This
time, there's no getting right back out on the ice.
The
Pittsburgh Penguins are a franchise that has learned the hard way
that being anything but extra-cautious with concussions is a
dangerous business.
So
while most of the teams in hockey wouldn't even admit it if one of
their top players was concussed, the Pens officially acknowledged
Sunday night that reigning NHL scoring champ and MVP Evgeny Malkin
had indeed suffered a head injury and won't be available for a few
games at least. Malkin crashed into the boards after a collision with
Florida defenceman Erik Gudbranson, missed Sunday night's game
against Tampa Bay and isn't heading out on the road with the team.
After
that, who knows? Sidney Crosby missed much of a year-and-a-half
battling a concussion he suffered in January. The good news is that
Crosby appears most of the way back, finally, and sits second in NHL
scoring this morning.
The
less positive part of the story, of course, is that there were plenty
of stops and starts along the way. Interestingly, Crosby's start
against Tampa Bay on Sunday night was his first meeting with the
Lightning and Victor Hedman since that infamous game back in Jan.,
2011 that he shouldn't have been allowed to play after being injured
in the Winter Classic several days before.
Beyond
that, an NHL season defined mostly by injuries is continuing with
that theme. Jamming this many games into this short of a period of
time was always an iffy proposition, and the players are the ones
paying the price.
Beyond
Malkin and his head, other hockey notes:
--Any
realignment plan that brings Detroit to the same conference as
Toronto, Boston and Montreal gets a thumbs up here. That said, the
NHLPA has yet to begin obstructing the process, so don't get too
excited yet.
--Given
the start they've had, the Blackhawks might reasonably expect to have
a huge lead in the Western Conference. Instead, there's Anaheim just
six points back with a record that would have them first in the
Eastern Conference. One of the great stories for the Ducks is
defenceman Francois Beauchemin, still decried by folks who don't
understand the game as a poor free agent signing by the Maple Leafs
several years back.
Beauchemin
leads the NHL with a plus-15 rating while skating almost 24 minutes a
night. He's certainly playing better back in Orange County than he
did in Toronto, but then again, he's playing on a much better team.
Unrestricted
free agents signed by the Leafs during the Brian Burke years,
meanwhile, make up a significant part of the team's current lineup.
The list includes Ben Scrivens, Colton Orr, Tyler Bozak, Clarke
MacArthur, Jay McClement and Mike Kostka. None are stars, but only
MacArthur comes with a cap hit of more than $1.5 million per season.
--Bozak,
by the way, has more than his fair share of critics, and he's no No.
1 centre. But he is very good on faceoffs - among centres with more
than 150 draws, only Jonathan Toews is better - and sits higher on
the NHL scoring parade this season than a long list of centres. That
list includes Brad Richards, Mike Richards, Patrice Bergeron, Tyler
Seguin, David Desharnais, Paul Stastny, Val Filpulla, Jiri Hudler,
Derek Stepan, Derek Roy, Adam Henrique, Mike Fisher, Sean Couturier,
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Travis Zajac and David Legwand.
--Not
surprisingly, Alex Ovechkin's first hat trick in almost two years on
Saturday was huge news in Washington. Head coach Adam Oates, while an
assistant in New Jersey, pushed for Ilya Kovalchuk to move from left
wing to right wing, and while Kovalchuk fought it, the move
eventually paid off.
Now
perhaps the same process is starting to work for Ovechkin. Part of
the reason for his drop in production has been how predictable he had
become as an attacker from the left side.
“You’ve
got to be a complete player and you’ve got to grow as a player and
you’ve got to get better and he’s no different than everybody,”
Oates told The Washington Post. “The good thing is that he wants
to.”
The
Caps need to start making a move soon if they want to be in the
post-season. Otherwise, don't forget that it was GM George McPhee
back in the 2003-04 who gutted the team for a shot at Ovechkin and
was rewarded with the first overall pick.
Would
the Caps do it again to get Seth Jones or Nathan MacKinnon if the
playoffs look out of reach? Won't be nearly as easy this time around
with players like Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green on the
roster.
--"I was just finishing my check" has become the catch-all phrase for any NHL player who makes an illegal hit. Of course, given how much contact there is these days on players who don't have the puck, what is legal and illegal has become seriously blurred.
--What
will the reaction be if the Leafs make the playoffs and Phil Kessel
doesn't score 10 goals?
Second
question: What will the reaction be if the Leafs are in the playoff
hunt and trade Kessel? The market for his services is likely never
going to be as good as it will be by the April 3rd trade deadline.
--One
of the oddities about this year's Leafs is that Scrivens, Mark Fraser
and Korbinian Holzer look better as NHLers than as AHLers. There's a
suspicion the same might be the case for Joe Colborne, who isn't have
a boffo season with the Marlies but seems certain to get a serious
look at the NHL level this season.
--Jordan
Eberle hasn't been in the AHL for six weeks and he's still just a
point off that league's scoring lead.
--There's
been lots of talk about Kessel's scoring troubles, and Jarome
Iginla's problems around the net. Well, in New York, there's lot of
chatter surrounding the miserable start of Brad Richards, who has two
goals and 11 points and has seven more seasons on his contract left
at a $6.66 million cap hit.
Columnist
Larry Brooks speculated in the New York Post on the weekend that the
Rangers might even look at a compliance buyout this summer should
Richards not snap out of his funk. It was never a good contract - no
wonder only a couple of teams wanted any part of that type of
long-term arrangement with Richards.
--The
Buffalo Sabres are moving into contention in the race for the No. 1
pick in next summer's draft. Meanwhile, keeping last June's first
rounder, Mikhail Grigorenko, in the NHL this season is looking less
and less like a good idea every game. Grigorenko has one goal this
season, has been scratched four times and played only six minutes for
new head coach Ron Rolston in Saturday's dismal 4-0 loss to the
Islanders.
He
is the only 18-year-old left in the NHL. Buffalo might like to send
him to Rochester but he can only go to the Quebec Remparts.
--There's
never an end to the teams who believe it will be different with Olli
Jokinen. Well, add Winnipeg to the list. Jokinen has five points this
season to go with a league worst minus-11 rating.
Tied
with Jokinen for last place in plus-minus is Florida centre Stephen
Weiss, who has one goal and was benched for most of the third period
against Boston on Sunday night. Weiss, 29, is a UFA this summer and
probably gets moved by the trade deadline, but his poor play is only
going to make it harder for GM Dale Tallon.
--Jokinen
was one of two players clipped in the face by skates on the weekend.
The difference between Jokinen and Oliver Ekman-Larsson of Phoenix,
however, is that Ekman-Larson was protected by his visor. Jokinen
doesn't wear one - why are shields not mandatory again? - and escaped
with only a cut by sheer good fortune.
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