FanHouse

PuckToons: Overheard Behind the Western All-Stars Bench

Earl Sleek — 2009-01-22T14:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Ducks, Sharks, Red Wings, NHL All Star Game

Every Thursday, Earl Sleek will conspire with his pen and scanner to bring you another installment of PuckToons. Hopefully you will find these amusing, relevant, well-drawn, or you're a person who is tolerant towards mediocrity.

As a western conference cartoonist, it's about time I took a shot at drawing Todd McLellan and Mike Babcock, whose success as head coaches for the San Jose Sharks and Detroit Red Wings will put them behind the western conference bench for this weekend's All Star Game in Montreal. As a disgruntled fan of the Anaheim Ducks, it's also about time I took a shot at the lackluster play of netminder J.S. Giguere, who will start for the Western All-Stars despite winning only one game over the previous five weeks.

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PuckToons: Which Bird Species Will Get That Elusive 'W' on Friday?

Earl Sleek — 2009-01-15T14:00:00 00:00

by Earl Sleek

Filed under: Ducks, Penguins, NHL General

Every Thursday, Earl Sleek will conspire with his pen and scanner to bring you another installment of PuckToons. Hopefully you will find these amusing, relevant, well-drawn, or you're a person who is tolerant towards mediocrity.

It's certainly been a tough month for fans of the Anaheim Ducks and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Since December 20, each franchise has collected only four wins, tied for fewest in the NHL for that stretch. Both teams, desperate for standings points, will go head-to-head in Pittsburgh on Friday night, and for now the consolation is that one of the teams will have to get an elusive win. While the two teams have similarly struggled to collect standings points, however, there are some differences to note in how the two teams have been losing with regularity.

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PuckToons: Sessions With a Voting Robot

Earl Sleek — 2009-01-08T14:00:00 00:00

by Earl Sleek

Filed under: Blackhawks, Canadiens, Ducks, Penguins, NHL General, NHL All Star Game

Every Thursday, Earl Sleek will conspire with his pen and scanner to bring you another installment of PuckToons. Hopefully you will find these amusing, relevant, well-drawn, or you're a person who is tolerant towards mediocrity.

Congratulations to the fans of the Montreal Canadiens, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Anaheim Ducks, and the Chicago Blackhawks for dominating the online vote for the starters of the 2009 NHL All Star Game. Because of their record-setting vote totals, the twelve starters for the midseason event will be entirely represented by those four teams.

Throughout the voting process, the NHL periodically removed large segments of votes because of robot fraud, but based on the tremendous volume of All Star votes, I have to think that the league couldn't offset them all. After all, I'm a Ducks fan who didn't vote even once, and I'm quite skeptical as to the lofty vote totals for Ryan Getzlaf, Scott Niedermayer, and J.S. Giguere.

Still, as the league announces the rest of the roster from the other 26 teams this week, it's tough for me to say that the results have been that tragic -- recall that last year only eight of twelve voted starters showed up to the event, and that the opening shift lasted an average of 49 seconds. It's a novelty exhibition game, this year featuring the influence of sneaky robot votes. Let's hope they can avoid the emotional crisis pictured above.

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PuckToons: A Christmas Decision

Earl Sleek — 2008-12-25T14:00:00 00:00

by Earl Sleek

Filed under: Canucks, Rangers, NHL General, NHL Free Agency

Every Thursday, Earl Sleek will conspire with his pen and scanner to bring you another installment of PuckToons. Hopefully you will find these amusing, relevant, well-drawn, or you're a person who is tolerant towards mediocrity.

Don't worry, Canucks fans, Mats Sundin is still coming to town -- this cartoon is more in reference to the months of indecision that the former Maple Leafs captain showed before finally signing with Vancouver last week. In the spirit of that mid-season roster gift, here's hoping we all can similarly find that elusive Swedish top-line center we've been wishing for this Christmas.

From all of us at FanHouse, have a happy (and decisive) holiday season!

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PuckToons: Snow Blower Offers Apology

Earl Sleek — 2008-12-11T14:00:00 00:00

by Earl Sleek

Filed under: Avalanche, NHL General, NHL Injuries

Every Thursday, Earl Sleek will conspire with his pen and scanner to bring you another installment of PuckToons. Hopefully you will find these amusing, relevant, well-drawn, or you're a person who is tolerant towards mediocrity.

Of course this cartoon is only meant as a joke. The NHL doesn't suspend snow blowers, only loud blowhards. Still, it's quite clear that Joe Sakic's snow blower demonstrated conduct "detrimental to the League or game of hockey" when it attacked and injured three fingers on Sakic's hand, keeping him off of the Colorado Avalanche roster for the next three months.

Of course, being a Southern Californian, I suppose I should come clean: I've never seen a snow blower in my life. I'm not sure how accurate my cartoon depiction is, and I'm not really aware of the hazards in operating such a piece of machinery. Perhaps this serves as a wake-up call to NHL players to find employment in warmer-climate cities, where the threat of snow blower injury is significantly lessened.

As for the Avalanche, they currently sit one point behind the Nashville Predators for the western conference's 8th seed and will have to figure out how to cope with Sakic's loss for the bulk of the season. If Colorado management is smart, its players will also have to figure out how to cope with mandatory snow blower safety seminars. C'mon, fellas, let's keep those injuries on the ice!

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PuckToons: NHL Takes a Stand on One Gender Issue

Earl Sleek — 2008-12-04T15:00:00 00:00

by Earl Sleek

Filed under: Stars, NHL General

Every Thursday, Earl Sleek will conspire with his pen and scanner to bring you another installment of PuckToons. Hopefully you will find these amusing, relevant, well-drawn, or you're a person who is tolerant towards mediocrity.

Gender issues in sports is always a difficult topic, so I'm largely going to let the PuckToon speak for itself today. Still, it will be interesting to see what emerges from today's suspension meeting between the Dallas Stars' Sean Avery and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman regarding Avery's vague-but-crude remarks about former love interest Elisha Cuthbert and Calgary Flames' defenseman Dion Phaneuf.

There's of course plenty of issues to consider with this suspension: Is it right for the NHL to legislate morality? How messed up is it that the NHL could suspend an off-ice comment longer than any of its on-ice offenses of the past few years? How much responsibility does the NHL have for creating Avery the media monster? How much will the NHL help the Dallas Stars in wiggling out of their four-year contract obligation?

As usual, I'm just here to poke fun at the issues without providing too much in the way of discussion or resolution, but feel free to share your suspension reaction in the comments.

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PuckToons: Brian Burke Dumps the Ducks

Earl Sleek — 2008-11-20T14:00:00 00:00

by Earl Sleek

Filed under: Ducks, Kings, Maple Leafs, Sharks, NHL General, NHL Gossip

Every Thursday, Earl Sleek will conspire with his pen and scanner to bring you another installment of PuckToons. Hopefully you will find these amusing, relevant, well-drawn, or you're a person who is tolerant towards mediocrity.

The drama never stops for the Anaheim Ducks. Even a simple five-day break in the schedule cannot pass without some major news, in this case the stepping down of general manager Brian Burke, who of course had architected Anaheim's 2007 Stanley Cup Champion roster. Burke is probably off to work for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and in his stead right-hand man Bob Murray has assumed the GM duties for the Ducks. This was to be the final year of Brian Burke's contract, so the timing of the departure makes some sense, though it definitely caught this Ducks fan off-guard.

Over at Battle of California, I have begun a series of posts entitled "Burke Week", where I take a look back at the Anaheim legacy of Brian Burke. So far I have talked about three things that I think Burke gets too much criticism for, plus three things that I don't think he gets criticized enough for. Later on in the week I'll look at some of the positive lessons we can learn from Burke the general manager, as well as some downsides to having such a brash and outspoken executive in Anaheim's front office. In addition, I was also a guest on The Rink Podcast this week to talk over some of the ramifications of Burke's departure.

Overall, I can't get too upset with the notion of Burke leaving, though as the cartoon suggests there is some feeling of being jilted. At the very least Burke has left next year's roster in very manageable shape -- lots of contracts expire at the end of the year, so Bob Murray does have freedom to mold next year's roster to his own liking. We shall see how the Ducks evolve over the coming year, but no matter how that turns out, I feel confident that the Toronto media has finally found the right ~~mouth~~ man for the Leafs GM job.

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PuckToons: Those Persistent Ducks

Earl Sleek — 2008-11-06T14:00:00 00:00

by Earl Sleek

Filed under: Ducks, Sharks, NHL General

Every Thursday, Earl Sleek will conspire with his pen and scanner to bring you another installment of PuckToons. Hopefully you will find these amusing, relevant, well-drawn, or you're a person who is tolerant towards mediocrity.

Just two weeks ago, I was lamenting the poor start of the Anaheim Ducks, who found themselves in a slow-starting boat with the Dallas Stars, the Los Angeles Kings, and the Phoenix Coyotes -- all distantly trailing the hot-starting San Jose Sharks in what traditionally was a tight Pacific Division race.

Two weeks later, the Ducks have certainly improved their position. Even though the Sharks have continued on their 11-2-0 tear, the Ducks have run a 9-1-1 record in their last 11 games to pull within three standings points of the division leading Sharks. While certainly some of this gain has to do with a discrepancy in games-played (the Ducks have played two more games than nearly all other teams, including the Sharks), Anaheim has definitely separated themselves from the bottom three teams in the Pacific, all still struggling at .500 or below.

Time will tell how good this Sharks squad and this Ducks squad will be, but currently they represent two of the top three point totals in the league. The Sharks' start has obviously been more impressive, especially with consecutive wins against last year's Stanley Cup Finalists, but it's nice to see at least one team challenge San Jose for the Pacific crown. The Ducks still have some ground to make up, but their turnaround has been spectacular -- they are the only team thus far that can brag about wins against the 11-2-0 Sharks, the 8-2-2 Red Wings, and the 8-1-1 Canadiens. If Anaheim can continue its improved ascent, it should make for an epic Battle of California in the Pacific Division this year.

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PuckToons: Playing Catch-Up With the Sharks

Earl Sleek — 2008-10-23T14:00:00 00:00

by Earl Sleek

Filed under: Coyotes, Ducks, Kings, Sharks, Stars, NHL General

Every Thursday, Earl Sleek will conspire with his pen and scanner to bring you another installment of PuckToons. Hopefully you will find these amusing, relevant, well-drawn, or you're a person who is tolerant towards mediocrity.

Well, it's two weeks into the North American NHL season, and already my Pacific Division previews need work. While I expected the San Jose Sharks to push for the division lead, I certainly thought it would be a much closer race. Really, the surprise isn't that San Jose has started so well (6-1-0), but rather how poorly the rest of the division has started.

Two of the more disappointing starts belong to the Anaheim Ducks (2-5-0) and the Dallas Stars (2-4-1), two teams that I had pegged to run neck-and-neck with the Sharks. The Ducks' problem has primarily been offensive -- the top two scoring lines in Anaheim have only netted one combined goal -- while the Stars have been struggling to keep the puck out of their net -- they have surrendered a league-high 29 goals-against. The Los Angeles Kings (2-3-0) and Phoenix Coyotes (2-3-0) are also well behind the Sharks, although they have played two fewer games than their division mates.

Yes, the 2008-09 NHL season is awfully young, but it is worth noting that only one time since the lockout has San Jose.led the Pacific Division by as many as seven points (the final week of last season), and if the playoffs began today, they'd be the only Pacific team to qualify. There's still plenty of time for the bottom four in the Pacific to turn their seasons around, but if the Sharks don't falter, it's going to be weird seeing a usually-competitive division turn into a one-horse race.

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PuckToons: Salary Cap Dieting Tips

Earl Sleek — 2008-10-09T14:00:00 00:00

by Earl Sleek

Filed under: Coyotes, Ducks, Kings, Sharks, Stars, NHL General, NHL Economics

Every Thursday, Earl Sleek will conspire with his pen and scanner to bring you another installment of PuckToons. Hopefully you will find these amusing, relevant, well-drawn, or you're a person who is tolerant towards mediocrity.

There certainly has been a lot of strange salary cap-related moves in the last few days around the league, particularly in the Pacific Division. Players have been waived, demoted, and even promoted in order to maximize spending under this year's $56.7 million cap ceiling.

In San Jose, defenseman Kyle McLaren was sent through waivers in an attempt to have his $2.5 million claimed by another team, but since nobody grabbed him, McLaren was demoted to the AHL Worcester affiliate. It's not an ideal solution for the team or the player, but it does at least allow the Sharks to begin the season below the salary ceiling. In Dallas, promising youngsters James Neal and Mark Fistric were demoted to the Central Hockey League's Oklahoma City Blazers, but then were recalled the following day to take advantage of Sergei Zubov's long-term injury. Anaheim went through most of its salary-shedding a few weeks ago, with the waiving then trading of defenseman Mathieu Schneider, the demotion of Bobby Ryan, and the trading of defenseman Sean O'Donnell. On top of that, the Ducks promoted goaltender David LeNeveu just for a day to take full advantage of the long-term injury exception.

On the other end of the salary spectrum, the Los Angeles Kings' GM Dean Lombardi and forward Patrick O'Sullivan finally finished their contract negotiations, and Lombardi's stubbornness appears to have paid off, as O'Sullivan signed a very affordable 3-year deal. With the signing, Los Angeles should be comfortably above the salary cap floor, though it still looks to be a tough year for the low-spending Kings. With all the promotions, demotions, trades, and signings of the last few days, one thing is clear: the salary cap is changing the way hockey teams operate in dramatic ways, and it's becoming tough for even hardcore fans to understand what their teams are up to. Regardless of silly salary cap math, though, the North American NHL season begins tonight! Hooray!

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NHL Season Preview: San Jose Sharks

Earl Sleek — 2008-10-02T14:00:00 00:00

by Earl Sleek

Filed under: Sharks, NHL General

Welcome to the NHL FanHouse 2008-09 season preview. While other sites are previewing "30 teams in 30 days," we decided to take advantage of the extra time off before the start of the season to bring you all 30 previews over the next three weeks. We're counting down in reverse order of finish from last season in each conference every weekday from now until October 3. Look for an Eastern Conference preview every morning and a Western Conference preview every afternoon. Click here to read them all.

Who's In: Dan Boyle, D (Trade-TBL); Brad Lukowich, D (Trade-TBL); Rob Blake, D (FA-LAK); Jeff Friesen (FA-tryout)

Who's Out: Brian Campbell, D (FA-CHI); Matt Carle, D (Trade-TBL); Craig Rivet, D (Trade-BUF); Curtis Brown, C (FA-Switzerland)

What's Changed: A surprising amount, actually, considering that the San Jose Sharks had the second-most standing points in the league last year and surrendered the third-fewest goals-against. How do the Sharks plan on improving on those results? Simple -- fire the head coach and replace half the players on the blueline.

Out the door went coach Ron Wilson, who had improved the Sharks' regular season points total each year since the lockout, but had the misfortune to lose back-to-back-to-back games in the second round of the playoffs three years in a row. New coach Todd McLellan comes from the assistant coach position with the Detroit Red Wings, and Sharks fans are hopeful that he can bring some of that postseason success they've been starving for. Also, the three new defensemen -- Blake, Boyle, and Lukowich -- all come in with cup rings. Have the Sharks improved with all this postseason experience, or were they actually better off last year?

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NHL Season Preview: Anaheim Ducks

Earl Sleek — 2008-09-30T14:00:00 00:00

by Earl Sleek

Filed under: Ducks, NHL General

Welcome to the NHL FanHouse 2008-09 season preview. While other sites are previewing "30 teams in 30 days," we decided to take advantage of the extra time off before the start of the season to bring you all 30 previews over the next three weeks. We're counting down in reverse order of finish from last season in each conference every weekday from now until October 3. Look for an Eastern Conference preview every morning and a Western Conference preview every afternoon. Click here to read them all.

Who's In: Brendan Morrison, C (FA-VAN); Steve Montador, D (FA-FLA); Ken Klee (Trade-ATL)

Who's Out: Mathieu Schneider (Trade-ATL); Todd Bertuzzi, W (Bought out-CGY); Doug Weight, C (FA-NYI)

What's Changed: Nobody is semi-retired! Last year's drama surrounding the prolonged incecisions of Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne have been put to rest, but not without salary cap repercussions. Last week, defenseman Mathieu Schneider, who the Ducks signed last summer to replace Niedermayer's minutes, was traded in a salary-dump move to the Atlanta Thrashers for Ken Klee and some bodies. Since then, loyal Finn Teemu Selanne inked a two-year contract, meaning the Ducks will still need to shed some more salary before opening day.

What's lost in some of this salary cap shuffle, though, is how the resulting roster resembles the 2007 cup-winning team. Substitute Brendan Morrison and Bobby Ryan in for Andy McDonald and Dustin Penner. Substitute Steve Montador in for Joe Dipenta, and backup goalie Jonas Hiller for Ilya Bryzgalov. Those are basically the differences; the rest of the team is intact, at least for the short-term future. With more than half the roster's contracts set to expire next summer, can the Ducks capture the fire from two years ago, or is it a team that has passed its peak?

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NHL Season Preview: Dallas Stars

Earl Sleek — 2008-09-29T14:00:00 00:00

by Earl Sleek

Filed under: Stars, NHL General

Welcome to the NHL FanHouse 2008-09 season preview. While other sites are previewing "30 teams in 30 days," we decided to take advantage of the extra time off before the start of the season to bring you all 30 previews over the next three weeks. We're counting down in reverse order of finish from last season in each conference every weekday from now until October 3. Look for an Eastern Conference preview every morning and a Western Conference preview every afternoon. Click here to read them all.

Who's In: Sean Avery, W (FA-NYR)

Who's Out: Niklas Hagman, W (FA-TOR); Antti Miettinen, W (FA-MIN); Stu Barnes, C (Retirement); Mattias Norstrom (Retirement); Brad Winchester, W (FA-STL)

What's Changed: Playoff success over their divisional rivals. Since beating the 8th-seeded Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the 2003 playoffs, Marty Turco and the Stars hadn't even enjoyed a series lead until this past postseason. Last year, after finishing third to the Sharks and the Ducks in a tough Pacific Division, the Stars eliminated both of their divisional rivals, winning the first two games in Anaheim and the first three games against San Jose. Then, as the cartoon illustrates, Dallas ran headfirst into a Red Wings machine and was eliminated in the conference finals in six games.

Still, it was a triumphant return to playoff success for the Stars, who got excellent performances from Turco, the top line of Mike Ribiero, Brendan Morrow, and Jere Lehtinen, deadline acquisition Brad Richards, a defensive core led by Stephane Robidas and Trevor Daley, and of course Mike Modano. This year, the Stars figure to improve on that disciplined puck-pressure formula that worked well for them in the playoffs. Right, Avery?

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NHL Season Preview: Phoenix Coyotes

Earl Sleek — 2008-09-18T14:00:00 00:00

by Earl Sleek

Filed under: Coyotes, NHL General

Welcome to the NHL FanHouse 2008-09 season preview. While other sites are previewing "30 teams in 30 days," we decided to take advantage of the extra time off before the start of the season to bring you all 30 previews over the next three weeks. We're counting down in reverse order of finish from last season in each conference every weekday from now until October 3. Look for an Eastern Conference preview every morning and a Western Conference preview every afternoon. Click here to read them all.

Who's In: Olli Jokinen, C (Trade-FLA); Kurt Sauer, D (FA-COL); David Hale, D (FA-CGY); Todd Fedoruk, W (FA-MIN); Brian McGratton, W (FA-OTT)

Who's Out: Keith Ballard, D (Trade-FLA); Nick Boynton, D (Trade-FLA); Radim Vrbata, W (FA-TBL); Mike York, W (FA-CBJ); Niko Kapanen, C (FA-Russia); Marcel Hossa, W (FA-Russia)

What's Changed: Since the lockout, the Pacific Division has essentially been a three-team struggle. Over those three years, the Dallas Stars have accumulated 316 standings points, the San Jose Sharks 314, and the Anaheim Ducks 310. Other than Detroit (352), they represent the highest totals in the western conference over that span.

This season, things more or less will stay the same in the Pacific -- the Stars, Sharks, and Ducks figure to continue their winning ways (I'll be previewing them in two weeks) while the Kings continue their battle to stay out of the cellar. The Phoenix Coyotes, on the other hand, represent the division's most interesting team. They are the ones that are improving, and with a new #1 center in Olli Jokinen, a full season of Ilya Bryzgalov in the net, and a young core of forwards that would make any general manager drool, it's tough to know how good this team could get. Could this be the year that the Coyotes get seated at the winner's table in the Pacific?

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NHL Season Preview: Los Angeles Kings

Earl Sleek — 2008-09-15T14:00:00 00:00

by Earl Sleek

Filed under: Kings, NHL General

Welcome to the NHL FanHouse 2008-09 season preview. While other sites are previewing "30 teams in 30 days," we decided to take advantage of the extra time off before the start of the season to bring you all 30 previews over the next three weeks. We're counting down in reverse order of finish from last season in each conference every weekday from now until October 3. Look for an Eastern Conference preview every morning and a Western Conference preview every afternoon. Click here to read them all.

Who's In: Jarrett Stoll, C (Trade-EDM); Matt Greene, D (Trade-EDM); Denis Gauthier, D (Trade-PHI); Brad Richardson, W (Trade-COL).

Who's Out: Michael Cammalleri, C/W (Trade-CGY); Lubomir Visnovsky, D (Trade-EDM); Rob Blake, D (FA-SJS); Ladislav Nagy, W (FA-Russia); Brian Willsie, W (FA-COL); Jon Klemm, D (FA-Germany); Dan Clouter, G (Buyout).

What's Changed: Not enough to make the playoffs, likely. The Kings, who finished last in the west, have gone younger and cheaper while the rest of Pacific Division has gotten better around them. Realistically, this figures to be another rough season for Kings fans, who haven't enjoyed a playoff appearance since 2002. But there is a new head coach in town, and at the very least supermodel Rachel Hunter figures to attend some home games this year.

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PuckToons: An Extreme Approach to Salary Cap Management

Earl Sleek — 2008-09-11T14:00:00 00:00

by Earl Sleek

Filed under: Blackhawks, Capitals, Ducks, Flames, Flyers, Sharks, NHL General, NHL Injuries

Every Thursday, Earl Sleek will conspire with his pen and scanner to bring you another installment of PuckToons. Hopefully you will find these amusing, relevant, well-drawn, or you're a person who is tolerant towards mediocrity.

With NHL training camps opening up in little more than a week, a few teams are still looking to shed salary to get under the $56.7 million cap. A week ago, Dan Wood of the OC Register Duck's Blog posted a list of overcommitted teams, which includes the Anaheim Ducks, the Calgary Flames, Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers, San Jose Sharks and Washington Capitals. "The amounts in question range from a few hundred thousand dollars to as much as $4.5 million."

Now I'm not really an expert on the CBA and the salary cap, which is entering its fourth season in the league (don't turn to your cartoonist for technicalities), but I do know there is a Long-Term Injury allowance that lets teams temporarily outspend the salary cap while a player is unable to dress.

While I fully expect that the teams in question this summer will fix their salary issues through traditional means (trades and expensive demotions), I do wonder what the future has in store for spend-happy general managers. Will they ever get to the point where a budget-dictated surgery becomes a cap-cheating strategy? It's unlikely, I suppose, but if it ever does happen, I hope they'll now cut me in on the cap savings.

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PuckToons: Can You Teach an Old Maple Leaf New Tricks?

Earl Sleek — 2008-09-04T14:00:00 00:00

by Earl Sleek

Filed under: Maple Leafs, Panthers, NHL General

Every Thursday, Earl Sleek will conspire with his pen and scanner to bring you another installment of PuckToons. Hopefully you will find these amusing, relevant, well-drawn, or you're a person who is tolerant towards mediocrity.

I thought I'd turn my focus eastward this week, and make fun of new Florida Panther Bryan McCabe, who was traded this week along with a 4th round pick for defenseman Mike Van Ryn.

From my west coast perspective, McCabe is a defenseman who took some unfair heat from the Toronto media before he was traded, but still, he is a guy who did score on his own net in the closing seconds of overtime. That's never easy to live down, especially from hockey internet cartoonists who refuse to let it die.

For anyone looking for quality Florida Panthers blogs, I've recently started reading The Litter Box, which offers a cynical take on all Panther news. For a Leafs perspective, it's hard to go wrong with the level headed approach at Pension Plan Puppets. It should be an interesting year for both teams, it seems, as hockey fans don't anticipate either team qualifying for the postseason.

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PuckToons: Honoring the 4-S Club

Earl Sleek — 2008-08-21T14:00:00 00:00

by Earl Sleek

Filed under: Avalanche, Ducks, Maple Leafs, Rangers, NHL General, NHL Free Agency

Every Thursday, Earl Sleek will conspire with his pen and scanner to bring you another installment of PuckToons. Hopefully you will find these amusing, relevant, well-drawn, or you're a person who is tolerant towards mediocrity.

I was inspired by this week's column by the Globe and Mail's Eric Duhatschek that contemplated the short-term future of the members of the 4-S Club: Joe Sakic, Brendan Shanahan, Teemu Selanne, and Mats Sundin. All four remain unrestricted free agents that for various reasons have not signed for the coming season and may even end up hanging up their skates and retiring from the NHL.

These four superstars have been lighting up the league for the greater part of two decades, combining for 5,225 regular season games played, 2,380 goals scored, and 5,448 points. All are among the top 50 point-scorers and the top 25 goal-scorers in NHL history, and are members of the exclusive 500 goal club and the 1,000 point club. Collectively, it's not like their game has slowed down considerably, either. If you tallied all their seasons before the 2004-05 lockout and pro-rated the results to an 82-game schedule, the pre-lockout 4-S Club averages 38 goals, 48 assists, 86 points. If you did the same exercise with the same group's post-lockout results, the foursome averages 36 goals, 48 assists, 84 points. Not a noticeable drop-off at all.

I don't know who among that group has really played their last NHL game, but it would be stunning if all four heroes rode off into the sunset together. After the break, I'll point out where these 4-S members stand on the all-time and active scoring lists, thanks to the resources at Hockey-Reference.com.

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PuckToons: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

Earl Sleek — 2008-08-14T14:00:00 00:00

by Earl Sleek

Filed under: Ducks, NHL General, NHL Economics

Every Thursday, Earl Sleek will conspire with his pen and scanner to bring you another installment of PuckToons. Hopefully you will find these amusing, relevant, well-drawn, or you're a person who is tolerant towards mediocrity.

Sorry I've been away for a few weeks. I've recently devoted my nights and weekends to moving to a new house.

At any rate, this week's PuckToon doesn't have to do with actual trade news, but rather a built-up speculation that's been building around the Anaheim Ducks and defenseman Mathieu Schneider. The Orange County Register's Dan Wood summarizes the Ducks' current salary cap dilemma and its apparent solution: "Signed as a free agent by the Ducks in 2007, when it appeared that Scott Niedermayer was bound for retirement, Schneider is now the most likely candidate to be sacrificed as the club must cut payroll to get beneath the NHL's $56.7 million salary cap for 2008-09." As Woods notes, though, the Schneider situation probably won't get resolved until teams know if or where Mats Sundin will sign.

The unfortunate aspect of needing to move Schneider and his $5.625 M cap hit is that the defenseman did nothing wrong on the ice last year. He was a top-20 scorer among defensemen, with 39 points in 65 games, and even earned a few Norris Trophy votes. However, even with Schneider's strong play, once Scott Niedermayer decided to return to the team, Schneidermayer's salary became too much for Anaheim's third-highest-paid defenseman.

Besides, there are still rumors in Anaheim that Teemu Selanne will return for another season, and the Ducks will need some freed up cap room for that signing. The OC Register's Randy Youngman points out a hilarious posting from Steven on bleacherreport.com: "My best friend's neighbor, who cleans the house two streets over from Teemu's house in OC, told me that the lady across the street is telling her mother that Teemu's wife is sharing with her friends that Teemu wants to play in Anaheim. It's solid info."

Whatever happens with Teemu, it's still a certainty that the Ducks need to ditch salary, even if it means trading away a solid performer like Schneider. As the cartoon implies, the break-up actually has very little to do with Schneider the player, but rather it's a result of the Niedermayer situation. It's an unfortunate situation for Schneider for sure, but this scenario was a very distinct possibility when he signed in Anaheim last summer.

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PuckToons: Ducks Extend Grumpy Coach

Earl Sleek — 2008-07-24T14:00:00 00:00

by Earl Sleek

Filed under: Ducks, NHL General

Every Thursday, Earl Sleek will conspire with his pen and scanner to bring you another installment of PuckToons. Hopefully you will find these amusing, relevant, well-drawn, or you're a person who is tolerant towards mediocrity.

The Anaheim Ducks announced a two year extension for head coach Randy Carlyle yesterday, though the OC Register Ducks blog notes that the documents were actually signed seven weeks ago. Carlyle has been the head coach for the Ducks the past three seasons under GM Brian Burke, and has quickly become the most successful coach in the team's history, qualifying for the postseason each year and leading the Ducks to their first Stanley Cup Championship in 2007.

Over at Battle of California, I wrote a post about Carlyle's extension and noted that I have some difficulty expressing the strategic nuances that have made him successful. Still, there's one aspect I can appreciate: Carlyle's constantly grumpy expression. Smiles certainly don't come naturally to the former Norris Trophy winner, and considering the team's success, perhaps that stern countenance contributes to his players' performance.

However he gets his results, I am excited as a Ducks fan for two more years of Carlyle's frowns. Stay grumpy, dude.

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