Stan Fischler - The Fischler Report Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MTk1MzcyNzg3ODA2Nzc0NTg2/usatsi_19828590.jpg] THOUGHTS ON VANCOUVER'S QUESTIONABLE SWAP Rick Tocchet is the new coach of the Canucks, but Bruce Boudreau exits as the real hero in Vancouver. Boudreau's executioner, formerly 'Gentleman' Jim Rutherford, continues because sometimes guys get rewarded for blundering. Rutherford is Exhibit A. Once upon a time, Rutherford was everybody's friend. But the appointment of Tocchet – a somewhat questionable choice – does nothing to erase the stain on the Canucks' management right now. Journalists who I read and have known and admired Rutherford in the past – me included – are wondering what's come over the man who was supposed to put the Humpty-Dumpty Canucks back together again. "I didn't like what Rutherford has been doing to Boudreau all season long," said Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun. The New York Post's Larry Brooks called Rutherford's treatment of his former coach as "cruel and unusual punishment." And, from The Athletic, Sean McIndoe writes: "The Canucks treatment of Boudreau over the last few months went from comical to bizarre to outright cruel where it's been for weeks... The Canucks look awful in this." Rutherford's management group arrived in Vancouver as a puzzle-solver and emerges today as a problem-maker. By contrast, Bruce arrived in Vancouver as a puzzle-solver and converted the Canucks into an emphatic winner last season. What Rutherford – significantly hired after Boudreau – should have done was reward the coach with a contract extension. Instead, Bruce was gifted with applesauce. Rutherford effectively told his team it was playing for a lame-duck coach, and the results were there for everyone to see. Rutherford took the blades off Bruce's skates and told him to take 10 laps around the rink. Rick Tocchet is now the head coach, and that gets no cartwheels of joy from me. No matter, Boudreau will return to the junior teams he owns in Hershey and Minnesota secure in the knowledge that he gave Vancouver his best shot. Rutherford returns to his desk with his personal choice behind the bench. I liked Rick Tocchet from way back, but that was as a player. Is he a capable NHL coach? We still don't know. All we know is that Rutherford is off the hook – for now – and the Canucks will get on with their business. That's hockey! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'M JUST SAYIN: * The scratching of Matt Dumba last Wednesday against Carolina leaves me wondering if this is the end of his time in Minny. * Matt Boldy's new big, fat deal is good news for Cole Caufield's agent. Even though he's out for the season, there's no doubt the crafty Hab will be the next young skating bank. * Sorry about our old pal Max Pacioretty who tore his Achilles for the second time in five months. Does that mean that Don Waddell will make a big splash at the trade deadline? * It figures that Don Waddell will try for a big pre-deadline deal. * While nobody's been paying close attention, Luke Richardson and his sidekick, Derek King, have won five of seven for Chicago. Ask the Blues, 5-3 losers on Saturday. * If any NHL coach is a book to be written, then it has to be Boston's Recovery Boy, Jim Montgomery. He's redefined "comeback" into "comeback." * Frans Nielsen was once the best Dane in the NHL. Waiter, a cheese Danish, please, for Winnipeg's Nikolaj Ehlers, who's topping Frans as the king of Copenhagen. * The Jets are just glowing over Nik's 17 points (four goals and 13 assists) in his last 12 games for the no-kidding-around-contending Jets. * The pre-season line had Ottawa finishing fourth in the Atlantic, one notch ahead of Boston. Which prompts the question: is the Sens' defense that bad? * If Ottawa continues to play under .500 hockey, you'd have to figure that D.J. Smith is in trouble – and with a capital T. * Smith's ace-in-the-hole is the same as it was in November, when his lads produced a 12-6-2 mark and Brady Tkachuk looked like the second coming of Tim Stutzle. * Definition of Rush To Judgement: King McDavid is the greatest ever. Ahem! He hasn't even reached the Cup final yet. * I'm happy for Freddie Andersen, who's back and now 4-0-0. And I'd be even happier if he's A-1 healthy at playoff time. So would Rod Brind'Amour. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FRONT-RUNNING DEVILS GM PRAISES THE DEFENSEMEN New Jersey has been at or near the top of the Metropolitan Division all season. Glenn Dreyfuss says some of the reasons are less obvious than others. Everyone knows the Devils possess two of the brightest young center-ice stars in the game in No. 1 overall picks Nico Hischier (2017) and Jack Hughes (2019). In addition, Vitek Vanecek, Mackenzie Blackwood and Akira Schmid have capably handled the goaltending chores – a relief following the seven-goalie circus necessitated by injuries last year. What some may overlook, says Devils' GM Tom Fitzgerald, is the dependable defensive corps he's assembled. "We wanted to get bigger and more mobile on the back end," Fitzgerald said. "We got the commitment from ownership to get Dougie Hamilton (6-foot-6, 230 pounds, 2021 free agent) a couple of years ago. Damon Severson (6-foot-2, 205, drafted by New Jersey in 2012) on the right side is a hell of a defenseman. "We made trades (in 2021) for Ryan Graves (6-foot-5, 220, from Colorado) and Jonas Siegenthaler (6-foot-2, 218, from Washington). And then we went out and got Brendan Smith (6-foot-2, 200, 2022 free agent). We do have a couple of young prospects also coming on the back end." Even with Jersey's surprising first half, the team can't afford to relax. "We're in the toughest division. It's a dogfight every night. You can't let your guard down or somebody's going to pass you." To keep ahead of their Metro rivals down the stretch, Fitzgerald is willing to buy, but not to rent. "You're always on the lookout for a hockey trade, for somebody you can control. Not just give up really good future assets for a rental, and then they walk on. I believe in building a team in the summer, and then if you can add to it with some length on contracts that you can control, I'm all in. Maybe there will be opportunities to do that." (Fitzgerald's comments came in a video with Rob Simpson at seattlehockeyinsider.com [http://seattlehockeyinsider.com/].) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHO'S BETTER? BRIAN LEETCH VERSUS ADAM FOX, VIA NEIL SMITH Neil Smith still follows the NHL from his new perch, working for UBS. Here he tackles a fascinating question: "Two different eras. I think they both have a little bit of ice in their veins. And by that, I mean, you see the way Fox scored that goal last night (last Thursday against Dallas). He took the time to go to his backhand and lift it up and in, and Brian would have also taken the time to do that. Somebody else would have just shot the puck as quickly as they could, and it would have gone wide. "Fox always knows where everybody is and knows time and space the same as Leetch did. The only thing different about them was that Leetch could do those end-to-end rushes. It was at a time when you could do that. I don't know if you can do that anymore because of the way the defense plays. It's hard to take the puck end-to-end. They both have those instincts that they see the game so much better than everyone else. "Leetch did it for a really long time, and so for Adam, he'll have to keep doing it year after year to be able to be in that category. But right now, I love the way he plays – he's such a smart player. Brian might have been a little bit more physical too. Leetch could hit. And I haven't seen Adam really hit." By the way: Speaking of the Rangers/Stars game, back in the pre-digital days, Miller's last-second equalizer probably would have come after the buzzer. Back then – 00:00 meant game over – with no tenth of seconds to be had. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THAT WAS THE WEEKEND THAT WAS: FRIDAY: The Penguins righted themselves, 4-1, while the Senators wronged themselves. SATURDAY: 2018's Cup rematch had the Golden Knights finishing on top over the Capitals, thanks to the contribution from their depth players. SUNDAY: Clayton Keller's hat trick and Karel Vejmelka's 35 saves helped the struggling Coyotes beat one of the top teams in the league, the Golden Knights. MONDAY GAME TO WATCH: Kings at Canes. Two solid teams with playoff aspirations. The winner of this one will finish higher than the other. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WE'RE NOT LYIN' ABOUT THIS ROARING CAT Today's cheer goes to AHL chattel and the Panthers' third string goalie, 30-year-old Alex Lyon – who had not played in an NHL game in over a year. First, he was called upon to relieve the injured Sergei Bobrovsky after only 2:01 against Montreal. With Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight injured, Lyon drew a start against Minnesota. The result – he stopped 52 of 57 shots in those two games and helped injury-riddled Florida earn four desperately needed points. Florida coach, Paul Maurice, was not surprised. Lyon was signed for just such emergencies and showed confidence when thrust into service. "His personality's what you see in the net," Maurice said. He's scrambling, he's fighting for pucks. Every time he makes a save, the bench goes crazy, and it seems to be right now, very possibly the energy we need." Lyon enjoyed the moment. "To me, this is fun and this is where you get to test your true mettle." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BIG QUESTION: How should Jim Rutherford have better handled his inevitable firing of Bruce Boudreau? BIG ANSWER: He shouldn't have fired him. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MTkzMTg4NTI3Njk1OTk2NTc1/image-1.jpg] YAYS AND BOOS: YAY TO NCAA HOCKEY PLAYERS for boasting a 98-percent graduation success rate in women's hockey and a 90-percent graduation success rate in men's hockey. BOO TO LADY LUCK for being so unkind to injured-again Max Pacioretty and Josh Norris. YAY TO THE UNITED STATES HOCKEY LEAGUE for developing 49 of this year's Hobey Baker nominees. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHO SAID IT? "I've been fired more times than Custer's pistol." (Answer below.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOCKEY OF TOMORROW MOVES AHEAD TODAY The effervescent and ever-hustling Debbie Elicksen has news from Calgary, where she's touting a new group. "Hockey of Tomorrow (HoT), a vibrant media and community platform where fresh voices cover hockey's positive impact stories and the people changing the game. "Its latest move is a formal partnership with Hockey Europe. The platform will get exclusive access and co-operation to cover all tech, cultural and social impact news that comes out of the Swedish Hockey League, SM-liiga, Czech Extraliga, Deutsche Eishockey Liga, Austrian Hockey League and the National League from Switzerland." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE BEST NHL ANNOUNCERS – LOCAL AND NATIONAL Play by play and color broadcasters are as much a part of the teams for which they work as the players. Our Sean McCaffrey has heard them all, and here are his top five commentary tandems. He follows that with his national ratings: THE LOCALS: 5. Edmonton Oilers (Jack Michaels and Louie DeBrusk): Maybe I'm biased here – because I love the "old school" takes, especially from Gene Principe, who handles all of Edmonton's intermission segments. Another reason for my bias? DeBrusk was once part of a trade that brought Mark Messier to New York. 4. New York Islanders (Brendan Burke and Butch Goring): Burke does a masterful job of handling the play-by-play, while Goring's enthusiasm, including his frequent "toy department" references, really shines through. 3. Vegas Golden Knights (Dave Goucher and Shane Hnidy): Perhaps it's the atmosphere that Sin City provides, but in any event, these two liven up an already colorful environment. It helps that the team has been strong. 2. Tampa Bay Lightning (Dave Randorf and Brian Engblom): the recent two-time Cup champs have a championship broadcasting team. What I really like is that this pairing remains loose and fun. That said – Tampa's radio man, Phil Esposito, is the real MVP. 1. Seattle Kraken (J.T. Brown, John Forslund and Eddie Olczyk): Maybe it's Seattle's winning ways, which helps pump this trio up in my eyes and ears, but team No. 32 has the best home broadcast in the league. THE NATIONALS (INCLUDING ESPN, TSN, SPORTSNET AND TNT – PLAY-BY-PLAY AND COLOR): 5. Kevin Weekes: Known more for his social media postings and for his role as an insider, when the former goaltender calls games, he's always informative. I always pick up something new whenever listening to his sage words of wisdom. His humorous personality is also a bonus. 4. Brendan Burke: The Isles' regular play-by-play man is 16 years younger than Albert, and if Kenny ever becomes the full-time successor to Sam Rosen on Rangers broadcasts (as he should) and decides to spend more time at home – then perhaps Burke will become the lead voice at TNT – a job he would have earned. Of course, it's tough to see Albert walking away from a national gig during his prime years. 3. Keith Jones: Maybe it's due to his longevity, or his role with the much detested around-the-league Flyers, but whatever the event – many fans have soured on 'Jonesy' in recent years. Not me. I still find him entertaining and, more important than that – knowledgeable. 2. Eddie Olczyk: My Ranger fandom and love of the ponies may be a reason for this high-ranking, but there's also a reason why 'Edzo' has been a successful color analyst ever since his retirement as a player in 2000. 1. Kenny Albert: No one does it better. Perhaps his most impressive feat from his future Hall of Fame career? Calling three games in one day, and all by his lonesome, as he did during the pandemic 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs for NBC. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ANSWER TO WHO SAID IT? Former NHL coach Tom McVie.
