For most of his career, the oft-maligned Chris Osgood has been panned as a mediocre goalie that has had the fortune of playing behind great teams. Despite having his name engraved on the Stanley Cup ring, and compiling nearly 350 wins on his resume, Osgood's career 90.7% save percentage pretty much streams "Decidedly Average Goalie".
Well, Osgood was recently thrust into the Red Wings' #1 role after Dominik Hasek's magical groin done got broke, and The Wizard of Os seems to be kicking ass and taking names. Last night's 3-0 shutout over the St. Louis Blues has Osgood sitting with a pretty 10-1 record and a SV% near 93%. Compare this to Hasek's 85.8SV% (Whaaa??), and the Wings must be in no hurry for Hasek to heal.
The world of goaltending, in whole, seems to be upside down. Tim Thomas, Martin Gerber, and Pascal Leclaire are leading the league in SV%, while Hasek, Miikka Kiprusoff, and Martin Brodeur languish in the depths of sucktitude.
What the hell is going on? My hockey pool wants to know :(
For the past few seasons, the Atlanta Thrashers have been unable to find much success. Despite having some of the league's finest offensive weapons up front, a lack of solid defense and goaltending have swept the rug from under the Thrashers' contendership hopes.
Kari Lehtonen, drafted 2nd overall in the 2002 Entry Draft, continues to suffer from his myriad of groin problems that keep him out of the lineup and from fulfilling his full potential. Lehtonen's health will likely be a big question mark for the rest of his career (Which has barely been established), leaving the Thrashers having to look for other options to step in.
Ilya Kovalchuk scored another goal Friday night, but rookie goalie Ondrej Pavelec may have been the biggest reason the Atlanta Thrashers beat Florida.
Pavelec stopped 36 shots in only his third career start, while Kovalchuk scored his eighth goal in his last four games in the Thrashers' 4-1 victory.
"I'm happy because we need the points," said Pavelec, a 20-year-old from the Czech Republic. "It's not about how many goals you score or how many saves you make, it's about the two points."
While Pavelec is far from a household name, hockey fans ought to get aquainted with the young Czech goalie quite quickly, especially if you need an up-and-comer in your fantasy league. Ondrej is 3-1-0 in five games with a smokin' 93.2% save percentage. With a good pedigree of success behind him, Pavelec is one of the best goaltending prospects that you haven't heard of.
Of course, it's much too early to start putting all your eggs in one basket, but If Pavelec can keep up his rapid development, and Kari Lehtonen continues to shred his groin like cheddar cheese, the Thrashers just may make a permanent regime change in goal.
Is there anything more satisfying than heading to the arena water closet, sending a few beers back out to sea, looking down and having your team's logo staring back at you from the top of the flusher? Of course not, and that's one of the reasons why the Prudential Center, the Newark-tastic new home of the New Jersey Devils, is, as the kids used to say, "the shizz."
I was in the house for Opening Night at the new ice barn, after two-and-a-half torturous decades in that cement sedative now known as the IZOD Center. The less said about the Devils' pathetic offense -- which looked about as dangerous as a blind double-amputee trying to stab someone with a plastic spork in their 4-1 loss to Ottawa -- the better. Let's focus on the positive ... or at least as positive as a Jersey-born blogger can be, considering the fact that cynicism was actually a study unit in my kindergarten class.
After the jump, photos by yours truly and others, as well as reviews of the Devils' new den ...
Back when Kristian Huselius was a member of the Florida Panthers, coach "Iron Mike" Keenan made it a point to put the Swedish sniper in his permanent doghouse. Despite Huselius' slick stick-handling skills, boyish looks, and crisp play-making abilities, his game never got off the ground during his time in Florida.
Huselius earned a fresh start in Calgary and made the most of it. Those fantasy players who saw how Kristian came out of his shell as a member of the Flames were most pleased that their investment finally paid off.
SEASON TEAM GP G A PTS +/- 03-04 FLA 76 10 21 31 -6 05-06 FLA 24 5 3 8 -11 05-06 CGY 54 15 24 39 +2 06-07 CGY 81 34 43 77 +21
As you can see, Huselius' pre-Calgary numbers were horrible. Only after the trade did Huselius produce like he was expected to when he came over from Sweden.
The Toronto Maple Leafs winning the Stanley Cup? It's the FANTASY of millions of rabid Leafs fans all over Canada.
Since the Leafs haven't won the cup since 1967, and probably won't win it in the next decade, leave it up to comedian/Leafs fan Mike Myers, of Austin Powers fame, to solve the problem Hollywood style!
Yes, the Leafs will be winning the cup in a movie called The Love Guru ...
"The Love Guru is a Canadian kid who was left in India, raised in an ashram, becomes a guru and has to help a star player of the Toronto Maple Leafs who's gone off the rails, get it together to win the Stanley Cup," said Myers.
Whether he's really being serious is anyone's guess – maybe that's just wishful thinking on his part being a life-long Leafs fan. But, he does have plans for the Cup if he gets it.
"They're so protective of the Cup, they probably won't let me come near it, but I'd take it to Lake Ontario and swim with it."
Only in the movies, folks, only in the movies ...
No matter how good or bad the movie really is, you'd have to think box office sales will be quite high in Toronto.
Now, won't somebody write a TV miniseries about the Canucks scoring on the Power Play?
Alexander Ovechkin received a one-game suspension Sunday for a hit to the head of Switzerland player Valentin Wirz at the hockey world championship.
Ovechkin was ejected from Russia's 6-3 win over Switzerland at 8:42 of the first period for a check to the head of Wirz, who needed to be helped off the ice.
After serving a too-many-men-on-the-ice minor for Russia in the first period, Ovechkin stepped out of the penalty box and laid a high hit on Wirz.
Just one game??? Well, watch the following video evidence and judge for yourself.
Wow, talk about a cheap shot. Ovechkin could have easily given Wirz a concussion that would have caused the guy some serious, long-term injuries. The hit was needless, and Ovechkin got off light. I guess star status has it's dividends, eh?
When he's not busy having his chest hair removed, or torturing some poor office intern, Steve Carell likes to practice his goaltending moves.
At least he's dedicated! He's actually an actual player, as he admitted in an interview to Playboy Magazine:
Yeah. A few years back I joined a men's league in Burbank. We're the Sharks. We're very bad, but we have a good time with it. What I lack in physical ability I make up for in poor coordination. Surprisingly, for an amateur hockey league, people get hurt all the time. It's a combination of the pure lack of skill and all those sharp skates and sticks. It's a bunch of middle-aged guys of varying degrees of being out of shape trying to recapture their youth. It's a recipe for disaster. I've chipped my two front teeth and dislocated and broken and strained and pulled all sorts of things. And that's playing just once a week. You can pack a lot of pain into a one-hour hockey game.
When the San Jose Sharks sent St. Louis a first-round draft pick (in 2007) and forwards Ville Nieminen and Jay Barriball in exchange for Bill Guerin, they wanted a veteran goal-scorer who would push them over the edge.
What did they get? A loafer that has ZERO goals, two measly assists, and a team worst -3 in 8 playoff games.
Not exactly a great return on their investment, eh?
"He brought a lot of leadership to this room," McLaren said. "He's made guys better in the locker room. There's so much we can learn from him as a person. He brings the intensity and he's been here before. I think he's our only guy here that's been here before, that's gone all the way."
Is leadership important? Yes. Is leadership worth a first round pick? Not when it comes with poor production and even worse defensive play.
If Guerin was such a leader, he might try leading by example and actually doing something productive.
As it is right now, Guerin is simply a luxury piece of furniture that just looks pretty and doesn't provide much in the way of function ... kinda like Paris Hilton.
For most of his career, the oft-maligned Chris Osgood has been panned as a mediocre goalie that has had the fortune of playing behind great teams. Despite having his name engraved on the Stanley Cup ring, and compiling nearly 350 wins on his resume, Osgood's career 90.7% save percentage pretty much streams "Decidedly Average Goalie".
For the past few seasons, the Atlanta Thrashers have been unable to find much success. Despite having some of the league's finest offensive weapons up front, a lack of solid defense and goaltending have swept the rug from under the Thrashers' contendership hopes.
Back when Kristian Huselius was a member of the Florida Panthers, coach "Iron Mike" Keenan made it a point to put the Swedish sniper in his permanent doghouse. Despite Huselius' slick stick-handling skills, boyish looks, and crisp play-making abilities, his game never got off the ground during his time in Florida.
When the San Jose Sharks sent St. Louis a first-round draft pick (in 2007) and forwards Ville Nieminen and Jay Barriball in exchange for Bill Guerin, they wanted a veteran goal-scorer who would push them over the edge.
