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• Passing Thoughts

  Ok, just a few things that have been bouncing around in my head recently. 1.  Nikolai Kulemin is more deserving of the money Matt Stajan recieved than Matt Stajan is.  That being said, I’d offer him 2 years at $3.2 million and see if he bites.  If he goes for it, and continues to improve, he gets [...]

• Expert's Audit - Streit, no chaser

  Welcome once again to “An Expert’s Audit”.  This audit will be posted here as well as on my fantasy hockey blog at www.fantasyhockey.hockeyanalysis.com.  With the start of the baseball season this’ll be my last audit for a couple months as I concentrate on baseball audits for Dobberbaseball during the hockey offseason.   Jonny Bast and I actually [...]

• How Does Our First Line Stack Up?

  The Leafs top line trio of Bozak, Kulemin, and Kessel has been together for 17 games now, which is roughly one fifth of a full season.  Here is how the three of them have produced points in those 17 games: Kessel: 7G, 10A, -1, 67SOG Bozak: 4G, 8A, +4, 21SOG Kulemin: 7G, 6A, +5, 38SOG That’s 18 goals, 24 [...]

• Staying positive

  Well, it was an interesting week. The Sabres had their last 3 Western Conference games of the season. The first one against Dallas they won fairly handily 5-3, and the top-six forwards even provided some offense. The second against Minnesota was lost with goaltending. Patrick Lalime let in one so-so goal (he was screen [...]

• Michael Stone a cornerstone

  I caught a bit of the recent CHL action between the Saint John Sea Dogs vs. Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL) yesterday on Shaw Cable and was pleased earlier to catch most of the one-sided victory (8-1) for the Calgary Hitmen over the Red Deer Rebels. With all of the Calgary Hitmen success ( #1 in WHL with 107 [...]

• Sunday morning armchair

  i haven’t been able to post since the Olympics but i found this link this week and had to throw it down here.  enjoy.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8PfX4VS_Lo Antti Niemi is now the main goalie in Chicago but Cristobal Huet got the start against Philly.  the Hawks are going back to back and they want to run uncle Antti out [...]

• Youth In Full Effect

  How’s this grab you all as a stat line for the Leafs victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night? Luke Schenn: 1A, +3, 3 shots, 2 hits, 22:37 TOI Dion Phaneuf: even rating, 8 shots, 2 hits, 26:43 TOI Luca Caputi: 2A, +1, 3 hits, 16:10 TOI Carl Gunnarsson: +1, 2 hits, 22:46 TOI Nikolai Kulemin: 1A, even [...]

• Welcome To The Gunn Show

  Here’s a question for all the Leaf fans who promoted Ian White due to his “impressive” +/- rating of +1 through 56 games as a Leaf.  Does the fact that Carl Gunnarsson is now a +9 through only 27 games, while playing an average of 28.8 shifts per game, and 2:19 less per game than [...]

• Penalties Taken vs. Penalties Drawn and Nikolai Kulemin

  So here’s another area where Nikolai Kulemin does a lot of little things right.  He’s been compared on this blog to Alexei Ponikarovsky in the past, but obviously his awareness defensively, and his ability to move his feet in both the offensive defensive zones put him on a completely different level. According to Behind the Net’s [...]

• A couple of W's make me feel better

  The offense is still stumbling, but a pair of OT wins over the weekend make it feel like maybe the bottom ISN’T dropping out. Ryan Miller continues with his Olympian play…allowing only 5 goals in 3 games since the break. The team played A LOT better in front of him on Friday vs the Caps game. [...]

• Penalty Trouble in Philadelphia

  Ok, so Colton Orr serves a purpose on this team.  In the case of Toronto’s game against Ottawa on Saturday night, that purpose was to pound Matt Carkner’s face and help sway the game back in the Leafs favour after some chippy plays sent a few to the infirmary. Against Philadelphia on Sunday night, it appeared [...]

• Will Kopitar score 40?

  To call it a breakout season for Anze Kopitar would be a bit of an understatement. Most of us as Kings’ fans already knew that Kopi was one of the Western Conference - if not the NHL’s elite center-icemen. This season, Kopitar has showed up on the rest of the league’s radar for the first [...]

• Don't Panic

  The Kings’ return from the Olympic break started out nicely with a good thumping of Dallas, improving upon the Kings’ already stellar record in their own division. On that night, Jon Quick set a new record for victories in a single season by a King goaltender with 36. With the amount of remaining games, it’s [...]

• Sunday morning armchair

  Ian is away this weekend and I’ll be filling in for him with this week.  With the Olympics and trade deadline behind us, lets see how the break and trades affected the 20 teams in action last night. Malkin saw his 15 game point streak come to an end with the addition of Ponikarovsky (1G, -2, [...]

• Eastern Conference Playoff Race

  The Olympics are over and the trade deadline has come and gone without any hugely significant trades made on deadline day. With every teams rosters set I figured it was time to take a look at the remainder of the season and into the playoffs. Let’s start with the Eastern conference and next [...]

• Leafs Create Offensive Chances

  Phil Kessel might not be worth 4 draft picks.  The 4 draft picks Boston received in exchange for the Leafs sniper might never develop into meaningful talent at the NHL level.  At this point though, that’s all fairly irrelevant. What is relevant (or should be) to Leaf fans right now is that the Leafs are getting [...]

• Anemic offense spoils Miller's post-Olympic debut

  I can’t think of a game in recent years in which the Sabres have made me more angry than last nights game. HSBC arena was rockin’ at the start of the game with presentations of the various Western New York medal winners. It was classy to include Brooks Orpik and other team USA locals, while [...]

• Sabres aquire Torres, say good-bye to MacArthur,Paescht

  So, the Sabres actually made about as big a move as one could hope, aquiring Raffi Torres in a trade from Columbus for Nathan Paescht and a 2nd rounder. Then, in a cap-space clearing move, sent Clarke MacArthur to Atlanta for a 3rd and a 4th rounder. Good for you Darcy! Let’s face the facts, [...]

• Olympics In Rearview - Now On To Trade Deadline Day

  So the Olympics ended on a high note for Canada, but perhaps not so much for the Leafs top trio of Brian Burke, Ron Wilson, and Phil Kessel, who all represented the silver medalist United States.  What does that mean for Toronto? Well I’m relatively certain that Wilson and Burke have staved off the idiotic mainstream [...]

• The Home Stretch

  Before I resume the NHL talk, I just have to comment how thoroughly enjoyable the Olymipic hockey games were. Bettman and the NHL are idiots for even thinking of not shutting down the season again in 2014. The final game was a good one. Canada continued to appear the better team on the ice, but [...]

• Canada vs USA - My thoughts

  It doesn’t seem like anyone here is talking much about the Olympics, but with the exciting hockey that is being played, that seems a bit of a shame. Yesterday was a great day for international hockey, though undoubtably a diappointing one for Canadians. However, regardless of which side you were rooting for, there was [...]

• Thrashers to Winnipeg?

  bear in mind … i live in Winnipeg.  i moved here the summer the Jets left and i was only able to see 1 Jets game live before they actually left.  this is all still at the level of pure speculation but still the buzz is there. rumour is alive and well in the city of [...]

• Sunday morning armchair

  Trades made this week Jana traded Andy Greene for Tomas Fleischmann - when i did a team review i suggested that she trade Greene for Andy Stewart but she’s actually done better than that suggestion by making this deal.  she adds some pure offense for a D that was extra on her team anyway.  this is [...]

• Barker to Minnesota

  Cam Barker was traded to the Minnesota Wild for Kim Johnsson and Nick Leddy.  this trade benefits … everybody involved quite honestly. the Wild get a triggerman who’s better than anyone they have on the point on the PP.  i see a HUGE burst in stats for Barker over the final third and another big beneficiary [...]

• An Expert's Audit - Manhatten Supermen

  Welcome once again to “An Expert’s Audit”. This audit will be posted at www.dobberhockey.com as well as on my fantasy hockey blog at www.fantasyhockey.hockeyanalysis.com . I also do weekly reviews of teams for people who email in to me for a look-see. These audits will continue to appear here monthly and if you’re interested in having your [...]

• Sabres lose again - and don't look good doing it.

  The Sabres lost another one last night, making it five in a row at 9 out of the last 11 lost. I was at the game and have a few observations. - The Defensive play, which looked so sharp early in the season, has gotten really sloppy. Boston had way too many scoring chances. Miller made [...]

• Four Games In

  So the new look Leafs seem to be adjusting to life without Matt Stajan, Ian White, Nik Hagman, Jamal Mayers, Vesa Toskala, and Jason Blake reasonably well.  The additions of Dion Phaneuf, Fredrik Sjostrom, and J.S. Giguere seem to have blended in fairly seamlessly, and the lift in the team’s play seems reflective of the [...]

• One More Week…

  It will be only another three days before the Olympic torch enters BC Place and it will be exactly a week today when Canada will step onto the ice to show the world what they can really do after a devastating seventh place finish at Turin. The Games coincide with what has been traditionally the [...]

• Zus Leads Kings to Monster Comeback, 9th Straight Win

  When the first period ended at Staples Center yesterday, the score was Detroit 3, Los Angeles 0. It seemed as though the Kings’ 8 game win streak was about to come crashing to a halt at the hands of the Red Wings. However, this is a different Kings team than in years’ past. Maybe as [...]

• Sunday morning armchair

  in my work league i traded Scott Niedermayer and Dennis Wideman for Matt Carle and Tom Poti - ok, i know your first reaction is “you did WHAT?” but let me defend it.  i’m in 2nd place and the category i can move up in the most is +/- while generally my offense can’t be [...]