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KADRI STUDIES CROSBY’S GAME
The Toronto Sun illustrates how when he watches Sidney Crosby, Nazem Kadri does all he can to stop from sneaking a pad on to the Maple Leafs bench to take notes.
“Everyone can take something out of his game, especially when he comes to town or we go there,” Kadri said of the Pittsburgh Penguins superstar. “Every single player on this team has to elevate their game. If you don’t, he is going to burn you.”
Kadri tries to soak up all he can when the Leafs play the Penguins.
“He has top-end talent but his work ethic and determination are on a whole other level,” Kadri said. “He refuses to be out-willed. He’s the guy — you can put your money on it — if the puck is going in the corner, and he is after it, most likely he is going to be the one coming up with it.
“I’m watching him, trying to take as many positive things as I can and apply it to my game.”
WILD’S LEIPOLD SEES CUP WIN
The St. Paul Pioneer Press communicates that Wild owner Craig Leipold vowed to win a Stanley Cup during his tenure, assuring business leaders the club is positioned to compete for an NHL championship for up to seven years while hedging his bets on this season.
“I see a Stanley Cup championship. My hope is that it happens soon,” Leipold told the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, March 13. “It may not be this year. It may not be next year. But the beautiful thing is we have a window now that’s not going to close in two or three years. We’ve got a window that’s going to be opened up for five, six or seven years.”
After the event, Leipold acknowledged he was pleased with how the Wild have played in recent weeks but cautioning against planning any ticker-tape parades.
“You don’t want to say this year’s the year we’re going to win the Stanley Cup since we haven’t been to the playoffs in four years,” Leipold said. “Let’s take it a step at a time. I’m trying to just be realistic. Do we want to win it this year? I guess we do. Of course we do. But it’s not something that’s going to necessarily happen overnight. We’ve got these young guys coming up, and we think they’re going to be a big part of winning the Stanley Cup.”
OATES: OVECHKIN FACES UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS
CSNWashington.com notes that because Alex Ovechkin has one goal in his last eight games, criticisms of the 27-year-old Russian have mounted like stacks of hockey sticks on a bonfire.
“Obviously, he has [bad] moments, but he gets a breakaway a game,” Oates said on Wednesday, before boarding a flight for Raleigh, where the Caps will play one of their biggest games of the season Thursday night.
“He gets chances every night. He’s getting Grade A’s and it’s not going in.”
Oates says he gets that almost everyone looks to their captain for answers in the losses.
“There’s pressure and obviously Alex has the most,” Oates said. “He feels when he drives to the rink that he has to score. And while I agree with that, he gives Marcus (Johansson) two breakaways (in Tuesday’s game against the Hurricanes, which led to golden scoring chances) and that’s still good enough for me.
“To me, it’s about playing a complete game and being physical. He hit [Hurricanes defenseman Joe] Corvo in the third period and almost destroyed him. He’s still the only guy that separates people from the puck every single time he hits a guy. That’s just as important to me as scoring. That’s important for the team.
“People forget that. That’s what people don’t see all the time. He makes mistakes in the neutral zone. Yeah, OK, it’s a mistake. But did anybody see the five hits that he separated guys off the puck? That’s something that, in our relationship, is important to me.”
Asked if scoring 65 goals in his third NHL season set the bar unrealistically high for Ovechkin, Oates said he believes it did.
“I think [those expectations are] unfair for the style of game he plays,” Oates said. “But he also gets a lot of chances. So if he was on a bit of a roll he’d have 15 or 20 [goals], no question. He gets a breakaway a game.”
LETANG PLAYING CALCULATED GAME
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review indicates a number of Las Vegas casinos now list Penguins defenseman Kris Letang as the favorite to claim the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman.
He isn’t interested in individual awards — “You guys think about it. I don’t,” he said — but, at 25, is clearly seeing his game blossom.
Letang leads the NHL in points by a defenseman with 27 and is still leading the rush with great frequency. His decision-making, though, has improved dramatically.
“It’s always calculated,” Letang said.
Teammate Matt Niskanen acknowledges Letang now takes different risks than a couple of years ago.
“He’ll always be able to avoid trouble because of his skating, but he’s smarter with the puck now,” Niskanen said. “His game has really matured. Everything he does is with a purpose now.”
He has displayed deft touch in the offensive zone — like during a four-assist night in Montreal and when he set up Crosby’s game-winning goal last week against Tampa Bay — but also has played a more reliable, structured game in the third period.
“His decision-making has been very good,” Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. “Even though he’s supporting the rush, he’s putting pucks (deep) a little more. He certainly has been a factor. I think I noted with him the maturity in his decision-making with the puck and even jumping in, and how his supporting is much better for our team.”
MACDONALD FITS WITH FLAMES
Michigan Live details how when the Detroit Red Wings waived Joey MacDonald, the Calgary Flames turned to Jiri Hudler for the lowdown on the journeyman goaltender.
“I brought Jiri Hudler in my office and asked him about Joey,” Flames coach Bob Hartley said. “Jay (general manager Feaster) asked me what I thought about Joey MacDonald and for me, when you’re dealing with a goalie, you have to ask (former) teammates, especially for a backup.
“Jiri right away said that he was a great guy. No hesitation. He’s a hard worker and he’s been just as Jiri told me.”
Hartley called him one of the team’s most consistent players over the past month.
“Mac is the ultimate team guy,” Hartley said. “I had Johan Hedberg in Atlanta and (MacDonald) reminds me a lot of the Moose. He gets in the net like a half-hour before practice and the Zamboni kicks him out at the end of practice.”
Hartley added: “I have no fear in putting Joey MacDonald in,” Hartley said. “I feel that Joey MacDonald can win a game for you, and there aren’t too many teams that openly can admit this about their backup. … We put him in on the road, at home, he’s not rattled.”
BOEDKER PLAYS TO HIS STRENGTHS
The Arizona Republic writes some of the easier lessons to teach, it would seem, come from personal experience.
“It’s way easier to have the puck than to chase it all the time,” coach Dave Tippett said. “Believe me. I was the guy that chased it all the time. I would have much rather had it.”
That was the piece of advice Tippett passed along to winger Mikkel Boedker on Monday, a day before Boedker scored twice and took over the team’s scoring lead.
“When he has the puck, he can be a very dangerous player,” Tippett said. “He just has to have it more. I think timing-wise, I think he feels like he’s going one way and the puck’s going the other. He’s just got to find a way to get in sync with the game.
“He has the ability to hold pucks. He changes directions well. He’s got good skill to hold it, powerful skater when he gets it. We just talked about don’t give it away so easily. Let’s see what happens when you keep it for a while.”
TAVARES STRIVING TO REMAIN CALM
Newsday points out that John Tavares and his Islanders teammates have had some frustrations boil over in close games this season.
Tavares, who has had more comments for officials this season than in any of his three previous seasons, was one of the few Islanders who didn’t say anything to refs Mike Hasenfratz and Brian Pochmara after the 2-1 overtime loss in which the Islanders did not get a power play while the Rangers won on an OT power-play goal.
“I think sometimes you need to relax and not focus on that,” said Tavares, who has drawn his share of penalties this season. “I wanted to go talk to them after the call in overtime, but I was a little too heated myself and I kind of avoided the situation knowing there was a lot of frustration and a different view on the calls.”
But the frustrations grow as the team’s expectations grow — Tavares understands there’s more pressure on him and his teammates to succeed, given that they are past the halfway mark of this shortened season in better position in the East than they’ve been in his NHL career.
“You have to focus on the game and we’ve tried to stress that,” he said. “When things don’t go our way sometimes, when it’s two or three games in a row, it can definitely build up and go a little over the top.”