“I Might Just Be A Hockey Fan In California” is a feature that will be posted every Saturday here at the View From My Seats. There are plenty of things going on in the hockey world (and even the sports world); and you know everyone has an opinion. This is a place for some quick hits of the week that was.

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I might just be a hockey fan in California, but:

- I feel a little Old School when I hear that a player turned down trade opportunities at the deadline because he wanted to play his entire career with one team. Thanks Mike Modano.

Look! He's a hockey player who actually plays hockey!

- I’m convinced that you could put Derek Boogaard with Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis and he’d score 30 points.

- Proudest moment as a fan this season: Being able to avoid any and all talk about Sidney Crosby’s missing equipment.

- I wonder how many people know that David Booth is an actual hockey player and not just a guy that shows up on YouTube to be hit by Mike Richards.

- Growing pains are part of the learning process for NHL teams. It’s one thing to start out strong, but quite another to play at a high level for the entire 82-game season. The Pens and Blackhawks have recently gone though the process. The Coyotes went through it last year. This year, it looks like the Avalanche might be getting their dose.

- I can’t believe I’m saying this, but there are times that Sidney Crosby is “damned if he does, damned if he don’t.” If he goes on Letterman, then people bitch that he gets too much publicity. If he turns it down, they say he’s a prima donna that isn’t doing what’s best for the sport’s exposure.

- People talk about how great their fans are all the time when they’re winning. If they’re selling tickets when they’re losing—then I’ll listen.

- I can’t believe it’s the middle of March and there’s a real possibility that the Red Wings and Ducks might not make the playoffs.

- Tomas Vokoun might have the hardest job in the NHL. He has a .930 save percentage, 2.35 goals against average, 7 shutouts and he’s still only 1 game over .500. That’s messed up.

- I care way more about the draft when my team sucks. Right now? I couldn’t give a rat’s ass…

- The Sharks have three players who are winning more than 60% of their draws. More interesting, two of them were picked up as free agents in the offseason (Malhotra and Nichol). In an era where puck possession is such an important part of the game, why wasn’t there more demand for either of these guys?

- I mean no disrespect to Tyler Myers or Jimmy Howard, but I don’t know how anyone can watch more than one Avalanche game and not think that Matt Duchene is the rookie of the year. And I say that being a huge Tyler Myers fan.

- Battle of Alberta outdoors next season? I may or may not have put on a jacket just thinking about it.

- With March Madness coming up and the hockey season in the home stretch, I might not sleep again until mid-April.

- I really, really, really hope there are no more hits to the head before the end of the season. How big is that can of worms?

"Steve Downey! Give me a hug if I make you better!"

- Randy Jones should never be on the ice. Well, maybe in the AHL.

- Am I the only one who thinks that a team should travel together for a road game? I know that Larry Brooks of the NY Post wants to attack John Tortorella at every opportunity, but he really should pick his battles more carefully.

- For a team that needed to add some scoring at the Trade Deadline, Wojtek Wolski and Lee Stempniak are fitting in quite nicely in Phoenix. The rest of the Western Conference thanks you Colorado/Toronto.

- How bad is this season going for the Oilers? Even players who aren’t playing are having the worst year of their life.

- If only 100 people show up to a “Fire Sather” rally, does that mean there’s tacit approval of the job he’s doing for the Rangers?

- Gary Bettman is a pompous little person that needs to be fired for the good of the game.

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So what are your thoughts from the NHL week that was?

Click here for our archive of past editions of our “I Might Just Be A Hockey Fan In California” feature.

How huge was the Cheechoo fall off? From 50-goal scorer to 3rd liner to contract dump to waiver wire. Not only was he put on waivers—HE CLEARED WAIVERS! Stop and think about that. He went from leading the entire NHL in goals to being a player that all 30 teams passed on in three and a half seasons.

Which one of these guys is the overpaid one?

He obviously worked extremely hard to get where he’s at. Whenever you see a First Nation player in the NHL, they didn’t take the path most traveled. What’s more, when you see a guy who made the show from Moose Factory, then you know that his story is a little bit different. I didn’t say Moose Jaw, I said Moose Factory. Yes, THAT small.

Take a look back Cheechoo’s early career. Going into his second NHL season, Cheechoo had dedicated himself to being in the best shape of his career. Incoming coach Ron Wilson had him on an ambitious offseason training program and he continued to work on his skating. During the season he played with hard-working grinders Mike Ricci and Scott Thornton—and reaped the benefits. The veterans helped Cheechoo take his game to the next level and he ended the season with an impressive 28 goals. It looked like he was fulfilling the 1st round expectations that Dean Lombardi had for him.

Next season was the breakout season. Take a guy with some skill who has learned how to work hard from some of the best, and then pair him with one of the best set-up men of our generation in Joe Thornton. On paper, that has the signs of a match made in heaven—and after his 56-goal season, Cheechoo had to feel like he was living the charmed life. He was in the 3rd year, already had 93 career goals, and had his entire NHL career ahead of him. There’s no way that he could have known that it was only going to go downhill from there.

He bounced back the next season with 37 goals in 2006-07. While that sounds like a good season, it was almost 20 goals off the pace that he had set only a season before. I don’t care who you are or what business you’re in—when you have your production drop by 33%, people are going to be disappointed. But unfortunately for everyone involved, injury problems started to pop up in 2006-07 that would be the precursor to his slide.

The guy hasn’t been able to score regularly over the past two years due to major abdominal surgery (summer 2008) and a whole grab bag of injuries, including the dreaded groin injury.” –Mike Chen on Kukla’s Korner

If people were disappointed with his follow-up to the 56-goal season, how do you think they felt when he dropped all the way down to 37 points for the entire 2007-08 season? He had been moved off of the line with Joe Thornton, been slowed by a variety of injuries and, quite frankly, wasn’t the same well-conditioned athlete that he was when he made the jump into the NHL’s elite.

When a player has a bad year, we always talk about how that season was the anomaly. Maybe it’s the optimist in sports fans, but we usually assume that a player that has a bad year will bounce back to have a better year. But when you look at Cheechoo’s careers stats, his 56-goal season is the exception in his career—not the rule. Throughout juniors, the AHL, and even his other NHL seasons, he never looked like the guy that was going to annually compete for the Rocket Richard Trophy.

I'm sure there are a lot of fans in San Jose rooting for this guy...

Since his disappointing 37-goal campaign in 2006-07, Cheechoo has managed 40 goals and 40 assists in 196 games. That’s 3 seasons with a total of 40 goals.  All of a sudden, the 37 goals seem pretty decent, don’t they?

The heartbreaking part for NHL fans is the type of player Jonathan Cheechoo was in San Jose. Aside from scoring goals (which brought the spotlight), he was consummate professional. He was the kind of guy who would go to the front of the net and take a beating. He was the kind of guy who would go to the corners to muck and grind for the puck. He would stick up for his teammates. He was a great guy in the locker room. He would take direction from the coaching staff.  And people wonder why he was a fan favorite!

If you forget about the name and any expectations you might have, you have a description of the type of player that every single team in the league would love to have. But when you put a struggling name with diminishing stats and an inflated salary, objectivity tends to be thrown out the door. His 56-goal year might have just been a case of catching lightning in a bottle for one amazing season. Teams should take it for what it’s worth, don’t expect it again and move on.

I hope that he pulls it together and gets another shot in the NHL. He’s too young, too talented, and too good of a teammate to not be able to help someone along the way. I’m not 100% sure where the best place would be to play him. He might not be a top-line winger anymore, but he could be valuable to a team if they accept him for what he is—a bottom 6 guy that has a good touch around the net. Wherever he ends up, it should be somewhere better than Binghamton.

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of catching a game between the Canadiens and Kings at Staples Center. Going into the game, I had every intention of watching the French-Canadian fans that flocked to see the Bleu Blanc et Rouge. I planned on talking about how different the atmosphere is for an Original Six team on Hockey Night in Canada and the average weekend game. Unfortunately, the game didn’t go as planned.

On any level, the game was a complete and utter train wreck for anyone NOT rooting for the Habs. I’m not sure if the Kings played a poor game or the Canadiens played an effective road game, but the better team certainly won on that particular night. Instead of the actual game, the much more memorable part was a few obnoxious fans sitting a few rows behind me. Over the course of the evening, they managed to say more words without actually saying anything than I’ve ever heard in my life. Worse yet, they managed to basically YELL back and forth to each other throughout the entire two and a half hours of the game. By the middle of the 3rd period, EVERYONE’S patience had worn thin.

We’ve all dealt with that fan before. You know the guy that has had a few too many cocktails before the game—and just keeps on drinking? The guy that should have been cut-off by the concessioners before he was given his 17th Bud Light? The guy that is stumbling ON HIS WAY to his seats? Yeah, we all know “that guy.”

I'm NOT suggesting this.

Just like we all know “that guy,” chances are we’ve been dangerously close to BEING that guy for night. In the past, I’ve shared seats with a guy that regularly brought in a bottle of rum to go with his Coke. There have been games when I’ve had more than one beer while enjoying a game and I’ve even had a few drinks BEFORE I went. But then again, I’ve also watched plenty of games with a giant, overpriced soda.

My question is simple: Is it OK for a fan to act like that? He was passionately cheering his team when they scored. He LOUDLY chanted the opposing goaltender’s name (albeit with poor timing) after the Kings scored a goal. He tried to start the “Go Kings Go” chant numerous times. And at the end of the day, he paid for his ticket like everyone else.

But at some point, does the price of admission only buy you so many rights? During his obnoxious vocal exhibition, he managed to annoy people in all corners of the section. I did a fairly decent job of tuning the guy out, but the guy behind me wasn’t as successful. In the middle of the 3rd period, we were this close to catching our own little middleweight bout during a commercial break. Let’s just put it this way: the guy behind me looked exactly like the drill sergeant from Celebrity Fit Club. Who would you put your money on?

Aside from the drill sergeant look-alike, he was pissing off the season ticket holders sitting in front of me that kept looking back, the guy that brought his two kids that was visibly uncomfortable, the people next to me, and their nachos. Yes, even their nachos were annoyed.

As it got progressively worse throughout the game, the fan who was sitting directly in front of him got an usher to do something about the vocal fan. In response, I heard him scream: “I’m cheering for my team! I’m allowed to cheer for my team!” It was a textbook case of the old saying, “It’s not what you say; it’s how you say it.”

I know at some point this devolves into a little bit of a freedom of speech debate. Technically, the only thing that he was doing wrong was being annoying. If there was a law that banned obnoxious people, then Mike Milbury would have been locked-up years ago. We’re talking life sentence here people.

But there’s also the common courtesy debate. It’s like the drunken guy that is pushing into you at a concert and says, “I’m just trying to have a good time man.” Like me being in his way when he’s a stumbling drunk is impeding his good time. At some point, can we just say back to them, “I’m just trying to have a good time too?”

Today, I want to ask everyone this question. Whose side do you take here? Do you take the side of the fan that is annoying everyone else (but isn’t violent and paid for his ticket like everyone else)? Or do you take the side of the fan that is watching the game, paid for his ticket and has someone screaming in his ear?

The system is broken. When common sense and rules have so noticeably diverged, then something is wrong. If nothing else, that is what we can take from the Matt Cooke hit on Marc Savard.

As reported by Bob McKenzie of TSN today, league disciplinarian Colin Campbell will not fine or suspend Matt Cooke for his shot to the head of Boston Bruins’ forward Marc Savard. Despite the hit being noticeably dirty, uncalled for, and Savard leaving the rink on a stretcher, the NHL stated that nothing he did was against the rules and no punishment is necessary. Campbell went on to explain that they were following the precedent that they had set when they chose not to suspend Mike Richards for his hit on David Booth earlier this season.

Legally speaking, Colin Campbell made the right decision in choosing not to punish Matt Cooke for his blindside shoulder to the head of Marc Savard. First of all, there’s currently no penalty for that kind of hit. It’s a shoulder check (i.e. not an elbow) that was delivered high. Secondly, Campbell followed the precedent that he set by not suspending Mike Richards earlier in the season. In the legal world, precedents and the way laws are interpreted are just as important as the rules themselves.

But as we’ve stated before, just because something is legal doesn’t necessarily mean you should do it. Common sense says that hitting someone in the head is wrong and shouldn’t be allowed. Apparently next season, they’ll have that documented as well.

Taking a step back, the absence of punishment isn’t really a surprise at all. The precedent had been set to let head shots go unpunished. Because of prior history, many fans thought that a 3-5 game suspension would be coming from the league office. Like the head shot, there has been a precedent sent to punish repeat offenders more harshly than first-time offenders. And then there was a segment of fans that thought that the league should make an example of him and suspend him for at least 10 games. I’m not defending any of these options over the other, but I wouldn’t have been surprised at all to see any of them handed down.

When confronted with a cheap shot that injured an opponent by a player with a history of cheap shots, Colin Campbell chose to look the other way and let the boys “play on.” In his explanation, he said that Mike Richards’ hit which was in the flow of the game was equivalent to Matt Cooke’s cold shoulder that was NOT in the flow of the game. He hid behind the company line, “We’re following the precedent that has been set,” disregarding whether the prior precedent was correct in the first place.

Thankfully this will be a penalty next season. But until then, remember that any shot to the head for the rest of the season will be neither a penalty, nor a suspension. After all, the almighty precedent has been set.

This is a messy situation and there is no right or wrong answer. What do you think? Did they get it right or wrong?

VFMS Podcast: March 9, 2010 (Click To Download)

The March 9th episode of the VFMS Podcast is up for your listening pleasure. There are a few different ways to listen. You can either stream the show directly from your computer to your ears at BlogTalkRadio. If you’re into downloading or subscribing to podcasts for your iPod, all you have to do is click the handy iTunes link once you get to the show’s page. And if you want to download it, you can do that too. Of course, you can also bypass the site all together and go straight to iTunes.
If you like what you hear, Vote and Comment over on iTunes!

Now that the Olympics and Trade Deadline are finally in our rearview mirror, we get back to our normal Pacific Division and hockey format. This week, we take a look at the Phoenix Coyotes and their push to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2001-02 season. Here are a few Coyotes links to get you in a Valley of the Sun state of mind.

Travis Hair has figured out that the Coyotes’ magic number for playoffs is 8.5. What is the Magic Number? He explains… (Five For Howling)

Recreation of  season ticket holders Q&A with Coyotes GM Don Maloney with some very good commentary. (Coyotes Hip Check)

Because there’s more to the Pacific than the Desert Dogs, here are a few other links around the Pacific Division.

James Mirtle has his “Playoff Push” that breaks down the record each team probably needs to have down the stretch to make the playoffs. (The Globe and Mail)

The conditional 7th round pick that the Kings sent to the Blue Jackets? Yeah, the condition is, “If the Kings win the Stanley Cup this season.” Otherwise, no pick is sent. (LA Kings Insider)

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Lastly, we take a look at the Matt Cooke / Marc Savard hit that rocked the GM meetings in Boca Raton. Was it legal or not? Should it have been legal? And of course, we take a look at the disciplinary action. Here are a few other sites that have had some good looks/perspectives on the hit and ensuing fallout. After all, we’ve been through this before…

Burgundy looks at the hit, some of the awful analysis from the “experts,” and reminds us that the hockey world of reporting is changing. (Stay Classy)

As it stands today, here’s a look at how I think the suspensions should be handed out.

GM committee frames plan to discipline head shots. (NHL.com)

Are there more head shots today because the league eliminated the obstruction that used to slow opponents down? (Razor With An Edge)

“Olympic-style rules on head shots unlikely” by Helene Elliott (LA Times)

We’ll be back at it next week (Tuesday, March 16th) at 8:00 PST as the NHL teams head down the stretch. Next week we’ll be taking a look at the San Jose Sharks and if we can expect this playoff year to be any different than the last few years. We’ll also take our normal walk around the hockey blogosphere and the rest of the Pacific Division. We’ll see you then…

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As always, you can find me on Twitter at @ViewFromMySeats and my co-host Jennifer Shaw at @gimmeapuck.

Blog Talk Radio: Episode Link
Blog Talk Radio: Main Podcast Link
Direct iTunes Link
You can check out previous podcasts here.

I had a nice post all written about Sidney Crosby and his excitement over finally getting a Poni, and how that excitement translated to him taking the NHL goal scoring lead. It was a touching story. A story of a 22 year old boy who finally got his wish.

Crosby had taken the goal scoring lead on Saturday against the Dallas Stars. His 43rd and 44th goals of the year added to what is a new career high every time he scores a goal for the rest of the season. His previous career high in a season was his rookie year in 2005-06, when he scored 39. The two goal game on Saturday was also his 13th multi-goal game of the season, which includes three hat tricks.

Then, tonight, Alex Ovechkin came along. Mr. I Have A Brand New Haircut That My Mommy Gave Me Ovechkin decided he didn’t care for Crosby’s Little Poni story and went ahead and scored two goals of his own, the first time he’d scored in seven games.

Thanks for nothing Ovechkin...

I cursed Ovechkin. I cursed him because he ruined my original post. He could have scored one goal and ended his drought, and still left Sid the Kid with the scoring lead. But no, he had to tell Crosby “I score goal, I lead league too.”

After a few minutes, I calmed down. I realized that I was watching one of the two best players in the league. Sure, he ruined my cute little post poking fun at Crosby. But then I thought to myself, “Crosby will do his Greg Louganis impression soon enough, then whine about it, and you’ll have hours of fun with that!”

What am I getting at here? Crosby and Ovechkin will give everyone plenty of things to poke fun at throughout the rest of this season. However, the rest of this season will also give us the pleasure of watching the two best offensive players in the NHL go head-to-head in the race for the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy.

In 58 games, Ovechkin has 44 goals. Crosby has 44 goals through 65 games…but I’m sure NBC just cut away from regular programming to tell you that. Both teams have 16 games remaining. They go head-to-head two more times this season; March 24th in Washington and April 6th in Pittsburgh.

After I realized all of these things, I wasn’t as mad at Ovechkin anymore. Yes, he ruined my original post, but what he and Crosby can give us for the rest of the season should be very fun to watch… and bonus: I was still able to poke fun at both of them!

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Carlos Figueiredo can usually be found explaining the greatness of Marty Brodeur and David Clarkson over at Speaking of the Devils. If you’re up for upper-division Twitter, he can be found at @SpeakoftheDevs.

Take the most skilled forward on the Boston Bruins. Pair him with a Pittsburgh Penguin who has a reputation for being a dirty player. Mix in a shot to the head to a player in a vulnerable position,  yet another player who is unable to leave the ice under his own power, and you have an incident that is going to get some attention. Thank you very much Matt Cooke—you’ve put this issue right back in the spotlight on the eve of the general manager meetings. Talk about an agenda-setter.

Savard was in a vulnerable position and never saw Cooke coming and then you add the head shot to it. Somehow none of the on-ice officials saw anything wrong with the hit, but my guess is that they will be wearing out the rewind and pause buttons on the DVD player in Colin Campbell’s office tonight. –Stanley Cup of Chowder

The truth is that this could be any two players. It doesn’t even matter that one of the players is the skilled Marc Savard and the other is pest, Matt Cooke (who has a questionable past). It could have been a member of Team Canada who is the captain of his team in Philadelphia hitting a Florida Panther with a shoulder/elbow to the head. It could be any two players. It’s not the participants that make this a dirty play that needs to be looked at—it’s the act itself.

In the aftermath and ensuing debates, we get into discussions of whether or not the elbow was up. Did they lead with the elbow at all? Was it late? Was the puck in the area? Was the player in a vulnerable position? Did the checker leave his feet before or after he made the hit?

He's not the first... he's just the latest...

Let me get this straight: A man left the ice on a stretcher and the discussion is whether or not it was a penalty? The question wasn’t if it was dirty, it was if it was legal. That’s all I need to hear. The system is broken.

Why don’t we compare this to real life? We all know that there are things in real life that are just WRONG. I don’t need a law that tells me murder is wrong. I don’t need a rule that tells me that I shouldn’t steal something from someone that doesn’t belong to me. So when we all know that hitting someone in the head is wrong (yet still do it), maybe it’s time to step in and MAKE it illegal.

Keeping with the real life theme, think about that being your kid out there. Can you imagine seeing that happen, then having to deal with the fact that the hit that knocked him out is legal? How the hell do you deal with that?

Here’s the deal: when someone hits someone else in the head, THAT’S the issue. That should be the suspendable offense. The aggressor might get be suspended after the fact for an elbow that wasn’t an elbow or for hitting a player that wasn’t near the puck. But isn’t that kind of missing the point? It’s exactly like sending Al Capone to jail for mail fraud. But there is no rule in the NHL rule book that specifically prohibits a hit to the head. Why the hell not?

International hockey has it right. A hit to the head is a penalty. The end. In theory I didn’t think that I’d like the international rule. Personally, it’s an interesting change of opinion. Initially, I was a little afraid that it would take out some of the hitting in the game because players would be apprehensive to make contact. But after watching the rule in practice, I’m a huge fan. It takes out so much of the guess work in high hits. Whether the hit was an elbow or not never plays into the equation.

This isn’t a knee jerk reaction, either. We’ll hear plenty of reactionary answers from people that don’t follow hockey. It’s not the first time that someone has been hit in the head this season without the player being penalized. And if something isn’t done in the near future, it won’t be the last.

Does anyone want to see this again?

At some point, we have to go with the “common sense” approach to rulemaking. It’s common sense that one player can’t drop kick another when they have the puck. Its common sense that you can’t take your skate blade and stomp on an opponent (unless you’re Chris Pronger). And it’s common sense that, in a sport with players traveling at high speeds in opposite directions, you should not hit each other in the head.

There’s already enough of an outcry and movement started that,  at some point, we’re going to end up in a hockey world that completely bans shots to the head. But what is going to be the incident that finally convinces everyone? Clearly, watching David Booth wheeled off the ice wasn’t enough. Hopefully, watching Marc Savard carted off the ice will be a gruesome enough visual to get the decision-makers’ attention. Because if not, what will it take? Honestly, I don’t want to know—and hope I never have to see it.

Interestingly enough, the GMs are getting together in Florida this week for their semi-annual meetings. Whether headshots were on the agenda Sunday morning or not, they certainly were added by Sunday night. By no means am I the kind of fan that thinks the sport is too dangerous and is always looking for ways to dilute the game and make it safer. Hockey is an inherently dangerous sport. There are big bodies in a confined space moving extremely fast with bad intentions. Shit is going to happen. But when we find something we can do to protect players from UNNECESSARY injuries, we do it.

At this point, there’s no reason NOT to make this a punishable offense—a hit to the head is NOT part of the game. Nor should it be. It’s about time the NHL realized that.

“I Might Just Be A Hockey Fan In California” is a feature that will be posted every Saturday here at the View From My Seats. There are plenty of things going on in the hockey world (and even the sports world); and you know everyone has an opinion. This is a place for some quick hits of the week that was.

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I might just be a hockey fan in California, but:

- That Gold Medal game made my life a little bit better.  And I’m American.

- It’s interesting to see how few prospects were traded this year at the deadline. Could the salary cap finally have people building from within?

- As of yesterday, the 4-7 seeds in the Western Conference were: Phoenix Coyotes, Los Angeles Kings, Colorado Avalanche and Nashville Predators. If you had that foursome in Vegas before the season, you could have made some serious cash.

- After the deadline passed on Tuesday, a reporter asked Brian Burke if he would do the Phil Kessel trade over again if given a second chance.  How badly do you think he wanted to punch that reporter in the face?

- Before the season, I thought the Islanders were carrying 3 goaltenders so they would have trade bait at the deadline. I now know that they were carrying 3 because one of them is named Rick DiPietro.

Family > Everything else

- I have to give some props to Ray Whitney of the Carolina Hurricanes. He had a no-trade clause, is building a house in the Raleigh area, and sounds like he’s putting his family’s roots down. When push came to shove, he chose his family. You have to respect that.

- Sometimes players just need a change of scenery to take the next step in their development. Keep that in mind, Kings and Coyotes fans, if you see Teddy Purcell and Peter Mueller thriving on their new teams.

- I don’t even think Don Cherry believes what Don Cherry says anymore.

- Ryan Miller should be cheered in 24 NHL cities for the rest of the season.

- Have you seen Kari Lehtonen’s new Dallas Stars mask? That is cool in goaltender mask form.

- I want the Thrashers and Coyotes to make the playoffs this season—mostly because their fans have been shit on for about 12 months straight now.

- Scott Walker had 3 goals all season in Carolina; then he responded with 2 in his first game with Washington. There must be something in the water in DC.

- I’m wrong a lot of the time—but damn I was right about the Oilers.  There is absolutely NO method to the madness going on up there. And now they have Ryan Whitney. Seriously, how much more can the fans take?

- Sean Avery’s antics are well-documented. But I’m telling you, I hate him just a little bit less after seeing this on Thursday night. Comedic genius.

- I can’t muster up “Marian Gaborik is hurt” jokes anymore. I’m not saying the well of jokes is dry, but it’s getting there. Who am I kidding? He just wanted to keep Glen Sather company in the press-box while fans hurl insults like San Francisco fans hurl batteries.

We all need to remember how to count properly. The Islanders really only have 2.5 goaltenders...

- Just a few hours after the deadline passed, Michael Leighton gave up 4 goals in just about half a game. For him, that’s perfect timing. For Philly fans, not so much.

- You know what’s amazing? There are three teams in the East right now that have negative goal differentials and are currently in a playoffs spot. Since when can teams give up more goals than they score and make the playoffs? That just doesn’t sound right…

- Predators fans are really going to like Dustin Boyd.

- With each passing day, it’s becoming more likely that DirecTV subscribers (like myself) are going to miss the playoffs because of their pissing contest with Versus. How the hell has it come to this?

- I really like Ray Ferraro, but after hearing him announce this cheap shot by Max Lapierre, I like him just a little bit more.

- Gary Bettman is a pompous little person that needs to be fired for the good of the game.

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So what are your thoughts from the NHL week that was?

Click here for our archive of past editions of our “I Might Just Be A Hockey Fan In California” feature.

I caught an article during the Olympics that made me seriously think about Joe Thornton. Die By The Blade had a good post that was contrasting the styles/careers of Jumbo Joe and someone who is the polar opposite: Chris Drury. The piece goes on to explain how Drury is small in stature but has come up huge in every big moment throughout his career. On the other hand, Thornton has been a great player throughout his career, yet still has not been able to step up his game under the brightest spotlights.

Just to clarify: That is a Shark head, not playoff pressure swallowing Thornton whole...

Just look at Drury and Thornton and it’s obvious that they’re complete opposites. But it made me think about another comparison that I’ve had in my head for awhile: Joe Thornton vs. Ryan Getzlaf. Both players have the body of giant and the hands of a skilled specialist. Both guys are among the league’s elite in passing, ice vision, and overall scoring. They’re both alternate captains on their respective teams and both are the proud new owners of a Gold Medal from Vancouver. So what’s the difference?

Actually, that’s where the similarities end. Since he was picked #1 overall in 1997, Thornton has been expected to be the kind of player that can carry his team to a Stanley Cup. They might not be realistic expectations—and they might not even be fair expectations, but when a guy is picked first overall and is productive in the regular season, he’s supposed to lead his team to glory. It’s not enough for Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, and Joe Thornton to be good players. They need to lead good teams not only to regular season success—but playoff success, as well.

There’s a fine line between being a great player and being a great player who makes their teammates better. During the regular season, there’s no question that Thornton makes his teammates around him better. Hell, he made Jonathan Cheechoo into a league-leading goal scorer. That would be AHLer, Jonathan Cheechoo. We’ve all watched Thornton lift his linemates to heights they never would have accomplished without him. But that is lifting linemates. Have we ever seen him lift his entire team?

Herein lies the difference between Thornton and his Californian/Canadian counterpart. Not only does Getzlaf help players like Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan thrive, but the entire Ducks team takes on his persona. He plays a skilled game with a healthy dose of grit and nastiness—just like the rest of the Ducks do. Just like the rest of Team Canada did in the Olympics.

Ryan Getzlaf might not have an Art Ross Trophy to his name and he certainly doesn’t have a Hart Trophy. But what he does have is a Stanley Cup. The joke was that the Ducks were a one line team that had a Hall of Fame defense and a money goaltender. Well, that one line team had no problem dominating in the playoffs and winning the Stanley Cup Finals in 5 short games. Can you imagine Thornton doing that? The fantasy hockey player in you might, but the hockey fan that WATCHES the game knows that there’s a better chance of him disappearing.

A glaring example of their differences was on full display during the Olympics. How many times did you notice Ryan Getzlaf in Vancouver? He was either defending teammates when the opponents were physical, creating glorious scoring chances for linemates, or charging the net and setting the tone for his team. How many times did you see Thornton do those things? Better yet, how many times did you notice Thornton at all? I know he was out there because I repeatedly heard Patrick Marleau and Dany Heatley’s names, but I’ll be damned if I ever saw him. He was, quite possibly, the most unnoticeable 6’3, 235 lbs man in the history of all sports.

If you can get past the permanent smirk on his face or his male pattern baldness, he's pretty good...

Let’s fast forward to April and the NHL playoffs. As it stands today, the Sharks are the best team in the Western Conference and the Ducks are sitting on the outside looking in. But if the Ducks narrowly made the playoffs, which player would scare you more: Joe Thornton or Ryan Getzlaf? Of course, the Sharks are a dominant team and would strike fear into anyone, but I’m talking about the specific players. Thornton or Getzlaf? When the money’s on the line, Getzlaf scares the hell out of me—and it has nothing to do with his receding hairline.

It’s no secret that Joe Thornton has struggled in the playoffs. In 76 career playoff games, Thornton has only mustered 12 goals (and only once scored more than 2 goals in a playoff year). To put that into perspective, three players had that many goals in last year’s playoffs alone!

The Olmypics were simply more of the same. In 7 games, Jumbo Joe only managed a goal and an assist playing on a line with snipers (and San Jose teammates) Patrick Marleau and Dany Heatley. In those same 7 games, Getzlaf had 3 goals, 4 assists, and played an overall TOUGHER game than Thornton.

Thornton: 12 goals, 41 assists for 53 points in 76 career playoff games (.70 ppg)
Getzlaf: 16 goals, 31 assists for 47 points in 56 career playoff games (.84 ppg)

When you see the drop in production compared to the regular season, the difference is even more noticeable.

Thornton: 918 points in 899 career games played (1.02 ppg)
Getzlaf: 331 points in 354 career games played (.94 ppg)

In last year’s deciding Game 6, Thornton dropped the gloves with Getzlaf during the game’s opening faceoff. I’ll give credit where credit is due—he tried to play the part of inspirational leader. But to an outsider who is not a fan of the Sharks or the Ducks, he just came off as a guy that had been listening to the naysayers in the media and was going to prove his point first thing. The problem was that the media and his opponent were in his head before the game had even started. Somehow, I don’t think Ryan Getzlaf has that problem.

It’s interesting that if you asked the casual hockey fan which player they’d prefer, most of them would jump to the bigger-named Joe Thornton. But when you stop and think about it, the discussion isn’t as cut and dry as the outsider may think. After the Olympics, more people are familiar with Getzlaf’s overall game. Sooner or later, people are going to realize just how good he is.

VFMS Podcast: March 3, 2010 (Click To Download)

The March 3nd episode of the VFMS Podcast is up for your listening pleasure. There are a few different ways to listen. You can either stream the show directly from your computer to your ears at BlogTalkRadio. If you’re into downloading or subscribing to podcasts for your iPod, all you have to do is click the handy iTunes link once you get to the show’s page. And if you want to download it, you can do that too. Of course, you can also bypass the site all together and go straight to iTunes.
If you like what you hear, Vote and Comment over on iTunes!

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The NHL Trade Deadline.  It’s an adult hockey fan’s version of Christmas morning.  Did you get all the gifts you wanted for your team?  Did you want a scoring winger or a puck moving defenseman under your Christmas tree?  After 55 players and 25 draft picks exchanged hands in 31 trades, there was something for everyone at this year’s trade deadline.  And of course, we’re here to figure out what it all means… and make fun of some teams while we’re at it.  Would you expect anything less?

Some teams look like they’re ready to have a firesale and some teams are ready to make a Stanley Cup push. We’ll talk about them too.  As you listen to us talk hockey on the podcast, here are a few links that we referenced and/or go with our topic.

Also, Chris Wassel from The Program podcast and TheHockeyProgram.net dropped in to give us a little East coast perspective.

All of our Trade Deadline Cheat Sheets. You can find a fairly brief overview for all 30 teams. Who has cap space? Who has prospects? Who is buying and who is selling? All 30 teams—broken down by division.  You can see if they did what they needed to do or if they sat on the sidelines with their hands tied behind their backs.

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division
Northeast Division
Southeast Division

Western Conference

Pacific Division
Central Division
Northwest Division

Here are some other links that should digest the action of the Trade Deadline.

A list of each and every trade this week, including tons of links to keep you entertained.

Breaking Down The Stretch Drive (NHL.com)

Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli: “We’d want to get some type of top-nine forward that has an offensive bent to his game… But there aren’t many of those guys out there.” (Boston Herald).  So instead, they traded a defenseman, added a defenseman and basically ran in place.

Coyotes GM said that they wouldn’t trade away any of their top assets for a big deadline acquisition. He insisted that they wouldn’t make the trades because teams were asking for too much in return in any trade—and insisted that it had nothing to do with money. All of that was via the Arizona Republic.  Then, Don Maloney and the Phoenix Coyotes were arguably the most active team on Deadline Day.  I guess they were ready to make deals and the asking price was not too high.

How far out on the limb did this guy have to go to come up with this?  From the “No Shit, Sherlock” category: The Oilers are looking to deal some players before the deadline. (The Globe and Mail).  Then they went on to try to trade their best defenseman (successfully) and their unproductive captain (unsuccessfully).

Rick DiPietro is hurt. Again. So yeah, those other two goaltenders they have?  They didn’t go anywhere. (Newsday)

The Atlanta Thrashers picked up a 48-year-old AHL defenseman. Seriously, the man was alive for the Cuban Missile Crisis. (Blueland Blog)

And finally, of course, everyone’s premature race to grade the deadline performances.  (You know, like this podcast)

Puck Daddy’s 2010 NHL Trade Deadline Report Cards (Puck Daddy)
“Anaheim Ducks one of the winners on Trade Deadline Day” (Mucking and Grinding)

Winners and Losers in the East and West from recent guest, Brandon Worley at NBC’s Pro Hockey Talk.
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Next week, we’ll be back at our usual time (8:00 PST / 11:00 EST on Tuesday, March 9th). We’ll have a lot of Pacific Division stuff to catch up on then—so come back and hear us do, whatever it is that we do.  With all of the action around the Pacific on Deadline Day, it should be interesting to see how the new acquisitions fit with their new teams.  We’ll judge swiftly and harshly (mostly, because that makes for better radio).

As always, you can find me on Twitter at @ViewFromMySeats and my co-host Jennifer Shaw at @gimmeapuck.  For those of you that prefer Facebook, we have you covered there too!

Blog Talk Radio: Episode Link
Blog Talk Radio: Main Podcast Link
Direct iTunes Link
You can check out previous podcasts here.