Friday, August 6, 2010

“Kelley: Change in philosophy” plus 1 more

“Kelley: Change in philosophy” plus 1 more

Kelley: Change in philosophy

Posted: 05 Aug 2010 12:56 PM PDT

Anti Niemi was cut loose by the Hawks last week after losing his arbitration case.

Anti Niemi was cut loose by the Hawks last week after losing his arbitration case.

Here's a simple summertime hockey question for you: Exactly when was it proven that you could win in the National Hockey League without great goaltending?

I ask this because it seems to be patently understood -- especially in the media -- that because of evidence from last season teams no longer should put their money (and copious amounts of their money) into netminding.

The argument goes that the right thing to do in a salary-capped league is to invest in up-front talent because if you have enough of that in your forward ranks and in your core defence you can win the Stanley Cup. Example A is the Detroit Red Wings, who have a formidable cast in the forward and defence ranks and have pretty much patched themselves in goal over the past few seasons, going with an aging Dominik Hasek and Chris Osgood in winning a couple of Stanley Cups this decade.

As if to buttress the point, along came the Chicago Blackhawks, who also showcased a formidable display of up-front talent and a defence that although young, was rock solid most of the season and through the playoffs en route to winning the Cup.

As if to drive home the theory, the Blackhawks, dealing with their self-inflicted salary-cap hell, this week walked away from an arbitrator's decision to give Cup-winning goalie Antti Niemi a seemingly reasonable raise to $2.75 million per season (reasonable based on goalie comparables) for just one season and signed veteran Marty Turco to a one year deal for about a million less.

In the minds of the Blackhawks brass, it was a tough but correct call, as if they were saying: "Turco is an experienced goalie and we saved a desperately needed million dollars."

And that's true, but they also gave up a goalie they know can win the Stanley Cup. In doing so, they get nothing in return, a situation that is likely to strengthen a team that has Cup aspirations but no such player in net and finds the money to pay Niemi. The Blackhawks also line up this fall with a goalie who at the age of 35 has never won a Cup even while playing on some Dallas Stars teams that seemed capable (on paper at least) of doing so. Worse, the guy they signed was often (although sometimes unfairly it seemed to me) singled out as the primary reason a good team didn't get out of a round it was expected to win.

How exactly is that a good thing?

Niemi wasn't exactly a household name when the playoffs started and the reality was it was down to him and the considerably overpaid (based on past performance) Cristobal Huet as to who would get the playoff nod in Chicago, right down to the final days of the regular season.

But when Niemi got the call, he was the man who got the job done. He did it in an early round series when Nashville threw a scare into the Hawks. He did it against San Jose with a pair of 40-save games and a stellar all-around effort. He did it in a brilliant third-period and overtime performance in the Cup clincher vs. Philadelphia, a performance all the more memorable because he stumbled a bit, and then in true Grant Fuhr fashion righted himself and shut down a Flyers attack that was relentless and seemingly destined to force a seventh game in Chicago.

That's performance under pressure and that's exactly what the Flyers -a team that got to the final in large part because it too had a cast of formidable forwards and a steady defence that featured Cup winner and future Hall of Famer Chris Pronger. Size up that series any way you like, but the Blackhawks won because they had the better player in goal. They know it, so did the Flyers.

So how is it that goaltending no longer matters?

Want more proof? How exactly did the upstart Montreal Canadiens, a team that barely qualified for the postseason and, unlike the Flyers, was no one's preseason pick to go far -- or in some quarters even to make the postseason -- end up knocking out the conference champion Washington Capitals and the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins? Well, in the case of the Capitals you can argue Washington choked, but I would argue they couldn't find a way to beat Montreal goalie Jaroslav Halak and they didn't have the confidence in their own goaltending to play in a tight series where one mistake would make the difference between winning and losing.

A good goaltender does that for a team and the Capitals didn't have one.

It was a bit different vs. Pittsburgh in that the champs seemed somewhat depleted what with all the previous offseason's free agency movement, but the core of that team (like the core of the Blackhawks we are told) was intact. In the end, however, Halak outplayed Cup winner Marc-Andre Fleury when it mattered most: when the series was on the line.

And then there's the Detroit model. Certainly the Red Wings are a great franchise and they have been for nearly two decades now because of the strength of good core players on both sides of the blue line. But lest anyone forget, the Red Wings of 2001 were a formidable team - though not in goal -- and were upset in the playoffs by the Los Angeles Kings. That summer they went out and with the help of Dominik Hasek forcing the deal, got Hasek from the Buffalo Sabres and also added Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille and Pavel Datsyuk.

That was an all-star lineup, but Hasek was the key, six times a Vezina Trophy winner and twice the Hart Trophy winner, and in 2002, Hasek led the Red Wings past nemesis Colorado and eventually to a Cup triumph vs. Carolina.

Hasek retired after that win and the Red Wings signed Curtis Joseph for the following season. They were still a good and arguably great team, but Anaheim upset them in a stunning first-round sweep in which head coach Dave Lewis was outmatched and Joseph was outplayed.

When Hasek unretired and returned to Detroit, the Wings went with Hasek and Osgood in goal, and Osgood did rise to the occasion to beat Pittsburgh for the Cup in 2008. The following year, though, Osgood was in decline and Pittsburgh triumphed over the Red Wings to win. Last season the Red Wings went with Howard, winning a first-round series with Phoenix in seven but falling rather easily to San Jose in five games. In that series the Red Wings simply didn't have a difference-maker in net.

You can find an exception or two along the way, but history shows that goaltending still matters, the only issue today is an argument over price.

The Blackhawks are still a very good hockey team, even without the seven role players they've lost this summer, but are they favourites to repeat as Cup champions?

Time will tell, but when you replace a Cup winner with someone who hasn't done it before and ask him to be the difference-maker, well, I would have stayed with Neimi. He's a goalie that knows how to win and he backstopped a young team who believed he could do it.

That's a lot of loss for the savings of a million dollars and I get the feeling that the Hawks, at least the ones who were on the ice last June, know it.

Five Filters featured article: "Peace Envoy" Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Kelley: Net change of philosophy

Posted: 05 Aug 2010 11:56 AM PDT

Anti Niemi was cut loose by the Hawks last week after losing his arbitration case.

Anti Niemi was cut loose by the Hawks last week after losing his arbitration case.

Here's a simple summertime hockey question for you: Exactly when was it proven that you could win in the National Hockey League without great goaltending?

I ask this because it seems to be patently understood -- especially in the media -- that because of evidence from last season teams no longer should put their money (and copious amounts of their money) into netminding.

The argument goes that the right thing to do in a salary-capped league is to invest in up-front talent because if you have enough of that in your forward ranks and in your core defence you can win the Stanley Cup. Example A is the Detroit Red Wings, who have a formidable cast in the forward and defence ranks and have pretty much patched themselves in goal over the past few seasons, going with an aging Dominik Hasek and Chris Osgood in winning a couple of Stanley Cups this decade.

As if to buttress the point, along came the Chicago Blackhawks, who also showcased a formidable display of up-front talent and a defence that although young, was rock solid most of the season and through the playoffs en route to winning the Cup.

As if to drive home the theory, the Blackhawks, dealing with their self-inflicted salary-cap hell, this week walked away from an arbitrator's decision to give Cup-winning goalie Antti Niemi a seemingly reasonable raise to $2.75 million per season (reasonable based on goalie comparables) for just one season and signed veteran Marty Turco to a one year deal for about a million less.

In the minds of the Blackhawks brass, it was a tough but correct call, as if they were saying: "Turco is an experienced goalie and we saved a desperately needed million dollars."

And that's true, but they also gave up a goalie they know can win the Stanley Cup. In doing so, they get nothing in return, a situation that is likely to strengthen a team that has Cup aspirations but no such player in net and finds the money to pay Niemi. The Blackhawks also line up this fall with a goalie who at the age of 35 has never won a Cup even while playing on some Dallas Stars teams that seemed capable (on paper at least) of doing so. Worse, the guy they signed was often (although sometimes unfairly it seemed to me) singled out as the primary reason a good team didn't get out of a round it was expected to win.

How exactly is that a good thing?

Niemi wasn't exactly a household name when the playoffs started and the reality was it was down to him and the considerably overpaid (based on past performance) Cristobal Huet as to who would get the playoff nod in Chicago, right down to the final days of the regular season.

But when Niemi got the call, he was the man who got the job done. He did it in an early round series when Nashville threw a scare into the Hawks. He did it against San Jose with a pair of 40-save games and a stellar all-around effort. He did it in a brilliant third-period and overtime performance in the Cup clincher vs. Philadelphia, a performance all the more memorable because he stumbled a bit, and then in true Grant Fuhr fashion righted himself and shut down a Flyers attack that was relentless and seemingly destined to force a seventh game in Chicago.

That's performance under pressure and that's exactly what the Flyers -a team that got to the final in large part because it too had a cast of formidable forwards and a steady defence that featured Cup winner and future Hall of Famer Chris Pronger. Size up that series any way you like, but the Blackhawks won because they had the better player in goal. They know it, so did the Flyers.

So how is it that goaltending no longer matters?

Want more proof? How exactly did the upstart Montreal Canadiens, a team that barely qualified for the postseason and, unlike the Flyers, was no one's preseason pick to go far -- or in some quarters even to make the postseason -- end up knocking out the conference champion Washington Capitals and the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins? Well, in the case of the Capitals you can argue Washington choked, but I would argue they couldn't find a way to beat Montreal goalie Jaroslav Halak and they didn't have the confidence in their own goaltending to play in a tight series where one mistake would make the difference between winning and losing.

A good goaltender does that for a team and the Capitals didn't have one.

It was a bit different vs. Pittsburgh in that the champs seemed somewhat depleted what with all the previous offseason's free agency movement, but the core of that team (like the core of the Blackhawks we are told) was intact. In the end, however, Halak outplayed Cup winner Marc-Andre Fleury when it mattered most: when the series was on the line.

And then there's the Detroit model. Certainly the Red Wings are a great franchise and they have been for nearly two decades now because of the strength of good core players on both sides of the blue line. But lest anyone forget, the Red Wings of 2001 were a formidable team - though not in goal -- and were upset in the playoffs by the Los Angeles Kings. That summer they went out and with the help of Dominik Hasek forcing the deal, got Hasek from the Buffalo Sabres and also added Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille and Pavel Datsyuk.

That was an all-star lineup, but Hasek was the key, six times a Vezina Trophy winner and twice the Hart Trophy winner, and in 2002, Hasek led the Red Wings past nemesis Colorado and eventually to a Cup triumph vs. Carolina.

Hasek retired after that win and the Red Wings signed Curtis Joseph for the following season. They were still a good and arguably great team, but Anaheim upset them in a stunning first-round sweep in which head coach Dave Lewis was outmatched and Joseph was outplayed.

When Hasek unretired and returned to Detroit, the Wings went with Hasek and Osgood in goal, and Osgood did rise to the occasion to beat Pittsburgh for the Cup in 2008. The following year, though, Osgood was in decline and Pittsburgh triumphed over the Red Wings to win. Last season the Red Wings went with Howard, winning a first-round series with Phoenix in seven but falling rather easily to San Jose in five games. In that series the Red Wings simply didn't have a difference-maker in net.

You can find an exception or two along the way, but history shows that goaltending still matters, the only issue today is an argument over price.

The Blackhawks are still a very good hockey team, even without the seven role players they've lost this summer, but are they favourites to repeat as Cup champions?

Time will tell, but when you replace a Cup winner with someone who hasn't done it before and ask him to be the difference-maker, well, I would have stayed with Neimi. He's a goalie that knows how to win and he backstopped a young team who believed he could do it.

That's a lot of loss for the savings of a million dollars and I get the feeling that the Hawks, at least the ones who were on the ice last June, know it.

Five Filters featured article: "Peace Envoy" Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.
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