Down the Frozen River

Author: fanellifrank18

  • Sick Hands Sunday – Cammalleri and Johnson Completely Go Off, Take Home This Week’s Trophy.

    Hey everyone, I’m back again for a new week of Sick Hands Sunday! I can’t wait to get another version out to all my fans for you all to enjoy! This week was a little easier to pick the winner so let’s get right into it!

    So for the forward portion of the mix, like I just stated above, it was one of the easiest weeks to pick the winner! The reason why I say this was because Devils winger Mike Cammalleri was on an absolute tear over the last week picking up eight points (4G, 4A) in just three games. In all three of his games, he tallied at least two points and one power play point as well. Here’s how Cammalleri did game by game.

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    Cammalleri passes the puck to Travis Zajac for his goal (Julio Cortez/AP)

    In Cammalleri’s first game, he picked up four points (1G, 3A) with nine shots on goal, and 23 TOI in a 5-4 come from behind shootout victory of the Maple Leafs. Cammy’s first point of the night came off a wicked assist where he grabbed the pass from eventual goal scorer Travis Zajac at the left dot. He saw him driving to the net, fired a pass over to him streaking down the right-hand side, and Zajac redirected the puck in the Devils first goal of the game.

    https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/801598285039312896

    Shortly after that, just four minutes and some change later Cammalleri was finally on the scoresheet. He was in the right place at the right time as we like to call it in the hockey world. Cammy stood right on the doorstep and grabbed the rebound from fellow defender Andy Greene and slotted the puck past Leafs goalie Jhonas Enroth to come back from 3-0 down to tie the game at 3-3.

    https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/801602858978152449

    In Cammalleri’s next game against the Red Wings, he recorded two points (1G, 1A) in a 5-4 shootout loss. Cammy’s goal was pure hard work and dedication if I’ve ever seen it. He drove to the slot, got the puck poked away but still stayed with it and never lost sight of the puck. Cammy was able to settle the puck, spin around, and fire the puck past Petr Mrazek to tie the game up at 2-2. (This is a great caption for the video New Jersey, props to you guys)

    https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/802332004792471552

    Cammalleri’s last game was a great one to cap off the week. He scored two goals in a heartbreaking 4-3 shootout loss to the Penguins. Camm’s firs goal was a wicked shot that beat Matthew Murray far blocker side. He received  a pass at the top of the right dot a quickly released a shot that beat Murray to open the scoring in the game.

    https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/802670989012307968

    Then Cammy tallied yet another goal on the power play and this one was a beauty. He received the pass on the right-hand dot loaded up and ready for the one timer. As the pass came he took a look up to see where the goalie was and he let the shot go. Murray was able to get a good chunk of the shot but not all of it and the puck trickled in for the 3-2 lead! Here is the goal below:

    https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/802685985897246720

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    Now the goalie portion of the article I decided to go with Calgary tendy, Chad Johnson. The reason why I picked him is simple, he was on fire and he is making a statement to be the number one there. He went 3-0  while only giving up three goals in three starts with a 34 save shutout vs the Jackets and a .968 SV% and a 1.00 GAA during the week . He had an amazing 35 save performance against a strong Boston Bruins team as well. So if Johnson keeps this up, I think Brian Elliott is about to have a problem. Right now his stats are, in 11 games, a 7-3-1 record on a .928 SV% and a 1.98 GAA and 2 SO, while Elliot’s record in 12 games is 3-9 on a .882 SV% and a 3.43 GAA. Clearly Johnson looks like the better goalie and deserves more starts.

    The Honorable Mention goes to Peter Budaj and Alex Ovechkin. I will see you guys next Sunday for another recap of the best player of the week! (Thanks to the New Jersey Devils’ Twitter for the videos of the goals!)

  • Sick Hands Sunday – van Riemsdyk and Vasilevskiy Capture This Week’s ‘SHS’ Crown.

    Hello, everyone, I hoped you all enjoyed the new version of the Sick Hands of the month as I will be incorporating that into the site once a month. But now I will be going back to my usual once a week ‘SHS’ version so let’s get at it for this week!

    For the forward part of the article I narrowed my pick down to three players who had fantastic weeks. Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov who tallied six points (4G, 2A) in four games, Toronto winger James van Riemsdyk who also grabbed six points (4G, 2A) in three points, and then Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom who recorded six points (3G, 3A) in three games. Just like all the other articles this one’s super hard to chose a winner for this week because the top three players all went off. I decided to go with Maple Leafs winger James van Riemsdyk because he was on fire all week long!

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    James van Riemsdyk celebrates his first goal (Peter Power/Canadian Free Press/Ap)

    In JVR’s first game of the week, he went off on the Nashville Predators in a 6-2 win at home. JVR recorded his first hat trick with the Leafs and his second overall in his career. On his first goal, JVR came into the slot on the right slide put a shot on net that was blocked, corralled the shot and fired it home for his first of the game to tie it at 1-1. With his second goal, JVR received a beautiful pass from linemate Tyler Bozak from the right in front of the net. All he had to do was redirect the puck into the wide open net for his second of the game and he tied the game back up at two goals apiece. On JVR’s third goal of the game, he picked the loose puck up on the left dot, drove to the net and fired a backhander through the goalie’s legs to finish his hat trick and put the game out of reach. JVR finished with three goals and an assist to cap off a four-point. You can see his hat trick down below:

    van Riemsdyk got off to another awesome game when the Leafs took on the Panthers at home two days later. JVR finished with another goal and an assist in a 6-1 win. He had a great individual effort on his goal that out the game out of reach for the Panthers. JVR went in on the forecheck of the Panthers defender in the offensive zone. The Florida D-man made a huge mistake and JVR easily picked off the pass and went in on a semi-breakaway. JVR took the puck and ripped a shot in the high slot and beat Panthers goalie James Reimer through the wickets to make the game 5-1. Unfortunately, in the Leafs’ last game of the week against the Canadians, they were ousted 2-1 and JVR was held off the scoresheet. Here is his goal below:

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    Andrei Vasilevskiy makes a big glove save (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

    Now to the goalie portion of the article and this one was pretty easy to choose from! I decided to go with Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy because ‘Vasy” was on point this week! Tampa played a total of three games this week and usually him and Ben Bishop split time during the games because there is no number one goalie in Tampa. Well, Vasy got two of the three starts and went 2-0 in those two games posting two perfect games shutting out both teams (the Flyers and the Islanders). So it was clear this week that Vasy was the number one and if he can turn in more games like this look out for him to start more games and take away starts from Ben Bishop!

    The Honorable Mention this week go to Nicklas Backstrom and Braden Holtby, who were also great this week but weren’t able to get the crown. I will see you guys next Sunday for another recap of the best player of the week! (Thanks to the Maple Leafs’ Twitter for the videos of the goals!)

  • Sick Hands of The Month – Panarin, Scheifele, Tarasenko, Burns, Weber, and Price win The First SHoTM.

    Hey, everyone, I’m back this week for something a bit different then what I usually do! I’ve decided that every month instead of doing just the normal Sick Hands Sunday, I would turn it into the players of the month. So what I’m basically going to do is pick a player from each position on the ice (Left Wing, Center, Right Wing, two defenders, and a goalie). Then it’s basically the same thing as the normal “SHS” where I recap why I picked them and highlight their best games, goals, assists, etc. Here’s the first Sick Hands of the Month below and let’s see how it goes!

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    Mark Scheifele – Center (WPG) The reason why I picked the 6’3″ center from Kitchener, Ontario is simple. He leads the league and his team with twenty points (10G, 10A) in just 16 games at the one month mark. In his last five games’s he’s tallied a whopping eleven points (5G, 6A), so he is on absolute fire, and that may even be an understatement. He centers the first line with Nikolaj Ehlers on his left and rookie Patrik Laine (who leads the league in goals with 11) on his right. So he is having no problem producing with his line, even if it is a very young line. A month into the campaign last year, Mark only had a measly nine points through 15 games (5G, 4A). S0 he is making a huge improvement from last year. Keep a look out for Scheifele to stay red hot, and if he does, for the Jets to start putting a couple wins together.

    Artemi Panarin – Left Wing (CHI) Picking the Left Winger was a bit difficult because it was either Panarin or Nick Foligno from the Blue Jackets. I decided to go with Panarin because he just had a better month even if they were tied in points. Panarin recorded six points in his last five games, that’s not as much as Scheifele but it is still a decent five-game span. He is tied for fourth in the league in points with 16 and is second on his team in points and is on the Blackhawks second line with fellow Russian, Artem Anisimov and Slovak, Marian Hossa. A month into his amazing rookie season last year Panarin only had 12 points (2G, 10A) so compared to last year he is doing much better to start the season. I see no problem with his game now, and I wouldn’t be surprised if by next month he is in contention for this spot again.

    Vladimir Tarasenko – Right Wing (STL) Like picking the left, picking the right winger was challenging as well! It was down between Tarasenko and Patrick Kane (who else to be honest?) I ended up going with Tarasenko because he’s produced more with less time on the ice then Kane. Even though they both have 17 points, Tarasenko grabbed six goals and eleven assists while only averaging 18 minutes on the ice which is very impressive. While Kane had 17 points with 22 minutes on the ice, so that’s why I picked him. Tarasenko is on St. Louis’ second line with Jori Lehtera and Robby Fabbri, so he is really the main producer of that line. He leads the Blues in points with those nice 17 points. Tarasenko hasn’t really missed a beat from last year where a month into the season he racked up 13 points (7G, 6A). In his last five games he’s racked up eight points, so when Tarasenko’s on fire so are the Blues.

    Brent Burns – Defense (SJS) Who else but Brent Burns honestly? When you think defense or even offensive defensemen the first name that comes to my mind is Brent Burns and I’m sure it come’s to many others as well. Burns leads all D-men with 14 points, 6 goals and tied for fourth with 8 assists. He also is tied with Joe Pavelski for the team lead in points. So as you can see, he is tearing it up so it wasn’t too hard to pick Burns as one of my main guys for the month. Burns has four points in his last five games which isn’t too bad for a defender. Based off a year ago and a month into the season Burns only had 10 points (4G, 6A) so he is on pace from last year and doing a little better as well. Maybe this year he can be crowned best defender in the league!

    Shea Weber – Defense (MTL) Wow, some people, honestly I was one of them may be saying “Weber? How did he make it?” Well, I will tell you guys, because it is pretty impressive. After the trade, I thought he was going to be worthless but boy was I wrong. Weber is tied for second for defenders in points with 12 and is tied with Brent Burns for the league lead with six goals. He also has six assists to round out his great first month to the season that has made very many Habs fans happy. Weber is third on his team in points and last year a month into a season Weber only had seven points (3G, 4A) when he was still in Nashville before the trade. So a change of scenery has definitely had an impact on his scoring. Weber has three points in his last five games, which have all been goals! Weber has turned everyone’s head and he will probably continue to do so, so I think he will continue to produce.

    Carey Price – Goalie (MTL) Picking Carey Price was probably the easiest position of this article. The reason why I say this is extremely easy to explain, Price leads the league in wins (10) and has a 10-0 record. He just became the first goalie ever in the history of the NHL to start the season with 10 straight wins. He’s second in the league with a 1.40 GAA and a 957 SV% only to Penguins goalie Matt Murray who has only played four games compared to Carey’s 10 so in my opinion Price is number one. Price is also second in the league with two shutouts with his most recent one coming to the Red Wings. Compared to last year Price dealt a major injury and only played in 12 games so he is showing no signs of rust and is showing us why he is the great Carey Price.

    Well, that does it for me this week, I hope everyone enjoys the new version of the article! I know I had a blast and I hope you all did reading it as well! I will see you guys next Sunday for another recap of the best player of the week!

  • Sick Hands Sunday – Corey Crawford and Nikita Kucherov Catch Fire This Week, Take Home the Crown.

    Hello, folks, I’m back at it again with another “SHS” article and I can’t wait to get another article out for the week to the fans out there! So it looks like I am going to stick with the goalie portion of the article because it was a big hit with the readers! I also enjoyed writing that part as well.

    To start the forward portion of the article I picked out the top three players of the week and it was yet another close matchup! Tampa Bay winger Nikita Kucherov tallied eight points in four games (3G, 5A), Rangers center Kevin Hayes who also recorded eight points (3G, 5A) in four games, and Rangers winger Michael Grabner who grabbed seven points (5G, 2A) in four games as well. This was extremely hard to choose simply because Grabner was able to score five goals, yes FIVE goals in four games! I just had to go with Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov who was on a tear this past week and I will tell you just why I picked him!

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    Kucherov celebrates his goal vs the Islanders (Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)

    Kucherov’s first game didn’t go quite as planned to say the least. They got demolished by the Rangers 6-1 at Madison Square Garden, but Kucherov was able to pick up a power play assist on the Lightning’s loan goal. Their next game against the Islanders the Lightning returned the favor and thrashed the Islanders 6-1. Kucherov picked up two goals (both on the power play), two assists (one on the power play), and finished with a plus-two on the night. You can see Kucherov’s two beautiful goals down below:

     

    Here is Kucherov’s beautiful second goal of the game:

    Kucherov’s next game he took on the Bruins in a hard-fought battle of high-scoring offense’s. Unfortunately, the Lightning lost in a whopping 20 player shootout 4-3. Kucherov was able to pick up an amazing behind the back power play assist to Victor Hedman who scored from deep to bring the game back to 2-1. You can see the insane pass down below:

    The Lightning then took on the Devils in their last game of the week and handled them fairly easy with the final score being 4-1. Kucherov finished with a goal and an assist with the assist coming on the power play. His assist happened with a shot right off the faceoff, and teammate Brayden Point deflected the shot in the slot for his first career goal! Kucherov wasted no time getting the shot on net and it resulted in a goal. Here is the goal and assist down below:

    Kucherov then iced the game with an amazing breakaway dangle that made Devils goalie Cory Schneider. He busted in behind the D and mad a quick move to his backhand a tucked the puck under his glove hand to ice the game at 4-1. Here is his awesome goal:

     

     

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    Corey Crawford makes a save during a game this week (CSNChicago)

    Now we move to the goalies! YAY! We all love goalies, right? I mean I love watching them especially when they are on fire! That’s just was Corey Crawford was this week, on fire and I mean it. Crawford went 4-0 in four games with a .978 SV% and a .75 GAA allowing three goals on 137 shots. I mean that is amazing. Which made it even better was he faced the Kings, Calgary, Colorado, and Dallas. He shutout the Los Angles and the Avalanche which was also very impressive as well. Usually, Crawford can have his ups and downs. But if he can keep his play up like he did this week, the Hawks will be unstoppable!

    The Honorable Mention goes out to Kevin Hayes and Braden Holtby, who had killer weeks but couldn’t get the award! I will see you guys next Sunday for another recap of the best player of the week! (Thanks to the Lightning’s twitter account for the awesome video’s of the goals!)

  • Sick Hands Sunday – Brayden Schenn and Devan Dubnyk Capture This Weeks Crown With Dominate Preformance’s.

    Hello, folks, I’m back at it again with another “SHS” article and I can’t wait to get another article out for the week to the fans out there! This week I have some exciting news for everyone as I am changing up the way I do the weekly article! So as everyone knows the point of the article is to recap and point out the hot player of the week. Well, I thought the goalies should start getting some love too! So I am going to test out the waters and see how this week goes with the goalies added as well!

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    Schenn skates to the puck in the corner. (Yong Kim / Staff File Photo)

    This week for the forward part of the article it wasn’t as tight as a competition but it was close. In fact, the two players I narrowed it down to are from the same place, the KeyStone State! Penguins winger Phil “The Thrill”Kessel who notched six points (1G, 5A) in just three games and Flyers center Brayden Schenn who tallied six points as well (2G, 4A) in four games. There were also a whopping eight players tied with five points for second in the week but there are too many to list down below.

    I decided to go with Flyers center Brayden Schenn because he dominated all week and couldn’t be stopped. His first game of the week against Montreal he was held off the scoresheet in a tight 2-1 loss but was very effective in the game registering 5 hits. His next game versus the Sabres at home he registered one goal and one assist (both power goals and assists) on three shots on net in a 4-3 come from behind shootout win. Schenn scored the second goal of the game on a beautiful one-timer from the left-hand face off dot. He received a beauty of a saucer pass from Claude Giroux and blasted the shot past Nilsson to bring the Flyers back to 3-2. You can see his highlights down below:

    Schenn’s next game in a heartbreaking 5-4 loss to Arizona he, once again, tallied a goal and two assists in a monster game that they should’ve won. He had another power play goal and an assist on 3 shots to the net. Schenn was able to find the puck and put it in the back of the net after finding the loose puck sitting in the slot, diving for it, and poking it in to tie the game at 2 goals apiece. Unfortunately, the Flyers were unable to pull off the win but Schenn had another great night! You can see his highlight down below:

    With Schenn’s last game being against the all mighty rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, you know he and the fans are all wishing for a win. Regretfully, they started out strong but fell 5-4 in the end. Schenn ended with an assist (which you can see down below) which was amazing! Schenn grabbed the puck in front of the net, and of balance, practically almost falling down was able to dish a no-look behind the back pass to a streaking linemate Wayne Simmonds for the tap in goal! As you can see this play took a lot of skill and capped off why I picked Schenn as this weeks Sick Hands Sunday Winner!

    Now for the first week of the goaltending section! This week was extremely hard to choose but I was able to narrow it down to three goalies. Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk went 3-0 not allowing a single goal on 94 shots and shut out every team in all three games he started this week against Boston, Buffalo, and Dallas. Obviously, he finished with a 0.00 GAA and 1.000 SV%. Edmonton goalie Cam Talbot also went 3-0 and only allowed one goal on 92 shots against Winnipeg, Washington, and Vancouver. He finished with a .989 SV% and 0.33 GAA. Last but not least, the last goalie I chose was the Blues’ Jake Allen who played 2-1 (one loss in a shootout) also giving up one goal on 54 shots against Detroit, Los Angeles, and Calgary. He finished with a .981 SV% and a 0.48 GAA. As you can clearly see, this is extremely tough to pick because all three goalies played amazing through the whole week.

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    Devan Dubnyk looks on during the action in his zone. (AP Photo/Jeffery T. Barnes)

    I decided to go with Mr. Devan Dubnyk simply because of his last three starts, yes you heard me right, all three starts have been shutouts! A 27 save shutout vs Boston (away), then a 38 save shutout vs Buffalo (away), and a 29 save shutout vs Dallas (home). To have two of those shutouts away from home is very hard and he was able to pull it off with ease, so it was easy to nominate him as my goalie winner for the week.

    The Honorable Mention goes out to Phil Kessel and Cam Talbot. They both had killer weeks but couldn’t come out on top! I will see you guys next Sunday for another recap of the best player of the week! (P.S. Thanks for Sons of Pens’ Twitter for the GIFS!)

  • Sick Hands Sunday – Anisimov’s Ramped Tear Through Three Games Give Him the Easy Win.

    Hello, folks, I’m back at it again with another “SHS” article and I can’t wait to keep the ball rolling with another week! This week was the first full week of the NHL and I couldn’t be any happier! I hope you guys are just as happy as I am!

    This week, like the past week, was pretty hard to pick a winner. (I’m just going to assume that every week is going to be tough until I see a clear winner) So I narrowed it down to four players before I picked a winner. The first one was Blackhawks center Artem Anisimov who tallied a stunning seven points (4G, 3A) in just three games. Sharks center Joe Pavelski and defender Brent Burns who both racked up six points (2G, 4A) in four games. While finally, Flyers winger Jakub Voracek, broke out of his scoring slump and recorded six points (2G, 4A) in only three games. So as you can see it was tough to choose who would take home this week’s crown.

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    Artem Anisimov celebrates his goal vs the Leafs with his teammates. (Photo by Jeff Haynes – AP Photo)

    After careful consideration, I had to go with Artem Anisimov because he was just unstoppable no matter what anyone said. In my opinion, he is very underrated and since he is playing on the second line with the most recent Calder Memorial Trophy winner Artemi Panarin and the most recent Ted Lindsay and Hart Memorial Trophy winner Patrick Kane he is having no trouble producing with them.

    In Anisimov’s first game of the week against the Philadelphia Flyers, Anisimov picked four points (2G, 2A) in a 7-4 win. He played a fantastic game, one of the best I have seen him play in a long time. (I hate to admit it because I am a Flyers fan and I was watching the game) His final line for the game was as follows: 2 goals (1 PPG, 1 GWG), 2 assists, plus 3, o penalty minutes, 3 shots on goal, 18:33 TOI. As you can see by the scoreline he was one of the best players in the game by far. Here are the full highlights of the game and his four-point night:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrTnuWZprUw

    In Anisimov’s next game, he wasn’t nearly as productive. They were surprisingly upset by the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2. Artem only managed to pick up one assist in the upset but was still able to have a good game in the loss. In his last game of the week, Anisimov returned to his golden form and potted two goals on two shots in a 5-4 come from behind shootout win against Toronto Maple Leafs. Artem’s linemate Artemi Panarin beautifully deaked around the Leafs defender and saw Anisimov go right to the net and hit him with the one-timer for his first goal of the game. Here is the amazing goal below:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBur8_ieaOo

    His second goal of the game was a pure goal scorers goal at it’s finest. He picked up the shot from a rebound right in the slot and put it home to bring the Hawks within one. You can see the goal here:

    https://www.nhl.com/video/embed/anisimov-brings-hawks-within-one/t-282910154/c-45581003

    Honorable Mention goes out to both Brent Burns and Joe Pavelski who both put up great numbers but unable to get the title this week. If Anisimov continues his tear he will be a forced to be reckoned with. I will see you guys next Sunday for another recap of the best player of the week!

  • Sick Hands Sunday – McDaivd’s Amazing Two Game Performance Puts Him On Top.

    Hello ladies and gents, I am finally back after a nice three-week break. Well, not really a break, there was just two weeks of preseason so I couldn’t do anything with that because there were no stats that were kept. So, where do I start? Hockey is finally back and I hope you die hard hockey fans, like me, are jumping out of your seats because I am! The best sport ever is finally getting back in the swing of things and I couldn’t be happier!

    The 2016-2017 NHL season officially got under way on Wednesday, October 12 which now means I will have a new article out every Sunday about the best player in the week! (Now even though this “SHS” article is going to only cover five days of hockey I will still do it.) On the 12th, there were 4 games taking place over the span of the night. Toronto vs Ottawa, St. Louis vs Chicago, Calgary vs Edmonton, and Los Angeles vs San Jose. ALL games were rivalry games so in my opinion, the NHL did a great job on the first night.

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    Connor McDavid celebrates his penalty shot goal vs the Calgary Flames (Photo by Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via VP)

    Just like my last article, this week was extremely difficult to pick a player that stood out the most just because there were three players who had a fantastic first couple of games. Edmonton center Connor McDavid has been on FIRE collecting 6 points in his first two games (3G, 3A) while winning both games against Calgary as well, Boston winger Brad Marchand (who took home honorable mention in my last article) had a dominating season opener recording FIVE points (2G, 3A) in a 6-3 come from behind win against Columbus. He finished with one more assist in a 4-1 loss to Toronto. Last but not least, Toronto Maple Leaf center Auston Matthews making his NHL debut went off against Ottawa registering four points (all of them being goals) and becoming the third youngest player to have four goals in a game. He failed to register a point in his second game against Boston. His hat trick was the quickest for a player making his NHL debut since 1943-44. And he became the fifth player overall to score a hat-trick in his first game. So as you can see I had a hard time picking who won (down below you can Matthews’ four-goal night:

     

     

     

    I decided to go with Oilers’ Connor McDavid as this weeks’ “Sick Hands Sunday” winner! The reason why I picked McDavid is simple in my opinion. The way he played in the Oilers season opener was awesome. He helped them to 7-4 win vs a depleted Calgary team. McDavid scored his team’s fourth goal overall thanks to a friendly bounce by the side of the net. McDavid corraled the rebound standing to Flames goalie Brian Elliott‘s left and slid the puck through the sprawled-out pad and into the net. He would then score again just about two minutes later on a penalty shot to increase the Oilers lead to 5-3. McDavid was hooked on a breakaway by Flames defender Dennis Wideman and was awarded a penalty shot. McDavid made Elliot look like he was in squirts again and deaked him out of his skates. He slowed down at the hash marks, quickly made four or five stick handles, made Elliott go the wrong way, and roofed the puck over Elliott’s blocker. Rodgers Place went crazy for their newly appointed captain scoring his second of the night. You can see his amazing penalty shot down below.

     

    The Oilers would then go right back to work against the same Flames team just two days later for the Flames home opener. McDavid went on to have another three-point night (1G, 2A) in another 5-3 win to move to 2-0 overall in just two games! McDavid picked right up where he left off scoring at 7:45 of the first period to tie the game up at one goal a piece. Oilers winger and linemate Jordan Eberle fed a beauty of a pass to Connor McDavid at center ice that sent him in all alone on a breakaway. Flames goalie Brian Elliott wanted to redeem himself after McDavid made him look like a fool two days ago. Well, Connor wasn’t having any of it, he made a quick little move to the backhand and roofed it over Elliott’s glove for a great goal. McDavid would then grab the next two assists on the next two Oilers goals for another solid night. Here is the link to McDavid’s game tieing goal: (https://www.nhl.com/video/mcdavid-scores-on-a-breakaway/c-45312403)

    Once again, Brad Marchand will take home the Honorable Mention for the second time in a row. Even though his five-point night was insane, McDavid two-game performance stomped Brad’s first game by far: Brad played great in his first game and his highlights are down below for you to check out!

     

     

    So as you can tell, McDavid had a stellar first two games and actually has a game tonight at home against the Buffalo Sabres. So if McDavid follows his first two games, he is certain to have another great night! I will see you guys next Sunday for another recap of the best player of the week!

  • Sick Hands Sunday – Crosby’s Dominant Week Leads Canada to the WCOH Finals.

    Alright as we get back into the swing of things, hockey-wise that is, I decided to start a new weekly based series! As you can see in the title, it is going to be called “Sick Hands Sunday”. Basically, what I’m going to do with this is provide an article each Sunday recapping the player with the “hottest” hands in the league. Although the NHL is not back for another two and a half weeks or so, I am going to pull one player from the eight World Cup rosters who I think deserves the award.

    Honestly as big as a hockey fan that I am, picking just one player is extremely hard to do. Especially when you look at how stacked each team is, primarily Team Canada and Team North America! Before I pick my player, I want all of you hockey fans out there to see how hard it was for me to pick someone.

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    Team Canada’s powerhouse leaders Sidney Crosby and Joe Thornton celebrate a goal. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    For example, even though Team Canada’s Sidney Crosby, who leads the tourney in points, tallied a whopping seven points (3G, 4A) in four games, there was still competition below him. In second place, Brad Marchand of Team Canada registered five points (3G, 2A) in four games and is right behind Crosby.  Amazingly, there was a jaw-dropping 11-way tie for third with four points! The players included in the 11-way tie are Team Canada’s Jonathan Toews, Patrice Bergeron, Matt Duchene, Logan Couture, John Tavares, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Team North America’s Shayne Gostisbehere and Johnny Gaudreau. Team Sweden’s Nicklas Backstrom and Erik Karlsson and last but not least, Team Europe’s Mats Zuccarello. So even though the list of players under Crosby have fewer points, they all played very well on their respective teams.

    Now on to the good part, the winner of this week’s “Sick Hands Award”. Like I said above, it was difficult to single out a player. Saying that, as I go back and watch the highlights of each game to help me pick, I am going to have to go with Canada’s top center, Sidney Crosby. As much as this pains me to pick him being a die hard Flyers fan, he has been just incredible in Canada’s first 3 tournament games and their semi-final game against Russia. When I say incredible, I honestly mean that because no team could contain him at all. It was truly insane to watch him basically control each game.

    In Team Canada’s opening round 6-0 dominate win versus Team Czech Republic, Crosby recorded three points (1G, 2A) including the game’s first goal at 8:26 of the first period. Crosby showed relentless pursuit on the play by picking up the deflected shot and quickly wrapping the puck around the net and banking his shot in off of Czech goaltender Michal Neuvirth. Below you can see the play resulting in Crosby’s goal.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRNCG9_TnsY

    Surprisingly, Sid the Kid did not have a point in Canada’s 4-2 win against rival Team USA but he was a big threat the whole game. Crosby’s one game scoring “drought” did not stop him from having another solid game. Crosby, once again, scored Canada’s opening goal against Team Europe in a solid 4-1 win. He grabbed the deflected shot behind the net, quickly skated to the other side, and beat Slovakian goalie Jaroslav Halak short side with another wrap around. Sid the Kid’s dominate speed was on display and it provided a great boost for the goal as you can see below.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P3nvrhzX5A

    Again, Crosby had a commanding semi-final game against Team Russia. He tallied three points (1G, 2A) along with, believe it or not, the opening goal 7:40 into the first period. Crosby was sent in on the forecheck into the corner to get the puck. He sneakily stole the puck from the Russian defender in the slot. Then Crosby quickly went in on a mini-breakaway on his backhand, made a tremendous backhand move, dekeing Russian goalie Sergei Bobrovsky out of his skates and roofing the puck for the first goal of the game. He then went on to tally two beautiful assists to linemate Brad Marchand to seal the win for Canada. Below you can see Crosby’s fantastic goal along with his two great assists.

    Hands down the most effective player in the first four games for any team. If you don’t agree with me, then you might be crazy! In close second, taking home the honorable mention for the week is Team Canada’s Marchand. Brad played great in all four games picking up a goal and two assists in game one, no points in games two or three, and scoring two clutch goals in their semifinal game. It was a close fight between Crosby and Marchand, but picking Crosby in the end, was the right call!

     

  • Malkin Finally Finds the Back of the Net For The GWG, Pittsburgh Now One Win Away From Winning the Stanley Cup.

    The San Jose Sharks looked to even up the series on home ice and head back to Pittsburgh with the series tied at two games apiece. While the Pens, on the other hand, looked to take a commanding 3-1 series lead going back home. The Sharks are without Tomas Hertl for the second game in a row as he is out with a lower-body injury.  San Jose will look to keep their home crowd in the game early with Metallica playing the National Anthem and by Martin Jones coming off a huge Game 3. If the Sharks keep the crowd in it early they will have an easier time while the Penguins will look to take them out of the game.

    Pittsburgh Penguins Logo

    Well both teams had their hopes fulfilled:

    It was a very odd start to this Game 4, here on Monday night. What I mean were both teams each started off very slow but it was a very fast-paced start to the game. There were only two stoppages within the first six minutes of the game and both teams only managed one shot in these six minutes, a very unlikely start to the game. So the crowd was not loud but still excited as this game got underway.

    The Penguins would then get their wish right away and score just 7:36 into the opening period. Pens star Evgeni Malkin would dish the puck to a sprinting Phil Kessel at the red line. Kessel would grab the puck and go into the offensive zone on a one v one rush with the Sharks D. Kessel was pushed to the outside on the right dot but was able to get a wrist shot on net. The shot was easily blockered away by Sharks goalie Martin Jones over to the circle on the left dot. Unfortunately for Jones, the puck went right to the stick of Pens defender Ian Cole who jumped up into the play. Cole quickly released a snapshot and beat the sprawling Jones over the blocker for the 1-0 lead. This was Cole’s first ever career playoff goal.

    Pittsburgh would then go right back on the prowl looking to increase their lead just four minutes later. Sharks D-man Marc-Edouard Vlasic would get caught for interference on Pens captain Sidney Crosby. This sent the Pens to their first power play of the game where they are a terrible 0/6 overall in the Finals on the PP. Pittsburgh would only manage three shots, and thanks to some stellar saves from Jones, the Sharks killed off the penalty.

    San Jose would then get their chance three minutes later on their first man advantage of the game. Pens defender Ben Lovejoy would get caught holding the stick of Sharks vet Patrick Marleau. The Sharks would get a ton of pressure in the offensive zone but only threw two shots on target and the Penguins killed it off.

    After the Penguins fairly early goal to start the contest, the game settled down a bit. Both clubs had flurries of a couple minutes on the attack, but most of the times their shots either missed or went over the net. The two teams were unable to achieve more than 10 shots on net with San Jose leading 8-6 in shots. The first period ended with the Pens still up 1-0 on the scoreboard.

    The second period started with the Sharks taking another penalty 2:28 into the period in the attacking zone. San Jose’s Melker Karlsson would get called for a two-minute interference call on Penguins winger Eric Fehr. The Penguins wasted no time as they would tally just nine seconds into the power play. Pittsburgh D-man Kris Letang, on the top of the point in the middle, would fire a pass over to Phil Kessel on top of the left circle. Kessel would slide a foot or two forwards and rifle a pass, through a maze of players in the slot, over to Evgeni Malkin who was standing right on the backdoor post to Jones’ left. Malkin would angle his stick to the net, receive the pass and deflect the puck into the goal for the two-goal lead at 2-0. This was Malkin’s first goal since May 20th, which was a six-game goalless drought.

    The Penguins would then come close to making it 3-0 and 4-0 just a couple minutes later. Eric Fehr and Tom Kuhnhackl would both hit the left post behind Martin Jones within minutes of each other. Luckily for the Sharks, both pucks hit iron and rang out to keep the deficit at two goals.

    Midway through period two, the game was being controlled by the Penguins 100%. The Sharks looked like an already depleted team with more than half the game to play. If San Jose wants to muster any sort of offense and even attempt to come back, they will have to get Pittsburgh out of their rhythm.

    The Sharks would jump right to my summary and almost complete it. The Sharks 4th line was in on the offensive attack with 5:51 left in the second period. Sharks center Nick Spalling would grab the puck low at the hash marks/slot on the right circle. Spalling would then rip a wrister that beat Pens goalie Matt Murray short side over his glove but not the crossbar and rang out. Then just 50 seconds later Sharks center Logan Couture would notice a loose puck left in the zone and picked it up and went in on a mini breakaway. Couture did not have time to cut into the middle and tried beating Murray short side over his blocker on the left side. Murray was having none of this and made the save look easy and blockered the puck up into the netting behind the net for a whistle to keep his perfect night intact.

    San Jose would go back on the manpower advantage just two minutes later. Penguins rookie Bryan Rust would get caught standing still and took a lazy hooking penalty on Sharks All-Star Brent Burns. This was the Sharks second PP of the game and a prime chance to cut into the Pens lead before the intermission and give the home crowd something to cheer about. The Sharks were unable to get the puck into the Penguins zone for nearly half the power play and were unable to score.

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    The Penguins held firm for most of the period and were in control, yet again, for most of the second. Pittsburgh held the Sharks to just a measly four shots in the WHOLE middle frame. They had a slight lead in shots at 13-12 over the first two periods and led 2-0 at the second intermission.

    Just about five minutes into the final period, the Sharks had one of their best chances of the night. Sharks center Logan Couture would stop on a T at the right-hand blue line. Couture would feed a streaking Patrick Marleau with a beauty of a saucer pass to spring him on a breakaway. Marleau would come barreling into the slot and tried lifting a shot over Murray’s glove but was shut down with an awesome glove save.

    Then three minutes later after the Sharks held the puck in the Penguins zone for a long time, they were finally able to get one past Murray. Sharks D-man Brenden Dillon would put a helpless wrist shot on net that purposely went wide. The puck hit a body in front and laid loose helplessly in the slot. Sharks grinder Chris Tierney would chop the puck over to linemate Melker Karlsson who would then grab the puck and put a shot on net while falling down. The puck would sneak under Murray’s left arm and trickle into the net to cut the Pens lead in half at 2-1.

    Now at the halfway point of the final period, the Sharks reversed the tape and were the team in control to start the period. San Jose was relentless on the attack looking for that game-tying goal and gaining a lot of momentum back on their side. The Sharks players and fans will hope they can keep the pressure up and tally again.

    All of San Jose was then let down when Pittsburgh would grab another goal to increase their lead to 3-1 in a crucial part of the game. Penguins winger Carl Hagelin would catch the loose puck along the top of the left point. Hags would dish a gorgeous pass over to a streaking Eric Fehr coming down the middle of the ice. Fehr would then be in all alone with goalie Martin Jones. Fehr put a laser of snapshot under Jones’ blocker for the two-goal lead with two minutes left in the game.

    San Jose would then pull their goalie for an extra attacker immediately after the goal in hopes of a miracle of a comeback. San Jose was unable to get more than one shot on goal and the Penguins stood their ground and nullified any hope of a comeback.

    The game ended with the Pens holding on for a vital 3-1 win and now hold a 3-1 lead in the series. The Penguins will now have a chance to be the first Pittsburgh-based sports team to win a title at home since the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates when Bill Mazeroski hit a historic walk-off home run in Game 7.

    Sharks goalie Martin Jones stopped 17 out of 20 shots for a terrible .850 SV% while Pens’ Matt Murray stopped 23 out of 24 shots for a great .958 SV%. San Jose led in shots (24-20), faceoffs (37-30), hits (46-31), and giveaways (20-9). The teams tied in penalty minutes (four each) and blocked shots (20). The Penguins were 1/2 in shots while the Sharks were 0/2.

    Pittsburgh will have a chance to win the Stanley Cup back home on Thursday night at 8 pm.

  • Zaar and Lake Erie Come From Behind and Easily Defeat Hershey to Take Game 1 of the Calder Cup Finals.

     

    cc16_primaryDown the Frozen River is now covering the AHL! If you don’t know what the AHL is I will let you know! The AHL (American Hockey League) is called the minor league. The reason why it is called this is because it is a level below the NHL (National Hockey League). Each team in the NHL and the AHL are affiliated with each other. This means that every single NHL team signs a contract with an AHL team. A player can either be called up by the NHL team or sent down to the AHL team during the season as well.

    Both the Hershey Bears and the Lake Erie Monsters will begin their quest for the 2016 AHL Calder Cup. It features the Bears (who’s NHL affiliate is the Washington Capitals) out of the East Coast and the Monsters (who are affiliated with the Columbus Blue Jackets) out of the West Coast. This is the Bears first appearance in the finals since the 2009-2010 season when they won it all beating the Texas Stars 4 games to 2. While this is Lake Erie’s first Calder Cup Final appearance in franchise history.

    The game started out with both teams gaining equal chances but no one could get the momentum they needed to score. This would change with just 4:28 into the opening frame. Lake Erie would gain the puck at their own blue line, center T.J. Tynan would receive a beautiful stretch pass. Tynan would go in all alone on a breakaway from the attacking blue line in. Tynan would skate right into the slot fake a slap shot and opened up to his forehand trying to go upstairs for the goal. Well, Bears goalie Justin Peters was having none of this and stretched out with his left pad to rob Tynan with the tip of his pad. This save kept the game scoreless.

    Lake Erie was all over Hershey front to back controlling most of the first period. This relentless pressure resulted in the Monsters second prime scoring chance of the first period.

    with 7:28 into the period Monsters winger Sonny Milano would make a great defensive play Bears defender Ryan Stanton at the right dot just outside Hershey’s zone. Milano picked pocketed the puck right off Stanton’s stick and went in all alone for their second breakaway of the period. Milano would fancy his luck opting to go to his right just like Tynan did before. The result was the same for Milano and Peters stood tall and stopped his shot with his left pad/blocker to keep the game scoreless.

    This provided a HUGE boost for the Bears as 3:10 later Hershey would grab the game’s first goal.

    Bears winger Chris Bourque would burst into the offensive zone on the right side, stop on a T at the tops of the circle, and skate back up to the tops of the blue line. Bourque would find a cutting Jakub Vrana with a rifle of a pass while Vrana was barreling into the zone. Vrana would receive the pass at the top of the high slot and roof a laser of a wrist shot beating Monsters goalie Anton Forsberg high over his blocker for the 1-0 lead. This was Vrana’s 8th goal of the playoffs tying him for the league lead.

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    Lake Erie would end the period down a goal which they were not happy about. The Monsters were controlling a majority of the first with a lot of pressure in the o-zone. They also did a solid job limiting the Bears shots to the outside despite giving up the opening goal.

    The start of the second period was no different than the start of the first. What I mean by this was that both teams, again, had a couple chances but none of them were big. Both goalies came up big, especially Anton Forsberg of the Monsters.

    Finally, after all, the pressure to start the period Lake Erie was able to get past Hershey’s defenders and tie this game up. With just about eight minutes gone in the middle frame, Monsters’ Daniel Zaar would get a pass from fellow linemate Alex Broadhurst in the neutral zone. Zaar would take the tape to tape pass at center ice and speed past Bears defender Tyler Lewington and in on another breakaway. Zaar would speed into the slot and rip a wrister under the glove hand of Justin Peters and just inside the right post for his 4th goal of the playoffs and leveling the score at one goal apiece.

    Surprisingly, after Zaar’s goal to tie the game, neither Hershey or Lake Erie were able to gain any momentum back to their side. Both goalies again acted like brick walls and did not let another goal get by them and the middle period ended 1-1.

    The start of the third period was much different. The Bears were in on the attack looking for the goal to break the tie. Their pressure paid off as we would get the first penalty of the game just 58 seconds into the third. Monsters center Alex Broadhurst would get called for two minutes after he hooked a Bears player. This sent Hershey to their first PP of the game but was unable to break the deadlock after some solid saves from Forsberg.

    Then just about four minutes and change later Lake Erie would grab the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal thanks to winger Trent Vogelhuber. Captain Ryan Craig would feed Vogelhuber behind Hershey’s net. Vogelhuber would corral the pass, skate behind the net, and come out from behind the right side of the net. He would skate right to the right dot, turn around, and whip (what looked like to be a harmless shot) on net. The puck took a deflection off Bears defender Aaron Ness’ stick and through the 5 hole of Justin Peters for the 2-1 lead.

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    The play would then settle down for the next five minutes of play as both teams settle down into their roles. Lake Erie defending and Hershey pressing for that tying goal.

    Hershey would go back to their second and last man advantage of the game as winger Josh Anderson got the gate for roughing. Hershey would once again, gain a little momentum with a flurry of shots but the Monsters were able to kill off the pressure.

    Then with 6:27 remaining in the last period the Monsters were back on the offensive prowl and tallied a very important insurance goal. Bears defender Ryan Stanton looked to keep the puck, step around the forecheck and start a rush from his own zone. This was a bad idea as Lake Erie’s first goal scorer Daniel Zaar would make another beautiful defensive pick and steal the puck right from Stanton’s stick at the left-hand dot. Zaar would then be all alone for a small breakaway where he took full advantage. Bears goalie Justin Peters looked to poke check the puck away but failed. In doing this, he opened up his 5 hole and Zaar finessed the puck right through his legs for the two-goal lead at 3-1. This was Zaar’s second goal of the game.

    Just 1:36 later the Monsters would strike again! Lake Erie’s winger Oliver Bjorkstrand would feed the puck over to D-man Dean Kukan at the right side blue line. Kukan would put a helpless wrister towards the net that was deflected by winger Markus Hannikainen in the slot and sneaked past Justin Peters for the 4-1 lead with just four minutes. The Bears were unable to muster any offensive after this deflecting goal and the score ended with the Monsters’ easily taking the game 4-1.

    Lake Erie’s goalie Anton Forsberg stopped 26 out of 27 shots for a stunning .963 SV% while Hershey’s goalie Justin Peters turned away 22 out of 26 shots for a terrible .846 SV%. The Bears led in shots (27-26). There were only 2 penalties in the game with both of them going to Lake Erie. The Bears were 0/2 on the man advantage while the Monsters did not get a chance.

    Lake Erie now leads the series 1-0. These two teams will suit up again Friday night for Game 2 in Hershey with puck drop at 7 pm.