Big Thanks

I just wanted to credit my father with creating the excellent new banner that now adorns my site. He is also responsible for the new image of yours truly in the "About Me" section. The man does great work. Thanks again dad. 

On a side note, did anyone see Pronger's huge hit on Caps defenseman Mike Green? Its a huge, surprisingly legal hit from a guy with a crappy reputation. If you missed it here is the best view of it I can find.

Crashing The Net 11/18

My Thoughts:

1. Well its been a very interesting week around the NHL. I will start off with Sabres news: We are back to being very average again. The boys went 1-2 last week dropping 2 straight and not playing very well at all, barely getting the win against St. Louis thanks to a waived off goal. This will be a big week for the Sabres with games against Boston, Philadelphia and the Islanders. Oh yeah, Tim Connolly is hurt, who woulda thought it?
2. The Tampa Bay Lightning fired head coach Barry Melrose 16 games into the season. Melrose was more of a PR stunt than anything else and proved he is not very in touch with today's NHL player. His first mistake was cutting Lecavalier's playing time followed by allowing Stamkos only 9 minutes a game. How can you bench your best player and your first overall draft pick and not expect mutiny?  Melrose is replaced by Vegas odds-master Rick Tocchet on the bench. The saga continues...
3. Blues center Andy McDonald  will miss at least 8 weeks with a broken leg. Terrible news for Blues fans who lose their losing scorer and already last place in the West. John Tavares anyone?
4. The Anaheim Ducks will be without the services of Francois Beauchemin for at least 6 months as he tore his ACL against Nashville last week. This stings for a red-hot Ducks team.
5. The Penguins shopped veteran defenseman Darryl Sydor to the Dallas Stars for veteran defenseman Brian Boucher. Pretty even deal. Hopefully Sydor can give some much-needed help to Marty Turco.
6. Duck GM Brian Burke has stepped down from his position after expressing his desire to work for another team next season (cough Toronto cough).
7. The KHL released a statement that cleared itself of fault in the Alexei Cherapanov case. What a joke.
8. That offer sheet Kevin Lowe sent to Anaheim's Dustin Penner is coming back to bite him in the ass. Head Coach Craig MacTavish benched Penner calling him, among other things, a waste of money and out of shape. Ouch. Penner has been quiet this season but so has a large portion of the Oil offense. I dont think this is the way to go about getting them to play harder. MacTavish is known for this kind of thing.
9. Puck Daddy wonders whether or not it would be a good idea to allow players to participate in the shootout sans helmet. I, personally, am all for it. Some of the players' personalities would be allowed to shine (as would their mullets) and facial recognition is something the league could use more of. Good luck getting the NHLPA to sign off on it though, the first time someone rings a shot off the iron and it deflects into their face, the whole thing will blow up.
10. Anaheim Ducks AHL affiliate the Iowa Chops debuted their "Thirsty Thursday" promotion with $1 beer sales to great success. Who knew there was such a large underage drinking population in Iowa.
11. Alex Ovechkin has finally found his stride, scoring 5 goals and 10 points last week (4 games). Welcome back Ovie.
12. The Pens and Wings replayed their Finals series to the tune of a 7-6 overtime win for the Penguins.  What a game it was. Highlights in the video section.
13. TSN reports that 70% of players want to grandfather in a mandatory visor rule. If 66% is enough to change the Constitution, 70% should be enough for the NHL.
14. Boston Blueline has a great post in NHL discipline. Read it, seriously. Its a great idea and I think it would work. They have been added to the blogroll.
15. The Avalanche have locked up Paul Stastt\ny to a 5 year extension worth $6.6 million per. Stastny is every bit as much of a stud on the ice as his father was and this is a fair deal for both parties. Congrats to the Avs.
16. Mirtle is his usual brilliant self providing us with two posts. First, on the severity of the Islanders situation and, second, a touching story about a terminally ill goalie given a chance to play.

Pictures of the Week:

Hank Tallinder really knows how to celebrate, which is good considering this is following his first goal of the year, the eventual game-winner.

So does Ovie...

My father took this picture at the military academy in West Point, NY. Thats a seriously bad miss.

Tom Poti is sporting an awesome hockey face these days

This is just a cool picture overall

Here is your weekly picture of my future wife, Carrie Milbank

Videos of the Week (There are lots):

The Coach:

Ron MacLean's interview with Barry Melrose. Barry is clearly a little out of touch with what happened to his job. Are things so bad for him that he lost his house? Why is this being filmed in a parking lot?

Milan Lucic goes all beast mode on Michael Komisarek.

Scott Hartnell is a whiny little girl. In other news, the desert is hot.

This is one of the many reasons hockey is so awesome.

On first view this is a cool deke. In slow-mo, its the move of the year.

As promised, the game of the year: Pens/Wings.

No one ever said goalies were normal.

Have a good week and happy thanksgiving.

Crashing The Net 11/10

My Thoughts

1. Devin Setoguchi got snubbed in the All-Star ballot department. So did Tim Thomas.
2. Last tuesday Ryan Clowe scored a Gordie Howe hat trick. It was pretty awesome.
3. Last week I forgot to mention that Thrashers first round draft pick, 18 year old Zach Bogosian broke his leg and will miss a significant amount of time. Its really a heartbreaker for a kid to work his whole life at a dream only to have his leg broken 10 games into the season. 
4. I also forgot to mention that the Senators signed Daniel Alfredsson to a 4 year deal worth $22 million. Alfie (I hate that nickname, why did I use it?) got the short stick here. His numbers suggest a deal worth much more but good for the Sens for locking him up at a decent price.
5. Bruins rookie Blake Wheeler switched his number (from 42 to 26) minutes before a game. Oh yeah... then he scored a hat trick.
6. Chris Drury scored a 'trick as well with a dirty shorthanded goal and 2 power play goals. Check the videos.
7. Marty Turco kinda sucks right now.
8. Tampa dealt shifty defenseman Matt Carle to Philadelphia for idiot Steve Downie and defenseman Steve Eminger. Uhh, who cares? Honestly, no one got anything of value here. Philly gets a liability on defense and Tampa gets a mediocre defenseman and a liability in general.
9. The NHL suspended Habs player Tom Kostopolous 3 games for his hit from behind on Mike Van Ryn. The game was otherwise an exhibition in great hockey with the Leafs winning 6-3 in a quick-paced game.
10. Mirtle at From The Rink has a great statistical breakdown of how this year is comparing to last year. A great read for stat junkies like myself. Here it is.
11. The Sabres dropped a pair of games to Atlanta (in OT) and Boston last week. It seems like Ryan Miller either lets in 5 goals or zero in any given game.

Pictures of the Week

Dave "Tiger" Williams shows that the old guys know how to have some fun.

Kung-Fu Huet

This is just generally awesome

Carrie Milbank, host of The Hockey Show on NHL.com may be the love of my life. I would marry her just for all the awesome hockey-related T-shirts I could steal from her.

Mark Messier apparently diddnt get the message that Cascade makes lacrosse helmets. Ok, they make hockey helmets but honestly? If you're over the age of 8, you shouldnt wear this bucket, its just plain gross.

Videos of the Week

As usual Don Cherry manages to get me all teared up talking about the troops on Remembrance Day

Proof that Marty Turco is struggling. This is a tough way to lose a close game.

Heres the Kostopoulos hit... brutal.

Chris Drury's absolutely filthy short-handed goal against the Lightning.

Thats it for this week. Until next time, keep your head up

Crashing The Net 11/4

My Thoughts:

• • Teemu Selanne had an awesome week with 7 goals and 3 assists for 10 points in 5 games including a hat trick against Anaheim. Selanne combined with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry for 28 points in 4 games.
• • Marian Hossa also had a great week with 9 points including 5 goals in 6 games.
• • Martin Brodeur will have surgery on his injured elbow and miss 3-4 months. Kevin Weekes just crapped his pants.
• • Rick DiPietro is also on the shelf for the next 6-8 weeks after knee surgery. I wouldn't expect to see him suit up for quite a while. If the Isles are smart (thats a big if) they will just call the season a wash and not rush their franchise goaltender back earlier than absolutley necessary.
• • Steven Stamkos scored his first (and second) NHL goals last week. Unfortunately they had to come against the Sabres. Call the Calder committee.
• • The Leafs have learned how to skate and pass and score. Luckily there are three other teams in the Northeast Division that are better than them.
• • The Sabres started the week out kind of rough with two consecutive losses to Tampa Bay and Ottawa but got things back on track with two straight shutouts including a 5-0 beat down of the Capitals and a big win against the Devils. Last season all four games went to a shootout with the Devils taking three of the decisions. Rivet's return was also a huge plus for the guys in blue and gold as was the returns of Gaustad and Connolly.
• • Going Five Hole has a funny bit on what NHL players should dress up as for halloween.
• • Adam Proteau at The Hockey News is calling for Gary Bettman to be axed. The piece itself is interesting and well-written but the argument is tired. We get it, Gary Bettman has not done the best job running the league. You can read the piece here.

Photos of the Week:

Heres the seating chart for this years Winter Classic played at Wrigley Field. Uhh, is there is single good seat in the house?

Adam Mair is a terrifying human being. The man has a titanium plate screwed into his face from using it to block a shot and still plays with no visor and, as seen above, is a scrapper. Only hockey players...

More fuel for my no more teams in Toronto argument.

Whats so special about this picture? It was taken at Nassau Coliseum. Check out the fans in the background. Wow.

Happy election day.

No one ever said people from Buffalo have good taste. This is pretty bad.

I just like this picture. The Sharks are my unofficial favorite Western Conference team.

Videos of the Week:

The only reason my house is ever quiet on a saturday night

TSN's Top 10 Plays of the Week

Further proof of how terrifying Adam Mair really is

Great scrap between Eric Godard and Jody Shelley

This goal was on the Top 10 list but its worth another look

Eric Boulton and Colton Orr throw hands for a really, really long time. 

Finally, a little fun. This looks like something out of Gary Bettman's fantasies. You want scoring to go up? Replace goalies with MLB catchers who don't know how to skate.

Sorry for the delay in posting, 3 exams this week has really put a dent in my free time. Until next time, keep two hands on that stick.