By Kevin Greenstein When Brian Leetch was gracing the Madison Square Garden ice with his presence on a nightly basis, perhaps his most impressive attribute was his ability to counterattack, gaining possession of the puck and leading an odd-man rush in the opposite direction. And last night, while he was delivering the keynote speech on the night when his #2 was raised to the rafters for perpetuity, Leetch did it again. Deflecting the attention being lavished on him, Leetch took the opportunity to announce mid-speech that beloved teammate Adam Graves would be receiving the same honor during the 2008-09 season…
What are your thoughts on the Leetch jersey retirement ceremony? Does Graves deserve the same honor? Send feedback to us at: newsletter@insidehockey.com
RADIO SHOW Are you ready to get Inside Hockey? Tune in this Saturday from 2-4 PM EST for the Inside Hockey Radio Show, featuring hosts James Murphy and Kevin Greenstein. As always, we’ll take you inside the NHL, AHL, NCAA and Junior Hockey. We’ll bring you a lineup that’s a who’s who of the hockey world, talking to players, coaches, management, and anyone else who makes the hockey world tick! We've got an excellent lineup in store for this week, including Stan "The Maven" Fischler and Louis Jean of Rogers Sportsnet. We'll also be going "Between the Pipes" with Brian Daccord, getting the "Campus Buzz" with Bob Snow of NHL.com (featuring Tim Rosenthal of CollegeHockeyNews.com), going back in time with Mike Wyman's "The Golden Years" (featuring Hap Day), and finishing things off in "The Montreal Forum" with Tony Marinaro of The Team 990 Montreal. It's shaping up to be a great show, and you definitely won't want to miss it! Hosted each week by James Murphy and Kevin Greenstein, the Inside Hockey Radio Show can be heard on the following stations and times:
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By Kevin Greenstein The All-Star Game will be played in Atlanta on Sunday, and now, just one month from the trade deadline, things might be even murkier than they were when the season began. The third- and 27th-ranked teams were separated by only five wins last week, and they're now only four wins apart. Put simply, the entire regular season is going to come down to what happens in its final 20-30 games. Perhaps with an eye toward this very scenario playing itself out, the general manager of the Anaheim Ducks, Brian Burke, orchestrated a brilliant manipulation of the salary cap. Not known as a wallflower, Burke displayed uncommon patience while captain Scott Niedermayer contemplated his future, claiming that Niedermayer had earned as much time as he needed to decide. When Niedermayer finally announced that he'd be returning to the lineup in mid-December, he'd effectively saved the Ducks nearly half his $6.75 million annual cap cost. Little wonder that Burke was so patient while adding the likes of Mathieu Schneider ($5.625 million) and Todd Bertuzzi ($4 million) to the roster. Now, with Niedermayer added to a defense corps that also includes Schneider and Chris Pronger, the defending Stanley Cup champions are once again looking like the team to beat in the Western Conference…
By Gregg Goldstein Following a stirring and much deserved ceremony honoring Brian Leetch’s career, the Rangers rallied from a one-goal deficit after two lackluster periods, and defeated the Atlanta Thrashers 2-1 when Brendan Shanahan scored the lone goal in the shootout. The pre-game festivities were emotional and very symbolical; there will never be another Brian Leetch in the Rangers’ organization. But after raising his jersey to the rafters, the packed and overjoyed Garden faithful were temporarily spent and the Blueshirts were stale from sitting on the bench during the hour long proceedings. The fans had cheered long and loud for Leetch prior to the very important game with Atlanta. Unfortunately, the Rangers gave them precious little to cheer about for the first 40 minutes of play. With hardly any intensity, New York played not to lose on such an historic night. Thankfully, their opponent was the Thrashers, who, without their number one star Ilya Kovalchuk (sitting out with a one game suspension due to his reckless hit on Michal Rozsival two nights ago), weren’t presenting that much of a challenge…
THE DUCKS By Brian Kennedy Contrary to what you might think after reading the score from the game in LA Thursday night, the Kings didn’t have to “figure out” a way to beat the Anaheim Ducks. Instead, they just went out and beat them, 3-1 by the end, in every way possible. Their doing so might suggest two things: that the Kings are better than their record indicates, and that there is a way to beat Anaheim, something that as many as four teams might want to copy come playoff time. In fact, Los Angeles is having a decent run over the past few weeks. Their record, at 20-29-2, includes a recent steak of five wins in seven games, and eight wins in their last thirteen. Thursday night, they went out hard from the start. The hits in period one were eleven to six in their favor, and the shots fourteen to nine. They took the puck away from Anaheim four times (the Ducks didn’t have any steals), and the only area where they were weak was faceoffs, which they lost three times to every one win…
By Brian Kennedy There are perhaps only a few North American-born players in the NHL further from home than Edward (Teddy) Purcell--those from Alaska, and Jordin Tootoo. According to MapQuest, St. John’s, Newfoundland, is 4502 miles from Los Angeles. You could drive it, but it would take you 75 hours. But it’s more than distance that separates the 22 year-old Purcell from his home. He is so removed from his roots playing in LA that you could make some almost-funny jokes about the distance. This place is so far from LA that it wasn’t even in Canada until 1949. It’s so far from LA that the time difference is 4.5 hours. That’s right. As anyone from Canada will tell you, Newfoundland (pronounced either by stressing the first syllable or the second) is not just in the East, say on New York time. It’s not even just on “Atlantic” time, an oddity which separates the people who live on Canada’s east coast by four hours from those in California. No, where Purcell comes from is an extra half-hour removed even from that, so that TV shows on Canadian networks always announce themselves like this: “That’s 8pm [for a prime time show, say], 8:30 in Newfoundland.”
Check out Brian's new book Growing Up Hockey, in which he uses the heartwarming and comical exploits of a house-league third-liner to prompt us to re-live our memories of hockey glory. It shows that for those who love it, the game is never far away… "Because Brian so captures the way we come to hockey, the tug of war issues such as reason versus emotion that we all wrestle with in trying to shape either the game or our approach to living, you'll feel as if he's written your story, not his." Brian Kennedy will be reading from his book, Growing Up Hockey, at Vroman’s in Pasadena on January 28th at 7pm. Check out GrowingUpHockey.com for information.
By Michelle Kenneth The Canadiens entered the Prudential Center for Thursday night's game having posted an atrocious 0-8-2 record in their previous 10 games against the Devils. And heading into the contest, Martin Brodeur held an impressive 28-7-3 record against the Canadiens over the course of his illustrious career. The Canadiens contested that they had the worst luck playing against the Devils, especially with Brodeur in net. “It always seems Marty plays unbelievable against us," Christopher Higgins said of playing against Brodeur. "It’s pretty discouraging actually. You can play well as a team, but if you’re not getting pucks past him, you’re not going to win.” Thursday night, luck was on the side of the Canadiens, as they came back from a 3-1 deficit after the second period to defeat Brodeur and the Devils 4-3…
By Chris Rahn The Toronto Maple Leafs announced on Tuesday that the organization will relieve General Manager John Ferguson, Jr. of his duties and be replaced by Cliff Fletcher, who will serve in the role on an interim basis. "After full consideration of the Leafs' situation, it has become clear that change and a new direction is needed," stated MLSE President and CEO Richard Peddie from the Air Canada Centre Tuesday. "Regrettably, we did not win enough games to reach our goal, winning the Stanley Cup." "Our team performance has fallen short of what is to be expected. Today, we need to forge the start of a new beginning for the Toronto Maple Leafs. And we begin with the man seated next to me, a man with Hall of Fame credentials, who is highly regarded by Leafs fans and by hockey people around the globe. We have reached out to Cliff Fletcher and his 50-plus years of hockey management experience to serve as general manager of the Leafs on an interim basis…
How would you fix the Leafs' mess? Send feedback to us at: newsletter@insidehockey.com
"This contract is worth every single penny. As the cap does go up and if the Caps ever do start spending in
earnest, this team will get better. It already is. They have the right type of coach in Boudreau, and the Caps are
going forward, not backward." "Ovie's mother did not go after the 13-year contract. Ovechkin and family thought when they arrived at Kettler that
they would be signing a six-year deal. It was Ted's idea to make it a 13-year deal and if you look at the numbers, it
is not that bad. $9 million the first half, and $10 million the second half. In six years, what do you think with Ovie
age 27 and in his prime he might have commanded in salary? Guess we will get an idea when Crosby's contract is up in
five years. By then, there will be teams willing to throw big dollars at Crosby that would have at Ovie as well. Smart
move on ownership's part. Jagr was a bad deal, because he was already moving toward the end of his prime and he hadn't
been a Cap since the draft. We'll see if the Pens are going to be able to match the offers Crosby will get it in five
years or does he move on, something Caps fans don't have to worry about with Ovie. Ovie is only making $1 million more
per year than Crosby, why is it that the Caps will be strapped and not able to afford talent but yet you see no
problem for the Pens? Expand your mind and look past today or this season." "I have to laugh when a guy writing a hockey column figures he knows more about business deals than a billionaire.
Here's the Finance 101 explanation as to why Leonsis went 13 years with Ovechkin. The first contract is six years @ $9
million per year. Surely you won't argue that was a bad deal, as Crosby went for a similar deal for $8.7. Obviously,
the second deal of $10 million for seven years is what's got your undies in a bunch. But Ted sees that if he signs
Ovechkin to 'just' six years, in 2014 when Alex is in the prime of his career another agent will be able to come in
and put another gun to his head an demand Ted pay 20% of the cap for another seven years. Based on past history, the
cap in 2014 could easily be another 20-30% higher or about $65 million. What would you rather be paying Ovechkin in
2014, $10 million a year or $13 million? The answer is why you cover hockey teams and Ted owns one. Ovechkin and this
signing are two of the best things to ever happen to this franchise and, as fans, all we keep hearing is how bad a
move it is. Everyone can argue about the merits of the contract, but from a Caps fan perspective, the fact that
Ovechkin has chosen Washington to be his home over Montreal or Toronto is invaluable. This franchise has struggled for
decades to gain a foothold in Washington and the Ovechkin signing has in a sense made hockey a legitimate part of the
local sports landscape. I know the fans think that way and I think Ted feels that way also and that is probably a big
part of his reasoning in offering the deal. "What all you 'experts' don't seem to grasp with the Ovechkin vs. Jagr thing is that Jagr was NOT homegrown. He was
not drafted by the Capitals; he didn't spend anytime getting to know the Caps before he came here and played. This is
two COMPLETELY different situations that you all keep trying to compare. Jagr demanded a contract extension before he
would play here. Stop comparing the two. Jagr is a punk that didn't want to play here and Ovechkin is a FAR better
investment and a much better player. You all get on Leonsis for being a cheap owner and not spending money and dumping
all his players. Then you get on him for spending money on a player that WILL take us to a championship. Well, now we
are reaping the rewards for his stinginess. We have one of the best young group of players that will only get better
the more they play with Ovechkin. And the argument that we now don't have the money to sign people to play around him
doesn't hold water because we have plenty of money and the cap will go up next year. If the Caps signed him to the
original deal they were trying to do, they realized that he would be eligible to become an unrestricted free agent
before he turned 29, which is pretty much at the prime of his career.So they negotiated his free agent deal now And as
Leonsis sais "I think that in six years, $10 million will look pretty reasonable. If they let him play out his deal,
he would have commanded a HUGE contract and would have gotten it from a different team. The Caps would have then had
to probably pay MORE to keep Ovechkin. For once, the fans of the Caps have something they can believe in and everyone
rips them apart for trying to keep him. Heaven forbid someone re-signs in a place he actually wants to
play." "I don't know if I have the energy to fully lambaste you for your recent article regarding the
Ovechkin contract. #1) Ovechkin is a homegrown, centerpiece talent. Jagr was a free agent transplant who was
significantly older and not hungry at all. #2) Cost certainty. If (when) the cap goes up, Ovechkin's contract gets
better and better. If the cap goes down, Ovechkin has to take less until he complies with the 20% rule. Where is the
losing here? Ovechkin could have made more money on the open market and the Caps are at fault for locking this in?
What was the RFA offer sheet going to be? #3) The only real risk that the Capitals are taking on is the chance for
injury, and there are insurance policies to mitigate against that, as well as cap relief if the injury is serious. #4)
You and that @$#$@&* from Anaheim can talk to me when Crosby is making $15 mil a year midway through Ovechkin's
contract. In fact, I love how Crosby did such a 'great' thing by only taking 8.7 mil a year for 5 years. Are you
kidding me? You're all idiots." Click here for the editor's response... As always, thanks for reading and listening!
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