Brodeur to Test Free Agency?

Living legend Martin Bordeur has said that he is going ot test the free agent market this summer in hopes to get a 1 year contract for what looks to be his final season. It appears that after several conversations with the Devils of where he has played all 20 of his NHL seasons with, that he will be not be playing there next year. 

This has to make Schneider happy as he has stated he wants to make sure that he is the teams number 1 goalie before he signs an extension to stay a Devil past next season. 

Can Brodeur? Is this even a question to ask? He still has what it takes to help a team especially a team with a goalie that is on the verge of becoming a number 1. Brodeur wants to come back and play and he wants to win, what he needs is a contender with a young goalie to train for the future and there isn’t that many of those as well as he needs to take a pay cut fromvthe 4.5 million that he has made the last several years and look to make 2 million or less. Where he does have a wealth of knowledge, most teams have former NHL goalies as their goalie coach who can pass on the same amount of knowledge so he needs to find a way to make himself a good sale to a team that may be looking for an aging goalie who only wants one year. 

Hey, if Nabokov doesn’t resign with the Islanders, that may be a perfect situation to play along with Halak. The Islanders are on the cusp of becoming a playoff contender, they just need strong goaltending and healthy players.

Kings Knock Off Blackhawks!

So now we know that the Kings will face the Rangers for the Stanley Cup after ousting the Blackhawks in overtime of game 7. This is going to be an interesting series as the teams went 1-1 during the regular season. The Rangers will need to keep their speed up and hope for better luck in scoring on Jonathan Quick then they had against the Canadians. Goals will not be easy to get on both sides whether you whose in net. 

This series is going to come down to goalies and defense. Both teams can score but it is going to come down to which team can stop the most pucks. Where the defensive edge goes to the Rangers, the goalies are tied and the offense going to the Kings who have been flying high since the playoffs started after not scoring often during the regular season. 

I also feel bad for the Kings fans in California as the game will either start at 7 or 8 eastern time which is either 4 or 5 western time. Most will either be in work or on their way homes. May take the home ice feel out of the game.

Want to Write for the Poke Check?

Currently looking for writers to add to the blog. There is a lot of things going on in the hockey world and this is something that I do on the side so looking for people to help, especially on the west coast or people who pay more attention to the west coast. I have to be up at 4am EST so west coast games are hard for me to watch. Email thepokecheck@gmail.com if interested.

Rumor Mill: Joe Thornton

So the rumors are starting to pour in and for now the biggest rumor is that Captain Joe Thornton of the San Jose Sharks will not be with the team when the 14-15 season starts. After several years of being a dominate team during the season and falling flat during the playoffs, it may be time to start replacing the old guard. It is an idea that can benefit the team and hurt it. 

You won’t find a better play maker then Thornton. He won’t put up goals but he will help make them. He can help almost any team he plays for and still has a few years in the tank. He reminds me of Jagr a bit in the way he plays. 

The question is whether they can trade the captain especially with his 3 year extension starting this summer, or will they have to buy him out.

Typically when you buy out a player it is because he isn’t performing as expected, but Thornton is playing good hockey so one would imagine the Sharks would rather trade him and try to get something in return and not have to pay him over time with a buyout.

Thornton would bring in some good assets whether they are players or picks, but it would be interesting to see what he can do on another team, maybe a Boston reunion?

Ozo to Retire from Professional Hockey

Sandis Ozolinsh (remember this guy?) has been playing professional hockey the last 6 years in Europe is set to retire to pursue a career in politics. He last played for the San Jose Sharks 6 years ago and was all but forgotten until the Olympics where he almost upset Canada.

Another Late Hit

Injuries and late hits are becoming all the rage in the series between the Canadians and Rangers. You start the series with Prush hitting Stepan late and getting a 2 game suspension along with the “depends which team you cheer for” collision between Kreider and Price and now we have John Moore and Dale Weise. Moore, not known for causing injury hit Weise with an obviously late hit (but at least this hit was called) and after a trip to the locker room Weise was able to return to the game.

Moore is facing a hearing from the league and will probably get a 2-5 game suspension from the league. The Raners have Diaz who they can bring in to replace Moore during his possible suspension.

Can Price Return?

After last nights high scoring game between the Canadians and the Rangers one can only ask if the extension of the series possibly allows for Carey Price to recover enough from his injuries to return to the net by end of series. Price has been seen skating with and without pads before team practices, including taking some light shots from his coaches. Whether they are getting him ready to play against the Rangers or in the finals in they move on remains to be seen, but in the playoffs players are often rushed back to service again injury or enough information is allowed out in rumors where the other team doesn’t know whats coming.

Carcillo Facing Long Suspension

We all know the rules, don’t lay your hands on the officials. When you watch the play where Dorsett fought Prust they show Carcillo going to the box escorted by the official and his elbow coming up and hitting him in the head. What they only showed once or twice in the play is that before being escorted to the box Carcillo was coasting around what lookings like 20-30 feet from the fight along the boards not even facing the fight when the linesman pushed him against the boards and grabbed him by his collar. The rules may be different for how an official may touch a player then a player to an official but if someone did that to me I can’t say I wouldn’t be pissed and react the same way.

Should Prust be Suspended?

The NHL has rules to keep players safe during the game. A lot of these rules in the more recent years have been about hits to the head. When looking at the hit you need to view several different angles. Some of them show what looks like a hit to the head but others show and looks to be a hit to the chest where his head came forward. Either way, the hit looks scary and painful and wasn’t needed. 

The hit came late. Stepan had already moved the puck and had taken several strides up ice before being leveled by Prust in a late hit that was blind siding. Stepan had no way of protecting himself, but is this suspendable? The hit should have been an interference as the puck had left the play but no call was made. It comes down to the breakdown of the rules and whether the important part is if the player was able to protect himself over whether the target was the head.

One can argue Prust aimed for Stepans head in the play and missed, luckily that is for the NHL to decide as Prusts hit will be reviewed today by the NHL and a possible punishment may be handed out.

Islanders Sign Halak!

This is a great signing for the Islanders. They are getting away from the Rick Dipietro days and having to move away from aging goaltender Evgeni Nabokov. Halak is a veteran goalie who the Islanders have signed for 4 years and 18 million, with a cap hit of 4.25 million a year (which is .25 million a year less then Dipietro).The Islanders who have been looking for stable goal tending for several years have a solid goalie for 4 years but as in the case of the Islanders,m is it enough?

With so many good pieces to the puzzle in place it is a wonder why the Islanders already aren’t playoff contenders every year. They need to stop reading from the Oilers playbook and start to play their game to their strengths and hope their captain is healthy. This move will at least put quality to their back end.