Time for another weekly roundup, and what a week it’s been.  But the even bigger news will come over the next few days — it’s TRADE DEADLINE WEEK!  Lots of buzz around the league already, some surrounding some big name players – anything can happen between now and Wednesday at 3PM.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

-The biggest story this week was the return of Martin Brodeur to the Devils’ lineup after missing 4 months following surgery to repair a torn bicep tendon.  Brodeur played in the team’s game Thursday against the Avalanche and posted a 4-0 shutout.  Marty then played back-to-back games this weekend and posted his 100th career shutout this afternoon against the Flyers.  Watch out for the Devils

-The Rangers finally fired Tom Renney this week (honestly, I’m shocked it took them this long), replacing him with former Tampa Bay Lightning coach John Tortorella.  Glen Sather is hoping the change in coaching style will spark the slumping Rangers and keep them in playoff contention.  Tortorella earned his first victory as coach Saturday night, a 6-1 stomping of the lowly Avalanche.

-Scary stuff: Ethan Moreau took a high stick to the eye late in Edmonton’s game against Minnesota on Saturday.  From TSN:

It looks like the stick gave him a gash on the socket. According to the doctors you could see where it raked across the eye,” (Craig) MacTavish told the Canadian Press.

All the best to Moreau.  Eye injuries are serious business.

-There have been a series of suspensions this week for high hits.  Brendan Witt of the Islanders was given 5 games for an elbow on Niklas Hagman of the Maple Leafs (a hit which probably deserved at least 10 games — awful play).  Derek Boogaard was also given 5 games for a hit on Brandon Prust of the Flames.  This weekend, Steve Ott was suspended indefinitely (pending a hearing with the disciplinary committee and Colin Campbell’s wheel o’justice) for an altercation with Anaheim’s Travis Moen in which he allegedly gouged at Moen’s eye.  The NHL’s Powers That Be can’t be happy with the number of dirty plays in such a short period of time.

-The first big deal of the deadline period was pulled off earlier in the week, as Pittsburgh sent Ryan Whitney to Anaheim for Chris Kunitz and prospect Eric Tangradi.  Solid deal for both teams.  Pittsburgh was in desperate need of another scoring winger to play with Sidney Crosby, and Kunitz should fill that role nicely.  Anaheim only has Pronger under contract past this season on their blueline, and adds some depth to their defense with Whitney and his 4-year contract, particularly if Niedermayer is moved or retires after this season.

-It appears that Bill Guerin will have a new address by tomorrow night.  The Islanders pulled their captain out of their game last night after warm-ups, and Guerin is not injured.  Speculation of destinations and possible deals have been flying around the blogosphere since then, but it seems Guerin has approved a deal to an Eastern Conference team that the Islanders are just waiting for approval from.  Once the team in question signs the dotted line I would expect him to be shipped out sometime tomorrow.

IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TOMORROW…

Eastern Conference:

Boston Bruins (1) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (8)
New Jersey Devils (2) vs. New York Rangers (7)
Washington Capitals (3) vs. Florida Panthers (6)
Philadelphia Flyers (4) vs. Montreal Canadiens (5)

On the bubble: Buffalo Sabres (1 point out), Carolina Hurricanes (1 points out)

Western Conference:

San Jose Sharks (1) vs. Anaheim Ducks (8)
Detroit Red Wings (2) vs. Edmonton Oilers (7)
Calgary Flames (3) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (6)
Chicago Blackhawks (4) vs. Vancouver Canucks (5)

On the bubble: Nashville Predators (1 point out), Minnesota Wild (2 points out), Dallas Stars (2 points out)

Expect any teams not listed here (with the exception of, perhaps, St. Louis and LA) to be sellers as Wednesday approaches.

HIGHLIGHTS

Zach Parise had a stellar week, this goal is just one of the gems he’s contributed to the Devils’ recent success.

San Jose and Detroit met for the last time in the regular season this year, and Henrik Zetterberg had a monster night, tallying 2 goals as
Detroit went on to win 4-1.  This shorthanded goal was the highlight of the night.

Stay tuned for trade deadline updates and commentary all week.  It’s like Christmastime for hockey fans!

So, I promised a liveblog this week, but due to some unforeseen circumstances (stupid life, why must you always get in the way?!), it just didn’t happen.  But I’m going to make up for it this week, and will be bringing you the San Jose/Boston game on Tuesday.  Should be a fun one.

Let’s take a look at some of highlights (and lowlights) of this week in the NHL.

-Sean Avery completed his stint in the NHLPA’s behavior management program this week, and was placed on waivers by the Stars.  GMs Les Jackson and Brett Hull will now seek an AHL club to stash Avery in for the time being.  Dallas’ hope is that they can arrange something with an NHL club (the likely destination right now seemingly being the Rangers) to send Avery to their AHL affiliate for a conditioning stint, and then the big club would claim him (and half of his monstrous contract) on re-entry waivers.  I just hope it gets done quickly because I’m sick of hearing about him.

-Word from those in the know in New Jersey is that Martin Brodeur has been taking hard shots from trainers and the coaching staff this week, including using his injured glove hand without any trouble.  Sources within the organization claim Marty’s shooting for a February 26th home game against the Colorado Avalanche for a return to action.  This would make me ridiculously happy.  Check out Fire & Ice for more.

-On the opposite end of the spectrum, Blue Jackets’ rookie netminder Steve Mason was placed on the IR today after being diagnosed with mono last weekend.  This is a tough blow to the Columbus organization, which is seeking its first-ever playoff berth in an extremely competitive Western Conference.  If Mason is out for a long period of time, it may signal the beginning of the end of their playoff hopes for this season.

-The New York Rangers find themselves in the middle of a 4-game losing streak this week, punctuated by a 10-2 loss to Dallas on Saturday.  The fanbase is restless and calling for Renney’s head (I can’t say I blame them), and the team just doesn’t seem to have any sort of chemistry.  They need a finisher (the team is currently 29th in the league, averaging 2.4 goals per game), they need to tighten up their defense — things definitely need to change.  Somehow, bringing in a guy like Sean Avery doesn’t seem like the answer to me, but there’s a lot of talk that’s what Sather’s looking to do.

-St. Louis placed Manny Legace on waivers this weekend.  This didn’t come as a surprise, as Legace’s numbers this season were pretty awful (13-9-2 with a 3.12 GAA and .885 save percentage) and Chris Mason had been consistently outplaying him.  He’s been the latest in a series of goaltenders to pass through waivers over the past month (Curtis Sanford, Martin Gerber).  The Blues called up Chris Holt (this required an Arrested Development joke) to serve as Mason’s back up.

-Chris Osgood is in the doghouse with the Red Wing’s coaching staff.  Osgood has struggled most of this year, and GM Ken Holland called him out earlier this week:

“Obviously, his game isn’t where it was last year, the statistics bear that out,” Holland said Thursday. “We know we got to get him on top of his game.

…We need Chris to get his game back to where it was last year, and now.”  Windsor Star

Luckily for Detroit, Ty Conklin has been playing extremely well (he posted his sixth shutout against his former team this afternoon).  But going into the playoffs, I’m sure the Red Wings would feel a lot better knowing Osgood was bringing a solid performance every night.

IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TOMORROW:

Eastern Conference:

Boston Bruins (1) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (8)
Washington Capitals (2) vs. Buffalo Sabres (7)
New Jersey Devils (3) vs. New York Rangers (6)
Montreal Canadiens (4) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (5)

On the bubble: Florida Panthers (1 point out), Pittsburgh Penguins (2 points out)

Western Conference:

San Jose Sharks (1) vs. Minnesota Wild (8)
Detroit Red Wings (2) vs. Vancouver Canucks (7)
Calgary Flames (3) vs. Dallas Stars (6)
Chicago Blackhawks (4) vs. Anaheim Ducks (5)

On the bubble: Edmonton Oilers (tied with Minnesota, one more game played), Columbus Blue Jackets (tied with Minnesota, two more games played)

PLAYS OF THE WEEK:
Richard Zednik put in his entry for goal of the year earlier this week, leaping over an Islander defenseman before putting the puck behind Joey Macdonald.  Incredible play.

Niklas Hagman had a rough start to a early shift against the Panthers this week, getting checked by a ref, kneed in the back of the head, and hit in the visor with the puck in rapid succession.  After shaking off the cobwebs, he came back with a beautiful play to put the Leafs up 1-0.

Drew Stafford faked his way around Mike van Ryn of the Maple Leafs before stuffing the puck behind Vesa Toskala with a gorgeous move on Wednesday night.

As we hit the stretch run of the season, I’m bringing back my weekly round-up.  Let’s take a look at this week:

-The New Jersey Devils came in to January in third place in the Atlantic, had struggled through a few games to close out 2008, and only had 3 home games on tap for the month.  Yet here they are on February 1st, sitting in first place in the division, with some breathing room and on an 8 game winning stream.  The addition of Brendan Shanahan to the lineup has livened up the power play and after his third goal in 5 games Friday night is looking more and more like a brilliant move by GM Lou Lamoriello.  If you’d asked any Devils fan on November 1st if they thought there was a chance a Brodeur-less Devils would be sitting near the top of the league as Marty readied himself to return to action, most would have thought you were crazy (I know I would have).  But that’s the situation now, and you have to figure the rest of the NHL is starting to take notice.

-On the other end of the spectrum, we have the Vancouver Canucks.  Winless in their last 9, the team is searching for answers as they plummet in the Western Conference standings. The return of Roberto Luongo hasn’t been the spark the team hoped and Mats Sundin hasn’t been a “savior” either.  Tempers within the team have reached the breaking point. They need to put some wins together fast if they want to remain in the playoff picture.

-With Manny Fernandez out with a back injury and the Bruins playing back-to-back games against the Rangers and the Canadiens, the Bruins looked to netminder Tuukka Rask Saturday against the Rangers.  With only 5 previous NHL starts to his name, Rask came up big for the B’s, making 35 stops en route to his first career shutout, a 1-0 victory that bumped the Bruins into first place in the NHL.

-After his shootout competition victory All-Star weekend, Alex Ovechkin has come out flying for the second half of the season.  With 5 goals in 2 games this weekend, Alex has started to pull away in the race for the Rocket Richard trophy, scoring his league-leading 36th goal this afternoon.

-The hockey world is buzzing about the Pittsburgh Penguins and their free fall.  What can be done to rescue this team?  There’s no doubt this is a talented bunch – they put the Rangers to shame in the third period of their 6-2 victory earlier this week, and have shown all season they are capable of being an elite contender.  But their power play is terrible (something which will change with the return of Sergei Gonchar), their defense has been porous at times (should also be helped by the return of Gonchar, but may need more help than that), and thier offense has been mostly a 2-man show.  The team has time to get it together and sneak into a low seed, but they need to right the ship soon.

-Henrik Zetterberg signed a 12-year, $72-million contract with the Red Wings this wing, the longest and most lucrative (in total) contract in the history of the franchise.  The contract averages out to $6 million a year with the last two years paying only $1 million.  This will keep Zetterberg in Motor City until he retires.  Now the Red Wings just have to figure out what to do about Johan Franzen and Marian Hossa.

-With the trade deadline about a month away, everyone’s focus has started to turn to those players likely to be on the move on March 4th.  Jay Bouwmeester is high on everyone’s list.  However, with the Panthers surprising everyone and being in the playoff hunt (they’re currently 9th in the East with 2 games in hand on the 8th place Hurricanes), the chances of Bouwmeester being dealt seem to drop dramatically. The Panthers haven’t clinched a playoff berth since 2000 and management and the fanbase are desperate for a succesful season.  Their chances drop dramatically if Bouwmeester is lost.  But watching him walk away for nothing doesn’t do the team any favors either.  Jacques Martin has a tough few weeks ahead of him.

IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TOMORROW:

Eastern Conference:

Boston Bruins (1) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (8)
Washington Capitals (2) vs. Buffalo Sabres (7)
New Jersey Devils (3) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (6)
Montreal Canadiens (4) vs. New York Rangers (5)

Western Conference:

San Jose Sharks (1) vs. Edmonton Oilers (8)
Detroit Red Wings (2) vs. Minnesota Wild (7)
Calgary Flames (3) vs. Dallas Stars (6)
Chicago Blackhawks (4) vs. Anaheim Ducks (5)

PLAYS OF THE WEEK:
Jamie Langenbrunner has scored 6 goals in 3 games this week (including overtime game winners), but this goal wouldn’t have been possible without an incredible pass from Zach Parise.  I have no idea what language this clip is in but it was the best video I could find

Ville Leino scored his first NHL goal against the Caps on Saturday — and it was a pretty one.

Alex Ovechkin just continues to amaze.  The first goal here was just….pure awesomeness.

Look for a live blog sometime this week.

First off, as you may have noticed (unless you’re using a feed reader), there’s been a little bit of a facelift around these parts this week.  I’m a designer in the real world and find myself incapable of sticking with one design on my personal websites for more than about 6 months.  I hope you like the new look!

I had planned on posting about the newly-released All-Star rosters (and the endless debate surrounding them) a few days ago, but after a few in-depth discussions with some of the more hockey-inclined people in my life (stick taps to my father and my good friend Candida), the post sort of took on a mind of its own.

For starters, let’s take a look at the rosters:

Eastern Conference

Forwards: Sidney Crosby*, Evgeni Malkin*, Alexei Kovalev*, Jeff Carter, Dany Heatley, Ilya Kovalchuk, Vincent Lecavlier, Alex Ovechkin, Zach Parise, Eric Staal, Thomas Vanek, Marc Savard
Defense: Andrei Markov*, Mike Komisarek*, Zdeno Chara, Jay Bouwmeester, Tomas Kaberle, Mark Streit
Goalies: Carey Price*, Henrik Lundqvist, Tim Thomas

*indicates starter

Western Conference:

Forwards: Jonathan Toews*, Patrick Kane*, Ryan Getzlaf*, Keith Tkachuk, Joe Thornton, Rick Nash, Mike Modano, Jarome Iginla, Milan Hejduk, Shane Doan, Pavel Datsyuk, Dustin Brown
Defense: Brian Campbell*, Scott Niedermayer*, Dan Boyle, Shea Weber, Nicklas Lidstrom, Sheldon Souray,
Goalies: Jean-Sebastian Giguere*, Niklas Backstrom, Roberto Luongo

*indicates starter

The first big problem here is obviously the starting lineup, as voted on by the fans.  I’ve mentioned the flaws in the system here in passing, but the results say it all – representatives from a grand total of 4 teams, and arguably only 6 players actually deserving of spots on the all-star team, let alone the in the starting lineup (Malkin and Crosby clearly deserving of spots as starters; Kane, Getzlaf, Markov, Price likely all-star candidates but not necessarily starters).

So coming into this week, we had the starting-lineup, and the league had to round out the team with at least one player from each of the remaining NHL squads.  At that point, with 4 Canadiens and 3 Blackhawks already in the Eastern and Western Conference lineups, it was clear there would be some snubs.  All of the Bruins who deserved to be at the game couldn’t make it.  Detroit and San Jose cannot be properly represented, despite both teams’ remarkable talent level.

My question is this – is the fan involvement in determining the lineups worth it?  I think the issues with the voting this year should (but probably won’t) push the NHL to change up the system.  From what I’ve read around the internet (check the comments), the general consensus from the fans is that the game is a joke this year – it seems in their efforts to include the fans, the NHL has instead alienated many of them. If they insist on keeping fan voting as a part of all-star weekend, I think they need to consider making fan vote only a percentage of what determines the lineup.  The other change the NHL could make to the fan voting process that I think would prevent a repeat of this year’s debacle is changing the ballot.  This year (and in past years), the ballot appeared to be based on the best players at the end of the previous season.  Come the all-star voting period, many of these players many not be relevant – whether it be due to injury or a bad start to the season. If the ballot were compiled based on player statistics at the 15 game mark, I think we’d see a much less skewed vote – for instance, Sergei Gonchar would not have been the 3rd place defenseman in the Eastern Conference voting this year despite the fact that he has yet to play a game.  This would ensure players like Tim Thomas, Thomas Vanek, and Jeff Carter, who were not key players last season but have been at the top of the NHL this year, would make the ballot.

Another thing I would consider changing, and I seriously doubt the NHL would do this, is the requirement for representation from every team.  Honestly, do any of the Senators deserve to be All-Stars this year? I don’t particularly think so.  I’m not saying there aren’t certain cases of all-star caliber players on terrible teams (see: Ilya Kovalchuk, although he hasn’t been very good this season), but that doesn’t happen often and shouldn’t be forced.  Let the real talent have the spots, and the quality of the game will improve.  Send one player from each team to the skills competition instead.  That’s always the more fun event, anyway.

I, for one, have always enjoyed the skills competition and watching the players goof off and enjoy themselves for the weekend.  The game itself may not be a typical hard fought game, but the pure skill level of those involved always leads to some astounding plays.  The way things have gone down the past season or two, I think the potential showcase of the game has been ruined.  Unlike many in both the hockey blogosphere and the mainstream media, I don’t want to see the game done away with or all-star weekend combined with the Winter Classic.  The NHL has one great event in the Winter Classic that can appeal to both hockey fans and non-fans.  The All-Star Game has the potential to be a great event for fans if the NHL takes the time to work with the game and the way teams are picked.

I’ll get off my soapbox now. 

Just for shits and giggles, here are my all-star rosters, going by the changes I just laid out!

Eastern Conference

Forwards: Sidney Crosby*, Evgeni Malkin*, Alexander Ovechkin*, Jeff Carter, Phil Kessel, Mike Richards, Nicklas Backstrom, Alex Ovechkin, Zach Parise, Simon Gagne, Thomas Vanek, Marc Savard
Defense: Mike Green*, Zdeno Chara*, Andrei Markov, Jay Bouwmeester, Dennis Wideman, Kimmo Timmonen
Goalies: Tim Thomas*, Henrik Lundqvist, Carey Price

*indicates starter

Honorable Mentions: Patrik Elias, Ryan Miller, Alex Semin, Martin St. Louis, Mark Streit

Western Conference:

Forwards: Patrick Marleau*, Joe Thornton*, Pavel Datysuk*, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Daniel Sedin, Devin Setoguchi, Jarome Iginla, Ryan Getzlaf, Shane Doan, Henrik Zetterberg, Rick Nash
Defense: Dan Boyle*, Nick Lidstrom*, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Shea Weber, Brian Rafalski, Sheldon Souray
Goalies: Niklas Backstrom*, Evgeni Nabokov, Nikolai Khabibulin

*indicates starter

Honarable mentions: Steve Mason (I wanted to pick him, I really did, but I have trouble putting a kid who’s only played for 2 months in the game), Henrik Sedin, Rob Blake

How would you fix the all-star game?

I’ve been asked my opinion on the suspension of Sean Avery yesterday for his comments about Calgary defenseman Dion Phaneuf and his girlfriend Elisha Cuthbert (a former fling of Avery’s).   The comment in question:

And I just want to comment on how it’s become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds. I don’t know what that’s about.

The NHL was fairly swift in moving to suspend Avery, ensuring he would not play in last night’s matchup with the Flames.  The media reaction to the suspension today has been all over the map.  I’ll play along.

I have a few issues with this whole incident.  For one thing, this is not an isolated occurence.  Avery has consistently shown he has no idea where to draw the line when it comes to “trash talk”.  It’s one thing to be yapping in an opponent’s ear to get under his skin during a game (see: Brodeur, Martin).  It’s quite another to openly trash a player and his family and loved ones in the media.  Avery did it with Brodeur and his messy divorce, and this is no different.  It has no place in the NHL and is NOT the kind of publicity the league wants to be associated with.

Secondly, and a point I’ve seen ignored in a lot of places – Avery didn’t just happen to find himself in front of a camera after his pregame skate yesterday morning.  He called the media over to set himself up to make these comments. This was absolutely a planned move.  The fact that he went out of his way to antagonize his opponents when the game was still hours away raises him to an all new level of idiocy.

As for the suspension – I think the NHL, for once, handled this absolutely correctly – and I am not one to stand up for Bettman & Co.  After being brought in to handle an incident between Avery and some fans in Boston earlier this year, the league has to have increased the Avery watch.  Sean can only expect to get away with so much.  His comments were inappropriate, demeaning, and probably the last straw for those in the league offices.

Mirtle said it best over at From the Rink:

That is not how you build a brand. It’s a sideshow, plain and simple, and if you rely on the Averys of the NHL to determine where the line is and if they can cross it, we’re heading into ugly territory indeed.

And, at some point, someone might even try to make Avery the league’s latest version of Steve Moore.

I think that, really, goes to the heart of the issue.  Avery is making a living annoying the ever-loving-shit out of people, and eventually, someone is going to snap.  The league stepped in last night to make sure that someone wasn’t Dion Phaneuf or anyone else on the Flames roster, and to send a message to Avery that his brand of publicity wasn’t what the league wanted.

I’ve heard the argument from a lot of people that in taking Avery out of that game, the NHL blew a great marketing opportunity – that more people would have tuned in to the Flames/Stars game anticipating the Phaneuf/Avery showdown.  A lot of the same people have also argued that an “indefinite suspension” for mouthing off while all the serious headshots we’ve seen lately are only getting 3 or 4 games is sending a terrible message.  Stop and think about that.  You want the league to come down harder on headshots – I completely agree.  But then you want them to use Avery being an idiot as a marketing gimmick by letting him go out and potential get creamed?  Doesn’t that seem like a terrible message too?

Avery has a hearing with Bettman on Thursday.  My guess is he’ll only get a 2 or 3 game suspension handed down from the league, particularly in light of the apology he’s issued tonight. The bigger question will be how soon the Dallas Stars welcome him back, as it sounds like both management and the Stars’ locker room are rather frustrated with his antics already.  That 4 year contract isn’t looking like such a great decision anymore.

Should be interesting to see on Thursday, that’s for sure.

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.

The first full week of NHL play is in the books, and it’s been a wild one.  Some teams that were expected to be great have come out flat, and some teams that were expected to be….not-so-great….have come out flying.  Here’s a look at the some of the high and low points of the week, along with a few INSANE highlight reel plays to cap off your weekend.

THE GOOD

• It pains a Devils fan to say it, but the Rangers starting 5-0 was pretty remarkable.  The team came out playing very solid hockey (against an admittedly weak group of opponents, the Devils excluded) – they were scoring goals, playing great defense, and just choking the life out of the everyone.  I witnessed it first hand on Monday, take my word for it.  The line of Dubinsky, Voros, and Zherdev has been a great spark for the team – but if their top line doesn’t start producing soon, the Rangers are going to start to struggle.
• Who beat Thomas Vanek with the goal-scoring stick in the offseason? Coming off a disappointing 07-08 campaign that didn’t live up to his $10 million contract, Vanek has 7 goals in 5 games for the Buffaslugs — including 2 shorthanded goals and 3 tallies on the powerplay.  Lindy Ruff stated in the preseason that he wanted to give the 24-year-old a chance to become “the best 2-way player in the game.”  Vanek’s gotten a good jump on that early in the season.
• While most of the Devils have looked annoyingly similar to last season (Offense is overrated), the one and only Martin Brodeur looked as consistent as ever in pocketing his 97th career shutout on Thursday.  It was an ugly victory for the Devils, but I’ll take them how I can get them, and Marty gets within 6 of Terry Sawchuck’s career shutout record.
• Who doesn’t love a good come-from-behind victory?  If you’re a Pens fan, skip ahead, you won’t like this very much.  Thursday night was Round 1 of the Penguins/Capitals (and Crosby/Ovechkin) matchups for this year.  The Penguins had given themselves a solid 3-0 lead by the middle of the second period.  The Caps got one late in the period to make it 3-1.  And then had 3 third period goals to come back and win 4-3, and their superstar did not even register a point.  Can’t feel good to be a Penguin after that loss.  But as an uninvested outsider, those are fun games to watch!
• Fabian Brunnstrom, the young Swedish forward, finally made his well-hyped debut in Dallas on Wednesday — and what a debut it was.  The 23-year-old had a hat trick Wednesday, helping lead the Stars to a 6-4 win, and netting what would stand as the game winning goal.  Brunnstrom became only the third player in NHL history to record a hat trick in his NHL debut.

THE BAD

• Marty Biron was fantastic in the playoffs last year.  The Flyers came into this season as a popular pick for top of the Atlantic division, with a solid offense and a great goaltender.  After 3 games, Biron’s goals against is 5.75 and his save percentage is under .900.  I know the team’s defense is beat up, but there’s just no excuse for playing that poorly.  If he doesn’t shape up soon the Flyers are going to find themselves in a hole that looks a lot like the one they were in when they finished in last place two years ago.
• Barry Melrose has yet to win a game down in Tampa Bay.  Not to place all of the blame on The Mulleted Wonder, as the team gave up an average of 40-something shots a game in their first three contests and were so desperate for defensive help they signed Marek Malik to a one-year deal this week.  Not to say I told you so, but signing every free agent forward and shipping off all of your talented defenseman isn’t seeming like such a great plan now, is it?
• I saw parts of two games in Atlanta this week.  The entire lower bowl of their arena looked like it had maybe 300 people in it.  Maybe.  I’d like to think the upper deck is booming with fans, but it certainly didn’t sound like it.  What a shame.
• Denis Savard was fired as the Blackhawks coach after only 4 games, opening the door for former Avs coach Joel Quenneville to step behind the bench as a replacement.  The Blackhawks struggled out of the gate, going 0-3 before finally recording a 4-1 victory against the Coyotes on Wednesday — barely 12 hours before Savard was axed.  The organization has set extremely high standards for their club this year (probably too high for a group of very young players), and the firing was clearly meant to send a message.  Time will tell if this was the right move.
• Rick DiPietro had surgery this offseason on his hip and his knee.  He appeared to be ready to start the season for the Islanders – a team that this year, more than ever, needs him to be solid in order to be competitive – but mysteriously didn’t start the team’s season and home openers.  The Islanders were silent about the netminder’s condition, playing him as a backup, but it was fairly clear he was not available to play.  The whole situation was a little bizarre, and served as a distraction to an already ailing Islanders team.  DiPietro was back in the lineup Saturday night — we’ll see how long his health holds up.
• Lastly, and on a much more serious note, 19-year-old Alexei Chereponov, a Rangers prospect playing in the KHL, collapsed on the bench during a game Tuesday and was unable to be revived.  All hockey relevance aside, this is an unbelievable tragedy.  I can only hope the KHL takes the time to seriously reevaluate the emergency medical care they have available in their arenas.  RIP, Alexei.

THE AMAZING

Martin Havlat (lovingly known in some circles as Mr. IR) scored an unbelievable goal the other night against the Coyotes to jumpstart the Blackhawks first victory.

Please ignore my Devils fandom. Travis Zajac’s pass is ridiculous, and Zach Parise is just awesome.

I have no idea how Antero Niittymaki grabbed this.  Absolutely incredible.  Too bad the Flyers still haven’t won

And just for fun, a heavyweight battle between Riley Cote and Eric Godard from this weeks Flyers/Penguins matchup.

Welcome back to hockey season!

So, in case you hadn’t noticed, it’s not October yet, leaving us with lack of news on the hockey front now that the dust has mostly settled on free agency.  We’re stuck in those gloomy months of summer — nothing going down but the occasional low-key signing or coach being hired.

The withdrawal symptoms grow worse everyday.

Here’s the latest news to help ease your pain.

–Dallas Drake hangs ‘em up after 16 years in the NHL and his first-ever Stanley Cup victory this year in Detroit.

–Ryan Miller signs a 5-year contract extension with Buffalo, crushing the hopes and dreams of Red Wings fans convinced the Motown-native coming to play for his hometown team next summer.

–The NHL confirmed the 2009 Winter Classic for January 1, 2009, to take place at Wrigley Field between Chicago and Detroit.  I did a victory dance.

–Jonathan Toews was named captain for the Blackhawks for the upcoming season, becoming the third-youngest player given the honor.

–The Penguins gave head coach Michel Therrien a 3-year contract extension and increased his pay for the 2008-2009 season.

–Terry Murray was named head coach for the Los Angeles Kings.  God speed, sir.

–The Islanders “parted ways” with head coach Ted Nolan.  Its fun to watch the Islanders implode.

–Joffrey Lupul signed a 4-year extension with the Flyers.  Solid move for Philly.

–Mats Sundin signs with the Canucks.  Oh wait, no he didn’t.  Silly Swedish tabloids.

–The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) suspended Alexander Radulov and 5 other players while investigating their transfers between the new Russian Continental Hockey League and the NHL.  Radulov had 1 year left on his contract with the Predators when he signed a contract with the KHL, breaching the IIHF transfer agreement.

–For the second straight season, the NHL season will begin with games in Europe.  On October 4th and 5th, the Rangers and Lightning will face off in the Czech Republic while the Penguins and Senators compete in Sweden.  The Senators’ Daniel Alfredsson will get the chance to play in his home country.  I’m sure the NHL had hoped, in scheduling the Rangers in Prague, to have Jaromir Jagr playing on his home turf as well, but no such luck.

–And, the best news of the week — the 2008-2009 schedule has been released! 75 days until the season starts. (And 81 days until the Devils home opener!)

Let the countdown begin!