Saturday Night Hockey: Habs News; CapGeek Founder Dies

Canadiens Team Up With Stars

Great new for hockey in Montreal, as the NHL's Canadiens partner with the CWHL's Stars. The partnership allows the Stars to use much of the Canadiens resources (from infrastructure to marketing and promoting the Stars). Both teams also look to use this partnership to help develop girls hockey at the grassroots level.

This is great news, as it helps promote female participation in hockey and props up a growing league in the CWHL. The 5-team league is currently the best (and only?) option for women who want to keep playing after college, as there aren't many other options (not everyone can be Shannon Szabados). Hopefully other NHL teams can jump on board with initiatives like this, by growing female participation in the game and helping the CWHL expand to open up more opportunities for women to continue playing hockey at a high level.

Oh No You DUI-idn't!

It recently came out that back in 2013, former Habs player, coach, and now RDS analyst Mario Tremblay was arrested for a DUI. The drinking and driving was bad enough (seriously kids, don't do it), but in this instance it wasn't enough for Mr. Tremblay. From Eyes On The Prize:

Though Tremblay attempted to use his name and job with RDS to get the police to back off and not charge him, once it became clear that this wasn't going to happen, Tremblay refused to take the breathalyzer test, and told the officer to cuff him.

According to the arresting officer, Tremblay also taunted him, comparing him to various NHL players, most notably P.K. Subban, saying that the officer was like Subban, in that he had no judgement and was stupid.

Tremblay has a history of bashing Subban, and is no stranger when it comes to mistreating star players (hello...er, more like goodbye Patrick Roy). Granted, the report says he used more than just Subban in a negative term toward the officer, but it is disappointing to see someone who has influence like Tremblay to constantly bash one of the team's top players without the criticism being warranted. It's also concerning that Subban was a go-to name in his drunken tirade. As EOTP noted, to root of Tremblay's distain for Subban is unknown, but it always shows. What Tremblay should do is something he's failed at, as a coach and an analyst, to do: take a step back and appreciate talent instead of trying to run it out of town.

P.K. Subban Fined (Again) For Diving

Speaking of Subban, he was fined $3,000 for diving/embellishment again. C'mon P.K., now Therrien is going to bump you down to the 3rd pairing (joking of course...I think). Probably the most interesting part is that next time P.K. gets fined for diving Therrien gets ding as well. This may lead to a player registering negative ice time (I sadly won't put it past Therrien to try it).

RIP Matthew Wuest

Matthew Wuest has died Thursday according to Metro Halifax.

From the article:

Wuest died during the early morning hours Thursday at Victoria General Hospital in Halifax, wife Melanie Patten by his side, following a two-and-a-half year battle with colon cancer.

[...]

Wuest was dedicated to doing the best possible job, yet was never satisfied with the end result.

The Stanley, N.B., native was always trying to better himself, whether covering local sports such as the Halifax Mooseheads, Halifax Rainmen and Atlantic University Sport for his full-time job with Metro, or developing what became one of the most popular online hockey resources out there, a side gig ran out of the “CapGeek offices,” his north-end Halifax home.

The part of him always trying to better himself showed in how he operated CapGeek. Starting from site that just had contract information to becoming the most go-to site for everything from player contracts to waiver eligibility to a buyout calculator to being able to create you own team through the Armchair GM feature. This was on top of keeping the site up-to-date as possible and willing to answer any questions someone had in regards to contracts.

The charm of CapGeek wasn't just in it's availability to provide contract information. It gave everyone a sense of what GM's were managing the cap and how they value players. It allow fans of certain teams to critique their GM's more in-depth in the moves they made. More than any other site, it changed the way we look at the NHL.

Our condolences to the family and friends of Matt.

For a better understanding of the impact Matt had, check out the Globe & Mail, NHL Numbers, and James Mirtle's blog.

Sunday Night Hockey: Larionov; Bettman Comments; The Clarkson Trade

There has been quite a bit of activity in the hockey world this past week. Between Lindros suing a former ref to the recent Sloan Sports Conference, there are a number of way to go, but there were three things that caught my attention the most.

Igor Larionov and Creativity

Over at The Players' Tribune, Igor Larionov wrote a piece about his time on the Soviet National team, going through the NHL, and hockey's current climate when it comes to coaching (it is a great read and you should check it out). Later on in the post he brings up a point that is pretty interesting.

On creativity, and the lack of it in the NHL:

The problem is more philosophical and starts way before players get to the NHL. It’s easier to destroy than to create. As a coach, it’s easier to tell your players to suffocate the opposing team and not turn the puck over. ... Many young players who are intelligent and can see the game four moves ahead are not valued. They’re told “simple, simple, simple.” ... If you look at the coaches in Juniors and minor league hockey, many of them were not skill players. It’s a lot of former enforcers and grinders who take these coaching jobs. Naturally, they tell their players to be just like them. ... if coaches are going to push kids at that age, why are they pushing them to play a simple game? Why aren’t coaches pushing them to create a masterpiece?

Larionov's point is one with a lot of merit. When you look at the current landscape of coaches, there are a lot that fall into two categories. They are either former NHL/minor leagues that played in a grinding role or coaches who look to go up the ranks and subscribe to a safer strategy that focuses on defense.

For there to be a way to play the game creativity (like how Larionov described earlier in his post), there would have to be a fundamental shift in coaching. There is a reason Scotty Bowman was one of the best coaches around. He didn't have a system per se, it was more like more like a mentality that, as long as everyone was responsible, players can take risks.* Coaches like this seem to be few and far between. It seems easier for a coach to bench a player for taking a risk and turning over the puck once than a player who takes himself out of position when they finish a check.

This isn't to say a system shouldn't be needed. A system can help players learn how to be responsible when they are off the puck. It's more of giving players more freedom to take risk and learn from any mistakes themselves instead of getting beaten down to playing simple and staying safe.

*I know I poorly worded this section. I tried to find the article from the old Backhand Shelf blog that described Bowman's coaching style better but failed to find it.


The Most Bettman-iest Comment Bettman Ever Bettman'd (Non-Lockout Work Stoppage Edition)

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman commented on the possibility of NHL creating it's own version of CapGeek. The full quote from NBC Sports Pro Hockey Talk:

“We hear from the fans on a regular basis and we hear on lots and lots of issues. We’re not getting a lot of feedback on [a Capgeek-style site]. It’s not something that seems to be driving fan interest as much as perhaps the interest of the people [in the media] in this room, and your colleagues. GM’s have access to information. The tools that we have for internal business use are different, but everything we do internally for business purposes doesn’t necessarily need to be made public and be the object of discussion.”

PITCHFORKS AND TORCHES EVERYONE!!! (Not really)

I get why Bettman would say something along these lines. This is lined with so much PR talk. Fans do want a new CapGeek ever since it was shut down (get well soon Matt). He's trying to protect the owners and GMs against constant ridicule for some of the contracts being signed. It's a fair statement to, as in he works for/with owners/GMs and it's in his best interest to keep their best interest in mind.

Currently the demand is slowly being filled. NHL Numbers seems to be the new go-to for contract information, war-on-ice added their own cap tool, and Greg Sinclair (creator of  Super Shot Search and hockeystats.ca) is currently taking donations to help with his own version of CapGeek. So maybe Bettman is right, fans don't want a CapGeek-style sight, they want multiple CapGeek-style sites (this way fans have multiple places backing up the claim their team's GM is the greatest man on earth/biggest idiot who ever lived).

At the end of the day though, there was only one CapGeek. It's not a statement against those trying to imitate it, but a statement of how high the bar CapGeek set.


The Impossible Is Made Possible

Well, I don't know how, but Columbus made it happen...They sent Adam Cracknell back to St. Louis in exchange for future considerations. Oh, and they traded for some Clarkson fellow as well.

This is really a tale of two power forwards. Nathan Horton, who after having success in Boston, cashed in on a 7-year, $37.1 million deal with the Blue Jackets. He was ok in his first year in Columbus, putting up 5-14-19 in 36 games. That last number is key. Horton missed half the season with a shoulder injury (same reason that Columbus decided not to insure his contract). Over the 2014 offseason he developed a degenerative back issue, and has not played since.

David Clarkson was hyped up as a prize signing of the offseason by the Leafs and the Toronto media alike. Clarkson signed a 7-year, $36.75 million deal (that was buyout proof!) to play for his hometown Leafs. The honeymoon (if there was any to begin with) didn't last long, as Clarkson opened his on-ice tenure as a Leaf by jumping the bench to join a fight in a pre-season game and getting suspended for 10 games in the regular season. His first year as a Leaf ended in huge disappointed, as he only registered a 5-6-11 stat line in 60 games. Clarkson looked to bounce back this year, and somewhat did. He had 10-5-15 in 58 games as a Leaf. Then the trade happened.

The trade is actually the best both teams could make given each other's circumstance. For Columbus, a relatively small market, Horton's contract was too much to pay for a guy who is unlikely to play anymore (and with no insurance to help with the payment). The Blue Jackets now have a player who, with a similar contract, can contribute on the ice. For Toronto, they get much-needed cap space. Horton is going to be on the LTIR list for the rest of his contract, and there's a 99.9% chance he won't play anymore (think Pronger and Savard). The Leafs, being the biggest market, has no problem with paying Horton while reaping the benefits of having a large contract not count against the cap. This now gives the Leafs flexibility to re-sign guys like Kadri and Bernier and/or go out and trade/sign guys to help speed up their rebuild.

The biggest benefactor from this trade might be Clarkson himself. He came in to Toronto embracing the spotlight and the hype, and in the end could not live up to the expectations. He was also a victim of a management decision (who among us would turn down $5.25 million a year?). He now gets a fresh start in a smaller market where the spotlight won't be as bright on him. For Columbus' sake, here's hoping Clarkson can regain his form from his New Jersey days (maybe not this year due to the draft, but for afterwards, up to and including years 6 and 7).