-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!

Not to steal the fine folks at Barry Melrose Rocks thunder, but tonight’s matchup could also make a fine drinking game!

Take a drink:
-For every mention of Joe Thorton’s departure from Boston
-For every discussion of how tall Zdeno Chara is (twice if his name and the Norris Trophy are mentioned in the same sentence)
-Every time someone talks about these two teams being “the top two seeds in their conferences” (twice if some boneheaded Versus announcer goes on endlessly about this being a preview of the Stanley Cup finals)
-Twice any time someone talks about Sean Avery.

And that’s just off the top of my head.  I’ll keep a tally throughout the game.  Feel free to suggest other things.  See you at the opening faceoff!

7:01 PM: The game hasn’t even started yet and you already have to drink multiple times.  Thanks, Versus guys.  And Bob Hartwood is even interviewing Thornton!  Memo to Versus: Thornton’s been back to Boston once already since the trade.  No one cares any more.

7:10 PM: Evgeni Nabokov and Tim Thomas’ numbers are intimidatingly good.  Both will probably be Vezina contenders.

7:11 PM: “Number 1 in the West versus number 1 in the East.”  There’s another one.  It’s a good thing I’m not actually drinking, or I’d probably have to stop blogging before the period ended.

7:12 PM: My dad is worse than the boneheaded announcers on Versus, and if I were drinking, I’d have to drink for him suggesting this was a Stanley Cup Final preview.  He has been thoroughly reprimanded for suggesting such things.

7:14 PM: HOLY CRAP ITS CLAUDE LEMIEUX. I’m totally having a 1995 flashback. It’s a good feeling for a Devils fan.  Flashback interrupted by a great save by Evgeni Nabakov.

7:15 PM: Nabakov makes another great save, but the rebound ends up on Milan Lucic’s stick and quickly in the back of the net to make it 1-0 Bruins. San Jose’s defensemen got caught standing around watching on that play.

7:17 PM: An interview with Marc Savard, where he is kind enough to inform us that his team knows this is a faceoff between the two top teams in the NHL.  Thanks a bunch, Marc. And now we’re hearing all about Joe Thornton.  Oof.

7:18 PM: Patrice Bergeron takes a hooking call, San Jose gets a power play attempt.

7:20 PM: San Jose’s power play is really, really good.  Point shot from Rob Blake deflected off of Dennis Wideman, possibly another Shark player, and in.  1-1 game.

7:23 PM: Previously unidentified San Jose player now identified as Joe Pavelski.  And the Versus announcers mention the Sharks and Bruins stellar NHL-leading records for the billionth time.

7:29 PM: Pavelski and Michalek just had a fantastic shift for the Sharks, though not much to show for it. Great work on the forecheck by the whole line.

7:34 PM: Lucic bangs home another rebound (this time off a wrist shot from Petteri Nokelainen) to make it 2-1 Bruins. Note to San Jose: Kid’s got skills. Play defense accordingly.

7:38 PM: I hate Versus.  Blink and you’ll miss it.  Boston’s up a man.  I’m just going to assume Claude Lemieux stabbed a baby.  Also, drink twice — once for yet ANOTHER mention of the top-of-the-conference, and once for a good old fashioned “big Zdeno Chara”.

7:41 PM: Unknown penalty is over.  One minute left in the period.

7:43 PM: Petteri Nokelainen takes a stick to the face.  That cut looked AWFULLY close to his eye.  All the best, Petteri.

7:45 PM: Somehow no penalty was called on the play.  I have no idea how that happened.  Period comes to a close, I’ll be back for the second.

7:59 PM: Oh boy, Gary Bettman’s going to join us for the second period.  Now I wish I really was drinking.

8:02 PM: The first thing Gary says (well, almost) is “top two teams in both conferences”.  Thanks, Commisioner.  Really.

8:03 PM: My dad is threatening bodily harm to Gary Bettman.  I think it’s hilarious and I wish I could put up an audio file of it.   Shortly following the puck drop we get a goalie interference call on Devin Setoguchi — I don’t like the call much, looks to me like he got pulled down on his way in.

8:05 PM: I sure do like listening to Gary Bettman talk instead of hearing play by play of the power play.  Versus gets a clue just in time for San Jose to go down two men, Dan Boyle headed to the box.

8:07 PM: Credit for San Jose’s goal was just changed from Joe Pavelski to Rob Blake.  I guess it didn’t actually hit Pavelski in front?

8:10 PM: San Jose has killed off the 5-on-3.  Gary Bettman’s too busy talking about fighting for anyone to notice, and ironically enough a pushing match ensues on the following stoppage.

8:11 PM: Every time I hear the name Byron Bitz I giggle like a 5 year old.

8:13 PM: Devin Setogutchi muscles his way through 2 Bruins defenders and comes away with a great shot but is stonewalled by Tim Thomas.  Fantastic play.

8:22 PM: After a couple solid minutes of back and forth, Boston gets a solid chance but can’t stuff it home as Nabakov makes a sprawling save on Marc Savard.  WOW.

8:24 PM: Things are getting a little…..violent….out there.  Great pace to this game so far.

8:28 PM: Another great shift for the Pavelski/Michalek/Clowe line.  They had a solid minute of offensive pressure and a couple good scoring chances before Boston was able to clear the zone.

8:31 PM: About 4 Sharks fell in rapid succession, leading to yet another good scoring chance for the B’s, but Nabakov turns them away again.  He has looked absolutely fantastic tonight.

8:32 PM: Our first play stoppage in what feels like hours.  This period has had an amazing flow and been really entertaining to watch.

8:34 PM: Mark Stuart gets hit in the face with — a puck? a stick? I don’t know, Versus decides to show me highlights of  Milan Lucic’s hat trick from earlier this year instead of what happened.  He seemed to be okay as he skated off, and play continues without any penalties called.

8:36 PM: If you’re playing along with the drinking game, take a nice long chug for that little speech about the race to the President’s Trophy and the “long reach” of Zdeno Chara.  Curse you, Versus.  That’ll do it for the second period, see you for the third!

8:54 PM: Third period is underway. Hopefully the great pace of the second keeps up.

8:56 PM: Tim Thomas is playing in his 200th NHL game tonight.  Congrats, Tim.

8:59 PM: Big shot from the point is deflected past Tim Thomas by Patrick Marleau to knot the game at 2-2.  I love me some tied game action in a match like this.

9:01 PM: San Jose’s buzzing a bit now. A couple of good shifts in a row since the goal.  Great save by Thomas on Joe Thornton to cap off the latest of the rushes, but still no play stoppage.

9:07 PM: So, I had a severe need to put my laundry in the dryer, and as I left the room at the commercial break I informed my family that as soon as I left someone would score.  As I was putting my clothes in the dryer, I heard yells of WHAT A SHOT! and 3-2 SHARKS! I hate it when I’m right.  Apparently Milan Michalek did something awesome.  Figures.

9:10 PM: Joe Thornton deflects a shot off his leg and past Tim Thomas.  They’re going to call upstairs to rule out a “distinct kicking motion.”  I think the goal will stand — Thornton was skating by and the puck just happened to hit him mid-stride.  Although, this is the War Room we’re talking about.

9:12 PM: As expected, the goal stands.  4-2 Sharks. Apparently all I had to do was leave the room for a minute for all hell to break loose.

9:16 PM: Boston’s up a man.  I missed the call.  This time, I’m just going to assume Christian Erhoff crosschecked Marc Savard’s in the back of the head.

9:20 PM: Kessel finds himself with the puck on his stick at point-blank range after a Sharks turnover but can’t convert.  Good stop by Nabakov.

9:22 PM: Blake Wheeler is pulled down on a breakaway attempt.  No penalty shot, but someone’s spending some time in the sin bin after the commercial break. It’s now or never for the Bruins.

9:25 PM: Couple of good attempts by the Bruins on the power play but none have lit the lamp yet, Nabakov continues to be excellent.  40 seconds to go on the man advantage, 3 minutes to go in the game.

9:27 PM: That’ll do it for the power play.  Under two minutes to go, should be interesting to see when/if Tim Thomas makes a beeline for the bench for the extra attacker.  Annnnnnd there he goes.

9:29 PM: Bruins haven’t lost in regulation in 9 games.  Nabakov makes two huge stops, the Sharks turn around and go the other way, and Mike Grier nets the quick empty netter to seal the deal.  This one’s going to end 5-2 Sharks. That was a fun one, thanks for checking in!

In the category of “things that shocked me tonight”, I can’t believe Versus didn’t mention Sean Avery once all game.  I’m so proud of them.

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.

]]> http://www.sarahkbraun.com/blog/archives/379/feed 0 http://www.sarahkbraun.com/blog/archives/370 http://www.sarahkbraun.com/blog/archives/370#comments Mon, 02 Feb 2009 03:43:33 +0000 Sarah http://www.sarahkbraun.com/blog/?p=370 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.

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?

Your sympathy is appreciated.

I’ve been slacking a bit here recently — first work sucked then I realized that whole Christmas thing was happening and I couldn’t postpone it just by pretending it wasn’t, so I went into “panicked shopping mode” — suprisingly effective for once in my life — and then I slept.  A lot.  I don’t do enough of that, really.  But in theory I can now dedicate a proper portion of my life to hockey-related things.  And really, what fun is life if I can’t?

Moving on.

I’d be lying if I said I could give any sort of proper recap of goings on in the NHL recently – I’ve fallen a bit behind.  So instead of a recap this week, I’m going to give you my “end of 2008″ power rankings.  In parenthesis after each I’ve put my preseason rankings.  Should be good for a laugh.

1. San Jose Sharks (2nd, West) – It went without saying that the Sharks would be good this year.  I don’t think anyone expected the sheer dominance the Sharks have had over most opponents thus far this season.  25-3-3.  53 points.  The numbers speak for themselves – this team is good.

2. Boston Bruins (7th, East) – Tim Thomas and the Bruins gave the NHL a taste of how good they could be in the stretch run last year but couldn’t complete their upset of the Canadiens.  They’ve proven this year that they were for real, with some great additions, key players back from injuries, and Tim Thomas’ spectacular play between the pipes.

3. Detroit Red Wings (1st, West) – Coming into the season Detroit was the odds-on favorite to repeat as champs.  They’ve hit some stumbling blocks early on, giving up more goals than we’re used to seeing from their strong defense, but they’re still only 9 points behind San Jose in the Western Conference.  I’d take that kind of “struggling” any day.

4. Philadelphia Flyers (2nd, East) – Despite going winless in their first 6 games, the Flyers have powered their way to 2nd place in the Atlantic and 4th in the Conference, and haven’t lost in regulation since late November.  Their defense is on the verge of getting healthy, which will make the team even more dangerous.

5. Washington Capitals (3rd, East) – The Caps have been hit hard by injuries, and still find themselves in 3rd place in the Eastern conference (hey, I got one right!).  As Alexander Semin, Sergei Federov, Mike Green, and others battled back from injuries, the Caps contined to win games, backstopped by Brent Johnson, who has outplayed Jose Theodore for much of the season.

6. Pittsburgh Penguins (4th, East) – The Penguins were also hit by the injury bug, as top defenseman Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney have yet to play a game, and Marc-Andre Fleury missed a month of action with a groin injury.  The stellar play of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin has continued to carry the team through most of the season.

7. New Jersey Devils (5th, East) – Martin Brodeur’s first long-term injury seemed to spell disaster for the Devils, but the team has found ways to win without the top goalie.  Scott Clemmenson is making the most of his opportunity and the Devils, thanks to the fantastic play of Zach Parise and Patrik Elias, are putting the puck in the net on a consistent basis for the first time in two seasons.

8. Calgary Flames (3rd, West) – Iwillnotmakeasloppysecondsjoke.  Iwillnotmakeasloppysecondsjoke.  Calgary has a tendency to be streaky (much like its starting netminder), but still sits in third place in the conference (I got another one right!).  Any team led by Jerome Iginla is going to do things right.

9. New York Rangers (6th, East) – The Rangers started off the season on quite a tear.  Over the last several weeks, it’s all seemed to come unraveled for them.  They can’t seem to put the puck in the net, they’ve only managed wins in OT and the shootout, their defense has been weak, and they’ve given up a league-high 10 shorthanded goals.  The team was hoping to land Sundin, but lost out to the Canucks today.  The Blueshirts still sit at the top of the conference as of today, but could quickly fall a few spots in the standings with a few losses and some Flyer/Bruin victories.

10. Montreal Canadiens (1st, East) – The popular pick for a Finals matchup this year was Detroit/Montreal.  The Habs started strong but have struggled since November.  Despite being a top vote-getter for the all-star game, Alexei Kovalev has been a non-presence for the Habs, and the team hasn’t been able to recapture the potency of their power play from last season.

11. Chicago Blackhawks (7th, West) – Kane, Toews, Versteeg, Sharp.  There are so many talented kids on this team, it’s unreal.  After a slow start and a coaching change, the ‘Hawks have been living up to the hype surrounding the season, playing their way to 4th place in the conference.  I don’t know about you, but I’m really excited to check these kids out during the Winter Classic.

12. Anaheim Ducks (5th, West) – Anaheim got off to a sluggish start as well, but the Ducks now sit comfortably in 6th in the conference.  This year’s Ducks look remarkably similar to last year’s version, despite the differences in personnel.  They’ll be a contender.

13. Vancouver Canucks (13th, West) – Vancouver has a been a surprise (to me, at least).  Pavol Demitra is enjoying his new-found offensive freedom playing with the Sedin twins and his production has been fantastic. The team suffered a huge blow when it lost Roberto Luongo to a bad groin injury, but Curtis Sanford has managed to keep the team competitive.

14. Buffalo Sabres (10th, East) – Possibily the biggest surprise at the beginning of the season with their quick start out of th gate, the Sabres continue to play solid hockey.  They’ve fallen off a bit and struggled in November, but backed by the terrific play of NHL-leader Thomas Vanek and Ryan Miller, I think the Sabres will make a bid to be back in the playoffs come springtime.

15. Nashville Predators (10th, West) – I think I know why this team is in constant fear of relocation – I never hear ANYTHING about them.  They’re playing decent hockey, and currently sit in playoff position, and Shea Weber is having a Norris-worthy season.  But will anyone outside of Nashville notice?

16. Florida Panthers (13th, West) – The Panthers have been playing some pretty good hockey lately, with backup goaltender Craig Anderson giving Tomas Vokoun a run for his money in the starting spot.  Will the fact that the Panthers are playing competitive(ish) hockey be enough to convince Jay Bouwmeester to stick around?

17. Carolina Hurricanes (8th, East) – The ‘Canes recently fired head coach Peter Laviolette, bringing in former coach Paul Maurice.  The team is just over .500, but for the first time in 2 seasons, relatively healthy. In a division that’s otherwise not very competitive (Capitals excluded), the ‘Canes could squeeze into the bottom seed.

18. Minnesota Wild (8th, West) – After starting the season strongly, the Wild have tapered off over the past few weeks and now sit in the last playoff spot in the West (score!).  Jacques Lemaire’s troops are the same low-scoring, defense-first team they always have been, now with the added perk of Marian Gaborik trade rumors every other day.  Expect the forward to be moved before the deadline.

19. Phoenix Coyotes (12th, West) – The Great One’s team has been the source of several “will they make it financially?” discussions this season, but that doesn’t take away from the young, increasingly successful team he’s building in the desert.  The addition of Olie Jokinen has really sparked their offense.

20. Toronto Maple Leafs (12th, East) – No one expected Toronto to come out and beat the Red Wings the first night of the season.  Everyone expected Brian Burke to take over, and what moves follow will surely be under a microscope.  The team has performed better than expected, but still needs work, mainly between the pipes.

21. Ottawa Senators (9th, East) – Where to begin? This team has no secondary scoring beyond the top line of Heatley-Spezza-Alfredsson.  Their defense is so-so, and despite a remarkable effort from backup goaltender Alex Auld, they really don’t have any consistency to their roster.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see a big trade involving the Sens before the season is out.

22. Colorado Avalanche (9th, West) – The Avs lost Joe Sakic early on, which was obviously a big blow to the team (watch out for those snowblowers).  Peter Budaj has been surprisingly effective in goal, which was the big question coming into the season.  Now the even bigger question — will we have a Peter Forsberg appearance in March again?

23. Columbus Blue Jackets (11th, West) – Beat San Jose last night! Ken Hitchcock’s team are hanging tight around the 8th playoff spot and will certainly make a push for the playoffs – Rick Nash is always a force to be reckoned with – but in such a competitive conference, can they really expect to make it?

24. Los Angeles Kings (14th, West) – Despite having “bad” and “less bad” to choose from in goal, the Kings and their relatively young core of players are scraping along pretty well.  This is a team that had very low expectations and is clearly in a rebuilding year.

25. Edmonton Oilers (6th, West) – The Oil had high hopes for this season, and the kids on the team just haven’t lived up to their expectations.  They’ve had a revolving door of goaltenders (none of which have been spectacular), and just haven’t quite gotten things figured out yet.  They could still make a push for the playoffs if they go on a hot streak.

26. Dallas Stars (4th, West) – Avery, Turco, blah blah, let’s move on.

27. Atlanta Thrashers (15th, East) – The Thrashers are probably used to the basement by now.  They’ve been playing streaky hockey this year, winning and losing over long stretches of time.  A lot of rumors surrounding Kovulchuk, who still has another year on his contract.  The season is pretty much a loss for the Thrash.

28. St. Louis Blues (15th, West) – Are there still guys playing for this team?  Jay McKee, Erik Johnson, Andy McDonald, and Manny Legace are all on the IR right now.  Tough break for the Blues, who could have at least been competitive this year and had a good rebuilding season.  With each new injury the team seems to struggle a little more.

29. New York Islanders (14th, East)- All the credit in the world to Joey McDonald for coming in and playing as well as he has in place of the injured DiPietro, who is rumored to return this week.  New head coach Scott Gordon has gotten a remarkable amount out of this team, but they’ve blown an unbelievable amount of  third period leads, and unless they learn to buckle down in the third the team is going to keep slipping down the standings.

30. Tampa Bay Lightning (11th, East) – What can you even say about the Bolts? Melrose is out (probably a good move) Tocchet is in, but the team still can’t find a way to win.  The defense is terrible, the forwards are nowhere near as good as they should be, and I sure haven’t Seen Stamkos.  Sorry Len and Oren – better luck next year.

Not as bad as I thought it would be!

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.

THE GOOD:

-Rick Tocchet won his first game as interim head coach of the Lightning after the firing of Barry “The Mullet” Melrose last week.  The Bolts are finally starting to put the puck in the net, which is the one thing most people thought they WOULDN’T struggle with this year.

-The NHL finally realized “fan voting” for the All-Star game wasn’t working out quite like they planned and did away with the automated votes certain Habs fans had been submitting for half of the Habs roster.  The results look slightly more believable now than they did two weeks ago — even if the entire starting lineup would be Canadiens if the voting ended today.  The site also has a CAPTCHA in place now to prevent any other

-The Devils figured out how to win games with someone besides Martin Brodeur in net.

-In other goaltending news, Roberto Luongo is a monster.  After having his shutout streak last week snapped, Luongo gave up only 3 goals to the tri-state area in games Monday and Wednesday, and looked absolutely unbelievable.  I absolutely love watching him.  The Canucks have also been strong offensively, as the return of Pavol Demitra on a line with the Sedin twins has been nearly unstoppable.

-San Jose’s record as of today is 17-3-1.  Just….wow.

THE BAD:

-The above mentioned Luongo was injured in the Canucks game against the Penguins yesterday.  There won’t be further updates until tomorrow, but it appeared to be a left groin injury, and it didn’t look good.  This would be a major blow to the Canucks if he is out for any major length of time.

-The hockey gods give and then taketh away.  The Devils were finally starting to get “healthy”, and are now without John Madden, who bruised his foot in a game against the Panthers on Thursday, and Mike Mottau, who was suspended for two games for a hit on Islander forward Franz Nielsen Friday night.  One of these days the Devils will have the team that took the ice back on October 10th back again.  Really.

-Third jerseys are ugly.  90% of the time.  Excluded from this list are those teams using throwback jerseys, and St. Louis and San Jose.  Everyone else, you’re on notice.  I’m looking at you Atlanta.

-Brendan Morrow was lost for the season this week with a torn ACL.  The comeback for the already struggling Stars just got a whole lot harder.

THE RIDICULOUS:

Sidney Crosby with another goal from the seat of his pants earlier this week.

Patrik Elias had a great week for the Devils, including this gem.

Not to go Devils heavy, but how about this fight between Bryce Salvador and Tim Jackman?  Jackman took a few stitches in his face between periods.

Have a great week everyone

I know what you’re thinking — isn’t just over a month into the season a little early to be talking about recaps?  Shouldn’t I wait until at least mid-season, or even the playoffs?  Well, in a normal season, I would agree with you.  But this season has been anything but normal for the New Jersey Devils.

The Devils began the season with a lot of promise — Brian Rolston and Bobby Holik were brought on board to help the team in many of the areas they struggled in last year (power play, face offs, etc.).  The young defensemen had a season of experience under their belt.  Martin Brodeur was poised to break the career wins and career shutout records.  Perhaps this would be a different team than the team that struggled mightily to score all season last year.

Things looked okay for the first 2 games — the Devils opened up the season with wins against the Islanders and Penguins, then dropped a game against the Rangers.  But it would be a 1-0 shutout win against the Thrashers on October 16th that would become indicative of the Devils season.

I wish I could say this was because the Devils stopped giving up goals.  That would be a lot more fun.  But they have not been quite so lucky.  After netting his first goal of the season in the second period of the game, Brian Rolston wiped out and fell awkwardly into the boards, suffering a high ankle sprain.  He has yet to return to action.

Let’s take a look at what’s happened since:

October 18th:  A 4-3 shootout victory against the Capitals.  Bobby Holik is hit in the hand with an Alexander Ovechkin slapshot that obliterates his pinky.  He has surgery the following week.  In the span of 2 games the team is suddenly the exact same team as last year, with the addition of two rookies.  Devils fans grow restless.

October 25th: A 3-2 overtime loss against the Flyers (complete with smoke bomb!).  Rookie enforcer Pierre Luc Leblond had several run-ins with Riley Cote during the game (and the course of the weekend home-and-home).  At some point during the second game, he broke a bone in his face.  Now our replacement players are starting to drop.  Things begin to look grim.

October 29th: A 6-5 shootout loss to the Maple Leafs.  Early in the game, Andy Greene breaks his hand after being hit by a Pavel Kubina slapshot, but continues to play the rest of the game (and put up 3 assists! A career high!  This would be even more exciting if he was still playing today!).  He also required surgery and won’t be back until sometime in December.  I begin to think perhaps I shouldn’t have laughed at the absurd level of the Flyers’ and Penguins’ injury woes earlier in the season.  Bad karma or something like that.

November 1st: A 6-1 victory over the Thrashers.  Halfway through the second period, on a seemingly innocent save, Martin Brodeur is slow getting up, and seems to grab at his arm.  The entire hockey fan community of New Jersey gets nervous.  On the scramble in front, as play heads out of the Devils end, Marty simply does not get up, now clearly holding his arm.  Devils fans begin to hyperventilate.  Vigils are held as 3 very long days pass awaiting news.  Antidepressant prescriptions among hockey fans in the state of New Jersey triple when the Devils announce Brodeur will be out three to four months to have surgery to repair a torn distal biceps tendon.  I try to take comfort in this photo. (H/T 2MA)

November 3rd: As the Devils community reeled over the loss of Brodeur, Paul Martin quietly didn’t show up to practice, due to the annoyingly vague “upper body soreness”.  He, also, hasn’t played since.  But no, this isn’t ridiculous at all.

The Devils lost 2-0 to Buffalo in rather pathetic fashion that evening.  In the first period of the game, Patrik Elias got nailed in the face with a puck.  He, thankfully, returned later in the game.  When he first got hit, I’m fairly certain most Devils fans were ready to forfeit and try again next year.

November 8th: The Lowell Devils visit the defending champs, losing 2-1.  Brian Gionta gets absolutely hammered into the boards, leaving the game with what appeared to be a head/neck/shoulder injury.  Bryce Salvador would leave the game late in the second after taking a John Madden shot off the back of the foot.  I joked about taking bets on who would get hurt next before the game.  I’m so sorry, Brian and Bryce.  Really.

November 9th: Despite both players assuring the media they were going to be ready to play, Gionta and Salvador did not dress for the Devils’ game against the Oilers.  The Devils call up defenseman Jay Leach and left wing Patrick Davis from Lowell.  (All together now Devils fans: WHO?!).  Their top forwards in Lowell, Matt Halischuk and Rod Pelley, are both on the IR as well.

At several points during the game last night, the Devils played a line composed of entirely rookies: Petr Vrana, Nicklas Bergfors, and Davis.  At one point, they had 5 Lowell Devils on the ice at the same time.  It was rather unfortunate to watch.

Additionally, 8 minutes into the game, Mike Mottau got hit in the face with a puck.  WHILE HE WAS ON THE BENCH.  Mike Rupp deflected the puck out of play and right into poor Mottau’s face.  He collapsed and was helped to the locker room, but luckily for the Devils, was back for the second period.

So for those keeping score at home:

Brian Rolston (high ankle sprain)
Bobby Holik (broken pinky)
Pierre Luc Leblond (broken orbital bone)
Andy Greene (broken hand)
Martin Brodeur (torn distal biceps tendon)
Paul Martin (“upper body soreness”)
Brian Gionta (head/neck/shoulder)
Bryce Salvador (foot)

27 man games lost BEFORE this weekend.  That number must be higher by now.  And yes, folks, its only the first week of November.

I have two words for Brent Sutter and the rest of the Devils’ coaching staff:  BUBBLE WRAP.

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.