Kukla's Korner

Trying To Move Ales Hemsky

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

05/20/13 at 01:52 PM ET | Comments (0)

from Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal,

Oilers general manager Craig MacTavish simply isn’t going to pay $5 million a season for a second-line player who has world-class ability.

Although Hemsky goes into traffic, gets hurt and plays hurt — both admirable traits — the Oilers can find better ways to spend his salary. They need bigger forwards, even if they don’t have Hemsky’s skill set, which, apart from his first two seasons, has made him pretty close to a point-a-game NHLer.

The problem is that Hemsky has missed 118 games the past four seasons — a red flag for other teams who like healthier players on their roster.

Can the Oilers get anything substantial for Hemsky these days?

“I don’t think there’s a market for him … I shouldn’t say there’s no market,” said former NHL general Craig Button, who now works for TSN. “But the salary cap is coming down to $64.3 million. He makes $5 million for one more year. Would the Oilers pick up half of that to trade him, 50-50 (with another team)? That would still free up $2.5 million in cap space for the Oilers.

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  Tags: ales+hemsky

Red Wings-Blackhawks Game 3 game-day updates: Wings expect Hawks to bring their best

Blog: The Malik Report By George Malik

05/20/13 at 12:41 PM ET | Comments (11)

Updated 13x at 3:46 PM: The Detroit Red Wings took to the ice at Joe Louis Arena to prepare for Game 3 against the Chicago Blackhawks tonight (7:30 PM EDT, NBCSN/CBC/97.1 FM, post-game on FSD), and the Wings' morning skate was relatively uneventful:

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Quick can’t afford to dwell on Saturday night’s game

Blog: 23 Intently Staring Goalies By lsefton

05/20/13 at 11:32 AM ET | Comments (0)

"If you keep thinking about the last goal. you'll soon be thinking about the next, last goal."

Good advice if you're playing goal. You spend your time thinking about that last goal, and you won't see the next one coming. That extrapolates to playoff games--if you spend your energy thinking about the previous game, you won't have the energy to play well. If you're grumbling to yourself in the next game, you're not paying attention to the play. The puck goes in, and now you have more to dwell on. That's how games can go hyperbolic in a very short time.

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The Twenty-Cent Opera And Not-So-Secret Biases

Blog: Abel to Yzerman By VooX

05/20/13 at 11:25 AM ET | Comments (52)

Jonathan Toews is a broken little boy.  The past couple of days he has gone to bed muttering to hiimself, when not biting his pillow, and waking up needing to change his sheets.  He is haunted by his personal boogeyman, Henrik Zetterberg, whose defensive coverage of Toews has been so suffocating, the lack of oxygen affecting "Tazer's" brain and emotional stability so badly, that he finally snapped.

As time expired in Detroit’s win, Jonathan Toews took the faceoff and immediately began to cross check Henrik Zetterberg. Again and again as the seconds ticked down, he went after Zetterberg who was trying to actually play defense.

As expected, the Red Wings weren’t too happy. Zetterberg went right after Toews, Bertuzzi got a couple of requisite shots in and then Jimmy Howard stepped in and did his part.

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Wings Must Play Big And Match Chicago’s Effort Tonight

Blog: The Malik Report By Paul

05/20/13 at 11:02 AM ET | Comments (8)

from Craig Custance of ESPN (paid subscription),

The best playoff teams have that element of size and strength in their top-six, and it's something Abdelkader provides for Detroit. Over the course of a long series, his physical style against the Blackhawks' best players can potentially chip away at their will and wear them down....

And Ericsson has settled in as a reliable partner with Niklas Kronwall, developing into a player Babcock can trust completely. With the Red Wings' season on the line in Game 7 against the Ducks, he played 26:10, the most ice time he has gotten in any game this year that didn't go into overtime.

"He's playing like a No. 2, that's a major progression for him," the NHL scout said. "He has size. He plays like a stopper and he can move the puck. He wants to do more with the puck, he thinks he can and he's getting there."...

If Detroit is a split second late, Chicago will blow right by them. It's why the Blackhawks are the best team in the league right now and why it's hard to put together back-to-back efforts like the Red Wings did Saturday against them.

When the Wild beat the Blackhawks in overtime in the first round, Chicago responded by scoring eight of the next nine goals to end Minnesota's season.

That's what a championship team does and there's no reason to believe the Blackhawks won't find that same effort tonight in Game 3. Whether or not Detroit matches it will go a long way in revealing just how much they've closed the gap.

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Hotstove Talk

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

05/20/13 at 09:56 AM ET | Comments (0)

A summary of the Hotstove talk from last night... P.J. Stock takes a look at Craig Anderson, Elliotte Friedman talked coaching jobs including Patrick Roy in Colorado, Glenn Healy talked about the NHL participating in the Olympics with things looingk very positive and the last topic was the $100,000 fine Doug Wilson was hit with but why wasn't George McPhee?

Filed in: NHL Teams, NHL Talk, NHL Media, Hockey Broadcasting, CBC HNIC, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Morning Line

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

05/20/13 at 09:47 AM ET | Comments (4)

Filed in: NHL Teams, Ottawa Senators, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: daniel+alfredsson

Not The Time For A Slumping ‘King’

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

05/20/13 at 09:35 AM ET | Comments (0)

from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

It is difficult enough for the Rangers to win even when Henrik Lundqvist is at the top of his game. It is all but impossible for the Blueshirts to even come close when The King plays as if he’s a plebeian.

Which goes a long way in explaining yesterday, when it appeared as if the Bruins were shooting pucks made out of Kryptonite rather than vulcanized rubber at the Rangers’ Superman in the 5-2 Game 2 victory that sends the Blueshirts back to New York facing their second consecutive 2-0 series deficit.

“The game was about hunting down the puck, and it was tough,” said Lundqvist, who has yielded four long ones overall in consistently being forced to contend with traffic in front, including Johnny Boychuk’s 50-footer at 12:08 of the second that snapped a 2-2 tie. “It was definitely a tough game to play.

continued

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Crosby Plays On

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

05/20/13 at 09:32 AM ET | Comments (11)

from Rosie DiManno of the Toronto Star,

The pillowy lips part to reveal a mouthful of ruin, a graveyard of tombstone teeth and mutilated gums.

There’s a gap between the lower bicuspids, a V-shaped hollow through which sibilant sounds emerge, a whistle of consonants and vowels.

Sidney Crosby is lisping.

“Thith is going to be the toughetht tetht yet.’’

Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinal against the Senators-at-home, he meant: Toughest. Test. Yet.

continued

Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: sidney+crosby

Caught On Video

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

05/20/13 at 09:17 AM ET | Comments (2)

First up, John Tortorella not happy with a no-call at the end of the 2nd period yesterday.

Next up is Jason Spezza surviving this hard from Craig Adams...

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Filed in: NHL Teams, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

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