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Posts Tagged Marian Hossa

We Should See Contract Limits Added to CBA

Jul 21

Posted by Eddie in Soap Box | No Comments

I am actually glad to see that the NHL stepped up and put the breaks on the 17-year, $102 million contract that New Jersey signed superstar forward Ilya Kovalchuk to. This was starting to get out of hand with the amount of long term-front loaded contracts we have seen signed since the 2005 CBA was created.

I first remember when goalie Rick DiPietro signed a 15-year, $67.5 million contract with New York in 2006. I thought this was a joke, because of several factors including A) Not many players last in the league for 15 years, B) What happens if DiPietro completely stinks in years 5-6 of the contract and the Islanders cannot trade him for a pizza? Looks like I have been right as in the last two seasons, DiPietro has been hampered by knee injuries and have played a grand total of 13 games with a 3-8 record. Contrary to popular belief, this was not a Mike Milbury signing as Milbury resigned as Islanders GM three months prior to the contract signing. But he’s not out of the water as he tried to sign DiPietro for 15 years in 2005 but the league discouraged it. Leave it up to owner Charles Wang to make the signing just after he hired Garth Snow as GM and Snow made moves to clear cap space to add more talent.

Other long-term/front loaded contracts that the league approved were when the Red Wings signed Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen, but those didn’t raise as many eyebrows as when Chicago signed Marian Hossa to a 12-year deal.

According to Chris’ post that can be read here, a player’s “cap hit” is the average of the contract over the number of years. Sounds good and fair doesn’t it? Not really when you see the front loaded deals such as Kovi’s would been a $6 million cap hit in early years despite him making $11 million for said season.

A way the league can solve this developing issue is to create a “contract limit” that could be created to have a maximum number of years a team can sign a player to. This could be adjusted to a players age/number of seasons in the league.  You can have one set of regulations for players under 30 and one for 30 and over. The players age at the time he signs the contract will dictate which set of rules he will fall into.

For example, if you have a young player like Patrick Kane who will come off his current contract in 2015, he will be 26 years old. The U30 max contract could be 13 years, meaning that Chicago can keep Kane until he is 39. The Over-30 Max contract could be 10 years, putting players like Hossa under contract until he is 40 because he signed the Chicago deal last year when he was 30. If this was the rule for Ilya Kovalchuk, he would be under contract until he is 40. This would be a way to prevent contracts similar to the DiPietro signing. Also it would be a fair age for players who are in the twilight of their playing careers to either leave to win a Stanley Cup somewhere else or re-sign with their current team for less money when they are much older.

Most players, especially ones who have been in the league for anywhere between 17-20 years, retire between the ages of 38-40. Top players who retired in the last two seasons and their ages at retirement are Rob Blake (40), Rod Brind’Amour (39), Keith Tkachuk (38), Joe Sakic (40), and Jeremy Roenick (39).

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Chicago Blackhawks Win the Stanley Cup

Jun 10

Posted by EB in News | No Comments

Chicago Blackhawks are the Big Chiefs in the NHL, finally winning the Stanley Cup since 1961.

Chicago Blackhawks are the Big Chiefs in the NHL, finally winning the Stanley Cup since 1961.

In what may be one of the most bizarre ending to a Stanley Cup finals, the Chicago Blackhawks have beaten the Philadelphia Flyers to become the Stanley Cup Champions.

The two teams faced off in an up and down game with the Philadelphia Flyers coming on strong in the third period and tying it with just under 4 minutes to go at three a piece. The momentum continued for the Flyers but Blackhawk’s goaltender Antti Niemi made acrobatic saves to push the game into overtime.

The two teams came out in overtime skating hard. With about 4 minutes into the period on a broken play, Blackhawk’s forward Patrick Kane deked around Flyer’s defender Kimmo Timonen to the outside and shot a low, poor angle shot to the five hole. The puck went in, but no one cheered, not because they were in Philly, but because no one knew what happened, no goal light, no referee’s hand pointing to the net, no nothing except for that of Patrick Kane who celebrated immediately, throwing his gloves off, jumping up and down all while skating to the other end of the ice to celebrate with his goaltender. The Blackhawk’s bench soon followed, all while the referees were going to Toronto to make sure it was indeed a goal, and that it was.

The Chicago Blackhawks have finally won another Cup, that of which has taken them since 49 years ago in 1961. Blackhawk’s captain and Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Towes hoisted it first, sharing the emotions of victory with all of his team. The rumors of the Marian Hossa curse will now subside, the doubts of such a young team having what it takes will extinguish, and all that will remain is a giant party in Chicago for a whole year until next season starts. And you know what? They very well could do it again next year.

Congratulations Chicago Blackhawks. And way to keep the Stanley Cup in the West.

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How the West Was Won

May 25

Posted by EB in News | 2 Comments

Chicago Blackhawks celebrate the Conference Championship, just one more big celebration left.

Chicago Blackhawks celebrate the Conference Championship, just one more big celebration left.

What began as hopeful dreams of hometown teams and others to win the Stanley Cup remains with only two teams left to face one another, the Chicago Blackhawks of the Western Conference faces off against the Philadelphia Flyers of the Eastern Conference. The first game of 2009 – 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs begins Saturday May 29th, at 8:00pm est, the beginning of a series that already knows the winner. Spoiler Alert if read any further.

Before the season started, each of the Hockey Wolrd Blog crew predicted their Stanley Cup Champions, only one team still remains from that prediction: the Philadelphia Flyers. Although my prediction could be correct, I believe it to be as slim of chance as Eddie finding the back of the net on a breakaway.

In watching the Stanley Cup playoffs this year I have noticed one major difference between that of the Western conference and the Eastern conference. What is it you may ask? Simple, talent.

When watching the Chicago Blackhawks throughout their series they have beaten an underrated thorn in your side Nashville Predators, hotter than hot Vancouver Canucks, and the Western Conference champions the San Jose Sharks. In comparison, the Flyers have taken on an over played goalie New Jersey Devils, biggest chokers of all time the Boston Bruins and the Cinderella story with a realistic ending Montreal Canadiens.

The two teams roads are completely different and so is their play. The Flyers are goons who take head shots and silly penalties, 193 to be exact in comparison to Chicago’s 155. The Flyers were only second highest to the Montreal Canadiens. While their old opponents did not capitalize, you sure can bet the Chicago Blackhawks will stick it to them.

The Flyers also play a very sloppy style of play, a play style that could be summed up by the old saying, “Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes.” The puck seems to bounce abnormally and end up on the Flyer’s sticks to the point of I have yet to see the Flyers really set up in the zone in a controlled manner. Do they even know how to cycle the puck? The Blackhawks on the other hand are like a swarm of bees, buzzing around just waiting to sting. Jonatahan Toews, Patrick Kane, Dustin Byfuglien, just to name a few of those buzzing bees.

The only down side the Blackhawks have going is the Marian Hossa curse. Hey, the guys has some bad luck on his side, but as the saying goes, “Third times a charm.”

The list could be longer, but to be honest I just don’t want to waste my time on what is known. The Chicago Blackhawks are going to show the Philadelphia Flyers what real hockey is all about, how the Western conference does things, how to play crisp team hockey and win the Stanley Cup. My prediction is it will only take 5 games, that is with me being generous to say Philadelphia even wins one game.

Sure you may not believe me, but if you believe anything, believe in the superstition of touching the conference champion’s trophy. Blackhawk’s captain Jonatahan Toews did not even look at the Clarence S. Campbell trophy while Flyer’s Captain Mike Richards paraded around like a prom queen and her crown with the Prince of Wales trophy. That’s a no no Mikey boy.

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Playoff Ramblings

May 17

Posted by Matt in Soap Box | No Comments

Here are some thoughts on the playoffs over the past couple weeks:

My post praising Miroslav Satan’s performance during the playoffs must have been the ultimate jinx. He carried a six game point streak when I wrote about how excellent he had been. In the four games that followed, and an epic collapse by the Bruins, Satan posted zero points, was a minus one, and only had nine shots on goal. Good news for the Bruins though, they’re still going to land either Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin in the draft this summer.

Daniel Briere has been huge for the Flyers in the playoffs

Daniel Briere has been huge for the Flyers in the playoffs

The Philadelphia Flyers are the first ever seven seed to end up with home ice advantage in a playoff series. How did they pull this off? Well, I think its fair to say that they aren’t necessarily as bad as their seed and 88 point season may indicate. Remember this team has several young, but experienced, scorers. Mike Richards has been great, and Danny Briere has played his best playoff hockey picking up 17 points so far, with seven multi-point games. On top of that, the Flyers are picking up a lot of secondary scoring, especially in Claude Giroux who has six goals and seven assists in 13 playoff games. Ville Leino, a late season acquisition, has even made his presence felt with nine points in as many games. You certainly can’t forget about the defensive prowess this team has, lead by perennial all star Chris Pronger. He’s more than capable of shutting down the oppositions top scorers.

So perhaps the Philadelphia Flyers are finally molding into the team that many thought they were going to be. Maybe the leadership issues and problems in the locker room are a thing of the past. They have all the confidence and momentum in the world right now, and will be a tough team to handle.

The Chicago Blackhawks are outstanding. Young captain, Jonathan Toews has been very impressive so far with 21 post-season points. Goaltending has not been the huge issue everyone thought it would be. Antti Niemi has been solid, and has out-dueled two very good goaltenders in Pekka Rinne and Roberto Luongo.

Things seem to be clicking on all cylinders for the Blackhawks, minus the presence of two players. Marian Hossa had a very good first round against Nashville, posting six points in the series. But since them, he’s been very quiet, much like last year, with only three points in the seven games played since finishing off the Predators. Along with Hossa, Kris Versteeg has been less productive than I expected so far. His six points and minus two rating seem low for a young player with the talent level he has. Remember, Versteeg posted terrific numbers as a rookie last season, but is perhaps seeing a decrease in ice time with the top line being so effective.

The San Jose Sharks are still very much competitive in the west. It seemed like everyone wrote them off after being crushed by the Red Wings in game four of that series. Did everyone just forget that they still had a 3-1 series lead? Even if they were still the Sharks who choke in the playoffs, they could have surely taken one game and prevented the Wings from going on. But instead, they bounced back like a true contender and eliminated Detroit in five.

Montreal is having one of the most impressive playoff campaigns in recent years that I can remember. First, they squandered the top seeded Washington Capitals in seven games. This is a team that featured several of the world’s top players: Ovechkin, Backstrom, Semin, and Green. Then, they followed that performance with a seven game dismantling of the defending Stanley Cup champions. Surely a team that can take out two of the top NHL clubs is capable of making it to the finals, right?

Finally, here’s to hoping for an original six match-up in the finals.

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K-F-C

Dec 22

Posted by EB in News | No Comments

Captain Ilya Kovalchuk of the Atalanta Thrashers.

Captain Ilya Kovalchuk of the Atalanta Thrashers.

K is for Kovalchuk:

The All-Star left wing and Captain of the Atlanta Thrashers has come to a “snag” in talks for a new contract with his current club.

Next year, Kovalchuk becomes an unrestricted free agent. Kovalchuk entered the league in the 2001-2002 season with Atlanta Thrashers, and has played with them since. He has been posting up consistent numbers, averaging 79 points in the five completed seasons he has played. Atlanta has had trouble in the past completing deals. Atlanta was unable to sign Marian Hossa a few seasons back.

Kovalchuk is one of the big names this year for potential free agents. It is expected he will sign with Atlanta and become their franchise player, however if not, oh what a fun time it will be come trade deadline.

F is for Fisticuffs:

The Florida Panthers visited the Philadelphia Flyers last night for some good ‘ol hockey.

The meeting was their first since October 24th, where Flyer’s captain Mike Richards hit winger David Booth. The hit, which was controversial in being a head shot or not, received no disciplinary action, but has taken Booth out of the lineup for an indefinite period of time. Booth is the future of the Panthers, but currently is only participating in “light” skating.

The game began with a bang, as the first period consisted of 3 fights, one less than 2 minutes in. The total fight count ended with 4, yet the one to make note of was Panther’s captain Bryan McCabe challenging Flyer’s captain Mike Richards to a fight 3 minutes and 42 seconds into the game. The two dropped the gloves, circled briefly with both captain C’s bearing on their chest, and began to throw their punches.

It is not often you see two captains going toe to toe in a fight. Respect to both captains, McCabe for setting the tone and the score, and for Richards taking responsibility for his previous actions on Booth. Hockey is scrutinized for it’s fighting, however self regulation such as this makes the game safer than if fighting were to be removed.

The Panthers dominated the score board, winning 4-1, moving them to 8th place in the East, and sending the Flyers into a speedy decline to second to the bottom of the conference.

Martin Brodeur is interviewed after recording his 104th career shutout in an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh Monday, Dec. 21, 2009.

Martin Brodeur is interviewed after recording his 104th career shutout in an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh Monday, Dec. 21, 2009.

C is for Champion:

New Jersey goaltender Martin Brodeur broke the shutout record, posting his 104th of his career in a 4-0 win over the defending Cup Champions Pittsburgh Penguins. The record previously belonged to Detroit Red Wing’s Terry Sawchuk.

Brodeur, smiling from ear to ear took many photos with teammates and his puck inscribed with “104.” It is good to see the emotion and love for the game, and Devils forward Zach Parise said it best about the milestone, “I mean, it’s pretty fun. I’m sure it’s fun for him but it’s pretty cool for us too.”

The record stood for 39 years. Ironically, Sawchuk’s last shutout was against the Penguins on February 1, 1970.

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Marian Hossa Goal vs Tampa Bay

Dec 14

Posted by Matt in Media | 3 Comments

Marian Hossa with the magic stick against Tampa Bay. He catches the puck, tosses it down and takes a swing. Hossa actually hit the puck out of mid air and sent it flying into the goal. Just an absolutely sick play by Marian Hossa.

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Chicago Blackhawks

Sep 29

Posted by EB in Season Previews | 1 Comment

Jonathan Toews looks to lead the Blackhawks to the Stnaley Cup.

Captain Jonathan Toews looks to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup this season.

A young speedy team who finished 2nd in the tough Central Division, and 4th in the Western Conference, looks to improve upon their Cup ending loss to the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference Finals.

During the offseason the Blackhawks received some negative press about ousting general manager Dale Tallon to be replaced by Stan Bowman. Stan, the son of retired NHL coach Scotty Bowman, replaced Tallon due to a filed grievance from the NHL Players Association pertaining to the team missing deadlines for sending qualifying offers to restricted free agents. The team has since moved forward with the off season acquisitions of some pretty big names.

The Blackhawks were unable to resign unrestricted free agent Martin Havlat who eventually signed with the Minnesota Wild. Havlat scored 29 goals with 48 assists to total 77 points. He also posted 15 points in 16 games played in the playoffs last season, which happened to lead the team.

The void is to be replaced by NHL All Star player Marian Hossa who played for the Detroit Red Wings in the previous year. Hossa, who played for the Pittsburg Penguins before the Wings, has made the NHL finals 2 years in a row, yet both times have come up empty handed. Hossa underwent shoulder surgery in the off season and is expected to make his debut you in a Hawk’s jersey in late November. A question of full rehabilitation, game ready physical capability and team chemistry will be answered when he returns to the ice.

Center John Madden joins the mix of the Blackhawks this year. Madden has played for the New Jersey Devils for all his NHL career, posting 297 points in 712 regular season games and 41 points in 112 playoff games.

The Blackhawks have parted ways with goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin in hopes that Cristobal Huet will be able to carry the workload. The two goaltenders split time last year during the regular season, only one game difference. However, come playoff time, Khabibulin played all but 3 games. With the success of last year, one would think the possibility of doing the same two goalie system again, or if having to choose between the one, would have chosen to stay with Khabibulin, but that is not the case.

All hope is not lost though as the 34 year old Cristobal Huet has a respectable record and stats. Last season he had a 20-15-4-3 record in 41 games, with a .909 save percentage and a 2.53 goals against average. This number is down in comparison to the ’07-’08 season where he had a combined 32-14-6-4 record between Montreal Canadiens and the Washington Capitals.

The team is led by young stars Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. Together the duo is nearly impossible to stop, all things considering they are only 21 and 20 years of age. Together the two were able to net 59 goals and 80 assists between their 162 games played.

Defensively the team is led by offensive defenseman Brian Campbell. Campbell was 5th in points last year with 52, the majority of them being 45 assists. Shortly behind in points are defensemen Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook who both have better +/- ratings then Campbell. Keith tallied in at + 33 while Seabrook with +23.

The Chicago Blackhawks lack no skill in scoring points, and have a solid defensive core that also are able to contribute offensively. The goaltender position will be a test this year, but should not be a factor as the team is projected to be first within the Central Division as last year’s leader the Detroit Red Wings have suffered a major rebuild of new and young players.

Last year’s playoff’s were a learning experience for the young team. This year with one more year under their belt, and the addition of some veteran playoff performers, the Chicago Blackhawks have their eyes set on the Cup.

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Atlanta Thrashers

Sep 13

Posted by Eddie in Season Previews | No Comments

Last season, Atlanta played its best hockey when it was already eliminated from playoff contention when it won 12 of its final 18 games. Atlanta hopes to use the strong finish last season to continue early this season.

This franchise has had superstars Ilya Kovalchuk, Slava Kozlov, Marian Hossa, and Dany Heatley in its 10-year history and has manged to make the playoffs only once when they won the Southeast Division in 2007. The one constant throughout the Thrashers history is GM Don Waddell, and he needs to start showing improvement with this franchise before his seat will start to become hot.

Will Atlanta trade Ilya Kovalchuk to a contender at the deadline?

Will Atlanta trade Ilya Kovalchuk to a contender at the deadline?

Kovalchuk is perhaps the best player on a bad team in the NHL. Last season he finished fourth in goals with 43 and tied for sixth with 91 points. In the final year of his contract, Waddell has to give him the proper help needed to carry the team into the playoffs. He wants the same success Russian countrymen Kozlov, Sergei Federov, Evgeni Malkin, and Pavel Datsyuk have had as all three have had their names on the Stanley Cup. Kovalchuk is also in the final year of his contract. Expect him to be traded at the deadline if Atlanta isn’t in playoff contention.

Waddell has given Kovalchuk help on the first line with the addition of Nik Antropov on the right wing. Also coming from Toronto was defenseman Pavel Kubina.

Kubina’s main job is to anchor a defensive unit that was one of the worse in the league last season. They allowed 280 goals, the second-worse amount in the NHL. Defense also has to be a team effort as the forwards have to play more two-way hockey and goalie Kari Lehtonen has to be more consistent. While the team in front of him did let him out to dry several times during the season, Lehtonen has to take the defense on his back and not allow as  many soft goals as he had.

Head coach John Anderson also has the task of improving the special teams. While they were a respectable 11th on the power play, Atlanta was 29th in penalty kill at 76 percent. Atlanta also surrendered 13 shorthanded goals, which is not acceptable to any NHL team. Again, this goes back to defense.

With their future prospects, none of the top-10 prospects ranked by The Hockey News are defensemen. Having six centers, two wingers, and two goalies isn’t the outlook Thrashers fans want to see of a team that’s as deficient on defense as they have been.

Overall, don’t expect Atlanta to do much this season. They are still 1-2 solid defensemen away from being a contender, but isn’t big spenders in free agency. Lehtonen has to be more solid in goal and not become as injury prone as he has been. A team with low attendance (29th in the league averaging 14,626 per game) in a non-hockey market, expect Atlanta to finish between 13th and 15th in the Eastern Conference.

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Mended… Feather?

Jul 23

Posted by EB in News | No Comments

Marian Hossa

Marian Hossa

Reports are circulating about winger Marian Hossa of the Chicago Blackhawks undergoing shoulder surgery to repair his right rotator cuff. Hossa, who was acquired from Detroit Red Wings in the free agency, is expected to fill Martin Havlat’s void in the Blackhawk lineup. Marian posted 71pts in 74 regular season games as well as 15pts in the post season last year.

With surgery expected to be done July 24 and a 4 month recovery, fans should not fear his absence, as the youthful duo Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane should be able to maintain the level of play from last year’s season. Concerns still would arise after the fact. Could the surgery affect Hossa’s game? And if it does affect his game, will the Blackhawks make the post season? And how far will they go if they do? Potentially the most concerning, with a 12 year contract, is this the start of another injury plagued Marian?

Time will tell what all plays out. Regardless, the Chicago Blackhawks should be a great team to watch this upcoming season and seasons to come in arguably the most competitive division in the western conference.

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