The first week of the year was very busy around the NHL which is exactly what we the fans are excited about. In the last 7 days we have seen 4 trades, a Canadian team emerge as the best, and some strange marketing being applied to the NHL All-Star game. So I am here to offer my 2 cents on these events and many more through out 2011 and it looks to be an exciting year.
The Montreal Canadians made 2 of the 4 moves, the first being a trade with the Anaheim Ducks that involved them sending forward Max Lapierre for some draft picks which probably was to clear cap space for their second move which involved acquiring defensman James Wisnewski from the New York Islanders for some draft picks. Montreal has injuries to two major defensman in Andrei Markov and Josh Gorges, who are out for the rest of the season so they needed a player like Wisnewski to fill a void. Lapierre will give the Ducks a needed role playing forward to help their less than stellar defense.
The New York Islanders also made a deal that sent goaltender Dwayne Roloson to the Tampa Bay Lightning, a team that was only weak in that position. With the 41 year old Roloson in their roster, Tampa has a very good chance at taking their division crown and becoming an NHL powerhouse team. The Islanders are clearly trying to give their young players more ice time in hope that they can turn this constantly losing franchise around.
The final trade of the week is proof that the New Jersey Devils are in rebuilding mode and are in a tough spot with Ilya Kovalchuck's $100,000,000 contract. They sent their historic captain Jamie Langenbrunner back to his former team the Dallas Stars. Dallas is one of the more competitive teams this season, leading their Pacific division. The veteran Langenbrunner could be the missing piece to the surprising Stars and they might just become a team to beat in the Western Conference. And what more can be said that hasn't already been said about the horrible season the Devils horrible season. They are just playing like a team that doesn't know what to do. I'm sure I will be writing about them before the seasons end.
Since the Ottawa Senators in 2007, no Canadian team has been atop the NHL standings but last week the Vancouver Canucks did just that. They are riding a streak that has them getting at least a point in every game since December 3rd. They are very deep in all positions and are playing very to their top potential. But the most important thing is that the players are not getting caught up in all of the hype that comes with being first in the league and instead are just focusing on being the best and winning every game. That is an important mood to have in a dressing room if a team wants to be successful over a long period of time.
The NHL announced the 6 players that will be guaranteed a spot in the All-Star game. The players are Sid Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Marc-Andre Fleury as well as Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith of the Chicago Blackhawks. This leaves 30 player spots to be selected by the league on January 11. However, with every team required to have at least 1 player 28 of the spots will need to be taken from 28 different teams so teams like Vancouver, Detroit, Washington, San Jose, Anaheim, and Philadelphia who have multiple "All-Star" players but won't be able to send more than 1. I was extremely disappointed when I heard some many good players won't be in the game that is supposed to showcase the best in the NHL. I was pleasantly excited about the format where the players draft the teams, but the teams won't be as exciting as imagined due to all of the restrictions. All I can say is that the All-Star game will still need some work if it wants to attract the common hockey fan, which is something I don't think they want to do.
So I hope this gives you a taste of my writing style and how I will approach my weekly posts. I hope you can continue to read and spread the word about this young aspiring writer and help me get more readers.
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