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The second of two head NHL coaching vacancies has been filled.
Craig Hartsburg is the new coach of the Ottawa Senators, the third time he has led an NHL team.
Hartsburg takes over from Senators general manager Bryan Murray, who finished the season behind the Ottawa bench after coach John Paddock was fired in late February.
Hartsburg also has coached in Anaheim and Chicago, and was an assistant coach for the Philadelphia Flyers from 2002 to 2004. The 48-year-old Hartsburg has been coach of the Ontario Hockey League’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds for the past five seasons.
Ottawa was, either the worst or second to worst(Only to the Florida Panthers*) underacheiving team in the NHL last year. The Senators are talented, but face troubles also. One of which is their goaltending situation.
Is Hartsburg going to help Ottawa? He has a lifetime sub .500 record, and hasn’t coached in the NHL for nearly a decade. To me the hiring looks questionable, especially with their being a large pool of experienced NHL head coaches available at the moment (John Tortorella, Pat Quinn, Marc Crawford to just name three).
*- Talking about the Panthers. When will GM(and former Head Coach) Jacques Martin get off his butt and hire his replacement? Martin is still doing interviews two months after being relieved of his head coaching responsibilities.
No question, ‘The Dominator’ was a great goalie(but if given a choice, I’d take Martin Brodeur) and is destined for the Hall of Fame. This after Hasek had to wait seven years after his being selected in the NHL Draft before being able to play in the NHL. That mostly due to the fact he was born in Czechoslovakia which was still behind the Iron Curtain.
That’s in the past for Hasek, who is 43 years old now. Good luck in retirement Dominator.
DETROIT — The passion that made Dominik Hasek great is gone.
So, the goaltender known as the Dominator said goodbye to the Detroit Red Wings and NHL.
“Physically, I’m felling great — as well as ever,” Hasek said Monday as he announced his retirement. “I just don’t feel that I’m ready to compete on the highest level.
“I need motivation. Right now, I don’t feel it’s there and I don’t want to disappoint anyone.”
Hasek rarely did disappoint during his 16 seasons, becoming the first goalie to be a two-time MVP. He won six Vezina Trophies, trailing only Jacques Plante’s total by one.
Hasek’s announcement came five days after the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup over Pittsburgh.
Detroit general manager Ken Holland said Hasek’s place in history is secured, calling him not only one of the greatest goalies of his era — along with Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur — but also one of the best in NHL history.
Historically Dom-inant
Dominik Hasek spent his NHL career known as the Dominator. Looking at where his numbers rank among other goalies, it’s not hard to see why Hasek is considered a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
“He’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer,” Holland said.
Former Red Wings great Steve Yzerman agreed.
“You’re splitting hairs if you pick one between Dom, Roy and Brodeur because they all had different styles,” said Yzerman, a team executive and former teammate of Hasek’s. “It’s like comparing Mercedes, Ferrari to Porsche.”
Hasek lost his job during Detroit’s run to the Cup, getting benched for good during the opening-round series in favor of Chris Osgood. The 43-year-old from the Czech Republic insisted he would’ve retired even if he stayed in net throughout the playoffs.
“I am leaving this game feeling very, very happy,” he said.
Holland didn’t try to persuade Hasek to return for another season.
“There was nothing to discuss,” Holland said. “Dom was completely at peace with the decision that he had made.”
Holland said minor league goalie Jimmy Howard might get a shot to be Osgood’s backup next season, but didn’t rule out adding a veteran via trade or free agency.
Hasek won 389 games with the Red Wings, Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres and Chicago Blackhawks, who drafted him in the 10th round in 1983 and had to wait until the 1990-91 season to get him on the ice. Chicago kept him just two seasons, then watched him become one of the game’s greats in Buffalo.
Hasek ranks 10th in NHL history in wins, ninth in goals against average, 18th in games and is tied for sixth in shutouts.
He won 65 playoff games, including 16 in 2002 when he won his first Stanley Cup with Detroit.
“It was our goaltender who made the difference that year,” Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch said.
Hasek led the Czech Republic to gold at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, was injured while playing for his country in 2006 and laughed when asked if he would come out of retirement to play in 2010 in Vancouver.
He plans to return to the Czech Republic soon with his wife and daughter, leaving his son behind to attend Michigan State University.
One of Hasek’s most impressive feats was the six Vezina Awards he won as the NHL’s best goaltender in a single season.
During this past regular season, Hasek won 27 games and had a 2.14 goals-against average while alternating with Osgood in net.
Detroit coach Mike Babcock chose to start Hasek in the playoffs — saying “Dom’s not going to struggle” — then pulled him in favor of Osgood during Game 4 of the first round against the Nashville Predators.
Osgood won his first nine games as a starter in the postseason and finished with a 14-4 record and a league-low 1.55 goals-against average, keeping Hasek on the bench.
After an injury-shortened season with the Senators, Hasek returned to the Red Wings two years ago.
He signed a one-year contract worth $750,000 in 2006 and made $900,000 in bonuses. He chose to stick around last summer with a one-year contract worth more than $2 million in base salary with a chance to earn an additional $2 million in bonuses.
Detroit acquired Hasek the first time in 2001 in a trade with Buffalo, where he had been since 1992. He backstopped the Red Wings to the championship during his first season in Detroit, then retired.
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This comes with less than 20 games left in the NHL season.
OTTAWA — The Ottawa Senators, looking sluggish in a recent, lengthy slump, on Wednesday fired coach John Paddock.
General manager Bryan Murray will take over coaching duties for the last 18 games of the regular season. Murray was coach when the Senators advanced to the Stanley Cup finals in 2006-07, but stepped aside to become GM during the summer, and Paddock was given the job as coach.
The Senators lead the Northeast Division by a point over the Montreal Canadiens, but have been shut out in their past two games. Ottawa has lost six of its past eight games and 14 of its last 21.
Murray’s first game in his return behind the bench will be Thursday against the Flyers in Philadelphia.
Murray has been almost as well traveled as Mike Keenan. With stops in Anaheim, Detroit, Washington, and Florida. The Senators have been a disappointment after a fast start to the 07-08 season. I still feel the talent is there for Ottawa to win the conference. A resurgent Pittsburgh Penguins look like the Senator’s biggest obstacle, that is other than themselves.
Across Canada and the US, General Managers are already evaluating their team in preparation for Feb. 26th. For the Columbus GM Scott Howson, the big decision is what to do in regards to goaltender Pascal Leclaire. From the Columbus Dispatch-
The next three weeks are crucial for the Blue Jackets, who must decide whether they are a playoff-caliber club and a buyer or a seller at the Feb. 26 trade deadline.
On Feb. 27, the off-ice focus should shift to re-signing goaltender Pascal Leclaire, who is set to become a restricted free agent July 1.
First, a little background.
In the old NHL, there was a gentleman’s agreement that general managers wouldn’t poach other clubs’ restricted free agents by signing them to offer sheets. In the new NHL, gentlemen have gone the way of enforcers, which is to say there aren’t as many left.
Last summer, Edmonton general manager Kevin Lowe extended offer sheets to Buffalo’s Thomas Vanek and Anaheim’s Dustin Penner. The Sabres matched the Vanek offer (seven years, $50 million), but the Ducks let Penner leave for five years, $21.25 million. And a new day dawned.
Offer sheets used to be rare. There were only seven of note between 1990 and 2006. Now, it’s considered another way, albeit an expensive one, of adding star power.
Many have assumed that offer sheets could be extended for the likes of pending restricted free agents Shea Weber, Dion Phaneuf, Corey Perry, Matt Stajan and Alexander Semin, among others.
Does anybody doubt that Leclaire would be near the top of that list?
I might. Leclaire is having an exceptional 07-08 but what was his record like before this year?
59 games played 17 wins 32 losses 0 Overtime losses 3.13 Goals against average .905 save percentage
Those statistics are below average for a starting NHL goaltender. I could also add that Leclaire wasn’t even the starting goalie for the Blue Jackets in 06-07. Instead Fredrik Norrena did most of the net work for Columbus, playing in 55 games.
Could Leclaire have blossomed into a top goalie? Perhaps, but part of one season proves nothing. With his being a restricted free agent and Columbus in contention for a playoff spot, I wouldn’t trade the goalie. That’s unless some team wants to trade the farm to get Leclaire. That will happen sometimes. Nashvile last year traded three players to get the oft injured Peter Forsberg just before the trading deadline. What is Forsberg doing these days?
Update- Another player rumored to be on the trading block is Toronto’s Mats Sundin. He is 36 years old and still a good scorer, Sundin does however have a no trade clause in his contract is a unrestricted free agent at season’s end. A team trading for Sundin could see the Swede take a hike a little over four months after acquiring him.
If Toronto does trade Sundin, lay odds it is to a Western Conference team and definitely not Maple Leaf Division rival, the Ottawa Senators.
For being late to practice the team’s General Manager says
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Ottawa Senators goalie Ray Emery will be “fined substantially” by the team after arriving late for a team skate a day after the All-Star Game.
Emery’s explanation for being four minutes late was that he went to Nassau Coliseum for the skate, when it was being held at the Islanders’ practice rink Monday afternoon.
“Ray has got to be in uniform with the rest of the team,” general manager Bryan Murray said. “This is a uniform league. We have rules, and he has to follow them, just like anyone else.”
Murray said Emery will be “fined substantially.”
*****
“We think Ray is a good goaltender,” Murray said. “We’re asking him to be accountable.”
Emery could be docked up to one-187th of his $2.75 million salary, roughly $14,700.
That is a great deal of accountability. The fine coming out at 3,675 dollars a minute.
Why was Emery late? The goalie had this to say.
“When the club came back from the break, I just didn’t go to the right location,” Emery said. “I didn’t want to cause a ruckus, and I want to make up for it.
“They said it was a one-time thing, and they know it was accidental, but it’s kind of me all the time, so it’s [management's] job to do something about it,” he said. “I didn’t want to miss the practice, but I did, and I have to try to get past it. I haven’t heard any of my teammates say it harmed them or anything like that. All I can do is show up on time and try to get through this as best as I can.”
What Emery’s teammates think, has nothing to do whether the Goalie should or shouldn’t be fined. That is a decision for management.
A $14,750 fine would seem excessive. Then maybe GM Bryan Murray is sending Emery a message to get his act together.
Murray did admit that the transgression itself wasn’t as bad as it was made out to be, but this wasn’t Emery’s first incident this season. He threw his stick in the stands after a morning skate, angry that he wasn’t starting that night’s game. He also fought teammate Brian McGrattan in practice.
Emery is definitely a talented goalie. He has issues however, ones Ray Emery needs to address. A hit in the wallet may be exactly that message.
From top to bottom, the standings
Ottawa Senators 51 32-15-4-68
Montréal Canadiens 50-27-15-8-62
Philadelphia Flyers 49-28-16-5-61
Pittsburgh Penguins 50 28-18-4-60
New Jersey Devils 50-28-19-3-59
Boston Bruins 50-26-19-5-57
New York Islanders 51-24-21-6-54
New York Rangers 52-24-22-6- 54
Carolina Hurricanes 53-25-24-4-54
Washington Capitals 51-23-23-5-51
Atlanta Thrashers 52-23-25-4-50
Buffalo Sabres 49-22-21-6-50
Florida Panthers 51-22-24-5-49
Toronto Maple Leafs 52-20-24-8-48
Tampa Bay Lightning 51-20-26-5-45
Note- The numbers above from left to right are- Games played, wins, losses, Overtime losses, total points
Teams in Bold are Southeast Division teams
First of all barring a complete collapse by these teams, you have to think Ottawa, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New Jersey and Montreal are locks to make the playoffs. You can probably also toss Boston in.
The rest of the conference is pretty wide open. The only teams that appear to have little chance are Tampa and Toronto.
The Southeast Division is wide open. It is also a division likely to send only one team to the playoffs. First to fourth place is separated by a measly 5 pts, and the 4th place team Florida has played two less games than division leader Carolina. That would point to Florida having a good chance to make the playoffs for the first time in 8 years. On the other hand, there is the team’s listless play of late, only 4 wins in 14 games and this from today’s Palm Beach Post.
The Panthers, who return to action tonight against Buffalo following the All-Star break, say they are determined to end their agonizing playoff drought.
But some observers think the Panthers haven’t exhibited enough determination to reach the post-season for the first time since April 2000.
To put it more bluntly, some critics think they are soft.
“This team plays too much on the perimeter; I haven’t seen the willingness to get their noses dirty and do the dirty work,” said NHL broadcaster John Vanbiesbrouck, who starred in the nets for the Panthers when they reached the Stanley Cup Final in 1996.
“Winning isn’t easy. You’ve got to make up your mind you’re going to do whatever it takes to get there and play like that every night.”
I’m not totally sure if Vanbiesbrouck is right in what he says. Florida has blown at least five games this year in the last minute of play. They’ve also played games where they either quit or showed little effort. I’ve missed only a handful of games on television this year, Florida has the talent to win the division and even make a run in the playoffs. The only teams I worry about in the conference are Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Carolina and Toronto (The Maple Leaf oversized defensemen seem to intimidate the Panthers) when Florida faces them.
I question if the Panthers has the desire, and perhaps the coaching. Why the hell did the team send Shawn Matthias back to the minors? He scored two goals in four NHL games, two of which Jacques Martin barely played him in, and 21 in 32 games of OHL play before his callup. I rather have Matthias on the roster than the overrated Brett McLean or Kamil Kreps. After all, Kreps has just 4 goals in 45 games played!
Boy am I getting gloomy about this Panthers team.
This season’s opener was played in London. On Saturday, the NHL announced its intention to play two games in Europe to open the 2008-09 season. From AP-
ATLANTA - Basking in the spotlight of its All-Star game, the NHL decided Saturday was the perfect time to unveil a big announcement for the start of next season: Four teams will get the honor of opening in Europe.
Maybe the league should have made sure the players were on board.
Saying there were still details to be worked out, the leader of the NHL Players’ Association objected to the league announcing two games would be played in both Prague and Stockholm to start the 2008-09 season.
Commissioner Gary Bettman said the New York Rangers are scheduled to meet the Tampa Bay Lightning at Sazka Arena in the Czech Republic, while the Ottawa Senators would face off against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Globe Arena in Sweden’s capital city.
The games would be played Oct. 4 and 5 — assuming the Players’ Association signs off on the plans.
That might be a problem. Paul Kelly, the NHLPA’s executive director, said he was aware of the European games but warned the league not to make a firm announcement until the two sides worked out all details.
“If they want the Players’ Association to be a true business partner, then they have to include us in discussions about these matters at the earliest stages,” Kelly said. “We shouldn’t read about it in the press and we shouldn’t find about it after the fact.”
Kelly said he was approached by league officials Friday night and asked to sign off on the European games, which would mark the second straight year the NHL has opened its season on the other side of the Atlantic.
His response: “Look guys, you know we have a lot of details to work out. Travel, promotional issues, NHLPA involvement, accommodations, the schedule, etc. So there’s still lots of details to work out, but if you want to announce it generally, that’s fine.’
From Kelly’s statements, it appears the NHLPA is unhappy because they weren’t included in the decision making process. They should have been, but that’s water under the bridge now.
As to playing games in Europe, I don’t like it from the point of view of the Sports US fans. Both Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay will be losing one home game. If you’re a season ticket holder of either team, you have a right to complain. Why should your team have to play a home gain 1/3rd the way around the world? I didn’t like it when the Miami Dolphins agreed to play The New York Giants in London last year. Dolphin fans had more reason to be upset, considering they only get 8 home games a year, and the Giants were making a rare appearance in South Florida.
US football in Europe if it wasn’t a financial bust, was hardly a success either. As to hockey, most countries have their own hockey leagues. How many Czechs and Swedes are playing in the NHL now? Quite a few. I think local fans prefer to watch their own teams. Not ones brought in from another continent. Even if interest is generated, I’d bet it is only temporary.
And you were worried the defending Eastern Conference Champ may miss Deny Heatley. From AP-
TAMPA, Fla. - Daniel Alfredsson had three goals and four assists for an Ottawa-record seven points, leading the struggling Senators to an 8-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.
Alfredsson and Jason Spezza, who had two goals and two assists, scored 29 seconds apart during Ottawa’s three-goal first period. The Senators’ captain added a short-handed goal and his 500th career assist in the second as the Senators took a 5-0 lead.
*****
Alfredsson topped his career high of six points at Buffalo on Nov. 2, 2005.
*****
Alfredsson scored from the top of the left circle at 13:43 of the first. Spezza made it 2-0 from the high slot at 14:12.
Alfredsson scored a power-play goal with 1:19 left in the first and added his sixth short-handed goal of the season on a 2-on-1 to put Ottawa up 4-0 at 4:38 of the second.
Alfredsson got his 500th career assist on Vermette’s goal later in the second at 9:36.
One third of Ottawa’s ‘Cash line’, Alfredsson has been one of the NHL’s most consistent scorers for over a decade. All for Ottawa. Its players like Alfrdesson, Heatley, and others who make the Senator’s the class of the Eastern Conference.
He is only one of 10 NHL coaches to win that many games. From AP-
NEWARK, N.J.– Jacques Martin joined a club so exclusive, its members numbered in the single digits.
Until he joined, anyway.
Martin became the 10th NHL coach with 500 wins after Radek Dvorak and David Booth scored early in the third period to lift the Florida Panthers to a 2-1 win over the New Jersey Devils on Friday. Backup goalie Craig Anderson made 31 saves and the Panthers ended a three-game losing streak.
“I’ve been very fortunate to work in this league, the best league in the world and to have some good players to coach,” said Martin, who is also Florida’s general manager.
Dvorak and Booth scored 1:17 apart in the third to give Florida the lead. Dvorak got the equalizer 2:28 in. Brett McLean unloaded a hard shot on Martin Brodeur who made a stick save. Dvorak pounced on the rebound for his first goal in 11 games.
Before taking over the Panthers, Martin coached in St. Louis and Ottawa.
Friday’s win was Florida’s 2nd triumph over Martin Brodeur this year in three tries. At present the Panthers are mired in a slump that leaves me doubtful about the team’s prospects for winning the weak Southeast Division. The team losing 5-3 to a weak Washington team on Saturday night. The team isn’t scoring and Goalie Tomas Vokoun is in a slump. I’d let Craig Anderson start versus Ottawa on Tuesday night, but Martin seems reluctant to use his #2 goalie much.
If Florida doesn’t get their act together soon the 2007-08 year can be marked as just another disappointment for the team’s fans.
Heatley was the Senators’ second leadin scorer at the time of his injury. From AP-
OTTAWA — The Ottawa Senators’ Dany Heatley will be sidelined up to six weeks because of a separated right shoulder. He’ll miss Sunday’s game against the New York Islanders, ending a streak of 205 straight games with the Senators.
Heatley crashed into the end boards with Detroit forward Dallas Drake in the second period of Saturday’s 3-2 victory over the Red Wings. He was slouched over when he left the ice, favoring his right shoulder.
It’s a significant loss for the Senators (29-10-4), who hold a seven-point lead atop the Eastern Conference. The 26-year-old has 56 points (25 goals, 31 assists) in 43 games this season, good for seventh place in the NHL scoring race. Heatley is also second in the league with a plus/minus rating of plus-31.
Heatley joined he Senators in a trade with Atlanta in August 2005, and has recorded 264 points (125 goals, 139 assists) with the team
Even with Heatley injured, I predict Ottawa to lead the Eastern conference at the end of the regular season. As long as the left winger returns to the lineup, I stick to my prediction that the Senators win the Stanley Cup next spring.
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