Mike Ribeiro Between The Legs Goal

If you’re a follower of NHL Digest, then you know how much we appreciate the between-the-legs goals and Mike Ribeiro provided us with a beauty against Florida!

This between-the-legs goal from Ribeiro is very similar to the one scored last season by Rick Nash.  Both were in very close to the net and instinctively reacted to create a better shooting angle by taking the shot from between the legs.

In reality it isn’t so much that the shot takes place between the legs, it is the speed at which today’s players can react to the situation, place the puck and stick between their legs and release the shot.

Curtis Joseph Chases All-Time Loss Record

With Martin Gerber’s referee shoving episode earning him a 3-game suspension, Curtis Joseph found himself looking at three straight starts.

Interestingly enough that may be just enough starts to break an NHL record this season.

Collecting his 351st career loss on Friday night, Curtis Joseph moved within one loss of Gump Worsley’s career loss record for goaltenders.

While the all-time record for losses by an NHL goaltender is not an enviable position to be in, Joseph also ranks 4th all-time in wins with 453 NHL victories.

Considering the length of Joseph’s career, it is obvious that the losses are the bi-product of a long career backstopping a host of mediocre teams rather than poor performance.

The Year of The Goalie

In a year when Martin Brodeur has set the record for most career wins, and has been hailed by many as the best goaltender in history, there is one category other than career losses where Joseph leads Brodeur. Joseph (26,707) has had more shots against him than Brodeur (24,842). in fact, Patrick Roy (28,353) is the only goaltender in history with more shots against than Joseph.

In his 19 seasons, Joseph has made nearly 54,000 saves, allowed more than 2500 goals against and has a career goals against average (GAA) of 2.79. Joseph was an NHL All-Star on two occasions in 1994 and 2000

Joseph’s worst full season came in 2006-2007 when he held the fort for a very poor Phoenix Coyotes team, and finished the season with 321 losses and a 3.19 GAA.

With those statistics and without winning a Stanley Cup, does Joseph deserve a shot at the Hall of Fame?

A New Economic Reality Faces The NHL

This article has been contributed by author Kyle Roussel.  Feel free to catch up with Kyle on Twitter!

TSN’s Bob McKenzie is about as good as it gets when it comes to insiders in their respective sports. To me, he’s in the same class as guys like the NFL’s Chris Mortensen, and baseball’s Jonah Keri.

So when McKenzie speaks, I’m paying attention. Recenty he published a column on TSN.ca about a new economic reality about to hit the NHL. He went in to some detail about how the cap is on the verge of shrinking…big time, and teams like the Flyers and Red Wings will have no other option than to let some excellent players go for virtually nothing, just so they stay under the cap. There is no option to pay a luxury tax or other kind of penalty so that you can play over the cap. Teams MUST be under the cap.

The Flyers will have to move some well paid, and well liked cornerstone players…and not Daniel Brière. No one will want his mammoth albatross contract, especially now that he’s suddenly become injury prone in to his early 30′s. So then will it be Mike Richards or Jeff Carter? Losing either one is an arguably devastating blow. They’ve drafted, invested in, and made stars out of both, and they may be forced to trade “a battleship for a rowboat”.

Things are even worse for the Red Wings, who will not be able to retain Marian Hossa, Johan Franzen, Mikael Samuelsson and Jiri Hudler. They know that some of those guys are gone, and for not much in return, except valuable cap space. Where will these guys end up? To teams with lots of cap space of course!

How will the Habs Cope?

I turn my attention now to my Habs. At season’s end, General Manager Bob Gainey will have a plethora of unrestricted free agents to deal with (Koivu, Kovalev, Tanguay, Komisarek, Dandenault, Bouillon, Brisebois, Schneider, Kostopoulos, Lang). That’s the core of the team and then some.

Some say (and recently fired coach Guy Carbonneau hinted at this) it’s a great opportunity to cleanse the dressing room of bad apples. It’s also a time when the shrinkage of the cap will coincide with the Canadiens’ payroll shrinkage. A perfect storm right? Most fans are relieved by this. “Excellent, get rid of the dead weight and bring in a new core with all of your newfound cap space”.

This is Flawed Logic

and it probably applies to other teams as well:

1. You are making the assumption that premier free agents WANT to play here. In the past couple years we’ve seen Bob Gainey make ultra-aggressive pitches to Ryan Smyth, Daniel Brière, and most recently Marian Hossa. All 3 took less money to play elsewhere. Their reasons why are their own, but the fact is having cap space is not a guarantee that you’ll be able to spend it on all-star talent, especially here in the ultimate hockey fishbowl of Montreal.
2. You just can’t flush out half of your roster and replace with new guys and hope they’ll instantly gel, even if they are all-stars. For years the New York Rangers brought in star after star and didn’t have much to show for it. It takes time for guys to get used to one another and build chemistry. This could be a total rebuild.
3. You probably need to resign some of of those UFAs. They are probably an integral part of your team…like Mike Komisarek. Here’s the obvious rub: agents love money. They’ll say that with all of this freed up cap space, a GM could easily afford to give their player the dollars and term they’re asking.
4. You still have to meet a “salary floor”. This means that teams with lots of cap room and not many players will have to overpay some free agents just to meet that salary floor. Traditionally, the Canadiens have had trouble signing marquee free agents. So this summer Gainey will have 2 issues – the need to fill out a roster, one that will meet Montreal fans’ rabid expectations and the need to meet the salary floor. That’s when guys like Roman Hamrlik get 4 year deals worth 22 million dollars! I can see this trend continuing in to the summer and Gainey having to settle for second-tier guys.

Someone Stop the Merry-Go-Round!

This desperate behavior will probably replicate across the league, ensuring that no real market correction will take place. I think we’ll eventually see teams all have a couple high priced guys, followed by a lot of cheap grinders and even cheaper kids. I guess that will do lots to ensure the parity that Bettman so desperately wants.

So What’s the Solution?

It’s all well and good to think that flushing out cap space is a great thing, and it is, but it’s how you manage it that’s even more important.

As fans, we can only hope that the NHL’s General Managers control themselves this time around exercise a little restraint. The day of the 6+ year contract worth 7 million dollars or more per season should come to a merciful end. A foolish hope? Probably. Very few GMs know how to pick their spots with so much success. Lou Lamoriello and Ken Holland instantly come to mind as guys who draft well enough that they can easily manage their free agent situations, though I think Holland is in for a bit of a rough ride.

How do you see the consequences of the falling cap and the recession affecting how contracts are given out? How do you want your team’s GM to approach this upcoming storm?

Brad Staubitz Fights Jordin Tootoo

For those of you who want to see fighting banned from the NHL, tell me that this fight between Jordin Tootoo and Brad Staubitz isn’t entertaining.  If you say it’s not there are 17,000 screaming Sharks fans that can be heard in the background of the video that strongly disagree!

Staubitz and Tootoo went toe-to-toe in this fight, with Staubitz getting the decision after landing several left hands on Tootoo.  Tootoo headed straight to the dressing room for repairs as Staubitz opened him up for stitches.

I’d also like to mention to Kelly Hrudey that even though Tootoo got the worst of the deal in this fight, he did stick up for himself and did not shy away from the challenge of Staubitz.

For those who are not familiar with Hrudey’s dislike for Jordin Tootoo, please refer to this article. [Kelly Hrudey's High Horse]

Alex Ovechkin Celebrates 50th Goal

Alexander Ovechkin scored his 50th goal of the 2008-2009 season on March 19.   Ovechkin, who leads the National Hockey League in goals, is favored by many fans as the most impactful and exciting player in the league. Ovechkin celebrated his 50th goal by dropping his stick and when attempting to pick it up, pretended it was too hot to touch!

[Video thanks to On Frozen Blog]

Too Much Celebration?

I wonder what Don Cherry, who criticized Ovechkin on the February 28th edition of Hockey Night in Canada for his excessive celebrations, will have to say about the celebration of his 50th goal?

For those who haven’t seen Cherry’s previous remarks on Ovechkin’s post-goal celebrations, I submit the following video:

In my opinion, as a hockey fan, if you can score 50 goals in the National Hockey League, then you are entitled to a little excessive celebration.  I actually enjoy watching Ovechkin’s celebrations because he shows his love for the game and passion for scoring.

Until he crosses the line from showing passion and excitement for the game to mocking the opposition, I will continue to Ovechkin and his goal celebrations are great for the game.

Honestly, it isn’t as if Ovechkin scores a goal in the opposition’s arena and then skates as fast as he can to center ice, stopping and standing on the other team’s logo – I mean that is disrespectful! (Terrell Owens – NFL Video)

Take a moment and watch the above video again.  Notice how Ovechkin is just randomly swinging his arms and jumping.  Most of the time it is just pure exuberance and random displays of emotion. There is no pre-planned celebration going on – He didn’t pull a Sharpie marker from his skate to autograph his stick (Terrell Owens…again!)

Ovechkin is a Team Player

One key thing to understand is that Alexander Ovechkin gets excited for every one of the Capitals goals.  Many times I have witnessed him jumping up and down and pumping his fists and hurling himself at a teammate who just scored.  That is pure passion for the game, nothing more.

Cherry, in the above video, encourages young players not to act like Ovechkin after scoring. Okay, even if you think Alex is a touch over the top from time to time, he isn’t faking his appreciation for his teammates.

That said, I encourage each and every young hockey player to act like Alex Ovechkin acts when his teammates score.  It is a pure exhibition of excitement and enthusiasm for the members of his team and, if nothing else, he deserves to be recognized for that.

Thoughts and opinions, as always, are most welcomed in the comments section.

Warren Peters Fights Ben Ondrus

Warren Peters and Ben Ondrus, both accomplished minor league fighters, decided to show their wares when given an opportunity to play for their respective NHL clubs when the Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames met for a late season match-up last night.

Peters, who got the better of Ondrus in this fight, has played 9 NHL games this season while Ondrus has played just 6 games registering a whopping 34 PIM!

Ben Ondrus seems to be trying to impress Brian Burke, who is known to like tough players, by fighting in every game he plays.  However, according to Hockey Fights.com, Ondrus has yet to win an NHL fight since beating up “tough guy” Travis Green back in 2005-2006 .

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