FanHouse MarkParrish

A couple of weeks ago, TSN hockey analyst Gord Miller came to the conclusion that in order for the Pittsburgh Penguins to remain competitive in the NHL, they would have to deal the league's leading scorer, Evgeni Malkin, for a first-line winger, a No. 2 center, and "hopefully" a pick or a prospect. It was a laughable proposal.

On Sunday night, Rob Rossi, Penguins beat writer for the Tribune-Review, appeared on a weekly Pittsburgh talk show and suggested the team would be wise to put Sidney Crosby on the trade block this offseason. I guess this is what happens when you go from being two wins away from hoisting the Stanley Cup to being the No. 10 team in the Eastern Conference in a matter of one season.

Flyers 3, Thrashers 2: Thanks to a pair of goals from Jeff Carter the Flyers were able to hold off a late rally from Atlanta to pick a 3-2 win. Trailing 3-0 late in the third period, the Thrashers were able to cut the deficit to just one thanks to a pair of power play goals from Ilya Kovalchuk and Slava Kozlov, before Antero Niittymaki and the Flyers shut the door to preserve the win.

After winning three in a row a little over a week ago, Atlanta has now lost six of its past seven games.

Fantastic game in Dallas on Monday night, as the Stars overcame a 3-1 deficit to pull out a 5-4 overtime win against the Detroit Red Wings.

The Stars fired 49 shots at Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood, which is the most shots a Detroit team has allowed since 1989. Brian Rafalski and Tomas Holmstrom scored a pair of goals in the first period, staking the Wings out to an early 2-0 lead. After Niklas Grossman scored his first career regular season goal for Dallas, Marian Hossa responded just a minute later to help Detroit take back its two-goal advantage.

Dallas, however, came out in the second period and unleashed a barrage of shots at Osgood -- 23 in the second period alone -- while Stephane Robidas and Mark Parrish tallied goals to tie the game, 3-3, heading into the third peiod.

Last night when the Phoenix Coyotes dropped a 3-2 decision to the San Jose Sharks, they did so without the services of center Olli Jokinen. It was only the second game Jokinen has missed since the 2002-03 season (the first one was Friday night's game in Colorado), snapping a streak of 397 consecutive games played. While it will never be confused with Cal Ripken Jr.'s ironman streak, it's still an impressive accomplishment to play in every NHL game for five consecutive seasons.

Jokinen, 29, will be sidelined for two weeks with a shoulder injury suffered against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday.

Originally a No. 3 overall pick of the Los Angeles Kings, Jokinen was eventually shipped to the New York Islanders where he played one season before then-general manager Mike Milbury made, in my opinion, one of the worst trades in NHL history. Just prior to the 2000 NHL entry draft, Milbury sent Jokinen, along with goaltender Roberto Luongo, to the Florida Panthers in exchange for forwards Oleg Kvasha and Mark Parrish.

After toiling in anonymity for four years in Florida, developing into a consistent 35-goal scorer, Jokinen was again part of a draft day trade this past offseason, when the Panthers shipped him to Phoenix for Keith Ballard, Nick Boynton and a second-round draft pick.

So far this season Jokinen has 18 points (7 goals, 11 assists) in 21 games for the Coyotes.

After a lost weekend where the Dallas Stars lost back to back games to the Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins is embarrassing fashion, co-general managers Les Jackson and Brett Hull made a low risk move to bolster the lineup by signing veteran winger Mark Parrish to a one-year contract.

According to Dallas Morning News beat writer Mike Heika, Parrish will be in Dallas today for a physical, and if he passes, he'll join the team for an on ice practice more or less immediately. Parrish had been playing for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL on a tryout contract, where he had a goal and an assist in three games.

As most of you will recall, Parrish was last seen in Minnesota where the Wild showed him the door just two years into a five-year deal. It didn't take long for the Minnesota native to start chafing under Jacques Lemaire's draconian defensive system, and after a pair of lackluster seasons, the team seemed happy to buy him out and say goodbye.

Who knows which hockey sage coined the phrase, "100% of shots that don't reach the net don't score", but, as Craig Ludwig's oversized shin pads would tell you, it's one of the sport's infallible truths.

While defenders are often known more for laying out big hits or getting under the skin of a certain offensive star, a goaltender's true friends are the ones that risk life and limb to block speeding rubber bullets, decreasing the chances that a goalie will be forced to make a save.

As the New York Times reports, blocking shots is a skill that also involves shedding your sense of self preservation.

"You have to break the fear," Rangers defenseman Michal Rozsival said. "You try it once, it hits your shin pads and you say, O.K. We all played the game for so long. Nobody really thinks about it anymore. It's like natural. I don't think there's any guy in the locker room who would be thinking, Oh, should I block it or not?"

Blocking shots has become an increasingly important - if still hard to fathom - part of the game. Coaches preach that they are a way to cut down scoring chances, to keep life easier for the goaltenders, and to turn defense into something practiced by the whole team, not just the defensemen.

So, just who is the best at helping out their goalies?

Who's In: Petr Kalus (BOS), Eric Belanger (FA-ATL), Sean Hill (FA-NYI), Andre Lakos, D, Nolan Schaefer, G (FA-PIT)

Who's Out: Manny Fernandez, G (BOS), Mika Hannula, LW, Jason Morgan, C, (WAS), Wyatt Smith, C (COL), Todd White, C (FA-ATL)

What's Changed: Not a whole lot, especially compared to last summer, when the Wild acquired Pavol Demitra, Mark Parrish, and Kim Johnsson. For the most part, the Wild have kept their roster intact, adding in a few spare-part replacements to support their existing core.

The one big change of note was the trade of Manny Fernandez to the Boston Bruins for Petr Kalus. Thanks to their fortunate goaltender glut, and the inability of Fernandez to take the #1 reigns and run with them, the Wild were easily able to give the job to the younger, and more effective, Nicklas Backstrom. Top prospect Josh Harding will be the backup, and he'll be able to develop his game with some NHL experience.

The Wild hope that by improving their goaltending, and getting a full, and healthy, seasons out of Demitra, Gaborik, and others, they will be able to improve on their franchise-record 104 points from last season.

Much was made about the "new look" Minnesota Wild, and how they would be a much different style of team this season.

With the additions of Pavol Demitra, Mark Parrish, Kim Johnsson, and the development of Mikko Koivu and Pierre-Marc Bouchard, it appeared that the Wild were set to become a more offensive-minded club, giving up a few more goals in the process.

Coach Jacques Lemaire, one of the very best in the business, bucked that line of thought and, instead, assimilated his new additions into the typical Wild style of play, rather than let the roster dictate how his team would play hockey.

Instead of become a more wide-open club, the Wild have clamped down even further, and are in good shape to finish with the league's best Goals Against Average. After giving up 2.56 goals against per game last season, the Wild improved that mark to 2.24, thanks in large part to the goaltending of overage rookie Niklas Backstrom, who leads the league with a 92.7% save percentage.

The Jennings race as of today ...

Minnesota - 183 goals against in 80 games
Detroit - 187 in 80 games
Dallas - 188 in 79 games
Vancouver - 188 in 79 games
New Jersey - 189 in 80 games