Weak Northwest Division Could Benefit Blackhawks posted by Jeff Ponder

Vancouver is the heavy favorite heading into the 2011 NHL playoffs to win the Stanley Cup.  Their Northwest Division foes can vouch for that.

 The Vancouver Canucks, who won the President’s Trophy by a landslide-ten points over the East’s Washington Capitals, posted an impressive 54-19-9 record for a league-leading 117 points in the regular season.  Obviously, the Canucks head into the Quarterfinal Series as the top seed in the Western Conference where they will meet the eighth-seeded Chicago Blackhawks.  But how much did Vancouver playing in the Northwest Division help bloat their point total?

The Northwest Division, which features the Canucks, Calgary Flames, Minnesota Wild, Colorado Avalanche and Edmonton Oilers, saw only one of its teams make the playoffs.  This is the only division in the NHL to do so.

The Canucks had a whopping 18-4-2 record against their Northwest Division foes.  With a record like that, it is easy to see how the Canucks can steamroll through parts of the regular season.  Still impressive?  Yes, very much so.  Anytime a team can dominate in their own division usually means that team will be a top-seed in the playoffs.  But what if Vancouver played in a better division?

Let’s say Vancouver goes .500 against the Northwest Division (12-12-0).  Their record drops down to 48-27-7 and they post 103 points.  While these are still very respectable numbers, that drops them to the third seed (keep in mind that they would still hold onto the division title), and puts them just six points ahead of their current playoff matchup, the Chicago Blackhawks.

Oilers Sign Nikolai Khabibulin to 4-Year, $15 Million Contract posted by Jeff Ponder

After parting ways with goaltender Dwayne Roloson, the Oilers pulled the trick out of their sleeve and signed unrestricted free-agent Nikolai Khabibulin. 

The former Stanley Cup winner enjoyed a great comeback year last season, posting a 25-8-7 record.  This came after being placed on waivers to start the season, since GM Dale Tallon brought in unrestricted free-agent goaltender Cristobal Huet for a long-term contract.  Khabibulin took his job back in classy form, being one of the better goaltenders in the league by the start of 2009. 

The Oilers were desperately in need of goaltending help, with Roloson departing for Long Island a few hours ago.  As it stood, the only goalie under contract that could possibly start in the NHL is Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers.  Nikolai adds Stanley Cup experience as well as the right attitude to make it through the long NHL playoffs.

For the deal that both parties came to, this is a steal for the Oilers.  At an average of $3.75 million per year, the Oilers got exactly what they wanted.  If Khabibulin can play as well as he did last season, the Oilers are a shoe-in for the playoffs.Continue reading "Oilers Sign Nikolai Khabibulin to ..."

Deal Dead -For Now- Senators Trade Dany Heatley to Oilers for Andrew Cogliano, Dustin Penner and Ladislav Smid posted by Jeff Ponder

 **This deal was declined by Heatley since he has a no-trade clause.  He is buying time, so this deal could still be made.

Analysis:  The Dany Heatley saga has possibly come to a close.  TSN.ca is reporting that Heatley had a chance to be dealt to the Oilers Tuesday night.

The Senators are giving up their potential 50-goal scorer, but would be receiving a top-notch return.  Being selected 25th overall in 2005, Andrew Cogliano brings speed and gifted hands to an Ottawa team that lacks offensive depth.  He scored just 38 points last season, but is expected to be an NHL-caliber center for years to come.

Dustin Penner was a restricted free-agent pick-up in 2007, when Oilers GM Kevin Lowe took a plunge and signed him despite giving up their first, second and third round picks in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.  Dustin scored 84 points in two seasons for the Oilers, but his grit in front of the net and on the power-play can only help the Senators.

Smid is coming off his third year in the NHL.  Being a part of the trade that sent Chris Pronger to Anaheim, Smid is a steady stay-at-home defenseman who will stop at nothing to defend his teammates, especially his goaltender.  The Senators lacked a little bit of grit on the back line last season, so the acquisition of Smid will widen their defensive talent.  This may take some pressure off defensemen Chris Phillips and Jason Smith.

The Oilers gave up a lot to get Heatley, but it may be worth it.  Heatley is a two-time 50 goal scorer and a four-time 40 goal scorer.  He has reached the 100-point plateau twice in his career as well.  His best days came when he was on a line with Senators' captain Daniel Alfredsson and center Jason Spezza.  He had a bit of an off-year last season scoring just 39 goals, but he has proven in the past that he is effective when paired with another dynamic player.  Ales Hemsky of the Oilers has been getting praise the past few seasons of being a top-10 forward in the league, so these two skaters may find a way to make magic together.  Add a healthy Shawn Horcoff or the recently-acquired Patrick O'Sullivan at center, this could be another top line that Heatley could be a part of. 

Detroit Rock-bottom posted by Brady Fredericksen

Here, open up your wallet and grab out that $20 bill.

Look at it.

Smell it.

Taste it.

Well, maybe not taste, but you get the picture.

What I'm trying to get at is in these rough and tumble economic
times, keep an eye on that twenty. Look at the city of Detroit; if we
all gave our $20 bill to the city of Detroit, I'm pretty sure it would
still look like trash.
But really, what do you expect? The city was led by a mayor who was
more like Bishop Don Magic Juan than Rudy Giuliani.

The biggest thing Detroit has going for it is its sports teams, and
three of them are in action this spring, and they may be playing for
more than they even know.

With their city in the deteriorating state that it's in, the success
of these teams is crucial to the stimulation of Detroit, both nationally
and worldwide.

From the Tigers to the Pistons to the Redwings, these three teams are
normally the aspirin that helps fans ease away the fall's
Lions-related migraines, but that may not be the case this year.

The Pistons stumbled into the 2009 NBA playoffs as the eighth and final
seed. With an impending match-up with LeBron James and the Cleveland
Cavaliers, the prospects of the Pistons making it to their seventh
consecutive Eastern Conference finals looks bleak.

Alright, I'll be honest; the Pistons do not have any chance of
beating the Cavaliers. No, none, nada, zero.
Anyone who's watched the team can see it; they really don't look
Continue reading "Detroit Rock-bottom"

NHL Trade Deadline Analysis: Part Two posted by Jeff Ponder

With Part One in the books, let’s continue on to see what else happened on this busy day.

Pittsburgh trades a 2009 conditional pick to New York Islanders for Bill Guerin.

  -After acquiring Chris Kunitz a few days ago from Anaheim, the Penguins were back at it today.  Bill Guerin has always been a strong forward to add to your lineup to count on goal scoring, and he also adds grit and leadership to a young Penguin team.  For details on the conditional pick traded from Pittsburgh, TSN.ca offers an explanation at http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=269735&lid=sublink01&

Ponder’s Call:  Pittsburgh has bulked up on offense with these recent acquisitions.  Guerin is a fierce competitor with a strong background in tight situations.  I do not like this deal for the Islanders; they made this trade with just over one hour to go in the deadline.  It is my belief that if they had held on to Guerin about a half hour longer, they could have gotten better than a fifth round pick (which could turn into a third round pick, but who’s counting?).  Advantage Pittsburgh.

Philadelphia trades Scottie Upshall and a 2009 second round pick to Phoenix for Daniel Carcillo.

  -Carcillo, a gritty winger who scraps every chance he gets, will be missed in Phoenix by his beloved fans.  But buck up ye Coyotes faithful; Scottie Upshall adds a slight better scoring touch and physical play as well.  He has been used on the power-play, penalty-kill and all different situations for Philadelphia, despite his dismal 7 goals this season. 
Continue reading "NHL Trade Deadline Analysis: Part Two"

Cole Could be Raising Interest posted by Jeff Ponder

2008-09 has not been a friendly season for the Edmonton Oilers. After 42 games played, the Oilers rank tenth in the Western Conference with 45 points (21-18-3), which is one point out of eighth place. Not too shabby, but looking at this team’s roster and payroll, one would think this roster would be able to produce a lot better point totals. Scoring just 2.76 goals per game (placing them 19th in the league), the scorers do not seem to be present every game. Edmonton’s shots per game totals are pretty miniscule as well, ranking 26th in the NHL with 27.9. The biggest surprise might be where the goals and shots are coming from.

The team-lead for goals-scored is held by sophomore forward Andrew Cogliano and defenseman Sheldon Souray, both notching 12 apiece. Cogliano is not much of a surprise, considering he is a top-prospect for the Alberta franchise. Souray is definitely known for his heavy shot and smart passing ability, but there should be many players that outrank him for the team lead. Souray also leads the team with 132 shots on goal, which is 30 more than second-placed Ales Hemsky. This team needs a more balanced offensive attack, and many players have not been contributing where they could be.

One player that has been on the hot seat is recently-acquired forward Erik Cole. Brought in from a trade that saw Joni Pitkanen head to Carolina, Cole has notched just eleven goals this season. The added blow to the Edmonton team is that Pitkanen has been a strong force for the Hurricanes thus far this season, being a top defenseman for the club.
Continue reading "Cole Could be Raising Interest"

Inbound link contest winner announced! posted by Earn Money Blogging

A big thanks to everyone who participated in the "Inbound Link Contest".  We have a winner!  A big congratulations go out to Marija.  Thank you for all your hard work on this.  While we had a lot of people participate, Marija was able to win with only 4 links!  So it wouldn't have taken a lot to win this contest!  We'll be having another contest soon so stay tuned.

The whole purpose of this contest was to get our bloggers networking with other webmasters and to start to build up their inbound links which will help their traffic.  Even a few links can help you with the search engines as they will see you as more of an authority on your topic the more inbound links you have.

To learn more about marketing your blog check out this post: http://www.nbabasketballonline.com/sports_content-rev_share_faq.html#my_faq_2971

Marija's blog can be found here.  If you're a Knicks fan, check it out: http://www.newyorkknicksnews.com/marijak

The original post announcing the contest can be found here: http://www.nbabasketballonline.com/bloggers/weblog/2984.html

And if you're not already signed up with Google AdSense and making money from your blog, check out our Revenue Share FAQ page: http://www.nbabasketballonline.com/sports_content-rev_share_faq.html

Inbound link contest - Win $100! posted by Earn Money Blogging

To try and motivate our bloggers to get inbound links we're going to have a contest to see which blogger can get the most inbound links to their blog. The contest begins now and ends July 31st, 2008. To be entered in to the contest all you have to do is go out and get as many websites to link to your blog as you can and at the end of the month send us an email listing all those links. All links must be active from August 1st through August 7th when we'll be judging the entries - a winner will be announced on August 7th. All entry emails must be received by Midnight on July 31st, 2008. You can email them to sportsfan@nbabasketballonline.com

We're going to impose some restrictions on the types of links you can get so please see below for the full list of links that do NOT count.

To get started simply go to Google and find other websites and blog that are about the sports and teams that you write about. Email the website owner and ask them for a link by explaining that you think your blog would be a good resource for their readers. Or offer to write a guest post for them with your by-line and URL at the bottom of the article. Or offer to exchange links with them by writing a quick write up of their site and a reciprocal link back to them. Some webmasters will be happy to add you to their blog roll even if you don't give them a link back (which is ideal) but some may want you to link back to them - you can easily do this with a quick blog entry on your blog about their website.

To learn more about inbound links and marketing your blog in general check out this post:

LA Kings vs. Edmonton: Report Card: B posted by Eddie Shack

Scoreboard shows only 3-1, but Kings pounded the Oilers.  Oilers totally asleep.  Mac should be ashamed.  LaBarbera hot again.  Playing big.  D-men active.  Lubo big threat.  Jackie J taking no guff.  Blakie ok.  Forwards flying.  O'Sullivan had best game of his career.  Dustin Brown playing like Eric Lindros.  Armie stringing good games together.  Plumbers did their job.  Ivo bitch slapped the Oiler kid.  New kid Purcell missed an easy chance but was ok.  Crow happy.  Lombardi happy.  Report Card:  BContinue reading "LA Kings vs. Edmonton: Report Card: B"