Gaborik fights. LOL

This was actually a really fun game to watch, and the best part came when Marian Gaborik decided to throw down with Flyers forward Daniel Carcillo. Crucial mistake.

Don’t get me wrong, Gaborik is supremely talented. At scoring goals. He should stick to that, and let Avery handle his dirty work. I mean, this is one of the most one-sided fights I’ve seen since Milan Lucic destroyed Komisarek:

Goaltender Josh Harding fights Steve Ott

Usually when we’re treated to a goalie fight, it generally entails two opposing keepers meeting at center ice for a brawl, but during the Dallas-Minnesota tilt this week, Harding took on Stars forward Steve Ott.

Ott was crashing the net, and Josh Harding took exception to the hit, but Schultz jumped in to defend his goaltender – after he had saved a goal himself (check out 1:15 of the video).

I freely admit that I can’t stand Ott at all – the guy has a history of suspensions and cheap shots, but I think he’s crashing the net here like any good center should. If he’s guilty of anything here, it’s goaltender interference, but I think the goal would have been waived off if Dallas managed to score on this play.

Cam Janssen runs over Carey Price

I’m a St.Louis native, so naturally, I’m a Blues fan. Let me also admit that I’m not a fan of Cam Janssen. There’s this notion within the NHL that enforcers are a necessary part of a winning team – but when I look at the Blues roster, I see other guys who can hold their own in a scrap like Backes, Crombeen, and Barrett Jackman. Personally, I’d rather see his roster spot taken up by a player who could actually produce some offense, but I understand it’s a business, and players like Cam sell a ton of jerseys, so whatever.

Anyway, here’s the hit everyone has been talking about:

Puck Daddy covers the debate about the hit pretty well, and I am fairly apathetic either way. I don’t really buy Janssen’s story that he was trying to ‘jump’ over Price – he’s an enforcer, and he’s paid to stir up trouble. I’m not sold on the accident angle.

That being said, I was totally shocked when I saw the hit. I thought it was hilarious – I think my facebook status really tells the story best.

Anyway, what do you think? Was Janssen headhunting or not?

WHL rookie scores one-handed goal

I stumbled upon this video when I was checking scores on NHL.com – and the one-handed backhand is definitely impressive.

Nino Niederreiter is getting rave reviews from NHL scouts, and there’s some who think Nino could sneak into the first round of the draft this year. His numbers are pretty solid for a young prospect (26g, 18a, 41GP), and he’s definitely got some offensive potential.

Will Sutton face suspension for hit on Dupius?

Update: Sutton received a two-game suspension from the NHL today.

If you haven’t seen the hit yet (it’s been rolling on Sportscenter here in the States since the game ended), watch Andy Sutton drive Pascal Dupuis headfirst into the boards. Dupuis would leave the game with ‘facial injuries’, while Sutton was handed a five-minute major boarding call and a game misconduct.

Sutton deserves at least a 2-3 game suspension, because this was clearly a hit from behind, and Dupuis is lucky to be walking away without a broken neck. Sure, Pascal probably should have been prepared for the hit, and while he did park himself in a dangerous distance from the boards, there’s no reason for Andy Sutton to drive his elbow into the back of Dupius’ neck.

I’d really hate to see the NHL look the other way on this hit in the same way they did for Sergei Gonchar recently:

Again, it’s a shot from behind to the head of an opponent. It shouldn’t be tolerated, and it needs to be policed more strictly before a check like this ends someones career.

Has the Kessel Trade Backfired Already?

We’re guilty of a little Leafs bashing here at The Puck Doctors every once in a while (case in point, Gesner’s post a few months back), but with the Maple Leafs floundering in 14th place in the East, it’s high time to question the thought process behind the Phil Kessel deal. Brian Costello of THN wrote about the trade – and how it could really hurt the organization in the long-run.

“How’s a team supposed to rebuild without young, cheap talent coming down the pipeline? A colleague argued Toronto could afford to give up the valuable first round picks because it had signed Tyler Bozak and Christian Hanson as free agents and they are effectively de facto first-rounders. Shame on the person who thinks a rebuilding team can give up any early draft picks.”

Exactly. Keep in mind that the Leafs dealt two first round picks, and one second rounder. For a team that’s clearly in the rebuilding mode, it’s hard to justify Brian Burke’s choice to blow through some of the organization’s future for a quick fix in Kessel. It’s become the signature of his leadership – Burke manages a hockey club like a bull in a china shop. First, he went to the press claiming that he wanted John Tavares in Toronto (a complete impossibility), then the Leafs were too weak for his taste, so he stacked his roster with ‘truculent’ players, only to find his club 28th overall in the league. It’s knee-jerk, reactionary management that the best fans in the NHL shouldn’t have to put up with.

Could Kessel turn into a 50-goal scorer? Sure, but what if he stays this injury prone his entire career? He’s currently producing points at a fairly modest rate (15g, 13a in 38GP), but Kessel was known for his prolonged slumps in Boston. When he gets in a rut while in a Leafs uniform, the crushing pressure of the Toronto media will be all over him. It’s not that Kessel is a bust, it just seems like Burke has put him in a bad situation – as good as he is, Kessel won’t lead this team out of the basement alone.

Now the Leafs don’t even have a first round pick in 2011, and Kessel, while incredibly talented, can’t benefit the organization as much as two solid first rounders could have. There’s no two ways about it – Burke gambled with Toronto’s future, and it could be a long time before the Leafs can return to respectability because of it.

Datsyuk’s sick shootout goal against Chicago

Even though I’m sure this game didn’t get any ratings at all (it aired the same time as the Cowboys – Vikings NFC playoff game), but during the shootout, Pavel Datsyuk scored on a ridiculous move.

Datsyuk is pretty much automatic in the shootout – his puckhandling skills are simply phenomenal. I was actually watching this instead of the Dallas-Minnesota NFC game (The Vikings had already run away with it at that point anyway), and I was totally blown away.

Update: As some of my commenters mentioned, Datsyuk’s move was reminiscent of Linus Ormark’s goal a little while back. Check that out.

Olympic Rosters and Power Rankings

With Vancouver just around the corner, Olympic teams have already published their rosters, and it’s time to evaluate where each country stacks up – and who has the best chance of taking home the gold.

Olympic Power Rankings

#1 Team Canada

Canada is easily the hands-down favorite for the gold in 2010, partly because of the sheer depth of their lineup, and their added home-ice advantage.  In goal, they have three established NHL starters (two are Cup winners), and their forwards are arguably among the very best in the world. Crosby, Nash, Heatly, Iginla, Thornton and Staal are just some of the dangerous offensive talent that Team Canada has in their arsenal.  There are some confusing snubs (Why take Seabrook and Doughty over Bouwmeester or Phaneuf?), but otherwise, there are few holes in this lineup – and by all appearances, they look to be headed for gold in Vancouver.

Turino finish: 7th

Roster:

• Goaltenders
• Martin Brodeur
• Roberto Luongo
• Marc-Andre Fleury
• 
  
• Defense
• Scott Niedermayer
• Chris Pronger
• Shea Weber
• Drew Doughty
• Duncan Keith
• Dan Boyle
• Brent Seabrook
• 
  
• Forwards
• Sidney Crosby
• Rick Nash
• Jarome Iginla
• Mike Richards
• Joe Thornton
• Patrick Marleau
• Ryan Getzlaf
• Brenden Morrow
• Corey Perry
• Dany Heatley
• Eric Staal
• Patrice Bergeron
• Jonathan Toews

Notable Snubs:

Martin St.Louis, Vincent Lecavalier, Jeff Carter, Jay Bouwmeester, Shane Doan, Mike Green, Dion Phaneuf, John Tavares

#2 Team Russia

The Russians are poised to make a serious run in Vancouver, and can legitimately be considered a gold medal threat based on the high-profile offensive talent they have on their roster. Evgeni Malkin, Alexander Ovechkin, and Illya Kovalchuk are scary enough alone – and with Gonchar, Volchenkov and Andrei Markov adding considerable stability to the blueline, it’s easy to see why Russia could make a serious push for gold this year. Nabokov will likely nab the starting job for Team Russia, but Ilya Bryzgalov has seriously improved his game this season, and will bring the Russians more security between the pipes.

Turino finish: 4th

Roster:

Goaltenders
Ilya Bryzgalov
Semyon Varlamov
Evgeny Nabokov

Defense

• Anton Volchenkov
• Sergei Gonchar
• Denis Grebeshkov
• Dmitry Kalinin
• Konstantin Korneyev
• Andrei Markov
• Ilya Nikulin
• Fyodor Tyutin

Forwards

• Maxim Afinogenov
• Pavel Datsyuk
• Danis Zaripov
• Sergei Zinovyev
• Ilya Kovalchuk
• Viktor Kozlov
• Evgeni Malkin
• Alexei Morozov
• Alexander Ovechkin
• Alexander Radulov
• Alexander Semin
• Sergei Fedorov

Notable snubs:

Alexei Kovalev, Nikolai Khabibulin, Nikita Filatov, Nikolai Zherdev, Alexei Yashin

#3 Team Sweden

The Swedes are defending the gold medal they took in Turino, and they’ll likely medal again in Vancouver. They have world-class goaltending in Henrik Lundqvist, and leading Team Sweden on the blueline will be veteran defenseman Niklas Lidstrom. Sweden’s offense isn’t as deadly as Russia or Canada, but it’s not shabby either – The Sedins, Alfredsson, Eriksson, Zetterberg, and Samuel Pahlsson are some of the standouts for the 2010 squad. The oft-injured Peter Forsberg made the Swedish roster for Vancouver, and he’ll be an interesting player to watch in the early round. He could thrive under the bigger ice surface, or he could fizzle and look the the rusty, ex-NHLer he currently is.

Turino finish: 1st

Roster:

Goalkeepers:

• Jonas Gustavsson
• Stefan Liv
• Henrik Lundqvist

Defenders:

• Tobias Enstrom
• Magnus Johansson
• Niklas Kronwall
• Nicklas Lidstrom
• Douglas Murray
• Johnny Oduya
• Henrik Tallinder
• Mattias Ohlund

Forwards:

• Daniel Alfredsson
• Nicklas Backstrom
• Loui Eriksson
• Peter Forsberg
• Tomas Holmstrom
• Patric Hornqvist
• Fredrik Modin
• Samuel Paahlsson
• Daniel Sedin
• Henrik Sedin
• Mattias Weinhandl
• Henrik Zetterberg

Notable snubs: Johan Franzen, Mikael Samuelsson

#4 Team USA

Don’t be mistaken – Team USA has a serious chance to medal in Vancouver. They selected a young team that has ‘upset’ written all over them, but they face an uphill battle from the get-go to even get to the podium. The US has a decent goaltending core (Miller, Thomas), and their fowards have some decent names (Kane, Parise Pavelski, Kessel, Backes), but the true strength of the Americans will be in their quick, puck-moving defensemen. First-round draft pick Erik Johnson joins Jack Johnson and Brian Rafalski on the blueline – so expect the US powerplay and breakout game to be extremely potent. Overall, the Americans could make some noise in the tournament, but they’ll need a few upsets to get their hands on a medal.  (Also, how T.J Oshie could get left off this team is completely beyond me)

Turino finish: 8th

Roster:

Goaltenders

• Tim Thomas
• Ryan Miller
• Jonathan Quick

Defense

• Brian Rafalski
• Ryan Suter
• Paul Martin
• Mike Komisarek
• Erik Johnson
• Brooks Orpik
• Jack Johnson

Forwards

• Zach Parise
• Chris Drury
• Dustin Brown
• Jamie Langenbrunner
• Paul Stastny
• David Backes
• Patrick Kane
• Phil Kessel
• Ryan Kesler
• Bobby Ryan
• Joe Pavelski
• Ryan Malone
• Ryan Callahan

Notable snubs: T.J Oshie, Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta, David Booth

#5 Team Slovakia

The Slovaks could also surprise a few teams in the tournament this year – they’re sitting on some serious offensive talent, and Team Slovakia can run and gun with the best in Vancouver. Marian Hossa, Marian Gaborik, Pavol Demitra, and Michal Handzus lead a relatively talented top-six into the Olympics. The Slovakian defense looks quite bare, for the exception of Chara and Visnovsky, there’s not really any high-caliber talent on the blueline – and certainly not enough to keep teams like Russia and Canada at bay. Expect a respectable, but ultimately mediocre finish from Team Slovakia.

Turino finish: 5th

Roster:

Goaltenders

• G Peter Budaj
• G Jaroslav Halak
• G Rastislav Stana

Defense

• D Zdeno Chara
• D Milan Jurcina
• D Richard Lintner
• D Andrej Meszaros
• D Andrej Sekera
• D Martin Strbak
• D Lubomir Visnovsky

Forwards

• F Lubos Bartecko
• F Martin Cibak
• F Pavol Demitra
• F Marian Gaborik
• F Michal Handzus
• F Marcel Hossa
• F Marian Hossa
• F Tomas Kopecky
• F Zigmund Palffy
• F Branko Radivojevic
• F Miroslav Satan
• F Jozef Stümpel
• F Richard Zednik

#6 Team Finland

I freely admit that I could be underestimating the Fins (a mistake the Russians made during WW2), but despite their recent Olympic success – medaling three times out of the last four years – I think this is the year Team Finland falls from grace. They’ve got stellar goaltending from Kiprusoff  and Backstrom, but they simply don’t have the offensive firepower to keep up with Canada, Russia or Sweden. Considering that it’s also entirely possible that Selanne won’t be able to start for Finland, it’s easy to see how they could quickly fall behind the rest of the pack.

Turino finish: 2nd place

Roster:

Goaltenders

• Niklas Backstrom
• Miikka Kiprusoff
• Antero Niittymaki

Defense

• Lasse Kukkonen
• Sami Lepisto
• Toni Lydman
• Janne Niskala
• Joni Pitkanen
• Sami Salo
• Kimmo Timonen

Forwards

• Valtteri Filppula
• Niklas Hagman
• Jarkko Immonen
• Olli Jokinen
• Niko Kapanen
• Mikko Koivu
• Saku Koivu
• Jere Lehtinen
• Antti Miettinen
• Ville Peltonen
• Jarkko Ruutu
• Tuomo Ruutu
• Teemu Selanne

#7 Czech Republic

The Czechs are another team I hesitate to place so low, but the overall depth of the lineup simply doesn’t stack up to the rest of the high-caliber squads. Yes, they have Jagr, Havlat, Elias and Fleischman – but hardly anyone on defense (besides Zidlicky), and without a stable blueline, Vokoun is going to get lit up frequently.

Turino finish: 3rd

Roster:

Goaltenders

• Ondrej Pavelec
• Jakub Stepanek
• Tomas Vokoun

Defense

• Miroslav Blatak
• Jan Hejda
• Tomas Kaberle
• Filip Kuba
• Pavel Kubina
• Zbynek Michalek
• Roman Polak
• Marek Zidlicky

Forwards

• Petr Cajanek
• Roman Cervenka
• Patrik Elias
• Martin Erat
• Tomas Fleischmann
• Martin Havlat
• Jaromir Jagr
• David Krejci
• Milan Michalek
• Tomas Plekanec
• Tomas Rolinek
• Josef Vasicek

Top Seven:
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7

Alex Ovechkin Fights…Almost

Steve Downie was inviting Alexander Ovechkin to drop the gloves, and Alex obliged him.

Until Matt Bradley flew off the bench to lay a beatdown on Downie.

It’s completely awesome when finesse players like Ovechkin fight – but I stand by Bradley’s choice to take the responsibility for the fight. Ovechkin is not only the captain, but the most valuable player in the organization. You can’t replace a 65-goal scorer that easily. An injury to A.O would be devastating to the Capitals, and Bradley was looking out for the entire team by throwing down.

You can’t say that Alex turtled, because once you look at the video, it’s clear he was ready to take care of his own business – he wasn’t standing around waiting for another teammate to deal with his dirty work. Ovechkin was ready to fight Downie, and all the criticism about him being a ‘prima donna’ is weak at best.

{Video from TSN.ca}

Kiprusoff blinded by laser, still wins game.

The Calgary Flames edged out the Vancouver Canucks in a shootout last week, 3-2, but the real story was Flames goaltender Mikka Kiprusoff making 19 saves while being nailed in the face with a laser for the better part of 60 minutes.

Flames coach Darryl Sutter was irate after the game:

“It’s ridiculous. We could see it from the bench, see it shining on his mask throughout the whole night,”

Since the game was played in Vancouver, more suspicion has surfaced – how could security fail to find the fan who was hitting Kipper with the laser all night? Some are already speculating that GM Place staff conveniently looked the other way, hoping for a home win for the Canucks.

Nashville Predators head coach Barry Trotz told the media before his team played the Canucks at home that he wouldn’t tolerate the same treatment.

“I’ll pull the team off,” Trotz said after his team’s morning skate. “They do that, then we’ll stay off (the ice)”

A laser assault on the Predators would be incredibly dangerous, considering the obnoxiously reflective qualities of their uniforms – it would probably blind everyone in the arena.

H/T to Jim Sparrow

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