Bleacher Report - Articles by Jim Neveau

Citizens of Atlanta, Here Are Your New Atlanta Thrashers!

Jim Neveau — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 23:57:21 -0400

After a dismal season that saw the Atlanta Thrashers sink farther from the fabric of the Atlanta sports scene, the promise of renewal that this year's NHL Draft provided was a welcome breath of fresh air.

The Thrashers were blessed to have the fourth overall pick in this year's draft, and they took the opportunity to take Evander Kane, a solid two-way center with a competitive spirit and a physicality that was sorely lacking in Atlanta's game last year. He also is a very good offensive force on a team that sometimes lacks in that department.

With that in mind, I would like to introduce you, Thrashers fans, to the newest members of your franchise: the Thrasher Draft Class of 2009.

First Round

Fourth Overall Pick: Evander Kane, Center, Vancouver, BC

Evander Kane, a 17-year old drafted from Vancouver of the WHL, is a solid two-way center that is content to drop back and play defense, but is also able to switch gears on a dime and attack with an offensive potency that made him arguably the second best forward in the draft.

He racked up 33 points in his team's first 18 games, which was good enough to lead the league in scoring.

Bruce Haralson, an NHL scout, told nhl.com "what's impressive to me is that he doesn't necessarily have to dominate with the puck to be effective. He just has that sense of timing and gets to the holes."

Scouts and pundits compare Kane to Calgary center Jarome Iginla, and as an African-American, he is in a unique position to sell the game to that community in Atlanta. He said in his profile on nhl.com that he is hoping to spark interest in hockey in the city, and would be "very happy" to have the responsibility.

His namesake, Evander Holyfield, was nicknamed "The Real Deal," and hopefully Kane can live up to that hype with the Thrashers.

Second Round

34th Overall Pick: Carl Klingberg, Left Wing, Gothenburg, Sweeden

Carl, an 18-year-old winger, played for Sweden in this year's World Junior Championships U18 division, and played pretty well, scoring four points in the team's six games.

During the regular season in the Swedish Jr. Hockey League, he netted 13 goals and 13 assists and racked up 34 penalty minutes for the Frolunda HC.

According to scouting reports, he is a quick skater, and an adept puck handler. He also loves to get physical, whether in the checking department or dropping the gloves.

His NHL equivalent is Johan Franzen, and in some circles he is known as "The New Mule" after the Detroit winger.

45th Overall Pick: Jeremy Morin, Left Winger, Auburn, New York

Jeremy, 18 years old, scored 48 points (26 goals, 22 assists) in 46 games in the US Development Program this last season. He also racked up 94 penalty minutes.

According to scouting reports, Morin needs to work on his defensive zone skill, but he is a good forechecker and is fiercely competitive.

He is expected to play for the Kitchener Rangers (OHL) next year.

Fourth Round

117th Overall Pick: Edward Pasquale, Goalie, Toronto

With the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL, Edward, 18, racked up a save percentage of 0.911 and a W-L-T record of 36-21-6. He also had a GAA of 3.02 last season.

120th Overall Pick: Ben Chiarot, Defenseman, Hamilton, ON

With the Guelph Storm of the OHL, Ben had 12 points in 67 games, but he also had an astounding 111 penalty minutes. He also had three assists in the team's four playoff games this year.

Fifth Round

125th Overall Pick: Cody Sol, Defenseman, Woodstock, ON

With the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL, Cody, 18, used his 6'4" frame to rack up 128 penalty minutes in 66 games. He only had seven points during the regular season, but he stepped up in the playoffs by notching two assists.

Sixth Round

155th Overall Pick: Jimmy Bubnick, Center, Esterhazy, SK

Playing with the Kamloops Blazers of the WHL, Jimmy scored 25 goals and 32 assists during a stellar offensive regular season. He also had 41 PIM in 72 games.

Seventh Round

185th Overall Pick: Levko Koper, Left Wing, Edmonton, AB

Levko scored 23 goals and added 36 assists with the Spokane Chiefs of the WHL. He also had 10 points in the team's 12 playoff games as well.

203rd Overall Pick: Jordan Samuels-Thomas, Left Wing, Hartford, Connecticut

Playing with the Waterloo Black Hawks of the USHL, Jordan had 32 goals and 22 assists in 59 games played. He also had 59 penalty minutes in the regular season. In three playoff games, he scored two goals as well.

Legend Anyone? Five Teams That Could Sign Tom Glavine

Jim Neveau — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 04:06:25 -0400

When the Atlanta Braves released Tom Glavine, it was widely speculated throughout baseball that he was merely dumped because Atlanta didn't feel like paying him a $1 million bonus that he would have been due if he had been called up to their Major League roster.

Motives aside, the move that has landed Glavine on the open market is one that has probably opened a lot of eyes of MLB general mangers. There are a lot of teams out there who are in dire need of another solid starting pitcher, and even though Glavine is certainly on the downward slope of his career, he could still be a good, pretty cheap addition to a team.

The question then becomes: Which team could use the services of Glavine the most? Obviously, he shouldn't be counted upon to resurrect an entire rotation, but for teams looking for good mentor-type guys who can still produce, Glavine is certainly a good guy.

Which teams could find the most use for him? There are five teams in baseball who could find some great use for him.

1. Milwaukee Brewers

When we saw the Brewers last season, their rotation was stocked with guys who could throw the ball well. Guys like CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets anchored the staff, and the pitching was good enough to win the NL Wild Card, for the team's first playoff appearance in 26 years.

This year, the team isn't exactly swimming in pitching talent. Braden Looper is 5-3, but he has an ERA of 4.65 and a WHIP of 1.39. Manny Parrra is also having a hugely disappointing season, going 3-7 thus far with an ERA of 6.75 and a WHIP of 1.83, a number that is simply painful to look at.

Also, Jeff Suppan is not pitching well at all, with an ERA over five and a 1.61 WHIP.

With these stats in mind for most of the rotation, it is pretty obvious that Glavine's experience would help solidify the fourth spot in the team's rotation and give them at least a fighting chance to win a division title in the weak NL Central.

2. Toronto Blue Jays

Since the departure of A.J. Burnett, no one has really stepped up to the rubber and delivered the consistent starts that makes for a good No. 2 guy to ace Roy Halladay, who is having a career year.

The problems, it seems, are pretty small, but a team with as many young pitchers as the Blue Jays have can always use more veteran leadership. With three starters under the age of 30, Glavine could be an indispensable asset.

Also, Glavine would probably perform well in the spacious SkyDome (I'll be damned if I call it Rogers Centre), and his cheap contract would be a boon to a team still paying Vernon Wells big bucks.

3. Texas Rangers

In Texas, it is obviously a hitter's paradise. Guys like Ian Kinsler, Josh Hamilton, and Chris Davis have powered the Rangers into first place in the AL West. The question, however, is whether a team with historically weak pitching can continue to stay out in front of the Angels and Mariners in the division.

Glavine's experience would definitely be a benefit to a team that is relying on young guys like Brandon McCarthy and Scott Feldman. He also has an ability to keep the ball in the park with his good ability to mask and locate his pitches.

Glavine could easily slide into the fifth spot in Texas' rotation, and he could be a key piece if the team hopes to make the postseason, which is as rare in Arlington, Texas, as a blinding snowstorm.

4. San Francisco Giants

With two of the best young pitchers in the game on their roster in Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, the Giants are poised for a long-term run of good pitching from their top guys.

Also, with a young catcher in Pablo Sandoval, the Giants are relying on a young battery on most nights, and this can sometimes be problematic in the heat of a playoff race.

If the team is going to have any hope of catching the Dodgers, or at least competing for a Wild Card berth, they will need some veteran leadership and a clutch pitcher in tough situations.

Glavine will provide that leadership, and he can also draw upon his experiences in the postseason with the Braves to help the youngsters if they ever hit any extended slumps.

5. Chicago White Sox

The White Sox are perhaps the most ideal team to try to take a flyer on Glavine. Granted, Clayton Richard and Bartolo Colon haven't been terrible by any stretch of the imagination, but when you get the opportunity to upgrade at starting pitcher, you will jump at it.

Also, you can clearly see that the team is still committed to winning right now. Judging by the trade attempts to land Jake Peavy and Roy Oswalt, GM Ken Williams still thinks the Sox can win the AL Central, and with some younger guys like Gordon Beckham and Alexei Ramirez leading the way, they may be able to do just that.

Of course, getting Glavine would be a great thing for the White Sox. Owner Jerry Reinsdorf is notoriously tight when it comes to shelling out dollars, but if he could land Glavine and throw him in the rotation in place of either Richard or Colon, he would provide a good compliment to John Danks and Gavin Floyd. He also wouldn't have to worry about being the ace of the staff, as that responsibility already falls on Mark Buehrle.

The Sox would be well advised to at least take a good, hard look at the veteran lefty as an alternative to trying to package their best prospects for guys who may not pitch well in the bandbox that U.S. Cellular Field is known as.

I don't know where Mr. Glavine will end up, but if I were to guess, it would be to one of these five teams. These teams could certainly use his services, and it will be interesting to see if the decision by the Braves to release him will come back to haunt them.

A Message for Manny: Man Up

Jim Neveau — Sun, 10 May 2009 20:03:12 -0400

Manny Ramirez’ 50-game suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs came as a shock to many in the baseball world.

Manny was widely regarded as one of the best pure-hitters in the game, and his recent positive test for a substance that can be used to recover from a steroid cycle was another dark cloud hanging over the national pastime.

With that being said, there comes a time when the sport, and the Los Angeles Dodgers, need to move forward. In order to do that, Manny needs to man up and apologize to his teammates, his coaches, and the owner.

He has already talked to Dodger owner Frank McCourt and the meeting was generally positive. McCourt said he had no interest in voiding the rest of Manny’s contract (or a taste for the legal fight that would certainly ensue if he did that), and he also said that Manny’s conduct won’t hurt the franchise long term, especially if he acted in a classy manner.

My concern with this statement by McCourt is simple: Can we really count on Manny Ramirez to take the classy route? Do we remember how he left Boston? How he quit on his teammates? How he basically went by the whims of his agent Scott Boras in an attempt to get a bigger contract by picking up his play somewhere other than Boston?

Manny is by no means a terrible human being. Using a PED is far from killing or maiming another human being, but let’s be real to ourselves: can we really trust Ramirez to do the right thing, toe the line, and let his play do all the talking? As one Dodger is quoted on Keith Olbermann’s blog on mlblogs.com as saying, “he got his money”.

This is a crying shame, that we have guys in baseball who care more about getting their paychecks than being good teammates. I’m not going to waste a bunch of time here denouncing Manny, but I do want to make a suggestion to the corn-rowed slugger. The rest of you can sit in the dugout for this one.

This is between me and Manny.

You need to follow your owner’s advice and you need to address your teammates. It’s going to be tough, and they probably won’t exactly be thrilled with your presence in the clubhouse, but that’s not the point here.

The point for you, Manny, is to man up, apologize to your team, and tell them that you want to be part of the future of this team.

You guys have a great chance to get far in the postseason, and if you can come back with even half of your production that you had down the stretch last year, you will be in the center of a storm in La La Wood.

I’m going to do you a favor, Manny. I’m going to write you an apology, a guide for dummies, if you will. You can add or subtract words if you want, but you absolutely need to capture the essence of what I am trying to say on your behalf.

“Guys, I wanted to tell you how sorry I am for letting you all down. While this substance that I took was prescribed to me by a physician, I am responsible for what I put into my own body, and I accept that. I accept MLB’s punishment for me, and I am going to make sure that I come back better than ever.

I’m not going to say that you shouldn’t be upset with me. Hell, I wouldn’t be true to myself or to you guys if I did that. What I will ask for, however, is to keep your heads up, play your asses off, and make sure that you keep playing hard. When I come back in July, I’m going to light up the league like I did last year.

That contract I got may have made me less hungry in the eyes of skeptics, but I will tell you that I want another ring more than anything. I want to prove that I don’t need those guys in Boston to do this. All I need are the 24 of you, and if you count on me, I guarantee you that things will turn out great for this team.

Now, I’m gonna go and hit a couple clubs on South Beach. Enjoy Dolphin Stadium guys!”

It is highly unlikely that Manny will heed my advice, but if he does, I’m betting that his teammates will listen.

It’s time for Manny to be a man.

The Arizona Diamondbacks' Three Keys to Success

Jim Neveau — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 02:24:10 -0400

The Arizona Diamondbacks are coming off a season filled with trials, tribulations, and just downright bad luck.

Key players such as Eric Byrnes, Chris Young, Orlando Hudson, and Justin Upton all struggled mightily with injuries last year. Doug Davis battled back from cancer and pitched heroically but without a lot of effectiveness.

Chris Snyder missed time with a fractured testicle, thus enforcing the image of the Arizona clubhouse as more of a MASH unit than a baseball team’s quarters.

Even with all of these problems, there will still several shining moments. Brandon Webb and Dan Haren established themselves as one of the best one-two combos that any rotation in baseball has to offer, and the D’Backs got a glimpse of their future when promising young stud Max Scherzer came into the locker room and made an impact on the field.

Randy Johnson also had flashes of his old brilliance throughout the season as well, but more often than not he pitched without his usual effectiveness, punctuated by an array of fastballs and sliders.

With the failures of last season in mind, GM Josh Byrnes set to work remaking the team on the field.

He let players like Hudson, Johnson, and Adam Dunn leave via free agency, and he instead built around a nucleus of young players, relying upon Conor Jackson, Stephen Drew, and Mark Reynolds to carry the load the others have left behind.

They did add one veteran free agent to the mix, however, bringing in Jon Garland to provide a bridge between Doug Davis and Max Scherzer in the rotation. Also, this move will keep Yusiermo Petit fresh in case he needs to be called upon later in the season for some spot starts.

Overall, there are three keys to success that the Diamondbacks will need to achieve if they are going to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are loaded for bear with talent like Manny Ramirez, Matt Kemp, James Loney, and Jonathan Broxton.

1. Chad Qualls HAS to be effective as the team’s closer

Last year, the Diamondbacks had a rotating circus of players at closer after the departure via trade of Jose Valverde. Chad Qualls, Brandon Lyon, and Petit all got chances to nail down the closer’s job, and none of them could capitalize on the opportunity.

With Petit moving out of the closer role and Lyon in Detroit, the job of closing has fallen squarely on Qualls.

Qualls was at best a loose cannon in his previous Major League stops, but if the Diamondbacks are going to go anywhere this season, they will need him to be productive and nail down between 25-30 saves.

2. The team’s three outfielders HAVE to come back strong

Byrnes, Young, and Upton comprise one of the youngest outfields in the game. They also comprise the biggest reason that the Diamondbacks were not more successful last year.

Their repeated bouts with injury and inconsistency left the D’Backs with very little potency in their lineup, and also led to a disjointed feel in the outfield that fill-ins like Conor Jackson and Adam Dunn were unable to fix.

This season, it is imperative that these three young guys come back strong both offensively and defensively. If Byrnes can steal bases and score runs, and Young and Upton hit for some power, then the team will be a lot better off. Also, they need to be a little more disciplined at the plate as well.

3. The stud pitchers HAVE to keep up the pace

Yes, it is a tall order for Brandon Webb and Dan Haren to both win between 18-22 games, but that is an absolute must for the team. These two guys, who are both among the higher paid pitchers in the game, have to give some serious bang for their buck in order to pick up the slack if the back-end of the rotation isn’t doing too well.

Another thing that these two have to do (especially Webb) is to mentor to the younger pitchers on the staff. Scherzer especially needs the guidance that these two veterans can provide, and if he can be taken under their wing, he could blossom into a very good pitcher in the near future and become a huge part of the team’s plans.

These keys are a bit of a simplistic way of looking at things, but that does not diminish the importance of any of them. The Diamondbacks are a team who has gone down this road before: rely on a couple of key veterans and try to build around a young nucleus.

Well, that youth movement had better come to fruition pretty soon, because once the free agency bug starts to bite this team, they’ll have to once again look to the minor league system, and another rebuilding job may be on tap. Time is of the essence.

Hotlanta Hockey: This Week in Atlanta Thrashers

Jim Neveau — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 03:43:00 -0400

The Atlanta Thrashers have certainly had an eventful week. In the past seven days, they have won three games, including shutouts against the Canadiens and the Avalanche.

Recently published were also several articles of note about the Thrashers that fans should be made aware of.

Friday, March 6

In front of nearly 15,000 people at Phillips Arena, Atlanta shut out the Montreal Canadiens, 2-0. Bryan Little scored early in the first period, and that was enough for goalie Kari Lehtonen.

Kari saved all 25 shots Montreal fired at him while earning the shutout. He looked very calm and comfortable in goal.

Ilya Kovalchuk assisted on the first goal of the game and also assisted on the empty-net tally by Rich Peverley that iced the game for the Thrashers.

The three stars of the game were Ron Hainsey (1 A), Ilya Kovalchuk (2 A), and Kari Lehtonen (25 saves).

It was a game loaded with penalties, with the Thrashers taking a total of 56 PIM, the Canadiens 42 PIM.

Sunday, March 8

The Thrashers continued their winning ways at home, beating the Calgary Flames 5-2 and playing well once again.

Ilya Kovalchuk scored a goal and added an assist, and Bryan Little scored two goals in the victory. Kari Lehtonen also made 27 saves in the game.

New Flames acquisition Olli Jokinen managed a pitiful minus-three in the game, and Jordan Leopold, another newcomer, also managed a minus-three and had one shot in 23 minutes of ice time.

Calgary captain Jarome Iginla had some complimentary words for the Thrashers after the contest.

"Determination has to be from the start," Iginla said. "The Thrashers were hungry tonight, and we were not competitive enough to create enough chances."

It was a splendid game all around for Atlanta, and the team continued its hot play of late in a big way in a victory Bryan Little said was "for the fans."

The three stars of the game were Bryan Little (2 G), Tobias Enstrom (1 G), and Ilya Kovalchuk (1 G, 1 A).

Tuesday, March 10

In a game that was eerily similar to the game they played on Friday against the Canadiens, the Thrashers came out, played stiff defense, and shut out the Colorado Avalanche, 3-0, at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

The game was tied at zero for the first 38 minutes, but eventually Zach Bogosian scored off great passing from Kovalchuk and Bryan Little to make it 1-0.

Then, less than two minutes later, Todd White struck gold on the power play and the Thrashers went into the break with a 2-0 lead and a tidal wave of momentum that overcame any resistance the Avalanche put up.

With Colorado coming off a huge win against the Blackhawks on Sunday, there was a definite letdown in the way they played the game, and Atlanta took advantage by continuing their solid play up the middle and emphasizing their ability to generate offense quickly.

Rich Peverley performed much as he did in the Montreal game, adding an empty-net goal to complete the festivities and send the Avs faithful home, cursing existence once again.

Kari Lehtonen stopped all 35 shots he faced in getting his second shutout in three games.

The three stars of the game were Ilya Kovalchuk (2 A), Zach Bogosian (1 G), and Kari Lehtonen (35 saves).

Thrashers-Related Articles to Check Out

- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published an article talking about what has sparked this emergence of skill and new-found zeal for playing. It is an interesting piece and worth your attention.

- Here is a Q and A with Bruce Levenson, a co-owner of the Thrashers who represents the team to the NHL Board of Governors. In this piece he praises coach John Anderson and provides some insight into how the team is run.

The Thrashers' next game is tonight, against the Edmonton Oilers at 9:30 p.m. EDT. The game can be seen on Sports South, and the recap can be found here on B/R afterwards.

Good night (or I guess I should say good morning), Blueland!

Carolina-Atlanta: Thrashers Beat Hurricanes 5-3 in Comeback Triumph

Jim Neveau — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 00:18:00 -0500

The Atlanta Thrashers overcame a two-goal deficit to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-3 in front of nearly 18,000 raucous fans at Phillips Arena.

Ilya Kovalchuk had five points (2 G, 3 A) in the game, and Rich Peverley added two goals (including his team-leading fourth game-winning goal of the season) to get the team the win.

The game started agonizingly enough, with the Hurricanes taking a 2-0 lead into the first intermission. Tuomo Ruutu and Sergei Samsonov provided the goals in the frame for the 'Canes.

In the second period, the play definitely started to turn in the favor of Atlanta, and with 36 seconds left in the frame, Ilya Kovalchuk, on the dead sprint, fired a shot over the shoulder of the crouching Cam Ward that barely snuck in under the bar to send the game to intermission at 2-1.

It was a thing of beauty, and it for the first time brought to attention the number of vocal supporters that the Thrashers had assembled for the game.

The third period begun much like the first one ended, with the Hurricanes scoring a goal and probably dealing a death blow to Atlanta's chances for the evening. The Thrashers, however, had other ideas.

Rich Peverley brought the team to within a goal at 3-2 with a tap-in goal for a puck that Cam Ward thought he had covered up.

Then, in a flurry of activity in front of the Carolina net, several Thrashers players peppered Cam Ward with shots before Kovie pinged a shot off the post. Ward flailed around on the ice hoping to God he had covered the puck up, but Todd White flipped the unattended rubber biscuit into the net to knot the game up at three apiece.

After an "Ax Men"-worthy chop sent the Thrashers on the power play, Rich Peverley made the most of the opportunity and snuck the puck past Ward to put Atlanta up by one with less than two minutes to go in the game.

Peverley has proven with his 21 points in 20 games that he is the best waiver wire addition thus far in the NHL season, and possibly has upped his prominence on the team's attacking units.

The Hurricanes mounted one final assault, and they finally relinquished the puck in the waning seconds, and Kovalchuk emphatically slapped the puck into the empty Carolina net for a 5-3 win and a roar from the crowd that has been woefully lacking at Phillips Arena this season.

The story of the game could easily have been Kovie's five points, or Peverley's team leading fourth game winning goal, but instead, the story of this game turned out to be none other than the Atlanta fans.

Nearly 18,000 people showed up at the game tonight, and their voices were heard loud and clear throughout.

With that in mind, the first star of tonight's game should be the hockey fans of Atlanta. They showed spirit and enthusiasm, and here's hoping that this is the start of more good things to come. Good night, Blueland.

PS: Here's a totally self-serving link to my article on The Hockey Writers (which will be my last article as a full-time writer for the team. Click here

As Deadline Draws Near, Atlanta Thrashers May Move Significant Pieces

Jim Neveau — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:18:00 -0500

With less than a week to go before the NHL trade deadline, the Atlanta Thrashers are continuing to look for ways to improve their team.

Having already moved Mathieu Schneider, the Thrashers are still interested in moving Ron Hainsey and his contract, which will pay him $4.25 million for the next five seasons, and Niclas Havelid, who will be an unrestricted free agent at season's end.

Rumors are also swirling today that the team is having difficulty in its negotiations with the agent for netminder Kari Lehtonen, and are seriously considering moving him before Wednesday's deadline.

"In my opinion, I'd like to re-sign him," Thrashers coach John Anderson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I've seen what he can do. That's more of (Lehtonen's) decision than ours. I can't speak for (GM Don Waddell). I haven't sat down particularly to talk to him about Kari. I'm sure Don would love to re-sign Kari."

Teams rumored to be interested, according to the report on ESPN.com, include the Senators, the Flyers (but probably only if they can move Martin Biron), and the Red Wings (the most likely destination according to a couple of sources).

The reason for the trade rumors are based on Lehtonen's contract status, which makes him a restricted free agent at season's end. He also would be arbitration eligible and negotiations have not been going well up til this point.

The natural pick to replace Kari in goal should he be traded is youngster Ondrej Pavelec, who at the age of 20 just won AHL Player of the Week, going 3-1 with a 1.25 GAA and .963 save percentage for the Wolves.

This comes on the heels of a stretch where Lehtonen has played some of his best hockey of the season, beating the Ducks in Anaheim and holding teams like the Blackhawks and Sharks in check in the process.

Random Notes

-Read an interesting article about Tobias Enstrom replacing Ron Hainsey on the Thrashers' first power-play line. My initial thought is that this was a subtle signal that Atlanta is close to moving Ron.

-Another interesting profile from the folks at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about youngster Colin Stuart, who is racking up short-handed goals for Atlanta as of late.

-In about 20 minutes, the Thrashers are taking the ice against the Washington Capitals in the nation's capital. Stay tuned to the blog for the game recap when the final horn sounds.

Atlanta-Colorado: Thrashers Top Avalanche in Riotous Return to Phillips Arena

Jim Neveau — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 22:05:00 -0500

The Atlanta Thrashers beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 at Phillips Arena on Tuesday night. The Thrashers finally returned home after an eventful West Coast road trip saw them go 2-1-1 and score gobs of goals.

Ilya Kovalchuk scored his 10th goal in his last eight games, and Marty Reasoner also scored. Tobias Enstrom and Rich Peverley also scored short-handed goals for the Thrashers, continuing what has been an extremely promising trend of aggressiveness when the team is down a man.

Peter Budaj took the loss for the Avs, and he looked shaky from the start. He gave up goals on two of the first three shots that he faced, and he repeatedly played the puck too aggressively and nearly allowed the Thrashers to make it a blowout before fans had even settled in their seats.

Reasoner's goal with eight minutes left in the first period made it a 3-0 hockey game, and many thought that the rout was on (at least those of us watching the game on NHL GameCenter and using the chat room thought).

It started with Milan Hejduk. Putting on his offense-badge, Milan hammered a puck past Kari Lehtonen with a minute and a half remaining in the first to send the game to intermission 3-1 in favor of Atlanta.

Coming out of the break, the Avs looked lost at times to begin the period. The Thrashers were unable to make them pay for their loose play, however, and the Avalanche made them pay. Milan Hejduk scored with nine minutes left in the second period, and the Avs were threatening again on a power play just four minutes later.

After some pretty poor passing, Peverley made his move, snagged a wayward pass, and broke down the ice and scored to make it 4-2 and once again ensure that the Thrashers would not be defeated in the game. Atlanta continued to play solid defense and the second intermission came with the score 4-2 and the fans feeling pretty content with the effort.

In the third period, it was once again a struggle. Both sides were playing with a measured tone, not wanting to risk giving up the all important edge. The Avalanche tried and tried to put the puck in the net throughout the period, and they couldn't take advantage of some opportunities that Atlanta gave them.

Finally, with a minute and a half left in the game, Chris Stewart scored a goal while Colorado had six men on the ice to cut the lead to one. After the clock wound down and hearts around the arena stopped pounding underneath the sky blue jerseys, the Thrashers emerged from the smoke with a 4-3 win. Aided by a late penalty to Colorado, the Thrashers had proven that yes, they can win at home too.

The three stars of the game were:

3rd Star: I. Kovalchuk (1 G)

2nd Star: E. Perrin (1 A)

1st Star: T. Enstrom (1 G, 1 A)

My take on the game's stars: Putting Perrin among the three stars is a feat that could only be accomplished by a doofus. Not putting Rich Peverley, who only had a goal and an assist (and that goal was the game winning goal, by the way) in the game, as a star was dumb enough, but the guy who assisted on the first goal of the game was a star. Does that make sense? No. It doesn't.

Random Notes: This win was only the fifth for Atlanta at home in their last 21 games. Ilya Kovalchuk's goal was his 20th in the team's last 24 games.

Atlanta's next game will be Thursday at 6 pm against the Washington Capitals at the Verizon Center. The game can be seen on Sports South, and features two of the game's best left wings in Ilya Kovalchuk and some guy named Ovechkin. Never heard of him. Anyway, check that out, and good night from Blueland.

Thrashers-Coyotes Recap: Atlanta Loses Duel in the Desert

Jim Neveau — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:09:00 -0500

For a less traditional recap of this game, check out the running diary that I wrote about the game on The Hockey Writers (my other Web site):

"Thrashers Invade Desert, Lose to Coyotes"

The Thrashers went in to Phoenix looking for a franchise record fifth straight road win, and the Coyotes were looking to avoid a seventh straight home defeat—which also would have been a franchise record.

In a game that featured its fair share of physical play and questionable officiating, the Coyotes beat the Thrashers in a shootout by a score of 4-3. The shootout, which lasted eight shooters on each side, finally ended when Daniel Carcillo made his first career shootout goal to get Mikkel Tellqvist the win.

Erik Christensen got the scoring started six minutes into the contest with a power play goal. The hero of the Los Angeles game, Christensen notched his fifth goal and continued his solid production of late. Perhaps he's auditioning for other teams to try to trade for him?

Stay tuned on that front.

About three and a half minutes later, Joakim Lindstrom scored to tie the game at one on another power play goal. The Coyotes ended up outshooting the Thrashers in the period, with Atlanta only getting three shots in on Tellqvist.

Phoenix struck twice to start in the second period, with Viktor Tikhonov and Steven Goertzen each scoring for the Coyotes.

Just when it looked like the Thrashers were in for a long night, they struck with eight minutes to go in the period, when Ilya Kovalchuk found Bryan Little on a fantastic centering pass to make it a one goal game.

It was Kovalchuk's 18th point since being named captain of the Thrashers, and it was Little's 24th goal of the season.

The third period was a defensive struggle throughout, with the teams trading scoring chances that their defenses snuffed out. The Coyotes did an especially good job of shutting down a lot of Atlanta's offensive attacks, and I was impressed with their effort throughout the period.

Just when it looked bleakest, Kovalchuk did what he does best: took the game over. With 53 seconds left, Kovalchuk pounded home a juicy rebound off the block of Tellqvist to tie the game at three apiece.

As the Coyote crowd groaned its disapproval, the Thrashers ensured that they would get at least a point in a game that they had trailed in for 37 minutes.

The overtime was a physical battle that saw few scoring chances, and the defensive struggle continued even into the shootout, as both goalies exchanged save after save, before Daniel Carcillo finally scored to give the Coyotes the victory.

It was a good physical game for the Thrashers, who are playing some of their best hockey of the season right now. It may be too late for them to salvage a run at the playoffs, but they are setting themselves up in prime position to make a good run next season.

The Thrashers' next game will be on Saturday at 4 PM EST against the Sharks. It can be seen on Sports South.

Thrashers-Coyotes: A Game Bigger Than It Seems

Jim Neveau — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 02:40:00 -0500

Phillips Arena was crammed with 18,545 screaming fans on Jan. 5, 2007, to see the Atlanta Thrashers take on the Phoenix Coyotes in a game that was a taut, back-and-forth battle down the stretch.

Marian Hossa scored two goals, and the Blueland Baddies (I'm trying to come up with a pet name for the Thrashers, so bear with me if these are horrible) had a 4-1 lead early in the third period.

Then, in the blink of an eye, Ladislav Nagy scored for Phoenix a minute later to make it 4-2.

Later in the period, Shane Doan knocked in a power-play goal, and less than three minutes later, Owen Nolan banged home the tying goal, and the air was sucked out of the building.

When Yanic Perrault scored a goal in overtime to win the game for the Coyotes, it was almost anti-climactic. The damage had already been done when the fans had been taken out of the contest with the third-period barrage by the Desert Dogs.

I watched this game on television—a benefit of being in Arizona that week. It was almost palpable how the momentum the Thrashers had built up was completely reversed, like the engines on the Titanic before it hit that ill-fated iceberg.

Why do I bring up this game? While it serves as a nice and tidy recap of the last time these teams tangled, it serves a bigger purpose: It shows how far this team, that we all love, has fallen in the past two years.

Think about it: The team that lost this heartbreaking game was playing in front of a full building, and the Thrashers actually made the playoffs in 2007. They still had players like Ilya Kovalchuk, Marian Hossa, and Braydon Coburn who caused havoc when they were on the ice.

They were an up-and-coming franchise, building toward future success in a league that had seen a spate of Sun Belt franchises winning Stanley Cups (Carolina, Dallas, and Tampa Bay come immediately to mind), and all was looking good in Atlanta.

Then, everything started to slowly unravel, and we have now come to this point, with the team being unable to even give away tickets to games, and the morale in Blueland is at an all-time low.

This game represents more to the viewer than meets the eye. It's not just two teams facing off in the midst of an unparalleled economic crisis, but it's also a measure of how far the Thrashers have fallen in the psyche of the Atlanta sports scene.

Brighter days will hopefully come soon for the Hotlanta Hooligans, but for right now, we are riding through some dark ages.

Breaking News: Chicago Blackhawks Tell Khabibulin and Sharp to Stay Home!

Jim Neveau — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 23:47:11 -0500

According to several sources familiar with the team, the Blackhawks have reportedly sent a memo to the agents for injured players Patrick Sharp and Nikolai Khabibulin: tell your clients to stay home.

While this may come as a shock to most Blackhawks fans who have been thrilled by the exploits of Sharpie and Khabby, the front office is standing by the report, even going so far as to have the team owner Rocky Wirtz issue a statement on the matter.

"The memo that I had Dale Tallon issue to the agents of these two players is no joking matter. Coach Quenneville and Dale have discussed all the scenarios in great detail, and we have decided that it would be in the best interest of the team to have these two players not report back to the team to heal from their injuries.

"In addition to not returning to the team for the foreseeable future, we are also barring Patrick and Nikolai from using our team's facilities to rehab their respective injuries, and we have also asked them to turn in their keys and ID badges at their earliest convenience."

Most fans would assume that the players in the locker room would have something to say about losing the team's leading goal scorer for an in-determined amount of time, as well as the team's goaltender who has led them through thick and thin this season and won a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning, but they have been surprisingly supportive of the decision.

"While we like Khabby and Sharpie as people, we're there for Coach Q 100%," captain Jonathan Toews told a locker room full of stunned reporters. "Our chemistry has been really good without them, and we want to see how long we can ride this hot streak that Cristobal and Havlat have got us on."

In the three games that Khabibulin has been out with injury, the Blackhawks have given up six goals, and are 2-1-0 in those contests. Cristobal Huet has looked pretty good in goal, and has kept the team in games long enough to give them a chance to win, so the team apparently is hesitant to screw up his focus.

Also, in the two games that Sharp has been out (including the one in which he was injured 38 seconds in), the Hawks have scored 11 goals and gotten contributions from everyone from Patrick Kane to Dave Bolland. The team's offense has been firing on all cylinders, and Sharp hadn't exactly been lighting up the scoreboard even when healthy.

In the meantime, the Blackhawks have also announced that they are yanking the "A" from Sharpie's jersey and will be putting it on Kris Versteeg's jersey for the time being. There is one problem, however, that has yet to be addressed.

"We're not exactly sure what to give Huet as a nickname," Toews said. "We tried the "Huet-Wall", but that doesn't sound right. We also tried the Count of Monte Cristobal, but it's too long and my family members immediately texted me and told me they hated it, so, we'll keep working on it."

The Blackhawks will next skate without Sharp and Khabibulin against the Florida Panthers tomorrow night at 6:30pm on Comcast SportsNet.

Thrashers-Kings: Ilya Kovalchuk Continues Hot Streak in Wild Game

Jim Neveau — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 02:40:00 -0500

Before I start the game recap, let me just commend those of you who stayed up through the end of this game, as it concluded around 1:30 a.m. ET.

Ilya Kovalchuk scored two more goals and Zach Bogosian added three assists as the Thrashers won a wild game against the Los Angeles Kings, 7-6 in a shootout.

Bryan Little, Todd White, Marty Reasoner, and Colin Stuart also added goals for the Thrashers, as they had to fight off a Kings team that scored three third-period goals to force the game into overtime.

The game also featured a monster four-point performance from the Kings' Anze Kopitar, and the Thrashers blowing two leads of three goals.

The Thrashers got the festivities started early when they scored three goals in the first eight minutes of the game, and they managed to get Jonathan Quick sent to the bench for the first time this season.

The Thrashers did surrender three power-play goals to the Kings, including one to Kopitar with five seconds left to send the game into overtime. They also had a power play goal, and scored their third short-handed goal in two nights.

Kovalchuk continued his hot play of late, scoring three more points and getting a goal in his fifth straight game. Since he became captain, he has 13 goals and four assists, and has played with a lot more enthusiasm recently.

Off the ice, the Thrashers sent Mathieu Schneider to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for a conditional first-round pick, and also two more picks in the next two drafts.

The Thrashers will next take the ice on Thursday against the Phoenix Coyotes. The game will start at 9 p.m. ET and can be seen on SportSouth.

If the Suns Can Fire Terry Porter, Why Can't the Bulls Fire Del Negro?

Jim Neveau — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 21:55:49 -0500

The Chicago Bulls are a team that has a lot of pundits scratching their heads.

After they fired Scott Skiles last year, they were actively seeking a coach who could be more friendly to the players and institute a system that could improve the fortunes of a team coming off of a disappointing 33-49 season. Their search began in earnest after Jim Boylan failed to impress the higher ups after taking over from Skiles.

Then, Jerry Reinsdorf managed to do what he does best: He low-balled Mike D'Antoni with a contract offer and watched the former Suns sideline boss sign on with the hated Knicks. He then gave Doug Collins the ring around and shuffled his feet while men like Terry Porter and Rick Carlisle got new jobs.

After a while, Reinsdorf and GM John Paxson finally decided to go with a man with no coaching experience and a cool demeanor that was a direct opposite to the fiery approach of Scott Skiles.

Vinny del Negro came to Chicago and was greeted with a collective "huh?" No one outside of hardcore bucketheads knew who Vinny was, and the team caught a huge break shortly after his hire when they landed the No. 1 pick in the draft. I'm sure D'Antoni has kicked himself more than once for not waiting another two weeks.

As the season has started and del Negro has started to show his true colors, there are many things about his character that seem to fly in the face of what the team really needs.

Vinny seems to be kind of a cool customer. In fact, the picture for this article actually describes him pretty well. He is often seen with a "What do I do now?" look on his face, a look that Bill Simmons has described as the "Art Shell Face". He insists on referring to the team as his "family" and goes out of his way to coddle his team.

Larry Hughes has taken full advantage of del Negro's lack of fire by becoming a locker room distraction, with his repeated antics having a detrimental effect on the rest of the team.

Vinny also lacks an ability to motivate his players, which can be seen whenever Luol Deng has taken the court over the past five games. Deng is playing some of the most disinterested basketball that you will ever see, and for a guy who is making $70 million, you would think that his game would have a little more passion.

In addition to not having any energy, Deng also isn't playing in big-game situations, such as the other night against Miami when he didn't play for the final five minutes of a close contest. His defense used to be his primary asset, but it too has disappeared in recent games. If Deng isn't playing well, then the Bulls will struggle, and it's almost as though del Negro doesn't care.

Finally, del Negro seems to overcoach the team in some critical situations. Against the Heat on Thursday night, he inserted Thabo Sefolosha with less than five seconds left in a tie game. He claimed it was because he liked "Thabo's length", but whatever good his length would do on getting an in-bounds pass into play was cancelled out by the fact that Thabo hadn't sniffed the hardwood for the entire second half.

Needless to say, Thabo threw the ball directly to Dwayne Wade, and the Bulls went on to lose the game on a dunk by Shawn Marion. (His last play as a member of the Heat.)

Even this dunk was riddled with poor execution and coaching, as the Bulls had a foul to give that could have easily given the Heat only two seconds to make a play instead of four. When asked after the game if they were aware that they had a foul to give in the situation, Ben Gordon responded that they weren't.

In a tied basketball game, the players on the court did not know that on an in-bounds pass they had a foul to give. This shows ignorance both on their part and that of the coaching staff. What should have been basketball common sense proved to be another damning piece of evidence as to the ineptitude of the del Negro regime.

With all of this being said, let's get right to the heart of this thing. I am all about giving a coach time to adopt a system and to get players into the system to make it work. The problem that I have with Vinny is that he doesn't seem to have a system.

The team doesn't play as good of defense as they used to, and their offense is better with the addition of Rose (and a spurt of great play from Tyrus Thomas), but overall, the team still looks like one without an identity. The team also clearly doesn't respect del Negro, and it is for these reasons that I think he should be relieved of his duties.

I know that he's a first year coach with a young roster, but the problem with the Bulls is that this is year eight billion it seems like of a re-building process that started when Jordan and Pippen left town in the late 90's. They don't need to keep treading water. They need to improve, and Vinny is not the guy to do that.

I normally advocate patience with all new coaches, but it just feels like all we are getting is a bunch of the same from Paxson and del Negro. John has missed the boat on multitudes of opportunities, and made several bad decisions, including trading LaMarcus Aldredge to Portland for Tyrus Thomas. He also re-signed Deng and Hinrich to ridiculous contract extensions, and has shied away from big trades more than once.

So, my question to the Bulls is this: If the Suns can (reportedly, mind you) fire Terry Porter in his first season, why should we be stuck with the Vinny and Paxy show for the next three seasons? I'd say we shouldn't be forced to, and both of them should take a hike for the good of the team—and for the good of the city.

Arizona Diamondbacks' Season Preview, Part One: The Rotation

Jim Neveau — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 01:21:19 -0500

In sports, there are few things more devastating than an effective one-two punch.

In boxing, it may be following up a left jab with a right upper cut, or in hockey, following a huge hit on one end with a breakaway goal on the other.

In baseball, there isn't much that can compare with a fantastic one-two punch at the front end of a rotation. Having to face one ace pitcher is bad enough, but if you have the misfortune of facing two of them on back-to-back days, then you really are in trouble.

A team that's put into a quick 2-0 hole in any series, regular season or postseason, home, or away, is a team that's going to start really doubting itself, and its play will be affected adversely by the stress.

The Arizona Diamondbacks are a team fortunate enough to have one of the best one-two punches in baseball. Brandon Webb has won multiple Cy Youngs and is perennially considered one of the best pitchers in the game.

Dan Haren has been a solid pitcher his entire career, and there were quite a few teams interested in his services before he found his way to the desert via trade before last season. He pitched well for the D'Backs, and is looking to continue the trend this season.

No. 3 Starter: Doug Davis

On the flip side of the coin, there is always a danger to focusing all of your resources at finding and harnessing the power that the one-two punch of ace pitchers can provide. You can end up being dangerously short-handed throughout the rest of the rotation.

For instance, if you pitch your two aces in the last two games of a series, you will not get to use them in the next series. Your three, four, and five pitchers will be expected to carry the load, and they may fold under the stress.

Fortunately, the Diamondbacks third pitcher knows all about stress. Doug Davis may not have had the best stats last year (a 6-8 record, a 4.32 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP), but his greatest achievement wasn't reached on the diamond.

Davis battled cancer at the beginning of last year, and so if you want a guy who can be a huge character guy, its him. It's hard to equate battling cancer with battling an opponent on the field, but if anyone isn't going to let the pressures of his job get to him, it's Davis.

Even with his struggles with his health, he struck out 112 batters in those 146 innings, and averaged an earned run given up every two innings.

Davis is going to have a rebound year, as he (hopefully) doesn't have to worry about cancer treatment midseason, and he could perhaps have a comeback story similar that to Jon Lester, who came back from Hodgkin's Disease to throw a no-hitter.

Realistically, if the Diamondbacks can get between 10-14 wins from Davis, then they could consider that a successful season.

No. 4 Starter: Jon Garland

Their fourth starter is a new face, who had a decent record last season and is a decent guy to have as a fourth starter in any rotation.

Jon Garland sported a 14-8 record, but his ERA of almost five and his WHIP of 1.66 scared away a lot of teams this off-season. His past performance of clutch pitching with the White Sox, and his penchant for being an innings eater, gave the Diamondbacks all the incentive they needed to go after him.

I think that like Davis, if they can get around 10 wins from Garland, the D'Backs will consider it a success.

Probable No. 5 Starter: Max Scherzer

You take a young player who's shooting up the minor league ranks, and you throw him into the mix during a lost season, and occasionally, you end up striking it rich in the end.

The Diamondbacks are hoping that this is the case with young Max Scherzer. After lighting up triple-A Tucson last year, he was called up midseason by the D'Backs to inject some life into the pitching staff. He did just that, racking up some stats that took some by surprise but only inspired more hope in the Valley.

Last year, he had a WHIP of 1.22, an ERA of 3.05, and gave up only 48 hits in 56 innings pitched. He also struck out 66 batters in those 56 innings. He only pitched 16 games and ended up with an 0-4 record, but he also made seven starts for the team in the process.

He seems to be on tap for a good season, so realistically, 8-12 wins would be a realistic expectation for the young man, considering it will be his first year starting.

The next article in this three part series will be focused on the Diamondbacks bullpen. The third article will be about the team's line-up.

Blackhawks Road Trip Ruminations: Big Buff Struggles, and Hawks Lose to Canucks

Jim Neveau — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 05:20:18 -0500

This weekend has been a relatively quiet one for our beloved Blackhawks, as they only had one game to worry about. The game wasn't necessarily a rousing success, but...oh, who are we kidding. To quote Stephen A. Smith (or Scott Van Pelt's solid impersonation of Smith), "it was an abject disaster!"

The Blackhawks were demolished by the Canucks 7-3 in front of a packed house in Vancouver, and they were knocked out of the game right out of the gate. They gave up goals early and often, and Cristobal Huet was yanked for the first time since the Winter Classic in the hideous loss.

The Hawks certainly helped the Canucks by giving them eight power play chances, and the Vancouver squad capitalized on half of those. Alex Elder had four points in the game (a career high), and Ryan Kesler added two goals and an assist in the contest. The Sedin twins also had a goal apiece to complete the horror show north of the border.

The game also snapped the Blackhawks' run of 11-0 against Canadian teams this season, and it ended it emphatically.

With all of this being said, let me also say that I am not all that upset about the fact that the Hawks have gotten eight out of a possible 12 points so far on this road trip. I am also not upset that they lost to a goalie who is only now starting to get back the powers that enabled him to get three shutouts in one week earlier this season.

The Blackhawks did not appear to be ready to play when they skated out of the tunnel Saturday night. I think that the Blackhawks came out flat from the gate, and there are certainly explanations for that.

First off, they were coming into their sixth straight game without a single day in Chicago throughout any of that. They were undoubtedly tired from playing in the Western time zones for a good amount of time, and their bodies were finally starting to show the strain from constant travel and hotel food.

There are several people in my inner circle of hockey-loving buddies who seem to think that the Blackhawks were doomed by factors within their control, and that if they had shown more effort, they would have won the game.

These buddies are missing the fundamental concept of playing hockey on the road. Most of the time, if you go .500, it is considered a successful trip. Now, with two games left, the Blackhawks have the opportunity to make it a great one by securing points in either (or both) Atlanta and St. Louis. These teams are certainly bottom feeders in the nicest sense of the phrase, and so the Blackhawks shouldn't have a problem with them.

In addition to facing easier opposition, the Hawks have also had the opportunity to come home to Chicago for a few days and recharge the batteries with some practices at Bensenville and sleeping in their own beds. When I go to practice on Tuesday, I will expect to see some more chipper attitudes on the ice, rather than the tired, dejected team I witnessed Saturday in Canada.

The one thing the Blackhawks should not do when they hit the road for 'Hotlanta on Wednesday is overlook the Thrashers. They may be having a very down year, but they still have players like Ilya Kovalchuk and Slava Kozlov that can cause opposing teams a problem when they are matching up.

Also, Atlanta has shown that they are a team that will come back if you take your foot off the gas. They nearly overcame a 3-0 Philadelphia lead Sunday afternoon at Phillips Arena, and they've pulled this trick off several other times this year. In addition, they can get themselves hyped beyond reason for games, as evidenced by their shutout of the then hot New Jersey Devils in East Rutherford.

The key for the Blackhawks to win this game is to control the puck early and beat Kari Lehtonen early and often. If the team can build up a lead, the Thrashers will collapse like a house of cards, and everything will be pointing at a winning road trip.

Also, the Hawks need to keep Kovalchuk off balance so that he can't settle into a groove and drive unabated to the net all day. Much like the Red Wings did Sunday against the Penguins, the Hawks need to take away Atlanta's best player and dare the rest of the team to beat them. Pittsburgh couldn't do this, and I'm willing to bet Atlanta won't be able to either.

Byfuglien Feels Great, Insists Goals Will Come

In an article published in the Chicago Tribune over the weekend, Dustin Byfuglien was profiled by the paper about his work habits and, inevitably, over his goal-less drought.

Byfuglien hasn't scored a goal in 11 straight games, and you can sense the frustration that is starting to build up inside his gut.

"I'm getting plenty of chances every night, and they're just not going in," Byfuglien said. "You always get frustrated, and right now I think I'm at my peak."

Coach Joel Quenneville doesn't seem to have lost any faith in his barrel-chested forward, saying, "he's been going to the right areas. That finish is probably frustrating, but at the same time, stick with it and he'll get rewarded."

If you want to read the full article, go ahead and check this link out.

Lack of Face-Off Success Killing Blackhawks

In another article from the Tribune, the issue of face-offs is discussed.

Without a true No. 2 center on the squad, the Hawks are losing a good chunk of their face-offs, and the team is second-to-last in the league in that category.

Patrick Sharp bemoaned this fact when he said that the lost face-offs often lead to scoring chances. There is, in fact, only one Blackhawk above 50 percent on face-offs, and that is captain Jonathan Toews with a 53.2 percent success rate.

The article also points out that Detroit and San Jose lead the league in face-off percentage, and it's no surprise that they are the top two teams in the conference.

If you want to read the entire piece, visit this link.

The Blackhawks' next game will be Wednesday night against the Atlanta Thrashers. The game will start at 6pm CST and can be seen on Comcast SportsNet.

What Does 2009 Hold for the White Sox Rotation?

Jim Neveau — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:48:33 -0500

The 2009 White Sox are going to be a team undergoing a massive transition.

Much like the Phoenix Suns, they will have to make transitions at several key positions, including second base, third base, and center field.

The biggest changes this offseason, however, have been in the Sox rotation. Gone is Javier Vazquez (to Atlanta), and Jose Contreras won’t be a factor for the time being (still recovering from his hideous Achilles injury). Staying in the fold are the three shoo-ins for the rotation: Gavin Floyd, John Danks, and Mark Buehrle.

This article will focus on the new faces that will compete for spots in the rotation this season as the Sox try to defend their AL Central title.

Probable Fourth Starter: Bartolo Colon

The offseason acquisition of Colon ensured his spot in the Sox rotation as the fourth starter. At 35 years old, his best days are probably behind him, but if players like Livan Hernandez are any indication, it is still possible to see flashes of his old glory.

The main problems with Colon include his health and his attitude. He had a significant shoulder injury before last season, and he also was on the DL for a month and a half with back stiffness.

When he came back in September, the Red Sox weren’t willing to give him a starting spot, so he went back to the Dominican Republic and was suspended without pay for the rest of the season. The White Sox don’t think that this will be a problem, and pitching coach Don Cooper is adamant about this point.

“My dealings with Bartolo and our dealings with Bartolo are up front and honest," he said. "He’s ready to go, and I really don’t care what happened before.”

Possible Fifth Starter: Clayton Richard

Clayton Richard is one of the triumvirate of young hurlers who is looking to round out the White Sox rotation when they break camp in Glendale this April.

Last season, Richard made his Major League debut, and he had a bit of a rough road. In his first two appearances, he gave up a combined nine earned runs in 8 2/3 innings, but he also struck out 10 batters and walked only three.

August and September brought more of the up-and-down performance, with Richard picking up his first two wins as a pro in back-to-back starts against Seattle and Baltimore and giving up no runs to the Mariners and three earned runs to the Orioles in the victories.

After a 5.66 ERA in September, there is certainly no convincing evidence that he is a shoo-in for the starting rotation, but his performance in August is an indicator that he could possibly round out the rotation in a big way.

Possible Fifth Starter: Lance Broadway

Lance Broadway only made seven sporadic appearances for the White Sox last year, and his performance was equally sporadic.

He only faced one batter in his debut against the Red Sox (a ground out). Then, he made his only start three days later against the Royals, and gave up two earned runs in a win.

His next appearance came 13 days later against the Orioles, and he was hideous, giving up seven runs and three home runs in four innings. He was then limited to relief duty for the rest of the season, giving up two runs in 4 1/3 innings.

It is far too small a sample size to really evaluate Broadway, but if his stuff from last season is any indication, he could be a good fit in that fifth spot for the Sox.

Long Shots: Aaron Poreda and Jeffery Marquez

Poreda and Marquez appear to have a good shot at making the Sox roster out of spring training, but it’s not clear whether either has a legitimate shot at making the starting rotation.

Poreda is considered to have a great shot at making the team. His strong performance in the Arizona Fall League, as well as his 2.69 ERA in 39 games, makes him a real contender and even a dark horse for the fifth rotation spot.

Marquez went 6-7 at AAA Scranton in the Yankees farm system last season, starting 14 games and pitching 80.2 innings. He also gave up 12 home runs and 93 hits in those innings. His WHIP of 1.45 certainly could use some work.

While whitesox.com has him listed as a prime contender for the spot, I don’t think that he will beat out Richard or Broadway for the spot.

I predict the Opening Day rotation for the White Sox (barring injury, of course) will be Buehrle, Danks, Floyd, Colon, and Richard. Richard will be kept on a short leash coming out of camp, and Ozzie Guillen won't hesitate to replace him if necessary.

Poreda and Broadway will be kept around for insurance purposes for the back end of the rotation, and Contreras will hopefully continue to be ahead of schedule in his recovery from his injury.

I think that Colon will probably end up in the ballpark of 8-10 wins, and if the leading three can get between 12-18 apiece, the team should be in good shape to bring down another Central Division title in 2009.

Road Trip Ruminations: Award-Winning Blackhawks Fail to Dethrone Kings in LA

Jim Neveau — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 01:45:28 -0500

Writer's Note: I would like to take the opportunity to tout something unique about this article—it is my 100th on Bleacher Report.

Of course, I wouldn't write with as much fervor or passion as I do if it weren't for you guys who read them and comment on them. To all of you who have ever read, commented, edited, or ruthlessly criticized one of my articles, I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart.

With that bit of self-flagellation out of the way, let's get to the real article.

Blackhawks Give Kings the Old "Heel-Toe Work" Treatment

For those of you who don't get the movie reference, it is based on a statement made in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" about what to do in the event a cop is trying to pull you over.

You speed up, then use "fast heel-toe work" to make a 180-degree turn at speed. Hopefully you'll lose the cop long enough to pull over to the side of the road, stand by your car, and make it appear as though you were always in control, and that he lost control of everything.

The Hawks fit this description perfectly last night. They came out of the gate pretty oblivious to what was going on around them (almost in a Thompson-esque drugged stupor), then they perked up when they realized the Kings were hounding them. After looking cool with their effort, they once again fell on their faces when the proverbial beer can in their hand made their speeding irrelevant.

Okay, I promise to stop with "Fear and Loathing" references for the rest of the article.

The team looked pretty tired after a hard fought battle the previous night with the Ducks in Anaheim, but they managed to stage a good effort when they were down. The intensity wasn't quite up to snuff at the beginning of the game, but as it wore on, the Hawks came to life and made a fight out of it.

Stats (and Standings) Tell the Whole Truth

Even though they eventually lost the Kings game, the Hawks still managed to make believers out of those of us who think they are scuffling. Consider these facts:

-Even though the team is a not-so-good 6-6-1 in the month of January, they still have a seven point cushion over the fifth place team in the conference (Edmonton), and they are shockingly still only nine points out of the division lead.

-They still have the third best goal differential in the conference, behind San Jose (+21 ahead) and Detroit (+1 ahead).

-They still have allowed fewer goals than all but two teams in the conference (only San Jose and Minnesota have allowed fewer).

-They have the third most goals scored in the conference as well.

All of these numbers may do little to soothe the worries we have about this team, but just think: if we are still in fourth playing this poorly, then we must really be a good team.

If the Blackhawks can pretty much play "maintain the standings spot" hockey the rest of the way, they will have a first round home playoff advantage, and that is huge with the way the fans at the United Center are supporting the team.

Speaking of the Fans...

According to ESPN, the Blackhawks are averaging 22,500 fans per game, which is the highest in the NHL. They average over 1,000 fans more per game than the Canadiens do. The numbers also say that the occupancy rate of the United Center for their games is at 114.7%, also highest in the league.

The closest team to them in that category is the Ottawa Senators, who average about 107% occupancy. They also average slightly fewer than 19,000 fans per game. The Hawks will definitely have a huge home ice advantage if they can get the fourth seed in the West.

Trouble Awaits in the Bay Area

The team that is next on the Blackhawks' "road warrior" stretch is the toughest one yet, the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks have beaten the Hawks twice this season, including handing Chicago their first regulation home loss of the season.

The Tank has proved to be a brutal place to play once again, as the Coyotes (a Phoenix reference from the guy in the Valley right now) played their guts out and still didn't manage to score a single goal against the team.

Backed by a raucous crowd, the Sharks are nearly impossible to beat at home, but there are two things the Hawks can do to win this game.

1. Score On The Power Play

The Coyotes failed to score on three consecutive power plays after the Sharks took a 1-0 lead, and then they failed again with two minutes left in the contest on 6-on-4 advantage. These kinds of failures are what the Sharks thrive on, and as long as the Hawks can keep possession of the puck with the extra man, they should be able to thwart San Jose's stingy defense.

2. Take Away The Sharks' Quick Attack Play

The Sharks were often throwing guys like Setoguchi and Thornton out in front of rushes to try to get breakaways against Ilya Bryzgalov, and it worked in getting them plenty of opportunities. Now, Bryzgalov played admirably, and only allowed one goal to the Sharks, but it illustrates what the team will try to do.

They will run you into the ground on the offensive attack, and then, in the same breath, play such suffocating defense with their guys on the blue line that you have no choice but to constantly dump the puck in and hope for a favorable bounce. This is a strategy doomed to fail against the Sharks, who skate to the puck like, well, sharks swim to blood.

If the Hawks can interrupt the Sharks' tempo on offense, they most certainly will not be able to play the same style of defense. Throwing a team off its rhythm is key to beating them on their home ice.

Award Winning Blackhawks?

Yes, indeed, my friends, the Blackhawks won an award on Tuesday. They won the Golden Matrix Award for the second straight year. This award is given based on Best Overall Video Display on the scoreboard during games. It is split into each different league, and the Hawks beat out every other NHL team to claim the honor.

Congratulations to the team's Game Operations Department, and thanks to Executive Producer of Game Presentation Tom O'Grady for doing such a wonderful job keeping us fans entertained.

The Hawks/Sharks game will have a puck drop at 9:30pm CST, and can be seen on Comcast SportsNet in Chicago.

Road Trip Ruminations: Kris Versteeg Shelved, Kane and Toews Come Up Big

Jim Neveau — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 04:24:48 -0500

The Blackhawks have embarked on their longest road trip of the season (and the longest in the entire NHL this year), an eight-game grueling trip back and forth across the continent and hitting some of the more difficult places to play.

It started out well for them, with a 3-2 win over the Ducks in Anaheim Wednesday night. Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Adam Burish all scored goals for the Hawks in the victory, and Nikolai Khabibulin added a splendid night, stopping 36 of 38 shots that he faced in the game.

Coming off a bad stretch leading into the break, the Hawks needed to get things off to a good start, and beating a team in Anaheim that they don't beat there wasn't a bad way to begin.

Here are some other things that Blackhawks followers should be aware of in the coming days.

Swallowing a Bitter Pill

When I found out that Sidney Crosby was sitting out of last weekend's All-Star Game on a doctor's advice, my first thought was "why isn't Patrick Kane doing the same thing?"

I wrote an article detailing my opposition to his playing in the game, explaining that I felt like he was doing himself a disservice by subjecting himself to potential aggravation of the ankle injury that I felt was still bothering him during an eight-game stretch in which he only scored one point and the Hawks as a team went 3-4-1.

This point seemed to have picked up validity on Saturday night in the SuperSkills events, when Kane seemed a little uneasy on his skates while trying to perform under the intense glare of the Montreal sporting spotlight. He didn't appear to be visibly favoring the ankle, but I felt like he wasn't living up to his full potential in the event.

When the game itself dawned on Sunday, we didn't see much of Kane until later in the contest. Then, in the blink of an eye, he scored the type of goal that he is definitely capable of scoring when he is at 100%, and it made me gulp a little hard, thinking of the crow I may need to eat.

Then, when Kane scored a goal in the game tonight against the Ducks, I was then fully aware that his ankle problems may be a thing of the past, and I was willing to admit my inaccuracy with my assessment.

At this point, what I will say about the Kane injury and aftermath is that perhaps there was a psychological barrier between Kane's regular performance and the one he was exhibiting in previous games, perhaps an unwillingness to fully let fly on the ankle. After the ASG appearance, I think he may be over that, and ready to explode for more great plays in the coming weeks.

Speaking of Injuries...

Getting Duncan Keith back is a huge boost to the chances of the Blackhawks. No matter who gets more commercials, or more acclaim on a national level, Duncan Keith is the glue that holds his defensive corps together, and the "A" on his chest proves that.

His battle with the concussion was one that certainly made all Hawks fans search for breath, and certainly showed in the team's recent struggles.

Keith showed no ill effects from the injury, playing over 24 minutes and assisting on the game-winning goal in the second period. He also had a +1, which is the true measuring stick of his impact on the team. If he can continue to show prowess like this, he will be an integral part of any playoff aspirations that this team has.

In other boo-boo news, Kris Versteeg sat out tonight's game with the finger injury that sidelined him from the last period of the team's defeat at the hands of the Blues last Wednesday.The injury kept him out of the Young Stars game, and will likely keep him out of the lineup against the Kings Thursday.

Fun Facts About a Not-So-Fun Trip

The eight-game trek that the Hawks currently find themselves on is the longest road trip in the NHL this season. In addition, it only marks the first chunk of a stretch that sees the Hawks away from the United Center for 11 of 12 games. They will make a quick pit stop in Chicago on February 14th against the Stars before they play three more road games.

The trip also represents the second-longest road trip in team history, which is exceeded only by the nine game trip the team went on way back in the 1955-56 season. They have taken eight-game journeys two other times in team history.

Rumor Mill Starting to Churn

There have been plenty of names mentioned this season as possible scenarios for moving players to Chicago and out of the city, and with the trade deadline drawing ever nearer, a couple of names keep popping up.

Nik Antropov of the Maple Leafs keeps getting mentioned, and his $2 million salary is definitely reasonable, but his status as an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year will more than likely scare the Hawks away.

Doug Weight also keeps coming up, but nothing substantial has been rumored to be going on with the veteran player.

One More Thing

The Blackhawks are drawing an average of a 1.1 rating on TV this season, compared to a 2.3 for the Bulls, and this is surprising, considering the latter team's abysmal play this season. The Hawks are beating their co-tenants at the United Center with an average of about 22,500 fans per game, compared to 21,000 for the Bulls.

Also, congratulations are in order to the Flyers, Wild, and Capitals, as they are the only three teams who are beating their NBA city-sharers in TV ratings. Thanks to the Puck Daddy Blog on Yahoo! for that story.

The Blackhawks' next game will be Thursday night in Los Angeles against the Kings at 9:30pm CST. It can be seen on WGN, heard on 720 AM WGN, and also on NHL GameCenter.

Ruminations from Melbourne: Semi-Finals Edition

Jim Neveau — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 04:59:51 -0500

Tennis is a sport that I desperately wish would catch on more in the United States than it has.

The heyday of modern American tennis was in the 90's, when players like Courier, Sampras, Agassi, Rafter, and Chang were whacking the ball all over courts around the world.

Now, players like Roddick, Blake, and the Williams' sisters carry the American mantle, and they don't make a particularly big dent on the sporting landscape.

Sure, the Williamses make a lot of noise on and off the court with fashion design and their faith drawing headlines, while Blake and Roddick seem content to let their games do the talking.

Tennis in the United States needs a shot in the arm. I think that if Andy Roddick can defeat Roger Federer tomorrow in the semi-finals and perhaps Nadal in the final, it would be a good start.

His endorsement deals would certainly go up, as his legitimacy would be solidified with a win here.

Therefore, I will be rooting extremely hard for Roddick tomorrow morning (US time), and I hope that the general American-sporting public will come to see tennis the way I do—a sport that is worth watching.

Now that I'm off my soapbox, here are a few observations that I have made while watching this Australian Open.

-36 degrees Celsius is apparently really hot, which I learned while watching the match between Djokovic and Roddick.

-I also decided, during this match, that I'm going to start running up hills in the dead of summer like Roddick does to keep his conditioning up. Oh wait, I live in Chicago. This might be tough.

-Speaking of that match, why the hell wasn't the roof closed? I know it's supposed to be an outdoor tournament, but when you have a four-seed retiring in a quarterfinal match, your event loses a little legitimacy in my book.

-One more thought on that match: I do actually agree with Federer on labeling Djokovic a quitter. After he retired in the Wimbledon semis with a "toe blister" and the French Open quarters (both matches against Nadal), I was suspicious of his toughness, and this was just one more example.

-Look Novak, let me give you a piece of advice—improve your conditioning and play in the conditions that are presented. As far as I know, the ball boys and towel girls didn't get to "retire"—maybe you aren't so tough.

-Serena Williams should be watching this tournament from her air-conditioned hotel suite, but Svetlana Kuznetsova was gypped when the tournament organizers invoked their "heat rules" and closed the roof during their match. Serena looked gassed (think Gilbert Brown in Super Bowl XXXII gassed), but as soon as she took the 20-minute break while the roof closed, she gritted her teeth and won a war of attrition.

-I think that if the roof is open when a match starts, it should stay open unless it starts raining. I think that it changes the dynamics of a match too much. It's kind of like turning on the lights at a MLB game—you should only do it at a time that equally benefits both teams.

-Is it just me, or do Nadal's biceps look a little smaller? No wonder he quit wearing sleeveless shirts.

-I think that if Roddick and Nadal make the finals, Roddick should wear a sleeveless shirt and a bandana, just to screw with Rafa's head.

-Finally, I think that Federer and Nadal should make a bet that whoever wins the majority of their match-ups this season should have to cut off all of his hair in an act of defeat. This isn't because I think their 'dos look stupid,' but I think it would add an interesting wrinkle to their rivalry.

I'm off now to get some Red Bull and prepare for four more days of staying up until 6 a.m. for some great tennis. Peace out to everyone!

An Open Letter to Patrick Kane: Please Sit Out the All-Star Game

Jim Neveau — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 23:17:09 -0500

Dear Kaner,

I am writing to you to express my reservations in you playing in the All-Star Game in Montreal this coming weekend.

Since your ankle injury against the Red Wings on Dec. 30, you have not played nearly to the caliber that you are capable of. After all, you only have one point in your last 11 games. This came in your first game back from injury, and you have been shut out in your last seven games.

Your injury has coincided with the Blackhawks going through one of their worst scoring droughts in recent memory, having scored just 14 goals in their past eight games (and seven of those came in back-to-back home wins over Nashville and Buffalo).

The team is 3-4-1 since you came back.

You look lost on the ice occasionally, and you definitely are not skating with the same finesse and speed that you were before you got hurt on that check against the Wings. It almost seems like you are being too tentative, or too cautious, trying not to get hurt again.

Not that I'm judging you for this. Hell, I have no idea how hockey players take licks into the boards and get right back up. Those hits hurt, and I envy the fact that players can play through pain like you do seemingly effortlessly.

I'm not questioning your toughness, or commitment to the team, but I just wanted to point out those observations that I have from watching you play both in person and on television.

It is with all of these things in mind that I'm writing you this letter.

I know that you have to be absolutely stoked to be starting in the All-Star Game at the tender age of 20, and I'm not suggesting that you should take the honor lightly. What I am saying is that, for the good of the team and for the good of your health, you should sit out the All-Star festivities this weekend.

You should feel no shame in making such a decision. Big names such as Sidney Crosby, Rick Nash, and Steve Mason are all sitting out the festivities to rest their bodies and get ready for the grueling second half of the season. You should definitely follow their lead.

Your team is in the midst of a bad stretch, and things will not get any easier from here.

The team's first eight games coming out of the break are going to be on the road, and physical teams like Calgary and Vancouver are on that schedule. Then, you get to play one home game, followed by three more road skates. This is a lot of strain on both body and mind.

You should take advantage of the week off and drop out of the game. Crosby did just today on the advice of doctors, and out of an abundance of common sense. His team needs him more than the All-Star Game needs him, and you should feel the same way about the Blackhawks.

I hope that you will re-consider your decision to play in this game. Drop out for the sake of the city, the team, and the hockey resurgence that you have helped usher in to Chicago.

Just remember this one thing: if you play in the game, and your performance continues to suffer, you'll have no one to blame but yourself.

Please don't play.

Signed,

Jim Neveau

Hotlanta Hockey: Atlanta Thrashers Week in Review, Jan. 11–18

Jim Neveau — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 06:47:16 -0500

The Atlanta Thrashers entered the week off of a couple of bell-weather games.

They had gotten their first shutout of the season against the Devils last Thursday, and then followed that with an 8-4 beatdown at the hands of the Florida Panthers.

They came into this week with a four-day layoff, and an opportunity to make some hay at home against a couple of pretty bad teams.

What they got was a shock at the hands of the Senators, and a gutsy overtime game against the Maple Leafs.

Then, to top it off, they brought their scoring sticks to Nashville for a Saturday showdown with their expansion-brethren Predators.

Game 44: vs. Ottawa Senators (1/14/09)

The Thrashers are beginning to feel like strangers in their own building. In Ilya Kovalchuk’s first game as captain of the Thrashers, the boys from Atlanta played an un-spirited affair at Phillips Arena.

They fell to the Senators 3-2, in a game that saw the Sens score two power-play goals and outplay the Thrashers throughout.

The Senators hadn’t won back-to-back games since the beginning of December, but that didn’t stop them from coming in and playing hard against the Thrashers, who have dropped 12 of 14 at home.

“It’s definitely a special night in my career, but I wanted to win the game,” Kovalchuk said of his first contest as captain.

The Thrashers wasted two leads in this game. They had a 1-0 lead on a Todd White power play goal in the first period, but coughed it up a minute later when Daniel Alfredsson scored another power play goal.

When Chris Thorburn scored to give the Thrashers the lead with five minutes left in the first, the fans in Atlanta really came to life. They were silenced shortly thereafter, however, when Jason Spezza scored another power play to tie the game 2-2.

Atlanta couldn’t muster anymore offense for the rest of the game, and when Dean McAmmond scored to make the game 3-2 in the second period, the game was all but over.

The Thrashers were done in by penalties, as they committed five in the first period and two more in the third. Two of these infractions led to goals for the Senators, and the other ones simply kept Atlanta on its toes the entire game.

The Thrashers won a vast majority of their face-offs, and they also had more hits, shots, and takeaways than the Senators. These statistical advantages, however, failed to translate to the most important column on the sheet: the win column.

Game 45: vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (1/16/09)

Rich Peverley was playing in his second game after being acquired by the Thrashers last week, but he played as though he has been there the entire time.

The newcomer won the hearts of Thrashers fans all over when he notched two assists in the game, then added the game winning goal in overtime when Atlanta bested Toronto 4-3 on a Friday night in Atlanta.

The victory did not come easily, however. The Maple Leafs took a 3-0 lead after the first period, and then the Thrashers truly went to work.

Ilya Kovalchuk scored a goal a minute into the first period to knock the deficit down to two. Then, with four minutes left, Bryan Little scored a goal to make it 3-2 going into the second intermission.

The Thrashers battled really hard in the third period, and their efforts were finally rewarded with five minutes left in the period when Kovalchuk found the back of the net to tie the game at three.

In the extra frame, Rich Peverley scored the winning goal with a little more than a minute left to win the game for Atlanta.

“It wasn’t the start we wanted, but after the first period we woke up and I think we played our best two periods,” Kovalchuk said.

The game was marked by the repeated booing of Thrashers fans in the first period, who are growing increasingly disdainful of this crop of players. Their frustration quickly turned to jubilation, however, as Atlanta made their comeback.

Game 46: at Nashville Predators (1/17/09)

So much for the Predators dumping Rich Peverley due to a lack of production.

Rich burned his former team with three assists in a lopsided affair, as the Thrashers destroyed the Preds 7-2 to further the pain of Nashville, still reeling from the defeat of the Tennessee Titans on Saturday night.

The Thrashers got goals from seven different players in the winning effort, as Eric Perrin, Colby Armstrong, Kovalchuk, Little, Mathieu Schneder, Zach Bogosian, and Jim Slater all lit the lamp during the game.

The Predators were very angry at their poor performance. “A sellout crowd for us tonight, and we put on a performance like that. I’m surprised they didn’t leave after the first period, to be honest. We had a talk in here. We know what’s got to happen, and now is the time to do it”, Jason Arnott said after the contest.

Rich Peverley, on the other hand, was ecstatic after the game was over. “I’m just really happy with the opportunity to not only play with great players, but I get to play penalty kill and power play so it’s been good.”

His play has been aided immensely by Kovalchuk, who has scored eight goals in his past nine games.

Transaction Wire

-Recalled D Zach Bogosian from Chicago (AHL)

-Acquired D Brett Skinner from the Islanders in exchange for RW Junior Lessard.

-Assigned D Clay Wilson to Chicago (AHL).

The Week Ahead

The Thrashers will have a tough road to hoe this short week before the All-Star break, as they take on the Montreal Canadiens at home on Tuesday, and then travel to Philadelphia for a game with the flyers on Wednesday. Both games start at 7pm EST.

Also, captain Ilya Kovalchuk will be playing in Sunday’s NHL All-Star Game. Bryan Little will also be traveling to Montreal to play in the NHL Young Stars Game on Saturday. He will represent the sophomore squad.

Hooked on Phoenix: Coyotes Week In Review (1/11—1/18)

Jim Neveau — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 04:47:13 -0500

The Phoenix Coyotes had an up and down road trip this week. Their four games were all against good teams, and they split them down the middle, going 2-2-2.

Gone from a week ago were their goal-scoring woes.

After only scoring three goals in the previous week, the team managed 14 goals in their four games—including scoring four against Niklas Backstrom, which is an accomplishment in of itself.

Game 44: at Minnesota Wild 1/13/09

The Coyotes went into their game on Tuesday against the Wild not having experienced much luck in their matchups against the Minnesota franchise. This, unfortunately, continued as the Wild beat the Coyotes 6-3 in a game that saw a furious comeback by the Desert Dwellers.

The Coyotes were down 3-0 to start the game, then Joakim Lindstrom scored to move it to 3-1. The Wild responded 34 seconds into the third period and made it 4-1.

A goal by Olli Jokinen made it 4-2 just 22 seconds later, and then Steven Reinprecht added to his earlier assist and scored to bring the score to within one. The Wild pulled away late, adding two more goals to seal the game.

“We had too many guys who tried to play on the outside,” Phoenix coach Wayne Gretzky said. “Minnesota played hard and played harder than we did.”

Shane Doan added two assists in the game, giving him 38 points in his last 38 games.

Reinprecht also must enjoy playing against the Wild, because his goal and assist made for his first multi-point game since December 11, which was a home game against this same team.

Game 45: at Vancouver Canucks (1/15/09)

It was a happy night in the host city of the 2010 Winter Olympics, but the mood turned sour quickly once the puck dropped.

After going 9-12-3 in his absence, the Canucks added Roberto Luongo back into the fold on this Thursday night. He did, however show some sings of rust, as Joakim Lindstrom rudely welcomed Luongo back to the NHL with two goals in a 4-1 Phoenix victory.

Lindstrom’s first goal came a little over a minute into the game, when he beat Luongo from just inside the right circle on the game’s first shot.

Shane Doan added another two assists in the contest, and Keith Yandle had a goal and assist. Peter Mueller also had a power play goal to seal the deal for the Coyotes.

After the game, Yandle said of Luongo “he was battling a groin injury, so we just tried to get him to move all night and just get as many pucks on him as we could.”

The game was also a homecoming for Kyle Turris, as this was his first game in his hometown of Vancouver since he was drafted by the Coyotes with the third pick in 2007. He had an assist in the game, and had a lot of family in attendance.

Game 46: at Calgary Flames (1/17/09)

Any time a team goes into the Pengrowth Saddledome to play the Flames, they have to be on their guard.

Calgary is the third seeded team in the Western Conference, and the fight they showed in this game proved it. The Coyotes, however, were up for the challenge.

Phoenix jumped out to a 2-0 lead, as David Hale and Peter Mueller both potted goals. Then, Calgary came back and Michael Cammalleri scored to bring it to within 2-1. Olli Jokinen scored with a little over two minutes remaining in the second to send Phoenix to the locker room with a 3-1 lead.

Calgary wasted no time bringing the game to within one, as Matthew Lombardi scored three minutes into the third period. Then, Mikkel Boedker came into the game.

In fact, he came in at a very opportune moment, because Ken Klee was clearing the puck. Boedker nabbed the clearing attempt, skated down on a breakaway attempt, and in a great move, fended off Adrian Aucoin and snapped the puck into the net to make the game 4-2. The play was a thing of beauty, and one that the Coyotes will take with them for the rest of the season.

Michael Cammalleri scored again to keep it interesting the final 12 minutes, but Ilya Bryzgalov kept the game at 4-3 for the rest of the contest.

Hale also had an interesting night, as he not only scored his second career goal (and remember, it took him an NHL-record 230 games to score his first one) but also got into a heated physical altercation with Calgary captain Jarome Iginla.

Iginla claimed that he got a cross-check in the ribs, and that he “got a little too fired up” during the scuffle.

The win gave Phoenix its third in its last four trips to the Saddledome (sorry, love saying that name). According to ESPN, it also improved Phoenix to 9-2 when leading after the first period of a game.

Game 47: at Edmonton Oilers (1/18/09)

On a night where the Oilers honored Hall of Famer Glenn Anderson, Ethan Moreau stole the show.

Moreau had three goals in the game, and Ales Hemsky also added two goals in his first game back from a concussion as Edmonton beat the Coyotes 6-3 before a raucous crowd.

“I thought as a team we played pretty well tonight,” Gretzky said. “We’re playing against a team in a similar situation that we’re in. We’re battling for our lives and every game is important. We knew that it was a big night for their organization and their players were going to feed off of that.”

Gretzky knows all about big nights in Edmonton, as he was with the club for several Cup runs in the early 1980s.

The game was nearly a carbon copy of the loss to the Wild on Tuesday. The team was down 3-1, and tied the game in the second period, only to give up three more goals to lose the contest.

After a Keith Yandle goal gave the ‘Yotes an early 1-0 lead, Moreau and Hemsky scored within three minutes of each other to give the lead right back to Edmonton.

Of this, Ed Jovanovski said “like every game, it was a big game and we didn’t have the urgency early on.”

As a side note, Shane Doan is currently just two goals shy of becoming only the third player in the history of the Jets/Coyotes franchise to score 20 goals in nine consecutive seasons. The other two are Keith Tkachuk and Dale Hawerchuk. Thank you to nhl.com for that information.

Weekly Transactions:

-Recalled left wing Daniel Winnik from San Antonio (AHL) after his conditioning stint.

-Assigned center Garth Murray to San Antonio (AHL).

-Recalled defenseman David Schlemko from San Antonio (AHL).

The Week Ahead:

The only game that the Coyotes have next week is a big one against the Detroit Red Wings Tuesday night at Jobing.com Arena.

The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Arizona, and starts at 7pm MST.

Tickets are still available for the contest, and can be purchased through Ticketmaster.

Also, Shane Doan will be playing in the NHL All-Star Game, which starts at 4pm MST on Sunday in Montreal. Mikkel Boedker also will play in the YoungStars Game, to be played during the Super Skills Competition on Saturday night. All of the action can be seen on Versus. Good luck to both players!

The 10 Most Annoying "Fans" at a Sporting Event

Jim Neveau — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 05:35:21 -0500

In December of last year, I wrote an article detailing 20 different Fan Laws that I felt that all sports fans should adhere to.

In this article, I bemoaned the existence of "fans", people who are eager to be seen at a game by others, and also those who are only there because they feel it is their civic duty to annoy the crap out of everyone who comes near them.

These "fans" do stupid things like throw garbage on the field, treat vendors and other people rudely, and insist on drinking as though suddenly Congress is going to do an about face and re-institute Prohibition.

While these "fans" are all quite annoying, I have come up with a list of 10 different "fans" that you will likely encounter during journeys to your favorite ballparks or arenas. This list is certainly not a be-all-end-all affair, and I'm sure that you will think of many more in the days and years to come when you attend games. So, without further adieu, let us proceed down the road of idiocy.

"Fan" No. 1: The guy who comes in late and requests a "War and Peace" sized rendering of the events that have transpired in his absence

This guy is a nuisance first off because he violates Fan Law No. 13, which states that "real fans arrive before the gates open, and get their business done early." He then compounds the mistake by offering up an explanation as to why he was late.

"Oh, my dog ate the sports section, and then I went to my drawer to get my 1962 replica Chelsea championship ring, and I noticed it was gone. I beat the dog without the ring, and then took him to the vet when he started bleeding from the nose. When they X-rayed him, they found the ring lodged in the lining of his esophagus. That's why I was late."

He then requests a complete recap of the action to that point. Some "fans" then compound this mistake by requesting to see your scorecard to catch up theirs that they bought in a mad rush on the way in. Then they don't know what your symbols mean, and you spend an hour explaining your system like it's a set of hieroglyphics.

My apologies for ranting on this trait. This was largely based on a personal experience at US Cellular Field in Chicago. Except for the beating the dog part. Everything else is true.

"Fan" No. 2: The guy who claps loudly every time a player makes a common play

"Alright! Way to go making that easy dump off pass for a seven yard gain!" This guy also lets out a whistle or two when a team makes a tackle on second and nine, or when a player hits a wide open jumper in the first quarter. He treats every play like it's a masterful display of skill that should be awarded with his approval like he's the freaking emperor in ancient Rome.

"Fan" No. 3: The guy who insists on booing every bad call made or egregious error that his team commits

Here's the Al Bundy of the group. He was "All-City" in football when he was in high school, and he could throw a deep ball that could rival John Elway in his prime. At least according to him.

That's what gives him his license to heckle every time a fielder muffs a ground ball, or a receiver drops a pass that is thrown behind him. He gets so aggravated with these "dumb errors" that he shouts at the top of his lungs from the bleachers, even though the offending party is about 220 feet away and likely couldn't hear him even with one of those nifty hearing devices that are advertised on late night TV.

"Fan" No. 4: The guy who gives nicknames to every player and shouts them repeatedly in an effort at endearment

This may just be a Chicago thing, but every time I go to a game, I hear somebody yell something like the following:

"C'mon Geo! Sock the crap out of that ball and tie this game up!"

The player referred to in this example is Geovanny Soto. I've also heard stuff like "Sharpie" (Patrick Sharp), "JD" (Jermaine Dye), and "Kreutzy" (Olin Kreutz). These names are not original, and they start to grate on the nerves after they are shouted for the fourteenth time in the same quarter.

"Fan" No. 5: The guy who constantly badgers the ball boy for a baseball for his kid

I was watching a replay of a Giants-D'Backs game at some point last year, and I noticed something really irritating. There were at least three foul balls lined down the left field line, and every time the kid in the goofy glasses and too tight uniform would bend down and field the ball, some irate dad was holding his son over the railing like some mad reincarnation of Michael Jackson and yelling for the ball.

Now, I understand that you want your kid to have a souvenir from the game. What I have a problem with was the absolute expression of "he's entitled" that this dad had about his son, who looked extremely uncomfortable with the arrangement. I wouldn't doubt that this dad is the same guy who sends his kid up to players with slips of paper when he spots an athlete at a restaurant, and swipes the paper when the kid wants to play Yu-Gi-Oh.

"Fan" No. 6: The guy at golf events who shouts one of the two most irritating phrases in the sport

When Tiger Woods burst onto the PGA Tour, he brought with him a legion of new fans. They would constantly reaffirm his status as "the man", and rooted for his shots to "get in the hole."

Now, this once original and fun past-time has quickly become the most idiotic display of non-creativity since the invention of "Sportscenter is Next" signs.

Every time I hear a "fan" yell "you da man!" or "get in the hole" on drives, it makes me want to wrap a four iron around the offending patron's neck. This guy should be beaten with the "Quiet Please" sign and left for dead behind the 10th green.

"Fan" No. 7: The guy who thinks it's fun to bring prohibited items into a sporting event, and use them repeatedly

My two most glaring examples of this chunk of stupidity are the whistle and the laser pointer.

I can recall several incidents where some idiot in the stands of a sporting event blew a whistle, and play on the court stopped because players thought the play was dead. This knucklehead probably thinks they're the Lewis Black of sports fandom, and in reality he costs real fans enjoyment of an on-going play.

Also, I have been blinded by some idiot with a red laser pointer who thinks that the little red dot is a beacon of hilarity. If I ever saw a guy in my proximity shining this on others, I would take the thing and burn out his retina with it. Prison be damned, it would be done!

"Fan" No. 8: The guy who sucks up to superstars for their autographs/time, then rips the hell out of them when they are up to bat or on the field

I had this experience at a Cactus League game in Mesa, Arizona between the Cubs and Rangers a few years back. Sammy Sosa, at that time a member of the Rangers, took the time before the game to sign autographs for fans. I myself didn't want his autograph, on ethical grounds, but a lot of people did, and I admired Sosa for taking the time to do this.

This admiration turned to unabashed anger when the very fans who wanted his illegible signature on baseballs and Cubs jerseys booed the hell out of him when he stepped to the plate. One fan even yelled "you ruined this team Sosa!" l wouldn't have been surprised if the Sosa signature on the back of his jersey hadn't branded him in a painful and hilarious display of irony, but it didn't happen unfortunately.

"Fan" No. 9: The guy who insists on buying tickets in close proximity to the plate, then brings his young children to the game

I hate the idea of being struck with a line drive or a tossed bat. That is why I tend to stick to the upper deck or the lower bowl further from the plate. I've seen too many instances of people being brained by flying baseballs, and I decided that the risk isn't worth the reward.

What I can't stand is the guy who buys these tickets, then brings his young children with him. These kids and inattentive adults who don't pay attention to the game are more likely to be struck by these projectiles, and these idiots who buy these seats probably think proudly "I can protect them from this danger."

Wait, Anderson Cooper just called with breaking news for these dopes: "You can't catch what you can't see, and I guarantee a check swing foul ball on a 98 MPH fastball will send the ball at you so fast you won't even react to it quickly enough." Enough said.

"Fan" No. 10: The guy who insists on getting up during the middle of a play/inning

This kind of fan irritates me the most. When I go to a game, I am involved in the action on the field of play. I'm drinking in the atmosphere, and just when the puck drops or ball is pitched, this knucklehead decides it's "piss and a beer" time. He then shoves you out of the way so he can move his 300 pound carcass down the aisle to obtain relief and refreshment.

I can understand if you leave between innings, and the next half inning goes a little long, and you have to try to hurry in between batters. That's fine by me. What I don't get is the guy who insists on barging back into the aisle during an at-bat and acts as though you should stand up and move two rows back so he can fit comfortably back to his seat.

Honorable Mentions:

-The guy who takes his shirt off when common decency and a respect for the keeping of my food in my stomach dictate that he shouldn't.

-The guy who won't stop talking on his phone, and asks what players are on the court or ice so he can tell his buddy what the game is like.

-The mother who insists on a family picture in the middle of an inning, and then asks another person to take the picture for her (thank you Bill Simmons for that one).

-The guy who wears opposition colors and yells inappropriate things when his team does something remotely good.

-The guy who insists on making correct change for his $6.50 beer and, of course, he generally is sitting in the middle of the row so you have to delicately pass the money and change down the aisle to the vendor.

So there you have it folks. If you have any "fans" you would like to call out, please feel free to do so. Here's to happy sports watching!

Chicago Blackhawks Reach Midterm: What Does the Second Half Hold?

Jim Neveau — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 05:37:54 -0500

It is that time of the season when hockey pundits from every nook and cranny of the puck world come out with their takes on the middle of the season. Some hand out awards, and others reflect lovingly (or in the case of some teams, angrily) upon what has transpired in their cities the previous three and a half months.

This site’s Blackhawks Community is no exception to this rule. My fellow Creatures Tab Bamford (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/111084-chicago-blackhawks-mid-season-awards) and William Donahue (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/111018-chicago-blackhawks-midseason-awards/page/2) have both contributed solid analysis of the first half through their well-written awards articles, and I’m sure many others will follow.

I, however, plan to take a different track.

Instead of a time of reflection, I believe that the halfway point of the season should be a time to look ahead instead, especially for a team like the Blackhawks. With a record of 24-10-7, the Hawks are sitting pretty in the Western Conference, on pace to rack up 110 points and hopefully have home-ice advantage in a first round playoff series.

In addition, they have gotten three players voted into the All-Star Game, and others who have been given special distinction as underrated by national beat writers (Pierre LeBrun of espn.com submitted this piece: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3832265&name=lebrun_pierre).

Let me also take a minute of self-promotion by saying that I wrote about this player being underrated in an article last year (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/80772-duncan-keiths-case-to-be-most-underrated-blackhawk).

Writer’s Note: If there was a tag for self-flagellating on this site, it totally would have to be clicked after that.

Aside from my loathsome foray into promoting my own credentials as a hockey savant, I would like to get back to the actual point of this article. Instead of merely looking back on all the Blackhawks have accomplished, this article will look forward to the rest of the season, the playoffs, and perhaps beyond.

In the immediate future, the Blackhawks will encounter some pretty hefty obstacles. After a stretch where their schedule is pretty friendly (playing three of their final four games before the break at home), things will get decidedly tougher in the weeks after the All-Star Game in Montreal.

Of the Blackhawks’ eight games following the exhibition, all of them will be on the road. These games include trips to Western Conference contenders Anaheim, San Jose, Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver, and also includes games against the Blues, Kings, and Thrashers.

After this horrendous road trip, the Hawks will find their way back to the United Center to face the Stars, but then go right back out on the road for three more games. Doing the math, that makes 11 of their first 12 games road games coming out of the break.

That is a brutal slate for a team that hasn’t exactly been lights out away from West Madison this season (10-8-3), and it should provide an early precursor for what is to come the rest of the way.

I believe strongly that if the Blackhawks can take half of the available points in these road games, they will have a phenomenal chance to host a first-round playoff series as the fourth seed in the Western Conference. Getting 11 of the 22 available points in these games would give them a solid total heading into a much easier portion of their schedule, and would go a long way toward solidifying their position among the Western elite.

Looking ahead past this grueling stretch, the Blackhawks have it comparatively easy. After their game against the Stars on Feb. 21, the Blackhawks do not have to travel across the Mississippi River for the final two months of the season. That is a huge advantage for a young team, as this will be the time of year when fatigue will come into play in a big way.

In addition to the easier travel burden, the Blackhawks will not have a road trip longer than two games after this stretch. This brings into play their excellent home record, as the packed United Center has become the place where their losing streaks go to die.

While their schedule does lighten up considerably on the road after this stretch, the teams they will face at home are also slightly less formidable. They will face the Penguins at home in late February, and unless the Pens can swing a trade for Ilya Kovalchuk before then, it seems unlikely that they will be fully out of their tailspin by then.

This would lead us into March, where the Blackhawks will really need to make hay in order to obtain prime playoff positioning. Of the team’s 15 games in the month, 11 of them will be at home.

Their road games are daunting in this month (Boston, New Jersey, Columbus, and Montreal), but they are for the most part well spaced out, with the Bruins and Habs coming at the beginning and end of the month, and a quick two-game jaunt taking care of the Devils and Jackets.

Outside of these road tests, the Hawks will enjoy using home ice advantage against teams like Colorado, Los Angeles (twice), the Islanders, and the Oilers. They also have a couple of tough match-ups against the Sharks, Devils, and Hurricanes on their slate for that month. However, the home ice advantage should play a huge role in determining their success in them.

The real crucible will come in April for these Blackhawks. Following a month where only two of their 15 games will be against division foes (both against Columbus), the Blackhawks will play nothing but divisional games for their final seven contests. Judging by their record against the division this season (an anemic 3-3-5), this will be a make or break time for the team.

The most important games will, of course, be the final two, played on the Saturday and Sunday of the final weekend against the arch-rival Red Wings. This home and home could be for the division title, or more likely just for seeding, but it will be the Blackhawks’ final chance to establish some good momentum going into the post-season.

Now that the schedule has been fully dissected and analyzed, it is time to make my predictions for the final half of the season. Some of these are very rational, and well thought out predictions, but a couple are more of screwball ideas that are floating around in my head. Take them all, and please be kind if most or all of them don’t come true.

Prediction No. 1: The Blackhawks will get home-ice advantage in the first round

The key to this prediction is in its vagueness. The team figures to at least make the playoffs, and I think that with a solid second half (which they are more than capable of having), they will reap the rewards of their hard work and nab either the second or fourth seed. Of course, to overtake the vaunted Red Wings would require Detroit to relinquish an 11-point lead, but anything is possible.

Prediction No. 2: Either Martin Havlat, Brent Sopel, or Nikolai Khabibulin will be gone by the trade deadline

The Blackhawks need some payroll flexibility to remain competitive for the rest of this season and the next, and with that consideration in mind, I think they will trade one of these three salary eaters to make room. The most obvious choice is Sopel, but I could also see Havlat or Khabby packing their bags. Several teams have maintained an interest in Marty, and I’m sure that Khabibulin wouldn’t go un-coveted either. Speaking of those three:

Prediction No. 3: The Blackhawks will not re-sign Martin Havlat or Nikolai Khabibulin

They will instead focus on locking up unrestricted free agents Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, and Kris Versteeg. They will use Versteeg to fill the void left by Marty, and Corey Crawford (another RFA) or Antti Niemi will succeed Khabby.

Prediction No. 4: The most important player to a Blackhawks playoff run will be Cristobal Huet

While it is probably trendier to go with a guy like Toews or Sharp, the play of Huet will ultimately determine this team’s destiny.

Will he be the Huet of last year with Washington, where he dominated everyone and led them from the doghouse to the playoffs in a matter of weeks? Or will he be the Cristobal that started off this season as a maddeningly inconsistent netminder who made people throughout Chicago curse the existence of French Canadian hockey players?

Time will ultimately tell.

Prediction No. 5: The Blackhawks will finish the season by beating Detroit in their last two games.

This prediction is brazen, reckless, and most likely foolhardy, but I believe that the tenacity with which the Hawks play hockey will be on full display, and the team will go into the post-season with wins in both contests against the Wings to give themselves a 2-2-2 record on the year against their arch-rivals from the Motor City.

It should be a fun second half of this season, and hopefully when April rolls around, we, as a community, will all be writing about how great it was, and how much we are looking forward to the best two months of the year: the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Hotlanta Hockey: Atlanta Thrashers Midterm Report

Jim Neveau — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 05:40:51 -0500

Two seasons removed from winning a Southeast Division Title, the Thrashers came into this season as a team who had renewed expectations of great things.

Returning players included the excellent Ilya Kovalchuk, who led the team in scoring last season and emerged as one of the premiere left-wingers in the game.

Also, the Thrashers came in with a new coach in John Anderson, who coached their AHL affiliate Chicago Wolves to multiple titles—bringing a winning attitude with him.

They came out of the gate strong against the Capitals, but then proceeded to lose nine of their next 10 games, effectively killing their season before it had a chance to start. They also lost seven of eight after winning five in a row in November.

This has been a season of streaky play, lackluster offense, and stalwart contributors from last year’s squad not living up to expectations this year—such as all-rookie defenseman Tobias Enstrom.

This is a team struggling to find its identity under a new coach—a superstar possibly being traded and an unclear picture as to what the next step really is.

However, not all is doom and gloom for the Thrashers. Kovalchuk is having a pretty good year overall, Todd White has been a pleasant surprise, and although the playoffs are not a realistic goal, the team will be able to get a great idea of what the future holds for it in the next couple of months.

Of course, no mid-season recap would be complete without a recap of the events that have transpired—leading us to where we are at this point. From the highs of the year (there aren’t many) to the lows of the season, the Thrashers’ season can be adequately summed up by this rundown of these relevant stories.

First Half Highlight:

For an honorable mention, we can look to opening night when Bryan Little scored two goals and added an assist in the team’s 7-4 thrashing of the Washington Capitals at Phillips Arena.

The highlight of the season up to this point, however, has to be the events of two games ago, when Kari Lehtonen held New Jersey to no goals, and the Thrashers beat the Devils 4-0 on the road. This victory marked a total team effort with Kovalchuk, Jim Slater, Colby Armstrong, and Marty Reasoner all scoring goals and Lehtonen making 29 saves for the improbable shutout.

Kovalchuk also called the game “a total team effort,” and praised his teammates for finishing checks. He also said he hopes “in the second half of the season, we will get way more points than we did in the first half.”

It was this kind of statement that made the Thrashers decide to elect him captain of the team.

First Half Low-light:

While starting the year at 2-9 may seem like an obvious choice, the team’s effort (or lack thereof) against the Lightning on Jan. 4 may have been the low-point of the season.

John Anderson lit into the team after the 4-1 loss, saying that "the give-a-crap-o-meter is at like zero."

While this may seem a trifle strong, he continued on airing his angry emotions saying “I’ve got to question whether anybody cares in that locker room right now. It’s a joke.”

This is a man accustomed to winning (see the championship banners hanging from the Allstate Arena rafters where the Wolves play), and when things don’t go his way, he won’t take excuses from anybody. This was just one shining example of the accountability that Anderson demands from his players.

Recognition Comes in Small Doses for These Thrashers:

The Thrashers certainly have not given the national press, the league, or even their own city a whole lot to pay attention to this season, but there have been a few stories that can be marked on the ledger of “recognition-worthy” for this Atlanta team.

The first story is the season that Kovalchuk is having. He has had an up-and-down season, eerily similar to the fate of the team he plays for. He has scored goals in bunches this season and then will go without any for a slew of games. All of this has happened in a year where trade rumors are running rampant about him, and he hasn't let it affect him one bit.

Also, Kovalchuk has had a good year off the ice—named to the All-Star team and named team captain last week.

Another player who received recognition for his contributions is Little who was selected by the NHL to play in the Young Stars Rookie-Sophomore Game before the big All-Star Game in Montreal at the end of the month. He will be joined by players such as Nicklas Backstrom, Devin Setoguchi, Kris Versteeg, and No. 1 pick Steven Stamkos on Jan. 24.

A Sign That All Is Not Lost for The Thrashers:

When Ruslan Fedotenko and Armstrong dropped their gloves in the team’s Jan. 6 tilt against the Penguins, it seemed as though the fight was one-sided in favor of Fedotenko who dropped Armstrong in one punch.

However, in a possible sign of a karma-reversing course for the Thrashers, Fedotenko broke his hand on that punch and will be out for 4-to-6 weeks. While it caused pain to Ruslan and the Penguins, it may be easier to see that Armstrong was willing to stand up and fight—showing that the team still has some fight left in it.

While this year certainly won’t be a playoff campaign, we can only hope that the Thrashers continue to show the grit that they did against the Devils, and perhaps they will pick up some spoiler “reps” (thank you Bill Simmons) that they can use to their advantage next season.

Knicks Trade Stephon Marbury for......the Oklahoma City Thunder?

Jim Neveau — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 04:20:34 -0500

OK, I want to make a formal apology to all Knicks fans who thought this article was a legitimate piece of journalism saying that the hated Stephon Marbury had received his discharge from New York. This is not the case, and Marbury is still a Knick, and I'm sorry if I got your hopes up.

With the apology out of the way, let me get to the real article.

For those of you who have never used the NBA Trade Machine on espn.com, I would highly advise that you do it. I have become addicted to it, mapping out different scenarios that would help my teams become better, and without having to worry about figuring out the salary cap numbers and trade restrictions for myself.

Even though the knowledge-gathering effect is very real and important to me, I enjoy causing utter chaos, so I decided to try to make some of the worst trades I could possibly make. The only rule that I will adhere to is that there are no rules outside of which the Web site already enforces. So no-trade clauses, and sheer logic, will be completely ignored here.

New York Knicks and Oklahoma City Thunder:

Knicks Get:

Chris Wilcox, Damien Wilkins, Kyle Weaver, Earl Watson, Nick Collison, DJ White, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Chucky Atkins, Mouhamed Sene, Robert Swift, Desmond Mason, Joe Smith

Thunder Get:

Stephon Marbury, Eddy Curry, Malik Rose, Quentin Richardson

This trade may seem insane and stupid because of the low quality and high cost of the players going the way of Oklahoma City, but in reality, the only reason this trade is included is because it manages to trade away every single player that can be legally traded on the Thunder for four players.

In fact, the only player who could not be traded on the Thunder was Nenad Kristic, who can’t be traded because he was acquired as a free agent less than three months ago.

This 14-for-4 trade is not something I would ever expect either team to accomplish, but it sure was fun continuing to tack on extra players to the deal to see how many I could include for just those four players.

Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics

Cleveland Gets:

Kevin Garnett

Boston Gets:

J.J. Hickson, Ben Wallace, Eric Snow

This trade may not have the catastrophic effects on number of personnel as the last trade did, but it is no less ridiculous.

The Cavaliers get a big man who is scoring 16 points a game, and averaging nine rebounds, and in exchange Boston is getting a combined 7.3 points per game from Hickson and Wallace, as well as 0.8 assists a game.

What of Eric Snow’s numbers you ask? Well, unfortunately for the Cavs, Snow was due to make $7.3 million this season, but was forced to retire because of an arthritic left knee. The Cavs are currently trying to get that money taken off as a salary cap hit, but have not been able to do it yet.

To add to the stupidity of his inclusion, under NBA rules, the team who would trade for his contract would not be able to cash in on that insurance policy, so they would be stuck with the cap hit the contract brings. So the Celtics would be paying him $7.3 million to be Cleveland’s assistant coach, and also an analyst for NBA TV.

Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors, Miami Heat, and Cleveland Cavaliers

Chicago Gets:

Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Jamario Moon

Cleveland Gets:

Larry Hughes, Michael Ruffin

Toronto Gets:

Andres Nocioni, Drew Gooden

Miami Gets:

Luol Deng, Joakim Noah, Cedric Simmons

Ever wondered how easy it would be to make the Trade Machine give your favorite team one of the three biggest free agents of 2010? Well, this trade gives the Bulls all three, and also gives them Jamario Moon!

Can you imagine a Bulls team made up of Chris Bosh at center, LeBron James at small forward, Tyrus Thomas at power forward, Dwayne Wade at shooting guard, and Derrick Rose at point guard? This is an NBA 09 junkie’s dream. In addition you would still have Ben Gordon, Aaron Gray, Kirk Hinrich, and Thabo Sefolosha on your bench! The team would be unstoppable!

As for Toronto, can you imagine them starting Andres Nocioni in place of Bosh and Gooden in place of Moon? I think that the fans of the team would kidnap the GM and burn him at a stake in the middle of Toronto if he allowed this to happen.

Same thing goes in Miami, who would get Luol Deng (injury prone), Joakim Noah (an energy guy with little discipline and no rebounding skills), and Cedric Simmons (nothing). I think Shawn Marion would probably be willing to forfeit the rest of his contract if he could get out of that mess.

New Orleans Hornets, Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns, and Utah Jazz

New Orleans Gets:

Steve Nash, Deron Williams, Rajon Rondo, Bill Walker

Boston Gets:

Hilton Armstrong

Phoenix Gets:

Ryan Bowen, Peja Stojakovic, Julian Wright

Utah Gets:

Morris Peterson

It is pretty obvious what I was trying to do with this trade. New Orleans already has Chris Paul, and I wanted to see if I could add three more elite point guards to their mix, and these were the three names (Nash, Rondo, and Williams) that I was most easily able to add.

Bill Walker was thrown in merely to keep Boston under the cap, not because I think it went along with the “ha-ha” nature of loading New Orleans with point guards. He obviously doesn’t, since he is averaging a point a game.

Hilton Armstrong will get 4.8 points a game and 2.8 rebounds a game in Boston, and the three combined players in Phoenix would get 18.4 points a game, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.3 assists. The points and rebounds they would get would be pretty good, but the huge drop-off in assists would kill their offense.

Morris Peterson would bring his lethal six points a game and 2.4 rebounds to Utah, and he only averages 9.4 assists fewer per game than Williams does.

At the risk of causing brain damage to the readers of this article, I will stop the insanity at these four trades. I will more than likely do another article or two on this topic, and if you want to know how I came up with these logic-defying trades, go ahead and visit the Trade Machine, which can be found by clicking on this link:

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/trademachine

So feel free to play GM, or at the very least, play the role of the guy who hoards a bunch of talent to his own team at the expense of the rest of the league. Good luck!

Hooked on Phoenix: Coyotes Week in Review

Jim Neveau — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 21:29:15 -0500

The week that was for the Phoenix Coyotes can be described in five easy words:

Three goals in four games.

An even more telling stat than that is the fact that all three of those goals came in the same contest against Tampa Bay, and that the Coyotes still went 2-2-0 for the week.

Ilya Bryzgalov absolutely dominated in his three starts for the Coyotes this week, and the team managed to swing a 2-1 home-stand in the process.

They also managed to display a complete lack of grace and mental acuity against the Blackhawks, then played like a team on the verge of a playoff run the rest of the week.

With all of these things in mind, here goes the recap of the week for the Coyotes.

Game 40: at Anaheim Ducks (Jan. 4)

Even without the services of Corey Perry, the Ducks still put forth what their coach called the “best team effort that we’ve had.” They beat the Coyotes 2-0 in a relatively uneventful game that saw Anaheim score twice on their power play and the Coyotes go 0-for-4.

Jonas Hiller made 29 saves for the Ducks in the victory, and Ilya Bryzgalov made 32 saves in the losing effort.

The Coyotes were victimized twice on the Duck power play. Both goals the Ducks scored followed too many men on the ice penalties against the ‘Yotes, and Bryzgalov was not happy after the game.

“We are not playing for the first time. This is not our first game,” he said. “It’s one thing when you save a breakaway and you get the penalty. It’s another when you get it for nothing.”

The game was also bad for the Coyotes in the standings, as they fell back into third place behind the Ducks and Sharks in the Pacific Division. The game also sent them into their grudge match against the Blackhawks without any momentum at all.

Game 41: vs. Chicago Blackhawks (Jan. 6)

In my recap/editorial about this game, I assailed the Coyotes and coach Wayne Gretzky for showing their true classless colors in this game, and that the Blackhawks showed them what a team is really supposed to look like.

Gretzky spent a good chunk of the game stomping around the bench, yelling at officials as those they were servants at his palatial Scottsdale estate, and his team took classless to a new low when they bodychecked Cristobal Huet into the boards, nearly taking his head off in the process.

This 6-0 loss to the ‘Hawks was nothing to write home about, and was a game that the Coyotes would love to forget. They were outhustled, outmanned, and outclassed in a battle of the two youngest teams in the NHL.

The Coyotes’ loss in this contest dropped them to 0-3-1 against the Blackhawks for the season series, and marked the first time since the 1987-1988 season that Chicago had swept the season series from the Winnipeg/Phoenix franchise.

“They’re a pretty good team, first of all,” Gretzky said. “They play hard and thank God we’re done with them.”

Mikael Tellqvist made the start for the Coyotes, but didn’t last through the first period. He gave up four goals on only 13 shots, including one to Adam Burish, who hadn’t netted a goal all season and decided his birthday was a good day to do it.

The loss marked the second consecutive game that the Coyotes had been shut out, and prompted Kyle Turris to say “if somebody has to eat a post to put it in the net, then that’s what we’re going to do.”

The game also featured a fight that Ed Jovanovski wishes he hadn’t engaged in, when he was decked after one punch from Matt Walker in the third period. He left the game with a massive cut above his left eye.

To fully cement the torture, the Coyotes’ scoreless streak on the power play was extended to 0-for-27, spanning five-plus games.

Game 42: vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (Jan. 8)

When Kyle Turris made his “post” remark after the contest against the Blackhawks, he must have known in his mind that he would be looked at to help end the scoreless drought.

He backed up his talk, and he broke the 2-2 tie in the third period to send the Coyotes to their first victory over the Lightning since 2001. It was Turris’ first goal since Dec. 18.

Olli Jokinen scored in the first period, ending a scoring drought of over 138 minutes, and Peter Mueller also added a goal for the Coyotes, and Shane Doan had two assists in the contest. Ilya Bryzgalov notched the win with 22 saves on 24 shots by the Lightning.

The Coyotes also finally snapped their power play scoreless drought in the game. They ended up one-for-three on the man advantage in the game and are 4-for-50 in their last 12 games.

“We haven’t played our greatest hockey the last couple of games,” Gretzky said. ‘When you get into a sort of a rut, it doesn’t change overnight. It takes a little time.”

With more efforts like this, perhaps there is still a possibility that the team will make some noise in the Western Conference playoffs.

Game 43: vs. Dallas Stars (Jan. 10)

This game was a slugfest of epic proportions. Okay, sarcasm aside, this game was an important one for the Coyotes to win, and it gave them more experience in taut and close games that will prove invaluable in any run toward the postseason.

The Coyotes failed to score for the third time in their four games this week, but it didn’t matter because they still managed to win 1-0 in a shoot-out against the Stars before a crowd of 15,000 people who were on the edge of their seats the entire night.

Even the shootout didn’t prove to be easy, as it took five shooters to determine the outcome. Dallas and Phoenix both scored in the second round of the shoot-out, then repeated that trend in the fourth round. In the fifth, Mike Modano was stopped by Bryzgalov, which brought up Kyle Turris.

Now, you all know that Turris has been a very popular name in this recap, in particular because of his desire to help the team succeed that manifested itself so beautifully on Thursday night. Well, he did it again on Saturday when he scored in the fifth round of the shoot-out to lead the Coyotes to their second straight win.

Wayne Gretzky for one was happy that the game did not end with Phoenix losing the shootout.

“From a pure hockey point of view, it’s just a hard pill to swallow to lose a game on contests, so to speak.”

Ilya Bryzgalov made 38 saves during the game portion of the program, and also stopped three of the five shots in the shootout.

“It’s the NHL. Nothing’s easy here. I just react with the play and follow the players.”

Transactions:

-There were no transactions this week.

Random Notes:

-The Coyotes’ lone All-Star representative will be Shane Doan, and rookie Mikkel Doedker will be playing in the YoungStars Game on the Saturday before the big game.

-Kirk Sauer will be sidelined for four weeks with a lower body injury suffered in the team’s win against the Dallas Stars Saturday night.

The Coyotes next game will be the first of a four-game road trip, and will be played Tuesday night against the Minnesota Wild. Their next three will round out the week in the great white Canadian north, against the Canucks Thursday, the Flames Saturday, and the Oilers Sunday.

Hotlanta Hockey: Atlanta Thrashers Week in Review

Jim Neveau — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 04:09:48 -0500

The Thrashers have certainly had an eventful week.

Starting on Sunday with the proclamation from coach John Anderson that he didn’t know “our give a crap level is at like zero”, to getting the tar kicked out of them Saturday night in an 8-4 beat-down at the hands of the Florida Panthers, the Thrashers’ week has pretty much been a microcosm of their season.

Well, let’s get to the dirty laundry of the week that was for the Atlanta Thrashers.

Game 40: vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (12-19-10) 1/4/09

“I’ve got to question whether anybody cares in that locker room right now,” Thrashers coach John Anderson said after this game. “It’s a joke.”

After witnessing this debacle, it would be tough for Thrashers fans not to agree. In front of a crowd of 10,750 at Phillips Arena, Atlanta came out and played a lackadaisical game that perfectly demonstrates what’s wrong with the team.

This victory, a 4-1 win for the Lightning, was the first in two years in Atlanta for the Lightning, as well as got the Bolts out of the basement of the Southeast division.

The Thrashers, who had won their previous game against Vancouver, hasn’t won consecutive games since their five game winning streak in early November. Since then, they are 6-14-3.

The players seemed to agree with their coach about the effort. “We need to dig deep and come out with better efforts,” winger Chris Thorburn said, echoing the sentiment that his teammates surely share.

This game also displayed an act of true hockey grit, when Tampa defenseman Andrej Meszaros played in the game, despite needing 64 stitches to close a gash under his nose after he was hit by a puck. Perhaps the Thrashers could take a lesson in determination and courage from this young man.

Game 41: at Pittsburgh Penguins (20-19-4) Jan. 6, 2009

This game was more of the same for the Thrashers, who were defeated 3-1 in the first game of a three-game road trip by the Penguins. Evgeni Malkin had three assists, and Petr Sykora scored two goals.

The lack of effort chastised by coach Anderson in the previous game was once again evident in this one, as they waited until the third period to show any spark. They managed 13 shots in the period, and got a goal from Ilya Kovalchuk, but it was a case of “too little, too late.”

Ilya Kovalchuk after the game said that the Thrashers lacked consistent effort.

“That’s our major problem right now. We don’t have enough talent in this locker room to play one game easy and one game hard, you know?”

Colby Armstrong attempted to spark some life from his teammates when he engaged in fisticuffs with Ruslan Fedotenko. This, unfortunately, did not end well for Armstrong, as he was felled in one punch. It also did not end well with Fedotenko, who is out four to six weeks with a broken hand.

This is just one more sad story in a miserable season for the Thrashers, and the emotion of it was perfectly conveyed by coach Anderson when he said “there are no words to describe this disappointment. We have to pick ourselves up every day and keep pushing. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves, because nobody else will.”

The loss dropped Atlanta to 4-12-1 in their all-time series against the Penguins, and they have not won in their last four meetings with the Pens.

Game 42: at New Jersey Devils (24-14-3) Jan. 8, 2009

The Devils were looking to go into their six game road trip with a quick and easy victory over the Thrashers at the Prudential Center. Needless to say, things did not go according to plan.

Kari Lehtonen made 29 saves, and he notched his first shutout of the season as the Thrashers stunned the Devils 4-0 in front of a crowd of nearly 17,000.

Ilya Kovalchuk helped the team with a goal and an assist, racking up his 35th and 36th points in his past 31 games for the Thrashers, and Jim Slater and Marty Reasoner also added goals.

“It’s always nice to get a win,” Kovalchuk said. “Hopefully in the second half of the season we will get way more points than we did in the first half. This was a total team effort. Guys were fighting to finish checks, and Kari gave us a hell of a game.”

In a quick editorial aside, it was nice to see the Thrashers come out and bite the Devils on the rear end in a game the Devils thought they could just waltz in and take the two points in. The Thrashers even got net-minder Scott Clemmensen yanked after the second period.

Even without Bryan Little, who missed his second straight game with a rib injury, the Thrashers came out and played a very solid game. Even though they didn’t score in the first period, they still showed a lot of heart, a promising sign that maybe the second half of the season may not be as bad as the first half.

Also, before this game, Kovalchuk was named as an Eastern Conference reserve to the All-Star Game in Montreal.

Game 43: at Florida Panthers (20-16-6) Jan. 10, 2009

When things are going wrong, it seems that every step forward is followed by two steps back.

This is exactly what happened to the Thrashers Saturday night, as they were belted 8-4 by the Panthers in the last game of their quick three game road trip. The Thrashers tied the game at 3-3, but then the Panthers scored five straight goals to put the game out of reach.

Kari Lehtonen, a game after shutting out the Devils 4-0, wound up giving up seven goals on 27 shots in the contest and got yanked with about eight minutes left in the game.

“I don’t think there’s anything that stands out,” Lehtonen said. “But when there’s so many goals, that’s pretty bad. We have to forget about this and go forward. It feels bad after the great game we had in New Jersey.”

Todd White, who scored a goal in the game, added “the third period we just fell apart. We made way too many mistakes and they capitalized on them.”

Bryan Little also missed the contest, his third in a row.

Transactions for the Week

-On Jan. 4, the Thrashers assigned defenseman Zach Bogosian to Chicago of the AHL for conditioning purposes. They also assigned Scott Lehman to Chicago.

Random Notes

-Bryan Little will play on the Sophomore squad in the Sophomore-Rookie game during All-Star Weekend in Montreal. He will join Ilya Kovalchuk as representatives of the squad at the festivities (Kovalchuk will play in the big game on Sunday).

-The Thrashers next game is Wednesday, when they will skate at Phillips Arena against the Ottawa Senators at 7:30 PM EST. For tickets, visit the Thrashers’ official Web site.

Chicago Blackhawks Notes: What's Right and Wrong with the 'Hawks?

Jim Neveau — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 01:16:22 -0500

A road trip that started innocently enough with a victory over a self-destructing Phoenix team ended with a sickening thud, as the Blackhawks have dropped consecutive games to the Colorado Avalanche (2-1) and the Nashville Predators (4-1).

In these two games, the Blackhawks have peppered the opposing net-minders with 79 shots and have only managed two goals. They only drew one penalty from the Avalanche on Thursday night, and managed to get five power plays against the Predators and failed to score on any of them.

The 'Hawks’ leading goal scorer, Patrick Sharp, was also heavily defended in both games, with opposing players constantly hanging on his every move every time he approached the net, which took away his ability to snipe at close range.

He also missed several pucks that were left sitting on the doorstep like unwanted infants, and this obviously was a big contributing factor to the team not scoring.

They also were plagued by aggressive attacks by both Colorado and Nashville. Both teams came out firing early and often, making several passes and then firing at the net instead of dumping the puck into the zone and just hoping for a friendly carom or a quick pass out of the corner.

This aggressiveness kept the Blackhawks on their toes, and really took them out of their normal offensive rhythm.

While these points are all just things that I picked up from watching the two games, there is a bigger question that must be answered: with the Blackhawks losing two games in a row and four of their last six contests, are they merely cooling off from an unprecedented hot streak, or are they merely showing the first signs of terminal weaknesses that need to be addressed in an urgent fashion?

On the positive side of the spectrum, the Blackhawks are still in extremely good shape both stats wise and standings wise. They beat Calgary on Sunday and Phoenix on Tuesday, and both of those teams would be in the playoffs if they started today.

Also, they are still two points ahead of Vancouver and have four games in hand over the Canucks.

Also, they have now played over half of their road schedule, and they also have a nice stretch of home games coming up, and also have games against Nashville, St. Louis, and Minnesota, all teams who aren’t currently in the top-eight in the Western Conference. In fact, the Blues are currently in last place in the West, five points behind the Kings and Stars.

As if all of this weren’t positive enough, there’s also the idea of average points to consider. They are still on pace to notch 107 points, which would have been good for the third best record in the conference last year (and a fourth seed in the playoffs).

They also have a sterling goal differential, a +38 that is good for third in the conference, and also have the third fewest goals allowed in the conference with 102. In addition, they also have 140 goals, which is the second most in the conference behind only Detroit (153).

They also have an outstanding home record, with a 12-2-4 mark in home games this season. This bodes well for the squad down the stretch, as 16 of their final 23 games will be played at home. When you keep in mind that their two home losses in regulation were to San Jose and against Detroit (at Wrigley Field), this mark is even more impressive.

Even with all of these marks in mind, there are still quite a few reasons to be concerned about this team.

The first area of concern concerns the dearth of production out of Patrick Sharp. While he has been picking up assists recently (three in his last six games), he has also suffered a drop-off in goals, scoring only once in the past six games. This goal wasn’t even that great, considering it was a tap-in empty netter against the Flames.

This drop-off happens to coincide with the absence of Patrick Kane, who got hurt early against Detroit on Dec. 30 and still isn’t back up to 100 percent with his high ankle sprain. Quenneville has tried shuffling around lines, and also has mixed up attacks on the power play, and all to no avail.

Sharp did have a run like this earlier in the season, and he snapped out of it with a big two goal performance against Toronto in the seventh game, so hopefully this seventh game against Nashville Sunday night will be enough to snap him out of his slump.

Another bad thing going for the Hawks is the maddeningly inconsistent play of All-Star Jonathan Toews. He has been either all or nothing as of late, with a three point performance against Phoenix Tuesday night, quickly followed by no shots and no points against Colorado two nights later. He also had no points against Nashville Saturday night.

Toews has respectable numbers, but they have been coming in bunches, which is not a good thing from the team captain, but also from a center that Coach Q is counting on to anchor a line that is currently in flux. He was playing with Patrick Kane this evening in Nashville, and he still was unable to find his rhythm.

The performance of the Blackhawks hinges in a large degree to the performance of these two players, and they have not been playing well as of late, which helps explain the team’s recent struggles.

There is really no reason to be extremely concerned with the team at this point, but if they continue to struggle even on home ice, then perhaps these issues will need to be revisited in great detail by Quenneville and his staff.

Quick Notes

-The Blackhawks acquired right winger Adam Pineault from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Michael Blunden. They assigned him to the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL. He has 12 points so far this season in 28 games, and also has raked up 36 penalty minutes.

-Kris Versteeg has been named to the rookie squad in the NHL YoungStars Game, which will be held the same day as the SuperSkills Competition on Jan. 24. These events will be a fantastic prequel to the real highlight of the Blackhawks weekend, which will be Brian Campbell, Jonathan Toews, and Patrick Kane all starting the All-Star Game on the 25th.

The Blackhawks’ next game will be at 6 PM on Sunday night against the Nashville Predators. The game can been seen on Comcast SportsNet, and tickets are still available through Ticketmaster.

Chicago Blackhawks Show Phoenix Coyotes What a Team Should Be

Jim Neveau — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:46:53 -0500

A collective sigh of relief has just been exhaled throughout Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona.

After having been outscored 20-4, humiliated in three of the four meetings with the Blackhawks this season, the Phoenix Coyotes are finally finished with one of their biggest nemesis this season.

It didn’t matter who started in goal for the ‘Yotes (or the Hawks for that matter) or what kind of tempo the Coyotes tried to play, the Blackhawks simply dominated the season series in their first series sweep of the Winnipeg/Phoenix franchise since 1987.

The Coyotes are a team in turmoil right now. They were 0-for-7 on the power play tonight, and have now been unsuccessful in 27 straight power play opportunities. They have been shut out their previous two games, and are barely holding on to a playoff spot in the Western Conference.

“It’s embarrassing,” Coyotes captain Shane Doan said about the game. “I don’t know what else to say. It’s embarrassing. Give them all the credit in the world. They beat us bad three times (this season).”

Doan nailed it right on the head. No team enjoys being beaten, especially at home, but the Coyotes just could never find a rhythm against this Hawks team. Their primary scorers were shut down, and they couldn’t get a puck past Nikolai Khabibulin or Cristobal Huet.

They were dominated physically as well. The Blackhawks dug pucks out of the corners and provided a ton of open ice hits to keep the crowds at the UC energized and the fans at Jobing cringing.

It is said that hard times bring out someone’s true character, and the Coyotes are no exception.

Just as a matter of fairness, I am a fan of the Coyotes. I have a ton of family that lives in Arizona, and even though my primary focus and love is for the Blackhawks, I watch as many games as I can on NHL GameCenter, and I am constantly on the team website checking on news stories and roster moves.

That all being said, I’m disgusted with the Coyotes performance against the Blackhawks tonight. The team essentially fell victim to their own youth, and imploded in a way that is unacceptable for a team that coach Wayne Gretzky is trying to mold into a solid NHL franchise.

We’ll start at the top. As I watched the four games between the two teams, I noticed a stark difference between Denis Savard (yes, he coached the first game), Joel Quenneville, and Gretzky. Savvy/Coach Q are both guys who can get emotional, and occasionally yell at officials to express their displeasure. They never make a spectacle of themselves, but do let the refs know that they are watching.

Wayne Gretzky is a polar opposite. Like a petulant child, he stalks around the bench, and anytime something that he deems a grave injustice occurs, he starts screaming at the top of his lungs at the officials, demanding that they come over to the bench so he can give them a piece of his mind. He constantly is grimacing, throwing up his arms, and I even saw him stomping on the bench tonight.

Stomping, my fellow hockey fans. A grown man, a Hall of Fame hockey player, a guy who is supposed to be leading an extremely young team through a treacherous Western Conference, and he is stomping around like his mom just told him he can’t have ice cream before dinner. This is conduct that is unbefitting an NHL head coach and team executive, and Gretzky needs to tone it down, or bear the risk of his players following suit.

Another problem the team is experiencing is that they aren’t asserting themselves physically for 60 minutes. In tonight’s game, they played very aggressive hockey, digging in corners, and really letting the Hawks know they were there to play. After that, however, they completely turned on their heels and let the Indian-heads dominate them physically and on the scoreboard. You could almost feel the air get sucked out of the team when they gave up Chicago’s first goal.

This kind of mental indiscipline (wow, I didn’t realize that was actually a word!) is standard practice for a young team, but when you have players like Shane Doan, Olli Jokinen, and Ed Jovanovski on your team, they should be able to set an example, and simply put, they haven’t done that at all recently.

With the Blackhawks, they have guys like Patrick Sharp, Duncan Keith, and even 20-year-old Jonathan Toews to keep things from getting too heated. They also have guys like Adam Burish, Ben Eager, Dustin Byfuglien, and Matt Walker to mix it up if one of the stars is threatened, the hallmark of a contender.

Ed Jovanovski tried to fit that role tonight, and he failed miserably. At the end of a long shift tonight, Jovanovski decided he wanted to engage Matt Walker in a fistfight. This turned out to be a poor idea, as Walker landed a solid punch to his left eye and cut Jovanovski wide open. The TV cameras seemed attracted to the cascading blood pouring out of the wound, and in that moment, I could see that the Coyotes were a completely beaten team.

After a fight, there will typically some sort of retribution, whether it be a scrum in front of the net in the next stoppage or another fight immediately after the face-off. What the Coyotes decided to do, however, was completely unacceptable and should be addressed by the NHL quickly.

With about five minutes remaining in a game that had gotten completely out of hand, the Coyotes dumped the puck in behind the net and Cristobal Huet came around to play it. Out of nowhere, Todd Fedoruk decided that it would be a fun idea to slam a defenseless Huet into the boards, inciting a near riot on the ice as even guys like Patrick Sharp mixed it up with the Coyotes players.

Fortunately for Huet, he was able to stay in the game, although he was clearly shaken. Fedoruk got a five minute major charging penalty for his part, and the game was played under a very tense atmosphere.

This classless act tells me everything I need to know about the state of the Coyotes and Blackhawks right now. For the Hawks, they handled the challenge of the Coyotes by brushing it aside and scoring goals. They didn’t take dumb penalties, and they played like veterans, even though most of the guys on the team are under 25.

As for the Coyotes, I don’t think that a team that plays like it’s already beaten after going down one goal is headed in the right direction, and serious changes need to be made in order to save the club.

Wayne Gretzky needs to pipe down on the bench, and start directing some of his vitriol toward his veteran players who are allowing this kind of stuff to happen. Whether it be a trade, a tirade, or a team meeting, something needs to be done if the ‘Yotes want to have any opportunity to make the playoffs this year, or in the future.