Atlantic Division Update

Edition 2 of the league-wide update! This time, we'll look into the teams in the Atlantic Division, starting with the division-leading New Jersey Devils and working our way on down.

New Jersey Devils
Record: 21-14-3
Last 10: 5-4-1
Offence: The Devils forwards struggled with the departure of Scott Gomez and a new system being implemented by Brent Sutter, though Zach Parise seems to have been the exception. He's been on fire practically all year long. John Madden has also been a valuable offensive asset this season. As for the rest of the EGG line, Brian Gionta has been faring okay, but Patrik Elias is having a brutal season so far. As usual, New Jersey is not exactly a powerhouse offensive team, as their offence is 28th in the league so far with 92 goals.
Defence: New Jersey is lacking a bona fide, clear-cut number one defenceman this season, but the group is pretty solid. Players like Colin White, Karel Rachunek, Paul Martin and surprisingly Mike Mottau provide good support in their own zone, and it also helps that the Devils have always had strong back-checking from their forwards. The Devils defence has allowed the less goals this year so far in the Eastern Conference, and are just behind San Jose for the league lead.
Goaltending: Well, Martin Brodeur. Not much to say here. Sure, he had a rough start to the season, but the Devils were adjusting to Brent Sutter's new system, and now Brodeur is back in the spotlight as one of the best. Kevin Weekes has also been a solid backup for New Jersey. Not that they really use him a lot, though...

New York Rangers
Record: 20-15-4
Last 10: 5-3-2
Offence: The Rangers forwards have been inconsistent this year, and struggled a lot early on in the season. Now, players like Jaromir Jagr and Scott Gomez seem to have finally found their game. However, New York is still in the bottom half in terms of offence. Are they really that dependent on Henrik Lundqvist? Probability is that the Rangers forwards will improve in the second half, or else they might trigger a trade involving Micheal Nylander's return to the Big Apple - his absence seems to have put Jagr off his game for a while.
Defence: The Rangers started the season with a relatively unkown defence, but since then Michal Roszival has emerged as an important all-around asset for this team, and Dan Girardi has been a pleasant surprise so far, at least offensively. However, the Rangers' no-name defence corps isn't exactly the bright spot of the hockey team, and New York's low GAA is mostly because of Henrik Lundqvist.
Goaltending: Lundqvist may have salvaged the Rangers' season, especially when their play was so poor at the start of the year. While he recently went through a tough patch, his overall play has stolen many victories for the surprisingly goal-starving Rangers. Right now, he definitely deserves consideration for the Vezina Trophy and, bizarrely, the Hart Trophy.

Philadelphia Flyers
Record: 19-14-4
Last 10: 4-4-2
Offence: The Flyers offence has been led by Mike Richards all year. Yes, Daniel Briere is an important asset and gets a lot of points, but Richards is, right now, the top Flyers gun. His all-around skills are definitely underrated. As for the rest of the Flyers forwards, they have helped produce a division-high 115 goals, better than Sidney Crosby's Penguins. The emergence of players such as Joffrey Lupul and R.J. Umberger has been a key to that, and the Flyers' defencemen have chippen in offensively themselves.
Defence: The Flyers evolved from a slow-skating defensive corps to a capable blueline group this year. The addition of Kimmo Timonen and Jason Smith has been the main reason, and you can't ignore the contributions of players such as Randy Jones, Lasse Kukkonen and Braydon Coburn. Not the best in the league, but certainly the most-improved compared to last year.
Goaltending: Martin Biron had an excellent start to the season, carrying over from last year's solid play, but since then he has cooled off. He has also been getting a solid contribution from Antero Niittymaki, who has physically and psychologically recovered from last year's nightmare season. Biron has been a nice change for the Flyers, who have struggled a lot to find a good goaltender in recent years.

Pittsburgh Penguins
Record: 20-16-2
Last 10: 6-4-0
Offence: While Sidney Crosby was scheduled to have a monster season this season, teams have been holding him in check pretty well as of late. Sure, he has 52 points in 38 games, but his points-per-game average was a bit higher last year. Evgeni Malkin and Petr Sykora have done a good job providing secondary scoring and Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney are among the best offensive d-men in the game, but after that, it tails off. Pittsburgh is sorely lacking a good winger for Sid the Kid, and as good as Crosby is, he can't do it all alone. Also, what happened to Jordan Staal?
Defence: As I just mentioned, the Pens have a lot in the way of offensive defenceman. But are they actually good in their own zone? The Penguins find themselves in the bottom half of the league in goals against, and Mark Eaton's injury doesn't help. After Sergei Gonchar (arguably their number 1 defenceman) made two horrible giveaways that led to goals in a recent game against Washington, you have to wonder if this defensive corps is actually solid.
Goaltending: Marc-Andre Fleury had a terrible start to the season that had Pittsburgh fans screaming for a trade. Then, he started progressively playing back into shape, with Dany Sabourin providing good backup support. And just when he was playing respectable hockey again, he got injured with a high ankle sprain. It's not a good situation for the Penguins, as Sabourin is definitely not a number one goalie. Pens fans can just hope Sabourin and Ty Conklin hold the fort until Fleury or another goaltender (Curtis Joseph, anyone?) comes in.

New York Islanders
Record: 19-16-2
Last 10: 6-4-0
Offence: For a team ridiculously short of talent, the New York Islanders are faring okay. While their offence isn't very productive, the Isles have been able to survive so far thanks especially to the likes of Mike Comrie, Bill Guerin and Miroslav Satan. However, New York cannot always rely on its great defensive game because Rick DiPietro has been injured in the past. The club should perhaps consider a trade for more offensive firepower if it wants to get into the play-offs this season.
Defence: Like New Jersey, the Islanders don't really have marquee names on defence, but their defensive game is pretty solid. Chris Campoli seems to have emerged as the better defenceman, but Bryan Berard, Freddy Meyer, Brendan Witt and Andy Sutton have been solid, too. As long as Ted Nolan is behind the bench, expect more of the same as he stresses on good defence.
Goaltending: Rick DiPietro is one of the most underrated goaltenders in the league, as he is easily the Islanders' MVP. We saw last season what happened when he got a concussion, and Wade Dubielewicz had to step in to revent a tailspin out of the play-offs. The only problem with DiPietro is that he has been injured in the past, which shows that he is not Martin Brodeur (Brodeur has almost never suffered a serious injury in his career, at least not that I know of).

That's all for today! Next up is the Southeast Division.

Northeast Division Update

I'm sorry I haven't written in quite a while, but it's that time of year when everything's hectic! So let's dive right in today with an update on the Northeast Division.

Ottawa Senators

Record: 25-9-4
Last 10: 7-2-1
Offence: Ottawa keeps raking in the goals thanks mainly to the Big 3 of Jason Spezza, Dany Heatley and Daniel Alfredsson. Spezza actually has the best points-per-game average in the league. Also, players like Mike Fisher and Antoine Vermette have started chipping in, finally giving Ottawa some valuable secondary scoring. No problem here.
Defence: The Sens still have a solid defense, but sometimes it just doesn't show up in their own zone. Defensive play was extremely ugly in the Sens recent 8-6 loss to Washington, as the Capitals converted on so many Ottawa giveaways. Wade Redden has been playing better, but is still underachieving, while Phillips continues to be solid without Anton Volchenkov. Here's hoping A-Train will come back soon... the Senators clearly need his stay-at-home defensive skills.
Goaltending: Martin Gerber continues to be solid, though he has allowed a few soft goals in his past couple games. Generally, however, Darth Gerber has been an extremely important reason of the Senators' success this season. As for Ray Emery, treat the recent news of his "unprofessionalism" as maybe a little bit exaggerated by the media. This happens to many players, and Emery, I think, will come to accept the challenge and start playing better.


Montreal Canadiens

Record: 19-13-6
Last 10: 5-3-2
Offence: Can someone say inconsistent? I really don't know what to make of this forward corps that should be able to produce a lot of goals, but so far hasn't shown up all the time. Alex Kovalev is doing okay and the Kostitsyn's have been a pleasant surprise, but I've been unimpressed by the likes of Chris Higgins, Saku Koivu and Micheal Ryder. Even-strength scoring remains a problem.
Defence: Ryan O'Byrne is starting to look more and more like a rookie. I think I've seen him on the wrong side of a highlight goal 4 or 5 times in the past couple weeks. the rest of the Habs defence is faring okay, as the Habs have actually allowed pretty much the same number of goals as Ottawa. Kudos to Roman Hamrlik, who may be their best defensive defenceman this season.
Goaltending: Cristobal Huet still looks like the better goaltender, but it's not like Carey Price has done a bad job. If Montreal's out of a play-off spot by the trade deadline, expect Huet to be traded for help in another department, as Price looks ready for more NHL duty and should be even better next season.

Buffalo
Record: 19-16-2
Last 10: 6-3-1
Offence: Sure, they're only 3 games over .500, but the Sabres are, according to me, the second-best team in the Eastern Conference, after Ottawa. Look for them to start winning many more games in the 2nd half of the season, and this means underachieving players like Thomas Vanek might start producing a bit more. Buffalo's firewagon style should be feared with all of their availabe weapons. Jason Pominville has been maybe their best forward this year, but he should have a little more offensive help in 2008.
Defence: The Buffalo shutdown pair of Toni Lydman and Henrik Tallinder hasn't gotten the job done this season, and that has enabled teams to score more against the Sabres. Brian Campbell looks like maybe the most solid Buffalo defenceman so far, and Jaroslav Spacek has done a surprisingly good job. However, while Sabres defenceman are doing a good job offensively, they must do a better job in their own zone.
Goaltending: Rough year for Ryan Miller so far, certainly not helped by Buffalo's porous defence. But like the rest of the team, Miller should play better in 2008, but I feel he was a bit overrated last year, being touted as maybe the best American goaltender in the game while his GAA was hovering around 3.

Boston
Record: 18-16-4
Last 10: 3-6-1
Offence: Since the start of the season, Boston has had trouble scoring goals, as evidenced by their Division-low 97 goals for. The Bruins have been missing Patrice Bergeron's presence, but the main reason is the trap system they play under Claude Julien. Scoring about 2 goals per game seemed enough at the start of the season when Tim Thomas was maybe the best goaltender in the league, but since then Boston's inability at scoring has cost them many games.
Defence: Zdeno Chara has definitely played better than last year, but after him, there's not much in the way of Bruins defence. Players like Aaron Ward, Andrew Ference and Dennis Wideman have been solid, but they hardly look like an intimidating bunch, as the main force behind the Bruins' impressive GAA is Tim Thomas' play and the trap system imposed by Claude Julien.
Goaltending: Tim Thomas is perhaps the most underrated goaltender in the league, and it's always fun to watch him play an incredibly intense game. Manny Fernandez has been a rather complete bust this season, and it looks like his backup job has been stolen by Alex Auld, who has done an admirable job since coming from Phoenix. The Bruins won't be bringing in any goalie help, because they'll eventually want Tuukka Rask to take over the starting reins.

Toronto Maple Leafs
Record: 15-16-8
Last 10: 3-5-2
Offence: Mats Sundin. Need I say anything else? Nik Antropov has a lot of points, too, but that's because he's been playing a lot with Sundin. While many have been complaining about Jason Blake being a bust, at least he's trying and creating scoring opportunities. He's first on the team in shots by about 40 more than Sundin. The Leafs need players like Kyle Wellwood to play better or else Toronto will not improve.
Defence: The Maple Leafs defensive corps is perhaps one of the worst in the league. Tomas Kaberle is probably the only dependable guy. Meanwhile, Bryan McCabe and Pavel Kubina have posted a decent number of points, but their penchant for giveaways is alarming. The same can be said for Hal Gill. There is also an important lack of speed in this group that almost always gets completely exposed whenever the Leafs meet the Senators.
Goaltending: Andrew Raycroft is still not performing well, while Vesa Toskala has definitely been the most solid of all Leafs netminders, even after a rough start to the season that had Leaf Nation already calling him out. But he's injured his groin now and it doesn't look like Raycroft is an adequate replacement. The problem is the Leafs defence, who are not helping Raycroft in any way.

What's going on with Anaheim?

First off, I'm sorry for the long period of time in which I didn't post a thing. Let's say school work is taking time away from my blogging.

So let's talk about the Anaheim Ducks. They look to be desperately clinging to Scott Niedermayer's comeback as a way to salvage what looks like, so far, an season of underachievement. If that is such a word. Let's look at a few strugglers:

- JS Giguere has been okay in net so far this year, but he could be that much better. He was a force last year and was a big difference in many play-off games. Sure, it helps to have Niedermayer on the blue-line, but Giguere should still be productive without him. And it's not look Anaheim's defence is bad: they've got Pronger, Beauchemin, and O'Donnell isn't bad. Giguere got pulled against Minnesota last night for the 5th time this season. That's not the usual Giggy.

- Secondary scoring seems to be a big issue for the Ducks as well. Ryan Getzlaf (36 points in 32 games), Corey Perry (27 in 34), Chris Pronger (26 in 34) and Chris Kunitz (22 in 34) have been shouldering the offensive load for this team, and it looks like practically no one has been contributing in a significant way. Perhaps Doug Weight will ignite some sort of second-line offensive spark.

- Todd Bertuzzi seems to have lost his career somewhere, and he definitely cannot find it. He's never been the same since attacking Steve Moore in 2004, and has been even worse since being traded to Florida in 2006.

- Something tells me the Sami Pahlsson line isn't what it was last year. In the play-offs, Sami Pahlsson and Rob Niedermayer were probably the biggest reason why Anaheim beat Ottawa: they stopped Heatley and Spezza dead in their tracks. Alfredsson was still able to produce, but not at the same level. This year, both players (Pahlsson and Niedermayer) are not in the plus department. And usually defensive specialists have good plus/minus ratings. So what's going on?

All this to say Scott Niedermayer will have to be some sort of saviour if the Ducks want to defend their Cup title. They have a long way to go if they wish to revert ot last season's form. Good luck, Scott! You're going to need it.

Struggling teams

First off, I'd like to respond to a comment a friend of mine made about my last blog entry. Yes, Martin Gerber is simply having a cold streak and should break out of it soon. Also, while Gerber was having this bad streak, the team in front of him was playin the worst defence I've seen since a year ago, when -guess who- Gerber and the Sens started the season very poorly. I have optimism that Gerber may rebound from his recent struggles, but he probably won't tear up the league like he did at the start of the season. Right now, it's Ray Emery's job to lose in Ottawa.

Now for a small feature: struggling teams. We'll take a look at a few struggling teams. I'll cite the problem and then propose a solution.

SAN JOSE SHARKS

Problem: Sure, the Sharks have won 4 of 5, but Buffalo destroyed them 7-1 at home a couple nights ago. While Nabokov has been phenomenal, the problem lies in the secondary scoring. 21 points separate Joe Thornton, the team's leading scorer, from the team's second-leading scorer. Ouch.

Solution: Slap Patrick Marleau in the face. This guy has 13 points in 28 games, and he's getting paid 4.5 million $. That's a few million less than, say Alexei Yashin, but that doesn't excuse Marleau from his pitiful season.

MONTREAL CANADIENS

Problem: We're already seeing the effects of depending too much on the power-play, as only Chris Higgins, Kyle Chipchura, Roman Hamrlik, and Steve Begin are not in the minus department. Andrei Markov is an astounding -9 so far. Even-strength, the Habs are still struggling, and goaltending seems to have taken a dip. Sure, Alex Kovalev has a decent amount of points, but 8 of his 12 goals have been via power-play.

Solution: Better even-strength play. Guy Lafleur was partly right when he said that Montreal has 4 4th lines. Productive hockey players have to be able to produce even-strength, and we have not seen that from the likes of Saku Koivu, Micheal Ryder, etc. Alex Kovalev is also capable of doing more.

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

Problem: Marty Havlat is back, but Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews have been pretty silent lately. Also, Khabibulin seems to be going through one of those cold streaks.

Solution: Get the youngsters going and give Patrick Lalime more playing time while Khabibulin is not performing: he seems to be making a decent comeback. However, don't be surprised if the Hawks continue sliding. Many would be surprised if they made the play-offs in the tough Western Conference.

Looking at the Senators recent developments

First off, i'd like to say congratulations to the Ottawa Senators for finally breaking out of their slump with a couple of wins on Wednesday and Friday. Their 5-4 win against Florida Wednesday was extremely ugly, but a win is a win and that's what's important. What followed was a display of the contrary of exactly what was plaguing the Sens during their losing streak: secondary scoring. Spezza, Heatley and Alfie, probably the best trio in the league, were continuing to rack up the points even when they were losing. However, the 3 of them combined for only 2 assists against the Stars because players like Mike Fisher and Antoine Vermette stepped up to the challenge and scored.

Also, Emery put in some solid goaltending for the Sens. I'm going to risk it and say Rayzor has officially regained his No. 1 status. Gerber had a good run, but he's one of the streakiest goaltenders around and he looks like he's back at square one right now. Should we trade him? The Senators could probably send him to the defence-starving L.A. Kings and get a good second-liner in return, no?

My bet is that Ottawa shouldn't trade Gerber away just yet because Emery could get injured again. He's suffered 2 injuries in 2 seasons for Ottawa. If you remember, when Emery was replacing Hasek, he suffered a minor hip injury towards the end of the season and was reportedly bothered by it for a while. Of course, last year he had his wrist injury. If Rayzor gets injured again, I have absolutely no confidence in Brian Elliott, the Binghamton goaltender.

So I say wait until the end of the season and then trade either Gerber or Emery and perhaps get a good second-line scorer and a couple draft picks in return.

Sir Barbeton

Finally a trade?

Word has come out of Dallas that the Stars are trying to trade for perhaps Martin St-Louis. We all know how Dallas is faring in the offensive department of their game: not well. They need someone to lead their forwards, because it looks like Mike Modano is looking more and more washed up.

I'm not surprised to see Tampa involved in negociations like these, because they definitely need some defensive support on their team, something Dallas possesses. Mike Smith is taking away a lot of Marty Turco's playing time and could eventually steal his starting job altogether, but I think we're still far from that, given Turco's track record. However, the Stars might consider dealing Smith - or maybe even Turco, if the price is right - because of his recent success.

But Marty St-Louis? No way! We've all heard Jay Feaster (Tampa's GM) repeatedly state that none of his Big Three forwards (St-Louis, Richards, Lecavalier) are going out of Tampa on his watch. Right now, I'd say Richards is the most vulnerable, but he's viewed as the Lightning's future captain, so I think he's untouchable.

Let's also remember that St-Louis has a no-trade clause. I would be shocked if he waived it right now, given how well he and Lecavalier are playing. The St-Louis/Lecavalier duo ranks among the league's best "dynamic duos". The two are also from Quebec, and have a long history of playing in Tampa. So my conscience tells me St-Louis is comfortable and having success with the Lightning.

Bottom line: put this as simply another of those trade rumours. People are getting antsy with the trades this year being non-existent, so they're just throwing suggestions around. A trade that would bring St-Louis out of Tampa for a goalie in Dallas (something tells me the Stars won't part with Turco) would be simply incredible.

Byrne, baby, Byrne!

So how about Ryan O'Byrne and the Habs? I know, it's just one game, but here comes this guy who's supposed to shake up a game or two with his fists to wake up the recently slumping Canadiens. If you ask me, when I first saw his picture I was sure he was some sort of Irish redneck - the Brian McGrattan or Georges Laraque type that doesn't involve too much talent, just 100 % intimidation.

Turns out he brought a bit more than that. The type of player who doesn't mean to chip in offensively, but shows up on the scoreboard anyway becuase of a stray pass or two. Byrne, baby, Byrne. With 2 assists in his first NHL game, is he the next Norris Trophy winner for top defenceman?

Mmm... maybe more like the next Kamil Piros, who as a late-season callup had 3 goals and 2 assists in 3 games in 2003 for Atlanta. He played 17 more NHL games, scoring a total of 2 points during the rest of his short career. Last I heard was that he was playing for some obscure hockey teams in Switzerland and Russia.

But maybe that's a bit harsh for O'Byrne. Let's just say he won't evolve into an offensive defenceman, but I like his chances for a good NHL career.

Though I think this year's not the year for Montreal and its faithful. I predicted before the season began that Montreal would not make the play-offs. I still stand by that prediction, as a number of Habs have hit slumps and Carey Price can only do so much in net. The Canadiens rely too much on their power-play, and once Alex Kovalev decides he's too tired to play well anymore, the losses will start accumulating.

So until next time, try finding some actual documentation about Kamil Piros. It's bound to be wasteful of your time.

Sir Barbeton

Launching up the BHC!

For a while now, I've felt like doing something to show my passion for the world of hockey. So here it is:
-Predictions
-Analysis
-Random thoughts and facts
-Etc.

The Barbeton Hockey Central blog will be treating everything hockey, from Antti Aalto to Andrei Zyuzin and everyone and everything in between.

The best way to support me and my blogging? Spread the word. If you like it, don't be afraid to show it around, that way a network's gonna grow out of it.

Hope you like the content!

Sir Barbeton