Off Wing Opinion

Well, not right away, but the NHL season is just around the corner now that most teams are already in training camp for the 2003-04 season. The Hockey News is asking if the NHL pre-season is too long, but the real question everybody ought to be asking is whether or not the regular season is too long. As I've said more than a few times, 64 games plus playoffs would be more than enough for me (with playoffs starting the first week in March, and ending in April), but the league's current financial structure simply won't support it.

Not that the structure we have now is going to be in place for much longer, as the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the owners and the NHL Players Association expires after the Finals of the 2004 World Cup of Hockey next September. Some are predicting a strike that will last a season or more -- an eventuality that would probably kill more than a handful of franchises.

Here at Off Wing, we'll be putting the contract details on the back burner until if/when there's actually a strike to write about. In the meantime, we've still got a Stanley Cup to play for, and while I tend to cover the league from top to bottom (especially come playoff time), I tend to share my insights about the two teams I closest two: the one I grew up with, the New York Islanders; and the one I've spent my adult life with, the Washington Capitals.

On Long Island, the general manager of nine lives, Mike Milbury, may have pulled his last trick out of the bag when he fired head coach Peter Laviolette, and replaced him with minor league coach and long-time friend, Steve Stirling.

The knock on Laviolette, who had only put the Islanders in the playoffs two years straight after an absence of seven consecutive seasons, was that he had lost the confidence of his players -- including stars Michael Peca and Alexi (NY Times style guide) Yashin.

Despite this, last year it seemed as if the real problem was having to start the season without Peca (thanks Darcy Tucker), and Yashin's continued inability to play up to the size of his contract for an entire season.

With Peca back at full strength, something tells me the problems up front will tend to sort themselves out. For real success on offense, however, Yashin needs to play more consistently -- and more closely resemble the player he looked like in the closing days of last season and the playoffs. That, and the supporting players need to pay far more attention to their defensive duties -- on more than a few occasions, breakdowns on the backcheck put the team in holes it couldn't climb out of last season.

The rock of the team, however, remains its solid two-way, if not particularly rugged, defensive pairings -- Adrian Aucoin, Roman Hamrlik, Janne Niinnima and Kenny Jonsson. All are add a solid veteran presence, and each has the speed and skill to quarterback a power play. If injuries add up here, things could fall apart quickly on the Island.

In goal, Milbury's number one pick, Rick DiPietro, is fianlly going to get an honest shot at competing for the starting spot with veteran Garth Snow. People tend to forget that Snow has actually been to the Finals (with Philadelphia), and kept the team in a number of games last season it had no business being competitive in. As far as I'm concerned, it's time to put up or shut up for DiPietro. If he doesn't, it's probably going to cost Milbury his job.

Here in Washington, Capitals owner Ted Leonis is tired of losing. . . money, that is. All offseason long, the marching orders for Caps GM George McPhee was to cut payroll, but he couldn't make much headway with few teams willing to take on superstar winger Jaromir Jagr's salary. The team will save some money with the retirement of defenseman Calle Johansen, and not re-signing free agents Ken Klee and Sergei Berezin. Unfortunately, the failure of many of the team's draft picks to develop into solid NHL players has left the cupboard pretty bare with the club.

Up front and on paper, the Capitals look like a team that should be scoring buckets of goals. The team has two legitimate playmaking centers (Robert Lang and Michael Nylander), along with two Hall of Fame-caliber snipers (Jagr and Peter Bondra). The failure of any line combination really working for a period of time has killed the Caps over the past two years, as first former coach Ron Wilson, and current head man Bruce Cassidy mixed and matched in a fruitless attempt to generate offense.

Three seasons ago, the team's true top line was centered by local product Jeff Halpern, with Steve Konowalchuk and Ulf Dhalen on the wings. They proved to be a checking line that could also be a legitimate threat to score, often harassing the opposition into stupid penalties, and clearing the way for Adam Oates, Sergei Gonchar and Bondra on the power play.

With Dhalen gone to Dallas last season, his place on the line was taken by ex-Boston University banger, Mike Grier. Unfortunately, the results they posted weren't nearly as impressive. If they can turn it around in Cassidy's defense-first system, and begin to draw penalties the way the line did in 2000-01 season, this team could really turn it on up front.

The defense reamins an open question, as its failure to play up to expectations last season often left goaltender Olie Kolzig horribly exposed. Gonchar remains the best offensive defenseman you've never heard of, and if he ever qualifies for unrestricted free agency, he's heading out of town to cash in for the big bucks. The only other solid citizen back here is veteran and fan favorite, Brendan Witt.

He's managed to turn himself into a consistent performer, but not anywhere near the superstar status that was expected of him as a first round pick. The rest is a collection of NHL journeymen and career minor leaguers that will really have to pick it up for the unit not to be a liability, while Gonchar and Witt are off the ice.

While Jagr may get the big bucks, Kolzig is the one star on this team that the fans love above all others (Bondra being a close second). He's played far better than his stats might indicate over the past few seasons, as his teammates have just left him on his own for extended periods of time. Simply put, however, when Kolzig is on his game, he's the heart and soul of the franchise, and can keep them in any contest.

Earlier this week, Fox Sports reported that the team might be looking to move him to dump his salary, which would mean the team would turn to the budget concious pair of Sebastian Charpentier and Maxime Ouellette, or perhaps a cheaper goalie with more NHL experience that they would obtain in such a trade.

Come next April, I expect the Islanders to be fighting for a playoff spot in the middle of the pack -- anywhere from 5th to 8th place. Unfortunately for the Caps, they're stuck in a division, the Southeast, that has suddenly gotten competitive. Tampa Bay lost Vinnie Prospal, but I like what John Torterella is doing down there.

Atlanta was no fluke once Bob Hartley took over behind the bench, and I expect Carolina to play far better than they did last season in the followup to their run to the Finals in 2002. Come April, the Caps might find themselves in a dog fight with some younger and hungrier opponents.

As for the rest of the league, I like Detroit, Vancouver and Anaheim out West (head coach Mike Babcock is no fluke, and the Ducks might have more talent on the ice now than they did in the Finals last Spring). Colorado without Roy is going to have to score five goals a game to win, St, Louis will continue to underachieve, and Dallas is going to be hamstrung by Marty Turco's holdout.

In the East, I like Boston (could the goalie question finally be solved?), New Jersey, and Ottawa (oh so close last year, and watch out for Jason Spezza, who Ottawa has groomed for stardom exactly the right way), with Buffalo as a surprise team that could cause real damage come playoff time -- especially if they can get Miroslav Satan signed. Good news for Rangers fans -- you make the playoffs this year, but Glen Sather doesn't keep his job unless he gets the team to the Eastern Conference finals.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 12th, 2003 at 2:20 pm by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.