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League will call penalties -- really
Click here to send an NHL question to Kostya Kennedy. I ran into Bryan Berard last week at the Toronto airport -- the first time I've seen him since just after the awful eye-gouging he suffered last year. He looks good. He has just begun training again, but he seems in fair shape and his spirits were high. "Doctors say its 50-50 whether I'll play again," he told me. "I'm taking it slowly, but that's a 50 percent chance I plan to take." Berard hopes to begin skating at the end of the month and to go week-by-week from there. Let's wish him luck. On to the 'bag ...
Is this year going to be any different? The league always says it's going to
crack down on clutching and grabbing, and call penalties. It works for a couple
of weeks, then it's back to the same old thing. We need speed and flow. Also,
with all the new technology, is there any better way to show the games on TV? It
seems the cameras get farther and farther away from the action each year. And
all the new arenas seem to plant the cameras in the upper deck.
Cutting down on obstruction remains a priority for the league, as it has been for the past couple of years. There was certainly more flow to games last season than there had been the year before, and I expect matches to unfold at an even better pace this year. The fact that cutting down on obstruction has been emphasized at league meetings has led several teams to build speedier teams. Progress in this matter, however, is painfully incremental. There's still a whole lot of clutching and grabbing, as you mention, and it's hard to break players out of longstanding habits. Referees need to be more consistent in doing away with obstruction. New head zebra Andy Van Hellemond will do his best to see that they are.
Can the L.A. Kings really be serious about Rob Blake? If they let him go, I
figure they set themselves back another couple of years. Why not sign him and
Jozef Stumpel and try to make a run at the Cup? Or, once again, do us Kings fans
get the shaft for another season?
Sorry Michael, but even if Blake and Stumpel come in and have career years, the Kings are far from competing for the Cup. Still, losing Blake would be devastating to the Kings. He's by far the most important player in the franchise and one of the top four defensemen in hockey, and he's a likable, team-oriented captain who also has a superb rapport with the fans of L.A. Not so long ago he was nicknamed the Mayor of Manhattan Beach. Blake loves L.A. If the Kings do let him go, it will set the team back a couple of years.
Since both the Boston Bruins and Los Angeles Kings are dealing with bitter
contract disputes, do you see any way they can get together and address each
other's needs in a trade, possibly by sending Anson Carter and a prospect to Los
Angeles in return for Rob Blake?
The Bruins have a huge void where Raymond Bourque used to be, and they tried desperately to remake their defense in the offseason. There's no question they'd love to have Blake -- in theory. The problem is that if the Kings can't satisfy Blake's financial desires, it's hard to believe the Bruins would be willing to pay up. In any event, Carter and a prospect would not be nearly enough to land Blake. This guy is one of the true impact players in hockey and if the Kings do deal him, they should hold out for at least two frontline players.
If you had to select only one player per position for an All-Star team, who
would you pick on the left and right wings, center, goaltender and two
defensemen?
LW: Pavel
Bure
This is a good question and I invite readers to respond to my choices and throw in some of your own. I had a very hard time leaving Mike Modano off this list. There are times in the playoffs when you watch Modano and know you're watching the best two-way player in the game. I also went with Hasek in a close decision over Eddie Belfour. Hasek had a rough time last season with his injury and with all the talk about his retirement (and his motivation for announcing it so early). But he's still the most talented goalie alive and has one more great year inside him.
What do you foresee happening with Alexander Karpovtsev? We already know
what Mark Gandler is capable of allowing his clients to do. Do the Leafs have
another Alexei Yashin on their hands? Or are they just playing hardball because
they know everyone will look at Gandler as the "bad guy"?
Even with Gandler in there queering the pitch, I'm a little surprised this has dragged on as long as it has. The sides aren't that far apart in terms of money (about $150,000 or so). The Leafs have a deep team, but a solid defenseman like Potsie is exactly what this team can't stand to lose. I expect him to sign within the first couple of weeks of the season, if not before.
Why haven't the Blues signed Chris Pronger to a long-term deal? I heard it's
because they want to sign him after this season so there's money available to go
after John LeClair and/or Rob Blake? Any takes?
This will get done but it may not happen overnight. Pronger, who will make about $4.75 million this year, will be looking for serious, Jagr-like dough (that is, $9 million per year). I expect the Blues to pay him in that range, but it still takes a little time for management to commit to that kind of money. Sports Illustrated staff writer Kostya Kennedy covers the NHL and is a
regular contributor to CNNSI.com. To send a question to his mailbag, which
appears every Thursday during the regular season, click here.
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