A couple of weeks ago, the Wild signing Petr Sykora seemed like a brilliant move. I know I sure loved it. It’s still a little early to say it’s not working out, but Sykora was a healthy scratch against Nashville last night. That came after getting less than 10 minutes against Chicago Monday night. Sykora [...]
What are we? Two weeks into the season? And already the Doug Weight trade rumors are starting. This has to be some kind of trade rumor record. The Islanders are still waiting for their first win of the season and are in a challenging situation. Coach Scott Gordon has some talented, but undeveloped forwards and [...]
Defenseman Mark Popovic is in Thrasher training camp, trying to earn a contract. He spent last season playing in the KHL and he wasn’t very impressed by the quality of play there. Popovic played for Atlanta before deciding to go to Russia, so he has a connection to the team, but part of me wonders [...]
The Flyers continue to take penalties like they’re water breaks. It’s something that made them the league’s most penalized team last season. It’s something that makes a long, grinding season even more difficult. And it’s something that will haunt the Flyers as long as they gravitate toward mean, thuggish players. Dan Carcillo has been taking [...]
Tim Panaccio looked at some of the line combinations coming out of Flyers training camp. It looks like Claude Giroux is going to spend a lot of time with Daniel Briere, making for a fast, dynamic, and small line. The interesting (and unsurprising) thing is, is that Briere doesn’t see size as an issue, pointing [...]
This weekend, Tim Panaccio had a great piece on the great Freddy Shero, who for whatever reason, isn’t in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Coach Shero was innovative, yet complicated. He was very old school, even for the 1970s, yet he was always ready to embrace a new idea. Panaccio says Shero might not be [...]
I’m never able to get very excited about the NHL draft. Very few draftees have an immediate impact, so it’s hard to get psyched about players you probably won’t see for a while. Greg Logan had an interesting piece about if teams should take the player they value most highly or the one the market [...]
One way you know it was a great game seven is that there just wasn’t much to say about it. It completely spoke for itself. The Penguins were flawless for two periods and strong enough for the third. Defenseman Brad Stuart, whose turnovers and pinching led to both game seven Penguin goals, says he’d like [...]
I suggested coach Dave Tippett would have a short leash in Dallas with new GM Joe Nieuwendyk, but I didn’t think it would be this short. The Stars are expected to announce the Tippett-ectomy today. Marc Crawford is rumored to be the next coach of the Stars. Crawford’s up-tempo, forecheck heavy style, which he’s coached [...]
If/when the Flyers sign goalie Ray Emery, it will represent a tremendous step backwards for the franchise. The Flyers’ Marty Biron goalie years represented a recognition that a modern, post-lockout NHL franchise needs a strong presence in goal. And to be honest, you really needed a strong goalie before the lockout, too. One of former [...]
