SB Nation - Mike Sillinger

Pick The Rival: The Pacific Division

Yankee Canuck — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:51:34 -0000

Mattingly, shave those sideburns hippie!

With no hockey for a few days, let's pick up our rival thread from the offseason. If you don't recall, we're going division by division to figure out who the Canucks rival is in each and why. Or maybe you don't need a reason and it's just blind hatred. Hey, no need to get overly scientific about it. Check out the Northeast, Atlantic and Southeast selections.

Today we'll take a crack at our first western conference division. The Pacific division has given Vancouver fans such memorable moments as the first franchise loss, games in Japan, more reasons to love watching Pavel Bure and some NHL 94 sprinkled in.

Anaheim ~~Mighty~~ Ducks

Franchise Record: 68GP, 34W, 23L, 9T, 2OTL, 79pts

The Ducks and Canucks are no strangers at the trade table. In 1996 Vancouver landed Mike Sillinger in exchange for Roman Oksiuta (c'mon, that's a great name). Sillinger played just one season before being traded to the Flyers. In 1999 the teams tried to make a deal work with the late Peter Zezel going to Anaheim but it was nullified because he refused to report (stay classy Burkie). In 2006 Anaheim sent Keith Carney and Juha Alen (who never saw a NHL game) at the deadline in exchange for Brett Skinner and a 2nd round pick in the 2006 Entry Draft. Carney played 18 games for Vancouver before moving to Minnesota. This past September he accepted a Vancouver camp invite before retiring for a second time. And lastly in 2007 Vancouver picked up Ryan Shannon and a conditional pick from Anaheim for Jason King and a conditional pick. Shannon was moved to Ottawa for Lawrence Nycholet (and we all cry a little bit inside) and King played four games for the Ducks before moving to the German Elite League (we'll always remember the mattress line).

In 45 games played over the past decade (playoffs included), Vancouver is 19-18-1-1 against the Ducks with seven ties. Last year each team scored 19 goals in four contests against the other team's netminder. In more recent times Anaheim brought the hammer of hurt to Vancouver in the 2007 playoffs, dispatching the Canucks in five games. Though it should be noted three of those games went into overtime, Luongo had some bathroom issues and Rob Niedermayer is the biggest asshole in the Northern hemisphere.

Fun fact: In 1997 these teams opened the season playing two games at Yoyogi Arena in Tokyo, Japan. The two split the games by a score of 3-2 in each game. It marked the first NHL game in history to be played outside N. America. Scott Walker becomes the first player to score a NHL regular season goal outside North America.

Later on that season Gino Odjick got his 371st penalty minute (fighting of course) in a game against the Ducks. That broke Odjick's previous PIM record of 370 from 1992-93 and made him the most penalized player in the league that season.

If you have some time to kill, why not relive the Halloween nightmare between these two from last year, a 7-6 SO victory for Vancouver that took 13 rounds to decide.

Dallas Stars

Franchise Record: 158GP, 60W, 72L, 22T, 4OTL, 146pts

How evenly matched are the Stars and Canucks? In the past decade, the teams have met 49 times (including playoffs) and Vancouver is 22-22-2-2 with one tie in that stretch. And goals? Each team has scored 120 goals. Daaaamn. (note: this doesn't include Friday's game which ruins this otherwise amazing coincidence)

In my eye, the teams have only met up once for a significant deal. Back in 1995, Vancouver sent Greg Adams, Dan Kesa and a 5th rounder (later traded to LA which became Jason Morgan) in exchange for Russ Courtnall. I guess these days you could look at their current squad and see Marc Crawford and Alex Auld hanging around and be reminded they gave way to Vigneault and Luongo respectively. Anyone care to trade 'em back?

Fun fact: The 1988 draft was big for both clubs: the Minnesota North Stars took Mike Modano with the first overall pick and Vancouver followed up in the second slot by taking Trevor Linden. But both teams didn't fare so well in the second round. The Canucks selected Leif Rohlin, a much-praised prospect who never panned out in the NHL. The Stars took Link Gatez, nicked named "The Missing Link," who wasn't much on the ice but certainly provided some humor off of it.

You probably knew I was going to roll out this video. It's just too good not to.

And good call by Sean for reminding me about the Bure's elbow to Churla.

Los Angeles Kings

Franchise Record: 212GP, 90W, 87L, 32T, 3OTL, 215pts

The Canucks and Kings have played 41 times in the past decade and Vancouver holds a slight edge, going 18-15-2-1 with five ties to boot. Though if you consider LA has been awful for a few seasons now, that record isn't terribly amazing.

What is amazing, however, is LA's willingness to accept our flawed goalies and try and make heads or tails with them. In 2001 Vancouver accepted future considerations from the Kings in exchange for Felix Potvin. Potvin was great for the Kings, helping them squeak into the playoffs and upsetting the Red Wings in the first round (hooray!). Vancouver's future considerations eventually became a third rounder in 2002 named Lukas Mensator who has never played a NHL game but is a handy trivia answer in case someone asks you if Vancouver has a Czech goalie. Indeed they do.

In 2006 we all got a good laugh when Los Angeles sent a second and third rounder round to Vancouver for Dan Cloutier. Riddled with injuries, Cloutier only played in 33 games in two seasons for LA, netting them eight wins. In return the Canucks drafted Taylor Ellington with the second rounder in 2007 and then traded the third rounder last summer to Buffalo for Steve Bernier. That'll do pig, that'll do.

Fun fact: Next to only one other team (who we haven't looked at yet in this rival series) Vancouver has played the most games against the Kings. Vancouver has taken more points from playing Los Angeles (217) than any other franchise.

Oh yeah: the Kings won the franchise's first game too. Booo.

Let's go old school: I have no idea what the year is, but I think it's Snepsts blowing up Schultz so that's worth looking for.

Phoenix Coyotes

Franchise Record: 157GP, 79W, 56L, 20T, 2OTL, 180pts

If nothing else, Brad May gets some love between the two franchises. He was originally acquired by Vancouver back in 2000 with the Canucks sending a conditional pick in the 2001 draft back. In 2003, May was reacquired from Phoenix for future considerations. Also, in 2001, Phoenix sent Tyler Bouck, Trevor Letowski, Todd Warriner and a 2003 3rd round draft choice (who Vancouver flipped to Edmonton in a separate deal and the pick became Zack Stortini) in exchange for Drake Berehowsky and Denis Pederson.

Since the team has been in Phoenix, there hasn't been much of a palpable anger between the two. Over the last decade Vancouver holds a commanding with a record of 23-11-2 against Phoenix with four ties. However, when the franchise was in Winnipeg, the Jets and Canucks had some notable games. Speaking of which...

Fun fact: Pavel Bure played his first game against Winnipeg in 1991. He was held off the scoresheet (much like another rookie Russian Canuck you may have hear of recently). But here's a rare look at Bure's first game anyway where you can see just how much jump he had:

San Jose Sharks

Franchise Record: 82GP, 40W, 31L, 9T, 2OTL, 91pts

No notable trades (pick swaps mostly) between the two squads until this summer when Christian Ehrhoff was traded to the Vancouver Canucks on August 28, 2009 along with Brad Lukowich in exchange for prospects Patrick White and Daniel Rahimi. In case you're curious, White has six points so far with the Gophers and Schroeder has five. meanwhile, Rahimi has an assist and is -9 in the Swedish elite league and Luko has seven points for the Texas Stars.

The Sharks have spent much of the past decade stomping the Canucks, going 21-4-2 with four ties and scoring 125 goals to Vancouver's 103 in the same span.

Fun facts: In February 2001 the Canucks and the Sharks played the first scoreless draw in Vancouver. And, in March 2007, Roberto Luongo posted his 39th win of the season in San Jose setting a new franchise record for wins by a Vancouver goaltender in a single season. The following month Vancouver beat San Jose again for their 49th win of the season (a new franchise record) and captured the NW crown with 105 points (another franchise record).

Since most of the videos out there aren't terribly interesting, let's enjoy watching Vancouver flatten the Sharks in everyone's favorite game, NHL '94. (0/12 on one-timers? tisk tisk)

Poll

Who is Vancouver's biggest Pacific division rival?

Anaheim Ducks

145 votes

Dallas Stars

93 votes

LA Kings

10 votes

Phoenix Coyotes

1 votes

San Jose Sharks

35 votes

284 votes | Poll has closed

Michael Russo Interview with Hockey Wilderness

nathaneide — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:10:13 -0000

If you follow the Wild, you live and die by the words of Star Tribune Wild beat writer Michael Russo. We are fortunate enough to have one of the best beat writers in the NHL covering our squad. And I was lucky enough to get 20 minutes of his time this morning as he was headed to the X. I'm hoping I didn't make too big a fool out of myself and get a chance to speak with Mr. Russo again once the season is underway.

Hockey Wilderness: What is different about covering this regime compared to Lemaire/Risebrough?

Michael Russo: I loved dealing with Jacques. He was outstanding for what we need. Joked around, had fun. I had a lot of respect for him. I respect Todd too, don't get me wrong, but there's a feeling out process here. Jacques was brutally honest. Ask him how a guy played and he was straight with everyone. Sometimes he would tick off the player. Todd will very rarely rip a player. Monday night, I had to ask about Kim Johnsson playing terribly. He wouldn't insult my intelligence by denying it, but spins it into a positive.

I liked Doug. Doug was great talking about players, but wouldn't talk about moves, rumors, etc. Chuck's much more transparent. I have a great working relationship with him, going back to 1995 in Florida, where I covered 7 of his 9 years there.

Who has been the best quote you've covered?

Jeremy Roenick, Brett Hull were always fantastic, though I never got a chance to cover them extensively. Of the guys I have covered, Mark Parrish, Len Barrie, Ray Whitney, Mike Sillinger, Olli Jokinen were always great. Currently Eric Belanger is brutally honest and a great quote. Derek Boogaard and Brent Burns are hilarious. Brian Rolston was great to deal with and rarely spoke in cliches, which is always nice for a journalist.

From a journalists perspective, what's the major difference you've seen pre and post-lockout?

Before the lockout, you had to really work sources to get info on a contract. Now it's an email away. With the cap, teams want you to be accurate with what you write. No GM wants it out there that they have $8M of space when it's really $1.2.

As far as the on-ice product, it's just 10 times better. Gone is the clutch and grab of the Roger Neilson and Doug MacLean-era Panthers. It was ugly, but successful. Now, we've evolved past that.

What has been the most fun you've had covering a team?

It's gotta be that 95-96 Panthers team. Shocked the world, went to the Stanley Cup. That was the year of the rat. Florida was playing in the decrepit Miami Arena, and before a game there was a rat running across the locker room. Scott Mellanby winds up and takes a slapper at the rat into a wall, killing it. He then goes out, scores twice and John Vanbiesbrouck calls it the "Rat Trick". Well, you've all seen the YouTube videos of thousands of plastic rats raining down onto the ice. There are great shots of guys like Barrasso hiding in the net from the rats. That was a special season and the most fun I've had covering a team.

Winter Classic, Yay or Nay? If the Wild were to get one, would you want to have it held at TCF Bank Stadium or Target Field? Who would you choose to have the Wild play?

I'm for it. I haven't been inside Target Field, but TCF Bank Stadium is a great environment, and with that open end would be a great place for it. If it were me, I'd pick Vancouver because there's a hatred there.

What is still the biggest unanswered question for the upcoming season?

Boy, there are so, so many. But the main one is will they be able to turn the switch and be consistent in the new system? They did it in bits and pieces. There were 5 minutes stretches against Philly that were really fun to watch, but they gave up 39 shots and 35 quality chances. They can't do that and be successful.

Who is your impact guy?

[Brent] Burns is the guy who is going to be key. He looks like he's going to be extraordinary in the new system. He shouldn't be unheralded, but Greg Zanon is a fantastic signing. Now he isn't going to score 14 goals like Marc-Andre Bergeron, but he's going to block 300 shots and be the guy on the ice at the end of the game. He puts his body in harms way night in and night out, and risks injuries. If he stays healthy, he will be a rock solid defender.

We've heard that Josh Harding is going to get more time this season. Is that to showcase him for say ... Chicago? What kind of player/pick/prospect can we expect for Harding?

They could've traded him by now for picks and prospects. What they're hoping for is a team like Chicago or a true conteder to suffer an injury and need a goalie. There's no rush right now though. He's too precious an asset to give up for nothing. They would love to turn him into a scorer, and that's the way I see this going. That being said, he isn't an unrestricted free agent after this season, so they can still take their time and get the best deal possible.

Versus v. DirectTV. Whose fault is it?

I don't know whose fault it is, but its gotta get fixed. It makes the league look amateur. It needs to get resolved and Comcast and DirectTV need to get it taken care of. Both are NHL partners and the league may have to step in. You can't have your national partner on Satellite.

Is this a rebuilding team?

This is a better team than last year. They missed by 3 pts, added a perennial star in Martin Havlat, added a 25 goal guy in Petr Sykora. This is a transitional year. The problem is that everyone else got better too, and has better, younger talent than the Wild. If this were a Lemaire team, in that system, they'd make the playoffs. No knock against Richards, but it takes time to install a new system. I've covered a rebuilding team. This is definitely not a rebuilding team. I disagree with anyone who says this is a rebuilding year or that last years' team was better. This is a team that has to learn a new system, has a horrible road schedule and is in the hardest conference. Next season, they're in the playoffs. Houston will be a better team this year too. They have more NHL experience. They have guys like Andy Hilbert, Colton Gillies, Petr Kalus, Craig Weller, and those guys who are ready to come up will be able to produce, and remember this was a team that was a round away from the AHL title last season. Fans will have to be patient at the beginning, but this is a year in transition, not rebuilding.

The New Jersey Devils' Best Draft Year Ever: 1990

John Fischer — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:23:49 -0000

More photos » by Rich Schultz - AP

Raise your hand if you lead the best draft year in franchise history with 999 games played out of the total of 4,016 (AP Photo/Rich Schultz)

Browse more photos »

Today at From the Rink, Mirtle has highlighted the 1989 draft class by the Detroit Red Wings, arguably the single best draft year by a team in terms of games played. Of all 14 players picked, 7 players got to the NHL and 4 of them topped 1,000 games in their career. Mike Sillinger, Dallas Drake, Nicklas Lidstrom and Sergei Fedorov are the class of the, well, class and look for Lidstrom at a minimum to continue adding to that total number of games played. That class was boosted by a solid career from Bob Boughner and Vladimir Konstantinov, who was definitely skilled enough to play for ages if it wasn't for that awful accident he was in. Still, all the players from that draft by Detroit played in a combined 5,721 games - and counting provided Lidstrom and/or Fedorov keep playing.

Just breaking into the NHL is difficult enough as-is. OK, Sillinger and Drake were never stars; but to stick in the league as long as they did is a testament to their skills and work ethic. If a prospect is able to make it into the league and stick around for even a little bit, you can call that pick a success if only because so many aren't able to crack a NHL roster. Still, 5,721 games from 7 players is not only a record but most likely an unbreakable one for the foreseeable future!

So this got me thinking, what was the best draft year by the New Jersey Devils in terms of games played? No year by the Devils comes close to 5,000 combined games much less 5,721; but the Devils have a good reputation for drafting, so it's an interesting question. After checking the numbers at HockeyDB, it was also the same draft year where the Devils had the most of their picks play at least 1 NHL game. I am talking about the famous 1990 draft by the New Jersey Devils, where 10 out of the 14 picks made it into the NHL. The 10 players - 3 goalies and 7 skaters - combined for 4,016 games (and counting due to Mr. Brodeur).

There's so many remarkable points to make about this draft. The biggest one is that all of 10 of the players who eventually did break into the NHL played at least 100 games. That's not just something small like Frederik Bremberg's 8 NHL games (he was the third player from the 1991 Devils' draft to make it, the other two being Scott Neidermayer and Brian Rolston). No, these are players who were able ply their trade for a little while. That's some excellent foresight and projection the Devils scouting department, even if the players didn't play those games in Devils red.

That this list includes three goaltenders is also really impressive. Think about it. Goaltenders don't play every game to begin with. They generally take longer to develop, needing experience to truly get better before stepping into the biggest hockey league in the world. Even Martin Brodeur saw significant time in the minors and didn't really break through until the 1993-94 season, 3 seasons after this draft. Then you had Dunham and Schwab sitting behind Brodeur! Yet, all three eventually found playing time elsewhere - Dunham was a starting goalie for Nashville when they entered the league, Schwab became a backup goaltender. Combined, they represent a remarkable 1,540 games, or 38.3% of the total amount of games by this draft year. The Devils may not have drafted many goalies since then - only 12 after 1990 - but in hindsight, they really didn't need to draft many more!

Third, notice all of those defensemen! 7 were selected out of the 14 in 1990; and only Petr Kuchnya didn't make into the league! The most recognizable names from this year are Jaroslav Modry and Brad Bombardir; yet the other 4 did make their respective marks in the league. Clearly, they (and the goalies, of course) fared better than the forwards. Valeri Zelepukin is not just only the offensive leader from this draft class, but also the only forward from the 1990 draft year to make it to the league! Zelepukin was a useful forward, good for secondary scoring; and that helped him stick around for nearly 600 games.

Still, you really can't complain about a draft year where 10 out of the 14 prospects selected eventually make into the NHL and play at least 100 games, especially when it's featured by the one of the greatest goaltenders ever: Martin Brodeur, who will break 1,000 games this season.

This leads me to another point: while the players from this draft combined for a total of 4,016 games, as of right now, it's the only draft year (out of 7) by the Devils where the players combined for over 2,500 games that does not have a player that played a 1,000 or more games. Martin Brodeur will break that mark in 2009-10 for sure. Yet, that the total topped 4,000 without one player taking 1,000+ games speaks to the spread of games across all the players. The closest total to this mark was the 1992 draft year, led by the now-retired Jason Smith (1,008 GP) and assisted by Stephane Yelle (921), Sergei Brylin (765), and Cale Hulse (619) - the players from that year combined for 3,638 games. That's an extremely successful draft by itself, it's not dominated by one player; yet I think it puts a total of 4,000 combined games in perspective.

10 out of 14 picks making into the NHL and those 10 combining for 4,000 games - it's a rare feat and it should be respected as such. The 1990 draft by the Devils is the best draft year in franchise history and should be regarded as one of the best in NHL history.

Finally, just for kicks, I put together the total games played by all of the Devils draft picks by draft year, from 1982 to 2004 (I stopped there as prospects are still coming in from 2005 onward). The draft years from 1993 and onward will add to their game counts as the Devils did unearth a few veterans. Feel free to look upon this chart in awe of how the Devils did in the 80s and early 90s, get a better feeling about the 1996 draft (thank Colin White and Willie Mitchell) and 2000 drafts, and lament how bad the 1997 draft ended up. (Note: Had Clemmensen not play all those games in 2008-09, then Jiri Bicek would be the leader from that year. Yes, Jiri Bicek.)

Again, all Devils draft history and stats came from HockeyDB except for the career goalie stats, they came from NHL.com. Let me know what you think about all of this in the comments. Again, thanks for reading!

Red Wings in '89: Best draft ever?

James Mirtle — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:00:27 -0000

by Mark Avery - AP

View full size photo »

James -

So Sillinger retired. That means the draftees in the 1989 Red Wings draft class have played, by my count, 5,721 NHL games (and counting with Lidstrom; we'll not discuss the what-might-have-beens of Vladimir Konstantinov's career).

In terms of NHL games played by the draftees of a single team in a single draft, is this the most successful draft in NHL history? If not where does it rank?

Thanks for considering the question,
Scott (redwingshardware.blogspot.com)

Great question. Here's how the Red Wings draft breaks down:

Round	Num.	Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1	11	Mike Sillinger	C	1,049	240	308	548	644
2	32	Bob Boughner	D	630	15	57	72	1,382
3	53	Nicklas Lidstrom	D	1,330	228	769	997	442
4	74	Sergei Fedorov	C	1,248	483	696	1,179	839
5	95	Shawn McCosh	C	9	1	0	1	6
6	116	Dallas Drake	R	1,009	177	300	477	885
7	137	Scott Zygulski	D	0	0	0	0	0
8	158	Andy Suhy	D	0	0	0	0	0
9	179	Bob Jones	D	0	0	0	0	0
10	200	Greg Bignell	D	0	0	0	0	0
10	204	Rick Judson	L	0	0	0	0	0
11	221	Vladimir Konstantinov	D	446	47	128	175	838
12	242	Joe Frederick	R	0	0	0	0	0
12	246	Jason Glickman	G	0	0	0	0	0
				5,721	1,191	2,258	3,449	5,036

Scott's done some research on this and said he can't find another draft class with more than 5,000 games, so by that definition anyway, this is pretty darn impressive. The '79 Oilers class was just more than 4,100 and had Messier leading an impressive group in its own right. The '77 Canadiens was at about 4,600, albeit with 27 draft picks that year, including my pal Rod Langway.

Check out his look through the annals here.

Poll

Was the Red Wings' 1989 draft class the best ever?

Yes

225 votes

No

122 votes

347 votes | Poll has closed

Oilers Hire Mike Sillinger

Jonathan Willis — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 22:00:26 -0000

by David Zalubowski - AP

Mike Sillinger, lately of the New York Islanders, was named as the Oilers' new Director of Player Development today. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

View full size photo »

The Edmonton Oilers announced today that they have found their replacement for Bob Mancini: recently retired Mike "Suitcase" Sillinger will take over as Director of Player Development.

One irony: while Sillinger played for twelve different NHL teams, none of them were the Edmonton Oilers. Oilers GM Steve Tambellini had this to say of the hiring:

"We are very excited to have Mike fill such an important role with us," said Tambellini. "We know his experience of 1,000-plus NHL games will benefit our younger players and the development of their careers."

Sillinger spent three seasons with the Canucks during both Steve Tambellini’s and Tom Renney’s time with the organization. He also captained Canada’s entry at the 2000 IIHF World Championships – a team coached by Renney.

As might be expected of a player who has moved around so much, Sillinger’s been coached by many of the greats. Among those coaches he’s played for we find Roger Neilson, Scotty Bowman, Ron Wilson, Mike Keenan, Dave King, Barry Trotz and Ted Nolan. Few players in league history can boast about having such a varied look at NHL coaching strategies.

I'm rather unfairly biased towards coaches with experience, but as far as raw additions go, the development side of things isn't a bad place to start, and adding a man like Sillinger - who played multiple roles on multiple teams over an extended career, and was good at all of them - is almost certainly a plus. Besides, if there's one position where recent on-ice experience at the NHL level is certain to be an asset, it's in teaching prospects the skills they need to succeed in today's game.

Poll

Do you approve of today's hiring of Mike Sillinger?

Yes

82 votes

No

6 votes

88 votes | Poll has closed

Sunday LHinks: As Balsillie turns; Tavares TV; L.I. Tweetup; don't Schremp

Dominik — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 16:45:56 -0000

Guess what? The calendar turns to September this week. I smell hockey.

League Bits:

This will tick off a few of you: Alex Tanguay has signed with Tampa Bay (pending physical), believed to be for ... $2.5 million. Fan reaction at Raw Charge. Great point about a compelling modern-day "French Connection" Line at Litter Box Cats. Fun Puck Daddy take: Strikes yet another blow to "sourcing" anonymous rumors based on message board chatter, no? I mean Tanguay was already a Coyote and a Panther this summer, according to man-bytes-wisdom purveyors.
Hilarious: Former junior star-turned-enigmatic Oilers prospect Rob Schremp appears not to get it. [Lowetide]
In the never-ending convergence between lawyering and PR, Balsillie's latest filings include a self-proclaimed "shocking revelation" that the Leafs as late as 2006 believed they had veto rights over Southern Ontario. [From the Rink] Worse still for the NHL? One economist puts a relocation fee at ... $13 million. [gulp]

Islanders Bits:

Preview time! View from Section 317 has part 1 up, reviewing the Islanders' summer.
Forever1940 catches that Tavares' preseason Islanders debut (if he plays) vs. Vancouver will be on NHL Network.
The Drive for Five pays tribute to Sillinger and drools over the new NHL 10 from EA Sports.
If you missed it, Puck Daddy's 12-team tribute to Sillinger was sublime.
Do not panic. Islanders Point Blank didn't go anywhere. The search for a new IPB home continues while Botta goes national at AOL.
Finally, 7th Woman with a fun review of the very wet Long Island Tweetup. My favorite factoid: "@Islesblogger and @NYIsles10 were taking shots on a pint size goalie at the opposite end. Very few were going in." Ohhh...snap!

Saturday Links: Covert Ops

Poor College Student — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 14:05:28 -0000

After wandering around my buddy's apartment complex with my laptop, I believe I've found a wireless signal. Not sure who's it is.

Let's do it.

Blues News:

You know it. You love it. It's FANfest.
Louie visited the Maryville campus on Thursday. He and his fellow Blues employees were looking for "enthusiastic college students" to be part of a fan building team. Check it out here.
Rutherford on the Brewer surgery.

NHL News:

Brad Lee gets quotated on Puck Daddy. The topic? Mike Sillinger. There's a handy chart out there that helps you keep all the Sillinger trades and deals together. Fuckin' Timofei Shiskabob.
Vancouver trades for Christian Ehrhoff and inks Matthieu Schneider. Nucks Misconduct and Fear the Fin tell you all about it. Mirtle, too.
TSN report: Tanguay to Tampa Bay.
The latest to try a comeback? Jason Allison.

Other Stuff:

Drunk-o-Vision VIII
I'll take 600 pope hats, please.
Hell, I might link to this thing tomorrow, too. A bacon sandwich featuring Fried Chicken as bread.

Video:

We saw Billy Mays try and sell us some Hercules Hooks a couple times ago. This time it's Vince with the Slap Chop.

There you go. Sorry for the lateness. See you tomorrow.

Gametimelinks(at)gmail.com

Remembering Mike Sillinger

Andy Newman — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 23:30:39 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

3 months ago: FILE - In this Jan. 5, 2008, file photo, New York Islanders center Mike Sillinger warms up before facing the Colorado Avalanche in an NHL hockey game in Denver. Sillinger who played for a record 12 teams during 17 seasons in the NHL, is retiring because of an injured left hip. The 38-year-old forward played in only seven games last season and had season-ending hip resurfacing surgery in January. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

Browse more photos »

Puck Daddy Greg Wyshynski recently compiled a blog post titled, "Tribute: Local bloggers recall all 12 of Mike Sillinger's NHL stops," where he asked the opinion of bloggers from each market where Mike Sillinger played. There seems to be a common theme that nobody really remembers him vividly, but he seems to have been appreciated wherever he went.

Puck Daddy writes:

We're talking about a blue-collar center with underrated offense (he had 240 goals, 308 assists in 1,049 games) and a winning personality that thrived in this League for 17 seasons with 12 different teams; one whose journeyman status became the stuff of both legend and punchlines

See what I had to say about him over at Puck Daddy's blog!

Also, if you aren't familiar with it, please take a moment and check out the Two Degrees of Mike Sillinger.

Thursday links: The optimistic Blues have bad fans edition

averagejoe — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:00:22 -0000

Happy Thursday, all. I love me some payday.

Blues news

Optimism abounds for the Blues. Good. I'm glad they feel like I feel. [Blues]
In case you missed it: Some dude says the Blues fanbase is the 20th-ranked in the league citing, among other things, an online presence that is among the leagues worst. Kindly go fuck yourself, sir. (Hat tip to Hildy and Patel). [MVN] [SLGT]
Former Blue -- well, former just about everything -- Mike Sillinger is calling it a career. [Belleville News-Democrat]

Hockey news

The NHL offers just $140 millie for the 'Yotes. [TSN]
Darren Dreger breaks down "What it all means" re: The Coyotes. [TSN]
Shane Doan speaks out about the Phoenix situation. [ESPN]
Mr. Plank should really be a Blues fan. [Fear the Fin]
Damn you offseason, just END. This is what you are forcing bloggers to write about: national anthem singers, and it's not about the great Charles Glenn. [Canes Country]
Ilya Kovalchuk talks KHL and the ATL. It's a good read. [Puck Daddy]
Ottawa Senators coach Cory Clouston talks about what it's like to coach a woman. I'm sorry, that's offensive to women. [Ottawa Citizen]

Other links

From the Answer Man: A game for the whole family -- Porn Star or Potato. No nudity but uhh wait until you get home. [PornstarorPotato]
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Stargazing: Morrow's knee is ready to go

Brad G — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:00:22 -0000

Stargazing is a daily assortment of Dallas Stars news, as well as a look at what's happening around the Pacific division and the rest of the NHL. Stargazing will run on Mondays and Thursdays, becoming a daily feature once the preseason begins.

Two and a half weeks, people. Two and a half short weeks and things really get cooking. We'll have the Traverse City Prospect tournament just before camp to look forward to as well, and we've seen word on the internet that the Stars are starting to gather back in Dallas to work out in Frisco. It's nearly one of the best times of the year and it is coming fast. In the mean time, the Olympics are already giving us plenty of news on our Captain, and word from Calgary about that knee just keeps getting better...

Stars News and Notes:

Canada.com gives us a reason to feel good about Captain Brenden's knee:

MORROW'S KNEE FEELS FINE

Dallas Stars captain Brenden Morrow isn't having any problem with his repaired knee that KO'd him for most of last season.

"It feels like the hand of God operated on me," said Morrow, who had reconstructive surgery early last season and played only 18 games.

I realize they're not really going at it hard out there and throwing the bodies around and what not, but this has to make you feel good. At the very least, assuming he is perfectly healthy, this time with team Canada could be helping him get his head right and his confidence where he needs it. They say one of the hardest parts about coming back from knee surgery is fully trusting it when you get back. If Brenden is happy then I am happy.

Morrow feels so good, he's talking about how much he has to keep the physicality in check on the ice at the friendly Canadian practices, says ESPN's Pierre Lebrun:

"It's so ingrained in you to go in and lower the shoulder and bury the guy. But you have to pull up here," said Morrow. "We're respectful here. It's a good social outing; we're getting to know the guys."

Having missed most of this past season because of injury, Morrow can't wait to pound some bodies when the NHL season begins.

"I've got a bit of pent-up aggression right now," said Morrow.

Yikes. We pity the rest of the Western Conference.

And Mike Heika weighed in Morrow as well, getting more of the same from our eager leader (unfortunate rhyme):

"It is a bit strange and kind of exciting because it is a real practice, a real workout, and I haven't done that in a while," Morrow said. "I know I'm itching to get back at it."

Morrow said his knee is feeling great and that he feels stronger than he ever has in his career.

The Hockey News put together a list of potential worries in every NHL city. Here is the Pacific division:

Dallas Stars Last year wasn’t just an anomaly for 34-year-old Marty Turco.

Los Angeles Kings Rob Scuderi has to make more kick-saves in lieu of the team’s goaltending.

Phoenix Coyotes The league’s bid to buy the team is successful and Gary Bettman decides to add NHL GM to his portfolio.

San Jose Sharks Another showing of Groundhog Day come spring.

Anaheim Ducks Scott Niedermayer is one incredible defenseman, but what if Chris Pronger’s absence proves he was the blueline’s real stud all along?

I'm a little more worried about the coaching change and the special teams myself, but I know there are a lot of you out there who feels this way about Turco.

ESPN did a nice piece with Stephan Robidas and Mike Green:

"I signed a contract in Germany for after the lockout because I didn't know if I was going to get an NHL job," Robidas said. "Dallas eventually called [in August 2005] and signed me for the minimum."

"We had him prior [2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons] and coming out of the lockout, we thought there would be a premium on skating and that size wouldn't be as dominant a force for defensemen as it was prior to lockout," said former Stars GM Doug Armstrong. "And we knew his character. Coming back in, he seized that opportunity."

Armstrong, now an executive with the St. Louis Blues and part of Team Canada's management team, said you can't help but cheer for a guy like Robidas.

Given what a fan favorite he is, and how much he's contributed, it's hard to imagine that Robidas almost didn't even make it back to the NHL after the lockout.

The Dr. Peppers Stars Center in Duncanville might get turned into basketball courts? It won't be a very good day for hockey in DFW if that happens, will it?

No decision has been made on the future of the city-owned ice arena in Duncanville.

The City Council had a special meeting Monday to hear a presentation from a company that proposes converting the ice at the Dr Pepper StarCenter into basketball courts. City officials were impressed with the presentation, City Manager Kent Cagle said.

The arena is operated by the Dallas Stars organization, which has a 25-year agreement with the city, Cagle said.

"It is premature to move forward on anything until we have resolution with the Stars," he said.

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Sunday LHinks: As Balsillie turns; Tavares TV; L.I. Tweetup; don't Schremp

Saturday Links: Covert Ops

Remembering Mike Sillinger

Thursday links: The optimistic Blues have bad fans edition

Stargazing: Morrow's knee is ready to go

Stars News and Notes:

Around the NHL: