I believe the children are our future. Give them the puck and let them lead the way...
Have we ever had so many young stars and contributors in the league at the same time?
Getzlaf, Perry, Bergeron, Kessel, Lucic, Stafford, Phaneuf, Ladd, Seabrook, Toews, Kane, Stastny, Wolski, Boll, Brule, Russell, Cogliano, Gagner, Horton, Stewart, O'Sullivan, J. Johnson, Kopitar, Burns, Sheppard, Kostsitsyn, Latendresse, Price, Suter, Weber, Radulov, Zajac, Dawes, Callahan, M. Staal, Meszaros, Foligno, Carter, Richards, Coburn, Carcillo, Hanzal, Mueller, Malkin, Crosby, J. Staal, Bernier, Vlasic, E. Johnson, Raymond, Green, Backstrom and Ovechkin..
All born in 1985 or later.
The same year that Whitney Houston correctly predicted that the children are our future..
Four games last night and it's safe to say that the future has arrived.
Los Angeles 4, Vancouver 2
Cooke got the Nucks on the board first but this time the Kings had a strong second period.
Jack Johnson first NHL goal. He also played 25 minutes - more than any King. He seems to get better each game.
Cammalleri now leads the league with 8 goals. He makes the powerplay dangerous because he can play the point, down low or even in front of the net.
Nagy actually worked hard to get the puck to Visnovsky who made a great slap pass to Frolov. Hopefully for LA he's learned his lesson from the benching.
Canucks came on very strong in the third but couldn't tie it up. They had 13 shots but could only get the one goal by Ohlund.
Handzus played a very strong defensive game, especially on the PK, blocking three shots.
Bieksa limped off towards the end of the game.
O'Sullivan and Johnson were on in the final minute when the Kings were protecting the lead
Brown scored without scoring as he was hauled down with the net empty.
Vancouver is 1-4 at home.
Ohlund played a strong game - almost 27 minutes and 9 shots fired (although 4 were blocked and 1 missed the net).
Kings didn't even have a shot in the final period, although they were credited with one on the Brown goal. They were clearly tied from the night before and were lucky to hang on.
Luongo hasn't been Luongo just yet.
Kopitar now has 12 points in 9 games. Like I said last season, once you've seen him play you'd take him over Malkin any day of the week.
Watch out for Frolov - he's a notorious slow starter but he looked good tonight.
Labarbera is a big goalie from Burnaby who played big tonight in BC.
Vancouver will get a big boost when Salo returns.
Kings' goals by Brown, Johnson, Cammalleri and Frolov. Average age = 23
Goalies:
Labarbera: 26/28 = 92.9%
Luongo: 13/16 = 81.3%
Powerplays:
Los Angeles: 1 for 4
Vancouver: 0 for 4
TOI Highs/Lows:
Los Angeles: Johnson (25:03), Ivanans (8:18)
Vancouver: Ohlund (26:58), Rypien (6:10)
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Chicago 5, Colorado 3
Toews opened the scoring with the goal of the year so far - I love watching this kid.
Kane scored first NHL goal on a beautiful wrister.
It's too bad that Laperriere has to assume the enforcer role because the guy can be an effective player when he's not sitting in the box.
Avs made a game out of it when Svatos and Smyth scored pretty goals.
Hawks broke the tie with 1:25 to go on a point shot that was tipped by Ruutu.
Khabibulin played extremely well.
Kane now has 7 points in 7 games - he had three points on the night.
Another Hawks' Patrick (Sharp) also had a three point night.
Sakic had another multi-point game.
Sopel played almost 24 minutes and was a +3 on the night.
Hejduk re-injured the back and left the game.
Jaroslav Hlinska was a -3 and had just one shot in 11 minutes. With just 2 assists in 7 games he's in danger of becoming the next Jiri Dopita.
Stastny's point gives him 14 in seven games.
Chicago dominated in the faceoff circle, winning 61%.
Perreault won TWELVE of TWELVE draws.
Goalies:
Khabibulin: 37/40 = 92.5%
Theodore: 22/26 = 84.6%
Powerplays:
Chicago: 0 for 5
Colorado: 1 for 5
TOI Highs/Lows:
Chicago: Keith (25:29), Richmond (5:05)
Colorado: Clark (24:10), Guite (9:54)
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Carolina 4, Pittsburgh 3
Whitney's goal was a blast but Sabourin needs to cut down the angle there.
Pens' coverage in front of their own zone left much to be desired on the second goal.
Linesman Mark Shewchyk left his feet and elbowed Wallin in the face - accidentally of course. He won't be hearing from Collie...
Sykora's backhand goal was #250 for his career
Scott Walker was hurt early in a collision but returned to the game. He later went down in a lot of pain and the game was delayed while they attended to him on the ice. Walker was taken to hospital for observation with a 'torso' injury.
Sykora's second backhand goal was #251 and it tied the game with 5.1 left in the second.
Malone just missed the net as time expired in regulation.
In the shootout..
Christensen made a great deke to the forehand and scored.
Cullen (9 of 17 going in) made a similar move and scored as well.
This ice-level angle really doesn't work for me.
Sykora went to the backhand (again) and tucked it right under the bar.
Hamilton also went to the backhand, Fleury missed the pokecheck and Hamilton put it top shelf.
Is this hockey or a game of HORSE?
Crosby went with the triple-deke and Ward slid right out of the net.
Whitney faked and his weak wrister was easily stopped by Sabourin's glove.
Malkin was held off the scoresheet for the first time. He was also a -2 and had four giveaways.
Neither Staal picked up a point.
Malone threw 7 hits and unwisely took on Commodore.
Gleason is going to be a strong defensive d-man one day, if he isn't already. Tonight he wasw a +2 and blocked three shots.
Goalies:
Sabourin: 29/32 = 90.6%
Ward: 26/29 = 89.7%
Powerplays:
Pittsburgh: 1 for 7
Carolina: 1 for 5
TOI Highs/Lows:
Pittsburgh: Gonchar (28:58), Christensen (4:48)
Carolina: Brind'Amour (25:14), Letowski (7:28)
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Columbus 3, Buffalo 0
There hasn't been enough talk early on about Connolly - he's going to have a huge year (if he can finally stay healthy). Tonight wasn't one of his better games though.
Four Sabres were in the area but none of them could take Peca in front of the net.
Miller made a nice save off a Nash penalty shot but about a minute later Nash drove hard to the net and beat Miller to make it 2-0.
Nash is 0-3 in penalty shots in his career. Miller is 5 for 5.
Zherdev put the game away with the empty netter, his first goal of the year.
Leclaire's shutuout was his third of the year. Seriously, who saw that coming?
Brule played 6:47 and had no shots. The kid is just 20 - what are they doing with him?
Jan Hejda was a +2 and blocked 4 shots.
Eight Sabres did not record a shot on goal.
First time the Sabres have gotten shutout in 95 games.
Jackets are 5-2-1 all-time against Buffalo.
Goalies:
Leclaire: 21/21 = 100%
Miller: 26/28 = 92.9%
Powerplays:
Columbus: 1 for 6
Buffalo: 0 for 5
TOI Highs/Lows:
Columbus: Hainsey (23:23), Shelley (2:51)
Buffalo: Roy (23:32), Mair (6:06)
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Thought of the Day
I was going to use this space to promote Friday Night Lights once again but I'm sure by now you guys are all watching it. If not, you're REALLY missing out...
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Nightly Awards
Jimmy Carson star of the night award: Petr Sykora
Vitali Yachmenev rookie of the night award: Jonathan Toews
Dmitri Khristich nightly leadership award: Mike Cammalleri
Allan Bester goalie of the night award: Pascal Leclaire
Aki-Petteri Berg top defenseman trophy: Jack Johnson
Bruce Shoebottom unsung hero award: Tim Gleason
Andre Racicot red light special award: Jose Theodore
Chris Kontos random scorer award: Adam Hall
(NEW) Cam Neely breakout player award: Tuomo Ruutu
(NEW) Brian Savage Mr. October award: Patrick Kane
(NEW) Gordon Bombay Shootout of the Night: Sidney Crosby
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Thirteen games tonight (actually one is in the afternoon). Here are just a few things to watch:
* Crosby v Ovechkin
* Ray Emery in his first start
* Battle of Alberta
* Can the Thrashers carry the momentum? (Since 2001-2002, NHL teams are 26-8-2 when playing their first game after a mid-season coaching change)
* Toews and Kane in Toronto on HNIC
* Can the Canes slow down the Flyers?
* Will the Preds slide to 2-5?
* How will the Rangers' struggling offense (13 G in 6 GP) fare against Tim Thomas? (edit: Manny got the start)
* The streaking Blues against the undefeated (in regulation) Wild
* Good ol fashioned Adams division matchup in Montreal
* How can Phoenix stay with Detroit?
* Can the Devils keep the puck out of their net?
* Will the Ducks reach the ten game mark over .500?
Enjoy the overdose of hockey..
Danny -
[email protected] 
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