Despite today marking the beginning of free agency between NHL seasons, the biggest move of the day was not a signing but a trade, one that ahd the Vegas Golden Knights sending Paul Stastny to the Winnipeg Jets for Swedish defenceman Carl Dahlstrom and a fourth-round pick in 2022. Dahlstrom is a 25-year-old who has spent the past five years in North America, first splitting time between the NHL and AHL in the Chicago Blackhawks organization and spending all of 2019-20 with the Jets, totalling 64 NHL appearances in the process; Stastny is a 35-year-old who pretty much just had his worst statistical year ever but still delivers top-six possession numbers worthy of his $6.5M cap hit (and definitely his $5.5M actual salary), which is expiring after next season.
The Jets know Stastny, he was their second-line centre prior to signing with Vegas when they made a serious run at the Stanley Cup after the trade deadline in the 2017-18 season. He was slotted with Patrik Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers, who are still around - for now, as there were many rumours of Laine being shopped around for... a second-line centre of Stastny's caliber - and it's a safe assumption that's where he'd be headed next season as well, although his experience in Vegas last year switching lines every other game will come in handy should he get shuffled around the lineup again this season. It is good to note that he drove play anywhere between 56% (with Alex Tuch and Cody Glass), 60% (with Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith) and 62% (on his regular line with Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty), so there is little risk in having him play anywhere despite his 2019-20 offensive output looking disappointing at first glance.
So it's clear I see this as as win for the Jets.
But I do not like the deal for the Golden Knights, the team I had been rooting for since the expansion draft. I agree with Brian Burke when he says moves like this, coupled with the abrupt firing of Coach Of The Year Gerard Gallant to replace him with a person he dislikes, to the way they treated Marc-André Fleury - the face of the franchise since it started - when acquiring Robin Lehner (pretending he would be the backup then just handing him the net instead of letting Fleury lose it himself), to the additional trades that will be required to make room under the cap for a possible Alex Pietrangelo signing when they already have a Norris-level player in his exact place in Shea Theodore, it really does feel like the human factor seems negligible there and they're very excited with their "shiny new toys" until they see another one and just jump on it and totally discard the old one that is doing just fine in its exact spot. Unless they win a Cup in the next year or two, the lack of loyalty, stability and security will become a huge factor in failing to attract free agents to Sin City. That, or if anyone of Pacioretty, Stone, Marchessault or Smith get the same treatment as Stastny, Theodore and Fleury.
There's a world of difference between how the Knights are handling their business and how the 2010 Blackhawks had to let go seven players on expensive contracts kicking in or even how the Tampa Bay Lightning will likely have to remove one current middle-six forward before next season so they can re-sign two of their RFAs; Vegas is acting like a teenager playing NHL21 on their XBox, with complete disregard to what actually consititutes a team.
In simpler times, Stastny played for the Colorado Avalanche, the franchise for whom his Hall Of Fame father Peter Stastny and uncles Marian and Anton starred before it moved to Denver - back then known as the Québec Nordiques - and he looked pretty good in the dark blue of their alternate uniform:
That's card #32 from Panini's 2011-12 Titanium set and Game-Worn Gear sub-set, featuring a matching game-worn swatch.
(As per years past, this is a twin-post with my "regular" blog, where I predicted the Winnipeg Jets would finish fifth in the Central Division in 2019-20).
It's looking more an more like Dustin Byfuglien is at the very least pulling a Mike Fisher and taking a break until the trade deadline, if not full-on retiring. After the losses of Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers and Ben Chiarot, losing Byfuglien would possibly be the final blow into the Winnipeg Jets' unlikely implosion.
They still have a very dependable goalie who is just entering his prime and one of the best offenses in the league, but losing two-thirds of a blue line is an impossible hurdle to overcome without a magic trick or a major trade up one's sleeve.
And Byfuglien is no ordinary defenseman; he's one of a handful of game-changers/game-breakers at his position in the entire league (with Brent Burns, Victor Hedman, P.K. Subban and Erik Karlsson) who can take control of a game by himself with crushing hits, end-to-end rushes, an opportune goal - many times all at once.
There's a reason why the Chicago Blackhawks used to have him play forward on powerplays and when they needed to come from behind: he has the ability to be unstoppable.
He's also a very valuable leader on that Jets team, one with the Stanley Cup-winning experience the team needs to go further in the postseason.
He technically has a contract that is still valid until the end of next season, so if he rediscovers a flame for the game, it's likely Winnipeg will take him back right away, despite having been forced to suspend him for administrative reasons (so his salary doesn't count against the salary cap).
Here he is wearing the Jets' white (away) uniform, on card #GG-DBY from Panini's 2013-14 Titanium set and Game-Worn Gear sub-set:
It features a beautiful dark blue jersey swatch that could be from the home or away uniform.
(As per years past, this is a twin-post with my "regular" blog, where I predicted the Los Angeles Kings would finish last in the NHL in 2019-20).
Rob Blake is many things: a Hall of Famer, a Stanley Cup winner (Colorado Avalanche, 2001), the 11th member of the Triple Gold Club, a former captain of two NHL teams (Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks), a Norris Trophy-winning defenseman (1998), and a current General Manager, a position he has occupied since April 10, 2017 and has yet to make any significant impact in.
With his Kings finishing in last place in the West last season, he opted to make the following roster moves at the trade deadline and over the summer:
Traded Carl Hagelin, who had played only 22 games with the team after being acquired for Tanner Pearson, to the Washington Capitals for two mid-round draft picks
Traded Nate Thompson, who had played only 79 games with the team, to the Montreal Canadiens for a fourth-round draft pick
Traded Oscar Fantenberg, who had played only 74 games with the team, to the CalgaryFlames for a conditional pick in 2020.
Bought out the final two years of Dion Phaneuf’s contract
Signed Joakim Ryan to a one-year deal in free agency
What the actual fuck.
He's spending $11M annually until 2025 on Drew Doughty, a defenseman who has been alternating good and bad seasons since 2009-10 - and last year's 8 goals, 44 points and -34 rating in 82 games is the worst among everyone making over $7M a year - and the same can be said for $10M captain (until 2024) Anze Kopitar, who's been on and off since 2013-14.
That's saying nothing of former captain Dustin Brown's annual salary of $5.75M until 2022, who seems to have maxed out at some 20 goals per season after five straight seasons below that threshold.
And, instead of trying to help Russian superstar Ilya Kovalchuk regain his mojo, Blake stayed with head coach Willie Desjardins until the end of the season, despite Slick Willie being unable to get his team to win or even want to play.
So many bad decisions followed by so much inaction - yet so much dead wood to get rid of.
Unless he's tanking for the benefit of his successor, Blake actually seems to be on a mission to waste his boss' money with absolutely nothing to show for it on the ice, performing a reverse-Wayne Gretzky and trying to kill off hockey in California.
It seems like the only logical explanation.
Here he is wearing the King's white (then-home) uniform from the 1998-2008 era, sporting the captain's "C", on card #GG-RBL from Panini's 2013-14 Titanium set and Game-Worn Gear sub-set:
It features a black game-worn jersey swatch from the team's black (away/third) uniform of the same era.
It's now official: the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers have swapped problematic contracts, with James Neal going to the Oilers and Milan Lucic headed to Calgary. Both power forwards on the decline have close to $6M left per year until the end of the 2022-23 season, although Lucic's contract is considered buyout-proof, what with being essentially a minimum-salary deal with signing bonuses while Neal's is a straight $5.75M per year in salary.
This is Neal's fourth team in four seasons, and while the optics on that aren't great, especially considering his reputation as a bad teammate (he may have told goalie Mike Smith to "stop the fucking puck once in a while" last season), one has to keep in mind the actual facts in his case: two of those teams - the perennial division-winning Nashville Predators and first-year expansion team Vegas Golden Knights - both reached the Stanley Cup Final with him in tow. The Flames, for their part, won their division with him last year with a six-point cushion over the San Jose Sharks.
Also, last year was the first time in his 11-year NHL career that he failed to reach the 20-goal mark - and that includes the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season.
Here's what you get when you acquire Neal: a 6'3", 215-pound guy who can skate, has a very good shot (not "great", not "elite", but just below that, still in the 85-89th percentile) and a terrible temper. Enough that most players won't try to get on his nerves to draw a penalty, because he's mean enough to go so hard that he'll earn a suspension. Some call him the dirtiest player in the NHL, although I wouldn't go so far because the league still employs the likes of Brad Marchand, Corey Perry, Radko Gudas, Ryan Kesler (technically), Lucic and Nazem Kadri, but he's definitely Philadelphia Flyers/BostonBruins/Anaheim Ducks material...
In the off-season, Neal usually trains with... Connor McDavid. The thing with Edmonton is they technically have three top-line centers in McDavid (the best player in the world), Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. All three possess all-world skill and speed, although Nuge is less bulky and, thus, more fragile. Still, any one of those guys can put up point-per-game statistics with a 25-goal scorer by their side, a number Neal's reached five times in his career (with a high of 40 in 2011-12), including in 2017-18 on the Golden Knight's second line.
Here he is from his 40-goal days, sporting the Pittsburgh Penguins' white (away) uniform on card #GG-JN from Panini's 2012-13 Titanium set and Game-Worn Gear sub-set:
It features a black game-worn jersey swatch that I assume must be from his days in Pittsburgh but could also have come from his time with the Dallas Stars.
He also has international experience, having won a gold medal at the 2007 World Juniors and silver at the 2009 World Championships with Team Canada.
The Bruins won the Stanley Cup in 2011 and lost in the Final in 2013, so they've already cemented their place as a top team in the decade, and the Blues made the Final in their first three seasons in the league yet had to see fellow 1967 expansion brothers the Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins savor multiple wins - and the Minnesota North Stars reach a couple of Finals themselves before winning the Cup in 1999 as the relocated Dallas Stars. And nothing guarantees St. Louis would win against Boston, the third-best team in the league in the regular season.
The Blues seems to have finally found a goalie who can thrive in their system after many years of regular-season success but year after year of post-season failures in the person of Jordan Binnington. Now, goalies are hard to predict, and it remains to be seen if he can keep it up in the long run, but so far he's posted the third-best playoff performance this year (after still-standing Tuukka Rask and the now-eliminated Ben Bishop), and it doesn't seem like he'll wear down as long as he keeps playing.
These days, I have a thought for Brian Elliott, who manned the net admirably and honestly for six seasons in the Gateway City, posting some of the best goals-against averages of the millennium in the process:
Granted, he was Jaroslav Halak's backup and was sheltered by playing fewer games and against lesser opponents, but those are fine NHL numbers regardless of how you look at them.
However, his play hasn't been as effective for the past three seasons and he was surpassed by this year's other star rookie goalie with the Flyers, Carter Hart. Then again, at $2.75M per season, Elliott was pretty much playing on a backup's salary anyway.
His contract is due this summer, and I think he still has another two-year deal in him, likely with a team that needs to play their top goalie less and doesn't have a young gun ready to challenge for the position. I can think of three such teams in the Atlantic: the Montréal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings, as well as the Edmonton Oilers out West.
Here he is wearing the Blues' white (away) uniform, on card #GG-ET from Panini's 2012-13 Titanium set and Game-Worn Gear subset:
The jersey swatch, however, is burgundy - from his 12 games with the Colorado Avalanche at the tail end of the 2010-11 season.
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Vincent Lecavalier's name is all over the Tampa Bay Lightning's record book: most career goals (383), second in career assists (491) and points (874), the team's longest-serving captain (6 seasons) and up until tonight, its single-season points leader (108).
Nikita Kucherov's season for the ages, however, has now put the latter in the past, as he's now at 110 points with 13 more games to go in the regular season. This marks Kucherov's second-consecutive 100-point season, and he's been so impressive that he's rendered offensive stars like Steven Stamkos, Tyler Johnson and Brayden Point mere afterthoughts.
Then again, Tampa's so strong this season that both of its goalies - Andrei Vasilevskiy and Louis Domingue - have each had 10-game winning streaks this year. Of course, they're playing behind what is by far the best defense in the league in Norris winner Victor Hedman, All-Star Ryan McDonagh, potential future Norris winner Mikhail Sergachev, Anton Stralman, Braydon Coburn, and Dan Girardi. Any of the first four could be a first-unit player on any other team.
The Bolts are even more balanced than in Lecavalier's heyday, when he was surrounded by the likes of Hall of Famers Martin St-Louis and Dave Andreychuk, Brad Richards, Fredrik Modin, Cory Stillman, and Ruslan Fedotenko up front, Dan Boyle, Pavel Kubina, Cory Sarich and Jassen Cullimore out back, and "The Bulin Wall" Nikolai Khabibulin in nets. Some of those guys were extremely talented, and they did win the 2004 Stanley Cup, but they don't stack up against the All-World talent on this year's team, which was the fourth-fastest of all time to reach 100 points (although, of course, this warrants the asterisk for happening in the shootout era where there are no longer tied games).
Here is Lecavalier, sporting the captain's "C" on the Bolts' alternate jersey from last decade, on card #1 from Panini's 2011-12 Titanium set and Game-Worn Gear sub-set:
It features a black swatch that is more likely to be from the Lightning's black (away) uniform. I'd like to note that I like this jersey a lot better than the team's current alternate, the "Black Ice" uniform:
Urgh. Tampa Bay's batting average for jerseys is among the worst in the league with the Buffalo Sabres.
The Team Canada shut-down defenseman - one of the best in the entire NHL - is one of the reasons why the Sharks went to the Stanley Cup Final last year and are leading the Pacific Division so far this year.
After performing very well offensively with Patrick Roy as his head coach with the LHJMQ's Québec Remparts, "Pickles", a 2005 second-round draft pick (35th overall), has two 30-point seasons to his name: 39 last season in just 67 games as he's evolved into one of the game's premier two-way defenders, and his third season with the team, in 2008-09, when he had 36 points, learning the game from Stanley Cup winners Rob Blake and Dan Boyle while Douglas Murray took care of the back end.
I know two things: First, it's better to get injured in January than in June. Second, the Sharks don't stand a chance without Vlasic, an Olympic gold medalist, a World Cup champion and a World Championship silver medalist. Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau aren't the type of leaders that guarantee a win, and Logan Couture and Brent Burns can't do it all on their own.
So here's Vlasic, sporting one of the team's ugly and too-basic black uniforms, on card #GG-MEV from Panini's 2013-14 Titaniumset and Game-Worn Gear sub-sets:
J-Bo made the news late this summer when he replaced Duncan Keith on Team Canada's World Cup roster, ahead of the likes of Mark Giordano, P.K. Subban and Kristopher Letang; however, the former third-overall draft pick (2002, Florida Panthers) and usual defensive partner of Alex Pietrangelo did fine, winning a fifth title with his national team, which now reads like a Hall Of Famer's checklist: World Championship gold (2003 and 2004), Olympic gold (2014) and World Cup (2004 and 2016). Oh, and World Championship silver (2008), and three World Juniors medals (silver in 2000 and 2001, bronze in 2002).
Sure, he could have been a more physical player and reached elite status and won a Norris trophy like Chris Pronger, but he may not have played in 737 consecutive games had he done so - and may even be permanently concussed like Pronger is instead of playing in his 1000th game.
The only thing he needs now is playoff success; he hadn't played a single postseason game until 2013, and has barely suited up for 38 in total. The main reason for that is he played on disappointing, low-level teams such as the early-00s Panthers and the post-Cup run Calgary Flames.
Speaking of which, here he is wearing the Flames' white (away) uniform, on card #96 from Panini's 2011-12 Titanium set and Game-Worn Gear sub-set:
The New York Islanders eliminated the Florida Panthers this weekend, and much was said about the clutch performances of John Tavares and Thomas Greiss, and deservedly so. But second on the team in scoring was Kyle Okposo, with 6 points in 6 games against the Cats.
The seventh-overall pick of the 2006 draft and upcoming free agent has been a consistent force for the past three seasons, with 184 points in 210 games, 67 of them goals. He's not the biggest at 6'1" and 200 pounds but he's hard to knock off the puck and wins most of his battles along the boards.
He'll be relied upon even more evidently to face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the next round.
Here is a nice close-up of him in the Isles' almost-retro/current blue (home) uniform, from Panini's 2013-14 Titanium set (and Game-Worn Gear) sub-set, card #GG-KO in the series), with the alternate captain's "A" and featuring a white game-worn jersey swatch:
Regular readers know I won't be one of those. Markov's play this past decade warrants him retiring with the team, and he will not be overpaid next year with his $5.75M cap hit in his (hopefully) final season for the sole reason that he's played at around the same salary for the past five years and played better than anyone else making that much in the NHL, so one season below value balances out four that he played well over.
He was the best player on the team for the better part of his tenure, equaled here and there for short stints by the likes of Jaroslav Halak, Michael Cammalleri, and Saku Koivu which, you'll agree, is relatively sad for a legendary franchise.
So, should his minutes be cut down to plateau around 20 minutes per game? Probably. And, hey, 20 minutes per game is still top-two minutes, which he likely still is. Retiring at that level (assuming he retires when his contract ends in 2016-17) would put him close tothe Nicklas Lidstrom category, therefore above that of a Zdeno Chara, which is also where I see his legacy falling into.
That is to say, I was probably the best person to fall on this two-colour swatch card of his from Panini's 2012-13 Titanium set (and Game-Worn Gear sub-set):
It's card #GG-AN in the series and is numbered 39/50, and shows him in the Habs' white (away) uniform, with the alternate captain's "A" that defined his career.
You might recall my deep respect for journeyman goaltender Michael Leighton from my post in 2012, but I was also moved last October when ESPN ran this story showcasing what a player of his ilk goes through with his family, particularly in cases where there are health concerns as there were with his son back then.
Drafted 165th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1999, he came back into the organization last year as the Rockford IceHogs' #1 goalie, and the 2008 Baz Bastien winner as the AHL's best goalie did have the statistics to contend for that honor once more, going 22-13-4 with a 2.26 GAA, .920 save percentage, 5 shutouts and 2 assists after an equally stunning season with the KHL's Donbass HC (20-15-6, 1.74 GAA and .933 save percentage with 6 shutouts in 42 games).
He's at it again this year, with an astonishing 20-4-4 record, 2.19 GAA, .928 save percentage, and 2 shutouts in 29 games. As I mentioned in 2012, he's too good for the AHL. We are, after all, talking about a guy who stopped 98 shots in a single, five-period game in 2008.
Here he is featured as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets, from Panini's 2013-14 Titanium set (card #GG-LEI of the Game-Worn Gear sub-set), featuring a white game-worn jersey swatch:
The irony of it is that while he did spend a quarter of a season with the Jackets, he did not see a single minute of ice time, serving as Sergei Bobrovsky's backup, a task he had also accomplished in his time with the Philadelphia Fyers. Funnier still, this wasn't the first time he was on an NHL roster yet didn't play with the team holding his rights, as the Montréal Canadiens had once claimed him on waivers during an injury to Cristobal Huet, but Jaroslav Halak and David Aebischer were the ones who saw ice time instead.
The San Jose Sharks are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games, so does that mean they're back on track? Or is this just another lull in a potentially awful season?
Who knows, really?
They're still the team run by GM Doug Wilson, who dresses three players who have been the team's captain (current one Joe Pavelski, as well as Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton) on a nightly basis, and whose #1 goalie is Martin Jones, the 26-year-old unproven commodity who came over from theLos Angeles Kingsby way of the Boston Bruins last summer.
The one thing the Sharks seem to change more often than captains and goalies (at least since Evgeni Nabokov) is their uniforms. Their initial one was okay, but their best one was this one, save for the jersey numbers on the front, which make it too busy, though the amount of black, orange and white is perfect in contrast to the teal:
It's card #GG-JO from Panini's 2012-13 Titanium set (and Game-Worn Gear sub-set), which I got as a "hit" in a pack of various repackaged in 2014 or 2015. It features none other than the much-maligned Thornton, who was recently voted onto San Jose's 25th Anniversary Team (other notable centers in Sharks history include Mike Ricci, Vincent Damphousse and Jeff Friesen, so it was a no-brainer to vote former the Art Ross winner onto it).
Regular readers know I never trust the Sharks to win, or even make the right moves; they are the Western Conference's Toronto Maple Leafs without the continuous embarrassment of finishing in the bottom-5 but with the added weight of always choking in the playoffs when viewed as contenders. Oh, and no Stanley Cups. Ever.
Calder Trophy candidate in 2009-10, after being drafted third overall the previous summer by the Colorado Avalanche, the team he rooted for as a kid and whose captain was Joe Sakic, his childhood hero - now his general manager.
He followed his rookie season with a 27-goal, 67-point effort in 2010-11 before a serious injury detailed his third season, leaving him with merely 28 points in 58 games.
His next two seasons were excellent: 43 points in 47 games in the locked-out 2012-13 season, and 70 points (on 23 goals) in 71 games in 2013-14, and three assists in two playoff games. But he had another sub-par season last year, with 21 goals but just 55 total points in 82 games, and is off to an awful start this year with a lone goal (no assists) in 6 games so far.
Which brings the question: which is the real Matt Duchene? And with Nathan MacKinnon playing wing when he could be the team's #1 center, is it time to either slot Duchene in another role or - gasp! - consider trading him?
Reasons to keep him include his wealth of gold medals: 2008 U-17 Worlds, 2008 U-18 World Championships, 2008 Ivan Hlinka Tournament, 2012 Spengler Cup, 2014 Olympics, 2015 World Championships; most of which he was part of a support group on strong editions of Team Canadarather than the centerpiece.
Three seasons where he was close to a point-per-game pace; and yet, two very underwhelming ones as well.
At 5'11'' and 200 pounds, he's a little undersized in the Western Conference, which he would need to make up for with added intensity.
You could argue that he's perhaps just a little snake-bitten, as can be attested by Cam Ward's save from last night.
I haven't completely lost faith in him yet, but my patience is wearing a little thin. On a team with MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog as youthful building blocks and solid veterans like Alex Tanguay and Jarome Iginla, offense shouldn't be an issue. (Then again, a deeper defense corps who can make good passes would go a long way in helping the forwards keep the play in the offensive zone).
That being said, he's still just 24 years old. And here he is wearing the Avs' white (away) uniform, with a matching game-worn swatch, from Panini's 2011-12 Titanium set (card #49 of the Game-Worn Gear sub-set):
You can never take away his two Stanley Cups nor his other three Cup Final appearances, nor his 1992 Memorial Cup with the Kamloops Blazers (which he now partly owns), but his relapse a year after checking into rehab and tattooing his index and thumbs to remind himself never to drink again is a sad day for his fans, and more so for his friends and family.
It may also mean the end of his tenure as the Minnesota Wild's assistant coach in charge of defensemen and penalty kill. Great mugshot, though.
I sincerely hope he beats his demons.
Here he is wearing the Stars' awful post-lockout white (now-away) uniform, the one that just says DALLAS with the jersey number in front, football-style:
It's card #GG-DSY from Panini's 2013-14 Titanium set and Game-Worn Gear sub-set, featuring a green game-worn jersey swatch.
If you don't, here the gist of it: though his last season with the Colorado Avalanche didn't go as planned (8 goals, 4 assists, 12 points in 57 games, used sparsely on a team that failed to make the playoffs), it was more the fact that he was away from his kids who stayed behind in Philadelphia that took its toll and weighed the most on his decision to retire, with 307 goals, 389 assists and 696 points in 973 regular-season games and another 53 goals, 63 assists and 116 points in 124 playoff games, holding the Philadelphia Flyers' record for most points in a single postseason (30, in their 2010 failed Stanley Cup run) and playoff-leading 8 goals in 2011-12.
He ranks in the top-10 in Flyers history for career goals and points, captained the Buffalo Sabres (and ending a rotation of the title in the process), and even with his lowly statistics with the Avs last year still got some Lady Byng consideration along the way.
I would have liked for him to get a better shot with the Montréal Canadiens when he signed here as a free agent two summers ago, more ice time with better players, not being confined to the fourth line, but Michel Therrien did give him some chances that he couldn't take advantage of before going back to using players he knew better and knew what to expect from.
And so my only card of his sporting the Habs' uniform is this 2013-14 Titanium card from Panini, #GG-DBR of the Game-Worn Gear sub-set:
While it contains a white game-used piece of material, he is pictured wearing the team's classic red (now-home) uniform.
Martin Biron retired after a rough start to the 2013-14 season, posting a 7.61 GAA with a .763 save percentage in a couple of games that forced head coach Alain Vigneault to turn to Cam Talbot to back up Henrik Lundqvist.
He had done fine work in the previous three seasons, finishing his parts of four years with the Original Six franchise with a 22-15-3 record, a 2.47 GAA and .908 save percentage, settling into the backup role after fighting for the #1 spot with the Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia Flyersas well as an unclear 2009-10 with the New York Islanders where he outplayed Dwayne Roloson at times but couldn't sustain the rhythm, and was eventually sent to the AHL's Bridgeport Sound Tigers to make room for Rick DiPietro who had been cleared to play although he was clearly not in game shape.
All told, Biron played in the NHL for 16 seasons, most of them in New York State, save for two and a quarter seasons right across the New Jersey turnpike, for the Flyers. He gave great post-game interviews and had funny moments on-camera when the NHL started allowing color commentators near team benches, which led to his post-career as a TV analyst, mostly for the MSG Network but also part-time with Canadian broadcasters RDS/TSN. Everybody loves him, and he's really fun to listen to, at times overly excited, yet always on point and pertinent.
Here he is wearing the Rangers' classic white (now-away) uniform with a great shot of his mask and piercing blue eyes, from Panini's 2013-14 Titaniumset (card #GG-MBI of the Game-Worn Gear sub-set), featuring a game-worn blue swatch:
For some reason, I'll always identify him as a Sabre, despite their sandwiching him between Dominik Hasek and Ryan Miller, but my ''Biron Highlight'' will forever remain his performance in the second round of the 2007-08 playoffs as a Flyer, where he nearly single-highhandedly (with the help of timely R.J. Umberger goals) eliminated the Montréal Canadiens and their prized goalie Carey Price in the midst of the team's centennial celebrations, bringing Price to tears by Game 5. It was poetic injustice to see a local kid eliminate his hometown team so intensely and squarely in what was supposed to be its rebirth and re-positioning into the league's elite.
I won't go overboard and say it was one of the finest displays of goaltending I've ever seen because I've seen Patrick Roy will his way onto four Stanley Cups and three Conn Smythe trophies, and Jean-Sébastien Giguère, Ron Hextall, and Miikka Kiprusoff get their weaker team to the Final by forgetting they could let goals get by them, but as far as amazing performances while coming up short of the Final, Biron's 2008 is only overshadowed by Jaroslav Halak's 2010.
Shawn Horcoff didn't remain out of work for too long after the Dallas Stars chose not to re-sign him. In the third day of free agency, he was already a member of the Anaheim Ducks, who needed to add some playoff experience to a relatively young core, and the former Edmonton Oilers captain was a key member of a team who got to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final with their back-up goalie in 2006.
He has a career winning record in the playoffs, and provides the Ducks with a third-line center who can produce offensively and fill in on the wing on a second line once in a while as well. He had 11 goals and 29 points in Dallas last year, playing behind Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza, with little powerplay time and not playing with elite talent, though he did have former Oilers linemate Ales Hemsky at his side for a few games. In 2013-14, he had 6 points in 6 postseason games with the Stars.
In addition to captaining the Oilers, he did so with the NCAA's Michigan State Spartans as well, and was an alternate in Dallas. He has also has played for Team Canada at the World Championships three times, winning gold twice (2003 and 2004) and silver (2009).
Here he is in the Stars' current beautiful green (home) uniform, from Panini's 2013-14 Titanium set (#GG-SH of the Game-Worn Gear sub-set), featuring a dark blue Oilers patch:
Whether you see it as one franchise or separate theAtlanta Flamesfrom the Calgary Flames, the greatest goalie to have ever worn a flaming letter on the front of his jersey is undoubtedly Miikka Kiprusoff. He had the best glove hand of his era (post-Patrick Roy), the best reflexes and agility after Dominik Hasek in his prime, and may have made the most ''paddle saves'' in the history of the NHL, as can be attested by this highlight reel:
That last sequence in the video is part of a three-minute ovation Flames fans gave him during his final game in Calgary, a 3-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks in which he stopped 32 of 33 shots, as usual. Kipper managed to win a well-deserved Vezina but also a Jennings trophy on what was arguably one of the worst teams in the league during his 10-year, 9-season tenure as a starting goalie.
He was my favourite goalie post-Roy, a position now held by Jaroslav Halak. Both also care about their fans enough to send them autographed cards, which has been my case.
Here he is in the Flames' red (home) uniform, in two cards from Panini's 2013-14 Titanium set (card #GG-MK of the Game-Worn Gear sub-set), with different-coloured swatches:
I could have easily ended this post here, but that would have been too easy. For too long, Kiprusoff's gone underrated, and I felt I needed to set the record straight about just how good he was, so I decided to analyse every goalie since the year I was born 1981-82 (when the Vezina stopped being awarded to the lowest GAA), and compare three things: who actually won the Vezina (and the runners-up), who I felt deserved to be named the best goalie, and the three best in the playoffs. If all goes well, I'll be able to separate the goalies as ''best of their eras'' afterwards:
1981-82: Vezina: Billy Smith; ahead of Grant Fuhr and Michel Dion.
Best: Smith; ahead of Fuhr and Dan Bouchard.
Playoffs: Smith; ahead of Richard Brodeur and Tony Esposito.
1982-83: Vezina: Pete Peeters; ahead of Roland Melanson and Murray Bannerman.
Best: Peeters; ahead of Andy Moog and Billy Smith.
Playoffs: Smith (Conn Smythe); ahead of Moog and Peeters.
1983-84: Vezina: Tom Barrasso; ahead of Réjean Lemelin and Pat Riggin.
Best: Barrasso; ahead of Lemelin and Bouchard.
Playoffs: Fuhr; ahead of Steve Penney and Smith.
1984-85: Vezina: Pelle Lindbergh; ahead of Barrasso and Lemelin.
Best: Lindbergh; ahead of Barrasso and Riggin.
Playoffs: Fuhr; ahead of Lindbergh and Smith.
1985-86: Vezina: John Vanbiesbrouck; ahead of Bob Froese and Fuhr.
Best: Clint Malachuk; ahead of Froese and Vanbiesbrouck.
Playoffs: Patrick Roy (Conn Smythe); ahead of Mike Vernon and Greg Millen.
1986-87: Vezina: Ron Hextall; ahead of Mike Liut and Fuhr.
Best: Hextall; ahead of Liut and Eldon ''Pokey'' Reddick.
Playoffs: Hextall (Conn Smythe); ahead of Brian Hayward and Fuhr.
1987-88: Vezina: Fuhr; ahead of Barrasso and Kelly Hrudey.
Best: Fuhr; ahead of Vernon and Roy.
Playoffs: Fuhr; ahead of Lemelin and Sean Burke.
1988-89: Vezina: Roy; ahead of Vernon and Kirk McLean.
Best: Roy; ahead of Vernon and Peeters.
Playoffs: Vernon; ahead of Roy and Hextall.
1989-90: Vezina: Roy; ahead of Daren Puppa and Moog.
Best: Roy; ahead of Liut and Lemelin.
Playoffs: Moog; ahead of Bill Ranford (Conn Smythe) and Don Beaupre.
1990-91: Vezina: Ed Belfour; ahead of Roy and Mike Richter.
Best: Roy; ahead of Belfour and Beaupre.
Playoffs: Barrasso; ahead of Jon Casey and Moog.
1991-92: Vezina: Roy; ahead of McLean and Bob Essensa.
Best: Roy; ahead of Vanbiesbrouck and McLean.
Playoffs: Barrasso; ahead of Belfour and Ranford.
1992-93: Vezina: Belfour; ahead of Barrasso and Curtis Joseph.
Best: Félix Potvin; ahead of Belfour and Joseph.
Playoffs: Roy (Conn Smythe); ahead of Potvin and Joseph.
1993-94: Vezina: Dominik Hasek; ahead of Vanbiesbrouck and Roy.
Best: Roy; ahead of Hasek and Vanbiesbrouck.
Playoffs: Richter; ahead of McLean and Martin Brodeur.
1994-95: Vezina: Hasek; ahead of Belfour and Jim Carey.
Best: Hasek; ahead of Vanbiesbrouck and Carey.
Playoffs: Brodeur; ahead of Vernon and Hextall.
1995-96: Vezina: Carey; ahead of Chris Osgood and Puppa.
Best: Hextall; ahead of Guy Hebert and Carey.
Playoffs: Roy; ahead of Vanbiesbrouck and Barrasso.
1996-97: Vezina: Hasek; ahead of Brodeur and Roy.
Best: Roy; ahead of Hasek and Moog.
Playoffs: Vernon (Conn Smythe); ahead of Roy and Garth Snow.
1997-98: Vezina: Hasek; ahead of Brodeur and Barrasso.
Best: Hasek; ahead of Barrasso and Belfour.
Playoffs: Olaf Kolzig; ahead of Osgood and Joseph.
1998-99: Vezina: Hasek; ahead of Joseph and Byron Dafoe.
Best: Ron Tugnutt; ahead of Hebert and Arturs Irbe.
Playoffs: Roy; ahead of Hasek and Belfour.
1999-00: Vezina: Kolzig; ahead of Roman Turek and Joseph.
Best: Roy; ahead of Jeff Hackett and Kolzig.
Playoffs: Belfour; ahead of Roy and Joseph.
2000-01: Vezina: Hasek; ahead of Roman Cechmanek and Brodeur.
Best: Cechmanek; ahead of Burke and Hasek.
Playoffs: Roy (Conn Smythe); ahead of Turek and Joseph.
2001-02: Vezina: José Theodore; ahead of Roy and Burke.
Best: Theodore; ahead of Roy and Burke.
Playoffs: Irbe; ahead of Roy and Patrick Lalime.
2002-03: Vezina: Brodeur; ahead of Marty Turco and Belfour.
Best: Turco; ahead of Roy and Cechmanek.
Playoffs: J.S. Giguère (Conn Smythe); ahead of Brodeur and Lalime.
2003-04: Vezina: Brodeur; ahead of Miikka Kiprusoff and Roberto Luongo.
Best: Kiprusoff; ahead of Luongo and Theodore.
Playoffs: Kiprusoff; ahead of Nikolai Khabibulin and Evgeni Nabokov.
2004-05: NHL lockout. Booooooooooooooo!
2005-06: Vezina: Kiprusoff; ahead of Brodeur and Henrik Lundqvist.
Best: Kiprusoff; ahead of Lundqvist and Tomas Vokoun.
Playoffs: Dwayne Roloson; ahead of Ilya Bryzgalov and Cam Ward (Conn Smythe).
2006-07: Vezina: Brodeur; ahead of Luongo and Kiprusoff.
Best: Kiprusoff; ahead of Niklas Backstrom and Lundqvist.
Playoffs: Luongo; ahead of Giguère and Turco.
2007-08: Vezina: Brodeur; ahead of Nabokov and Lundqvist.
Best: Giguère; ahead of Backstrom and Kiprusoff.
Playoffs: M.A. Fleury; ahead of Osgood and Lundqvist.
2008-09: Vezina: Tim Thomas; ahead of Steve Mason and Backstrom.
Best: Thomas; ahead of Vokoun and Luongo.
Playoffs: Fleury; ahead of Osgood and Jonas Hiller.
2009-10: Vezina: Ryan Miller; ahead of Bryzgalov and Brodeur.
Best: Miller; ahead of Nabokov and Kiprusoff.
Playoffs: Jaroslav Halak; ahead of Antti Niemi and Michael Leighton.
2010-11: Vezina: Thomas; ahead of Pekka Rinne and Luongo.
Best: Thomas; ahead of Rinne and Luongo.
Playoffs: Thomas (Conn Smythe); ahead of Jimmy Howard and Luongo.
2011-12: Vezina: Lundqvist; ahead of Jonathan Quick and Rinne.
Best: Lundqvist; ahead of Halak and Brian Elliott.
Playoffs: Quick (Conn Smythe); ahead of Lundqvist and Mike Smith.
2012-13: Vezina: Sergei Bobrovsky; ahead of Lundqvist and Niemi.
Best: Bobrovsky; ahead of Craig Anderson and Lundqvist.
Playoffs: Corey Crawford; ahead of Quick and Tuukka Rask.
2013-14: Vezina: Rask; ahead of Semyon Varlamov and Ben Bishop.
Best: Rask; ahead of Bishop and Lundqvist.
Playoffs: Quick; ahead of Lundqvist and Rask.
2014-15: Vezina: Carey Price; ahead of Rinne and Devan Dubnyk.
Best: Dubnyk; ahead of Price and Fleury.
Playoffs: Crawford; ahead of Bishop and Lundqvist.
Honestly, before starting with this exercise, I thought the one-hit wonders would be more numerous and would help determine which one goalie stood out in an era, with two to five sub-contenders per, but a far cry behind. For example, when Patrick Roy had his coming out party in the 1986 playoffs, I was under the impression that he relegated Grant Fuhr and Mike Vernon to second-tier status - which he did - but the podium didn't just have two spots, as John Vanbiesbrouck, Tom Barrasso, Réjean Lemelin and Andy Moog also put in a good number of strong seasons, well into the 1990s for all except Lemelin.
And let's be honest: while I did my best to ignore Ed Belfour's milestones and achievements while he was playing, he was a definite top-10 goalie most times, and could have runs where he was top-5. Same thing for Dominik Hasek; there were years when the Buffalo Sabres' system protected him so well his job was almost too easy, but there are others where he was leading the elite by too wide a margin to ignore.
And while many claim the same about Martin Brodeur, this was a worthwhile exercise to show that GMs (who vote for the Vezina) can and do make mistakes, as can be attested by his run of 1998-02 where his save percentage was .906 three of four years and still he finished in the top-5 for voting, on a team so well defended that he saw less than 25 shots per game, none of them from the slot. That was followed by 4 Vezinas in 5 years and a runner-up in the middle, usually with a save percentage 15 points below that of the league leader.
Which leads, using 5 points for a first place, 3 for second and one for third, plus 5 for extra NHL Awards not counted here, to the following aggregated results of 29 goalies with over 10 points:
Patrick Roy: 117 points
Dominik Hasek: 60 points
Martin Brodeur: 40 points
Tom Barrasso: 37 points
Grant Fuhr: 34 points
Ed Belfour: 32 points
Miikka Kiprusoff: 31 points
Mike Vernon: 30 points
Tim Thomas: 30 points
Henrik Lundqvist: 29 points
Billy Smith: 28 points
Ron Hextall: 27 points
Jonathan Quick: 21 points
John Vanbiesbrouck: 19 points
Jean-Sébastien Giguère: 18 points
Carey Price: 18 points
José Theodore: 16 points
Andy Moog: 16 points
Roberto Luongo: 16 points
Corey Crawford: 15 points
Pelle Lindbergh: 13 points
Pete Peeters: 12 points
Chris Osgood: 12 points
Tuukka Rask: 12 points
Olaf Kolzig: 11 points
Réjean Lemelin: 11 points
Curtis Joseph: 11 points
Marc-André Fleury: 11 points
Devan Dubnyk: 11 points
I guess it's safe and fair to say anyone with over 30 has had ''their era'' (damn you, Brodeur!), and that Lundqvist and Quick will likely get there as well. Crawford, Rask and Price could, although Price will need to repeat his 2014-15 many times for that to happen.
What I get from this is that Billy Smith and Fuhr owned the early-to-mid 1980s, that Barrasso almost had the mid-80s were it not for Roy, whose success was constant from 1988 until 2003, though he had to share the glory with Hasek, mostly, from the mid-1990s on, with Brodeur often the third wheel, but far behind.
Tim Thomas had an almost unprecedented level of success in a three-year run, but the early-to-mid-00s saw a Kipper dominance, and Lundqvist has held the mantle almost alone since, save for Quick in the playoffs and Rinne as this generation's third wheel.
Indeed, the Avs have sent O'Reilly and Jamie McGinn to Buffalo for a second-round pick, Nikita Zadorov, Mikhail Grigorenko, and J.T. Compher, whom I know nothing about. Zadorov is a highly-rated defensive prospect and Grigorenko was a star in Juniors under Patrick Roy with the Québec Remparts; having them united could help him on his path to becoming an NHL star instead of another talent wasted from a failed Buffalo regime.
But the key player remains O'Reilly, the Lady Byng Trophy winner in 2013-14 who will probably win a Selke in his career. He's a terrific hockey player, but whenever he either led the Avs in points or was their highest-paid player, they failed to make the playoffs.
Unlike Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews with the Chicago Blackhawks who will be earning their market value starting next season, forcing the Hawks to trade a couple of players to adjust to the cap while remaining contenders, O'Reilly's greed was always in the optic of himself, to be the highest-paid, the top earner right away, not just hindering the team's cap management issues but the hierarchy in the dressing room - letting future players know he's the king in there, but also his current teammates as well, even those putting up more points than him.
I understand wanting your efforts to not go unrecognized, and wanting to play an active role in your team's success; at some point, though, your ego might become detrimental to the group. That works for the cap situation, but also if/when the Sabres make the playoffs and he's forced to play with an injury to contribute, and he'll have to decided if he's worth more to the team at 50% of his capacities than someone else - a teammate - at 100% of theirs. He wanted to be the Avs' captain so bad, but true leadership is about putting the team's benefit first, and letting everyone enjoy their time in the limelight.
Don't get me wrong: he's a terrific hockey player. But I wouldn't want him on my team at this point of his maturing process.
Here he is rocking the Avs' alternate uniform, featuring a black, game-worn material swatch, from Panini's 2013-14 Titanium set, card #GG-ROR of the Game-Worn Gear sub-set:
The Calgary Flames have secured the services of their best two-way center Mikael Backlund today with a three-year deal that includes his first two seasons of UFA eligibility, showing good faith on both sides that he truly wanted to be an integral part of the team's rebuild and, correspondingly, that they wanted him to be.
The 26-year-old collects point at a one-every-other-game pace, and that could remain stable if he keeps getting third-line minutes, but he could probably reach the 55-point mark with second-unit powerplay time and/or should an injury to either Sean Monahan or Sam Bennett occur.
He's got soft hands, terrific passing ability, and a better-than-average shot. At 6'1'' and 200 pounds, he's pretty strong and will only get harder to knock off the puck. His skill-set led many Flames fans to end up disappointed in his production, but his play at both ends of the ice make him indispensable to the team, and his offensive output ranks above the median rank for centers whose job it is to cover the opponents' top lines.
He's also shown a flair for the dramatic with an overtime goal at home against the Anaheim Ducks last month, in the second round of the playoffs, for the Flames' lone win of the series.
With the wealth of talent now on Calgary, I'm no longer positive he'll eventually play in an All-Star Game (Mark Giordano and Johnny Gaudreau will likely get the bulk of the nods in the next 5 years), but with his two silver medals at the World Juniors (2008 and 2009) and silver (2011) and bronze at the World Championships (2010 and 2014), he'll be a fixture on Team Sweden for a while, and will have excellent chances at an Olympic medal.
Writer, mostly, in mediums diverse and similar: musician, film-maker, poet - not the bad type, nor the pretentious type. It's more that I suck at everything except producing words and shouting ideas at people. Oh, and I'm the guy who brings you UnPop Montreal yearly, helping the little guy get a voice in this variety-deprived city.
