Slightly North

Yay, the first staff firing of the year is here already! Actually it wasn't all that big of news. Chicago fired GM Mike Smith in a move that fans and media have been expecting since last season. Why the club even let him start the season as GM though... who knows. For now Blackhawks senior vice-president Bob Pulford was named interim GM.

Kariya could be back in the Avs' lineup as early as next week. The sprained right wrist he suffered in a game against Boston turns out to not be as bad as first thought.

Doug Gilmour will be honored during a pre-game ceremony tonight before the Leafs face Washington. There will be a video tribute, a brief speech by Gilmour and a ceremonial faceoff. Wife Amy, children Maddison, Jake and Tyson and parents Don and Dolly will join him at center ice in Air Canada Centre. He seems to be ready to retire.

The Blues are in more defensive trouble. Young defenseman Barret Jackman (who was named rookie of the year last year) is now out of the lineup for 2-4 weeks with a dislocated shoulder. The big man MacInnis is also out after surgury to repair both retinas. For a team with so many defensemen, they are getting kind of thin on the blueline. Five of them are now on the IR list.

Proof your club has too damn much money and needs to drop ticket prices: Ice Girls. I mean, WTF?!?!

Wow, I leave for a few days and all hell breaks loose. Colorado has lost Kariya to injury already and traded Battaglia for Steve Konowalchuk. On one hand, it is a bad thing, but on the other, Konowalchuk should add some much needed grit to an off-balanced team of stars. It was a good idea in theory, but when your power play leaves you more open to getting scored on then normal, something is very wrong. Kariya, meanwhile will be sidelined indefinitely with a sprained wrist. How he finished the game with that is beyond me. At least it is not broken. The Avs also called up winger Brad Larsen from Hershey to cover for the injury.

Meanwhile, Montreal continues to roll over the beginning of their season. With 4 wins in their first 6 games, they are only 2 points out of first place in the league. Boston holds that right now with 10 points. It was also just announced that Koivu should return to the Habs' lineup tonight against the Islanders. With Koivu back, it looks like left winger Niklas Sundstrom will be out of the lineup. So far Montreal has played a good defensive team game, with some timely scoring. Of course it helps that Theodore is playing well this year. So far in his first 5 games, he has a 1.60 GAA with a .930 save percentage. Lets hope they can keep it up.

Toronto on the other hand is in trouble. Last night they had a great win in Dallas. Both teams really only played the 3rd period though. It was a downright boring game until then. Both teams really turned it on in the third, but Belfour was up to the task of shutting down his old team and helped Toronto skate to a hard fought 3-1 win. They really really needed that win. Last year about this time, Toronto was struggling to win games. They turned it around once Belfour started playing well. This year the Toronto media are already calling for Pat Quinn to be fired. Now that Quinn is no longer GM of the club, I can agree his job is not as secure but calling for him to be fired after 6 games? Come on! People need to relax. Let Quinn (who last year was doing a great job getting the team to play together) a month at least to get this team to mesh before you start calling for his head. Then again, if you work in hockey in Toronto, I guess you should expect to be torn apart by the media. I don't see Quinn losing his job quite yet, but if Toronto is still having major problem come mid November, I don't think he will last very long.

Most teams have 3 or 4 games under their belt at this point. The most surprising is the fact Montreal is at the top of the eastern confrence. They have been playing a very tight game so far. I hope they keep it up. Most people have Montreal pegged to finish the season 9th or 10th in the east, and Toronto at 5th. After the first games for each, I think those numbers should be swapped.

Out in the West, the story is much the same. Detroit is way up top so far, but then again so is Phoenix. Most teams have either 6 or 4 points. Little hard to see any paterns yet. Colorado is a whole new team this year. They have a lot of new faces, both youngsters and vetrens alike. I have watched quite a few games and so far Colorado is the fastest on the ice by far. It isn't even funny how badly they rolled over the Wild last night.

Well, today I am off to the great frozen north (Canada) for a vacation. I should be back the middle of next week for another update.

The Colorado season opener was a great game. Not only did the top lines combine for 9 points, but Aebischer posted his 7th shutout of his career in a key game. He learned from the master well, right down to the "statue of liberty" glove save Roy was known for. This is by far the best lineup the Avs have ever had. Roy would have been a cornerstone, but not much can be done about that now. I know we will all be seeing great things this year, but watching the Avs is going to be the best part of the season. They skate fast, pass well, and have the best puck handlers in the game.

Last year was so clinical feeling. No one really looked like they were having fun, as most skaters were trying to get used to the new rules. Maybe it has something to do with the CBA and a work stoppage next season, but it seems some teams are just going out there and having some fun. They also seem to be winning. It is going to be a great season.

One more thing on my mind tonight. I work with a guy who I hear say "Detroit is going to win the cup with a goalie team of Hasek and Joseph" when he was talking about his favorites this year. I didn't actually say anything as he wasn't talking to me, but it seems to me that the fact Detroit DIDN'T protect CuJo in the waiver draft means he won't be staying. Unless CuJo can contact Tonya Harding and see if something can't be done about that annoying retired goalie who is now in his way of being the number one in Detroit. Ok, bad joke, sorry about that. Still, it has to be pretty frustrating to go through the trouble of leaving the town that loves you, only to end up on a team that doesn't need you. Maybe he will agree to drop his contract terms and get going on the season with a new team. Only time will tell at this point though.

Till next time...

Well, it was a good month off, but now that the season has started I better get to work around here again. I celebrated by watching Boston play a good comeback game against New Jersey. Strange game to be sure. With a defenceman from each team scoring two, they tied at three each. Travis Green is up to his old tricks as the new guy in Boston. Taking bad penalties in a close game seems to be his "thing." Also, I don't like Potvin (never have) so I don't see Boston getting very far in the playoffs. I would like to see Thornton in points or scoring race this year though.

Anyway, Montreal plays their season opener tomorrow against Ottawa. Should be a good game. I just hope Jose is a bit more on his game this year.