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March 3, 2010
Flyers needed to make a move
Dan Kingerski,
host of The Fourth Period Radio Show, offers his take on the NHL Trade
Deadline.
[PITTSBURGH, PA] -- At the NHL trade
deadline, the shrewd are rewarded, while the arrogant are typically
dealt what will be a losing hand. Guess which category I've put this
year's Flyers into?
The Philadelphia Flyers sought defenseman Dan Hamhuis from Nashville at
the deadline. Why? Are Chris Pronger, Braydon Coburn, Matt Carle and
Kimo Timonen not enough? Instead, they needed to chase Predators
goalie, Dan Ellis.
Ellis has a career save percentage of .913, and until this season was
the Predators starting goalie. He chased Steve Mason from Nashville,
after Mason chased Tomas Vokoun. Now, Pekka Rinne has chased Ellis. In
other words, Nashville has been producing netminding talent.
The Flyers have floundered in the playoffs over the past decade,
largely due to ineffective goaltending.
From Marty Biron and Antero
Niitymaki to Robert Esche and Roman Cechmanek, Philly goalies have
allowed playoff pucks to trickle through like the grease in a native
cheese steak.
Michael Leighton may be the next Flyers goalie set up for spectacular
playoff failure. After eight years in the NHL, Leighton has not yet
started 90 games. Until this season, he has never had a winning
record. He may be the next Tim Thomas or at least Ty Conklin, but his
.908 save percentage this season, behind a Pronger led defense, does
not look overly impressive.
Fighting the Flyers for biggest deadline losers are the Edmonton
Oilers. They had 15 players committed for next season at $48 million. So, the league's worst team dealt powerplay QB Lubimor
Visnovsky for underachieving offensive defenseman Ryan Whitney.
The
Oilers are also straddled with high priced offensive defenseman Sheldon Souray for a few more years, despite his current season ending injury.
Oh yeah, Whitney also makes $4 million per season. Good luck with
that salary cap in Edmonton!
Chicago GM Stan Bowman may need an extra strength prescription of
Xanax. Here's doubting he'll sleep well knowing his Best in the West
team will charge into the post-season with goalies Cristobal Huet and
very young Antti Niemi.
Biggest loser on deadline day? It's close, but the nod goes to
Philadelphia.
Another crop of Stanley Cup capable skaters will again
go home empty handed. Perhaps Edmonton GM Steve Tambellini will be
able to clear enough cap space over the summer to sign Jaromir Jagr,
though he is not off to a good start.
Winners will be more difficult to asses this season, as more
complimentary pieces were shipped around the league than high impact
players.
Will the Capitals bargain bin shopping for grit turn golden (or
sterling silver)? Only if the goaltending proves adequate, which is
still a huge IF. The Capitals know they are Cup worthy this season,
and used the deadline to rebuild a decimated blue line. Joe Corvo and
former, now again, Capital Milan Jurcina should provide improvement.
In Pittsburgh, new Penguin Alex Ponikarovsky hopes to replicate the
stretch runs of Steel City rental acquisitions Marian Hossa, Gary
Roberts and Billy Guerin. In three successive seasons, GM Ray Shero's
deadline deals paid big dividends. However, Ponikarovsky may follow
Miroslav Satan, and be unable to play with the immensely talented
Pittsburgh pivots. The Penguins also filled a defensive need, snagging
all round D-man Jordan Leopold from Florida. Cup worthiness won't be
an issue in Pittsburgh for years to come.
The Buffalo Sabres, who pick up of playoff tested Raffi Torres, combined
with a healthy Tim Connolly and best goalie in the world, Ryan Miller,
may form the Sabres best team since 1998, when they watched Brett Hull
and his foot in the crease drink from the Stanley Cup.
So, who wins?
Buffalo may have grabbed much needed offense, while
Pittsburgh got the highest profile winger available after Ilya
Kovalchuk and an experienced defenseman, but the winner is easily the
Phoenix Coyotes.
The downtrodden, forgotten, kicked about, left for dead, derided and
laughed at Phoenix Coyotes made great strides in their bid to last
more than a week into April. With new acquisitions including rugged
blueliner Derek Morris, slumping but young and talented power
forward Wojtek Wolski, winger Lee Stempniak and veteran Mathieu
Schnieder, the Coyotes should now jet into the playoffs (get it?
sorry).
You may have also noticed Morris's gushing praise of the current
Phoenix coaching staff. After playing for a few years in the desert
under coach Wayne Gretzky, it sounded a like an indirect slap down of
the great one.
Morris told the Canadian Press, "I respect Dave Tippett as a coach, I
think he's probably one of the most well-respected (coaches) from
players on other teams or any team... I'm excited about that coaching
staff — that's a big, big reason why that thing is turning around."
Now, let's see if the fans will brave the Arizona spring to support
the desert dogs.
The countdown to the real hockey begins!
Daniel Kingerski, host of The Fourth Period Radio Show,
is the Pittsburgh Correspondent for
The Fourth Period Magazine and a Columnist for TheFourthPeriod.com.
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