Shallow Frozen Water

Sunday morning armchair

Chris Pronger got 8 games for curb stomping Ryan Kesler (ok so it wasnt a curb stomp).  couldn’t happen to a nicer hockey player (drip drip drip goes the sarcasm).  it should’ve been more than 10 and i was surprised by this decision.

it must be frustrating for the Leafs to see the Bruins and Flyers go into OT and know that both teams are going home with at least a point.  it turns out that the B’s took the extra point but when you’re clawing to catch up to the Flyers then you don’t need them stealing any extra points at all.  now they have to beat a Buffalo team that always bars the doors against them and they have to do it without Mats in tow.

Chuck Kobasew and Marco Sturm have their smoke and mirrors tricks working again. 

the Flyers must be just puking at the thought that it was Andrew Ference going 1 and 1 to tie and then win against them.  it’s ANDREW FREAKING FERENCE for crying out loud!  and they should be crying.  out loud.  and no it doesn’t make you a sensitive renaissance man in this situation.

Mike Richards returned and boy he’s going to be a force for them for a lot of years.  this season is NOT a blip for him, it’s the start of significant stats for the next decade, in fact the numbers will get better not worse like some are predicting.

would you trade Bryan McCabe for Jeff Carter and an 18th overall pick?  a buddy of mine asked me this earlier this week and i answered … absolutely.  Carter will be a restricted FA and i don’t think the Flyers can afford to sign him.  just imagine him in Buffalo or Edmonton or VANCOUVER (who’d love to steal him away from the Flyers after the Kesler debacle last year).  i’d want Carter as a C2 in Vancouver rather than a C3 in Philly.  besides your league counts +/- and no PIMs so McCabe can hurt you there.  i’d make the trade and look to draft a replacement D.

Dan “Frodo” Ellis is taking all the starts in Nashville.  i’ve tried to tell everyone who has Mason on their team to bail on him all season, i still say he’s a career backup.  i’m not sure that Ellis isn’t a backup either but right now he’s the better option.

Henrik Zetterberg took 10 SOG’s against the Preds, was -2 and held off the scoresheet against a team they should’ve destroyed.  they were playing at home too.  i just looked at my H2H playoff matchup and of course i’m facing Zett.  i guess i’m not winning the SOG cat this week.

Dan Hamhuis spent more time on the ice than anyone yesterday except for Niklas Lidstrom.  that’s heady company and Ham got a goal too.  Lidstrom was -1.  Hamhuis is a potential 40 pt D option and in fantasy hockey if you can’t roster Lidstrom you just want to find as many 40 pt guys as possible.

ESPN mag has a good little article on Paul and Peter Stastny, the differences and similarities.  Peter goes on record to say that he thinks Paul is going to be better than him, do you know how huge that is?  Peter’s a HOF’er and Paul’s wearing the same number for the same franchise (remember that Colorado started in Quebec City).  anyway, if Paul is 3/4ths what his dad was then he’ll be a special player.  only Gretzky scored more in the 80’s than Peter Stastny did. 

Patrik Elias has a bruised knee that should only keep him shelved a short while longer.  H2H guys should make their decision soon, he can’t put much weight on it and there’s a chance he won’t be helping you much at all for this coming week of H2H playoffs.

Brian Gionta was projected for 30 goals at least and he’s not going to reach it … ever … again.

the Devils are all about defensive play, but they’ll need to beef up on the PP to succeed in the playoffs imo (i think the Habs are fine on the PP but need to beef up defensively.  interesting).  anyway, i say that Johnny Oduya may just be key to their PP hopes this season and if it isn’t the Lord please save us from having to see Paul Martin try to lead the way off the point for them.

Cody McLead has 111 PIMs in 40 games this season.  extrapolate that over a full season and then just realize that the offense is going to bulk up on him too.  hello?  keepers?  you looking at this kid?

HNIC gave us in Manitoba the Canucks/Stars game last night instead of a Leafs game that had no bearing on the playoffs anyway.  i’m a believer that Mats’ little groin twinge is the end of the Leafs’ season but anyway that nucks/Stars tilt was really worth watching.

the Stars start Johan Holmqvist for the first time this season and he thoroughly stunk up the joint before getting yanked after the 1st period.  the talking heads were saying this might be the only time we see Holmqvist this season but i don’t think that’ll be the case, once the Stars clinch a spot i fully expect that Holmqvist will get another shot somewhere on the road.  he doesnt have any value for your team obviously though.

Marty Turco was a machine barring the door in the 2nd and 3rd.  in fact i saw one REALLY smart play by Turc’s after Jeff Cowan slid into the Stars goal and spun it around.  Turco took off for his own bench to get the extra man on the ice knowing that the whistle would go as soon as the Canucks touched the puck but in the meantime they may as well try a little power play.  i’d never seen a dislodged net lead to a power play before.  it didn’t work but still, it was smart.

the Canucks should NOT have won that game and it may be a difference maker for their attempts to secure a spot.

Matt Pettinger had a 3 pt night and clicked with Markus Naslund (also a 3 pt night).  it may be a signal of things to come.  i wouldn’t move on it just yet but it is certainly worth keeping an eye on.

i like what Stephane Robidas and Matt Niskanen have been doing for the Stars carrying some big minutes.  it bodes well for both of them down the road.

man those Sabres play my Leafs tough, again.  Leafs fan, meet the end of the tunnel.

i think Daniel Paille can be as good as Jason Pominville really quickly.  it’s a good thing that he has a good view of how to get it done and he has Jochen “hairball in the throat” Hecht as a all around help on both ends of the ice.

Tomas Vanek only played 9 mins last night and i can’t seem to find an injury reason why that is so.  that leaves me to assume that he must’ve stunk it up and his coach doesn’t have a cold.

did you get Halak in net for your team?  i did.  i wonder if this shuttie is going to earn him another start soon but i hope not since i want Price back in there all the time.

i wonder what Alexei Kovalev’s contract status is?  cuz he’s gonna want to renegotiate after he’s done everything for the Habs this season.

while Johan Holmqvist was getting shelled at home against the Canucks, Mike Smith was getting a shuttie against the Rangers.  big difference in upside between these 2 guys but the Stars did also get Brad Richards in that deal and he can be a more than adequate consolation.

Alexandre Picard is 2 and 2 in 10 games for the Lightning.  i didn’t see what the Lightning liked in this guy but he looks to be responding.  you might want to consider him as bottom of the roster filler for your team next season, maybe even this season.

if you’re hurting for goalie starts then it looks like Erik Ersberg will be getting most of the starts for the Kings.  there won’t be many wins but at least there’ll be starts.

the best names in Minny all contributed a single point to the offense against the Kings and Nikl-back earned a shuttie.  the Wild give too many starts to their backup and they should rely on Nikl-back a lot more often.

the Ducks are a steamroller, even if they don’t have Chris Pronger in their lineup.  they beat up on the Blues last night with a 3rd period crushing of Manny Legace, led by Rob Niedermayer’s 2 goals.

the Ducks are 19-9-4 and the Blues are 12-20-7 since the Weight/McDonald trade.  that’s not very telling since we’re talking about the Stanley Cup Champs and a team that i was calling the village idiot Blues in previous seasons.

as expected much of the ice time that Pronger wouldve taken was picked up by Francois Beauchemin.  i’d expect his value to take a small spike over the last 9 games of the season.

last night was a big night for the Yotes and they came up short.  it seems that Gretz can’t beat the Oilers, even at home when they’re starved for 2 pts.  i don’t get it, i really do think the Coyotes are better than the Oilers.  still, you have been measured and found wanting. 

there sure were a lot of sticks broken over crossbars last night.  that’s the hazards of pre-playoff hockey.