NHL 3 Stars For December 23rd – Christmas Eve Edition

 Dallas Stars, Florida Panthers, three-stars, washington capitals  No Responses »
Dec 242008
 

Sadly, there are no games in the NHL tonight. I guess it is Christmas Eve and all. The players deserve a few days off for all the entertainment they've provided us thus far. Still it would be nice to hit the couch with a belly full of turkey, grab the remote, and surf through some NHL action. Oh well, at least we've got the Winter Classic Game on New Year's Day.

With the upcoming break there was a full slate on last night's NHL schedule, and a few surprising blowouts that put players from the Leafs and the Canucks in a bad mood for their Christmas holidays. Here are the players that were lighting it up in last night's action:

3rd Star - Alexander Ovechkin - Ovie was up to his old tricks again last night as he almost single-handedly willed his Washington Capitals to a compelling comeback victory over the New York Rangers. After New York had built a 3-0 lead and looked like they were going to cruise to an easy victory Ovechkin took matters into his own hands. He potted 2 goals, including the game-tying marker, added an assist, and peppered Henrik Lundqvist with an incredible 13 shots on goal. Though he did not have a hand in the overtime winner by Shaone Morrisonn, Ovechkin did everything else to secure Washington an important 2 points before the Christmas break.

2nd Star - James Neal - Not exactly the note the Toronto Maple Leafs wanted to go into the Christmas break on. They had looked pretty good of late, and with the exception of an 8-5 loss to the powerful Boston Bruins had been doing an admirable job of keeping the puck out of their own net. That all went out the window last night as Dallas torched them for 8 goals in an 8-2 drubbing. To make matters worse the game was in Toronto, and the Leafs fans were not in a forgiving mood, booing players and coach alike for the poor effort. However poor the Leafs play was, however, it doesn't take away from the spectacular effort of Dallas Star James Neal, who netted a hat trick in the lopsided victory.

1st Star - Tomas Vokoun - With back-up goalie Craig Anderson leading the league in save percentage Tomas Vokoun was no doubt feeling the heat. Well the past few days he has been doing his best to quell any speculation that his number one job was in jeopardy. Vokoun put in a stellar 27 save performance last night to earn his second straight shutout. There were a number of spectacular performances by goalies last night with Tim Thomas, Evgeni Nabokov, Jon Quick and Mike Smith all putting up donuts, but Vokoun got the nod for pulling off the back to back blankings.

 Posted by at 12:40 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , ,

NHL 3 Stars For December 18th – Sniper Edition

 Boston Bruins, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, hockey videos  2 Responses »
Dec 192008
 

Wow, the snipers were at it again last night, and though there was a shutout and a few 2-1 games, there were also games that featured a boatload of goals (Toronto vs Boston anyone?). Phil Kessel picked up 2 goals and an assist to continue his point streak, now at 16 games. Evgeni Malkin had another 4 points to widen his lead atop the scoring race, and Brad Richards had a goal, three assists and a shootout goal to help Dallas prevail in a controversial game over Columbus. Yet none of these great performances got the athletes involved a spot on our NHL 3 stars list. Yes, competition was fierce last night. So who did make the cut? Read on to find out.

3rd Star - Loui Eriksson - A controversial game in Dallas last night to be sure. The Columbus Blue Jackets felt they won the game when Manny Malhotra scored in overtime to give the Jackets what appeared to be a 6-5 win. The refs called it a goal on the ice, but the so-called experts in Toronto got involved and overturned the call. The Stars went on to win the game in a shootout. All the controversy doesn't detract from the performance of Loui Eriksson though. The winger continued his surprising play, netting a hat trick to help his team overcome more shaky goaltending from Marty Turco and get the controversial victory.

2nd Star - Pavel Datsyuk - It is scary just how good the Detroit Red Wings are. Here they sit with a 21-6-4 record, despite questionable defensive play, shaky goaltending, and the fact that stars Datsyuk and Zetterberg sit 23rd and 31st in league scoring respectively. Will anybody be able to stop them once the winged wheel gets oiled up and begins working at full efficiency? If last night's game against the powerful San Jose Sharks was any indication the answer is a resounding no. Pavel Datsyuk was at his slick stickhandling best last night, scoring 2 goals and adding 2 assists as the Wings pounded the Sharks in a statement game that may be a preview to this spring's Western Conference final.

1st Star - David Krejci - Everything is going right for the Boston Bruins these days. Goaltender Tim Thomas is a Vezina candidate, Phil Kessel has finally come into his own, Milan Lucic is swiftly turning into the 2nd coming off Cam Neely, and the always underrated Marc Savard now sits 4th in NHL scoring. That should be enough for any team, shouldn't it? Well, the Bruins have another ace up their sleeve. Sophomore David Krejci has been on fire of late with 8 points in his last 3 games, and he is now averaging better than a point a game with 32 points in 31 games so far this season. Krejci continued his spectacular play last night, torching the Toronto Maple Leafs for 3 goals, including a highlight reel special that should get plenty of play on SportsCenter. Whether Krejci can keep up this pace remains to be seen, but if he can then the Bruins' depth of scoring forwards, combined with their stingy defense will make it almost impossible for anyone in the Eastern Conference to stop them.

Here is the video footage of the disallowed goal in the Columbus Dallas game. Do you think the goal should have counted? Cast your vote below:

[poll id="5"]

 Posted by at 9:53 am  Tagged with: , , ,

Will Sean Avery Ever Play Another NHL Game?

 Dallas Stars, NHL news  No Responses »
Dec 152008
 

Sean Avery is done as a Dallas Star. The team announced yesterday that after serious internal dialog they were going to part ways with Sean Avery. Though they want to support him, it was decided that Sean Avery returning to Dallas was not in the best interest of the team.

It is pretty easy to see why Avery will not be welcomed back into the fold in Dallas. His coach has spoken out against him, his teammates certainly have not stepped up and defended him. The owner of the team expressed his disappointment in Avery's actions. In fact, the only measure of public support Avery received was from Brett Hull, and that was probably only Hull doing damage control since Avery's signing came at his strong urging. After all that has happened in the wake of Sean Avery's sloppy seconds comment no one in the organization could fathom him coming back to the team without being a major negative distraction.

Now that Avery's fate has been decided by Dallas management there is the issue of what to do with him. He still has the bulk of his 4 year $15 million contract that Dallas is on the hook for. They can try and trade him, send him to the minors, or buy him out. They still have not indicated which avenue they pursue.

For the time being Avery will continue with the anger management program the league assigned to him, but at some point in the future his hockey career will again be front and center. Is Sean Avery damaged goods beyond hope of repair, or will some other NHL team take a chance on him?

I find it hard to believe that any NHL club, after watching what has transpired in Dallas, would be willing to introduce that sort of potential distraction into their locker room. It would be one thing if the guy had the talent of Sidney Crosby or Jarome Iginla, but his skill-set has him hovering between the 2nd and the 3rd line. Dallas has been in disarray ever since Avery came on board, and fairly or unfairly, other teams around the league are going to see those results in a very poor light when considering whether or not Avery is a fit for their team.

Sadly for Avery this latest debacle may have been his very last in an NHL uniform. The most likely scenario will have Dallas buying out his contract, followed by Avery's agent working double-time, trying to find a new home for his troublesome client. In the end I think all 29 other teams will take a pass on Avery this time around. They've seen the damage he can do to a team, and even if he comes out of counseling a changed man the negative stigma associated with Avery and his antics to this point in his career would make him difficult to market to any fan base in the league.

In my opinion Avery will likely find his way to Europe, and providing he keeps his nose clean and sticks to playing hockey, and eschews the sideshow antics he may find himself welcome in the NHL some time in the distant future.

 Posted by at 4:34 pm  Tagged with: ,
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