Facetious Ferocity

NEW YORK--Does anybody actually believe Martin Brodeur, at the age of 40, has become a headhunter?

Of course not.

But with the New York Rangers making every game they play about shot-blocking - how uncomfortable it must feel when the puck is actually on their sticks - it had to happen. There had to be some controversy, real or manufactured, erupt from blocking shots.

And so it did today. Well, for one day, anyway.

Brodeur was in a surprisingly jovial mood after New Jersey's 3-0 loss to the Rangers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final on Monday. He talked about being unable to see Henrik Lundqvist 90 per cent of the time because so many Rangers were packed in the shooting lanes in front of him, and then added, "Hopefully we'll be able to hurt a few guys (by) getting one-timers in the foot or their head or something."

Anybody who was actually there listening would know that Brodeur was joking. Whether it was funny or not, that's up to the individual. But he wasn't seriously suggesting the Devils should attempt to injure Ranger shot-blockers by aiming for their craniums.

But some are taking it that way. Or twisting it that way. The headline in today's New Yorkk Post is "Ready, Maim, Fire." Heck, it's as good an off-day story as there is in a series that started off very dry on Monday and may well stay that way.

The reality is the puck is a lethal weapon and shooters fire high, or at the heads, of well-protected goalies all the time to soften them up. But that's with a standing target. There's not really a way to target a moving, diving shotblocker. More to the point, people who understand the game know that shooting high through a crowd endangers your teammates as much as your opponents, which is why its not done, or is very much frowned upon.

As far as players who dive or use all manner of unconventional body parts to get in front of shots, they deserve pretty much what you get. Rangers forward Brian Boyle narrowly avoided getting a shot in the face last series, but his "technique" of trying to get in the way of the shot was so absurd that he was putting himself in danger, rather than anything the shooter might be doing. When you see Ilya Kovalchuk fire a missile from the blueline to the top corner as he did in the clinching game against Philly, it does make you wonder what would happen if an opponent had tried to block it.

Quite frankly, its absurd and boring the way in which blocking shots have become such a big story. It has made goal-scoring almost an accident, a fortunate ricochet, like if the NBA had no rules about swatting the ball away above the cylinder.

It terms of pain tolerance, it is quite amazing what players are willing to take to block a shot. Turning it into an attempt to injure, however, is rather ridiculous. If Ryan Callahan or Dan Girard throws their body in front of a shot and takes it in the throat, will there be calls for the Devils to be penalized or suspended? C'mon. This is a classic example of the propensity of people, sports fans or otherwise, to be outraged just to be outraged.

No wonder that Brodeur, for the first time in his career, is now declining to speak on the morning of games. He's more available than most anyway, but when he's clearly joking and its turned into a threat, you can understand his frustration. 

 

Until the Music Stops

There's a reason none of the NHL teams with a coaching vacancy appear to be in a major hurry to fill them.

Simply put, there are lots of available and experienced coaches, and few jobs. Lots of supply, limited demand. 

Calgary, after dumping Brent Sutter, appears to be proceeding on a most leisurely pace. Ditto for Montreal, with new GM Marc Bergevin looking to replace Randy Cunneyworth. Washington is now on the lookout for a new bench boss with Dale Hunter having decided to return to the OHL's London Knights. And Edmonton? Who knows? GM Steve Tambellini's preferred strategy right now appears to be to let Tom Renney dangle for a while.

Two coaches currently under contract to the Maple Leafs, meanwhile, could factor into all of this.

Ron Wilson's name is being bandied about in Washington for a second try with the Caps, a team he coached from 1997 until 2002. GM George McPhee was in charge then and might have fond memories of Wilson's run to the Stanley Cup final in 1998; on the other hand, two first round exits and two years of missing the playoffs entirely would conjure up less positive memories.

Wilson, as we all know, has one more year on his Twitterized contract with Toronto. The Leafs wouldn't block him from talking to another team, and if hired the usual protocol is that the new team would assume responsibility for the final portion of his old contract. So there's a possibility for getting off the hook for some money here for MLSE, but just a slim possibility.

Then there's Dallas Eakins, who was actually a Washington draft pick back in 1985 (10th round, 208th overall.)

Eakins is already deep into contract talks with Leaf assistant GM Dave Nonis aimed at bringing him back to coach the AHL Marlies next season, but no deal has yet been finalized. He's done a superb job and in the recent series victory over Abbotsford totally outcoached Troy Ward, who may be a candidate for the Calgary job.

Brian Burke saw Eakins' lack of head coaching experience at the NHL level as an impediment to getting the Leaf head coaching job at least partly because of Toronto's media churn, and turned to Randy Carlyle instead. McPhee, however, has hired a series of coaches who didn't have NHL head coaching experience, including Bruce Boudreau and Hunter, and Eakins' record of a defensively strong team with the Marlies might be a logical transition from Hunter.

That said, there are many, many possible candidates in Washington, including assistant coach Jim Johnson. It's too early to say whether the Caps would be interested in Eakins.

From a Leaf point of view, getting Eakins under contract - the deal might stipulate he couldn't take an NHL job until the summer of 2013 at the earliest - would be a good publicity move both to bolster the Marlies program and to underscore the organization's commitment to a draft-and-develop program. The NHL may not start on time next season if new CBA talks go off the rails, but there will be an AHL season and young players requiring a solid working environment.

For his part, Eakins' family is settled in Toronto and he appreciates working for the Marlies is like coaching in the NHL without being in the NHL.

Make no mistake about it - he wanted the Leaf coaching job and believes he's ready for the NHL. But having seen other coaches jump at the first head coaching opportunity and then regret it, he may be more inclined to bide his time with the Marlies for now if a new contract can be worked out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No Surprise

 

It was a surprise announcement that was no surprise at all.

Nobody in the hockey industry really expected Dale Hunter to be back next year as head coach of the Washington Capitals. That it would be a less-than-one-season deal was speculated upon immediately after he took over from Bruce Boudreau, and that turned out to be the case.

Maybe he took it in the first place as a favour to GM George McPhee, and maybe it was Hunter's whim to give the NHL coaching gig a try and he didn't quite find it to his liking. He knew he could leave the OHL London Knights in the more than capable hands of his brother, Mark, which immediately opens up a new question.

Will Dale Hunter immediately now return to the Knights and coach them in the Memorial Cup this month in Shawinigan?

Nothing says he can't. That said, the Knights look powerful indeed, whether its Mark or Dale doing the coaching. A collision with Edmonton or Saint John looks inevitable in the MemCup final, and it should be one heck of a tournament this year.

Hunter's departure does make it a lot easier for McPhee to bring back star winger Alex Ovechkin, that's for sure, and at the end of the day you really couldn't say that Hunter made the Caps any better than they were under Boudreau. Yes, they upset the defending champion Bruins in the first round, but they're out in the second round again and he was about a .500 coach during the regular season.

What Hunter was able to do was convince/persuade/force the Caps to play a hardnosed, defence-first style of hockey for about a month, and that's no easy trick with any team, let alone a Washington team that has been a run-and-gun outfit for years.

He found a goalie, Braden Holtby, who got hot, and Ovechkin was willing for the short-term to accept fewer minutes and block shots rather than take them. In the Game 7 finale against New York, however, Ovechkin was completely ineffective as an offensive weapon, and with all that money and all that term tied up in the Russian star, it didn't make a whole long of long-term sense to hogtie him in a system that is unlikely to ever be a good fit for his skills.

The Caps will be an interesting personnel study going forward, and they'll have to find a coach who will fit with Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green. Alex Semin won't be back, Evgeny Kuznetsov isn't coming to North America and one sensed a new leadership core consisting of players like Karl Alzner, Jay Beagle, Jason Chimera, Troy Brouwer and Holtby was assuming control of that team in the post-season.

What choices will McPhee make? Will the NHL return after the conclusion of CBA talks with the same choking defensive style as has dominated in the playoffs, or will the game be released from bondage again?

Personally, it was far more fun to watch Boudreau's Caps than Hunter's Caps. Neither proved more successful than the other. So it will be intriguing to find out which style McPhee believes is the future.

 

 

 

 

Onward and Upward

ABBOTSFORD, B.C.--The suits at MLSE may not know what to do with themselves.

After miserable seasons upon seasons in which the sports conglomerate has defined ineptitude on the ice, the pitch and the court, lo and behold Larry Tanenbaum and Co. have a winner on their hands.

They'd undoubtedly prefer it was the Maple Leafs or the Raptors. But for now, the AHL Toronto Marlies will have to do, and in many ways, they'll do very nicely indeed.

This is a hockey club chasing the Calder Cup that is loaded with both character and characters. The Marlies showed both and more Wednesday night, finishing off the Abbotsford Heat in five games by virtue of a 3-2 overtime victory in Game 5. The two teams split the first two games of the series at the Ricoh Centre, but then the Marlies came west to the Fraser Valley and roared to three straight wins and a berth in the AHL's Western Conference final.

Mike Zigomanis, the hockey vegan himself, got to be the hero in Game 5 against the Heat, winning a power play faceoff and then banging in Nazem Kadri's rebound to end the series at 9:02 of extra time. Zigomanis drew the penalty as well, a high-sticking minor on Hugh Jessiman, and the struggling Marlie power play finally clicked.

"They're a good team," said Zigomanis. "But our team just finds a way. Timely goaltending, timely goals. The nucleus of our team sticks together. This team adapts well to the situation."

After missing the playoffs the last two seasons under head coach Dallas Eakins, the Marlies are now 7-1 in the post-season this year after sweeping Rochester in the best-of-five opening round.

The Heat scored the first goal in four of the five games played, but only won one of those games. Again on Wednesday night, the Marlies fell behind, this time 2-0, but goals by Jake Gardiner and Matt Frattin tied the game by the end of the second period.

The benefits to this AHL playoff run could be numerous for the parent Maples, but surely the ability of Gardiner, Frattin and other youngsters like Kadri to experience playoff success after the disappointing end to the Leaf season has to mean something.

"The moment our season was over and I knew I was coming here, I was excited to have a second chance," said Gardiner. "Celebrating in that pile (after Zigomanis' goal) was a blast."

After Jessiman took his penalty preventing Zigomanis from cashing in a loose puck, Eakins immediately called a time out.

"I called that because I wanted Zigomanis to get a quick rest. I wanted to win that faceoff," he said.

The veteran centre drew the puck back to Kadri, who moved into the middle of the ice high in the Abbotsford zone and snapped a long shot at the Heat net. Zigomanis whacked in the rebound and the series was over.

"It was nice we had a cushion to work with, being up 3-1 in the series," said Zigomanis. "Maybe they were a little tighter than us in overtime."

The Marlies will now get a full week off before beginning the Western Conference final against either the San Antonio Rampage (affliate of the Florida Panthers) or the Oklahoma City Barons (Edmonton). Game 4 in that series goes Thursday night in Texas, with Oke City ahead two games to one.

If it's the Rampage, the series with start in Toronto, possibly at the Air Canada Centre because of a potential conflict at the Ricoh Centre. If it's the Barons, the series will start in Oklahoma.

The break should allow the Marlies to get some of their injured players back, including Carter Ashton (concussion), Joe Colborne (finger) and Jay Rosehill (hand).

Ben Scrivens stopped 29 shots in the final victory over Abbotsford and allowed only seven goals in five games with a dazzling .955 save percentage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great Scott

ABBOTSFORD, B.C.--It was the Shutsy and Scrivens Show.

The second part of that equation, as in Toronto Marlies goalkeeper Ben Scrivens, would surprise no one. Scrivens moved to 6-1 in the AHL post-season on Tuesday night by stoning the Abbotsford Heat to give the Marlies a three games to one lead in the best-of-seven series.

The surprise, in the 3-1 triumph, was who scored the Marlie goals. All three came off the hard-checking blade of winger Greg "Shutsy" Scott, one of those improbable heroes that any team hoping for a long playoff run needs to find.

With the Marlies down 1-0 early in the third, and with their top shooters being checked into the ice by the Heat, the native of Victoria, B.C. raced down the right side and snapped a short-side, Mike Bossy-like wrist shot under the crossbar past a stunned Abbotsford goalie Danny Taylor to tie the game.

"To be honest, I didn't even look," said Scott. "I was just trying to get a puck on net."

If that one was a bit lucky, the second one wasn't. The 23-year-old accepted a clever lead pass from Juraj Mikus while the Marlies were killing a penalty, outlegged a Heat defender off his off-wing and then beat Taylor with a nifty forehand move to make it 2-1.

Finally, with Taylor lifted for an extra skater, Scott completed his natural hat trick by blocking a shot at the Toronto blueline and then skating with the puck the length of the ice and depositing it carefully into the open net. He said he had no intention of doing anything fancy on that play.

"Who was that guy? Patrik Stefan?" he smiled, recalling Stefan's infamous empty net miss from 2007. "No way. It wasn't going to turn into that."

Before a sparse crowd of 1,704 at the 7,000-seat Abbotsford Sports and Enterntainment Centre, exactly one hat hit the ice after that third goal.

Scott wasn't too bothered by that, as he got the souvenir all the Marlies want these days, a Canadian Forces camouflage jacket brought back from Afghanistan by Maple Leafs president/GM Brian Burke last year that goes to the top Marlie every game.

"I was a little overdue," said the unassuming Scott, who had 21 goals during the regular season but none in the first six games of the playoffs and missed shorthanded breakaway in Game 3.

Head coach Dallas Eakins calls the undrafted Scott a "late bloomer," and there are some voices within the Leaf organization who believe he could play a third or fourth line role in the NHL. 

"I went into this season with a shoot-first mentality," said Scott, a good junior scorer with the WHL Seattle Thunderbirds. "I definitely want to make my mark. My goal is to play in the NHL.

"But tonight, I'm just happy to contribute."

Scrivens, meanwhile, stopped 35 of 36 shots and has a .959 save percentage in this series, allowing only five goals to the Heat in four games.

"That's the best game I've seen him play in a while," said Eakins.

Both teams made lineup changes. The Marlies took out injured forwards Joe Colborne and Jay Rosehill and sat defenceman Jesse Blacker, dressing winger Colton Orr, junior-aged forward David Broll and defenceman Matt Lashoff, who had been out since October after knee surgery.

Abbotsford, meanwhile, surprisingly took out top scorer Krys Kolanos and youngster Max Reinhart, although it wasn't clear whether either or both were injured. The Heat played a strong defensive game, but have now scored just three goals in losing three straight after beginning the series with what was their 11th consecutive victory.

The 30-year-old Orr, in his first playoff appearance, played solidly on a fourth line with Will Acton and Broll and in the final minute fought Heat forward Guillaume Desbiens, who had been terrorizing Marlies all night long.

The Marlies were outshot 36-17, and while the actual play wasn't that lopsided, Scrivens had to make a series of tricky stops in the third while Scott was supplying all the offence.

"It wasn't our best game, but you need those types of wins in playoff hockey," said Scrivens.

The Marlies, who missed the playoffs a year ago, need one more win to advance to the AHL Western Conference final against the winner of San Antonio-Oklahoma City. Game 5 goes Wednesday night in Abbotsford, with Games 6 and 7, if necessary, back at the Ricoh Centre in Toronto on Saturday and Sunday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leaf Personnel on The Move

It sounds as though it's not a question of if Rick Dudley will ultimately leave the Maple Leafs for the Montreal Canadiens, it's a question of when.

Timing is everything in hockey, and while new Habs GM Marc Bergevin has received permission to talk to Dudley from Leaf GM Brian Burke, there's some sticky issues.

Primarily, Dudley has been deeply enmeshed in Toronto's draft plans and has extensively scouted all the top prospects, including Nail Yakupov, Mikhail Grigorenko, Alex Galchenyuk and Filip Forsberg. The Leafs draft fifth overall next month, the Habs third overall. Clearly, if Dudley were to join Montreal as assistant GM, Burke would want it to be after the draft, or at least would want Dudley not to share draft info with the Canadiens.

"Nothing is decided," said Dudley today. "Am I aware Montreal has asked for permission to talk to me? Yes. Have I discussed a contract with them? No."

Dudley is regarded as one of the best pure talent scouts in the game. He worked with Bergevin in Chicago, and was immediately rumoured to be a candidate to join the new Montreal GM's front office when he was hired last week. He attended Thursday's Toronto Marlies playoff game and said at that time he had not spoken to Bergevin about a position. Subsequent to that, Bergevin asked permission to talk to him from Burke.

Leaf executive Claude Loiselle was interviewed by Montreal president Geoff Molson in his GM search, and now Dudley is being pursued. Burke's right-hand man, Dave Nonis, is locked up for at least one more season and can't discuss positions with other clubs.

There would be no compensation if Dudley joins the Habs as the NHL outlawed any requirement for teams to pay for access to coaches and executive talent after the last lockout.

 

 

Marlies Charge Ahead

ABBOTSFORD, B.C.--Don Cherry has singlehandedly made Nazem Kadri into North America's most famous minor pro hockey player by using his Coach's Corner platform to rail against Maple Leaf GM Brian Burke on almost a weekly basis for refusing to make Kadri a full-time NHLer.

There are pluses and minuses to such notoriety. On Saturday night, it meant that with the home town Abbotsford Heat offering the home fans little to cheer about in a half-empty, half-interested arena, those in attendance may not have been familiar with every enemy skater but they sure knew to boo Kadri every time he touched the puck.

"I don't know what I did to them," smiled Kadri afterwards. "It's not the first time it has happened in an away rink. I think it's a good thing." 

RELATED

MARLIES BEAT THE HEAT 4-1

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN STANLEY AND CALDER

Even more of a probable motivation for Kadri was to respond to the good-natured ribbing he'd taken from Marlies teammate Colton Orr earlier in the day after choosing not to go on the ice for an optional morning skate after not being on the ice the day before as the club travelled to British Columbia for Game 3 of their AHL best-of-seven series against the Heat.

"You better be good tonight," chided Orr, currently ineligible to play in the AHL playoffs because of roster limits but a strong veteran presence in the dressing room for head coach Dallas Eakins anyway.

Kadri sure was good. More important, he was very good very early, scoring just 58 seconds into the game on a lightning-fast wraparound past Abbotsford goalie Leland Irving, a quick start the Marlies rode to a solid 4-1 triumph and a two games to one lead in the series over the Calgary Flames minor-league affiliate.

"That was huge," said Kadri about his goal. "The last two games they got the first goal and we were kind of on our heels a little bit. We talked today about having a good start and getting that first goal. Once we did, you could see them tighten up a little bit.

"We just took off from there."

The 21-year-old Kadri is the most dynamic offensive player in this series, and alongside Matt Frattin and Jerry D'Amigo, he has centred the most dangerous line in the series. After dropping the opener, the red-hot Marlies have used that unit effectively to help win the past two games and move to 5-1 in the post-season, and in so doing have assured themselves of at least one more home game this spring, either in this round or the next.

Games 4 and 5 are in Abbotsford on Tuesday and Wednesday, with Game 6 back in Toronto, assuming the Heat get at least one home win in this 2-3-2 series format. The winner of the series will play the survivor of the San Antonio-Oklahoma City series in the Western Conference final.

Frattin, Marcel Mueller and Phillipe Dupuis also scored for the Marlies. Nicolas Deschamps, picked up during the season from the Anaheim organization for Luca Caputi, had three assists and was plus-3, while netminder Ben Scrivens stopped 20 shots for the win. The Marlies have scored nine goals in two games against a defensively stout Heat squad that had won 11 straight before losing Game 2 in this series.

"The early goals really helps to draw them out of their defensive system and forces them to play a way they're not comfortable," said Eakins. "Both teams were a bit tired after all the travel on Friday. We made mistakes that were driving us coaches crazy, but so were they."

Kadri had a goal and two assists in that Game 2 triumph and continues to produce in the AHL post-season, another level in his progression to the NHL.

"I want to be one of those players who steps up when the team needs me to step up," said Kadri. "I'm playing with some great players. It's like they can't guard all of us all the time. 

At one point, Kadri was on the ice with D'Amigo and Frattin, while Jake Gardiner and Jesse Blacker were on the back end, a fivesome that just might be on the ice with the Leafs as a group in the near future.

"It's very interesting," smiled Kadri, who has six points in the Marlies six playoff games. "But at the same time, when we're on the ice together, we're not thinking about that kind of stuff. I know the Leafs didn't get the results they wanted this season, but I think the future is definitely bright."

Kadri admits he gets a kick out of Cherry's spirited pokes at Leaf management on his behalf.

"Really, it's nice to have him have my back a little bit," said Kadri, who played for Cherry in the CHL Top Prospects game in his draft year. "There were times I was a little down on myself and I was wondering why I was wasn't getting those minutes in the NHL. Having him think so highly of me made me want to push myself even harder. Just to make what he's saying make sense."

Abbotsford changed goaltenders for the game after Danny Taylor played well in the series opener but was shaky in Game 2. Irving wasn't much better in Game 3 while facing only 26 shots, while the decision to insert winger Akim Aliu in place of enforcer Pierre-Luc Letourneau Leblond didn't pay dividends either.

Abbotsford's top forward, Krys Kolanos, has gone silent since ripping up the first round with four goals and four assista in a three-game sweep over the Milwaukee Admirals. He has only one assist in three games against the Marlies, with Eakins deploying the defensive pairing of Korbinian Holzer and trade deadline acquisition Mark Fraser against Kolanos as often as possible.

The only discouraged Marlie might have been forward Greg Scott, a native of Victoria, B.C. who had his mother and grandmother in attendance but was miffed at himself after missing a second period breakaway while the Marlies were shorthanded.

"How many of those have I missed?" said the good-natured Scott in mock exasperation as he hustled off to visit with his relatives.

 

 

 

 

New Man in Montreal

The Montreal Canadiens didn't go for a proven hockey executive or an experienced individual with a history of NHL success when they hired their new GM.

Instead, it appears they were primarily looking for a polar opposite personality to the departed Pierre Gauthier.

While Gauthier was often referred to as "The Ghost" for his aloof ways, and struggled to make useful and friendly connections in the Montreal media, well-connected new Habs GM Marc Bergevin is regarded in the hockey world as one of the funniest men in the sport and one of the most liked.

An example? When a group of locked-out NHLers was touring Europe in 2004, Bergevin was a co-coach with Marty McSorley. McSorley was the bad cop, trying to get the players organized to compete against serious opposition, while Bergevin was the good cop, keeping the players loose. He once gave a pre-game speech wearing a toga. Another time, he popped out of a stick bag nearly naked.

Bergevin, 46 and a bilingual native of Montreal, played 1,191 games with eight different teams as an NHL defencemen of middling ability. He most recently worked in the front office of the Chicago Blackhawks and has also worked for the Hawks as a coach and scout. He is considered very tight with powerful NHL influences like Pat Brisson and Luc Robitaille.

The story of Bergevin's hiring was broken by Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune earlier today.

What will be interesting now is how the stylish Bergevin, who has never been a GM at any level, fills out the rest of his front office to address his own lack of senior executive experience. For example, might Serge Savard stick around as a consultant/advisor? That said, any number of successful NHL GMs - Ray Shero, Stan Bowman, Peter Chiarelli, etc. - did well in their first crack at the top hockey job with various organizations.

The Habs are facing some tough decisions - Scott Gomez may be bought out, according to some reports, while Carey Price needs a new contract - after finishing dead last in the Eastern Conference this season.

As well, the Habs own the third pick overall in this summer's entry draft.

 

Defining The Right Thing

The Nashville Predators have suspended Alexander Radulov (above) and Andrei Kostitsyn for Game 3 on Wednesday night against the Phoenix Coyotes for violating team rules.
MARK HUMPHREY/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Suspending Alexander Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn for Game 3 was a painful decision for Nashville GM David Poile and head coach Barry Trotz.

But the next one will be even harder.

Let's say the Preds get their act together at home on Wednesday and get their first victory in this series over the Phoenix Coyotes.

Then what? Put the talented truants back in for Game 4? Leave them out and risk being pushed right to the brink without them?

And what if Phoenix wins Game 3? Would Borat I and II then return to try and jumpstart an improbable come-from-behind effort?

Tricky questions indeed that lie ahead. This is not to say that suspending the two dummies for the third game was an error. It was certainly the morally correct move, and its easy to sense that while breaking curfew was the violation, it underscored a larger concern that Radulov and Kostitsyn weren't exactly laying their hearts and souls on the line in this playoff series.

Radulov, of course, is a slippery fellow who walked out on a signed contract with Nashville before. You simply cannot count on him beyond today, and Poile and the Nashville franchise had to hold their noses to bring him back this season, particularly while knowing he has only returned to finish the final portion of his entry level contract and possibly strike it rich this summer.

Kostitsyn, brought it at the trade deadline, was dogged for years in Montreal by suggestions he was, well, a dog. Lots of tools, no toolbox.

Did bringing them in infect the Predators dressing room? Sure didn't seem that way at all in the first round while Nashville was handling Detroit. 

But even in today's NHL when players routinely play the tail wagging the dog, it seems unthinkable what they pulled the other night.

So they sit. But then what? And what, beyond this story, does this contribute to the future of Russian players and players from former Soviet republics (Kostitsyn is from Belarus) in the NHL at a time when their North American value has already dropped drastically in recent years?

Columbus got burned by Nikolai Zherdev and Nikita Filatov, or at least the Blue Jackets investment in those players did not yield substantial dividends. We all remember the Alexei Yashin soap opera in Ottawa and massive buy-out in Long Island. The KHL pilfered Radulov and is pushing hard to get other young Russians to stay home, using the NHL's entry level contract structure against it. Washington's 19-year-old blue-chip prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov, reports say, has decided to stay with Chelyabinsk for two more years. There's been chatter Winnipeg's Alexander Burmistrov might be on the KHL's radar. Alexander Ovechkin has gone from Washington superstar to headache, a player who declined to participate in the all-star game, and on Monday night played the lowest minutes he's ever played for the Caps without being injured or kicked out of a game. New Jersey went out on a limb to sign Ilya Kovalchuk, and while he was a better player this season, he hasn't come close to giving value for the dollars he has received. Oddly, the Devils were dominant Tuesday night without Kovalchuk in winning Game 2 against Philly.

At the other end of the spectrum, Evgeny Malkin might win the Hart Trophy and Nail Yakupov (an ethnic Tatar) and Mikhail Grigorenko (born in Khabarovsk, near the Chinese border) are highly touted youngsters for the June draft. It would seem completely unfair to tarnish their reputations because of what Radulov and Kostitsyn did. That would be like suggesting Canadian players are all head shot artists because Raffi Torres was suspended for 25 games.

So should NHL teams generalize about Russians, or Belarussians and Kazakhs and Tatars, or is that both short-sighted and bigoted? Can teams "risk" taking Russians in the draft because of the KHL threat, knowing they may not see them until age 21 or even later? 

These are complex issues that probably defy a one-size-fits-all resolution, and the market pressures here are unique to Russian players. That said, it would be foolish to suggest there are no subtleties at play here, no cultural misunderstandings that sometimes get in the way of the business of hockey.

From the day more than two decades ago the Soviets started allowing their stars to go to the NHL, it has always been thus. Its not likely to change. All that's in question here is how much and how often NHL will want to invest.

Less GR8 May Be Better

So partway into the second round of the NHL post-season, we have three significant surprises on our hands.

First would be the Phoenix Coyotes. Ownerless, perhaps soon to be city-less, the 'Yotes are taking it to the Nashville Predators and Vezina-nominated goalie Pekka Rinne in a big way.

Second, well, the L.A. Kings might have been a team to watch in the eyes of many for these playoffs, but nobody foresaw a magnificent 5-0 road record against good teams like Vancouver and St. Louis and a team that seems to coming together in the spring just as the Boston Bruins did a year ago.

Then, there's Alexander Ovechkin. Or should we say the incredibly shrinking Alex Ovechkin.

By getting smaller, at least in prominence measured by ice time, Ovechkin is getting greater results. The latest indication of that came Monday night when Ovechkin played 13 minutes and 36 seconds for the Washington Capitals in Game 2 against the New York Rangers. He scored what proved to be the winning goal in the third period, then sat the rest of the way as the likes of Jay Beagle, Troy Brouwer, Keith Aucoin, Jason Chimera and Matt Hendricks defended the one-goal margin the rest of the way.

This, if you know anything about the Caps, Ovechkin and the star-crossed playoff efforts of recent years, is a remarkable change of narrative.

By being less about Ovechkin, Washington is becoming more about team. It's not just Ovechkin playing a lesser role. Alex Semin (12:27) and Mike Green (18:14), too, at least when the game is one the line. Head coach Dale Hunter was a mucker, albeit a talented one, and he's turning this team over to the muckers and grinders at decisive moments. So Beagle and Hendricks now get more ice than Ovechkin and Semin. Green used to be the kingpin of the blueline corps, but now John Carlson and Karl Alzner are.

This strategy/philosophy worked against Boston in the first round, and it worked to help the Caps steal home ice advantage in Manhattan on Monday night.

Ovechkin is barely holding back his unhappiness for the way he's being used, and it's sad, in a way, to see this once freewheeling, exciting Washington team turned into a passive, trapping team.

But you have to respect Hunter for doing it his way. The cardinal rule for most coaches in pro sports these days is never to fight with the star player, but Hunter appears as though he couldn't care less what GM George McPhee or owner Ted Leonsis think of how he's using Ovechkin, let alone what the Russian star himself might think.

Maybe it's because Hunter knows the OHL London Knights are in the trusted hands of his brother, Mark, and he can return to that league and that team whenever he wants. Or maybe it's because he only wants to make this NHL gig last until the end of the season. Or maybe it's because its the only way he knows.

Doesn't really matter what his motivations are, of course. It only matters what strings he's pulling and the results.

De-emphasizing Ovechkin seems to be working, even though you can't exactly accuse Ovechkin of playing badly. Hunter just seems to want him deployed in well-rested bursts.

There was a sense late in the season that Hunter was looking at Ovechkin in a different way, but most assumed that when the playoffs came the Caps would again become Ovechkin's team. But they haven't. And it's working. That's a big surprise.