All-purpose hockey thread...

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

that sounds a little better. i mean lalime was bad this year, but the other
quote made it like he was reasons No. 1-5 for the blues problems.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

The thing is Lalime is playing at the level he played at when he was in Ottawa. It's easy to hide on a team like the Senators, and it shows just how bad you are when you go to a defensively defeceint team like the Blues.

On a side note, whatever happened to Blues minor league goalie Cody Rudkowsky? For a few years he was about number four on the depth chart behind Reinhard(sp?) Divis and Curtis Sanford. He was still a fairly young guy I think (24 or 25).

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Lalime belongs to the Garth Snow School of Goaltending.

Ottawa punched Lalime's ticket out of town five minutes after Game Seven against the Leafs.

As Nieuwendkyk came down the left wing to shoot from about five feet from the boards I said, "You'll never score a goal from there".

Bingo!

And then it happened again.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

DETROIT (AP) - Jiri Fischer couldn't control his emotions. Grateful he's still alive, the Detroit Red Wings defenseman is hopeful he'll play hockey again.

Whether he'll return to the ice won't be known for weeks.
"I'm really, really glad to be here," said Fischer, making his first public comments since collapsing on the bench with cardiac arrest during a game last month. "Not too many people get a second chance like I did."

Fischer cried, sniffled and took deep breaths as he spoke about the night he collapsed and a possible return.

"I don't foresee myself coming back in the next couple of weeks," he said. "But this is what I know, what I've worked for my whole life. I don't want it to be taken away."

During the Nov. 21 game against Nashville, team physician Tony Colucci said, Fischer collapsed with a racing, irregular heart beat, and after an auto defibrillator was used on the 25-year-old Czech, his heart stopped for an unknown length of time, as Colucci expected.

"It's basically like rebooting your computer," Colucci said of a heart's reaction to an auto defibrillator. "It stops it and resets it."

After performing CPR, Colucci said he detected a good pulse, and Fischer was taken from the arena by ambulance to Detroit Receiving Hospital.

"I don't remember going down on the bench," Fischer said. "I don't remember anybody trying to save my life. I don't remember the ambulance much, but ever since I got to (the hospital), everything is just like it happened yesterday."

Colucci said Fischer had cardiac arrest, which he said took the lives of basketball players Reggie Lewis and Hank Gathers.

Fischer is being treated with medicine, is undergoing regular tests and hasn't been cleared to play. Colucci said it would be premature to project a timetable for Fischer's return.

"The first question is, does he want to take that chance?" Colucci said.

A week after collapsing, Fischer again experienced an abnormal heartbeat and returned to the hospital for treatment. He was released a few days later.

"I've been in and out of the hospital the last three weeks," Fischer said. "I'm being monitored constantly and I've been doing some testing.

"A couple times I had to go back in the hospital because when I was at home, my heart rate raised out of the blue. I wanted to make sure everything was OK and stable, and it is."

When Fischer was pressed on his possible return or retirement, he said simply: "I'm 25."

Fischer was diagnosed with a heart abnormality in 2002, causing him to miss two days of practice. When the 2002 result came back, Fischer was given a stress test that he passed, and he said his heart essentially is a little thicker than normal.

Fischer said he's constantly thankful just to be alive.

"I get up every day, and I live," he said. "Everybody says you should live to the fullest, but what is it? No one knows until you come so close that you're not worried about anything else but being alive."

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL



Roenick doesn't belong on Team USA roster

I've got some news for Jeremy Roenick: The Winter Olympics are not about sentimentality.

In case you missed it, J.R. was musing recently how he thinks he deserved to be in Turin, Italy, in February with a U.S. jersey over his shoulders competing in the Olympic hockey tournament.

"It would be a travesty if I'm not (in Italy) ... I know they want a youth movement, and they need to have one, but it'd be disrespectful of the guys who have gotten Team USA to this point internationally," Roenick told the Los Angeles Times.

What "point" is he talking about anyway?

It's been almost a decade since the United States showed their northerly neighbors that they know a thing or two about hockey. Think back to the 1996 World Cup of Hockey when the United States beat Canada in the gold medal final in Montreal.

Fast forward the tape to the gold medal final at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City and Roenick was on the losing end to a 5-2 thumping by Canada.

Two years later, the Americans did basically squat in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and the Canadians proved again they were a dominant power.

See the trend here?

If nothing else, the '04 World Cup signaled a changing of the guard for the Americans when head coach Ron Wilson would not dress Brett Hull because he was too slow for the faster international game.

But according to Roenick's logic, the old guard deserves another kick at the can. Call it a farewell tour on a global scale.

Guess again, J.R.

At least Steve Yzerman of the Red Wings was able to recognize the game is past him and that's why he withdrew his name from Wayne Gretzky's hat. Gretzky is the executive director of Team Canada and he has the final say about who will wear the maple leaf on their chest in Italy. Yzerman's move opens up a roster spot for younger talent.


Jeremy Roenick is looking his age this season. (Noah Graham / Getty Images)


The Olympic competition is all about going for gold. It's about putting your best team together, throwing caution to the wind and going all out for the ultimate prize. It's not about being warm and cuddly, giving guys who are in the autumn of their careers one more chance to rub shoulders with the best players in the world.

There's no place for sentimentality when you're going for gold.

Roenick is much closer to 36 than he is 35 and he's showing his age, scoring just 11 points in 28 games this season. At this stage of his career, he's a perfect fit for the Los Angeles Kings, a team fighting for exposure in a large market. J.R. has so far lived up to advance billing which preceded his arrival in L.A. from Philadelphia. He's granted just about every interview request made of him and made appearances at the Playboy Mansion and on a sitcom.

"I always feel that my job is selling the sport," Roenick said during a stopover in Toronto. "That's always my job to try to create a buzz to get people talking about the game — whether it's positive or whether it's just acting like a complete idiot. Whatever you can do to bring attention to your game, I think that's a positive thing."

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Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

(CONT)

The job of picking the American roster belongs to Don Waddell, the Atlanta Thrashers GM who is also the Team USA GM. Waddell is his own man and is not afraid to make hard decisions.

His coach is Peter Laviolette, who is the head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes. Laviolette had success behind the Team USA bench two years ago, guiding a young team to a bronze medal finish at the 2004 World Hockey Championship.

Waddell has talked about a changing of the guard in American hockey and it will be interesting to see who he picks to represent the U.S. in Italy.

The Americans have loads of talent between the ages of 19 and 24. They also have an older group who are 30-plus. It's the 24-30 age group where the depth charts thins somewhat and that's a problem Waddell has to overcome.

There are players in the 24-30 category, but suffice it to say that if some of the younger American talent — those between the ages of 19 and 24 — had more international games behind them, the decisions would be easy for Waddell to make and he would not be reading about Roenick's public campaign.

When it comes to veteran leadership, Waddell could give the nod to Doug Weight and Keith Tkachuk of the St. Louis Blues along with Mike Modano and Bill Guerin of the Dallas Stars just to mention a handful of players in the pipeline for an Olympic berth.

Waddell may not like it, but he could look at how Hockey Canada stays fresh by keeping a nucleus of veteran players and adding some new ones for each tournament. Check the results.

It's no secret in the hockey world that the United States is on the verge of making a huge splash on the world stage. The Americans juniors who won the 2004 World Junior Championship represent the future and there's another promising talent pool on the way. The United States is favored to win the gold medal at the 2006 World Junior Championship that starts later this month in Vancouver and Americans could go 1-2 in the NHL draft next June.

That said, Waddell would be smart to fill a roster spot on his Olympic team with an American NHLer under 30 years of age who plays a secondary role on his club rather than give it to Roenick.

J.R. had his kick at the can and it's time for him to move on. It's unfortunate he didn't follow Yzerman's example and bow out gracefully.

If Roenick wants to go to Italy, he should book his flight and hotel now and use his NHL connections to buy tickets and sit in the stands. That's as close to the action as he should get.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

I read on the wire yesterday that if Roenick doesn't get to play for the U.S., he's going to try to get a colour commentator job so he can cheer for Canada instead. I'm not kidding.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

From Pete Thomas' L.A. TIMES  notebook:

Well, I'm glad JR doesn't want to cheer for Canada. It was keeping me up at night. :

Meanwhile, two American-born Kings who actually deserve to go to Turin made the team...

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Projected U.S. Olympians

CBS SportsLine.com staff

Team USA will name its 23-man roster for the 2006 Olympics on Dec. 19. Here's a look at the players who should or could be part of the lineup.

Potential Olympians
Sure things Position Team
Mike Modano C Dallas
Doug Weight C St. Louis
Craig Conroy C Los Angeles
Scott Gomez C New Jersey
Erik Cole LW Carolina
Jason Blake LW NY Islanders
Brian Rolston LW Minnesota
Brian Gionta RW New Jersey
Mathieu Schneider D Detroit
John-Michael Liles D Colorado
Jordan Leopold D Calgary
Rick DiPietro G NY Islanders
John Grahame G Tampa Bay

Likely Position Team
Chris Drury C Buffalo
Bill Guerin RW Dallas
Mark Parrish RW NY Islanders
Bryan Berard D Columbus
Aaron Miller D Los Angeles
Brian Rafalski D New Jersey

On the bubble Position Team
Todd Marchant C/LW Anaheim
Brian Smolinski C Ottawa
Jeff Halpern C Washington
Keith Tkachuk LW St. Louis
Chris Chelios D Detroit
Robert Esche G Philadelphia
Ryan Miller G Buffalo

Longshots Position Team
Brian Leetch D Boston
Tony Amonte RW Calgary
Jed Ortmeyer RW NY Rangers
Joe Corvo D Los Angeles
Tom Poti D NY Rangers

Contrast that list with Team Canada's candidates, and it's a no-contest. Canada has to be the odds-on favorite for the Gold, with the Sweedes and Czechs battling for silver and bronze.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

team usa will name esche as the third goalie, since miller is not yet ready to play. i believe that the us should also take keith ballard as an extra defenceman, but ive been told it wont happen.

hockeybeat, there are many serious observers who believe canada & czech republic are even odds to win gold. dont forget that canada needed overtime to beat the czechs in the world cup semifinals and lost to them in the world championship gold-medal game. that team will be excellent, with the biggest question to be: who will start in goal?

hasek deserves it on merit over vokoun, but there is a sense that the czech federation is loyal to the latter because he has been their guy the last couple of years as hasek didnt play.

by the way, thrashers-red wings was unreal tonight. thrashers set a franchise record with four goals in less than five minutes. down 6-2 after two, red wings tie it less than 10 minutes into the third -- only to lose when andreas lilja's stick breaks as hes set up for a one-timer. patrik stefan scores on the ensuing breakaway.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Islanders

WILD 4, ISLANDERS 3

Blake hospitalized in Isles loss

Energetic forward sent to hospital after accidental head shot

BY ALAN HAHN
STAFF WRITER

December 14, 2005

A game in which the Islanders were without energy at the start ended without their most energetic player. Jason Blake was taken off the Nassau Coliseum ice on a stretcher last night after a scary fall in the corner during the third period of a 4-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild.

Blake, the speedy 5-10 winger who is second on the team with 13 goals, lost his edge while cutting and fell into the corner boards at 7:44 of the third. At the same time, Minnesota defenseman Kurtis Foster collided with Blake. It appeared Foster's knee slammed Blake's helmet into the boards. Blake was motionless on his back for several minutes. He was attended to by team doctor Elliot Pellman, trainers Rich Campbell and Andy Wetstein and two EMS technicians.

Players from both teams, including Foster who appeared very concerned, looked on.

"Anytime you see a guy with that much fire and that much pride stay down on the ice," goalie Rick DiPietro said, "it's got to be serious."

Blake sat up and was helped on to the stretcher. He left the ice to chants of "Ja-son Bla-ake!" by the crowd of 10,686, and was taken by ambulance to North Shore University Hospital.

Islanders spokesman Chris Botta after the game said that Blake had feeling in his extremities and also movement, so a spinal cord injury was ruled out. Considering the blow he took to the head, most of the testing focused on a concussion.

The Islanders' next game is Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche at the Coliseum.

"The good news was he responded eventually to Dr. Pellman on the ice," coach Steve Stirling said. "As you could see, he was somewhat comfortable coming off the ice. They didn't have to use the board, which is somewhat of a good sign."

Blake's situation overshadowed several concerns about the team's play last night:

1. Another poor start at home.

The Islanders came out flat and the Wild held a 2-0 lead by the 7:01 mark of the first period, after just three shots on goal. DiPietro wasn't sharp, but he was victimized twice by defenseman Brent Sopel being caught in the neutral zone while an odd-man rush went the other way.

Stirling has no answers for the bad starts at home, where the Islanders have lost four of their past five games. "If I knew," he said, "you probably wouldn't have to ask me that question."

2. An untimely meltdown in discipline.

Just after the Islanders fought back in the second period to score three consecutive goals -- Chris Campoli, Miroslav Satan on the power play and Mark Parrish -- in a 7:29 span to take a 3-2 lead, a bench minor for too many men on the ice was called against them. Stirling called out Satan for jumping over the boards without listening to the lineup the coach had just called.

"That," Stirling said, "was the beginning of the demise." Marian Gaborik scored on the ensuing power play to tie the score at 3 at 13:27. Then, at the end of the period, Arron Asham's frustrations got the better of him when he drew consecutive unsportsmanlike penalties, the first with 10.1 seconds left, for barking at the officials. Marc Chouinard scored on the first power play with 2.8 seconds left to make it 4-3.

On Asham's second unsportsmanlike, which came after the goal, he broke his stick and tossed it across the ice.

"That was terrible, it cost us the game," Asham said. "It's my fault."

3. The power play failed. The Islanders still had plenty of chances to at least tie. They drew three penalties in the final 10 minutes, including one on Gaborik (hooking) with 1:12 left. The power play unit created many scoring chances, but goalie Manny Fernandez (32 saves) denied them.

"The last seven to eight minutes we played in their zone," said Alexei Yashin, who had four shots, but only one in the third.


Jason Blake of the Islanders gets slammed into the boards by Stephane Veilleux of the Minnesota Wild.


A referee checks on Jason Blake who lies on the ice after colliding with the Wild's Kurtis Foster. Blake was taken off the ice in a stretcher as the Islanders lost, 4-3.


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Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

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Islanders trainers attend to Jason Blake who lies flat on the ice after colliding with Wild's Kurtis Foster.


Jason Blake of the Islanders is taken off the ice after being injured in the third period against the Minnesota Wild.


Jason Blake of the New York Islanders is taken off the ice after being injured in the third period against the Minnesota Wild.