Saturday night’s game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Florida Panthers was about as eventful as they come. After the first period alone, there were 15 penalties between the two teams; Pens: 8, Panthers: 7. The game ended with an incredible 76 penalty minutes and 27 penalties.
A fight between Kris Letang and Willie Mitchell really stood out, though. Why was it so significant and a big discussion amongst the league? Late in the fight, after Letang lost his helmet, Mitchell uses it as a weapon of his own. While the refs are trying to separate the two men, Mitchell takes things into his own hands and whacks Letang in the head.
You can view the whole fight here:
Whether or not the officials saw the unorthodox fighting method is up for discussion due to the fact that they issued 5 minute major fighting penalties to the two involved, without any acknowledgment of the questionable tactic.
After review from the league, though, there might be a heftier penalty than initially dished out. The indiscretion could lead to a fine or even a suspension from the league.
What do you think about the blow to the head? Should Mitchell be given a fine or even a suspension? Let’s hear what you think!
With seven wins in a row at home under their belt, the San Jose Sharks hoped to wrap up their home stand with another win against the St. Louis Blues in their first meeting of the season. The starting lineup for the Sharks was James Sheppard paired with with rookies Melker Karlsson and Barclay Goodrow. This was a good call by Coach Todd McLellan, showing his confidence in the youngsters, who helped to win the last game versus the Edmonton Oilers. It was all about these third and fourth lines, on both clubs, that got the job done for the majority of this game. And the Sharks would wrap up this one with a surprising twist at the end from clutch performances by the veterans.
Shaky Start
It was all Blues in the first period, though – low cycling in the offensive zone and many chances at the net. It wasn’t until about twelve minutes into the game that the Sharks even got one shot on goal, by Tomas Hertl.
The Sharks continued their less-than-stellar performance into their first power play of the night with no shots. It was a quick first period that concluded with no score and a dismal 2 shots on goal for the Sharks to the Blues 8 shots. The Blues are very fast, aggressive, and know how to crash the net.
The boys knew what they needed to do and even Brent Burns made a comment in the first intermission interview with color commentator Jamie Baker that they need to shoot more for the rest of the game.
If You Get Shots, You Will Score… Eventually
The Sharks began the second period much better than the first, already tallying five shots on goal only four minutes in. They got another man-advantage chance, and were hoping for a 5-on-3 when the puck was shot over the glass in the offensive zone. This play is not reviewable and the refs made the call on the ice as no penalty. It remained only a 5-on-4 power play and the Sharks stepped on the gas a bit more, landing a total of 6 shots in the two minutes, and a total of 17 for the entire second. Burns said what they must do and they did.
At about halfway into the game, Andrew Desjardins netted his second of the season in a weird bounce, what looked like off of Jake Allen’s shoulder and up and into the net. A little bit of life was rejuvenated back into the Sharks after that goal. Four minutes later, the Blues made it a tie game. Patrik Berglund shot, then got the rebound off of Antti Niemi. The Blues kept on the pressure and even got another chance, which hit the crossbar with a clink! Late in the period, their hard work paid off when a breakaway from Maxim LaPierre gave veteran Steve Ott his first goal as a Blue to make it 2-1.
The Sharks started the third period, once again, down by a goal and had to rally if they wanted this game. This time, the veteran Sharks stepped up their game and Joe Pavelski tried to tie it but was absolutely robbed by Allen. And by this time, the Sharks have surpassed the Blues with shots on goal, 25 to 20, but Allen has made it hard, saving 24 of those shots.
In the final four minutes, the Sharks were not generating plays and the puck kept getting intercepted. The Blues were all over the Sharks in the Blues zone, and then they took control and put the pressure on in the Sharks zone. It wasn’t looking good for the boys in teal.
With 1:20 left, Niemi vacated the net in a final attempt to tie this game by having an extra skater.
Rallying
The newbies may have won the last game, but the veterans would win this one.
An amazing pass from Joe Thornton to Marc-Edouard Vlasic paid off, and Vlasic was able to tie the score with 20.6 seconds left in the game. With that assist, Thornton has 873, tying him with Phil Esposito for 22nd place on the NHL’s All-Time Assist List. When you play with Jumbo Joe, plays happen. He has such good puck vision, and this pass was the perfect example and the type of play you expect from veterans to get the job done when absolutely necessary. The Sharks, once again, came back from behind and Vlasic got his fourth on the season and the all-important game-tying goal in this one.
Overtime brought a lot of frustration and tension from both sides. Then, the Sharks caught a break and went on the power play in a 4-on-3 situation. Burns, who only had three shots in the entire game, shot a one-timer bullet from Pavelski to win the game. This was Burns’ 14th game-winning goal in his career and what a goal it was!
“It was just a good all-around game. We played hard, they played hard – just two good teams going at it. It took the last minute for us to score to get back in the game and then obviously the last minute to score in overtime. So [it was] just a good competitive game by both teams,” commented Thornton after the game.
The Sharks now have some very good momentum and character-defining moments in these last eight games to take with them into their tough schedule ahead. They will face division rivals Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, and Vancouver Canucks, and then the Blues again over the next two weeks – a very good test for Team Teal.
The Boston Bruins were on the ice Sunday morning for their pre-game skate after having returned from three games on the road, where they brought home only three points out of six. To ask if there was disappointment in their performance against the Winnipeg Jets—the final game of the road trip—in which they didn’t get any points, when they expected and wanted to get two, is rhetorical. This is a team that prides itself on bearing down when things get tough and on digging out when they are in a rut. And yet, somehow this season they have continued to struggle, largely as a result of inconsistencies. Of their four forward lines, only one is producing goals right now and that one is the third line.
“That’s been the problem with our team, has been inconsistency in our game,” head coach Claude Julien said after practice. “That certain lines, even though you say well, [Patrice] Bergeron and [Reilly] Smith and [Brad] Marchand are great players, but it doesn’t mean their line is really firing on all cylinders every game.”
This was not intended to call out Bergeron and his line mates, as Julien did say that the game before Winnipeg they had played well. He was using them as an example of the struggles the lines were having in playing consistently from game to game.
“Once we get all our lines being more consistent in that area, it won’t be just saying that the goal scoring is coming from the Soderberg line. So we need a little bit more,” Julien continued. “At the same time [David] Krejci’s just come back, so you know, we hope that sooner than later we’re going to get a little bit more depth in our scoring.”
The fact is that none of the players are satisfied—let alone happy—with how things are going this season.
Torey Krug
“We have the firepower in this room. We have the depth in the line up to do it. For whatever reason—whether we’re hitting a lot of posts or we’re not making enough plays, it just happens that way,” defenseman Torey Krug said after practice. “Throughout the course of the season there’s going to be spells like that. Whether it’s five games in a row, five games mixed in here and there, it’s going to happen, so now it’s up to us to make sure that we work ourselves out of it. And I think everyone in this locker room has the mindset to do that”
The Bruins have faced adversity before. Perhaps it hasn’t been to this extent, but even the year they won the Stanley Cup, they found themselves losing, or almost losing, games in which they had the upper hand to begin.
“It’s one of those things that I guess, it’s experience,” Bergeron told reporters. “You have to make sure you rely on that and make sure that we realize that adversity’s something that we’ve faced before.”
It can be difficult to try to explain to those who do not see everything that goes on either on the ice or in the locker room that the players, coaches, and other staff are all aware that the team is not where they want, nor expected, to be going into the holiday break. But they are not a team that gives up either.
Patrice Bergeron
“I think we’re equipped to face adversity and we all need to step up,” Bergeron said. “We have to.”
And Bergeron is aware that his line has had their fair share of struggles this season. They understand they are not the same line, at the top of their play, as the final buzzer sounds on each game.
“You always want to get better. You always want to help the team as much as possible,” Bergeron told The Pink Puck. “And when things aren’t working, you’re trying to fix things—look at video and what not and talk. It’s about finding a way for everyone to do their job on the ice.”
And even those who have improved, such as Krug, who after his return from the injury to his thumb struggled to regain his game, do not point fingers at their fellow players who may still be struggling.
“I’ve been playing a little bit better,” Krug acknowledged. “But when the team’s not winning that really doesn’t matter much.”
Krejci has missed a larger number of games and has just recently been reinserted into the line up. As was seen with Seidenberg at the beginning of the year and then with Krug a short time ago, it can take some time to return to his true level of play.
“The little things—the timing, all that stuff—comes into play,” Seidenberg said. “But you get used to it and you get back to it.”
A lot of what the players do on the ice is a result of muscle memory and feeling comfortable. If they are worrying about being re-injured or they are still conscious of an injury that certainly affects their abilities in a game.
Krejci’s recent return as the center with Milan Lucic and Seth Griffith of the top line will take a little time to get back to the momentum and rhythm they had earlier.
“We definitely need to bounce back and we have to do this,” said Bergeron. “It’s nice to be home, being able to have a chance to have two big games before the break.”
All of the players want to go into the holiday break on a positive note. And they are all looking at ways they can fix their own play, as well as how they can play better with the rest of the team.
“I think everybody is looking forward to Christmas, but at the same time we’ve got two games here; two big games,” said forward Griffith. “These are four points that we need. We’re just going to take it one game at a time though and worry about Buffalo tonight.”
It feels like forever since I have written a post for you guys about what I have been wearing to games! It isn’t because I don’t love you guys, I swear. This season’s writing gig is just a bit more demanding. Don’t get me wrong, I have still been taking pictures of all my wardrobe concoctions for you, they just haven’t made it to a well-written post!
But a near-issue with Thursday’s ensemble inspired me put together a little “Tight’s Emergency Guide.”
Before we get to that however, can we please stop and get giddy over my black-on-black-on-black getup with the navy, red and cream calf-length cardigan?! Don’t I look sharper than cheddar in my holiday sweater?! Mwahaha
Anywho, I had just settled into my seat at the Tank when I noticed a small hole in the stockings on the inside of my left knee! I was super sad at first. But luckily, I had the tools to remedy the issue; clear nail polish to keep the small little problem from running and becoming a very BIG problem.
For any of you lovely ladies out there looking to rock the tights on game night, here’s what you should pack in your own Emergency Pack:
-Clear Polish: Not tinted polish, because the shine will definitely show up depending on how the light hits your leg. Grab the clearest stuff you can find, a bottle of one of the 99-cent top coats from the drugstore. Keep it in your bag at all times. That way, if you’re already out the door and get a run, you already have tools at your disposal.
-Mini Sewing Kit: This is for if you are wearing extra-thick, ribbed tights. Most ladies that I know carry a small sewing kit in their purses already, but if you need to go grab one for your own game night bag, fear not–you can grab them in line at most grocery or retail stores for just a couple bucks.
-Emergency pair: No, this is not an overkill suggestion. While some snags or runs are fixable using the above methods, when your tights are ripped to the point of making the wardrobe list for a Rihanna music video–and no press box anywhere is going to be okay with you prancing around dressed like that–it pays to have an emergency pair of dollar nylons on hand. You know, just in case.
That just about does it! Have a fun and safe holiday, whether you are hockey-ing or throwing back egg nog.
Until the next puck drops,
The Girl In The Black Tights
It’s the 7th season for the KHL and a time to test the new president of the league, Dmitry Chernyshenko.
Oh, you haven’t heard of the KHL or of Dmitry? Don’t worry, most people have not. The letters KHL stand for the ‘Kontinental Hockey League’ and their home base is in Russia. They do have the weather for it!
Right now things are not looking good for that side of the rink. The ruble is decreasing in value. In the last couple of months, the ruble has lost half its value to the Euro and the U.S. Dollar. All players are feeling it as they are watching their salaries dropping by 50%. Every player has his contract tied to the rubles and because of that, it is impossible to index salaries to any other currency.
Will this mean that Russian hockey players will come to North America to play here? Best bet, the most famous Russian players will continue to make their home in Russia like Ilya Kovalchuk and Alexander Radulov. I don’t know about the other players, a lot will leave Russia if they can. Who wants to play for half your salary, it is still a pay decrease no matter what.
The clubs are financed by the local budget of their area/city. Recent decreases in budgets mean no extra money for fun stuff like hockey. This is a serious threat to the future of the KHL. People are wondering how the new president of the KHL Dmitry Chernyshenko will react, since he hasn’t said too much lately.
Could this happen here? Could North American currency decrease so much that our hockey players lose half of their salaries? What would they say or do when they found out that their salaries would be cut by half? Another strike, maybe? Maybe not? There would be hell to pay, though! Our players make so much money even with half, they can still live their lives. To have your league funded by the local city and its budget is an odd way of promoting hockey. It seemed way out there when I first read about this money hockey mess. Really, I don’t think this could happen here. If it ever did then our whole economy would have fallen apart, and the game would be at the bottom of everyone’s list of important items.
As money gets tighter in governments, local cities, towns and in our own pocket books, will our entertainment decrease also or will it increase? Will we spend more to forget or less? It is happening not just in Russia but everywhere. It’s not like the olden days where dad works at a great paying job, mom stays home and kids go to school.
In all this, hockey is still on and for me, I’ll watch it till I go away!
Under the new NHL Rule 64 (against diving/embellishment), James Neal is the first NHL player to be fined for diving or embellishment. Neal, of the Nashville Predators, was issued a Warning (Step #1) during a Nov. 13th game at St. Louis, where there was no on-ice penalty. His second citation was issued a month later, after the Dec. 13th game at San Jose (where he received a minor penalty for embellishment). This second citation was issued by the NHL’s Hockey Operations Department, who watches all games much like the (in?)famous War Room in Toronto, and they give their opinions as to whether or not a play that was not called on the ice may make a player worthy enough of a citation.
Neal has been fined $2,000 on the scale that goes as followed:
* For Head Coach, each FINE issued to a player on his Club counts toward total.
With the Predators’ already winning the future trivia question of “who was the first NHL player to be fined for embellishment?” they now have only two more free spaces before they might also win “what head coach stuffed his brightly colored tie into a player’s mouth after being fined for his players embellishing?” question as Peter Laviolette, who will not be a very happy man.
Of course, for someone like James Neal who is trying to be like former Penguins teammate Matt Cooke and shake off the “dirty” image in a new city, hopefully being officially cited & fined will be enough to embarrass him so badly as to stop him from doing this again as the rule tries to put a stop to silly things like embellishments and dives.
This is a tale. A tale where some of the people in it are not as well as can be. Do not worry, my readers. As the New Year is almost upon us, the unwell ones will become well once again.
This is the Christmas tale of the giant called the NHL and the little bug we will call the mumps. For the little mumps to play havoc on the giant, the mumps send in their little germs which we will call the army. This army can spread in the dressing rooms, ice rink areas and on the bench.
Where do we find the army? We find the army in the snot, spit, blood and sweat of the players. Yuk! This is a mighty powerful army which has broken down 16 players, 2 referees and 1 radio intern so far. It also has hit the AHL as well.
How does this little army travel so well in this giant? Lets look around in the home of the giant first. Manners in the giant are not always the first thought. When one has a runny nose usually a tissue is needed. A player has no time for this foolishness so he exhales it out, by closing one nostril. Players spit. They do it a lot. It could be as a result of the mouth guards, but still. They spit on the ice, on the floor of the bench area and other not so known places. It’s a cesspool of mighty little army germs.
I feel like I need a shower right about now!
I can tell you the mumps are having a swell time, they are passing their army around the giant at a fast pace way. The giant is helping them even. Take water bottles. Each player usually has their own but as a game progresses and the excitement grows, the players just pick any old bottle up and drink. I see a germ party starting and a handful of them are taking up dance lessons on the lip of the bottle!
The NHL’s line of defense is the Trainers. But it is to hard for them in a game setting to keep the towels fresh and the water bottles clean. I still feel I need a shower! When it comes to towels, lo and behold it is scary! When the players come to the bench they usually grab a towel, any towel. Did another player use it before? Who knows.
Blood. Yes players do bleed, we have watched them bleed from many parts of their bodies. The mumps look at this as a great way of breaking down the defense of the giant. They are in! Again towels are shared but not on purpose.
The giant has became aware of this small bug and the havoc it is causing. The giant is telling their players and other staff to get all of their ‘shots’ so the army cannot spread much more.
Sanitize! You heard it here first, my readers! The giant has thought that by cleaning up its act a bit, it can start to fight by sanitizing the arenas and player’s areas. It might work after all and the mumps might back away. No matter what happens if the underlying causes are not addressed, this mighty little army will come back and rear its head again.
In their third meeting this year, all in this month, the San Jose Sharks and the Edmonton Oilers had a close call game Thursday night. With the Sharks on the brink of finally solidifying their identity, it was the perfect evening to show off what they’ve accomplished in their search for their character. It’s really an exciting time to be a part of the Sharks lineup, and to be a fan, as things are melding together nicely.
The young ones really shined in this matchup, plus the Sharks were well disciplined and took only one trip to the sin bin. A notable absence on the blue line, though, was the young and talented Mirco Mueller, who will be representing Switzerland in the World Junior Championship. The 19-year-old has been quite a presence in his 24 games with the Sharks, leading all rookies in the NHL in blocked shots (38) and fourth overall in teal. This was his first game out of the Sharks lineup until after the Championship.
The Sharks shot out of the cannon with quick, solid play in the first ten minutes. Then the energy was zapped out of them after Edmonton got on the board by Boyd Gordon. It was a mess in the neutral zone after that goal, and even with a power play opportunity to end the first period, the Sharks were all out of sorts and almost gave up a shorthanded goal. I’ve talked about resilience in past games, and this game was no exception. The Sharks would have to show their new-found identity and resilience to come out on top of this one.
Most of the scoring happened in the second period when the Sharks finally got on the score sheet. James Sheppard scored his fourth goal of the season. In fact, Sheppard’s line of Melker Karlsson and Barclay Goodrow attributed for five of the Sharks 11 points on the night. Shortly thereafter, Logan Couture, who had an incredible 7 shots, netted his 13th.
“Our line was buzzing there in the early going. [Patrick Marleau and Tommy Wingels] were looking for me a lot so I was touching the puck and shooting the puck. You always feel good when you’re shooting the puck early, the puck seems to follow you around. I kind of had a feeling I was going to get one tonight, but it was just good to win,” noted Couture on all those looks.
Brenden Dillon got the assist on that goal and has quickly made his home in San Jose – he even earned second star of the game.
However, the Sharks were able to tie things up in the third with Matt Tennyson’s first career NHL goal, one of three Sharks to net their firsts this season. Tennyson played as a Junior Shark so this was an extra special goal for the organization, as original owner George Gund III, who passed away last year, would have liked to have seen this finally happen. Coach Todd McLellan commented:
“I know when Mr. Gund was still alive, one of his dreams was to have a San Jose bred player, someone who played in the Junior Sharks system, actually play for the Sharks and score a goal. Hopefully he is looking down and is really proud of bringing the team here and it finally happened after twenty-three, twenty-four years.”
Wingels, another solid player who is a crucial part of the team’s identity, continued his point streak with an assist on Tennyson’s goal – his 13th point in the last 11 games.
Twenty-five seconds later, the amazing happened and Goodrow scored on a breakaway from Brent Burns. “I didn’t have any speed when I got the puck so I figured one guy would end up catching me. I tried to fend him off as best I could, and [Ben Scrivens] slid over a bit so I thought I’d have a bit of room on the far side. It was a great vision [from Burns]. It was a great pass,” reflected Goodrow after the game. That goal put the Sharks ahead one and it was a nail-biter after that, as the Oilers really put on the pressure to try and tie it up. In the end, Goodrow’s goal would be the game-winner, 4-3, and his first multi-point game in his career.
The word “resilient” keeps coming up game after game, and came up again in a post-game interview with Wingels: “Resilient game. When we got down, we had confidence enough to come back. Like I said, there is a reason we play sixty minutes here. If we don’t get it done in the first, we will try the second. If we don’t get it done in the second, we try in the third. Our team fought back pretty good.”
Resilience is a part of their identity, which was showcased in this game. And with so much budding, youthful talent, mixed in with seasoned veterans and constant producers such as Wingels, the Sharks hope to continue their winning streak to eight on Saturday at home against the St. Louis Blues.
The Boston University Terriers are taking on the U.S. National Junior Team in an exhibition game to be played at Walter Brown Arena. It has been ten years since Walter Brown Arena has seen the Terriers Men’s Ice Hockey Team play a game. And while not nearly as big as Agganis Arena, the noise will more than make up for the fewer fans.
“Obviously there’s less fans, but it’s going to be ten times as loud because it’s such a small building,” said team captain Matt Grzelcyk. “I think it will be a great environment.”
Besides returning to a rink in which they haven’t played in such a long time, the Terriers will be playing against Jack Eichel instead of having him on their bench. There was some speculation by Eichel after practice that perhaps some of the advice given to the Terriers before tonight’s tilt would be “Don’t hurt Jack.”
“Oh really? Is that what Jack said?” joked Terriers head coach David Quinn. “He’s heard me talk enough, he can predict a lot of my speeches, I would imagine. There’s going to be a lot of stick checking when he has the puck, to say the least.”
“I think guys are pretty well aware that we don’t want to hurt him because we want him for the second half of our season,” said Grzelcyk.
However, both teams are competitive. Many of the players who will suit up wearing the USA jerseys are still vying for a position on the final roster. And the Terriers are not a team that gives way to anyone.
Head Coach David Quinn
“Hey, it’s hockey. You’re always getting evaluated,” said Quinn. “We’ve got depth on our team. These guys are going to be out there to either solidify a spot or earn more playing time.”
And with Eichel wearing red, white and blue, combined with the absences of Robbie Baillargeon, Nikolas Olsson, and Evan Rodrigues, the Terriers are down some of their more powerful players. But this is still a great evaluation for the Terriers—up against USA’s finest.
“It’s a great measuring stick, because they [Team USA] are loaded,” said Quinn.
“We know this is a real talented group of guys and a great team, so it will be a big game for us,” forward Danny O’Regan told The Pink Puck.
Both O’Regan and Grzelcyk have donned the USA sweater—playing in the 2014 World Junior Championship, so they know the caliber of player they will be playing against. And to be just a junior in college and already be too old for this level, is an interesting thought. Is it strange to play against the USA instead of with them?
Matt Grzelcyk
“Not really. I’m pretty comfortable with this being my third year of school,” Grzelcyk joked, to The Pink Puck, wearing his BU hoodie while standing in front of the USA Hockey backdrop. “I won’t be too confused passing the puck to the wrong guys.”
Grzelcyk will face Eichel instead of playing with him. Does Grzelcyk have a secret to stopping him?
“Just close my eyes and hope he hits me,” he joked. “Hope he hits my shin pad with the shot or dumps it in.”
Likely Coach Quinn has some other ideas, but Eichel is hard to stop and his teammates, on both teams, know this for a fact.
For the staff and BU alumni, the return tonight to Walter Brown Arena will bring back a wash of memories. And in keeping with the ten-year anniversary, the banners hanging from the rafters do not date past 2004 when the team moved to Agganis. For the players on both teams it is a chance to prove their value either to wear the USA jersey or be seen in a Terriers sweater.
And while Quinn doesn’t consider it to be “neat” that his team will face his phenom forward Eichel, all who chatted after practice today are looking forward to what should be an amazing and fun game.
Prev
