Off Wing Opinion

After a little more than two seasons, the Jaromir Jagr era in Washington has ended. Just a little while ago, the Washington Post reported that Jagr has been dealt to New York in exchange for ex-Cap Anson Carter pending league approval.

Escape to New York

Here's what I had to say about Jagr's arrival in Washington from Pittsburgh back on June 12, 2001:

No one player can lead any team to a championship, and for all the noise a trade like this might cause in the short term, over the years it can look far less significant. The real test for Jagr and the rest of the Caps begins in October. From there, the trip to a potential Cup Final in June 2002 will be a long grind -- one that is just as likely to turn on the stick of a Joe Reekie or a Jeff Halpern as that of Jagr.

How I wish I had been wrong that day. For those of you who are wondering what you can expect from Jagr in New York, here's what I wrote on January 18, 2002:

Ask anyone who has attended a Capitals game this season what they think of Jagr's game, and you'll probably get the same sort of answer: disappointing. Sure, Jagr is playing at better than a point a game pace with the Caps this season (15 goals and 25 assists in 37 games), and at times we've seen flashes of the brilliant play that he so often demonstrated during his career with the Penguins.

But flashes are all we've seen. Certainly the groin injury Jagr suffered early in the season at the hands of New York Rangers goon Igor Ulanov has slowed him. But it's his style of play, one that doesn't seem to match up with the lunch bucket ethos of his teammates, that can be especially irksome.

Why? Just watch him on the ice for a few shifts and you'll get the drift of what I'm saying. When the Caps are in their defensive zone, you'll often see Jagr circling just above the Caps blue line, waiting for a breakout pass that almost never comes.

When the Caps do break out of their zone, Jagr will join the rush at a leisurely pace. If the Caps dump the puck in the corner, Jagr won't forecheck. When the Caps turn the puck over, he doesn't backcheck, and seems to take his time getting back to the defensive zone. There, he promptly takes up his circling position above the blue line, again waiting for that breakout pass that never comes.

In addition, the Caps are going to have to pick up about $20 million in salary remaining on Jagr's seven-year, $77 million contract. After the way he's played here, it's clear the Caps are getting off cheap. Good luck Rangers fans, you're going to need it.

The chants of fire Sather from Rangers fans grew louder and louder last night, as the Flyers dropped by Madison Square Garden and promptly dropped the Rangers, 4-2. Keith Primeau had two assists, and Robert Esche had 23 saves for Philadelphia. Before the game, the Flyers acquired defenseman Mattias Timander from the Islanders for a seventh round draft pick. The move helps the Flyers shore up their blue line, while the Islanders get to drop Timander's salary, he was playing for their Bridgeport affiliate on a one-way contract, from their payroll.

The news that the Washington Capitals and Rangers are talking about a trade involving Jaromir Jagr is probably the worst kept secret in the league. Even the normally cautious Washington Post -- traditionally the one outlet that trails all the other New York/D.C. news sources when it comes to reporting on trade rumors -- has fronted a story in this morning's Sports section. Apparently, Sather thinks he needs to hit a home run to spark the Rangers into the playoffs, but after watching Jagr sleepwalk through 2 plus seasons here in Washington, I'm not sure that can happen. Names mentioned so far in exchange include ex-Cap Anson Carter and defenseman Dale Purinton.

In Boston, the Sabres came to town and derailed Boston, 4-2. Miroslav Satan scored twice for Buffalo, while Martin Biron had 23 saves. In Ottawa, the Senators barely held off Pittsburgh, winning 6-5. Martin Havlat and Peter Schaefer both scored twice for the Senators. Among the scorers for Pittsburgh was Tom Kostopoulos, who looks like he actually might be able to stick in the NHL -- not something you can say for most of their roster.

In Atlanta, the Thrashers and the Avalanche did plenty to disappoint, playing to a 1-1 tie. Hello Bob Hartley and Tony Granato, your two teams have more offensive firepower between them than most of the rest of the league. That the game ended in a 1-1 tie is a disgrace, and an object lesson in what's wrong with the league.

Back in Chicago, the Blackhawks shook off their season-long stupor and re-enacted the massacre at Little Big Horn, scalping the Blue Jackets, 7-0. Craig Anderson, one of the two goalies thrown to the Wolves by the Blackhawks when Jocelyn Thibault went down to injury, got his first NHL win with the shutout.

In a game a lot more important than it would have been a few months ago, Calgary shutout Nashville 4-0. Roman Turkek, looking like he wants his job back, got his second win in as many games since returning from an early season injury, while Shean Donovan and Dean Lombardi both scored twice for the Flames, as Calgary moved ahead of the Predators into sixth place in the Western Conference.

In Edmonton, the slumping Oilers dropped a 3-2 decision to Tampa Bay. Brad Isbister, a player not worth a damn no matter where he plays, scored for Edmonton. With the win, Tampa Bay now leads the Southleast Division by four points over Atlanta.

Brett Hull scored his first goal in 21 games -- the longest drought of his career -- as Detroit beat Los Angeles 5-4. Curtis Joseph, who has conducted himself like a dignified professional all season long, had 25 saves and got the win. If there's any justice in the world, Detroit GM Ken Holland will just put Dominik Hasek on the injured list and tell the tempermental Czech to give him a call in March. Joseph has earned the starting job back with his play as far as I'm concerned.

And finally, in San Jose, the Coyotes stopped the Sharks 2-1, ending the Sharks' four-game winning streak. Brian Boucher had 34 saves for Phoenix. Even after the loss, San Jose still has an eight point advantage in the Pacific over the Kings, nine over Dallas, and 10 over Phoenix.

Ever since the NHL expanded its playoff field to 16 teams back in the 1970s, it's become a cliche to say that the seemingly endless regular season simply doesn't matter anymore.

But then, there are those points that get away -- games against seemingly weaker clubs that disappear in the blur of an 82-game schedule -- only to come back into focus down the stretch in April where points are scarce and regrets multiply.

The Detroit Red Wings played such a game in Anaheim last night, as the Ducks got a third period goal from Vinny Prospal to force a 2-2 tie. A few hours earlier, the Colorado Avalanche won a shootout with the Florida Panthers, 6-5, letting them slip ahead of Detroit for the Western Conference lead with 63 points. Detroit is second with 62.

Other teams took advantage of the rare misstep. In Vancouver, the Canucks took advantage of an OT game with an Eastern Conference rival, beating Tampa Bay, 5-4. Marcus Naslund had two goals, including the game winner. It was the second straight OT loss on Tampa Bay's current road trip. With the win, Vancouver crept to within one point of the Wings with 61 points. Ditto for the Sharks, who beat Phoenix on the road, 4-2. Vesa Toskala had 26 saves for the Sharks, who are now only three points in back of Detroit.

Elsewhere, St. Louis failed to take advantage of Detroit's stumble, dropping a 3-1 decision to lowly Columbus. Manny Malhotra, who may have found a home in one of America's great college towns, scored twice for the Blue Jackets. In a January game that really didn't matter, Minnesota beat Chicago, 4-2 in St. Paul.

Back East, Toronto slipped into Washington and left town with 2 points, beating Washington, 3-2. The win helped Toronto stretch its lead in the East to four points over idle Philadelphia. Off the ice, Darcy Tucker had eye surgery for the injury he suffered Tuesday night against the Islanders. He'll be out indefinitely.

As many might recall, Tucker was injured as the result of a high stick from New York's Jason Blake -- an infraction the referees missed. Though I know Blake isn't a cheap shot artist, every player has to be held responsible for stick infractions -- even if they aren't held accountable by the refs during the course of the game. In the case of incidents that cause eye injuries, NHL discipline Czar Colin Campbell ought to go to the videotape, and at least fine players who elude the view of the refs on the ice.

In New Jersey, Martin Brodeur was back in the lineup, but still took the loss, as Carolina beat the Devils, 2-1. The under appreciated Kevin Weekes got the win for the Hurricanes, while Jeff O'Neill, subject of multiple trade rumors, scored his fifth goal in his last four games.

In Atlanta, Dany Heatley had his first full contact practice with the Thrashers since returning to the ice with the Thrashers. He remains on schedule for a return to the lineup sometime in February.

Over at ESPN.com, Jim Kelley takes a look back at the career of Phil Housley, who retired earlier this week, and will probably be enshrined in the game's Hall of Fame by dint of the fact that he's the highest scoring American-born player in the history of the sport.

Here in Washington, Housley will always be known as an expensive free agent acquisition who was benched during 1998's magical run to the Finals against Detroit because of his incredibly suspect defense. During the stretch run of that regular season, my friends and I got so tired of his lapses that we took to calling him Phil Lousy. That was probably unfair, as he occasionally excelled over the remainder of his career after leaving Washington for Calgary and a system that played to his strengths. Here's hoping he enjoys his retirement.

POSTSCRIPT: Costa Tsiokos has an interesting post on the role of insurance in the NHL.

UPDATE: More Jagr to the Rangers rumors at Hockeybird.

A couple of days back, fellow Northern Virginian Ben Domenech shared his thoughts about what's ailing the NHL, but what struck me about it wasn't his prescription for turning things around, but rather the following passage:

Caroline and I were talking about this the other night, and I asked her if she could name a player or coach from every NFL team. She could, for all but three teams (Arizona, Houston, and Jacksonville). I quizzed her on the names of some players from last years the MLB and NBA playoffs - she did great, and tacked on names of NASCAR drivers, US Open champs, and top golfers too.

What, no questions about Artie Donovan or Raymond Berry? Funny, in the photos I've seen Ben doesn't look anything like Steve Guttenberg.

Apparently, Mrs. Domenech passed. Whew!

Right on the heels of the steroids mention in the State of the Union address last night, comes this news item from a youth hockey league in Quebec:

Twelve randomly selected players from a Quebec midget league will be tested for drugs such as steroids by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport before playoffs begin in March. It will be the first time a regional league in Canada tested its players, the league said in a statement Wednesday.

Midget players are usually between 15 and 17 years old.

Players testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug face a six-game suspension for a first offense and a one-year ban for a second positive test.

League president Martin Roy said there were indications that many players were using drugs. However, he was not specific about the indications.

"I was concerned that our players, about 25 percent, were consuming some drugs," Roy told CBC Radio in Montreal.

Is that 25 percent consuming performance-enhancing drugs, or 25 percent consuming any sort of drug at all? The interview doesn't indicate which.

The New York Times' Joe LaPointe on the state of the great game in the New York metro area:

Although the Islanders and the Devils are ahead of the Rangers in the Atlantic Division, it is the Manhattan team that drives hockey interest, up or down, in the market. Sather's Rangers have helped to make the sport nearly invisible here.

For fans who subscribe to Cablevision, which owns the Garden and the Rangers, it is more difficult this season to see this struggling team and the other two, too. In some communities, Cablevision has bumped its local hockey channels to a more expensive tier. In other words, it costs more to see bad hockey than it did before.

On talk radio, it is easier to find a January baseball debate than conversation about the three hockey teams. With the league headquarters in Midtown, the Rangers, the Devils and the Islanders make up the Bermuda Triangle of the sport. It disappears here, a mere decade after the Rangers won the Stanley Cup and spurred a huge surge of interest.

This is an area, mind you, that houses the defending Stanley Cup Champions, currently one of the league's most dominant teams. And they play in an arena that's empty most of the time.

Friends, our sport is in deep trouble on the professional level. As to who can save it, I'm at a loss to say.

The Rangers and Bruins, bruised and bleeding, picked themselves up in time to get to Manhattan for the back end of their home at home series. The location might have been different, but the outcome was the same, as the Bruins won 4-1. Rookie Carl Corazzini scored twice in only his fourth NHL game. New Bruin Jiri Slegr scored again for Boston, while Andrew Raycroft had 31 saves.

And in the cleanup from Monday's scrap in Boston, Bruins forward Doug Doull served a one-game suspension for charging Ranger Petr Nedved. And the Rangers got more bad news on the blue line, as it was announced that defenseman Darius Kasparaitis will miss 10-12 weeks as the result of a vicious hit delivered by Boston defenseman Dan McGillis. Over at Hockeybird, the Rangers talk is all about who head coach and GM Glen Sather might be acquiring in the next few days.

Putting aside the 1970s-style brutality that has returned to the Bruins-Rangers rivalry, things are tight atop the Eastern Conference, with the top seven teams seperated by only five points. In Toronto, the Eastern Conference-leading Maple Leafs held off the eighth place Islanders 2-0 in a rather chippy contest. Ed Belfour got his fifth shutout, but the Leafs took a blow when Darcy Tucker was forced the leave the game when he was high-sticked by Jason Blake of the Islanders. Like so many other high sticking incidents these days, Tucker suffered an eye injury, and the refs failed to make a call.

In Carolina, the Senators stretched their unbeaten streak against the Hurricanes to 11 games with a 3-1 win. In Pittsburgh, Turner Stevenson scored twice for the Devils in a 3-0 win over the Penguins. Martin Brodeur got the night off for New Jersey, so Devils minor league callup Scott Clemmensen got the shutout win in his NHL debut. He had 25 saves.

In Philadelphia, Richard Zednik scored twice to lead the Canadiens to a 4-1 win over the depleted Flyers. Desperate for blue line help, Philly shipped former 1st round pick Justin Williams to Carolina in exchange for defenseman Danny Markov. Steve Ovadia thinks the real problem in Philly is a corps of forwards who haven't completely embraced head coach Ken Hitchcock's defense-first philosophy.

In Atlanta, Slava Kozlov had a pair of goals in the Thrashers 4-1 win over Buffalo.

At the end of the night, Toronto remains in first in the East with 61 points and Philadelphia is second with 59. By dint of their lead in the Southeast Division, Tampa Bay has the third slot at only 50 points, but Atlanta is right on their tale at 48 (the Thrashers only trail the eighth place Islanders by a single point). Ottawa has the fourth seed at 60 points, while Boston has 58, New Jersey 57 and Montreal 56.

Out West, Edmonton blanked Dallas 3-0, with Tommie Salo posting the shutout -- it was the ninth time the Stars have been shutout this season. Raffi Torres, an afterthought in the Brad Isbister for Janne Niinima trade at the deadline last year, scored twice for Edmonton. He now has 15 goals on the season. And finally, at the Staples Center, home of the M*A*S*H unit that is the Kings, Los Angeles beat Calgary 4-1. Ian Laperriere scored twice for the Kings.

In other news, Detroit's Chris Chelios turns 42 on Sunday, but told the assembled media in Detroit he has no plans to retire. Chelios will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, but he may not have a choice about retirement with the lockout looming.

With an impressive plus/minus rating, and averaging the most ice time in the league, the Islanders Adrian Aucoin has been getting some well deserved attention this season -- and will most likely represent the Islanders at the All-Star Game this year. But in his regular mail bag column yesterday, Islanders beat writer Alan Hahn had this to say:

Adrian Aucoin is solid, but may get a bit more credit than deserved because of the plus-minus numbers. Overall, I think a lot of people

All of my hockey blogging buddies are wondering which team it was that contacted the city of Winnipeg to inquire about relocating the franchise. Like the others, I don't know who it is. But together, we ought to be able to figure out which team it isn't -- especially if we work together. So let's start the list with teams we definitely know aren't going anywhere. I picked the following on the basis of market strength, ticket sales, and age of their arena (with explanations where needed):

East
Toronto
Philadelphia
Ottawa
Boston
Montreal
NY Rangers
Buffalo (new local owner)

West
Detroit
Colorado
San Jose
Vancouver
St. Louis
Calgary
Dallas (Hicks losing money, but not so much that he'd move the team)
Los Angeles
Phoenix (brand new arena)
Minnesota (always sold out)
Edmonton (even a Canadian team in trouble won't be moving to Winnipeg)
Columbus (too new to the league)
Chicago

Ok, here's the rest of the list, with reasons why we can eliminate them:

NY Islanders (local owner, will eventually get new arena)
New Jersey
Tampa Bay
Atlanta (new owners -- who also own the arena and NBA Hawks)
Florida
Carolina
Washington (owner has option to buy NBA Wizards, sale of Caps might endanger that)
Pittsburgh (denies report)
Nashville
Anaheim (moving Ducks, or selling them to owner who would=PR disaster for O.C.-based Disney)

Which leaves us with:

New Jersey (almost moved to Nashville before 1995 Cup Win)
Tampa Bay (leading division, but maybe re-thinking this Florida thing)
Florida (middling squad, empty seats)
Carolina (only three weeks until Daytona 500, arena emptying)
Pittsburgh (shell of a team, may not survive lockout)
Nashville (bloom of the rose in Hockey Tonk, though team is on edge of playoff berth)

Of the five remaining, I'm leaning towards Pittsburgh, their public denials notwithstanding. Anybody else want to take a whack at it?

By all rights, Milan Hejduk's OT goal giving Colorado a 5-4 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning last night should have been a catastrophic event for the young hockey club. But thanks to Gary Bettman's invention of the OT loss, the Lightning get to walk away from the accident scene with a point in their back pockets -- an unwarranted and unearned insurance policy against total disaster. The more OTLs I see, the more I would rather see the five-minute OT period followed by a shootout that would help eliminate ties altogether.

Cliff Ronning has played less than a week for the Islanders, and he already has three goals, including two last night in a 5-2 win over the Senators. After Garth Snow yielded four straight goals in Ottawa's comeback to tie the Isles last week, Rick DiPietro got the start and the win for New York in goal. The win pulled the Islanders back into the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.

In Boston, the Bruins and the Rangers donned throwback duds (as Hockeybird says, Ooo, la la, Sasoon!) in a 5-2 Boston win. Ex-Canuck Jiri Slegr got a goal in his first game in a Bruins uniform. But while the rest of the Rangers couldn't suck enough, the much maligned Eric Lindros stepped up, taking down Boston's Joe Thornton with a devestating right that broke his cheekbone. Thornton will miss up to a month.

ESPN.com couldn't be more timely, as it seems their entire NHL editorial staff devoted yesterday to the issue of fighting in the NHL. Unfortunately, it's a great idea that's been very poorly executed. Instead of having a landing page where all the links are collected, ESPN.com's edit staff just places a box with all the links within each of 12 stories on the topic. The best solution is simply to start with Jim Kelley's piece, and then wind your way through the rest of the links if you have the time or energy.

Back on the ice, for the first time in what seems like forever, the Blues and the Wings played on the same day, with St. Louis gaining some ground on the Central Division leaders. Down in Florida Pavel Demitra scored twice to give the Blues a 2-1 win over las Panteras. Potential shellshock victim Roberto Luongo had 32 saves for Florida. Meanwhile, out on the Left Coast, San Jose downed the Red Wings by the same 2-1 score. Evgeni Nabakov, a new Daddy, had 34 saves for the Sharks, who aren't surprising anyone anymore. At the end of the day, St. Louis had cut Detroit's lead in the Central to 4 points.

Further North, Dallas did it's best to keep San Jose within striking distance, beating Vancouver 3-2. The win helped Dallas keep pace with the Sharks, who they trail by seven, and pulled the Stars into the eighth slot in the West. Back in the O.C., Anaheim continued to drop like a rock, losing to Calgary 5-1. Craig Conroy had four assists for the Flames, who won despite the absence of Jarome Iginla. Calgary, in third place in the Northwest, trails Vancouver by six points with three games in hand.

Finally, in Nashville, Tomas Vokoun got his second shuout as the Predators extended their unbeaten streak to seven games with a 2-0 win over Minnesota. The victory was the 21st of the season for Vokoun, tying him for the league lead with David Aebischer of Colorado. If Marty Turco has any pride, he'll step aside and let Vokoun start for the Western Conference in this year's All-Star Game.

Thanks to the reader who sent in an email followup to yesterday's Kiss Cam item:

The Mystics used to do a "couple of the game" contest -- until lesbian fans of the team complained to [Washington Sports President] Susan O'Malley that only straight couples were shown.

Folks who regularly attend Washington Capitals games are familair with the "Kiss Cam," a fun feature the team highlights on the scoreboard during breaks in play. Cameras in the arena will focus on couples they figure are together, hoping they'll share a kiss to the delight of the crowd.

But recently, the Kiss Cam got a whole new wrinkle:

But on New Year’s Day, during the Caps’ game against the New Jersey Devils, Warren Arborgast, a season ticket holder and gay hockey fan, saw that one of 10 couples shown on the scoreboard were two men.

"Usually, they go for the punch line -- two male fans of the opposing team -- at the end," he said. "But these were two Caps fans, and they never did the joke elsewhere during that sequence."

He said the fans gave a huge laugh thinking it was a joke. Then the couple paused and kissed. The crowd’s reaction turned from laughter to cheers and significant applause, and then to a murmur, presumably out of shock.

Congratulations to the open minded ice hockey fans in our nation's capital! My favorite kiss cam moment came a couple of seasons ago during a game against the Devils. That time, the camera focused on the Devils bench, where Scott Gomez was sitting next to one of his teammates. Once the laughter died down, Gomez decided to play along, turned to his left and puckered up. The crowd loved it.

Thanks to reader Dave S. for the link.

The biggest matchup of the weekend was the home at home series between Toronto and Philly -- one that turned out badly for the boys from TO. On Friday, Philly took Game One at home 4-1, sans Jeremy Roenick, who had the night off after tossing a water bottle at a ref earlier in the week. Robert Esche stopped 21 shots in a win that helped the Flyers pull out of the death spiral they've been in recently. On Saturday, things didn't get any better for the Leafs, as Roenick returned to score a goal on the way to a 4-0 win. Esche stopped 34 shots for the shutout, and Michael Handzus had a pair of goals for Philly.

The win wasn't without cost for the Flyers, as Roenick collided with Eric Desjardins after missing a check. The result: Desjardins is out up to 8 weeks and will need surgery for a broken right forearm. One wonders what sort of surgery the Leafs might need, as the Flyers are now tied with Toronto atop the Eastern Conference with 59 points.

That was great news for Ottawa, as they continued their surge up the standings with a 4-0 win over Boston on Saturday. Martin Prusek had 20 saves in the shutout, and Martin Havlat scored twice for the Senators. With the two points, the Senators are lurking just a point behind Toronto and Philadelphia.

Out West, the fight for the top spot is tightening as well. Though Vancouver had the hotter start, the Avalanche have managed to catch them atop the Northwest Division at 59 points, and have claimed the lead on a tiebreaker. Detroit stands atop the West at 61 points, followed by Colorado at 59. Due to their lead in the Pacific, the Sharks take third at 55 points, with the Canucks in fourth at 59 points.