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I am creating a sports blog for myself, and here is the first post I put on it. It is a fair size read, but hopefully you find it interesting. It is split into different groups so you can skip things if you don't care. Thought it would be good to get some discussion going.
The puck is ready to be dropped in a matter of days. After months of money talk, revenue dealings, and men in suits, the action now returns to the on-ice drama. So here are a list of things to think about heading into the start of the short-2013 NHL season.
Can the Kings repeat?
Winning the Stanley Cup is one thing. Repeating is an entirely new monster we have hardly seen since the words ‘lockout’ became common tongue in the NHL. Only Pittsburgh and Detroit have won back to back Cups in the last 21 seasons, compared to the decade prior were the New York Islanders won four straight, Edmonton did the back-to-back thing twice, and if you want to go back four more years, Montreal won it four times in a row.
So to say Kings have a hill to climb is an understatement, but if a team can do it, why not the Kings? Their line up is intact from last season, as they resigned Dustin Penner, Jarrett Stoll and Colin Fraser, while also locking up their franchise goalie to a ten year monster deal. Add that to the already star studded line up of Mike Richards, Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty and Jeff Carter, the Kings can be just as dominate as they were last season, providing they don’t wait till the last minute like last year to sneak into the playoffs.
The Pacific division shouldn’t be much competition for the Kings this season, as the Sharks keep falling down, Dallas is in full ‘sign everyone and see what happens’ mode, and Anaheim is searching for a new identity. Phoenix will be a challenge as they have been the past couple seasons, and will rely heavily on Mike Smith to have another career year. So all this means, the Kings should have an easier road back to the finals then they did last season, earning a top four seed at the very least.
The other thing going for LA is the lockout did them a favour. The extra long schedule they played into June to capture the Cup would have gave them a short turn around to get ready to repeat. But thanks to Fehr and Bettman, they had a nice long off season. Unfortunately for LA, it has cost them a star in Anze Kopitar, who will miss the start of the season due to injury in Europe.
If there was ever a year to pick a repeat champion, this might be it. Los Angeles has the depth, the youth, the goalie and the fire power to dominate the West, and can match up against anyone in the East. If you ever wanted a ‘safe’ bet for a repeat champion, this might be your only chance.
Roberto Trade Frenzy
It is clear now that Roberto Luongo’s days in Vancouver are officially over, and I hope the netminder spent the lockout looking at real estate in the different markets he hopes to play in this season, as a trade for the Olympic Gold Medal winner (had to give him something, can’t say Cup winner) is days away. Or is it?
If you thought Luongo’s contract was a problem before, you need to go read the new CBA agreement and see how much of an issue it is now. With a $5.333million cap hit each year for the next ten seasons, moving Roberto is not as simple as it may have been pre-lockout. The salary cap will be $64.3million next season, which doesn’t create much of an issue for the three teams rumoured to be involved in a Luongo deal, but it does mean sending cap back might be a problem. Vancouver currently has 13 players signed for next season, and have $8.896million to spend to fill out the roster for next year. And players such as Manny Malhotra, Mason Raymond, Chris Higgins and Alex Edler are all UFA’s next season, so taking on high cap is not in the best interest for Vancouver.
Toronto is of course the most talked about front runner to land the goalie. With 13 players signed next season, the Leafs have some signing to do themselves, but they have a $22.784million bankroll to play with. But they also have Tim Connolly, Joffery Lupel, Matthew Lombardi, Clarke MacArthur and Tyler Bozak heading to free agency, and Carl Gunnarsson will be a RFA, while Nazem Kadri’s entry level deal comes to an end. The room for Roberto is there, but some of those depth prospects Brian Burke has signed will have to join the big club to keep the cap space down.
Chicago is also in the running, and with 17 players signed to next season and $7.088million in cap space, they to can make a deal for a first class goalie. The Blackhawks have the benefit of not needing to resign any major player to a new contract, and only the likes of Nick Leddy and Marcus Kruger who are both RFA’s will require deals worth some money.
Returning to Florida is Luongo’s third option, and much like the Leafs, the Panthers have 13 players signed, but over $22million in cap. Roberto makes his home in Florida, so a return trip to a low profile community to end his career isn’t a bad move. Might be the release of pressure he needs to help push the Panthers beyond the first round.
The Big Three Signings
When July 1st came, there were three names on everyone’s mine. Rick Nash, Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. Where would they end up, as it was obvious they were not staying with their original teams. Nash was traded to New York for a slew of prospects and players, while Parise and Suter signed on seemingly the same paper, signing the same contract to play in Minnesota.
So with the NHL coming back, what impact will they make? Nash is suppose to be that final piece to the New York puzzle, and will add that final goal scoring touch New York has needed beyond Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards, last years major New York signing. The NHL’s newest ‘Big Three’ give the Blueshirts one of the leagues most dominating offensive powers, and are sure to welcome the challenge from the rest of the East to challenge their #1 ranking from last season.
Minnesota on the other hand, led the league in points at one point last season before injuries lead them to missing the playoffs. Now with two franchise players in the mix, the Wild have gone from playoff hopefuls, to Stanley Cup contenders.
Parise will benefit from a set up man in Mikko Koivu in the middle, while Suter moves right into the #1 slot on the blue line and power play for the Wild. Both should benefit from each other and the cast around them, making the Wild a team to watch out for in the West.
P.K. Subban and other RFA
P.K. Subban is probably the biggest name that needs to be resigned of all the restricted free agents, but that list also included the likes of Dallas’ Jamie Benn and New York’s Michael Del Zotto.
And for Montreal, signing Subban is going to be a challenge thanks to a lower salary cap next season. P.K. will easily gain a $5million+ contract this time around, as the franchise blueliner is the cornerstone of the new Montreal Canadiens. But with only $4.139million to spend next season, and only 16 players signed, Montreal will need to make some room if they want to keep Subban in Montreal. Scott Gomez may be the answer, as his $7million contract will be bought out, or stuck in the AHL again to make room, but that still doesn’t leave much for Montreal to build a team better then what finished last in the East last season.
Offers for trades have come from other teams, including Philadelphia. But don’t look for Montreal to move on Subban anytime soon. Gomez and Gionta come off the books after 2014, as does Andrei Markov and Tomas Kaberle, opening up millions of dollars to spend. So the question then turns to, can Montreal fans deal with another losing season in order to resign P.K. to the deal he deserves?
The Short Season
In this article we have already made mention of two teams who would have been on different sides of the playoff picture if the NHL had a short year last season. Minnesota’s collapse in the second half of the season and Los Angeles resurgence would have switched the two teams in and out of the playoffs. You can also add Toronto to that list, as the Leafs held a playoff spot till February until things fell off course, and Toronto missed the playoffs for a sixth straight year.
But with a 48 game season, playing the opposite conference is surely going to go. Every game means just a little more as it will directly reflect the conference standings. Only the New York Islanders from the Atlantic division had a losing record against another conference outside their own (7-11-2 vs Northeast). The first seed will run through the Atlantic this season.
It also means teams are going to have to pull together some more wins inside their own ranks in order to make the playoffs. TampaBay will need to win outside the Southeast, while even St. Louis will have to do a little better against their own rivals in the Central.
We have had a short season once before. Get ready to put another asterisk beside this years Cup winner.
The Prospects
Did you enjoy this years World Junior championships thinking it might be the only live hockey you see this season? Well if you did, you may be seeing some of those players in NHL uniforms very soon.
Team Canada was full of NHL ready stars. Dougie Hamilton will be a Boston Bruin, and Jonathan Huberdeau will head to Florida. Ryan Strome, who lead the CHL in points before the juniors looks to head to New York, while Mark Scheifele could start the year as a Jet. These are four players who were expected to make the NHL this year and not be available for the World Juniors. But what about a few others?
Nail Yakupov, last years #1 overall pick will be in Edmonton. He has spent more time flying around with a Team Russia jersey on for the Juniors and Subway Series then he has in the KHL, and will undoubtedly be in an Oilers jersey come January 19.
His former Sarnia teammate Alex Galchenyuk is making a case to move up to the big club in Montreal. Coming off a year where he played only two games for Sarnia, Galchenyuk is fourth in OHL scoring with 27 goals and 62 points in 33 games. He sits behind Seth Griffith of London and Sarnia teammate Charles Sarault who both did not play in the World Juniors, and also behind Strome who led the CHL as previously mentioned. It may be worth leaving the Galchenyuk in Sarnia for the rest of the year and not rush his recovery, as the pivot just won a Gold medal with Team USA, and is sure to bring Sarnia deep into the playoffs.
The other big question mark is Mikhail Grigorenko, who has 29 goals and 50 points for the Quebec Remparts in 30 games this season, and will attend the Buffalo Sabres camp in the coming week to battle for a spot. Grigorenko, 11th overall in last years draft, was Team Russia’s best player at the World Juniors, and could make the leap to the NHL following his top notch performance in Ufa.
Is Crosby back?
It has been 738 days since Crosby sustained a concussion in the January 1, 2011 Winter Classic. Since then he has played only 28 NHL games. With the Penguins early knockout in the playoffs last season, plus the lockout, Crosby has had months of time to get ready for this season, and all indications are, this may be the best Crosby we have ever seen.
Sid the Kid elected not to travel to Europe to play while the lockout was on, but instead was a usual suspect behind Don Fehr and a major voice for the NHLPA during negotiations. But with hockey back, is Crosby back?
In this 28 games, six being playoff games, Sidney had 11 goals and 34 assists, making him a more then a point-per-game player. Crosby seemed ready to come back last season, and now he has had an extended off season to make sure he can hit the ice running. Add also that league reigning MVP Evgeni Malkin who seems to be in MVP shape already with is stint in the KHL, less pressure will be on The Kid to perform quickly, as the high expectations will be on Malkin.
Will the fans come back?
Beyond the players, owners, management, dollar signs and contracts, the one number the NHL will have concerns about is the fans going to games. After a 113 day lockout, NHL fans hated both sides of the fence, and just wanted the puck to be dropped. While some vow to never watch the NHL again, it is hard to not get a small chill from watching the latest preview videos on sportscentre, or see the schedule go up on NHL.com.
Hockey is back, finally. It took long enough and now the process of healing for the fans begins. And the only way to heal is to have some of the best hockey on the ice. It should be fan appreciation night every night in every rink in North America, because for every fan that finds his or her way to a seat, that is one fan helping to pay into that 50/50 revenue split. And there would have been no fight over the big dollars and who got watch portion of that revenue if it wasn’t for loyal hockey fans going to the rinks night after night.
Source: http://tsrandrew.wordpress.com/2013/...ckout-stories/
Can the Kings repeat?
Winning the Stanley Cup is one thing. Repeating is an entirely new monster we have hardly seen since the words ‘lockout’ became common tongue in the NHL. Only Pittsburgh and Detroit have won back to back Cups in the last 21 seasons, compared to the decade prior were the New York Islanders won four straight, Edmonton did the back-to-back thing twice, and if you want to go back four more years, Montreal won it four times in a row.
So to say Kings have a hill to climb is an understatement, but if a team can do it, why not the Kings? Their line up is intact from last season, as they resigned Dustin Penner, Jarrett Stoll and Colin Fraser, while also locking up their franchise goalie to a ten year monster deal. Add that to the already star studded line up of Mike Richards, Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty and Jeff Carter, the Kings can be just as dominate as they were last season, providing they don’t wait till the last minute like last year to sneak into the playoffs.
The Pacific division shouldn’t be much competition for the Kings this season, as the Sharks keep falling down, Dallas is in full ‘sign everyone and see what happens’ mode, and Anaheim is searching for a new identity. Phoenix will be a challenge as they have been the past couple seasons, and will rely heavily on Mike Smith to have another career year. So all this means, the Kings should have an easier road back to the finals then they did last season, earning a top four seed at the very least.
The other thing going for LA is the lockout did them a favour. The extra long schedule they played into June to capture the Cup would have gave them a short turn around to get ready to repeat. But thanks to Fehr and Bettman, they had a nice long off season. Unfortunately for LA, it has cost them a star in Anze Kopitar, who will miss the start of the season due to injury in Europe.
If there was ever a year to pick a repeat champion, this might be it. Los Angeles has the depth, the youth, the goalie and the fire power to dominate the West, and can match up against anyone in the East. If you ever wanted a ‘safe’ bet for a repeat champion, this might be your only chance.
Roberto Trade Frenzy
It is clear now that Roberto Luongo’s days in Vancouver are officially over, and I hope the netminder spent the lockout looking at real estate in the different markets he hopes to play in this season, as a trade for the Olympic Gold Medal winner (had to give him something, can’t say Cup winner) is days away. Or is it?
If you thought Luongo’s contract was a problem before, you need to go read the new CBA agreement and see how much of an issue it is now. With a $5.333million cap hit each year for the next ten seasons, moving Roberto is not as simple as it may have been pre-lockout. The salary cap will be $64.3million next season, which doesn’t create much of an issue for the three teams rumoured to be involved in a Luongo deal, but it does mean sending cap back might be a problem. Vancouver currently has 13 players signed for next season, and have $8.896million to spend to fill out the roster for next year. And players such as Manny Malhotra, Mason Raymond, Chris Higgins and Alex Edler are all UFA’s next season, so taking on high cap is not in the best interest for Vancouver.
Toronto is of course the most talked about front runner to land the goalie. With 13 players signed next season, the Leafs have some signing to do themselves, but they have a $22.784million bankroll to play with. But they also have Tim Connolly, Joffery Lupel, Matthew Lombardi, Clarke MacArthur and Tyler Bozak heading to free agency, and Carl Gunnarsson will be a RFA, while Nazem Kadri’s entry level deal comes to an end. The room for Roberto is there, but some of those depth prospects Brian Burke has signed will have to join the big club to keep the cap space down.
Chicago is also in the running, and with 17 players signed to next season and $7.088million in cap space, they to can make a deal for a first class goalie. The Blackhawks have the benefit of not needing to resign any major player to a new contract, and only the likes of Nick Leddy and Marcus Kruger who are both RFA’s will require deals worth some money.
Returning to Florida is Luongo’s third option, and much like the Leafs, the Panthers have 13 players signed, but over $22million in cap. Roberto makes his home in Florida, so a return trip to a low profile community to end his career isn’t a bad move. Might be the release of pressure he needs to help push the Panthers beyond the first round.
The Big Three Signings
When July 1st came, there were three names on everyone’s mine. Rick Nash, Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. Where would they end up, as it was obvious they were not staying with their original teams. Nash was traded to New York for a slew of prospects and players, while Parise and Suter signed on seemingly the same paper, signing the same contract to play in Minnesota.
So with the NHL coming back, what impact will they make? Nash is suppose to be that final piece to the New York puzzle, and will add that final goal scoring touch New York has needed beyond Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards, last years major New York signing. The NHL’s newest ‘Big Three’ give the Blueshirts one of the leagues most dominating offensive powers, and are sure to welcome the challenge from the rest of the East to challenge their #1 ranking from last season.
Minnesota on the other hand, led the league in points at one point last season before injuries lead them to missing the playoffs. Now with two franchise players in the mix, the Wild have gone from playoff hopefuls, to Stanley Cup contenders.
Parise will benefit from a set up man in Mikko Koivu in the middle, while Suter moves right into the #1 slot on the blue line and power play for the Wild. Both should benefit from each other and the cast around them, making the Wild a team to watch out for in the West.
P.K. Subban and other RFA
P.K. Subban is probably the biggest name that needs to be resigned of all the restricted free agents, but that list also included the likes of Dallas’ Jamie Benn and New York’s Michael Del Zotto.
And for Montreal, signing Subban is going to be a challenge thanks to a lower salary cap next season. P.K. will easily gain a $5million+ contract this time around, as the franchise blueliner is the cornerstone of the new Montreal Canadiens. But with only $4.139million to spend next season, and only 16 players signed, Montreal will need to make some room if they want to keep Subban in Montreal. Scott Gomez may be the answer, as his $7million contract will be bought out, or stuck in the AHL again to make room, but that still doesn’t leave much for Montreal to build a team better then what finished last in the East last season.
Offers for trades have come from other teams, including Philadelphia. But don’t look for Montreal to move on Subban anytime soon. Gomez and Gionta come off the books after 2014, as does Andrei Markov and Tomas Kaberle, opening up millions of dollars to spend. So the question then turns to, can Montreal fans deal with another losing season in order to resign P.K. to the deal he deserves?
The Short Season
In this article we have already made mention of two teams who would have been on different sides of the playoff picture if the NHL had a short year last season. Minnesota’s collapse in the second half of the season and Los Angeles resurgence would have switched the two teams in and out of the playoffs. You can also add Toronto to that list, as the Leafs held a playoff spot till February until things fell off course, and Toronto missed the playoffs for a sixth straight year.
But with a 48 game season, playing the opposite conference is surely going to go. Every game means just a little more as it will directly reflect the conference standings. Only the New York Islanders from the Atlantic division had a losing record against another conference outside their own (7-11-2 vs Northeast). The first seed will run through the Atlantic this season.
It also means teams are going to have to pull together some more wins inside their own ranks in order to make the playoffs. TampaBay will need to win outside the Southeast, while even St. Louis will have to do a little better against their own rivals in the Central.
We have had a short season once before. Get ready to put another asterisk beside this years Cup winner.
The Prospects
Did you enjoy this years World Junior championships thinking it might be the only live hockey you see this season? Well if you did, you may be seeing some of those players in NHL uniforms very soon.
Team Canada was full of NHL ready stars. Dougie Hamilton will be a Boston Bruin, and Jonathan Huberdeau will head to Florida. Ryan Strome, who lead the CHL in points before the juniors looks to head to New York, while Mark Scheifele could start the year as a Jet. These are four players who were expected to make the NHL this year and not be available for the World Juniors. But what about a few others?
Nail Yakupov, last years #1 overall pick will be in Edmonton. He has spent more time flying around with a Team Russia jersey on for the Juniors and Subway Series then he has in the KHL, and will undoubtedly be in an Oilers jersey come January 19.
His former Sarnia teammate Alex Galchenyuk is making a case to move up to the big club in Montreal. Coming off a year where he played only two games for Sarnia, Galchenyuk is fourth in OHL scoring with 27 goals and 62 points in 33 games. He sits behind Seth Griffith of London and Sarnia teammate Charles Sarault who both did not play in the World Juniors, and also behind Strome who led the CHL as previously mentioned. It may be worth leaving the Galchenyuk in Sarnia for the rest of the year and not rush his recovery, as the pivot just won a Gold medal with Team USA, and is sure to bring Sarnia deep into the playoffs.
The other big question mark is Mikhail Grigorenko, who has 29 goals and 50 points for the Quebec Remparts in 30 games this season, and will attend the Buffalo Sabres camp in the coming week to battle for a spot. Grigorenko, 11th overall in last years draft, was Team Russia’s best player at the World Juniors, and could make the leap to the NHL following his top notch performance in Ufa.
Is Crosby back?
It has been 738 days since Crosby sustained a concussion in the January 1, 2011 Winter Classic. Since then he has played only 28 NHL games. With the Penguins early knockout in the playoffs last season, plus the lockout, Crosby has had months of time to get ready for this season, and all indications are, this may be the best Crosby we have ever seen.
Sid the Kid elected not to travel to Europe to play while the lockout was on, but instead was a usual suspect behind Don Fehr and a major voice for the NHLPA during negotiations. But with hockey back, is Crosby back?
In this 28 games, six being playoff games, Sidney had 11 goals and 34 assists, making him a more then a point-per-game player. Crosby seemed ready to come back last season, and now he has had an extended off season to make sure he can hit the ice running. Add also that league reigning MVP Evgeni Malkin who seems to be in MVP shape already with is stint in the KHL, less pressure will be on The Kid to perform quickly, as the high expectations will be on Malkin.
Will the fans come back?
Beyond the players, owners, management, dollar signs and contracts, the one number the NHL will have concerns about is the fans going to games. After a 113 day lockout, NHL fans hated both sides of the fence, and just wanted the puck to be dropped. While some vow to never watch the NHL again, it is hard to not get a small chill from watching the latest preview videos on sportscentre, or see the schedule go up on NHL.com.
Hockey is back, finally. It took long enough and now the process of healing for the fans begins. And the only way to heal is to have some of the best hockey on the ice. It should be fan appreciation night every night in every rink in North America, because for every fan that finds his or her way to a seat, that is one fan helping to pay into that 50/50 revenue split. And there would have been no fight over the big dollars and who got watch portion of that revenue if it wasn’t for loyal hockey fans going to the rinks night after night.
Source: http://tsrandrew.wordpress.com/2013/...ckout-stories/
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