Stanley Cup Playoffs

I have created a bracket for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for everyone to download. As you fill it out, remember that the teams are reseeded in the second round. So if 1, 2, 6 and 4 advance, 1 plays 6 and 2 plays 4. Comment below if you would like me to create some desktop backgrounds for the playoffs as well.

Iginla to Pittsburgh

As most of you know, the Pittsburgh Penguins have acquired Jarome Iginla from the Calgary Flames for the rights to F Kenneth Agostini, F Ben Hanowski, and Pittsbrugh's 2013 1st Round Draft Pick. Agostini is currently playing at Yale and Hanowski is playing at St. Cloud State.

TSN reported Wednesday night that Iginla was headed to Boston in a similar deal. In fact, Calgary GM Jay Feaster and Boston GM Peter Chiarelli agreed to a deal in principle earlier in the day. This changed around 12:30 AM ET, The Flames announced that instead of trading their captain to the Bruins, he would head to the Penguins. It has now been confirmed that Iginla preferred Pittsburgh over Boston stating that he couldn't pass up the chance to play with the best two players in the world.

It is not known right now when Iginla will arrive in the Steel City because of immigration. When he does arrive though, it will be interesting to watch where Penguins' head coach Dan Bylsma fits Iginla into the lineup. Iginla played on Crosby's line at the 2010 Olympics, but the Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis line is the hottest in hockey, so expect to see Iginla somewhere else in the lineup.

Pittsburgh Trades

Ray Shero, General Manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, has been dealing assets left and right lately.The first trade came Sunday night when The Penguins sent defenseman Joe Morrow and 2013 5th Round Draft Pick to Dallas for left wing Brenden Morrow (no relation) and 2013 3rd Round Draft Pick.

This morning, the Penguins made another move with the San Jose Sharks. Pittsburgh was able to make a deal for defenseman Douglas Murray in exchange for 2013 2nd Round Draft pick and a conditional 2014 2nd Round Pick.

TRADE: Minnesota and Ottawa

The Minnesota Wild and Ottawa Senators have agreed to a trade that sends forward Matt Kassian from Minnesota to Ottawa. The Wild have received Ottawa's sixth-round draft pick in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft in return. Kassian has a goal and twelve penalty minutes in nine games for the Houston Aeros (AHL).

-NHL.com

TRADE: Columbus - Philadelphia

Seems like Columbus and Philadelphia have a good relationship going. There have been numerous trades between the two teams in recent history, and this just adds to that list.

Philadelphia has traded minor-leaguer Matthew Ford to the Blue Jackets for future considerations. Matthew Ford was an eigth-round pick for the Chicago Blackhawks in 2004. The right wing has four goals and nine assists in 35 games for the Adirondack Phantoms. Ford will report to Springfield (AHL).

-NHL.com

Realignment Update

I tried to post some of this last night, but it wasn't working for some reason. The NHLPA gas agreed to the realignment plan set forth by NHL officials on Thursday. The NHL Board of Governors will now vote on the issue at hand. Expect to hear the result of that vote sometime next week. According to Aaron Portzline, the vote will be done via fax. He also stated that this is a good sign that the realignment will be agreed upon.

NHL Standings After 20

All of the teams in the NHL have finally completed 20 games, with Boston being the last. this is a major milestone in the season because of what it can forecast. The 1994-95 season started with a lockout that resulted in a 48 game schedule. The same happen this year. The part that is most interesting though is that out of the 16 teams that were in playoff position, 15 of them actually made it. We can expect to see something similar this season. I do not foresee 15 of the 16 teams making it because there are four more teams this year than there were then (Columbus, Minnesota, Nashville, Winnipeg).

	Eastern	DIV	GP	W	L	OT	P	ROW	GF	GA	Diff	Home	Away	S/O	L10	Streak
1	Boston	NE	20	14	3	3	31	12	60	46	14	6-2-1	8-1-2	2-1	6-2-2	OT 1
2	Pittsburgh	ATL	20	13	7	0	26	12	69	54	15	5-4-0	8-3-0	1-0	6-4-0	Lost 1
3	Carolina	SE	20	11	8	1	23	11	60	57	3	5-4-0	6-4-1	-	6-4-0	Won 2
4	Montréal	NE	20	13	4	3	29	12	58	43	15	8-3-1	5-1-2	1-2	7-1-2	Won 1
5	Ottawa	NE	20	12	6	2	26	9	48	37	11	9-1-2	3-5-0	3-1	6-3-1	Won 5
6	Toronto	NE	20	12	8	0	24	12	57	46	11	4-4-0	8-4-0	-	7-3-0	Won 1
7	New Jersey	ATL	20	10	6	4	24	10	49	52	-3	6-2-2	4-4-2	0-2	4-5-1	Lost 3
8	NY Rangers	ATL	20	10	8	2	22	8	51	51	E	8-4-1	2-4-1	2-2	5-3-2	Won 2
9	Winnipeg	SE	20	10	9	1	21	10	55	61	-6	4-5-0	6-4-1	0-1	6-4-0	Won 3
10	Tampa Bay	SE	20	9	10	1	19	9	71	64	7	6-4-1	3-6-0	0-1	3-6-1	Lost 3
11	Philadelphia	ATL	20	9	10	1	19	9	58	61	-3	5-2-1	4-8-0	0-1	5-4-1	Won 1
12	Washington	SE	20	8	11	1	17	8	55	59	-4	5-5-0	3-6-1	-	6-4-0	Won 1
13	NY Islanders	ATL	20	8	11	1	17	7	57	68	-11	2-8-0	6-3-1	1-0	4-6-0	Lost 2
14	Florida	SE	20	6	9	5	17	5	51	73	-22	3-4-4	3-5-1	1-1	2-4-4	OT 1
15	Buffalo	NE	20	7	12	1	15	6	50	64	-14	3-6-1	4-6-0	1-0	4-6-0	Won 1

* Designates division leaders

	Western	DIV	GP	W	L	OT	P	ROW	GF	GA	Diff	Home	Away	S/O	L10	Streak
1	* - Chicago	CEN	20	17	0	3	37	15	64	37	27	8-0-1	9-0-2	2-3	9-0-1	Won 7
2	* - Anaheim	PAC	20	15	3	2	32	11	71	53	18	8-1-0	7-2-2	4-2	8-1-1	OT 1
3	* - Vancouver	NW	20	11	5	4	26	9	59	50	9	6-3-2	5-2-2	2-4	5-3-2	Won 1
4	Los Angeles	PAC	20	11	7	2	24	10	54	47	7	6-1-1	5-6-1	1-1	8-2-0	Won 1
5	St. Louis	CEN	20	11	7	2	24	9	59	56	3	5-5-1	6-2-1	2-1	5-3-2	Won 1
6	San Jose	PAC	20	10	6	4	24	7	47	41	6	7-1-3	3-5-1	3-3	3-4-3	Won 1
7	Nashville	CEN	20	9	6	5	23	7	44	47	-3	5-2-3	4-4-2	2-4	4-4-2	Won 1
8	Dallas	PAC	20	10	8	2	22	9	56	57	-1	4-3-1	6-5-1	1-0	6-3-1	Won 1
9	Minnesota	NW	20	10	8	2	22	8	45	48	-3	7-2-1	3-6-1	2-1	6-3-1	Lost 1
10	Detroit	CEN	20	9	8	3	21	8	59	56	3	7-4-1	2-4-2	1-0	4-4-2	Lost 1
11	Phoenix	PAC	20	9	8	3	21	8	57	55	2	6-4-1	3-4-2	1-2	5-4-1	Lost 1
12	Calgary	NW	20	8	8	4	20	8	57	65	-8	5-5-2	3-3-2	0-3	5-4-1	Won 1
13	Colorado	NW	20	8	8	4	20	7	50	59	-9	6-2-1	2-6-3	1-1	4-2-4	OT 1
14	Edmonton	NW	20	8	8	4	20	6	49	53	-4	4-4-2	4-4-2	2-1	4-5-1	Lost 1
15	Columbus	CEN	20	5	12	3	13	4	44	61	-17	3-4-3	2-8-0	1-1	2-6-2	OT 1

* Designates division leaders

As I suspected, a little over 20 points is the cut off point for playoffs spots right now. In fact, both eighth place teams have 22 points. I expect to see the cut off for actual playoff teams to be in the 50-55 range.

Standings from NHL.com. Table converted from Excel to HTML with the help of TABLEIZER.

Blue Jackets

Per Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch has reported that four teams have sent scouts to the game in Columbus tonight versus the Oilers. Those teams are Colorado, Los Angeles, NY Rangers, and Ottawa. There was also a report out of Pittsburgh from Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that the Penguins may be interested in Jack Johnson.

Ryan O'Reilly Update

The Colorado Avalanche have matched the Calgary Flames offer sheet for Ryan O'Reilly. The Avalanche will have him under contract for the next three years. The Avalanche will not be able to trade O'Reilly away during the next calendar year. This could pose a problem for Colorado if the league decides not to partake in the Olympics because next season's trade deadline may be less than a year away. Calgary does not forfeit any draft picks.

BREAKING: @avalanche announced tonight that the team has matched the Calgary Flames’ offer sheet for forward Ryan O’Reilly. More to follow..
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) March 1, 2013

Evgeni Malkin

If you've been wondering what Evgeni Malkin has been doing, here you go. Malkin has 21 points (4 G; 17 A) on the season for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He is second on the team in assists and third in points. The reigning Hart Memorial, Ted Lindsay, and Art Ross Trophy winner is currently on the injured reserve due to a concussion he suffered Friday, February 22 against the Florida Panthers. There is no time table of return at this time.

Ryan O'Reilly Update

Below is the tweet by Darren Dreger of TSN breaking the news of the Flames filing offer sheet on Ryan O'Reilly. Calgary will  now forfeit a 1st and 3rd round draft pick to the Colorado Avalanche, as is the case with Restricted Free Agents. Colorado and Calgary face-off tonight. Dreger later went on to say that GMs around the league have said that Colorado could have gotten more for O'Reilly if they would have traded him away.

 

Breaking:Told thhe Flames have filed an offer sheet on Ryan O'Reilly. #TSN
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) February 28, 2013

NHL Realignment

Over the past few days, the NHL has been trying to realign the league. This issue came about when the Atlanta Thrashers became the Winnipeg Jets. The league wanted to realign for this season and came up with a similar format last year, but it was declined by the NHLPA for use as a bargaining chip in the impending lockout.

The league has now modified their proposal from last season and is bringing forth a new plan; one that sends Columbus and Detroit to the Eastern Conference. The previous proposal also had four conferences instead of the two we see in the current proposal. The current divisions is as follows

National Hockey League
Western Conference		Eastern Conference
Pacific	Mid-West	Central	Atlantic
Anaheim	Chicago	Boston	Carolina
Calgary	Colorado	Buffalo	Columbus
Edmonton	Dallas	Detroit	New Jersey
Los Angeles	Minnesota	Florida	NY Islanders
Phoenix	Nashville	Montréal	NY Rangers
San Jose	St. Louis	Ottawa	Philadelphia
Vancouver	Winnipeg	Tampa Bay	Pittsburgh
		Toronto	Washington

With the proposed format, the playoffs would include the top three in each division along with two wild cards from each conference; with the second wild card winner playing the team with the most points in the conference. This could allow for five teams from one division to be in the playoffs. The four division winners will play the four wild card teams in the first round. All the 2 seeds the 3 seeds from the same division in the first round as well. This will create a division playoff within the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The second round will see the divisional championship games. These will be played between the winners of the 1 vs. 4 series and the 2 vs. 3 series from the same division.

The winner of the Central and the Atlantic division playoffs will play for the Prince of Wales Trophy (Eastern Conference Champion) while the winners of the Mid-West and Pacific division playoffs will play for the Clarence Campbell Trophy (Western Conference Champion). The winners will play in the Stanley Cup Final.

Pavel Datsyuk Electrifies

Pavel Datsyuk has had some stunning goals this season, but he may have scored the goal of the year last night against the Nashville Predators. His goal came at the 13:30 mark in the 3rd Period. The goal ultimately sent the game to overtime. The Nashville's Shea Weber scored 44 seconds into overtime to win the game for the predators.

Sabres' Coach Fired

NHL.com reports that the Buffalo Sabres have relieved coach Lindy Ruff of his duties today. The Sabres lost 2-1 last night at home to the Winnipeg Jets. Buffalo has 13 points at 6-10-1 and are currently sitting at 13th in the Eastern Conference.  Ruff was the longest tenured head coach in the league and took the Sabres to their Stanley Cup Final appearance in 1999.

2013 Gagarin Cup (Western Conference)

Western Conference

#1 SKA Saint Petersburg vs. #8 Atlant Moscow Oblast

SKA is coming in as the KHL regular season champion. The Bobrov Division and Western Conference Champion will try to continuing their scoring ways in the playoffs. The team led the league by scoring 182 goals this season. SKA didn't just score though, they played defense. SKA only allowed 116 goals all season, which was forth best. Patrick Thoreson led the team in scoring with 51 points. Thoreson also led the team in goals with 21 and assists with 31. The Columbus Blue Jackets' Sergei Bobrovsky was this team's goalie for a lot of the season. SKA will now have to rely on new addition Ivan Kasutin. Kasutin had a 0.928 save percentage this season but a 2.56 goal-against average.

Atlant brings in one of the best goalies in the league. Stanislav Galimov had the best save percentage (0.943) and the forth best goal-against average (1.94). This will help the team that battled their way into the playoffs during the final days of the regular season. This team will have to figure out how to score goals if they want to beat SKA, as they were only 14th in goals scored and were shutout seven times over the course of the season. They will have to look to Maxim Mayorov for goal production. Mayorov scored 16 goals, leading the team and placing 25th in the league. Goals will be able to be generated from the blue line. Sandis Ozolins was 12th in the league in assists by defensemen.

#2 CSKA Moscow vs. #7 Lev Praha

CSKA has some fire power as they were seventh in goals scored this season. A large chunk of those goals came from Alexander Radulov, who scored 22 this season. Radulov's older brother Igor was second on the team with 17 goals. With the two of them and the third highest scoring defenseman in the league (Yakov Rylov) on the team, this team has a kick. Their goaltender is also astrong point. Rastislav Stana led the league in goal-against average with 1.76 average. The team allowed the fewest goals of any team all season, with 109 goals against. He was also third in the league in save percentage with a 0.934. CSKA used this to secure their Tarasov Divisional Championship.

Lev only scored 132 goals all season, putting them at 16th in a league that has 26 teams. On the flip side, they only allowed 133 goals against them, putting them at 12th. Lev's leading scorer, Jakub Klepis, finished 23rd in the league with 38 points. Klepis's 20 goals was also good enough for him to 11th in the league. For Lev to do well in this match-up, they will have to keep CSKA from shutting him down. Lev can look to former NHLer Erik Christensen for help in this aspect. He finished second on the team in both goals and points with 10 and 21 respectively. Tomas Popperle's numbers will need to improve as well. His 2.25 goals-against average and 0.917 save percentage was sub-par this season.

#3 Dynamo Moscow vs. #6 Slovan Bratislava

Dynamo Msk brings an excellent goaltender to this match-up. Alexander Yeryomenko had a save percentage of 0.931 and a goal-against average of 1.85. Yeryomenko was also able to have five shutouts this season. If he keeps that up, Dynamo Msk could go through to the next round, but they will need to be able to score goals as well. As a team that had 29 of their 150 goals come from Washington Capitals' Alexander Ovechkin (19 G; 21 A) and Niklas Backstrom (10 G; 15 A), they will have to look for other talent. Denis Kokarev (13 G; 9 A) is the scoring leader on this team by default. He's accompanied by defenseman Ilya Gorokhov (7 G; 15 A) atop the team's top scorers. Look for Alexei Tsvetkov (5 G; 16 A) and Konstantin Gorovikov (2 G; 17 A) to step it up in the playoffs.

Slovan intends to shut down Dynamo Msk with goaltender Jaroslav Janus. Janus posted a 0.928 save percentage, a 2.17 save percentage, and five shutouts of his own. This match-up has potential to be a goaltending battle. This is a team that only allowed 127 goals this season. Their issue will be scoring. The team only scored 124 goals this season, which was the leagues sixth worst. Slovan's best scoring threats are Michel Miklik (9 G; 15 A), Roman Kukumberg (10 G; 11 A), Libor Hudacek (11 G, 9 A), Michal Vondrka (9 G; 11 A), and Mario Bliznak (9 G, 11 A). These players are not the most threatening, but Slovan will need them to step up if they want to get past Dynamo Msk.

#4 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl vs. #5 Severstal Cherepovets

Lokomotiv last year experienced one of the most tragic incidents last season when their plane crashed on their way to their first game in Minsk. Everyone on board was killed or died a few days later. Last season, they withdrew from competition in the KHL, but have returned this season. The KHL allowed Lokomotiv to play with more than six non-Russian players this season as a result of the plane crash.

This season's leading scorer for Lokomotiv was Sergei Plotnikov (14 G; 16 A). Plotnikov will receive help from Niklas Hagman (12 G; 8 A) and Averin Yegor (11 G; 7A). These three players will be some of the biggest threats to Severstal. Defenseman Staffan Kronwall (10 G; 12 A) will also have some say in the offense, as he may be the biggest threat. As one of the teams top players, both offensively and defensively, he was able to record a plus/minus of +6, lead the team in powerplay goals with seven, and lead the team in game-winning goals with five. Goaltender Curtis Sanford will be in net for Lokomotiv. He had the 11th best save percentage at 0.927 and the 15th best goals-against average at 2.25. He also never recorded a shutout. He will have to improve in the playoffs.

Severstal has two major threats in Vadim Shipachyov (17 G; 23 A) and Evgeny Ketov (12 G; 22 A). These two players led the team in scoring, with Shipachyov also leading the team in goals. Severstal only scored six more goals this season than Lokomotiv and they allowed four less goals that Lokomotiv, placing fifth in goals against. This effort was led by goaltender Vasily Koshechkin. Koshechkin had the tenth best goal-against average (2.13) and the 16th best save percentage (92.3).

2013 Gagarin Cup (East Preview)

 

The Gagarin Cup Playoffs are in the same format as the Stanley Cup playoffs as most of us are familiar with. The KHL is comprised of two conferences, with two divisions in each conference. After the 52-game regular season is complete, the playoffs are set. Eight teams from each conference make the playoffs, with the division winners receiving the top seeds. The remaining six spots in the conference playoffs are treated like wild card positions. The winners of the conference playoffs meet in the Gagarin Cup Final.

The Gagarin Cup Playoffs started in 2008, with the creation of the KHL. The then newly formed league needed a trophy for the league champion. After much deliberation, the name Gagarin Cup was chosen to signify the accomplishment that is winning an ice hockey tournament. Pictured right is the Gagarin Cup, named for the Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. A likeness of the first man in space can been seen on the trophy. In 2009, the trophy was first awarded to Ak Bars Kazan on April 12, Cosmonautics Day. In its brief history, only Ak Bars Kazan has been able to win the Gagarin Cup multiple times. They were able to accomplish this in 2009 and 2010. The other two winners are Salavat Yulaev Ufa (2011) and Dynamo Moscow (2012).

Wednesday marks the beginning of the 2013 Gagarin Cup Playoffs, the championship tournament for Russia's Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). I will be bringing you a two part preview to Gagarin Cup Playoffs along with updates through the playoffs. Today we focus on the Eastern Conference. All Eastern Conference games start on Thursday. Tomorrow, the Western Conference preview will appear.

Eastern Conference

#1 Ak Bars Kazan vs. #8 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk

As regular season Eastern Conference and Kharlamov Division Champions, Ak Bars looks to win their third Gagarin Cup. Ak Bars is led by their captain (and former Pittsburgh Penguins) Alexei Morozov and Danis Zaripov. Morozov led the team in points with with 38, while Zaripov was able to record 19 goals. Finn Janne Pesonen was second on the team with 17 goals. The scoring doesn't just come from the forwards though, Ak Bars's defemean Ilya Nikulin  placed forth in the defenseman points with 34. The man in net for Ak Bars is Konstantin Barulin, who was selected in 2003 by the St. Louis Blues. Barulin's 0.940 save percentage was good enough for second in the league. He was also able to record 4 shutouts this season.

Nefteknimik seems to be over-matched, as is normally the case in a #1 vs. #8 match-up. Neftekhimik was able to do enough at the end of the season to get into the playoffs over Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk by three points in a league where a win is worth three points. Neftekhimik has been able to ride the success of 29-year-old defender Renat Mamashev. Mamashev was the only player to appear in the Top 30 in points for Neftekhimik and only one of two defenders. His his 10 goals and 32 assists (42 points) was good enough for 14th amongst all players in the league, and first amongst defenders. Another player to look out for on Neftekhimik is Yegor Milovzorov. Milovzorov was second on the team (23rd in league) in assists with 24. Canadian Matt Dalton is the Neftekhimik goaltender. Playing 38 of 52 games, he was able to record a 0.923 save percentage and a goal-against average of 2.36.

 #2 Avangard Omsk vs #7 Sibir Novosibirsk

 Avangard comes into the playoffs as Chernyshev Division Champions. Avangard has been a fairly balanced team all season, with production coming from all around. Tomas Zaborksy led this team in both points and goals this season, with 21 goals and 20 assists (41 points). Other players that Avangard has looked to this season are Alexander Perezhogin, Dmitry Syomin and team captain Alexander Frolov. Frolov leads the team in assists with 28, good enough for 9th in the league. Anton Belov leads Avangard defenders in points. Avangard goaltender, Karri Ramo, has an 0.929 save percentage and a goal-against average of 2.00.

Sibir could make this a goaltender dual as they bring one of the top goalies in the league into the series. Jeff Glass has the league's fifth best save percentage at 0.933 and the eighth best goal-against average at 2.02. Glass will need help from his defense though. Sibir brings a couple of the top forwards in the league to this battle as well. Jori Lehtera leads the team in points and is fifth in the league with 4. He is accompanied by Jonas Enlund, who brings the second best plus/minues (+27) in the league to the table. For Sibir to have a chance at moving on, the defense will have to be at its best.

 #3 Traktor Chelyabinsk vs. #6 Barys Astana

Traktor was the best non-division winner in the league. Traktor has a high powered offense, placing sixth in goals for. The player on the team with the most goals is Evgeny Kuznetsov. Kuznetsov was able to record 19 goals, which was good enough for 16th in the league. Goaltender Michael Garnett could make this interesting though. With an 0.923 save percentage and a goal against average of 2.20, he placed 16th and 12th respectively. Garnett and the Traktor defense will need to step it up during the playoffs.

Barys brings a high powered offense as well, as they are the second highest scoring team with 175 goals this season. With two 20 goal-scorers and five 30 point-scorers, this team is all offense. names to look out for are Brandon Bochenski (20 G; 20 A), Nigel Dawes (20 G; 14 A), Dustin Boyd (15 G; 16 A;), Konstantin Rudenko (14 G; 17A), and Talgat Zhailauov (15 G; 15 A). Scoring could come from defender Roman Savchenko (10 G; 10 A) as well. With no goalie with a save percentage over 0.900, Barys will need to out score Traktor if they want to win. Expect a high scoring series.

#4 Metallurg Magnitogorsk vs. #5 Salavat Yulaev Ufa

Metallurg Mg saw the presence of NHL talent including Russian stars Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar. Even though the NHLers left in the middle of January, some impacted the team all the way into the playoffs. Malkin was able to score so much in his time with the team, he is still third in the league in points scored. That being said, he is no longer on the team; meaning Metallurg Mg will need to look elsewhere to score. Sergei Moziyakin is the obvious choice since he led the league in goals (35), points (76), and was third in assists (41). Goaltender Ari Ahonen will have to be at the top of his game though. This season, he posted a save percentage of 0.924 and a goal-against average of 2.04.

Fortunately for Meallurg Mg, Salavat doesn't have much in terms of goaltending. Salavat goalie Iiro Tarkki has allowed 2.37 goals a game while only posting a 0.913 save percentage. Igor Mirnov will have to take control of this series if Salavat wants to move on. Mirnov was eighth in the league in goals (21) this season.He is the only Salavat player to appear in the Top 30 in goals and points. No Salavat player appeared in the Top 30 in assists.

Jarmo Kekäläinen

Last night, the Columbus Blue Jackets fired General  Manager Scott Howson. Scott Howson had been in Columbus for five years and gave the fans an emotional roller coaster. Howson was able bring talent to the team like Jeff Carter, R. J. Umberger, James Wisniewski, Antoine Vermette, Sami Lepistö, and Scottie Upshall. A lot of these moves did not materialize though. Carter was traded to the Los Angeles Kings for current Blue Jacket Jack Johnson and this year's first round pick. Vermette was traded to Phoenix for Upshall and Lepistö. The following off-season, Upshall signed with the Florida Panthers and Lepistö signed with the Chicago Blackhawks. Wisniewski and Umberger are still with the team. Howson also made the move to fire head coach Ken Hitchcock, who was then hired by the St. Louis Blues the following season. At that time, John Davidson was in St. Louis as the president of hockey operations. He is now filling the same role in Columbus.

With the decision to fire the Howson, Davidson was faced with hiring a new one. He looked to Jarmo Kekäläinan to fill the position of General Manager. As per Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch, Kekäläinen was Davidson's first choice.

1995-99: Served as General Manager of IFK Helsinki in the Finnish league SM-Liiga. There, he was able to help guide the team to four playoff appearances, two appearances in the finals, and one championship. He was also working with the Ottawa Senators in the time. In that time span, the Senators drafted players like Chris Phillips, Sami Salo, Marian Hossa, Mike Fisher, Chris Neil, and Martin Havlat. At the end of the 1998-99 season, he left Helsinki to be the Senators director of player personnel.

1999-2002: After being hired full-time by the Senators, he was able to help build the team more than before. During this time, he was able to draft Anton Volchenkov, Antoine Vermette, Greg Zanon, Jason Spezza, Tim Gleason, Ray Emery, and Brooks Laich. Of all the players that he was able to draft when in Ottawa, seven of them were playing on the team when they made their first appearance in the Stanley Cup Final in 2007.

2002-2010: In 2002, Kekäläinen was hired by the St. Louis Blues. Here he was able to start building the team that is seen today. Here, he met up with Davidson. During his time in St. Louis, the Blues drafted big name players like now team captain David Backes, Lee Stempniak, Roman Polak, T. J. Oshie, Erik Johnson, Patrik Berglund, Ian Cole, David Perron, Alex Pietrangelo, and Vladimir Tarasenko. The team in 2011-12 finished second in the Western Conference.

2010-2012: After being turned down for the GM position in St. Louis, Kekäläinen went back to Finland to become the GM at Jokerit. In his two seasons there, the team made it to the playoffs both times and won the bronze medal match in his second year. Jokerit is currently at the top of the league standings this season. Jokerit has players in the the top five in scoring, goals, assists, points by defensemen, and goals against average. The team leads the league in attendance.

Final Olympic Qualifying

Olympic qualifying ended today for the Ice Hockey competition. Nine of the twelve teams had already been selected based on world ranking, but there were three spots still available. The teams that make it into these spots have to go through a round robin style tournament process. The round robin takes place within three groups of four. Those groups play one game against each of the teams in their group (three games) to decide the winner of the group. The group winners are then placed into the Olympics.

Group D (#10 Germany, #15 Austria, #16 Italy and #24 Netherlands) had a little bit of a surprise. Germany left the door open for Austria on Friday by losing to Italy in overtime. This set up a thrilling Sunday at the EgeTrans Arena in Bietigheim-Bissigen, Germany. With Italy and the Netherlands already out of it at this point, the team selected for the Olympics would be decided in this game. Germany needed a win in regulation to beat out Austria for the spot in the Olympics.

The Germans opened up scoring with a power-play goal from Benedikt Kohl at the 18:41 mark in the First Period. Austria equalized at 11:46 in the Second Period with an even-strength goal from Andre Lakos. Austria's Captain, Thomas Koch, was called for holding at 6:31 in the Third Period. This set up the go-ahead goal for Germany by their Captain, Michael Wolf, 23 seconds later. With 7:38 left in the Third Period, Austria tied it with a goal from Markus Peinter. Germany pulled their goalie, Robert Zepp, with 1:01 left in the game. Germany was not able to score a goal in the waning moments of regulation, sending Team Austria to their first Olympic Games since Salt Lake City 2002. Germany won the game in overtime on a goal from Patrick Reimer, but it was irrelevant at that point.

A German Nation (Germany, East Germany and West Germany) will not take place in the Ice Hockey competition for the first time since 1948, when the nation was banned from Olympic competition due to the Second World War and it will be only the fifth time ever.

Group E (#11 Latvia, #14 France, #17 Kazakhstan and #21 Great Britain) had Some some dramatics of its own. Heading into the final day, three teams were still alive, France, Kazakhstan and Latvia. Kazakhstan faced Great Britain other in the first game at Riga Arena located in Riga, Austria. For Kazakhstan to have a chance, they would need to outscore Great Britain by six goals.

This game had little drama as the Kazakhstanis were able to score six goals before the end of the Second Period, with goals coming from Roman Starchenko, Konstantin Romanov, Talgat Zhailauov, Alexei Litvinenko, Ilya Solarev and Viktor Alexandrov. This set up an exciting  second game in Riga. Kazakhstan chance at its third Olympic appearance, and first since Turin 2006, was still alive. For Kazakhstan to make it, they needed France to win in regulation by five goals or less.

 France was looking for their first appearance in the Ice Hockey competition since Salt Lake City in 2002. To accomplish this, they needed to win by six goals like Kazakhstan needed to earlier. For Latvia to make their fourth straight Olympics, they needed to either win the game, or force the game to overtime.

The game started off fast for the French team with a power-play goal coming at the 2:50 mark by Damien Fleury. The French were able to score a second goal in the first period (14:50) by the Captain, Laurent Meunier. Scoring slowed down though and Latvia was able to cut the lead to one at the 14:59 mark in the Second Period from Group E Scoring Leader, Lauris Darzins. Hope dwindled for the French as Latvia tied it up 12 seconds into the Third Period with the help of Martins Karsums. This happened to be the final goal in regulation, sending the Latvians to the Olympics. Pierre Edouard Bellemare won the game for France in overtime.

Group F (#12 Denmark, #13 Belarus, #18 Slovenia and #20 Ukraine) provided a bit of an underdog story. This group provided a combined four Olympic appearances between Belarus (3) and Ukraine (1). Denmark, the highest ranked team in this group, seemed to be on their way to their first appearance in the Olympic competition by starting off the weekend with a 2-0 win over Ukraine. Slovenia got off to a good start too by defeating Belarus 4-2. This set up for a showdown between the top two teams in the division on Friday. Slovenia won this game 2-1, with both of the Slovenia goals coming from Marcel Rodman. On the final day, Slovenia finished their Cinderella run with a 6-1 win over Ukraine. By winning the group, Slovenia will be appearing in their first Olympic Ice Hockey Tournament since becoming an independent country in 1991.

The final Olympic groupings are as follows:
Group A: #1 Russia^, #6 Slovakia, #7 USA, #18 Slovenia
Group B: #2 Finland, #5 Canada, #8 Norway, #15 Austria
Group C: #3 Czech Republic, #4 Sweden, #9 Switzerland, #11 Latvia

^ Host Nation

Both men's and women's Olympic Ice Hockey Tournaments will start on February 8th, 2014 in Sochi, Russia.

Early Assessment - First Post

Overview

Hockey finally started back up and this season is shaping up to be an interesting one. Some of the dominate teams from last year have not been so dominant and some of the bad teams from last year have not been so bad. Some players are still trying to find their groove as well.

Since there will not be any cross-conference action until the Stanley Cup Final this season, most posts will be broken down into an East-West setting. This may continue in future seasons. We will be be starting simple and only be commenting on three teams per conference per post. Each team will have a different quality than the other.

Eastern Conference

The Eastern Conference has looked much differently than last season so far. Now it's still early, but I get the feeling some of these things will stay the same. The BOSTON BRUINS are my leader in the East right now. they have shown a level of consistency that no other team seems to have at this point. This could obviously change, but I believe this will give them an advantage going forward. What will benefit this team the most is their tenacity. They have been able to not just hold a lead, but come from behind and win. In the three games that they have trailed after two periods, they have won two, more than any other team in the league

One of the surprise teams is the TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS. Last season, they were a sub-.500 team with only 35 wins, leaving them 12 points out of the playoffs. So far this season, they have shown some promise. Their ability to win on the road (5-1) this season is one of the bright spots for the team. Their issue is putting that kind of performance on the ice in the Air Canada Centre. At home, they have put together a measly 1-4 record. Law of averages will catch up to them though. It will be interesting to see what way it will go.

The disappointing team so far has been the NEW YORK RANGERS. This is a team that bolstered their offense in the off-season with the acquisition of LW Rick Nash. This is a team with arguably the best goaltender in the league. This is a team that was the #1 seed in the east and came just a win short of winning the Presidents' Trophy. This was the team to beat this season, yet they are sitting at 5-5 (10 pts) a fifth of the way into the season. In a season where points are at more of a premium than usual, they are going to do some battling to become a contender. This is something that they should be able to do.

Western Conference

The hottest team in the Western Conference has been the CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS. The 8-0-2 (18 pts) team has been able to put together a run that has been unbelievable. Sure, teams go on winning streaks, but not like these Blackhawks. What makes this run so special is they have played only twice at their home arena. The United Center is hosting Disney On Ice until the 10th, so they'll see some home games shortly. It will be interesting to see if they can keep this up at home. As mentioned above with the Maple Leafs, just because a team has swagger on the road, it does not necessarily mean they can bring it at home. Some stats to take note of as well: the Blackhawks are 17th in Power Play (18.4%), 16th in Shots Allowed Per Game (28.5) and 14th in Shots Per Game (28.6). If they start to have issues finding the back of the net, they could be in for some trouble. They will have to rely heavily on their defense, especially with the compressed schedule.

My surprise team in the West has to be the EDMONTON OILERS. The Oilers look poised to make the playoffs this season, and I believe they will. This is a team that will have to step it up statistically as the season goes on though. It is hard for a team to continue winning with only 2.3 goals a game (22nd). Their goaltending has been the key for this team. G Devan Dubnyk  has seen more shots than anyone in the league (323), yet he is 22nd in Save % (92.3%). This is a team that is riding a hot goalie, but that can go a long way in a season so short and compressed. Look for this team to finish between 8th and 10th.

The LOS ANGELES KINGS are easily the most disappointing team in the West. After getting destroyed in their home opener (and Stanley Cup Celebration Game) to the Blackhawks 5-2, they have not been able to get their feet under them. G Jonathan Quick, regarded as one of the top goaltenders in the league, has put up a save percentage that is good enough for 46th (86.9%). The Kings have faced the 2nd fewest shots per game in the league, yet they are 22nd in Goals Allowed Per Game (3.00). Time will tell whether or not the defending Stanley Cup Champion will be able to get it together and make it back to the playoffs. I am betting on no. Remember, this team finished 8th in the West last season with 40 wins and 95 Points.