LOS ANGELES – The NHL season is winding down and we have races throughout the four divisions for ladder positioning.
Conference races for wild card spots are thrilling with teams leapfrogging each other seemingly a nightly basis.
With the games dwindling down to less than 10 before the season comes to a conclusion we thought we would share a few thoughts.
A d
ozen thoughts actualy as we go down the stretch in the NHL.
1. The outdoor game is an incredible event to attend in person. Being among over sixty thousand hockey fans in the elements is unforgettable. The game also creates a boom in the economy of the host city. The NHL should definitely keep doing a few outdoor games a year but stop trying to SELL it to people not in the host city. Outdoor games are usually bad hockey televised with horrible sight lines. The fact Pierre McGuire is there only adds salt to the wound. You don’t need to send the entire NHL Network. It’s a regular season game. Two points are on the line not the Stanley Cup.
2. Over turned goals on offsides is an epidemic. I say if coaches don’t call it as soon as it happens then let it go. Give them a buzzer, if a coach sees a blatant offsides, buzz. If not too bad. It can’t be reviewed. Now teams give up a goal and they go back and review the blue line with a microscope. It’s not about getting the call right, it’s sour grapes.
3. The crime of this year’s playoffs is not either Pittsburgh or Washington exiting after the first round but Columbus making it to the Eastern Conference Finals. There are a ton of things to like about Columbus. Head Coach John Tortorella is not one of them. Did you see Tortorella play the subway shell game with players during a penalty shot against New Jersey? Torts is forever bush league.
4. I loved Don Cherry showering praise on Evgeni Malkin in the Coach’s Corner.
5. Kevin Shattenkirk will not be the difference for the Capitals in this post season. The Capitals already had a deep defense. He’s a little better than John Carlson on the power play but not much. The difference for the Capitals this season will be their second and third line centers. Evgeni Kuznetsov needs to show up this year. Lars Eller was acquired for one reason, to beat the Penguins. I expect the Capitals’ first and fourth lines to neutralize the Penguins first and fourth lines. Backstrom’s line vs Crosby’s line and Beagle’s line vs Cullen’s line. The Penguins’ centers Evgeni Malkin and Nick Bonino and their lines dominated the Capitals in last year’s playoffs. It’s up to Kuznetsov and Eller to change that.
6. The Red Wings’ last season at the Joe has not been a total waste. They have been able to determine Jimmy Howard is their best goaltender and not Petr Mrazek or Jared Coreau
7. Only Juicy Brucee aka BBQ Bruce could start a goalie controversy with less than twelve games left in the season. I thought this was the year Boudreau would go into the playoffs without a goalie controversy, I mean he has Devan Dubnyk. Please Bruce leave your Vezina worthy goalie alone.
8. A few good hockey men will probably be out of work this spring. The Kings GM Dean Lombardi and Head Coach Darryl Sutter are two of them. They brought two Stanley Cups to Los Angeles but their time has passed. Lombardi did have a good deadline bringing in Ben Bishop and Jerome Iginla on the cheap but he’s had a bad few years. He gave third and fourth lines players (Kyle Clifford, Trevor Lewis, Jordan Nolan) multi-year contracts. The Blackhawks resisted that and continue to flourish. He never adequately replaced Slava Voynov; it’s been three years. I don’t know who to blame for ripping the C off Dustin Brown’s chest but it was misguided. Sutter may not have had the best groceries to cook with but what he served most nights was not appetizing. It’s easy to blame the Kings season on Jonathan Quick’s injury but Peter Budaj played well. What you have to ask is where the Kings would be if Jeff Carter didn’t have an amazing year. The answer is they’d be with Arizona and Colorado looking up at the basement. The game is not played Sutter’s way anymore. Today’s game is built on speed and skill. Goals are scored on rushes not by grinding it out. The Kings are so slow Iginla fit right in. I love Sutter but it’s time for the Kings to clean house.
9. Paul Maurice is another good man but the Jets are chronically under achieving. Their biggest problem is discipline. They make lazy changes and take too long on shifts. They take too many penalties and they have a pathetic penalty kill. All recipes for losing.
10. Lindy Ruff will probably not survive either. There is a basket full of reasons the Stars have fallen back this season. Goaltending being the obvious one. Most of these reasons are not Ruff’s fault but he’ll take the blame.
11. I think the Vegas job is Lindy Ruff’s if he wants it. If the Golden Knights wanted Gerard Gallant he’d be the coach already.
12.The Colorado Avalanche need to hire Michel Therrien. They need Iron Mike to clean up that mess. He’s the Winston Wolf of the NHL. The only thing enjoyable about the Avs this season was their third jerseys. They look great. The names on the back not so much.
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