Following Niklas Kronwall's hit on Martin Havlat Friday night, there's been plenty of discussion about the officiating in the Western Conference final. Actually, there's always a lot of discussion about officiating in the NHL, and following Detroit's 6-1 dismantling of Chicago on Sunday afternoon, Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville sounded off, blaming the referees for ruining a good hockey game. Seriously.
That sound you're hearing is Red Wings fans laughing out loud.
The Vancouver Canucks' late-season surge was keyed by star goaltender Roberto Luongo. While the team played very well, the captain being able to stay healthy and play at a very high level meant a ton to the Canucks' Northwest Division title. Saturday night, just a few hours after Washington goalie Simeon Varlamovwowed everyone with an incredible save on Sidney Crosby, Luongo tried to one-up him. Ben Eager picked up a juicy rebound and appeared to have an open net to shoot at. Luongo made an unbelieveably athletic play to stop the puck.
It all prompted us to take a look at the power play/penalty kill differential for every team across the league. But we needed more; we needed some perspective from the league. Luckily, Stephen Walkom, NHL director of officiating, was more than willing to talk it out.
Vancouver's Roberto Luongo turned aside 26 shots to earn his seventh shutout of the season in Sunday's 4-0 win over Chicago, but the highlight of the game was the epic line brawl that erupted at the 5:50 mark of the third period.
Penguins center Evgeni Malkin added to his league-leading point total on Friday night, picking up a goal and an assist in Pittsburgh's 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings. He was also at the center of some controversy late in the third period when he dished out this hit on Kings forward Wayne Simmonds.
Welcome to another exciting edition of the NHL Wheel of Discipline! Our effort to chronicle the stupidity of the NHL's supplementary discipline system continues. Just remember, Sean Avery got six games for a sex joke. Instead of serving as a baseline, it seems to be a forgotten fact at NHL headquarters.
It's not often that we take requests with the NHL Wheel of Discipline. Buffalo's Drew Stafford, however, has put us in a position to at least consider it. He left Chicago defenseman Duncan Keith wobbling during the second period of the Blackhawks' 4-1 win over the Sabres.
When you watch this hit at normal speed, you might not think much of it. However, the replay tells a bit of a different story. It's clear as day that Stafford leads with his elbow, and he got Keith right in the head.
Ladd also picked up three assists in the win, earning himself No. 1 start honors with his four point effort. The four points, by the way, were a career-best for the 22-year old forward.
With the Coyotes trailing 7-0 in the second period, Envir Lisin at least got them on the board with his fifth goal of the season, which was the shot they could sneak behind Chicago goalie Cristobal Huet, who stopped 20 shots in the win.
Marty Turco's awful season continued on Thursday night against Chicago, as the Dallas Stars goalie gave up five goals on 29 shots, as the Stars fell 6-3. After another dismal performance in the crease, Turco finds himself 42nd in the NHL (out of 43) with a 3.67 Goals Against Average, and 43rd with a .867 save percentage. It's difficult to get much worse than that.
All three Pens-Flyers games have featured some fisticuffs this season. There were four more on Tuesday night, including this tilt between Gary Roberts and Ben Eager:
In "guys you'll never see dressed in the playoffs but for some reason are critically important during the regular season" news, the Philadelphia Flyers re-signed left wing and resident tough guy Ben Eager to a two-year, $1.2 million deal yesterday (maybe this shamed Philly into quickly signing Big Ben in an effort to reclaim their bullying image).
While the 6'3", 255-pound Eager is better known for his hard fists than his soft hands, he did manage to light the lamp a half-dozen times last year, the highest total of any player in the NHL with at least 200 penalty minutes (of course, Eager was the only player in the NHL with at least 200 penalty minutes, but it sounds like more of an accomplishment the way I put it, doesn't it?). In fact, Eager was the 2006-07 Pelle Lindbergh Trophy winner, given annually to the Flyer's worst driver most improved player as voted by his teammates.
But enough with the pleasantries. I know that the only reason you're reading a post about Ben Eager is for the YouTuberrific carnage that you know is inevitable. So here it is -- Ben Eager doing what he does best:
Following Niklas Kronwall's hit on Martin Havlat Friday night, there's been plenty of discussion about the officiating in the Western Conference final. Actually, there's always a lot of discussion about officiating in the NHL, and following Detroit's 6-1 dismantling of Chicago on Sunday afternoon, Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville sounded off, blaming the referees for ruining a good hockey game. Seriously. 
Welcome to another exciting edition of the NHL Wheel of Discipline! Our effort to chronicle the stupidity of the NHL's supplementary discipline system continues. Just remember, Sean Avery got six games for a sex joke. Instead of serving as a baseline, it seems to be a forgotten fact at NHL headquarters.
Not one of Ilya Bryzgalov's best performances for Phoenix, as the Chicago Blackhawks lit him up seven times on 28 shots, as the Coyotes lost a laugher, 7-1. Chicago received a pair of goals from Ben Eager, while also getting tallies from Dave Bolland, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Dustin Byfuglien, and Andrew ladd in the win. 
Marty Turco's awful season continued on Thursday night against Chicago, as the Dallas Stars goalie gave up five goals on 29 shots, as the Stars fell 6-3. After another dismal performance in the crease, Turco finds himself 42nd in the NHL (out of 43) with a 3.67 Goals Against Average, and 43rd with a .867 save percentage. It's difficult to get much worse than that. 
