The following is a guest post from Peter Flynn written exclusively for Point Blank on the NHL’s suspension policy. It was originally written last week, at the end of the NHL regular season. A brief update on the recent events in the playoffs follows the original article at the bottom of the post.
On March 7, 2010 Marc Savard skated into the Penguins zone and wristed a shot on goal. Matt Cooke skated in from Savard’s blind side and elbowed the Bruin in the head, causing Savard to miss the rest of the regular season. Savard returned for the post-season, then was concussed again by Matt Hunwick on January 23, 2011. Savard has not played since.
While Cooke’s hit on Savard went unpenalized and Cooke was not suspended by the league, the incident caused the NHL to examine the impact of hits to the head and effective ways to keep players from being needlessly injured. This season, Brendan Shanahan has implemented a more open system of suspending players for irresponsible actions, mainly focusing on deliberate hits to the head. In the 2011-12 regular season, 42 suspensions were handed with a total of 134 regular season games.
With the regular season over, enough time has passed to evaluate the NHL’s effort to reduce targeted hits to the head. For the purposes of this article, I am focusing specifically on plays that are clearly intentional. Occasionally, accidents happen and a player turns at the last second, changing a previously clean attempt into a seemingly dirty one.
On the one hand, Shanahan should be commended for making a clear and transparent effort to address a serious problem in the game. The video explanations that accompany each suspension indicate a desire to educate players and help them to make better decisions in the future. But the number of suspensions can also be viewed as evidence of a deficiency in the league’s response to these types of hits.
Suspensions are supposed to have a two-fold effect. The suspension should act as both a punishment to the offending player and a deterrent to the other players in the league: If you do what he did, you will find yourself in the press box. Continue reading →
The Sound Tigers earned the third best record in the AHL’s Eastern Conference and won a fierce battle for the Northeast Division during the regular season, going 41-26-3-6 on the year (that last number is shootout losses). All that gives them a date with their in-state rival and Ranger farm team, the CT Whale in the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs. The series starts tonight in Bridgeport at 7pm and continues on Saturday with Game 2. Each series The first round is a best-of-five.
The solid season the Sound Tigers completed, specifically a red-hot second half, can be attributed to two main factors. The first is the depth of prospects in this organization. While the big club is still lacking in some departments, there is clearly help on the way. One defense, in goal and at forward the Sound Tigers have solid players all around. There is youth at every position. The problem is of course that the Islanders needs are a bit more specific, as the biggest organizational needs are a big, tough defender and a scoring winger, something I’m sure the team will be addressing in June’s draft.
The other credit goes to coach Brent Thompson who came all the way from Anchorage, Alaska to lead the team and has them singing his praises in a lengthy article on the team website.
“Coach Thompson has really brought the expectation of being at your best everyday, every time you step on the ice…that’s the reason why we are in the situation we are right now, “ said Rhett Rakhshani, who led the Sound Tigers with 49 points in 49 games this season. “He doesn’t let us take shortcuts, he doesn’t take shortcuts either and he leads by example…it definitely funnels down to us.”
Take it with a grain of salt because we’ll never expect a player to say bad things about their coach of course, but the coach has his players playing hard and — most importantly — getting results. The Sound Tigers were in a three-way dead heat for the division title two months back. Since then, they took care of business and won the division going away, by seven points over the Whale.
We usually defer to Mike Fornabaio of the CT Post on Sound Tiger updates and news and that’s still the case. You should certainly check out his coverage. He wrote yesterday that it looked like Brock Nelson and John Persson would start in Game 1 for the Sound Tigers, solid experience for two Islanders draft picks.
A final sidenote… One of the neat things about the AHL is that you can watch the games online, much like with NHL GameCenter Live. That comes at a price of course, but it may be worth watching if you’re interested in scouting some of the Islanders’ prospects. I imagine we’ll be seeing a few of them on the Island next year, specifically Kevin Poulin or some of the defensemen (more on that topic later in the off-season).
As Jacob Trouba turned five years old, he joined his older brother T.J. at a local rink in Troy, Michigan with lofty dreams of playing professional hockey one day. Unbeknownst to Trouba, that first step onto the ice – playing against kids two-to-three years older – would prove to be a pivotal springboard to what many prognosticators believe could be a highly productive NHL career.
One of a handful of talented, young defensemen expected to be selected near the top of June’s NHL entry draft board, Trouba’s all-around skill-set has many in-the-know predicting his upside – when fully developed – might just be better than the rest.
“Rochester, Michigan (approximately 10 minutes from Troy) is a big hockey area,” said the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Trouba, just a few days before traveling with Team USA to compete at the World Under-18 Hockey Championships in the Czech Republic. “And playing with older kids, like my brother T.J. – who was a big influence on me – really helped me develop my game.”
Trouba would continue to hone his skills locally for the next three years, before playing one season in the Little Caesar’s Amateur Hockey League (LCAHL) – the nation’s largest amateur youth hockey league, pitting players from all around the America’s Midwestern States.
As a sixth grader, having also competed locally in soccer, baseball and basketball, Trouba decided that he was ready to solely concentrate on hockey. He signed up at Compuware Sports Arena’s AAA Hockey Organization, located in neighboring Plymouth, Michigan.
“It wasn’t a real hard decision to give up on the other sports,” said Trouba. “And by playing at Compuware, I was playing against a higher level of competition.”
Trouba would excel in five seasons at Compuware, winning National Championships in both the Under-12 (2007) and Under-14 (2009) levels.
“The core group of guys at Compuware made the entire experience a lot of fun,” said Trouba.
As a 16-year-old, Trouba – with options of playing Major Junior Hockey up north in the various Canadian Hockey Leagues – decided to stray just an hour away from home and enroll in the USA Hockey National Team Developmental Program (USNTDP) in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
“The USNTDP was the best place for me,” said Trouba. “They have the best trainers, and they give me the best tools to succeed.”
In his rookie season at the USNTDP, Trouba split time between the program’s USHL team and both the Under-17 and Under-18 teams.
In 31 games with the USHL team, Trouba collected seven points – three goals and four assists. In 37 games with the Under-17 squad, he registered 19 points – six goals and 13 assists. He concluded an exhausting 86-game schedule, playing 18 games with the Under-18 team, scoring two goals and adding five assists.
Furthermore, Trouba played for the U.S. in both the 2011 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge – earning a silver medal, while collecting nine points (two goals and seven assists) in five games – and the 2011 Under-18 World Junior Championships – winning gold, while potting one goal in six games.
“Playing on both the under-17 and under-18 teams was definitely a challenge for me,” said Trouba, who grinded out nine games in a span of 10 days. “But it was also the first time that I had a chance to play internationally, and in a different role.
“I was asked to be more of a physical defenseman.”
Playing for the under-18 team also gave Trouba an opportunity to compete under the tutelage of seven-year NHL veteran Danton Cole. Cole, who recorded 118 points – 58 goals and 60 assists – in 318 NHL games, quickly grew fond of his teenage blue-liner.
“When I first started coaching Jacob, I noticed how mature – hockey-wise – he was,” said Cole, who joined the USNTDP program, after resigning as head coach at the University of Alabama in Huntsville after three seasons. “He’s not a rah-rah guy, but he’s a good leader in our room. The other guys really like him.”
Following an eventful rookie season, Trouba returned this fall to the USNTDP as a full-fledged member of the Under-18 team.
Cole noticed the progression immediately.
“Jacob came in and has become a complete 200-foot player,” said Cole, who likens Trouba’s game to that of current Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger. “While Jacob isn’t as physically imposing as Chris is right now, based on his current body frame, Jacob could easily gain 20-to-25 pounds of muscle and not lose any of the intangibles that make him a complete defenseman.”
Trouba collected 29 points – eight goals and 21 assists – in 48 regular season games for the U-18 team, while playing upwards of 25-minutes a night against the opponent’s top offensive unit.
“My skating has improved, and I have noticed that everything about me has become stronger,” said Trouba, who as a self-proclaimed Detroit Red Wings fan, has always marveled at the way the 20-year NHL veteran Nicklas Lidstrom has played, based on his ability to always be at the right place at the right time. “But I know that I have to improve my lateral movement.”
Last December, the then 17-year-old Trouba earned a coveted spot for Team USA at the IIHF World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Calgary. Despite finishing a disappointing seventh place, the experience was invaluable to the squad’s youngest member.
“The world juniors were tough,” said Trouba. “It was definitely not the result we wanted.
“But for me personally, it was great experience to play with and against older guys.”
That physical presence and hockey acumen are two of the reasons why TSN’s Craig Button has pegged Trouba as his 13th best prospect – eighth amongst defensemen – in June’s draft in Pittsburgh. However, many insiders believe Trouba is a shoe-in to be picked in the draft’s top ten.
Cole also believes that Trouba’s potential is still yet untapped.
“It is important that whichever team drafts Jacob, they allow him to fully develop,” said Cole. “But his play in the Under-20 tournament surely separates him from others in the class.”
Likewise, Trouba is unfazed by all the draft talk, and believes his dream to play in the NHL will come in due time.
“I don’t really look at mock drafts. It doesn’t make me a better player – either way,” said Trouba, who will enroll at the University of Michigan this fall, after signing his Letter of Intent to play for NCAA legendary head coach Red Berenson and the Wolverines last fall. “My timeline is to play this fall at Michigan.
“Whether it is two or three years, I want to leave Michigan being fully ready to step onto an NHL ice.”
Will Trouba’s commitment to play next season and beyond in Ann Arbor cause the Islanders to steer clear? With a dire need for a physical presence on the blue-line, could the Islanders ill-afford to shy away from Trouba? Could the Islanders trade back a few spots and still get a potential top-pairing defenseman to team with 21-year-old Travis Hamonic?
“The Islanders have a great organization,” said Trouba. “And playing in a city like New York would be pretty cool.”
Presently, Trouba and his under-18 U.S. mates are 4-0 in preliminary games in the Czech Republic, including an impressive 5-3 victory over potential 2012 top-10 draftee Matthew Dumba and Team Canada on Tuesday.
Trouba has a goal and two assists in four games. By virtue of winning all four of its preliminary games, the U.S. have automatically advanced into Friday afternoon’s semifinal. The team is seeking their fourth straight Gold Medal.
The NHL Draft is just 65 days away.
Yesterday the Islanders let two assistant coaches go, Dean Chynoweth and Scott Allen, who were both part of Scott Gordon’s old bench crew. But even though they were Gordon hires, they spent the last (nearly) two seasons under Jack Capuano as Capuano took over from Gordon in November 2010.
We’ll have to wait and see what the next move is. One idea is that the Islanders are either holding the assistants accountable for the failures of last season and now Capuano will be given a chance with a different set of assistant, but not necessarily ‘his guys’. Allen and Chynoweth were responsible for the PK and defense, neither of which fared quite so good this year. And whether you like him as a coach or not, the power play was improved under Doug Weight (although of course this was helped along due in part to the return of Mark Streit). Another way this could work out is that the team could clear out Capuano as well at a later point in the summer, as a new coach could be enticed to come to Long Island by being allowed to bring in their own staff.
My guess is that it will be the first situation and Capuano has one more year on a short leash, with Weight and potentially Brent Thompson on his staff but we’ll have to wait and see. And while Thompson has done a great job in Bridgeport, maybe he should be allowed to continue doing just that. He’s only one year removed from an ECHL outpost in Alaska and, as you can see, the Islanders coaching situation is quite muddled. Having Capuano behind the bench with two of his assistants basically being “head coaches in waiting” with Thompson and Weight, well, that’s an awkward work environment.
KEITH JONES LEARNED ABOUT RICH PILON THE HARD WAY
Even though it’s the off-season, Keith is still hard at work grabbing video. Here’s last night’s capture from the NBC Sports Network studio show where Keith Jones describes the time he mistook what kind of player Rich Pilon was, because Pilon was wearing a visor. The game in question was Game Two back in 1993 of the infamous series.
As @ChrisBottaNHL intimated last week, Isles let go ass’t coaches Scott Allen, Dean Chynoweth. @StapeNewsday says Brent Thompson a candidate
— Michael Fornabaio (@fornabaioctp) April 16, 2012
Each week until the entry draft in June, Point Blank will be reporting on the top prospects in this summer’s NHL Entry Draft. This week’s profile is forward Alex Galchenyuk, ranked as the fourth best North American skater in the final CSS rankings. You can keep a watch on our profiles via the “2012 Draft” tab at the top of the page and check out profiles of Islanders’ young guns filed under the “NYI Prospects” tab.
As Alexander Galchenyuk’s professional hockey career was transitioning from a seven-year stay (1985-92) with HC Dynamo Moscow in the now defunct Russian Super League to a brief two-year stint (1992-94) with the International Hockey League’s Milwaukee Admirals, a miracle fell upon the then 27-year-old Belarusian.
Born February 12, 1994 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Alex Jr. would quickly become acclimated with the life of a hockey player. As his father was continuing onward with his playing career, the family would make stops in Germany, back to Wisconsin, Michigan, Russia, Italy and finally settling in Belarus where Galchenyuk Sr. would play his 21st and final season by splitting time with Dinamo Minsk and Neman Grodno in the Belarusian Hockey League. He retired following the 2006-07 season with 233 goals and 466 assists in 956 career games.
Galchenyuk was born with a hockey stick in hand and skates on his toddler feet. He was just 18 months old, when his father – while playing for the Madison (Wisconsin) Monsters of the Colonial Hockey League – introduced him to his first sheet of ice. Continue reading →
The Islanders’ season is over, which for us here at IPB means we’re going to take our foot off the accelerator for a little bit. Have no fear — we’ll still be here working hard all summer with draft coverage (which Alan is working feverishly on, as you can see), free agency and a whole lot more. But as the weather gets warmer and things slow down in the Isles’ world, we’ll be taking a few breaks here and there to rest and refuel, in addition to brainstorming and preparing for next season.
First off, a sincere thank you to all of you who continue to read the site and bleed blue and orange. I know I speak for all of us when I say that we truly appreciate all your support, passion and energy you bring to the site. It’s cliche to say, but we truly wouldn’t be doing this without you. And even though times are tough, don’t worry you’re not alone — we’ve had over 2.2 million pageviews since October. Islander Country is still strong and still out there.
While we’re wrapping things up, there are a few people I want to thank personally for the help over the past half year.
First and foremost, thanks to Chris Botta for letting us onto his site and allowing us to run with our stories and ideas. Also congratulations to Chris, as he will be joining Sports Business Journal/Daily as of May 1.
Thanks also to Alan and Keith, who have done an excellent job with the site from game reports and videos to exclusive interviews and draft previews. You may not be aware, but we are all doing this part-time with families, jobs and what have you. So I’d like to thank them for ignoring their loved ones in favor of Islander blogging.
Additional thanks to Fred, Adam, Ted and the rest of the staff at SNY that have given us tremendous support and help throughout the year. Thanks also to Jesse Eisenberg with the Islanders for accommodating us during the season.
We’ll be moving forward into full coverage of the draft in June and free agency on July 1st as well as other issues that need to be tackled this off-season (cough… defense). So stay tuned over the summer for all of that goodness. We’d also love to hear from you. Comments both positive and constructive are appreciated as to what we can do to make your experience better.
Thanks for your support,
Kevin Schultz
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