FanHouse

Great Talent Everywhere in Marian Hossa's Debut

Susan Slusser — 2009-11-25T16:13:00 00:00

SAN JOSE -- As if Wednesday night's matchup against the Western Conference's two top teams didn't have enough appeal, throw Marian Hossa into the mix for one heck of a showdown between star-studded top lines.

Hossa, Chicago's top offseason acquisition, hasn't played this season because of a shoulder injury, but tonight at HP Pavilion, he'll be joining the Blackhawks' great young players Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. San Jose, the NHL's best team to date, counters with the goal-happy line of Dany Heatley, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau.

Whew. What a way to step onto the ice for the first time with a new team.

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Corey Perry On a Roll, Ducks Are Not

Susan Slusser — 2009-11-24T11:00:00 00:00

by Susan Slusser

Filed under: Ducks

After nearly making it into the Western Conference finals last year, then re-signing Scott Niedermayer and obtaining Saku Koivu, the Ducks appeared poised for a sure-fire playoff spot.

Instead, Anaheim is struggling to find its footing, with a division-low 19 points, making the Ducks the West's counterpart to inexplicably slow-starting Carolina. The talent level is unquestioned, but the postseason is going to be a dream unless the Ducks get it going fast.

Anaheim does have one good roll going. Corey Perry is riding a 15-game scoring streak.

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Jim Rutherford Sees Better Things Ahead

Susan Slusser — 2009-11-19T11:00:00 00:00

by Susan Slusser

Filed under: Hurricanes

So far, this season is a disaster for the Hurricanes, a projected contender that fell flat from the get-go, hit with injuries and bedeviled by underperformance.

Asked the reasons for his team's fizzle out of the gate, Carolina general manager Jim Rutherford told FanHouse, "I don't have enough fingers. It's been a little bit of everything."

Yet Carolina is showing some positive signs of late. The team snapped a franchise-record-tying 14-game winless streak last week, then followed that up by playing well in a shootout loss to Montreal. Coach Paul Maurice praised his squad after that game, and Rutherford agreed.

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Predators Score High at Work Ethic

Susan Slusser — 2009-11-17T13:00:00 00:00

by Susan Slusser

Filed under: Predators

Nashville might not put a lot on the scoreboard every night, but it's not for lack of effort. Their last time out, the Predators out-shot Montreal 55-20, setting team records for most shots and total shot advantage.

That resulted in ... a 2-0 victory, with the Predators coming out on top the way they usually have to win: with smarts, good defensive play and decent goaltending. Nashville isn't going to wow anyone in any particular area, it seems, but the Predators can still get the job done.

"They always work hard," said Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle, whose last-minute goal beat Nashville in San Jose last week. "They're physical. They're very fast. They're tough. We never expect anything different."

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Reflections on the Rash of Injuries

Susan Slusser — 2009-11-12T13:00:00 00:00

by Susan Slusser

Filed under: Predators, Sharks, NHL Injuries

SAN JOSE -- As many as one in five NHL players is injured, according to widely repeated estimates, but the athletes themselves would like to see how that breaks down, exactly. It's the names of the players who are out, rather than the body count, that is creating headlines, some say.

"Everyone usually has two or three guys out," Sharks center Joe Thornton said. "That's not unusual. I just kind of pay attention to who's out on our team, and we've got Rob Blake out, an All-Star, and Devin Setoguchi and Joe Pavelski were out. Teams just learn to adjust."

"It seems to be a lot of the top guys who are out," Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle said, referencing injured players like Alexander Ovechkin (pictured) and Evgeni Malkin. "It's not good for anyone to have those guys out, because people are paying a lot of money to come to the games and they want to see those guys play, but it's just a fluke. I don't think there's anything else to it."

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Steve Yzerman: Most Gracious Superstar

Susan Slusser — 2009-11-09T10:00:00 00:00

by Susan Slusser

Filed under: Red Wings, NHL Hall of Fame

In an age of look-at-me professional athletes, full of boasting, silly taunting and big celebrations over routine plays, Steve Yzerman is a reminder that the best and most talented shine all the brighter for humble behavior.

The longtime Red Wings captain, and a three-time Stanley Cup winner as a player, enters the Hall of Fame as a winner on the ice and off, a gentleman respected by his peers and adored by his fans.

Yzerman was, and is, classy and understated, the embodiment of old-fashioned values of sportsmanship and personal accountability.

The Hockey Hall of Fame Class of '09:
Steve Yzerman | Brian Leetch | Brett Hull
Luc Robitaille | Lou Lamoriello

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Stamkos More Than Pulling His Weight

Susan Slusser — 2009-11-05T15:00:00 00:00

by Susan Slusser

Filed under: Lightning

Last year, the one knock on No. 1 pick Steven Stamkos, fresh into the league at the age of 18, was that he lacked the strength to compete nightly in the league, even getting scratched on occasion to work on building up his muscle.

So over the summer, the Tampa Bay Lightning center trained with recently retired forward Gary Roberts, known for his dedication to fitness. Stamkos called Roberts "fanatical" about his off-ice training, and he got to see it up close near his home in Ontario.

"We did some unusual things," Stamkos told FanHouse by phone from Ottawa, where the Lightning are playing Thursday night. "The toughest part was on dry land, pulling a 100-pound sled, sprinting the whole way and then turning around and going back. I was face up on the ground, gasping for air."

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Backchecking With ... Manny Malhotra

Susan Slusser — 2009-11-05T13:00:00 00:00

by Susan Slusser

Filed under: Sharks

We get to know NHL players with five quick questions. Today's subject: Manny Malhotra, who is in his first year with the first-place San Jose Sharks.

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U.S. Women Gearing Up for Olympics

Susan Slusser — 2009-11-03T12:00:00 00:00

by Susan Slusser

Filed under: Team USA, International Hockey, Olympic Hockey

Among the United States' best hopes for a medal in Vancouver next February is the women's ice hockey team, which has won one of the three gold medals awarded in the sport's brief Olympic history. Host Canada has won the other two, and the United States and Canada will clash in the final tournament before Vancouver 2010 in the Four Nations Cup, which opens today in Finland.

The U.S. is the defending champion in the event, beating Canada 3-2 in the finals last year. The American women have won either gold or silver in the Four Nations Cup every year in which the U.S. has participated, as has Canada.

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Avalanche at Sharks Live Blog

Susan Slusser — 2009-10-30T21:00:00 00:00

by Susan Slusser

Filed under: Avalanche, Sharks

Last year's top regular-season team, the Sharks, takes on the league's current top squad, the Avalanche, tonight at 10:30 p.m. Eastern and FanHouse will be there, blogging live and fielding questions.

Of the Western Conference's many surprise teams -- Phoenix and Los Angeles are also going strong and Columbus started off fast - Colorado might be the biggest. The Avs had a conference-low 69 points last season and they scored a league-low 199 goals.

Now, behind hot goalie Craig Anderson, Colorado is 10-12 and coming into San Jose to face a Sharks team that lost to the Avs 5-2 on opening night. San Jose is tied with the Kings atop the Pacific Division and has won three in a row, while Colorado has won four straight. Join us for what should be a good one.

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Anze Kopitar, Ryan Smyth Teaming Up Against Opponents

Susan Slusser — 2009-10-29T14:00:00 00:00

by Susan Slusser

Filed under: Kings

SAN JOSE -- Anze Kopitar of the Kings is leading the league in scoring and his linemate, Ryan Smyth, isn't far behind him, picking up loads of assists by getting Kopitar the puck.

"Kopitar and Ryan Smyth are as good a pair as there is in the league," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said before his team beat the Kings in overtime on Wednesday night.

It's a combo of experience, with the 33-year-old Smyth, and youth, with the 22-year-old Kopitar. And it worked "from the get-go," according to Smyth. Los Angeles coach Terry Murray placed the two on the same line pretty much from the start of training camp and things clicked.

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Younger Kronwall Wants to Play, Especially Against the Wings

Susan Slusser — 2009-10-27T15:00:00 00:00

by Susan Slusser

Filed under: Flames

Staffan Kronwall is a defenseman for the Flames, which is great for the 26-year-old in many respects. He's absorbing things from one of the best defensive units in the game, watching and learning.

The flip side of that: Kronwall doesn't get much ice time. He's been a healthy scratch the past five games after playing the previous five. So he works his tail off in practice and he gets a master class in his position from players such as Dion Phaneuf, Robyn Regehr and Jay Bouwmeester. Regehr has been particularly helpful, Kronwall said, when it comes to sharing tricks off the trade, but all have made the reserve feel welcome.

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Backchecking With ... Steve Mason

Susan Slusser — 2009-10-22T17:00:00 00:00

by Susan Slusser

Filed under: Blue Jackets

We get to know NHL players with five quick questions. Today's subject: Steve Mason, whose Blue Jackets are currently ranked second in the Central Division. Mason is the league's reigning rookie of the year.

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Analyzing Goalies as Martin Brodeur Nears Record

Susan Slusser — 2009-10-22T14:00:00 00:00

by Susan Slusser

Filed under: Devils

Martin Brodeur is one shutout away from tying Terry Sawchuk's all-time shutout record. How meaningful is that? And what is the best means for judging goaltenders' performance?

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Will NHL Choose Bottom Line Over National Pride?

Susan Slusser — 2009-10-20T17:50:00 00:00

by Susan Slusser

Filed under: Olympic Hockey

Ice hockey will be one of the toughest tickets to get when the Vancouver Olympics open in February. The sport is guaranteed to be among the most popular, if not the top sport, in hockey-mad Canada.

Great for the sport, right? Just as the Salt Lake City Olympics were.

And yet the NHL is not committed to allowing its players to compete in the Olympics past Vancouver, prompting one of the league's best players, Alex Ovechkin, to threaten to go on his own when the Games are in Sochi, Russia, Ovechkin's home country, in 2014. Ovechkin is an ambassador for those Games, but other prominent Russian stars, such as Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin and Iyla Kovalchuk of the Thrashers, have expressed similar sentiments, saying they would risk penalties from the NHL in order to participate in 2014.

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Blues, Wings Flat Since Sweden

Susan Slusser — 2009-10-15T16:00:00 00:00

by Susan Slusser

Filed under: Blues, Red Wings, FanHouse Exclusive

Niklas Kronwall and Erik Johnson, defensemen for the Red Wings and Blues respectively, both enjoyed opening the season in Sweden. Like many of Detroit's players, Kronwall is from there, while Johnson was happy St. Louis took both games and that he's healthy after missing most of a year.

Since returning to the U.S., however, the Red Wings and Blues have been less than sharp. And Detroit wasn't any great shakes in Sweden, either, dropping both games despite holding leads in each.

The two teams, both expected to be contenders, are at the bottom of the Central Division going into play Thursday night.

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Columbus Jumps Out Fast in Central

Susan Slusser — 2009-10-13T12:00:00 00:00

by Susan Slusser

Filed under: Blue Jackets, FanHouse Exclusive

Sure, it's the early going, but the Central Division is no joke, with the still-tough Red Wings and two teams pegged for big things in St. Louis and Chicago.

More than two weeks in, Columbus has held its own, showing some very good things, like a near impervious penalty-kill unit, and at the other end of the spectrum, a wobbly power play.

"The team's come along quick," Blue Jackets captain Rick Nash said after a recent morning practice session. "We're getting contributions from the young guys, and we have such a young team, we're going to depend on them a lot to produce. So far, they've been great."

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Backchecking With ... Alex Burrows

Susan Slusser — 2009-10-08T14:30:00 00:00

by Susan Slusser

Filed under: Canucks, FanHouse Exclusive

We get to know NHL players with five quick questions. Today's subject: Canucks forward Alex Burrows, who scored a goal in Wednesday's night's 7-1 win over the Canadiens.

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Is This the Thrashers' Year?

Susan Slusser — 2009-10-08T12:00:00 00:00

by Susan Slusser

Filed under: Thrashers, FanHouse Exclusive

Before the season starter, Atlanta star Ilya Kovalchuk brashly proclaimed "This is our year."

Crazy? Well, maybe not. Thrashers defenseman Ron Hainsey told FanHouse by phone this week that the team's forwards are so talented the club can contend, despite the fourth-worst finish in the league last year.

"We have a team that has no excuse except under-performance not to be in the playoffs," Hainsey said. "We match up with anyone, especially with our skill up front."

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Would Seattle Work for the NHL?

Susan Slusser — 2009-10-06T10:30:00 00:00

by Susan Slusser

Filed under: NHL Economics, FanHouse Exclusive, Junior Hockey

SEATTLE -- This lovely and affluent city seems on the surface to be natural hockey country. Seattle is about 115 miles from Canada, and it's a two-hour drive to Vancouver; it is a sporty, athletic town where people spend a lot of time indoors because of wet weather; and the only pro team in town during the winter now is the NFL since the NBA departed for Oklahoma City.

Plus, this was the first city in the United States to win the Stanley Cup -- the Seattle Metropolitans beat Montreal three games to one in 1917.

But Seattle, the 15th-largest metro area in the country, seldom gets mentioned as a potential NHL location. And there are plenty of arguments against it.

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