In The Crease

Under pressure, Babs and Therrien laugh it off

Shocker — Pittsburgh Penguins forward Maxime Talbot had nothing funny to say Friday at practice, the second off day between Games 3 and 4 of the Stanley Cup final.

But it still seemed like a late-night comedy club inside Mellon Arena, courtesy of coaches Mike Babcock and Michel Therrien:

Babcock:

Q.  Will you give us your understanding of Holmstrom's injury and his chances of playing tomorrow?
    
COACH MIKE BABCOCK:  What are the rules?  Do we have to talk about the injury or just what part of the body or what do we have to do? (Babcock turns to Frank Brown, VP of NHL media relations.)
   
Q:  The type. (Brown responds)
    
COACH MIKE BABCOCK:  I do a lot of stuff with kids cancer, and there's a thing called HIPAA compliance where you can never reveal anything about the person, (Babcock speeds up here) how come we have to do it in the League?  (Laughter.)
    
Oh, anyway, Holmer's just got — Holmer's got the back of his leg, the hamstring.  He's got a little problem there.  We think he'll be fine. He's a tough guy.

Therrien's turn:

Q.  You mentioned before the nervousness of 19  and 20 year olds in the Stanley Cup Final.  Do you think your team maybe gets more of a boost by the crowd here than maybe Detroit does at home?
    
COACH MICHEL THERRIEN:  It's tough to say.  It's tough to say.  It seems like we skate well.  The last game, before the game I was complaining about the obstruction.  And for good reason.  For good reason.
    
I can't sit here and say there's no obstruction.  I'm not going to lie.  If there's obstruction, there's obstruction.  If there's no obstruction, there's no obstruction.
    
When I see this about 13, 14 clips that I've seen that I could tell there should be a penalty regarding the book, I'm expecting   I know how it is.  I'm not expecting they're going to call 14.
    
The last game was a little bit better.  But there's still places to improve.  But that's the truth.  It's not something that I'm preaching.  It's something that we base our team with speed.  And if we can allow us to use our speed, we're going to get effect.  And that's normal.
    
I'm expecting next game the obstruction call, they're going to call it.  I still believe there's some space to improve again.  Because I saw when you break down the game, I know it's a fast game.  When you break down the game, you'll see that there's a few times that they should have been called.  And calls are important. You need those calls.
    
If you don't get those calls at the right time, it could change the momentum of the game.  And you could send a power play at the right time.  If the right call is made and you could get that big goal, get some momentum to your team.  When you don't have it, it could be tough.  And that's why it's crucial. You need breaks to win hockey games.  Obviously you need effort and all those types of things.  But in the meantime, you need to get the right calls.

Q.  I appreciate that answer.  I was asking more about do you think your team, being as young as they are, get a boost from the crowd here at Mellon arena as opposed to maybe Detroit feeding off that at home?
    
COACH MICHEL THERRIEN:  I understand your question, but I want to say my point, too.  (Laughter. Huge smile from Therrien.)
    
We like our crowd.  (Laughter.)

   

Okay, so it's really better seeing it on video. Regardless, it's been amazing to watch Mike Babcock's press conference transformation in these playoffs. Every series he's gotten more refreshingly honest, relaxed and confident. Experience, right?

It was also great seeing Therrien have a little fun out there. He looked dazed and confused in his post-game pressers in Detroit, but he was a gem today.

Hopefully Talbot is back to his old self tomorrow, too...

Even the Final can be funny

Okay, so a SCF where only one team scores is not that funny. But these two moments - from the last two days - keep me laughing:

Memorial Cup Presentation: I've seen this at least five times now, and I've laughed every time.

Marc-Andre Fleury's spill: I was there. And I loved hearing how funny his teammates thought it was, too.

So keep your head up. The Finals aren't over yet — there's still some more fun to be had.

Sid, Satan and Swedes

Talk is where it's at on day four of buyout week:

I'll admit it. I've always had a thing for Peter Forsberg. He's everything you want in a hockey player -- a tough and aggressive, eyes-in-the-back-of-his-head, prolific and clutch point-scorer. He pops out of nowhere to break opposing team's hearts and send goaltenders crying to the locker room. But Forsberg -- not an Av? Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun:

"In Sweden, hockey fans already are fantasizing about a Mats Sundin-Forsberg union, though there also are rumours that Forsberg and fellow unrestricted free agent and Vancouver Canucks captain Markus Naslund will shop themselves as a package.

Forsberg's future with Colorado has been in doubt. To keep Joe Sakic and Rob Blake and restock the Avs -- Sakic and Blake were invited to a team news conference yesterday as a signal they're staying -- Forsberg would have to be sacrificed, with Alex Tanguay possibly moving to centre.

Forsberg has told friends that he prefers to stay in Denver but if that club's hefty payroll has no wiggle room under the $39-million US salary cap, he wants to go to a competitive team in a big hockey market."

Okay, so the thought of a Forsberg-Sundin or Forsberg-Naslund tandem is appealing. But isn't that the sole reason we even have one of those kooky all-star games every non-Olympic year? To see crazy combinations like that? Call me stuck in 1996, but Forsberg should stay with the Avs or play in Europe. He flies with Joe Sakic, Milan Hejduk and Alex Tanguay. It just won't be the same to see him don the Maple Leaf.

--------------------

"Satan's days are numbered" -- that's the great headline The Buffalo News ran today, reporting that Miroslav Satan has probably played his last game in the City of Good Neighbors:

"The Sabres' leading scorer in six of his seven full seasons here is a restricted free agent who would make nearly $4 million this season, about 14 percent of the team's target payroll, and become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

The Sabres will either decline to tender a qualifying offer or retain his rights for the purposes of trading them away for as little as a draft pick.

About the only scenario in which Satan would return is if he became an unrestricted free agent and decided to renegotiate a contract with the Sabres for significantly less money rather than move on. That's unlikely."

So even in the new-era NHL where parity is supposedly the name of the game, the Sabres can't afford to keep Satan. I hope that's not the sole reason that they're rumored to be shopping around Satan, probably for a draft pick.

Satan was often a moody, streaky scorer. But his numbers can't be brushed off lightly. The Sabres had a solid scoring line of Jochen Hecht, Daniel Briere and JP Dumont for a good part of the 2003-04 season. But it's a good -- not great -- scoring line. And none of them will ever score 40+ goals like Satan did. And with the new rules, Buffalo will need to add more scoring touch. So go ahead Darcy Regier, part ways with Satan. I won't cry. But I will if you don't get a consistent, scoring forward to replace him.

--------------------

I was never a big fan of NHL2Night, but ESPN's John Buccigross always was a beacon of light next to mullet-for-life-club member Barry Melrose. His column on ESPN.com offers some advice to the Pittsburgh Penguins:

"Attention, Pittsburgh Penguins: Please consult me before designing your new arena. You have a baseball park beyond compare, so expect and demand the same for the house The Kid built. Here's a few of my 1,000 ideas:

1. It should hold no more than 17,000. The smaller the better. It doesn't matter how big a football stadium is, but baseball parks and hockey rinks are meant for a more intimate setting. See Fenway Park, PNC Park, Wrigley Field, Boston Garden, etc.

2. Reserve a section behind one of the nets made especially for a band. I'm talking college pep band. Invite a different college or high school band to every game. Bring a college vibe to the arena.

3. Iron City Ice Girls. PLEASE. This is very important.

4. Build a huge outdoor ice skating area on the shaded side of the arena and call it The Craig Patrick Backyard Rink. The outdoor rink should have a statue depicting Patrick helping a young child to skate. Charge $5, keep $2.50 for facility maintenance and give $2.50 to Children's Hospital. Keep a running total of money contributed under the statue in perpetuity.

5. Whatever you call the barn, don't use the word "Arena" or "Center." They are cold, lifeless words. Give me a Lemieux Gardens. For the other 995 ideas, hit my cell."

Buccigross has some great points here about the possibilities of Pittsburgh's new arena. Please -- no enormous, sloping ARENA, where cheers of "Let's Go Pens" would drown out before hitting the nosebleeds. And make it an auditorium, forum or (maybe even) gardens -- not an arena or center. Make it a great place for hockey -- and that means no gimmicky ice girls, Buccigross. Just a place fit for King Crosby.

Teams go back to school

Why is it so quiet on the buyout front? Try learning a 600-page document in a few days. GMs, coaches, agents and players are busing studying the new CBA, leaving little time for player movement. What was supposed to be mass frenzy is currently a slow crawl. Sabres' coach Lindy Ruff is hitting the books, according to Tim Graham of The Buffalo News:

"The NHL on Friday announced several rule changes that will send coaches back to their dry-erase boards. Between the start of Sabres training camp Sept. 13 and opening night Oct. 5, Ruff will be adjusting his methods.

"It's a great unknown," Ruff said. "What is going to happen?"

It's anyone's guess until players get on the ice under the new guidelines. Ruff estimated about 20 percent of his system has become outdated.

"I think 80 percent of it will stay the same, but you're taking almost a quarter of what you play and saying, "We gotta adjust this now,' " he said.

"There's going to be homework. I want our coaches to be creative. Let's come up with a whole bunch of ideas, and let's eliminate by trial and error." '

It'll be interesting to see if coaches around the league actually change their game plan. Devils GM Lou Lamoriello said he wouldn't change his defensive-minded strategy for New Jersey on MSG last week. However, I bet we'll see many coaches adjusting mid-season, especially with the numerous rule changes. Later in the article, Ruff even said that coaches might have a shootout-only goaltender on the bench. Will coaches push larger, slower players to the bottom of the lineup due to a new, more open format that allows for quickness and speed to flourish?

Still, the Philadelphia Flyers -- as expected -- bought out John Leclair and Tony Amonte. TSN.ca has a Daily Transaction Log to track all of the player movement.

Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News broke down likely moves from each team. About Buffalo:

"The Sabres could be dumping goalie Martin Biron. They really want to re-sign defenseman Alexei Zhitnik, a player who is in demand. The Sabres want to bolster their defense and goaltending."

A goaltender teeter-totter instead of a carousel in Buffalo? That just wouldn't be as much fun! Really, is Sabres GM Darcy Regier really going to dump Biron after he and Ruff praise him every spring for his "growth and development"? It would be terrific if Regier could bring in a solid, veteran goaltender to share the duty with Mika Noronen or Ryan Miller. I just don't see these kids learning from each other -- their collective mental toughness is softer than Charmin.

But yes, Darcy, get on Zhitnik RIGHT NOW. Defense wins championships -- or at least a trip to the Finals -- every now and then.

Other interesting rumors include many players going to back to their old teams for less money, or moving back to play in their home city. Kulfan rumored that Chris Osgood could return to the Wings, while Curtis Joseph could become a Blue again. Kulfan also said the Oilers could be interested in Doug Weight, while the Stars might pick up Derian Hatcher once the Wings unload his salary. Minnesota might even seek the return of an original North Star, Mike Modano.

--------------------

CROSBY WATCH: The Associated Press noted ticket-buyers and players flocking to be near the 17-year-old phenom:

"Sidney Crosby has yet to don a Penguins' No. 87 jersey but already the 17-year-phenom has changed everything about hockey in Pittsburgh.

The NHL's worst team when the league last played a regular-season game in 2004, the Penguins can now look upon the playoffs as a realistic goal this season. And ticket sales, which sagged after years of near-capacity crowds in the league's oldest and least fan-friendly arena, picked up substantially minutes after Pittsburgh won the No. 1 pick Friday in the NHL draft lottery.

The Penguins sold scores of season-ticket packages Friday night to fans from 10 states and Canada, even though ticket-buyers had to wait 45 minutes on hold just to get an operator.

Other phones are ringing, too. With hundreds of players about to be dumped on the free agent market Aug. 1, some had their agents call general manager Craig Patrick.

They are eager for the chance to play alongside Lemieux, Crosby and Mark Recchi, in front of goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, to get back to the player-friendly venue which lost stars such as Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis, Alex Kovalev and Martin Straka not because they wanted to leave, but because the Penguins couldn't afford them.

Thanks to a salary cap that will shrink the gap between the Penguins' payroll and that of the upper-tier teams from $55 million US in 2003-04 to about $10 million in 2005-06, the Penguins can compete again on the open market for top-tier players." '

Gosh, that must be nice.

March of the Penguins

So it's official: the Pittsburgh Penguins snagged golden boy Sidney Crosby. Three balls did pay off, but not for the Buffalo Sabres who received -- ironically -- the 13th spot in the draft. 13 ... yea, not the luckiest number.

When it came down to the last two picks (and holding my breath long enough to suffocate), I guess I was leaning my wishes toward Brian Burke and the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. But the Steel City won out in the end, with its second number one draft pick in three years. Crosby will join the Penguins franchise, one that had for years lived in a bottomless pit, reinvigorating a team that includes Mario Lemieux (nice linemate), Mark Recchi and goaltender Marc Andre-Fleury. In a few seconds the team transformed from a checkmark on most team's schedules to a feared competitor.

Still, would have been "better" for Crosby to land in a bigger NHL market to promote the game instead of a dying franchise like Pittsburgh? Time will tell.

Congratulations to all Pittsburgh fans. On this historical day, you marched away with the most to look forward to on Oct. 5.

--------------------

Speaking of Oct. 5 (opening night -- all 30 teams will be in action), one of the most interesting things to come out of the announcement of the CBA ratification was the changes in the schedule (NHL.com):

• Each club will play eight games against each of its four division rivals (32 total).
• Each club will play four games against each of the 10 non-division clubs in its conference (40 total).
• Each club will play 10 inter-conference games, hosting one game each against all five clubs from a designated division and traveling for one game each against all five clubs from a different division. For the 2005-06 season, Northeast Division clubs will host the Pacific Division and visit the Northwest; Atlantic Division clubs will host the Northwest and visit the Central; and Southeast Division clubs will host the Central and visit the Pacific. Division vs. division assignments will rotate annually.

I don't really like this. First, the Sabres will not play the Detroit Red Wings this year, which means I can't see them play unless I drive to an Eastern Conference city. And playing division rivals eight times? Great if your team is an easier division, such as the Central or Southeast. But not so great if everyone in your division made the playoffs last season except your favorite team (Buffalo, Northeast Division).

Still, I'm glad every team will play the majority of the teams in the league and that they kept 82 games on the schedule. I think it's important that they didn't wipe out inter-conference games completely. As a fan, I like seeing the rest of the league. Granted, I won't miss not playing Nashville this season.

I just feel bad for the Pacific division, who will have to watch Crosby on TV.

--------------------

It's going to take some time for the media, players, GMs, coaches and fans to wrap their minds around the 600+ page CBA document. But in the meanwhile, here's a few links to sort through the madness:

NHL CBA FAQ: Great collection of questions (shootout? revenue sharing?) asked and answered on NHL.com.

Draft lottery results and NHL rule changes on TSN.ca

Sidney Crosby timeline on SLAM! Sports