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.

The City of Edmonton recorded its water usage during the Olympic Hockey Gold Medal game, and to the surprise of no one, Canadian citizens didn’t use the restroom until the intermissions. Check out this graph as proof:

Hilarious graph. It truly is Canada’s game. {From Deadspin}

Minnesota Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom absolutely robbed Flames forward Craig Conroy on an empty-net scoring chance. David Moss fired a shot just wide of the net, and the puck careened out to a waiting Conroy – who couldn’t snap the puck past Backstrom’s glove.

Definitely a save of the year candidate – and Finland should have started Backstrom instead of Kipper in the Vancouver games.

Penguins forward Matt Cooke injured Marc Savard on a viscous hit during Sunday’s Boston-Pittsburgh contest.

“Savard had just taken a shot from above the circles when Cooke raised his shoulder and struck Savard in the head. Cooke was coming from behind on the play and Savard did not see him.

Savard was on the ice for several minutes, being attended to by a Penguins team doctor, before being carried off. He was moving his legs while on the ice and his arms while on the stretcher.

“It’s pretty obvious that was definitely a dirty hit,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said. “That’s probably the classic blind-side hit to the head … I’m usually reserved in making comments, but definitely the league will take care of it.”

Savard, one of Boston’s top players with 10 goals and 23 assists, remained behind at the team hotel Sunday night, along with a member of the team’s medical staff. The Bruins were unaware after the game of any medical problem other than the concussion, although they said Savard was unconscious briefly.” {TSN.ca}

If this hit isn’t worthy of a suspension, I don’t know what is. Cooke leads with his elbow, and hits Savard in the head. Amazingly, there was no penalty called on this play, and the NHL has yet to issue a suspension for Cooke.

Södertälje SK Forward Linus Klasen scored an incredible shootout goal against former NHL goalie Johan Holmqvist:

We’ve seen some pretty creative and interesting shootout goals, but this might be the best of the year thus far. The European style of play is a lot less physical than the NHL, but there’s an abundance of talented stick-handlers that take advantage of the bigger ice surface.

During a 5-2 win over the Coyotes, Blues forward T.J Oshie absolutely crushes Ed Jovanoski.

Oshie has become a huge fan favorite here in St. Louis, and it’s easy to see why – he plays a quick and physical game, while still maintaining impeccable touch in the offensive zone. In only his second year in the NHL, he’s already on pace to break 40 points this season. The North Dakota grad is a standout prospect on a team that’s stocked with promising young players.

Oshie was a coveted player at the deadline – even Blues GM John Davidson admitted that St. Louis was in serious talks with Atlanta before they sent Kovalchuk to New Jersey:

”We had been working at it (Kovalchuk deal) for the better part of the week,” Davidson said. “We had great conversations with Atlanta. We talked to them about various thoughts and ideas and put (a trade proposal) together. It never came to fruition.”

The Devils acquired Kovalchuk from Atlanta in exchange for defenseman Johnny Oduya, rookie forward Niclas Bergfors, junior prospect Patrice Cormier and a first-round draft pick this year.

Davidson said the Thrashers were asking for “a piece or two that we weren’t willing to give up, especially knowing that Kovalchuk is, for now, a rental player.” {STLToday}

It’s probably safe to assume that Atlanta was making a play for Oshie, but that Davidson didn’t want to bite on a deal that would ship out one of his most promising players – even for a guy like Kovalchuk. The Blues, like a majority of the Western Conference teams, chose to stand pat at the trade deadline, opting not to deal any of their future for short-term players.

Before the Olympic break, Mike Richards laid a huge hit on Panthers forward David Booth – a hit that would take him out of the lineup for three months. Last night against the Flyers, Booth tried to settle the score.

Ugly fight or not, Booth had his “Erik Cole moment.” You’ll remember Cole had his neck broken in 2006 by Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik(notes) and the Carolina Hurricanes forward got his frustrations out and fought Orpik two seasons later. Like the Orpik-Cole scrap, this one wasn’t much of a fight and right from the start you can see Richards was hesitant at first, but realized that it needed to happen, almost as part of Booth’s on-ice rehabilitation.

After the game, Booth said the hit is now in the past telling Gorten, “That’s behind me now. I don’t have to worry about that … and be free of this.”{Puck Daddy}

Good for Booth. It’s better for them to settle the matter on the ice, and leave it at that. I was of the opinion (when the hit first happened) that it was a dirty check by Richards, and that he should have been suspended by the league – but it’s encouraging to see players take issues into their own hands without anyone else ending up in the hospital.

The NHL trade deadline has come and gone without any huge deals, but Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke has made yet another solid move, snagging Penguins prospect Chris Peluso in exchange for a 6th round pick in the 2010 draft.

“The Maple Leafs and Penguins have completed their second trade in as many days asToronto has sent a sixth round pick in the 2010 NHL Entry draft for defenceman Chris Peluso.

The 23-year old Peluso is playing at Bemidji State and was originally selected in the seventh round, 194th overall in the 2004 NHL Entry draft.” {TSN.ca}

The 23-year old defenseman has seven assists and a plus-4 rating in 24 games with Bemidji State. Peluso was originally drafted by the Penguins in the seventh round. The Leafs are banking on Peluso developing into a solid NHL defenseman, and his offensive, puck-moving style could be a serious asset for Toronto in the future.

The Canadians took home the Gold medal on Sunday, riding a clutch overtime goal from Sidney Crosby.

“On the play, Crosby gave the puck to Iginla deep in the U.S. zone and then drove hard to the net. Iginla – with U.S. defenceman Ryan Suter draped across his back – heard Crosby call out ‘Iggy’ and passed it back. Crosby shot the puck without looking. Magically, it found its way between the pads of goaltender Ryan Miller, ending the tense drama and sending the capacity crowd at Canada Hockey Place into paroxysms of joy.

Afterwards, Crosby said he didn’t even see the puck enter the net. He only knew it was in when he heard the crowd roar.

“It’s a dream come true,” said Crosby. “To have a chance to score in overtime, here in Canada, it doesn’t get much better than that.”

Crosby had had a relatively quiet tournament by his standards, fitting in nicely as a piece of the puzzle on a team that relied on balanced scoring, mostly from its emerging young nucleus. It was fitting therefore that Crosby saved the best for last.

“Guys like that find a way,” said defenceman Chris Pronger.

It was Canada’s eighth Olympic gold medal overall in men’s hockey and they became the first to win on home ice since the U.S. did it in 1980’s ‘Miracle On Ice.’

Crosby was one of a handful of players who had a chance to put the game away in regulation. Canada nursed a 2-1 lead into the final minute of play; prior to that, Crosby had been denied on a breakaway with about three minutes to go and both Pronger and Shea Weber hit the post early in the third period.

Normally, in the rhythm of any hockey game, too many missed chances at one end translate into a goal at the other – and yesterday was no exception. With 25 seconds remaining in regulation; Canada getting set for a celebration; and goaltender Ryan Miller on the bench for a sixth attacker, the U.S. tied the game on a goal by Zach Parise. The sequence was potentially heart-breaking: Patrick Kane’s shot deflected off Jamie Langenbrunner’s skate right to Parise, who skated across the front of the goal crease and tucked a shot past goaltender Roberto Luongo.

To be so close to the championship – and then needing to return for four-on-four overtime – was just the final test in what had been a pressure-packed two weeks for the Canadian team. Thanks to Crosby, they survived.” {CTV.ca}

While Canada was heavily favored going into the tournament, a preliminary loss to the Americans created a tough schedule for Team Canada, as they drew Russia and Slovakia on their way to the Gold Medal game. Canada overcame these setbacks, and outlasted a surging American team. The Gold Medal game was a huge ratings boom for NBC – over 16.6 million (on average) people tuned in to watch Canada win the Gold.

The NHL returns to action tonight, and the trade deadline (March 3rd) is fast approaching, but it’s been an incredible tournament, and these Winter Games have reminded us just how exciting and incredible international play can be.

Nashville Predators defenseman Shea Weber scored an amazing goal – he fires a shot from the point that slices through the netting in the goal. Just incredible.

In fact, the on-ice officials didn’t even catch the goal initially, but the play required a review. Weber absolutely snipes the blocker-side corner, helping lead the Canadians to a 8-2 rout of Germany.