The National Hockey League last week passed the one-quarter mark on the 2007-08 schedule, and to no one's surprise, the Senators and Red Wings had comfortable leads in their conferences.
But raise a hand high if you expected Martin Gerber, considered an overpriced free agent bust last season in Ottawa, to be the key to the Senators' fortunes. Meanwhile, Ray Emery, fresh from carrying them to the finals last spring, struggled to remain around. 500 with his few starts.
And raise the other hand higher if you felt Chris Osgood, and not Dominik Hasek, would be Detroit's No. 1 tender. As of yesterday morning, Osgood led the league with a miserly 1.65 goals-against average. Hasek stood a ho-hum 5-5-1 with a less-than-dominating 2.90 GAA.
What should this tell us? Maybe nothing other than what we remind ourselves of each year: When it comes to goaltending, it's neither crapshoot nor science, which renders it probably nothing more than an educated hunch. Today's hands-down NHL stopper can be tomorrow's ECHL backup. And if you have it in the back of your head that your 15-year-old is on a fast track to securing a scholarship as an NCAA Division 1 goaltender, you might want to come up with a Plan B. In a hurry. No position, perhaps in any sport, is subject to crueler bounces.
Which brings us to the interesting study this season in the Boston net. Over the summer, while management still had, shall we say, reservations about Tim Thomas, general manager Peter Chiarelli took on Manny Fernandez, and $9.25 million in salary, to erase any doubt about his goaltending. Thus far, the oft-injured Fernandez has seen action in all of four games, while Thomas has soldiered on as one of the league's steadiest hands.
Chiarelli pegged Fernandez to make 60-65 starts this season, which would have relegated Thomas to being the dutiful backup. Voila, Thomas is the workhorse, Fernandez (knee, back woes) can barely get out of the trainer's room, and top prospect Tuukka Rask logs more miles on Route 95, Providence-to-Boston, than a Wonder Bread delivery man.
What must the Bruins do now? Well, nothing, really, even though Chiarelli told the Globe Thursday that he might hunt for another partner to join Thomas if Fernandez were to remain sidelined.
For Rask to stay with Boston as a backup, Chiarelli feels, would not aid the Finnish phenom's development. And, of no small consequence, it also would burn a year off of the kid's entry-level contract. Rask's NHL cap hit is also huge ($2.55 million) for a rookie, which means it would be far more financially prudent to find, say, a $600,000 backup, and allow Rask the proper incubation time in Providence.
But the X factor here, frankly, is that the Bruins are winning, and they are doing so with a very slim margin. For the most part, that margin is: 1. goaltending and 2. Claude Julien's coaching.
For the few goals the team scored in the first quarter (51 in 20 games), it didn't have much business owning an 11-7-2 record. Even average netminding by Thomas would have had the Bruins in a struggle to be 9-9-2 (right where they were through 20 games last season). Less-than-average netminding by Thomas, and they're somewhere around 6-12-2, keeping company with the Capitals at the bottom of the barrel.
As for Julien, some of the defense-first style he preaches indeed suppresses the offense. But I'm not buying that half-full/half-empty argument as to why the Bruins struggle on offense. It allows too many underperforming forwards off the hook. The likes of Peter Schaefer and Brandon Bochenski have done next to nothing. Glen Murray finally seems to be emerging from his pea-soup fog, and that's encouraging, but he has to deliver in full as the club's sole would-be sniper. Marco Sturm and Chuck Kobasew have provided pop off the wings, and after Marc Savard, they've been the brightest lights in an otherwise very dull offense.
Julien, overall, has established a front-to-back defensive integrity that was never part of the team's character under Dave Lewis last season. Thomas has benefited by that, too, because he usually gets a good look at shots, and when he sees the puck, lo and behold, he usually stops it. That sounds fundamental, but bad D often clouds the evaluation of goalies. Which brings us back to that stuff about educated hunches.
Chances are, Fernandez gets his back straightened out and dials into a comfortable job share with Thomas. Meanwhile, Thomas remains on a roll and Rask looked impressive in his first start/win in Toronto. So, it wasn't the plan. Just as Gerber wasn't the plan. Just as Osgood wasn't.
Who knew? Why ask?
I say leave well enough alone. The coach is good, the goaltending even better. Wring a few more goals out of those forwards, bring in a fresh face (paging Vladimir Sobotka), and maybe, finally, the Bruins stop looking like forgotten orphans on our city's sports family tree.
A cup o' kindness
Prior to their 2-1 win over the Islanders Friday, the Bruins held a moment of silence for Tom Johnson, who died Wednesday at the age of 79. Johnson holds the distinction of being the last coach to lead the club to the Stanley Cup (1972).
A number of Johnson's friends and acquaintances chimed in here Friday, including Kevin Sullivan, budget director for the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care.
Sullivan recalled being in his late teens, caddying in a golf tournament at Concord Country Club, where Johnson was a member for years. Between rounds on a hot day, Sullivan and fellow caddies took a breather next to the clubhouse.
"Probably a violation at the time," recalled Sullivan. "Of course, the waitress would not serve us. We were hot, thirsty, hungry, and just wanted to rest a while until the second round."
Along came Johnson, who sat at a table next to the resting caddies. The waitress immediately came over for his order.
"He said, 'Before you take my order, see if those boys want anything,' " recalled Sullivan. "She then asked us. We were too embarrassed to ask for anything, but I have no doubt Tom Johnson would have paid for whatever we wanted.
"I'll always appreciate that gesture, above all his accomplishments on the ice and behind the bench."
For now, Neely will keep looking for a few good men
Cam Neely, brought on weeks ago by the Bruins as an adviser to general manager Peter Chiarelli and executive vice president Charlie Jacobs, as of now doesn't have designs on moving into a more formal front-office role.
In a league that has courted the likes of former stars Ron Francis (Carolina), Al MacInnis (St. Louis), Steve Yzerman (Detroit), and, most recently, Brett Hull (Dallas) to key and visible decision-making jobs, Neely continues to feel and explore his way through his new gig.
"I look at it, first and foremost, by asking, 'Who would I like to play with?' " said Neely, noting that he is focusing chiefly on player evaluations. "When you are watching, obviously the stars are going to stand out. Then it's a matter of asking, 'OK, what do these other guys bring to the table?'
"So many have similar skills, so what else do they bring, be it leadership or work ethic? I keep gravitating to that. Will they take a hit to make a play? Will they get involved in areas where other guys don't like to go?"
Thus far, said Neely, he has leaned a lot on former teammate Don Sweeney, the club's director of hockey operations and player development, for help. He recently joined Sweeney, Chiarelli, and assistant GM Jim Benning for a game in Providence. "To get a better handle on where guys are in certain stages of their development," he said.
A more formal title, said Neely, "is not where my head is right now. I'm enjoying the work with Peter, and learning different aspects of what I can do to help."
Etc.
Food lacks Finnishing touch
Fellow Finns Tuukka Rask and Petteri Nokelainen, now playing for the Bruins varsity, shared an apartment earlier this season while stationed in Providence. Nokelainen did most of the cooking. "He thinks he's the world's best chef," said Rask. "He is good, but I'm not bad, either. He doesn't think much of my cooking skills." Nokelainen amended the review by calling himself "the best chef in the house." Both said they are OK with American cooking, but Rask feels American fare is often too greasy, while Nokelainen says it's often difficult to find fresh fish, especially salmon, on par with what he gets in Finland. The dietary item Nokelainen misses most from his home country: ruisleipa. "It's a brown bread, almost black," he said. "Just nothing like it here." Oh, and if you're looking for winter vacation? "Lapland, way north in Finland," said Nokelainen. "Just beautiful."
A feeling of helplessness
Sean Avery, who may be more important than Jaromir Jagr to the Rangers' fortunes, dismissed out of hand Brendan Shanahan's offer to work with him on his shot earlier this year, according to a piece in the current issue of Men's Vogue magazine. According to Shanahan, Avery said, "No, I know what I need to do, I don't need any help." Shanahan was duly flummoxed, telling the magazine, "I thought, 'You have a 600-goal scorer thinking about you, and you're not willing to listen to what he has to say?' " Later in the same practice, Avery came back to hear what Shanahan might suggest. "I said, 'It's all right, you know what to do, you don't need my help,' " said Shanahan. Might Avery ever hear it? "I'm going to wait and see if he comes back to me one more time," said Shanahan.
Don of a new day in Atlanta
Despite their dismal 0-6-0 start, the Thrashers were back in the Eastern Conference playoff picture after going 11-6-0 with GM Don Waddell behind the bench on an interim basis. What might he have said if this kind of turnaround were predicted the day he made the move to fire Bob Hartley? "I would have told you Scotty Bowman's not available," he told Canadian Press. The betting is that Waddell, who recently said he won't hire a coach from outside the organization this season, will put Brad McCrimmon in charge if the GM decides to go back to the front office full time. Meanwhile, Ilya Kovalchuk has been sizzling (33 points/23 games), in part because of Waddell's move to put him with Todd White and the previously stone-cold Marian Hossa. Hossa has 19 points in 20 games.
Now arriving . . .
The day after Glen Hanlon was sacked as coach, the Capitals responded with a 4-3 overtime win in Philadelphia under new mentor Bruce Boudreau, the 52-year-old veteran of some 15 years of coaching in the minors. "In some ways, I've been waiting 52 years for this chance," said Boudreau, given the job on an interim basis. Boudreau also played some 20 seasons between juniors, WHA, and NHL stops. In fact, he was a first-round pick, No. 14 overall, of the WHA's Minnesota Fighting Saints in 1974. For the record, the New England Whalers picked 13th in that draft, and took Tim Young, then followed by selecting Mike Eruzione in the second round (No. 28).
Loose pucks
Jonathan Cheechoo, perhaps San Jose's No. 1 sniper, went into yesterday with only three goals. Offseason surgery to repair a sports hernia might have contributed to his slow start. Meanwhile, the refurbished Jeremy Roenick entered yesterday's play with six goals for the Sharks . . . Ex-Boston College forward Pat Eaves, one of Ottawa's depth forwards, tore up a shoulder Wednesday night in a collision with Buffalo's Brian Campbell. The former first-round pick could be sidelined six weeks or more . . . Dave Fay, the late Washington Times writer who covered the Capitals for more than two decades, recently was honored with the Hockey Hall of Fame's Elmer Ferguson Award. Late in his battle against cancer, Fay exchanged instant messages with Capitals owner Ted Leonsis. In one exchange, Leonsis asked Fay, "Are you in pain?" After a protracted pause, Fay wrote back, "Only when you are on the power play." . . . Ex-Flames backup goalie Jamie McLennan is suiting up in the Asia Hockey League with the Nippon Paper Cranes. Ditto for Tyson Nash, who began the season in Russia with Magnitogorsk . . . Bowman on the increasing number of former stars, such as Hull, taking high-profile front-office jobs: "The big question with all these people is how much time they're willing to put in." . . . Milan Lucic, dinged in Friday's matinee when he was clocked by a Bryan Berard shoulder hit, could be a candidate to play for Canada in the World Junior Championships that begin at the end of December. Refreshing his game with the world's best juniors would not jeopardize his standing to return to the Bruins . . . Part of Jagr's problem with the Rangers is that he no longer has the speed to burn defenders one-on-one. And his game is more side-to-side, which doesn't fit well with coach Tom Renney's north-south, defensive-based game plan. Unless he catches fire, JJ will not hit any of the triggers that would add a year to his deal, which would bring him $8.36 million in 2008-09. But even if he misses, he'll pick up a $1 million severance door prize, just enough to cover a final weekend in Manhattan . . . Markus Naslund is back sizzling, ever since Canucks coach Alain Vigneault placed him on a line with countryman twins Henrik and Daniel Sedin. After a hat trick Wednesday vs. the Wild, he had collected 6-2 -8 across four games. Vigneault to the Vancouver Sun: "I've heard what Nazzy was before, but I really like the Markus I am seeing now."
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at dupont@globe.com; material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.
