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Not the best defense Posted: Thursday January 10, 2002 2:08 PMUpdated: Sunday January 13, 2002 2:01 AM
Here we go, puckheads. It's the time of year when teams start making a move. Don't look now, but the Stars are just three points off the pace in the Pacific. Don't look now, but the surging Kings are three points out of a playoff spot. Don't look now, but the Panthers, under Iron Mike Keenan, are staging their own desperate push toward respectability. Teams need to look at the next few weeks before the Olympic break as a key time to close ground and/or hold firm. When the break's over, the playoff race hits high gear. And now, on to your mailbag ... Many analysts pick the Leafs for a deep playoff run this year. My question
is about their defense and its ability to keep the puck out of the net. Do you
see the Leafs' defensive core bending but not breaking or do you see it as a
possible bust?
The Leafs could well go on a good playoff run this year, but in the evenly matched East, they could also bow out early. If they were to play, say Boston, it would, at this point, be a pick 'em series. While the Leafs defense needs an upgrade -- and you'll likely see someone ( Lyle Odelein ?) come in before the March 19 trading deadline -- it's not way behind the rest of the Eastern corps. No team in the conference can match the muscle and skill the Flyers have in Eric Desjardins, Dan McGillis, Chris Therien and Eric Weinrich. Ottawa's defense also has a clear edge over the Maple Leafs' group (even though the teams have surrendered a similar number of goals). After that, Toronto's cast (Dmitry Yushkevich, Bryan McCabe, Tomas Kaberle et al.) is right there with any other in the East. What that defense lacks is a bruising body to play 18-20 minutes for them. I think they'll get it and then they'll have a defense that will certainly be solid, though not imposing. The summer trades St. Louis made with Calgary and Edmonton have paid off for
the two Alberta franchises. Why aren't the Blues benefitting from the deals that
brought Doug Weight and Fred Brathwaite? Also, are we going to see the Blues
trade for a veteran goalie, such as Ed Belfour or Ron Tugnutt?
First off, the Blues, with very ordinary goaltending, are a nice 22-12-6-3. So it's not as if they've dropped off the map after those trades. They hope the Weight deal will pay its real dividends in the playoffs. As a regular-season player, Weight is certainly an upgrade over Pierre Turgeon but not by a huge margin. Turgeon was quite underrated and substituting Weight for him, a move that adds brashness, bursts of speed and pure passing ability, is not going to alter a club in its essence. And in trading away several good young forwards ( Jochen Hect in particular) the Blues definitely weakened their depth. It's easy to see why they haven't been goosed by the arrival of Weight. As for Brathwaite, he's a solid enough goalie, good for splitting time, but not at all the guy the Blues want to lead them into the playoffs. There was never any thought that he would be an improvement over Roman Turek. Acquiring him was basically an effort to give St. Louis an experienced keeper to complement Brent Johnson. At one time, the Blues had their eyes on acquiring Mike Richter, but with the Rangers still hoping for a playoff spot, they're very unlikely to let Richter go. You might see a deal for Tugnutt, though his postseason record isn't that inspiring, and that wouldn't necessarily solve their goaltending problems. The Blues would love to get Belfour. They'd have to really overwhelm Dallas though, because even though they're grooming Marty Turco and getting tired of Belfour's inconsistency, the Stars know what Eddie can do and will be highly reluctant to trade him to a conference rival. Another potential import who could, in my mind, be a nice addition, is the Hurricanes' Arturs Irbe. Who's gotta go, Darryl Sutter or Teemu Selanne?
Brother, they gotta coexist. Selanne is just too talented to jettison and even in this lousy year he has shown flashes. Sutter has never been the best coach, and I can see the Sharks making a move sometime soon, but not this year unless they really slump. For all their success this year, the Sharks have disappointed in some ways, and if they slip they'll do something significant. For now, though, sitting in first place, they won't be so quick to wreck the high. Do injuries (Ulf Dahlen out for the past couple of weeks, Jaromir Jagr out
for some games, Calle Johansson out for the season, Steve Konowalchuk out for
most of it, Brendan Witt out a few weeks, etc.) really explain what's wrong with
the Caps this season? Sometimes they just don't seem to put in the effort. Is
this Ron Wilson's fault, has he lost his players? Is there any hope that they'll
make the playoffs?
I've been a believer in the Caps all season and I'm not yet about to abandon ship. But I must admit, they are testing my resolve. There's something "off" with this club. They're getting solid (if not spectacular) offensive years out of their four best offensive players, which should be enough to keep a team comfortably in playoff position. Instead, they're a couple points out of the last spot. While I do think they'll make the postseason, it's no sure thing. Wilson's a first-rate coach. He may have lost Adam Oates before this season even began, but most of the team still believes in Wilson, as they should. The Caps' defensive woes are partly due in part because a) they lost their best defenseman (Johansson, an All-Star) and b) none of their best players ( Peter Bondra, Sergei Gonchar, Jagr, Oates) are the types of players who set a defensive example. If your team leaders aren't playing dedicated defense, the rest of the club will follow their poor example. With Konowalchuk out, and Jeff Halpern in the midst of a vexing, subpar season, there's no one to carry the torch. That's why they've got such a mess on their hands. Why did Team Canada's powers-that-be choose not to select Scotty Bowman as
coach of their Olympic team? Not only is he the winningest coach in the history
of that country's de facto national pastime, he is the winningest coach at
present as well. Bowman has proven that he can manage the egos of star players
and mold them into a team. Am I missing something or is Wayne Gretzky suffering
from a case of "early-timers"?
Michael, there's no satisfactory explanation for this. Bowman is the best candidate for this job. It's not that the Canadians were after a young coach -- they selected Pat Quinn, after all -- but there may have been a reluctance to bring Bowman in to share the managerial spotlight with Gretzky. More to the point, it's no small matter that Bowman has become a U.S. citizen. Yes, he has Canadian roots, but it would have certainly drawn the ire of some true-blood Canadians to have a U.S. citizen coaching their team. Still, Bowman was eligible to coach Canada (or any team for that matter) and Gretzky should have asked him. Bowman says he's grateful to have the time off at his age (68) to rest for the playoffs and see his family. But there's no doubt that if Bowman had been asked, he would be going to Salt Lake City (he'd likely have cased the joint 10 times by now) and Canada would have a better chance for the gold. In a playoff situation, does Detroit have enough toughness to survive? I
remember when the Red Wings won a playoff series against Chicago a few years
ago, but it took a lot out of them and they ended up losing to the Avalanche.
Right now I feel Chicago would have a better chance to survive the typical tough
play of the playoffs vs. Detroit. What are your thoughts?
The loss of Marty Lapointe last offseason was a blow to the Wings' toughness, and they need Darren McCarty to return to the form he was in a few years ago. McCarty is the Red Wings' best tough player and his inconsistency this season has been just about the only disappointment of the team's first half. Still, the Wings have a tough-ass captain in Steve Yzerman and players such as Kris Draper and (once again) Brendan Shanahan can be nasty to play against. Chris Chelios is as ornery as they come. Chicago's done nicely this season and is one of the rare teams that, when hot, have the snipers to match the Wings in a shootout. I can't see them beating Detroit in a playoff round, though -- not at all. Sports Illustrated senior writer Kostya Kennedy covers the NHL for the
magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. To send a question to his
Mailbag, click here.
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