Suicide

I have never seen such an idiotic move in my entire life than Craig MacTavish pulled tonight. The Oilers down by three goals, score two get within one with less than 2 minutes to play.

Momentum is all on the Oilers side in a critical game vs. the Anaheim Ducks. Then Mac-T decides, it's his time to shine. He calls for an illegal stick check on Teemu Selanne. The time it takes for the refs to check the stick - it's like he calls 3 timeouts in a row for the Ducks.

Momentum gone. And to boot - oh yeah, he's also wrong on the stick call. It's a legal curve, and the Oilers get a penalty for the final 2 minutes. 

Game over. Career over for Craig MacTavish. Brilliant. 

Alexei Cherepanov Dies at 19

RIP Alexei. Condolences to family and friends, to his fans around the world. At times like this, hockey is just a game. 

08-09 Stanley Cup Champions- Philadelphia Flyers

Predictions for the upcoming year. The Flyers will walk away with the Stan and parade it down Broad St. this summer. Sure Montreal already has plans to do the same thing, but they put too much stock in Carey Price who was murdered by the Flyers last year in the playoffs. People question Biron but he proved to be a big money goalie, clutch in the situations shutting down Ovechkin, the Canadiens last season.

This is the year of the Philadelphia Flyers. Count on it. As for the rest:

President's Trophy: Detroit RedWings

Clarence Campbell Trophy: Dallas Stars

Wales Trophy: Philadelphia Flyers

Hart: Sidney Crosby - back from injury the kid will prove again that he's the best player in the world. No time for personality = more time for MVPing.

Norris: Niklas Lidstrom - probably won't deserve it but it's the trend and voters like that sort of shit.

Calder: Kyle Okposo. The duke is going to dominate in the island. Plus being in NY the voters have no time for rookies out west, and nobody gives a shit about Tampa Bay. 

Art Ross: Marian Hossa. Thank you Zetterberg/Datsyuk and looking for a big contract.

Richard: Alexander Ovechkin. he scores, a lot. I'm going on a limb here.

Masterton: Jeff Finger. The Leafs need one token trophy a year. Seems to be this one, and he has that contract to overcome to prove his dedication to hockey.

Selke: Brian Rolston - return to New Jersey and being in the NY area is pure success for idiotic voting.

On another note. Tina Fey is fucking hot. 

Legends: Alex Faulkner

In the post game interviews after the Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup, Daniel Cleary gave a shout out saying "Alex, we did it."

The Alex he was talking about was Alex Faulkner, the last Newfoundlander to play a game in the Stanley Cup Finals. Alex Faulkner lost in his attempt in a 6 team league as a rookie for the Detroit Red Wings.

In these days of a 30 team league, Alex Faulkner would be an NHL all star, and Dan Cleary gave his respect to that. A native of Bishop Falls NFLD, Faulkner is often credited as the first player from the Rock to play in the NHL. He played one game for the Toronto Maple Leafs before they traded his rights to the Red Wings.

In 70 games for the Red Wings he managed 10 goals and 10 assists for an even 20 points, but in the playoffs, he had 5 goals in 8 games as Detroit managed to lose in the Cup finals. Faulkner played a 4th line role for 30 more games as a Detroit RedWing. After which he declined contract offers from the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens, as construction jobs in Newfoundland paid more money for a young father.

"Do I regret? Never. I played on the wing with Gordie Howe, how many people can say that?"

"Do I regret not winning the Stanley Cup? A little bit, but I was young and thought I would one day. But the dream is the same as you, or him (pointing to a child), we all want to win it. But the majority of us will not."

Alex Faulkner is most known for his professional hockey record of goals and points per game. In 1958/59 he played 25 games racking up

103 goals, 49 assists, 152 points as a "Minor Pro" - which in today's standards is 1st line NHL All Star.

The following year he had 86 points including 41 goals in 11 playoff games. That's an average of 8 points a game. Think about it. 

These days you can run into Alex Faulkner at the Windsor Pentacostal Church every Sunday in Grand Falls/Windsor, Newfoundland. He does not stand out in any way until pointed out, and as a wide eyed child, he'll spend hours with you to tell his stories of playing in the NHL. He carries around a hockey card from the 50s of himself in his wallet in case you're unsure he did in fact play. The nicest man around, a legend for his scoring records, but a legend for his humbleness and willing to tell his story 100 times a day if needed. 

Calder Candidate - Patrik Berglund

Chosen 25th overall in the 2006 draft, Patrik Berglund should play a prominent role on the young St. Louis Blues. Projected to start the season centering the second line with Keith Tkachuk and David Backes, Berglund could put up the minutes and play a role on the power play for the Blues. With the playing time and opportunity to put up good numbers, and a couple years older than his competition in Steven Stamkos, Berglund's experience could put him over the top to capture the Calder.

An imposing figure at 6'4'' he is very light on his skates and could be muscled around in the NHL. He plays a two way game and excelled last season for Vasteras in Sweden scoring over a point per game and getting 21 goals in 36 games. He has pro experience and played prominent role on Sweden's National Junior Teams. A sleeper of a pick for the Calder, he might be worth the odds if you're a gambling sort of person. 

Wearing number 58 for the Blues look for a Mikael Renberg type rookie season. If nothing else, he'll look pretty fly in those new St. Louis 3rd jerseys. 

Original Maurice Richard Trophy

Back in 1998-99 the NHL introduced the Maurice "Rocket" Richard trophy to the NHL's leading goal scorer in the regular season. A hell of a gesture for Richard who in his day was often treated with disdain by the NHL's English elite and Clarence Campbell who learned first hand with a tear gas bomb to the back of the head what Maurice Richard meant to the game of hockey. Currently held by Alexander Ovechkin, it is an elite trophy named after a man who could be argued saved the NHL with his brilliant goal scoring. 

There was though, an original Maurice Richard Trophy for goal scoring that was meant to be awarded annually to the top scoring junior hockey player in Canada. Feast your eyes on this beauty.

 On top of the rocket shaped monument is the puck Richard scored his 480th NHL goal in 1957, the skates were the ones he wore while setting the record 325th NHL goal in 1952. Unfortunately for us all, the trophy was never awarded. Who wouldn't like to see this puppy being paraded around by a young star heading to the NHL draft? 

Of course, there are also some bitching scoring records in the Canadian Hockey League, that are deserving to be engraved somewhere around these skates. 

For instance, TSN commentator Ray Ferraro has one hell of a record for most goals in a single season in the Western Hockey League. In 1983-84 while

 Gretzky was popping home a measly 87 goals, Ferraro as a Brandon Wheat King snapped in 108 in 72 games. To wit, his son Landon currently playing for the Red Deer Rebels has a career high of 13. Ray is a hell of a guy and needs this trophy awarded retroactively to add to his resume.

In the Ontario Hockey League, one might think it'd be adorned by Gretzky, Orr, Lindros or even Tavares. But they'd be wrong. In 1980-81 with the Windsor Spitfires, Ernie Godden scored 87 which stands to this day as the record. The dude went on to play 5 games for the MapleLeafs

 in the 80s, which is no great feat as Harold Ballard would have allowed you to play if you'd lace them up for $500.00 a game. Who knows what ever happened to ol' Ernie

, but we'd remember him if he had his name on this trophy in the Hall of Fame.

And of course Mario Lemieux scored 133 goals in one season in the notoriously high-scoring QMJHL. But they don't count, and he doesn't need any more accolades. 

Lindros Olive Branch

The Final game of NHL hockey was played today at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. Of course the Flyers have been in the Wachovia Center for years now and the Spectrum has only been home to the AHL's Phantoms but it is being torn down, and the Flyers played the Hurricanes in one last hurrah for the storied building.

A pre-game ceremony included former Flyer greats Bob Clarke, Keith Primeau, Ron Sutter, Ed Van Impe, Bill Barber, Kevin Dineen among others. Eric Lindros was invited to attend, which would have been fitting as he was the final Flyer to completely dominate the ice at the Spectrum, and his hype in the 1990s is a major reason the Wachovia Center was built in the first place. Unfortunetely, due to a family friend's memorial service, Lindros turned it down.

He did, though send his wishes via Jumbotron to the fans of Philadelphia in his first official appearance with the Flyers organization since his trade in 2000. Lindros despite all the hateful rumours that flood the internet is a pure class act very rarely seen in pro-sports. He tipped his hat to the Philly faithful calling them the "greatest fans in professional sports." A step in repairing the damaged relationship between Lindros and the Philadelphia Flyers. Clarke himself helped the process along last year calling Lindros a great person and a sure fire hall of famer. Hopefully in the future the Flyers and Lindros will reunite in a more meaningful way - like the raising of his #88. 

Regardless, here is the video of his statement: 

http://flyers.nhl.tv/console.jsp?type=fvod&id=21441&catid=327