Avalanche Warning

After a few weeks into the season, many great stories have been told already. Maybe the most surprising to everybody is the Colorado Avalanche. Why have they been so good? Only Miss Cleo knows the real answer. Maybe it's because they are young, fast, relentless, and maybe naive enough to not understand pressure yet. They had no expectations from anyone in the hockey world and maybe they were underestimated by their peers and surprised them. That all being said, the Avalanche may start falling soon.

For all the reasons they are doing good are all the same reasons I truly believe they will be fighting for the last playoff spot and just missing out this year. Call me crazy, but right now there are teams currently out of the playoffs like Vancouver, Detroit and Anaheim, that should make the playoffs. That means that 2 or 3 teams currently in the top 8 will need to exit. Those teams should be Phoenix, Colorado and possibly Dallas. The Av's are only 6 points up on 8th and they have yet to face adversity this season, and they will.

A hot goalie in Anderson, has been the main key. The Av's average 26 shots per game (29th in the league) and give up 33 (25th in the league), that is not a good combo and will show as time goes on. With that hot goalie comes a guy who has never been regular starter, a guy who has started over 30 games once (31) and a guy who has put up decent numbers in his appearances, but very limited appearances at that. He started 17 of 18 games played this season. This workload on an unproven number 1 is going to tell the whole story, come the second half of the season. If the Av's want to help Anderson out they need to shore up in front of him and rely a little more on a solid back up in Budai.

As much as the Av's are fun to watch and have been a great story for the first part of the season, I wouldn't keep my hopes up if I were an Av's fan. They will be better in a year or two if Anderson proves he can start a whole season, and when the young guys grow, go through some adversity, and learn what playing in the NHL is all about. I hope they can continue, because the surprising underdog's often write the best story.

Big Z

Hey Stevie Y; Selection isn't that hard, is it?

Every four years the nation of Canada hangs in the balance of one person. A person who holds the greatest responsibility in a country. A person who will be hero or goat based on one result, gold or not gold. The lucky person this year is Steve Yzerman. He holds the cards and has to decide which ones to lay on the table. The ones he chooses will decide gold or no gold. Sure he has scouts and advisers to help, but if gold is won, he will be heralded as a genius, but if they get Silver or worse he will be the one answering all of the questions and facing all the blame. Not fair, but realistic. The now Hall of Famer will have legacy, no matter what, of one of the greatest players ever, but does not want the blemish of letting down an entire country. I thought since Stevie Y is so bogged down with big decisions, I would help him out.
The Canadian team for the 2010 Winter Olympics (according to me and not in a particular order).

Sidney Crosby - this is a given, no explanation necessary.
Joe Thornton - with his size and play down low on an NHL size ice surface he will be dominant, and he is the best play-maker in the league.
Patrick Marleau - was on the bubble, but has played himself on the team with his start this season, has great speed, great shot and grit.
Danny Heatly - finishes of the San Jose Line, pure sniper, is having a great season with the best passer feeding him the puck, no reason to split them up in Vancouver
Rick Nash - goes fairly unnoticed on Columbus, but is a force, a sniper, a big fast forward who also is a great penalty killer. Can play in all situations and flourishes on the big stage.
Jarome Iginla - some say he had a slow start to the season, but it doesn't matter, he can even be one of the captains. A leader, a goal scorer, speed, and gritty.
Cory Perry - being on NHL ice size can play more of a factor than in other Olympics. He brings size, skill and a power forward style, with touch and finesse with the puck.
Ryan Getslaf - he and Perry compliment each other and have great chemistry, probably one if the top five players in the league, has had a slow start, but he will be just fine.
Ryan Smyth - having a resurrection in LA (not that he really went away), Team Canada staple and a must have to compliment all the pure skill with his big game intangibles.
Mike Richards - a tough center who is one of the top 2-way players in the league. Will balance out a high skill offensive team with defensive responsibility and some offense as well, a great penalty killer to top it off.
Vincent Lecavalier - not having the best season so far, but he is an asset and adds real offensive and defensive depth and can fit on any line in any role. His all around game is to valuable to leave out.
Shane Doan - much like Smyth he has big game abilities and has a lot of experience on Team Canada. Brings grit and natural goal scoring and leadership. Is not a liability in any situation.
Jonathan Toews - he is a tough one, and leaves a guy like Spezza out, but he has serious big game intangibles, and adds speed, skill, and is a passing of the guard so to speak. He may be the healthy scratch until a spot opens.

Mike Green - Like having a 4th forward on the ice, but also good defensively, a big mobile D-man and a power play specialist.
Chris Pronger - Big, defensive stopper, with some offensive ability. Scares and hurts other players with physical sometime dirty play. You want him on your team, not to play against him.
Dan Boyle - Big shot, offensive defense man, powerplay specialist
Jay Bouwmeester - Big, mobile, puck moving defenceman, can skate with anyone and defend anyone
Scott Niedermeyer - Will be the Captain of team Canada with tons of experience and great all around skill
Brent Seabrook - a shut down defense man, young and steady, will be a 6th or 7th D-man.
Drew Doughty - A young high skilled D-man, another player deserved of having the torch passed down. Another 6th or 7th D-man.

Martin Brodeur - Until he proves otherwise, Marty is the goalie for the job. He is the greatest goalie in history and he won't be one of the 2 starters only if he chooses that, which of course he won't.
Roberto Luongo - He is the A in 1 and 1A with Marty. They will share duty throughout the tournament and the hottest goalie will be playing when it counts most.
Marc-Andre Fleury - He is number 3 and a great number 3 at that. Should one goalie go down, Canada won't miss a beat with Fleury. With Cam Ward playing himself out and now getting hurt, the job is Fleury's

Line 1 - Nash - Crosby - Iginla
Line 2 - Heatly - Thornton - Marleau
Line 3 - Perry - Getslaf - Lecavalier
Line 4 - Smyth - Richards - Doan
Toews

D 1 - Pronger - Green
D 2 - Bouwmeester - Boyle
D 3 - Keith - Niedermeyer
Doughty

In many cases it seems that players like Draper and Maltby (in the past) would get consideration because of their great penalty killing or other specialized skills. I don't agree with that, I think you put your best on the ice and put them in situations to excel. There are great penalty killers that offer a lot more as well, and are not one dimensional like a Draper for example. I know I did not go out on a limb with any of these players, but the thought put into it factored PK, grit, size, speed, shutdown players, experience, etc were all factored in.

There will be a lot of debate and to be honest Canada can put a second team in and probably win 2 medals, so there are a lot of players left out that deserve to be there.

Big Z

No Hitting in Hockey?

Let's start by saying, the hit in an OHL game on October 30th, was a terrible result and we hope for nothing but a full recovery by Ben Fanelli.
The topic of high hits and head shots has been brought up many times over the years, but it takes a big incident for it to dominate the headlines again. Should changes be made? Maybe, but what changes can be made.
The problem with this particular situation is that the Fanelli hit was not a dirty hit. Liambis entered the zone with speed, stopped striding well before the hit and pounded Fanelli into the boards. There was no elbow, no charging and no elevation. Fanelli surveyed the situation while pursuing the puck and turned his body to reverse the puck, he was in a vulnerable position, but as long as the hit is within the rules, it is not the fault of the hitter. Another thing that is getting talked about is that he is a 16 year old kid. This is irrelevant, but was the biggest reason for the knee jerk reaction of many around the hockey and media world. It is not the responsibility of any player on the ice to know the age of every player on the ice and gauge his intensity and effort to coincide with that. If you put a jersey on in any league, you need to know where you are playing and the risk involved, you do not and should not get special treatment because you are younger. Again it was an unfortunate result, but within the rules. On the flip side Liambis was suspended for an entire year. Now he is getting punished for playing within the rules and his career may be over, all because none of the decision makers have the gall to do what is right and stand up for the game and the rules. It is easier to suspend a guy and make "most" people, who are reacting emotionally and irrationally, happy. Emotion needs to be taken out of the decision making process. It needs to be based on the rules and the rules do not say anywhere that punishment should be based on the result. It is the action that is punishable. In this case and many more the action is not even a penalty, let alone a suspension.
This was the biggest "case" of hard hits this year, but there have been others.
Why wasn't Jarome Iginla suspended for his trip of Edmonton's Sheldon Souray in game 3 of the season. Iginla used his stick to tap the skate of Souray to throw him off balance and he went crashing into the boards. That is a very dangerous thing to do and player have been doing it for years, usually on touch icing, but it happens often. Iginla probably did not mean to hurt Souray, but it happened on a play that is punishable with penalty and that is tripping. Which proves that tripping can be dangerous as well. Many players get hurt with stick infractions, be it tripping, slashing, high sticking, etc, but unless it is a vicious play like a slash to the head there is never a suspension. The point is why does there have to be a precedent set for hard hitting within the rules. A player gets suspended for a clean hit. Well actually the result of the hit. If suspensions for results are used than why does Iginla (as an example, he is not being single out) NOT get suspended for the result of a trip (which is a penalty) intentional or not. It seems there is a double standard and punishments are doled out to appease the emotional, knee-jerk reactions.

Big Z

The Fan (part 1)

So there I was sitting in my seat at the Jobing.com arena in Glendale, AZ. The Chicago Blackhawks were in town and the arena was at least half full. The tickets cost me $30 each, and on Thursday home games that includes all you can eat (hotdogs, nachos, popcorn, peanuts and soda), so I was very excited.

You don't have any control over who you sit beside, so it is always interesting to see what type of fan you will get. The fans (about 4 of them) possibly season ticket holders, who clearly knew everything about hockey... well at least they thought they did, were to my right. I actually asked my wife to switch me seats after the first so I could hear them better. Now, I am not claiming to be a hockey expert, but I grew up in Canada and played for over 20 years at decent levels throughout my career. That being said I know my way around the game.

This type of fan, which is highlighted in part one of The Fan, is... (run on sentence time, take a breath) the fan who comments on every play, loud enough so everyone around them can hear their "expertise", complain about every penalty deserved or not when it is call on "their" team, think that every time a player on "their" team gets touched it should be a penalty on the other team, complain about every player on "their" own team until he does something good, and then still complains about that player a little more, mentions every few minutes what the team needs to do to succeed, yell's "why didn't he shoot" when he passed and "why didn't he pass" when he shot and proceeds to give a standing cheer when "their" team, who was leading by at least 2 goals the whole game, played well (but apparently couldn't do anything right all game, when the refs weren't screwing it up for them) and walk away saying "well we got the win, good game tonight". (and breathe)

No exageration, these guys commented on every play, I heard a few "great pass" when a D to D pass was made with no one near them (not sure it was "great"). My point is useless comments that don't really reflect on the game and are plays that you forget 5 seconds later, don't need to be commented on every few seconds. They were all complaining and talking which enable the buddy's to feed off of it and get a little louder to get his point across to his pals and 3 sections around them. The ironic thing is they looked like unknowing hockey guys, at least to those of us who know a little. They group into another category as well, which was I know every transaction "my" team has made and know who playes in the minors, so therefore I know everything about the game play on the ice, shift to shift.
I don't get it, but I sat there enjoyed the game with my four hotdogs, tray of nachos, peanuts, and 4 sodas with my wife (she had her own food), because after all it was my night to cook, so an "all you can eat" hockey game was my special treat.

Big Z