Meet the new boss, same as the old boss?

 

Win game. Check. Improve the goals against average. Check. Score some goals. Check. Look better on the power play. Check. So far so good for new Head Coach Paul Maurice but I don't think he will be taking any credit for that one. That being said, the standing ovation that rained down on the new coach and his team in the third period had to feel very special.

Well that escalated quickly...

The Winnipeg Jet have fired Claude Noel. Not unexpected but a bit quicker than I thought Friday.

More to come on this later!

Dustin Byfuglien at forward? This won't end well...

 

How can you sense when a team or coach is desperate? Well in the case of the Winnipeg Jets, it's when you see arguably their best defenseman playing forward. Is he the most effective D man? No, that would be Zach Bogosian. Is he the best option for the future? No, that would be Jacob Trouba. So what is the problem then? Well, he can't really play forward... 

Who is on your Team Canada?

 

Tomorrow morning is the big announcement for Hockey Canada. Every four years hockey fans in Canada argue for months about who should and shouldn't be on the team. This guy is too old, too slow, not a big game player, etc. etc. are thrown around. I have decided to pick MY Team Canada as opposed to predicting what I think will happen. (For that you can look at the Dreger roster, it will probably be close) Canada made several mistakes in 2006, choosing a roster that was older, slower, and safer. It will be interesting to see if they learn from those mistakes. I'm going to vote "no" to that one and assume they will make several "safe" picks and leave too much offence at home.

Is this rock bottom? Sadly, I don't think so...

When I started this blog I had intended to write about the Oilers, Jets, and hockey topics in general. I have posted exactly one article on the Oilers and other topics, and primarily about the Jets. I'm not sure exactly why that is, some of it is time constraints, but mostly I believe I haven't wanted to write about the Oilers. They have been bad, incredibly bad, discouraging bad. They haven't taken a step back this year, they have fallen off a cliff. I wrote in the pre-season they were in big trouble because of their lack of depth at center, turns out that problem is repeated throughout the ENTIRE roster. 

Olympic snub? Not really

 

Much is being made about the supposed snub of Dustin Byfuglien and the inclusion of Blake Wheeler. Truth is, both were in tough to make the team and the fact that they are in the conversation is a positive about the value of both player. Wheeler is exactly the kind of player you want for international ice. Big, fast, and can score. His problem is and has always been consistency. In a small tournament of 6-8 games, he could score 7 or 8 goals and make you look like a hero. He also could put up donuts and that is the fear that usually keeps decision makers like Brian Burke to look away. These gents are very risk adverse... If Wheeler doesn't produce early, he will be an extra forward before the tournament is over, but great for him that he was included in the first place. 

Happy New Year

Another year has come and gone, and they seem to steam roll faster as you get older. I have made a point of not "wishing for the weekend" anymore because I realise those days behind you are spent. It's very similar to the NHL schedule when you think about it. Players can't wait for the long road trip to end, they can't wait for the Xmas break, or the Olympic break, always looking forward. The problem with parity (three point games) is that all those losses in November, December, and January are killer in March and April.