Photo: USA Bag via St. Blues
Update: The luggage has been found.
The St. Louis Blues featured a few notable faces during the Winter Games in Sochi; David Backes, T.J. Oshie and Alex Pietrangelo in specific.
Oshie became #TJSochi after his repeated shootout goals in a Team USA win against Russia. Backes and his wife went above and beyond helping save the Sochi strays. Pietrangelo, won gold with Canada.
Canada Bag
Today the team reached out to the public in an effort to find 3 bags that have gone missing. The bags were picked up by FedEx in Newark, New Jersey on February 26th to make their way to St. Louis; since then…
“In Backes’ case, his bag contained several Team-USA signed pieces of memorabilia that he had planned on using to raise money in an event later this month,” said Dan O’Neill a team representative.
The team realizes that these frustrating situations happen to people every day and have followed protocol with FedEx. The hope is that reaching out to the public will provide the players a happy outcome.
If anyone has any helpful knowledge, please feel free to reach out to pinkpuck@thepinkpuck.com and we will gladly forward to the appropriate contact.
(photo: oilers.nhl.com)
The Edmonton Oilers are something of an enigma in the National Hockey League. They’re young and fresh-faced, they have more high-quality drafts than the Boston Beer Company, and they’ve been “in a rebuild” since roughly 1990.
Also, they just traded away their goalie. Presumably Ben “59 Saves, Are You Even Real?” Scrivens will continue in the net in Bryzgalov’s absence, and newly-acquired Viktor Fasth will take a spot on the bench. But Fasth was still on his way from Anaheim on Wednesday afternoon, and we have enough trouble getting the NHL to break for the Olympics, much less hastily-made travel arrangements, so Oilers coach Dallas Eakins called in a ringer: two-time Olympic gold medalist Shannon Szabados.
“Not a bad week and a half,” Szabados told the media. “Gold medal in Sochi and practicing with the Oilers. Doesn’t get much better.”
Szabados is no stranger to men’s leagues. She was the first woman to play in the Western Hockey League (WHL) and the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), where she recorded a shutout in her debut game (and won best goaltender in 2006-07). While she played for the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) men’s team, she held the lowest goals against average and highest number of shutouts in the 2012-2013 ACAC season. The NAIT Ooks took home the conference championship that season — their first in 16 years.
She’s awesome, basically.
Though playing with the boys is part and parcel for Szabados, she was instrumental in Canada’s explosive last-minute comeback against the United States in the women’s gold medal game in Sochi, keeping her calm and making some truly remarkable saves even as the clock ran down. She was also in goal in the 2010 Games, shutting out the United States for gold in Vancouver.
“I don’t know how the guys are going to take this but the girls are much smarter when they play,” she told TechLife Magazine last year. “The chance of them scoring off an initial shot is slim so they shoot for rebounds, they shoot for tips; they are smart with their passing.”
According to the article, Szabados attributed the difference in styles to the difference in how men and women are able (and allowed) to use their bodies on the ice; men are, by and large, stronger and faster, and it follows that their shots will be as well. But what women lack in brute force, they make up in finesse.
“Playing both, the girls, because they don’t quite have the power, they look for deflections and for rebounds and screens,” she told the CBC last April. “They find any way other than maybe powering it through the goalie to get the puck past you.”
This isn’t the first time Szabados has been eyed by the Oilers — or at least, by their fanbase. Last March, when it seemed like every goalie they touched immediately got broken or came down with the plague, the Twitterverse called for Szabados to fill in as emergency backup. They went with Nathan Deobald, a temporary call up from the Calgary Dinos, and drew some criticism for the move.
Szabados didn’t dress as a backup for Ben Scrivens on Tuesday, either, but the invitation to practice seems like, at the very least, a well-deserved nod to all that Szabados has accomplished.
“She was great today,” Sam Gagner told reporters after practice, and then proceeded to try and very politely talk around the reality of Szabados’ situation, which is that she has hit the glass ceiling of women’s hockey. “I think, uh … it’s obviously — she’s at the top of, uh … for her, winning a gold medal, being the starting goaltender for Canada, is the pinnacle, for her. And getting a chance for her to come out here is definitely exciting.”
As for Szabados, she recognizes that one practice does not a commitment make. When asked what the practice meant to her, she said, “Well, hopefully it’ll just open some eyes…. as a female hockey player, you just want to be seen as a hockey player. That’s what I felt like today.”
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(AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
The St. Louis Blues edged out Music City’s Nashville Predators 2 to 1 Thursday night. This concludes the regular season series with Nashville, which also became a sweep of the Preds for St. Louis. The Blues are now on a three game win streak, and goaltender Ryan Miller is perfect in the Blue note.
The Blues lit up the scoreboard first when Ian Cole fired a wrist shot from the top of the circle which blasted past the Predator’s goaltender, Pekka Rinne. Nick Spaling of the Preds managed to tip the puck past Ryan Miller to tie the game up at one, still early in the first period. The Blues struggled through the rest of the first and were unable to get a shot off for 15 entire minutes. They managed to keep the game tied at one going into the second period thanks to strong play by new addition Miller.
Halfway through the second period Magnus Paajarvi picked up a pass and skated down the right side of the ice, breaking into the Predator’s zone, to shoot one far side over the stick of Pekka Rinne and into the back of the net. Alexander Steen had a chance to increase the lead to 3 to 1 when he was awarded a penalty shot but he was stoned by Rinne going glove hand. The teams would remain at a stalemate for the rest of the game. The Blues held onto the 2 to 1 lead for a win, with some spectacular saves by Ryan Miller to close out the game.
The Blues have reached 90 points and are second in the Western Conference behind Anaheim who stands with 92 points. The Blues have two more road games before they return home. They face the Colorado Avalanche at 2PM (CST) on Saturday March 8th.
What a difference a day—or five—makes. Just five days ago the Washington Capitals came to TD Garden and beat the Boston Bruins 4-2. Alex Ovechkin scored two power play goals during that game at 18:39 of the first period and then again at 2:24 of the second.
Watching the Capitals as they played against the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday evening, once the Capitals began to score, it was a result of their being on the power play, with the second of their three power play goals coming from Ovechkin.
Despite their loss in Philadelphia, they were expected to come into TD Garden and have their way with the Bruins again. However, someone forgot to tell the Bruins that—especially goalie Tuukka Rask. But perhaps even more importantly, someone forgot to tell the Capitals that was the game plan.
In fact, at the end of the first period, while the score was tied at zero, the shots on goal were 10-4 in favor of the Bruins. While the Bruins seemed to struggle a little with their passing, when they did connect they were off and running, throwing puck after puck at the Capitals starting goal tender Braden Holtby.
Unlike the matinee meeting five days before—which had its fair share of penalties, the only time the men in black and white blew their whistles Thursday night was to signal an offside or an icing. This allowed the Bruins to keep the momentum—running a clinic on the Bruins system for anyone who wanted to take notes.
Two goals would be scored by the Bruins in the second period, the first by “Merlot Line” member Gregory Campbell (assisted by Patrice Bergeron and Matt Bartkowski) just 3:05 into that period. A little more than five minutes later, Loui Eriksson (who sat out Tuesday night, causing rampant speculation that he would be traded the following day before the deadline) scored his seventh, assisted by Carl Sodeberg and Kevan Miller. At the end of that period, the score showed 2-0 but the shots on goal (27-8) in favor of the Bruins showed a much different story.
While Holtby had struggled the evening before against the Flyers, being pulled after allowing four goals in roughly 30 minutes of play, he didn’t let that bother him as he started in net against the Bruins. In fact, when the game was done, Holtby’s confidence must have been right back up in the 99th percentile, as he stopped 40 of the 42 shots he saw.
Braden Holtby keeping Capitals in the game.
And it wasn’t until the third period that there appeared to be any real life in the Capitals, just as happened to them in Philadelphia on Wednesday night. The Capitals—who only tallied 16 shots on the entire evening against Rask—actually had eight of those in the third. So what was it about that period?
The Pink Puck asked Capitals defenseman, Karl Alzner, one of the six players who did not finish the game with a minus, afterwards, what was going on.
Karl Alzner (Photo: Rhonda McClure)
“The frustration finally gets us,” he said. “The frustration should be there from the start. It seems to be taking 40 minutes for us to finally figure it out.”
They indeed did seem to take awhile to figure out that they needed to bring their game. The Bruins, who not only brought their hockey game, but brought the Bruins style of playing to full life, were putting it to them. The Bruins were keeping the Capitals to the outside, but perhaps more importantly weren’t even letting the Capitals do anything with the puck if they were lucky enough to find they had it. If you totaled the shots on goal with the blocked attempts and the blocked shots, the Bruins had an impressive 67 shots to the 32 by the Capitals.
“We have to get madder from the start,” Alzner exclaimed. “We should be mad because we’re not winning and we’re not in the playoff picture. We need to take that anger out on the teams right away.”
And perhaps no one should be more frustrated than Ovechkin, whose 20 shifts on ice totaling 16:43 in playing time resulted in just a single—yes, that’s one—shot on goal in the entire game. During their game against the Flyers, he had one less minute of playing time, but he managed to get 4 shots on goal, scoring one power play goal.
This was almost a “Where’s Ovechkin” nightmare for Capitals fans.
Matt Bartkowski (Photo: Rhonda McClure)
After the game, The Pink Puck asked Bruins defenseman, Bartkowski, if the team had talked about keeping Ovechkin off the puck and not allowing him time and space to shoot.
“It’s mainly [Zdeno Chara’s] responsibility because he takes the burden of Ovechkin throughout the game,” he answered. “But anybody who is out there against [Ovechkin], we just know to be aware of where his is and not go out of your way to take him out of the play. Just play your game. Play our system.”
When it was pointed out to Bartkowski, by The Pink Puck, that the team had held Ovechkin to just a single shot on goal in the entire game, he seemed a little surprised by that statistic.
“That’s gotta be a season low for him, I guess,” he laughed.
Indeed, it must have been a new sensation for the league-leading goal scorer, and something that Ovechkin wishes never to experience again.
Maybe it was the emotion of having Mark Recchi in the arena for a ceremonial puck drop as part of the 90 Years celebrations. Maybe it was that those who had played with Recchi wanted to show him they were still that tough band of brothers who took the Stanley Cup away from the Vancouver Canucks in 2011. Whatever the reason, it was clear that the team was in sync and that all lines were not only moving, but fore-checking and back-checking and on full speed to a win.
As the clock began to count down to those final few minutes the “S” word (yes, shutout) began to bounce around in fans’ minds as it looked like Rask—who continued to do a great job when called upon—would get his sixth shutout of the season (and 22nd of his career) when the final buzzer sounded. And indeed he did, putting him in first place in the league in shutouts.
The Bruins go on the road now, but they are riding the three-game winning streak and are sitting in first place in the Atlantic Division and fifth in the league. It is clear that whatever ailed them at their return from the Olympic break has been eradicated and they are hungry for every point they can garner.
Game Night Album
(photo: North Bay Battalion)
The San Jose Sharks General Manager Doug Wilson announced today that the team has signed unrestricted free agent forward Barclay Goodrow to an entry-level contract.
Goodrow, 21, has recorded 58 points (30-28=58), 60 penalty minutes and a plus-9 rating in 57 games this season for the North Bay Battalion of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The North Bay captain currently leads the team in goals, assists and points in his fifth season with the Battalion.
The six-foot-two, 214-pound forward is the franchise leader in games played, having registered 220 points (124-96=220) in 307 career games with the Brampton/North Bay franchise. He needs just six goals in his team’s final six regular season games to tie Wojtek Wolski for the franchise lead in goals (130).
In 28 career OHL playoff games, the Aurora, Ontario, native has produced 11 points (4-7=11).
Goodrow decided to wait on his professional career and played this season overage with the North Bay Battalion in the OHL, turning down an opportunity to play in the American Hockey League with the Grand Rapids Griffins. Earlier he attended the rookie camp for the Detroit Red Wings as a free agent and then was invited to the Wings main camp.
In an interview earlier in the year when he rejoined the Battalion Goodrow said, “I was given the option to go the Grand Rapids camp and maybe sign an AHL contract. I figured for my development it would be better to come back to the OHL for one last season and get lots of ice time playing in all situations. Grand Rapids looks like it will be a very good team, and my ice time could have been limited.”
(photo: The Associated Press)
As if fans were not excited enough for Steven Stamkos’ return to action on Thursday night, they got an even bigger surprise when he appeared on the ice with a ‘C’ on his chest.
“Steven Stamkos was destined to be the leader of our team,” head coach Jon Cooper said. “The fact that it’s happening now just puts us one step closer to achieving our ultimate goal and that is trying to win the Stanley Cup.”
The twenty-four year old Markham, Ontario native has played his entire career with the Lightning since being drafted first overall by the team in 2008. Since that time he has skated in 390 games, scoring 222 goals and 409 points. With less than five seasons under his pads, he already ranks third on the franchise all-time goals, power-play goals, and game-winning goals lists. He is fourth all-time in points and tied for sixth in assists.
Stamkos is also a two-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner as the NHL scoring champion. In 2010 he shared the trophy with Sidney Crosby, but won it outright with his record sixty-goal season in 2012. Since the 2009-10 season, no NHL player has scored more goals than Stamkos’ 199.
On October 4, 2008 he made his NHL debut against the New York Rangers, and scored his first goal on October 20, 2008 against last night’s rival, the Buffalo Sabres. In 2011 and 2012 he represented Tampa Bay at the NHL All-Star game, and was named to the NHL’s Second All-Star Team following each of those seasons. He has also represented Canada at the IIHF World Championships in 2009, 2010, and 2013, as well as the IIHF World Juniors in 2008.
In addition to Stamkos being named captain, the team announced that defenseman Eric Brewer will serve as a full-time alternate captain, filling Stamkos’ previous position. Defenseman Matt Carle and forward Nate Thompson will continue to share alternate duties, but will change from earlier this season with Carle wearing the “A” at home and Thompson wearing it on the road.
Lightning All-Time Captain History
Steven Stamkos 2013-14 – present
Martin St. Louis 2013-14
Vincent Lecavalier 2008-09 – 2012-13
Tim Taylor 2006-07 – 2007-08
Dave Andreychuk 2002-03 – 2005-06
Vincent Lecavalier 1999-00 – 2000-01
Chris Gratton 1999-00
Bill Houlder 1999-00
Rob Zamuner 1998-99
Mikael Renberg 1997-98
Paul Ysebaert 1995-96 – 1997- 98
None 1992-93 – 1994- 95
Oh the joy of being back from the Olympic break.
So nice to actually have games to attend, and not have to wake up at o’dark-thirty to get my puck fix.
But my absolute favorite part about getting back into the swing of things? Picking out my game day outfits. (Not that watching hockey in my pajamas sans makeup wasn’t a nice change of pace of a couple of weeks.)
To ease back into my usual micro-minis and tights routine, I chose comfy separates for the Sharks’ mid-week home tilts. Both Tuesday and Thursday nights I wore a different cotton-jersey skirt—they’re occasionally two-for-ten dollars in Victoria’s Secret magazine!—with a different pair of black stockings. For the first game back I opted for a more comfortable long-sleeved cotton top, then got more formal on Thursday and rocked a tight button-down with the large red American Apparel cardigan on top.
And yes, I took my on picture on Thursday in the ladies’ room at the arena. What can ya do.
Needing to ease back into the routine of dressing up for work also called for more comfortable footwear: Ballet flats on Tuesday, biker boots on Thursday. At this rate, I might not rock a pair of heels again until playoffs.
FESTIVE TIPS: It’s no secret that I can’t turn down an opportunity to dress festively.
Don’t believe me? Check out my Pinterest, or the bagillions of pictures that I take on holidays year-round.
As fate would have it, the Sharks first game back fell on Mardi Gras. And while it wouldn’t have been appropriate to dawn anything extra skimpy and throw beads into the crowd from the press box—although you have to admit, that would have been hysterical—I still found a way to rock a little Fat Tuesday flair.
(Jewelry notes: Betsey Johnson earrings; Indie Shop sugar skull bracelet; Gucci watch; jade ring from my mom; Greek puzzle “midi” ring from my grandmother.)
(Photos: The Hockey Writers, Buffalo Sabres, Worcester Sharks)
The NHL Trade Deadline is an exciting and also nerve wracking day for hockey fans everywhere. Everyone wants to know what moves their team is going to make, if any, and what their team is going to look like when the dust settles. At the NHL level, people are looking for the big names rumored to be involved in the blockbuster trades. But there’s usually more involved in the trades than NHL roster players. Sometimes draft picks are thrown around, but there are often prospects included too.
The LA Kings were a team with rumors swirling around them about moves they wanted to make at the deadline. It seemed inevitable that some move they made would trickle down to their AHL team in Manchester. But, it wasn’t clear until the first LA Kings trade of the day broke. It ended up being defenseman-turned-forward Nic Deslauriers and 2013 draft pick Hudson Fasching to the Buffalo Sabres for defenseman Brayden McNabb, forward Jonathan Parker and second round picks in 2014 and 2015.
“This is a crazy business that we’re in. We’re sad to see him go because we’ve seen a tremendous amount of growth, especially this season where he made the switch from defense to forward. He’s had a great amount of success,” Monarchs Head Coach Mark Morris said of Deslauriers. “We also realize it’s a great opportunity for him in the Buffalo organization. We’re happy for him.”
Although Deslauriers was initially skeptical about how the switch to forward from defense would go, it ended up being a match made in heaven. He led the team in goals, with 18, and was second in points, with 21. He added a new level to his game. He said his goodbyes to his Manchester teammates and headed to Rochester this morning. Coming back to the Kings organization are prospects Brayden McNabb and Jonathan Parker. Parker is currently in the ECHL with the Colorado Eagles. McNabb, however, was in the AHL and has already reported to Manchester.
“As far as Brayden (McNabb) goes, I did my homework talking to his past coaches. I’ve heard nothing but glowing remarks on what he brings as a player,” Morris said.
“It’s kind of sad to leave the guys you’ve built relationships with over the years but I’m really excited for this new chapter in my life. This is the first time I’ve ever been traded,” McNabb said on joining his new team. “I’m excited to get things going with a good team here. I want to help the team however I can. It’s a little bit of an adjustment but I want to go out and just play my game.”
McNabb, a 23-year-old third year pro out of Saskatchewan, has registered 29 points through 38 games with the Rochester Americans and had been kept off the score sheet through 12 games with Buffalo. He appeared in his second straight AHL All Star Game this season, defending his title as the hardest shot. This time he was ousted from the title by someone of Farjestad, but his slap shot remains impressive.
“I don’t really know much about Brayden (McNabb) but from what I’ve heard, he sounds like a strong defenseman with a lot of potential,” Monarchs captain, Andrew Campbell, said. “Hopefully he can step in on our power play and throw some life into that. It’s kind of been a struggle for us so maybe his shot can help with some offense there.”
Wondering how McNabb found out? It wasn’t that different from those of us that obsessively follow the rumors on Twitter.
“My agent called me about 5 minutes before we were taking off to come home. He said you might be getting traded and I didn’t really know what to think. Then I saw something on twitter,” McNabb said and laughed. “I didn’t know it was finalized until I landed. I had to rush home and pack really quick to get on a flight here. It was a crazy day.”
Kings fans did get their big move later in the day. LA sent Matt Frattin, one of the second round picks from the earlier trade, and a conditional third round pick to Columbus for Marian Gaborik. It seemed that people had been expecting that move. That was not it, although it might have seemed like it from an NHL standpoint. The Kings and Sharks made a rare deal between rivals that sent James Livingston to the Kings with a conditional seventh round pick in 2016 back to San Jose. It was a minor league deal as Livingston had been playing in the AHL in Worcester and has made the move to Manchester.
“We have a lot of respect for Livingston’s game. We’ve played against him and he’s an honest, hardworking right winger,” Morris said. “He’s been a tough guy to play against over the years that we’ve gone head to head. There’s mutual respect there.”
“I’ve known James Livingston a long time, I played with him back in juniors. I know what he’s about, he’s a hardworking, good character guy. He’ll be a great boost to our room,” Campbell said.
This was an interesting move based on the teams involved. San Jose and LA are division rivals, so you would not expect to see them make a trade. Although Livingston has spent his three seasons in the AHL so far, the Worcester Sharks and Manchester Monarchs are also fierce division rivals.
“I’m sure it’s more strange for him coming into enemy territory,” Campbell said and laughed. “We’ve already welcomed him in and anything that’s happened before is water under the bridge. We’re happy to have him on our side.”
“It’s definitely a little strange to make this switch, but I’m really looking forward to a new chance. They’re a great team and I want to help make the last push for the playoffs,” Livingston said.
Livingston, a third year forward from Ontario, has 15 points through 53 games this season. He has also added a lot of intangibles to the team, which is likely what Mark Morris noticed when the Monarchs and Sharks played each other. Livingston spent a lot of time holding down the penalty kill with Worcester and was an energy player, a role he’s likely going to take making the switch to a division rival. In an interesting twist, the Worcester Sharks planned a James Livingston bobblehead giveaway to fans this Saturday.
“I had a great couple years in Worcester and I’ve definitely taken a lot from there. I’m so thankful for my time there and for the great fans,” Livingston said. “I’m looking forward to jumping in and hopefully being able to help the team out.”
Mark Morris is now faced with testing out his new players and finding some new lines that will work best for him.
“It’ll be trial by fire. They’re going to go right in,” Morris said. “Much like anyone else that comes in on short notice, they’ll get the opportunity to show what they can do right away and we hope their assets are ones that will make us a stronger team.”
Most AHL teams expect that their team could get a different look when the trade deadline comes around. Head coaches like Morris do not have a lot of say in what happens with the trades. He was not expecting a player from a rival team, but he’s looking forward to seeing how the new additions fit in.
“I’m not quite sure how it all works,” Morris said. “I get the players and try to plug them into the right spots. I try to give them a chance to be successful. It’s not my position to make those types of decisions. Management knows what they’re looking for and the style of play they want.”
The Manchester Monarchs host three games in three days at home this weekend. They will host the Adirondack Phantoms Friday night, the Providence Bruins Saturday afternoon, and the Hartford Wolfpack on Sunday afternoon. The Monarchs will face off against the Worcester Sharks for the first time post-trade in Worcester on Sunday, March 16th.
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