2013: The NHL season that almost wasn't

Thought he was going to be axed after last year when they missed the playoffs and after their new owner spent big bucks on free agents. Maybe his tenure earned him the start of this season to turn it around, but he clearly wasn't going to be able to right the ship.

It will be interesting to see how long Trotz makes it in Nashville. If he keeps making the playoffs he could be there another 10 years. I think his deal is up at the end of the year, can't imagine him not getting another extension.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2008/04/22/trotz-predators-contract.html

 

Los Angeles showed glimpses of its 2012 forecheck in last night's win at Calgary. The Kings now have 13 of their next 16 at home.

Trevor Lewis ran over MacDonald early in the second period. I didn't think it was intentional at all but Hartley is harping about it in the Herald. I don't know if the Flames are Tin Man but the franchise seems to be skating in place, as usual. :

 

Freaky injury at the Jets morning stake today - Zach Redmond fell on the ice in a drill and got stepped on on the back of the leg. He wears the cut-resistant socks but this was above those - through the hockey sock (and maybe the pants) into the back of his leg above the knee. Lacerated the "femoral artery and vein," though there's some stuff floating around that says those terms might not be technically correct for what the vessels are called in that area. Regardless, he lost a whole lot of blood, had emergency 3-hour surgery and is obviously out indefinitely.

I actually got cut by a skate in my beer-league scrimmage on Tuesday (very, very minor thankfully, and on my back of all places). It's left me skittish about all things cut related right now. Glad to hear he's going to be okay.

 

I'm always shocked that doesn't happen more often in hockey.

 

How Come Martin Brodeur Is Still So Good?

New York Times Magazine:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/how-come-martin-brodeur-is-still-so-good.html?hp&_r=1&pagewanted=all&

 

Good article.

Brodeur has always gone against the grain.

He gave the Devils a home team discount on his contract because of his loyalty to Lou.

By all accounts he was always available for interviews before games and laughed and joked with reporters--hey, even Larry Brooks.

He's probably lasted so long because he's the last of the stand-up goalies and not a butterfly guy

Patrick Roy notwithstanding, butterfly goalies have a shorter shelf life because of the wear and tear on their legs and knees.

 

Agreed. I thought Ruff was on borrowed time given the way the last couple of years had gone. Remember, each of the last two years, they started slowly, came on strong late and barely missed the playoffs. So part of the thinking could be that with the shortened schedule, we can't afford to bury ourselves too deeply and expect to salvage something late. That maybe if the season was to be saved, a move had to be made now.

That said, Ruff is one coach I always respected and it would not surprise me at all to see him land behind a bench somewhere else sooner rather than later. It Michel Therrien, Bruce Boudreau, Paul Maurice, Darryl Sutter and Randy Carlyle get second chances, I figure Ruff will, too.

 

Looks like Rick DiPietro is going to be out of the Islanders line up again, but not because of injury. He has been placed on waivers and it is suspected he is AHL bound.

He still has eight years and $36-million remaining on his monster 15-year $67.5-million deal. Can we say amnesty buyout?

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=416576

 

I don't think the Islanders want to buy him out in the near future. They are using him to get to the cap floor, right?

 

That's a good point, but if they are going to be shelling out that money, I think they actually want some kind of production in return. The Tim Thomas deal brought them above the cap floor, but they don't have to pay him a cent. If they let DiPietro rot in the minors, they would essentially be paying him $36 million to play in Bridgeport. It makes far more sense for them to buy him out and then put that money to good use. These aren't the Rangers where paying Wade Redden $5 mil a year or whatever it was is not going to kill their bottom line.

 

Pretty sure they made the playoffs two years ago and lost to the Flyers in the first round.

 

I bet the rematch will be worth paying for.

The Blues put Vladimir Tarasenko on IR today with concussion symptoms after a hit he took in the game. When asked about whether there should have been retaliation for the hit later in the game, Hitchcock only said, "It's a long season"

Here's a screengrab of the aftermath of the hit ...

https://twitter.com/reneknottsports/status/304664754503430144/photo/1

I'd be surprised if he's back anytime soon. Gotta be tough for the Blues to swallow, after having a match penalty for a phantom blow to the head lead to a loss in Detroit, then have the league rescind the penalty the next day. Now this happens, with no penalty and no punishment after the fact from the NHL.