Bleu, Blanc et Rouge-A Fanatic's Source for Hockey

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We've moved!
2007-11-26 02:09:00
BBeR is now officially "The Faceoff Circle" and can be found at the following location:Click here for BBeR's new quarters. We hope you'll continue to follow us at our new location, it's still a little shabby as we're getting everything ready.We should be fully up and running by the end of the week, in a few days, but until then...join the forum, become a part of the community and talk hockey on a board that will hopefully grow into a large one.Don't hesitate to email us at: bbrblog@gmail.com.Thanks for your support!-BBeR

It's not really goodbye, but a new beginning...
2007-11-25 16:59:00
When I first created this blog back in February of 2007, I had no idea it would turn out the way it did.It started with myself, all alone, putting up several articles a day during last season's trade deadline about potential moves, rumours and just plain good old hockey talk.I was fortunate enough to be linked by many-a-great bloggers on the net, and slowly but surely, BBeR grew...I added a few writers here, since I needed to have some diversity to my blog, I added a few new features and got serious about it.The high point of this blog still remains the great community that has formed...from nothing, to something.I'm struggling to write this now, as it's not really a goodbye, but a notice that BBeR is entering a new dimension...and new beginning.I have reached an agreement with a friend to migrate this blog over to a new domain, with a new name in relation to a new hockey forum that's going to be created.The title, "Bleu, Blanc et Rouge" was always deceiving...some thought I was...
More About: Goodbye

'Hey quiet, this is not a rock concert alright?"
2007-11-25 04:09:00
Ok, I know this might be old, but I can't help but laugh at the stupidity of hockey players sometimes.Here's Joffrey Lupul, who by the way is doing MUCH better this year in Philly out of sulky Edmonton.And my Habs lose again, please not another downhill slide like last year, my heart condition is wobbly enough as it is.But hey, at least my Habs didn't get pummled by the Yotes like the Leafers did tonight, hehe.-BBeR
More About: Concert , Rock , Quiet , Alright , Cert

Jovo rejected trade to Islanders...
2007-11-24 00:32:00
Phoenix Coyotes defenceman Ed Jovanovski reportedly rejected a trade that would bring him to Long Island this past offseason by using his very handy no-no clause.Rumours had been swirling for much of the offseason and heading into the new campaign that Phoenix was intent on trading the veteran pointman if he could waive his no-trade clause.This is surprising, as the Rangers were the rumoured New York team to be seeking Jovanovski, in a rumour that was shot down several times due to cap constraints involving the overpaid Canadian's $6.5 million figure.Why overpaid?Simple, Jovanovski has done close to nothing to merit that kind of paycheck from the Coyotes.He's been injured far too many times and his offensive prowess that got him this deal has suffered in the desert under the regime of Yotes' head coach, Wayne Gretzky.A change of scenery would do him good, although, I hear players love living in Arizona and that most of their families are well settled there; and despite their not-...
More About: Trade , Rejected

Schedule Tomfoolery
2007-11-20 14:13:00
Apparently, the NHL has done everything in its power to create a schedule that takes all the momentum out of a teams, and their fans, sails. For what seems the 100th time this season the Sabres have a break after a Friday night game until Wednesday. While the rest certainly never hurts I think this is part and parcel to the team's struggles right now. Like any sport a team needs to find its rhythm. This is something they seem to have struggled with a ll season.They are hardly alone. There has been numerous instances where teams around the NHL have had 1 game in a 11 day period. I believe this has interrupted their flow as well. It is harder to stay focused and practice becomes stale, it also robs intensity from games. This leads to boring games. Also, and this is my opinion, the more practice time you have the more work a team can do on its defense. I don't think it is coincidence that scoring is down as teams have been able to be far more organized defensively early in the seaso...
More About: Schedule , Tomfoolery

Message to Bob Gainey: GET A GOON!
2007-11-19 23:07:00
Following Saturday night's 7-4 massacre of the Boston Bruins on home ice, the Montreal Canadiens had plenty to be proud of, but their lack of a quality fighter to defend those star players is evident.Games against the B's are always intense, leading to a few fights, notably Tom Kostopoulos dropping the mits twice, Andrei Kostitsyn learning a lesson a hard way to the hands of Mark Stuart, and Guillaume Latendresse taking a few swings at the monstrous Zdeno Chara.Besides Kostitsyn's newfound fondness of dropping the gloves at an unexpected time (just kidding) and Kostopoulos getting slapped with a 1-game suspension for instigating a fight in the final minutes of the games, Latendresse showed Habs managment they need size and they need it now.Taking on Chara is a big feat, someting your average player wouldn't dare image to attempt in his most twisted dreams, but when the antagonist attempts to concuss Alex Kovalev, who ducked out of the way near the end of the 3rd period along the...
More About: Message , Goon , T A G , Mess

Wojtek Wolski - The Forgotten Soph
2007-11-16 21:57:00
The unabashed and highly deserved love-fest for all things Stastny has ramped up in Colorado, along with the buzz around the sudden re-emergence of a not-totally-putrid Jose Theodore, and the discussions of the flowing mullets of Smyth and Hannan. One thing many people have overlooked is the play of the OTHER super sophomore in Colorado’s lineup, Wojtek Wolski (pronounced VOY-teck WOHL-skee). He’s been overshadowed by the phenomenal play of Paul Stastny, but has quietly improved upon the pace (7G/8A/15P in 17 games) of his stellar numbers from last season (22G/28A/50P in 76 games). Opponents who overlook his contributions tend to do so at their own peril.He started the season on the 3rd line with Marek Svatos, but has spent time with Brunette and Sakic on the 1st line, and lately Wolski has found a home on the 2nd line with Son of Stastny and the Duke (Milan Hejduk). Apparently, Paul has some kind of Eastern European fetish, which compared to taking pictures of your junk and the...
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Ducks recall Hiller...Bryzgalov on the way out?
2007-11-16 13:59:00
It looks as if there might be something brewing in California, as the Ducks recalled goaltender Jonas Hiller from the AHL early this morning, leading to speculation that long-time rumoured-to-be-on-the-way-out goalie Ilja Bryzgalov might be dealt.Hiller is not your average minor-league goalie, he actually excelled in Europe and was signed by the Ducks after impressing performances in multiple international events.Bryzgalov is considered a number one goalie, and at one point, he was pushing Giguere for the starting role...but since the latter won the Cup last summer plus signed a huge deal, there was no more competition.This isn't very surprising, Bryzgalov is a good goalie and he could be a number one as he's showed in the past.What are your thoughts on this early morning speculation?-BBeR
More About: Recall

Tucker the Hypocrite
2007-11-15 17:01:00
So, Sean Avery gets into a pre-game confrontation with Darcy Tucker and Jason Blake in Toronto on Saturday night. The confrontation between Avery and Tucker continued throughout the Rangers' shootout victory over the Leafs, including a first-period scrap.After the game, Tucker goes all over TV and radio calling Avery classless (um, pot? Kettle?), and planting seeds in the heads of the Toronto media about what Avery might have said before the game.Two days later, Howard Berger reports on Toronto's 590 The FAN that a Rangers' player told him that Avery made a remark about Jason Blake's recent cancer diagnosis, and a media firestorm is created.Let's face it, Sean Avery is an easy target. Everyone who isn't a Ranger fan hates him, so it isn't exactly difficult to get the North American hockey media in a lather over this controversy. And, what do the media like more than getting up on their PC high horse to criticize someone whom no one likes? It's a no-lose proposition.Now, no o...
More About: Hypocrite

Turning Point in Rangers' Season
2007-11-15 16:50:00
It's been quite a while since I was able to post here, because my wife and I welcomed our first child into the world recently, and, as you can imagine, it has kept us quite busy.During this time, the Ranger s seem to have found their game, winning 7 of their last 8 games to move within one point of the first-place Flyers going into tonight's showdown in the City of Brotherly Love.So, what turned the Rangers season around? Some might say their recent string of wins is due to Captain Jaromir Jagr re-emerging as a dominant force. Or, Scott Gomez beginning to settle in and find his game. Some might even say the emergence of the Rangers' "kids" have energized the team.While all of that may be true, I prefer to think my daughter has made all the difference. The team's current 7-1 run just happened to coincide with her birth, and she has become the good luck charm for the season. I have posted a picture below of her enjoying (sleeping through) her first Ranger game.
More About: Season , Point , Turning Point

Ouch...Tlusty's boner finds way onto internet!
2007-11-15 02:06:00
19-year old Maple Leafs prospect Jiri Tlusty is in a little bit of a of a raunchy mess, as pictures of him showing off his boner taken with his camera phone are all over the internet (and the one you see here is one of the milder ones).They were, however removed due to potential legal action by the Leafs organization, claiming that the webiste invaded Tlusty's private life, and they had no right to broadcast the pictures he took of himself, since they are "his property".And they're right, and thank God they're gone (since a reader had the bright idea of sending me the pics by email), but sadly, I've read they're still splattered here and there on the net.Originally reported by Is This Happening?, a Canadian-based online gossip website, Tlustly reportedly took several pictures of himself stripped down, posted them on his facebook account and emailed them to this girl he apparently liked, to give her more than just a small glimpse of his body.They were taken last year, according ...
More About: Internet , Boner , Ouch

Painful
2007-11-14 13:56:00
I have avoided writing this one. Partially out of denial, partially because it is so easy to pile on. But... well, now is the time.This Sabres team is broken. Not broken in the sense that there are poor players or coaching. I am talking broken in the spiritual sense. I had not, I admit, seen this coming. sure all of the signs were there, especially the ones in neon lights (see Briere and Drury leaving). I thought that Miller, Gaustad, Campbell would pick up the slack. I truly did. What I have seen is an unemotional team going through the motions on most nights. I acknowledge they picked it up big time in the past two games against the Bruins and Leafs, but no one was home to score those clutch goals that They-who-shall-not-be-named used to score.Who is to blame? Yes it starts with Regier. He was wrong, pure and simple. There is still time to right the ship but the fix is going to be expensive in the way of prospects. There are players to be had, players that can fill the Drury/Brier...

“Tell her it’s not bad like last time.”
2007-11-13 21:47:00
The entire Caniac nation collectively held its breathe last night during the game vs. the Panthers. It had nothing to do with a goal. Nothing to do with a diving penalty. I don't think anyone remembered there was a game to be played. Most people are familiar with Erik Cole's injury that took place in March of '06. Brooks Orpik hit Cole from behind into the boards, and hard too. Even though Cole skated off the ice that day, he suffered a fractured vertebra. Most people remember holding their breathe during game 6 of the 2006 Stanley Cup finals when Cole first came back from that injury. Most Caniacs still fall silent any time Cole takes a hit.Last night was a real test for our breath-holding skills. Cole was trying to outskate one of the Panthers to get a breakaway on Vokoun with the game tied at 3-3. Cole was held up and I watched as #26's feet came out from under him and he went headfirst into Vokoun and laid face-first on the ice.It is a really helpless feeling when you have t...
More About: Time

You're not quite there yet, Jose...
2007-11-12 22:54:00
If you think it's weird that Colorado Avalanche goaltender Jose Theodore is letting in less than 3 goals per game in Colorado and stopping at least 9 shots out of 10, you're seriously not alone.The former Hart and Vezina winner was dealt to the Avalanche 2 seasons ago by his hometown Montreal Canadiens, the same year he was made the richest goalie to ever tend goal by Canadiens GM Bob Gainey with a brand new 3-year/$17 million deal.Theodore floundered in Montreal terribly, and posted mediocre numbers as the team continued its embarrassing downward slide in the standings.With newly acquired goaltender Cristobal Huet pushing Theodore for playing time, the French media being all over him for his little Paris Hilton scandal, coach Claude Julien getting blamed for Theodore's paltry performance, costing him his job, and a newborn child on the way as well as problems related to his uncle's loansharking business, Jose Theodore was a troubled young man.The icing on the cake came when The...

Senators to trade Emery?
2007-11-10 15:42:00
Rumour has it that the Ottawa Senat ors may in fact be close to trading 24-year old goaltender Ray Emery to a Western Conference (apparently, the Los Angeles Kings) team along with forward Patrick Eaves and a prospect coming up from the Sens' farm club in Binghamton (suggested to be Josh Hennessey) in exchange for a goaltender and player.Kevin Lee from Hockeybuzz, posted this on his blog yesterday and fans are anxiously awaiting to see if it's true or not.To add more flame to the fire, GM Bryan Murray was reportedly in Binghamton last night to watch the prospect involved in the deal play, again, according to Lee.Oh boy, this is interesting, is Emery on the way out? Already?!He led his team to the Cup Final last season, was locked up to a big deal and is still young.Have the Sens given up on him? Already?!Interesting indeed,-BBeR
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Canadiens...is the city really hockey?
2007-11-08 22:32:00
An article published on the French version of Canoe has me a little troubled and perplexed at the moment.What it basically states is that the Canadiens , le Tricolore, les Glorieux, 24 time Stanley Cup Champs, whatever you wanna call them, are overrated when it comes to their popularity around Montreal and Quebec.The article specifically quotes like this:"If you think that the Canadiens are as important in Montrealers' eyes as the Red Sox are for Bostonians or the Yankees for New Yorkers, you are sadly mistaken..."It claims that, according to a study/survey done by Turnkey Sports and Entertainment, Montreal finishes a lowly 74th out of 122 sports cities in North America when it comes to exposure in their local area."Exposure" here meaning "being a fan" or "who really cares about the Habs", in short, the real "fans".The Habs media group has been using the phrase "The City is Hockey ", "La Ville est Hockey" as the Habs slogan, and I gotta admit, it's quite appealing, appeasing and tha...
More About: Adie

Your 2007-2008 Eastern Conference All-Stars: The Ottawa Senators!
2007-11-06 18:33:00
Okay, perhaps that's a little bit optimistic, but thanks to the Senators' red-hot 12-1-0 start, a league-high 6 Ottawa players are on this year's All-Star Ballot. It includes the top line of Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza as well as defensemen Chris Phillips and Wade Redden. Ray Emery also got a nod despite only playing 2 games so far this season, which I feel is somewhat of a slight to Martin Gerber who has been absolutely on fire, but I suppose Emery does have the whole 'Helped-the-team-to-the-Finals' bit to help him out. That being said, I also think Anton Volchenkov should have also got a nod but congrats to Emery on his first All-Star Ballot nomination!EASTERN CONFERENCEGoaltendersMartin Biron, Philadelphia FlyersMartin Brodeur, New Jersey DevilsRick DiPietro, New York IslandersRay Emery, Ottawa Senators Cristobal Huet, Montreal CanadiensOlaf Kolzig, Washington CapitalsHenrik Lundqvist, New York RangersRyan Miller, Buffalo SabresTomas Vokoun, Florida Panthers...
More About: Stars , All-Stars , Eastern , Eastern Conference

Sabres Play Nearly Flawless Game...and Get Shutout
2007-11-06 15:53:00
BBR has to be smiling somewhere right now. Buffalo and the Habs played a nearly perfect game last night. Good flow, lots of chances, good hitting and way too much Cristobal Huet! It is hard to get down on the Sabres effort everyone came to play and 9 out of 10 games the Sabres win.My quandry with this team is I have no idea how good they are. They are immensly talented, but the Habs had that something that the Sabres seem to be lacking now. What is it? Its not quite leadership, it isn't a lack of ability. I am not sure.Thoughts?NEWS and NOTES:- Newly arrived defenseman Nolan Pratt hurt his groin in his first game. He is day-to-day.- Jaro Spacek is injured again. Apparently he reinjured his shoulder against Boston. He is day-to-day as well.- Adam Mair suffered a ankle injury against the Habs. It will be interesting to see if the Sabres make a call up. The MSG telecast highlighted Dylan Hunter. I have to wonder if my idol's son is going to get the call.- 19 year old defenseman Mike ...
More About: Play , Game , Flawless

Out-of-Sync Gadget Transformed Into Defensive Machine
2007-11-06 05:14:00
After the Rangers collective contraption blew a gasket against the Ottawa Senators on October 13, when they gave up 3 goals in 52 seconds, I described them as being “like a rich kid’s rendition of an out-of-sync gadget thrown together for a science class project”. Link to October 13 article.This description* actually made a Philadelphia Flyers fan (JD FLYGUY) write: “You have no idea how much that made my day. I think I have a new favorite quote. That's pure genius”. Link to JD FLYGUY’s quote (in comments section).The irony is that after shutting out the Flyers 2-0 tonight, the Rangers seemingly out-of-control science project is beginning to resemble a defensive Frankenstein, which was masterminded by a mad hockey genius.Having given up only 2 goals in their last 4 games, 8 goals in their last 8 games, and a league low 23 goals in 14 games, the Rangers find themselves as the league’s top defensive team with a GAA of 1.64.The Rangers, who’ve amazingly also scored a l...
More About: Machine , Gadget , Sync , Tran , Mach

Red-Hot Senators
2007-11-04 17:57:00
The Ottawa Senat ors played by far their best hockey last night vs. Boston and they only came up with a 3-2 win. There were 81 shots total directed at the Boston net during the game. That stat is stunning. It seems like Mike Fisher is the only one who knows how to beat Tim Thomas. Can't wait till tonight to see if there will be a bigger blowout on the scoreboard at the bank. And don't forget, the sens played that game WITHOUT Spezza.Having locked up the big 3 now gives me time to relax now that I know they should be in Ottawa for the next few years. Bryan Murray did a great job of locking up the big 3- I think he will be in the organization for a while- he hasn't done anything bad yet.I hate the people who say," well, Murray hasn't won a cup yet ", because he has done everything except that. I would have to rank Murray right behind Hooland in the GM ranks.Thumbs up to you, Bryan.

Cherry defends Koivu, blasts lawyer Bertrand...
2007-11-04 03:59:00
Yeah I know I should more objective when it comes to these things, but I vividly believe Guy Bertrand is a stupid nut case for criticizing whom Cherry calls "almost a saint".If you remember correctly, Bertrand publicly cried out that Koviu should learn French and that "Quebecers have a right to be served in their language", clearly reffering to his "disrespect" of Bill 101.Here's the bit on Cherry, still down that the Habs lost to the Leafs tonight, not in the mood to talk about them anymore until I cheer up tomorrow. "I'll tell you one thing, you people that criticize him, he's almost a saint as far as I'm concerned," said Cherry. "You people that criticize him are insecure and pathetic." Cherry lauded Koivu for his strength and courage in recovering from both non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and a serious eye injury, both of which nearly ended his career. "He's an inspiration to all the people he came back for," said Cherry. "What do they do? They rip him and give him a hard time fo...
More About: Lawyer , Tran

Paging Ryan Miller....
2007-11-02 18:34:00
The Sabres are struggling. No, they aren't terrible,but they aren't good either. a-number-one on my hitlist, Ryan "the franchise" Miller . I will grant you they are playing a schedule only Gary Bettman could dream up, but I expect more from Sir Ryan and so do many Sabres fans. Particularly irritating is his seeming loss of concentration at key moments and the shoulder shrug reminiscent of the days of Joe Ferguson's head hanging.The bottom line is this:Stop the damned puck if you want to be considered among the elite!!!!

Spezza ices huge contract with Senators!
2007-11-02 17:00:00
Breaking news in the nation's capital, as the Ottawa Senat ors finally got a deal done with their superstar-in-the-making Jason Spezza yesterday night, agreeing to a new 7-year/$49 million contract extension according to Bob McKenzie over at TSN.Spezza and Murray have yet to announce anything to the media, but McKenzie did a good job and got the details as to how Spezza would be paid over the course of the next 7 years:08-09: 4 M signing bonus, 4 M base salary = $8 million09-10: 4 M signing bonus, 4 M base salary = $8 million10-11: 4 M signing bonus, 4 M base salary = $8 million11-12: 2 M signing bonus, 6 M base salary = $8 million12-13: 2 M signing bonus, 6 M base salary = $8 million13-14: no signing bonus, 5 M base salary = $5 million14-15: no signing bonus, 5 M base salary = $5 millionFor a total of a whopping $49 million.Spezza's deal is similar to his linemate's Dany Heatley, who also signed a massive extension early in the new campaign.The 24-year old has 1 goal and 12 assi...
More About: Contract , Huge

To dive or not to dive? That is the question.
2007-11-01 17:22:00
I am going to start off this blog with stating that I am not placing last night's 4-2 loss on the refs. The Canes should have taken advantage in the 1st period and been up more than 1-0 going into the 3rd. They were slow on their feet for much of the 2nd and 3rd period, but in all fairness were still playing ahead of the Panthers until the middle of the 3rd.With that said...I am completely appalled with the things the Hurricanes were faced with in Southern Florida last night. I knew it was going to be a bad night when I tuned into "Hurricanes Live" and John Forslund and Tripp Tracy begin the night talking about the Florida papers. They show at least three articles that all read pretty much the same thing: "Carolina's diving act isn't easily forgotten"By the way, the "diving act" they are talking about refers to the 'Canes going 7-1-0 against the Panthers last year and how they think we dove to get our wins. (Funny, because last year our PP was ranked on of the lowest in the leag...
More About: Question , Dive

The team that does "Whatever it Takes" is back
2007-10-30 17:55:00
There has been a new feeling to the season here in Carolina. It is very reminiscent of a feeling 16 guys on his team have experienced once already. The farther in to the season we are getting the more answers we are getting that alleviate any doubts we may have. We had three of our top forwards out due to injury (Cole, Ladd and Walker) but we had two AHL call ups that stepped in and filled the gaps that were missing for us. After a terribly disappointing loss to the Canadiens at home on the 26th, instead of pitying themselves and continuing the losing streak like we saw so many times in the 2006-2007 season, they took charge and destroyed the Islanders the next night 8-3.The Canes have gone 7-2-3 in their first 12 games of the season sitting proudly atop the division with 17 points. So far, the are proving that 2005-2006 season wasn't just a fluke and that these "Redneck" hockey players are contenders.The next month is very important for the Canes. With the exception of the Flyers ...
More About: The Team , Team , Back

Tasty Brownie! Kings ink young phenom to 6-year extension among others
2007-10-26 23:02:00
The future is now for the Kings There have been a few contract extensions handed out in the NHL recently, topping the list are the Los Angeles Kings, who signed forward Dustin Brown to a 6-year contract extension today.The former 13th overall pick from the 2003 draft has 4 goals and 4 assists so far in 11 games with the Kings and has been a star on the rise ever since his definitive entry to the NHL in 2005-2006, putting up 14 and 17 goal seasons since then.His points total have been on a uprise as well...from 28 to 46, and if his current pace continues, he will finish the season in the 70-point area.Brown is poised to become a 30-40 goal scorer with huge upside, and he's a mainstay in Los Angeles for at least 6 more years.All this at such a young age, the 22-year old Ithaca, New York native will turn 23 on November 4th.Kings GM Dean Lombardi on "Brownie":Dustin is an integral part of what we are building here with the Kings. We like how he competes; we like his toughness; and we ar...
More About: Young , Extension , Year , Phenom

No More Nomar—With Nomar Goles to Tally, Slats' Stats Man Goes Out ... Th
2007-10-25 05:24:00
NEW YORK—New York Rangers general manager, Glen Sather, announced today that team statistician, Nomar Goles, resigned shortly after the Blueshirts 1-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The search for his replacement, however, didn’t last very long.Apparently Goles had been under a lot stress since the Rangers opening night’s 5-2 victory over the Florida Panthers. Since that game, Goles was deeply concerned because the Rangers simply weren’t scoring many.Having been shutout in two consecutive games, scoring only 8 goals in the last 7 games, and posting a league low 13 goals for the season, the only name the supposedly high-powered Rangers have been living up to is Nomar’s.According to Goles, he felt personally responsible in some way. “It’s as though my name has put a curse on the whole team. I told Glen (Sather) on Sunday that the team might be better off not having me around. With my brother (who was an unemployed statistician) available and just as technically qualifi...
More About: Stats , Ally , Goes

In case you missed it...Toews's unreal goal!
2007-10-22 16:16:00
And the best part is, it was on Jose Theodore...sorry Mike and Avs fans, hehe.He and Kane are really doing well to start the season...Have a good day,-BBeR
More About: Goal , Case , Unreal

Wild are kicking ass...it's that simple!
2007-10-22 00:10:00
The Minnesota Wild have been on a tear since the start of the 2007-2008 season.A 3-1 win in St. Louis against the Blues last night pushed Minnesota's record to an outstanding and a little surpising 6-0-1, to lead the Western Conference.Centres Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Eric Belanger and winger Brian Rolston are all tied for their team's lead in points with 7 heading into Sunday night's matchup against the Colorado Avalanche.What's surprising about the absolutely Wild run?Their team has only 17 goals scored in 7 games...the lowest among all division leaders in the NHL...but that isn't unexpected, as Jacques Lemaire's squad tends to focus more on the defensive side of things rather than potting goals in the other end despite having a guy like Marion Gaborik on their front (who is not doing so hot to start the year).Lemaire and the fans can thank veteran 'tender Nicklas Backstrom for their league low 9 goals against to start the year; the 29-year old Finn has posted phenomenal numbe...
More About: Simple , Kicking

Bruins & Bad Boston Ice Bounce by Blueshirts as Slap Shots Strike Down
2007-10-21 05:48:00
BOSTON—Despite a much improved team effort, strong defensive play and another stellar performance by goaltender, Henrik Lundquist, the Rangers never got the bounce they needed (and deserved) while losing 1-0 in a shootout to the Boston Bruins.Ordinarily the story of 1-0 shootout would be that neither goalie, Lundquist or Manny Fernandez, allowed a goal during regulation or overtime. Or perhaps it would be about the game-winning shootout goal scored by Bruins forward, Phil Kessel. However, this was no ordinary game—thanks to the maintenance crew at the TD Banknorth Garden.Either the Garden maintenance crew never found out about the time change for today’s hockey game (from 7 pm to 4 pm) or they donated their services all day to the Boston Red Sox in preparation for night’s playoff game at Fenway Park.Regardless of the reason, when the referee and players were ready for the drop of the puck at 4 pm, the Garden ice certainly was not. All game long (for both teams) the puck ho...
More About: Shots , Bounce , Strike , Ruins