At the quarter pole – We have just about hit the quarter mark of the NHL season, though some teams have played more than others. It always bothers me when one team has played five more games than another team. You think they could schedule that better. Let’s take a look at which teams have been surprising and which have been disappointing. I didn’t want to go overboard, so I just picked a few.

Surprising

Anaheim – Well the Ducks started out worse than anyone in the league but they have since quickly turned it around. For a team loaded with offensive talent and a great goalie, it was really about whether the defense would be anything good. It turns out it that it’s not that bad. Anaheim is actually 5^th in the league in blocked shots. A special thanks also goes to Cam Fowler for helping to make the defensive turnaround.

Montreal – The Canadiens aren’t really that much of a surprise, since they made it to the Conference Finals last year. But that in itself was a bit of a surprise and many people attributed their run mostly to Jaroslav Halak. The Canadiens actually have a pretty balanced team and Carey Price (more on him below) has played well.

Disappointing

New Jersey – Well I don’t think anyone can be more disappointing than the Devils. Their record setting goalie, Martin Brodeur, is having a fairly sub par year, their top free agent signing, Ilya Kovalchuk, either disappears during games or gets benched, their Team MVP, Zach Parise, ends up on injured reserve and it turns out they don’t really have any good defensemen.

Calgary – The Flames look like a good team on paper but for some reason they just can’t put it all together. To make things worse Jerome Iginila is struggling. Of course it shouldn’t really be much of a surprise, as it’s been the same team for the past two seasons. If it didn’t work then, why would it work now?

Buffalo – Well many people would think the Sabres are a disappointment. Personally I think their record is as it should be. Tyler Myers has been disappointing and Ryan Miller has yet to record a shutout. Offensively, Derek Roy is the only player scoring at a point or game or higher pace. Hey what else is new? On the plus side, Steve Montador is having a career year.

Pittsburgh – The Penguins seemed like an early Stanley Cup favorite with their off-season defensive acquisitions. But Marc-Andre Fleury has struggled, Evgeni Malkin has struggled at times and their power play isn’t what it should be. The biggest problem is they really miss Jordan Staal.

Goalie Spotlight

Sergei Bobrovsky – Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers have had gone through a lot of goalies over the past decade. Rarely would a goalie carry the starting load for more than two seasons. Most seasons would see two or three goalies splitting the duties. After a long playoff run shared by Michael Leighton and Brian Boucher most figured the Flyers would run with both of them this season. But then Leighton got injured and that’s where Sergei Bobrovsky comes into play.

Bobrovsky was eligible for the 2006 NHL draft but he went undrafted. The Flyers oddly enough were interested in him but the thought it would be too hard to sign the netminder from Novokuznetsk, Russia to come play in the NHL. Unwanted in the NHL Bobrovsky played for Metallurg Novokuznetsk of the RSL (Russian Superleague) before it was absorbed by the KHL and then he played with them for two seasons in the KHL. During his time with Metallurg Novokuznetsk he played well, though he actually had a record of 16-42-5 in the KHL. He also helped capture a bronze medal for Russia at the 2008 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. The Flyers offered him a three year contract after his four stint with Metallurg Novokuznetsk and he was slated to be assigned to the Adirondack Phantoms of the AHL. The combination of his strong training camp and Michael Leighton’s injury kept him on the opening day Flyers’ roster.

Bobrovsky was the youngest Flyers goaltender ever to start a season opening game at 22, just surpassing Ron Hextall’s old mark, which he ended up winning. Currently he is the starting goalie for the Flyers while Brian Boucher has the backup duties. Bobrovsky is tied for the league lead in wins at 11 to go along with his 5^th place in GAA and 4^th place in SV%. Bobrovsky’s English isn’t very good yet, so he uses a translator, Natalia Bragilevskaya, to help him during post game interviews. Regardless of the language he speaks the Flyers are hoping they have found what has eluded them for quite some time, stable goaltending from one goalie for years to come.

Fights of the Week

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

Eric Boulton vs. John Erskine

Just two hockey players whaling away at each other.

Tanner Glass vs. Mike Brown

Pretty decent fight, unfortunately not long enough.

Goats of the Week

Ilya Kovalchuk – New Jersey Devils

Well we’ve all seen this a couple of times by now. But really, does it ever get old? I think this will defiantly be a goat of the year finalist. He redeemed himself somewhat the next night with the game winner in overtime.

Dan Hamhuis – Vancouver Canucks

Hamhuis goes to clear the puck in the finals seconds of overtime but instead passes it directly to Tyler Myers, who capitalizes on it. Considering the year Myers has had, he will probably be sending a few Christmas cards to Hamhuis.

Zbynek Michalek – Pittsburgh Penguins

Michalek goes to play the the puck off the boards but falls down, enabling Callahan to go the other way for the game winner in overtime.

Things I like

1. Carey Price has probably had the toughest NHL career of any player in some time. But despite all he has been through it looks like this could be his break out year. He is posting career numbers so far and he has half as many shutouts as he did in all of his career. This past game against Carolina he made some spectacular saves, which even the tough crowd in Montreal acknowledged.

2. The Philadelphia Flyers are on fire. Showing that last seasons long playoff run was no fluke, the Flyers have one of the best records in the NHL. They are also the 2^nd highest scoring team behind only the Capitals. Sergei Bobrovsky has been tearing it up in net and the Flyers may actually have the most complete team in the East.

3. Streaks, streaks and more streaks. Whether it’s losing streaks or wining streaks we have seen a lot of them lately. I like it because I think it adds to the game when you want to see if the team can keep them going or when they try and snap them.

4. Most of the goals in the Avalanche vs Blues games were pretty amazing. Great moves and mostly all top shelf goals.

5. The Maple Leafs coming back from a 5-1 deficit in a game they really needed to win against the Predators. Of course the fact that the Predators kept giving them penalties was the catalyst for the turnaround. Nazem Kadri also picked up his first NHL point.

Things I don’t

1. Jeff Carter was just signed to an 11 year deal…. do the Flyers really not read my column? Just kidding but seriously while the cap hit of 5.27 million makes it not that cost worthy of a deal, 11 years is just to long a contract. Here’s hoping they won’t regret it down the line, even though I don’t like the Flyers much.

2. Hey remember when the Tampa Bay Lightning had the best record in the Eastern Conference? Ya I don’t remember it either. It seems like it was so long ago. In the last seven games the Lightning are 1-5-1. They’ve given up 15 goals in the past three games.

3. I like absolutely nothing about the Edmonton Oilers right now. This was supposed to be a season of improvement for the Oilers but it looks like another top pick is in the works for them. Which may not be a bad thing, They can draft a goalie or a defenseman with that pick. They just got decimated against the Rangers in an 8-2 loss. So many bad turnovers and Khabibulin looked like he just mailed it in on those last few goals. On the bright side, they will probably never be as bad as the Islanders.

Stat Line of the Week

11/14/10 New York 8 vs. Edmonton 2

In only his 2^nd game back since shoulder surgery Marian Gaborik keyed the Rangers win against the Oilers. He scored the first goal just 90 seconds into the game. He added two more goals for a hat trick, picked up an assists and he had an eye popping +5.

Did You Know?

That there have been five sets of twins to play for the NHL. The Sedins twins are of course the most famous. The others are Chris and Peter Ferraro, Joel and Henrik Lundqvist, Rich and Ron Sutter and Peter and Patrik Sundstrom. Interestingly enough, three of those pairs are from Sweden. The Sedins, Sundstroms and Lundqvists.

Numbers, Numbers

7 – Losses at home for the Blackhawks so far

8 – Losses at home all of last season for the Blackhawks

-11 – Patrick Sharp’s +/- by far the worst of the top 50 point scorers

15 – Goals scored against Carolina in back to back games

5 – Short handed goals for Philadelphia

17-23-2 Games played, points and +/- respectively for both Henrik and Daniel Sedin. Twins you say?

Quotes of the Week

“If we talk about that I’ll break down.”

Coach Cory Clouston, on the suicide death of Daron Richardson, the 14-year-old daughter of assistant coach Luke Richardson.

Very Sad.

“If you want to take the bows when the team is winning, then you’d better face the music when the team is not.”

Toronto general manager Brian Burke on the heat he is feeling from the public and the media.

“All I’ve got is this lisp, and a few stitches.”

Wild D Nick Schultz on getting a puck to the face last weekend vs. Columbus.

“It takes a while, but sometimes you have to go all the way to the bottom to get that win and you start feeling better.”

LW Ilya Kovalchuk on the Devils finally getting their first home win of the season Friday night.

Apparently that bottom includes whiffing on a shootout attempt.

This Week in Hockey History

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

November 11, 1989 Quebec’s Guy Lafleur scored his 544th career NHL goal to tie Maurice Richard for eighth All Time in NHL goals, as the Nordiques beat Vancouver 3-2, in Quebec City.

November 12, 1955 In a 3-0 Montreal victory over Detroit, Jean Beliveau and Red Kelly, the two most gentlemanly players in the league got into a fight. Jacques Plante recorded his 14th career shutout, and Beliveau scored a goal and an assist.

November 13, 1997 NHL’s Nashville expansion franchise announced the team (set to begin play in 1998-99) would be called the “Predators”.

November 14, 1989 Larry Robinson had two assists in the first period of Kings’ 8-6 win over Calgary to move past Brad Park (896) into third place on the NHL’s all time point scoring list among defensemen. Only Denis Potvin and Bobby Orr were still ahead.

November 15, 1997 Tom Barrasso became Pittsburgh’s all-time leader in career shutouts, when his 12th as a Penguin came in a 5-0 win at Toronto. Barrasso broke the record of 11 held by Les Binkley. It was also the 25th shutout of Barrasso’s NHL career.

November 16, 2001 Steve Yzerman scored twice, including the 650th goal of his NHL career and Brett Hull had two assists for his 1,200th career point in the Red Wings 8-3 win over the visiting Minnesota Wild.

Rankings

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

Top 5

1. Washington

2. Philadelphia

3. Los Angeles

4. Vancouver

5. Detroit

Bottom 5

30. N.Y Islanders

29. Toronto

28. Edmonton

27. New Jersey

26. Tampa Bay

IIya found a home… for now – Well the IIya Kovalchuk watch can officially end, until this season is over. Of course this is old news by now, but it happened and I’m recapping the week so deal with it! A great pick-up by New Jersey they really didn’t give up much except for that number 1 pick. If they can re-sign Ilya they made out like gangbusters. If they can’t well even though they didn’t give up much, giving up something for nothing is never a good thing. Even if they win the cup this year and he leaves, I still think it’s a waste. They probably have a good chance of re-assigning him but they will have to pay. As of now the move hasn’t really paid off. The Devils are 1-2 since acquiring him and it could very well have been 0-3 if it wasn’t for their three goal 3^rd period rally against Toronto. It will probably take awhile for Kovalchuk to adjust to his new linemates.

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.

On the other hand the Penguins are reeling from the loss of Evgeni Malkin. While the Penguins are a great team, having been to the finals 2 years in a row, they really are a team of Crosby, Malkin and a bunch of role players. The role players play their role very well but when Crosby and Malkin are not playing well the team will suffer. Malkin is out and Crosby is in a points drought. Subsequently they have lost 4 of 6 since Malkin was injured and they have been shutout twice. Here’s hoping Malkin comes back soon for the Penguins sake.

NHL teams losing money – First Phoenix and now Columbus. The Coyotes troubles are well documented and despite the NHL’s best efforts the Coyotes really should really leave Phoenix. However don’t tell that to Commissioner Gary Bettman he doesn’t want to hear it. Now it is being reported that the Columbus Blue Jackets are losing on average 12 million a year.

Phoenix is dead last in attendance this year and has lost about 30 million in some seasons. Of course with team ownership up in the air many fans don’t want to invest money into a team that may not be there. The Coyotes were also near the bottom in attendance last year.

Columbus is 22^nd in attendance capacity this year and was 2^nd to last two seasons ago. Columbus is the 32^nd largest US metro area not the largest by any means and not that smallest either, but only three teams play in front of smaller markets. The Blue Jackets also have to pay 5 million a year to use the arena. So that really doesn’t help their financial situation.

I think the NHL and Bettman really need to think harder before they place teams and try to keep teams in markets. A successful team depends on two things a large market and a large hockey or sports fan market. Phoenix and Atlanta (another money loser) are two top 12 markets, however neither care about hockey. Atlanta in general isn’t much of a sports market. None of their professional team are in the top 50% of attendance and the Atlanta Hawks are usually at the bottom like the Thrashers. Columbus and Carolina are also small markets with skeptical hockey fan bases, though Carolina fares a little better then Columbus, and then there’s Nashville and Florida(Miami).

For the life of me I don’t know why Bettman thought it was a good choice to put teams in some of these locations. I don’t have a problem, unlike most fans, of Bettman moving the teams out of Winnipeg and Hartford. I just question where he decided to move them to and when he decides to keep them there, even when it is a no win situation. For the life of me I can’t comprehend why Seattle and/or Portland, OR does not have a hockey team. Seattle is the 15^th largest market and Portland is the 23^rd largest. They both have built-in hockey fan bases and Seattle could really create a nice rivalry with Vancouver. They both do fairly well with WHL attendance. I imagine the NHL would do even better.

Goalie Spotlight

Antero Niittymaki – Tampa Bay Lightning

So who is Antero Niittymaki? He isn’t a name I have heard much before yet he has currently taken over the number 1 goaltending duties from Mike Smith on the Tampa Bay Lightning. Currently he is near the top of the league leaders in GAA and is in the top spot for SV%. Despite being a relative unknown he is actually quite an accomplished goaltender.

From 1995 to 2002 Antero played in SM-liiga, the top professional league in Finland and one of the top leagues in Europe. He started playing in the non-junior SM-liiga in 1999. In 2000 he won the Jarmo Wasama memorial trophy for rookie of the year and led the team to their 2^nd straight title. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1998 but he didn’t actually play for them or their affiliate until 2002. In 2004 while playing for the Philadelphia Phantoms, the Flyers AHL affiliate, he scored an overtime empty net goal. He is the first goalie in North American history to score an overtime goal. While he was there he set eight Phantoms’ franchise records, including most wins and shutouts.

In the 2006 Winter Olympics, while playing for Finland, he was named league MVP whole guiding Finland to a silver medal. Ironically he was only the starter after Kari Lehtonen and Miikka Kiprusoff pulled out due to injury. Unfortunately his Flyers career, 2005 – 2009, was not as stellar as his Phantoms or international career. He tied the Flyers record for most losses in a season in 2007, and he was often battering injuries. After a brief stint as starting goalie he finished his career as a Flyer as a backup. He left as an unrestricted free agent and signed with the Lightning to backup Mike Smith. After Mike Smiths’ struggles Antero was tapped to start. Off to a fast start he should remain the number one goalie for the foreseeable future. On a team with Martin St. Louis, Vincent Lecavalier, and rising star Steven Stamkos the Lightning hope to make the playoffs for the first time in three years.

Fights of the Week

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

Cam Janssen vs. Arron Asham

The 5^th time these two have squared off. Asham gets knocked down and the refs go in to break it up but Asham gets back up and they continue. They both go down and they both want to get back up and fight some more but the refs stop it this time.

Tanner Glass vs. Cam Janssen

Long pretty decent fight won by Janssen. He lets you know it too, by raising his arm when the fight is done.

Tim Jackman vs. David Clarkson

Interesting fight had about 5 punches in a row thrown at the exact same time.  Jackman got a bloody nose for his troubles.

Things I like

1. Well Toronto picked up their first home win of the season beating lowly Carolina who, coincidently, doesn’t have a road win, yet.

2. San Jose has only lost 1 game in regulation out of their past 10. They also have an 8 game point streak going, which has helped them take the top spot in the conference.

3. Attendance is doing well in a tough economic year. 16 teams are at 97% capacity or higher. Right in line with the 2006-07 and 2008-09 seasons and better than 2007-08.

Things I don’t

1. The St. Louis Blues have really come back to earth lately. After starting out the season with 2 “road” wins against the Red Wings, the Blues now have lost 5 games in a row. On the plus side, the last 3 games were all overtime losses so they were able to pick up points anyway. Though they did bounce back mauling Vancouver 6-1 last night.

2. Carolina now has the distinction of being the worst team in the league. With Cam Ward possibly being injured for a month, it will be a real long season in Raleigh. They truly are this year’s biggest disappointment.

3. The Pittsburgh Penguins have never faired well with west coast road trips, this year appears to be no different. After narrowly escaping the Ducks, the Penguins lost to the Kings and the Sharks ruining their undefeated road record. They also worsened their record in the Shark Tank to 0-7. The win against Anaheim was only the 2^nd road win for the Penguins against a California team in the past decade. All of a sudden Pittsburgh’s undefeated road streak has suffered 3 losses in a row.

This Week in Hockey History

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

November 05, 1959 Gordie Howe had a goal and an assist to top the 1,000 point mark (including the playoffs) in his 947th career game. It came in an 8-3 loss to the visiting Boston Bruins.

November 05, 1999 Ron Francis picked up an assist to beome the sixth NHL player to score 1,500 NHL points in his NHL career. The milestone came in a 3-2 Hurricanes’ loss at Detroit.

November 05, 1955 Jean Beliveau scored four goals, including 3 during one power play in a span of :44 in the second period. Canadiens won the game, 4-2 over Boston. After the season, the NHL changed the rules to end a minor power play after a goal was scored.

November 05, 1983 Rangers and Nordiques set an NHL record for the fastest two goals at the start of a period by two teams (14 seconds). Andre Savard scored for Quebec at :08 of the 3rd and Pierre Larouche replied for the Rangers at :14. NY tied 4-4 in Quebec City.

November 06, 1995 Rangers Mark Messier scored his 17th career hat trick in the final period to reach the 500 goal mark and added an assist as New York won 4-2 over the Flames, in New York. Messier became the 21st player in the NHL to collect 500 goals.

November 07, 1925 NHL Board of Governors (meeting in Mtl) announced that the league would have a salary limit of $35,000 per team for the 1925-26 season. Expansion teams in Pittsburgh & NY (Rangers) were given exemptions: for 2 years they could spend $45,000 each.

November 09, 2000 Roman Cechmanek became the first goaltender since 1938 to get each of his first two victories as shutouts, in the Flyers 2-0 win against the visiting Edmonton Oilers. He had picked up his first victory (and shutout) five nights earlier.

November 09, 1957 Chicago’s Ted Lindsay scored his 324th career NHL, to tie Nels Stewart as the third highest goal scorer in NHL history, as the Black Hawks won 5-0 over the visiting New York Rangers. Glenn Hall got his 21st career shutout.

November 10, 1963 Detroit’s Gordie Howe became the NHL’s all time leading goal scorer, when he scored #545 to move past Maurice “Rocket” Richard as the Red Wings beat Montreal, 3-0.

November 10, 1934 Canadiens’ Armand Mondou became the first player in NHL history to take a penalty shot. He missed in his attempt against George Hainsworth of Toronto. Three days later Ralph Bowman of St. Louis scored the first penalty shot goal in NHL history.

Rankings

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

Top 5

1. San Jose
2. Washington
3. Pittsburgh
4. New Jersey
5. Colorado

Bottom 5

30. Carolina
29. Toronto
28. St. Louis
27. Florida
26. Edmonton

Ducks Watch

The Ducks have now won 2 games in a row coming off their tough loss to the defending champs. They also have collected points in 4 of their last 5 games since their humiliating loss to Toronto. Jonas Hiller recorded his first shutout of the year against Nashville and the offense continued to roll behind two Selanne goals. Hiller followed up that shutout with two more shutout periods entering the 3^rd period against Phoenix it looked like he might record two shutouts in a row. The Coyotes had other ideas, however, reeling off 3 unanswered goals. The Ducks were able to hold on for the win. A win is a win no matter how you get it, though I’m sure the Ducks would have liked to have had a better 3^rd period.

This is quite strange to me. Let’s look at each team briefly.

Goaltending – The Ducks have Giguere, though in decline he still plays admirably, and Hiller, not as hot as last year but still decent. The Kings have John Quick who is in his 2^nd full time season and had an okay year last year. His numbers this year are decent but nothing spectacular. One would think advantage Ducks.

Defense – Though the Ducks lost Pronger they still have Neidermayer, Whitney and Wisniewski. The Kings have Doughty, in his 2^nd year, O’ Donnell, a journeyman, Johnson and Scuderi rounding out the top 4. They lost Kyle Quincy to the Avalanche. I would think once again advantage Ducks.

Offense – Ducks have Perry, Getzlaf, Ryan, Selanne, Koivu, and Lupul. Hard to argue with that bunch, it would take to long to list their accomplishments. The Kings counter with Kopitar, who is amazing, Brown, Williams, Smyth, Stoll and Frolov. Most of these guys are a few years into playing or journeyman. Most of them are really developing fast. This category I would only give a slight edge to the Ducks.

But as you can see, what looks good on paper and what actually performs well are two different things.

Yes the Ducks also gave the Maple Leafs their first win of the season in a 6-3 lost. However the game wasn’t like the score would have you believe. This was honestly one of the worst officiated games I have ever seen. Not including fighting and game misconducts the Ducks committed 15 penalties. That’s right 15. The Maple Leafs had 8 not including fighting and game misconducts. Now that’s kind of a big disparity. The Maple Leafs scored 5 of their 6 goals on the powerplay including two 5 on 3. I didn’t see the whole game but I saw most of it. I can tell you that at least 3 penalties called on the Ducks were not penalties. The Maple Leafs scored on all those penalties. I really don’t like it when refs decide games especially when they aren’t viewing the play from the right angle to make the correct call. I wish the NHL had coach’s challenges like the NFL has, or at least instant replays for penalties, not just goals.

On a side note I’d like to point out that the Ducks put together a thank you video montage of every former player who comes to town for a visit. I’m not just talking about the key past players, I’m talking about everybody. A very classy move I think by the organization.

Goalie Spotlight

Ilya Bryzgalov – Phoenix Coyotes

I figured this week we would take a look at one of the hottest goalies in the league.

Ilya Bryzgalov was born in Togliatti, Russia, one of many fine NHL players to come from Russia. He has a decorated international career that includes a silver medal at the 2000 World Junior Championships, a bronze medal with Russia at the 2002 Winter Olympics, and a gold medal in the 2009 Men’s World Ice Hockey Championships. You might say he scored the hat trick of medals.

Bryzgalov was drafted by the then Anaheim Mighty Ducks in 2000 and had success with them. Though mostly used as a backup to Jean-Sebastien Giguere he did start some playoff games towards the end of his tenure with the Ducks. He tied the playoff record for most consecutive shutouts by a rookie with 3. He was also a part of the Ducks cup winning team in 2007. Though he didn’t play in any of the Stanley Cup Finals he did start, and won, in previous rounds. After the Ducks failed to trade Bryzgalov he was picked up on waivers by the Coyotes. His numbers the past two seasons as the Coyotes starter weren’t anything spectacular but they were in line with his career numbers.

Off to a fast start this year, he is near of the top of the NHL in GGA, SV%, and he currently leads the league in shutouts with 2. Not bad considering the most shutouts he has ever had in a season has been 3. Whether or not his numbers stay at that level will be dependent on how well the Coyotes play around him. A perennial loser, recently, the Coyotes are off to one of their best starts ever. Time will tell how well Bryzgalov and the Coyotes will finish.

Fights of the Week

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

Colton Orr vs. George Parros

Best part of the fight is when Orr shoves the referee down to the ice. He got a game misconduct for that. Honestly the refs deserved it after their performance.

Steve MacIntyre vs. Brian McGrattan

Nice long fight with a lot of good punches, edge to McGrattan and his fists though.

Tim Conboy vs. John Scott

Talk about a mismatch, though it’s not as much of height disadvantage as it seems. I’ve seen worse discrepancies. A lot of wrestling in this fight.

Brad May vs. Tanner Glass

Good fight between two heavyweights in a good close game.

Goat/Trick Shot of the Week

Jeff Schultz and Ondrej Pavelec

Back to back weeks of the Goat/Trick shot of the week combined. Jeff Schultz, Capitals, was just the clearing the puck down the ice and just got a few lucky bounces. Ondrej Pavelec, Thrashers, just misplayed it with his glove.

Things I like

1. We have a Dustin Penner sighting. Penner, who helped the Ducks win the cup in 2007, is also off to his best season ever. Near the top of the league in Goals and Points, Penner has adjusted his game to a more aggressive style under new coach Pat Quinn and it’s paying off.

2. Relatively unknown Matt Carle is off to a great start. Playing for his third team and his 2^nd go around with the Flyers, Carle is tops in scoring for defenseman. He also has a stellar +7.

3. I mentioned Anze Kopitar a few weeks ago but he deserves mention again for his phenomenal play. The scoring race should go down to the wire between him and Ovechkin (I guess Gaborik too). Sorry Malkin and Crosby.

Things I don’t

1. Chris Osgood is not having a very good year. It’s tough to blame all of Detriot’s woes on Osgood since they defiantly have other issues. Last year Osgood didn’t have a great year either but he rebounded come playoff time when it mattered most. He might not get a chance to rebound in the playoffs this year though.

2. The Carolina Hurricanes are not following their surprise run to the Eastern Conference Finals with a strong start. Eric Staal has really struggled this year. If the Hurricanes hope to have any success this year, he will need to get back on track.

3. The officiating in some of the games, rivals the NFL officiating on their worst days. I really feel bad officiating in football and hockey games can really turn games more so then in basketball or baseball.

This Week in Hockey History

New Feature starting this week, I will pull a few of the interesting events in hockey history from the week. I hope you like history!

October 26, 1990 Wayne Gretzky became the first player in NHL history to hit the 2,000 point milestone, with an assist as the Kings lost 6-2 to the Jets at Winnipeg. He upped his career stats to 684 goals, 1,316 assists, for 2,000 points in 857 NHL games.

October 26, 1984 Detroit Red Wings scored three empty net goals at the end of a 7-3 win over Buffalo, at Joe Louis Arena. Danny Gare scored two goals and two assists to lead the Red Wings’ scoring.

October 26, 1996 Buffalo’s Dominik Hasek picked up his 100th career NHL victory in a 6-3 win over the visiting Hartford Whalers. Hasek became the first European-trained goaltender to win 100 games.

October 26, 1969 Philadelphia Flyers tied St. Louis 0-0 at the Spectrum, with Bernie Parent and Jacques Plante earning the shutouts. It was the 69th career shutout for Blues’ Plante and 7th of Parent’s career.

October 25, 1988 Toronto Maple Leafs scored four goals on just four shots in the second period of a 4-3 win over the NY Islanders. In the game the Leafs were outshot 34-18. Ed Olczyk led the scoring with two goals.

October 24, 1991 Paul Coffey scored his 310th career goal, to tie Denis Potvin as the highest goal scoring defenseman in NHL history, in a 4-2 Penguins’ loss to the Devils, in Pittsburgh.

October 23, 1982 Boston’s Normand Leveille suffered a career-ending cerebral hemorrhage during the first intermission at Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum. Bruins lost 3-2 to the Canucks.

October 22, 1957 Chicago rookie Bobby Hull scored his first career NHL goal in a 2-1 win over the visiting Boston Bruins.

October 22, 2002 Patrick Roy played in his 971st game, to tie Terry Sawchuk’s NHL record for career appearances by a goalie, as Colorado tied 3-3 against the visiting Edmonton Oilers.

Rankings

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

Top 5

1. Pittsburgh
2. Colorado
3. Washington
4. Los Angeles
5. Buffalo

Bottom 5

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

Ducks Watch

The Ducks are in a bit of a funk. After spotting the Stars a 3-0 lead the Ducks finally got 2 goals to make it a game, including Getzlaf’s first of the year. But it was too little to late as the Ducks couldn’t muster any more goals and the Stars added an empty netter. They followed it up with a tough loss to the Blue Jackets, and I do mean tough. The offense finally started to click and they played well overall but they lost another game by 2 goals including the empty netter. Though the Ducks got one fluky goal the Blue Jackets scored two fluky goals, and if that wasn’t bad enough Giguere re-injured his groin muscle and will probably need some extended time off. I’m not going to discuss the Maple Leafs game in this section as I pretty much already covered it in the top section. They started off real slow last year and then reeled off like 15 games in a row with a point, so I’m not that worried.

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.