SB Nation - Pavol Demitra

Look Out! Here Come The Preds!

Sean Zandberg — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:00:22 -0000

PREDATORS (22-11-3) AT CANUCKS (20-16-0)

GAME TIME: 7:30 PM

TV: Sportsnet Pacific

UPDATE (11:23 AM): It was apparently heard on the Team 1040 that Pavol Demitra is back practicing with the Canucks...already. They must have good drugs in Slovakia. Just tuned in to the Team and if you gauge what AV said...Alexander Edler could play tonight.

UPDATE (1:08 AM): Salo and Johnson are expected to play tonight. For more on that, and some praise by AV for O'Brien, check out the Vancouver Sun.

UPDATE (1:24 AM): Jason Arnott is "questionable" for tonight with an upper body injury.

********************

Oh no! Not another Central Division team! No! The Canucks are 1-7 against that heinous group. Turn on the game and pop an anxiety pill, right? Well, maybe not. There are a couple possibilities/reasons why the Canucks might show up for this one.

A. They usually follow lackluster efforts with good ones.

B. Nashville sits 4th in the West. The Canucks won't be playing down to their competition. Nashville is 7 points ahead of Vancouver.

Almost amazingly, the Canucks can still find themselves in 8th spot tomorrow night if they beat the Preds and ~~Dallas loses to San Jose in regulation tonight~~.(DONE!) Detroit and Dallas play on Wednesday and will probably push us out then if we sneak in.

The Preds are rolling right now. Since their 4-2 win over the Canucks on December 8th, they have a 5-0-1 record. They have won 4 in a row (Canucks don't know what that is like), and have a 7-1-2 record in their last 10 games. Good lord, is this Nashville we are talking about? What gives?

In the 4 game winning streak, there are a few unlikely heroes in Nashville's lineup:

-Patric Hornqvist has 4 goals and 7 points, earning him the NHL's 3rd Star Of The Week.

-Marcel Goc (good buddies with Ehrhoff) has 2 goals and 4 assists.

-Joel Ward has 1 goal and 5 assists.

Then we have what should be the usual suspects:

-David Legwand and Martin Erat have 2 goals and 4 assists each.

-Steve Sullivan has 3 goals and 1 assist.

-JP Dumont (3 points) and Jason Arnott (2 points) have slowed down. Doesn't mean we should discount them. They can strike at any moment.

So Nashville has a lot of good things going on right now, especially with the scoring from several sources.

How do the other stats add up?

COMPARATIVE STATS

-GOALS PER GAME: Canucks 5th, Preds 13th

-GOALS AGAINST PER GAME: Canucks 10th, Preds 16th

-5 ON 5: Canucks 6th, Preds 11th

-POWER PLAY: Canucks 5th, Preds 26th.

-PENALTY KILL: Canucks 19th, Preds 28th

SHOTS PER GAME: Canucks 11th, Preds 12th

SHOTS AGAINST PER GAME: Canucks 10th, Preds 11th.

WINNING % WHEN LEADING AFTER 1: Preds 3rd, Canucks 6th

WINNING % WHEN LEADING AFTER 2: Preds 1st (100%), Canucks 8th (.933)

FACEOFF %: Canucks 11th, Preds 14th

Sad, isn't it? We are better than them in most statistical categories but are still 7 points behind them. Crazy to think that in Nashville's 4-game winning streak they have scored 23 goals, but only 1 of them on the power play, which goes along with their ranking above.

I would really appreciate it if the Canucks would just calm the hell down and play their game. They need to stop getting caught up-ice. They need to play an aggressive, consistent, and defensively sound game. Can someone please teach them how to properly break out of their own zone? Please!

Willie Mitchell said Monday: "We have to go into this one prepared to win 1-0 or 2-1," said Mitchell. "If we do that, we'll be more consistent."

Oh, and check out Kevin Bieksa's disdain about having his ice time reduced. There is some finger-pointing going right now.

Can we clone 12 Ryan Keslers? Is that possible?

Revenge of the minnows

Bruce McCurdy — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:34:42 -0000

Derek's great story on Peter Bondra brought back some memories that should be bitter but are in truth rather sweet. Bondra was one hell of a player, I loved the guy even when he was driving a stake through my heart. This happened twice in 2002. There was Derek's called shot hat trick against my Oilers, and then a few weeks later Bondra was the principle assassin as Slovakia knocked Canada out of the World Championships. That's a story in itself. It is without a doubt my favourite Canadian loss ever, as it was the first chapter in one of the greatest underdog stories in hockey history.

The bloodless revolution which should have set an example around the world -- one of the amicable divorcees installed a playwright as its president, for goodness' sake -- nonetheless seemed at the time to be a death blow to the competitiveness of the former hockey power, Czechoslovakia. Instead, both sides emerged as forces still to be reckoned with. It took the Czechs about five years to recover, then go on an unprecedented roll which saw them win the Olympics, two consecutive world juniors, and three consecutive world senior championships around Y2K.

The Slovaks seemed by comparison to be on the wrong side of the tracks. A tiny nation of ~5 million, they were shown zero respect, initially installed in C Pool in the worlds, then taking a gang reaming at the pleasure of the NHL, IOC, and IIHF in the winter Olympic games. At Salt Lake City earlier that winter, the "Big 6" got a bye into the second round and essentially right on into the medal since all 8 second round teams made it. Meanwhile Slovakia had to qualify among the hockey minnows for Round 2, and do so without their stars who weren't released from their NHL clubs in time. They lost their first two games before reinforcements arrived, and that was that, their Olympics were done. It was the royal shaft in about every manner imaginable, and one would imagine it was particularly hurtful to the Slovaks that they were treated in such a second class manner to the Czechs so soon after the Velvet Revolution. It was like the Czechs were treated like former Czechoslovaks and the Slovaks weren't, if you follow me.

Suddenly at the worlds, the shoe was on the other foot. As luck had it, many of the top Slovak stars either missed the NHL playoffs or got knocked out in the first round. While they still missed the likes of Zdeno Chara, Marian Hossa, and Pavol Demitra, every country could say the same about top stars either unable or unwilling to play. For example, the host Swedes were missing Peter Forsberg, Mats Sundin, and Daniel Alfredsson. Manager Peter Stastny had no trouble convincing the Slovak players who were available to show up, and they showed up on a mission. It was quite a line-up, particularly up front: the NHL's most underrated superstar, Peter Bondra; team captain and tournament leading scorer, ex-Oiler Miro Satan; deadly sniper and surprising playmaker Ziggy Palffy; proven two-way centres Josef Stumpel and Michal Handzus; rising talent Ladislav Nagy, Lubos Bartecko, Vladimir (Gesundheit) Orszagh and a couple of youngsters who hadn't (yet) crossed The Pond. The blueline corps was fairly solid but unspectacular, led by Richard Lintner and future Oiler Lubomir Visnovsky. The goaltender was Jan Lasak who had ended the season in Nashville, and he played brilliantly.

I had the good fortune of seeing all three of Slovakia's sudden-death games on the tube, and it was riveting hockey. Thanks to the wonders of Youtube, game highlights are readily available from the Slovakian telecasts of the day, and are well worth the watch if you have a few minutes.

The first two feature the Slovakia-Canada game. Against a Canadian team that featured Oilers Ryan Smyth, Eric Brewer, Steve Staios, Mike Comrie, and Dan Cleary, the Slovaks dominated early, fell behind 2-0 against the flow of play, then started their comeback on a great individual effort by Bondra with one second to go in the second period (around 8:30 of the first video). Early in the third, Comrie took an undisciplined slashing penalty, and the awesome Slovak powerplay (Bondra, Palffy, and Satan were all in the top five in the NHL in PP goals that season) made him pay on a well-engineered goal by Satan. Before Canada could recover, Bondra was set up in the slot and buried an absolute rocket (around 1:45 of the second video). J-S Giguere played well, but he had no chance on the goals by these snipers. (Listen to the play-by-play guy, who cracks me up, seemingly mocking Giguere right after the 3-2 goal.) Once ahead, the Slovaks defended more effectively than Canada had done, although in the last two minutes the Canadians poured on the pressure, and Lasak absolutely robbed Comrie with a brilliant save to preserve the win. But it was a deserved win; the Slovaks were the better team on the day.

The Swedish game was much more one of those "team of destiny" type games. Once again the Slovaks fell behind 2-0. Late in the second period there was a frantic sequence where Orszagh pulled down a breaking Swede on a near-penalty-shot situation; the Swedes poured it on for the full two minutes of the PP with Lasak standing on his head, only to be caught on an odd-man rush when Orszagh came out of the box just in time to receive a head-man pass and go in and pick the top corner. 2-1, and the exuberance was absolutely sucked out of the Swedish fans. The Swedes still appeared to be in control in the third, but took a late and deserved penalty for checking Satan from behind. Satan got his revenge with a tying PP goal just as the two minute announcement was being made. The game went to OT with pulsating, end-to-end action, featuring a miraculous Cujo-on-Nieuwendyk type emergency save by Lasak. The damn satellite feed went down at that point, but came back in time for the shootout. Lasak remained unbeatable, with glove side, stick side, poke check, and five-hole saves; then-Oilers goalie Tommy Salo made two fine stops on low shots before Palffy and Lintner buried a couple under the crossbar to put it away.

The final featured another hockey giant, Russia. Like the Slovaks, they too had pulled off what could be considered (at least on paper) two huge upsets. The Russians had only three active NHLers, and a handful of formers, including captain and another ex-Oiler, Andrei (In the Tank) Kovalenko. Although history said otherwise, Slovakia could clearly be considered the favourites based on (known) talent. They quickly jumped into a first-minute lead which they stretched to 2-0, then 3-1 on goals by Visnosky, Bondra, and Satan. They missed some great chances to make it a three-goal lead, then came out for the third period very nervous, looking very much like a team unaccustomed to playing with a lead. They stayed back in their own end, content to shoot the puck out if they could, doing nothing offensively, falling and diving around with hero plays rather than playing the type of hockey that got them there. Sure enough, the Russians got a couple to tie it up and it looked like the Slovakian dream might come crashing down in humiliating fashion. Instead, with under two minutes left, Palffy broke out with the puck and wisely fed Bondra, who calmly fired a sniper's bullet in off the post. It was only the second shot of the period for the Slovaks, but it was the telling blow in a game that was more tense than it was wide-open exciting. For Bondra it was his 7th goal and 3rd game-winner, and raised his plus-minus to +12 (he was on the ice for 12 goals for and zero goals against); all were tournament highs.

Bondra's winner occurs around the 2:10 mark of the embedded clip, although the entire 6-minute video should be required watching for anybody who poohpoohs the World Senior Men's Hockey Championships as unimportant. Seeing the bedlam in Bratislava's Main Square in the immediate aftermath of Bondra's snipe with 100 seconds remaining in the Gold Medal Game is enough even all these years later to bring a tear to the eye of this sentimental old fool. And I'm not even Slovakian.

As the clock wound down, the joy of the Slovaks was great to see. They'd gotten some breaks along the way, but surely they'd earned a couple over the years, and when the situation presented itself, they took advantage. To see them bellowing the Slovakian anthem (the beautiful "second half" of the old Czechoslovak hymn that we once heard fairly frequently) was a wonderful sight if not sound.

For your added viewing pleasure check out this clip of the post-game celebration, highlighted around the 42-second mark when Lubo Visnovsky literally bounds into the room wearing a grin to light up the world.

Canada's quarter final loss was an anticlimax to an Olympian season, and just a momentary setback in a series of triumphs; the Red Maple Leaf would return to win the Worlds in both 2003 and 2004. That spring of 2002, though, was Slovakia's time to shine. Peter Bondra, who led the tournament in goals (7), game-winning goals (3) and plus (+12 by being on the ice for 12 goals for and zero goals against), shone the brightest of all. It was the crowning moment of a great career.

Grabner Re-assigned To Manitoba, Demitra Going Home

Sean Zandberg — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 20:59:59 -0000

More photos » by Darryl Dyck - AP

Wrong bench, asshole!

Browse more photos »

Mike Gillis has announced today that the Canucks have re-assigned Michael Grabner to the Moose. This is reportedly a conditioning stint. Grabner has 2 goals and 5 points in 9 games with the Canucks this season, before he wrecked his ankle playing soccer in a pre game warm-up several weeks ago.

Pavol Demitra is returning to his homeland of Slovakia to see a specialist "that he is comfortable with" about his ailing shoulder.

"He had this massage therapist guy who works with the Slovakian national team and he said the massage therapy helped him out a lot," Mike Gillis said today. "So, he asked if he could do that and we said yes."

It has me wondering if there is something wrong with our medical staff. See: Cody Hodgson.

Was that a great game last night or what? That had the feeling of a playoff game. It made my current headache worth it.

I'm not going to recap the game, but I will say this: Great effort by the Canucks after crapping the bed against the Ducks. They can beat any NHL team when they play like that. Random: A big hat-tip to Aaron Rome, who played so well and really deserves a spot on the Canucks' roster.

Oh, and I'd never forget this guy:

Vancouver Canucks 2010 Olympic Preview

Yankee Canuck — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:26:58 -0000

Let's flip a coin. [Tenders Lounge]

View full size photo »

We already one great post at Olympic hopefuls for Vancouver but, as you may have seen, the SB Nation Hockey group has been running a series of previews as well, so Sean and I have to run one more least the higher-ups flog us.

We disagree on some of these too but that's the fun part. Here's our take on the Vancouver Canucks who - for the first time ever? - have the easy commute.

Pack Your Bags & Walk To Work

Roberto Luongo

#1 / Goalie / Vancouver Canucks

Height: 6-3

Weight: 205

Born: Apr 04, 1979

	GP	MIN	W	L	T	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Roberto Luongo	20	1124	10	9			48	2.56	531	483	.910	1

Roberto Luongo (Canada) - Let's get the big one out of the way. The meltdown that was the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino left a bad taste in Lui's mouth. Everyone knows he's been eying these winter games in his own city like a fat kid froths at a cake from 100 yards off. Let the haters hate on him, but he's a lock and we all know it. But the starter? Probably not. Brodeur is still the pony to bet on and his November numbers were ridiculous (8-2-1, 1.67 GAA, .939 S%). Expect Luongo to pass Fleury and be Canada's #2 man between the pipes.

Daniel Sedin

#22 / Left Wing / Vancouver Canucks

Height: 6-1

Weight: 185

Born: Sep 26, 1980

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Daniel Sedin	8	1	6	7	3	4	0	0	1	0	30	3.3

Daniel Sedin (Sweden) - I don't think any other team can offer what Vancouver offers Sweden: an entire scoring line. Daniel had four points in eight games in 2006. And unlike in Vancouver, Daniel won't necessarily have to shoulder the offensive load with guys like Alfredsson, Backstrom, Eriksson, Zetterberg and Holstrom around. And I didn't even have to mention that Forsberg character either.

Henrik Sedin

#33 / Center / Vancouver Canucks

Height: 6-2

Weight: 190

Born: Sep 26, 1980

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Henrik Sedin	26	14	14	28	5	18	3	1	3	0	57	24.6

Henrik Sedin (Sweden) - Yeah, see above. Same deal with points from 2006. Creepy.

Mikael Samuelsson

#26 / Right Wing / Vancouver Canucks

Height: 6-2

Weight: 213

Born: Dec 23, 1976

500 Internal Server Error

Mikael Samuelsson (Sweden) - What does Sammy offer? Prior Olympic experience? You betcha: in 2006 he added four points in eight games for team Sweden. Stanley Cup experience? Check. Can sort of tell the Sedins apart? The jury's probably out on that one.

Sami Salo

#6 / Defenseman / Vancouver Canucks

Height: 6-3

Weight: 215

Born: Sep 02, 1974

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Sami Salo	19	0	2	2	3	2	0	0	0	0	30	0.0

Sami Salo (Finland) - Great grandma's fragile chinaset Batman...the last thing poor Sami needs is MORE icetime. Finland's blueline isn't too deep as far as the NHL goes (only Timonen, Pitkanen and Koistinen spring to mind) and they can always elect to raid the European elite leagues or the KHL for replacements (Ossi Vaananen!!!). Salo has played in 10 Olympic games and has scored one goal and added three helpers.

Christian Ehrhoff

#5 / Defenseman / Vancouver Canucks

Height: 6-2

Weight: 205

Born: Jul 06, 1982

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Christian Ehrhoff	28	6	11	17	9	10	3	0	0	0	59	10.2

Christian Ehrhoff (Germany) - Blastoff is one of the few shining stars for Team Germany. This will actually be his third appearance in international play: he was the second youngest player back in 2002 and had two points in five games back in 2006. He'll join Schuber and Seidenberg on the blueline and get a truck load of work since Germany is, well, awful (they haven't finished higher than sixth in damn near 20 years).

Nearly A Lock

Ryan Kesler

#17 / Center / Vancouver Canucks

Height: 6-2

Weight: 205

Born: Aug 31, 1984

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Ryan Kesler	28	5	21	26	2	28	2	0	1	0	72	6.9

Ryan Kesler (USA) - Sean disagrees with me and I can certainly see why. However he wasn't a lock when the roster was first looked at this summer. He needed to go into camp, gel with the linemates and prove his worth. He's had a strong season so far and, though guys like Kane and Parise have past him on the scoresheet, Kesler has more points than both Brown and Backes so chances are he'll make it. He better too since he already went ahead and guaranteed a medal.

Work To Do

Pavol Demitra

#38 / Vancouver Canucks

Height: 6-0

Weight: 200

Born: Nov 29, 1974

Pavol Demitra (Slovakia) - I'm sure Demo would like nothing more than to join Hossa, Gaborik and Chara representing Slovakia, but obviously he has to be able to play first. It's probable he could be replaced by someone like Nagy or Satan if he can't make it. And, even then, I'm curious how Vancouver would feel letting him go play for the Olympics when he has yet to skate for the team. Demo clearly has the most work to do of all the current roster players.

Alexander Edler

#23 / Defenseman / Vancouver Canucks

Height: 6-3

Weight: 220

Born: Apr 21, 1986

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Alexander Edler	28	3	19	22	2	12	1	0	0	0	51	5.9

Alexander Edler (Sweden) - Edler's slow start coupled with a deep Swedish blueline (Lidstrom, Ericsson, Ohlund, Kronwall and maybe Hedman) probably nixes him from consideration.

The Trading Block: Who The Blues Could Move

gallagher — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:30:12 -0000

More photos » by Gerry Broome - AP

The trade of Lee Stempniak signaled to the Blues that it wouldn't be Andy Murray that would be held accountable for their slow start. Who could be this year's Stempniak?

Browse more photos »

On Nov. 23 last year the Blues were 8-8-2 and 13th in the Western Conference, dead-last in the Central Division. They'd suffered some odd injuries, including an emergency appendectomy to one of their players. Fans were grumbling about the coaching of Andy Murray and the lack of team scoring (just 55 goals in 18 games to that point).

The next day the team traded Lee Stempniak, considered by most followers of the team to be one of the franchise's youthful building blocks, to Toronto for Alex Steen and Carlo Colaiacovo. The deal was a classic sell-high, buy-low for the Blues, as Stempniak had a bit of a point streak going at the time (he had three goals and 10 assists in 14 games to that point) and had been a 27-goal scorer once before in his short career. Meanwhile, both Colaiacovo and Steen had long since worn out their welcome in the Center Of The Hockey Universe as underperforming former first round picks.

But the trade was more than a "let's get two-for-one" deal for the Blues; this was a direct message to the players that Murray would be staying and if their performance continued to be mediocre, it was they that would be a-going.

The team continued to struggle along through November and December before going 6-4-1 in January and then, of course, going on The Run that ended with the Blues in the sixth seed in the West.

With the exception of waiving Manny Legace on Feb. 6, the Blues made no other roster moves after the Stempniak deal. Considering the similar state of the team today and the recent comments made by team owner David Checketts that the time to move forward is now, if the team doesn't start to climb the standings soon, another move will be made to shake up the roster. For the sake of this argument, we're going to assume that Andy Murray will not be fired and that the team will deal with first quarter doldrums in the same manner that they did last year and trade someone.

But who fits the bill to be traded this year? Last year's trade of Stempniak was unforeseen and shocking to fans, media and presumably, the players. If a trade is to be made this year, it'd likely be designed to shake up the players who remain behind. The problem is identifying a player who is shocking to see leave and sends the message, but not be the type of player that goes on to make you regret his departure.

Similarly, the roster is full of players that fans might want to see traded, but simply cannot be moved for one reason or another.

We'll analyze the current roster to see who is tradeable and who is not, leaving the minor leaguers and prospects out of the discussion as we're not talking about specific packages or team needs at this point. In the end, we'll give our most likely candidates to be moved if the Blues decide to dangle one of their players.

David Backes

#42 / Right Wing / St. Louis Blues

Height: 6-3

Weight: 216

Born: May 01, 1984

G A P +/- PIM

2009 - David Backes 4 6 10 1 38

David Backes, RW: The Blues thought highly enough of Backes to match Vancouver's RFA offer to him before last season, agreeing to overpay him to the tune of $2.5 million a year. Backes paid back the Blues in spades last year with his 31-goal effort and his nightly physical domination. He became known as Chuck Norris around these parts and it was justly deserved.

But is he tradeable today? Backes' slow start made him an early candidate for consideration in a shake up trade, but his six points in his last four games has made him an even more potent trading piece. If the Blues were to trade Backes it would definitely shake up the roster and send the message that no one here is untouchable, but giving up on the 25-year-old could end up being seriously short-sighted. The return might be great, but what of the loss? Have we seen the top of Backes' game or is he just getting started?

Patrik Berglund

#21 / Center / St. Louis Blues

Height: 6-4

Weight: 187

Born: Jun 02, 1988

G A P +/- PIM

2009 - Patrik Berglund 3 2 5 -4 2

Patrik Berglund, C: The former first rounder from 2006 enjoyed a great rookie season, becoming coveted around the league for his 21 goals and 47 points in 76 games, despite playing in twice as many games as he ever had in a season previously. This season, however, has been the epitome of the sophomore slump for the young TechnoViking. He is on pace for just 11 goals and 18 points. His minus-4 stands out when compared to his solid plus-19 from last year.

Is he tradeable? Certainly. Would it be shocking? Absolutely. Would it be giving up on a talent who has not reached his final height yet? Probably. Depending on the return that could be gotten back, Berglund could find himself the target of a "needs a change of scenery" trade.

Brad Boyes

#22 / Right Wing / St. Louis Blues

Height: 6-0

Weight: 195

Born: Apr 17, 1982

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Brad Boyes	6	9	15	-5	2

Brad Boyes, C/RW: In his short NHL career, Boyes has bounced from Toronto to San Jose to Boston to St. Louis. His talent is evident as he has scored 43 and 33 goals over the last two seasons, but his streaky nature and perceived lack of hard work has kept him on the move. He is on pace for 29 goals this year, despite a recent streak of nine points in his last 10 games. At just 27 years old, he is still an NHL commodity and would surely find suitors if he were on the Blues' trade block.

But can the Blues trade a guy who one could argue is the only real sniper on the team? The last person to score 33 goals in the Bluenote was Tkachuk in 2003-04. The last to score 43 was Brett Hull in 1995-96. Yes, Brett Hull. In 1996. He'd likely draw some talent back to the team, but scoring, even if it is streaky, is not a strength from which the Blues have a deep well to deal.

Eric Brewer

#4 / Defenseman / St. Louis Blues

Height: 6-3

Weight: 222

Born: Apr 17, 1979

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Eric Brewer	1	2	3	-8	11

Eric Brewer, D: Calm down, boo-birds. Yes, Brewer might find himself atop many fans' Trade Now lists, but the Robot Captain seems to still be respected within the organization. His statistics continue to track along his career normal, in that area around 20-29 points, but his glaring minus-8 will keep the fans letting him know, "Brewer You Suck!"

If he hadn't missed a calendar year of hockey with various knee and back surgeries and if he wasn't currently on the shelf with another 'lower body' injury, Brewer might have some value. But add to those red flags his current contract of $4.5 million for this year and next and it's unlikely Brewer is going anywhere anytime soon.

Carlo Colaiacovo

#28 / Defenseman / St. Louis Blues

Height: 6-1

Weight: 200

Born: Jan 27, 1983

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Carlo Colaiacovo	2	7	9	0	17

Carlo Colaiacovo, D: The beneficiary of last year's "change of scenery" trade, Colaiacovo has revived his career in St. Louis. The offensive defenseman, who never put up more than 24 points in an NHL season before, finished last year with 30 and is on pace for even more points this season, his contract year. He remains haunted by the injury bug, though he managed to play a career-high 73 games last season.

If the Blues think he can be re-signed and continue to be productive in a leading role for the team (he is only 26 now), he won't be traded. If they think he'll be squeezed out by upcoming defenders, Colaiacovo could be a prime trading piece.

Ty Conklin

#29 / Goalie / St. Louis Blues

Height: 6-0

Weight: 184

Born: Mar 30, 1976

	GP	MIN	W	L	T	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Ty Conklin	7	386	3	2			15	2.33	204	189	.926	1

Ty Conklin, G: Conklin has only been with the team for this season and played only seven games. he's been solid and (most importantly for a goalie) uncontroversial in the back-up goal. He fills a serious need for the team and he's paid appropraitely for this year and next.

There's no shock value to shake up the roster by trading Conklin and any trade involving him immediately opens a hole that has to be filled.

B.J. Crombeen

#26 / Right Wing / St. Louis Blues

Height: 6-2

Weight: 212

Born: Jul 10, 1985

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - B.J. Crombeen	1	3	4	2	63

B.J. Crombeen, RW: The Beej has a very specific role on this team and depending on the night, he either plays it well by hitting and checking and making life a nightmare for the opposition, or he decides he's needed on the ice and puts himself on the ice for a too-many-men penalty. Basically, he's a role player who can chip in some points and allow older fans to boast that they remember when his dad played here.

Trading B.J. wouldn't be much of a blow to the team. Some might say that it sucks, but not too many fans or players would choke on the trade if it were made. There wouldn't be much of a return on a B.J. trade either because most people would see him as a starter, not the main event in any exchange.

Barret Jackman

#5 / Defenseman / St. Louis Blues

Height: 6-0

Weight: 203

Born: Mar 05, 1981

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Barret Jackman	0	4	4	5	13

Barret Jackman, D: The World's Angriest Defender (TM), owner of the best You're An Idiot (R) look in the NHL, Jackman is an original Blue, drafted in the first round back in 1999. He has had to re-learn the game as a defensive defenseman after the new rules were implemented after the lockout. Despite his inexplicable role as "the guy we hate when Brewer is out of the lineup", Jackman plays a steady if unspectacular game and while he has seen time on the power play during the less-offesnive days, he clearly doesn't relish the offensive role and is happier defending his own net.

Jackman's trade would definitely shake up the team and the fanbase, though the return would not be terribly flashy due to his unflashy role and large contract ($4.5 million this year and next, $3.5 million in 2011-12).

Cam Janssen

#55 / Right Wing / St. Louis Blues

Height: 6-0

Weight: 210

Born: Apr 15, 1984

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Cam Janssen	0	0	0	-1	50

Cam Janssen, RW: It's almost superfluous to put Janssen's position in this description as all it does is designate where he lines up on face-offs. The local boy gone pro, Cam Smash, King of Eureka, spends his entire shift running around the rink looking for someone to run into or to punch. St. Louisans love their home-town products and Janssen is no exception. He plays a specific role and with his better skating and durability than heavyweight fighter D.J. King, Janssen has been useful to the team. Also, did we mention that the fans love him?

While his game has gotten better since he arrived here in February 2008, Janssen could be traded. The return would be low and the biggest shake up it would cause would be down I-55 south of 44, where they still need every body they can get to fill sandbags come spring.

Erik Johnson

#6 / Defenseman / St. Louis Blues

Height: 6-4

Weight: 219

Born: Mar 21, 1988

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Erik Johnson	4	14	18	6	16

Erik Johnson, D: Despite missing all of last year to a golf cart jousting incident (allegedly), the Eeeej leads the team in scoring, changes the way teams have to prepare for the Blues' attack, does a mean Napoleon Dynamite impression, isn't afraid to get down with your girlfriend in your car in Al MacInnis' driveway (allegedly) and is likely going to stage some sweet raid on Oshie's condo at some point to get his Elmo hat back.

How do you spell 'franchise'? Not sure, but it definitely has an E and a J in it. This kid isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Paul Kariya

#9 / Left Wing / St. Louis Blues

Height: 5-10

Weight: 180

Born: Oct 16, 1974

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Paul Kariya	6	5	11	4	12

Paul Kariya, LW: We owe Paul Kariya a bit of an apology. earlier this year we said something to the effect of, "The next time Paul Kariya takes a hit to make a play with be the first." Since that time, Kariya, who must have heard our admonishment through cyberspace, has been offering up his tiny, waif-like body to make plays. And, thankyouverymuch, it has resulted in Kariya's point totals rising, with points in each of the last three games.

Kariya is still on pace for a terrible offensive year, but that isn't the only reason that trading Kariya is a tough task. In fact there are 6 million reasons that other teams don't want to deal for Kariya. That hefty price tag, small offensive output and the final months of a contract owed to a notorious mercenary when it comes to free agency (just ask Anaheim, Colorado and Nashville) combine for a perfect storm of "hell no, we don't have interest in Kariya" among the rest of the NHL teams.

Chris Mason

#50 / Goalie / St. Louis Blues

Height: 6-0

Weight: 195

Born: Apr 20, 1976

	GP	MIN	W	L	T	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Chris Mason	19	1129	7	8			43	2.29	557	514	.923	0

Chris Mason, G: Mason is the goalie. He's not winning enough games because he's not getting enough help from the rest of the team. His personal stats are great (eighth in GAA and seventh in save percentage) and that's tough to do on a struggling team.

Trading Mason would happen if only one of two things were happening: 1. Tha Canucks called and said, "How about Luongo for that Mason fella straight up?" or 2. The Blues called a press conference and announced, "Screw this year, we love drafting high."

Jay McClement

#18 / Center / St. Louis Blues

Height: 6-1

Weight: 201

Born: Mar 02, 1983

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Jay McClement	4	4	8	0	6

Jay McClement, C: Silent Jay, one of the original members of the Blues' post-lockout Kid Line (along with the traded Stempniak), has developed into a legitimate Selke candidate right before our eyes. His even plus/minus is all the more impressive when considering that he sees most of his minutes against other team's top lines. McClement is also locked up for two years after this season to a reasonable contract ($1.45 million per). Plus, his stock photo looks like he has a skelton's grin, which is awesome.

McClement's trade would shock the locker room more than the fans, especially casual fans who too often overlook his quiet, workmanlike contributions to team success. His contract, work ethic and skill set make him a perfect add for an opposing team. His trade wouldn't bring back the intangibles he adds. It could happen, but it would likely be shortsighted.

Andy McDonald

#10 / Center / St. Louis Blues

Height: 5-11

Weight: 183

Born: Aug 25, 1977

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Andy McDonald	6	8	14	-2	2

Andy McDonald, C: McDonald is struggling offensively this year but everyone has seen what he can do with the puck when he starts running hot. Plus, the Blues just locked him up for another three years after this year at an average of $4.7 million a year.

Trading McDonald would be the Blues saying that they made a mistake with a big contract and are having buyers' remorse. Which would put them on the 'sell low' end of the negotiations, the bad end to be on. The trade wouldn't shock fans or the locker room and the return would be less than impressive.

T.J. Oshie

#74 / Center / St. Louis Blues

Height: 5-11

Weight: 170

Born: Dec 23, 1986

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - T.J. Oshie	4	9	13	1	10

T.J. Oshie, C/W: Oshie only seems like he's in a the throes of a sophomore slump because his rookie season took the city by storm. Young Mister Furnace Face scored the NHL.com goal of the year, blew up Rick Nash so badly (twice) that the fans coined the phrase "Oshied", got voted by someone to be his or her mayor in an actual election and had his name chanted by over 19,000 people on multiple occasions last year. By comparison, a second season where he only tallies 50 points would seem like a let down.

Last year, even suggesting that Oshie be traded would be reason enough to go into Salman Rushdie-like hiding for a writer. This year, it would be like suggesting that Anheuser-Busch is better off being owned by a foreign company like Inbev. It's still fighting words in most places, but in others, well, whatever, they just drink Schlafly anyway. Which isn't to say that Oshie's trade wouldn't shock the team and the fans, beacause it certainly would. The problem is that Oshie can score, but his intangibles are worth at least as much as his points, so the return on him wouldn't match what the team would give up.

David Perron

#57 / Left Wing / St. Louis Blues

Height: 6-0

Weight: 180

Born: May 28, 1988

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - David Perron	9	7	16	-1	14

David Perron, LW: Perron leads the team in goals, works his poutine-loving ass off on every shift (doing a great rookie Oshie impression) and has an early nod for selection for this year's NHL.com goal of the year. Despite what has happened between Perron and the coach in the past, he is newly mature and coming into his own. And he's only 21.

Despite the fact that he's coming into a contract year and will certainly be looking for a huge pay increase this summer, the day a competing general manager picks up his phone to learn that the Blues are calling to offer Perron in a trade is that GM's best day ever. David Perron is untradeable at this point, no matter the return (sort of insanity, which can happen in the NHL) because of his ceiling.

Alex Pietrangelo

#27 / Defenseman / St. Louis Blues

Height: 6-3

Weight: 206

Born: Jan 18, 1990

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Alex Pietrangelo	1	1	2	-9	6

Alex Pietrangelo, D: There's a rule in hockey that goes something like this: goalies hit their stride and their prime later than any other position. Defensemen hit their stride and their prime earlier than goalies, but still not until later in their careers. Forwards can be thrown into the league earliest at all because creativity, speed and their shot can compensate for other factors.

Pietrangelo isn't playing enough in the NHL for most observers and he's got nothing left to learn in junior, but that hardly makes him prime trade bait. The fourth overall selection from just last year going on the trade block would garner a ton of calls from around the league, but the fact is that the offers would almost always be "you take our busting project for your young defenseman who isn't playing anyway".

Roman Polak

#46 / Defenseman / St. Louis Blues

Height: 6-1

Weight: 227

Born: Apr 28, 1986

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Roman Polak	2	4	6	6	22

Roman Polak, D: He's 23, he's locked up for this year and next for a little over a million bucks each, plays solid defense, can contribute offensively and is fast enough to rush the puck and get back to protect his own zone. He's quiet and unheralded and he's the Jay McClement of the defense. Plus, his fake Twitter account is awesome. As is farting in teammate's helmets.

The shock value is high, his replacement is fairly easy considering the Pietrangelo, Junland, Rundblad, Cole pipeline and the return on him would likely be comparable, if not exactly earth-shattering.

Alexander Steen

#20 / Left Wing / St. Louis Blues

Height: 6-1

Weight: 205

Born: Mar 01, 1984

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Alexander Steen	1	1	2	-1	6

Alexander Steen, LW: Steen has been a staple on the McClement line almost since his arrival in St. Louis and he has also shown flashes of the offense that caused him to be drafted in the first round by Toronto back in 2002. But unlike his trade-mate Colaiacovo, Steen hasn't exactly made himself a more desired commodity around the NHL. he plays an important role for the team, but his role can be filled by plenty of similar players in Peoria who would love the opportunity.

No one nose what value Steen might have around the NHL, but we smell a boring trade if he's the tip of any deal because he's at the end of his contract and has likely reached his beak.

Darryl Sydor

#44 / Defenseman / St. Louis Blues

Height: 6-1

Weight: 211

Born: May 13, 1972

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Darryl Sydor	0	4	4	6	10

Darryl Sydor, D: Sydor's best days are well behind him. He's lucky that he happens to have a skill set that allows him to be paid premium dollars (a cool million for this season) to act as 'mentor' and not really be expected produce much offensively. Sydor's only value in trade would be at the deadline as a depth/veteran presence guy. As for shock value in trading Sydor at this point, it's unlikely there would be much shake up in the locker room after the initial "I couldn't believe he took Pronger's number in the first place" discussion.

Keith Tkachuk

#7 / Center / St. Louis Blues

Height: 6-2

Weight: 232

Born: Mar 28, 1972

G A P +/- PIM

2009 - Keith Tkachuk 5 8 13 -3 22

Keith Tkachuk, LW/C: The days of trading Tkachuk for a big return are probably long gone. If the trade deadline were looming, there might be a ~~sucker~~ general manager or two out there who might still fall for the siren song of "big body, proven goal scorer, veteran presence" for their playoff run, but as for a trade today, there won't be many takers around the NHL.

Tkachuk is on a short, NHL-cheap contract and does have a strong locker room presence... which is exactly why the Blues want him and will be unlikely to trade him. It'd shake up the roster, but the return at this point wouldn't be worth the exchange.

Mike Weaver

#43 / Defenseman / St. Louis Blues

Height: 5-9

Weight: 182

Born: May 02, 1978

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Mike Weaver	0	1	1	5	8

Mike Weaver, D: Small but steady, Weaver doesn't get mentioned much because he is a defensive defenseman who does his job effectively. Not being mentioned much is a compliment for defensive defenseman.

As for trade value, Weaver has virtually none. There'd be little shock value to the team due to his journeyman status and zero shock value to the fans (have you ever seen a Weaver 43 jersey worn by a fan?) and the return would be the definition of infinitesimal.

Brad Winchester

#15 / Left Wing / St. Louis Blues

Height: 6-5

Weight: 228

Born: Mar 01, 1981

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Brad Winchester	0	2	2	1	24

Brad Winchester, LW: It's hard to believe that a guy who stands 6'5 tall and weighs nearly 230 pounds could ever be described as invisible, but Winchester has done just that and in the process has proven how a guy who is taken 35th overall in the NHL draft (2000) can muster only 200 NHL games and 36 points in the following nine years.

Yeah, this is about trade value and shake up of the roster, neither of which describe Winchester.

***************************************

So where does that leave the Blues if they are looking to make a trade? Here are our best guesses, by category.

Untradeable Due To Value:

These guys aren't going anywhere because they are too important to the team now and/or in the future.

Erik Johnson. If the trade documents came to the NHL offices, even those numbskulls would void it based on sheer stupidity. Wayne Gretzky got traded, sure, but not when he was 21 and the best player on his team.
Chris Mason. What do you need the second you trade Chris Mason? A top-10 ranked starting netminder. Whoops!
Jay McClement. Much like Mason, if you trade McClement, you suddenly need a guy just like McClement.
T.J. Oshie. Oshie's intangibles outweigh anything the team would get for him unless some other GM was eating peyote and then firing up the Blackberry to offer up some ridiculous package for the kid. The P.R. hit alone would making trading the Teej a huge mistake.
David Perron. The kid will be worth three first round draft picks to some RFA-contract-offering idiot this summer, so if the Blues are willing to lose an emerging talent like Frenchie, they should wait until then to do it.

Untradeable Due To Lack Of Value:

These guys aren't going anywhere because the return is too small.

Eric Brewer. The Robot is too broken and expensive to warrant interest from another team.
Paul Kariya. It isn't 1996 anymore. Kariya costs too much, is too close to unrestricted free agency and is producing far too few points to be of any interest to any but the drunkest of general managers.
Andy McDonald. We have no doubt that McDonald will be valuable again one day, but right now he too closely resembles the guy who was easily required for a virtually worthless Doug Weight two seasons ago.

Untradeable Due To Role:

Unless these guys are a problem in the locker room, and there's no reason to think they are, no possible advantage can be gained from trading them.

Ty Conklin. This guy gets traded and has to immediately be replaced by a guy who plays like him, gets paid like him and has the same demeanor as him.
Cam Janssen. Add in the hometown bump you get for having this guy in the lineup, the team would have to get something special to let go of the P.R. advantage Janssen brings. No GM in the league is about to overpay for Janssen.

Could Be Traded For Low Impact:

These guys could get traded, but the return will be small and the shock to the team won't likely be enough to cause significant change.

B.J. Crombeen. Swapping a role player for a mid-to-late pick or another role player isn't going to have the impact the team is looking to get. Plus, why ruin a whole season of blow job jokes if you don't have to?
Alex Steen. The worst thing that can happen to a player is to get injured and then have someone step into your role and make everyone forget you were gone. Steen has played 11 games this year. Seems high, doesn't it?
Darryl Sydor. "Oh no! They traded a 37-year-old depth defenseman they brought in for one year and would have been gone in six months anyway! I guess they are serious; anyone can be traded!"
Mike Weaver. Seriously, how many people really know Mike Weaver is on the team right now anyway? Impact of trading him: all of his immediate family have to update their mailing address for him. As if anyone mails anything anymore.
Brad Winchester: "So we have an offer for 228 pounds worth of hockey pucks. We lose maybe one more fight but we do save about $200 in souvenir costs."

Are You Kidding Me? Seriously. Are You Kidding Me?:

You want shock value? You want some return on your exchange? These are the guys the management and staff are going to argue about trading and the guys who, if traded, would make you call your friends liars when they told you about the trade.

David Backes. Sure, he's struggling. Sure he gets paid a lot for a guy his age. Sure it's been a long time since anyone here has vehemently compared him to Chuck Norris. But general managers in the NHL aren't as easily freaked out by slow starts as fans are. If Backes were made available, the list of teams with nice offers in hand would be long. Trading Backes shakes up the team, nets a good return and lets everyone know that no one is safe. The downside is that he almost certainly becomes a monster and regularly returns to haunt his former team.
Brad Boyes. Most fantasy hockey guys will tell you that the second you trade a great player you immediatley make yourself believe he was never on your team. Boyes can be streaky and frustrating and may always leave you wanting more, but when he's on your team he's a guy that can change a game. Trading him likely brings a nice return, scares the other players into focus and makes all of us go fantasy GM and pretend he never played here, because he's got at least a couple more great scoring seasons ahead of him.
Patrik Berglund. In five years we'll know what we had in Patrik Berglund. He's no Peter Forsberg, but is he going to become the shifty Swedish version of Pavel Datsyuk? Or is he on the fast track to becoming our next Jim Campbell? If he gets traded and blossoms into the slick playmaker with a nasty power play one-timer that we saw in glimpses next year, we'll be tasting our own vomit for the next 10-15 years. If he becomes the next great suburban Mite coach, we'll be applauding his trade like we used to talk about the Christer Olsson for Pavol Demitra deal.
Alex Pietrangelo. Classic giving up too early trade. The kid is 19-years-old and if not for a bout of mono in his draft year could have been drafted before Drew Doughty and Zach Begosian. If he goes away the Blues are counting on Jonas Junland or David Rundblad, both high-risk, power play specialist type of players, to round out their game and fill his spot as they swap him for a slumping scorer of comparable value like Columbus' Nikita Filatov.

On The Block:

These are the guys whose age, reputation, contracts and shake up value to the current roster make them the most likely players to become 'former Blues' should the team decide to go that way.

Carlo Colaiacovo. The guy is young and stepping into his game, but the crunch on the blueline, his contract status and injury history makes him a prime candidate to get dangled out there. His ceiling is probably ahead of him, but he's expendable from a P.R. standpoint, a talent standpoint and in terms of return.
Barret Jackman. This would be even more shocking than the trade of Stempniak last year, but his contract and the depth of the Blues' defensive pipeline makes this a 'head' move more than a 'heart' move. The return would likely be good, too, as Jackman's reputation around the league is excellent.
Roman Polak. How different is Roman Polak today from Dennis Wideman back when he was traded for Brad Boyes? When considering the current and future depth on the blueline, if the Blues could trade Polak today for another streaky sniper do you think they'd do it? Yeah, us too.
Keith Tkachuk. He's the vet with the good story because his family lives here and everyone sees him around town, but he's been rumored to be in the middle of more than one split locker room in his time as a pro. Sending Tkachuk away shocks the Blues' system, forces a younger guy to step up and likely results in a decent return. Short of a no-trade clause we don't know about, it could happen.

******************************

Trade rumors are always a risky proposition and the saying goes that when a team is struggling it's easier to change out one guy (the coach) than a whole team, the Blues have proved in the past that they're willing to change out one player to shake up the others.

Will this year be any different?

SBNation's 2010 Winter Olympics Coverage: Rangers Edition

Joe Fortunato — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:00:18 -0000

More photos » by Paul Beaty - AP

4 months ago: Chicago Blackhawks player Patrick Kane looks on before reading a statement to the media before the U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Orientation Camp in Woodridge, Il., Monday, Aug. 17, 2009. AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Browse more photos »

Continuing with SBNation's awesome coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver today we bring you the potential Rangers who could find themselves playing for their countries come February.

Pack your bags:

Marian Gaborik: It should be no surprise that Gaborik will represent his native country of Slovokia for the Olympics. He joins a star stuttered cast along with Marian Hossa, Zdeno Chara, Pavol Demitra and Andrej Meszaros although of the entire team he is by far the most productive thus far this year. Gaborik is at the top in the NHL in goals and second in points and the Rangers couldn't be happier; and neither can Slovokia.

Henrik Lundqvist: Again this should be no surprise, especially after Lundqvist back-stopped Sweden to a goal medal four years ago in Italy. Lundqvist isn't having the greatest of starts but that is in no way a reflection of his play. He has been his usual all-world self and has kept the Rangers in nearly every game they play. He has been brilliant (even though his numbers wont attest to it) and will be starting for Team Sweden in 2010.

Chris Drury: Yeah a shocker here but what can you say? Drury is having his worst statistical year ever (by a mile) and is doing few things right for the New York Rangers. But on a personal note his face-off prowess and his defensive game along with the potential for him to score big goals (maybe it's the Rangers) puts him on the roster. Plus he brings much needed leadership to the table and after his performance last year in the Victoria cup I'm not going to argue with his international play.

Nearly a Lock:

Vaclav Prospal: Prospal is having one of the best years of his career in the NHL working with perennial superstar Marian Gaborik. Although this truly is a star stuttered team, including former Ranger superstar Jaromir Jagr, I think Prospal might be playing himself into a spot. Since Prospal is a swing-man, can play both LW and C, I can see him making this team pretty convincingly.

In a Battle:

Ryan Callahan: Although his play isn't much different than last years (his heart and his hustle) his numbers are in severe decline. John Tortorella attests it to him being "snake-bitten" and I hope that's the case but he may actually be playing himself off the American team with his current numbers. Here is one Ranger fan hoping that doesn't happen.

Brandon Dubinsky: Was on pace to break his record for points in a season (barley) before his injury. Currently he has been out for over two weeks and he will probably be out another two weeks before hes playing again. He was being looked at before the injury but he will have to work real hard to make the squad.

Work to do:

Ales Kotalik: On a personal note his five on five play will be the Achilles heel to his chances of making the Czech Republic team. While he is on pace to have one of the best years of his career, and has been a power play monster he has been horrible at even strength. I doubt he makes the team, there is too much talent on that roster to fit him, but he has a chance.

Marc Staal: Was invited to the team Canada's national team try-out. His play has dropped off a little this season (although it is currently on the upswing) and his offensive numbers might hurt his chances. Although at the end of the day, there are simply so many defenseman for team Canada it is difficult for anyone to make the squad. I say in four years he makes the team but right now I don't see it happening.

Chris Higgins: Too bad he is having a rough year stat's wise because his play has been much better than his numbers show. Regardless I don't know if he is even on team U.S.A's radar but if he is he is going to need to start scoring some goals and soon.

Moving up:

Michael Del Zotto: There ~~is no~~ isn't much of a chance that he makes the Canadian team this year although if he keeps up at this pace he might be really considered in four years. Plus he will only be 23 then and will be much more mature. Keep it up Zots!

Moving Down:

Sean Avery: Not for lack of skill (or if you are not a Rangers fan effectiveness) on the ice I doubt Avery ever makes an Olympic team, especially team Canada's. I have always wanted to see him in the Olympics however and I am always disappointed after.

Michal Rozsival: Not sure I need to go too deep into details here. His play has dropped off the map considerably, and has dropped off enough to put him out of contention for the Czech Republic's blueline. Sorry Rozy.

How Will the Olympics Affect the Canucks?

nucksandpucks — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:55:13 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

Soon to be enemies...

Browse more photos »

It's less than three months until the 2010 Olympics kickoff, and speculation is rampant about the makeup of the Canadian and other national teams. It appears that a number of Canucks will skate on "home" ice in February, as a few players are likely to make their respective national teams. After the jump I give a rundown of what Canucks we can expect to see skating on GM Place ice during the Olympics, and raise some questions about the impact this might have on the latter part of the season.

Canada

Locks: Roberto Luongo

Other possibilities: none (sorry Kyle Wellwood)

United States

Locks: Ryan Kesler

Other possibilities: Mathieu Schneider (a dark horse, but maybe a PP specialist)

Sweden

Locks: Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Alexander Edler

Other possibilities: Mikael Samuelsson

Russia

Locks: none

Other possibilities: Sergei Shirokov? Okay, maybe not.

Finland

Locks: none

Other possibilities: Sami Salo (If he's healthy he should be on the team)

Germany

Locks: Christian Ehrhoff

Other possibilities: none

Slovakia

Locks: none

Other possibilities: Pavol Demitra (if he's healthy); Mario Bliznak (I don't know what Slovakia's depth is like, but hopefully they don't need to dip too far into the AHL ranks to ice a team)

If Only They'd Qualified

Locks: Michael Grabner (Austria); Jannik Hansen (Denmark)

So the Canucks could have up to 10 regulars playing in the Olympics. While it will be awesome to see our boys putting it on the line for their country, how will the team fare coming out of the Olympic break? The Sedins, Kesler and Luongo will all potentially be fatigued. Who will step up for Vancouver? We'll need Raycroft to shoulder a bigger burden, which he has demonstrated the ability to do. Secondary scorers like Alex Burrows, Mason Raymond, Kevin Bieksa and Steve Bernier will need to step up. Wellwood will have spent two weeks laying by the pool, so he should be good to... oh, wait, never mind.

It will be an interesting time for the Canucks, as it will for other teams with significant international contingents. Throw in Canucks' epic pre- and post-Olympic road trip, which will rival the journeys of Odysseus, and the new year looks like a giant wildcard for Vancouver. How do you think the Canucks will respond? Will the Olympics help us? Hurt us? Make no difference? Hopefully one of our boys can pull the rare Olympic Gold and Stanley Cup feat in 2010. I'm looking at you, Luongo.

Back To The Back To The Beat Y'all: Canucks-Oilers Preview

Sean Zandberg — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:55:08 -0000

More photos » by Darryl Dyck - AP

Luongo's so good, he can use the force to change the puck's direction.

Browse more photos »

Oilers (10-12-4) vs Canucks (13-11-0)

Game Time: 7:00 PST

TV: CBC Hockey Night in Canada

The Enemy: The Copper and Blue. Also known as The Black and Blue. Lowetide.

"There is no way we should have lost this hockey game," Oilers coach Pat Quinn said. "We did some really good things but what has been our problem here from day one is we don't cover well against our net. We have a group that stares at the puck and doesn't recognize danger."

That is what Oilers coach Pat Quinn said after his teams' 5-4 shootout loss to the Sharks last night. Yeah, that's right, last night. The Canucks are once again playing a team who played a game the previous night. This is like winning some form of lottery isn't it?

The Oilers received some treacherous news on Friday when they learned that they have lost Ales Hemsky for the remainder of the season due to shoulder surgery. He had 7 goals and 22 points in 22 games at this point. Maybe Pavol Demitra will have a new swimming partner? The Oilers are in trouble. They had a 7-6-1 record in October, but now a 3-6-3 record in November. They are quickly heading for the Western Conference basement.

They now begin a 6-game road trip, starting in Vancouver, where the Canucks are 9-3-0 this season. Edmonton is 2-7-2 away from Rexall Place. Cause for concern for Oilers fans no doubt.

Let's look at some of the 2 teams' team stats.

PowerPlay: Oilers 14th in the NHL, Canucks 8th.

Penalty Killing: Oilers 15th, Canucks 22nd.

Goals Per Game: Oilers 14th, Canucks 15th. Actually, the teams are tied.

Goals Against Per Game: Oilers 25th, Canucks 8th best.

Shots Per Game: Oilers 28th, Canucks 11th.

Shots Against Per Game: Oilers 25th, Canucks 7th best.

The Canucks hardly have much bragging rights over Edmonton this year so far. They have played each other twice this season with both teams winning. The Oilers won 2-1on October 19, and the Canucks won 2-0 on October 25. The Canucks sit in 10th spot in the West, 3 points behind 8th place Phoenix. They have to continue their winning ways.

You have to like the Canucks' chances tonight. The Kings looked a bit sluggish last game after playing 2 nights in a row. The same could happen to Edmonton as the game wears on. If Roberto Luongo continues the stellar play that we saw against L.A. the Coilers are in trouble. After this game, the Oilers will get a 5-day rest between games. Sound familiar? I would then assume that the starting goalies would be as follows, as Nikolai Khabibulin remains sidelined with back ailments:

Roberto Luongo

#1 / Goalie / Vancouver Canucks

GP: 18

Wins: 9

Losses: 8

GAA: 2.45 and dropping

Save Percentage: .912 and rising

Last 5 Games: 3-2-0

Jeff Deslauriers

#38 / Goalie / Edmonton Oilers

GP: 8

Wins: 3

Losses: 3

OTL: 2

GAA: 2.58

Save Percentage: .914

Last 5 Games: 2-2-1

Any other slumping Canucks want to get it going? Let's see if Kyle Wellwood really did get that monkey off his back, or if another one will take it's place.

Word is that Mathieu Schneider will be the guest on After Hours after the game. Send him some questions! Like:

-How do you get your teeth to be THAT white?

-How many times per day do you shave?

-Does any Canuck call you dad?

Don't forget the game score predictions. You guys have some catching up to do! Yours truly guessed the right score, winning team and winning goal scorer last game. I gotta than the Captain for that one.

10 Things To Do While Waiting For Vancouver To Play Again

Yankee Canuck — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:10:12 -0000

10. Fondly relive the magic and the legend that was Mikko Jokela's time with Vancouver.

9. Go to the Province or the Sun and see if you can find the most inane, off-base comment from the past week or two. For instance, here's a thoughtful submission courtesy of "FireGillis":

Gillis' big mistake this summer was handing the worst contract in NHL HISTORY to the italian.

(ed note: As an Italian I am proud to say - we're finally #1 at something)

8. Pick a player from the existing roster, or a member of management, and why he should play which character in Star Wars (episodes IV-VI, don't bother with the others). And suffice it to say Mike Gillis gets to be the emperor. Princess Leia? Probably best to keep that one to yourself.

7. Figure out why Sami Salo isn't smiling here. Or explain why Mattias' game trumps that of Sami's.

6. Help Mike Gillis find another aging Swedish diva to chase. Any name will do, from Carl Abrahamsson to Lars-Erik Esbjörs to Eilert Määttä to even Ulf Thors. The more diacritic marks over vowels the better. Explain why he'd be a good member for the top six. Show your work.

5. Three words: Pavol Demitra Operation. Fun for ~~the whole family~~ probably no one.

4. "Dump and chase" is a boring phrase. Help make AV feel better about his offensive strategery by coming up with another name. Make it sound impressive, like "Offensive Thrust" or "Aggressive Vision". How about "It Never Works"...wait, not that.

3. Create another Kyle Wellwood Twitter trending topic. Bonus points if you can weave in lack of scoring, soccer injuries, $1,200,000 and Fudgie the Whale. Gold star if you can actually bring Twitter down so we can say Wellwood forced the Fail Whale on humanity.

2. Using a space gun (or Project Harp which, if you're a conspiracy nut, is a means to control weather), pick only one of the following NHL players to fire into the exosphere: Chris Pronger, Zack Stortini, Steve Ott, Cal Clutterbuck, Sean Avery, Dion Phaneuf or Dustin Byfuglien. And, yes of course, Pierre McGuire is an acceptable substitution.

1. It's only a matter of time before Shane O'Brien slips up to the press about his icetime so help our 7th defenseman with a more colorful script, Mad Libs style. Use his rant from March as practice:

"He said: 'If you're not going to [NOUN], get off the [VERB] [NOUN]...That's all he [ADJECTIVE], and I just went back to the [NOUN]. Nothing [PLURAL NOUN] me right now. It seems [ADVERB] that the more [ADJECTIVE] you are, it seems to be a [ADJECTIVE] thing. I don't [VERB]."

A Night For Revenge And Hate: Canucks-Blues Preview

Sean Zandberg — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:00:22 -0000

Canucks (10-8-0)

Blues (5-6-4)

Game Time: 5:00 PM PST

TV: Sportsnet Pacific

The Enemy: St. Louis Game Time

UPDATE: 10:14 AM PST: Cory Schneider has been sent down to the Moose today. Big glove tap to Missy for ever being the info maestro

***********************!

It has been a long tiresome day and I'm feeling ornery right now. With this crankiness comes honesty and hatred. So here it goes:

I hate the Blues! Almost always have, probably always will. I think I know why. It's mostly because of Brett Hull. I don't care that he was inducted into the Hall of Fame tonight, I can't stand him. I skipped his induction speech and read the obituaries instead, wishing he was on the list. Despite all his sick skills and accomplishments, I hated many of his quotes, his ego, which organizations he was a part of (Flames, Blues, Red Wings and Stars), oh and that infamous skate in the crease while scoring the Cup-winning goal against the Sabres. No love. Just one of those guys. Kind of like Jeremy Roenick in his latter years.

Two hard-fought series between the Canucks in Blues in 2003 and 2009 increase the animosity and rivalry as well. But I'll get to that later.

There are so many other Blues I've detested over the past several years: Al MacInnis, Chris Pronger, Pierre Turgeon, Martin Rucinsky, Craig Janney, Petr Nedved, Doug Weight, Ladislav Nagy, Pavol Demitra (yes that's right), Craig MacTavish, Paul Kariya, Keith Tkachuk, Eric Weinrich, Barrett Jackman, and several others. I know one guy (out of several others) who gets a pass though:

Yeah, that guy is cool.

So...

What better chance for St. Louis to snap out of their 5-game losing streak than to play against the team that handed them their asses in Round 1 of last year's playoffs? You know that their motivation is going to be terribly high tonight with retribution on their minds. They have to start scoring more goals though. They have been out-scored 13-4 in their current losing streak (2 of those were shootout losses). It seems to be the Blues' general problem. Take a look down their team scoring leaders list and you can see why they are ranked 27th in the NHL in goals per game average. On a positive note, for them, they rank 8th best in the NHL in goals against, one spot ahead of Vancouver. The goaltending stats from Chris Mason (2.45 GAA and .920 save %) and Ty Conklin (2.24 GAA and .928 save %) are not too shabby.

The Blues are terrible on home ice (2-5-1) and a better 3-1-3 on the road.

Andy McDonald and Barrett Jackman returned to their lineup last game. The Blues had a 2-0 lead over the Thrashers and managed to lose 3-2. It's just a matter of time before this team turns it around.

But why be nice? Here are some of my favorite Blues memories in recent years:

1. OK, let's go a little further back in time to March 5, 1991, where then-Canucks GM Pat Quinn rapes St. Louis by trading Dan Quinn and Garth Butcher to the Blues for Geoff Courtnall, Cliff Ronning, Sergio Momesso, Robert Dirk and futures. How did Dan work out for ya? Ah, not so good. The same year, the Blues trade Quinn and Rod Brind'amour to Philly for Ron Sutter and Murray Baron. That Pat Quinn trade laid the foundation for the Canucks' 1994 march to the Finals.

2. Barrett Becomes Bertuzzi's Bitch

3. The rest of the 2003 NHL Playoffs Round 1

4. "Tell Kelly I say 'Hi'"

5. The Burr Striketh

Is there something wrong with Rick Rypien's hand(s)? I wanna see him fight someone. It's been several games now. A serious test for him would be against Cam Janssen. That guy is a beast. Here's hoping it happens.

There is no love between these 2 teams. This is a game you don't want to miss.