SB Nation - Pascal Pelletier

Friday links: Wishing for a home ice win tonight edition

averagejoe — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:00:24 -0000

It's Friday. I can't wait for this week to end.

Blues news

The Oilers vs. Blues tonight. Here's a preview. [CBS Sports]
Ty Conklin has done well as a backup. I'm not used to the Blues having a backup who doesn't make me cringe. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
The Oilers are trying to make history in St. Louis. [Toronto Sun]
Pascal Pelletier is pretty happy to get out of the of Syracuse and into the Blues orgnaization. Also, his eyes are very close together. [Peoria Journal Star]
From the good Dr. (drfrankentweed) comes a nice little article on the Eureka fury, Cam Janssen. [Duffer's Dabbles]

Hockey news

Thursday's results. [Yahoo! Sports]
In case you want to watch something while the Blues are on, here are Friday's games. [Yahoo! Sports]
Fenway Park is being set up to play hockey. Stanley Cup of Chowder has some videos of the set up. [Stanley Cup of Chowder]
Dominik only roots for teams that can't score goals. Outside of John Tavares and Matt Moulsan, the Islanders are having trouble putting the puck in the net. [Lighthouse Hockey]
Dan Cleary will be out for a month after hurting himself against the Blues. [TSN]
Steven Stamkos and Ryan Malone are both day-to-day. Gotta love the NHL injury rules. [TSN]
At 51, Slave Fetisov — one of the Russian Red Wings — will play for CSKA Moscow on Friday. And it's not a stunt. The team actually needs him. [TSN]
Pierre LeBrun wants to copy baseball and have Summer meetings for the NHL. [ESPN]

Other links

I'm pretty sure we have some House fans around here. I'm told this is the show in a nutshell. [Pic]

Video

I don't know if this video is supposed to be a commentary about how movie trailers are pointless, but all I can say is I'd see this movie.

Poor College Student has the weekend shift. Send him links at gametimelinks(at)gmail.com

Jackets Trade Pelletier to Blues

Mike MacLean — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:18:57 -0000

The Jackets big offseason pickup for the Crunch this past summer-Pascal Pelletier- was traded to the St. Louis Blues today for defenseman Brendan Bell and prospect Tomas Kana. Things just weren't working out for Pelletier in Syracuse, and the Crunch defense needed an upgrade. Bell played over fifty games in the NHL last year with Ottawa, and will be another callup-worthy blueliner for Columbus. Kana is a prospect that I liked back in 2006, a guy I was following. I'm not sure why he hasn't been putting up major points in North America thus far, but I am excited to see what he can do in a fresh organization like Columbus. Without knowing the actual numbers, I'd say we have to be at or near the top of the league in terms of Czech players.

I like this move a lot for both the Crunch and the Jackets. Bell is a more offensive-minded defenseman, so in the case of injury, depending on who on the Columbus blueline gets hurt, Mathieu Roy won't be the default option. If they need points, call up Bell. Grit- call up Roy. Kana is intriguiing because he is a fairly recent second round pick who may just be a late-bloomer.

Good trade.

2009-10 Columbus Blue Jackets Season Preview

Mike MacLean — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:00:22 -0000

Rick Nash, scoring the goal that clinched the first-ever playoff berth for the Jackets

2008-2009 Recap: The '08-'09 season was the most successful in franchise history, as the team made the playoffs for the first time and two players came away with some hardware at the NHL Award ceremony. The biggest story for the Jackets, aside from making the postseason dance for the first time, was the emergence of goaltender Steve Mason. After starting the season on the injured list, he made three starts in Syracuse of the AHL before getting called up to Columbus. The rest is history as Mason not only supplanted Pascal Leclaire as the starting goaltender (which led to Leclaire being traded to the Senators at the deadline for Antoine Vermette) but he also went on the win the Calder trophy, as the NHL's top rookie. The reigns were officially handed to Rick Nash, who led the Jackets in scoring and won the NHL's Foundation Player award for his work in the community. It was also his first full season wearing the captain's "C" in Columbus.

There was a significant amount of turnover in the offseason leading up to last year, with the team adding new faces in RJ Umberger, Kristian Huselius, and Mike Commodore via free agency. The team also traded enigmatic winger Nik Zherdev to the Rangers for Fedor Tyutin, who became the Jackets top defenceman. Before being sidelined for the season due to injury, Derick Brassard was having a true breakout in his rookie season, and would have given Mason a run for his money in terms of the Calder race. Other rookies to make a significant impact were Jakub Voracek and Derek Dorsett.

The team's stay in the playoffs last year was a short one, suffering a sweep at the hand's of the defending champion and eventual Western Conference champ Detroit Red Wings.

Who's In: The Jackets didn't have the same level of turnover as last summer, but nonetheless dipped into free agency again. The signed center Sammy Pahlsson to be their everyday checking center, and Mathieu Garon to back up Steve Mason. Mason was overworked last year, and it showed down the stretch. Signing a veteran and former starter like Garon will allow the team to give Mason more rest. The incumbent checking center, Manny Malhotra, wasn't given a new offer and was let go as a free agent. Pahlsson replaces him, and will fill the third line center role much better than Manny, due to the fact that Pahlsson is a more defined player. Also looking to crack the roster is rookie Nikita Filatov. Other new faces could include Mike Blunden or Alex Picard, two players who have spent their careers in the minors thus far but are looking to crack the NHL squad.The Jackets signed free agent Pascal Pelletier as a depth forward, and Mathieu Roy as a backup blueliner. They will likely spend a bulk of the season in Syracuse.

Who's Out: The Jackets let go a handful of veteran players. As I mentioned before, Manny Malhotra wasn't brought back, ditto for Mike Peca, Jason Williams, Christian Backman, Aaron Rome, Chris Gratton, Wade Dubielewicz, Jiri Novotny and Ole-Krisitan Tollefsen. Minor league players who weren't offered contracts include Kyle Wharton, Trevor Hendrikx, Jon Landry, Craig MacDonald, Steve Kelly, Mike York, Petr Pohl and Jon Vigilante.

Sterngths: As with any club coached by Ken Hitchcock, the Jackets will be strong defensively, and will play with a physical edge. The defensive unit is underrated, with some very physical players who like to bang the body. They play a tight game in the defensive zone which limits chances. Rick Nash is a stud up front, and wi

ll score between 40 and 50 goals consistently. There are some other great young forwards on the team, namely Derick Brassard, Jakub Voracek and potentially Nik Filatov.Steve Mason is a rock in net, and will look to build off of an impressive rookie year.

Weaknesses: The team is absolutely woeful on the powerplay. They finished dead last in the league last year with the man advantage, and did nothing to improve the situation of lacking a true PP quarterback. Coinciding with the lack of a PP QB, the team is also thin on puck-moving blueliners. Outside of Kris Russell, the Jackets don't posses a legit offensive threat on the back-end. It's relevance to the game can be argued, but the Jackets lack an enforcer. There are guys who are willing to drop the gloves, like Dorsett and Jared Boll, but neither are a true heavyweight.

Depth Chart:

Kristian Huselius - Derick Brassard - Rick Nash

RJ Umberger - Antoine Vermette - Jakub Voracek

Nikita Filatov - Sammy Pahlsson - Fredrik Modin

Jason Chimera - Derek Dorsett - Raffi Torres

Extra: Andrew Murray, Jared Boll

Fedor Tyutin - Rostislav Klesla

Mike Commodore - Jan Hejda

Kris Russell - Marc Methot

Extra: Mathieu Roy

Steve Mason

Mathieu Garon

Predictions: This is a tough one to call. I think it's safe to say that by playing with Nash and Huselius, Brassard will have a strong season. I'm willing to say 60-70 points. That may seem a little high, but you can't forget the pace he was on last year before the injury. Before season's end I think Jason Chimera will have found a new home, due to the emergence of Nikita Filatov. Filatov will be a Calder finalist. Steve Mason will continue to be brilliant in goal, and Garon will be one of the ttop backups in the league. Antoine Vermette will have a career year, his first as a full-time scoring line center. These predictions are fearless!

This will certainly be an interesting year for the Jackets, will they follow up their first trip tot he postseason by going deeper into the playoffs? Will Filatov truly be the star we all hope he will be? Can Mason avoid the sophomore slump? These questions will make for a most interesting season!

Poll

Who will be the top 5 scorers for the Jackets this season?

Nash, Brassard, Huselius, Umberger, Voracek

43 votes

Nash, Brassard, Umberger, Voracek, Filatov

14 votes

Nash, Huselius, Umberger, Voracek, Vermette

12 votes

Nash, Brassard, Umberger, Voracek, Vermette

27 votes

Nash, Brassard, Umberger, Vermette, Filatov

28 votes

Nash, Brassard, Vermette, Filatov, Voracek

33 votes

Another combination

37 votes

194 votes | Poll has closed

Jackets Training Camp Roster (with Cuts)

Mike MacLean — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:17:56 -0000

This is the Jackets 2009 training camp roster- with every cut I will strike the players name, and in brackets show where they were assigned. This will be a section you can find on the left of the page along with the depth chart and top prospect list.

Forwards

~~Andrew Agozzino~~ (Released)

~~Darren Archibald~~ (Barrie Colts, OHL)

~~Jared Aulin~~ (Syracuse Crunch, AHL)

Jared Boll

Mike Blunden

Derek Brassard

~~Matt Calvert~~ (Brandon Wheat Kings, WHL)

~~Matt Caria~~ (Released)

Jason Chimera

~~Andrew Clark~~ (Released)

Derek Dorsett

~~Ian Duval~~ (Released)

Nikita Filatov

~~Trevor Frischmon~~ (Syracuse Crunch, AHL)

~~Kevin Harvey~~ (Syracuse Crunch, AHL)

~~Chris Higgins~~ (Syracuse Crunch, AHL)

Kristian Huselius

~~Tayler Jordan~~ (Released)

~~Tomas Kubalik~~ (Victoriaville Tigres, QMJHL)

~~Stefan Legein~~ (Syracuse Crunch, AHL)

~~Derek MacKenzie~~ (Syracuse Crunch, AHL)

~~Cass Mappin~~ (Released)

~~Maksim Mayorov~~ (Syracuse Crunch, AHL)

~~Brock McBride~~ (Syracuse Crunch, AHL)

~~Tim Miller~~ (Syracuse Crunch (AHL)

~~Jon Mirasty~~ (Syracuse Crunch, AHL)

+ Fredrik Modin

~~Tyler Murovich~~ (Syracuse Crunch, AHL)

Andrew Murray

Rick Nash

~~Kyle Neuber~~ (Mississauga/Syracuse)

Sammy Pahlsson

~~Pascal Pelletier~~ (Syracuse Crunch, AHL)

~~Alexandre Picard~~ (Syracuse Crunch, AHL)

~~Zak Ray~~ (Released)

~~Tom Sestito~~ (Syracuse Crunch, AHL)

~~Daniel Steiner~~ (Released)

~~Scott Tanski~~ (Brampton Battaltion, OHL)

Defensemen

~~Paul Bezzo~~ (Released)

~~Anton Blomqvist~~ (Malmo, Sweden)

~~Cam Brodie~~ (Syracuse Crunch, AHL)

~~Grant Clitsome~~ (Syracuse Crunch, AHL)

Mike Commodore

~~Steve Delisle~~e (Gatineau Olympique, QMJHL)

~~Tim Filangieri~~ (Syracuse Crunch, AHL)

Jan Hejda

~~Nick Holden~~ (Syracuse Crunch, AHL)

Rostislav Klesla

~~David Liffiton~~ (Syracuse Crunch, AHL)

~~Doug Lynch~~ (Released, Austria)

~~Spencer McAvoy~~ (Released)

Marc Methot

~~John Moore~~ (Kitchener Rangers, OHL)

~~Andrey Plekhanov~~ (Syracuse Crunch, AHL)

~~Dylan Reese~~ (Released)

~~Brent Regner~~ (Syracuse Crunch, AHL)

~~Kevin Roeder~~ (Syracuse Crunch, AHL)

~~Mathieu Roy~~ (Syracuse Crunch, AHL)

Kris Russell

~~David Savard~~ (Moncon Wildcats, QMJHL)

~~Jonathan Sigalet~~ (Syracuse Crunch, AHL)

~~Martin Skoula~~ (Released)

Anton Stralman

Fedor Tyutin

Goaltenders

Mathieu Garon

~~Dan LaCosta~~ (Syracuse Crunch, AHL)

~~Kevin Lalande~~ (Syracuse Crunch, AHL)

~~Andrew Loverock~~ (Syracuse Crunch, AHL)

Steve Mason

~~Jamie Tucker~~ (Released)

B's Game Notes: Bruins 5 Blackhawks 3

Stanley Cup of Chowder — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 21:55:57 -0000

Mark Recchi taught some of the NHL's brightest young stars a firsthand lesson this afternoon at the TD Banknorth Garden: good things happen when you go to the net. The newly acquired 41-year old winger led the way for the B's with 2 goals in the Bruin's 5-3 victory over the visiting Chicago Blackhawks.

The Bruins jumped out to a 1-0 lead midway through the first period when Chuck Kobasew slid a backhand pass to Mark Rechi, who received the puck at the doorstep and beat Cristobal Huet for his first goal as a member of the Boston Bruins. After outplaying the Blackhawks in almost every facet of the game during the period, the B's headed off the ice for the first intermission, up 1-0 and out-shooting the Hawks 15-7.

The Blackhawks tied the game at 1-1 at 15:11 of the second on a power play tally from Jonathan Toews. Toews' wrap around attempt took a strange hop off the skate of Aaron Ward and ended up over Tim Thomas' shoulder and into the back of the Boston goal. The Bruins quickly regained the lead 30 seconds later when David Krejci's shot from the left side of the goal somehow found it's way between Huet's right skate and the goal post. The Bruins found the back of the net once again just 35 seconds later when Mark Recchi tipped in Dennis Wideman's shot for his second goal of the game (15th of the season).

Early in the third period, Chicago defenseman Brian Campbell was carrying the puck through the neutral zone, lost an edge and fell to the ice. With Campbell sprawled on the ice, Milan Lucic picked up the puck and made a crisp pass to Marc Savard, who found Phil Kessel charging to the net for the 4-1 lead. Former Providence Bruin Kris Versteeg got the Blackhawks back within two at 10:26 of the third period when his top shelf wrister beat a diving Tim Thomas. With Andrew Ference off for interference, Patrick Kane pulled Chicago to within one with a half slapper from the top of the left circle with 5:26 remaining in regulation. Late in the period, the Blackhawks pulled their goaltender in favor of an extra attacker. With the Chicago net empty, P.J. Axelsson made a great play at center ice to gather the puck and slide it into the unoccupied goal for his 5th goal of the season (3rd empty net goal).

Tim Thomas made 32 saves today, including a few spectacular recoveries to keep the puck out of the net. At the other end of the ice, Cristobal Huet stopped 34 of the 38 shots he faced.

Final - 3.7.2009	1	2	3	Total
Chicago Blackhawks	0	1	2	3
Boston Bruins	1	2	2	5

Complete Coverage >

Notes:

- P.J. Axelsson is now one goal behind the NHL leaders for empty net goals (3 players tied with 4 ENGs).

- Dennis Wideman was a plus-4 today.

- Blake Wheeler has a healthy scratch today for the first time in his young NHL career. Claude Julien obviously has not been happy with Wheeler's play lately and wanted to send a message to the young winger. Defenseman Matt Hunwick skated once again as a winger today in place of Blake Wheeler.

- Former Bruin Pascal Pelletier was called up from the Rockford IceHogs this week. Today he played in his second game of the season for the Blackhawks. Pelletier saw 9:34 of ice time today and was a minus-1 on the day.

- Steve Montador missed today's game with flu-like symptoms.

- The Bruins played very well at even strength today, but struggled with special teams play. The B's could not convert on three power play opportunities and only killed off one of Chicago's three power play chances.

Huet and Walker are stars? What team is this?

Matthew Dirt — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 04:50:50 -0000

The Hawks are showing they can win blowouts - and now they can win the close games. There were chances on both sides that could have swung the game either way. Luckily the Hawks were able to ride the great game of Huet (wait.. what?) to a victory and take two points from the Senators.

Huet played a great game blocking all 23 shots he faced and coming up huge several times. Huet grabs his first shutout of the year and played in a way that will make us all feel a lot better about dropping Khabby sometime later this year. It was hoped early on that all Huet needed was some consistent playing time to work out his problems and that may be true. He let in some soft ones against the Wings - but in this game he was outstanding.

The Bolland line along with Keith and Seabrook were able to fully handle the only dangerous line the Senators were able to put on the ice. The top line for the Sens managed only 8 shots on goal, no points and a -3 rating.

The PK team was also great this game killing all 6 chances the Senators had including 4 minutes of shame by Kane who was in and out of the box all night with 8 PIM. The Hawks had shown a lot of discipline about not taking dumb penalties recently but Kane nearly doubled his time in the box for the year in this game alone. You'd think Coach Q would be pissed but in the post-game interview he seemed not to mind since Kane showed up with the game winner and played fairly well despite 8 minutes in the box.

And hey, you know who actually played a pretty decent game? Matt Walker (aka #3 star) and Brent Sopel - our favorite punching bag on this site (and others). Both players were big parts of the PK team (playing 4:22 combined short handed).

Murray gets a great dig in at Gretzky in the postgame show. After showing a clip of Brouwer(who also had a great game) going after Neil for what he thought was a dirty hit on Kane: "See, our star doesn't need his coach acting like mommy".

Like the Senators - I was once again shut out in the Pick SPG contest. But we're up to 21 registered players so we're even with the Avs. One more puts us in the top 4. So really.. sign up.

After the jump is a more detailed breakdown...

FIRST PERIOD:

Three minutes into the first elder Ruutu brother Jarkko takes a roughing penalty and the Hawks are able to capitalize - In a reverse of roles, Sharp is the one who sets up Kane for the goal. Kane gets the puck and Smith seems to go down to block a shot immediately. Only Kane wasn't shooting and even Gerber seems confused by the move. Kane lifts it to the bar - Goal.

Toews continues to play well all over the ice and has a great steal in the Ottawa zone but nothing happens.

The Senators are definitely coming out playing a more physical first period - they're hitting everyone but it doesn't seem to phase the Hawks.

Havlat plays a good first against his former team but somehow completely whiffs on a wide open net.

Two just unlucky penalties happen almost back to back to give the Senators a 5 on 3 for just over a minute. If you read Mirtle recently, you'd know that's not good. Walker and Sopel both play a great shift and Huet comes up huge blocking a straight-on shot by Fisher. Hawks kill it - huge.

The crowd continues to be loud as a good "Lets Go Hawks" chant starts up after the kill.

With about a minute left in the period we get a good look at Pelletier who starts flying all over the Ottawa zone - guess he doesn't want to go back to Rockford. Sorry guy.

After the First:

Shots – 12-9 Hawks
Faceoffs – 13-5 Hawks
Hits – 10-6 Sens

SECOND PERIOD:

Very early in the first Chris Neil was looking like he wanted to throw down with Buff - but Buff wisely skates away.

In what's becoming a theme in this game - Kane takes a high sticking penalty and the Hawks are forced to kill another two minutes. Huet continues his good game by coming up huge on a wide open shot by Heatley... no rebound either. key.

Right out of the box Neil goes after Kane with a check but Kane is able to get past it. It amazes me how well he does at just avoiding being hit. Brouwer still takes exception to the hit and drops the gloves with Neil. In what needs to be done more often - both players drop the helmets. awesome.

Brouwer holds his own in the fight but it's probably a draw. Not many punches are thrown and it's broken up early. Good move by Brouwer though to stick up for Kane.

Sharp gets a great steal along the blue line and takes the puck into the zone - tries to stop short of a check but he's still hit and just barely loses his balance and can't get a shot off.. too bad though - that would have been pretty.

After a penalty to the Sens, Fisher is able to get a breakaway towards Huet. Sharp pressures from the left and Huet comes up huge on another block. So far he's having a great game.

Kane takes the puck over the blue line and does a lap around the Ottawa zone but can't find any good options so he decides to get his stick up in the face of Foligno and cuts him to get a 4 minute penalty. This doesn't look like a good penalty as players are going to start getting angry if he gets his stick up like that on legal/clean hits.

Hawks come up HUGE on the kill though and all 4 mintues are gone... period ends.

After the Second:

Shots – 19-16 Hawks
Faceoffs – 17-15 Hawks
Hits – 17-8 Ottawa

INTERMISSION NOTE: I could watch the girl taking the center ice shot for the rest of the game - doesn't hurt that she seems to know how to handle a stick (HEY-OOO)

THIRD PERIOD:

The Ladd/Bolland/Havlat line continues to hold the Sens top line in check as they draw a penalty early in the third. No dice though.

Spezza gets a breakaway with only Barker between him and Huet - everyone starts to worry about the tied game. Barker isn't though - good job sticking with Spezza and not letting him get a shot off.

Right after the first penalty ends the Hawks draw another penalty. Same thing all game - the Hawks are passing well but the Hawks can't finish anything - it gets killed.

Sens decide to see what it's like with an man advantage when Kelly falls behind the Hawks net after Walker breathes on him - whatever. Walker has been huge so far on the kill but this time Seabrook and Keith along with Huet are the heros.

Sharp does some great backchecking on a Sens rush and kills their chances. Then Neil tries to kill him. Hawks get yet another penalty where they can't do anything.

Towards the end of the game the Sens are flying all over the zone and putting some big pressure on the Hawks. They pull Gerber and the Hawks get a chance but Kane's shot is blocked. A battle near the blue line ends with Brouwer taking a quick shot towards the net. Game.

Game Totals:

Shots – 30-23 - Hawks
Faceoffs – 28-24 - Sens
Hits – 21-17 - Sens

TOI Leader: Seabrook - 27:09

3 Stars of the Game:

#3 – Walker (+1, 15:06 TOI - 4:10 SH, 2BS)
#2 – Kane (1G, 3 SOG, 8 PIM)
#1 - Huet (23 SV, Shutout)

Good win for the Hawks against the types of teams they need to beat.

Your thoughts?