2023-05-10 14:36:24
Many still have not digested the result of the repechage lottery. For them, the Chicago Blackhawks cheated by deliberately weakening their club in order to sink in the standings in order to increase their chances of obtaining the first choice.
* Cheating (popular Latin *triccare, from the classic Latin tricari, to quibble): breaking the rules to win.
The Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning have been among the National Hockey League’s flagship clubs for the past decade. Their model of excellence has been touted for years.
They have won five of the last seven Stanley Cups: two for Pittsburgh, two for Tampa Bay and one for Washington. The Lightning have also reached the Finals two other times in the past decade and the Capitals have finished first overall twice.
After reaching the four aces in 2001, the Pittsburgh Penguins, seeing their core aging, proceeded to an important phase of rejuvenation. Jaromir Jagr was the first to leave, traded for three young players.
The following years were followed by the departures of Alex Kovalev, Robert Lang, Martin Straka, Darius Kasparaitis and Jan Hrdina.
When the Penguins finished last overall in 2003-04, the season before the lockout, a year before they won the Crosby lottery in 2005, the team’s top scorer was defenseman Dick Tarnstrom. Alexei Morozov, Ryan Malone, Milan Kraft and Rico Fata completed the top five.
Sébastien Caron defended the Pittsburgh net with Jean-Sébastien Aubin and an 18-year-old Marc-André Fleury. Ric Jackman, Drake Berehowsky, Martin Strbak, Josef Melichar, Brooks Orpik and Marc Bergevin, at the end of the trail at 38, completed the defense.
If the general manager of the Penguins at the time, Craig Patrick, did not want to voluntarily sink in the standings, one wonders what his objectives were.
The purge in Tampa
The core was slowly starting to age in Tampa, during the same period, returning from the lockout after their 2004 Stanley Cup.
By the time the Lightning drafted Steven Stamkos first overall in 2008, three of the team’s stars, Brad Richards, Dan Boyle and Vaclav Prospal had just been traded for youth and draft picks. Victor Hedman would go on to be chosen second overall the following year.
The Lightning had continued to weaken since the departures of Boyle and Richards. GM Brian Lawton’s successor, Steve Yzerman, traded from 2010 Andrej Meszaros, Pavel Kubina and Steve Downie for youngsters and picks.
Coach Guy Boucher unwittingly delayed plans in 2010-11 by leading this club to four with a lousy defense, led by Brett Clark and Pavel Kubina, and complemented by a 20-year-old Victor Hedman, Randy Jones , Mike Lundin and Mattias Ohlund and 41-year-old goaltender Dwayne Roloson…
Three days before drafting Jonathan Drouin third overall in 2013, after a 28e place in the general classification, the Lightning bought out the contract of Vincent Lecavalier. It was the year of Nathan MacKinnon, Aleksander Barkov and Seth Jones.
Drouin brought in Mikhail Sergachev, and Stamkos, like Hedman, with Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point, took over for St. Louis, Lecavalier, Boyle and company.
Youth phase in Washington
The Washington Capitals dipped in the standings in 2003-04. It was a good thing, the 2004 vintage included Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin…
Beginning in January, the team’s leading scorer the previous season, 31-year-old Jaromir Jagr, was traded. Three weeks later, Petr Bondra, a legend in Washington, moved to the Ottawa Senators.
Robert Lang led the NHL scoring charts with 74 points in 63 games when the then GM traded him to the Detroit Red Wings for 20-year-old Tomas Fleischmann and a 2004 first-round pick .
The team’s top defenseman Sergei Gonchar, 49 points in 56 games, and Michael Nylander, William’s father, 56 points in 71 games the previous season, were to be traded in turn at the trade deadline for prospects and top draft picks.
Hard to find more aggressive fire selling. Trading five players with more than 600 career points in six weeks, including three with 800 points or more, was still quite a feat.
Like the Chicago Blackhawks this year, the Capitals were nevertheless beaten by two clubs, Pittsburgh and Chicago, precisely, but they won the lottery with a 14.2% chance of succeeding and drafted Ovechkin in first place.
“I feel like we’ve been rewarded for the hard work over the past few months,” George McPhee said after the lottery. We hope today marks the start of a new era for the Capitals. »
In 2006, ranked fourth overall, Washington drafted Ovechkin’s eventual center, Nicklas Backstrom. A little less than twenty years later, after 1032 points from Backstrom, and 1485 points and 822 goals from Ovechkin, eight Maurice-Richard trophies, three Hart trophies, a Stanley Cup, he never was no longer there to celebrate, 13 appearances in the playoffs in 14 years and eight seasons of 100 points or more (two pro rata of a full season), George McPhee had been right.
The end for the Leafs?
PHOTO FRANK GUNN, THE CANADIAN PRESS
The Maple Leafs season could end tonight at Sunrise.
For some observers, the Maple Leafs’ season could end Wednesday night in Sunrise, Fla., where Toronto trails 0-3 in its second-round series against the Panthers.
For some observers, it may even be the last game for this core in its current composition. Really ? After a season of 111 points, fourth overall and a win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round?
“I think I heard Auston (Matthews) say it and I’ll say it myself, we don’t care what you say,” Mitch Marner told reporters on Tuesday. We’re not listening to what you say outside of this locker room. We focus on our group and the work to be done. »
Not an easy market, especially after such a long desert crossing…
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