April 17, 2010
Jeff Angus
2010-04-17
Kirill Petrov WILL report to the Islanders prospect camp this June. It remains to be seen if he will be willing to play next year in the AHL, though.
Andy Sutton’s priceless interview with a reporter after the game is below. Priceless. Who does that reporter think he is, an expert or something?
On twitter? Follow myself (@angus_j) and Dobber (@DobberHockey).
Prime Cuts part 2 is a few hours away. Sorry for the lack of articles lately – too busy enjoying the first round of hockey!
I took some questions yesterday on the message boards. I’ll try and do another Q&A at some point over the next few days.
The World Championships are coming up soon – a great chance to get a look at some young players like Evander Kane and Jordan Eberle, as well as non-NHL European talent. It often gets lost in the shadows with the playoffs running concurrently, though.
Jochen Hecht is out for a few weeks after undergoing hand surgery.
Jordan Leopold updates will be coming. He has been a big part of the Penguins both offensively and defensively since coming over at the deadline – losing him would be a huge blow.
New York has signed Norwegian sensation and most recently the SEL scoring leader, Mats Zuccarello Aasen. They obviously will give him a great chance in camp to earn a scoring line role. MZA has the will and skill to be a very successful player in the NHL – I'd take a shot on him this summer. He impressed the hell out of me during the Olympics. If he makes the club next year, he could be a 15-20 goal guy. The Rangers will be an interesting team to watch this summer – will they bury Redden's salary? They really need a proper line mate for Gaborik – Brad Richards has been mentioned, but with him comes a cap hit just below $8 million. That hasn't stopped Sather before though. Who could have predicted before last summer that the Rangers would have been able to get rid of Scott Gomez without taking on a bad contract in return?
Nick Kypreos dissecting the Letang goal on Sportsnet last night was laughable. First faulting Spezza (who played that well) and then Regin (who collapsed to provide support). It was simply a world class play by one of the game's best.
Jaroslav Halak could quite possibly be the best goalie in the world right now. Montreal has so much confidence with him between the pipes.
I find it awesome that Neil Young is such a big Sharks fan. One of Canada's greatest exports ever gets to enjoy one of the league's best teams – very fitting.
Was Shane Doan happy after scoring last night? You be the judge.
The Leafs are chasing another European "monster?" Perhaps Justin Goldman can weigh in on Jussi Rynnas.
Michael Grabner is playing on the fourth line tonight. He will have the opportunity to move up to the second line if Pavol Demitra continues to struggle. The Canucks are a much faster team than LA, and Grabner is arguably their fastest skater. It will be interesting to see if the Canucks are able to use him to exploit some of the Kings slower defensemen.
Thoughts from last night – Marleau and Thornton were both invisible yet again, and Nabokov stunk. However, Pavelski, Clowe, and Setoguchi really stepped up for the Sharks.
Detroit and Phoenix combined for 11 goals, including three from Henrik Zetterberg. Justin Abdelkader had a great game, scoring a goal and adding speed and energy to the Wings all game long.
Loved the tenacity from Kovalchuk last night – we haven't really seen that determination from him much during his career.
Zach Smith has really impressed me so far in the Ottawa/Pittsburgh series. He is big, tough, and is a pretty solid skater as well. I don't think he has the hands to be an offensive player, but Ottawa looks like they have a keeper with him. Don Cherry agrees with me as well!
Zach Smith vs. Maxime Talbot from last night:
Andy Sutton with a MONSTER (and clean) hit:
Andy Sutton asking a reporter if he’s “an expert”. Funny!