Is the Central Division the best division? – For awhile most people thought the Atlantic was the best division in the NHL. For three consecutive seasons they had four teams who made the playoffs, the only division recently to accomplish that. They just missed out on sending four again last season. They have also sent the Eastern Conference Stanley Cup representative three seasons in a row. However the Central Division has also sent the Western Conference Stanley Cup representative the past three seasons as well. (Whenever you feel like playing hockey other divisions, let us know.) This season the Central Division is outperforming the Atlantic by far. If the playoffs started today, the Atlantic would only send in two teams while the Central would send in four teams. No team in the Central Division has a losing record while the Atlantic boasts two teams (the Islanders and Devils) that seem to be falling off the cliff. It’s been so competitive that the Blue Jackets, who are off to their best start in franchise history at 8-4 were only in 3^rd place.

Of course the biggest rise in the Central division is none other than the St. Louis Blues. The Blues rather quietly have the NHL’s best record. They have also allowed the fewest goals in the league. This can mostly be attributed to one thing, Jaroslav Halak. Halak was a relative steal, though who knows how how Ian Schultz or Lars Eller will tun out, for the Blues who were looking to upgrade over goalie Steve Mason. Halak already has three shutouts and is tied with Tim Thomas for the league lead. But Halak’s success isn’t really that much of a surprise, given his playoff heroics last season. The Blues have been stockpiling young talent over the past few seasons. The Blues are the 3^rd youngest team in the league and they only have four players with over five years of NHL experience. Former 1^st rounders T.J Oshie and David Perron are starting to break out and lead the Blues. Veteran guys such as Matt D’Agostini and Alex Steen are on pace for career years. Defensively former 1^st overall 2006 pick Erik Johnson and Barrett Jackman are a force to be reckon with. Before he was injured, Jackman was averaging three blocked shots a game. The Blues have been hovering around 90 points the past two seasons and the continued development of their younger players coupled with the acquisition of Halak have made them into legit contenders.

Goalie Spotlight

Mathieu Garon – Columbus Blue Jackets

Perusing the goalie statistical league leaders you will find such familiar names as Tim Thomas and Jaroslav Halak. You will also find somebody by the name of Mathieu Garon sandwiched between them. Not that well known of a player, I figured I’d try and find out a little about him.

In 1996 The Montreal Canadiens drafted Garon 44^th overall with a chance of maybe stepping in for the newly traded Patrick Roy. That never really came to pass as Garon didn’t even suit up for the Canadiens until the 2000-01 season. Before that season he spent the majority of his time playing in the AHL for the Fredericton Canadiens, Quebec Citadelles, Hamilton Bulldogs, and Manchester Monarchs. The Fredericton Canadiens and Quebec Citadelles are now defunct. He played in 43 games for the Canadiens over a four year period. His beast season was in 2002-03 but he only played in eight games. He was then traded to the Kings with a 3^rd round pick for Radek Bonk and Cristobal Huet. He actually became the starter in Los Angeles for the first time. He posted a 3.22 GAA, a .894 SV% and 4 shutouts. The next season he split time mostly with Sean Burke and Dan Cloutier.

Garon then left for the Edmonton Oilers as a free agent. He became the starter over Dwayne Roloson but then injured his ankle late in the 2007-08 season. He was however the top shutout goalie in the league with a perfect 10-0 record. The following season Garon did not play as much and his numbers slipped from the previous season. Garon was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in early 2009. Garon only played in four games for the Penguins and one playoff game, which was Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals when the Penguins were blown out 5-0 by the Red Wings. He then signed a two year deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets in the summer of 2009. Last season he mostly backed up Steve Mason. This season with Mason struggling Garon has been able to see equal time. He is so far 4-1 with 2 shutouts and a 1.28 GAA and .952 SV%. He is second in the league in shutouts, GAA and SV%.

Garon is part of the reason why the Blue Jackets were off to their best start in franchise history. If Mason continues to struggle, Garon will be called upon more to try and help lead the Blue Jackets to only their second playoff berth ever. Who knows, maybe the soon to be free agent Garon may have finally found a home in Columbus.

Fights of the Week

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

Brandon Prust vs. Daniel Carcillo

This one starts off kind of slow but it gets better.

George Parros vs. Frazer McLaren

Somewhat decent fight. It’s the first fight from Parros since he shaved his mustache for charity. Though the mustache is about 1/3 of way back now.

Goat of the Week

Bobby Ryan – Anaheim Ducks

Ryan attempted to clear the Anaheim zone but instead passed it right to Patrick Hornqvist who threaded to Steve Sullivan for the 2^nd Predators goal. Ryan said afterward about the play “I was just trying to find a place to hide on the bench at that point.” That sounds about right Bobby.

Things I like

1. After producing only one assist in his first seven games, Mike Green has been on fire. He currently has a six game point streak and he had a four game goal streak. Better yet is that he only has a negative +/- in one of those games.

2. For a guy who is 40 years old and has been contemplating retiring for the last several seasons Teemu Selanne can just flat out play. He is currently tied for 4^th in the league in scoring and tied for 2^nd in power play goals with four. Selanne has showed that not only he can still produce at his age but he can still produce at an elite level. Here’s hoping he plays another year or two.

3. Speaking of streaks and older players, Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsuyk each have a nine game point streak currently. The Red Wings are also 7-2 in that span. Lidstrom the nineteen year veteran, who is in the 40 year old club with Selanne, has shown that he can also still perform at a high level. He is the top scoring defenseman in the league and tied for 2^nd overall in assists.

4. Steven Stamkos (I don’t need to write anything else)

Things I don’t

1. This week I had the chance to watch my first Pittsburgh Penguins game with their home announcers on FSN. All I can say is egad. Obviously announcers are bias when doing their home team telecasts but Paul Steigerwald and Bob Errey go above and beyond the normal bias. Also half the time it’s like they are watching a completely different game. I guess many people have disliked them for some time. I can’t say that I blame them.

2. The Toronto Maple Leafs started out on fire and off to one of their best starts in some time. Now they just seem lost and confused. Worse it seems like they couldn’t score a goal if their life depended on it. In the past six games the Leafs have been shut out three times. After producing seven goals in eight games, Phil Kessel has produced no points in the past six games. Coincidence? I think not.

3. When the Bruins faced the Blues this week, I was really hoping it would pit the two hottest goalies in the league of Tim Thomas and Jaroslav Halak against each other. Unfortunately it was not to be as Rask started. While I realize that Thomas was pulled against the Caps in the last game, it was the Caps after all. It was still a good game regardless but these two teams won’t face each other again this season unless it’s in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Stat Line of the Week

11/06/10 Chicago 5 vs. Atlanta 4

It’s been a strange year so far for the Blackhawks but on this night the dynamic duo of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane combined for all of the Blackhawks goals to lead the hawks to a win over a few of their former teammates. Toews also had one of the two shootout goals for the Hawks with a nifty little move.

Did You Know?

The most games a team has been consecutively been shutout is eight set by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1929. The Maple Leafs have quite a few games to go if they hope to reach that dubious distinction. That same Blackhawks team was also shutout the most for one season. They were shutout a total of 20 times in the 1928-29 season.

Numbers, Numbers

50 – Goals scored by the defending champion Blackhawks so far

51 – Goals scored against the Blackhawks so far

6 – Number of home wins for both the Blues and the Kings with no loses

0 – Home wins for New Jersey

7 – Conservative wins by the Blues

7 – Consecutive loses by the Islanders

700 – Career points for Saku Koivu

76 – Steven Stamkos current goal pace

Quotes of the Week

“I don’t dislike them, I think they’re entertaining. I just wish I was better at them.”

- Goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who is 1-3 in shootouts as a Leaf.

“We went into their building (in Philadelphia last Saturday), they beat us 6-1 and we got embarrassed. It’s been a downfall since then.”

- Isles defenseman James Wisniewski, before the Isles losing streak was extended to seven games with a 2-1 loss Saturday against the Flyers.

Though the Islanders downfall started before that game because they had already lost three games in a row prior to that Flyers loss.

Zenon Konopka had his own take own the Flyers rivalry.

“There’s no good blood between us, that’s for sure,” Konopka told Newsday. “There won’t be Christmas cards exchanged on that end of the hallway.”

This Week in Hockey History

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

November 04, 1956 Jacques Plante of the Canadiens completed a perfect weekend, with his second straight shutout over Chicago, a 1-0 win (following a 6-0 victory the day before). It was Plante’s 21st career shutout.

November 05, 2000 Doug Weight tied a career high with four assists as the Oilers picked up their 800 victory in franchise history, with a 4-2 win against the Blue Jackets at Columbus.

November 06, 1988 Wayne Gretzky became the third player in NHL history to score 1,700 points. He got two goals and an assist in career game #711 as the Kings won 5-3 over the Blackhawks at Chicago. Mark Fitzpatrick started and won his first NHL game.

November 07, 1968 St. Louis Blues Red Berenson scored six goals (for his first career hat trick) & an assist in an 8-0 win over the visiting Flyers. It was the NHL’s first six goal game since Detroit’s Syd Howe did it in 1944. Jacques Plante recorded the shutout.

November 08, 1989 Calgary’s Al MacInnis became the Flames all time leader in assists when he recorded #337 in a 5-4 win at Los Angeles. MacInnis replaced Guy Chouinard (336) and Paul Reinhart (335). MacInnis had three assists in the game.

November 09, 2000 Joe Sakic tied the Avalanche franchise mark for career assists, when he picked up his 668th with the team in a 3-3 tie against the St. Louis Blues. Sakic tied the record set by Peter Stastny (when the team was in Quebec City).

Rankings

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

Top 5

1. St. Louis

2. Los Angeles

3. Washington

4. Philadelphia

5. Boston

Bottom 5

30. N.Y Islanders

29. Toronto

28. Buffalo

27. Edmonton

26. New Jersey

You signed him for how long, for how much? – Any fans ultimate dream job is to be the GM of his or her favorite team. If I was ever a GM one thing I would never do is give anybody a contract longer than five years. There’s too many things that could happen in even that short amount of time that the thought of giving a longer one makes no sense even if the player is a franchise talent. Some things that could go wrong include the player getting injured, no longer producing, not fitting in with a new system or teammates, not performing well in the postseason or the team just wants to rebuild. Certain players are not motivated to perform at the same level once they receive their mega deals. Also players with undesirable contracts make them harder to move if the teams decides they want to move in a different direction.

Ilya Kovalchuk’s big money long term contract and subsequent problems in New Jersey with his healthy scratching and in many ways not fitting into their system, is just the latest example of big long term contracts gone wrong. Alexei Yashin was rewarded with a 10 year 87.5 million dollar contract which he never lived up to and was eventually bought out. Roberto Luongo was signed to a 12 year 64 million dollar contract that even included a no trade clause, though stipulations allow Luongo to wave it after the 5^th year and the Canucks after the 7th. While Luongo is a decent goalie, he is not consistent and he generally doesn’t preform well in the playoffs. I personally don’t think the Canucks will ever win the Stanley Cup with Luongo as their goalie. But Luongo’s contract makes it almost impossible to go in a different direction in net no matter how much he flounders. The Chicago Blackhawks have recently signed Marian Hossa and Duncan Keith to long term contracts, 12 years for 62.8 million and 13 years for 72 million respectively. Both contracts have so far worked out for the Blackhawks but I’m more than positive there will be a point where they regret one or both of them. Even Cristobal Huet’s, who did not preform well enough to warrant retaining, smaller contract of four years worth 22 million severely handicapped the Blackhawks ability to re-sign the players they needed.

While I understand the need to lock up certain stars such as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Alex Ovechkin and so on, I think you can do it in a more responsible manner that gives your team the best chance to compete in the short term but also in the long term.

Goalie Spotlight

Niklas Backstrom – Minnesota Wild

Finnish born Backstrom played for HIFK, SaiPa and Kärpät in the Finnish SM-liiga league. He excelled playing for Kärpät leading them to league titles in 2004 and 2005. In both of those seasons Backstrom picked up the Urpo Ylönen trophy for best goaltender and the Jari Kurri trophy for best player in the playoffs. After two dominating years, Backstrom played another year with Kärpät in which he actually posted even better numbers. After that season the undrafted Backstrom signed with the Minnesota Wild in 2006.

He was slated to be the back-up to Manny Fernandez but Fernandez suffered a knee injury halfway through the season which opened the door for Backstrom. He lead the league in GAA (1.97) and SV% (.929) and shared the William Jennings trophy with Fernandez. He also tied Dwayne Roloson’s franchise record of five shutouts in just 36 games. He later broke that record with eight shutouts during the 2008-09 season. Fernandez was traded shortly after and Backstrom followed it up with two more highly productive seasons including 2^nd runner up to the Vezina trophy in 2009. Last season Backstrom took a step back but still posted somewhat decent numbers. Internationally Backstrom made the 2006 and 2010 Finnish Olympic teams but was not the number one goalie in either case. He was part of the Bronze medal winning team in 2010.

So far this season Backstrom is off to a great start. The Wild don’t really possess the most talent in the league but Backstrom has helped the Wild allow the 3^rd least goals in the conference so far. Backstrom will need to continue to play well for the Wild to compete for a playoff spot this season.

Fights of the Week

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

David Liffiton vs. Tim Jackman

Decent fight, Liffiton won with some nice punches.

Mike Richards vs. Matt Cooke

Richards held his own against Cooke. I didn’t care for Richards’ cheap shots at the end.

Zenon Konopka vs. Daniel Carcillo

I didn’t think this fight was that great but many people liked it so here it is. This was the 1^st of two fights between these two in this game.

Goats of the Week

Cory Sarich – Calgary Flames

Sarich was, I guess, trying to pass the puck back to his teammate but inadvertently hit it in his own net on an unsuspecting Kiprusoff.

Tyler Myers – Buffalo Sabres

More on Mister Myers below but on this power play Myers has his pocket picked twice by Jamie Benn and Steve Ott hammers home the rebound. The video doesn’t sync with the audio and it plays choppy but it was the best I could find.

Things I like

1. America’s best goalie Tim Thomas, sorry Ryan Miller, keeps up his winning ways. Tops in GA%, SV%, shutouts and a perfect 6-0 record. In fact he has as many shutouts (3) as goals allowed so far this season. It’s clearly his Vezina trophy to lose this season. It’s a shame that his “rookie” season in the NHL essentially began when he was 31.

2. Everyone wanted to know when Taylor Hall would score his 1^st goal. Well on the day Tyler Seguin scored his 3^rd, Hall tipped in his 1^st. Hall then had back to back games with a goal and an assist. He still has a long way to go but this mini streak might be what he needs to get going.

3. Tampa Bay has the best record in the Eastern Conference for the first time in October ever. It’s like it’s 2003-04 all over again. The Lightning can obviously score goals with the best of them. They key is whether the defense and the goaltending combo of Dan Ellis and Mike Smith can keep it up.

4. Zach Parise, Jamie Langenbrunner and Travis Zajac reunited on the top line. Before Ilya Kovalchuk got there this was one of the best lines in the NHL and actually was the top line according to +/- halfway through last season. Of course it was short lived when Parise injured his knee against the Kings requiring surgery and sidelining him for three months. Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery. The Devils will surely miss their team MVP.

Things I don’t

1. Tyler Myers had a stellar season last year and was awarded the Calder trophy. This year when you look up the term sophomore slump, you will find a picture of Myers. Myers goal production has been good but he currently only has one assist and an eye popping -10, which is tied for the league’s worst. At this point Buffalo would be wise to take him off the top defensive unit. Myers has already made my Goat of the Week honors twice in just four weeks. Truly not a good sign.

2. Thrashers shootout shooters. Ondrej Pavelec played his first game back since suffering a concussion in a hard fought game against the Blues. Tied 3-3 the game went into the shootout. Atlanta selected their shooters. Who did they pick? Andrew Ladd their leading scorer? No. Stanley Cup hero Dustin Byfuglien? No. O franchise player and leading goal scorer Evander Kane? No. Rich Peverley and Alex Burmistrov. Neither came close to scoring and Pavelec didn’t really come close in stopping the Blues on their attempts. I don’t know who was going to shoot 3^rd but there’s a reason why Sidney Crosby shoots first, you want your best players to have a chance to score.

3. Antti Niemi has so for struggled as a Shark. He is 1-3 with a .854 SV% and 4.50 GAA. It’s a shame Niemi hasn’t been able to build upon last year’s stellar season. He was also pulled against the Flames after giving up three goals on only five shots. On the other hand Antero Niittymaki has made the most of his starts and is running away with the starting job. If Niemi doesn’t turn it around it’s unlikely many teams will try and sign him when his one year deal expires.

Stat Line of the Week

10/30/10 St. Louis 4 vs. Atlanta 3

Jay McClement is not what you would call a goal scorer having never scored more than 12 goals in a season. However on this night he was the whole Blues offense. Scoring his first three goals of the season on three shots including two goals in the final six minutes of the game. This allowed the Blues to eke out the win in the shootout.

Did You Know?

Though it’s still early since Tim Thomas is having such a magical year, let’s take a look at the records he is chasing. George Hainsworth holds the record for lowest GAA at .921 set in 1928-29. Of course things were much different back then. Miikka Kiprusoff holds the modern era record at 1.69. Wins is held by Martin Brodeur at 48 set in 2006-07. Dominik Hasek holds the record for SV% at .936 set in 1998-99. George Hainsworth holds the shutout record of 22 also set in 1928-29. Dominik Hasek holds the modern era record of 13 set 1997-98.

Numbers, Numbers

6 – Misconduct or game misconduct penalties in the Islanders vs. Flyers game on 10/30

12 – Number of seconds between two Alex Ovechkin goals against the Flames

0 – Regulation losses by the Canucks at home in six games

2 – Goals by the Maple Leafs in the last three games

17 – Goals given up by the Flames in the last three games

-9 – Niklas Hjalmarsson’s +/- rating to go with his 0 points produced and almost 3.5 million dollar salary

Quotes of the Week

“This is Avalanche hockey. We’re so young, we don’t know any better.

— Colorado right wing Chris Stewart, who had a hat trick Thursday when the team overcame 1-0, 3-1 and 4-3 deficits in a 6-5 win at Calgary.

“It was inexcusable, and if you could take that moment back, you take it back.”

— C Rick Rypien on reaching into the stands to grab a fan in Minnesota on Oct. 19, which earned the scrappy wing a six-game suspension from the NHL.

This Week in Hockey History

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

October 28, 1976 Philadelphia goalie Bernie Parent led the Flyers to a 3-0 shutout over the Penguins at the Spectrum, with the 40th shutout of his NHL career.

October 29, 1942 Montreal Canadiens signed Maurice Richard to his first contract. He made his NHL debut two days later.

October 30, 1983 Chicago’s Tom Lysiak tripped linesman Ron Foyt as the Black Hawks won 6-1 over the Hartford Whalers in Chicago. Lysiak was later susended 20 games for the incident.

October 31, 1975 Phil Myre recorded his 9th career shutout as the Atlanta Flames won 2-0 over the California Seals, in Oakland. Tim Ecclestone helped in all the scoring, with a goal and an assist.

November 01, 2000 Larry Murphy had two assists to give him 1,201 career points, making him the third NHL defenseman (along with Paul Coffey & Ray Bourque) to record 1,200 points. The milestone came in a Red Wings 4-2 win at Montreal.

November 02, 1978 After 8 games with the Indianapolis Racers of the WHA, Wayne Gretzky was sold to the Edmonton Oilers (along with Eddie Mio and Peter Driscoll). Gretzky went on to score 104 points in 72 games and was named WHA Rookie of the Year.

Rankings

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

Top 5

1. Los Angeles

2. Tampa Bay

3. Washington

4. Montreal

5. St. Louis

Bottom 5

30. New Jersey

29. Buffalo

28. Anaheim

27. Edmonton

26. Florida

The Devils will always be competitive with a healthy Martin Brodeur, that’s a given. Offensively Zach Parise is a budding star. Travis Zajac started to come into his own last year and he is continuing his progression this year. Jamie Langenbrunner, when healthy, provides a nice veteran presence. Former 1^st round pick of the 2005 draft Niclas Bergfors has finally been given ample playing time this year and he is starting to deliver. Veteran Patrick Elias is always dangerous as a goal scorer when healthy.

The Devils defense is pretty blue collared these days. Gone are the days of the headline grabbing defenseman like Scott Stevens and Scott Neidermayer. The defense these days are led by guys like Johnny Oduya, Bryce Salvador, Colin White and Andy Greene. The Devils D is so blue collar only one defenseman on the Devils is on the Top 50 highest paid defenseman list. That one guy would be Paul Martin, he checks in at number 38, who is currently injured.

The Devils hope to avenge their surprising 1^st round exit last year to Carolina. They should definitely make the playoffs again this year. If they do, it will be their 13^th in a row. Only the Detroit Red Wings have a higher current streak at 18 seasons. They should also contend for the division title with Penguins, especially if the Flyers continue to struggle.

Goalie Spotlight

Jonathan Quick – Los Angeles Kings

Jonathan Quick is an emerging goalie for the emerging Los Angeles Kings. While not in the elite goalie class, in a few seasons Quick’s might be mentioned with the Brodeurs of the hockey world. Quick is also one of the taller goalies in the league measuring 6 foot 1.

The USA born Quick was a standout goalie at his high school prep school in Connecticut. After high school, Quick decided to play at the University of Massachusetts were he lead the team to its first ever NCAA hockey tournament appearance. The Minutemen beat Clarkson but then lost to Maine. Quick was drafted by the Kings in the 2005 draft as the 72^nd pick overall.

In the 2007-08 season Quick played in the ECHL, AHL and NHL. He was most successful playing in the AHL for the Kings affiliate Manchester Monarchs. He only played 3 games in the NHL that year posting a 3.58 GAA and a .855 SV%, not sterling numbers by any means. In the following season Quick started out the year playing at Manchester, but was called up to play for the Kings in December and remained up for the rest of the year posting 21 wins to 18 losses, a 2.48 GAA and a .914 SV%. In certain stretches he played spectacularly prompting the Kings to name him the starting netminder for the 09-10 season.

So far Quick’s numbers this year are a little worse than last years (2.60 GAA and .904 SV%) and he has yet to post a shutout. The Kings other options for goalies include Jonathan Bernier and Erik Ersberg. However, both goalies have been somewhat disappointing, Ersberg more so. Quick should be the number one goalie for the foreseeable future. Considering this is only his 2^nd season and he is only 23, he has tremendous upside. The Kings hope to make the playoffs with Quick for the first time since the 2001-02 season.

Fights of the Week

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

Boris Valabik vs. Rick Rypien

Everyone’s favorite fighter Rick Rypien is back. I really like the way he does the little things in a fight and systematically beats you.

Brian McGrattan vs. David Koci

The ninth billionth fight between these two, err wait the 7^th time. The other 6 times were in the AHL.

Daniel Carcillo vs. Craig Adams

Three fights in the battle of Pennsylvania including 1 fight that literally lasted a minute with no punches. I liked this one for the intensity but Carcillo dominated.

Jean-Francois Jacques vs. B.J. Crombeen

Okay fight on the long side that had its moments. BTW I don’t think you can have a more French name than Jean-Francois Jacques.

Goat of the Week

None this week

Shot of the Week

Bobby Ryan – Anaheim Ducks

Ryan was able to maintain his handle on the puck and shoot it in after he had his leg hooked by Kris Russell.

Things I like

1. Newly called up Dan Sexton has a 3 game goal streak going and has the given the Ducks new scoring life. He’s is quite fast too. With him on one side and Bobby Ryan on the other, they make for one of the speediest wing tandems in the league.

2. Los Angeles has quietly crept up to tie for the top spot in the west. They are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games and even beat the Sharks in that stretch. They did all of this despite their top scorer Anze Kopitar not doing much.

3. Tuukka Rask doesn’t play much for Boston, but when he fills in for Tim Thomas he really delivers, with his 1.97GAA and .932 SV%.

Things I don’t

1. The Southeast Division’s bottom feeding teams. The Lightning, Hurricanes and Panthers have a combined 6 wins in their last 30 games yikes. If it wasn’t for the Thrashers we could probably already crown the Capitals.

2. Jonas Hiller has been pretty disappointing this year after his phenomenal campaign last year. If he continues to play as he is, it will create problems for the Ducks who will then more than likely let him walk and keep Jean-Sebastien Giguere and his heavy salary.

3. The Flyers losing Ray Emery for about 6 weeks. Not much has gone right for the Flyers this season and this doesn’t help. Emery started out playing well but in 4 of his last 5 starts his save percentage was below .840, not good.

4. Speaking of the Flyers, I discussed their struggles last week, they seem to be struggling even more. They made a lot of changes to specifically compete with the Penguins and in their latest measuring stick game against the Penguins they lost 6-1. That now makes two losses against the Pens this year, though the first loss was more competitive. They get another shot at the Penguins this Thursday at home.

Stat Line of the Week

12/11/09  Oilers 5 vs. Blues 3

Dustin Penner was on the ice for 4 of the Oilers 5 goals and he had a hand in all 4 of those goals. He racked up a goal (unassisted) and 3 assists for the night.

Did You Know?

The first NHL entry draft was in 1963. The first 20 years 1963 to 1982, a Canadian was taken with the top pick. Brian Lawton from the USA was the first non-Canadian picked. Of the 47 drafts only five number 1 picks weren’t from North America. Russia has two of those five. The USA has had six players taken and Canada has had 36.

Numbers, Numbers

0 – Number of overtime losses for Vancouver, still.

6-10-2 – St. Louis’s home record

8-2-3 – St. Louis’s road record

29 – Goal differential of the Capitals, 1^st in the East

4 – Goal differential of the Kings, tied for 1^st in the West

This Week in Hockey History

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

December 10, 1992    Quebec’s Mats Sundin extended his team-record point scoring streak to 30 games in the Nordiques’ 5-4 win at Los Angeles. Sundin scored 21 goals, 25 assists for a total of 46 points during the 30 game streak.

December 11, 1977    Tom Bladon set an NHL record for most points in a game by a defenseman. His 8 points (4 goals & 4 assists) led Philadelphia to an 11-1 win over the Cleveland Barons. Bladon also set a record by going +10.

December 11, 2000    Pittsburgh Penguins owner Mario Lemieux officially announced that he was coming out of retirement to return to playing for the Penguins.

December 12, 1971    Chicago’s Bobby Hull became the fifth player in NHL history to score 1,000 career points. His milestone point was an assist in his 909th game, a 5-3 Black Hawks’ win over the Minnesota North Stars.

December 13, 1987    Calgary’s Joe Nieuwendyk became the first NHL rookie since Cully Wilson (Toronto 1919-20) to score four goals twice in his first season, in a 7-1 Flames in at Buffalo.

December 14, 2000    Rob Blake scored his first career hat trick and added two assists for his first five-point game in the Kings 5-5 tie against the visiting New York Rangers.

December 15, 1988    Mario Lemieux had a goal and four assists in Pittsburgh’s 8-2 win over the Islanders to become the Penguins’ all-time leader in career assists, breaking the old mark of 349 set by Syl Apps. It came in Lemieux’s 321st NHL game.

Rankings

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

Top 5

1. Los Angeles
2. New Jersey
3. Pittsburgh
4. Washington
5. Buffalo

Bottom 5

30. Carolina
29. Philadelphia
28. Columbus
27. Tampa Bay
26. Florida

Anaheim Ducks Watch

The Ducks have points in the last 5 games now. Unfortunately 3 of those were overtime losses in games they could have and should have won. So because they are only gaining 1 point, and since the teams they lose to are in the same conference, they really don’t gain much.

So tell me if you heard this before, the Ducks take a 2 goal lead into the 3^rd period and manage to lose anyway. Of course you have and the Ducks manage to do it again to the Red Wings. It’s a shame because they really owned the first 2 periods of play. Of course when you take 10 penalties it’s hard to win games. Some of the calls were typical lame calls by the ref, like the Parros interference and some of the holding calls, but that’s life. Sexton scored again and with his emergence the Ducks now have three players (Perry, Ryan, Sexton) that look like they just graduated from high school. They are all shy and quiet in post game interviews too. The Red Wings won it in overtime.

The Ducks jumped out to a 2 goal lead against the Blue Jackets and this time changed it up a bit and instead of giving up a goal in the 3^rd, they give it up in the last minute of the 2^nd period. However, the Ducks actually gave up none in the 3^rd and scored one themselves. Sexton scored again to up his goal streak to 3 games in a row. The Selanne injury seems like a blessing in disguise now. If he never would have went down, Sexton would never have been called up. Lupul is still injured too. I think when Selanne gets back he should go on the top line with Perry and Getzlaf. Ryan and Sexton should stay together with Koivu.

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 3^rd period leads which happened in a stretch of three games in a row. They are 2^nd in the league in giving up the most goals in the 3^rd period. They need to have that killer instinct and shut teams out in the 3^rd 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 3^rd 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 2^nd 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 2^nd to last, which is never a good sign. The Hurricanes are also tied for 2^nd with the Ducks in giving up the most goals in the 3^rd period. Hmm… let’s see, bad powerplay, check, struggling 1^st line, check, starting goalie injured, check, giving up tons of 3^rd 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 5^th 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 1^st 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 2^nd 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 24^th 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 1^st 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 5^th 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 100^th anniversary on Dec. 4^th. 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 28^th 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

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

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 1^st 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 3^rd 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 3^rd 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 3^rd 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.

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 9^th 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 10^th place on the all-time list.

2. Zach Parise continues to provide solid results, yet stay relatively under the radar. The 5^th 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

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 6^th seed instead they dropped to the 8^th 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.