Articles

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Retirement not yet in Martin Brodeur’s sights

Eric Duhatschek,Globe and Mail, Jan. 10, 2012

Contrary to popular belief, these may not be the last days of Martin Brodeur’s distinguished NHL career, in which he has recorded more wins and more shutouts than any goaltender in history – and every night he plays, he adds to that expansive body of work.

Brodeur will turn 40 in May, and the prevailing wisdom going into the season was that with his contract expiring and his workload shrinking from its peak years, this may be the New Jersey Devils goalie’s swan song. It turns out, Brodeur isn’t thinking retirement thoughts at all.

“I’ve asked a lot of people about that,” Brodeur said in an interview Tuesday, “and the common theme is: When you quit, it’s over, there’s no coming back, so if they want you and you feel you can do it, then go for it.

“It’s funny, because I’ve asked a lot of players, and a lot of who are enjoying their retirement, but you know what? They all say they wish they could have maybe played another season. That makes me think, maybe I can stick around, if they still want me. So we’ll see.”

In the meantime, every win Brodeur clicks off – it was 637 and counting going into New Jersey’s game against the Calgary Flames here on Tuesday night – just puts more distance between himself and Patrick Roy atop the NHL goalie career wins list. Brodeur and Roy had the luxury of playing in an era in which there are no ties, which undermined the win totals of goalies from the Terry Sawchuk-Glenn Hall-Jacques Plante era.

Still, Brodeur has been so good for so long and so healthy that however many victories he ends up with, it is hard to imagine anyone ever dislodging him from the top spot on the list. Among active goaltenders, Nikolai Khabibulin (327) of the Edmonton Oilers and Roberto Luongo (325) of the Vancouver Canucks are next, but miles behind. Luongo, who turns 32 in April, would need to average 37 ½ wins a season for the next eight seasons to reel in Brodeur. Unlikely.

“The big thing with him, as with a lot of superstars, is consistency, year in and year out,” said Calgary Flames centre Brendan Morrison, who broke into the NHL with Brodeur in the Devils’ organization. “When you look at the goaltending position, demeanour is such a key. With him, he has that cool, calm demeanour. He doesn’t get rattled; and when you have that in your net, it filters through the whole team. When your goaltender is confident and he’s feeling it and you know he’s going to make the big saves, that just energizes the team.”

Brodeur said he’s had to adjust his habits to account for more nights on the bench this season – backup Johan Hedberg is getting about 40 per cent of the playing time. In practices, Brodeur actually practises now. Sitting on the bench, when he gets a night off, he enjoys watching the Devils’ Kiddie Corps play – Adam Henrique, Adam Larsson and all the pieces of the rebuilding puzzle that general manager Lou Lamoriello had added in the past 12 months.

The Devils have missed the playoffs twice in Brodeur’s career – in 1996, after their Stanley Cup win, and then again last season, when they dug themselves such an early hole that their extraordinary second-half push came up just short. It was no way to end a career, so Brodeur returned and said the difficulties might have been a blessing in disguise for New Jersey.

“Sometimes, it takes that – for an organization to kind of regroup. We discovered players that maybe, if we’d had success, maybe they would have never have had a chance to play with us.”

At midseason, the Devils were sixth in the tightly bunched Eastern Conference standings and would draw the Florida Panthers in the opening round if the playoffs began now. New Jersey hasn’t won a playoff series since 2007, the victims of multiple first-round upsets over that span. It gives Brodeur hope – that if they get in, anything can happen.

“This year, you’ve got Vancouver, you’ve got Boston, you’ve got the Rangers right now playing real well, but it’s really a coin toss. You come to these towns now and you feel you can beat anybody – or you can get beat by anybody, too. You’ve got to go and play every night. That’s what makes it fun.”

What would make it even more fun would be to get a game against a genuinely bad NHL team. Brodeur has been playing long enough to remember when parity wasn’t part of the NHL’s vocabulary, and there really were soft touches on the schedule.

Brodeur laughed at the memory. “Yeah, that was fun. Without taking a day off, it was almost like getting a day off. The games of eight, 10 or 12 shots [against] are long gone for us.”

For everybody else, too.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

For NHL GMs, finding a great goalie should be top priority

David Shoalts, Globe and Mail, Jan. 11, 2012

There’s a funny thing about the NHL – despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, there are still plenty of people who argue that finding a goaltender doesn’t need to be at the top of every general manager’s to-do list.

Put together a great team, they say, and a good but not great goaltender will do. Don’t waste a first-round draft pick on a goaltender. You can get a decent one in a trade any old time.

While there is some evidence to support this – pick any year the Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup with Chris Osgood in goal – in today’s NHL, teams go nowhere without great goaltending. The difference between the best and worst teams has never been closer, so a big save is usually the difference between a win or a loss. As our Eric Duhatschek notes in this piece on Martin Brodeur, whose work as he approaches his 40th birthday is keeping the Devils in playoff contention even if he did get chased Tuesday night by the Calgary Flames, there are no easy nights for teams or goaltenders any more.

You do not have to look any further than the rest of Tuesday’s games to see how true this is.

Stop first in Toronto, where the Maple Leafs remain undefeated in 2012, thanks to The Monster, Jonas Gustavsson, rediscovering the form that made him such a coveted free agent in 2009. His work in goal Tuesday in a 2-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres extended the Leafs’ winning streak to four games.

Gustavsson’s renaissance came just in time for the Leafs, as their wunderkind of a year ago, James Reimer, went into a long funk after suffering a head injury earlier this season. It was Reimer’s unexpected emergence last January that allowed the Leafs to finally think about making the NHL playoffs after years of inconsistent goaltending doomed their chances.

The other side of the goaltending coin was evident in the Leafs game, too. Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller was the best goalie in the NHL by the end of the 2009-10 season, but as he slid down the list, so did the Sabres.

The Globe and Mail’s James Mirtle points out farther down in his game story that Miller’s decline began last season and grew worse this season. This, more than anything, is the answer to a question asked a lot these days – why are the Sabres still so bad after new owner Terry Pegula let GM Darcy Regier spent a ton of his money on new players?

However, life as an NHL GM does not suddenly get easy if you get yourself a couple of candidates as Hall-of-Famers. The salary cap dictates that you must make a choice between them, because there is seldom room to pay two star salaries in goal, and trade the other for needed assets elsewhere on the roster. Then you pray you made the right choice.

That was the decision that faced Montreal Canadiens GM Pierre Gauthier in the summer of 2010, just after Jaroslav Halak seized the No. 1 goaltender’s job from the Habs’ other young star, Carey Price, and led them to the Eastern Conference final. When Gauthier decided Price was going to be the goalie of the future, the always-volatile fan base erupted in rage.

Almost two years later, despite Halak’s triumphant return to Montreal on Tuesday that was chronicled by our Sean Gordon, it’s obvious Gauthier made the right decision. Both Halak and Price have roughly the same statistics since the trade but where Gauthier went wrong was the paltry return he got on a prized asset (Lars Eller and Ian Schultz). Only Eller is playing for the Canadiens and he is not reminding anyone of Rocket Richard, even if he did get five points in a game last week.

Halak, in the meantime, illustrates another side of the importance of goaltending. When he had a slow start this season, the Blues turned to backup Brian Elliott, a newly-signed free agent who failed to impress anyone in stints with the Ottawa Senators and Colorado Avalanche.

But Elliott suddenly turned into Terry Sawchuk. With the Blues struggling to prove they were as good as management billed them (which cost head coach Davis Payne his job in favour of Ken Hitchcock), they stuck with the hot hand. Halak’s starts decreased even though his contract is much, much bigger than Elliott’s.

As Gordon points out in his story, Halak has been back to his customary form in recent weeks, but Elliott is still playing just as well. So Hitchcock is still unwilling to risk upsetting a winning formula at such an important position and Elliott will get the start in the Blues’ next game.

“Now they’re even. Elliott starts on Thursday and we’ll go from there,” Hitchcock said.

Finally, speaking of the Blues, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a nice salute to one of the NHL’s great characters, former Blues GM Ron Caron, who died Tuesday.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Nail Yakupov heads mid-season NHL draft rankings

CHRIS JOHNSTON, The Canadian Press, Jan. 11, 2012

Forget Taylor or Tyler. How about Nail vs. Mikhail?

The NHL team that ends up picking first overall in June's draft appears as though it will have to select between a pair of Russian forwards — Nail Yakupov of the OHL's Sarnia Sting and Mikhail Grigorenko of the QMJHL's Quebec Remparts.

Let the debate begin. Yakupov was named the top North American-based skater in mid-season rankings released Wednesday by NHL central scouting, but has been receiving a strong challenge from his compatriot in the bid to be selected first in the 2012 draft.

“The potential is there that some teams would not have (Yakupov) No. 1,” Dan Marr, the NHL's director of central scouting, said in an interview. “Grigorenko is making a strong case for himself as a first overall candidate. It's close.

“As we said in the meeting there, we're almost at the point where we sort of like to reference them as 1A and 1B.”

If that continues, it could end up being a situation similar to the one that played out in 2010 when Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin entered the draft in a virtual dead heat. The Edmonton Oilers ended up taking Hall at No. 1 while Seguin landed with the Boston Bruins.

Yakupov and Grigorenko were teammates on the Russian team that won silver at the recent world junior championship, where Yakupov suffered a right knee injury that will keep him on the sidelines until the end of the month.

The 18-year-old winger has 21 goals and 53 points in 26 games for the Sting this season.

“There's very few times where you leave a rink and say ‘there's some players worth the price of admission,' ” said Marr. “He's got the ability there to just take over a game. He's got that high-energy, high-speed game and he's got a scoring touch.

“He's capable of being a difference-maker in a game.”

Grigorenko is a centre who has compiled 25 goals and 58 points in 36 games for Quebec. Both he and Yakupov are vying to become the first Russian selected No. 1 since Alex Ovechkin in 2004.

Other contenders include Ryan Murray of the WHL's Everett Silvertrips, who at No. 3 is the highest-ranked Canadian player. He is one of seven defencemen ranked inside the top-10 in a draft class that appears to be deep on the blue-line.

The top European-based skater midway through the year is Swedish forward Filip Forsberg, who plays for Leksand in his country's domestic league. He won gold with Sweden at the world junior tournament.

An interesting name to keep an eye on is Alex Galchenyuk, Yakupov's Sarnia teammate who hasn't played this season after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee during exhibition play. As a result, he wasn't listed in Wednesday's rankings by NHL central scouting.

“Going into this season, a lot of people were arguing he might be the best ‘94-born player,” said Marr. “I think its most teams' eyes, the consensus if you'd have done the straw poll would have been that he's a top-five candidate for the draft.

“I think teams are still going to hold that view and opinion of him.”

The NHL draft will be held June 22-23 at Pittsburgh's Consol Energy Center.

Yakupov was also listed No. 1 in initial rankings released by NHL central scouting in November, prompting fans of struggling teams to urge them to continue to “Fail for Nail.”

With Grigorenko and others creeping into the picture, a new campaign slogan might need to be drafted.

“A couple other players have kind of closed the perceived gap that there was with him at the top,” Marr said of Yakupov. “But we went through it all.

“He's going to have continue his fine play because there's some other players nipping at his heels there.”

The NHL's central scouting service is in its 37th year of operation. It employs eight full-time and 16 part-time scouts throughout North America and another six scouts in Europe.

Notes: Malcolm Subban of the Belleville Bulls — the brother of Montreal Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban — is listed as the top North American goalie … Russian Andrei Vasilevski is No. 1 on the European goaltending list … Five of the 12 highest-rated North American skaters hail from Europe.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Evaluating Tambellini, Renney
The contracts of Steve Tambellini, left, and Tom Renney are set to expire after this season.

Mark Spector, Aportsnet.ca, January 11, 2012

EDMONTON — From the outside, the Edmonton Oilers appear to be a disaster.

Thirtieth place two years in a row. Now, halfway into this season, they sit 13th in the West and once again, a lottery team at No. 27 overall.

So, with the contracts of general manager Steve Tambellini, head coach Tom Renney and his coaching staff set to expire at the end of this season — a fact reported by Nick Kypreos on HOCKEY CENTRAL this week — should we be surprised there has been no announcement of contract extensions in Edmonton?

Have Tambellini and Renney earned their second contracts? The standings may say no, but dig a little deeper and you'll find an organization that is far more fundamentally sound this year than last.

In a traditional rebuild like the one going on here in Edmonton, the final step includes a climb in the standings. So the question becomes: How impatient is owner Daryl Katz, and by extension, his right-hand man Kevin Lowe?

Are they happy with the progress in Tambellini's four years, and Renney's three? Or were they expecting more than the basement of this structure to be completed by now?

Katz does not speak to the media. The rest of organization followed suit when approached on the topic this week.

Meanwhile, the second half of the season began Wednesday night at Rexall Place with a full house of Oilers fans not knowing whether the key architects of this rebuild will be back next year.

Should they be? Let us discuss:

In his first season at the helm, Tambellini's Oilers finished 21st overall with 85 points. The next year he fired his first head coaching hire, Pat Quinn. Since then, Edmonton has been 30th twice, and this season is all but over at the halfway point.

Peel back a few layers of the onion however, and you can find clear progress being made here in Edmonton. And the things that haven't worked? Average 347 man games of injuries for the past 3 seasons, and see how well your preseason plans play out.

This season, the Oilers are on pace for 266 man games lost to injury. Against New Jersey, they were missing their top two scoring forwards, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (shoulder) and Jordan Eberle (knee), and their best three defencemen: Ryan Whitney, Tom Gilbert and Cam Barker (all ankles).

None are expected back before February.

Pick a team, and eliminate its top two scoring forwards and No. 1, 2 and 3 d-men. Even mighty Pittsburgh, without its stars, falls from first to eighth. Now think of what it does to a rebuilding lineup with little depth.

Look beyond the standings however, and you'll find tangible signs that a rebuild really is happening.

The farm team: Traditionally a sore spot in this organization, the Oklahoma City Barons have sat atop the American Hockey League standings for much of the season, despite the constant phone calls for replacements from Edmonton.

Special teams: Edmonton's power play ranks fourth this season, while the penalty kill is ninth. Last season they finished 27th and 29th respectively.

Goals for and against: Despite being on pace for just four more points than the 2010-11 season, Edmonton's goals differential sits at minus-6 at the halfway point, putting them 20th in the NHL. Last season it ranked 30th at minus-76, colder than a windy day at Jasper Ave. and 101st.

Look, anyone can get fired at any time. This is the NHL. But it's difficult to look at Tambellini's work and count up the things he's done wrong.

Sure, free agent pickup Eric Belanger hasn't produced offensively. But he was acquired primarily to win faceoffs and at 57.4 per cent, he's sixth in the NHL.

UFA signing Ben Eager's numbers aren't great, but this team sure gets pushed around less than it used to, with both Eager and Andy Sutton in the lineup. Sutton by the way, has been a steadying force on the blue line, and the coach or GM can hardly be blamed for his13-game absence due to suspension.

And how about trading Dustin Penner last year for a young defenceman in Colten Teubert, plus a first-round pick that turned into world junior all-star Oscar Klefbom? That deal looks like sheer larceny today.

As for Renney, he is that patient, teaching head coach, responsible for a foundation of better play that produces more respectable numbers. Yesterday's minus-76 has become today's minus-6, and the Oilers are second only to Columbus in one-goal losses, which means they're getting closer.

We know: none of it matters for fans that haven't seen a playoff game in Edmonton since 2006; that patience is hard to come by, particularly at these ticket prices.

But if the discussion is about whether Tambellini and Renney should continue at the wheel of this rebuild, you have to get past the standings to make an informed decision.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Lessons learned for Paajarvi

ROBERT TYCHKOWSKI, QMI Agency, jan 11 2012

EDMONTON – Magnus Paajarvi is back — his legs free of the dust that had built up in Edmonton and his head clear of the frustration and doubt — following a 10-game refresher course in Oklahoma City.

After one of the most amicable minor-league demotions you’ll ever see (Paajarvi and the Oilers were so thoughtful and understanding when they parted company in early December it made Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman’s split in Casablanca look bitter by comparison) he’s ready for another shot at prime time.

Play it again, Mag.

“I embraced it,” the 20-year-old winger said of his assignment to the American Hockey League. “At that time it was the best thing for me, to just go down and play a lot and not think too much, just get that rhythm back.

“I didn’t play a lot (with the Oilers), got a couple minutes on the fourth or was in the press box. The situation for me wasn’t good. When you play those small minutes you can’t get going. It was really good for me that I got a lot of minutes.”

And perhaps a renewed hunger.

“You get perspective on things when you go down there,” said Paajarvi, who had a goal and eight assists in 10 games. “It’s not the same, with travel and everything, but you live, you learn. The experience was really good for me.”

That’s what the Oilers are hoping. They have a player here with decent hands and elite level speed, someone who could play a vital role in the future, so they need to be very careful with the cultivation process.

“This kid really got it, he was really good at understanding that (a ticket to Oklahoma City) was a move for his career,” said head coach Tom Renney, adding a lot of struggling players just need to feel the puck on their stick again.

“Maybe you need to hit a home run in a little league park before you swing for the fences at Yankee Stadium. What Magnus has done here is allow himself to grow.”

He’s not exactly jumping into Murderer’s Row upon his return. Paajarvi skated on a rather nondescript line with Eric Belanger and Anton Lander, who have two goals in 78 games between them this year. So expecting him to come out and light an offensive fire might be asking a little much.

Baby steps, first.

“I think I’m at my best when I’m in the top six and get that offence going,” he said. “I think I’m an offensive player. I think that’s why they picked me (10th overall in 2009). That’s where I can do the most damage, but you have to earn it. There’s a lot of forwards here, really good forwards. That just raises the bar.”

It’s not so high, though, given that Edmonton is currently 26th in the NHL, that he can’t make something of his second look.

“I have the confidence that I can be up here in the NHL, that’s not going to be a problem,” he said. “I still feel like I can do a whole lot more on the ice. I felt that before I went down, that I can make plays, I just didn’t. Now I’ve done it (in the AHL), played a lot and that was the main thing.”

How he went from 15 goals last year to zero in 25 games this season remains a mystery that even his fact-finding mission to Oklahoma couldn’t solve.

“I wish I knew,” he said. “You just have to stay on an even keel, work on things and the goals will come.”

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Kennedy: Shawn Thornton, Boston's unlikely hero

Ryan Kennedy, The Hockey News, 2012-01-11

Former Peterborough Petes GM Jeff Twohey recruited a lot of great talent during his tenure with the venerable Ontario League squad, but one story sticks out in particular. Twohey was hanging out at an Oshawa, Ont., rink one night, waiting for the late game to start, when a player on a major midget team challenged the other team’s bench to fight him.

The kid found a dance partner in an overager who promptly beat the stuffing out of him. Twohey marveled out loud about the overager’s fighting prowess, to which the woman beside him said, “he’s never been beat.”

That woman was Shawn Thornton’s mom. Her son had been passed over by every Tier Two squad in the area, but once Twohey got a look, Thornton was taken in the next OHL draft to set out on a career that has netted him two Stanley Cups in the past five years and a special place in the hearts of Bruins fans.

He lives in Boston’s Irish-heavy Charlestown neighborhood, setting for the Ben Affleck bank robbery flick The Town. And right now, he’s exhibiting all the traits of a hockey folk hero.

A late round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1997, Thornton never suited up for the Buds and played in the minors until he was traded to Chicago for Marty Wilford in 2001 (where were you the day that blockbuster went down?). After a Cup win in Anaheim he shipped out to Boston as a free agent, but it wasn’t until 2008-09 that he would play a full season of NHL games. Since then, he has become a more rounded player and an integral part of the Bruins’ persona.

This sport has always lionized the hard workers and straight-talkers and Thornton certainly fits that mould. His PIM always come in multiples of his point totals, but his energy, leadership and physical play bring just as much to the table as his fists do now. Perhaps that’s why in a year where straight-up enforcers are becoming scarce, the Boston media is already clamoring for the Bs to offer Thornton, a pending unrestricted free agent this summer, a contract extension (and yeah, they love their fighters in Boston, but still…) before the team looks ungrateful towards its heavyweight.

But it’s not just the dirty work that Thornton gets props for. How about the penalty shot move he pulled against Winnipeg Tuesday night? Not something your garden-variety goon is likely to attempt in an NHL game.

Thornton also proved to be quick on his feet in an impromptu debate with a Vancouver hockey columnist when the issue of the latest Canucks/Bruins brouhaha came up on a Boston-area TV show. True, the journalist wasn’t prepared to exchange verbal blows with the right winger, but Thornton still knew his facts better than the scribe. I can only imagine how much the Bruins faithful loved that one.

Boston is easily one of the most polarizing teams in the NHL and lately opponents have had a difficult time beating them on the ice or in the alley, as the old saying goes. But with players such as Thornton on the team, all they can do right now is shut up. Maybe that’s why Bruins fans love him so much.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

YOUR CALL: WHO IS THE TOP COACH THUS FAR IN THE NHL?

TSN.ca staff, Jan 10 2012

We've hit the halfway point of the NHL season, which means it's time to look back at the first half of this year's campaign, determine the winners and losers, and – of course – compliment those who've had positive impacts through the action we've seen so far.

One of the more interesting races has been for top coach of the first half. A number of strong candidates have emerged so far this season, whether they've taken a previous downtrodden team and turned it into a contender, or they've ensured their front-running team has continued to play at a high level with no drop-off in effort.

Some coaches receiving early Jack Adams consideration are in the first year with their teams – and some even in the first year as NHL head coaches – and have helped revamp the club. Making a strong case for top coach through the first half is St. Louis Blues bench boss Ken Hitchcock.

Hitchcock, a veteran of over 1,000 games in the NHL coaching ranks, took over the Blues one month into the regular season. Since his arrival in early November, St. Louis has gone 18-5-5. Hitchcock inherited a below-.500 team and now has them tied with the Detroit Red Wings for the Central Division lead, just two points behind conference-leading Vancouver.

While Hitchcock has his extensive experience to lean on, two coaches that have led similarly impressive turnarounds this year have done it with no previous NHL head coaching experience: Ottawa Senators head coach Paul MacLean and Florida Panthers head coach Kevin Dineen.

MacLean, who spent six seasons as an assistant with the Red Wings prior to joining the Senators, took a team that finished 13th in the Eastern Conference last year with just 74 points and now has them in the thick of the playoff picture with 50 points through 43 games.

Down in Florida, Dineen has taken a team revamped from head to toe in the off-season, and led them to the top of the Southeast Division through the first half of the year. While Dineen didn't exactly take the same roster that finished last in the Eastern Conference last year and improved them to third – the Panthers had 11 players in the lineup opening night that weren't on the roster the previous year – his efforts in getting a roster with so much turnover to gel so quickly earns him praise.

Other first-time NHL coaches, like the Dallas Stars' Glen Gulutzan, who has his team playing at a high level despite the loss of star Brad Richards in the off-season, and Minnesota's Mike Yeo, who took a Wild club that finished 11 points out of the playoffs and now has them eighth in the West through the first half, also deserve some consideration.

But while it's easy to get caught up in the new coaches who drastically improve their team's fortune, we can't forget the ones that have their clubs playing at a high level year in and year out.

The two coaches that squared off in the Stanley Cup Final last year once again are leading their squads to impressive performances through the first half of 2011-12. After stumbling out of the gate a little, Claude Julien has the Boston Bruins back at the top of the Northeast Division and Eastern Conference, and looking every bit like the strong team that won the Cup last season.

Alain Vigneault, a Jack Adams award finalist last year, also has his Vancouver Canucks humming along like last year. The Presidents' Trophy winners are once again on top of the Western Conference standings through the first half of this season.

And then in New York, John Tortorella comes in as a bit of a hybrid of the two coaching categories: an established coach of a solid team, but one that has also helped his club jump to the next level.

Tortorella is in his third full season with the Rangers, but a year after guiding them to the eighth seed in the playoffs, he now has them sitting atop the Eastern Conference with the most points in the entire league.

Our question to you is: who is the top coach of the first half of the season? You've heard what we've had to say; now it's your turn. As always, it's Your! Call.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

FRASER: REMEMBERING THE TIMES WITH RON CARON

KERRY FRASER, TSN.ca, Jan 10 2012

I am deeply saddened by the passing of my old friend Ron 'Prof' Caron. I join the hockey world in extending our deepest sympathy and prayers to his family on their loss.

I wish to share some of the many memories I have of this great hockey mind who, as a scout and assistant general manager for the Montreal Canadiens, played a major role in six Stanley Cup victories before moving on to become general manager of the St. Louis Blues.

Ron Caron was affectionately known as the 'Professor' (ultimately shortened to Prof) for his amazing ability to recall facts, figures, dates and events which I am sure is one of the reasons he was such an effective judge of talent. Nothing escaped this man's tremendous memory.

I first met 'Prof' in 1973 when I was a 21-year-old referee under contract to the NHL. Scotty Morrison assigned me to games in the Western Canada Hockey League at various points in that season to gain some badly-needed experience in my new profession.

I had the good fortune to travel by car across the Prairies with Ron Caron and many other scouts such as Johnny Bower, Gump Worsley, Harry Howell, Edmonton Oilers super-scout Barry Fraser and others. I was in awe of these legendary hockey geniuses as I listened to their stories and gained valuable insight into the game from their perspective; one they freely shared.

Of the bunch, 'Prof' was the most energetic, animated and passionate when it came to storytelling and sharing his vast knowledge on every subject from hockey to baseball or politics.

Ron would leave no stone unturned and gather insights on players from all perspectives; even from a young referee like me. 'Prof' would take me aside privately and ask what I thought about players such as Greg Joly (First overall pick by the Washington Caps in 1974), Clark Gillies, Pat Price and others and if I thought they would make a good pro player.

After meeting Ron just one time, any subsequent meeting was always met with a warm smile, a firm hand shake and a slap to the other shoulder as he called the person by name as his friend.

'Prof' would almost sing a greeting say, "Kerry, my f-r-i-e-n-d, it is so g-o-o-d to see y-o-u," and then immediately break into a story recollection that I had been involved in with, "I r-e-m-e-m-b-e-r the t-i-m-e…."

Ron Caron's memory and recall was like nothing I have ever witnessed. Ron would not just recall intricate details of a play that I or others had been involved in but also tell me what I was thinking and how I came up with my decision. Whether I was right or wrong, 'Prof' wasn't afraid to tell me in either case!

Ron Caron broke down details and analyzed all aspects of the game in the most cerebral way. The only other hockey executive whom I met that shared this special talent to this extent was Scotty Bowman. Even at that, Scotty came in second to the 'Prof' in this category.

And Ron was as passionate and knowledgeable about Major League Baseball as he was hockey. If I referenced a year, 'Prof' could state who won the Stanley Cup and also were World Series Champions. It didn't stop there as he would add the actual calendar date the final game was played and provide a play-by-play of the game highlights in each sport. There were many times I thought I was sitting with Dustin Hoffman's character in Rain Man as 'Prof' rattled off facts and figures with the accuracy of a sports encyclopedia.

Ron Caron was well known for his enthusiasm and passion as General Manager of the St. Louis Blues. 'Prof's' intense passion, if left unchecked, landed him in hot water on occasion through the rivalries that existed in the tough Norris Division during that era of the game. I saw him blow a gasket more than once.
I was the standby referee in old Chicago Stadium for a Stanley Cup game between his Blues and the Blackhawks. I was located with the series supervisor, Hockey Hall of Fame referee Frank Udvari, in the upper press box that hung high above the ice on the side of the ice surface between the blue lines. Ron sat at the end of the lower press in the end zone just above the first tier of seats. From our vantage point, Frank and I had a clear view into the lower press box.

The energy and emotion in the Chicago Stadium for these matches were taken to a level that is impossible to describe unless you were part of it. You didn't just hear it, you physically felt the energy.

When you thought the decibel level of the old Barton pipe organ which combined with Wayne Messmer's powerful rendition of the Star Spangled Banner couldn't possibly go any higher the 21,000-plus fans cheers to took it to another level causing the upper press box to shake noticeably. You couldn't help but get caught up in the emotion whether as a participant, spectator or even as a team executive/general manager.

This particular night the 'Prof' thought he was getting the short end of the whistle on the referee's calls. On one that he didn't agree on, Frank Udvari and I watched as Ron Caron grabbed his head in frustration, jumped up and threw his folding chair against the wall nearest him.

Still fuming from this incident, it wasn't much later that another call didn't go in the Blues direction. Instead of throwing the chair this time, Ron Caron jumped up from his seat and sprinted full length of the lower press box; a distance of some 80 feet.

On the dead run 'Prof' raised his leg and jammed his heal against the wall as hard as he could. The look of anger on Ron Caron's face turned to panic and then helplessness when he quickly realized his foot had broken through the drywall on impact and he found himself stuck in the wall past his knee! Two attendants had to grab his arms and pull the general manager of the St. Louis Blues out of the press box wall.

Following this episode the 'Prof' remained calm for the balance of the game and paid to have Mr. Wirtz' wall repaired.

Ron Caron was a character that the game has missed for many years following his elevation to upper management and eventual retirement. What Ron Caron will be most remembered for is his uncanny judge of hockey talent in assembling a winning team.

Through his passing, Ron Caron will be deeply missed by his family and many friends and admirers that he touched throughout his life. I, for one, feel tremendously blessed to have known this special man and that we were able to call one another, "my f-r-i-e-n-d!"

May God bless you, my friend for all the good that did and the kindness you showed to others. You not only made the game of hockey better for you vast contributions, you made the world a better place.

Oh how, "I r-e-m-e-m-b-e-r the t-i-m-e-s…"

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Leafs' Phaneuf most overrated NHLer, according to poll

The Canadian Press, Jan 11, 2012

Dion Phaneuf is the most overrated player in the NHL, according to a poll conducted by Sports Illustrated released Wednesday.

The magazine asked 161 current NHLers their opinion on the league's most overrated players and the Toronto Maple Leafs captain came out on top.

Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin was second, while Montreal Canadiens forward Scott Gomez was third.

Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo was fourth, followed by Dany Heatley of the Minnesota Wild in fifth and Ilya Kovalchuk of the New Jersey Devils in sixth.

Tampa Bay Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier ranked seventh on the list, while Calgary Flames defenceman Jay Bouwmeester was eighth.

Rounding out the top 10 were Vancouver's Ryan Kesler in ninth and Toronto's Mike Komisarek in 10th.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

FRASER: HAS THE NHL CHANGED THE RULES ON PENALTY SHOTS?

KERRY FRASER, TSN.CA, Jan 11 2012

Hi Kerry,

In the last few days, I've seen three very questionable penalty shots being called by the league and am wondering whether you can explain a little bit into why these are suddenly penalty shots. The first was on Saturday in a game between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs. Phil Kessel was on a breakaway when Ian White put his stick onto the hip of Kessel. He didn't slash him nor did it look like his stick was parallel to the ice. Ian White's stick didn't impede Kessel's ability to take the shot at all, yet there was still a penalty shot called.

The second was one was on Sunday night during a game between the Red Wings and Blackhawks. Tomas Holmstrom jumped over Ty Conklin and appeared to close his hand on the puck, but after a closer look, all he did was swipe the puck with his hand away from the goal line back towards Conklin. Yet, the play was still called a penalty shot. It was my understanding that only closing one's hand on the puck results in the penalty shot, while swiping or batting the puck out with the glove is perfectly legal.

The third one was on Tuesday night between the Rangers and Coyotes. Marian Gaborik was on a breakaway and Adrian Aucoin gave Gaborik a little tap to the mid-section. I didn't see this motion to be in any way a slashing penalty or any penalty for that matter. It looked to be a strong defensive play by Aucoin. Yet, a penalty shot was called. Of course, this shot will be remembered for the save by Mike Smith but all the same, I believe that this shot should never have occurred.

According to rule 24.1, Penalty Shot – A penalty shot is designed to restore a scoring opportunity which was lost as a result of a foul being committed by the offending team, based on the parameters set out in these rules.

Now according to this rule, Kessel wasn't denied a reasonable scoring chance by Ian White and therefore the penalty shot should not have been called. Gaborik was denied a reasonable scoring chance but not because of an infraction so really the penalty shot should not have been called either.

According to the rules for what can cause a penalty shot.

(iv) Falling on the puck in the goal crease

(v) Picking up the puck with the hand in the goal crease

Tomas Holmstrom did neither of these things, so no penalty shot should have been called.

Why are these plays suddenly being called penalty shots when the rules state that they shouldn't have been called? Could you clarify these situations?

Cheers,

Taylor Williams from Ottawa, Ontario

——

Kerry:

Have they changed the rule for what constitutes a penalty shot? My understanding was that a penalty shot would be rewarded if a scoring oppurtunity was taken away. Seems like a lot of weak calls to me!

Thanks

Taylor:

Before I deal with the specifics of each penalty shot infraction you listed, I need to address the second question asked as to changes in what constitutes a penalty shot. The general philosophy or purpose of the penalty shot has not changed over the years, which is to "restore a scoring opportunity which was lost as a result of a foul committed by the offending team" under specific situations.

That being said however, in a desire to increase scoring and capitalize on the fan excitement associated with a penalty shot, the NHL relaxed the criteria and conditions in the rules a few years ago under which a penalty shot would be assessed.

In doing so, it became obvious to every referee that the league wanted more penalty shots to be assessed. As a result, it is unfair to fault the referees for assessing what might have previously been deemed weak calls. Let me explain the changes and you will perhaps understand why more penalty shots are being assessed as a result.

When I started in 1973 and for many years afterward, the criteria for assessing a penalty shot for a foul from behind must fall into the following guidelines:

i) The player must be over the centre red line;

ii) The player must have been fouled from behind;

iii) The player must have possession and control of the puck;

iv) The player must have no opponent to pass but the goalkeeper;

v) The player must be denied a reasonable scoring opportunity

I now list the liberal and generous changes that currently apply under Penalty Shot– rule 24.8

i) The infraction must have taken place in the neutral or attacking zone (i.e. over the puck carriers blue line); [this distance adds 25' to the previous standard]

ii) The infraction must have been committed from behind; [same criteria]

iii) The player in possession and control (*or, in the judgment of the referee, clearly would have obtained possession and control of the puck) must have a reasonable chance to score (the fact that he got a shot off does not automatically eliminate this play from the penalty shot consideration criteria. If the foul was from behind and he was denied a "more" reasonable scoring opportunity due to the foul, then the penalty shot should be warranted);

[This was a major change in philosophy of possession and control of the puck for us referees. What the league was telling us is that a "loose puck" that resulted in a potential foot race with the goalkeeper was really deemed to be in the possession of the attacking player and the standard they wanted applied to increase penalty shots. At this point, we all knew not to get too caught up in the verbiage, "clearly would have obtained possession and control of the puck." Historically there was reluctance by referees to call a penalty shot and when necessary a minor penalty was assessed. In 198,2 I was the first referee in history to call two penalty shots in the same game against the same team (called against home team-Detroit vs Vancouver). Up to that point the only other referee to call two penalty shots in one game (one to each team) was former NHL referee and league president, Clarence Campbell.]

iv) The player in possession and control (or, in the judgment of the referee, clearly would have obtained possession and control of the puck) must have had no opposing player between himself and the goalkeeper.
If the referees are expected to apply this liberal possession and control standard when an attacking player doesn't have the puck, in addition to the fact that a player getting a shot off does not necessarily negate the expectation that a penalty shot will be called, you might understand why a seemingly softer standard on fouls from behind might be implemented.

Let's get away from the expectation and philosophy that more (not less) penalty shots are to be called and deal with the specific calls that you questioned, Taylor.

1) On the Phil Kessel breakaway, Ian White reached from a deficient position well behind Kessel and used his stick in a fork-hook attempt to spring the puck off the attacker's stick. In doing so, the bottom hand of Kessel was contacted and altered his final move just prior to the shot. Phil Kessel was denied a more reasonable scoring opportunity due to the contact/foul by Ian White.

2) Tomas Holmstrom is allowed to "sweep" the puck within the goal crease, so long as he uses an open palm in a "hand pass" motion (picture turning your hand on its side with baby finger to wrist contacting the ice and sweep without turning your hand down and over the puck.) At the instant the puck is covered with the hand or body within the goal crease, a penalty shot must be assessed.

As Holmstrom dove over Conklin, his first order of business was to prevent the puck travelling with forward motion from sliding over the goal line. In order to do this, he exposed the back of his hand to the referee and covered the puck in the process, which gave the appearance of a cover and drag motion even in the replay. This action constitutes a penalty shot.

3) As Marian Gaborik drove to the net in overtime, all elements of the penalty shot rule were set in place, save for the final "foul from behind" criteria to be fulfilled. The referee was on the opposite side to where Aucoin struck Gaborik. Even the replay did not have an angle open to exactly where contact was made.

Even in the absence of this clear evidence, the fact is that Aucoin made a short, hard slash in desperation and with his stick in a parallel position to the waist/midsection of Gaborik, which caused the NY Ranger player to lose possession of the puck. Since Gaborik was in the act of shooting, all other penalty shot criteria was fulfilled. There isn't a referee in the NHL (present company included) that would not award a penalty shot in this situation.

The only way that Adrian Aucoin's stick action would have been deemed a legal stick check is if he had checked in a downward fashion and contacted Gaborik's stick below his bottom hand on the shaft or blade.

When a stick check is attempted and contact is made either between the hands or on the hands of an opponent, a penalty will result. (This supports the "stick parallel to the ice philosophy you often hear about.) No differently in this case, the proximity of contact that Aucoin administered in the hand area forced loss of puck possession and a scoring opportunity was restored with a penalty shot.

I deem it not only to be the correct call but a courageous call in overtime.

If there is a lesson to Taylor's question it is that the expectation and emphasis should be that penalty shots will be assessed with much more frequency than ever before. The standard has clearly changed.

Join in the excitement these calls bring to the game and the courage with which the referees make them.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Habs winger Cammalleri criticizes 'losing mentality'

Sean Gordon, Thursday's Globe and Mail, Jan. 11, 2012

Sustained underachievement and mediocrity breed a particular brand of corrosiveness, and it’s clearly beginning to gnaw at the Montreal Canadiens.

On Tuesday, a night former goaltender Jaroslav Halak marked his Bell Centre return with a shutout victory for the St. Louis Blues, the crowd booed the hometown Habs loudly at the end of the second period and in the closing stages of the final frame.

Opinions among the impassioned are apt to swing wildly, and jeering segments of the stands also singled out scuffling sniper Michael Cammalleri, the crowd favourite and playoff goal machine whose likeness is plastered on the outside of the building.

In a dressing room that is plainly sick of being a poor-to-middling hockey team, Cammalleri gave voice to that sentiment and his own frustrations on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters from La Presse and NHL.com, Cammalleri talked about how he’s played for both good and bad teams in his career and intimated the Habs have developed a “losing mentality.”

He expanded on those thoughts to say the Habs, 12th place in the Eastern Conference, play like they are terrified of making mistakes and are a squad that believes it “needs to play perfect to win.”

Cammalleri said the Habs must urgently regain the fearlessness and confidence they displayed in making a run to the conference final in 2010.

He might have added that he and his linemates – fellow strugglers Tomas Plekanec (a team-worst minus-12 on the season) and Brian Gionta need to recapture some lost magic as well.

Actually, you can strike Gionta from the list: Just two games after returning from an 11-game absence with a groin injury, his season is likely over.

Gionta, the team captain, underwent surgery to repair a torn right biceps on Wednesday.

When things are going badly in pro sports, fates often conspire to make them worse.

Cammalleri’s diagnosis of what ails the team may well be bang on – that he would go so far as to make such feelings public, generally a no-no in the cloistered world of NHL dressing rooms, will surely raise eyebrows, even if it’s a fairly standard cri du coeur from an athlete frustrated by poor performances.

Either way, speculation is mounting in Quebec’s hockey chattering classes that Cammalleri, who has become a whipping boy among talk-show pundits, might not be averse to waiving his limited no-trade clause were a deal to come along before the Feb. 27 deadline.

Cammalleri has repeated on countless occasions that he loves playing in Montreal and is determined to see out his six-year, $30-million (U.S.) contract; the boos can be interpreted as a sign his love affair with fans has gone off the boil (although a few wins and a well-timed hat trick would surely put things back on track).

The man at the centre of it all insisted he didn’t take it that way.

“I’ve come to know what to expect from the crowd. You’ve got to be sensitive to the fact that Canadiens fans live and die with their team. If anything, you can identify with how they feel, they’re not happy. … I wasn’t disappointed, more so I probably expected it,” Cammalleri told a large media scrum.

At the same time, he also alluded to his declining playing time since Randy Cunneyworth took over as coach from the deposed Jacques Martin 10 games ago.

“I’m not playing as much so I’ve got to get a little more work in practice, and stay in shape here,” he said, smiling after the Habs’ workout ahead of their game in Boston against the Bruins Thursday.

Whereas Cammalleri typically averaged close to 19 minutes of ice time a game under Martin, on average, that has dropped to 16 under Cunneyworth, who doesn’t use him on the penalty kill.

On Tuesday, he played 15 minutes 1 second, his second-lowest total of the season.

It didn’t help that Cammalleri, Plekanec and Gionta were on the ice for the Blues’ first two goals on Tuesday – Cammalleri’s blown assignment was directly responsible for the first one.

The Richmond Hill, Ont., native, has scored 54 goals in 159 regular-season games (and 16 in 25 playoff games) since joining the Habs as a free agent in 2009, but has a modest nine goals in 37 games this season, and only one on the power play.

But he has three in his past six outings, and said his confidence remains intact.

“I know I’m a better player now than I’ve ever been,” he said, alluding to the extra work he has put in as his struggles have deepened.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Dion Phaneuf a victim of perception

David Shoalts, Globe and Mail, Jan. 12, 2012

Dion Phaneuf is both the latest example of the resentment toward the Toronto Maple Leafs by a large number of NHL players and a victim of perception.

The consequence is fairly trivial – he was voted in a poll of 161 of his peers by Sports Illustrated as the most overrated player in the league. But it sure set tongues wagging, with no shortage of opinions on either side of the issue.

Which of the 10 players mentioned in the Sports Illustrated poll do you regard as the most overrated player in the NHL?

Dion Phaneuf
Alex Ovechkin
Scott Gomez
Roberto Luongo
Dany Heatley
Ilya Kovalchuk
Vincent Lecavalier
Jay Bouwmeester
Ryan Kesler
Mike Komisarek

Leaf resentment is well-established among fans across the country, so it comes as no surprise they followed the lead of NHL players when presented with the same poll on Globesports.com. Look no further than the inclusion of Leaf defenceman Mike Komisarek in both lists of overrated players for proof of this.

Thanks to injuries, Komisarek has mostly been an anonymous player with the Leafs this season, or at least as anonymous as possible in this city. Last season, Komisarek slid down the depth chart and his media notices were hardly the stuff of overblown hagiographies.

When NHL players think about Toronto, they think a lot like hockey fans outside the Greater Toronto Area. They think about the all-consuming attention paid to a team that has not won a Stanley Cup going on 45 years and roll their eyes. They also smirk at all the media attention the team gets and talk about how tough it must be to play in such an atmosphere, in itself an overrated perception, which makes the Leafs one of the least-favoured destinations of free agents.

Phaneuf also wasn’t helped by his coach. Ron Wilson raised a lot of eyebrows a while back when he declared Phaneuf was the best defenceman in the NHL by a country mile. That went over like two-a-day practices in a lot of NHL dressing rooms.

Throw in the fact Phaneuf is not the most likeable guy on the ice – a safe bet is the 20 per cent of the 161 NHL voters who made him No. 1 on the overrated list were on the receiving end of a Phaneuf body check – and it’s no surprise to see his peers give him a figurative face-wash. Some say he is equally loveable off the ice, which may also have played into a few votes.

Hey, Ryan Kesler of the Vancouver Canucks made it on the overrated list just ahead of Komisarek at ninth. He’s just as abrasive as Phaneuf but no sensible hockey type would consider him overrated.

But the facts say otherwise. Phaneuf, 26, did go into decline after his first couple of years with the Calgary Flames when he posted as many as 60 points in a season. However, he is on the rise this season with 28 points in 42 games, which puts him sixth among NHL defenceman as of Thursday morning. While Phaneuf still tends to be an adventure defensively, his presence as a physical force for the Leafs is undeniable. The team’s record with him in the lineup is 67-51-16.

No, he is not ready to be a finalist for the Norris Trophy, the NHL’s award for the best defenceman. However, the sheer numbers of Leaf fans meant Phaneuf was voted into the NHL all-star game by the fans, which ostensibly makes him the second-best defenceman in the league at this point. But that is the fault of the NHL, which allows such nonsense by giving the fans a vote.

That does not mean Phaneuf is the most overrated player in the NHL. That dubious honour should go to the player whose reputation far outstrips his value. Alexander Ovechkin, the No. 2 finisher, who is in his second consecutive mediocre season, is a more sensible selection.

One thing that did not disappoint was the reaction of Leafs general manager Brian Burke. No one does high dudgeon better than Burke. In a couple of interviews Wednesday night, Burke pointed out the main reason Phaneuf was dissed was “people love to hate the Toronto Maple Leafs. They hate the fact we’re the centre of the hockey universe.”

That last sentence was particularly delicious. It was the perfect illustration why those NHL players love to dump on Toronto. The casual claim of hockey deity was sure to set the Toronto haters aflame all over again.

Burke reserved his best stuff for the players who voted for Phaneuf. He told the Toronto Star those players “can all go defecate in their chapeaus.”

In an appearance on Sportsnet Radio The Fan 590’s Prime Time Sports show, Burke said, “any player, any imbecile who voted on this poll, can fly to Ottawa to discuss it with [Phaneuf] at the all-star game.”

Anyone interested in the fortunes of the Leafs should have a listen to the entire Burke interview. He says he is looking to make a trade in advance of the Feb. 27 NHL trade deadline because he wants the Leafs to make more than a token appearance in the playoffs. He said he would not hesitate to trade a first-round draft pick to do so, which is sure to provoke much discussion.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Sutter vs. Sutter

ERIC DUHATSCHEK, Globe and Mail, Jan. 11, 2012

Darryl Sutter is on the phone from Los Angeles, in advance of his big homecoming this weekend, talking about cows. Sutter is a rancher, whenever he can take time away from hockey, and on Sunday night, he and brother Brent were discussing their herds and how it’s calving season. Worryingly, there are some calcium deficiencies in the stock.

It was just one part of the conversation between the two Sutter brothers, as they touched base to compare notes on hockey, family, ranching and other matters. That they will be coaching against each other for the first time in their respective careers on Saturday, when Darryl’s Los Angeles Kings visit Brent’s Calgary Flames, seemed to be an afterthought.

Darryl’s primary motivation in calling was to congratulate Brent on Calgary’s big win over the Minnesota Wild, which came two days after a monstrously bad 9-0 loss to the Boston Bruins.

“I said to him, ‘Geez you go from getting pounded by Boston to having a 3-0 lead with just a few minutes left – that’s a testament to good coaching.’”

In all, the much-anticipated Sutter vs. Sutter match-up Saturday will be the 32nd time in his life that Darryl has coached against one of his brothers, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Twenty-nine came against Brian, two against Duane. In 1997, almost 15 years ago, it happened under oddly similar circumstances – Darryl coming to Calgary for the first time with a California-based team (the San Jose Sharks), with Brian behind the Flames’ bench.

Darryl last coached in the NHL with the Flames, before becoming the full-time general manager in 2007. He left the organization just a little more than a year ago, officially resigning so that Jay Feaster could take over. When the Kings fired coach Terry Murray last December, GM Dean Lombardi asked Sutter, with whom he worked before in San Jose, to take over. The Kings are 6-1-3 in Darryl’s first 10 games behind the bench, and has crept back into a playoff position in the tightly bunched Western Conference.

Sutter never did speak publicly about his departure from Calgary, but on Wednesday, he said the perception that he bore a grudge against the organization was untrue.

“Absolutely not,” Sutter said. “You know what? I almost feel today exactly as I did when I first went there – that it’s a privilege for a guy, being from Alberta, to coach and manage one of those teams. It’s awesome.”

As a family with seven boys, six of whom made it to the NHL, the Sutters have long ago figured out how to separate family matters from the inherent competitive fires that run through them all, according to Darryl. It’ll be the same this weekend, too. He’ll spend Friday and Saturday at home in Calgary with his wife, Wanda, and son Christopher. On Sunday, his daughter, her husband and his granddaughter will be in attendance in Edmonton, where the Kings play the Oilers.

“We were always like that,” Sutter said. “As players, we could see each other the night before, but the day of, we never even looked at each other. Usually, we were captains. It was just too hard, so that was the unwritten rule – stay away from each other on the day of the game. That was always the best way to do it.

“We learned in a hurry that you totally separated it out. Not everybody, but lots of people made a big deal because they said Brent and I didn’t talk. If they really knew, they’d know that was being very untruthful.”

Last Tuesday, on the first Kings’ off day in a while, Darryl finally moved into his new place – Murray’s house, as it happens. That happens all the time when players get traded – they swap houses as well – but not as frequently among coaches. His wife and son will come down to Los Angeles during the all-star break, but they are otherwise staying behind in Calgary so Christopher can finish Grade 12.

And so this weekend’s Kings-Flames match-up, which is a big moment on the NHL’s January calendar, is a smaller deal for Sutter, just because he’s done this before. Multiple times. Over and over.

“Quite honestly, I’m used to this,” said Sutter, who also coached the Chicago Blackhawks and Sharks. “We’ve already been to Chicago and San Jose since I’ve been to L.A. Calgary’s the only other place left [among his former teams].

“I’m glad we get in the day before. I only wish we had a day in between the back-to-backs, but that’s just the way it is. The schedule is still really tough.”

Some things, it seems, never change.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Johnson: Darryl Sutter’s return will be great theatre

George Johnson, Calgary Herald January 12, 2012

Anything could happen. Quite literally. Such is the unpredictability of the man.

Saturday morning following the visitors’ customary morning-skate slot of 11:30, he’ll either A) be customarily caustic, short on dialogue; B) cunningly throw everyone present off kilter by revealing his convivial, even charming, side; or C) send out, say, goaltending coach Bill Ranford in his stead to deal with the riff-raff. Just ’cause he can.

However it does play out, the Darryl Sutter return promises to be grand theatre.

“That’s your guys’s role in this, right?’’ prodded Calgary Flames’ defenceman Cory Sarich teasingly. “I’ll probably be in here doing the same things I always do, eating chicken and pasta.

“I’ll let you guys provide the excitement.’’

For the better part of seven years, Darryl Sutter was the unofficial, unelected mayor of this town. His status, iconic. His word, sacrosanct.

If Jarome Iginla was undoubtedly the face of the franchise, Sutter held what ultimately matters — the seat of ultimate power. And, for a while, everything he touched turned to spun-gold; he seemingly could find sugar in a sand dune.

Those famous ‘In Sutter We Trust’ signs, proudly unfurled like flags during that astounding ’04 Stanley Cup run, were long ago junked or used for kindling, of course, but they indicate how much sway he had, the man’s popularity in the southern half of this province.

Until untethered power got in the way and everything started to go all pear-shaped, anyway. Sutter never did find the right replacement for himself as coach; and he was always a better coach, his true calling, than an executive.

“I’m sure it’ll be . . . different to see him on the other side,’’ conceded D-man Mark Giordano. “But as far as players go, during games you’re not exactly observing the other bench.

“Obviously he was here for a long time and a big part of this organization, though. So I’m sure he’ll be well received.’’

The Sutter Effect that took hold here in 2003 now has L.A. — or at least that teensy-tiny section of the City of the Angels cognizant of ice hockey — in its grip.

Dustin Penner’s intense physical reaction to homemade flapjacks aside, everything’s on the upswing at the Staples Center.

The underachieving Californians are 5-1-3 since Sutter assumed control of the Kings’ drydocked cruise ship from Terry Murray, Captain Bligh’s threats of the highest yardarm in the British fleet dragging out of his crew what Captain Stubing could not.

Darryl Sutter, whatever your opinion of him, has the Kings flying high.

Higher than the Calgary Flames at the moment (and don’t think he isn’t well acquainted with that fact).

“I just think we’re more aggressive,’’ centreman Anze Kopitar told the L.A. Times. “We’re pursuing the puck a lot more and we’re playing with it a lot more.

“The difference with Terry maybe is that before we were waiting a little too much. Now we’re going after it.”

Captain Dustin Brown told the paper that he’d received a scouting report on Sutter’s legendary tough methods from former King Scott Thornton, who played for him in San Jose.

Thornton, Brown revealed, “said he hated him while he played for him, but looking back, he said it was some of the best hockey he’s played as a professional.’’

A pretty universal appraisal. Those who know Darryl Sutter on a professional level, you see, aren’t in the least surprised that he’s vaulted a very talented Kings’ lineup back into the Top 8 in the West.

“The one thing with Darryl is that coaching has always been his passion,’’ says Sutter’s former aide-de-camp, Flames assistant Dave Lowry. “He was always a very good bench manager, always good through the course of the game.

“The big thing is, he rides the guys that night that are playing well. Doesn’t matter if you’re on the first line or the fourth line, if you’re the top scorer or the 13th or 14th forward. If you are in the lineup and you’re having a good night, you’ll get your ice time. He challenges his best players, but he also rewards them.’’

Tonight, the Flames endeavour to extend a seven-game winning streak on Scotiabank Saddledome ice against the Anaheim Ducks. But already, 48 hours away, there’s an eye half-cocked toward Saturday, toward the rejuvenated Kings and Darryl Sutter’s competitive return to the Saddledome.

“I’m sure there’ll be a lot of stories and a lot of talk, that side of things,’’ acknowledged Giordano, “but at the end of the day they’re playing well and we’re both battling for a playoff spot.

“Oh, he’ll have them ready. For sure. He demands a lot out of his players.

“But the game is what matters. Not all the other stuff around it.’’

Oh, but there will lots of the other stuff. Scads of it. Reams, actually. Anything could happen. Which is part of the fun.

It’s sure to be grand theatre, however it does play out.

“I don’t know if ‘weird’ is the word, exactly,’’ hedges Cory Sarich, who’s only known Sutter first-hand as a managerial figure on the floor above him. “Maybe for the guys he coached, like Iggy, it’ll have a little different meaning.

“For me, I remember him with San Jose and then when I spent time in Tampa against (Calgary) in the finals. I know I always enjoyed his comments. He’ll probably have some good ones again.’’

A small smile. “But I’m sure he’ll be on his best behaviour, so . . .”

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

COUCH SLOUCH: Rekindling a love for prep sports

Norman Chad, Charleston Gazette (West Virginia), January 9, 2012

DUE TO A family situation beyond my control – I fell for a sexy, omelet-making ingenue whose son is quite athletic – I have reconnected this academic year with the delights of high school basketball.

(True Story: So I was being seduced by Toni, a.k.a. She Is The One, and after it became clear we were going to be Slouch & Wife, one night following another fabulous home-cooked meal, she opens the linen closet and two young kids – Isaiah and Mia – pop their heads out. I mean, she had never even mentioned children! In poker, when you take a long time before showing your winning hand – thus making your opponent think he's got the best of it – it's called "slow-rolling." Well, Toni slow-rolled her kids; the dame got me hook, line and sinker. Wow.*)

(*The aforementioned "true story" is not entirely true, but it's the way I remember it.)

My 15-year-old, 6-foot-4 stepson Isaiah is a sophomore reserve forward at Springbrook High School in Silver Spring, Md. The Blue Devils are pretty good. Best I can tell, Isaiah will only play in two situations this season: if Springbrook has an insurmountable lead, or if I get a court order.

Naturally, in the 30 years since I last frequented high school arenas, the culture has changed. Before every Springbrook football and basketball game I've attended – Isaiah also is a starting wide receiver – there is some type of announcement about crowd behavior. Prior to the Springbrook-at-Blake basketball game, the P.A. guy declared, "Here at Blake, we have a zero tolerance policy. Have a good time, root for your team but – please! – don't be a jerk."

This seems rather obvious, but apparently we now have to remind ourselves to be decent to one another; wasn't it George Costanza who intoned, "You know, we're living in a society!" Next thing you know, there will be a blaring announcement every time you walk into a bank reminding you not to rob it.

But beyond the civility issues, the games are largely pleasurable.

The entire atmosphere feels purer than, say, AT&T Center or United Center: Bandbox gyms, a sense of community, bubbly cheerleaders, $5 tickets, reasonable concessions and free parking. You're in and out in under two hours, which means you can get home in time to spend another hour watching the last eight minutes of a college basketball game.

Best of all, most of the kids appear to be playing for the love of the game, the sheer joy of it. And at Springbrook, it's a treat to watch 6-7 senior center Demetric Austin, whose low-post moves, outlet passes and shot-blocking skills put most Washington Wizards to shame.

The Blue Devils, 8-2 this season, are largely a reflection of Coach Tom Crowell, a hard-nosed high school lifer who has spent nearly four decades coaching football and basketball.

Crowell sometimes asks his players to do things they don't want to do, but he led Springbrook to an unprecedented three consecutive Maryland Class 4A state championships from 2008 to 2010, so they might want to listen a bit more than they do.

Besides, his voice demands attention. If Crowell tells you to walk barefoot into the desert, take a sip of water and walk back, you'd better be halfway to the desert before he's even done speaking.

Crowell is an old-school, old-world, old-fashioned disciplinarian: Take a bad shot and he'll pull you out to let you think about it for a while.

He'll bend over in anguish when his team screws up. He'll wave disgustedly at a referee after a tough call. He'll even stomp the floor with both feet.

But, hey, as a (step)parent, I'm not scared of the old coot. I don't care if his career record at Springbrook is 144-18, all I know is this:

I'm tired of driving through traffic to watch my beloved's first-born, Isaiah Eisendorf, riding the pine every game. PLAY HIM. He's hard to miss – he's the tall one near the end of the bench wearing No. 25. And need I remind Coach Crowell, I'm pretty well-connected. If he plays his cards right with me, I could have him coaching at the University of Maryland, or, more realistically, get him a comped buffet at Caesars Palace.

(Incidentally, the next time I get married, I'm going to ask about kids before my wedding night.) . . . .

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[Author]

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