The grades are in the context of our expectations for that particular player.

Legend:

Player (Grade)

Contract status

Games Played – Goals –Assists – Points

Defence:

Toby Enstrom (B)

Five more years

22 GP – 4 G – 11 A – 15 P

Richard: I thought he was solid when he played, but not great. Offensively he flourished at the beginning of the year leading the defensemen in points early on. The reason he gets a B is because his defensive game is lacking. I don’t think he has played well enough as a defender to merit anything above a B.

Ezra: Players with his offensive ability don’t grow on trees, but struggles defensively.

Dustin Byfuglien (C)

Three more years

45 GP – 8 G – 20 A – 28 P

Richard: I have high expectations for Dustin Byfuglien and I think he let his weight get away from him. Everything he does on the offensive side, he gives it back on the defensive side. That was consistent throughout the year. He’s capable of more, the talent and natural ability are there but lacks the focus to play defensively.

Ezra (B): He didn’t produce as many points as last season and his defensive play really struggled toward the end of the season. Byfuglien is a highly skilled player who needs to show more commitment to the team.

Ron Hainsey (B)

UFA

47 GP – 0 G – 13 A – 13 P

Richard: He played a majority of the season with Bogosian, some of the credit of Bogosian’s year has to go to his partner Ron Hainsey. Does he score? No. But in reality he’s not asked to score. Some decision making isn’t the strongest and he’s not the most physical. He played more minutes than they wanted to and filled a role.

Ezra – He lead the league in blocked shots, played a shutdown role and is more offensive minded than the type of defensemen he is.

Zach Bogosian (A)

RFA

33 GP -5 G – 9 A – 14 P

Richard: He really took some steps forward this year, plays big minutes in all situations. He’s a horse; he likes to pressure, likes to drop the gloves and took more of a leadership role. His offensive game took some steps forward in terms of getting involved in the play.

Ezra: Took a step forward, is part of the long term future of the Winnipeg Jets. He has great skating ability, got more physical this year.

Grant Clitosme (B+)

UFA

Richard: He exceeded my expectations, produced offensively. Played in all situations. He seemed to flourish near the end. There were some defensive deficiencies. His issues are size and sometimes he turns the puck over. He can skate and has a good shot. He is a useful player and it will be interesting to see the contract he signs for next season.

Ezra: Stepped up and played increased minutes this season. He’s not the biggest guy but is strong. Sometimes makes costly turnovers in the defensive zone. Is better suited as a third pairing guy.

Mark Stuart (B)

One more year

Richard: He is what he is. He’s a third pairing defensemen. He played with everyone on the team. You want him to play a physical style and be a leader. Wasn’t his best defensive year. What you got from him is what you expected. No complaints here.

Ezra: He only had four points, you’d like to see more, but he was +5 and was among league leaders in hits. Has limited offensive ability but makes the smart decision with the puck in his own zone.

Paul Postma (C+)

RFA

Richard: I would have liked to see more offensively, there was some opportunity with the injuries. His strength is his offensive play. He certainly made some problems defensively and turning over the puck. Settled down as the season went on. He is what he is, will top out as a bottom pairing.

Ezra: He’s a good skater but isn’t physical. Makes mistakes in his own end. Could have provided a bit more offensively.

Zach Redmond (B)

RFA

Richard: My expectations for him were higher than Postma based on what we had heard from the IceCaps organization. He didn’t blow me away but was solid. He does have a few drawbacks, but was a nice surprise for the Jets in terms of defensive depth.

Ezra (A+) – The future is bright for him. He played 19 minutes per game in all situations.

Derek Meech (B)

UFA

Richard: Nothing wrong with his game and stepped in when needed.

Ezra: Provided a stabilizing presence, plays a simple, effective game.

Goaltenders:

Ondrej Pavelec (B)

Four more years

Richard: I think he’s a starter but not an exceptional NHL goaltender. He’s probably around the 20^th ranked goalie in the league right now. Put him behind better defensemen and his numbers may be higher. He was solid this year and deserves a B.

Ezra (A) – He faced the 2^nd most shots in the NHL to Ryan Miller. Said in his exit interviews that he has to improve his conditioning. He proved that he has the mental toughness to be a number one goalie. Had a better year than last year and wants to get better.

Al Montoya (B)

UFA

Richard: He started five games. He hardly played and was solid when he did play. Hard to make a definitive decision.

Ezra (A) – His numbers aren’t overwhelming, but when he did play he was very well.

The grades are in the context of our expectations for that particular player.

Legend:

Player (Grade)

Contract status

Games Played – Goals –Assists – Points

Andrew Ladd (A+)

Three more years

48 GP – 16 G – 28 A – 46 P

Richard: Can it be anything other than an A+? He was the best player on the team as far as I’m concerned. He took his game to a level I hadn’t seen before. The role he played on those cup teams was far different than the role he played on this team.

Ezra: It’s more than the points, he was a leader, he fought, he played well defensively. He was the most consistent player for the Jets and was the MVP of the team.

Bryan Little (B+)

RFA

48 GP – 7 G – 25 A – 32 P

Richard: He had a solid season, it wasn’t dominant by any means. Little is the third guy on that (Ladd/Little/Wheeler) line, he had 32 points, but only seven goals. It was above average. A solid year, not as good as Wheeler or Ladd’s but a solid one.

Ezra (C+): There are a lot of good things that he does, he’s a good skater and stick-handler. Seven goals, playing in every game is a bit low for him, some games he wasn’t a big factor. In 24 games he had zero points, and on the last home-stand Bryan Little had a point in every game. To be a number one centre in the NHL you have to be bigger and meaner, Little isn’t the most physical guy. I think he’s better suited for a second line centre role.

Blake Wheeler (A)

RFA

48 GP – 19 G – 22 A – 41 P

Richard: Really solid year (in regards to his point totals). He displayed more confidence this year; he had a solid season and exceeded what I thought he would do. When put in the proper position with the right guys, he’s a real nice top six forward.

Ezra (B+). He was really consistent, had 13 multi point games. The only reason he doesn’t get an A is because he went six points without a point in March and April and the Jets really needed him in those games.

Evander Kane (B)

Five more years

48 GP – 17 G – 16 A – 33 P

Richard: I thought he’d be better. He had a solid season. He’s better defensively than people give him credit for and he killed penalties this year. I would have liked to see some improvements in some areas. I didn’t think he had a dominant season; there were stretches when he was invisible. I realize that he played with some injuries. He had a solid season, but looking at his contract, he is a player who is getting paid more than John Tavares, and they aren’t in the same ballpark. His game was solid, but I didn’t see a ton of progress over last year. He’s still a 30 goal scorer and a solid up and down winger, but I think he’s capable of more.

Ezra: On certain nights he can be the best player on the ice. The reason I will give him a B is down the stretch he struggled. He had a wrist injury and a leg injury. The reason he gets a B is he had 80 penalty minutes, was at the top of the league in minor penalties. That was a sign of immaturity and a lack of discipline. Going forward he needs to reduce the amount of penalties he takes because a lot of them are in the offensive zone. He trailed off at the stretch, and left a little bit to be desired. My expectations were higher this year than last year. He has room to grow as a hockey player.

Olli Jokinen (F)

One more year

45 GP – 7 G – 7 A – 14 P

Richard: He doesn’t win face-offs, he’s not a good passer. He was awful on the power play and awful at even strength. Olli Jokinen had an awful year, there’s not much else to say.

Ezra: He was invisible on a lot of nights, he probably had 4 or 5 strong games in the 45 games he played. In my wildest expectations, I didn’t expect him to have 14 points.

Kyle Wellwood (D)

UFA

39 GP – 6 G – 9 A – 15 P

Richard: He didn’t improve on any of his weaknesses, there were stretches where he was invisible. I thought he would be better, showed up for periods, but didn’t do much. He’s in over his head as a second line winger.

Ezra: Last year he was one of the best bargains. He had one goal in the first 19 games. He was a healthy scratch seven times this year. He makes great passes and has great hands but is slow and rarely lays a body check. There’s too many games where he isn’t a factor of the ice.

Eric Tangradi (C)

RFA

36 GP – 1 G – 3 A – 4 P

Richard: He’s a bigger guy without a mean streak and is really inconsistent. He tries hard, doesn’t do anything wrong, but doesn’t do much right. A C is about what I expected from him, but he didn’t do much. This is a guy who’s max fourth line right wing right now, and I feel like James Wright does it better than him.

Ezra (C+) – He’s a guy that has size, and can use it, he’s not overly physical. He was at his best when playing with Burmistrov and Santorelli. A guy like Tangradi hasn’t been able to transfer the offense from the AHL level to NHL. On certain nights in the 9 or 10 minutes he was on the ice did a good job.

Alex Burmistrov (C)

RFA

44 GP – 4 G – 6 A – 10 P

Richard: He sees the game quite well, but his decision making is below par. He’s a solid defensive player who does back check, I think he is more suited to that right now. He doesn’t win faceoffs and makes bad decisions with careless passes and fancy players. The guy doesn’t create much offense. He had 4 goals and only put 55 shots on net which is less than Ron Hainsey> if he could stop playing shinny and start playing hockey he would be a better player. I didn’t see progress from year to year which is why he gets a C.

Ezra (C+) – He fell into the doghouse in March. When he came back he showed more focus. He is one of the most frustrating players to watch because he has all the talent, but lacks focus. He’s a guy who could turn into more of a defensive forward. He’s still young, and the next two years will determine if he’s part of the organization.

Mike Santorelli (B)

UFA

10 GP – 0 G – 1 A – 1 P

Richard: It was only ten games so it’s hard to guage. He showed some nice speed at tiems. He’s a pending UFA. I don’t see him beign in the long term plans of this team. They do have a need on right wing, but I don’t see him coming back.

Ezra (C+) – I think they should sign him back, it’s tough to grade a guy in ten games. He’s young enough that he is still developing. I don’t think he’ll become a 40 goal scorer even though he had 20 a fewy ears ago with florida. If it’s between Kyle Wellwood and Mike Santorelli, you could probably get Santorelli for cheaper and he’s younger. He’s got lots of speed and is great in the shootout. Given the right role he can flourish next year.

Nik Antropov (C+)

UFA

40GP 6G 12A 18P

Richard – C – Nik Antropov when he wants to play is a pretty skilled player. He’s strong and sees the ice well but is slow. He puts out a bit under .5 points per game but is better than that. If he can’t take advantage of the opportunity to become an offensive force on this team, what team can he do it with?

Ezra (D) – He put up 18 points, and was injured in March. The reason he gets a D is that he had too many pointless streaks. There were big stretches when he wasn’t producing. When he’s out there you need him to score. He got a lot of icetime, and is another guy who gets a lot of criticism for his contract but even without the money he was too invisible on too many nights. For a guy like him to have six goals is not enough to contribute on a regular basis.

Jim Slater (C+)

Two more years

26 GP 1G 1A 2P

Richard: My expectation was a bit more than what he produced. They may have missed Tanner Glass a bit more than we thought. He still wins faceoffs at 54% which is where his value is. But he could have been a bit better scoring wise. His season wasn’t as good as last year, which is why he gets a C+

Ezra (B) – It’s tough to give him a full grade because of his hand injury but his offensive totals were not he would want them to be. He’s one of the top penalty killers on the team. He’s good at what he does and the Jets missed him down the stretch.

Chris Thorburn (B)

One more year

42 GP – 2 G – 2 A – 4 P

Richard: He’s a 4^th line right winger who plays five minutes a night, who plays hard and is supposed to fight. He does what they asked him to do.

Ezra (B) – He scored four points, and got into nine fights. He stands up for his teammates, I didn’t like how he only played 4 or 5 minutes on many occasions. His average ice time was down from last year and fell a bit into the doghouse.

James Wright (B+)

One more year

Richard – I thought he played quite well. He can slot in as the 4^th line left winger, he’s bigger and a better skater than Tanner Glass who had that spot last season. He surprised me, he is under contract for next season.

Ezra (B) – He’s a really good skater, has good speed and played good minutes on the penalty kill. Moving forward, he’s the type of guy that will be depended on as a number one penalty killer. What I love the most is that he will drop the gloves when called upon.

Antti Miettinen (D)

UFA

Richard: He didn’t perform well and had a season that merited a D

Ezra: The days of him being a 15-20 goal scorer are long gone.

Aaron Gagnon (B+)

UFA

Richard: Hard to grade the players who played such little time. He had nice hands, would go to the net and did some things that other players wouldn’t do. I don’t think he fits into the team’s long term plans, he might be in St. John’s but I don’t think he cracks the top 12 of the Jets roster.

Ezra (C+) – I think he’s earned the right to be an NHL player, but the only reason he got into the lineup on the Jets is because of injuries. A fringe player, maybe he will get a two way contract next year and split time between St. John’s and Winnipeg.

Anthony Peluso (B)

RFA

Richard: Tough to tell with so little ice time. Can he play as well or better than Thorburn. He gets a B with the small amount of time he was in the lineup

Ezra (A): In five games he had two points, and played his role.

Patrice Cormier (C)

RFA

Richard: He played four minutes a game, he didn’t play well when he played, but he played so little it’s tough to give him a grade. He’s physical and isn’t afraid to go into the corner, but he is offensively limited. It will be hard for him to take Jim Slater’s place and he couldn’t which is why they sent him down.

Ezra (D) – He only played ten games here, but was ineffective in those games.

Editors note: Stay tuned later this afternoon for the grades for the defense and goaltenders

Drew: Now that the Winnipeg Jets have played one third of their games, I thought we could go back and review our predictions. Richard and Ezra’s original selection appears after their name in brackets, either were offered a chance to change their prediction (which they declined). Each comment provided has been paraphrased from Saturday’s Illegal Curve Hockey Show.

Winnipeg Jets. Over/Under: 24 wins. Actual: 7 wins. On pace: 21 wins.

Richard (over): I feel like Pavelec is starting to play better hockey, and while Enstrom is out, they haven’t been hit too hard by the injury bug. Too many players have had slow starts, I still feel comfortable with my pick.

Ezzy (over): I’m not going to change my prediction. After 16 games they are 7-8-1, that isn’t that bad considering their home record (which has room for improvement). I still think they will be 6 to 8 points out of a playoff spot.

Evander Kane. Over/Under:20 goals. Actual: 5 goals. On pace: 15 goals.

Richard (over): I’m going to stick with my pick. He shoots the puck from everywhere, some of those will pop in. He hasn’t played his best hockey as of yet, and is still on pace for 15 goals. He would benefit from a shuffling of the lines; he did not have any chemistry with Olli Jokinen.

Ezzy (even): I’m going to keep my prediction the same. He’s going to get to twenty goals; he’s not on a pace that you would expect him to be at, he’ll probably be right around twenty. He hasn’t got going yet and shoots from everywhere.

Blake Wheeler. Over/Under: 35 points. Acutal: 13 points. On pace: 39 points.

Richard (over): I’m not going to revise anything here. The point with him is that his past two games have been his best. He accumulated points over the first ten games while not playing his best, now he’s getting into gear playing his best hockey.

Ezzy (over): I’m not revising anything here. Blake Wheeler was the best player against Buffalo on Tuesday. I commend him for his comments about the negativity before the road trip; he has gone out and led the team with Andrew Ladd and Bryan Little.

Andrew Ladd. Over/Under: 30 points. Actual: 16 points. On pace: 48 points.

Richard (under): I’m not making any revisions here, but if I was smart I would. It looks like he is going to pass that total, full credit to him; he has been terrific this year. He’s led; he’s scored goals and created offense.

Ezzy (over): He hasn’t missed a game for Winnipeg Jets 2.0, he’s always the best player on the ice for the Jets. I’m keeping my prediction for this one.

Olli Jokinen. Over/Under: 35 points. Actual: 4 points. On pace: 12 points.

Richard (under): Jokinen has been brutal, they need him to be better.

Ezzy (under): That’s probably my worst prediction out of the five, but I’m going to stick with it. He was brought in to give them some scoring; you could argue he has been the most disappointing player on the Jets.

Dustin Byfuglien. Over/Under: 30 points. Actual: 7 points in 11 games, 0.64 PPG so far (needing to average 0.63 PPG in 48 games to get 30 points)

Richard (over): I’m going to stick with this pick; a key is where he is on the power play. I don’t love him in front of the net.

Ezzy (over): I like it; I’m going to stick with my pick.

Toby Enstrom. Over/Under: 25 points. Actual: 13 points in 13 games, he is now injured and needs to average 0.52 PPG in 48 games to get 25 points.

Richard (under): Well I knew he would get injured (ed note: said tongue in cheek). His injury history is a factor. He was a reliable player for a stretch but is a smaller player, was injured last year and now again this season. I don’t think he will get to 25 points.

Ezzy (over): Did I just go over for every pick?

Ondrej Pavelec. Over/Under 38 games started. Actual: 13 games started. On pace: 39 games started.

Richard (under): He’s been bad. I don’t think he has won them any games. You could argue that the Buffalo game was the first game that he stood on his head. If the Jets don’t have him playing at a high level, they will have a lot of difficulty. The past two games he has played a lot better, and that’s why they have had success. The Jets need him playing at a high level if they want to win.

Ezzy (over): He was given a big contract and has to live up to it.

Ondrej Pavelec. Over/Under: 20 wins. Actual: 5 wins. On pace: 15 wins

Richard (over): Sticking with this pick.

Ezzy (over): No revisions here.

Zach Bogosian (30 games played). Actual 4 games played. 32 games remaining.

Richard (over): Barring an injury, this looks like it will be over.

Ezzy (under): I’m happy that I will likely be wrong.

Central Division

St. Louis Blues

Last season: Place in NHL 3^rd, Goals for rank 21^st, Goals against 1^st, Power play 19^th, Penalty kill 7^th, Face-offs 14^th.

Additions: Wade Redden, Jeff Woywitka

Subtractions: BJ Crombeen,

Drew: The big addition will be Vladimir Tarsenko who is their 2010 first rounder.

Ezzy: They don’t have any superstars, but are so strong at every position. They are like the Boston Bruins of the Western Conference. I think they are going to be a top 4 team in the West for sure.

Richard: I really like this team; they have depth, speed, size. I think this team wins the division.

Nashville Predators

Last season: Place in NHL 5^th, Goals for rank 8^th, Goals against 8^th, Power play 1^st, Penalty kill 10^th, Face-offs 22^nd.

Additions: Chris Mason, Scott Hannan

Subtractions: Ryan Suter, Alex Radulov, Anders Lindback, Andrei Kostitsyn, Francois Boullion

Drew: How far is the drop for the Nashville Predators?

Ezzy: Shea Weber wins the Norris Trophy finally this year. The Nashville Predators are still good defensively, I just don’t think they have enough firepower to make up for the loss of Ryan Suter. I think they are going to miss the playoffs this year.

Richard: They lost a lot of offense. But in determining whether or not they can be a playoff team, they were top ten in every category last year except for face-offs. The truth of the matter is, if they drop down to the middle of the pack, they could still make the playoffs. I don’t think the West is as good as it was last year. Nashville is a team where if they bet against you, they’ll end up making it.

Chicago Blackhawks

Last season: Place in NHL 10^th, Goals for rank 5^th Goals against 22^nd, Power play 26^th, Penalty kill 27^th, Face-offs 12^th.

Additions: Sheldon Brookbank

Subtractions: Sami Lepisto

Ezzy: The Hawks are a number one goaltender away from being a Stanley Cup Winner. Bold prediction: The Blackhawks will acquire a goaltender.

Richard: I think the Hawks are an aimless team, what has Stan Bowman done to make this team productive? It’s a hodgepodge of talent, how do they fill out the bottom of the roster? What about the goaltending? I think Quenneville will be the first coach to get fired this season. I think the Blackhawks miss the playoffs.

Detroit Red Wings

Last season: Place in NHL 8^th, Goals for rank 7^th, Goals against 7^th, Power play 22^nd, Penalty kill 18^th, Face-offs 6^th.

Additions: Jonas Gustavsson, Mikael Samuelsson, Damien Brunner,

Subtractions: Nik Lidstrom, Jiri Hudler, Brad Stuart

Richard: I think Detroit makes the playoffs.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Last season: Place in NHL 30^th, Goals for rank 26^th, Goals against rank 28^th, Power play 24^th, Penalty Kill 30^th, Face-offs 9^th.

Additions: Artem Anisimov, Adrian Aucoin, Sergei Bobrovsky, Brandon Dubinsky, Tim Erixon, Nick Foligno

Subtractions: Rick Nash, Mark Methot, Curtis Sanford

Ezzy: The Columbus Blue Jackets won’t make the playoffs this year, everyone is picking them last. It’s a transition year. I can’t go against the grain; I think they’ll be one of the bottom teams.

Richard: They will be harder to beat this year, overall they are better, I think Columbus will surprise some teams and are making progress, but they won’t make the playoffs.

Northwest Division

Vancouver Canucks

Last season: Place in NHL 1^st, Goals for rank 5^th, Goals against rank 4^th, Power play 4^th, Penalty kill 6^th, Face-offs 3^rd.

Additions: Jason Garrison

Subtractions: Sami Pahlsson, Marc-Andre Gagnani, Aaron Rome

Drew: The Northwest was probably the worst and most top heavy division last year; looking at the Vancouver Canucks roster, is there any way they can replicate being the first overall team this year?

Ezzy: The injury to Ryan Kesler is a huge concern because they don’t know when he is coming back. If he comes back in March, will the Canucks even make the playoffs? The second line is such a huge drop off, their elite status is in question and it concerns me that they haven’t done much to improve. I think the Canucks take a step back this year.

Richard: There are some serious question marks after the first line, but you look at their defense, it’s a pretty darn good top four and their goaltending is solid. I don’t think the window has closed on them, but it’s closing. It’s highly dependent on if Alain Vingeault adjusts his style of play.

Calgary Flames

Last season: Place in NHL 18^th, Goals for rank 24^th, Goals against 13^th, Power play 13^th, Penalty kill 9^th, Face-offs 30^th.

Additions: Roman Cervenka, Jiri Hudler, Dennis Wideman

Subtractions: Scott Hannan, David Moss, Olli Jokinen

Drew: Is this the same Calgary Flames where they are fighting tooth and nail to get to the 8^th seed in the playoffs and fall short.

Richard: I like the Bob Hartley hire, I don’t like the contracts they gave out, but I like the players they acquired. They will coach offense for the first time in a while. The issue I have is that the strength of successful franchises is at the centre position. They finished 30^th in face-offs last year because they have a number of players (i.e. Tanguay) playing out of position. They’re probably back to a similar situation from years past.

Ezra: I don’t think that their secondary scoring is good enough. Again, they will be in that 9^th or 10^th position.

Colorado Avalanche

Last season: Place in NHL 20^th, Goals for rank 24^th, Goals against rank 15^th, Power play 9^th, Penalty kill 12^th, Face-offs 5^th.

Additions: John Mitchell, PA Parenteau, Greg Zanon

Subtractions: Peter Mueller, Jay McClement

Drew: Colorado is still not quite at a playoff team level, but are they on their way up?

Ezzy: The Colorado Avalanche are a team that has tons of skill, I think they will be better this year. It will be tough for them to make the playoffs, but they have tons of young offensive talent. They will be better than last year, but still out of a playoff spot.

Richard: Their season will hinge on whether or not a guy like Matt Duchene can take the next step. Their goaltending holds them back.

Minnesota Wild

Last season: Place in NHL 24^th, Goals for rank 30^th, Goals against 13^th, Power play 27^th, Penalty kill 15^th, Face-offs 8^th.

Additions: Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, Zenon Kenopka, Torrey Mitchell

Subtractions: Erik Christensen, Guillaume Latandresse, Mike Lundin

Drew: Will Suter and Parise be enough to propel them into a playoff spot?

Richard: Last season they were 30^th in goals for. I definitely see improvement for the Wild, but the question is; how much improvement?

Ezzy: When you add superstars Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, they will obviously get better. They were the best team in the NHL last season until they came to Winnipeg. They are a bottom playoff team, or just outside with Calgary. It’s tough not to pick them for a drastic improvement after the additions of Suter and Parise.

Edmonton Oilers

Last season: Place in NHL 29^th, Goals for rank 19^th, Goals against 23^rd, Power play 3^rd, Penalty killing 14^th, Face-offs 27^th.

Additions: Justin Schultz, Nail Yakupov

Subtractions: None

Drew: Are they youthful enough to get into the playoffs?

Richard: They have speed, youth and energy in a shortened season. I see this team being able to threaten to win the division, they will make the playoffs. Bold prediction: Who’s to say Hall won’t score 40 goals (or the pro-rated equivalent for the shortened season).

Ezzy: Because they have so much offensive talent, they will make the playoffs. It’s not time to order the Stanley Cup rings yet, but two or three years from now, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were lifting the Stanley Cup.

Pacific Division

Phoenix Coyotes

Last season: Place in NHL 11^th, Goals for rank 18^th, Goals against 5^th, Power play 29^th, Penalty kill 8^th, Face-offs 15^th.

Additions: Zybanek Michalek, David Moss, Steve Sullivan

Subtractions: Ray Whitney, Adrian Aucoin, Taylor Pyatt

Drew: Much like the Nashville Predators, each year people are wondering when the Coyotes will take a step back; is this the year they take a step backwards?

Richard: Their bread is buttered on the defensive side of the puck–can Mike Smith keep it up?. With Sean Burke mentoring him, and Dave Tippett being the best coach in the league, I don’t see how you can go against them.

Ezzy: My bread is buttered by peanut butter.

San Jose Sharks

Last season: Place in NHL 12^th, Goals for rank 13^th, Goals against 8^th, Power play 2^nd, Penalty kill 29^th, Face-offs 2^nd.

Additions: Brad Stuart, Adam Burish

Subtractions: Torrey Mitchell, Daniel Winnik

Drew: Every year, people say the San Jose Sharks should do better than they do in the playoffs–is this the year they take the next step in the playoffs?

Richard: I like the team top to bottom, but Thornton has proven year after year that he can’t do it in the playoffs. Larry Robinson should go a long way and is probably their biggest offseason addition. The issue is, can they win when it matters most? I think they’ve missed their chance.

Ezzy: I still think they will make the playoffs, but it comes down to Thornton, Marleau and Pavelski along with Logan Couture. In a shortened season, teams that didn’t make that many changes are at an advantage, San Jose is such a good veteran team, they’ll make the playoffs, but will fall short as they have continued to do year after year.

Los Angeles Kings

Last season: Place in NHL 13^th, Goals for rank 29^th, Goals against 2^nd, Power play 17^th, Penalty kill 4^th, Face-offs 7^th.

Drew: Is it possible that the LA Kings are better this year than last year because they’ll get a full season out of Jeff Carter?

Ezzy: It will be difficult for LA to repeat, but the big additions they made were at the end of last season. They are a top team; I have them winning the division.

Richard: “They are strong up the middle, with great defensemen and goaltending. I don’t see any reason why they don’t continue their success.”

Dallas Stars

Last season: Place in NHL 18^th, Goals for 22^nd, Goals against 15^th, Power play 30^th, Penalty kill 13^th, Face-offs 20^th.

Additions: Derek Roy, Ray Whitney, Jaromir Jagr, Aaron Rome, Cody Eakin

Subtractions: Mike Ribeiro, Steve Ott, Sheldon Souray, Adam Pardy, Adam Burish, Jamie Benn?

Drew: With all of their offseason moves, are the Dallas Stars a playoff team?

Ezzy: Jagr and Whitney had good years last year, but they were acquired to sell tickets. I don’t think they have enough talent offensively, especially without Benn.

Richard: I think they do make the playoffs. Last year they were short on offensive talent, their top two lines if Benn is signed are solid. Combined with goaltending, I like this Dallas squad; I think they make the playoffs.

Anaheim Ducks

Last season: Place in NHl 26^th, Goals for rank 23^rd, Goals against 19^th, Power play 21^st, Penalty kill 16^th, Face-offs 28^th.

Additions: Sheldon Souray, Bryan Allen, Daniel Winnik, Brad Staubitz

Subtractions: Lubomir Visnovsky, Sheldon Brookbank, George Parros

Drew: Any reason you see any improvement from the Ducks?

Richard: It can’t get any worse, especially with Getzlaf and Perry. I don’t see them as a playoff team, but they will be more competitive than last year.

Ezzy: They aren’t going to make the playoffs, the question will be will they trade Getzlaf and/or Perry, this year’s Parise and Suter.

Atlantic Division

New York Rangers

Last season: Place in NHL 2^nd, Goals for Rank: 11^th, Goals against Rank: 3^rd, Power Play 23^rd, Penalty Kill 5^th, Face offs 18^th.

Off-season acquisitions: Rick Nash, Taylor Pyatt, Arron Asham

Subtractions: Artem Anisimov, Brandon Dubinsky, Tim Erixon, Ruslan Fedotenko, Brandon Prust

Richard: I personally think the Rangers are the best team in the Eastern Conference this year. Credit to Glen Sather because Staal, Girardi, McDonagh and Del Zotto are the top four defensemen, and only one of them is making over $3 million. Each of them is under $4 million.

Ezzy: You’ve got a great team, the best team. They have the same goalie, same defense, as a group they are amazing defensively. Adding Rick Nash should improve the power play, while still playing the same defensive, shot blocking, “controversial” style.

Bold prediction: Rick Nash may be able to exceed the goals of all of the subtractions combined

Pittsburgh Penguins

Place in NHL: 2^nd, Goals for rank: 11^th, Goals against rank 3^rd, Power play 23^rd, Penalty Killing 5^th, Face offs 13^th.

Additions: Brandon Sutter, Tanner Glass, Thomas Vokoun

Subtractions: Jordan Staal, Steve Sullivan, Zybanek Michalek

Ezzy: I see them picking up a depth defenseman at the deadline. Their defense isn’t as good as it was, three or four years ago, but good enough to get them into the playoffs as the 4^th or 5^th seed.

Richard: Niskanen and Engelland can’t compete with the opposition that they will be matched up against. The young players need to take a step forward because the veterans they had last season didn’t provide much value.

Philadelphia Flyers

Last season: Place in NHL 6^th, Goals for rank 2^nd, Goals against rank 20^th, Power play 6^th, Penalty Kill 17^th, Face offs 24^th.

Additions: Luke Schenn

Subtractions: Sergei Bobrovsky, Matt Carle, Jaromir Jagr, Pavel Kubina, James Van Riemsdyk

Ezzy: The defense is weaker than it was a year or two ago, but they will still be a top team.

Richard: The loss of Pronger will hurt, but Philadelphia played the majority of last season without him. The top nine forwards are great, the question is, will Bryzgalov be able to make up for the defensive deficiencies. They aren’t in the same class as Boston, New York Rangers, and Pittsburgh.

New Jersey Devils

Last season: Place in NHL 8^th, Goals for rank 8^th, Goals against rank 8^th, Power play 14^th, Penalty Kill 1^st, Face offs 29^th.

Additions: Krys Barch

Subtractions: Zach Parise, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Petr Sykora, Matt Taromina, Eric Boulton

Ezzy: The Devils have taken a step back from last season. Zach Parise will be too big of a loss for them. They won’t make the playoffs this year because of the lack of offense and they will run into an injury or two.

Richard: You can’t lose the skill of a Zach Parise, not replace it, and think that it won’t become a problem. Brodeur won’t be able to play as well as he did last year. The Henrique injury is debilitating in a shortened season.

New York Islanders

Last season: Place in NHL 27th, Goals for rank 28th, Goals against 27th, Power play 8th, Penalty kill 22nd, Face-offs 26th.

Additions: Brad Boyes, Eric Boulton, Lubomir Visnovsky?, Matt Carkner

Subtractions: Mark Eaton, Milan Jurcina, Al Montoya, Jay Pandalfo, PA Parenteau, Steve Staios

Drew: I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Islanders finish ahead of the Devils.

Richard: They have a nice base, but this is not the year. Hopefully they trade Nabakov for some type of an asset. Last year they were bottom third in every significant category we’ve discussed except for power play.

Ezzy: I’m not confident in Nabakov or Dipietro, and have them finishing in the bottom of the division.

Northeast Division

Boston Bruins

Last season: Place in NHL 7^th, Goals for rank 3^rd, Goals against 6^th Power play 15^th, Penalty Kill 11^th, Faceoffs 1^st.

Additions: Garnet Exelby

Subtractions: Joe Corvo, Benoit Pouliot, Greg Zanon

Drew: Was last year’s defeat in the playoffs an aberration, or are they poised to make a run in the playoffs?

Richard: It was an aberration, looking at their lineup 1 through 12, I don’t know if you have a better 1 through 12 in the East. The teams that win have strength up the middle, Krejci, Bergeron, Seguin, Greg Campbell, Chris Kelly, they are strong up the middle. They are solid defensively, with great goaltending and a good coach.

Ezzy: Tukka Rask is an excellent goaltender and has a lot to prove in the last year of his contract. They didn’t make any offseason moves, but they re-signed key pieces in Marchand, Lucic, Kelly. Five on five, they may be the best team in the NHL.

Ottawa Senators

Last season: Place in NHL 16^th, Goals for 4^th, Goals against 24^th, Power play 11^th, Penalty Kill 20^th, Face-offs 16^th.

Additions: Guillaume Latandresse, Mike Lundin, Mark Methot

Subtractions: Nick Foligno, Bobby Butler, Nikita Filatov, Filip Kuba, Zenon Konopka

Drew: Is the arrow still pointing up for the Senators, how high can they go after last year?

Ezzy: They overachieved last year, and many teams in the East have gotten better. The future looks bright in Ottawa, but I don’t have them as a playoff team.

Richard: They’re interesting and hard to predict because they surprised everyone last year. If you are able to play two netminders in a shortened season, that may be a benefit. I do worry about their back end, the Jared Cowen injury is massive, how do they replace him? Gonchar and Phillips are getting older. Their defense costs them in sustaining what they did last year.

Buffalo Sabres

Last season: Place in NHL 19^th, Goals for 17^th, Goals against 18^th, Power play 16^th, Penalty Kill 19^th, Face-offs 19^th.

Additions: Steve Ott, Adam Pardy, John Scott

Subtractions: Brad Boyes, Derek Roy

Richard: Why would they sign Adam Pardy who is now buried in the minors, and John Scott, who is slower than Adam Pardy?!?!  Cody Hodgson is the key, I love Tyler Ennis, he is my breakout pick of the year. This is a skilled roster, with Ryan Miller in goal, you can’t help but think they will be better. How is this not a playoff team, top to bottom?

Ezzy: I have the Sabres making the playoffs, they finished 9^th last season, and underachieved big time. Ryan Miller went in a 19-3-2 run last season, he is one of the top 3 goaltenders in the NHL. Grigorenko will be a top rookie, the Sabres will have a bounce back year, they underachieved way too much (last season).

Toronto Maple Leafs

Last season: Place in NHL 25^th, Goals for 10^th, Goals against 29^th, Power play 10^th, Penalty Kill 28^th, Face-offs 4^th

Additions: James Van Riemsdyk, Jay McClement, Keith Aucoin (who has been since claimed on waivers)

Subtractions: Colby Armstrong, Jonas Gustavsson, Luke Schenn

Richard: You look at the Leafs, and there is nothing there to inspire confidence. You’d like to see improvement from Kadri, and maybe they’ll be able to get some assets for their veterans. Randy Carlyle should improve the team defensively. Their goaltending will be better because Carlyle is putting in a defensive system. Top to bottom, this roster is awful!

Ezzy: I like the decision of returning first round draft pick Morgan Reilly to the OHL. They’re not going to score enough goals, James Reimer and Ben Scrievens will struggle with the defense group that they have. The Leafs will be better than last year, but I still have them at 12^th or 13^th in the Eastern Conference.

Montreal Canadiens

Last season: Place in NHL 29^th, Goals for rank 19^th, Goals against 11^th, Power play 28^th, Penalty Kill 2^nd, Face offs 25^th.

Additions: Colby Armstrong, Francois Boullion, Brandon Prust, Cedrick Desjardins

Subtractions: Matthieu Darche, Brad Staubitz, Andreas Engqvist, PK Subban?

Drew: Without PK Subban, they have no chance.

Richard: They could be a pleasant surprise if everything falls into place.

Ezzy: I think the Montreal Canadiens will be better than last year. PK Subban concerns me because he wanted the same amount of years as Drew Doughty (seven). We don’t know when he will sign, but the Habs are going to improve (over last season), but I don’t think they’ll make the playoffs. Alex Galchenyuk will be a top rookie in the NHL this year.

Southeast Division (less the Jets)

Florida Panthers

Last season: Place in NHL 14^th, Goals for rank 27^th, Goals against 12^th, Power play 7^th, Penalty kill 25^th, Face offs 11^th.

Additions: Filip Kuba, Peter Mueller, George Parros, Casey Wellman, Alex Kovalev

Subtractions: Jason Garrison, Mikael Samuelsson, Wojtek Wolski

Ezzy: I look at the team, and it doesn’t slap me in the face and say, “this is a really good team like the Bruins or Flyers.” It’s a good team, they’ll be competitive, but they overachieved last year, and I don’t think they can replicate it. I don’t think they make the playoffs.

Richard: I think a lot of their season is dependent on the second line. It has Peter Mueller, who has a concussion history, but there is no question about his skill level, Jonathan Huberdeau and Alexei Kovalev. Their season is very much dependent on their second line, if they can provide enough offense. Second line and goaltending is the key to me. I don’t think they make the playoffs either, but this division is a total crapshoot.

Washington Capitals

Last season: Place in NHL 15^th, Goals for rank 14^th, Goals against 21^st, Power play 18^th, Penalty kill 21^st, Face offs 17^th.

Additions: Mike Ribeiro, Wojtek Wolski

Subtractions: Alex Semin, Jeff Halpern, Dennis Wideman, Tomas Vokoun, Cody Eakin

Drew: Do the Capitals regain the Southeast division title?

Richard: I think they do. New Head Coach Adam Oates is the key here. I think this division is up for grabs. Is Backstrom healthy? Does Ovechkin regain his old form? Because then, Ribeiro can anchor the second line and create offense for Wolski and Brouwer. If Oates can get Backstrom and Ovechkin back to their old form, while keeping them healthy, they can take the division. But they could also end up missing the playoffs, this is no shoo-in.

Ezzy: Adam Oates is going to make the Capitals’ special teams better, and open the game up. Alex Ovechkin will get back to the top ten in league scoring. Dale Hunter did good things with the Capitals last season, but Oates will change some things. The penalty kill and power play will get better; I think they will make the playoffs.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Last season: Place in NHL 21^st, Goals for rank 8^th, Goals against 30^th, Power play 25^th, Penalty kill 26^th, Face offs 11^th.

Additions: Matt Carle, Anders Lindback, Sami Salo, Benoit Pouliot

Subtractions: Bruno Gervais

Drew: Can they keep the puck out of their own net? They were dead last in goals against last year.

Richard: I like the moves they have made; they haven’t lost any significant pieces. Lindback is the key, but the defense looks a lot deeper. This is a tough division; it’s not the SouthLeast anymore. I think Guy Boucher is the best coach in the division.

Ezzy: The Lightning will be back in the playoffs. I think Sami Salo is a bigger addition than Matt Carle. The forward group is exactly the same (aside from Pouliot), the defense is improved.

Carolina Hurricanes

Last Season: Place in NHL 23^rd, Goals for rank 16^th, Goals against 25^th, Power play 20^th, Penalty kill 23^rd, Face offs 10^th.

Additions: Alex Semin, Jordan Staal, Joe Corvo, Marc-Andre Gragnani

Subtractions: Bryan Allen, Brandon Sutter

Drew: They are a sexy pick to make a big leap, do they have it in them?

Richard: I don’t think so, I think they are weak on the wings, and I think their defense is overrated. Joe Corvo is not a top four defenseman. They are great up the middle, but weak on the wings. I don’t think they will be an easy team to play against, but this is not a playoff team.

Ezzy: This is one area where we disagree most, I have them winning the Division (as does Drew). Cam Ward is a top five goaltender in the NHL, they are excellent up the middle. The reason I differ with Richy is I think that certain forwards will be adequate on the wings playing with the Staal brothers. They are a team on the up for sure.

On tomorrow’s show, Drew Mindell (@ICDrew) will return to the host chair along side Richard Pollock (@ICRichyP) and Ezra Ginsburg (@ICEzzyG).

For additional updates on the show, follow Illegal Curve on twitter @IllegalCurve.

The guests on tomorrow’s show will be:

Chip Alexander (@Ice_Chip) of the Raleigh News & Observer.

Bobby Holik (@HolikOnHockey) former New Jersey Devil, currently sharing his thoughts on the game at www.HolikOnHockey.com

Remember to tune in to the Illegal Curve Hockey Show from 9am-11am when it will air LIVE on TSN Radio 1290.

Thank you to our show sponsors:

Rumors Comedy Club

The Cheer Bar & Grill

David Carr of Monopoly Realty

Carbone Cold Fired Pizza

On the show tomorrow, our guests will be:

Frank Provenzano, Assistant General Manager of the Dallas Stars

Tom Lynn, former Assistant General Manager of the Minnesota Wild, currently of Veritas Hockey

Corey Pronman, prospects writer for Hockey Prospectus and ESPN

For show updates, follow Illegal Curve on twitter.

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturdays on TSN Radio 1290 in Winnipeg, this summer it airs at a special time of 9am to 11am.

This wasn’t the first time the Flyers had offered a player an offer sheet, as back in 2006, the Flyers tried to pry Ryan Kesler from the Vancouver Canucks with a one year $1.9 million offer sheet (which seems pretty minor today).

Back on April 1, 2009, when the Illegal Curve Hockey Show was only three months old, Philadelphia Flyers executive Bobby Clarke came on the show to discuss a number of topics, among them offer sheets and the usage thereof.

Here is a transcript of that interview (click here to listen):

IC: “A couple years ago you got a lot of flack for tendering Ryan Kesler to an offer sheet, he’s obviously turned into a terrific player. What did you see in him that made you make that offer, did you think of the criticism?

Bobby Clarke: “We ended up getting in a jam near the end of August, all of a sudden Keith Primeau had to retire due to head injuries, Forsberg was hurt and couldn’t play, and our next two centremen were Carter and Richards. We were trying to break them in as third and fourth centremen behind Primeau and Forsberg, and would have been real good down the middle. You lose your top two guys, so we were trying to get another centremen and we had seen a lot of Kesler. Paul Holmgren who was my assistant at the time; he had had him at the world championships and, hearing out of Vancouver was that they didn’t want to pay him, we said the rules are the rules, we’ll follow them, we’ll take a shot at him. We were willing to give up the compensation for him. We liked him, we thought he could do for us what Primeau had done.”

IC: “At the time Dave Nonis was pretty angry and some media outlets and other hockey people were critical of you. It was within the rules, but what was your reaction to that, in terms of them going at you for something that seems like it was good foresight when making that decision.”

Bobby Clarke: “If you’re going to manage in the NHL you’re going to get criticism, it rolls off your back after a while. I didn’t make the rules, if they were mad at somebody who made the rules, then get mad at them, don’t get mad at me for using the rules. If you’re a general manger, it’s your responsibility to your own club to use those rules. If they put the rules in and you don’t use them, what’s the point of putting them in.”

IC: “That’s right, I mean Kevin Lowe got criticized by Brian Burke for the same kind of thing, even though he was playing in the rules. Burke thought Penner was overpriced, and then he didn’t match. It seems even stemming from the offer sheets way back to Mattias Ohlund that GM’s get criticized within the fraternity for playing within the rules. It seems kind of two sided to me.”

Bobby Clarke: “It’s what causes the league problems, if they put rules in, and nobody uses them, what do you think the players association thinks? That they’ve collectively bargained a dumb rule? If the rules are there they expect the people in charge to use them. If you don’t use them, the players association will change things to favor the players (and they rightfully should).”

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs at a special time this summer, Saturdays from 9am to 11am on TSN Radio 1290.

The second segment of Saturday’s Illegal Curve Hockey Show began with Jets talk.

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show on TSN Radio 1290 airs at a special time during the summer, from 9am-11am on Saturday. The following discussion has been transcribed and paraphrased from the latest episode available for download at IllegalCurve.com. Alternatively you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and have it automatically downloaded when it becomes available.

Host Drew Mindell (@ICDrew) began the segment:

“Where does this leave pending UFA Mark Flood?”

Mark Flood played 33 games for the Jets last season, averaging 15:21 minutes per game of icetime. The 27 year old recorded three goals, four assists, for a total of seven points and was able to step in to the lineup when needed. He was a fan favourite after spending 2010-11 with the Manitoba Moose and transitioning to the IceCaps. Flood was on a two-way contract last season, but the Jets did not send him down at any point after his initial call up, as he would have to pass through waivers on the way down, and they did not want to lose him. (Even though Flood was signed to a two way contract last season, as per the CBA, his age would have required him to pass through waivers, should the Jets had wanted to send him to the AHL.)

The discussion continued:

“It’s unlikely that Mark Flood will get a one-way contract offer from the Jets, he might get a two-way contract but my guess is that’s a situation where it’s on the table waiting for him, but he’s seeing what else is available to him potentially on a one way deal.”

Ezra Ginsburg (@ICEzzyG) added:

“Mark Flood is an unrestricted free agent, so he can sign with anybody, but obviously he has the history with the Manitoba Moose (and the True North organization).”

Ginsburg, who recently quit smoking (#GoTeamEzzy) projected that Flood would likely sign a two way contract with the Jets if he did not receive a one-way contract from another team.

As for Paul Postma, Richard Pollock (@ICRichyP) feels it’s time him to get a full shot at a spot in the lineup.

“I’m assuming Postma is going to get a shot here (as a result of the one-way deal). Clitsome was a guy the Jets picked up off of waivers to replace Oduya, it’s time to give Postma a shot.”

Taking the position of head coach, Pollock gave his insight on potential defense pairings.

“What you would want to do is you’d want to have the three right handed defenseman, Byfuglien, Bogosian and Postma, three big guys and puck movers playing the right side. Then the combination of Hainsey, Enstrom and Stuart on the left side, with Clitsome being the seventh defenseman.”

Here are the projected defense pairings, (obviously changes will be made throughout the season, but for the time being).

Byfuglien – Enstrom

Stuart – Bogosian

Hainsey – Postma

Clitsome

Drew Mindell added, “with Postma’s best attributes being his offensive skills, you would think that he will get some minutes on the power play.”

Pollock continued, “He’ll probably get some time on the second power play unit, they’ll try to shelter him I’m guessing (due to the fact that this will be his first full NHL season).”

Ezra Ginsburg: “Everything we’ve heard about the way he’s played in St. John’s and in the NHL, he’s earned it. He was second on the team last year in scoring, he’s been close to a point per game in the AHL. He’s at that age (where prospects make the jump to the NHL). We’ve watched him a little bit, and Jets fans got to see him a couple times this year, Postma is a very steady defenseman, he’s not overly physical, but he’s a good skater, he’s smart, you hear a lot about his intelligence, his hockey IQ and he’s going to give them another element on the power play.”

“Losing a guy like Johnny Oduya, he replaces that, Postma is definitely going to get a lot more time. I agree with that Grant Clitsome’s probably going to be in the same position that Derek Meech and Mark Flood were toward the end of last year as the seventh defenseman.”

Pollock:

“There’s no lack of talent on the back end, the question is can they play defense. We know all these guys can move the puck for the most part, except for Stuart really, but they’re not great defensively, especially as a unit. These guys need to play defense, and they didn’t do a great job of it last year. Can they do a good job of that this year? (It will be tough) because the contents of the defense haven’t changed much aside from Paul Postma. He’s improved in the defensive game as far as we know from talking with Keith McCambridge and Robin Short of the St. John’s Telegram, having said that, it’s one thing to do that at the AHL level, it’s another thing to do it at the NHL level.

You expect the Jets to ease him in on the third defense pairing, and second line power play, they’ll see what he’s got and hopefully he can add some nice value to the squad, but he’ll need to play well defensively.”

The entire interview is available here at Illegal Curve, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

Follow the author on twitter @mremis

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturdays from noon to 3pm on TSN Radio 1290.

Do you think these are the seven defensemen the Jets will start the 2012-13 season with, or do you foresee some additional moves made on the back end? A trade? An additional signing? Sound off in the comments section!

Let’s assume the lines for next season will be similar to how they were last season. With the current roster they would look like this:

Ladd – Little – Wheeler

Kane – Jokinen – Wellwood

Ponikarovsky – Burmistrov – Antropov

Miettinen – Slater – Thorburn

This leaves one spot open on the roster for Patrice Cormier, Carl Klingberg, Spencer Machacek or Ben Maxwell to occupy.

On this past Saturday’s Illegal Curve Hockey Show, Drew, Richard and Ezra speculated that there may not be a spot on the roster for Spencer Machacek, who is currently an RFA.

The entire episode of the most recent Illegal Curve Hockey Show is available for download at IllegalCurve.com, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

The team has several right handed shooters in the right wing slot: Blake Wheeler, Kyle Wellwood, Chris Thorburn and Antti Miettienen

Richard Pollock went on:

“This says a lot about what they think of Spencer Machacek, who they put through waivers last year, so that says a lot about what they think of him anyways. This signing to me, signals they don’t have much in the way of hope for him. The same goes for Carl Klingberg, you’d assume he’ll spend another year in the AHL.”

“The only spot that’s available right now is the fourth line left wing spot that Tanner Glass occupied last season.”

Drew Mindell continued:

“In my mind I thought Kyle Wellwood was gone to be honest; but this Wellwood signing tells you that the Jets don’t have a lot of hope that there’s somebody from the AHL who could fill that right side role.”

Ezra Ginsburg added:

“They’re going to play Wellwood on the second or third line because they don’t believe that Machacek or Ivan Telegin will fill Wellwood’s offensive contributions.”

Richard Pollock summed up the Jets offseason moves with this comment:

“You’re replacing Mason with Montoya, Glass and Stapleton with Jokinen and Ponikarosvky, so you’ve gotten better. Right now you’re in the mix for the 10-9-8-7 slots, maybe even sixth (in the Eastern Conference).”

“Bringing back Wellwood says as much about Wellwood as it does about what they think of the other players in the system. This is a complete red flag that these guys will never be ready. Look at the ages of these players.”

Ben Maxwell -  24

Spencer Machacek – 23

Patrice Cormier – 22

Carl Klingberg – 21

“If they thought either of them would be a third line right winger, they would be playing right now.”

Spencer Machacek remains an RFA and little updates have been provided on the negotiation process. With little room on the roster, the Jets should be looking to sign him to a two-way contract.

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs at a special time this summer on Saturday from 9am – 11am. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

This week the Winnipeg Jets development camp is taking place at the MTS Iceplex. Two players attending camp this year are Lukas Sutter (2^nd round, 39^th overall, 2012) and Ryan Olsen (6^th round, 160^th overall, 2012). Both players played for the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL this past season.

Following the NHL Entry Draft, Head Coach and General Manager of the Saskatoon Blades Lorne Molleken appeared on the Illegal Curve Hockey Show to discuss the two Jets’ draft picks.

Lukas Sutter

Position: Centre

Born: October 4, 1993 (age 18)

Height: 6’0

Weight: 215 lbs.

Last season: 70 GP, 28G, 31A, 59 P, 165 PIM

On Sutter’s greatest asset:

“First and foremost he’s a young guy that is very committed to being the best he can be. He’s a typical Sutter, they play for keeps, and Lukas has evolved into a player in Saskatoon that is difficult to play against. He’s a fierce competitor and on most nights he plays against the other teams’ best players. This year he put up some good numbers offensively and we feel he still has plenty of room to grow.”

On Sutter’s maturity and responsible play in the defensive zone:

“He obviously comes from a hockey background; he was probably the most improved player on our hockey club last year. As a seventeen year old, he struggled, as far as the different aspects. But certainly this year, he came in; he played in all situations for us, and was a guy that we really counted on. He takes a lot of pride in the little things and works extremely hard at it, when I talk about little things; that’s faceoffs, board battles, and puck battles in tight areas. He’s a player that has a chance to be a guy that can contribute at the NHL level.”

On his skating which has been seen by some as a weakness:

“I think that we all maybe questioned that as a sixteen and a seventeen year old, but he’s worked real hard at that skill and his skating never hampered him at all last year. He’s shown steady improvement in that area. Like we talked about earlier, he finds a way to get things done, he’s a fierce competitor.”

Ryan Olsen

Position: Centre

Born: March 25, 1994 (Age 18)

Height: 6’3

Weight: 198 lbs.

Last season: 67 GP, 15 G, 17 A, 32 P, 64 PIM

On Ryan Olsen:

 “We actually traded Ryan at our Bantam draft this year; he was a first round Bantam pick of ours, and certainly played extremely well as a sixteen year old for us. Last year he struggled in the first half of the year, but really improved his play in the second half. We host the Memorial Cup this year in Saskatoon and we decided at the Bantam draft we would make a couple trades, bringing in some older, experienced players who have all participated in the Memorial Cup.”

“Ryan was one guy that teams targeted; we didn’t want to give up that young asset. But as we move forward we knew we had to get older, we needed more experience, and unfortunately Ryan was the guy that we moved. I said to all teams, he’s a big centre iceman that skates extremely well, sees the ice extremely well and not to give up on him.”

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show will air at a special time this summer on Saturdays from 9am–11am.

The big news last week happened on Monday when the Jets inked Olli Jokinen to a two year $9 million contract.

The following discussion is transcribed and paraphrased from the latest episode, available directly at IllegalCurve.com. Alternatively, you can subscribe on iTunes and have the podcast automatically sent to you as soon as it becomes available.

The show began on Saturday with Drew, Richard and Ezra discussing the Jets latest acquisition.

Richard Pollock began:

“What the move does it fills a need in size and scoring up front, and pushing Bryan Little to the second centre slot. What I ask rhetorically, in the grand scheme of things, is what does this do? What does it make for the Jets? I’m not so sure it does anything.

People are excited because a player opted to sign here. The player opted to sign here, because they offered him the most money, nothing against the player for accepting that, and nothing against the team for offering him that.

There seems to be a big-time reaction about the signing of a guy in his mid-30’s who’s had a sketchy track record over the past couple years. Sure hes “reformed” under Brent Sutter, that’s not to say that won’t continue under Claude Noel.

Overall, does the team get better for next year? Yes, absolutely. I understand the other reason for this signing is to bridge the gap to a guy like Mark Scheifele. You sign Jokinen to a two-year deal, and you’re probably hoping that Mark Scheifele in two years is going to take a step to be an NHL starter. An NHL starter; meaning they are hoping a second line centre at least.

What does it do for them now? After looking at all the teams in the East…the problem is that all of the teams worse than the Jets got better, and all of the teams better than the Jets got worse, but not bad enough that the Jets are better. I’m not sure in the big scheme of things that this does anything for them. (In terms of where they will place in the standings)”

Ezra Ginsburg continued:

“I think that signing Olli Jokinen, it does make them better. The Jets have a number one centre now. Olli Jokinen is an upgrade over Bryan Little as far as offense goes, as far as size goes, as far as experience goes. Whether or not he should have been signed for $4.5 million…that’s the going rate. A sixty point guy, at this stage of a career, that’s about his ceiling. Obviously he was playing with Jarome Iginla, so those numbers may go down a little bit. He’s a 50-60 point guy.”

Drew Mindell followed up with:

“You realize also, the Jets needed to spend that money, right now they are $4.93 million below the salary cap floor. If they didn’t sign top flight talent they would have never got there. Right now they have four guys to sign to take them to the roster level. The issue of course, is Evander Kane is the guy who will be making money out of that group, the rest of them, won’t be making that much money. Without the Jokinen contract on the books, they wouldn’t have made the floor. That needs to be taken into account as well.

In that respect, if you are going to spend that money, that’s a good guy to spend it on. We went over the possible free agent forwards the Jets could sign, and centre was the weakest position for the Jets last season. (Jokinen was fourth on Ezra’s list of potential UFA’s to sign)“

More great discussion from Drew, Richard and Ezra on the Illegal Curve Hockey Show is available to download here at Illegal Curve, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

Guests on the show this week will include:

Joe Beninati – Play by play voice of the Washington Capitals on Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic.

Kevin Allen (@kausatoday) – National hockey writer for USA Today.

Aaron Portzline (@APortzline) – Beat writer for the Columbus Dispatch

Mike Colligan (@MikeColligan) – Writer for The HockeyWriters.com and Forbes.com.

Other topics from the week in hockey that will be discussed

-Ondrej Pavelec’s five year $19.5 million contract extension, as well as other contract extensions around the league (Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Quick, Corey Schneider, Tukka Rask).

Remember to tune in for a special edition of the Illegal Curve Hockey Show on Sunday, July 1. We’ll be LIVE on air from the Winnipeg Free Press News Cafe starting at 9am to 12:30pm. The guys will be breaking down each signing as they come in. Celebrate Canada Day by coming on down and saying hello!

On Saturday June 23, Renaud Lavoie of RDS tweeted (@RenLavoieRDS) “What’s going on with the Jets ? I hear from a player on Winnipeg that Kane doesn’t want to negotiate a new deal ?”

Since the rumor originated during the airing of the Illegal Curve Hockey Show, it was immediately dismissed, host Drew Mindell did not put too much stock into the tweet.

The rumors continued throughout the weekend and were a prominent news story leading into Wednesday’s Illegal Curve Hockey Show on TSN Radio 1290.

Hockey Night in Canada’s Elliotte Friedman, wrote in his 30 thoughts this week (a must read for any hockey fan)

“Asked a couple of GMs if they’d heard Evander Kane is available. Both said no. Is it possible the relationship is strained? Yes sir, but trading a 20-year-old 30-goal scorer is risky business. Both GMs did say they would absolutely be interested if Kane got to the market. ”

He came on the Illegal Curve Hockey Show this Wednesday and elaborated on his 9th thought of the week:

“I have a regular routine that I go through with Hotstove (the weekly HNIC segment). There’s a bunch of guys I get in touch with and speak to, and from there everything else kind of goes.

I had already spoken to a few people on Saturday, when someone sent me a note saying they heard the rumor about Evander Kane and that Renaud Levoie had tweeted it out of Montreal.

The last two guys I spoke to, I said, “is there anything to this, have you guys heard that Evander Kane is out there?” and they both said no. I texted one of guys who I had previously spoke to and I said, “sorry to bother you again, but this is what I’m hearing, have you heard this?” and they said no.

If Evander Kane is available, these three guys I spoke to hadn’t heard it. So either, it hadn’t gotten to them yet, or Winnipeg is keeping it pretty quiet.

And then the following question was, if he was out there, would you be interested. And the answer was, you’d absolutely have to be, because it’s hard to find a twenty year old thirty goal scorer in the NHL.

What I think is going on is, everybody knows about all the rumors that happened last year in Winnipeg. I assure (you) there probably had to be a lengthy conversation after the season in terms of what the organization expects from him, and what he expects from the organization.

I think that’s what they’re going through right now. If you’re the Winnipeg Jets and you struggle to score goals, you’re saying to him, we’re not that interested in trading you, unless the return is enormous. They probably want to settle, and see where everything stands with him before they even go down that road.”

TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger was also a guest on the program and had this to say about the current state of Evander Kane negotiations:

“No, I don’t (think that Evander Kane is on the trade market). I base that on what I saw today, and what I saw today was Don Meehan, Craig Oster (Kane’s agents), Kevin Cheveldayoff and the Winnipeg Jets meeting here in Pittsburgh, and beginning the process.

This was an introductory meeting, I know they spent some time dispelling the rumor out there and all the speculation that this guy wants out. There’s no perfect fit for any player, I don’t’ know that Evander Kane has any issues, real tangible issues with the Winnipeg Jets. I kind of doubt it, given that there has been a negotiation here, at least one that’s starting.

This is going to take some time; they didn’t button down on the hard numbers. I believe they talked about term, I don’t know what the years would be. But again, this is just a starting point, and I’m sure a couple of weeks from now they’ll be closer to a deal that makes sense for both sides.”

The entire interviews are available here at Illegal Curve, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturdays from noon to 3pm on TSN Radio 1290

A week and a half ago Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada reported that a KHL team is interested in signing the Winnipeg Jets goaltender.

On Wednesday’s Illegal Curve Hockey Show, Friedman came on the program to discuss the speculation surrounding Ondrej Pavelec:

“My belief is that Ondrej Pavelec wants to play in the NHL. I think most good players want that. They want to play against the best. Most guys who go to the KHL are either unhappy, or they can’t find a job that they really want in North America. The fact is, and I really do believe this, most of the best players, want to play against the best players. I think that Ondrej Pavelec wants to play in the NHL. Guys who know Pavelec better than I do, say that he likes Winnipeg, which is a very good sign for your city.

I think that he believes that he was the MVP of the team last year, and he wants to be paid as part of that. Now we’re in the negotiation. I would guess that the fact that he had a KHL offer get out (to the public), (is) because he was not happy with what the Jets initially offered him. I think that’s what it comes down to guys. Now we’re in the dance, and the Winnipeg Jets and Ondrej Pavelec are in the high noon phase where the two gun fighters are circling each other, sizing each other up and saying, “what is really going to happen here”.

I do think this; I think that if Pavelec doesn’t get an offer he likes, the more likely the KHL becomes real. Right now it’s a bit of a tactic, but I think with a European player especially, if he doesn’t get what he thinks is a fair offer from the Jets, the likelihood (of going to the KHL) increases, especially if he believes there is going to be a lockout at the beginning of the next year then the KHL becomes a factor.”

TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger was also a guest on the program and had this to say about the rumours surrounding Pavelec.

“I think that you have to look at the likely scenarios, you cannot exclude playing in the KHL as a likely scenario. He’s been offered a big chunk of change. Speculation puts it as upwards of five, or five and a half million dollars for one season. That’s a boatload of money, particularly when you are looking at an interrupted season because of the CBA.

I don’t see the Jets trading Ondrej Pavelec, there’s always that give and take, that back and forth in any negotiation. Because he’s a restricted free agent, obviously the Winnipeg Jets maintain his rights. On that vein, they’re entitled to negotiate in any way shape or form they choose. But, the agent in this case, also has an obligation to make sure all of the options are put on the table for his client. His client now has some leverage, maybe the Jets will call his bluff, maybe they’ll say, “Alright you want to go to the KHL for a year, go ahead, but we maintain your rights and we’ll deal with you at a later date.” (There’s) still a lot of time in this negotiation, before there’s any sense of direction or finality to the future in Winnipeg.”

The entire interviews are available here at Illegal Curve, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturdays from noon to 3pm on TSN Radio 1290

With the NHL Entry Draft one week away, tomorrow’s edition of the Illegal Curve Hockey Show will be an NHL Draft Preview Show. Drew, Richard and Ezra will provide their insight, analysis and opinion on the NHL Draft.

Several guests are booked for the show and each will provide their unique input:

-Craig Button of TSN

-Corey Pronman of Hockey Prospectus and ESPN

-Patrick Burke, son of Brian Burke, Philadelphia Flyers Scout and part of the You Can Play Project

-Grant Sonier of ESPN

Other topics on the show will include the week in Winnipeg Jets news, NHL News and a recap of the Stanley Cup Final.

Can’t listen live? The show will be available to download here at IllegalCurve.com, or subscribe on iTunes to have the podcast automatically downloaded as it comes available. For a list of previous shows, visit IllegalCurve.com/Radio

Now it’s time for the news!

Winnipeg Jets News

Jim Slater: “Just wanna say thanks to everyone for the support. I’m looking forward to 3 great more years in Winnipeg.” from his twitter account @SlaterJim. The response from Winnipeggers about the Jim Slater signing has been overwhelmingly positive. Slater uses his twitter account to send back the love to the Winnipeg fans. He also inquired about Rob Lowe tweeting yesterday “#TrappedInAHellHole”. Good to see that even when he is surfing in San Diego, Slater is curious about the goings on of Winnipeg.

NHL News

Sportsnet.ca: Brophy on NHL: Important Questions to Ask. Brophy attempts to answer all of the pressing questions around the league, including; Will Roberto Luongo, the number one overall pick Jarome Iginla or Jordan Staal be traded. Brophy also answers this question about Winnipeg:

“Will the love affair between the Winnipeg Jets and their fans continue?”

After going for so many years without NHL hockey, it is hard to imagine Jets fans turning on their beloved team. However, Winnipeg fans can be as demanding as any in the world and they expect to be treated to a winner. The Jets had a decent season upon their return to the Great White North, but finishing 11th in the East is not good enough. The simple fact is this franchise, which had been based in Atlanta, has made the playoffs just once in its 12 seasons of existence. I can see the fans in Winnipeg getting a little restless if the club doesn’t qualify for the post-season next year.”

I think it is too early to tell what will happen but I don’t think there will be any dip in excitement for next season. By all accounts this is a promising team and fans here are looking forward to the draft and free agency to see how this team will look for the 2012-13 season.

USA Today: Lightning acquire goalie Lindback from Predators. GM Steve Yzerman makes a shrewd move trading two second round picks this year and a third round pick next year for goaltender Anders Lindback. Jets fans may remember the 6’7″ goaltender from the preseason when he stopped 35 of 37 shots plus three more stops in the shootout to lead the Preds to a 3-2 win in Winnipeg. The Swedish goaltender goes into the offseason as an RFA and is due to the raise. After giving Pekka Rinne his massive contract, Lindback became expendable. If (when) Yzerman can reach a deal with his new netminder, this looks like a fair deal for both sides. On last weeks Illegal Curve Hockey Show with Gabe Desjardins, one of the discussions revolved on not giving goaltenders premium contracts, it appears that Yzerman is subscribing to the same theory.

Detroit Free Press: Social Media: Red Wings fans pay tribute to Niklas Lidstrom with sidewalk chalk. Looks like a bunch of Red Wings fans went on twitter and made a joint effort to draw a tribute to Nik Lidstrom in sidewalk chalk and tweet about it. There are some pretty sweet drawings done in chalk. This makes me want to see some Jets drawings done now, if only I could draw, I can barely draw stick figures.

SI.com: Dater & Muir. Adrian Dater and colleague Allan Muir have their weekly discussion of the NHL’s hot topics on “Insights & Insults”.

Sportsnet.ca: Flyers: Van Riemsdyk doesn’t need surgery. He will be treated with alternative therapies. Van Riemsdyk has been rumored to be traded in the past, this could make him more attractive to teams looking to acquire him…or it means he will have surgery later rather than sooner.

Vancouver Province: Canucks bring Volpatti back for a year. The former Manitoba Moose signs a one year deal with the pro club.

Miami Herald: Lightning re-sign Hall, Wyman. A couple depth signings by GM Steve Yzerman.

On Saturday TSN analyst and former senior NHL referee Kerry Fraser phoned in for an interview with the Illegal Curve Hockey Show.

On the trapezoid rule:

“I really wasn’t in favor of it (when it came in) because I think it penalizes goalies like Martin Brodeur and others that develop a skill, and it’s a tremendous skill-set (to have). Ron Hextall was the first goalie that I can recall who could really pass the puck. I was part of a meeting with the general managers in the 80’s, when they were discussing protection of the goalie. Every general manager agreed that goalkeepers were an endangered species, they were a valuable commodity on their team that couldn’t be easily replaced and they needed special protection. Glen Sather, who was the General Manager of the Edmonton Oilers at the time, was the only one that dissented, he said “if we allow a guy like Ron Hextall to handle the puck without being touched, he handles the puck better than most defensemen in the league.” And that was true. It is a skill that is developed, and most goaltenders are developing that skill, but they are handcuffed because of the trapezoid.”

On the treatment of star players:

“There was never an edict handed down (to protect star players). But of course, star players generally had the puck most of the time, or the puck followed them, and they garnered added attention. Sometimes Mario Lemieux would have two guys on him, and often times three players that would try to check him. Mario Developed a tactic that is really creative and unique, he would have his players assemble in a huddle, and then he would skate into the huddle and shoot out the back door and trap the checkers that were assigned to keep him at bay. It was a great tactic, it was the first time I ever saw it.

The fact that those players bring attention to themselves, and have the puck a lot of times, they are in foul potential. Players have to foul them to contain them, especially in the modern day where we see a lack of restraint and obstruction the referees have been directed since the lockout to call that and remove it from the game.”

On the decline of penalties since the lockout:

“I think it’s a combination of things; first off, we have to give the players credit for developing the learning curve very quickly. There were players pre-lockout, who relied on the clutch and grab and restraint. Once we returned with a complete buy in by players, coaches, general managers and officials the new rules had to be called and a lot of players were flushed out of the league, they couldn’t compete in the faster game. We give them credit for learning, but also have always seen that players will get away with whatever the officials will let them get away with. I think there has been some slippage…It really takes a monitoring process from the officiating department, with each individual referee on what the standard is and that he does remain on the league expected standard.”

On the one rule that needs to be altered:

“The one thing that I would like to see, if it could be changed, is a philosophy and a mindset by players that they must keep their skates on the ice. The rule says if you leave your feet it’s charging. Quite often it’s not called. We’re looking for excuses for the big hit, and that the players skates left the ice at the point of impact, or after impact. When you do that, when your skates leave the ice, all of your energy and velocity is going in an upward motion. When It goes in an upward motion, we’re looking at a high hit, and ultimately contact to the head can and usually will result. I would want to see the players forced to keep their skates on the ice…We want to get this head contact out of the game, the first place to start is keeping the players feet on the ice.”

On the possible return of name-bars on the back of referee’s jerseys.

“I would like to see it back, because there was a personality that each of us brought to the game. I know the modern day philosophy form the head office is that they want the officials to blend in and be more of a vanilla product. I think that may be well in theory that you don’t want to bring attention to the officials. But what it does is damage the relationships with players. A lot of times players would come to me, Shane Doan in particular and say, “What’s the name of your partner tonight, I want to call him by his first name.”

Doan is a player that recognizes success in any industry relies on relationship building, and he would like to be able to have conversations with officials and call them by name, and get to know them a little bit from a professional perspective. That just doesn’t happen anymore when it’s number so and so, with a helmet, a visor, you don’t know who he is and he often doesn’t talk to you.”

The entire interview is available here at Illegal Curve, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturdays from noon to 3pm on TSN Radio 1290

Starring: Drew Mindell as Host, Richard Pollock as analyst, Ezra Ginsburg as co-analyst and Michael Remis as operator of the R-Desk.

The Highlights

­-Capitals vs. Rangers game 7 preview

-Drew deleted Ezra off of BBM this week because of his annoying, repetitive messages during the workday.

-Phoenix Coyotes vs. Los Angeles Kings Western Conference

-Interviews with Josh Cooper of the Tennessean, Bruce Dowbiggin of the Globe & Mail and Bobby Holik former NHLer and of HolikonHockey.com

-Shot blocking has become an epidemic in hockey that needs to be stopped

Washington Capitals vs. New York Rangers Game 7 Preview

Required Reading: Roy McGregor of the Globe & Mail: Shot blocking renaissance gives rise to injury fears

Required Reading: Larry Brooks New York Post: Rangers out to score big win

Richard: Tonight’s game 7 matchup should be a dandy if you like shot blocking, if you want to watch real hockey and skill, this game won’t be aesthetically pleasing

Ezzy: These systems aren’t that different than Guy Boucher’s 1-3-1 and the “protest game” that occurred earlier this year between Philadelphia and Tampa Bay.

Ezzy: The fact that the Rangers can’t put away Ottawa or Washington, will not help them beat the Devils if they get into the next round

Richard: If they get into the Stanley Cup Final against LA, who’s played one game over the minimum, who do you think will be fresher in June?

Drew: It will be difficult for a team who’s played two consecutive seven game series to make it to, and win, the Stanley Cup

-The NBA is starting their 2^nd round series while the 1^st round is still ongoing, should the NHL begin this practice to reduce downtime?

-Fundamentally there is an issue where Ovechkin and Backstrom are playing the same amount of ice as Jay Beagle and Jason Chimera

Richard: John Tortorella has mismanaged the lineup and is going too defense heavy and not letting their scorers play in a scoring role.

Drew: There are a lot of skilled guys in the Rangers top six, it doesn’t make sense why they would play this style of hockey

Richard: On what team did Wayne Gretzky, Pavel Bure, Mark Messier, Eric Lindros play once every four shifts like Ovechkin is in this playoffs.

Drew: If I’m the opponent I want to see Ovechkin on the ice as little as possible, he almost scored from his knees last game!

Ezzy: The Rangers are walking on eggshells and they are trying to play their defense so well that they’ll win. In game 7 against Ottawa they played not to lose, and didn’t have the puck for most of the game.

Carl Hagelin’s points in the first round were a result of leeching off of the more skilled Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik, similar to how Ezzy leeches off of Richard and Drew on this show.

Richard: It will be some bounce off of some shin pad in a 2-1 or 3-2 game that wins it

St. John’s IceCaps game 7

-Robin Short of the St. John’s Telegram writes that Keith McCambridge is catching the eye of NHL head coaches

Required reading: St. John’s Telegram: McCambridge’s stay in St John’s could be brief

-With the organizational depth on defense, the Jets should look to trade some of it for offense this off-season

-Paul Postma has made some impressive defensive strides this season, Jets fans should expect to see him in the NHL next season.

Drew: It would be disappointing year for St. John’s if they lose in seven games after holding a 3-1 lead

Interview with Josh Cooper of the Tennessean

Required reading: Michael Farber of Sports Illustrated – The Russian Question

-Josh says he was not the one who tipped off Predators management that Radulov & Kostitsyn were out late at a Scottsdale bar, but says that sometimes reporters walk a fine line between being a member of the media and developing relationships with players and media.

-The curfew is more of “exercise your best judgment”, than a hard curfew. Kostitsyn and Radulov could have been in their hotel room, but up until 4am

-Josh says sitting them for the second game maybe wasn’t the smartest thing to do. This is the first time where Barry Trotz and David Poille can be second guessed because they were the favorites and had the talent to win the Stanley Cup.

-Doesn’t think that Radulov will go back to Russia, but if he does, we’ll know where his intentions are. From talking to Radulov, Cooper gets the sense that the Russian forward does want to play with the best players in the world. If he would come back, things may need to be smoothed out with him and Barry Trotz who may not see eye to eye.

-Ryan Suter is a pending UFA, Cooper is not sure if they are the favourite to sign him. The way the Radulov and Kostitsyn was handled, and the fact that the Predators were favourites and “choked” against Phoenix, it may alter his thinking (in terms of staying or going). He has earned the right to test the market, and he may check it out.

-David Poille said that Colin Wilson has to be more consistent, that has been the issue with him, he’s shown flashes of being a dominant power forward in the NHL, the issue is can he do that on a night to night basis.

-Ryan Suter and Shea Weber will be difficult to replace if necessary, management will have to step up and show that they want to continue building a winner in Nashville.

Interview with Bruce Dowbiggin of the Globe & Mail

-Ron MacLean sometimes tries too hard, he can appreciate what he was trying to say, but it came off wrong. This was a prepared piece; it’s not just Ron, but everyone at HNIC. It was kind of tasteless. This is the biggest show in the country that is held to the highest standard, which was not met this week.

-Nobody at CBC knows how to tell Bob Cole goodbye. Mark Lee and Kevin Weekes have been the number two team all year, and should be given a shot.

- The NHL is getting national exposure from NBC who uses their multiple channels to make all playoff games available. It has helped ratings, and there is a “coolness” factor of the NHL at the moment.

-The NHL has done well in ratings; the NBA has been average to mediocre at best. There hasn’t been a lot of snap, crackle & pop for the NBA on TV. But to say that the NHL is taking away viewers from that would be hard to say.

-The NHL has consciously staggered game times, taking a page from March Madness, it’s been a positive. Having three weekends in the first round, does stretch it out a bit, but the league wants their weekend ratings.

-The NHL thought about starting the Phoenix/LA series early, but doesn’t think the NHL will start the next round before the previous round ends. The playoffs are tough on the body and teams need their rest.

-TV executives look at advertising revenue and ratings first and foremost, in Canada we scrutinize the play of the game. In the NFL and NBA the stars are able to be stars, in hockey, it’s a bit backwards, people in Canada would rather see Jay Beagle or the unsung hero as the guy in the playoffs. Everyone likes the Cinderella once in a while, but these days’ coaches shut down stars and it’s very hard for an offensive star to do anything in the playoffs.

Required Reading: Eric Duhatschek of the Globe & Mail proposes a three in the key rule

Western Conference Final Preview

Ezzy: After the LA Kings defeated the number one and two seeds quite easily, it’s hard not to pick the LA Kings in at most five games. Richard is taking the Kings in six.

Phoenix has played a dysfunctional Chicago team, and a Nashville team who did not know how to deal with being the favourite, and the Radulov and Kostitsyn incident.

LA is clearly the more talented team in this series, they should be able to take advantage of a players Adrian Aucoin, Derek Morris and Dave Shlemko.

The Kings are big enough and strong enough to take advantage of a young Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Keith Yandle who are not that great defensively.

Richard: “Every time I consider taking Phoenix, I look at their roster…then I vomit.”

Watching the Phoenix game in Winnipeg this season was the equivalent to watch paint drying.

The Coyotes are not Stanley Cup material, in the same way George Costanza is not Penske material.

The New Jersey Devils

-The Devils ability to create offense with their star players is much different than Washington and New York who play their good players the same amount as their lower line players.

-While Marek Zidlicky may not be the greatest defensive defenseman, he is the offensive puck moving defenseman that the team needed.

-Patrik Elias and Zach Parise have been getting time on the penalty kill, which has been the best penalty kill in the league

-It doesn’t make sense not to play your best players in all situations, the idea you have to be a great shot blocker to succeed in this league on the penalty kill is absurd.

-Peter DeBoer and Dale Hunter hate each other going back to junior hockey. (DeBoer was previously with Oshawa)

Required Reading: NJ.com Devils’ Pete DeBoer and Washington Capitals’ coach Dale Hunter have history

Required Reading: Fire and Ice Deboer has more history with Hunter

Philadelphia Flyers

-Ilya Bryzgalov has a contract that is completely untradeable. The fact that he wasn’t very good, and demonstrated character issues that were present before, makes this contract even worse.

-Paul Holmgren commented that James Van Riemsdyk is never healthy; the boys speculated that he could/should be a trade target for the Jets.

-The Flyers showed that they won both of their offseason trades of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter getting Schenn, Simmonds, Couturier and Voracek. Combined with Claude Giroux, Danny Briere and Scott Hartnell, the future looks very bright in Philadelphia.

St. Louis Blues

-Having a healthy Jaroslav Halak would have made a difference in the series.

-St. Louis was not the same team against LA that they were versus San Jose.

-St. Louis didn’t have the scoring to make a deep playoff run.

-Chris Stewart was a disappointment this season.

-The Blues are pieces a way from a team that can make a deeper run in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Interview with Bobby Holik

-Marty Brodeur has a “tremendous competitiveness” that drives him to continue to play at an elite level. He doesn’t need to be spectacular, but has to make the saves to give the team a chance to win, he has been doing that.

-Larry Robinson is one of the most qualified people in hockey to be a head coach. He’s a difference maker in the Devils organization.

-Part of the reason that the Flyers lost to the Devils was because they didn’t respect them. The Flyers needed to change their attitude and their style of play but they did not make the necessary adjustments.

-A game seven is not “just another game”, there’s a lot of anticipation. As a player all you want to do is get on the ice and make something happen, hit, be hit, make a pass, take a shot, it will get you into “game mode” and make you forget about the pressure and anticipation. It is something that is learned as you go on.

-The ice at MSG has improved after renovations and improvements in technology, it shouldn’t be as much of a factor as people think it is. The Rangers are in a tough spot because nobody in the organization thought they would be in this position playing in two game sevens against lower ranked seeds. The Capitals will be more relaxed as the underdog.

-There are too much tinkering of the rules, the reason it comes down to shot blocking is because there are 30 teams, the talent is diluted and teams have to resort to collapsing around the net.

NHL News & Notes

-The Phoenix ownership situation…call us when the deal is signed

-No problem with Brian Burke asking Rick Dudley to wait until after the draft before he goes to Montreal

Rapid Fire

Deadspin: The drunken adventures of Patrick Kane

This is less surprising after reading these:

Dave Shoalts of the Globe & Mail: An uneasy peace in Chicago

CBC Sports: Elliotte Friedman’s 30 Thoughts

Listeners from outside Winnipeg can listen online at at TSN.ca/Winnipeg.

Unable to listen live? The podcast will be available for download after the show on iTunes, or here at IllegalCurve.com. Search for the Illegal Curve Hockey Show on iTunes to subscribe.

For a list of past shows, visit IllegalCurve.com/Radio.

On tomorrow’s show, our guests will be.

- Joshua Cooper of the Tennessean
- Bruce Dowbiggin of the Globe & Mail
- Bobby Holik former NHLer and of HolikonHockey.com

Show topics will include:

- New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals game 7 preview
- Phoenix Coyotes vs. Los Angeles Kings Western Conference Final preview
- St. John’s IceCaps playoff update
- Philadelphia Flyers post-mortem
- St. Louis Blues post-mortem

As well as our regular segments, NHL News & Notes and Rapid Fire.

For the latest show updates, follow @IllegalCurve on Twitter or like our Facebook page.

On Saturday’s show FS Arizona colour analyst Tyson Nash phoned in to discuss the Phoenix Coyotes playoff push, and their second round series against the Nashville Predators..

On possible discipline on Rusty Klesla for his hit on Matt Halischuk:

“No I don’t think so, I think there’s definitely been a lot worse out there. Rusty’s not a dirty guy by any means, he’s a physical player, he finishes every check. He’s not a dirty player, there was no intent on that play, there has been very little talk of Rusy Klesla’s hit.”

(Editors note: It was announced later that afternoon that Klesla would be suspended for one game for the hit.)

On the play of defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson:

“He has flown under the radar for a long time. All year there hasn’t been a lot of attention on Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The kid’s 20 years old, we’ve seen game in and game out, he’s unbelievable; he’s one of the great stories in the National Hockey League. He was in the American Hockey League last year, he was a healthy scratch, in and out of the lineup. Now, with the last 25 games of the regular season and in the playoffs he’s been probably the most consistent and offensive defenseman, that says a lot when you have guys like Klesla and Keith Yandle.”

On the emergence of Mikkel Boedker:

“He’s finally figuring it out, he can use his skill and his speed which is his best asset by far. I think he was intimidated for the longest time. He’s a big guy, he’s not tall, but he is so thick and probably has the biggest legs I’ve ever seen. He’s real tough to move off the puck. He’s now using those strengths to his advantage.”

On the effect goalie coach Sean Burke has had on Mike Smith:

“Sean Burke has really instilled a different mindset for Mike who’s a real aggressive type goalie, he’s big, very athletic, probably the best athlete on the team. Sean Burke has changed his approach, and his style, and now he’s not going after puck. He’s being very patient, which is very hard to do when you’re an aggressive athletic goalie, you think you have to flop around and be more like Pekka Rinne. But in fact, he’s the opposite, he stays way back in his net, he lets pucks come to him and relies on his talent and his instincts and sucks up all of those rebounds. That’s probably his biggest strength other than his ability to play the puck, is his rebound control, if there ever are any.”

On the handling of the Raffi Torres suspension:

“I think it was a little bit excessive if you want to know the truth. 25 games, I get it, it’s more about Raffi Torres than it Is about the hit itself. If I go out there, or if you go out there and you make the same hit tonight, you’re not going to get 25 games for it. It’s all about Raffi Torres and his past history. 25 games I thought was pretty excessive, but the NHL is about sending a powerful message and I think the players heard it.

The entire interview is available here at Illegal Curve, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturdays from noon to 3pm on TSN Radio 1290

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs from noon to 3pm on TSN Radio 1290 in Winnipeg. The following interview is transcribed and paraphrased from the latest episode, available directly at IllegalCurve.com. Alternatively, you can subscribe on iTunes and have the podcast automatically sent to you as soon as it becomes available.

On Saturday’s show St. John’s IceCaps Head Coach phoned in to discuss the IceCaps season thus far, and their first round series victory against the Syracuse Crunch.

On the first round series vs. Syracuse:

“It was exciting for the city obviously, for the players also. This team has been a team that down the stretch we added in some injured guys, added in some guys through trade. We really didn’t get our group together until the last three games of the regular season. It’s a matter of really pushing along the group here, making sure they become as familiar as possible with each other.”

“In the two games in Syracuse, I felt that we were better in the second game than our first, although we didn’t get the results we wanted in the second. As the series went on you really get the sense the group starting to get that identity that you need at this type of year.”

On the play of Derek Meech who scored the series clinching overtime winner:

“After losing Mark Flood early in November, we had a void on the back end. Any time you lose a player like Mark Flood it’s a big hole to fill. Having the addition of Derek Meech back here for the playoff push has been a very huge benefit to this team. (From watching) his poise on the back end, his leadership on the ice and in the room you can tell he’s played in some high pressure games, you can tell that he comes from the National Hockey league environment where he knows what it takes to win at this time of year. His game is one that is growing every single game; he’s been one of our best players and not the best.”

On the play of Patrice Cormier and Spencer Machacek after spending some time in Winnipeg:

“I thought they had a bit more speed after having a chance to play that game in Winnipeg at the NHL level. I thought their process in the game was quicker and their skating was a couple steps quicker than before they left. They have that added benefit coming back where you can sense more confidence in their game, the ability and confidence to make plays in certain areas. Any time those guys get that chance to go to Winnipeg, play in some key situations and just get a couple minutes here and there, they definitely come back with a little more belief and jump in their step.”

On the next opponent the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins

“Wilkes-Barre has good goaltending, they have some big bodied defenseman that defend really well. They play at a fast pace, the games we played during the regular season have all been real strong games between both clubs. It will make for a real good second round.”

On Mark Scheifele’s performance

“I liked his games; I thought last night he was really good for us. The first game he was strong, as the game wore on he got better and better. I thought last night he made some really good plays. He plays a regular shift with (Marco) Rosa and Carl Klingberg. I like his poise with the puck, I like the awareness he has regarding where his wingers are going to be on the ice. Some definite real good skills out of him, he’s a real good kid, he comes to work every day, he’s professional, he puts in all the extra time on the ice before and after practice and just enjoyed playing.”

On Paul Postma’s play this season and in the first round series:

“At the beginning of the year, the offensive side to Paul’s game was always there, his reads on when to jump in the rush, his ability to get the puck to the net, he possesses a really good shot, that part of his game blossomed even more.

Defensively, he’s been a lot better, when before you might have to make sure in different situations at different parts of the games on the defensive side he’s now out in key minutes of the game when you are defending with a lead. He battles in front of the net, he’s a big man, and he’s gotten stronger. The defensive side which really needed to develop has definitely made some huge strides this year. For a guy who played two of the last three after being off for four weeks with an injury his game has definitely grown here too, it’s gotten stronger and stronger through the first round.”

The entire interview is available here at Illegal Curve, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturdays from noon to 3pm on TSN Radio 1290

On Saturday’s show Eric Duhatschek of the Globe & Mail came on to preview the Western Conference playoff picture.

On the favourites in the Western Conference

“I have two, the Vancouver Canucks and the Nashville predators are my co-favourites.”

“The Canucks have really started to pick up their play after a real lull in March. I’ve seen them twice in the last week live, once in Calgary once in Vancouver. I think they have another gear and that’s pivotal when it comes to the playoffs. I think there are some teams in the West that have extracted every last ounce of effort and emotional commitment just to get to the playoffs and have the type of seasons that they have had.”

“I think that those teams generally cannot win four playoff rounds, which is what it takes to win the Stanley Cup. Because eventually, you just have a lull, it’s a mental thing as much as a physical thing. If you have a lull in the playoffs, all you need is one week where everyone is a bit off and you’re done.”

“I think Vancouver has another level to get to, and I think Nashville has another level to get to.”

“Vancouver because their season essentially starts when the playoffs begin, because of the deep run they were in last year. They have done a good job of pacing themselves through the regular season.”

“Nashville because they have done the unusual thing of changing some key personnel at the trade deadline. They’re trying to sort it out; in the last week they have done a better job of sorting it out. I think that everyone in that organization now has a clearer sense of what their role is going forward.”

On the Blues chances to make a run

“I spoke to Ken Hitchcock about that a couple weeks ago.He said a lot of people are going to ask, “do we have another level, and my answer is I don’t know if we have another level.” He says, “we have got the maximum out of our people this year. The one way we can get another level is if we get Alex Steen, Andy McDonald and Matt D’Agostini back and if we can integrate them in and get them into the rhythm of the season.”

“All of those players have come back now, and St. Louis hasn’t been the same team. They’re 4-4-3 in their last 11. That is inevitably what happens, they had a thing going in St. Louis and that was terrific, everybody had brought in. Suddenly they have disrupted that.”

“Hitchcock has remade his third line which is critical to his success; he relies so much on them. He’s got Jason Arnott centering that, and he’s got Alex Steen playing there. He told me he thought Steen was their best player before he got hurt with that concussion.”

“St. Louis has another level, if these guys can find their midseason rhythm when the playoffs start. I think that Andy McDonald is an elite player when it comes to scoring. If you look at he playoffs he had for Anaheim in 2007, I believe he had ten goals, and that was tops on their team. I think Arnott has playoff experience and he can conjure up a big goal.”

“I’m not too worried about the fact that maybe David Backes or David Perron is their best player. There are players in that lineup that are capable of winning that 2-2 game or that 1-1 game you get in the playoffs.”

“The larger issue with St. Louis is; can they get back to that hounding defensive presence that was so important for them when they were the top team in the NHL and virtually unbeatable on home ice.”

On the most capable of the Pacific Division teams (San Jose, Los Angeles, Phoenix)

“When I look at the teams, I think that San Jose has the best team; to me the best team is always the one that has the best chance of winning. They have a lot to prove in the playoffs, I think they have a huge other level they can get to because beyond a handful of players, they have something to prove. Dan Boyle has something to prove in the playoffs Brent Burns does, Martin Havlat has been injured most of the season he’s got something to prove, Ryan Clowe has had terrible year, he seems to be catching up.”

“I have questions about their defense; there are a lot of things that can go wrong with San Jose, but if the pieces fall in place for them, they’re personnel is better than the other two Pacific Division teams.”

“Phoenix, it looks to me they are certainly capable of winning a round in the playoffs, based on the way they are playing right now. But they have even less high end offensive talent than the St. Louis Blues, can a team like that win more than one round, maybe two. I don’t think so. Eventually your lack of scoring depth catches up to you if you’re the Phoenix Coyotes.”

“Los Angeles, I’d like them more if Jeff Carter was healthy, and was the Jeff Carter of a couple years back that scored 46 goals. He just hasn’t been the same player; he hasn’t been a factor very often since coming over from Columbus. Same thing with Mike Richards, I want to see more than is there. This guy has been a much better player at different times in his career than he is right now.”

The entire interview is available here at Illegal Curve, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturdays from noon to 3pm on TSN Radio 1290

On Saturday’s show ESPN Insider Craig Custance came on to preview the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

On the favourite between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia:

“Right now to me it’s the Pittsburgh Penguins. When you talk about what you need to construct a playoff hockey team and a team that’s successful, they have all of those combinations. You want that strength down the middle; there isn’t a better trio of centres in hockey than Crosby, Staal and Malkin. You want good goaltending, and you want goaltending experience, and you’ve got that with the Pittsburgh Penguins.”

“The only thing they didn’t have is a little bit of luck (in terms of a first round match-up). The Philadelphia Flyers certainly aren’t intimidated by the Pittsburgh Penguins. When you talk to people about beating Pittsburgh they say you have to play them physical, you can’t respect them too much, and you have to give them a little push back. We know the Flyers can do that. That’s a horrible draw in my opinion for the Penguins; I expect that series to go seven and ultimately I still think Pittsburgh comes out of it.”

On the more vulnerable between the Rangers and Bruins

“I don’t know if I see either one as really vulnerable, especially not early on. Both of them has the goalie, Lundqvist with the Rangers, and Tim Thomas in Boston. You like that, and they both have playoff experience. The one question mark with both teams is you worry about their depth.”

“The Rangers have the high end scoring with Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards. But you wonder, do they have enough guys, let’s say they give up 3 or 4 goals, do they have that scoring offense to keep up with a team? That concerns me a bit with the Rangers.”

“The Boston Bruins, you look at what they lost compared to last year’s playoff team. They don’t have Nathan Horton who’s probably not going to play, they don’t have Mark Recchi. They’re missing a couple others of those forwards who were so good in the playoffs for them; Michael Ryder is now in Dallas. Those are important players, I had one scout tell me, it’s almost like they have two fourth lines in Boston. That wasn’t the case last year. Those are my concerns, but I don’t think either of those teams are necessarily vulnerable.”

On the Panthers and Capitals chances at winning a first round series

“No, you look at their team (Florida), the goal differential is a minus 27. I like their depth at forward, but I’m not ready to hitch my wagon to Jose Theodore. I worry about their goaltending, I looked at their team up and down and tried to imagine a scenario where they get out of the first round but I don’ t think it’s going to happen.”

“Washington to me is the interesting team out of those two; I could see them upsetting a team in the first. The Capitals are interesting to me because if you talk to their players, I spoke with Alex Ovechkin and Brooks like and they said, look we’ve gone into the playoffs as the favourite and done everything we need to do in the regular season and piled up a bunch of points, that didn’t work. Instead of putting things in cruise control in February which they had to do in the past. I think they are kind of internally hoping that this struggle and this resiliency they’ve shown will help them in the playoffs. They still have that high end talent with Ovechkin and Backstrom. I’m a little worried about their goaltending health, but I’m not counting them out of pulling out an upset.”

The entire interview is available here at Illegal Curve, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturdays from noon to 3pm on TSN Radio 1290

On Saturday’s show TSN Scout and frequent contributor to That’s Hockey 2Nite Craig Button came on to discuss “Craig’s List” his ranking of the top sixty players eligible for June’s NHL Entry Draft.

On the quality of the draft:

“One of the things I always say, what happens with a draft is so much of it, when we talk about the strength of a draft seems to always fall in to how good is the top end of the draft. Does it have a Stamkos, does it have a Crosby, and it goes from there. Does this year’s draft have those players, no it doesn’t. But I think how you can look at this draft, like any other draft, or should I say the vast majority of drafts, there are some drafts in terms of talent that aren’t as deep and certainly don’t have the same quantity of players. But this draft to me has a lot of defensemen, a lot of different types of defensemen in it, whether you want a big strong defenseman, or an offensive defenseman, or a diminutive defenseman that can jump into the play.”

“It’s really wide open, it terms of those defensemen, quite frankly I think there’s a whole bunch of them, that can fit into any particular situation.”

On the possibility of a drop off in talent after pick fifteen:

“I don’t know if there really is. I heard the same thing last year, is there a drop off. What happens over the course of a season when you’re scouting, players get better. There are players that are at different stages maturity at the begging of the year, but come Christmastime they have started to blossom, gain confidence and are more assured in their play. They start to rise up the ranks. I don’t think there is any better example than Mark Scheifele last year.”

“I think there’s a lot of quality players in the top ten of this draft. “

“For example, Matt Dumba who I think is a terrific prospect, one that I think will be a dynamic NHL player. If somebody says we really like Matt Dumba, but we’re going to take Derrick Pouliot, who might be rated after the top ten. It’s not one of those head scratchers. That’s what I mean about the quality of player, I don’t see a significant drop off.”

“I think you could see somebody that someone expects to go top ten, go fifteen, and conversely somebody who you thought would go eleven to twenty, end up in the top ten.”

On Cody Ceci who jumped from spot twenty, to number nine on Craig’s list:

“He’s big, he can skate. This player can just dominate in every area of the game. On the power play, penalty killing, in situations where the team is trying to play with the lead, or trying to get back in the game. He can get the puck out of his own zone, with skating or passing. He can jump into the attack. He uses his body, he’s not a punisher, but he’s a hard player to play against because he knows how to use his body, he knows how to get in there and lean on opponents. What I see with him is that development of a player that understands not only how to play, but how to impact the game.”

On the possibility that Yakupov is not the first pick:

“I think there is. This is where circumstances come into play. There’s a lot of talk that Columbus is going to consider trading that pick. Depending on what team would want to get there, or what player they think might be a better pick for them. I could see that.

I’ve said this before, right now I have Mikhail Grigorenko seventh on my list. But I could make a case for Columbus to draft Mikhail Grigorenko first overall. I would say that I think it could be a really excellent pick. I do not see Mikhail Grigorenko as a top number one elite center, but I see him as an excellent number two centre. The fact is the Columbus Blue Jackets, in my view have that elite number one centre in Ryan Johansen. Centres like Ryan Johansen benefit from players like Mikhail Grigorenko and vice versa”

The entire interview is available here at Illegal Curve, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturdays from noon to 3pm on TSN Radio 1290

With the regular season coming to a close, the focus of Jets fans now moves from the playoff race, to the off-season. Important dates to note are June 22-23, where the NHL Draft will take place in Pittsburgh, and July 1st which is UFA signing day.

On Saturday’s Illegal Curve Hockey Show, Drew, Richard and Ezra speculated on what the Jets offseason plans may be.

One player the discussion centered around was defenseman Tobias Enstrom. Fans of the show may remember back on January 28th, when the boys were assessing each player’s trade value, a similar discussion took place.

Tobias Enstrom is an interesting case. The offensive defenseman is coming off of a season where he spent most of the season playing alongside Dustin Byfuglien scoring five goals and recording 24 assists for 29 points (As of April 2nd). He also missed twenty games after taking a hit from Jack Skille which broke his collar bone.

Next season he will be paid $4.5 million at a cap hit of $3.75 million, the final year of a four year contract. He will become a UFA after next season, when he will be 28 years old (turning 29 in November of 2013). It is reasonable to assume that Enstrom is what he is, meaning his skills won’t improve dramatically.

GM Kevin Cheveldayoff and his management team must now assess whether or not Enstrom is in the Jets’ long term plans. It may cost close to $5 million per year to re-sign him. Additionally, the Jets have shown organizational depth at defense and a need to upgrade at forward.

Host Drew Mindell stated on Saturday’s show:

“If you’re not going to re-sign Enstrom after next season, then the draft is the place to deal him, at the latest. The longer you hold on to him, the less you get back for him.”

Ezra Ginsburg assessed the skills of the Jets number two defenseman:

“A problem that has been evident is he has had a lot of problems with bigger forwards where defensively he struggles. As a defensive defenseman, he’s weak. He’s very good on the power play, and a terrific skater, but when you look at the Jets moving forward, you already have Byfuglien ($5.2 million cap hit) and Bogosian (RFA after next season) under contract.”

Richard Pollock said that factors that will come into play will be if they believe Paul Postma is ready to take on some power play minutes, and how good management thinks Enstrom is at even strength.

At the end of next season, Ron Hainsey’s $4.5 million cap hit will also come off the books, so money should be available to re-sign Enstrom.

It is difficult to project what GM Cheveldayoff will do this offseason, to date he has made several low risk moves signing Tanner Glass, Kyle Wellwood and trading for Eric Fehr.

Once the season ends, Enstrom will be their most tradeable asset, the Jets will not be favourites for a Stanley Cup next season. This off-season will be telling with respect to the organizational philosophy moving forward and how they intend on allotting their salary cap dollars.

Listen to the Illegal Curve Hockey Show, Saturdays from 12pm-3pm on TSN Radio 1290.

This Saturday on the Illegal Curve Hockey Show we have an action packed three hours.

We will be joined by our guests:

Joshua Cooper of The Tennessean. With the return of Alexander Radulov this week, Nashville has been the talk of the hockey world. Coincidentally (or not), the Jets will be in Nashville Saturday night and Cooper will give Jets fans a preview of what to expect from the Predators.

James Gordon of the Ottawa Citizen. The Jets return home on Monday to play the Senators and we’ll be previewing that game as well as the Senators chances to make a run in the playoffs.

Drew Remenda of CSN California. Currently the Colour Analyst for the San Jose Sharks. With Drew we’ll be talking about the Sharks interesting season that finds them fighting for a playoff spot.

Other topics on the show will include:

-Jets week in review

-Jets/Capitals recap

-Jets week preview

-Eastern Conference playoff picture

-Western Conference playoff picture

-Regular segments, NHL News & Notes, Six Things We Learned This Week and Rapid Fire

Tune in tomorrow from 12pm-3pm and listen to the Illegal Curve Hockey Show on TSN 1290, miss the show? Search for the Illegal Curve Hockey Show on iTunes and subscribe to the podcast.

On Saturday’s Illegal Curve Hockey Show, former Assistant GM of the Minnesota Wild and current player agent for Veritas Hockey Tom Lynn came on the show to provide insight on what happens behind the scenes at the GM’s meetings and other hockey issues.

On the organization of the GM’s Meetings

“As an assistant GM I would attend two formally per year. From the outside it seems more complex than it is. Gary Bettman is a very strong commissioner, he sets an agenda in advance, and he’s already spoken to his governors, his important GM’s and his staff about what needs to be discussed. It’s not a free for all, it’s a very set agenda, he brings things up one at a time and people speak in order.”

“Like any business, the chairman of a board of directors isn’t going to go into a meeting not knowing which way things are going, and which way they should go. The same thing happens in a hockey context in the NHL.”

On the Alexander Radulov Situation

“Like so many of the tough issues in hockey, there’s no easy answer. On the one side, you feel bad for Nashville because the player took off on them, and didn’t observe his contract. You feel for Nashville, if they have a chance to get this asset back, they should be able to do it. On the other hand, all of the other teams have been observing these rules, that once the guy plays in Europe, after the season starts he has to clear waivers to come back.”

“The normal waiver rules, would have applied had the league decided to apply them. Since this specific circumstance was not written up in the league by-laws which control waivers and the CBA, the league had discretion on this. They could have said, well the rules said if you play in Europe after the start of the season they have to go through waivers. That would have been a legitimate position. Nashville’s side is, it’s not our fault. The guy who makes out here is Radulov who took off on his contract ,made millions in Russia, and now will come back to finish out here and become a free agent. He’s the only one here with no pain in the game”

On the concern that more players will “pull a Radulov”

“The concern was raised in the GM meetings. Considering the much lower number of Russians who are drafted and play in the NHL compared to 2003, that’s playing out in the market. But if you look at this year’s draft, the top rated player Yakupov is Russian. You’ve seen Semin, Filatov, and other players have issues with their team after being drafted in the top five. It’s a definite concern and what do you do about it? I don’t know the answer, but it’s a concern.”

On the upcoming labour negotiations

“As an independent person I would say I don’t have a real sense on negotiations yet because they haven started. I would say that both sides have very experienced labour guys. Commissioner Bettman has been through it in the NBA and NHL several times. Don Fehr has been going through labor negotiations since you guys were watching hockey from your crib. If there is a delay of any sort in the season, I would say it would be part of a strategy and part of a very experienced process. Not like last time when everyone was wondering what was happening.”

On upcoming realignment

“Realignment was pushed for years. Since we came into the league, when I first did the Wild’s charter schedule, and realized we were in the air more than any other team. Our closed rival was 1480 miles away in Vancouver. I went to the meetings and said to Boston, how would you like to be in a division with Dublin, Ireland. It’s kind of what we are facing, we should get more geographically smart. Nobody listened for a long time, then finally the TV gods aligned  so it looked good for the league.”

“Your question is how badly did the league handle it? I don’t know what the leagues goals were, if they wanted it to get done, they could have made it happen. They presented to the NHLPA, they said here’s the deal, you have x amount of time to ask questions, the NHLPA started asking questions and the league said, you have until Friday. Before the NHLPA could really digest it and analyze it the league said, ok the deals off.”

“It’s not really a GM issue, it sounds like it, but this is a TV and attendance issue. The league and the owners want teams to play in their own time zones as much as possible so when you are on TV you’re not on at 10:30 at night, or 4:30 in the afternoon.”

Tune in to the next edition of the Illegal Curve Hockey Show, this Saturday, March 24th, 2012 from Noon-3pm on TSN Radio 1290

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturday’s on  TSN Radio 1290 from Noon to 3pm.

Tune in this Saturday, where we will be joined by our guest, Tom Lynn. Previously the Assistant General Manager for the Minnesota Wild, Lynn is currently an agent for Veritas Hockey, this will be his first appearance on the show.

Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News will be joining us. A frequent guest on the show, Harrington always provides great insight on the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres are currently in a dog fight with the Jets and Capitals for the 8th and final playoff spot.

Other topics will include

• Winnipeg Jets week in review
• Winnipeg Jets preview for Sunday’s game vs. Carolina
• Eastern and Western Conference Playoff Races
• Sidney Crosby’s return
• What Ezzy had for breakfast

Tune in Saturday from Noon to 3pm on TSN Radio 1290!

On Saturday’s Illegal Curve Hockey Show, play-by-play voice of the Dallas Stars, Ralph Strangis came on to discuss the latest on the Pacific Division leaders.

Dallas Stars broadcast team of Ralph Strangis (right) & Daryl Reaugh (left)

On Dallas Stars head coach and The Pas, Manitoba native Glen Gulutzan:

 “Glen’s always had good success in the minors, in the AHL, ECHL and sort of the MO of his team was overachieving, doing better than anyone had him pegged for, and making a good late season push for the playoffs. Pretty much every year he’s coached, that’s what happened. He’s been talking about it for a long time; he fully expected this team to go on a run.”

On how good Jamie Benn (Drafted 129^th overall by Dallas in 2007) can be :

“Jamie Benn’s really good, really really good, I was here with Mike (Modano) for twenty years, I watched him when he was younger, and watched him develop and watched what Hitchock and Gainey did with him. This kid, Jamie Benn (age 22), I’m not going to call him Mike Modano yet, I’ll never call him Miko Modano, but he is as an exciting as an individual talent as we’ve had since Modano. When he decides to do things, he has another gear that everyone on the ice doesn’t seem to have. When he jumps on a puck, and decides to carve his way through four guys, it makes you sit up in your seat and you watch the game differently when Jamie Benn is on the ice. This kid is an emerging rock star in the league.”

On Loui Eriksson:

“I think Loui benefited greatly by having Jere Lehtinen around for all those years when Loui was just coming into the league. Jere was a Selke trophy winner (3 times), Jere was probably as good of a defensive forward and complete hockey player that we’ve ever had here in Dallas. Loui’s kind of the same guy, you get to watch that. He’s really good on both sides of the puck. Playing with Ribeiro and Ryder, who aren’t the best defensive specialsts in the league, Loui’s the guy who cleans up the messes, is defensively responsible, is never out of position. He doesn’t take penalties (three this season), never commits a foul on the ice, and he’s a guy who can stick 30 goals and lead your team in scoring. He’s a very underrated player.”

On free agent acquisition Michael Ryder:

“In Boston, he wasn’t the guy, he wasn’t a top six all the time guy. One of the things that appealed to him here was that we don’t have a lot of top six guys. Ryder saw an opportunity here, and liked that somebody was actually courting him. I’ve been really impressed by a couple of things, one is that when we’ve had big games against division rivals, Ryder has been among three or four guys who have always been there, not only just scoring, but competing, and competing hard. If there’s anybody who could have an excuse; he won a Stanley Cup last spring, he’s not on as good of a team, and maybe he’s just there to cash a paycheck, that hasn’t been the case at all. He’s been one of our better players. For the money, he’s probably one of the best free agents signed in the off-season.”

On Mike Ribeiro maturing during his tenure in Dallas:

“If this guy was standing next to you when its 50 out and everyone is in their swim trunks, this is the last guy you would think is a professional athlete. He doesn’t look physically ripped, there’s nothing overwhelmingly powerful about him, and he looks almost emaciated. When he gets out there, especially in tough games, you can’t seem to knock the puck off his stick; he’s stronger than he looks, he scores big goals, he doesn’t seem to have a panic point with the puck. He’s really come along here over the last six years, he’s become a very important guy.”

Ralph Strangis is currently the play-by-play voice of the Dallas Stars and has been with the Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars organization since 1990. Paired with Daryl “Razor” Reaugh, the two are known for their witty antics on air and have become fan favorites in Dallas. Their broadcasts of Stars games are simulcast on television (FSN Southwest) and radio (1310 The Ticket).

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturday’s on TSN Radio 1290 from noon to 3pm in Winnipeg.

Two of the rules gaining support are hybrid icing to help reduce injuries and the elimination of defensive zone hand passes.

Back in 2009, IC’s Kyle Kosior explained why he thought hybrid icing was the way to go.

“The current “touch” icing rule still has its benefits, namely the opportunity for the offensive team to beat the defending team to the puck and create some offense.  However, this risk far outweighs the reward here and there are simply too many instances of defensemen (Kurtis Foster) and forwards (Pat Peake, Patrice Bergeron) getting injured on these plays to justify the continued existence of touch icing.  A race for the puck is great, but a race that ends inches before a solid wall is just foolhardy.”

While it did not get support from the General Managers, on Saturday’s Illegal Curve Hockey Show, Drew, Richard and Ezra all agreed that the red line should be put back in. Their reasoning being it will put additional skill back in the game and increase player safety.

The following quote was paraphrased from Saturday’s Illegal Curve Hockey Show airing from 12pm-3pm on TSN 1290. To listen to the entire segment subscribe to the Illegal Curve Hockey Show on iTunes or download the episode at IllegalCurve.com.

“A current strategy for many teams is to make a pass from behind the defensive blue line to a player over the red line, and the team with the puck tips it into the offensive zone and begins forechecking. There is additional incentive to do this, because the goaltenders can’t play the puck. That causes additional collisions against the glass because the defensemen don’t have the goalie supporting them.  The net result is less passing, to get through the neutral zone, all teams are doing is tipping the puck in. If you bring in the two line pass, you shrink the ice a little bit and force teams to pass more. Teams will have to make shorter passes and become a passing team.”

Back in January, Ezra Ginsburg spoke with Martin Brodeur who echoed that giving the goalie the ability to play the puck would increase safety for defensemen.

“I think not just for me to play the puck, but for the safety of the players.”

Richard Pollock added on Saturday’s Show

“It is a skill you are taking away, if the goaltender is playing the puck, it may create more goals sometimes, why prevent a goaltender that isn’t good at playing the puck to make mistakes.”

While it appears that the GM’s will only agree to change the two rules, some may argue that there is additional work to be done. What changes do you think should be made to the game (if any)?

On this past Saturday’s Illegal Curve Hockey Show, Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province came on the show to discuss the latest on the Vancouver Canucks.

On the Cody Hodgson trade for Zack Kassian

“I think everyone got what they wanted, Cody Hodgson was in a pretty awkward situation here, he’s the third line centre, and he’s playing behind an Art Ross Trophy (Henrik Sedin) winner and a Selke Trophy winner (Ryan Kesler), he’s going to play ten to twelve minutes per night, he’s on the second power play unit, but he has sixteen goals. What do you do with the guy? He’s a natural centre, you can’t really play him on the wall (wing).”

On Hodgson’s relationship with Coach Alain Vingeault

“It was an uneasy relationship with the coach, if you go back to the ‘09 training camp, Cody Hodgson had a back injury, he had one point through six or seven preseason games, he had a lot of back pain, a lot of sciatica nerve, he couldn’t push off, couldn’t play very well. The coach framed it publicly at the time that Cody was using the injury as an excuse for a poor training camp. I don’t know about you, but if a coach said that about me, as much as you may try to put it in some perspective, I’m sure that was always simmering on the back burner.”

On David Booth’s ability to drive the net

“Corey Schneider has a great quote the other day, “we didn’t have that in the playoffs last year, we didn’t have a guy who could come off the wall and go hard to the net and finish.” By finish, that’s either shooting or scoring on your initial shot. A lot of David Booth’s goals are on rebounds he’s diving, he’s flopping and banging home rebounds. If you think about today’s NHL that’s how a lot of goals are scored, I think there’s a real attractiveness about David there.”

On the acquisition of Marc-Andre Gragnani

“He was on the second power play unit the other night against St. Louis, he gives them a nice option of a guy he’s 24, and he’s been around for a bit. He skates well, he moves the puck well. The Canucks have to realize they better have another option back there. Their big weapon on defense is Sami Salo on one of their power play alignments. Outside of Zdeno Chara he may shoot the puck as hard as anybody in the league. You always worry about a guy who’s getting on in age, and injury problems and the fact that you’re going to lose guys in the postseason. The interesting thing about Gragnani is that he gives them another option as another guy who can move the puck.”

On potential first round match-ups

“I don’t think they are salivating about any match-up, there are six or seven teams in this conference that are going to cause anybody grief. From what I have seen recently, in Phoenix, Dallas or St. Louis, it’s already playoff hockey, you’re basically playing the trap, waiting for one turnover, and all these low scoring games. The Canucks can play those kind  of games and it’s good that they can, because you’re going to see it in the postseason. We’re already getting a taste in March what it’s going to be like in April, May and maybe into June. To the Canucks credit they are tailor to play that kind of game. I’m a little concerned about their offense right now. Coming out of the conference it’s one land mine after another, the reason they made those moves at the deadline is they might lose a body or two along they way and you better have some depth.”

On the Canucks defensive depth

“That’s where it really falls off in a hurry here, you have Hamhuis and Bieksa as their shutdown pairing, and then Edler regularly pairs with Salo. The nice thing about Edler is that he’s really getting his physical game back, he’s throwing some devastating hits out there and he’s got a pretty good shot. But after that, Ballard’s out right now with a concussion. If Salo were to go down…Keith Ballard’s getting paid like a top four guy, but he’s not playing like a top four guy. That’s where they run into a problem. That’s where you wonder, guys like Aaron Rome, they are third paring guys. When they’ve had injury problems here they’ve paired (Aaron) Rome with (Andrew) Alberts on the third pairing and they’ve struggled. That’s why they called (Chris) Tanev up because they think the kid who’s only 22 can play. He’s challenged physically, but he’s extremely smart in moving the puck. The problem is if Salo goes down, can Ballard handle that load, that’s what we’re going to find out in the playoffs.”

The entire interview is available here at Illegal Curve, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

On Saturday’s Illegal Curve Hockey Show, former columnist, Hockey Night in Canada commentator, and Hockey Hall of Fame journalist, Al Strachan came on the show to discuss the latest in hockey.

The outspoken commentator provided the insight and analysis that he has become known for throughout his hall of fame writing career.

On Brian Burke’s free pass in Toronto”

“They fired the wrong guy, you look at what Burke has done over the years it’s all smoke and mirrors. It’s like the Wizard of Oz, there’s all this thunder and lightning coming from behind the curtain and when you get behind the curtain, really there’s nothing much there.”

“He won the one cup in Anaheim with a team that was built by Bryan Murray except for two defenseman, one of whom wanted to come play with his brother, that was Niedermayer, and one of whom walked out on a valid contract in Edmonton because he wanted to keep his marriage alive, that was Pronger. Those two fell into his lap.”

On the future of Montreal

“Part of the problem in Montreal is that they insist it being a Quebecois team, that really limits your options. Because the Quebecois aren’t as dominant in hockey as they used to be. That was fine in the 50s and 60s when a large proportion of the players, especially the elite players came out of Quebec. But now that’s no longer the case.”

“Really, who do you want (as Head Coach), who is a French speaker to come in there, you had Jacques Martin, you know his style of hockey. There’s simply aren’t that many available. There was one good one available; he went to Tampa (Guy Boucher). What do you want to do, bring in Patrick Roy? You think you’ve had fun before in Montreal, wait until you bring him in.”

On the situation in Phoenix

“I think they’re going to move it to Seattle, the plans have been well underway long before the announcement of this building. I heard about this months ago, financiers who are trying to put together a package to move that team to Seattle, that building that’s coming around now is part of that concept. The league would be very happy to do that, it’s a shame because that building (Jobing.com arena) is probably the best building for a fan in the entire league. It has magnificent sight-lines, wide concourses, plenty of parking….it’s a shame really because it’s a pretty good team, they haven’t been among the league’s worst for the past five or six years. They’re a good team this year, yet they don’t have that kind of support.”

“The big problem that Gary faces the people who build buildings are big money people, these are people who have their own way of operating, and they really don’t like it if somebody among their group, which is an elite financial group in the world, gets shafted by a league. They don’t like it when a building gets built and the league walks away from it. They think that the league has a responsibility to maintain something in that building, so the people who built that building, don’t get left holding the bag. It looks like that the league is going to do that in Phoenix, and there’s talk that they may do the same thing in New Jersey, and that is causing some troubles for the NHL in the upper financial circles”

On Scott Howson calling out Rick Nash

“It is a strange sort of thing, Rick Nash has done yeoman’s service in Columbus and is really the only player probably from that franchise you can name over the years. That’s another market where it’s a shame to see that happen. When they first moved in there, that team really had solid support.  Hockey caught on there for the first three or four years. Rinks were springing up all over that part of Ohio, and something other than Ohio State University was getting attention in the media. But the team never got better, fans will come to watch a bad team for a while if it’s a new team, but when that novelty wears off, you have to start doing something else. That was the second level, that was what Columbus never did.”

“Rick Nash is the least of their problems, it doesn’t really matter that much, if Howson puts a decent team on the ice, then the fans won’t worry about what he said about Rick Nash.”

On Tim Thomas comments

“They’re professionals; people should be allowed to say what they want. I was distressed by what went on, not by what Tim said, but the response to it. There were all these suggestions, oh he’s an athlete, why is he commenting. What are we suggesting now, if you’re an athlete, you’re an idiot? That you don’t have the right to comment on things. Should we take away the athlete’s right to vote perhaps? Because he’s a stupid lug who makes his living physically.”

On respect in the league

 “I think there has been awareness among the players that you have to be more careful about things. As for respect, that’s more in the media world, than in the real world. You saw what just happened with the New Orleans Saints having a bounty on hurting the opposition. That doesn’t exist in hockey, but there is certainly the attitude that if you can hit a guy and hurt him, you don’t back off. That is changing a little bit, I don’t know if it is respect for each other, but fear of getting suspended. For that we have to thank Shanny, and Coli Campbell.”

On the next CBA negotiations

“This time, I don’t see the resolve on either side, and especially on the part of the players. I’m not saying there won’t be some sort of stoppage, there might be some posturing. For the most part I don’t see the resolve in the players that was there in the other two occasions.”

The entire interview is available here at Illegal Curve, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

Due to time constraints, we are unable to have the full podcast of this morning’s Illegal Curve Hockey Show. However we have three of the interviews that were done on the show.

Robin Short of The St. John’s Telegram – Giving us an IceCaps update.

Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch – Recapping the madness that has gone on in Columbus over the past week.

Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch – Previewing what Jets fans can expect from the St. Louis Blues this afternoon.

The next Illegal Curve Hockey Show will air Monday at noon bringing you all the breaking news during trade deadline day.

So early that it won’t yet be bright, The Illegal Curve Hockey Show will take to the airwaves of TSN 1290 Saturday morning, beginning at 7:00 AM.

Right off the top of the show, we will have the thrilling conclusion to “The Illegal Curve Will Ezzy Wake up Early Charity Challenge.” If you have not yet chosen sides, click that link, and get your wagers, pledges and predictions on the record and in perpetuity.

Our first guest, at 8:00 AM, is Robin Short, sports editor of the St. John’s Telegram. Robin covers the St. John’s IceCaps, AHL affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets and with the AHL season entering the stretch drive along with the NHL season, what better time to get an update on the Eastern Conference leading IceCaps?

At 8:30 AM, we will be joined by our good friend Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch. Most pundits would declare the Blue Jackets as the team to watch as we approach Monday’s NHL trade deadline.  Last night the Jackets traded Jeff Carter to the Los Angeles Kings and now the focus of the hockey world turns to Rick Nash and where he could end up.

At 9:00 AM, we will be joined by Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post Dispatch. With the Jets and Blues taking to the MTS Centre ice later on Saturday afternoon, Jeremy will join us to discuss the contest between the two teams and provide some analysis on what has been a tremendous year so far for the team from the “Show Me State”.

Additional guests may be added, so stay tuned to this post and our Twitter page for news on that front.

All that, plus your tweets, emails and (maybe, but not likely) phone calls (204-780-1290). Best tweets and emails will receive exciting Illegal Curve merchandise!

Join us Saturday from 7 AM – 1000 AM on TSN 1290 in Winnipeg and online at tsn.ca/Winnipeg

First, some background.

Back on February 11th, due to an afternoon Jets-Penguins game, The Illegal Curve Hockey Show went on air at 7 a.m. on TSN 1290, five hours earlier than the normal start time.

Due to an unintentional cell phone alarm clock malfunction, Ezzy pulled a Tyler Seguin, slept in and missed the first 25-30 minutes of the show.

Admittedly, this was not the first time Ezzy missed an early morning Illegal Curve Hockey Show, as back on November 19th, he missed the first hour and a half of a show that also started in the early hours of the morning (8 a.m. CST).

On this past Saturday’s Illegal Curve Hockey Show, IC Host Drew Mindell was previewing our next show (February 25th), and stated that there was no way that Ezzy was going to be able to wake up on time, as the show is once again scheduled for 7:00 a.m. CST.

Drew put his money where his mouth is, by stating that he would donate $50 to a local charity if Ezra arrives on time. Conversely, Ezra matched that challenge, by agreeing to donate $50 to a local charity if he sleeps in and arrives late. Richard Pollock then joined the fun, saying that he didn’t believe Ezra would show up on time either, thus joining Team Drew, and formally establishing the battle lines.

Illegal Curve has selected Pass It Forward as our charitable organization and we will donate $50 to them, either from Team Ezzy or Team Drew/Richy, depending on who is proven to be correct.

Pass It Forward was created in 2009, to help youth in Winnipeg who wish to play hockey but require help getting the necessary equipment. Each September they undertake a hockey equipment drive to help in this cause, in addition to accepting donations throughout the entire calendar year.

If you would like to throw your support behind a specific Illegal Curve team, join in on our charitable endeavour, and help support a worthwhile Winnipeg charity, e-mail Ezra or Drew and we will provide you with all of the relevant information.

Even if you aren’t able to donate, we encourage you to participate in this fun competition and pick a side. Volunteers are needed to be Ezzy’s personal alarm clock for Saturday morning (for team Ezzy members) or by lavishing him with copious amounts of alcohol on Friday night (for team Drew/Richy members.)

Who will prove victorious? You will have to tune to The Illegal Curve Hockey Show on TSN Radio Winnipeg, Saturday at 7:00 AM to find out.

Guests for this Saturday’s show (the links will point you to each of their twitter accounts, we recommend following each of them)

Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer – Chip is the beat writer for the Carolina Hurricanes, who will give us a preview of Saturday night’s match up. This will be his second appearance on the show.

Anthony SanFilippo of the Delaware Daily County Times – What Alec Baldwin is to Saturday Night Live, Anthony SanFilippo is to Illegal Curve. This will be his eleventh time appearing on the show, we can expect Anthony to keep us up to date on the happenings of the Philadelphia Flyers. The Jets travel to Philadelphia next week for their match-up on Thursday, October 27.

Remember to tune in to the Illegal Curve Hockey Show this Saturday from 9am-12pm on TSN 1290. If you do miss the show, search for the “Illegal Curve Hockey Show” on iTunes to subscribe to the podcast and get it sent to your computer each and every week. To view a complete list of shows, click the Illegal Curve Radio link in the menu bar.

Confirmed guests for Saturday

Paul Waldie of the Globe & Mail, beat writer for the Winnipeg Jets. This will be his second appearance on the show.

Tyson Nash – Colour Commentator for the Phoenix Coyotes on Fox Sports AZ. This will be his first appearance on the show.

Mike Colligan – NHL analyst at Forbes.com SportsMoney and Pittsburgh Penguins correspondent at TheHockeyWriters.com. This will be his second appearance on the show.

As always, the show will be available to download as a podcast. Search for the Illegal Curve Hockey Show on iTunes and subscribe to get the podcast sent to your computer each and every week.

The Winnipeg Jets will take on the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday night at 6:00pm, join Illegal Curve at The Cheer on Osborne & Stradbrook to watch the game!

This show, the only one of its kind anywhere on Winnipeg radio, is a must listen to for anyone participating in a hockey draft.

Joining the guys to break down everything in the fantasy hockey world is:

At 1230 PM Timo Seppa (Puck Prospectus)

At 115 PM Jeff Angus (Dobber Hockey)

At 200 PM Gus Katsaros (McKeen’s Hockey)

At 230 PM Justin Goldman (Goalie Guild)

In addition to the most comprehensive coverage of the fantasy hockey world, there will be prize giveaways courtesy of Hockey Prospectus.

From 3-4 PM, the show will switch its focus to that night’s Winnipeg Jets – Nashville Predators match-up, scheduled for puck drop at 7PM in Nashville.

For those not in the Winnipeg listening region, the show will be available on www.illegalcurve.com and afterwards for download on ITunes (search for The Illegal Curve Hockey Show).

Keep your radio tuned to Sports Radio 1290 and your browser set to www.illegalcurve.com for the best and most comprehensive coverage of the Winnipeg Jets anywhere online and on radio

Follow us on Twitter: @illegalcurve

Follow us on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/illegalcurve

Our guests on the show this week are:

at 6:15 PM Charlie Huddy, Winnipeg Jets Assistant Coach

at 6:30 PM Chris Mason, goalie for the Winnipeg Jets

at 7:30 PM George Johnson, Calgary Herald

The rest of the show plan after the jump.

Other topics on the show include

• The funeral of Rick Rypien
• The latest Winnipeg Jets news
• Prospect discussion with IC’s Scouting Correspondent Kyle Kosior (@ICKyleK)
• News around the NHL

If you are unable to listen to the show live, we will have it available on our website and iTunes by tomorrow morning.

Hope to see everyone in the live chat.

Our guests on the show this week are:

at 6:15 PM James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail

at 6:30 PM Gary Lawless of the Winnipeg Free Press and Hustler & Lawless

at 7:30 PM Matthew Sekeres of the Globe and Mail

Other topics on the show include

• The tragic passing of Rick Rypien
• The latest Winnipeg Jets news
• Prospect discussion with IC’s Scouting Correspondent Kyle Kosior (@ICKyleK)
• News around the NHL
• Updates on the Illegal Curve Sandwich

If you are unable to listen to the show live, we will have it available on our website and iTunes by tomorrow morning.

Hope to see everyone in the live chat.