Flyers/Bruins Roster Changes And Ruff Times Continues in Buffalo

I'm channeling my inner NHL.com puns with that headline.

Some are wondering if the Boston Bruins' historic collapse to the Philadelphia Flyers last year will have any effect on their semifinal series this year. That would be the case if the same two teams were playing each other, but that is not the case as there have been 16 roster changes between Game 7 last year and the end of the series this year including 10 for Boston.

The core of the Flyers is still the same, but the have added even more depth. Their third pairing has been upgraded from Ryan Parent and Lukas Krajicek to Sean O'Donnell and Andrej Meszaros. Up front they lost veteran sniper Simon Gagne and grinder Arron Asham who have been replaced by Kris Versteeg, who came out on the right side of Game 6 last year, and inconsistent (that's being generous) Nikolay Zherdev. In goal, Michael Leighton finished up the series after Brian Boucher went down with an injury, but it is Boucher who will once again be starting the series.

The Bruins have made many changes throughout the roster. They have replaced an injured and largely ineffective Marc Savard with Nathan Horton who had three goals including two overtime winners in his first playoff series. There is a lot more sandpaper on the forward lines as Vladimir Sobotka, Miroslav Satan and Blake Wheeler were replaced by Greg Campbell, Chris Kelly and Brad Marchand, players who are much better at mucking it up and winning battles in the corners which is exactly what you need to win in the playoffs. Tim Thomas brings his experience back to the net over Tuukka Rask.

There are some similarities too. Both teams have a monstrous defenseman to punish anyone willing to get into their territory. But while Chris Pronger is coming into the series relatively rested and is still one of the meanest and nastiest players to go up against while Zdeno Chara doesn't use his size to his advantage nearly enough and tries to poke check too often when he could easily take the body. Mike Richards and Milan Lucic have both underachieved as neither have a goal so far in the playoffs after showing how clutch they can be last year.

The Bruins will certainly remember the collapse last year, but they have had enough turnover so that it doesn't matter as this is a completely revamped team.


Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff has received a contract extension. Ruff, while failing to lead the Sabres to the Stanley Cup, has gotten a lot out of his teams. Only once in 14 years have the Sabres gone below 82 points. That was the 2002-03 season when only one player who finished the season in Buffalo had more than 35 points. With the exception of the first two season after the lockout, he has had little offense to work with, but the Sabres have remained competitive. Their leading scorers in each year and their finish since Ruff took over goes as follows:

• 1998-98: Miroslav Satan - 46 points - 89 points, third in division, lost conference final
• 1998-99: Miroslav Satan - 66 points - 91 points, fourth in division, lost Stanley Cup final
• 1999-2000: Miroslav Satan - 67 points - 85 points, third in division, lost round 1
• 2000-01: Miroslav Satan - 62 points - 98 points, second in division, lost round 2
• 2001-02: Miroslav Satan - 73 points - 82 points, fifth in division, missed playoffs
• 2002-03: Miroslav Satan - 75 points - 72 points, fifth in division, missed playoffs
• 2003-04: Danny Briere - 65 points - 85 points, fifth in division, missed playoffs
• 2005-06: Maxim Afinogenov - 73 points - 110 points, second in division, lost round 3
• 2006-07: Danny Briere - 95 points - 113 points, first in division, lost round 3
• 2007-08: Derek Roy - 81 points - 90 points, fourth in division, missed playoffs
• 2008-09: Derek Roy - 70 points - 91 points, third in division, missed playoffs
• 2009-10: Derek Roy - 69 points - 100 points, first in division, lost round 1
• 2010-11: Tomas Vanek - 73 points - 96 points, second in division, lost round 1

Now that Terry Pegula is the GM and is committed to spending money to build a champion, Ruff will have the  best opportunity to coach a contender in his career. When he had the elite players, the Sabres were contenders, going to the 1999 Stanley Cup final and winning the 2006-07 Presidents' Trophy for the best regular season record. But Dominic Hasek, Briere, Chris Drury, Mike Peca and Brian Campbell have all left for greener pastures, leaving Ruff second liners and backup goalies to try and win with. If they can keep their star players for a change, they certainly have the coach to lead them.

Playoff Implication Trends-Eastern Conference

It's my estimation the best thing for a team going into the playoffs is to be riding a hot streak. Every team goes through hot and cold streaks during the year and going in limping may spell doom for your favorite team. This is not a perfect formula, but you can bet the Philadelphia Flyers rode the momentum of their season-ending shootout win over the New York Rangers pretty far in their run to the Stanley Cup final last year. Here are some teams and players who are trending in a certain direction and how it may affect their playoff chances. I'll do the eastern Conference today and the West tomorrow.

Trending Up
Thomas Vanek: With Derek Roy done for the year just 35 games into the season, the pressure has been on Ryan Miller more than ever. After posting amazing numbers last year (41-18-8, 2.22 GAA, .929 SV%) he has become more pedestrian this year (29-20-7, 2.70 GAA, .912 SV%) leaving the Buffalo Sabres in a fight for one of the bottom seeds. In come the notoriously streaky Vanek who has two goals and eight points in his past five games, four of which have been Sabres wins. They are currently tied with the Rangers for eighth, four points over the Carolina Hurricanes. With six of their next thirteen games, including tonight's game against the Hurricanes, against teams within six points of catching the Sabres, it is important Vanek keep this hot streak up. they have seven games remaining against teams in the top-half in goals against and five (Nashville Predators, Montreal Canadiens , New Jersey Devils, the Rangers and Washington Capitals) are in the top 10 meaning goals are going to be very difficult to come by for the rest of the season. Should Vanek stay at at least a point per game, the Sabres should be in good shape to lock down one of the final spots.

Washington Capitals: The best thing that could have happened to the Capitals this season did. They struggled. They haven't been able to score, they faced a number of important injuries and their goaltending has been inconsistent. The transition towards a defensive game in the beginning of the season didn't go quite as smooth as planned, but they have righted the ship and are ready to soar in the playoffs. Winners of their past eight and 10 of 11 allowing only 19 goals (13 taking away their 6-0 loss to the Rangers) in that span, the Caps are playing well at the right time of the year. They have been so dominate the past two seasons, it may have caused them to think the playoffs would be a breeze, but they were sadly mistaken both times. A 50-24-8 record for 108 points (fourth overall in the NHL) and 54-15-13 record for 121 points (first overall) the past two seasons was followed by just one playoff series win and two Game 7 losses on home ice. Alex Ovechkin has seven goals and 17 points in his past 12 games and after facing adversity for the first time in three seasons, he appears ready to play a complete game and dominate in the playoffs.
Trending Down
Tim Thomas: Throughout most of the season, Thomas was on pace to obliterate records for goals-against average and save percentage. At the end of January, he was on pace for the third lowest GAA since the modern era began in 1947 with a 1.81 GAA (only Miikka Kiprusoff, 1.69 2003-04 and Marty Turco, 1.72 2002-03 have been lower) and the highest save percentage by far at .945 (Dominik Hasek, .937 1998-99). Those numbers, while still the best in the league by far, have slowly been dropping the in month-and-a-half since. His stats since the beginning of February are a 5-4-2 record, .915 SV% and 2.73 GAA. Unless he allows eight goals every game from now until the end of the season, he is all but guaranteed the Vezina Trophy. At the same time, the Bruins are starting to struggle to score goals, potting more than two just once in the past six games. It becomes even tougher to score in the playoffs as they found out last year when their offense suddenly went dry after game 4 against the Flyers in the second round and if Thomas' 2.73 GAA since February keeps climbing, the Bruins could be in trouble. Right now they are set to face the Canadiens, a team who has given them trouble throughout their long rivalry and has at least three goals in eight of their past nine. Thomas is still having a phenomenal season, but now is not the time for his game to start slipping.

Philadelphia Flyers: As I stated above, each team goes through slumps and the Flyers are in theirs right now. A 4-4-2 record in their past 10 isn't terrible until you see who they are losing to. Three of the losses are against teams out of a playoff spot (Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, Atlanta Thrashers) and two of them are against the two teams tied for eighth (Sabres, Rangers). Two of those losses are really embarrassing, dropping a 7-0 decision against rival Rangers and blowing 3-0 and 4-2 leads in the third period to lose in overtime to the Thrashers. Their 4-1 win against the Edmonton Oilers doesn't really count because, well, its the Oilers. This does not bode well because since the lockout, four of the five Stanley Cup winning teams (assuming they make it that far) have had a better record in their last 10 games than their counterpart. Last season, only three of eight series was won by the team that had a worse record in their last 10 games. The team with the worst record to win a playoff series was the Canadiens who went 3-4-3 before upsetting the Capitals. It took them overtime to beat the Islanders and the two games against the Leafs were close and not very well played. They still have 14 games to get this trend turned around, but with their goaltending starting to falter and their history with that position, it doesn't look so good right now.

The (Stupid) Guardian Project

The NHL has had trouble gaining credibility in the United States, often failing to get recognition as one of the "Big Four" and rarely featured on national sports networks like ESPN. Even the "sport" of NASCAR has a wider audience in many places, especially in the deep south. As a result, many teams are forced to come up with gimmicks and publicity stunts in order to attract fans, including this little gem by the Atlanta Thrashers. But of all ways to try and get fans, there is a new low. The National Hockey League and Stan Lee have teamed up to create The Guardian Project, a collection of 30 superheroes, one inspired by each team. At the All-Star game, they will all be revealed as the same time and shown in their first adventure. I can't wait to see what kind of problem they come up with that takes 30 heroes to solve. Seriously, having 30 heroes solve one crime is like having 30 firetrucks show up to put out a barrel fire. Wouldn't it be easier just to call Superman? He's one guy, can only be harmed by a substance found on a planet that has already been destroyed, and won't have anyone helping him out that will get in his way.

Each day a new superhero will be revealed and each week I will look at the past seven heroes and make fun of them. Here are the first eight that have been revealed so far.



Looks suspiciously like Cyclops except this one can't shoot lasers out of his eyes. He has a set of wings that don't let him fly, yet he can maneuver through the air. How the heck is that not the same exact thing?! And the last time someone had his powers, they belonged to this guy, and he was evil. Among all of The Guardians, he is the least willing to be placed in a box so at least you know when you're in need of help, you can count on him, more than anyone else, on not being in Abu Dhabi. (that's right, a Garfield reference)

The King is apparently more celebrity than anything else. For whatever reason, his shield creates a forcefield. Seriously, why does he need both? His sword can create an earthquake (like LA doesn't get enough already) so he can crumble the city he loves in one fell swoop as he strikes down his enemy.

From what I can tell, this hero is a bit of an alcoholic and keeps somebody's brain inside of a jar. The hair seems crazy at first, but my theory is that he killed and scalped Storm, dyed the hair red, and implanted her hair on his head. Apparently it was the hair all along that allowed her, and now him, to control the weather.

Here we have a giant man-boy who all the other Guardians are supposed to look up to. That's right, the apparent leader doesn't take anything seriously and is all happy-go-lucky. Exactly what I look for in a leader. He wears enough armor that he needs six wings in order to fly and controls the element of wind which is already a power belonging to The Hurricane.

OK, they are just ripping off other comic book characters now. This is similar to Mr. Freeze (yep, this guy again)but instead of an ice cannon, just has an over-sized super soaker. He is said to be highly intelligent, yet turned down free trips around the world in order to pay for them himself. He gained his powers in an experiment that went wrong, and is now completely comprised of water. OK, he is not similar to Mr. Freeze, he is Mr. Freeze, just on a hot day.

Cut him and he bleeds rainbows. He has incredible vision that makes him only "slightly more valuable in certain situations" than the other heroes. So even when things go 100% his way, and even though he can control people with his mind, any other hero would have come out just as well, except maybe with one more black eye. He also has a titanium eagle and can see what it sees. Since eagles have such amazing vision in the first place, makes you wonder why he needs his own super vision. Good news though, he finally has the granite chin that has been lacking from other Philly based heroes.

A hero BP would be proud of, The Oiler is also the third hero already that can control the weather. I think these guys should stop fighting crime and start fighting global warming. Weighing in at nearly half a ton, he probably doesn't get to the scene of the crime too quickly, especially since he spends most of his time lost in the woods laughing at his own jokes because no one else will.

I have a hard time believing this is a hero. He (it?) spends most of his time screwing around with the other heroes and I think he should be on some sort of watch list, seeing as he spends the majority of his time making sure kids see him as good people. Probably with candy. He has a titanium tail covered in barbed wire. I don't know about you, but I do not think having someone with that thing swinging around should be fighting anywhere near me.

Offseason Recap-Northeast Division

Continuing with the Eastern Conference, here is a look at the Northeast Division. I should be able to continue the Offseason Recaps once a day, with the possible exception of Wednesday as I have to drive back to school. Woo-hoo! (not)


Boston Bruins - 3
Key Signings
7/1: LW Daniel Paille (re-signed) 2 years
7/1: F Jeremy Reich (NYI) 1 year
7/9: D Mark Stuart (re-signed) 1 year
7/15: C Gregory Campbell (FLA) 2 years
7/30: RW Blake Wheeler (re-signed) 1 year, $2.2 M
Trades
6/22: RW Nathan Horton and C Gregory Campbell from FLA for D Dennis Wideman, 15th overall draft pick (2010), and 3rd round draft pick (2011)
6/26: D David Warsofsky from STL for C Vladimir Sabotka
Departures
RW Miroslav Satan
C Steve Begin
What To Expect
GM Peter Chiarelli didn't make too many moves this summer, opting instead to let the team benefit from a healthy core and experienced Tuukka Rask. The defense is largely the same except for the departure of Dennis Wideman who was shipped to Florida to bring in Nathan Horton. Horton brings 30 goal potential to the goal-starved Bruins and helps give them four solid forward lines. Marc Savard should be healthy after missing half of last season with a concussion and other various injuries. The Bruins are clearly a different team with him in the lineup.


Buffalo Sabres - 6
Key Signings
7/1: D Jordan Leopold (PIT) 3 years
7/2: C Cody McCormick (re-signed)
7/7: C Rob Niedermayer (NJ) 1 year
7/7: G Patrick Lalime (re-signed) 1 year
7/7: D Mike Weber (re-signed) 1 year
7/21: RW Patrick Kaleta (re-signed) 2 years
7/29: Tim Kennedy (re-signed) 1 year, $1 M
8/3: Shaone Morrison (WAS) 2 years
8/5: Marc-Andre Gragnani (re-signed) 1 year
8/26: Colin Stuart (CAL) 1 year
Trades
Departures
D Toni Lydman (ANA)
D Henrik Tallinder (NJ)
LW Raffi Torres
C Adam Mair
What To Expect
Not a whole lot has changed in Buffalo as most of GM Darcy Regier's moves were re-signings. Rob Niedermayer adds depth and toughness down the middle and Jordon Leopold was brought in to replace Henrik Tallinder who opted to go with the Devils. Unless Thomas Vanek regains his 40 goal form, they will once again live and die by Ryan Miller. Actually, come to think of it, they will anyway.

Montreal Canadiens - 9

Key Signings

7/1: G Alex Auld (NYR) 

7/13: RW Maxim Lapierre (re-signed) 1 year

7/13: Mathieu Carle (re-signed) 1 year

7/31: D Alexandre Picard (CAR) 1 year

Trades

6/17: C Lars Eller and RW Ian Schultz from STL for G Jaroslav Halak

6/29: C Dustin Boyd, G Dan Ellis, and future considerations from NAS for RW Sergei Kostitsyn and future considerations

8/16: G Karri Ramo from TB for G Cedrick Desjardins

Departures

C Dominik Moore (TB)

C Glen Metropolit 

D Marc-Andre Bergeron

What To Expect

Except for a surprising first place finish two seasons ago, they Canadiens are always a team  on the edge of the playoff race. GM Pierre Gauthier will fill holes from within the organization. The only major move was the trade of playoff hero Jaroslav Halak to St. Louis. That leaves Carey Price to finally live up to the expectations of being picked 5th overall in 2005. P.K. Subban showed plenty of potential in the playoffs last season and will get the chance to prove himself over the course of a full NHL season. He will most likely quarterback the powerplay, a position left available by the departure of Marc-Andre Bergeron. 

Ottawa Senators - 10
Key Signings
7/1: D Sergei Gonchar (PIT) 3 years, $16.5 M
7/1: C Jesse Winchester (re-signed)
7/13: D Derek Smith (re-signed) 1 year
7/21: LW Nick Foligno (re-signed) 2 years
7/29: C Peter Regin (re-signed) 2 years
7/30: D Chris Campoli (re-signed) 1 year
8/4: RW Francis Lessard (PHO) 1 year
8/4: D David Hale (TB) 1 year
Trades
6/25: D David Runbland from STL for 1st round draft pick (2010)
Departures
D Anton Volchenkov (NJ)
C Matt Cullen (MIN)
D Andy Sutton (ANA)
RW Jonathan Cheechoo
What To Expect
Standing pat seems to be the trend in the Northeast Division and GM Bryan Murray is no different. Unless Alexei Kovalev can revert to the form he showed in Montreal two seasons ago and Brian Elliot can continue his strong performance from last season while forgetting about the playoffs, this may be a long season in Canada's Capital. Defensive stalwart Anton Volchenkov is gone and was replaced by the aging Sergei Gonchar. He should help a powerplay that finished 20th overall last season but the shot blocking ability and physical intimidation provided by Volchenkov will be sorely missed. That will mean Elliot and Pascal Leclaire will have to be even sharper in goal.


Toronto Maple Leafs - 13
Key Signings
7/1: RW Colby Armstrong (ATL) 3 years, $9 M
7/2: F Nikolai Kulemin (re-signed) 2 years
7/7: Brett Lebda (DET) 2 years
8/28: LW Clarke MacArthur 1 year
Trades
6/26: RW Mike Brown from ANA for 5th round draft pick (2010)
6/26: 2nd round draft pick (2010) from CHI for RW Jimmy Hayes
6/30: LW Kris Versteeg and LW Bill Sweatt from CHI for LW Viktor Stalberg, C Phillipe Paradis, and C Chris DiDomenico
8/27: D Matt Lashoff from TB for F Alex Berry and F Stefano Giliati
Departures
C Wayne Primeau
D Garnet Exelby
C Jamie Lundmark
What To Expect
The pieces are starting to fall into place for the Leafs as last season GM Brian Burke acquired sniper Phil Kessel up front, Dion Phaneuf to anchor the defense, and J.S. Giguere to tend goal along with "The Monster" Jonas Gustavsson. Depth defenseman Brett Lebda helps shore up a solid, physical defensive core that will be difficult to score against. Kris Versteeg, who helped bring Chicago back to glory, and Colby Armstrong, who provides plenty of sandpaper and 20 goal potential will certainly help out an offense that finished tied for 25th overall. However, they are still a few pieces away from contending for a playoff spot. Nazem Kadri, the 7th overall draft pick in 2009,  will be given every opportunity to make the team out of training camp this season, but the team still lacks a bona fide top line center.


Sources: NHL.com Free Agent Tracker, TSN.ca TradeCentre, The Hockey News Yearbook