Jan 30
Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images
Keith Yandle of the Phoenix Coyotes checks Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins during the first period of the 2012 Tim Hortons NHL All-Star Game. Chara with a big smile showed exactly what the NHL All-Star festivities is about; fun. From the heckling at the draft, neat shoot-out moves in the skills competition to the pick-up friendly All-Star game, the event was a success.
With a shortened Fantasy Hockey week thanks to the NHL All-Star Weekend, what better topic to discuss on Fantasy Hockey Friday than the NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft that took place last night?
The second annual NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft had a little bit of everything, from surprise picks to cheers and jeers from the home crowd in Ottawa, to rivalries that can’t yet be put aside and a first-hand look at players sitting back, enjoying themselves and the game they love.
The night started off with a great show of sportmanship by Daniel Alfredsson, the homewtown captain of the Ottawa Senators and one of the All-Star Game captains, when he yielded to Zdeno Chara, captain for the “visiting” team, and allowed him to call the toss of the puck because he is the defending Stanley Cup Champion. As it turned out, Chara called correctly and received the first overall pick with co-captain Joffrey Lupul by his side.
Zdeno Chara poses for pictures with Pavel Datsyuk, the #1 overall pick in the NHL All Star Draft
Most fans figured Evgeni Malkin, who currently leads the league in points, or Claude Giroux, a close second behind Malkin, would be taken first overall. Instead, Chara decided to go a different route and picked Pavel Datsyuk, a highly skilled puck handler and someone Chara thinks “plays the game the right way.” Datsyuk should have no problem setting up some of the goal scorers that Chara later picked, including Malkin, Gaborik, Kane, Hossa, Perry and Iginla.
Team bonds and friendships won out afterward as Alfredsson and his co-captain Henrik Lundqvist picked young defenseman Erik Karlsson, a teammate of Alfredsson’s in Ottawa. In the second round, Chara followed suite and grabbed Tim Thomas, his teammate in Boston, while Alfredsson picked Jason Spezza, another Ottawa teammate. With that pick, Spezza became $20 poorer when it was later revealed that he had bet Malkin $20 that Malkin would be picked before him.
By the end of the night, Chara had all of the Boston players while Alfredsson had all of the Ottawa Senators.
This year’s Mr. Irrelevant, the last picked player in the draft, came down to two young players who didn’t share ties with either of the captains or co-captains. Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars and Logan Couture of the San Jose Sharks were the last two remaining on the stage with Chara left to pick his last player and determine who would become the last pick of the draft and this year’s Mr. Irrelevant – a spot that Phil Kessel of the Toronto Maple Leafs found himself in last season.
Again, Chara showed class on stage and picked Benn over Couture because, as Chara prefaced before the pick, Benn deserved to not be last after having emergency appendectomy surgery recently and still showed up to play this weekend. The All-Star Game on Sunday will be Benn’s first game back after the surgery in any capacity.
Don’t feel too bad for Couture, though. Being last picked in the NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft has its merits as Couture walked away with a free car.
Here are a few more thoughts and notes about the draft last night:
Jan 27
Andre Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images
Captain Zdeno Chara and Tyler Seguin of the Boston Bruins show a little love after Chara left Seguin among the final four to be chosen in the 2012 NHL All-Star Draft. Seguin, once picked, was greeted with a smiling Chara asking, “Want to hug it out?”. One of the funnier moments of the night.
It looks to be a good lineup for both teams. Anyone else hoping for a Pavel Datsyuk / Evgeni Malkin line?
In a move that should have been a no-brainer from the beginning, Pittsburgh Penguins forward James Neal was deservedly added to the NHL All-Star Game roster today as a replacement for Alexander Ovechkin, who decided yesterday that skip this year’s All-Star Game festivities because of his suspension.
Neal will join teammates Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang as representatives for the Pittsburgh Penguins at the festivities this weekend in Ottawa, which kick off this Thursday at 8 p.m. with the NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft and continues Saturday night with the Skills Competitionand the All-Star Game on Sunday afternoon.
This will be the first All-Star appearance for the 24-year-old Neal, who was traded from Dallas to Pittsburgh last season. However, this will be Neal’s second appearance at the NHL All-Star Weekend as he played in the YoungStars Game in 2009 in Montreal.
Neal should have been on the roster from the get-go thanks to a season that will certainly end with personal bests in nearly every stat category. With 27 goals on the season, Neal has already tied his personal best in goals and will likely surpass his personal best in assists and total points within the next month. He currently ranks second on the Penguins in points, behind only Evgeni Malkin, and ranks 13th in the league in points with 47 and third in the league in goals.
It will be interesting to see if All-Star captains Daniel Alfredsson or Zdeno Chara attempt to draft both Malkin and Neal in order to give their team a competitive advantage by having two players on a line together who already have chemistry.
Key Offseason Losses: Michael Ryder, Tomas Kaberle, Mark Recchi (retired)
Key Offseason Additions: Benoit Pouliot, Joe Corvo
Last Season Ranking: 3rd in the East
Offense: The Bruins are a rare team that doesn’t rely on two or three superstars for most of their offense. Instead, the Bruins spread the wealth and get everyone to contribute on a nightly basis. Last season, Boston finished 5th in the league in goals scored per game with an average of 2.98. Six of the eight players who scored 40 or more points last season will return this year.
Milan Lucic, David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron and Nathan Horton form the foundation of the team’s offense. Each player had 50 or more points last season while Krejci was the only one of the four to not post 20 or more goals, although he led the team with 49 assists. These players will again form the nucleus of the offense this season.
To help shore up the departures of Michael Ryder and Mark Recchi, both Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand will be looked upon to provide secondary scoring and take on more responsibility in their second full years in the NHL. While Marchand remains unsigned, his clutch performance in the playoffs gave a good indication of what he is capable of. A second 20+ goal season and 50 or more points may not be out of reach.
The player to watch this season is Rich Peverley. The trade to Boston from the Thrashers at the trade deadline last year was a bit under the radar, but Peverley is a solid contributor capable of posting 40-50 points a season. He certainly helps the Bruins’ depth and should get more attention now that he’s in a hockey market, much like Horton did last season after getting traded from Florida.
Defense: The Bruins play team defense. They are smart and they are accountable. In fact, nine players last season were plus-15 or better while five of those players were plus-25 or better. Not many teams can match those types of stats.
Captain Zdeno Chara remains the foundation of the team’s defense and is every bit the leader on the ice. His 44 points were good for 6th on the team and his plus-33 led the team. Beyond Chara, the team has a lot of talent defensively with Dennis Seidenberg, Andrew Ference and Matt Hunwick. Youngster Adam McQuaid also showed a lot of promise with 15 points and a plus-30 rating in 67 games and will get the chance to expand on those numbers this season.
The addition of Joe Corvo gives the Bruins another strong offensive defenseman capable of reaching the 40-point plateau. Corvo should be what the Bruins expected Kaberle to be last season. Kaberle never really materialized into the puck-moving defenseman they desired and were willing to let him walk this summer and take Corvo instead.
The Bruins finished 2nd in the NHL in goals allowed with an average of 2.30 per game last season. With most of the blue line from last season returning this year, and the addition of Corvo, expect Boston’s defense to be as good, if not better, than last year.
Goaltending: At 37 years old, everyone keeps waiting for time to catch up with Tim Thomas. But Thomas, like a fine wine, seems to only get better with age. While there remains the threat of a Stanley Cup hangover, Thomas plays the game with determination and heart and if he’s healthy, he will do whatever it takes to win.
Don’t count out backup goaltender Tuukka Rask, who successfully stole the number one job from Thomas in 2009-10. Rask is capable of challenging Thomas and together they push each other to greater heights and form one of the more formidable tandems in the NHL.
HWB Playoff Prediction: Playoff bound.
The bleary picture surrounding the Shea Weber negotiations with the Nashville Predators are beginning to clear some as more news and speculation has emerged concerning the contract negotiations between the two sides nearly 24 hours after Weber’s arbitration hearing.
Reports have surfaced that Weber’s camp asked the arbitrator for $8.5 million a season, making the 25-year-old defenseman one of the highest paid defenseman in the NHL. Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins will make $8.5 million a season while Christian Ehrhoff recently signed a free agent contract with the Buffalo Sabres that will pay him $10 million this season.
Similar news surfaced that Nashville was initially offering a contract for just over $7 million per season with terms of the deal ranging between three and seven years. During the arbitration hearing, however, Nashville asked for a lower amount in their proposal (rumored to be $4.75 million) in hopes that it would lower the arbitrator’s award to somewhere in the middle with a contract for $6.5 million or so.
Speculation continues that this whole charade could be a do-or-die moment for the Predators as Weber was unhappy that Nashville decided to take him to arbitration to begin with. Coupled with his desire to win a Stanley Cup, it’s believed that Weber is looking for a big pay day and also the assurance that Nashville is willing to spend the money to land the talent to build a championship team – something they have been reluctant to do in recent years despite their success in making the playoffs and consistently getting bounced in the early rounds.
It’s likely the arbitrator’s award will be a one-year contract, making Weber a restricted free agent again next season. However, since the Predators initiated the arbitration this year they will be unable to do so again next season. If Weber truly is unhappy with the team’s decision to take him to arbitration, this could be an interesting story to follow as the season progresses – especially if Nashville can’t re-sign Weber to a long term deal or if the team appears to be out of the playoff picture when the second half of the season hits. Nashville could opt to trade Weber at that point. The team would probably prefer to trade Weber than risk losing him for a compensation package of draft picks if an offer sheet came through next summer.
After an arbitration hearing, the arbitrator has 48-hours to deliver his award. Weber’s decision will come through by tomorrow morning at the latest.
Tell us what you think! How much do you think Weber will be awarded and how do you think this whole process will impact Weber’s future relationship with the Predators?
According to recent tax documents in a published report by SportsBusiness Journal, Gary Bettman, the often chided NHL Commissioner, earned $7.5 million during the 2009-10 fiscal year that ended June 30, 2010. This marked a four percent increase in pay from the previous year.
It also puts Bettman on par with Marion Gaborik, Ilya Kovalchuk, Roberto Luongo and Zdeno Chara – NHL superstars who all earned $7.5 million during the 2009-10 season. In fact, only 12 NHL players earned more that season than Bettman.
Bettman’s base salary consisted of $5,787,524 while other compensation, deferred compensation and benefits accounted for the remaining salary.
The tax documents also show that Bettman’s salary has doubled since the 2004-05 lockout while total revenue generated by the NHL, NHL Enterprises and members clubs rose from $2.1 billion to $2.9 billion during the same time frame.
Bettman, who is often the target of fan scorn and is audibly booed at major appearances (such as the Stanley Cup Finals where he presents the trophy to the captain of the winning team), still makes only a fraction of what Commissioners of other major sports league make annually. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig makes $18.35 million annually while NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell makes $10.9 million.
Share your thoughts! Does Bettman deserve to make a salary equivelent to some of the league’s top talent?
Zdeno Chara, Rich Peverly, and David Krejci of the Boston Bruins all use Easton Sticks
As fans, we can look back on the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs and remember a lot of thrilling, high-intensity matchups featuring a myriad of remarkable saves and highlight-reel dangles. But as one of the major hockey equipment manufacturers, Easton Hockey will look back on 2011 as a year where their sticks dominated the playoffs.
According to Easton’s Big Play Newsletter, they have the following honors to celebrate:
Easton also scored big with some individual honors as well:
Beyond that, more than twenty different players scored a goal using the new Easton Stealth RS hockey stick. What started as a project to a sample of NHL players in the 2011 playoffs, turned into the achievements above.
The Boston Bruins have taken the Eastern Conference Championship with a win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. The accomplishment was rewarded with the Wales Trophy by Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly to the Bruins’ Captain Zdeno Chara. Sticking with superstition, the Captain decided not to touch the trophy. However, the Bruins did receive the trophy with class as instead of the typical picture of the Captain, the presenter and the trophy, the whole Bruins’ team huddled around and took a picture. Whomever thought of doing such a thing is a class act guy. Below you can see the video.
A little tidbit about the Wales Trophy: The trophy in full is known as The Prince of Wales Trophy for Prince Edward, Prince of Wales. Prince Edward was the first son of King George V. Edward later became King after the death of his father, only to abdicate 326 days later. He was succeeded by his younger brother Albert, commonly known as Bertie by his family. Albert became King George VI. His daughter later succeeded him and to be known as Queen Elizabeth II who is still the Queen today.
If this all rings a bell then perhaps modern cinema has caught your eye. Both the Prince of Wales (Edward) and King George VI (Albert) were the focus in the movie A King’s Speech. If however, you have not seen the movie, I would suggest you do so. And in doing so, make note that you now know who the Wales Trophy is named after.
Should be a fun filled night of hockey playoff action tonight as two of the games are do-or-die game 7′s and one is bound to be. Here are the match-ups and why you should or should not tune in.
Boston Bruins @ Montreal Canadiens
More drama than a soap opera, the Montreal Canadiens look to tie up the series at 3 a piece. Starting in the regular season with the Zdeno Chara hit on Max Pacioretty, the Habs fans tried to get Chara in hot water by calling the police to investigate the action. Failing to have Chara serve hard time before the series, the show continued. Game four brought another bit of excitement as Boston Bruins Andrew Ference was fined for displaying the California howdy to the Montreal crowd. Ference took a Janet Jackson defense claiming a wardrobe malfunction.
The games have been quite abnormal with a win-on-the-road series for the first four games. The Boston Bruins have finally won one at home to lead the series 3-2. This was of course without lack of excitement as the win came in the second overtime. Expect Montreal to come out flying fast and peppering goalie Tim Thomas with pucks. The series is set-up to be going to game 7.
Buffalo Sabres @ Philadelphia Flyers
The Buffalo Sabres had the Philadelphia Flyers on the brink of defeat, only to lose on home ice in 5-4 loss in overtime. Traveling to the sea of Orange, the Sabres have a tall order to fill to win.
On a bright note, the Sabres look to bring back secret weapon Derek Roy after suffering a torn left quadriceps tendon. This will however be at the offsetting loss of Tim Connolly. Connolly was driven into the boards from behind by Flyers Mike Richards. Some might even call it a boarding. Richards, who you could say started the whole reason for taking blindside hits to the head more serious with his hit on David Booth, will not receive any suspension. After reviewing the tape, it was difficult to decide the severity of the hit and if it warranted a suspension…. if your name is Helen Keller. Connolly knocked out the for the series, hit from behind, can NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell be fired yet? I think the weather man/woman gets more calls right.
Regardless of the outcome of the game, one team needs to advance only to be eliminated in the next round. Watch if you have nothing better to do.
Chicago Blackhawks @ Vancouver Canucks
Welcome to the maiiiiiin event!
That’s right, the defending Stanley Cup Champions Chicago Blackhawks look to eliminate the season leading record Vancouver Canucks. After losing the majority of their team in the offseason to salary cap issues, the Blackhawks barely made it into the postseason only to give the Canucks a run for their money. Losing the first 3 games and winning the last 3, momentum looks to be on their side.
Vancouver is in a panic and rightfully so. On the verge of being called the new San Jose Sharks with their lack of ability to produce in the postseason, the “untouchable on paper” Canucks can be eliminated. Media outlets are trying to pin point the turning point, saying the Canucks Raffi Torres hit on Blackhawk defender Brent Seabrook woke up the giant. I don’t quite buy that, but I do buy that Vancouver General Manager Mike Gillis is trying to deflect media attention from net-minder Roberto Luongo with his claim that the referees are out to get them. Sure Chicago has had 27 power-plays to your 16 in the series, 22 to your 12 in the last 4 games, but hey, who’s counting? OK, maybe Gillis has a point, but still, Luongo looks bad, real bad. With a career 2.57 goals against average and .915 save percentage for the playoffs, I think we know who to point the finger at and it is not the refs.
Should be a fast paced game and worth watching, even worth staying up late on the east coast. Either one of these teams very well could be in the championship this year, which one though will be decided tonight.
