Western Conference stand to lose in realignment.

by Martin Krantz on March 19, 2013

Well, the news of the NHL’s realignment has been out for a while, but because of a sick daughter I haven’t been able to adress it yet. I get that Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning are considered losers due to the amount of travel they will have to do with the new system, but I think a bigger danger is what will happen to the Western Conference.

Detroit Red Wings won 62 games in a single sea... Detroit Red Wings are looking East.  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I get that Detroit is happy to move to the Eastern Conference, but as a fan of a Western Conference team I’m unsure where that leaves us. The Detroit Red Wings are one of the few teams that pull attention to the Western Conference during the season, along with the Chicago Blackhawks. As much as I dislike them, they are one of the few teams keeping this Conference relevant.

Because, let’s face it. There isn’t a whole lot to excite a fan about the west. Phoenix Coyotes? The only ones interested in them besides the fans are the owners (NHL, as it stands) and people who are watching hockey in an unhealthy amount. Minnesota, Nashville and St. Louis constitute the Bermuda triangle of hockey. Players go there never to be seen again unless they sign a contract of 100+ million first. And Colorado is, as much as I love them, hardly relevant these days. We’re hardly ever on TV, and even when there’s big news coming out of Denver, it’s only second or third on TSN’s webpage because a Canadian team had a practice that day.

Right now, the teams to watch in the west, besides the Blackhawks and Wings, are the Los Angeles Kings (on account of the cup win), the Vancouver Canucks (because of the crazy canadian media, and to see what happens to Roberto Luongo) and the Edmonton Oilers (which is one of the bigger mysteries in the grand scheme of things).

Add to that the fact that the time zone differences makes the eastern conference’s media uninterested in what happens in the west, unless it takes place in Detroit or Chicago. And TSN’s main interest in the western conference comes from watching the Canucks crawl into a little ball of despair once the playoffs comes around.

No, attention and air time on TV is something reserved for Detroit, Chicago and possibly the Kings right now. If your team is visiting Detroit, you’ve got a good chance that it’s on TV. If the Avs are playing Nashville, most fans wouldn’t find the arena, let alone the correct TV channel.

And the realignment will move the Winnipeg Jets out west. Because that’s a relevant substitute for losing the Wings. Instead of reading articles about Kronwall’s latest hit, Datsyuk’s latest deke and the next big steal in the draft, I can enjoy myself with Dustin Byfugliens attempts to join “The Biggest Loser”.

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Lindy Ruff fired.

by Martin Krantz on February 20, 2013

After a slow start to the season, Lindy Ruff has been fired by the Buffalo Sabres.  He was the longest tenured coach in the NHL with 16 seasons behind the bench for the Buffalo Sabres. And, if I’m not mistaken, this will throw Colorado Avalanche fans into a frenzy. And, most likely, it’ll all be in vain.

Lindy Ruff has been head coach for the Buffalo... Lindy Ruff had been head coach for the Buffalo Sabres since 1997. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

See, the last time two major coaches were available, we were pretty much jumping for management to step in and do something about it. First, Bruce Boudreau was fired from the Washington Capitals, and Avalanche fans were going crazy about it – “we have to fire Sacco now!”. Instead, Anaheim Ducks fired Randy Carlyle and replaced him with Bruce. And the hard-tested Avalanche fans said “Wait – Randy Carlyle is out there? We have to fire Sucko (his affectionate nickname) nooooooow.”

Instead, Randy Carlyle was hired by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

At the time of Ruff’s firing, Toronto is 6th in the East under Carlyle. Anaheim is 2nd in the West under Boudreau. And the Avs are 13th in the West with Sacco behind the bench.

Now, I’m not saying that the Avalanche would’ve been 6th or 2nd if they had replaced Sacco with Boudreau or Carlyle. But you have to imagine that they might have been able to coax a bit more out of the Avalanche roster than Sacco’s been doing. Sacco has one playoff season under his belt and two seasons with a top five draft pick to show for his efforts. In 2010-2011, the roster practically gave up on him. Last year, the team was carried by Ryan O’Reilly and Gabriel Landeskog, but still finished outside of the playoffs.

I think – actually, I’m rather certain – that Avs fans will be clamoring once again for the front office to finally fire Sacco. And I’m sure we’re bound to be disappointed yet again, as Sacco looks like he’s sitting safe for at least this season as well, which may very well land the Avs another top 5 pick in the draft.

Instead, I would look toward teams like Winnipeg Jets, New York Islanders, Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers when the times comes for Ruff to put pen to paper on a new contract. Or hey, here’s a crazy idea – demote Adam Oates to assistant coach in Washington, or fire him, and let Lindy Ruff try to whip Alexander Ovechkin back into form!

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10 Players in the wrong jerseys

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Sometimes, a player is on another team for so long that you can’t imagine them playing for another team. When they do join another team, that can be quite jarring. If you’re lucky, it’s pretty smooth. I always felt that Ray Bourque just worked in an Avalanche jersey. I mean, he rocked that thing. And [...]

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Lundqvist in fantastic interview.

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The disloyalty of Kovalchuk.

January 9, 2013

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Classic Playmakers: Wayne Gretzky

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In the “Classic Playmakers” series I will do articles on some of the greatest playmakers of all time – so let’s start with the golden boy, Wayne Gretzky. In 1,487 games played he had 894 goals and 1,963 assists for a total of 2,857 points. With those points, he’s the NHL point leader all-time even [...]

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