Divisional Breakdowns…
NHLHS Jodie Smola describes her dislike within the Southeast Division and it’s structure.
Don’t get me wrong, I like the fact that the divisions are regional in geography however living within the Southeast Division you rapidly realize that this setup is easily playing favorites.
I cover the Washington Capitals and while they are a good team, with some amazing talent, their NHL standings are skewed by the division they reside in.
The Caps easily dominate their division and this pretty much guarantees that they win those points. This pads their point total and that isn’t fair to everyone else in the league, especially those in highly contested divisions.
The lopsidedness of this division screams for the issue to be addressed. I’m not entirely sure that it can be permanently addressed though as the situation was most likely created by Washington’s long period of mediocre play and high draft positioning but the NHL should at least try.
I’d like to go back to watching hockey games and not slaughters.
Jodie Smola
NHLHS Capitals Correspondent / NHL Writer
jsmola@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @phillysunshine
Categories: Around the League, Eastern Conference, NHLHS Features, Southeast, Washington Capitals Tags: Southeast Division, Washington Capitals
What’s My Problem with Alex Ovechkin?
It’s impossible to miss all the talk about the Caps star this week and I’m hearing every possible position. So here’s my take if you will indulge me.
Categories: Eastern Conference, NHLHS Features, Washington Capitals Tags: Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
The Value of: Lubomir Visnovsky
NHL Hot Stove presents it’s “The Value Of” series which will look at some of the names discussed around the NHL who likely will be moved at the March 3rd trade deadline.
If the Oilers cannot move star defenseman Sheldon Souray perhaps they can move another of their excellent offensive defensemen in Lubomir Visnovsky. TSN’s Darren Dreger listed Visnovsky as one of his 10 most likely players to get traded at the trade deadline so it should make sense that the Oilers wish to move this talent.
Categories: Buffalo Sabres, By Teams, Deadline Speculation, Eastern Conference, Northeast, Northwest, Ottawa Senators, Southeast, Value Of:, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals, Western Conference Tags: Jarret Stoll, Lubomir Visnovsky, Matt Greene, Scott Niedermayer, Sheldon Souray, Steve Tambellini
The Value of: Ilya Kovalchuk
NHL Hot Stove presents it’s “The Value Of” series which will look at some of the names discussed around the NHL who likely will be moved at the March 3rd trade deadline.
Categories: Atlanta Thrashers, Atlantic, Boston Bruins, By Teams, Central, Chicago Blackhawks, Deadline Speculation, Eastern Conference, Los Angeles Kings, Northeast, Pacific, Philadelphia Flyers, Southeast, Value Of:, Washington Capitals, Western Conference Tags: Akim Aliu, Alexander Semin, Andrei Loktionov, Andrew Ladd, Anton Gustafsson, Bill Sweatt, Blake Wheeler, Braydon Schenn, Bryan Little, Claude Giroux, Dany Heatley, Dave Bolland, Don Waddell, Dustin Byfuglien, Eric Fehr, Evander Kane, George McPhee, James van Riemsdyk, Jeff Carter, John Carlson, Karl Alzner, Kris Versteeg, Kyle Beach, Marian Hossa, Mathieu Perreault, Matt Greene, Nicklas Backstrom, Olli Jokinen, Oscar Moeller, Oskar Osala, Scott Parse, Thomas Hickey, Tobias Enstrom, Tomas Fleischmann, Trevor Lewis, Troy Brouwer, Tuukka Rask, Vladamir Sobotka, Wayne Simmonds, Zach Bogosian
Hopefully an End to the Kovalchuck Speculation.
If you’ve read past work on this situation, where I’ve sited points from Canadian radio or other articles around the blogosphere, you would know that the Ilya Kovalchuk sweepstakes keeps going.
Late last night, via twitter, conversations came up that Kovalchuck and the Thrashers have hit a point in contract talks with most speculating the drama will conclude by week’s end. Pierre LeBrun of ESPN stated in an article on Saturday that the new year would have some critical news in the Kovalchuck endeavors. Well, all signs are pointing to LeBrun’s speculation as accurate.
Supposedly Kovalchuk will sign a deal with the Thrashers worth between 8 million and 11 million per year in the range of a 10-12 years. This signing would be great news for the Thrashers organization and bad news for 29 other teams that hoping to acquire the Russian sniper with a tempting package.
Kovalchuck’s agent Jay Grossman and Atlanta Thrashers GM Don Waddell met this weekend during the World Junior Hockey Championships and with the team presenting a deal to Grossman. Now the decision rests on Kovalchuk’s shoulders. Does he want to stay in Atlanta, a place he publicly stated he loves? Do his his fears of relocation trump this supposed love affair?
There are still other scenarios however.
Categories: Atlanta Thrashers, Atlantic, By Teams, Central, Chicago Blackhawks, Eastern Conference, New York Rangers, Southeast, Washington Capitals, Western Conference Tags: Atlanta Thrashers, Don Waddell, Ilya Kovalchuk, Jay Grossman
