There were lots of happenings in the NHL this week. There are players trying to come back, another great player missing the All-Star Game (because no NHL players care), and a new feature I'm going to start this week: who's hot and who's not.
Evgeni Nabokov, former star goaltender for the San Jose Sharks, is trying to come back after a brief stint in the KHL in Russia. Nabokov was signed by the Detroit Red Wings, a playoff contender, on a one-year contract. The New York Islanders then picked him off waivers from the Wings. Nabokov was confused about this decision.
"It's just that I'm at the point in my career where I want to help a team win in the playoffs. I don't see how I could help the Islanders or what I could do for them. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me," said Nabokov, Sunday to espn.com.
Also, Peter Forsberg, 37, says he wants to come back for the 30th time in his career. On my memory alone, I can think of three times where Forsberg decided to come back half way through the season. It is ridiculous if you ask me but if the NHL allows it and you are old, why not?
Another star is going to miss the All-Star Game. The Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby is not going to play due to a concussion that started on January 1st against the Washington Capitals which was played at Heinz Field, home of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers.
"The Penguins organization has decided that he will not attend NHL All-Star Weekend and instead will continue to relax and recuperate in the hopes of returning to our lineup soon," said Penguins' general manager Ray Shero in a statement on Monday, according to thescore.ca.
Now for the new feature: who's hot and who's not.
Who's hot? The Tampa Bay Lightning are having won four in a row, riding the great play of Steven Stamkos who leads the league in goals and points. The San Jose Sharks have also won four in a row after losing the previous six before that. They are now holding down the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. And how about them Vancouver Canucks? Even though they have only won four of their last 10, the Canucks are on top of the Western Conference and their two superstars, Daniel and Henrik Sedin (who are twins), are both in the top five in points individually.
Who's not hot? The bad, horrible, terrible Edmonton Oilers. They have been leaking oil all season long. With only 14 wins in 47 games, the Oilers have eight less wins than anyone else in the Western Conference. They are young and have a lot of potential but fans of the Oilers are getting restless of this awful play the last couple years.
Patrick Kane is cold. He only has 36 points this season, which is way behind his average of the previous seasons, and has a -7 rating. Last season, when Kane and the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup, Kane had a +16 rating.
In addition, Canadian coverage of the All-Star Game is way over the top. There are posts everywhere about this draft the NHL is having and no players care! There are around 10 players every year who miss it due to injuries, family, or personal reasons.
Pierre LeBrun is a popular guy to go to when talking about hockey blogs. He is a writer for ESPN and espn.com. His blogs have been talking about the All-Star Game for weeks now.
Lastly, reading all these blogs have made me realize that there are way too many injuries in sports. Team's seasons are lost due to injuries. I know that it is a part of sports but it sucks for the fan, the team, and the organization.
-http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8474141
-http://www.nhl.com/ice/standings.htm?season=20102011&type=CON
-http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=350790
-http://www.thescore.com/nhl/articles/108542-crosby-will-not-play-in-all-star-game
-http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/id/3777/weekend-wrap-plans-for-all-star-subs-options-for-islesnabby-99-on-hits-to-head
-http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylt=Agj1pfcPUxvz7EiMIgbQ.Y8JfwM6?slug=ap-avalanche-forsberg
The San Jose Sharks are the most underrated team in the NHL. They are holding the last playoff spot but only because Joe Thornton has so much heart. He needs players like Marleau, Boyle, Heatley and Niemi to step their game up.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone outside of Canada and the Northeast care about hockey?
ReplyDeleteCould you blog about Brandon Roy? However, good job on the hockey blogging. Canucks for the cup!!
ReplyDeleteYou're blogging on sports... what a surprise!
ReplyDeletethe all-star game is a good concept that doesn't work out in real life, like communism. Everyone thinks it would be cool to watch the best players play each other, but in actuality it doesn't work. The players don't care because it's meaningless (the MLB tried to change this but I don't think it made any difference). The all-star game should ne eliminated because there is vertly little upside to it. The players don't care, teams don't want their players getting injured, and very few fans care. I haven't watched a pro bowl or all star game since I was 12. Dump it.
ReplyDeleteThe line "Daniel and Henrik Sedin (who are twins)" rattled me with it's obvious and somewhat patronizing explanation. I'm a hockey fan from Canada... so this blog caught my eye. But, who is your target reader? Would an American, who is uninterested in hockey, make it past the first few sentences? Or, are you writing to readers "in the know"?
ReplyDeleteJonnie: When people post comments on your blog, you should try to respond. Get a conversation going. This is part of the fun of doing a sports blog--trash talk. I think you've done a good job this week, but if anything, you've been too ambitious. I would save the "who's hot, who's not" thing for it's own separate post. Maybe alternate weeks? You also have GOT to get the link thing figured out. Your list of links are not live. They should be embedded in the text anyway. Make sure you do that next time. Score = 9.
ReplyDelete