Commandant

I think its Eller and not DD who will be moved out to make room for Galchenyuk at Center. Fact is watch the last 50 games.... Eller is amongst the worst forwards on the team right now, nothing offensively, bad turnovers, stupid penalties. DD is playing amazing hockey, and with what he's doing he's worth every penny of $3.5 million and is a legitimate second line NHL centre. Galchenyuk - DD (2a)/Plekanec(2b) - Bournival or Prust (or White) isn't a bad rotation up the middle.

If we offered him money and power, and the avalanche agreed to let him go, it could happen. Its really that simple... all three parties need to agree. Colorado needs to agree to let him out of his deal. Roy needs to agree to come and we need to agree to hire him. In order to get the Avs and Roy to agree you likely need to give him at least the same job title (or better)... He's currently VP of hockey operations and head coach, as well as a raise in salary.

LWOS interviews Martin Reway on his season, and on the World Juniors, and what is to come on the eve of the QMJHL playoffs. http://lastwordonsports.com/2014/03/20/interview-gatineau-olympiques-martin-reway/

As the press release says, He's got a long road of recovery ahead, but I'm just glad we are no longer talking about things that are life threatening. Even if he never plays hockey, he will still live a full life.

Jeremie Gregoire is a finalist for QMJHL Scholastic player of the year. Zach Fucale is a finalist for QMJHL personality of the year.

Brady Vail Was Named Most Underrated Player by OHL Western Conference Coaches. He was named 2nd to Bo Horvat in Best faceoff man.

Great news http://lastwordonsports.com/2014/03/19/tim-bozon-update-awake-stable-intensive-care/

Brendan Perlini, Niagara http://lastwordonsports.com/2014/03/15/five-minutes-brendan-perlini-niagara-ice-dogs/ Roland McKeown and Spencer Watson, Kingston http://lastwordonsports.com/2014/03/17/five-minutes-roland-mckeown-spencer-watson-progress/

The College Free Agent Class of 2014, Final Part. Two names to highlight in part 4 are Trevor van Riemsdyk and Mark Zengerle http://lastwordonsports.com/2014/03/16/college-free-agents-class-2014-part-4/

Would you like any of the following players on your team? Andy MacDonald, Chris Kunitz, Matt Read, Dustin Penner, Tyler Bozak, Torey Krug, Danny DeKeyser, Cam Talbot, Ben Scrivens, Joel Ward, J.T. Brown, Jason Garrison All were college FAs in recent years. As for Part 3, its headlined by Kenney Morrison http://lastwordonsports.com/2014/03/15/college-free-agents-class-2014-part-3/

Part Two. Highlights include Haggerty (Rangers), Krushelnyski, Folin and McCarthy http://lastwordonsports.com/2014/03/14/college-free-agents-class-2014-part-2/

His season has been over for a while anyways. Broken ankle, surgery, done for the year.

Press Release from Saskatoon Board of Health, the Montreal Canadiens, and the Kootenay Ice. http://lastwordonsports.com/2014/03/13/press-release-update-tim-bozon/

Its that time of year (two guys have already signed with the Rangers and Islanders), here's a look at 40 College free agents to watch... in four parts. Part 1 is headlined by Greg Carey and Austin Czarnik as we go through the list alphabetically. http://lastwordonsports.com/2014/03/13/college-free-agents-class-2014-part-1/

He's not falling deeper into the first. He's getting top 10 buzz right now. I can't see him lasting beyond 14.

George Parros isn't soft.... Phil Kessel is extremely soft. Which one do you want to have on a hockey team. McCarron may not be soft, but if he doesn't have skill, who cares?

MP - DD - BG TV - TP - AG DB - LE - BG © TM - RW - BP GTFO RB

I'd keep the first line together and not mess with what works. My goal would be finding the third member of a Plek-Vanek line. I think its Chuck.

Gionta was off the PP in the San Jose game. Only 7 seconds of PP time for him in the entire game.

Weaver if put with a good partner, has the skills to be a good possession defenceman. he doesn't just chip it out of the glass and has a good first pass. He should be in the top 6, and being RH is also an asset. He's like another Gorges. Yes, Gorges and Weaver do the shot blocking thing, and shot blocking is still a good thing, but they aren't "shot block specialists" they have enough skating ability, puck handling ability, and passing skill to start a transition game with a breakout pass, and thus are good possession guys. Murray lacks the second part of that. He is a fine shot blocker and hitter, but once he gets the puck, its chip it off the glass and give up possession.

I used to think the advanced stats were useless bullshit... but the more i look into them, the more I see that they have some uses. Are they as perfect as some think? are they the be all and end all? Of course not. But they are a decent tool when used properly and in combination with other tools, and they do shift paradigms. Big and strong, and hitting is still good.... but it needs to be done by a player who has enough skating and skill that once he uses those tools to get the puck off his opponent, he's able to then translate that change in possession into something positive, into generating offence. Hitting for the sake of hitting is far less effective than hitting to separate the other team from the puck, and then taking that puck and trying to score goals.

The whole thing about the article I posted, is that Sutter an NHL Stanley Cup winning coach is telling us... Hitting and Blocking good is no longer an effective form of defence. Teams are discovering that. The best teams (and his LA team have been amongst the best in the NHL in several years) aren't looking for these guys anymore. They want defencemen who can skate and pass and get the puck out of their zone quickly. They want forwards who can forecheck hard and keep the puck in the offensive zone for long stretches. They are all about Possession. Thats what Anaheim, St. Louis, Chicago, LA, San Jose, Boston, Pittsburgh, are all trying to do. And those are the 7 teams most people call cup contenders this season. Teams that play possession, either by skill (Pittsburgh, Chicago) or by being killer on the forecheck (Boston, St. Louis, Los Angeles) or Both (Anaheim, San Jose).

The thing is... a player of his skillset won't be able to attempt to shoot five times a game. He doesn't have the skill to carry the play and make offensive plays or else he's turning the puck over at the blueline like your florida example. It may seem easy to just say shoot more, but when you have a limited player like Murray its not that easy. A great goal scorer will score goals because of a great shot. But they need more than that. Ovechkin's shooting percentage isn't that much higher than other top line wingers around the league. What he has is the skill set to take far more shots over the course of a season. More possession, more shots... more goals.

Douglas Murray is the worst player in the NHL given a regular shift. This despite the fact he plays the easiest competition of all players on the Habs, and is given the advantage of huge offensive zone starts. The only guys with advanced stats worse then him in the NHL have played less than 20 games, or have played less than 6 minutes a night on average. Thats it. That is why Murray is the black hole of the team, especially with guys like Tinordi and Beaulieu around.

Thats fine, but it doesn't change my point that a guy who is an absolute black hole when it comes to possession, shouldn't play more than a guy who would improve the possession game. If you have players to play a more possession based approach.. use them. Also dump and chase, can be a possession game, if you are a strong forechecking team... which describes LA, Boston, St. Louis.... etc.... Using size to play the forecheck and dumping, chasing and retrieving to generate offence is still effective. It requires speed though... and those teams couple the size with speed, and thats why it works. Whats becoming less and less effective is a player who can't move the puck at all... who can't play a heavy dump and chase game in the offensive zone, and his only contribution is to block shots, throw hits and chip it off the glass. All of your defencemen need to be able to skate with the puck a little bit, and make an outlet pass. Thats the difference between a Gorges and a Murray. Gorges isn't gonna score 20 points, but he can help the possession game, where Murray just can't.