The Official 2008/2009 NHL Thread

[Malcolm]

SAY IT AIN'T SO JOE: SAKIC EXPECTED TO ANNOUNCE RETIREMENT ON THURSDAY

After 20 NHL seasons, Colorado Avalanche forward Joe Sakic may be ready to hang up his skates.

The Avalanche have called a news conference for Thursday at 3pm et/12pm pt, where according to local reports they will announce Sakic's retirement.

The Burnaby, B.C. native would leave the game as one of the most decorated athletes to ever take to the ice. Sakic hoisted two Stanley Cups, participated in 13 NHL All-Star games, and was named tournament MVP for Canada's gold medal winning team in the 2002 Olympics.

Sakic played his entire career for the Quebec/Colorado franchise, and served as their captain since 1992, after being drafted 15th overall by the Nordiques in the 1987 NHL Entry draft.

Heading into last off-season the Avalanche were unsure if Sakic was going to continue his career or opt to retire. In late August 2008, it was announced that he had signed a one-year contract with the club. Sakic played in only 15 games during the 2008-2009 season, due to injury, recording two goals and 10 assists.

As the year came to a close, he remained non-committal about retirement talk other than to say the decision would be made much quicker this year. Sakic kept his word, but retirement was not something that came easy to on-ice leader.

"This is what you've done you're whole life. Since I was six years old I've played hockey," Sakic explained at the end of the regular season. "I think when you get to that point, you have to decide first and foremost if you can do it at the level you want to play at, and secondly if you're willing to do what it takes off the ice to get that accomplished."

With the 2010 Olympics taking place in his Vancouver, some believed the veteran would lace up his skates for one more year in order to respresnt his country at the international level in his hometown.

"Obviously there are not too many people who get a chance to play in the Olympics in their hometown," he said. "That would be something special, but going into the summer you have to be realistic with yourself and health-wise and motivation-wise you have to be willing to do what it takes."

In 1,378 games, Sakic posted 625 goals and 1,016 assists for a total of 1,641 points, leaving him eighth on the NHL's all-time point leaders list.

Another one of the all time greats done in the NHL..Excpected one more season for 2010 in Vancouver but what a career

[Loaded NightraiN]

In a typical Chicago Blackhawks move, they fire they guy that got them back on the map in not just the NHL but the city of Chicago.... See ya in 15 years blackhawks fan 


http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylt=AjmXaVUPmnTz65BonVtwH2c_2bYF?slug=ap-blackhawks-gm&prov=ap&type=lgns

[AxlsMainMan]

If we lose Kane and Toews, you might have a case. Until then..

[Malcolm]

The home of the Boston Red Sox will finally host a National Hockey League game.

The NHL announced on Wednesday that the 2009-2010 regular season schedule would be highlighted by a matchup at Boston's Fenway Park between the Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers on Jan. 1.

"A unique event deserves a unique venue, and we are delighted the Bruins and Flyers will renew their rivalry with the 'Green Monster' providing the backdrop," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. "We welcome our fans, our teams, our sponsors and the great city of Boston to this annual celebration of our sport."

In what has recently become an annual event, the 2010 Winter Classic game marks the fourth time in five seasons that a regular season game has taken place in an outdoor venue.

The idea for a winter game began with the Heritage Classic in November 2003, when the Montreal Canadiens beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium.

The first branded Winter Classic was held New Year's Day in 2008, at Buffalo's Ralph Wilson Stadium, where the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 in a shootout in front of more than 71,000 fans.

Last January, the Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Blackhawks 6-4 at Wrigley Field.

The regular season gets underway on October 1 and four of Canada's six teams will be in action.  The Original Six rivalry of two new-look teams helps open the season when the Toronto Maple Leafs play host to the Montreal Canadiens.

Later on that night, the Flames and their improved defence that includes Jay Bouwmeester will play host to goaltender Roberto Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks.  Joe Sakic's number will also be retired by the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center that evening.

On October 3, Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins will be in Long Island where John Tavares should be making his home debut with the Islanders.

The Battle of Alberta also begins that night, with the Edmonton Oilers playing host to the Flames.

The Bruins will play the Canadiens in Montreal on December 4, which is their 100th birthday.

Because of the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, the Canucks will be starting a team record 14-game road trip that begins on January 30 in Toronto.  The NHL will suspend play during the games, meaning a layoff from February 15 until March 1.

The final game of the regular season will be played on Sunday, April 11.

[AxlsMainMan]

The San Jose Sharks: A Cursed Franchise?

06:43 AM ET  07.14

At the end of the 2008-2009 NHL regular season, the San Jose Sharks find themselves atop not just the Pacific Division, not just the Western Conference, but the entire NHL. With franchise records in wins (53), points (117), and Wins at home (32). One would think this would be enough to at least get a team out of the first round of the playoffs, right? Wrong.

The furthest the Sharks have ever been in the NHL playoffs is the Conference Finals in 2004. They lost to the Calgary Flames in 7 games. Since then, they have made the playoffs 4 times, yet never past the 2nd round. For an 18 year old franchise, this is not a very impressive track record. No season however was anywhere near as dissapointing as this most recent.

Entering the playoffs, it was a pretty safe bet for most fans that the Western Conference Finals would consist of the defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings, and the Presidents Trophy Winner San Jose Sharks. It wouldn't be til the Conference Finals that we saw a truly competitive series. Wrong again.

When the Sharks received the No.1 overall seed in the West, they were to play one of 4 teams, the Blue Jackets, the Wild, the Blues, or the Ducks. None of those teams were suspected to be much of a challenge for the Sharks, rather a good warm up series. When it was determined that the Sharks would play the Ducks, nobody thought too much of it as the Sharks had a 4-1-1 record vs. Anaheim on the season. Once again, we were wrong.

With all the matchups set in place, the playoffs commenced. Detroit and Vancouver handled the Jackets and Blues respectively. The Blackhawks won their series against the Flames in 6. The Sharks however, were a different story.

Who would've thought, that of all the favorites to struggle in the playoffs, the Presidents Trophy Winner would be the team that found themselves on the brink of elimination. After a terrible homestand, the Sharks found themselves down 2-0 heading back to Anaheim. This would prove to be too much for the Sharks to comeback from. After bringing the series to 3-2, the Sharks were crushed in Anaheim 5-2. I watched in disbelief.

As I sat on my sofa, Sharks jersey on, Sharks towel in hand, with my dad at my side on his usual chair the two of us watched as our beloved Sharks were dismantled in front of us. The team that had been put together over the past 4 seasons, the team that had been built to win NOW was thwarted, by a division rival to make things worse. We just couldn't understand what happened. I sat in front of my TV for over an hour after the game had ended, wondering what the hell I just saw. Had it really just ended? Had the joyride that I had witnessed over the past 4 months just ended? It had, and I didn't understand how. And the scary part is, I don't think anyone understands how.

Doug Wilson, the Sharks GM did similar to myself, sat and watched not understanding what had happened. He had assembled a team that had all the pieces to win, a playmaker (Joe Thornton), a quarterback/puckhandler (Dan Boyle), goal scorers (Patrick Marleau, Devin Setoguchi), veteran leadership, (Rob Blake, Jeremy Roenick), a great goaltender (Evgeni Nabokov), young talent (Joe Pavelski, Milan Michalek), and even fighters (Jody Shelley, Brad Staubitz). Yet, it wasn't enough, what were they missing?

This leads me to my point, are the Sharks a cursed franchise? What will it take for them to win? They bring together great mixes of talent year in, year out yet no combination ever seems to work. When you lose to a division rival who you dominated all season long, are you simply unlucky, or cursed? The Sharks will need to produce if they ever want to rid their name as the NHL's, and possibly all of sports as the biggest choker.

http://www.fannation.com/blogs/post/414440-the-san-jose-sharks-a-cursed-franchise

[Malcolm]

Per the excellent article written in today's Toronto Star by Paul Hunter, the Leafs have decided to shop Justin Pogge so that he can have a chance to advance his NHL career.

    The Leafs considered not even offering Pogge a qualifying contract. They were pursuing highly-regarded Swedish free agent Jonas Gustavsson at the time. But when it became obvious that Gustavsson wasn't going to decide his future until after July 1, Toronto protected itself by qualifying Pogge.

    The Leafs eventually signed Gustavsson and pencilled him in as the No. 2 netminder behind Vesa Toskala. Pogge was left to fight for playing time on the Marlies, likely behind impressive prospect James Reimer.

    A trade will mark the end of the fall for Pogge who never lived up to the hype created when he was a teenaged star with the WHL's Calgary Hitmen or when he was named MVP at the 2006 world junior tournament. His play then made it look as if the Leafs long-term goaltending was secure and convinced the team that Tuukka Rask, another goaltending prospect, was expendable.

    But either Pogge couldn't deal with the heightened expectations or he simply wasn't that good. He was slow and awkward in his auditions with the big club, his 6-foot-3 frame seeming more a hindrance than an asset.

It is a commentary on the management style of Mr. Burke that as with Mark Bell and Steffan Kronwall last season, if he thinks that a player is not for his organization, that he tries to move players where they may have a chance at furthering their career.

This news is another example of the decision making acumen of former GM John Ferguson Jr, who decided to trade former 1st round pick Tuukka Rask in the deal to acquire Andrew Raycroft and to keep Pogge as the heir apparent. Rask's NHL career has not been a blazing success up to this point, but he has a path cleared to be the backup to Tim Thomas in Boston and may be their No. 1 of the future. At 22, the future path is brighter for Rask, whereas the path for Justin Pogge is like the roads in Buffalo every spring, loaded with potholes.

Good on Burke...Pogge will be good