If You Could Be Any NHL Player, Who Would It Be?

I converse on a daily basis with hockey fans on the NHL Digest Twitter feed and Facebook Page. These conversations typically involve questions and scenarios being debated back and forth – some more interesting than others, of course.

A couple of days ago I asked the question:

“If you could be any NHL player, who would it be and why?”

With the variety of hockey fans on Facebook and Twitter, I expected a plethora of different answers and reasons. What I wasn’t prepared for was such a tiny amount of responses that actually mentioned anything to do with hockey skill.

Of course some of the answers were funny, others tried to be but failed, and a few were serious and gave legitimate reasons for their choice.

The following are a few of the favorite responses.

Henny Penny chimed in to vote for Winnipeg Jets / Phoenix Coyotes Captain, Shane Doan.

Henny calls Doan the “greatest, most humble captain out there”

Vancouver Canucks fan, Peter James Woods, loves him some Rick Rypien toughness!

Peter would love to step into Rypien’s Skates because he “chops down fools who step to him”.

Craig Kanalley, better known as the Traffic and Trends Editor at the Huffington Post, shows his hockey knowledge with his description of Ryan Miller.

Craig opines: “Ryan Miller. Calm, cool, collected. Passionate and just plays the game. All admirable qualities”.

We won’t mention anything about the 2010 Olympic Gold Medal game to Craig. Nothing good can come from dwelling on losses.

I suppose that’s a good a segue as any to start talking about the Leafs.

Justin, from the Hockey Card Show, referred to Dion Pahneuf’s bold move of walking into the Leafs dressing room and taking control of the music just after being traded to Toronto from Calgary.

Justin bows down to Dion with this tweet: “Phaneuf…I never get the change the music at work right now”.

The most popular player selected, believe it or not, was retired Flyers’ Goaltender Ron Hextall. Two of the best replies to the posed question featured Hextall as their choice.

The first reply was from Anthony Curatolo, who waxed a little poetic about the Broadstreet Bullies.

Ron Hextall – The man was the definition of a Flyers goaltender. had heart, soul and a temper. My idol growing up!

And, last but certainly not least, the most enthusiastic reply and my selection for tweet of the day goes to Patrice Leonard.  Patrice also chose Ron Hextall, and in did so in most convincing fashion. I wonder if she’s ever seen his naked interview?

The news may be slow, but there are still entertaining hockey conversations going on, so feel free to participate.

Not sure I’ll be running out to get a tattoo of an NHL player’s autograph any time soon (although it’s really hardcore), but calling someone the “badassiest of all bad asses” is now on my bucket list.

Which NHL player would you choose to be and why? Drop your answer in the comments – I’d love to hear from you!

Canucks Release 40th Anniversary Jersey

The Vancouver Canucks finally released their 40th Anniversary Jersey today.

The new jersey features a blend of the classic Blue and Green Canucks colors with vintage ‘stick in rink’ logo. Other features of the 40th Anniversary jersey include the main white color with blue and green accents and a large ‘V’ for Vancouver on each sleeve with only the player number on the back. The 40th Anniversary patch will adorn the upper right chest of the jersey.

The jersey will be worn several times throughout the season, including the home opener versus the Los Angeles Kings. The ‘Original’ jersey will not feature a name bar, but the classic horizontal lines on the bottom of the jersey and at the elbows on the sleeves will remain. Completing the look will be green and white horizontal stripes on the bottom of the pants, as well as one thick green and blue stripe on each sock.

For the best prices on officially licensed Canucks jerseys, visit Cool Hockey.com

Halak Chasing McLean’s Playoff Record For Saves

By now it is no secret that the Montreal Canadiens are the story of the 2010 NHL playoffs.  Much has been much written about Jaroslav Halak and his fantastic performances, backstopping the Habs to the third round. However, a lot of the focus on records has been on Mike Cammalleri chasing Reggie Leach’s 19  playoff goals.

While Cammalleri, who currently has 12 goals, could reach that record and it would be a great accomplishment, Jaroslav Halak is on pace to beat one the top 10 NHL playoff records of all time.

Most Saves In One Playoff Year

Prior to the first game of the conference final versus the Flyers, Halak had already registered 420 saves in 13 games during this playoff run.  Halak is averaging 32.3 Saves/Game and had 119 more saves than Chicago’s Antti Niemi heading into Sunday’s action.  At this pace, if the Canadiens play 11 more games in this playoff year, Halak will likely take over Kirk McLean’s record of 761 saves.

For Halak to reach this record, of course, means that the Canadiens must win the Eastern Conference and make it to the Stanley Cup Final. But, after knocking off the Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins, beating Philadelphia seems like a definite possibility.

Even if we assume the minimum number of games that the Canadiens could play if they won the Eastern Conference (8), at an average of 32.3 saves per game, Halak would still record the most saves made in the playoffs with 678 since Olaf Kolzig recorded 696 in 1998.

Here is a quick reference of the playoff leaders in saves.

This is one of those records, like the most losses by a goaltender in a career, nobody really wants to break. But, the most saves in a playoff run is still a great accomplishment and underscores the effect that having a hot goaltender in the playoffs can still have.

UPDATE: As this post went to publication, Halak was just chased from the Montreal net in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final after making just 9 saves on 13 shots.

The First Goaltender To Captain An NHL Team

While Roberto Luongo, as Captain of the Vancouver Canucks, is the only goaltender to have that honor bestowed upon him currently, it certainly isn’t a novel idea.

The first goaltender to be named Captain of an NHL team was John Ross Roach.  Roach was named Captain of the Toronto St. Pats back in the 1924-25 season.

Roach was nicknamed “Little Napolean”, mostly because of his small size (5’5″) as well as his temper.  Having a goaltender as a captain suited the St. Pats coach, Eddie Powers, just fine. He would often have Roach start a debate with an official to give his team a rest.

In total, seven goaltenders have served as captains of their respective NHL teams over the course of history. Along with Roach and Luongo there were George Hainsworth, Roy Worters, Alex Connell, Bill Durnan and Charlie Gardiner.

Charlie Gardiner also holds the record of being the only goaltender to captain a Stanley Cup winning team. Gardiner was the captain of the 1933-34 Chicago Blackhawks 3 Games to 1 in the Stanley Cup final.

Game Four of the Stanley Cup final went to double overtime, but Gardiner had left the game after regulation due to health problems. He passed away that summer as a result of a brain hemorrhage.

source: Wikipedia

Video: Rick Rypien Fights Brandon Prust Twice!

Rick Rypien and Brandon Prust are two of the best middle-weight fighters in the National Hockey League and they went toe-to-toe twice during this game.  Both have fought NHL heavyweights and held their own, so when they squared off against each other, there was no doubt hockey fans were in for a great tilt.

Round 1: Rypien vs. Prust

The first of the two of the two was what appeared to be a “staged fight”, the ones that the NHL is trying to get rid of.  Both Rypien and Prust looked to be asking each other to fight as they lined up at the faceoff.  While I might agree that staged fights are mostly pointless, this turned out to be a very entertaining bout with both players landing some heavy blows.

Round 2: Rypien vs. Prust

The second fight between Prust and Rypien happened later on in the game, in the second period. This fight was more of a wrestling match, but was evidence of their passion and animosity for each other. Only  a few punches were thrown, but you can hear the Vancouver fans chanting “Rypien, Rypien” in the background… and they want to take fighting out of the game? Please.

Video: Darcy Hordichuk Fights Krys Barch

Darcy Hordichuk got a great piece of Toby Petersen at center ice with a clean hit and was instantly challenged to a fight by Krys Barch.

You know, I get the fact that players have to be protected on the ice and that is part of Krys Barch’s job, but I’m also getting sick of guys getting challenged to fights when they’ve simply made a clean body check.

In any event, both Hordichuk and Barch landed a few punches in this fight, but I think it’s one of those fights that just didn’t have to happen.

Of course, this is easier said than done because in the heat of the moment Barch sees Hordichuk level Petersen at center ice and it’s just instinct on his part to come to his teammate’s defense.

Enjoy the video of the fight below… what do you think? Was this fight necessary?

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