30 Teams In 30 Days: Ruff's Sabres On The Rebound

Has it become a fact that Lindy Ruff is the most versatile, underrated and perhaps best coach in the National Hockey League? Love him or hate him (I certainly don't like him) the man has gotten the job done with what he's been given time and time again. As Ruff heads into his 12th year of coaching the Buffalo Sabres, can the Sabres break their recent skid of two consecutive playoff-less years in upstate New York?

It's been a hell of a fall from the 2006-07 season in Buffalo, where the Sabres finished with the best record in the NHL and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, only to be ousted by Ottawa. Since then, with the departure of Daniel Briere along with Chris Drury, the Sabres have failed to make it beyond the regular season and are looking to reverse their fortunes with some new faces and continuing youth movement.

During their 2008-09 campaign, the worst possible injuries struck the Sabres when Thomas Vanek missed time with a broken jaw only to be followed goaltender Ryan Miller going down in late February with a sprained ankle. Miller's ankle kept the 29-year old All-Star out of action for 13 games, complete with the worst timing possible. Those 13 games proved to be a pivotal turning point as the Sabres went 4-7-2 without Miller during this stretch and essentially fell out of the race for a playoff berth.

As the off-season struck, the need for Buffalo seemed to reside on the blue-line. Veteran Teppo Numminen was bound for retirement after 20+ years in the NHL while powerplay blue-liner Jaroslav Spacek was hitting the market as a free agent. The Sabres addressed their need for a defensemen when they signed Bruins defensemen Steve Montador to a two-year contract worth just over three million in total.

Montador, who was simply a train wreck in Boston could be either a productive second pairing defensemen or an overpaid third liner. However, with the Sabres loss of Numminen and Spacek, Montador will surely be given chances to succeed. In 2008-09, Montador finished with an impressive +17 between Anaheim and Boston, but struggled with the Bruins and had just one single point with the Bruins in 13 games with the club following the trading deadline.

Following the addition of Montador, the Sabres went out and brought seemingly castawayed NHL defensemen Joe DiPenta back to North America on a one year deal worth NHL minimum. DiPenta, a member of the 2006-07 Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks had a solid season in the Swedish Elite League, putting up 6 points in 47 games for one of Frolunda's clubs. The former Boston University Terrier will most likely be the Sabres seventh defensemen and a discount for what he could bring to the table.

2009-10 also marks the return of an old friend to Buffalo, forward Mike Grier. Before jetting off to San Jose to join Joe Thornton and the Sharks, Greir spent the entire 2005-06 season with the Sabres as they advanced to Eastern Conference Finals. In the following off-season, Grier left Buffalo on what seemed to be bad terms with the franchise. Grier averaged 26 points in three seasons with the Sharks and was honored as an alternate captain throughout his tenure. Grier's seemingly ready to forget the past and pick up where he left off in Buffalo, leading with his strong, physical and poised style of play.

It appears that the Bruins aren't the only NHL club with restricted free agent winger woes as the Sabres and Drew Stafford have yet to agree on a deal as the countdown to the season begins. Just like Phil Kessel, Stafford is coming off a break-out season where he set new career highs in goals with 20, assists with 25 and powerplay goals with nine. Confusion is arises when you try to figure out as to why he has yet to be signed, the Sabres have over five million left in cap space, so why isn't this 45 point man signed yet? With the rumored asking price closer to being four million dollars, it doesn't take a genius to see why Sabres GM Darcy Regier isn't willing to devote large money to an unproven forward.

Here is how the Sabres line-up should shake up on opening night.

Thomas Vanek - Tim Connolly - Jason Pominville
Jochen Hecht - Derek Roy - Clarke MacArthur
Daniel Paille - Paul Gaustad - Mike Grier
Nathan Gerbe - Adam Mair - Patrick Kaleta
Extra Skater: Tim Kennedy

Craig Rivet - Henrik Tallinder
Steve Montador - Toni Lydman
Nathan Paetsch - Andrej Sekera
Extra Skater: Joe DiPenta

Ryan Miller
Patrick Lalime

Barring another injury to Ryan Miller, Lindy Ruff's Sabres should return to the playoffs led by offensive juggernaut Thomas Vanek. Their top nine forwards look to possess great qualities of being complete players (a must for the Lindy Ruff system) and if you add in Drew Stafford, this team looks to be one that will continue to give the Boston Bruins trouble yet again.

Players To Watch: Former Boston College standout and Hobey Baker winner Nathan Gerbe is without a doubt the Sabres biggest x-factor heading into 2009-10. Gerbe tallied just a single point in 10 games with the big club in 2008-09, but the 5'6 forward has shown a high level of play in Portland with the Pirates of the AHL. If Gerbe can produce when given his chances, he'll definitely be logging much more than fourth line minutes. Another player to keep your eyes on is top line center Tim Connolly, who was given a two year extension worth nine million in total. Despite his great production of 88 points in total, Connolly has played in just 98 games in the past three seasons. If health becomes an issue for Connolly again, the Sabres will rely on their youth yet again.

Prediction: 3rd in Northeast Division. 8th in Eastern Conference.

Bruins Winter Classic Jersey Leak?

On the right is a picture of Tim Thomas and one of the Boston Bruins ice girls or Carrie Milbank of NHL.com as one commentor pointed out (any confirmation is greatly appreciated). Notice anything askew? No, it's not Thomas' new watch, it's the jersey. Poising the question, is this the Boston Bruins 2010 Winter Classic jersey?

If so, here's a few pro's and con's of the jersey that the Bruins will don when they take on the Philadelphia Flyers at Fenway Park on New Year's Day.

Pro's

• Very reminscent of the photo's from the early Johnny Bucyk era and jersey sold on Willie O'Ree appreciation day. Everyone loves the Chief and diversity.
• The sleeve patterns don't stray too far away from the Bruins current scheme. Same goes for the shoulders.
• The jersey numbering and letter will most likely be white with black outlining, which should look absolutely awesome.
• Incorporates all of the Boston Bruins normal colors, with what looks to be some added brown on the spokes of the 'B'.

Con's

• This 'B' is far too cartoon-ish for a serious Bruins fan.
• Doesn't this look an awful lot like the old Providence throwback jerseys?
• We know that the Bruins were trying to go for a Pittsburgh look with the powder blue, something that would incorporate older colors but still be very popular among the fans, so maybe our expectations were a bit over the top for the (possible) end result.

Overall, this jersey gets a thumbs up from me if this will be the one worn by the Bruins on New Year's Day. Despite the fact that it may not be this one, or this one, or this one (thank Eddie Shore), it'll still be better than whatever the Flyers could possibly put together looking at their jersey history. Bright orange? Not a good look unless you're working the tarmac at Logan Airport.

30 Teams In 30 Days: Wild Expectations In Minnesota

Remember in that 1990's movie "Jingle All The Way" where Arnold Schwarzenegger was a Minnesota-native trying desperately to find a Turboman doll for his son for Christmas in order to one up neighbor Phil Hartman? Well, I suppose the Minnesota Wild were in the same boat this off-season in the busy Northwest Division.

Following the somewhat surprising retirement of head coach Jacques Lemaire (psych) and firing of GM Doug Riseborough it was clear that the Minnesota Wild, known for their overwhelmingly boring defensive trap style of play, were heading in a new direction.

Honestly, who could blame them? It's not often that you finish second in goals against in the National Hockey League and tops in your conference and miss the playoffs. The Wild's apathetic offense essentially left Vezina-nominee Niklas Backstrom out to dry night in and night out, and the ironic part was that Backstrom actually stood up to the challenge admirably.

Although the Wild were just one year removed from their Northwest Division title, the 2008-09 club just didn't seem to have the same killer instinct. Most notably, players such as Pierre-Marc Bouchard struggled to achieve the same success from the year before while key offensive weapons Marian Gaborik and Brent Burns both missed highly significant amounts of time with injuries.

Marian Gaborik, the franchise's all time leader in goals, assists and points was held to just 17 games in 2008-09 but made great use of his ice time with 23 points and a +3. However, despite his contributions to the franchise since day one of their existence a decision was made and Gaborik was let go into the free agent class of 2009. This move seemingly made sense at the same time, until the Wild found their hopeful replacement for Gaborik within hours.

Martin Havlat, the former Chicago Blackhawk and 77-point man last season for the surging 'Hawks was signed to a six year deal that paid him 30 million dollars in total. It makes sense right, they're replacing the injury prone Marian Gaborik with an even more injury prone winger..wait, what?

Now a Ranger, the oft-injured Gaborik has played in just 207 games since the 2005-06 season (an average of 51.x games a season), but seems like a seasoned veteran compared to Havlat's 190 over that same span. Despite both players producing relatively good numbers when healthy, the concept of being healthy has been for the most part very elusive and hard to find.

Other additions to the Wild include Bruins defensemen Shane Hnidy, who's coming off a respectable season as the club's seventh defensemen. The "Sheriff" finished with 12 points and +6 for the Northeast Division winning Boston Bruins.

Heading into a new season with a new, faster tempo under new coach Todd Richards, the Wild line-up should go as follows.

Pierre-Marc Bouchard - Mikko Koivu - Martin Havlat
Andrew Brunette - Eric Belanger - Antti Miettinen
Owen Nolan - James Sheppard - Kyle Brodziak
Cal Clutterbuck - Derek Boogard - Benoit Pouliot
Extra Skater: Craig Weller

Brent Burns - Marek Zidlicky
Greg Zanon - Kim Johnsson
Nick Schultz - Shane Hnidy
Extra Skater: John Scott

Niklas Backstrom
Josh Harding

I'm a big fan of the top line, top defensive pairing and goaltender, but after that it gets very questionable when it comes to what you're going to get as far as production.

Players To Watch: Can James Sheppard avoid another rough season and begin to develop into the promising center that the Wild need to anchor their second line? Can Martin Havlat put together a second straight fully healthy season for the first time in well, his career?

Prediction: 3rd in Northwest Division. 9th in Western Conference.

Report: Bruins & Phil Kessel Done Negotiating

Show Phil the money, right Peter?

Evidently not as Boston.com Bruins blogger K.P Dupont is reporting that Kessel and agent Wade Arnott are done in attempting to reach a deal on a new contract with the Boston Bruins.

To say the two sides have been in disagreement through their negotiations would be putting it lightly as the two sides have almost had no communication according to Kessel's agent. However, reports also indicate that the Bruins have made several offers to Phil all of which varying in length, money, options and perhaps even Garden Gold gift cards and free hats? Regardless of where this saga is bound to turn next, the idea of Phil Kessel and the Bruins coming to an agreement is becoming more of a pipe-dream or pipe-nightmare depending on your stance when it comes to the 21-year old sniper.

Kessel, who achieved career highs in virtually every offensive category in 2008-09 is coming off a 36 goal season and an even more impressive post-season where he had 6goals and 11 points in 11 games. Despite Kessel's success with the club this past season, the winger remains unsigned, but why?

Firstly touching on the 36 goals, keep in mind 22 of them were assisted by 60+ assist man Marc Savard. As something I've vehemently preached, how are we to tell that Phil Kessel could produce without Savard setting him up? Without playing with Savard, Kessel's highest goal total was 19, achieved in 82 games of the 2007-08 season. Especially considering Savard's possibility of leaving Boston when his deal expires, the risk of devoting big money to a player only capable of producing with a number one center is there and could hurt the Bruins greatly.

As a professional athlete, the idea of getting your big payday is understandable after you put together a great season, but it's also something that the Bruins do not have the luxury of doing without having to sacrifice a significant piece of the future. With Kessel's rumored four to five million dollar per year asking price, the Bruins would not only have to move Chuck Kobasew or Marco Sturm on top of Andrew Ference but they'd also have to move someone in the following summer.

This would definitely create issues as Bruins wingers (and more well rounded players) Milan Lucic and Blake Wheeler are up for new contracts at the seasons end. On top of Lucic and Wheeler, the Bruins also have to give new contracts to defensemen and epitomized Bruin Mark Stuart and goaltender of tomorrow Tuukka Rask.

In typical hockey internet fashion, as Kessel remains unsigned the list of teams rumored to have interest is growing. Included in this list of teams and likely to be the favorite are the Toronto Maple Leafs, managed by local boy Brian Burke.

Normally where there's smoke, there's no fire in Toronto but with Burke's recent move of reacquiring the Leafs' 2010 second round pick, the idea of an offer sheet heading Kessel's way from Leaf Nation is seemingly more likely and the odds on favorite as of right now. Next to the Leafs, the list of teams interested are rumored to include the New York Rangers and San Jose Sharks.

Despite the rumored interest with Toronto, the problems of Burke giving big money to Kessel would reside in the fact that the Leafs lack a number one center to feed the puck to Kessel. While both Mikhali Grabovski and Matt Stajan are coming off solid seasons, they are simply not in the same caliber or held in the same breath that Bruins center Marc Savard is.

After Toronto, both the New York Rangers and San Jose Sharks would have to arguably move key pieces to obtain Kessel. In New York, after the addition of Marian Gaborik, the Rangers have little to no wiggle room left (1.1 million to be exact) to even sign their own restricted free agent Brandon Dubinsky so a trade or offer sheet for Kessel from the Rangers seems very unlikely.

In San Jose, the Sharks have close to four million dollars left in cap space and with Joe Pavelski and Devin Setoguchi on the rise (and up for new deals next summer) they could arguably create a very strong line of the future with the addition of Kessel. If the Sharks are able to either move Marleau or not re-sign him to a new deal when the (former) captain's 6.8 million dollar contract comes off the books the Sharks would be in the clear to add Kessel without any problems.

Personally, I think that with Sturm's return to the line-up along with continuing development of Blake Wheeler, Milan Lucic and David Krejci that Phil Kessel's not a must have on this club if the price is too high, which it appears to be. The Boston Bruins as is are very thin on defense and any trade that will likely send Andrew Ference out of town will hurt the club more than help with Johnny Boychuk and Andy Wozniewksi being next in line to fill in for the big club. Phil Kessel, despite his talent has seemingly been out of place in Boston under Claude Julien and has repeatedly been rumored to be dangled as trading bait at the trade deadline.

Does Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli not believe in Kessel? It's entirely possible, but who could blame him? Kessel, despite being a player with supreme offensive skills, has not shown to be a complete hockey player that'll fit within the Bruins system and in his three seasons with the Bruins has had his stretches of poor play and questionable decision making skills.

As the Bruins head into the upcoming NHL season, the question marks of what magic the club will work with limited cap space following the '09-10 campaign will grow even larger than the year before and the headache of inconsistency that Phil Kessel could be is something the Bruins do not need for years to come.

With the NHL season three weeks away, expect the fate of Phil Kessel and possible future with the Bruins to be decided sooner rather than later before cap space becomes a priority and legitimate issue for many of Kessel's potential suitors.

30 Teams In 30 Days: To Match A Predators Defense

These ain't your older brother's Nashville Predators. Chances are, they're better, or worse, depending on your brother's age of course.

In just their eleventh year in the National Hockey League, the Predators are looking for their fifth trip to the NHL Playoffs, where anything is possible right? It's entirely possible that the Predators have made a secret blood-pact with Satan to continuously torture their fans as they've never made it out of the Western Conference Quarterfinals.

Despite their lack of regular season success which lead to no playoffs in Nashville for the first time since 2003, there were quite a few shining moments.

For one, the rise of goaltender Pekka Rinne is sure to be a ray of hope in Tennessee. The 26 year old Finnish phenom is coming off a great rookie season with his 29-15-4 record and 2.38 goals against average. Although being rated just a 77 in NHL09 (take that, NHL09 creators!) the play of Rinne nearly propelled the Predators into the post-season. However it was too little too late as the team couldn't obtain a solid offensive output night in and night out.

A large reason for the drop off in goals can ultimately be traced back to the departure of the top line forward and promising scorer Alexander Radulov for the KHL of Russia. Nashville's first round choice from the 2004 NHL Draft, Radulov was beginning to build a reputation as a clutch performer with eight points in 10 career playoff games. After jet-setting away to his homeland, the pressure was put on Martin Erat to step up as the team's number right winger.

To put it in simpler terms, although Erat is a very solid up and coming player he is nowhere near ready to becoming a team's number one forward and scoring presence.

Following the conclusion to the Dany Heatley saga (thank god) it appears that the newest player in the line of fire for any and all hockey rumors is Bruins winger Phil Kessel. Naturally, with over 15 million dollars in cap space available at their disposal, could the Predators be setting up an offer sheet and/or trade for the Bruins leading goal scorer?

First mentioned by Nashville writer John Glennon, it appears that the Bruins and Predators are very interested in working out a trade for the 21 year old forward. Beyond the obvious set of draft picks and prospects, do the Predators possess anything that could possibly win the bidding war between them and Maple Leafs for Phil The (inconsistent) Thrill?

A wild and considerably unlikely proposition could be the idea of the Bruins obtaining Alexander Radulov's rights and attempting the 23 year old forward to return to the NHL with a Stanley Cup contending team.

Rumors are rumors, but comments made by Predators GM David Poile indicate that the Predators are indeed interesting and could become a major player in the Kessel-sweepstakes. "He's a young player that scores goals,and that's very much of interest to us.''

Barring any movement on the Kessel front by the Predators, this is how their line-up should go come opening night.

J.P Dumont - Jason Arnott - Martin Erat
Joel Ward - David Legwand - Steve Sullivan
Ryan Jones - Ben Guite - Jordin Tootoo
Colin Wilson - Marcel Goc - Jerred Smithson
Extra Skaters: Patric Hornqvist and Wade Belak

Shea Weber - Ryan Suter
Kevin Klein - Dan Hamsuis
Cody Franson - Alex Sulzer
Extra Skater: Jonathon Blum

Pekka Rinne
Dan Ellis

Although I love the Predators top two defensive pairings, the team is simply not ready for a big playoff push in a very tough division. While the powerhouses of the Central are expected to remain in the control of Chicago and Detroit, up and coming teams such as the St. Louis Blues and Columbus Blue Jackets should make it even harder for the Preds to compete this year.

Players To Watch: Will Pekka Rinne continue to develop into a stud goaltender for Nashville or will his struggles lead to a platooning role with Dan Ellis? Don't expect Rinne to repeat his seven shutout performance in 2009-10, but he should still be on pace for the same record wise and prove to be NHL capable. It'll also be interesting to see how right winger Steve Sullivan plays now that the 2009 Masterton Trophy winner is fully recovered from back surgery that kept him out of nearly two seasons in the NHL.

Prediction: 5th in Central Division. 13th in Western Conference.

30 Teams In 30 Days: New Wall Built In Edmonton

Is it as hard for you to believe that the Edmonton Oilers are just three years removed from almost winning the Stanley Cup as it is for me?

2008-09 brought more of the same for Oilers fans as the team faltered, due in large part to not having that one player needed to take over the pace of the game and score a big goal or make a huge save. The Oilers were built around the team concept, and had been for several years, but the team concept was simply not getting the job done past April in one of the league's best divisions.

Following their failure to beat the Hurricanes in Game 7 of the 2006 Stanley Cup and trade of Chris Pronger out of town thanks to his wife's distaste for the city, the word in Edmonton was that the team needed that one superstar player mentioned to carry them towards the Cup. Three full seasons later, there's still no star in Oil Country.

Regardless of the failing effort, the Oilers almost got their star. Then again, almost doesn't count for anything in the National Hockey League. On July 1st, rumors circulated and the wheels seemed to be in motion as Edmonton was poised to land Senators star Dany Heatley in a trade by giving up Andrew Cogliano, Ladislav Smid and Dustin Penner. Just as quickly as Edmonton had their arms open ready to welcome the two-time 50-goal scoring Heatley to Alberta, Heatley opted to use his no trade clause and block the move to Edmonton.

Despite their failed attempt at landing Heatley, the Oilers had no time to sit still and play the waiting game as with Dwayne Roloson's expired contract the Oilers were in need of a goaltender.

The Oilers then wasted no time in nabbing arguably the best free agent goalie as they quickly signed Chicago Blackhawks netminder Nikolai Khabibulin to a four year contract worth 15 million dollars. Khabibulin is coming off a great year in Chicago where he went 25-8-7 with a .919 save percentage. The biggest doubt with the Bulin Wall has certainly become his durability considering that Khabibulin missed two stretches of games during the 2008-09 campaign.

The Wall's biggest injury undoubtedly came in the NHL Playoffs, where he posted an 8-6 record and 2.93 goals against average before being replaced by Cristobal Huet due to a lower body injury in the Western Conference Finals. It's very possible that a healthy 'Bulin could have powered the 'Hawks past the Red Wings but thanks to an injury, that idea was slayed by Darren Helm's overtime goal in Game 5 which ended Chicago's bid for their first Stanley Cup in 47 years.

Next to Khabibulin's arrival and Roloson's departure, the Oilers have stood pat on the ice but added a "Pat" behind the bench with the addition of Pat Quinn as head coach. Quinn is taking over for former Bruin Craig MacTavish, who was relieved of his duties as Edmonton bench boss after the team finished with a 35-38-9 record and fourth in the Northwest Division. This is Quinn's fifth tenure as head coach in the NHL and in has made 15 playoff appearances in 19 seasons as a head coach.

Quinn is sure to provide an added element of aggressiveness to the Oilers attack, but just how good will/can the Oilers be in 2009-10?

Here's how their line-up should go when they take the ice at Rexall Place.

Patrick O'Sullivan - Shawn Horcoff - Ales Hemsky

Ethan Moreau - Sam Gagner - Dustin Penner

Andrew Cogliano - Mike Comrie - Fernando Pisani

Zack Stortini - Marc Pouliot - Robert Nilsson

Extra Skater: Jean Jacques

Sheldon Souray - Lubomir Visnovsky

Tom Gilbert - Denis Grebeshkov

Steve Staios - Ladislav Smid

Extra Skater: Jason Strudwick

Nikolai Khabibulin

Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers

This team still needs their superstar. It's as simple as that, with the additions in Calgary, Vancouver and Minnesota the Oilers simply won't have enough to compete with the elite of the division, let alone the conference.

Players To Watch: Will Ales Hemsky continue his trend of becoming better than the year before? The alternate captain and chipped tooth-enthusiast is coming off a 66 point season and will be looked upon to carry even more of the Oilers offense this season.

Prediction: 4th in Northwest Division. 11th in Western Conference.

Bruins Sign Defensemen Wozniewski

Here come the Stephane Yelle and Glen Metropolit-like signings.

Today, the Boston Bruins have announced that they've agreed to terms with blue-liner Andy Wozniewski on a one-year contract with the club. This is the fourth club for the 29-year old defensemen within the past two seasons. After finishing the 2007-08 season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Wozniewski signed with the St. Louis Blues and was subsequently traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins during the trading deadline.

Wozniewski spent all but except for one game in the American Hockey League between the Wilkes Barre-Scranton Penguins and Peoria Rivermen. In his one NHL game with the Blues in 2008-09, Wozniewski played just under seven minutes and was credited for one hit.

In the AHL, Wozniewski tallied 21 points in 74 games between two AHL affiliates and had an impressive postseason for the Rivermen with his 2 points and +1 in 6 games for the Blues farm team.

Although these AHL numbers may not shine out as greatly as those of Johnny Boychuk, what Wozniewski brought to the Maple Leafs in his last relevant season in the National Hockey League is very noteworthy for a player bound to be a seventh defensemen for the Bruins, if that. On top of having nine points in 48 games for Toronto, Wozniewski didn't shy away from the rough stuff as the big blue-liner was tallied for 43 hits along with 56 blocked shots.

There's no need for an outcry of how this move will take cap space away from signing Phil Kessel because this signing is without question for 550,000 dollars or less.

The beauty of this signing is that it gives the B's another "fringe" player in the event of a rash of injuries striking the Bruins. The mentioned "fringe" are players who are good enough to be top players at the AHL level while also having the talent to fill in on an NHL squad for a short stint. The Bruins now have two presumably waiting in Providence with Drew Fata and now Wozniewski.

Personally, I'm a huge fan of this move for what it brings. In short, Wozniewski is a 6'5 behemoth signed as a cheap insurance policy. Similar to Hnidy, Wozniewski's size will be his biggest strength for the club. If all goes as planned, Wozniewski will only make an appearance for Providence this season. Worst case scenario, he's thrown into a familiar division and defensemen friendly system.