Pinky and the Brain Twins

Ok, thoughts about the Ohlund slash aside, Derek Boogard has come up with the line of the month for sure. When asked about what would happen the next time the Wild and Canucks meet, he stated:
"Maybe I can go and check Naslund or those Pinky and the Brain twins."

Ah, Pinky and the Brain. One is a genius, the others insane. They're laboratory mice, they're genes have been spliced, etc, etc. What a great show and what a great reference to a couple creepy looking, yet insanely skilled Swedish twins.

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Boogard Blast Canucks

3 Canucks Players Injured in Intrasquad Match

Roberto Luongo, Trevor Linden and Sami Salo all left the annual intrasquad game with injuries. Roberto Luongo caught a one-timer up high, Salo jammed his wrist which is now in a cast, and Linden pulled his groin.

Vigneault seemed unconcerned of Luongo's injury but both Linden and Salo will be re-evaluated on Monday. It's unknown at the moment if Salo's wrist is broken.

Tough start to the preseason for the Canucks.

Best Bang for the Buck - Goaltending, Finale

I was off at wedding festivities for a good friend of mine most of the weekend so I'm a bit late. By my timezone though, I still got this out before the weekend was over.

This one took a lot more thought than picking a winner for Bang for the Buck on Defense. Goaltending is more than just stats and numbers as the defensive corps of a team can make a huge difference on how well the goaltender looks.

So aside from just perusing stats and projecting abilities for next season I've tried to take into account who was playing in front of the goaltender. If you feel my picks are way off base, feel free to leave a comment.

We'll start with a rundown of the final four, in alphabetical order.

Buffalo Sabres - $3.4M
Ryan Miller played on the #1 offensive team in the league last season and didn't put up eye-popping numbers. His GAA was 2.73 and his save percentage was .911. Not exactly stellar on paper. But on screen it was a whole different story. He was a rock in goal for Buffalo and gave them the freedom to play a run-and-gun style offense with little thought for the consequences. With a winning percentage of 63%, he's a steal at just $2.7M for the next years.

Calgary Flames - $3.3M
Miika Kiprusoff continues to be cool as a cucumber for the Calgary Flames - at least for one more year. Posting up numbers of 2.46 and .917, he continues to show that he is one of the premier goaltenders in the world today. Next year he will wave goodbye to his $3.33M cap hit and quite possibly find himself in a new city as well.

Minnesota Wild - $3.8M
Manny Fernandez was given the #1 job when Roloson was traded but when he suffered an untimely injury, Nicklas Backstrom proved he was up to the test. Posting stellar numbers of 1.97 and .929, Backstrom soon made Fernandez expandable as well. A 41 game season is a decent test for a goaltending but how will Backstrom do with upwards of 60 starts? If he falters, Josh Harding will be waiting.

New Jersey Devils - $5.9M
Martin Brodeur is still a good deal at a cap hit of $5.2M. He won 62% of his games while posting a GAA of 2.18 and a save percentage of .922. His numbers dipped a bit in the playoffs as the Lightning seemed find a hole in his game, but he still managed a GAA of 2.44 with a .916 save percentage. Just as you shouldn't bet against Randy Couture in UFC, you shouldn't bet against Marty Brodeur.

Let's jump right into the winning order now:

#4 - Minnesota Wild - $3.8M
Nicklas Backstrom showed he could get it done for half a season, but can he get it done for a full season? Josh Harding played superb in his 7 games last year so looks to make a very safe backup should Backstrom falter.

#3 - New Jersey Devils - $5.9M
The highest cap hit of the bunch but for good reason. Martin Brodeur is world-class and the reigning workhorse of the league with 78 games under his belt last season. Kevin Weekes will show up for his half dozen or less games and as long as he wins 2 or 3 of those, the Devils should be happy.

#2 - Buffalo Sabres - $3.4M
Ryan Miller stepped up his game in the playoffs and Jocelyn Thibault will be a competent backup for the 15 games he's likely to see. If Miller can find the ability to put in a 70+ game season, he'll be moving into some illustrious company.

#1 - Calgary Flames - $3.3M
Miika Kiprusoff pulls out the win here, as he often does in goal. Calgary gave up a lot of shots last year and Kiprusoff was there to bail them out more times than they can count. His calm demeanor might be a bit too calming, making it easy for the Flames to think less about defense and more about offense. He'll be looking for a big contract next year so look for his numbers to improve.

Honorable Mention

Vancouver Canucks - $7.4M
Yes, it's a lot of cash but it's hard to argue against a world-class goaltender - and in my opinion the best goaltender in the NHL - receiving that kind of money. A goaltender that can carry a team on his back almost into the conference finals is near priceless. He also posted a 2.29 GAA and .921 save pct in the regular season and upped those numbers to 1.77 and .941 in the playoffs. Who wouldn't want him?

Best Bang for the Buck - Goaltending, Part 3

It's the final installment before I pick a winner in the Best Bang for the Buck - Goaltending series. Part 1 and Part 2 are still available on the homepage.

Ottawa Senators - $6.9M
Ray Emery was rewarded with a 3-year, $9.5M contract over the summer after cementing himself as the #1 in Ottawa. With Martin Gerber making nearly $4M per year, you can bet the Senators will be looking to move him at the right price. As long as Emery continues to improve, and all indications are that he will, the Senators need to find a backup who can play about 15 games over the season while being light on the pocket book.

Philadelphia Flyers - $4.7M
Martin Biron was brought in at the trade deadline to become the Flyers #1 goaltender for the remainder of the year. He was then signed to a two-year extension and is expected to be the #1 this year as well. However Antero Niitymaki, also signed to a two-year extension, will look to challenge him for that title. Niitymaki is coming off of a poor season where he posted 9-29-9 record, 3.38 goals-against average and .894 save percentage in 52 games. This duo has potential and, with an improved defensive corps, could live up to it.

Pittsburgh Penguins - $1.9M
Marc-Andre Fleury is still working on his game but he's shown obvious improvements every year. I still feel the sting of his unfortunate mishap during the '04 World Juniors but I forgive him. At a cap hit of just $1.3M, he looks to be a bargain this year. Dany Sabourin and Ty Conklin were brought in to battle it out for the backup position and should provide reasonable results. Conklin is on a two-way contract while Sabourin, poached off of waivers by the Canucks last year, is one-way. Those two pieces of information could play into who gets the backup job.

Phoenix Coyotes - $1.4M
The Coyotes have a logjam in the crease and they're still under the league minimum salary by a fair amount. They signed David Aebischer to a dirt cheap $600,000 contract but based on his play in Montreal, that might not be too out of whack. Mikael Tellqvist is still on board and the Coyotes added Alex Auld recently. With prospect David Leneveau in the background, it will make for quite a battle in training camp. Aebischer and Auld have everything to prove and everything to lose at this point but can either handle the pressure?

San Jose Sharks - 5.4M
Evgeni Nabokov is in as the undisputed #1 after Vesa Toskala was traded to Toronto. The writing was on the wall for Toskala long ago and finally Doug Wilson found an appropriate trading partner. Nabokov played well in the regular season and playoffs and is quite capable of stealing games when necessary. The new backup, Dimitri Patzold, comes in on the heels of a couple slight fallback seasons in the AHL after previously showing continuous improvement. He likely won't be called upon too much as Nabokov will likely gobble up 65+ starts with Toskala out of the picture.

St. Louis Blues - $2.7M
Manny Legace put up decent numbers with the Blues last season as he split duties with Curtis Sanford and Jason Bacashihua. Sanford is gone and Hannu Toivonen is in to challenge Bacashihua for the backup position/#1b position. Not an enviable crew by any means but they do have Marek Schwarz being groomed in the background.

Tampa Bay Lightning - $3.9M
The goaltending duo of Marc Denis and Johan Holmqvist returns to give John Tortorella more fits than he can shake a stick at. Denis and Holmqvist combined to produce a league worst goals to shots ratio and often left Tortorella frothing at the mouth after their performances. Note to Tortorella: sometimes screaming doesn't help.

Toronto Maple Leafs - $4.1M
The Leafs made their goaltending situation interesting after acquiring Vesa Toskala from the Sharks. Andrew Raycroft, brought in last year to be the #1 in exchange for top prospect Tuuka Raask, fizzled out and never performed up to the lofty expectations set upon a Calder winning goaltender. If Raycroft isn't dealt before the season begins, there will be a battle for the #1 spot which I believe will be won by Vesa Toskala. The Leafs also have Scott Clemmenson in the fold who would become the backup if/when Raycroft is dealt.

Vancouver Canucks - $7.4M
What can be said about Roberto Luongo. Like him or love him, he's one of the best in the world and anybody who thinks otherwise is deluding him or herself. The Canucks have brought in Curtis Sanford who should prepare himself to start about half a dozen games this season. Luongo has slowly increased his amount of starts each year but I've got to believe he won't start more than 76 games. If he does, I'll start to question whether he's a robot sent back in time and not an actual living, breathing human.

Washington Capitals - $6.3M
Olaf Kolzig continues to fly under the radar as one of the better goaltenders in the league. Of course a lot of that has to do with his choice to stay with the Washington Capitals for so long. His numbers have declined slightly, in accordance with Washington's declines, and at 37 years old is likely not going be a game breaker anymore. However he's a great mentor for Brent Johnson who will back up Kolzig again this year.

And so ends the review of all 30 teams in the league. I will let this all sink in for everyone, including myself, and post up the winners sometime over the weekend.

Best Bang for the Buck - Defence, Finale

It's time. On the tails of Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 comes the grand finale. I've got it narrowed down to 4 teams so let's go over the final four and then find out who the big winner is. In no particular order (ok, it's alphabetical):

Calgary Flames
You can't go wrong with Phaneuf and Regehr with Warrener bringing up the rear. But it's hard to say which Adrian Aucoin will show up and I have my reservations on Sarich's worth.

Dallas Stars
The combination of Zubov and Norstrom is one of the best in the league and Boucher rounds out a nice top-3. It's essentially the same squad which allowed the 2nd least shots against in the league last year, except they've added Norstrom and lost Sydor and Modry. So it's a win for them.

San Jose SharksEven without Hannan, this squad has some grit and veteran leadership. They've also got some excellent young d-men to help lead the charge. Top-5 in goals against and shots against last season, they may slip a bit but should still land in the top-10 this season.

Vancouver Canucks
Possibly the most unheralded squad right now. Fitzpatrick is likely out, Bourdon is likely in and that will likely mean an improvement. With Kevin Bieksa still under a $0.5M cap hit, they're a cheap squad and should provide excellent results.

After much bally-who, it's time to put a true order on these teams and decide who has the best ratio of performance to price.

#4 - Calgary Flames ($14.7M) - unfortunately Aucoin and Sarich are question marks in my mind and even though Regehr and Phaneuf are studs, the price point doesn't cut it

#3 - Vancouver Canucks ($13.6M)- Salo and Ohlund are solid, as is the rest of the squad but their cap hit to performance ratio doesn't cut it compared to the next two teams

#2 - San Jose Sharks ($9.9M) - at a mere $9.9M they were my early favorite when I started this series. If it wasn't for the lack of a solid #1, they'd be the shoo-in.

And what you've all been waiting for (if you haven't figured it out by process of elimination)

#1 - Dallas Stars ($13.6M) - Zubov and Boucher put up points and are reliable defensively, while Norstrom will do nothing but help this squad. Top-3 in goals against and shots against last year and they've improved their corps this year.

Hopefully everyone enjoyed the Best Bang for the Buck series. I hope I find time to do the same for goaltending and forwards in the near future.

Best Bang for the Buck - Defence, Part 3

It's the final installment before I pick a winner in the Best Bang for the Buck - Defence series. Part 1 and Part 2 are still available on the homepage.

Ottawa Senators - $17.5M
Wade Redden was previously the anchor to this lineup but Anton Volchenkov really came into his own last year and may challenge Redden for the throne. In fact, Redden is a good trade bait candidate as he's unrestricted next year. Although Preissing is a loss to this squad, Meszaros, Phillips, Corvo and Schubert will make the loss much easier to bear.

Philadelphia Flyers - $16.7M
Kimmo Timmonen is a great addition to the group and he definitely assumes the #1 role with the departure of Joni Pitkanen. Jason Smith, coming in as part of the Pitkanen trade, adds a good defensive d-man and a ton of leadership. He'll also take some ice-time away from the declining Derian Hatcher which has to be a good thing. Denis Gauthier should provide some fear and punishment and Braydon Coburn should land a full-time spot to help out on the punishment front.

Pittsburgh Penguins - $15.5M
They've got Sergei Gonchar and Darryl Sydor to provide some veteran leadership, and Gonchar is still a point producer at 33 years of age. With Ryan Whitney locked up long-term and Kris Letang likely to join the squad, they've got a nice mix of talent both young and old. Scuderi and Orpiks provide a decent tail-end for this group.

Phoenix Coyotes - $15.6M
The best line I've heard so far this off-season was "Phoenix Coyotes - When bad just isn't good enough". That was in reference to their log-jam in the crease but it could be applied to their defence as well. If Ed Jovanovski can't stay off the injured reserve, it's going to be a tough year for the Coyotes. And their defense has been the bright spot for this team. Ouch.

San Jose Sharks - $9.9M
The Sharks biggest loss is Scott Hannan which definitely stings. Thankfully they've got Kyle McLaren to step up on the leadership and physicality front. Craig Rivet should help anchor their powerplay while the ever-improving young duo of Matt Carle and Marc-Edouard Vlasic - otherwise known as Pickles - will round out a very respectable top-four. Christian Ehrhoff should continue improving. He's a solid puck-mover but needs to get a bit more physical.

St. Louis Blues - $14.75M
Eric Brewer, Jay McKee and Barret Jackman anchor this squad and that's quite an anchor. If Erik Johnson makes the team, they will have quite the top-four. A group of big, bruising D who can also put points on the board. One of the top squads in the league but adding in Johnson's cap hit ($3.7 counting bonuses), puts them out of the "deal" category.

Tampa Bay Lightning - $9.8M
Dan Boyle and Filip Kuba are the top 2 on this squad which is solid, but not spectacular. Paul Ranger and Shane O'Brien should continue to improve while Brad Lukowich will...well he'll be there. They still a couple more guys signed on to fill out their squad though.

Toronto Maple Leafs - $20.8M
Do I even have to explain why these guys are not a candidate for best bang for the buck? They're a better squad than most people give them credit for, but not good enough to account for a 20+M cap hit.

Vancouver Canucks - $13.6M
A largely unheralded squad, they've got Mattias Ohlund and Sami Salo leading the charge with hometown hero Luc Bourdon possibly on the way in. Unfortunately Bourdon has likely made journey-man - and candidate for the Andy Warhol award of 2007 - Rory Fitzpatrick expendable. A very solid squad for a reasonable price.

Washington Capitals - $8.9M
*Exhales* Well, Tom Poti will certainly help out but there's a reason Olaf Kolzig is an underrated goaltender - he doesn't have the defensive help to make him known. They narrowly avoided giving up the most shots against last season - Boston helped them avoid that crown - and will be hanging around that part of town this season as well.

And so ends the review of all 30 teams in the league. I will let this all sink in for everyone, including myself, and post up the winners late tonight or early tomorrow morning.*

*Early Saturday morning means about 11:00a.m. CST.