Hotlanta – The Thrashers, for a night anyway, found themselves in first place in the Southeast division proving just how far they have come this season. The deal with the Blackhawks this offseason has been instrumental to their success. Dustin Byfuglien and Andrew Ladd are currently the Thrashers’ leading scorers. They also bring a winning experience to the team something the Thrashers haven’t really had, unless you count Slava Kozlov. It seems likely that with Ladd and Byfulgein and Ondrej Pavelec’s solid goaltending the Thrashers will make the playoffs for the first time since 2006-07. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem like Atlanta cares much, as the Thrashers have the third worst attendance in the league which is pretty much where they have always been. If they start winning and they can’t draw then that’s a shame for the city and will only insight rumors of them leaving town. On the plus side Ilya Kovalchuk came to town and the fans that did show up booed him out of the building. The Thrashers dominated the game and won 7-1. It must suck for Ilya to be playing for a team with the most losses in the NHL against his former team who was in the 1^st place in their division. Good things happen to good people eh?

Goalie Spotlight

None this week, no time with a new job.

Fights of the Week

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

Paul Bissonnette vs. Trevor Gillies

Great fight by these two, mostly dominated by Gillies.

Matt Bradley vs. Adam McQuaid

A pretty decent fight that McQuaid had the advantage in.

Goats of the Week

Brian Rafalski – Detroit Red Wings

With about three minutes left in the game and the Stars pressing for the final goal, Rafalski is able to gain control of the puck and passes it right to Jamie Benn who feeds Brenden Morrow for the game tying goal. The Red Wings would end up losing in overtime, oops.

Jason LaBarbera – Phoenix Coyotes

LaBarbera went out to play the puck but wasn’t really able to because of the trapezoid rule, so that allowed Brandron Prust to take advantage of the situation and score. Better stay home next time LaBarbera.

Things I like

1. Not to be outdone by the Penguins recent success, Pennsylvania’s “other” team the Flyers are now on their own little winning streak before laying an egg and losing to the Panthers 5-0. The Flyers now boast the best record in the NHL. It will get tougher for them though, as Chris Pronger will be out at least a month with a broken foot. It will be interesting to see how the loss of Pronger affects the defense. If the loss to the Panthers is any indication, it won’t be good.

2. The Capitals won for the first time in awhile and snapped their winless streak. But they celebrated like they had just won the Stanley Cup. Of course it’s not like any of them would know how that would be, snap. The Capitals then creamed the Devils in the next game. Beating the Senators and the Devils isn’t really anything to write home about though. Their next game against the Penguins will show if the have gotten back on track or not.

3. Evgeni Malkin, since coming back form injury, is on fire. He is on a three game goal and scoring streak including a huge break out game against Phoenix where he netted two goals and three assists. Despite actually losing two games, the Penguins are not a team I would want to face right now.

Things I don’t

1. The starting of the Martin Brodeur trade rumors. I wrote about this in my 2^nd column this season, just retire already. I realize he has one more season on his contract after this season but he could still retire or just say he will retire after his contract is over. This isn’t like the Teemu Sleanne situation. Brodeur is not playing at a high level anymore. This also isn’t like the Ray Bourque situation. Brodeur already has plenty of Cups and records. What’s the point of going anywhere else? I realize maybe the Devils could get something for him to help them rebuild but I wouldn’t want him. Plus most of the teams that could use him either have no salary cap room or would be better off in the long term not alienating their current goalies but trading for him. There’s nothing I hate more than players that don’t know when to retire a la Brett Favre.

2. The Avalanche’s Kyle Quincey is now done for the year. Another blow to the injury riddled Avalanche but maybe a blessing in disguise as Quincey has regressed significantly from his previous two seasons. This gives him a chance to try and refocus and come back better next year.

3. The Montreal Canadiens have lost five of their last six. All is not lost as they are still in 1^st place and a lock to make the playoffs. The thing that only worries me about the Canadiens is that they don’t really have a true number one guy that can strap the team on it’s back a la Sidney Crosby. The Canadiens have scored 14 goals in the last six games but only two players have scored more than one goal. Michael Cammalleri and Brian Gionta each scored two. I can’t help but think it might be a problem come playoff time if they don’t make any trades.

4, The Ducks and their east coast road trip of inconsistency. They beat the Capitals and the Bruins but they lost to the Islanders, Hurricanes and Sabres. I’m not sure that makes much sense. It seems like they are playing up or down to their competition. Against the Sabres and Islanders the Ducks dug themselves into 0-3 holes in the 1^st period. Tough to dig yourself out of that on the road.

Stat Line of the Week

12/18/10 Carolina 4 vs. Anaheim 2

Eric Staal had a natural hat trick against the Ducks in a game where all five goals were scored by one player on each team, besides the empty net goal. He took a whopping 10 shots on goal and is on pace to have his best season in five years.

Did You Know?

Rod Langway is the only NHL player to be born in China. He was born in Taipei, Taiwan. His dad was stationed in Taiwan when he was born but he grew up in Massachusetts. Langway played for the Canadiens and Captials

Numbers, Numbers

26 – 3^rd period shots for the Capitals against the Bruins

2 – Shots in the 3^rd period for the Bruins in the same game

100 – Games between goals for Andrew Ference

99 – The span of seconds the Islanders scored all three of their goals for the game in the 1^st period

7-8 – The road records for the Canadiens and Capitals (Capitals also have an OTL), the only Eastern teams in the top eight spots that have losing road records

Quotes of the Week

“You guys saw it. There’s not a whole lot to say. That’s not the way a National Hockey League team is supposed to play.”

- RW/captain Jamie Langenbrunner after Saturday night’s 7-1 loss in Atlanta.

“At the end of the day only one line scored again. The guys have got to do what they’re paid to do, which is score some goals.”

- Coach Ron Wilson after a 4-1 loss to Vancouver.

“It was one of those nights. I probably am not going to even look at the game.”

- Coach Barry Trotz on the 6-1 loss to the Kings

“It’s amazing. It’s my first (overtime goal) ever. It’s a pretty great feeling. It’s one of those things where you score and you kind of think, ‘Did I just score?’…”

- Avalanche center Matt Duchene, whose overtime goal Friday secured a 6-5 win against Ottawa.

This Week in Hockey History

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

December 16, 1964 Detroit’s Gordie Howe picked up two goals and two assists to become the first player in NHL history to score 1,300 career points. He reched the milestone during a 7-3 win over the Rangers, in New York.

December 17, 1999 Pavel Bure scored his 13th career hat trick and added an assist in the Panthers 4-2 win at Buffalo.

December 18, 1998 Ottawa’s Alexei Yashin scored twice and added three assists as the Senators won 5-1 against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes. Yashin set a club record for points in a period with a goal and three assists in the second.

December 19, 1943 Harry Lumley became the youngest goaltender in NHL history, when he made his first appearance with the Red Wings, a 6-2 loss to the Rangers in New York. Lumley made his NHL debut at the age of 17 years and 38 days.

December 20, 1989 Chicago Blackhawks set a team record with four goals within a span of 1:56 during the third period of a 9-6 win against the St. Louis Blues, in Chicago Stadium.

December 21, 1996 Mats Sundin scored his 4th career hat trick (and his first with Toronto) and added an assist in the Maple Leafs’ 6-2 win over the Avalanche, at Colorado.

Rankings

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

Top 5

1. Pittsburgh

2. Vancouver

3. Nashville

4. Philadelphia

5. Dallas

Bottom 5

30. New Jersey

29. N.Y Islanders

28. Columbus

27. Ottawa

26. Washington

When is it time to hang up the skates? – Patrick Roy was my idol he along with my 1988-89 Panini hockey sticker book are what got me into hockey. When Roy retired in 2003 I was annoyed and upset. Not because my favorite player retired, because I knew he would eventually, but because the Avalanche were eliminated in the 1^st round against the Minnesota Wild a team they should have beaten. I wanted Roy’s career to end on a high note. Maybe not another Stanley Cup but definitely another long playoff run and certainly not a bitter Game 7 1^st round exit. But I guess Roy knew it was over for him and in reality he had nothing left to prove with his four Stanley Cups and numerous records. Most of those records have since been broken by Martin Brodeur. Which brings me to the point of this piece; it’s time to hang them up Marty.

The Devils haven’t advanced past the 1^st round of the playoffs the last three years. They haven’t been out of the 2^nd round since they last won the cup in 2003. Now not all of it is Brodeur’s fault but last year against the Flyers was just a disaster. Two years ago against the Hurricanes we all remember the two goals in the final two minutes of Game 7. Once again not entirely Brodeur’s fault as the first goal was just great passing and the second goal was partially deflected off of the Devils defenseman’s stick. Still you have to wonder that maybe those were not the best signs. This year the Devils and Brodeur (3.18 GAA, .887 SV%) are not off to a very good start. The last game against the Bruins, Brodeur gave up four goals. Some weren’t his fault but a couple of the goals you think in his heyday he would have stopped them. Sure problems plague the Devils in general. First there was the Kovalchuk contract thing, then them not resigning Paul Martin and then the failure to be able to afford enough players but it just seems like the Brodeur and Devils magic has run its course. The Devils play in the tough Atlantic division, so while they may have the talent they may not get the record to show it this season.

I realize it’s not easy for a seventeen year NHL veteran who has been surround with hockey his whole life, including when he was a kid from watching his dad play. to just stop playing but at some point he will need to make that decision. Dominik Hasek retired only to come back a season later and then retire again. Of course he recently came out of retirement again to play for the Czech Extraliga League and now the KHL at the age of 45. The reason Hasek retired from the NHL the second time was about motivation. Hasek said, “I’m glad I can make my decision. I’m not ready to compete [anymore] on the highest level.” I guess Brodeur is still motivated to compete but when you have two Olympic Gold Medals, three Stanley Cup championships and you hold almost every major goaltending record, what else do you need to prove?

Goalie Spotlight

Brent Johnson – Pittsburgh Penguins

Despite being in his 2^nd year with the Penguins, Penguins fans might wonder who is Brent Johnson and where is Marc-Andre Fleury?

A product of Farmington, Michigan Johnson was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in 1995 with the 129^th overall pick but he never actually played for them. He played for the Owen Sound Platers in the OHL but didn’t produce the best numbers. Next up was the Worcester Ice Cats of the AHL where he fared a little better. In the 1998-99 season with the Blues he finally made his NHL debut. He only played in six gamed but he played well. That year the Blues actually started five different goalies, so it’s amazing he got any playing time at all. He went back to the AHL again for a season before cracking the blues lineup the next season where he split time with Roman Turek. The next season, 2001-02 was the only season where he started over 50 games in the NHL. Producing a 2.18 GAA, .902 SV% and 5 shutouts in 58 games. The following season the Blues actually used seven different starting goalies. He was eventually phased out until he was traded to the Coyotes in a brief stint. He then latched on to the Capitals where he mainly backed up Olaf Kolizig. He was lastly the backup to Jose Theodore until Semyon Varlamov emerged as the number two goalie and then eventually the number one.

Last season Johnson backed up Fleury starting in 23 games. This season he has actually played one more game than Fleury. He is so far undefeated with four wins and a 1.49 GAA and .950 SV%. Since leading the Penguins to a Stanley Cup victory in 2009 Fleury hasn’t quite been the same. It’s not that his numbers are down, they are, but it’s more about the kind of fluky goals he lets in from time to time. So far this year Fleury has struggled as well. If Fleury can’t manage to get it together, Johnson will play an integral part in the Penguins run for another Stanley Cup.

Fights of the Week

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

Colton Orr vs. Deryk Engelland

Colton Orr with experience of over 200 fights in three different leagues was expected to be of no match for Engelland. The fight was fairly even despite Engelland having his view blocked by his dangling helmet for a bit but Engelland in the end had the KO.

Michael Rupp vs. Jody Shelley

A pretty decent scrap between these two.

Chris Stewart vs Zenon Konopka

Real decent scrap just five seconds into the game. Stewart is the Avalanche’s 2^nd leading scorer too. What’s not to love?

Goat of the Week

Tyler Myers – Buffalo Sabres

Last years Calder Trophy winner Tyler Myers mishandles the puck and Patrick Kane makes him pay setting up Patrick Sharp for the 1^st goal of the game. A goal that proved costly, as the Sabres lost to the Blackhawks 4-3.

Things I like

1. Thomas Kopecky is leading the Blackhawks in assists and tied for 2^nd in points. Drafted 38^th overall in the 200 draft, Kopecky has never scored more than 21 points in a season. Of course Kopecky is now playing on the 2^nd line with Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp, which always helps, so he should at least triple his previous point high. Kris Versteeg and Andrew Ladd who?

2. Who said the Capitals had no defense? *raises hand* The Capitals have been shorthanded 25 times this season and have so far yielded no power play goals. Whether they can keep it up or not is anyone’s guess. Since losing 4-2 to the Thrashers on opening night, the Capitals have only given up two goals or less in each game since. Credit also goes to Michal Neuvirth who has played well in place of injured Semyon Varlamov, who is now back. Of course last night against the Bruins they did give up three goals in a loss.

3. The Penguins power play actually started the week in my “Things I Don’t” section because their power play was ranked 20^th in the NHL. It’s unacceptable really for a line that boasts Malkin and Crosby and having a man advantage to be ranked that low. But they have since woken up to rise all the way to 10^th place since Sidney Crosby unleashed back to back power play goals in Philadelphia. The Penguins also get the most practice on power plays as they far and away lead the NHL with the most power play opportunities with 40.

4. The Los Angeles Kings, proving that last year was not a mirage, are off to a fairly decent start at 3-1. Jonathon Quick is off to a great start that he needed to have. He has let in just three goals in three games thus far. They are maintaining their well balanced offense and bringing the stars out to games, such as Vince Vaughn and Bristol Palin. Did I actually use Bristol Palin and star in the same sentence?

Things I don’t

1. The Flames reunited top line of Alex Tanguay, Olli Jokinen and Jarome Iginila. They had produced no points until their last game against the Oilers. This only happened because Jokinen was bumped down to the 2^nd line probably not what the Flames had envisioned when the required him but Jokinen did help set up a goal on that line. If bumping him down to the 2^nd line and Matt Stajan up is what’s needed to produce points, I think Calgary and the fans will take it.

2. Call me absolutely puzzled with the Joe Thornton deal. In the five postseasons with the Sharks, Thornton has only averaged a point a game just once and has a negative +/- in three of the five postseasons. If I was the Sharks management I would have waited to see what Thornton does in this postseason before I made an offer. Sure he’d be an unrestricted free agent but he doesn’t seem like the kind of player that would play hardball in negations. Plus if he fails miserably in the playoffs, nobody would want him anyway.

3. Luca Sbisa was probably the biggest component of the Chris Pronger trade, as the Ducks were hoping to get a young dominant defenseman to replace the old dominant defenseman. It hasn’t really worked out that way though. For the 3^rd straight year Sbisa was sent down to the Minors. It has to be disappointing for the Olympian, especially since 18 year old Cam Fowler is excelling on the team. I hope next year Sbisa is finally ready.

4. The Shane Doan suspension I thought was a bit much. I didn’t care for his hit on Cam Fowler that broke Fowler’s nose or the hit on Dan Sexton. What bothered me more though is that the ref didn’t call a penalty on either during the game. Doan is, I believe, a first time offender so I think one or two games would have served the purpose. I’ve certainly seen worse hits than the one Doan gave Sexton. The NHL clearly wants to send a message.

Stat Line of the Week

10/16/10 Florida 6 vs. Tampa Bay 0

Bryan McCabe help lead the rout of the Lightning with his four assists in the battle of Florida. Mcabe’s nice pass just two minutes into the game to Corey Stillman help set the tone of the game. Florida has now beaten their last two opponents by a combined 9-0 score.

Did You Know?

The Longest NHL suspension was given to Billy Coutu in 1927 for life. Coutu started a bench clearing brawl at the end of Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals at the apparent behest of coach Art Ross, he of the Art Ross trophy fame. He assaulted referee Jerry Laflamme and tackled referee Billy Bell. Two and a half years later the suspension was lifted but Coutu never played for the NHL again.

Numbers, Numbers

10 – Number of wins for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1993-94, the longest wining streak to start a season

15 – Number of games won or tied by the Edmonton Oilers in 1984-85, the longest undefeated streak to start a season

3 – Shorthanded goals against the Colorado Avalanche, currently worst in the league

9 – Total shorthanded goals against the Avalanche last year, 2^nd worst in the league

300 – Career goals by Dany Heatley

2 – Even strength goals for the Wild in the first four games

3 – Even strength goals last night against the Canucks

This Week in Hockey History

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

October 14, 1998     New York Islanders became just the third team in NHL history to shut out the same opponent four straight times (and the first to do so since 1927) when goalie Tommy Salo recorded his 10th career shutout in a 2-0 win at Tampa Bay.

October 15, 2003     Daniel Alfredsson scored twice to become the Ottawa Senators’ all-time leading scorer (with his 492nd career point) in a 4-3 loss to the Kings in Los Angeles. Alfredsson broke the franchise mark of 491 points set by Alexei Yashin.

October 16, 1982     Gil Perreault scored his 15th career hat trick and added two assists, one of which came on rookie Phil Housley’s first NHL goal, to lead the Sabres to a 9-2 win over the Capitals at Washington.

October 17, 1982     Victor Nechayev became the first Soviet-trained player to score a goal in the NHL — he helped the Kings to a 5-3 win over the Rangers, at New York. Nachaev played just three games during his NHL career.

October 18, 2000     18-year-old rookie Marian Gaborik scored twice in the final 2:28 of the game to lead the Minnesota Wild to their first victory in team history, 6-5 over the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning.

October 19, 1980     In a pre-game ceremony at Chicago Stadium, Stan Mikita’s uniform #21 was retired by the Black Hawks. It was the first Hawk jersey to be retired. Chicago then won the game 8-4 over the Washington Capitals.

Rankings

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

Top 5

1. Toronto
2. Washington
3. Detroit
4. Chicago
5. Tampa Bay

Bottom 5

30. Buffalo
29. Ottawa
28. New Jersey
27. Minnesota
26. Phoenix

Marian Hossa leads the league in points (nine) and tied for the league lead with five goals, as he seems primed to become the number one option in a star-laden lineup.

Who is in panic mode and who should have some patience is the theme of this week’s Pucking Awesome Hat Trick, or the top three stories I am watching this week.

Down On the Devils:

My preseason pick to win the Atlantic Division has not looked anything like a contender in the first week of the season.

The team that spent so much money and effort on signing the offensive talent of Ilya Kovalchuck is last in the league with 1.67 goals per game.

The team that has arguably the best goalie ever to lace them up is giving up 3.50 goals per game, good for 27^th in the league.

The 1-4-1 is the worst start for the franchise in the 27 years, and they are yet to win at home.

Their prized offseason acquisition, Anton Volcenkov, broke his nose in his second game in red and black. It got so bad for the cap strapped Devils that they only dressed 15 players in their third game of the season.

Will this continue for the defending Atlantic Division champions? My best guess is not likely.

This is a team with a new coach this season and already some major injuries to the back line. Rookie head coach John MacLean has already held closed door meetings and chew out sessions at practice to let the club know that this is unacceptable.

You have to remember that the season is a long one and ultimately if they start to get healthy and get production out of their top scorers they will be fine.

If not, then the Ilya Kovalchuck sweepstakes was all for naught.

Who Are These Leafs?

The biggest surprise of the first week has been the torrid play of the much improved Toronto Maple Leafs. Much has been made of their 4-0 start and how that is a polar opposite of last year’s 1-7-5 start.

Improved defensive play and clutch scoring has been the key to such a improved start.

At the middle of it all is the man that cost them Seguin, as Phil Kessel has six points and two game winning goals already this season.

Also a big part of the offensive success goes to the development of Clarke MacArthur. The player that was let go of two organizations last season has found a home in Toronto and according to the Elias Sports Bureau, MacArthur became the first Leaf ever to score in his first four games.

Their best non move of the offseason was keeping Tomas Kaberle on the roster. The veteran has shown he still has something left to give with three helpers and a plus-3 while playing over 24 minutes per game and acting as a stabilizing force for his young partner Luke Schenn. All three of his assist have come while playing on the Leafs top power play.

Can this continue? Can the Leafs become the latest team in the NHL parity party to go from playoff obscurity to a Cup contender?

My gut feeling is that this team has some staying power and should stay in the playoff picture the entire season.

Bobby Lou, Where Are You?

So all that talk that relinquishing captaincy will help Roberto Luongo focus on having a career year in his quest for the Cup is now gone.

The 31-year-old is off to another slow start by giving up 10 goals in his first four starts and a 1-2-1 record.

Luongo has saved 115 of the 125 shots he has faced including a horrible 15 saves on 19 shots loss to the Kings on Friday.

This start should not surprise anyone, as in his 11-year NHL career Luongo has notoriously been a slow starter. In 92 career games in October, Bobby Lou has a 38-45-6-3 record with a 2.56 GAA and .917 save percentage; in contrast, look at his March career numbers: 111 games with a 57-40-8-5 record—you would see that he usually saves his best for last.

The team in front of him has not been helping, as they are giving up 31.6 shots per game and they have been shorthanded 25 times.

Some good news for Vancouver is that top prospect Corey Schneider came out with a strong performance in a 32-save win over the Hurricanes Sunday night; the presence of Schneider should allow Luongo not play his 70 games and keep him fresh for his usually hot finish towards the playoffs.

I am not worried about Bobby Lou but good luck trying to tell that to the rabid fans in British Columbia.

So far I haven’t cared for the NHL’s scheduling. You have five games some days and three other days. It should just be four and four. Second and most annoying are the times the NHL has two games start at 7pm ET, why? Keep them stacked at 7pm then 7:30pm so that when the first is over you can still watch half of the 3^rd period. As opposed to when the first 7pm game is over you turned to the other 7pm game and watch the final minute, wow one minute so awesome. (note sarcasm)

So I think I’ll try a new recap column format for the playoffs that incorporates some of the old format. I didn’t have time to do as many numbers as I would like to have.

1 Washington Capitals vs. 8 Montreal Canadiens

What we learned: The Capitals defensive problems are actually much worse than anticipated.

Things I Like: Niklas Backstrom is really having a break-out playoffs. Thomas Plekanac or Thomas Jagr, as per his new nickname, is really having a great series. This comes as no surprise as he has been the best player all year for them. I liked how Ovechkin rebounded from his Game 1 disaster. Everyone has bad games, even stars, it’s how you rebound from them that matters. I love the Montreal arena atmosphere, just awesome. There is nothing like hockey in Canada.

Things I Don’t: Alexander Semin, who I mentioned needed to have a big few series, is not having a break-out playoffs. He literally has done nothing having zero points. However you can’t say he isn’t trying as he has 16 shots which is leading the capitals. Defense on some of the goals that the Capitals have given up has just been atrocious. We knew that their Defense wasn’t their strongest point but if they expect to beat more complete teams in subsequent rounds it needs to be at least adequate.

Likely Winner: Capitals

0 – Saves made by Jose Theodore on two shots

0 – Points and shots by Alex Ovechkin in the 1^st game

0 – Points thus far by Alexander Semin

2 New Jersey Devils vs. 7 Philadelphia Flyers

What we learned: The Devils are becoming the new Sharks.

Things I like: I don’t think anyone would have though Brian Boucher would play as well as he has so far, even Brian Boucher. If he keeps it up the Flyers might not need Emery or anyone else to come back.

Things I don’t: There was a call in Game 2, I believe, that led to a Flyers goal that should not have been a penalty. The Devils defenseman knocked the Flyer down but he did so after making contact with the puck first. Sometimes I wish there was instant replay for penalties too. The Devils are now down 3-1 and barring some sort of miracle are now toast. If they lose one more game this will be the 3^rd year in a row they will not have gotten out of the 1^st round as a high seed. This is not what Kovalchuk was acquired for. Martin Brodeur’s play is declining a little bit and he isn’t getting any younger. I smell problems in New Jersey and it’s not the garden state. The only good thing about the Devils going down in the 1^st round is that it should pave the way for the Capitals vs. Penguins Conference Final we all wanted.

Likely Winner: Flyers

.886% – Brodeur’s save percentage

3 Buffalo Sabres vs. 6 Boston Bruins

What we learned: That neither one of these teams are that great.

Things I like: Miller has so far played fairly well but he is being outplayed by Tuukka Rask who is making sure Tim Thomas won’t get to play. This was the battle of goalie play series and thus far it has lived up to its billing.

Things I don’t: We knew the Bruins had problems scoring goals but the Sabres seem to have more problems. It’s weird because towards the end of the Season Buffalo was scoring pretty well but so far nobody on the team has more than two points.

Likely Winner: Bruins

4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. 5 Ottawa Senators

What we learned: Love him or hate him Sidney Crosby is the man. Also someone on the Ottawa bench can’t count.

Things I like: Sidney Crosby owned game 2 in a must win game for the Penguins. All the key plays in the game involved him. He had the first goal, an amazing sliding save on a puck going near the goal line and he set up the GWG with some awesome work behind the net before he passed the puck on one knee. He has been electric since that game.

Things I don’t: Ottawa has had three too many men on the ice penalties. One is bad, two is really bad and three is just ridiculous. In the playoffs it’s just embarrassing. I didn’t care for Andy Sutton’s hit on Jordan Leopold. They said it wasn’t dirty but Leopold had his head down and couldn’t see and Sutton made contact with his head. Considering how long he lay on the ice, I think Sutton should have gotten something. Brian Elliott seems to have no chance. Poor guy, he played fairly well in the regular season. In his defense Pascal LeClaire didn’t fare much better.

Likely Winner: Penguins

11 – Points by Sidney Crosby in four games, the league leader

1 San Jose Sharks vs. 8 Colorado Avalanche

What we learned: The Sharks are cursed, no seriously they are, and also Craig Anderson is quite a goalie.

Thing I like: I really think Craig Anderson is the round 1 breakout star. So far he has been phenomenal and he has already helped to steal some games for the Avs. Whether he can steal the series outright like Hiller did for the Ducks last year remains to be seen. I love the fact that 3 of the 4 games have gone to overtime, I do wish some of them would be a little longer though.

Things I don’t: I didn’t care for the Adam Foote penalty in overtime in game 2. Sure it was a penalty but it really had no effect on the outcome of the play, so it shouldn’t have been called. In the playoffs in overtime I want to see them play without whistles. Only major penalties that really affect the game should be called. The Avalanche are not a consistent bunch. They had almost no shots on goal in games two and three but they shot fine in games one and four. I really think if the Sharks lose this series they need to just rebuild the whole team. If they win regardless of how far they go, they need to find a new goalie because Nabokov is just not cutting it in the playoffs.

103 – Combined shots by San Jose in games 2 and 3

39 – Combined shots by Colorado in games 2 and 3

174 – total shots faced by Craig Anderson, yikes

Likely Winner: San Jose, barely

2 Chicago Blackhawks vs. 7 Nashville Predators

What we learned: The Blackhawks sure hit a lot of crossbars and posts. As for the Predators well.. they’re like the Blue Jackets why do they exist? Sorry Predator and Blue Jacket fans it’s just the name and the city it’s just all wrong.

Things I like: The Blackhawks goaltending receives a lot of flack but so far Anti Niemi has played pretty well. He has given up a couple of bad goals but otherwise it’s been all good and he even has a shutout. Unfortunately he isn’t getting much help. Pekka Rinne has so far been sensational, which also doesn’t help Niemi.

Things I don’t: The Blackhawks really haven’t played all that well and I’m not really sure what the problem is. The definitely need to work on their accuracy with all the pings they have gotten at the end of the season and thus far in the 1^st round. Considering the progress they made last post season and the addition of Hossa losing in the 1^st round would be a huge step backwards for them. It would also help if the captain Jonathan Toews would show up.

Likely Winner: I still think Chicago can pull it out

.953% – Save percentage of Pekka Rinne, the league leader

3 Vancouver Canucks vs. 6 Los Angeles Kings

What we learned: If you thought the Gold medal was what Luongo needed to get over the hump, well it wasn’t.

Things I like: Drew Doughty is the man. Despite that fact that he is only 21 and he leads the Kings in postseason scoring as a defenseman what really makes him awesome are his defensive skills. He’s had many phenomenal plays including breaking up a Sedin twins two on one. Overall this has been an exciting series and the Los Angeles crowds are into the games.

Things I don’t: Luongo and Nabokov seem to have the same problem of not showing up in the playoffs. If Luongo can’t pull it together it doesn’t look good for the Canucks. The Sedin Game 3 kicked goal should have been a goal. It was not a direct kicking motion. It’s possible his plan was to stop there to force the puck in but I highly doubt it. Good news was it didn’t matter because they lost by two goals.

Likely Winner: Kings

4 Phoenix Coyotes vs. 5 Detroit Red Wings

What we learned: Shane Doan can get really pumped when he scores a goal, I just loved his enthusiasm.

Things I like: Despite how high the Coyotes finished I still had my doubts with how they would fare in the postseason especially opening against the Red Wings. But they played exceptionally well and some of the up and down play by both teams in certain stretches was unreal. I dug the crowd in Phoenix in the first two games they were very loud and it’s nice they finally came out to support their team. It should be rocking for Game 5.

Things I don’t: There isn’t much to fault except the goalies might want to practice defending breakaways a little more.

Likely Winner: too close to call

Goat of the Week

Dan Boyle – San Jose Sharks

Well I’m sure you’ve all seen this a billion times by now, but hey let’s see it again.

I have to admit I laughed when this happened. All I could think was typical Sharks luck, I mean what are the odds that this would happen to anyone else but them in the playoffs? I can’t tell if O’Reilly actually tipped the puck or not.

T.J Galiardi – Colorado Avalanche

Another gaffe that happened in Game 3 was T.J Galiardi’s breakaway, which was by far the worst breakaway I have ever seen. All he did was stickhandle the entire time until he ran out of ice and ran into Nabokov. Shoot the puck T.J you can’t score if you don’t shoot. Unless he thought Nabokov would fall asleep because of sheer boredom. If he would have connected, he would have spared Dan Boyle.

This Week in Hockey History

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

April 15, 1975 Vancouver Canucks recorded their first-ever playoff win, 2-1 at Montreal to even their series at one game apiece in Game 2 of the Quarter-Finals. Garry Monahan tallied the first playoff game-winner for Vancouver, while Bob Dailey had two assists.

April 16, 1987 Ken Wregget recorded his second career playoff shutout to lead the Maple Leafs to a 4-0 win over the visiting St. Louis Blues, in Game 6 of the Norris Division Semi-Finals. With the win, Toronto advanced to the Division Finals vs Detroit.

April 17, 1969 Gerry Cheevers became the first goaltender in playoff history to get 3 straight shutouts at home, and Phil Esposito scored twice and added 3 assists, in the Bruins’ 5-0 win against the visiting Montreal Canadiens, in Game Three of the Semi-Finals.

April 18, 1993 Pittsburgh Penguins won 6-3 over the Devils at the Civic Arena to tie an NHL record with their 12th consecutive playoff victory. The record was set in 1984-85 by the Edmonton Oilers. Mario Lemieux scored two goals and two assists.

April 19, 1982 Denis Savard scored a hat trick to lead the Black Hawks to a 7-4 playoff win over St. Louis, in Game 4 of the Norris Division Finals at Chicago Stadium.

April 20, 1994 Chris Osgood became the fifth rookie goalie in NHL history to record a shutout in his first career playoff game, when he led the Red Wings to a 4-0 win over the Sharks, in Game Two of the Western Conference Quarter-Finals, in Detroit.

East (Least)

1.        z-Washington             80        118     +83

2.        x-New Jersey             79        99        +25

3.        y-Buffalo                     79        98        +28

4.        x-Pittsburgh                79        97        +16

5.        x-Ottawa                     80        93        -9

6.        Montreal                     80        87        -2

7.        Philadelphia               80        86        +11

8.        Boston                        79        85        +1

West (Beast)

1.        y-San Jose                 80        109     +46

2.        y-Chicago                  79        107     +59

3.        y-Vancouver               80        101     +48

4.        x-Phoenix                   79        102     +20

5.        x-Nashville                  80        98        +2

6.        x-Los Angeles           79        97        +23

7.        x-Detroit                     79        96        +10

8.        x-Colorado                 79        93        +16

I won’t do match-ups this week since we still have a week to go but some things jump out at me.

Not that GA/GF is the, be all end all of everything but I think it’s an important stat. In the West you can pretty much see who the weakest link is, Nashville. I can’t imagine them getting past the 1^st round, everybody else will be tough and it’s totally up for grabs. If you go by the +25 cut off point, if you don’t know what I’m talking about read last weeks column, it’s still just San Jose, Chicago, and Vancouver. Los Angeles has a shot to make the cut-off point mostly thanks to the +5 they had on Bobby Lu (more on him below) and the Canucks. If you would have told me that Phoenix would make the playoffs at the start of the season I wouldn’t have believed you. If you would have told me they would get over 100 points, I would have laughed in your face for 30 minutes. But here we are. Colorado ended up around where I thought they would. I thought Los Angeles was a year away from making the playoffs but here they are anyway.

In the East I think it’s telling how bad the conference is when the 9^th place Western team would be in 6^th place in the East and probably hold the advantage. Not to mention the 5^th place Senators have a -9. In the East it’s the same three teams over +25, Washington, Buffalo and New Jersey. Even though Pittsburgh will probably finish in 4^th like last year, New Jersey has the tiebreaker; I think it’s safe to say they lost their mojo. Of course Malkin has only played in two of the past ten games and he is a huge part of what makes that team go. The most interesting thing about the East is if there are no upsets, which doesn’t seem likely but isn’t there always at least one, and the top 4 stay as they are Pittsburgh would meet Washington in the 2^nd round, again, despite the NHL’s wishes. I’d have to admit I was hoping they would meet in the conference finals this year as well. Washington seems to have Pittsburgh’s number too. It would also setup a 2^nd round of Miller vs. Brodeur and won’t that be fun. This would be a rematch of the Team USA vs. Team Canada gold medal game goalies… o wait nevermind.

Fights of the Week

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

Darcy Hordichuk vs. George Parros

The 4^th fight this season and 10^th overall between these two. Short but lots of good punched and probably one of the better Parros fights.

Jason Strudwick vs. Brian Sutherby

Good rights by Strudwick and good lefts by Sutherby. It’s a shame it didn’t last longer.

Goat of the Week

Roberto Luongo – Vancouver Canucks

Roberto Luongo had what some may say a bad night at the office when he gave up eight goals against the Kings. Some were fairly bad but the eighth goal pretty much summed up his night. It probably had him longing for the day when he received his gold medal. Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault on why he didn’t pull Luongo, “I’ve got a plan, and I’m going to stick to the plan.” Translation: Luongo sucking wasn’t part of the plan.

And because we love Luongo so much, here’s another one from against the Avalanche. He tried to cover with his blocker hand, don’t you see the problem with that already, and butted it in with his stick. Not sure if it was over the line yet but while he was busy not covering the puck the Avalanche stormed and knocked it in.

Things I like

1. Jaroslav Halak started to heat up in March which included, among other things, a six game win streak. Now he has boiled over and recorded two straight shutouts in crucial games for Montreal’s playoffs chances. Perhaps this will finally put an end to the misery that is the Carey Price experiment in Montreal. Not to totally rag on Price but he’s had a rough go of it in Montreal. especially with the media. I think he’s someone who would benefit from a change in scenery.

2.  A home and home series of the Philadelphia Flyers vs. the New York Rangers in the final two games of the regular season. Talk about scheduling prowess but I like that the teams competing for a spot have to face each other. That’s the way it should be, although I realize it rarely happens. Of course since the Rangers just lost to Buffalo, it doesn’t really matter anymore. O well.

3. Since being inserted as the starting goalie since Huet melted down, Antti Niemi has played well enough to justify being a starter in his own right and not just simply the lesser of two evils option. In the past four games he has only allowed four goals.

4. I just love the points race between Henrik Sedin and Alex Ovechkin. Ditto the goals race between Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby and Steven Stamkos. I also loved Ovie’s empty net goal with about one second left in the game against the Penguins, just priceless.

Things I don’t

1. Hey buddy can I buy a goal? That’s what Boston Bruin players and fans must be saying. They have now dropped into the lowest scoring team in the NHL. Hard to imagine they were the 2^nd highest scoring team last year. I wonder if they regret trading Phil Kessel, no wait I know the answer to that. Amazingly they did score five on Calgary the other week and four on Atlanta. They have now mustered up five goals in their last four games.

2. The plucky Atlanta Thrashers had their luck finally run out. With the Rangers winning and the Thrashers only able to muster up three points in the last five games their run for the playoffs has come to an end. Hard to root against a team who seems to shed one superstar a season but then you realize they play in Atlanta and have the second lowest attendance on top of only Phoenix, who has their attendance problems well documented, so then you don’t feel too bad.

Stat Line of the Week

04/03/10 Vancouver 5 vs. Anaheim 4

In his first NHL season the former 1^st round pick Michael “Grabby” Grabner had his first career hat trick. Not to shabby in only twelve minutes of play. He should be one to watch next year in what will likely be an increased role.

Did You Know?

That the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks have never made the playoffs in the same season. Sadly that is the case this year as the Ducks won’t make the playoffs for the first time since 2003-04 or the lockout year if you want to be technical, though nobody made it then. They have both missed it in the same season though.

Numbers, Numbers

13 – Number of 25 goal seasons for Teemu Selanne

801 – Number of career assists for the 39 year old Mike Modano

4 – Number of goals in 54 games for Peter Mueller with the Phoenix Coyotes

9 – Number of goals in 15 games for Peter Mueller with the Colorado Avalanche

0 – Number of wins by the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins over the Washington capitals this season in four games

600 – Number of wins by Martin Brodeur, win 600 was a shutout fittingly

This Week in Hockey History

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

April 01, 1990 Luc Robitaille scored his 100th point of the season (for the second time in his career), as the Kings lost 8-4 to the Flames at Calgary.

April 02, 1927 New York Rangers’ Lorne Chabot became the first rookie goalie in NHL history to get a shutout in his first playoff game, when he and Bruins’ Hal Winkler traded shutouts in a scoreless tie, in Game One of the Stanley Cup Semi-Finals.

April 03, 1966 In the final game of the 1965-66 season, Chicago’s Bobby Hull picked up an assist (during a 4-2 loss at Boston) to give him 97 points, the most ever by a player in one season. Hull broke Dickie Moore’s NHL record of 96 points set in 1958-59.

April 04, 1976 Chicago’s Tony Esposito became the first goaltender in NHL history to record 30 (or more) wins for seven straight seasons, when the Blackhawks had a 7-2 win over the visiting St. Louis Blues.

April 05, 1995 Montreal Canadiens obtained Pierre Turgeon and Vladimir Malakhov from the New York Islanders, in exchange for Kirk Muller, Mathieu Schneider and Craig Darby.

April 06, 1974 Rookie Denis Potvin scored a goal and three assists in the final game of the season, to give him NHL records for most goals (17), assists (54), and points (71) by a rookie defenseman. Islanders won 4-2 over the Minnesota North Stars in New York.

Rankings

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

Top 5

1. Detroit
2. Nashville
3. Washington
4. Anaheim
5. Buffalo

Bottom 5

30. Tampa Bay
29. Florida
28. Colorado
27. Minnesota
26. Philadelphia

Anaheim Ducks Watch

In the last five games, up until the last kings game, the Ducks have garnered nine points, only one short of the maximum possible. Not to shabby especially when you consider they are doing it without Ryan Getzlaf and Jonas Hiller.

Anaheim played Colorado at Colorado in a game they must have otherwise they would pretty much be out of it. They delivered especially the Selanne, Blake, Koivu line. This was the first game the line played exceptionally well and the start of their current streak. In fact Selanne, Koivu with Niedermayer and Eminger all had +5 for the game. Blake had a +4. Selanne had a goal number 601 in which he tied his boyhood idol and fellow Fin Jari Kurri.

Next was Vancouver at home in a rematch of a game where the Ducks didn’t really show up in Vancouver the week before. Ever hear of Michael Grabner? Well I haven’t but the Canucks felt highly enough of him to draft him 14^th overall in the 2006 draft. He showed why as he recorded his 1^st career hat trick. This was a highly entertaining game. For the Ducks Selanne and Koivu each recorded two clutch goals a piece. Selanne’s goals came on the power-play as he officially passed Kurri on the goals list. Koivu’s second goal came on the power-play with the goalie pulled and tied the game in the final two minutes to force overtime. Overtime was just as exciting as the regular game but no one scored. In overtime and towards the end of the 3^rd period there were some questionable no calls on both sides. I like that they let them play though and they were somewhat consistent with the officiating. In the shootout Mr. Reliable Selanne was not reliable and even though Curtis McElhinney was great in the game he was not very good in the shootout. Canucks win in the shutout but the Ducks get that all important point.

Next were the Kings in a “road” game in Los Angeles. The Kings got a weird bounce goal to take a 1-0 lead at the end of the 1^st. Lots of chances the rest of the game in another entertaining game. This game also had some questionable no calls. Nobody scored gain to the end of the 3^rd until Koivu ties the game in the final two minutes with a power-play goal with the goalie pulled. Hmm… where have I seen that before? Koivu’s new nickname is Mr. Clutch. In the shootout McElhinney was much better than he was in the shootout against the Canucks. Nobody scored in the shootout except for, guess who, Saku Koivu.

Next was another game against Los Angeles this time at home. The Ducks tried to keep their playoff hopes alive and jumped out to a 4-1 lead. Selanne scored two goals and Bobby Ryan finally snapped his eight game goalless drought. Ryan did it off a Vancouver miscue into a wide open net. But alas the Kings stormed back and forced overtime. The Ducks needed to win the shootout to stay alive but since the Avalanche beat the Canucks in their own shootout right before it didn’t really matter. It’s just as well since Los Angeles ended up beating the Ducks in the shootout anyway.

Anaheim started to put it all together these last few weeks but it was too late in the end. I was most impressed with how hot Selanne and Koivu were these past few weeks. But of course that is what was envisioned when they were put together at the beginning of the year but it never materialized. That coupled with injuries (Getzlaf, Selanne, Wisniewski, Lupul), Hiller starting slow and Whitney not really fitting in doomed the Ducks. Visnovsky ended up fitting in really well after the trade but again something that didn’t happened until it was too late. If Niedermayer and Selanne come back next year I think this will be a dangerous team if they stay healthy, since most of the chemistry issues have been worked out.

Teams with 2 games this weekend: Ducks, Flames, Blackhawks, Avalanche, Stars, Red Wings, Oiler, Wild, Canadiens, Devils, Rangers, Flyers, Sharks, Canucks

Forwards to watch:

Jarome Iginla, Flames W:  The former Hart Trophy winner and captain of the Flames needs to have a big weekend as the Flames make or break weekend is here.  The Flames open up their weekend with a head-to-head matchup vs the team they are trying to catch in the standings, the Avalanche.  Iginla has been cold of lately with one goal in his last six games and one goal in his last 11.  Numbers those are not acceptable in both fantasy and a team fighting for their playoff lives.  Iginla needs a big weekend for the Flames who have two big matchups vs the Avs and Blackhawks.

Johan Franzen, Red Wings C/W: No one is hotter than the Mule, the power forward has nine goals and 15 points since his return from knee surgery.  The Red Wings have a pivotal matchup vs Nashville, a team who he has scored 11 career goals in 27 games, and out of conference matchup vs the goalie deficient Flyers.  The red hot Franzen should continue his current run as he gains momentum towards another huge playoffs (51 career playoff points in 63 games).

Marian Gaborik, Rangers W: The Rangers winger reached the 40-goal mark for the second time of his career this week, but more importantly has played 70 games this season.  Now comes the time of year that the Rangers paid full price for this off-season, and with two games against the Southleast basement dwellers Gaborik is poised to have a big weekend.  The Rangers play on the road vs the Lightning (25^th in the league in GAA, 3.03) and the Panthers (20^th in the league in GAA, 2.86) and Gaborik had seven points in his last six games and look for it to continue as the Rangers need these four points against inferior opponents.

Defenseman To Watch:

Kevin Bieksa, Canucks: The 28-year-old defenseman had a career year last season and has not been able to stay healthy this year including missing 27 games due to a lacerated leg.  Now finally healthy the mobile defenseman is playing 22 minutes a game as the Canucks have secured their playoff position.  The kid with the rocket shot (539 career shots) will be important this weekend and going forward for the Canucks back line.

Andrei Markov, Canadiens:  With games against two of the top scoring teams this weekend, Flyers (2.87 goals per game) and Sabres (2.86 goals per game) it was hard to argue that the goaltender might be the biggest person to watch for the Candiens, but the improve play of Markov will be more important.  With Montreal’s loss to Carolina on Wednesday it has brought them down to the pack of the five teams vying for the final three East playoff spots.  The 31-year-old defenseman has been steady force on the back line for a team torn between two goalies.  Markov has 12 points in his last 14 games but best of all he is a +11 in those games.  This all was after missing two games due to a lower body injury, the Canadiens will need their top d-man at his top shape as they push for the playoffs.

Dan Boyle, Sharks:  The 33-year-old defenseman seems to not be slowing down in the most important part of the season.  Boyle has six points in a four-game point streak as he climbs the scoring ranks for defenseman (15G-41A-56P).  The power play is where he has done most of his damage with six power play goals and 23 power play assists and special teams will be important in the Sharks two games on the road this weekend against the Wild and Avalanche.

Goalies To Watch:

Craig Anderson, Avalanche:  The career backup has finally been given the reigns and has thrived this season for the surprised Avs but has almost already doubled his career high in games played (67).  He seems to have hit a wall by winning only one of his last seven games, in those game he has an awful 4.25 GAA and even worst .857 save percentage.  With games against the Flames, as mentioned before the team chasing them, and high scoring Sharks (3.14 goals per game).  For the upstart Avalanche to even make the playoffs they need their top goaltender to get back to the goalie that has won a career high 36 games.

Martin Brodeur, Devils: The greatest goalie that has ever played needs to be on top of his game this weekend as the Devils try to chase down an Atlantic Division crown.  Brodeur has come on some hard luck lately only giving up 10 goals in his last four starts, but only one win to show.  In comes to Newark the also struggling but high scoring Blackhawks followed by one of the hottest team in the NHL, Carolina Hurricanes.  For the Devils to take one of the top three seeds in the East they need the great Marty Brodeur to prove he is not wearing down.

Antti Niemi, Blackhawks:  The 26-year-old Finnish net minder has seemed to be the choice for the Stanley Cup favorite Blackhawks, but it is really by default.  Money bags Huet gave up seven goals in his only start in the last couple of weeks, while Niemi is coming off a 21 save shutout vs the Wild.  So this weekend with games against two teams with more on the line (Devils and Flames) it will be impertinent for the rookie goaltender to secure his spot as the top goalie on one of the NHL’s top teams.      

So as the break hits here at Pucking Awesome as the teams hit the Olympic break, we will break down the rankings of goalies, defensemen, centers and wingers.  The first position to look at is the most important position to a fantasy team down the stretch, the goaltender.

This season has seen many goalies shuttle from the bench to a starter role or even like in Michael Leighton’s case from the waiver wire to one of the hottest goalies headed into the Olympic break.  Now let’s examine the top netminders as time winds down on the NHL and Fantasy seasons

Here are the Olympic Break rankings for goalies:

1. Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose:  34-9-9, 2.26, .928
2. Ryan Miller, Buffalo:   30-14-7,2.16 GAA, .930 SV%
3. Martin Brodeur, New Jersey:   34-20-3, 2.32, .915
4. Roberto Luongo, Vancouver:   31-17-2, 2.35, .919
5. Craig Anderson, Colorado:   31-16-5, 2.42, .924
6. Ilya Bryzgalov, Phoenix:   32-17-4, 2.30, .920
7. Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh:   29-16-4, 2.65, .908
8. Tomas Vokoun, Florida :  19-21-10, 2.36, .931
9. Antti Niemi, Chicago:   17-4-1, 2.16, .913
10. Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles:   35-17-3, 2.53, .907
11. Miikka Kipprusoff, Calgary:   27-19-9, 2.18, .925
12. Brian Elliott, Ottawa:  22-13-2, 2.59, .910
13. Jonas Hiller, Anaheim:   26-17-2, 2.70, .919
14. Tuukka Rask, Boston:   14-7-4, 2.08, .928
15. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers:  25-22-6, 2.41, .920
16. Niklas Backstrom, Minnesota:   23-18-4, 2.74, .901
17. Jean-Sebastian Giguere, Toronto:   6-10-5, 2.90, .907
18. Jimmy Howard, Detroit:   21-1-8, 2.28, .927
19. Pekka Rinne, Nashville:   20-12-4, 2.80, .902
20. Jaroslav Halak, Montreal :  17-10-2, 2.56, .923
21. Chris Mason, St. Louis:  20-17-8, 2.53, .907
22. Antero Niittymaki, Tampa Bay:  16-10-5, 2.55, .917
23. Michael Leighton, Philadelphia:   13-7-1, 2.73, .905
24. Marty Turco, Dallas:  19-15-9, 2.63, .915
25. Kari Lehtonen, Dallas:  (AHL) 1-1-2, 2.67, .899

Goal Controversy – The Washington Capitals franchise record streak came to an end against the Canadiens. They only lost in overtime but apparently the Capitals thought it should never have gone to overtime, as they had a goal that was disallowed. I don’t really care what the initial call was, if you’re going to plow the opposing team’s players into their own goalie, you’re going to score goals all the time. Of course you can’t do that, nor should you be allowed to. I have no idea what Ovechkin was thinking on that play or why anyone on the Capitals actually thought that goal should have counted.

Minor Trades – A few minor trades happened before the Olympic roster freeze. The best trade was the one the Blackhawks made with the Wild. The Blackhawks received Kim Johnsson and Nick Leddy and the Wild received Cam Barker. Advantage goes to the Blackhawks for sure in this deal. Barker has been a disappointment and Blackhawks want to clear space for next season. Johnsson has a higher salary but he is a free agent next year so the Blackhawks will definitely let him walk. They also get a prospect in Leddy, not to shabby. As for the Wild well they better hope Barker’s change of scenery improves his game, especially if Leddy becomes a decent talent.

Goalie Spotlight

Marc-Andre Fleury – Pittsburgh Penguins

Marc-Andre Fleury was selected first overall in the 2003 NHL entry draft. His nickname of flower is a derivative, fleuri, of his last name.  Fleuri means flower in French. He started his career playing for QMJHL for the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles in 2000. In 2003 he was named to the All-Star second team and he helped lead Canada to a Silver medal in the World Junior Championship. This was enough success for the Penguins to make him the first pick. Cape Breton later retired Fleury’s number. Fluery was the youngest NHL goaltender in the league in 2003 and he was named rookie of the month. Due to financial difficulties Pittsburgh did not want to pay Fluery his bonus. Since they didn’t want him getting the chance to earn it they let him play in the 2004 World Junior Championship. He led Canada to another Silver medal and then he was sent back to Cape Breton where he tore it up. After that he was sent to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL) where he only played in the playoffs. Since the 04-05 NHL season was canceled, Fluery stayed playing in the AHL.

Fleury got his chance to be the starter in the 05-06 season when Jocelyn Thibault was injured. He ended up beating out Thibault and Sebastien Caron to become the number one goalie. All was not well however, as the Penguins finished last in the conference and allowed a league worst 316 goals. Despite this the Penguins saw his talent and rewarded him with a two year extension. The 06-07 season featured a much improve Penguins team that made the playoffs. Fleury was able to post his first NHL SV% above .900 (.906) and his first GAA below 3.00 (2.83) behind a better team. He became the only other goalie besides Tom Barrasso to win 40 games for the franchise. The Penguins ended up losing to Stanley Cup Finalist Ottawa in the first round in five games.

Fleury sat out most of the 07-08 season with an ankle sprain allowing Ty Conlkin to start much of the year. When he came back from the injury he was 22-4-1 including the playoffs up until the Stanley Cup Final. Fleury’s career moment, up until this time, was probably his 55 save effort in triple overtime that forced a game 6. In game 6 he ended up sitting on the game winning goal and accidentally pushed it in, which was his lowest career point. He signed a seven year deal in the off-season. In the 08-09 season Fleury was able to stay healthy and start a majority of the games. His numbers dipped from the previous season but they were still an improvement over the 06-07 season. He picked up his game in the postseason and was instrumental in most series particularly the opening round series against the Flyers. The Penguins found themselves with a rematch against the Red Wings in the Finals. Fleury made many huge saves including a diving stop in the final seconds of game 7 to help the Penguins win the Stanley Cup.

So far the current season has not been one of Fleury’s strongest, though he did start out the year 8-0. He has yet to record a shutout this season, which would be a first for his NHL career if he doesn’t end up posting one. However, the Penguins are at the top of the standings and fighting the Devils for the division crown. Even if he hasn’t played his best hockey, Penguin fans know Fleury always saves his best for the postseason.

Fights of the Week

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

Colton Orr vs. Cam Janssen

These two fought briefly in the 1st period before being thwarted by the refs. They came back with a vengeance in the 2nd. Some decent shots in between the filler.

Nate Thompson vs. Matt Martin

A decent fight between two guys who don’t fight all that much. Martin gets the slight edge.

Aaron Rome vs. James Sheppard

Rome is a pretty good fighter when he can’t see. I’m surprised the refs didn’t break up the fight immediately because of that.

Goat of the Week

Steve Montador – Buffalo Sabres

Montador, a former Duck, loses an edge playing the puck behind the net and coughs it up in overtime. Brandon Sutter had a pretty pass to Sergei Samsonov who puts it behind a not ready Ryan Miller. You have to be more alert Miller even if it was Montador’s fault.

Things I like

1. Earlier in the year we thought we would get two or three teammates in the top 6 scoring at the end of the year. We still might but instead of it being a couple of Sharks it looks like it will be a couple of Capitals. Ovechkin is in 1^st and Backstrom is in 3^rd. Fellow teammate Semin isn’t too far behind in 12^th place.

2. Jonathan Quick is leading the league in wins. I don’t think anyone could see that coming. He tied the Kings franchise record for wins in a season with 35. He should easily shatter that before the season is done. He also gets a trip to Vancouver. It’s unlikely he will play much being the 3^rd goalie but he will pick-up some valuable experience. In four years he will probably be the number 2 guy behind Miller.

3. The Kings and Oilers ten round shootout. I’ve written about the shootout here before and I know many fans have their arguments of why they do and don’t like it. But watching a ten rounder is always fun and suspenseful.

4. The top eight players in +/- consists of five Washington Capitals and three Vancouver Canucks. I think that says a lot about top teams and lines in the league.

Things I don’t

1. The Devils are still slumping and Ilya hasn’t been the goal scoring machine the Devils had hoped, with only one goal in six games. He does have four assists though. The Devils struggles can also be attributed to Martin Brodeur struggling as of late. In the month of February his SV% was .871 which is lower than his career and regular season averages. He even got pulled in the regular finale before the Olympics against Carolina. Both Ilya and Brodeur are heading to Vancouver, so much needed rest is not what they will be receiving.

2. Giguere’s good fortune lasted only two games in Toronto. He lost his next two games, after his two game shutout streak, giving up a combined 7 goals. No more games until after the break so he should be able to get in plenty of practice with his favorite goalie coach.

3. No NHL hockey for two weeks. Sure there is Olympic hockey but it’s not the same.

Stat Line of the Week

02/14/10 Anaheim 7 vs. Edmonton 3

Getzlaf returned from his ankle injury and was the main catalyst for the Ducks big victory of the Oilers. Scoring two powerplay goals he helped reverse the trend of the Ducks struggling with their powerplay on the road. He also sent a strong message to Steve Yzerman of Team Canada to keep him on the Olympic squad.

Did You Know?

In honor of the Canadian women’s Olympic hockey team drubbing Slovakia 18-0, I give you the most lopsided NHL game. In 1944 the Detroit Red Wings beat the NY Rangers 15-0. Syd Howe would record a hat trick in the final six minutes of the game. The Rangers only won six games that season and will go down in history as one of the worst teams ever.

Numbers, Numbers

2.08 – GAA of Tuukka Rask the current league leader and currently a back-up goalie

43 – Alex Ovechkin’s +/- the current league leader

163 – PIM for Cam Janssen, number two in the league currently

0 – Points scored by Cam Janssen so far this season

This Week in Hockey History

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

February 11, 1988 Toronto’s Borje Salming became just the fifth defenseman in NHL history to get 600 career assists. The milestone came in a 4-3 Maple Leafs win over the visiting New York Islanders.

February 12, 1929 Montreal Canadiens’ goalie George Hainsworth recorded his 15th shutout of the season (and the 42nd of his career) in a 2-0 against over the Pirates at Pittsburgh.

February 13, 2002 Dominik Hasek recorded his 60th career shutout, and Scotty Bowman became just the 2nd coach to win 400 games with Detroit, in the Red Wings 2-0 win over the Wild at Minnesota.

February 14, 1994 Wayne Gretzky picked up two assists to record a 100-point season for the 14th time in his career (extending his NHL record) as the Kings lost 3-2 to the Bruins at the Forum.

February 15, 1989 Chicago’s Jeremy Roenick tied a club record for rookies, with four points (a goal and three assists) as the Blackhawks won 7-4 over the visiting Washington Capitals.

February 16, 1980 Boston’s Jean Ratelle picked an assist to give him 1,220 career points, passing Jean Beliveau and moving up to No. 7 on the NHL’s all-time scoring list. Bruins won 5-3 over the Rockies, at Colorado.

Rankings

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

Top 5

1. Los Angeles
2. Washington
3. Ottawa
4. Carolina
5. Phoenix

Bottom 5

30. Toronto
29. NY Islanders
28. Edmonton
27. Florida
26. Detroit

Anaheim Ducks Watch

The Ducks got the win at home against the Oilers in a much closer than it should have been game 3-2. This was the 11^th straight win for the Ducks at home, a franchise record. Bobby Ryan had two goals and Marchant had the game winner.

If a goal is scored and no one notices does it still count? The answer is yes, as Toronto noticed that Tory Bodie tipped in Scott Niedermayer’s shot. The refs counted the goal and rewound the clock. Of course it didn’t really matter as the Flames basically dominated the rest of the game and scored three goals, led by Jerome Iginila, after that. Real nice of the Ducks to show up to a hugely important playoff type game.

The Ducks then played the Oilers again, this time at Edmonton. The Ducks erupted for seven goals in the 7-3 win. The powerplay was clicking scoring four goals. Ryan Getzlaf made his return to the lineup with authority, scoring two goals and two assists. The Ducks made a statement in this game and it’s a good thing, since they won’t be playing again for awhile. I’d like to think the Ducks have a good chance to make the playoffs. The problem is there are seven teams within seven points of each other, all vying for the last two playoff spots. Or five teams within four points. Even if the Ducks get hot, there is no guarantee two other teams won’t.

Winter Classic? – The NHL had their annual winter classic on New Years Day. Certainly the most marketable game, besides the Finals, and it also draws the most ratings for a regular season by a huge margin. I remember the first winter classic between the Sabres and Penguins. I thought the snow flurries added a nice touch. It look cool watching it on TV but it wasn’t snowing hard enough to ruin the performance of the game. I also thought the game was rigged. It seemed too fishy to have the game to go into a shootout and have it be won by Sidney Crosby. I mean that NHL gets to showcase one of the more exciting aspects of the game, the 1 on 1 shootout, and they get to have their most marketable star, Crosby, win the game. But I guess that’s just what happened.

I didn’t get to watch last years’ game because I thought the game was on at 1pm. Which it was but I live on the west coast so when I turned it on about five minutes before 1pm it had about five minutes left in the game. I can’t remember being more annoyed. This year’s game between the Bruins and Flyers featured almost 40 minutes worth of pre game activities. Some of them added a nice touch I thought like talking to Bobby Orr and Bobby Clarke and showing classic footage of each. But overall I thought it dragged and I just wanted the game to start already.

The game was kind of flat. I didn’t find most of it to be all that exciting, except for the end. Philadelphia truly dominated all but the last 5 minutes of the game and overtime. Even though Boston had one more shot on goal in certainly didn’t feel that way. Philadelphia had the better scoring chances and it always seemed to have an odd man rush in their favor every five minutes. Whether it was a breakaway or a 2 on 1, Tim Thomas kept the Bruins in the game. He played like a monster in front of the monster (I couldn’t resist) with well timed saves and occasionally losing his gear during them. I was stunned to see the Bruins tie it up with about three minutes to go in the game. I wasn’t surprised they won it in overtime though; you could tell the momentum had shifted after that. Michael Leighton played really well for the Flyers which I wasn’t expecting, since he didn’t exactly tear it up for Carolina. But he has played well since coming to Philadelphia. Leighton has played on four different teams in his career and is in his second stint with the Flyers. Hopefully he has found a home this time. If he continues to play well I suspect he has and he may even push Emery out the door when he gets back. I was hoping for rain or snow during the game but that didn’t happen. I look forward to next year’s game, wherever that may be.

Goalie Spotlight

Roberto Luongo – Vancouver Canucks

Named to the Canadian team this past week I figured I do a write-up on him. Loyal readers know that I already did spotlights on all of the goalies on team USA.

Robert Luongo is the first goalie to be named captain of his team since Bill Durnan in the 1947-48 season. Luongo is a native of Montreal, Quebec like so many other great goalies that come from Quebec. He has a rink named after him where he used to play the 2^nd goalie with that honor, the first being Martin Brodeur. He started skating at age 8 and wanted to play goalie then, but his parents wanted him to focusing on his skating. At age 11, after playing forward for a few years, his team’s regular goalie didn’t show. After begging his mom he was allowed to play goal. She said on that day, “It made me sad because he loved hockey and couldn’t skate.”[1] As fate would have it Luongo posted a shutout on that day and it was clear he was meant to be a goalie. At age 15 Luongo joined Montreal-Bourassa a midget team that Martin Brodeur and Felix Potvin (who Luongo is linked to in many ways) played for before they were stars. Luongo then moved on Val-d’Or Foreurs (a junior ice hockey team) where he received rave reviews. Luongo was drafted with the 4^th pick by the New York Islanders in 1997. He was the highest drafted goalie ever until the Islanders, again, picked Rick DiPietro 1^st overall three years later.

In the 1999-2000 season, a few months after signing his contract, Luongo split time with the AHL (Lowell Lock Monsters) and the Islanders. Luongo played so well that he surpassed Felix Potvin as the starting goalie so Potvin was traded to Vancouver. Despite being considered their future goalie the Islanders traded Luongo and Olli Jokinen to the Panthers for Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha. This paved the way for the Islanders to take DiPietro.

Luongo started his career with the Panthers splitting time with Trevor Kidd but he soon emerged as the clear cut number one. It was hard to record wins playing for the struggling Panthers but he continually posted great GAA and SV%. An ankle injury sidelined him for a third of the 01-02 season. He received his first Vezina Trophy nomination in 03-04, setting the NHL record for most shots faced and saved in a single season and he led the league with a .931 SV%. The previous record holder was Felix Potvin. Luongo was second in the Vezina balloting losing only to Martin Brodeur. After the lockout season Luongo signed a one year deal with the Panthers. He posted what was then a career high of eight shutouts that year. Before the start of the 06-07 season he was wrangling for a new contract with the Panthers. He had a list of demands he wanted met in the contract but GM Mike Keenan and Luongo didn’t have the best relationship. In a surprise move Keenan elected to trade Luongo to the Canucks for Todd Bertuzzi, Alex Auld and Bryan Allen. Luongo brought instant stability to the Cancuks net that had been searching for a goalie for some time since Kirk Mclean left.

In his first season with the Canucks he was an All-Star, set the franchise record for most wins in a season with 47 and set a career high for wins and GAA. 2007 was the first year Luongo ever made the playoffs. In his first game he came within one save of tying Kelly Hrudey’s mark for most saves (73) in a playoff game. The Canucks lost to the Ducks in the 2^nd round. Luongo was nominated for three awards (Vezina, Pearson, Hart) that year and finished second in all of them losing to Brodeur again for the Vezina trophy. The next season he was named an All-Star again but he stumbled down the stretch and the Canucks missed the playoffs. Luongo led the Canucks to their second division crown in three seasons and into the 2^nd round of the playoffs again. They lost to the Blackhawks in six games where Luongo gave up seven goals. He was heavily criticized for his play and he acknowledged he let his team down. Before the season started he signed a hefty 12 year contract extension.

After struggling mightily this year with a horrible October, Luongo has rebounded nicely posting some stellar numbers in the month of December. He also holds five Panthers’ franchise records and six Canucks’ franchise records. The Canucks hope to repeat as division champs but have stiff competition this year in the Calgary Flames and the Colorado Avalanche. This three team race should go down to the wire, just like last year’s two team race between the Canucks and the Flames.

[1] http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=480116

Fights of the Week

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

Rick Rypien vs. Cam Janssen

If you like fast punches you’ll like this fight. The refs break it up to early though.

Cam Barker vs. Mike Weaver

The fight wasn’t anything, it was Weaver’s hit on Sharp that was awesome which led to this fight.

Cody McLeod vs. Jared Boll

If you like wild punches then this is the bout for you.

Jonathan Toews vs. David Backes

Here’s a fight between two guys who normally don’t fight, mildly entertaining.

Goat of the Week

Johan Hedberg – Atlanta Thrashers

Funny how about 75% of the goats of the week usually involve a Goalie leaving the crease. That’s why I say goalies should always stay between the pipes. Hedberg thought the puck was going to take a different bounce then it did and Derek Roy was the benefactor of that mistake, as he scored the game winner into a wide open net.

Things I like

1. Rene Bourque where has this guy come from? Never having more than 40 points in a season, he is practically already there after 36 games with 34 points. He also scored his 2^nd career hat trick on Dec. 28^th.

2. The Sharks top line is all bound for the Canadian Olympic team. If Canada was smart, they would just play that line as it is. They already have a half a seasons worth of chemistry.

3. Jamie Langenbrunner has been on a roll lately. He has a five game point streak going and had a three game goal streak during it, including a hat trick against the Wild. Earlier this month, he had a point streak of seven games.

4. The Sedin twins are getting even hotter. Henrik is now leading the NHL in points and Daniel is creeping up the leader board despite playing in only 25 games so far. Conversely the Canucks have also been creeping up the standings now residing in 6^th place.

Things I don’t

1. Consistent is something the Washington Capitals are not. After having strange losses earlier in December to Buffalo and Toronto the Capitals end the month by not showing up against the worst team in the league, Carolina, and then one of the best teams, San Jose. They fell behind 0-3 to the Hurricanes, last Monday, in a game you thought they would have won but they lost 2-5. Maybe they thought it would be a cakewalk and they didn’t really come to play. But the next night against the Sharks they did the same thing and fell behind 0-3 before losing 2-5. You think they would have been motivated to play the Sharks. The Caps snapped their three game losing streak with a win against Montreal.

2. The Pittsburgh Penguins have lost five in a row now. They seem to be getting worse though as each loss mounts. Evgeni Malkin has particularly struggled, producing no points in his past four games and a costly turnover against the Panthers. Things are so bad Mario Lemieux watched almost all of their practice. They were finally able to beat Atlanta 5-2 and Malkin had an assist which is a start.

3. Anze Kopitar was the leading scorer in the middle of November now he is tied for 15^th. Has anyone fallen this much this fast before? The Kings have also fallen from a brief, and I do mean brief, stint in 1^st place to all the way down to the 7^th slot. Of course I write that on Monday and then on Monday night the Kings crush the Sharks at the Shark Tank 6-2. Kopitar had a goal and an assist in the game.

4. Injuries to the Anaheim Ducks. When your injuries can produce a line of Ryan Getzlaf, Teemu Selanne, and Joffery Lupul you know you will have problems scoring. That’s just what has happened to the Ducks. A shame because the Ducks were able to string together a bunch of wins overcoming the Selanne and Lupul injuries. But losing Getzlaf is just too much in addition to them and now they are back on a losing streak.

Stat Line of the Week

01/03/10  Senators 7 vs. Flyers 4

Alexei Kovalev feels like he’s been around forever because he has. Now in his 17^th season, Kovalev had four goals on six shots not to shabby to go with his +5. The four goals was a career high.

Did You Know?

While Kovalev’s five point night was good the record for most points in one game is twice that mark. The record of 10 points is not held by Wayne Gretzky but rather Darryl Sittler. His six goals and four assists in 1976 as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, in a game against the Boston Bruins, still stands today. You have to like the chances of that record falling in the next few seasons though.

Numbers, Numbers

4 – Canadian teams that would make the playoffs if they started today out of 6.

-12 – +/- for Scott Niedermayer which looks to be receiving his third minus season in a row, after having only 1 in his previous 15 seasons before.

53 – Wins last year for the President Trophy winning Sharks, they are on pace for that again this year.

14 – Road wins for Colorado last year; they have 13 at the halfway point this year.

This Week in Hockey History

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

December 31, 1910 Montreal Canadiens goalie Georges Vezina played the first of 367 consecutive regular season and playoff games, when Montreal lost their NHA season opener, 5-3 to the visiting Ottawa Senators. Vezina played every game for Montreal for 15 seasons.

January 01, 1999 Teemu Selanne scored his 15th career hat trick and added two assists, Steve Rucchin had two goals and two assists and Fredrik Olausson tied his career high with four assists in the Mighty Ducks’ 7-2 win at Buffalo.

January 02, 1990 Mario Lemieux tied team record he had set four years earlier, when a goal and an assist increased his point scoring streak to 28 straight games, 4th longest in NHL history, as the Penguins lost 5-2 to Boston.

January 03, 2002 Buffalo’s Rob Ray became the 7th player in NHL history to get 3,000 career penalty minutes (and the first ever to get 3,000 PIM with one team) when his minor, major, and two misconducts pushed him to 3,019 career PIM, in a 3-1 loss at Calgary.

January 04, 1997 Rangers’ Wayne Gretzky tied a club record with four assists in the second period as New York won 6-4 over the visiting Ottawa Senators. It was Mike Richter’s 11th straight win, and the Rangers’ 2,000th franchise victory.

January 05, 1957 CBS television became the first U.S. network to televise an NHL game as the host New York Rangers beat Chicago 4-1 in an afternoon game, at Madison Square Garden.

Rankings

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

Top 5

1. San Jose
2. New Jersey
3. Chicago
4. Colorado
5. Buffalo

Bottom 5

30. Edmonton
29. Columbus
28. Atlanta
27. Toronto
26. St. Louis

Anaheim Ducks Watch

Before I start this I’d like to say it’s incredibly annoying to listen to Brian Hayward announce Ducks games sometimes with his dumb “he’s living right” quote. He says it all the freakin time he must have said it like 10 times during the Blackhawks game, I think it was. Such a dumb quote who is living wrong by the way Hayward?

The Ducks lost Ryan Getzlaf to an injury against the Sharks so an already depleted team further depletes. That’s two years in a row a Duck has been injured by their own skate, first Selanne and now Getzlaf, strange. Bobby Ryan, of team USA, led the way against the Wild scoring two goals and providing an assist. While Anaheim didn’t give up the game in the 3^rd period, they only produced 2 measly shots in it. Still they picked up the win and that’s the important part.

They followed up that win with an awful performance against the Stars. I don’t know what it is but the Stars really have the Ducks number the last few years. This doesn’t sit well with me since I’m not a Stars fan to begin with. Though Hiller faced a lot of shots, he didn’t play well. You can tell it’s going to be a tough night when the first goal you give up in the game is a shorthanded one.

The Predators game was hard to stomach as the Ducks led 1-0 after the 1^st period then… well you know how it ends. Though the final score was 3-1 the buzzer beating empty net goal doesn’t count in my book. Hiller played better but there are just too many injuries to overcome and the lines are all out of whack. A really tough game to lose because the Ducks needed those 2 points and needed the Predators to not to get them.

Next up was the red hot Blackhawks and Anaheim got crushed 5-2. Now I know what you’re saying but it’s the Blackhawks true, however at the end of November the Ducks shutout the Blackhawks 3-0. Of course the Ducks were healthier then with Getzlaf and Selanne and Chicago didn’t have Hossa yet. My how things have changed, I turned it off at 4-0 so I could go watch the equally thrilling Jets vs. Bengals which was just as competitive, gag. I missed Petteri Nokelainen’s two garbage goals but good for him for scoring them.

Against Detroit Ryan Getzlaf came back and he was greatly needed. The Ducks halted their three game losing streak beating the Red Wings 4-1, with one goal being an empty netter. Getzlaf picked up an assist in his return and Hiller played well for a change making some great saves stopping 38 of 39 shots. Saku Koivu had a pretty shorthanded goal and Matt Beleskey had his first NHL goal. All in all one of the more well-rounded games the Ducks have played in some time.

Vancouver Canucks 3^rd jersey – It took me awhile, yes sad I know, to figure out that was a hockey stick. But honestly what is the point? The other jerseys are fine and this is a just a stick coming out of an oval, it just looks dumb. Some of you may rip me because it’s a pure old school classic hockey. Rip me anyway I don’t like it.

Anaheim Ducks jersey logo – I like the old mighty ducks logo not the name “mighty ducks”, ducks is fine. It’s weird though because without the mighty in the title you just think of a regular duck. I don’t know about you, but the first thing I think of when I think of Anaheim or Southern California is not a duck. Perhaps Donald Duck eventually. At first I thought the logo was lame then I realized the “D” in Ducks was a webbed duck’s foot then I came to the conclusion, it’s still lame.

New York Islanders jersey – I have always hated the logo and the colors, it’s hard to imagine they have had the same logo for 37 years. Change it already.

Quebec Nordiques jersey and logo – One of the worst in the NHL, thankfully we no longer have to look at them. The logo reminds me of Q-bert remember that game?

Pittsburgh Penguins old logo – Now don’t get me wrong I love the Penguins logo. This is when they changed it in 1992 to some kind of “new age/cutting edge” penguin. Thankfully they changed it back. Don’t mess with the penguin, Pittsburgh.

New York Rangers jersey and logo – Not really in love with the logo and the jerseys with the just the name Rangers written on them, it isn’t very imaginative. They could use a new name and a new logo.

Of course nobody tops the ugliness of all of the Pittsburgh Pirates jerseys. Just beyond hideous. The Pirates folded because of financial reasons. I bet they didn’t sell any jerseys either. Of course the hideousness didn’t end there. No folks they moved the team to Philadelphia and renamed them the Quakers. They of course also brought along the same graphic designer to give you the lovely jersey below.

Of course to be fair there were a lot of bad NHL jerseys in the 20’s and 30’s.

You can check them all out at nhluniforms.com.

Does anyone else have a jersey they hate that I missed?

Goalie Spotlight

None this week, I didn’t have time.

Fights of the Week

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

Wade Belak vs. Brian McGrattan

The 6^th fight between these two, I like McGrattan’s little jabs while holding Belak’s jersey. McGratten plays to the crowd afterwards.

Brad May vs. Krys Barch

Lots of punches in this one except most of them didn’t connect, also the 6^th bout between these too.

Goat of the Week

Nate Thompson – New York Islanders

Henrik Lundqvist – New York Rangers

Ivan Vishnevskiy – Dallas Stars

Lots of goats this week and that’s not a good thing.

Double goats in this clip, but Thompson is more of the goat than Lundqvist. Thompson misses a wide open net, and I do mean wide open. In his defense he only has 3 goals in 80 career NHL games, note sarcasm. That being said I think he will be a finalist for goat of the year. Lundqvist is a goat for playing that far out of the net. Its one thing to cut down the angle but that is way beyond a comfortable distance from the net, plus he never got the puck and he fell down.

Ivan Vishnevskiy’s play was just as bad as Thompson but he cost his team a chance to tie the game. Ivan had went back to play the puck off the board in his own zone and appeared to have control but he lost it and ended up scoring on his own empty net. I don’t think the Sharks need help to win games.

Things I like

1. Martin Brodeur breaking Terry Sawchuk’s shutout record against the defending champs no less. Brodeur took 1,032 games to get number 104, while Sawchuk had 103 shutouts in 971 games played. Brodeur also broke Patrick Roy’s most games played by a goalie record this week. Brodeur now has played in 1032 games (Roy 1029).

2. The Toronto Maple Leafs have been playing some decent hockey as of late and they might even contend for a final playoff spot before the season is done. In December so far they have gone 7-4-1. The Phil Kessel deal has worked out well too. Now all they need is a goaltender. No one in their three headed rotation has played all that well. They actually have the 2^nd worst team GAA ahead of only Carolina.

3. As someone mentioned last week I did forget about the Sedin twins, so I’ll mention them now. Henrik had his 9 game point streak snapped on the Dec. 20^th game against St. Louis. Daniel had his 8 game point streak snapped against Washington on Dec. 18^th. Since they’re twins and they started the streaks on the same day, it’s a shame the streaks couldn’t be snapped on the same day.

4. Sidney Crosby up until Brodeur’s record breaking shutout game had amassed 18 points in the past 9 games. He also was even or had a positive +/- in all but one of those games. Crosby also just recently got back line mate Chris Kunitz from injury.

Things I don’t

1. Hard to imagine a team playing worse than the Columbus Blue Jackets, okay besides Philadelphia. Their 2-10-5 record in their last 17 games is, I’m sure, not what the city of Columbus wanted for Christmas. Struggles abound everywhere for this team. See stat line of the week below.

2. In 11 games in December Philadelphia’s Mike Richards has only 5 points. Three of those five came in one game against the Islanders. One of the many reasons the Flyers are struggling.

3. After a seemingly good start the Islanders have settled back near the bottom like recent times. It’s a shame really but maybe it’s what they need long term so they can get higher draft picks. At least they have been drafting somewhat better the past few years. Tavares and Okposo, recent high picks, are bright spots.

Stat Line of the Week

12/19/09  Avalanche 5 vs. Blue Jackets 2

Last year’s Calder Trophy winner Steve Mason was pulled after less than five minutes into the game against the Avalanche. He gave up 3 goals on 7 shots for a whopping 42.35GAA. His replacement Mathieu Garon gave up a powerplay goal 4 minutes later.

Did You Know?

After Brodeur the next active player with the most shutouts is Chris Osgood with 50. Robert Luongo and Evgeni Nabokov are next after Osgood with 49 each. George Hainsworth is 3^rd on the career shutout list behind Brodeur and Sawchuk. Hainsworth is however the single season record holder with 22. Times have certainly changed since Hainsworth set that record in 1929.

Numbers, Numbers Martin Brodeur edition

0 – Shutouts against Nashville, San Jose and Edmonton the only three teams he hasn’t shutout yet

10 – Shutouts against the Islanders, the team he has shutout the most

44 – Career wins against Philadelphia the team he has beaten the most

6-1 – Record against Minnesota his highest winning percentage against one team

.878 – SV% against Vancouver his lowest, one of only two teams he is under a .900 SV%

.932 – SV% against Chicago and Montreal his highest

This Week in Hockey History

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

December 17, 1983 In his 352nd career NHL game, Edmonton’s Wayne Gretzky scored a goal and added five assists to reach the 500 assist mark and the 800 career point mark in his NHL career. Oilers won 8-1 over the visiting Quebec Nordiques.

December 18, 1954 Montreal’s Maurice Richard became the first player in NHL history to score 400 career goals, when the Canadiens defeated the Black Hawks 4-2 at Chicago.

December 19, 1993 Goaltender Mike Richter set a franchise record by extending his unbeaten streak to 20 games (17-0-3) in the Rangers’ 6-3 win over the Senators in New York. Richter broke the team record of 19 games (14-0-5) set by Dave Kerr in 1939-40.

December 20, 1959 Chicago Black Hawks scored seven goals in the second period and won 7-4 against the Maple Leafs, at Chicago Stadium. Bobby Hull led the scoring with his second career hat trick and an assist.

December 21, 1937 Chicago’s Paul Thompson became the first player in NHL history to score a goal against his brother, when he scored on Bruins’ goalie Cecil “Tiny” Thompson, at 19:51 of the third period, in a 2-1 Black Hawks’ loss at Boston Garden.

December 22, 1979 Philadelphia Flyers set an NHL record by extending their unbeaten streak to 29 games (20-0-9), with a 5-2 win at Boston. Boston previously held the record of 28. Flyers extended their streak to 35 games, longest in sports history.

Rankings

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

Top 5

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

Bottom 5

30. Columbus
29. Philadelphia
28. NY Islanders
27. Tampa Bay
26. Dallas

Anaheim Ducks Watch

The Ducks got a hard fought win against the Vancouver Canucks 3-2. Sexton had some pretty passes setting up Ryan and Koivu for goals. Anaheim completely dominated the 1^st period as the Canucks only got two shots on goal. The Canucks converted one into a goal anyway. I didn’t see the Sharks game but the Ducks got crushed 4-1. It’s a shame really because the Ducks had been playing well as of late and this was a good measuring stick game. Turns out they still have a ways to go. Getzlaf scored goals in back to back for the first time this season. That seems kind of sad but Getzlaf is more of a setup man than a goal scorer, though he can score when need be. Against the Coyotes Getzlaf notched another goal bringing his goal scoring streak to three games. Bobby Ryan also extended his points streak to six games. The Ducks to a 3-1 lead into the 3^rd period and after Phoenix scored to take the game to 3-2, I started to get that feeling. But the Ducks didn’t give up anymore goals and Bobby Ryan iced in on the powerplay in the final minutes. Even better the Ducks moved out of last place. Congratulations Anaheim.

The last game this week for the Ducks was against the Avalanche on the road. A game I didn’t think they would win but maybe they could give it a good shot. The Ducks were down 2-0 in the 3^rd but still I watched. Good thing too, as the Avalanche decided to do what the Ducks usually do and gave up 4 unanswered goals in the 3^rd period. The last one was an empty netter though. The first goal for Anaheim was sort of questionable and even though Ryan was in the crease sort of preventing Craig Anderson from making a save, Kyle Quincey of the Avalanche I believe it was, was sprawled out in the crease which also would have prevented Anderson from making a play. The refs ruled it a goal. Sexton was next up for the Ducks tapping in a tough rebound. Getzlaf scored the game winner with about 26 seconds left. A great win for Anaheim and even though they were down 2-0 they actually dominated most of the game outshooting the Avs 42 to 17.

The Ducks are starting to gel and this could be one of those turnaround games for them. Even though they have won 4 of their past 5 they aren’t anywhere near playing to full potential. Hiller and Giguere can both play better and two of their top scores Selanne and Lupul are out. When they get back and if the goalies can raise their level this will be a tough team to beat in the second half of the season.

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.

We have already seen big names missing time, and it seems every day we check the headlines as another NHL player is out for an extended period of time. 

In this, an Olympic year, you start to wonder if people are starting to just coast to make it to their respective countries’ rosters and wait until after the Olympic break to really start playing. 

Now on to the Pucking Awesome Hat Trick or the top three stories I am watching this week.

Will The Real Steve Mason Show Up?

Talk about your sophomore slumps, as last year’s Calder Trophy winner Steve Mason has fallen off the map.  The 21-year-old Blue Jackets net minder is now ranked 44th in save percentage (.890) and 45th in goals against (3.46). 

The NHL goalie is a crazy character; very few stay relevant for an extended period; that is a reason to marvel at Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo right now. 

Mason’s coach, Ken Hitchcock, had the best quote about the second-year player this week, “Just because a guy’s a second-year player, it doesn’t mean he’s a better player yet.”

The Blue Jackets are still in the thick of things and a good team but will not make an impact without the services of their franchise goalie. 

We all have to remember that this kid is only 21 years young and made the rare move right from juniors to the NHL before we put him in the Jim Carey category.

With four games this week, I will be watching to see which Steve Mason will show up.

Kovalchuk Conundrum:  

The Thrashers keep winning, and Ilya Kovalchuk keeps scoring.  The trade deadline is far away right now, and first comes his Olympic run for the Russian squad, but I have to keep my eye on this situation. 

Similar to the Marian Hossa problem of not signing a contract extension, the Thrashers were forced to trade their franchise player in February 2008.  The Penguins were the benefactor of that move and went on to the Stanley Cup Finals. 

The problem this year is the Thrashers are a winning team and it’s evident they depend heavily on Kovalchuk’s offensive prowess. 

Atlanta this season is 10-4-3 with the winger in the lineup; his stats are a staggering 14 goals and 24 points in those 17 games.

I will be keeping my eye on this situation all of December, as in those 15 games ahead could be a deciding factor on not only the Thrashers’ playoff hopes but the Stanley Cup run of another team.   

Games Of The Week:  

With two big returns this week, I had to highlight both of them in the Games of the Week. The first day of December matches up Dany Heatley against the Senators. 

Although the game is in San Jose so he won’t feel the same wrath of Ottawa, it will be interesting to see how the team he refused to play for will treat the talented scoring winger. 

The move has seemed to work for both teams so far, as Heatley (18 goals) has teamed up with Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau for a dominant line. 

Milan Michalek, the main piece coming back to the Senators, leads the team with 13 goals, while Jonathan Cheechoo has chipped in filling the checking line. 

The other return is Marian Hossa back to Pittsburgh on Saturday.  You don’t think the Penguins organization will have Hossa walk down a hallway of them hoisting the cup, maybe even a picture of him sitting watching it.

Before Hossa became the $62.8 million man, he jumped the Crosby ship and spurned the Penguins for a “greater” chance to win a cup with the team that beat them in the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals.

You heard the reaction he got throughout last year’s finals; expect the same on Saturday.

So far, my MVP is Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar who, whose high marks in goals and points scored is leading his team to surprising, but early on season playoff talk.

Buffalo Sabres Ryan Miller is a big reason his team is leading the division. The best in the league in Goals Against Average (GAA) (1.77), save percentage (0.939) and tied for lead with 12 wins, Miller is a safe shot for best goalie.  

Best defenseman goes to the Philadelphia Flyers as-good-as-advertised Chris Pronger, who is fourth among defensemen scoring with 17 points and an amazing +13 while playing a league high 27:01 minutes a game. 

Awards aside, let’s get to the Hat Trick —or the three storylines I am following this week in the hockey world.

1) Win, Lose or Draw

From the highs of the New Jersey Devils, who have won eight games in a row, to the lows of the Carolina Hurricanes dropping 12 in a row, the rest of the season might not be much different for these two. Between the Zachs (Parise and Zajac) and rookie Niclas Bergfors, each player on the line has eight points in the last seven games, making the Devils as hot as their mascot suggests.

But a healthy Martin Brodeur and an improving Patrik Elias could makes things even scarier for their opponents. Brodeur has a 1.48 GAA and .942 save percentage in the last seven games, and it’s just a matter of time for Elias to get going, though he has yet to gain a point in the four games since returning from injury.

The woeful Hurricanes are a team devastated by injuries. With the losses of top flight goalie Cam Ward and top line center Eric Staal, Carolina is relying on the likes of Manny Legace in net. How has this team gone from Eastern Conference Finals appearance last season to the bottom of the NHL? 

Though the revolving door to the infirmary has not helped, every team is dealing with injuries. But their depth has to be called into question. Banking on Eric Cole (one goal), Chad Larose (0 goals) and Sergei Samsonov (two goals) to be top line scorers was a mistake. Having a defense based around offensive defensemen Joni Pitkanen (-12) and Joe Corvo (-9) was another one. Although the Hurricanes finally won on Sunday, I will be watching these two teams going in opposite directions

2) AHL Report:  

Here at Pucking Awesome, we also keep you up to date with what is happening on the farm teams. The two hottest teams in the AHL are the Rochester Americans (13-2-1) and the Texas Stars (11-2-2). The Florida Panthers-affiliate Americans are led by 22-year-old goalie Alexander Salak. The Czech rookie is 10-1-0, while being near the top in all goalie categories. 

The Dallas Stars-affiliates have given up only 31 goals in 17 games this season. The goalie tandems of Matt Climie and Brett Krahn have shut opponents down with a 1.85 and 1.38 GAA respectively.

3) Game of the Week: Bruins at Sabres, Friday

Northeast division rivals Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres will face off this week for the second time this season. The first matchup went to the defending division winners as the Bruins defeated Jhonas Enroth in his NHL debut, 4-2. This time around the goal-starved Bruins will most likely be facing Ryan Miller, and that is not a good combination for Boston who has been shut out three times this season.

Milan Lucic could return to the Bruins this week, but he has been told he can’t fight, making this division rivalry game a good measuring stick for him.

The goal-starved Rangers lead the league in goals and the home-starved Coyotes lead the league in goals against. 

At the same time, there’s no surprise atop the league leaders in goals and points as Alex Ovechkin continues his onslaught on goalies with nine goals and 16 points. That gives him 228 goals in 332 games played in his career. 

Now let’s delve into the weekly Hat Trick, or the top three things I am watching for this week.

Brodeur Chasing Sawchuk:   After a 26-shot blanking of the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, Martin Brodeur recorded his 102^nd career regular season shutout. 

This drew the goalie—who already holds 17 different goalie records—one shutout away from tying the great Terry Sawchuk.  Brodeur has two games on the road this week against the Rangers and Penguins. He has 73 career wins and 11 career shutouts combined versus these division rivals. 

I will be watching these important Atlantic Division games not only for the potential record but also to see how the great Brodeur does against these high-powered offenses.           

Who Will Win First?: It has become an interesting but sad race between the Islanders and Maple Leafs to see who will be the first to record their first win this season. 

The Maple Leafs embark on a difficult five-game road trip as Metallica and Jay-Z occupy the Air Canada Center. They’ll play games against the Canucks, Ducks, Stars, Sabres, and Canadiens in that stretch.  Do you see a win in there? 

The guys on Long Island have come close to getting a “W” with three OT losses this season.

They have a busy week this week with games against the Hurricanes and Canadiens on consecutive nights. With young scorers Matt Moulson (4 goals, 3 assists), Kyle Okposo (1 goal, 5 assists), and John Tavares (3 goals, 4 assists) flying around the rink, I see the Islanders getting off the snide first.   

Game of the Week —Bruins vs Flyers:  A preview of the Winter Classic to be held in Fenway Park this year also pits two preseason Eastern Conference heavyweights against each other. 

The Flyers came out of the gate strong (3-0-0) only to stumble in their next three games (0-2-1), including a bad loss to the Panthers.

The Bruins have started the season against mostly Western Conference teams with only a 3-0 win over the Stars to show in the positive column (1-3). 

This matchup will allow one team to re-establish their place back as a team to beat while also setting a tone for the Winter Classic that will be showcased in Fenway Park on New Years Day.