I’ve been hearing all day that Boston was a sure thing. I guess sports journalistic accuracy is still on course.
Twelve in a row!
There is no Alfie but the one true Alfie.
Senators.
How crazy would it be if Ottawa and Washington could both keep keep these streaks going until their game next Thursday?
Well, it was a close one, but the Oilers managed to pull out the loss in the end. #1 pick here we come!
I thought it was 11 in a row…or have I totally lost track of time?
Halak totally stole a win from Boston tonight, stopping more than twice as many shots as the Canadiens took, and being perfect in the shootout. It’s rather insane how well he’s playing! The rest of the team were pretty bad, but the Bruins were worse. Habs are sitting in 6th at the moment, but given the East right now, that could easily change. I hope they can keep winning!
As soon as it was announced that the Devils had gotten Kovalchuk, I was sure they’d sent Patrice Cormier the other way.
The Sabres will help the Canes in their quest tomorrow night. Also, Tim Gleason is named to the U.S. Olympic team. TIMMAY!!!
I can’t believe we traded him for Brian Smolinski. :smack:
Ovechkin now has 500 career points; only the ninth player to reach that many in his first five seasons. The other eight are Gretzky, Lemieux, Peter Stastny, Mike Bossy, Dale Hawerchuk, Bryan Trottier, Denis Savard and Jari Kurri.
Just to provide some context, all of the above except Trottier (and Bossy, in his rookie season) played their first five season in an era where the average game featured anywhere from 7 to 8.03 goals per game. (Trottier’s fifth season, 1978-79, was the first time since World War II that there was an average of seven goals per game in the NHL.) By contrast, the highest goal environment Ovechkin’s played in is 6.17 goals per game, and that in his rookie year.
You’re thinking of the Canadian Capitals. I was talking about the American Capitals.
SENATORS.
I don’t think people appreciate the difference in scoring levels between now and the high-flying numbers of yesteryear, and what it means for judging a player’s numbers. The goals per game number has moseyed up and down a few times in NHL history, but the difference between the game in the early 80s and the game today is extremely dramatic - it’s about a 30% difference, at least, in overall goals scored. Had Ovechkin played in the 1980s he’d have been putting up at least 140 points a year and would have had a least a couple of 70-goal seasons. Scoring 65 goals in 2007-2008 is like scoring 90 in 1983-1984. It’s a Gretzkyesque accomplishment.
Ovechkin isn’t the best goal scorer in the NHL today; he’s one of the best goal scorers who has ever played hockey.
From 1978-79 to 1992-93, the only two seasons that the NHL average goals per game dropped below seven were 1990-91 (6.91) and 1991-92 (6.96). Cite. Since 1993-94, it’s never been above 6.48, and only three times in the last fifteen seasons (not including this one) has it been above six. Jaromir Jagr’s and Joe Sakic’s impressive career totals (to give two examples) are even more impressive when you consider they played the vast majority of their careers in adverse scoring conditions.
I wonder if Sidney Crosby will be considered a disappointment if he finishes his career with “only” 1650 points or so.
I see. The parallel celebration posts were confusing me - I can’t remember who is a fan of which team around here! 
Halak is now a God in Montreal. We’ll see how long that lasts (let’s hope it lasts!)
Leafs were in fine form tonight 
I’m at my parents watching the Leaf game with my dad; he’s a Maple Leaf fan. Every word that he and I said in the final few minutes of the game was just repeated back to us damn near word for word by the post game talking heads.
Goddamn, but what a wonderful game that was.
That sucked. It was the first Leafs game that I’ve fully watched in a while and once the Devils scored the 2nd goal, you just knew things were going to fall apart.
I was pretty frustrated with the game but then the news came out about Brian Burke’s son passing away and now I’m just depressed.
Condolences to the Burke family and, hopefully, Brendan’s story of coming out is an inspiration to others.
That’s dreadful news. How awful for him and his family. I’m very saddened to hear it.