Tag Archive for Kevin Dineen

Early Thoughts On NHL Awards

February 21, 2012 NHL

Today I will be covering who I think will take home some of the big NHL awards in June. Up first we have the Calder Trophy which is handed out to the most to the most outstanding rookie of the year. This year I think will be tough with guys like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Adam Henrique, Gabriel Landeskog and Matt Read likely up for the award. But to me overall I think the  winner will be 1st overall draft pick of this seasons draft Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, in just 40 games this year he has 35 points, 13 goals and 22 assists with a high amount of points on the power play with 18 points. He is out on an injury right now to his shoulder but should be back in the next few days and continue up his stellar play and ultimately take home the Calder Trophy when all is said and done.

Up next we have the Jack Adams award given to the coach of the year. I think there are a few candidates up for this award like John Tortorella of the New York Rangers, Ken Hitchcock of the St. Louis Blues, Alain Vigneault Of the Vancouver Canucks, Mike Babcock of the Detroit Red Wings and Kevin Dineen of the Florida Panthers. All of these coaches have their teams on great runs this season with the Rangers, Wings and Canucks the top 3 teams in the NHL. Dineen and Hitchcock have both respectively turned their bottom feeder teams into playoff contenders, they are also in a lot of consideration for the award. John Tortorella is the man that stands out here to me, he turned the Rangers into just getting into the playoffs last season as the eighth seed, to the tops in the Eastern Conference and third in the NHL. If the Rangers can keep up their strong play and play that tough nose defense that Tortorella has taught them, he can very well take home the Jack Adams award this season.

Up next we have the Hart Trophy which is given out to the MVP of the league, somebody who means the most to their team and performs at a high level. This seasons likely candidates would be Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers and Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks. They all are turning in some special seasons this year all being in the top 5 in scoring. Malkin leads the NHL in points with 71 in just 52 games and is doing this without Sid “The Kid” Crosby. He has the Penguins in fifth in the Eastern Conference and they are making a strong push to catch up to the Devils and Rangers who are ahead of them. Giroux in just his 3rd full season in the NHL has turned in 68 points in just 54 games and continues to lead the Flyers. Stamkos is on pace to score over 50 goals this year but his team is on the outside looking in right now and need to go on a big run. Henrik Sedin teamed up with his brother Daniel has the Canucks up top the NHL once again. Overall I think this trophy will go to Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Up next we have the Norris Trophy for the NHL’s best defense men. Players who stand out for this trophy to me is Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings, Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators, Erik Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators and Ryan Suter of the Nashville Predators. This award can go to any of these 4 and would not be disappointed, Karlsson is turning in a great season leading all defense men in points with 57 in 60 games while also being a +14. Weber and Suter being paired together in Nashville just happen to be in my opinion the best defensive pairing in all of the NHL. Suter sits with 35 points and a +10 while Weber is turning in a 38 point season while being a +17 on the ice. And finally Nicklas Lidstrom, last years Norris Trophy winner, he has 31 points and sitting with a rating of +26 on the ice, knowing the leadership he provides Lidstrom can very well be the winner again, but if the Senators hang onto a playoff spot I think this one will go to Erik Karlsson for the first time in his career.

The last award I will discuss is the Vezina Trophy, given to the leagues top goaltender. Up for this award can be goalies Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers, Jimmy Howard of the Detroit Red Wings, Brian Elliott of the St. Louis Blues and Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings.  All four of them are pitching in great seasons for their teams, Howard is 32-11-1 with .924 save percentage and 2.03 goals against average. Lundqvist is having one of his best seasons of his career for the Rangers with a record right now of 28-11-4 with a .940 save percentage and 1.77 goals against average which is second best in the NHL to only Brian Elliott. Elliott of the Blues who started as the back up took over as the main guy when Jaroslav Halak started to slip off, Elliott is 20-6-2 with .940 save percentage and 1.56 goals against average. Quick of the Kings is 24-16-10 with a .934 save percentage and 1.87 goals against average, but don’t let his stats and record fool you. Quick has been one of the best young goalies in the NHL who just does not get the same support as the other candidates and he is just as good, but overall I think this record will go to “King Henrik” of the New York Rangers.

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Top Surprises In The NHL At The All Star Break

January 25, 2012 NHL

There has been many surprises over the last few months in the NHL. Contenders playing like bottom dwellers and bottom dwellers playing like contenders. Today I will talk about the top 5 surprises of the first half of the NHL.

Coming in at number 5 is the Carolina Hurricanes. Last year the Hurricanes finished 40-31-11 with 91 points, 2 points out of the playoff spot. Jeff Skinner came off winning the Calder Trophy last season at the age of just 19 years old. With young goalie Cam Ward in net and productive players such as Eric Staal, Joni Pitkanen, Jussi Jokinen, and Tuomu Ruutu, they were poised to be a contending team in the NHL this season. They were off to such a bad start that they had fired their head coach Paul Maurice for the second time in the last decade. Now they are sitting in last place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 18-24-9 giving them only 45 points.

Coming in at number 4 is the Tampa Bay Lightning. Coming off of an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals last season, the Lightning were poised to make another cup run this season, but they now sit in eleventh place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 21-23-4 for only 46 points. Last season the Lightning had two of the best players in the game with over 90 points, Steven Stamkos with 91 and Martin St Louis with 99. Dwayne Roloson last season provided some tremendous goal tending for them last season, so they gave him a contract and let go of Mike Smith who is not having a solid season over in Phoenix. The Lightning have struggled all season long and if they don’t pick up the play after this All Star Break they can see themselves missing the playoffs this year.

Coming in at number 3 is the Anaheim Ducks. Last season the Ducks were one of the best teams in the Western Conference. Finishing in fourth place with a record of 47-30-5 and 99 points. With Corey Perry scoring 98 points including leading the NHL in goals with 50 and Teemu Selenne Scoring 80 points the Ducks were destined to be just as strong this season as they were last. But that did not happen in the first half, the Ducks are off to a terrible start and half way through the season we can very well not see the Ducks in the playoffs in the Western Conference. Sitting with a record of 18-23-7 and 43 points has them 13th in the Western Conference and 13 points out of the 8th seed. Rumors now surrounding the Ducks around star players Selenne and Ryan who could be dealt before the dead line for some younger players have started to swirl up. Selenne being one year away from retirement has said that he is looking to win a Stanley Cup but is not eager to leave Anaheim just yet. If the Ducks star players like Getzlaf, Ryan, Perry and Selenne do not pick it up anytime soon, a Western Conference power house may just in fact be on the outside looking in this year.

Coming in at number 2 is the Florida Panthers. Last season the Panthers finished 15th in the Eastern Conference with a record of 30-40-12 for only 72 points. But things changed in Florida over the summer when they made some major changes, they brought in former Stanley Cup winner Kris Versteeg, Jose Theodore, Thomas Fleischmann, Ed Jovonavski, and Sean Bergenheim. They sent David Booth the teams young superstar to the Canucks for veterans Mikael Samuelsson and Marco Sturm. Under head coach Kevin Dineen the Panthers are playing some of the best hockey in the franchises history. Heading into the All Star break the Panthers are sitting with a record of 22-15-11 for 55 points in 7th place in the East. They are getting outstanding play from their top line of Versteeg-Weiss-Fleischmann, who at one point in the season were the best top line in hockey points wise. They are getting some excellent goal tending from the goalie tandem of Jose Theodore, Scott Clemensen and Jakob Markstrom. If the Panthers can keep buying into Dineen’s system they can very well find themselves finishing off this season strong and making their way towards the playoffs.

Coming in at number 1 is the St. Louis Blues. The Blues finished last season in 11th place in the Western Conference with 87 points. This season is a totally different story. Under Ken Hitchcock the Blues are off to a great start and currently sitting with a record of 29-13-7 for 65 points in 4th place in the West. The Blues are one of if not the best defensive team in the NHL. All Star goalie Brin Eliott currently holds a record of 15-5-2 with 4 shutouts and a 1.69 GAA which leads all of the NHL. With rising starts such as T.J. Oshie, Alex Pietrangelo, Kevin Shattenkirk, Patrick Berglund and Chris Stewart this is a team under Hitchcock that will be a top team in the NHL for years to come. The Blues have been the biggest surprise so far heading into the All Star break and if they can keep this play up and continue to play top notch defense shutting down some of the top players in the game, the St. Louis Blues can very well find themselves in the Stanley Cup finals this year.

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