Game Recap - Charlottetown Islanders vs. Halifax Mooseheads

Charlottetown Islanders vs. Halifax Mooseheads

Final Score
Charlottetown - 4
Halifax - 1

Goalscorers
Charlottetown: Guillaume Rioux-Legault, Chris Chaddock, Luc Deschenes, Spenser Cobbold
Halifax: Philippe Gadoury

Goalies
Charlottetown: Mason McDonald (W)
Halifax: Zach Fucale (L)

Moosehead Player of the Game

Ehlers I guess. He did get an assist and got most of his shots through.

Thing That Annoyed Me

Hard to get mad since the Mooseheads were shut out (for the most part) by the Islanders. That second PP unit though was bad.

Game Notes

• The Islanders deserve credit for shutting down the Mooseheads  for most of the game.
• In particular, goalie Mason McDonald and forward Kameron Kielly. McDonald for his 36 save performance. Kielly for his shorthanded play (dude was blocking everything).
• Did you now?: If your last name was Moynihan you were allowed all the zone entries in the third (4 carry-in, 1 dump-in)
• As usual, Ehlers and Gadoury led the way in carry-ins.
• Big moment of the game: Ehlers gets clocked reaching for the puck, Meier steps in seconds later and fights Henley (the guy who delivered the hit). Video of the whole thing is below. I don't have any problems with the events. My issue though is the refs giving Meier 2 misconduct penalties. Usually an event like this warrants an instigator/fighting/misconduct combo for 17 PIMS. Meier, for whatever reason got an extra misconduct (27 PIMS in total) which effectively ending his night (there was about 22 minutes left).
• Just after this incident (while the penalties were being figured out), McDonald went over and slashed at Ehlers feet while he was playing with the puck in the faceoff dot. While what McDonald did was dumb, it also brings up this question: What the heck was Ehlers doing over at the faceoff dot and not at the bench like every other skater on the ice.

Game Pics

Before McDonald slashed Ehlers

Video

Saturday Night Hockey: Voynov Arrested; Pittsburgh Tribute

Voynov Arrested

Earlier this week, Los Angeles Kings defenseman Vyacheslav Voynov was arrested on suspicion of domestic abuse. As of this moment, Voynov is free after posting $50,000 bail and his lawyer has stated that Voynov did not hit his wife and her injuries stem from an accident.

The NHL, for its part, has immediately suspended the Kings defenseman indefinitely. In light of what's happen with the NFL over the summer, this was the right (and only) move the NHL could make. Whether or not the allegation is true (we do hope the victim is safe and recovers from her injuries), the only response for the league to make was to suspend Voynov until due process has occurred (and then re-evaluate from there). Just like the Varlamov case last year, there is quite a bit of unknown in this case. While it's easy to chastise the league from going to one extreme (no suspension) to the other (indefinite suspension), this a learning process, and the NHL look to be on the right track.

Pittsburgh Tribute

The incident in Ottawa Wednesday morning was shocking, as a gunman killed a soldier before getting killed in a shootout. Our condolences go out to the family and friends of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo.

While this event postponed a game between the Maple Leafs and the Senators (which was the right call), it did bring about a teary-eyed moment, as the Pittsburgh Penguins sung "O Canada" before the start of their game against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Anaheim Ducks held a moment of silence before their game. An OHL game in Buffalo also sung "O Canada" before their game. The Senators, Maple Leafs, and Canadiens have planned a coordinated ceremony tonight.

To Lighten The Mood

(Photo via 25 Stanley)

P.K. Subban + Micheal Jackson's "Thriller" = Best. Costume. Ever.

Lineup Notables

New York Rangers vs. Montreal Canadiens

New York R: Derek Stepan (fractured fibula) and Dan Boyle (hand) are out. Henrik Lundqvist will be in net.
Montreal: The Habs are healthy. Carey Price starts.

New Jersey Devils vs. Ottawa Senators

New Jersey: Jordan Tootoo (foot) is out. Cory Schneider is expected to start.
Ottawa: Marc Methot (back) is out. Robin Lehner is in net tonight.

Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Boston: Marc Savard (scouting concussion), Zdeno Chara (knee), and Kevan Miller (upper body) are out. Tuukka Rask might start.
Toronto: David Booth (foot) and Brandon Kozun (high ankle sprain) are out. Jonathan Bernier gets the start.

Washington Capitals vs. Calgary Flames

Washington: Brooks Laich (shoulder), Aaron Vopatti (neck), John Erskine, and Dmitri Orlov (wrist) are out. Braden Holtby will start.
Calgary: Sam Bennett (shoulder), David Jones (lower body) and Devan Setoguchi (flu) are out. Karri Ramo starts tonight.

Saturday Night Hockey: Minor League Reconfiguration

The CHL Is No More



The last you'll see of this logo (which kind of sucks because it isn't a bad one) (Image via Wikipedia)

Earlier this month the Central Hockey League announced they would cease operations immediately and have the seven remaining teams join the ECHL. This has been rumoured for a while, but it was expected that the league would last one more season. Players of the teams that joined the ECHL were released from their CHL contract and are now free agents (as per PHPA union rep Mike McKenna)

On one hand, it is a shame that the CHL ended up folding. There was always talk of there being AAA, AA, and A level hockey to complement the NHL. The AHL (AAA) and ECHL (AA) have cemented themselves within that hierarchy. The CHL would have been solid as that A level league since they had teams with NHL affiliates. The only other leagues I could see coming close are the SPHL and FHL, and even then they have no teams that are affiliated with a higher league (to my knowledge).

On the other hand, it is a good thing that this happened. It probably would have been hard for the ECHL to expand en masse to match the NHL and AHL, so being able to absorb a league is a good alternative. With this expansion, the ECHL also re-balances it's league, as it can have an even 14 teams per conference (although due to the short notice, the CHL teams have been lumped into one division, it's assumed that reconfiguration will happen in the offseason).

Either way, the landscape of minor league hockey has change. If things go as plan, in a few years every NHL team will have their own two-tier development system.

Lineup Notables

Colorado Avalanche vs. Montreal Canadiens

Colorado: Jesse Winchester (concussion), Patrick Bordeleau (back), and Semyon Varlamov (groin) are out while Reto Berra (neck) is questionable. Calvin Pickard is starting.
Montreal: Habs are healthy. Carey Price will be in net.

Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Ottawa Senators

Columbus: Nathan Horton (back), Boone Jenner (hand), Brandon Dubinsky (lower body), and Ryan Murray (knee) are out. Curtis McElhinney will start.
Ottawa: Marc Methot (back) is out. Robin Lehner is in net.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Detroit Red Wings

Toronto: David Booth (foot) and Brandon Kozun (lower body) are out. Jonathan Bernier is expected to start.
Detroit: Pavel Datsyuk (shoulder) is out. Jonas Gustavsson will start.

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Vancouver Canucks

Tampa Bay: Matthias Ohlund (knee) and Radko Gukas (lower body) are out. Ben Bishop is in net.
Vancouver: Canucks are healthy. Eddie Lack is starting tonight.

Game Recap - Cape Breton Screaming Eagles vs. Halifax Mooseheads

Cape Breton Screaming Eagles vs. Halifax Mooseheads

Final Score
Cape Breton - 2
Halifax - 5

Goalscorers
Cape Breton: Francis Brunelle (2)
Halifax: Jean-Sebastien Taillefer, Vincent Watt, Nikolaj Ehlers (2), Maxime Fortier

Goalies
Cape Breton: Francois Brassard (L)
Halifax: Zach Fucale (W)

Moosehead Player of the Game

Nikolaj Ehlers. A pair of goals and an assist, I'd say this young Dane is good at this hockey thing. Also, both his penalties in this game were pretty chintzes calls.

Thing That Annoyed Me

A few times (especially early on) the defense got caught and a Cape Breton player was on a breakaway. The defense was better as the game went on, but they started a bit rough. Thankfully Fucale stoned all breakaway attempts.

Game Notes

• Credit were credit is due. Brunelle (Cape Breton's goal scorer) placed his shot nicely. He beat Fucale twice low blocker and a foot off the ice, right in that sweet spot that's hard to stop as a goalie.
• Fun moment during Ehlers' first goal: the ref initially waved it off, play continued, and a minute or so later Cape Breton scored. The play was reviewed and Ehlers was awarded his original goal.
• Funny thing about that last point, it was Brunelle who scored for Cape Breton. He was robbed of a hat trick (sort of).
• Gadoury in the second period was magical with the puck. Every time he was in the offensive zone and close to the blue line with it, he would dangle his way out of danger. I think a few Cape Breton jocks are still hanging in the rafters.
• Another great play by Gadoury in the second: on an odd-man rush by Cape Breton, Gadoury came from behind and slid to break up a pass. While no pass was attempted, the slide was good enough to stall the attacker so another player could take care of him.
• Poor Austyn Hardie, he was down on the ice a few times in the third period and was given an extra whack both times.
• It's disappointing that the first PP unit went scoreless, I really like that line (Ehlers-Gadoury-Meier-Fortier-Nauss). 
• As usual, Ehlers and Gadoury had quite a few zone entries. Ehlers had the literal definition of a carry-in: the puck got caught in his jersey, got it, and slid past the blue line with the puck still in his jersey.

Game Pics

There were quite a few scrums in this game.

Saturday Night Hockey: The Maiden Voyage of the Jolly Rogers and Other Topics

Early Thoughts on Rogers Debut

Wednesday was the start of a 12 year journey into Roger's broadcasting of the NHL. To their credit, they have impressed. The combination of the shiny new studio and multiple camera angles (more on that in a sec) make the visual presentation outstanding.

But, because it's Rogers, it can't be all lollipops and rainbows. One issue is one that always has been an issue: the panel. Kypreos is good as an insider/breaking news type, but between him and (Doug) MacLean, the discussions are unbearable (THEY HAD A FRICKEN CROSBY DEBATE THE FIRST NIGHT!!!). With the possibility of Healy and Cox joining in, it might be time to turn the studio into a rocketship and aim it at the sun. It was just day one, so maybe overreacting isn't the best idea. The track record combined with the hype coming into this season did result in it becoming underwhelming and flat.

The other issue is that Rogers has set up all these amazing camera angles (skycam, refcam, benchcam the first time a player wears hockey pants like a kilt) but alienate about half (?) of GameCentre's audience by blocking off those that aren't regular Roger's customers. Can they just charge an extra $20 for those that want to access those angles? Especially the skycam, that has a nice video game feel to it.

From Punisher on the Ice to Punisher off the Ice

Chris Pronger is now a part of the Department of Player Safety.

Just let that sink in for a moment. Pronger...Player Safety....Department

Terrible joke aside, this might not be a bad thing. He is a former player and has plenty of experience in the suspension area. The department already works as a committee, so having another experienced voice can only be a good thing.

Now, the problem (along with a lot of the opposition against this) is the fact that Pronger is still under contract with the Flyers. The outrage is two-fold. One is obviously the optics of Pronger having a conflict of interest when giving an input on rulings - especially Flyers (Wyshynski has a great FAQ that tackles this issue). This other issue (and the one I have a problem with) is that he's a player under contract that is working for the league. This is a violation of the CBA. Something I do wonder is why the Flyers (and the Bruins in the case of Mark Savard) is "reassign" the player to another role within the company. Pronger has done scouting work for the Flyer since he last played, so why not have him continue that? or coach? I'll admit I don't know if there are restrictions on doing that, but just from an employer/employee standpoint it makes sense. It's well known that Pronger hasn't officially retired yet because he would have to forfeit the rest of his contract and the Flyers would get dinged with a $4.6-million cap hit. If the Flyers are going to keep him around in order to skirt the cap ceiling, then they should be the ones finding a way to use him within their organization.

Two More Things

1. If you ever read one interview this season, read this one were Wayne Gretzky interviews Gordie Howe.

2. Your unintentionally hilarious photo of the week

This might be a great marketing opportunity for Red Bull

Lineup Notables

It's Super Saturday in the NHL, here's what's notable in the games containing Canadian teams.

Montreal Canadiens vs. Philadelphia Flyers

Montreal: The Habs are healthy. Carey Price starts.
Philadelphia: Chris Pronger (league duties), Kimmo Timonen (blood clot) and Ryan White are out. Ray Emery will be in net.

Ottawa Senators vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

Ottawa: Marc Methot (back) is out. Robin Lehner is in net.
Tampa Bay: Jonathan Drouin (hand) and Matthias Ohlund (knee) are out. Ben Bishop starts tonight.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Pittsburgh: Beau Bennett (lower body) is out. Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to start.
Toronto: David Booth (foot) and Cody Franson (knee) are out. Jonathan Bernier will start.

Calgary Flames vs. St. Louis Blues

Calgary: Sam Bennett (chin-up related shoulder surgery) and Corey Potter (undisclosed) are out. Jonas Hiller gets the start.
St. Louis: Carl Gunnarsson (hip) is questionable. Brian Elliott gets the nod in net.

Winnipeg Jets vs. San Jose Sharks

Winnipeg: Evander Kane (lower body) is out. Ondrej Pavelec will start tonight.
San Jose: Tyler Kennedy (undisclosed), Raffi Torres (knee) and Barcley Goodrow (undisclosed) are out. Alex Stalock will be in net.

Edmonton Oilers vs. Vancouver Canucks

Edmonton: Luke Gazdic (shoulder) is out. Viktor Fasth is in net.
Vancouver: Frank Corrado (upper body) is questionable. Ryan Miller gets the start.

Game Recap - Charlottetown Islanders vs. Halifax Mooseheads

Charlottetown Islanders vs. Halifax Mooseheads

Final Score
Charlottetown - 2
Halifax - 3

Goalscorers
Charlottetown: Oliver Cooper, Filip Chlapik
Halifax: Timo Meier, Danny Moynihan, Vincent Watt

Goalies
Charlottetown: Mason McDonald (L), Daryl MacCallum
Halifax: Zach Fucale (W)

Moosehead Player of the Game

Nikolaj Ehlers. No points on the score sheet, but he was electric all night. It was a pretty good first game back.

Thing That Annoyed Me

Hate to knock on Ehlers because he's so good, but some of the regrouping plays in the defensive zone at times were cringe worthy. Got lucky that only one Spezza-like drop pass went for a shot against.

Game Notes

• It was Pink in the Rink Night
• Moosehead's powerplay went 0/5. Yes, it should be in the section above, but they finally have a good setup. It's only a matter of time that it starts clicking.
• It felt like a weird night for line combinations. Ehlers and Gadoury had a few different linemates, and it seemed like Crossley and King were out there for maybe a combined 6 minutes during the game. Meier-Falkenham-Fortier may have been the most consistent line.
• I think the shot counter is a bit off. When tracking their zone entries, there were 2 times were I had a shot on goal that did not count.
• Speaking of zone entries, Ehlers lead the way with 10 of 11 entries being carries. Linemate Gadoury was 4/7.
• Another notable was Vincent Watt. He went 7/9. I get the top two lines are basically set, but I would like to see him get a chance to play top six minutes. He had a nice play where he poked the puck past a pinching defenseman, created a 2-on-1, and buried it past McDonald.
• Morgan Nauss is turning out to be a good defenseman for the Mooseheads. He's the youngest on the roster, so he has plenty of time to develop.
• It was weird seeing Charlottetown put their backup in so late. I'm guessing that he was the faster of the two goalies so it made sense when pulling him. It didn't matter in the end, but he did make a stick save, so that's something.

Game Pics

I just like #13 of Charlottetown in this picture.

Puck carrier is a bit low here, but the Mooseheads have gone to a more 1-3-1 style of powerplay.

This picture doesn't do it justice, but Jessica made a really nice pink moose custom.

Bent (middle) and a Charlottetown player in the middle of a wrestling match.

 

 

Video



 

Bent-Cooper Fight

2014-15 NHL Season Kickoff Post

IT'S HERE! IT'S FINALLY HERE!

Yes, the NHL season kicks off tonight, as the Habs and Leafs renew their rivalry, Flyers-Bruins go at it, Flames face the Canucks, and the Kings raise their banner and laugh in the face of against the Sharks.

Until then, here are a few things I've been meaning to get to before the season starts.

Saku Koivu Retires

This season will mark the first in which a great Finnish player will not take part in.

Yes, sadly, Saku Koivu has decided to retire.

What’s not to say about Koivu? Represented Finland in the Olympics (4 times), World Cup (2), World Championships (7), and World Junior Championship (2). On top of that, named the first European captain of the Habs and became the face of their franchise for year. Most importantly, he beat non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and set up a foundation which raised enough money to buy a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanner for the Montreal General Hospital.

It does suck seeing one of your favourite players retire. In this case, Koivu was the first Habs captain I've known (I became a Habs fan in 1998). It was bad enough knowing that the organization let him walk in 2009 - and replaced him with Scott "goal a year" Gomez - but now his playing career is done. It would have been nice if he stuck around and had retired as a Hab.

Happy retirement Saku. You'll be missed.

 

 

 

The CHL goes NCAA

In this case it’s not a compliment (as an outsider though I don’t think NCAA is ever used as a compliment). The state of Washington has announced that they are looking into work conditions of the WHL (http://www2.tsn.ca/chl/story/?id=461398). The primary issue surrounding this is compensation for the players. Currently, players get a $50/week stipend plus scholarships packages based on how may years they play in the CHL.

The complaints, originally made by the joke that was CHLPA, now Unifor (Canada’s largest private-sector union, who has taken over this matter), are based on players being “slave labour” and there being an obvious employer/employee relationship.

This is pretty cut-and-dry. $50/week isn’t much and – just like the NHL – players are subjected to a draft and are under team control. Other junior leagues don’t have that kind of system, and rely more on tryouts when putting together a team (no saying CHL teams don’t rely on tryouts, but when you have control of a player they presumably factor in less). On top of that, the travelling CHL players do tend to plus more stress on them, compared to other junior leagues where they’re mostly region-based.

What makes the headline of this section is the response from CHL commissioner Mark Emmert David Branch. Branch defends the CHL by stating that most teams struggle financially and that players are “student athletes”. The first argument is understandable. Most teams in the league are from small cities and have relatively small venues (I looked at QMJHL arenas last year, I think only Halifax, Moncton, and Quebec play in venues that can hold 5000+). As for the second issue, that’s a whole-other can of worms. First off the teams aren’t schools, so unlike the NCAA, the notion of “student athlete” shouldn’t apply in this case (I'm pretty sure I didn't graduate from Halifax Mooseheads High). Even if amateur status is claimed, they are getting awarded through stipends and scholarship - part of the reason why players can't go directly to the NCAA after playing in the CHL.

Eventually, the CHL will have to up it's compensation for player. It's too close to the NHL format that they don't have a good defense as to why not. This investigation will push that process further.

2014-15 NHL Regular Season Predictions

The NHL season is upon us, and like every season, everyone has a prediction of which team ends up where. We here are not immune to this. Without further ado, I present our (probably completely wrong) regular season predictions.

Eastern Conference

Brad


MDK

Atlantic Division	Metropolitan Division
Boston Bruins*	Pittsburgh Penguins*
Montreal Canadiens*	Philadelphia Flyers*
Tampa Bay Lightning*	New York Rangers*
Toronto Maple Leafs*	New Jersey Devils*
Florida Panthers	Columbus Blue Jackets
Ottawa Senators	Washington Capitals
Buffalo Sabres	Carolina Hurricanes
Detroit Red Wings	New York Islanders

Western Conference

Brad

Central Division	Pacific Division
Chicago Blackhawks*	Los Angeles Kings*
Dallas Stars*	San Jose Sharks*
St. Louis Blues*	Anaheim Ducks*
Minnesota Wild*	Vancouver Canucks*
Nashville Predators	Edmonton Oilers
Colorado Avalanche	Arizona Coyotes
Winnipeg Jets	Calgary Flames

MDK

Central Division	Pacific Division
Chicago Blackhawks*	Anaheim Ducks*
St. Louis Blues*	Los Angeles Kings*
Minnesota Wild*	San Jose Sharks*
Colorado Avalanche*	Arizona Coyotes*
Dallas Stars	Vancouver Canucks
Nashville Predators	Calgary Flames
Winnipeg Jets	Edmonton Oilers

(* denotes playoff team)

Two Other Items

1. I will have an honest-to-goodness post for the season opener on Wednesday. There have been a few things over the past month or so I want to touch on but haven't.

2. I joined a hockey league this year. This'll be the first time I'll actually be playing start-to-finish in a league (I have played in a few leagues, but only as a fill-in, barely more than a handful of games). Inspired by what MDK does**, I have decided that for every point I get, I'll donate a sum of money to Autism Nova Scotia. I haven't figured out the numbers yet as I want to play a few games first, but at the end of the season I'll total it up and donate that amount.

**MDK plays rugby. He donates for every try he scores, scrums won, and lineouts won.