SB Nation - Erik Ersberg

2012 NHL Free Agency Day 2 Open Thread - When do the things happen?

Derek Zona — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 13:21:31 -0000

The plan from yesterday:

My wish list is relatively simple: Two forwards, two defenders, and a goalie.

I'll take Ryan Smyth & Daniel Winnik up front. There will be no signings of Jordin Tootoo. Please.

The defensive class is going to be all about Ryan Suter, Jason Garrison and Matt Carle. I don't think the Oilers will win on any of those three, but I'll settle for Matt Taormina and either Brett Clark on a one-year deal or a trade (where the Oilers aren't absolutely pillaged) for Andrej Sekera, Chris Butler or Jay Bouwmeester.

In goal, Scott Clemmensen, Erik Ersberg, or Vitaly Koval fit the bill. Do not try something cute like trade for Jonathan Bernier.

Smyth is in house and the Red Wings gave Jordin Tootoo $1.9 million per year, preventing the Oilers from an awful contract like that. Clemmensen re-signed with the Panthers, and Ersberg signed with a new KHL team. The Oilers did screw up something fierce with the Darcy Hordichuk signing (who gives a one-way contract to a player that no other team in the league wants?) but Lowe and Katz and Gretzky and Coffey and Hall and any other member of the negotiations team I may have left out, have a chance to set things right.

Shoes to drop today:

Ryan Suter will choose a team and the bridesmaid will turn their attention to Matt Carle.

Zach Parise will choose a team and the bridesmaid will turn their attention to Alex Semin.

Rick Nash, Bobby Ryan, Roberto Luongo and at least two defensemen from Calgary ain't got to go home, but they got to get the hell up outta here.

Update: The Devils give Martin Brodeur two years and $9 million. That's...not good.

2012 NHL Free Agency Open Thread - Mr. Freakshow or Sunny Side of the Street?

Derek Zona — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 13:40:29 -0000

That is a look we all know very well. That look has led to nothing but disaster since 2009. That's the look that's acquired Nikolai Khabibulin, Ben Eager, Darcy Hordichuk, and, ugh, Cam Barker. That's the look that's given Gilbert Brule double what he was worth and Nikolai Khabibulin and Cam Barker quadruple what they were worth. That's the look that's traded Kyle Brodziak for nothing, Dustin Penner for trinkets and Tom Gilbert for the most commonly-available type of defensemen in the NHL. That's the face that wrecked the dealings with Sheldon Souray.

That's the look the Oilers left in Edmonton when it came time to sign Justin Schultz, because when you're parading Taylor Hall, Wayne Gretzky, Paul Coffey and Kevin Lowe in front of a player, the last thing you want the kid to see is the furrowed brow of last place.

So what will it be this summer? More of the freakshow, or will Steve Tambellini finally stop making bad moves and give the Oilers a chance to win?

My wish list is relatively simple: Two forwards, two defenders, and a goalie.

I'll take Ryan Smyth & Daniel Winnik up front. There will be no signings of Jordin Tootoo. Please.

Edit: Step one, complete!

As per @DarrenDreger, Smyth deal in EDM is 2 years at $2.25M per year.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) July 1, 2012

The defensive class is going to be all about Ryan Suter, Jason Garrison and Matt Carle. I don't think the Oilers will win on any of those three, but I'll settle for Matt Taormina and either Brett Clark on a one-year deal or a trade (where the Oilers aren't absolutely pillaged) for Andrej Sekera, Chris Butler or Jay Bouwmeester.

In goal, Scott Clemmensen, Erik Ersberg, or Vitaly Koval fit the bill. Do not try something cute like trade for Jonathan Bernier.

Other things of note:

Dallas has a ridiculous amount of cap space and an owner who wants to be competitive. Don't be surprised to see them get Sheldon Souray, Matt Carle, Shane Doan and Jiri Hudler or something similar to that.
Detroit needs so much help on defense now and their fans are acting like Ryan Suter is in the bag. If Detroit is still a free agent destination, Suter will sign and they'll snap up another high end defenseman relatively quickly.
Zach Parise is going to get a pile of money from the Penguins. He'll get Justin Schultz-like treatment from the Wild

#NHL teams presenting will also be asked to pay 2nd 12M SB to Parise next July 1st. That's 24M guaranteed over 1 yrNice eh. #quittooearly
— Nick Kypreos (@RealKyper) July 1, 2012
.
Columbus is going to have to deal Rick Nash as soon Parise signs. Nash won't go back there, but Howson is still asking the world for him. He should have the Wild, Leafs and Flyers on speed dial if they all miss out on Parise.
I mentioned Taromina as a player I'd like the Oilers to sign and Souray as someone the Stars will target. I think those two are the bargains available this summer.
The Flames had nine defensemen on one-way contracts. They have to deal at least two of them and that's going to happen this week.
Like Rick Nash, Roberto Luongo is going somewhere, and should move as soon as Parise and Nash move. When the desperate teams turn away from forward, Mike Gillis should have a whole bunch of trade partners for Luongo.

Let's bet back to the Oilers: will it be more of Mr. Freakshow? Or the Sunny Side of the Street? Who are your targets for the week?

Evgeni Nabokov Might Be The NHL's Most Overrated Goalie

Mark D — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 16:00:37 -0000

Heading into this season, both professional writers and fans keep up the mantra that with Evgeni Nabokov in net the Islanders are going to be better. That finally the Islanders fans prayers for goaltending consistency are answered. It seems to ignore the reality of how Nabokov became an Islander. Nabokov took the money and ran to the KHL when it was apparent no one was going to overpay for a mid-30s goaltender who had average numbers at best. Nabokov then flamed out and came back to America, suddenly willing to take a pay cut to play with a contender. We all know how that worked out.

It's plain and simple, people are ignoring even the simplest stats that point to it just about being over for Nabokov. It's actually not a new story limited to his recent struggles in the KHL and at the World Championships. I can't blame those Shark fans who were eager to see him go. Not just for his playoff struggles, but his questionable level of play in the regular season too. The Sharks have been one of the elite teams in the league for a few years now, and it looks like they might have helped Nabokov more then he helped them.

A Tale of Two Nabokovs

Interestingly Nabokov got a chance with the Sharks because they wanted to keep from rushing blue chip prospect Miikka Kiprusoff. Another name that enters the scene is Vesa Toskala. All three players early careers intertwine until 03-04 (Kiprusoff traded) and 06-07 (Toskala traded). From 00-01 to 03-04 (basically pre-lockout) Nabokov puts up a .915 (00-01), .918 (01-02), .906 (02-03) and .921 (03-04) (RFA contract year) save percentages in order. Miikka meanwhile had a .915 (01-02) and a .879 (02-03). Toskala put up a .927 (02-03), .930 (03-04), .901 (05-06) .908 (06-07).

The Two Nabokovs? He was obviously putting up better numbers before the season canceled by the lockout. While 3 of 4 seasons pre-lockout his SV% was .915 or better, he only managed one .915 SV% or better season post lockout. He's also only had 2 seasons in which he had a .920 SV% or better, both of them before he became a free agent. It's pretty obvious that two things make Nabokov thrive, money or competition.

The KHL and The 2011 World Cup

So it shouldn't be too surprising to find out that in the KHL last year, as the starter and making an incredible amount of money on a 4 year contract didn't work out too well. Nabokov finished 45th out of 57 KHL goalies last year in SV%. It wasn't just the team, Jakub Stepanek who took over for Nabokov had a .923 SV% and Maxim Sokolov who took over the backup role had a .904 SV% compared to Nabokov's .888.

As bad as that might look, it's even worse when you consider some of the other goalies who had a better SV% in the KHL last season. Erik Ersberg who was last seen backing up our favorite brother in law was .001 behind the league leader in SV%. The legendary 45 year old Dominik Hasek had a .915 SV%. Yann Danis playing in his first KHL season had a .910 SV%. Steve Valiquette and Robert Esche both had an .897 SV%. Scott Munroe had a .896 SV%. All of these players had a better season then Nabokov, yet I don't think any sportswriter would proclaim the Islanders goalie situation saved if they had been signed.

This wasn't just a blip on the radar either. In the World Championships Nabokov proceeded to again struggle. His SV% was in the bottom 10 of the tournament. While at least Al Montoya has the excuse that he was hurt, from all reports Nabokov should have been healthy and prepared (the Islanders gave him clearance to practice). His replacement, Konstantin Barulin, managed a .908 SV% in comparison to Nabokov's .880. Reportedly his coach didn't think he could pull Nabokov, and was happy when he went down hurt.

In Conclusion

Nabokov is stuck. He burnt all of his bridges in Russia. He can't get out of a contract now in which he's barely making the league minimum. But there's nothing about his play in the last year that says he's going to suddenly turn it around. His .922 SV% was an outlier, quite possibly due to the team more then him. Antti Niemi who replaced him as the full time starter in San Jose managed to post a .920 SV% which was an .008 improvement from his previous year with the Stanley Cup champions.

Nabokov's best years were when he was younger, fighting for a job with Miika and Toskala. At his age, no one will give him more then a one year contract (due to him being 35+) or the big money he's looking for in the NHL. There's nothing to believe that he has any of his old drive to be a full time starter again. Especially not when he's making less then a million dollars this season.

The best bet for the Islanders is to protect him in preseason, giving him easy competition and the better defenseman. Then hope that another team has a goalie go down, or is suddenly desperate for a "starter" while having cap issues. Nabokov's value is much better as a piece that get's us something for the future, than a goalie who will lead us to be competitive now.

Your turn: make your own best-possible Kings team

Quisp — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 22:59:48 -0000

As fans, we like to ponder what-ifs. What if we hadn't traded x? Why did we let z go? Usually, there's a pretty good reason. But today's exercise is to pretend that anything is possible.

If you were the GM, and the Kings could have any 23 players you want, out of the fairly-long list of players who (1) are still active, and (2) either currently or previously played for the Kings, what would that line-up look like?

Here is who you get to choose from. After the jump, I'll give you my selections.

LW	C	RW
Alex Frolov	Andrei Loktionov	Brandon Segal
Alexei Ponikarovsky	Anze Kopitar	Dustin Brown
Dustin Penner	Brad Richardson	Jamie Lundmark
Jon Sim	Brayden Schenn	Jerred Smithson
Josh Green	Brian Boyle	Justin Williams
Kyle Clifford	Eric Belanger	Kevin Westgarth
Matt Moulson	Jarret Stoll	Mark Parrish
Mike Cammalleri	Michal Handzus	Matt Ellis
Patrick O`Sullivan	Mike Richards	Oscar Moller
Ryan Smyth	Pavol Demitra	Teddy Purcell
Scott Parse	Trevor Lewis	Tom Kostopoulos
Sean Avery		Wayne Simmonds
Simon Gagne

D	G
Alec Martinez	Erik Ersberg
Brad Stuart	Jason LaBarbera
Brent Sopel	Jonathan Bernier
Drew Doughty	Jonathan Quick
Jack Johnson	Mathieu Garon
Jake Muzzin
Joe Corvo
Kyle Quincey
Lubomir Visnovsky
Matt Greene
Rob Scuderi
Sean O`Donnell
Tim Gleason
Willie Mitchell

Here's my roster. I'm pretending there's no salary cap, by the way.

Cammalleri - Kopitar - Williams

Gagne - Richards - Brown

Moulson - Stoll - Purcell

Clifford - Lewis - Simmonds

(Penner, Boyle)

Doughty - Johnson

Scuderi - Visnovsky

Quincey - Gleason

(Martinez)

Quick - Bernier

Okay, that's not a bad team. You might think Frolov deserves a spot. Maybe you think Penner doesn't. Maybe Matt Greene is a better choice that Quincey or Gleason. Etc. There are lots of ways to go. But it would be hard to argue that's a worse team than what we have currently.

The only problem is, that roster has a cap hit of $77.2 million. Nearly $13MM over the cap. (I figured $7MM for Doughty, by the way; and used the current cap hits of the other players). I know I said I was ignoring the cap for the purpose of the above exercise. But now I'm bringing it back. Because that roster -- in which we got Stoll but kept Lubo, kept Quincey, got Johnson but kept Gleason, got Richards but kept Simmonds, and never traded Cammalleri -- could never be. Even if you wanted to have that much depth (Penner in the press box, etc.), the cap prevents it.

So, how am I going to get this roster down under the cap ceiling? I've got $12.8MM to shed.

Okay, I'm getting rid of Penner and Boyle. You can't have $6MM of cap hit sitting in the press box. So they're gone.
For the sake of argument, replace them with one $550K forward, doesn't matter who. Say it's Westgarth, because, well, Murray is still the coach, right?
$7.3MM, roughly, still left to shed. Sorry, Lubo. Martinez is in, you're out. That's a savings of nearly $5MM right there. Add back in Muzzin as the 7th d, and you've got a salary dump of a little more than $4MM.
Still about $3MM left to shed. And since you have to replace that body, the dumped player is going to have to have a cap hit around $3.5-4MM.
Gagne, Stoll or Scuderi, perhaps? If it's Scuderi, you could drop in Davis Drewiske. If it's Gagne or Stoll, you could use Brad Richardson.
(isn't it starting to look like Cammalleri is messing everything up? Or is it Moulson and Purcell? Yeah, it would be nice to have those two, maybe. But that's $5.5MM in cap hit right there, for those two guys.)
I'm going to bite the bullet and say goodbye to Cammalleri, and bring back Penner. That's a savings of $1.75MM, leaving us with $1.25MM to go.
Goodbye Quincey, hello Drewiske. Now, we're under the cap. And this is my cap-conscious roster:

Moulson - Kopitar - Williams

Gagne - Richards - Purcell

Penner - Stoll - Brown

Clifford - Lewis - Simmonds

(Westgarth)

Doughty - Johnson

Scuderi - Martinez

Muzzin - Gleason

(Drewiske)

Quick - Bernier

And how is that different than what we really have?

Moulson and Purcell instead of Richardson and Parse.
Gleason and Muzzin instead of Greene and Mitchell.
And Simmonds instead of (I'm guessing) Loktionov.

The defense of my fictional team is a bit faster and less experienced. The forwards? Look, if Moulson and Purcell combine for 50 goals this year, that's going to be hard for Parse and Richardson to match. But it's not their jobs to match it. Because those are bottom-six guys for us, and the comparables for Purcell and Moulson on the current Kings team are Penner and Brown -- or Gagne and Williams, depending how you look at it -- and either of those pairs will outscore Moulson/Purcell this season, while playing better on both sides of the puck, and hitting a few people along the way.

So, after all that, I'll stick with what we have. (And wait for Toffoli and Deslauriers.)

Those are my results. What did you come up with?

Picking Through The Goaltending Scrap Heap

Derek Zona — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 12:30:32 -0000

"Nikolai Khabibulin is no longer a good goaltender. He hasn't been for quite some time, but his performance last season was truly abominable. His save percentage was among the lowest in the NHL, thanks in large part to his (lack of) performance when the team was short-handed. Even if that number comes back a little bit - and I expect that it will - it's overwhelmingly likely that the man who will turn thirty-nine during the 2011-12 season is going to be well below average... if he can stay healthy."

--Scott Reynolds, "Buying Out Nikolai Khabibulin"

"Honestly, even projecting him to get back to the level of Jeff Deslauriers in 2009-10 is blue-skying at this point."

--Jonathan Willis, "Nikolai Khabibulin ≠ Tim Thomas"

"What an absolutely bitter pill. I mean really. The Edmonton Oilers are in a worse position today than they were last fall! Khabibulin is a year older and miles from his last effective season, Gerber is long gone and Yann Danis is the only incoming help. A tremendous amount of pressure is on young Devan Dubnyk, a completely unnecessary risk."

--Lowetide, "Do the Oilers stay with the NK-DD tandem in 11-12 or go shopping?"

"And there's Nikolai Khabibulin's five-hole, which is such a prominent part of this team I think it has a cap hit. Seeing the puck slide between Khabibulin's legs like that just like old times made me feel positively cozy. You know that feeling when you're back home for the holidays, and your family is bantering and you're holding a cup of spiked egg nog and a warm feeling of familiarity and satisfaction drifts over you? Imagine that feeling, except instead of warm it's like being stabbed in the face by an ice pick of despair."

--Ben Massey being Ben Massey.

There are exactly five people who still believe in Nikolai Khabibulin: Steve Tambellini, Bob Stauffer and three commenters at Oilers Nation. Lowetide is right - backing up Dubnyk with one of the most injury-prone, oldest, and worst goaltenders in the league is an unnecessary risk. Taking the risk leaves the Barons exposed and puts the NHL club in dire straights should Dubnyk go down to injury. It's late in the free agency season, but is there anyone out there who can still help?

If it's a savior they want, the Oilers aren't going to find him in the leftovers. If they're looking for a better goaltender than Nikolai Khabibulin, they're in luck because there are a few of them still available. They're all flawed, of course, but so is Khabibulin. Khabibulin is 39 years old, injury prone with a number of nagging injuries, has a DUI conviction and appeal hanging over his head and he's an awful puck-handler, something the already under-manned defense shouldn't have to deal with.

The contenders to replace Khabibulin are listed below, along with their age, total minutes since the lockout, total save percentage since the lockout and their save percentage by year.

	Age	Minutes	5-yr Sv. Pct.	2010	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005
Erik Ersberg	28	2827	0.910		0.906	0.900	0.927
Ray Emery	28	9419	0.908	0.926	0.905		0.890	0.918	0.902
Marty Turco	35	20349	0.905	0.897	0.913	0.898	0.909	0.910	0.898
Pascal Leclaire	28	9287	0.903	0.908	0.887	0.867	0.919	0.897	0.911
Nikolai Khabibulin	39	15389	0.901	0.890	0.909	0.919	0.909	0.902	0.886

Emery and Leclaire come with significant injury risk but Emery checked out with Anaheim's doctors and should be good to go. With a clean bill of health, Emery is a much more reliable option compared to the aged Russian. Leclaire is a poor option -- he seems like he's injured more than he's healthy and his numbers haven't been that much better than Khabibulin. Turco, for all of the beatings he's taken in the last six years, has been better than Khabibulin four of the last six seasons. If he's willing to take a near-minimum deal, he's a slightly better option than Khabibulin and he's typically healthy.

The wild card is Erik Ersberg. After being demoted to Manchester out of training camp, he hung on for awhile, then bolted for the KHL without permission from the Kings. The Kings promptly waived him and terminated his contract. Ersberg signed with Ufa Salavat Yulayev and played 18 games during the KHL regular season, posting a .926 save percentage. Ersberg started 20 of 21 playoff games for Ufa, posting a .933 save percentage as he led his new squad to the Gagarin Cup. He's played the fewest NHL minutes of anyone in the above group (even Pascal Leclaire). In fact, he's played so few minutes that we don't have a solid idea of his true talent level.

If Devan Dubnyk earns the starting job, and that's not a good bet, given Stauffer's comments from Willis' article, he would start approximately 50 games in 2011-12. That leaves 32 games plus spot relief for the backup goaltender. A reliable, healthy backup matters at the NHL level and the AHL level. The Oilers still have a chance to bring in someone to back up Devan Dubnyk and send Nikolai Khabibulin to Oklahoma City to play third-string to Olivier Roy and Yann Danis.

Ray Emery is the logical choice if he has a clean bill of health, but my choice is Erik Ersberg. Given what's transpired between the Kings and the Oilers, Ersberg would add to the hostilities, especially if he were to find his game and put up KHL-like numbers. Ersberg beating the Kings during the Spring of 2012 is funny. Ersberg putting together a .925 season, leading the Oilers into the playoffs, would be downright hilarious and an overt gesture from Steve Tambellini to Dean Lombardi. Both men are just 28 years old, only 4 years older than Devan Dubnyk. They both have a chance to be a reliable second-string goaltender for a long time. If the Oilers give either one a chance and they pan out, the team would be in a strong position to re-sign them, eliminating a source of constant worry since Dwayne Roloson left town.

IIHF WC Day 8 Thread: Regional Rivals Take Over

Bruce Peter — Fri, 06 May 2011 13:43:39 -0000

Four more qualification round games take place today, highlighted by the USA vs. Canada, and the hosts Slovakia vs. Czech Republic.

Germany (2-0-0-0) vs. Finland (1-0-0-1) - 4:15 PM local, 10:15 AM EST

The Germans have already knocked off Slovakia and Russia so far, and look to continue their giant-killing reputation when they take on Finland today. Germany has gone with a 'score by committee' approach, backed by excellent team defence and goaltending from Dennis Endras. Finland, meanwhile, have been led offensively by Jarkko Immonen and Mikael Granlund, while being very stingy defensively, giving up few shots. This game is more important for Finland, but Germany will have wrapped up a quarterfinal spot with a regulation win here.

Canada (1-1-0-0) vs. United States (1-0-0-1) - 4:15 PM local, 10:15 AM EST

Canada/USA has become the key international rivalry of the 21st century, but at the IIHF World Championships it really hasn't been all that memorable. These are very young teams for both sides, with Canada being led by the likes of Jordan Eberle, John Tavares and Jeff Skinner offensively. For the Americans, they counter with Derek Stepan, Nick Palmieri, and NCAA player Craig Smith, plus Cam Fowler playing a key role from the blueline. Many of these players have experienced the Canada vs. USA rivalry at either the U20 or U18 level, and this will be their first taste of it at the senior level.

Czech Republic (2-0-0-0) vs. Slovakia (0-0-0-2) - 8:15 PM local, 2:15 PM EST

The crowd in Bratislava will be rocking for this one, as the home side needs a win desperately. The breakup of Czechoslovakia was one of the most amicable in human history, and this rivalry has never really developed a nasty side, but with the Slovak desperation don't rule anything out. The Czechs offence has been rolling so far, led by Milan Michalek, Michael Frolik, Martin Havlat, Patrik Elias and Roman Cervenka all with three points in three games. Ondrej Pavelec has been dominant in goal so far, unlike his counterpart Jaroslav Halak for Slovakia. They'll need Halak to be better, but Slovakia will also need more offensively out of Marion Gaborik and Marian Hossa. Ladislav Nagy and Miroslav Satan lead Slovakia in scoring so far.

Sweden (1-0-1-0) vs. France (0-0-1-1) - 8:15 PM local, 2:15 PM EST

Every game in this group is important, so Sweden can't afford to take the surprising French team lightly. Sweden has already been beaten by Norway in this tournament, so don't expect any such underestimating in this one. The Tre Kronor has been led by Patrik Berglund, David Petrasek, and Robert Nilsson offensively, while Viktor Fästh has taken over as the team's go-to goalie after Erik Ersberg faltered against Norway. France has relied on a team commitment to defense, while getting a lot of production out of 6'5" Czech Extraliga forward Sacha Treille. Ultimately, Cristobal Huet is the team's last line of defence and he has been excellent so far in his first national team action since 2008.

Join us today for updates and discussion in the comments.

World Championship Preview: Group C

Bruce Peter — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 06:31:22 -0000

Austria

Pre-Championship Rank:  14
Total WC Medals:  2 bronze
Total Olympic Medals:  none
World/Canada Cup:  never invited
Most Recent Championship:  Won 1927 European Championship
2010 Olympic Finish:  Did not qualify, 13th overall
2010 World Championship:  Gold at Division 1, Group A (17th place)

Austria is another one of the older European hockey nations, and with an alpine geography they're well accustomed to playing winter sports. However, hockey has never really caught on, and has been a secondary sport. That's changing a bit, as the Austrian based EBEL is one of the few Central European leagues that is growing in appeal and quality. Still, the nation's top player didn't become that way by playing in the EBEL, he did so by coming to North America and going through the NCAA. The Austrians don't particularly care about that fact, they're just happy that Thomas Vanek's NHL season ended in time for him to join the team for the preliminary round.

Vanek will be leading the forward group, and team in general, who are made almost exclusively up of Austrian league players. Veteran Thomas Koch will probably draw in as the team's top centre, after being the top Austrian born scorer in the EBEL this year for the wealthiest team, Red Bull Salzburg. The Raffl brothers, Michael and Thomas, will also be counted on. Thomas played half the season with Luleå of the Elitserien, and the younger Michael is scheduled to head to Sweden next year, playing with Leksand of the Allsvenskan. On defence, the team has one naturalized Canadian veteran in Darcy Werenka, who never made the NHL but kicked around in the AHL, IHL, SM-Liiga and DEL before moving to Austria for good in 2003. This is the 37 year old's 4th appearance with the national team. A surprise ommission was former U20 star Stefan Ulmer, who I guess is considered a little to green for the big show. He played regular minutes with Lugano of the NLA. Goaltending used to be the realm of former NHLer Reinhard Divis, but this year the torch has been passed, with EBEL veteran Jürgen Penker the likely starter.

Austria will try and play tough against the Americans and Norwegians, looking to scratch a few points to avoid heading to the relegation round. Getting further than that is highly unlikely.

Norway

Pre-Championship Rank:  11
Total WC Medals:  none
Total Olympic Medals:  none
World/Canada Cup:  never invited
Most Recent Championship:  none, finished 4th in 1951 World Championships
2010 Olympic Finish:  10th
2010 World Championship:  9th

Norway has always been in the shadow of their Nordic neighbours in Sweden and Finland, but in recent years the country has made some gains. Many of Norway's top players are leaving the country to play in Sweden, North America and even Russia. The team has a couple of well known forwards to international fans in Patrick Thoreson and Mats Zuccarello Aasen, but neither are in Slovakia. Zuccarello has a broken hand, while Thoresen decided to spend the next few weeks with his family, after being away from them for 22 of the past 24 months. It's a big blow, as Zuccarello was the Elitserien MVP last year and finished his NHL rookie season, while Thoresen is one of the KHL's brightest stars, helping Salavat Yulaev Ufa to the Gagarin Cup this year.

So that leaves an unheralded crew of forwards to lead the way offensively. They're essentially down their top line, so it's unsure who will step up for the team in their absence. Per-Åge Skrøder will be the obvious choice, as he's the only player who scored regularly in the Elitserien for MODO, which has become a bit of a hotspot for Norwegian talent. Martin Røymark is another who will be counted on, while brothers Ken-Andre and Mathis Olimb will be looked on for secondary scoring. On defence, things are looking better. Former NHLer Ole-Kristian Tollefson and current NHLer Jonas Holøs will be the go to guys, while Lars Løkken Østli will be featured prominently as well. In goal, it's the carpenter Pål Grotnes that will be back in goal for the team.

Sorry, Twitter, no more Tore Vikingstad, who retired from the team last year. He'd still be a top player for Norway if he played after a successful season in Germany.

Norway's key game will be against Austria, and the team has shown great resiliency at this tournament, staying up the past five years and only once in that time being put into the relegation round. But without their top stars up front, can they maintain this progress?

Sweden

Pre-Championship Rank:  3
Total WC Medals:  8 gold, 18 silver, 16 bronze
Total Olympic Medals:  2 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze
World/Canada Cup:  1984 Runners-up
Most Recent Championship:  2006 Double Gold (Olympics, World Championship)
2010 Olympic Finish:  5th
2010 World Championship:  Bronze

Sweden is a global power, and even as a well established nation, they've proven to be on the rise in recent years. Some would argue they're set to overtake Russia as the dominant European nation, but the World Championship level hasn't born out that success in recent years. Indeed, their golden generation even underachieved in the eyes of a lot of Swedish fans, and though that generation closed out with the double gold in 2006, there is a bit of a time lag for their new crop of impressive junior players to reach the pinnacle at the senior level. The team has been in the bronze medal game the past four World Championships, but missed the medals completely at the 2010 Olympics. Soon this bridesmaid will be the bride again, and this year's roster offers a peak into how that will happen. Can it happen this year is the bigger question.

Rickard Wallin may be the captain, but he'll be looked at as a checking forward this year. Young stars like Magnus Pääjärvi, Mattias Tendenby, Patrik Berglund and Mikael Backlund are on this team for a simple reason: scoring goals. Pääjärvi was the tournament's top player last year, but was a bit of a victim of the numbers game in Edmonton this past year as a rookie, rarely playing in scoring situations. Still, he has an impressive skill set and will likely be a key player in both the NHL and the international scene for the next decade or longer. NHL star Loui Eriksson will be the team's most reliable offensive player, while Euro league scorers like Robert Nilsson and Martin Thörnberg give Sweden more depth than a lot of the teams at this tournament. On defense, NHL players Nicklas Grossman and Carl Gunnarsson will be looked upon for big minutes, while teenager Oliver Ekman-Larsson will also play a prominent role. In goal, Erik Ersberg and Viktor Fasth were two of the best goalies in Europe this past year, and both could be in the NHL next year as a result.

Sweden is a legitimate contender for the gold, and I'm not too concerned about the young age of the players. There doesn't sound like a lot of ringers coming in from the NHL late, but we'll see, it's still early. This is Par Marts' first year as the Tre Kronor head coach, and he'll be heavily scrutinized as all Swedish coaches are.

United States of America

Pre-Championship Rank:  6
Total WC Medals:  2 gold, 9 silver, 5 bronze
Total Olympic Medals:  2 gold, 8 silver, 1 bronze
World/Canada Cup:  1996 Champion, 1991 Runner-up
Most Recent Championship:  1996 World Cup
2010 Olympic Finish:  Silver
2010 World Championship:  13th

This tournament isn't very high on Americans radar, both for fans and players. USA Hockey does the best they can with the tournament, offering it as a bit of a farm team for the Olympic team, breaking in young players who are either new professionals or still in junior or college. It also eyes some depth NHL players to play similar roles for the team, and this year isn't much different.

The big gets on this team are the NHL rookies: Derek Stepan returns to a USA uniform for the first time since captaining the WJC gold medal team in 2010, while Nick Palmieri will also be looked at for offence despite his lack of experience. On defence, the trio of Cam Fowler, Kevin Shattenkirk and Ryan McDonagh show an early eye towards 2014. However, it's not all kids: Blake Wheeler will be counted on for goals up front, as will Ryan Shannon. On the blueline, Mark Stuart was named team captain and will be counted on in defensive situations, and Mike Komisarek is getting an opportunity to play for the stars and stripes after missing the 2010 Olympics with an injury. Ty Conklin is a veteran Team USA goalie, and the goalie of record for the country's last WC medal in 2004 (bronze). However, former WJC gold medalists Al Montoya and Jack Campbell are also around, showing a continuity in the USA Hockey program.

Chris Peters of United States of Hockey does it better than I could. I agree with him, this team isn't likely to challenge for a medal, but a quarterfinal berth is almost needed at this point for 2014 Olympic qualificaiton.

Schedule

Apr. 30: USA vs. Austria (4:15 PM local, 10:15 AM EST)
Apr. 30: Norway vs. Sweden (8:15 PM local, 2:15 PM EST)
May 2: USA vs. Norway (4:15 PM local, 10:15 AM EST)
May 2: Sweden vs. Austria (8:15 PM local, 2:15 PM EST)
May 4: Austria vs. Norway (4:15 PM local, 10:15 AM EST)
May 4: Sweden vs. USA (8:15 PM local, 2:15 PM EST)

Prediction: 1. Sweden, 2. USA, 3. Austria, 4. Norway

Gunnarsson Going to the Worlds

JP Nikota — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 11:01:03 -0000

I suppose it won't come as a shock to anyone that Carl Gunnarsson has been named to the Swedish team at the World Championships in Slovakia, but it's still good to hear it. The goaltending will be supplied by two Swedish Elite League goalies and Erik Ersberg from the KHL - no mention of Gustavsson, though again, not a shocker. All this, courtesy of Sleza, the wonderful Finn, who I presume translated this from Swedish.

Jump for more links.

The Other Leafs Link:

Leafs strike task force to study women's hockey
Leafs GM Brian Burke downplays idea that the NHL might operate a women's pro league, but says the team owes it to their fan base to invest in development.

Other Hockey Links:

Groucho Marx on Joe Thornton
What's wrong with Big Joe's playoff game?

U.S. women dump Canada in OT for gold
Hilary Knight's overtime goal gives United States a 3-2 win and a third straight women’s world hockey championship. Booourns.

One of the best games I ever saw in person
Michael Langlois remembers Game 7 between Montreal and Boston, in the 1979 Cup semi-finals.

Monday’s Three Stars
Wyshynski's picks.

Canadian takes helm in bid to buy Stars and their arena
The Dallas franchise is currently in bankruptcy court, a situation all too familiar for other southern fans.

No love lost between Flyers, Sabres
James Mirtle looks at the upcoming match.

Lightning stop Pens to force Game 7
Steve Downie broke a third period deadlock Tampa Bay comes up with 4-2 win over Pittsburgh. From Fred Goodall at the Globe and Mail.

Sharks eliminate Kings in OT - The Globe and Mail
Joe Thornton’s overtime winner gives San Jose to 4-3 Game 6 win in LA on Monday night. Good game, if you didn't get a chance to watch. By Beth Harris.

Jamie Storr's Basement, Ersberg's mask, Toffoli and Weal deals, Kings Past and Future (clippings and notes)

Quisp — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 04:17:04 -0000

Follow the link to see Erik's mask.

Salavat Graphix - Erik Ersberg, Salavat Yulaev Ufa, KHL, 2011
Erik Ersberg won the Gagarin Cup in Russia wearing this design, a design created with airbrush and brush in stylish spirit. Erik always wants graphically clean and stylish designs and this design is strongly inspired by the club’s logo. The name of the club, Salavat Yulaev, comes from the name of an old rebel and national hero, and on one side I painted the statue of him in graphic style. The rest of the mask is a symphony of colors and tints matching the uniform.

It looks like his name was drawn on with Sharpies.

Toffoli signs with Kings - Ottawa Citizen
Tyler Toffoli, the Ottawa 67’s star now playing for the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League, signed a three-year entry-level contract with the National Hockey League’s Los Angeles Kings on Monday. Toffoli, who turns 19 on Sunday, has one goal in three playoff games with Manchester. He compiled 57 goals and 51 assists in 68 regular-season games with the 67’s.

Happy Birthday, Tyler, and congratulations.

Jordan Weal signs entry-level contract with Los Angeles Kings
Regina Pats centre Jordan Weal has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the NHL's Los Angeles Kings. Weal, a 19-year-old product of North Vancouver, B.C., was taken by the Kings in the third round (70th overall) of the 2010 draft. The 5-foot-10, 166-pound centre tied for fifth in the WHL scoring race during the 2010-11 regular season with 96 points, including a career-high 43 goals. After the Pats' season ended, Weal played in seven regular-season games with the Kings' AHL affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs, and recorded one assist.

That makes it sound like Weal isn't "with" the Monarchs anymore. Anyone know what's up there?

HOFFARTH: What's in Storr? It's Hockey 101 - LA Daily News
At a bit past 8 o'clock on a Friday night, Jamie Storr's rowdy hockey clubhouse is at full volume. Up in the far top corner of the Kings' El Segundo practice facility, behind the snack stand and through a couple of glass doors, the average visitor might not even know it's there. [...] There's a couple of 7-year-olds who just finished a half hour of hockey practice back at it, having a ball. [...] They're sweating and swinging around on harnesses strapped up to a contraption of overhead metal pipes and support beams, suspended over what's called the "Endless Ice" conveyor belt. Storr [...] crouches in front of them and tosses tennis balls to work on hand-eye coordination.[...] On the other side of the room, another couple of kids slide around on a larger piece of faux ice. They cradle passes on their stick blades sent to them by another former Kings player, Brandon Convery, and launch them at the empty net. Just a bit earlier, Storr was behind a puck-launching machine, rapidly firing rubber from all angles at a teenaged goalie in full pads who worked on glove saves.

The 35-year-old Storr, in a T-shirt, shorts and flip-flops, enjoys every "ah-hah" moment the kids discover in their training journey.[...]

"This takes me back to the basement of my parent's house, when we'd watch `Hockey Night in Canada' and we'd eat, sleep and drink hockey," said Storr, a Toronto native and son of a hockey goalie who now runs his own goalie school, teaches kids in camps and clinics and gives private lessons. "Back then, we'd do everything ourselves, push each other, just having fun. Now it feels like I'm giving these kids their own basement, their own hangout." [...]

The Kings' first-round pick (seventh overall) in the 1994 draft was starting games at 19. In nine seasons with the franchise, he remains among goalie leaders in games played (fourth at 205), wins (fifth with 85), shutouts (second with 16), goals-against average (fourth at 2.44) and tied for second in save percentage (.910). The Kings even asked him back as a practice goalie last season when Quick was away at the Olympics.

[...] The unusual treadmill, which can get up to 20 mph with the 7.5 horsepower engine, is the centerpiece of the facility that opened for instruction six months ago. "Some may think it's a gimmick, this mouse-on-a-wheel thing," said Storr [...]. "But [...] they learn about the proper technique, weight transfer, how their upper and lower body works together, staying balanced. The treadmill exposes any flaws. It picks everything apart. "The real neat part is when you see a kid who has a breakthrough moment and really gets it."

I was in there with my 7 year-old a few months back when they were just opening. My son asked for "endless ice" for Christmas.

UW men's hockey: What if Murray turns pro?

There's nothing new on the Jordy Murray front, but there is a bit of news in the event the junior winger decides to leave the University of Wisconsin men's hockey team to play professionally in Europe. According to an email from Andy Murray, Jordy's father, there may be a resolution this week ... or not. To review: Because Jordy was registered as a player in Switzerland as a child -- his father coached there at the time -- Jordy could land a lucrative, coveted spot on a pro team right now due to his non-foreigner status. [It's] hard to imagine Jordy Murray passing up an NHL-like salary and returning to UW. Who could blame him?