All-Star quibbles wanted
Posted: Tuesday January 05, 1999 03:42 PM
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and comments to Kostya Kennedy.
Welcome back, puck lovers. Hope you all had a good holiday. The All-Star
teams get picked this week, so if you have any quibbles or quarrels; any
humble recommendations or impassioned condemnations, let's hear 'em. In the
meantime, thanks as always for the great questions.
I just can't figure Flyers GM Bob Clarke anymore with his latest trade
to re-acquire Karl Dykhuis for Petr Svboda. Clarke claims that Svboda was
too injury prone. Didn't he just re-acquire Mikael Renberg -- the
often-injured Mikael Renberg who once again is out of action with an
injury? Clarke just can't make up his mind on the kind of team he wants to
put on the ice and as long as he continues to struggle with this so will
the Flyers. Isn't it about time he steps down?
-- Eric Shaiman,
Eden Prairie, Minn.
I can't figure Clarke either. For more on him, see Inside the NHL in the
January 11 issue of Sports Illustrated.
Do you think that teams out in the front of the pack in points (Stars
for example) are setting themselves up for a postseason fall again? What
makes me a little nervous is that Dallas did so well last year, capturing
the President's Trophy, and then looked worn-out as the playoffs dragged
on. Even with the depth they've added, wouldn't pouring it on all season
tire players out for clutch time?
-- Jay Morren, Dallas
Come March the Stars would do well to treat themselves carefully -- that
is, cut down on grueling practices, and allow players with nagging injuries
time off to heal. Even then however, and definitely now, the Stars are
going to play as hard as they can to try to win every night -- and with
their talent they're going to win a lot. Last year, Dallas's great depth
was undermined by an amazing rash of injuries. This year, even greater
depth should help carry the Stars through the most grinding times.
Balancing the need to take things a little easy in the regular season,
without sacrificing victories, is one of the main challenges facing the
coach of an elite team. We'll see how well Ken Hitchcock does
that over the next few months.
Who do you think will be the next "150-points-a-season"
player come next century?
-- Marcus Wilhelmson, Umea,
Sweden
Paul Kariya.
My co-worker from Detroit says that rumors there have the Red Wings
trying to get Washington's Mark Tinordi for Darren McCarty. Is this a good
trade? Should the Capitals hold out for something more? Or should they
hold on to Tinordi and hope the offense comes around?
-- Todd
Goren, Washington, D.C.
This is a pretty interesting idea. McCarty would inject some real life and
personality into the Capitals and he could help goose their offense with
his enthusiasm -- a little like Todd Harvey 's impact on the
Rangers, say. Purely from a talent perspective, McCarty isn't as valuable
as Tinordi and a blueliner of Tinordi's reliability and tenacity isn't easy
to come by. Yet given the Capitals' struggles I think this would be a good
deal. McCarty can flat-out play; he's tough in every hockey sense of the
word and he's better offensively than he gets credit for.
In fact, as much as the Wings need defense, they should be very careful
about moving a player like McCarty, whose own rise in the NHL has been part
and parcel of the Wings' development into a mini-dynasty. McCarty is a
great locker-room guy and a real core of the team personality in Detroit.
So even though Tinordi could provide needed defensive stability, the Wings
would think long and hard (and probably consult locker-room leader
Steve Yzerman ) before letting McCarty go.
I've heard rumors about the Islanders sending Bryan Berard to the
Leafs in order to get Felix Potvin, and if that happens to be the true,
Tommy Salo's services would no longer be needed by the Islanders. What do
you think about this?
-- Johan Lundell, Stockholm, Sweden
The Islanders, goaltending wise, would be better for it. Salo has played
excellently at times but he hasn't thrived in the close, battling heat of
the NHL the way he did in the wider, more open ice of international play.
The way he plays still seems better suited to that international style.
Also, while Mike Milbury has spoken highly of Salo of late, he
made it clear last year that was less than happy with his goalie, and
should the Islanders some how get back in the playoff picture, he'd feel
better staking his hopes for a first-round upset on Potvin than on Salo.
What's more, the Islanders have a goalkeeper of the future in their system.
(19-year-old Roberto Luongo )
All of that said, I'm not totally advocating this trade because Berard is
a fine player who has tremendous upside. If Potvin were acquired, though,
Salo would be solid trade bait for the Islanders to at least partially
compensate for the Berard loss. For all the drawbacks I alluded too, Salo's
a talented young keeper who has shown signs of improvement and could yet
develop into the backbone of a solid NHL team.
How do you think the acquisition of Paul Coffey will improve the
Hurricanes overall as a team (given the history of Coffey's previous stint
with the franchise) and on the power play? Do you see the 'Canes as being a
legitimate playoff team with the chance to win a round or two?
-- Andrew Corwin, Easton, Conn.
The Coffey acquisition won't improve the 'Canes one whit. Coffey was such
a great, great player, but his days of producing even the occasional
dominating game are gone. His fall-off since winning the Norris Trophy in
1995 has been alarming and somewhat sad to see. Coffey might get the odd
power-play goal, and it's nice for the Hurricanes to be able to showcase a
Hall of Famer to their fans. But at this point Nelson Emerson, whom
Carolina gave up to get Coffey, is a better and more valuable player.
Carolina's a solid club and certainly a legitimate playoff team. On the
face of it, they could well win a first-round series, though that will
depend upon the state of their roster come playoff time (that is, what
injuries have struck) and upon how they match up against their opponent.
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and comments to Kostya Kennedy.
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