Flames Win Big; Penguins, Rangers Improve; Canadiens Do Nothing

Now that the NHL trade deadline has come and gone the general consensus is that the Calgary Flames made the biggest splash acquiring Ollie Jokinen. Many in the hockey world think this acquisition puts them over the top and makes Calgary the new Stanley Cup front runners. Calgary did indeed improve their status greatly but not because of Jokinen but rather because of Jordan Leopold. In recent years the Flames have struggled in the playoffs in large part because of their inability to limit the amount of shots Mikka Kiprusoff. Adding Leopold may be just what the doctor ordered to take some pressure off of Kiprusoff and Dion Phaneuf. With this acquisition and Detroit’s goaltending issues the Calgary Flames have now put themselves up there with the San Jose Sharks as the front runners to represent the Western Conference in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Looking to the bottom part of the West perhaps the most notable move was made by Columbus who acquired Antoine Vermette. For the first time Columbus is on the cusp of making the playoffs and now management has shown that they are both serious about making the playoffs and also about winning once they get there.

Turning to the Eastern Conference now it’s probably fair to say that no major splashes were made by any of the teams on deadline day. The biggest impact of any trade to this point in the season is probably how Chris Kunitz has played in Pittsburgh netting three goals and five total points in only three games. Pittsburgh added Bill Guerin in the meantime and have won four in a row all without Crosby, so adding Guerin and Crosby to the lineup probably makes Pittsburgh somewhat of a wildcard down the stretch/into the playoffs. Perhaps the “splash” of the day in the east was made by the Rangers who acquired Nick Antropov which may just be the answer to all of their offensive woes and may provide the spark the Rangers need to break out of their recent funk. Erik Cole going back to Carolina means they are sure to score a lot of goals the final month and a half of the season. The bigger question for the Canes is can Cam Ward continue to carry them defensively; they rely on Ward a ton and he will probably get burned out pretty soon.

There were also some “non-moves” that will greatly impact the Eastern Conference race. Most notable was Florida not moving Jay Bouwmeester. If the Panthers were going to make the playoffs or at least make any noise once they got there they were going to need Bouwmeester and now they’ve got him so Eastern Conference teams beware. Also of great significance is the fact that the Montreal Canadiens did not make a single move. After addressing none of their on ice issues the Canadiens promptly lost to Buffalo 5-1 in a game they were thoroughly outplayed by Buffalo in the final 40 minutes. Many (including myself) believed the Canadiens were the favorites to win the East and they still can do just that, but by not making a single move at the deadline coupled with Price’s continues woes their chances are in jeopardy. Mathieu Schneider has done a lot to improve their power play and it’s possible that Wednesday night was the exception but considering how poorly they played it’s hard to imagine. In the end, no matter how the season turns out these final 19 or 20 games will be an awful lot of fun to watch.

By the way, I know Sean Avery is back in New York… I don’t care.

Therrien/Renney Out, Bylsma/Tortorella In. But Will it Matter?

There was only one game Monday night but that didn’t mean the NHL would be lacking in drama after an action packed weekend both on and off the ice.

On the coaching end Pittsburgh’s new head man Dan Bylsma picked up his first two victories as an NHL coach in two 5-4 victories over Montreal and Philadelphia respectively. The Penguins lost to Washington on Sunday but five points out of a possible eight in Bylsma’s first four games is a good start for the new headcoach who is hoping to guide the Penguins back into a playoff spot after a disappointing start to the new year for Pittsburgh.

Staying in the Atlantic Division takes us to New York where the Rangers fired Tom Renney this weekend only to name John Tortorella as his replacement on Monday. Many close to the team believe Tortorella can provide a spark for the Rangers they could not seem to get from Renney. Tortorella has a history of calling out players publically which may inject the Rangers with just the right amount of energy to help save this sinking ship by not only keeping it afloat but guiding them to the playoffs. There is no denying that Renney is a great coach who will ultimately get another job and most likely be successful in that new position. However, Tortorella sweetens the pot by adding his Stanley Cup ring and that demands the utmost respect; something Renney simply couldn’t add to the mix.

In the future there will undoubtedly be many coaching changes across the sports landscape—especially in the NHL. In reality, mid-year coaching changes tend to do very little to change the course of a team especially when they are made toward the end of a season. The players normally don’t change—save for a few here and there—while a season is ongoing and so the chances of a different outcome no matter the coach is slim to none. And this year will probably be no different as both the Penguins and Rangers will probably continue on the paths they were on before coaching changes were made because personnel remains basically the same. If there’s one thing the sports world can learn from the Pittsburgh Steelers is that consistency in coaching and upper management yields sustained, long-term success.

Devils Roll, Canadiens Tumble

The New Jersey Devils downed the Boston Bruins Thursday night 4-3 in overtime despite blowing a 2-0 third period lead. That makes seven in a row for the Devils increasing their Atlantic Division lead to three points over the Rangers and allows them to slip past Washington for second in the East. This win streak is probably not an indication of what New Jersey will do in the playoffs but it says a lot about their team. When future hall-of-fame goalie Martin Brodeur went out for the season with an elbow injury early in November many wondered how the Devils would react to such a major loss. Scott Clemmensen has been quite impressive after a bumpy start to life without Brodeur in which the Devils lost 5 of 6 including a 4 game losing streak. Fans in New Jersey are now saying “Marty who?” well, not quite but so far so good for the Devils, but what happens in the playoffs is what matters.

On the other side of the spectrum are the Montreal Canadiens who, despite all the good will created from the all star game festivities this past week, are losers are 4 in a row and have questions about second year netminder Carey Price. Price has made three starts after returning from injury and has loss three games yielding 5 goals in each of those starts. The Canadiens and Price had some high expectations coming into this season, and many of those expectations can still be reached but it will take a much better effort from Price and from their once dominating power play. It is important to remember, however, that Price is just a second year player and not every goaltender can have the success so early in his career the way Patrick Roy did; but don’t tell Canadiens’ fans.

The Mighty… Bruins?

Don’t look now but the trap-playing great defense of the Boston Bruins is now accompanied by an offense that can score. The rest of the Eastern Conference needs to be on notice that the Bruins have both given up the least and scored the most goals in the league. Over the last few years the Bruins have felt a certain amount of pressure in the Boston area since they were the only team who had not won a major title and even more troubling was they were not even in contention. Head coach Claude Julien and company knew defense alone would not take them to the next level and were called upon to score more goals; boy have they ever answered that goal. With a win over division rival Montreal on Saturday the Bruins have moved into a tie for the conference lead with 32 points after only 21 games played—the Rangers also have 32 points but have played three more games than Boston. The Bruins have also been red-hot as of late winning 9 of their last 10 and are unbeaten in regulation. It is doubtful that Boston will be able to keep up this run and continue to post such big numbers, however the Bruins have proven that they are not going anywhere but up. The Northeast Division is now very much a fight between Boston and Montreal and no matter what happens no one will want to play this new-and-improved Bruins team come April.