As you sit there in your favorite team jersey waiting for it to be October, let’s recap and vote on our favorite moments on the season that was. The 2009-10 NHL season was one of the most thrilling ever, featuring a Stanley Cup playoff race that was wide open. The 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs smashed many ratings records on the way to crowning the Chicago Blackhawks as Stanley Cup champions. Most, if not all, of the twitter tending topics that night were NHL related. Hockey is definitely on an upswing. Some of the points below I didn’t go into as much detail as I would like to have. However, I already wrote about most of it in previous columns, so sometimes it’s hard to re-write. There’s a lot to read and videos to watch, so I hope you enjoy it! (Trust me when I say it’s really long)

To break this article down, in the first part I recap the season of the Stanley Cup Champions, then I go into the biggest surprises, disappointments and awards of the season and other miscellaneous stuff. I end it with voting for the goat and the fight of the season, compiled from the best of those during the regular season from my weekly Between the Pipes column. Which I hope you all come back to read next season.

The 2009-10 Stanley Cup Champions

Chicago Blackhawks

What an unusual season it was for the Chicago Blackhawks. Their offseason certainly wasn’t boring. First you have Marian Hossa signing a huge contract worth 62.8 million dollars over 12 years. That alone brings up many questions like won’t he be 42 by the end of it? How do you even know how he will perform towards the end of the contract? Then the good/bad of the signing, Hossa wanted to play for a contending team and he viewed the Blackhawks as the team with the best chance to do so. Well that’s great but then you wonder, didn’t he think that with the Penguins and the Red Wings as well? How did that turn out? Next up you have Patrick Kane and his cousin assaulting a cab driver for 20 cents. Wait he what? There’s nothing like having one of your top players being involved in a ridiculous incident like that. Still the Blackhawks pressed on and opened the season a talented loaded team with one huge albatross around their neck, what about your goaltending?

Cristobal Huet was the number one goaltender by default, despite not being the number one last season, because the Blackhawks didn’t have enough money to sign Nikolai Khabibulin. As the starting goalie, Huet certainly didn’t make the regular season boring. First you had his 25.29 GAA average against the Flames in October, where he gave up three goals on five shots in seven minutes. Though to speak to the resiliency of the Blackhawks this season, Niemi actually came in and gave up two more goals in the 1^st period to put the Blackhawks in a 0-5 hole at intermission. But the Blackhawks ended up scoring six unanswered goals to win the game in overtime. Then there was the game against the Stars in which Huet gave up four goals on ten shots. Finally he gave up 14 goals over a span of three games, when the Blackhawks finally said the hell with this and made Antti Niemi the starting goalie. He did have some high points, putting together a seven game win streak and posting four shutouts. But he will mostly be remembered for plays like this:

Despite their goaltending issues, Chicago came within one point of the best record in the West. They boasted a balanced scoring attack with six players each having 20+ goal seasons. They also boasted one of the top defensive pairs in the league in Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook. Antti Niemi started to develop into a number one netminder, hopefully vanquishing the albatross in the process.

The Blackhawks opened the 1^st round of the playoffs against the perennial stepping stone Nashville Predators. The Blackhawks lost the 1^st game at home and then the 3^rd game on the road to find themselves in a 1-2 hole. They seemed disinterested in the series and they weren’t getting the basics right. They managed to win Game 4 but then Game 5 happened. Game 5 was the kind of game that everything just went right, even when things looked bleak. It was the turning point of the series and the Blackhawks season. It was the game in which the Blackhawks got their swagger back. Let’s set the stage. Down in the important Game 5, 4-3, in the final minutes the Blackhawks try a final push only to have Marian Hossa get called for boarding. It appeared that Hossa was already working his curse magic. Instead it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as the inexperienced Predators played aggressive on the power play, looking for the kill goal. The Blackhawks were able to get a lucky bounce on the rebound and storm the other way and then pull their goalie to make it five on five. Then in some eerie foreshadowing, Patrick Kane scored the game tying goal off of a rebound in what would be his second most important goal of the playoffs.

After opening the overtime period shorthanded the Blackhawks ended up in the Predators zone and Hossa jumps out of the box and sets up right where Patrick Kane scored the previous goal. The puck once again took a fortuitous bounce and Hossa capped off the impromptu comeback.

In the decisive Game 6 you could tell it would be the Blackhawks year after Brent Seabrook gets an unexpected goal against Pekka Rinne.

From there it was the highly anticipated rematch with the Vancouver Canucks. Personally I found the series to be disappointing, as most of the games were pretty one sided. It had some comical moments though, like when the Canucks self destructed in Game 5 and committed four penalties in the span of four minutes and 40 seconds. There was also Roberto Luongo being himself hot, a 1.00 GAA in the two Canucks wins and cold, 5.25 GAA in the four losses. The soon to be Conn Smythe winner, Jonathan Toews was simply sensational against the Canucks. He was also in the midst of a 13 game point streak in which he amassed 25 of his 29 points.

Next was the highly anticipated match-up between the number one seeded Sharks. The win total of the two teams far surpassed any of the other match-ups in the 2010 playoffs. Oddly enough, it was also the only sweep of the playoffs. I’ll write more about it below in the disappointing section.

Then it was onward to the Blackhawks first Stanley Cup appearance in 49 years to face the Philadelphia Flyers and their 35 year drought. The series was very good and each game had a point in the 3^rd period, except for Game 5, where there was only a one goal differential. I don’t know about you but that’s hockey I want to see. Nobody on the Blackhawks had a truly remarkable series. They won as a team as it should be in hockey, the ultimate team sport. Some players did have remarkable games though, as Dustin Byfuglien did in Game 5 and Patrick Kane did in Game 6. The thing I love most about hockey is watching each player on the team hoist the Stanley Cup and skate around with it. You don’t see anything else like that in any other sport, period. Just the player, the Stanley Cup and the moment. It’s something every player in the NHL hopes to achieve but very few get too. An experience so awesome that it brings tears to those that didn’t get to achieve it, like Jeremy Roenick the great Blackhawk for eight seasons and 20 NHL seasons overall.

You shouldn’t be surprised that the Blackhawks won the series, as we still haven’t had a team with a regular season goal differential of less than a +25 win the cup in the past 20 years, maybe longer (This is my favorite hockey stat). The Flyers had no chance with their +11. It also wasn’t all bad for Huet. As many of you know, Niemi was the first Finnish goalie to win the Cup. Despite not really playing, Huet was also the first Frenchman to win the Cup. Here are some of the Blackhawks celebrating with Jay Leno, gag.

Finally for shits and giggles here are some of the best user comments on Yahoo by fans after the Blackhawks were down 1-2 to the Predators after their Game 3 loss.

A Yahoo! User Thu Apr 22, 2010 03:02 pm PDT

“I can’t wait next year for the Hawks 50 year anniversary since the last cup we won! We’re not gonna win it this year cause we won’t get out of the 1st round but when they bring those guys from the 1961 cup team come out on their rascals i will stand up and salute them. I hope they make snow tires for rascals. Maybe the Caps will let us borrow the cup next year for the ceremony. We probably won’t make the playoffs next year with a new coach and we play in a division with the Red Wings, Preds, (who are embarassing us) and the Blues and Jackets will be better next year so we might be last in the central. I also can’t wait to hang that central division banner next year. The Caps can have the cup we have the central division! That’s most important.” (This guy feels really stupid right now)

tom c Wed Apr 21, 2010 10:40 am PDT

“I don’t care who wins the cup if Detroit doesnt all I do know is it won’t be CHICAGO….1961…hahaha. Get used to it and the Wings will win another cup or two before you do if ever again…Love hossa now don’t ya…”

Biggest Surprises/Best of the Year

Teams

Phoenix Coyotes – How many of you had the Coyotes getting home ice in the 1^st round and then coming within a game of knocking off the perennial contending Red Wings? Nope nobody did and if you said you did, you’re lying. Apparently Wayne Gretzky was holding them back. Kidding aside this plucky group gave it their all. They even did it with the possibility of being sold at any moment during the season and having to possibly relocate at the end of the season. Ilya Bryzgalov, who had a few previous outstanding seasons, finally became a somewhat household name. He was 2^nd in the league with eight shutouts and he was nominated for the Vezina Trophy. The rest of the squad collectively overachieved. Shane Doan was the leading scorer with a whopping 55 points and only one other player had over 50 points (Matthew Lombardi). Radim Vrbata was the only Coyote to have over 20 goals during the season with 24. Despite losing in the 1^st round, the season was definitely something to build on. More importantly it may have finally sold hockey in the Phoenix desert.

Montreal Canadiens – The Canadiens magic season can be summed up with two words, Jaroslav Halak. If it wasn’t for his emergence the Canadiens would have had just another 1^st round exit. But he did emerge out of the shadow of Carey Price. I’ll admit Carey Price doesn’t cast a very large shadow but Halak had mostly been his backup until this year when they evenly split time in the regular season. Come the playoffs Halak was named the starter but he really didn’t flourish until after he was benched for Game 4 and then he came back with a vengeance. He even faced 134 shots over a three game span against the Capitals, not an easy task. It wasn’t all Halak though, Michael Cammalleri, Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez and Tomas Plekanec led the Canadiens offensively in the regular season and postseason. Though Gionta and Cammalleri combined for almost half of the 46 postseason goal total with 22 goals. There was also the emergence of P.K Subban who stepped in for the injured Andrei Markov and perhaps even surpassed his level of play. Subban was loved in Montreal for his hustle, determination and skill and hated everywhere else for his big mouth. The 2009-10 Canadiens returned the storied franchise to the Conference Finals for the first time since 1993. Even a 1^st round series win is celebrated like they just won the Stanley Cup in Montreal. I’ll leave with two videos, one the crazy but tame celebration and one not so tame.

Best Game 7

Washington Capitals vs. Montreal Canadiens

I can’t think of a game that had me at the edge of the seat like this one, in quite some time. Despite the Canadiens winning the previous two games, I didn’t really give them much of a chance. First you had the Canadiens taking the early 1-0 lead on the power play, just 30 seconds into the game. But it was still early and the Capitals had plenty of time to come back. Only after the second intermission it was still 1-0 and then you start to wonder, maybe the Canadiens can pull it off. When Montreal scored with about four minutes left in the game to take a 2-0 lead, you realized you were watching history in the making. About a minute and a half later the Capitals finally score to cut it to 2-1 and then you think maybe they can come back. All you know is the final two minutes would be the most intense you’ve ever seen in your life. Then Montreal gets called for a penalty to make 5 on 4. The Capitals pull their goalie to make it a 6 on 4 and you think surely the number 1 offensive team can score a goal with a two man advantage to save their season. But no Halak comes up huge the time runs out and see Alex Ovechkin slumped over to end another season. Relive the final two minutes here.

Best Series

This one was really hard for me to pick so I decided I’ll name four and you can vote. I didn’t include the Stanley Cup Finals because well it’s the Stanley Cup Finals so it would be memorable even if it sucked, which in this case it did not.

Vancouver Canucks vs. Los Angeles Kings

This was an awesome series that we were sadly deprived of a Game 7. It featured lots of open ice action, some high scoring and sometimes some great saves. Watching Doughty shut down the Sedin twins was also great to watch.

Detroit Red Wings vs. Phoenix Coyotes

This series was also great. The enthusiasm in the Jobing.com Arena (dumb name) was awesome and Detroit matched it. There was a ton of open ice as well in this series and high scoring. Game 7 took a little bit of the luster off of the series. Favorite moment is the Shane Doan face after his Game 2 goal, who could ever forget that.

Boston Bruins vs. Philadelphia Flyers

Game 1 was truly spectacular and featured a lot of pretty goals and an overtime win. Game 4 featured the same 5-4 score as Game 1 and another overtime. This series will mostly be remembered for the Flyers and their great series comeback and never give up attitude.

Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

Hard to pick this series over the Canadiens vs. Capitals series but I did because you didn’t really know what you were witnessing at that point, plus I missed a lot of the games because there were so many other series going on. Other than Game 7 (more on that below) I thought this series was pretty evenly matched with great intensity and an always great Montreal crowd. Just love that atmosphere in the Bell Centre.

Biggest Disappointments/Worst of the Year

Teams

Anaheim Ducks – After coming within a game of the Western Conference Finals last season, Anaheim made the off season trade of sending Chris Pronger to the Flyers for Joffrey Lupul and Luca Sbisa. They had hoped to bolster their offense while securing another blueliner of the future for Pronger. They felt the addition of Lupul coupled with the signing of Saku Koivu would give them the offense they needed in order to make another run at the cup. Unfortunately while that looked great on paper, absolutely nothing worked out for the Ducks. Sbisa, while he will probably be on the Ducks blueline for the next decade, at only 19 was not ready for the big leagues especially with the crowded Ducks defenseman corp; he wouldn’t have cracked the top two pairs. Coach Carlyle felt it was important Sbisa received playing time, so down to the minors to dominate he went. Lupul was reunited with the team that drafted him but a happy reunion it was not meant to be. He ended up playing in only 23 games and was out the rest of the year with back spasms and a subsequent herniated disk surgery. While in the long run the trade might look kindly on the Ducks, they essentially traded Pronger and received nothing in return.

Koivu and Teemu Selanne, Team Finland linemates, never really developed the chemistry the team was hoping for when they acquired Koivu. Selanne also suffered two of his worst injuries in his career almost in succession, further dampening the Ducks hopes of a potent second line. Towards the last few weeks of the season, the duo finally blossomed and showed their potential but it was to late. But give credit where it’s due, Koivu was the Ducks MVP for the last two weeks racking up 11 points in the final five games. On the back-end the defensive core seemed to be okay with the trade of Pronger because the Ducks had acquired James Wisniewski and Ryan Whitney last season. Wisniewski played adequately but found himself suspended a few times, causing the group to not be at full strength. Ryan Whitney did not fit in well, especially at the power play point where the Ducks had hoped he would fill Pronger’s skates. He did not and the Oilers and Ducks swapped Olympians with the Ducks receiving Lubomir Visnovsky (further giving me another beyond complicated name to type when I recap the past weeks Anaheim Ducks games). Lack of chemistry and injuries really were the downfall of the Ducks. Next year looks promising though if they can bring back all of the key players next season.

Washington Capitals – There’s an old adage that goes “defense wins championships”. Apparently the Capitals have never heard of it. Coasting through the regular season playing in the weakest division and racking up goals like nobody’s business, these Capitals seemed destined for great things. They were the Goliath of the NHL. But unfortunately for the Capitals, there was also a David lurking named the Montreal Canadiens and their mighty stone Jaroslav Halak. Now don’t get me wrong the Capitals had a 3-1 series lead at one point, so it’s not like they played horribly throughout. It’s just when you play four series in three seasons and they all go to even games and you only win one of them, people start to wonder many things. I don’t blame the Capitals for only getting three goals by Halak in games five, six and seven, because lets face it, the line of Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Brett Hull in their primes probably wouldn’t have scored any more goals either. I more concerned with their lack of heart and their willingness to do whatever it takes to win. I’m also concerned with their defense. Mike Green is probably the premier offensive defenseman in the league but he’s nowhere near the top of defensive defenseman in the league. That’s really where the Capitals need him to be. He just completed his fourth season though, so barring something drastic on his part I really don’t think he will improve. The NHL really needs to do him a favor and stop nominating him for Norris Trophies he doesn’t deserve. The Capitals need to acquire better defensive talent and they need to become a more dynamic offensive team. I will give props to Semyon Varlamov who had a pretty good postseason. Unfortunately not many noticed it. Who knows though, the Sharks had a 1^st round exit last year and made it to the Conference Finals this year. The same could happen to the Capitals.

Worst Game 7

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Montreal Canadiens

This Game 7 was somewhat reminiscent of last years 2^nd round game between the Penguins and Capitals in which the Penguins destroyed the Capitals 6-2 in the 2^nd round in a hugely disappointing game as well. This time the Penguins were on the losing end. I’m still not really sure how the defending Champions would show up so flat footed at home, but they did. They lost the game 5-2 and were even down in the 2^nd at one point 0-4, yikes. As awesome as this series was, and it was one of the best of the playoffs, this game couldn’t have been anymore anticlimactic. It also showcased none of the things that made the series great, other than Halak playing well again. Marc-Andre Fleury was awful, the Penguins defense was awful, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin had no points and the game wasn’t close.

Worst Series

Chicago Blackhawks vs. San Jose Sharks

I alluded to it in the Blackhawks season recap but this certainly was the most disappointing series in some time. Normally you don’t get the 1 vs. 2 match-up very often and considering what we got in the East, I expected so much more from this series. The Sharks had just come off a dismantling of the Detroit Red Wings and the Blackhawks looked strong coming off their Canucks series win. Now none of the final scores had more than a two goal win but you just got the vibe the whole series that the Sharks didn’t have much of a chance, especially after they dropped the first two games at home. The score in those games were a lot closer than the game actually was. Nobody on the Sharks came to play except Patrick Marleau and they never scored more than two goals in a game. You can’t expect to win the series when you average 1.75 goals a game in the series. The Sharks also took a bunch of dumb penalties in Game 4 when it was tied 2-2, basically handing the game to the Blackhawks on a silver platter. Evgeni Nabokov didn’t play well and now I hear the Sharks want to resign him, yikes. He’s a regular season goalie, not a playoffs goalie.

Miscellaneous

Can only happen in hockey

Duncan Keith loses seven teeth – Duncan Keith, or how he’s referred to on the internet Duncan Teeth, showed the world just how tough hockey players are. While trying to keep the puck in the offensive zone on the power play, Keith took a puck to his face from a clearing attempt by Patrick Marleau. Marleau ended up scoring a breakaway goal because Keith was taken out of the play. But showing the true hockey player that he is, Keith returned to the game minutes later. Here’s a nice video on the play and what happened afterwards.

You’ve got to be kidding me

The Philadelphia Flyers come back from an 0-3 series deficit – This feet was made all the more impressive by the fact that they only got into the playoffs on a shootout win in the final game of the season against the New York Rangers. But the Flyers became only the third team in NHL history to comeback, joining the 1975 New York Islanders and the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs. Not only did they come back down from 0-3 in the series, they also came back down 0-3 in Game 7. Not to mention they had to switch stating goalies in the middle of the series due to injury and they lost their 2^nd leading scorer, Jeff Carter, for a month due to injury. I can’t think of a team that had to battle so much to get so far. Many thought this might be a team of destiny but their destiny ran out in the Stanley Cup Finals. Special acknowledgment goes to Danny Briere for leading the whole NHL in postseason scoring and for having some pretty goals along the way.

Iron Man Award

Craig Anderson – Now here’s a guy that had never been a starter in the league before or played in more than 31 games. He played in 71 games this season for the Colorado Avalanche, almost the same amount of games he played combined in his first five years in the league. He didn’t stop there, as he faced the most shots of any goalie during the regular season with 2233. He was one of the primary reasons the Avalanche rebounded so quickly. In the playoffs he faced the highest shot total of any goalie to play six games and sometimes he faced more than those with a few more games played than him. He finished the playoffs with the highest SV% at .933. Here’s hoping he can keep up the pace next year.

Team on the Rise

Los Angeles Kings – Something is brewing in Los Angeles and it isn’t the latest motion picture. It’s the first legit team the Kings have put together since Wayne Gretzky left town. They’re a young and deep talented team. Anze Kopitar at only 22 has seemingly blossomed into an elite player leading the league in scoring for a good chunk of the time. He did severely cool off towards the end of the season. However, I think this season was just a little preview of what’s to come. The Kings have a great pair of young defenseman in Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson. Doughty is something truly special and his skilled were acknowledged with the Norris Trophy nomination. While I don’t think he will win it this year, my vote is on Duncan Keith, I think Doughty might dominate the award in the future like Bobby Orr, Raymond Bourque and Nicklas Lidstrom have in the past. Doughty was simply sensational in the Canucks series. How quickly the Kings can ascend, falls mostly on the shoulders of Jonathan Quick. Quick was a workhorse this season and will probably need to be again next season. He will need to continue to hone his skill in his 3^rd full season if the Kings hope to advance further in the playoffs.

The comeback that never was

Ray Emery – Nobody wanted to take a chance on Ray Emery because of his previous bad behavior but the Flyers desperate for goalie help decided it would be worth the risk. Emery started all of 29 games before suffering a torn muscle. He was later diagnosed with avascular necrosis and was out for the rest of the year. In his absence Brian Boucher and Michael Leighton led the Flyers all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. With the Flyers recently signing Johan Backlund and already having Brian Boucher under contract, its unlikely free agent Emery will return. I don’t think any other NHL team will give him a chance either and I’m not even sure if he is fully recovered to play.

Breakout of the year

Steven Stamkos – I gave it to Stamkos because he had struggled so much the previous year. It’s not easy to come into the league as the 1^st overall pick in the draft. Expectations are high and you are expected to perform. Stamkos rose to the challenge in his second year. Playing along side Martin St. Louis certainly helps but Stamkos is a special talent in his own right. Leading the league in goals in your second season is also an impressive feat. Stamkos will only continue to get better. John Tavares was another number 1 pick this year that put up almost identical numbers to what Stamkos did in his first season. I suspect his second season will end up being his breakout year as well. Craig Anderson would have gotten this nod for the regular season but I gave him another award. Jaroslav Halak would defiantly have gotten this award for the postseason but I already wrote about him.

Rookie of the Year (Calder Trohpy)

Tyler Myers – Besides goalie I think defenseman is the hardest position to learn. It’s not easy to try and stop the speed and skill of the top wingers in the NHL on a nightly basis. Myers was also the only defenseman on the Sabres in the top 80 in defenseman scoring. It’s very rare that there aren’t at least two defenseman from each team in the top 60. Leading all players on your team in ice time is always an honor for any rookie. Myers should compliment Ryan Miller for years to come.

Goalie of the Year (Vezina Trophy)

Ryan Miller – Goaltending has only gotten better over the years and there were a lot of strong contenders. Tuukka Rask came in a strong second but he played in 24 fewer games so I’d like to see what he can do with a full season under his belt. Miller had the 2^nd best GAA at 2.22 and the 2^nd best SV% at .931. Both were behind Rask. He faced the 4^th most shots and had the 4^th most wins. So while he wasn’t first in any major statistical category, he was 1^st in taking over a game. He isn’t perfect though as he did make a few of my Goat of the Week awards this season. But as the entire World witnessed in the Olympics, he can put on quite a good show. This past January I saw Miller play live against the Ducks. He didn’t start the game, Patrick Lalime did. But the Ducks chased Lalime after the first 10 minutes after he gave up four goals. Though the Ducks did manage to score one goal on Miller, the whole entire feel of the game seemed different when he came into it. It was if he told the Ducks this isn’t going to be easy anymore. It wasn’t. I hope that Miller doesn’t suffer the same fate Dominik Hasek did in Buffalo. That is to go cupless.

Player of the Year (Hart Trophy)

Sidney Crosby – Now before we start this, I am not a diehard Sidney Crosby fan. I think he is a great player but I do not worship the ground he walks on. Furthermore, I honestly don’t think he is the most talented player on his team. I think Evgeni Malkin is. Two years ago Malkin would have easily won my player of the year award (I know my award isn’t that prestigious). So why does Crosby get it when Alex Ovechkin and Henrik Sedin had just as good or even better seasons? Well first off, Malkin didn’t have the same year he had in the previous two seasons and a lot of that was due to injuries. So basically Crosby had to carry the Penguins on his back. The other important thing to remember is Crosby doesn’t really have anyone else on his line. Sure Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin are good players but they aren’t great. Sedin has his brother Daniel Sedin on the same line and Ovechkin has Nicklas Backstrom and sometimes Alexander Semin. Crosby is the line all by himself. He also scored 51 goals which was not only tied for 1^st in the league but his own personal best. He had never even reached 40 goals in any of his previous seasons. He was also red hot in the 1^st round of the playoffs before coming back down to earth against Halak. I don’t think he has reached his full potential yet but I felt he was the best player on the ice this season.

Vote for the best of the season

Some were hard cuts particularly in the Goat category, so many goats this season. But I narrowed it down to three fights and five goats. There is no playoff goats so no Dan Boyle own goal or Halak stupidly playing the puck way beyond his net.

Fight of the Season

Cam Janssen vs. Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond

David Koci vs. Brian McGrattan

Rick Rypien vs. Cam Janssen

Goat of the Season

Nikolai Khabibulin misplays the puck in the final minute of the game against the Flames to give them the win.

Tim Thomas mishandles the puck allowing the Penguins to get the win in overtime.

Keith Ballard taking out his own unsuspecting goalie

Ivan Vishnevskiy loses the puck off his stick and into his own empty net

Antoine Vermette comes sweeping in and knocks it in his own goal.

As for the Thrashers, well what can you say; this team bleeds talent like no other. I still can’t wait for them to leave Atlanta. I think that will solve most of their problems. But that’s a topic for another discussion. It’s great they will have two 1st round picks in this year’s draft. Let’s hope they get some quality talent they can actually keep in Atlanta, for once.

Goalie Spotlight

Tomas Vokoun – Florida Panthers

So who are the league leaders in shutouts? That would be Martin Brodeur and Tomas Vokoun each with seven so far. Vokoun is one of those unheralded guys in the league. He doesn’t get much fanfare but goes out and puts up some decent numbers.

The Czech born Vokoun was drafted in 1994 by the Montreal Canadiens, he played only one game for them and gave up four goals in one period. Between 1994 and 1994 he played in Czechoslovakia, for the ECHL and AHL. He was then chosen by the Predators in the 1998 expansion draft. He split time between the Predators and the IHL his first two seasons, though he mostly played for the Predators. It wasn’t until the 2002-03 season, after Mike Dunham was traded, that Vokoun became the starter.

After he became the starter he posted solid numbers on a regular basis and set many franchise records. Of course at this point the franchise was only about five years old. He holds the franchise record for wins in a season (36), all-time wins (134), all-time losses (147) and goaltender games played (340). During the lockout year he went to play for the Finnish league SM-liiga. He led HIFK Helsinki to an 11-4-4 record with a .940SV%. However in the playoffs he folded big time with an .846SV%, worst in the league.

From 2006 on Vokoun suffered health issues ranging from blood-clotting to thumb surgery. During this time back-up Chris Mason emerged as the starter. Subsequently Vokoun was traded to the Florida Panthers, for draft picks, right before the 2007 draft. He made the All-Star team his first year with the Panthers and 2^nd time overall he was selected. Vokoun made headlines this season when he was hit in the head with his own teammates, Keith Ballard, stick. Vokoun is posting decent numbers again this season and he is hoping to backstop the Panthers into the playoffs this year, a feat he almost accomplished last season.

Fights of the Week

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

Rick Rypien vs. Chris Neil

I good high intensity battle one of the few fights Rypien hasn’t dominated that he was in.

Tanner Glass vs. Matt Carkner

Carkner makes Glass his punching bag.

Dominic Moore vs. Zach Bogosian

Bogosian gets in a sneaky upper cut and that was the end of that.

Jody Shelley vs. Colton Orr

Shelley knocks out Orr with his 2nd punch.

Goat of the Week

Patrick Lalime – Buffalo Sabres

Lalime doesn’t play much backing up Ryan Miller and that isn’t likely to change anytime soon after this play. The puck did take a funny bounce off the boards but you have to be prepared, Lalime wasn’t and it bounced off his skate into the net.

Things I like

1. Great game between the Penguins and Capitals before the Super Bowl. Alex Ovechkin had a hat trick and assisted on the game winner in overtime and Sidney Crosby had two goals. Despite NBC’s constant drooling over Crosby and Ovechkin, they managed to mention former Hart trophy winner Evgeni Malkin. Hey NBC doesn’t winning the Hart Trophy mean your some kind of skilled hockey player?

2. Speaking of Ovechkin he notched his 500^th point this week in 373 games the fastest to 500 since Eric Lindros did it in 352 games. You remember Lindros right?

3. There are only two teams that have 7 players above 35 or more points each. One of them is the Washington Capitals which I’m sure most of you would guess but I bet you can’t guess the other one. I’ll give you the answer later in the column.

4. The Maple Leafs are getting Jiggy with it. After debuting in Toronto with a shutout, Jean-Sebastien Giguere decided to follow that up with another shutout. He made 30 saves again. His shutout streak came to an end against San Jose though, as he gave up three goals in a losing effort. If he had shutout the Sharks, I’m sure they would be celebrating in Toronto like they just won the super bowl, jk.

Things I don’t

1. NHL scheduling quirks, the Maple Leafs and Devils played each other in three of the last four games. Is that really necessary? How about a little more space in between games NHL?

2. NBC explaining why you fight in a hockey game during the Penguins vs. Capitals. Please stop NBC. Next NBC will explain why you try and score goals, ugh.

3. I’d like to give my condolences to Brian Burke who lost his son Brendan Burke. He died in a car accident driving on a snowy road. As a former Mid-Atlantic resident, I know how difficult it can be to drive on snow and ice. A person should never have to outlive their children.

Trivia: The answer to the other team besides the Capitals would be the Los Angeles Kings.

Stat Line of the Week

02/06/10 Toronto 5 vs. Ottawa 0

Well there were many fine performances this week but I chose to highlight Schenn’s performance. A 5^th overall selection, by the Maple Leafs, in his second season he is starting to develop into what the Maple Leafs had hoped when they drafted him. He was on the ice for four of the Maple Leaf’s five goals and he scored two of them himself.

Did You Know?

Patrick Roy is the only net minder to give up an opponent’s 500th career goal more than once. The players who have scored their 500^th on Roy are: Steve Yzerman in 1996, Joe Mullen in 1997 and Brendan Shanahan in 2002.

Numbers, Numbers – the streak edition

14 – The Washington Capital’s current winning streak.

11 – The winning streak by the Ottawa Senators which came to an end against Toronto.

10 – The losing streak by the Boston Bruins which came to an end against Montreal.

16 – Would be the games points streak by Alex Ovechkin if he scored against the Islanders on 1/26 but he didn’t so it’s now six games.

10 – The current winning streak for home wins for the Anaheim Ducks

This Week in Hockey History

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

February 04, 1987 Wayne Gretzky scored his 50th goal of the season, to lead the Oilers to a 6-5 win over the North Stars at Minnesota. It was Gretzky’s eighth straight 50 goal season.

February 05, 1996 Colorado’s Patrick Roy became the 4th goaltender in NHL history to win 10 or more games with two teams in one season, when the Avalanche had a 4-2 win over the visiting Canadiens. Roy had won 12 games with Montreal before being traded.

February 06, 1993 Mike Gartner scored four goals and an assist (including a first period hat trick) to lead the Wales Conference to a 16-6 win over the Campbells, at the All Star Game in Montreal. Pierre Turgeon had three goals & two assists in the game

February 07, 1987 Cam Neely scored his first career NHL hat trick as the Bruins won 8-5 over the Maple Leafs in Boston.

February 08, 2004 Joe Sakic scored a hat trick to lead the Western Conference to a 6-4 win over the East, in the NHL All Star game played in Minnesota. Daniel Alfredsson led the East with two goals and an assist.

February 09, 1971 Vancouver Canucks ended their team-record 11 game home winless streak (0-10-1) with a 6-3 win over the visiting Buffalo Sabres. Rosaire Paiement led the Canucks with a team-record four goals (his first career hat trick).

Rankings

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

Top 5

1. Washington
2. Ottawa
3. Los Angeles
4. San Jose
5. Vancouver

Bottom 5

30. Edmonton
29. Boston
28. NY Islanders
27. Buffalo
26. NY Rangers

Anaheim Ducks Watch

The Ducks seem to have the Red Wings number at home lately and Wednesday was no different. They Jumped out to a 3-0 lead and never looked back, prevailing 3-1. Hiller was sensational stopping 46 of 47 shots. The Ducks were firing on all cylinders with Bobby Ryan and Ryan Getzlaf leading the charge.

Next though they had to play the Kings in back to back games. They haven’t won the 2^nd game in any of the back to backs this year and this time was no different. They quickly feel behind 4-1 only to crawl back and tie the game 4-4. Dustin Brown scored the game winner on a wide open net, a goal that was poorly defended by Anaheim. They gave up another goal after that and ended up losing 6-4. Memo to NHL book teams playing back to back games as little as possible. I’m pretty sure it can be done.

Next up was the Kings, wait didn’t I just type that, o wait that’s right the NHL doesn’t know how to schedule; either that or this is baseball. It was a great fast paced game with lots of chances. After the 1^st which was tied 1-1 and saw Teemu Selanne net number 597, the Ducks dominated the 2^nd period. Saku Koivu netted the game winner when he scored the puck and then himself. Surprisingly there was no scoring in the 3^rd and the Ducks prevailed 4-2 and got those much needed two points. Unfortunately Ryan Getzlaf sprained his ankle and it didn’t look pretty. X-rays at this point are negative and I hope they stay that way.

Despite the awful starts the Hurricanes and Maple leafs had the Oilers have almost caught up to them or more accurately slid down to them. When Dwayne Roloson, 40, left in the off season the Oilers hoped to upgrade their position. So they signed Nikolai Khabibulin, 37 slightly younger, who had just led the Blackhawks to the western conference finals. Unfortunately that didn’t really workout as planned. Khabibulin has for the most part been disappointing and made a couple of gaffes in the beginning of the season that cost the Oilers some games. He also has been on the injured list since the middle of November. Personally I think it’s for the best, they really need to find their goalie of the future and not just rotate old guys. Unfortunately he is signed for another three seasons after this season. Right now the Oilers are going with Jeff Deslauriers. He hasn’t performed all that well, though he has only started in 32 games in his NHL career thus far. Personally they should be playing Devan Dubnyk they drafted him 14^th overall in 2004, time to give him his shot. While he hasn’t exactly lit it up in the AHL, everyone deserves a chance.

Offensively other than the reemergence of Dustin Penner not much has gone right for the Oilers. Alex Hemsky was playing well, again, but he is gone for the season with his torn shoulder. Nobody else strikes fear into opponents. I think they really should go after somebody via free agency or a trade. IIya Kovalchuk is a possibility via one of those options. Whether he would want to play in Edmonton is a different story. It’s defiantly worth a shot though and it would give Edmonton the kind of pure scorer they have lacked. It’s also time to start bringing up the young guys to see what they have. Charles Linglet has played well for the Springfield Falcons, he should be brought up and given a good luck.

Needless to say what they are doing now is not working. It’s time for a shake-up and to get the youth movement going.

Goalie Spotlight

No time this week.

Fights of the Week

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

Rick Rypien vs. Brandon Prust

Your Rick Rypien fight of the week, these two went at it again a period later, this fight was better though.

David Koci vs. Brian McGrattan

8^th fight between these two, great punches by both.

Paul Bissonnette vs. Darcy Hordichuk

This fight would have been better if the camera guy didn’t miss half of it. Nice final punch by Hordichuk.

Chris Neil vs. Eric Boulton

Eric Boulton had the edge in this one.

Dave Steckel vs. Zenon Konopka

Nice tussle, Konopka connected with some nice punches.

Goat of the Week

Stephane Auger – Referee

For his pre-game chat and questionable calls against Alex Burrows in the Vancouver Canucks game against the Nashville Predators. The video has the 2^nd more atrocious call.

Things I like

1. The Philadelphia Flyers have finally responded to their new coach and have started to turn their season around. They always had the talent it’s just a matter of piecing it together. Except for the game against Ottawa Michael Leighton has played well during the winning streak. Mike Richards and Chris Pronger both have 5 game point streaks currently.

2. Despite the fact that the Sabres have Ryan Miller I’m still surprised they have been in 1^st place in their division for so long. Buffalo is the only division leader without a points scorer in the top 25.

3. Watch out for the Islanders NHL. 7-2-1 in their last 10 and winners of four of their past five, the Islanders seem to be coming together. This includes a total dismantling of the Red Wings last night 6-0. Former 1^st overall pick of the draft Rick DiPietro has also made his return to the island.

Things I don’t

1. The controversy surrounding Alex Burrows and Ref Auger. Just some bad calls in general, I think I could see if he called holding the stick but diving it certainly was not. Either way it was incidental and the interference call was just horrible. I would have called diving on Joel Ward. I also don’t care for the NHL’s failure to punish Auger at all, yet they fine Burrows for shame NHL. This kind of stuff ruins the integrity of the game.

2. Evgeni Malkin hasn’t scored a goal in nine games dating back to his hat trick against Ottawa. He has only 5 goals in 19 games in December and January. The Penguins also still have the 2^nd worst powerplay.

3. The Chicago Blackhawks who seemingly were manhandling the wild 5-1 after two periods, only to give up four goals on seven shots in the 3^rd period forcing the game into overtime. The Blackhawks then ended up losing in the 8^th round of the shootout, 6-5. You have to play the whole 60 minutes Chicago.

Stat Line of the Week

01/08/10  Buffalo 3 vs. Toronto 2

Tyler Myers rookie campaign has been a successful one thus far in Buffalo. He scored two goals and added an assist, all on the powerplay, having a hand in all the Sabres goals. Myers is 5^th in the league in rookie scoring.  A feat made all the more impressive because he is a defenseman. He also leads all rookies in assists.

Did You Know?

That Curtis Joseph is the only goalie in the top 10, for wins all-time, that has never won a Stanley Cup. His best finish in the postseason was the Eastern Conference finals with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Numbers, Numbers

2,500 – Dollar amount for the fine on Alex Burrows for talking out about the referring of Stephane Auger.

0 – Games suspended or amount fined for the pre game talk and questionable calls by Stephane Auger.

454 – Wins by recently retired Curtis Joseph, 4^th on the all-time list.

94 – Goals allowed by the New Jersey Devils the only team not to reach 100 yet.

45 – Saves by Henrik Lundqvist out of 45 shots, yet he still lost in the shootout.

This Week in Hockey History

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

January 07, 2000 Joe Sakic became the Colorado franchise all-time leader in games, when he appeared in his 814th career game with the team, a 4-1 win over the visiting Montreal Canadiens. Sakic replaced Michel Goulet, and picked up two assists in the game.

January 07, 1989 Vancouver’s Tony Tanti scored his club-record 10th hat trick and set a new team record for fastest 3 goals (6:46), as the Canucks defeated Pittsburgh 7-5. Tanti also added an assist

January 08, 1988 Flames’ rookie Brett Hull scored twice and added two assists as Calgary beat the Islanders 7-4, to extend their home undefeated streak against New York to 8 games (6-0-2).

January 09, 1993 New York’s Mike Gartner became the first player in NHL history to get 25 goals in each of his first 14 seasons, when he scored twice for the Rangers in a 4-3 loss at Philadelphia.

January 10, 1992 Washington Capitals set a team record with three shorthanded goals (including two in :18) during a 7-4 win over the Kings, at Landover, Maryland. Kevin Hatcher led the scoring with two goals and two assists.

January 11, 1941 Dave “Sweeney” Schriner had a goal and three assists, and Turk Broda recorded his 23rd career shutout as the Maple Leafs beat the NY Americans, 9-0 in Toronto. It was the Leafs’ second consecutive penalty-free game — a first in NHL history.

January 12, 1994 Winnipeg’s Teemu Selanne scored his 100th NHL goal in a 3-2 win over the visiting Buffalo Sabres. The milestone came in Selanne’s 130th career game, the second-fastest 100 goals in NHL history. (Bossy scored his first 100 goals in 129 games).

Rankings

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

Top 5

1. Philadelphia
2. San Jose
3. Buffalo
4. Chicago
5. Vancouver

Bottom 5

30. Edmonton
29. Toronto
28. Atlanta
27. Pittsburgh
26. Los Angeles

Anaheim Ducks Watch

The Ducks have finally gotten healthy and have a four game winning steak going because of it, their longest of the season so far. Anaheim’s second win in the streak was against the St. Louis Blues, a team near them in the standings. Rookie Matt Beleskey scored his second goal in as many games to help propel Anaheim to victory 4-2. The Ducks were actually down 2-1 in the 3^rd but rattled off 3 goals. Beleskey’s was the game winner and the Ducks also scored an empty netter to seal the deal.

Next up was the Predators another team the Ducks are trying to catch up to in the Standings. This game saw the return of Teemu Selanne, from a broken hand, who scored the games first goal. Ryan Getzlaf also scored his first goal since coming back from his injury. The Ducks took their 3 goal lead into the 3^rd period and saw their lead cut to 1, but they were able to hang on for the win, 3-2.

Next up were the Blackhawks coming off their stunning defeat against the Wild 6-5. Despite being out shot 43 to 11 the Ducks somehow managed to eek out a victory 3-1. Hiller was phenomenal on the road helping to steal the victory for the Ducks. Perry, Koivu and Selanne (empty net) added the goals for the Ducks. The Ducks have about a month before the Olympic break to make up a lot of ground in the standings.

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.

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.

A Tale of Two Cities – Detroit and Pittsburgh will be forever linked in hockey lore because of playing each other in back to back Stanley Cup finals and having some of the highest ratings in some time in those games. This year both teams started out in opposite directions. They have now both reversed directions since those starts. Of course Pittsburgh, with Evgeni Malkin back, has seemingly stopped the bleeding.

Detroit started out 3-4-2 not a bad record but being Detroit you would expect more. Of course they had to open up the season overseas in Europe, which is always tough on any team. Pavel Datsyuk started out slowly, with only 4 pts in the first 7 games, which didn’t help matters. They also had huge injuries to Valtteri Filppula and Johan Franzen, two key players who are still out. Detroit has now won 6 of 7, their only loss in that span was to umm.. Toronto. Yes you read that correctly, perhaps they fell asleep. Datsyuk has since shaken off his slow start and Zetterberg has been his usual productive self. Goaltending is still iffy. Chris Osgood hasn’t really looked all that sharp and neither has his replacement Jimmy Howard.

Pittsburgh started out red hot and had the best record in the NHL. They also had a perfect 7-0 road record. Things were looking good. Then Malkin got injured and they lost 5 of 6 games, before rebounding with a tough win against Boston and then a win against Anaheim. Also starting in the last week of October their defenseman started dropping like flies. It started with Sergei Gonchar, then Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik, and Alex Goligoski followed. I can’t imagine many teams playing all that well without their top four defenseman. In fact I’m sure many teams wouldn’t win for a long time or until one of them came back. I think Malkin has a great chance to win his first Hart trophy this year as evident by the slump the Penguins suffered while he was out. Though I do realize the missing defensemen also contributed to that, Malkin is the Penguins rock. While Crosby is talented, he tends to be streaky, Malkin is generally more consistent.

Now don’t get me wrong, I think both will end up in the playoffs and both will be one of the top seeds. I also think that another rematch is possible. Although I personally don’t want to see the same teams three years in a row, I mean Marion Hossa won’t even be on the losing team if that happens. The Devils and the Sharks might have something to say about it, as they currently hold the top spots in the standings. But neither has had much postseason success recently, and of the course the Sharks playoff problems are well documented. Now teams can and have come out of nowhere to go to the Finals but, generally speaking, teams have been on the brink for a few years before they finally get there. It should be an interesting finish to the season.

Brendan Shanahan – I like to bid a fond farewell to Brendan Shanahan as he retires from the NHL after 21 seasons. Shanahan finished his career 23^rd in points (1354) and 11^th in goals (656). He is also the only player in NHL history to amass more than 2,000 penalty minutes and 600 goals. Like Joe Sakic he will be missed.

Goalie Spotlight

Tim Thomas – Boston Bruins

Tim Thomas has the distinction this week of being in the goalie spotlight and also the goat of the week (see below).

Tim Thomas was the winner of the Vezina Trophy (top goalie) and the William Jennings trophy (best GAA for a team) with Manny Fernandez last year. However it took a long time for success and recognition to come to Thomas at the professional level. He won the Vezina trophy at the age of 34. He was the oldest first time winner in 43 years since Gump Worsley did it at age 36 in the 1965-66 season for the Montreal Canadiens.

Michigan born Thomas played at the University of Vermont. He was a two-time All-ECAC Conference selection and a two-time NCAA East All-American. He also holds many Vermont records including; games played (140), wins (81), and minutes played (3,950). He is also second in the NCAA Division I record book in career saves (3,950). Thomas was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques in 1994 but nothing ever came of that. He finished up his four years of playing at Vermont. After playing briefly in ECHL and IHL, Thomas made his way to Finland where he played for HIFK in the SM-liiga league. He led them to the championship that year.

He signed with the Edmonton Oilers in 1998 and joined their AHL affiliate only to end up in Finland again. He came back to the states to play for the Detroit Vipers only to end up in Europe again this time playing in the Swedish league. He then signed with the Boston Bruins but elected to play a year in the SM-liiga Finnish league again. He then came back to the states to play for the Bruins affiliate the Providence Bruins. He played a few games for the Bruins too during the stint and ironically his first NHL win came against the Oilers, the team that drafted him. He returned to Finland for the 4^th time and racked up a league high SV% and broke the league shutout mark for a season. He led his team to a 2^nd place finish that year. Finally done with Finland, Thomas came back to the Bruins (both Providence and Boston.) Due to injuries to two goalies he was supposed to backup in different seasons, Thomas emerged as the number one goalie. His last two seasons were his statistical best in the NHL and he was also named to the All-Star game both times, the first time as a replacement and the second time as a starter.

Thomas led the Bruins to their best record in some time in the 08-09 season and despite suffering a tough 7^th game lost in the 2^nd round to the Hurricanes, expectations are high this year in Boston. Boston has struggled this year but Thomas for the most part has held up his end. Already recording 3 shutouts this season Thomas should easily pass his career high of 5. Look for Thomas to continue leading his team in the chase for a playoff spot.

Fights of the Week

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

Some really good fights this week to choose from. I narrowed it down to four though, two with bloodshed.

Rick Rypien vs. Brad May

High intensity fight, I love the way Rypien fights with his fists of fury. Brad May is getting older and you can tell. May gets his head caught in his jersey.

Brandon Prust vs. Adam Mair

Pretty decent fight, the refs should have let them go longer though. Prust lands some nice blows to the face at the end.

Matt Bradley vs Aaron Voros

Stick around until 40 seconds to see Bradley sporting the crimson mask.

Brian McGrattan vs Colton Orr

McGrattan gets a nice bloody nose for his troubles. Bonus points for his blonde Mohawk.

Goat of the Week

Tim Thomas for letting in a goal in the final second against the Penguins (Bill Guerin) and then giving up the game winning overtime goal (Pascal Dupuis) after misplaying the puck badly.

Trick shot of the Week

Rick Nash in his shootout winning goal against the Ducks, started to lose his balance, but he was able to regain it and score the game winner anyway.

Things I like

1. As noted above watch out NHL, Detroit is starting to heat up, Hockey’s version of the Death Star or the New England Patriots.

2. Carolina won! Sure, barely in a shootout but a win is a win. Next up they can try for a road win.

3. The Phil Kessel addition in Toronto. Sure the Maple Leafs gave up a lot to get him and they had to wait a bit until he played, but he has been productive since entering the lineup. He has 8 pts in 7 games and is one of the few players on the team with a positive +/-.

4. Chris Pronger has been quite a force in Philadelphia. Leading all defenseman on the team in scoring and 2^nd on the team in the all important +/-. Not sure why Anaheim didn’t keep him and dump Scott Neidermayer or make Scott take a huge pay cut like they make Teemu Selanne take.

5. Corey Perry (ongoing) and Ryan Getzlaf (snapped) both had 11 game scoring streaks. The longest for two teammates since Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin had 13-game streaks in 2007.

Things I don’t

1. There have been a lot of blowouts this week and I am not a fan of them. It makes games harder to watch on TV and in person. Obviously if one team is playing better, that’s the way it goes but I still don’t have to like it. We had Vancouver (8) vs. Colorado (2), Atlanta (7) vs. Los Angeles (0), Detroit (9) vs. Columbus (1), Philadelphia (5) vs. Ottawa (1).

2. If Boston has hopes of making the playoffs again, David Krejci is going to have to step it up. Having lost Kessel to Toronto and Marc Savard to an injury, Krejci is needed more to prove that last years successful season was not a fluke.

3. If the playoffs started today only one Canadian team would be in it, Calgary. I’m sure that doesn’t sit well with most Canadians and I think that would only make it harder for them to win their first cup in 17 years. Good thing it’s still early.

This Week in Hockey History

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

November 12, 1931     The first NHL game was played at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Black Hawks won 2-1 over the Leafs.

November 12, 1910    At the annual meeting of the National Hockey Association (a forerunner of the NHL) a new rule was passed changing hockey’s playing time from two 30 minute periods to three 20 minute periods (with two ten-minute intermissions).

November 13, 1947    For the first time in NHL history, the league initiated the policy of having players raise their sticks to signify the scoring of a goal. Montreal’s Billy Reay became the first to do so as the Canadiens beat Chicago, 5-2 at the Forum.

November 13, 1934    St. Louis’ Ralph Bowman scored the first penalty shot goal in NHL history. It came during a 2-1 Maroons win over the St. Louis Eagles. It was Bowman’s first NHL goal, and just the second penalty shot attempt in NHL history.

November 13, 1992    Goaltender Pat Jablonski recorded the first shutout in Tampa Bay Lightning history (and the first of his NHL career) to lead the Lightning to a 1-0 win over the Ottawa Senators, in Tampa Bay.

November 14, 2001    Patrick Roy became the first goaltender in NHL history to win 200 games with two teams (Montreal and Colorado) when the Avalanche won 1-0 against the visiting Minnesota Wild. It was Roy’s 54th career shutout.

November 15, 1973    Boston’s Bobby Orr had three power play goals and added four assists to become the first NHL defenseman to score seven points in one game, as the Bruins beat the New York Rangers 10-2.

November 15, 1995    Rookie Alex Hicks scored on the first shot in his first career NHL game, then added another goal along with an assist to lead the Mighty Ducks to a 7-3 win over the Avalanche, in Anaheim.

November 17, 1979    Rookie Wayne Gretzky played against Gordie Howe for the first of four times in their NHL careers. Gretzky went scoreless while Howe picked up one assist in the Hartford Whalers’ 4-0 win over Edmonton.

Rankings

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

Top 5

1. San Jose
2. New Jersey
3. Detroit
4. Chicago
5. Calgary

Bottom 5

30. Carolina
29. Edmonton
28. St. Louis
27. Anaheim
26. Edmonton

Ducks Watch

The Ducks are in last place in the western conference and that doesn’t sit well with me. They lost the first game on an east coast road swing against the Devils. They looked like they were still on west coast time, they didn’t play well. They lost a heartbreaker in the shootout to Columbus. True they still got a point but they played well and they should have won. They don’t do real well in shootouts, not sure why, but they don’t.

Then they had their playoff rematch against Detroit. They played well but somehow every time they had tied the game and had momentum, Detroit would literally come right back and score. Tied at 4-4, Hiller allowed 2 horrible goals in a row which cost them the game. Also of note were the first few horrible penalties the Ducks took. The refs are never fair to the Ducks but these aren’t to be blamed on the refs these are just stupid penalties. Only two types of good penalties; ones that prevent goals and breakaways and ones that stick up for your teammates, these were neither. I find it disturbing that GM Brian Burke says that coach Randy Carlyle won’t be going anytime soon, he is a proven winner. All I know is the since the Stanley Cup win, all the Ducks ever do is start slow and take dumb penalties. If that isn’t a sign of undisciplined coaching I don’t know what is. A coaching change did wonders for Pittsburgh. I think it would here as well.

Next up the defending champs again and they made sure the Ducks stayed winless on this road trip. While Corey Perry’s point streak continued (12 games now), Ryan Getzlaf’s (11 games) did not. Getzlaf also uncharacteristically was in a fight against Bill Guerin, a man 15 years older than him. Of course when you take 3 penalties in the first 8 minutes of the game, you don’t exactly give yourself a great start. Worse though was the fact that Pittsburgh was without its top 4 defensemen and the Ducks could only manage 2 goals. This team is too talented to be in last place in the conference. They need to wake up and start doing the little things better. They turn the puck over way to much in their own zone and of course all those dumb penalties. Now comes a long home stand and make or break time for their seasons playoff hopes. In a related note, I’m shopping for some brown bags with eyeholes in them.

Goalie Spotlight

Cristobal Huet – Chicago Blackhawks

Huet is from France which is quite rare for an NHL player. He is currently the only Frenchman playing in the league. Huet is currently the starting goalie for the Blackhawks, though I do emphasize the word current. Drafted by the Los Angeles Kings, Huet never fit into their long term plans. Huet made his way to the Montreal Canadiens were he was selected to the All-Star game in 2007. Despite having some success with the Canadiens, Huet was traded away next year in mid season when it was clear the Canadiens viewed newly drafted Carey Price as their goaltender of the future.

He ended up on the Washington Capitals where he supplanted Olaf Kolzig as the starting goaltender. He didn’t stay with the Capitals long as he signed with the Chicago Blackhawks when the season was over. Expected to be the number 1 goalie, Huet was unable to beat Nikolai Khabibulin for the top spot. Khabibulin was named starting goalie in the playoffs last year and led the Blackhawks to the conference finals. Huet saw his first action of the postseason in those conference finals vs. the Red Wings when Khabibulin went down with an injury. Despite playing admirably the Blackhawks lost to the Wings.

When Khabibulin left for the Oilers this off-season it brought great pressure on Huet. Even though he could not win the number 1 spot outright, he was handed it by default anyway. The Blackhawks have great expectations this year with a young and deep team. Huet is expected to help lead them, despite never getting out of the 1^st round of playoffs when he has been the number 1 goalie with the Canadiens and Capitals. So far he has not been able to live up to those expectations posting his worst numbers of his career. It is still early in the season but he does risk losing his number 1 spot to Antti Niemi if he keeps it up. Niemi will be a free agent at the end of this year. If Niemi does well they Blackhawks will be tempted to keep him, which they were unable to do last year with Khabibulin because of Khabibulin’s and Huet’s high salaries.

Fights of the Week

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

Tanner Glass vs. Brandon Prust and Darcy Hordichuk vs. Brian McGrattan

That’s right two fights at the same time! I can’t recall the last time I’ve seen that. I liked Darcy Hordichuk vs Brian McGrattan better. McGrattan’s last punch was really good.

Cody McLeod vs. Brad May

Some really good punches by both guys especially towards the end, May gets cut.

Rick Rypien vs. Brandon Prust

Rypien was in a good fight with Stortini this week as well, but I chose this fight because it was a little longer and more competitive. Rypien is a really quick fighter.

Goat/Trick Shot of the Week

Cristobal Huet and Stephane Robidas

Well it’s not many times that the trick shot of the week and goat of the week will be the same play, but in this case it was. Huet, who I spotlighted earlier, really miss played a dump in shot by Robidas, who probably never thought he would get a goal. I realize it was a tricky bounce but Huet had his glove right there, not sure how he missed it.

Things I like

1. The Pittsburgh Penguins, with only one loss, are rolling this year. Good to see that this team did not have a letdown after winning the Stanley Cup last year and after playing the most games the past two seasons. We will see how hungry they are come playoff time.

2. San Jose’s top line has been sensational. Thornton (14 pts.), Heatley (6 G), Setoguchi (7 G) are really delivering and Marleau is also chipping in from the 2^nd line with 7 goals.

3. Ilya Bryzgalov and his insane 1.14 GAA. In case you’re wondering, and let’s face it you are, that GAA currently stacks 4^th all time behind 3 goalies who played in the 20’s. In fact if you take away this season, the top 20 GAA are all from goalies that played in the 20’s and 30’s. Obviously it was a much different game back then. Miikka Kiprusoff would be the first goalie listed from the modern area checking in at 24 for his 1.69 GAA in the 03-04 campaign. Both IIyas (Bryzgalov and Kovalchuk on the Atlanta Thrashers) are having great seasons so far.

Things I don’t

1. The Minnesota Wild would have no points had the Ducks not blown a 3 goal lead in the 10/6 game. Of course the Ducks did, but if they hadn’t the wild would be 0-7-0. A team with some decent talent in Havlat, Koivu, and ageless wonder Nolan as well as a decent goaltender in Backstrom, should not be having this problem.

2. The Ducks so called top line and supposedly one of the best lines in NHL. Getzlaf, Perry, and Ryan have been less than stellar. Perry has played well but Getzlaf and Ryan have 1 goal between the two of them. That isn’t going to cut it. The Ducks will need them to step up if they have hopes to progress further this year.

3. Toronto is still winless. At least the NHL gave them a week off to dream about their first win. Anyone care to comment when that might be?

Rankings

Top 5

1. Pittsburgh
2. New York Rangers
3. Colorado
4. San Jose
5. Chicago

Bottom 5

30. Toronto
29. New York Islanders
28. Minnesota
27. Florida
26. Montreal

Ducks Watch (My team)

The Ducks must have had Deju Vu Wednesday night as they almost blew their 2^nd 3 goal led against Minnesota in a week. Luckily they pulled this one out for the win. They followed the big home win up with a drubbing by the St. Louis Blues 0-5. Not the way you want to lose in front of the home fans. The Ducks only had 2 games in the span of 9 days due to their odd scheduling. The Ducks will look to rebound against the Dallas Stars today. They should also have James Wisniewski back in the lineup from his shoulder injury.