Buffalo Sabres Stay the Course...and Meltdown Yet Again

It's been a trying season for the Buffalo Sabres, to say the least, and it appears that it won't be getting any easier though it may finally be coming to an end. Contracts, trades, free agency and injuries have severly damaged what was one of the best teams in hockey for the last couple of years. Despite all of that, and a 10+ game slump in the middle of the season, the Sabres have been on the verge of sliding into the 8th and final spot in the East for the last week or so. However, their performance over the last week may have finally put them to rest.

The Sabres are 4-3-3 in their last 10 games, but that doesn't tell the whole story. In the last week alone, the Sabres have managed to squander three points in games that were absolute must-wins and games they simply gave away. On March 25th, against the rival Ottawa Senators the Sabres appeared to have the game in-hand when they scored two quick goals to start the third which put them up 3-1. A little less than 10 minutes later the Sabres were on the powerplay on the verge of putting the game away when one of their defensemen made a terrible decision to pinch along the boards. He got caught and it produced a shorthanded scoring opportunity that Dean McAmmond buried to cut the lead to 1. Less than 2 minutes later Daniel Alfredsson scored to tie the game and it seemed as if the Sabres threw in the towel. In the next 4 minutes and 18 seconds the Senators would rattle off 2 more goals and then throw in an empty netter with 1 second left to leave Buffalo with a 6-3 win. 2 points given away at a time where you simply can't afford to do that.

Buffalo somewhat made amends 2 nights later when they scored with less than a minute and a half left in the game to force overtime against the Senators. Buffalo eventually won in a shootout. The next night the Sabres faced the Eastern Conference leading Montreal Canadiens. The Sabres dominated in shots on goal, but the Canadiens had twice as many "scoring opportunities" as the Sabres starting the third period in a game that was tied at 1. Ryan Miller, who has not been great when his team needed him so desperately, actually had a good night making a number of key saves. Buffalo stormed out of the gate and scored two goals in the first 7 minutes to go up 3-1. Buffalo had a number of chances to extend the lead but Carey Price kept Montreal in the hunt and with a minute and a half left Tomas Plekanec scored on the powerplay to cut the lead to 1. Suddenly, it felt hopeless. It seemed that the Sabres were destined to throw away another 2 goal lead and eventually they did as Plekanec scored his second of the game with 15 seconds left to force overtime. Christopher Higgins ended the game 3:38 into overtime. It was another devastating loss that followed what has become a familiar script for Buffalo fans.

Now Buffalo stands 6 points out of a playoff sport with 4 games left and their season is essentially over. At the very least those 3 points would have put the Sabres squarely in the hunt for the playoffs. Now they'll be watching from home for the first time in recent memory and the attention quickly shifts to re-signing Ryan Miller. At this point, the Sabres failing to re-sign any player would not surprise me.

Western Conference Showdown - Nashville, Vancouver and Edmonton

If you have not checked in the past 2 minutes you will see that currently (3/30 @ 2am ... yes, I am up blogging at this time ... SO!) there is a 3 way tie for the coveted 8th slot in the Western Conference playoffs. Both Nashville and Vancouver hold 2 games in hand to Edmonton. Nashville's last 4 games are against Detroit, St Louis and Chicago, while Vancouver gets to play with the Flames, Avalanche and Oilers. 3 out of 4 games for Nashville are on the road while Vancouver hosts their last 4 opponents. Here is a snapshot of how the the Western Conference looks right now:


(Source: NHL.com)

Nashville has not really dominated any of the teams they are going up against this season. It will be interesting to watch if Nashville can pull out a playoff berth in the end - especially with the new owners, now wouldn't that be nice! Here is where the Predators stand against its remaining adversaries!
Detroit @ 3-3-1
St Louis @ 3-2-1 (Nashville plays them 2 times in their last 4 games)
Chicago @ 3-3-1

Vancouver has seen their ups and downs this year, special thanks must go out to Roberto Luongo who has helped them as best as he could this year. He is sitting with a 34-26-9 record with 6 shut outs. He has a 2.33 GAA and a .919 SV% ... according to the Fantasy Hockey universe Roberto is #2 right behind Henrik Lundqvist. According to the NHL stats in Wins he is tied for 6th with 34, His GAA has him in 10th and his SV% has him tied for 4th ... Not to shabby when he has to sit and watch the team in front of him fall apart and play inconsistent hockey. With that said, lets look at Vancouvers series tallies against their final matchups.
Calgary @ 4-2-0 (Calgary plays Vancouver 2 more times in the next 4 games)
Colorado @ 2-4-1
Edmonton @ 4-0-3

Seeing how Vancouver has been able to take Edmonton past regulation I am sure they will be hoping for at least one point in the column when that game is played. Colorado has figured out how to play Vancouver hockey, and with the Avalanche being one game in the hole to Vancouver and only 4 points in front of them - I am certain they are reviewing the play book for this game.

This has to be one of the most exciting ends to regular season Hockey in a long time. The emotion and physical energy exerted each night - I swear some of these teams are already in playoff mode.

San Jose Sharks Relish In Their Pacific Divsion Champion Title

And how do they celebrate - how about ordering up some Roast Duck with Mango Salsa! San Jose has not lost in regulation since Feb 20 … taking their record to 16-0-2. Brian Boucher helped the Sharks win last night by making 23 saves, and at the same time helped snap the defending Stanley Cup champion Ducks' 10-game, home-winning streak. Brian Boucher is going to grow with the Sharks and we have been given a glimpse into how this kid owns the crease since being signed by the Sharks on Feb 26th. Since then he has played 4 games for a total of 198 minutes - he is 3-0-1 with a GAA of .90 and a .966 SV% ... he has allowed 3 goals on 88 shots. It definitley will be interesting to watch him grow – as we did when Toskala was Nabby’s back up. Boucher helped San Jose add another notch when it won for the 10th time in 11 road games to improve its NHL-best mark to 27-8-4 away from home.

San Jose clinched this with 4 games remaining in the season, they have home games against Phoenix and Los Angeles and away games with Los Angeles and Dallas. All Pacific Division rivalries, all passionate about the sport but looking at the standings - the Kings are positioned for a great spot in the draft and Phoenix is looking at a 6 point spread between them and the 8th spot in the playoffs. However, as we all know – it’s not over till they skate around the ice with the Cup.

For the Sharks season series with the final 3 teams they play are:
Phoenix @ 4-1-2
Los Angeles @ 3-2-1
Dallas @ 4-3-0

As I am sure you all know, tow of these teams might not be in the playoffs but our record against them shows they know how to slow down the Sharks play and convert opportunities into Wins! Dallas has been a strong force against us and with their position in the Western standings it looks like they will need to polish their game play if they want to make it into the 2nd round. For the Sharks, these last 4 games give them the opportunity to break San Jose’s season record of 107 points – currently they are 3 points away from that mark.

Good Luck San Jose!

Gary Bettman, NHL Teams And Rebuttals

This post is in rebuttal to the recent post by Chris Lucas over at Lucas On Sports regarding Gary Bettman and the NHL … while we at Ice Junkies agree with a few things in this post, there are some ideas thrown around that we need to interject our 2 cents worth. You can read the post by clicking here - What Gary Bettman Can Do To Save The NHL and you can follow Chris over at Twitter, he is @Hockeyskates The other driver of our rebuttal is the comment from “Chris in Canada” and his thoughts as to how he would make the NHL better also. So, sit back and enjoy – and thank you for taking the time.

It is annoying when Hockey purists complain about the league having teams in southern states just because they don't think they are "hockey states.” We at Ice Junkies believe if you want the league to grow, that has to be part of it. If you trimmed down the teams in the NHL you would not be able to see the difference between "good" players and "great" players. We would love to see another team in Canada … but it's ridiculous to say that the league has too many teams when you look at the standings this year and how close the race is for the playoff spots. The talent isn't being spread thin at all, in fact, if you had less teams it could be harder to find these gems because there would not be any room on NHL franchise rosters for young players or tough role players. You'd never see a guy like Darren McCarty, Georges Laraque, Steve Ott, Daniel Carcillo, etc … they would all be in the AHL. If you look at Anaheim and why they won the cup, they won it based on role players … by limiting the number of teams the league would lose that ability, like Travis Moen in Anaheim, would he have made it onto the roster? A player like Daniel Carcillo, who clearly has offensive skills, would never get to learn how to play in the NHL because nobody would want to take a chance on him when they are inundated with star caliber players. Also, when great players hit a slump, unless they have the seniority, in a league with less teams to absorb the field - they would be thrown back into the farm league and some of the great ones might never be "found" by allowing them to grow through the droughts - because no matter how you slice it ... AHL Hockey and NHL Hockey are day and night. Your stars in AHL could easily be flops in “The Show.” Look at the Busch League and Nextel Series in NASCAR.

Now, we do agree that having two teams in Florida is unnecessary when there are places in Canada begging for a team, but saying that Carolina (Stanley Cup winner), Phoenix (who has been great this year), Columbus (who actually has a decent following) don't deserve teams is, in our opinion, a clear display of bias and jealousy.

Regarding shortening the season, we do not support that idea in any shape or form, for us that's part of hockey. It's supposed to be the toughest sport on the planet and the length of a season is a part of it and to say "No one wants to watch in October when it really doesn’t matter until April and June!" proves to us that someone’s not quite as hardcore as they want to pretend. Anyone who says October doesn't matter isn't paying attention - teams know this and fans clearly care about October looking at attendance stats it's not like no one is coming to hockey games until the end of the season.

As much grief as Eklund gets around the Blog Universe, he does make some good points … and a couple days ago he discussed this exact point about tightening the NHL and the teams that are playing. You can read his post here (of course after you finish this one.) The Oil Rises. An NHL 1/3rd tighter, plus the Virtual Final Standings.

Let’s talk about the Commish now, We think Bettman has done one great thing and one terrible thing. The great thing being the salary cap structure and the new CBA (which many said he would never get) and the terrible thing is the agreement with Versus. With Versus the main problem is the lack of a real marketing push to spread the game into the mainstream (though the winter classic was brilliant) – Versus just does not have the market share to help the NHL expand its viewership and introduce this sport to new audiences. Frankly, you won’t grow the sport without ESPN and NBC. While the best way to generate a solid fan base is to have them experience the passion and excitement of the NHL in person, you won’t do that until people can see what they’re missing when they’re not even looking for it. Chicago is a great example of this. Now that the Hawks are back on local television, their attendance levels are finally climbing out of the gutter.

You can't put all the blame on Bettman either, though part of his role is to be the scapegoat, but the owners have a big say in how the sport develops and keep in mind that the NHL has actually gotten healthier under him (much like the NBA did). So while we are unhappy about some of the stuff he's done, he's at least made it so that the sport can continue.....it wasn't going to under the previous system.

Ray Emery's Chance

Martin Gerber made his 11th straight start this evening in a huge game against conference and national rivals the Montreal Canadiens. He has a 2.60 GAA over that span with a .915 save percentage. Tonight's start, however, did not go as planned. Gerber allowed 3 goals on 14 shots and was pulled after the 1st period. The much maligned back-up, Ray Emery, has taken to the ice for the first time in nearly a month.

Emery, who led the team to the Stanley Cup finals last year, has had the kind of year, both personally and professionally, that makes PR management firms smile. He's struggled on the ice, dropped the gloves with a teammate, been late to practice numerous times prompting his coach to throw him out, had altercations with the police and been singled out for his questionable work ethic. It's the kind of year that can taint a career.

Emery, after returning from wrist surgery, split starts with Gerber which seemed to be a point of contention for him. In many ways, he had a good amount of responsibility in the firing of John Paddock, the Senators coach, only a month ago. Bryan Murray, the Senators GM, took over as head coach, a role that is pretty familiar to him after being behind the bench throughout the playoffs last year. Since Murray has taken over Gerber has been the starter as the team tries desperately to develop some consistency and find a way out of a slump that has less to do with goaltending and more to do with the team as a whole..

Now Ray Emery has found himself unexpectedly back on the ice in a clutch game that his team truly needs. Thus far, he's made 5 saves and couple of critical stops and the Senators have been able to cut the lead to two. My prediction is that this won't be the last time we see Ray Emery this season and we won't go through the playoffs without him in the net. Whether he will yank the starting reins away from Gerber, I'm not sure, but I think he could be the surprise player of the post-season. The biggest obstacle he'll need to overcome is the damage he's caused to his teammates' faith in him. A team has to believe in their goaltender, otherwise that doubt manages to spread into all aspects of the game. If Ray Emery can lead the Senators to victory tonight it may just be the first step to doing exactly that.

Post-Game

Ultimately, it wasn't mean to be for Emery or the struggling Senators. After Ottawa cut the lead to 2 midway through the second period, the Canadiens roared back scoring four goals in less than 8 minutes. The Senators seemed to wake up in the third and were able to score four goals but fell 7-5. Emery was good early on, but it wasn't enough as the Senators are clearly not a playoff hockey caliber team right now. Martin Gerber will search for retribution as he makes his 12th straight start tonight against the high-flying Buffalo Sabres.

The Return of Patrice Bergeron

Note: This story combines data I found on yahoo, cbssportsline and a few other sites with my own observations.

Boston Bruins' young star centerman Patrice Bergeron wasn't thinking about hockey in November. He wasn't thinking about the next opponent or the playoffs or what he needed to do to elevate his already impressive game. At age 22, he was wondering whether he'd ever get a chance to play again.

On October 27th against the Philadelphia Flyers, Bergeron's career was forever changed when he was driven face first into the end boards at full speed by Flyers defenseman Randy Jones. The hit left him motionless on the ice for what seemed like an eternity. The medical staff cut away his gear before placing his neck in brace, taping his legs to one one another and moving him to a board to stabilize his body. He was finally moved on to a stretcher and taken to the hospital. It was a terrifying scene as Bergeron showed little to no movement throughout the process. He was ultimately diagnosed with a severe grade 3 concussion and a broken nose. There was good news, however, in that there was no damage to his neck or spine but his career was certainly in question.

Claude Julien was furious with the play, calling it a "dirty hit" and challenging the league to address the situation with the Flyers who, as a team, had been involved in three violent plays in their first 10 games. Ultimately, Julien was most likely disappointed in the suspension handed down by the league. Randy Jones was suspended for two games without pay, which ultimately cost him $5,614.98. For the Flyers, it wasn't much of a loss considering that Jones wasn't even one of their top four defensemen while it was a devastating loss for the Bruins.

Patrice Bergeron was one of the most promising young players in the league. 2005-2006, his second year in the league, was a breakout season for the 20 year old where he scored 31 goals and added 42 assists. 29 of those points were scored on the powerplay. The following year wasn't quite as great, but still a very good season with 70 points and 22 goals. There were high hopes for the 2007-2008 season as Bergeron had 7 points in the first 10 games, but the attention quickly shifted after the incident. The team no longer wondered how many points he' d scored but rather whether he'd ever score another goal again.

On November 8th, an ailing Patrice Bergeron held a press conference to discuss the game, the injury and his future. It was as gutsy a performance by a player that I can remember. Bergeron, still in a neck brace, physically struggled to even rotate his head to face the reporters. The lights, the noise, the commotion all seemed to take a toll on him. The rules were that he would answer questions in English for five minutes and then in French for another five and then he would walk away. It was ultimately a unique press conference where Bergeron called, not for the league, but for the players to change the game. He urged them to show a greater level of respect for one another and cut down on the dangerous hits from behind.

"You have to hold back -- hitting is a part of the game, but not from behind. We have to respect each other a little bit more. I know I'm not the only one who has been saying that this past year. Something needs to be done. We have to think about the consequences when you're on the ice. "

I have a tremendous amount of respect for Bergeron and I'd love to say that his sacrifice was worth it, that his press conference changed the game but I'd be lying. For me, there have been more dangerous hits from behind this year than any I can remember and the league continues to be shy about cracking down on it. I often wonder when we'll see someone get paralyzed on the ice. When it does happen, the league will need to shoulder part of the blame.

It's been about 5 months since the incident and Bergeron has fought through all of the pain and discomfort that comes with a concussion of that magnitude. In fact, at times it prevented him from even being able to watch his teammates as the lights and noise triggered debilitating headaches and dizziness that made it difficult to move around. Brief walks were a challenge and all the exercise his body could handle. Ultimately, he struggled to even leave his home. Over time, he regained some of the little things people generally take for granted. He was able to move around, go outside and eventually go see his teammates in person. It was one of the first steps he'd take.

Recovering from concussions is a difficult thing. It's about testing yourself and your body and being patient throughout the process. For Bergeron, a slow, steady five minute ride on an exercise bike in December was a huge step forward and the biggest "win" he'd had since the injury. Throughout his exercise program the headaches would return forcing Bergeron to scale back his approach. After a period of time, he'd try again and see how far he could go without the headaches and dizziness bringing him back to earth. Then he took a big step in late February when he started skating again. It started slowly, with him skating before and after practice by himself with no gear. Two weeks ago his dedication, patience and persistence allowed him to return to practice with his teammates. He wears a special colored jersey so that his teammates know that he is only practicing in a "non-contact" fashion but being back with the team is exactly what he wanted.

Now, he stands at the edge of an incredibly remarkable milestone. On Wednesday he will have a number of neuro tests done and they will determine whether or not he is ready for contact again. If all goes well, and the tests provide positive results, it certainly seems like Bergeron will be back this season. The Boston Bruins, who are desperately hanging on to a playoff spot in the East, would love to have their star in the lineup but they also won't take any changes with a player so young. For them, it's just great to have him back in the locker room. The likelihood of us seeing him back during the regular season are slim-to-none, but the post-season might be a different matter. Regardless, it's great to hear that his return is now a matter of "when" as opposed to "if." He's just happy to be back in the environment, back with the team and back to focusing on the game we all love.

“It’s a great feeling to be around the guys again, be around the locker room, have a chance to skate with the guys. I waited 4 1/2 months to have a chance to do that,” Bergeron said. “It’s a great sport, and you don’t appreciate it as much; you don’t say thanks enough.

“Now that I’ve been away from it, I get a chance to realize it’s my passion. I’m thankful for every second, every minute that I’m on the ice.”

The San Jose Sharks Feeding Frenzy

San Jose has just tightened the noose around the rest of the Pacific Division teams. Tonight's game against the Anaheim Ducks was not only a "must win" it was the game that would set the momentum for the rest of the season. The Sharks' 14th win in 15 games vaulted them seven points ahead of Anaheim and 10 in front of the third-place Dallas Stars.

Going into the game tonight San Jose was looking at a 0-5-1 record against the Ducks with Anaheim out-scoring San Jose 17-10. San Jose took the reins early in the game ... 40 seconds into the game to be exact! Joe Thornton scored on Jonas Hiller assisted by Milan Michalek and Jonathan Cheechoo.

Evgeni Nabokov earned his NHL-best 43rd victory for the Sharks and after Roenick put San Jose ahead early in the third period; the Ducks never tested Nabokov again. However, the Sharks outshot the Ducks 43-13 and did not allow Anaheim the opportunity to register a shot on goal in the 3rd period.

San Jose will face Anaheim again next Friday - March 28th ... where they will wrap up the Divisional series between the 2 teams.

A Night of Milestones With Okposo and Ovechkin

Kyle Okposo scores his first NHL goal in his second game helping the New York Islanders down the New Jersey Devil 3-1. Meanwhile in Atlanta, Alexander Ovechkin scores two goals and leads the Washington Capitals to a remarkable four goal third period comeback over the Atlanta Thrashers to keep the Caps' playoff hopes alive. He also added two assists and finished at a +4 with 9 shots on goal. The goals were his 59th and 60th of the season, making him the first player to reach the 60 goals mark since Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr did it nearly a decade ago.

The Marian Hossa Gamble

It was the blockbuster trade of the deadline and possibly one of the most shocking deal I can remember. Pittsburgh Penguins, who’d only been loosely rumored to even have an interest in Marian Hossa, swooped in at the last second and sent Sidney Crosby’s best friend right winger Colby Armstrong, sniper Erik Christensen, 1^st round draft pick Angelo Esposito and a 1^st round draft pick to the Atlanta Thrashers for Hossa and defensive-minded forward Pascal Dupuis. The reaction was mixed from everyone, including myself. I didn’t mind Christensen, Esposito and the 1^st rounder, but giving up Armstrong stung a bit. The Penguins have struggled to play the kind of nasty, gritty game that is often necessary in the playoffs and they sent one of their few guys who could excel in that environment. Of course, the other big question was whether or not Hossa would purely be a rental or if the Penguins had found their Jari Kurri for their Wayne Gretzky.

Marian Hossa entered the league as an Ottawa Senator when they drafted him 12 overall in 1997. At 6’1, 210 lbs he’s an incredible skater with remarkably soft hands. It’s nearly impossible to move him off the puck in the offensive zone and he possesses one of the best shots in the league. He’s consistently put up impressive regular season numbers failing to hit the 30 goal mark only 2 times in the last 10 years and in one of those he scored 29.

He spent 7 seasons in Ottawa before being traded to the Atlanta Thrasher in exchange for, the then troubled, Dany Heatley. Hossa, himself, hadn’t been able to avoid trouble. On a follow through from a slapshot, Hossa’s stick came up and clipped Toronto Maple Leaf’s defenseman Brian Berard in the eye. Berard collapsed to the ice in a pool of blood and was rushed to the hospital. The initial diagnosis was that he would most likely never see out of that eye again. After 7 operations he regained 20/600 vision in the eye and eventually returned to the NHL. While the play was clearly an accident there were many, including Maple Leafs GM Pat Quinn, who felt like it was actually a dirty play. Hossa apologized to Berard and his family and both were said to have accepted the apology.

Heatley, on the other hand, was involved in an off-ice incident that resulted in the death of a friend and teammate. Dan Snyder and Heatley were driving back from a season ticket holder function with Heatley behind the wheel. According to police, Heatley was driving in excess of 80 mph and lost control of his Ferrari. The results of the crash were devastating and Dan Synder died at the hospital without ever having regained consciousness. Heatley himself suffered a knee injury that cost him the next season, but he was at risk of spending time in prison for the accident. Heatley was found guilty of first-degree vehicular homicide, which carries a 3-15 year prison sentence, but Synder’s family pleaded with the judge to keep Heatley out of prison. Ultimately, he was sentenced to 3 years probation and was traded 6 months later. Heatley himself requested the trade, claiming he wanted a fresh start.

Hossa excelled in his new environment playing alongside young phenom Ilya Kovalchuk. His first season in Atlanta was a career year for him where he put up 39 goals and 53 assists. He followed that up with an even better performance and helped the Thrashers reach the playoffs for the first time in franchise history with his first 100 point season. All in all, he scored 82 goals and added 110 assists in those first two seasons for the Thrashers and Atlanta seemed to have the one-two punch of superstar forwards that coaches dream of. Unfortunately, Atlanta was swept in the first round and Hossa had little impact on the series registering only 1 assist and finishing with a -6 in the four games. In fact, the biggest knock against Hossa has always been his lack of playoff production or at least that’s what we were hearing leading up to the trade deadline. Over his career, he’s played in 55 post-season games accumulating 13 goals and 22 assists with a -9 rating. These are the stats that were thrown around by analysts as they evaluated Hossa’ value to a playoff bound team but if you look at these numbers a little more closely things are not quite what they seem.

If you remove the 99-2000 season, which was only his third year in the league where he put up 56 points during the regular season, the numbers seem to change pretty drastically. Furthermore, if you look at 01-03, the two years in which the Senators went deep into the playoffs, Hossa’s stats don’t look so unimpressive. Over those two years he played in 30 playoff games and put up 26 points, which is a solid effort for any forward. In fact, if you compare those percentages to what Teemu Selanne did the last two season for the Ducks, 29 points in 37 games, it’s about on-par with what you’d expect from a star forward. In fact, his numbers are better than Selanne’s. I’m not sure a player can ever produce enough points in the playoffs, but it’s seems a bit unfair to accuse of him of disappearing during the post-season.

Career Postseason Stats
Totals	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PM	PP	SHG	GWG	S	SPct.
1998-99	Ott	4	0	2	2	1	4	0	0	0	11	0.00
1999-00	Ott	6	0	0	0	-8	2	0	0	0	14	0.00
2000-01	Ott	4	1	1	2	1	4	0	0	0	12	8.33
2001-02	Ott	12	4	6	10	2	2	1	0	0	42	9.52
2002-03	Ott	18	5	11	16	-1	6	3	0	1	54	9.26
2003-04	Ott	7	3	1	4	2	0	1	0	2	32	9.38
2006-07	Atl	4	0	1	1	-6	6	0	0	0	10	0.00
Career		55	13	22	35	-9	24	5	0	3	175	7.43

The Thrashers have desperately been trying to build a solid fanbase in the south and even sold away some of their future for playoff rental players last season so allowing Marian Hossa to walk at first seemed illogical. It eventually became clear that Hossa wasn’t too interested in staying in Atlanta. I’ve heard many concerns over the franchise in general, especially in relation to their minor league and developmental programs, and this decision seems to echo them. Ultimately, he forced their hand and the Thrashers simply couldn’t let him walk for nothing. They got a fine package in return as Armstrong and Christensen have both played well since arriving in Atlanta, Esposito could be a future star in the league and the upcoming draft is deep enough for them to snatch a valuable player with the last first round pick. Atlanta was probably has happy as could be expected.

The Penguins, on the other hand, took heat for the trade. Many felt like Hossa was purely a rental and the Pens wouldn’t be able to afford him next season with Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, Marc-Andre Fleury and Ryan Malone all requiring new deals in the near future. However, I’m not quite certain that they can’t. I looked up some of the salary numbers and I don’t claim these to be particularly accurate but they should be in the ballpark.

PLAYER	POS	TEAM	D.O.B.	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
In the NHL
HOSSA, MARIAN	R	PIT	79/01/12	$7,000,000	$7,500,000	$7,500,000
GONCHAR, SERGEI	D	PIT	74/04/13	$5,500,000	$6,000,000	$5,500,000
ROBERTS, GARY	L	PIT	66/05/23	$2,500,000	retire
SYDOR, DARRYL	D	PIT	72/05/13	$2,500,000	$2,500,000	UFA
SYKORA, PETR	R	PIT	76/11/19	$2,500,000	$2,500,000	UFA
WHITNEY, RYAN	D	PIT	83/02/19	$2,500,000	$3,000,000	$3,500,000
GILL, HAL	D	PIT	75/04/06	$2,075,000	$2,100,000	UFA
EATON, MARK	D	PIT	77/05/06	$1,600,000	release
FLEURY, MARC-ANDRE	G	PIT	84/11/28	$1,600,000	$5,000,000	$6,000,000
MALONE, RYAN	L	PIT	79/12/01	$1,450,000	$3,000,000	$3,500,000
LARAQUE, GEORGES	R	PIT	76/12/07	$1,300,000	$1,500,000
RUUTU, JARKKO	L	PIT	75/08/23	$1,150,000	release
ORPIK, BROOKS	D	PIT	80/09/26	$1,075,000	$1,500,000	$1,500,000
MALKIN, EVGENI	C	PIT	86/07/31	$984,200	$984,200	$8,000,000
DUPUIS, PASCAL	L	PIT	79/04/07	$880,000	$1,500,000	$1,500,000
CROSBY, SIDNEY	C	PIT	87/08/07	$850,000	$9,000,000	$9,000,000
STAAL, JORDAN	C	PIT	88/09/10	$850,000	$850,000	RFA
SCUDERI, ROBERT	D	PIT	78/12/30	$700,000	$725,000	UFA
TALBOT, MAXIME	C	PIT	84/02/11	$650,000	$700,000	RFA
LETANG, KRISTOPHER	D	PIT	87/04/24	$560,000	$685,000	$625,000
KENNEDY, TYLER	C	PIT	86/07/15	$550,000	$550,000	RFA
SABOURIN, DANY	G	PIT	80/09/02	$500,000	$525,000	UFA
TAFFE, JEFF	L	PIT	81/02/19	$500,000	$800,000	$800,000
JAMES, CONNOR	L	PIT	82/08/25	$475,000	$475,000
NHL totals				$40,249,200	$51,394,200	$47,425,000

The 07-08 numbers should all be pro-rated based on the amount of time that player will spend with Pittsburgh. As you can see I released a few players, assumed Gary Roberts would retire and signed the proper players to new contracts (the numbers in bold). Again, I don’t claim any of this to be accurate but I don’t think it’s too far off. Whether or not the team will want to spend close to the cap remains to be seen. Even if they do signing Hossa does put Pittsburgh at risk once Malkin’s new contract kicks in which will have to be in the neighborhood of 8-9 million. I think Pittsburgh will try to sign him and perhaps the lure of playing with Crosby and Malkin on a team that will be competing for the cup every year will be too much to turn down, wishful thinking I know, but it’s pretty clear that re-signing him was not the initial goal anyways. The goal appears to be this year’s playoffs and a trade like this tells everyone that the team wants to win right now. So the big question is whether or not Hossa can make the difference.

Hossa’s “career” in Pittsburgh started rough as he only lasted 10 minutes in his debut before a knee on knee collision sent him to the dressing room and forced him to sit for 8 days. He finally returned on the 16^th at home against the Philadelphia Flyers where he had a goal and an assist with a +2 rating. This, of course, was without Crosby who continues to rest his high ankle sprain. Hossa didn’t line up with Malkin, as expected, but seemed to bounce between lines as is typical for Michele Therrien, the Penguins coach. One line that did seem to show some serious potential had Staal flanked by Dupuis and Hossa. This line continues to show up occasionally and seems to have a great balance of solid play in their own zone with the capability of producing scoring chances at any time. In the following game Hossa finished with 5 shots on goal and an assist in a game where the Penguins played poorly against the New York Rangers. In his third game he played nearly 20 minutes, his most since coming to Pittsburgh, but failed to register a point. His lack of points that night had everything to do with Mike Smith, Tampa Bay’s goalie, making 6 or 7 mind blowing saves in the third on nearly every Penguin. Hossa could have , and should have, easily finished with 2 or 3 points.

So far, Hossa seems to be settling in quite nicely even without the guy who will ultimately be feeding him the puck during the playoffs. He’s shown that he can play on nearly any line and has shown flashes of the brilliance for which he’s been heralded. When Crosby returns, which should be next week, we’ll finally get to see how this experiment/gamble paid off. One things for certain, if the Penguins win the cup no one will question the trade, but if they struggle and are then unable to re-sign Hossa, the hockey world will be anything but forgiving.