Archive for the ‘General’ Category

Most players wouldn’t consider 85 points in 79 games a disappointment but most players aren’t Alexander Ovechkin. Ovechkin finished seventh in league scoring last season with 32 goals in 53 assists. Those were the lowest point totals of his NHL career. The 32-goal season was by far Ovechkin worst in that department. His previous season low was 46 goals in 2006-2007. His career high was 65 goals the following season. Compared to those staggering numbers, Ovechkin looked downright ordinary last season.

There was a lot of speculation about what was wrong with Ovechkin last year and many people pointed towards the Capitals new-found commitment to defense. One of those people is Neil Greenberg of the Capitals Insider blog at the Washington Post. In a recent blog post he asks “Is Alex Ovechkin an elite scorer or just a good shooter?”

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Chris Campoli’s summer was one ripe with rejection. After turning in a satisfactory performance with the Chicago Blackhawks down the stretch following a deadline day trade, the 27-year old defenseman appeared to be a decent fit for the cap-strapped ‘Hawks. Alas, the team would part ways with Campoli after he was awarded $2.5 million in arbitration. It may have taken longer than Campoli would have hoped for, but he has found a home for the 2011-12 season with the Montreal Canadiens. TSN’s Bob McKenzie Tweets that the Habs have inked him to a one-year $1.75 million deal.

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As the current NHL season rapidly approaches, we’re hearing back to the past and taking a look at what the NHL looked like in years gone by. We’ve already seen what the league was wearing 25 years ago so now we’re jumping forward a decade and checking out what the NHL looked like 15 years ago.

It was the 1996-1997 season and the original Winnipeg Jets had just moved to Phoenix to become the Coyotes. They did so wearing some of the strangest uniforms that the league had seen up until that point. Not only did they have a Pablo Picasso-like coyote as the logo, but they also had strange Aztec trim that made the jersey look very odd.

But this wasn’t the strangest jersey in the league that season. It wasn’t even close. The 1996-97 season may have been one of the ugliest periods of NHL history.

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Because it’s been a while since we had a press conference with Sidney Crosby and his doctors, this seems like as good of a time as any to have another Sidney Crosby update. As you know, the last time we heard anything official on Sidney Crosby’s health it was Christmas and Sidney was a Ferrari… or something.

Since training camp opened, Crosby has been practicing with the Penguins in a non-contact role. He’s been wearing a white helmet in practice to distinguish the fact that he can’t take contact because, according to Penguins announcer Paul Steigerwald during yesterday’s preseason game, he didn’t want to wear a red jersey. These details are all very important we’re sure.

However, today Crosby didn’t practice. Cue the dramatic music.

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We might as well have some fun with the idea, too. If you haven’t taken a look at the NFL’s use of Jamal Charles’ torn ACL to promote fantasy football, then head on over to Goal-Line Stand to get an idea where we’re coming from with the Photoshop above.

The question on a lot of people’s minds following Mike Modano’s retirement announcement was: will he be able to patch things up with his former team and retire as a member of the Dallas Stars? This Pierre LeBrun tweet should tell you all you need to know:

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As soon as the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg we started talking about realignment. It’s already known that the Jets will be moving out of the Southeast Division after this season, but only recently has the NHL sat down to actually discuss the league realignment plan. The NHL Board of Governors’ first formal discussions on realignment took place yesterday and the goal is to have a plan in place by December.

“Obviously we have to make arrangements to move Winnipeg west, and we had an opportunity to explore the issues,” Commissioner Gary Bettman told NHL.com. “No conclusions were reached, but it’s something I’m hopeful we can resolve at the December meeting.”

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