Nonsense Hockey's first ever poll has ended an the fans have spoken. Tuukka Rask came away with 35% of the votes on who has been the top rookie this season. John Tavares was 2nd, with 28% of the votes. There were no big surprises in the voting. Nonsense has a rather large Bruins fan base, attributing to the Rask victory. Tavares was expected to grab some votes because of the name.
I was extremely shocked to see that people overlooked a player like Tyler Myers. The 6'8" monster defenseman has chipped in 6 goals and 20 helpers thus far. Perhaps he is not the household name in the NHL like Tavares, but that will change soon. Matt Duchene started hot, cooled off, and is now performing just fine. His season totals are 13 goals and 16 assists. Not bad statistics for a rookie, but he does see 17-20 minutes of ice time on average. Jimmy Howard has been lights out for the Red Wings this season. Boasting a 2.17 GAA and .928 save percentage, the Red Wings should be more than happy with his progress. After waiting several seasons for the chance to play, he is thriving.
There are a handful of other rookies around the league looking to make their names known as well. Semyon Varlamov was playing outstanding in net for Washington before he was demoted to the Hershey Bear of the American Hockey League. Nicklas Bergfors has been a pleasant surprise for the New Jersey Devils this season. After spending the previous 3 seasons with Lowell (AHL) developing his skills, the Swedish right winger has scored 13 goals (8 on the power play), and picked up 14 assists. Another winger in James Van Riemsdyk has not done anything spectacular, but the former UNH Wildcat will be looked upon for big things in the future for the Flyers. Like Myers, Michael Del Zotto is having a tremendous rookie season on the blue-line. Tied for Myers with 6 goals, he also has 16 assists, but carries a -15 in plus/minus.
Jamie Benn (DAL), Ryan O' Reilly (COL), Evander Kane (ATL), and Scott Parse (LA) round out the top 10 in rookie scoring. Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning is a rookie defenseman who is hard to leave out. The 2nd overall pick in the most recent draft has done exactly what the Lightning wanted out of him. On paper, he only has 4 goals and 10 assists, but he plays big minutes and strong defense, attributing to a +3. Buffalo's other rookie, Tim Kennedy, has evolved into a nice third line center. Expected to be a playmaker with some grit, the Buffalo native has found a home-at-home for years to come. Some players that are starting to be noticed include Dan Sexton (ANA), Rob Schremp (NYI), and Brandon Yip (COL) have played in 21, 25, and 11 games, respectively. None of these 3 players were really expected to help the big club in any way this season, but they are starting turn heads.
In other news:
-The Ducks-Kings game got ugly last night, deaturing four fights, including Raitis Ivanans vs. Ryan Carter? Well, that is because Ryan Carter had a dirty hit Kings' Captain Dustin Brown earlier in the contest. Props to Carter for actually willing to drop the mitts though. 'The Code' does still exist after all. Corey Perry got ejected in the final minutes, Bobby Ryan took a questionable run at Kings' Oscar Moller, resulting in a 5 minute charging major and a game misconduct. We will see if any suspensions are handed out, but Bobby Ryan told the media he would be shocked if he was. By the way, the Kings won the game 4-0.
-Zdeno Chara likes to take slappers from the hashmarks in shootouts. Did you know that? Bruins won 2-1 over the Sharks in the shootout.
Do you think Curtis Joseph is Hall of Fame worthy? Let us know by voting on the right side of the page! The poll will expire in one week from today. Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section regarding rookies, Joseph, and other nonsense. Perhaps I will chime in with more Nonsense tonight, but until then, look out for Buotte's Olympic Preview: Part 1!
It was an interesting night in the NHL last night. The Ducks won again, but lost Teemu Selanne to a jaw injury for 4-8 weeks, possibly jeopardizing his Olympic appearance for Finland in February. The Capitals beat the Panthers in a shootout and move into 2nd place in the Eastern Conference.
KOVALCHUK UPDATE:
According to Kovalchuk's agent, Jay Grossman, on his Twitter page, Grossman said his client's first priority is to stay in Atlanta.
"It takes two to get something done," said Grossman, perhaps implying that Atlanta does not want to match the proposal the Kovalchuk camp has put forth. "He knows the fans are behind him and we are hopeful with a resolution he and the team will stay in Atlanta."
QUICK HITS:
-Jason Chimera had a notched a Gordie Howe hat trick last night in the Capitals 5-4 shootout win over Florida. Gordie Howe hat tricks are just, well, awesome. I have nothing to back this up but will assume it was Chimera's first Gordie of his career.
-Jarome Iginla's full name is Jarome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla. I swear to God.
-Sheldon Souray may want out of Edmonton. That's likely just what the Oilers, who have lost 12 out of 13, wanted to hear.
-According to various sources, the Penguins and defenseman Sergei Gonchar have opened up contract talks. Simply put, the Penguins need to make this happen and likely will. Their power play is atrocious without him. According to TSN, contract talks are currently focused around term of the deal.
-Nikolai Khabibulin is out indefinitely for back surgery. This is bad news for the Oilers, who just signed Khabibulin to a monster deal last summer. Even worse news? They'll still be paying him serious coin when he's 41 years of age.
MATCH-UP OF THE NIGHT:
Anaheim Ducks (21-19-7) @ Los Angeles Kings (25-18-3), 10:30 p.m.
The Ducks are hot, the Kings are cooling off, and the Western Conference playoff race is intensifying. The Ducks are coming off a big home win over Boston, but will play tonight without Teemu Selanne. The Ducks will need big contributions from their young guns, as well as Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf if they want to keep up their winning ways.
PREDICTION: Kings, 5-4 OT
That's all for today. Look for our Olympic preview coming up in the next few days and don't forget to follow us on Twitter or add us on Facebook.
With Buotte's blog yesterday regarding the almost Ovechkin fight, it got me thinking about team's need for enforcers. Some say that the Capitals are in desperate need for a "true enforcer" oppossed to the occasional scrappers like Matt Bradley. I don't have a problem with teams have the Matt Bradley, Mike Rupp, or Kyle Chipchura type of players. Those who don't go out looking for a fight, but will when necessary. But I can see people's points about a team such as the Capitals. Boasting talent like Ovie, Semin, Backstrom, and Green; you want them protected. The Capitals let Donald Brashear go in order to make room for a more skilled player. Not a bad decision, but that spot has been overtaken by not one player, but several. Consistently recalling and reassigning prospects between the minors, no one has really stuck on the 4th line.
Below I am going to break down each team regarding enforcers. I will point out the obvious enforcer (if any), and the runner-ups (again, if any).
Anaheim Ducks - George Parros is the obvious choice here. Mike Brown hasn't fought as much during his time in Anaheim, but it is a suitable replacement should Parros go down. Kyle Chipchura has surprisingly dropped the gloves 5 times since being acquired from Montreal earlier this season.
Atlanta Thrashers - Eric Boulton is really all they got. He has been there for awhile now and knows what Coach John Anderson expects out of him; to beat people mercifully. Chris Thorburn is second on the team in fights, but Ilya Kovalchuk would rather take on his own fights than have him come in to fight them for him.
Boston Bruins - To the minds of Bruins fans, Milan Lucic is the enforcer here. To people with intelligence, Shawn Thornton is the enforcer. Milan Lucic has 1 fight this season and it's going to stay that way. Sure, he missed a ton of games, great, I get it. However, he just had surgery on his main throwing hand, #8 is not going to risk that while he has to be expected to put up 50 goals in 50 games.
Buffalo Sabres - The days of Rob Ray and Andrew Peters are long gone. This need could pick-up an enforcer towards the deadline in order to protect Thomas Vanek and Co. That is, unless Lindy Ruff and Darcy Regier still believe that Patrick Kaleta is a good fighter. Oh wait, they have Steve Montador, everything is okay.
Calgary Flames - With Brian McGrattan and Brandon Prust holding down the fort in Calgary, the kids are gonna be alright.
Carolina Hurricanes - Not much to mention here. And, who cares?
Chicago Blackhawks - Ben Eager is supposed to handle the task at hand here, but it appears as if he is uninterested this season w/ 5 fights. Colin Fraser has a respectable 6 fights to lead the way. But if anyone forgot, this is the team with Kane, Toews, Sharp, Versteeg, Seabrook, Hossa, and Keith.
Colorado Avalanche - Hard to believe that you cannot even call Darcy Tucker an enforcer of any kind nowadays. He sits far down on the list as far as the Avs are concerned. Cody McLeod, still a rather unknown fighter in the league, isn't afraid to take on the tougher customers of the league. Most recently he fought Brandon Prust of the Flames. Tough guy David Koci is the true heavyweight here, despite being 3 fights behind McLeod with 8. Koci doesn't play nearly as many games or minutes to his credit though.
Columbus Blue Jackets - Jared Boll has things under his wing in Columbus. Derek Dorsett wouldn't mind being Boll, but he's not.
Dallas Stars - Krys Barch handles the enforcer role just fine, despite not looking like one. Steve Ott is there too, to fight anyone that cannot fight.
Detroit Red Wings - Oh the Detroit Red Wings. How miserable for a fan it would be should you not be good year in and year out. Near the bottom of the list for fighting majors once again with 14, Brad May has 9. So there is reason to cheer for one person atleast. May wasn't even supposed to apart of the mix there until they signed him just after the season got under way. He hasn't lost his touch either.
Edmonton Oilers - 12 guys have been willing to drop the gloves for the Oilers this year. Not a bad thing for fans out there. Unfortunately their enforcer in Zach Stortini just cannot win a fight. Then they have J.F. Jacques who can step in if necessary.
Los Angeles Kings - Raitis Ivanans needs no help in LA.
Minnesota Wild - The Bash Brothers: Derek Boogaard and John Scott. There's a reason why the two biggest goons in the NHL only have a total of 11 fights this year: The rest of the league is SMART. But Boogaard also lends his skills off the ice to the youth of Minnesota by hosting a fighting clinic with his brother Aaron.
Montreal Canadiens - Georges Laraque and Travis Moen = 8 fights. Don't know what happened there.
Nashville Predators - Jordin Tootoo and Wade Belak got sick of fighting. 12 fights total for team. Dead last in NHL.
New Jersey Devils - They have Andrew Peters, Pierre Luc-Leblond, and David Clarkson to protect the house when one of them plays, which isn't a lot.
New York Islanders - Tim Jackman is all they got, and he doesn't have the pugilistic skills one would like.
New York Rangers - Donald Brashear can take on the best of the best, as he has been doing for years now. Sean Avery can take on goalies, fans, and the media. Aaron Voros, ummmmmm, yeah, he is just there.
Ottawa Senators - Matt Carkner came out of nowhere to rack up 14 fighting majors thus far. He, unlike some of the potential fighters in Washington probably saw the void in the enforcer role and took it upon his self to make sure everything was okay up in Ottawa.
Philadelphia Flyers - Asham, Hartnell, Laperierre, and Carcillo are all fighting to be the fighter. It's a close race so far, but Laperierre is on top with 13 fighting majors.
Phoenix Coyotes - Paul Bissonnette has 14 of the team's 22 fighting majors. The fans coming out to jobing.com arena have been surprised by not only the record, but this up-and-coming fighter's skills.
Pittsburgh Penguins - Mike Rupp is developing into a true heavyweight and breezing past Eric Godard. Not a bad thing for the team and fans alike. Rupp has some hockey skill that can't be denied. Even Evgeni Malkin will stick up for the top players as well.
San Jose Sharks - I wish I could be in San Jose for every game. Not only do you have the scoring of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and Dany Heatley, but you have the fighting skills of Jody Shelley and Frazer McLaren.
St. Louis Blues - Lately, David Backes didn't think that the likes of Rick Nash, Corey Perry, and Johnathan Toews should be left untouched. Give credit to Backes for taking on some truly tough customers for the main events. BJ Crombeen and Cam Janssen are jealous they didn't get the chance.
Tampa Bay Lightning - It took Zenon Konopka a long time to make a home in the NHL. But he found it in Tampa, and with that he leads the league in fighting majors. They also got cheapshot artist and piece of crap Steve Downie.
Toronto Maple Leafs - With Brian Burke running the show things have toughened up. Jamal Mayers, who some may of thought vanished from fighting, has returned to his old form with 8 fights so far. Colton Orr isn't shying away either with 10 majors.
Vancouver Canucks - Rick Rypien , Tanner Glass, and Darcy Hordichuck have created a scary trio to deal with. You probably won't see a whole lot of of people messing with the Sedin twins now.
Washington Capitals - The main purpose of this blog is finally here. Tied for the least fighting majors in the league with 12, it comes as a shock to me. With no Brashear, no one can expect big numbers, but 12 is low considering Matt Bradley and John Erskine are on this team. You figure a few others would get into the mix eventually. Maybe Coach Bruce Boudreau told the team to do otherwise.
Well that's all for that.
In Other News:
- Teemu Selanne is out 4-8 weeks with a broken jaw for the Ducks. Not good news for a team that has been performing well as of late. With Selanne out, maybe Dan Sexton can receive more playing time and impress even more.
- The Bruins lost another one last night as they took on the Ducks. Are we going to see a major shake-up in Boston soon? We know how Bostonians can be in tough times; they expect big things regardless of the roster.
- Fresh off his $2,500 fine, Alex Burrows picked up a few more minor penalties in a game that wasn't reffed by Stephane Auger.
That's all for me today. I am sure we may hear from Buotte by the day's end. Check back later for more Nonsense Hockey.
Props to Matt Bradley. He may have saved his Washington Capitals teammate, Alexander Ovechkin, from getting his kisser rearranged last night in a 7-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. After Ovechkin threw a questionable hit, Steve Downie and Ovechin exchanged words before getting matching roughing penalties. Upon stepping out of the box, the two dropped the gloves before Bradley came flying in like Superman to save Ovechkin.
This is all fine and dandy; the enforcer, or as close to the Caps have to it, sticking up for the star, until you consider that this was perhaps what Ovechkin had coming. Ovechkin plays on the edge; that's a given and is perfectly fine. But his open-ice hits that many have cried are illegal have drawn more attention to Ovechkin and the fine line he walks between edgy and flat-out dangerous. Was Bradley right in doing what he did? Well, yes, he saved the face of the franchise--literally. But is it time Ovechkin mans up and follows the unwritten "code" that lies within the game?
I am an Ovechkin supporter. He's an unbelievable talent and pretty much accepted as the NHL's best player--that is, unless you're from Pittsburgh. But even Sidney Crosby, sometimes nicknamed "Cindy" Crosby, has held himself accountable for his actions and heck, even played enforcer to defend Evgeni Malkin. While I agree Crosby can be soft, he has adhered by "the code" for the most part. And Crosby doesn't even throw vicious body checks that could end another player's season the way Ovechkin does.
So now Ovechkin is in the spotlight again, for throwing a malicious hit and not sticking up for himself. Heck, even the mild-mannered Jeff Halpern is pissed. Ovechkin has already been suspended once this season and likely will not be suspended for his latest action. But it's about time somebody takes action--and that person should be Oveckhin.
Alexander Burrows of the Vancouver Canucks, who has been one of the hottest players in hockey yesterday, was fined $2,500 by the NHL after his remarks after the Canucks 3-2 loss to the Nashville Predators on Sunday night. He claimed that Stephane Auger, one of the officials for Sunday's game, told Burrows he had made him look bad earlier this season and that he was "out to get him". While the only two people who know what was actually said for certain are Burrows and Auger, I may actually have to support Burrows in this situation. Auger clearly did have a chat with Burrows before the game:
Again, I have no idea what is being said here. However, it is still unusual for a player and a ref to have this kind of conversation before the game and if they do are likely not catching up on the weather. So, the game starts. Burrows racks up 14 minutes in penalties; a relatively soft diving call, an interference call that is perhaps the worst I've seen in the sport, and a misconuct major in the waning seconds. The interference call can be seen here:
Um...? Look, I understand missing a call every now and then. But really? This is the worst phantom call I have ever seen. To compound matters, Auger was also the referee for this perplexing no-goal call earlier in the season against Detroit:
Please watch that video and tell me how the referee didn't lose his job then? This is clearly a case of an ego that is too big to referee at the NHL level. The call against Detroit still dumbfounds me and the fact that Auger has shown up in more allegations just adds fuel to the fire. The NHL's answer? Fine Burrows and close the matter.
Look, I'm not Alex Burrows' biggest fan. But he has a valid complaint here. This guy has a history, including accusing Shane Doan of making "culturally insensitive" comments toward Auger in the game, who is French-Canadian. Doan denied the remarks and was cleared by the NHL. Now, I don't know Shane Doan personally, but can someone honestly tell me that they think he made any remarks toward Auger, especially with the track record he's got going now?
It's amazing this guy still has his job and as a fan of the NHL with concern for integrity of the game, I want to see him lose it. Matter closed.
QUICK HITS:
-Curtis Joseph has retired after 19 NHL seasons at the age of 42. CuJo, as he was widely known, was 454-352-90 in his NHL career that saw him play for six teams. He posted 51 shutouts over his career and finished with a 2.79 GAA, all excellent numbers. He also posted 63 career playoff victories. Our question? Is he Hall Of Fame worthy? We here at Nonsense think he is despite never winning the Stanley Cup. Make sure to weigh in on your thoughts; CuJo a Hall member or not?
-Coming into tonight, 5 points seperate the 5th place Boston Bruins from the 12th place Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference. Talk about a tight race. The only match-up of two Eastern Conference teams tonight is the Washington Capitals visting the Florida Panthers. A victory will move Washington past idol Buffalo for 2nd in the Eastern Conference.
-No news on Ilya Kovalchuk, except he had a goal and two assists in a 6-1 win over the Ottawa Senators Tuesday. It had been 43 days since the Thrashers last regulation win, which came on November 30th in a 4-3 win over Florida.
-What a goalie battle at Madison Square Garden last night. Henrik Lundqvist and Martin Brodeur both posted shutouts as Patrik Elias scored in the 4th round of a shootout to give the Devils a 1-0 win. The amazing thing? Lundqvist stopped 45 shots and Brodeur stopped 51. This is a game I'd like to just see end in a 0-0 tie. Banish the shootout!
And tonights MATCH-UP OF THE NIGHT:
PITTSBURGH (28-18-1) @ CALGARY (26-14-6)
A rare match-up of titans tonight in Calgary as Evgeni Malkin looks to get out of his scoring drought and the Flames look to just score, period. Pittsburgh hasn't won in Calgary since December of 2007. That was also their last trip there. Anyone else think the NHL schedule needs reassessment?
Prediction: Calgary, 4-3
That's all for Buotte today. I've got much more to say and will be chiming in with more Nonsense later.
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