Slow starts from Ducks, Flyers a surprise ... and what's this about a bet?
Editor's note: Our weekly "Faceoff" returns this season as ESPN.com NHL writers Scott Burnside (based in Atlanta) and Pierre LeBrun (based in Toronto) duke it out over any given hockey topic. Let the games begin!
This week's topic: With the NHL season just over a week old, what are your biggest surprises so far?
Scott Burnside: Hello, Pierre. Gee, hard to believe the NHL season (in North America, at least) is just a week old. The Alexei Cherepanov tragedy, the sudden (and, daresay, the shocking) firing of Denis Savard in Chicago. Apart from those obvious incidents, what sticks out for you?
Pierre LeBrun: You being last in our Toronto Media Hacks Hockey Pool.
On the NHL ice, San Jose's perfect start and Anaheim's perfectly bad start are what really caught my eye. The Sharks are trying so hard to hang out of that Cup-contending window and not become this decade's Ottawa Senators, who missed their chance with a great lineup. It was Anaheim that beat out Ottawa two seasons ago in the Cup finals and we all gave the Ducks a pass last season because of the Scott Niedermayer/Teemu Selanne situations. But what do you make of their start this season? When I asked GM Brian Burke about it this week, he said his team was playing like horse manure, but that he believed in them and would be patient. We'll see.
Burnside: Good thing Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle doesn't work in Chicago or he'd be digging ditches for a living. The problem for the Ducks is, at least early on, they are suffering from the same problem that plagued them last season -- their inability to score. They're averaging two goals a game. Only New Jersey is scoring less, but they're still winning some games (as they beat Atlanta 1-0 on Thursday night). That's a problem, especially in a tough division like the Pacific. The other guy who should be happy he's not in Chicago is John Stevens in Philadelphia, where the Flyers haven't got a win yet and looked bad in losing to Colorado on Thursday (the Avs' first win, by the way). Guess who was in net? Andrew Raycroft. Maybe the start of another reclamation project there. What do you think?
LeBrun: Back to the Ducks for a second, Scotty. I think their real problem is they're always in the box. They've taken a league-leading 37 penalties, they've been short-handed 25 times, but they've been on the power play only 13 times. I understand their rough-and-tough approach won them the Cup in '07, but they've got to show more discipline.
I was happy to see Raycroft get the win Thursday night. I felt bad for him on how things went sour here in Toronto. He's a good guy, and what a story it would be if he takes the No. 1 job in Colorado and runs with it. What a bargain for the Avs at $800,000! I'm real surprised by the Flyers. I picked them to win the Eastern Conference, and I thought with the return of Simon Gagne, that was like their big offseason addition for a team that reached the East finals last season. They need to redefine their identity. There's no cohesion in their game right now. It could be worse; they could be the Tampa Bay Lightning. All that hoopla and hype and all their changes, and they still stink.
Burnside: What hoopla? Oh, you mean our hoopla? Hey, the team can still dream. Love the Lightning, though; they just keep adding players in the hopes of finding something that works. Nice comeback Thursday night against the Isles to get a point, but Olaf Kolzig misplays the puck in overtime and fritters away a chance to get the team's first win. This is a team that needs to find more cohesion, too. Steven Stamkos, the No. 1 draft pick, isn't getting enough ice time. He played 9:22 on Thursday, about three minutes more than the previous game. That's a function of taking too many penalties, but Stamkos needs to get going -- he has zero points -- to take some pressure off the top line. Still, as with our hockey pool, no one gets a prize in October, do they?
LeBrun: Something's got to give. Stamkos has to be playing 12 to 15 minutes a game. If not, he shouldn't be in the NHL. You gotta feel for coach Barry Melrose; the walls must be closing in on him. He's got to figure out how to handle his No. 1 pick, but he's also got to figure out how to get a win. Ugly. I feel good about our $50 bet, though. For the folks at home, Scotty bet me the Lightning would make the playoffs. I said no. What should I buy with that $50?
Burnside: I thought that bet was off the record? Is nothing sacred with you Canadians? How about this headline for a little deja vu? "Gaborik injured." Couldn't see that coming a mile away, could we? Still, interesting times for the Wild, who are off to a great start (3-0 and lighting it up with 14 goals). Antti Miettinen and Mikko Koivu are doing the heavy lifting as the Wild are playing without Gaborik and Pierre-Marc Bouchard. Takes some of the pressure off GM Doug Risebrough in figuring out what to do with the ever-brittle Gaborik, who will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
LeBrun: As I said in my morning blog Friday (gee, thanks for reading it, Scott), I wonder if the best thing that ever happened for the Wild is Gaborik declining all their long-term offers. Don't get me wrong; when he's healthy, he's today's Pavel Bure -- the fastest player in the NHL with hands to match. But like Bure, the goals per season usually match the games -- 40 to 50. Hopefully, Gaborik will make me eat my words because he's one of the real nice guys in this league; but, so far, that's been his track record. Trade him. The question is, where? I'm not sure how they could do it because of their salary-cap situation, but I would love to see him in Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby has already had five or six different wingers this season.
Burnside: Agreed on the Wild's position on the long-term deal, but Gaborik's market value is modest at best now. Come trade deadline, though, teams like the Penguins, or anyone else who thinks they've got a legitimate shot at a Cup run, will ante up.
What else? How about the Blues' nice 3-1-0 start. They roughed up Dallas last night 6-1, chasing Marty Turco. Nice for Andy Murray and John Davidson, et al, after the Blues were junk for the last third of the season in 2007-08. And speaking of Dallas, my preseason Cup pick -- 1-2-1 and have given up 18 goals. Yikes.
LeBrun: I don't think Risebrough will wait until the March 3 trade deadline, Scott. I think he wants to maximize the asset value, which means trying to deal him earlier in the season. As for your Cup pick, I wouldn't worry. The Stars always start off slow. Of course, last season, it cost Doug Armstrong his GM job. But they'll be fine. The Blues will probably fade, but they've got some nice young talent. Patrik Berglund looks like the real deal. Stamkos and Kyle Turris were the most popular picks for the Calder, but Berglund is older than both at 20 and he looks ripe for success.
Burnside: Agreed. The Stars will pick it up. Interesting that Dave Tippett kept Fabian Brunnstrom out of the first couple of games and then he popped three in his first game. Another surprise? How about Vancouver, a team most of us thought would struggle from the outset, off to a nice 3-1-0 start. And they're scoring, putting up 16 goals. Nice work to beat Detroit in overtime Thursday, too. Maybe they don't need Mats Sundin after all.
LeBrun: Stars co-GM Les Jackson told me they kept Brunnstrom out early because he was pressing near the end of preseason. They wanted him to watch from the press box and watch the NHL game from that viewpoint. And they hoped it would relax him. Boy, did it ever.
The Canucks are a great story right now. Their ownership group got ridiculed in many NHL corners for hiring agent Mike Gillis as GM. And Gillis has raised eyebrows by doing things differently. Right now, he's looking good. The goals are coming, but I still think if Gillis has a shot at either Sundin or a healthy Peter Forsberg, he'll definitely go for it. They've got lots of cap room. Where do you think Sundin ends up?
Burnside: Maybe the Canucks' strong start -- not to mention the $20 million bucks on the table -- will convince Sundin that Vancouver is the real deal. I still think he waits until closer to Thanksgiving (that'd be the real Thanksgiving, not the Canadian version) before making a decision. Still, I think the Rangers will be in the hunt, although I think that poses real chemistry issues for a team just starting to look like they're on the same page. Interesting times. Well, until next time my friend? I've got to go and read your blog now.
LeBrun: Don't forget about the Flyers with Sundin. They are real interested in him, perhaps now more than ever. But yeah, the Big Swede won't play his first NHL game until December, I predict.
Thanks for your time pal. Look forward to that $50. Later.
Scott Burnside and Pierre LeBrun cover the NHL for ESPN.com. Making weekly off-the-record bets with one another was not part of their deals.
