The Road to Redemption

The entertaining and enigmatic Ilya Bryzgalov is back in the NHL, but can he turn his career and the Oilers’ season around?

By Marcus White

 David E. Klutho/SI

The Edmonton Oilers made big news on Friday, as they announced the signing of goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov to a one-year contract. The deal is a unique opportunity for Bryzgalov and the Oilers to turn their fortunes around, but may not be the right for a lasting, beneficial relationship.

Bryzgalov is looking to prove that he is a capable starting goalie after a disastrous two-year stint in Philadelphia. Following the signing of a nine-year, $51 million contract with the Flyers prior to the 2011-12 season, Bryzgalov quickly went from prophet to punchline. Exacerbated by his quirky appearance on HBO’s 24/7 in the lead-up to the Winter Classic, Bryzgalov eventually succumbed to the pressures of his gargantuan contract and unique expectations placed on a Flyers goalie. He posted the worst numbers of his career last season in Philly, and given the Flyers’ salary-cap crunch, Philadelphia bought out Bryzgalov’s contract this past offseason.

Not all of the failures in Philadelphia were Bryzgalov’s fault, however. After losing Chris Pronger to a career-ending injury 13 games into his Flyers’ tenure, Bryzgalov was asked to stand tall behind a patchwork of blueliners missing its most important piece. In a new defensive system without the stalwart group of defensemen that he had in Phoenix, coupled with the massive pressures of his contract to succeed Ron Hextall, it’s not surprising that the Bryzgalov experiment was a failure in Philadelphia.

But in signing with the Oilers, Bryzgalov returns to the Western Conference, and the Pacific Division, where he had his greatest success as a goalie in Phoenix. While the Oilers’ divisional and conference rivals have seen pretty significant turnover since Bryzgalov signed in Philly, the cores of the conference’s major powers, such as San Jose, Vancouver, and Chicago, remain largely unchanged.

The Oilers are hoping that a return to familiar surroundings will bring the best out of Bryzgalov, and that he will provide a steady presence in the crease. Solid goaltending is something that the Oilers have lacked all season. None of Richard Bachman, Devan Dubnyk or Jason LaBarbera have goals-against-averages under three, and only Bachman has a save percentage north of the “Mendoza Line” of .900. As was the case with Bryzgalov in Philadelphia, however, those numbers aren’t just a reflection of the goaltender.

Edmonton boasts a below-average defensive core and have allowed 272 shots on goal this season, 10th-most in the league. Their blueline got much weaker when Ladislav Smid was traded to division-rival Calgary in an effort to clear salary cap space in order to sign Bryzgalov. Additionally, Bryzgalov’s career save percentage of .913 isn’t substantially better than Devan Dubnyk’s, with the incumbent Edmonton starter posting a career .911 save percentage.

Edmonton’s playoff hopes are now contingent upon Bryzgalov providing a significant upgrade in net over their current options. The Oilers were projected by many to contend for a playoff spot and finally see the efforts of a long rebuild pay off, led by their strong complement of offensive stars such as Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle. But, as this season has shown, firepower up front is nothing without steady play on defense and in goal. The Oilers find their playoff hopes on life support, 14 points out of a playoff spot as of this writing. There is a lot of hockey to be played, but in a very deep conference in division, the Oilers have dug themselves a deep hole.

In returning to the comforts of the Western Conference and Pacific Division, it’s possible that Bryzgalov could see a return to form as an Oiler. But with a deep hole to climb out of in order to contend for a playoff spot and the Oilers’ weak complement of defensemen, the Oilers are asking/ hoping for too much from Bryzgalov. Unless he can play the best hockey of his career, the road to redemption for Bryzgalov and the Oilers will stop far short of an Edmonton’s first playoff berth in eight seasons.

NHL Preview, Part 1

Taking a look at the biggest questions in the Western Conference ahead of the 2013-2014 season

By Marcus White

It’s great to be talking about a full season of hockey this fall, as opposed to a lockout-shortened one last winter. And with six (!!!) outdoor games and the Olympics in February also on the schedule, hockey fans are in for an exciting season.

There’s going to be plenty of fresh intrigue in the NHL this season. With new divisions, conferences, and even a revamped playoff format, we could be in for a much different type of season than we’ve seen before.

Over the next two weeks, we’ll be taking a look at some of the biggest storylines going into the season. Up this week is the Western Conference, and as it must, our discussion begins with the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Can anyone beat the Blackhawks?

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

As the most dominant team in the league last year, it came as little surprise that the Chicago Blackhawks ended the season with Lord Stanley’s Cup. And despite trading Dave Bolland to Toronto and losing Ray Emery and Viktor Stalberg, Chicago looks primed for another run at the Cup.

But, the Western conference poses a formidable challenge this year. St. Louis has improved its forward depth by adding Maxim Lapierre and Derek Roy in free agency, and have boasted one of the best blue-lines in the leagues since acquiring Jay Bouwmeester at the trade deadline this past spring. Los Angeles also improved its forward depth by acquiring Matt Frattin, along with backup goaltender Ben Scrivens, in the Jonathan Bernier trade. Anaheim, Minnesota, San Jose, and Vancouver look to be in the mix as well, but those four aren’t as strong as St. Louis or Los Angeles.

It may not matter what the rest of conference does, as Chicago was that good last year. And if rookie Brandon Pirri can fill the void at second-line center, arguably Chicago’s biggest weakness? Then it’s a distinct possibility the Windy City will see a third Stanley Cup championship in five years.

Will the Sharks keep its core together?

During Doug Wilson’s nine season tenure as Sharks’ GM, San Jose has qualified for the playoffs each year. Despite the consistency, San Jose has only appeared in the Conference Finals three of those nine times, never making it past that point. Dan Boyle, Patrick Marleau, and Joe Thornton are all unrestricted free agents at the end of this year, nearing the downturn of their careers. Because of this, many are wondering if the Sharks will move on from their “big three.”

A strong start would likely keep Boyle, Marleau, and Thornton beyond the trade deadline, but if the team falters out of the gate? Don’t be surprised if Doug Wilson, unafraid of making blockbuster trades, pulls the trigger on a deal shipping at least one of the Sharks’ prominent veterans elsewhere.
 

It’s not all doom and gloom in San Jose, however. The Sharks played Los Angeles very evenly in its epic seven-game, Western Conference semifinal last spring, despite missing two top-nine forwards in Martin Havlat (injury) and Raffi Torres (suspension). While Torres will start the season in the line-up, Havlat is still recovering from off-season surgery. A healthy Havlat, coupled with draft-day acquisition Tyler Kennedy and 2012 first round pick Tomas Hertl, will provide San Jose with the forward depth necessary to contend.

Is this the year Edmonton finally makes the leap?

Going into last year’s lockout-shortened season, many expected Edmonton’s rebuild to finally start paying dividends, and see Edmonton contend for a playoff spot. Hopes were buoyed by the dominant performances of young guns Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Justin Schultz while playing for Edmonton’s AHL affiliate during the lockout.

Once the season finally started, however, Edmonton was unable to translate the hype into on-ice success, experiencing three losing streaks of four games or more during the season. Ralph Krueger’s first year with team ended up due to the Oilers’ unimpressive performance, and has been replaced by Dallas Eakins, who has a great deal of head coaching experience in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies, but none in the NHL.

Edmonton has an incredibly dynamic offense, even with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the shelf to start the season. The addition of David Perron was a good one, and makes Edmonton’s top 6 forward group much more impressive. The team also added Denis Grebeshkov, Phillip Larsen, and Andrew Ferrence for help on the blueline, but defense remains the team’s weakness. The Oilers could certainly find themselves in the playoffs if Eakins is able to solve the team’s defensive issues and goaltender Devin Dubnyk continues to improve. That’s a lot to ask of a rookie head coach, though, so Edmonton faces a tough road back to the playoffs.

What will become of Roberto Luongo?

After two years of will they, won’t they, on-again, off-again drama surrounding Roberto Luongo’s time with the Canucks, GM Mike Gillis shocked the hockey world by shipping out Cory Schneider instead. Luongo seemed all but gone, but Vancouver traded their apparent present and future in goal.

Perhaps it was Cory Schneider’s shaky performance against San Jose in the first round that convinced Gillis to stick with Luongo, or his inability to receive what he deemed fair compensation in a trade, but now the Canucks are moving forward with Luongo. And that may prove to be a wise decision.

The arrival of defensive-minded disciplinarian John Tortorella could be very beneficial for Roberto Luongo. Henrik Lundquist experienced his best years in Tortorella’s system, and there’s hope that Luongo could experience a similar bump. Plus, knowing he’s firmly entrenched as Vancouver’s starter is probably a great relief, and the desire to start for Canada in an Olympic year should serve as additional motivation. Don’t be surprised to see the Luongo of old manning the crease in Vancouver this season.

How does newcomer Winnipeg fit in the playoff picture?

Since the Atlanta Thrashers became the Winnipeg Jets prior to the 2011-12 season, enthusiasm from the Winnipeg fans has been unwavering, turning the MTS Centre into one of the hardest places to play in the league. Winnipeg has a 36-23-6 at home over the past two seasons, but haven’t been able to translate that success to the road, posting a 25-33-7 record over that same span. That record came in a weak Southeast division, however. In the last two years, the Washington Capitals were the only team in the division to qualify for the playoffs.

This season, Winnipeg enters a much tougher division, having to play three playoff teams from last season in Minnesota, St. Louis, and Chicago, as well as improved Nashville, Colorado, and Dallas squads. And while the team’s top six forward group did improve with the addition of streaky scorer Devin Setoguchi, the Jets didn’t make many other additions. Instead, the Jets chose to lock up their own restricted free agents, such as Zach Bogosian and Zack Wheeler, to long-term contracts.

While the Jets undoubtedly have some talented young players on their roster and in their system, it’s a bit odd they threw so much money at re-signing players from a team that struggled to make the playoffs in a much weaker division last season. Unless the Jets’ young core makes significant strides this season, especially goaltender Ondrej Pavelec, Winnipeg will struggle mightily in their first year in the Central Division. 

That's Embarrassing

Corey Perry is a talented hockey player.

He's a perfect complement to the distributing style of Ryan Getzlaf, as Perry possesses an uncanny snap-shot that leaves even the league's best goalies shaking their heads. He's also known for his vision and passing ability, especially in tight quarters. Witness his distribution on this passing play to Ryan Getzlaf, where he just fires the puck off his backhand without looking to see where Getzlaf is. Naturally, it lands right in the middle of the stick for a goal.



And last night in Anaheim, Perry tried to make a similar play when faced with a 3-2 deficit late in a game. This time he circled to his forehand, looking for a player to make a move to the front of the net.

Unfortunately for him, the puck careened off the side of the Oilers net, and proceeded to slide 200 feet towards the Ducks goal, before bouncing in for the sixth, and final goal in the 4-2 Edmonton Oiler victory.

And though Tom Gilbert got the credit for the goal, Perry got a highlight that's going to easily qualify for #1 on the ESPN Not Top 10.
(That is, if ESPN showed any hockey)

Other thoughts:

1) Yes, that's 18-year-old Taylor Hall putting up the choking sign. In fact, the entire Edmonton bench basically erupts into laughter watching this play. Look for Head Coach Tom Renney stepping down from the bench to hide behind his players as he laughs.

2) It's not on the above version of the play, but the Edmonton feed shows Ryan Whitney giving a giant sigh of relief after this goal goes in. He did not want to be the repeat of Patrik Stefan, who missed an open net, only to have his opponent score on him.

3) The entire Edmonton bench stands up when this puck goes down the ice. Anaheim? They just sit there stunned at the turn of events. If you want to get a feel for a team, look at the bench and its reaction to plays.

4) Perry left the ice with 15.4 seconds left. It's one of the few times you'll ever see a hockey player leave before the game is over.

5) That song playing in the background? "Stranglehold", by Ted Nugent. Even the sound guy for Anaheim knew what was going on.