Thursday, February 26, 2009

Marty Gras

With Martin Brodeur set to make his return tonight, I present to you a brief write-up as to why he is already the greatest goaltender in the history of the NHL, with plenty of time to go in his career.

Consider the following list, accurate as of today, February 26, 2009. All of the records Brodeur does not yet own, he is currently 2nd all-time.

01. Brodeur has 544 all-time wins, 7 behind Roy (551) for 1st all-time.

02. Brodeur has 98 all-time season shutouts, 5 behind Sawchuk (103) for 1st all-time.

03. Brodeur has 22 all-time playoff shutouts, 1 behind Roy (23) for 1st all-time.

04. Brodeur has 120 all-time shutouts overall (season + playoffs), the most in NHL history.

05. Brodeur has appeared in 978 regular season games, 51 behind Roy (1,029) for 1st all-time.

06. Brodeur has played 57,790 career regular season minutes, 2,444 behind Roy (60,235) for 1st all-time.

07. Brodeur has recorded at least 30 regular-season wins a total of 12 times, 1 behind Roy (13) for 1st all-time.

08. Brodeur has recorded at least 40 regular-season wins a total of seven times, the most in NHL history.

09. Brodeur has recorded at least 30 wins each of the last 12 regular seasons, the longest streak in NHL history.

10. Brodeur has recorded at least 40 wins each of the last three regular seasons, the longest streak in NHL history.

11. Brodeur has made 14 consecutive Opening Night starts for the same team, the longest streak in NHL history.

12. Brodeur has recorded 53 regular season overtime wins, the most in NHL history.

13. Brodeur recorded an NHL-record 48 wins in 2006-07.

14. Brodeur played an NHL-record 4,697 minutes in 2006-07.

15. Brodeur recorded an NHL-record seven shutouts during the 2003 postseason.

16. Brodeur recorded three shutouts during the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals, tying Frank McCool for the NHL record.

17. Brodeur has posted at least 10 regular season shutouts a total of four times.

18. Brodeur has appeared in at least 70 regular-season games a total of 11 times.

19. Brodeur scored a goal in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Montreal Canadiens on April 17, 1997.

20. Brodeur was credited with the game-winning goal against the Philadelphia Flyers on February 15, 2000, joining Ron Hextall as the only goaltenders to have scored a goal in both the regular season and playoffs.

Brodeur also has the following accomplishments in his trophy case:

— 3 Stanley Cups - 1995, 2000, 2003
— 4 Vezina Trophies (Best Goaltender) - 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008
— 4 Jennings Trophies (Lowest Goals-Against Average) - 1997, 1998, 2003, 2004
— Calder Trophy (Top Rookie) - 1994
— Olympic Gold Medal - 2002

Other Notable Achievements:

— Has won the team’s Most Valuable Devil award 10 times.
— Has appeared in nine NHL All-Star Games.
— Has appeared in two Winter Olympic Games.
— Has led the NHL in games played during the regular season five times.
— Has led the NHL in games played during the postseason four times.
— Has led the NHL in wins during the regular season eight times.
— Has led the NHL in wins during the postseason three times.
— Has led the NHL in minutes played during the regular season six times.
— Has led the NHL in minutes played during the postseason four times.
— Has led the NHL in shutouts during the regular season four times.
— Has led the NHL in shutouts during the postseason three times.
— Has led the NHL in goals-against average during the regular season one time.
— Has led the NHL in goals-against average during the postseason three times.

But there’s more than just numbers and accomplishments in the Brodeur argument. There’s a reason that upcoming goalies like Steve Mason cite Brodeur as their biggest influence; it’s because he is truly above a goaltending “style.” You’ve got your standups and your butterflies, and then there’s Brodeur, a hybrid goalie who calls upon whichever style will keep the puck out. Perhaps the best feature about Marty is that despite his intense level of preparation and knowledge about his opponents, it took a line-crosser like Sean Avery to break his cool, an incredible level of calm he has carried with him throughout his entire career. Having done all he has, it seems rather easy for him to maintain a level head at this point in his career, which allows him to block out his mistakes and continue to play at an extremely high level.

Ready to write the book on Brodeur's career? Hold on, there’s one more thing. Brodeur currently has three more full seasons on his contract after this year; the contract runs out after the 2011-12 season. Even if he decides to retire after that, there’s a very good chance that all those “2nd place” marks will have been changed to “1st place.” They might as well start petitioning now to rename the goaltending record book “The Martin Brodeur NHL Goaltending Record Book.”

Did he have an incredible defense in front of him all these years? Sure, but from 2006 forward, he has hardly had the blueline of years past, yet still continues to put up the same numbers. Did he benefit from the overtime and shootout? Yeah maybe, but that’s no fault of his, and in fact, the NHL has also implemented things like the trapezoid with one eye focused on Brodeur, although it hasn’t really worked. Patrick Roy himself said that it doesn't really matter if Marty had the benefit of overtime and shootouts, he still had to win the games.

And that's what Martin Brodeur is all about. Forget the awards, it's all about winning. And add to that list of accomplishments "future first-ballot Hall-of-Famer."

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

USA 2010

With the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver set to begin this time next year, I can’t help but think of the incredible task sitting before Team USA’s General Manager Brian Burke. Narrowing an entire country’s worth of players into one 23-man squad is hard enough, but this Olympics will be different. There is a big cloud of uncertainty hanging over Vancouver 2010, because coinciding with the fact that the Olympics are being hosted by an NHL city, there is an underlying concern over whether or not NHL players will even participate in the Olympics again after Vancouver. With the 2014 Olympics set to take place in Sochi, Russia, tensions over Russia’s refusal to sign an international player transfer agreement have led the NHL to consider pulling all players under NHL contracts from participating in future Olympics.

With the thought of no more Olympics hanging over NHL-heavy nations like the US, an interesting subplot begins to develop when considering which players to select. Does Burke, knowing this may be the last go around, select a veteran-heavy roster in hopes of bringing lots of experience to the table, as well as providing the more decorated players one last chance of true international competition? Or does Burke go with a very young roster, taking advantage of the incredible wealth of youth that American hockey presents, grooming Team USA for possible future international competition?

Either way, it’s a tough call to make, so when picking my team, I went with a little of both. Heavy on the youth, but with just enough veteran leadership to really anchor the group. Numbers were given out on a seniority basis. And if you’re not happy with the selections, don’t worry, I’m not the one who actually has to do this.

Goaltenders
01 – Tim Thomas
29 – Ty Conklin
30 – Ryan Miller

Defensemen
03 – Jack Johnson
07 – Paul Martin
13 – Alex Goligoski
18 – Mathieu Schneider
20 – Ryan Whitney
22 – Ryan Suter
28 – Brian Rafalski (A)

Forwards
09 – Mike Modano (C)
10 – David Booth
11 – Zach Parise (A)
12 – Ryan Malone
17 – Ryan Kesler
19 – Scott Gomez
21 – Drew Stafford
23 – Dustin Brown
25 – Blake Wheeler
26 – Eric Cole
54 – Bobby Ryan
81 – Phil Kessel
88 – Patrick Kane

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

The (N)o (H)ams (L)eague

With all that’s going on in all the other sports in America, the NHL should really be seizing the opportunity in front of them.

Baseball, America’s “past-time” until around 2004 or so, seems entangled in a never-ending struggle with players on steroids. Baseball fans, perhaps the only ones more stats-happy than hockey fans, are crossing some mighty large names off future Hall of Fame ballots, because, quite frankly, they cheated. It is a stigma they may never be able to shake, and every time a baseball player does something truly great, that tiny sense of suspicion will start to surface from society’s collective subconscious. Unfortunately for the players, in a game so filled with history, no accomplishment may ever go without suspicion again.

Football, America’s new past-time, is riddled with a problem of their own. For a sport which more people gravitate towards by the day, it seems, there are far too many players winding up in trouble with the law, or being put in jail, for a myriad of reasons. Fact is, it’s become a league full of outlaws, one that should have far less success than it does at attracting young fans given the immature personalities of its players. I admit, there are a significant number of players who do nothing wrong at all, but the ones who mess up get an incredible amount of press coverage that it almost doesn’t matter anymore that some players are clean and mature. As if it wasn’t bad enough, the NFL continues to take back repeat offenders regardless of how many strip clubs they shoot up, illegal guns they possess, pounds of weed they smoke, or own appendages they accidentally shoot. People often harp on the “No Fun League” for being as such, but when a large percentage of your players clearly cannot properly walk the line between fun and danger, why should they let them dance like a cracked out robot for scoring one touchdown?

Nobody cares about pro basketball, so blah blah blah Kobe Bryant blah blah moving on…

In light of these dark clouds hanging over (unfortunately) the two most popular sports in America, the NHL has remained frustratingly quiet on the sports landscape. One NHL player, Sean Hill (who? … exactly) has failed the NHL’s drug policy under the same stringent regulations that the other sports adhere to. The only tragedies involving hockey players are the result of on-ice incidents; in other words, our unfortunate events come from playing the game, not extracurricular activities.

Does no one else see the marketing opportunity here? I’m not saying we need to parade around showing off how much more drama-free we are (“We’re mean, we’re clean, get used to it?”); rather, just getting the word out in general will suffice just fine! You want star power America? We’ve got Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Jarome Iginla, and a wealth of other players who are not only phenomenal athletes, they’re humble guys who stay out of trouble. People can discover that part for themselves if they’re so inclined. Just grabbing an increased presence on the sports radar will do just fine for the NHL.

More commercials, more partnerships, and hopefully one day, a deal with a REAL television network, instead of one who cares more about fishing and bull riding. The fact that the sport is clean will market itself once the casual sports fan start actually paying attention in the first place.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Looking Ahead

Predicting how a team will fare in this post-lockout, parity-heavy NHL is harder than finding the Stanley Cup in the ocean. Hot streaks, cold streaks, injuries, Sean Avery…the modern NHL is an unpredictable world. So while I’m cautiously optimistic about the Devils’ chances this season, there are a few areas to which I can offer my input as to how things either will or should unfold which hopefully require far less fortune-telling ability.

Trade Deadline

One of two things will happen on Magical March 4th. Either the Devils will look to upgrade their defense at the expense of upcoming UFA Brian Gionta, or…nothing. Especially if things remain basically unchanged, and the Devils continue to win in bunches followed by dropping a few here and there, I don’t really see the need to shake things up or add any pieces. As it stands, the glaring holes from last year have been filled, and this year’s team has shown incredible resolve. Just when everyone thought the Devils were out of the race—both when Brodeur went down Nov. 1 and multiple times since—the Devils bounced back. For that, I see no reason why standing pat, or perhaps swapping prospects, isn’t the right move.

Goalie Controversy

First of all, hockey media, there is no controversy. Martin Brodeur is the greatest goalie of the modern era, and when he comes back, he’ll play. But whether he returns February 26, March 1, or any other time in that general area, the sample size of games will likely be too small to determine if he’s back at 100%. Because of this, we will not trade Scott Clemmensen or Kevin Weekes, both set to become free agents at year’s end. Rather, we will do as the Edmonton Oilers have done before us, keeping all three goalies, with either Clemmensen or Weekes being chosen to warm the chair in the press box on a per-game basis. So what happens at the end of the season? Well, that ties into the next category…

Draft

My belief is that Clemmensen, who will surely want far more than $500,000 for his services after his performance this year, will be dealt on draft day to a team in need of goaltending. It will be one of those deals whereby it only goes through if Clemmensen agrees to sign a new contract with the team he is traded to. As for what we should receive in return, most likely draft picks or a decent defenseman.

Now, onto the draft itself. While the “experts” have started to publish their mock drafts, I believe that no matter how much research goes into who the Devils should take, they have historically always gone off the board, so don’t bother. Last year, after three years of selecting zero goaltenders, I thought for sure they’d take Jakob Markstrom. Of course I’m happy with offensive stalwart Mattias Tedenby, I just didn’t see it coming…so I don’t want to speculate. All I will say is that we should draft at least one goalie this time around; we’re a little overdue. Our crop of forward and defensive prospects are looking mighty fine, but goaltending could actually be a weakness for the Devils of the future unless we act now.

Free Agency

Lou Lamoriello would probably be the first to admit that he’s made some mistakes in his day at this time of year (see Dan McGillis, the returns of Alexander Mogilny and Vladimir Malakhov) but he got it right in ‘08. Summer 2009, in my opinion, should mostly be spent locking up core players. I divided this section into who should stay, who should go, and then what we need to look for in terms of bringing in new players.

Keep:

John Madden. In my mind, this is priority #1 this offseason. One of the best defensive forwards in the game, alternate captain, all-around team player. Without a doubt one of our core players who must be re-signed.

Johnny Oduya. Rather underrated, and the only major piece of our defense set to become unrestricted. He will command—and deserves—a significant raise from the $600,000 he’s making this year. He’s only going to get better, and with every team needing good offensive defensemen, we’d be wise to lock him up now.

Travis Zajac. Zajac is set to become a restricted free agent, which is why he doesn’t rank as high on the list. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make every effort to sign him long term. He and Zach Parise are our one-two punch of the future, and he should be treated and signed as such.

Bobby Holik. Give him one more year. He deserves it. He’s not going to rack up the points, but there isn’t a better veteran presence to have in a locker room. He’s always honest and always speaks his mind, and when the team needs a kick in the rear, no one else can do it like Bobby.

Mike Rupp. Unless Lou has plans to bring in a different heavyweight, Rupp needs to be brought back. Clarkson is more of a pest than anything, and can’t really handle the big boys. If we don’t keep Rupp that’s fine, but we better get a different giant who can fight with the best of them instead.

Kevin Weekes. You were waiting for this one, weren’t you? Which goalie to keep when both are UFA’s? Weekes will require less money for about equal talent. Besides, he’s the ultimate teammate when he’s not playing, and he has no delusions of being a starter anymore. Clemmensen, meanwhile, has played phenomenal, but wants to become a full-time starter now, and that opportunity cannot come in New Jersey. He’ll make his money and play his minutes elsewhere. Keep Weekes.

Petr Vrana. Like Nicklas Bergfors, Vrana deserves to play in the role he was designed for, which is not low-minute nights on the fourth line. As you’ll read below, getting a few salaries/roster spots off the books will enable our top-end prospects like Bergfors and Vrana the chance to develop at the NHL level. Sign him and keep a spot for him open.

Anssi Salmela. I say keep him, but only if you’re actually going to use him at the NHL level. He has an absolute cannon of a shot, and is probably not happy about so much AHL time while useless players like Mike Mottau are allowed to play in New Jersey. If I were him, I wouldn’t sign unless I was promised more time in the NHL. If not, back to Finland.

Ditch:

Brian Gionta. I have nothing against Gionta, but facts are facts. He’s going to want more than he’s worth, and no player who thinks like that stays in Jersey. We can use his cap room for better things, while giving offensive youngsters like Nicklas Bergfors the chance to finally prove themselves in the proper environment, i.e. NOT 6 minutes a night on the fourth line, as was the case early this year.

Scott Clemmensen. You can read the explanation above under why we should keep Kevin Weekes. Clemmensen will be better off on a team with little goaltending depth.

Brendan Shanahan. I put him here because he’s probably going to retire anyway, but also because we’re a very old team right now, and that’s how you get yourself into salary cap trouble. I love the concept of Shanahan coming back for this year to help us make a run, but after that we need to start getting younger like everyone else.

Andy Greene. An upcoming RFA, Greene is not necessarily a bad player, but we have a nice crop of blooming defensive prospects on the way (Matt Corrente, Tyler Eckford, etc.) while Greene has followed up a potential-filled first year with a couple of nondescript performances. The more entry-level deals on our books, the better.

So now that we did all that, what do we need to add to make the 2010 Devils even better? Well unfortunately, we’re no different than the other 29 teams. Since losing Rafalski, we’ve seriously needed a top-end puck moving defenseman. Other than that, I like the pieces we have, and as long as some of those prospects that have been stewing in the minors for four or five years finally get the chance to prove themselves, I don’t think we need to do a whole lot else.

Monday, February 2, 2009

To Hell With The Trap

Sometimes I can’t help but think that the hockey media hasn’t watched a Devils game since 1997. I’ve learned over the years to take what the media says with a grain of salt because more often than not, their comments are a combination of the accepted stereotype about a certain team and the recycled remains of another analyst’s comments. It’s an unfortunate cycle which never seems to break, and for this I feel bad for said media, for if they could look outside their fishbowl they’d see the potential that the New Jersey Devils circa 2009 have.

The 2008-09 Devils are being hailed—by those who don’t refuse to admit that the Devils don’t trap anymore—as the best incarnation of Lou’s Crew since 2001, when the Devils racked up 111 points and were one game away from becoming repeat Stanley Cup champs. Looking at the makeup of this year’s team, it’s hard to argue.

The addition of three veterans (and former Devils) by Lou Lamoriello has been bashed by some, but give credit to Lamoriello. He not only realized that our prospects are not yet ready to crack the lineup, he also plugged the team’s holes with proven players who bring boatloads of veteran experience and locker room presence. I admit that I didn’t like the signing of Bobby Holik at first, but as time went on, I began to recall several instances where his kind of personality—sarcastic and brutally honest—was necessary for a team who needed the occasional kick in the rear.

Brian Rolston and Brendan Shanahan have also provided the team with remarkable depth at forward, enough that Jay Pandolfo has become the odd-man out on a team which has historically had so little depth up front that players like Arron Asham were signed to fill out a lineup. And let’s not forget the play of Scott Clemmensen, who has more than held down the fort while Martin Brodeur recovers from elbow surgery. Brodeur will return rested and raring to go, and the two will make a formidable goaltending duo in the months ahead.

It’s hard to compare pre and post-lockout teams, since so much about hockey and the NHL has changed since then, so for comparison’s sake, here is a brief statistical breakdown since the lockout. Perhaps the most telling statistic in hockey is Goal Differential, or Goals For – Goals Against. It’s a pretty safe bet that the result will strongly coincide with where a team resides in the standings.

2005-06: 233-225 = +8
2006-07: 206-193 = +13
2007-08: 198-193 = +5
2008-09: 153-123 = +30

This stat speaks volumes to me about why this year’s team is different. We score goals! Yes, you heard me, media, the Devils score goals, and lots of them! Brent Sutter earns my praise as the best Devils coach since Jacques Lemaire for this very reason. He’s created a team that has typical Devils success, maintaining a solid defensive foundation, but layered a great deal of offensive prowess on top of that foundation. I’d put him on the short list of candidates for the Jack Adams this year.

Every hole that seemed to plague the Devils last season appears to have been filled this year. The reason the Devils are in the midst of another prolonged winning streak is because every player has a role on this team, and every player is executing their role to perfection. From the goal scorers like Parise and Elias all the way down to the grinders like Rupp and Clarkson, one thing that has never changed about the Devils is that they are a team in every sense of the word.

As of today, having completed 50 games of 82, the Devils are a solid 8 points ahead of where they stood at the 50-game mark last season. And like it or not, world, this may just be the beginning.