After spending many obsessive hours compulsively dissecting hockey stats, rumors and the like I have decided today that what better way to spend my uneventful, unproductive work study hours monitoring the computer lab, than getting my opinions and admittedly self-proclaimed hockey expertise out to the world to agree with, argue, get pissed off about, what have you.
At this current moment, there are two things major things bugging me around the league.
1) The pity and panic for the Pittsburgh Penguins (say THAT five times fast).
Sidney Crosby has not played a game since January 5, and though he remains hopeful for a return, there is no timetable for his return. Evgeni Malkin hadn't played since January 18, and went down for the season just six minutes into his return earlier this week. The loss of two of the best centerman in the league suddenly has experts losing faith in the 'Pens, and with the Trade Deadline just over 2 weeks away, suggests that they should be scrambling to find some emergency help from the trade market. The fact is since Malkin went down on the 18th, the Penguins have won 6 of 9, including a 5-game winning streak, and in the entire stretch since the loss of Crosby, the Penguins have pulled off wins against the Boston Bruins (who twice previously had left the Pens with the mouths agape after stunning third period rallies), the perpetual powerhouse Detroit Red Wings, and the suddenly hot Buffalo Sabres, and remain only 3 points behind the conference-leading and in-state divisional rival Philadelphia Flyers, who, goaltending aside, boast arguably the best roster in the game today. With the top two centers out of the lineup, underappreciated third center Jordan Staal with finally get a chance to shine. Pittsburgh still has a lot of young talent in the pipeline, who is so far doing their part stepping in. The time for panic may happen for the Penguins, but for the moment, they seem safe. When they start losing, THEN you can worry. Still, that's not to say preventative measures can't be taken to ensure the Penguins stay solid enough to keep the race for the Atlantic Division title alive. GM Ray Shero has been notorious the last few years for adding streaky veteran wingers and solid defenders at the deadline over the past few years for the stretch run (Alex Ponikarovsky and Jordan Leopold last year, Bill Guerin and Hal Gill the year before). If there's one thing the Penguins always seem to be missing, it's a high-scoring winger. WIth the talent of Crosby and Malkin, they have managed to get by without that asset for the past few years, but the time may be now to make a big deadline splash, especially seeing that the Penguins only worrying statistic with the loss of Crosby and Malkin seems to be their goal scoring. While I still have faith in Staal, there is no denying the loss of two centers creates a hole in depth down the middle. WIth Staal becoming the top center, the Penguins may still need to add a solid center to anchor the second or third line, as grinder Max Talbot has had a disappointing season production-wise. The only other thing that the Penguins should look to add is a veteran with playoff experience to balance out the youth that is currently filling the holes created by injury. Other than that, Pittsburgh seems set on the back end, with a solid top 5 defenseman and two reliable goaltenders. All-Star Kris Letang is making a case for the Norris Trophy, Alex Goligoski is having a break out year, off-season acquisitions Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek are solid defenders, and Brooks Orpik, the oldest and longest-tenured D-man on the team at age 30, is as reliable as ever. All-Star goalie Marc-Andre Fleury is playing some of the best hockey of his career (much to my dismay, as I've always found him overrated), and backup and former 34-game winner Brent Johnson's 9-4-2 record, .929 SV% and 1.90 GAA are more than comforting in case Fleury starts to falter.
2) The refusal to take notice of the New Jersey Devils recent play.
Right from the get-go this season, the Devils have been absolutely awful. With the Devils already playing poorly, and the monstrosity-of-a-contract-winner Ilya Kovalchuk severely underachieving, the Devils suffered a huge blow by losing Zach Parise to a long-term injury. What I found particularly heartbreaking was the fate of my favorite player, Kovy (almost as heartbreaking as him being traded to the Devils, and then re-signing with them). Up till now, Kovy had scored more goals than any other player since he entered the league, quite a feat for someone spending his entire career with the until-recently lackluster Atlanta Thrashers. But Kovy just wasn't playing inspired hockey; he was losing the puck, falling in odd places. Overall, just playing with no confidence whatsoever. From the start, he didn;t seem to fit in the Devil's system, a team which had constantly remained a top team in the league through their defensive style of play and minimal scoring. With the saga of his contract, most people would find it hard to pity the man, but I still had faith in my boy, even despite his horrifying -29.
With one of the worst rosters in the league after Kovy, Zajac, and Elias, the Devils didn't seem to have much potential for a change this season. Enter Jacques Lemaire. There is no denying he is a great coach, last night he earned his 600th career win. Some changes have started to happen since Lemaire took over. First thing one will notice is that Johan Hedberg has been playing more; finally, someone realizes that at this age, Martin Brodeur just isn't capable of being a starter. Yeah, the guy's a future Hall of Famer, and quite possibly the greatest goalie of all-time. But face it, the guy's old, and has had some tough injuries recently. With those odds against you, you just can't keep it up.
Suddenly the Devils are 11-1-2 in their last 14 games, including wins against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and two wins against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the one loss coming against the Detroit Red Wings. They are 5-0-1 since the All-Star break. And still the league take little notice. After being written off all-season long as the worst team in the league, the Devils are poised to rocket up the standings. Already, they have jumped from 15th to 13th in the Eastern Conference. They have earned 24 points in 14 games, and with still 27 games to go in the season, are now only 13 points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the final playoff spot.
And now I make my Kovalchuk plug. Kovalchuk was under the microscope for the duration of his and the Devils horrible play, but now he is hot once again, and is receiving little mention for it. He could still finish this season with 30 goals, not what we're used to from Kovy, but still a fantastic season from anyone's standards, and everyone is bound to have a drop in production now and then (i.e. Alex Ovechkin). A player often criticized as a puck hog and a player who gives little defensive effort, Kovy's numbers seem to have gotten to him. His assists are equal to his goals (18 each), and he recently approacher Coach Lemaire with a request: he wished to get some time on the penalty kill, hoping to work on his defensive game. He has taken on a huge role for the Devils, often being double-shifted by Lemaire. A few tweaks in his game have seemed to work wonders for Kovalchuk: he has a six-game point streak, scoring in every game since the All-Star break, and has been a + in each of those games, with 4 goals, 3 assists, 7 points, and a +7 over those 6 games. Also he has 5 goals, 5 assists, and 10 points in his last 8 games, and since the All-Star break has improved his league-worst -29 to a -22.
Things are looking up in New Jersey. Just goes to show sometimes a personnel change rather than player changes can go a long way. Look at the Calgary Flames in the West. After Darryl Sutter stepped down and Jay Feaster took over, they've improved dramatically as well. 8-1-1 in their last 10 and now holding on to the last playoff spot in the West.
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