Saturday, November 04, 2006

Friday in Review

Tonight's Three Stars











1. Teemu Selanne - 1 G, 2 A
2. David Vyborny - 2 G, shootout goal
3. Steve Rucchin - 1 G, 1 A, +3








Game Thoughts
* Only four games tonight but man it was an eventful four games. We saw a spirited comebody prevented by the worst call by a referee in recent memory. We saw a shootout that went 22 shooters (including Anders Eriksson). We saw Phoenix get blown out again and Anaheim not lose in regulation again. And we saw a former 1st round bust upstage some of hockey's brightest young stars, including Kovalchuk and Ovechkin.

* First to Edmonton where Mick McGeough single-handedly stole 1 or 2 points away from the Oilers. They had tied it up with four seconds left before he ruled that Stall had passed the puck back to the point with his glove, which clearly did not happen.
* I strongly believe that this warrents a lengthy suspension for McGeough. Sure everyone makes mistakes but we're talking about a professional sports league where one play could make the difference between making the playoffs or missing it - which can cost an organization millions. It is not unheard of in sports for athletes to lose their job for making one horrible mistake that costs their team and there is simply no excuse for that level of incompetance for a league still trying to gain credibility in many markets. I know he didn't do it on purpose but the NHL needs to issue a quick apology to the Oilers, an admission that a huge error was made, and send McGeough home for a while.
* There were also a couple other questionable calls that went against the Oilers tonight. The NHL needs to find a way to get these calls right. With two linesmen and two refs and video review, this simply can't continue.
* Ryan Smyth is the king of the ugly goals
* Sykora continued his hot streak and is looking great for Edmonton
* Turco played well again until the final couple minutes when he looked a little rattled

* Although Philadelphia and Montreal gave up on Zubrus a long time ago, he is quietly following up on last year's success with a strong start. Tonight he had two goals which now gives him nine.
* Atlanta got the win with Hedberg in goal, which is a nice bonus for them as they were able to win AND rest Lehtonen for tonight

* Calgary finally was able to score but they still can't keep the puck out of their own net, this time with McLennan in net
* Tonight's epic shootout featured 22 shooters including Anders Eriksson who made a feable attempt at scoring yet was chosen for some reason ahead of Manny Malhotra (who scored the winner)
* Admidst rumours that Hamlik is on the block, he had 2 assists, was +2 and played 30:01 in the game
* Langkow is starting to play much better and even Tanguay scored tonight

* Wayne Gretzky did NOT look happy tonight
* The Ducks had a four goal 2nd period capped off by an Andy McDonald penalty shot to put away the Coyotes
* Pronger and Selanne had great games - both with 1 goal and 1 assist
* Phoenix still trailes Philadelphia by one point in the league standings
* That's 19 goals in three games and the level of indifference so early in the year is shocking
* The Ducks still have gotten at least a point out of every single game this weekend
* Doan missed the game with back problems and I'm hopeful for their sake he won't be out too long


AP/Getty Images

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