The Hockey Fight That Never Was

With the recent news of Georges Laraque being told by the Montreal Canadiens that they no longer needed his services (4 fights in 28 games this season), it prompted us to look back in the files for some “fighters” who well… just didn’t fight.

While conducting that research, it sparked a memory from the recent past. Two players, who nobody would mistake for highly skilled talent, dropped the gloves at center ice to square off for what looked like it should be a good fight.

It was April 6, 2006 at ScotiaBank Place in Ottawa with 7:13 remaining in the second period of a game between the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Canadiens when the fight that never was broke out.

They’re Gonna Go…Or Are They?

Brad Norton of the Ottawa Senators and Aaron Downey of the Montreal Canadiens squared off.  They adjusted their jersey sleeves and elbow pads (Downey tripped over the faceoff circle), danced around in circles sizing each other up, made a quick lunge at each other… but backed off.  After a minute of this charade the officials stepped in. Both players were issued 10 min. misconduct penalties.

Brad Norton went on to play just 8 more games in the NHL, racking up an impressive 39 penalty minutes. Aaron Downey went on to split the next couple of seasons between the AHL and NHL, managing to get 2 more NHL goals in that time.

Joe Malone: Most Goals In One NHL Game

The National Hockey League has seen some fantastic scorers over the years, but none quite as prolific as “Phantom” Joe Malone.

It seems Joe Malone has been in a class by himself, and has remained unmatched, since the early 1900’s.  As the story goes, Joe Malone was a gifted offensive player with tremendous speed and a real nose for the net.

That nose for the net was certainly apparent on January 31, 1920. Malone was playing against Toronto in his last game as a member of the Quebec Bulldogs.  At the age of 30, he managed to score 7 goals in that night’s contest.

Unlike some other single game records, Joe Malone’s 7 goals in a single game was not an anomaly. Far from it.  In fact,  it isn’t even the most goals that Malone had scored in a single game of professional hockey!

In 1912-13, when his Quebec Bulldogs were a member of the NHA, Malone led his team to the Stanley Cup championship.  That season Malone scored an amazing 43 Goals in just 20 Games.  Following that season, in the first game of the Stanley Cup final, Malone scored 9 times! Yes, Joe Malone scored 9 goals in Game 1 of the 1913 Stanley Cup final with his Quebec Bulldogs winning 14-3.

As further evidence of Malone’s scoring prowess, he scored 5 or more goals in a single game 10 times over the course of his career. This includes a 6 goal performance on March 10, 1920 – less than two months following the record 7 goal game.

Malone’s record for most goals in one NHL game has been challenged only by Darryl Sittler’s 6 goal performance on February 7, 1976. Sittler added four assists that night en route to his record for most points scored in a single NHL game.

The most recent attempt at this record was on December 20, 2007 when Minnesota’s Marian Gaborik scored 5 goals against the New York Rangers (the team he now plays for). Before Gaborik’s performance in 2007, no NHL player had scored five goals in a game since 1996.

NHL Season Predictions!

Thank goodness it’s Pucktober! And not a moment too soon for us hockey fans!

The 2009-2010 NHL regular season officially gets underway tonight, and I’m stoked. I’ll bet you are too.

This season promises to be filled to the brim with interesting teams, players, stories and controversies. We had a very busy off season that saw a great draft in Montreal, a lot of players changing addresses in free agency, a tug of war over the Phoenix Coyotes, yet more turmoil within the NHLPA, and announcements of Olympic hockey team hopefuls.

No matter which team you follow, there’s something to look forward to, or to keep a very close eye on for signs of trouble. These things all set up the kick-off to the season, that begins tonight. Yes, TONIGHT! Mere hours from now! To quote Terrell Owens: “Getcha popcorn ready!”

Here’s some things I’ll be keeping a close eye on as the season goes along:

• Are the Penguins a dynasty in the making?
• Are the Red Wings going to take a step back? Competition is stiffer and a lot of their players are potential Olympians (will fatigue get to them?)
• Are the Blackhawks poised to overtake the Wings in the Western Conference’s Central Division?
• Can the Maple Leafs, with their lack of offensive punch grind their way to the playoffs through “truculence”?
• Will the Canadiens’ radical facelift pay off for GM Bob Gainey?
• Will the Los Angeles Kings’ & St. Louis Blues’ plethora of young horses bring them back to respectability?
• Is Jacques Lemaire going to turn the 2009-10 Devils in to the 1995-96 Devils?
• How are the top 3 picks of John Tavares, Victor Hedman and Matt Duchene going to fare with their teams?
• The Vancouver 2010 Olympic games…what’s better than Olympic hockey?
• Who will be the first coach to lose his job this season?
• Are the Bruins going to be as good without Kessel as they were last year with him? Can Thomas repeat his Vezina performance?
• How is Alex Kovalev, who left his heart in Montreal, going to perform with the new look Senators?
• Are the Flyers going to pound everyone in to submission? Will Ray Emery keep it on the rails?
• Will the San Jose Sharks, specifically Marleau and Thornton finally make a name for themselves in the playoffs?
• Will “Mr. Glass”, a.k.a. Marian Gaborik stay healthy long enough to make the Rangers competitive?
• Will we hear from Gretzky again this year?

Add your storyline in the comments below. Surely there are tons of other topics worth following this coming year that I have not listed here.

The Montreal Canadiens Magazine

Of all the hockey magazine’s available, I have to say that I am quite impressed with “Canadiens”, the official magazine of the Montreal Canadiens. It’s not just because I am a huge Montreal Canadiens fan, but the magazine has a great mix of entertainment, hockey, and personal stories of the Canadiens players, staff and legends.

My Favorite issue of the magazine from 2008 is a great example.

Not only did I find out the three favorite Montreal restaurants that Patrice Brisebois frequents, but also checked out 15 songs on the iPod of Tom Kostopolous (A classic mix of Metallica, Pearl Jam, and Nickleback).

The magazine always has a nice feature article that is several pages in length on the career and life outside of hockey of one current Canadiens player.

In a previous issue, Alexei Kovalev was featured and readers were treated to an inside look at Kovalev outside of hockey. I had previously heard that Kovalev was a licensed pilot, but this article went into greater detail about his flying career, his frequent flights to New York, and the plane that he owns.

Forget the Playoff Beard – Check Out The Mustache!

One of the more humorous articles in the issue, and a favorite topic of mine, is a look back at the best mustaches that have graced the faces of previous Canadiens players.

Larry Robinson received my vote as the former Habs rearguard sported an excellent handlebar style mustache throughout the 1970’s.

Younger Canadiens fans might remember a more recent Captain of the Canadiens, Mike Keane, who sported a beautiful blonde ‘stache as late as 1996!

A great quote comes from the mustache article in the Canadiens magazine:
“Current Canadiens GM, Bob Gainey, wisely left his perm and cookie-duster where they belong – in the ‘70s”

The First Kiss

In honor of Valentine’s Day, several players also remarked on who, where, and how they got their first kiss. I’m not sure what team that Tom Kostopolous played on, but apparently his entire team got kissed at the World Pee-Wee Tournament in Quebec – not too bad if I do say so myself!

Even if you’re not a fan of the Habs, I highly suggest that you take a few minutes to read an issue of Canadiens magazine if you get the chance.

Joe Sakic Versus Steve Yzerman

The following is a compilation of hockey links from the NHL Digest Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/nhldigest.  I’ve added some additional comments around these links.  I hope you enjoy them!

Joe Sakic’s Retirement

With Joe Sakic expected to officially retire on Thursday, Adrian Dater wants to know who was better – Sakic or Yzerman? http://ff.im/-4Yxzr

That’s a tough call.  Both had the intangible qualities of leadership and both are certainly in the best class of people both on and off the ice.

Adrian outlines some statistics in his article- They are eerily similar!

Stanley Cups Yzerman 3, Sakic 2.
Career pointsYzerman 1,755, Sakic 1,641.
Career playoff points: Sakic 188, Yzerman 185.
Postseason goals: Sakic 84, Yzerman 70.
Conn Smythe trophies: Sakic 1, Yzerman 1.
Olympic MVP awards: Sakic 1, Yzerman 0.

Sakic’s retirement and the turnover rate of Avalanche coaches got me thinking. How cool would it be if Joe Sakic pulled a “Gerry Cheevers” becoming the team’s coach the following season after his retirement?

According to @weeklyslapshot the name even (kinda) works: “Easy to confuse Joe Sakic with Joe Sacco… LOL”

Both players were very influential to me as a young hockey player and their careers so close statistically, it comes down to just Stanley Cups. That said, if I had to choose, I choose Steve Yzerman.

Free Agent Signings

@dchesnokov reported that former Detroit Red Wing and free agent, Jiri Hudler, will play for Dynamo Moscow of the KHL (per Sovetsky Sport).

Kuklas Korner had a translation of Hudler speaking on why he signed in Moscow  http://ff.im/-4YxWa

The article at Kuklas Korner has some great speculation as to the actual advantages to this signing for the Detroit Red Wings.  In particular, Detroit doesn’t have to give up anything in the form of money or draft picks and they retain Hudler’s NHL rights.  It is possible that when Detroit clears some salary cap space, in a year or two, that Hudler could be lured back to the Red Wings.

The Anaheim Ducks have signed Saku Koivu to a one-year, $3.25 million contract. via TSN http://ff.im/-4XYB4

There was much speculation that Koivu would go to Anaheim to play with Teemu Selanne for one season prior to Selanne’s retirement.  That speculation came true and Koivu stated for the record that Selanne did influence his decision to join the Ducks.

According to @TBLightning http://twitpic.com/9pn47 – The Tampa Bay Lightning have agreed to terms with former Minnesota Wild defenseman Kurtis Foster.

More Hockey Links

RT @BladeTape Gillian Ferrari & Jayna Hefford have signed with BladeTape for the ‘09-’10 hockey season! 2 of the best female players around!

Does anyone know of any certified medical doctors that have played in the NHL other than Randy Gregg?

Wednesday was also useless NHL Trivia day over at the NHL Digest Facebook page – check it out!  http://bit.ly/a7LfI

NHL Hockey Twitter Links July 7 2009

The following is a collection of today’s most important hockey links as found on the NHL Digest Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/nhldigest. I’ve added some of my thoughts and commentary to the links in order to expand on the subjects a little bit. Let me know what you think!

Joe Sakic To Retire

Joe Sakic is set to announce he’s retiring on Thursday according to Sportsnet.ca http://ff.im/-4VyQZ
Sakic turned 40 years old today and despite having the Winter Olympics in his home town of Vancouver next year, he has decided to hang up the blades.  Sakic will retire as one of the game’s most classy players, leaders and competitors. 

Joe Sakic is the current leader in career points per game (1.19) among active NHLers with more than 500 points (Guess who will be the leader after Sakic retires?)
You know I had to get Dany Heatley into the conversation somehow! Heatley will be the league’s leader in points per game (minimum 500 career points) once Sakic retires on Thursday.

Kovalev Speaks Out On Ottawa

 @kylerousselreports a nice farewell to Montreal from Alex Kovalev’s official site: http://www.ak27.com/

Kovalev says Stanley Cup within reach in Ottawa. http://ff.im/-4Vg7g
Kovalev believes that he can bring more offense to Ottawa in the form of a second line scoring presence that they didn’t have previously.  He believes that is what is holding the Senators back from success in the playoffs.  I agree with him to a point, but the Senators also need defense and a goaltender. I didn’t expect Alex to bash his new team off the bat, but something more realistic wouldn’t have hurt. 

 @fatheaddesign Also thinks Kovalev is as close to the Stanley Cup in Ottawa as he will ever get saying- “Ottawa is a short train ride away from the HHOF, they can visit it there easily”.

Bonus NHL Goodness

  If you are a Penguins fan in Ohio or Pennsylvania, visit your local Giant Eagle store. @Kicksavetwenty and @Brian_Metzer say the Penguins newly released Stanley Cup Championship DVD is only $12 there with your Giant Eagle advantage card.

 @HabsIO says Scott Gomez will wear #91 and Mike Cammalleri will wear #13 in Montreal next season http://snipurl.com/maycc . According to Habs fan Michael Kuyaz, they will form part of the Montreal Canadiens new “Smurf Line” next season as seen here.

Chris Pronger signs 7-year extension in Philadelphia -… http://ff.im/-4Vn6Y
Pronger stated a few days ago that he would like to finish his career in Philadelphia.  This 7-year extension will do just that for the 35 year old rearguard.  In fact, I’d be willing to bet that Pronger retires in 5 years.

 @hosea24hoursWhat’s so exciting about Jonas Gustavsson? It’s Burke’s way of giving Leafs fans false hope. Remember Fabian Brunnstrom?
He’s right, and as Kyle Roussel said: “If Gustavsson is so great, then why did it take him so long to get to the NHL, and If he’s so great, why did he only get a 1-year deal?”  This highly touted “Monster” has a lot to prove and he will be asked to prove it under the bright lights and pressure of the cynical and fickle Toronto spotlight.

NHL Trivia:Which active NHL player has the best plus/minus rating at +409

Answer: N. Lidstrom

The good folks over at the Pensburgh blog have taken some lessons from this down economy and posted an article today about defending a championship on a budget. http://bit.ly/11gTvj

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