NHL Season Preview: Florida Panthers

I've always thought that the perspective in the Panthers logo was way off. I mean, how far away can those hind legs possibly be? Maybe she (right?) was just born with small feet.

Anyway, my Cats preview is up over at FanHouse, and here's a bit from last year's tour de force:

Hit:

Who's On The Hook: Jokinen. In a League in which more than half the teams make the playoffs each year, no one in the NHL has played more regular season games without a playoff appearance than the Panthers captain, whose streak currently stands at 641games. While the blame for the team's failure to make the postseason since the ridiculous-in-retrospect trade that brought Jokinen and Roberto Luongo to South Beach in exchange for Oleg Kvasha and Mark Parrish can't be heaped entirely upon the 28-year-old Finn, he's the guy wearing the "C," he'll be the team's all-time leading scorer by Halloween, and he has posted back-to-back career seasons that have been relatively meaningless, as the Cats finished in fourth place in the Division both years. Jokinen can't do it alone, of course, but it's time for him to start earning those big bucks the team shelled out to extend his contract back in March of 2006, and he can start doing that by leading the Panthers to the playoffs.

You can't spell "Jokinen" without "joke."

Miss:

Bouwmeester is now entering his fifth NHL season, and this is the year that his name should start to become a part of any and every Norris Trophy discussions for the next decade or so.

Meh. I'd still take him on my team any day (but seriously, he couldn't even get one fifth-place vote last year?).

So how 'bout dem Kitties? Can they challenge for a playoff spot or are they headed back to Lotteryville? Which crappy Panther will own the Caps this season and win this year's Jon Sim Award (can anyone dethrone reigning award winner Kamil Kreps)?

Friday Roundup

At noon today, the NHL will reveal its Eastern Conference All-Star reserves, and while one Cap is an absolute no-brainer, another is very much on the bubble.

Here, then, is the case for Mike Green:

• He leads the NHL (tied) in goals by a defenseman with 11. In fact, of the six Eastern Conference defensemen ahead of him in scoring and not already headed to Atlanta (Andrei Markov and Zdeno Chara were voted in), he has more than twice as many goals as Wade Redden or Brian Campbell and more than Tomas Kaberle and Tobias Enstrom combined.
• He's ninth among Eastern Conference defensemen in scoring (Mark Streit, you're a forward - you don't count) in the least amount of ice time per game and with the third-best shooting percentage of the nine.
• He has twice as many overtime goals as any other defenseman in hockey.
• He has a respectable plus-minus at minus-two, but is plus-six since Thanksgiving.

Alright, we can punch tickets for Campbell (perhaps as the only Sabre) and Sergei Gonchar, which leaves two open spots. Here are your prime candidates (sorry, Tomas - Mats Sundin is the only worthy Leaf):

• Green (43 games played, 11 goals, 13 assists, 42 PIMs, -2, 99 SOG, 53 hits, 25 blocked shots, 53 giveaways, 41 takeaways)
  
• Enstrom (44 GP, 3 G, 22 A, 26 PIM, +1, 54 SOG, 9 hits, 58 BkS, 32 GvA, 21 TkA)
  
• Michal Rozsival (43 GP, 11 G, 16 A, 44 PIMs, -3, 67 SOG, 53 hits, 65 BkS, 32 GvA, 24 TkA)
  
• Redden (41 GP, 5 G, 21 A, 36 PIMs, +12, 78 SOG, 43 hits, 57 BkS, 39 GvA, 10 TkA)
  

Frankly, if I had to bet, my money would be on Rozsival and Redden. Rozsival is a guy who's been around a while and is having a career year (the type of guy these games tend to reward - see, for example, Manny Legace), Redden has the reputation and both Green and Enstrom are easy snubs because they are relative unknowns both because of their ages and the markets in which they play (and they both have bright futures with plenty of All-Star opportunities ahead).

But since Turkey Day in the States, there have been few - if any - defensemen better than Mike Green, and if the League wants to reward a player who deserves to be there and can put on a show, they'd be wise to select number 52.

***

While we're on the topic of the All-Star rosters, could the Eastern Conference starters be a bigger collection of Alex Ovechkin/Cap killers? A quick look at each of the six as voted in by you, the fans:

• Sidney Crosby (LW): Since entering the League, Sid's Pens are 9-1-0 against the Caps and Crosby has torched the Caps for 17 points in those 10 games.
  
• Vincent Lecavalier (C): While it's true that AO has owned the Bolts (25 points in 21 games), Vinny has 31 points in 20 games against the Caps since the Great Eight entered the League.
• Daniel Alfredsson (RW): For his career, Alfie had 50 points in 42 games against the Caps, but only 10 in nine games since the lockout. Alex has 18 points in 11 games against Ottawa.
• Zdeno Chara (D): Z has eight points in seven games against the Caps over the past two-plus seasons, but he is a noted Ovechkin stopper. Against Chara's teams (Boston for this year and last, Ottawa in '05-'06), Ovie has only five points - and only two goals - in nine games. And when asked at last year's All-Star game who the toughest defenseman to play against was, AO didn't hesitate in naming a pair: Chara and...
  
• Andrei Markov (D): His point totals aren't huge against the Caps (five points in ten games), but Alex's buddy has kept the sniper pretty well in check so far - AO has only four goals (but 11 points) in 10 career games against Montreal.
• Martin Brodeur (G): Brodeur is 7-1 against the Caps since the beginning of the 2005-06 season and it was Brodeur's pissing and moaning that has prohibited #8 from wearing a badass mirrored visor in the NHL.
  

Ovechkin has only scored three goals in his career against each of the Devils and Bruins (Brodeur's and Chara's teams, respectively), and only four each against Markov's Canadiens and Crosby's Pens, and there's not another team in the Eastern Conference against whom he has scored fewer than six career goals. Hell, he had more goals in a game two weeks ago against Alfredsson's Sens as he has scored in his career against each of Boston and Jersey.

Sure, you might swap Jon Sim in there for Alfredsson, but other than that move, this year's Eastern Conference All-Star starters sure do look like a "who's who" of recent Cap killers and Ovie stoppers. Then again, these six have done a lot of damage around the League... which is probably why they're on this list in the first place.

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Some reactions to yesterday's big contract extension (no, not the 'Hawks extending Brent Sopel three years) fromVogs, EMac, Tarik, Mirtle, Peerless, Tapeleg, CBL, The Globe and Mail, The Hockey News, CapsChick, Trollbez, CapsNut, (and keep checking back in the "What We're Reading" sidebar throughout the day for more reactions as they trickle in).... Am I the only one that wants to see Kamil Kreps marry Jonathan Toews and take his name? Yeah, you try telling everyone it's pronounced "Taves" then.

Daily Awards

• Hart: Scott Hartnell (3G, including the game-winner, +3, 4 SOG, 4 hits, 3 TkA, 0 GvA, 1 BkS)
  
• Ross: Eight players tied with three points each
  
• Norris: Mathieu Dandenault (2G, +2, 4 SOG)
  
• Vezina: Ty Conklin (W, 34 saves on 35 shots against, and accolades over at Pen(i)sblog)
  
• Richard: Scott Hartnell (3G)
  
• Calder: Josh Harding (W, 26 saves on 27 shots against in 36:11 of relief in shootout win)
  
• Aiken: Andrew Raycroft (L, 4 goals allowed on 11 shots against in just one period of work)
  

Friday Roundup/Panthers 2 Caps 1Gamenight: Caps @ Bolts

[AP Recap - Game Summary - Super Stats - AP Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview]

Tom Poti, come on down!

While it's impossible to pin a 2-1 loss to one of the worst teams in hockey on any one player (but not, necessarily, on one coach), there was one player who was more responsible for the two goals against than any other, so T.P. is under the microscope today.

Let's begin with his effort last night, shall we? First he gets outmuscled and outworked by Jozef Stumpel who was able to feed a wide open Richard Zednik for Kitty Goal Number One, then he made a pass that would have made Bryan McCabe wince to spring Kamil Kreps on a breakaway that would turn out to be the eventual game-winner. To top it all off, he missed the net on a late scoring chance, left a 5% tip at dinner and used the last of a roll of toilet paper in his hotel room bathroom and didn't replace the roll (those last two items have yet to be confirmed).

Bad night. It happens. But what about his season so far?

Through 18 games, the Caps' big blueline acquisition has as many points as John Erskine, as many goals as Steve Eminger, a worse plus/minus than Brian Pothier, fewer hits than Nicklas Backstrom, and two more power-play points than Joe Motzko.

Bad night or bad player?

At this point, I'm willing to give Poti the benefit of the doubt and accept that the team's slump (nine goals in the last seven games), a groin injury and "the system" are all contributing factors to his slow start, but while we didn't expect him to be the second-coming of Bobby Orr, we didn't expect him to be the second-coming of Bryan Muir, either.

In lieu of further specifics on last night's game (but feel free to comment on Alex Ovechkin manning the power-play point, his Michael Strahan smile, Michael Nylander's curious passing, Glen Hanlon's decision on when to pull Olie Kolzig, Sunrise's pitiful ice or anything else that strikes your fancy), just read any of the last few recaps from games played in this country. Speaking of which, did you realize that the last time the Caps won on U.S. soil was October 24? That makes eight straight losses in the land of the free for your nation's Capitals.

Next up are the appropriately white-hot Lightning, who have won four straight and have scored 16 goals in their last three games, including their 5-2 win in D.C. on Saturday night and a pair of drubbings of the Carolina Hurricanes. Vincent Lecavalier had more points on Wednesday night against the 'Canes as all but seven Caps have on the entire season. Yikes.

But hope springs eternal, whether you're hoping for wins or personnel changes, so here's hoping Friday night gets us a little closer to that which we desire - it's hard to imagine we could be any further away from it.

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Thanks to Nate for passing along this story, in which Boston University's "Independent Student Newspaper" wonders how good BU would be if Chris Bourque was still in school there. My guess is they published a similar article last year. And the year before that.... Michal Neuvirth won his Windsor debut, and apparently looked great in doing so.

Daily Awards

• Hart: Eric Belanger (4A, +1)
  
• Ross: Eric Belanger (4 points)
  
• Norris: Kent Huskins (0 points, +5, 4 hits, 3 takeaways, 0 giveaways)
  
• Vezina: Martin Gerber (W, 35 saves on 37 shots against)
  
• Richard: Peter Schaeffer, Jarret Stoll, Daniel Alfredsson, Corey Perry, Joe Pavelski (2G each)
  
• Calder: Denis Tolpeko (G, A, +1)
  
• Aiken: Lubomir Visnovsky (0 points, -4)