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Capitals building Posted: Thursday April 04, 2002 2:14 PM
Down the stretch we come, folks, and what a stretch it is. It's not just that so many teams are vying to get into the playoffs, it's that for the most part these are good teams. Some very solid clubs are going to miss out. As I see it in my cracked crystal ball, current form will hold in the playoff races: The Capitals will edge out the Canadiens for the East's eighth spot (the Rangers and Sabres will lag well behind). Out in the tightly packed Western Conference, I don't see Vancouver or Dallas -- both of which are within two wins of the sixth seed -- having enough to get into the dance. And now, on to your mailbag ... At the beginning of the season, most sportswriters predicted the Caps to win
the Southeast Division easily. Now that the season is dwindling down, do you
think the Hurricanes will be able to hold off Washington or will the Caps sneak
up on Carolina and claim a third consecutive title?
I've taken a beating from Carolina fans all year for sticking with the Caps as my choice to win that division. I still think they have a shot, now that they've rallied to within four points. But the Hurricanes have been plucky and persistent, and they have such a phenomenally easy schedule down the stretch (Atlanta twice, Florida, Tampa Bay and the Islanders) that I'd have to believe Carolina will hold on. I still think that for all their ups and downs this year, the Capitals -- who have two more wins than the 'Canes -- are the best team in that division, and would handle the 'Canes in a playoff series. In last
week's mailbag you mentioned that you think either Mats Sundin,
Patrick Roy or Jarome Iginla will win the league's MVP award. I'm starting to
hear Jose Theodore's name being brought up a lot. If the Habs make the playoffs,
how do you rate his MVP candidacy?
I don't see him as Hart candidate, even if Montreal nabs the eighth seed. No matter how spectacular Theodore has played, and he has played spectacularly, I'm just not comfortable giving the league MVP to a goalie with a record that's only slightly better than .500. Theodore is definitely a strong Vezina candidate, though. He'd be one of my three finalists. I could live with any one of the three MVP candidates you picked, that is
until I saw Alexei Yashin's name in the next sentence of that mailbag. How can
you name Yashin as a possible candidate? In a recent game against the Senators
he only played 13 minutes and he's averaging under 14 minutes a game this
season. Shouldn't the MVP be integral to his team? If you really wanted to put
an Islanders player in there, you should have said Michael Peca. He's done more
for that team than Chris Osgood, Yashin or any others that they added. I would
like to know your rationale behind naming Yashin.
First off, I said, as an afterthought that one could make a case for Yashin. And you could. He's not one of my three candidates, though. Let's be clear on that. Let's also be clear on the fact that you've gotten a little excited up there in Ottawa, Mike. I don't blame you for not liking Yashin but get your facts straight. He averages just about 21 minutes a game, and is by far the most dynamic offensive player on the club. With a team-best 32 goals and 74 points, he has had a major impact on the Islanders. As you probably know, Yashin can be a selfish guy, but he doesn't malinger on the ice. He's played with a nice edge this year. The Islanders are not a playoff team without him. Peca is an interesting case. Overall he's had a greater impact on the Islanders than Yashin has, I agree. Peca's a far superior two-way player than is Yashin, of course, and he's invariably a plus-player where Yashin is too often a minus. Having Peca as captain is part of why the Isles' acquisition of Yashin makes sense. Peca suffers slightly from his low point total, and he'll probably win the Selke Trophy, but if you want to rank Peca over Yashin on your Hart ballot, that's fine with me. It can go either way. And neither of those two will end up as a finalist. I just cannot believe that Sports Illustrated printed a cover in such
bad taste. I am referring to the small photo of Brittanie Cecil and the large
image of Espen Knutsen on the April 1, 2002 issue. I am a Blue Jackets
season-ticket holder and was there the night of the incident. It was a freak
accident that could not of been prevented and placing the blame on Knutsen is an
awful thing to do. He already feels badly enough and gave a statement of that
nature to the press. The family of the little girl is trying to mourn the
horrible loss of their daughter and this cover was in the poorest taste. I feel
that SI should apologize to Knutsen, the Blue Jackets' organization and also
to the family.
I know some people agree with you, Misty, but I don't think the cover was at all unfair. That cover didn't put any blame on Knutsen, it simply illustrated the grief he felt. Clearly the Blue Jackets are carrying this tragedy with them -- as wearing Brittanie's initials on their helmets shows. That's what the cover was trying to convey. The magazine published one story that paid tribute to Brittanie's life and other pieces that addressed hockey safety. A fan was killed at a sporting event. If Sports Illustrated advocates anything or anyone, it advocates fans. This was coverage and a cover that I believe the magazine was obligated to run. Why in the name of fun, entertaining and exciting hockey doesn't the NHL
outlaw abominations like the neutral-zone trap? The officials could give the
offending team one warning for illegal defense per period, and if that team uses
the trap again during the same period, award the opponent a power play chance.
Either that or just make the entire Minnesota Wild organization illegal.
Watching that team play is like watching an ice cube melt on freezing day.
Trying to enforce a no-trap rule would be impossible. Hockey's too fluid and too fast to outlaw that defensive style. It's not like basketball where teams set up their defense three-fourths of the time. Yes, you can recognize the trap pretty easily, but it often doesn't last long, teams use varying forms of it. The best thing for everyone, would have been if Sweden had won the gold medal in Salt Lake. Then we'd have coaches trying out the high-flying torpedo system in the NHL. To purge or not to purge, this is the question. The New York Rangers have
shown that stocking a team with big names is not the answer. They have shown
themselves to be the most underachieving, lackluster team in the league, and
their fans are simply fed up. The Rangers are lacking three major ingredients:
coaching, player leadership and, above all, chemistry. They are a disorganized,
undisciplined group of individuals, crambling all over the ice game after game.
This team needs an overhaul! What is your opinion?
The Rangers need two good defensemen and they need Ken Hitchcock. With Hitch coaching them and convening with Glen Sather to make personnel decisions (assuming Slats would take that input) the Rangers would make the playoffs comfortably next year and be a Cup contender a year or two after that. The Dallas Stars have missed out on Michael Peca, Alexei Yashin, Eric
Lindros, John LeClair, Jeremy Roenick, Jaromir Jagr and now Pavel Bure. What is
it that doesn't attract people to Big D?
Folks are plenty attracted to Dallas. Remember, this is a team that lured Brett Hull and Pierre Turgeon and Eddie Belfour. In the cases you're talking about -- with the notable exception of free agent Roenick, whom the Stars might have landed if JR hadn't worked out an early deal with Philly -- the players were traded and didn't have a say in where they went. The issue has been that Dallas hasn't had a lot of young, legitimate talent to deal in trades. And those they have had (such as Brenden Morrow and Marty Turco) they've (wisely) held on to. So when teams have unloaded an expensive star, such as Jagr or Bure, they haven't found the find the right match with the Stars. 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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