Free Agent Recap: Western Conference

While the hockey world has CBA talk in the driver seat, the free agency period has been thrown out of the van. No fear, we found it on the side of the road 4 weeks later and are giving it a ride. Here is what has gone down for the Western Conference teams.

Note: This only includes Free Agent signings. No trade or resignings here. All signings according to the NHL website.

Anaheim Ducks

Who They Signed: Brad Staubitz, Bryan Allen, Sheldon Souray, Jordan Hendry, Daniel Winnik
What That Means: The Ducks do improve their blueline and add some depth. Other than trying to trade Bobby Ryan and hoping Selanne can defy aging again, it'll remain status quo.

Calgary Flames

Who They Signed: Jiri Hudler
What That Means: The Flames want to stay mediocre. Need I say more?

Chicago Blackhawks

Who They Signed: Sheldon Brookbank, Martin St. Pierre
What That Means: The Blackhawks AHL team just got better.

Colorado Avalanche

Who They Signed: John Mitchell, PA Parenteau, Greg Zanon, Sean Sullivan
What That Means: Colorado is willing to gamble on Parenteau not being just another winger of Tavares'.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Who They Signed: Adrian Aucoin, Curtis McElhinney
What That Means: They'll still suck. Enjoy another high draft pick.

Dallas Stars

Who They Signed: Ray Whitney, Aaron Rome, Jaromir Jagr, Tyler Sloan
What That Means: When (it better happen!) GM Neuiwendyk decides to come out of retirement and centre Whitney and Jagr, the Stars will have one of the most dominant lines in the league...provided it's 2002 and not 2012. Old jokes aside, Whitney and Jagr will provide the veteran presence that the Stars need for a young club to grow.

Detroit Red Wings

Who They Signed: Jordon Tootoo, Mikael Samuelsson, Jonas Gustavsson, Brennan Evans
What That Means: You lose Lidstrom to retirement, you panic. Gustavsson should improve (since he's now a former Leaf), but there was no improvement to the Red Wings defence thus far. Not that you can improve from Lidstrom, but the gap could have been improved.

Edmonton Oilers

Who They Signed: Justin Schultz, Dane Byers,
What That Means: Schultz does improve the blueline, but this is still a young team. Wait 4-5 years for something magical.

Los Angeles Kings

Who They Signed: Andrew Bodnarchuk
What That Means: Why change what works?

Minnesota Wild

Who They Signed: Zenon Konopka, Torrey Mitchell, Jake Dowell, Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, Brian Connelly
What That Means: Just give them the Cup right now. Getting the two biggest free agents this offseason was the biggest hockey coupe in a long time.

Nashville Predators

Who They Signed: Chris Mason, Mike Moore
What That Means: Well...at least they kept Shea Weber.

Phoenix Coyotes

Who They Signed: Chad Johnson, David Moss, Chris Conner, Rob Klinkhammer, Steve Sullivan, Nick Johnson, Joel Rechlicz
What That Means: They add more depth and have a veteran presence in Sullivan if Doan leaves. Now will they still be in Arizona next season?

San Jose Sharks

Who They Signed: Adam Burish, Bracken Kearns, Jon Matsumoto
What That Means:Are they tougher? Yes. Are they improved? No. San Jose needs scoring depth, they are already a tough team. Also, a goalie may help.

St. Louis Blues

Who They Signed: Jeff Woywitka, Andrew Murray, Taylor Chorney, Mike McKenna, Scott Ford
What That Means: Not much, just depth moves that won't improve an already good team much.

Vancouver Canucks

Who They Signed: Jason Garrison, Patrick Mullen, Derek Joslin,
What That Means: Along with Loungo, the Chicago Wolves will become Calder Cup champions next season. Also, Garrison will add scoring from the blueline, provided last season wasn't a fluke.

(Last) Week In Review: Awards and the Draft

Even though these events were last week, free agency is tomorrow and damn if I fall this behind.

Awards

Hart Trophy
Winner: Evgeni Malkin
Finalist: Henrik Lundqvist, Steven Stamkos
Analysis: Not much surprise here. The only thing I don't like is the "player has to make playoffs" arguemnet that went against Stamkos. Hockey isn't like Basketball were one player can carry a team.

Vezina Trophy
Winner: Henrik Lundqvist
Finalist: Jonathan Quick, Pekka Rinne
Analysis: Again, no surprise as Lundqvist wins. He was also nominated for the Hart so there was a good chance he wasn't going to f***ing lose it.

Calder Trophy
Winner: Gabriel Landeskog
Finalist: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Adam Henrique
Analysis: While this was suppose to be the Year of the RNH (and it basically was), Landeskog was a better all around play, which definitely gave him a few extra votes. If voting was done after the players then it would be interesting to see how many extra Henrique would have gotten.

James Norris Trophy
Winner: Erik Karlsson
Finalist: Zdeno Chara, Shea Weber
Analysis:After the offensive season Karlsson had, it would be hard not to see him awarded the Norris.

Bill Masterton Trophy
Winner: Max Pacioretty
Finalist: Daniel Alfredsson, Joffrey Lupul
Analysis: After the Chara incident, Max Pacioretty was the right choice for this award. Not knocking Lupul, as what he went through was scary, I just think his nomination should have been last year (when he came back).

Ted Lindsay Award
Winner: Evgeni Malkin
Finalist: Henrik Lundqvist, Steven Stamkos
Analysis: Usually the Hart winner also gets this award too. No surprises here.

Jack Adams Award
Winner: Ken Hitchcock
Finalist: Paul MacLean, John Tortorella
Analysis: I can't believe that this is Hitch's first Jack Adams. He definitelty deserves it though. Also, credit to MacLean for taking the Sens from projected cellar-dwellers to a game within the second round of the playoffs.

Frank J. Selke Trophy
Winner: Patrice Bergeron
Finalist: Pavel Datsyuk, David Backes
Analysis: Datsyuk didn't win? Then this isn't a real award then. Joking, joking. Bergeron deserves this trophy.

GM of the Year Award
Winner: Dave Armstrong
Finalist: Dale Tallon, David Poile
Analysis: St. Louis did have a good year, but this award should have gone to Tallon. The amount of turnover in Florida (and to make the playoffs) was remarkable.

Lady Byng Trophy
Winner: Brian Campbell
Finalist: Jordan Eberle, Matt Moulson
Analysis: I think it's awesome that a defensemane finally won this award for the first time since 1954. Congrats Campbell.

Draft

Because I don't have all day to disect each selection, here is the first round recapped with thoughts on that and the second day (rounds 2-7)

1. Nail Yakupov (Edmonton)
2. Ryan Murray (Columbus)
3. Alex Galchenyuk (Montreal)
4. Griffin Reinhart (New York I)
5. Morgan Rielly (Toronto)
6. Hampus Lundholm (Anaheim)
7. Mathew Dumba (Minnesota)
8. Derrick Pouliot (Pittsburgh)
9. Jacob Trouba (Winnipeg)
10. Slater Koekkoek (Tampa Bay)
11. Filip Forsberg (Washington)
12. Mikhail Grigorenko (Buffalo)
13. Radek Faksa (Dallas)
14. Zemgus Girgensons (Buffalo)
15.Cody Ceci (Ottawa)
16. Tom Wilson (Washington)
17. Tomas Hertl (San Jose)
18. Teuvo Teravainen (Chicago)
19. Andrei Vasilevski (Tampa Bay)
20. Scott Laughton (Philadelphia)
21. Mark Jankowski (Calgary)
22. Olli Maatta (Pittsburgh)
23. Mike Matheson (Florida)
24. Malcolm Subban (Boston)
25. Jordan Schmaltz (St. Louis)
26. Brendan Gaunce (Vancouver)
27. Henrik Samuelsson (Phoenix)
28. Brady Skjei (New York R)
29. Stefan Matteau (New Jersey)
30. Tanner Pearson (Los Angeles)

First Round Thoughts

• Edmonton did the sensible thing and took the #1 ranked guy. Even though everyone was scared s***-less about him going to the KHL (more on that later).
• Columbus with a great pick in Murray, should be the cornerstone defenseman the Blue Jackets need for years to come.
• I was skeptical of the Habs picking Galchenyuk (espically with the knee injury that kept him out almost all season), but the more I hear about him the more I'm easing off the skepticism...for now. 
• Burke picking a Canadian is amazing. Burke calling him the #1 prospect of the draft is unbelievable.
• The number of defensemen taken in the top 10 was a record. The number of defenseman taken in the first round was remarkable.
• How far both Filip Forsberg and Olli Maatta fell isn't right, these two should have been drafted top 10.
• Speaking of top 10 talent, Grigorenko fell off in the rankings. Wonder how much that has to do with the rumours that he was 20. 
• The Flames trading down didn't make much sense. The fact that they drafted a guy who they could have got in the second round is (again) unbelievable. Fester is really "Going For It" (It = not playoffs/rebuild).
• The Bruins are bastards for picking P.K.'s little brother.
• The Devils are...well...devils for picking "Matteau, Matteau, Matteau" junior.

Other Draft Thoughts

• The Habs with two interesting picks in the later rounds. First off was Dalton Thrower (a great name for hockey) in the second round, then Tim Bozon (son of Philippe Bozon - a French-born [as in France, not Quebec] player) in the third round.
• I get it's easy to make Brian Burke-American player jokes, but for him to only pick one U.S.-born player in this draft is surprising.
• Martin Frk (who plays for the Halifax Mooseheads) got drafted in the second round by the Red Wings. He'll likely be sent back this year, meaning for Frk-ken jokes for me.
• Minnesota picking Louis Nanne was a no-brainer. Why wouldn't they?
• Only one player from my home province (Nova Scotia) was picked. Brandon Whitney, 191st overall (7th round) to the Blackhawks.
• The only time the ""KHL Factor" should be considered during the draft is if the player is already playing (re: under contract) over there. If a Russian is playing over in North America, then there should be no worry about him going back (for a few years).

2012 Stanley Cup Playoff Review - (6) New Jersey Devils vs. (8) Los Angeles Kings

Series Summary

In the beginning it seemed like the series would be a close one. The first two games in New Jersey basically went the same way (Kings score first, Devils eventually tie it up on a deflection, Kings win in overtime). Game 3 is when it seemed like the series was over, as the Kings just dominated the Devils, beating them to take a 3-0 series lead. While everyone expected a sweep, New Jersey had other plans. After trading goals in Game 4, Henrique put one over the arm of Quick, which was all the Devils needed to avoid the sweep. The Devils comeback continued in Game 5. Parise opened the scoring for the Devils when Quick misplayed the puck, then Williams tied it up in the second period. Voynov scored his second for the Devils this series Salvador scored the game winning goal for the Devils. Game 6 was thought to be a close, tense game...then Rob Scuderi turned his back and Steve Bernier leveled him against the board, got a 5 minute major, ejected, and the Kings scored 3 times during the powerplay to end the series. The Devils were completely deflated after that and only mustered one goal after being down 4-0. The Los Angeles Kings won the game 6-1 and were crowned the 2012 Stanley Cup Champions.

Games

Los Angeles Kings 2 (OT)
New Jersey Devils 1

Los Angeles Kings 2 (OT)
New Jersey Devils 1

New Jersey Devils 0
Los Angeles Kings 4

New Jersey Devils 3
Los Angeles Kings 1

Los Angeles Kings 1
New Jersey Devils 2

New Jersey Devils 1
Los Angeles Kings 6

Three Thoughts About The Series

• Doing...uh..."research" about Taylor Stevens. Found out she's only a year older than me.
• I listened to WTMW for one period. It wasn't that bad. Then again, I was subjected to the atrocious commentary (the actual play-by-play) during the World Championships. So there's that.
• After the Bernier hit, I think there is something to be said about introducing a penalty to the victim of those hits. If you turn your back as a last-second tactic, you kind of deserve more than just any pain that comes from it. Funny enough, adding a penalty for that kind of behaviour would deter players from doing that and make the game safer (and smarter).  

Pictures Of The Series

There were too many good pictures to chose from, here are my top 3

After his interview, Rex told Elliotte Friedman to get him a GOD DAMN SNACK!

Kudos to the Kings Mascot for this taunt.

Peter Deboer: The Most Focused Man In The World

Plays Of The Series

Kopitar with the goal of the series:

And Scuderi with the (smartest/dumbest) play of the series:

Prediction Results

MDK: 7-8

BEK: 8-7

Game Six

I got two things to say:

1. Congrats to the Norfolk Admirals for winning the AHL Calder Cup
2. Whoever is doing the Deboar iso-cam tonight is gonna be the envy of a lot of guys.

Tonight's Prediction

New Jersey Devils 1
Los Angeles Kings 3

The Kings end it tonight. As much as it would be awesome to see a Game 7 and potential history, I think the last two games were wake-up calls for LA and they should be in charge for most of this game with the home crowd behind them.

Saturday Night Hockey

Not much time + Not feeling good = Mailed-in post

And the Habs hiring Therrien for a second time doesn't help.

This Week's Congratulations

Congrats to Canada on winning the Inline Hockey World Championship

Congrats to Evgeni Malkin on winning the Kharlamov Trophy (awarded to the best Russian player)

Congrats to Wayne Gretzky, who helped the Kings almost win the Cup in 1993 even though he didn't get there until 1998.

And speaking of 1993, congrats to the Marlies for having a "Refs Screwed Us" moment like there parent club in a crucial playoff series.

Tonight's Prediction

Los Angeles Kings 0
New Jersey Devils 2

I think New Jersey takes their new-found momentum and continues with it. The Kings undefeated road record is in jeopardy tonight.

Lineup Notables

Los Angeles Kings vs. New Jersey Devils

Los Angeles: Scott Parse (hip) is out. Jonathan Quick starts.
New Jersey: No injuries to report. Martin Brodeur starts.