SB Nation - Brad May

Pre-game thoughts/news: Blues @ Wings

MrNorrisTrophy — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:48:26 -0000

BYAH!

Finally game day is here after a long wait since Sunday's win over the Rangers. Here's a few things to look at heading into tonight's game:

Ville Leino will sit again tonight with Brad May/Drew Miller/Patrick Eaves filling his spot. I have absolutely no objection to this. When you are unable to produce points you have to be able to provide something else to keep your spot in the lineup and Leino simply isn't cutting it. He isn't producing many points and is sometimes a liability defensively. May, Miller, or Eaves all have the ability to play a tough physical game or provide a lot of energy through speed but Leino is often the one receiving hits and lagging behind.
Justin Abdelkader, the resident Napoleon Dynamite look-a-like, will play some shifts centering the second line tonight. Alongside him will be Dan Cleary and Todd Bertuzzi as Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk are with Tomas Holmstrom again tonight. Abdelkader has earned this spot I think. It would be stupid to break up Draper-Helm-Eaves and Babcock knows that. Abdelkader provides a lot of hits to an already physical line and has a lot skills (hence Napoleon Dynamite reference again) that don't show up in the stat column.
Jimmy Howard's going to start in net again tonight. I like this matchup because of how he has been playing over the past few games. Sure, he hit a speed bump against Edmonton but he's 7-3-0 in his last 10 with one of the losses being the Brad May non-goal against Dallas game and the other being the brilliant night at the other end by Ondrej Pavelec. Howard should have some continued success against a St. Louis team that is averaging 2.39 goals/game, second worst in the league.
Matchup of the night: Pavel Datsyuk vs. St. Louis defense. This defense is tough and hits a lot but we all know the magic Pavel can work at any given moment. I look for him to continue to crawl out of his slump whether its in the goal column or dishing out his exceptional passes.
Brad May fight predictor: 2nd period, Cam Janssen.
Predicted scorer(s): Dan Cleary, Nick Lidstrom (FINALLY), and Tomas Holmstrom

Two Fake Award Winners in a Row?! It's like Christmas in...well, almost December.

mpetrella — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:00:26 -0000

More photos » by Mark Humphrey - AP

In his infinite awesomeness, Darren Helm has learned how to control the puck using brainwaves. (Note: does not work on breakaways)

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Well, they were on a bit of a run there for a while. Our boys in red have lost three of four. On the bright side, they've earned points in 13 of their last 17 games played, and Henrik Zetterberg has come alive.

The Red Wings have lost 76 man-games to injury this season. And it's only going to get worse for the next few months. Anyone want a piece of the man-games over/under? If Lilja, Kronwall, and Williams are all out until February, it'll be right around 200 at the Olympic break. Let's call it 200 on Valentine's Day.

A tale of two seasons:
Detroit is 6-3-1 in November. They were 8-2-2 last November.
On November 24, 2009, they are 11-7-4 for 26 points. On November 24, 2008, they were 14-2-4 for 32 points.
They had four losses in only one month last season: January (7-4-2). Reaaaally hoping they win out November...

Of the six players who have taken more than 30 faceoffs, only Justin Abdelkader (40.8) and Henrik Zetterberg (49.2) lose more than they win. The others: Pavel Datsyuk (58.3), Valtteri Filppula (54.5), Darren Helm (50.5), and Kris Draper (50)

Henrik Zetterberg has more than double the amount of points (15) at Joe Louis Arena than his closest competitor (Pavel Datsyuk - 7). He also has the same amount of goals (8) at home as the next three closest players combined.

Only two players have negative +/- ratings at home AND on the road. They are Brett Lebda and Todd Bertuzzi.

After the jump, some more statistical analysis and your Fake Award updates...

93.75% of Brad May's penalty minutes this season have come in the form of majors.

Coming on the heels of last week's dedication of the Patrick Eaves Goodfellas Award, we have a winner of a fake award for the second week in a row!

And the AARON DOWNEY AWARD WINNER is (drumroll, please......) Derek Meech. As a reminder, this honor is reserved for the final Red Wing to score a goal. The award is named for Aaron Downey, who scored his first and only goal as a Red Wing during his 60th and final game. The final three nominees for the 2009-10 version of the Downey Award were Drew Miller, Derek Meech, and Brad May. Drew Miller scored the lone goal against the Predators, and I don't care what LaRue says - Brad May scored, dammit. So, even though Derek Meech has only played six games (by the way, so has Miller), he's the lone guy without a goal.

CHRIS CHELIOS AWARD Update
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wings defensemen with the fewest goals scored in the most games played. The player must have played in at least 3/4 of the team's games. The award is named for Chris Chelios, who scored 23 in his EXACTLY 600 games as a Red Wing (regular season and playoffs combined).*
1. Nicklas Lidstrom (1 goal in 22 games)
2. Brett Lebda (1 goal in 19 games)
3. Brad Stuart (2 goals in 22 games)
4. Brian Rafalski (2 goals in 21 games)
5. Jonathan Ericsson (3 goals in 20 games)
6. Niklas Kronwall (5 goals in 21 games)

DANNY CLEARY "SACRAFICE YOUR FACE" AWARD Update
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wings forward with the most blocked shots. The award is named for Dan Cleary, who is used to becoming synonymous with "black eye" and/or "broken jaw."*
1. Darren Helm (11)
T2. Dan Cleary (10)
T2. Henrik Zetterberg (10)
4. Pavel Datsyuk (9)
T5. Justin Abdelkader (7)
T5. Ville Leino (7)

DEREK MEECH AWARD Update
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wing with the most games spent in the press box. The award is named for Derek Meech, who was a healthy scratch 35 times in 2008-09.*
1. Derek Meech (15)
T2. Patrick Eaves (6)
T2. Brad May (6)
4. Kirk Maltby (4)
5. Brett Lebda (3)

GREG STEFAN AWARD Update
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wings goaltender that makes you question how they're in the NHL and you aren't. The award is named for Greg Stefan, who played nine seasons for the Red Wings, but only three that featured goals against averages under 4.*
1. James Tiberius Howard (5-3-1, 2.76, .898)
2. Christopher Robin Osgood (6-4-3, 2.73, .901)
3. Michael Superfly Petrella (0-0-0, 0.00, 1.000)

MIKAEL SAMUELSSON AWARD Update
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wings forward with the most shots to miss the net. The award is named for Mikael Samuelsson, who literally must have been aiming for the 11th row.*
1. Henrik Zetterberg (42)
2. Ville Leino (23)
T3. Todd Bertuzzi (21)
T3. Tomas Holmstrom (21)
5. Pavel Datsyuk (16)

VLADIMIR KONSTANTINOV AWARD Update
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wings player that leads the team in plus/minus. The award is named for the legendary Vladinator, who led the NHL in +/- in 1995-96 with +60, a mark that hasn't been met since.*
1. Nicklas Lidstrom (+7)
2. Patrick Eaves (+6)
T3. Kirk Maltby (+5)
T3. Tomas Holmstrom (+5)
5. Pavel Datsyuk (+4)

HONORARY CHRIS HOLLIS/MOTOWN WINGS AWARD
*This is a new one. Its reserved for a Red Wings related player, coach, or situation that - like Hollis's CSSI statistic - I only KINDA understand. It will be given out when deserved.*
November 24, 2009 :: The premiere Hollis Award goes to the Justin Abdelkader. When Brad May scored that obvious goal on Alex Auld, Abdelkader looked right at the puck for about a second or two before he raised his arms. A little quicker reaction, and things may have turned out different. But, its not all bad - he's the only one who actually knew that was a goal. So, like the CSSI, we was very right, but...wait, what?

Referees factor into Coyotes win over Flyers

zyllyx — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:06:01 -0000

More photos » by Ross Franklin - AP

Philadelphia Flyers' Kimmo Timonen (44), of Finland, argues with linesman Thor Nelson after Keith Yandle of the Phoenix Coyotes scored a go-ahead goal in the third period after linesmen disagreed over an offsides call (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

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One of the unfortunate buzzworthy topics in the current NHL season has been the quality - or lack thereof - of the refereeing.

Disagreements with the boys in the zebra suits are part and parcel of professional sports fandom, but it seems as though the 2009-2010 NHL hockey season has had more than its share of borderline, questionable, and outright blown calls. The current joke - riffing on the now-infamous Brad May "non-goal" against the Dallas Stars - goes that the referees are exercising their "intent to suck."

Coyotes fans have had to weather bad refereeing in several games this year, but on Saturday night they found themselves in the strange position of having earned two points over the Philadelphia Flyers by virtue of two very questionable calls.

The Coyotes and Flyers were knotted at 1-1 heading into the third period when the first controversial call occurred. As the period moved past its halfway point, the Coyotes found themselves on the power play. While cycling the puck, Adrian Aucoin bobbled a pass by the Flyers' blueline above the right circle. The view from the left side of the ice was clear - the puck traveled across the blueline and the left linesman indicated offsides.

However, whether he was screened or whether he saw something that almost everyone in the arena didn't, the right linesman energetically waved off the offsides. The Flyers bench went ballistic and coach John Stevens erupted into passionate arguing. Unfortunately for the Flyers, play continued - Aucoin passed to Matthew Lombardi, who found Keith Yandle at the right circle. Yandle's rocket shot cleared Flyers goalie Ray Emery and the Coyotes took a 2-1 lead.

Scott Hartnell indicated that the confusion over the non-call contributed to the Coyotes' goal by distracting Emery. "You can't blame Ray for that one," Hartnell said. "He thought what we all did."

Although Yandle's goal would prove to be the game-winner, the controversy wasn't over. With just over 30 seconds to go in the game, Shane Doan found himself with the puck with Emery off the ice for a sixth attacker. Driving to the net, Doan passed Philadelphia's Chris Pronger, who reached out with his stick. Doan's shot dribbled past the right post, and then the play was blown dead with 39.9 seconds remaining as the Flyers gained control of the puck.

Pronger headed to the penalty box, arguing vehemently with the referees. But what looked to be a Coyotes power play turned into something strange as the Coyotes players suddenly began clapping Doan on the back. Eventually, the scoreboard changed to 3-1, Pronger was let out of the box, and the game ended in a welter of confusion. No goal horn, no replay, and more importantly no puck in the net. And yet, there it was - 3-1.

The referees, it turned out, had judged Pronger's hook to be worthy of a penalty shot. And according to the NHL's rule 26.1, which reads:

A goal will be awarded to the attacking team when the opposing team has taken their goalkeeper off the ice and an attacking player has possession and control of the puck in the neutral or attacking zone on, without a defending player between himself and the opposing goal, and he is prevented from scoring as a result of an infraction committed by the defending team.

...Doan was credited with an awarded goal... even though his eventual shot never got close.

Pronger, of course, was livid. "He (the referee) said I got him on the hands but I got him on the stick," he said after the game. "I disagree. I didn't think it should have been a goal. I didn't even think it was a penalty. He had his stick down. How am I going to get him on the hands when I lifted his stick?"

Needless to say, the Flyers fans in attendance at Jobing.com Arena - who made up almost half of the crowd of just over 11,000 - left disappointed, bewildered and more than a little bitter. But even Coyotes fans were filing out of the arena, more sheepish than jubilant after having two points essentially gifted to them by the refereeing crew. Some fans were already rationalizing the events of the game as karmic retribution for bad calls against them earlier in the season, but all around the arena there were signs of Coyotes fans in animated conversation with Flyers fans, most likely commiserating on a very strange end to a very strange third period.

It is now almost two months since Terry Gregson took over for Stephen Walkom as head of the NHL's officiating department, but games like the Coyotes - Flyers tilt are starting to draw some unwelcome attention in a season already rife with tension and pessimism from issues such Southern market struggles, the NHLPA fiasco, the player safety debate, and issues with DirecTV and VERSUS.

While it is true that the quality of officiating reaches an equilibrium over the course of a given season, the sheer weight of dispute this early in the campaign does not bode well for the NHL's officiating crews. Bad officiating is at least a nuisance, but on this scale any inaction on the part of the NHL will only spell bad publicity for the league.

Coyotes fans love having two more points - but to get them in such a controversial fashion makes some fans nervous. Who can tell whether later in the season the scales will shift to the other side?

Here is the video recap of the game from NHL Video - judge for yourself.

Stargazing: Stars Look to Build on Win in Detroit

Brad G — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:15:12 -0000

Stargazing is a daily assortment of Dallas Stars and Texas Stars news, and whatever other random ramblings are bouncing around inside our heads.

The Stars beat the Sharks, then lose to the Coyotes. They beat the Canucks, then lose to the Wild. They beat Blackhawks, then lose to the Kings. The beat the Red Wings, and then...?

Are you sensing a pattern? Perhaps we should put aside our notions of who "the big players" are in the Western Conference and concede that parity (the most over-used word of the sports-decade) is alive and well; That any team can beat any team on any given night. Fine.

The fact remains that games in places like Chicago, San Jose, and Detroit are games the fans and players alike consider to be big, "measuring stick" type games. The Stars are excelling at those. Those are huge wins. Those are the ones you can point to and say "See, we can play with those guys." That's great. We're excited about wins at the Joe.

But what about the Kings? What about the Wild? Phoenix? And the Blue Jackets tonight? Aren't those the teams they're more likely to be jockying with for playoff positioning in March and April? (I do realize that the Jackets have a better record than Detroit now. It's early yet.)

Without taking some of these other games, like this one tonight, those big statement wins are only glimpses of what the team has the potential to be, rather than what it really is. The potential is there. It all comes back to that same word we can't seem to get away from: Consistency.

After the jump: More on the goal that wasn't, Stars player-men reaction, and Steve Ott is starting to garner attention regarding his pending free agency, and is Tom Hicks going to sell the Rangers...to himself?

Case in point, Steve Ott knows this is how good they can be...

"It's who we want to be and who we think we are, and now we just have to try to show we can be that team every night," forward Steve Ott said. "That's the challenge."

Puck Daddy brings your their take on the non-goal, which absolutely was a goal. The "intent to blow" rule is becoming a very polarizing phrase...

Again, the "intent to blow" rule is one of the most asinine in professional hockey; the notion of "playing to the whistle" is undercut by referees ending plays in their minds before actually blowing them dead. This Detroit farce is, perhaps, the most rancid example of its folly.

Beyond Detroit losing a goal, the worst thing about this situation is that it'll provide further fodder for the tin foil hat society among Wings fans, who are convinced that Gary Bettman and the NHL and the Illuminati and the Stonecutters are all conspiring in some secret cabal to undermine their franchise. Because what business would want one of its most popular, ratings-driving, star-studded franchises to, you know, succeed?

Tin foil hate society. His words. Not ours.

After I chattered on about Marty Turco's stats at the Joe in yesterdays Gameday Preview, Crawford started Auld instead. Mike Heika examines the choice:

One of the concerns with the Stars' pace of win one, lose one this season is that the team must adjust between their two goalies' opposite styles. Auld is more conservative in his puck movement. Turco is more adventurous.

So logic suggests that maybe the team could get more consistency by playing Turco more. Crawford doesn't agree.

"I would say the bigger issue is we usually play with Alex on the second night of a back-to-back," he said, "and we might be a little slow to start off in those games."

So maybe Auld getting a fresh team in front of him was the real difference. But if there is a difference, then Turco will get a chance to see it Thursday against Columbus at home when he gets the start.

The Wings tend to carry the puck in more than Columbus does, I would think. Perhaps it does make more sense to have Turco handling the puck tonight.

CBC Sports liked Alex Auld enough last night to name him their top star of the night...

CBCSports.ca senior reporter Tim Wharnsby names the top performers in the NHL from Wednesday night.

FIRST STAR: Alex Auld, G, Dallas Stars

Auld was in tough on Wednesday, on the road against one of the hottest teams in the league in the Red Wings. But the Dallas backup goalie was up to the task with a 31-save effort that included a controversial no-goal call on Detroit's Brad May. The Stars' 3-1 win was Detroit's first regulation-time loss at Joe Louis Arena this season.

I like Mr. Stepneski's take over at Andrew's:

Well, if you get good goaltending and you win the special teams battle you are going to win most nights. Alex Auld was excellent, the penalty kill was 4-4 and is now 17-17 over the last five games and the power play scored twice. I thought all those areas were a big part of the Stars 3-1 win over Detroit tonight, but I think they simply played an excellent game all the way around.

They skated well, pursued the puck well, defended well and they created more chances than the Red Wings and when you create more chances are you’ll score more. They simply outplayed the Red Wings. I didn’t think Detroit had that many great chances and Auld closed the door on all but one (actually, two but more on that later).

John Tranchina of Dallasstars.com brings you much quotage:

Alex Auld got the start in goal and was outstanding, making 31 saves to snap a four-game personal winless streak (0-2-2) to secure his third win of the season.

"I feel like I’ve played pretty well this year, although the numbers might not really show it," Auld said. "I’ve felt comfortable and confident in net and obviously getting results like this go a long way. At the end of a long trip like this, coming into a building like this, it’s probably really good for us. You know you’ve got to be extra sharp and the guys were tremendous in front of me. Our special teams were really good tonight and that’s a big key."

"It’s definitely good for your confidence," coach Marc Crawford said of beating the defending Western Conference champion Red Wings. "Our goaltender played a very good game, and you always have to have good goaltending playing in an opposition building where Detroit is a very good club. And you look on the other side of it, there was depth to our group tonight. We played four lines, all four lines were good. We were able to play all six defensemen. I thought there weren’t a lot of big mistakes by us tonight. We did a great job of recovering, we did a great job of pursuing, and then we simply were very good in the areas that we had to be in, including the power play and the penalty kill."

The Windsor Star has a nice article on Steve Ott and his impending free agent status. Of particular interest to Stars fans...

As much as they love him, in a salary-cap situation, can the Stars afford to keep Ott?

This season, they've paid forward Loui Eriksson (all figures US) $4.2 million and defenceman Stephane Robidas $3.3 million in multi-year deals.

Left-winger James Neal, already with 11 goals in 18 games, will be a restricted free agent at season's end.

"I really hope my future is with the Dallas Stars," Ott said. "I've spent a lot of years here and I definitely don't want to leave."

After a career year in which he produced 19-27-46 totals, Ott will certainly be looking for a pact similar to the four-year US $8-million that Alex Burrows garnered last summer from the Vancouver Canucks.

We don't know if Ott and his agent are talking to the Stars during the season, but we hope they are. As much as everyone claims to hate Steve Ott, there's bound to be a couple of GM's out there who will throw out some kid of stupid money to get him. I'll love him wherever he goes, but I hope there's a way to keep him here. By the way, if you're reading this, and you have $600 million, can you please buy the Texas Rangers?

Speaking of which... Say it ain't so...

If your absolute worst baseball-related fear is the prospect of Tom Hicks rising from the dead and retaining majority control of the Texas Rangers after it seemed 80-plus percent certain that he was headed out, then you might have to brace for the realization of that fear, as Hicks has hastily assembled a group of local investors -- comprising both Cowboys legend Roger Staubach and the dual-allegianced Nolan Ryan -- and is preparing to submit his own bid ... to himself. Yeah.

There's the apparent confirmation that the Rangers are operating under league-imposed budgetary guidelines (via the largely reputable Joel Sherman), the hearsay that the owners have pressured the commissioner's office to figuratively clip Hicks' wings after he opened an eight-digit line of credit with the league, and then a hodgepodge of snippets and quotes that lend nothing but confusion to the entire situation. It could be months, years, or never before we get full disclosure on the rise and (very hard) fall of Hicks Sports Group and the accompanying juicy behind-the-scenes happenings from this past summer, but that's beside the point right now.

I bet we'll have more on this to come.

Babcock: 'It was as dumb as anything I've ever seen'

James Mirtle — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:17:18 -0000

"It was not blown dead. It was a goal. The guy never meant to blow the whistle; it was a shot. The puck went in on a shot. It was as dumb as anything I've ever seen."

— Red Wings coach Mike Babcock

Boy, it's hard to fathom just how something like that even happens. How can Toronto call down during the game, talk to the referee and let that bogus decision stand and help decide the outcome?

Anytime there's an injustice against the Red Wings, you better believe Bill at Abel To Yzerman is the man to seek for your outrage, and he doesn't disappoint on this one:

...it’s almost impossible to believe Toronto missed it. If they didn’t, if they overturned it, could LaRue have simply ignored them out of sheer embarrassment? Not likely, but something idiotic happened.

And nothing will be done. Nothing. LaRue, of course, is one of Gary’s best. A ref in last year’s Stanley Cup Final, so you know he has to be good, right?

There should be some fallout from this, or at the very least an official statement from the league. It's about as bad a bungling as I've ever seen.

Wings end winning streak, lose to Dallas 3-1

joehass — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:43:20 -0000

More photos » by Carlos Osorio - AP

Brad May and Krystofer Barch fight in the second period. It was the fifth fight between the two in the past three seasons.

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You know it's not your night when a goal is disallowed because of a whistle that blew a full second after the puck went into the net.

Brad May's third-period shot sat in the net, but Dennis LaRue ruled that the whistle intended to blow prior to the puck. Instead of a tie game, it remained 2-1, and the Stars put one more goal on the board to end the Detroit Red Wings three-game winning streak.

Alex Auld stopped 32 of 33 shots for Dallas, who played a solid game tonight, taking advantage by going 2-for-5 with the man advantage.

The Stars jumped out to the lead with a Mike Ribero goal that was intended to be a crossing pass. Instead, Jonathan Ericsson, who was on his stomach, swung his stick back, only to deflect the puck past Jimmy Howard.

Just under four minutes into the second period, Matt Niskanen took a pass from Brad Richards and fired a knuckle shot that Howard couldn't react to, to make it 2-0.

But a couple minutes later, Henrik Zetterberg kept his torrid pace going, as Ville Leino's pass set him up and with Richards draped over him, Zetterburg buried it to cut the lead to one.

Between those two goals, May and Krystofer Barch got together for a doozy of a fight: their fifth fight in the past three years. The two of them put on a show that included switching hands mid-fight when they both became tired. In fact, May appeared to deliberately change helmets just before the fight, going from one with a visor to one without.

With 13:36 left in the third, Detroit brought the puck out from behind the net. Justin Abdelkader passed the puck to May. May put a backhand shot from about 10 feet out onto Auld, who drew a whistle with a stop. But Auld hadn't stopped it: he trapped it against the side of the net with the puck very clearly over the line. The Red Wings celebrated as if they had scored a goal.

However, Dennis LaRue ruled that he intended to blow the whistle when the Auld made the stop, marking the play dead. Despite a call from the NHL Operations Center in Toronto, LaRue stuck to his ruling, and the goal did not count.

A few minutes later, with Jonathan Ericsson in the penalty box, Loui Eriksson took a pass from James Neal in front of the net. Howard was overcommitted to the play near Eriksson, and couldn't skate over in time to make the stop.

Howard would end up making 29 saves. The Wings play next on Friday against the Florida Panthers.

Player of the Game: Henrik Zetterberg. And we'll keep making him the player of the game until informed otherwise.

Zandberg's Top 10 Rick Rypien Fights

Sean Zandberg — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:00:13 -0000

It took a while to go through all of Rick Rypien's fight's on YouTube and then rate them all, but it was time well spent! Has there been a better Canucks fighter since Gino Odjick? I don't know. Rick Rypien has been dubbed the "Pit Bull" and "Middleweight Champion of the NHL" by Tom Larschied. It's hard to argue that. Hell, Ripper will fight the big guys too. With the big layoff between games, we are here to entertain you!

So without further to do, I give you my Top 10 Rick Rypien fights. Enjoy.

10. Rypien vs Hal Gill (October 2009). "Somebody get him a ladder!"

9. Rypien vs Zach Stortini (October 2009) Pop goes Zach's helmet!

8. Rypien vs Mike Moore (October 2008). Decision..Ripper!

7. Rypien vs Jeremy Reich (September 2009). A treat for Terrace, BC. I think Reich takes this one, but it was a beauty regardless.

6. Rypien vs Brandon Prust (October 2008). Short and sweet.

5. Rypien vs Zach Stortini (April 2009) Apeman Stortini eats a hard left early and barely recovers.

4. Rypien vs Ole-Kristian Tollefsen (February 2008). Ole! Tolly gets his ass beat!

3. Rypien vs Brendan Brooks (2007?). Good lord, how many punches does Ripper (then with the Moose) throw here? What a tilt!

2. Rypien vs Brad May (November 2009). I still tip my hat to the older May dropping them with Rypien. He held his own for a bit there.

1. Rypien vs Ryan Carter (September 2009). Oh Carter, next time listen to your buddies when they tell you not to mess with the "middleweight champion of the NHL". This is rag doll city. This is my homer side coming out. Love the ass-whoopin' put on by Ripper here.

FUN WITH MATH! (Not really, though...)

mpetrella — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:37:29 -0000

More photos » by Gerry Broome - AP

2 months ago: Carolina Hurricanes' Scott Walker (24) is congratulated by Joe Corvo (77) and Tim Gleason (6) after Walkers' goal as Atlanta Thrashers goalie Manny Legace (29) falls to the ice at right during the first period of an NHL preseason hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Friday, Sept. 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

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Yesterday, Manny Legace signed a contract with the Carolina Hurricanes, and will become the 17th former Red Wing (or Red Wing draft pick) to play for another NHL team this season.

The Canes are one of three teams to have TWO former Red Wings (Legace and Ray Whitney). The others are Chicago (Tomas Kopecky and Marian Hossa) and Vancouver (Mikael Samuelsson and Mathieu Schneider).

On the other hand, the Red Wings have two former players from each of the following teams:
ANAHEIM (Todd Bertuzzi and Brad May)
CALGARY (Bertuzzi and Brad Stuart)
CHICAGO (Dan Cleary and Jason Williams)
EDMONTON (Cleary and Kirk Maltby)
FLORIDA ( Bertuzzi and Andreas Lilja)
NEW YORK ISLANDERS (Bertuzzi and Chris Osgood)
PHOENIX (Cleary and May)
VANCOUVER (Bertuzzi and May)

The current Red Wings have played for all but FOUR teams. No current member of the squad has played for the Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, or Washington Capitals. (Sort of... Doug Janik played for the Stars, Canadiens, and Lightning. Andy Delmore played for the Predators and Flyers. Otherwise, these teams are not represented, either).

The Red Wings have lost 43 man-games to injury. At this point last season, the Wings had lost 34 man-games to injury.

Nicklas Lidstrom leads the team with a +8 rating. Interestingly, his partner, Brian Rafalski, is -1. Funny how that works... Dan Cleary is the low plus/minus man at -7.

Brad Stuart leads the team with 2.9 hits per game. Justin Abdelkader (2.7), Brad May (2.6), Darren Helm (2.4), and Patrick Eaves (2.1) follow. Johan Franzen was averaging 3.7 hits before his knee injury. Ville Leino is at the bottom of this list, averaging 0.21 hits per game.

Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille, and Steve Yzerman became the 7th, 8th, and 9th Red Wings to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame this decade. The others are Igor Larionov (08), Paul Coffey (04), Larry Murphy (04), Mike Ilitch (03), Bernie Federko ('memba him?! 02), and Viacheslav Fetisov (01).

And now, onto the Fake Awards Updates:

GOODFELLAS AWARD
Darren Helm
Patrick Eaves
*named by Winging it in Motown's Mr. Norris Trophy, given to the Final Red Wing to be penalized this season. Award will be renamed in honor of one of these two gentlemen, whoever is the last man standing*

LAST RED WING TO SCORE A GOAL (name under advisement...feel free to suggest a name)
Brad May
Derek Meech

MIKAEL SAMUELSSON AWARD
1. Henrik Zetterberg (17)
2. Todd Bertuzzi (15)
3. Jason Williams (14)
4. Ville Leino (13)
5. Tomas Holmstrom (12)

*Given at the year’s end to the Red Wing forward with the most shots to miss the net*

DEREK MEECH AWARD:
1. Derek Meech (10)
2. Patrick Eaves (6)
3. Brad May (4)
4. Brett Lebda (3)
T5. Kirk Maltby (2)
T5. Justin Abdelkader (2)
*Give at the year's end to the Red Wing with the most games spent in the press box*

GREG STEFAN AWARD:
1. Jimmy Howard (1-2-1, 3.42 GAA, .879sv%)
2. Chris Osgood (6-3-2, 2.77 GAA, .902sv%)
*Give to the Red Wings goaltender that makes you question how they're in the NHL and you aren't*

CHRIS CHELIOS AWARD:
T1. Brad Stuart (1 goal, 15 games)
T1. Nicklas Lidstrom (1 goal, 15 games)
3. Brian Rafalski (1 goal, 14 games)
4. Brett Lebda (1 goal, 12 games)
5. Niklas Kronwall (2 goals, 15 games)
NOT QUALIFIED: Derek Meech (0 goals, 5 games)
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wings defenseman with the fewest goals scored in the most games played (at least 3/4 of team games played)*

DAN CLEARY "SACRAFICE YOUR FACE" AWARD:
1. Dan Cleary (9). Surprise, surprise
2. Pavel Datsyuk (7)
T3. Todd Bertuzzi (6)
T3. Henrik Zetterberg (6)
T5. Justin Abdelkader (5)
T5. Valtteri Filppula (5)
T5. Darren Helm (5)
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wings forward with the most blocked shots*

Pick The Rival: The Pacific Division

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

Mattingly, shave those sideburns hippie!

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

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

Anaheim ~~Mighty~~ Ducks

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dallas Stars

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

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

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

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

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

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

Los Angeles Kings

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Phoenix Coyotes

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

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

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

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

San Jose Sharks

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

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

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

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

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

Poll

Who is Vancouver's biggest Pacific division rival?

Anaheim Ducks

145 votes

Dallas Stars

93 votes

LA Kings

10 votes

Phoenix Coyotes

1 votes

San Jose Sharks

35 votes

284 votes | Poll has closed

From Hunter to Hunted

J.P. — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:30:29 -0000

More photos » by Luis Alvarez - AP

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"Run, chase, hunt down, hit, whatever word you want to use that would be correct." - Ken Hitchcock on whether his team was targeting Alex Ovechkin on Sunday

As outraged as you might have convinced yourself you are at the "revelation" above, that opposing teams might enter a game against the Capitals with a strategic objective to engage the team's stars physically is hardly news. Recall Ranger defenseman Marc Staal prior to last spring's first round playoff series:

"I think if you get physical with [Ovechkin] - and also with guys like Semin and Backstrom - kind of get them frustrated and off their game a little bit, as much as we can, we have to do it. Maybe getting it in the back of his mind that he's going to get hit every time he shoots it or comes down the wing; that's what we want."

When we discussed the integrally-related topic of team toughness a week ago, we noted the following:

That the Caps aren't physically intimidating opponents is no surprise. George McPhee acknowledged this would be the case this past offseason when he said, "If people want to screw around, then you beat them up on your power play" - the Caps skill, theoretically, is their deterrent. The problem with that approach (putting aside the obvious issues the Caps are currently having with the extra man) is that it's only effective if the officials make the right calls... and if your skill players get up after they've been fouled. And Mike Green almost didn't on Saturday night.

In the season's first weeks the Rangers, Islanders and Flyers all ran the Capitals' top defenseman with more-or-less unanswered impunity. Now the best player on the planet is on the trainer's table. Sure, part of the story over the next couple of Ovechkin-less weeks is the team's ability to replace AO's offense, tightening up defensively, and so on. But the bigger-picture story is preventing - or at the very least combating - opponents from continuing to take runs at Ovechkin, Green and other Capitals.

George McPhee and his foot soldiers like to cite the Red Wings as an example of a team that has gotten by without needing any on-ice policemen, but even those Red Wings went out and signed Brad May this past off-season because, as Detroit GM Ken Holland noted, "in 82 games some nights you have to protect yourself. We usually protect ourselves with a good power play, but if things get out of hand, Brad can play on our fourth line and bang some people. He has a dimension we don't have right now with fisticuffs." Added Wings head coach Mike Babcock, "He provides a physical presence. We don't feel we have much of it.... Sometimes, it's a priority."

For this Caps team, a physical presence has become a priority. It has become, perhaps, the priority.

McPhee has expressed a willingness to acquire "that element" if it's needed. I'd say that need has been made clear. Painfully so.