Week 3 Report Card - Calgary Flames

Teacher's Notes:

-Team played 4 games this week, 3 of them on the road. They played exceptionally well each time, winning 3 of 4 games.
-Rookie Mikael Backlund played his first breakout game against Detroit, scoring 2 goals in the first period. In other games he showed leadership and displayed extra effort, increasing his SOG average per game.
-Rene Bourque, just recently back on the ice after suffering a minor injury, is this week's star player, recording 6 goals in 3 games.
-Henrik Karlsson made his team debut and proved to be a worthy backup for Mikka Kiprusoff. His presence in net was large and only allowed 2 goals in 22 shots.
-Mikka Kiprusoff reached his 35th and 36th career shutouts this week and showed no sign of slowing down.

Stock It To 'Em

January 5, 2002
Boston Bruins vs Washington Capitals

PJ Stock and Stephen Peat get involved in a brawl deemed hockey's best fight ever, with each player landing over 20 hard shots on the other. After the fight was broken up, Stock skated away while giving his signature post-brawl wave to the hysterical crowd.

Click HERE to see the video

Sidney Crosby Saves The Day

April 16, 2010
Stanley Cup Playoffs
Pittsburgh Penguins vs Ottawa Senators

After scoring one goal and assisting another, Sidney Crosby topped off the night by lending a hand to Marc-Andre Fleury, stopping a goal from going into the Penguins' net while the Fleury was otherwise occupeid.

Click HERE to see the video

The Crumbling Canucks

Last night, the struggling Vancouver Canucks travelled to Minnesota to go head to head with the Wild. It looked promising for the Canadian team in the first few minutes of the game when Daniel Sedin fired a puck right past Minnesota's Cory Schneider. But Vancouver's lead lasted less than 5 minutes, when during a Minnesota powerplay, Wild defenceman Marek Zidlicky pushed the puck past Roberto Luongo. The remainder of the period saw the Wild score twice more, bringing the scoreboard to 3-1.

And it just got worse for the Canucks. Luongo allowed another 3 goals in the second, all less than 5 minutes apart from each other. And halfway into the second, Rick Rypien created the biggest buzz of the night.
Frustrated after earning himself a 10-minute game misconduct for fighting with Brad Staubitz, Rypien stormed off ice, shoving an official in the process. As he made his way down the tunnel, an overzealous Wild fan leaned over the barrier, clapping and cheering. Rypien would have none of it, and responded by grabbing the fan by the collar of his jersey and roughing him up for a few seconds before a Canucks teammate pulled him away.

Needless to say, Rypien did not return for the remainder of the game.

In a last-ditch effort, Daniel Sedin scored a powerplay goal in the third, to bring the final score to 6-2 Minnesota.

As for Rypien, he is suspended indefinately until his hearing on Friday, Oct. 22. It is speculated that he will receive a minimum 5, maximum 10 game suspension for his actions. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is expected to appear at the hearing.

The Vancouver Canucks have only won 2 of their 6 regular season games so far, and are sitting at 10th in the Western Conference, a far cry from their projected standing of 1st in the West, as predicted by TSN prior to the start of the regular season.

Vancouver Canucks vs Minnesota Wild, Tuesday Oct. 19 2010

Click HERE to see a video of the altercation between Rick Rypien and the Minnesota fan

Week 2 Report Card - Calgary Flames

Teacher's Notes:

-Team started the week off on a bad note; defense just wasn't there and players were not keeping traffic up in front of the opponent's net.
-Mikka Kiprusoff was not at his best during the first game but improved his goaltending during the second, making 27 crucial saves.
-Brendan Morrison and Alex Tanguay once again were playing to prove their worth to the team, both contributing goals and assists in the game against Edmonton.
-Captain Jarome Iginla needs to lessen the pressure he is putting on himself and allow himself to just play. Too much thinking is affecting his positive impact on the game.

Banishing The Devils

In every matchup the Pittsburgh Penguins faced against the New Jersey Devils last season, the defending Stanley Cup champions couldn't seem to win one.
And though they had played two games already at the start of the new season, the Penguins were held winless against the Montreal Canadiens and the Philadelphia Flyers.
It was time to turn things around this Monday, Oct. 11 when the Pens travelled to New Jersey to once again attempt to take down Martin Brodeur and his Devils.
The majority of the first period went by uneventfully, with no scoring on either end of the ice. But just over a minute left in the period, Alex Goligoski managed to slap the puck past Brodeur, giving the Pens the first lead of the game.
As a result of a penalty on New Jersey, Mark Letetsu (who was a key player in the previous game against the Habs) scored on the power play to increase the lead to 2. Kris Letang and former Devil Paul Martin assisted in the goal.
Halfway through the third, Devils' left winger Patrik Elias cut the lead in half with a snapshot that whizzed right by the Penguins' backup goalie Brent Johnson.
With less than 2 minutes remaining in the game, the Devils pulled Brodeur to heighten the chances of tieing up the scoreboard. But in the last few seconds remaining, Paul Martin managed to take the puck and bury it into the empty net, taking the final score to 3-1 Pittsburgh.
It was a much-needed win for the Penguins, who lacked the momentum to start strong in the season. Their first 2 games played in the brand-new Consol Energy Center resulted in tough losses to their cross-state rivals and to the team who bounced them out of the playoffs last season.
Part of the reason for Pittsburgh's shaky start may be the fact that veteran players Bill Guerin, Ruslan Fedotenko and Sergei Gonchar have all left to play for other teams, and defenceman Jordan Staal is still out with a foot injury.
Pittsburgh will have their next chance at climbing higher in the standings on Wednesday, Oct. 13 when they face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs.





Pittsburgh Penguins vs New Jersey Devils, October 11 2010

Week 1 Report Card - Calgary Flames

Teacher's Notes:

-Team started off the season with lackluster playing, need to improve in the areas of speed and aggresiveness
-Goaltender Mikka Kiprusoff appeared to be shaky in the first game, though his goaltending is not expected to be a problem for the remainder of the season, as he often demonstrates saves that make him one of the number one players in the team
-Second game proved to be better but the team still did not play as fast and hard as they should at the beginning of the season
-Newly signed Brendan Morrison is working hard to show that he is a good addition to the team and is on his way to achieving this with 2 assists in his first game as a Flame

Preseason Report Card - Calgary Flames

Teacher's Notes:

-Much improvement over the summer.
-The team has noticeably put more effort into their playing and are obviously working hard to build chemistry between linemates.
-The (re)acquisition of Alex Tanguay proved to be a smart decision on Darryl Sutter's end, as he has been a big difference maker in the preseason.
-Rookie Mikael Backlund is showing great promise as he is geared to replace Matt Stajan on the permanent roster. Would like to see him work on his stamina on the ice.
-Backup goalie Henrik Karlsson needs to quicken his movements and stay more alert when in net.