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October 23, 2003
NHL Roundup
Brendan Shanahan had three assists, as the Red Wings beat Columbus 4-1. With Dominik Hasek on the bench, and Curtis Joseph on a bus somewhere in Upstate New York, the unappreciated Manny Legace got the win for the Wings. In New Jersey, the Panthers beat the Devils 2-1, keeping the defending Stanley Cup Champs winless at home. And speaking of winless, the Carolina Hurricanes remain the league's only team without a win after tying the Penguins in Pittsburgh 1-1. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 35 shots for Pittsburgh. In Dallas, the visiting Leafs got their first win on an extended road trip, beating Dallas 3-1. Joe Nieuwendyk got a goal for Toronto against his old teammates. In the Pacific Northwest, the Canucks and the Blues made me wish I'd set the TiVo to record Vancouver's 3-2 win: With three minutes left and the game tied, [Todd] Bertuzzi caught Barret Jackman with his head down and knocked the Blues defenseman out of the game. Five St. Louis penalties later, rookie Jason King scored on a two-man power play with 12.7 seconds left. . . The Blues host the Canucks on Thursday November 6th. I guess we'll find out then if Pronger was telling the truth, won't we? Be sure to set your TiVo. And finally, in Anaheim, J.S. Giguere got his first win of the season, as the Ducks beat the Flyers 4-3 in overtime. The win was the second straight for the Ducks after they opened the season with four straight losses. And just when you thought the fans in Anaheim didn't have any edge, we get the news that the locals cheered lustily when news of Paul Kariya's wrist injury was flashed on the hometown scoreboard. Colorado didn't wait long to find another body. Hockey fans in Washington got a bit of a surprise during last night's rush hour as the Washington Capitals announced they had traded team captain Steve Konowalchuck and a third round pick to the Avalanche for Bates Battaglia and the rights to junior player Jonas Johansson. For those of you outside Washington who don't know Konowlachuck, lets just say he's a lot like ex-Oilers captain Kelly Buchburger. Relentless. He never takes a shift off, and will probably see his career take off in an Avalanche uniform, now that he'll be playing with a supporting cast far more talented than he's ever been with in Washington. For the Caps, they save some money, and pick up an ex-first round pick in exchange for a player they would lose in free agency after this season anyway.
Eric
07:06 AM
Trackback PingsTrackBack URL for this entry: CommentsThe Capitals traded their captain and one of their top gritty character guys, one who played all his life in Washington, a guy capable of scoring 20+ goals a game in the right situation, which tells me they are probably desperate. They can't trade Jagr because nobody wants a pouting, depressed, underperforming, $11 million a year player. They can't trade Lang either. What I don't understand about this trade is, why now, and why like this. Its not like Kono makes a lot of money (under $2 million).The Caps need defense above everything else and they didn't do anything to improve their defense with this move. How much does Battaglia make? Unless there's another move they are trying to make, the Caps did this to save less than a million dollars. The Avalanche just got better. Posted by: at October 23, 2003 09:56 AM I was never that impressed with Kono as a Cap, though I'm sure he'll do well in Colorado (like Mike Keane did several years ago). My sense is that Kolzig is the Caps' leader insofar as they have one. But who would you give the C to now? Had Jagr not already thrown a tantrum this year, one might think to challenge him with responsibility (and one would be making a big mistake). Bondra, then? Posted by: at October 23, 2003 11:07 AM Well, you are right, the real leader of the team is probably Kolzig, so there's probably no loss in terms of leadership. But Kono was a lead-by-example guy, like when he went after Peca and completely pummeled him after Peca had injured Gonchar. Just an all around good character guy to round out a team. Good fit for the Avs. Anyway, it seems like the Caps saved about a million in payroll and also got back a similar but cheaper player in BB, plus they get a top prospect. Not really a bad thing for this Caps team. Posted by: at October 23, 2003 12:12 PM Being in the left coast I watched the Duck/Flyers game, mostly to root against the Flyers. Does anyone outside Philly like the Flyers? Looking forward to being able to see two Sabres games. Tonight against the Kings and tomorrow against the Ducks. I just wish I could listen to Rick and Jim call the game. Don't get me wrong I like Bob Miller and Jim Fox. But NOBODY gets you more excited about a game the Rick Generette ("He shoots, he sssccccooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrsssss") AWSOME! out Posted by: at October 23, 2003 03:30 PM super.foo, you *can* hear the Buffalo radio broadcast, at http://nhl.com/intheslot/listen/radio/index.html without which I don't know what I'd do...(probably some work). Posted by: at October 23, 2003 05:19 PM The St. Louis Vancouver game wasn't really very good Eric. Until the third period and the string of penalties, it was pretty boring. And when Bertuzzi set off the fireworks with an enormous hit, the Blues discipline went out the window. I hate it when a team forces the officials to decide the game. Posted by: at October 23, 2003 07:19 PM Post a commentThanks for signing in, . (If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.) |