Are the NHL’s two worst teams now residing in the Sunshine State? From AP-
Milan Michalek made Ottawa Senators fans forget about high-scoring Dany Heatley — at least for one night.
Acquired at the start of training camp in the deal that sent Heatley to San Jose, Michalek had his first three-goal game in the NHL, scoring twice short-handed and once on a power play in Ottawa’s 7-1 victory over Tampa Bay on Thursday night.
“To see all the people standing and clapping for me was an awesome feeling,” said Michalek said. “Hopefully, there’s many goals to come.”
Michalek shoveled a rebound past goalie Mike Smith with Tampa Bay on the power play in the first period. The big Czech winger then beat Smith again on a short-handed breakaway early in the second, helping the Senators to their fourth win in five games.
“Two short-handed goals, it’s embarrassing,” Lightning coach Rick Tocchet said. “We gave one up against Florida [in a win Monday night]. I know it’s only Game 6, but when you give up three short-handed goals in two games, there’s going to be some video, there’s going to be some talking and there might be some changes.”
Tampa was outshot 35-17, making it appear they are still inadequate at the position of defenseman. That was the team’s biggest weakness during the 2008-09 NHL season.
Tampa is 2-2-2 so far this year. The Florida Panthers are 1-4. Most hockey prognosticators, plus myself, would have had these teams reversed in their predictions for this far into the season. I’m not giving up on the Panthers yet. After a 4-3 start last year they went through a dozen game stretch where little went right. The Panthers then rallied to almost make the playoffs. Hopefully tonight’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers will spark a turnaround for my favorite NHL team.
Have the Sharks found the player tyoo lead them to a Stanley Cup? From AP-
The Ottawa Senators traded disgruntled winger Dany Heatley to the San Jose Sharks on Saturday, ending a lingering dispute with a player who felt he was not being used properly by the team.
The Sharks gave up Milan Michalek, Jonathan Cheechoo and a second-round pick. Ottawa also sent a fifth-round pick to San Jose.
The trade on the opening day of training camp ends a clash that has overshadowed the Senators in recent months.
The 28-year-old Heatley said he wanted out of Ottawa because he wasn’t being used properly. But he angered fans when he refused to waive a no-trade clause to move to Edmonton.
“When I signed in Ottawa two years ago, I felt it was to be an integral part of the team,” Heatley said in August. “Over the last two years and more recently over the past year, I feel my role was diminished. This past season, it diminished a lot more.
“I’m a player who can play in a lot of different situations. I don’t feel I was given that role on the team. I’d like the opportunity to go somewhere where I can play to the best of my capabilities and be the player I can be.”
The Sharks beef up their offense by acquiring a former 50-goal scorer. Heatley had 39 goals and 33 assists last season.
Heatley has 260 goals and 283 assists in 507 regular games, split between Atlanta and Ottawa. He is due to make $8 million this year.
Michalek, a 24-year-old winger from the Czech Republic, had 23 goals and 24 assists in 77 games last season. His salary is $3.5 million this year.
The 29-year-old Cheechoo, a hard-nosed winger, had 12 goals and 17 assists last season. He’s due to make $3.5 million this season.
From the point of view of what talent was exchanged, San Jose came out on top. When everything else is considered, I think Ottawa was a winner. Heatley is a very unhappy person in Ottaw, even though he was the Senators leading scorer and the team’s first or second most valuable player on ice.(A strong argument can be made that Forward Daniel Alfredsson is better than Heatley.) Heatley wanted out of Ottawa, claiming his role was diminished there but how so was it diminished. What’s really at play here is that Heatley is a troubled young man. His reckless driving killed his best friend and teammate Dan Snyder in 2003. NHL fans and Snyder’s family forgave Heatley but I’m pretty certain Heatley hasn’t been able to forgive himself and that’s why he asked for a trade from Atlanta in 2005 and his most recent trade out of 2009. He’s looking for a place to be comfortable. Heatley will never be comfortable anywhere he lives till he forgives himself. I don’t think that will happen before his hockey days are over. Playing the sport is a constant reminder of his friend who unlike him can’t play the sport they both loved so much.
He played for 12 different teams in his career but he scored the most points for his final team, the New York Islanders. Enjoy your retirement Mike.
New York Islanders center Mike Sillinger decided two hip operations were enough.
The center who played for a record 12 teams during 17 seasons in the NHL is retiring because of an injured left hip.
“The decision was clear to me after dealing with hip surgery the last two seasons, Sillinger said during a conference call Wednesday. “If I was to come back and be a hero I’d be getting a hip replacement before I’m 40.”
The 38-year-old forward played in only seven games last season and had season-ending hip resurfacing surgery in January. In February 2008, he had a microfracture procedure on the hip that forced him to sit out the final 29 games of that season.
Sillinger spent three years with the Islanders and his 42 goals and 87 points were his most with any NHL team.
“It’s a big hole to fill,” Islanders general manager Garth Snow said. “Mike was good at many different things, whether it was putting the puck in the net or taking a faceoff.”
Sillinger was chosen No. 11 in the 1989 draft by Detroit. For his career, he had 240 goals and 308 assists in 1,049 games.
Sillinger said he’d like to stay in hockey but downplayed the notion that he might go into coaching right away.
“I’m just going to enjoy the kids for now and see what the future brings,” he said.
Besides the Islanders and Red Wings, Sillinger also suited up for Anaheim, Vancouver, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, Florida, Ottawa, Columbus, Phoenix, St. Louis and Nashville.
The upcoming schedule was released yesterday. Right away I noticed something interesting. Florida has a home and home series with Nashville.
Nov 28 and Mar 29 are when the Panthers and Predators play next season.
What I find interesting is- Florida is playing Nashville home and home for the second straight season. In 2008-09, the Panthers and Predators played on November 1st and December 23rd.
In light of the way the NHL season is set up, namely that any Eastern or Western conference team plays only play 3 home and homes in any season, Florida and Nashville shouldn’t meet home and home more than once every five years 15 western conference teams divided by 3 home and home series equals five.
Here’s a link to the 2009-10 schedule. Anyone have theories as to what happened here or am I off base?
The former Ottawa Senator spent the last NHL season playing in Russia. From AP-
A year after Ottawa released the petulant goaltender, forcing him to turn to a Russian league when no other NHL team would take him, Emery agreed to a one-year contract with the Philadelphia Flyers worth about $1.5 million.
General manager Paul Holmgren believes Emery, 26, has mended his mercurial ways and again can be the player he was when he helped the Senators to the Stanley Cup finals in 2007.
“I spent a great deal of time talking with Ray,” Holmgren said Wednesday. “The thing that kept coming back is he’s recognized there was a period in his life when he made some mistakes.”
Emery missed practices and clashed with teammates in Ottawa and was charged with multiple speeding violations and a road rage incident. Emery insists he’s learned from the past.
“I learned maybe more from those bad experiences than the good times we had there,” he said. “I realize I had a great thing going and lost a lot of people that I enjoyed hanging out with. I want to get back to having those good relationships. I think that’s the reason I’m going to change.”
Ottawa was a very good goalie up through the 2006-07 NHL season when he helped Ottawa reach the Stanley Cup finals. Then he entered hurt, didn’t play very well, and had the problems listed above. The Senators tired of Emery’s antics, gave his release. That the team then tried to play winning hockey with a couple of schlock career backup goalies(Alex Auld and Martin Gerber) is a whole other story.
Philadelphia had a good Goalie in Martin Biron, but he along with the Flyer’s backup Goaltender are unrestricted free agents this off season. The team didn’t want to pay Biron what he was asking for salary wise, so Philly went with the cheaper option of Emery. Emery for Biron is at best a lateral move for the Flyers. It can backfire, if Emery begins misbehaving again.
The NHL trading deadline is four hours away. From CBC Sports-
The Ottawa Senators traded forward Antoine Vermette to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday.
In exchange, Ottawa receives goaltender Pascal LeClaire and a second-round pick in the 2009 NHL draft.
Vermette, 26, has nine goals and 19 assists in 62 games this season for the Senators.
He is signed through next season, when he will make $3 million, before he becomes eligible for unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2010.
Leclaire, 26, has played in 12 games for the Jackets this season, posting a 4-6-1 record with a 3.83 goals against average
Ottawa is essentially out of the playoff hunt for 2008-09. I’m doubtful Leclaire will help fill the goaltending void in Ottawa. He’s just another second stringer, and the Senators have two already in Alex Auld and Martin Gerber. Admittedly Gerber has been sent to the minors and may be destined for Europe. So he could be reasonably considered out of the picture. Still the move puzzles me.
With 52 points for the season, Alfredsson is the Senators’ leading scorer. From AP-
The Ottawa Senators will be without Daniel Alfredsson for at least a week after their captain fractured his jaw during the team’s 3-2 overtime loss Tuesday night in Colorado.
The 36-year-old Swede was struck in the face by a puck and left the game for X-rays, but returned to finish the third period and overtime.
Alfredsson didn’t require surgery, but will miss Thursday’s home game against Vancouver.
*****
“We’ll probably look at it again next week and see where it is and go from there.”
Hockey is a rough sport but the people who play it are resoundingly tough. I wouldn’t be back from a fractured jaw in just a week’s time.
The injury comes at a bad time for a team that still has hopes of making the playoffs.
Yes a team can still hope but Ottawa needs a miracle to make the playoffs. They are at present in 11th place in the Eastern conference and 13 points behind the four teams tied for 5th to 8th place. 8th place is the final playoff spot.
When you are demoted to the minors at age 34, I think it is safe to say your NHL career has reached a crisis stage. From AP-
Goaltender Martin Gerber was assigned by the Ottawa Senators to Binghamton of the AHL on Tuesday.
Gerber went unclaimed when he was placed on waivers on Thursday after being sent to the minors on a conditioning stint Jan. 15.
General manager Bryan Murray said this week that one team had shown interest, but that if no deal was made by Tuesday, Gerber would be assigned to the AHL club.
That deadline passed and Gerber was sent down.
The Senators can still call him up if either Alex Auld or Brian Elliot struggles or is injured.
Gerber is earning $3.7 million — with more than $1 million remaining to be paid this season — in the final year of a three-year free-agent deal signed in 2006.
The Swiss goaltender who joined the club after helping Carolina win a Stanley Cup in 2006 was edged out by Ray Emery as the Senators starter in the 2006-07 season.
The 34-year-old Gerber is 4-9-1 this season with a 2.86 goals-against average and a .899 save percentage in 14 games.
Gerber has been a decent backup Goalie but that’s about all. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s playing somewhere in Europe(like former Senator Goalie Ray Emery) during the 2009-10 NHL season.
The Florida Panthers played their 41st game of the NHL season last night. A 4-2 win over division rival Carolina Panthers. Before I make some comments, here are the standings
First I can safely conclude the NY Islanders, Tampa Bay, Ottawa, and Atlanta are out of the playoff picture. Toronto faces a uphill battle, but I won’t count them out yet.
Look where Pittsburgh is only one year after making the Stanley Cup finals. What is going on up there? They recently had a five-game losing streak at home.
They aren’t the only recent memory Stanley Cup final team fallen on hard times. Ottawa who made it in the 06-07 looks to be re-building. How did anyone in Senator management think Alex Doug Auld and Martin Gerber were playoff quality goalies?
Tampa Bay has gotten out of the cellar. Two wins against Florida in late December helped. Will Rick Tocchet still be coaching next season?
Florida has its best record at the half way since the 1999-2000 season, or the last time they went to the playoffs. I had high hopes for Florida last year only to see them dashed. Could they make it this year?
Definitely. The teams immediately ahead of them are beatable. If Florida sneaks in as the 7th or 8th seed, they are most likely to get buzz sawed by Boston or Montreal.(Though Florida does have a good record against Goalie Tim Thomas and are the only NHL team with a lifetime winning record against the Canadians. )
Some miscellaneous Florida notes-
Their defensemen have scored more goals than any other team in the Eastern Conference
Florida has gained at least 1 pt in every game Gregory Campbell has scored in.
Yesterday’s game marked just the 3rd time ever Florida went without a penalty in a game.
Tomas Vokoun now has 201 career wins as a goalie.
Florida has a very good goalie at Rochester that the name eludes me. Would Florida consider a deal for Craig Anderson and bring up the rookie before the season ends? Anderson is a free agent at the end of the year and not expected to be back.
Florida signed a multi-year agreement with Fox Sports Florida which as a result have more Panther games on television.(I got NHL Center Ice too, so I rarely miss a game unless there is no television at all) That’s good news. Now I would like FSN to stop showing upcoming programming promos while play is happening on ice. Those idiotic spinning pucks fill 1/8th of the television screen and often interfere with watching play. Every time I see this crap I feel like screaming at the television.
It is not known if his victim will need a rabies shot. From AP-
The NHL acted swiftly after what happened in the first period of Buffalo’s 4-2 home win. Peters started the skirmish by shoving the palm of his glove into Ruutu’s face and pushing him into the boards at the Senators’ bench.
Ruutu responded by chomping down on Peters’ glove, catching his teeth on the player’s thumb, which is not padded. The force of Ruutu’s bite broke the skin and drew blood on the Peters’ right thumb. As Peters pulled away in pain, his glove was ripped off by Ruutu’s bite.
Peters was penalized for sparking the skirmish. Ruutu was not penalized.
Biting isn’t some kind of penalty? Only in the NHL.
Here’s the video of the incident
To be honest two games is a slap on the wrist, even with the lost salary. Suspend him for a couple of months. This behavior doesn’t belong in pro sports.
