Category Archives: The Aftermath

The Aftermath – 2011 edition: Part 3

August 10, 2011   wildwing64   No comments

The 2010-11 NHL season is now finished. After a 39 year drought, the Boston Bruins came out of nowhere and beat the Vancouver Canucks to win their sixth Stanley Cup.

This six part series will consist of brief summaries of every team’s performance this season. Part 3 will be covering the Southeast Division.

Atlanta Thrashers

Final standings: 32W, 36L, 12OTL, 80 points, 4th Southeast, 12th Eastern Conference, 25th NHL

Following yet another disappointing season in which Atlanta barely missed the playoffs, the Thrashers sought to make a large number of changes to their roster and personnel. Don Waddell was promoted to president and Rick Dudley to general manager, and the entirety of the coaching staff was replaced with new faces. In one of the biggest trades in the offseason, the Thrashers acquired four players from the champion Blackhawks, and later on Craig Ramsay was named the new head coach for the team. The new look Thrashers struggled out of the gate as they managed only a 5-4-2 record in October to open the season, but the following month saw the team improve, despite enduring two three game losing streaks in November they managed to rally and win the following six consecutive games. But from then onwards, the Thrashers continued to be mediocre as they suffered a number of slumps including pretty much their entire February schedule (2-7-2) and eventually finished with an even worse record than last year, missing the playoffs for the fourth straight season. Little did the Thrashers faithful know that this would end up being their final season in Atlanta, as owners Atlanta Spirit were desperate to sell the team after losing money: with no apparent local ownership group interested in buying the Thrashers, True North Sports and Entertainment purchased the franchise and relocated them to Winnipeg, Manitoba, where they are now known as the Winnipeg Jets, returning the NHL to Winnipeg for the first time since the original Jets relocated to Phoenix in 1996.

Carolina Hurricanes

Final standings: 40W, 31L, 11OTL, 91 points, 3rd Southeast, 9th Eastern Conference, 19th NHL

The Hurricanes were one of six teams to open their season across the pond this year, first playing in an exhibition game against the KHL’s SKA Saint Petersburg: the Hurricanes lost 5-3, making SKA the first European team to have ever beaten an NHL team. Following this, Carolina opened their regular season in Helsinki, Finland against the Minnesota Wild, and took both games 4-3 and 2-1 before flying back home for their week off. This was followed by a five game road trip for the Canes including three West Coast games, giving Carolina a mediocre start to their season in October (5-5-0). Generally, this year’s team put out a much better performance than last year’s Hurricanes did for the first half of their season, however after the All Star game which they hosted, they struggled throughout February as they picked up only 11 points (4-6-3). They made a last ditch effort to make the playoffs and picked up mostly wins before the end of the regular season, but it wasn’t quite enough as they finished just 2 points behind the 8th place Rangers.

Florida Panthers

Final standings: 30W, 40L, 12OTL, 72 points, 5th Southeast, 15th Eastern Conference, 28th NHL

Following another crappy season, the Panthers were all set for yet another crappy season of being in rebuild mode as hinted by this year’s “Blueprint” marketing campaign. Florida’s start was mediocre, and interestingly they went 33 straight games without losing in overtime or the shootout, and up until that point their record appeared to be pretty much a point for every game they had played. Following this was the Cats’ best two months of the season in January and February (6-5-2 and 6-5-3), but then everything went downhill from there as they finished dead last in the Eastern Conference and failed to qualify for the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Final standings: 46W, 25L, 11OTL, 103 points, 2nd Southeast, 5th Eastern Conference, 8th NHL

During the offseason, the Bolts hired former Red Wings star Steve Yzerman as their new GM, who then hired Guy Boucher, formally the head coach of the AHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs, as Tampa Bay’s new head coach. These changes proved to be beneficial as the Lightning got off to a strong start in October (7-2-1), but immediately following this they went into a 7 game slump, including a game against Washington in which team captain Vincent Lecavalier injured his right hand. He was out of the lineup for the next 15 games, and rejoined the team as they continued their strong season. March was the worst month of the season for Tampa Bay, in which they suffered a 12 game slump (2-6-4), but they got back to their winning ways soon after, as eventually clinched their playoff spot on March 31st in a game against Pittsburgh, and earning a spot for the first time since 2006-07. Tampa Bay were matched up with these same Penguins in the quarterfinals, and won the series in seven games despite initially being down 3-1 after the first four. Following this they swept division rivals the Capitals in round 2, before making it to the Conference Finals for the first time since 2003-04. They were up against Boston and ultimately lost to them in seven games as the Bruins went on to win it all. Unusual for a team rebranding itself, in the middle of this season the Lightning unveiled a new uniform that they will wear next year, and despite not being allowed to change to these new uniforms just yet the team were allowed to utilise the new brand anyway, with new merchandise and the new team logo being painted at centre ice while they wore their current uniform.

Washington Capitals

Final standings: 48W, 23L, 11OTL, 107 points, 1st Southeast, 1st Eastern Conference, 2nd NHL

Very little changes were made to the President’s Trophy winning Capitals for this season as the team seemed quite happy with its league best record and strong lineup, despite an embarrassing first round exit against Montreal. They got off to a good start to begin their 2010-11 campaign in October (7-4-0) followed by an even better November (10-2-2), but this was then followed by an 8 game slump the following month. At the start of the New Year the Caps took part in the NHL’s fourth annual Winter Classic event in Pittsburgh, taking on the Penguins and winning 3-1, but the rest of January for the Capitals was an almost even split between wings, losses and overtime/shootout losses, while the following month saw the team’s wins and losses split down the middle (6-5-1). For the rest of the season the Capitals won the vast majority of their games and earned the highest spot in the East, same as last year but with 14 fewer points, making the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year. The Quarterfinals saw Washington being matched up with the New York Rangers, and they made quick work of the Rangers in five. In round two however, the worn out Capitals were the victims of another embarrassing defeat as the Lightning swept Washington and ended their season.

That’s it for the Eastern Conference, and Part 4 will begin covering the West, starting with the Central Division.

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The Aftermath – 2011 edition: Part 2

July 17, 2011   wildwing64   No comments

The 2010-11 NHL season is now finished. After a 39 year drought, the Boston Bruins came out of nowhere and beat the Vancouver Canucks to win their sixth Stanley Cup.

This six part series will consist of brief summaries of every team’s performance this season. Part 2 will cover the Northeast Division.

Boston Bruins

Final standings: 46W, 25L, 11OTL, 103 points, 1st Northeast, 3rd Eastern Conference, 7th NHL

The Bruins were one of a few teams starting the season in Europe, but they first made history by playing in an exhibition game against the UK based Belfast Giants of the EIHL, who for this game were known as the Belfast Giants Selects as they were made up of stars from around the Elite League. The Giants Selects were clearly still no match for Boston, who beat them by a lopsided score of 5-1. Following this the Bruins flew over to the Czech Republic for another exhibition game against HC Bili Tygri Liberic, beating them 7-1 before the NHL Premiere against the Coyotes in Prague. Going home with a win and a loss against Phoenix, the Bruins went on to have a strong season all around, consistently winning games and having very short losing skids. Before the trade deadline the Bruins clearly wanted to make themselves into a real Cup contender, acquiring a number of players including Chris Kelly from Ottawa and Tomas Kaberle from Toronto: these acquisitions would pay off the for Bruions and make them a force to be reckoned with. In the quarterfinals the Bruins were against playoff foes Montreal, and beat them in a close seven game series which also saw the Bruins become the first NHL team to ever win a seven game series without scoring a power play goal (.com?). Round matched the Bruins up with the very team which eliminated them last season, the Flyers, and returned the favour by sweeping them. In the Conference Finals Boston were up against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and took them to seven games, winning by a score of just 1-0 in game seven, and giving them a ticket to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1990. The Bruins were the apparent underdogs in this series as they lost the first two games in a row before winning the next two, and then losing game 5. However, they then won the next two games and even managed to shut the Canucks out by a lopsided 4-0 in game seven, giving the Bruins their first Stanley Cup win since 1972 and their sixth overall. Bruins goaltender was given the Conn Smythe trophy for his arguably fantastic performance throughout the playoffs.

Buffalo Sabres

Final standings: 43W, 29L, 10OTL, 96 points, 3rd Northeast, 7th Eastern Conference, 15th NHL

The Buffalo Sabres turned 40 this year (technically it was last year, but whatever) and to celebrate the occasion, the team got rid of its widely despised “Buffaslug” logo in favour of promoting the third jersey to full-time home uniform, and wearing a set vaguely reminiscent of their early years in the league, also bringing out a new third uniform for this season in their classic colours, with a wordmark paying tribute to the former Buffalo Bisons. The midway point of this season would also mark the beginning of a new era for the Sabres as they were official sold to Terrance Pegula, who purchased the team from its former ownership group led for $189 million. Mostly positive things for the Sabres, however their regular season got off to a lacklustre start as they posted a 3-7-2 record in October before picking up more wins in the months that followed. Like other teams competing for the lower end playoff spots, the Sabres had an overall better second half and eventually managed to clinch the 7th overall spot to make the postseason, and in the quarterfinals were matched up against frequent postseason foes the Flyers, who beat them in seven games.

Montreal Canadiens

Final standings: 44W, 30L, 8OTL, 96 points, 2nd Northeast, 6th Eastern Conference, 14th NHL

This year for the Canadiens saw the team quietly ending its two-year centennial celebration. Nothing significant happened with this team before the season began aside from forward Brian Gionta being named team captain, however the Canadiens did play an exhibition game against the Islanders in Quebec City, in which the crowd showed their hunger for a possible future NHL team. The Habs got off to a pretty decent start over the first two months of the season (15-8-1) although they had a nasty ten game slump in December, in which they won only two games. They managed to pick up the pace again in January, but after the All Star break came a three game win streak followed by a slump of nine games (2-5-2), including the Heritage Classic in Calgary in which the Canadiens lost 4-0 to the Flames, currently the most lopsided defeat in an outdoors NHL game. March for the Habs would prove to be just as bumpy as February but with no OT losses, and they clinched a playoff berth with just two games left to play with a 2-1 OT win against Chicago. The Habs wouldn’t get far in the playoffs, although they managed to take their quarterfinal series against the eventual Champion Bruins to seven games.

Ottawa Senators

Final standings: 32W, 40L, 10OTL, 74 points, 5th Northeast, 13th Eastern Conference, 26th NHL

Following their first round exit in the playoffs last year, the Senators were one of the busiest teams during the offseason, signing several players and a new goaltending coach (and former goalie) Rick Wamsley. All four of Ottawa’s RFAs were re-signed while none of their six UFAs stayed with the team. There was also a lot of buzz regarding rumours of the Senators possibly trading away star forward Jason Spezza, but that did not happen. Despite the large number of changes made, Ottawa got off to a very slow start which became a mediocre 11-18-5 record by the end of December. Having then won just a single game and fallen to last place in the East at the end of January (1-7-3), the team accepted that they had no chance of making the postseason, and the Senators decided to start a rebuilding process, trading away long-time players and fan favourites such as Mike Fisher and Chris Kelly to other teams in order to acquire younger players and draft picks. The team managed to improve its overall record slightly in March (9-6-1) but by this point it was too late, and the Senators were only able to bump up to 13th in the East. Following the final game of the season, GM Bryan Murray fired the team’s coaching staff.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Final standings: 37W, 34L, 11OTL, 85 points, 4th Northeast, 10th Eastern Conference, 22nd NHL

Prior to the season, the Maple Leafs unveiled new jerseys, which feature the team’s classic hemstripes returning to the uniform for the first time since they were removed for the introduction of the Edge system in 2007. Dion Phanuef, acquired from the Flames in January 2010, was named the team’s 18th captain. The Leafs appeared to be off to a good start in the first four games of the season with a winning streak to open the season, doing this for only the first time since the 1993-94 season in which they opened with 10 wins. This however was immediately followed by a twelve game slump (1-8-3) which carried on into November, and the Leafs were up to their usual disappointing ways right up until the end of 2010. Toronto began to improve in February, losing only two games in regulation for the entire month, and went from having 45 points at the beginning of the month to 63 at the end, and it looked almost as if the Leafs would get a shot at the playoffs; however, a 4-2 win by Buffalo against Tampa Bay on April 5th eliminated Toronto from playoff contention for the sixth year in a row.

Coming up next in Part 3 will be the Southeast Division.

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The Aftermath – 2011 edition: Part 1

June 25, 2011   wildwing64   No comments

The 2010-11 NHL season is now finished. After a 39 year drought, the Boston Bruins came out of nowhere and beat the Vancouver Canucks to win their sixth Stanley Cup.

This six part series will consist of brief summaries of every team’s performance this season, starting with the Atlantic Division.

New Jersey Devils

Final standings: 38W, 39L, 5OTL, 81 points, 4th Atlantic, 11th Eastern Conference, 23rd NHL

After hiring him only last season, head coach Jacques Lemaire retired from coaching forcing the Devils to look for someone else: the team’s all-time leading scorer, John MacLean, was brought back into the fold to replace him. During the offseason New Jersey were notorious for signing a 17 year contract, the longest in NHL history, with former Thrashers star Ilya Kovalchuk – the deal was a controversial one, and the NHL initially rejected it; however, an agreement was eventually reached, with the length of the contract being shortened to 15 years. As the season got underway, the Devils were off to a hellish start posting a 9-23-2 record by December 23rd. The organisation was clearly not happy with being stuck in last place, so MacLean was fired with Lemaire being brought in as an interim head coach for one more stint with the Devils. Following this change, New Jersey posted a much better record, earning mostly wins throughout the latter half of the season; but it wasn’t enough, as their abysmal start left them 12 points short of the eighth place spot, eliminating the Devils from the playoffs for the first time since 1996.

New York Islanders

Final standings: 30W, 39L, 13OTL, 73 points, 5th Atlantic, 14th EC, 27th NHL

Sadly, not much can be said for the Islanders. Again. However with their fifth overall selection of Nino Niederreiter at the Draft, they made him the highest drafted Swiss born player in NHL history. Prior to the start of the season and during training camp, forward Kyle Okposo and defenseman Mark Streit suffered completely unrelated shoulder injuries which required surgery: this kept Okposo out for most of the season, while Streit was left unable to play this year. Having lost two key players to injury, the Islanders started what would eventually be yet another disappointing season which proved to be worse than last year, and their poor record along with owner Charles Wang’s continued mismanagement of the franchise led to the Isles once again finishing near the bottom of the NHL barrel.

New York Rangers

Final standings: 44W, 33L, 5OTL, 93 points, 3rd Atlantic, 8th EC, 18th NHL

This was a special year for the Rangers, as it was their 85th anniversary season. To celebrate, the team wore a patch on their jerseys and introduced a new “heritage” sweater as their alternate uniform. The Blueshirts’ first game on Octover 9th at Buffalo proved to be even more special for rookie Derek Stepan, who scored his first career hat trick in his first career NHL game, becoming only the fourth player to ever accomplish the feat. As far as the Rangers regular season went, their performance was somewhat average, as they usually won two or three games in a row before losing one or more afterwards; however, they did have a nice stretch of mostly wins through March and April (11-6-1) including a seven game points streak, which ultimately helped them to clinch the 8th place spot in only the final game of the regular season, a 5-2 win against the Devils. The Blueshirts didn’t get very far in the playoffs as the Capitals beat them in five games.

Philadelphia Flyers

Final standings: 47W, 23L, 12OTL, 106 points, 1st Atlantic, 2nd EC, 3rd NHL

After coming off a heartbreaking loss to Chicago in the Stanley Cup Final, the Flyers were clearly hungry for more. They made a small number of cap-related moves during the offseason, including signing rookie goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky to an entry level contract: the young goalie proved to be a valuable asset for Philadelphia, as Bob – as the Flyers fans came to know him – made a .915 save percentage and posted a solid 28-12-8 record in his first year with the team. The Flyers were a solid team for most of the year, but after an injury to defenseman Chris Pronger that kept him out of the lineup for the rest of the regular season, the Flyers posted a lacklustre 7-7-6 record through March and April which prevented them from going anywhere near the President’s Trophy, however they did finish with a very high rank and earned their first Atlantic Division title since 2003-04, beating out Pennsylvania rivals the Penguins through the tiebreaking procedure. Come playoff time the Flyers were up against the Buffalo Sabres in the first round: their lacklustre play appeared to follow them into this postseason, but they were able to beat the Sabres in seven games. However, they were up against eventual Stanley Cup Champions the Boston Bruins, who made quick work of them in a sweep.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Final standings: 49W, 25L, 8OTL, 106 points, 2nd Atlantic, 4th EC, 4th NHL

This season marked the beginning of a new era for the Penguins, who moved into the brand new Consol Energy Center this season, leaving the Igloo in which they played their first 43 seasons behind, and their first game in the new building was against none other than their Pennsylvania rivals Philadelphia. The Penguins appeared to be off to a rough start at the beginning of the season, going 6-5-1 in October, but things soon picked up for the Pens as they earned a 15-game points streak (14-0-1) that lasted from November 12th to December 11th. To start the new year, Pittsburgh hosted the Capitals as the two teams took part in the annual Winter Classic game on New Year’s Day, but during this game Pens star Sidney Crosby suffered a concussion as a result of an open ice hit, and in a game against Tampa Bay following this, he was on the receiving end of another hit, which further aggravated his concussion and kept him out for the rest of the season. With Evgeni Malkin having also suffered injuries of his own, this led to the Penguins not producing as well offensively and playing fairly average hockey throughout the rest of the year, however they did have at least four good but short streaks, and were eventually able to clinch a playoff berth, just short of the Division title behind the Flyers because of the tie breaking procedure. The Penguins did not get far as they embarrassed themselves in the first round, having a 3 games to 1 lead over Tampa Bay before losing three in a row and losing the series to the Lightning.

Stay tuned for Part 2 as the Northeast Division will be covered.

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