The Sports Frog

Two game sevens. The first at 7pm, eastern. The second at 10pm, eastern.

And these aren't just regular, doomed-to-live-up-to-the-hype game sevens (like we saw last night).

These are game sevens from the two best series of the 2008 first round.

In the East, we're here because last night in Philadelphia, the Washington Capitals continued their season-long battle from behind by erasing an 0-2 first period hole and fighting back to tie their series with Philadelphia Flyers three games to three. The Caps comeback was lead last night by their two Alexanders: Semin and Ovechkin.

While Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timmonen has done a good job throughout the series in checking Ovechkin's signature rushes down the offensive left wing, Timmonen couldn't do much about the blueline turnover Ovechkin forced in the Caps zone or about the resulting tape to tape breakaway pass Viktor Kozlov feed to a streaking Ovechkin down the middle of the ice for the Caps game-winning goal.

Continue reading "Game 14!" »

It's been quite some time since we wrote something about hockey here, and reviewing the last few items I posted back in March makes me wish I had more time to write more often.

Sunday night's Dallas Stars victory over the defending champs (you know, those Mighty Ducks, as 30 Rock still calls them) put the cap on a outing I predicted back in early March with these two posts: ( 1, 2 ).

The way things turned out, the Stars converted on 26.3% of their power plays in the series, but more importantly, Dallas had a man advantage 38 times compared to the 24 times they were shorthanded. Anaheim just couldn't stay out of the box and made one dumb play after another.

The Stars will now move on to face either the Avs or the Sharks. Dallas was 2-1-1 against Calgary this season and 4-2-2 against San Jose, so as long as Marty Turco can keep from allowing more of the soft goals he let in against the Ducks in games five and six, the Stars have a real chance to play in the West finals.

Also on Sunday...

Continue reading "Entertain Me, NHL" »

Both one of a kind, the first from Alex Ovechkin - who shot the puck from the middle of the ice in his own end, off the side wall, and into an empty net. And don't tell me he didn't do it on purpose.

UPDATE: While its great that nhl.com allows us to embed video for individual goals, they make us use iframes and those are a terrible way to do it. So now that this post is a week old, the iframe is gone. Here's the link to the game recap. The goal is there, somewhere.

The second, probably the longest non-empty net goal you'll ever see.

The NHL hasn't witnessed back to back cup champions since the 1997 / 1998 Detroit Red Wings.

In fact, not only have there been few teams that have repeated in recent history, the more usual result that has followed up a championship season has been one that has seen that team miss the playoffs.

So the fact that the 2008 Anaheim Ducks are competing for the Pacific Division title right now is commendable. But as real cup contenders this season, there are definite cracks in their armor.

Anaheim, especially leading up to the trade deadline, has been a common pick by pro hockey 'analysts' to repeat as champs this season. But a lot of their reasons for that pick seems to be just centered around a pure lack of imagination.

The first issue I have with this Anaheim team is the same issue any team in search of a repeat has: motivation. There were a lot of reasons last year's team was a hungrier unit than this years. And in a Stanley Cup playoff series, that extra edge is what can get a team through a tough period or game. Without it this season, the Ducks will struggle in the playoffs.

The second issue that this year's Ducks team has is that they simply take too many penalties. Last year, on their way to the title, they were the same bullies on the ice they are this year, but last regular season they ended ranked 16th in total times short handed (410). Their penalty kill last season was at the top as well, ranking 5th overall at 85.1%.

This season, the Ducks are getting killed by their own mistakes. They currently rank tops in the league in times short handed, a top ranking that is not a good thing. The Ducks have played with a man disadvantage 359 times this season, over 30 times more than the #2 ranked team Chicago (326). And while they are taking way too many penalties, they aren't killing them off as well as they did last season. The Ducks PK ranks 14th currently, at 82.7%.

Continue reading "08 Cup Contender - Anaheim Ducks ?" »

There's no hotter team in the NHL right now than the Dallas Stars.

Even before making the deal for Richards, Dallas had gone on a 12-2-0 stretch. Thursday night, they welcomed the former Conn Smythe winner to their 3rd line - yes, the third line because they are stacked already on their first two lines - and destroyed the Chicago Blackhawks 7-4.

Richards had five assists in that game, and his Finnish linemates Niklas Hagman and Antii Miettinen were all over the ice. Hagman even had a hat trick.

Normally in February each season, the true Stanley Cup contenders make their position known over the rest of the pack. Coming out of the all-star break and playing great hockey is something every team wants to do, so the ones that actually accomplish it are the ones to keep an eye on come playoff time. Put the Dallas Stars, with their strong defensive style and excellent special teams play, at the top of that list.

They'll be without Sergei Zubov for another 3-4 weeks but have spent most of this season without their best defenseman. And one of the underrated aspects to Richards' game is his ability to play the point on the power play. His job there is really what won him the playoff MVP award back in 2004.

Dallas, winners of four in a row, will host Nashville, losers of three in a row, tonight at 8pm.

If you ever consider closing down a nightclub, make sure you don't invite the Montreal Canadiens.

With two days off in between games and a Tuesday night road contest against the Lightning on their schedule, the Habs were no doubt here in Tampa on Sunday to enjoy the 70 degrees, no cloud in the sky weather that was enjoyed here this weekend.

Also this weekend in Tampa, we're 'celebrating' the closing of a local night club that is known to be overrun night after night by douchebags and the women who love them.

So when you mix these two factors, you apparently get an end result of Ryan David O'Bryne, a 23 year old defenseman for the Habs who's played 11 games with Montreal so far this season, arrested shortly after 3am Sunday night / Monday morning on charges of grand theft after allegedly stealing a woman's purse and cellphone at the club.

"O'Bryne told police the items belonged to his girlfriend, but "he could not name whose purse it was" while detained outside the bar, according to an arrest report.

Police said the purse and cell phone were valued at $645. All but $20 was recovered, the report shows."

Apparently, there were a few Canadiens members at the club, and winger Tom Kostopoulus was also arrested on a misdemeanor charge of resisting an officer without violence after coming by to defend Bryne.

Ah, rest in peace, Whiskey Park South.

On Saturday in Philadelphia, linesman Pat Dapuzzo was cut in the face by a player's skate. He was bleeding heavily but still tried to step in and break up part of a brawl that had begun.

Then on Sunday, Richard Zednik's throat was accidentally cut open by a teammate's skate during Sunday's game in Buffalo.

"It is super scary whenever you get contact with an ice skate," said Panthers coach Jacques Martin. "It was a good decision on his part to skate towards the bench. I think that saved some time and our trainers were right there to put pressure on it."

Panthers defenceman Steve Montador recalled seeing Zednik in a state of shock as he got to the bench.

"He looked pale, he was obviously standing and to a degree, coherent. But he didn't look as focused as you or I right now. He was staring at nothing," Montador said. "That's a pretty brave guy to realize what's going on: Grab your neck and get off the ice."

If you don't like watching blood, don't watch this.

• I'll just keep banging on this drum... if the Southeast division is as bad as everyone thinks it is, then how/why does it keep beating teams at the top of the standings. Last night, Atlanta beat Detroit on the Wings' home ice, and Washington swept their season series against Ottawa.
• Goal of the night: check out Alexander Semin's first tally of last night's game. For the first time all season, Semin looks healthy, and now that the Caps have lost Michael Nylander, they'll need a healthy Semin and a production Backstrom to take Nylander's place on the points sheet.
• Given his performance in last year's playoffs and his play over the past two games where Ottawa has given him a chance to show he's a real #1, I just don't see how can Ray Emery be the goalie of the present for this Ottawa team. They've got to take their chances with Gerber or someone else. Emery plays just too small in his net, and gives up too many soft goals that'll kill a playoff series.
• After last night's loss to Atlanta, much is being made today about Chris Osgood's performance since he signed his new contract:

  "Just prior to signing his three-year contract, goaltender Chris Osgood gave up nine goals in 157 shots. Since then, in two starts including Tuesday, Osgood has given up nine goals on 45 shots."

  I, for one, am not seeing this as more than coincidence. Osgood's play hasn't been particularly poor, the Wings are just in a bit of a rut right now. And Osgood was so good early on in the season, its impossible to think he could have continued all year at that pace.
• Kari Lehtonen really deserved a shutout vs the Wings last night, and he would have earned it if Atlanta had played any defense on Detroit's only goal. Lehtonen had already made two or three great saves before the puck bounced out near the point and onto Niklas Kronwall's stick. Lehtonen made 46 saves on the night, many of them difficult ones.
• Following up on Lehtonen's 46 save night, one interesting trend about the surging Thrashers, they are almost always outshot. In only 7 games this season has Atlanta recorded more shots on goal than their opponent. They are 6-1-0 in those 7 games, and 15-21-2 in games when they are outshot. In two games they've matched shot totals, 10/23 @TOR and 10/30 @MON. Both were ATL victories. The seven games they've outshot their opponent this season: FLA(2), TB, OTT, PIT, BOS, and STL. The only loss when outshooting opponent was one of those games against Florida.
• Last night's home win over San Jose was really a good indication of how far the Coyotes have come this season. Back in novemeber, they lost three straight games by a combined score of 1-15. All three losses were at the hands of the Sharks. But ever since mid December, the Yotes have found their game. A big reason for the turn around: improved team confidence and improved goaltending. That third loss to SJ came on November 15th. Ilya Bryzgalov was picked up off waivers on November 17th.
• With Anaheim's 4-2 win over Dallas last night, the Ducks are now 10-2-2 since acquiring Doug Weight and getting Scott Niedermeyer back in the lineup. They've also won 7 straight at home. While Niedermeyer has been a big help, don't overlook the impact Weight has made on this young group of forwards. He's had 8 points in 14 games with the Ducks, but the biggest benefit has been to Todd Bertuzzi's game. Big Bert has a goal in each his last three games, points in 9 of his last 11 games.
• Jose Theodore has started six straight games now for the Avs. COL is 4-2-0 in those six and in both losses, Jose gave up a combined total of 3 goals. In December, Peter Budaj got his chance to be the #1 when he got 7 straight starts. The Avs went 5-1-1 in those seven. So who knows how the decision are being made in Avalancheville. Either way, they're getting good goaltending.
• Stat of the night: Colorado's power play entered last night's game having converted on 4 of its last 56 chances (7.14%). To their rescue was Tampa's penalty kill which allow both goals to Colorado on the PP. The third goal of the game was an empty netter.
• Kris Beech scored last night in his return to Columbus, just a week after being put on waivers by the Blue Jackets.
• The Canucks are 0-15 this season when trailing after 2 periods.

• Despite some very improved play since being called up in mid December, the Ducks have sent down Bobby Ryan to the AHL. Anaheim keeps making these minor moves, but they are adding depth and veterans and gearing up for another long playoff run. It's been a while since the NHL has seen even a contender for back to back titles, but Anaheim is doing just that.
• Even for Toronto, this whole trade Sundin thing just bothers me. You know, you're basically running the guy out, don't you?
• The Panthers acquire Magnus Johansson from Chicago. He just sounds like he came from the World's Strongest Man Competition. Only he's 5'10, 180lbs.
• After being shut out Tuesday night at home against Carolina, the Bruins went practicing without pucks on Wednesday. They are back in action tonight against Montreal, in what they are calling a pivotal game.
• The Sabres are still without a win in their last 7, and will throw out Jocelyn Thibault tonight against the Sens. Meanwhile, Ottawa swears they aren't looking ahead to Saturday's matchup against Detroit.
• If things weren't bad enough on the injury chart for the Hurricanes, now they've got at least 4 guys dealing with the flu.
• Here's an interesting comment out of Columbus about how they're not protecting teammates on the ice nor putting up a fight when they get blown out:

  I asked coach Ken Hitchcock about this Wednesday. He chewed on it for a second, then said: "I haven't been happy with our competitive level."
  
  Not a bad quote. Not a dead-on yes or a dead-on no, but take it as you will.

• Meanwhile for the Jackets, they've called up prospect Derick Brassard
• The Kings held a 15 minute closed door meeting on Wednesday. They were blown out at home 0-7 against Nashville and host the eternally struggling Maple Leafs tonight.
• Mikko Koivu was ready to return tonight against Detroit, but the Wild don't have an open roster spot to give him. They do have a new owner though.
• Bobby Clarke, still an ass
• A number of Flyers are on the road back to active duty. Tonight, Simon Gagne will play.

• For all the grief I gave Dominick Hasek early in the season for looking old and slow, I've got to give it to him now for getting his game going. Following Detroit's 3-0 shutout of Dallas on Saturday, Hasek is 8-1-1 and has a 93.99% save percentage in his last 10 starts.
  
  I guess it also helps that he's faced over 25 shots in a game just one time in those 10.
  
  Detroit is just rolling, in general. Sunday in Chicago, they finished up a 3 games in 4 days stretch by outscoring their three opponents by a combined 10-2. And two of those games were on the road.
• The NHL needs an automatic rule that if you hit another player while he's being completely restrained by linesmen, you're gone for the game, your team needs to kill off a major, and you're suspended for at least 5 games. That, and kill the automatic rules for instigators and maybe players like Steve Downie won't cheap shot players like Jason Blake. Strangely, the NHL is not suspending Downie. At least the Flyers' GM isn't supporting this kind of thuggishness.
• Ottawa continued its struggles against the Southeast conference on Saturday, after going to OT with the last place Lightning. The Sens needed to come back from a 1-3 deficit to force OT, and benefited from some very soft goaltending by Johan Holmqvist.
• In that Ottawa game, Vinny Lecavalier scored one of the nicest goals I'll see all year (here).
• Phoenix is on a roll. They won 5 of 6 on a recent road trip, went 0-2-1 upon returning home, and have now put 4 straight wins together following Saturday's victory over Anaheim. The Coyotes have also taken 3 of 4 from Anaheim this season.
• Edmonton won their 11th shootout game of the year Saturday against the Rangers. Considering they are 1-2 in overtimes this year, and 11-2 in shootouts, that means in games decided in regulation time, the Oilers are 6-17 in 60 minute contests.
• The Hurricanes are struggling. They are 1-3-1 in their last 5 and have a ton of injuries. Through their first 42 games, they have lost 111 man-games to injury.
• Mikko Koivu's leg is finally improving.
• How do you bruise your spinal cord?
• Caps captain Chris Clark is finally practicing again.
• Teemu Selanne is close to making a decision about his playing future.

Some Winter Classic thoughts:

• I'm glad it's over and that it was a success. The whole thing was definitely something that makes the game more accessible to the casual fan, and that's a nice change for the NHL.
• But the hockey itself was, save for a handful of instances of near brilliance, something that reminded me more of a men's league pickup game than a contest of professional athletes.
• And while the score was only 1-1, there were three solid posts (2-1, Buffalo) that all could have easily been goals. There was a decent amount of physical play, and a lot more contact than what was in the Heritage Classic.
• But for the most part, this was spectacle and not substance. It was a novelty, and a fine one. But I wouldn't expect this to become a regular event, because like in any blind date, what seems sweet and cute now can easily turn into annoying and needless once you get settled back into your element. Then again, this is the NHL, so they'll probably beat the idea into the ground.
• I think it was fitting, too, that the league's new novelty was ended with the game's old novelty (a shootout). In five years, we'll be watching an outdoor game in Beijing that ends with a John Tavares shootout goal that flies over the top of Jonathan Bernier's mask and into the back of a 10 foot high net.
• Finally, I chuckled every time I saw a player at the end of a shift, look up to the sky expecting to see a scoreboard there. God was not giving replays on this day.

Some other notes about the game:

• All of the photos are just fantastic.
• The Pittsburgh Post Gazette had a nice running blog going; even though the weather made it hard to get out of the stadium.
• Most, if not all of the MSM response I've seen has been positive. But leave it to a Rangers writer to not be on board of the love fest.
• The AP tells us how hockey is introduced to real tailgating.
• JS Giguere thinks they could play an outdoor game in Southern California. And really, it couldn't have less stoppages to fix the ice than what we had on Tuesday, right?
• The fans in Buffalo and Edmonton are some of the best in hockey. Minnesota and Michigan would be a nice place to see another game played outdoors, but it'll be hard to match the atmosphere of these first two.
• I'm curious in seeing how the Pens and Sabres handle reality again. The Pens play Thursday at home against the Leafs and the Sabres are off until Friday, when they host the Sens. Back in 2003 with both teams off two days rest following the Heritage Classic, Montreal went on to lose 5-2 at home to the Canucks and Edmonton started flat in Columbus before rallying to record a 3-3 tie against the Blue Jackets.

Two other, non Classic notes from Tuesday:

• Mike Keenan, never kind to goalies, is making things tense in Calgary with one of the better goalies in the league.
• Most of Canadia and the northern portion of US continues to trash the Southeast division, but they're writing the book on how to beat the Senators. Last night, Washington capped off their third straight win against the Sens and has now outscored Ottawa 15-10 in three games this season. Ottawa has lost just 10 games in regulation so far this season, and 5 of those has come against a Southeast division opponent.

UPDATE: News on the ratings sounds promising. But when they do this again, I hope they pick a day other than Jan 1. As entertaining as this was, so was watching Lloyd Carr, Chad Henne, and Mike Hart - for the last time together - destroy the Gators defense.

I watched more NHL than college football yesterday.

What happened in Buffalo with the outdoor game in Rich Stadium between the Sabres and Penguins with 73,000 in attendance and snow falling? Cool. Extremely cool. Shockingly cool from a league that has made as many mis-steps as the NHL has since Wayne Gretzky retired.

So, props to the NHL and NBC or whoever it was that came up for the idea for that game yesterday. (Pens win in OT in a shoot-out) Nice counter-programming, as it turned out.

For actual game analysis in these parts, head to the Swamp where a decent thread broke out - check it out on page five for great game pictures from Swamp hall-of-famer Diamond who was lucky enough to be in attendance (or wait for Oiler to get somthing up in these spaces). As an extremely casual hockey observer, the best I can offer is this:

The NHL would do well to push Sydney Crosby as fast as it can to be the face of its league. Not only is his play the equal to the hype and reports, he interviews extremely well.

In their 10 games leading up to the Christmas break, the New York Rangers were terrible. They were 2-6-2 over that stretch, Henrik Lundqvist wasn't stopping much (86.24% save percentage), the offense wasn't scoring enough (2.1 goals per game), and Jaromir Jagr was goalless.

Back from the break, in their victory over Carolina last night the Rangers may have had one of those games that can snap a team out of a funk. Not only did they score three unanswered goals in the third period to win 4-2, but it was clear there was something mentally going on with the team that led to their breakout performance.

For one, Jaromir Jagr scored his first goal in 11 games and added another in half way through the third to extend their lead to 4-2.

The good news for Jagr doesn't end there. The Rangers are reportedly close to making a deal for Columbus' David Vyborny. Jagr has struggled with his centers this season and has clearly missed Michael Nylander's ability to give and go and play with the puck along the boards. Vyborny is a Czech national, and Jagr has a history of playing well with a number of Czech and Slovak trained players. The Rangers have an extra defenseman right now, and have been rumored to have been offering Marek Malik.

Sean Avery was fired up all night and looked like a real dipshit in trying to punch Andrew Ladd during a third period scuffle that started because Avery was being called for interference. Both Ladd and Avery, a player I have defended in the past, were being held back by linesmen, but Avery had an arm free and kept throwing cheap shots to Ladd's back and head. Nice job Sean. You tit.

If Avery isn't suspended for his stupidity, expect the Rangers to surge over the next few weeks. This season, with Avery in the lineup, NY is 10-5-1. Without Avery the Rangers are 7-9-3.

The MSG announcers last night noted that Matt Cullen was a 'marked man' for some reason. I'm not entirely sure why, but the Rangers hit their mark in the second period when Cullen, a former Ranger, crossed the New York blue line with the puck on a 2 on 3 and left a drop pass for a teammate. He had his head down and didn't see that Colton Orr had lined him up perfectly for an open ice hit. Unfortunately for Cullen, Orr either had an intent to injure or just didn't think he was a big enough man to finish the hit in a clean manner, so Orr launched himself at Cullen's head and knocked the Hurricane center to the ice, unconscious. Cullen did not return and neither did Orr - after he received a game misconduct to go with the fighting major that came after Mike Commodore came to Cullen's defense and pounded on Orr for a bit.

So what got into the Rangers? Maybe they were just happy that sexual discrimination suit got settled. Either way, this is a very dangerous team that is no fun to play against.

UPDATE: All this has Carolina looking for an enforcer. Welcome to the new NHL.

In the face of Al Gore's warming warnings, it looks like the weather in Buffalo this week and leading into the New Year's Day outdoor game will be cold enough to sustain an outdoor ice rink.

But the NHL isn't out of the woods with this thing yet.

For one, there's a good chance it will rain / snow on the day of the game. That should be fun to watch. Maybe Phil Dawson can come in and help out with the scoring.

Then there's also the issue of US tv ratings. As reported in the Globe and Mail today, the NHL outdoor game will be on NBC at the same time the Gator Bowl (Texas Tech vs Virginia) will be on CBS and the Capital One Bowl (Michigan vs Florida) will be on ABC.

So when given with the choice between hockey and football on New Year's day, how many more Wolverines fans will tune in to watch the final game of Lloyd Carr, Chad Henne, and Mike Hart's Michigan career? All of them.

• A few nights ago, on Calgary's pay per view, one of Cow-town's bonehead announcers made a comment about how could three of the NHL's points leaders not come from the Southeast Division, since it's so weak. This kind of thing seems to be a common perception amongst a great number of Canadian viewers. But they just aren't watching. The Southeast has three of the best players in the league, and they'd be putting up these points no matter where they played. Washington is in last place in the SE, but they were the only team to beat Ottawa when the Sens were rolling early in the season and the Caps took the Wings to a shootout last night in Detroit. So, please, Canadians learn before you speak. Jealousy is no excuse, except for our pity on you.
• Jason LaBarbara returned to action last night and gave up three early goals. At least he was honest in blaming himself.
• Religion in hockey? Not so much. The Detroit News takes a look into why hockey players in general aren't open about their religious beliefs.
• With Martin Erat returning after missing his last two games with a neck injury, the Preds will juggle their lines tonight Minnesota, in hopes of ending their 3 game losing streak.
• MSG failed to announce Wayne Gretzky when the Yotes played there on Sunday. Well done, blueshitheads.
• The Lightning will once again try a new pair of wingers to skate with Brad Richards. This time its Karlsson and Darche. How's that Modin for Denis trade working out, Tampa? Oh, and what happened to skating Jason Ward with Richards. He's not much of a finisher, but he works as hard as anyone and can skate with Brad.
• While the Lightning's new lines will travel to Atlanta tonight, the Thrashers are splitting things up too. Reechi will skate will Kovalchuk on the top line and Hossa will move back to the second line with Kozlov.
• The Leafs will begin tonight to see if they can live with Brian McCabe.
• Carey Price is starting again, despite the fact that Cristobal Huet has been ready to play for at least two games now.
• More line shuffles: The Rangers are moving Gomez back with Jagr.

• No the Bruins and Devils weren't playing on Long Island last night. With all the snow covering Boston, the actual crowd that made it to the game was reportedly around 1500. The paid attendance was 12,064.
• The Minnesota Wild has its players sleeping in separate rooms as they've been hit by the flu bug. They may not even be able to dress 18 skaters tonight against Anaheim.
• Nice story on a former top prospect, Kris Beech, who is now enjoying success skating on the first line in Columbus.
• It sounds like Scott Niedermeyer is ready to make his Ducks season debut either tonight or tomorrow night, but Anaheim first needs to make a roster move in order to clear cap space for him. Expect a trade sometime today.
• Fernando Pisani has a goal in each of his last two games and points in three straight after returning to the Oilers from an condition that no human should have to endure.
• The Oilers are 9-1 in shootouts this season, led by two of the best shootout performers in the league: Ales Hemsky and Sam Gagner. If you get a chance to see the 19 year old Gagner take a shootout, he's worth it. In last night's Detroit broadcast, the announcers were talking about how Sam's dad, a former NHL great, was in the business of building backyard rinks in Canadia. So young Sam has been practicing his shootouts in the backyard for a long, long time. He may just be the best in the league. Here's one youtube video of Gagner and there's plenty more in the extra links to the right.
• The Flyers signed 22 year old Mike Richards to a 12 year, $69 million dollar contract yesterday. Richards is a young leader and a nice forward to have around, but 12 years? He and Rick DiPietro are going to have a lot of really nice lunches together in about 7 years.

While this has already made its way around the vast reaches of the hockey net, this is just too good not to share here too.

Thanks to James Mirtle for linking and emptynetters for originally linking and to the hour for posting on youtube.

• With the Lightning in Toronto for tonight's game, the Canadian press is writing about what many in the US already know: Vinny Lecavalier is the best player in the NHL right now. He was last year too, even though the league failed to recognize the Rocket Richard Trophy winner as even a finalist for the Hart Trophy. The voters apparently decided that two goaltenders (Brodeur, Luongo) deserved to be nominated for an award that would end up going to a 19 year old who saw less than a period's worth of ice time on the penalty kill al l season. Sid had a good year last year, but he's yet to achieve as complete of a game as Lecavalier has been playing at. Ironically, this Globe and Mail story about Vinny accidentally calls him 'Crosby'.
• Something interesting about Alex Auld's game saving debut with Boston, as the Bruins defeated the Leaves on HNIC Saturday: Auld wore his goalie mask from Phoenix instead of one of those awful, white ones that goalies usually end up forced to wear after being traded.
• Fantasy hockey note: Dustin Byfuglien is a 246 pound defenseman who's been skating the wing on Chicago's top line lately. In the Hawks' 2-3 loss to Calgary last night, he skated over 17 minutes last night and scored his 7th goal of the season. Byfuglien has some offensive talent (8 points in 6 games) but the ability to stick a forward on your roster's defense is his most valuable fantasy asset right now. Here's one hoping he sticks on that Havlat and Lang line.
• Rarely do players from an NHL draft have such an immediate impact on the league in that same year, but CBC put together 12 teams who have benefited greatly from this year's crop.
• Carolina played back to back games Saturday and Sunday, and although they split those games 1-1, the Hurricanes' new second line of Cole Whitney and Cullen came alive. Cole had 3 goals and an assist, Cullen had 3 assists, and Whitney had 2 goals and an assist over the weekend.
• Jarret Stoll and Raffi Torres were both healthy scratches for the Oilers in Saturday's 3-4 loss to the Blues. Both will be dressed tonight in Dallas.
• Corey Perry only played 11 minutes Saturday night in the Ducks 2-4 loss in Nashville. Perry was benched for much of the third period.
• After alternating goalies for almost the season's first 25 games, Jose Theodore has started 4 out of the last 5 for Colorado and may be nailing down the starting job. The Avs have won 3 of those 4 games.
• Another team will movement on the goaltender front is Detroit. Dominick Hasek started three straight for the Wings. All three games ended in victories, thanks in part to Hasek and in part to a defense that limited opponents to under 20 shots in each game. Chris Osgood will start tonight in Nashville as the Wings will play their third game in four nights.
• One unintended consequence of the Pens' release of Mark Reechi is that Jordan Staal may be homeless as a result. What will he do?

• In case you missed it, Scott Niedermeyer has decided to return to the ice for Anaheim. The Ducks are 13-12-4 right now and are in a tie for 8th place in the conference. Niedermeyer is still under suspension from the team and won't be paid while he gets into shape - which they expect to be a 7-10 day period. When healthy, the Ducks top four defensemen will be Chris Pronger, Scott Niedermeyer, Francios Beauchemen, and Matthieu Schnieder. Gulp.
• One game after facing the pressures of playing with Wayne Gretzky sitting on the other bend, Sidney Crosby skated last night in the city that Wayne made famous. Crosby assisted on three straight third period goals to lead the Pens to a 4-2 victory over Edmonton. Crosby has only been held pointless in two of his 27 games this season.
• Bruins goalie Tim Thomas, who's been strong lately, was injured last night and its unknown if he'll miss any time. Manny Fernandez is already hurt, so this could force 20 year old Tuukka Rask into a full time role.
• Steve Downie skated just under 5 minutes last night.
• The Flyers' 3-1 win in Minnesota last night was their fourth straight road win.
• After tying the score are 3 at home last night against Colorado, the Blue Jackets in the Avs traded goals 41 seconds apart to again tie the score and then Columbus took the lead 30 seconds later to take the final, 5-4 lead.

CBC has obtained court documents from the Moore-Bertuzzi incident which implicate Canucks coach Marc Crawford was involved in the actions that injured Steve Moore.

"Bertuzzi was asked 1,300 questions under oath, and, according to a proposed amended statement of claim filed on Moore's behalf in an Ontario court, Bertuzzi stated at his discovery that Crawford pointed to Moore's name and sweater number on a board in the Canucks dressing room and told his players, "He [Moore] must pay the price."

So if this all happened, what does it change?

Sure Crawford ordered it, but does the case for Steve Moore stand for the people who can't defend themselves? Or is he simply a case of someone who started something he couldn't finish. At what point do players who play professional hockey turn over their ability to be held accountable for actions by non-violent means. Do they at all?

It's indeed a great debate, one that will go on for as long as hockey is played with sticks.

We've had plenty of Bertuzzi debate in the swamp over the years. Stop in and unload your thoughts.

Personally, it doesn't surprise me that Crawford called for it. It's how this game has been taught for so long. Players hold the health of others in their hands every shift. So until humans accept benevolence as a more effective means of deterrence than fear, this may be the only way.

• Ray Emery was sharp in last night's 3-4 shootout loss to Tampa. Emery's still letting in a few goals he shouldn't be, but that'll always be in his game. He also took a bad slashing penalty late in the third period when the Sens were still down 1-3. And while he's lucky Tampa wasn't able to capitalize on that power play (in part because they were playing conservative with a 2 goal lead), Emery did do a good job at keeping his composure when the 17,000+ in attendance starting chanting his name - noting that one area (composure) of his game that has improved over the years.
  
  Considering Martin Gerber's recent struggles, Emery has a chance here to take back the starting job. Ottawa plays again tonight in Sunrise, so we'll see who gets the call in net. The Ottawa Citzen is reporting it'll be Emery again. Could be a big night in determining who the starter will be for the next few months.
• When Detroit beat Montreal last night it was a victory for a 42 year old goaltender over a 20 year old.
• Wade Belak scored his first goal since December of 2003 in last night's Toronto win.
• Young future star Eric Johnson was a healthy scratch as the Blues lost 1-3 in Calgary. It was the second straight game EJ was scratched as a result of his coach's disappointment in Johnson's defensive play.
  
  Also scratched again for the Blues was young David Perron, who may find himself playing for Team Canada in the World Juniors. Perron has been a healthy scratch in four straight.
• The Blues played last night's game without a backup goaltender following Legace's pregame knee injury.
• While there hasn't been an official announcement, the Flyers are expected to dress Steve Downie tonight in Minnesota. Downie recently finished his 20 game suspension for charging Dean McAmmond in the preseason.
• Kari Lehtonen is expected to start tonight for Atlanta. Lehtonen made his return from a groin injury on Dec 1 and shut out the Islanders 4-0 in Nassau. Don Waddell said he'll rotate goaltenders until a clear #1 emerges. That shouldn't take long. Lehtonen is a top talent when healthy.

Lot of action last night, just not enough time to get to it all.
• The St Louis Blues are hot! Winners of their last three, they are 7-3-0 in the last 10 and tied with Chicago for 2nd place in the Central with two games at hand on the Hawks. Brad Boyes has led the charge with points in six of his last seven games and goals in five of those seven games. In last night's 4-3 win in Buffalo, Boyes scored an amazing game winner with just 58 seconds remaining to cap a three goal third period for the Blues. Boyes looked to have put in a rebound for the go ahead goal but it was just sitting near the goal line as he circled behind the net and jammed the puck in from the other side. With every team at least two games over .500, and only 10 points separating first and last place, the Central might just be the best division in hockey.
• St Louis won last night without David Perron in the lineup. The impressive rookie was a healthy scratch as a result of missing a team meeting on Tuesday.
• Kari Lehtonen made his first rehab start last night in the AHL.
• The Wild got Pavol Demitra back on the ice last night in their 3-1 win vs Phoenix. Demitra missed 11 of their last 13 games with a groin injury and skated almost 18 minutes last night. He did skate with Marion Gaborik throughout the game but was pointless and didn't record a shot on or off goal.
• Havlat needed just 43 seconds to score in his comeback from a shoulder injury. On his first goal, Havlat put in a nice backhand top shelf on Johan Holmqvist - who was sitting deep too far on a 2 on 1 when he should have been challenging the shooter more and trusting his defense to take away the pass. The NHL should give a nice assist to composite sticks on Havlat's first goal, as this kind of shot would not have been possible 10 years ago.
• On Patrick Sharp's goal, Patrick Kane beat three different Lightning players coming through the neutral zone. By the time he'd gotten to the circles, the two remaining Tampa players were collapsing to Kane, leaving Sharp wide open on the other side of the ice. Not even halfway through his rookie season, Kane is already a player that opposing teams are well aware of.
• Finally, Tuomo Ruutu was mistakingly arrested after he matched the description of a buglary suspect.

  "He was released after indulging an officer's request for an autograph.
  
  Ruutu, a native of Finland drafted by Chicago in 2001, described the whole event -- including the ride in the police car -- as "a fun incident."
  
  "I was just in the wrong spot at the wrong time," Ruutu said. "It happens to me all the time."

  No word on whether or not this was the reason also for the Hawks demoting Ruutu to the third line.

Back after a thanksgiving vacation.
• Before last night, the last time the Flyers and Bruins met, Boston center Patrice Bergeron was the victim of a Randy Jones face-first boarding incident. So with tensions already high, Bruins defenseman Andrew Alberts fell to his knees in the second period to steady a wobbly puck near the side boards in the neutral zone. Flyers winger Scott Hartnell was lining Alberts up for a hit as he went to his knees and Hartnell had time to adjust his route to not take Alberts out in such a vulnerable position. While Hartnell did turn slightly before making contact to indicate hesitation, he did not do enough to avoid crushing Alberts' head on the lip that sticks out on that part of the boards. The entire series of incidents has left NESN announcer Jack Edwards questioning the entire city of Philadelphia.
• The Flyers scored all 3 of their goals on the power play, where they were 3 for 4 on the night. 20 year old Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask stopped 20 shots against the Flyers and was good enough to pick up the second win of his career.
• Edmonton's 3-1 win against Columbus last night was a bit surprising in that 1) they won in regulation; something they haven't been able to do in 6 games prior, 2) Dwayne Rolosson was in net for the win, something he's only done once since late October, and 3) it came against a Ken Hitchcock coached team, something the Oilers have always struggled with.
• The Blue Jackets are a strange team. They are playing well within their division with a 5-4-2 record against some of the best competition in the league right now. They are also 4-0-2 against the weaker Pacific Division, but are struggling with the other tough division in their conference, the Northwest (1-4-0). Columbus just seemed to put forth these kind of flat efforts against teams they should be beating, like Edmonton last night.
• The Dallas Stars have won 6 straight games since overhauling their GM position. Mike Smith has been in net for 4 of those wins, while the supposed #1 goalie Marty Turco has been in net for 2, including last night's 3-2 OT win on Long Island. Turco's first goal allowed was one he'd like back, after he ranged far out to the blue line to play a puck that Richard Park beat him to and skated in alone for an easy goal.

• Quite a weekend for the Minnesota Wild. On Thursday night, they continued their dominance over the Edmonton Oilers with a 4-2 road victory in spite of a very below average effort of their part. Nicklas Backstrom was even pulled after two periods, while leading 3-2, and replaced by Josh Harding to start the third period. Harding stopped 14 of 14 shots to save the victory.
  
  Then, on Friday night the Wild finished their 4 game road trip with a 2-6 loss in Vancouver. Now, any time you give up 6 goals to this Canucks team, there's something weird happening. Josh Harding got the start but didn't make it out of the first period after giving up 3 goals in the first 12 minutes. Also in that game, Canucks defenseman Mattias Ohlund took a two handed chop to the back of Mikko Koivu's leg and cracked a bone that has Koivu out of action for at least a week. Ohlund was later suspended for 4 games by the NHL.
  
  So on Sunday night, in their first game back home and in their third game in four nights, now playing without Pavol Demitra, Wes Walz, and Mikko Koivu up front, Minnesota got two goals from the little used Aaron Voros - Matt Foy - James Sheppard line to beat Colorado 4-1 and take a 1 point lead over the Avs in the Northwest Division standings.
  
  Foy's goal was apparently his first in more than two years.
  
  The Wild are back in action on Wednesday at home against Vancouver.
• Detroit needed another strong performance from Chris Osgood on Sunday night just to stay in their game against Columbus and have a chance to win the shootout. Osgood faced 40 shots on goal, and had to deal with a Blue Jackets team that was flying up and down the ice. After another shaky performance from Hasek on Saturday night in Detroit's 3-5 loss to Chicago, I'm surprised Detroit fans aren't calling more for Osgood to be the declared the #1. I bet if it was anyone but Osgood, they would be.
• Notably for Columbus, Nikolai Zherdev had a tremendous game against Detroit and almost won the game on two or three different occasions in the third and overtime periods. It was a solid performance for him and linemate Rick Nash.
• The NY Rangers went 4-0 in their most recent 4 game road trip that concluded on Saturday with a 4-3 win in Pittsburgh. One big reason for their recent surge is they've seemed to have figured out how to score goals. Jaromir Jagr was finally split up from Scott Gomez's line, as the two clearly have little chemistry together. Jagr is skating again with Marcel Hossa, a player he's finished last season and was very successful with. Jagr is actually moving through and playing with a number of players like Brandon Dubinsky, Steve Avery, Brendan Shanahan, but not Gomez. That trick seems to have failed, but the Rangers are winning as a result.

Sure Josh McCown isn't practicing - again - this time due to a thigh injury, but is there something more behind Lane Kiffin's decision to start Daunte Culpepper this weekend against the Vikings?

As Matt Mosley wrote back in late September prior to Culpepper's big game against the Dolphins :

"According to the Hash research department, scorned quarterbacks are 38-7 in games against their former teams over the past 12 seasons."

Oddly enough, a week after Daunte's 5 TD performance in Miami, Kurt Warner went back to St. Louis and helped the Cardinals beat the Rams 34-31. So make that 40-7, if the initial stat was correct.

It's definitely something worth looking into more. Mr. Mosley? I also wonder how these games turn out when the game is played in the city of the QB's former employer, as happened with the Dolphins, Rams, and with this week's Vikings game.

• You will not find a better played, more entertaining 0-0 hockey game than what Edmonton and Vancouver played last night in British Columbia. Both Mathieu Garon and Roberto Luongo were quite literally off their ass last night making brilliant save after save. This isn't futbol. 0-0 can be fun. Ties can be too.
• In that Oilers/Canucks game, Raffi Torres lost the puck during his shootout attempt. The NHL currently wipes a strip down the center of the ice clean with a zamboni just prior to the shootout. Why? To make the ice smoother and cleaner so the puck doesn't jump? Then why not do more than just this narrow strip. Most skaters take a wide angle on a goaltender during the shootout because it's easier to score that way. So why is the 'clean strip' so narrow. Torres took his initial strides wide and then as he came back across from the rough to the fairway, the puck hopped and fired itself right off of Torres' stick and harmlessly into the corner. Although, I can see the NHL's reasoning on this. I mean, these whole things are ridiculous, so why not add more ridiculousness to the ordeal, right?
• Certainly as a direct result of my posting a link to an article praising Vinny Lecavalier's maturity yesterday, #4 put together a 5 point night that featured two very well dressed goals last night at home against the Canes. Vinny was back skating with Marty St. Louis, and those two just have developed an amazing ability to get each other the puck in good spots (see last night's breakaway goal). With his 3 goal, 2 assist effort, Lecavalier is now the NHL points leader. And to think he wasn't even a Hart Trophy finalist last year despite playing at a similar level.
• Brad Richards got five minutes for what? I'll have to check hockeyfights.com to see if that makes the front page.
• Jamie Langerbrunner played his first game of the season for the Devils last night after taking time to recover from offseason sports hernia surgery. He scored 35 seconds into the game and then scored again halfway through the third period. That was easy®.

• Dominik Hasek looks done to me. I mean, he's almost 43 years old. And in watching him give up 4 quick goals in the second period of the Blues game last night, he's still playing the same as he always did, but he's just not anywhere near quick enough to pull off the kinds of saves he used to. Hasek was there last night, sitting way back in his net like he does and letting shots go in that he just shouldn't. And the clincher was Jamaal Mayers slap shot blast from the left circle that beat Hasek, again sitting back in his net, short side high. When Chris Osgood came in, he had to make a number of key saves just to keep it a 2 goal game. Osgood is the better option for Detroit right now.
• After a slow start, Jiri Hudler isn't really being asked to do much more than generate offense, and that seems to suit the 23 year old Czech just fine for now. Hudler has points in 4 of his last five games and is creating plays for Detroit.
• The Wings outshot the Blues 30-16 for the game, and 17-7 in the second period. But they were outscored 0-4 in that second period. After the game, their plane got stuck in the mud at the airport and they were forced to sleep in St Louis overnight. Luckily, they have until Saturday night to ponder that and their two game losing streak. The Wings will host the Hawks, a team they've already lost to three times this season.
• As bad as the goaltending looked in last night's Carolina Atlanta / Florida game, I'm surpised the score was only 3-2. Craig Anderson vs Johan Hedberg. No wonder the game wasn't on television.
• The Flames were poised for a big effort against Minnesota last night, so they have to be a little disappointed they needed two fluky goals to pull out a third period salvage of the 1-0 lead they took into the final period. The Flames have had a lot of success historically against the Wild and their style of play, and Calgary was playing the last of a three game home stand while trying to end a 5 game losing streak. For the Wild to take an early third period lead off two Mikko Koivu goals should be an embarassment for Mike Kennan's bunch. They were outshot 13-5 in the third, after building a 23-15 shot advantage over the first two periods.
• Alexander Frolov had an incredible game and third period for LA, as the Kings staged their second straight third period comeback only to lose to Anaheim in a shootout. Frolov assisted on all three goals and was a force especially in the third. He spun off three defenders to set up the Kings' second goal of the game to start the rally and then almost set up a game winning goal late in the third when he made a move behind the net to set up another great scoring chance that Giguere had to make a sprawling save on.
• A nice piece from Gary Shelton about how Vincent Lecavalier has matured on and off the ice and become a contributing member of society in Tampa. Cheers to Vinny, still only 27 years old and one of the best of NHL.

• Columbus really struggled with the puck last night at home against Nashville. Adam Foote and others has some real issues keeping the thing in at the blueline, and the forwards had little or no breakout going whatsoever. Still, they were about even in shots with Nashville and dominated the faceoff circle. The game was 2-1 for much of the affair until a weird goal by JP Dumont put the game away with 8 minutes left. The Jackets have lost 4 straight now and are really struggling at a bad time. All 4 losses have been against divisional opponents and they have three more upcoming this week.
• Scottie Upshall only needed 11:25 of ice time to net two big goals for the Flyers on home ice.
• In their pre-game interviews last, the Coyotes seemed to be okay with the idea that they were playing the SJ Sharks in the second of three games in six days against each other. After being dominated and losing by a score of 5-0 last night, they've been outscored 9-1 so far in the first two, they might be singing a different tone by the time they return home to face the Sharks again on Thursday night. This whole thing was supposed to make the travel schedule easier for West Coast teams, but with a home game against Dallas on Wednesday squeezed in between the SJ games, I just don't see how this is supposed to be easier. Good luck Phoenix.
• Evgeni Malkin was moved to Jordan Staal's line last night to help the youngster break out of his sophomore slump. Staal's, not Malkin. He's not human.
• It looks like Martin Gerber is going to be the guy in Ottawa a little longer.

• 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.

Work has gotten in the way lately, but I wanted to drop in two notes.
• Everyone likes to trash the Southeast Division, but aside from having some of the best players in the world, they are also the only division that seems to be able to beat the Ottawa Senators. Going into last night, the Sens had set a record for recording 26 points in 14 games. But after last night's loss to Washington, the Sens hold a 13-2-0 record on the season. Both losses have come at the hands of a Southeast Division opponent. Carolina is the only other team to have beaten the Sens this season.
• Eric Lindros has officially retired as a player, has become a philantropist, and is moving forward with his future plans with the NHL. Bobby Clarke thinks Lindros is a HOFer but others are heatedly divided. The swamp is throwing this around here. Chime in.

• Tampa Bay is desperate right now to find someone who can stop the first shot. They are a team that will keep the puck in the opponents' end of the ice for long stretches and then give up a quality scoring chance on the break out back up ice. And right now, those chances are going in the back of the net far too often. Since the Bolts won the cup, goaltending woes have long been a public criticism but at times haven't really been the #1 problem with the team. Right now, they are. I've not seen it this bad since before the Lightning started winning Southeast championships in the early 2000's. When does Karri Ramo, a big 6-2 215lbs goaltender who fills a lot more of the net, get a chance?
• Some talk out there about the Lightning making a coaching change, but I'm not necessarily buying it. The Lightning's road woes can be linked to goaltending play right now, and last night's rare home loss was due to a tired third period effort, something common for teams returning home in the first game off a long road trip.
• Khabibulin was strong in net for Chicago last night, as the Hawks beat the Blues.
• Patrick Sharp showed great finishing skills - one on a deke and one on a wrister from the slot - on both of his shorthanded, third period goals last night.
• After 2 straight home losses and five overall losses in a row, the Wild came out firing against Calgary last night. They took an early lead and road their strong system play to a solid win. Niklas Backstrom was strong in his return to the net after missing a couple games to a groin injury. In his second game back from injury, Marion Gaborik was making plays all night but the Wild lost Pavol Demitra to a leg injury and did not return.
• I don't remember seeing Jay Bouwneester jumping up into the play as deep into opponents zone as much as he is this season. But then, I don't watch a lot of Florida Panthers hockey. Bouwmeester has 2 goals but just 3 assists this season.
• Who are these people playing defense on the Canucks? And how are they still winning with them?
• The Ducks are just a much better team now that Matthieu Schnieder is playing again. Anaheim won their first road game of the season last night in Arizona.

• Marty Turco was out of position on two of the three goals he let in before being pulled. The Stars fought back to tie the game in the third and then took the lead on a 5 on 3 chance only to see Chicago tie things back up 2 minutes later. The Blackhawks dropped in the game winner with 21 seconds remaining to win. The goaltending for Dallas just wasn't good.
• Dan Boyle's expected struggle adjusting to his late arrival to this NHL season was on display last night in the Devils' second goal of the game. He hesitated on a neutral zone puck going into his own end and turned a 2 on 1 Devils chance into a 2 on 0 Devils goal. Boyle skated 20.5 minutes and was a -3. Welcome back!
• Johan Holmqvist has been bad lately. The Lightning's defense isn't helping much on the road, where they've been soft, but in his last three games, all losses, Holmqvist has given up 5, 3, and 4 goals. Many of them were stoppable shots too. With a save percentage of 88.5% on the season and 89.3% last season, one has to wonder how soon Marc Denis or Karri Rammo will get their shot.
• The Panthers were scoreless through the first two periods last night against Carolina until their special teams took over. Aided by 7 minor penalties by Carolina in the third period alone, Florida scored 4 total goals in that final marker, 3 of which were on the PP and the other was 4 on 4.
• Ken Hitchcock is doing a heckofajobbrownie in Columbus. The Jackets are playing strong defensive hockey and getting enough goals to be competitive. They're 7-3-1 on the season after last night's win in LA. They lead the league in GAA per game (1.80) and Pascal Leclaire is the fantasy sleeper of the first part of the season. He is second in the NHL in SV% (95.3%).
• Saku Koivu isn't stepping down from his stance about not being able to speak French. I really do think that people up there are crazy enough to think that Saku should have learned French first instead of English first.
• Reebok is turning back the clock on their state of the art uniforms.

• More great news for the Oilers defense, who are already missing their top two members. They are now missing their top three, as Matt Greene was forced out of last night's game with an ankle injury. It's unclear yet how much time he may miss. Edmonton, your new #1 defense pair is Steve Staios and Denis Grebeshkov!
• Ales Hemsky is always being prompted to shoot more, but quite often when he does, he tries to be too fine with his shot placement. On display last night, Hemsky fired 4 shots that missed the net, had one more blocked, and failed to register a shot on goal in 20 minutes of ice time.
• Petr Sykora is essentially a power play specialist right now with the Pens, but he's turning out to be still quite valuable in that role. For the season, Sykora is averaging 14.5 minutes a night - 3.5 of which comes on the PP. Last night in Minnesota, at even strength Sykora was skating with Staal and Christensen and then half way through the third period Sykora was inserted on the top PP line and scored the game winner off a pass from Crosby.
• Atlanta came out strong against Montreal last night, outshooting the Habs 13-2 in the first period and outplaying Montreal for much of the game. But as the final minutes ticked down, Montreal rallied and tied the game late in the third on a power play. The Canadiens recorded 16 shots on goal in the 3rd period, added 4 more in the OT and held Atlanta without a shot and just two missed attempts in the OT. Price was strong in goal for the Canadiens.
• The Thrashers also intend to hire a full time head coach at the end of their current road trip. They play Ottawa on Thursday and then finish the trip in Tampa on Saturday night.
• Fredrik Sjostrom is making an impact with Phoenix. In his third NHL season, the Yotes first round (11th overall) pick in 2001 is finally scoring on a regular basis - although it is still early. He has a history of scoring a lot of points in junior hockey, but that has yet to translate over to the NHL game. He netted the game winning last night in St Louis and had a hat trick in his first game of the year, Oct 11 at Nashville. Maybe he only scores on the road?
• James Mirtle has more on the Yotes surprisingly not so bad start to the season.

• Tampa's Dan Boyle returned to the lineup for the first time this season last night. He skated just 10 shifts for 11.5 minutes - 5.5 on the PP. Paul Ranger, Shane O'Brien, and Filip Kuba continue to pull the weight of the minutes while Boyle returns to full strength.
• Vincent Lecavalier has been a much more physical player this season than in years past. He registered 5 hits last night against the Rangers and leads the Lightning with 22 hits on the season. He's been throwing his weight around in every game I've seen him play in, especially of late, and even went two straight games last week with a fighting major. Vinny has 30 PIM to go with his 12 points (6-6) in 10 games.
• The Sharks were down 1-2 more than halfway through the third period last night in Dallas before scoring 3 goals in three minutes to win 4-2. San Jose played well throughout, but just couldn't put the puck in the net until late in the game. Devin Setoguchi scored his first two goals of his career off passes from Joe Thornton. Setoguchi started the game skating