July 2005 | August 2005 | September 2005 | October 2005 | November 2005 | December 2005 | March 2006 | April 2006 |
Made By cole*
Friday, November 04, 2005
Think back a few months. Go back in time to the day the new CBA was reached, and then re-live the next few months.Teams began landing free agents they never could have signed, and the buzz word was PARITY.
Edmonton, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Columbus come to mind. These teams began getting excited and making post-season plans almost immediately after landing some big name free-agents, or making a block buster trade.
Then the puck dropped and changed everything.
Edmonton found out that adding a name as big as Chris Pronger doesn't make B list goalies stop pucks. Ty Conklin and Jussi Maarkenen have struggled, and the saving grace for the Oilers has been young players stepping up, mainly Shawn Horcoff and Raffi Torres. Edmonton has a great top four on their defence, Pronger, Smith, Staios and Bergeron, but after those guys there is a drop off to Corey Cross and Igor Ulanov. This team will be one of the streakiest to watch all year. With enough skill to compete with anyone, and enough uncertainity to lose to anyone, each night has been a roll of the dice for the Oil.
Chicago paid a lot of money for Nikolai Khabibulin and Adrian Aucoin. Aucoin has been solid, but Khabibulin is a mystery. Last week against Detroit he consistently made amazing saves, on to allow a soft goal shortly thereafter. He remains the biggest 7 million dollar mystery in the league. With Tuomo Ruutu out with back problems, things do not look good for the Blackhawks. Parity seems like a distant memory.
The Penguins. Their overtime woes finally came to an end thanks to Segei Gonchar, but the fact remains- reality hurts. Sports Illustrated projected the Pens to be 12th in the league this season. I believe I ranked them out of the playoffs, saying it doesn't help to score a lot of goals if you can't keep them out of your net. Not to say I told you so- but I did.
On the plus side in Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby has been everything he was expected to be, leading rookies in scoring, and just generally impressing everyone who watches him play. Pittsburgh will get better as the year goes along, and will contend soon.
Columbus really misses Rick Nash. And who wouldn't? This kid is dynamic, explosive, and he puts pucks in the net- which Columbus doesn't do, as they've scored a league low 25 goals this yeaer. Remember when Adam Foote and Bryan Berard signed and people whispered playoffs? Well that is a distant memory. Columbus can't seem to find a rhythm and everything will pick up just a little when Rick Nash returns from his mildly sprained knee. Still no post season for the Jackets though.
Parity is a funny thing. We might as well call it equality on paper. But many a good team on paper have gone out and lacked chemistry, or limped through a season. The truly good teams hold an element that these paper teams seem to lack. Detroit never ceases to put good teams on the ice. What changed the Rangers all of the sudden? These are the intangibles we'll never know, never understand, and if we did, every team would be a contender. These are the intangibles that every coach and GM are looking for. Forget Parity, find the chemistry.
Posted by Jon at 12:49 PM | | e-mail me