It's officially the offseason, meaning the time is right to look into the future. We continue our division-by-division preview of the potential wheeling and dealing with the Pacific Division.
San Jose saw its Presidents' Trophy campaign come to a surprising end in the first round of the NHL playoffs, Los Angeles is still the perfect spot for Dany Heatley, and is there any hope for success on the ice in Phoenix?
Nikita Filatov, the No. 5 overall pick in this year's Entry Draft, entered play on Saturday night for Columbus with one goal in his first five NHL games. During the Blue Jackets 4-2 win over Minnesota, the 18-year-old rookie notched his first career hat trick -- and recorded an assist -- helping lead Columbus to its second straight win and sixth in its past eight games.
Steve Mason continued his strong play in net for the Blue Jackets, turning aside 21 of 23 shots to pick up his 15th win of the season. It's a big win for Columbus, as it entered the game trailing the Wild by one point in the Western Conference standings.
Mason is still leading the league in goals against average and save percentage, and he is still not an all-star. Crazy.
Brian Burke's acquisition of tough-guy Brad May helped add to some of the intensity and entertainment value in Thursday's Montreal-Toronto game, as the two teams beat the snot out of one other physically, while the Canadiens dominated on the scoreboard, pulling out a 6-2 win. The victory for Montreal is its third in a row, and eighth in its past 10 games.
Bruins 6, Senators 4: Boston snapped a brief two-game losing skid on Thursday night with a 6-4 win over Ottawa. The Bruins let a 3-1 lead slip away late in the second period, and then scored three consecutive goals of their own in the third, as Ottawa goalie Martin Gerber had a rather forgettable start in goal, stopping only 16 of 21 shots. Marc Savard scored what proved to be the game-winning goal, while also adding two assists.
The game of the night -- or so we thought -- was that monster matchup in Detroit, between the defending Stanley Cup champions, and the team that, thus far, has been the best team in the NHL this season. On paper, it looked like it was going to be an epic tilt. Possible Western Conference Finals preview, Mike Babcock vs. Todd Mclellan, teacher vs. student, etc. etc. etc. Of course, it was the second time they faced off this year, but, hey, it still looked like it was going to be awesome.
This, of course, is why the games aren't played on paper, as the Red Wings disposed of San Jose quite easily in a 6-0 romp at Joe Louis Arena. It's the Sharks' second straight loss, and the first game they've dropped in regulation in over a month.
It's official: Sidney Crosby is on a roll. The Penguins captain netted his second career hat trick on Saturday night, helping lead Pittsburgh to a 4-1 win over New Jersey. Crosby now has 13 goals on the season, and six in his past three games.
Crosby opened the scoring just over a minute into the game, when he spun around and slipped a blind backhander behind New Jersey goalie Scott Clemmensen. He also added goals in the second and third periods, and picked up an assist on Petr Sykora's power play goal.
Crosby is now second in the NHL's scoring race with 34 points, just five behind teammate Evgeni Malkin, who picked up two assists in the win. The duo has been white-hot the past three games, combining for 17 points and dominating just about every time they've been on the ice. Right now, these two guys are from another planet.
Mike Rupp scored New Jersey's only goal of the game early in the third period, and nearly found himself in a fight with Crosby. Instead of actually dropping the gloves and taking a few swings on one another, the two just sort of wrestled along the boards and picked up coincidental minors for roughing.
With the Phoenix Coyotes officially out of the playoff race, the desert dogs and their fans can now turn their heads and look into the future, where a playoff spot may yet lurk in the shadows.
With Peter Mueller establishing himself as a good Calder Trophy candidate, newcomer Ilya Bryzgalov providing awesome goaltending, the coming out party thrown by Radim Vrbata, and Wayne Gretzky's improving coaching, the future has never been brighter for a club that has long struggled to make any forward progress.
One more piece of the puzzle will be Kyle Turris, the Coyotes' 3rd overall pick from this past summer's NHL Entry Draft. After playing just one season with the NCAA's University of Wisconsin, Turris took the lure of real NHL puck bunnies over college co-eds, and signed his first pro deal.
"This is incredible and I can't explain how I feel right now," said Turris, the third selection in the June entry draft. "I'm extremely excited and I've got tons of adrenaline already for my first NHL game."
Agent Kurt Overhardt wouldn't divulge contract numbers, but said the Turris deal is more than the three-year, $2.65-million entry level pact that Surrey native Colton Gillies signed Friday with the Minnesota Wild.
The Coyotes have three games left in the season, which is just enough time for Turris to get his feet wet without any pressure whatsoever to win games and carry his new club.
If Turris needs to do anything, it's get some ideas how to put on some good playing weight. Listed at a generous 170 pounds, Turris is lighter than a feather, and skinny enough to make the contestants on America's Next Top Model puke in envy.
This is one in a series of profiles of the International Scouting Service's 2007 Top 15 NHL Draft Prospects, and relies heavily on the 2007 NHL Entry Draft Media Guide. Check back often leading up to the June 22 Entry Draft for more profiles and draft coverage and analysis.
Name: Kyle Turris Team/League: Burnaby/BCHL Vitals: 6'1", 170 pounds, center, shoots right Born: August 14, 1989 in New Westminster, British Columbia
The low-down: Highly-skilled; great playmaker; fluid skater; quick, accurate shot; good work ethic... had 66 goals, 121 points in 53 games this past season (before you get too excited about those totals, realize that Brett Hull scored 105 goals in 57 games in the BCHL back in 1983-84), including 50 goals in his first 39 games (which, of course, has been done before -- at the NHL level)... will attend the University of Wisconsin in the Fall... likened to Marian Gaborik, Paul Kariya and Joe Sakic, but patterns his game after his favorite player, Steve Yzerman... digs Rachel McAdams (nice call) and Jack Johnson (the musician, not the boxer nor the hockey player, though he may like the latter two as well)...nicknamed "KT," though I think "The Skinny KT" might be necessary so as to avoid confusion.
Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match: Turris has shot up everyone's rankings, similar to how he apparently grew from 5'6" to 6'1" in no time flat. Could he go #1 overall? Without question. But I think it's more likely that he goes to Philly with the #2 pick.
You can read more about The Skinny KT here and here and check out features on the youngster here and below:
The NHL has been the most proactive of any professional sports organization in using the Web to bring fans closer to the game and its players. This ranges from embracing the blogosphere as traditional media coverage has declined (well, save for those stodgy Senators) to having everyone from rappers to actors to Miss Minnesota 2006 writing for its interactive site, NHL Connect, during the postseason.
As the 2007 Entry Draft approaches, the league has added several top prospects to its growing list of NHL Connect contributors. Forward Kyle Turris, winger Patrick Kane and defenseman Keaton Ellerby are among the potential lottery picks with their own blogs, with varying degrees of interactivity. Turris's blog features some well-wishes from the "Crease Creatures" at the University of Wisconsin, where he's set to play for the 2007-08 season. A post on Ellerby's blog features a public defense of his cousin, maligned Team Canada captain Shane Doan, who faced nationwide controversy in Canada over alleged "culturally insensitive" comments he made during a game two years ago.
The NHL held a media conference call with some of the draft's top prospects on Wednesday evening, and I asked Ellerby about being a part of a Web-savvy group of rookies and about what Doan's problems taught him as a young player. (If my questions read differently here than on the official transcript, it's because I have this aversion to sounding like a stammering moron in print.)
Kyle Turris of Burnaby (BCHL) and Russian sniper Alexei Cherepanov are the #1 ranked North American and European skaters, respectively, in the final CSS rankings released by the NHL.
Turris was a surprise #1 over London's Patrick Kane, who held that spot previously, and slipped to #2.
Cherepanov is the definite gem of the draft in terms of skill, but is certainly a risk at 5'11", 165lbs. Alexei broke the Russian Super League rookie goal-scoring record with 18 in 47 games, and recently led the Russians to a gold medal win in the recent world Under-18 tournament in Finland.
The Chicago Blackhawks won the draft lottery and will have the #1 selection, but there are rumblings that they may be very willing to deal the pick for some immediate help. The Hawks already have enough prospects, and may want to finally make the playoffs some time this century.
The current Top 10 Order 1. Chicago Blackhawks 2. Philadelphia Flyers 3. Phoenix Coyotes 4. Los Angeles Kings 5. Washington Capitals 6. Edmonton Oilers 7. Columbus Blue Jackets 8. Boston Bruins 9. St. Louis Blues 10.Florida Panthers
It's officially the offseason, meaning the time is right to look into the future. We continue our division-by-division preview of the potential wheeling and dealing with the Pacific Division.
Nikita Filatov, the No. 5 overall pick in this year's Entry Draft, entered play on Saturday night for Columbus with one goal in his first five NHL games. During the Blue Jackets 4-2 win over Minnesota, the 18-year-old rookie notched his first career hat trick -- and recorded an assist -- helping lead Columbus to its second straight win and sixth in its past eight games. 
With the Phoenix Coyotes officially out of the playoff race, the desert dogs and their fans can now turn their heads and look into the future, where a playoff spot may yet lurk in the shadows.
This is one in a series of profiles of the International Scouting Service's 2007 Top 15 NHL Draft Prospects, and relies heavily on the 2007 NHL Entry Draft Media Guide. Check back often leading up to the June 22 Entry Draft for more profiles and draft coverage and analysis.
The NHL has been the most proactive of any professional sports organization in using the Web to bring fans closer to the game and its players. This ranges from embracing the blogosphere as traditional media coverage has declined (well, save for those stodgy Senators) to having everyone from rappers to actors to Miss Minnesota 2006 writing for its interactive site, NHL Connect, during the postseason.
Kyle Turris of Burnaby (BCHL) and Russian sniper Alexei Cherepanov are the #1 ranked North American and European skaters, respectively, in the final CSS rankings released by the NHL. 
