Leafs building, Flames scrambling

After a season almost completely devoid of any type of juicy trade, GM Brian Burke and the Toronto Maple Leafs made a big splash today with two multi-player deals.

The first move brought in hard-hitting defenseman Dion Phaneuf from the Calgary Flames. Phaneuf, who has not been playing up to form with the Flames, has been dangled as trade bait throughout the season in an effort to get some scoring help. When on his game, he's an elite-level player with a booming shot and a penchant for thunderous open-ice hits. If he regains his form with the Leafs, it could turn out to be a franchise-changing move for a floundering Toronto team. The Leafs, who also acquired Frederik Sjostrom and Keith Aulie in the deal, gave up their two leading scorers in Niklas Hagman and Matt Stajan, along with offensive-defenseman Ian White and the gritty Jamal Mayers. The move looks good for both clubs. The Flames get some needed offensive depth and a decent puck-moving defenseman in White, while the Leafs get a high-profile player who could thrive in the biggest hockey market the NHL has to offer.

The Leafs then made another splash byacquiring goaltender J.S. Giguere from the Anaheim Ducks for embattled goaltender Vesa Toskala and winger Jason Blake. The deal was all but done when the Ducks re-signed second-year goalie and current starter Jonas Hiller to a four-year contract just days before, and Giguere agreed to waive his no-trade clause. Giguere, who won a Stanley Cup with Burke in Anaheim in 2007 and the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2003, gets an opportunity at redemption with the Leafs and will serve as a buffer in goal until freshman phenom Jonas Gustavsson is ready to take the reins. The Ducks get Toskala, who should be able to take some of the goaltending pressure off the young Hiller, and Blake, who can provide secondary scoring and speed.

Also, details are sketchy, but it looks as though the Flames have made another big move, trading Olli Jokinen to the New York Rangers for forwards Ales Kotalik and Christopher Higgins. Jokinen, who like Phaneuf has elite-level abilities, has not played up to snuff in Calgary and should enjoy the fresh start. The same could be said for Kotalik and Higgins, two players who never really hit their stride in their first season with the Rangers.

Thoughts on the Gaborik/Carcillo fight

Fighters don't fight another team's star player, unless that star player blatantly instigates the fight. That's the Code personified. Daniel Carcillo, one of Philadelphia's resident tough guys, did a dandy job of breaking that rule last night after a pummeling of Rangers star forward Marian Gaborik that proved, among other things, how much of a complete goon Carcillo is.

The "fight" occurred at the beginning of the second period during a scrum in front of the net. Players were jostling around, as happens, and Carcillo and Gaborik somehow got tied up together. Carcillo was giving Gaborik the customary facewash, and Gaborik (to his credit) wasn't backing down until the beat-down began, when Carcillo's gloves flew off and he proceeded to absolutely destroy Gaborik with a flurry of punches. Both got five minutes for fighting, although it was perhaps the most one-sided fight I've ever seen.

Some thoughts on the "bout."

• Carcillo claims Gaborik dropped the gloves first. Indeed, looking at the replay, it's apparent Gaborik's right glove came off before Carcillo's, something that could easily have been accidental, as even after it came off he still didn't throw a punch. BUT, even if Gaborik did get the glove off first, Carcillo had no business fighting him. It was an easy victory, and a show of cowardice and poor sportsmanship. If he wants to fight, he should have taken on a tough guy instead of the other team's star, who by the way has the fighting acumen of the French.

• I can't believe I'm actually applauding Sean Avery, but good on him for sticking up for Gaborik later in the game. Not only did he fight Scott Hartnell, but just a few minutes later got his hands on Carcillo and held him accountable for his beatdown on Gaborik. This is what good teammates do for each other. I normally would consider Sean Avery the worst teammate in the NHL, but he did well this time.

• This leads me to my final point, one which hockey analyst (and former tough guy) Matthew Barnaby also made on espn.com after the game: Rangers defenseman Daniel Girardi stood idly by, not six feet from the fight, and watched the whole thing go down without lifting a finger. I don't care who you are or what the circumstances of the game are, if your star player is getting the crap beat out of him by another team's tough guy, you better jump in and defend your teammate. Third man in penalty? Totally worth it. What would have happened had Gaborik been seriously injured in the fight? It showed poor judgment on Girardi's part, and I wouldn't be surprised if he takes heat for it from his teammates, coaches, and other players. You stand up for your guys, especially those who aren't as able to defend themselves against goons like Carcillo.

In the end, however, this shouldn't be blown too out of proportion. Gaborik's a big boy and can handle himself. Life will go on. I will say this: I can't wait for the next Flyers/Rangers tilt.

Staal Assumes Canes Captaincy

Everyone knew Eric Staal would be the captain of the Hurricanes one day, some just didn't expect it to come so soon.

The team announced today that Rod Brind'Amour - the team's captain since 2005 - was handing over the 'C' to the 25-year-old Staal.

The move was not wholly unanticipated, as Staal has been considered the future of the franchise since he was drafted second overall in 2003. Many, however, imagined the 39-year-old Brind'Amour finishing his career as captain and Staal taking over from there.

In the end, GM Jim Rutherford thought it best to act now, while the team sits in last place in the NHL and has nothing to lose.

"This would be the best time for somebody to understand what it takes to be a captain when you are in as bad of times as we're in," said Rutherford. "Different people have different opinions as to you wait until the end of the season or when this should be done. But I really feel very strongly that doing it at this point in time - when we've started our rebuilding of this team - is to give it to the guy that's going to lead this team on for the next several years."

Rutherford said he and the two players have met periodically over the course of the season to discuss when the change would take place. Brind'Amour, who in 2006 led the Hurricanes to their first Stanley Cup, gracefully acknowledged the time was right.

"The timing of it was kind of the question, we all knew that Eric was going to take over at some point. To me personally, I thought it was a good time to do it. Just to get his feet wet. Me kind of handing the torch over to him is really an honor to me because I know what kind of good person he is. We all know what kind of great player he is."

A classy statement by a truly classy player. Brind'Amour has always been a team-first guy and is truly one of the greatest examples of dedication and perseverance that young players have to look up to in today's NHL.

The move is a smart one by the Hurricanes. Staal is taking over a team that is in last place in the NHL, meaning there are no lofty expectations he has to shoulder. (Remember, the same thing happened with Sidney Crosby when he took the helm of the drifting Pittsburgh Penguins as a 19-year-old).

Meanwhile, Brind'Amour - who will serve as an alternate captain for the balance of the season - remains on board and can act as a mentor and source of counsel for the young Staal, easing the transition.

The Hurricanes made the right move in what will surely be a drastic changing of the guard as the Canes look to refocus their image as a team. The one certainty going in to the future is that their franchise cornerstone will be leading them. They can at least find comfort in that.

Today's Enforcer

I recently read "The Code" - a well-researched but poorly written book about the history and importance of fighting in the NHL. Many were quotes by heavyweights with names like Twist, McSorely, and Probert, weaving their tales of having only one job: Fighting. These men were not counted on to score goals or contribute in any other way other than to drop the gloves in defense of their teammates. They played a couple shifts (maybe) per game, and were short on skill but high on toughness, loyalty, and selflessness. Coaches left a special spot on the roster just for a tough guy. Many made a good living doing this, and I respect them for paving their way to the NHL by doing whatever they had to do.

I would love to get into a futher debate about The Code, but we'll leave that for another day. Let's talk about enforcers, a dying breed of player. Actually, scratch that and replace "dying" with "evolving". In today's fast-paced, obstruction-abhorring, salary-capped NHL, coaches must trim their rosters down to the very best the team has to offer. This, in many cases, does not include players whose sole skill is to bash faces. Players must be able to play, hence the evolution of today's NHL enforcers. These are men that are equally willing and able to provide energetic acts of pugilism, while still being able to take a regular shift and contribute to the team.

Years ago, a guy like Tony Twist had a regular NHL job as a fighter (check out the link, a great mini-doc on the role of enforcers in the pre-lockout era). His job was to be a police man of sorts, making sure no one took liberties with his teammates. Other than that, however, Twist didn't do much (career games: 445. Career points: 28). You may find a few players of his breed still in the game, but they are quickly fading, being replaced by younger, bigger players with skills to match the brawn.

Let's look at the man who is perhaps feared more than any other player today, Derek "The Boogy Man" Boogaard of the Minnesota Wild. As a player, Boogaard has little to no actual talent. In 32 games this season, he has two assists, 55 PIMs, and is a -11. His contribution to the team? 6'8" and 257 pounds of pure terror. His towering presence intimidates to the point that he doesn't even need to fight that much. He may have a roster spot now, but his value to the team will continue to diminish as his lack of talent becomes more and more apparent. He also has a reason to be looking over his shoulder: Enter John Scott. The towering second-year defenseman is the same size as Boogy (6'8, 255 lbs), but has skill and a niche as a mean, crease-clearing defender who is just as willing to drop the gloves as Boogaard (watch him take out renowned tough guy George Parros here). When Minnesota has an up-and-coming forward they want to dress, who are they going to scratch? Yep, Derek Boogaard. Why? They've already got someone back on the blueline (Scott) who can do Boogy's enforcer job as well as serving as a pretty effective defensive defenseman.

Stay tuned for next time as we take a look at some of my favorite Modern Enforcers. Let's call it "Enforcers: The Next Generation". Guys that can knock you around, and still play a pretty decent game. Hint: Boogaard isn't on the list (but please don't tell him about this post, he scares the bajeebies outta me).

Something to Fight For?

We fight for the people we love. Family, friends, and goalies all hold special places in our hearts and fall under the umbrella of individuals who receive unconditional protection. However, there is a trend developing in the NHL which I find not only ridiculous, but detrimental to our great game.

Check out this "fight" between Carlo Colaiacovo of the St. Louis Blues and Blair Jones of the Lightning. Jones had just laid out Colaiacovo's teammate (Brad Boyes) with a hard, albeit clean open ice hit. Sure, Boyes went into the boards awkwardly, but there was nothing inherently dirty about the hit. Immediately following the hit, however, Colaiacovo jumps Boyes, forcing him into a fight. Both get five for fighting, with Colaiacovo getting an extra two minutes for instigating.

Let's get one thing straight; if Jones' hit on Boyes is dirty, Colaiacovo was right to jump in. NHL players need to be held accountable for cheap shots, especially in today's concussion-plagued NHL. What we saw, however, was a player having to stand up and fight for dishing out a completely clean body check. He did nothing wrong, but still had to answer the bell as if he had. You will see fights like this almost every night in today's NHL. A clean body check on a skill player is followed by a mobbing and an unnecessary fight.

Blair Jones, in this situation, is stuck between a rock and a hard place. If he doesn't fight, he is labeled a pussy and will be followed around the rest of the night until he finally "answers the bell." But if he does stand up to Colaiacovo, he has to, well, fight. I think it's pretty well understood that fighting is fun for everyone except the two involved. Getting punched in the face wasn't on Jones' list of things to do that game.

While you're at it, check out this one between Sidney Crosby and Keith Ballard after Ballard up-ends Evgeni Malkin with a beautiful, clean hip check. Read everything I just wrote above, substituting "Crosby" for Colaiacovo and "Ballard" for Jones. Let me just add that while I respect Crosby's willingness to fight, he made two mistakes here: 1) Fighting Keith Ballard over a perfectly clean hit, and 2) Fighting Keith Ballard. Ouch.

This new trend is ridiculous. Having to stand up and fight just for laying out a perfectly good hit is completely against everything good about this game. The last thing we need is players afraid to make the big hit because they know they'll have to fight for it afterward. It sucks life out of the game.

Let the players hit. Let players fight those who take unrighteous liberties with their teammates. And please, PLEASE, let me hear it for Mike Fisher getting engaged to Carrie Underwood! Holla! Yet another testament to how hockey players are the coolest athletes on the planet. Also, if Carrie takes his last name, she will be Carrie Fisher (you Star Wars fans will get this).

Peace.

2009-10 Captains and Alternates

If you know anything about me, you know of my obsession with the captains of the greatest sports league on Earth. I think I've rounded up just about everyone, so here you go:

Highlighted are new for this season

Anaheim
Captain: Scott Niedermayer
Alternates: Ryan Getzlaf, Saku Koivu

Atlanta
Captain: Ilya Kovalchuk
Alternates: Colby Armstrong, Slava Kozlov, Ron Hainsey, Zach Bogosian

Boston
Captain: Zdeno Chara
Alternates: Patrice Bergeron, Marco Sturm, Andrew Ference

Buffalo
Captain: Craig Rivet
Alternates:

Calgary
Captain: Jarome Iginla
Alternates: Robyn Regehr, Dion Phaneuf

Carolina
Captain: Rob Brind'Amour
Alternates: Eric Staal, Ray Whitney

Chicago
Captain: Jonathan Toews
Alternates: Patrick Sharp, Duncan Keith

Colorado
Captain: Adam Foote
Alternates: Paul Stastny, Milan Hejduk

Columbus
Captain: Rick Nash
Alternates: Frederik Modin, Rostislav Klesla, Mike Commodore, RJ Umberger, Antoine Vermette

Dallas
Captain: Brendan Morrow
Alternates: Mike Modano, Steve Ott, Stephane Robidas

Detroit
Captain: Nicklas Lidstrom
Alternates: Henrik Zetterberg, Kris Draper, Pavel Datsyuk

Edmonton
Captain: Ethan Moreau
Alternates: Shawn Horcoff, Ales Hemsky, Sheldon Souray, Steve Staios

Florida
Captain: Brian McCabe
Alternates: Stephen Weiss, Cory Stillman

Los Angeles
Captain: Dustin Brown
Alternates: Anze Kopitar, Matt Greene

Minnesota
None so far

Montreal
Captain: None
Alternates: Brian Gionta, Andrei Markov, Hal Gill

Nashville
Captain: Jason Arnott
Alternates: Steve Sullivan, Shea Weber

New Jersey
Captain: Jamie Langenbrunner
Alternates: Patrick Elias, Zach Parise

New York Islanders
Captain: Doug Weight
Alternates: Brendan Witt, Richard Park, Kyle Okoposo, Mark Streit

New York Rangers
Captain: Chris Drury
Alternates: Ryan Callahan

Ottawa
Captain: Daniel Alfredsson
Alternates: Chris Phillips, Mike Fisher

Philadelphia
Captain: Mike Richards
Alternates: Still to come

Phoenix
Captain: Shane Doan
Alternates: Ed Jovanovski, Zbenyk Michalek

Pittsburgh
Captain: Sidney Crosby
Alternates: Sergei Gonchar, Evgeni Malkin

San Jose
Captain: Rob Blake
Alternates: Dan Boyle, Joe Thornton

St. Louis
Captain: Eric Brewer
Alternates: Barrett Jackman, Keith Tkachuk, Paul Kariya

Tampa Bay
Captain: Vincent Lecavalier
Alternates: Martin St. Louis, Jeff Halpern

Toronto
Captain: None
Alternates: Francois Beauchemin, Tomas Kaberle, Mike Komisarek

Vancouver
Captain: Roberto Luongo
Alternates: Henrik Sedin, Willie Mitchell, Ryan Kesler

Washington
Captain: Chris Clark
Alternates: Alex Ovechkin, Mike Knuble, Tom Poti

Where Are They Now? John Erskine

Visit my examiner page to view other articles, leave comments, subscribe to my articles, etc.

http://www.examiner.com/x-20904-Utah-Grizzlies-Examiner~y2009m9d3-John-Erskine-from-Grizzlies-to-Capitals

This is the first in a series of offseason "Where Are They Now?" articles detailing the current happenings of former Grizzly players.

When John Erskine played for the Grizzlies during the 2002-03 AHL season, he racked up 274 penalty minutes, a feat he accomplished in just 52 games. That’s an average of over five minutes per game. His point totals for that year? Two goals, eight assists.

Sometimes statistics don’t tell the whole story, but they do a pretty good job of it in John Erskine’s case. The 6’4, 220-pound defenseman will never be mistaken for Paul Coffey or Nicklas Lidstrom, but his penchant for rough-nosed, hard-hitting, in-your-face hockey has never come into question. Erskine’s about as mean as they come, and he seems to like it that way.

It was his physical style of play, and a willingness to drop the gloves with youthful exuberance, that endeared the Dallas Stars’ 39th selection in the 1998 NHL entry draft to Grizzlies fans. Erskine was big, mean, and young, and the Dallas Stars were hoping he could develop into the type of defenseman that may not quarterback a power play, but who would keep opposing forwards honest in his own zone.

He did just that during the four seasons he spent with the Grizzlies from 2000 to 2004. His only full season with the team was his first, in 2000-01, while the others were spent between Utah and the occasional call up with the Stars. While his discipline sometimes came into question (note his penalty minutes), nobody could argue Erskine’s worth as a bruising defenseman who was strong in his own zone. He quickly developed a strong chemistry with fellow burly blueliner Jeff MacMillan, and the two became their own version of the Bash Brothers for the Grizzlies. He was also a frequent defensive partner to some of the Grizzlies' more flashy, offensively minded defensemen, serving as a veritable ying to their yang, someone they could rely on to back them up when their hunger for the net drew them a little too far away from their blueline. A brash attitude led to discipline issues on and off the ice in Utah, but he was nevertheless a fan favorite because of his brutal style of play.

After being traded and playing half a season with the New York Islanders, Erskine signed as a free agent. with the upstart Washington Capitals prior to the 2006-07 season. The Captials were young and energetic, led by Russian superstar Alex Ovechkin and known for a flash-and-dash style that didn’t always focus on the defensive side of the game. Erskine’s role was obvious: protect his end when no one else could or would.

It seems Erskine has finally found his niche. He was most recently signed to a two-year extension with the Caps, and was an integral part of the team’s playoff run last year. Still not the strongest skater or point producer, Erskine remains a bruising force on Washington’s blueline, an absolute nightmare for opposing forwards in front of his own net, and a willing fighter when called upon. Perhaps the biggest key to Erskine’s success in staying in the NHL? Discipline. In 52 games with the Capitals last year – the same number as his 2002-03 season with the Grizzlies – Erskine notched just 63 PIMs, demonstrating a physical, yet disciplined game that has earned him a solid roster spot on a very good NHL team. He’s grown up and it shows.

John Erskine, Hockey Hall of Fame? Probably not. But a nasty, dependable blueliner he has become. He will be remembered in Utah.

Check out the next installment, which will feature former Grizz captain Mark Wotton.