Yardbarker: Kim Johnsson

The 10 worst teams of the last decade

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:52:05 -0500

(No, the first decade of the 21st century doesn't technically end until 2011. Save your bellyaching. But we've had nine NHL seasons and one stolen from us since 1999-2000, and Yahoo! Sports has decided it's time to rank the best and worst of the last "decade." Enjoy, and snark freely in the comments.)As we continue our rankings of the best and worst in the last decade, it's time to look back at the worst teams that the 2000s have produced.Sixteen teams make the Natio...

Three Stars: 'Canes win; Jokinen continues shootout mastery

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:20:01 -0500

No. 1 star, Jussi Jokinen(notes), Carolina HurricanesIt's no accident that if the Hurricanes were to break their 14-game losing streak in a shootout, Jokinen was going to be a major factor. He scored the only goal in the shootout as Carolina prevailed over Minnesota 5-4. Jokinen opened the scoring 2:45 into the game and played the hero on the second shootout attempt for the 'Canes. The shootout goal was Jokinen's 25th of his career, an NHL best. No. 2 star, Brent Seabrook(notes), ...

Minnesota's Sykora is out due to concussion

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:23:52 -0500

Minnesota Wild right wing Petr Sykora has a concussion and is out indefinitely. Sykora took a hit to the head in Saturday's win over the Dallas Stars. In his first season with the Wild, Sykora has already missed six games because of a groin injury. He has two goals and one assist in 10 games. Also, the team says defenseman Kim Johnsson has been cleared to play again after missing the last seven games because of an unspecified upper body injury.

Johnsson Ready, Sykora Not

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:08:00 -0500

The Minnesota Wild has wrapped up its final practice before heading out early this afternoon for Toronto. The two big news items are: Kim Johnsson says he is ready to go for tomorrow's game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Head Coach Todd Rich...

Nightly Hockey Hits: T.J. Oshie out 1-2 weeks

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:46:41 -0500

Mark Recchi is suiting up in his 1500th game tonight. Wow. It is a testament to Recchi’s work ethic and passion for the game that he has been around so long. Kim Johnsson will be out for a couple of weeks with an upper-body injury. Bigger loss than people may think. Johnsson can play in all [...]

Game #5: Minnesota Wild at Anaheim Ducks, Wednesday October 14, 2009 at 9:00pm (CDT), Honda Center

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:17:58 -0500

Minnesota Wild (1-3-0) 2pts 5th in Northwest Division2/50 Goals per Game (19th in NHL)3.75 Goals Against per Game (26th in NHL)33.3% Power Play (5th in NHL)78.5% Penalty Kill (16th in NHL)Top 5 Scorers:1. #15 Andrew Brunette ~ 3G 2A = 5pts2. #25 Eric Belanger ~ 1G 4A = 5pts3. #14 Martin Havlat ~ 1G 4A = 5pts4. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 1G 2A = 3pts5. #5 Kim Johnsson ~ 1G 1A = 2ptsTop 3 Penalty Minutes:1. #67 Benoit Pouliot ~ 6 PIM2. #5 Kim Johnsson ~ 6 PIM3. #36 John Scott ~ 5 PIMG...

Ranking the Defensemen

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:49:00 -0500

Let's take a look at this season's likely list of defensemen and where I think they rank in terms of a combination of (a) defensive, shut-down ability and (b) offensive spark:1. Brent Burns ~ poised for a big bounce back year. Was on the verge of stardom 2 seasons ago then fell back last year thanks to injuries and Jacques Lemaire. Should be an all-star.2. Kim Johnsson ~ in the last year of his deal, Kim should step up his game this year. I'm looking for many more assists this sea...

Today in Philly Sports History: Lindros Traded to the Rangers, 2001

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:00:00 -0500

As tumultuous as Eric Lindros's playing days in Philadelphia may have been, the days leading up to his departure might've been even worse. Knocked out of commission in game seven of the 2000 Eastern Conference Finals against the New Jersey Devils, the Flyers lost the series and Lindros never played another game in the Orange and Black. But with Lindros refusing a qualifying offer and the Flyers refusing to trade him to his preferred destination of Toronto, the two sides reached a yea...

Player Profile: Kim Johnsson

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:45:00 -0500

Strengths Johnsson is one of the top skating defensemen in the NHL. He sees the ice well and makes great passes when coming out of the zone. Johnsson has great offensive instincts, but he is a capable of being a shutdown defenseman as well. Lastly, he chews up plenty of ice time. Weaknesses Johnsson isn't all that aggressive and often fails to clear the front of the net in his own zone. He is easily knocked off the puck by bigger power forwards. NH...

Will the NHL ban staged fights?

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 07:16:08 -0500

The subject of banning staged fights is coming up again at the GM's annual meetings in Naples Florida. I am not so sure the league wants to go there. Fighting is a big part of professional hockey and I would be willing to bet there are a good number of Wild fans that go to the games to watch Derek Boogaard take on one of the leagues tough guys, it?s an interesting side show and it?s fun to watch. Also, these so called goons or tough guys make room for the skilled players and keep the opposition players honest. If a player cheap shots a skilled player like Marian Gaborik they know the Boogey man is going to take a piece of him eventually.
What I love about the "anti-Boogaard" brigade that has surfaced as of late, is I bet you its all the people that were extremely pissed and calling for Brad May to face Derek Boogaard in the playoff series with the Ducks, when May-Day punched out Kim Johnsson. Same with when we seen Mattias Ohlund break Koivu's leg. I bet they called for Ohlund's suspension to be reduced, just so he got to face Boogaard in the matchup a few games later. Its old, really. Onto Boogaard, he is one of the few reasons to actually see a game. Do you really think people went to a Kings/Wild game a couple weeks ago, looking to see Anze Kopitar? I HIGHLY doubt it. Again, I'll bet you, a lot of the people that went (myself included), went to the game hoping to see the heavy weight fight between Derek Boogaard and Raitis Ivanans. Same thing a few weeks before that when the Preds came to town. Yay, lets all go out and see Radek Bonk! Please. A lot of people would be kidding to say they didn't want to see Boogaard/Belak IV. Its a dirty secret to hockey, but, when the team has played as up and down, and very boring as the Wild have this year, there isn't much else of a reason to see some games. (comments section of article)
They just can?t leave well enough alone, can they? Hockey is a niche sport and I could care less if we are scaring some social high brow elite from the north east away because they are offended by fighting in the NHL.

Also, I don?t know if the NHL wants to go there you could end up going down a very slippery slope here. Fighting is a deterrent to further violence. I know this sounds silly to some but have you watched a division one college hockey game lately? The DQ for fighting and the face mask have actually raised the level of violence, stick work and checking from behind penalties. A lot of the stuff goes on because the players in the NCAA division one hockey know they don?t have to fight if they cheap shot someone.

Lastly, if the National Hockey League really decided that they wanted to ban staged fights, how do you decide when a fight is staged or not staged? This would be almost as ridiculous as it sounds. Who?s is going to decide? Two refs aren?t going to be the same. Are the on ice officials going to call Toronto for a ruling?
Based on interviews with several GMs, there is at least one form of fighting most of them would like to see disappear, but no one knows how to do it without an outright ban on fights. And no general manager could be found who supports the complete elimination of fighting.

What most of them would like to see is an end to the staged fight, where two players whose only role on the team is to fight, drop their gloves and go at it.

"The sense I get is there will be a lot of discussion on staged fights," said Boston Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli. "I'm against that. But no, I don't see an outright ban on fighting." (Read the whole story here)

Wild at the Trade dead line.

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:01:11 -0500

This is my latest crontibution at the illegal curve.

3. Minnesota Wild (Courtesy of Eric from Goon?s World)

Needs:

1.) Top line forward: Someone in like Olli Jokinen.
2.) Second line forward: Someone along the lines of a player like Jason Blake.
3.) Another second or third line forward: Or maybe a rent-a-player like Keith Tkachuk. Simply:
The Wild are in dire need of offense and anything would be an improvement.

Who?s Available:

1.) Martin Skoula: This team has an over abundance on defense.
2.) Kim Johnsson: See above.
3.) Marian Gaborik: Wild can?t resign him so the team needs to get whatever they can for Gabby.

Flyers kill penalties, beat Wild

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 12:23:06 -0500

Flyers kill penalties, beat Wild

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 11:58:17 -0500

Despite having to kill off eight penalties, and getting only one man advantage of their own, the Flyers handled the Minnesotta Wild on Thursday, beating one of the best defensive teams in the league 3-1.

The winning goal was scored on the powerplay by Mike Knuble, his 200th point as a member of the Flyers.

"That's half my points over my career," Knuble said. "It went quick. I've played with some great players here and that helps. With having so many good players around me there probably should be more points than that."

The Flyers were not as good on the penalty kill during their two week road trip, but a couple days off has clearly done them some good.

"I know it's like we're asking for it all the time," he said after last night's victory. "We kind of made it hard on ourselves with the little sticks and stuff like that. We did have solid penalty killing, not so much on the road.

"But here at home we were rested and Marty [Biron] made some key saves and I don't think we gave up too many glorious chances."

Oddly enough, it was the penalty killing that seemed to give the team life. They started the night sluggish, but gained momentum with each penalty kill, which included 1:03 5-3. After giving up the first goal of the game to Stephane Veilleux with 7:49 left in the first period, the Flyers shut down a very frustrated Wild offense.

"Terrible, terrible," said Wild defenseman Kim Johnsson, a former Flyer. "We gave them the game. We couldn't even score a goal on [eight] power plays.''

Scott Hartnell tied the game up midway through the second period on a rebound of a rebound of a rebound. Both Mike Richards and Scottie Upshall tried pounding it home, but it was Hartnell that found the empty net.

Knuble put the Flyers ahead for good just six seconds into their only power play, deflecting a blue line shot by Kimmo Timmonen. Upshall would put the nail in the coffin with a burst of speed up the far side of the rink, wristing a shot above the shoulder of Minnesotta goalie Niklas Backstrom.

"The tendency is, you come home from the trip and you want to relax, and you can't," said Flyers coach John Stevens. "Minnesota came out and they were jumping and they were trying to take advantage of us in our building and treat it almost as an extension of the road trip.

"I thought we regrouped in the second period and the penalty killing got us on track."

The Flyers take the ice again on Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The puck drops at 7:00 PM at the Wachovia Center.

Blockbuster Trade In The Works?

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 16:50:25 -0500

Now I don't claim to be a hockey insider with multiple inside sources. I'm just a handsome, witty, hockey fan/secret agent who writes things on the internet. But I just came accross this rumour of a big trade in the works which seems to be pretty legit. Though if it isn't, don't come to me ...