Yardbarker: Chris Gratton

Preview: Introducing the 2009-10 Columbus Blue Jackets!

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:53:12 -0500

NHL season previews often sell you an impressive bill of goods before you realize, at the end of the season, you're holding an empty box. Which makes using advertisements and infomercials the appropriate template for Puck Daddy's 2009-10 NHL Season Previews, presented each day throughout September.Last Season's Ad Copy (See Also, Jackets Eulogy): Seventh in the Western Conference and fourth in the Central Division (41-31-10, 92 points). Made the postseason for the first time in fr...

Midweek Musings

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 20:46:02 -0500

It?s time for Midweek Musings, Canada's favourite running blog segment: - I took a look through my pre-season NHL predictions (Western, and Eastern) and was disturbed/surprised just how wrong I was about a few teams. No one predicted Boston would be so good, or Dallas so bad ? but I undervalued Vancouver (I wrote in my next blog that I instantly regretted that pick, even before the year began, but I didn?t think they?d be this good). I also thought the Senators would be much more respecta...

Talkin? Tampa: Gratton Claimed, Recchi Blamed, Lecavalier Stayin?

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 20:42:19 -0500

Here are some quick news and notes from your Sunday The Columbus Blue Jackets claimed veteran center Chris Gratton off re-entry waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning yesterday. Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson was looking to upgrade his team at the center position, and Gratton will provide ...

NHL Morning Papers (Sunday Edition): Kovalev returns with some flash, Lecavalier and St. Louis apparently not available and Rangers interested in Derek Morris

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 18:02:35 -0500

Here are the morning papers for Sunday the 22nd of The Ducks only put

Saturday Night Links

Sat, 21 Feb 2009 18:30:20 -0500

More reaction from the Islanders/Senators trade.

On the Beat: Hicks denies report about Hull

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:09:45 -0500

What team beat writers are saying this afternoon: If the Thrashers aren't going to trade Ilya Kovalchuk, will they trade one of their three goalies?A Makes some sense, the question is who? Tom Hicks says there is no truth to the report that Brett Hull will be re-assigned within the organization.A ...

NHL Morning Papers (Wednesday Edition): Gaborik back at practice, Sundin will be in NY this weekend and Olli Jokinen returns

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 19:31:04 -0500

Here are the morning papers for Wednesday the 10th of December: Curtis Zupke has a touching article about J.S. Giguere and how he's been affected by his dad's current illness. Eric Boulton certainly knows what his role is in Atlanta, writes Mike Knobler. Vladimir Sobotka could be taking Stephane ...

December 9th - NHL News from Around the League

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 22:19:28 -0500

The NHL has begun the build up for the 2009 NHL Winter Classic in Chicago. The truck containing the the equipment that will be used to make the rink began its journey across the United States yesterday, for some reason leaving from Mobile, Alabama. Also yesterday, the NHL's Board of Governors met... ...

On the Beat: Relax Sabres Fans

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 19:36:09 -0500

Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News tells Sabres fans to relax.A There has been lots of over reaction to this story. The Hurricanes have some injured players back at practice today.A Good news for a team that has faced a ton of injuries this season. It appears that Jere Lehtinen is still a ways ...

Lightning place Gratton and Vrbata on waivers

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 19:37:44 -0500

via RDS: Chris Gratton et Radim Vrbata du Lightning de Tampa Bay ont A(c)tA(c) placA(c)s au ballottage. Tampa Bay is one fucked up team right now. UPDATE: via TSN: The free-agent winger, who was signed to a three-year, $9 million free-agent contract in the off-season is apparently heading home to the ...

Flyers end losing streak with win over Lightning

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:40:21 -0500

Mike Richards and Jeff Carter each scored two goals in the Flyers' 4-3 overtime win over the Tampa Bay Lightning Tuesday.

Carter, the burgeoning NHL star, scored his league leading 17 and 18 goals of the season. He is tied with Buffalo's Thomas Vanek.

Carter opened up the scoring just 2:58 into ...

NHL Morning Papers (Tuesday Edition): Granato calls out Arnason, Hossa's first game against Penguins and Lupul demoted to 4th line in Philadelphia

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:47:28 -0500

I'm back from Vegas, where hockey only exists if you beg the sports book to turn on an Oilers/Devils game on the corner television that no one watches.A I could go on for a while, so I haveA decided that I will talk about hockey in VegasA as the topic ofA my Wednesday Editorial.A A Before ...

Quasi-Live Blog - Rangers vs. Lightning, Game 1

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 15:05:37 -0500

Note: Zach posted his predictions for the 2008-09 NHL season just a few hours ago. Don't forget to scroll down and check them out.

Well, here we are. Another season of NHL hockey. Thirty teams are optimistic for the seasons that lie ahead. Approximately 75% of the league has legitimate playoff aspirations. And then there are the teams that have Lord Stanley in their sights. Two of those teams, the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning, meet today in Prague.

Don't think the Lightning are legit Cup contenders? Think again. This Lightning team reminds me a LOT of the 2001-02 Islanders. New owners, new coach, new system, and expensive free agents. And had that Islanders team beaten Toronto in Game 7 of the first round, I guarantee you they would have gone to the Finals and gotten killed by Detroit. So just because the Lightning were awful last year, don't write them off this year.

Anyway, this Lightning has a "measuring stick game" right off the bat, facing the Rangers in a game that will either get Tampa Bay excited for the season or will convince fans they're going to suck again. For the Rangers, it's a chance to show their brand of hockey to an international audience. Part of the NHL's big plan is to create an international following, and getting the big-market teams recognition is part of that. So look for the Rangers to put forth their best effort in these games, both on the ice and off of it.

This isn't a true live blog; we're running a little behind here. How behind? Well, it's 1:33 PM, and the first period just ended. These, my friends, are the joys of parenthood. Anyway, let's get to the game!

- We're live, and we're in HD! Not to beat a dead horse or anything, but the Rangers can get a HD broadcast in Prague, while the Islanders can't even get a VHS camcorder at the Coliseum? Please. You've got to hand it to MSG, though; they're pulling out all the stops for this one. They even got Sam Rosen to take a personal day from his Fox NFL schedule and come over to Prague. Very well done.

- The pre-game show is highlighted by an absolutely excruciating exchange between Al Trautwig and Michal Rozsival in which Rozsival tries to tell Trautwig how to order food in Czech. Invariably, just about everything defaults to its English counterpart - pizza, hamburger, puck, so on and so forth. Hardy har har. Surely, Zach is thinking that it doesn't matter where Trautwig orders food, because he doesn't tip for take-out. Yes, there's a story there.

- I know Sam and Joe are calling the game and all, but I'm not entirely convinced they're actually in Prague. For one, in the open to the game, the arena is completely empty. Joe says something about how "it's going to be full", but I'm not buying it. We'll come back to this one.

- Whoever sings the anthem at the O2 Arena (funnily enough, last season's European opener was played in the O2 Arena in England) deserves a raise. She puts the Americans to shame. Ronan Tynan, you've got some competition.

- Sam's mic is too loud. Joe's is way too low. And you can barely hear the crowd or any of the other hockey noises. Again, it sounds more like they're commentating from a remote studio. If that's the case, boo to MSG. They do this when the Red Bulls are on the road, and the difference is night and day. It's one of those things that saves a ton of money, but ultimately makes the game sound like crap. I'm sure they really are there and are just having technical difficulties, but still.

- Classy move by both Tom Renney and the goatee-less Barry Melrose, putting all their Czech players into the starting lineup. I love little things like this.

- Tampa Bay's goalie, Mike Smith, might have the narrowest leg pads in the league. He actually looks the way a goalie is supposed to look. Maybe it's because he's so tall, or maybe it's because his pads are a horrid purpleish color, but those pads do look rather narrow. Either way, he's good. Get him for your fantasy team.

- Joe is back from his hiatus, and thank God for that. He reminds us that the boards are more curved in the corners (good point), while Sam points out the low endboards which could play tricks on the defensemen and goalies. There's also a neutral zone that might be ten feet long. Personally, I wish they'd play this game with the European-styled wide rinks. That would be cool.

- Our first big chance of the game comes when Vincent Lecavalier gets a breakaway and falls down before he can get a good shot off. It almost looked like he was doing one of those flashy breakaways they did in the All-Star Skills Competition last year.

- Nice benches, O2 arena. It looks more like the Rangers are waiting for a bus than getting ready to take the ice.

- Your Rangers captain: Chris Drury. Your Rangers alternate captains: Markus Naslund and Scott Gomez. It must be frightfully reassuring for Ranger fans that their entire leadership corps has a combined two years of Ranger service time. Then again, who else were they going to give a letter to? Blair Betts? This is a young team, by the way. The only guys who are older than 30 are Drury, Naslund, Wade Redden, and Steve Valiquette.

- Speaking of Redden, he earned his paycheck in the first period. Not only did he blow a wide-open chance from the slot, but his giveaway at the blue line led to a three-on-one rush for the Lightning. Redden, by the way, is being paid $79,268.30 to play in this game. That's approximately the amount of money I've made since graduating college.

- Drury gets open for a quasi-breakaway on the penalty kill, but doesn't have a clear path to the net and has to take a crappy shot from the faceoff circle. Not good for either team, to be honest.

- A note on the uniforms tonight. The Lightning have shoved the NHL Premiere patch on the front of their jerseys because God forbid they remove one of their shoulder patches for one weekend. The Rangers have the patch on their shoulders, as they usually do. One thing about the Rangers, though - they're wearing curved shirttails, which look ridiculous. They'd fixed this at some point last year - NHLuniforms.com shows the Rangers were the only team not to wear curved shirttails last year - but the stupid look is back. Come on. These are hockey jerseys, not dress shirts.

- We end the first period with no score and two quality goaltending performances. The intermission brings yet another airing of that stupid Trautwig-Rozsival Czech "lesson". Ugh. At least it's better than another interview where Al's mic goes out in the middle of a question.

- Random notes on the Lightning's roster. First, Jamie Heward just signed a one-year contract with them. Jamie Heward wasn't even good on a 50-point Islanders team in 2000. Good for him, though. They also have Chris Gratton, who always seems to go to other teams, only to come back to Tampa. This is his third tour of duty with the Lightning. Fun fact about Gratton - he hasn't broken the 20-goal mark since 1997-98. Lastly, there's modeling yourself off of a different team, and then there's out-and-out ripping them off. The Lightning have FOUR players who played for Pittsburgh last year - Gary Roberts, Ryan Malone, Adam Hall, and Mark Recchi. We haven't seen this kind of "emulation" since the Kings and Rangers were fighting for ex-Oilers in the early 90s.

- A short list of things I haven't heard today - a goal horn, a whistle, a slapshot, a received pass, a crunch into the boards, or just about any of the sounds you normally hear while watching a hockey game. That's kind of annoying. Then again, I'm the same person who turns the commentary in NHL 09 off in Be A Pro mode just to hear these sounds, so maybe I'm a bit biased.

- Apparently, Steven Stamkos is living with Gary Roberts this year. Oh boy. Stamkos has the opportunity to learn about the finer points of dirty play from one of the most notorious cheap-shot artists in recent memory. There are parts of Kenny Jonsson's brain that are still stuck in the Air Canada Centre boards. Thanks a lot, you prick.

- I think I've figured Wade Redden out on one level. He seems to know exactly where to be - i.e. when to pinch in from the point, etc. - but he has trouble finishing. He also doesn't seem to be able to get back on D very well. This is going to be a fun six years, Ranger fans.

- The nicest one-on-one move so far has come from Colton Orr, who pulled off a beautiful move along the boards to drive to the net. I'm impressed.

- Mike Smith can handle the puck. He's headed for Brodeur/DiPietro territory, and soon. Smith showed promise in Dallas, but he wasn't going to play in front of Marty Turco. He's got his chance in Tampa. You just hope the defense can hold up. Melrose isn't exactly known as a defensive-minded coach.

- Cliche alert! Joe (paraphrased): "Your goalie has to be your best penalty killer". Soon to come from Joe - if the Rangers want to win this game, they have to take it one shift at a time, win the one-on-one battles, and not try to do too much.

- The second period has honestly been pretty uneventful so far. And by so far, I mean there are two minutes left in it. Some chances for both teams and some technical difficulties from MSG, but that's about it. And just as soon as I type that, Naslund gets open and takes a shot from the faceoff dot. Smith gets a pad on it, but it still goes in. So your first goal of the season is Naslund from Gomez, the two A's getting it done. And, of course, technical difficulties ruin the replay.

- We end the second period with the Rangers winning 1-0 and outshooting the Lightning by a count of 30-11. Wow. Who knew the Lightning would be this bad defensively and offensively? The Rangers have had far more chances on offense, but Smith has been excellent so far.

- The intermission report takes us to the Bohemia Beer Garden, which has been mentioned like five times by Sam. Ron Duguay is there. He's a good-looking guy. Someone painted the Rangers logo on his face. Oh boy!

- Every time they show a shot of Prague, it looks gorgeous. It looks like a town you'd encounter in a role-playing game. What a place. If they attempted to get a picturesque shot of Uniondale, you'd end up looking at the beaten-down facade of a bodega or something.

- Interesting note from Dave Maloney - of Tampa's 11 shots, five belong to Lecavalier. This game is going to break wide open in the third, guaranteed.

- One of the perks of being behind is that I can put the Ottawa-Pittsburgh game on picture-in-picture. It's already 1-0 Pittsburgh just four minutes in. Must be nice.

- Mike Smith is hurt after a nice shot by Dan "Don't Call Me Joe" Girardi. We'll most likely be seeing Olie The Goalie tomorrow, if not sooner.

- Every time they show an ad in the top left corner for MSG programming, I keep thinking it's the Optimum Voice Caller ID thing. A quick recap - the Rangers play again tomorrow at noon, and the Red Bulls play tonight at 7:30. I love soccer, but I can't get into the Red Bulls. Nobody wants to watch soccer being played on a field full of football markings in front of a sea of empty seats. The proposed MLS team in Queens will be a huge hit. The Red Bulls might never be.

- Just a second after Smith makes a huge save, Martin St. Louis skates right by Dmitri Kalinin and backhands one over Lundqvist to tie the game. How often does that happen? Meanwhile, on the little screen, Shean Donovan ties it up for Ottawa; in so doing so, the Senators match their goal tally from the entire first round of last year's playoffs.

- Paul Mara fires one in from the point; Naslund whacks away at Smith's glove to no avail. That had to have killed Smith, who is still feeling the effects from being shaken up earlier this period. The Rangers are now 0-for-6 on the power play.

- Looks like the new ad-nauseum commercial for this year is going to be anti-tobacco commercial with the "hole in the throat" guy. Not that there's anything funny about permanent tracheotomies or anything. But if you're a Mets fan, you've seen these commercials a billion times already on SNY. Now, you get to watch them even more on MSG. But hey, that's what you get for being a Rangers fan. If this ad is as omnipresent on MSG Plus, I'll give myself a permanent tracheotomy by shooting myself in the throat.

- First overall pick Steven Stamkos gets clear on a breakaway - again, blowing right by Kalinin - but Lundqvist makes a tremendous save. Joe tries to give Kalinin credit for good stickwork, but the truth is he's been a statue back there all night. You don't need to whack someone with a stick if you keep him in front of you. His contract terms were not disclosed, so I can't tell you how much he's getting paid to suck today. But you're probably better off not knowing anyway.

- The game finally sounds good. It only took them like 50 minutes to figure it all out. At least tomorrow's broadcast will be much improved.

- "It's a power play goal!" Sam Rosen's favorite phrase comes out for a goal by Brandon Dubinsky on the Rangers' seventh power play of the game. You'd almost expect Smith to make that save, but he was screened by a total of three people. 2-1 Rangers, about five minutes left.

- Speaking of favorite phrases, have we had any Panasonic Digital Replays today? I can't recall one. How am I going to bring back family time without Panasonic - Ideas For Life?

- Chris Drury takes an atrocious offensive-zone penalty. Way to lead by example, moneybags. Anyway, the Lightning get an extra 30 seconds of power play time and get a decent shot off.

- The Lightning get two beautiful chances on the power play, but Lundqvist is capable and the defense does a great job clearing out the crease. Down the stretch, Melrose doesn't pull the goalie until the 20-second mark, Tampa doesn't threaten, and the Rangers win 2-1.

- Good players today - Naslund, Gomez, Dubinsky, Staal, Lecavalier, and Stamkos. Particularly awful players today - Redden and Kalinin.

- We'll do it again tomorrow, same two teams, same location. Only we probably won't be live blogging it. Hope you enjoyed!

Sidney Crosby Injured in 3-0 Loss to Tampa

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 04:23:46 -0500

The Pittsburgh Penguins lost much more than a game on Friday night. They lost their Captain and one of the league's leading scorers as Sidney Crosby was injured in the 3-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The high ankle sprain that has plagued the Penguins this season appears to have claimed another victim, as Crosby slid akwardly into the end boards early in the 1st period. Crosby gingerly tried to put weight on his right foot as he made his way off the ice, and ultimately had to be helped down the runway into the locker room. He was unable to return to the game, and in the post-game wrap-up it was announced he will miss 4-weeks. A high ankle sprain is an injury to the large ligament that connects the two biggest bones in the lower leg, the tibia and fibula. A more serious injury than the traditional twisted ankle, it is not uncommon for a high ankle sprain to sideline an player for a month or more. Max Talbot and Marc-Andre Fleury have both spent extended time on the Injured Reserve list this season with the same injury. ....click link below for the rest of the article......