A Breakout Monster, A Bull No More And Motherly Love

At the top of yesterday's, um, star-studded NHL media conference call, Pierre McGuire offered high praise for a certain Caps blueliner when talking about this coming season:

"I think my breakout monster on defense will be Mike Green of the Washington Capitals. I think Mike Green is poised to really have an electrifying year and quite frankly I think Mike Green will be the leading point getter for all defensemen in the National Hockey League."

Can one have a breakout season a year after leading one's position in goals? I guess we'll see (and for more pre-season praise for "The Catalyst," click here).

Puck Daddy has much more on the conference call, including Don Cherry's expectations for Alex Ovechkin's encore to his brilliant 2007-08. Quoth Cherry:

"I'd be surprised if he does as well as he did last year.... He came on last year. He was doing things that he shouldn't do. He was cutting into the middle.... There's going to be a lot of guys waiting for him this year. He's not going to be running around like a bull in a china shop like he did this year.

He kind of caught everybody at the start of the season. They knew he was good, but not as great as he is."

Whether or not AO can repeat last year's numbers and/or achievements remains to be seen, but I can guarantee that if he doesn't, it's not because teams spent last season neglecting to focus on defending him and have suddenly had a collective epiphany.

Finally, in response to a question alluding to a certain high-profile hockey mom, Mike Milbury fondly rememebered his own mother and her tireless, selfless efforts to help her son fulfill his dream of playing in the NHL:

"Don't get me wrong, I love my mother dearly. She's not with us any more. But she was a pain in the ass. I mean all I heard was, You got to hustle more, you got to work more. She drove me nuts."

Stay classy, Mike.

Saturday Funnies

Two brilliant quotes from a pair of men who have certainly been on the receiving end of our criticisms and mockeries once or twice lead off today's funnies.

First, yesterday, as you know, was Independence Day - the day on which the bands which have connected the NHL and Jaromir Jagr were finally dissolved. I can't say that I'll miss J.J. (make sure to stop by Puck Daddy for a fitting eulogy to #68's NHL career), but have to give him a golf clap for his parting shot:

"And I also want to say to the people like Mike Milbury who made their living by criticizing me all the time, that they can kiss my ass."

It's a good thing I have a real job, or I might be in line to pucker to the posterior.

Our next quote is from Kevin Lowe who, emboldend by P.D.'s praise, is sick of Brian Burke running his mouth:

"Where do I begin? He's a moron, first of all. Secondly, he really believes that any news for the NHL is good news. Thirdly, he loves the limelight and I don't think anyone in hockey will dispute that. Lastly, he's in a pathetic hockey market where they can't get on any page of the newspaper let alone the front page of the sports, so any of this stuff carries on.

He's an underachieving wanna-be in terms of success in the NHL. He won a Stanley Cup? Great. I've won six Stanley Cups, you want to count rings? Who cares, it's just a little pathetic that he carries on."

Throw in Dan Boyle's blasting of the new owners in Tampa and, to a lesser extent George McPhee's frank discussion of the Cristobal Huet fallout and this is officially now the Summer of Claws. I think I speak for all of us when I say I can't wait to see what's next.

Finally, here's a not-so-secret document via Tapeleg - The Book on Jose Theodore:

All of which presumably leads to this:

Hopefully he'll write a new chapter in D.C. that ends a little bit more like this:

For Those Of You Scoring At Home...

Woof Woof?

"If it looks like a dog, barks like a dog, it is a dog."

That line, of course, was among the brilliant musings Mike Milbury offered hockey fans in NBC's national telecast of the Caps/Flyers game on Sunday in description of Alex Ovechkin's play (just four days, I'd note, after saying that AO had "taken it to another level" and calling the Caps' superstar "as electrifying a player as [he'd] seen.").

Anyway, since we're talking pooches, let's talk Viktor Kozlov, shall we? Which of these stats is less impressive:

• In twelve full seasons in the NHL, Kozlov has played 830 regular season games and just 17 playoff games and has never played past the first round (recall, too, that he was a healthy scratch during the playoffs for the Devils in both 2004 and 2006).
  
• In his 17 career playoff games, Kozlov has yet to score a goal and has totalled all of three assists and a minus-ten rating.
  

I'd say the latter is less impressive, as it is a wholly individual stat, though his teams' failures to get to the playoffs and/or do anything once there does say something about a guy who has been a top-six forward for the better part of his career (and it's not a good something).

Kozlov's career playoff stats sure do look like a dog, don't they?

But that was then and this is now... and now ain't much better. Through three games so far (and on a line with the best player in the world), Kozlov has no points, a minus-three rating, five shots on goal, four giveaways and one takeaway. And from the "you know it's a bad sign when..." file, he has as many hits as John Erskine.

Kozlov's performance in these playoffs thus far sure have barked like a dog, no?

So if it looks like a dog and barks like a dog...