The Puck Doctors

Jeff Carter’s William Tell Challenge

adam — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 05:12:44 +0000

March 12, 2010 –Adam Steevens

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.

Breaking News – Canadians Love Hockey [PIC]

adam — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:50:46 +0000

March 8, 2010 –Adam Steevens

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}

Niklas Backstrom’s Goal-Line Save

adam — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:29:11 +0000

March 8, 2010 –Adam Steevens

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.

Matt Cooke’s Dirty Hit on Savard

adam — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:38:06 +0000

March 7, 2010 –Adam Steevens

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.

Klasen’s Amazing Shootout Goal

adam — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:05:20 +0000

March 5, 2010 –Adam Steevens

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.

T.J Oshie Levels Jovanoski

adam — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:09:49 +0000

March 5, 2010 –Adam Steevens

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.

David Booth’s Payback on Richards

adam — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:42:57 +0000

March 4, 2010 –Adam Steevens

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.

Leafs acquire Peluso at deadline

adam — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:26:28 +0000

March 3, 2010 –Adam Steevens

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.

Chelios Hungry For Another NHL Stint

adam — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:00:21 +0000

March 2, 2010 –Michael Frazier

Numerous reports around the NHL say veteran defenseman Chris Chelios has signed a deal with the Atlanta Thrashers. The 48 year old blue-liner has spent this season with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL hoping to return to the senior circuit. It appears he’

ll get his wish. Chelios missed all but 28 games last season due to a broken leg, which is probably why no one was jumping at the chance to sign him as a free agent this past summer. This season with the Wolves, Chelios has scored five goals and 16 assists with a +/- of 35. Chelios grew up in Chicago and spent a significant part of his career with the Blackhawks.

UPDATE: 12:15 p.m.

New reports have surface out of Atlanta that Chelios has indeed signed with the Thrashers, but was immediately sent back down to Chicago. The Thrashers say the signing of Chelios is “for insurance” and when he clears waivers, he will be brought up to the Thrashers as needed. From TSN:

“Chris Chelios on his way back to the NHL, as the veteran blueliner has signed with the Atlanta Thrashers.

Chelios, 48, must clear waivers and will remain with the the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League until the Thrashers call him up.

Chelios signed with the Wolves last fall.

The Chicago native has played in 1,644 NHL games with 185 goals and 763 assists during a career with Montreal, Chicago and Detroit.

Chelios won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenceman three times, played in 11 NHL All-Star games and was on three Stanley Cup winners, one with Montreal and two with Detroit. He also played in three Olympics.”

Martin Brodeur’s Olympic Collapse

Eric — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:28:16 +0000

March 1, 2010 – Eric Laforge

Eric has had articles featured on NHL.com and CBS Sports and has also created the hockey blog Tips for Hockey

Despite the fact that Team Canada won the Gold Medal, it has not been the ideal Olympic experience for Martin Brodeur. After losing to Team USA in the last game of the round robin tournament, Brodeur was pulled and replaced with another strong goalie in Roberto Luongo.

This is forcing some of us to question how many years the NHL veteran has left in him. There could easily be a few more years before he retires (he’s 37), and he could be around in 2014. However, it’s unlikely that he’ll be the same goalie that he is now.

Because of that, he probably won’t get the starting spot for Canada in 2014, if he’s even playing. He’s always been a great goalie, but age will hit him just like it has hit so many others. Canada will probably be forced to put either Fleury or Luongo in goal because they are younger and will be more athletic. Both of these goalies will still have the talent that Canada needs to win games, and despite Brodeur’s past olympic success, he’ll be seen as a liability.

Brodeur will always be known for the great things he did with the New Jersey Devils, but his Olympic career has been less forgiving. He helped Canada win the Gold Medal in 2002, but in 2006 Canada finished in a disappointing seventh place. Torino must have been brutal for him because his team didn’t work well together. He should be one of the last people to field blame for Canada’s standings. Finally, in 2010, he was pulled before he was allowed to finish his campaign.

2010 is where Brodeur could field a little bit of blame. His mistake against the Americans was definitely not typical of the NHL veteran, especially at a crucial time. Although Babcock was looking at the tape of the game “without emotion”, that mistake must have been a factor in whether or not Brodeur played in the next game.

Despite the fact that Brodeur is one of the best goalies of all time (if not the best), his past Olympic experiences have been less than ideal. Although the mistake against the Americans won’t define his NHL career, it’s probably safe to say that his Olympic career is over.