Pros & Cons: Montreal Canadiens vs. Philadelphia Flyers
Our newest feature, Pros and Cons, holds a debate between two of our featured writers as they make an argument for each team in the series. We will continue this series throughout the playoffs as we delve deeper into how these two teams will fare against each other.
Read more…
Categories: Around the League, Atlantic, By Teams, Eastern Conference, Montreal Canadiens, NHLHS Features, Northeast, Philadelphia Flyers, Playoff Coverage Tags: Brian Boucher, Brian Gionta, Chris Pronger, Claude Giroux, Danny Briere, Hal Gill, Ilya Kovalchuk, Jaroslav Halak, Jeff Carter, Michael Cammalleri, Michael Leighton, Montreal Canadiens, P.K. Subban, Philadelphia Flyers, Scott Gomez, Scott Hartnell, Simon Gagne, Travis Moen, Ville Leino
Habs Hit Hard at Home
NHLHS writer Christopher Nardi takes a look at the happenings from game three between the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals. Game four happens tonight.
It was the first home game of the fairy tale Canadiens, returning to Montreal with a very unexpected win in game one of the series against the wrecking ball that is the Washington Capitals. Expectations were very high for this team, and it could be heard from the 21,273 fans, or shall we call them referees, filling the seats of the Bell Centre Monday evening. The fans knew that their team could score goals, just as they had in their previous 6-5 OT loss in Washington, and the fact that they had blown a two, and then one goal lead in the third period was nothing to fret, Jaroslav Halak was in nets!
Right?
Categories: Around the League, By Teams, Eastern Conference, Montreal Canadiens, NHLHS Features, Northeast Tags: 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Alexander Ovechkin, Andrei Kostitsyn, Boyd Gordon, Brendan Morrison, Brian Gionta, Brooks Laich, Carey Price, Jaroslav Halak, Marc-Andre Bergeron, Matt Bradley, Mike Green, Scott Gomez, Semyon Varlamov, Tom Poti, Tomas Plekanec, Washington Capitals
Dark Horse Theory: Eastern Conference
NHLHS writer Anthony Curatolo presents his “Dark Horse Theory” series that will take a look at the underdogs heading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs within the NHL.
Every year it becomes a major topic of discussion around the NHL as we approach the second season.
Though the previous two playoff years saw the obvious favorites play for bragging rights in being crowned league champion, every year one or two special teams make an unpredicted run at their crack as an underdog to upset the favorites.
This season in the NHL there have been plenty of surprise/feel good stories.
Of those stories that remain in production currently, three Western Conference clubs as well as one Eastern Conference team have been deemed “underdogs”; especially when you consider how the “experts” determined how they would place prior to the start of this season.
Categories: 30 Team Series, Around the League, By Teams, Montreal Canadiens, NHLHS Features, Northeast Tags: Andrei Kostitsyn, Andrei Markov, Benoit Pouliot, Brian Gionta, Detroit Red Wings, Jaroslav Halak, Los Angeles Kings, Michael Cammalleri, Nashville Predators, Phoenix Coyotes, Roman Hamrlik, Scott Gomez, Tomas Plekanec
Looking Back at the Canadiens’ Draft: 2000-2009
Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Washington are all Stanley Cup favorites this year. What do these teams have in common? How did they build their successful teams? Through the draft, specifically through obtaining high draft picks for multiple years. Teams like New Jersey, San Jose, and Detroit, prove that a team can win consistently and still build a solid team from within. But the common thread within all these teams is that they have all drafted well.
Categories: Around the League, NHLHS Features Tags: Alex Tanguay, Alexander Perezhogin, Andrei Kostitsyn, Andrei Markov, Carey Price, Christopher Higgins, Danius Zubrus, David Fischer, Garth Murray, Jan Bulis, Jaroslav Halak, Jose Theodore, Kyle Chipchura, Louis LeBlanc, Marcel Hossa, Marian Hossa, Matt D'Agostini, Max Pacioretty, Maxim Lapierre, Mike Komisarek, Montreal Canadiens, Richard Zednik, Ron Hainsey, Ryan McDonagh, Ryan O'Byrne, Saku Koivu, Scott Gomez, Sergei Kostitsyn, Tomas Plekanec, Trevor Linden, Vincent Damphousse
Thursday NHL Morning Papers (Eastern Conference)
(hat tip to the boys of Illegal Curve. Thanks to their amazing class and their blessing to take over this feature here at NHL Hot Stove. We hope you enjoy the latest daily series.)
Categories: Eastern Conference, Morning Papers, NHLHS Features Tags: Andy Sutton, Claude Giroux, Darroll Powe, Dennis Wideman, Eric Staal, Henrik Lundqvist, Jason Pominville, Martin Brodeur, Mike Richards, Pascual Dupuis, Rod Brind'Amour, Scott Gomez, Tom Poti, Victor Hedman
Wednesday Morning Papers (Eastern Conference)
(hat tip to the boys of Illegal Curve. Thanks to their amazing class and their blessing to take over this feature here at NHL Hot Stove. We hope you enjoy the latest daily series.)
Categories: Eastern Conference, Morning Papers, NHLHS Features Tags: Alexander Ovechkin, David Booth, Dwayne Roloson, Henrik Lundqvist, Martin Brodeur, Patrick Dwyer, Rick Tocchet, Robbie Schremp, Scott Gomez, Tyler Bozak
Moves Imminent on Broadway
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun recently reported that the New York Rangers are shopping wingers Ales Kotalik and Christopher Higgins.
The Rangers brought in both players this past off-season to bolster their offense with hopes that they would fit into coach John Tortorella’s system. GM Glen Sather hoped they would fill holes and perform at levels, but at this point both have vastly disappointed. Now Sather looks for alternative options to “beef” up his top six in order to gain a bigger presence up front, something Kotalik should provide.
What do I mean?
The Rangers want size in front of the oppositions crease in order to create more traffic to generate more offense.
When the team they signed Marian Gaborik they had one goal in mind: the Stanley Cup playoffs. Currently, the Rangers sit on the outside looking in, knowing some tweaking in the line up is a must.
Tortorella simply cannot work with the mix of forwards he currently has. Outside of Gaborik, most of the team fail to put together a consistent effort. We know the personality of Mr. Tortorella, a fiery, intense coach with a limited tolerance. The team’s current players show they cannot play his system properly.
It is time to make a change.
Categories: Atlantic, By Teams, Eastern Conference, New York Rangers, Northwest, Vancouver Canucks, Western Conference Tags: Ales Kotalik, Bobby Sanguinetti, Christopher Higgins, Glen Sather, Ilkka Heikkinen, John Tortorella, Marian Gaborik, New York Rangers, PA Parenteau, Pavol Demitra, Scott Gomez, Wade Redden, Zdeno Chara
The Seven Million Dollar Man
How does a team know their investment will pay off? Better yet, What would inspire a team to devote a large percentage of their cap space to one single player? This article plans on analyzing the production from “top-tier” forwards based on a seven million dollar cap hit or higher.
As of this writing there are 14 forwards making this salary or higher, with most of these players filling the scorecard adequately. These 14 forwards discussed are Jason Spezza, Joe Thornton, Marian Gaborik, Brad Richards, Sidney Crosby, Jarome Iginla, Alexander Ovechkin, Scott Gomez, Evgeni Malkin, Vincent Lecavalier, Thomas Vanek, Dany Heatley, Chris Drury and Eric Staal.
A quick glance at this list screams Drury and Gomez as the noticeable busts. Coming into a weak free agent year for centers the two cashed in on GM Glen Sather’s ludacris spending. However, a deeper look into their 2009-2010 season makes other players current production look similarly as bad.
In addition, this article will identify the best of the bunch showing exactly if and why the top salaries are actually worth it. Impending free agent Ilya Kovalchuk believes his worth to be 20 percent of the current cap, an enormous 11 plus million cap hit. With his current production, not to mention countless intangibles would you consider the 27-year-old worth it?
Categories: 30 Team Series, Cost Efficiency Tags: Alexander Ovechkin, Brad Richards, Cam Ward, Chris Drury, Dany Heatley, Eric Staal, Evgeni Malkin, Glen Sather, Ilya Kovalchuk, Jarome Iginla, Jason Spezza, Joe Thornton, Marian Gaborik, Paul Maurice, Scott Gomez, Sidney Crosby, Thomas Vanek, Vincent Lecavalier
