Posts Tagged ‘Craig Anderson’

Between the Pipes – NHL Recap Week 17

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 Written by: Alex Mueller

Extinguished Flames? – The Flames were my pick for Northwest division champion. While they were the leader at one point this season, they have since fallen dramatically. They have 7 of their last 8 games including an ugly 9-1 loss to San Jose. Most of their other losses were by 1 or 2 goals, including one in overtime. Captain Jerome Iginla has not played well in their most recent stretch including having a 6 game pointless streak. Dion Phaneuf has struggled offensively and defensively including a minus 4 in that game against the Sharks. Olli Jokinen has been pretty much a bust this season certainly not what the Flames had hoped when they acquired him last season near the end. While he did play well after being acquired, this season he has only 10 goals and is on pace to have his lowest goal total since the 2001-02 season. It’s not like he hasn’t been shooting, his shooting percentage is currently .068 which would also be his lowest since the 01-02 season. Speaking of busts Jay Bouwmeester was added in hopes of giving the Flames that final needed piece after Jokinen. In the whole month of January he has only one assist. He also hasn’t scored a goal since Nov. 14th. Putrid is the only word I can think of to sum that all up. On paper the Flames have a decent team of course what matters is how you actually play. But they were playing well in November going 10-2-2 at that time and not much has changed. Sometimes it’s just chemistry issues. The Flames biggest problems is lack of goal scoring, I think it’s time for the Flames to start juggling the lines. Iginla is having one of his worst stretches of the year, so take him off the first line so he won’t match up against other team’s top lines. Also how about a line of Iginla, Jokinen and maybe Rene Bourque? It can’t hurt and it’s a lot better then what they have going now. The Ducks started to get hot after they tinkered with their lines. It’s not time to panic yet but the Flames need to get creative to douse their current woes.

Goalie Spotlight

Johan Hedberg – Atlanta Thrashers

After watching him make some awesome saves against the Ducks I figured I would spotlight Hedberg, also know as the “Moose.” The nicknamed was coined when he was quickly called up to play in a game for the Pittsburgh Penguins and he was still wearing his Manitoba Moose (AHL) helmet which also sported a huge moose on the mask.

Hedberg was drafted in the 9th round by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1994 draft, he never played for them and was traded in 1999 to the San Jose Sharks. He never played for the Sharks either; however he did play for their affiliate the Kentucky Thoroughblades. It wasn’t until he was then traded to the Penguins that he actually played in the NHL. Before his NHL debate Hedberg mainly played in Sweden for Leksands IF. He didn’t make his way back to North America until the 1997-98 season when he played for the Detroit Vipers (IHL). After bouncing around the IHL, AHL, ECHL and Sweden for awhile Hedberg debuted for the Penguins in the 2000-01 season. He only played in 6 games, most of the year he played for the Moose, but the following year he was a regular starter. He ended up leading the league in losses, a record I’m sure he didn’t want. He was then traded to Vancouver and then Dallas before finding a home in Atlanta in 2006. The 2008-09 season was one of Hedberg’s worst. He set career lows in GAA and SV%. He has rebounded nicely this season and so far has career bests in GAA and SV% and has a chance to surpass his previous season high in wins. One highlight of his career was recording two assists in a game while playing for Dallas in 2005. This hadn’t been done since Patrick Roy had two assists in a game in 2000.

Hedberg signed a multi-year extension with the Thrashers in 2008. Currently he is hoping to backstop the Thrashers into the playoffs for the first time since 2007.

Fights of the Week

Special thanks to hockeyfights.com for making this section a little easier to do.

Jay Rosehill vs. Matt Walker

Decent fight and then at the end, Walker decks Rosehill.

Nick Boynton vs. Brad Staubitz

Short and sweet fight.

Cam Janssen vs. Brian McGrattan

McGrattan has about 4 inches over Janssen and he pretty much dominated this fight, Janssen did pop off his helmet though.

Goat of the Week

Ray Emery – Philadelphia Flyers

Hey what do you know another goalie as a goat. This time Ray Emery goes behind the net and passes it to Sergei Samsonov of the Hurricanes, oops, and Samsonov makes a nice pass to Rob Brind’Amour.

Things I like

1. The Burrows with the Sedin twins line is on fire, and is right up their with the Sharks line. Burrows with an 11 game point streak and both Sedins have a 5 game point streak going. All told this line has amassed 60 points in 11 games so far this January. This has propelled the Canucks all the way up into 4th place in the Western Conference.

2. Anze Kopitar has rebounded big with a nice January after having a cold six point December. He has points in 8 of his last 10 games and he was apart of every goal, 1 goal 2 assists, in the Kings huge comeback win against Detroit 3-2. It was huge because it was on the road but also because the Kings and Red Wings are neck in neck in the standings.

3. Eric Staal being named captain of the Carolina Hurricanes. On the one hand it’s a tough role becoming the captain of a team in last past in the conference. On the other hand there isn’t anywhere else to go but up and since this is now a rebuilding year, it’s time for the youth to start leading.

Things I don’t

1. All the Ilya Kovalchuk trade talk rumors. Nothing worse than having to hear a billion scenarios or possible teams a player could be going to. I’m sure it’s even more annoying to him. Most unbelievable scenario was him going to the Blackhawks. Yes I’m sure that will happen.

2. The Oilers now have fewer points than Toronto and Carolina. After how the season started for those two teams you never would have saw this day coming.

3. I wrote about this a month ago but I’m concerned with the success of the Sharks. The more they win and run away with the top seed in the west, the more pressure they will have come playoff time. The Western Conference is especially stacked this year and it’s very possible they will have another 1st round bounce. I can only imagine how another early round exit will go.

Stat Line of the Week

01/23/10  Montreal 6 vs. New York 0

Skater

TOI

G

A

+/-

SOG

PIM

M. Cammalleri

18:15

2

2

+2

4

0

Cammalleri’s name is not one you hear often but he is having himself a nice little season. Coming off a career year last season, in Calgary, that saw him post career highs in goals and points, Cammalleri leads the Canadiens in goals currently. His four point night help key the 6-0 victory over the Rangers.

Did You Know?

Rob Ray led the NHL in PIM with 261 in the 1998-99 season, while playing for the Sabres. He also had the dubious distinction of not scoring a goal that year.

Numbers, Numbers

127 – Goals for Boston the lowest in the NHL currently.

274 – Goals for Boston last year, when they led the Eastern Conference.

26 – Wins this year so far for Craig Anderson in 43 games for a .604 W%

36 – Wins prior to this year for Anderson in 88 games for a .409 W%

This Week in Hockey History

Special thanks to the Hockey Hall of Fame site for making this section a little easier to do.

January 21, 2000 Valeri Bure scored at 3:06 of overtime to give the Flames a 5-4 win against the visiting Nashville Predators. It was the Flames’ 9th OT win of the season, a new NHL record. The Winnipeg Jets held the old mark with 8 OT wins in 1987-88.

January 22, 1987 A snowstorm in New Jersey delayed the game between the Devils and Flames for two hours. When it finally started, only 334 fans were on hand to see the Devils beat the Flames 7-5. The game ended at 11:44 PM.

January 23, 1972 Chicago’s Bobby Hull extended his team-record point scoring streak to 21 games in the Black Hawks’ 4-0 win over the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs. Hull scored 23 goals, 12 assists for a total of 35 points during the 21 game streak.

January 24, 1998 Anaheim’s Teemu Selanne scored his 250th career NHL goal in the Mighty Ducks’ 3-3 tie against the visiting Los Angeles Kings.

January 25, 1996 The Ottawa Senators set an NHL record with their 16th consecutive home game without a win (0-15-1) in a 4-2 loss to Detroit at the Palladium. They broke the old record of 15 shared by the 1928 Black Hawks & 1939 Canadiens.

January 26, 2002 Eric Lindros scored once to give him 20 goals in each of his nine NHL seasons, and Theoren Fleury added his 20th goal of the year for the 12th time in his career as the Rangers won 6-3 against the visiting Washington Capitals.

Rankings

The rankings are based on how the teams are currently playing.

Top 5

1. Washington
2. San Jose
3. Anaheim
4. Vancouver
5. Philadelphia

Bottom 5

30. Edmonton
29. Calgary
28. Toronto
27. Boston
26. NY Rangers

Yikes the last 3 teams are all Canadian, not happy times in Canada for hockey fans these days.

Anaheim Ducks Watch

The Ducks started their long six game road trip in the Shark Tank. Anaheim has lost all four meeting against the Sharks this year coming into the game. You can make it five after the loss on Thursday. Both teams had chances and the Ducks actually out shot the Sharks. Beleskey had the only goal for the Ducks and it was a pretty one at that. In the end the Sharks were the better team, full avenging their playoff exit from last season.

Next up were the Blues an important game standing wise and the Ducks sure made it interesting. Down 3-0 in the 3rd all seemed lost. But then Niedermayer scored to put the Ducks on the board. Then the Bobby Ryan show took over as Ryan scored his 23rd and 24th goal of the year. The 34th came with just 30 seconds left in the game. Ryan did however miss the 3rd shootout shot, the first duck to miss, which would have given them the win. Instead it took 7 rounds for the Ducks to get the win.

Next for the Ducks were the Thrashers in a game they really needed to have because they play back to back games and their next opponent is the Capitals. Unfortunately the Ducks didn’t play all that well and lost 2-1, though at times they did have their chances. A couple of really dumb penalties at the end really sealed Anaheim’s fate. Sexton’s hooking call was a bad call by the refs but Whitney’s boarding call was just a bad move on Whitney’s part. Atlanta also had a questionable non call penalty towards the end, can’t remember who was involved.

Not sure what the future of this section holds, seeing as how I’m leaving Southern California, I won’t be able to watch the local broadcasts anymore and watching online isn’t always reliable. But maybe I’ll still do it. Either way I hope the Ducks make the playoffs this year.

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Between the Pipes – NHL Recap Week 10

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 Written by: Alex Mueller

‘Tis the season to underachieve? – So who are this years biggest underachievers? Some might say Vancouver or Detroit. Detroit is due for a bad year after all their years of success and Vancouver, while a decent team, is a team I think is overrated. Some “experts” picked them to go to the finals this year. Really? At any rate both teams are only a few points out of playoff spots. The biggest disappointments would be, by far, Carolina, Philadelphia and Anaheim. All of them made the playoffs last year and they were all pretty much expected to build upon their success last year. Philadelphia has really tumbled lately, all they down to 13th place, and just recently fired their head coach. Carolina and Anaheim are bottom feeders. So what has happened?

Well I generally document Anaheim’s problems on a weekly basis. I will sum it up with injuries, not being able to win key face-offs, dumb penalties, inconsistent goalie play, poor penalty killing and not clearing the zone when they have the opportunity. Selanne, Giguere, Koivu, Wisniewski, and Lupul have all been injured. Various other minor players have also been bitten by the injury bug. Lately they have been blowing 3rd period leads which happened in a stretch of three games in a row. They are 2nd in the league in giving up the most goals in the 3rd period. They need to have that killer instinct and shut teams out in the 3rd period when they have a lead. One bright spot for the Ducks is their power play. After struggling in the beginning of the year, they now have the 3rd best power play in the league. The Ducks need to start doing the little things better and get everyone back healthy and playing consistently.

Philadelphia had high expectations after being bounced in the playoffs two years in a row by the Penguins. Chris Pronger in the eyes of the Flyers was that missing piece to get in the way of Crosby and Malkin and they gave up a lot to get him. Pronger has played well though. His +/- is near the top of the league and his scoring pace is higher than his previous two seasons. So we can’t blame Pronger. Mike Richards and Jeff Carter are on the same pace for points this year as they were last year. They did lose Joffrey Lupul and his 25 goals a year but Danny Briere is healthy this year and picking up that slack. So what’s the problem? Well I haven’t watched all that many Flyers games, so I can’t say with certainty. Having Simon Gagne, and his 30+ goals, injured for much of the year hasn’t helped the Flyers. Ray Emery’s numbers are worse than the man he replaced, Martin Biron. In the most recent game against the Canadiens Brian Boucher, subbing for Emery, gave up 3 goals on 13 shots, yikes. So goaltending which has generally been the Flyers Achilles’ heel is still a problem. The penalty killing could be improved as well.

Carolina has the honor of having the worst record in the league. They also went 14 games without a win in one stretch, ouch. Starting goalie Cam Ward has been out for a month so far. Neither of his backups are performing well. In fact the Hurricanes have the worst SV% and the 2nd worst GAA. Eric Staal has really struggled this year and is just recently starting to play better. Veteran Rob Brind’Amour is also struggling. Carolina’s powerplay is 2nd to last, which is never a good sign. The Hurricanes are also tied for 2nd with the Ducks in giving up the most goals in the 3rd period. Hmm… let’s see, bad powerplay, check, struggling 1st line, check, starting goalie injured, check, giving up tons of 3rd period goals, check. It’s hard to win games when those things are happening. On the bright side the Canes have won 2 in a row, although they have done that two other times this year only to go on losing streaks again. They should be getting back Cam Ward this week, which should help the Hurricanes immensely. Of course Ward will need to work off his rust.

All these teams have the talent to make a run for the playoffs. The season is only a third of the way done, so there is still plenty of time to turn it around. However if things don’t start to improve expect changes to be made. Whether it’s dealing some players, or following the Flyers lead and making a coaching change, shakeups will occur. Expectations for these teams are too high this year to sit around and be content with being in last place.

Goalie Spotlight

Miikka Kiprusoff – Calgary Flames

Kiprusoff is a Finland native and was selected in the 5th round by the San Jose Sharks in the 1995 entry draft. Before joining the Sharks in 2000, Kiprusoff was already an established international star. Kiprusoff led TPS in the Finnish league SM-liiga to gold in 1995 and 1999. He won the Urpo Ylönen trophy, for best goalie, in 1999 a year after fellow NHLer Tim Thomas (Goalie Spotlight Week 7) won it. His numbers in the postseason that year were a 9-1 record, 3 shutouts, and a 1.55 GAA. He also led Finland to silver placing finishes in the 1999 and 2001 World Championships and in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.

Kiprusoff moved to North America in 1999 and played for the Kentucky Thoroughblades in the AHL, and made the All-star team his first year. He played briefly for the Sharks during the 00 to 03 seasons. In the 2001 playoff series against the Blues, Kiprusoff became the 1st Finnish goaltender to win a playoff game. Having lost the starting goalie spot to Evgeni Nabokov, the Sharks traded him to the Flames in 2003 for a 2nd round pick.

Rejuvenated by the trade to the Flames, Kiprusoff was named defensive player of the month for December of 03. Despite battling injuries he led the Flames to the postseason for the first time in eight years. He also led the league in GAA with a 1.69 mark, setting the tone for a stellar career with the Flames. This was the lowest GAA in the modern era and 24th best all time. He went on to lead the Flames to the Stanley Cup Finals, including beating his former team along the way, against the Tampa Bay Lightning where they lost a close series in 7 games. The year after the lockout, Kiprusoff won the Vezina (best goalie) and Jennings (lowest team GAA) trophy. He set the record for most wins for a Flames goalie with 42 and then broke it himself 3 years later with 45 wins. Other Flame franchise records he holds include: Most shutouts in one season (10), most shutouts all time (30) and most games played in a season (76).

Despite losing in the 1st round the past 4 years, the Flames look poised to go deep in the playoffs this year. With Kiprusoff, captain Jarome Iginla, and new additions from last year Olli Jokinen (fellow Finlander) and this year Jay Bouwmeester the Flames have a great core. Off to a great start this year the Flames hope it can land the Stanley Cup in Canada for the first time since the Canadiens brought it home in the 1992-93 season.

Fights of the Week

Special thanks to hockeyfights.com for making this section a little easier to do.

Didn’t like that many fights this week and I’m strapped for time.

Matt Bradley vs. Daniel Carcillo

Technically not a fight as Bradley didn’t get any penalty minutes. Carcillo punches Bradley right as he drops his gloves. Carcillo racked up 29 minutes in penalties with the check and fight.

Brian McGrattan vs Raitis Ivanans

The 5th bout between these two, dating back to their AHL playing days, had some slow moments, but still pretty decent.

Goat of the Week

Brian Elliott – Ottawa Senators

Brian Elliott for giving up this fluke goal off the glass to Ryan Getzlaf, you might want to position yourself better Brian. No harm done as the Senators won in the shootout.

Things I like

1. Happy Birthday to the Montreal Canadiens who had their 100th anniversary on Dec. 4th. I’m sure their fans would like their most recent teams to rival their past success but you can’t have everything.

2. People say that the Sharks have the best line, but they would be wrong. The Devils actually have the best line. Zach Parise, Travis Zajac, and Jamie Langenbrunner (when he’s on the line) have a combined +/- of +43, tops in the league for a forward line.

3. Alex Ovechkin says he won’t change his style of play. Good for him I say, he only knows how to play one way and he isn’t going to change that. He plays with passion and I really don’t find his style that reckless.

4. The Carolina Hurricanes got their first road win of the season against the defending Stanley Cup champs of all teams, extracting some revenge from last years playoff sweep.

Things I don’t

1. Teemu Selanne is injured for about 4-6 weeks in what could very well be his last season. This is a huge blow to an already injured and struggling Ducks team. It will also affect how high Selanne can climb on numerous scoring records. Here’s hoping he doesn’t call it quits after this year.

2. Keith Ballard, a.k.a goalie annihilator, has taken his next victim in Craig Anderson. Ballard knocked Anderson out of the game when he slid towards the net and sent Anderson’s head to the goal post, at least he didn’t send him to the hospital though he is still day to day. Maybe Ballard was tormented by goalies as a kid. If you’re keeping track at home that’s two starting goalies down and 28 to go for Ballard.

3. Hard to imagine but the Pittsburgh Penguins’ power play is 28th overall, yikes. With all the talented scorers on that team you figured they could find the net more.

Stat Line of the Week

12/03/09  Capitals 6 vs. Panthers 2

Skater

TOI

G

A

+/-

SOG

PIM

M. Duco

5:57

0

0

-1

1

27

Mr. Duco racked up 27 minutes of penalty minutes on four penalties on one play against Alexandre Giroux and was ejected from the game. He was getting Giroux back for the elbow he laid on Dmitry Kulikov. Personally I didn’t find Giroux’s hit all that bad. Lesson to be learned don’t mess with the Duco. You can see both hits below.

12/05/09  Capitals 8 vs. Flyers 2

Skater

TOI

G

A

+/-

SOG

PIM

N. Backstrom

19:50

1

4

+1

2

0

The Capitals Swede racked up 5 points, 3 assists on the powerplay, against the Flyers. Ovechkin who?

Box Score of the Week

This won’t be a regular feature, I just thought it was too interesting to pass up. In the Flyers vs. Islanders game, if you look below, 4 players each scored 2 goals back to back without anyone else scoring in between. If they had scored 3 goals each that would have been 4 natural hat tricks in a row. I have no way to look it up but I’m pretty sure the below has never happened before.

1st Period

Philadelphia  9:47, Mike Richards 12 (power play) (Kimmo Timonen, Scott Hartnell)

Philadelphia  15:14, Mike Richards 13 (shorthanded) (unassisted)

2nd Period

Philadelphia  4:21, Jeff Carter 10 (power play) (Danny Briere, Matt Carle)

Philadelphia  7:04, Jeff Carter 11 (Danny Briere, Kimmo Timonen)

NY Islanders 10:52, John Tavares 12 (power play) (Jeff Tambellini, Kyle Okposo)

NY Islanders 14:55, John Tavares 13 (power play) (Matt Moulson, Kyle Okposo)

Philadelphia  17:29, Claude Giroux 4 (power play) (Mike Richards, Chris Pronger)

3rd Period

Philadelphia  2:35, Claude Giroux 5 (Scott Hartnell)

Did You Know?

Speaking of penalty minutes Randy Holt holds the record for most penalty minutes in one game with 67 set in 1979. He also has the record for most penalty minutes in a period since he got all 67 of those in the 1st period in a game against the Flyers. 45 minutes came on a bench clearing brawl at the end of the period instigated by Holt. He doesn’t hold the record for most penalty minutes for a season though. That record goes to Dave Schultz with 472 penalty minutes set in the 1974-75 season.

Numbers, Numbers

0 – Number of overtime losses for Vancouver.

14 – Number of goals scored by the Capitals in the 2 games Ovechkin was suspended.

103 – Career shutouts for Martin Brodeur tying Terry Sawchuck’s NHL record.

15 – Career shutouts by Ryan Miller who was in the other goal when Brodeur tied the record.

13 – Anze Kopitar’s goalless game streak

This Week in Hockey History

Special thanks to the Hockey Hall of Fame site for making this section a little easier to do.

December 03, 1999 Ottawa’s Kevin Dineen picked up a misconduct penalty to become the fifth player in league history to get 300 goals and 2,000 penalty minutes in his NHL career. The milestone came during a 7-4 Senators loss at New Jersey.

December 04, 2001 Peter Bondra scored his 400th and 401st NHL goals to become the 5th active player to score 400 goals with one team in the Capitals 5-2 win against the visiting New York Rangers.

December 05, 1988 Detroit’s Steve Yzerman set a new team record with a goal in his ninth straight game, a 7-2 Red Wings’ loss at Montreal. Yzerman broke the team record of goals in eight straight games set by Gordie Howe in 1952.

December 06, 1995 Colorado Avalanche obtained goaltender Patrick Roy and Mike Keane from the Montreal Canadiens, in exchange for Andrei Kovalenko, Martin Rucinsky and goalie Jocelyn Thibault.

December 07, 1977 New England Whalers’ Gordie Howe scored his 1,000th professional goal (counting the NHL and WHA) in a WHA Whalers’ game against Birmingham.

December 08, 1999 Pavel Bure scored his 12th career hat trick in the third period to lead the Panthers to a 6-1 win at Phoenix. Panthers set a team record with five goals in the final period, as Mikhail Shtalenkov won in his first start with Florida.

December 08, 1967 Two months into their first NHL season, the “California” Seals officially changed their name to the “Oakland” Seals.

Rankings

The rankings are based on how the teams are currently playing.

Top 5

1. Washington
2. Chicago
3. Phoenix
4. Boston
5. Minnesota

Bottom 5

30. Philadelphia
29. Columbus
28. Tampa Bay
27. Florida
26. NY Rangers

Anaheim Ducks Watch

The Ducks suck, there I’m done. Anyway the Ducks were leading 1-0 against the Stars when they let the Stars score 3 unanswered goals in the 3rd including an empty netter. It was a tough loss for the Ducks who played a good game. To make matters worse Selanne broke his hand in a game he almost sat out because of the flu. Corey Perry’s point streak also came to an end; I think I may have jinxed him. Then there next game against Minnesota taking a 2-1 lead into the 3rd the Ducks were able to make it 4-2. Then they gave up two goals in the final 5 minutes to force overtime, which they of course lost in the shootout. Against Ottawa the Ducks decided to lose differently. They never led in the game and every time the Senators would score, they would tie it within a minute. They then lost in the shootout again.

Next up was the Dallas Stars, again, and the Ducks started off the game in typical Ducks fashion slow. The Stars were up 3-0 before you knew it and it seemed like another loss. But then Joffrey Lupul, who has been on fire since coming back from his injury, scored when Turco made the save on the breakaway but couldn’t put on the breaks as he slid behind the goaline. In the 3rd period instead of sucking as usual, the Ducks dominated the Stars outshooting them 14 to 2 and recently called up rookie Dan Sexton scored 2 goals to force overtime. In the overtime the Ducks continued to dominate and Saku Koivu scored on a 3 on 1 breakaway. All in all a very entertaining game and the Ducks scored 4 unanswered goals, which hopefully gives them something to build upon.

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Between the Pipes – NHL Recap Week 9

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 Written by: Alex Mueller

I’d just like to say at the top of this column, Keith Ballard you’re an idiot. There’s no reason to do that in any game, especially in the 1st period of a game. I wouldn’t have let him play anymore. In case you missed it you can see it here.

NHL Point Standings System – It sucks. In all seriousness I think it’s a joke you get a point for losing. Why reward failure? You lost? Here have a point. I like the old way where if you lose in overtime you get nothing, if you win you get two points and if you tie you each get a point. Somewhere along the line the NHL decided it didn’t want ties. That kind of makes sense because no one comes to any sporting event to watch a tie game. However football has ties, though it mostly never happens. Of course football doesn’t have 5 minute overtimes they go the full 15 minutes of a quarter. Not sure why the NHL shortened its overtime to 5 minutes. I mean you would get a lot less ties if you let the game go another period worth of time. It would be more exciting too. The shootouts are an exciting way to break the tie. It’s just a bit unorthodox to end a team game in a 1 on 1 situation. I mean what if after one overtime, the NBA went to a 1 on 1 between their best players? I’m just glad the playoffs don’t have shootouts as the multiple overtimes provide some of the most thrilling games. I’ll never forget the 4 overtime classic between the San Jose Sharks and the Dallas Stars in 2008. If they want to keep it as it is, then award no points for overtime or shutout losses. You could also award no points for an overtime loss but a shootout loss could be worth one point since that is a different format.

But the way I see it the NHL has 9 possible options for games that are tied after regulation:

A)    Keep it the way it is (5 min. OT with shootout same point system)

B)    Keep it the way it is but no points for any loss

C)    Keep it the way it is but only one point for shootout loss

D)    Go back to the old way (tie after overtime, no points for loss, no shootout)

E)    Change the OT to 20 min., ties, no shootout, no points if you lose in OT

F)     Change the OT to 20 min., ties, no shootout, one point if you lose in OT

G)    Change the OT to 20 min., shootout if still tied no points for loss

H)    Change the OT to 20 min., shootout if still tied, one point for either loss

I)     Change the OT to 20 min., shootout if still tied only point for shootout loss

Now these are all the possibilities, I may have missed one; I’m not really in favor of most of them, since we are trying to eliminate points for losing. I understand the NHL wants to award 1 point for something just to make it more interesting. My personal choice is the last one, I. It would give the game a chance to end more likely in a non shootout. But it would still have the shootout if necessary since it’s exciting. You don’t reward failure in the overtime but you do in the shootout. However at the point the losing team has played a strong hockey game and I don’t really believe the shootout is part of a game, it’s more like a supplement to a game.

Goalie Spotlight

Evgeni Nabokov – San Jose Sharks

Evgeni Nabokov was born in Russia but where he was born has since become Kazakhstan, the place made famous by the Borat movie. As such he has played internationally for both nations, something that normally doesn’t happen. He has also been the main cog in goal for the Sharks during their prosperous and at the same time under achieving decade.

Nabokov was taken in the 9th round in 1994 by the Sharks. He was mostly drafted because of the highly successful and long career his father, Viktor Nabokov, had in Russia. In 1997 he made his way stateside to play for the Kentucky Thoroughblades and the Cleveland Lumberjacks in the AHL and IHL. After successful seasons there, he was called up in 2000 to play with the Sharks. In the first start of his career he dueled with Patrick Roy to a 0-0 tie. Not bad for your first start, something I’m sure he will never forget.

In the 00-01 season when starting goalie Steve Shields went down with an injury, most thought Miikka Kiprusoff would get the starting nod. The Sharks highly regarded Kiprusoff but decided he needed more seasoning in the AHL so they gave the nod to Nabokov, and they never looked back. Nabokov posted impressive numbers and won the Calder Trophy, for rookie of the year, and made the All-Star game in 2001. Ironically Nabokov and Kiprusoff, Calgary Flames, are now foes in the western conference and the playoffs. They have each won a playoff series against each other (Nabokov in 08, Kiprusoff in 04).

Since Nabokov has been the Sharks starter he has amassed many of the Sharks franchise goalie records and a few more all-star appearances. Though he did have a down year in the 05-06 season and was regulated to a backup role for a bit. He was also the first goaltender to score a power play goal in 2002. In 2008 he won gold with Russia in the IIHF World Championships and was named the best goalkeeper of the tournament.

Nabokov and the Sharks would like to add a Stanley Cup to their resumes, which has proven to be quite hard the past few years. Nabokov numbers in the playoffs have been fairly consistent with his regular season numbers. If anything it has been the Sharks offense that has sputtered come playoff time. Particularly heartbreaking for the Sharks was losing 3 of 4 overtime games to the Stars in the second round of the 2008 playoffs. Including the 4OT thriller I mentioned above. Nabokov is off to another fine start this year, as are the Sharks. Hopefully it will translate into a better postseason success this time around in an extremely tough western conference.

Fights of the Week

Special thanks to hockeyfights.com for making this section a little easier to do.

Craig Rivet vs. Daniel Carcillo

This fight is nominated because these two fought about 8 minutes earlier and they wanted to fight some more even before the face-off and the refs moved them away from each other. After the puck was dropped they went straight for each other. Bonus points for the enthusiastic announcing.

Cam Janssen vs. Krys Barch

This fight is made better by the soundtrack. Seriously who picked the PA music for the fight?

Goat of the Week

Keith Ballard, see up top. He can win Goat of the Year.

Things I like

1. Teemu Selanne on the power play is gold. Teemu had 2 more goals on the power play against the Blackhawks. He now needs just 2 more to tie Joe Nieuwendyk for 10th place on the all-time list.

2. Zach Parise continues to provide solid results, yet stay relatively under the radar. The 5th leading scorer last year Parise continues to lead the Devils in points and goals this year. He also has a +19 for the year, tops in the league. He could work on his shooting percentage though.

3. Cristobal Huet (Goalie Spotlight in Week 3) had won 7 straight games for the Blackhawks until his streak was snapped by the Ducks. It’s a nice turnaround for the always under pressure Huet who lost his starting job last year and didn’t play all that well at the beginning of the year. He and Antti Niemi have formed a nice tandem for the rising Blackhawks.

4. Marian Hossa, or Maid Marian as he likes to be called, scored two goals (one shorthanded) in his debut against the Sharks. Not a bad way to work off the ring rust. I’m betting the Blackhawks hope he doesn’t bring his Stanley Cup curse with him.

Things I don’t

1. Is it me or is it cold in here? No wait that’s just Anze Kopitar. The former NHL leading scorer has only 3 assists in the past 9 games. “Kope” also has an appalling -6 in that span. Losing Ryan Smyth obviously didn’t help but superstars find a way to raise their game. In a related note your off my fantasy team “Kope”.

2. Craig Anderson has really begun to cool, after his hot start helped propel the Colorado Avalanche. Anderson has only won 2 out of his last 9 starts. His GAA is 3.75 and his SV% is about .879 during that span. As he goes so do the Avalanche as Peter Budaj is not considered much of an option. The Avalanche might want to give him a breather though as he has played the most games of any goalie in the league. Even Martin Brodeur has had more nights off. Of course Anderson shut me up with his shutout against the Lightning on Monday night.

3. Ales Hemsky is gone for the year, a really tough break for an already slumping Edmonton Oilers team.

4. Phoenix is still dead last in attendance by a mile. I realize the future of the team is hazy but, regardless if they go elsewhere at the end of the year, management can’t take away the enjoyment you had when you went to the game.

Did You Know?

I’ll try something new this week and see how long it lasts. Hopefully this will last longer than tweet of the week did.

Bobby Orr has the single season record for +/- at +124. He is however second on the all time +/- career list to Larry Robinson who had +730 to his +597. Nicklas Lidstrom is the only active player in the top 70. His mark sits at +414 as of this writing.

Double did you know if you read this week in hockey history. You will find out Mario Lemieux has a brother, I sure didn’t know that.

Stat Line of the Week

Another new one

11/28/09 Penguins 8 vs. Rangers 3

Skater

TOI

G

A

+/-

SOG

PIM

S. Crosby

19:59

3

2

+4

5

0

Nice line for Sidney Crosby who recorded his 4th career hat trick. Not sure why the Rangers left Stephen Valiquette in for all 8 goals. I know they wanted to give Henrik Lundqvist the night off, but it seems a bit much.

Numbers, Numbers

19 – Corey Perry’s current point streak, an Anaheim Ducks franchise record.

28 – The number of chances the Carolina Hurricanes have left to get their first road win.

2 – Number of game Alex Ovechkin was suspended for his knee hit

5 – Number of game Georges Laraque was suspended for his knee hit

0 – Number of games Keith Ballard was suspended for whacking his own goalie and sending him to the hospital

This Week in Hockey History

Special thanks to the Hockey Hall of Fame site for making this section a little easier to do.

November 26, 1983 Edmonton’s Wayne Gretzky began an NHL-record 17 consecutive game assist streak, at St. Louis. It came in the midst of his NHL record 51-game point scoring streak (during which he scored 153 points). Oilers lost 8-6 to Blues.

November 26, 1999 Jaromir Jagr scored a natural hat trick (the 5th of his career) in a 7:01 span of the first period and added an assist for his 900th career point, and Tom Barrasso recorded his 35th career shutout in the Penguins 5-0 win against visiting Ottawa.

November 27, 1943 Montreal beat the visiting NY Rangers 6-3 to extend the Rangers losing streak to 11 games since the start of the 1943-44 season, the worst start to an NHL season by any team in league history. Rangers ended the streak with a tie the next night.

November 27, 1997 Michel Petit became the first player in NHL history to play for 10 different teams, when he made his first appearance with the Phoenix Coyotes in a 4-1 loss to Dallas.

November 27, 1984 Alain Lemieux (Mario’s brother) scored his first career hat trick to lead the Blues to a 6-1 win at Vancouver. Lemieux played 119 NHL games with the Blues, Quebec Nordiques & Penguins, and scored 28 goals and 44 assists.

November 27, 1969 Detroit’s Gordie Howe became the first player in NHL history to score 1,700 career points, when he picked up two assists in a 5-1 win against Los Angeles. Howe reached 1,700 points in 1,567 NHL games.

November 28, 1982 Ron Sutter made NHL history when he played in his first game, with the Flyers. It was the first time in league history that five brothers from the same family all played in the NHL. The Flyers tied the Canucks, 5-5 at Vancouver.

November 29, 2003 Chris Chelios became the 11th NHL defenseman to score 900 career points, when he picked up an assist as the Red Wings beat the Blues, 2-1 in St. Louis.

November 30, 1977 Phil Esposito scored a hat trick and Wayne Thomas had his 7th career shutout, as the Rangers won 4-0 at St. Louis. The three goals gave Esposito 605 in his career, one more than Bobby Hull, and second most in NHL history (behind Gordie Howe).

December 01, 1997 Montreal Canadiens became the first team in history to play 5,000 NHL games, when they took on the Pittsburgh Penguins, in a 1-0 loss, in Montreal. The loss gave the Canadiens a record of 2,625 wins, 1,603 losses and 772 ties since 1917.

Rankings

The rankings are based on how the teams are currently playing.

Top 5

1. Chicago
2. Nashville
3. Atlanta
4. New Jersey
5. Pittsburgh

Bottom 5

30. Carolina
29. NY Rangers
28. Toronto
27. Edmonton
26. Colorado

Anaheim Ducks Watch

The Ducks played the Hurricanes on 11/25.They were able to beat them in regulation, though they sure found a way to make it suspenseful. After Teemu Selanne scored with about 90 seconds left to make it a 3-1 game you figured it was basically over. But then Carolina scores with 60 seconds left. You could hear the crowd deflate in Anaheim after that. But the Ducks hung on to win. Next was a tough game against the Chicago Blackhawks who just soundly gave the Sharks a thumping. But much to everyone’s surprise, the Ducks shut out the Blackhawks and their loaded top lines with a 3-0 win. Giguere was great in getting his first shutout of the season.

Next up was Phoenix who the Ducks seem to have problems with. Regulation was not enough to decide a winner and neither was OT so the game went into a shootout. The Ducks lost the shootout and have now lost 3 shootouts in a row to Phoenix. Including the shootout last year where if they would have won, they would have been the 6th seed instead they dropped to the 8th seed.

Next up was round 1 of the freeway series against the cross town rival Los Angeles Kings. I have to say that Evgeny Artyukhin takes some of the dumbest penalties around. In this game he took three offensive zone penalties. This is also not his first game taking bad penalties. I have no idea why Teemu Selanne requested him on his line. The Ducks lost the game 4-3 when the Kings scored the game winner in the final 2 minutes. A really tough game to lose for the Ducks, as they played really well for the most part. I also have to say this was one of the most exciting games so far, the scoring chances on both sides were quite exciting. Corey Perry kept his streak alive with a goal and an assist.

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THE HAT TRICK

Monday, November 2nd, 2009 Written by: Matt Sitkoff

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween, while in hockey there were some treats this week as the Sharks have run off 5 straight victories to regain their rightful place near the top of the NHL standings.  There also were some tricks as the Carolina Hurricanes, a team that made the Eastern Conference Finals last season, has now lost an astonishing 9 straight games.  As the calendar falls back lets fall back into the Pucking Awesome Hat Trick, or the top three things I am watching for this week.


1.)     Watch Out For The Avalanche:   I am starting to believe that this team could actually compete for a playoff spot this season. Craig Anderson has broken out of the South Florida sunshine and proven so far that he can be a number one goalie coming into Monday, he leads the league in wins (10) and save percentage (.936).  Also the key to being a good team is special teams and both the penalty kill (second in the league) and power play  (13th in the league) units are playing extremely well.  Yes I know they are coming off two tough losses to two teams (Sharks and Canucks) that were supposed to be ahead of them at this juncture of the season but as long as their scorers (Hejduk, Stastny, Wolski) stay relatively healthy this team will be a surprise playoff team when all is said and done. 


2.)    First Firing? By this time last year there was already the first coach firing (October 16, 2008 of Denis Savard by the Blackhawks), and in total there were seven in season changes behind the bench.  Which makes me feel like the first clipboard to fall is coming soon.  I feel the hottest seat is that of John Stevens of Philadelphia, since the team is still struggling with discipline issues that plagued them last season.  Could the Hurricanes give up on the Paul Maurice reunion so soon?  Could the Predators can the only coach they have ever had in Barry Trotz? Has the glimmer of the 2007 Stanley Cup victory worn off of Randy Carlyle in Anaheim?  I am interested to see which of those seats will start to burn as we get farther into the season.


3.)    Game of The Week: Penguins vs The West Coast—The defending champions run through the west coast this week but I am very interested in not only their game on Saturday vs the Sharks but also the game Thursday vs the Kings.  The game against the Kings will showcase the talented scorer Anze Kopitar, who outside of hockey enthusiast does not realize how good this kid is.  This game matches up two teams that have scored 44 goals in their first 14 games, so should be an exciting back and forth game.  Saturday will match up two teams that are favored to play for the Stanley Cup this season, and the Sharks are playing their best hockey and getting scoring from a lot of different sources.  These games and the Tuesday game vs the Ducks are all going to be worth staying up late this week.  

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Between the Pipes

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 Written by: Alex Mueller

Welcome to the inaugural column of Between the Pipes, a weekly feature giving you quotes, top fights, who or what is hot and not, stats, goalie spotlight, and many other information from around the league. What an opening week it has been so far.

The number one thing I am looking forward to this season, just like any other season, is the biggest jumps, up or down by a team. For example when Boston was the 8th seed and Montreal the 1st seed in 2008 and they subsequently swapped places the next season in 2009. This year I figured Anaheim will jump up the most as they were the 8th seed last year. I peg them anywhere from 2st to 5th this year. Of course technically they were tied for 6th last year but they were still officially the 8th seed. The Avalanche have a possibility to nab the 8th seed which would be quite a jump up, don’t laugh it’s possible. For biggest tumble I can’t really see anyone dropping more than 3 spots, which I don’t think is enough of a drop to warrant a mention, but you know some team will.

You also have to wonder what the effects on the possible move/sale and the leaving of coach Gretzky will have on the Phoenix Coyotes, though it does look like they are staying in Phoenix for now. Granted Gretzky didn’t really seem to have an impact on the team but I can’t imagine the possibility of a move doesn’t have an affect on them. On the other hand it might motivate them to play better and it sure looked like it worked vs. the Kings.

The biggest surprises of the week were probably Colorado blanking Vancouver 3-0. I bet no one saw that coming, and the demolishing of Carolina by Boston 7-2. It’s not that Boston won the game it’s the score. I think Boston may still be bitter about last year’s playoff exit, just a little.


Goalie Spotlight

This feature will highlight a goalie every week. I will strive to do a few paragraphs on a different goalie every week, and I won’t base it on their past week’s performance. However, depending on how hot a goalie is during a given week, I may just discuss that.

Craig Anderson – Colorado Avalanche

Many “experts” predict Craig Anderson will be this year’s version of Tim Thomas, a longtime journeyman who becomes a superstar. Of course Thomas backstopped the Bruins to the best record in the Eastern Conference last year; I don’t think Anderson will be able to replicate that in the West. If Anderson sounds familiar it’s because he posted back-to-back shutouts last year, and in one shutout he set the NHL record for most saves (53). Despite his success last year, he was unable to wrestle away the top spot from Tomas Vokoun in Florida, despite having more of an upside based on being 5 years younger, and he became a free agent.

Anderson turned down offers from other teams to sign with the Avalanche, and relegate former starting goalie Peter Budaj to the bench. “It’s a dream come true,” Anderson said. “It was the place I wanted to be, a city I’ve always loved. I think it’s a great opportunity for me, and I want to be part of the solution bringing the team back.” [1] At 6 feet 2 inches Anderson is one of the taller goalies in the league and plays with a butterfly style made famous by his idol (and mine) Patrick Roy, who of course led the Avs to two Stanley Cups. The Avalanche believe they have found their goalie of the future and with Stastny, Wolski, and third overall pick Duchene are starting to form a nice nucleus to bring them back to respectability.


Fights of the Week

Everyone loves hockey fights! Some people watch only for the fights, sad because the rest of the game is even better. This feature will comb through all the past weeks fights to bring you the best.

Special thanks to hockeyfights.com for making this section a little easier to do.

Donald Brashear vs. Eric Godard

This fight was interesting because of the sheer amount of time they took sizing each other up before they engaged. Brasher started hot but I think Goddard won overall.


Craig Conroy vs. Sam Gagner

Right off the face-off with this fight, literally, I don’t even think they cared who won the face-off.  Both had some great punches, I give the win to Gagner though.


Andrew Alberts vs. Shawn Thornton

Like the Brasher vs. Goddard fight a lot of sizing up time, afterward Thornton basically makes Alberts his bitch. Bonus points to the announcer who really seemed to get into the fight. “Call off the fight, it’s a bloodletting!” Not sure where but alright!


Goat of the Week

Nikolai Khabibulin – Speaking of goalies, Khabibulin’s whiff of playing the puck in the final minute of a tied game, led to a gift goal and a win for the Flames. This was in the home opener no less, talk about silencing the home crowd. Further proof of why I always say goalies should stay between the pipes.

Tweet of the Week

According to Sportsin140 the NHL has the least amount of tweeters of the four major sports. Which should make it hard to find decent tweets for this section, but I figured it would still be fun. The NHL is, however, the first League to have all their teams tweeting.

So where’s the tweet you say? Unfortunately I couldn’t find a good one, if this keeps up, I’ll close this section. C’mon players tweet!


Things I like

1. Tavares in New York, assuming the Islanders stay there, was a great draft choice that joins the Islanders other great top picks like Ryan O’Marra, Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey…. okay maybe not. But Tavares has the skills to lead the Islanders back to respectability and maybe some of it will rub onto line-mate and 2006 7th overall pick Okposo.

2. Ovechkin picking up right where he left off and then some. Though he didn’t win the scoring title last year, I suspect he will win it this year. The real challenge is whether he can bring his shooting percentage back from respectability after his paltry .106 percentage last year. So far, 5 goals in 3 games not to shabby.

3. The St. Louis Blues for their collective effort of beating the Red Wings, not once but two nights in a row, all the way over in Sweden. Also good to see Paul Kariya back recovered from injury and in top form, I’m sure the Blues are glad too.

4. Ray Emery, although only 2 games in, has seemed like a worthwhile addition to the Flyers including a shutout of Carolina opening day. If he can stay out of trouble this may led to bigger and better things. I know the Flyers and their fans are hoping for that. Of course last night he gave up 5 goals to the Capitals, but then again it was the Capitals.


Things I don’t

1. Robert Luongo, who I always thought was a tad overrated, has apparently regressed. The last time we saw him he gave up 7 goals to the Blackhawks, I don’t think that sat well with him. Reminds me of Jake Delhomme’s meltdown with the Panthers in the NFL Playoffs and then his starts the following year, he said it didn’t bother him, but later admitted it did. Maybe Luongo has the same mental block. It’s not time to turn to Raycroft yet, but if he keeps this up the Canucks may not have a choice.

2. Martin Brodeur one of the true legends of the games may be slipping. Like Luongo he had a playoff meltdown as he let in some weak goalies against Carolina in last year’s playoff, including the two late goals in the game 7 stunner. He has now given up 8 goals in 2 games. It didn’t sit well with me that they let go of Clemmensen, you hope it doesn’t come back to haunt the Devils.


Rankings

The rankings are based on how the teams are currently playing, not who I think is better or how they will end the season.

Top 5

1. Pittsburgh
2. Philadelphia
3. Washington
4. Calgary
5. Colorado

Bottom 5

30. Vancouver
29. New Jersey
28. Carolina
27. Tampa Bay
26. Toronto


Ducks Watch (My team)

The Ducks were embarrassed in their home opener against San Jose, and Hiller seems to have lost some of his mojo. They looked real good up 3-0 to the Wild after 2 periods. They then promptly lost that lead, giving up 3 goals in the 3rd, not playing awful but not playing great either. Then in overtime Wisniewski takes a beyond stupid penalty by sucker punching a Wild right in front of the ref, ugh. Gave me flashbacks to all those games that ended with Pronger sitting in the penalty box. Minnesota promptly scores on the power play. On the plus side Anaheim got a point and at least looked like they might get better as the season progresses and they continue to gel.


Well I hope you liked the column any suggestions, comments, and/or feedback are always welcomed.

[1] http://www.denverpost.com/avalanche/ci_12737489

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