Minor League Coach Loses Temper, Breaks Sticks

During an AHL game between the Abbotsford Heat and the Hamilton Bulldogs, Heat coach Jim Playfair went absolutely postal.

“For Playfair’s outburst, Abbotsford was given a two-minute bench minor for “abusive language” and the head coach was given a 10-minute game misconduct. After the game, Playfair explained to the Abbotsford News his issue with the call:

“It was the wrong call by the referee,” said Playfair. “I think J.D. Watt is making a play, their goaltender comes out into the (faceoff) circle, (Watt) got pushed by a defenceman and (the goaltender) went down.
“By no means did he try and run this goaltender to deserve a five minute major so I disagreed with it and that’s it.”

Down 2-0 to Hamilton at that point, Playfair’s ejection did nothing to fire up his team as Abbotsford ended up losing 4-0. It was a heated game from the beginning with two fights in the opening 11 minutes and 69 penalty minutes total handed out.” {Puck Daddy}

I saw this video on Sportscenter, and it was cracking me up all night. Playfair had completely lost his mind – but keep in mind, the referee that night was Jamie Koharski, son of NHL referee Don Koharski. No wonder he freaked out.

Stamkos Tied for NHL Scoring Lead

Steven Stamkos notched his 45th goal of the season during a 5-3 victory over the Boston Bruins, tying him with Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin for the goal scoring title. The race for the Rocket Richard trophy is already heating up, and with a little under ten games left in the season, it’s up for grabs.

“Move over, Alex and Sid. Steve Stamkos wants in on the race for the Rocket Richard Trophy — and a playoff berth for the Tampa Bay Lightning as well.

Stamkos, the No. 1 pick in the 2008 Entry Draft, tied Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby for the NHL lead in goals by scoring twice on Thursday as the Lightning beat Boston 5-3 to extend the Bruins’ woes at TD Garden.

Paul Szczechura also scored twice as the Lightning earned the 500th win in franchise history and kept the Bolts’ playoff hopes alive.

Stamkos said he’s more interested in team goals than individual ones.

“It would be nice,” Stamkos said of winning the Richard Trophy, given to the NHL’s leading goal-scorer. “But if I win it and help this team win at the same time, that’s (better). I just want to try and produce offense. That’s my job, that’s my role. I want to help this team win and see what happens at the end of the year.”

Antero Niittymaki did his part to keep the Bolts’ hopes alive by making 47 saves in Tampa Bay’s second straight win after a five-game losing streak. He made 19 saves in the third period to keep the Bruins at bay. Martin St. Louis also scored for the Lightning.

Boston rookie Tuukka Rask had a tough night, making only 13 saves as Boston fell to 15-15-6 at home. The B’s have won just twice in their last 14 games at the Garden and saw their lead over ninth-place Atlanta reduced to two points. The New York Rangers, 4-3 winners at New Jersey, are three points back.

Then there’s the Lightning, who jumped over Florida into 11th place, six points behind Boston.

“We’ve got an uphill climb, but no one in this dressing room is quitting right now,” Stamkos said. “That’s two big wins for us — a big win against the team that we’re chasing. It’s been a tough year for us. We believe we deserve a better fate. We’ve been very inconsistent this year and it’s definitely cost us to where we are right now. But we’ve still got a shot. We’ve got to believe that.”

Stamkos was the No. 1 pick in 2008, following the path taken by Ovechkin in 2004 and Crosby a year later.

“It’s pretty surreal when you think about” being tied with Ovechkin and Crosby, Stamkos said.” {NHL.com}

It’s good to see Stamkos staking his claim as one of the elite players in the NHL. Between Lecavalier, St.Louis and Stamkos, it’s hard to believe that the Lightning are fighting for their playoff lives in the East (11th in the Eastern Conference).

The 2010 NHL Playoff Stretch Run

With the 2010 NHL season drawing to a close, the races for the last spots in the East and the West are still very much in play, so here’s a quick look at the teams who are on the outside looking in.

With a little under nine games to go, here’s how the Eastern Conference shakes out:

#9 Atlanta Thrashers: Atlanta has been playing a solid game recently, and they only trail the 8th seeded Bruins by a single win. They’re certainly in great position to sneak into the postseason – but their remaining schedule is of some concern, as four of their last five games in April are against Washington and Pittsburgh.

#10 New York Rangers The Blueshirts are three points out of the 8th and final spot, and the Bruins have a game in hand over New York. The Rangers will have to win a majority of their remaining games to get a shot to sneak in – and Gaborik will have to step up and lead his team offensively. The last two games of New York’s schedule could be absolutely crucial, as they play a home-and-home against the 7th seeded Flyers.

#11 Tampa Bay Lightning Their clutch victory against the Bruins last night places them within striking distance of the post-season, but yet again, Boston has a game in hand over Tampa, so it’ll be an uphill battle for the Lightning to place at all. Antero Niittymaki is heating up at the right time, and Steven Stamkos is having no problem finding the net, so they’re certainly in playoff form – but sadly, it might be too little, too late.

I’ll go out on a limb and say that the rest of the East (Florida, Carolina, NYI, and Toronto) are drawing dead at this point. On to the West!

#9 Calgary Flames Even though the Flames occupy the 9th spot in the West, their playoff chances aren’t looking great. They trail the Red Wings by five points in the standings, and Detroit has a game in hand over Calgary as well. Even worse, the Flames may have the worst schedule out of all of the bubble teams – only drawing one non-playoff team (Minnesota) out of their remaining eight games (Bruins, Capitals, Coyotes, Avalanche, Blackhawks, Sharks, Blackhawks, and Canucks).

#10 St. Louis Blues The final nail in the coffin for the Blues came last Wednesday, in the form of a 4-2 loss to the 8th seeded Red Wings. Like Calgary, Detroit has one game in hand over St. Louis, and the Wings lead the Blues by a staggering 8 points in the standings. While a playoff berth is still mathematically possible for the Blues – it’s all but over for this young team. Their abysmal home record finally caught up to them, and it has cost them a chance at playoff contention.

Minnesota, Dallas and Anaheim all trail Detroit by at least nine points, so it’s highly unlikely that they’ll get a chance to compete for that last spot in the next nine games. The Red Wings have put themselves into a solid position, and have effectively locked down the Western Conference. If anyone could possibly knock them off their perch, it’ll be Calgary.

New Buffalo Sabres Jersey?

Some new details about changes to a handful of NHL jerseys for 2011 have surfaced over at icethetics.info, and the Sabres are among the eleven teams that are making adjustments to their uniforms for next year. Thankfully, the Buffalo Sabres front office has come to their senses and are finally ditching their current logo. Check out this mockup for Buffalo’s new uni’s in 2011:

“The Sabres will be undergoing big changes to celebrate their 40th anniversary season. Their current third jersey — a throwback with some modern updates — will take over as the home jersey, as has long been rumored.

Reebok lists the Sabres’ road sweater as TBD, but it will most likely be a white version of the current alternates. I also understand they’ll be adding an entirely new third jersey, but I’m told it may be only for the 40th anniversary season.

It will be royal blue with BUFFALO in a white script across the front, containing the vintage logo with the player’s number underneath. The concept here to the right is my own rough rendering of the description I’ve been given. I’ve added the traditional striping and colors.” {Icethetics}

That retro lettering looks absolutely fantastic. This jersey would be a massive improvement over their current home and away set:

These jerseys have been near-universally loathed, and merciless mocked for their cartoonishly awkward logo – which has been hilariously referred to as a ‘Buffa-Slug’ or an ‘Angry Cashew’. The backlash most notably took the form of a fan-protest website, “Sabres, not Slugs“, where a group of dedicated Sabres fans petitioned the League and the Sabres administration for a new set of uniforms.

Luckily for Sabres fans everywhere, the Buffa-slug logo appears to be on its way out, and if the new jersey looks half as good as this new mockup, it might become one of the best uniforms in the NHL.

Selanne Scores 600th Career Goal

While some of you prefer to sleep over night, we here at The Puck Doctors love the night life. The night owls here stay up hard at work to collect stats and fodder and discuss just what in the world is going on down in Phoenix, which leads me to my first highlight of last night.

Coming off a thrilling comeback win over the Chicago Blackhawks, the Phoenix Coyotes traveled to Dallas Sunday Night with an eight game winning streak. The Coyotes jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of power play goals from Peter Prucha and Radim Vrbata before Jamie Benn got the Stars to within one in the second period. Louie Eriksson tied the game with about 14 minutes to go in regulation and would ultimately go to a shootout. Former Blackhawk Adrian Aucoin netted the game winning shootout goal to lift the Coyotes to their ninth consecutive win. Two things about this win for the Desert Dawgs. Their ninth win in a row ties a franchise record when they did it in Winnipeg in March of 1985. Second, this unprecedented ninth win in a row has suddenly vaulted the Coyotes into (take a breath) first place in the Western Conference. Now, they are tied in points with the Blackhawks at 97, but they seemingly pulled off an impossible feat in catching the Sharks for the Pacific Division lead. It’s not a typo, folks; the Phoenix Coyotes are in first place.

While we’re on the topic of the Pacific Division, what in the world is going on in San Jose? Sunday Night, the Sharks relinquished their hold on the Pacific Division and the top spot in the Western Conference to the Coyotes (see above if you still don’t believe me) losing in embarrassing fashion to the last place Oilers 5-1. The Sharks seemed like a clear favorite to come out of the West this year, but the emergence of the Blackhawks gave San Jose stiff competition. They had been equal to the task thus far but for reasons unbeknownst to me, San Jose hasn’t won in six games collecting just one point in that stretch. If you’re a Sharks fan right now, how worried are you about Evgeni Nabakov right now heading toward the playoffs? What about Patrick Marleau, Dany Heatley, Joe Thornton or Joe Pavelski? Where have they been during this 0-5-1 stretch? I know head coach Todd McLellan isn’t pleased:

“The frustration level is growing as the days go on,” Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. “We didn’t really show a lot of emotion in the game until the end of it when it didn’t really matter. I’m tired of hearing in our locker room and around the team that adversity is good for us and will pay off in the end. It’s not going to unless we dig ourselves out of it. There is something missing right now, and we have to figure what it is pretty darn quick.”

After watching Evgeni Nabakov in the Olympics for Team Russia, I’ve questioned his level of confidence and whether he still believes in himself anymore. I’m not even sure he believes in himself anymore:

“It was quite embarrassing to be honest, to lose that way. I don’t know if this is rock bottom or not, but we are certainly hoping it is. Hopefully we can get back to climbing the hill after this. I think the confidence level is nowhere to be found right now and we have to find it.”

While the Sharks try to regain their momentum closing in on the playoffs, the Atlanta Thrashers are suddenly on a roll making a late push. After Sunday’s 3-1 win in Philly, the Kovalchuk-less Thrashers sit just one point out of the final playoff spot behind the Boston Bruins. Atlanta has won four in a row after a six game winless streak almost sealed their fate. Good news/bad news for the Thrashers; the bad news is the Bruins have a game in hand on the Thrash, but fortunately for them, they have a critical meeting with the Bruins this week. Atlanta has ten games left to make up that one point. I don’t think any of us saw the Thrashers even sniffing eighth place following the Kovalchuk trade.

Finally, incase you missed it last night, Teemu Selanne finally scored his 600th career goal in the Ducks’ 5-2 drubbing of the Avalanche. He is the 18th player in NHL History, only the third European, to do so. Selanne scored 600 the same way he has scored many of the previous 599, parked right in his office in the low slot waiting for a rebound. It was a power play tally just 34 seconds into the second period. Scott Niedermayer picked up an assist on the historic marker.

Anaheim is still trying to scrap together a desperation playoff push as they pulled into a three way tie for 11th with Dallas and Minnesota, all with 76 points. The St. Louis Blues occupy the tenth spot with 77, followed by the Calgary Flames at 81, two points behind eighth place Detroit at 83. It seemed like it was just yesterday that Teemu Selanne was doing this:

Congratulations, Teemu.

Daymond Langkow Takes Slapshot to the Neck

Incredibly frightening moment during Sunday’s game in Minnesota, as Calgary Flames forward Daymond Langkow was struck in the neck by a slapshot from Ian White.

“Daymond Langkow was taken off the ice on a stretcher after taking a shot to the back of the neck early in the second period of Sunday afternoon’s game with the Minnesota Wild.

Langkow was tangled up with a Minnesota defender in front of the net in his offensive zone when he was hit by the shot from teammate Ian White while going down to the ice. Trainers immediately tended to him and his Calgary teammates left the bench and gathered around. A stretcher was eventually brought out and Langkow was taken to an area hospital for observation. The game was delayed for nearly 15 minutes.

While there was initially concern that Langkow couldn’t move one of his legs, the Calgary Sun later reported that Langkow had feeling and movement in all of his extremities.

“It’s extremely tough,” said Minnesota forward Chuck Kobasew. “You never want to see something like that happen. We all hope he’s OK. The first five or six shifts after that, I think it was tough for both teams.”

Moments after play resumed, White scored to bring the Flames within 3-2 of the Wild. Calgary lost to Minnesota 4-3 and remained two points behind Detroit for the eighth seed in the Western Conference.

Langkow, 33, has 14 goals and 36 points in 72 games this season.” {NHL.com}

Vokoun’s 105-Foot Blunder

During Thursday’s contest between the Panthers and Coyotes, Radim Vrbata scored a game-tying goal from center ice.

Radim Vrbata scored a fluke game-tying goal with 59.7 seconds left in regulation and added the shootout winner as the Coyotes rallied from three goals down after two periods for a 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers at Bank Atlantic Center.

“It was just one of those games where we never quit,” Vrbata said after the Coyotes won their seventh in a row and finished 4-0-0 on their swing through the Southeast. “We came back and it was nice to get that.”

With its 44th win of the season, Phoenix eclipsed the old franchise mark held by the 1984-85 Winnipeg Jets, who did not have the benefit of the penalty-shot tiebreaker to settle games still tied after overtime. The Coyotes also closed within three points of the Sharks for the Pacific Division lead, though San Jose also has a game in hand.

Fallout From The Ovechkin Hit

It’s Tuesday morning; many, if not all of you have seen the hit dealt by Alex Ovechkin on Hawks defenseman Brian Campbell from Sunday. I know I’ve had time to look it over several times and some of us have had some healthy debates on the matter. Brian Campbell will likely miss the rest of the season with a broken clavicle and ribs. Losing Campbell that long will surely hurt the Hawks down the stretch, and possibly well into the post-season. They are still within striking distance to topple San Jose for top spot in the Western Conference while the Capitals have quite a comfortable lead over second place Pittsburgh (14 points with only 13 games to go). From first glance, the hit looked quite vicious, but Ovechkin insists there was no malicious intent nor does he believe the hit warranted such a hefty penalty.

“It was not a hard hit,” he said. “I just wanted to push him. It’s just a moment in the game. I don’t think it has to be five minutes or something like that. I just felt bad.”

Ovechkin did appear to show sincere concern when he was shown on the telecastraising his left hand to Campbell as if to say “I’m sorry, that wasn’t my intent.” That’s why I like the guy so much. I don’t condone the hit, but I don’t think he’s a dirty player. Over-zealous at times, but not dirty. Now, I can’t speak for everyone here at The Puck Doctors, but I’ve had some friendly discussions with some colleagues about the length of his suspension. Two games seems to be an appropriate length for Ovechkin – but you’ve got to wonder how much Brian Campbell’s injury influenced the League’s decision.

Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau spoke out on Sunday about Alex’s suspension, and he took issue with Colin Campbell’s decision:

“If you look at it, [Campbell's] skates were parallel to the net. Once Campbell dishes it off, he knows Alex is there. He doesn’t hit him, he pushes him. As he’s going, it looked to me like [Campbell's] left leg stumbled and he almost toe-picked the ice. He’s one of the greatest skaters in the game. He’s stayed healthy because he’s able to avoid this. I’m sure he thought he was going to spin off it. …

“The [refs] waited and waited. They didn’t want to make the call. The last thing [referee] Dan O’Halloran wanted to do was kick Alex Ovechkin out on an NBC game. But he thought in his mind that, ‘If this guy is hurt, I have to give him a five-minute major.’ …

“Alex pushed [Campbell]. He pushed him. If he doesn’t fall awkwardly into the boards, a) Is it a penalty? b) Are we having this discussion? … Alex is so much stronger than everyone else. So we’re penalizing him for being strong.”

Was Boudreau off base? Should the League have left the hit on Campbell alone? Leave your own thoughts in the comments.

Ovechkin’s hit from behind on Brian Campbell

UPDATE: Alexander Ovechkin has been suspended two games – Colin Campbell calls hit ‘Reckless’

I saw this hit while I was watching the Capitals-Blackhawks game earlier this afternoon, and Puck Daddy did some quick work and got the video online right after the game. Watch the hit here:

Campbell skates back into his own zone to pick up a dump in, when Alex Ovechkin races in and hits Campbell from behind. It’s pretty clear that A.O makes contact with Brian Campbell on the numbers of his jersey. Ovechkin was given a 5-minute major and a game misconduct – which is Ovechkin’s third game misconduct on the year, which leads all NHL players.

As Wyshynski articulated, A.O will have to be suspended by in the NHL, because of the statutes in the League rulebook about hits from behind:

23.5 Fines and Suspensions – Stick Infractions, Boarding and Checking from Behind Category – In regular League games, any player or goalkeeper who incurs a total of two (2) game misconduct penalties for stick-related infractions, Boarding – Rule 42, or Checking from Behind – Rule 44, shall be suspended automatically for the next League game of his team. For each subsequent game misconduct penalty, the automatic suspension shall be increased by one game.

As we’ve seen in the past (Malkin in the Stanley Cup Finals), the League hates to sit its star players. I can’t imagine that the NHL will suspend Ovechkin for more than a game or two. I won’t come out and condemn this hit outright, like I did with Matt Cooke’s nasty headshot on Marc Savard, but I do think it’s poor judgement on Ovechkin’s part. Campbell turns before the hit a little bit, sure, but it’s clear that Alex pushes and fully extends his arms right into the back of Campbell. It’s a hit from behind and a text book boarding call – and it’s worthy of a suspension.

The debate on SBNation’s Capitals blog, Jasper’s Rink, is seriously interesting – Caps fans are really going both ways on this hit:

“Big Caps fan and season ticket holder—-but I have to be honest here -

Ovechkin is a stupid player. He is costing his team with his foolish play. Trust me - he is going to get a 3 to 5 game suspension, which will cost him the goal scoring title, but moreover he is gaining a reputation which will hurt the CAPS.

Ovechkin is talented — but really stupid. Caps won’t win a cup with this guy playing as he is. He must tone it down.” {Dougeb}

I’ve always maintained at the very least, Alex Ovechkin plays a risky game, and if he keeps up this pace, he’ll quickly find himself with a myriad of nagging injuries. I think Dougeb is partially right – it’s an irresponsible play in the context of their season. Under 15 games left in their schedule, and the Capitals still lead the Eastern Conference. There’s no need for that kind of play – his team isn’t battling for a playoff spot, and A.O should have used a little more discretion on a menial little dump-in like that.

Other Caps fans think this wasn’t a dirty hit at all:

“I don’t even think it was emotional. He tried to hit Campbell and if Campbell doesn’t toe pick it’s not an issue. He caught his toe and took a bad fall. Tough luck but not a dirty play.” {Fehr and Balanced}

I can see where he’s coming from. Brian Campbell did turn a bit before Ovechkin laid the hit on him, and I think Campbell put himself in a bad posistion. He should have looked over his shoulder to pick up on forecheckers – but that doesn’t excuse Ovechkin’s full extension of his arms into the numbers of Campbell. It’s a textbook hit from behind, and it’s a dangerous play that could have maimed Campbell. I think the league has to take action here.

Either case, leave your own thoughts in the comments. Great debate going on in the hockey world about this whole situation.

Jeff Carter’s William Tell Challenge

During an on-ice interview with Maxim.com, Jeff Carter showed off his incredibly accurate shot by sniping an apple off Maxim columnist Eric Alt’s head.

{Courtesy of Maxim – Video is safe for work}

Skip to 2:15 in the video if you want to just see the shot, but Carter manages to nail the apple on his fifth attempt. Pretty impressive snipe none the less.

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