Rambling about Elliott, Bishop, Giroux, a couple of prospects and more

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Seven wins. That’s all that’s left from declaring Brian Elliott a Stanley Cup winner. So if he wins the Cup, would that finally put an end to the Elliott vs. Allen battle for next season? I would give you an unequivocal “yes”…were it not for all the injuries. Don’t ever forget this and overrate either one of these two quality goaltenders – they are fragile and that fragility will probably put a cap on how many games they get into in 2016-17.

In his 15 playoff games so far, Elliott is boasting a 0.932 SV%

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San Jose were credited with 14 hits last night. David Backes was credited with 11.

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I wish there was more that could be said about the game itself. I watched just the second half of it, from just after the Lehtera goal, and it went pretty much according to script in terms of ice time and how the players were used. The Steen line was out there a lot against the Thornton line and were dominated at every turn, but Elliott saved the day. I did find it interesting as to how early Pete DeBoer pulled his goalie – nearly three minutes left in the one-goal game. But kudos to him for having a sense of things and taking that risk. I say ‘sense of things’ because the Sharks had full control and the Blues were on their heels. With that in mind, pulling the goalie for the offensive zone draw was the right move. Most other coaches would not have done it.

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It’s looking more and more as though goaltender Ben Bishop will be between the pipes for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final. In fact, the Tampa team very soon could look completely different from what we expected – both Steven Stamkos and Anton Stralman are very close. Stamkos returned to practice Sunday and he was no longer wearing a ‘no contact’ jersey (though I don’t know why, since he’s still not taking contact). He’s apparently on a new type of blood thinners that will allow him to play. Stralman, who has been recovering from a fractured fibula, has seen his status changed to “definitely day-to-day”.

As for Bishop, this is what happened (in case you missed it):

As I mentioned in the forum, after I saw him fall directly down on that leg and bending his knee as far as it would bend (and quickly), I was reminded of when I fell the same way a couple of weeks ago. It made me think that there was a chance that he wouldn’t be out. Sure he could be out two months if he tore something or if the fall went off to the side even just a little bit. But it looked as though he went straight down on it. And when that happened to me I yelled out (like a baby) and then rolled around in pain (like a baby). It hurts! I hadn’t bent my knee that far in years (ahem – decades?) and to do it in an instant like that with my 225-pound body killed! But was eventually able to get up and walk it off. The next day, that knee felt good – actually a little looser than before (which is a good thing). So to me, that Bishop injury wasn’t a 100% guarantee that he’d be sidelined. And judging from the reports out of Tampa, it looks like he won’t be out at all.

There is also word that Tyler Johnson will be back for Game 2 as well! A fully healthy Tampa Bay lineup? You don’t say! Suddenly the hottest team in the NHL – Pittsburgh – has its work cut out for them…

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I’m a Pittsburgh fan as in – they’re one of my teams I cheer for but have no paraphernalia – so in case my opinion here is biased, can a Rangers fan explain why Ryan Callahan wasn’t suspended for this?

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The Islanders have released prospect Sebastian Collberg. He was placed on unconditional waivers. Collberg never came close to reaching his potential. He was the key part of the Thomas Vanek trade in 2014, so it was hoped that a fresh start would get him back to becoming a reasonable prospect. That didn’t happen. This article here does a great job in describing his ups and downs (mostly downs) so far, as well as the entire Vanek and Matt Moulson situations.

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Joonas Kemppainen gave the NHL a shot last season. He even got into 44 games with Boston after signing as a free agent around this time last year. But he was sent down at the end of February and probably got the impression that he wouldn’t get into many NHL games next season. The 28-year-old signed to play in the KHL.

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Gustav Nyquist is leading the WC tournament in goal-scoring with seven goals. I consider him a ‘buy low’ for this summer as I think he will bounce back next season. That being said, I don’t believe he will ever be the player we thought he’d be. So a reasonable ‘bounce back’ year would be mid- to high-50s for points. Another Red Wing, Teemu Pulkkinen is in the doghouse with Team Finland. He was sat in the third period Saturday and was a healthy scratch on Sunday. He worries me a little, as a prospect. I’m worried that he’ll Tomas Jurco his way out of the Detroit lineup. He was forcing the Red Wings to keep him and play him…and now he’s no longer doing that and in fact is not doing that for his country’s team either.

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Claude Giroux and Shayne Gostisbehere will be out for 10 to 12 weeks after they undergo surgery this coming week. For both players it will be performed on their right hips as well they will have their “bilateral lower abdominal tears repaired.” This takes them into late August which is more than enough recovery time for training camp (and the World Cup). What is worrisome is that, in the case of Gostisbehere, this is a second serious injury in two years. And in the case of Giroux it is one of a long list of injuries he’s sustained over the past several years. His production is already declining and even though he’s just 28 I do have concerns. In the link above, the author wonders if the decline we have been seeing in his production will accelerate even more.

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Pittsburgh line combos in practice yesterday:

Rust – Crosby – Sheary

– Malkin – Hornqvist

Hagelin – Bonino – Kessel

Fehr – Cullen – Sundqvist

Both Chris Kunitz and Tom Kuhnhackl got the day off “for maintenance”. The article also noted that Justin Schultz could be in for Olli Maatta Monday night. Then again, with only 11 forwards listed above, perhaps they go with seven defensemen.

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7 Comments

paul 2016-05-16 at 03:36Log in to Reply

I will not “defend” Callahan’s action but after watching most of his career I will say that he NEVER takes a shift off and unless hurt he ALWAYS finishes his checks. Letang took a swing at Stalberg’s face earlier in the first round without any action from the NHL, so I reckon live by the sword die by it as well
Striker 2016-05-16 at 07:14Log in to Reply

Letang has a lead on Callahan going back to get the puck & instead of just following the puck heading behind the net which is going to get him stapled hard he slams on the breaks putting himself in a dangerous position. There is no time for Callahan to correct for Letang’s decision & initial point of contact is forearm to nameboard but as Letang is now incredible low due to his trying to reverse his direction, Callahan’s arm quickly rides up his neck & slams his head into the boards.

Why did Letang not just pick up the puck on his back hand & continue behind the net? He didn’t want to get nailed apparently. Why did he slam on the breaks seriously lowering his body position giving an attacking player his #’s & putting himself in harms way at the last 2nd? I’m dumb founded by this choice & don’t have an answer. Defensive strategy? Had he just continued in the direction of the puck behind the net, he would have been standing taller & this would have been a forearm push to the shoulder. Callahan had no time to react for this change by Letang & the original point of contact regardless was his upper back but due to Letang’s lower body position slamming on the breaks seriously lowering his body position & the arm immediately drove up through Letang’s neck & head. This all happened in milliseconds.

The only reason to watch this play in slow motion is to determine initial point of contact. Everything else should be viewed in real time. Callahan had no idea Letang would make this terrible choice & had he just kept going in the direction of the puck it would have been a hard forearm push to shoulder hit. Letang for some reason choose to use hitting from behind as a defense tool exposing his #’s deliberately at the very last second putting himself in harm’s way & there was no time for Callahan to correct for it. 5 minute major. No suspension.

I’m not a NYR fan in fact I like Pittsburgh & Letang but Letang made a terrible choice deliberately exposing himself in hopes it wouldn’t get him hit, unfortunately Callahan had no time to correct for Letangs choice. Where I come from we call this soft. The term Pussy comes to mind actually. Had Letang either allowed Callahan to beat him to the puck; another soft pussy choice, or just picked up the puck & continued his forward momentum we wouldn’t be having this discussion.
- Greg 2016-05-17 at 11:22Log in to Reply
  
  While I agree with your thoughts on Letang causing some of the problem…your two discussions are very hypocritical. You want a ‘standard’ suspension/penalty for things, but then should a ‘standard’ contact to the head also be automatically suspendable?
  
  Bottom line is that players need to be held responsible for their actions. Someone posted a great picture from the end boards of Letang going into the corner…there is about 4-6 feet of separation between him and Callahan, and Callahan is clearly looking straight at Letang’s number on the back of his jersey. He knew where he was going to hit him and accelerated through the hit…did not try to let up at all once he saw the numbers on the back. In addition, the contact to the head should become automatically suspendable, in my opinion. Get rid of this grey area bull$&^^.
  
  I can remember in the Nashville series Gaustad getting cross-checked in the face during a face-off situation without even any penalty (because he was on his knees). Personally, any contact to head where it is the first point of contact…automatic suspension (including these unnecessary face-washes after the whistle).
  
  I am a Pens fan…but when they were penalized 3 times in a row for shooting the puck over the glass…no one (Sullivan included) can argue…it is automatic. Contact to the head needs to be the same…automatic.
  - Striker 2016-05-17 at 11:53Log in to Reply
    
    Greg.
    
    I fully agree. I just used kneeing as an example. I think there should be standards set for all infractions & intent shouldn’t even necessarily factor in unless so blatant it can’t be questioned.
    
    Example. The arbitrator reduced Wideman’s suspension due to intent. The NHL argued he did so deliberately the NHL arbitrator didn’t say he didn’t just that you can’t say with out a doubt he did. Other factors also came into play.
    
    Even Kunitz’s knee on knee may not have been done deliberately with intent. It looks to have been but it may have just been a last minute natural reaction as Johnson was about to slip the check. Regardless that infraction whether done deliberately or accidental should have a standard suspension as should any other offense that is dangerous & crosses the line.
Striker 2016-05-16 at 07:33Log in to Reply

The worst play in this game. The 1 that that should have been penalized & the player suspended for was Kunitz’s knee on knee hit on Johnson. Kunitz lead with the knee & deliberately targeted Johnson’s. This is 1 of the most dangerous plays in hockey & thankfully it happened with Johnson essentially stationary along the boards. Had it happened well skating in open ice Johnson would have been done for the year & required knee surgery. The boards helped elevate the blow by not allowing his knee to bend in the wrong direction.

NHL discipline is & has been a joke for ever. If injury factors into the suspension at the front end it needs to also factor in at the back end. If a player isn’t injured & the suspension is reduced or eliminated the opposite should also hold true. If the injury is sever then the punishment should go up substantially.

The NHL’s whole subjective penalty system & suspension system is fundamentally flawed. They create the inconsistencies that exist & frustrate us all. They just need to set standards & enforce the rules as written, black & white. Example. Knee on knee hit, no injury, 3 games. Injury, 10 games. 2nd offense penalty doubles. 3rd doubles again. Regular season & playoff games are equal, this concept that playoff games are more valuable as it relates to suspension is to bad, it’s bad for the player & team that loses the player longer than that of the player suspended in many cases. No 2 year & your not a repeat offender & at some point these types of players need to be removed permanently, set a limit. 6 suspensions by the NHL player safety department & your NHL career is over. Not saying 6 just an example.

Hockey is a dangerous game. Hitting to hurt is far to prevalent in hockey & needs to be removed. This whole intimidation factor is a joke. Hockey Canada says we check; not hit, to remove the puck from the player, player from the puck, or player from the play. This whole hitting to hurt isn’t good for the game & it’s really only done by a very small group of players overall. Players that need to be eliminated from the game.

Lidstrom was 1 of the best Dman to ever play the game. As defensively sound as any Dman to play the game & 1 of it’s best offensive Dman as well. He played the game clean & checked to this standard. He didn’t hit to hurt or end some other players career or teams playoff opportunity. We see hits in the playoffs every year where a 3rd or 4th line player targets another teams best player doing nothing more than trying to take that player out of the game. This is a problem & unless the NHL starts sending the right message it will continue.
NHLGodfather 2016-05-16 at 09:14Log in to Reply

There are so many factors that come into play regarding this topic. Fifty years ago the game was distinctly Canadian and the style of play encouraged the physical aggression. The evolution of the game has seen advancement in protective equipment, quality of the skates, and composite curved blade sticks. The game is much faster and the shots much harder. The equipment has made players less cautious with their speed and hits. One only has to look at the severe injuries that took place prior to the “icing” rule. Another factor to consider is the influx of European players. For those that can remember, there was a player named Borje Salming that came over from Sweden to play defense for the Maple Leafs. He was one of the first Euros to come over. He was a quality defenseman that played a finesse Euro-style game. Once in the NHL, he took a horrible beating and his face was always swollen and cut up. He persevered, but he paid a price to play “Canadian Style” hockey. Maybe it’s time the NHL steps down from their arrogant “our game” stance and examine the Euro styled game. I wonder how Refs from Europe would call penalties in an NHL game? I suspect the NHL would have to expand the penalty box considerably. I know this school of thought goes directly against the hockey purist, but maybe, for the sake of these young players, it’s time to be open minded.
The inconsistency in dispensing punishment by the NHL has made matters worse. Striker’s comments are more in line with a certainty of punishment that would serve to be a stronger deterrent to recklessness and intentional hits to injure. One particular issue I have is the length of suspension. If a 4th line “enforcer” takes out 1st line forward with a knee on knee (for example), the 4th liner gets three days suspension and the “victim” is out for months. No way should the 4th liner be back in the game before the victim. This only encourages the continued vicious hits.
- Striker 2016-05-16 at 14:55Log in to Reply
  
  NHLGodfather I share your thoughts & opinions completely. I love hard hitting hockey but clean hard hitting hockey. How hard do we really need to hit someone for it to be an actual hockey play & not just an attempt to injure, remove a player from the game or intimidate? Are any NHL players really intimidated by the time the get to the NHL? If the NHL enforced the rules as truly written & stopped setting standards related to there writing the players will adapt & stop crossing the line.
  
  My favorite tournament or hockey is the World Junior Championships. I like it at least as much as the NHL playoffs if not more as their are very little stupid shenanigans, as the players are playing for their countries & the refs enforce to a far greater standard. The actually call the rules as written. Also as their not autobots, players make mistakes leading to quality scoring chances. The officials in the WJC’s enforce to a far stricter set of standards & the players no this unless your Jake Virtanen & play accordingly.
  
  Numerous players are penalized in these tournament for no reason than they simply hit to hard. Or if you so much as put your stick on someone’s arms or hands & that player has puck possession your being penalized. Doing so in anyway impedes a players ability to be creative with the puck. The NHL rule is written to this same standard as well but isn’t enforced as such which leads to serious consistency issue’s & what is or isn’t a penalty. This is stupid. Hooking, holding, slashing, picks, all kinds of interference go unpunished but when they decide to call 1 it is infuriating to the fans as why now when we have seen far worse that went uncalled. How many broken fingers, wrists, serious deep bone bruises go unpenalized because if this. It’s a joke.
  
  You want to increase goal scoring. Call the rule book as written. Live through the parade to the penalty box until the players learn to stop. They can’t learn in this system due to consistency issues & low standards. When the NHL finally settles it’s multi million to billion dollar law suit related to concussions perhaps then we will see some changes. When they realize that reducing goalies equipment nominally will have a limited effect maybe they will address the real issue.
  
  I’m 53, have been a hockey fan since the late 60’s. I used to consider my self a traditionalist but not anymore. The style of play many nights is boring, dangerous & not all that enjoyable to watch. I don’t need high scoring games to enjoy hockey but hitting to hurt makes no sense to me. I miss players flying down the ice blasting the puck past the goalie from the top of the face off circle. There simply isn’t enough room for 12 players, 4 officials & a puck.

UPCOMING GAMES

Nov 05 - 19:11	CAR	vs	PHI
Nov 05 - 19:11	MTL	vs	CGY
Nov 05 - 19:11	BUF	vs	OTT
Nov 05 - 19:11	TOR	vs	BOS
Nov 05 - 19:11	NYI	vs	PIT
Nov 05 - 20:11	MIN	vs	L.A
Nov 05 - 20:11	STL	vs	T.B
Nov 05 - 20:11	WPG	vs	UTA
Nov 05 - 21:11	COL	vs	SEA
Nov 05 - 22:11	ANA	vs	VAN
Nov 05 - 22:11	S.J	vs	CBJ