STASH’S SCORE

Columbus on top of the Central, but It isn’t a Sprint, It’s a Marathon!

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 20:45:19 -0500

Sorry for the delay, it’s been a hectic month or so, hectic, but exciting. My University of Cincinnati Bearcats are taking up a lot of my time, and I couldn’t be happier to be with this group of young men (the football team is too!). Throughout my playing and now coaching career, I’ve found it very rewarding to watch young boys become men, both on and off the ice. One of the reasons I chose to write about this young, up-and-coming Blue Jackets squad is because of #61.

Rick Nash is one of my favorite hockey players and this year he is leading his team with 22 points in just 16 games. Nash is such a strong skater and if I could give any piece of advice to young athletes, is watch Rick Nash. If you are looking to model your play after a NHL player, Rick Nash would be on top of that list. He is so big and has wonderful balance that it’s hard for defenders to body him out. I think he and Ryan Getzlaf of the Ducks are two of the best “big guys” in the league as they are too hard to defend against. Even I am surprised at how great of a start Nash has had. Let’s just hope his production doesn’t dwindle and he stays healthy.

One of the biggest disappointments for me though is Nikita Filatov. In just 11 games, he has 2 points, both goals, for the Jackets. This is a kid at the age of 19 from Moscow that was rated as the top prospect in the NHL last year. In 39 games for the Syracuse Crunch he had 32 points also adding four points in eight games with the big club just one year ago. We need to see something more from him, and I think Coach Hitchcock is letting him know by giving him around seven minutes of playing time per game.

Other notables include the play of Derick Brassard, who if you recall was out for the year last year after a tremendous start. Antoine Vermette and Jakub Voracek are doing great too, and I think Jackets fans are starting to love R.J. Umberger who played at Ohio State. Raffi Torres is a pleasant surprise for the Jackets with nine points while Kristian Huselius needs to get things going with only nine points.

Steve Mason has been performing admirably. He’s picked up seven wins in 13 games with a 3.27 GAA and an 89.1 Save Percentage. He doesn’t have a shutout this season. What has been great for the Jackets is the play of backup Matty Garon. He’s got 3 wins in 5 games with a 2.71 GAA and a 91.8 Save Percentage. It’s always good to have multiple goalies you can trust, it makes the defense’s job easier, and the coaches.

While the NHL season is a grueling marathon, I can’t help but be a little excited by where the Jackets are. Prior to the season, everyone had picked Chicago or Detroit to be right where we are! I don’t think the Jackets will be able to keep the top spot for the year, but this is where the Jackets should be. They will compete to be in the top five in the West!

Although I’m not covering them, I feel there are a few teams that I’ve been watching on the NHL Network that I really enjoy watching and wanted to give them, as you kids call it, a shout out. The defending champion Penguins are off to a good, but scary start as they’ve lost some key players to injury early. The Colorado Av’s just blow my mind and I really, really hope this continues! The Sharks are kicking on all cylinders, but chomping at the bit is my current favorite team to watch, the Los Angeles Kings. Anze Kopitar is the best-kept secret in the NHL. No Ovechkin, no problem, as the Caps keep rolling. They give up a lot of goals, but the score a lot of goals too. This season is off to a great start. As a NHL alum, it’s a very exciting time for hockey (unless you are a Leafs or Canes fan!!!)! Also, my friends over on the student radio station will have me and a couple of my boys on this Wednesday starting at 8PM. Go to bearcastradio.com to listen live, or you can go check Brandon and his crew out at their website at thefiveminutemajor.com. You can even call into their show and ask us some questions! Remember, it may not be the most famous mouSTASH in the NHL, but this Stash shoots to Score!

Hockey’s Back !!!

Sun, 4 Oct 2009 12:07:17 -0400

The hiatus is over my friends, hockey is here, and tonight at 7 PM the Jackets take on the Wild. I remember my home openers, they were a lot of fun. You feel great because it’s a new slate so everyone has an equal chance to have a good season, but also because the fans are 100% behind you and ready to go. For the Jackets Tonight that’s no different, coming out of there first playoff appearance behind young Steve Mason.

I love this team this year. People are so high on the Blackhawks, and I think they are a talented team. The difference between the Hawks and the Jackets is goaltending. Huet worries me, and I think this is the year the Jackets completely turn loose on opponents and, you may be surprised to hear this, make it into the playoffs as a 4th or 5th seed.

I know what you’re saying, but this team, provided Mason plays strong and the team stays healthy, is a team nobody wants to play against.

That being said, I got word that Mike Commodore was placed on IR and the Jackets had an emergence recall on Mathieu Roy from the AHL’s Crunch. This doesn’t help their chances of grabbing those high slots.

So lets take a quick look at the team, I’m telling you who will break out.

Their first line of Nash, Umberger, and Huselius is dangerous and I think will be unchanged barring injury. We know that those three will have good years. Both Nash and Huselius make players around them better, and for all the flak that the Jackets took for signing Huselius last season, it seemed to work out didn’t it?

The depth on this team is what is impressive to me. I know in my last post all the way back on July 14th I was upsed that the Jackets didn’t add any marquee players, and I still feel like they should have gone after someone. In the offseason they lose a few good 2-way forwards like Mike Peca and Manny Malhotra, but they sign Antoine Vermette to a long term deal, they pick up Sammy Pahlsson from the Hawks which is one of the most underrated signings in the offseason, and this year, they will have full seasons from Derick Brassard, Jakub Voracek, and Nikita Filatov. They also picked up a solid backup in Mathieu Garon. I know what I said back in July, but I have strong confidence in the young core of this team. You know Nash will show up, but a healthy Brassard, Voracek, and Filatov, they could be the key to the Jackets chances this year.

I tell you this, Nikita Filatov after this season, will be the second best player on the Jackets. He was rated the best prospect last season by many NHL scouts and he gets his chance to play with the big club. He only played 8 games with the Jackets last year racking up 4 goals, but last year he nearly had a point per game in Syracuse, 39 games played, and 32 points. This is his year to take the NHL by storm.

To close, I’m glad hockey is here. I love other sports like football and baseball, but hockey is the one sport that gets me excited to watch all the time. I’ll be coaching my boys tonight at 5 so I’ll miss some games, but I’m glad I have Tivo so I can watch the Jackets beat the Wild….3-1. GO JACKETS! It may not be the most famous muSTASH in sports, but this “Stash” shoots to score!

Congrats Rick Nash, but Jackets Organization as a Whole Gets 1 Thumb Down !

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:04:58 -0400

So I waited this long because I was hoping to find that the Blue Jackets signed a big name player. To be honest, I’m shocked that Rick Nash signed that quickly because of the lack of effort to get a big named player to go along with him. There is really no way of us knowing who the Jackets pursued but when you see names from Hossa to Havlat getting snatched up within 12 hours of Free Agent Frenzy day, it tells not only the fans, but Rick Nash that they aren’t willing to spend the money to go out and get a star player. The Jackets have only signed a backup goalie in Garon, and a decent role player in Pahlsson. This is what upsets me. If the Hawks have the money to resign all of their core players and bring in a top notch free agent like Marian Hossa, why couldn’t the Jackets have done a similar thing. I know some teams have budgets to tend to but they also need to tell the fans to keep faith by bringing in a guy for a few years who is a big name and puts butts in the seats. They spent some money last year, and I think they are really relying on Filatov, and Brassard to make large impacts this upcoming year.

If I were Rick Nash I would have been furious and not willing to sign, at least that quickly. I need the Jackets to show that they are committed to spending the money necessary to put a quality team on the ice every year and when your big free agent signing is a back up goaltender, you have failed to impress me. The fact is though that Rick signed and I’ve actually heard he signed the deal to help the Jackets out in the long run. It seems as if he’s committed to the Jackets at least until this contract ends, maybe longer. Signing an 8 year contract for about $7.8 million a year, he helped the Jackets by taking a discount to remain one. He could easily have fetched 8-10 million dollars in Free Agency, he took a bit less to give the Jackets some flexibility, but now that they have their star locked for his prime years, and a bunch of up and coming young talent, they need to use that money to keep Rick happy. If they do not, I fear a Danny Heatley type situation in Columbus.

The Jackets did resign the man they wanted but they must make him happy and want to stay there. I think Rick has spent too long at Columbus and wasted so much effort not to resign there, and I’m glad he did, but they must contend like they did this last year. The Jackets have the 25 year old until he is 33 years old so they have his prime years, hopefully they can make the most of it!

They are still missing that puck moving defenseman so here are a few options:

Matty Schneider- the 40 year old defenseman can still move the puck around, just not as well as he used to. He is a more expensive option, earning $5.75 million last season.

Sergei Zubov- the 38 year old future Hall of Famer is another expensive and older option at defense. I’d be surprised if the Jackets land either Schneider or Zubov, but they are good veteran leaders and puck moving defenseman.

Derek Morris- The 30 year old d-man made $3.95 million last year and is a decent fit, he just isn’t a big “sexy” name that people in Columbus can get behind.

Marc-Andre Bergeron- The 28 year old sniper I feel is the most popular man left on the market, not because he is the best available player, but there are so many teams that need a good scoring defenseman that may overpay this sometimes lackadaisical defender for his offensive services. He made $1.691 million last season and I expect that number to rise.

Dennis Seidenberg- The 27 year old German could be a great option for the jackets. He had 30 points last year and ranked 17th in the blocked shots category as a defenseman with 160. He only made 1.2 million last season and is due for a raise but could be a value sign by the Jackets. Not only can he play defense, but he can move the puck a bit as well, maybe not as well as Bergeron, but he isn’t a liability out on the ice.

DRAFT:

Also really quick, I have a few thoughts about the draft:

Matt Duchene really knows way to much about curves of sticks, and it’s a shame Sakic won’t be there as a player to help him. I still feel he is a year or two away.
 Tavares will play and will be the best player on the Islanders…which isn’t saying a whole lot

Victor Hedman I think is the only player that can come in and play immediately and effectively. I like him a lot.

I see a lot of teams getting tough guys in the first round. Please Draft experts, don’t compare any of these young players to that of a classless player like Todd Bertuzzi who ends careers.

Jackets pick up the USHL Defenseman of the Year John Moore with the 21st pick in the draft. He had 14 goals, 25 assists, and 50 pims in only 57 games. The Jackets only had 6 selections and took 4 defenseman, 1 centre, and 1 winger. All in all I think they did a nice job as their weakest position in depth is defenseman. Hopefully John will be ready in a few years to come up to the big leagues. It may not be the most famous muSTASH in sports, but this “Stash” shoots to score!

Happy Belated Canada Day. Free Agency Frenzy Recap.

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 16:20:37 -0400

Let me wish everyone a belated Happy Canada Day and of course Free Agent Frenzy Day. I like everyone else have been glued to the TV and the internet to see who is going where and what teams think they can win a championship this season. Here are some thoughts on each teams’ action during the past few weeks and of course today. Also, wanted to tell everyone, I talked to my good friend Mark Howe who works for the Red Wings and while he wouldn’t give me any names, he did tell me that they were dealing with some key injury problems during the Stanley Cup playoffs and of course the finals. I of course will be back with more in the coming days and have an extended reaction to the Blue Jackets off season.
Anahiem
After trading Pronger to the Flyers, they again overpay for an old guy like Scott Niedermayer. While he WAS excellent, he wasn’t worth getting rid of Pronger. They did get a good return in two first round draft picks, Joffrey Lupol, and defenseman Luca Sbisa. They also resigned Erik Christensen .
Atlanta
They traded for Pavel Kubina by getting rid of Garnet Exelby. They get a good d-man with scoring capabilities for a tough d-man. By far the best thing for them was drafting Evander Kane with their first round pick.
Boston
Resigning Krejci was a great move but it sounds like Kessel isn’t coming back. They lost out on a deal to land Kaberle but really haven’t made a big impact for free agency. They did resign role players Byron Bitz and snatched up Steve Begin from Dallas, a solid role player at a cheap price.
Buffalo
Love the fact they signed Steve Montador as he will add some physicality to the team but they lose their puck moving defenseman in Spacek. I can see this team getting tougher players as they draft the tough guy Zack Kassian who took out 1st overall pick John Tavares.
Calgary
They won the Bouwmeester sweepstakes so they win automatically. They lost out on Cammalleri which hurts but they do have a full season from Jokinen to look forward to.
Carolina
Nothing big, they just resigned Erik Cole and Jussi Jokinen. In my opinion they overpaid for Cole.
Chicago
Wow, if I’m a fan, I’m thrilled. Marian Hossa, John Madden, and Tomas Kopecky sign with the Hawks while Dave Bolland resigns with the team. They think they can win now and most likely will have Hossa for the rest of his career and have young Toews and Kane’s careers to look forward too, as long as the Hawks can pay them. The question mark is still Huet.
Colorado
Love Craig Anderson and its time he gets his shot at starting. Budaj is the backup for the time being but I hope Anderson works out, I like him very much. I like the fact that 1st rounder, Matt Duchene, thinks he can play immediately, and I like that. I like this kid a lot!
Columbus
Now my team, I’m upset. Thus far they have signed a good two way player in Sammy Pahlsson, and a great backup in Mathieu Garon, but that is it. In the first round of the draft they pick up a good defensive prospect in John Moore, who is compared to Mike Green, but he is years away from being on the team. I’ll tell you why I’m upset and why Rick Nash should be upset in the next blog entry.
Dallas
Resigned Jere Lehtinen. They have done nothing except pick up Scott Glennie, a finesse playmaker who TSN’s Bob McKenzie says needs to mature and become a better goal scorer before coming to the NHL.
Detroit
They lost out on Hossa so now they can focus on signing Samuelsson and or Hudler.
Edmonton
Very active thus far as they get their number one goalie in Nikolai Khabibulin and have tried to trade for Danny Heatley. We’ll see if that happens as they are going to have to smooze him to convince him to come. If it happens they could lose out on young Cogliano, which I am not a fan of doing. Cogliano has some great potential.
Florida
Scott Clemmensen is the new backup after Anderson departs and they lose Bouwmeester and didn’t sign Jordan Leopold. They did sign Steve Reinprecht and their young stud David Booth to a long term deal.
Los Angeles
They have been in the rumour mill all week long, but no action. Luke Schenn’s brother Brayden was their first round choice and he will be a great addition to their young nucleus.
Minnesota
They have an agreement in place with Martin Havlat and they sign Greg Zanon from Nashville and that doesn’t help the fact that Gaborik is gone. I expect Saku Koivu to sign here to play with his brother though but all this might not make up for a team who’s biggest problem was and is scoring.
Montreal
Quite active scoring a trade for Scotty Gomez for Chris Higgins and signing Mike Cammalleri, Brian Gionta, Hal Gill, and Jaroslav Spacek. They lost out on the Sedin twins but recovered quite nicely. They have been very aggressive and I don’t think they are done.
Nashville
Similar to Minnesota, they haven’t made any moves of significance. They need a lot of help as they are in a division with great teams.
New Jersey
Resign defenseman Andy Greene and Johnny Oduya. They lost out on some valuable scorers so I expect them to talk to some good scorers in the coming hours or days.
New York Islanders
By far their biggest acquisition is John Tavares who I think will play next year, but they also get Dwayne Roloson just in case DiPietro isn’t healthy. They are a bad team who has a bright young talent that could benefit being with resigned Doug Weight.
New York Rangers
Traded Gomez for cap space and got a bad return in Higgins who hasn’t really panned out. I was confused up until they signed Marian Gaborik, but I feel they really overpaid for him. I wonder if they will feel the same when he plays 30 games for them, but at least they are trying.
Ottawa
The Heatley issue has been their biggest problem, but they do resign Chris Neil.
Philidelphia
In my opinon, the most improved team by landing Chris Pronger and a great two way player in Ian Laperriere. I do question Ray Emery, but I think Chris Pronger is the type of guy that can keep him in check, and hopefully Ray learned his lesson. Brian Boucher will back him up and I expect them to trade someone, most likely Danny Briere.
Phoenix
Resign Petr Prucha and land a decent backup in Jason LaBarbera. The problem I see is that this is a team that no top talent wants to go to right now due to the ownership problems. Bob McKenzie of TSN says that their 1st rounder, Oliver Ekman-Larsson is the best two way defenseman in the entire draft.
Pittsburgh
Guerin takes a paycut and they resign Adams and Goligoski. I’ve been critical of them during the playoffs, but their team looks good for next year as well. Lets see what the backup goalie will end up being.
San Jose
They resign Rob Blake and that’s about it.
St. Louis
Ty Conklin is the new backup and can you believe it, another goalie will get a chance to play in a Winter Classic!
Tampa Bay
They got their man, D-man that is, Victor Hedman. I think he will play immediately as well and make a big impact. They get Mattias Ohlund and Matt Walker to bolster their defenseman. Hopefully a healthy Mike Smith will be on the team as well this season!
Toronto
They get rid of Kubina to spend money on Komisarek and signed Colton Orr. Slowly but surely, Burke is turning them into a more western conference style team.
Vancouver
Sedin twins…nuff said!
Washington
Mike Knuble is a solid signing at a reasonable price. He can replace Fedorov’s scoring.

Thanks for tuning in to my blog and remember it may not be the most famous muSTASH in sports, but this “Stash” shoots to score! Happy Canada Day!

Congrats to our Newly Crowned Champions

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:30:32 -0400

Wow, great series. I was wrong, and I’ll admit that. The Penguins showed no life in 3 out of those 4 games but showed up when it mattered. I really feel that the turning point in the series was the 5-0 KILLING of the Pens. The Wings must have gotten too confident and the Pens were embarrassed and needed to play better, credit Dan Bylsma for that. I said the X-Factor was Malkin all along, but it was also important for the Pens to get the most out of Fleury and their defense. That being said, that team is going to look different next year and it’s going to be very hard for them to repeat. I was very impressed that they beat the best team in the league, but this series got me thinking about what would have happened if the Ducks or Hawks had gotten in instead of the Wings. I think the Hawks would have gotten beat really bad especially without Khabibulin and Havlat. Pens win series in 5 games. The Ducks however, I don’t think the Pens could’ve beaten them, which is weird to think about because the Wings beat them. The Ducks are too physical and I think Malkin and Crosby would have had some issues with the physicality. Hiller was the MVP of all of the losing teams. By far the best goaltender in the playoffs, his strong play in the playoffs may have ended J.S. Giguere’s reign as a Duck. However, the fact is that they didn’t make it in to the Cup finals and that the person who should get most of the credit for the Cup win was Max Talbot who scored both goals for the Pens in Game 7. Scuderi and Orpik played monstrous out there and Scuderi raised his stock for this off season’s free agency period and will not be back in a Pens uniform next season. I talked about Fleury being streaky, and this series showed how up and down he can be, but give him credit, when he needed to show up, he did, including chances by Marion Hossa. If the Wings think they can resign him, think again. I think Hossa is done trying to go to a cup contender and he’s going for the big bucks now. Who’s paying?! Malkin is the MVP of the playoffs, and I agree with that, but recognition needs to go to Talbot for being the MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Now I’m a big sports fan, I love watching all kinds of sports, so Congrats to the Lakers as well for wrapping their series and first championship for Kobe without Shaq. This is what I love about sports, no Cup Champ has ever only had 1 guy that could get the job done, yet in basketball, you can have 1 star and surround him with good players and you can win. It’s very interesting when you think about it. If I was to compare…..Lakers Point-Guard Derek Fischer showed up when they really needed him, just like Marc-Andre Fleury did when the Pens really needed him (the last 30 seconds of Game 7 anyone). I’d compare Lakers versatile scorer Lamar Odom to Talbot who may have a decent regular season, but in the playoffs plays a huge role in their respective teams championships. The two Lakers big men Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol compare to Rob Scuderi and Sergei Gonchar. All of these men can have good offensive nights, but they are there to protect the goal or hoop, Scuderi was plus 5 and Gonchar was plus 3 with 14 points. Trevor Ariza is the sixth man for the Lakers and an up and coming star, whom I compare to Sidney Crosby. A great playoff run for Sid ended with his first Stanley Cup, but Crosby didn’t show up in the Stanley Cup series and credit Zetterberg for that. The true leader of the Penguins, whom I said was the X-Factor, Evgeni Malkin, I’d compare to Laker great Kobe Bryant. They are the leaders of their teams and consistently put points up on the board. They have faith in their teammates and are two of the faces of their respective leagues. So congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins for their improbable run, from being in second to last place in the Atlantic Division earlier this year, to being Cup Champs right now; and congratulations to the Los Angeles Lakers for fulfilling their destiny (we’ve all seen the Lebron and Kobe puppet commercials!) Thanks for tuning in to my blog and remember it may not be the most famous muSTASH in sports, but this “Stash” shoots to score!