Sports Logic

Due to a "scheduling conflict" and maybe the slightest hint of laziness, we now present to you Manic Monday Volume 2. Enjoy.

1. If Scott Niedermayer is traded this season which team would be the best fit?

WAYNE SAYS: The Anaheim Ducks could move Scott Niedermayer this season if they find themselves out of the running in the Western Conference. Of course, to make a trade involving a $6 million player, acquiring teams need the cap space or they need to unload contracts to make it happen. Oh…and if you want Niedermayer, you'd better be a Stanley Cup contender. So if it goes down, we'll likely see some shrewd move by a general manager.

Now the question is who has the need, the cap space and the clever GM to make a play for the wily veteran puck mover? As it stands right now, half the teams in the NHL could be Cup contenders. The potential suitors are the Blackhawks, Canucks, Flames, Kings, Red Wings and Sharks in the West; with the Bruins, Canadiens, Capitals, Devils, Flyers, Penguins, Rangers, Senators, and Sabres in the East as legitimate destinations. Each team has a crafty GM who isn't afraid to make a splash if the water's right.

Of course, that doesn't mean those teams are all in the running at Niedermayer. The salary cap could hurt several of them and others are already really deep on the back end (I'm looking at your Calgary and Chicago!). My guess for Western landing spots is LA, Detroit (Ken Holland seems to be able to get whoever he wants under his cap number) and Vancouver. In the East, I wouldn't be surprised to see him back in New Jersey or anchoring the blue line in Washington or Pittsburgh. Buffalo is intriguing as a destination but I'm not convinced Niedermayer sees them in the contender class. The other wild card is the Flyers. They make more ballsy moves than most teams in hockey and could offer Anaheim some scoring…but only if the Ducks are willing to take back a contract.

SHAUN SAYS: In my opinion the most logical scenario is that Niedermayer stays put. But since that isn't what the question asks, the best fit for Niedermayer may be the Vancouver Canucks for a number of reasons.

The Canucks have plenty of cap room, and are in dire need of a puck moving defenseman. They had hoped Alex Edler would fill that role, but he looks lost without Matthias Ohlund to mentor him. They had also hoped Sami Salo could actually stay healthy, but then they remembered he's Sami Salo and there was a stiff breeze in the lower mainland last week, so he's out.

In addition to a need, the Canucks could probably also offer up the best package for Niedermayer. With Roberto Luongo locked up for the next decade and change, blue-chip prospect, Cory Schneider could find himself as part of the return. The Canucks are also deep on the back-end, so they could ship an NHL caliber defenseman as well. My guess would be Kevin Bieksa.

2. Which NHL team has been most affected by injuries this season?

WAYNE SAYS: This is a fun topic. Just because a team's sick bay has more players than its roster, doesn't necessarily mean it's the most affected. Case in point: the Edmonton Oilers. Sure, they lost everybody from Ales Hemsky to the stick boy to the flu at some point this season. They also lost one dimensional Sheldon Souray to a concussion. But the Oilers were never going anywhere this season so to say they were most affected by injuries is silly.

The Vancouver Canucks were in a world of hurt without Roberto Luongo saving their bacon, and they still can't score without Daniel Sedin completing the package deal that is the twins. Sure, Sami Salo missed time too, but when a player gets injured 38 times in 11 years, it's more or less expected he'll be wounded. But losing Michal Grabner and Jannik Hansen, who more closely resembles the boy band brothers than the Slap Shot goons, doesn't hurt nearly as much as some fans claim. With Luongo back, the Canucks should be a factor in the Western Conference, but don't forget this team's history when they are expected to contend…

The team who felt the pain of injuries the most is the Pittsburgh Penguins. Losing Evgeny Malkin, Sergei Gonchar and now Alex Goligoski dropped the Penguins from the best in the East to middle of the pack. Add in the fact that teams are gunning for them as defending Champions and it could be a rough road for the Penguins to ride out.

SHAUN SAYS: With all due respect to my friend Wayne, I don't think it's silly at all to say the Oilers have been most affected by injuries. Not so much the injuries themselves, so much as the timing. The Oilers were playing confident hockey, and one by one they started dropping. Probably the most significant injury they have suffered was to Ryan Stone, because he provided a physical element and a spark to the rest of the team.

With that being said, the team most affected this season has to be the Boston Bruins. Before the season even started, they boneheadedly traded away Phil Kessel for nothing, which pretty much meant Marc Savard was on his own. So when Marc Savard went down with a broken foot, and Milan Lucic broke his finger, the load shifted to David Krejci, who promptly was diagnosed with H1N1 and was still recovering from off-season hip surgery. Now the Bruins find themselves unable to score goals, and losing game 1-0 in shootouts.

3. How does the NHL fix its sometimes ridiculous schedule?

WAYNE SAYS: As much fun as it is too see some teams play five games more than others this early in the year, or to see teams play once in ten days, or to see a 5 game homestand take 21 days, Shaun and I believe there has to be a better way to set up the games.

My take is far more drastic than just troubleshooting those issues before releasing the schedule. I call for complete re-alignment. It's pathetic that the Western Conference teams not only travel way more than those in the East, they played 12 more games so far. Oh, and there is that little issue of four time zones in the Western Conference versus ONE in the Eastern Conference. So what would I do? I think it's time to kill the regional divisions and conferences and instead set the league up to have each team travel roughly the same amount over the course of the year. The divisions could conceivably have teams from three of the four time zones in them. That would also mean a "road trip" for the Flyers, Rangers, Devils, Islanders, etc. would be the same as one for the Oilers, Flames, Canucks, Sharks, etc.

I think with a new divisional layout, the league would gain several scheduling options and could return to the days of named divisions rather than following the other three teams sports into the regional world. It might even kickstart some new rivalries and bring fans to the game, because they aren't really lining up to watch Florida play Atlanta six times a year…

SHAUN SAYS: The schedule is a real bone of contention with me. I don't know what the NHL schedule makers are thinking sometimes when they come up with this stuff. Vancouver Canucks fans, I think you can directly blame the schedule last year to Roberto Luongo's groin injury. The Canucks played Wednesday night in New York, Thursday night in Minnesota and Saturday afternoon in Pittsburgh. How does that schedule make even the slightest bit of sense?

I have no issue with the eastern teams not needing to travel as much as the west. That's an unfortunate geographic price some teams have to pay. My solution in this case is to go back to grade 2, and K.I.S.S. The NHL schedule makers do indeed need to "keep it simple, stupid." Maybe the teams could get their schedules ahead of time and return them with any concerns they may have and those concerns could be addressed until it's something everyone can live with.

I can't imagine Philadelphia was too happy with having two 10 day breaks early in the season, then seeing 13 back to backs upcoming. Much like I'm sure Calgary enjoyed sitting at home for 21 days and playing 5 games before playing 3 games in 4 nights on the road.

I don't ever remember there being a scheduling problem before the last guy retired, so maybe the best solution is to hire someone a little more, what's the word? Competent.

4. Besides the obvious (Phoenix Coyotes), which NHL team do you think will be the next to relocate?

WAYNE SAYS: We all enjoyed the summer long story of the league (and not the fans in Phoenix) battling to keep the team in the desert, and then see the Coyotes hit over 10,000 fans twice all year. It's pretty obvious they're on the move in the near future. But who's going to borrow their truck to move next? With one third of the NHL's teams in the sunny southern United States, it's no shock that at least half of them are in serious trouble. Putting hockey in all those markets is about as smart as baseball teams moving their spring training fields to snowy Canada.

The worst problem festers in the South East division, where four teams of the five teams are in non-traditional markets: Carolina (Raleigh, North Carolina), Atlanta, Florida (Miami) and Tampa Bay. The last three of which have unstable ownership situations, little history of success and they attract sparse crowds. For that reason, I'd pick any of those three to follow the Coyotes to a more natural hockey market…if the New York Islanders or Nashville Predators don't beat them to the punch.

SHAUN SAYS: This is a no-brainer to me. The Atlanta Thrashers are the next team to relocate. They are in a terrible sports market, let alone hockey market which has already failed and they have ownership issues. I randomly selected the attendance figures for 5 Thrashers games this season and got an average attendance of fewer than 11,000. Keep in mind, this is announced attendance, and based on the crowd to see the Oilers on Sunday afternoon (announced as 11,091) this is a relocation franchise straight out of the Jim Balsillie textbook.

Currently there is a court battle over who owns the Thrashers (and the NBA's Hawks) and once it gets settled, I firmly believe the Thrashers will be sold to pay off the legal debts of this legal battle that goes back to 2005.

5. Which team has been the biggest surprise this season, and which team has been the biggest bust?

WAYNE SAYS: Let's get back to hockey…the biggest surprise teams so far this year is the Buffalo Sabres. They don't have the luxury of recent lottery picks in the draft to rebuild with, and their best defenceman is Craig Rivet. But with Ryan Miller playing like the early Vezina winner and the team buying into Lindy Ruff's system, the Sabres are near the top of the Eastern Conference despite playing only 17 games. Honourable mention goes to the Colorado Avalanche, but I'm ready to declare their descend to non-playoff factor officially underway.

Oh, who doesn't love a nice bust? It's not even close. The Carolina Hurricanes went from losing the Eastern Conference Finals to the Pittsburgh Penguins to winners of three of their first 19 games and outscored by 30 goals so far. Now they lost the only guy playing well in goaltender Cam Ward. Anyone know how the Hurricanes can flip flop from contenders to awful from year-to-year-to-year with roughly the same roster? I sure can't figure it out.

SHAUN SAYS: As far as pleasant surprises go, there have been a few. I won't say the Avalanche because everyone knows it's not going to last. They give up 35-40 shots a night and get bailed out by their goaltender. On nights when he's not on his game, they get embarrassed by a low-scoring Canucks team 8-2.

For me, the surprise team of the first quarter of the season is the Los Angeles Kings. We knew they were going to be a team on the rise, but no one expected it this quickly. It's not just their results in terms of wins and losses either. Anze Kopitar leads the NHL in scoring, Ryan Smyth might be comeback player of the year, even though he didn't go anywhere, and not to spoil next week's edition, but Drew Doughty might just be the quarter-pole Norris winner. The Kings might fade a little after a hot start, but they will be a force for years to come.

In terms of the biggest bust in the first quarter, I will go against the grain a little on this one and avoid the Hurricanes. In my opinion it's the St. Louis Blues. The Blues were a playoff team last season and now they find themselves at the bottom of the Western Conference. What's puzzling about this is that they are actually healthy this year, which they certainly weren't last. The Blues have seen the return of Paul Kariya, Eric Brewer and Erik Johnson and they can't find the W column this season. It's a puzzling downturn that I can't quite wrap my head around.

6. Because we still haven't come up with a suitable equivalent, what's bugging you?

WAYNE SAYS: The way the rules are enforced in the NHL. One of the biggest issues in amateur hockey is hitting from behind, with a penalty of two or four minutes combined with a game misconduct. In the NHL however, we see time and again hard hits clearly to the numbers of players facing the boards and maybe half the time there is a penalty – two minutes for boarding. The problem is, boarding is also a penalty in amateur hockey for dangerous hits near the boards but by the NHL standard it seems to only apply to hits from behind.

My issue is that minor hockey players watch NHL games on TV and see the hits they'd be heavily penalized for be called "a good, hard check" by announcers. That sends the wrong message. It doesn't matter what level of hockey it is, hitting someone in the numbers and when they are in the dangerous positions near the boards should be strictly enforced to avoid serious injuries.

SHAUN SAYS: This one has been chewing at me all weekend and I finally get to vent. Every Saturday night, we all sit at home to watch the worst team in Canada (The Leafs) play on Hockey Night in Canada. So imagine my excitement to see the Calgary Flames play in front of a national audience. I'll admit, I was once a Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson fan, but those days are long gone.

The Flames jumped out to a 3-1 lead and all Hughson and Simpson could talk about was how lucky Calgary was to be leading and how unlucky Toronto was to not be leading 10-3. Then came two moments in particular that made my face twitch.

The first was when Hughson criticized Jay Bouwmeester for opting for a slap pass instead of shooting. This is the same Jim Hughson who would borderline soil his pants every time Henrik slap-passed to Daniel and now he takes issue with it?

The second was late in the game, Olli Jokinen stood up for a teammate and fought Francois Beauchemin. They showed Iginla skate by the fight and mused how "Iginla knew better than to fight Beauchemin again." Give me a break. I realize Iginla once got beat in a fight by Beauchemin, but to surmise that Iginla is afraid of Beauchemin is laughable.

I guess through that long-winded rant, what I was really getting at is that Hockey Night in Canada is broadcast on a national television network, so quit treating it like it's LeafsTV. Maybe when another Canadian team comes to town to play in front of a national audience you could give them just the slightest bit of acknowledgement instead of being all Leafs all the time.