The Real DFGs Half-Way NHL Awards

This past Sunday marked the halfway point to this years shortened NHL season.  With half the year gone already, I thought it would be a good time to go back and look at what has been accomplished thus far.  I decided to take the NHL Awards and break them down for half season winners.

Let's get the non-player award out of the way first.

Jack Adams Award - Coach of the Year

First of all, the Jack Adams award for Coach of the Year so far, in my honest opinion should go to Joel Quenneville from the Blackhawks.  As much as I am not a Hawks fan and am mostly a "everything opposite of the Blackhawks" type person, you can't deny what has happened this year.  Regardless of whether they win a Cup this year or not, the team has the record win streak to hang it's hat on.  No one can deny them of that.  I think what is more impressive is that they have such balanced scoring and have done it on special teams as well.  Quenneville deserves the award, hands down.  Plus look at the epic Whaler card over there.  He uses a PIMP stick (not really).  That alone deserves the award.


And now the awards people care about (assuming you care about awards)

Vezina Trophy

My vote here is going to Craig Anderson.  I know that isn't going to be a popular vote with the way Tuuka Rask, Antii Niemi, and that guy from Chicago are playing but this is the best goaltender award.  No one has been better than Anderson up until his injury a week or so ago.  He is the sole reason the Senators are even a viable contender for any playoff hopes at all.  Going into the injury, he has a 1.49 GAA and a .952 save percentage.  Both of those stats are good enough for best in the league.  Plus, I like Anderson better than those other guys.  It's time he gets his due.  I doubt he will be able to keep up the pace, even after coming back from injury but this isn't the year end awards, it's the half-way awards.  So there.

Hart Memorial Trophy & Art Ross Trophy

Sidney Crosby is the Hart winner this year and the Art Ross winner.  My apologies go out to all the haters out there but you can't deny the contribution he has made to this years' Penguins team after being out so long last year with the concussion.  The guy is the team MVP, the league MVP, the universe MVP.  I don't really know what else to say.  He has 45 points in 26 games so far this year, and is on pace for 83 points on the year (*considering the truncated season, that would be about 141 points if he played all 82 games).  That is one of the best seasons on record in recent NHL history, my friends.

He is averaging 1.269 assists per game which is top 20 in highest ratio for a single season.  Look at the other night against the Islanders...he had 5!!  He is averaging 1.731 points per game, which is highest in over a dozen years.  But the best in my book is that he is making his teammates look like superstars.  Even Gretzky said he "is the best player in the game today".  I'm not going to argue with that.

Calder Trophy - Rookie Of The Year

This is an interesting pool of players to choose from for this award. With Conacher, Tarasenko, Yakupov, and Schultz all making a case for their claim to the Calder, I think Jonathan Huberdeau is my pick so far. Huberdeau was a beast in the minors and that's why Florida went for him in the draft. If you compare the top scoring rookies in this years class of guys, Huberdeau is the only one without the supporting cast playing around him. He doesn't have the talent on the ice that players like Conacher or Yakupov have. Even still, he is logging the ice time, he is taking the shots on goal (71) and he leads the league in rookie goals with 12. He is also second in points to Conacher (20) with 17. With less to work with and the fact he is still excelling, I give JH the nod for the Calder at mid-season.

Frank Selke Trophy

This is one of those confusing awards that many people really don't understand.  It goes to the best defensive  minded offensive forward.  I think so far the nod for this one would go to Eric Staal in Carolina.  They guy has righted the ship from his awful start last season.  After 24 games last year, he had 10 points and was a minus-17.  This year at the same point, he is a plus-19 with 30 points.  That's a big improvement when you consider what has happened with the Canes defense.  He scores, he kills penalties, and he is winning in the face-off circle.  Staal is my vote although there are quite a few other guys out there that will most likely come away with this award by the end of the year.

James Norris Memorial Trophy

If this award was completely based off the best defenseman on the ice, I would easily say the Zdeno Chara would run away with this award.  But guess what?  It's not.  This award almost always goes to the best offensive defenseman and this year, Kris Letang is that guy.  He is having the best offensive season of his career.  He leads all d-men with 26 points and has missed 3 games.  He is also averaging more than 26 minutes of TOI per game.  At this pace, he could put up 50 points in the shortened 48 game season.  When that happens, the hardware is his.

And my two wildcard spots are being left up to the readers...

Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy

These are the guys that perservere, that overcome adversity, that prevail when all hope seems lost.  I'm not really sure I have a pick for this award.  There are so many "feel good" stories each and every year that it is hard to choose who is most deserving of an award that is so objective.  So with that being said, I'm going to leave that up to you to decide.  If anyone has a choice for this one, leave a comment and tell me why you think they are the best choice for this award.

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy

This is the sportsmanship award.  Sportsmanship in hockey is one of those things that I think most fans take for granted because it is simply just part of the game, which is a paradox because the sport is considered by many as a violent, hard-hitting, blood-inducing sport.  With that being said, it's going to go to a player that doesn't fight, doesn't commit penalties, doesn't speak out, and doesn't do things off the ice that are questionable.  Here's another one that I have no idea about because I don't really think about it.  Just like the Masterton, if any readers can think of a deserving player, post a comment and tell us why.

So that's all I'm picking for now.  Agree to disagree.  Or just agree.  Either way I'm right.  

End Of An Era...Don't Say Rebuilding

I would be remiss and not much of a fan for that matter if I didn't address the off-season movement by my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers.

To start, the James Harrison era in Pittsburgh has ended.  On Saturday, the Steelers announced that they would not be resigning Harrison and that he would be released before the start of free agency this week.  Although the organization had given James credit for being a pivotal member or two championship teams, they felt his age and $10 million cap hit was too much to keep in in Black & Yellow forever.

For those that may not know, Harrison has for years been one of the most hated linebackers in football because of his intensity, high level of play, and his reputation for "playing dirty".  We aren't talking Ndamukong Suh level nastiness here, but enough to garner some unwanted attention from the league and his best friend, Commissioner Goodell.  He isn't the kind of guy that would willingly stomp a mud hole in somebody after the whistle but he will sure make a guy pay in between them.  In other words, Harrison was a beast.   

He was elected to five consecutive Pro Bowls and was a first-team All Pro.  They guy had 60 sacks between 2007 and 2012 but his production has been waning over the last few years.  He missed eight games over the last two years with injuries and I think that is mainly what kept him from being invited back to the team (although his constant diarrhea of the mouth didn't help his case either).  There were negotiations toward a contract but the team wanted a very incentive laden contract and Harrison wanted more cash as a guarantee.  So without an agreement, they let him go.

I guess what bothers me the most about this is that Harrison, despite the injuries, lack of production, etc., he was still a fixture on the team.  Together, him and LaMarr Woodley were probably one of the best linebacker duos in the NFL.  Just the thought of Harrison, staring you down from the opposite side of the field, scared the [BLEEP] out of offenses around the league.  And to let him go over money is always something that gets to me because I foolishly always think its a family affair and not a business when it comes to my Steelers.  But that's exactly what it is...a business.  Harrison said yesterday, "I definitely have three years left, possibly four, but I'm going where the wind blows.  You obviously want to play for a Super Bowl contender, that's the first thing. Good weather, that wouldn't be a bad thing. ... I'm not closed to playing for any team or any area."  James, if you are reading this, please go to the NFC.  Please.  I can't take watching you on another AFC team, or worse, a division rival.  

The only thing I can relate this too is the last time one of my favorite Steeler linebackers left the team for free agency and signed with Carolina for one year before retiring...

On the horizon, it's only going to get murkier when the free agency period begins in two days.  The Steelers have what most NFL "experts" consider to be the best free agent available in Mike Wallace.  This was the same issue last year and his legend has only grown with another year under his belt. 

Wallace is fast, period.  The guy blows the doors off most other defenders on the field and the only guy in the league that has proven to be faster is Darius Heyward-Bey from Oakland (and that's because he barely beat him at the combine their rookie season).  He isn't a huge receiver but he has still been able to amass over 4,000 yards in the four seasons in Pittsburgh, mainly due to the fact that he is THE deep threat on the team.  Using 2010 as a statistical example, about six times a game, Big Ben threw it to Wallace. About four times a game, Wallace would catch it. Every time he caught it, the Steelers gained an average of 21 yards, and every sixth catch was a touchdown.  As the Bleacher Report put it, "That's speed at its most lethal."

My only criticism of Wallace has always been that he pass blocks like my grandma and last year, he showed he wasn't immune to the "uncatchable" ball.  He had more drops in critical situations than I have seen since Limas Sweed.  It was starting to get highly frustrating at times when a normally routine route on a third and eight or red zone opportunity turned into a field goal or giving it over on a punt.  But still, Wallace has shown without a doubt that he was a big time player down the field.  He is going to be missed if they can't find a suitable replacement in the draft, and frankly, there isn't anyone.

Keenan Lewis may also seek another home in free agency.  Lewis became the starter when William Gay left for Arizona last year.  The Steelers still have Ike Taylor and Cortez Allen available, although I'm not sure Allen is starting caliber.  Knowing the potential for Lewis' departure, the Steelers made a couple phone calls and William Gay is now back in his old spot, signing a three year deal last week.  If the Steelers had any intention of keeping Lewis, I doubt they would have reached out to Gay. 

Keenan was a guy that I had a lot of hope for.  He was a highly touted in 2009 when the Steelers drafted him but I think that his slower development and lack of interceptions has led to his potential departure.  If I was to guess, I'm thinking you will see him suiting up next year for a division team, possibly the Browns or Ravens, which will suck, but is typical.


In other moves, the Steelers got Big Ben, Lawrence Timmons, and Antonio Brown all to restructure their contracts in order to add some cap space.  Add that to the already reworked deals for LaMarr Woodley, Ike Taylor, and Willie Colon and the Steelers could have enough room to go after a couple guys in free agency.  We always have a need on the O-line and with Harrison gone, there is a spot the might need some tweaking.  Plus, you can't forget about Big Ben and his health issues lately.  There is no denying the fact that quality backup QBs in this league are invaluable. 

I'm a little more concerned with the draft though.  The Steelers have shown that they are comfortable with older players but not committed to them by any means.  The last few seasons have shown a want by the team to start getting younger and developing talent.  The older guys have taken on the role of mentor, training their future replacements.  I'm all for that and I'd like to see some aggressive draft strategies so that we might finally be able to fill holes we need with quality draft picks and guys that could one day be "the next ones" and become franchise type players.

Is it football season yet? 

Redemption Song

Here is a first for you in the world of redemptions.  Well maybe not a first for you per se, but definitely a first for me.

As I was perusing some boxes I found a few more redemptions that had never been redeemed.  These were in addition to the ones I found the other day.  (In case anyone was wondering, I have held on the Panthers one from Upper Deck for now but I redeemed to Panini one.)  Both of these new found ones were from Panini.  The first was from the 2011 Panini Football Rookies and Stars set.  It was a Longevity Rookies Signatures card, I believe of Tyron Smith of the Cowboys.  Not sure who he is or if he still exists but whatever, free card.  The second was from 2011-12 Playoff Contenders Hockey.  It was supposed to be a NHL INK Duals Gold card of Ryan McDonagh and Tim Erixon.  This one I had to see because I have heard of these being skipped over in favor of replacements by Panini.

So I submitted my request on 3/2/2013...

Here you can see it was submitted at 9:05 PM.  I also found out from the page that it was numbered out of #25, which was even cooler.  What happened next was unbelievable.

I received the email acknowledgement that the order had processed and I would be waiting the 4-6 weeks like everyone else in the world.  Then, about 10 minutes later, I received an additional email from Panini stating that the card was ready and would be shipped the next day.  WHAT????  "Impossible", I said.  "Completely ludicrous", I exclaimed.   Of course all these exclamations were to myself.

Well guess what was in the mail yesterday???  

This little guy..

 

It took basically 5 days to receive this.  5!  That's an all time record for me and I bet most of you out there haven't received anything this fast.  If you have, by all means share your story in the comments.  Otherwise, bask in the dual-auto gold glory.

Pittsburgh Penguins All Iron Man Team

I recently started a project where I am accumulating autograph cards of the Pittsburgh Penguins.  I didn't really just start the project as I have been collecting Penguin cards for quite sometime.  But I did just recently decide to start sharing that collection along with player info and sometimes some memories of those guys with the blogosphere.  If you want to check that out, there is a link over on the side somewhere or you can find a link in the blogroll over there too.

At any rate, I found out from the great Hockey Database that there have been 613 different players that have suited up for the Pens in their relatively short existence (600 when I started listing my autos on the other blog).  So I got to thinking, I wonder who played the most games/least games for the Pens and how many cards do they have, if any?  That led me to also wonder, if I built a team of players that played the most games for the Pens, what would that roster look like?


My Criteria:

• Its a 22-man roster just like the current Pens team.  
• There has to be 12 forwards, 8 d-men, and 2 goaltenders.
• The only other requirement is that they played the most games in their position.

I give you what I call, the All-Iron-Man Pittsburgh Penguins team....

FORWARDS - (the first two should come as no surprise)

1. Mario Lemieux      915 Games Played
2. Jaromir Jagr          806 Games Played
3. Jean Pronovost      753 Games Played
4. Rick Kehoe           722 Games Played
5. Ron Shock            619 Games Played
6. Bob Errey             572 Games Played
7. Martin Straka        560 Games Played
8. Ron Francis           533 Games Played
9. Troy Loney           532 Games Played
10. Kevin Stevens        522 Games Played
11. Greg Malone          495 Games Played
12. Syl Apps, Jr.           495 Games Played

Not many surprises here.  The fact that there is no Crosby, Malkin, or Staal is kind of interesting.  Although, if I waited until this time next year to run this list, it might be different.  But based on my criteria, it's not the best of the best, its the most games played.  There is quite a large range from #1 to #12 (almost double) but you can see that almost 500 games for the same franchise (or almost 6 years based on an 82 game season) is a rarity.  Some other interesting (or maybe not) facts about these dozen guys...

• Lemieux and Jagr are numbers 7 and 8 respectively on the all time scoring list for the NHL.  
• Bob Errey is the current color commentator for the Penguins TV broadcasts on Root Sports along with Paul Steigerwald.  
• Greg Malone is the father of another one-time Penguin, Ryan Malone.
• Straka and Stevens split their games between two different tours of duty with the Pens.

DEFENSEMEN - (again, the first two should come as no surprise)

1. Ron Stackhouse     621 Games Played
2. Brooks Orpik        606 Games Played
3. Dave Burrows        573 Games Played
4. Rod Buskas           431 Games Played
5. Darius Kasparaitis  405 Games Played
6. Randy Carlyle        397 Games Played
7. Jim Johnson           390 Games Played
8. Kris Letang            370 Games Played

I was kind of surprised that Jim Johnson was on this list because he didn't strike me as being on the Pens for very long.  But the others, I wasn't as shocked by.  The first two were obvious to me.  I didn't think Kasparaitis would have been that high on the list but, what do I know?  And Letang, he just beat out Russ Anderson this season to make the list.  It is interesting that we have two current players on this list.  That goes to show that d-men are a commodity in the NHL and there is no doubt that good ones are put on the roster for a long time.

GOALTENDERS - (same as above, no surprises)

1. Tom Barrasso            460 Games Played
2. Marc-Andre Fleury    450 Games Played

These two guys alone account for over 25% of all the games played by the organization since it was founded in 1967-68.  That is impressive.  Dennis Herron and Ken Wregget would be the next two on the list but they are far behind by almost 170+.  Barrasso is also the 2nd leading American born wins leader all-time right behind John Vanbiesbrouck.  Ryan Miller could beat that record as American born but he has a long way to go.  Fleury could beat that record if he hangs on for a few more years.

As you can see, I was bored with cardboard for the moment so I figured I would try something different.  Not too shabby of a team there either.  I think there could be some hardware in site for a team like that.  I'll have to check my kids NHL 2000-whatever games to see if this team can be made and simulate a season.

Stay tuned for our regularly scheduled programming.

Super Mario Returns

Today marks the 20th anniversary of one of the greatest and most inspiring comebacks in professional sports history. 

After being diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in January 1993 and receiving numerous treatments, Mario laced up the skates in Philadelphia on March 2, 1993 for a regular season game against the rival Flyers.  That morning, he had received his last set of 22 treatments for his cancer and still took a flight to Philly to play in the game.  Not only that, he scored a goal and had an assist in the Pens 5-4 loss that night. 

But what I remember the most about that night...that was the first time that I saw actual respect on the faces of the fans in Philly.  They cheered Mario in warm ups.  They cheered him during team introductions.  And they actually cheered when he put points on the board.  Any other time, the boos would have rained down from the rafters of the old Spectrum but on that night, it was all about Mario.

He went on to have one of his best seasons and eventually overtook Pat Lafontaine for the scoring title.  All that despite missing over a month of the season.  Super Mario indeed.

 

Here is a short video of Mario's return.  NHL.com did a real nice 3-part write up on this monumental event told from the eyes of his teammates and opponents that night.  Check them out if you want a nice read.

PART 1                PART  2                    PART 3

Sometimes I Find Stuff (...And A Redemption Quandry)

As the title suggests, sometimes I find stuff.  The other day while I was supposed to be sick (actually I was sick but you get bored sometimes laying around staring at the ceiling) I decided to try and find my 2012-13 Upper Deck Series I cards that I had obtained back in November at the last Chicago Sun-Times/Mounted Memories Sports Show.  I hadn't seen them in quite a while and with all the hullabaloo that has been going on in my life, I haven't really had the time to look for them.

About a year ago, I sorted many of my hockey cards into 3500+ count boxes by card manufacturer and year.  So all the 2010-11 were in one box (if possible), 2011-12 in another, so on and so forth.  It makes it easier to find stuff.  Well, I didn't have a box for 2012-13 because other than a handful of Artifacts, the UD that I picked up, and the recent Black Diamond I obtained, I had no need for a separate box.  I must have spent an hour going through boxes until finally, a couple 800 counts sitting all by their lonesome suddenly appeared.  Wouldn't you know it?  Inside were all my 2012-13 UD Series I...and Panini Certified...and last years Zenith...and more Artifacts...and Titanium...and a whole slew of cards from the now famous, and usually lopsided trading that takes place at these shows.  I now wish I had access to my binders and set boxes but that story is for another day.

At any rate, sometimes I find stuff.  Inside the box were two cards that I forgot I had...both of them redemptions.  If there is nothing else I like more in collecting, it's redemptions.  They make me smile (a devilishly vindictive smile similar to that of a serial killer right after he tastes blood for the first time...ok maybe not that extreme, but close).  Here they are in all their glory.

If you can't see it, this is from 2012-13 Certified (click on it to enlarge if that helps).  Its a redemption for a Scott Glennie Freshman Fabrics card #188.  At the time, I had no idea what this was or even who Scott Glennie was.  I now know he was drafted by the Dallas Stars and currently plays for the Texas Stars in the AHL.  He played one game for Dallas last year, racking up 2 penalty minutes.  By NHLPA rules, that makes him eligible for a card.  Go Figure.  I have since discovered that the Certified Freshman Fabric cards 177-188 are Jersey Auto cards with a print run of 499.  That part I didn't know either.  So I may actually redeem this one to add to the ever expanding auto collection.  

The second one is this 2012-13 Artifacts Rookie Redemption for the Florida Panthers.  As before, I had no idea at the time who this was or what it was for.  But I speculated...Could this have been Jonathan Huberdeau?  Maybe.  But not now.  The lock-out F'd that one up now didn't it?  And what about all those Edmonton Oilers ones that sold on Ebay for hundreds of dollars with the hopes of landing the Nail Yakupov cards?  What happens to all those people?  Do they get refunds for false advertising, or is it even false advertising when you put a question mark at the end of your auction title?  I don't know that answer.

Now that the NHLPA has basically put the "Nail" in the coffin on any and all rookie cards for guys that are skating during this shortened season, has anyone heard how the card companies are going to handle this issue?  Has Upper Deck or Panini spoken up about the problems they may have with redemptions?  Or are they going to handle it at all?  If I have missed a statement in an article, please, someone point it out to me because I would love to see how this debacle works out. 

So what should I do here?  Redeem it anyway with the hopes of landing a Huberdeau at the end of the season?  Or plan on getting another Colby Robak that looks different from the regular issue card (or even the same one for that matter??)?  Or should I try to sell it for a couple bucks?  Or maybe I should auction it as a Huberdeau, put a question mark at the end of my auction title, charge $25+ and see if anyone bites?  No, that would be dishonest.  But you can see the dilemma here, right?