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Red Wings Turn to Experience as Blackhawks Turn Away

Steven Ovadia — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 14:08:51 +0000

The other day, I wrote about how Cup-winning experience is actually a good thing.

The Blackhawks’ summer payroll purge has resulted in a Cup-winning team jettisoning a decent part of its Cup-winning experience.

And that could wind up being a fatal mistake for Chicago. Obviously, a lot of the experience purge is due to salary cap considerations, and so are — to a certain extent — out of GM Stan Bowman’s hands. But there are still ways to retain talent and experience working within the constraints of the cap.

Experience has come up a few times this week.

The Red Wings signed Cup-winning, 40-year-old Mike Modano to a one-year deal that will see him centering the Wings’ third line.

The Wings are a team that have always treasured success and experience. While I don’t think the move will ultimately pan out for the Wings, I can see where they would want a guy like Modano in the room.

Modano would represent another way to reinforce the principles of hockey success, assuming he plays well enough to be taken seriously.

And of course, Peter Forsberg’s annual retirement reconsideration always draws interest from NHL teams.

Part of that interest is driven by the memories of Forsberg’s immense talents. Some of is driven by the desire to get a deal, the same way people buy garbage at garage sales, hoping it turns out to be a priceless antique. But Forsberg also draws interest because of the experience he brings to a team. While his physical abilities have consistently waned, he still sees the game like very few players. And to a lot of NHL GMs, that makes Forsberg worth the risk.

The Blackhawks are shedding experience and flying in the face of what some other NHL GMs are doing. They’re taking a big risk. Other than the Devils of the 1990s and the NFL’s New England Patriots, there aren’t too many successful teams that dismantle themselves, feeling they have too much success and experience on the roster.

I’m not sure the Blackhawks will be one of those rare exceptions.

Mike Modano Drawing Inappropriately Insane Amount of Interest

Steven Ovadia — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:31:57 +0000

One thing that’s a bit frustrating about the NHL is that a lot of weight is attached to well-known names.

It seems that a lot of GMs look at names rather than stats before they make a move.

How else to explain all of the interest in Mike Modano, he of the 14 goals and 16 assists in 59 games last season.

It seems Modano is drawing interest from the San Jose Sharks, the Minnesota Wild, and, of course, the Detroit Red Wings.

The Wild might be interested because of Modano’s connections to the Minnesota North Stars, who drafted him back in 1988. Signing Modano would be a homecoming of sorts, although the North Stars moved to Dallas, so Modano would be coming home to a franchise completely unrelated to the one that drafted him.

Modano is on record as saying he likes the Minnesota homecoming angle, though.

San Jose likes to keep veteran players around. Grizzled character guys like Jeremy Roenick, Adam Graves, and Rob Blake have all ended their careers as Sharks. Why not add Modano to the list?

But do these teams really want to get involved with a player who just turned 40 last month? And who’s definitely lost a few steps over the past few seasons? If there was a more anonymous player with similar statistics, would there be at least three NHL teams showing interest in him?

Obviously, a guy like Modano brings some intangibles to the table. He’s won a Cup. He’s experienced. He’s a leader. But are those traits worth taking up the roster spot of a player who a team could actually mentor and develop? It’s not like Modano has a long-term NHL career in front of him.

Matt Hendricks is 29. He put up nine goals and seven assists in 56 games for the Avs last season. Does he have three teams interested in him? Adam Mair is 31, with six goals and eight assists in 69 games last season. Why is no one kicking his tires?

I get that Modano wants to prove he can still play at the NHL level. He’s an athlete who’s done nothing but compete for the vast majority of his life. I don’t blame him for wanting to keep pushing himself. I just don’t get why NHL GMs are willing to compromise their line-ups for a guy with a declining skill-set but brand-name recognition.

And the takeaway from all of this seems to be that if you want to extend your NHL career as long as humanly possible, make sure you’ve got a huge name. Because if you’re an anonymous player with average to below average numbers, it seems no one will give you a second look.

It’s better to be old and famous than younger and average.

Five Parties for the San Jose Sharks to Thank

Steven Ovadia — Mon, 10 May 2010 08:56:56 +0000

The nice thing about San Jose’s advancement into the Western Conference finals is that there are quite a few heroes responsible for the Sharks finally dumping their choke artists reputation. Here are five thank yous the Sharks need to express:

Thank You One: Coaching
First of all, you have to thank coach Todd McLellan, who has kept his team calm throughout the playoffs. I made fun of McLellan (and his players) for de-emphasizing the importance of winning post-season games, but it seems it was a smart coaching technique.

Thank You Two: Joe Thornton
Also helpful was Joe Thornton finally coming alive in the playoffs. I’ve always felt Thornton’s greatest curse was that he’s a low-key guy who takes everything in stride. It looked like this post-season, he was determined to show he could personally take his team to the next level. And against Detroit, he really did.

Thank You Three: Dany Heatley
The Sharks also need to thank Dany Heatley, who took a lot of pressure off of Thornton. Instead of Thornton being the guy, he was one of the guys, and I think that let him relax and focus on the game a bit more. Heatley has played very well in the playoffs, but his main contribution is being another high profile player to draw some of the spotlight off of Thornton.

Thank You Four: Secondary Scoring
Speaking of guys, the post-season emergence of Joe Pavelski and Devin Setoguchi have made the Sharks very, very tough to defend. They throw a lot of offense at opposing defenses and it’s truly hard to know who’s going to be hot on any given night. If you focus on Pavelski, you have to worry about Patrick Marleau. If you focus on Thornton, Heatley will burn you.

Thank You Five: Dan Boyle
Finally, the Sharks need to thank Dan Boyle, whose freak goal seems to have solidified the Sharks resolve. That goal shook the Sharks out of their own heads, because, I would argue, it made them feel less responsible for their winning. Once they saw that crazy things are going to happen, and these crazy things are sometimes unavoidable, I think they were able to relax and focus on doing the best they could with whatever hand they were dealt. After the freak goal, the Sharks focused on playing well rather than winning and that subtle shift is what got them into the conference finals.

NHL Trying to Clear Wings from Crease

Steven Ovadia — Wed, 05 May 2010 10:13:08 +0000

I’m loving the San Jose-Detroit series because of how it represents a rebirth for the Sharks. Instead of being a first-round choke kind of team, they’re suddenly confident and composed.

The officiating has been a bit strange, though. Specifically, the NHL suddenly seems to have taken exception to some of Detroit’s around-the-net play.

Last night Henrik Zetterberg had a goal waved off that bounced in off of his skate as he was charging the net (but well outside of the crease). To me, it seemed more of a deflection than a kick, but it was a close call.

But in the third period, with less than three minutes left in the game, Tomas Holmstrom was called for goaltender interference when he didn’t really seem to be interfering with anyone.

I don’t think the NHL is out to get the Wings and I don’t think the officiating is part of some larger anti-Detroit conspiracy. But looking at the officiating against the Wings over the past three seasons, it’s hard not to see a pattern of calls that seem designed to keep Detroit away from opposing creases.

It seems we spend a fair amount of time each playoff season taking about the number of Detroit goals waved off because of the presence of a player in the crease — usually Zetterberg or Holmstrom.

The NHL’s message is clear: they don’t want to see play that down low in the playoffs.

I’m not sure what the NHL objects to. I suspect they’re worried about too many teams overloading the crease with huge bodies, taking some speed out of the game. The interesting thing is that fans always seem to love guys like Zetterberg and Holmstrom, who are willing to take a beating in search of a goal.

And in general, if a forward doesn’t know what to do in the offensive zone, most of the time it’s going to pay for him to just head toward the net. So it’s strange that so much officiating seems to be teaching players to avoid the net.

I would say this officiating is about protecting goalies, but if you’ve watched any regular season hockey, you’ve seen goalies run over and into nightly. The league seems to have very little interest in protecting goalies.

Detroit coach Mike Babcock has built a great team around the concept of working the crease. He won a Stanley Cup executing that strategy.

But now, down three games to none, maybe it’s time to try something else. It’s not fair Babcock has to abandon a successful strategy that requires a lot of player skill and bravery, but it doesn’t seem the Wings can beat both the Sharks and the officials.

To Win a Cup, Capitals Must Become the Red Wings East

Steven Ovadia — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 11:32:54 +0000

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For all of the talk about the new NHL, with its speed and its goal-scoring, the reality is that the playoffs are very much the old NHL, with its hooking and its defense and its checking.

The Flyers and Bruins made it into the second round of the playoffs playing pre-lockout NHL hockey, with a lot of guys down low in the crease.

Last night, the Capitals were bounced for not playing it. Or to be more precise, they were bounced for not responding to the fact that the Canadiens were playing it.

The Caps couldn’t score in this series because Montreal played them tight, keeping the Caps to the outside and blocking lots of shots.

But the Capitals never got in the face of Canadiens goalie Jaroslav Halak (or Carey Price for that matter). They never had anyone down low, causing trouble and creating a distraction. And that allowed Halak to put together some beautiful games, in addition to some oddly awful ones.

The irony is that the Capitals have a player that could be a tremendous force in the crease. Unfortunately, Alex Ovechkin doesn’t have a down-low style game in his repertoire.

And that’s something Caps coach Bruce Boudreau needs to look into for next season.

It’s one thing to dominate the regular season, but surviving the playoffs is another thing entirely. The Penguins roll so much talent, they don’t really need that kind of game, but the Red Wings have dominated with a world of players who can work the puck from the crease.

It’s time for the Capitals to make Ovechkin into that kind of player.

Because if Ovechkin spent the series in front of Halak, Halak wouldn’t have spent so many games looking like the second coming of Patrick Roy.

I suspect the Capitals organization has looked at Pittsburgh as a model for how to build a successful NHL team. But the Penguins are constructed with so much game-changing talent, it’s almost impossible to re-create. Especially with a salary cap.

Instead, when the Caps look at what went wrong in the playoffs, I hope they’ll look to the Wings and try and rebuild the Capitals in the image of Detroit.

Ovechkin would look mighty good standing in front of some poor goalie, waiting to deflect shots from defenseman Mike Green.

It wouldn’t be pretty, but a few rounds of more grinding hockey could lead the Caps to the Stanley Cup.

And as we all know, the Stanley Cup is very pretty.

John Hughes: Hockey Fan

Steven Ovadia — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:02:54 +0000

Vanity Fair has an interesting piece on John Hughes, the iconic director who died in August.

In addition to being a huge 80s director, Hughes was also a big hockey fan. In fact, one of his last public appearances might have been the Wings/’Hawks Winter Classic.

The article points out some cool things, like how in FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF, despite being from Chicago, Cameron wears a Gordie Howe jersey the whole movie. Hughes was a big Howe fan, having lived in Michigan until he was 12.

Hughes’ friendship with the beloved John Candy was also partially based upon a mutual love of hockey: “Candy, though he was from Toronto rather than Chicago, led a life similar to Hughes’s: big hockey fan, big family man, strong marriage, two young kids.”

Candy owned a farm, which inspired Hughes to do the same. He named it Redwing Farms. Even more inspired, the farm was in Illinois.

I’m not a huge fan of Hughes film work. Like everyone, I’ve seen his movies, but they didn’t really change my life. But he seems like he was a really nice guy.

Olympics Will Drain a Lot of Players

Steven Ovadia — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 10:54:22 +0000

Not to be a jerk about the Olympics, but what exactly is the NHL thinking?

The Penguins are obviously already gassed from their successful Stanley Cup run. They beat Atlanta last night, but had dropped their previous five. And now, instead of just focusing on making it to the All-Star break, they’re going to send key players to Vancouver?

Sidney Crosby and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury will represent Canada. Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar will represent Russia. Brooks Orpik will represent the U.S.

Basically, if you asked someone to pick five Penguins you’d want resting and not playing in a tournament in the middle of a season, it would probably be those five guys.

I know players love the chance to represent their country and I know the Olympics is good exposure for the NHL but it seems ridiculous that teams like the Penguins not only play deep into the post-season but then are expected to stock in-season Olympic teams, too.

Detroit, who also played deep into the post-season, is sending seven key players to Vancouver.

Most fans want to see teams as healthy as possible. No one wants to see Pittsburgh or Detroit make an early playoff exit because guys are too tired from a grueling two-year cycle of playing.

Sadly, I don’t have a solution, outlandish or otherwise. If you give Olympic players a week or so off after the games, you’ll have non-Olympians who haven’t played in a month or so. I would suggest coaches rest their Olympians whenever possible, but that’s not always feasible during a season — especially for a team that’s struggling.

The moral of all of this? Don’t make a Stanley Cup run the season before the Olympics.

Big Goalie Night

Steven Ovadia — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:54:04 +0000

Last night was kind of interesting. There were 10 games played, with four shutouts.

Goalies Steve Mason (CBJ), Ryan Miller (BUF), Ty Conklin (backup; STL), and Nik Backstrom (MIN) each kept the red light off behind them.

So is this a sign defense is back in the NHL? Is the NHL reverting to its pre-lockout lockdown defensive mode?

Flipping around, it seems more like a sign the NHL season is just too long. Teams are out of gas and seem to be having trouble bringing the proper energy levels to each game.

Although, to be fair, Miller’s night against the Caps included some pretty amazing saves. But Minnesota-Colorado was pretty devoid of energy as was the Blues win over a tired-looking Detroit. Columbus played a strong defensive game against Florida, but the Panthers have looked tired since American Thanksgiving.

I don’t have data on the last time the NHL had this many shutouts in a night, but it seems to be a pretty rare thing. You can look at it as some strong goalies having solid games, but the reality is probably more that some strong and some struggling teams had a night where they didn’t have very much steam.

The NHL is cramming in games to make room for the Olympics and we’re starting to see the effect in the on-ice product. It’s good for goalies but probably dull for fans. Does anyone want to watch a bunch of exhausted men skate around?

Speaking of on-ice product, why is Ottawa both mad and surprised Alex Kovalev’s been slumping this season? How did they not realize this is what Kovalev does?

Darwin: ‘Hull Evolved More Than Most’

Steven Ovadia — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:29:27 +0000

Tim Panaccio took a quick look back at Brett Hull’s career.

That amazing wrist shot from the circle? It was actually his dad, Bobby Hull’s, idea. Which is shocking, since Bobby Hull is synonymous with the slapshot. But the elder Hull said the quicker NHL game required a quicker shot.

It’s funny how we’ve come full circle. You rarely see anyone scoring off the rush from the circles. And as great as Brett Hull was, I don’t think he’d have nearly as many of those kinds of goals if he played his prime in the modern NHL. Goalies are simply too big and there’s too much traffic in front of the net to score with any kind of regularity from that far out.

In fact, if I was going to tell a young player to develop any particular shot, I think I’d suggest they work on a slapshot — something that can get through to the net. Not that it would lead to many goals, but the ability to rocket the puck in from the blueline can certainly set up other people for goals.

And that’s really one the neat things about hockey. The game evolves (and sometimes devolves) over time. What works for one generation doesn’t work for another. The ability to evolve is what separates the good players from the great players. Brett Hull developed his wrist shot because it worked. But I have no doubt if he had played in the current era, he would have developed a mammoth slapshot that would have scared the padding out of opposing goalies.

Also, my latest column on how coaches tend to put too much faith in the impact of speed is up.

Ducks Future Hinges on Giguere’s Groin

Steven Ovadia — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:25:09 +0000

Anaheim has a couple of issues right now, mostly that they’re 3-5-1 and have dropped four of their last five.

But their most pressing problem might be goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere’s groin.

Giguere is making $6 million this season and $7 million next season, even as the Ducks have a much stronger, cheaper goaltending option in Jonas Hiller.

It’s been fairly obvious that Anaheim wants to trade Giguere and has been giving him starts to keep him sharp and to showcase him. And Giguere is a solid, proven goalie who would have attracted some interest.

Would have. Until he left Saturday’s loss to the Blue Jackets with a sore groin.

Teams won’t take a chance on an expensive goalie like Giguere if there are concerns about groin issues. And if Giguere doesn’t come off of the Anaheim cap, they can’t get in some secondary scoring and a shut-down defenseman, both of which the team needs.

Giguere’s health is the key to Anaheim’s immediate future. Not because they need him to play for them, but because they need him to play his way onto another team.

Also, here’s something I wrote about the current New York Rangers trying to re-create the 2001-02 Wings. Because if the Rangers love one thing, it’s old players.