Canes Most Stable Among Playoff Scramblers
by Cory Lavalette on Feb 28, 2009 12:18 AM EST
7 comments
A couple weeks ago, the Florida Panthers seemed to be a team of destiny. Richard Zednik was piling up dramatic goal after dramatic goal, all just a year after his horrific on-ice throat-slashing. Tomas Vokoun or Craig Anderson? Who cares! Not only have both looked reliable, but either looks capable of carrying Florida back to the postseason.
But like they say, not so fast.
Like the rest of the East's playoff scrum, the Panthers have a controversy. While details are sketchy, GM Jacques Martin and coach Peter DeBoer have apparently come to the decision that the team is better off without defenseman Nick Boynton, who was sent home by the Panthers and will miss at least the next three games. His future is unknown. Will he be waived? Traded? Welcomed back?
Boynton is in his first year with Florida, having been acquired with Keith Ballard from Phoenix for Olli Jokinen, and has been a nice addition to the Panthers' blueline. He's not a workhorse in South Florida — of the team's top six d-men, Boynton is last in average ice time — but he is a steady veteran on a team that hasn't sniffed the postseason in a long time. His replacement, Noah Welch, was once a highly touted prospect, but has played just 20 NHL games this season and 53 over a career slowed by injury.
Still, changing out a third-pairing defenseman, especially one that plays few minutes on special teams, isn't life or death. But the last thing the Panthers needed was a distraction, one that could derail a young team that is still learning what it means to win.
But Florida's not alone. Check out the middle of the Eastern Conference (through Friday's games):
- The No. 5 Canadiens (62 games played, 73 points) have role players complaining about ice time or flat-out begging out of Montreal (here's one of three examples), a preordained goaltending god riding the pine, and their superstar is coming off an exile of his own. Oh, and three of their players may have ties to organized crime.
- No. 6 Florida (61 GP, 70 points) has been relatively stable, but the Boynton situation could conceivably turn ugly.
- The current seventh seed, the Rangers (63 GP, 70 points), fired their coach this week, claimed a player off the dreadful Leafs' scrap heap, and now seem poised to bring back the NHL's version of a circus clown.
- The Sabres (62 GP, 69 points) are currently in the final spot in the East, and while turmoil hasn't engulfed them like the others, they are without their two best players: goalie Ryan Miller and sniper Thomas Vanek.
- In 10th, the Penguins (63 GP, 68 points) also fired their coach, plus traded Ryan Whitney to Anaheim for a good prospect and decent-but-not-the-answer Chris Kunitz (I guess Ray Shero didn't get the message about how coveted puck-moving defensemen are. Ask Ottawa's Bryan Murray what it's like to send them packing). On top of that, Sidney Crosby's groin is acting up, and he's getting fiesty because Washington's Alex Ovechkin has firmly taken control of the "NHL's best player" contest.
And then there's the Hurricanes, sitting at ninth (63 GP, 69 points) and lacking the disturbances of the teams they are competing with for a spot in the NHL's second season. Sure, Scott Walker and Justin Williams are out, but Carolina's biggest concern right now is scoring, and the combined 23 points in 66 games those two have generated this year doesn't look like a huge blow to the scoresheet.
On top of being relatively healthy, there seems to be no drama surrounding the Hurricanes. It's a locker room with a mix of responsible veterans and mature youngsters, not to mention some guys who are very hungry for their first taste of the postseason. Is there anyone who loves hockey who wouldn't want to see old-time hockey throwbacks Tuomo Ruutu and Tim Gleason notch up the intensity another peg for the playoffs?
So in the maelstrom that is the race for seeds five through eight, Carolina — while not docked in a playoff position — is at least in the harbor and away from the crashing waves. The others? It looks like it will be more a matter of who sinks first than who manages to stay afloat. And with only four spots for six teams, it's better to have a calm crew with an anchor at the ready than a mutiny aboard a ship that's barely afloat.
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interesting piece…but it sounds like a lot of wishful thinking rather than what will actually happen. Anytime a story like this is written, it’s like Tripp Tracy’s curse. The opposite happens.
It’s not wishful thinking at all … there’s no denying that out of these six teams, the Canes are the most stable right now. Which means instead of being derailed by some crazy sideshow, they can focus on the games at hand. Does that mean they’re going to make the playoffs? Who knows what the final quarter of the season holds. That’s why they play the games. But I would bet you that if you sat down those six GMs and coaches at the beginning of the year and gave them a capsule like this for six teams, all would most want a distraction-free situation instead of one riddled with controversy and/or injuries.
My point is: there are no excuses for this team. They can’t say “injuries did us in” or “Player X sabtoaged our season.” It’s about getting it done on the ice.
CanesCountry.com: An Eye On Carolina Hockey
by Cory Lavalette on Feb 28, 2009 8:49 AM EST up reply actions
Cory nice article as always.
I agree with you on alot of these fronts. Leaving the presser Thursday, I summed up the playoff scene to a co-worker of mine and mentioned alot of these.
ne thing about MTL is that Halak is getting hot. Ive liked Halak all year and actually think he is tougher upstairs than Jesus Price. Price was on the verge of crying two weeks ago. I think you might even see him lose his job (Halak has played the last two, lets see who starts tonight. If a back up plays on back to back nights you can say hes no longer a backup). Mtl has played a couple of nice games and maybe on the way to righting the ship. On the other hand, it does seem that too many Habs are hitting the club scene. Im buying these rumors and think that this might be the undoing if any undoing is done (is that even a complete sentence)
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