Game Recap - Charlottetown Islanders vs. Halifax Mooseheads

Charlottetown Islanders vs. Halifax Mooseheads

Final Score
Charlottetown - 4
Halifax - 1

Goalscorers
Charlottetown: Guillaume Rioux-Legault, Chris Chaddock, Luc Deschenes, Spenser Cobbold
Halifax: Philippe Gadoury

Goalies
Charlottetown: Mason McDonald (W)
Halifax: Zach Fucale (L)

Moosehead Player of the Game

Ehlers I guess. He did get an assist and got most of his shots through.

Thing That Annoyed Me

Hard to get mad since the Mooseheads were shut out (for the most part) by the Islanders. That second PP unit though was bad.

Game Notes

• The Islanders deserve credit for shutting down the Mooseheads  for most of the game.
• In particular, goalie Mason McDonald and forward Kameron Kielly. McDonald for his 36 save performance. Kielly for his shorthanded play (dude was blocking everything).
• Did you now?: If your last name was Moynihan you were allowed all the zone entries in the third (4 carry-in, 1 dump-in)
• As usual, Ehlers and Gadoury led the way in carry-ins.
• Big moment of the game: Ehlers gets clocked reaching for the puck, Meier steps in seconds later and fights Henley (the guy who delivered the hit). Video of the whole thing is below. I don't have any problems with the events. My issue though is the refs giving Meier 2 misconduct penalties. Usually an event like this warrants an instigator/fighting/misconduct combo for 17 PIMS. Meier, for whatever reason got an extra misconduct (27 PIMS in total) which effectively ending his night (there was about 22 minutes left).
• Just after this incident (while the penalties were being figured out), McDonald went over and slashed at Ehlers feet while he was playing with the puck in the faceoff dot. While what McDonald did was dumb, it also brings up this question: What the heck was Ehlers doing over at the faceoff dot and not at the bench like every other skater on the ice.

Game Pics

Before McDonald slashed Ehlers

Video

Saturday Night Hockey: Voynov Arrested; Pittsburgh Tribute

Voynov Arrested

Earlier this week, Los Angeles Kings defenseman Vyacheslav Voynov was arrested on suspicion of domestic abuse. As of this moment, Voynov is free after posting $50,000 bail and his lawyer has stated that Voynov did not hit his wife and her injuries stem from an accident.

The NHL, for its part, has immediately suspended the Kings defenseman indefinitely. In light of what's happen with the NFL over the summer, this was the right (and only) move the NHL could make. Whether or not the allegation is true (we do hope the victim is safe and recovers from her injuries), the only response for the league to make was to suspend Voynov until due process has occurred (and then re-evaluate from there). Just like the Varlamov case last year, there is quite a bit of unknown in this case. While it's easy to chastise the league from going to one extreme (no suspension) to the other (indefinite suspension), this a learning process, and the NHL look to be on the right track.

Pittsburgh Tribute

The incident in Ottawa Wednesday morning was shocking, as a gunman killed a soldier before getting killed in a shootout. Our condolences go out to the family and friends of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo.

While this event postponed a game between the Maple Leafs and the Senators (which was the right call), it did bring about a teary-eyed moment, as the Pittsburgh Penguins sung "O Canada" before the start of their game against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Anaheim Ducks held a moment of silence before their game. An OHL game in Buffalo also sung "O Canada" before their game. The Senators, Maple Leafs, and Canadiens have planned a coordinated ceremony tonight.

To Lighten The Mood

(Photo via 25 Stanley)

P.K. Subban + Micheal Jackson's "Thriller" = Best. Costume. Ever.

Lineup Notables

New York Rangers vs. Montreal Canadiens

New York R: Derek Stepan (fractured fibula) and Dan Boyle (hand) are out. Henrik Lundqvist will be in net.
Montreal: The Habs are healthy. Carey Price starts.

New Jersey Devils vs. Ottawa Senators

New Jersey: Jordan Tootoo (foot) is out. Cory Schneider is expected to start.
Ottawa: Marc Methot (back) is out. Robin Lehner is in net tonight.

Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Boston: Marc Savard (scouting concussion), Zdeno Chara (knee), and Kevan Miller (upper body) are out. Tuukka Rask might start.
Toronto: David Booth (foot) and Brandon Kozun (high ankle sprain) are out. Jonathan Bernier gets the start.

Washington Capitals vs. Calgary Flames

Washington: Brooks Laich (shoulder), Aaron Vopatti (neck), John Erskine, and Dmitri Orlov (wrist) are out. Braden Holtby will start.
Calgary: Sam Bennett (shoulder), David Jones (lower body) and Devan Setoguchi (flu) are out. Karri Ramo starts tonight.

Saturday Night Hockey: Minor League Reconfiguration

The CHL Is No More



The last you'll see of this logo (which kind of sucks because it isn't a bad one) (Image via Wikipedia)

Earlier this month the Central Hockey League announced they would cease operations immediately and have the seven remaining teams join the ECHL. This has been rumoured for a while, but it was expected that the league would last one more season. Players of the teams that joined the ECHL were released from their CHL contract and are now free agents (as per PHPA union rep Mike McKenna)

On one hand, it is a shame that the CHL ended up folding. There was always talk of there being AAA, AA, and A level hockey to complement the NHL. The AHL (AAA) and ECHL (AA) have cemented themselves within that hierarchy. The CHL would have been solid as that A level league since they had teams with NHL affiliates. The only other leagues I could see coming close are the SPHL and FHL, and even then they have no teams that are affiliated with a higher league (to my knowledge).

On the other hand, it is a good thing that this happened. It probably would have been hard for the ECHL to expand en masse to match the NHL and AHL, so being able to absorb a league is a good alternative. With this expansion, the ECHL also re-balances it's league, as it can have an even 14 teams per conference (although due to the short notice, the CHL teams have been lumped into one division, it's assumed that reconfiguration will happen in the offseason).

Either way, the landscape of minor league hockey has change. If things go as plan, in a few years every NHL team will have their own two-tier development system.

Lineup Notables

Colorado Avalanche vs. Montreal Canadiens

Colorado: Jesse Winchester (concussion), Patrick Bordeleau (back), and Semyon Varlamov (groin) are out while Reto Berra (neck) is questionable. Calvin Pickard is starting.
Montreal: Habs are healthy. Carey Price will be in net.

Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Ottawa Senators

Columbus: Nathan Horton (back), Boone Jenner (hand), Brandon Dubinsky (lower body), and Ryan Murray (knee) are out. Curtis McElhinney will start.
Ottawa: Marc Methot (back) is out. Robin Lehner is in net.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Detroit Red Wings

Toronto: David Booth (foot) and Brandon Kozun (lower body) are out. Jonathan Bernier is expected to start.
Detroit: Pavel Datsyuk (shoulder) is out. Jonas Gustavsson will start.

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Vancouver Canucks

Tampa Bay: Matthias Ohlund (knee) and Radko Gukas (lower body) are out. Ben Bishop is in net.
Vancouver: Canucks are healthy. Eddie Lack is starting tonight.

Game Recap - Cape Breton Screaming Eagles vs. Halifax Mooseheads

Cape Breton Screaming Eagles vs. Halifax Mooseheads

Final Score
Cape Breton - 2
Halifax - 5

Goalscorers
Cape Breton: Francis Brunelle (2)
Halifax: Jean-Sebastien Taillefer, Vincent Watt, Nikolaj Ehlers (2), Maxime Fortier

Goalies
Cape Breton: Francois Brassard (L)
Halifax: Zach Fucale (W)

Moosehead Player of the Game

Nikolaj Ehlers. A pair of goals and an assist, I'd say this young Dane is good at this hockey thing. Also, both his penalties in this game were pretty chintzes calls.

Thing That Annoyed Me

A few times (especially early on) the defense got caught and a Cape Breton player was on a breakaway. The defense was better as the game went on, but they started a bit rough. Thankfully Fucale stoned all breakaway attempts.

Game Notes

• Credit were credit is due. Brunelle (Cape Breton's goal scorer) placed his shot nicely. He beat Fucale twice low blocker and a foot off the ice, right in that sweet spot that's hard to stop as a goalie.
• Fun moment during Ehlers' first goal: the ref initially waved it off, play continued, and a minute or so later Cape Breton scored. The play was reviewed and Ehlers was awarded his original goal.
• Funny thing about that last point, it was Brunelle who scored for Cape Breton. He was robbed of a hat trick (sort of).
• Gadoury in the second period was magical with the puck. Every time he was in the offensive zone and close to the blue line with it, he would dangle his way out of danger. I think a few Cape Breton jocks are still hanging in the rafters.
• Another great play by Gadoury in the second: on an odd-man rush by Cape Breton, Gadoury came from behind and slid to break up a pass. While no pass was attempted, the slide was good enough to stall the attacker so another player could take care of him.
• Poor Austyn Hardie, he was down on the ice a few times in the third period and was given an extra whack both times.
• It's disappointing that the first PP unit went scoreless, I really like that line (Ehlers-Gadoury-Meier-Fortier-Nauss). 
• As usual, Ehlers and Gadoury had quite a few zone entries. Ehlers had the literal definition of a carry-in: the puck got caught in his jersey, got it, and slid past the blue line with the puck still in his jersey.

Game Pics

There were quite a few scrums in this game.

Saturday Night Hockey: The Maiden Voyage of the Jolly Rogers and Other Topics

Early Thoughts on Rogers Debut

Wednesday was the start of a 12 year journey into Roger's broadcasting of the NHL. To their credit, they have impressed. The combination of the shiny new studio and multiple camera angles (more on that in a sec) make the visual presentation outstanding.

But, because it's Rogers, it can't be all lollipops and rainbows. One issue is one that always has been an issue: the panel. Kypreos is good as an insider/breaking news type, but between him and (Doug) MacLean, the discussions are unbearable (THEY HAD A FRICKEN CROSBY DEBATE THE FIRST NIGHT!!!). With the possibility of Healy and Cox joining in, it might be time to turn the studio into a rocketship and aim it at the sun. It was just day one, so maybe overreacting isn't the best idea. The track record combined with the hype coming into this season did result in it becoming underwhelming and flat.

The other issue is that Rogers has set up all these amazing camera angles (skycam, refcam, benchcam the first time a player wears hockey pants like a kilt) but alienate about half (?) of GameCentre's audience by blocking off those that aren't regular Roger's customers. Can they just charge an extra $20 for those that want to access those angles? Especially the skycam, that has a nice video game feel to it.

From Punisher on the Ice to Punisher off the Ice

Chris Pronger is now a part of the Department of Player Safety.

Just let that sink in for a moment. Pronger...Player Safety....Department

Terrible joke aside, this might not be a bad thing. He is a former player and has plenty of experience in the suspension area. The department already works as a committee, so having another experienced voice can only be a good thing.

Now, the problem (along with a lot of the opposition against this) is the fact that Pronger is still under contract with the Flyers. The outrage is two-fold. One is obviously the optics of Pronger having a conflict of interest when giving an input on rulings - especially Flyers (Wyshynski has a great FAQ that tackles this issue). This other issue (and the one I have a problem with) is that he's a player under contract that is working for the league. This is a violation of the CBA. Something I do wonder is why the Flyers (and the Bruins in the case of Mark Savard) is "reassign" the player to another role within the company. Pronger has done scouting work for the Flyer since he last played, so why not have him continue that? or coach? I'll admit I don't know if there are restrictions on doing that, but just from an employer/employee standpoint it makes sense. It's well known that Pronger hasn't officially retired yet because he would have to forfeit the rest of his contract and the Flyers would get dinged with a $4.6-million cap hit. If the Flyers are going to keep him around in order to skirt the cap ceiling, then they should be the ones finding a way to use him within their organization.

Two More Things

1. If you ever read one interview this season, read this one were Wayne Gretzky interviews Gordie Howe.

2. Your unintentionally hilarious photo of the week

This might be a great marketing opportunity for Red Bull

Lineup Notables

It's Super Saturday in the NHL, here's what's notable in the games containing Canadian teams.

Montreal Canadiens vs. Philadelphia Flyers

Montreal: The Habs are healthy. Carey Price starts.
Philadelphia: Chris Pronger (league duties), Kimmo Timonen (blood clot) and Ryan White are out. Ray Emery will be in net.

Ottawa Senators vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

Ottawa: Marc Methot (back) is out. Robin Lehner is in net.
Tampa Bay: Jonathan Drouin (hand) and Matthias Ohlund (knee) are out. Ben Bishop starts tonight.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Pittsburgh: Beau Bennett (lower body) is out. Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to start.
Toronto: David Booth (foot) and Cody Franson (knee) are out. Jonathan Bernier will start.

Calgary Flames vs. St. Louis Blues

Calgary: Sam Bennett (chin-up related shoulder surgery) and Corey Potter (undisclosed) are out. Jonas Hiller gets the start.
St. Louis: Carl Gunnarsson (hip) is questionable. Brian Elliott gets the nod in net.

Winnipeg Jets vs. San Jose Sharks

Winnipeg: Evander Kane (lower body) is out. Ondrej Pavelec will start tonight.
San Jose: Tyler Kennedy (undisclosed), Raffi Torres (knee) and Barcley Goodrow (undisclosed) are out. Alex Stalock will be in net.

Edmonton Oilers vs. Vancouver Canucks

Edmonton: Luke Gazdic (shoulder) is out. Viktor Fasth is in net.
Vancouver: Frank Corrado (upper body) is questionable. Ryan Miller gets the start.