No standing Ovechkin

But, nonetheless, the Flames only played half a game - again! - and were unsucessful in beating one of the lower-tiered NHL rosters last night. The Capitals were outshot and out-chanced from the second period onward but still managed to upset the hometown fire eaters 4-2, with captain Chris Clark netting the open twine at the end.

Dainius Zubris, the only other offensive talent on the slowly-improving Caps (or is that Richard Zednik?), was named the first star though I don't know why Ollie the goalie, who is still in the top half of starting tenders in the league, wasn't given more credit. The veteran netminder saved 37 shots last night, many of which were in close and while his defense was outmanoevered in front of him. His size has always taken away proper credit due to him because the man is a master at picking the angles and staying in position, thus making his saves look easier than their actuality. If he had the sort of team that Martin Brodeur has had throughout his entire career, perhaps Kolzig would receive more recognition.

Ovechkin wasn't an unstoppable force but he is the first player I've seen in a long, long time who made me sit at the edge of my seat everytime he touched the puck. He was so strong, as evidenced by the few times Phaneuf tried to hit him head-on. (And let's not forget the near-leveling at centre-ice of Robyn Regehr, of all people. He made some outstanding moves and almost caused the Saddledome faithful to head en masse to the loo to clean their collective shorts at the end. I am so glad I had the opportunitiy to see him play live. Wonderful, wonderful.

The Flames weren't the worst thing in the world, when they felt like playing. The top line of Iginla-Langow-Huselius was the most entertaining unit on the ice, making some nifty passes and creating scoring opportunities. They seem to have a much better feeling for each other than last season, and should remain together for a bit longer if the Flames wish to capitalize on this. Besides, Huselius does so much dipsy-doodling, he's a liability when playing with any other unit. The second line was almost non-existant last night: Lombardi's 6-game point streak ended as he, Tanguay and Kobasew weren't able to generate chances on a regular basis. The best line of the evening had to be Amonte-Friesen-Lundmark, who might have been playing for their spot on the roster after GM Darryl Sutter let his team know how well their Omaha AHL franchise was performing due to their high-flying prospects.

In any case, there is word among some of the broadcasting crew that the Flames might not be among the elite in the league anymore, that now is time that changes might have to be made. Perhaps, but I think they need to get into a rythm, that their lines need to be set for a bit longer so that players start getting used to one another. Sutter might be able to snag a top-line centre, something this franchise has lacked since Joe Nieuwendyk was swapped for a young prospect named Jarome oh-so many years ago. That being said, is Toronto captain Mats Sundin up for a move west in exchange for a few peospects down in Nebraska town?

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention the biggest disappointment in last night's game. Perhaps it was the presence of Donald Brashear on the roster, but I have to ask why not a single Flame stood up for the Kipper after he was leveled by Richard Zednik following the latter's breakaway goal in the third period. That the goal was legitimate is not the issue; Zednik was in all-alone and smashed into the crease on his own accord. Luckily for the Flames, no one was hurt. However, not only did the team not stand up for its goalie, it showed the biggest glaring weakness in the entire organization, a weakness which hadn't been seen since December 2003: The Flames lack passion.

And passion, above all else, wins Stanley Cups.

Pip-caspades

Florida Panthers' goalie Alex Auld was injured early Friday morning at his team's hotel in Uniondale, New York, after slipping on water when Ed Belfour dropped his bottle of water.

As reported in Sunday's Miami Herald, Auld needed stitches above his right eyebrow after the incident in the lobby and did not play Saturday night against the New York Islanders.

The Eagle has a history of treating the other goalie - much like many treat the other women - like shit.

There is no truth to the rumour that Eddie offered Alex $1 billion dollars to forget the whole thing.

Confused feelings aroused

What is so surreal/absurd/insane about the whole thing is that Christie Chorley is the one doing all the interviewing. The questioning is all centered around why Pronger left, how the Oilers feel about him, and how they feel about family. Yet no one even bats an eye during their interviews with her. Not even the slightest "wink-wink." Everyone stays in character, dutifully playing along with the idea that this reporter is searching for answers to questions that haven't already been asked and answered. She also does the voice over commentary, and even talks about the "swirling rumours around Pronger's departure." But she never lets on that much of the swirling was occurring around her frame (wrongly, I should add). I don't know how I can possibly begin to describe the confused feelings it aroused in me. She conducted the entire segment without even the tiniest hint or admission that she was a part of the whole episode. Did I just witness an example of extraordinary journalism, or a visual lecture in postmodernism? Was she negating her involvement out of a desire to be objective, or because "Chris Pronger's Christie Chorley" is but an imitation of the "real Christie Chorley", and to recognize the copy only leads to a distortion and eventual destruction of the original? At this point, I really don't know the answer...

I'm not one for answers but I am convinced that Oiler fans will not let go of the Pronger departure until CBC does an interview with them and their dogs in their potato patch.

What a bunch of pansies.

The grit is gone

Père Murray used to tell his gang, "Adversity is a bone for the Hounds to chew on." The Calgary Flames had better hope that this bone has plenty of meat on it still.

The Flarin' Horse Head Nostrils suffered a huge set-back the other night when Stephane Yelle, know as "Sandbox" to his teammates and fans (often the same people) for his gritty style of play, went down with a sonovabitchin' leg injury which included a fracture and a messed up ankle. He's gone for at least 2 months and, even though Yelle would never lay down and die--unless to stop a blistering shot from the point--this is the type of injury which might cut a man's career short.

Last season, when Marcus Nilson was down for a large portion of the season, the team's chemistry was noticeably affected by his absence. How much more, then, will the Flames have to contribute to make up for the loss of their best faceoff-man and perhaps the league's best defensive forward? Only time will tell.

Yelle didn't win many games for his team but he was able, just like Kiprusoff, to keep the team in the game, night in and night out. Perhaps Jamie Lundmark and Byron Ritchie will be able to partially fill this void and take charge in a way only Yelle could. Perhaps this injury is what the team needs to slap itself out of its present funk and start playing defense Calgary-style.

Yeah, and maybe I'm a Chinese jet pilot.

The grit-less Flames will be put to the test tonight against the all-ribs-and-no-balls Desert Dogs of Phoenix. If you purchase the game through Pay-Per-View, look for me. I'll be wearing the red sweater.

And did I mention that Bob Clarke is an idiot?

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Calgary Herald lists his all-time favorite memories of the gap-toothed bully from the Flon:

1. Brought convicted felon and union crook Alan Eagleson into his team's dressing room AFTER Eagleson got out of jail.
2. As NHLPA president, he depressed salaries for his union brothers by secretly taking benefits on the side, thereby reducing his contract number.
3. Blamed Roger Neilson for getting cancer. Blamed Eric Lindros for having a collapsed lung.
4. Named Lindros Olympic team captain in 1998 while he also had Wayne Gretzky, Steve Yzerman and Ray Bourque on the team.
5. Thought Chris Gratton was the next Mark Messier and signed him to a five-year, $16.5-million deal.

My own favorite was trading away Peter Forsberg and a whole lot else while "winning" the Lindros sweepstakes over the Rangers, but I'm looking for others.

Philly Cheese Stink

How long, after a carton of milk goes bad, can you keep drinking from it? It's the ultimate existential question. In Philly, the answer is about eight years. That's about how log the Philadelphia Flyers held on to (now former) general manager Bob Clarke.

Today, hockey fans have truly witnessed the end of an era. IMHO, it is a very welcome end to what has been an awful era for the Flyers.

It is no secret that Bob Clarke is man without sound judgment (I'm trying to hit above the belt here) and that, as he admitted himself, he hasn't delivered the goods as a general manager in the NHL.

Rob first broached the subject of Clarke's "intelligence" on this very blog back in May. He didn't pull any punches and one can hardly blame him. Let's all remember what he said after he let Roger Neilson go after Neilson had been diagnosed with Cancer: "I don't think they (the fans) want a cancer patient who is a friend of Eric Lindros right now."

When Clarke was later asked to clarify his position on the issue, he came up with this gem : "The Neilson situation - Roger got cancer - that wasn't our fault," said Clarke. "We didn't tell him to go and get cancer."

I know that Clarke is a hockey legend and that someone's lack of diplomacy (or brains) doesn't mean they can't build a Stanley Cup winning team. Regardless, his inability to recognize the changing style of play in the NHL and the need for any Cup hopeful to have a decent goalie, made him incompetent. It's as simple as that.

Good riddance.

SENSitive Situation

Not so long ago, I got Ballzov all riled up about his beloved Sens when I dared insinuate that they were not quite ready for prime time. Essentially, he told me to take a pill and relax. This was, after all, only a few days into the season. They will right the ship.

I hope that they do, but I did see a few things today that made me think that it may take more time than anticipated (apart from their fourth consecutive loss at home this season).

First, the boys at the Battle of Alberta, who regularly come up with great stats, gave us this little gem: “there's a team with a negative goal differential on the powerplay, and it's the Ottawa Senators (1 PP GF, 2 SH GA)”. This is a sad stat, especially when you consider the firepower they have up front.

The second thing that caught my eye was the piece by Bob McKenzie on tsn.ca. Good ‘ole “Chins”, as Shaky likes to refer to him, gives us the lowdown on Jason Spezza health. Apparently, although he had surgery in the summer, Spezza back is still bothering him. Conclusions have yet to be drawn, but bad news could have serious long term repercussions on the Sens’ offence.

Finally, what most sportswriters have been focusing on is the offensive explosion of former Senator Martin Havlat, who has been simply on fire since the start of the season. Havlat has more goals and points to himself than Ottawa’s entire first line of Spezza, Heatly and Alfredson. With the Sens’ offence sputtering, some Sens fans may be wondering why he was let go. In my opinion, that kind of comparison is a little cheap. Most GM’s would have dealt Havlat in a similar situation and I surely would have as well. Nobody could have predicted that Ottawa’s stars would start the year so slowly.

Just so you know, Ballzov, I’m not panicking…yet (the pills are still working).

Flame out

Tonight's Habs - Flames tilt was very entertaining. The hockey was great. Unfortunately, the officiating was horrible. Quite frankly, I can't remember a poorer display of refereeing in recent memory. Luckily, it was equal opportunity suckage.

I lost count of how many Flames went to the sin bin after phantom calls and I also lost count of how many Hab players got a stick in the face. One of the referees was about 8 feet from Kipper when he clearly interfered Kovalev. It was a joke.

As for the Regehr hit, it leaves me perplexed. As I asked the boys at the Battle of Alberta, how is it that Koivu gets called for feeling up Kobasew after he had dumped the puck, but Regehr can send Downey to the hospital after he dumps the puck and there's no call? It was a clean hit, but it was certainly as late as the Koivu groping.

In any case, it was good to see the Flames come to town. It is a rare occasion. After losing to both the Leafs and the Habs, two teams who, according to most prognosticators, will be hard pressed to make the playoffs, one has to wonder what adjustments the Flames brass will make. The cameras focused on Sutter towards the end of the game and he didn't look like a happy camper.

The Habs got the "W", and that will make many fans breath a little easier. The Canadiens' "D" is quite banged up and a few people were worried before tonight's game. I thought Streit played well in his first game of the season and Mike Komisarek is looking more and more like a top 4 D-man. Souray was his usual self: a defensive liability. He did get two goals, so he did more good than harm. For me, Markov is the question mark on the back end. Last year, he was arguably Montreal's best defenseman, but he seems to be lost this year. Maybe he misses Bouillon.

Final thoughts: Beeg wants me to mention that Bonk is Radekal.

Looks like Old, Ballzov

As it was on Pay-Per-View, I didn't catch the only match-up of the season between the Senators and Flames (before the Stanley Cup final, that is), but I hear it was tight, playoff-style hockey. Good for the Flames, bad for the Sens. A Kipper shut-out, an Iggy game-winner and a few big hits by the General were all that was needed for the Cowtown Horse Heads to pull out a big road win against a sleeping giant.

Not all is doom and gloom for the Ottawa faithful, however. Apparently, the team put out an outstanding effort and were only thwarted by the stellar play of Kiprusoff and the Flames defense. Finish was all that was needed and finish will eventually result with the likes of Alfredsson, Spezza and Heatly on the front line. They'll be fine.

Next up for the Calgary Flaming C's is a stop for a Saturday night prime time game with the loopy Leafs. The boys in blue have surprised many observers with their scoring prowress and cocky air. Will they rebound from last night's lost victory in Jersey? Or will they hit the Kipper wall with a resounding thud in front of Bob, Harry and the Don? No matter the result, only one thing's for certain: after the game, Leaf fans will continue to be the laughing stock of the league.

The West Wants In

So, true to my word, I've now watched (most of) a game featuring teams from the West. The Vancouver Canucks just lost to the Minnesota Wild in what turned out to be another of many heartbreakers to come this season for the 'Nucks.

As I expected, the game was fast paced and featured some great goaltending. Roberto Luongo was, once again, simply unconscious. Seeing him in a Vancouver uniform made me feel kinds sorry for him. He left Florida to play with a contender and so he wouldn't have to win games (almost) all by himself. Once again, he did everything in his power to keep his team in the game, but in the end, they didn't provide enough offence.

On another note, this is the fifth game I've watched this season and the third that has gone to a shootout. I never thought I would say this, but I'm beginning to like the shootout. Not that I've ever been a hockey "purist", but I've always been quite averse to settling what is essentially a team game using an individual skill competition. Yet, tonight, I found myself hoping that nobody would score in OT.

How did it go? Well, the Wild are loaded with offensively gifted players, so I gave them the edge in the beginning. Then, when I saw that Vigneault sent in Bulis as the fourth shooter, I pretty much knew it was over for the Canucks. Bulis didn't even try. Ballzov could have done better than that. Weak.

Just to rub it in, Lemaire sent in some unknown European defenseman to beat Luongo on the glove side. Done and done.

I like Vigneault, but that was a poor choice. Not that he has a tonne of players to choose from, but he could have gone with the other Sedin sister in the fourth spot.

Onward...

New or Old SENSations?

Peace from Russia.

Phoff has been after me for months to talk about the Senators changes since last season. First off, it's obviously tough to assess at this point, although the 1-2 start doesn't make me happy. Second, no one would argue that losing Chara and Havlat is a good thing. That's stupider than I'm willing to be without a quart of vodka. However, the moves all come down to management of the salary cap and choices that the franchise had no choice but to make. In that context, let's do a quick review:

Out - Havlat, Chara, Hasek, Pothier, Smolinski
In - Preissing, Corvo, McAmmond, Gerber
Contracts - Redden (2 years, $13-million), Spezza (2 years, $9-million)

There is no doubt that the Sens will miss Havlat's explosiveness on the second (sometimes third) line. Personally, I have wished for Smolinski's departure for three years. But, let's put this in context, this team scored 313 regular season goals and Havlat had 9 of them. With Alfie, Heatley, and Spezza leading the way they will score goals.

On defense, everyone seems to think that Chara is a Norris candidate, and who am I to argue (I could, but won't, let's just see at the end of the season). Pothier will be fine in Washington, but look up the post-Senators careers of Pitlick, Lance and Neckar, Stan for two examples of guys who were considered "good" defensemen in Ottawa prior to leaving as free agents. Corvo and Preissing were both very good last year for their respective teams. Better than expected, which is always a concern. It leaves you facing the choice of Chara versus Redden (or that's how I'm interpreting it) and the Sens management made their choice. I happen to think they made the right one and were then able to add depth to the blueline (until Corvo was hurt). Chara was unrestricted and bound to be overpriced. Chara got five years at the same price as Redden ($7.5-mil/season), which if you've ever seen the man pass the puck, you know is ridiculous. The Sens defense will have some more empty ice to cover this year, but I don't think this is the disaster some commentators do. If, as I assume, it also made room for the Spezza contract extension then I am totally satisfied. Enjoy Boston, Big Z! They'll love you.

The question as always is between the pipes and more specifically between the ears of the guy between the pipes. It seems so easy to remember in the glow of Cam Ward's playoff performance that Gerber was the better Carolina goalie in the regular season, and apparently (although I didn't know this until reading it over the summer) he was sick while getting shelled in the playoffs. Everyone bore witness to the fact that Ray Emery wasn't quite ready for prime time, as they say, so turning to Gerber who'd been cast off in Raleigh seems smart. The question is whether he's still carrying any baggage from what had to be an embarrassing end to his season in 2005.

After all the changes, one would likely have to surmise that this is still likely a 90 point, top half of the conference team. My impression is that few teams made a move that will cause them to make "the leap" and get above the Sens. Will they win the Conference? I don't think so. Is that a bad thing? Quite possibly not.

New NHL = Money Puck

Peace from Russia.

It's been a while. It has taken many months of therapy and vodka to get over the Senators devastatingly inept performance last spring. My nightmares focus on Alfie playing the point and Chara crushing Sens into the boards of Scotiabank Place rather than stylized B's. Luckily, Phoff sobered my up and begged long enough for me to write again.

First, an interesting article over at Yahoo! caught my eye recently. As an avid sports "pooler" I've been obsessed by baseball statistics for some time. Phoff, Beeg and I have discussed several times how the cap era of the NHL might eventually lead to some new developments in statistical evaluations of players. Afterall, using "new stats" in baseball developed first in its arbitration system. I think there are challenges to developing more refined statistical analysis for hockey, the primary one (as identified in the article) is the fluid nature of hockey. Where baseball can easily and effectively be broken into a series of discreet units hockey can't, except for time, but I'm skeptical that time on the ice provides provides a good measure of production. The other part that interests me about the article is that it sounds as though these new developments are happening within the organizations primarily. I haven't checked the public resources listed in the article, but in baseball's case, many of these developments first occurred outside of the infrastructure of Major League Baseball. This is significant, because part of the reason it happened that way in MLB was the institutional culture of the game - old baseball men who "knew" what made a good player. That hockey organizations seem to be adopting this without the groundswell of grassroots activity may be positive or could mean it takes longer to root itself due to being subordinated to "traditional" means of evaluation and "the old stats." I digress. It remains an interesting piece. (PS- I wonder if Huck shares my sense that having Craig Button as the spokesperson in this article is disheartening.)

So far...

So most teams have about 80 games left to play in the regular season and things are heating up. Well, actually, they’re not. I do, however, have a few first impressions to share after watching only four games. My impressions will be limited, as I’ve only seen four teams from the Northeast division play (Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa and Buffalo).

1. I don’t regret picking Buffalo as the top-rated team for the regular season. Man, they’re fast and they finally have a consensus #1 goalie (who is great, by the way). They will be fun to watch. Unfortunately, they now have the ugliest jersey’s in the league.

2. Refereeing, which is one of the only bad things about NHL hockey, is so much better than it was pre-lockout, but is still horribly inconsistent. Was anyone else totally confused by the fact that Daniel Brière seemed to have talked his was out of a call after spearing Radek Bonk?

3. When will the Senators figure out that the pre-season is over? Seriously. Two losses in their own building, one of which was a 6-0 thrashing from the Leafs. The leafs? Alfredson won’t make it to the All-Star break. He’s gone.

4. Tie Domi on TSN: How excruciatingly painful is that? My God, it’s like watching…aw, fuck it…there is no comparison. It’s Tie Domi as broadcaster! WTF?

5. I need to stay up later to catch some of the games featuring teams in the West. The West will be strong and I need to know if Dallas’ 2-0 start is just a fluke or are Soft Mellon and Mickey Ribs going to be the new odd couple.

Onward…

Is it too late to add Peter Sykora to my Fantasy Team?

"... Other match-ups tonight had the Maple Leafs downing Ottawa, 6-0 ... The Canucks stole one from Detroit 3-1 ... Despite being outshot almost 2-to-1, the Pens surprised the Flyers in a 4-0 victory ... Chicago earned a tough 8-6 road win against the Western Conference favorites, the Nashville Predators ... The chemistry must be working in Phoenix as the Coyotes downed the new-look Islanders ..."

So, am I worried? Not in the least. The team looked good on the get-go all the way up to that disasterous penalty shot attempt. Until Jarome Iginla gives up his Rob Huck-on-a-breakaway impersonation and actually begins to skate at the goalie, I wouldn't put him closer than 30 feet to a penalty shot or game-deciding shootout.

The boys seemed pretty decent, however. While the Oilers were showing off their potentially leathal fast-break ability, the Flames showed poise and confidence with the puck which hadn't been seen last year. True, they needed to crash the net more on the power play, but I have no problem with the players testing each other's proclivities out for a few games, getting used to each other and all that. Excepting the penalty shot, Iggy seemed as fast as he's ever been. Not just faster, though. Lighter on his toes and more mobile. Tanguay, for his part, made some incredible cross-ice passes through traffic at a success rate that Silly Ass Huselius could only dream about. And while Regher and The General laid out the body as we all thought they would, Kipper needed a bit of time to settle down in the goal. A good surprise was the mobility and smarts of newcomer Andrei Zyuzin, who more than proved that the departure of Jordan Leopold will not be lamented.


Not bad, but I expect better.

Flame on!

Tonight marks the first installment of Battle of Alberta, v.06-07. The Flaming Horse Head Nostrils are looking in fine form and should repeat as Northwest Division champions. The Shiv City Grease Monkeys, on the other hand, enter the season without 10 players from their Stanley Cup run this past spring, and open with plenty of questions as to their potential. They'll raise their Biggest Loser banner tonight in the Rexreach Skycentre and then the 2006-07 NHL is truly on its way.


Let's do 'er, boys.

Take that, Kreskin!

Wow. Shaky’s post is quite impressive. Although I have not done as much research into season two of the new NHL, I will nevertheless steal his template and give you my predictions.

I know that, technically, the season has already started, but since it’s only a few hours old, I don’t have any information that my fellow bloggers didn’t…well, except for the fact that I know that the Pittsburgh Penguins have been sold to the guy from Kitchener-Waterloo who keeps giving everybody RIM jobs.

Here we go…

Eastern Conference

ATLANTIC

NY RANGERS (2)
NEW JERSEY (5)
PHILADELPHIA (6)
PITTSBURGH (12)
NY ISLANDERS (14)

NORTHEAST

BUFFALO (1)
OTTAWA (3)
BOSTON (8)
MONTREAL (10)
TORONTO (11)

SOUTHEAST

CAROLINA (4)
TAMPA BAY (7)
ATLANTA (9)
FLORIDA (13)
WASHINGTON (15)

Western Conference

CENTRAL

NASHVILLE (1)
DETROIT (5)
COLUMBUS (9)
ST LOUIS (14)
CHICAGO (15)

NORTHWEST

CALGARY (2)
MINNESOTA (6)
EDMONTON (8)
VANCOUVER (11)
COLORADO (13)

PACIFIC

ANAHEIM (3)
SAN JOSE (4)
DALLAS (7)
LOS ANGELES (10)
PHOENIX (12)

Phoff’s Fantasy picks:

Forward: Sidney Crosby PIT, Jaromir Jagr NYR, Alexander Ovechkin WAS
Defense: Scott Niedermayer ANA, Niklas Lidstrom DET
Goal: Miikka Kiprusoff CAL
Rookie: Phil Kessel BOS

Phoff’s individual award winners:

Hart: Miikka Kiprusoff CAL
Ross: Sidney Crosby PIT
Richard: Alexander Ovechkin WAS
Norris: Niklas Lidstrom DET
Vezina: Miikka Kiprusoff CAL
Calder: Evgeni Malkin PIT
Selke: Michael Peca TOR
Byng: Mike Fisher OTT
Adams: Barry Trotz NAS
Pearson: Sidney Crosby PIT
Smythe: Alex Tanguay CAL

President's Trophy: Buffalo Sabres

Western and Stanley Champs: Calgary Flames

Eastern Champs: Buffalo Sabres

First coach fired: John Tortorella TBAY

Not cross-posted anywhere.

Amazing Kreskin

Another season of fun and exciting NHL hockey is upon us and it is time to make the fearless predictions.

Eastern Conference

ATLANTIC

NY RANGERS (3)
NEW JERSEY (5)
PHILADELPHIA (7)
PITTSBURGH (13)
NY ISLANDERS (14)

NORTHEAST

OTTAWA (1)
BUFFALO (4)
MONTREAL (8)
TORONTO (10)
BOSTON (12)

SOUTHEAST

CAROLINA (2)
TAMPA BAY (6)
ATLANTA (9)
FLORIDA (11)
WASHINGTON (15)

Western Conference

CENTRAL

NASHVILLE (3)
DETROIT (5)
COLUMBUS (9)
ST LOUIS (14)
CHICAGO (15)

NORTHWEST

CALGARY (2)
MINNESOTA (6)
EDMONTON (8)
VANCOUVER (10)
COLORADO (12)

PACIFIC

ANAHEIM (1)
SAN JOSE (4)
DALLAS (7)
PHOENIX (11)
LOS ANGELES (13)

Shaky's Fantasy picks

Forward: Jason Spezza OTT, Eric Staal CAR, Alexander Ovechkin WAS
Defense: Scott Niedermayer ANA, Chris Pronger ANA
Goal: Miikka Kiprusoff CAL
Rookie: Evgeni Malkin PIT

Shaky's individual award winners:

Hart: Scott Niedermayer ANA
Ross: Jaromir Jagr NYR
Richard: Alexander Ovechkin WAS
Norris: Scott Niedermayer ANA
Vezina: Miikka Kiprusoff CAL
Calder: Evgeni Malkin PIT
Selke: Brad Richards TBAY
Byng: Jere Lehtinen DAL
Adams: Barry Trotz NAS
Pearson: Sidney Crosby PIT
Smythe: Scott Niedermayer ANA

President's Trophy: Anaheim

Western and Stanley Champs: Anaheim

Eastern Champs: Ottawa

First coach fired: Joel Quenneville COL

Cross posted at the only site that matters in the new NHL: Moldy

Puck This! Fantasies

I'm taking the charge and inviting all contributors and visitors of Puck This! to submit their ultimate fantasy teams (3 fwds, 2 d, 1 g, 1 rookie, where goalies get 1 pt/win. 5 pts/so) this year. Also encouraged are picks for season-end individual award winners, the President Trophy, and the Stanley Cup finalists.

Got it?

Bumf's Fantasy picks
Forward: Sidney Crosby PIT, Eric Staal CAR, Alexander Ovechkin WAS
Defense: Scott Niedermayer ANA, Lubomir Visnovsky LAK
Goal: Miikka Kiprusoff CAL
Rookie: Evgeni Malkin PIT

Bumf's individual award winners:
Hart: Sidney Crosby PIT
Ross: Sidney Crosby PIT
Richard: Erik Cole CAR
Norris: Scott Niedermayer ANA
Vezina: Miikka Kiprusoff CAL
Calder: Evgeni Malkin PIT
Selke: Stephane Yelle CAL (though not likely)
Byng: Daniel Alfredsson OTT
Masterton: Eric Lindros, DAL
Adams: Barry Trotz NAS
Pearson: Sidney Crosby PIT
Smythe: Jarome Iginla CAL

President's Trophy: Nashville Predators

Stanley Cup finalists: Ottawa Senators

Stanley Cup winner: Calgary Flames

UPDATE:

First coach fired: John Tortorella TAM

EASTERN CONFERENCE

ATLANIC
Philadelphia Flyers (3)
New Jersey Devils (5)
New York Rangers (7)
New York Islanders (11)
Pittsburg Penguins (12)

NORTHEAST
Buffalo Sabres (1)
Ottawa Senators (4)
Montreal Canadiens (6)
Boston Bruins (9)
Toronto Maple Leafs (13)

SOUTHEAST
Carolina Hurricanes (2)
Atlanta Thrashers (8)
Tampa Bay Lightning (10)
Washington Capitals (14)
Florida Panthers (15)

WESTERN CONFERENCE

CENTRAL
Nashville Predators (1)
Detroit Red Wings (4)
Columbus Blue Jackets (8)
Chicago Blackhawks (12)
St Louis Blues (14)

NORTHWEST
Calgary Flames (3)
Minnesota Wild (7)
Colorado Avalanche (10)
Edmonton Oilers (11)
Vancouver Canucks (13)

PACIFIC
San Jose Sharks (2)
Anaheim Ducks (5)
Los Angeles Kings (6)
Dallas Stars (9)
Phoenix Coyotes (15)