About a third of the way through the season, and nine teams who made the playoffs last year are currently on the outside looking in. For those keeping score, that’s Philly, the Rangers, Montreal and Carolina in the East; and Detroit, Columbus, Vancouver, St. Louis and Anaheim in the West.
Montreal vs. Toronto tonight at the Bell Centre. On Friday, they face the Bruins on the 100th anniversary of the franchise’s very first game. Looking forward to seeing how they dress it up.
Gaborik is ripping it up on Brodway, Alex Kovalev is two goals shy of 400 (he’d have more than 500 by now if he played in the 80s) and Brodeur is still seeking shutout number 103 to tie Terry Sawchuk.
Maple Leafs 3, Canadiens 0. Gustavsson got taken out of the game because of a fast heart beat. The Canadiens looked pathetic in this game. Since they just got sold to Molson, I"m guessing they were drunk!
Still, I’m glad I listened to this game as I wasn’t aware there was a sports talk station in Montreal that broadcast in English. Have to bookmark this station as it looks like they have quite a few hockey shows.
I’m now watching the LA Kings/Anaheim game and the first period was quite excellent. Didn’t see who it was, but a Kings player slashed the stick of a Duck, then skated down and scored while the Duck was getting a new stick. No penalty called. Anaheim played a good portion of the period shorthanded, yet they’re only down 2-1. This looks like it will be a great 6-5 type game.
I also saw the 11 round shootout between the Blackhawks and Blue Jackets. While the battle was exciting, it reminded of how special the penalty shot used to be. I don’t think I’ve seen a penalty shot all year, but I’ve seen quite a few shootouts.
Did you see the last few minutes of the third period? That was some exciting hockey. The Ducks had a few good chances after the Kings took a really pointless cross checking penalty.
That must be it. It was a horrible game. It’s going to be a very long month if this is how they intend to play! 17 games in December, 11 on the road. Now they’ve traded Chipchura to the Ducks for a 4th round draft pick, after getting nothing for Leach who got picked up off waivers. I wonder where this team is going?
Too bad for Gustavsson…this is the second time he’s had heart trouble this season (once at training camp, I think). I hope they can fix it, or his career in the NHL is pretty much over. No one wants to see a goalie die of a heart attack
A fourth round pick next year, no less. Can’t really get too worked up about this trade though; Chipchura had not a single point in 19 games, and was minus 10. That’s not too good. At 23, it was time for him to put up or shut up.
I agree that he wasn’t helping the team all that much, but I think they could have gotten something better. My impression - and keep in mind that I know next to nothing about hockey - is that he was a really smart player, made good passes, but just couldn’t keep up (as was said on RDS, “on le sait bien, ce n’est pas une gazelle!”). He was somewhat successful with the Bulldogs. I’m just going to miss saying “Chipchura!”…it’s a fun name!
Looks like A. Kostitsyn will be back in the line up tonight. Let’s hope he picks up where he left off!
Wings injuries
Kronwell- MCL
Williams-broken leg
Filppula- broken wrist
Franzen- torn ACL
Lija- concussion
Wings have to hold on until they get players back.
Jaro Halak is in tonight against Buffalo. The Habs are just a good streak away from moving up from 12th into the playoff picture, such is the tightness of the East race. But they really need to put up some points, and soon.
I was hoping Chipchura could develop; he was the captain of the Canadian Junior team that won gold at the World Junior Championship in 2006. But he just wasn’t going to be anything special, a 15-20 goal guy with good defensive awareness. Though those kind of players are useful; they’re not exactly in short supply.
Wow, I got home from work late tonight, but was following the early games online.
Toronto SIX goals against the Blue Jackets? After putting up three against Montreal? Who woke them up?
Washington’s 3rd win against Florida. All three wins come without Ovechkin. Still, I guess this one can be forgiven as the Panthers had someone named Alexander Salak in goal for most of the game. I didn’t get to see the game, but it looked like the Panthers pulled Scott Clemmensen quite early. Was he injured? According to the box score, he was pulled after 11 minutes.
I didn’t get to see any of the the Montreal loss against Buffalo. According to the box score, it looks like a complete blowout by Buffalo. Very few penalties, none until late in the 2nd period. I thought Jaroslav Halak was a decent goalie, but looks like this was just not his night.
I caught the first part of the Dallas Stars/Anaheim Ducks game on the radio going home from work. I loved the comment from the announcer, “The Stars are giving backup goalie Alex Auld the night off…” Guess that was part of Stars’ fans frustrations with Marty Turco. Anyway, caught the 3rd period in HD at home and the Stars woke up. Steve Ott wakes up and scores to put the Stars ahead 2-1 and then Morrow nails an empty netter to lock in the Stars win.
Now, the main event! This LA Kings team has been fun to watch this year. The first period has featured a penalty shot by Wayne Simmonds as well as an extended 5-3 power play by the Kings. The Kings have about 41 seconds left of a 5-3 power play and then there is another penalty upcoming against Ottawa.
I only watched the first two periods, but it looked like the Sens ran out of that short burst of steam they had!
Halak is a decent goalie, but IMHO when he’s not having a good game, he gives up a *lot *of shots. Thing is, no one else was having a good game either. It was pretty terrible to watch. Tonight’s game against Boston is going to be brutal unless the Habs manage to turn things around quickly!
Happy 100th Birthday, Habs. Although your very first game wasn’t actually played until January 5, 1910 against a team representing that noted metropolis of Cobalt, it was on December 4, 1909 that you were created. The circumstances of the creation of the Habs are fascinating, and can be read about here
The pregame festivities get underway at 6:30 on CBC, with the game itself starting around 8:00. A special Friday night Hockey Night In Canada.
I’m not even sure if NESN is broadcasting the festivities, but I am definitely tuning in later for the game. Of course I want the Bruins to win, except for the tiny part of me that wants Montreal to win just 'cos. It’s hard having a soft spot for one’s nemeses.
(Maybe it will go to overtime and we can all go home with points.)
A great, great pregame ceremony. And the game’s going just fine and dandy so far
No better way to celebrate the past by laying a licking on your biggest historical rival (sorry, Toronto.)
I don’t have a lot of like for the Bruins, but certainly a healthy dose of respect. I grew up in the same small town as Bobby Orr (Parry Sound, Ontario), and I would have loved seeing Ray Bourque and Cam Neely wearing our colours.
Peter Laviolette has officially been introduced as the Flyers new coach.
Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews have signed five year extensions with the Hawks, each for 31.5 million dollars. Duncan Keith did even better; 13 years, 72 million. Source
Ryan O’Byrne will now wear #20 for the Habs, as Emile Bouchard’s #3 and Elmer Lach’s #16 have been officially retired.
