By Alexander Monaghan
President

On Tuesday night, the Colorado Avalanche came into their away game against the Vancouver Canucks with a game plan. After diligently researching their opponent, they determined that playing a physical game will throw the defending Western Conference Champions off their game; after all, the ‘Nucks did seem somewhat out of sorts against the Boston Bruins when tested physically last Spring.

The Avs generally play an up-tempo game, reliant on their top two lines to provide adequate scoring. However, with Paul Stastny sidelined, they decided to alter their game plan in order to stay in the game. At least that was their original thought process.

By contrast, the result was terrible on both ends of the ice. The Avs were unable to solve both Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider en route to an embarrassing 6-0 loss. Perhaps more embarrassing than their performance was their actual conduct which included an absolutely brutal knee-on-knee hit by spare part Kevin Porter.

If you missed the play, let’s take a look at the video and exactly why Porter was suspended:

As far as Porter goes, you probably have to feel for the guy. He’s played in only 14 of the team’s 29 games and has only one goal to his name. The former Hobey Baker Award winner came through the ranks as a scoring line player but has been relegated to the fourth line or press box all season. Forced to adjust his game, the 25-year-old felt like he needed to make an impact and play the body.

But when David Booth was able to evade his hit, the Detroit native stuck out his knee in order to get a piece of the shifty winger. The rest is history — a dirty play, suspension-worthy and most likely debilitating to Porter’s future with the club. Porter is not a checking line player and playing out of his element clearly caught up to him.

Causing an injury also forced NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan‘s hand in making a decision. Politically, Shanny had to do something when considering the Canuck’s outrage and the injury caused on the play. Like it or not, Vancouver is a big draw for the NHL and bringing the Cup back to Canada would be a great thing for the sport.

By contrast, the Avs are in a tweener phase after finishing with the second-worst record in the League last year. Towards the end of the last season, the Denver Post didn’t even bother sending their reporters out on road games! Suspending a player like Porter is the popular decision, the right call and most importantly a move that won’t make him look bad.

When Shanahan chose not to suspend Milan Lucic for his now-infamous running of Ryan Miller by Milan Lucic, he put doubts in all of our minds. While running a goaltender is not the major crisis that Lindy Ruff and Darcy Regier created, it was a controversial hit that injured another player. However, Shanahan would be suspending a poster boy of the current Stanley Cup Champions for playing within the current rule book. In short, he was in a no-win situation as his call, or non-call, set off whispers around the League.

Giving Porter four games is a victimless crime. It actually creates a benefiriciary in rookie Brad Malone and gives Booth and the Canucks some closure after the injury. Furthermore, it probably teaches the Avs to play their game. Or at least to play proper goons like Patrick Bordeleau and Cody McLeod when they decide to muck it up.

By Alexander Monaghan
President 

By Matt Boulton from Vancouver, Canada

…but they really should.

Roberto Luongo will have 10 years left on his contract after this season with an annual cap hit of $5.33 million. The 32-year-0ld is just a season removed from being a Vezina Trophy finalist, but none of that matters now.

During last season’s Stanley Cup Finals, he looked spooked and at times couldn’t track the puck. Much like the Olympics — another platform he was highly scrutinized — Bobby Lu fought off the puck, leading his doubters to pile on the jeers. The veteran was slumping, and continued to slump in this season’s early going, while his backup. Cory Schneider, simply looked much better. Something needs to be done, and, in theory, the worse goalie needs to go.

That exact thought process is why Ek****-esque rumor monger Bruce Garrioch of The Ottawa Sun claims the Vancouver Canucks have dangled their longtime goaler. While we agree that it would be proper asset management to get rid of such an expensive player when Schneider can handle the job at a much cheaper rate, it would also be poor asset management to give away an elite player for close to nothing.

In his 11th season as a starting goalie, the Montreal native is on pace for his second-worst career GAA with a 2.90 not to mention he could post a sub-.900 save percentage for the first time in his NHL career. Nevertheless, he will not finish with those totals, or anything worse than those for that matter.

This season, Luongo was especially bad in October — a month in which he is typically awful. This October, he posted an atrocious 3.54 GAA and .869 SV%, but still only finished the month with an even 3-3-1 record. Keep in mind he kept this team in the game without Ryan Kesler, Mason Raymond, and an otherwise awake hockey team. If the Boston Bruins had a hangover, then the Canucks were on life support with an IV in their arm. They were as close to lifeless as you could get, which led to an all-time low by Luongo.

By Iwona Erskine-Kellie from Vancouver, Canada

Since then, however, Bobby Lu has been just fine. He lost only two starts in November — with a tidy 2.30/.924 — before getting hurt, and only allowed one goal over his last two starts. He’s allowed three goals only twice over his last seven starts which started once the dreaded ‘O’ month ended.

Right now, the Canucks are back in a familiar situation. They have one of the better goalies in the League and arguably the best backup. While it’s fun to speculate whether he will go to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Vincent Lecavalier or to the New Jersey Devils as the heir apparent to Martin Brodeur, it simply does not make sense for the ‘Nucks to trade away a core member of their team while they attempt to win the League’s highest prize.

Luongo is on the upswing and with a miraculous run could challenge yet again for the Vezina Trophy. However, he will need to overcome injury concerns that knocked him out for six games last month and most recently the team’s 6-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche. Such concerns could keep both Luongo and Schneider in Green and Blue for the foreseeable future in order to ensure the team has a top-notch netminder in their crease at all times.

So yes, expect these trade rumors to continue in vein. In fact, Garrioch hedged his statement  and later tried to explain that Schneider would indeed be on his way out of British Columbia. While that may be a situation that eventually plays out (likely not this season), this one-two combination is simply carrying this team back to the top of the standings.

The Canucks are a fully working being at this point and GM Mike Gillis would be foolish to do anything but add to the NHL team, not subtract. Even though the Sedin twins may be the brain and Kesler is the heart, stable goaltending is the backbone of this club, and without it they simply will not survive.

Simply put, an asset is an entity which holds value, and a liability is risk or something which diminishes the value of an entity.

Since we are entering the holiday season, let’s explore an example of attrition from a favorite holiday movie in the Powell household, 1954’s “White Christmas.” One of the key elements of the film deals with retired General Waverly’s (played brilliantly by Dean Jagger, I might add) inability to accept his current role in society as a bed & breakfast owner/proprietor as he still fancies his heroic days on the battlefields during World War II. Towards the end of the film, two of his former infantrymen, Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby) and Phil Davis (Danny Kaye, who has a colorful nickname in another Powell family favorite, “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”) gather the men of the General’s former unit for a surprise dinner show on Christmas Eve. The General realizes his positive impact on the lives of his unit, and he begins to accept that he has made his mark, and that it is time for him to enjoy the rest of his life. In real life (and in fiction), people can overvalue their assets to the point that depreciation sneaks up on them, and they suddenly realize that they actually hold a liability.

In the NHL, one of the greatest assets is a stud, veteran goaltender with a young, sharp apprentice waiting in the wings. With respect to assets and liabilities, the team needs to play their cards correctly in regards to developing the youngster versus understanding when the veteran has peaked. Eventually, the youngster will need to be utilized as a chip to acquire a missing piece for a deep Stanley Cup playoff run, or the veteran will need to go in favor of the youngster as the club gains the salary cap flexibility to add new pieces.

Currently, the Vancouver Canucks are dealing with this very situation. Olympic gold medal winner Roberto Luongo (32) has been unable to produce in the playoffs, and Cory Schneider (25) has been a subject of interest of other clubs over the last couple years.
The Canucks are one of five teams that are on pace to spend over the $64.3 million cap set for the 2011-2012 (long term injury reserve exceptions are keeping all five teams cap compliant). Swedish twins, Henrik and Daniel Sedin, eat up $6.1 million each against the salary cap. As the faces (or face since it can be difficult to tell them apart) of the franchise, the Sedins will, in all likelihood, remain in Vancouver for the remainder of their respective contracts (through 2013-2014 season). The next highest cap hit ($5.333 million through the spring of 2022) on the team belongs to beleaguered goaltender Roberto Luongo. To complicate matters for Canucks’ management, Cory Schneider’s contract at $900,000 ends after the spring of 2012. Clearly, D Day is coming.

This season, Luongo holds a 7-5 mark with a 2.97 goals against average and an eyebrow-raising .896 save percentage. He has played better in November (.924 save %) than in October (.869 save %). He suffered what the club terms an “upper body injury” and his status is “day-to-day.” Is this Schneider’s opportunity to prove that the club should extend him? The youngster has struggled of late, posting a dismal .865 save % in three November games. For the season, he holds a 2-4 record with a 2.76 goals against average. If Luongo is unable to play for an extended period of time, Schneider’s shot at shining in the eyes of the Vancouver faithful and Canucks’ management has begun.

If Schneider flops, the decision for the rest of this season becomes obvious: stay with Luongo. With that stated, a diminished trade value for Schneider may not be the best case scenario for the Canucks. If Schneider excels, however; then the immediate decision becomes cloudier, but the Canucks may be able to maximize the return for either Luongo or Schneider in that scenario. In that murky scenario, who goes?

On one hand, Luongo has struggled in his last two playoff runs, particularly last season’s meltdown in Boston in the Stanley Cup Final. Conversely, Schneider has played well in spot duty but has not been a consistent performer (mostly due to lack of opportunity).
The bottom line may be the return. In addition to Luongo’s dismal road performances in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, the Canucks’ defensemen did not play well against the Bruins. Ryan Kesler’s injury didn’t help matters, either. Given that most of the Canucks’ depth forwards and two of their top six defensemen are scheduled for free agency by the end of the 2013 campaign, the Canucks will need to re-build with a young second line forward or a budding star defenseman.

Since the Canucks’ immediate window of opportunity may close in two years, the wise move may be to keep the veteran Luongo in hopes that his skills will not wane to the point that he would be virtually untradeable in two years. If Luongo can fetch the Canucks’ a more significant return, and if Schneider is playing well, however; then Canucks’ management may have to give serious consideration to dealing Luongo by this season’s trade deadline. If the Canucks keep both goaltenders through the end of the season, they would run the risk of being unable to trade Luongo for a fair return, especially if he were to struggle again in the playoffs. Moreover, Schneider is unlikely to re-sign with the Canucks for $900,000. Rather, he figures to find a job as a starting goaltender with another team on a lucrative multi-year deal. At any rate, D Day for the Canucks will come later this season.

By Alexander Monaghan
President

UPDATE: According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, via Twitter, Rome will not be suspended for the play. The League felt that the penalty on the ice was sufficient for the actions taken. Only 18 percent of our voters agreed they should not have been a suspension on the play. Guess we can’t all get them right…

* * *

Earlier tonight Aaron Rome received a five-minute major and 10 minute misconduct when he elbowed Devante Smith-Pelly of the Anaheim Ducks. The Vancouver Canuck defenseman landed yet another controversial hit at the 11:04 marker of the second period after catching the Ducks rookie in the head with an errant forearm.

Let’s check out the hit:

While not identical to his open ice hit on Nathan Horton, Rome is a repeat offender which should garner a second look from NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan. One can only expect he gets a similar suspension to Andy Sutton for a direct shot to the head.

What do you think the punishment should be? We urge you to take the vote below:

Let’s leave the “What’s wrong with the Detroit Red Wings?” question at the door right now before we even start. That’s another article completely.

Many Red Wings fans were given good news on Halloween when the turned on their computers and went online and/or opened up the sports section of a newspaper and saw that Ken Holland worked his magic again:

Niklas Kronwall remains a Red Wings defenseman for seven more years.

And why wouldn’t he? He was given the title of “Alternate Captain” this season, swapping out with Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. The Red Wings need that physical kind of force on their ranks, and keeping Kronwall around is a smart move. Plus, with Nicklas Lidstrom on his way out at some point in the future, the team needs some defensemen on which they can rely and not have to worry about re-signing every other year.

Kronwall signed for seven years, $33.25 million; at thirty years of age, this lengthy contract pretty much guarantees he’ll be wearing a Winged Wheel for his entire career, unless otherwise traded. His contract gets a little tricky. The salary cap hit will be $4.75 million, but the breakdown is more intricate than that (naturally).

2012-13 sees him making $4.25 million. The following three seasons, he ears $6 million, then $5.5 million in 2016-17, and the last two years of his contract will be $3.5 million and $1.75million.

Kronwall will earn $4.25 million in 2012-13 and $6 million in each of the next three seasons. He’ll make $5.5 million in 2016-17 and $3.5 million and $1.75 million, respectively, the final two years of the deal.

With a cap hit of $4.25 million, it puts him in the same ranks as Chris Pronger, Kevin Bieksa, Mike Komisarek, Dan Hamhuis, Jack Johnson, and Tomas Kaberle, to name only a handful.

So how does Niklas Kronwall compare statistically with these other defensemen?

Firstly, he’s always been fairly prone to lengthy injuries (one to two months of the season); the 2008-2009 season only saw him missing two games and getting 51 points and 50 PIMs. 2010-11, he only missed five games and hit 47 points and 36 PIMs. Twelve games into the season, he has two goals and two assists, though let’s not forget the Red Wings went through a six-game slump of only scoring six goals total.

Now let’s compare these stats to some of the previously mentioned defensemen. Kronwall’s stats are fairly similar to Pronger’s, if you can believe it. However, Pronger has come close in several recent seasons to hitting sixty points whereas Kronwall still struggles to hit fifty. Last season, Pronger only played fifty games, but still scraped up 25 points, almost identical to Kronwall’s 48 game, 22-point season.

Against a player like Bieksa, Kronwall has more offensive output (and a lot fewer penalties), with Bieksa’s highest offensive season coming in 2008-9 with 43 points. The same goes with comparing him to Komisarek and Hamhuis.

Kronwall is also pretty identical to Jack Johnson, both in offensive output and penalties. They both get around 35 to 45 points per season and hit somewhere around 40 PIMS.

His comparison to Kaberle is very similar to that of Pronger. Kaberle hits anywhere between forty and sixty points per season while keeping his penalties to a minumum. One thing is for sure, Kaberle really hasn’t missed a majority of a season like Kronwall has in the past. But if the Swede can stay healthy and aggressive, anything is possible.

Now after comparing all of these stats, would you find it strange to compare Kronwall’s output to Pronger’s output? People usually rank Pronger up there with Lidstrom, Zdeno Chara, and Shea Weber, but Kronwall gets lost in the mix, and is usually only known for his bone-crunching hits. Well, it all started from the scouting level…

As Hakan Andersson, the director of European scouting for the Red Wings, once said, “I know one scout who tried to bring up Niklas Kronwall’s name with his team. They just laughed at him. They never even had a serious dialogue. They just stopped him. They said ‘a 5-11 Swedish defenceman?’ [The Red Wings] organization is more open-minded than that.”

But the Red Wings like their players to be under the radar and overlooked.

Christina Roberts
NHLHS Detroit Red Wings Correspondent
Twitter: @franzenmuth
Email: christina.roberts@nhlhotstove.com

Patrick Powell
Salary Cap Analyst 

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File: David_Booth.jpg

In analyzing this deal , the proverbial “elephant in the room” is the disparity in age and potential upside of the players involved. Booth is 26, Reinprecht is 35, Samuelsson is 34, and Sturm is 33. The latter two seem on the downsides of their respective careers whereas Reinprecht, who has probably peaked as well, will remain dead weight in the AHL. Booth clearly has the highest potential of any player in the deal, but he arguably also carries the greatest health risk due to his 54 game campaign in 2009-2010 after suffering multiple concussions.

Reinprecht had been playing in the AHL, and recently reported to Vancouver’s AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. As a result, his full season cap hit of $2.05 million will not adversely affect the Canucks, who are now within $87,000 of the cap. Booth carries a full year cap hit of $4.25 million versus $2.5 million for Samuelsson and $2.25 million for Sturm.

The Panthers still have over $9 million in salary cap space, and they now have the maximum of 23 players on their active roster. GM Dale Tallon added experience to a young roster with this move but moreover cleared future cap space. He was not afraid to make a move that sends away potential in return for flexibility, which begs the question: Will we see more deals like this?

Booth is currently signed through 2015 as he previously committed himself to the Panthers just one season before Tallon took over the team. He was traded before his production severely dropped off, which makes the deal somewhat unique. A similar deal in length, like Shawn Horcoff‘s pact with the Edmonton Oilers, certainly would not relate since the pivot lost most of his trade value when he signed his new deal. The same should be said for Scott Gomez, whose contract extends through 2014 but is already the most discussed topic in Montreal.

A similar deal to the Booth trade could be the Calgary Flames moving players like Curtis Glencross, Rene Bourque or less likely Olli Jokinen, David Moss and Niklas Hagman. GM Jay Feaster would be willing to sacrifice potential (let’s face it outside of Roman Horak, Mikael Backlund and T.J. Brodie there are no young options) for added salary flexibility for the future. Building around their younger players looks like the right way to go as the front office in Calgary finally understands cap efficiency.

Another interesting option is left wing Blake Comeau, who may have permanently found coach Jack Capuano’s doghouse. The former 47th overall pick scored more than Booth last season and as Chris Botta of The New York Times hinted, via Twitter, Comeau’s value is severely decreasing with decreased playing time. This scenario may perfectly mirror that of Booth’s as Comeau could help a contender in need of secondary scoring while preventing GM Garth Snow from investing further resources on a depreciating asset down the line.

The next option for another blockbuster could involve the currently held out Kyle Turris. We know he wants to be traded and GM Don Maloney may be forced to trade him at below his market value in order to get some usable assets for him this season. Furthermore, his subtraction would clear salary cap space for the future as the team would not have to pay him in excess of $4 million this year and likely more down the road — especially when considering his unproven talents.

Then again, the Panthers and Canucks could hook up once more. In fact, one would be foolish to rule out Mikael Samuelsson getting sent back to Vancouver once healthy as he did work in coach Alain Vigneault‘s system. Of course, this trade would not be the second, or the third even between these teams in recent years.

This deal marks the second blockbuster involving these clubs but fourth transaction in recent memory. In 2006, the Canucks acquired starting goalie Roberto Luongo, defenseman Lukas Krajicek, and sixth round draft choice (Canucks drafted Sergei Shirokov) in exchange for forward Todd Bertuzzi, goaltender Alex Auld, and defenseman Bryan Allen. Other players like Keith Ballard, Michael Grabner and Christopher Higgins have also switched jerseys over the last couple of seasons.

As Bill pointed out in his piece, Tallon sought to send a message to his young Panthers’ club with this move: you need to perform to stay. Will this message reverberate to other teams in the league? For example, the Blue Jackets (0-7-1) Sharks (3-3-0), Flames (2-4-1), Canadiens (1-4-2), and Bruins (3-5-0) have all performed below expectations in the early going. Players with these teams, particularly those earning over $4 million per season, may feel the heat from Tallon’s move. Perhaps GMs from these teams will ensure to cite David Booth as an example to demonstrate that subpar efforts will not be tolerated, and that no player is safe.

Alexander Monaghan also contributed to this article.

By Bill Whitehead

SUNRISE, Fla. — No one can ever accuse Florida Panthers general manager Dale Tallon of doing things in a small way.

Tallon, who pulled the strings on the biggest makeover in club history in the summer, rocked everyone once again Saturday night by trading away fan favorite David Booth to the Vancouver Canucks just before the puck dropped on the Panthers’ game with the New York Islanders at BankAtlantic Center.

Also being shipped to the Canucks was center Steven Reinprecht and a 2013 third-round draft pick, which actually came from Vancouver last year in a trade that sent left winger Chris Higgins to the Canucks. In return, the Panthers received veteran forwards Mikael Samuelsson and Marco Sturm. Samuelsson, a Stanley Cup winner with Detroit, was a member of the Panthers during the 2003-2004 season,

Speaking to the media 10 minutes before the game, Tallon said he was trying to do two things — increase production and send a message to the team.

“A lot of things come in to play, but we’re in the performance business. We’re not happy with our team’s performance in the last two games, and we weren’t going to let this fester. I wanted to send a message and we wanted to get better,” said Tallon, whose club was blanked at Washington on Tuesday and at home Thursday by Buffalo.

“You better play to your capabilities. I don’t care who you are, you’ve got to perform. I’m not going to sit back and watch two performances like the last two games.”

From a performance-standpoint, the struggling Booth was an obvious choice as anyone. The 26-year-old was scoreless and a minus-6 in six games this year and a team-worst minus-31 last season. He didn’t tally a point in Florida’s 7-4 win over Tampa Bay Monday when seemingly everyone scored. The trade came almost two years to the day of the former Michigan State standout receiving a concussion after a vicious hit by then-Philadelphia Flyer Mike Richards.

“If you don’t perform, there’s a good chance you’re not going to stay here,” added Tallon. “I just had a feeling on what I’d seen in the last year that we needed to make a move to make our team better. We needed some stability in the organization and on the ice. (Samuelsson and Sturm) are guys with good hockey sense. They’re both plus hockey players who play both ways and can contribute offensively.”

Tallon added that he didn’t expect visa problems with Samuelsson and Sturm. The Panthers play Monday in Montreal and Thursday in Ottawa before heading to Buffalo on Saturday. The two players will meet the Panthers in Montreal.

Booth was in the second year of a six-year, $25.5 million contract while Reinprecht was loaned to a club in Germany last year. The team learned of the trade shortly before the game, and it appeared to affect them early as the Islanders scored just 61 seconds into the game.

Center Stephen Weiss, who stole the puck from Evgeni Nabokov to set up Florida’s first goal by Kris Versteeg, is in his tenth season with the Panthers and watched Booth debut with the club in 2006.

“I didn’t get a chance to see him,” Weiss said. “I came in after warmup and he was gone. That’s the worst part. He’s gone and you don’t get the chance to wish him luck. It happened so quickly as we were going on to the ice that it really hasn’t sunk in. I had forgotten about it until I came in (to the dressing room). It’ll sink in the next couple of days when he’s not around the room. You never want to see it happen to your teammates, but life goes on.”

Florida coach Kevin Dineen said the timing of the trade, which Tallon admitted had been in the works for a week, was difficult.

“For me, to have it happen late in the day is hard on David, hard on us because we’re losing a guy that’s been here for so long and has a good body of work he’s put in. He’s an emotional kid whose heart is always in the right place,” said Dineen of Booth, who scored 87 goals in 309 game for the Panthers.

Oh by the way, there was a game. With the help of Shawn Matthias’s three-point game, Florida defeated the Islanders 4-2 to snap that nasty two-game losing streak, improving the Panthers’ record to 4-3-0.

Message sent and received.

By Bill Whitehead
NHLHS Florida Panthers Credentialed Correspondent
Twitter: @BillWhiteheadFL
Email: BillWhiteheadFL@hotmail.com

By Alexander Monaghan
President

“]

By Orlandkurtenbach (Own work) [Public domain

Then came the surgery.

Kesler went under the knife on July 25th, going through a successful hip labral surgery. Typically a surgery of this nature keeps a hockey player out of the lineup for at least two months in the best-case scenario. The last time he had this specific surgery, he missed 72 days and likely rushed back into the lineup — those numbers would have had him back in the lineup by October 6th, able to make the team’s season opener when his Vancouver Canucks hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Yet here we are, 11 days later and Kesler is coming back, perhaps stronger than his initial return. The Canucks have not dominated due to rusty play from Roberto Luongo and all the pieces just not fitting together the same as they did last season, when the team captured the President’s Trophy. They likely are banking on the return of their second line center making those pieces fall into place.

Today, Kesler centered the second line with speedy winger Christopher Higgins playing on his left wing and his replacement Cody Hodgson finding his way onto the right side. Should Kesler not be able to take draws or need a boost, Hodgson will quickly return to his former position and help him out there. The risk statistically is relatively minimal. The only player to draw out of the lineup is dud-of-the-week Marco Sturm. The move pushes Mikael Samuelsson down to the third line with Manny Malhotra and Jannik Hansen which adds depth and scoring to the bottom lines. In theory, these roster moves and line changes should work, but they certainly come with a risk.

Yesterday, the Ohio native skated without his teammates. He skated for nearly an entire practice by himself and has yet to practice with a line until, of course, today. Yesterday he was not 100 percent, but today, apparently he miraculously recovered. Tell me if these quotes sound like he fully healed. From The White Towel:

“Obviously, I’m a competitive guy and I don’t like to see the team lose,” said Kesler. “You think about coming back sooner, but it wouldn’t be smart for me. I have to keep reminding myself to be patient and let my hip and body tell me when I’m ready and not my mind and my heart.

“It’s smart for me to take my time now and let everything heal. I’m not a guy who plays on the perimeter, I want to get in there and battle. I’m getting closer but obviously I still feel it [hip] at times out there — just certain movements I don’t feel comfortable doing yet. I’m not going to come back until I feel comfortable or I’m 100 per cent.”

So Kesler returns tomorrow, just two days after those quotes, to face the New York Rangers — the team that led the League in hits last season. He will either play a perimeter game (doubtful) or give the team everything he has. If it is the latter, one would have to wonder the long-term effect of his play, and the team’s play for that matter.

Considering they have gotten off to a somewhat sluggish start, which is sub-standard when compared to their expectations, they simply cannot afford to lose him for a significant part of the season. He was expected to be out until November — a total of 11 games, roughly 13 percent of the season — but now will only miss five, or 6 percent.

Is winning a few games today worth losing again when it matters? That question is one the team will answer over the course of the season. If they are smart they will give him some practices off, perhaps even rest him on back-to-back nights. None of that sounds very Kesler to me and the only way he will get his timing back is game action and practice.

The team is clearly toeing a very fine line by rushing him back into the lineup. So, as usual, we leave you with a question:

By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove Managing Editor

The Philadelphia Flyers were able to hold off the Vancouver Canucks, 5-4, in a wild home-opener at the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday night.  It was a see-saw affair, where Philadelphia built an early lead and looked as though they might run away with the game, only to see Vancouver come back time and time again.

Meszaros celebrates game-winning goal in the third period. (Photo by Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)

The Flyers had brandished a lethal power play in the preseason, but had managed just one man advantage marker in 12 opportunities in the first two contests of the regular season.  That all changed in the first period tonight, as Philadelphia used the power play to build a 2-0 lead.

Claude Giroux opened the scoring at the 7:14 mark, when Chris Pronger’s shot around the boards hit a stanchion and popped right to Giroux, who was alone in the slot.  He was able to snap a quick shot past a surprised Roberto Luongo for a 1-0 Flyers lead.

“It hit the partition and came back right in the front and it caught me by surprise obviously,” Luongo said after the game.  ”I wasn’t exactly sure what he (Giroux) was going to do with it, and I was caught leaning.”

Just under five minutes later and on the fourth Philadelphia PP of the evening, Pronger would do the honors on the second goal.  With Wayne Simmonds stationed directly in front of Luongo, Pronger’s blueline drive sailed right past the screened Vancouver netminder.  That made it 2-0 at 12:12 of the opening period.

The Canucks would use a man advantage of their own to get on the board, as Mikael Samuelsson was able to put a backhander on a rebound past Ilya Bryzgalov to cut the deficit to 2-1 with 3:25 remaining in the first.

The Flyers would restore their two-goal lead a little over a minute later, as James van Riemsdyk pounced on a rebound and flipped it over a fallen Luongo to make it 3-1 at 17:48.

Philadelphia used the PP to outshoot Vancouver 14-9 in the first, but the Canucks would carry play for much of the middle frame; as well as the remainder of the contest.

Henrik Sedin brought the visitors back to within one at 6:41 of the second.  The Flyers defense had all kinds of trouble with trying to clear a bouncing puck, and it ended up on Henrik’s stick in close at the edge of the left circle.  He made no mistake in putting a shot over Bryzgalov to make it a 3-2 contest.

Just tw0 minutes later, Philly was able to add to that lead again.  Jakub Voracek took a pass from Sean Couturier at the left circle and ripped a wrister over Luongo’s shoulder for a 4-2 lead with 11:28 left in the second.  It was Voracek’s second goal of the year, and the assist was Couturier’s first NHL point.

But Vancouver was buzzing, and Chris Higgins was able to sneak a rebound past Bryzgalov as the Canucks swarmed the Flyers cage to bring Vancouver to within one again at 4-3 heading late in the period.

Jaromir Jagr came close to giving the Flyers some breathing room in the final 20 seconds, but Luongo made a spectacular glove save to keep the Canucks within striking distance heading into the third.

Vancouver had two PPs in the first period and none in the second, but it was a steady Orange-and-Black parade to the sin bin in the final stanza.  Five Philly penalties gave a dangerous Canucks man advantage unit all kinds of time with which to work in the third.  Vancouver furthered the momentum they had gained by outshooting the Flyers 14-6 in the second by sending 17 more shots Bryzgalov’s direction in the third, as the five Flyer minors tilted the ice in the Canucks favor.

“Yeah, five power plays in the third is going to give them a lot of momentum,” Pronger said after the game.  ”In the first we had our fair share of power plays, then in the second period we got a little lax and started turning the puck over.  It gave them some momentum, and it carried over into the third.”

“You look at their power play and it’s scary good out there,” Pronger said of Vancouver’s unit.  ”They’ve all been together, some of them since birth (said while smiling with an obvious reference to the Sedin twins).”

Peter Laviolette agreed about the danger of giving a team like the Canucks that many chances with a man advantage, but was encouraged by the play of his penalty killers.   “I think that the penalty killers, they did a good job,” the coach said.  ”That’s a talented unit.  Both units are talented for Vancouver, but especially their first unit.  You go to the box consistently like that, you’re rolling the dice.”

After van Riemsdyk was denied a scoring chance on a partial breakaway when he was hooked from behind but no call was forthcoming, he said something that he said was not directed at the referee.  ”There was a little bit of a misunderstanding there,” the winger said of his outburst being mistaken as something said of the officiating.

He was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and it led to Daniel Sedin roofing a wicked angle shot over Bryzgalov’s shoulder and under the crossbar from just inside the left goal line to tie the game at 4-4 at the 3:39 mark.

After acknowledging that it was a stupid penalty and he is keeping his mouth shut from now on, van Riemsdyk was asked what he had said.  ”We won’t get into that,” he laughed, obviously relieved the team was able to pull out a big win.

The triumph was made possible by defenseman Andrej Meszaros, who took a perfect feed from Danny Briere to net the game-winner.  Briere made a nice move at the blueline to get some open space at the top of the right faceoff circle, then stopped and spotted Meszaros cruising down the slot.  Briere put a pass right on the tape, and the defenseman ripped a shot over Luongo’s glove hand and into the top corner at 4:40.

That was all Bryzgalov would need, although the penalties made for a good amount of Vancouver chances through the rest of regulation time.

Bryzgalov ended the night with 36 saves, many of the tough variety.  ”They have very good, skilled players, and when they put in on the power plays, especially when there are a lot, they create some chances and they have some chances to score a goal,” the first year Fyers goalie said.  ”I think we’re lucky that we were able to kill that many penalties in the third period.”

When asked if he thought Vancouver’s style of play caused his team to take too many penalties, Laviolette was very clear.  “I don’t think so,” he said.  ”A lot of those penalties were a creation of our own judgment on what we did.  I don’t necessarily think that what they did factored into any of it.”  

While Laviolette said his squad needs to exercise better discipline, he did find positives.  Including his goaltender.  ”The penalty kill was one, our resiliency was another, protecting the lead in the third.  Bryz got a heavier workload tonight than he had in the pervious two games and I thought that he mastered, so there were some positives to take from that.”

Taking a Flyer:  The Flyers record in home openers is now 26-12-6, and they have won their last three, as well as four of the last five.  The team is 10-4-2 in home openers since moving from the Spectrum to the building currently called Wells fargo Center…Earlier in the day, Phantoms winger Stefan Legein was traded to the Los Angeles Kings - along with a sixth-round draft pick in the 2012 draft – in exchange for future considerations.  The move brings the number of Flyers player contracts to 49, which allows the team to keep Couturier past the 11th game if the team so chooses.  That option would mean that the 18-year-old would be remaining with the club the rest of the season, as he is not eligible to be sent to Adirondack…Speaking of contracts and young players, the club is at the upper cap limit, and will still need to clear approximately $1.7 million if they want to recall forward Brayden Schenn from the Phantoms.  Just when it looked like he had made necessary roster moves, Holmgren had a bit of a curveball thrown at him when the League reversed the Montreal Canadiens waiver pickup of center Blair Betts when he failed a physical with the team and was sent back to Philadelphia…Tonight’s visit by the Canucks was the first to Philadelphia since a 3-0 shutout of the Orange-and-Black on December 3, 2009, a game which marked the final in John Stevens’ head coaching career with the Flyers.  Laviolette was named his successor the next day…The Flyers blocked 27 shots in the game; Kimmo Timonen had seven, Max Talbot five, and Giroux four.  The entire Vancouver team blocked nine shots on the night…Bryzgalov had a scoreless streak of 126:53 snapped on Samulesson’s first period goal…With the tremendous amount of PPs in the game, Couturier played 7:28 of his 17:45 TOI on the penalty kill…Talbot played 9:02 of his 16:12 on the PK…After having the first four PPs of the night, Vancouver ended up having more.  The Canucks were 2-7, Philadelphia was 2-5…The Canucks outshot the Flyers 40-27, including 33-13 over the final two periods…Philadelphia, which had struggled mightily in the faceoff circle in the first two games of the season, won more than half of their draws tonight (37-71) for their best percentage (52.2%) of the young campaign.  They won just 33.3% in Boston, and 40% against the Devils.  Briere led the way, winning 11-17 (64.7%)…Vancouver is still without star center Ryan Kesler, who is still recovering from off-season hip surgery.

If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter – @David_Strehle

By Kathryn Uggerholt

Throughout the NHL, team’s prospects are taking to the ice to show off their skill and try to battle for a spot on their respective team’s roster.  Things were no different for the Edmonton Oilers rookies when they faced off against the Vancouver Canucks prospects in a tilt in Penticton Sunday night in the first of three games in the Young Stars Tournament.  With six different goal scorers, the Oilers rookies trounced the Canucks rookies by a score of 7-2.

Though the score is impressive, a fight only 19 seconds into the final period shut down Colten Teubert for the remainder of the Young Stars Tournament.  With the Oilers up by six goals, Teubert dropped the gloves with Adam Polasek and “got his bell rung.”  Polasek TKO’ed Teubert with a big punch that broke the defenseman’s nose.

““I’m feeling pretty good right now, but with all the (focus on) concussions, we want to take the right route,” Teubert told the Edmonton Sun on Monday.

He will stay with the team for their remaining games but the player who wore the “C” on his jersey will be absent from play.

There is no reason to worry over how the squad will do in their remaining rookie games as the score easily reflected a skill that Edmonton fans can look forward to.  The team went 2-for-3 on the powerplay and killed off all three penalties they took themselves.

Canucks rookies opened the score at 9:09 of the first period but the Oilers answered with an unassisted goal from top-line winger Curtis Hamilton less than 40 seconds later to tie the game going into the second.

Offense exploded in the middle period with six goals, two coming on the powerplay.  Philippe Cornet put the Oilers ahead just over a minute in to set the tone for the period.  Anton Lander got his first power play goal at 9:13 before Martin Gernat beat David Honzik.  Lander got another goal with the man advantage and then Antti Tyrvainen made it 6-1 with a goal 44 seconds later.  Drew Czerwonka capped the scoring in the second period and for the game.

Goaltender Olivier Roy only faced 24 shots and let just two past him in 60 minutes of play while he watched Karel St. Laurent replace Honzik.  The two opposing goalies faced a combined 37 shots.

First overall pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins got his first point bearing an Oilers logo when he assisted on Tyrvainen’s goal in the second.

The Young Stars Tournament continues for the Oilers rookies tonight when they match up against rookies from the Winnipeg Jets.