Flyers Deal Hamhuis’ Rights to Pens; Inquire about Nabokov
NHLHS Philadelphia Flyers Correspondent David Strehle takes a look at the Flyers decision to move the rights to pending UFA defenseman Dan Hamhuis to the Atlantic Division rival Pittsburgh Penguins and the rumors that Paul Holmgren is talking about acquiring the rights to one of the top pending UFA goaltenders, Evgeni Nabokov.
For the Philadelphia Flyers, NHL Entry Draft day is usually a very busy time. Last year GM Paul Holmgren pulled the trigger on the Chris Pronger deal with the Anaheim Ducks, and the previous year moved forward R.J. Umberger to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a first round pick (Luca Sbisa, who ended up being dealt to Anaheim in the Pronger trade).
Categories: Around the League, Atlantic, Eastern Conference, Eastern Conference, Morning Papers, NHLHS Features, Philadelphia Flyers Tags: 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Bob McKenzie, Chris Pronger, Dan Hamhuis, doug wilson, Evgeni Nabokov, Keith Ballard, Luca Sbisa, Nashville Predators, NHL, Paul Holmgren, Philadelphia Flyers, pierre mcguire, Pittsburgh Penguins, R.J.Umberger, Ray Shero, Ryan Parent, San Jose Sharks, Sergei Gonchar, Tim Panaccio
Flyers Deal Parent to Nashville for Rights to Hamhuis
NHLHS Philadelphia Flyers Correspondent David Strehle takes a look at the Flyers’ acquisition of the rights to defenseman Dan Hamhuis and what it means to the Philly blue line heading into the 2010-11 season.
Philadelphia Flyers GM Paul Holmgren had said that he wanted to make improvements to his club during the offseason, and he got a start on his to-do list on Saturday afternoon.
With less than a week until the 2010 NHL Entry Draft in Los Angeles, the Flyers and Predators swapped defensemen, with Philly sending Ryan Parent to back to Nashville for the rights to pending unrestricted free agent Dan Hamhuis, along with a conditional draft pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.
Categories: NHLHS Features Tags: Braydon Coburn, Chris Pronger, Dan Hamhuis, David Poile, Lukas Krajicek, Matt Carle, Nashville Predators, NHL, Oskars Bartulis, Paul Holmgren, Philadelphia Flyers, Ryan Parent
Blackhawks Taking Maturity to Another Level
NHLHS Chicago Blackhawks Correspondent, Ryan Hackett, discusses how the Hawks have grown to a level of maturity that is hard to match, especially this season.
Now Playing: Fuel – Sunburn
The Chicago Blackhawks have undergone more transformations in the last three seasons than a reality television star on a plastic surgery shopping spree, and yet their latest one has been the most essential to their post-season success. The team has recovered from a rocky start in the 2010 second season to become one of the best finishing teams in the NHL.
Knowing how to close games is a characteristic of championship teams in every sport on every level of athletics. It seems that the Blackhawks have learned how to accomplish that at an alarming rate mostly within this post-season. For instance, take a look at the first series against the Nashville Predators. Out of the Blackhawks 17 goals in the series, only four of them came in the third period or overtime, a mild 23%. The Hawks saw that, and raised it in the following two series, as they notched totals hovering around the 47% mark in both of the following series (11 of 23 against the Vancouver Canucks, and 6 of 13 against the San Jose Sharks) which both also eventually led to series victories for the Chicago squad.
Categories: Around the League, By Teams, Central, Chicago Blackhawks, Playoff Coverage, Western Conference Tags: 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, Chicago, Chicago Blackhawks, Conn Smythe Trophy, Dustin Byfuglien, Jonathan Toews, Nashville Predators, NHL, Patrick Kane, Philadelphia Flyers, San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks, Western Conference Finals
Blackhawks and Canucks Round Two: Electric Boogaloo
NHLHS Chicago Blackhawks Correspondent Ryan Hackett breaks down the second round series between the Hawks and Vancouver Canucks.
After a good test facing a pesky Nashville Predators in Round One, the Chicago Blackhawks start a much anticipated rematch with the Vancouver Canucks Saturday night on Chicago’s west side. The Blackhawks should use the series against the Predators as well as last year’s Western Conference Semi-final against the Canucks to learn a lot about themselves and do the right things to secure a second straight trip to the Conference Finals.
Categories: Chicago Blackhawks, Playoff Coverage, Vancouver Canucks, Western Conference Tags: Antti Niemi, Brent Seabrook, Brent Sopel, Chicago Blackhawks, Duncan Keith, Dustin Byfuglien, Los Angeles Kings, Nashville Predators, NHL, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Norris trophy, Patrick Kane, Roberto Luongo, Troy Brouwer, Vancouver Canucks
Blackhawks Take the Show to Music City
NHLHS writer Ryan Hackett breaks game three of these Western Conference first round playoffs.
After a much better (and more importantly, productive) effort in their own building Sunday night, the Chicago Blackhawks head to The Music City after knotting the series at a game apiece with the Nashville Predators. Other than an overall sparkling performance by youngster Antti Niemi notching the first Blackhawks post-season shutout since 1996, however, it wasn’t exactly a masterpiece. For a majority of the first two games the Predators have controlled the style and pace of the play forcing the Hawks to stray from their comfort zone and limiting them to only three goals in the first two contests. Add to that some stellar work between the pipes from Pekka Rinne, and it’s been a tad frustrating for Chicago so far, Patrick Kane‘s performance notwithstanding.
Categories: Around the League, Chicago Blackhawks, NHLHS Features, Nashville Predators, Playoff Coverage, Western Conference Tags: Antti Niemi, Chicago Blackhawks, Marian Hossa, Nashville Predators, NHL, NHL Playoffs, Patric Hornqvist, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, Pekka Rinne
Blackhawks vs. Predators: Round 1 Preview
NHLHS writer Ryan Hackett presents his first round preview of the Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators series.
Now Playing: Blues Traveler – Traveler & Thieves
At long last, the Chicago Blackhawks have consecutive playoff appearances, and this time, they face the upstart Nashville Predators. This series presents an interesting matchup for two teams who have faced off six times this season, yet haven’t seen each other this calendar year. This scheduling anomaly results in the highly unlikely scenario of division rivals possibly capitalizing on the element of surprise over their opponent.
Categories: Around the League, Central, Chicago Blackhawks, NHLHS Features, Nashville Predators, Western Conference Tags: Antti Niemi, Chicago Blackhawks, Dave Bolland, Martin Erat, Nashville Predators, NHL, Patric Hornqvist, Pekka Rinne, Ryan Suter, Shea Weber
Behind the Mask: Chris Mason
NHLHS writer Laura Astorian takes a look at current St. Louis Blues netminder Chris Mason in our latest edition of The Man Behind the Mask.
Nashville has a certain reputation with starting goaltenders. Solid and impressive first year followed by a middling second with the team, which is promptly followed by the starter becoming the back-up, and the back-up becoming the starter. Dan Ellis and Pekka Rinne come to mind usually the most quickly, because both goalies are still with the Predators (albeit in a 1A/1B tandem). But what of the goaltender that Ellis dethroned?
Chris Mason learned that turnabout is sometimes fair play.
The back-up to Tomas Vokoun starting during the 2003-2004 season, the 122nd overall pick of the 1995 entry draft caught eyes with his .926 SV% and 2.18 GAA in the seventeen games that he played in. After the lock-out, he took over the full position of back-up, with a .913 SV% and 2.54 GAA.
Upon Vokoun’s leaving for the Sunshine State after the 2006-2007 season, Mason stepped up and assumed the role of full time starter. This wasn’t quite a big of jump as one might expect; Mason had played 40 games the prior season, with a .925 SV% and a 2.38 GAA. 2007-2008, though, was not to be as stellar, and left a chance for Ellis to creep up. Mason finished that season with a lackluster .898 SV% and a 2.90 GAA. He was a UFA at the end of the season, and with Dan Ellis and rookie Pekka Rinne coming up through the system, the Predators let him walk.
The St. Louis Blues needed a veteran goaltender to stand behind the injury prone Manny Legace. The previous season’s backup, Hannu Toivonen, had just come off a terrible season and returned to Finland, so there was a perfect spot for Mason. Legace, however, was struggling under the weight of Mason’s similiar-sized contract, and despite it being a UFA season for him, his numbers dropped off terribly and by February he had found himself waived to Peoria.
Mason had overtaken the role of starter once again. He led the Blues down an astounding 25-9-7 path at the end of the 2008-2009 season, ensuring the team had the league’s best post-All Star Game record, and also ensuring that the Blues returned to the playoffs for the first time since before the lockout.
Despite being swept in the first round by the Vancouver Canucks, the Blues felt sold on their goaltending situation, adding back-up Ty Conklin to the team for this season, but still communicating to Mason and the fans that he was the number one.
Despite the Blues missing the playoffs for yet another season after a second half that was solid, Mason still has put up solid numbers for the season. The end of the season marks contract renewal time, as on July 1st he is a free agent, but don’t ask him what his plans are for the future. For right now, Mason just wants the Blues’ opponents to keep on fearing the beard.
Laura Astorian
NHLHS St. Louis Blues Correspondant
lastorian@nhlhotstove.com
@hildymac
Categories: 30 Team Series, Around the League, By Teams, Central, NHLHS Features, Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues, The Man Behind the Mask, Western Conference Tags: Chris Mason, Hannu Toivonen, Manny Legace, Nashville Predators, Pekka Rinne, St. Louis Blues, Ty Conklin
Canucks potential 1st round opponents
With the regular season coming to a close, let’s take a quick look at the teams the Canucks could face in the first round.
Nashville Predators (5th place in the conference)
The Canucks and Predators were pretty evenly matched this season with the two teams splitting the season series 2-2. Each team won a game at home and on the road. Both teams also scored 10 goals in the series and no team won by more than 3 goals.
Offense: Vancouver
Defense: Even
Goaltending: Even
Prediction: Vancouver in 6
Detroit Red Wings (6th place in the conference)
The hottest team since the Olympics, the Red Wings have been climbing the standings and would be the Canucks first round opponent if the play-offs started today. Detroit holds the edge in the season series with a 3-1 record against Vancouver, although the Canucks won the 3rd game 6-3 and lost the 4th game in the series 4-3 in OT. Most Canucks fans don’t want to face the Wings in the first round of the play-offs, but there are questions facing Detroit. How will rookie goaltender Jimmy Howard do under the pressure of the post season and will the oldest team in the league (who’s played well into June 2 seasons in a row) run out of gas following their late season surge.
Offense: Even
Defense: Detroit
Goaltending: Vancouver
Prediction: Vancouver in 7
Los Angeles Kings (7th place in the conference)
The Canucks are 3-1 against the Kings, with the only loss coming in the last game of the series – an 8-3 drubbing in Los Angeles in which Roberto Luongo gave up all 8 goals and set off a panic in Vancouver. Aside from that game the Canucks outscored the Kings 9-3 in the first 3 games, but the games were pretty close. The Kings would be an interesting match-up as they are one of the teams that has cooled off since the start of the season.
Offense: Vancouver
Defense: Los Angeles
Goaltending: Even
Prediction: Vancouver in 6
Colorado Avalance (8th place in the conference)
While it’s a long shot these 2 arch rivals would meet in the first round of the play-offs (The Avs are battling with the Flames for the final playoff spot in the West) it is still a possibility. Colorado got off to a great start this season but have fallen off and are in danger of missing the play-offs altogether. Even with that great start the Canucks have pretty much dominated them this season. The Avs won 3-0 in their first meeting, but the Canucks have dominated the rest of the way going 4-0 and outscoring them 22-8 in the process. The teams still have 1 game left against each other and while it’s basically a “stat game” for the Canucks, the game is very meaningful to the Avs.
Offense: Vancouver
Defense: Vancouver
Goaltending: Even
Prediction: Vancouver in 5
Vancouver will have an edge over any team they face in the first round since they will have home ice advantage. Currently, they have 29 wins at home which is only 2nd to the Washington Capitals (ironically the teams are 1-2 in many categories this season) and that should give them an extra edge against their opponent. The one lingering uncertainty for the Canucks is Luongo. His play as of late has many fans wondering if he can turn it on again in the play-offs or if the Olympics was his big moment this season. Only time will tell.
Who would you want to face in the 1st round if you were the Canucks and why? Let us know with your comments below.
I-5 Canucks
NHLHS Canucks Correspondents
hipcheck44@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @Hipcheck44 and @WCE71944
Categories: Around the League, By Teams, NHLHS Features, Northwest, Vancouver Canucks, Western Conference Tags: Colorado Avalanche, Detroit Red Wings, Jimmy Howard, Los Angeles Kings, Nashville Predators, Roberto Luongo, Washington Capitals
