Now that the Stanley Cup is over most people's attention has turned to the 2010 entry draft in Los Angeles or free agency which kicks off on July 1st. However between June 15 and 30th a very underrated and suddenly becoming important event is occurring: buyout season! This is the time of year when GM's have a chance to buy their way out of the stupid contracts that they've given out over the years. The most notable was Alexei Yashin who was bought out a few years ago by the New York Islanders with five years left on his deal. However the bad part that comes along with this process that punishes teams for doing this is that they have to pay off a percentage of the contract over 2 times the remaining years which means that for a total of 10 years the Islanders still have somewhere north of 1.5 million on their cap dedicated to Alexei Yashin. The Montreal Canadiens bought out Georges Laraque today and this will leave 500,000 on their cap for the next two seasons. These contracts were examples of GM's getting overzealous in handing out their owner's money trying to improve their teams but paying way too much to do so. This period is a bitter reminder of those times.
There are plenty of candidates for buyouts on Canadian teams and around the league. The Oilers have 3 potential candidates for buyout: Patrick O'Sullivan, Robert Nilsson, and Ethan Moreau. All three of these players had horrendous seasons and probably should be part of the Oilers next season for themselves and for the team. Moreau, the vet who is not aging gracefully, might be able to fetch a bag of pucks while O'Sullivan, whom basically became Joeffery Lupul 2.0 this year, might be able to fetch a low round draft pick. Nilsson will probably be bought out and is destined for Europe. His talent level isn't intriguing enough to make up for his lack of desire and interest. Buying him out will result in a 1 million dollar cap hit for the next two seasons. Jonathan Cheechoo will likely be bought out by Ottawa. Cheechoo looked like he might become one of the top goal scorers in the NHL after a couple of thirty goal seasons and then exploding for 56 while playing with Joe Thornton however injuries have effectively derailed his career. A 1.75 million cap hit for the next two years will count against Ottawa's cap. Jeff Finger in Toronto might be a candidate for a buyout there after Cliff Fletcher signed him to a ludicrously inflated contract two years ago, Andrei Kostitsyn might be cut in Montreal, The Flames swapped Olli Jokinen's brutal contract for Ales Kotalik's even worse contract and is a buyout candidate. Chicago's Cristobal Huet is perhaps the most discussed buyout candidate, as he never seemed to leave the bench in Chicago post-Olympic break, and is making 5.75 million. That is way too much money and cap space for a backup goaltender. There are likely others that will be bought out over the next two weeks.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Coaching retreads starting to fade out of the game
The Columbus Dispatch is reporting that the Columbus Blue Jackets have offered their head coaching position to AHL coach of the year, Guy Boucher, who just finished up his first season as a head coach in Hamilton. The Blue Jackets are in need of a new head coach after firing NHL veteran coach and Stanley Cup winner Ken Hitchcock this past season. Hitchcock was fired in large part due to his inability to relate to and work with younger players such as Derrick Brassard, Kris Russell, Steve Mason, Jake Voracek, and especially Nikita Filatov who went back to Russia because his relationship with Hitchcock had become unbearably toxic. This has become a theme in the last 2 to 3 years in the NHL when it comes to coaches and whether or not they can hold onto their jobs. In the salary cap world of the NHL you need to have young cheap assests on your team that can be a big part of your team and coaches need to be able to work with those young players. You need to be able to let them make mistakes and learn from them and be able to balance using tough love but also positive reinforcement and coddling as today's hockey players earn close to and sometimes more then a million dollars their first year in the league and the mentality of today's player is different. There is not only a sense of entitlement from a yound age (ie. Sergei Kostitsyn) but also many seem to be fragile mentally as compared to the old day players don't seem to react as well or willingly to iron-fist tactics of coaches like they used to if the coach's name isn't Scotty Bowman.
Hitchcock was not able to do that with the guys in Columbus and he isn't the only pre-lockout NHL head coach who's ways have become obsolete when it comes to running a bench. Mike Keenan was run out of Calgary after two years because his tactics simply did not connect with his players (interestingly enough his replacement Brent Sutter has suffered the same problem not only during his stop in New Jersey but also this past year in Calgary), Marc Crawford has worn out his welcome in Vancouver and Los Angeles since the lockout ended so how long before his strong arm tactics start to fall on deaf ears in Dallas? Craig MacTavish's inability to work with the young players in Edmonton (ie. Dustin Penner, Joeffrey Lupul, Sam Gagner, Andrew Cogliano, etc.) eventually he lost his job and was replaced by the even more old school Pat Quinn who lost the young Oilers players before even a full season was up because he refused to allow them to make mistakes and become better because of them as he ripped them in the media constantly. John Tortorella and Ron Wilson have long had reputations as brutal taskmasters who's first choice as a motivation tactic is to publically and privately rip individual players which works in the short term but will cost them their jobs in the long term (except for Wilson because his buddy Burkie would rather change the players then the coach) and Michel Therrien would also fall into this catagory and Al Murray lasted about two years before getting the ax in St.Louis. While he has saved his job for at least one year with a Cinderella run to the Conference Finals, Jaques Martin once again reinforced his reputation that he started in Ottawa with his handling of Jason Spezza of being unable to work with young players. His handling of Ryan O'Byrne with constantly jerking him in and out of the lineup in favor of the human turnover machine, aka. Marc-Andre Bergeron, and stapling him to the bench after one mistake in games in not condusive to allowing him to grow as a player and it was the same thing with Max Paciorrety whom the Habs eventually had to send back down to Hamilton to try and find him game again under Boucher.
Because of this changing of the guard teams have begun to go in search of new blood for the head coaching ranks of the league either from the CHL or the AHL. Bruce Boudreau, a long time AHL coach, replaced the defensive minded task master Glen Hanlon in Washington three years ago now and the Capitals exploded under his leadership. Peter DeBoer, former coach of the Kitchener Rangers, has done an admirable job with the talent given to him by the aformentioned Jaques Martin during his time as GM in Florida. Cory Clouston, Joe Sacco, Sean Gordon, and of course Dan Bylsma in Pittsburgh represent the new wave of head coach's in the NHL who understand and are able to work with the young players in the league today. The smart teams are hiring these guys to work and grow with the young, rebuilding, progressive teams in the league and it's only a matter of time before everyone jumps on the bandwagon.
Hitchcock was not able to do that with the guys in Columbus and he isn't the only pre-lockout NHL head coach who's ways have become obsolete when it comes to running a bench. Mike Keenan was run out of Calgary after two years because his tactics simply did not connect with his players (interestingly enough his replacement Brent Sutter has suffered the same problem not only during his stop in New Jersey but also this past year in Calgary), Marc Crawford has worn out his welcome in Vancouver and Los Angeles since the lockout ended so how long before his strong arm tactics start to fall on deaf ears in Dallas? Craig MacTavish's inability to work with the young players in Edmonton (ie. Dustin Penner, Joeffrey Lupul, Sam Gagner, Andrew Cogliano, etc.) eventually he lost his job and was replaced by the even more old school Pat Quinn who lost the young Oilers players before even a full season was up because he refused to allow them to make mistakes and become better because of them as he ripped them in the media constantly. John Tortorella and Ron Wilson have long had reputations as brutal taskmasters who's first choice as a motivation tactic is to publically and privately rip individual players which works in the short term but will cost them their jobs in the long term (except for Wilson because his buddy Burkie would rather change the players then the coach) and Michel Therrien would also fall into this catagory and Al Murray lasted about two years before getting the ax in St.Louis. While he has saved his job for at least one year with a Cinderella run to the Conference Finals, Jaques Martin once again reinforced his reputation that he started in Ottawa with his handling of Jason Spezza of being unable to work with young players. His handling of Ryan O'Byrne with constantly jerking him in and out of the lineup in favor of the human turnover machine, aka. Marc-Andre Bergeron, and stapling him to the bench after one mistake in games in not condusive to allowing him to grow as a player and it was the same thing with Max Paciorrety whom the Habs eventually had to send back down to Hamilton to try and find him game again under Boucher.
Because of this changing of the guard teams have begun to go in search of new blood for the head coaching ranks of the league either from the CHL or the AHL. Bruce Boudreau, a long time AHL coach, replaced the defensive minded task master Glen Hanlon in Washington three years ago now and the Capitals exploded under his leadership. Peter DeBoer, former coach of the Kitchener Rangers, has done an admirable job with the talent given to him by the aformentioned Jaques Martin during his time as GM in Florida. Cory Clouston, Joe Sacco, Sean Gordon, and of course Dan Bylsma in Pittsburgh represent the new wave of head coach's in the NHL who understand and are able to work with the young players in the league today. The smart teams are hiring these guys to work and grow with the young, rebuilding, progressive teams in the league and it's only a matter of time before everyone jumps on the bandwagon.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Philly and Chicago prove that depth top bright lights
Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley, Patrick Marleau, Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Deatsyuk, Nik Lidstrom, Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar, Roberto, the Sedin twins, Alex Ovechkin, Mike Green, Nik Backstrom, Alex Semin, Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, Martin Brodeur, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Zach Parise are all sitting at home right now because the Philadelphia Flyers and Chicago Blackhawks (with some help from the Montreal Canadiens) have proven that bright lights can be turned out by a swarm of depth.
In rounds 1 and 2, the Habs managed to slow down Ovechkin and Backstrom along with Semin and Green (although one could argue that those two took themselves out) of their first round matchup. No such thoughts could exist after the Canadiens used the blanket of Josh Georges and Hal Gill to completely shut down the NHL's golden boy Sidney Crosby and help continue Evgeni Malkin's season long fog. Jordan Staal was by far the Pens most effective player when he played in the series. However once they reached they reached the Eastern Final, not only were they out of gas but they were simply overmatched by the Philadelphia Flyers. While the Habs had two players who were absolutely rolling (is. Mike Cammalleri and Brian Gionta) none of their teammates up front were contributing all that much offensively except for the occasional goal from the third line. The Flyers on the other hand had three lines that seemed to be able to score on any shift: Richards-Carter-Gagne, Leino-Briere-Hartnell, Giroux-Van Riemsdyk-Aasham. All three of these lines have talent and the testicular fortitude to head to the net hard. On defence the Flyers possess the All-World jackass Chris Pronger (whom also just happens to be an all-world talent) along along with calm and cool Kimmo Timonen and two up and comers in Braydon Coburn and Matt Carle form a very solid/at times spectacular top four that has made career journeyman Michael Leighton look like the second coming of Bernie Parent. Ryan Parent is also a promising up and comer as their current #6 guy. No team in the East could possibly match their depth. (Blair Betts is one of the top PK guys in the league whom along with blood and guts warrior Ian Laperriere and Darryl Powe form a very good fourth line).
The bad news for Philly is that their opponent, the Chicago Blackhawks, are even deeper then they are. 22 year old captain Jonathen Toews-Patrick Kane-Dustin Byfuglien form the first line, Patrick Sharp-Marian Hossa-Troy Brouwer, Dave Bolland (who has become one of the best checking centers in the NHL this season)-Kris Versteeg-Andrew Ladd/Tomas Kopecky form the top three lines that are even better then Philly's because a) they have more balanced speed and b) Ladd or Kopecky aren't an anchor on their line like Aaron Asham can be. As good as the Flyers fourth line can be, John Madden-Colin Fraser/Adam Burish-Ben Eager line is a little more physical, a little more annoying to play against, and Madden bring cup winning experience to the lineup. Much like Philly, the top four on D borders on phenomenal with the top pairing in the league with Canadian Olympians Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook and Brian Campbell with the very underrated Nik Hjalmarsson following them. One more place that the 'Hawks have a slight advantage is in the 5-6 pairing as Brent Sopel and Jordan Hendry bring the physicality and shot blocking ability that you want out of your bottom two. Finally in net Antti Niemi has shown (after that blooper reel goal in game on of the Nashville series) that he is solid and will not give up that bad big goal. You can bet that other teams have taken notice and the copycatting will take place starting this summer as the league will now think about trying to build through depth rather then a few big stars. The next lesson however that the league will learn from these two is in a year or two that in a cap era, depth is nearly impossible to hang onto as Philly and Chicago will have to make some very tought choices on which players to keep.
In rounds 1 and 2, the Habs managed to slow down Ovechkin and Backstrom along with Semin and Green (although one could argue that those two took themselves out) of their first round matchup. No such thoughts could exist after the Canadiens used the blanket of Josh Georges and Hal Gill to completely shut down the NHL's golden boy Sidney Crosby and help continue Evgeni Malkin's season long fog. Jordan Staal was by far the Pens most effective player when he played in the series. However once they reached they reached the Eastern Final, not only were they out of gas but they were simply overmatched by the Philadelphia Flyers. While the Habs had two players who were absolutely rolling (is. Mike Cammalleri and Brian Gionta) none of their teammates up front were contributing all that much offensively except for the occasional goal from the third line. The Flyers on the other hand had three lines that seemed to be able to score on any shift: Richards-Carter-Gagne, Leino-Briere-Hartnell, Giroux-Van Riemsdyk-Aasham. All three of these lines have talent and the testicular fortitude to head to the net hard. On defence the Flyers possess the All-World jackass Chris Pronger (whom also just happens to be an all-world talent) along along with calm and cool Kimmo Timonen and two up and comers in Braydon Coburn and Matt Carle form a very solid/at times spectacular top four that has made career journeyman Michael Leighton look like the second coming of Bernie Parent. Ryan Parent is also a promising up and comer as their current #6 guy. No team in the East could possibly match their depth. (Blair Betts is one of the top PK guys in the league whom along with blood and guts warrior Ian Laperriere and Darryl Powe form a very good fourth line).
The bad news for Philly is that their opponent, the Chicago Blackhawks, are even deeper then they are. 22 year old captain Jonathen Toews-Patrick Kane-Dustin Byfuglien form the first line, Patrick Sharp-Marian Hossa-Troy Brouwer, Dave Bolland (who has become one of the best checking centers in the NHL this season)-Kris Versteeg-Andrew Ladd/Tomas Kopecky form the top three lines that are even better then Philly's because a) they have more balanced speed and b) Ladd or Kopecky aren't an anchor on their line like Aaron Asham can be. As good as the Flyers fourth line can be, John Madden-Colin Fraser/Adam Burish-Ben Eager line is a little more physical, a little more annoying to play against, and Madden bring cup winning experience to the lineup. Much like Philly, the top four on D borders on phenomenal with the top pairing in the league with Canadian Olympians Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook and Brian Campbell with the very underrated Nik Hjalmarsson following them. One more place that the 'Hawks have a slight advantage is in the 5-6 pairing as Brent Sopel and Jordan Hendry bring the physicality and shot blocking ability that you want out of your bottom two. Finally in net Antti Niemi has shown (after that blooper reel goal in game on of the Nashville series) that he is solid and will not give up that bad big goal. You can bet that other teams have taken notice and the copycatting will take place starting this summer as the league will now think about trying to build through depth rather then a few big stars. The next lesson however that the league will learn from these two is in a year or two that in a cap era, depth is nearly impossible to hang onto as Philly and Chicago will have to make some very tought choices on which players to keep.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
D-Fence, D-Fence! First round analysis
If there has been one lesson that this year's edition of the playoffs has taught us it's that, no matter how well your goaltender is playing or how good your forward corps is, if you don't have a calm puck moving defence you can't win. The first round of the playoffs had clear examples of this in each series victory in both the East and the West.
In the San Jose (1) vs. Colorado (8) series, the tentative Sharks were tied up at 2-2 in the series when Dan Boyle, who had scored the game winner on his own net in game 3, stepped up his game in a big way along with Douglas Murray and Marc-Edward Vlasic. With these three elevating there game's the Colorado Avalanche were never able to get on prolonged offence going in San Jose's end while Colorado's defence simply isn't that good (John-Michel Liles, Adam Foote, Kyle Cumiskey, Scott Hannan, Tom Preissing, Kyle Quincey, Brett Clark and Ruslan Salei? Blech). In the Chicago (2) vs. Nashville (7) series the Predators were able to take the Blackhawks to 6 games (and might have beaten them if not for some suspect officitating on Marian Hossa's mugging of Dan Hamhuis and their porous power play) even with no real legitimate goal scoring threat with Patrik Hornqvist on the shelf and Alexander Radulov abandoning the team for the KHL is because they probably have the best defence in the NHL. Shea Weber and Ryan Suter are both legitimate #1 dmen with Dan Hamhuis, Kevin Klein, Cody Franson, and Denis Grebeshkov they formed what is an enviable defence and with Jonathan Blum and Mike Green clone (albeit I think he's overrated and that his play in this past year's World Juniors showed that PK Subban made him look good the previous year) Ryan Ellis coming this isn't going to change. Chicago's much publised D with Olympic duo Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith along with Brian Campbell, Nik Hjalmarsson, and Brent Sopel is just a step below Nashville's. In the Vancouver (3) vs. Los Angeles (6) series, beyond Drew Doughty, LA's defence did not play well. Jack Johnson has been a dissapointment so far in his NHL career, Matt Greene wasn't effective, Sean O'Donnell showed his age and Rob Scuderi wasn't nearly as good as he was in Pittsburgh last year. Vancouver's D, while unspectacular, was very steady and didn't make mistakes which made a huge difference. In the Phoenix (4) vs. Detroit (5) series, Phoenix's defence was the better of the two for the first 6 games which allowed the Coyotes to take the more talented Red Wings to 7 games before getting pummeled in game 7.
In the Eastern Conference it was the same story. The Pittsburgh Penguins (4) were able to defeat the Ottawa Senators (5) not just because of Sidney Crosby (although don't tell the Canadian media that) but also because their D is alot better. With Philip Kuba on the DL the Senators simply couldn't move the puck out of their own zone while Sergei Gonchar, Kris Letang, and Alex Goligoski did to great effect. Lou Lamirello's insistence on not spending any money on his defence once again blew up in his face this spring. With the heavily favoured New Jersey Devils (2) going down shockingly easily to the Brian Boucher goaltended Philadelphia Flyers (7), defence was once again at the forefront. The Devils once upon a time had a defence that included the likes of Scott Niedermayer, Bryan Rafalski (whom the Devils refused to pay), Scott Stevens and Ken Daneyko has become one of the worst in the league and was weakened even further when the traded Johnny Oduya to the Atlanta Thrashers as part of the package for Ilya Kovakchuk who did not work in "The Swamp". Beyond the undersized Andy Greene they couldn't move the puck to save their life while the Flyers, with the likes of Matt Carle, Kimmo Tiomenen, Braydon Coburn, Ryan Parent, and of course the all-world Chris Pronger, didn't give the Devils many second chances or the oppurtunity to cycle down low because they moved the puck out too quickly. The Boston Bruins (6) were able to defeat the Buffalo Sabres (3) for two reasons: Buffalo's power play couldn't manage a single goal and their defence was far superior to Buffalo's. Zdeno Chara was his usual self, Dennis Wideman steadied himself after a poor year, Matt Hunwick quietly does a good job moving the puck out of his own end and Johnny Boychuk (whom Chara has made look good because he's his partner) has had the time to move the puck. Beyond Tyler Myers, Buffalo's defence simply doesn't have enough talent to win. Finally, in the biggest upset of the playoffs in years, the Montreal Canadiens (8) managed to come back to defeat the President's Trophy winning Washington Capitals (1) in 7 games because of Jaroslav Halak and because their defence was better then Washington's. While Joe Corvo played well, Mike Green has solidified his reputation as the Joe Thornton of defensemen as for the 3rd straight playoff year he was brutal. Shaone Morrison, Milan Jurcina, John Erskine and Jeff Shultz aren't great at moving the puck and Tom Poti, who had been their best dman (that's right Oiler fans) through the first 5 games was knocked out of the series with a broken orbital bone and was not replaced. John Carlson, who was also great through the first 5 games, really started to fall off in the effort department after that and so his effectiveness plummeted. Andrei Markov, while unspectacular, managed to badly outplay his counterpart in Mike Green while Josh Georges and Hal Gill became the top shutdown pair in the NHL playoffs as they shut down Alex Ovechkin and Nik Backstrom. Roman Hamrlik was brutal through the first 5 games until his buddy Jaro Spacek (who had been very steady) went down with an illness and next seasons Calder Trophy winner (you heard it hear first!) PK Subban was called up. Subban got increasing ice time and controlled the play when he has been on the ice. The Capitals never got any second chances because the Habs D cleared the puck after Halak made the first save while the Caps D couldn't do the same.
In the San Jose (1) vs. Colorado (8) series, the tentative Sharks were tied up at 2-2 in the series when Dan Boyle, who had scored the game winner on his own net in game 3, stepped up his game in a big way along with Douglas Murray and Marc-Edward Vlasic. With these three elevating there game's the Colorado Avalanche were never able to get on prolonged offence going in San Jose's end while Colorado's defence simply isn't that good (John-Michel Liles, Adam Foote, Kyle Cumiskey, Scott Hannan, Tom Preissing, Kyle Quincey, Brett Clark and Ruslan Salei? Blech). In the Chicago (2) vs. Nashville (7) series the Predators were able to take the Blackhawks to 6 games (and might have beaten them if not for some suspect officitating on Marian Hossa's mugging of Dan Hamhuis and their porous power play) even with no real legitimate goal scoring threat with Patrik Hornqvist on the shelf and Alexander Radulov abandoning the team for the KHL is because they probably have the best defence in the NHL. Shea Weber and Ryan Suter are both legitimate #1 dmen with Dan Hamhuis, Kevin Klein, Cody Franson, and Denis Grebeshkov they formed what is an enviable defence and with Jonathan Blum and Mike Green clone (albeit I think he's overrated and that his play in this past year's World Juniors showed that PK Subban made him look good the previous year) Ryan Ellis coming this isn't going to change. Chicago's much publised D with Olympic duo Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith along with Brian Campbell, Nik Hjalmarsson, and Brent Sopel is just a step below Nashville's. In the Vancouver (3) vs. Los Angeles (6) series, beyond Drew Doughty, LA's defence did not play well. Jack Johnson has been a dissapointment so far in his NHL career, Matt Greene wasn't effective, Sean O'Donnell showed his age and Rob Scuderi wasn't nearly as good as he was in Pittsburgh last year. Vancouver's D, while unspectacular, was very steady and didn't make mistakes which made a huge difference. In the Phoenix (4) vs. Detroit (5) series, Phoenix's defence was the better of the two for the first 6 games which allowed the Coyotes to take the more talented Red Wings to 7 games before getting pummeled in game 7.
In the Eastern Conference it was the same story. The Pittsburgh Penguins (4) were able to defeat the Ottawa Senators (5) not just because of Sidney Crosby (although don't tell the Canadian media that) but also because their D is alot better. With Philip Kuba on the DL the Senators simply couldn't move the puck out of their own zone while Sergei Gonchar, Kris Letang, and Alex Goligoski did to great effect. Lou Lamirello's insistence on not spending any money on his defence once again blew up in his face this spring. With the heavily favoured New Jersey Devils (2) going down shockingly easily to the Brian Boucher goaltended Philadelphia Flyers (7), defence was once again at the forefront. The Devils once upon a time had a defence that included the likes of Scott Niedermayer, Bryan Rafalski (whom the Devils refused to pay), Scott Stevens and Ken Daneyko has become one of the worst in the league and was weakened even further when the traded Johnny Oduya to the Atlanta Thrashers as part of the package for Ilya Kovakchuk who did not work in "The Swamp". Beyond the undersized Andy Greene they couldn't move the puck to save their life while the Flyers, with the likes of Matt Carle, Kimmo Tiomenen, Braydon Coburn, Ryan Parent, and of course the all-world Chris Pronger, didn't give the Devils many second chances or the oppurtunity to cycle down low because they moved the puck out too quickly. The Boston Bruins (6) were able to defeat the Buffalo Sabres (3) for two reasons: Buffalo's power play couldn't manage a single goal and their defence was far superior to Buffalo's. Zdeno Chara was his usual self, Dennis Wideman steadied himself after a poor year, Matt Hunwick quietly does a good job moving the puck out of his own end and Johnny Boychuk (whom Chara has made look good because he's his partner) has had the time to move the puck. Beyond Tyler Myers, Buffalo's defence simply doesn't have enough talent to win. Finally, in the biggest upset of the playoffs in years, the Montreal Canadiens (8) managed to come back to defeat the President's Trophy winning Washington Capitals (1) in 7 games because of Jaroslav Halak and because their defence was better then Washington's. While Joe Corvo played well, Mike Green has solidified his reputation as the Joe Thornton of defensemen as for the 3rd straight playoff year he was brutal. Shaone Morrison, Milan Jurcina, John Erskine and Jeff Shultz aren't great at moving the puck and Tom Poti, who had been their best dman (that's right Oiler fans) through the first 5 games was knocked out of the series with a broken orbital bone and was not replaced. John Carlson, who was also great through the first 5 games, really started to fall off in the effort department after that and so his effectiveness plummeted. Andrei Markov, while unspectacular, managed to badly outplay his counterpart in Mike Green while Josh Georges and Hal Gill became the top shutdown pair in the NHL playoffs as they shut down Alex Ovechkin and Nik Backstrom. Roman Hamrlik was brutal through the first 5 games until his buddy Jaro Spacek (who had been very steady) went down with an illness and next seasons Calder Trophy winner (you heard it hear first!) PK Subban was called up. Subban got increasing ice time and controlled the play when he has been on the ice. The Capitals never got any second chances because the Habs D cleared the puck after Halak made the first save while the Caps D couldn't do the same.
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