Archive for January, 2010

Craig Custance of the Sporting News is reporting that not only has the agent for Jamal Mayers been given a green light to try and stir up interest in his client, but also that Garnet Exelby’s agent has been allowed to do the same.

Toronto Maple Leafs’ GM Brian Burke says that it isn’t about the team; Exelby just wants more playing time than he’s been getting in Toronto. Of the eight regulars on the Toronto blueline, none have been receiving less ice-time than Exelby, who was acquired from the Atlanta Thrashers over the summer.

There is one interesting coincidence to the fact that both Mayers and Exelby are likely on their way out of town. Leaving aside whatever other flaws they have in their games, both are physical players – one might even say truculent players – but more than that, both are undisciplined players. Among Leafs forwards, no player takes as many penalties (relative to ice-time) as Mayers – who astoundingly takes nearly five times as many penalties as he draws. On the back end, it’s a similar story with Exelby, who takes seven penalties for every penalty he draws.

Given the fact that both of these players would be near the bottom end of the roster on skill alone, constant trips to the penalty box are not a luxury either can afford. It’s also a luxury the Leafs, with their league-worst penalty kill (69.4%) can’t afford. Together, even with seriously limited ice-time, Mayers and Exelby have put the Leafs short-handed on 28 occasions – and with that penalty kill, that’s a number that translates into an extra nine goals against.

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According to The Team 990 in Montreal, following last week’s 4-3 overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues, veteran defenceman Andrei Markov had some harsh words for teammate Carey Price. As per the report, Markov told Price, “If you are not going to play with heart, stay home. We don’t need you here,” at which point some players defended Price and others sided with Markov.

The first thing to note is that this could be nothing more than frustration after a very tough loss. Ty Conklin was outstanding for the Blues, but Montreal still managed to overcome a 3-1 deficit by scoring two goals in the third period and forcing overtime. Despite Montreal’s strong game, several of the goals scored against Price had some odour to them, and Markov had a front row seat to the final goal of the game; he had Andy McDonald up in the high slot but McDonald beat Price cleanly with a strong shot. Here are the highlights:

I’d also imagine that Price’s demeanour doesn’t help matters much, particularly after he’s played a flawed game. Two years back, in their 2008 Future Watch issue, The Hockey News ran a profile of Price which related an interesting anecdote about his professional debut (with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL) and some relevant quotes from coach Don Lever.

Just minutes before his team’s first playoff game against the Rochester Americans last spring, Hamilton Bulldogs coach Don Lever was speaking to his team when he glanced over at the club’s rookie goalie to check his body language and determine whether the 20-year-old was nervous. And there was Carey Price, just a couple of weeks after completing his junior hockey career, leaning back in his stall with his arms clasped over his chest, yawning. It wasn’t as though Lever had asked the Montreal Canadiens to foist this rookie upon him in the playoffs, so seeing Price suffering from either boredom or sleep deprivation didn’t exactly have Lever bubbling over with confidence.

It’s fair to note that Price recorded a shutout that night, and led the team to the Calder Cup, so however irritating his approach to the game might be, it works for him. Lever however was quick to note that approach when asked what Price needed to work on:

He has to be more focused. I think sometimes his lackadaisical personality catches him flat-footed.

There have been similar stories over the years, but the moment I heard Markov’s comment my mind went back to that story. It’s worth stressing that it’s all conjecture, and my personal feeling is that it doesn’t much matter where a goalie’s mind is at as long as he does a good job of stopping pucks (and despite his unfortunate win/loss record this season, Price does that) but it’s easy to imagine how that attitude might grate on some teammates. Then again, as I said at the outset, it’s possible that this was nothing more than frustration after a tough loss.

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The ongoing dispute between Petr Sykora and the Minnesota Wild has not been pretty to watch, even from a distance. There was the concussion to start the year, and then healthy-scratching after Sykora returned from the injury. After that, there was more friction because coach Todd Richards insisted he skate warm-ups despite being a healthy scratch, despite the fact that the other scratch, James Sheppard, did not have to do warm-ups. Both beat reporter Michael Russo and Sykora’s agent Allan Walsh tweeted that the Wild were treating Sykora without respect, an argument that Russo elaborated on afterward:

But here’s the deal: Sykora had a mega-deal in Russia. He was convinced to come here on a one-year deal by Chuck Fletcher, whom Sykora immensely respects, with apparently certain promises, like ice time and linemates.

It’s obvious Sykora’s camp doesn’t feel like he’s being given a chance. He’s been scratched three times, played fourth line many nights, has averaged 12:01 of ice time.

There were rumours of trade talks that fell apart, and Sykora was put on and eventually cleared waivers. For a guy with 300 career goals and just shy of 1000 games, the treatment had to sting, but the good news is that it’s almost over. Yesterday, the Wild assigned Sykora to their AHL affiliate, the Houston Aeros. Sykora will not report to the AHL team, and according to Michael Russo, he’s on the verge of being a free agent:

However, Sykora has officially declined to report. The two sides have mutually agreed to terminate his contract, and once approved by the NHL in the next day or two, Sykora will immediately become an unrestricted free agent.

In essence, Sykora will be free to sign with any team before the March 3 trade deadline and the Wild will be free of the remaining $600,000 or so of Sykora’s contract and salary-cap hit.

Sykora hasn’t been particularly good this year, but then he hasn’t had much ice-time and he’s also had to fight back from a concussion. He was useful for Pittsburgh last year, mostly on the power play, and that’s almost certain to be the role he plays for whoever picks him up: cheap power play specialist.

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NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman went through Alberta last week, and along the way he made sure to suggest that the only way the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames could have any long-term security was if the cities coughed up money to help them build new arenas.

In Edmonton, Bettman sold not just franchise stability, but also appealed to the idea of revitalizing the city:

“This is the second-oldest building in the league, this is the smallest market in the league and if this team is going to have success long-term, they need a new arena, there’s no question about it. With the (current) lease expiring in 2014, people need to focus on the new arena. Having a new arena downtown in any city can be used as a opportunity to revitalize either a community or a region or all of downtown by having 200 nights or more (events) that bring people to an area, not just the arena, but an entertainment district.”

Bettman also said that the NHL would be happy to provide information about how a new arena can revitalize a certain area of a city.

In Calgary, Bettman hit upon similar notes and further appealed to the vanity of residents by talking about “world class” cities:

“Arenas have a certain shelf life. A new facility can be used to rejuvenate a certain area of the city that may not attract people on a regular basis. Cities that aspire to maintain their status as world class generally choose to invest in them because they are important to their citizens and important to a way of life… There’s an economic reality to what new arenas provide. If the Flames are going to continue to be successful and stable, ultimately they are going to need a new arena.”

The nice thing about the trip for Bettman was that he barely even needed to alter his tone as he moved from city to city. The speech was essentially the same; long-term stability, revitalize the city, etc. It’s the same speech he’s been giving for years, the same speech that people in Glendale probably wish they’d never listened to.

The fact is that arenas are not a cure-all, as the current situation in Phoenix shows all too well. They can help the economic bottom line of ownership, but in and of itself that’s not a reason for the public to build them.

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According to Darren Dreger, the Toronto Maple Leafs have given permission to Jamal Mayers’s agent, Pat Brisson, to speak to other teams in the hopes of creating a trade.

It’s the beginning of the end for Mayers in Toronto, whose decision (under previous G.M. Cliff Fletcher) to acquire the veteran was questionable to begin with; the last few years he has struggled like a rookie, but without even the hope of improvement. He brings a physical element to the table, but aside from the vaunted “veteran leadership” that’s pretty much it. I’d be surprised if the Leafs can engineer a trade here, and I’d be even more surprised if Mayers is still in the NHL next year.

Meanwhile, Georges Laraque, who has taken some surprisingly bad press of late, is likely bound for Sweden as per the Montreal Gazette. According to the report, the Canadiens would still pay Laraque but his salary would no longer count against the salary cap if he were loaned to the Elitserien. Laraque played in the Elitserien during the NHL lockout.

It’s an unfortunate end for both players, who both have the reputation of being character guys and neither of whom had an especially easy road to the NHL. Particularly unfortunate is the fact that when players like these leave, they’re generally not celebrated by the fans for their careers, but rather for their absence from whichever team they last played for.

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Ever since the Curtis Joseph/Dominik Hasek/Manny Legace goaltending triangle just before the NHL lockout, the Detroit Red Wings have been cycling an assortment of cheap and largely unremarkable goaltenders through their crease. Legace, Osgood, Conklin, Howard; with the exception of a single half-season from a declining Hasek the Red Wings haven’t had a single goaltender distinguishable from the usual mix of 1A/1B types available in each summer’s free agent bargain bin.

I recycle the Ken Holland quote from this post over and over again because it’s brilliant and it shows a depth of understanding that the vast majority of not just fans and commentators but also NHL general managers seem unable to reach. The Red Wings G.M., on why he cheaps out on goalies:

My feeling is if you can get one of the five or six best goalies in the league you can spend the money. We can’t get into those guys, and the difference between the eighth goalie in the league and the 15th goalie, it’s a big difference in money. It’s not a big difference in performance.

I have the feeling that Holland’s underselling it, because he’s never entered the playoffs with a better-than-average (i.e. top-15) starter. In any case, here’s a quick chart looking at the 10 highest cap hit goalies in the league, and whether they’ve been worth the money this season. Blue for yes, red for no.

Player	Cap Hit (MM)	Good/Bad
Henrik Lundqvist	6.875	The best part of a struggling Rangers’ team
Roberto Luongo	6.75	One of the league’s best goaltenders
Ryan Miller	6.25	Vezina candidate has been Sabres’ MVP
Jean-Sebastien Giguere	6	Outplayed by cheap backup Jonas Hiller
Niklas Backstrom	6	Has struggled since the departure of Jacques Lemaire
Miikka Kiprusoff	5.833	Rebound year for previously disappointing Finn
Marty Turco	5.7	Below average goaltender has been fighting to hang on to his spot
Tomas Vokoun	5.7	Underrated veteran has been excellent
Cristobal Huet	5.625	Outplayed by Antii Niemi at a fraction of the price
Evgeni Nabokov	5.375	On pace for the best season of his career

Six for 10. Those aren’t numbers that a G.M. necessarily wants his owner to see; imagine the conversation:

G.M.: I need $5.5 million to sign us a legitimate, top-10 NHL goaltender.

Owner: What are the chances that your guy is going to live up to the contract?

G.M.: Well, going by this season there’s a 60% chance that your investment will give us a top-10 starter, and a 40% chance that he’ll implode and we’ll replace him with some random European kid/generic backup, at which point he’ll be a salary cap boat anchor.

Owner: Let me just grab my pen to sign that cheque…

I don’t think there’s any arguing the fact that Holland (a minor-league goaltender who had an NHL cup of coffee as a player) is right about goalies, and the fact that general managers continue to sign decidedly average players to big money contracts (for a recent example, see Ward, Cam) boggles my mind. It’s the single greatest area of inefficiency in the cap era, and many of them don’t seem to learn from their mistakes (for a recent example, see Ferguson, John Jr.). Every single year, some cheap and hitherto unknown backup or some veteran, undrafted European goaltender shows up in the NHL and outplays an assortment of the money guys; it seems to me that it makes a lot more sense to run with a capable looking tandem and a good AHL goalie, as Detroit has done, and hope that one of the three catches fire in any given season.

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The title of this post is just one of the many remarks I could make after viewing this incredible collection of pictures, courtesy of the excellent folks at Kurtenblog.

I could comment on how well the rehabilitation of Patrick Kane‘s image is going.
I could point out that John Madden will turn 37 before anyone wins the Stanley Cup this year.
I could suggest that posing for pictures shirtless whilst surrounded by women and imbibing alcohol is unlikely to help the reputation of any professional athlete.

But, while all those things could be said, it’s probable that they shouldn’t be, because I doubt this is a terribly unique set of circumstances. In fact, I’d be surprised if every single team in the league didn’t have at least a couple of guys who enjoy the nightlife, maybe even a little too much.

In some cities (Montreal, for example) these things take on a life of their own. But this is what happens in a sport that features extensive travel and lots of young men with an overabundance of money. I don’t know why we expect anything else.

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