Former Toronto Maple Leaf Andrew Raycroft looked like he was still wearing a Leafs’ jersey when he allowed a goal on the first shot he saw last night. He would allow six more before the night was over, providing a glimpse of just how bad things could have been in goal for Toronto had they not bought him out last summer. Vesa Toskala wasn’t much better, making only 16 saves on 20 shots against. Toskala remains on par with his sub-par season totals including an early 1980’s-esque 3.31 GAA and a deflated .884 SV%.
Jason Blake extended his recent hot-streak by picking up a goal and two assists to lead the way for Toronto. Blake surpassed his goal total from last season with his 16th of this campaign. Whatever you do, don’t tell Blake that this isn’t a contract year. Milan Hejduk potted two goals for Colorado in a game that went back and forth until the Leafs scored three unanswered goals in the third period. Jeff Finger returned to the Toronto lineup after missing a couple weeks with a shoulder injury. Finger scored his third goal of the season while blocking four shots and landing several nice body checks.
On Tonight:
The Ottawa Senators are looking more and more like the team that drafted Alexandre Daigle despite a victory over St. Louis last night. They’ll be in tough tonight when they face the Blue Jackets in Columbus (I know, that just doesn’t sound right). Rick Nash’s game has looked elevated since his return to the lineup just before the All-Star break, and he scored all three goals in a 3-2 victory over Detroit earlier this week.
Two teams with identical records square off in Edmonton as the Oilers host the Minnesota Wild. Edmonton is looking to bounce back (or at least show up) after taking a 10-2 boot-fucking from Buffalo in their last contest.
The Calgary Flames knew they would have to come out gunning against the Buffalo Sabres who were coming off of a lopsided 10-2 defeat of Edmonton. Mike Cammalleri wasted little time by shoveling home his 23rd goal of the season on a Flames’ power-play just under 4 minutes into last night’s contest. Cammalleri would later add his 24th goal on a third period Flames’ power-play, and then complete the hat-trick with 7 minutes to go in the game. Cammalleri’s 25 goals are one shy of his career best, and that makes 11 goals in the month of January alone.
Todd Bertuzzi outperformed his 5 o’clock shadow by burying the game-winner with his 12th goal of the season, Dion Phaneuf also scored for Calgary. Mikka Kiprusoff turned away 25 shots to notch his league-leading 29th win. Calgary currently sits atop the Northwest Division with an 11-point cushion on the Minnesota Wild.
Crosby’s Knee Holds Up:
The Pittsburgh Penguins exploded with a 4-goal third period to bounce the New York Rangers 6-2. Sidney Crosby who played despite a bum knee put 4-points on the board including 3 assists. Kris Letang and Petr Sykora each added two goals for the Pens. Holy sweet mother of Jesus you have to see the shot Eric Godard lands on Colton Orr’s face when these two idiots drop the mitts 3-seconds into the game:
Remember our tough guy from a couple of days ago, this Kris Mallette character who piled up an arse-load of penalty minutes in several less than professional hockey leagues? It turns out that while he sure likes to drop the gloves, he might not always come out the winner (other than Laraque who really does?). I bet with a name like Snowball, you’d have to be pretty tough to begin with. Watch below as Mallette gets knocked out one-punch style by Robert Snowball:
Headlines can be misleading. Rick Nash provided a hat-trick in Columbus’ 3-2 victory over Detroit last night, but his Blue Jackets teammates deserve as much credit. I’ve tried to tell you that this team is for real. Mike Commodore should get a lot more recognition as one of the NHL’s best shutdown defenseman. Commodore is averaging over 23:00 minutes per game, and holds an impressive +/- of +11. In this story from yesterday’s Columbus Dispatch, Commodore outlines the “cock” in Mike Babcock with left over animosity from their days in Anaheim. I love when hockey players are honest.
Obligatory Leafs Bit:
Toronto suffered a crushing 6-1 bag-lashing at the hands of Minnesota. Even more suffering was to be had by the folks who were viewing the game on Rogers’ Sportsnet.
I tuned out right after Marek Zidlicky hammered the puck off of his teammate Cal Clutterbuck’s back in front of the net. “That’s a big stop by Pogge!” Joe Bowen exclaimed.
Justin Pogge is a whole other story. According to the Sportsnet crew, the plan was to start him last night, demote him to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies after the game, wait for Curtis Joseph to die, then call him back up. That is one path to John Tavares.
From the ashes of this mess comes one hell of a quote from Leafs’ bench-boss Ron Wilson via The Toronto Star:
“Had he won the game, you guys (the media) would have petitioned city hall to name a street after him, possibly have a parade. We could have carried him on our shoulders to the airport… How he handles getting kicked around like that … we’ll see how he plays the next couple of games with the Marlies. It will be a good experience for him.”
Alternate Interpretation:
Thanks to “loyal” reader and absent commenter David (what the fuck David?) for his tip on another meaning for hockeyhead.
People like Elliotte Friedman should know better than to stick a microphone in the face of a socially unconscious yet cocky hockey player. You can spend all day trying to dig up a transcript of Alex Ovechkin’s post skills competition interviews, but you won’t find anything. That’s because no one in their right mind would waste the space needed to print that shit.
Yeah, that Breakaway Challenge didn’t exactly unfold the way we all envisioned it. Little kiddie Steven Stamkos was the only participant that looked like he actually wanted to impress anyone, Ryan Getzlaf made a point to say he didn’t practice for the event. It showed Getz. Overall the All-Star skills event was a bust, it’s impossible to drum up interest if the players involved have little to no interest in making the marquee event enjoyable. Only Zdeno Chara’s record breaking clapper for charity and Shane Doan’s parapsychological shootout prowess made this thing the least bit entertaining. Thank you to the 2010 Olympics for giving the “all-stars” a break next year.
The NHL’s All-Star Game has become a defense-less sideshow in recent years. Even the skills competition couldn’t incite much interest. The NHL tried to liven things up last season by introducing the breakaway contest, it was a great idea but I’m not so sure the participants took it so seriously. The game itself has played like Nintendo’s Ice Hockey if both teams were stocked with “skinny-guys” only.
2009 could be the year that saves the All-Star Weekend. TheScore.com’s Andrew Stoeten has outlined a butt-load of reasons why the weekend in Montreal may save the All-Star game, and I tend to agree. It helps that the mid-season classic will take a rest next year in favor of the Olympics and that they have superstars on-board for the breakaways. Can Alexei Kovalev leave fans drooling for more? Yes! Gimme skill!
A new webisode of The Hockey Card Show is up, drinks and likability all around. I’m wondering what my life would have been like had I not robbed my education savings to blow on 1991-92 Upper Deck.
A nod of thanks to Legger for finding Kris Mallette on hockeydb.com . I’m guessing Mallette hurt a guy or two in 2001-02 on the Asheville Smoke of the UHL. I don’t know how he managed to score 2 goals while amassing 369 PIMs in only 49 games. Related: Legger lived on a porch for entire year.
Dion Phaneuf’s scoring touch has all but disappeared this season. It’s inexplicable as he remains on his usual pace in just about every other area of his game. Could it be the EA Sports NHL Curse?
Good Riddance:
The Ottawa Senators have placed Martin Gerber on waivers. Bryan Murray is mum on the situation, it’s Tim Murray (assistant GM) who’s fielding the questions on this one. Who signs a Stanley Cup winner’s back-up (unless his last name is Moog) to a big money deal?
At some point this season, the Vancouver Canucks are going to have to score some goals. The first step in that process would be to take more shots; the Canucks managed only eight against San Jose. Patrick Marleau buried the winner in overtime by scoring his 25th of the season. How about Patty Marleau, does Ron Wilson bottle guys up er wha?
San Jose is now 22-1-2 at home. Throw a 43 year-old Claude Lemieux into the mix and they really have something going in the Bay Area. Lemieux didn’t look a day over 39, he finished with a few shots and a couple hits in just over 7:00 minutes on the ice.
The Nucks are hopeless whenever they face San Jose, so is everyone else.
Fragile Pascal Leclaire will likely miss the rest of the season after opting for ankle surgery. He’s an afterthought in Columbus now anyway with Mason’s emergence. Leclaire might still make a decent NHL goaltender, but it will have to be in another city.
What the fucking fuck is the problem with Rick DiPietro?
I swear, the Isles would shut this guy down for a case of crotch-rot. Does this read like a recorded message?
“After extensive consultation we feel this decision is in the best interest for Rick and the team, …This will allow Rick ample time to make a full recovery for next year.”
Those are the words of Islanders’ GM Garth Snow. I guess it makes sense to shut down your “franchise” goalie when a season is lost, but does DiPietro have a clause in that 15-year deal that allows him to take a seat at his will? Perhaps Snow should have said: “Play shitty enough Rick, and you may just become part of the management team”. Not a bad deal either.
On Tonight: TSN is rocking the Bruins visiting the Leafs, gonna be a landslide. New Jersey hosts Montreal in what looks like the night’s best match-up. Will the Price be right? That’s the cheesiest thing I’ve ever typed.
People like Elliotte Friedman should know better than to stick a microphone in the face of a socially unconscious yet cocky hockey player. You can spend all day trying to dig up a transcript of Alex Ovechkin’s post skills competition interviews, but you won’t find anything. That’s because no one in their right mind would waste the space needed to print that shit.
