STEVENS WILL GIVE WAY TO SUTTER SOON
Judging by the way this season is going, Darryl Sutter might not have much of the “beginner’s” luck that usually comes from the fear and awe of an in-season coaching change. Then again, maybe Sutter will follow the path of the only so-far successful new bench boss: Ken Hitchcock. There certainly are some parallels. Each will be in charge of young rosters that carried heightened expectations into this season but have thus far disappointed. Each coach isn’t exactly known for being the fun-loving type when players are around, although Hitchcock seems like he’s at least having fun from time to time. Perhaps most importantly, both Hitch and Sutter have been around the block far more than the others. (Bruce Boudreau is on team No. 2 while Kirk Muller, Dale Hunter and Randy Cunneyworth are first-timers.)
Maybe it’s fitting, then, that the Kings are just a game over .500 – including a 2-2 record with interim head coach John Stevens – because Hitch took over a .500 Blues team (which might be tough to believe with their current 19-9-4 record). The Kings haven’t shown that much life lately, although Sutter surely must have felt good about what he saw from Dustin Brown (one regulation goal plus the shootout winner) last night. Justin Williams also showed some signs of life, so maybe the Kings will make baby steps in the right direction.
I'm still not ecstatic about Sutter coaching the Kings, but give him this: he was much better at coaching players than acquiring and properly paying them.
MORE HEADACHES FOR BOUDREAU, CUNNEYWORTH
Speaking of the two coaches who took over, things are still messy for Boudreau and Cunneyworth.
The Ducks dropped a 5-3 loss to the Dallas Stars and there wasn’t much to be happy about beyond the productivity of their power play and the downright history-making work of Teemu Selanne. (Selanne passed Mike Modano in the all-time scoring ranks.) The biggest worry for fantasy owners is the continued struggles of Jonas Hiller. It’s hard to blame Hiller for struggling behind one of the weakest defenses in the NHL, but much like Cam Ward, the bottom line is that his value is plummeting. It’s hard to imagine Boudreau figuring that thing out if Randy Carlyle couldn’t, so the only real hopes are that either snaps out of his serious funk or the Ducks start scoring goals in such bunches that he can at least pile up some wins.
Cunneyworth’s Habs are now 0-2-0 as the interim coach is feeling more heat for his inability to speak French than anything else right now. I already stated that – like it or not – Jacques Martin got the most out of that team, so it’s hard to imagine that this situation will end well in fantasy or reality terms.
QUICK HITS
Roberto Luongo shut out the Wild, so things might be going back to normal there … Rich Peverley seems like he’s officially on a hot streak ... If by any chance Brenden Morrow is still available as a free agent, pick him up now. He’s obviously feeling a lot better after struggling with injuries. (In other Stars news, Richard Bachman is now 4-1.) … I can’t help but wonder if J.S. Giguere might push the Colorado Avalanche into a platoon situation for at least a bit. He does have a two-year contract, after all.
INJURY SNIPES
Thomas Vanek is day-to-day with an upper-body issue … Curtis Sanford’s back is bothering him enough that he’s day-to-day. Hopefully this won’t wreck his value, because you know the Blue Jackets would prefer to look smart about Steve Mason being the “real deal” (even if he certainly doesn’t appear to be) if they had the option … Kris Versteeg seems banged up, though I’m unsure about the severity of the injury … Word is that Colby Armstrong has a concussion … Keith Ballard’s having back problems. No, I don’t think they stem from sleeping in Alain Vigneault’s doghouse all the time. (Click here for the full injury list.)
Calling Brendan Shanahan’s new suspension/disciplinary guidelines “unpredictable” isn’t totally accurate, because it does seem like the former power forward has some tendencies. Instead, I'd lean a little more toward the word "erratic" or maybe even "arbitrary."
He clearly weighs a player’s history of transgressions heavily in his decisions, which almost brings back grade school threats of an error of judgment going on a student’s “permanent record.” There also seem to be some hits that get a little more leeway and some that are becoming taboo (checking from behind into the boards seems especially frowned upon).
If you ask me, the most irksome trend is deciding based on contextual matters, rather than the illegality of the hit itself. By that I mean that there's too much emphasis on two things: 1) how a player was punished in the actual game and 2) if the “victim” suffered a severe injury. The most obvious case can be seen in the handling of two knee-to-knee infractions. Kevin Porter received a four-game punishment for a knee-to-knee hit on David Booth, which in retrospect seemed to happen because Booth has been sidelined for a significant amount of time and because Porter only received a light penalty in that night's game. Meanwhile, Adam McQuaid received a harsher in-game penalty for his knee-to-knee on Nick Foligno, but a slap on the wrist ($2,500 fine) because of that ejection and because Foligno managed to return to the game.
Personally, I'd like to see the punishment fit the crime rather than the blind luck-based result of a given crime.
Moving on, let's look at a few rulings that I more or less agreed with. Monday’s round of news presented the latest suspensions of note as Milan Lucic received a one-game suspension for boarding Zac Rinaldo while Rene Bourque got two games for his hit on Brent Seabrook. Lucic already served his time on Monday (the Bruins beat the Habs 3-2 without him) while Bourque will miss Tuesday and Thursday’s contests before being eligible to return against the Vancouver Canucks on Friday. The biggest question (especially since Rinaldo is fine, or else I’d have to apologize for ignoring him) is what kind of impact this will have on Seabrook. He’s taken three dirty hits of note in the past few seasons and last two came about seven months apart. Seabrook seems like the kind of tough player who would fight through an injury that he probably shouldn’t, but in this case, he ... probably shouldn’t.
GIROUX WANTS BACK IN TOO
Speaking of talented players who might return from an unlucky collision sooner than expected, Claude Giroux reportedly skated hard in his second practice since suffering that unfortunate concussion. He more or less described himself as day-to-day, hinting that a return this week might be in the realm of possibility. I honestly find that pretty hard to believe – and maybe even a little scary considering the Flyers’ history of stars making tragically hasty returns from head injuries – but perhaps his situation isn’t as severe as many feared.
My imaginary Monopoly money is on Giroux waiting until 2012 to play again, but maybe that's just because I play it too safe.
After the jump: new coach talk, quick hits and injury bits.
STEVENS WILL GIVE WAY TO SUTTER SOON
Judging by the way this season is going, Darryl Sutter might not have much of the “beginner’s” luck that usually comes from the fear and awe of an in-season coaching change. Then again, maybe Sutter will follow the path of the only so-far successful new bench boss: Ken Hitchcock. There certainly are some parallels. Each will be in charge of young rosters that carried heightened expectations into this season but have thus far disappointed. Each coach isn’t exactly known for being the fun-loving type when players are around, although Hitchcock seems like he’s at least having fun from time to time. Perhaps most importantly, both Hitch and Sutter have been around the block far more than the others. (Bruce Boudreau is on team No. 2 while Kirk Muller, Dale Hunter and Randy Cunneyworth are first-timers.)
Maybe it’s fitting, then, that the Kings are just a game over .500 – including a 2-2 record with interim head coach John Stevens – because Hitch took over a .500 Blues team (which might be tough to believe with their current 19-9-4 record). The Kings haven’t shown that much life lately, although Sutter surely must have felt good about what he saw from Dustin Brown (one regulation goal plus the shootout winner) last night. Justin Williams also showed some signs of life, so maybe the Kings will make baby steps in the right direction.
I'm still not ecstatic about Sutter coaching the Kings, but give him this: he was much better at coaching players than acquiring and properly paying them.
MORE HEADACHES FOR BOUDREAU, CUNNEYWORTH
Speaking of the two coaches who took over, things are still messy for Boudreau and Cunneyworth.
The Ducks dropped a 5-3 loss to the Dallas Stars and there wasn’t much to be happy about beyond the productivity of their power play and the downright history-making work of Teemu Selanne. (Selanne passed Mike Modano in the all-time scoring ranks.) The biggest worry for fantasy owners is the continued struggles of Jonas Hiller. It’s hard to blame Hiller for struggling behind one of the weakest defenses in the NHL, but much like Cam Ward, the bottom line is that his value is plummeting. It’s hard to imagine Boudreau figuring that thing out if Randy Carlyle couldn’t, so the only real hopes are that either snaps out of his serious funk or the Ducks start scoring goals in such bunches that he can at least pile up some wins.
Cunneyworth’s Habs are now 0-2-0 as the interim coach is feeling more heat for his inability to speak French than anything else right now. I already stated that – like it or not – Jacques Martin got the most out of that team, so it’s hard to imagine that this situation will end well in fantasy or reality terms.
QUICK HITS
Roberto Luongo shut out the Wild, so things might be going back to normal there … Rich Peverley seems like he’s officially on a hot streak ... If by any chance Brenden Morrow is still available as a free agent, pick him up now. He’s obviously feeling a lot better after struggling with injuries. (In other Stars news, Richard Bachman is now 4-1.) … I can’t help but wonder if J.S. Giguere might push the Colorado Avalanche into a platoon situation for at least a bit. He does have a two-year contract, after all.
INJURY SNIPES
Thomas Vanek is day-to-day with an upper-body issue … Curtis Sanford’s back is bothering him enough that he’s day-to-day. Hopefully this won’t wreck his value, because you know the Blue Jackets would prefer to look smart about Steve Mason being the “real deal” (even if he certainly doesn’t appear to be) if they had the option … Kris Versteeg seems banged up, though I’m unsure about the severity of the injury … Word is that Colby Armstrong has a concussion … Keith Ballard’s having back problems. No, I don’t think they stem from sleeping in Alain Vigneault’s doghouse all the time. (Click here for the full injury list.)