SB Nation - Jason Blake

Off the Post - December 14th

Conico do Mayo Miracle — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 03:13:52 -0000

Reminder - Manny Malhotra will be at the Sharks Store tomorrow from 4:30 - 6pm. See you there.

Rudy Kelly is was savoring the fact that the Kings ~~are~~ were (temporarily) on top of the Western Conference, while his least favorite team in the universe is (still) at the opposite pole.

~~No, that's not a misprint -~~ ~~the Kings are on top of the West. What is this, 1991? (for the record, the Kings have~~ ~~never~~ ~~actually finished at the top of the West in their 42 year history)~~

[UPDATE, 10:47pm] The Kings' loss tonight propels the Sharks back to first place. At least Rudy's dream came (briefly) true.

Is Marty Turco on the trading block? Defending Big D with your info.

One of the teams Turco might be sent to does indeed need a goaltender... so much so that they're looking at rec leagues, as well as the Thrashers.

[UPDATE] - The Flyers reacquire Michael Leighton from Carolina, where he'll reunite with Laviolette.

Five for Howling's primer on Ice Edge, the group purchasing the Yotes.

Mike Grier's importance to the Buffalo Sabres.

In the spirit of Christmas, the Dallas Stars have been giving away points to their W.C. opponents.

The Phoenix / Saskatoon Coyotes doesn't quite have that ring to it.... but it's going forward anyway.

Former Kings / Flames sniper Mike Cammalleri is setting his sights on a Montreal Canadiens mark.

In case you missed it, the Washington Capitals cleared up some massive overhead by shipping Michael Nylander to the AHL, where he'll join (drumroll please...) Patrick Rissmiller.

Thirty teams, 30 Christmas wishes.

Is the Bulin Wall coming down?

Out-shot teams that manage to win.

Behind the Net on size differential between players being hit and those hitting them.

Our friends at SLGT will soon be getting a Brett Hull statue outside the Drink Scotch, which should be a fitting place to recount your unpublishable Hull stories (right, Chris Gift? Ho ho ho indeed...).

Kiprusoff should be on Team Finland (was anyone surprised by this? No? Moving on).

Signs the world is going to end = a Canadian journalist thinks hockey is going to work in Phoenix.

Despite the 5-game Sharks slump, Joe Thornton and Dany Heatley are still in the Art Ross and Rocket Richard runoff, respectively. While you're admiring stats, take a good fucking look at Zenon Konopka... but don't make eye contact or he'll kill you.

Jason Blake either shat his pants while being held at gunpoint, or he just scored a goal... you decide.

What Happened?

Chemmy — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 02:32:45 -0000

More photos » by Charles Krupa - AP

12 days ago: Boston Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk, left, checks Toronto Maple Leafs center Phil Kessel, who played for the Bruins since 2006, during the first period of their NHL hockey game in Boston, Thursday Dec. 10, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

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There are a bunch of pretty simple explanations for why the Leafs got smoked tonight. To start off the Boston Bruins have a more talented group of players than the Leafs do. Tuukka Rask took a shutout into the third but didn't have a lot of work because Boston (especially Zdeno Chara) did an excellent job keeping Toronto to the perimeter of the ice and clogging up the neutral zone.

Toronto's played two games since they last met Boston, Boston stayed at home and rested. They had four days off while Toronto's played a game every other day since leaving Boston and having to come back. That's not going to get better any time soon, the Leafs play a ton of back to backs and play pretty much every other day until the Olympic break. They'll head home to play the Capitals on Saturday before playing Ottawa Monday, Phoenix Wednesday and heading to Buffalo on Friday before going back to the ACC to play Boston again in nine days.

I actually stopped writing this because Grabovski and Kulemin broke through and scored a pair to make it 3-2, but Jason Blake took his third high sticking penalty of the game, this time on Zdeno Chara, to torpedo the Leafs' effort late in the third.

Phil Kessel wasn't hugely effective; chalk it up to a Bruins team that knows not only his tendencies but also seems to be the only team that understands that he doesn't like to be hit and there's no one else on the Leafs worth covering. He hasn't scored in four games now, he needs to snap out of this before it turns into a funk. I have confidence in him, it's been a rough week.

This game was painfully boring to watch as a Leafs fan, but as Archimedies said all night if the Leafs played this style and won none of us would say a word so don't cry about it. If the Leafs were a better team they'd break through the trap and generate chances.If JFJ hadn't traded Rask and two first rounders for fringe NHLers in Toskala (who wasn't the problem tonight but didn't do anything to make me think he's competent either) and Raycroft we wouldn't be adrift praying for wins but here we are.

On the bright side Toronto's 6-3-1 in their last ten though and that's not terrible at all. The busy schedule might work in Toronto's favor if they can rattle off a few quick wins before facing Boston again. The good news is there are four games left to play against the Bruins and three of them are in Toronto. We'll have our revenge eventually.

Leafs Win, Isles Lose and My Dad is Taller Than Yours

blurr1974 — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 09:29:56 -0000

Oh, he's serious.

Well that was fun, and sticks with what appears to be the Leafs recent penchant for lose one, win two. That means tonight's game against Boston should be a...oh. Crap. Maybe we should give this guy's dad a call and put him in the line up. Seriously, he's like...well, you can read it, can't you?

There's not much else that puts me in a better mood than when the Leafs win. Mainly because the Barilkosphere buzzes to life and fantastic posts of hope and possibilities flow through the intertubes and into my laptop. I still contend that the best part about being a Leafs fan is the fans. We can disagree on a multitude of issues, including ones pertinent to the Leafs. However, when the team wins, well it's just icing on the cake...

Our very own WAC knows a thing or two about starting and ending your day right. Take two looks at each of these before you eat, and two more before you got bed. You'll feel better for it. I promise.
Shocking I know, but even eyebleaf can get down. More shocking is how Jason Blake and Vesa Toskala can cheer him up. Since he's feeling positive, you know he's only thinking one thing. No not, that you pervert. Well, ok, probably that as well, but in addition to PLAYOFFS!!!1
The general has been watching the Leafs slowly crawl their way back to respectability. In the process, he's noticed a few players stepping up and making an impact. Also, he's been conspicuously absent lately so maybe you should go over to his blog and ask what's up with that...?
Hungry Leafs Fan is having two times the funn at Leafs games. Especially since they finally won one with him in attendance.
The Battle of Ontario's Five-O puts together two statements that in previous days would have seemed incongruent.
Leafs Fan Forever likes surprises.
Newcomer to MLHS, Derek Harmsworth shines an ever widening spotlight on the better players for the Leafs last night.
TSM finds it interesting that the MSM seems to think Burke will resign all the team's pending UFAs and RFAs thanks to the recent improvement in play. It's curious because Burke didn't jump the gun when things were down. Why would he do that now?
Norman James has Nazem Kadri coming to his radio program "Da Hook" on Friday night. I thought we might want to mark that in our calendars...
Terry Sawchuk is not just a footnote in Martin Brodeur's assault on the record books, he's an icon in his own right. SBN's own Copper & Blue introduces you to "Uke."
As I've recently discovered, Pennsylvanians are a rough and tumble bunch. MYFO has the proof, on video.

UPDATES

Jared recaps the win. Click. Click. BOOM.
The Other Vatican shows how when Phil Kessel was benched by Boston in the playoffs, he responded well when finally getting the chance to play. So, how will he respond to the Bruins tonight?
How can Mikhail Grabovski have continued success at the NHL level? Vintage Leaf Memories thinks it knows the answer.
And one more for good measure. Yours truly was contacted by NESN to talk about tonight's upcoming match against the Bruins. Can you spot the diss?

*This post was published live at 1:30 AM Pacific. I can't sleep, but I'll make another attempt soonnzndfzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Leafs 6 Jackets 3: Boston Can Have Taylor Hall We Don't Care

Chemmy — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:39:21 -0000

More photos » by Jay LaPrete - AP

Oh hell yeah

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The best part about tonight's game was Phil Kessel pulling Russell's jersey over his head and dumping him, followed closely by Phil Kessel laughing when Orr came into the box shortly after.

Kessel with a pair, Jason Blake (!!!) with a pair both set up on beautiful feeds by Grabovski, Stempniak gets one and Kulemin grabs a shortie.

Leafs let off the gas at the end which is why Columbus scored two, Joey MacDonald was absolutely stellar all night and deserves the start against Boston after stopping 34 of 36. Excellent work by the Leafs let's hope they keep it up.

Game 28 Preview: The Rarely-Seen Buds Make the Trek to Ohio

Mike MacLean — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:32:58 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

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They're getting better! The most recent game against the Blackhawks looked more like Jackets hockey than any other game this season, had they played the way they did during the losing streak, the score would have been ugly-very ugly in favor of the 'Hawks.

For the first time in a few years Toronto comes to town. The Leafs are still in the midst of a "re-tooling" (because if I would have said "rebullding" Ole Ironsides Burke would find a way to get me booted off of the internet) and are without either of their top goaltenders. Vesa Toskala is out with an injury, and Gustavsson will be going under the knife for another heart operation. Speaking of Gustavsson, when will the meda give him a new nickname? The Monster? Come on. Worst nickname for a player in all of sport, especially for a rookie. Joey MacDonald, a fellow Bluenoser, will get the start tonight. Mase is in for the Jackets.

The CBJ will be icing the same lineup as the past few games, although Raffi may miss it because his wife is in the hospital prepping for the delivery of the couple's first child. The Leafs have a tough defensive unit, so it will be interesting how the Jackets forwards can cope with that. I also wonder if Kris Russell can continue his red-hot stretch of play tonight. Here's hoping. Look for a good physical battle tonight folks.

Fearless Prediction: CBJ score at least four goals.

Game Time: 7:00pm ET

Opponent's Blog: Pension Plan Puppets

Game Page: Maple Leafs vs Blue Jackets Coverage

TSN Preview: Maple Leafs vs Blue Jackets Preview

TV: FSN Ohio

Radio: WBNS-AM (1460); WWCD-FM (101.1)

More after the jump...

From the Columbus Dispatch:

Toronto has played in Columbus only three times, most recently Nov. 20, 2006, a 4-2 Leafs win. The Blue Jackets would be wise to ignore the standings. After a horrible start, the Maple Leafs are 4-1-2 in their past seven games, including a 3-0 rout of Montreal on Tuesday. It could be a big special- teams game. Although the Blue Jackets excel on the power play, both teams struggle in killing penalties.

Jackets Links:

Columbus Blue Jackets / Columbus Blue Jackets Schedule

Columbus Blue Jackets Roster / Columbus Blue Jackets Stats

Here are the lineups for tonight's tilt:

Columbus Blue Jackets

Kristian Huselius	Antoine Vermette	Rick Nash
R.J. Umberger	Derick Brassard	Jakub Voracek
Jason Chimera	Samuel Pahlsson	Michael Blunden
Raffi Torres	Derek MacKenzie	Jared Boll

Fedor Tyutin	Anton Stralman
Mike Commodore	Jan Hejda
Kris Russell	Mathieu Roy

Steve Mason

Mathieu Garon

EXTRA: Alexandre Picard

INJURED: Fredrik Modin, Andrew Murray, Derek Dorsett, Rostislav Klesla, Marc Methot

Toronto Maple Leafs

Alexei Ponikarovsky	Matt Stajan	Phil Kessel
Niklas Hagman	Mikhail Grabovski	Christian Hanson
Wayne Primeau	Nikolai Kulemin	Lee Stempniak
Jason Blake	Jamal Mayers	Colton Orr

Mike Komisarek	Tomas Kaberle
Luke Schenn	Ian White
Francois Beauchemin	Jeff Finger

Joey MacDonald

Jonas Gustavsson

League Leaders: Wraparounds

Hawerchuk — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:00:35 -0000

More photos » by Carlos Osorio - AP

7 months ago: Detroit Red Wings' Marian Hossa (81), of Slovakia, pushes the puck away from Chicago Blackhawks' Patrick Kane (88) during an attempt at a wraparound in front of goalie Chris Osgood during the second period of Game 2 of the NHL hockey Western Conference finals in Detroit, Tuesday, May 19, 2009. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

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What can you say about wraparounds? You just don't see them very often anymore. As a distinct type of shot, they're by far the least common of those tracked by the NHL. And, as it turns out, they're not a particularly high-percentage play:

	ES	ES		PP	PP
	SOG	G	SPCT	SOG	G	SPCT
Total	3673	197	5.3	407	35	8.4
Home	1905	108	5.7	228	18	7.9
Away	1768	89	5.0	179	16	8.9

So who leads the league in these low-percentage shots? Again, there's somewhat of a bias at some rinks, so let's look at wraparounds on the road since the lockout:

	Wraparounds	Goals
Ryan Smyth	31	2
Eric Staal	25	4
Richard Zednik	23	0
Jason Blake	22	1
Rick Nash	22	1
Tim Taylor	21	0
Brett McLean	21	1
Thomas Vanek	20	0
Michal Handzus	19	1
Marian Hossa	18	0

Smyth is again the league leader, but he hasn't been particularly effective. If we include wraparounds credited to him by his home scorer and his itchy trigger finger, Smyth is just 5-for-89 (5.6%) since the lockout. Zednik is 0-for-40. Bottom line: the wraparound was a cute move in 1980; now everybody knows it's coming.

Poll

Wraparounds - waste of effort?

yes

11 votes

no

10 votes

they worked great for me when I was nine years old

14 votes

35 votes | Poll has closed

League Leaders: Takeaways, Penalties Drawn and Rebounds

Hawerchuk — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:00:31 -0000

by John Lazar - AP

View full size photo »

Yesterday, I listed the league leaders in deflections since the lockout. Three other statistics that may convey offensive ability around the net are offensive zone takeaways, offensive zone penalties drawn and rebounds. Let's go through the league leaders in order.

There aren't a tremendous number of takeaways recorded in general, and we have to look at only road takeaways to eliminate home rink bias. If we further restrict takeaways to the area below the faceoff dots, we end up with rather small numbers:

	Takeaways
Pavel Datsyuk	28
Alexander Frolov	27
Scott Gomez	25
Sidney Crosby	24
Matt Stajan	21
Vaclav Prospal	20
Shane Doan	20
Daniel Alfredsson	19
Alexander Ovechkin	18
Ryan Getzlaf	18
Rick Nash	18
Ryan Smyth	18
Ian Laperriere	18

This is a slightly different list than our deflection leaders - there are some guys here who spend a lot of time in front of the net like Ryan Smyth, but there are also players like Alexander Frolov who have a reputation for not going into the corners and not checking people. Yet he comes away with a lot of pucks.

What about penalties drawn in the offensive zone below the face-off dots? This list includes only non-coincidental penalties:

	Pens
Dustin Brown	74
Sidney Crosby	57
Ryan Smyth	54
Rick Nash	48
Erik Cole	44
Scott Hartnell	42
Sean Avery	42
Ryan Malone	42
Eric Staal	42
Daniel Briere	41
Evgeni Malkin	41

There are a lot of familiar names here - guys who draw penalties in general, like Crosby and Brown. And, of course, there's Ryan Smyth again. I'm reminded that Dustin Brown is a big hitter - so is this the same group of players who hit a lot in the offensive zone below the face-off dots?

	Hits
Alexander Ovechkin	116
Matt Cooke	90
Chris Kunitz	89
Ryan Callahan	88
Milan Lucic	87
Dustin Brown	85
Erik Cole	81
Tuomo Ruutu	78
Travis Moen	77
Mike Fisher	72
Cody McLeod	72

There isn't much overlap at all - Cole and Brown. The big hitters aren't necessarily the kinds of guys who have the speed and offensive skill to force defensemen to take penalties.

And finally, what about rebounds? Here we see a much more traditional group of scorers, with Ryan Smyth dropping to 31st overall. Next time - wraparounds...

	Rebounds
Alexander Ovechkin	168
Eric Staal	164
Dany Heatley	149
Olli Jokinen	147
Jonathan Cheechoo	136
Vaclav Prospal	131
Zach Parise	131
Vincent Lecavalier	130
Jason Blake	126
Martin St. Louis	125

Maple Leafs 5 v. Red Wings 1: On The Road To Validation

PPP — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:04:39 -0000

More photos » by NATHAN DENETTE - AP

What can I say? I'm neewwwww here!

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The Toronto Maple Leafs won the Hall of Fame game 5-1 as they used their forecheck and a determined defense to stymie a Detroit Red Wings team that had seemingly turned a corner. The Chris Osgood that had posted a .976 sv% over his last three games was replaced by the one that had a sub-.900 sv% in the rest of his starts. There was a confusing moment in the first period when a Leaf wearing 1 and 8 flew down the wing, past a sprawling defender before rifling a wrist shot past Osgood to notch his first goal in Toronto. Congratulation to Wayne "Not Keith" Primeau on finally breaking his goose egg. Phil Kessel also managed it but in decidedly less glamourous circumstances as he tapped in a Jason Blake shot that was trickling into the net anyway.

Jeff Finger stretched the Leafs' lead to 3-0 when he rifled a shot past Osgood as he jumped into the rush to turn a Stempniak-Stajan 2-on-2 into an odd man rush. Daniel Cleary scored the least surprising goal of the season John Mitchell, who must be thanking his lucky stars that he is centering Phil Kessel, picked up his second on the powerplay on a play that looked like Kessel just banked it in off of his stick. Ponikarovsky finished off the scoring as he put a weak backhand through Osgood's legs.

The win was good, starting a winning streak is great, but the best part is that root of the Leafs' ills seems to have be solved.

The Leafs have points in seven straight games with three of them being wins. Not surprisingly, Jonas Gustavsson started six of those games. The Maple Leafs are now looking like the kind of team that made Brian Burke think that the Phil Kessel trade was an acceptable risk. Brian Burke haters were falling all over themselves to get their jabs in when the Leafs were winless. Things were not helped by the fact that Vesa Toskala continued where he had left off before his surgeries. Actually, he has been much much more than he has ever been.

Jonas Gustavsson's heart issues and his strained groin robbed Brian Burke of seeing one of his prized off-season acquisition (and possibly his most important) make the impact that he expected. Until this recent run. The Phil Kessel trade would never have been made without the Gustavsson signing because as Burke has noted, you build teams from the net out. That signing, along with the additions on the blueline, gave him the confidence that the Leafs would not be giving up a top ten pick let alone a lottery pick or two in the deal.

Do you have that zen feeling when the opposition has the puck? You know, the complete opposite of what you felt when Toskala was in net? Yeah, so do the Leafs and it shows. Suddenly, Burke's talk about competing for the playoffs doesn't seem so insane. And it all starts in goal with the improved goaltending. Yes, chemistry was an issue early on but even the players and coaches and Damien Cox agree that the underlying issue was in net:

It's not rocket science after all; get good goaltending, and everything else flows from that.

I made a big point of the fact that having confidence in your goalie (as well as a goalie that can stop a beachball) helps to improve a number of areas. Take goal-scoring for example. The Leafs scored 15 goals in 7 games and a bit of the Washington game when Vesa Toskala or Joey MacDonald were in net but they potted 24 in 7 games and the rest of that Washington game with The Monster guarding the crease.

The penalty kill is another area that has improved. During the seven game point streak it's been killing penalties at a 85.7% clip including all of them over their last four games. You can read more quotations from other players in blurr's fanshot but this one from Jeff Finger sums the argument up best:

"He’s been great, bottom line. It gives us the confidence to play the game that you need to play to win in this League. You’re just confident in what you’ve got back there so you can make a play and not worry about turning the puck over. He’s been real solid."

At the end of the day, the poor penalty kill, the lack of offence, and the terrible defence are all symptoms of the problem that begins between the pipes. It appears that the Leafs have found the cure in Jonas Gustavsson but the real test will come the next time that they play Vesa Toskala in net. They need to maintain the mental toughness to play the game the way that they have been and maybe displaying that confidence will rub off on the Finn.

Ottawa Sun: Olesz now riding shotgun to Horton on Trade Rumor Express

Whale4ever — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:03:48 -0000

From The Sun's Bruce Garrioch:

Note to the Florida Panthers: Three league executives have confirmed you are trying to move C Nathan Horton. GM Randy Sexton wouldn’t mind dealing LW Rostislav Olesz, either, to get a big centre. The Leafs might be a possibility for Horton, but the Panthers would have to take back Jason Blake and his $4.5-million contract.

Whoa, Nelly. Jason Blake? As usual, Spector tears this one down with common sense:

No offense to Garrioch but Sexton's comments carry more weight than those of unnamed league executives. If the Panthers were to shop Horton they certainly wouldn't want Jason Blake in return. Horton's been playing better of late which would increase his trade value but also makes it more unlikely the Panthers would be trying to move him. Horton's contract also makes him difficult to deal at this time.

I posed the question of Horton being moved to Spector himself during Wednesday's Puck Daddy Rumor Chat. His not-so-subtle response:

Horton's not being shopped. That's all BS.

Why is "M2tK" Garrioch clinging so firmly to this? That's three weeks he's been pushing what based on logic should be a moot point. This ain't happening; gonna take a lot more than Blake.

Red Wings at Leafs

Chemmy — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:38:35 -0000

More photos » by Karl B DeBlaker - AP

Dat's a lotta points

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Red Wings at Leafs: 7:00 ET CBC-HD, NHLN-HD (US)

It's Saturday morning and I had the most beautiful ~~drunken hallucination~~ dream. I dreamed that the Leafs came out flat but then came back and dominated the Hurricanes en route to a 3-2 win on the back of Jonas Gustavsson and strong play from Jason Blake and Phil Kessel.

Last night Jason Blake came with a strong forecheck and relentlessly pestered the Hurricanes. I genuinely believe that he hates Paul Maurice more than we'll ever know. Phil Kessel also came flying back into his defensive end twice to break up odd man rushes. He used his laser feet to come back and break up a play.

I'm going to refer to when the Patriots signed Randy Moss. Here's what Oakland's Tom Walsh said about him:

"Randy Moss is a player whose skills are diminishing, and he's in denial of those eroding skills...Randy was a great receiver, but he lacked the work ethic and the desire to cultivate any skills that would compensate for what he was losing physically later in his career."

Two years later and Randy Moss is probably a first ballot Hall of Famer, a guy who captains New England's offensive team at practice and stays after workouts to help rookies learn the playbook, it other words what everyone said about him was dead fucking wrong.

I've only seen two games out of Kessel and it's pretty obvious his shot isn't 100% but his legs are almost there and Ron Wilson has him backchecking like missing an assignment would cause the Mayan Apocalypse. So much for a lazy floater.

On the Detroit front, take your Os-bad jokes and save them for later this season. Since getting yanked in Vancouver on October 27th Osgood has played three games and allowed two goals on 84 shots (0.976). Two of those games were against San Jose and Boston. Gulp. Better hope our offense stops praying for lucky bounces or we're in for a long night when Datsyuk and Zetterberg get rolling.

No news on starting goalies this early in the morning. We'll be running the usual skeleton crew on a Saturday afternoon around the blog so post lineup news in the comments and get people to rec them up.

Update: Lines courtesy of Jonas Siegel

Forwards
Blake Mitchell Kessel
Ponikarovsky Grabovski Kulemin
Hagman Stajan Stempniak
Primeau Wallin Orr

Defense
Kaberle Komisarek
Beauchemin White
Schenn Finger

Goalie
Gustavsson

Don't forget your SPG picks but most importantly: go Leafs go! Keep the point streak alive!