CCHL Sunday hockey notes by Dick “Dirty Mitts” Puxindeep

A little topic of the day followed by an update on 5 players around the league.


CCHL Sunday hockey notes by Dick “Dirty Mitts” Puxindeep
December 27, 2015

Inter-conference play is coming to a close and much to the surprise of many, the records between the two conferences have been fairly close with just two days remaining.

Many pundits thought that the power house teams in the Canosa Conference would walk over some of the Corfield Conference teams, but that has not happened as planned.

Minnesota and Copenhagen continue to battle for the top spot in the Canosa Conference, with Victoria, Reykjavik and Georgetown rounding out the third, fourth and fifth spots but trail by eight and nine points respectively for the conference lead.
The Long Island Express have seemingly locked up the last playoff spot, extending their lead to 12 points over the seventh place Sanibel Islanders during the inter-conference play.

Over in the Corfield Conference, the Dayton Musicmen continue to parlay stingy defence into the league’s best record and are on pace to tie a league record for fewest goals given up in a season; a record also held by Dayton from many years ago.
While Dayton leads the conference by a whopping 18 points, Calgary and Niagara Falls are separated by three points for second place.  Calgary are riding goaltender Carey Price to the solid record, while Niagara Falls is quite happy to run and gun with the best of them with the defense focussing on offense.

Winnipeg and Seattle with fourth and fifth respectively in the Corfield, and look to be settling in as a playoff team, with three time finalist Fort Erie leading the race for the last playoff spot by ten points.

While we don’t know how things will play out the rest of the way in the season, what we have learned is that the Corfield Conference is quite capable of playing with the Canosa Conference despite the bigger named talent lurking in the Canosa Conference.

This should make for an exciting playoff season as everyone has a shot given the competitive play we’ve seen in the inter-conference play.

UPDATES ON FIVE: 

Pavel Datsyuk, SAN:  With Sanibel falling back of a playoff spot further, it only makes sense for the team to look at options to trade their elder statesman.  This is a team that came into the season having lost a lot of talent from the past two seasons, and could really use the boost in their prospect pool that would come from dealing a talent like Datsyuk.  The team wants to hang onto him, but does it make sense?  Time will tell.

Jaromir Jagr, FOR:  Yes Jagr has a year left on his deal but at $4,000,000 per season, he’s a relative bargain given he’s posted 53 points in 50 games this season.  While the Falcons are in a playoff spot right now, given the youthful direction they’ve undertaken, does it make sense for them to keep a 43 year old despite his production?  While GM Young isn’t actively shopping the dynamic forward, one has to wonder if he’d move him given an offer of a talented young player.

Dion Phaneuf, SAN:  Dion is in the last year of his contract and is a UFA after the season is complete.  Will Sanibel want to re-sign Phaneuf for over $6,000,000 a season given the modest offensive production he produces these days?  Adding fuel to the fire here is the fact that Phaneuf has been a scratch lately.  Again, like Datsyuk, Phaneuf could bring in some prospects or picks for a team that sees him as a valuable addition as a rental.

Ryan McDonagh, WIS:  McDonagh isn’t a guy that Wisborg is likely looking to move, but you have to think they may consider listening to offers.  Listen, Wisborg is a very young team and McDonagh’s best years will be behind him by the time this team is back in contention.  Does it make sense for them to pay him big money in the interim when teams like Victoria, Copenhagen and Minnesota would all use upgrades on the left side?  I still think McDonagh stays, but you can’t help but wonder if there is something out there that makes sense given where he is at in his career and where Wisborg is at in their cycle.

Willie Mitchell, LNZ:  The wily veteran Mitchell is a five rated defenseman and is getting up there in age.  Does it make sense for a guy like Mitchell to stay in Linz for a lost season when he could be a useful pickup for a team bound for a deep playoff run?  In addition to his five defensive rating, Mitchell is also valuable on the PK given his shot blocking ability rated at the highest rating he can get.  Dealing Mitchell, if he wants to go, is probably the smart thing for Linz to do and there likely wouldn’t be a shortage of buyers for his services at the deadline.

About the author:
Dick “Dirty Mitts” Puxindeep has been a CCHL columnist since December of 2015.  When he’s not watching hockey or eating chicken wings, he can be found at local karaoke competitions performing his world famous rendition of ‘Baby Got Back’.  Dick knows what he knows and won’t stray from that.  Enjoy reading Dick’s semi-regular column here when he posts it.