First off, my thanks to LeftCoaster for trying to rustle up a pinch-hitter for me this morning for today's blog.
I actually won't be around tomorrow, as I'll be marauding the streets of Vancouver with 50,000 of my closest friends in the Sun Run. Today's contribution will have to serve as your weekend update—unless, of course, something big comes down.
I'm in...and in hockey mode...all day today. Just published a Bleacher Report story on playoff injuries and will be spending the rest of the day working on a hockey book project—deadline's drawing near.
Oh yeah—will also try to keep one eye on today's games. All pretty compelling:
• Jonas Gustavsson gets the nod again as the Red Wings try to stave off elimination. There's speculation that Jimmy Howard might have sustained a concussion in Game 3, rather than just having the flu.
• Those Columbus Blue Jackets have proven to be a plucky bunch! They've made it as far as the Islanders did last year before Pittsburgh took over that series. I'm hoping this year's gang can take it all the way. Ryan Murray + Fedor Tyutin will be back on the blue line for Columbus, so that's good news—especially for overworked Jack Johnson and James Wisniewski.
• Despite assurances that Matt Duchene is not a possibility for Colorado for Game 5, he took the optional morning skate and there are whispers that the Avs might "pull a Zetterberg" and sneak him into tonight's lineup. After coming up empty in Minnesota, Colorado could really use another offensive option at this point.
• The west coast war continues tonight as the Sharks get another chance to close out the Kings, this time on home ice. I liveblogged every minute of the first four games of this series. L.A. really started to look like their nasty old selves again in their Game 4 win.
The Sharks said all the right things on Thursday about how they swept Vancouver last year and wouldn't let the Kings back into the series...then did it anyway. But Dustin Brown's snarl has returned now that he's been moved up to the first line, and it seems to be making Marian Gaborik play bigger as well. Kings fans are already begging for Gaborik to be re-signed this summer now that he's posted three goals in two games.
The show starts at noon, with Detroit/Boston.
I guess it wold be too much to hope that Mike Babcock might come on the market if the Wings get eliminated, huh?
But...how d'ya feel about Adam Oates? Or about George McPhee coming back to Vancouver? They're both looking for work after today's announcement from Washington.
The NHL.com story about the changes for the Capitals
reminds us that McPhee has been with the Caps for 17 years. Though the team has struggled in the playoffs and had a rough ride lately, that's an impressive run—third-longest behind Lou Lamoriello and Jim Rutherford.
Of course, McPhee started his career here in Vancouver...during the Trevor Linden years. He followed Brian Burke as Pat Quinn's right-hand man starting in 1992 and was here through the '94 finals.
I think we might have another possible GM candidate for Mr. Linden to interview.
What do you think?
If you didn't catch Iain MacIntyre's
interview with Linden from Thursday, it's worth a read. While it sounds like we won't have any decisions soon, Linden also seems to be taking a pretty smart approach to his process so far—talking to as many knowledgeable people as he can and trying not to come at the task with too many preconceived opinions. He remains pretty open and plainspoken which, as MacIntyre points out, is refreshing after Gillis' approach with the media.
It also sounds like he had a bit of a "Holy S***!" moment sometime after he agreed to take the job, when he started to feel the full impact of what lies ahead. I'd say that's a good thing, too.
Still hopeful, so far. And still assuming we won't hear anything on Torts for awhile: Trev's got bigger fish to fry.
To close today, one more quick note on Jim Benning to following up from his profile on yesterday's blog.
According to the Bruins' website, Benning's first job with Boston as director of player personnel actually started on July, 2006, so he wasn't with the team when they drafted Kessel, Lucic and Marchand earlier that spring.
If you go back to 2006, Washington's draft record is much better than what I posted yesterday for Boston. They've developed players like Nicklas Backstrom, Semyon Varlamov, Michal Neuvirth, Mathieu Perreault, Karl Alzner, John Carlson, Marcus Johansson, Cody Eakin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Filip Forsberg and Tom Wilson. Not all those players are still with the team—and that Forsberg for Martin Erat trade sure looks bad—but at a glance, that looks like a lot more NHLers than either Vancouver or Boston have brought to the table—of all positions and nationalities, too.
Click here for the list. Then see if you want to re-visit that poll question about McPhee....
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