Faceoff Factor

A Week in the NHL - Dec 30 - Jan 5

Ashley Gallant | National Hockey League

Jan 6, 08:48 PM | Hype this story!

Quote of the Week
‘‘During breaks, I just looked around. It was incredible. I thought it was great for the game, and to hell with the cynics.’‘ – Lindy Ruff on the Winter Classic.

The Dominators
Manny Legace, Goaltender, St. Louis Blues (1.000 SV%, 2 games, 2 shutouts)
Legace posted two shutouts this week, and he also didn’t allow a goal in 20 minutes of relief against Edmonton on January 2nd. That’s 140 minutes of shutout hockey this week.

Kristian Huselius, Left Wing, Calgary Flames (4 G, 5 A, 4 games)
It’s another great week for Huselius, who is now averaging more than a point per game this season. In addition to his nine points, he also had 2 game winners this week.

Martin Brodeur, Goaltender, New Jersey Devils (.970 SV%, 2 games, 1 shutout)
Another week, another 36-save shutout (his 96th, just 7 shy of Sawchuk’s record 103 shutouts) for arguably the best goaltender ever.

The games that made you cheer. Or freak out. Or cry. Or all of the above.
Carolina Hurricanes (4) Atlanta Thrashers (3) – Friday, January 4th, 2008
The Thrashers were off to a good start with a goal and an assist by – wait for it – Mark Recchi. Atlanta added a shorthanded goal in the second and was up 3-1 about 25 minutes into the game. Then, it was meltdown city. Carolina stormed back and won the game thanks to a power play goal by Cory Stillman.

New Jersey Devils (3) Philadelphia Flyers (0) – Thursday, January 3rd, 2008
Travis Zajac scored the game winner, but it was his run-in with the one-and-only Derian Hatcher that has everyone talking. Zajac got his glove in Hatcher’s face, and the glove ended up in Hatcher’s mouth. Zajac says that Hatcher actually bit his finger and drew blood, but it’s a case of he-said-he-said, as Hatcher declares that he did not bite Zajac, but that his tooth was almost pulled out of his mouth because of the centre’s glove.

Los Angeles Kings (9) Chicago Blackhawks (2) – Tuesday, January 1st, 2008 Chicago actual held a 2-1 lead 11:01 into the first period, but Los Angeles tied the game 13 seconds later and didn’t look back. The Kings scored, and scored, and scored again. Nine goals in total, including 5 power play markers. The Blackhawks did, however, win the penalties contest, as they amassed 63 PIM (including 4 misconducts), compared to the 31 PIM by LA.

Injury Report
Carlo Colaiacovo, Defence, Toronto Maple Leafs – knee
Poor Colaiacovo. He missed the first 37 games this season with a knee injury. He played five games, and now he’s out 7-10 days after injuring that same knee when he collided with Jim Dowd. Thankfully, it doesn’t appear to be anything serious (just a contusion), but coach Paul Maurice will have to rely more heavily on Kubina, Kaberle and Gill.

Joffrey Lupul, Right Wing, Philadelphia Flyers – spinal cord bruise and concussion
The Flyers have been taking out the competition all season with their crazy hits, and how they are taking out their own players. Derian Hatcher decided that he had to take out Alex Steen with a big open-ice hit, but Lupul got the brunt of that hit when his helmet came off and he hit his head on the ice. He didn’t appear to lose consciousness, but the look on his face said that he wasn’t quite sure where he was or what was going on. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Flyers come out and say that he has a concussion. What a way to take out one of your best players, Hatcher.

Jonathan Toews, Centre, Chicago Blackhawks – knee
The good news is that Toews will not have to have surgery on his knee. The bad news is that it’s a sprained MCL and he’ll be out of the lineup for 3-4 weeks. The Blackhawks will really miss Toews, who is the goal-scoring leading among rookies and their newly appointed alternate captain.

Ryan Smyth, Left Wing, Colorado Avalanche – fractured ankle
The news is not good for the Avs. Smyth is gone for 2 months after fracturing his right ankle in a 4-3 shootout loss to Phoenix. This comes not long after it was announced that captain Sakic will be out for 2-3 months.

Odds and Ends
DiPietro told to change
DiPietro debuted a brand new pair of goalie pads in Thursday’s game against the Panthers, but he was ordered to change during the first intermission. It seems as though his goalie pads had not been inspected and cleared by the NHL’s Hockey Operations department before the game.

No fear, DiPietro wasn’t using illegal pads for those first twenty minutes of the game. However, he did end up losing 4-3 in OT.

Will the Maple Leafs have a new owner?
Probably not, but apparently a Toronto billionaire is interested in buying Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. Alex Shnaider has been talking to a number of people in the industry to find out how much it would cost to buy the organization.

While some would argue that the on-ice product is less than appealing, the organization itself is a virtual gold mine. The Leafs are consistently ranked as being the most valuable team in the NHL, and this has a lot to do with the ‘Toronto Maple Leafs’ brand.

MLSE is reportedly worth over $1.5B (Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC, Air Canada Centre, and Leafs TV), and it would likely take a lot more money to convince the Ontario Teacher’s Pension to sell their shares so Shnaider would have to gather a large group of rich investors.

Like I said, the Leafs will likely not be sold, but it certainly is an interesting story to keep tabs on.

The Week Ahead
Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings – Saturday, January 12th, 7PM ET.
The NHL’s two best teams meet for the only time this season in this Hockey Night in Canada prime time game. Definitely the week’s must-see game.

Pittsburgh Penguins and Atlanta Thrashers – Saturday, January 12th, 7PM ET.
It’s a Mark Recchi reunion! Do you think people will say that the Pens shouldn’t have traded Recchi if he happens to score on Conklin?

Toronto Maple Leafs and Anaheim Ducks – Wednesday, January 9th, 10PM ET.
The Leafs begin their California trip with a game against the defending Stanley Cup champions. Something tells me that the goaltender (Raycroft? Clemmensen? Toskala?) will have to stand on his head if the Leafs are to win this game.