Injury Bug

It happens every year, a key injury on a team which tests the roster
and resolve. The Penguins were already dealing with Gonchar being out,
but on top of that Malkin is out for 2-3 weeks. Why am I mentioning
the Penguins? Because both guys happen to be on my fantasy hockey
team. I think it's going to kill my chances. Damn.

The Senators lost Anton Volchenkov to a shoulder injury last night.
Huge loss. A-Train is the main checking and shot blocking threat for
this team. Thank God the Sens have Carkner for some toughness. Anton
is injury prone, but with his willingness to throw his body around at
high speeds and in front of pucks, it's not exactly unexpected. The
team may or may not struggle without him. But they will definitely
allow more shots and get pushed around more.

For the Kings, Justin Williams has been out with a mystery "lower body
soreness-injury". It's been 3-4 games. Also, some rookie defenseman
Alec Martinez has been on the IR this whole season. I didn't see him
in the pre-season so I don't know what the Kings are missing. My guess
is that he ain't coming back soon, as the Kings just got Randy Jones
off of waivers from Philly. I think it's a good addition. The Kings
are looking pretty deep with their young, mobile defensemen.

OT

Some pretty crazy games yesterday involving my two teams, the Kings
and Senators. I expected the Sens/Predators game to be a yawner. Preds
are on a 6-game losing streak. They quickly took a 3-0 lead off Ottawa
turnowvers, and pucks going in off Senator defensemen. Most of the
first two periods was horrible, slow play with lots of offsides and
icing. Sens came back courtesy of a 5-on-3 powerplay. Eventually tied
it 4-4. Preds pulled ahead 5-4 with a powerplay goal, one minute left
in the 3rd. Sens scored shorthanded with 4 seconds left in the third!
Carkner took an interference penalty 2 minutes into the OT, Preds
scored. 6-5 OT loss. Seeing as how the Sens really only played 20
minutes and had no business in that game it was a lucky point to get.

Kings blew a 4-0 lead to still win 5-4, in OT. I didn't watch this
game yet, still TIVO'd. Saw the score on the local news this AM. The
NHL is pretty wide open due to the salary cap. Makes for crazy games.
Also, a lack of goaltending, which is nearly league wide, has opened
things up.

1/16 mark

It's barely 5 games into the NHL season, but I'm ready to give status
reports. Kings are off to a good start going 4-1-0.
Smyth-Kopitar-Williams are playing well. Making the GM look like a
genius for picking-up those guys up in the off-season. Quick has
looked OK, but given-up a ton of powerplay goals. I'm not sold on him
being a NHL caliber goalie just yet. Kings have simply outscored thier
opponent, but allowed too many goals in my opinion. Not sure they can
keep up that pace. But here's to a strong start.

Senators are 3-2-0. I think they are playing well. They are still
working out the lines, but seem to have a more balanced attack than
before. A different line seems to show-up on any given night. But all
four lines seem able to get some kind of offensive pressure. That
said, the shots are not going in. Fortunately, the defense has looked
pretty good. I see close games being the norm this season; with a lot
less margin for error. This is probably not a team that's top 5 in
goals scored, as in years past. So turnovers have resulted directly to
the two losses. Goaltending is unpredictable. Leclaire can make the
impossible save, then get beat cleanly on a rush up ice. I still have
my doubts about him.

Red Wings are 3-4-0. I honestly haven't seen too many of their games.
They just lost Franzen for 3-4 months with an ACL injury. For a team
that lost quite a few forwards over the summer, this is a big blow to
the offense. It will be quite a test to see how the Wings respond.

Kings Game

Went to the Kings vs. Wild game last night. Had the whole family there
again. My son loves going to the games, but he hates the foghorn after
the Kings score. I will admit that, sitting in the cheap seats, it is
especially loud. And young ears are extra sensitive. So, right after a
goal I would cover his ears. Which made everything that much more fun
for him. My daughter complained about our seats. Apparently, we
weren't sitting up quite as high as last time. She liked sitting
higher. What a nice problem to have, but I insistent we stay in the
low nose bleed section. Kings won 6-3.

NHL pre-season

There are several things I expect when watching NHL pre-season games:
small crowds, seeing 4 different goalies, and several fights. So,
being in attendance at the Kings/Coyotes game last night I was a bit
disappointed. The teams didn't split the goaltending duties halfway
through the game. I knew that Jason LaBarbara was in town (he's on the
Coyotes now) and was hoping to see him play against his former team.
It didn't happen, but the fights did. Some of these guys know either
"job" and have only a few pre-season games to showcase it. So the
pugilists within each organizations system go to work. Nothing too
exciting though.

I guess it was a split squad game. So, half of the Kings went to
Arizona and played on the same night. It was weird hearing that the
Kings lost, while I watched a game that they won. Same day split, but
in two different cities. Wild, but very cool for more players to see
ice time.

The biggest attraction was having the whole family there. I've taken
my kids to games for years, but kinda forget that toddlers don't
remember much about a game they slept through as an infant. So my
3-year old son was wide eyed and taking the whole thing in. I never
realized what a visual and audio overload all the scoreboard and
lighting can be. There are video billboards that surround the rink,
the main scoreboard, spotlights, lasers, and loud music. He normally
loves the Zambonis at the local ice rinks, but he was amazed at how
small they looked from the cheap seats. Meanwhile my daughter was
really into rooting. "We're cheering for the black team, right?" She
was clapping and cheering at random times, but her enthusiasm couldn't
be contained. I think it was a sugar rush from the kettle corn.

Artest

Just kidding. I don't follow the NBA that closely. But plenty of NHL free agents have found new deals and new homes. I was mostly interested in Kings/Senators/Red Wings deals.

 

The Senators did make a move and signed Alexei Kovalev to a two-year, $10MM deal. I guess this is the secondary scoring they've always wanted. I'm not saying that Kovalev isn't a talented guy. But his inconsistency is legendary. After having to deal with Emery & Heatley, you would have thought the Sens to be sensitive about player character? I think they are doomed to have these problems, much like the Flyers with goaltenders.

 

The Kings traded for Ryan Smyth. They gave away two pretty good puck moving defensemen and a 4th rounder. I thought they paid a lot for an older, character guy that isn't a premiere scorer. But no question what the Kings are getting. Locker room leadership, hardwork and 50-60 points. A pretty safe and smart deal for a younger team. They also got Rob Scuderi. I think he's a solid defender. A good move. Otherwise, a bit quiet for the Kings organization.

 

The Red Wings lost Hossa to the Hawks. He went all-in this time around and signed a 12-year deal or something ridiculous like that. Good for the Hawks. They have a nice, young and dynamic team. Samuelsson left for more money to Vancouver. I'm not sure where the Wings will replace this offense, but they usually find a way.