A quick mix of the things we gleaned from the week of hockey, serious and satirical, and rolling four lines deep.
1. No doubt Toronto Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle and general manager Dave Nonis are thrilled with the play of goaltender Jonathan Bernier thus far. He’s been stingy with rebounds and looks positionally sound. But don’t expect James Reimer to lose his 1A status. Before the season began, Carlyle said his approach to the tandem would be “Win and you’re in.” Bernier won Saturday; he won’t start Tuesday.
A theory as to why Reimer will continue to see a chunk of starts, regardless of how often he swivels his neck around to locate the puck: The Leafs will never officially designate Reimer as a backup because (1) the crease contest, so far, is a positive motivator for both men, but (1a) more importantly, Reimer’s status as a co-starter increases his trade value. The Leafs expect to be a playoff team again. We expect Reimer to be showcased, then dangled this winter for a high price.
Worst case scenario: The Leafs aren’t able to land a top-four defenceman for Reimer and they have themselves a playoff-capable option if Bernier struggles down the stretch of his first 26-plus-start season.
2. Fun early-season fact: Ben Scrivens has the exact same number of shutouts in Los Angeles as Bernier has in Toronto — one. The second piece of the Matt Frattin trade has received one-45th the press that Bernier’s gotten, but has been perfect in his first 74:20 played for the Kings.
3. No more Leafs, we promise. The Minnesota Wild’s Josh Harding — everyone’s second-favourite goalie — not only owns the best mask in the league, but he’s been spectacular in relief of Niklas Backstrom. He’s thrown up a 3-1 record with a .948 save percentage and 1.06 goals-against average this season, despite starting his season in what must be the worst way imaginable: replacing an injured goaltender and immediately facing a penalty shot.
Yeah, the Preds’ Eric Nystrom scored Tuesday, but Harding shut the door for the rest of the game to earn an undeserved 3-2 loss (the Preds were already winning when Backstrom left the game).
4. The deadline deal of Martin Erat (and prospect Michael Latta) for Filip Forsberg is looking all kinds of lopsided. The Predators’ Forsberg scored his first NHL goal as a teenager with promise; the Capitals’ Erat is pointless and frustrated through six games in Washington, where the winger finds himself low on the depth chart.
5. How soon is too soon to start the Brian Elliott trade talk? Heading into Tuesday’s showdown with San Jose, the St. Louis Blues were undefeated in playing Jaroslav Halak exclusively. With the former Jennings winners in contract years and St. Louis unlikely to re-sign both, it looks like Elliott is the odd man out. How much patience does Edmonton have with Devan Dubnyk?
6. That Tomas Hertl goal continues to spawn stories (and, no, we’re not talking about Jumbo Joe’s barnyard quote). Days later, Hertl’s stunning shot against New York Rangers backup Martin Biron has taken on a “Circle of Life” flavour. Biron, a veteran 17 years older than Hertl, cleared waivers Tuesday and is now pondering retirement—or a lengthy and improbable AHL redemption attempt. He will forever be on the business end of his last highlight. “Sometimes you try to pick yourself up and it doesn’t happen,” Biron told reporters Monday. Heartbreaking quote.
7. Further to the Hertl fallout: We hate the notion that the kid deserves to get thumped for scoring his fourth goal of a blowout with such flair. The jealousy boiling in those who condemn that move is transparent.
8. The damage wasn’t as ugly as the play looked, which is great for Cody Franson but bad for the league. Can someone please remind us why all the stanchions near the benches aren’t padded? The debate on fighting’s place in the game is complicated; the debate on whether to pad these suckers is not. Everyone’s a millionaire here. Spend some money on padding before another skater takes a stiff metal frame to the face:
9. The longer Kris Letang (lower body) sits out, the better P.K. Subban’s chances of securing a spot on Team Canada’s blue line. Of the two puck-moving, offensive minds, Subban leads all defenceman with seven points. The frequently injured Letang has yet to play a shift.
10. The basement-dwelling, win-free Buffalo Sabres are so bad… (how bad are they?) they rank worst in the NHL in goals scored (seven, same as Hertl) despite having played as many as three more games than some teams. Countdown to Ryan Miller’s “I Want Out” speech starts in three… two…
11. Good look: Jimmy Howard is doing all he can to make the NHL look like the NFL:
12. Among the Carolina Hurricanes’ career salvation projects, 26-year-old pickup Radek Dvorak (two goals, plus-3) has the jump on 31-year-old Mike Komisarek (one game, no points). Komisarek can’t seem to crack a blue line that features Brett Bellemore. Exactly.