Blackhawks Coach Joel Quenneville opened the door of his suburban Chicago home Halloween night to see not a young ghost or goblin, not a witch or popular TV character, but a reflection of sorts.
A young girl had dressed in Coach Q’s moustachioed likeness. Complete with suit, tie, and a Blackhawks cap, the girl hoisted a giant trophy of her own.
“She had the Cup over her head,” Quenneville said, “It was a classic.”
Chicago Blackhawks Captain Jonathan Toews scored a natural hat trick Tuesday night, leading the team to a 6-5 victory against the Ottawa Senators.
Captain Serious turned the game around from a 4-2 Senators’ favor in the second to a 5-4 lead in the third.
“Johnny had a special game,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “If you’re a fan and you watched him play tonight, you’re going to go, ‘Wow.’
“It was a special performance and that line had a great night, as well. They had high-quality chances and they had the puck. They were dangerous off the rush, but that was one of those performances as a fan you get to see [and] you’ll remember it.”
Another hero for the game was Corey Crawford, who took over about halfway through the second, after the Senators scored four goals on Nickolai Khabibulin, Tuesday’s original netminder.
Crawford saved 14 goals to win the game.
Andrew Shaw scored the first and last goals for the Hawks, one on a Power Play to start the game and the other in the third period.
Marian Hossa racked up his 100th goal for the Blackhawks in the second period of the game.
The Blackhawks are off to Winnipeg this weekend, where Toews will likely get a welcome from the home crowd as they take on the Jets at 2 p.m. CT Saturday. They’ll play the Flames at 6:30 p.m. CT Sunday.
It’s unknown whether Khabibulin will have a spot in net.
Northern States Junior Hockey League’s top two teams will face-off against the third and fourth place teams this weekend, as the teams in the middle of the standings will grapple with each other to make their way to the top.
The Syracuse Stampede will travel to Waterville Valley on Friday for a 7 p.m. tilt against the AHI Fighting Spirit. It is the Spirit’s only game of the weekend.
On Saturday, the Stampede will travel to Hallowell, Maine, for two games against the Maine Moose at the Ice Vault. The puck drops at 7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. Sunday.
“The Maine Moose are gearing up to face the lowest goals against average team in the league (with 14),” said Moose owner and general manager Ben Gray said. “This will be the first meeting of both teams. We need to be prepared and capitalize on our opportunities when we can, because the Stampede doesn’t give up too many goals. We really have to bear down on our chances.”
The New England Stars have a home-and-home series with the Maine Wild, in Tyngsboro on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Biddeford on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. The Stars are currently chasing Wild in the NSHL standings, as the Stars have 8 points and the Wild have 9.
Maine Wild Head Coach Mike Tenney said he is cautiously optimistic heading into the series.
“If we play the way we played last weekend, I’ll be really excited because I think we have a better than average chance of winning,” he said. “But if we revert back to (how we started the season), we have no chance.”
Tenney said he is happy with the way the team has looked in practices and thinks they are understand the vision of “Maine Wild Hockey.”
“Maine Wild Hockey means we forecheck and hunt the puck relentlessly in offensive zone, and defensively, we get down and block shots and make it tough for the opponent to get shots on goal. We want to be quick in transitions and keep the other team on their heels.”
The key to winning this weekend’s games, Tenney said, will be doing “little things” correctly.
“We can now break down individual things, like which way to angle their sticks, which way to curl, all the little things that make a big difference when you watch the tape. That is the fun part of the job, that’s when everyone get a lot better because they understand those little things that have to happen,” he said.
Stars Head Coach Darryl Green knows the Wild is looking to collect points this weekend.
“We are preparing for a dangerous Maine Wild team that we are chasing in the standings,” he said. “They are hard-working and have won three out of their last four games, including knocking off the first place team during that stretch. We must match their work ethic and play two full sixty-minute games in order to be successful.”
The Wilkes-Barre Miners will travel to Cape Cod for two games against the Islanders at Tony Kent Arena in South Dennis. Game times are 5:20 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. Sunday.
Both teams are expecting a tough battle ahead this weekend.
“We are playing the hottest team in the league right now,” said Dan Hodge of the Cape Cod Islanders. “We have to be ready to compete all over the ice and play with discipline this weekend or we will ourselves in for a long two games.”
Miners Head Coach Jason MacDonald said the weekend will be a tough test for his team.
“The Cape Cod games have been intense so we expect a lot of the same,” he said. “Our special teams have been good as of late so we hope to build off that…not to mention solid and timely goaltending.”
The Colorado Avalanche announced on Thursday afternoon, that they had traded forward Steve Downie to the Philadelphia Flyers, in exchange for forward Maxime Talbot. The Flyers, in need of a shakeup, decided to trade one forward for another, and luckily for them, Stevie Downie, is all too familiar with the organization.
The twenty-six year old Downie, was drafted by the Flyers 29th overall in 2005, but ended up being traded to Tampa Bay in a deal for Matt Carle. Steve Downie quickly became a fan favourite in Tampa, leaving fans devastated (and still devastated to this day) when he was traded to the Avalanche in the 2011-12 season. After missing the 2012-2013 season with an injury, Downie came back to have one goal and six assists for seven points in eleven games with the Avalanche so far this season.
In seven seasons, Downie has 56 goals and 145 points in 285 games with the Flyers, Lightning and Avalanche.
In 285 NHL games with the Flyers, Tampa and Colorado, Downie has 56 goals and 89 assists for 145 points, along with 696 PIM. He appeared in 38 games for the Flyers during his first stop, including 32 in 2007-08 and six over the first month of the 2008-09 season prior to his trade. He recorded six goals and six assists for 12 points, along with 84 PIM. Downie will be wearing the #9 sweater for the Flyers.
Like Downie, Maxime Talbot, 29, has appeared in all eleven games for the Flyers this season. He has one goal and one assist in those games. His scoring record in 77 goals and 77 assists for 154 points in 515 career games during his career. Keeping with the number 77, he has appeared in 77 career playoff games totaling 39 points divided between his 18 goals and 21 assists. As hockey fans know, many of those games were played during his time with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Both goals in the Penguin’s 2-1 win over the Red Wings were scored by him.
“Maxime is a veteran forward who has won a Stanley Cup and has a lot of NHL experience,” said Avalanche Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Joe Sakic. “We’re looking forward to him bringing that experience to our club.”
Selected by Pittsburgh in the eighth round (234th overall) of the 2002 Entry Draft, Talbot spent his first six seasons with the Penguins before signing with Philadelphia as a free agent on July 1, 2011.
It is felt that Down has more of a scorer’s touch, a versatile winger, who can play on the top three lines. Another factor for Downie’s probable Flyers success is the fact that he played with teammate Vinny Lecavalier in Tampa.
Financially, the Flyers are taking on more immediate salary, Downie has a $2.65 million cap hit while Talbot has a $1.75 million deal, but Downie is in the final year of his deal while Talbot is locked up for two more years after this season.
While dropping the gloves is a normal occurrence for many players in the league, it’s not a typical day-to-day affair for the general population, but it could be. Boxing is a fun fitness alternative to the daily grind, good for the body, good for the mind. It’s also a great way to train like the pros do, even if your on ice career will never entail 5-minutes in the sin bin for fighting. In this two part series, Pink Puck TV headed out to Bancroft Boxing in Framingham, MA to try our hand at being tough, while wearing pink.
Colorado Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov turned himself in to Denver police Wednesday night on an arrest warrant on charges of kidnapping and third-degree assault in what authorities are calling a domestic violence incident.
Varlamov booking photo
“The Colorado Avalanche organization is aware of the allegations concerning Semyon Varlamov,” stated the Avalanche in a statement late Wednesday night. ” At this time, and until the conclusion of this investigation, the Avalanche organization will have no further comment on this situation.”
Added the NHL in a statement: “The League is aware of the situation involving Semyon Varlamov. We will not comment unless or until we have a fuller understanding of all of the facts and circumstances related to the legal charges that have been filed.”
Varlamov is 7-1 this season with a 1.76 goals-against average, he was rumored to have the starting nod on Friday night in Dallas. However, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, will now be between the pipes. The Avalanche have had a stellar and surprising season thus far at the glove of both goaltenders.
According to details in the arrest warrant, the alleged assault, took place Monday. In addition to kicking the woman (his girlfriend), police say Varlamov told her in Russian that if this were Russia, he would have beat her more.
Varlamov was scheduled to appear in court Thursday morning. More details to come.
It’s Halloween and our favorite part about the spooky holiday, is the creative pumpkins that we’ve seen popping up all over the internet. Pumpkins of the NHL are a good thing, kick back with a few pieces of candy and let the pumpkins light the screen. Happy Halloween!
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All photos taken from NHL team websites or Twitter accounts, Red Wings and Blackhawks logo/Stanley Cup Pumpkin photos from Puck Daddy at Yahoo Sports
10 games into their season, the St. Louis Blues are sitting in third place in the Central Division, three points behind the second place Blackhawks with three games at hand. The two teams trail the nearly unbeatable Avalanche who have won ten of their first eleven games. Back in September, I made the prediction that the Blues would win the West and fight for the Stanley Cup. Here is my take on how they stand early on in the season:
Cup Winning Trends:
1) 4 players averaging at least one point per game.
The Blues have showed great depth through ten games with Alexander Steen, Alex Pietrangelo, T.J. Oshie and David Backes all averaging at least one point per game. The Blackhawks and Bruins showed the NHL last year how vital scoring depth is to a deep playoff run, and having two consistent distributing centers like Oshie and Backes will make the Blues hard to shut down.
2) A highly effective power play.
The Blues currently stand first in the league in offensive power play percentage at 28.2%, an incredibly effective rate. Their top three defensemen have 12 power play points (all assists) between them which demonstrates great puck movement and a distribute first mentality. It also shows that the forwards are doing a great job finishing around the net.
3) Great two-way play from their top lines
Star forward Alexander Steen currently has a +7 rating through just 10 regular season games to go along with his 16 points. You can contrast that to Jason Spezza and Alexander Ovechkin, two tremendous goal scorers who each have -6 ratings, to recognize how valuable Steen really is to St. Louis. The guy is putting the puck in the net and simultaneously keeping his opponents from doing so. While the Capitals don’t expect Ovechkin to contribute on the penalty kill, Steen is asked to do it all and is embracing the challenge of being a superstar.
Playoff Busting Trends:
1) Poor Goaltending Depth.
An area that many thought would be a strength for the Blues has been a weakness thus far. Brian Elliot has struggled in his two games in net posting a 3.53 GAA as the backup to Jaroslav Halak. Although Halak has been tremendously consistent, his injury history is a cause for concern and Elliot must be ready to shoulder some of the load to spell Halak a break, especially since Halak will likely be starring in net during the Olympics.
2) A Struggling Penalty Kill.
Although the Blues have been great on the power play, they have been extremely poor on the penalty kill. Their 21st ranked penalty kill has allowed 9 goals in 10 games, a percentage that is unacceptable for a championship caliber team. Not only can this percentage be improved upon, the Blues could help themselves by staying out of the penalty box; they currently lead the league with 219 penalty minutes despite playing in the fewest games of any team. Their average of 21.8 penalty minutes per game is a recipe for disaster.
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