Around The Rink 02.26.08: The Battle For The Atlantic

Posted by Jeremy Yoder on 02.26.2008

Around The Rink this week, Peter Forsberg makes me a liar and Mats Sundin does something I consider noble. We’ll also stop for a look at the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division which will be a great lead into our weekly Pens update.

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Last week, against my better judgment, I wrote a small piece about Peter Forsberg announcing that he decided not to return to the NHL this year. The very next day I read that his agent declared that there was a misinterpretation of what was originally said by Forsberg's camp. They said that what Peter really meant was that he was discouraged and was leaning more towards not returning to the NHL, but that there was still a small window. All week the discussion raged on, is he coming back? Isn't he coming back? What team is he returning to? Finally today, a day before the trade deadline and the deadline for Forsberg himself, the opera is over, for real for real this time. Peter Forsberg has signed a one-year deal with one of his former teams, the Colorado Avalanche. The deal is worth $1 million and is good to the end of this season.

The signing returns Forsberg to a team that he helped win two Stanley Cups. Forsberg also won a Hart Trophy while playing for the Avs. He definitely enjoyed the best years of his career in Colorado. Can he recapture that magic again? I'm honestly not 100% sure. Forsberg has spent the NHL season to this point rehabbing nagging foot and ankle injuries. Despite that, I think Forsberg will still have something to offer the Avalanche, who are currently out of the playoffs by four points in the Western Conference. With Joe Sakic and Paul Stastny getting back into the lineup this past week, Forsberg should fit in nicely with this team. I think it definitely improves the Avalanches chances of getting into the playoffs in a tight Western Conference race. It should be interesting over the next 20 or so hours before the trade deadline to see what, if anything, other teams fighting for that playoff spots do as a reaction to this.

There is big news from the Eastern Conference this week as well. Toronto Maple Leafs center Mats Sundin has told the team he will not waive the no-trade clause in his contract. Sundin, who I think will be an unrestricted free agent after this season, says that he will not waive the no-trade clause in his contract because he does not believe in the concept of a rent-a-player. A rent-a-player, for anyone unfamiliar, is someone who gets traded as an unrestricted free agent and then returns to the team that traded him in the offseason. Mark Recchi, who was traded by the Pens to the Hurricanes in '05-'06, is an example of this type of player as he returned to the Penguins in '06-'07.

The backlash from Toronto regarding this decision says that if he really cared about the team, he would waive his no-trade clause so that they could get some talented young players in return. While I understand this argument, I have to side with Sundin on this one. I'm not too keen on the rent-a-player concept myself and I'm pretty pleased that Sundin would take a stand like this. It is to be noted that teammates Tomas Kaberle, Darcy Tucker and Pavel Kubina all refused to waive the no-trade clause in their contracts also.

I guess a large part of the reason I like this move is because in this day and age where so many athletes are looking out for themselves, it's nice to see someone thinking about the team. Sundin has been with the Leafs for a very long time and he doesn't want to jump ship right now. Opponents of that idea would say that if he really had the teams best interests in mind, he would waive the no-trade clause and return in the offseason. Like I said, I understand why someone would say that, but I just think this was something a true leader does. My hat's off to Sundin on this one.

The Devils Are Leading The Way In The Atlantic

The cream of the crop really does rise to the top and the reigning Atlantic Division champion New Jersey Devils are a great example of that. At 37-21-5 with 79 points, they are first place in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference. The Devils are 7-1-2 in their last 10 games and are starting to really play some good hockey. Led by 23-year old Zach Parise, the Devils are getting more and more consistent scoring from players like Patrick Elias, Brian Gionta, John Madden and Travis Zajac. The Devils have only nine players on their roster with a – rating. Standing at second in the league in goals allowed, it's easy to see that the Devils still play solid defense and that is the key to their success. They are a middle-of-the-road team when it comes to goals scored, but because of the stingy defense, that's no worry. You can't talk about the Devils or their defensive success without talking about one of the greatest goaltenders, if not the greatest goaltender, of all time, Martin Brodeur. After a slow start, Brodeur leads the league in wins with 35 and is in the top five in GAA, SV% and shutouts. And to think, I questioned the man at the beginning of the year, silly me. The Devils are getting hot at the right time of year. If they can keep this up, they'll be flying into the playoffs. I think the Devils will go on to win the Atlantic Division and probably finish first in the Eastern Conference as well. When the Devils get rolling, they're a tough team to stop.

Sitting in second place with 77 points and a record of 35-21-7 are the Pittsburgh Penguins. Their 77 points are the third most in the Eastern Conference, good enough to have them in fourth place behind the division leaders. The Pens have stayed pretty hot lately despite losing back to back overtime games over the weekend. They are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games and have been doing a great job of staying more than afloat in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference since losing a few key players to injury. The Pens are preparing to get healthy again with Marc-Andre Fleury expected to start tomorrow night on Long Island against the New York Islanders. Sidney Crosby appears to be well ahead of schedule with his high-ankle sprain and Gary Roberts has been hitting the ice appearing to be ready to return in the not-so-distant future to the team. With Evgeni Malkin playing out of his mind over the last 20 games, this team should be ready to make a decent run when they get healthy. The Pens will finish second in the Atlantic Division which will only be good enough to seed them at fourth for the playoffs in the Eastern Conference.

The New York Rangers are third in the division with a record of 32-24-8 for 72 points. Talk about teams having slow starts, the Rangers got off to a really slow start. The free agent signings of Scott Gomez and Chris Drury seemed to not be working out. Jaromir Jagr was not having a good year and neither was Brendan Shanahan. Things have really changed in New York though. Just when critics were starting to really get on Jagr's case, he came to life and started scoring points. Currently he's scored eight points in his last five games. Brendan Shanahan has come back to life with six points in his last five and Drury and Gomez have been matching those outputs themselves. Defensively, the Rangers are one of the better teams in goals allowed on the season. Henrik Lundqvist is not having his greatest season, though he is heating up of late. That means that the Rangers may have an underrated defensive corps. When you look at their defensemen with guys like Marc Staal, Fedor Tyutin and Marek Malik, you see big defensemen who move pretty well. As a matter of fact, the Rangers don't have a defensemen on their roster under 6'2" tall and 205lbs. Size and speed, two things that are great to have on your blue line. The Rangers will not move higher than third in this division. That will be good enough to get them into the playoffs in the Eastern Conference with a fifth seed.

Sitting in fourth in this Atlantic Division are the free-falling Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers are 30-25-7 for 67 points. Right now they're only one point out of a playoff position in the Eastern Conference, that's the good news. The bad news is that they are plagued with injuries right now. Joffrey Lupul has missed the last five games and will be out for two to three more weeks. Derian Hatcher has missed the last seven games and will be out for another three weeks. Simon Gagne has missed the last eight games and will be out for the rest of the season. Last game, against the Panthers, Mike Richards went down with a torn hamstring and will be out for at least three weeks. With all of these injuries, it's easy to see why the Flyers have lost their 10 games. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot to be optimistic about right now. If this team is going to make the playoffs, guys like Daniel Briere, RJ Umberger and Jeff Carter are going to need to elevate their game to keep the team afloat in the playoff race until Richards and co. can return. With the goaltending in Philly average at best, it's going to be a tall order. I think they'll fight hard, but ultimately won't have enough in the tank to make the playoffs. They'll fall to last in the Atlantic Division and just miss the playoffs. A disappointing end to a season that started with so much promise.

Sitting at last, though tied in points with the Flyers, are the New York Islanders with a record of 30-26-7 for 67 points. They are last in the division because the Flyers have a game in hand over them. The Islanders are also a team that is slightly bitten by the injury bug. Currently forwards Shawn Bates, Mike Sillinger and Jon Sim and defensemen Chris Campoli, Andy Sutton and Brendan Witt are all on the injured reserve list. The Islanders are tied for the fewest goals for in the league. They aren't very good in goals allowed either. That's a horrible combination and not one that will serve the Islanders well. There are rumors of Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko being dealt before tomorrow's trade deadline. If they move these guys, I doubt they'll get anything that will help immediately in return. Rick Dipietro has faced the fourth most shots in the league and is doing all he can, but he's not getting much help. The Islanders are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games, but I don't see them being able to carry that momentum for long. They will move ahead of the Flyers in the Atlantic, but won't quite make the playoffs.

Weekly Pens Update

Well, I mentioned above that the Pens are sitting in second in the Atlantic Division and fourth overall in the Eastern Conference. They got there by getting through a wild week of hockey. They started off with wild back-to-back comeback victories against the Panthers on Tuesday night and the Canadiens on Thursday night. Poised to take control of the Eastern Conference, they blew a three goal lead against the Senators on Saturday, losing in overtime 4-3, then lost a close shootout game against the San Jose Sharks on Sunday.

This will be another rough week with three road games in five days and four games in six days. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday they are at the New York Islanders, the Boston Bruins and the Ottawa Senators returning home on Sunday to face the Atlanta Thrashers. All of these teams, like the Pens and maybe even more so in some cases, have a lot to play for.

However, the Pens will hopefully get a boost from the return of Marc-Andre Fleury to goal tomorrow night in Long Island. That is the speculation anyway as the Pens called him up from Wilkes-Barre Scranton the other day. What does this mean for the Pens goaltending situation from here on out? Who knows? Personally, I think Fleury should be the starter, but you never know with Michel Therrien. One thing is sure; Dany Sabourin is the odd-man out in this case. Sabourin will be sent down providing that he clears waivers. If the Pens can acquire anything in a trade for him, I would do that.

I also expect to see Sidney Crosby return to the lineup before I write again. I think Sid will make an appearance on the ice in the next few games. Hopefully the rest of the team understands that if they continue to play with the intensity they have been, there will only be better things when Sid returns. The other thing I will say about Crosby's return is that I hope Coach Therrien keeps him and Evgeni Malkin separate. I think having Malkin center his own line, especially with Petr Sykora and Ryan Malone, is the best thing for the Pens. It would be nice to trade for a sniper for Sid's wing, but if they don't want to make a trade, they can put an average winger on Sid's line for the remainder of the season and try to sign a sniper in the offseason. Putting an average winger with Sid is never a bad choice because playing with Sid instantly makes him that much better. Throw Sid out there with Colby Armstrong and another winger and I think the team will be fine.

Evgeni Malkin is currently tied with Alexander Ovechkin for the lead league in points scoring. He has been on a tear since Sid went down with his injury. It will be interesting to see how he bounces back this week after being shut-out in back-to-back games over the weekend. I think that with a little rest, #71 will be ready to get back on track this week. Look for Malkin to rack up some points while the team eagerly awaits the captain's return. It's going to be another great week of Penguins hockey!

Random Thoughts

In this day and age of frivolous lawsuits filed by lazy people looking to get rich quick, it's amusing to see the kind of warnings that come on products. For example, a bottle of Afrin will caution the user to not spray it in their eyes. If you buy the product to spray in your nose, what would make you possibly think it would be a good idea to squirt it in your eye? The sad thing is, I guarantee you that some moron out there did just that and won a settlement from the maker of the nose spray. I think the court system should have full authority to look someone straight in the eye and tell them they're stupid. Some of these lawsuits need to stop. It's just totally out of control what people sue other people for anymore. To the lady at McD's years ago that seemed to have really kicked this trend off, of course the coffee's hot. Of course it's going to burn you if you spill it on yourself. Be a little more careful next time, moron.

More Next Tuesday...

I'll be back next week with another column. Please send any comments, questions, suggestions or a topic that would interest you to [e-mail].