This week saw more domination by the Sabres, first wins notched by the Flyers and Lightning, and the return of Sean Avery to the tri-state area. It was a wacky one, to say the least 
THE GOOD:
- Buffalo kept up their fantastic play this week, handing Minnesota their first lost of the season and going 2-0-1. The team has yet to lose in regulation, with only two shootout losses to their name. Much of the team’s success can be attributed to the continued stellar play of Thomas Vanek, who has 11 points in 8 games.
- Carolina rookie Brandon Sutter (yes, one of those Sutters) scored his first goal against the Penguins in a losing effort by the Hurricanes this week. He became the seventh Sutter to score a goal in the NHL. It’s unfair how talented that family is.
- The last two winless teams in the league finally grabbed their first W’s this week - Tampa Bay with an overtime victory over Atlanta and Philadelphia with a pair of wins over the Devils this weekend. (I promise I’m not bitter.)
- Avery made his return to New York/New Jersey with Dallas early in the week, and was surprisingly well behaved. He wasn’t a huge factor in either game - positive or negative, and managed to let the media circus go on around him without saying much of anything moronic. I don’t like to give Sean praise, as I think he’s a MASSIVE asshole, but he handled the trip very well. Kudos to the Stars for picking up 2 of 3 victories on the road trip, as well (and many thanks for imploding against the Devils!).
- Speaking of the Stars imploding, Martin Brodeur notched his 98th career shutout Wednesday against Dallas. He needs only 5 more to reach Terry Sawchuck’s all-time record. Brodeur’s stats prior to the Devils’ collapse against Philly this weekend marked the best start of his career.
THE BAD:
- NHL general managers met this week in Minnesota to discuss the state of the game and potential rule changes. Coming out of the meeting, the GMs spoke of two specific rule changes that had been brought up at the meeting. First, on a delayed penalty call in the defensive zone, the penalized team would have to clear the puck over the blue line before getting the whistle. Secondly, the idea of making it illegal to leave your feet or slide on the ice to block a shot was discussed. I don’t like either change, but I find the second idea TERRIBLE. Shot blocking is a huge part of the sport and taking it away just seems stupid.
- Tampa Bay owner Oren Koules had masks made up for Lightning goalies Mike Smith and Olaf Kolzig advertising his new movie Saw V. The masks will eventually be auctioned off for charity. While I appreciate the charitable side of the move, I don’t like the idea of marketing on goalie masks - so many goalies really go all out to make their masks an extension of their personalities - and making them a marketing tool really takes that away.
- Sarah Palin dropped the puck in St. Louis Friday night. All politics aside, I think its getting a little silly that she’s continually being paraded around at games. We get it, you’re a “hockey mom”. Now can we quit mixing politics and sports and move on with the season?
- Marty Turco has been a disaster lately. His goals against average is well over 4 and Dallas hasn’t given up more than 3 goals in all but 2 games this year. He was pulled in a sloppy effort against the Devils on Wednesday and just has not looked sharp yet. Dallas is going to struggle until he gets back on track.
- A fan in Philadelphia on Saturday threw a smoke bomb on the ice after a near-goal was waved off in what would eventually turn into an OT victory for the Flyers. The bomb hit near the Devils bench, and play was halted for several minutes to let the air around bench area clear after the players and coaches cleared out. A little scary that that made it by security at the Wachovia Center.
THE RIDICULOUS
First two highlights are videos on NHL.com. I unfortunately couldn’t embed them over here, but you can watch the ones I mention via the boxscores.
Brendan Morrow netted this impressive goal against Henrik Lundqvist Monday night in New York.
Sidney Crosby picked the puck out of mid-air to deflect it by Carolina back-up netminder Michael Leighton to spark a Pittsburgh comeback Wednesday night.
Milan Lucic attempted to shove Mike VanRyn through the boards and into the crowd in Toronto on Thursday.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT….
I didn’t know how to classify this story. I don’t know how to describe this story. But I just couldn’t let my readers miss out on a good “Swedish hockey game delayed by dildo shower” article.
Here’s Puck Daddy with the report.
