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Life without the Big 4

ERIC DUHATSCHEK

Mats Sundin may be getting all the ink, but he is not the only established, prominent NHL player unsure of his plans for the coming season.

Without nearly the same interest or fanfare, three of his contemporaries — Joe Sakic, Teemu Selanne and Brendan Shanahan — are all facing a similar predicament.

Call them the 4-S club, a quartet of future Hall of Famers pondering what a life without hockey might be like and not sure whether the time is right to walk away.

How dramatic would their departures be? Consider that with Jaromir Jagr shuffling off to Russia, that group represents four of the NHL's top six active-points leaders. All, except Sundin, have won the Stanley Cup. All are still capable of making a difference on a team, either tangibly on the ice or through their influence as leaders in the dressing room.

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No Staaling

Playoffs or bust for Staal

Web Posted: 8/14/2008 9:10:43 AM

Eric Staal is not a happy hockey player. His Carolina Hurricanes, just two years removed from a stunning Stanley Cup thriller, faltered miserably down the stretch last season, missing out on the playoffs and sending Staal home much earlier than planned.

Instead he was forced to cheer on younger brothers Marc and Jordan, of the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins, as they battled for postseason glory, and in Jordan’s case, came within two wins of a championship.

It’s not the way he wanted to spend his spring, and has the 23-year-old that much more focused on leading the Hurricanes back to the promised land.

“We haven’t been there in two years and it was a tough pill to swallow at the end of this year,” said Staal, who rebounded on a personal level, posting 38 goals and 82 points in an equal number of outings.

“It was a challenging year at times. We had some injuries, but we still felt we should have been there and to me, that’s all I’m focused on, trying to help my team get to the playoffs.”

Staal readily admits the disappointment of an unsuccessful season isn’t an easy feeling to part with, faced with a summer to stew over what might have been had they managed to win the final game on their regular season slate.

“That’s kind of what everyone’s going to remember coming into camp,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of guys raring to go and erase that as quickly as possible.”

One of the guys no longer in that mix is longtime roommate Erik Cole, dealt to Edmonton in a trade that saw former top-four pick Joni Pitkanen brought in to shore up the Carolina blue-line.

It will mean a period of adjustment for Staal, who will have to get used to a new personality on the road as he enters the final $4.5-million year left on his contract, setting him up for restricted free agency status next summer if a new deal isn’t negotiated.

“It’s definitely tough, but for Erik it’s a new start in a hockey market that will be ready for him. It’s part of the business. We know what we’re getting into when you get into the NHL and professional sports. I wish him the best. He was one of my best friends and a roommate for four years. It’s going to be different without him, but I’m looking forward to new challenges for myself.”

The Hurricanes, other than the Pitkanen deal, have been relatively quiet in the offseason, preferring minor tinkering to major overhauls. Staal said general manager Jim Rutherford’s decision to stay the course isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“Sometimes when teams do too much, or get too many players, you expect to get there (immediately). For us, we’ve got a good group of players, a good core. We added a little more on defence. We have a great goalie. It’s just a matter of playing that consistent hockey night in and night out. And we have to start doing that as soon as we get out of camp.”

In other words, the pieces are in place, it’s just a matter of piecing them together to form the bigger picture.

“I hope it’s less than people think,” he said.

“There are some good teams that miss the playoffs every year when you have only 16 teams making it out of 30. It’s tough, but you need to play good hockey all throughout the season. You can’t have any lulls.”

The Lowdown on Brunnstrom

Les Jackson is all about trust and patience, and that strategy will probably be tested to its utmost by Fabian Brunnstrom.

The 23-year-old free agent from Sweden has a ton of potential, but he is a late bloomer and nobody is sure whether or not he can turn that potential into NHL scoring.

Basically, Brunnstrom's hype has come from a season at the lower level in Sweden where he tallied 73 points (37 goals, 36 assists) in 41 games. That opened the eyes of the elite level teams, and he advanced last season to Farjestads. He had 9 goals and 28 assists for 37 points in 54 games, so it was a pretty good season. Still, he was not considered one of the best players on his team, let alone one of the best players in the league.

So are expectations too high?

Just for comparison's sake, Antti Miettinen was the Finnish Elite League Player of the Year in 2002-03 with 25 goals and 25 assists for 50 points in 53 games. He was 22 at the time. Jussi Jokinen had 47 points (23 goals, 24 assists in 56 games) in Finland when he was 21. Both are good players, neither has proven to be a high-level scorer in the NHL.

Now, Brunnstrom is bigger (6-1) and faster, so he has great natural talent, and Jackson and the Stars scouts believe they can develop that talent the way they have with Loui Eriksson.

The key is patience.

Barring a disaster, Brunnstrom will make the Stars out of camp and will take a regular shift with Mike Ribeiro, Brad Richards or Mike Modano. He's a natural left wing, but he can play right wing, and that should help Dave Tippett find the right place for him. But the bottom line is Jackson will push to keep Brunnstrom in the lineup and also push for him to get important minutes. He believes that NHL teams too often get frustrated with young talent, and he believes that can kill a kid's confidence. Jackson is all about pushing confidence, and he'll do that with Brunnstrom.

In a lot of ways, Brunnstrom and agent J.P. Barry may have picked the perfect team. The Stars have three talented centers who can help Brunnstrom find his scoring touch. They also have a philosophy of balanced scoring, so Brunnstrom can have a good season with 15-20 goals. And the media and fans are pretty patient here, so he won't feel the pressure that he might have felt in Montreal or Detroit.

Is Brunnstrom overhyped? Yeah, I think so. But, the base cost is about $1 million and the top end is $2.2 million if he hits his incentives. That's worth the risk right now for a team that needs more skill.

The hype will give Brunnstrom more opportunity than Junior Lessard ever got, so do you think it will pay off or will the Stars be left with another project that didn't pan out?

A preview of NHL '09

...and I quote

“We’re not only going to match any offer sheet, we’ll have enough space to go after your guys. Go ahead and make our day. If you sign our guy, we’re coming back with both barrels firing. You’d better be damn straight that you have the cap space and all your guys are signed.”

-- Dean Lombardi, LA Kings GM

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