Friday night opened up the series between the Canadiens and Penguins and it got started in Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh. The Canadiens rode a little bit of their Game Seven momentum early on in the game, but then the Penguins decided to flex their own offensive muscle, taking advantage of some quickly fatigued legs. The Penguins won each period 2-1, easily taking the game 6-3 in the end. The game within the game will be keeping down the attrition, which we will catch up on a little bit further down in this post.The big players in the pool tonight all had 2 points each tonight and there was a bundle of those players between both teams. Marc-Andre Fleury, Sidney Crosby, Kristopher Letang, Alex Goligoski and Bill Guerin had a pair of points each for the Penguins, while Brian Gionta and Scott Gomez each had a pair of points for the Canadiens. In a 6-3 game, we're definitely going to see a lot of key points for the pool, especially when all the best players come out to play.
It's too bad our winning goal was stolen from the pool again. Craig Adams picked up credit for the Penguins' 4th goal of the game... well, not so much getting credit more than being on the other end of a beautiful pass from Pascal Dupuis and deflecting it into a wide open cage. This means the lead in the hockey pool bonus point doesn't change... for now. Game-Winning Goals
Injuries are going to be a part of the game, but both the Canadiens and Penguins suffered major injuries in Game One. The Canadiens lost their best defenseman in Andrei Markov, as he left the game with what appeared to be a right knee injury, falling awkwardly after colliding with Matt Cooke in the 1st period. There was word that Markov was seen leaving the building on crutches and there is significant fear that the has yet another major knee injury involving ligaments. Stay tuned to find out more.
The Penguins also lost a significant part of their line-up after Jordan Staal fell awkwardly in a collision with the Canadiens' PK Subban. Staal seemed to favour his leg/ankle when he left the ice before the end of the 2nd period. I haven't seen an update on Staal or his availability going forward, but I'm sure the blog will be updated when it knows what's going on.Saturday's Games
Game One of the Flyers and Bruins series goes nice & early on Saturday. The afternoon/morning game of this physical series should be a dandy. Both teams have a bit of a physical history together and I think we're all expecting a few fireworks. If you've read the preview for the second round, you'd know.
In the evening, the Canucks invade Chicago for some revenge of 2009 against the Blackhawks. This game will also have it's fair share of fireworks, so this one will definitely be one to see. I know I'll be watching and I'll also be micro-blogging on Twitter as the game goes on. Stay tuned to my Twitter feed... @opiatedsherpa.
The Dallas Stars didn't do a great deal of tinkering before the 2010 season began, they ended up losing out on their franchise defenseman (Sergei Zubov), injuries reared their ugly head and their number one goalie really struggled to keep the team afloat. Overall, it was not adding up to a good season for the Stars, whether they liked it or not. The Stars didn't fare so well in the season, finishing out of the playoffs in the Western Conference and in a lottery pick for the 2010 Entry Draft. They have already outlined some plans to go in a different direction in the coming season, but let's quickly have a look at what transpired in the season just passed.
One of the few bright spots in the Dallas season was definitely Brad Richards, who led the team in pool scoring during the year. He finished with 24 goals and 67 assists in 80 games, finishing better than a point-per-game and ranked 12th in the league among all players. That being said, he was also suffering from a hip problem, which he will have undergone surgery to repair in this off-season, suggesting that he wasn't 100% for the better part of the year. Richards should be considered a 1st round pick in next year's Draft, especially if his hip recovers fully.
There was definitely some improvement in the healthier forwards on the Dallas squad, as Loui Eriksson finished with 71 points (29 goals & 42 assists) in 82 games and James Neal had 55 points in 78 games. Both players finished in the top 100 in pool scoring this year, Eriksson all the way up in 35th. That's definitely a pretty good year to celebrate. Rookie Jamie Benn scored 22 goals and 19 assists in all 82 games, which didn't get him into the Calder nods, but it's still a pretty good year. Beyond those three, you can make some arguments for other players, but overall the depth did struggle with injuries, including Mike Ribeiro, who only figured into 66 games and Mike Modano, who figured into 59. 
The defense of the Dallas Stars definitely not as potent as years previous, as the top blueline scorer on the team was Stephane Robidas, who finished with 41 points in all 82 games for the Stars, ranking him 189th in the league scoring for the pool, his highest ranking on record. Before the season started, Robidas was rewarded (?) with a new contract extension, so he'll likely be the Stars best blueliner for a few more years. Trevor Daley took a dip in pool rankings this year, only picking up 22 points in 77 games, Matt Niskanen and Karlis Skrastins also dropped, having 15 and 13 points, respectively. Building up their blueline should be a priority this Summer.
Marty Turco was definitely a point of concern for the Dallas Stars in 2010, struggling for a good portion of the season. He did recover near the end of the season to finish with a 22-20-11 record, but it was the first time since the 2003 season that he didn't finish with at least 30 wins. Turco finished with 56 points in the pool this year, ranking him 91st in the scoring race, but that wasn't enough for the Stars organization, as they have already announced that Turco's contract will not be renewed and he will be a free agent in the Summer. Kari Lehtonen, who was acquired from the Thrashers this season, will likely take over the number one job.
The Stars have some work to do when it comes to their restricted free agents, with James Neal, Matt Niskanen and Kari Lehtonen leading the way as likely priorities for their Summer signings. I'm curious to see how they deal with fellow RFA, Fabian Brunnstrom, who didn't have a great season with the Stars, not fitting into the system as they thought he might. Niklas Grossman rounds out the semi-regular players that played for the Stars that also needs a new RFA deal this off-season.
Looking at the Dallas prospects system today, there isn't really much that jumps out at me from the pages of the Future Watch put out by the Hockey News, but I do recognize some of the names and would definitley be interested in seeing how well they will develop. Scott Glennie is currently playing for the Brandon Wheat Kings in the WHL. His WHL playoffs are done, but he will be playing in the Memorial Cup regardless, as the Wheat Kings are hosting the tournament this year. Glennie was a 1st round pick in 2009 and should have a lot of upside. The Stars did get to show off Philip Larsen in the last couple games of the season and might get a long look at him at camp this Fall.
I think the only I was right about last year was that Brad Richards was going to be a good pick as a guy that was hiding among the mediocre players in the Draft. If you managed to snag Richards at a lower position, you would have loved his production this year. Morrow didn't recover his scoring numbers fully, Zubov left for Europe, Brunnstrom was a bust, but I wouldn't say that the year was a complete write-off, as Loui Eriksson really impressed in 2010.
The San Jose Sharks and Detroit Red Wings opened up the second round with quite the game. The Sharks managed to jump out to a big early start, only to have the veteran presence of the Red Wings claw back into the game and keep it close. When it was all said and done, the Sharks managed to hold off the Wings for a 4-3 victory and a 1-0 series lead.
We're now at the one-third mark of the Pool Outlooks and we have come to the New York Rangers, who were not terribly far off from making the playoffs in 2010, but just far enough to drum up some general concern for the 2011 season. The Rangers will middle of the pack when it came to goal scoring and fairly decent when it came to keeping the puck out of their own net, so they do have something to build off when they go to work this Summer, starting to build another championship team. They had to do a lot of shifting last Summer, so it could be a much quieter silly season by comparison. 
To be fair, there were a lot of doubts surrounding Marian Gaborik when he 
Behind Gaborik, there was a little bit of a depth issue in the forward ranks, as the Rangers only had two more forwards that scored 20 goals... not 20+ goals, 20 goals, period. Vaclav Prospal and Brandon Dubinsky finished with 20 each in the year and they were pretty good for the most part, but nowhere near consistent. The Rangers managed to snag Olli Jokinen out of Calgary, but that didn't turn out to be as big of deal as the Rangers may have wanted. Jokinen finished with 50 points in 82 games between the two cities. Ryan Callahan had a pretty good year with the Rangers, 37 points in 77 games as a 3rd line grinder, but his game is maturing a bit more and I expect good things from him in 2011. There was a noticeable slip in production from Chris Drury this past season, as he only picked up 32 points in 77 games, dropping him down in the rankings just a little bit further. Drury has been on the decline in the past four seasons.
What a prospect Michael Del Zotto turned out to be in the 2010 season, eh? I did think he may not have been ready at this time last year, but he was definitely out to prove that he's an NHL-ready player and he did that by leading the Rangers in scoring from the blueline. Del Zotto picked up 37 points in 80 games for the Rangers, which was by no means incredible, but he had to take it upon himself to do it. Marc Staal also stepped up this season, picking up 27 points in 82 games, making strides to new career-highs this year. Del Zotto and Staal are a pair that will grow well together in the years to come. Matt Gilroy was also a pleasant surprise as a rookie, picking up 15 points in 69 games, showing that there is plenty of youth there. Unfortunately, it was the veteran defenders that suffered in their play, as Dan Girardi, Michal Rozsival and Wade Redden were not as good as they should have been.
In goal, it was another year to lean on Henrik Lundqvist for the Rangers, which makes sense, as he is a pretty good goalie. Lundqvist did have his own struggles this season, he wasn't as dominating as he has been in the past. He had a poor-to-mediocre Olympics and he couldn't really recover in a hard-playing schedule, where he figured into 73 of the Rangers 82 games. Lundqvist did win 35 games and pick up 79 points for the poolies, but being backed up by a myriad of keepers all year, didn't give the Rangers a lot to trust besides their number one guy. The Rangers are desperately in need of giving that guy a hand.
The Rangers will have some bigger names hit unrestricted free agency this Summer, as Vaclav Prospal, Olli Jokinen, Erik Christensen, Alex Auld and Jody Shelley are eligible to become free agents on July 1st. My expectations are pretty low on the Rangers re-signing most of these guys, but I would expect Prospal to likely get an offer or at least have some sort of negotiations about staying. I'm not 100% sold on it, but I could see it happening.
The second nod goes to Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who ended up in a tie for the league lead in goal scoring this year with Steven Stamkos of the Lightning. Crosby really took it upon himself to shoot the puck more, which lead to his 51 goals this season and he had to take on a bit more of the scoring role to lead the team, as he wasn't complimented as much by last year's scoring champion, Evgeni Malkin. Crosby is the undisputed leader of the Penguins and this is his recognition for it.
All three division winners in the Eastern Conference have now been eliminated and that now makes the Pittsburgh Penguins the top seed in the East, gaining home-ice against the Montreal Canadiens, who played giant killers, by knocking off the Washington Capitals in seven games. There is very little rest for the wearied Canadiens, as they will immediately go into their second round series with Pittsburgh on Friday night, which will be shown on CBC in Canada and Versus in the USA (except for Sunday, an NBC telecast for Game Two). In the pool, Sidney Crosby leads the way in scoring going into this series, he also leads all players in the pool, with 15 points. The most popular player in this series is actually Evgeni Malkin, who has 21 selections, so he will be clutch for those teams trying to move out of the basement and pass the teams that had Capitals high up on their Sheet. With only eight Habs taken in the entire pool, Marc-Andre Bergeron could be a wild card player, as he has five selections to his name, that could make some creeping up possible.
In a battle of upsetting teams, the series between the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins has a very underdog feel to it. This series has really mixed up the East, but there are a good number of teams that were wise enough to see that both teams would be making it through to the second round, so they are in excellent shape for points going into this weekend's action. If this is at all a long series, I would say that the teams with a large number of players left would have the advantage in the pool, because they should have some of these guys. Brian Boucher leads this series coming in with 10 points in the pool, thus far. Mike Richards is next on the list with 9 points, which I am thinking that this could be a big advantage for Philadelphia, not to mention the amount of rest the managed to get after beating New Jersey so early. The Bruins are led by Patrice Bergeron, who had 6 points in the series against the Sabres, which is somewhat low, but the Bruins made it out of the round, so they can't complain.
It's still rather hard to believe that the Capitals will not be playing past the first round in these playoffs, but there ya have it. They are done. The Montreal Canadiens have upset the President's Trophy team this year and there is plenty to talk about going into the second round. First of all, we'll have to say goodbye to the Capitals and then we'll put together some posts to commemorate the first round and it's meanings.
The Wild spent a fair bit of coin looking for someone to score in place of Marian Gaborik, who left the team via free agency last Summer, but ended up with a player from their own roster leading the way in 2010. Mikko Koivu improved his numbers yet again, scoring 71 points (22 goals & 49 assist) in 80 games for the Wild, setting a new career-high in points and in pool ranking, finishing 36th among all pool scorers. That would make him a solid 3rd round pick in the Draft this past year, if we picked in order of rankings using this year's numbers. That's an impressive season for the coming-of-age Finn.
There was definitely some ups and downs among the rest of the Wild forwards in 2010. Andrew Brunette had an up year, 61 points in 82 games; Martin Havlat had a down year, 54 points in 73 games; Antti Miettinen had a down year, 42 points in 79 games; Guilliaume Latendresse had a big up year, 40 points in 78 games; and Owen Nolan had a down year, 33 points in 73 games. The Wild did look to Havlat and Miettinen to be better, especially Havlat, who signed a big contract to take Gaborik's job in the off-season. Instead, their scoring suffered and they finished 11 points out of a playoff spot. Of course, the season-long injury to Pierre-Marc Bouchard was a huge blow to the Wild offense, since he's been known to pick up 15-20 goals a year. 
The defense going into the 2010 season had a fair bit of promise attached to it, especially offensively. Marek Zidlicky and Brent Burns were on the verge of having some pretty good seasons, but they didn't really break out the way the Wild were hoping. Zidlicky finished with 43 points in 78 games, while Burns only picked up 20 points in 47 games. You can point to the Burns injury during the year as a definite contributing factor, but they didn't quite meet up to expectations, especially for the hockey poolies out there. The addition of Cam Barker at the deadline should be a positive one for the future, as he's rounded out to be a pretty good defenseman in the NHL.
Sharp definitely wouldn't be a word used to describe the goaltending for Minnesota during the season. Niklas Backstrom was not playing at the level that we are generally used to see him play at, while Josh Harding wasn't the rock solid back-up we've seen out of him in the past couple seasons. Without a doubt, things were a little bit shaky in the net for the Wild, but that's nothing a bounce-back season couldn't make you forget about, right? Backstrom only finished with 26 wins and 57 points in 2010, ranking him 88th among all pool scorers. That's way down from 11th in 2009 and 38th in 2008, so there were definitely some struggles. 
There is a mighty fine possibility that the unrestricted free agent crop coming out of Minnesota will signal a bit of a cleansing of their operation. Owen Nolan, Shane Hnidy, Petr Sykora, Wade Dubielewicz and Jamie Sifers are all likely done with the club, unless they can serve some minor ice-time purpose going forward. I do expect to see Derek Boogaard and John Scott back and signed before they can get away, but otherwise it's time for some fresh thinking in Minnesota.