November 12, 2007
11-12-07 | Inside the NHL Boxscore
- For my generation, a true sign of your own advancing age is when guys you used to play Sega hockey with start being inducted into the Hall of Fame. Mark Messier, Al MacInnis, Ron Francis and Scott Stevens all got the honor over the weekend in Toronto. They even skated a bit.
- Hockey in Chicago is officially alive! Sunday night's game against Detroit was the first of seven added home games to be broadcast on tv this season; in a move to change the long policy of the Will Wirtz regime to not show home games on tv. The Hawks beat the Wings 3-2, lead by solid goaltending from Khabibulin, and ended Detroit's nine game winning streak. The Wings have 4 losses this season, and three of them have come at the hands of the Blackhawks. Sunday's loss was also the first of the season for Chris Osgood.
- While Peter Budaj was in net for Sunday night's 4-2 win over Minnesota, the play of Colorado's Jose Theodore this season has been impressive. In 7 games this season, Jose has a 92% save percentage and a 2.23 GAA. He's been active at the top of his crease, challenging shooters, and has looked very confident. He's playing as well as any goaltender in the league right now. But the Avs seem to be sticking to their every other game rotation.
- Another impressive netminder I got to see this weekend is Atlanta's Ondrej Pavelec. Just 20 years old, the young Czech has been filling in nicely for the often injured Kari Lehtonen. Ondrej plays big in his net and moves laterally very well for his size - or any size really. After firing Bob Hartley after their 0-6 start, Atlanta has gone 7-4 since and Pavelec's play is a big reason why. He stole two games for the Thrashers last week, vs Washington and at Florida.
