NHL All-Star Game - LW goes live-blog back-to-back

After last night's Versusastrophe, looks like I'm getting the CBC coverage of the game tonight...

Interviews with the laugh-a-minute Sedins precede the anthems.  Or they precede more commercials that precede the anthems.  No, they haven't switched teams etc etc...

Back from break to see the Montreal players not picked for the game with some kind of amateur dramatic tribute to the team captains and Caniac favourites, Rod Brind'Amour and Ron Francis.  Brind'Amour then takes the kids off the ice to bag skate them and lift weights for the rest of the evening.

NHL SuperSkills - LW's attempted live blog

Incoherent Red Bull-assisted thoughts to follow...

First disappointment of the night: I'm getting the Versus coverage rather than CBC. Doc Emrick providing the screech-by-screech commentary.  At least this means no Milbury (I hope)...

First record of the evening: Bob Harwood asks a question featuring fewer than 17 subclauses.  Meanwhile, Charissa Thompson clearly invades Nick Lidstrom's personal space during her harrowing interrogation.

ASG Weekend reading links!

Hey Reconners (don't worry that nickname can't possibly stick), I'll bet you are gonna jones for some non-ASG hockey related news this weekend, so here are a couple great links to keep you busy:

Biznasty and Doaner pick their fantasy ASG teams at TSN

Fantastic Blogger Super Dave (whom I constantly beg to write for us) confesses here

Hockey Recon's own Motley Su reminds us there are other leagues here

Maybe you like Waffles?

Annoyed by the ASG and want to get on with it already? start here

I'll add more as the weekend progresses, but for now enjoy this totally random flash from the past:

Why Nabokov will clear waivers, a team by team analysis.

In order of waiver priority, here are the reasons each of these teams won’t pick Nabokov from Holland’s pocket.

Obviously Nabby’s deal with Detroit isn’t likely to hurt most salary caps, even the 12 "OTC" (over-the-cap) teams (Rangers,Wings, Wild, Sharks, Flames, Devils, Canucks, Canadiens, Kings, Flyers, Leafs, Sens, Bruins), assuming their GMs were creative enough, or they had enough season ending injuries. Still, where applicable the cap is noted. All cap information gleaned from Hockey Buzz. Note:  Players on IR and two-way players and their respective cap hits are not factored.

New Jersey               Lou said they would not. What he should have said is “could not”. And you know why? K-O-V, A-L-C, ... M-O-U-S-E.  Devils are No. 1 on the Over the Cap Race, ringing in at +8MM.

Edmonton               The Bulin Wall is costing them 3.7MM/yr and they still can’t get out of the fivehole. Goaltending is not their biggest problem. 

NY Islanders            Although they have plenty of cap space, the Islanders have a rigorous pre-signing fitness exam and rumor has it they believe Nabby would undoubtedly fail the whip cream licking test.

Ottawa                    Still stinging over the Chee Choo and Emery Buyouts and having made that deal to pay Pascale Le Claire 3MM a year. Also, no cap space since they could not unload Spezza or Alfreddson.

Toronto                  Cap space at a negative, and with Giggy being their highest paid player, they are now counting on Kessel to do it all.

Calgary                   With the third highest Cap Hit in the league(<5MM) and Kipper, there is no way in hell this would go down, unless the management were colossally stupid. Oh wait. 

Buffalo                   They Have Cap room, but they also have Hobie.

Florida                   I have nothing clever to say about the Panthers, and I refuse to stoop to cliche. They can't all be winners folks.

Columbus                Too afraid to piss Holland off, plus Steve Mason keeps promising he’s not a fluke.

Los Angeles             Just spent all their Cap room to keep their GM’s mouth shut, and to install better goal cams in Johnny Quick’s net.

San Jose                  Pride. Yea, because they have loads of that these days in SJ. (I know. Even I think this is a cheap shot, but hells bells, we all were thinking it. Just like I am thinking it would be stupid of SJ not to pick him up. Seriously. No, I mean it.)

Carolina                   Perfectly happy with Cam Ward and their middle of the pack status.  Actually Carolina could be the sleeper in this equation.  I mean, its always been rumored in the Detroit Area that Karmanos and Ilitch are mortal enemies. It would be just like Karmanos to pick up a goalie just to screw Ol’ Mike. And they have cap room.

Atlanta                    I got nothing. But who really worries about Atlanta?

St. Louis                  Provided the St. Louis Management isn’t still balled up in a corner suffering PTSD from the Wellwood and Stavos fiascoes, this could happen- just out of spite.

Minnesota                Cap issues aside, with a net-minding tandem that includes Jose Theodore, there should be no need to even speculate. 

Anaheim                  Rumor has it they wanted Nabby, but he ain’t gangsta enough and has refused to purchase a mask with a gold grill.

Chicago                   No more room on their AHL affiliate for million dollar goaltenders.

Phoenix                   Owner Bettman won’t hear of it, keeps muttering “those who defect must be punished” in strange Slavic accent of unknown origin.

Colorado                  Absolutely no reason why they shouldn’t. Except that I am holding Joe Sakic hostage and will force him to snow blow my driveway if they mess with my Wings.

NY Rangers               Two Words: Glen Sather.

Montreal                   Two more words: Carey Price. This is not commentary on Carey’s skill and success in net. Its judgment.

Nashville                   Two more words: Pekka Renne. (This is commentary on Renne’s      amazing skill)

Washington               Have reached the little known, never publicized NHL Russian quota (established in 2002) referred to in secret circles as the “R5Q" (or "There will never be another Russian 5 in this league again Quota”) and may not pick him up.

Tampa Bay                Stevie Y. would never do this to Kenny, unless he expressly let him.

Boston                      Absolutely the only team in the League without the need. Thomas-Rask tandem is amazing.

Pittsburgh                 Team moratorium on any sort of relevant NHL activity until Sid’s head gets better.

Dallas                        Still laughing about the Modano signing, B. Hull doesn’t feel the need to kick his old team when its “down”.

Wings - Nabokov Deal: New and Interesting Theories Abound

Oh I love all of this! Excepting any ill effects toward or on the Wiz, the Nabokov rumor mill is by far the most fun -so far this year- that a girl can have without taking her skates off.

As you know, if you read my post yesterday, I had my theory on why this was going down and why Nabby would clear waivers:

Mainly because no one else was talking to him, and if anyone can work a "waiver proof" deal, it would be the Detroit Red Wing GM extraordinaire: Wylie E. Kenyote, E. Pluribus Holland.

Well now that we "know" the deal is a one year $570k contract, my theory might be dead....or not.

My bet now is that the Wings lowballed the contract knowing someone would pick him up off waivers and they have a side deal with another team to do just that. Say they have a side deal with Stevie Y. Tampa picks Nabby up off waivers, then releases him, Wings uh-  "nab" him. (ahem).

And while we are on the subject, Maybe we don't want him at all, but Stevie Y. does. Its totally plausible that the Red Wings are doing No. 19 a solid here. I am totally ok with that.

Oh there are other theories too!

Plenty of smart fans on various boards (say...."puck daddy")  have some lovely ideas, go ahead pick your favorite or tell me what you think.

One commenter speculated that the Devils will pick him up and trade him back for a draft pick.  But Lou addressed this one today and said "Why the faulk would I do that. We got our own problems, leave me alone."

Tyris commented that the Wings are merely doing Nabby a favor to get him back into the NHL, because they want him for next year. (This is my favorite idea, BTW, you know, ONLY if Oz retires.)

An anonymous commenter told us that Nitty was placed on IR after today's morning skate.... If the Wings don't have a side deal on the waiver process, I can't see how the Sharks could NOT pick Nabby up if he's still around at 12:30 tomorrow,  at bargain basement prices.   If this goes down I think that will be the end of any UFAs heading to Europe "to find themselves".(more on why at a later date.)

Another commenter argued the Blues should pick him up, just out of spite.. ahhh haaa: I say "Piss off, strong letter to follow."

Someone said one of my favorite Red Wings Bloggers,George Malik, has an interesting theory, but I can;t find it anywhere! If you have a link, send it.

What's your theory? What is your favorite?

For more fun, Left Wing Lock has the waiver order.

Nabokov headed for Detroit? What does it mean for Chris Osgood?

 Nabokov to Detroit? What does it mean for the Wizard of Oz?

If you weren't already scared of the Detroit Red Wings potential to head back to the SCF again this year, you ought to be quaking in your boots at this point as news breaks of a Wings-Nabokov deal that has been quietly brewing since - oh, November-ish, when Nabby first publicly stated he wanted to come back to the NHL.

People in the know were predicting this is where he would end up, and I have to say for Nabby its a helluva place to land. For the Wings and their fans I will be the first to say its bitter sweet.

For those of you who don't recall the 2008 playoffs, where Evengi Nabokov stood on his head, playing and winning in the clutch almost through the first two rounds- being the only saving grace on a surprisingly overrated San Jose team, or for those of you who haven't closely followed the Sharks for the past 5 years and don't know how time and time again Nabby saved their chum loving tushes, well heads up. He is the real deal. A goaltending stable including Nabby, Howard and future HHOF Chris Osgood should send every team in the league running for the locker rooms. 

oh wait. Faulk. Who in this league carries three starting goaltenders? It has never been the Wings style to carry three starting goaltenders, and I think we all know what that means. 

Truth is, if the Wings sign Nabby (and waivers are cleared), it probably means we have seen the last of the Wizard. The last of the loyal, hardworking, incredibly talented Kid Future HHOFer who saved our red asses year in and out, who stood on his head time and time again, in the clutch and brought us 3 Stanley Cups. The "Kid" who always gets tossed aside for the Big Name Goaltender, but ends up having lifetime stats as good or better than some such as the Dominator or CuJo. The "Kid" who succeeds in Detroit where BIG Name Goaltenders fall.

It will break my heart. You know I am protective of Ozzie. You know I think he is underrated by the league, the fans and often even his own team. I just want Wings to do right by him, and let him go out with class dignity and the respect he deserves. 

Some of you will say that I am jumping the gun and I hope you are right, because its true that I have no way of actually knowing what will happen to Oz if the Nabokov deal is finalized and waivers cleared.

After all with Oz out recovering from sport hernia surgery now anyway, we  need stellar talent in back up. We need to take some of the pressure off Jimmah, and frankly Oz has not been able to do that for over a year now.

Of course Nabby will take time to get back up to speed and into shape.  Maybe in the end, come March, what we will have is two veteran goaltenders, the best in the league, duke-ing it out for that back up spot. Not a bad situation for the Detroit Red Wings to find themselves in.

Stay tuned.There are Waivers to clear.But keep this in mind:  We all know how brilliant Wyle E. Kenote Holland is with his Cap space and creative deals. HEDHS, for all we know, Nabby will get a nice big one year check for his shot at seeing a cup and then pull a Hossa. I'm ok with that, except for the impact on Oz. 

Just for JUICE

From my NHL "Fact-A-Day" Calendar for January 17, 2011.

"Igor Larionov, a champion in Russia and in the United States, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008. He won eight consecutive Russian league championships with CSKA Moscow from 1982-89 and three Stanley Cup Championships with Detroit in 1997-98 and 2002."

Just a little "Professor" love for you, Juice!

Hockey Recon lost an old friend.

Maruschka was one of the brightest stars, and she will be missed. You can read a loving tribute at the Daily Su:

Monthly NHL injury analysis - another month

A year-end (calendar rather than season - same thing for the Devils...) analysis, courtesy of LW Industries, can be located by using the following hypertextualised words:

Springing Malik: The Pain Game 2010/11 - Part Three