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!