Fired?

Unlike last season in the NHL, this season has seen far less firings and hirings in its first half. The only coach fired thus far this season has been John Stevens in Philadelphia and he was replaced with Peter Laviolette, Stanley Cup winner with the Carolina Hurricanes just a few short years ago. Of recent firing rumours have gone rather soft, however, I think as performances through half of this NHL season have not met owner's expectations and as a result I'm sure there are some heads soon to be on the chopping block. So without further ado, allow me to share with you the coaches that I believe are on the chopping block. Keep in mind, this does not mean I think they will be fired immediately, however, I do believe it to be imminent if something does not change in the on-ice performance of their team.

Randy Carlyle, Anaheim Mighty Ducks
Carlyle began his tenure with the Mighty Ducks in the 05-06 NHL season, in which he won 43 games, going 43-27-12. The following year he led the club to their first Stanley Cup Championship. He has a record of 196-125-48 through four and a half seasons with the club. His Ducks have seen a dismal start to their NHL season, going 16-18-7 in their first 41 games. Their major signings in the off-season included Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu. Though injuries have plagued their team's superstars, currently Selanne, Koivu, and Getzlaf are all out of the lineup, their play when they have been healthy has been less than astounding. With many problems on the ice, the Ducks have been the most disappointing team so far this NHL season.

Never winning less than 42 games in an NHL season (he won 42 last year, which is his lowest amount since taking the job in 2005), he is on pace to win 32 games this year. A full 10 games less than what the Ducks franchise are used to, while adding a superstar by the name of Saku Koivu. Most would say, Carlyle is skating on thin ice.

Pat Quinn, Edmonton Oilers
Newly hired by the Oilers brass this off-season, Quinn's team started the season over-achieving on the strength of play in goal by Nikolai Khabibulin. Since, Khabibulin has gone down with a back injury and is likely going to go under-the-knife ending his NHL season early. Leaving the floundering Oilers in 10th place in the Western conference, looking to move up. No, the play of Deslauriers has not been bad, in fact he has kept them in many games, and therefore, Quinn's job is on the line early as his team has not been working nearly hard enough. With one win in their last 10 games, and that win coming against the struggling Toronto Maple Leafs, means that Quinn's job is jeopardy.

Do I think Quinn will be fired? Probably not, but on reputation alone will he keep his job. His reputation of his careers with the Canucks, Maple Leafs, and his international resume. If it were anyone else, they'd be lucky to have lasted this long.

Honourable mentions certainly include Ron Wilson in Toronto, Ken Hitchcock in Columbus, and John Tortorella in Manhattan. Wilson will not see a move because of his friendship with Leaf's GM Brian Burke, and the stage that the team is in. Hitchcock and Tortorella may not be as lucky, with Tortorella's seat getting the hottest of them all of late.

My Team Canada 2010

The official announcement of Team Canada's Olympic squad is just around the corner on December 30, 2010. Just over two weeks remain, so this is my almost final list of predictions of who will make the 2010 Canadian Olympic squad. I took into account player's performances thus far this year, but also experience at the international level and familiarity amongst players and the lines they'll play with. Without further ado, my lineup.

Rick Nash - Sidney Crosby - Jarome Iginla
Corey Perry - Ryan Getzlaf - Eric Staal
Dany Heatley - Joe Thornton - Jeff Carter
Brendan Morrow - Mike Richards - Shane Doan
Jonathan Toews

Scott Neidermayer (Captain) - Chris Pronger
Dion Phaneuf - Jay Bouwmeester
Dan Boyle - Shea Weber
Drew Doughty

Martin Brodeur
Roberto Luongo
Marc-Andre Fleury

For scoring, you have phenomenal first two lines, with Crosby, Nash, Iginla, Getzlaf, Perry, and Staal all making up the top six. For checking, you have Morrow, Richards, and Doan which hit hard and play hard every game. For more secondary scoring you have Heatley, Thornton, and Carter, which could interchange with the second line, depending on who is hot. My odd forward to fit in anywhere is Toews, as he plays as hard as anyone every night of the week. The hardest cut to make with regards to forwards was easily Steven Stamkos. He's been as hot as anyone thus far this year, and should definitely be on the taxi squad in case one of the forwards goes down.

For defense, the familiar pair of Neidermeyer and Pronger, winning the cup a few years back. Phaneuf and Bouwmeester play as hard as anyone and have international experience through World Juniors and familiar experience from playing on the Calgary Flames together. Boyle and Weber provide a team of superb puck moving combined with Weber's hard hitting and scoring touch. Doughty can fit in anywhere, is well disciplined and works the power-play amazingly. Doughty is a great fit for Team Canada. Hard cuts to make included Mike Green, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Robyn Regehr, among others.

Goaltending is pretty easy to guess now that Cam Ward has been injured for a good portion of the season and Fleury has been playing beautifully for the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins. The great trio of Brodeur, Luongo and Fleury is sure to be on everyone's lists.

Halak on the Block

Montreal Canadiens goaltender, Jaroslav Halak is being actively shopped around by the club. The Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues are supposedly among teams interested in the goalie's services. Gainey's price on Halak? A top six forward.

I believe that Halak is a definite bargaining chip, he has a budget salary, decent record and good save percentage, but is not worth anything near a T6 forward. It cannot be a bad contract due to the cap room they have left, thus a T6 forward is nearly out the question. Personally I'm quite surprised that Gainey did not move Halak last year, even with Price in the funk he was in. Price has played decent this season, he is 9-10-2 over 21 games this season with a 2.69 GAA and a .913 save percentage. He's still got a ways to go before he gets to that .920 save percentage he maintained in his rookie year, but it is also a far cry from the .905 he averaged last season.

Halak is 6-4-0 in 10 games this year with a .907 save percentage and 2.80 GAA. At 24 years of age, he is no doubt in search of starting role, having backed up Montreal starter Carey Price for the last two seasons and then again this year. I believe that you may see a team like Edmonton show interest, with Khabibulin out and maybe even the Philadelphia Flyers with Emery hitting the bench for the next month and a half. Keep in mind a trade will only get done if Gainey drops his price, because a T6 forward for a backup goalie that hasn't played more than 10 games this season with mediocre numbers is not going to cut it. I like Halak as a goalie, but I do not see him getting anywhere in Montreal, which is why he would be better off to head to somewhere with a goaltending issue where he would get time to play. This way he could showcase his stuff and sign a contract with someone in the off-season as he is due to be an RFA at the end of the season.

It is all up to Gainey to get the ball rolling though, because as of right now, he is going to be hard pressed to get his asking price for Halak.