Possible destination: right now, Buffalo Sabres, however with the NHL lottery draft set up the way it is, either of the bottom-5 finishers could be awarded the #1 pick.

2) Jack Eichel (Boston University Terriers) :

If Connor McDavid is the undisputed leader of the pack, then Boston University’s Jack Eichel is the clear-cut number 2. Any player could be drafted number one, but Eichel is going to sit one spot below McDavid, at least up until draft day. Some scouts still believe that Eichel could seriously challenge McDavid. Eichel was very impressive after the first period of the US Top Prospects game. There doesn’t seem to be much separating the two kids heading into the draft, and some teams (Buffalo, Edmonton, Carolina etc) could opt for the big body that Eichel brings. Eichel weighs in at 6’2” 194 lbs, while McDavid is at 6’ 0” and 185lbs.

Possible destination: Edmonton Oilers

3) Noah Hanifan (Boston College Eagles):

Hanifan also had a strong game in the US Top Prospects game although he did not stand out as much as Eichel and Jeremy Bracco, Hanifan is that NHL-sized defenceman with an elite skating ability and he brings all of the physical and mental tools that NHL teams are looking for. He plays with poise that is exceptional for a young player and he puts himself in advantageous positions to make plays both defensively and offensively. Skating is superb and he has confidence and ability with the puck.

Possible destination: Arizona Coyotes

4) Mitch Marner (London Knights):

Last year, he had 59 points in 63 games. His even-strength points per 60 minutes (ES 60) of 3.1 were the best of the first-year draft eligible players for 2015 in the CHL not named Connor McDavid who had 3.9. Another reason for Marner’s high ranking heading into the draft? He is the OHL’s leading scorer with 124 points through 62 games. That includes 44 goals. What NHL team wouldn’t want that?

Possible destination: Carolina Hurricanes

5) Dylan Strome (Erie Otters)

It may only be necessary to note that Strome has more points than his famous teammate Connor McDavid, albeit by only 3 points as of Sunday night. Strome currently leads the Otters in point with 117, McDavid has more goals than Strome does but only by 4. Strome’s game is predicated on his ability to slow the game down and use his elite vision to make plays that other players in this draft are incapable of making. His passing ability and vision are at the top of the crop and allow him to find the score sheet nearly every game. Strome’s major appeal is his offense. He currently leads the entire OHL in points, which is somewhat misleading since Connor McDavid has been injured and was away at the World Juniors. Still, it’s quite an accomplishment for a draft eligible to be at the top of the scoring race in the world’s best junior league.

Possible destination: Toronto Maple Leafs

Deciding How To Feel About Joe Thornton

It doesn’t feel that long ago that Joe Thornton was being drafted first overall. The expectations with which he entered the NHL could hardly have been higher. In many ways, he has met so many of those expectations, but at the age of 35, and with the final chapter in his career reaching its conclusion, it seems that “Jumbo Joe” will just always be something of a divisive figure.

It was hardly more evident than with the recent storyline around the aggravation between Thornton and San Jose Sharks’ GM Doug Wilson. Thornton took issue with comments made by Wilson about his time as captain and how he “couldn’t handle it”. Thornton’s reply was essentially to tell his GM to “shut it”.

On the one hand, Thornton is such a likeable person and his career achievements so respectable that it feels unprofessional for Wilson to share comments about his former captain’s weaknesses – even if it was in a relatively enclosed fans’ forum. On the other, it was hard not to acknowledge that Wilson did have a point. Hasn’t there always been something missing from Thornton’s leadership capabilities? Hasn’t there always just been something missing from his game overall? Thornton has ridden the line between high quality player and champion throughout his career.

It now feels like the two-time captain, Sharks’ all-time leading scorer and one-time league MVP will not go down as an all-time great. His profile, his career and the crucial eye test just don’t quite add up to that.

It starts with the captaincy. Somehow, Thornton has always gravitated towards leadership roles. He is generally well-liked and respected by his team mates, he has been one of the best, if not the best, players on every team he has played on. Yet, as much as he seems to be a natural candidate for the role, Thornton has never quite met expectations as a captain.

He was heavily criticised in Boston, where he was captain from 2002-2005, for being too lazy, too relaxed and for failing to step up and lead his team when it mattered most. In San Jose, opinion was left unanimously negative, but the team’s leadership structure was considered a point to review after a San Jose became only the fourth team to lose a playoff series after leading 3-0. Thornton might comment that the problems obviously run deeper than leadership given the team’s poor performance this season.

The problem is that the perception that Thornton’s teams have generally underachieved in the postseason is backed up by data. The final evaluation of players comes down to how they play when it really counts. Being the top offensive player and captain on a team that is underachieving will bring you under the microscope. Thornton’s play has never quite lived up to those expectations.

Captaincy	Thornton’s Regular Season Performance	Team Regular Season Performance	Thornton’s Postseason Performance	Team’s Postseason Performance
Bruins 2002-03	101pts in 77 games	7th East	3pts in 5 games	1st round loss 1-4 NJ
Bruins 2003-04	73pts in 77 games	2nd in East	0pts in 7 games	1st round loss 3-4 MTL
Sharks 2010-11	70pts in 80 games	2nd in West	17pts in 18 games	Conf Finals loss 1-4 VAN
Sharks 2011-12	77pts in 82 games	7th in West	5pts in 5 games	1st round loss 1-4 STL
Sharks 2012-13	40pts in 48 games	6th in West	10pts in 11 games	2nd round loss 3-4 LA
Sharks 2013-14	76pts in 82 games	4th in West	3 pts in 7 games	1st round loss 3-4 LA

There’s nothing in this table that jumps out as especially poor and with the possible exception of the 2004 loss to Montreal, there’s no shame in any of San Jose’s playoff defeats. However, there’s also nothing outstanding. Overall, the Sharks are 8-9 in playoff series since Thornton joined the team. Again there’s nothing “shameful” in that. However, only one team can lift the Stanley Cup at the end of the season – teams and individuals have to find some way to excel, some way to be better than everyone else.

There is a discrepancy between Thornton’s postseason and regular season performances.

	Games	Goals/G	Assists/G	Points/G
Regular season	1275	356 (0.28)	900 (0.71)	1256 (0.99)
Postseason	132	24 (0.18)	76 (0.58)	100 (0.76)

It’s worth noting that Thornton’s points per game for San Jose in the playoffs is higher than his career average at 0.85. However, the picture is still relatively clear. Big Joe doesn’t come up big (at least on the scoreboard) when the games matter most.

A lot of it has to do with Thornton’s style of play. He excels at holding and cycling the puck, and picking out teammates with passes. He has a good shot and big body, but he has long frustrated with a refusal to use his shot more and he’s toned down the physical element of his game during his career. Under San Jose head coach Todd McLellan, he has become a better two-way player, but for the most part that has been Thornton’s game.

900 assists and 1256 points in the regular season suggest that it’s pretty effective. Thornton is likely to finish his career somewhere – if not in – the NHL’s top 10 all-time assists leaders.

However, when the hockey gets faster, more physical and tighter, it appears that Thornton’s brand of hockey is a little less proficient. Offenses are awarded in the playoffs for crashing and driving the net, getting bodies and pucks at goaltenders and playing with a higher level of offensive instinct (as opposed to calculation).

At 35 years old and with two years remaining on a contract that will pay him $6.75 million annually, it’s hard to know “where next?” for Thornton. The clock is definitely ticking on his chances of winning a Stanley Cup.

All reports suggest that Thornton has no desire to leave San Jose and that he loves the city (who can blame anyone for enjoying California). However, with San Jose set to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2001, changes are to be expected. It will surely be the “last straw” for McLellan and players like Patrick Marleau and Thornton will surely be asked to waive whatever NTCs they have for the betterment of the team.

Maybe the organization will elect to ride it out. Maybe they’ll give the team one more chance to succeed, or maybe they’ll hope that a different coach will create different results. Either way, it appears that Thornton’s image, as an NHL player, will always be as someone who never quite lived up to his talent. He’ll always straddle that line between the talented and likeable player and one whose production dropped in the playoffs.

Perhaps he has been slightly unlucky as well. San Jose have twice reached the conference finals and their last two series defeats have come to an incredibly strong LA Kings team. The Sharks have always had a strong roster, but they’ve also always probably had a piece or two missing – particularly on the blue-line.

Thornton has two seasons left on his current contract. He probably doesn’t have many more than two seasons left in his career. It’s not clear whether his final seasons will be spent for the Sharks. His best chance of erasing the Cup goose egg from his resume might be elsewhere. Either way, it looks like Thornton’s career will never quite live up to the expectations that he approached the draft podium carrying.

Mike Johnston’s Pittsburgh Penguins Are Ready To Grind

Ever since the Pittsburgh Penguins were able to acquire Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby in consecutive drafts, the word “dynasty” has been attached to the franchise’s current era. It appeared that things were on track when the Penguins reached consecutive Stanley Cup Finals – they won the championship in 2009. However, Pittsburgh hasn’t quite managed to live up to those dynastic expectations since that breakthrough Cup triumph. A new head coach, healthy superstars and a more balanced mindset might just have Pittsburgh primed for another serious Cup run.

There’s always a slightly awkward feeling when it comes to critiquing a franchise that has enjoyed the success Pittsburgh has over the last five years. They’ve reached the playoffs all five times, topped the 100-point mark three times and won the Atlantic Division twice.

However, it’s impossible to deny that – considering the talent of their core – Pittsburgh hasn’t quite met expectations since 2009. The Montreal Canadiens ground them out in 2010 and suffocated by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2011. Goaltending and defense were exposed in a high-scoring first round series against Pennsylvania rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers. After finally “breaking through” and reaching the conference finals in confident fashion in 2013, they were totally outplayed while being swept by the Boston Bruins. Another grinding, tough loss to the New York Rangers in 2014 was the final straw for the head coach, Dan Bylsma.

It was clear that a change of philosophy was required for the Penguins. Bylsma was (slight unfortunately) fired and Mike Johnston was hired to be the team’s new head coach.

Johnston changed the team’s defensive structure to play with a greater zone focus and to require greater participation from the forward group. This has helped Pittsburgh tighten up their defense ranking fifth in the league while conceding just 2.40 goals against per game.

The personnel on the blue-line has also helped. Paul Martin, Kris Letang, Ian Cole, Rob Scuderi, Ben Lovejoy and Christian Ehrhoff form a pretty solid six-man unit and Johnston leans on each pairing, rather than focusing too heavily on any single unit.

It’s worth noting that the Penguins have hardly slipped offensively averaging 2.73 goals per game ranking 14^thin the NHL. Johnston also has both special teams units ranking in the top 10.

The rookie head coach has benefitted from some fortune on the health front (assuming Malkin’s ailment is only minor). His two superstar players have each missed only a handful of games. Consequently, both are in contention for the scoring title – Crosby has 74 points and Malkin has 68. While they have two scoring titles apiece, only once before have the two generational talents been in contention for the Art Ross Trophy in the same season (2008-09 being the other).

There’s no question that it is Crosby and Malkin who make this offense click. They are capable of single-handedly driving a line each and there are only a few players in the league more dangerous on the man advantage.

Crucially, there is a real feeling that a combination of some shrewd moves made by General Manager Ray Shero and a change in philosophy and emphasis from Johnston has this Penguins’ team ready for the grind and ready to grind in this season’s playoffs.

The core of this team is still highly-skilled players in Crosby, Malkin and Kris Letang, but they have added some players who drive to and hang around the front of the net in forwards David Perron and Patric Hornqvist. Nick Spaling, Danniel Winnik, Steve Downie and Maxim Lapierre provide a nice balance of speed, physicality and a willingness to mix it up to the bottom six, while a similar grittiness can be found in the defensive pairing of Cole and Scuderi.

The Penguins are heavily reliant upon Crosby and Malkin. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury will also once again come under the microscope after some shaky playoff performances in recent years. However, there are reasons for fans to feel optimistic about the prospects of this team to final add a second Stanley Cup to the Crosby-Malkin era.

It’s difficult to judge the way this team will play when the hockey gets serious in roughly one month’s time, but it’s hard to see them being them “out-grinded” by the Rangers, Islanders, Capitals, Canadiens or Lightning. The path through the Eastern conference in the playoffs is far from clear, but the 2015 playoffs might just be Pittsburgh’s best chance since their memorable run in 2009.

Malkin’s injury – picked up in the game against Boston on Saturday – is a reminder of how fragile Stanley Cup aspirations can be. Still, as long as they continue to grind, the Penguins will be a team to avoid when the playoffs start late next month.

Worst Team-and-Player Breakups in the NHL

It doesn’t happen very often, but it makes for some great news headlines when it does.

Team drafts/trades for player, team is excited, player is excited. Fans go nuts.

And then all hell breaks loose.

The most recent example was Evander Kane leaving the Winnipeg Jets (for Buffalo of all places), then we the sports fans, get to sit back and poke fun at whoever got the worst of it.

That’s the best part of the breakup, somebody has to lose. Sometimes nobody gets the better of it, but in every single case, somebody loses either money, respect, pride, or a fun mix of both.

Here are some of the worst (best) that I could find online:

-Evander Kane and the Jets, 2014

The long and short of it saw Kane show up to a team meeting. Apparently everybody else was dressed in a suit (hockey players at almost every level are required to look good, even at Pee Wee, so what Kane may have been thinking, I do not know). Some players did not take this too well. One of them was the big guy on the team, Dustin Byfuglien.

Byfuglien then proceeded to throw some of Kane’s clothes in a shower stall. When Kane realized this, apparently he went home and the team could not reach him until about an hour prior to game time. Not cool, Kane. This may have not been quite so bad had Kane not been photographed from a hotel room in Las Vegas pretending to talk to Floyd Mayweather on a phone made of 100 dollar bills.

Who won? Right now, the Jets won because they no longer have to deal with this clown, I have trouble believing that Kane wins because now he is stuck in Buffalo, one of the worst franchises in the league. And to further the problem, they just traded their starting goaltender (Michal Neuvirth) for the NYI backup goaltender (Chad Johnson). Don’t see this as a win for Kane; at least the Jets will probably make the post season; plus they got Tyler Myers and Drew Stafford in the deal.

-Dany Heatley and the Senators, 2009

This is the spoiled brat story for the ages. This is the dude that killed a past teammate (unintentionally we hope) while speeding in a Lamborghini) then got traded to Ottawa where he became a flat-superstar, scoring 50-goals in two seasons and establishing himself as one of the most unstoppable forces in the game. He also scored 4 times in the all-star game one year.

Then all hell broke loose.

The team struggled, and then Heatley decided that he did not like the team’s new head coach, Corey Clouston.

Then, because of the no-trade clause in his contract, Heatley got to choose the team he would be dealt to.

Ottawa then had a deal worked out with the Oilers (of all teams) as a destination, however that was not good enough for Heater either. Plus, the dilemma dragged out for so long that the Sens were forced to pay out a $4 million roster bonus even though the sniper wasn’t playing.

Ottawa wound up granting Heatley’s request, sending him to San Jose in a deal that fetched Milan Michalek as the main component in return; Jonathan Cheechoo and a draft pick were also in the package. At the time, it was seen as a lopsided win for the Sharks. The Senators eventually took Heatley to court in attempt to win their bonus money back.

According to the Ottawa Sun in a story dated Oct. 22, 2013, the Senators were able to get some of the money back.

Who won? The Senators, easily. Heater had one strong season in San Jose. He was there for a total of 2 seasons. He played injured a lot, despite a trip to the Conference Finals in 2010 where the Sharks were swept by the Blackhawks. The following season was his worst. He was dealt to the Minnesota Wild and has been bouncing around ever since.

Heater is now signed with the Florida Panthers; Milan Michalek, on the other hand, remains a relatively strong part of the Senators.

-Ilya Kovalchuk and the Devils, 2013

Three years into this 15-year deal, Kovalchuk decided that he would rather go back home and play in the KHL. I think that tells you who won the conflict right there. Now we should all be wondering at what point Kovy decides to try and make a return to the NHL.

-Paul Kariya and the Mighty Ducks, 2003

Kariya was the first draft pick of the then-Anaheim Mighty Ducks. He did everything for them except win the Stanley Cup in 2003 (they came up one game short to be exact). The team owed him a qualifying offer at that point, for the value of his contract ($10M). They decline to make it. Kariya did not like that. Not one bit. Kariya had been the face of the franchise for 10 years in Anaheim.

This made him an unrestricted free agent and could go anywhere he chose.

He signed a contract, and shocked everybody in the process. It was worth only $1.2M with the Colorado Avalanche.

Who won? Kariya did not win. He didn’t win anything. He had his first disappointing year in the NHL. The Avalanche were already heavily loaded with offensive stars, expected to win the Stanley Cup; and the following season was wiped out by the lock out.

Kariya wound up spending the next 5 seasons between Nashville and St. Louis and did not regain that superstar status. As for the Ducks, they missed the playoffs without Kariya in 2004, rebuilt themselves, and actually won the Cup 3 years later.

-Eric Lindros and the Flyers, 2001

Eric Lindros won the Hart Trophy and took his team on a hell of a ride to the Stanley Cup final in 1997…all this came after all the craziness of the draft which saw the Flyers outbid the entire league to acquire Lindros since he had refused to play for the team that drafted him originally, the Quebec Nordiques.

In my mind, he was doomed from that very day. Great player (for awhile). Bad attitude.

Come 2000, he started falling victim to the deadly concussion, and other health problems. Then he attempted to make a heroic return to the conference finals but was sent right back to the hospital after Scott Stevens nailed him near the blueline, and he was done like dinner, completely.

The ‘fun’ part began when he refused a two-way qualifying offer from the Flyers. He told GM Bobby Clarke that he wanted to be traded to one team, and one team only, that was the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Furthermore, if Clarke could not make a deal with the Leafs, Lindros would sit out the entire season; he ended up doing that.

The Leafs nearly had him on 2 separate occasions, both times missed so Lindros gave Clarke more destination teams to which he would accept a trade.

Finally they found a deal with the Rangers, but all that arguing probably cost Lindros his entire career, he never dominated. He was granted his original wish, to play for the Leafs, but that didn’t go well, either.

He is probably sitting at home somewhere right now as I write this.

-Chris Pronger and the Oilers, 1999

Pronger had arrived in Edmonton and in his first year with the Oilers, the team went on a wild playoff run that saw them lose in the Stanley Cup final to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Once that playoff run ended, he said he wanted out.

Nobody has a clue why he made that decision. My guess is his wife decided that she was sick of Oil town (remember another NHL superstar that put Edmonton back on the map then asked for a trade because his wife wasn’t from town???).

Edmonton sent Pronger to Anaheim (big surprise-it isn’t cold down there), in exchange for Joffrey Lupul, Ladislav Smid and draft picks.

Sadly for Canadian hockey fans (and Oiler fans), the superstar won a Stanley Cup down in Anaheim in 2007. The Oilers had to do what they could with what they got (Jordan Eberle) but their franchise has looked like a cyclone hit it, ever since. Not good.

Who won? Ducks of course.

-Pavel Bure and the Canucks, 1999

One of the least-known breakups in pro hockey was between Pavel Bure (the Russian Rocket) and the Vancouver Canucks. Bure was one of the most electrifying hockey players during the 1990s. He could dipsy-doodle around everybody the same way Patrick Kane does today. Bure had a pair of 60-goal seasons and he led the Canucks to the 1994 Stanley Cup final which they came up short in 7 to the Rangers.

Bure made 5 all-star teams too. It wasn’t all fun and games, though. There were contract disputes and a rumoured threat of a holdout during the playoffs.

After the 1997-98 season, Bure informed the team that he would not report the following seasons, saying he was unhappy with the organization. Bure remained in Moscow during training camp.

Vancouver finally traded the unhappy superstar to the Florida Panthers.

Who won? Hard to argue against Bure. He had 98 points in the first season (1999-2000) and was league scoring champ, the following year he scored 59 goals. Vancouver got Ed Jovanovski in the Bure deal so they did not get completely ripped off.

-Patrick Roy and the Canadiens , 1995

Nobody on the Montreal Canadiens roster in the early 1990s had a stronger impact on the team than goaltender Patrick Roy.

That all changed one night in December of 1995 when the Detroit Red Wings rolled into town.

They absolutely destroyed Patrick Roy. Absolutely destroyed him. He had nothing that night and it wound up being his last with the Habs.

The Wings beat Roy 9 times on 26 shots and the Canadiens’ ‘faithful’ gave it to him too.

That was end of Roy in Montreal. He got suspended after he told team president Ronald Corey that he played in his last game for Montreal. He was traded to the Avalanche. Roy hadn’t gotten along with the new coach hired in Montreal Mario Tremblay, but the 11-1 loss was clearly what moved him.

Who won? The Avs won, big time. Roy led them to their first Stanley Cup that year (if you are a Habs fan, that had to hurt), and Colorado won another Cup in 2001.

The Habs were roasted like Charlie Sheen on Comedy Central, for not getting anything back for Roy. Montreal hasn’t returned to the Cup since Roy played for them.

Breaking Down The Western Conference Playoff Chase

The NHL trade deadline has passed and the long regular season has entered its final quarter; no team has more than 20 games remaining on their schedule. The chase for playoff places is heating up in both conferences. However, the action is particularly tight out West where only the Arizona Coyotes and Edmonton Oilers are completely out of the race. Sports Jerseys Canada breaks down the current state of play.

Playoff Locks: Nashville, St Louis, Anaheim and Chicago

The Nashville Predators, St Louis Blues and Anaheim Ducks are in positions where it’s just about inconceivable that they wouldn’t make the playoffs. It’s reasonable to lock them. We’ll also make the slightly more contestable decision to place the Chicago Blackhawks into “lock “ status. Chicago will only be seven points ahead of the conference’s eighth seed, but the Blackhawks have a deep and talented lineup and they’d make the playoffs if they played only .500 hockey over their final 18 games.

Central Teams Hold Wildcard Spots

Winnipeg Jets – 76 points (4^th – Central)

The Jets are pursuing their first postseason appearance since returning to Manitoba. This team is in the middle of the pack in every statistical category and they’ve actually been playing some of their best hockey of the season. Head coach Paul Maurice has brought NHL experience to this organization and GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has added some pieces to make this team deeper. Jiri Tlusty and Lee Stempniak aren’t ground breaking additions, but they give Maurice experience and a few more line-up options.

Winnipeg can take encouragement from a strong group of defensemen led by a top four that features Tobias Enstrom, Tyler Myers, Mark Stuart and Jacob Trouba. The Jets also have the benefit of Michael Hutchinson between the pipes. The 25-year old has gradually developed from a solid rotation option alongside Ondrej Pavelec to being the starting option. Hutchinson has a competitiveness and fight in his game that is beginning to also be the identity of Maurice’s team.

The Jets have the toughest remaining schedule in the NHL (based on winning percentage) and they don’t have a huge amount playoff experience among their core players.

Predicted Finish: 5^th Central – outside of Wildcard spots

Minnesota Wild – 75 points (5^th – Central)

A period of progress that started two summers ago when they signed top free agent duo Ryan Suter and Zach Parise appeared to have stalled earlier this season. A 7-2 hammering at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins on Jan 13 dropped the Wild to a record below .500 (18-19-5). Head coach Mike Yeo’s job was looking less secure and the Wild were in serious danger of missing out on the playoffs altogether. Since reaching near rock bottom, Minnesota has rocketed back up the standings starting on Jan 15 with a 7-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. They’ve posted a 16-3-2 record since that big loss to the Penguins.

Few teams can ice a fourth line featuring Kyle Brodziak, Erik Haula and Justin Fontaine, and while some of the team’s stars haven’t managed production worthy of their contracts, they’ve got a lot of high quality scoring depth. Goaltender Devan Dubnyk’s strong form has been a significant factor as the trio of Dubnyk, Darcy Kuemper and Niklas Backstrom all struggled in the early months of the season.

Predicted Finish: 4^th Central – first Wildcard spot

Pacific Division Equation

The complicating factor in the NHL’s playoff qualification set up is that both division and conference standings impact who gets a postseason berth. Anaheim and two other teams from the division will reach the postseason, and two other teams could theoretically qualify as Wildcards.

Vancouver Canucks – 75 points (2^nd – Pacific)

The Canucks ended up standing pat as the NHL trade deadline. This team is at an interesting point where they have an opportunity to put some distance between themselves and their rivals, but it might be just as easy to drop down the standings and out of a playoff place altogether. The Canucks have a ton of injuries right now with Ryan Miller, Alexander Edler, Alex Burrows, Christopher Tanev and Kevin Bieksa all currently sidelined. However, they play eight of their next 12 games on home ice and, based on winning percentage of opposition, have the easiest remaining schedule in the Western conference.

GM Jim Benning and head coach Willie Desjardins have constructed a different kind of team compared to the one that missed out on the playoffs altogether in 2013-14 and even the team that managed to win just one game in the two previous playoffs combined. These Canucks play with a little extra grit and are finding ways to overachieve.

Predicted Finish: 2^nd Pacific

Calgary Flames – 72 points (3^rd – Pacific)

It has been five seasons since the Flames last made the postseason and Bob Hartley’s group still has a lot of work to do before they break that streak. It starts by continuing to compete on their current seven-game Eastern road-swing (2-2 so far) and it will involve surviving without captain and important defenseman Mark Giordano. As Calgary’s former core gradually departed Alberta during a period where the franchise was in decline, Giordano remained and his role has grown. He has emerged as the leader and a genuine #1 blue liner during a difficult period for the Flames. He is second on the team in scoring and has played a lot of the team’s critical minutes over the past two seasons.

It’s not going to be easy to replace Giordano. T.J. Brodie assumes more responsibility, while Hartley will be hoping that he can get experienced stay-at-home defenseman Ladislav Smid back into the lineup sooner rather than later. The forward group will also have to pick up some of the slack. Youngsters Johnny Gadreau, Sean Monahan, Lance Bouma, Joe Colborne and Josh Joories will have to face that pressure and raise their games in the last two months.

Predicted Finish: 5^th Pacific – outside of Wildcard spots

Los Angeles Kings – 72 points (4^th in Pacific)

Are the LA Kings coming or are they slumping? It appeared that the Kings had finally worked things out after an erratic first four months when they reeled off eight straight wins in February. However, they then lost three straight before snapping that skid with a 5-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night.

The defending champions are a difficult team to figure out. They have experience, talent, depth and goaltending, but all season long they’ve struggled to establish themselves. They won’t be overly concerned about playoff seeding after twice winning the Stanley Cup as a lower seed. However, maybe they should be a little more worried about getting into the playoffs at all.

Head coach Darryl Sutter will know that there are two players in particular who can help get this team moving in the right direction – Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty. Kopitar has just 13 goals and 48 points through 60 games – the worst scoring pace of his career. After managing just two assist in the previous five games, he had an explosion of sorts on Tuesday with a three-point night against the Oilers. Meanwhile, Doughty is the spark plug that connects LA’s stingy defense to its occasionally anemic offense; the importance of his play is increase by the absence of Slava Voynov, though the addition of Andrej Sekera will help.

Predicted Finish: 4^th Pacific – second Wildcard spot

San Jose Sharks – 72 points (5^th in Pacific)

After an era of consistently reaching the postseason, but never making it to the Stanley Cup finals, Sharks’ GM Doug Wilson suggested that he was ready to overhaul his team last offseason. Those plans were rapidly aborted for a somewhat “tamer” set of adjustments. He may yet regret not following through on his initial promise if San Jose doesn’t find a way to at least sneak into the playoffs.

The next week will be an important one for the Sharks. They play Vancouver, Pittsburgh, Nashville and Chicago at home (all tough games) before embarking on a seven-game road trip that takes them into April. Todd McLellan’s team have oddly been a little better away from the Shark Tank this team posting a 17-11-3 record and they’ll need to keep that level of play up to continue their push towards the postseason.

The Outsiders

The Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars are still potentially in contention, so we don’t want to rule them out. Both have young rosters, slightly porous defenses and would need to win a huge proportion of their games, or require the complete collapse of multiple teams. Neither of those scenarios feel particularly likely and the Avalanche and Stars are not serious contenders in the Western conference playoff picture.

3 Teams That Had Fantastic Trade Deadline Days

This past NHL trade deadline day was the busiest in the last five years. A busy trade deadline day always means added entertainment for fans, coaches and players alike, as the hyper nature of transactions provides all interested parties with good reason to stay glued to the TV all the way up until the 3 PM Eastern Standard Time deadline.

Those who watched all the wall-to-wall coverage on TV, listened to it on the radio or followed it on Twitter had the opportunity to witness some teams get ready for a run to the Stanley Cup Finals while others got set to take a run at Erie Otters sensation Connor McDavid, who will no doubt be drafted with the first overall pick this summer.

While nobody knows just how good McDavid will turn out to be at the NHL level, it’s obvious that most GMs around the league believe he’s going to be pretty darn good… maybe even as good as Sidney Crosby.

In light of that, judging the winner of any particular trade from this season’s deadline can’t just be decided based on which teams got the best players. Instead, the long-term impact of the deals that were made must be given consideration as well.

The Buffalo Sabres probably did the most to help themselves in the McDavid sweepstakes and that’s why we’ve crowned them the unofficial winner of trade deadline day. The team traded forward Chris Stewart to the Minnesota Wild for very little,, and they also traded goaltender Michael Neuvirth to the New York Islanders, who was the backbone of a team that gave up a ton of shots this season, in exchange for a career backup. They were already the favorite to land McDavid and the team’s front office did whatever it had to do to improve those chances on Monday. Throw in a February deal that saw the team acquire Evander Kane from the Winnipeg Jets, who is out for the season with an injury, and its obvious the Sabres are poised to finish the season on a losing note.

Only Buffalo did better than the Toronto Maple Leafs when it comes to strategically getting worse, but Leafs GM Dave Nonis deserves honourable mention for his efforts. Nonis managed to get rid of David Clarkson via the Columbus Blue Jackets, taking in exchange the contract of Nathan Horton, who will likely never play in the NHL again due to a degenerative back disorder, but whose salary also doesn’t count against the salary cap unless he should miraculously return. The Leafs also dumped forward Olli Jokinen on the St. Louis Blues, dealt Korbinian Holzer to the Anaheim Ducks and also traded Daniel Winnik (Pittsburgh) and Mike Santorelli & Cody Franson (Nashville) in a flurry of deals leading up to deadline day.

At the end of the day however, dumping salaries and rebuilding for the years to come is not what gets fans truly excited and tuning in to all the trade talk. It’s the deals that help contenders solidify their position as heavyweights going into the playoffs. No team did that better than the Montréal Canadiens, who took Torrey Mitchell off of the Sabres’ hands to add some depth up front and also traded for defenseman Jeff Petry, who will bring a much-needed stay-at-home feel to the team’s blue line.

Only time will tell which teams truly came out on top on deadline day, but the general managers of these three clubs sure did do a good job… at least that’s what it looks like at the present moment. Feel free to judge for yourself, but if you live in Buffalo or Toronto, you’ve got to feel pretty good about your team’s chances of landing the NHL’s next golden boy.

Canadiens, Rangers, Blues winning #NHLTradeDeadline

The NHL trade deadline passed yesterday and the action was a little disappointing but the Rangers, Canadiens and Blues still managed to improve their teams.

As a Leafs fan, nothing has happened in terms of what I thought or was hoping to have happen. By 9am yesterday morning, the Score sports app said the team was actively shopping both Dion Phaneuf and Phil Kessel. These are the 2 largest contracts on the team, one of them is almost certain to move, since the Leafs seem to be going nowhere but down, so he is going to be out the door soon enough.

By 1pm yesterday, word came out that if they could find some taker for Dion Phaneuf, they would have kept a part of his insane salary but the deal did not happen.

Montreal Canadiens

Got stronger over the weekend with the trade for Devante Smith-Pelly. Hard nose player from the Anaheim Ducks who can play physical, and can also provide a scoring touch. This morning, they acquired Jeff Petry from the Edmonton Oilers, giving up a couple draft picks in return and added some depth with Torrey Mitchell and Brian Flynn. The way Montreal has been playing lately, they have their eyes set on another trip to the Conference finals, which just might be against the same Rangers team that knocked them off in 6 games last spring.

New York Rangers

Speaking of the NY Rangers, it always seems like the New York pro sports teams really do go all out at the trade deadline, whether it is the Rangers, Knicks, Yankees or even Mets. All of these teams seem to make their moves. They resigned Mats Zuccarello and they acquired Keith Yandle from the Arizona Coyotesé

The New York Rangers acquired a big piece in their push for another deep playoff run, picking up All-Star defenceman Keith Yandle in a trade with the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday.

The Rangers lost to the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup Finals last season didn’t wait until Monday’s trade deadline to make a big move for this year’s run.

The 28-year-old Yandle has been one of the NHL’s best offensive-minded defencemen, a four-time All-Star who has led the Coyotes in scoring the past three seasons. He has 41 points in 63 games this season and has been the anchor of Arizona’s power play unit.

New York also received defenceman Chris Summers and a 2016 fourth-round pick for defenceman John Moore, top prospect Anthony Duclair, a conditional first-round draft pick in 2016 and a second-rounder this year.

The Rangers made another deal ahead of the trade deadline, acquiring forward Carl Klingberg from the Winnipeg Jets for forward Lee Stempniak. Stempniak, 32, joins his fourth team in two years. Klingberg is a 24-year-old draft pick of the Atlanta Thrashers from 2009, he has spent most of this season with the St. John’s IceCapps of the AHL. This move should benefit both the Rangers and the Winnipeg Jets; both are also nearly locked in for a playoff spot.

The Rangers are third in the Eastern Conference, five points behind Montreal, and two behind the neighbouring Islanders in the Metropolitan Division.

The 28-year-old Yandle has been a core member of the Coyotes since they drafted him in the fourth round of the 2005 draft. An assistant captain in Arizona, he has been the subject of trade rumours for the last several seasons and was finally moved with a year remaining on a five-year, $26 million contract signed in 2011.

St. Louis Blues

The Blues also picked apart the Coyotes, taking defenceman Zybynek Michalek, a move that is a definite upgrade to that seemingly horrid Blues blue line. In each of their last two playoff runs, they were stopped dead in their tracks by the same Chicago Blackhawks team, ironically in Game 3 of each series. I’m not saying Michalek will be the guarantee that it won’t happen again, but judging by reactions to this trade, it probably won’t hurt.

Considering that St. Louis has been a favourite to at least make it to the Stanley Cup the last couple years, one would think there need not be much more tinkering with that lineup.

Will The Real Boston Bruins Please Stay Standing?

It would be entirely forgivable if Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli misjudges the upcoming NHL trade deadline. For the past couple of months, it has been difficult to judge whether the Bruins are a sleeping giant waiting for everything to come together to be the contender most anticipated they would be before the season started, or whether they are simply a team that lacks depth and balance.

A playoff berth has not been secured, and yet many would still mark the 2013/2014 President Trophy winners as a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.

The past weekend’s contests struck a blow for the later. Despite being denied two centers (David Krejci and Gregory Campbell) through injury and with starting goaltender Tuukka Rask dealing with illness, the Bruins secured back-to-back comfortable victories relying on organizational depth and based first and foremost on the foundation of strong team defense. Boston finished February winning three of their last four games and opening up a four-point cushion for the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern conference.

The problem is that the period of success was preceded by six straight losses. During that span, the Bruins were outscored 26-13 and looked to be in disarray. Just about every aspect of a team that has been known for reliable three-zone hockey over the past four or five seasons seemed to be wrong. All of that has come back over the last week; from Tuukka Rask, to three good defensive pairings, to four-line deep forward corps, the Bruins looked every bit a playoff team that any top seed would want to avoid.

Monday’s trade deadline will be a test for Chiarelli. This is clearly a team that could use veteran depth, but he also has a number of expiring contracts to contemplate and some cap magic to work both now and also ahead of the 2015/16 season.

He went “all-in” ahead of the 13/14 campaign trading Tyler Seguin, while adding Jarome Iginla, Loui Eriksson and Reilly Smith. At previous points in his career, he has shown patience and a willingness to stand pat if the right deal is not on the table. However, there might be a little added pressure this time around as numerous reports have suggested that a failure to reach the postseason could cost the GM his job.

The story for much of the season has been injuries to the team’s key players. Blue liner Zdeno Chara missed a stretch of 19 games from mid-October to mid-December. It’s difficult to quantify Chara’s full impact when it comes to the Bruins. He is a perennial Norris Trophy candidate, but more than that, his shutdown presence and the sheer amount of ice time he is capable of playing have allowed Chiarelli and head coach Claude Julien to construct a roster and a system with Chara at its core. The 37-year old is also the team’s captain and he leads its gritty, hard-working and physical identity. He hasn’t missed more than five games in a season since arriving in Boston in 2006. Even beyond the 19 games that he was absent from, Chara was slow to return to full game fitness and has never quite fully established himself as a dominant shutdown force this season.

The other major injury concerns have been Krejci. The team’s best offensive player and a key part of the team’s leading duo down the middle (Patrice Bergeron is the other), Krejci has been in and out of the lineup all season and often visibly struggling during his time in the lineup. Last week it was announced that he would miss 4-6 weeks with a partially torn MCL. Optimistically, he’ll be back in time for most of the stretch drive, but realistically, he could well miss all but the last couple weeks of the regular season.

His injury creates an even greater predicament for Chiarelli. Without Krejci, this team is missing a key part of its top six, power-play and also an important leader on the team. The 28-year old had 49 points in 47 games during Boston’s two recent runs to the Stanley Cup finals, leading the postseason in scoring each time. The Bruins aren’t likely to cause any upsets without a fully healthy David Krejci.

Still, the Bruins have managed to win three out of four since the loss of their top center. In fact, the lineup has really come together since Krejci was sidelined. Bergeron-Marchand-Smith and Soderberg-Eriksson-Paille have been effective combinations, while Ryan Spooner and David Pastrnak have joined Milan Lucic as the trio that has arguably been Boston’s most dangerous offensively. Pastrnak has one goal and three assists, Spooner has a goal (the overtime winner against the Devils) and two assists, and Lucic has a pair of goals and an assist.

Throw in the fact that Brian Ferlin has done a pretty decent job on the team’s fourth line alongside Chris Kelly, and that Dennis Seidenberg and Matt Bartkowski have managed to play a couple of games without looking terrible, and Chiarelli might be forgiven for thinking that this year’s Bruins still have a chance to come together – maybe they could even avenge last spring’s loss to the Montreal Canadiens.

Of course, trade deadline acquisitions usually come at a steep price and Chiarelli won’t want to sabotage the team’s potential competitiveness next season.

There’s just something not quite right about this version of Julien’s Bruins. They rank 10^th in the league in goals against per game (still pretty good) conceding 2.50 on average, but it’s their worst performance in that category since the coach’s first season in 2007/08, when the team grabbed the eighth seed in the Eastern conference conceding 2.62 GA/G ranking them 11^th in the league.

That 07/08 roster needed Glen Metropolit to act as the team’s second line center for much of the campaign. It played with grit, determination and heart to beat most expectations by reaching the postseason at all. They got the most out of what they had, and for the most part, that has been the mantra of Julien-led teams, even if they endured a couple of postseason disappointments before that 2011 Cup win.

Another characteristic of recent Boston teams is the ability to score first and to then hold on to that lead and close out games. They’ve regularly ranked in the top 10 in that category. Last season they won 84% of games after scoring first (they won a lot of games full stop). That has dropped to winning just 67% of the time when scoring first so far in 14/15. During their recent losing run, the Bruins gave up a 3-0 lead against the Calgary Flames, and even the victory against New Jersey on Friday only came in overtime after Boston had allowed a 2-0 advantage to slip.

A lack of speed was highlighted as a potential problem for this roster heading into the season. Perhaps Chara has just lost a step or two, or perhaps Julien’s message isn’t reaching his players anymore. Perhaps it has just been an odd year for this franchise. Chiarelli faces some challenges as he attempts to assess this roster. He’ll be hoping that the real Bruins are the team that has been as consistent as any other in the NHL over the past seven seasons, and he’ll be hoping that those Boston Bruins stand up and stay standing for the rest of what has been a tumultuous season for this organization.

By the time the Bruins next play, at home against Calgary on Thursday, Chiarelli will have made his judgment on this team and the trade market.

NHL Heading to Seattle???

If the Mayor of the City Seattle gets his wish, the Seahawks, Mariners, Sounders and Supersonics may have some more competition for the citizens’ sports dollar.

You could throw the Thunderbirds in there, too. And the Everett Silvertips.

Seattle is currently in the process of putting together a bid for an NHL team.

The folks at the hockey league, they’re excited about Seattle,” Seattle mayor Ed Murray told ESPN.com. “They’re excited about getting a team here. They are very curious about how things are going to develop with the arena plans.”

Lately, the plans for an arena are getting more crowded. During a recent Vancouver radio interview, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman mentioned that groups in nearby Bellevue and Tukwila are interested in bringing the NHL to Seattle. Whether he meant to cause a stir or not, he did.

It has provided a flicker of hope that there is a new way to bring the NHL to the area.

“All we’re doing is listening,” Bettman told ESPN.com. “As things stand right now, there’s no building (arena). I don’t know what speed the groups are moving at. We’re just listening to expressions of interest. People from three different places in greater Seattle are saying ‘we’re interested and we think we can get a building,’ but nobody has a building.”

The arena issue appears to be the number-one issue, says Murray.

The secondary issue could be the fan support the team would receive.

It would be a very interesting location for pro hockey with the NFL club having won a championship recently, and the baseball club challenging for a wild-card spot this past season. Makes you wonder how the NHL may do.

As it sits right now, none of the current arenas in the area could legally open up to be home to an NHL team.

If the NHL ultimately agrees, it may have to wait to make it happen. It’s not realistic to expect anything to happen within the next couple of years, and that’s an optimistic opinion.

Factor in lawsuit delays and construction, and an optimistic timetable for the opening of an arena might be 2019 at the earliest.

The city would love to house an NHL expansion team in KeyArena before then, but according to multiple sources, the NHL hasn’t shown an appetite to go that route.

There is a potential of a New York businessman who had planned to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes and liked the idea of moving them to Washington State.

In the next few weeks, he hopes to have a timeline laid out, with each step the city is taking articulated, so those following have a better understanding of where things stand.

Should the actual City of Seattle prove to be a bad destination for the NHL (and it could take a possible 3-4 years to realize that), there are 3 more areas within a 10-mile radius of Seattle that supposedly provide benefits that Seattle doesn’t.

They are:

-Tukwila, Washington –located about 10 miles south of the downtown

-population of only 19,7000, however that number goes up to about 170,000 during the day as visitors come to town to work or shop.

-land prices are cheap, which will come in handy if the arena gets built.

-Bellevue, Washington – there is a proposal to build a light rail that would transport people through Bellevue.

-the downtown core is growing and is apparently full of young technology professionals

-the Seattle Times reports that a potential arena site is targeted near the future Sound Transit Station.

Fun fact: the City of Seattle is reportedly the first American team to capture the Stanley Cup, in 1917.

Are Ads on NHL Jerseys Realistic?

We’ve all heard it, the NHL says that ads on their jerseys are “coming” and they estimate that this would generate about 120 million in revenues for the league. However, no one has really asked the question, how would this be done and what would the repercussions be?

First, if we look at the jersey side of thing, the NHL’s current contract with Reebok will expire in 2016. Many companies including Adidas, Bauer and possibly Under Armour are expected to bid on the license which, according to SportsOneSource analyst Matt Powell, generally costs about 50 million dollars up front and 10% a year in royalties. It’s not nearly as much as the potential of sponsors on NHL jerseys but would any of those companies agree to pay this amount (or more) if there were other sponsors on the jerseys? Not only would there be many companies overpowering their branding on the jersey but it would complicate the production and most likely hurt their sales.

Next, I think we can all agree that these sponsors would be negotiated on a team-by-team basis. The NHL teams are owned by 30 billionaires, most of which own a large corporation or who have an arena already sponsored by a large corporation. Are there any companies who have the money to spend on advertising that wouldn’t come in conflict with any of those owners? I doubt it.

If sponsors are negotiated on a team-by-team basis, it would likely be each team’s decision to put sponsors where they wish. Do you really think Geoff Molson would put a bunch of corporate sponsors right around the Montreal Canadiens logo on the front or Rocky Wirtz on the Chicago Blackhawks jerseys or MLSE on the Toronto Maple Leafs jersey? Not a chance. The only real option would be to put them as shoulder patches which would be more discrete, probably wouldn’t upset as many fans but then again it probably wouldn’t be worth 120 million a year.

The other aspect that hasn’t been considered is the impact of the market for fake NHL jerseys on this. For the purpose of this example, let’s say Bell is willing to pay a few million dollars a year to put their logo as a shoulder patch on the Montreal Canadiens jerseys. Yes it would bring them additional exposure but it also means that you would have dozens of unlicensed factories in China replicating the Bell logo. A quick look on the Bell website led me a document with many rules on how the Bell logo can be used, a specific CMYK colour and so on. If you’re Bell or any other large corporation that is generally picky about the use of your logo, do you really want your logo replicated like that in the wrong font and colour? Do you want thousands of fans walking around with a Montreal Canadiens jersey with your logo on the shoulder in the wrong colour? I highly doubt it.

So with all that said, yes the idea of generating additional revenues is certainly appealing for the NHL but I don’t think all teams would agree to this and I think it would be very difficult to find sponsors willing to put their logos on the jerseys. The idea will likely be tested on the World Cup jerseys in 2016 but I have a feeling that it won’t go much further than that.

If you’re worried about ads and want to get a nice jersey before then, our Sports Jerseys Canada online store is your place to buy NHL Jerseys.