The 2008-2009 season brought some incredible shootout goals throughout the year and last week the NHL released a collection of what they consider the best ones.  Watching the video was a lot of fun and it just made me more anxious for the new season to begin.

This video’s highlights include the following goals:

Zach Parise (NJD) vs. Jose Theodore (WSH)
T.J. Oshie (STL) vs. Tim Thomas (BOS)
Lee Stempniak (TOR) vs. Tim Thomas (BOS)
Wojtek Wolski (COL) vs. Roberto Luongo (VAN)
Hagman (TOR) vs. Martin Brodeur (NJD)
Jason Blake (TOR) vs. Scott Clemmensen (NJD)
Tomas Vanek (BUF) vs. Manny Fernandez (BOS)
Anze Kopitar (LA) vs. Marty Turco (DAL)
Mike …read more

In an overtime thriller, the Detroit Red Wings successfully won their second home game over the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2009 Western Conference Finals.
I know it was a loss for the ‘Hawks but I still think they played a very good game.  It was a tough one but, in the end, Mikael Samuelsson scored 5:14 into overtime to give Detroit the 3-2 victory.

It just shows what kind of stamina a well-trained and disciplined team like the Red Wings can deliver despite the fact that their legs must be pretty tired at this point (they played for the fourth time in …read more

The finalists for the Vezina, Norris, Calder, Selke and Lady Byng Memorial Trophies have been chosen.  I will update this post as more nominees are announced.  The winners will be revealed at the 2009 NHL Awards which will be broadcast from Las Vegas, NV on June 18, 2009.  I’m going to list my predictions in each category but feel free to let me know who you think will win in the comments area!
VEZINA TROPHY
The possible Vezina Trophy (top goaltender) winners include Tim Thomas (Boston Bruins), Niklas Backstrom (Minnesota Wild) and rookie Steve Mason (Columbus Blue Jackets). I think that all …read more

It was an amazing night for the Columbus Blue Jackets who made the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in franchise history after a 4-3 SO win over the Chicago Blackhawks.

It has been almost nine years since the Blue Jackets were added to the NHL and I’m sure this victory was sweet since they were the only active team to have never qualified for the postseason.  They only needed one point to secure the playoff spot.  “To get that one point was huge, to come back after being down 2-0,” Rick Nash said. “To get the win was even …read more

Did you catch the Vancouver at Dallas Stars game last night?  It was a crazy one filled with action, injuries, wild hits and amazing saves.  It truly looked like a playoff game and reminded me of how strongly these teams have battled during the postseason in the past.  It also demonstrated how much Vancouver wants to overcome their setbacks this season and make playoffs.  Vancouver is now 17-4-1 in its past 22 games and has 87 points which ties them with the Chicago Blackhawks for fourth place in the Western Conference.

I saw Daniel Sedin take a high stick to the …read more

With playoff fever sweeping across the NHL, the on-ice id definitely heating up.  These “plays of the week” packages are getting better and you can see that the players are very determined to fight for a spot in the postseason.  Of course, there is a clip from when Martin Brodeur (New Jersey Devils) became the NHL goalie with the most wins in history (beating the record set by the great Patrick Roy).
Make sure you see the goal made by Martin Havlat (Chicago Blackhawks) around the 4:45 mark.  He leaps across the ice and takes a shot in mid-air and scored …read more

I’m sure none of us are surprised by the fact that Don Cherry ripped in to Alexander Ovechkin again during his “Coach’s Corner” segment of Hockey Night in Canada.  He criticized the Washington Capitals star for his on-ice antics after making history by scoring his 50th goal of the season (the first player to accomplish that feat three times).
The ever-observant former player/coach was quick to point out that Ovie’s teammate, Mike Green, skated away from him when he put his stick down on the ice and pretended to warm his hands over it.   Cherry then directed his comments straight at …read more

There were some great plays this past week across the NHL but there were a couple goals that stood out for me – Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh) scoring on the Florida Panthers with his back turned to the net, Jamie Lundmark (Calgary) wrapping around the net to surprise Ty Conklin (Detroit) with 1:20 left in the game and then Olli Jokinen securing the 6-5 victory in a shootout after making a major comeback.  Jokinen also scored an amazing breakaway goal for the Flames (who lost) against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
There were great saves too – Steve Mason (Columbus) denies the Boston …read more

Wow.  I know the goal against Vesa Toskala was bad but watch this one.  It doesn’t change direction or anything – it just bounces into the back of the net.  This change of events is likely the reason the Minnesota Wild came back and beat the San Jose Sharks. 
Marek Zidlicky took a backhand shot from mid-ice and, incredibly, it bounced right back backup goalie, Brian Boucher.  Watch the goal:

Wow.  Talk about embarrassing.  During the game between the Washington Capitals and the Boston Bruins, fans must have been shocked to see the home team lose after Alexander Semin (Caps) put a goal behind Tim Thomas (Bruins) from 80 feet away.  It just goes to show that even the best team in the league with a great goaltender can lose from dumb mistakes.  I couldn’t help but laugh at how fast Thomas bolted from the ice.