On My Mind
I wrote an article a few months ago hoping that Mike Danton would turn his life around and that someone would provide him with an opportunity to do so. I was very excited when I heard that St.Mary's was giving him that second chance and I was even more excited when I heard (I don't follow the CIS very closely) that St.Mary's had a shot a making to the National Championship, which just to add icing to the cake, they ended up winning yesterday. So here is my follow up congratulations to Mike and hoping he continues his journey to playing pro hockey again, whether that be in the NHL, AHL or over in Europe. It's great to see someone doing something with their second chance.
On to NHL talk...The playoffs are so close I can taste it and I am really excited. What is happening with all the top teams in the West though? The only top team playing great right now are the Vancouver Canucks. Chicago and San Jose better get their acts together if they want any chance to compete in the playoffs because as of right now they just are not playing like cup contenders. Like most people, I like to be praised for my good predictions. Here it is: New Jersey wouldn't miss a beat this year unlike how so many critics suggested they would (some even suggesting that they would miss the playoffs). Similarly, I can admit when a prediction goes wrong: Calgary making the playoffs. Maybe it's because I am a huge fan of Iginla but I really expected them to be better than they currently are, which is simply put...AWFUL!
How about the Red Wings being one of, if not, the hottest team in the league right now. Great timing to put a streak together...At the start of the season I didn't have Howard in my top 3 predicted Calder finalists. At the half way mark of the season when I made my predictions I had Howard as my third choice in Calder voting with Duchene and Myers coming in ahead of him. Since, I think Duchene is my third choice with the winner coming down to Myers and Howard. Sure Myers has been crucial to Buffalo's defense, but how crucial has Howard been with the survival of the injury ravaged Red Wings. With the injuries they had, nobody would have been surprised to see them out of the playoffs, maybe even getting a top 10 draft pick. This may be the closest Calder race we've had in years.
Not that I had Mike Green winning the Norris, nor do I think he deserves it but give the guy some slack. He is +33 (+11 better than he was all of last season) on a team where goaltending is the major concern. I know offense isn't everything and I watched him in last years playoffs where I saw awful defensive coverage on his part, however, I haven't watched enough Capitals contests this season to make a comment. For all I know his defensive game may have improved. Speaking of the Capitals, I read that Ovechkin only has 11 power play goals this season (as of Saturday). How good is that!! For a guy who must strike fear into the other team's penalty killing unit, he does most of his damage 5 on 5.
Can't say that I feel bad for the Rangers missing the playoffs this year. Don't get me wrong, I have all the respect in the world for Glen Sather for his Stanley Cup rings, however, the game has obviously passed him by. He has made some very poor decisions when it has come to the players he has both traded and signed. Similar to the leafs he was saved for many years before the lockout at covering his mistakes by having a near unlimited payroll, however, signings such as Drury and Redden have simply made him look foolish and amateur. You could even argue that offering Gaborik a 5 year 37.5 million contract was a little on the risky side. No doubt Gaborik is one of the top pure goal scorers in the NHL, however, with a injury plagued career thus far it was definitely a gamble with the amount of money they signed him to.
Thanks for reading....And hey, whatever became of Dimitri Yushkevich?
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