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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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 2

Continuing my Best Bang for the Buck - Goaltending series, part two is below.

Detroit Red Wings - $4.9M
Hasek held out for a full season with the Wings and helped lead them to the Western Conference finals with a steller 1.78 GAA and .923 save percentage. His regular season numbers, 2.05 and .913, were also exceptional and he has shown that he still has it. Sure, he was playing behind the team that gave up the least shots against per game but the goals to shots ratio was still in the top-half of the league. Chris Osgood was very capable in a backup role and could become an adequate starter should Hasek succumb to an injury.

Edmonton Oilers - $4.8M
The Oilers snagged Mathieu Garon to fill up the backup role behind their #1, Dwayne Roloson. Roloson played decently last season but is still saddled with inconsistency issues. He will come up with huge saves from time to time but then falls back to being an average goaltender shortly afterwords. If he can't shake off those troubles, the Oilers may lean on Garon to take some pressure off Roloson as he tends to play better under a 1a/1b situation.

Florida Panthers - $6.4M
After acquiring Tomas Vokoun on draft day, they signed Craig Anderson to back him up. With these two deals, they've again landed a solid #1 goaltender and a decent backup. It wasn't a long wait for Panthers fans after seeing their franchise netminder, Roberto Luongo, shipped out west. Vokoun carries a pretty hefty price tag of $5.7M per season which lands him up amongst the highest paid goaltenders in the league.

Los Angeles Kings - $3.9M
The Kings have an issue in the crease and Dan Cloutier is most definitely not the answer. When he's not injured, he's underperforming and putting up a near 4.00 GAA. Labarbera won the Best Goaltending award in the AHL last year - he also won it in 03/04 - and this could be his first full year in the NHL. It appears he has the potential but it's anyone's guess if he'll ever fully realize it.

Minnesota Wild - $3.8M
When Manny Fernandez went down with injury, Niklas Backstrom stepped up to the plate and eventually superceded Fernandez as the #1, posting a stellar 1.97 GAA and .929 save percentage. With Josh Harding primed for his first full season as a backup this duo, on paper, looks excellent.

Montreal Canadiens - $3.4M
Cristobal Huet was not the saviour that all Canadiens fans were hoping for. And when he went down to a hamstring injury, the supposed #1b David Aebischer couldn't hold on to the ball leading to Jaroslav Halak being called up. Halak played so well that many felt he was the saviour they were hoping for. Wrong again. With Huet healed up for this season, Halak is likely to back him up while the organization grooms their true saviour, Carey Price.

Nashville Predators - $1.8M
Chris Mason was only ever regarded as a minor-leaguer with potential to be a backup in the NHL. However when Tomas Vokoun went down to a thumb injury, he stepped in admirably posting a 2.38 GAA and .925 save percentage. Pekka Rinne will play the role of the unproven backup to back up the unproven #1. Rinne performed well in the AHL last season but management has to feel a tinge of fear with this duo. But they may be too caught up with other things to care.

New Jersey Devils - $5.9M
After turning in a standard Brodeur performance, a Vezina winning one at that, in the regular season, he seemed to falter a bit in the playoffs. His numbers were excellent but he seemed a bit lost on the ice. Could we be seeing the start of the downward slide of the pressure-loving Brodeur? I doubt it. With Weekes to back him up if he does falter, there isn't a big safety net.

New York Islanders - $5.0M
After signing a 15-year contract, Rick DiPietro put in a good performance in the 06/07 season as the Islanders had one of the best ratios of goals against to shots against. Wade Dubielwicz put up decent numbers but played in less than 10 games so it's tough to judge what he'll do as a backup who could play in up to 20 games. They've also got Mike Dunham and Joey McDonald in the fold which makes me go "Meh".

New York Rangers - $4.9M
Henrik Lundqvist re-signed to a one-year deal worth $4.25M. I'd get on my soapbox and say "That was exactly the number I predicted" but I won't. Or maybe I just did. Anyways, they've got their #1 back in the fold for the upcoming season and they're going to need him to step up as they don't have the greatest of lineups on defence. It's possible that Al Montoya could see some ice time this season but they'll likely use Valiquette as the backup. Lundqvist played 70 games last season and there's no reason to subject Montoya to sitting on the bench when he could continue to develop in the AHL.

Part 3 yet to come followed up by a finale naming the team with the Best Bang for the Buck in Goal. Stay tuned!

Best Bang for the Buck - Defence, Part 2

Continuing my Best Bang for the Buck - Defense series, part two is below. If you have any comments ("You're so right", "You're so stupid", etc) please feel free to leave them.

Detroit Red Wings - $19.1M
Brian Rafalski is likely to be seen as an upgrade over an aging Mathieu Schneider but that's no knock on Schneider. With multi-time Norris winner Niklas Lidstrom leading the charge, and never-aging vet Chris Chelios bringing up the rear, it's a solid lineup. Oft-injured Niklas Kronwall has yet to live up to expectations but if he can stay healthy, he'll be great on the second line. An above-average lineup at an above-average price.

Edmonton Oilers - $15.5M
They traded away their captain Jason Smith to get Joni Pitkanen - for at least one season - and then signed Sheldon Souray to give them some more offense on D. Steve Staios will pick up the slack from the departure of Jason Smith and Dick Tarnstrom will try and rebound after a year in the Swiss league. For the service they'll receive from this squad, they've slightly overpaid. Unless Pitkanen starts to live up to his expectations, and soon.

Florida Panthers - $13.9M
Jay Bouwmeester has one year left on his contract and will certainly be looking to show the Panthers that he's worth big money. And Bryan Allen is all that's left of the Luongo trade. Ouch. Tomas Vokoun will need to turn in a big year behind this group.

Los Angeles Kings - $15M
Rob Blake, Tom Preissing, Lubomir Visnovsky, Brad Stuart. How's that for a top-four! With Visnovsky still under his previous contracts cap hit of a mere $1.8M, this team is looking like quite a steal. If Jack Johnson can make the lineup, they'll possibly be icing the most well-rounded ratio of youngsters to vets and offensive to defensive d-men. But if Johnson makes the lineup - when he does - that will bring their cap hit up around $18M due to bonuses (unless they defer the bonus payouts to next year) making them less of a steal.

Minnesota Wild - $14.9M
An overall solid, not spectacular, lineup that just missed being in the top-10 in shots against per game last year. There likely isn't room for Shawn Belle unless they make some roster moves but the Wild will be icing a solid lineup at a reasonable price.

Montreal Canadiens - $19M
Replacing Sheldon Souray with Roman Hamrlik is a slight win for Montreal. Hamrlik has a very underrated point shot and is better defensively than Souray can ever hope to be. Andrei Markov is signed up to lead the squad while Brisebois is signed on for...something. But I don't see them getting $19M worth of defense out of this group.

Nashville Predators - $10.4M
The absense of Kimmo Timonen is certainly not helpful. Greg DeVries will bring in some veteran leadership and combined with Shea Weber - who has developed quite nicely - they can help make up for that absensce. If Ryan Suter can continue to develop then the Predators could have an under-the-radar squad on their hands for a bottom-dollar price.

New Jersey Devils - $12.6M
That is a bargain basement price and for good reason. The loss of Rafalski will really hurt the Devils as they're now left with Colin White and Vitaly Vishnevsky, who are solid defensive defenceman, and the offensive slack will be picked up by Karel Rachunek and Paul Martin. That duo combined for less points than Rafalski produced last year. I can't see the Devils not trying to upgrade their D before Christmas. EDIT: Cap hit adjusted to account for Paul Martin's new deal.

New York Islanders - $9.2M
The Islanders also have a pretty rag-tag group on D. The Isles snagged up one of the top remaining booby prizes for UFA defencemen in Andy Sutton. He is a big shot-blocker who likes to hit, but he's certainly not a #1 defenseman. He and Brendan Witt will do the job clearing the crease while Marc-Andre Bergeron will quarterback the powerplay. While you don't need a marquee defenceman to win a championship, you do need more than this.

New York Rangers - $13.2M
The safe bet says their cap number will drop by approximately $2.989M before the season starts. Coincidentally, that's the cap savings they would get if they sent Kasparaituis to the minors. Weird. Paul Mara is a quality defenceman and Marek Malik is a game-breaking shootout star. Rozsival puts up a solid 0.5 PPG on the offensive side. If Marc Staal can be all he can be and crack the lineup, this will be an acceptable squad.

Part 3 yet to come followed up by a finale naming the team with the Best Bang for the Buck on Defence. Stay tuned!