Marian Hossa Stuns The World

I am in complete shock right now. Marian Hossa just signed a one-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings for $7.4 million, and for the life of me I can't figure out why. Why take a one-year with Detroit when the Pittsburgh Penguins were offering similar dollars over five years? Where is the logic in this? The only line of thinking I can come up with on Hossa's part is that he hopes to win a Cup this coming season, and then just get the biggest contract he possibly can next off-season. That is totally ludicrous thinking, and that is about all I could come up with.

For Detroit the move is pure genius. They add another uber-talented forward to their roster who will fit into their style of play perfectly. Then next off-season they simply walk away and put the $7.4 million they paid Hossa towards Henrik Zetterberg's new contract. They get a (hopefully for them) good year out of Hossa and then just let him move on. No big loss for them. It might even be possible that Nicklas Lidstrom retires after next season and Hossa stays in Motown. Either way it all works out for the Wings.

So where do the Pens go from here? Ray Shero undoubtedly was prepared for this and is already hard at work on Plan B. There is a short list of guys out there who Shero can look at to fill the void left by Hossa. Names like Jagr, Naslund, Demitra, and Huselius will surely all be looked at. I think this will work out better for the Penguins when all is said and done because they should be able to bring in new wingers for Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin at close to the amount it would have cost to keep Hossa. It will be like the time I traded in my Mustang so that my wife and I could both get new cars. Sure neither car was as nice as the Mustang, but they both got the job done. I would expect at least two or three signings from the Penguins by the end of the day now that Hossa has made his decision.

Where does this leave Marian Hossa's legacy as a Penguin? As far as I'm concerned he does not have one. I'm not trying to downplay all he did for us in the playoffs, but the guy played roughly 40 games in Pittsburgh. That's not exactly enough to earn you a long-term residence in the hearts of fans. Add in the fact that he signed with Detroit, my personal most hated sports franchise, and Marian Hossa is essentially dead to me now. Make no mistake I enjoyed the time he spent with the Pens, but the first thing I'm doing tonight after my kids are in bed is trading Hossa away from my Penguins franchise in NHL 2008. And I sure won't be sending him to Detroit either.

Fantasy Focus: 1st Half Freaks And Flops

It's Fantasy Focus time again! In this week's installment I am going to look back on the first half of the 07-08 NHL season and name my All-Freak ("Freak" in a good way) and All-Flop teams. Keep in mind this is strictly from a fantasy point of view and is not taking "real" performance into account. So with no further delay...

1st Half All-Freak Team

Center - Ryan Getzlaf (Anaheim) - This was a really tough call. Getzlaf, Lecavalier, Crosby, and Datsyuk were all outstanding in the first half of the season. I'm giving Getzlaf the nod here because he is a good source for PIMs, has a great +/- rating and of the four had the lowest expectations entering the season and was undoubtedly the last drafted in every league on the planet.
Honorable Mentions: Vincent Lecavalier (Tampa Bay), Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh)

Right Wing - Jarome Iginla (Calgary) - Jarome has been the total package this season. He has contributed big time in every category possible. The only way Iginla could do any more for his fantasy owners would be to suit up in goal and get a couple shutouts. First half fantasy MVP in pretty much any format.
Honorable Mentions: Daniel Alfredsson (Ottawa), Corey Perry (Anaheim)

Left Wing - Dany Heatley (Ottawa) - Don't expect to see this name here at the end of the season as Heatley is set to miss the next 6 weeks with a separated shoulder, but before that Dany had been outstanding. Think of Heatley as "Iginla-lite", he produces across the board and will be leaving a huge void in his owners lineups until he returns.
Honorable Mentions: Henrik Zetterberg (Detroit), Alexander Ovechkin (Washington)

Defense - Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit) - The old Swede just keeps getting it done. I'm sure Lidstrom owners wouldn't mind a few more goals from the Detroit captain, but winners can't be choosers. Just be happy with what you've got and smile on your way up your league standings.
Honorable Mentions: Brian Rafalski (Detroit), Sergei Gonchar (Pittsburgh)

Defense - Chris Pronger (Anaheim) - Points and PIMs, it's hard to ask for more. An improvement on the meager +2 rating would be nice, but the return of Scott Niedermayer (and eventually Teemu?) should help that a bit.
Honorable Mentions: Dion Phaneuf (Calgary), Zdeno Chara (Boston)

Goalie - Evgeni Nabokov (San Jose) - Nabby owners have been treated to an outstanding season from the Sharks' netminder. With Vesa Toskala shipped off to hockey purgatory Toronto, Nabokov has had the San Jose crease all to himself and started every single one of the team's first 41 games. He responded with tremendous numbers and is probably keeping more than a few owners (including yours truly) firmly entrenched atop their respective standings.
Honorable Mentions: Roberto Luongo (Vancouver), Pascal Leclaire (Columbus)

1st Half All-Flop Team

Center - Patrick Marleau (San Jose) - What a year it has been for the San Jose captain. If I had a dollar for every time I read this season that Marleau was about to break out of his slump I could quit my job and live on the beach somewhere. The stats speak for themselves; 8 goals, 13 assists, -14, 9 power play points and 0 game-winners. What more can I say?
Honorable Mentions: Brad Richards (Tampa Bay), Chris Drury (New York Rangers),

Right Wing - Jonathan Cheechoo (San Jose) - Are we beginning to sense a trend here? Cheechoo has been even worse than his teammate Marleau so far (as hard as that is to believe) netting only 5 goals and 7 assists to date. That's a far cry from the guy who led the NHL in goals just two seasons ago. I can only shudder at the thought of the homers who drafted Cheechoo and Marleau this season.
Honorable Mentions: Maxim Afinogenov (Buffalo), Martin Havlat (Chicago)

Left Wing - Alexander Semin (Washington) - I've had a front row seat for the train wreck that has been Alexander Semin's season so far... he's on both of my teams. He's the kind of guy that will drive you crazy because he has been hurt most of the year, but he has so much upside that you just can't bring yourself to cut him, so he just ends up taking up a roster spot all year. Hopefully he can get healthy and put it together in the second half. But I wouldn't count on it.
Honorable Mentions: Pavol Demitra (Minnesota), Simon Gagne (Philadelphia)

Defense - Dan Boyle (Tampa Bay) - Boyle could return to the Lightning lineup at any time now (check your waiver wire!), but that won't help those who drafted him forget that he only played four games in the first half and was held pointless with a stellar -7 rating to go along. Not what most people envisioned for the Lightning point man.
Honorable Mentions: Bryan McCabe (Toronto), Sheldon Souray (Edmonton)

Defense - Alexei Zhitnik (Atlanta) - Unlike Boyle in Tampa, Zhitnik has actually stayed healthy and been playing all season. You wouldn't know it by looking at his numbers though. Zhitnik was outstanding after joining the Thrashers at the trade deadline last season, but he has been nearly invisible so far this season. At least he's racked up 38 PIMs.
Honorable Mentions: Kevin Bieksa (Vancouver), Matt Carle (San Jose)

Goalie - Ray Emery (Ottawa) - There were a few strong candidates here (see the Honorable Mentions), but in the end I had to go with Emery. I can only imagine how many owners thought they had a great mid-round pick in Emery, only to have him spend the first half of the season fighting injuries, teammates, and the puck. He's a good candidate for a second half rebound, but for the time being it is Flop-City for the Senator voted Most Likely To Be Traded.
Honorable Mentions: Marc-Andre Fleury (Pittsburgh), Mikka Kipprusoff (Calgary)

So there you have it, the best and worst from the first half of the season. Some of these choices were no brainers, while others were a lot tougher than I thought they would be. If you had told me before I sat down to do this that Ryan Getzlaf would have been my All-Freak center I would have laughed you out of the room. Not to mention how mentally and emotionally prepared I had gotten to make MAF my All-Flop goalie. Thank you Ray Emery!

Here's looking forward to the second half of the season. There's nowhere to go but up for most of us!

The NHL Announces All-Star Game Starters

The fan votes have all been counted and the NHL has announced the starters for the upcoming All-Star Game in Atlanta. The starters are:

Eastern Conference

• Sidney Crosby
• Vincent Lecavalier
• Daniel Alfredsson
• Andrei Markov
• Zdeno Chara
• Martin Brodeur

Western Conference

• Henrik Zetterberg
• Pavel Datsyuk
• Jarome Iginla
• Nicklas Lidstrom
• Dion Phaneuf
• Roberto Luongo

All things considered these are actually pretty solid picks by the fans as all 12 players are definitely deserving of the trip to Atlanta. I would probably stick hometown boy Ilya Kovalchuk in instead of Alfredsson, but Ilya will make the team any way so it's not that big of a deal. At first I didn't think too highly of Markov being voted in, but it's not that much of a reach when you look at the numbers. Of course if Sergei Gonchar had been on the ballot (I'll never understand why he wasn't) then maybe things would have been different.

NHL Team Of The Month: December 2007

I almost lost track of this in all the Winter Classic excitement, but here we are with the Team of the Month for December:

• Center: Jason Spezza (14 GP, 10 G, 15 A, +14, 7 PPP, 2 GWG)
• Right Wing: Jarome Iginla (14 GP, 14 G, 5 A, +10, 7 PPG, 3 GWG)
• Left Wing: Alexander Ovechkin (13 GP, 11 G, 7 A, 4 PPP, 3 GWG)
• Defense: Nicklas Lidstrom (15 GP, 13 P, +15, 5 PPP)
  
• Defense: Sergei Zubov (14 GP, 12 P, +8, 6 PPP)
  
• Goalie: Evgeni Nabokov (15 GP, 10 W, 1.96 GAA, .925 SV%, 2 SO)
  

Comments:

• Spezza quietly had an insane month for the Sens.
• Iginla and Ovechkin were both beasts in December. Iginla led Calgary's charge up the Western Conference standings while rumors are already starting to swirl about AO trying to get out of Washington this offseason.
• Lidstrom and Zubov are as steady as they come. You couldn't ask for more from a defender.
• Nabokov has been the one constant for the Sharks this season (he's started every game for San Jose) and is having an MVP-type year. As long as he doesn't wear down...