- The NHL trade deadline falls on March 9th at high noon this season. TSN has set up
TradeCentre 2006, Lyle Richardson [aka the Prince of Pucks] is holding fort at
Fox Sports, and
Sportsnet.ca are the three places where you are likely to see the trades break.
The media consensus on the Sharks is that they need either a defenseman or a second line forward, or both. To be more specific, they need either a puck moving defenseman who can man the point on the PP, or a defensive defenseman who can soak up minutes on the penalty kill. The Sharks also need a second line forward who can bury all the chances Patrick Marleau is going to create for him.
Backup goaltender Vesa Toskala, 8-0-2 in his last 10 starts, is the main trade option to make this happen. Although there has been a
pushback against the recent trade rumors.
Toskala is expected to start tonight against the Detroit Red Wings.
-
Fresh start for Toskala - SF Chronicle.
"Once Nabby catches up, the ball is his," said Wilson, suggesting the team's No. 1 goalie -- yet to play since signing a four-year, $21.5-million contract extension on Feb. 7 -- will start either Friday in Edmonton or Saturday in Calgary.
Until then, Toskala will try to extend his 10-game unbeaten streak (8-0-2), and he'll do so knowing he's not being showcased for a trade by the March 9 deadline.
Time to mark March 9th down on the calender. The Sharks face Detroit, Edmonton, Calgary, and Anaheim prior to the deadline. The
conference standings after those 4 games should be an indicator of whether or not the Sharks will be a player at the trade wire.
- If you are not a regular USA Today reader, make sure to pick up a copy today. The 10 page special NHL insert section features articles on how Carolina is no longer
under the radar [Carolina head coach Peter Laviolette rates Eric Cole as the best power forward in the NHL], Kevin Allen's
Top 5 teams to watch for the second half [Detroit, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, NY Rangers, Calgary], play-by-play diagrams of the best shooting moves on ice [Ovechkin's leg kick, Jussi Jokinen's shootout move, Marek Malik's between the legs shootout move, and Jose Theodore's best save on Marian Hossa], an article on the first trade deadline under the new salary cap, the NHL's crusade against obstruction, a 30 team NHL
report card, and a few other items that are worth your time.
Thanks to Chris for giving me a copy today.
- From
KuklasKorner.com, the CCM Sports Alexander Ovechkin
nickname contest.
-
Wings will be without gold medal-winning Swedes vs. Sharks - Michigan Live.
- Tonight on
OLN: Minnesota Wild vs Colorado Avalanche [6PM]. Colorado and Minnesota are both ahead of the Sharks in the Western Conference playoff standings.
- John Buccigross's #7 in a list of top 10 things of
what to watch for during the coming hockey spring:
7. San Jose Sharks. The Sharks have 26 games left, the most of the Western Conference teams battling for a playoff spot. They should make the playoffs. They have cap room and will likely add a forward and blue-line depth before the deadline. They need to look in the mirror and say, "We are underachieving. We are better than teams 6-10 in the West, and we are going to prove it."
- Molly McMaster, a colon cancer survivor, became the
second woman to take the ice in a United Hockey League game. She will skate one shift for 14 UHL teams to raise awareness for colon cancer.
- Added a link to the
Sens Underground podcast on the right.
I also plugged the Offwing Radio
interview Joe Tasca did with Binghamtom Senators play-by-play broadcaster Grady Whittenburg to two fans visiting the Tour of California from Binghamtom, New York. They were a little shocked how much I knew about the team, or that Binghamton had a team, before I told them about the interview. I was a little shocked they had only seen a grand total of 2 blocks of San Jose before they found a spot at the finish line for the finale of Stage 2.
Grady Whittenburg is also a regular contributor to the
Power Play Post Show, which is a great source for AHL information. The podcast is an easy way to keep up with the A. The latest PPP show has Patrick Williams of Slam Sports/theAHL.com, and next week will feature Andy Delmore as a guest.
-
San Jose State Hockey hosted a skills competition Saturday to raise money for the SJSU trip to the ACHA D2 Nationals in Rochester, NY. The students pay their own way, so make sure to contribute to a worthy hockey cause if you can. The ACHA National Tournament webpage can be found
here. [An update on the draw coming soon]
- 2 Free tickets for the March 4th AHL Cleveland Barons vs Hamilton Bulldogs game are available. Email me your mailing address
here. First come, first serve. [Gone]
ANAHEIM POWER PLAYERS - PHOTO JON SWENSON
- Amelie C. emails the following updates to the
hockey cheerleader links section:
Here are new NHL ice girls & dance teams links:
Calgary Flames fire & ice crew, Columbus Blue Jackets power patrol, Vancouver Canucks ice team, Anaheim Mighty Ducks power players, Boston Bruins ice girls.
Much appreciated.
- The Calgary Flames have
shut down their online messageboard. At least two other NHL teams are considering a similar action or looking into other options. There are community software options that allow readers to self-censor abusive posts [example:
athleticsnation]. Unfortunately, much of the abusive conduct on the current boards will continue without a full-time moderator.
- From
Spectors Hockey, the latest Owen Nolan rumor from Sharks color commentator Drew Remenda:
Drew Remenda, Sharks play-by-play guy, and who also has a sports talk
radio program in Saskatoon, apparently has said on his show that
Nolan is heading to Calgary. Remenda and Nolan were close when Nolan
was playing in San Jose.
Remenda recently penned an In the Crease column at the official website that was an interesting look at his role in the organization. Drew mentioned that he is working to become less of a Sharks fan, and more of an analyst.
"I don't expect to be adored by everyone and I don't want or give much heed to criticisms or compliments. But I do enjoy when an opposition teams general manager or coach tells me they really like listening to Randy and I because we call the game down the middle. I've had this discussion with the Sharks VIP's. I don't want to do a three hour commercial for the home team. I'm not that guy, but at the end of the day, you know who I work for. By perusing the chatrooms, I see that 50% of you think I'm a homer and 50% of you think I cheer for the other team. That tells me I'm on the right track."
While I think 50/50 would be an optimistic assesment of his objectivity, the television broadcast team of Drew Remenda and Randy Hahn are about as close as you can get. There is a good blend of information and entertainment, and they often try to educate new fans to help them appreciate the details of the game.
- It is in Russian, but Kulichki tallies up the NHL price tag for Team Canada and arrives at
$102,788,000. Nothing lost in translation there.
- List of ice hockey
statistical categories for the 2006 Torino Olympics.
- Interesting NHL video from Minnesota on Google Video,
The Show to be Named Later. The Minnesota fans carry a coffin into a bar to symbolize the death of the NHL during the lockout, a mayor makes an appearance in front of the camera and on the stage, the host gets rightly heckled for wearing a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey to film a Minnesota Wild segment, and a few Minnesota Wild girls go wild.
Google is getting hammered today in the stock market. It started with one anaylst cutting his valuation about 50%, everyone piling on, and now people are searching for reasons to knock the tech company instead of finding reasons to build it into the new technology giant.
It almost sounds like how the media approaches sports coverage. Is Google Barry Bonds?
- For WHL and Portland Winterhawks news I recommend the new blog by
Michelle Thrasher or the
Portland Winterhawks Live podcast. My goal is to still make it up to Oregon for at least one game this season.
- Congratulations to the USA Women's team for winning a bronze medal at the 2006 Olympics. Team USA's Angela Ruggiero reflects on the experience on her
blog.
- Not much time left to vote for Matt Carle in the fan participation part of the Hobey Baker award process. Preliminary voting runs from Jan 16th through March 5th. Fans may vote once per day
here. Final voting commences Friday, March 17th through Monday, March 27th.
Current standings [top 20]:
Points Name Team Pos. Year
79123 Scott Parse Nebraska-Omaha F Jr.
50128 Bill Thomas Nebraska-Omaha F So.
46254 Brian Elliott Wisconsin G Jr.
39719 Greg Rallo Ferris State F Sr.
39397 Kevin Croxton Rensselaer F Sr.
38146 Keith MCWilliams Rensselaer D Sr.
31893 Andy Greene Miami D Sr.
26132 Brad Zancanaro Boston University F Sr.
26086 Sean Bentivoglio Niagara F Jr.
25027 Jeff Winchester Alabama-Huntsville D Sr.
24787 Brent Walton Western Michigan F Sr.
23460 Matt Carle Denver D Jr.
18649 Mike Ouellette Dartmouth F Sr.
15530 Grant Lewis Dartmouth D Jr.
14702 Chris Collins Boston College F Sr.
14021 Bryan Marshall Nebraska-Omaha F So.
13880 Scott Munroe Alabama-Huntsville G Sr.
13051 Alex Nikiforuk Nebraska-Omaha F Jr.
12567 Nathan Davis Miami F So.
11442 Ryan MacMurchy Wisconsin F Sr.
Visit
carleforhobey.com for more information on the Denver defenseman, or search the archives on this blog. A few years back, a similar push was made for San Jose Sharks defenseman Jim Fahey at
faheyforhobey.com.
[Update] More on Team Sweden's post-gold medal Olympic celebration courtesy of
Abel to Yzerman. A few Swedish NHL players may miss NHL games on Tuesday after attending a celebration in Stockholm on Monday.
Nicklas Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall, Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Holmstrom and Mikael Samuelsson are 5 Detroit Red Wings who who may miss the game tonight with the San Jose Sharks, but arrive in time to skate against the Ahaheim Mighty Ducks on Wednesday.
According to Mlive.com, Chris Chelios, Kris Draper, Pavel Datsyuk and Robert Lang were scheduled to return from the Olympics Monday night, practice Tuesday morning, and play against the Sharks Tuesday night.