FROZEN ASSETS

Opening Your First Sportsbook? Wondering How to Find the Site for You?

When I was 18 I opened up my first account at an online sportsbook. A friend had told me about a magical cyber-place where you can make bets sitting at your computer. The alternative to this convenient method was a provincially run lottery that required betting be made at a retailer. In addition to having to trudge out in the middle of the prairie winter to place bets at lottery retailers, the odds available at these online sportsbooks were far more favorable for the player than the provincially run lotteries.

I signed up, deposited money, and began draining my account one $5 parlay at a time. I played exclusively at Wagerstreet for almost three years and never had a problem. Eventually, as I became more interested in shopping for odds and less interested in parlay betting, I opened up accounts at other sportsbooks and stopped paying regular visits to Wagerstreet. The site was purchased by Olympic Sportsbook and continues to thrive.

Now I have accounts at many sportsbooks - some I have had positive experiences, some not so positive. I realize now that I was lucky to not have problems with Wagerstreet. They are a great book, but I just as easily could have stumbled on a book that would not pay me. Some sportsbooks are reputable, others are deposit-only. At the end of the day, the value of a winning bet at an online sportsbook is like a piece of art, a beanie baby, or a hockey card: it is only worth what people are prepared to pay you for it.

Why am I sharing this nostalgic, uplifting tale with you? Well, a reader who was considering opening their first online sports betting account asked me to recommend a few sites. While ultimately the right decision depends on what you are looking for, there are information and resources I know about now that I wish I knew about the first (and only) time I got scammed by a sportsbook.

1. Are these people actually going to pay me?

While I was lucky to have chosen Wagerstreet, numerous people get scammed by sportsbooks that are only interested in your deposit and have no intention of paying you. The first place you should look when considering a sportsbook is Sportsbook Review. They are a website dedicated to ensuring the player is treated fairly by the sportsbook. They have ratings, reviews, and blurbs on hundreds on sportsbooks. I would recommend only playing at sportsbooks rated B- or higher. They also have a list of scam sportsbooks, as well as a Scam Alert. Reserach your book thoroughly before giving them your money and credit card number.

2. What do I want out of my sportsbook?

While sportsbooks essentially offer comparable odds, there are differences that are worth noting. Knowing what you want from a sportsbook will help you narrow your choices down.

a. What type of bet will I be making?

Will I be betting on single games? Parlays? Futures?

If you are betting on single games, you should be using either a betting exchange or a reduced juice sportsbook. I described the basics of betting exchanges and the benefits of betting exchanges in previous editions of Frozen Assets. A reduced juice sportsbook is a sportsbook that offers prices on games at less that the traditional -110 odds (bet $11 to win $10).

When betting parlays, make sure all bets can be included in your parlay. For example, at betED, often you will not be allowed to include a large favorite or large underdog in a parlay.

If you are betting on futures, make sure your sportsbook regularly offers futures bets, and that the limits on your potential winnings are reasonable (I tried to bet on Golden State at +12500 yesterday at Totesports and was offered $2 as my maximum bet). Also, as a general rule, the less often a sportsbook updates their futures odds the better.

b. What sports will I be betting on? What options are available for those sports?

In the sports betting world, hockey is not a major player. As a result, while almost all sportsbooks offer betting on hockey, few sportsbooks go beyond offering the traditional moneyline, handicap, and game total odds. If that is all you want to bet on then you do not have to be as discriminating when choosing sportsbooks. Some books however, offer alternatives to traditional hockey betting. Betting on whether an individual team will score more or less then a certain amount of goals, alternate totals and pucklines, three-way betting, 60-minute betting and betting on the point totals of individual players are all options that are available at certain books (5Dimes is the industry leader in offering betting options for hockey). Some sportsbooks and betting exchanges offer live in-game betting on events (only Stan James offers this option for hockey).

c. What are the methods/fees for withdrawing?

Some sportsbooks offer free payouts while others charge exorbitant fees. Some sportsbooks are flexible in their payout methods, while others have petty, senseless rules designed to delay your request. Call the sportsbook yourself and ask them what their methods and fees for payouts are.

d. Bonus Offers

A bonus offer means that the sportsbook will match your deposit up to a certain percentage, or offer you a free bet for depositing. To the recreational player, bonuses seem like free money. Bonuses, however, often come with a restriction known as a rollover requirement. A rollover is the amount of times you have to wager the amount equal to your initial deposit + bonus in order to request a payout. Example: a sportsbook offers a 20% bonus with a 5X rollover. You deposit $100 and receive a bonus of $20. You have to make $120 * 5 worth of bets ($600) before you can request a payout. By the time you have met your rollover requirement, it is often time for another deposit.

Some bonuses, particularly sign-up bonuses, are not onerous in their restrictions. Finding a good bonus at a sportsbook should not be a determining factor of where to open a sportsbook, but it is nonetheless of noteworthy consideration.

One final caveat on bonuses: a tactic of scam sportsbooks is to offer large bonuses so they can attract new players. They can offer these large bonuses to you only because they have no intention to pay you.

Those should be your main considerations when considering where to open a sportsbook. If you have any specific questions about opening a sportsbook, let me know and I will do my best to provide you with personalized advice.

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Examining the NHL's Best Division: The Central(?)

I wonder what the odds would have been on "Central division to have most points" at the start of the season? Not including overtime losses in the loss column, the Central is the only division in the league to have all 5 teams above .500. This would have shocked me at the start of the season (see my preview of NHL division betting before the season started). A few games into the season, however, it was obvious that Chicago, Columbus, and St. Louis were not going to be the doormats they had been for the last few years. Then, a few games later, the Predators started winning consistently.

There are two possibilities here: either it is too early in the season to make meaningful predictions, or these teams are legitimate contenders in the Western Conference. What do you think?

The Chicago Blackhawks (13-9-2) have made great strides from last season. Rookies Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane have been sensational, Patrick Sharp has become a short-handed sniper and a young defense has been holding their own. With Martin Havlat back, the Blackhawks add one of the league's premier scorers to an already skilled set of forwards. Unlike the three teams mentioned below, the betting public is aware of Chicago's turnaround, and as a result the best odds remaining on the Blackhawks are at betED where they are +6000 to win the Stanley Cup.

The St. Louis Blues (14-8-0) have played well since the firing of Mike Kitchen last year. Andy Murray has found a capable goaltender in Manny Legace, Brad Boyes is playing up to his potential, and Doug Weight and Keith Tkachuk are playing like they did when they were in their thirties. Every week I beg people to take the Blues at +5000 to win the Conference at Carib, and I know you are not listening or the odds would have changed by now. Once this price is gone you will not see anything close to it for the rest of the season.

Ken Hitchcock has given the Columbus Blue Jackets (11-9-4) experience and an effective system to work within. Rick Nash has bought into this system and is playing the best hockey of his young career. Pascal Leclaire has 6 shutouts in 18 games. Nikolai Zherdev is an early favorite to be nominated for the comeback player of the year award. Like the St. Louis Blues, Columbus is available to win the Western Conference at Carib at odds of +5000.

The Nashville Predators (11-9-2) were supposed to struggle after losing many of their key contributors last year. I don't know why the Predators are winning but they are. Dan Ellis has been spectacular between the pipes when given an opportunity, but the Preds only have one scorer in the top 67 (Martin Erat is 49th) and have one of the worst special teams in the conference. They are also available at Carib at odds of +5000.

Who knows how the Central division will play out over the season. I predict that at least three of the eight playoff teams will come from the Central. Maybe you should just open a sportsbook at Carib and put your money where my mouth is.

For illegal curve, I'm Ari-Baum Cohen.

About the Writer: Ari Baum-Cohen's first sports betting victory came in 1989 when he won his father's office pool at age 8. Since then, he has been interested in many different types of sports betting. His breakthrough futures win was at the end of the 2003 baseball season when he picked the Florida Marlins at odds of +7500 to win the National League.

FROZEN ASSETS November 22, 2007
FROZEN ASSETS November 15, 2007
FROZEN ASSETS November 9, 2007
FROZEN ASSETS November 1, 2007
FROZEN ASSETS October 25, 2007
FROZEN ASSETS October 18, 2007
FROZEN ASSETS October, 11, 2007
FROZEN ASSETS October 4, 2007
FROZEN ASSETS September 27, 2007
FROZEN ASSETS September 20, 2007

News You Can Use Late in the Day

1. TSN wonders where Jarome Iginla fits in on the all-time list of Flamers.
2. Blackhawks winger Tuomo Ruutu was mistakenly taken into custody yesterday in Bensenville, IL after police mistook him for a robbery suspect.
3. No criminal charges will be laid in the 8-year old brawl fiasco in Guelph.
4. A bus carrying the Elmira Jackals of the ECHL was involved in a crash, seriously injuring the driver.
5. Alan Weiss with a report on prospects currently playing in the ECHL. (Hat tip, Rocky)
6. CHL News and Notes.
7. The American Hockey League announces its Hall of Fame Class for 2008.
8. Eric Duhatschek campaigns for a larger ice surface.
9. Are you sick of all the Leafs/JFJ talk? Me too. Go here for relief.
10. The Fan590 will retract its allegation that Sean Avery made disparaging remarks about Jason Blake.
11. Jim Matheson notes that the Oilers must make re-signing Tom Gilbert a priority.
12. A look around the American Hockey League.
13. Boy Devereaux satisfies his taste for music by starting up a music label.
14. Markus Naslund is enjoying a resurgence in Vancouver.
15. An artist has created nude paintings of Bobby Orr and Derek Sanderson. (Hat tip, Amanda)
16. The Lundqvist brothers are each other's biggest fans.
17. Shawn P. Roarke lists 10 Free Agents who might wish they had stayed at home.
18. Fanhouse notes that Kipper may be out of shape and Dion Phaneuf is full of himself.
19. Want old stats? David Staples has 'em for you.
20. Alex Kovalev happy with his production, but would like more even-strength goals.
21. James Duthie decries the trap, but notes that it is effective.
22. Mike Comrie says that dating Hilary Duff has gained him a lot of friends in the NHL.
23. The Avs recall TJ Hensick.
24. NHL Media Guides provide a wealth of info about players personal lives.
25. Check out the updates on the Hockey News Series about Roseau, MN. Week 2, Week 3, Week 4.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Kyle Kosior.

Prospect Pulse: Brandon Burlon

Following up on yesterday's PP featuring Joe Colborne, today's Prospect Pulse examines another potential Junior A first rounder, Brandon Burlon. Burlon, who skates for the St. Mike's Buzzers in the Ontario Provincial Junior Hockey League (Andrew Cogliano's former squad) is a mobile defender blessed with excellent strength.

A prototypical 2-way defenseman built for the "new" NHL, Burlon is a fluid skater who excels positionally and thinks the game like a veteran. He is rarely caught out of position, nor does he make many mistakes with or without the puck. Like many great players, he seems to have great vision on the ice and be able to anticipate the action.

A good blend of size and mobility, the 6'0, 190 Burlon can play a physical game when called upon and is nasty in front of the net. He excels in breaking up the rush and is lethal in transition, where he can use his quick step to put defenders on their heels.

Scouts and officials who saw him play at the World Jr. A Challenge felt that he was dominant all week and outperformed many more highly touted European rear-guards. Rated 26th overall by the Red Line Report, Burlon has verbally committed to the University of Michigan.

News You Can Use Late in the Day

1. Gary Bettman says the NHL may pass on the 2014 Olympics, since they are being held in Russia.
2. Fernando Pisani is close to returning to the Oilers, but Ethan Moreau is still out for the time-being.
3. Sean Avery will undergo wrist surgery after attempting to fit his entire hand into his mouth.
4. Ilya Bryzgalov has been a prime beneficiary of this move to the desert.
5. A profile on Peterborough's Zach Bogosian.
6. Chuck Kobasew has effectively filled the void created by Patrice Bergeron's injury.
7. Eddie Belfour's Swedish team is 18-1-1.
8. Inside College Hockey tracks the Hobey Baker favorites.
9. The Flyers have signed Braybon Coburn to a contract extension.
10. The NHL has visions of expanding the Chinese hockey market.
11. David Shoalts feels that MLSE must been unanimous when choosing the next GM.
12. George Johnson of ESPN with his picks for the NHL Awards.
13. Fanhouse notes that Jordan Staal is successfully demonstrating the sophomore jinx.
14. Chuck Gormley with an interesting story about the perils of the internet for professional hockey players.
15. Allan Muir of SI gives his contenders for the NHL Awards.
16. Kris Draper of the Red Wings is out for 10 days.
17. Dany Heatley answers readers' questions.
18. The Calgary Flames say they are tired of moral victories.
19. New details emerge about the death of Bob Gainey's daughter.
20. The NY Post discusses the Red Wings' PP.
21. Darren McCarty still hopes to return to the NHL.
22. The Leafs arethisclose to touching bottom.
23. The Blackhawks will welcome Martin Havlat back to the lineup tonight vs. the Bolts.
24. The New York Rangers have renounced their team option on Jagr for the 2008-09 Season.
25. 10 Tips from the NHL to the NFL to increase scoring.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Kyle Kosior

Prospect Pulse: Joe Colborne

Joe Colborne is a centreman currently playing with the Camrose Kodiaks of the AJHL. He is draft eligible in 2008 and is likely to build upon the precedent set by Kyle Turris in the 2007 draft. Projected to go 20th overall by the Red Line Report, Colborne is the latest in the line of Junior A standouts who are getting noticed by the NHL.

The NHL took notice because of his size and physical tools. A towering 6-5 with a huge frame (though not yet filled out), scouts expect him to have grown significantly before the June draft. Blessed with soft hands and good straight line speed, Colborne can also play a gritty game and has impressed at each successive level with his strong work ethic.

A standout face-off man, he plays a smart 2-way game that belies his young age. He needs to take the edges off his offensive game, but scouts feel he is a solid bet in the first round. Observers who saw him play at the recent World Junior A Challenge felt that he was a dominant skater but would have liked to see him get involved in the play a little more, as he seemed content to play a perimeter game. They described him as cross between Brandon Sutter and James van Riemsdyk.

Nightly Recap - Leaf Nation Needs to Go Away

Montreal 4 - Toronto 3 (SO) - Toronto loses for the fourth consecutive game and are now at the bottom of the Eastern conference. Fans and media have been calling for the head of John Ferguson Jr. Why now? Could they not have seen this coming before the season? It was clear that his team was not going to make the playoffs? Illegal Curve's Richard Pollock predicted that it would be a difficult road to the playoffs in the preseason. Leaf fans have finally come to the realization that the product on the ice is awful and that something needs to be done. I am sick and tired of hearing about it every time the Leafs lose. TSN, I don't need to see seven hours of coverage on what should be done to the Toronto Maple Leafs organization. Leaf Nation needs to go away.

Anyways, to the game. Jason Blake had two assists for the Leafs and Alex Kovalev had two goals for the Canadiens. Andrei Kostitsyn scored the shootout winner for the Habs. Super rookie Carey Price stopped 43 of 46 to improve his record to 6-2-1. I don't have any numbers on hand, but it seems to me more often than not a Leafs Habs game will go into a shootout.

Detroit 5 - Calgary 3 - Pavel Datsuyk scored two goals and added an assist for the Red Wings. Tomas Holmstrom scored his 13th of the year with a helper. Niklas Lidstrom posted two assists and Chris Osgood made 19 saves in the win. After allowing 3 goals on 15 shots, Flames goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff was pulled in favor of Curtis McElhinney who stopped 18 of 20. Jarome Iginla's three assists was not enough for the Flames who have four wins and nine losses in the month of November.

Vancouver 4 - Anaheim 0 - In the much overhyped return of Todd Bertuzzi to GM Place the Ducks lay a goose egg. After an abysmal season last year, Markus Naslund is returning to form scoring his 11th goal of the year and adding an assist. Ryan Kessler, Henrik Sedin, Mattias Ohlund and Matt Cooke all had two points for the Canucks. Roberto Luongo stopped 26 for his second straight shutout.

Tomorrow's Games
7:00pm STL@BUF, PHI@CAR, DAL@NJ, OTT@NYI, FLA@WSH
8:00pm PHX@MIN
8:30pm TB@CHI
9:30pm EDM@COL
10:30pm LA@SJ

News You Can Use Late in the Day

1. Richard Peddie admits that hiring John Ferguson Jr. was a mistake.
2. Scott Hartnell is suspended for 2 games for his hit on Andrew Alberts.
3. The Oilers are still bring up the rear in TSN's Power Rankings.
4. Mats Sundin is unfazed by all the turmoil in Toronto.
5. Hockey Hearsay notes that Mark Recchi is questioning his role with the Penguins.
6. Pierre Lebrun of Sportsnet writes that Maple Leaf owners need look no further than themselves when wondering why the Leafs suck.
7. Team Canada pads its lead to 3-1 with another victory over the Ruskies.
8. The Weekly Release from the USHL.
9. Ten Things Overheard at the BU-Cornell game at MSG.
10. Todd Bertuzzi expects a positive reaction in his return to Vancouver.
11. The Forechecker looks at who is over and under performing.
12. Eric Duhatschek discusses the NHL Board of Governor's Meetings.
13. Al Strachan feels that NHL GM's are becoming more vulnerable to the whims of owners.
14. The sale of the Lightning has produced a snag and will result in the inevitable lawsuit.
15. Check out Milan Lucic's blog from The Hockey News.
16. The Junior Report from nhl.com.
17. Itching for ECHL news? Scratch that itch.
18. Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf discuss their chemistry.
19. The Longest Road Trip.
20. Michael Farber thinks the Dominator is done.
21. Fanhouse feels that beer and youth hockey don't mix. My misspent childhood hockey career and liver beg to differ.
22. Guy Lafleur takes a shot at Les Habitants.
23. The National Post with a look around the league.
24. The Hockey News with its list of Hot Prospects.
25. The Score notes that some top goalies are finding their game again.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Kyle Kosior.

Prospect Pulse: Joey Crabb

I chose Joey Crabb for PP today because I like his name. Sounds like a guy who may have had a small role in a film like Goodfellas. Anyways, this Crabb is a prospect in the Atlanta Thrashers system. He was originally drafted by the New York Rangers in the 7^th round of the 2002 draft, but failed to sign with the team and was inked as a free agent by the Thrashers.

Crabb had a very productive career at Colorado College, where he increased his point totals every season and scored at better than a point per game clip in his senior season. He was able to accomplish these totals despite playing on a deep CC team that featured standouts such as Marty Sertich and Brett Sterling.

The 6’1, 190 right winger graduated to the American Hockey League in 2006-2007 and posted a respectable 20 points in 63 games playing very limited minutes. Crabb adjusted well to this role according to his coaches, despite having been a 1^st or 2^nd line player for most of his career. This season, Crabb is off to a good start, tallying 10 points in 18 games again playing 4^th line minutes.

Atlanta signed Crabb at the behest of Brett Sterling, who thought his former Colorado College teammate could bring something to the team. Atlanta GM Don Waddell has been impressed with Crabb thus far, noting that he has a good work ethic, is gritty and can always be found around the puck. More of a playmaker than a scorer, the forward noted that he has tried to simplify his game at the pro level before he tries to establish his offensive side.

Nightly Recap - Flyers deliver another punishing blow

Boston 6 - Philadelphia 3 - In the first game between the two teams since the Randy Jones incident there was a bit of deja vu as midway through the second Scott Hartnell gave Andrew Alberts an "unspecified head injury". In actual game news, Boston wins for their fifth time in seven games, Marc Savard lead the way with a goal and three assists. Glen Murray scored two goals and Tukka Rask made 20 saves for his second win in his second NHL start. Someone has lit a spark under Glen Murray, he now has eight points in his past seven games.
Here is a video of the Hartnell on Alberts hit. (hat tip to james mirtle).
At first it was a coincidence that a few illegal hits have come from Flyers players (Boulerice, Jones, Downie), but at four players it's becoming a correlation. Is a team fine in order? Ridiculous.


Dallas 3 - NY Islanders 2 (OT) - Dallas is now 6-0-2 in their past eight, Marty Turco got the call in net tonight making 23 saves in the win. It was only his second start in the past six games. Mike Modano scored his 7th and 8th goals of the season, the 8th being the overtime winner.

Buffalo 3 - Washington 1 - Buffalo...so hot right now, they have a five game win streak under their belt, albeit three wins came vs Montreal, but a win streak is a win streak. Jochen Hecht recorded a goal and two assists and Ryan Miller stopped 30 in the win. Alex Ovechkin scored a highlight reel goal tonight (video up later) and is now riding a 9 game point streak.

Edmonton 3 - Columbus 1 - Dwayne Roloson was big tonight making 30 saves for the Oil. Rookie Andrew Cogliano scored the go ahead goal for Edmonton in the third period, his 5th of the campaign. Ales Hemsky put his 8th goal of the season into the empty net to ice the game for the Oilers. Edmonton has gone 3 - 3 on their season long six game home stand.

Tomorrow's Games (all times Eastern)
7:00pm CGY@DET (VS)
7:30pm MTL@TOR (TSN)
10:00pm ANA@VAN (TSN)

EURO CURVE

Euro Curve takes a look at the latest international hockey headlines.

- The Hockey News 'Eye on Europe' correspondent Risto Pakarinen writes about the improvement and success of the Russian Super League. He points out that in addition to former Russian NHLers returning to play in their home country, the league is begining to pump out some of the best talent in the world, as evidenced by the fact they had the most players represented in the recent Euro Hockey tour in Finland.

- According to Illegal Curve's favourite Czech Extraleague blogger (vakfan.blogspot.com), a fan was beaten with a stick by a player in a recent Austrian League game between Villacher SV and Vienna Capitals. Apparently, Manuel Latusa swung at the intruder after fans littered the ice following a game-tying goal.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Ezra Ginsburg.

News You Can Use Late in the Day

-John Ferguson Jr. rejects a report saying he was trying to fire Paul Maurice.
-Bob McKenzie discusses possible changes the league rules being considered by NHL GM's.
-Sportsnet reports that Daniel Alfredsson has resumed skating.
-Sean McCormick thinks that the Oilers should consider giving the C to someone other than the perpetually injured Ethan Moreau.
-The Hot or Not list from the CHL.
-The NHL celebrates its 90th Birthday today.
-The AHL's Teddy Purcell, an undrafted free agent before the Kings signed him, is leading the league in scoring.
-NHL.com with an in-depth look at the shootout.
-A profile on my future brother in law, Mike Cammalleri.
-The weekly NCAA hockey rankings from INCH.
-Brian Burke continues to lobby for changes to the CBA which would allow teams to trade players but keep some of the salary on their own books.
-Richard Peddie says there are no plans to fire JFJ.
-The weekly release from the American Hockey League.
-8 year olds brawl in Guelph.
-An analysis of the USHL from Gabriel Desjardins, master o' stats.
-A map of the hockey blogosphere.
-Taking Note tells us that former Oiler Mike Krushelnyski is coaching in the German Elite League.
-Sam Gagner will start tonight's game against Columbus on the 1st Line.
-Darren Eliot thinks the Penguins just need to relax and make the simple plays.
-Todd Bertuzzi reflects on his time as a Canuck.
-Greg Dennis of the Canadian Press examines the big money busts of fantasy hockey.
-Roundups from the QMJHL, WHL and OHL.
-The Hockey News debates the supremacy of Roy or Brodeur.
-The NY Times tells us how to block shots, doesn't blame Bush.
-The Score looks at the NHL's top lines.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Kyle Kosior.

Prospect Pulse: Tomas Kudelka

Tomas Kudelka is an offensive minded defenseman who was drafted 136th overall by the Ottawa Senators, who seemingly can't get enough offensive defensemen. Kudelka was on everyone's radar in his 16 year old season, but regressed badly due to injuries and a lack of ice time and decided to make the move to North America to resurrect his game.

Kudelka joined the Lethbridge Hurricanes and a enjoyed a solid if unspectacular season in the WHL, where he put up 31 points in 64 games. He played 5 games with the Binghamton Senators after Lethbridge's season ended and earned himself a contract. The two-time member of the Czech World Junior team had a breakout year as a 19 year old, becoming the #1 defender with the Hurricanes. He posted 41 points in 59 games and boasted a +20 rating. He followed up that season with a return to Binghamton, where he skated in 11 games. Kudelka's strong play earned him a call up to skate with the Black Aces in Ottawa for a short stint.

A combination of the size, speed and skill that make coaches and GM's blind to glaring turnovers and a lack of a defensive acumen, Kudelka is nevertheless a prospect to watch. He is said to be faster skating backwards than forwards, has a heavy shot and is very calm with the puck. As mentioned, he is still prone to making bad decisions with the puck and needs to get physically stronger before he moves on to the next level. Kudelka himself acknowledge this, and said he feels his lack of bulk is the only thing keeping him out of the AHL. (He currently plays in Elmira of the ECHL).

Playing 1st pairing minutes in Elmira, Kudelka is putting up impressive numbers and is getting to play in all situations. He is working on his strength and conditioning and expects to finish the year in Binghamton. Ottawa projects him as being several years away due to their depth at D.

Fanatsy Watch: Scouring the Waiver Wire

F Radim Vrbata, Phoenix Coyotes
After posting a career best 41 points last season with Chicago, Vrbata finds himself on pace to eclipse that total in his first year with Phoenix. Scoring 14 points in 21 games, Vrbata has been a a great surprise and a key contributer on Phoenix's squad. Receiving over 20 minutes of ice time in the last two contests, Vrbata has notched three goals and two assists in those games. With nine points in total this month, Vrbata has been extremely productive should continue to give Phoenix an offensive boost.
Fantasy Take: Vrbata has always been a streaky player so it's advised to wait and see if he can produce on a consistent basis before inserting him in your lineup.

F Colby Armstrong, Pittsburgh Penguins
After being predicted to be a great sleeper pick last year, Armstrong turned out to be one of the biggest busts of the season, totaling only 34 points. Off every fantasy radar this season, Armstrong continued to struggle, scoring only one point in the first month of the season. After being regulated to the third line, and eventually becoming a healthy scratch, it appears that Armstrong has finally gotten the message. Receiving playing time with Crosby over the past few games, Armstrong has scored one goal and three assists. Although those numbers aren't eye-popping, Armstrong may soon make his way back onto the fantasy radar if he continues to play with Crosby.
Fantasy Take: Armstrong's fantasy value rests in the hands of Crosby. If Armstrong is playing with Crosby then he could be a decent injury fill in, if not, then stay away from him.

F R.J. Umberger, Philadelphia Flyers
In his third year with Philadelphia, Umberger is having his best start as a pro, scoring 13 points in 20 games. Although he gets overlooked in Philadelphia because of bigger names, Umberger has been the most productive point scorer on the Flyers this past month not named Briere or Richards. Although he won't receive as much playing time as the other superstars, Umberger has given Philadelphia another offensive weapon who has demonstrated a great passing ability.
Fantasy Take: Umberger has had a very successful month thus far, scoring eight points in 12 games. Look to see if he can continue his success before making a claim for the third year forward.

D Ed Jovanovski, Phoenix Coyotes
After battling injuries throughout last season, Jovanovski has been 100% healthy so far, and has also been quite productive. Scoring 15 points in 21 games, Jovo has reclaimed his status as one of the top offensive defenseman. Although he struggled to find his form in the first month of the season, Jovo has since gotten hot, scoring 12 points this month while currently riding a four game point streak.
Fantasy Take: Point scoring defeseman are hard to find, so if Jovo is on your waiver wire pick him up immediately. Although his point per game pace this month will fall, still expect a 40 point output from the former Canuck.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Jonny Remis

Nightly Recap: Luongo records 2nd shutout of the season

Dallas 3 - NY Rangers 2 - Mark Smith stopped 39 shots in the Stars win, Brenden Morrow scored the winning goal in the 3rd period. Jaromir Jagr scored only his fifth goal of the year, it was his first point in five games.

St Louis 3 - Calgary 0 - Manny Legace made 24 saves in the shootout, and Jamal Mayers scored 2 goals for the Blues. Brad Boyes scored his team leading 13th goal of the year.

Anaheim 3 - Los Angeles 2 - Ryan Getzlaf scored his 9th and 10th goals of the year, Todd Bertuzzi added two assists. It was the Kings fifth loss in six games.

Vancouver 2 - Chicago 0 - Roberto Luongo records his second shutout of the season keeping 27 out of the net. Brendan Morrison scored his 7th of the year and Daniel Sedin added in the empty netter.

Tomorrow's Games (all times Eastern)
7:00pm: DAL@NYI, BOS@PHI, BUF@WSH
9:00pm: CLB@EDM

Fantasy Watch: Goalie Starts

Nov 26th – Dec 2nd

Anaheim Ducks (4) – Giguere owners no longer have to worry about Bryzgalov stealing starts.

Atlanta Thrashers (3) – With Lehtonen still on the shelf, Hedberg has been the #1 guy, winning his last four starts.

Boston Bruins (3) – Expect to see more of Rask with Fernandez still on the IR.

Buffalo Sabres (3) – Look for Miller to receive all three starts this week.

Carolina Hurricanes (3) – Ward has struggled over his last few games, but still should receive all three starts this week.

Calgary Flames (3) – Kiprusoff has started all 21 games for the Flames this season.

Chicago Blackhawks (3) – With only three games this week, expect the Blackhawks to start Khabibulin in all three.

Columbus Blue Jackets (3) – Look for Leclaire to receive all three starts this week.

Colorado Avalanche (3) – Theodore hasn't performed well enough to take over the #1 job, so expect to see Budaj start two games, with Theodore making at least one appearance

Dallas Stars (4) – Smith should receive one start this week with Dallas playing back-to-back games.

Detroit Red Wings (3) – Look for Osgood to appear in two games, while the Dominator will probably receive the other start.

Edmonton Oilers (3) – Garon is slowly taking over the starting role, but Roloson is still in the picture. Expect Garon to appear in two games to Roloson's one.

Florida Panthers (3) – Vokoun should receive all three starts this week.

Los Angeles Kings (2) – Look for LaBarbera to start both games this week.

Minnesota Wild (3) – Expect Harding to start every game until Backstrom is ready to return.

Montreal Canadiens (3) – Huet is still #1 in Montreal, so look for him to receive all three starts.

Nashville Predators (2) – Expect Mason to receive both starts for Nashville this week.

New Jersey Devils (3) – Expect Brodeur to start all three games this week.

New York Islanders (4) – Dubielewicz has only started one game for New York, so there's no reason to think that DiPeitro won't be in net for all four games this week.

New York Rangers (2) – Lundqvist has been a workhorse for the Rangers and should start both games this week.

Ottawa Senators (3) – Gerber is clearly the #1 guy in Ottawa, but will yield a start to Emery this week with back-to-back games.

Philadelphia Flyers (3) – Look for Biron to start all three games this week.

Phoenix Coyotes (3) – Expect newly acquired goalie, Ilya Bryzgalov, to appear in all three games this week.

Pittsburgh Penguins (2) – Fleury has struggled all year but should receive all three starts this week.

San Jose Sharks (2) – Nabokov should receive both starts this week.

St. Louis Blues (3) – With three games on the schedule, expect to see Legace start all of them.

Tampa Bay Lightining (3) – Holmqvist should see action in all three games this week.

Toronto Maple Leafs (3) – Toskala is the starter in Toronto and should appear in all three games.

Vancouver Canucks (3) – Luongo gives Vancouver the best chance to win and should start all three games this week.

Washington Capitals (4) – With four games on the schedule, Johnson will probably steal a start from Kolzig this week.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Jonny Remis

NHL Morning Papers (Friday Edition)

Reader's note: To our regular readers, I have exams coming up which will not allow me to post the NHL Morning Papers for the next few weeks. As of now, the Morning Papers will return on December 13th. However, if someone at Illegal Curve decides to undertake the Morning Papers duties during this time, I will be sure to let you know.

Here are the national morning papers:

• As Eric Duhatschek of the Globe & Mail tells us, after firing Glen Hanlon on Thursday morning, the Capitals are hoping for a Thrashers-esque turnaround.
• Wayne Scanlan of the National Post wonders if the referees are hurting the game by calling too many chincy penalties.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• Former Anaheim and current Phoenix netminder Ilya Brygalov takes to the ice against his old team this afternoon for the first time.
• Not only has the Flames' power play been struggling, but last night the unit gave up two short-handed goals in the team's 2-1 loss to Chicago. While their special teams play has been lacking, the Flames did dominate play at even strength last night but could not put more than one puck past Nikolai Khabibulin.
• With injuries and the flu bug limiting the Blackhawks' line combinations, the team showed a lot of heart edging out the Flames in the Saddledome.
• The Avalanche are taking solace in the fact that they ended their disappointing four game road trip on a positive note, with a 3-2 win in Edmonton last night.
• Michael Arace of the Columbus Dispatch has an interesting article about the role Ken Hitchcock has played in the franchise's turnaround.
• While the perception is out there that the Stars are struggling, if you take a closer look, Dallas is only one point out of first place in the Pacific Division writes Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News.
• The Red Wings are coming to the realization that the Central Division is a lot stronger this season than in years past writes George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press. The Wings lost 3-2 to the Predators last night, but Brett Lebda thinks the team shouldn't even have been playing on Thanksgiving.
• The Oilers took too many penalties last night in their 3-2 loss to Colorado writes Joanne Ireland of the Edmonton Journal. Meanwhile, John MacKinnon of the Journal has it right when he tells us he's sick of the same division match-ups over and over again.
• The Wild made a number of roster moves yesterday, and there may be even more in the offing writes Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
• The Predators got the winning goal last night from Radek Bonk on what had been their struggling power play writes John Glennon of the Tennessean.
• Coyotes' winger Daniel Winnik is back from injury and fitting in great on a line with Peter Mueller and Radim Vrbata.
• As Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Dispatch explains, the Blues have an abundance of depth on defense but inevitably that ends up leading to some bruised egos.

Note: If you are wondering why the Canucks don't seem to be in the morning papers much, it is because both the Vancouver Province and Sun websites are extremely slow updating their morning content and I have usually posted my article prior to them posting any Canucks coverage from the night before.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• Kevin Paul Dupont has a terrific article about the life of Hall-of-Famer Tom Johnson who passed away on Thursday.
• Red Fisher has a touching article about the same Tom Johnson in this morning's Montreal Gazette.
• Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post has the details behind the dismissal of Glen Hanlon by the Washington Capitals.
• According to Fluto Shinwaza of the Boston Globe, Manny Fernandez will be out of action this weekend because of back spasms. Bruins' coach Claude Julien expects a playoff-like atmosphere this afternoon as the Bruins take on the Isles in the first of a home-and-home series.
• The Hurricanes host the Lightning tonight and apparently they are only concerned with very few Lightning players. "If we shut down those two or three guys, they got nothing," said Carolina defenseman Tim Gleason in reference to the Lightning's attack.
• Kamil Kreps has impressed the Panthers' brass with his most recent stint in the NHL and maybe this stint will turn out to be permanent writes Steve Gorten of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. The last thing Noah Welch has been doing since he injured shoulder, is taking time off.
• As Pat Hickey tells us in this morning's Montreal Gazette, Carey Price is about as even-keel as they come, and there may be no better quality that a goalie can possess.
• The Devils are slowly making progress after a rough start to the season writes Rich Chere of the Newark Star-Ledger. The Devils are going for their third straight victory tonight versus the streaking Thrashers.
• Larry Brooks of the NY Post thinks that opening the 2008/09 season in Prague is a bad idea for the Rangers.
• Islanders' coach Ted Nolan benched his first line for most of the second period in the team's last game in order to give them a much-needed wake up call.
• Martin Gerber had maybe his weakest game of the season last night in a 6-5 shootout loss to the Penguins. Daniel Alfredsson hurt his groin during overtime last night and that is why he was unable to partake in the shootout.
• The Flyers have many things to be pleased about so far this season, but at the same time, they also have much to work on writes Tim Panaccio of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
• The Penguins finally validated their effort last night with a win over arguably the NHL's best team. Coach John Paddock of the Senators knows the Penguins will be in the mix come playoff time.
• Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune has an article about super-fan Steve Williamson who is seeing 30 NHL games in 30 days.
• The Leafs are on the road in Dallas and are enjoying being out of the fishbowl for a short time. (Writer's note: Who can blame them?) So much for the all the John Tavares plus Leafs hype earlier this season as his agent says it is now a dead issue.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Nightly Recap - Sabourin Picks up Relief Win

Pittsburgh 6 - Ottawa 5 - Dany Sabourin entered the game with the Pens down 2-0 and earns the relief win in a shootout. After playing in only 9 games last year backing up Roberto Luonogo, Sabourin has appeared in more games this year than all of last year. Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza had three points each for the Sens, Pittsburgh's Ryan Malone also collected three points.

Nashville 3 - Detroit 2 - Martin Erat was in on all three Predator goals, putting up a goal and two assists. Erat started off slow this season recording only 6 points in his first 11 games, but in his past 10 games, he has scored 14 points, including 5 multi-point nights. Chris Mason stopped 28 in the win.

Chicago 2 - Calgary 1 - Chicago scored both of their goals tonight on the penalty kill, it was Patrick Sharp's fifth shorthanded goal of the month (!) and Jacob Dowell put in the other in his NHL debut. Khabibulin stopped 30 saves in the win. The Flames are now 3-7-0 in their last 10.

Colorado 3 - Edmonton 2 - The Avalanche ended a four game road losing streak, receiving goals from Milan Heduk, Karlis Skrastins and Marek Svatos. Joni Pitkanen returned to the lineup tonight for the Oilers after missing 13 games with a knee.

Tomorrow's Games (all times Eastern)
12:00pm NYI@BOS,
1:00pm WSH@PHI
2:00pm CLB@MIN
4:00pm PHX@ANA
7:00pm TB@CGY
7:30pm MTL@BUF, NYR@FLA, NJ@ATL
8:30pm TOR@DAL, VAN@STL

FROZEN ASSETS

Ten Futures Bets You Should Have Made Over the First Quarter of the Season

Welcome to another action packed edition of Frozen Assets. Every week I offer you, my loyal minions, general tips to help manage your bankroll and analysis of the hockey futures market.

Last week we finished up a two-part segment on “the betting exchange”. This week I would like to focus solely on hockey futures. With the first quarter of the season behind us, I would like to count down the Ten Futures Bets You Should Have Made Over the First Quarter of the Season. The good news: some of these bets are still available.

10. Team: Boston Bruins Odds: +10000 Site: Carib Status: Available

Boston was not expected to compete for a playoff spot. Then they lost their starting goaltender Manny Fernandez and one of their top scorers Patrice Bergeron. The Bruins have kept it together though, with Tim Thomas playing at the top of his game, and Phil Kessel picking up the offensive slack. Boston is competing for a playoff spot, they are above .500 and they are available at +10000.

9. Team: Columbus Blue Jackets Odds: +7000 (Conference) Site: Bet365 Status: Changed October 14th

Columbus has exceeded expectations to start the season. Though they are currently slumping, they are still above .500 and playing hard for Coach Hitchcock (especially Rick Nash). Though these Bet365 odds changed on October 14th, The Blue Jackets were available to win the Stanley Cup at odds of +12500 as recently as two-and-a-half weeks ago.

8. Team: Ottawa Senators Odds: +900 Site: Wagerstreet Status: Changed October 16th

After wining the Eastern Conference and starting the season 5-1-0 (on their way to a 13-1-0 start) the Senators quickly established themselves as the team to beat in the Eastern Conference. +900 is a solid price to have on the consensus favorite to represent the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup.

7. Team: St. Louis Blues Odds: +5000 (Conference) Site: Carib Status: Available

I was excited when St. Louis was available on November 9th at odds of +6600 to win the Stanley Cup. A week later, Carib posted odds on them to win the Conference at +5000 and +10000 to win the Cup. Then the Blues won four in a row including a victory over the Red Wings. The result? Still available at odds of +5000. St. Louis is 11-8-0, good for 9th in the Western Conference (2 points away from fourth).

6. Team: New York Islanders Odds: +5000 (Conference) Site: Stan James Status: Changed October 10th

To the surprise of most, the Islanders made the playoffs last year. The formula? Top tier goaltending and a hard-working, over achieving team with limited scoring ability. Remind you of any other Ted Nolan teams? The Isles were 3-1-0 when these odds were changed but were available at +4000 last week. They are still available at +3500 at Canbet. Currently the Islanders are 11-7-0.

5. Team: Chicago Blackhawks Odds: +7000 (Conference) Site: Bet365 Status: Changed October 14th

I know. Chicago was only 3-2-0 when the odds were changed. How were you supposed to know? Well, two wins over Detroit (4 of Detroit’s 6 losses have come to Chicago – Golden State vs. Dallas, anyone?), and their young talent making an immediate impact should have tipped you off. Odds of +12500 and +10000 to win the Stanley Cup were available into November. Currently the best odds on the Blackhawks to win the conference is +3500 at Stan James - I would recommend that price.

4. Team: Montreal Canadiens Odds: +6900 Site: Betfair Status: Changed October 29th

By the time the odds on the Canadiens changed they were already 6-2-2, their powerplay was the best in the league (still is), and they were getting solid goaltending from Cristobal Huet and Carey Price. Few people expected Montreal to compete in the Eastern Conference. That could explain why it took until October 29th for the odds to change.

3. Team: Carolina Hurricanes Odds: +4300 Site: Betfair Status: Changed October 12

Two years removed from their first Stanley Cup victory the Carolina Hurricanes are playing like they were in 2005-2006. When healthy, Carolina boasts three competent scoring lines and Cam Ward appears to be back to his 2005-2006 playoff form. The ‘Canes came out of the gate fast and were 3-1-1 including a 7-1 trouncing of the Maple Leafs a few days before the odds changed.

2. Team: Atlanta Thrashers Odds: +10000 Site: Carib Status: Available

Team is supposed to be average/above average. Team starts 0-6-0. Odds on team drop to reflect poor start. Coach is fired. Team wins 11 of 15 and occupies a playoff spot. Odds are the same as they were when team was 0-6-0. Classic formula for you to make money.

1. Team: Philadelphia Flyers Odds: +8000 Site: William Hill Status: Changed October 16

This year’s Philadelphia Flyers bear little resemblance to last year’s team. So why did the odds on the Flyers on October 16th resemble the odds you would expect to find on last year’s Flyers team? The Flyers started the season hot and were already 4-1-0 when these odds were taken off the board. Also, consider that the odds were posted by an A rated book that will not void or bet or refuse to pay you. This bet is the early favorite for futures wager of the year.

Hon Mention: Team: Nashville Predators Odds: +5000 (Conference) Site: Carib Status: Available

* * *

I’m the first one to admit that hindsight is 20/20, but there are almost always clues when a disconnect exists between a team and their posted odds. For example, the Atlanta Thrashers represent a textbook example of value – put $40 on them to win $4000 and enjoy the exciting wide-open style of Hossa and Kovalchuk.

For illegal curve, I’m Ari Baum-Cohen

About the Writer: Ari Baum-Cohen's first sports betting victory came in 1989 when he won his father's office pool at age 8. Since then, he has been interested in many different types of sports betting. His breakthrough futures win was at the end of the 2003 baseball season when he picked the Florida Marlins at odds of +7500 to win the National League.


FROZEN ASSETS November 15, 2007
FROZEN ASSETS November 9, 2007
FROZEN ASSETS November 1, 2007
FROZEN ASSETS October 25, 2007
FROZEN ASSETS October 18, 2007
FROZEN ASSETS October, 11, 2007
FROZEN ASSETS October 4, 2007
FROZEN ASSETS September 27, 2007
FROZEN ASSETS September 20, 2007

EURO/ASIAN CURVE

Euro Curve takes a look at the latest international hockey headlines.

- Meet Alexander Nikulin. According to The Sports Network, the 22-year-old Moscow native was recalled from Binghamton of the AHL on Thursday and will dress tonight versus the Pittsburgh Penguins, possibly in replacement of Randy Robitaille, who is listed as day-to-day with a bruised left hand. Nikulin has 10 points in 14 games with the Baby Sens this season. Nikulin, drafted by Ottawa in 2004 (4/122), had 5 goals and 11 assists in 33 games last season for CSKA Moscow of the Russian Super League.

- Apparently former Phoenix Coyotes tough guy Tyson Nash has joined Goalie Jamie McLennan in signing with the Nippon Paper Cranes of the Asian League. Nash had been previously under contract with the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League. Nash and McLennan are good buddies from their days with the St.Louis Blues.

Here are the scoring leaders in the Swedish ElitSerien (courtesy of http://stats.swehockey.se/)

Rk Name Team Pos GP G A TP
1 Mårtensson, Tony LHC RW 21 6 21 27
2 Voutilainen, Jukka HV71 CE 21 14 9 23
3 Thörnberg, Martin HV71 LW 21 9 13 22
4 Kallio, Tomi FHC RW 21 12 9 21
5 Weinhandl, Mattias LHC CE 20 13 7 20
6 Hrdina, Jan HV71 CE 20 11 8 19
7 Davidsson, Johan HV71 CE 18 7 12 19
8 Hahl, Riku TIK CE 18 6 13 19
9 Lind, Mikael BIF CE 20 10 8 18
10 Söderberg, Anders SAIK LW 21 10 8 18



For Illegal Curve, I'm Ezra Ginsburg.

Cold Hard Rants

Earlier this week, as I was surfing the web while relaxing after a hard day’s night in the business world, I surfed my way over to SI.com. I checked out my usual columnists (Banks, King, and Zimmerman), took a second to gather myself at the inordinate arrogance that frequently spews forth from Dr. Z (he would fit right in on the Worldwide Leader™ with his shameful self promotion and insistence that he is the actual story), and then surfed over to their daily web/blog links. Now, very rarely does the NHL ever get any promotion in the blogs highlighted on SI, so that’s why this post from the blog Low Percentage Shot caught my eye (btw props to Low Percentage Shot for blogrolling us good folk at Illegal Curve.)

In the post, the brains behind Low Percentage argues that the NHL needs to do a much better job at promoting itself, and one of the best ways it can begin to do so is by highlighting the romantic dalliances between it’s players and some of Hollywood’s leading ladies. While I am willing to predict that the Low Percentage blog was being somewhat tongue in cheek in it’s suggestion, it led me to ask (to myself) why doesn’t the NHL do a better job at promoting itself? In fact, best as I can tell, the NHL doesn’t do any promotion of itself at all! The only NHL marketing campaigns I can think of in the past couple of years is the “Coolest Game on Ice campaign”, and the “Warrior Series” that the geniuses came up with to promote the NHL restart after the strike/lockout/clusterf*ck. To say that the Warrior Series was an abject failure, almost to the point of it being comical in how bad it was, is an understatement along the lines of George W. Bush has had some mis-steps in his presidency.

I think most sports fans would readily admit that NHL players are some of the best athletes currently participating in professional sports. Hockey players possess an impressive combination of strength, speed, and agility and they demonstrate so on a blade the size of my pinky finger. (For those that don’t know me, my pinky finger is a regular sized pinky, not some grotesque amalgam of a finger and a pituitary gland disorder.) Why the NHL doesn’t do a better job of promoting its players is another one of those decisions made by NHL higher-ups that boggles the mind.

The list of mis-steps taken by the NHL (both in a marketing perspective and not) is longer than the list of girls who have had their heart’s broken by Illegal Curve’s own Richy P. Yet, their biggest mistake may be the fact that in all the years it has been around, it has created exactly one star that has transcended hockey and become a household name. That, of course, is W. Gretzky, and the odds that the perfect storm that resulted in him becoming a star re-occurring is slim to nil. So, in hindsight, maybe Low Percentage is on to something. Why shouldn’t the NHL start promoting the relationships between its players and Hollywood Starlets? NHL Players on the red carpets. NHL players taking out the trash and appearing in whichever awful gossip magazine has that “they are just like us” section. NHL players involved in love triangles. The NHL should begin to market their players to teenage girls, and the “in crowd” in Hollywood. The worst-case scenario is it doesn’t work and they end up with the same amount of publicity they usually get (that would be none.) It’s time the NHL begins to think outside of the box. Lord knows their current thought process of, “duh” hasn’t worked so far.

For Illegal Curve, I am Andrew M.

About the writer: Formerly a speech writer for a Canadian Federal Politician, Andrew will be bringing his unique take on the hockey world to the illegal curve blog once a week, or more often if the rage needs to be released in a manner other than clobbering a referee over the head with a whiskey bottle. Mainly because he doesn’t have enough empty whiskey bottles at his disposal.

NHL Morning Papers (Thursday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

• Dave Shoalts of the Globe & Mail suggests the Leafs wait until the summer to make any decisions about their coach and general manager.
• Here are some NHL notes courtesy of the National Post.
• Hugh Adami summarizes the NHL franchise rankings courtesy of the Hockey News.
• George Johnson details the Chicago Blackhawks and their two new phenoms in the National Post.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• Two odd penalties cost Anaheim a 1-0 lead as they were defeated 2-1 by the Stars on Wednesday night.
• Jonathan Toews is looking forward his first ever Western Canadian road trip writes Randy Sportak of the Calgary Sun.
• Hawks' enforcer David Koci has made a point of working on his offensive game while he has been sitting out of the lineup with a broken nose.
• The Avalanche are hoping to end their offensive struggles tonight at Edmonton writes Adrian Dater of the Denver Post.
• Blue Jackets' coach Ken Hitchcock was unhappy with his team's competition level last night writes Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch. It looks like Manny Malhotra will be hosting Thanksgiving dinner for a number of his teammates.
• After last night's 3-0 victory over St. Louis, Red Wings' netminder Chris Osgood's record moved to 10-1 on the campaign. Wings' defenseman Niklas Kronwall is hoping to increase his offensive output, although he still feels he's behind where he should be since his groin injury.
• Fernando Pisani has not put a timeline on his return, but it looks like the reliable winger is getting closer and closer to an amazing comeback.
• Make it four losses in a row for the Kings, who continue to have trouble generating offense, after they lost to Phoenix 4-1 last night.
• The Canucks, playing their third game in four nights, had more energy than the Wild on Wednesday and defeated Minnesota 4-2 at the Xcel Center. Veteran defenseman Sean Hill made his season debut last night.
• The Coyotes are now one game within .500 after their 4-1 victory over the Kings on Wednesday night. Coyotes' coach Wayne Gretzky has been very impressed with the work ethic of Mike Zigomanis writes Jim Gintonio of the Arizona Republic.
• The Sharks have signed Matt Carle to a big-time contract extension and David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News has the details.
• Blues' coach Andy Murray didn't think his team played hard enough last night and placed the blame for that squarely on his shoulders. Meanwhile, St. Louis winger David Backes is targeting November 30 as a return date from his knee injury.
• The Canucks put forth an impressive effort in their big 4-2 win over the Wild on Wednesday writes Iain MacIntyre of the Vancouver Sun.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• The Thrashers easily handled the more than struggling Capitals last night with a 5-1 victory. "They played like they wanted to get their coach fired, but that's another story," said Thrashers' center Bobby Holik.
• Manny Fernandez just can't seem to shake the injury bug as he left practice yesterday with back spasms. Glen Murray just couldn't find the net to start the season, but his luck has started to change recently, much to the delight of Bruins' coach Claude Julien.
• The Sabres are realizing how much easier it is to play with the lead, as the young squad scored the first three goals of the game last night and defeated the Eastern leading Senators 4-2. While he hasn't made any decisions about a comeback, it is still great to hear that Teppo Numminen has been skating on his own.
• The Hurricanes have now lost three of their last four games after being beaten down by the Flyers 6-3 last evening. In other Canes' news, winger Erik Cole has been cleared for contact drills; however, his return date is still in question.
• The Panthers finally decided to win a game that wasn't close at the end, with a 5-2 victory at Columbus on Wednesday. The key to the team's victory was a strong third period writes George Richards of the Miami Herald.
• As Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette tells us, the Habs got two goals from defensive specialist Steve Begin and had no problem upending the Isles 4-1 on Wednesday.
• Long-time Devils' defenseman Colin White was back in the lineup last night and gave the team a morale boost in the Devils' 2-1 victory over the Penguins. In even better news, White says he is back to play for the long haul and won't consider disability insurance for his injured eye.
• The Rangers rarely allow teams to score more than two goals against them in a game, and last night was no exception, as Henrik Lundqvist turned aside 32 shots in the team's 2-1 victory over Tampa Bay.
• The Islanders were unhappy with their play in the first two periods of Wednesday's game writes Greg Logan of Newsday.
• Ray Emery wasn't impressive last night, but then again, neither were the rest of the Senators who were handily defeated 4-2 by the Sabres. Winger Patrick Eaves left last night's game with a separated shoulder.
• Daniel Briere proved why the Flyers unloaded the Brinks truck in front of his house this summer, with a hat trick and one assist in his team's 6-3 victory over the Hurricanes.
• The Penguins lost their fourth straight one-goal game last night by a score of 2-1 to the Devils. The Pens play tonight in Ottawa, and the fact that they are playing on Thanksgiving night doesn't really seem to be an issue.
• The Lightning were shutdown 2-1 by the Rangers, who have become the stingiest defensive team in the league writes Carter Gaddis of the Tampa Tribune.
• Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star tells readers that Mats Sundin is currently on pace to post the second highest point total of his illustrious career. Pat Burns says there are nothing to the rumors of him returning to coach the Leafs. As Dave Feschuk writes, Brett Hull has quickly realized that there is more to being a general manager than he once thought.
• Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post wonders just how much worse it can get for the Capitals right now.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Nightly Recap

Montreal 4 - NY Islanders 1: Chris Higgins, a native of Long Island had a goal and an assist and Steve Begin had 2 goals. Cris Huet stopped 44 of 45 shots in the win. (Wow!)

Philadelphia 6 - Carolina 3: Danny Briere had three goals and one assist, and Mike Knuble had one goal and two assists. Marty Biron stopped 32 of 35 in the win. Matt Cullen had 3 points for the Hurricanes, who now have lost three of their past four.

Florida 5 - Columbus 2 - Rosti Olesz had two goals and an assist, Nathan Horton and Stephen Weiss each had two assists for the Panthers. Tomas Vokoun made 34 saves in the win. The Blue Jackets have now won one in their last eight games.

Atlanta 5 - Washington 1 - Ilya Kovalchuk continues to be a monster for the Thrashers, he put up two goals and two assists tonight, he has 11 points in his past four games. Rookie Tobias Endstrom had three assists and Marian Hossa had two. Washington has now lost five consecutive games.

Buffalo 4 - Ottawa 1 - Buffalo got three first period goals from Michael Ryan, Ales Kotalik and Derek Roy, and that was it . Roy and Thomas Vanek each had two points on the night for the Sabres. It was Ottawa's fourth loss on the season.

NY Rangers 2 - Tampa Bay 1 - Henrik Lundqvist was 16 seconds away from his fifth shutout but it was spoiled by Michel Ouellet. Vinny Lecavaliers eight game streak of multi point games was snapped tonight. Fedor Tyutin and Colton Orr scored for the Rangers.

New Jersey 2 - Pittsburgh 1 - Zach Parise scored two powerplay goals for the Devils, while Martin Brodeur earned his 501st career win . Pittsburgh has now lost six of their past seven. New Jersey leads the season series against Pittsburgh 3 - 1.

Detroit 3 - St Louis 0 - Chris Osgood made a whopping 12 saves to earn his 44th career shutout. Henrik Zetterberg scored his 15th of the year. The Blues snapped their 4 game win streak.

Vancouver 4 - Minnesota 2 - Markus Naslund was in top form tonight, netting a hat-trick. The Sedin Twins had two assists each. Marian Gaborik scored both goals for the Wild, fantasy owners rejoiced.

Dallas 2 - Anaheim 1 - Mike Smith stopped 17 of 18 for the Stars in the win. Mike Modano was honoured in pre-game ceremonies for passing Phil Housley for most points by a US born player. He responded by scoring his 513th career goal, also a record for American born players.

Phoenix 4 - Los Angeles 1 - Mike York scored two goals for the 'Yoters. Ilya Bryzgalov won his second game in a Phoenix uniform, defeating the Kings for the second time.

Tomorrow's Games (all times Eastern)
7:30pm PIT@OTT
8:00pm DET@NSH
9:00pm CHI@CGY, COL@EDM

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our American readers.

News You Can Use Late in the Day

Due to an exceptionally busy day, I will post a Prospect Pulse tomorrow and stick with the news this afternoon.

-Eric Duhatschek feels that Mikka Kiprusoff is not to blame for the Flames poor play this year.
-Mike Brophy wonders if the Leafs should trade
-The sultry Martine Gaillard examines NHL rivalries.
-Nik Backstrom is making the most of his opportunity with the Wild after paying his dues in Europe.
-The Sharks have locked up Matt "Hot" Carle with a new 4 year deal.
-Kukla with some reasons to be thankful for hockey.
-The Hockey News with the Top 10 Reasons for trading Tuuka Rask.
-Alex Ponikarovsky becomes a Canadian citizen.
-The Hockey News with mini-profiles on some hot prospects.
-The Regina Pats call up some prospects on their western road swing.
-Tortorella is fined $10 large for his comments on league officials.
-The Miami Herald reports trouble in the Panthers dressing room.
-An update on former Red Wing Jiri Fischer.
-The Thrashers have enjoyed a revival under Don Waddell.
-Kevin Lowe admits the Oilers are rebuilding.
-NHL Power Rankings from Sports Illustrated.
-NCAA Power Rankings from INCH.
-Stan Fischler wonders if the Devils are on the verge of making a deal.
-The Score looks at the decline in the number of Russians in the NHL.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Kyle Kosior

Fantasy Watch: Buy/Sell

BUY

F Patrick Marleau, San Jose Sharks
Marleau struggled to begin this season, scoring only four points in the first month of the season. After averaging around a point per game the last two seasons, owners began wondering what was wrong with Marleau? Regulated to the bench on most fantasy teams, Marleau has since gotten hot, scoring six points in his last four games. While he still only has 11 points on the year, Marleau's recent outburst shows that he can still be a consistent fantasy scorer. Due to a slow start Marleau's overall points may dip a bit, but nonetheless, expect a big second half for the forward.

F Alexander Radulov, Nashville Predators
Radulov began this season in Nashville and after a slow start to his sophomore year, the forward was heavily criticized over poor conditioning in the off-season. After only scoring seven points in October,
Radulov has since gotten hot, as he has already eclipsed his point total from October. With three goals and eight points in November, it appears that the former first round pick has overcome his early season struggles. With the potnetial to be one of the NHL's top players, Radulov has to have owners furious with only 15 points on the year. Try to see if you can make a deal for the forward as he is in line to have a big second half.

F Ryan Smyth, Colorado Avalanche
Smyth is having a disappointing season in Colorado, scoring only 13 points in his first 19 games. Nonetheless, if you can get Smyth for cheap in your league than do so. The forward has always been around a point per game pace player and should develop better chemistry with his line mates as the season goes on. Expect a significant turnaround for the former Oiler once he gets more comfortable playing in Colorado.


SELL

F Mike Comrie, New York Islanders
Comrie got off to a fast start this season scoring six points in his first two games, which had owners immediately checking the waiver wire for his availability. While he is currently averaging a point per game, Comrie's scoring has become rather inconsistent as of late. With only two points in his last five games, Comire has failed to show the offensive burst that he displayed earlier in the season. Although the former Coyote may end up finishing the season with around 50+ points, it's advised to trade him for a more proven scorer.

G Ilya Bryzgalov, Phoenix Coyotes
Bryzgalov's stock may never get higher than it is right now. After being claimed off of waivers by the Phoenix Coyotes, Bryzgalov was named the starter for Phoenix's next game and immediately posted a shutout. Although Bryzgalov will probably receive the bulk of the starts in Phoenix, owners should not expect this kind of performance regularly. When playing for a much more talented Anaheim team, Bryzgalov was nothing more than mediocre, as his 10-8-6 record in 2006 shows that he was only a decent backup. It's advised to try and trade Bryzgalov now, because when the losses start coming, no one is going to take him.

F Jere Lehtinen, Dallas Stars
Lehtinen is currently Dallas' second leading scorer with 19 points in 20 games. Receiving significant playing time on Dallas' squad, Lehtinen's sudden offensive has been a surprise to many. After having an off year last season, it was thought that Lehtinen's stats would take another hit, as he is getting up their in age. On pace to eclipse his career high in points, it may seem silly to unload Lehitnen, but with his stock so high, now is the best time to do it. Already at age 34, Lehtinen has never scored more than 52 points in a season, and although it may look like he could break it, players of Lehtinen's age always tend to slow down.


For Illegal Curve, I'm Jonny Remis

EURO CURVE

Euro Curve takes a look at the latest international hockey headlines.

-Rumours are swirling that the 2008/2009 NHL season will start with two games between the New York Rangers and the Tampa Bay Lightning at Prague´s Sazka Arena.

- Apparently exiled Phoenix Coyotes Goaltender and Swiss National David Aebischer will sign with HC Lugano of the Swiss League. ( And the deal will run through 2012?!)

- Southern Bohemian Hockey (http://vakfan.blogspot.com/) reports that St.Louis Blues forward Martin Rucinsky might be out of the long term or short plans of team management. He points out that he has been a healthy scratch for the last three games. He mentions Sparta Praha or Ceske Budejovice as possible future destinations for the talented winger.

- A report from Hokej.Cz website says that Ex-Flames Puckstopper Jamie McLennan has inked a deal with the Nippon Paper Cranes in the Japanese Ice Hockey League.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Ezra Ginsburg.

NHL Morning Papers (Wednesday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

• Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail has Ryan Getzlaf's reaction to his new five year contract extension.
• The National Post says that with parity like it is in the game today, trades are harder to complete than ever before.
• Kevin Allen of USA Today details the great job done by Islanders' GM Garth Snow this off-season.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• Curtis Zupke of the Orange County register provides both management's and Ryan Getzlaf's perspective on yesterday five year contract extension. Both Todd Bertuzzi and Mathieu Schneider will be game-time decisions for the Ducks tonight.
• The Flames penalty killing was perfect last night as they defeated the Avalanche 4-1 at the Saddledome. David Moss finally got the monkey off his back last night scoring his first goal of the 2007/08 season writes Randy Sportak of the Calgary Sun. Mike Keenan's new line combinations worked well in yesterday's victory writes Scott Cruickshank of the Calgary Herald.
• The Blackhawks have made a big move on the Chicago scene by hiring away Cubs President John McDonough to be their team president. "I have great confidence that we are going to restore and reinvigorate this great franchise," McDonough said.
• The Avalanche held the lead in last night's game for a whole eight seconds before the Flames took over. Peter Forsberg's career may not be over writes Adrian Dater of the Denver Post.
• Blue Jackets' winger David Vyborny is less concerned with his current struggles because the team is winning and that's all that matters writes Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch. Meanwhile, Michael Arace of the Dispatch has an interesting piece on the Blue Jackets' first round draft record.
• Mike Smith will get his third consecutive start between the pipes for the Stars tonight but you won't see his goalie partner Marty Turco complaining because the team is winning.
• Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press has a story on the friendship between Kirk Maltby and Kris Draper. Chris Osgood will start tonight against the Blues, and Dominik Hasek will start tomorrow night versus Nashville.
• The Oilers scored a season high three power play goals on Tuesday versus Vancouver. "It was important that we got a win today based on our mental makeup," said head coach Craig MacTavish.
• If you look closely at the output of the Kings' offensive players, it is easy to see why the team is slumping.
• There have already been a number of heated exchanges between the Wild and Canucks and the teams haven't even stepped on the ice yet for tonight's contest in St. Paul. Mikko Koivu knows that teams have to stand up for each other, but he also wants his teammates to remember that the most important part about tonight's game is getting two points.
• Alexander Radulov's defensive game needs some work writes Jessica Hopp of the Tennessean.
• The Coyotes want to build on their Saturday afternoon victory over the Kings and win two in a row versus Los Angeles who is in Glendale to play the Coyotes tonight.
• A quarter of the way through the season and the Blues own the best penalty killing percentage in the league writes Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
• The Canucks were lucky to even get a point on Tuesday night versus Edmonton writes Iain MacIntyre of the Vancouver Sun. The Canucks focus now shifts to the Wild and the trash talking has already begun: "He's not much of a hockey player, so I guess he has to be a tough guy," said Ryan Kesler about Derek Boogard.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• There will be some new line combinations for the Capitals tonight as they try and breakout of their season-long slump.
• It couldn't have gotten much better for Tuukka Rask on Tuesday as the rookie netminder got his first NHL victory against the organization who drafted and then traded him. Damien Cox of the Toronto Star points out that injuries were never the issue with the struggling Maple Leafs who are still looking to find their identity.
• If Jordan Staal wants to breakout of his prolonged slump he has to starting going into the dirty areas says coach Michel Therrien. Meanwhile, Maxime Talbot will be lost to the Penguins' lineup for the next three games with a high ankle sprain.
• Martin Biron has made a point of working on his positioning the past few days in practice in order to get his game back to its top level. The Flyers will have a good idea of where they stand after they play both the Hurricanes and Senators this week.
• Chris Kelly looked comfortable alongside the combination of Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley on the Senators top line writes Alan Panzeri of the Ottawa Citizen. The Senators have been impressed with the play of Patrick Eaves so far this season writes Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun.
• The Islanders have shot down any suggestion of a Rangers hangover.
• The Rangers' best player Henrik Lundqvist says his team needs to start generating more scoring chances.
• In some good news, Colin White may suit up for the Devils tonight when they play the Penguins. However, he is on somewhat of a test run to see if he can still play NHL level hockey with blurry vision in one of his eyes. (Writer's note: Please mandate permanent visors on all player coming into the NHL already.)
• Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette reviews the first quarter of the Canadiens season in this morning's paper.
• As much as Olli Jokinen denies that there is a rift between him and Jacques Martin, the more you read about the situation, the more you think one of them won't be in Florida by season's end.
• The Hurricanes will be sporting the league's modified jerseys tonight as they take on the Flyers.
• Sabres' forward Thomas Vanek is hoping he can finally find his scoring touch sometime soon. Meanwhile, Tim Connolly could be in the lineup tonight as the Sabres take on the Senators.
• Tukka Rask stole the Bruins spotlight last night and deservedly so with his first NHL win writes Fluto Shinwaza of the Boston Globe.
• The Thrashers have been dominant in overtime this season, going a perfect 5-0 in the extra frame.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Nightly Recap: Rask Shines in Debut

Boston 4 - Toronto 2: In goalie Tukka Rask's first start for the Bruins, he made 30 saves defeating the team that drafted him (He was traded for Andrew Raycroft last year). Chuck Kobasew had two goals and one assist for Boston, and Thomas Kaberle had two assists for Toronto. Mats Sundin's 11th goal of the year moved him past Senator Frank Mahovlich to 27th on the all time goal scoring list. Next stop, Teemu Selanne with 540.

Edmonton 5 - Vancouver 4 (SO): Coming into the game Edmonton had a league worst powerplay having scored only 7 PP goals for a 8.5% success rate. In tonights game Edmonton converted 3 of 8 powerplays. Tom Gilbert, Ales Hemsky and Shawn Horcoff each had two points for the Oil. Markus Naslund had a goal and an assist for Vancouver, he now has five points in his past three games. Horcoff scored the winner in the fifth round of the shootout.

Here are some spectacular saves made tonight by Roberto Luongo


Calgary 4 - Colorado 1: Despite registering only 15 shots on Jose Theodore, the Flames were able to score four goals. Jarome Iginla scored his 12th of the year, Craig Conroy and Owen Nolan each had two point nights. Marek Svatos scored Colorado's lone goal, it was his 8th of the year.

Tomorrow's Games (all times Eastern)
7:00pm FLA@CLB, PHI@CAR, ATL@WSH, MTL@NYI,
7:30pm OTT@BUF (TSN), NYR@TB, NJ@PIT, STL@DET,
8:00pm VAN@MIN,
8:30pm ANA@DAL,
9:30pm LA@PHX

News You Can Use Late in the Day

-The Lethbridge Hurricanes are making an impact in the upper echelon of the WHL.
-A profile on Canucks' prospect Julien Ellis.
-Eric Duhatschek looks at Vincent Lecavalier's climb towards the top of the NHL.
-Former Cubs president joins the Blackhawks organization.
-Gary Bettman rules that Neil Smith is not entitled to any compensation for his brief tenure as the Islanders' GM.
-A profile on Luke Schenn of the Kelowna Rockets.
-Anaheim locks up Ryan Getzlaf with a lucrative contract extension.
-Former Leafs' draft pick Tuuka Rask will face the same Leafs in his first ever NHL start.
-Like obscure NHL stats? Have a lot of time on your hands? This link is for you.
-Bob McKenzie notes that the Ducks are anxious to find out about Niedermayer and Selanne so that they can sign Corey Perry.
-Taking Note with a profile on Ivan Rohac.
-More trouble ahead for Todd Bertuzzi, as Moore's lawyers claim he fraudulently transferred ownership of his home.
-Russia takes Game 1 of the ADT Challenge.
-Who's Hot and Who's Not in the CHL.
-ESPN interviews Mike Sillinger.
-Interesting article on Jeremy Roenick.
-Dave Siciliano wins his 500th Game in the USHL.
-Fanhouse with 10 Arguments against the shootout.
-Karl Samuelson examines why Swedes seem to flourish in Detroit.
-A profile on Jake Skjodt of the Indiana Ice.
-Raffi Torres is a feast or famine player.
-Pierre Lebrun of the Canadian Press announces the NHL Award winners at the quarter-pole.
-Adam Proteau's mailbag.
-Allan Rourke is doing everything possible to make it tough for the Oilers to send him back to Springfield.
-News and notes from Stan Fischler, with a great quote by Harry Neale on Sean Avery.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Kyle Kosior

Prospect Pulse: Semen Varlamov

I attended a midget minor AAA (Bantam AAA in Canada) tournament this weekend in Detroit and had the opportunity to speak with some scouts. I specifically asked a number of them about goaltenders, and to a man they all admitted that no one really knows what to look for. One guy just basically said he watches to see if he can make saves. Pretty simple stuff. In light of these conversations and the fact that I don't know much about goalies, I thought it seemed like time for my 3rd ever Prospect Pulse featuring a goalie.

In addition to having a funny first name, Semen Varlamov is also a first round pick of the Washington Capitals. The Caps, who obviously have no aversion to drafting Russians, see Varlamov as the heir apparent to Olaf Kolzig. Having worked his way up the Russian hockey ladder, the 19 year old is currently playing in the Russian Super League with Yaroslav Locomotiv. He put up a 15-7-6 record last year, with a 2.12 GAA in the defensively minded league.

The butterfly-style Russian impressed scouts at both the World Junior Championships and the ADT Canada-Russia Challenge, where he kept the mediocre Russian squad competitive with the CHL All-Star teams. Scouting reports on Varlamov are fairly predictable, with the usual platitudes about a quick glove hand and good reflexes. Fairly standard stuff. The one unique aspect of the various reports is that he can change his style of play to suit the game and the shooters. While he prefers the butterfly style, he is apparently quite adept at playing a throw back stand up game that can sometimes mystify shooters.

The weaknesses in his game are his skating, stick-handling and maturity. Though one should remember he is only 19. There are also concerns about him being Russian, but the fact remains that if he can stop pucks, he will be in the NHL.

Numbers Game: Scoring 1st

How many times have you heard coaches in their pre-game interviews state that the team’s key to success in the game will be to score the first goal? Following that assertion, the coach will likely emphasize the importance of getting on the board first in order to shift the momentum in favour of his team. How important is it really to score first? Do teams actually do better when the pot the first goal of the game?

(Click on image to enlarge)

Today’s Numbers Game reveals that in fact teams that score first are more likely to win the game. Collectively, teams that scored first in games last year ended up winning the game every 2 out of 3 times. That meant that teams that trailed first only won the game 33% of the time.

Further, teams that were above the league average (.6718) in winning percentage when they score the first goal of the game had, on average, 22.37 more points. Teams that had a winning percentage higher than league average for games in which they trailed first also enjoyed more success, averaging 26.13 more points.

Higher winning percentages for both scoring the first goal of the game and trailing first were also a very strong predictor of qualifying for the playoffs. Teams that qualified for the playoffs last year had a trail 1st % 14% higher than non-qualifiers and a score 1st % that was 12% higher. Teams that qualified for the playoffs also scored first in almost 8 more games compared to teams that did not qualify.

So when the Leafs play the Bruins this evening, I will be praying that they score first. As their record last year indicates, if the opposition scores first, they only win 31% of the time.

For Illegal Curve, I am Adam Gutkin.

NHL Morning Papers (Tuesday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

• As Dave Shoalts of the Globe & Mail tells us, Leafs' coach Paul Maurice has made a number of line adjustments in an effort to spark some more offense out of his club.
• Jack Todd of the National Post gives a summary of Larry Robinson's retired number ceremony in Montreal last night.
• The USA Today has a Q & A with veteran Ducks' defenseman Mathieu Schneider in this morning's paper.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• Not only did the Ducks acquire a new fourth line center yesterday but they are also hoping to have both Todd Bertuzzi and Mathieu Schneider back in their lineup for Wednesday's game against Dallas.
• Mike Keenan finally cracked the whip yesterday at practice writes Steve MacFarlane of the Calgary Sun. After taking a puck to the head from Canucks' defenseman Lukas Krajicek, Robyn Regehr is going to tough it out and will be in the lineup tonight versus Colorado.
• Hawks' winger Jason Williams is listed as questionable for the team's next game later this week with a strained groin. In positive Hawks' news, oft-injured forward Martin Havlat is expected to return to the team's lineup next week.
• Jose Theodore is slated to get the start tonight for the Avalanche as they take on the Flames in Calgary.
• Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch suggests Blue Jackets' GM Scott Howson is in the market to improve his team's secondary scoring. Meanwhile, the Jackets are hoping to have Mike Peca return to the lineup in the near future after the center has missed the past five games with a groin injury.
• The Stars are starting to turn their season around as they were able to exact their revenge on the Kings last with a 3-0 victory in Dallas. A move to Mike Modano's wing has sparked Jeff Halpern who now has three points in three games playing with the all-time leading American scorer.
• Wings' coach Mike Babcock is hoping Johan Franzen's shootout winner over the weekend will help him get out of his huge slump.
• Oilers' defenseman Mathieu Roy was back at practice yesterday attempting to rehab his injured shoulder. Meanwhile, Kyle Brodziak's knee is almost back to normal and the checking winger is expected to play tonight against the Canucks.
• Last night's 3-0 shutout at Dallas marked the first time the Kings had been shutout in two consecutive games since the 2001/02 season.
• Wild goaltending coach Bob Mason likes to make sure both of the netminders he works with keep an even keel writes Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune.
• The Predators were defeated last night by their ex-teammate Paul Kariya and the St. Louis Blues 3-0. Jason Arnott missed last night's game for the Predators with an injured neck.
• Coyotes' coach Wayne Gretzky doesn't want rookie Peter Mueller to get down about his lack of ice-time last game writes Jim Gintonoio of the Arizona Republic.
• Anyone hoping there was steam to that Patrick Marleau to the Flames rumors, shouldn't get too excited as David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News reports that no one from the Calgary front office has even called about the former Seattle Thunderbird.
• The Blues have won four straight games, but Blues' winger Paul Kariya thinks the team can play much better than it has in its last two contests. In other Blues' news, winger Martin Rucinsky has seen his offensive opportunities greatly reduced in recent games.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• The Capitals lost 4-3 to Florida last night and their struggles are reaching the point of no-return with only 13 points registered in 20 games played.
• The Leafs are hoping to play a lot better in Boston this time around than they did in their first trip to Massachusetts. Mark Zwolinkski wonders if former Leafs' prospect Tuukka Rask will get the start tonight for Boston.
• The Lightning were not happy with the officiating in their 4-3 overtime loss to the Thrashers last night in Atlanta. John Tortorella thinks the key to Jan Hlavac scoring on a consistent basis is a matter of confidence.
• Sidney Crosby was busy shooting a commercial and some pictures for ESPN the Magazine yesterday writes Shelly Anderson of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "That's a luxury," defenseman Mark Eaton said in reference to the Penguins extra time available to practice.
• "Physically, I feel pretty good, but the symptoms are still there," said Flyers' winger Simon Gagne in reference to his recent concussions.
• The Senators played the role of spoiler in their 4-2 victory last night over the Habs on Larry Robinson night. James Duthie thinks that Senators fans are dreaming if they think that the market is there for a Ray Emery trade. Meantime, Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun has an interesting piece on Senators' forward Chris Kelly.
• The Islanders made it three straight over the Rangers last night with a 2-1 at MSG writes Greg Logan of Newsday.
• "We allowed them to frustrate us and we got away from our structure that's been successful," NYR winger Brendan Shanahan said after last night's loss. Off-season acquisition Chris Drury is starting to become frustrated that he has been unable to develop chemistry with any of his linemates.
• Brent Sutter has gone with his gut in moving Patrik Elias to the middle to play center for first time since he was a child back in the Czech Republic.
• The Senators proved last night in Montreal why they are 1st in the Eastern Conference writes Pat Hickey in this morning's Montreal Gazette.
• The Panthers got some confidence after finally holding on to a third period lead on Monday writes Steve Gorten of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Additionally, winning in Washington allowed for the Cats to put an end to their road woes.
• It has come to a point where the Hurricanes can't even get through a practice without sustaining an injury writes Luke Decock of the News Observer.
• The Thrashers have gotten all the way back to .500 after their overtime victory over the Lightning last night.
• Bruins' coach Claude Julien is out to fix the defense in front of goalie Tim Thomas writes Stephen Harris of the Boston Herald.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

NHL Network Plays of the Week

Here are the top 10 NHL plays of the week, as shown by the NHL Network. If you ask me, the last play is a complete joke and doesn't deserve to be on the list. Contains a nice amount of Lecavalier and Brodeur. Enjoy.

Personally I feel that this goal by Scottie Upshall should have been number one.

Life in Pro Hockey with Rob Schremp (Second Entry)

Note: Periodically throughout the season, Oilers' prospect and current Springfield Falcons' winger Rob Schremp will provide Illegal Curve readers with a unique insight into the world of professional hockey.

For the second entry, we are going to do a Q & A with Rob about his season in Springfield so far.

Here are five quick questions with Rob Schremp:

Richard: How do you enjoy playing for Kelly Buchberger as a head coach?

Rob: This year has been great with Bucky he has given my some freedom to be creative and make offensive plays but still makes sure that I am good in my own end.

Richard: What part of your game would you say needs the most work right now?

Rob: I'd say probably my speed needs to improve, as far as my first three strides are concerned.

Richard: How have you enjoying running the powerplay in Springfield?

Rob: The power play has been something that I have been known for ever since I played for Dale Hunter in London. So running the powerplay in Springfield is something that is expected of me and is a big part of my game.

Richard: Would you say it has helped the team to have all of the Oilers' prospects playing on one team in the AHL this season, as opposed to having players play on multiple teams last season?

Rob: I think it benefits our team just because it gives us a chance to develop some chemistry with one other and maybe form some future line combinations.

Richard: Lastly, who has been the best player you have come up against in the AHL this season and why?

Rob: I would say that has to be Gabe Gauthier from Manchester. He always makes plays with the puck and he is always a good option for his linemates.

Fantasy Watch: Scouring the Waiver Wire

F Scottie Upshall, Philadelphia Flyers
After being buried on Nashville's depth chart, Upshall was traded to Philly last season and finally got a chance to prove he was worthy of the sixth overall pick back in 2002. Upshall didn't disappoint Philadelphia fans, as he scored 13 points in his first 18 games with the club. With Upshall being a popular sleeper pick this season, it was quite a blow to hear that the forward would be sidelined with a broken wrist for the first month. Since his return, Upshall has fit in perfectly in Philadelphia, scoring four goals and six points in nine games.
Fantasy Take: Upshall could be in for a great second half of the season as it looks like Philly is a perfect fit for him. Expect him to crush his previous career high of 24 points set back in 2005.

F Jeremy Roenick, San Jose Sharks
After producing only 28 points last season, it was widely agreed that Roenick was no longer a reliable fantasy option. Surprisingly, Roenick has turned back the clock in San Jose. Starting off the season slowly, Roenick has come alive this month scoring a point in all but one of San Jose's nine games. With 13 points on the year, Roenick has picked up the slack where other Sharks have been struggling, as he is currently in second place on San Jose in team scoring. Throw in five game winning goals and the Sharks have got to be happy with their off-season acquisition.
Fantasy Take: If your looking for a low end fantasy option, or an injury replacement, Roenick is your guy. But don't expect more than 35-40 points from the former Coyote.

G Ilya Bryzgalov, Phoenix Coyotes
Bryzgalov was a decent fantasy option in Anaheim, as he was the starter during the first few weeks while Giguere was sidelined. But since Giguere's return, the Ducks had no use for Bryzgalov anymore and put him on waivers. Looking for a proven goaltender, Phoenix snatched up Bryzgalov and immediately started him for their next game. Stopping all 28 shots to earn his first shutout of the season, Bryzgalov is on his way to becoming the #1 man in Phoenix. With backups Tellqvist and Auld not getting the job done, expect to see a lot of Bryzgalov for the rest of the season
Fantasy Take: Although Phoenix is a difficult place to play, expect Bryzgalov to put up numbers worthy of a starting spot in most leagues.

F Dainius Zubrus, New Jersey Devils
Zubrus was on his way to having an outstanding season last year, but was eventually traded to Buffalo, where his production suffered a significant drop off. Scoring only eight points in 19 games with the Sabres, Zubrus never panned out in Buffalo and soon found himself on a New Jersey team which lacked offensive weapons. While many fantasy experts were unsure if Zubrus could be a reliable fantasy option without Ovechkin, the former Capital has shown that he can still produce, just not at an elite level. With 12 points in 20 games, Zubrus has been a decent low end fantasy option and nothing more.
Fantasy Take: Zubrus has been very inconsistent this year and should only be starting in deeper leagues. Unless he is traded back to Washington, look for other options.


For Illegal Curve, I'm Jonny Remis

NHL Morning Papers (Monday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

• Dave Shoalts of the Globe & Mail wonders if the Leafs can build on their impressive victory over the Senators on Saturday night.
• Andrew Lupton of the National Post has a selection of some of the best takes in Bob McCown's new book the 100 Greatest Hockey Arguments.
• A.J. Perez of USA Today tells us that Sandis Ozolinsh is having the most fun of his NHL career in his second go-round with the San Jose Sharks.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• David Staples of the Edmonton Journal takes an inside look at the Oilers blogosphere in this morning's paper.
• The Flames got off to a bad start and it cost them last night in their 4-1 loss at Vancouver. The Flames own the worst powerplay in the league, at less than a ten percent success rate, writes Steve MacFarlane of the Calgary Sun.
• For a very young team, the Blackhawks are sitting pretty at the quarter-point of the season writes Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune. However, it's not all good news for the Hawks as they lost Rene Bourque to a broken thumb over the weekend and he'll be out of the lineup for 4-6 weeks.
• The Avalanche were easily defeated by the Wild 4-1 on Sunday night and, after the game, Joe Sakic said the Avs need to get back to the skating game that makes them most effective.
• The Blue Jackets were extremely satisfied with their performance last night versus the Red Wings, even if they did lose the game in a shootout writes Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch. The Jackets received a terrific performance from Nikolai Zherdev last night.
• The new two-headed GM in Dallas has begun to clear ice-time for the organization's youngsters, starting with the waiving of veteran fighter Todd Fedoruk on Sunday.
• The Red Wings weren't happy with their performance in their own zone, but they still found a way to pull out the win over Columbus last night.
• "He's always doing cheap stuff like that (going after light-weight Michal Handzus). I'm kind of sick of that, seeing Pronger be that guy," said Kings' injured tough guy Raitis Ivanans in this morning's L.A. Times.
• Matt Foy slept in on Sunday and was late to a team meeting, so the youngster was surprised to be in the lineup last night; however, his inclusion paid off as Foy scored once and added an assist in his team's 4-1 victory over Colorado.
• Predators' captain Jason Arnott believes the key to the team's turnaround in the standings has been the team's improved work ethic.
• With the Predators facing the Blues tonight, Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Dispatch details the Predators and their new-found identity.
• Apparently the Canucks don't need three of their top six defensemen as they handled the Flames 4-1 on home-ice last night.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• Thrashers' goaltender Kari Lehtonen returned to practice with his teammates yesterday, however, coach Don Waddell doesn't foresee Lehtonen returning to the lineup for approximately two weeks.
• Bruins' coach Claude Julien gave his team Sunday off after their frustrating game at Montreal on Saturday night. In other Bruins' news, it looks like Boston will be without defenseman Andrew Ference for a few weeks with a sprained knee.
• The Sabres powerplay has struggled since Tim Connolly went down to injury writes Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News.
• According to Panthers special assistant to the general manager Joe Nieuwendyk, the Panthers need to change their mentality when they have a late game lead. After getting off to a slow start, Panthers' center Stephen Weiss is finally playing at the level he is paid to play at.
• There will be some tears in the building tonight as legendary Habs' defenseman Larry Robinson will have his jersey raised to the Molson Centre rafters tonight. Jack Todd of the Montreal Gazette opines that Robinson and Habs' GM Bob Gainey were his two favorites Canadiens when the team was churning out Stanley Cups in the 70's.
• Martin Brodeur continues to be his modest self, even after winning his 500th NHL game over the weekend.
• Larry Brooks says Daniel Girardi's star is rising fast as the youngster has become a top-pair defenseman for the Rangers this season.
• Islanders' coach Ted Nolan has switched up his lines again in an effort to increase his team's offensive output.
• Dany Heatley is trying his best to practice his way out of his goal-scoring slump writes Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun. Meanwhile, Senators' coach John Paddock has threatened to reduce ice-time for players who continue to give the puck away.
• Flyers' winger Simon Gagne was on the ice yesterday for a skate, but still remains a ways away from returning to the lineup.
• Penguins' winger Colby Armstrong is staying positive even though he has been a healthy scratch for six of his team's last eight games. Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wonders if coach Michel Therrien will start employing Sidney Crosby on the penalty kill more often.
• Brad Richards has had a very impressive start to the season writes Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune.
• The Leafs have discovered a reliable shutdown line writes Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star. As Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun tells us, veteran Boyd Devereaux has carved a niche for himself on the Leafs' penalty kill.
• Alexander Semin is expected to return to the Capitals lineup tonight when they face the Florida Panthers.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Nightly Recap: Detroit Snaps Losing Skid

Detroit 5 - Columbus 4 (SO) - Johan Franzen scored the shootout winner in the 5th round of the shootout. Detroit snapped a three game losing streak, and is now 1-4 in shootouts. Columbus is 0-4 in shootouts. Rick Nash and Nicky Zherdev had three points each for the Jackets, Nicholas Lidstrom had three for the Wings.

Minnesota 4 - Colorado 1 - Minnesota received goals from four unlikely heroes, Matt Foy, Aaron Voros, Brent Burns and Stephane Veilleux. It was Brent Burns' fifth goal of the year, his second in two games.

Vancouver 4 - Calgary 1 - Markus Naslund and Henrik Sedin each had a goal and an assist. The Canucks are now 5-0-1 since losing top defenseman Kevin Bieksa and Sami Salo. The Canucks are now 8-0-1 vs the Northwest Division.

Tomorrow's Games (all times Eastern)
7:00pm NYI@NYR, FLA@WSH, TB@ATL (VS),
7:30pm OTT@MTL
8:30pm LA@DAL, NSH@STL

The HD Corner - Unique FSN Game

As first reported in The HD Corner, a Kings – Ducks game on FSN West was broadcasted without any play-by-play or colour commentary earlier this week. The unique broadcast was in HD, with special low camera angles that provided a unique perspective of the game. FSN Prime Ticket was also showing the game with the usual play calling, so it was interesting to go back and forth in between the two feeds. At first the distinct broadcast seemed like a great idea, but I found it hard to follow without the commentary. Watching a game live in person without commentary, and having the ability to focus on a certain area of the rink was a completely different experience than what was shown during this broadcast. Often at times, the camera would zoom-in on a particular player during a play stoppage, and it felt slightly uncomfortable tying to figure out what the purpose was for the iso shot.

The Score HD made its triumphant debut this weekend on Express Vu in Western Canada to little fanfare. Don’t get me wrong – the ticker’s Arial font in HD is breathtaking; however, the majority of the highlights are still in poor quality standard definition. And no, I don’t care if WWE’s Thursday Night Smackdown! will be in HD.

It looks like Mike Toth’s work on Sportsnetnews will be drastically decreasing, and he has apparently opted for more work on the FAN 590 in Toronto. Earlier this year Toth roughed up a Sportsnet producer over a minor difference in opinion, but according to sources, Toth’s decreasing workload wasn’t a result of this previous confrontation. It is however, arguably the funniest breaking news since Dutchie from TSN got in a brawl at his buddy’s wedding. Although Toth was quite cocky behind the desk, his Bob Cole impression will surely be missed. In other Sportsnet gossip, Greg Ross has flown the coup. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that this doesn’t mean more Jim Lange air time.

For those with XM Satelite Radio, you’ll be happy to know that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman will debut his new talk show called “NHL Hour” on November 27th. Bill Clement will co-host, who is apparently so desperate for work that he thought it would be a good career move to be involved in a business opportunity with Bettman. Bob Goodenow will probably call into the show to tell Clement “I told you so”.

NHL Morning Papers (Sunday Edition)

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun says John Ferguson Jr.'s days as Leafs' GM are numbered.
• You can find Bruce Garrioch's Sunday rumors column here.
• Although his overall numbers aren't overly impressive, Thrashers' goalie Johan Hedberg has turned his game up a notch as of late.
• "This is a game of mistakes, but when you have 4-5 huge mistakes in a game, you’re not going to win," said Bruins' winger Glen Murray after the Bruins were defeated 7-4 by the Habs on Saturday night. Bruins' coach Claude Julien and Habs' coach Guy Carbonneau were going at it late in last night's game. Aaron Ward returned to the Bruins' lineup last night after missing a couple games due to a concussion. Here is Kevin Paul Dupont's usual Sunday morning notes column in the Boston Globe.
• Bucky Gleason of the Buffalo News says he expects Brett Hull to turn the Stars around.
• The Hurricanes just held on for a 2-1 victory over the Panthers on Saturday, in what was Glen Wesley's 1400th game in the NHL.
• The Panthers were unable to score on a number of late 5-on-3 chances that would have sent the game to an extra frame. Amid speculation that he may be on the trading block, Panthers' forward Olli Jokinen has become a bit frustrated with all the rumors. George Richards of the Miami Herald has an interesting take on all the Jokinen rumors.
• Jack Todd of the Montreal Gazette commends Steve Begin on his mastery of the pest role. Here are some notes from around the NHL courtesy of legendary Gazette writer Red Fisher.
• It took him four tries but Martin Brodeur finally got that elusive 500th career victory last night in his team's 6-2 win over Philadelphia. As Rich Chere of the Newark Star-Ledger explains, if you think Brent Sutter has become discouraged by his team's play, then you don't know Brent Sutter.
• If you picked one player to score the overtime winner between the Rangers and Penguins, Jason Strudwick would have been your last choice writes John Dellapina of the NY Daily News. Larry Brooks of the NY Post is critical of Brent Sutter's "calling out" tactics in his Sunday Slap Shots column. (Writer's note: What's wrong with Sutter calling out his veterans whose performances are making them vastly overpaid? All Sutter wants is consistent hard work and production. His expectations are not unreasonable, and it will benefit Jersey in the long haul to no longer have the inmates running the asylum.)
• Greg Logan of Newsday says that Josef Vasicek has been a very pleasant surprise for the Islanders so far this season. Logan also has an interesting piece on the leadership that Bill Guerin has added to the Islanders both on and off the ice.
• Last night's embarrassing 3-0 loss to the Maple Leafs was the first loss on the road for the Senators. Ray Emery says he if he were the coach he'd be sticking with Martin Gerber too right now.
• It wasn't one of the Flyers best games last night, as they lacked solid performances in all aspects of the game.
• The Penguins couldn't capitalize on their two-goal lead and ended up losing to the division-leading Rangers in overtime. The Penguins better turn it around soon if they wish to duplicate last season's point total writes Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
• The Lightning defensemen have been responsible for a lot of the team's offense, and coach John Tortorella says that is partly due to the added responsibility of Lightning players (both forwards and defensemen) to play the other side of the puck.
• It has been a long time since somebody shutout the Senators, and that made Vesa Toskala's performance an even bigger story on Saturday night after the Leafs handled the Senators 3-0 on home-ice. "Bryan McCabe was a horse out there," said an impressed Mats Sundin after last night's shutout.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• Last night's shootout victory over the rival Sharks made it four wins in a row for the now-streaking Ducks writes Dan Wood of the Orange County Register.
• It took the Flames a while, but they finally cracked the Garon Code and defeated the struggling (or maybe just plain bad) Oilers 3-1 at Rexall Place. Owen Nolan is hoping to build on his one goal and one assist performance from last night and turn his game up to another level.
• The Blackhawks just flat-out own the Red Wings this season after defeating them for a fourth straight time on Saturday night. Meanwhile, the Hawks youngsters have played so well that they are now being matched up against opposing team's top checking lines and top defensemen.
• Terry Frei of the Denver Post gives you his take on a number of current NHL issues in this morning's paper.
• The Blue Jackets have to make sure their penalty killing is in top form tonight as they face the Red Wings. Here are the Jackets' projected lines for tonight's contest.
• Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News says the Stars' number one goal is to wins the fans back.
• The Red Wings were playing in front of their first home sell-out of the season, but the fans took to booing after watching the Wings give up three short-handed markers and lose to the Hawks for the fourth time this season. "I don't have any explanation -- I don't know what to say about it. It was same situation in St. Louis and today it was a similar situation -- not too many saves; however, they score four goals on 15 shots, whatever. Very disappointed," said Wings' netminder Dominik Hasek after last night's performance.
• The Oilers could only muster 16 shots on Miikka Kiprusoff last night and were defeated by the Flames 3-1 on home-ice. (Writer's note: You will read this column and come across the many reasons why the Oilers' players believe they can't score. Unfortunately, the main reason is because they just aren't a talented enough team to generate consistent offensive opportunities). As John MacKinnon of the Edmonton Journal explains, the Flames have been lacking consistent goaltending all season, but when you only get eight shots on goal through two periods, that goaltending doesn't even become an issue. In other Oilers related news, Derek Van Diest of the Edmonton Sun provides readers with the story of Liam Reddox.
• The Kings faced Ilya Brygalov yesterday afternoon and they were shutout by the newest Coyote 1-0.
• Mikko Koivu will be lost to the Wild lineup for one week and maybe more after taking an inexplicable two-hand slash to the leg on Friday night.
• The Predators were not unhappy with the way they played last night, they just couldn't capitalize on their scoring chances and ended up losing to the Blues 3-2 in a shootout. "It was nice to get one point tonight, but we should have had two," said Predators' defenseman Shea Weber who returned from injury last night.
• The Coyotes responded well to their closed-door meeting on Thursday night with a solid, hard-working performance that led to a 1-0 victory over the Kings.
• It as a playoff atmosphere last night in the Shark Tank as the Ducks defeated San Jose in a shootout 2-1 write David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News.
• The Blues were very impressed with the play of Hannu Toivonen on Saturday, as the youngster turned aside 35 of the 37 shots he faced.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Nightly Recap - Lookin' Sharp

Phoenix 1 - Los Angeles 0 - In Ilya Bryzgalov's Coytoes debut he showed why he should be a #1 goaltender making 28 saves to shut out the Kings. On the other end Jason LaBarbera held his own, stopping 37. Shane Doan scored the games lone goal.

Montreal 7 - Boston 4 - Carey Price is now 5-1-1 to begin his rookie campaign. Montreal had seven goals scored by seven players, and had six players with multiple point nights (Chipchura, Hamrlik, Koivu, Markov, Ryder, Streit). Tim Thomas got blasted for 52 shots, he was only able to stop 45, theres only so much one guy can do! Glen Murray and Marc Savard had three points each.

Chicago 5 - Detroit 3 - Chicago is now 4-0 on the season, Patrick Sharp made it rain hats tonight, scoring three in the third period.

Toronto 3 - Ottawa 0 - In the upset of the night, Bryan McCabe and Thomas Kaberle had two assists each and rookie Jiri Tlusty scored his third of the night, it was not by showing the goaltender his penis. Vesa Toskala made 24 saves for the shutout

New Jersey 6 - Philadelphia 2 - Martin Brodeur won his 500th career game, Zach Parise had a goal and two assists.

Carolina 2 - Florida 1 - Rod "the bod" Brind'Amour scored both goals for the Canes and Cam Ward stopped 27.

New York Rangers 4 - Pittsburgh 3 (OT) - Jason Strudwick scored the game winner in OT on a pretty pass from Paul Mara, it was Strudwick's first points of the year. Jaromir Jagr played 22:26 minutes, and did not register a point or a shot on goal, Martin Straka is close to returning which could ignite Jagr. Michal Roszival scored two goals for the Rangers and Sidney Crosby extended his point streak to 19 games. The Penguins club record is 45 by Super Mario.

St Louis 3 - Nashville 2 (SO) - Brad Boyes scored the only goal in the shootout, and also spanked one in during regulation. Hannu Toivonen made 35 saves for the Blues, rookie David Perron scored his 5th goal of the year, he has 5 points in his past 4 games.

Calgary 3 - Edmonton 1 - After losing five straight the Flames have now won two in a row. Owen Nolan and Matthew Lombardi each had a goal and an assist. Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 15 in the win. (As a blogger I must say Miikka is my favourite name to type out)

Anaheim 2 - San Jose 1 (SO) - Corey Perry scored the lone shootout goal for the Ducks, Evegni Nabokov and J.S. Gigeure both stopped 28 of 29 during the game. Goals by Chris Kunitz and Torey Mitchell. After a slow start, Anaheim is now on a 4 game win streak and is 6-1-1 in November.

Tommorow's Games (all times Eastern)
5:00pm DET@CLB
6:00pm COL@MIN
8:00pm CGY@VAN

NHL Schedule is a Joke

Looking over the NHL schedule probably makes one feel like it's Groundhog Day. Nevermind the ridiculous amount of games against division foes (32 in total), but the NHL feels the need to not space these match ups out at all; thus, fans are left with the same Panthers/Hurricanes match up seemingly once per week.

Who is making this schedule? Some teams have an entire week off in the middle of the season (see the Kings recently) and that only serves to make players rusty and, as a result, worsens the quality of play. Now, you may be thinking that a week off gives the players ample rest, well, three days off gives players ample rest, seven days off makes players rusty.

The NHL schedule is a complete joke. The novelty of the key NHL match ups (Habs/Leafs) has completely worn off and I have not recognized any division match ups becoming more heated because of the increased intra-division play. The league can't change this thing fast enough.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Mattias Ohlund Slash

For those of you who did not catch it, Canucks' defenseman Mattias Ohlund took a baseball-like swing at Mikko Koivu's ankle late in last night's Canucks/Wild game.

Here was the reaction of Wild enforcer Derek Boogard after the contest:

“Obviously a slash like that, you expect to see at least a five-game suspension,” he said. “We’ll see how things play out on Wednesday. Their so-called agitators were taking liberties but as soon as I step on the ice, they scatter to their holes. I’m not going to stand for it. Maybe I go out and slash [Markus] Naslund or Pinky and the Brain twins.”

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Saturday mornings off

After much consideration, I have decided to take one morning off per-week in order to re-charge the batteries. Generally speaking, Friday nights are quiet nights in the NHL, so it made the most sense for me to take Saturday mornings off from the NHL Morning Papers. The feature will still be posted Sunday through Friday. In the meantime, if I come across anything I feel is worth posting, I will post my thoughts/any links throughout the day.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Fantasy Watch: Goalie Starts

Nov 19th-25th

Anaheim Ducks (3) – Bryzgalov's role has diminished recently as he only has two starts in November.

Atlanta Thrashers (4) – Pavelec has been a great fill in for Lehtonen and should continue to receive starts this week.

Boston Bruins (3) – Fernandez is still out with a knee injury making Thomas the undisputed starter.

Buffalo Sabres (3) – Miller struggles can be blamed on Buffalo's lackluster offense.

Carolina Hurricanes (3) – Ward has been great all year but may yield a start to Grahame with back-to-back games this week.

Calgary Flames (4) – Kiprusoff has started all 18 games this year, but this may be the week that
Calgary finally gives him a rest due to a busy schedule.

Chicago Blackhawks (3) – Look for Khabibulin to receive all three starts this week.

Columbus Blue Jackets (3) – Leclaire has struggled recently but is still the #1 goaltender in Columbus.

Colorado Avalanche (3) – Budaj is still the #1 guy, but Theodore's recent performances make it hard to keep him on the bench.

Dallas Stars (4) – The Stars don't like to overuse Turco, so with four games on the schedule expect to see backup Smith at least once.

Detroit Red Wings (3) – With back-to-back games, expect to see Osgood get the call once this week.

Edmonton Oilers (3) – Garon has outperformed Roloson this season and should see more starts.
Florida Panthers (3) – Vokoun should receive all three starts this week.

Los Angeles Kings (4) – LaBarbera has emerged as the starter in LA but it won't stay that way if he continues to struggle.

Minnesota Wild (3) – With Backstrom hurting, Harding will become the #1 guy.

Montreal Canadiens (4) – Price should see some action due to Montreal's busy schedule.

Nashville Predators (3) – Mason has turned it around recently winning three of his last four games.

New Jersey Devils (3) – Brodeur should receive all three starts this week.

New York Islanders (4) – Dubielewicz may see some action with back-to-back games this week.
New York Rangers (4) – Lundqvist has been the backbone to the Rangers team and should be starting all four games this week.

Ottawa Senators (4) – Gerber is currently riding an eight game win streak.

Philadelphia Flyers (3) – Biron should see action in all three games this week.

Phoenix Coyotes (3) – Auld and Tellqvist are still splitting time.

Pittsburgh Penguins (3) – Expect to see Fleury in goal for all three games this week.

San Jose Sharks (1) – Expect Nabokov to get San Jose's lone start this week.

St. Louis Blues (3) - Legace should get all three starts this week

Tampa Bay Lightining (4) – Holmqvist may yield a start to Denis with four games this week.

Toronto Maple Leafs (3) – After missing a game due to the flu Toskala should be ready to go.

Vancouver Canucks (4) – The Canucks rarely give Luongo a rest, so expect to see him in all four games this week.

Washington Capitals (4) – Kolzig rarely works back-to-back games, so expect to see Johnson in for one of them.


For Illegal Curve, I'm Jonny Remis

NHL Morning Papers (Friday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

• Tony Gallagher of the National Post opines that the hockey being played in the NHL's Northwest Division is boring.
• Kevin Allen of USA Today believes that the Penguins have a variety of problems not just goaltending problems.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• If Don Waddell hires a coach this season, it will be from inside the organization writes Craig Custance of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
• The struggling Bruins' offense got the medicine it needed (aka the Leafs defense) and tallied five goals on the way to a 5-2 victory. Bruins' GM Peter Chiarelli told a Toronto radio station that injured center Patrice Bergeron could very well be gone for the entire season. Chiarelli also noted in the interview how close Tuukka Rask is to playing a substantial role for the Bruins this season.
• The song remains the same for the Sabres as they were defeated 3-2 by the Senators on Thursday night. Sabres' GM Darcy Regier is sick of watching boring hockey, not as a general manager with sour grapes, but as a fan. (Writer's note: His take is interesting, and I have to say I agree with most, if not all, of what he says.)
• The Hurricanes are frustrated over the amount of blowout losses they have suffered this season writes Lorenzo Perez of the News Observer. Canes' winger Erik Cole will be out 7-10 days to allow the swelling in his neck to subside.
• This time the Panthers didn't blow a late third period lead as they successfully closed out the struggling Capitals 2-1 on Thursday night. Don't expect Jacques Martin to make any rash trades writes George Richards of the Miami Herald.
• The Habs are hoping usual fourth-liner Tom Kostopoulos will add some life to the team's top line. (Writer's note: I guess cousin Jesse was unavailable for first line duty...)
• The Devils are hoping Paul Martin won't have to miss another game, after he left the Devils/Rangers game with back problems earlier this week.
• The Rangers were dishing out all the cliche answers about why they are suddenly winning games after last night's 4-3 shootout victory over the Flyers. Last night's victory moved the Rangers into a tie for first place with the Flyers.
• "I don't think that was our best effort," said Islanders' goalie Rick DiPietro after his team's 3-2 loss to the Penguins.
• The spotlight was on Daniel Alfredsson last night in Ottawa as the Senators' captain was playing in hi 800th career game and topped out that milestone game with two goals of his own. (Writer's note: I have a suggestion, more stories about Daniel Alfredsson and less stories about Sean Avery. Heatley and Spezza may get all the press clipping in Ottawa, but Alfredsson is team's best player.)
• Sam Donnellon of the Philadelphia Daily News has been very impressed with the play of Mike Richards this season.
• Michel Therrien scratched Darryl Sydor, Colby Armstrong and Mark Recchi for last night's game, which the Penguins won 3-2 over the Islanders.
• The Lightning defensemen have done a great job of collectively picking up the slack for their injured defensive leader Dan Boyle writes Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune.
• "We weren't ready. We weren't prepared to do the job tonight and that's why we lost," said Leafs' defenceman Tomas Kaberle after last night's 5-2 loss to the Bruins. One of the many problems for the Leafs, is their inability to get the puck quickly out of their own zone.
• The Capitals inability to get goals from anyone other than Alexander Ovechkin is killing the team's chances of turning around their prolonged slump.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• All indications are that Blues' rookie David Perron will remain with the NHL club after he plays his ninth game tonight.
• The Sharks completely demolished the Coyotes last night, defeating them 6-0 on the road. Both defenseman Craig Rivet and forward Marcel Goc missed last night's game due to injury. (Writer's note: The Sharks have played six games in nine days, three of those games were against the lowly Coyotes, yet Evgeni Nabokov played each and every game. When does Ron Wilson plan to give him some rest?)
• "The last three games have been unacceptable," Coyotes' captain Shane Doan said after last night's embarrassing performance.
• The Predators played the role of comeback kids last night with a come-from-behind 5-4 overtime victory over division-rival Chicago. The Predators are proving to have two strong scoring lines writes John Glennon of the Tennessean.
• The Oilers continue to struggle putting goals on the board as they were defeated last night 4-2 by the Wild. John MacKinnon of the Edmonton Journal thinks there is a goaltending controversy on the verge of taking place in the Albertan capital. Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun has an interesting piece on the Oilers' youngsters playing down in Springfield of the AHL.
• Niklas Backstrom was pulled from the Wild net last night, yet he wasn't injured and his team actually had the lead. If Backstrom is in Lemaire's doghouse, then he won't have any trouble finding Keith Carney who has been a healthy scratch eight times this season.
• The Ducks' top line was better than the Kings' top line and that's why the Ducks edged Los Angeles 6-3 at the Staples Center on Thursday night. "Hopefully we're turning a corner and understanding how difficult it is to win in the NHL," said Ducks' coach Randy Carlyle after last night's contest. (Writer's note: Randy, what does that even mean? Your team won the Stanley Cup last season.)
• Flames' netminder Miikka Kiprusoff is hoping to build off of his own performance in Tuesday's win over the Wild.
• The Avalanche will have Andrew Brunette in their lineup even after he took a scary spill in practice two days ago, and also Jose Theodore will be the starting netminder for the Avs tonight when they take on the Stars.
• Fans of offense in hockey may cringe when they read Dave Tippett's comments in this Dallas Morning News article.
• Dominik Hasek seems to be having trouble with the lack of shots against that his team gives up but he knows he has to play better for the Wings.
• Tom Reed of the Columbus Dispatch has an interesting article on the openness of practices in the NHL. Here are the Blue Jackets' probable lines for tonight's game.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Nightly Recap: Crosby Extends Point Streak to 18

Boston 5 - Toronto 2 - Peter Schaefer had three points, including two third period goals and Tim Thomas stopped 34. After Stepping in for the injured Manny Fernandez, Thomas has put up amazing numbers this year with a record of 7-4-2, coming into the game he had a 1.65 GAA and .950 save percentage. Give it up for Timmy, puts it all out there every night.

New York Rangers 4 - Philadelphia 3 (SO) - Brendan Shanahan scored the shootout winner, snapping a shot over the shoulder of Marty Biron. Shanny may be 38 but he still has a lightning quick release, he is 2/3 on shootouts this year. Scott Gomez and Sean Avery had two points each for the Rangers. Gomez now has an 8 game point streak (11 points) after his horrendously slow start. Avery has posted 7 points in his past 5. He may be hated by everyone in the league, but unlike other goons he's got skillz.

Ottawa 3 - Buffalo 2 - It was Daniel Alfredsson's 800th career game, he scored his 14th and 15th goals of the season. Martin Gerber won his league leading 12th games, while making 35 saves.

Pittsburgh 3 - New York Islanders 2 - Evegni Malkin had two assists to extend his point streak to 12 games and Sidney Crosby assisted on George Laraque's game winner extending his point streak to 18. It was Laraque's first goal in 40 games.

Florida 2 - Washington 1 - I'm going to be honest, while flipping channels on Centre Ice, I really felt no reason to want to watch this game at all. Anyways, Ovechkin scored his 12th of the year.

Nashville 5 - Chicago 4 (OT) - Marty Erat scored the game winner 15 seconds into overtime, he had two points on the night following up his 4 point night from Monday. Alex Radulov had three points for the Preds and Radek Bonk, Vernon Fiddler, and David Legwand each had two. Super rookies Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane had one point each.

Minnesota 4 - Edmonton 2 - BEAST of the night Eric Belanger had a career high four assists. The Wild are now 8-0-1 in their past nine matchups versus the Oilers.

San Jose 6 - Phoenix 0 - Evegni Nabokov made 15 saves for the shutout, Joe Pavelski had two goals and Patrick Marleau had three assists. Rookie Devin Setoguchi scored for his 4th consecutive game.

Anaheim 6 - Los Angeles 3 - Anaheim scored three third period goals plus an empty netter to pull away from the Kings. Corey Perry and Chris Kunitz had three points each, Ryan Getzlaf and Rob Niedermayer each had two.

Tomorrow's Games (all times Eastern)
7:00pm ATL@CAR, NYI@NJ,
7:30pm MTL@BUF,
8:00pm WSH@TB
8:30pm COL@DAL, CLB@STL
10:00pm MIN@VAN

FROZEN ASSETS

EXPLAINING THE EXCHANGE (2) AND THOUGHTS ON THE FUTURES

Welcome to Frozen Assets. Every week I offer tips for successful futures wagering and I examine odds in the hockey futures market. Last week I explained the concept of the betting exchange and provided you with my top wagers as of November 9th. This week I will explain the advantages of using a betting exchange for futures wagers. I will then bless you with some random thoughts on NHL futures betting this week.

Why use a betting exchange?

1. The format of a betting exchanges enables you to buy and sell wagers:

One important advantage of a betting exchange is that you can bet on a team to win or lose the market you are wagering on. You can bet on a team to win or lose the Stanley Cup. Betting on a team to lose a market is a valuable tool if you are trying to hedge a previous wager.

Example:

You read my October 11 edition of Frozen Assets where I identified odds on the Philadelphia Flyers to win the Stanley Cup at +8000. You then placed a $20 wager on the Flyers to win the Stanley Cup for a payout of $1,600.

You find odds on the Flyers on a betting exchange to lose the Stanley Cup at -2000. By betting $400 on the Flyers to lose the Stanley Cup you will win $20 if they lose the Stanley Cup.

Thus you are guaranteed not to lose money: if Philadelphia wins the Stanley Cup you will net $1,200. If they lose you break even. If you want to bet more than $400 on the Flyers to lose the Stanley Cup you can guarantee yourself a profit either way.

At this point you may be rolling your eyes at this article and saying "Ari, I don't have $400 to tie up for months every time I want to bet on a team to lose a market." Well, fortunately for you...

2. A Betting exchange factors in your net profit and loss for the entire market, not just the original bet.

Continuing with the Philadelphia Flyers example, let's assume you bet the $400 on Philadelphia to lose the Stanley Cup. You then read on illegal curve that Scott Niedermayer is not going to play in the NHL this year (note: this situation is hypothetical) and you would like to bet against the Anaheim Ducks before the odds adjust. Anaheim is -1000 at the betting exchange to lose the Stanley Cup and you would like to bet another $400.

On a betting exchange you do not have to deposit another $400 because software on the betting exchange calculates the effect of all of your wagers for the entire market.

In simple terms: it is impossible for Philadelphia AND Anaheim both to win the Stanley Cup. Thus it is impossible for you to lose both of your $400 bets. Therefore there is no need for you to bet $800 when the most you can lose is $400 (actually the most you can lose in this situation is $380 if Anaheim were to win because you would win $20 by Philadelphia losing).

Are you still rolling your eyes? Are you thinking "Ari, I still don't have $400 to tie up for months even though I can use it to make multiple $400 wagers?" Even if you don't have the bankroll to bet against teams, you should still consider joining a betting exchange because...

3. Unlike a traditional sportsbook, a betting exchange does not confer an advantage on the house.

While sportsbooks make their money by providing customers with odds less than true odds, in a betting exchange you set the odds! Betting exchanges profit by taking a % commission from winning wagers.

Continuing with our Philadelphia Flyers example, let's assume (hypothetical) that the true odds on Philadelphia to win the Stanley Cup are +2000. Sportsbooks profit by offering you odds less than the true odds. The best odds offered by a sportsbook will
be around +1500. A betting exchange will reflect the true odds of +2000. Even at 5%
commission, you are still getting the Flyers at +1900.

Finally,

4. Playing at a betting exchange loosely resembles the financial market.

I constantly refer to futures betting as the futures market. The reason I refer to futures betting as a market is because the odds on teams go up and down (like stocks) depending on the performance of the teams. The goal is to buy a team while their odds are high and (if you have enough of a bankroll) to sell them when their odds are low.

If you were fortunate enough to bet on the Carolina Hurricanes at Betfair (a betting exchange) during the first week of the season at +4300, your bet would have approximately doubled in value. Regardless of the size of your bankroll, you could sell them at double what you paid for them.

Example

You do not have a large bankroll. You deposit $20 at Betfair and bet on Carolina to win the Stanley Cup at +4300 for a payout of $860. You then watch them get beat at their own game by Tampa Bay 6-1 and would like to sell your bet on Carolina. If the odds are currently -2000 on Carolina to lose the stanley Cup, you can bet $820 against the Hurricanes for $43, giving you an overall profit of $21 ($20 if the 'Canes win the Stanley Cup - you have doubled your money and only exposed yourself to $20 in potential losses). You can then use the $40 in your betting exchange account to place additional wagers.

I hope I have been able to convince you to consider a betting exchange next time you are thinking of joining a sportsbook. Besides, a betting exchange is only as good as the people playing the market - the more people using the betting exchange the better it functions.

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Here are some random thoughts on NHL futures betting this week:

--Those of you that read my column last week know that I see value in the St. Louis Blues. Imagine my surprise when Carib offered St. Louis at +5000 to win the conference and +10000 to win the league. Take them to win the conference at +5000. I beg of you!

--Stan James no longer offers division odds. William Hill briefly offered them last week. Currently there is no way to bet on NHL division odds.

--The Anaheim Ducks continue to play .500 hockey this year. They are missing the presence of Scott Niedermayer and (to a lesser extent) Teemu Selanne. The best odds on them to win the Stanley Cup is +1400 at Canbet. I would pay close attention to the return of Scott Niedermayer and I would jump on Anaheim as soon as he announces his return. If he decides he is not returning I would bet against Anaheim to win the Stanley Cup at a betting exchange.

--The New York Rangers have been playing better hockey lately and have won two in a row on the road after starting the season 0-6-1 away from MSG. They were once available at +1850 to win the Stanley Cup. I suspect the +750 currently offered by Canbet on the Rangers to win the Eastern Conference is as good as it is going to get.

--The Atlanta Thrashers have gone 8-4-0 since Don Waddell took over as coach. They are only two points out of a playoff spot. How long will the odds of +10000 to win the Stanley Cup at Carib last for?

--The New York Islanders have the fifth best winning percentage in the league. They are still available at Canbet to win the Eastern Conference at odds of +3500.

--Suddenly the Nashville Predators are in seventh place in the West after going 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. The Predators, like the Blues, are available at +5000 to win the Western Conference at Carib.

--After the hot start of the Montreal Canadiens, odds on them to win the Stanley Cup have dropped from +6900 to +4000 at Betfair.

Next week we will enter the second quarter of the NHL season. I will be celebrating this momentous occasion in next week's edition of Frozen Assets by counting down the 10 futures bets you should have made during the first quarter of the season.

For illegal curve, I'm Ari Baum-Cohen

About the writer: Ari Baum-Cohen's first sports betting victory came in 1989 when he won his father's office pool at age 8. Since then, he has been interested in many different types of sports betting. His first major futures win was at the end of the 2001-2002 hockey season when he selected "field" (field included Jarome Iginla) at odds of +3000 to win the National Hockey League goal scoring title.

FROZEN ASSETS November 9, 2007
FROZEN ASSETS November 1, 2007
FROZEN ASSETS October 25, 2007
FROZEN ASSETS October 18, 2007
FROZEN ASSETS October, 11, 2007
FROZEN ASSETS October 4, 2007
FROZEN ASSETS September 27, 2007
FROZEN ASSETS September 20, 2007

Numbers Game: PIM

Last year, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks led the league in penalties amassing 1457 PIM on their way to the franchise's first Stanley Cup victory. However, one would expect that teams that have trouble staying out of the box are more likely to lose because they are more often shorthanded. So does the Ducks success despite their high PIM represent an abnormality or is there no correlation between wins and PIM?

Click on image to enlarge:


There is, in fact, a fairly strong correlation between PIM and wins. Teams that finished below the league average in PIM, had almost 7 more wins and 13 more points compared to teams above the league average. Further, teams in the bottom 10 in points had almost 150 more PIM compared to teams in the Top 10 in points.

Looking at the team stats for this year, I am not convinced that a correlation between PIM and wins will exist at season's end. To date, the least penalized teams include the Kings, Sabres, Bruins, Blues and Islanders. And, for the record, the Ducks are leading the league again in PIM.

For Illegal Curve, I am Adam Gutkin.

Jiri Tlusty Situation

While it pains me to even write about this beyond ridiculous situation, I may as well provide my take on the Jiri Tlusty "situation." If you have been living under a rock (or anywhere outside of Canada), you probably haven't heard about the naked pictures of Leafs' rookie Jiri Tlusty making their way through the Toronto news media. First off, you are probably wondering who Jiri Tlusty is, and for that, I don't blame you. For your information, Tlusty is a Toronto Maple Leafs rookie winger. You know, those Toronto Maple Leafs that consistently produce average players, average results and way above-average net profits. Well, when Tlusty was young and naive (aka last year), he sent naked photos of himself to a girl. That girl, whomever she is, decided to send the pictures to a Canadian gossip website and soon the pictures were all over the internet. There has been so much fuss about this story that Tlusty had to be ushered out of the Air Canada Centre yesterday to avoid the throngs of Canadian media wanting to report on the story.

The Toronto media needs to find something worthwhile to report on. No one cares that a kid took naked pictures of himself and sent them to a girl. That is not news. Not only do most fans not want to hear about that the first time, but they don't want to be hit over the head with this useless story. The fact of the matter is that--No One Cares! This is the one time in my life I'd actually rather hear about Bryan McCabe's defensive struggles for the fourteenth hundred time.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

NHL Morning Papers (Thursday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

• There is a toxic stew surrounding the Maple Leafs right now writes Dave Shoalts of the Globe & Mail.
• Here are some news and notes from around the NHL courtesy of the National Post.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• It looks like Todd Bertuzzi may be nearing a return to the Anaheim lineup, however, he still has days where he really doesn't feel well writes Curtis Zupke of the Orange County Register.
• The Blackhawks didn't bring the same energy level last night against the Blue Jackets as they did Sunday against the Red Wings writes Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune.
• Adrian Dater of the Denver Post provides readers with five reasons why the Avalanche have been one of the best teams in the NHL since last season's trade deadline.
• As Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock pointed out yesterday after his team's 4-2 victory Chicago, "expectations are changing." Rick Nash really impressed his teammates last night with a Gordie Howe hat trick. One of general manger Scott Howson's best moves this off-season was picking up defenseman Jan Hejda writes Tom Reed of the Columbus Dispatch.
• The Stars' management situation may have changed, but the results on the ice did not, as Dallas was defeated 4-3 by the Sharks in a shootout on Wednesday night.
• The Red Wings' plane got stuck in the mud before leaving St. Louis, so the team stayed over the Gateway city and practiced yesterday.
• The Oilers got a terrific performance from Mathieu Garon as he gave the team a chance to win last night's game in a shootout, which it did 1-0. Meanwhile, Dan Barnes of the Edmonton Journal calls out Ales Hemsky for being consistently inconsistent. Long-time Edmonton Sun writer Terry Jones tells readers that Kelly Buchberger has his sites on one day becoming an NHL coach.
• Kings' forward Alexander Frolov only had to participate for a short-time in practice after playing an astonishing 30 minutes on Tuesday night.
• According to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune, Marian Gaborik is set to return to the Wild lineup tonight at Edmonton.
• Predators' defenseman Shea Weber practiced for the first time since injuring his knee in the team's first game and is tentatively scheduled to return to the Predators' lineup on Saturday night. Here are some news and notes about the Predators and Blackhawks prior to tonight's game.
• Nick Boynton thinks the NHL rule that got him suspended for tonight's game versus the Sharks is "a little stupid."
• Since Ryan Clowe was lost to the Sharks for an extended period of time, winger Steve Bernier has felt the need to play a more physical style of play.
• The Blues have to make sure they learn from their win over Detroit and keep that type of intensity for games against teams that are inferior to the Red Wings.
• Elliot Pap of the Vancouver Sun has the details from a boring 1-0 shootout victory for the Oilers over the Canucks.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• The Leafs take their gong show on the road tonight in Boston. "This isn't anything that we really care about. It's something that happened and we move on," said third-year forward Alexander Steen in reference to the Jiri Tlusty photos.
• The Capitals spent a lot of money last off-season, but those moves have yet to pay off writes Tarik-El Bashir of the Washington Post. In positive Capitals news, Chris Clark is slated to return to the lineup on Friday versus Florida.
• Last night's performance by Vincent Lecavalier was a prime example of why you pay the superstars the big bucks. After last night's 6-1 win over division-leading Carolina, the Bolts are gaining ground on the leaders of the Southeast Division.
• Penguins' prospect Kris Letang has been called up from Wilkes-Barre and is the only one of the Pens' six starting defensemen who shoots right. Marc-Andre Fleury is slated to get the start tonight versus the Islanders.
• The Flyers' have finally conceded that Simon Gagne has a concussion.
• This year's version of the Sabres, has a lot in common with last year's version of the Senators writes James Gordon of the Ottawa Citizen. While Nick Foligno is disappointed about being demoted to AHL, he is looking forward to playing more minutes. You'll be hard pressed to find a better leader in the game than Daniel Alfredsson.
• Bill Guerin has been cleared to return from his eye injury and will be able to play Thursday versus the Penguins.
• Larry Brooks of the NY Post says the true sign of Rangers progress is their new found success over the ever-dominant Devils. Jaromir Jagr was terrific last night for the Blueshirts, as the Rangers prevailed 4-2.
• "They're the better hockey club," John Madden said after last night's loss to the Rangers. Lost in the Devils' disappointing performance was the fact that Martin Brodeur was unable to register his 500th win against their Hudson rivals. In worrisome news for Devils fans, Paul Martin was unable to finish last night's game due to a back injury.
• The Canadiens brass believes that their current goaltending situation is creating healthy competition writes Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette. Jack Todd of the Gazette opines that Mike Komisarek has been the Habs' MVP so far this season. In other news about the Habs, winger Michael Ryder has been moved to the team's third line.
• Panthers' leader and captain Olli Jokinen has called on his entire team to be better and raise their expectations as the Panthers move forward. One of the reasons for the Panthers' recent struggles have to do with taking too many penalties. "The first 15 games of the season we were much more even penalties for and against. We have to be more disciplined to stay out of the box," said coach Jacques Martin after practice yesterday.
• The Hurricanes have now been dominated twice by the Lightning this season writes Lorenzo Perez of the News Observer. The Canes held both Erik Cole and Andrew Ladd off the ice last night.
• The Sabres will attempt to begin to turnaround their season tonight versus the top team in the Eastern Conference.
• The Thrashers' new first-line is working wonders for Don Waddell writes Craig Custance of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Steve Weeks has been put in charge of getting Kari Lehtonen back into game shape.
• The Bruins need to improve both aspects of their special teams play if they hope to gain ground on their Northeast counterparts.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Nightly Recap: Lecavalier Beasts on the 'Canes

Columbus 4 - Chicago 2 - Rick Nash, Sergei Fedorov and Jason Chimera each collected a goal and an assist. Pascal Leclaire made 16 saves improving his record to 16-4 on the year.

New York Rangers 4 - New Jersey 2 - It was the first road win for Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, Scotty Gomez and Jami Jagr had two points each. Martin Brodeur remains stuck at 499 wins

Tampa Bay 6 - Carolina 1 - BEAST of the night Vinny Lecavalier recorded a whopping 5 points, setting a franchise record for consecutive multi point games with 6. Martin St. Louis had 3 points and Johan Holmquist stopped 28 of 29 in the win.

San Jose 4 - Dallas 3 (SO) - A rare shootout loss for the Stars who were 22-5 in shootouts coming into this game. Jere Lehtinen and Brendan Morrow had two points a piece for Dallas.

Edmonton 1 - Vancouver 0 (SO) - Matthieu Garon goes toe to toe with Roberto Luongo stopping 29 in regulation/overtime. Ales Hemsky scored the only goal in the shootout.

Tomorrow's Games (all times Eastern)
7:00pm: TOR@BOS, NYR@PHI,
7:30pm: OTT@BUF, NYI@PIT, WSH@FLA,
8:00pm: CHI@NSH,
9:00pm: MIN@EDM, SJ@PHX
10:30pm: ANA@LA

News You Can Use Late in the Day

-James Mirtle with a good story on the USHL.
-INCH updates its Hobey Baker contenders.
-Jason Spezza looks to make a return to the top line.
-News and Notes from the CHL.
-Eric Duhatschek wonders what is going on in Dallas.
-Blake Kessel answers fan's questions at ushl.com
-Salavat Yuleav is making waves in the Russian Super League this season.
-Potential Predators investors cancel a news conference that was to discuss the future of the team.
-The Oilers will attempt to shut down the Sedins in tonight's game against the Canucks.
-Mats Sundin takes his job as Leafs' captain seriously.
-The Red Wings plane gets stuck in the mud in St. Louis. You don't really here about that too often.
-Denis Savard says Patrick Kane is the Hawks best player.
-Former Regina Pat Garth Murray has been claimed by the Florida Panthers.
-The weekly release from the USHL.
-Sam Mitchell thinks the recent Leaf controversies would receive more press if there were basketball players involved.
-The Dallas Stars have named Jeff Cogen their new president.
-The Senators have re-assigned Nick Foligno to Binghamton.
-A new book looks at hockey's greatest arguments.
-Video of the brawl between the USA U-17 team and their Russkie counterparts.
-Wes Walz is still MIA from the Wild.
-Casey Pierro-Zabotel has left the BCHL for the Vancouver Giants.
-Marty York reports that Dion Phaneuf and Alex Ovechkin have each received contract extension offers.
-Mike Brophy offers some advice for Brett Hull.
-All 11 Blackhawk fans are upset at the possibility of the Organist being let go. I am sure there is a joke in there somewhere.
-The Fanhouse Roundtable wonders if the old NHL has returned.
-The Hockey News Insider with thoughts on Eric Lindros.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Kyle Kosior

EURO CURVE

Euro Curve takes a look at the latest international hockey news.

- The Canadian Press reports that Defenseman Maxim Kondratiev left the Anaheim Ducks to return to St.Petersburg of the Russian Super League after refusing assignment to the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League.

- The Hockey News is celebrating their 60th anniversary this year and has been commemorating the historic event by looking back at past stories that changed the world of hockey forever. In this week's " 60th Anniversary Issue" ( November 20th, 2007, Volume 61, Number 9), they look at the Top 10 players from each NHL franchise. More importantly for Euro Curve readers, in THN's Eye on Europe section they give their Best Player of all Time for the three major International Leagues (Let me know if you agree with Risto Pakarinen's Picks).

Finnish League- Matti Hagman, Centre (IFK Helsinki), 87 points in 36 games in 1978.

Russian League- Valery Kharlamov, LW (CKSA Moscow), 401 goals in 13 seasons.

Swedish League- Hakan Loob, RW (Farjestads BK Karlstad), 6 NHL seasons, 8 SEL seasons.


For Illegal Curve, I'm Ezra Ginsburg.

Prospect Pulse: Wacey Rabbit

Returning to the "Good Hockey Name" method of choosing prospects, today's feature will look at Bruins hopeful Wacey Rabbit. The Lethbridge, Alberta native is a graduate of the Saskatoon Blades/Vancouver Giants of the WHL. The Bruins selected the 5'9, 186 forward in the 5th Round of the 2005 Draft, after he had posted 22-45-67 in 70 games with the woeful Saskatoon Blades.

Scouts were especially impressed with Rabbit in his draft year after he had made a big comeback from a disappointing 17 year old season. The small, playmaking centre had posted 45 points as a rookie, then saw his production drop to 17 points the following year. Those who saw him play as an 18 year say that he came back a much more determined and complete hockey player, who was no longer considered selfish with the puck, as was evidence by his 45 assists, 3rd most amongst draft eligible forwards in the WHL.

Rabbit played one more year with the Blades and recorded 56 points and added another 8 in 10 playoff games. He signed a multi-year deal with the Bruins in 2006 and spent the first half of his 20 year old season in Providence. He struggled to make the jump to pro-hockey and ended up finishing the year with the Vancouver Giants, where he was able to play on a line with Milan Lucic. He scored 36 points in 30 games and added another 20 in 22 playoff games.

Rabbit is back with the Baby Bruins this season and hopes to have a strong season and get a look from the big club. A threat to score or create a chance every time he is on the ice, Rabbit possesses world classic vision. A smooth and quick skater, Rabbit's speed and willingness to play in traffic negate his lack of size. Scouts seem to be unanimous in their assessment that he has huge offensive upside and could be a player in the NHL.

Fantasy Watch: Buy/Sell

BUY

F Slava Kozlov, Atlanta Thrashers
Kozlov had a rough beginning to the season, scoring only two points in his first five games. The rest of the month didn't go much better for the former Red Wing, as he only put up six points in 12 games. Since then, the forward has heated up, already equaling his point total from last month in the past six games. Although Kozlov is far off his point per game pace that he had a year ago, the forward is on the right track. Still receiving over 16 minutes per game, Kozlov still sees time on a line with Kovalchuk, who has been on fire lately. Expect a strong second half for Kozlov, who should continue to creep closer to his point per game average.

F Scott Gomez, New York Rangers
Gomez has had a rough start with New York, as he only managed to score two goals and one assist over the first month of the season. But with a brand new month comes a fresh start, and Gomez has capitalized on that as he is currently riding a six game point streak. With owners frustrated over his production, many may trade Gomez now, with this being the highest his stock has been in a long time. With all the talent in New York, Gomez will most likely turn this season around and could pay dividends over the next few months.

F Pavol Demitra and F Marian Gaborik, Minnesota Wild
Demitra and Gaborik have been explosive together, but unfortunately, neither one can still healthy. With it being unknown when either forward may return, taking a gamble on Demitra or Gaborik posses a big risk, but could earn a very high reward. Demitra has scored 10 points in his first 10 games with Minnesota, while Gaborik has put up 13 points in 12 games. Owners of Demitra or Gaborik may choose to cut their losses now, as both have a history of taking their sweet time getting back to the ice. If so, purchasing either of the two warrants a huge risk, but with it comes a fat reward. It all depends if your willing to take the risk.


SELL

F Jason Williams, Chicago Blackhawks
Williams is having a fantastic start to this season, scoring six goals and 16 points in 17 games played. He has played a crucial role in Chicago's powerplay, netting 11 of his points on the PP. Although it may seem odd to sell Williams, his stock may not get any higher. He has never scored more than 58 points in a season, and with Martin Havlat returning soon from injury, William's role may decrease. It'd be wise to get all that you can for Williams now, as it will be hard to get rid of an unproven player, such as Williams, during a slump.

F Mike Fisher, Ottawa Senators
Fisher has been the beneficiary from Spezza's injury, as the forward has been playing on the top line with Heatley and Alfredsson. Fisher has racked up four assists in his last three games, giving him 13 points on the year. With Spezza returning for Ottawa's next game, Fisher will most likely be moved back to the second line where the opportunities will be limited. Playing with Heatley and Alfredsson increases the value of any player, and it did just that for Fisher, but now is the time to cut him loose.

F Alexander Semin, Washington Capitals
It seems as though Semin's ankle injury is worse than it was once reported. According to the Washington Times, Semin has still yet to skate, making his return further delayed. The forward has only played four games this season, while registering one point. Those who used a high draft pick on Semin may want to cut their losses now, as there are still probably owners around drooling over Semin's potential if he returns.


For Illegal Curve, I'm Jonny Remis

Cold Hard Rants

This past Saturday as I was participating in my standard Saturday evening activity (falling asleep on the couch), I was awoken by the familiar music of Coach’s Corner on CBC. For years, this music and the introductory witticisms of Ron MacLean have been enough to get even the most apathetic hockey fan somewhat interested in what was about to be said. Seeing as how I fit the aforementioned description of an apathetic (on a good day) hockey fan, I shook off the cobwebs from my nap to take hold of whatever insight Don and Ron were about to provide me.

It is at this point, that my plan to use Don and Ron for hockey insight fell apart faster than you can say adampollockisafacebooklegend. Seeing as how Ron’s main job is to keep Don in check, and on point, I cannot fault him for the job he did. Don was in check (no Frenchies were insulted during the telecast—although my use of the word Frenchie may in and of itself be insulting), and Don was on point. The problem lies, and it pains me to say this, is that Don Cherry no longer has any points and thus no longer belongs on TV.

In the past Don has had crusades, and valid causes they were (more elasticity to the boards so body checks weren’t like running into brick walls, and no touch icing to name a few.) He advocated those positions passionately, and used his bully pulpit to promote them. He provided the viewer with visual evidence backing up his claims. He made a case by arguing his points and providing factual and tangible evidence that made it hard to dispute him. When he was like this, he was a valuable surrogate for the home viewer to understand some of the more minute points of NHL hockey.

Unfortunately, as this past Saturday crystallized for me, Don no longer is insightful, he is simply an older man with a platform to rant, and that he does regardless of whether or not his rants make sense. (I am aware of the irony associated with my writing that previous sentence, considering that this blog is called Cold Hard Rants.)

This past Saturday as I was listening to Don, he mixed up multiple names. His points were jumbled, confused, and try as I might to decipher them, I was unable to do so. (Incidentally, I attribute this to Don and not to my inability to understand people.) It really was an eye opening experience, and not one I enjoyed

My experience with Don Cherry goes back many years. I had the privilege of attending the worldwide launch of Don Cherry’s Rock ‘em Sock ‘em II. Like any youngster I was suitably impressed with his larger than life personality, and his willingness to make any nobody (for the purposes of this story, I am the nobody) feel important. For that, I will always appreciate Don. However, as this past Saturday showed me, Don Cherry is no longer worthy of being on TV as his segment has turned into nothing but a parody of the insightful and informative segment he used to provide. That is a great loss, as hockey needs all of the cross-promotional, larger than life advocates and celebrities it can get. The NHL needs to get started on creating a new household figure (no, it’s not you Brett Hull), as the time has passed for Don to be that advocate.

For Illegal Curve, I am Andrew M.

About the writer: Formerly a speech writer for a Canadian Federal Politician, Andrew will be bringing his unique take on the hockey world to the illegal curve blog once a week, or more often if the rage needs to be released in a manner other than clobbering a referee over the head with a whiskey bottle. Mainly because he doesn’t have enough empty whiskey bottles at his disposal.

NHL Morning Papers (Wednesday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

• Pierre Lebrun of the Canadian Press tells us that scoring is down in the NHL for the second season in a row.
• Here are some news and notes courtesy of the National Post.
• Brett Hull and Les Jackson have been named interim co-general managers of the Stars after Tom Hicks fired Doug Armstrong on Tuesday.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News reviews the tenure of Doug Armstrong in this morning's paper. Meanwhile, it appears that coach Dave Tippett's job is safe, for this season at least. Here is a Q & A with Stars' long-time beat writer Mike Heika.
• The Ducks were resilient last night after blowing a two-goal third period lead to the Kings, and ended up winning the game 4-3 in a shootout.
• The Flames got their first win in the month of November after coming from behind against the Wild for a 3-2 home victory. Miikka Kiprusoff made a number of crucial saves to lead the Flames to the victory last night.
• Patrick Lalime will be the starting netminder tonight for the Hawks versus the Blue Jackets.
• If the Blue Jackets are to make the playoffs, they can't put it on auto-pilot on some nights like most teams can. Jackets' center Mike Peca will miss tonight's game and may be out a bit longer with a lingering groin injury. Here are the Jackets' probable lines for tonight's game.
• Defenseman Jeff Finger has been a pleasant surprise for the Avalance this season.
• Red Wings' netminder Dominik Hasek gave up four second period goals and was subsequently pulled as the Wings were defeated by the Blues 4-3 on Tuesday night.
• It looks like much-maligned Oilers' off-season acquisition Dustin Penner is finally finding his stride in the Albteran capital. Robert Tychkowski of the Edmonton Sun wonders why fans of the Oilers aren't sold on Shawn Horcoff.
• The Kings almost pulled off another amazing comeback last night but fell short 4-3 in a shootout in Anaheim. Here is another article on the possible comebacks of Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne.
• The Wild uncharacteristically gave up a third period lead to the Flames last night and were on the losing end of a 3-2 final. According to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune, Marian Gaborik's groin seems to be improving and the Wild winger is shooting to return tomorrow night in Edmonton.
• The Predators offense has turned around, but that is no thanks to their defense which has struggled to put up points on the board all season writes Jessica Hopp of the Tennessean.
• The Coyotes play the Sharks for the third time in a row tomorrow night and coach Wayne Gretzky desperately wants to avoid a three-game losing streak for his young club.
• Sandis Ozolinsh has been a pleasant surprise for the Sharks organizaton so far this season writes Mark Emmons of the San Jose Mercury News.
• The Blues ended their slump last night with a win over a dominating Detroit team and that should give the team some confidence says Keith Tkachuk. Of note, defenseman Jay McKee was a healthy scratch for last night's contest.
• Luc Bourdon has been playing more minutes than the Canucks expected but has been handling it quite well opines Jim Jamieson of the Vancouver Province.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• The Leafs just can't win a game once it goes to overtime or a shootout writes Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun. The Leafs lost more than just a game last night according to Damien Cox of the Toronto Star.
• Johan Holmqvist is sick of hearing all about the Lightning's goaltending troubles writes Carter Gaddis of the Tampa Tribune.
• Sidney Crosby leads by example and the superstar is not about to hit the panic button in Pittsburgh after the team's slow start. The Pens have recalled youngster Kris Letang form Wilkes-Barre.
• "Maybe there is a little improvement, but I am having a little dizziness," said Simon Gagne about his ongoing concussion issues. If it's any consolation, Eric Lindros feels Gagne's pain.
• Jason Spezza is ready to return to the lineup, however, there are no guarantees that he is going to slide right back into his slot on the number one line writes Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen. Dany Heatley became a set-up man with Spezza on the mend, but you can expect the sniper to get back to scoring goals now that the team's number one center is primed to return.
• Here are the details of Islanders' owner Charles Wang's vision for a new arena on Long Island.
• Sean Avery's teammates claim he never said what Howard Berger of the Fan 590 in Toronto claims he did.
• The Rangers make their first appearance at "The Rock" tonight in Newark writes Mark Everson of the NY Post. Martin Brodeur would love nothing better than to win his 500th game at home and have the victory come against the rival Rangers.
• Mike Komisarek scored the overtime winner, however, the star of the game was Carey Price who turned aside 37 of the 40 shots he faced.
• There are losses, then there are disheartening losses, and last night's game for the Panthers definitely falls under the latter category. After blowing a 2-1 lead with 2.5 seconds remaining and then losing right away in overtime, defenseman Jay Bouwmeester said, "It's pretty disheartening. …We had it at the end of the game and couldn't put it away."
• Pending some test results, it appears that Hurricanes' winger Erik Cole has avoided serious injury, although don't expect the winger to be in the lineup for the rest of the week.
• Sabres' management is not going to hit the panic button after a tough start to the season writes John Vogl of the Buffalo News.
• Altanta's season has taken 180 from the beginning of October writes Craig Custance of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.The Thrashers are expecting Kari Lehtonen to be back practicing with the club sometime next week.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Nightly Recap: Kovalchuk Carries the Thrashers to Victory

Atlanta 3 - Florida 2 (OT) - Ilya Kovalchuk continues to rake, he had three points tonight, including the overtime winner 25 seconds into the period. Marian Hossa and Todd White each collected a goal and an assist. Kovalchuk is on fire with 16 points in his last 6 games, and after a slow start Marian Hossa is heating up with 9 points in his last six.

St Louis 4 - Detroit 3 : After losing to Chicago on Sunday, this was Detroit's second straight loss to a division rival. The Blues scored all four goals in the second period, including two by David Perron. Former Winnipeg Jet Keith Tkachuk had two points for St. Louis. Henrik Zetterberg went pointless for the first time this year, snapping his 17 game point streak.

Montreal 4 - Toronto 3 (OT) - Rookie phenom Carey Price stopped 37 shots and Mike Komisarek scored the overtime winner, his second goal of the year. Alex Kovalev had three points for the Habs, and Kyle Wellwood and Ian White put in two points each for the Leafs.

Calgary 3 - Minnesota 2 - Calgary defeats their division rivals, snapping a five game losing skid. Kristian Huselius scored the winning goal with 53 seconds remaining, it was his second point of the night. Mikko Koivu scored both goals for the Wild, Daymond Langkow had an assist for the Flames in his first game back after missing one game from a concussion.

Anaheim 4 - Los Angeles 3 (SO) - Andy MacDonald scored the shootout winner for the Ducks, while Ryan Getzlaf chipped in with two points in regulation. Alex Frolov had three assists for the Kings and Mike Cammalleri scored his 12th of the year. It was the Kings second game since November 3rd, they had a week off playing no games between November 4 and November 9. Who were the ad wizards who came up with that one?

Tomorrow's Games (all times Eastern)
7:00pm NYR@NJ, CHI@CLB,
7:30pm CAR@TB,
8:30pm SJ@DAL
10:00pm EDM@VAN (TSN)

Prospect Pulse: Tomas Marcinko

For a number of years I closely followed New York Islander prospects because I assumed they would eventually become Oilers' property. This trend really hasn't changed much in the last year, but with Mad Mike gone from the picture, no one knows if the pipeline will keep producing.

The Islanders drafted Tomas Marcinko in the 4th round of the 2006 draft. The Slovakian came over to the OHL in his draft year to skate with the Barrie Colts. He had a respectable first season, tallying in 19 goals and 21 assists, and has started this season with 11 goals in 15 games. Jason Ford, the Colts assistant GM, notes that Marcinko is becoming comfortable playing in Canada and his point totals are reflecting that. Described as having good skating ability and hands for a player his size, Marcinko himself notes that he doesn't see himself as either a defensive center or a scorer, he is just happy to contribute.

The 19 year has participated in two Islander camps to date and was a member of Slovakia's entry in last year's World Junior Championships. Prior to coming to Ontario, he played a few games in the Slovak Extraleague and this experience coupled with his NHL camps have buoyed his confidence. Scouts feel that this combination of size and skill should propel him to the next level.

The knocks on Marcinko's game are many. "Lost in the offensive zone", "weak on the boards", "fails to drive to the net" and "inability to finish" are all phrases that can be found when describing this Slovak. That being said, other scouts feel that he has 1st round talent if he can put all the pieces together. To do so, he must add some bulk to his 6'4 frame and play on par with his size. If he can get stronger and learn to play with an edge, he could be a very valuable prospect going forward. The top end potential for Marcinko figures to be as a solid 3rd liner with some offensive upside. Think Fernando Pisani.

Numbers Games: Wins vs. Losses

In today’s Number’s Game, I analyze the statistics for each team in games they win compared to when they lose. Specifically, I looked at goals for, goals against, shots on goal and shooting %.

Click on image to enlarge:

Last year, teams scored, on average, 1.9 more goals in games they won compared to goals scored in losses (3.83 goals in wins vs. 1.93 goals in losses). The Hurricanes, for instance, scored 2.51 more goals in wins, while the Blackhawks only scored 0.23 more goals. Interestingly, over 2/3 of the goals scored in the NHL last year was scored by the winning team. Teams also allowed, on average, 1.94 more goals against in games they lost.

The analysis also confirmed previous findings that shots on goal have no bearing on the success of a team. Teams had only 0.16 more shots in games they won compared to when they lost (29.69 vs. 29.53 shots). This was a 0.1% difference in shots compared to shots fired in losses.

The analysis also confirms that a higher shooting percentage generally leads to more wins. Teams, on average, had a shooting percentage that was 6.3% higher in wins compared to losses (12.91% vs. 6.56%).

For Illegal Curve, I am Adam Gutkin.

EURO CURVE

Euro Curve takes a look at the latest international hockey headlines.


Illegal Curve favourite Czech hockey blogger Ceske Budejovice (http://vakfan.blogspot.com)reveals that the Under-17 Four Nations tournament final between Russia and The United States, held in Dmitrov, Russia, ended with a good ol' fashioned bench clearing brawl. Russia won the game 2-1.

I have included the Youtube video link ( cause I don't know how to post it directly on the site) of the infamous 1987 World Junior Championships brawl between Team Canada and Team Russia which saw both teams kicked out of the tournament.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Ezra Ginsburg.

NHL Morning Papers (Tuesday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

• Pierre Lebrun of the Canadian Press says that all four of the Hall of Fame inductees are not done writing their hockey stories.
• The four 2007 player-inductees had all the skills writes Jim Matheson of the National Post.
• Ted Montgomery of USA Today opines that recently-retired Eric Lindors never lived up to all the expectations.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• According to Craig Custance of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Johan Hedberg will be back in net for the Thrashers on Tuesday night. Custance also has a nice piece on underrated Thrashers' forward Eric Perrin.
• Bruins' goaltender Manny Fernandez was back at practice on Monday, however, he is unsure if his knee is 100%. Even with Fernandez's impending return, it is expected that Tim Thomas will get the start in net for the Bruins on Thursday against the Leafs.
• The Sabres just can't score this season, which is why Buffalo practiced finishing its chances in practice yesterday.
• The Hurricanes road victory in Florida was overshadowed by the injury to Erik Cole, who was taken off the ice on a stretcher late in last night's contest.
• Tomas Vokoun will definitely steal some games for the Panthers this season, but last night he gave one away with three weak third period goals. "I thought we battled hard and gave a strong game. We probably deserved a better fate," said coach Jacques Martin after the game.
• Carey Price will be in between the pipes for the Habs tonight versus the Leafs writes Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette.
• Patrik Elias scored a big goal last night, not only for the team, but for himself, in the Devils' 3-2 road victory over Pittsburgh. "I was just happy because I thought we deserved to win," said Elias after the game.
• According to Larry Brooks of the NY Post, Sean Avery is planning to file a libel charge against a Toronto radio personality. (Writer's note: Avery needs to go away. Everyone says he is a very good hockey player, well, he's not that good! I'm sick of reading about him and watching him.)
• The Islanders made three big mistakes last night and it cost them the game writes Greg Logan of Newsday. After missing last night's game, Islanders' captain Bill Guerin may be able to return from his eye injury to play on Thursday.
• Ray Emery hurt himself playing catch with a baseball on his day-off on Sunday but the injury is not serious. Meanwhile, Jason Spezza was back on the ice yesterday at practice, but he's still unsure if his groin will be in good enough shape to be able to play on Thursday.
• Mike Richards scored the game-winning goal while short-handed last night in the Flyers' 3-2 victory over the Islanders on Monday. Ed Moran of the Philadelphie Inquirer says that Mike Richards deserves the spotlight, even if he prefers to remain low-key.
• After last night's 3-2 loss to the Devils, the Penguins are now in last place in the Atlantic division. Michel Therrien shook up his forward lines, once again, last night.
• Maintaining a consistent approach has allowed the Lightning to get out of the funk they were in at this time last week writes Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune.
• Seems like the Avery-Tucker incident is far from over writes Paul Hunter of the Toronto Star. The Leafs are going to try to change their luck tonight by wearing their road-whites at home versus the Habs.
• Capitals' defeseman Steve Eminger appears to want either back into the team's lineup, or out of town, after being a healthy scratch of late.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• Brendan Morrison is having a comeback year (on pace for 30 goals) and the question is whether the Canucks will try to re-sign the B.C. native or trade him.
• The Blues will attempt to end their skid tonight at home versus the Red Wings writes Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
• The Sharks pasted the Coyotes on the back of Joe Thornton's three points and Evgeni Nabokov's shutout last night in the Shark Tank.
• The Blue Jackets may be a new, more successful, team this season, but they still can't beat the Predators, as they lost their tenth consecutive game to Nashville last night. The Predators' top players really stepped up and carried the team to its 4-1 victory writes Jessica Hopp of the Tennessean.
• The Wild is becoming accustomed to the uncertainty surrounding the groins of Marian Gaborik and Pavol Demitra writes Michael Russo of the Star Tribune.
• The Kings still can't get over their crazy comeback victory on Saturday night and are hoping to build on that performance going forward.
• Both Joni Pitkanen and Mathieu Roy were back skating for the Oilers yesterday. But the bigger news yesterday was that Fernando Pisani was skating yesterday and is shooting for a mid-December return.
• Tomas Holmstrom loves the U.S. so much that he may stay in America instead of returning to Sweden after his playing days are over. Tonight's game at the Blues marks Dallas Drake's return to St. Louis.
• Tuesday's game versus Nashville made