Battle of Alberta Postgame - The Solid Time of Change

Down at the end, round by the corner.
Close to the edge, just by a river.
Seasons will pass you by.
I get up, I get down.

Once again I'm stealing a page off of Lowetide by introducing my topic with lyrics from a song, but I think that passage from Yes' album 'Close to the Edge' gives a little insight into both last night's game and this season in general for both the Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers.

If there's one thing this season has done, it has brought the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, and yes, I get up, I get down.

For the Flames, I think this season has represented a step backwards. I don't think anyone can really argue this edition of the Flames is significantly better in any way than last year. I totally missed the boat when I predicted the end of the season for Edmonton, but I think I hit the nail right on the head when I predicted the end of the season for Calgary. They've been incredibly inconsistent, marking great games followed by brutal games, and brutal periods followed by absolutely fantastic periods (last Tuesday's game versus the Canucks in particular). Dion Phaneuf, Jarome Iginla, Robyn Regehr, Miikka Kipprusoff and Owen Nolan have played great over this final stretch. Phaneuf and Nolan in particular have been great in my eyes.

But this team just can't seem to be consistent. I've come to the same conclusion as Duncan, and MG; the Flames just aren't that good.

At the beginning of the season, a lot of fingers were pointed at Miikka Kipprusoff, and probably for good reason. But if you follow MG's blog at all, you can see his tracking of Miikka's SV%, and it has steadily improved, so I don't think you can point to that and claim that's why the Flames have been so average. I'm not sure you can even point to the top heavy leanings of this team, as Keenan barely even plays the 4th line most nights.

I don't know the reason, but the Flames just aren't that good.

Now, at the beginning of the year, if you'd have told me the Flames and Oilers would have an equal number of wins with only a handful of games remaining at the end of the year, I'd have called you an asshole and an idiot. (Why an asshole? Because I'm just that sort of person...). If you'd have told me they have done it while Stoll took two step backwards, Horcoff missed almost the entire second half of the season and Souray and Greene were replaced by Smid and Grebeshkov, well, I would've really thought you were stupid.

But here we are, and the unthinkable has happened. Watching the game last night, I couldn't help but think that these two teams are far closer in ability than most Calgary Flames fans are willing to admit. There were of course stretches w (especially in the second) where the Flames dominated, and that post at the end was pretty unlucky, but when you think about it, if Dwayne Roloson doesn't catch a pick in the ice, the game is even more out of hand. The one goal Calgary scored happened at least partly, and I would say mainly because Dwayne Roloson fell. Ouch.

And while the Oilers' have Souray's bloated contract to deal with, the vast majority of the team right now is young and cheap. Watching Fernando Pisani compete night after night I am convinced he is not overpaid, and I expect a lot of players for the Oilers will continue to get better; As an Oiler fan friend of mine said to me yesterday, there are some fun times ahead.

I think a lot of the difference between these two team's philosophies has to do with draft procurement. When you look down Calgary's roster, there aren't a lot of guys the Flames drafted. Dustin Boyd was drafted by the Calgary Flames in the 3rd round (98th overall) in 2004, Matthew Lombardi was drafted by the Calgary Flames in the 3rd round (90th overall) in 2002, Eric Nystrom was drafted by the Calgary Flames in the 1st round (10th overall) in 2002, finally, Dion Phaneuf was drafted by the Calgary Flames in the 1st round (9th overall) in 2003. David Moss was drafted by Calgary in 2001.

Take a look then at Edmonton's roster:
Kyle Brodziak - Drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the 7th round (214th overall) in 2003.
Andrew Cogliano - Drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the 1st round (25th overall) in 2005.
Sam Gagner - Drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the 1st round (6th overall) in 2007.
Ales Hemsky - Drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the 1st round (13th overall) in 2001.
Fernando Pisani - Drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the 8th round (195th overall) in 1996.
Marc Pouliot - Drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the 1st round (22nd overall) in 2003.
Jarret Stoll - Drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2nd round (36th overall) in 2002.
Zach Stortini - Drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the 3rd round (94th overall) in 2003.
Shawn Horcoff - Drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the 4th round (99th overall) in 1998.
Matt Greene - Drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2nd round (44th overall) in 2002.

To be fair, the Flames have identified a couple of other teams' draft picks early on; Jarome Iginla and Robyn Regehr were acquired before they had played a single NHL game. And part of the reason the Oilers have so many home grown picks playing on the roster is out of necessity.

When you look at home runs, Calgary arguably has the biggest, but Edmonton has scored a lot of triples (Hemsky, Horcoff), doubles (Pisani, Stoll), singles (Greene, Stortini) and a few guys that were lead offs and are still rounding the bases (Cogliano, Gagner, Brodziak). Calgary on the other hand has a one double who's near a triple (Lombardi), a single (Moss) and a couple guys who are still rounding the bases but are looking to be about a single (Moss) and hopefully a double (Boyd).

This is not to say that I don't appreciate what the Flames draft picks bring to the table, but I just think the Oilers have done an overall better job.

The playoffs are nigh, and I think we can pretty much count the Oilers out and the Flames in. However, I can't help but feel this season has passed the Flames by, while the Oilers have exceeded expectations.

I get up, I get down...

Trade Deadline Deals Make Fools of Us All

I've got to admit, I'm a sucker for trade deadline day. There's so much possibility; for a better team now, for a better team in the future. It's such a meat market you can't help but be taken in. When I think of a great trade deadline day, I think Chris Drury for Rhett Warrener and Steve Reinprecht. Several years later I think we can say Drury was the best player in that deal, but I don't believe he was helping the team in a significant way, and Warrener and Reinprecht both had key roles in changing the Flames from pretenders to contenders.

On the Oilers side of things, I was pretty happy with the Dwayne Roloson trade. The Oilers desperately needed a steady veteran goalie and Roloson got them through at least one playoff round with his play. He was then arguably the Oilers best player the season after, and although his play has dropped off, I believe he still has value, whether in a trade or in a mentoring/leadership role or simply by playing better.

But the fact is the deals on or near trade deadline day rarely seem to work out.

I remember coming home one year from school on deadline day to discover the Flames had aquired...Sergei Krivokrasov...wtf? (He's actually still playing in Russia if anyone cares). I think last year's deal for Wayne Primeau and Brad Stuart is the perfect example of a deal gone bad. I praised it at the time and still do for the simple fact that I can accept going all in, given you have a good hand. However, the Flames lost that bet and they basically mortgaged the future for a gain of nothing. Brad Stuart bolted for warmer weather as we all knew he would, and we were stuck with Wayne Primeau (actually we stuck with him rather than the other way around). Andrew Ference would be mighty welcome on this team today.

Of course, I don't even have to mention the nightmare of last year's deadline for Edmonton. In my opinion that's a deal that will negatively impact the Oilers for years to come.

Those are some personal examples, but I honestly believe that trade deadline deals tend to be a mistake for playoff bound teams. First of all, if you're heading into the playoffs anyway, why mess with a good thing? If there's one thing fans should take away from international competitions, it's that often a good team concept (including chemistry and camaraderie) can overcome talent.

Taking that philosophy a bit further, why would you take a willing team with roles and chemistry already sussed out, then add a guy who is used to playing 20 minutes a night and try and slot him in on the first line? It's a mistake.

When Carolina won in 2006 they acquired Doug Weight on the deadline, but he was utilized as a third line center, not as a centerpiece of the team. In 2007 Brian "Big Head" Burke acquired Brad May to fill in as a 4th line agitator. Before that, the Lightning acquired Darryl Sydor about a month before the trade deadline. None of these guys are marquee players, they were brought on board to fill a small role.

Apparently Brad Richards is available, and it sounds like he will be traded, if not in the next 24 hours then in the off-season. I think he's expensive but I think any team would be lucky to have the 2004 Conn Smythe winner, especially since he's not a typical rental. That said, if I were a team that was top 8 in my conference, I wouldn't be going for him.

I'm not going to make a list of players I think will be traded (away or for), because it's far too speculative a game. Trades rarely make sense for both teams, sometimes make sense for one, and often make no sense for either. That said, here is a list of guys I wouldn't mind see hitting the old dusty trail. Nothing personal guys, this list is all business.

Calgary
Wayne Primeau - big contract, no role,

Mark Smith - just a pointless player

Marcus Nilson/Stephane Yelle - one or the other has to go, they're duplicate roles and neither of them are doing a particularly good job

Eric Godard - what's the point?

Anders Ericksson - he's not worth keeping around long term so we might as well get something for him

Rhett Warrener - just too damn injured

Cory Sarich - not good enough

Adrian Aucoin - not worth the money

Kris Chucko - throw this go nowhere draft to 'sweeten the deal'

Edmonton
Geoff Sanderson - just not good enough to keep around long term

Robert Nilsson/Robbie Schremp - we're only going to be able to develop one of them, get something useful for the other

Sheldon Souray - god awful contract, ok player

Marc-Antoine Pouliot - he's obviously going nowhere with the franchise, might still have some value

Mathieu Garon/Dwayne Roloson - I agree with Andy Grabia, Garon could fetch some value, while Roloson could rebound. On the other hand, Roloson's contract is worth dumping and Garon is worth keeping. It might be prudent to get rid of one though

One defenceman not named Staios or Gilbert - Holy crap, we got a lot of guys! If we aren't going to be able to retain Pitkanen, trade him. If Lowe thinks he can send Greene or Smid or Grebeshkov out and get a legitimate 2nd pairing guy then do it (assuming Souray is gone). Not enough veterans on the blueline makes for a disaster for developing any kids. We're either going to screw up all of them or sacrifice a couple to ensure the survival of the remainders.

Edmonton Oilers: What We Can Expect?

You know on Saturday night I had a whole list of things I wanted to say about the remaining quarter of the Edmonton Oilers season written down, and I lugged it around with me for the last 5 days, and of course, now that I'm going to publish my thoughts I've lost it.

Shit.

Still, I think I can wing it and come out with some pretty accurate predictions.

No Horcoff? No hope.
Despite the wins over the last week or so the Oilers have lost their best forward for the rest of the year, and with it, they lost the smallest remaining chance of making the playoffs. Not that this is some sort of bold claim, I can't imagine there were many people at the beginning of the year believing the Oilers would make the playoffs, but let's face it, with Horcoff going out, only disaster can follow.

This team, give it credit, has shown an impressive degree of resiliancy. I expect them to get blown out of the water every week, but so far they only have against the Flames. Outshot and outplayed badly, they actually managed to put 4-5 pucks behind Kiprusoff, only converting one. If Garon doesn't catch a rut it's a 1 goal game with a couple minutes late, and while it's not an excuse it's at least respectable.

But let's just put this season out of it's misery.

A Trade
The more often Mathieu Garon plays the more I believe it's unlikely the Oilers are willing to accept Roloson as a $3 million backup. I love the man, I really do. I appreciate what he did in 06, I love his fire, his commitment, and I believe he can still be a respectable goalie and a veteran leader for some lucky team. Goalies' have bad years, it happens (Kipper has been pretty mediocre for instance). But Garon is simply playing too well to be ignored, and Roloson is just too expensive and too old to be a backup.

Roloson is the obvious trade of course, and probably the smart one, but given the last 2 years or so a smart Oilers fan wouldn't bet on the smart trade. Knowing Lowe, he's lining up Gilbert to be traded to Philadelphia for Derian Hatcher. His reasoning will be that Hatcher is more affordable because his value is going down while Gilbert's is going up, plus Hatcher did that hit job for Lowe on Lupul and Lowe 'owes him one.'

The Kids Aren't Alright
You'd be hard pressed to find a better online (or even offline for that matter) resource for evalution of the Edmonton Oilers farm system than LT, so you're better off taking your specific preditions from him, but I'll say this; we're going to get some peeks from kids on the farm. Whether it be Robbie Schremp or Jeff Deslauriers or more Liam Reddox, we'll see someone from the farm.

Dwayne Roloson - "Roli"

Mr. MVP for the Oilers in 2007-2008 (except for Ryan Smyth). Is not particularly athletic but tends to read plays well and is good positionally. Not naturally skilled but works hard to stay on top of his game. Is known as a leader in the dressing room. Is extremely firey and tends to lose his temper very easily. Is just as likely to take a penalty as to draw one, and is starting to be known as a diver. Has a little trick where if the puck is dumped in towards him he can pick it up and literally bat it back out of the zone. Had an inconsistent effort in the World Championships in 2007 sharing duties with Cam Ward.

2007 Team Canada IIHF World Championships - Good as Gold

Watching Canada go 9-0 in this tournament, I couldn't help but identify two types of offensive guys for Team Canada.

The first type was typified by Mike Cammalleri. Cammalleri managed 80pts and 34 goals this season, quite a feat considering the ineptitude of the team he plays for. When you look at Cammalleri, you realize he's basically a hobbit sized guy, he's not particularly fast. His first two/three games for Canada, I couldn't help but wonder how in the hell Cammalleri accomplished his 80pt season. He looked pretty much invisible most of the time, he never beat guys 1-1, he had me perplexed.

I had faith in Andy Murray however, and I knew that Murray knew Cammalleri well. Murray's faith paid off, as Cammalleri eventually emerged as a key member of Canada's championship team. I think his first real impact play came as Canada was trying to tie the Czechs. Dion Phaneuf passed it to Cammalleri, and Cammalleri sent it to Staal on a breakaway. In the semifinal versus Sweden, Murray named Cammalleri an alternate captain, and it was undoubtedly Cammalleri's best game. He brought his best when when the chips were down. As the tournament went on, Cammalleri proved himself to be a very slick playmaker, albeit one who is completely invisible 90% of time. He's just one of those guys who you never notice until he scores of makes an unbelievable play.


The second type of guy was typified by Rick Nash. If you ever decide to wade into the shitstorm that is HF, you'll realize Rick Nash tends to polarize people. There are those that think he's absolutely terrible, overrated, defensively liable, etc. And there are those that can't find enough positive adjectives to describe Nash. I have to say, I fall into the second category. Watching Nash in action in the NHL is one thing, but I watched all of that 2005 World Championship run, and while Joe Thornton was the Tournament MVP in that silver medal effort, it was Nash that blew me away. This sounds like an exaggeration, but the player I compared him to was Mario Lemieux. He's big, he's fast, he's got hands. He did things that I've really only seen Mario do. Undoubtedly, there is a lack of consistency factor with Rick Nash, but I saw him work magic one time, and it's hard to put that out of your mind.

To me, Rick Nash was Canada's absolute most consistent player this whole tournament. From game 1 on, no one created more offensive chances, no one drove to the net harder (or more often), no one beat guys one on one as much (or at all), and no one had individual efforts like Nash. He maybe wasn't the team's best playmaker, or finisher, but for my money, no one was better.

While the question I had about Cammalleri was 'how does this guy manage to get so many points,' my question regarding Nash was 'how does this guys only get this many points?' He plays such a visible style, he's always got the puck, he's always shooting. He was 'snakebitten' early in the tournament, but only by the highest of standards. Most players wish they could be snakebitten Rick Nash style, because he just gets so many chances that its a numbers game - eventually he'll beat you.

Nash saved his best for last today. He scored a real beauty in the first period on the PP, when, as usual, he took the puck from the half boards and drove hard to the net, pulling the puck backhand and then forehand to change the shooting angle to beat Kari Lehtonen. When the game was reduced to a 1 goal lead with about a minute remaining, Shane Doan did his thing by firing the puck up to Nash in the neutral zone for a 1-1 with a Finnish defender. As Nash exploded by the defenceman, the defenceman went for the only play he had left. Draping himself around Nash, he twisted Nash almost completely backwards. It was no use though, as Nash managed to keep his composure and literally deke out tournament goaltending MVP Kari Lehtonen, scoring his second goal of the game, and sealing the win for his team. I said earlier that I comp'ed Nash to Lemieux. I challenge you to watch this goal and not do the same. After the game, Nash was awarded Tournament MVP.

"I don't have to tell you that Rick Nash probably took over this tournament for us," said Canada's Mike Cammalleri. "He stepped up and he was huge.

"That was some of the best hockey I've ever seen played."

Added GM Steve Yzerman: "He was spectacular. He was head and shoulders above everyone."(Source)

This tournament was really a lesson in World Championship success. Canada may not have had the most talent, but they became more than the sum of their parts. Every player on every line and every pairing had a role in this victory. There was never a time when I witnessed a line or player out on the ice and wished they could be replaced by someone on the bench. I would be remiss if I avoided mentioning the absolutely stellar play of Eric Brewer and Dion Phaneuf. Some Oilogosphere participants have mentioned Brewer's 'blonde moments' (witness his giveaway in the Slovakia game), but 95% of the time Brewer is simply a superb defensive defencman. He's just so strong on his skates, makes great decisions, is extremely calm. I've watched him internationally 5 times, and all he does is win. We missed him in the 2005 WCs -silver. Missed him in the 2006 WCs -4th and the 2006 Olympics -loss in quarterfinal. He has gold in 2003, 2004 and 2007 WCs, 2002 Olympics and a World Cup victory.

Dion Phaneuf was a late edition but it is hard to see this team winning without him. He became better each game, and his instructions were to avoid the big hits and play a containment game. He had 8 points in his shortened time in Russia (Thornton had 10 when he won tournament MVP) and just looked about as good as he ever has.

Colby "Cheese" Armstrong was exemplary of the team mentality with his contributions today. He's been pretty quiet all tournament, but his line of (mostly) Toews and Staal has been very good at both ends of the rink with their limited ice time. Today, with the game 2-0 Canada got a 5-3 PP and blew it, then received a penalty themselves. It was a classic setup for a 'TSN Turning Point.' Canada killed off the penalty though, and about a shift later Jordan Staal lugged the puck into the finish zone, dropped it off to the Cheese who blasted the eventual winner past Lehtonen. I was personally more excited for Armstrong himself than for the team, and judging by the expressions on the faces of those on the bench, the feeling was mutual. Here was a guy who has received absolutely no kudos, your archetypal unsung hero, and he just scored in the biggest game of his life. Especially when you hear about what a good guy Cheese is (coming from Lloyd and being the same age, there aren't a lot of degrees of separation between us), it makes me even happier.

Here's a thought; how many guys on team do you think were telling Armstrong, 'it ain't easy...being CHEESY!'

Going into the game, Andy Murray was the only coach to have two gold medals in the World Championships. Coming out of the game, he's the only coach to have three gold medals.

If you stopped watching the broadcast after the game ended, you probably missed one of the more touching moments. The cameras always follow the team into the locker room, and once inside, it panned along the players cheering celebrating etc, until it came to Chris Mason (he who phoned Steve Yzerman and said 'I know I won't play, but I want to be there to help the team), who shouted 'check out this guy!' The camera turns around, and the smallest, skinniest team Canada off-ice personelle guy starts dancing to Usher's "Yeah." The whole team congregated around and started cheering. The camera zoomed to Andy Murray, who tried to suppress his amusement but couldn't help break out a smile.

After the tournament, the top three players on each team were named by their own coaches, and the Flames and Oilers were well represented. From Calgary's side, Lombardi was selected as a top 3 player for Canada, while Toby (Tobias) Peterson and Patrick Thoresen were selected by their respective coaches.

A final thought about Team Canada's performance, from a Flames/Oilers perspective. Hockey Girl mentioned that she enjoyed the team as long as she ignored Roloson. Most Oilogosphere bloggers have mentioned numerous times how much they hate Dion. But watching the post game interviews, it was ironic that the only mention of Dwayne Roloson's contribution to the team (a very solid contribution I might add) came from his provincial rival. When asked by Ryan Rishaug about Cam Ward's excellent performance, Dion made a special effort to mention Roloson.


TSN's story

Hockey Canada recap and Game Summary

IIHF story

Post game quotes from both Finland and Canada players

Every 2007 IIHF World Hockey Championship blog entry in therealdeal Hockey

To Be Perfect

Heed the Warnings...

Eric Staal is Alive and Kicking

Just Good Enough

Dion Phaneuf Joins Team Canada

Making a Mark

Shane Doan Named Team Captain

Disappointments Abound

Captain Canada

Roster Announcements

Shitsburgh's Loss

Roster Announcements

Roster Announcements - Carolina Contributions

Coach/Roster Announcements

Defence

McKenzie Weighs in on Team Canada coaching staff

Coaches

Goalies

2007 Team Canada IIHF World Championships - Eric Staal is Alive and Kicking

Historically speaking, Canada has had a lot of trouble with the Czech Republic over the past 10-15 years. I think I heard Randorf say that Canada's record is 4-11 against the Czech Republic over that span, and I think if you only examined World Championship games, Canada would be 0-for. Therefore, it came as no particular surprise to me that Canada was down 3-2 with just over 10 minutes left to play in the third. What was a surprise is that going into the game, the Czechs still needed a point to guarantee admission into the medal rounds. If they lost this game in regulation, then they would have to await the outcome of the Germany-Belarus matchup, while a win, tie or OT loss would give them the needed point.

In fact, in many ways, Canada was lucky to still be in the game, going down 1-0, then 2-1, and finally, 3-2. Canada's first goal, scored by Jason Chimera, was on a really wacky play in which every player on the ice, except for Chimera, let up on the play due to a blown whistle. Unfortunately for the Czech team, the whistle was blown in the crowd, and before anyone knew what was happening, Chimera had it buried behind Roman Cechmanek.

Canada was really outplayed for two or so of the three periods, but I think a turning point arrived when Jason Williams was taken off the top line and replaced by Jordan Staal, creating a Cammaleri, E. Staal, J. Staal line. On their very first shift Eric Staal took a pass from Cammaleri to go in alone against Cechmanek, who he beat with an absolutely beautiful deke. Although the Czechs got the go ahead goal about three minutes later, the tone of the game changed.

All of a sudden, Canada seemed to gain momentum. The Toews-Armstrong-Williams line came alive for the first time in the tournament, the McClement-Mayers-Chimera line continued to press, the Cammaleri-Staal-Staal line looked great, and Doan-Lombardi-Nash continued to be the best. Canada got the tying goal and a lost offensive zone faceoff, when Doan stole the puck and fired it from the hash marks, fooling Cechmanek.

The last 10 minutes of the game was all Team Canada. Shift after shift the Czechs had absolutely no answer for the cycle. Canada had a PP for the last two minutes of the game, but the Czechs held it and got their needed point.

OT was a very short affair. Right off the draw, Rick Nash grabbed the puck and tapdanced over two stunned Czech defenders. Meanwhile, the Czechs elected to pull Cechmanek and place Marek Pinc in net for OT. Pinc makes the initial save on Nash's attempt, but a Czech defenceman takes a delayed penalty for the hook on Nash, and Cory Murphy, in a beautiful display of composure, scoops up the puck near the hash marks and brings it back to the blueline and then to Brewer. Brewer slaps the puck on net, and Eric Staal, coming off the bench, bangs home the rebound. The entire process took 22 seconds, unfortunately, it was 23 seconds too late to eliminate the Czechs. I couldn't help but think that this was another example of Canada doing just enough to win, but again, hard to complain about the win.

Hockey Canada Box Score

Roloson got the start, but I think it had less to do with Roloson playing well than it did with Ward playing very average. In my opinion, neither goalie has been stellar, and unfortunately it looks like both goalies are playing themselves out of a number 1 position, rather than either playing themselves into that position. Roloson might have grabbed the edge with his performance today though. Although he had 3 goals against, all 3 were PP goals, and given the pressure the Czechs' had, Roloson did a very good job by keeping Canada within one goal the whole game. There was a key point in the game, near the end of the second where it looked like Rostislav Olesz scored on a wraparound. Roloson, for his part, either kept the puck out, or kept the cameras from seeing whether the puck went in, or both. The goal was put under video review and ruled a no goal, keeping Canada within reach of the victory in the third.

One more game for Canada in the qualifying round, against Team USA, and then off to the quarterfinals.

----

Before I comment again about NHL disciplinary inconsistency, remind me of the IIHF. Shea Weber gets 3 games for a clothesline type head hit. Alexander Ovechkin steps out of the penalty box and levels someone with a similar hit and gets a 1 game suspension.

Russian player in a Russian hosted tournament. Figure it out Cuje.

2007 IIHF Team Canada World Championships - Just Good Enough

While there are a lot of teams that enter this tournament and simply smoke the weaker competition (the Germanys, Switzerlands, Norways, etc.), Canada has a recent history of playing just well enough to win. Whether it's due to the fact it takes the Canadian players longer to get used to playing with one another (because Canada has such a huge talent pool to draw, the players are almost never the same year to year, while say, Slovakia has the usual suspects every year), or because they're not used to playing on the big ice, or just because the Canadians have a big culture shock in Europe, Canada just seems to find a way to play just well enough to win. The trend has continued this year.

While Canada beat both Germany and Norway, one could argue that both those teams provided a 'scare' to the Canadians. The Norweigens hit the scoreboard first and the two teams were deadlocked at 2 heading into the third. Canada definately had not yet hit their stride.

I thought Canada got off to another poor start in this game, getting hemmed into their own zone, and then taking a penalty which immediately led to a power-play goal by Slovakia. Canada got it's own powerplay and scored only 90 seconds later though, on a blast from the point from Canada secret weapon, Cory Murphy. I estimate that Murphy plays about 9 minutes a game, but the diminutive defenceman is tied for the team lead in points with Rick Nash, and I just think he looks really comfortable and confident out there after some jitters early on in the Germany game.

I thought Canada really took over the game in the second, jumping out to a 3-1, and then 4-2 lead, but uncharacteristicly bad defence from Canada allowed Slovakia to stay in the game. First Eric Brewer got caught trying to skate the puck out of his own end, and he was caught by Marian Hossa who immediately beat Dwayne Roloson to score. Then some sloppy defensive work by the Phaneuf/Hamhuis pairing allowed Marek Uram in on a breakaway which he buried. Leading by 1 in the third, Canada had a massive miscommunication between Roloson and his defenseman which lead to Slovakia tieing the game.

Rick Nash has been described by the play-by-play team of Dave Randorf and Dave Reid as being 'snakebitten' thus far in the tournament, but I would have to say thats an overstatement. Although Nash hasn't converted as many goals as perhaps he could, he has been Canada's single best offensive player by a longshot, and by all accounts, simply looks terrific out on the ice. In Canada's game versus Norway he has 11 shots on net, scoring one goal. Now, as I mentioned before, he is tied for the team lead in points, which goes to show he isn't exactly snake bitten, but I would be willing to admit that his points to chance ratio is not very good.

Anyway, enter today's game and Nash still looks completely on fire. He drives to the net like nobody's business and so far there hasn't been a defenceman thats been even close to handling him. Today he made a simply brilliant move by tipping a puck from the side of the net towards the front of the net and then batting it in for a shot. Nash's shot was saved but Hamhuis grabbed the rebound, and I think that incident is a pretty good illustration of the kind of impact Nash has had on the team. So Slovakia and Canada are tied with about half the third period gone and Canada is on a powerplay. The puck goes out to Cory Murphy on the point, who as usual makes a great play by getting the puck through traffic and on net, but just before Slovakian goalie Halak (Montreal's 3rd/2nd stringer this year) is able to put his glove on it, Nash tips the puck and Canada goes up 5-4 for the final goal of the game.

Canada should have had this game wrapped up in the 2nd period. 4 goals should be more than enough to win a game. But as I said before, Canada usually plays just well enough to win, and that's not necessarily bad, as long as you actually do win.

CP Game Story

Hockey Canada Game Story

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Before Turin 2006, there was a firestorm created by Liberal MP Denis Coderre, in which Coderre accused Shane Doan of uttering some sort of slur against French people. By every account, this event did not happen, and Shane Doan sued the crap out of Coderre, and last I recall, he at least got a formal apology letter from the media hungry Coderre.

Now, the 'controvery' has arisen again as Canadian MPs have apparently run out of real problems to solve. Any politician who brings something like this up in parliament and slurs Shane Doan like that is a total disgrace. In this case Jack Layton jumped on the bandwagon rally against Shane Doan, and there was debate in the house as to whether Shane Doan is a worthy Captain Canada.

Look in the mirror Canada, we elected 'em.

'I'm embarrassed that there's all this attention about it,'' Doan said. ''I never said anything so I don't understand why it keeps getting a life of its own.'' (Source)

"It's ridiculous," said NHL vice-president Colin Campbell, who investigated the 2005 incident.

"It's rather embarrassing to all Canadian hockey fans we're rehashing this again, particularly when Hockey Canada and Shane Doan are representing and working hard in Moscow right now, competing for our country."(Source)

"In the heat of the battle things get said sometimes - a lot worse than being called a French frog or whatever," Vancouver Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said.

"(Doan) says he didn't say it. Even if he did, come on. If our politicians, French or English, if that's the only thing right now they have to worry about ... There's a lot more important things going on right now in society. It is utterly, utterly stupid, not to say embarrassing."(Source)

2007 Team Canada IIHF World Championships - Making a Mark

About 6 seconds into his first shift in the World Championships, Shea Weber laid out Yannic Seidenberg with what I would characterize at best as a clothesline and at worst a forearm shiver to the head. After the hit, Lindros...I mean, Seidenberg, was so rocked he couldn't stand up straight. Although I don't mind Weber making his mark early on the tournament, he has to remember that the European officials are very very touchy about hits to the head. I'm not going to preach about Canada being a bunch of goons on the world stage, but quite honestly I'm sure it's a play that Weber wishes he could take back. In many ways he got off lightly with a 3 game suspension (IIHF president Rene Fasel initially proposed a 5 game suspension), but that doesn't alter the fact that Canada will have 3 less games to integrate a top defenceman into their lineup.

"I'm sure Shea regrets it," said Canadian coach Andy Murray. "But check his penalty minutes, we all know he's not that type of player."(Source)

"Obviously I was thinking about it all night," said Weber. "It's unfortunate. I'm going to serve it and hopefully come back and help out."

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I thought Canada's game against Germany went pretty well. The Germans showed a lot of heart to keep the game close, and I thought at times they carried the play. Albert Dwayne Roloson (players in this tournament are announced by the names on their passport, and apparently, Dwayne Roloson is actually Albert Dwayne Roloson...I'm sure his teammates will be very non-reactive to this peice of information) let in a soft second goal, a blast from the centre ice line, but was otherwise very good to spectacular. He made a particularly beautiful save on a shorthanded 2-1, a play that went the other way and eventually led to Jamal Mayers scoring the game winner, (his second of the evening).

Actually, the Chimera, Mayers, McClement line was one of the most effective of the night, they really used their speed and grit to cause the Germans to turn over the puck. Contrary to my prediction, Toews played on a line with Doan and Nash, who I thought provided a lot of good physicality and forechecking presence. It looks like it will be Jordan Staal who won the jackpot and will centre Doan and Nash for the game against Norway today.

And for those that remember how much I like Mike Commodore, here's a great story.

Team Canada World Championship 2007 - Coach/Roster Announcements

Well, unfortunately I haven't got my forwards list completed yet, but there are a couple announcements today for Team Canada.

Firstly, Andy Murray will be the head coach, with Gerald Gallant (a true suprise to myself) and Mike Johnston (the associate coach from LA that McKenzie mentioned) joining him.

Right now, the starting goaltender is Dwayne Roloson as hoped, however, it sounds like Yzerman may hold off naming more goalies until the first round of the playoffs, oruntil potential playoff teams (Carolina specifically) have solidified their position one way or another.

Eric Brewer is the first defenceman named, and while Bouwmeester hasn't been named yet, I suspect it's because his Panthers aren't yet officially eliminated.

Also named today were Rick Nash, Shane Doan, and Mike Cammaleri. All in all, I would say so far Canada is so far garnering a 'dream team' roster, in that all their top choices look like they have accepted. It'll be very exciting to see what happens as the remaining teams are eliminated from the playoffs.

Here's the TSN article.

Team Canada World Championship 2007- Goalies

Since we're only weeks away from the end of the NHL regular season and the start of the IIHF World Championships, I'm sure Stevie Y and his crew have already began scouting and talking about possible roster combinations for said tournament. And I figure if he can speculate, so can I.

First up, the most important member of the team. Least season's entry aside, Team Canada has been recently blessed with a string of not just good goaltenders, but great goaltenders. The elder statesman, Sean Burke, was around for Canada first victory of the 00s, in 2003, but was replaced by Roberto Luongo in the final game due to injury. If you can believe it, way back then, Roberto was the backup to Sean Burke. Roberto returned again in 2004 where Canada won it a second straight time. Thanks to the lockout season in 2005, Canada was able to recruit the greatest goaltender of my time, Martin Brodeur who manged to garner a silver medal.

Unfortunately for Team Canada (and fans) the goaltending depth has dried up, or at least, dried up in teams not advancing to the playoffs. Here is the shortlist of goalies sure to be considered for a spot on Team Canada.

Sean Burke - He's about 80 years old, and hasn't played that much, but he's available, and he's a Team Canada veteran. He won an Olympic silver medal in 92 (thanks to THE Forsberg goal), and played for Canada in the '88 Olympics as well. Add that to his considerable WC experience, and he will at least be considered.

Dwayne Roloson - if there's been one common theme among the last several WC's, its been the presence of multiple Oilers. This is the first time though, that the Oilers have had an elligible goalie to add to Team Canada's roster (Ty Conklin went one year, and believe it or not, was the star for team USA, leading them to a very unlikely bronze). Now Dwayne is coming off his busiest year ever, and he's hardly been a Team Canada regular, but he's both an Oiler and arguably the best goalie available.

Curtis Joseph - This potential entry leads me to my coach speculation, but I would be suprised if Gretzky wasn't involved some how. The important question is; does Gretzky think Joseph has had a good season? Cujo has been involved with Canada multiple times but has never been able to bring home the bacon (2nd place, 1996 World Cup, Loss vs. Sweden, 2002).

Patrick Lalime - plucked out of obscurity after unfairly being fingered as 'the problem' in Ottawa, Lalime went on to post some fairly respectable numbers this year playing for a terrible 'Hawks team. However, his lack of a winning history, Team Canada experience, and his age make him a true longshot.

Manny Legace - Legace got outgoaltended by Roloson in last year's playoffs and his prohpetic conclusion came true - he was let go by his Redwings team. However, Manny's had a respectable year playing for a less than respectable club, and has a history with Team Canada, bringing home a Gold Medal for the U-20 team in 1993 (and being named top goalie of the tournament) and won a Olympic Silver in 1994.

Alex Auld - Started last year's WC team as the number one goalie before coaches let Marc Denis take over. Hasn't had a great year and is hurt so is a very long shot to make the team.

Ed Belfour - Despite being almost 42 years old, the Eagle has managed to post an above .500 season (thus far) on a very marginal hockey team. He isn't the Eddie of old but I think he's still capable of winning. That said, I think Eddie is the most likely goaltender to turn down an invitation owing both to his necessary extra recovery time and his strange personality.

Andrew Raycroft - Raycroft went from rookie wonder to sophmore slump to a question mark. But he has managed to post a pretty decent winning record this year despite being playing behind the likes of McCabe, Gill and Kubina, which is impressive in of itself. If he handles playing in T.O. this well this early, I think he's probably mentally ready (pressure wise) to play in a mid level tournament like the WC.

Cam Ward - Ward and his 'Canes could still end up in the playoffs, but if he doesn't, he's a lock to be asked to play for Team Canada. There's nothing more the Canadian scouts like more than winning, and Ward not only won the Cup last year, he won the Conn Smythe. Also likely to make the team because the WC's tend to be a testing ground for young players, and Ward is a possible Canadian goaltending heir apparent.

Ideal:
1a. Cam Ward
1b. Dwayne Roloson
2. Manny Legace

Best Guess:
1. Dwayne Roloson
2. Manny Legace
3. Alex Auld

next up: Coaching Staff

Desperation sets in...

Well right now the news is coming out that the Oilers have claimed Petr Nedved off waivers from the Flyers and I can only call the move a desperate one made by a desperate man. Having said that, there are multiple reasons it isn't a terrible move.

Because Nedved was pulled off the waiver wire, the Flyers get the unenviable task of paying for half of whats left on Nedved's contract this year, so the Oilers get the enigmatic centre for a potential bargain.

As Petr's model wife sheds a single tear at having been sent back to Edmonton, I like the idea of picking up Nedved for no other reason than screwing one of the "Former Oiler Bitter Wives Club." Its hard to say how Nedved himself will react - on one hand, he's got an unhappy wifey to go home to, but in another, hes out of the sunken ship that is the Flyers (and into the sinking ship that is the Oilers). But ever since he left the Oilers his fortunes have plumeted, and I would think there is some part of him that still has a desire to succeed in the NHL, to be a premier player again. Whether that will happen or not is debatable.

Nedved has been on and off the waiver wire all this year, and is a combined -20 for the 21 games he's played with the Flyers. He's also only got 1 goal, 6 assists. So how does he fit into this Oiler team?

To make room, Thoresen was sent down to the minors, which I think is the right move. If you ask me, the Oilers need to get back to playing rock em sock em hockey and Thoresen just isn't that type of guy. Sure, neither is Nedved, but at worst its a lateral move. I think in recent weeks its becoming increasingly obvious that for whatever reason Sean Horcoff simply cannot do the job of a number 1 centre, at least this year. I haven't given up on Horc, but sometimes guys just have bad years, and I don't think you could label this anything other than a bad year for Horcoff. Jarett Stoll though, the man who many believed could only be a PP specialist and who faded in the second half last year, has become the Oiler's best centreman, and at times arguably their best player.

I think the smartest thing right now is to shelter Horcoff a bit, put him with the guys he's had success with (Hemsky, Smyth, as MacTavish did last game), put Nedved with his countryman (Sykora) and let Stolly keep doing what he's doing. In my opinion Pisani is doing the things he needs to do to be successful, Torres is inconsistant as usual, but its been the Oilers best line on average.

As for the Oilers continuing defensive coverage, I am going to suggest something bold that most other blogs have completely ignored. In my opinion, and judging from Lowe's comments the other night, there aren't a lot of good defenseman available, period. The Oilers are basically stuck with a defensive group that isn't capable of the workload being thrust upon them.

The answer lies in the way the Oilers played Detroit last year in the playoffs. Change your style of play; go to the trap. The Oilers have plenty of good, speedy forwards, many of whom are very skilled. These are the basic success elements of the trap.

While Roloson hasn't looked like anything remotely resembling good lately, he is not getting much help. Roloson needs to be put into an environment right now that he's comfortable with, he needs support from the rest of the players. I can't count how many goals have been let in off of poor defensive zone coverage over the last two weeks. While in zone coverage used to be the Oilers strength, as witnessed by their former penalty killing success rate, this is now the Oiler's biggest weakness.

I think the team as a whole needs to stop looking for someone to parachute in and save them, and to realize the ingredients for success are in the locker room. I believe in the calibre of players on this team much like I do with the calibre of player on the Flames. Right now the Oilers are a group that are less than the sum of their parts.

Up tommorow: Canada plays The United States in the World Jr. Championship Semifinal. TSN - 6:30amPT/9:30amET