Tidd Talk

Welcome to Tiddy’s Toe Drags, where I give my opinions on some of the top stories in the game and some topics I want to discuss. The Penguins make a coaching change, some young Jackets players look to make an impact for Canada at the IIHF World Championships, the Oilers’ lack of depth seems to be catching up to them, playoff Hellebuyck has arrived, and Tom Wilson and Josh Anderson spark the latest chapter in their saga. Should be a nice change of pace from the lengthy features I have been doing and hopefully the beginning of a solidified schedule.

Mike Sullivan

            The Pittsburgh Penguins part ways with long-time coach Mike Sullivan after 10 seasons and 2 Stanley Cups. General Manager made it clear in a press conference on Monday that he was the one who initiated the change, as he felt it was “just time” to move on. Dubas was also quoted as saying “two things can be true… That someone can be a great head coach, and they’ll move on to become a great head coach on their next stop, and it can also be time for change here. That was the conclusion that I had come to. It was something on my mind during the season.” Dubas and the Penguins will begin a thorough search for their next head coach, which could last until early June.

            The coaching market right now is hot. There is no shortage of former Cup winners such as Joel Quenneville, Peter Laviolette, and John Tortorella. Rick Tocchet is also an option, who did a solid job in his early time in Vancouver, turning the team around. Denver University coach David Carle could also be an option. I believe it is only a matter of time before he is an NHL head coach, and Pittsburgh could be the team to take a flyer on him.

I like the move here, as to me it is Dubas’s first move in a different direction than the reload method they have been trying to do around Crosby, Malkin, and Letang. It feels like Dubas is beginning to make moves for the future as opposed to bringing in guys to satisfy his captain. I have always thought Dubas was one of the better General Managers in the NHL, and I always thought he got what his teams needed in Toronto. The team just could not perform on the ice. I never thought there was a GM issue in Toronto, and was quite surprised when Dubas got canned before Keefe at the time.

I believe the biggest question for the Penguins here is what direction they are looking to take. They could continue their forced cup windows for as long as Crosby is around, or they could get a coach for the future and begin to look toward the days past Sid and Geno. While it is sad to think of a Penguins team without these guys, it is starting to become that time in Pittsburgh. I know Crosby is one of the most loyal guys in the league, but he also loves to win. I would love to see him be a little selfish and get himself to a place where he can play playoff hockey again and get the Penguins some future assets to begin a new era. The odds of this are slim however.

Blue Jackets  on Team Canada at the IIHF WC

            While the full roster for Team Canada has not been released, it was reported that Adam Fantilli and Kent Johnson will be part of the roster in Sweden in Denmark in the coming weeks, joining Blue Jackets head coach Dean Evason and Assistant Coach Steve McCarthy. Funny enough, Kyle Dubas is also the GM of this team.

            I am very excited for these guys to play in the WC because I believe a big part of growing as a hockey player is playing meaningful hockey and while this tournament will not have guys like McDavid or Matthews, it will still be good competition and will allow for these guys to build confidence in their game and play for something. It is similar to sending your younger guys down to the AHL to play in the Calder Cup Playoffs or playing meaningful games late in a season, even if you still miss the playoffs. These things can do wonders for a young player’s game. I believe we will see the rest of the roster come out with a decent amount of younger players from across the league, with a few vets scattered here and there. For comparison, the average age of the current Team USA roster for the WC is 25, with the oldest guy being 31. I expect that to be the same with Canada.

The Oilers

            The Oilers look to be back in the series against the Kings, but I see this as a mirage. They still look to be riding the coattails of their top 3 guys in McDavid, Draisaitl, and Bouchard. I know this team has won the last two, but their play does not seem sustainable at all. Calvin Pickard cannot get this team to the promise land. He is playing well enough now, but I do not see this Oilers team getting two more wins on this Kings squad. Kuemper is playing much better, and if it weren’t for a missed high stick and a last-second goal from the Oilers, they would be down 3-1. When one of your better players is Corey Perry at this point in his career, there is just no way to sustain your play. I don’t care who your top 2 guys are.

            With this being said, the Oilers still have McDavid and Draisaitl, so I am not completely saying they will not win this series. I just do not believe in the squad going all the way to the cup final again like they did last year. I am afraid last year was their chance unless they manage to get deeper and better goaltending moving forward. It could very well be possible that McDavid and Draisaitl decide to go elsewhere once their deals expire if nothing is done to get these guys consistently making deep runs in the playoffs or winning a cup. I do believe the Kings will win this series, and from what I have seen, the Oilers are barely hanging in there. Game 5 is tonight and should be an interesting one. We will see, though.

Playoff Hellebuyck

            As stated in my playoff prediction, Hellebuyck is key to this Jets team making a run. He has not been Vezina Hellebuyck as of recently being pulled in two consecutive games against the St. Louis Blues. The Blues are hot. They may not lose another game this series, having scored 12 goals in the last two games. Unless Hellebuyck figures something out, it looks like it could quickly be the end of the road for the Jets. Maybe it has something to do with the Blues’ use of Jobu from Major League. The first two games of the series looked to play exactly into the Jets’ favor. The biggest thing for the Jets moving forward will be to get Hellebuyck back to playing Hellebuyck hockey. We knew this was a possibility, as it happens every year with the Jets. He just has not performed in the playoffs. Game 5 is Wednesday at 8:30, and I believe the winner of Game 5 will ultimately win the series, unless it is a race to the finish to see who can score more goals.

Josh Anderson vs. Tom Wilson

            Josh Anderson and Tom Wilson found themselves in the middle of a big scrap once again in Game 3 after a scrum broke out at the end of the second intermission. These two are no strangers to each other and have always had run-ins with one another, dating back to Anderson’s days in Columbus. Early on in Anderson’s career, he was compared to Wilson as he is a skilled tough guy, much like Anderson, and Anderson did not like that comparison at all. These guys have never liked each other, and it will be interesting to see how Anderson responds after Wilson decided to focus more on himself and the team in Game 4 and stay out of the scraps.

            These two guys can make any series fun to watch. I think, even though the series is 3-1, there is a chance we see 7, at least 6. I do not think Montreal is done, and I think it is going to be scrappy the rest of the way out. I also do not think we have seen the last of Anderson and Wilson, and think we could see some fireworks tomorrow in Game 5. As I have previously stated, Josh Anderson is one of my favorite players of all time, and Tom Wilson, one of my least. While I have always liked tough, skilled guys, Wilson has an arrogance to him where he runs around on the ice and does whatever, but then kind of steps back when it comes to answering the bell for what he did. Anyways, I digress.

Final Thoughts

             A lot of fun things to cover once again. I have been quite busy recently, so the meat in most of this post is kind of small. With summer starting, I look to get a consistent schedule of posts every Tuesday and Friday, along with a feature post every now and then. The playoffs are in full swing right now, and other than the Toronto series, my predictions have been pretty solid. I have enjoyed writing these posts and hope you have enjoyed reading them. I will see you on Friday.