As a Calgary Flames fan, I’ve had a really hard time watching goaltender, Miikka Kiprusoff, go from this incredible talent with so much promise, to a struggling player.  I realize that he was exceptionally good when he joined the team but I never figured it was a fluke.  I also know that he had a hard time with Mike Keenan as the head coach over the past couple seasons since their tension was visibly obvious which is pretty significant considering how reserved Kipper is.

When they announced that Brent Sutter would be coming over from the New Jersey Devils, I was …read more

With Carey Price struggling, Jaroslav Halak has been used as the starting goaltender more than some expected.  I’ve been pretty happy for the backup goaltender since I think he’s got some talent but needs more ice time to develop.  Price has actually been pretty cool about it (I even have wondered if he was being too cool) so I think the fact that Halak’s agent Allan Walsh took a swipe at him on Twitter makes him a douche.

All of this went down after the Montreal Canadiens lost 3-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.  Walsh decided to do …read more

So far, this season is off to a real sub-standard start for the Detroit Red Wings. They are currently hovering around the 16th spot in the league which is a far cry from the smoking hot start of their twice-in-a-row Stanley Cup Finals the Pittsburgh Penguins (currently #2 behind Colorado).

Tonight, they faced the Toronto Maple Leafs and had their asses handed to them after being beat 5-1.  It was a rough night for Detroit goaltender, Chris Osgood, which only highlighted how stellar Jonas Gustavsson in net for the Leafs.  He made 35 saves and continues to be a major factor …read more

Alexander Ovechkin will be sitting out of the Washington Capitals lineup for the weekend as he recuperates from an upper body injury which he suffered during the overtime loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets last Sunday.

He still leads the league with 14 goals in 14 games and also has nine assists.
I’m sure the Caps, and their fans, are trying not to panic too much but they lost to the New Jersey Devils this past weekend and are now 1-4-0 without Ovie (since the 2005-2006 season).
It was bound to happen, though.  Almost every player has suffered some sort of injury in …read more

Shane O’Brien strikes again.  He’s hot-tempered and I think he gets into more penalty trouble than he should and this is no exception.  The NHL has suspended the Vancouver Canucks defenceman after his stick made contact with New York Rangers player, Sean Avery, while they were both seated on the bench.
A melee had broken out between the teams and it was just one of many scrums that happened as a result but you, obviously, cannot hit someone while you’re on the bench.   O’Brien will miss Thursday’s game at Minnesota but will be eligible to return on Friday at Dallas.
Here’s a …read more

The Columbus Blue Jackets will be without forward, Kristian Huselius, for at least a week after he got injured during practice.  He’s been placed on the injured reserve list retroactively as of November 3, 2009.
While his game has not quite been on fire, he is off to a fairly decent start having scored five goals and posting four assists in the 13 games he’s played.  Last year, he notched up 56 points.
I think that Huselius is a really great player so I’m sure they will miss him.  While he was on the Calgary Flames roster, he did well at first …read more

After Anaheim Ducks defenceman James Wisniewski took a forearm to the head of forward Shane Doan over the weekend, the NHL has decided that the action warrants a two-game suspension.

The hit took place during the first period after the Coyotes were left shorthanded for having too many men on the ice.  Wisniewski crossed the Ducks blueline and delivered a hard blow to Doan’s head.
There wasn’t a penalty assessed at the time for the hit but as soon as play stopped, Coyotes d-man, Keith Yandle, decided to send Wisniewski a message.  As a result, he was given a 10-minute game misconduct …read more

Simon Gagne has been diagnosed with two small hernias in his right groin and will out of the Philadelphia Flyers’ lineup for six to eight weeks which, of course, sucks.  That basically means that he won’t be coming back until the new year.

General manager Paul Holmgren announced: ”Simon is going to have surgery tomorrow (Tuesday) to reinforce the rectus abdominis on both sides, and at the same time he’s going to look and see, laparoscopically, through his belly button, at the small hernias that we saw, and he’ll repair those as well.  We’re probably looking at six-to-eight weeks before [Gagne …read more

Washington Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin left early in the second period and did not return to the game in the team’s 5-4 loss against the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight.  The possible injury occurred when Ovie collided with Raffi Torres.

After falling to the ice, the Russian player stood up and appeared to be in pain.  A team spokesman said that Ovechkin had suffered some sort of upper body injury and is currently being listed as day-to-day.
I know there are other players for the Caps to rely on but no one wants to lose a player like Ovechkin, who went into Sunday’s …read more

NHL fans are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the introduction of goaltender masks.  On November 1, 1959 the New York Rangers were hosting the Montreal Canadiens at the Madison Square Garden.
Rangers forward, Andy Bathgate, was pretty irritable with Habs netminder, Jacques Plante, who, he says, rubbed it in when the Rangers were beaten at home.  He also was a bit upset about an altercation with the goalie that almost left Bathgate in the hospital.

“The puck was dumped in and it wasn’t a hard shot,” Batgate recalled.  “I thought I could beat him to the puck but all this was happening …read more