There were lots of happenings in the NHL this week. There are players trying to come back, another great player missing the All-Star Game (because no NHL players care), and a new feature I'm going to start this week: who's hot and who's not.
Evgeni Nabokov, former star goaltender for the San Jose Sharks, is trying to come back after a brief stint in the KHL in Russia. Nabokov was signed by the Detroit Red Wings, a playoff contender, on a one-year contract. The New York Islanders then picked him off waivers from the Wings. Nabokov was confused about this decision.
"It's just that I'm at the point in my career where I want to help a team win in the playoffs. I don't see how I could help the Islanders or what I could do for them. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me," said Nabokov, Sunday to espn.com.
Also, Peter Forsberg, 37, says he wants to come back for the 30th time in his career. On my memory alone, I can think of three times where Forsberg decided to come back half way through the season. It is ridiculous if you ask me but if the NHL allows it and you are old, why not?
Another star is going to miss the All-Star Game. The Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby is not going to play due to a concussion that started on January 1st against the Washington Capitals which was played at Heinz Field, home of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers.
"The Penguins organization has decided that he will not attend NHL All-Star Weekend and instead will continue to relax and recuperate in the hopes of returning to our lineup soon," said Penguins' general manager Ray Shero in a statement on Monday, according to thescore.ca.
Now for the new feature: who's hot and who's not.
Who's hot? The Tampa Bay Lightning are having won four in a row, riding the great play of Steven Stamkos who leads the league in goals and points. The San Jose Sharks have also won four in a row after losing the previous six before that. They are now holding down the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. And how about them Vancouver Canucks? Even though they have only won four of their last 10, the Canucks are on top of the Western Conference and their two superstars, Daniel and Henrik Sedin (who are twins), are both in the top five in points individually.
Who's not hot? The bad, horrible, terrible Edmonton Oilers. They have been leaking oil all season long. With only 14 wins in 47 games, the Oilers have eight less wins than anyone else in the Western Conference. They are young and have a lot of potential but fans of the Oilers are getting restless of this awful play the last couple years.
Patrick Kane is cold. He only has 36 points this season, which is way behind his average of the previous seasons, and has a -7 rating. Last season, when Kane and the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup, Kane had a +16 rating.
In addition, Canadian coverage of the All-Star Game is way over the top. There are posts everywhere about this draft the NHL is having and no players care! There are around 10 players every year who miss it due to injuries, family, or personal reasons.
Pierre LeBrun is a popular guy to go to when talking about hockey blogs. He is a writer for ESPN and espn.com. His blogs have been talking about the All-Star Game for weeks now.
Lastly, reading all these blogs have made me realize that there are way too many injuries in sports. Team's seasons are lost due to injuries. I know that it is a part of sports but it sucks for the fan, the team, and the organization.
-http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8474141
-http://www.nhl.com/ice/standings.htm?season=20102011&type=CON
-http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=350790
-http://www.thescore.com/nhl/articles/108542-crosby-will-not-play-in-all-star-game
-http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/id/3777/weekend-wrap-plans-for-all-star-subs-options-for-islesnabby-99-on-hits-to-head
-http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylt=Agj1pfcPUxvz7EiMIgbQ.Y8JfwM6?slug=ap-avalanche-forsberg
Monday, January 24, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
The Happenings of the NHL
I've lost my touch with the National Hockey League, or the NHL, living in Oregon, but I want to relive what I had in Canada by looking up different websites, newspapers and other blogs to see what I can find.
This week in the NHL, injuries were the main story as the NHL, The Sports Network (TSN), The Score and The Province Newspaper websites have stories related to the "depleted Red Wings", "Eberle close to returning" or "banged-up Habs' (referring to the Montreal Canadiens). Thescore.ca has also reported that Ryan Whitney, a defenseman for the Edmonton Oilers is sidelined for the entire season with an ankle injury.
Another important story this week was the suspension of Aaron Nichol, a forward for the San Jose Sharks. He "has been suspended four games for his elbow to the head to Phoenix Coyotes defenceman David Schlemko on Monday night and will forfeit $16,344.08 in salary," reports tsn.ca.
Also, in other news, the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) had their prospects camp this week showing such prospects to the NHL world like Daniel Catenacci, who won the fastest skater competition before the actual prospect game. Catenacci is "one of those guys that's, 'Give me the puck, I want it, I want to be the guy who makes the play,'" said one NHL scout, according to nhl.com.
It's almost midway through the season as well and we all know what that means! The NHL All-Star Game. An exhibition, which none of the players care about, to show off the greatest players the NHL has to offer. The captains, which were selected by the other all-stars, are Eric Staal of the Carolina Hurricanes and Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings. Which makes this more compelling than any other year is because the captains now draft their team from the all the all-stars. The all-stars were selected by you, the fans.
I have noticed a couple things about the articles and blogs written about the NHL. One is how headlines begin with the one of the team's goaltenders. For example, "Jurco steals show", "Fleury, Penguins shut down Red Wings, 3-1", "Khudobin stops 31 shots as Wild defeat struggling Oilers", "Thomas key as Bruins finish sweep of Canes", and "Quick lets one slip away in 2-1 loss to Blues". I mean it is ridiculous. Give some credit to the goal scorers and defensemen every once in awhile.
The other thing I noticed is how big of a deal the All-Star Game is. This, to me, is a joke. Every All-Star Game in every sport is a joke, except for Major League Baseball. The athletes don't care. Their only wish is to not get injured. Hockey players pull out of the All-Star Game all the time because they want rest or they are a little banged up and do not want to injure themselves more. This is the same with the National Basketball Association.
The audience just wants the facts. Who won? Who lost? Who got injured? Who got traded? If the audience wants to know who did well, they can look at the statistics of the game.
Lastly, another tidbit of information, the websites of TSN and The Score have the same photo on their home page: Mike Cammalleri, a Montreal Canadien, bent over holding his arm after an injury to his shoulder.
This week in the NHL, injuries were the main story as the NHL, The Sports Network (TSN), The Score and The Province Newspaper websites have stories related to the "depleted Red Wings", "Eberle close to returning" or "banged-up Habs' (referring to the Montreal Canadiens). Thescore.ca has also reported that Ryan Whitney, a defenseman for the Edmonton Oilers is sidelined for the entire season with an ankle injury.
Another important story this week was the suspension of Aaron Nichol, a forward for the San Jose Sharks. He "has been suspended four games for his elbow to the head to Phoenix Coyotes defenceman David Schlemko on Monday night and will forfeit $16,344.08 in salary," reports tsn.ca.
Also, in other news, the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) had their prospects camp this week showing such prospects to the NHL world like Daniel Catenacci, who won the fastest skater competition before the actual prospect game. Catenacci is "one of those guys that's, 'Give me the puck, I want it, I want to be the guy who makes the play,'" said one NHL scout, according to nhl.com.
It's almost midway through the season as well and we all know what that means! The NHL All-Star Game. An exhibition, which none of the players care about, to show off the greatest players the NHL has to offer. The captains, which were selected by the other all-stars, are Eric Staal of the Carolina Hurricanes and Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings. Which makes this more compelling than any other year is because the captains now draft their team from the all the all-stars. The all-stars were selected by you, the fans.
I have noticed a couple things about the articles and blogs written about the NHL. One is how headlines begin with the one of the team's goaltenders. For example, "Jurco steals show", "Fleury, Penguins shut down Red Wings, 3-1", "Khudobin stops 31 shots as Wild defeat struggling Oilers", "Thomas key as Bruins finish sweep of Canes", and "Quick lets one slip away in 2-1 loss to Blues". I mean it is ridiculous. Give some credit to the goal scorers and defensemen every once in awhile.
The other thing I noticed is how big of a deal the All-Star Game is. This, to me, is a joke. Every All-Star Game in every sport is a joke, except for Major League Baseball. The athletes don't care. Their only wish is to not get injured. Hockey players pull out of the All-Star Game all the time because they want rest or they are a little banged up and do not want to injure themselves more. This is the same with the National Basketball Association.
The audience just wants the facts. Who won? Who lost? Who got injured? Who got traded? If the audience wants to know who did well, they can look at the statistics of the game.
Lastly, another tidbit of information, the websites of TSN and The Score have the same photo on their home page: Mike Cammalleri, a Montreal Canadien, bent over holding his arm after an injury to his shoulder.
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