Today In Hockey » Senators

Jesse Connolly: All Is Quiet in the Hub of Hockey: Calm Before the Storm?

HockeyBuzz.com — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 21:55:00 +0000

Cricket. Cricket. That, my friends, is about the only sound coming from the Boston Bruins these days, as all is quiet in the Hub of Hockey. I guess I didn't realize how lucky we were last summer. The town was abuzz over the announcement that Fenway would play host to the Winter Classic. The Phil Kessel saga entertained us with its twists and turns on seemingly a daily basis. Contract talks, fr...

Steven Hindle: What Name Would You Give to a New NHL Club?

HockeyBuzz.com — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 18:22:14 +0000

What's the Best Team Name Not In Use Today? I have returned to Montreal, back from a quick little vacation in the Laurentians, and will be getting back to work in the next few hours on both the Capitals and Canadiens, but in the meantime, I thought I would bring a debate from my vacation to you all. If, and likely when, a new team enters the NHL, what would you name it? To be honest, th...

John Jaeckel: The Chicken Or The Egg

HockeyBuzz.com — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:44:40 +0000

So maybe it does now, in fact, come down to a choice for Stan Bowman between keeping Niklas Hjalmarsson or Antti Niemi (or keeping both, and losing say, Patrick Sharpâ which I believe is exceedingly unlikely). The Perfect Storm of a cap logjam created by a series of huge free agent signings over the previous two summers, a Stanley Cup win and unforeseen bonuses has created a scenario where th...

Jesse Connolly: Fan Poll: If You Could Fire One Current NHL Head Coach…

HockeyBuzz.com — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 02:58:58 +0000

As fans and spectators of the great sport of hockey, we are always ready to rattle off a quick list of our least favorite, most detested NHL players. From generation to generation, there have always been bona fide villains and there always will be. Names like Domi, Avery, Samuelsson and Cooke are undoubtedly bound to come up in any conversation with those who have grown up in the same era of hocke...

Paul McCann: Random Thoughts from Pred Nation

HockeyBuzz.com — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:16:51 +0000

- Development camp is underway at Sportsplex, unfortunately my day job requirements have prevented me from getting out thereâ¦ Iâm hoping to sneak away for a quick peek today and will be there over the weekend. Todayâs schedule includes an on-ice session that should begin around 10am. - Kudos to Preds EVP Chris Parker and Preds Broadcasting Director Bob Kohl for the new deal with Fox Spo...

Free Agent Round-up: Part 1

Mike Chen — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:31:08 +0000

Quick hits and reactions from the day's bigger news so far:

-Philadelphia Flyers restock their defense: By re-signing Braydon Coburn and trading for Andrej Meszaros, the Flyers now have one of the most impressive -- and expensive -- defense groups in the NHL. Meszaros was a bit lost in Tampa Bay when he was asked to be more than he could; in Ottawa, he excelled when he was behind guys like Zdeno Chara. With Chris Pronger and Kimmo Timonen ahead of him on the depth chart, this could revive Meszaros' career. It also gives Philadelphia two good sets of power play blueliners.

-San Jose Sharks find their goalie: Last year, Antero Niittymaki platooned with Mike Smith in Tampa Bay and was the more consistent goaltender despite constantly being deluged thanks to a poor defensive system. Now he gets to play with a conference finalist; more importantly, the Sharks get a relatively cheap goaltender to platoon with young Thomas Greiss. Look for the duo to split the games 50/30, with the majority going to whoever grabs the proverbial ball and runs with it. It's a low-cost solution that gives Doug Wilson some flexibility to add on to their blueline and it probably won't take their goaltending down too much from Evgeni Nabokov.

-Defenseman shuffle: Sergei Gonchar lands with the Ottawa Senators, but committing those types of dollars ($16.5 million over three years and a no-movement clause) to a guy who's edging close to 40 seems iffy in my book. There's no doubt Gonchar will help the Senators power play but this screams to me of GM delusions of grandeur. Now, with Zbynek Michalek signing with the Pittsburgh Penguins, they get a leading shot-blocker and a strong defensive presence. Michalek wasn't much of an offensive option with the Phoenix Coyotes, and he'll be a significant step down from Gonchar. He'll get an opportunity to develop that aspect of his game for sure, but right now it looks like Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski have their work cut out for them. Remember, the Pittsburgh power play sank with Gonchar's injury, so this will be a huge challenge for the Penguins moving forward.

-Alex Tanguay returns to Calgary: It wasn't too long ago when Calgary Flames management gave a Darryl Sutter sneer at Tanguay, but they must have realized that offense has to come from somewhere. Tanguay's shoulder was never at 100% in Tampa Bay, as his shoulder hampered his season which created a downward spiral effect that destroyed his confidence (including his share of missed open nets and posts). Does going back to Calgary help him because of his familiarity with some of the players or will it revert to previous toxic feelings? At the price Calgary paid ($1.7 million), there's not much risk.

-Toronto builds depth: The Toronto Maple Leafs got a top-six forward in the Kris Versteeg deal (despite sacrificing future depth), then signed quality checker Colby Armstrong. This fills up necessary slots for the Leafs but it doesn't answer any big questions. Versteeg can look brilliant at times and he can be maddeningly frustrating; Armstrong offers plenty of grit, but his hands can't follow his heart. A second-liner and a third-liner won't turn things around in Toronto just yet. With Versteeg's hit-and-miss play and the spotlight of the Toronto media, I'm guessing we'll see him in Ron Wilson's public doghouse at some point in the season.

It's lunch time here on the west coast. I'm sure Ilya Kovalchuk, Evgeni Nabokov, and Anton Volchenkov will all sign in the ten minutes I'm away to grab a burger.

Jon Jordan: Time to Move On: A Heartfelt Goodbye From JJ

HockeyBuzz.com — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 23:01:39 +0000

After much careful thought and several discussions with people whom I trust wholeheartedly, I have decided to resign my position here at HockeyBuzz to pursue other opportunities. This may not catch very many of you by surprise, as the mulling of this decision in my head for quite some time has probably been noticeable to even the casual observer with hints here and there in recent months. It...

John Jaeckel: Be Stan Bowman For A Day

HockeyBuzz.com — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:08:44 +0000

On the heels of my breakdown of what the Hawks need to do this offseason, and how I think they might do it, I've received a lot of interesting feedback and scenarios. In truth, there are any number of ways Stan Bowman can get the Blackhawks under the cap for 2010-11. The challenge lies in making the right subtractions and additions to optimally position the team for success during the season, a...

World Cup: Team Territory Percentage

Hawerchuk — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 23:57:22 +0000

Streeter Lecka - Getty Images

9 days ago: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - JUNE 12: Lionel Messi of Argentina pulls the shirt of Peter Odemwingie of Nigeria during the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Group B match between Argentina and Nigeria at Ellis Park Stadium on June 12, 2010 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

View full size photo »

Our stats feed reports the relative territorial ownership by each team in each game. It seems to roughly match up with what I watched, but I can't say that I watched closely enough to say that it's correct:

Team	Territory	Shots For	Shots Vs
France	55.8	20	7
Mexico	52.6	16	10
England	51.9	18	12
Ghana	51.7	15	14
Argentina	51.7	20	12
Slovenia	50.7	7	10
Greece	50.7	6	17
Australia	50.6	11	34
Germany	49.4	17	11
South Korea	49.3	17	6
Algeria	49.3	10	7
Nigeria	48.3	12	20
Serbia	48.3	14	15
United States	48.1	12	18
South Africa	47.4	10	16
Uruguay	44.2	7	20

Any opinions on the accuracy of this metric are greatly appreciated.

Jon Jordan: The New Guy: Reports Tab Boucher as Lightning Bench Boss

HockeyBuzz.com — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 12:40:21 +0000

According to Montreal online news source, Rue Frontenac, radio station CKAC and, later, TSNâs Bob McKenzie, general manager Steve Yzerman and the Tampa Bay Lightning are set to announce Guy Boucher of the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs as the eighth head coach in franchise history. There has been no official confirmation from the Lightning as of yet but word is a formal announcement will be forthcomin...