The NHL finished off the last month of 2013 with style. Down the stretch there was some high quality hockey being played with many individuals stepping up.
It also looks like there will be some close playoff races down the road that should make up for some intense hockey down the line.
STANDINGS
These are strictly the standings for the month of December. The standings of the entire season up to this point can always be found here.
Records are as of 12/31/13
EAST
Atlantic
Tampa Bay Lightning- 7-3-3; 17 points
Ottawa Senators- 7-6-3; 17 points
Boston Bruins- 8-4-0; 16 points
Montreal Canadiens- 8-5-0; 16 points
Florida Panthers- 8-5-0; 16 points
Toronto Maple Leafs- 6-6-2; 14 points
Buffalo Sabres- 5-4-2; 12 points
Detroit Red Wings- 5-7-2; 12 points
Metropolitan
Pittsburgh Penguins- 11-2-0; 22 points
Philadelphia Flyers- 7-4-2; 16 points
Columbus Blue Jackets- 7-4-1; 15 points
Washington Capitals- 6-4-3; 15 points
New Jersey Devils- 5-5-3; 13 points
Carolina Hurricanes- 4-5-4; 12 points
New York Rangers- 5-6-2; 12 points
New York Islanders- 4-5-3; 11 points
WEST
Central
Chicago Blackhawks- 8-3-3; 19 points
St. Louis Blues- 8-3-2; 18 points
Dallas Stars- 7-3-4; 18 points
Winnipeg Jets- 6-6-2; 14 points
Colorado Avalanche- 4-5-4; 12 points
Nashville Predators- 5-7-1; 11 points
Minnesota Wild- 5-8-0; 10 points
Pacific
Vancouver Canucks- 10-1-2; 22 points
Anaheim Ducks- 10-1-1; 21 points
Los Angeles Kings- 9-4-0; 18 points
San Jose Sharks- 7-5-1; 15 points
Phoenix Coyotes- 4-3-5; 13 points
Calgary Flames- 5-6-2; 12 points
Edmonton Oilers- 5-7-2; 12 points
2 POSITIVE SURPRISES
Two things that shocked the hockey world, in a good way
ANTOINE ROUSSEL
24 year old Antoine Roussel played 39 games last year for the Dallas Stars last year and racked up 85 penalty minutes and 14 points.
This year he played in 38 games with 94 penalty minutes (4th in the league) and 15 points.
Also, he's literally the man.
Clearly this guy has some kind of spark in him. But nobody saw what was going to happen against the Chicago Blackhawks on December 4th. He literally controlled the game.
In the first period, he got into what may end up being the fight of the year with Chicago forward Andrew Shaw. It took both linesmen to intervene and then it took another 10 full seconds for the two players to be separated.
Roussel later had a high elbow on Jonathan Toews that led to a Blackhawks powerplay and a 3 goal surge in the 2nd.
And most importantly, Antoine Roussel was awarded a penalty shot 3 minutes into the third which he converted to take the lead. That goal stood up being the game winning goal by the way.
Not only that, he celebrated the goal by taunting the Chicago faithful as he skated back to the Dallas bench.
So this guy had a great fight and big hit to get under the fans' skins and then finished the job by sticking the dagger into their hearts.
Not bad for a young pest.
SEMYON VARLAMOV CASE DISMISSED
As I wrote about earlier this year, Colorado Avalanche netminder Semyon Varlamov was charged with assault and kidnapping his wife. However, as reported by the end of the month, the case was dropped because there was "reasonable doubt" that they could prove 100% that Varlamov was guilty of said charges.
Varlamov 9-7-4 in the 20 starts since the arrest on October 30th with a 2.60 GAA. He's played alright during the investigation and this will probably mean he'll get back to the, dare I say it, Vezina calibre play we saw early on this season.
But at least there's no scare that he'll be jailed and this means that it looks like he'll be good to go to accompany Sergei Bobrovsky in Sochi for the olympics.
2 NEGATIVE SURPRISES
Two things that shocked the hockey world, in a bad way
FLORIDA PANTHERS STAFF
If you attended the Florida Panther game on December 10th and sat in either section 125, 127, 128, or any other section behind the Detroit net in the third were in for a pleasant surprise in the third period after a pane of glass cracked.
What appeared to first be plywood, ended up just being a pane of glass with it's wrapping still on, and it was sitting there blocking many views of the ice (yes, saying that there were "many" fans at a Panthers game is a stretch). The staff at the arena reportedly cracked the replacement pane when taking off the wrapping because of the humidity in the building so just decided to throw the 3rd string pane up there with the brown monstrosity still attached.
Good luck getting fans to come to more games when you treat them like that.
HENRIK LUNDQVIST RESIGNS
Let me lay out the situation. After several seasons of being the best goalie in the league but having a weak offensive crew in front of him, Henrik Lundqvist was rather frustrated and was rumoured to have been the reason that coach John Tortorella was canned. People thought that there was a chance Lundqvist was planning on testing free agency after the 2013-2014 season when his contract expired. Things also weren't helping when rookie Cam Talbot was playing well and started two games in a row this month.
But any hope of seeing a goalie controversy in New York were put to rest when King Henrik resigned for 7 years and close to $60 million. The Rangers were forced to fork up the cash on him or else he would have walked.
So now that he's got his contract deal done, maybe he can work on finally winning a cup.
TOP 5 MOMENTS
The moments that impressed, humored, and enriched us
5) Mike Smith Butt Goal
In what may be the best blooper of the year, Mike Smith helps the Buffalo Sabres get a rare victory. The puck bounces high in the air after a diving poke check. Like most goalies do, Mike Smith slides right into the net in order to allow no room for it to ricochet in. Little does he know, the puck landed in the back of his goalie pants and followed him into the net. After a couple of awkward seconds of confusion, they discover the puck and rule it a goal.
If only he were as lucky as Cory Schneider with his equipment.
4) Zack Kassian Quality Chirp
Zack Kassian was always a player who played on the edge. However, he crossed the line in the preseason when his stick struck the face of Oiler forward Sam Gagner. Gagner missed some time but eventually returned with a face shield around his jaw protecting it from harm.
Well the Oilers played the Canucks earlier this month and Kassian had some critiquing of Gagner's new fashion sense, as noted by Puck Daddy.
Aside from the F'bombs, there are rarely too many good chirps on the ice anymore. This one was pretty clever and shrewd and it should set an example for enforcers to keep up to.
3) Oilers Sweater Hit the Ice
In a game that the Oilers went out in front of their own crowd and got demolished, losing 6-0 and playing unmotivated hockey, season ticket holder Curtis Goyetche decided enough was enough and chucked his Ales Hemsky jersey on the ice, symbolizing he didn't want any part of that team.
That evening, every single player on the Edmonton roster had a minus aside from Sam Gagner and David Perron. The team looked horrible and Goyetche was looking to make a statement to the team.
Well something's gotta work eventually. What year of the rebuild is this, again?
2) Boston-Vancouver Rematch
In what was one of the best Stanley Cup Final series in the last decade, Boston and Vancouver captured the essence of playoff hockey in a 7 game physical, controversial, and exciting series. There were goals, bloodshed, and cheap play and all hockey fans were treated to a series of excellent hockey and story lines.
2 seasons later, they finally held a rematch in the same city the cup was awarded in and it was another helluva game.
It was another physical game with the Canucks playing motivated hockey in front of their eager fans. It was another great chapter written by these two teams with the Canucks coming out on top.
But two things stood out from the event.
First, was the awkward encounter between Vancouver-native Boston forward Milan Lucic and some Vancouver fans in a bar after the game as Puck Daddy covered.
I wrote earlier about quality chirps. There's nothing better than having a legitimately good comeback when your team is losing.
Brad Marchand was simply reminding Canuck players and fans who the real winners were by pretending to kiss his ring finger and pretending to lift the Stanley Cup during this contest.
Genius.
1) Charlie Coyle is One Boy's Hero
Awwwwwwwww
We all remember being kids and idolizing our favourite players growing up, wishing to have a connection with them.
Well Minnesota forward Charlie Coyle made one child's dream when he gave him a little wave during warm ups.
It's everything we love about hockey in one clip. The down-to-earth attitude of NHL players, the raw passion of the fans, and a moment that just warms our heart.
Good stuff.
TOP 5 OBSERVATIONS
5) Bad Luck Gabby
After missing 17 games with a sprained knee, Columbus forward Marian Gaborik finally returned to the lineup to face the Philadelphia Flyers at home.
He lasted 2:45.
He was awkwardly crunched between two Flyer players and broke his collarbone, an injury that generally sidelines players for about 10 weeks.
But he's not all that unlucky. He managed to get an assist on that play.
4) Teddy Bear Tosses Rock
Around the holiday season, there's a tradition in Minor Hockey leagues across North America where fans bring Teddy Bears to the game to toss to the ice after a goal is scored. The bears are then donated as gifts to kids throughout the country for Christmas.
Not only is it nice, it also makes for one of the coolest spectacles in sports.
The tradition, as far as I know, started with the Calgary Hitmen a while back and it's picked up steam ever since.
This year we had some good ones. The Hitmen had another great turnout, while the Hershey Bears had a successful one as well.
I'm not saying one NHL team needs to pick up on this, but I'm curious to see how one of these would translate in front of an NHL audience.
3) Year of the Backups
Backup goalies have to be dependable, capable, and level headed athletes who have to be okay with sitting out the majority of the time while being able to jump into the action at any moment. It's easily one of the hardest jobs in the NHL.
This year, for some reason, we've seen many backups thriving in the spot light. Combined, backup goalies this year are 195-135-40. Keep in mind that this takes into consideration the backup goalies who are stuck playing for bad teams too.
Most notably though guys have stepped up when their starters go down with injury. Frederik Andersen is 9-2-0 for Anaheim when Fasth went down with a boo-boo. Antti Raanta is 10-1-3 for Chicago and Jonas Gustavsson is revitalizing his career with a 11-3-2 season for Detroit.
But I'd be amiss if I failed to point out the job the backups for Los Angeles have been doing. After Jonathan Quick went down with an injury, the Kings kept rolling with Martin Jones and Ben Scrivens, going a combined 15-6-4.
Whatever's been going on, it seems as if there'll be a surplus of high quality goaltending down the road once these guys get starting jobs.
2) The Vets Come Home
This month we saw a large number of veteran players returning to their home to play in front of their former team. We saw Jarome Iginla, Daniel Alfredsson, Stephen Weiss, and Brendan Morrow going back to the places they're most known for.
Iginla video:
Alfredsson video:
Weiss video:
Morrow video:
*Chills*
Just shows that no matter how heroes leave, no matter how controversial it was, they take a place in fans' hearts and simply stay there forever.
1) The NHL Does Christmas Right
I had a feeling I wrote about this at one point in the past and I was right, courtesy of a blog post from 2011.
Whenever Christmas rolls around, the basketball being played just bothers me. Kobe Bryant, for example, hasn't had a Christmas alone with his family in years. Same with Arena staff, tv analysts and anybody else involved in the sport. The holiday season is meant to be enjoyed by the family and in this respect, the NHL's got it done right, shutting down the league for three full days before resuming.
HBO 24/7 Road to the Winter Classic covers it perfectly, as these players use their time off to spend the holiday with their family. Here's the Mike Rupp video from two years ago.
STORY OF THE MONTH
The one occurrence that shook the hockey world
Alright. I'll make the recap quick cuz this was literally a month ago.
First, Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman Brooks Orpik lays out Bruins forward Loui Eriksson. Orpik later denied a fight with Bruins enforcer Shawn Thornton. By the way, can we stop with enforcers feeling entitled to fight after every single big hit? You don't have to answer every single hit you deliver. Just let it go. Tell your teammate to skate with his head up next time and go back to the bench.
A couple of fights and big hits later, cheap shot and noted douchebag, James Neal, knees a defenceless Brad Marchand which then goes into a whole bunch of scrums.
And then we get the climax of the event. With Brooks Orpik standing in a relatively quiet, controlled scrum, Shawn Thornton makes a bee-line towards him, slew foots him to the ground, and gives him a couple of jabs before being pushed off.
Orpik lays motionless.
Stretcher carries him off.
End scene.
Neal somehow gets off with just 5 games even though he's a repeat offender.
Thornton, a physical player with a squeaky clean record, gets 15 games.
Now for the debate.
Shawn Thornton is an enforcer, fighter, and pest yet has played a part in 10 NHL seasons without ever being suspended. Shawn Thornton was held on a pedestal. He was a proof that you can have fighting and enforcers in the NHL without having cheap shot artists.
In fact, literally a week before Thornton snapped against Pittsburgh, he was written up by ESPN about his feeling on "The Code" that all fighters follow and uphold. Be ready for the most ironic thing you'll read ever.
"People could probably criticize that I’m a little too honorable, I suppose, in some instances. I've been a firm believer my whole life that what goes around comes around. If you’re one of those guys that suckers someone when they’re down or you go after somebody that doesn’t deserve it or isn’t the same category as you, that will come back and bite you at some point, too."
First of all, he called himself "too honourable" before talking down "one of those guys that suckers someone when they're down" a week before he slew foot a player and knocked him out.
What's that? You're wondering what the Boston fans and media felt about this?
A lot of them defended him, saying he was stepping up for his teammates. Bruins coach Claude Julien also had some sort of stupid quote, taking the blame away from Thornton. I'm too lazy to look up said quote because I don't enjoy writing about people with legitimate mental illness. And besides, I cover that angle all too often.
Thornton teared up after the game, pointing out his clean history and apologizing and of course everybody bought it and forgave him immediately. He said he felt terrible and would never do something like that and blah blah blah.
So someone so remorseful and apologetic decided it'd be a good idea and try to lower his suspension? If you feel bad for something how can you go out a week later and try to decrease the punishment? As a general rule, if you truly believe you did something wrong, step up and take the punishment you deserve.
For more on this kind of rant, please read Puck Daddy writer and fellow Boston hater Ryan Lambert's column here. Good stuff.
TOP 3 "WOW! OH BABY!" MOMENTS
Three best plays from this month
3) Jonas Gustavsson Behind the Back Save
The Monster, as I wrote earlier, is enjoying a great breakout season and has been playing great hockey. Here he is making an incredible save on a rebound chance against the Devils. Incredible concentration and fight, not giving up on the play and it looks amazing.
2) Corey Perry Scores From His Knees
With time expiring in the 2nd period, Corey Perry has his jets on as he receives a drop pass from forward Daniel Winnik. After being taken down, Perry has the presence of mind to put the puck on his forehand when most would have just tried to direct it on net. And once he got it on his forehand he was able to lift it over the outstretched Islanders goaltender with just 2 seconds left on the clock. Unreal.
1) Corey Tropp Undresses the Penguins
When Corey Tropp received the puck at the blue line, he had a couple of options. He could have curled up and waited for support, he could have swung around deep, or he could just try to beat the two Penguin defencemen and the goalie.
He went for option 3.
He started with a sick toe-drag through the legs of the first defender and then withstood a couple of whacks from the second.
Once he was one-on-one with goalie Jeff Zatkoff, he dribbled the puck and made a nice deke to open up the five hole and then slid it under the goalie's left pad.
And then he finished it off with a nice knee-drop celly.
Bravo.
Happy New Years, everybody, and enjoy the Winter Classic.
 |
| Great month of hockey, weak month of 24/7. Oh well |
It also looks like there will be some close playoff races down the road that should make up for some intense hockey down the line.
STANDINGS
These are strictly the standings for the month of December. The standings of the entire season up to this point can always be found here.
Records are as of 12/31/13
EAST
Atlantic
Tampa Bay Lightning- 7-3-3; 17 points
Ottawa Senators- 7-6-3; 17 points
Boston Bruins- 8-4-0; 16 points
Montreal Canadiens- 8-5-0; 16 points
Florida Panthers- 8-5-0; 16 points
Toronto Maple Leafs- 6-6-2; 14 points
Buffalo Sabres- 5-4-2; 12 points
Detroit Red Wings- 5-7-2; 12 points
Metropolitan
Pittsburgh Penguins- 11-2-0; 22 points
Philadelphia Flyers- 7-4-2; 16 points
Columbus Blue Jackets- 7-4-1; 15 points
Washington Capitals- 6-4-3; 15 points
New Jersey Devils- 5-5-3; 13 points
Carolina Hurricanes- 4-5-4; 12 points
New York Rangers- 5-6-2; 12 points
New York Islanders- 4-5-3; 11 points
WEST
Central
Chicago Blackhawks- 8-3-3; 19 points
St. Louis Blues- 8-3-2; 18 points
Dallas Stars- 7-3-4; 18 points
Winnipeg Jets- 6-6-2; 14 points
Colorado Avalanche- 4-5-4; 12 points
Nashville Predators- 5-7-1; 11 points
Minnesota Wild- 5-8-0; 10 points
Pacific
Vancouver Canucks- 10-1-2; 22 points
Anaheim Ducks- 10-1-1; 21 points
Los Angeles Kings- 9-4-0; 18 points
San Jose Sharks- 7-5-1; 15 points
Phoenix Coyotes- 4-3-5; 13 points
Calgary Flames- 5-6-2; 12 points
Edmonton Oilers- 5-7-2; 12 points
2 POSITIVE SURPRISES
Two things that shocked the hockey world, in a good way
ANTOINE ROUSSEL
24 year old Antoine Roussel played 39 games last year for the Dallas Stars last year and racked up 85 penalty minutes and 14 points.
This year he played in 38 games with 94 penalty minutes (4th in the league) and 15 points.
Also, he's literally the man.
Clearly this guy has some kind of spark in him. But nobody saw what was going to happen against the Chicago Blackhawks on December 4th. He literally controlled the game.
In the first period, he got into what may end up being the fight of the year with Chicago forward Andrew Shaw. It took both linesmen to intervene and then it took another 10 full seconds for the two players to be separated.
Roussel later had a high elbow on Jonathan Toews that led to a Blackhawks powerplay and a 3 goal surge in the 2nd.
And most importantly, Antoine Roussel was awarded a penalty shot 3 minutes into the third which he converted to take the lead. That goal stood up being the game winning goal by the way.
So this guy had a great fight and big hit to get under the fans' skins and then finished the job by sticking the dagger into their hearts.
Not bad for a young pest.
SEMYON VARLAMOV CASE DISMISSED
As I wrote about earlier this year, Colorado Avalanche netminder Semyon Varlamov was charged with assault and kidnapping his wife. However, as reported by the end of the month, the case was dropped because there was "reasonable doubt" that they could prove 100% that Varlamov was guilty of said charges.
Varlamov 9-7-4 in the 20 starts since the arrest on October 30th with a 2.60 GAA. He's played alright during the investigation and this will probably mean he'll get back to the, dare I say it, Vezina calibre play we saw early on this season.
But at least there's no scare that he'll be jailed and this means that it looks like he'll be good to go to accompany Sergei Bobrovsky in Sochi for the olympics.
2 NEGATIVE SURPRISES
Two things that shocked the hockey world, in a bad way
FLORIDA PANTHERS STAFF
If you attended the Florida Panther game on December 10th and sat in either section 125, 127, 128, or any other section behind the Detroit net in the third were in for a pleasant surprise in the third period after a pane of glass cracked.
Good luck getting fans to come to more games when you treat them like that.
HENRIK LUNDQVIST RESIGNS
Let me lay out the situation. After several seasons of being the best goalie in the league but having a weak offensive crew in front of him, Henrik Lundqvist was rather frustrated and was rumoured to have been the reason that coach John Tortorella was canned. People thought that there was a chance Lundqvist was planning on testing free agency after the 2013-2014 season when his contract expired. Things also weren't helping when rookie Cam Talbot was playing well and started two games in a row this month.
But any hope of seeing a goalie controversy in New York were put to rest when King Henrik resigned for 7 years and close to $60 million. The Rangers were forced to fork up the cash on him or else he would have walked.
So now that he's got his contract deal done, maybe he can work on finally winning a cup.
TOP 5 MOMENTS
The moments that impressed, humored, and enriched us
5) Mike Smith Butt Goal
If only he were as lucky as Cory Schneider with his equipment.
4) Zack Kassian Quality Chirp
Zack Kassian was always a player who played on the edge. However, he crossed the line in the preseason when his stick struck the face of Oiler forward Sam Gagner. Gagner missed some time but eventually returned with a face shield around his jaw protecting it from harm.
Well the Oilers played the Canucks earlier this month and Kassian had some critiquing of Gagner's new fashion sense, as noted by Puck Daddy.
Aside from the F'bombs, there are rarely too many good chirps on the ice anymore. This one was pretty clever and shrewd and it should set an example for enforcers to keep up to.
3) Oilers Sweater Hit the Ice
best image in all sports in the last decade pic.twitter.com/pygLwE9aZV
— The Season of Loob (@bookofloob) December 22, 2013
In a game that the Oilers went out in front of their own crowd and got demolished, losing 6-0 and playing unmotivated hockey, season ticket holder Curtis Goyetche decided enough was enough and chucked his Ales Hemsky jersey on the ice, symbolizing he didn't want any part of that team.
That evening, every single player on the Edmonton roster had a minus aside from Sam Gagner and David Perron. The team looked horrible and Goyetche was looking to make a statement to the team.
Well something's gotta work eventually. What year of the rebuild is this, again?
2) Boston-Vancouver Rematch
In what was one of the best Stanley Cup Final series in the last decade, Boston and Vancouver captured the essence of playoff hockey in a 7 game physical, controversial, and exciting series. There were goals, bloodshed, and cheap play and all hockey fans were treated to a series of excellent hockey and story lines.
2 seasons later, they finally held a rematch in the same city the cup was awarded in and it was another helluva game.
It was another physical game with the Canucks playing motivated hockey in front of their eager fans. It was another great chapter written by these two teams with the Canucks coming out on top.
But two things stood out from the event.
First, was the awkward encounter between Vancouver-native Boston forward Milan Lucic and some Vancouver fans in a bar after the game as Puck Daddy covered.
Brad Marchand was simply reminding Canuck players and fans who the real winners were by pretending to kiss his ring finger and pretending to lift the Stanley Cup during this contest.
Genius.
1) Charlie Coyle is One Boy's Hero
We all remember being kids and idolizing our favourite players growing up, wishing to have a connection with them.
Well Minnesota forward Charlie Coyle made one child's dream when he gave him a little wave during warm ups.
It's everything we love about hockey in one clip. The down-to-earth attitude of NHL players, the raw passion of the fans, and a moment that just warms our heart.
Good stuff.
TOP 5 OBSERVATIONS
5) Bad Luck Gabby
After missing 17 games with a sprained knee, Columbus forward Marian Gaborik finally returned to the lineup to face the Philadelphia Flyers at home.
He lasted 2:45.
He was awkwardly crunched between two Flyer players and broke his collarbone, an injury that generally sidelines players for about 10 weeks.
But he's not all that unlucky. He managed to get an assist on that play.
4) Teddy Bear Tosses Rock
Around the holiday season, there's a tradition in Minor Hockey leagues across North America where fans bring Teddy Bears to the game to toss to the ice after a goal is scored. The bears are then donated as gifts to kids throughout the country for Christmas.
Not only is it nice, it also makes for one of the coolest spectacles in sports.
The tradition, as far as I know, started with the Calgary Hitmen a while back and it's picked up steam ever since.
This year we had some good ones. The Hitmen had another great turnout, while the Hershey Bears had a successful one as well.
I'm not saying one NHL team needs to pick up on this, but I'm curious to see how one of these would translate in front of an NHL audience.
3) Year of the Backups
Backup goalies have to be dependable, capable, and level headed athletes who have to be okay with sitting out the majority of the time while being able to jump into the action at any moment. It's easily one of the hardest jobs in the NHL.
This year, for some reason, we've seen many backups thriving in the spot light. Combined, backup goalies this year are 195-135-40. Keep in mind that this takes into consideration the backup goalies who are stuck playing for bad teams too.
Most notably though guys have stepped up when their starters go down with injury. Frederik Andersen is 9-2-0 for Anaheim when Fasth went down with a boo-boo. Antti Raanta is 10-1-3 for Chicago and Jonas Gustavsson is revitalizing his career with a 11-3-2 season for Detroit.
But I'd be amiss if I failed to point out the job the backups for Los Angeles have been doing. After Jonathan Quick went down with an injury, the Kings kept rolling with Martin Jones and Ben Scrivens, going a combined 15-6-4.
Whatever's been going on, it seems as if there'll be a surplus of high quality goaltending down the road once these guys get starting jobs.
2) The Vets Come Home
This month we saw a large number of veteran players returning to their home to play in front of their former team. We saw Jarome Iginla, Daniel Alfredsson, Stephen Weiss, and Brendan Morrow going back to the places they're most known for.
Iginla video:
*Chills*
Just shows that no matter how heroes leave, no matter how controversial it was, they take a place in fans' hearts and simply stay there forever.
1) The NHL Does Christmas Right
I had a feeling I wrote about this at one point in the past and I was right, courtesy of a blog post from 2011.
Whenever Christmas rolls around, the basketball being played just bothers me. Kobe Bryant, for example, hasn't had a Christmas alone with his family in years. Same with Arena staff, tv analysts and anybody else involved in the sport. The holiday season is meant to be enjoyed by the family and in this respect, the NHL's got it done right, shutting down the league for three full days before resuming.
HBO 24/7 Road to the Winter Classic covers it perfectly, as these players use their time off to spend the holiday with their family. Here's the Mike Rupp video from two years ago.
STORY OF THE MONTH
The one occurrence that shook the hockey world
Alright. I'll make the recap quick cuz this was literally a month ago.
First, Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman Brooks Orpik lays out Bruins forward Loui Eriksson. Orpik later denied a fight with Bruins enforcer Shawn Thornton. By the way, can we stop with enforcers feeling entitled to fight after every single big hit? You don't have to answer every single hit you deliver. Just let it go. Tell your teammate to skate with his head up next time and go back to the bench.
A couple of fights and big hits later, cheap shot and noted douchebag, James Neal, knees a defenceless Brad Marchand which then goes into a whole bunch of scrums.
And then we get the climax of the event. With Brooks Orpik standing in a relatively quiet, controlled scrum, Shawn Thornton makes a bee-line towards him, slew foots him to the ground, and gives him a couple of jabs before being pushed off.
Orpik lays motionless.
Stretcher carries him off.
End scene.
Neal somehow gets off with just 5 games even though he's a repeat offender.
Thornton, a physical player with a squeaky clean record, gets 15 games.
Now for the debate.
Shawn Thornton is an enforcer, fighter, and pest yet has played a part in 10 NHL seasons without ever being suspended. Shawn Thornton was held on a pedestal. He was a proof that you can have fighting and enforcers in the NHL without having cheap shot artists.
In fact, literally a week before Thornton snapped against Pittsburgh, he was written up by ESPN about his feeling on "The Code" that all fighters follow and uphold. Be ready for the most ironic thing you'll read ever.
"People could probably criticize that I’m a little too honorable, I suppose, in some instances. I've been a firm believer my whole life that what goes around comes around. If you’re one of those guys that suckers someone when they’re down or you go after somebody that doesn’t deserve it or isn’t the same category as you, that will come back and bite you at some point, too."
First of all, he called himself "too honourable" before talking down "one of those guys that suckers someone when they're down" a week before he slew foot a player and knocked him out.
What's that? You're wondering what the Boston fans and media felt about this?
A lot of them defended him, saying he was stepping up for his teammates. Bruins coach Claude Julien also had some sort of stupid quote, taking the blame away from Thornton. I'm too lazy to look up said quote because I don't enjoy writing about people with legitimate mental illness. And besides, I cover that angle all too often.
Thornton teared up after the game, pointing out his clean history and apologizing and of course everybody bought it and forgave him immediately. He said he felt terrible and would never do something like that and blah blah blah.
So someone so remorseful and apologetic decided it'd be a good idea and try to lower his suspension? If you feel bad for something how can you go out a week later and try to decrease the punishment? As a general rule, if you truly believe you did something wrong, step up and take the punishment you deserve.
For more on this kind of rant, please read Puck Daddy writer and fellow Boston hater Ryan Lambert's column here. Good stuff.
TOP 3 "WOW! OH BABY!" MOMENTS
3) Jonas Gustavsson Behind the Back Save
2) Corey Perry Scores From His Knees
1) Corey Tropp Undresses the Penguins
He went for option 3.
He started with a sick toe-drag through the legs of the first defender and then withstood a couple of whacks from the second.
Once he was one-on-one with goalie Jeff Zatkoff, he dribbled the puck and made a nice deke to open up the five hole and then slid it under the goalie's left pad.
And then he finished it off with a nice knee-drop celly.
Bravo.
Happy New Years, everybody, and enjoy the Winter Classic.
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