When Patrick Lalime’s contract expired at the end of the season, many fans expected youngster Jhonas Enroth to move up into the backup role for the Sabres.

Instead, the team elected to re-sign Lalime to a one-year contract, with many fans wondering why. After all, he only played in 16 games last season. He had a 2.81 GAA, and a less-than-stellar 4-8-2 record.

Miller, on the other hand, played in 69 regular season games and 6 playoff games. With a 41-18-8 record and a 2.22 GAA, he captured the Vezina Trophy for goaltender of the year.

More important than the statistics, however, is the relationship between the goalie tandem. Lalime and Miller work well together. Lalime knows that Miller will play a majority of the games, but he’s obviously willing to stay a Sabre despite his limited playing time.

Their celebratory interaction after every game reinforces that relationship, and the most prominent acknowledgment of their friendship came at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas.

After Miller was announced as the Vezina winner, he went on stage, made his speech, and included a shoutout to none other than Lalime. This short shoutout confirmed that Miller’s relationship with Lalime is a special one. They’re truly friends, and that’s important in a goalie tandem.

So why re-sign Lalime? Looking towards this season – just about a month away, now! – it’s essential for a team’s two goalies to work well together. Jhonas Enroth will get one more year of experience in the AHL, and Patrick Lalime and Ryan Miller’s epic goalie friendship will continue to blossom.

Goaltending wasn’t a problem for the Sabres last season – the saves were made, but the offense had trouble supporting at times. Why try to fix something if it isn’t broken?

Miller will still play the majority of games, with Lalime often taking one of a back-to-back set or other perhaps not as important games. But they understand their roles and work together, and together, this goalie tandem will provide success for the Sabres in net.

Here at NHLHS we have some great reporters doing articles on an impact player for their respective teams. I felt, as a Kings fan, I wanted to take a moment and talk about the most important King of the moment; the man who has built this team from the ashes into the envy of a lot of fans around the NHL. That man is the General Manager, Dean Lombardi.

Born in Hoyloke, Massachusetts, Dean attended to New Haven University and Tulane Law School. He was a player agent for three seasons before joining the front office of the Minnesota North Stars. Hired away by the expansion San Jose Sharks, Dean was one of people that helped the Sharks improve by a record 58 points in one season. He was named Vice President in Charge of Hockey Operations in 1992, and earned the title of General Manager four years later. Under his watch the Sharks drafted Patrick Marleau, Vesa Toskala, Jonathan Cheechoo, Brad Stuart, Scott Hannan, Marco Sturm, Marcel Goc, and Christian Ehrhoff among others. Lombardi’s history in San Jose as it relates to trades and free agency is impressive, too having brought in such players as Owen Nolan, Teemu Selanne, Adam Graves, Vincent Damphousse, Mike Ricci, Kyle McClaren, Mike Vernon, Todd Harvey, Bryan Marchment, and Scott Thornton. The year the Sharks advanced to the Western Conference Finals, 18 of the 23 players on the roster were acquired by Lombardi.

Relieved of his duties after the Sharks got off to a slow start in the 02 – 03 season, Dean became the pro scout for the Philadelphia Flyers. On April 21, 2006, Dean was hired as President and General Manager of the Los Angeles Kings.

Dean and the Kings

Dean came to the Kings with a vision. For the first time in the franchise’s long history the Kings were going to rebuild through the draft and player development. There were two solid young players in the Kings system already in Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar, and Dean quickly locked both of them up in long term deals. His first draft pick was goaltender Jonathan Bernier. On that same day, he dealt leading scorer Pavol Demitra to the Minnesota Wild for the 17th pick (Trevor Lewis) and Patrick O’Sullivan. So, in just two short months, the Kings acquired a future goaltender and two young forwards.

Now, there were mistakes made in the first few months. Dean would be the first to admit that Marc Crawford did his best for the Kings as head coach, but he was just not the right personality to lead young players in the NHL. Also, acquiring Dan Cloutier was a train wreck, ending a year and a half later with a buyout. On September 29, 2006, Dean made one of the best trades in franchise history acquiring the rights to young stud Jack Johnson and Oleg Tverdovsky for Tim Gleason and Éric Bélanger. Now with a solid plan, Dean focused on building the Kings at the draft table. In addition to the picks mentioned already, Dean has acquired Thomas Hickey, Brayden Schenn Colten Teubert, and Derek Forbort in the first round, not to mention the best draft pick so far, Norris Trophy finalist Drew Doughty. In later rounds, he has acquired the likes of Wayne Simmons, Oscar Moller, Kyle Clifford, Vyacheslav Voynov, and Jeff Zatkoff. More late round gems include: Andrei Loktionov, Justin Azevedo, Brandon Kozun, and Alec Martinez. The Kings have the #1 ranked prospect pool in the NHL according to The Hockey News and Hockey’s Future ranks the Kings second. So, for the first time in franchise history Kings fans can truly root for homegrown talent.

Free agency has been a mixed bag for Lombardi. Brad Stewart, Alyn McCauley, and Tom Preissing were busts. Michal Handzus and Rob Scuderi were great signings. Plucking Kyle Quincey and Randy Jones off the waiver wire were good moves as well, but it’s the trade market where Dean has performed better than anyone expected. This is where Dean acquired the already mentioned, Jack Johnson, Matt Greene, Jarret Stoll, Justin Willams, Ryan Smyth, and Brad Richardson. All have performed better than expected.

This season, Dean has acquired Alex Ponikarovsky and Willie Mitchell via free agency. Most importantly, he has put together a wonderful staff from head coach, Terry Murray, to his right-hand man, Ron Hextall, and much respected head of the scouting department Lee Callans. He has made several runs at other free agents such as Ilya Kovalchuk, Marian Hossa and Dan Hamhuis to no avail. In his defense, a lot of players feel that the travel playing on the west coast is too tough, and choose to stay east. By not landing any big contracts, the Kings are in a great cap position for when Doughty and Johnson are up for bigger contracts this summer. Dean has done such a remarkable job with the Kings, upper management rewarded him earlier this year with a two-year contract extension.

Moving forward and coming off a franchise best 102 points and the first playoff berth in 8 years, the Kings GM will now need to make the moves to take the franchise from playoff team to contender. Dean has cap space and a lot of tradable assists so, if needed, he can make a large splash in the free agent or trade market. With all that in place, Dean has given Kings fans something we have wanted for 40 years, a legitimate shot at Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Mike Murangi
NHLHS Los Angeles Kings Correspondent
mmurangi@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @Draft_Mike

This move makes sense for a few reasons:

1. Currently the Sharks employ both Thomas Greiss and Antero Niittymaki and neither of which have held a starting job over a full season.  Niittymaki was considered an excellent signing from the start as the team went cheap after watching lesser known goalies like Niemi and Leighton carry their teams to the cup.  Now they have the epitome of a cheap netminder in Niemi.
2. Niemi adds a Cup to the mix of veterans who for the most part have been snake-bitten. Most of the main players on the team came up through the Sharks’ farm system and have never so much as made it to the promised land. No longer first round busts the Sharks add another another ring holder to Niclas Wallin and Dan Boyle.
3. Niemi significantly outplayed Evgeni Nabokov  during the regular season.  Both in the playoffs and in the regular season it became apparent Niemi had what it took to beat the competition.  Although Niemi never actually played  Nabokov  face-to-face we are willing to take the bet on him matching those numbers.

While the majority of HF Boards seems ready to implode, the Niemi sweepstakes seems to have come to an end.  Rebound control and question marks aside the Sharks definitely improved their position between the pipes  as they look to return to the Western Conference finals

In what can only be labeled as tedious, the Ilya Kovalchuk saga is seemingly coming to an end. A deadline of 5 p.m. EST for the NHL to either approve or deny the new contract that has been worked out between the New Jersey Devils and Kovalchuk.

Sportsnet.ca analyst Nick Kypreos revealed that the new not-so-frontloaded contract that will see the Russian sniper play in Jersey for the next 15 seasons. The contract will see Kovalchuk get paid a high of $11.8 million and a low of $1 million. However, the final two years of the deal he will receive $3 and $4 million.

The issue with the first contract being rejected was that it was so front loaded and would see Kovalchuk being paid the veteran’s minimum over the final five years of the deal.

News now is that NHLPA advisor Donald Fehr and Commissioner Gary Bettman may be working together to find something that will work for both sides.

It seems a little redundant to continue to battle over the contract issue when it will inevitably be approved. If the deal is no approved, chances are that Kovalchuk will bolt to Russia and play in the KHL, where teams have large contracts ready, and try again next season.

The whole thing has been a black cloud on the NHL offseason. It was supposed to be madness between the teams trying to sign him, not madness because of the contract. It has only created more separation between the already weak relationship of the NHL and NHLPA.

Again, the whole issue with the contract is that it is front-loaded and the chances of Kovalchuk playing in to his forties, while not out of the question, is not likely. It is a loophole that many teams have already taken advantage of, where you can pay a guy tons of money, but since he is making the veteran’s minimum at the end of the deal, it averages out to a lower cap hit.

While this is a smart way to beat the cap, the NHL clearly sees where they went wrong and now wants to do something about it and is making an example out of the Kovalchuk contract.

There have been discussions about the already approved front-loaded deals, like the one signed by Boston Bruins forward Marc Savard and Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger. Savard is a $4 million cap hit while Pronger’s hit is $4.9.

We are getting close to the end of the Kovy-gate saga and while it has given the media lots to write about, it is a headache that this writer is glad will be dealt with.

Brandon Macdonald
NHLHS Editor
bmacdonald@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter @bMacdonald8

As reported by Tim Panaccio and CSNPhilly earlier today on Twitter, unrestricted free agent forward Bill Guerin is working out with the Philadelphia Flyers.  Panaccio also reported that Guerin says that he is hoping that he will receive an offer from the team.

But Craig Custance of The Sporting News said otherwise, also via Twitter.  Custance said that he received a text message from Guerin saying he is not hoping for a tryout.  It sounds more like he and his agent, Bob Murray, are hoping that a deal can be worked out with the team.  But Murray also mentioned that he has been in contact with several teams, and that the Flyers are not their only option.

At any rate, General Manager Paul Holmgren already has 13 forwards under contract for the 2010-11 season, with just over $877,000 left to play with under the salary cap ceiling (according to CapGeek). 

Guerin was a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the past two seasons, and was part of the 2008-09 Pen’s squad that won a Stanley Cup championship after being picked up at the trade deadline. 

In 78 games last year in Pittsburgh, the 39-year-old right winger scored  21 goals and recorded 45 points.  But on August 25, he was told by Penguins’ GM Ray Shero that his services were no longer needed in the ‘burgh. 

While Holmgren has made several curious moves in this offseason, Guerin would appear to be a good fit for the Orange-and-Black. 

Over the course of 1,263 games in 17 NHL campaigns, Guerin has netted 429 goals and 856 points.  He is also tough, which always seems to be a key dimension in any Flyers’ player, as Guerin has racked up 1,660 penalty minutes during his career. 

Although not considered to be a premiere power forward in this stage of his career, the soon to be 40-year-old would still seem to have something left in the tank.  

Guerin has scored more than 20 goals in each of the last four seasons, and eight of the past nine years.  His career-high of 41 goals was set during the 2001-02 campaign with the Boston Bruins, and he has scored as many as 36 in 2006-07, when he split the season between the St. Louis Blues and the San Jose Sharks.

On a team loaded with natural centers playing the wings, Guerin would bring the element of another true winger to the team.  His experience and toughness would be invaluable in the playoffs, as he is a proven winner.  Prior to the afore-mentioned Stanley Cup in 2008-09, Guerin also won Lord Stanley with the New Jersey Devils back in 1995.

Still blessed with a howitzer of a slapshot, Guerin could also play minutes on the club’s power play unit. 

With the signing of UFA wingers Nikolai Zherdev and Jody Shelley in July, the wings are beginning to get crowded.  The only issue in inking Guerin may be the possibility that a young gun like Mike Testwuide, who may have had a chance at making the opening night roster the way James van Riemsdyk did last season, may be forced out of the mix. 

With only 16 more days until training camp officially opens, there may be a bit of roster shifting in the interim if the Flyers can see signing Guerin as a possibility.  And I’m sure for Holmgren and head coach Peter Laviolette, a player of Guerin’s calibre would certainly be worth a long look.

Dave Strehle
NHLHS Philadelphia Flyers Correspondent
dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @PhilaDAVEia

Chris Chelios retired yesterday as Christina Roberts so eloquently broke down, but this piece has been coming for a while. For some people, myself included, a player like Chelly came from our childhood. I remember getting excited by unwrapping the special card in the pack, you know the one with him and Brian Leetch each sporting All-Star jerseys (the Eastern Conference wore San Jose Shark teal, still weird). He brings back the memories of old and makes you feel old. Heck, when Chelios was a rookie Reagan was in office.  Reagan.

A look at the career of Chelios makes you think of the other excellent players who hit free agency this season and to this point still remain unsigned.

Jere Lehtinen may be mulling over his role in Dallas and can probably imagine there would be no room in Detroit.  Despite his age, he still needs to consider his future simply because he feels he can play while the rest of the league would rather gamble on a younger player.  In a time pre-dating the salary cap, a player regardless of recent performance could at least strike a one-year deal– albeit most of them were signed by the New York Rangers and enjoyed the twilight of their careers in the Big Apple.

Paul Kariya decided he would take the year off due to post concussion syndrome making the hockey world wonder if we have seen him lace them up for the last time.  We somewhat saw this coming, unlike that blindside hit to the back of the head from Patrick Kaleta.

His former teammate Teemu Selanne seemed adamant  in returning as he continues his string of retirement holdouts and one-year contract continues but he is a rare breed.  While Doug Weight seems to share his philosophy with his one-year extension the two share one trait: their team actually wants them.

The Pittsburgh Penguins no longer wanted Bill Guerin despite his 21 goals last season, they felt the kids could do better.  While Guerin still looks for employment and does not consider the R word, Lehtinen refuses to complain about the situation.  It simply seems like teams will let the old men walk and decide to stick it out with the kids.

Generally speaking the average age of an NHL player, especially forward, has dropped since the lockout.  As teams get younger, there becomes casualties.  Sadly these casualties may be future hall-of-famers.

It is a sad day when there is no room for Chris Chelios, Paul Kariya, Jere Lehtinen, Mathieu Schneider or Slava Kozlov. At the very least they could offer solid veteran leadership and a 13th forward/7th defenseman type role.  Will more players start to take the same route as say Rob Blake and Scott Neidermayer?  Or more importantly: Do you think there is still room for these guys or would you rather see a fringe prospect play this role?

At noon today, the Detroit Red Wings’ held a press conference to announce that defenseman Chris Chelios will retire from the NHL and head to the Red Wings’ front office as an Adviser to Hockey Operations. Basically, he’ll be working with the coach staffs to provide insight on topics and help mentor the young players rising through the organization. The Red Wings also announced that he will assist on the business-side of things, appearing at games and other functions possibly outside of Joe Louis Arena. Fans who attend games fairly regularly know that you can usually spot older players like Ted Lindsay behind a booth, signing books and such. Chelios may not do exactly that, but it may be something along those lines.

This is just another step in Chelios’s long, exciting hockey career. He started in Montreal in 1984 and played seven seasons with the Canadiens, securing a Norris Trophy and a Stanley Cup in that time before being traded to Chicago in 1990, where he spent nine seasons. While with the Blackhawks, he played in 664 regular season games and 65 postseason games and helped the team to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1992, their first appearance in the Finals since 1973. He was traded to the Red Wings in March of 1999 and added a third Stanley Cup ring to his collection in 2008.

The Red Wings always find a place for those aging players, whether it’s a spot on the roster or a spot in the front office. Chelios was a staple on the Red Wings’ lineup from 1999 until 2009. His hiring into the front office is following in the footsteps of the likes of Steve Yzerman and Jiri Fischer. Yzerman was given a job in the front office and, unable to move up any further in the front office due to the likes of general manager Ken Holland and assistant GM Jim Nill not ready to retire just yet, took the job as the Tampa Bay Lightning‘s general manager.

Jiri Fischer, however, isn’t as infamous as Yzerman. After suffering from serious cardiac distress and collapsing into convulsions on the Red Wings’ bench during a game on November 21, 2005, Fischer had to retire. The Red Wings gave him a front-office role as the Director of Player Development, which is basically a liaison between the team and the prospects in junior and college hockey as well as ones over in Europe.

It’s always nice to see the Red Wings bring back their old players to help bring up the younger ones, both off and on the ice.

In other Red Wings news, it was reported today that defenseman Niklas Kronwall had athroscopic surgery on his left knee Tuesday morning. Last November, he suffered a knee-to-knee hit from Georges Laraque on Montreal. Because of the severity of the hit, Laraque was suspended for five games; Kronwall missed 30 games of the season and was never back to his usual self. Thanks to the surgery, doctors realized that he had a lateral meniscus tear that was causing his discomfort.

Ken Holland is optimistic that Kronwall will be at training camp on September 18. This is a major relief to Red Wings fans everywhere who hung on throughout all of the injuries last season. Starting without Kronwall would not be the ideal start to a new season.

Christina Roberts
Detroit Red Wings correspondent
christina.roberts@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @franzenmuth

For something that was speculated since last seasons ended, early on throughout the off-season and into today, the New York Islanders and Doug Weight have finally made their final year of hockey marriage official.

From the New York Islanders official website:

UNIONDALE, NY (August 31, 2010) – The New York Islanders have agreed to terms on a one-year contract extension with team captain Doug Weight.

A veteran of 19 NHL seasons and 1,220 career games, Weight returns for his third year with the Islanders. In 36 games last season, the Detroit, Michigan native scored seventeen points (1 goal and 16 assists).

“Doug has played an important role in helping to develop our young players over the past two seasons and we’re excited to see him continue his historic career on Long Island,” Islanders General Manager Garth Snow said.

What makes this signing interesting today, as Greg Wyshynski also known as the Puck Daddy from yahoo sports points out, is that Weight had told ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun 78 days ago that he would return to the team for one more year.

Has it really been that long? Is it October yet?

Regardless, the worry about the cap floor situation is finally over, and the team will now prepare to move forward to the season with the roster almost completely in tact.

If you noticed, even the Islanders official release states that the organization has signed the “team captain”. So that should eliminate the questions of who will be the voice of the organization both on and off the ice for this upcoming 2010-11 NHL season.

Though he may have lost a step, and does not have the hands or the role of a 20 goal scorer, what Weight brings on and off the ice is invaluable – especially to a team made up of mostly kids.

The experience, knowledge and overall attitude that Weight will supply is completely priceless.  The team respect all he does for them – especially as their captain.

So one more year with the man who dons the ‘C’ on his chest. I wonder, Isles fans, who he hands it down to when the season comes to a close.  Who would you like to see as the next ‘C’ for your New York Islanders?

Anthony Curatolo
NHLHS New York Islanders Correspondent
acuratolo@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @HockeyGuy_AC

With the start of the NHL season approaching, yes fans time hasn’t frozen, there are still many unanswered questions surrounding the league. Questions ranging from the state of the NHLPA and of course the contract controversies.

In the NHL version of Let’s Make a Deal, the New Jersey Devils and the NHL have gone back and forth on the Ilya Kovalchuk contract dispute. If you have been under a rock for the past few months, the NHL rejected the original deal that would have seen the Russian sniper in a Devils sweater for the next 17 years. It is rumored that there is now a deal in place that has been approved by all involved camps and is expected to be a 15-year contract that will pay him around $100 million.

The NBA had The Decision, the NHL has Kovy-Gate.

After years of turmoil it seems that the NHLPA is looking for stability in the role of Donald Fehr. Fehr, who served as the head of MLBPA for 26 years, brings a lot of knowledge to the table and will not be pushed around. Although the deal has not gone through yet, he needs to be approved by a panel of players; it seems to be inevitable he will be leading the NHLPA in to their next CBA discussions.

The Kovalchuk contract being denied left a bad taste in many players’ mouth and adding Fehr would bring no-guff attitude to the players association.

Contracts really have been the talk of the NHL’s offseason and it hasn’t been about the new contracts signed. The NHL decided it should look in to the contracts that were previously signed, and approved, that were similar to the one signed by Kovalchuk.

Players like Marc Savard, Roberto Luongo and Chris Pronger are having their contracts looked in to. It would be an unprecedented turn of events if the NHL were to void the already approved contracts. Not only causing an uproar with the players and teams, but also the fans and media. Whether or not the contracts will be dealt with, a decision should be made clear before pre-season begins.

It’s also worth mentioning, talking about contracts, that former Columbus Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock was fired by the team in February is still under the contract with the team and Columbus mentioned that they will have work for him to do, in other capacities.

Looking at the Phoenix Coyotes, it seems that a new mystery buyer has stepped in and is showing interest in the team. The Phoenix Business Journal is reporting that an undisclosed wealthy buyer is leading a group and is interested in buying the team that the league has owned since last season. The identity of the buyer may not have been revealed, but ‘Yotes fans can rest assured that his name doesn’t end with sillie.

Time is ticking down to the regular season and although it has seemingly taken forever, hockey is on the horizon. Fantasy teams are being drafted and the big question is, who do you take first overall. I want to know whom you, the NHL Hot Stove readers, think is the consensus number one overall fantasy selection. Do you go with the goal scoring Alex Ovechkin or Canada’s golden boy Sidney Crosby? Or do you go with the reigning scoring champ Henrik Sedin? Send me an email or send me a message on Twitter with you would choose first overall and why.

Till next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Brandon Macdonald
NHLHS Editor
bmacdonald@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter @bMacdonald8

It seems that a recent trend is continuing, and a certain type of player is disappearing from the National Hockey League landscape.

The true enforcer, once a prominent component in the makeup of an NHL team, is all but becoming extinct in today’s new NHL.  A few still remain but for the most part, club’s general managers have said they will go with “team toughness”.

The history

There have always been fighters in the NHL, but during the 1970′s and 1980′s, NHL enforcers enjoyed what would become their hey day in the league.

In the ’70′s, some teams even employed four or more players that could act as their team’s respective police men.  If a player on a club messed with one of your team’s skill players, there would be a certain amount of hell to pay.  Bench-clearing brawls became commonplace, and the NHL became a battle ground.  This is when the not so affectionate term “goon” was the most frequently used to describe enforcers.

But the league enacted rules, fines and suspensions concerning whoever was determined to be the first man off the bench to join a fracas, and those types of occurrences became more and more of a rarity.

In the ’80′s and 90′s, most clubs employed one true heavyweight to police their team.  Pugilists named Bob Probert, Troy Crowder, Dave Brown, Joey Kocur, and Dave Semenko kept opponents honest.  When the teams with these players came to town, there was an air of excitement that came along with them.  Games that paired clubs with premier heavyweights on opposite sides became hot tickets.

Today

George Parros of the Anaheim Ducks is a good example of one of the leftover enforcers.  At 6′ 5″ and 232 pounds, Parros is a heavyweight.  And with 13 goals, 25 points, and 694 penalty minutes over the course of 289 career NHL games, Parros’ role with the Ducks will never be questioned.

Players that are still known as enforcers, with many similarities to Parros around the league are Eric Godard (316 Games Played, 6 Goals, 15 Points, 728 Penalty Minutes) of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Derek Boogard (255 games, 2 G, 15 P, 544 PIMs) of the New York Rangers, Jody Shelley (538 games, 16 G, 49 P, 1,347 PIMs) of the Philadelphia Flyers, and Colton Orr of the Toronto Maple Leafs (327 games, 8 G, 17 P, 788 PIMs).

The “new breed”

While the new NHL enforcer is more of an “ultimate weapon” in today’s era, they have to have some skill tied into their game – more so than simply being able to drop the gloves and dance.

Sean Avery is a perfect example, and one that can be used as the definition of what the new NHL brings with their new “blood” of what was once known as an enforcer. Although his time with Dallas did not fair well, the fiesty forward has found a home, again, with the Rangers and fits in to their plans perfectly.

Avery has earned over 100 penalty minutes in any season he has appeared in more than 50 games and has not slipped below the 15 goal total during those seasons. Fantasy statistics aside, Sean Avery has helped create this new breed within the NHL.

He knows, perfectly, how to get under the skin and into the mind of his opponents while on the ice.  Time after time we have seen Avery yapping away at a player on the opposing team thus creating a stir. Although Sean may not drop the gloves as often as many fans would like to see, there truly isn’t a need for him to do so unless it is called for. Yes, his reputation may create a difficult situation and some questionable calls during a game, but Sean Avery does his job and he does it with perfection.

Dan Carcillo is another player who can be used to compare and contrast the difference between an enforcer and agitator.

Aside from his tactics on the ice, he has been able to score some clutch goals with the Flyers as well.

Although Carcillo has never put up amazing offensive numbers, he does contribute on the score sheet and we all know how much his presence on the ice means to his club. With the acquisition of Jody Shelley this off-season, Carcillo will be called upon to play more hockey and less enforcer this year. At a bright young age of 25, expect his numbers with his new role to rise offensively.

Carcillo has also been flagged, while on the ice, for infractions that come due to reputation and has been the goat of the game, but do not let that stand in the way of his true value while on the ice. Coach Laviolette will help Carcillo’s game develop, even more so now that the organization has signed Jody Shelley this off-season to take on the role of “enforcer”

Another player who has created a 180 degree turn in their game, much in part due to the way a coach helped influence him is Steve Downie, a one-time NHL outcast. With the assistance of head coach Rick Tocchet last year, Downie has been able to turn his game around finding a top six spot last season with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Known for his “attitude” and rugged style of play, Downie brings a complete game with him – hands to put the puck in the back of the net, and fearless in sticking up not only for himself but his teammates.

Arron Asham of the Pittsburgh Penguins played in 72 games with the Philadelphia Flyers, scoring 10 goals and 24 points, while recording 126 PIMs.  Asham’s style of play will go along well with that of teammate Matt Cooke, who ended up with 15 goals, 30 points, and 106 PIMs.  Cooke is one of the most hated agitators, both with fans of opposing teams and opposing players alike.  His antics last season drove superstar Ilya Kovalckuk, then of the Atlanta Thrashers, to retaliate, uncharacteristically attacking the Pittsburgh forward.

Steve Ott of the Dallas Stars is another example of the ever-evolving breed of agitators.  Last season, he notched 22 goals and 36 points to go along with his 146 PIMs.

The Vancouver Canucks’ Alex Burrows played in all 82 games last year, scoring 35 goals, 67 points, and racking up 121 PIMs.  All the while, he was under the opposition’s skin and a thorn in a certain official’s side.  Burrows is taking the agitator role to a new level, much the same way that Brendan Shanahan and Keith Tkachuk defined the role of “power forward” back in the early to mid-1990′s.

In today’s era of hockey, there continues to be a place in the game for fighting.  The old saying of “I went to a hockey game and a boxing match broke out” may have simmered somewhat, but more often than not, there will be a scrap or two during a hockey game. Especially when you consider the heated rivalries amongst many of the clubs around the league.

There may not be bench clearing brawls anymore, but you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be one hell of a scrap when two players prepare to drop the gloves during a game. It remains a major factor in separating hockey from many, if not most of the other sports out there.

The cuts, contusions, and fisticuffs help add to the action of what is already the greatest sport on Earth.

As professional hockey continues to change and moves more towards the skill end of the spectrum, players that will be able to contribute in all ways will find their way onto NHL rosters.  With the salary cap in full force and affect, teams can no longer afford to keep one-dimensional players on board.

Dave Strehle
NHLHS Philadelphia Flyers Correspondent
dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @PhilaDAVEia

Anthony Curatolo
NHLHS New York Islanders Correspondent
acuratolo@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @HockeyGuy_AC