Hockey World Blog

All Things Hockey

Posts Tagged olli jokinen

NHL Players Vote Dion Phaneuf Most Overrated

Jan 12

Posted by Matt in News | 1 Comment

Dion Phaneuf was voted most overrated hockey player by his NHL peers

Dion Phaneuf was voted most overrated hockey player by his NHL peers

In a recent poll conducted by Sports Illustrated, 161 NHL players voted on the most overrated player in hockey. After the feedback was tallied, it turns out Dion Phaneuf is considered by the majority to be the most overrated. His stats look great so far this season as Phaneuf has tallied 7 goals and 21 assists for 28 points in only 42 games. The heavy hitter could be benefiting from playing alongside the likes of Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul, however, both of whom are currently in the top 5 in NHL scoring. This is the first season since his breakout year in 2007-08 that Phaneuf has lived up to any of the hype he had early in his career.

Despite his good numbers this season, Phaneuf’s peers clearly don’t think he is deserving of any hype. Dominant defensive players can play against the opponent’s top offensive talent night in and night out, shut them down consistently, and show up as an additional offensive threat on the blue line as well. Nick Lidstrom and Shea Weber would be great examples, and both are having tremendous seasons once again. While they have maintained solid plus/minus numbers, Phaneuf has struggled in recent seasons to be a consistent plus player. His offensive numbers are great again, but until he can turn up his defensive game as well, his NHL peers will look down on him for being overrated.

Coming in at number two on the overrated list, which is becoming less and less of a surprise as time goes on, is Alexander Ovechkin. After being a perennial 50 goal scoring threat, Ovechkin has faded in the past two seasons and is only on pace for 34 goals in 2011-12.

Third on the list is Montreal Canadian’s center Scott Gomez. I think we can all agree with this assessment. While his name isn’t mentioned much anymore, his cap hit of roughly $7.36 million from 2007 to 2014 makes him highly overpaid. Gomez is currently on the shelf with a nagging groin injury and has 4 assists in 13 games played this season.

Behind Gomez, and fourth on the SI list is Roberto Luongo. His inability to capture a Stanley Cup may have landed him high on the list. However, it could also be that Luongo is nothing more than a good goalie on a great team. Many teams now are employing average goaltenders at a low cap hit, in order to make the most of the rest of their roster. They’re also seeing a lot of success by doing it. The Canucks, however, continue to pay big bucks for Luongo’s services.

Rounding out the top five is Dany Heatley. Since being traded from Ottawa, we’ve watched Heatley’s stock sink. His first year in San Jose was solid with Joe Thornton centering him. Beyond that, Heatley began falling apart. He’s on pace for less than 60 points this season with Minnesota.

The rest of the most overrated players in the NHL fall in line as follows:

6. Ilya Kovalchuk
7. Vincent Lecavalier
8. Jay Bouwmeester
9. Ryan Kesler
10. Mike Komisarek
11. Chris Pronger
12. Jarome Iginla
13. Alexander Semin
14. Olli Jokinen
15. Ed Jovanovski

How accurate do you think the NHL players were? If it were your list, who would you have voted most overrated?

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Fantasy Friday

Dec 23

Posted by Chris in Fantasy | No Comments

The Hot List:

Daniel Alfredsson (forward): Two goals and five assists along with a plus-five over the last week. Alfredsson now has 25 points in 29 games for the Senators and is tied for third on the team in points. Looks like the captains still got it.

Olli Jokinen (forward): Owned in 51 percent of Yahoo fantasy leagues, Jokinen now leads the Flames in points with 29 in 32 games – including two goals and four assists to go along with 12 shots on goal over the past seven days. Jokinen has 13 points in his past 10 games. If he is available in your league, grab him while he’s hot.

Blake Wheeler (forward): Wheeler appears to be on pace to post personal best stats in points and assists this season with the Winnipeg Jets. Wheeler has five points in his last five games. However, Wheeler only has five goals total this year, so don’t expect him to light the lamp often if you pick him up.  

Matt Niskanen (defense): Niskanen tallied one goal and four assists over the last seven days, but the important stat to pay attention to is that he had that goal and three of his assists on the power play. With Penguins defenseman Kris Letang on the shelf thanks to concussions symptoms, Niskanen should get more power play time for the Penguins.

Evgeni Nabokov (goal): His inclusion on this list is mainly due to the lack of options that the Islanders currently have in goal. Supposed starter Rick DiPietro is injured (go figure) and backup Al Montoya is out with a concussion. Nabokov desires to play with a contender and will be a free agent at the end of the season. If he still has the goods, now is the time to showcase and try to force a trade to a contender later in the season. Keep an eye on his performance level while the Islanders are hit with the injury bug between the pipes.

 

Tags: , , , ,

Jarome Iginla trade makes sense for Flames

Dec 2

Posted by Chris in News | No Comments

In 14 years with the Calgary Flames, Jarome Iginla has only been to the Stanley Cup Finals once. That was also the only time he has been a part of a Flames team that advanced beyond the Conference Semi-Finals. Despite being a consistent scorer, the Flames have continually failed to provide Iginla with the proper supporting cast to make a legitimate run at the Stanley Cup. At 34-years-old, Iginla is on pace for one of his worst statistical seasons and the Flames will likely miss the playoffs for a third straight year. It’s time that the Flames do their star player a favor and trade him to a contender.

The problem with trading a player like Iginla involves how that move will impact his legacy in Calgary. Although not drafted by the Flames, Iginla played his first NHL game in a Flames sweater and has been with the club ever since. The fans adore Iginla thanks to his hard work ethic, his on-ice production and his humble nature. It probably doesn’t hurt that he will throw down the gloves for a good scrap every once in a while either. Needless to say, the thought of trading Iginla is viewed as a sacrileges act among the Calgary faithful.

But at some point, as a fan or as a general manager, you need to weigh the importance of building a winner versus keeping your star athlete. The payback on Iginla should certainly help the Flames begin building a winning franchise. After so many seasons where they just weren’t good enough, the Flames need to make the necessary moves to get themselves over the hump and begin seriously competing with the big guns in the West.

Besides, the Flames will have 12 free agents at the end of this season including Olli Jokinen, Scott Hannan, David Moss, Lee Stempniak and Cory Sarich. This season may provide the best time for Calgary to begin the rebuilding process as they can trade away a good number of players for draft picks and prospects and begin building for the future. Unfortunately, if that does happen, Calgary may be looking at a rebuilding process that could take a few seasons before they are truly a contender. Iginla is only signed through next season, but does he really want to go waste a valuable season at the end of his career with a rebuilding franchise?

The problem, as with almost any trade of a significant player, is finding a competitive team who can absorb his salary. And Iginla’s $7 million cap hit certainly doesn’t make that easy. Perhaps a team like the Nashville Predators could make a run at Iginla. The team needs more offense and a move of that caliber would be telling that the team is serious about building a winner, possibly providing incentive for free agents Shea Weber and Ryan Suter to stick around for longer. The Carolina Hurricanes have roughly $13 million in available cap space and would probably love to get their hands on a veteran scorer like Iginla.

Don’t count out a team like the Detroit Red Wings either. The Wings have roughly $5.5 million in available cap space and it’s been rumored that they would love to bring another scorer into their top-six. If Iginla becomes available, he could be a target for the Wings.

According to reports from Hockey Night in Canada, Iginla hasn’t outright asked for a trade, but he has stated that he is beginning to think about life with a team besides the Calgary Flames. That’s a huge step for someone who has been with the team for the better part of 14 years. With the amount of pending free agents in Calgary at season’s end, the Flames need to seriously consider selling assets and moving into rebuilding mode. Although Iginla’s contract doesn’t expire until the end of next season, moving him this year makes sense for the club and for Iginla himself.

What do you think? Should the Flames trade Iginla this season? Share your thoughts with us by leaving a comment or by visiting our Facebook page to join the discussion!

 

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

2011-12 NHL Season Preview: Calgary Flames

Sep 22

Posted by Eddie in Season Previews | No Comments

Key Offseason Losses: Robyn Regehr, Fredrik Modin, Ales Kotalik

Key Offseason Addition: Chris Butler

Last Season Ranking: 10th in the West

Look for Alex Tanguay to crack the 70-point plateau for Calgary this season.

Offense: The Flames got off to a poor start at the beginning of the season. The first half was deadful, they weren’t winning games and they weren’t scoring goals. They were able to find fire the second half where they averaged 3.42 goals per game over the final 47 games of the season. That was when GM Darryl Sutter was fired and Jay Feaster was brought in. Had they been scoring at that clip over the entire season, they would have led the league in scoring. They return every player from the top four lines, with the only addition being 26-year-old prospect Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond.

While he isn’t new, the Flames return Daymond Langkow, who played four games last season when he suffered a neck injury and missed most of the season. He could be a fantasy sleeper as he didn’t play last season and could slip into a later round. Expect him to score between 30-35 points on the third line. Jarome Iginla and Alex Tanguay will be expected to carry most of the scoring load. The big question is how much will the captain have in the tank? His contract ends in two years, and expect him to look elsewhere for a championship should he not get back to the Stanley Cup final before 2013.

They don’t have  a lot of speed due to the aging vets on the forward lines but will be able to play an uptempo style with Curtis Glencross and Rene Bourque on the wing of the second and third line. X-factor players who we should see good things out of this season include Olli Jokinen, David Moss, and Mikael Backlund. In addition to Letourneau-Leblond, look for Paul Byron to have a chance to make the team and see playing time this season.

Defense: If there is anything that will keep the Flames from playing past April 7, it will be there defense. Because they traded away top defenseman Robyn Regehr, there are big shoes and a lot of playing time up for grabs in all three phases of the game. The top defender is now Jay Bouwmeester, but he hasn’t met expectations in regards to his offensive production. Having the ability to move the puck when the team plays an uptempo style is necessary and the offensive will be generated through Bouwmeester. Also look for contributions from newly promoted Mark Giordano, as well as Chris Butler and Anton Babchuk.

Keeping the other team from scoring will be key for the team, as they were fifth in goals against two years ago, but ballooned up to 19th last season.

Goaltending: Miikka Kiprusoff is the alpha and omega when it comes to goaltending for Calgary. Just like I wrote last season, they had to get him a quality backup. They have appeared to do that with Henrik Karlsson. Kipper played and started a post-lockout low 71 games last season but it isn’t much of a drop when he has played between 73 and 76 games since the lockout. They probably can’t afford to have him start between 69-70 games because the rest of the team isn’t strong but I would like to see that if possible. Karlsson is still young but expect him to get between 10-12 starts. Leyland Irving is penciled in as the third goalie should Kiprusoff or Karlsson suffer an injury.

HWB Playoff Prediction: Not playoff bound. They are essentially the same team as last year. Calgary wasn’t able to bring in any additional talent because they have pretty much spent at the ceiling since the lockout. The bad part is they have spent it on bad contracts and it has taken this long for Feaster to manage it properly to have the space to add players. Should Calgary be in the playoff chase come the trade deadline, expect them to be a buyer.


 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Hockey World Blog Season Previews 2010: Calgary Flames

Sep 22

Posted by Eddie in Season Previews | 1 Comment

Expect Jarome Iginla and the Calgary Flames to bounce back offensively when they ranked 29th in goal scoring last season.

Expect Jarome Iginla and the Calgary Flames to bounce back offensively when they ranked 29th in goal scoring last season.

Key Offseason Losses: Nigel Dawes, Christopher Higgins, Eric Nystrom, Brett Palin

Key Offseason Additions: Alex Tanguay, Olli Jokinen, Tim Jackman, Henrik Karlsson

Last Season Ranking: Ninth, West

Offense: This is the area where they can’t get any worse. One of the worse scoring teams in the entire league last season, the Flames have to improve. They started the season well, when they had 19 wins and 41 points in 30 games. Then the wheels came off the scoring wagon when they played the other 52 games with 21 wins. GM Darryl Sutter’s main goal for the off season was to add scoring. He couldn’t find a sniper or playmaker, but in adding Alex Tanguay and Olli Jokinen added players who was good 3-4 years ago but struggled recently. Captain Jarome Iginla should have a bounce-back season just like everyone else with the flaming C on their chest. He failed to score in the last 12 games and barely reached 30 goals. Expect him to score at least 35 goals this season. If the offense can play like thhe top-10 team they were in 2009, they can become a dangerous team in the postseason.

Defense: When coach Brett Sutter took over for Mike Keenan last season, his focus was to make the team better defensively. He accomplished that in his first year. They were fifth in goals against last season, a far improvement from 23rd in 2009 under Keenan. They are also going for a balanced defensive system with their top three defensemen anchoring each of the lines with someone from the bottom three. They return Robyn Regehr who is now fully recovered from a knee injury. The top blue line pairing is likely to be Jay Bouwmeester and Ian White. Both are solid and should see time on special teams. The third defensive pairing of Mark Giordano and Cory Sarich is functional enough to score key goals when necessary.

Goaltending: Similiar to when I wrote last week about Jonas Hiller and Anaheim, Mikka Kiprusoff is a given to play at least 70-plus games for Calgary. What they have tried-and failed- to do in recent season was find a suitable backup to take some of the load off Kiprusoff. The revolving door of backup goalies has fallen to Henrik Karlsson this season. Karlsson is a big goalie at 6-6 and 215 pounds. He was in the San Jose system last season. Top prospect Leland Irving is still a couple years away from being a full-time goalie and still needs to prove he can hold his weight in the AHL instead of bouncing back and forth between the AHL and ECHL.

Season Outlook: This is Darryl Sutter’s time to shine season. He’s been over six years since he guided the Flames to the Stanley Cup finals in his first season as GM. They haven’t won a playoff series since. Fanbases in Canada don’t give their GM’s a lifetime free pass, as you can see teams like Edmonton and Vancouver have gone through multiple GM’s since Sutter have been in charge. You can argue Vancouver is a better team than Calgary, and at least Edmonton has been to a final since 2004 and have changed general managers in recent years. Expect Calgary to be better on offense, and do enough to make the playoffs and hopefully win a series.

Tags: , , , ,

Jokinen headed to Russia?

May 6

Posted by Chris in Rumors | No Comments

Reports circulating around the internet claim that Finnish center Olli Jokinen is close to signing a deal with Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League. While Dinamo Minsk is yet to comment on the situation, Jokinen’s agent, Todd Diamond, vehemently denied rumors that his client is close to signing with the Russian club and stated that his client will play in the NHL next season.

NHL/The 31-year-old Jokinen (left) last played for the New York Rangers after being traded at the trade deadline from the Calgary Flames. Jokinen is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and there seem to be no intentions from the Rangers to resign Jokinen.

Between 2005 and 2008, as captain of the Florida Panthers, Jokinen was one of the best players in the NHL scoring 30 or more goals for three straight seasons and racking up a total of 251 points in 246 regular season games during that three-year span. Jokinen was also one of the healthiest players as he played in all 82 regular season games for the Panthers in each of those three seasons. However, Jokinen’s production quickly diminished over the subsequent seasons since signing as a free agent with the Phoenix Coyotes prior to the start of the 2008-09 season. During that season, Jokinen chipped in 42 points before being traded at the trade deadline to the Calgary Flames where he tallied an additional 21 points. During this past season, split between the Flames and Rangers, Jokinen only managed 15 goals and 50 points in 82 games.

Rumors of a deal with the KHL should come as no surprise to hockey fans. In recent years, KHL teams have thrown tons of money at average level NHL players in order to steal them away from the NHL. Alexander Radulov and Jiri Hudler are two prime examples of this. If Jokinen stays in the NHL, he will undoubtedly see a significant pay decrease from the $5.5 million he was making previously because of the diminished quality of play he has exhibited over the last few seasons. With his current level of play, Jokinen could probably get somewhere between $2-3 million, depending on the team. However, if Jokinen decides to sign with Dinamo Minsk, he undoubtedly will get much more money from them then he would if he stayed in the NHL.

Tags: , , , , ,

Calgary Flames

Sep 22

Posted by Eddie in Season Previews | 2 Comments

If Jarome Iginla wants to hold the Clarence Campbell Bowl again, he might have to do it in a different uniform.

If Jarome Iginla wants to hold the Clarence Campbell Bowl again, he might have to do it in a different uniform.

The Calgary coaching carousel took another spin for the fourth time in five seasons at the end of another disappointing 2009 season. Out was Mike Keenan, and Brent Sutter is in. Sutter coached New Jersey last season, but resigned to be closer to his home in Red Deer, Alberta. That retirement/resignation didn’t last long when his brother Darryl, the GM of the Flames, came calling with an opening behind the bench.

The coaching Sutter has the task of guiding the team to its first playoff series victory since they went to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2004. The Flames have advanced past round once (in 2004) since winning the Stanley Cup in 1989. For those scoring at home, it means they have been eliminated after the first round in 10 of the 11 years they have made the playoffs since 1989.

The issue the Flames have isn’t talent, but it’s getting that talent to perform more consistently when it mattered. On defense, they have one of the most physical units in the league with heavy hitters Jay Bouwmeester, Dion Phaneuf, and Robyn Regehr. The defensive unit needs to keep its physical presence at the level it’s been, but not allow 248 goals like it did last season. The defense should be better because Sutter coaches a more defensive system in comparison to Keenan. The one positive the blue liners had last season was their 83.4 percent penalty killing rate, good for fourth in the league.

Up front, Jarome Iginla is still the workhorse of the offensive attack. He’s played 81 or more games in five of the last seven seasons. His goals went down to 35 from 50 in comparison to the 2008 season. But his points did increase from 48 to 54. The big problem was his plus-minus rating. In 2008 he tied a career-high rating of +27, but in the same number of games last season he was a disappointing -2. That has to change if he wants to advance past the first round of the playoffs for the second time in his career.

The X-factors the Flames will have is who will replace the 82 points Mike Camalleri had last season. Counted upon to create more offense will be Olli Jokinen, Daymond Langkow, Craig Conroy, and Phaneuf. All four must score between 55-60 points to make up for the lost scoring. Younger players who have to contribute a little more than last season will be Rene Borque, David Moss. Both are expected to reach the 45-50 point plateau.

In goal, the Flames must have goaltending help for Mikka Kiprusoff. Kiprusoff has played 74 or more games each of the last four seasons. He has a lot of mileage in the goal crease, which has led to a significant decrease in performance in the playoffs. Each of the last two seasons, his GAA has increased by over .5 in the playoffs vs. the regular season. Backup Curtis McElhinney has to improve his 1-6-1 record last season and record some more wins to keep Kiprusoff fresher for the playoffs. In addition the defense has to perform the same in front of McElhinney as it does in front of Kiprusoff as it saved its worse performances for when the backup was in goal.

Like every season, the Flames have the potential to contend for the division title. If the defense and goaltending starts the season hot, they can fight for one of the top-three seeds in the west. Most likely, they will likely fall to the third-sixth seed. The challenge however, is if Sutter can put together a playoff run and earn the respect of the team in the locker room.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,