Sunday NHL Morning Papers (Western Conference)
In NHL Morning Papers we break down the stories published in newspapers around the country. By reading our synopsis the average hockey fan can catch up to all the happenings around the National Hockey League.
Categories: Morning Papers, NHLHS Features, Western Conference Tags: Alexander Semin, Andrew Brunette, Antti Miettinen, Antti Niemi, Anze Kopitar, Barry Trotz, Brad Richards, Brad Richardson, Chris Mason, Dan Ellis, Darryl Sutter, Eric Fehr, Evgeni Nabokov, Ilya Bryzgalov, James Wisniewski, Joe Pavelski, Ladislav Smid, Marty Turco, Mikko Koivu, Nicklas Lidstrom, Pekka Rinne, Roberto Luongo, Ryan Miller, Ryan Stoa, Steve Mason, Steve Staios, Taylor Chorney, Todd Richards
Restoring the Rosters: Columbus Blue Jackets
Based on Matthew Pouliot’s series on Circling the Bases, I have decided restore the rosters for every NHL team. Like Pouliot, I have established some ground rules for my selections.
- Each team contains players they originally drafted or signed before any other NHL team. This includes players drafted and not signed, as well as European free agents coming over at an older age.
- I have chosen to leave retired players off the list, and lean toward players in the AHL rather than those deported (KHL, SEL, DEL, etc.).
Essentially I am choosing the best available players for a team to succeed in the current NHL season. All 30 teams will be covered, with grades assigned to forwards, defense and goaltending. After all 30 articles are written, they will be ranked in order. This series’ intent is to reward or shame NHL scouts.
Categories: 30 Team Series, NHLHS Features, Restoring the Rosters Tags: Aaron Johnson, Alex Picard, Andrew Murray, Dan Fritsche, Dan LaCosta, Derek Dorsett, Derick Brassard, Gilbert Brule, Jakub Voracek, Jared Boll, John Moore, Ken Hitchcock, Kris Russell, Maksim Mayorov, Marc Methot, Nikita Filatov, Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, Pascal Leclaire, Rick Nash, Rostislav Klesla, Steve Mason, Tim Jackman, Tom Sestito
Columbus Finally Making a Move?
Tom Reed of The Columbus Dispatch recently reported that Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson will shake things up soon in an attempt to send a message to his team. Considered a strong team with room for improvement following their first playoff berth, the young team struggled and currently sit in 14th in the Western Conference, just one point above cellar dweller the Edmonton Oilers.
The difference between the Oilers and Blue Jackets however are injuries. The Oilers lost their number one goalie and arguably their number one scorer, if not for the breakout year of Dustin Penner and admirable job by Jeff Deslauriers thinks could be even worse in the province of Alberta.
The Blue Jackets’ problems prove not as simple. A sophomore slump from Derick Brassard and Steve Mason severely hurt their chances, as well as the deportation of Nikita Filatov. Couple those problems with the injury to top defenseman Rostislav Klesla and the Jackets lost key components to last year’s playoff team.
Nevertheless, Howson stayed the course admitting he would not make any panic moves. At this point a move seems too late. Recent rumblings around Twitter point to Karl Alzner moving to Columbus.
Categories: By Teams, Central, Columbus Blue Jackets, Eastern Conference, Southeast, Washington Capitals, Western Conference Tags: Anton Stralman, Columbus Blue Jackets, Derick Brassard, Fedor Tyutin, Jeff Deslauriers, Karl Alzner, Kris Russell, Mike Commodore, Rostislav Klesla, Scott Howson, Steve Mason
What’s Eating Steve Mason?
Has the ghost of Jim Carey come to haunt last year’s Calder Trophy winner?
Say it isn’t so!
For those unfamiliar, Carey was a star NHL netminder in Washington for two brilliant seasons in the mid-90s, before being traded and subsequently fading into hockey obscurity faster than you can say….uh…er…Jim Carey.
Speaking for Canadian hockey fans everywhere, there were visions of greatness for the lad from Oakville, Ontario as he ascended the stage last June at the NHL awards ceremony to accept his trophy. With a humbling level of modesty and graciousness, he bowed to Tim Thomas in the Vezina race but we all believed that one day his day would come.
Could the script have been written more perfectly?
As a Canadian kid with a stellar hockey pedigree he dominated and won gold at the 2008 WJC. He started last season in Syracuse recovering from off-season knee surgery, logically it would take a year in the minors for development and tuning. However, a month into the season and after only a few minor league starts, he got the call to Columbus due to Pascal Leclaire injuring his ankle.
After winning his first NHL game, he went on to get his first NHL shutout several games later. Through November and December Mason played brilliantly, winning Rookie-of-the Month honour for both months. The wins and shutouts began piling up and Leclaire, having returned from injury, had a front row seat from the bench. Coach Ken Hitchcock rode the hot hand through the season and Mason’s hand never cooled down. In March ’09 GM Scott Howson traded the injury prone Leclaire to Ottawa, confident that their goalie of the future was in fact their goalie of the present.
How could this fine specimen of a goaltender NOT be the real deal?
Categories: 30 Team Series, Around the League Tags: Henrik Lundqvist, Jim Carey, Ken Hitchcock, Marc Andre Fleury, Martin Brodeur, Niklas Backstrom, Pascal Leclaire, Roberto Luongo, Scott Howson, Steve Mason, Steve Yzerman, Tim Thomas
