One thing about sports: some teams win, but the rest lose.
I don't make the rules. I just write about the games. Here's what's going on with some struggling teams:
- * Over in Atlanta, they haven't won in ten games. Sure, there was a goalie fight against Edmonton the other night, but the NHL just doesn't award points for those yet. Yet. I'm pretty shocked over Atlanta's troubles. I thought for sure that the return of Dany Heatley would be a huge boost to the Thrashers. I'm not sure why it didn't pan out that way.
* Here in New York, the Rangers are always struggling (including their 2-1 loss to the Flyers last night). One reason? The Rangers are like 20 years behind the times. Seriously. The 1986 All-Star Game featured current Ranger coach Glen Sather, future and then ex-Ranger coach Bryan Trottier, and Mark Messier. Today's Rangers are a history book.
* Things are bad in St. Louis, too. They've won just once in their past 11, including getting shut out by Colorado last night. Some people are blaming coach Joel Quenneville, but players are blaming injuries and a lack of talent. I'm going to second that. Losing Al MacInnis and Barret Jackman was a huge blow to their blue line.
* Out in LA, things are back to normal, in the sense that goalie Roman Cechmanek is imploding, just like he did in Philadelphia. Cechmanek has given up two easy, routine goals in the past three games (l:laexaminer;p:laexaminer). Interestingly, Cechmanek's latest mistake came while he was playing behind his net. A Columbus Blue Jacket was able to pick off Cechmanek's pass and score into the empty net. And the league wants to stop goalies from going behind their nets to increase scoring. It seems like plenty of scoring can result from the goalie leaving the crease. Maybe the league will only let Cechmanek back there.
* Finally, off the topic of struggling, check out Tasca's Take, a new hockey blog. It's interesting stuff
The Coyotes are very psyched about Mike Comrie.
He missed Tuesday's practice but was able to make it for last night's game against the Ducks. Comrie looked sharp as hell, too. He was dishing the puck like he was doing yo-yo tricks. Sadly, Anaheim seemed to score every time Phoenix did.
Comrie is really going to be an impact player for Phoenix, though. Whereas the East was just too constricting for Comrie's broad passes, the West, where he came from, is juuuust right. The conventional wisdom on Phoenix was always that they lacked a finisher, maybe all this time they were a team of finishers lacking a set-up man.
Comrie finished the night with two assists in a 5-3 loss to the Ducks. Now Phoenix is up against the clock. Comrie has to start clicking like right now, if Phoenix is going to climb seven points in the standings to that eighth seed.
Me thinks a few Western teams on the bubble are definitely going to be checking their rearview mirror every few periods.
At the risk of coming off as obsessed with Curtis Joseph, which of course, I am, here's some more Cujo news.
He hurt his ankle in Detroit's 4-2 win over the Sharks.
It looks like a sprain.
So now, for those keep score at home, Detroit's gone from three goalies to one.
Look for former backup Manny Legace, who finished the game for Joseph, to make his next start in bubble wrap.
Detroit's goalie-go-round has finally stopped.
Dominik Hasek finally admitted what the hockey world has known for at least a month: he's not returning to hockey due to groin injuries.
So now, the future of the Detroit Red Wings officially rests on the shoulders of a player the organization spent the better part of this season abusing.
Cujo started the season strong but is pretty average right now, sporting a .904 save percentage and 2.48 GAA. The Hockey News has him rated 27th in the league in their goalie rankings.
Meanwhile, Mitch Albom has some really interesting tidbits about this whole mess. Here, we learn things like some fellow Red Wings might be questioning Hasek's resolve and whether he should be playing through the pain and whether his retirement is really about his not being as good as he was when he left hockey. Albom also speculates Hasek is taking a pay cut to give the Wings some financial relief.
Good thing the Wings couldn't unload Cujo, right?
Geez. After all the denials and the rumors and the intrigue, Phoenix goalie Sean Burke is a Flyer.
The Flyers also got forward Branko Radivojevic and prospect Ben Eager. In return, Phoenix got Mike Comrie.
I almost hate to point out that I predicted Comrie would move a couple of weeks ago.
Then I remembered I'm never right, so it seemed like I should take advantage.
Burke is going to be huge for the Flyers. He's looking to prove himself so he's going to be as sharp as a tack. The Flyers will be pumped to finally have a solid goalie, so they'll continue to play well. And best of all, with the season winding down, Burke can stay hot into the playoffs.
Sadly, Flyer goalie Jeff Hackett retired due to his vertigo. His retirement is what made this deal possible.
And let's not forget Phoenix. Comrie is no slouch. He could be just the offensive touch they need but never seem able to land. Perhaps Comrie can finish the job Flyer Tony Amonte couldn't even really start in Phoenix.
Is there anything more exciting than a big trade?
This is kind of sad, but not surprising: The All-Star game looks like it'll be on ESPN next season, rather than broadcast on ABC. It's just more proof the NHL isn't popular here in the states. Rudy Martzke at USA Today also says ESPN's new TV deal with the league is expected to be halved, moving from $120 million to $60 - $70 million. I'm assuming the two deals are of comparable length.
That's a huge hit for the league. I've also heard rumors that the Finals won't be broadcast over ABC, either. While hockey obviously isn't a big draw, ABC never really gave it a decent shot. They only show a couple of afternoon games each season, hardly prime sports viewing time. Then, when the Finals roll around, casual fans have no idea what the sport is. A couple of primetime regular season games might help score some fans. In theory, anyway.
