NHL Players Poll

CBC Sports and the NHLPA ran a players poll. The results are here.

Always interesting to get a player's perspective. A few observations:

Crosby

He's public enemy number one in Philly, and a some Flyers fans like to delude themselves about how he is an overrated diver who isn't respected around the league.

Crosby placed first or second in the following votes;

-Toughest forward to play against

-Active player you'd like to start a franchise with (69% of vote!)

-As a goalie, who is the most difficult to stop (2nd)

-Toughest to play against (overall)

-Hardest to take puck off of (2nd)

-Smartest player

-Best skater (2nd)

That is no joke folks.

Flyers-related

-The Flyers came in 5th as the most overrated team with 4% of the vote. :(

-Chris Pronger came in 3rd as toughest defensemen to play against. Chara, Lidstrom and Pronger were out ahead of the pack in this category.

-The Flyers did not place in the top 5 of teams you'd like to play on. Surely there are myriad of factors here (management, ownership, fan base, rink, consistency, city), but it always appeared to me the Flyers were attractive target for free agents because their fan base, desire to win, and consistency.

Other

-Dan Bylsma number one list of 'coaches you'd like to play for.' Wow, didn't see that one coming.

-Mike Babcock got 2nd on 'coaches you'd like to play for' list, and second on 'which coach demands the most of his players.' Taken together that's pretty high praise I think.

-'Should fighting be banished'-- 98% no. 'Should instigator rule be abolished'--66% no. Nothing's changing there I think.

-Montreal's rink was the runaway winner in favorite arena to play in, despite being number 2 in having the worst boards/glass. Must be the buzz in the crowd.

-'Best referee'? Winner--none, 15%. Figures.

Flyers do some tweaking

The Flyers have waived Matt Walker, removing his $1.7 million salary from their cap hit.

Panaccio also tweets;

As I speculated weeks ago, sources say the Flyers would make a play for Erik Cole at deadline. Walker move may be start

CAR would not deal Cole if Rutherford feels he has a chance. Month away from deadline but #Flyers are interested in him

Erik Cole is 32 years old, pending UFA with a $2.9 million cap hit. He's not a high end scorer, but he complements high end players well, and can be a physical and productive player in that role. His best years came when playing with Eric Staal in Carolina, under then Carolina coach Peter Laviolette.

I have no reason to doubt what Panaccio reports. The trickier part is where the teams can meet on a deal. As with the Langenbrunner trade interest, the Flyers forward situation remains crowded, and they don't have much trade bait. What Carolina wants back in a trade could vary widely by how close they are to a playoff spot.

Aside from the Flyers probably throwing some picks to Carolina, the most easily identifiable trade candidates on the Flyers are Carcillo, Zherdev and Nodl. Personally, I wouldn't trade Nodl. He's young, cheap, is one of the best skaters on the team, strong on the puck, and is smart and very good defensively. Second, I really can't see the Canes having much interest in Carcillo, though I could be wrong there.

That leaves Zherdev. The chances of him resigning with the Flyers are very low I think. He's scored some pretty goals this year, but hasn't yet staked out a clear role on this team. Might Zherdev's high-end offensive ability tempt the Canes? Possible.

Zherdev and a mid-round pick for Cole seems the most plausible possibility to me. Either way, no trade will be imminent, and both the Flyers and Canes will see how things play out the next few weeks and reassess their needs and options.

Can't Blame a Guy for Trying

Peter Forsberg is attempting ANOTHER comeback. As much as I hate to say it, I'm glad it's with the Avs.

Forsberg's career was cut short due to foot issues. He tried surgeries, extended time off, and a never-ending variety of doctors and foot braces to stabilize the foot in his skate. None of it worked.

He was such a good player the even at half speed, he could help. None of his comeback attempts proved to be more than torturous cycle however.

That's why it's nice to be able to say, "godspeed young man, but we have bigger fish to fry" and not hope and pray that Forsberg's latest comeback attempt somehow works.

Oh, and because Forsberg didn't play abroad in a different league this season, he doesn't have to clear waivers to sign with the Avs, so there's no chance the Isles will ruin this comeback attempt too.

A giant leap for mankind

Word is, tonight the Flyers will begin using what is surely one of the greatest inventions of the 21st century. Perhaps the greatest innovation in hockey beverage distribution since Flyers goalie Pelle Lindbergh was the first to put a water bottle on top of the net.

Mesmerizing. And I don't even drink beer.

Nabokov Claimed by Isles

"I was surprised they picked me up. I was like, 'Wow, what's the point?'''

That pretty much sums it up. Not surprisingly, Nabokov is telling the Isles to piss off, and is refusing to report.

Why would the Isles, a team going absolutely nowhere this season, claim a player who clearly only wants to come back to the NHL to play for a contender?

"I dont see why somebody who has this opportunity would not want to play and fulfill his contract," Wang said. "It's nuts, right? I don't understand any of it."

It would explain much of it, if this was an executive decision by clueless/mysterious/insane meddling owner Wang.

I can't see any scenario under which Nabokov plays out the season for the Isles. He was willing to walk away from bigger contract offers in the offseason, so presumably he won't hesitate to walk away from a small contract with an irrelevant NHL team.

It will be a matter of how long the Isles will push, or if some kind of arrangement can be reached. By his own admittance Nabokov is not ready to jump straight into action, so maybe he could spend a few weeks with the Isles, getting himself together and help them get through an injury crisis, then they'll put him back on waivers.

Hard to predict anything the Isles will do though.

Plus/Minus Check-in

Always interesting to see how players are performing in the plus/minus category. All the usual caveats apply (ice time, matchups, roles...blah blah blah).

Current leaders:

Meszaros, +29 (#1 in NHL)

Leino, +23 (#3 overall, #1 forward)

Carle, +20 (#7)

Briere, +17 (#15)

Hartnell, +17 (#15)

In the basement:

Carcillo, -7 (26gp)

Bartulis, -4 (12gp)

Powe, -1

First of all, when you're the number 1 team in the NHL, everybody has a pretty good plus/minus rating.

Two things jump out from the leaders; 1) Meszaros is playing really outstanding. Part of that is helped by playing on the third pair before Pronger got hurt, and thus being matched up against the opposition's third line. Still, his numbers have gone up since seeing increased ice time with Pronger out, and #1 in the NHL is #1 in the NHL, period.

The second thing that jumps out is all the members of the Briere line, with Leino leading the way. Anyone who's been paying attention knows the Briere line has been the best and most consistent line for the Flyers this year. Leino being several points ahead than his linemates also underlines his excellent play this year, and that he's also the best defensive forward on that line.

Carle's performance also demands praise. That plus/minus is way up there, and notably higher than his partner's (Pronger at +7).

At the other end, Carcillo and Bartulis stand out. I would be worried if Bartulis sees much playing time come the playoffs, and Carcillo is not doing anything to help his slim chances of resigning. I wouldn't worry too much about Powe, because the whole 4th line has pretty low numbers, and he's just a bit behind them.

Nabokov?

Reports tonight are that Nabokov has signed with Detroit for $570,000.

Wow. Nabokov is getting old, but by any account, he still would be an above average goalie.

The real interesting part is that as a mid-season signing from abroad, Nabokov has to clear waivers. Will no one put a claim on a goalie of his caliber for such a small price tag? I find that hard to believe.

Two things to consider-- 1) if a team like the Isles take him, he can say 'forget this' and refuse to report, and 2) a team can't claim him and trade him (he would have to clear waivers again before a trade could go through).

13.23 In the event a professional or former professional Player plays in a league outside North America after the start of the NHL Regular Season, other than on Loan from his Club, he may thereafter play in the NHL during that Playing Season (including Playoffs) only if he has first either cleared or been obtained via Waivers. For the balance of the Playing Season, any such Player who has been obtained via Waivers may be Traded or Loaned only after again clearing Waivers or through Waiver claim.

So, that means only teams who are looking for a number one goalie and are competitive should put in a claim. I know one team that fits that description....

Unfortunately I believe the Flyers would be dead last in waiver claim priority as they currently have the best record in the NHL. But as I said above, Nabokov might walk away if a crap team takes him, so all the teams with high waiver priority might not bother. Other playoff bound teams like Vancouver, New York, Pittsburgh, Boston, Dallas, Anaheim, Montreal, Phoenix...etc, are set in net.

I was planning on a future post on the Flyers' goalie options later, but suffice it to say for now that Bobby-Boucher in net is the obvious achilles heel of this otherwise outstanding team. And if I recall correctly, there were a lot of reports in the offseason that Nabokov was the Flyers number one choice in net but they couldn't reach an agreement on salary in the Flyers tight cap situation...

If it were me, I'd put in a claim for Nabokov, and if the Flyers got him, send Bobs to the AHL for the rest of the year. They could swallow Nabokov's dirt cheap salary no problem. Maybe the Flyers felt okay with Bobby-Boucher for the moment, but I just couldn't pass up on goalie like Nabokov with 300 career NHL wins who could fall right into their lap at a super cheap price.

Badboy Briere to the Allstar Game

Danny Briere will replace Jarome Iginla in the allstar game. If you ask me, Briere was the most deserving Flyer of all star pick in the first place.

Anyway, the allstar game is a painfully boring event. Kudos to the NHL for trying something new with the captains picking teams, which could be fun, but it's still just a bunch of guys skating in circles who don't really care. I'm trying to think of some twist, or even radical overhaul, that would make it interesting, but I am striking out.

One totally ridiculous concept

It's not really thought through, and that would never work for several reasons. But what the hell.

-The NHL is going for a pond hockey pick-up vibe. Run with that, and have an all-star tournament. 6 teams, 8 skaters and 1 goalie each. These teams would play abbreviated games (10 minutes?, running clock) of 4v4 hockey.

-Maybe you could have 2 groups of the three teams each, with a round robin. The winning team of each group plays the championship game. Shootouts are tiebreakers.

-That's 7 games, 70 minutes of pure pick-up hockey. 48 all star skaters, 6 all star goalies. Maybe 6 captains who can pick their teams.

-Referees and faceoffs? I'm not sure.

-No hits allowed (not that anyone checks in the allstar game anyway).

Yeah, there's lots of problems. But would be kind of interesting to see top-notch NHL players play true pick-up hockey with their buddies.

Crosby

In other news, there has been lots of speculation about Crosby's health. When did he get concussed? Should there have been a penalty on an inadvertent blindside hit? Will he sit out the allstar game in protest?

New video, however, has emerged. The video below clearly shows that Crosby in fact got the concussion from winter classic parking lot festivities:

Flyers reunion

A practice I wouldn't want to miss.

Says ESPN:

Emery's comeback

An update on a story I wrote earlier this season on the amazing comeback attempt of Ray Emery. His four-month rehab stint is nearly complete, his agent J.P. Barry told ESPN.com Friday. Barry said Emery is very close to getting the green light to return. What appears likely is a return to the AHL at first to prove himself. Guess who's been pelting him with shots lately to get him ready? None other than Eric Lindros.

Two of the more infamous (and difficult) Flyers find each other. Touching.

Other things:

-Can anyone remember the last time Mike Richards passed on a 2-on-1? I know he's scored a bunch of toe-drag goals on such breaks the last few seasons, but c'mon Mike.

-Little Danny Briere the new NHL badboy? Another fine for punching from the bench? He's not exactly up to Claude Lemieux levels yet, but surprising. I'm all for it, if it that testiness keeps him producing offense like he has so far this season. Video:

Pronger skating

Hide your kids, hide your wife, and hide your husbands because Pronger's coming back soon and will be raping everybody out here.

Well, maybe just the wife part, because I think there's a good chance that Pronger is in fact leading a double life as a mormon polygamist featured on the tv show Sister Wives.

Flyers denied circus goal

Just wanted to post a pretty awesome goal that wasn't. Jeff Carter, Claude Giroux, and JVR play a little hacky-sack with the puck;

The goal was waved off under Rule 80.1.

80.1 High-sticking the Puck – Batting the puck above the normal height of the shoulders with a stick is prohibited. When a puck is struck with a high stick and subsequently comes into the possession and control of a player from the offending team (including the player who made contact with the puck), either directly or deflected off any player or official,there shall be a whistle.

When a puck has been contacted by a high stick, the play shall be permitted to continue, provided that:

(i) the puck has been batted to an opponent (when a player bats the puck to an opponent, the Referee shall give the “washout” signal immediately. Otherwise, he will stop the play).

I don't know. Sounds to me like it should've counted. Number one, was Giroux's stick above normal shoulder height? Close call. Number two, Ryan Miller clearly touched the puck with his glove before it got to JVR. Does a glancing touch count as being "batted to an opponent"? I think so.

Most likely, the official who made the call from behind the didn't see that Miller touched it. Oh well, all's well that ends well.

Report Card Day

Little did I realize, but the Flyers play their 42nd game tonight. Therefore it is very important to give out midseason grades immediately, lest they lose their eminence.

As a team, things have gone pretty much as well as anyone could've expected. ESPN seems to think highly of them.

Summary: The Flyers are without question the cream of the crop in the Eastern Conference. Even without veteran defenseman Chris Pronger, who should return from injury in the near future, the Flyers haven't missed a beat. They have great balance up front and steady netminding from Renaissance man Brian Boucher. Fewest road losses in the NHL also illustrate the team's maturity. Grade: A-plus. Trending: Up.

So there's that, and not much else to say.

As for players, without doing the tiresome grade for each one;

Thumbs Up

-Leino, killing it

-JVR, coming on and the team will be thrilled if he keeps it up

-Boucher, (see JVR)

-Briere, looking like the player everybody hoped for when signing the big contract

-Hartnell, doing his job well

-Giroux, breakthrough first third, needs to rev it back up.

-Meszaros, outperforming Carle and Coburn

-Nodl, ~20 goal pace for no-goal Nodl!

-Bobs, great start, will need to re-find that form to help Boucher

Holding steady, check back at playoff time

Pronger, Timonen, Richards, Carter, Carle, Coburn, O'Donnell, Betts

*shrugs*

Shelley, Carcillo, Bartulis, Zherdev

Random thought:

The Flyers will have a two-headed monster in net for the foreseeable future, would it be incredibly corny to nickname said beast Bobby Boucher/Waterboy?

Unsolved Mysteries of NHL Suspensions

By popular demand, a look at Ben Eager getting a 4 game suspension for a sucker punch. I need to keep my fan(s?) happy, and I can hardly pass up on an opportunity to bash the NHL discipline system.

Video:

After the game, Armstrong called Eager a meathead. Eager said Armstrong's a phony who gives it out but won't fight when challenged. I can't disagree with either assessment.

Don't get me wrong, this was a sucker punch that clearly deserved a penalty, and maybe a suspension. But 4 games? That seems totally unexpected. Without doing more serious review of comparable incidents, two recent plays:

33 seconds in:

2 game suspension.

30 seconds in:

No games

The NHL wheel of justice is mysterious. Fans can't shake the feeling that player reputations and popularity, the teams involved, the visibility of the incident, and the resulting injury take on more importance in the review process than the actual action.

Eager got carried away and crossed a line, and got called for a deserved penalty. Is 4 games really necessary? More importantly, is 4 games even logical? Of those three recent incidents, seems to me Lucic's punch was arguably the most reprehensible, taking a shot at a guy who delivered a legal hit when the opposing player is restrained by officials and not looking.

The only sense I can make is that Eager's punch was basically during live play, rather than in a post-whistle scrum.

Or alternatively, the NHL simply doesn't have an issue with potshots on restrained players (see this Downie punch a few seasons ago);

Frankly, who the hell knows. Apparently NHL suspensions are more art than science.

Flyers dabble in Langenbrunner

Jamie Langenbrunner is surely on the move. The captain of the Devils was scratched last night versus the Flyers, and had been asked to waive his no-trade clause, which he did.

Tim Panaccio reported the Flyers' interest last night, and I'm sure the Flyers did have interest in a valuable, experienced two-way forward, but the trade always seemed very unlikely to me.

Langenbrunner's salary is $2.8, meaning the Flyers would have had to send some salary back or make other moves. Also, the Flyers forward situation is relatively cramped, so it's unclear who would be the odd man out. Third, I'm not sure what the Flyers have to offer NJ. The two players most likely on the outs in Flyerdom, Carcillo and Zherdev, are both due to be free agents and would be of little value to a NJ team that is going nowhere this season. Maybe picks could be traded, but the Flyers don't have a wealth of those to deal either with a stripped farm system.

Lots of reports the Langenbrunner to Dallas is basically done this morning. For me this brief flirtation by the Flyers mainly underlines that Holmgren will be looking for help, but the Flyers roster is more or less set for the rest of the year.

Leighton Clears

As most expected, Leighton cleared waivers today. There was some reasonable speculation that the Isles would take him after trading Roloson and with DiPietro picking up an injury last night, but I guess when you've already folded the tents on the season, why pick up more journeymen.

Upon additional reflection of the Flyers goalie situation, I'm not sure I fully appreciated Leighton's health status.

"Upon his return, Leighton acknowledged that he is still not 100 percent while experiencing foot numbness stemming from the nerve in his back. He also conceded that he did not expect to be 100 percent at any point this season but thought he could work around that."

That's a little eye-opening. Leighton had a hard enough time getting by at 100%. Nagging injuries are enough to push a borderline player over the edge.

Holmgren can't be happy either. There's been some question about how much Leighton knew and didn't tell the Flyers about his injuries when he signed this summer, and Holmgren would be understandably bitter right now about the subject. I wouldn't say Holmgren's acting out of spite, but that history's not doing Leighton any favors right now.

Leighton can still re-emerge to the big team, but three things have to happen:

1) Boucher's play must fall off.

This is likely. As good as he's playing, Boucher is absurdly streaky. Look back to 03-04--Boucher is unprotected in the waiver draft, barely plays the first two months of the season because the team deems that he needs to work out things with the goalie coach, then in January he sets the NHL record with 5 consecutive shutouts. Anyway, he's been in the league for 11 years and with 6 teams, I think what he is (and isn't) is pretty well established by now.

2) Bobrovsky doesn't regain his early season form.

This could go either way. Bobrovsky's attitude and abilities are definitely encouraging. However, going into the playoffs you'd prefer adjectives like "confidence-inspiring" or "solid". I'd be very nervous if he is the guy--he just doesn't seem ready yet and is too prone to yielding the deflating goal.

3) Leighton has to show his stuff in the AHL

This might be the most unlikely step giving his injury concerns. He needs to be a standout on a bad team. Just not sure he's ready to do that.

The door is still open for Leighton to be back, but he's gonna have to earn it. Either way, I am pretty wary of the Flyers goalie situation this season. Not that there's much they can do about it at this point.

Leighton Waived

This caught me by surprise. The breaking news of the day is that Michael Leighton has been waived.

I thought the Flyers would roll with 3 goalies for another week or two, but not so fast.

Leighton got the win in his first game back, though he was not good. Of course letting in a no-angle shot 2.5 minutes in didn't ease Flyers fans' memories of the Stanley Cup winning goal.

It is tempting to see this and have an initial reaction that the Flyers are dumping him and going with Boucher and Bobrovsky. After taking a deep breath, the following is more likely;

1) Leighton will be unclaimed and try to find his stride in the AHL as part of the Flyers organization.

2) The Flyers are going to ride Boucher (aka Mr. Streaky) as long as he's playing well. Personally I don't think that's going to be much longer, but you never know.

3) The Flyers don't want to send Bobrovsky down.

The Flyers overall goalie situation is not much clearer now. Don't be surprised to see Leighton called back up if Boucher and Bobrovsky struggle and Leighton plays well down on the farm. This definitely isn't good news for Mr. Leighton, but I don't think his days with the Flyers are over just yet.

As another aside, let me also say that I don't see Boucher or Leighton having any trade value at any point this season. If the Flyers don't want three goalies, it means someone is going to the minors and nothing is coming back to the Flyers.

Other searing insights:

-JVR is getting scoring chances more consistently, and is scoring some garbage goals. I didn't necessarily see him as that type of player giving his skating and stickhandling, but maybe that's where his NHL future lies? His career could still go either way, but I couldn't help but notice he was on the ice in the final minute as the Flyers clung to their one goal lead against the Wings. That may be a better sign than the goals (and all the posts he's been hitting).

-The lines are back to status quo. I wouldn't have minded seeing them mixed up a little longer, but the Hartnell-Briere-Leino line is maximizing the output of each of those three. Not sure what is best for Richards, Giroux and Carter though.

-Meszaros trade sure is looking good right now. I've said it before, but Carle's days as a Flyer may be numbered (beyond this season that is).