Oilers v. Hurricanes - Exodus 9:13-35

Then Yahweh said to Quinn, "Get up early in the morning, go to Katz and say to him, 'This is what Yahweh, the God of all Oiler fans and players, has to say: Let the management go, so that fans might have hope and worship me, or I will send plagues against you and your hockey team! Then you will know that there is no hockey fan like Yahweh, who cares passionately for his people! And know this: I could have foiled your attempt to buy this team like I did to Jim Balsillie, who is now forever on the outside looking in.

Avalanche v. Hurricanes - Scoring Chances #10

Tm	P	Time	Note	COL						Opponent
CAR	1	18:34		9	10	16	23	41	52	8	15	17	30	41	77	5v5
CAR	1	18:23		5	8	25	37	41	44	8	17	24	30	41	44	5v5
CAR	1	16:45	Goal	5	26	41	52	54		12	13	15	30	36	77	4v5
COL	1	15:39		5	8	25	37	41	44	4	12	13	25	30	59	5v5
CAR	1	14:13	Goal	5	26	40	41	44	54	7	14	15	18	30	77	5v5
COL	1	13:07		9	22	23	27	28	41	18	29	30	38	41	44	5v5
CAR	1	11:39		8	22	27	37	40	41	7	12	13	30	59	77	5v5
CAR	1	11:36		8	22	27	37	40	41	7	12	13	30	59	77	5v5
COL	1	7:58		5	15	28	39	41	44	14	15	30	36	41	44	5v5
COL	1	3:46	Goal	5	8	25	37	41	44	7	18	29	30	38	77	5v5
COL	1	3:15	Goal	5	26	40	41	44	54	4	14	15	25	30	36	5v5
COL	1	0:22		5	9	16	23	27	41	7	12	17	30	77		5v4
COL	1	0:20		5	9	16	23	27	41	7	12	17	30	77		5v4
CAR	2	16:28		10	15	28	37	41	44	4	8	17	24	25	30	5v5
COL	2	14:40		9	10	16	23	41	52	14	15	30	36	41	44	5v5
CAR	2	13:56		5	8	9	10	41		4	14	25	30	36		4v4
COL	2	13:29		8	9	22	41	44		4	14	25	30	36		4v4
CAR	2	12:29		22	23	26	27	41	52	4	8	25	30	59		5v4
COL	2	10:48		9	23	26	27	40	41	8	25	29	30	41		5v4
COL	2	10:02	Goal	9	23	26	27	40	41	8	25	29	30	41		5v4
COL	2	9:21	Goal	8	10	25	37	41	52	4	17	30	38	44	59	5v5
CAR	2	8:39		8	22	27	39	41	54	7	12	13	24	30	77	5v5
COL	2	7:03		5	9	10	26	40	41	7	8	30	41	59		5v4
COL	2	6:56		5	9	10	26	40	41	7	8	30	41	59		5v4
COL	2	4:41		8	9	10	23	41	52	7	14	29	30	36	77	5v5
CAR	2	3:46	Goal	5	37	39	40	41	44	4	8	17	24	25	30	5v5
CAR	2	3:32		22	25	27	37	39	41	4	12	13	25	30	59	5v5
COL	2	3:13		8	9	10	23	41	52	7	14	29	30	36	77	5v5
COL	2	2:31		8	9	10	23	41	52	7	17	24	30	36	77	5v5
CAR	2	0:56		9	15	22	41	52		7	14	17	24	25	30	4v5
CAR	3	17:44		10	25	37	39	41	44	14	29	30	36	41	44	5v5
CAR	3	16:58		5	26	27	40	41	54	4	12	13	25	30	59	5v5
CAR	3	16:33		8	9	10	23	41	52	7	8	17	24	30	77	5v5
COL	3	15:56		5	26	40	41	44	54	7	17	29	30	36	77	5v5
COL	3	13:41	Goal	9	23	26	27	40	41	7	12	30	77			5v3
COL	3	12:38		8	10	22	37	40	41	18	29	30	41	44		5v4
CAR	3	11:21	Goal	5	25	39	41	52	54	4	12	13	25	30	59	5v5
COL	3	10:30		8	22	27	39	40	41	17	25	29	30	36	77	5v5
CAR	3	9:46		22	23	26	27	41	54	7	12	13	30	59	77	5v5
COL	3	7:31		8	9	22	27	40	41	14	29	30	36	41	44	5v5
COL	3	6:30		10	15	25	37	41	52	8	17	24	30	41	44	5v5
COL	3	5:18		8	9	22	27	40	41	14	25	29	30	36	41	5v5
COL	3	4:38		10	15	25	37	41	52	8	17	24	25	30	41	5v5
COL	3	4:37		10	15	25	37	41	52	8	17	24	25	30	41	5v5
CAR	3	4:18		10	15	25	37	41	52	4	8	17	24	30	44	5v5

#	Player	EV			PP			SH
5	B. CLARK	9:40	5	6	4:50	4	0	1:17	0	1
8	W. WOLSKI	15:19	10	6	3:45	1	0	0:00	0	0
9	M. DUCHENE	12:26	8	3	6:22	6	0	0:42	0	1
10	K. CUMISKEY	16:14	8	6	3:23	3	0	0:00	0	0
15	M. HENDRICKS	10:01	4	2	0:00	0	0	0:42	0	1
16	D. TUCKER	6:06	1	1	0:36	2	0	0:00	0	0
22	S. HANNAN	20:31	5	5	1:38	1	1	1:22	0	1
23	M. HEJDUK	14:26	5	3	6:08	4	1	0:00	0	0
25	C. STEWART	13:16	6	5	2:44	0	0	0:00	0	0
26	P. STASTNY	12:41	2	3	6:46	4	1	1:15	0	1
27	K. QUINCEY	19:43	4	6	6:27	4	1	1:08	0	0
28	D. KOCI	4:15	2	1	0:00	0	0	0:00	0	0
37	R. O'REILLY	14:53	6	8	3:28	1	0	0:45	0	0
39	T. GALIARDI	9:15	2	5	0:04	0	0	0:42	0	0
40	M. SVATOS	9:39	5	5	6:05	5	0	0:00	0	0
41	C. ANDERSON	46:12	18	16	10:46	7	1	2:39	0	2
44	R. WILSON	11:27	6	5	0:00	0	0	0:00	0	0
52	A. FOOTE	15:22	8	4	1:33	0	1	1:31	0	2
54	D. JONES	14:39	2	5	0:25	0	0	1:12	0	1

Period	Totals		EV		PP		5v3 PP		SH		5v3 SH
1	7	6	5	5	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
2	10	7	6	5	4	1	0	0	0	1	0	0
3	9	6	7	6	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	26	19	18	16	7	1	1	0	0	2	0	0

Another win for the Colorado Avalanche. I keep waiting for them to come back to earth but it just isn't happening. The underlying chance numbers are actually getting better too. Whereas earlier in the year the Avalanche were getting wins over Boston and San Jose while getting killed at EV this game marks the third time in their last four games where they've been even or better with respect to EV scoring chances. On top of that the Avalanche power play looked as good tonight as it has since Liles went down to injury. Things are looking up.

The game itself was very exciting, particularly at EV. Previous to this game the most EV chances in any one game was 30 and it's typically a lot closer to 25. Tonight there were 34 so the fans sure got a treat. The Avalanche also did a very good job of protecting the third period lead. After the Hurricanes cut the deficit to one, I was waiting for shell mode but it never came. Instead, the Avalanche continued forechecking and pressuring the Hurricanes while playing solid positional hockey in their own end. The result was only two scoring chances against in the last ten minutes.

I know it's been "official" for a while but with O'Reilly and Duchene playing ten games now, they're probably here to stay. I don't think it's a good move for the Avalanche in terms of maximizing their contribution per dollar from those two players over their entry level deals but maybe the NHL experience helps them to develop more quickly. I recall from having Sam Gagner up for the year that he played really well over his 9-game audition and then fell off a bit for a long stretch. Maybe the Avs young forwards will have a different fate but I certainly wouldn't bet on it.

As for the Tuomo Ruutu hit on Darcy Tucker... there's not much to say. Bob McKenzie already brought up the problem at the beginning of the season: these kinds of hits are now an expected part of the game. It didn't seem like he was trying to injure the man, just to hit him routinely like he's done before and he's going to do again. It was a normal and dirty hit. Matt Fenwick points out the larger issue at work: the league doesn't give a rip about player safety. As a fan of hockey in general and the NHL in particular all I can say is that I disagree with the NHL position but am willing to actively tolerate or ignore it. I hope that Darcy Tucker's quality of life is not hampered by what transpired this evening.

Ward to Carolina, Eaves to the Gutter

Earlier today the Boston Bruins traded defender Aaron Ward to the Carolina Hurricanes for forward Patrick Eaves and a 4th round pick. For the Hurricanes the value of the trade is in Aaron Ward's ability to play hockey, and in that respect, it's my opinion that the Hurricanes have made out like bandits. Fantastic trade for them and there's not really much more to say than that. For the Bruins the value of the trade is for cap management. By subtracting Ward the Bruins move 2.5M off of their cap for this coming season. James Mirtle points out that they will need this money in order to sign Phil Kessel to a contract before trading him or another forward for a defenceman in the 4M range. That seems like a pretty contrived way of going about things to me. Why not just keep Ward if the eventual goal is to trade for another defenceman? Especially since (1) Ward played well for the Bruins last year (He led the team in def-off zone faceoffs with 62 extra dzone draws, he was ranked 2nd among defenders in quality of competition, put up a mildly negative of Corsi of -30 but rode strong percentages to a +8 finsish at EV), (2) Ward's contract is very reasonable for a quality top four defender and (3) Ward's contract expires after this season, meaning he will not be a drain on the cap going forward.

I think the reason the Bruins moved Ward along is that Carolina wanted him. If the Bruins are planning on moving a forward from their current group out in favour of a defender, I have a hard time thinking that they'll be able to bring in better value than Ward was providing. As such, I think that the Bruins must actually want to keep the group of forwards they have in tact, including Kessel.

This brings us to Patrick Eaves who may actually be a decent little player (unfortunately for him, that's not why the Bruins got him). Why did they want Eaves? In fairness, they probably didn't (which makes this trade even more amazing from Carolina's perspective) but Eaves' contract does have one very nice feature. As I mentioned earlier this week with regard to the Oilers, some players, when bought out, can create cap space going forward. Patrick Eaves is one of these players and has already been put on waivers by the Bruins. Although he costs $258,333 against the cap in three out of the next four years, in 2010-11 he gives Boston an extra $41,667 to spend. This isn't a huge amount of money by any means as it represents under 0.1% of any projected cap for next year but every little bit is going to count if the cap declines. This doesn't change the fact that he was probably a salary dump, but he is one of the most attractive kind.

This leaves the Bruins with (thanks to capgeek.com here) $950,000 in cap space to start with and $2,091,667 assuming Eaves is bought out (instead of being claimed on waivers). Once the bonuses that are due Blake Wheeler are factored in (and I assume the Bruins will in fact try to make sure that he does not make his bonuses so that they will not have them count against the cap in 2010-11) the Bruins have a total of $4,141,667 left to spend on Phil Kessel and one more low cost defender (assuming they play the whole season with a full 23 man roster). Now, they know their financial situation better than I do with regard to Kessel's contract demands, but that just doesn't seem like quite enough as they'd need to get him signed to something in the range of 3.5M. If they can get Kessel done (and Andrew Ference and Mark Stuart are both ready for consistent top four minutes) then this deal works out pretty well for the Bruins. If they end up moving out more pieces to replace Ward on defense, then this is a bad trade for the Bruins.

Oilers v. Hurricanes - Acts 28:17-20

Three days later he called together the leaders of the Hurricanes. When they had assembled, Eric said to them: "My brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our Whaler ancestors, I was arrested at my bachelor party in Lusty Minnesota and handed over to the authorities. They examined me and wanted to release me, because I was a famous hockey player. But when the Wild objected, I was compelled to pay a $587 fine and plead guilty to disorderly conduct - not that I had any real choice in the matter. For this reason I have asked to see you and talk with you. It is because of the hope of the Hurricanes that I now have this criminial record."