Two weeks are in the books and we have plenty of good, bad and ugly to go around. Without any further delay, let’s jump in and it starts with Chad Johnson filling in in Phoenix.
The Good
Chad Johnson’s cup of coffee in goal for the Coyotes. Johnson was called up from Portland of the AHL to be the backup when Mike Smith went down with a groin injury. He filled in nicely going 1-0-1 with a 0.98 GAA and .952 save percentage in his two starts. It didn’t last long, but he was able to put in good starts for his fifth and sixth NHL starts.
Tampa Bay’s offense. Wow. It’s almost like Playstation out there some nights.
Thomas Vanek’s second five-point game this season. He has 15 points in six games this season. Ten of them have come in two games so when he goes off, he goes off big. Even without those outbursts, he’s still better than a point per game.
Matt Frattin beating the buzzer for Toronto over Buffalo in overtime. See it here.
PK Subban signed his deal for the Canadiens. Montreal is using a great power play (9-for-27) to get off to a good start and should get even better with Subban back on the blue line.
The rookies are alright. Cory Conacher (5-7–12) and Vladimir Tarasenko (5-5–10) have already hit double digits in points. Nail Yakupov is one of four rookies with five points this season and he already has three power-play goals.
The Bad
Jason Spezza needs surgery on a herniated disc in his back. He’s going to be out for a couple months and will send his owners scrambling to the waiver wire for a center to try and replace some of his production.
Derek Morris playing punchout with Ryan Whitney after the Oilers beat Phoenix in overtime. Morris had been jabbing at Whitney on an overtime power play and Yakupov went right around him to score the winner. Morris wasn’t happy with something Whitney said and started throwing punches after the game ended. Clearly not a good decision and one would have to wonder if that might cost Morris a game or a fine.
David Backes’ hit on Kent Huskins that led to an ejection. Backes got tossed out of last night’s game between St. Louis and Detroit for intent to injure. Backes put a hit on Huskins. Watch it here. Now if you can find out where the hit to the head was that resulted in a MAJOR PENALTY and game misconduct then you have better eyes than I do.
Gabriel Landeskog put on IR for Colorado indefinitely.As if this season wasn’t off to a weak start for the Avalanche already…
The Ugly
Greg Jamison is unable to complete purchase of Coyotes by the January 31st deadline. It seems to be another deal that has fallen through the tubes to try and keep the Coyotes in Glendale. Remember the league still owns this team from when it got dragged into bankruptcy in 2009. Maybe the Coyotes will get a buyer soon but this might be the last season down in the desert.
OHL ref Joe Monette tweeted his way to a suspension for the rest of the season. The tweet, which read “Soo Saint Marie, two words, Slim Pickens .noteeth .hicktown .allfaties.” It makes sense that the league suspended him. How can he get up and down the ice effectively with a foot firmly lodged in his mouth?
(You can find me on Twitter @AndrewNordmeier. I won’t tweet my way to a suspension.)
Vancouver’s third jersey will be worn in March. See it here. I guess it’s good it’s not this. Maybe.
The Oilers using Pitbull for their goal song. “Don’t Stop the Party?” Really? For Edmonton?
The Las Vegas Wrangler’s “topless” jerseys. Yes, you read that right. The Wranglers of the ECHL will be playing topless, well, sort of. Here’s what I mean (as shown on the Puck Daddy blog). The jersies are neatly drawn and the team looks to be in great shape. They’re even set up with nice abs and have nipples on the uniform. It’s part of an Over-18 Night promotion the team is running. And it’s not the first time they’ve done oddball promotions.
The Wranglers have also donned Girl Scout uniforms, Santa uniforms, and this set of outfits for Rod Blagojevich Night with the Wranglers wearing stripes, the Bakersfield Condors wearing jumpsuit style jersies and the officials looking like police officers. This is what they usually wear.
And finally, we get to go from nipples to weiners (never thought I’d write that in fantasy sports), we close with the case of the fan in Boston who threw a hot dog or sausage on the ice in a shootout. Tyler Seguin of the Bruins was taking his run at Devils’ netminder Johan Hedberg when it was tossed through the crease. Seguin forced to take a second crack at it and scored anyways. No, it won’t be a feature in NHL ’14.
No matter how weird of a week it was, nothing was stranger than this week in hockey. Until we get to next week.
