This afternoon the NHL revealed the roster for the 2012 All-Star Game in Ottawa and there are more than a few things that are noteworthy:

1) In addition to the four Senators players who were voted into the starting lineup by the fans, forward Colin Greening was selected as one of twelve rookies to participate in the event's festivities.

2) Teemu Selanne and Niklas Lidstrom were not selected for the game. Cue the hysteria. (Note: Pierre Lebrun confirmed that Selanne informed his GM that he would politely decline the invitation if selected.)

3) Three former Senators -- Chara, Hossa, and Brian Elliott -- were selected for the game. Sorry fans, with Mikko Koivu representing the Minnesota Wild, there will be no Dany Heatley. Playing in an All-Star Game shouldn't be a big adjustment for Elliott. I'm pretty sure that he's used to giving up a lot of goals while playing behind a group that's playing some terrible defensive hockey. I just hope for his sake that these stimuli don't cause him breakdown and relapse. If anything,  the Bruce Garrioch and Elliott reunion could prove to be the most entertaining subplot of the entire All-Star Game weekend.

4) Some influential hockey internet personalities like Greg Wyshynski were pushing for Alfredsson and Selanne to be the respective captains for the game. With Selanne declining to participate, finding an alternative should be interesting. For unintentional comedy purposes and to further the mystique of the Battle of Ontario, I hope that the league elects to name Kessel or Phaneuf instead.

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If you’ve ever been flipping through the channels, then you may have come across the prank show Scare Tactics. A show that puts prank victims in the middle of their worst nightmares only to have the actors reveal the prank by asking them, “are you scared?” Then going on to say, “well you shouldn’t be, cause you’re on Scare Tactics!”

It was seven years ago that hockey fans were in the middle of their worst nightmare when the league locked out its’ players and eventually cancelled the 2004-05 season. Now, with the CBA set to expire on September 15 and the league ready to begin negations with the NHLPA soon, an interesting turn of events has taken place that could impact negotiations between the league and the players association.

That turn of events, the NHLPA’s decision to reject plans for conference realignment.

NHLPA Executive Director Donald Fehr cited several concerns about the realignment plan and the lack of transparency. Through a press release, Fehr stated that the concerns centered around whether the new conference realignment would increase and create more onerous travel. He also raised concern regarding the disparity of playoff chances between the small and larger divisions.

According to Fehr, the league was not too accommodating when the players association requested more information. no comments

The fans in Philadelphia may need to come up with a new chant for tomorrow. From the Pittsburgh Penguins official website:

Sidney Crosby did not accompany the Pittsburgh Penguins on their road trip to Philadelphia today and will sit out the next two games as a precaution.

"Sidney took a hard hit during our game against Boston Monday night and wasn't feeling 100 percent," Penguins General Manager Ray Shero said. "He saw Dr. Micky Collins of UPMC today and took an ImPACT test, which showed no problems. However, we all think it's best that he sits out the next two games as a precaution."

Obviously the Penguins have been successful without Sidney Crosby before, but this still isn't great news. Hopefully he's missing time due to his banged up knee and not anything else. Flyers fans will inevitably say that he's skipping the game because he's scared of their team.

The fact that he took an ImPACT test is concerning, but it didn't show any problems, which is good news. The Penguins are probably going to take every precaution possible with Sidney Crosby, and rightfully so. Even if you look at this from a pure investment standpoint and ignore the human side (which is pretty difficult to do) it makes sense to sit Crosby when the possibility for serious injury exists. The Penguins have too much invested in Sidney Crosby. Why would they risk putting him in danger for the sake of a couple of games (any games)? It doesn't make sense from a human standpoint either.

Earlier today the Penguins website had Crosby quoted as saying "I feel good" in regards to his health. He skated with the team today, but he didn't take part in the full practice.

This could just be a knee issue and we're all freaking out over nothing. Breathe.

This is the darkest, most terrible timeline...

 

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Call it lucky, call it too early to tell, call it whatever you want, but there’s simply no denying the changing of the guard so far this season in the NHL. Whether it’s on an individual basis or in the standings, things are certainly looking different. [helloniceblog]

The struggles of Alexander Ovechkin, Eric Staal and Jarome Iginla to name a few, have been well documented but they aren’t the only ones that have failed to continue their pace from last season. Of the top 10-point getters from 2010-11, only 2 of them are in that same company this year (D. Sedin & S. Stamkos), while 5 of them have fallen outside the top 40 and 2 outside the top 100 (Jarome Iginla and Henrik Zetterberg).  The same goes for the top 10 goal scorers from last season, with only 4 of them in the top 50. On the flip side, most of the players that ARE doing well this year would be considered somewhat of a surprise, 4 of the top 10 weren’t even in the top 85 in scoring last year. Every hockey expert at the beginning of the year would have predicted Claude Giroux, Daniel Sedin and Steven Stamkos to be near the top of the points list, and to their credit they are, but who would have predicted Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul to be 1, 3 in scoring at this point of the season (let’s be honest Leafs fans).  Who would have thought Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the 18-year old, baby faced kid that wasn’t even supposed to make the roster past the 9 game mark would be 5^th in scoring after 26 games.  Hindsight may be 20/20 but you just can’t predict things like that. He’s not the only youngster ripping it up though. Of the top 30-point getters at the moment, 15 of them are under 25 years old.  A lot has been made of the ridiculous money being handed out to young guys on their second contracts (ie Drew Doughty, Tyler Myers etc.) but with the current state of the game and the emphasis on speed, size and conditioning, the young guns are getting it done better then anyone else in the league right now and GM’s are well aware of this. Hell, 3 of the top 25 in the league right now aren’t even of legal drinking age in the U.S. (RNH, Seguin, Skinner). Imagine Canada’s world junior squad if the NHL released those guys for the tournament. WOW. Obviously that won’t happen, but it’s a nice thought. no comments

Bruce Boudreau, the most successful regular season coach in Washington Capitals history, has been fired.  Dale Hunter is the much anticipated new head coach of the Caps.  He comes in with the resume of a champion, ready to win, and he is the right man for this team, not least because he used to play here and has already coached three of the team's players.  Dale Hunter knows how to develop players, he knows how to get teams of stars to work together, and he has the hunger for the one thing that has eluded him in his illustrious career, the Stanley Cup.

Hunter is the right man for this job for many reasons.  In looking at his coaching resume, Hunter has already spent ten years behind the bench of the Ontario Hockey League's London Knights, the team he co-owns with his brother, Mark.  Hunter took over the team midway through the 2001-02 season, he won the 2003-04 CHL coach of the year award, and became the fastest coach in OHL history to 300 wins and 400 wins.  In 688 games behind the bench, Hunter's record is 451-189-17-31, and he has the best winning percentage in league history.  Hunter's teams have made the playoffs every season, and they win, too.  Under Hunter, the Knights have won 17 of 26 playoff series and the 2005 Memorial Cup.  Now that his two sons have graduated from the Knights system and with nothing left to accomplish in the OHL, Hunter is ready for a new challenge. no comments

Over the last few months, I think it is safe to say that I haven't exactly been a huge fan of Ryan Miller. No, I'm not going to state that Ryan Miller is overrated. No, I'm not going to say that Enroth should play. No, I'm not going to try and playback his interview after the Flyers game like it's the Mark Fuhrman tapes. No, I'm not going to figure out what is or isn't a soft goal like figuring out what side JFK's fatal bullet came from. That sh#t is played out on my part and everyone else's.

For the record, I don't think there is a goalie controversy because it is too early in the season to have one. I also think that we are only 11 games into the season. It is way too early to fire people. Let us not forget that this team almost beat Philly with a bunch of injured players in the playoffs and made a great run just to get in. Yes, I think the Millermaniacs are crazy and always find excuses for Miller's shoddy play. However, Miller and the Sabres deserve at least 30-40 games to figure out what the problem is between them.

Miller's also a Montreal game away from everything going back to normal. I mean, we are talking about 11 games here. It's the same stuff. Fans/media overreacting to one game. It's the norm in the sports world.

(On a sidenote, some people in the media have a lot of gall to tell the fans that they were out of line for booing/going after Miller two nights ago. Really? We are the ones jumping to conclusions and being irrational about a player? He who has not sinned, cast the first stone....Still waiting on that stone)

Talk to me in January about a panic attack.

As for the 650 lb. gorilla in the room lately, Ryan Miller's problems go beyond the ice. no comments

On a Thursday morning with zero cups of coffee in my system I’ve decided to solve the NHL realignment problem. I’ve put some thoughts together before on the topic, and for the most part I favour the two division per conference format, with the potential retraction of two teams if possible, but I don’t see it happening. Instead I wanted to look at what realignment would look like with the current three division per conference structure with the following assumptions:

1. The NHL will not be relocating another franchise in the near future.
2. The NHL plans to stay a 30 team league.
3. Winnipeg will not stay in the South East.
4. Detroit has thrown a big enough tantrum that they will be moving to the East.
5. Nobody cares about the Senators

The idea I came up with is somewhat of a blend of geographic, time zone and competitive reasoning to put together the divisions, and while like every other Realignment idea that has been floated it is far from perfect.

The Divisions:

 

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With Hockey Season Set to start in a couple of hours, I thought I might as well give my predictions for this season.

Individual Awards

Hart Trophy: Jonathan Toews- with Sidney Crosby out, he's the media's golden boy. The Hawks have built a team that's just as good as their championship team, and Toews will be the biggest reason why they'll be back at the top of the league this season.

Runners up: Alexander Ovechkin, Anze Kopitar

Ted Lindsay Award: Alexander Ovechkin- Ovechkin has won the Lindsay before, and he'll rebound for sure this year. He's earned everyone's respect and rightfully so.

Runners up: Jonathan Toews, Pavel Datsyuk

Norris Trophy: Shea Weber- While he didn't have the greatest of offseasons, he's still arguably the best defenseman in the league. Lidstrom and Chara are over 30 and while they're going strong, I highly doubt they're in line for a career year at their ages.

Runners up: Zdeno Chara, Duncan Keith

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In the movie Moneyball, there's an entertaining scene in which Brad Pitt's protagonist character -- Oakland Athletics General Manager Billy Beane -- sits down with his scouting staff to discuss their recent player evaluations.

As a small market team that had just lost three of its best players to large market teams, Beane had grown weary of being used as a feeder system to the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox of the MLB world.  By challenging his staff to unearth some new philosophy or initiative that would allow for them to compete and win while operating on a shoestring budget, Beane essentially asks them to go against the grain and alter their thought process.

According to conventional wisdom, a good prospect is one whose potential is substantiated by performance. Under these circumstances, the likelihood that a player of such a nature will have garnered the attention of others is high. Consequently, for an organization like Oakland, these kinds of players may be attractive but they’re also likely to be expensive and highly sought after. No, to take advantage of market inefficiencies, the Athletics would have to pursue players with unfulfilled potential or players whose measured performance outweighs their potential. no comments

Ah, the northeast division. Filled with some old friends and some we hardly know. One things for certain: right now, they're teams we hardly see. This should be a fairly competitive division this year due to plenty of off season moves. Let's take a look:

Montreal Canadiens

Last year: Second in Division, sixth in East. 96 points. Lost in 7 games to Boston in playoffs.
Last year vs. Hawks: Habs won 2-1 in Overtime in Montreal.
Key Additions: Peter Budaj , Erik Cole, Jeff Woywitka
Key Subtractions: James Wisniewski, Brent Sopel

After most Habs fans thought the world was ending when Halak was traded to some ECHL (or something like that) team in Missouri, the Canadiens managed to make a return to the playoffs thanks to a big rebound of a regular season from Carey Price (2.35 gaa) in net. However, playing 71 games in the regular season and habitually smoking 3 cigs at once caught up with Price, as he was a non-factor in the first round 7 game series loss to Boston. Regardless, most in Quebec seemed satisfied with Price's play, even if he does tend to allow some softies. Expect him to build on a strong season last year, mainly cause his backup this year could actually be competent.

Up front, the team was led by Tomas Plekanec (22g, 35A), Brian Gionta (29g, 17a) and Mike Cammellari (19 g, 17a). Gionta was the only person on the team to score more than 25 goals, though it should be noted that Cammellari missed 15 games. However, these three players were the only on the team to score more than 20 goals. The Habs ranked 21st in the NHL with 2.6 goals per game. Luckily, they were able to overcome that thanks to Price. The addition of Erik Cole will give Montreal some needed punch up front.

One thing Montreal does have going for it (except no longer being the most recent Canadian city to riot) is the exciting, polarizing P.K. Subban (14,g. 21a). Subban was known to get under the skin of opponents, most notably Mike Richards. One thing Subban will need to cut down on are his penalty minutes (124 last year) and accept a bigger role on the blue line at even strength and on the power play. With the devastating loss of James Wisniewski, Subban will have to increase his productivity on the power play or the Habs will find out the hard way: NO WIZ, NO WINS no comments