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Being on a losing streak has got to suck ass but some people just can’t seem to handle the pressure.  One example is Keith Ballard.  Here’s what happened.

In the first period, Ilya Kovalchuk had a breakaway, took a shot, it rebounded and he found a way to get it past goaltender, Tomas Vokoun.  Nothing too surprising, really.  What shocked everyone watching the game, however, was the fact that Ballard expressed his frustration by swinging his hockey stick and hitting his own goalie in the head with it.

Some people are saying that he was trying to hit the crossbar but there’s no way that I believe that.  If you watch the video (especially from the second angle), you’ll see that Ballard actually moves toward Vokoun and then swings.  If he was trying to hit the crossbar, why would he move away from the net?  I think he was just pissed that Vokoun gave up that rebound.

The lamest part is that this was during the first period when the team had plenty of time to get things together and Vokoun is tied for first place for shutouts.  He’s a good goalie.  He didn’t deserve that.

Watch the video.  I seriously couldn’t believe it.

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The problem with the hit was that Neal came at Dorsett from behind even though his likely target was Marc Methot.  He seemed to leave his feet also to make sure the hit was hard and that’s where to the trouble lies.  Dorsett went face first into the glass and couldn’t get up.

I’m sorry but we need to start protecting the players better.  If a crappy player or a the team’s leading scorer hits someone, they should get the same sort of punishment.  I’m really tired of this preferential treatment.

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The Detroit Red Wings were looking for a game-tying goal and they got it.  The only problem was that it was deemed a non-goal and I can’t understand how anyone could make this call.  It’s clearly in the net, fricking Alex Auld has to scoop in and dig it out and they still claim it wasn’t conclusive?  It’s pretty obvious that it was a goal but the Red Wings ended up losing 3-1 and I totally believe this is the reason for it.

Maybe there’s something to all the chatter about there being a conspiracy against Detroit?  This just seems unbelievably crazy to me.  Watch the video:

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Last night, the winner was crowned and, apparently, it was no surprise to the show’s many viewers (it did so well that CBC is ordering up a second season!).

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Ward is still in the hospital and didn’t fly home with the team after the 3-2 loss.  “It’s a significant injury and all I mean by that is I don’t have any timeline,” coach Paul Maurice said. “There was a fair amount of blood on the ice. All I know it was his leg; other than that I do not know any more.”

Ward had to be helped off the ice by two trainers with blood trailing him all the way to the dressing room.  He seems to be a magnate for skate blades since he got sliced up by Brad Isbister during a game in March 2007.

“It’s a scary thing to have happen,” Columbus goalie Steve Mason said. “When you see something like that happen, especially a guy like him — he’s a really nice guy off the ice — you hope everything is OK and it’s not too serious.  With the amount of blood that was coming from him, it’s a pretty scary situation.”

I seriously hope that everything goes well with Ward.  He was so important to the team’s playoff success last year and I felt that he was off to a decent start again.  Hopefully, it’s nothing too serious and he’ll be back in the lineup in no time.

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The hit definitely was ugly – Ruutu slammed Tucker to the boards while he was trying to play the puck in Carolina’s end and Tucket collided with the glass and then was knocked unconscious and appeared to be bleeding.  The medical workers put a neck brace on him and took him off the ice.

At the hospital, Tucker received 40 stitches to his forehead and he stayed in the hospital overnight even though the CT scan was negative.  He did suffer a concussion and will probably be out of the lineup for 10 days minimum.

Ruutu will forfeit $59,067.36 in salary and will be eligible to return for the game against the San Jose Sharks on Sunday, November 1, 2009.

I personally don’t think that the suspension was enough.  If you didn’t see it, here’s a video of the hit:

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YouTube

Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune wrote:  “After a near two-hour practice on Tuesday, and just after the coaches all vacated the ice, the players took a tongue-in-cheek approach in order to lighten the mood by playing a round of Naked Shootout — think strip hockey — to help shed a little fun in what has been a rather dismal week around the team.  The rules were quite simple, 18 skaters took their turns taking shootout attempts on goaltenders Mike Smith and Antero Niittymaki. Every time one of the shooters failed to convert, they removed an article of their equipment.”

Yeah… here’s a video:

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Sure, Calgary didn’t really need it with 4:05 left in the third since they were already up two goals but since Sjostrom is new to the team, I haven’t really seen what he can do and last night I was totally surprised.

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He approached the net and couldn’t get a shot away, faked out Columbus goalie, Steve Mason, and then did a spin-o-rama right into the net.  It really was awesome so I thought I’d share the video:

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The break happened after he made contact with Boston Bruins defenceman, Dennis Wideman, during their terrible loss on Saturday night.

There was so much action during that game that I have to admit that I had almost forgotten about this injury and I’m disappointed that it is this serious.  Honestly, though, you can pretty much see from this video below that it’s not going to be good.  I can’t tell but a lot of fans say that Cole was trying to sidestep and that Wideman went out of his way to create the collision.

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After the Calgary Flames were stonewalled by goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin in the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning, I’ve always hated playing against him.  I wanted to see how Miikka Kiprusoff would hold up after such a spectacular start to the season but I really just wanted to see the Flames burn the Oilers.

Things started well for Calgary.  We got on the scoreboard just 1:52 into the first when Curtis Glencross easily beat Khabibulin.  Surely, that was a fluke, I thought.  Edmonton answered with a goal by Dustin Penner but then David Moss scored on Khabi again.

In the second period, each team scored a goal making the score 3-2 in favor of Calgary going into the second intermission.  When Sam Gagner tied the game and the clock began to wind down, I got myself ready for overtime but seriously couldn’t believe what happened next.

I’m sitting there with my family watching and with less than a minute left, Khabibulin comes out of the net to try to deal with a bouncing puck only to have it plucked away from him by Moss, who, in one flukey/crazy movement, managed to score on the unmanned net.  It took us all a second to register what we’d seen and then we just erupted in laughter – deep, slightly painful, pointing-at-the-screen laughter.  I’m serious.  I had tears running down my face.  Maybe it’s because I hate Edmonton since they are our natural rivals but seeing Sheldon Souray lying facedown as Khabibulin looked down at him in shame still has me chuckling.  I’m such an asshole.

Here’s the real kicker – Kiprusoff had to make 31 saves while Khabibulin struggled with 17.  Lame.  Let’s hope things improve for the newly acquired Edmonton goalie.  You gotta watch this video.

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