|
His best seasons were with the Philadelphia Flyers in the mid-1980′s. The AP article makes no mention of the controversy at the end of Zezel’s career. He had a niece who was very ill in the Toronto area, so Zezel requested a trade to an Eastern team. At the time Zezel was playing for the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks traded him, but to Anaheim the team furthest from Toronto in the NHL. Zezel retired rather than play for the Ducks. The trade, made by then Canuck GM Brian Burke, was heavily criticized at the time. RIP.
Peter Zezel, a center who played 15 NHL seasons after breaking into the league with the Philadelphia Flyers as a teenager, has died. He was 44.
Zezel struggled with the rare blood disease hemolytic anemia for the past 10 years and died on Tuesday. Zezel suffered from the ailment off and on, but had rebounded after being in critical condition in 2001.
He was admitted to the hospital last week for scheduled surgery, but complications developed and his conditioned worsened.
“Peter will forever be remembered as a great teammate and a wonderful individual who touched the lives of many both on and off the ice,” Zezel’s family said in a statement released by the National Hockey League Players’ Association. “In his typical character of generosity, Peter donated his organs through the Trillium Gift of Life Network.”
The gritty center was known on the ice for his strong two-way game. In 873 NHL games with Philadelphia, St. Louis, Washington, Toronto, Dallas, New Jersey and Vancouver, Zezel had 219 goals and 389 assists.
His matinee idol looks also earned him a small role in the 1986 hockey-based movie “Youngblood” that starred Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze.
Zezel was born in Toronto and played junior hockey with the Toronto Marlies before the Flyers chose him with the 41st pick in the 1983 draft. He made his NHL debut in 1984 when he was 19.
He only needs four more to have the most in NHL history. From AP-
Martin Brodeur has found the New Jersey Devils have changed during his almost four-month injury absence. This is a team that not only plays defense, it scores early and often.
Brodeur earned his 100th NHL regular-season shutout with a 27-save effort, and the Devils extended their lead in the Atlantic Division with a 3-0 victory over the second-place Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.
The shutout was the second in three games since Brodeur returned Thursday following recovery from elbow surgery, and this one moved him within three of tying Terry Sawchuk’s mark of 103. It was also Brodeur’s 547th career victory, moving him within four of tying Patrick Roy’s league record.
Brodeur gave up two goals in the other game, a 7-2 rout of the Florida Panthers. With their ace back in net, I think New Jersey is the team to beat in the Eastern Conference.
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
1 Boston Bruins Games played- 41 Record- 30-7-4 Points- 64
2 Washington Capitals 41, 27-11-3, 57
3 Philadelphia Flyers 41, 22-10-9, 53
4 Montréal Canadiens 40, 24-10-6, 54
5 New York Rangers 42, 24-15-3, 51
6 New Jersey Devils 40, 23-14-3, 49
7 Carolina Hurricanes 42, 21-16-5, 47
8 Buffalo Sabres 40, 20-15-5, 45
9 Florida Panthers 41, 19-16-6, 44
10 Pittsburgh Penguins 42, 20-18-4, 44
11 Toronto Maple Leafs 41, 16-19-6, 38
12 Atlanta Thrashers 42, 14-23-5, 33
13 Ottawa Senators 39, 13-20-6, 32
14 Tampa Bay Lightning 40, 11-19-10, 32
15 New York Islanders 42, 12-26-4, 28
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.
A .750 save percentage is not very good. From AP-
Scott Hartnell enjoyed a milestone day as the Philadelphia Flyers continued their winning ways at home.
Hartnell scored three goals, Jeff Carter added a pair and Antero Niittymaki stopped a season-high 47 shots as the Flyers snapped the Washington Capitals’ five-game winning streak with a 7-1 victory on Saturday.
Not only did Hartnell record his second hat trick in five games, the veteran left winger scored all of his goals within a span of 11:40 in the third period, the first time he had pulled the trick off in one period.
“It’s been a good couple of weeks,” said Hartnell, who scored three goals in a 6-5 win over Carolina on Dec. 11. “I just want to keep going, stay positive, and stay confident.”
Hartnell, who has five career hat tricks, scored on a scramble to give the Flyers a 4-0 lead at 4:45, hammered in a rebound at 7:29, and poked in a shot from the front of the left circle at 16:25.
*****
Niittymaki, who has started the past three games in place of flu-ridden Martin Biron, was spectacular, especially in the first period when he stopped 25 shots, a Washington record for most shots in one period on the road.
*****
Washington outshot the Flyers 25-6 in the first period, and 48-28 for the game.
Washington is now 20-11-3 for the season. They got a great player in Alexander Ovechkin but I don’t know if the Capitals got enough to make the Stanley Cup. They just didn’t impress me last season even though they ended up winning the Southeast division.
How did that Goalie Washington recalled yesterday do?
Johnson, who allowed three goals on 13 shots, was replaced at the start of the third period by Jose Theodore. He gave up four goals on 15 shots.
As I wrote yesterday- “Team pays tons of money for player who then stinks but team won’t bench or get rid of the player because they paid so much for them in the first place only compounding the original mistake.” See I am a hockey prophet.
Is it too early to start a Rick Tocchet gets fired watch? From AP-
Richards netted two goals, including the winner on a power play 2:05 into overtime, and the Philadelphia Flyers sent the Tampa Bay Lightning to their fifth straight loss with a 4-3 victory Tuesday night.
*****
The Lightning missed an opportunity to win with 16.3 seconds left in regulation when Ryan Malone was awarded a penalty shot, but his attempt went wide when Martin Biron just got a piece of the puck.
“I didn’t know he was going to go wide, but I got a toe on it” Biron said.
Malone hit the post on a breakaway and was given the penalty shot when Philadelphia forward Scott Hartnell threw his glove at the puck
So far the Lightning are 1-3-4 under Tocchet. They were 6-7-4 under Barry Melrose before he was fired. I don’t think that coaching move has worked too well, do you?
This game was very annoying to me. Because of the NHL’s television package, other NHL games are not broadcast on the night of a Versus game if the games are played at the same time. So I didn’t get to watch a banged up Florida kick the crap out of Washington. Such a great television deal you negotiated NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.
I agree with AP, Murray will need all the luck in the world when it comes to his new job.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Good luck, Terry Murray. You’ve just been hired for the toughest job in the National Hockey League.
That’s what Los Angeles Kings general manager Dean Lombardi said Thursday when he introduced Murray as the 22nd head coach in franchise history at the team’s training facility.
Murray, who turns 58 Sunday, signed a three-year, $2.65 million contract to succeed Marc Crawford, who was fired June 10 after two unsuccessful seasons.
Unsuccessful has been the byword for the Kings in recent years since they haven’t qualified for the playoffs since 2002. They had 71 points last season — tied with Tampa Bay for the fewest in the NHL.
“When you’re in a rebuilding process, you have to keep your eyes on two things: What’s in front of you, and where you want to go,” Lombardi said. “If you have a very good team in place, it’s easy to focus on the next game. When you’re dealing with young players, it changes day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month. That’s what I mean about the difficulty of the job.
“I think what I mean when I say the toughest job is it’s more multitasking. We want to put together a nucleus that can stick together. Sometimes there’s no good or bad coaches, it’s right fit. The No. 1 thing is that getting young is a process. He’s been through the process.”
*****
Murray guided the Philadelphia Flyers to the Stanley Cup finals 11 years ago, and has coached 737 regular-season NHL games.
Murray, whose last head coaching job was with the Florida Panthers, will need a miracle or two to get the Kings turned around. The team’s ownership has shown little patience in recent memory with both coaches and players. Murray’s tenure in LA is therefore likely to be a short one. Just as it was with his predecessor, Marc Crawford. As it stands, the Kings are probably the worst team in the NHL.
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.
The one-time NHL MVP has been playing in his native Sweden of late. From AP-
STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Peter Forsberg has decided not to play for his hometown team Modo this season, instead setting his sights on a return to the NHL.
Forsberg made the announcement to Modo hours before the deadline for transfers in the Swedish hockey league. “My goal is to go back to the NHL,” Forsberg told Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet.
The 34-year-old Forsberg has been sidelined with a foot and ankle injury since finishing last season with the Nashville Predators, but has recently indicated he wants to return to the NHL if he is healthy.
He has practiced with Modo in his hometown of Ornskoldsvik, raising hopes there that he would play for the team in the Swedish league. Modo sports director Erik Holmberg said that Forsberg informed the club Thursday he would not be available this season.
Forsberg told Aftonbladet that he would continue training before the Feb. 26 deadline to sign with an NHL team.
Forsberg won two Stanley Cups with the Colorado Avalanche and was the league’s MVP in 2003 after scoring 29 goals and adding 77 assists. He also helped lead Sweden to Olympic gold medals in Lillehammer in 1994 and Turin in 2006.
Injuries have plagued him in recent years and he hasn’t played more than 60 games in a season since suiting up for 75 games in 2002-03 with the Avalanche.
Forsberg’s play in the 2006-07 NHL wasn’t very good. Yes he was injured, but Forsberg averaged less than one point per game last season.
Could Forsberg still help an NHL team? Perhaps, but I wouldn’t want to pay out too much on this injury prone player if I was a General Manager.
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.
They won last night, marking for the fist time this season that the team has a winning record.
Thursday night’s Panthers-Hurricanes game might as well have been played on a roller coaster, it had so many ups and downs.
In the end, the final up went to Florida, which registered a 5-4 victory at the BankAtlantic Center, taking the lead for good on Brett McLean’s goal midway through the third period.
Back home after winning three of four games on the road and facing the Southeast Division leaders, the Panthers had nothing but opportunity in front of them. A win would cut into their five-point division deficit and set an energizing tone for a year-end schedule that features four of five games at the BankAtlantic Center.
It looked bleak when Carolina took a 3-1 lead after the first period, but the Panthers rallied for their third consecutive victory. They now trail the Hurricanes by just three points.
I have felt from Opening Night, that this Panther team is capable of taking the Southeast Division. That the team is right on Carolina’s back at the moment says something(Other than the SE division being mediocre) about how Florida has come this far. They’ve been plagued by injuries this year, particularly to defensemen(Three are out at this time, and its not known when any will be back) but all through this the team has pulled themselves over .500. Yes I still worry about the lack of punch the team has, their tendency to sit on a lead, and whether they give up when they fall behind. As to the last, maybe we’ve seen the end of it. For Florida was down 3-1 a little over 16 minutes into the game. The Panthers then stormed back.
The Eastern Conference playoff picture stands like this. Teams in italics are Southeast division teams
1- Ottawa 22-8-3 47 pts
2- Boston 18-12-4 40
T3- Montreal 17-12-5 39
T3- Carolina 18-15-3
T3- New Jersey 18-13-3 39
6 NY Rangers 17-14-3 37
T7 Florida 17-16-2 36
T7 Pittsburgh 17-15-2
T9 with 35 pts Buffalo and Philadelphia(32 games played each) and Toronto(35 games)
T12 with 33 pts Atlanta and Tampa Bay in 34 and 35 games respectively.
You can look at it one of two ways. Florida is four pts out of 2nd place in the conference or that the cats are just a game or two from being in 10th place because of the fewer games played by Buffalo and Philadelphia. As I see the conference, Florida can play as well as anyone with the exception of Ottawa, and arguably Carolina and New Jersey. The cats, who are notoriously bad as a road team, are 8-9-1. When you factor in injuries and the Panthers road record, this team could finish as high as 2nd in the conference, but more likely 4th or 5th. I think my preseason prediction of Florida making the playoffs for the first time since 2000, is looking better and better.
|
|
