Will Garth's new main man be a Maine man?

OK, so Ted Nolan is out at the Mausoleum, and the Islanders need a new coach.

Let's deal with the first half of the statement: Supposedly, the issue was that Garth Snow thought the Isles were underachieving, and Ted didn't think he had enough talent to work with. Much as I'm no fan of Ted Nolan, I think it's pretty obvious who wins that argument.

Now, as for who gets the job. Write this down: John Tortorella.

Unlike Ted Nolan, who has shenanigans on his résumé involving the University of Maine (remember the Simon Danis-Pepin affair when Ted was at Moncton?), John actually went to the University of Maine, like Garth Snow. It also helps that Torts has a Stanley Cup on his résumé. I also think it's kind of funny that Ted didn't get pushed out the door on the Island until Torts was fired by Tampa.

It's a fairly obvious move for the Isles, but is it the right move? Torts isn't known for his patience with his players, and with a young lineup, whoever takes the reins on the Island will need a lot of patience. Bob Hartley, late of the Thrashers, may be a more natural choice, having both a Calder Cup and a Stanley Cup to his name with the Hershey Bears and the Avalanche, respectively.

Still, I think the Old (Orono) Boys Network is going to make it happen on the Island.

And since I brought up Simon Danis-Pepin, let's finish up with talk about who is changing where he plays his amateur hockey: Patrick Wiercioch, who changed his commitment from Wisconsin to Denver. I really don't have much of a problem with this. For him to be able to play at Wisconsin would involve putting off his college hockey, and probably, by extension, his pro career. Given the potential for injury in the sport, there's a limit to the amount of waiting that a young prospect should do at the junior level, where you're not getting your college education and you're not getting paid. If Wiercioch is ready now to play college hockey, he should be playing, and Mike Eaves should understand that. And if he's going to go someplace else, I'm glad that it's Denver, where they had a tough situation with David Carle.

And by the way, speaking of Carle, I love the new Lightning owner Oren Koules...good guy for drafting David Carle, and I think it was cool that the Lightning traded for Matt. And of course, I'm happy to see Barry Melrose back behind the bench.

Finally, a fond farewell to Ryan Hollweg, traded to the Maple Leafs, where he could resume his fine chemistry with Dominic Moore (recall the OHM line with Jed Ortmeyer in 2005-06), in exchange for a fifth-round pick. With the additions of Dan Fritsche, Pat Rissmiller, and Aaron Voros, not to mention the potential return of Brendan Shanahan (who's best suited to a third/fourth line role at this point in his career, plus special teams time), something had to give, and Hollweg, with his tendency for taking bad penalties, was the obvious choice. That said, I'll miss "Hollywood," with his personality and style (check out his pics from the Rangers' Casino Night), and I'll always remember that when the Canucks came to the Garden in December '05, he was the one who stepped up and fought that worthless scumbag Todd Bertuzzi. His brother, Bryce, is moving on after completing his career at Army, and Ryan is now moving on, too. So long, Hollywood, and thanks for the memories.

New Looks

Looks like my concerns about the Rangers were mostly unfounded. The team's acquisitions, for the most part, seem to make sense. The Rangers may have overpaid for Wade Redden, but he fills a definite need for the Blueshirts as a No. 1 defenseman and a quarterback on the power play.

The biggest concern I have is that the Rangers will be relying on Nikolai Zherdev for a lot of offense next season, and of all the adjectives that could be used to describe Zherdev, "reliable" is not necessarily one of them.

I like the signing of Markus Naslund. Yes, he's on the back end of his career, but so is Brendan Shanahan, and he's been a real asset to the Rangers the last couple of years. Besides, he's getting the $4 million per year that Sean Avery wanted, and if I have to choose between two years of Naslund and four of Avery - much as I like Avery - I take Naslund. He's a leader and a veteran, and he'll produce more than Avery without wearing out his welcome in the locker room. All that for less than the Oilers are paying Dustin Penner (speaking of which, memo to Gary Bettman: let Kevin Lowe and Brian Burke have at each other all they want. It's summer, we need the entertainment).

And yes, I know that Avery was a vital part of the Rangers' chemistry the last couple of years, but this is going to be a different team. Jaromir Jagr is gone to Avangard Omsk of the KHL, Martin Straka is playing in the Czech Republic, and we still don't know if Brendan Shanahan is coming back (probably not). This is going to be a different team, and if we're lucky, it won't be a team that needs Sean Avery in the lineup for the other guys to play like they give a hoot.

As Jagr goes "To Russia with Love," Ray Emery is going to Russia with glove, signing for $2 million, tax-free, with Atlant Mytishchi, also in the KHL. So, basically, with the exception of Jagr, who decided that exile in Siberia was preferable to Edmonton, the major KHL acquisitions out of the NHL are, for all intents and purposes, real exiles.

Of course, Emery only signed a one-year deal with Atlant, so he may be back someday soon. Still, when I think of Emery, and the fact that I am sorry to see him go, I'll always be reminded of this classic.



Of course, with Emery going to the suburbs of Moscow, he won't be going to Los Angeles, where I anticipated him being a holdover until Jeff Zatkoff is ready for the NHL. They may still go with Gatorade pitchman and "yo mama" joke master Jason LaBarbera, although it could also be a destination for Nikolai Khabibulin, whom the Blackhawks will likely need to move with Cristobal Huet coming on board. Of course, the Kings still need a coach, too.

Finally, while I'm digging into YouTube, it is my opinion that every WCHA arena with video capacity - except the Kohl Center, of course - should make this clip a regular part of programming when Wisconsin comes to town.

Who's Gone and Who Isn't

Yeah, yeah, the Wings won the Cup. Congratulations to them. The Penguins, of course will be back...I always figured they were more Edmonton '83 than Edmonton '84.

And happy trails to Dominik Hasek and Trevor Linden, who have announced their retirements. Both are great players, and both have much to be proud of in their careers as they move on.

Speaking of moving on...I should do the same.

Well then...

So, it would appear that Don Waddell, if he was ever in danger of losing his job in Atlanta, is off the hook. It may be that the Chicago Wolves' victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for the Calder Cup has gotten him off the hook for now, but it'll be interesting to see how that progresses.

Don is one of college hockey's best friends in the NHL, and I hope he can stay in a position of power somewhere in the league. We need more NHL executives with his attitude toward the college game.

Meanwhile, as Waddell tries to find the Thrashers' next coach, Marc Crawford is now available, having been let go as the Kings' head coach. Not that I'm expecting him to turn up in Atlanta, mind you, but it just seemed like a logical connection.

It'll be interesting to see what the Kings do here, as this is a young team that has potential to make a move. I like a lot of the Kings' young talent, and in the case of some of them, I mean that personally. Brian Boyle is one of my favorite players I had the opportunity to work with at CSTV, and Jack Johnson is one I've always regretted not interviewing (although I mostly consider it his fault for blowing off the Junior Evaluation Camp, twice). I also like the talent they have coming up, although it doesn't look like they have a true franchise player on the way at forward. Remember that if you see the Kings go for Nikita Filatov in the draft.

The problem, of course, is that the Western Conference is brutal right now, especially in the Pacific division with the Stars, Sharks and Ducks very strong, and the Coyotes also on the rise with a young team.

I'd be interested to see what Mark Morris, the head coach of LA's AHL club in Manchester, could do there. Given the success that Michel Therrien has had in Pittsburgh after being promoted from the Baby Pens, and the Capitals' Southeast Division title this year under former Hershey coach Bruce Boudreau, this could definitely be the right move for LA.

I had several conversations with Dean Lombardi and Ron Hextall when I was at CSTV, and I like what I heard from them, and I'm hoping that they make a good decision here and can get that franchise on the right track.

Does anyone else find it odd, by the way, that this has been a very quiet off-season so far on the coaching carousel? Just the one change at Alaska. Personally, I'd been sort of expecting a domino effect starting in the CCHA and extending through Hockey East and ECAC Hockey, but it appears that that won't be happening.

I'm being vague on purpose, because I've met so few people in college hockey that I haven't liked, and having been through unemployment recently myself, I don't speculate on other people's employment situations lightly. That said, I told several people to expect said chain - I may have even told them to write it down - and now, I'm going to have some egg on my face.

Oh well, it's OK...after all, I'm not making a career on my hockey musings anymore.

Finally, there's a lot of talk in the outdoor game department lately. Obviously, the big talk is of the Outdoor Classic at Wrigley, but I'm wondering why the NHL hasn't made an official announcement yet. Could Yankee Stadium still be in the mix? I'm still holding out hope until there's an official announcement, since they're not tearing down Wrigley anytime soon.

In the college ranks, they're talking about Minnesota and Wisconsin playing a pair of outdoor games in the next two years, one at Camp Randall and one at the Gophers' new football stadium. The obligatory joke about Don Lucia's hair has already been made, so I'll just say, "Bring it on." I really liked Camp Randall when I had occasion to cover a football game there in 2006 (it was against Illinois in the middle of the Wisconsin-BC hockey series), and as for Minnesota, well, when you talk about kids growing up playing on ponds and backyard rinks, what state better epitomizes that than Minnesota? And since I don't see the Wild being picked to host an Outdoor Classic in the near future - my guess is that they're going to go for classic venues like Wrigley, Yankee Stadium, Fenway, etc. for the next little while - this is something that ought to be done in Minnesota.

Trophies, Trophies, Trophies...and the Draft

You know, I've never been a huge fan of the NCAA's trophies - they kind of bore me, and I wish they'd give something at the Frozen Four that was a bit more unique - but at least the damn thing doesn't fall apart.

(Seriously, you know my take on major junior: different routes are best for different people. I just want everyone to have all the information they need to make the right decision.)

Speaking of championships, I haven't seen a lick of the Stanley Cup Finals so far. I work nights now, and the office doesn't get Versus. Thankfully, with the series moving to NBC tonight, I'll have my eye on things.

The best news so far, from where I sit, is that the ratings are up. Isn't it amazing what happens when the matchup isn't Secondary Canadian Market vs. Warm Weather City Where No One Cares? Seriously, as the Penguins finished off the Flyers in the last game I saw, I couldn't help but think of the sign above the entrance to the Penguins' locker room at Mellon Arena bearing Badger Bob Johnson's immortal "It's a great day for hockey!" quote.

The NHL is clearly getting what it wants here, and if NBC can spend some time with members of Chris Chelios' Malibu Mob - getting past the fact that Scrubs and John C. McGinley are moving to ABC - so much the better.

By the way, the Malibu Mob has to be one of the coolest things I've heard of all year, if only because my favorite movie actor (Cusack) and favorite TV actor (McGinley...although he was also in Office Space, which is awesome) are part of it, and I'm also a big fan of Kid Rock, who appears to be on the verge of joining. I think I officially have something to dream about: get rich, buy a place in Malibu, and join them.

However, on the more immediate - and real - horizon, I'm starting to look at what I'm going to be able to see in person next season. At the moment, I'm working a Thursday-Monday week, so as the schedules come out, I'm looking to see who's playing Tuesday night games that I can get to easily. UMass at RPI, RPI at Harvard, Holy Cross at BU, Providence at BU, Providence at Brown, Harvard at Brown...you get the idea. In other words, if you thought I was an "East Coast tool" or an "East Coast homer" before (holla if you hear me, SiouxSports.com message board), well, it's about to get worse.

Actually, since I plan on keeping up my Hobey Baker blogging with USCHO (among other things), I will probably take the plunge on a sports package to watch the FSN-North and FSN Detroit games (and maybe even the Big Ten Network, although I'm not sure if that's included). Heretofore, I'd never seen the point, because:

1) CSTV was not included in the package.
2) I was never home on game nights anyway.
3) It involved giving more money to Cablevision.

I have serious issues with Cablevision, and while they largely stem from the fact that they don't carry my former employer, I also have more general issues with Jim Dolan, a card-carrying member of the Lucky Sperm Club who has managed to screw up everything he touches, most notably the New York Knicks, although includes the Rangers, which needed the lockout and resulting salary cap to change the organization's philosophy on developing talent. Moreover, I have a feeling that Dolan does untoward things with farm animals, because the only possible explanation I can think of for Isiah Thomas' continued employment is that Zeke has photographs of such activiites taking place.

In fact, I actually considered not getting cable service at all when I moved out of the parents' place, and getting by with online streaming and iTunes and such, but then I realized I was going to be buying Rangers tickets anyway, so it was really kind of a stupid and futile gesture. Besides, as my financial future is no longer tied to a network that Cablevision may or may not choose to carry, I don't really see the point anymore (except for the whole farm animal thing).

Finally, bringing it back to hockey, I bought a copy of the Hockey News' draft preview, and I haven't finished with it yet, but at the moment, I have one main question: when did Steven Stamkos become a Greek god? I thought depth was the big thing this year, not a Crosby or an Ovechkin at the top, and that Stamkos would be a distant No. 2 in this draft if John Tavares had been born a week later. Guess I haven't been paying as close attention as I ought.

On the bright side, there aren't nearly as many disparaging comments about the college track this year as I saw in last year's issue, which may well mean they stopped using the scout who was saying such nasty things, although there is one shot at the USHL in their blurb on John Carlson (and even that had more to do with perception than reality). Nothing really major to report, except that BU's Colin Wilson is ranked No. 7 and Wisconsin's Cody Goloubef is No. 42, those two being the only current collegians in the Top 100.

Oh, and one last thing: Lee Stempniak was listed as the Blues' shrewdest pick of the last 10 years. Hell Yeah!

Upon Further Review...

You know, I was wondering where the reaction was when I suggested that teams that finished below .500 in conference play - including teams from the mighty WCHA - but I suppose all it took was Chris Dilks posting about it over at Western College Hockey to bring out the hate.

First, let me say it's amusing that one of those people called me "little." I suppose I should take it as a compliment, since one of the things I'm trying to do while I'm unemployed is lose some weight (having more time to go to the gym and fewer press meals to eat are two excellent conditions for trying to get back under 200 pounds). As for the post about my personal life...well, that's one of the other things I'm trying to improve on. And as for a girl who goes to a Western Conference school changing my mind, I'd be happy to arrange a trip to Oxford for myself (Oh, come on, that's funny).

However, all (half-)kidding aside, the overriding theme I sense here is one of my supposed East Coast Bias. I suppose I'll be hearing more of that now, since my travel will no longer be nearly as extensive. However, just because the comments will be more frequent doesn't mean that they're any more true.

I would hope that my commitment to college hockey - regardless of geographical location - would be beyond question at this point. I've traveled as much as budgetary factors would allow to cover college hockey on a national level. If, after three and a half years, you think I favor college hockey in the east over the west, then I suppose there's not much else that I can say, other than "You should take off the tinfoil hat...it looks kind of uncomfortable."

But this isn't about me, or at least, it shouldn't be.

I am more than happy to acknowledge that the WCHA is the best conference in college hockey, and has been for some time. Former Hobey Baker winner Tom Kurvers, now the director of player personnel for the Phoenix Coyotes, went so far as to call the conference the second best league in the country after the NHL, and he just may be right.

The thinking behind my comment is this: as nice as it is to have a perfectly transparent system to determine who gets into the NCAA tournament and who doesn't - with no talk about "who got screwed by the committee" - part of me likes the idea of achievement being rewarded at tournament time. If there's an argument that Minnesota's achievements this season deserve to be rewarded with an NCAA tournament berth - other than the PairWise itself, of course - I'd love to hear it. I would submit that Princeton and Providence (if not Notre Dame) have done more this season to deserve an NCAA tournament bid. Of course, no one sits around and decides who deserves to be in the tournament, and that's generally regarded as a good thing, by me and by just about everyone else. Still, I think that finishing .500 in conference play is a fair enough measure of achievement that making it a condition for at-large consideration shouldn't be all that mind-boggling.

All of that said, I have taken some time to think further on my controversial assertion, and I have a couple of additional thoughts.

Since this isn't actually a rule, and just my opinion, I'm making an exception in the case of Wisconsin. I will have no problem with the Badgers making the tournament if the PairWise puts them in. Yes, the Badgers' WCHA record is 11-12-5 with their regular season over. However, it is worth noting that Wisconsin has been screwed by WCHA officiating not once...



but twice...



If not for the crack officiating in the WCHA this season, Wisconsin would probably be at least .500, and also, the fact they're hosting this year makes their participation a little bit easier for me to handle.

However, on the subject of Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota, there's one little nugget in the NCAA manual that hasn't been talked about much until the other day, when it popped up on the USCHO board:

"To be considered during the at-large selection process, a team must have an overall won-lost record of .500 or better."

In other words, Minnesota can't lose any more than one more game than it wins between the series against Minnesota Duluth this weekend and the WCHA tournament, or else the Gophers are out of the NCAA tournament picture. Meanwhile, Minnesota Duluth needs to win two more games than it loses between the Minnesota series and the WCHA tournament, or it's bye-bye Bulldogs. Wisconsin can't get swept in the WCHA tournament, or else the Badgers are out. St. Cloud needs at least one point against North Dakota, or a sweep in the WCHA tournament knocks them out.

The eyes are growing wider at Notre Dame, Princeton, Providence, BU and Harvard. Now, in all fairness, BU has had a disappointing year by many measures - and is also in danger of falling victim to the .500 record rule, but the Terriers have taken care of business in conference.

I'm not sure exactly how any of this is going to play out this weekend, but I will take a stab at it later in the week, when I make a guest appearance in Theresa Spisak's weekly WCHA column on USCHO to make my predictions for the weekend. However, I will always say that I'd rather see teams that overachieve make the NCAA tournament as opposed to teams that underachieve.

Wow, that was more time than I expected to spend on this issue tonight. Brief NHL observations from yesterday.

- The Rangers beat the goon squad known as the Philadelphia Flyers yesterday, 5-4, in a shootout. Henrik Lundqvist allowed three goals in the first period before being pulled in favor of Stephen Valiquette, while Antero Niittymaki allowed four goals before giving way to Martin Biron early in the second. While Valiquette - or as I call him, "Prince Vali-ant" (since he backs up "King Henrik") - did give up the tying goal late in the third period, it was the one goal he allowed in his last eight periods of play against Philadelphia. It was kind of funny tonight, watching the Capitals destroy the Bruins and seeing Lundqvist talking about the rivalry tonight in an ad for the next Rangers-Flyers game (which, like the Caps-Bruins game, will air on Versus), knowing that the likelihood of Lundqvist starting that game is pretty low right about now. Of note: the Attitude ADJustment line did not score.

- While I watched the first two periods of the Rangers game on NBC - as called by DOC~! and Eddie Olczyk - I listened to the third, overtime, and the shootout on the radio as I headed for Long Island, where I saw the Islanders lose to Tanner Glass and the Panthers, 1-0. Tanner had seven shifts and 4:54 total ice time in the win, but the big story was Panthers backup netminder Craig Anderson, who outdueled Denver alumnus and fellow backup Wade Dubielewicz. Former Michgian State Spartan David Booth supplied the lone goal for the Panthers, who have a tough uphill climb to get a playoff spot.

I was also none too impressed by Wade Belak. His mobility is definitely an issue, and to be honest, I think Florida will need more than one of its five injured forwards back before Tanner can be sent back to Rochester. Just as the Wild cannot afford to have Derek Boogaard in the lineup every night, so too is Belak going to be a liability for the Panthers. There will be nights when a smaller, more mobile player (who can still drop the gloves when it's called for) will be necessary, and I think it's pretty obvious who that guy is.

Hopefully, he will still be up when the Panthers close the regular season against the Capitals, because I'm thinking of visiting some friends in DC that weekend. By the way, I got my New Era caps (Blues and Panthers) today (ordered during NHL.com's trade deadline sale), and they are really pretty nice (especially for the four bucks each I paid).

OK, that's it for now. Time for me to go and figure out which direction my bed points and which way I'd need to lay in it to...oh, never mind!