Kyle Okposo reaches a milestone, Kings place Christian Ehrhoff on waivers and more in your NHL morning coffee headlines.
Dion Phaneuf’s first game with the Senators did not go as planned as the Detroit dropped Ottawa, 3-1. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 34 shots as the Rangers blanked the Penguins, 3-0. Details and more in your NHL hat trick.
Notable NHL Headlines
Islanders winger Kyle Okposo recently reached a meaningful NHL milestone.
NEWSDAY: New York Islanders winger Kyle Okposo became “the second African-American who played U.S. amateur hockey (as opposed to Canadian junior hockey) to reach 500 games, with longtime Oilers and Sabres forward Mike Grier the only other to come up through the high school and college ranks”.
STLTODAY.COM: The St. Louis Blues offense should get a boost with the return from a fractured ankle of left wing Jaden Schwartz.
TWINCITIES.COM: Pressure is mounting on Minnesota Wild head coach Mike Yeo to pull his club out of its current slump. The Wild have lost 11 of their last 12 games.
MIAMI HERALD: The Florida Panthers second line of Vincent Trocheck, Jussi Jokinen and Reilly Smith is heating up of late.
ESPN.COM: The Los Angeles Kings placed defenseman Christian Ehrhoff on waivers.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: This could be in preparation of clearing cap space for an addition via trade.
CBS SPORTS: Boxing great Evander Holyfield praised the fighting skills of Buffalo Sabres left wing Evander Kane.
THE WASHINGTON POST: The Capitals are set to welcome back defenseman Brooks Orpik, who’s been sidelined since Nov. 10 with a lower-body injury.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Orpik’s return could spell the end of trade speculation linking the Capitals to Vancouver Canucks pending UFA Dan Hamhuis. The Caps won’t have much cap space after Orpik’s return.
THE VANCOUVER SUN: Injuries are mounting for the Canucks, losing defenseman Alex Edler to a fractured fibula and Brandon Sutter to a broken jaw.
DETROIT FREE PRESS: Red Wings defenseman Danny DeKeyser is listed as day-to-day after taking a Dion Phaneuf slapshot off his knee.
THE TAMPA TRIBUNE: Lightning defenseman Jason Garrison will miss the next couple of games to a lower-body injury.
NBC SPORTS: Arizona Coyotes center Joe Vitale (concussion) is done for the season.
TSN: The brain of the late Todd Ewen showed no signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
So much for first impressions…
??…If I could turn back tiiiime!…?? come on now Georges its another sing along! just 5 more years and 3 months of Phaneuf, how bad could it be?
If you could turn back time it would be 1967
What I read consistently from TO fanatics is wishful-thinking (please God, let Phaneuf fall flat on his ass in Ottawa – the LAST thing we want to see is him and the Sens do well) and tell-me-what-I-WANT-to-hear from media sources, and never “tell-me-what-I-SHOULD hear” (hence the opinions expressed on the likes of Simmons and Mirtle (Myrtle?).
He didn’t have a bad game considering the whirlwind events of the previous 24 hours and thrust into a game against with top minutes against a hot team and an even hotter goalie. Like it or not he wasn’t the reason they lost 3-1, and as for that Zetterber play, that future Hall Of Famer has done that a LOT over his career and against D a lot better than Phaneuf.
Keep your fingers crossed Shticky and keep knocking on wood. LOL.
Shticky did you even watch the Ottawa Detroit game? Did Phaneuf snub you or steal a loved 1? Ha-ha!
On Zetterberg’s goal he contained Zetterberg to the outside, even though when Zetterberg picked up the puck skating with speed east to west, Phaneuf was standing still supporting the play with Ryan & Datsyuk along the wall standing off supporting the d zone just inside the left side blue line. Anderson shit the bed & gave up the goal unobstructed high to the short side.
Even NHL.com shares your view. Here’s their header. “Phaneuf has some rough moments in Senators debut. Defenseman beaten by Zetterberg on key goal in loss”
Call me crazy but I expect my goalie to stop shots unobstructed to the short side on any shot coming from that sharp of an angle. Zetterbergs shot was taken at the bottom of the faceoff circle parallel to the face off hash marks. NHL goalies shouldn’t be giving up those goals.
Phaneuf did everything we teach a Dman to do when things break down. Take away his lane to the net & keep him outside to the best of your ability. Zetterberg never got around Phaneuf, he had body position on Phaneuf right from the time he picked up the puck with speed but Phaneuf maintained a straight line to the net so Zetterberg had to shoot from the outside. Zetterberg with body position was able to move the puck from his back hand to his forehand & get his shot off. Anderson has to make that save.
Now Phaneuf did make a mistake. As he was back checking he stopped moving both feet, 1/2 pumped 3 times then bent at the waste & tried to knock the puck off Zetterberg’s stick. Had he kept both feet moving, not stopped moving his feet he might have been able to ride Zetterberg out containing that play but it all happened very quickly & the end result is your goalie can’t give up those goals. It was soft & there was no reason Anderson shouldn’t have made that save.
Considering 1st game heebee geebees I think Phaneuf played fairly well & I certainly don’t hold him accountable for Zetterberg’s goal. Right up until Anderson shit the bed he did everything right. He just had the misfortune of being caught in a break down not of his creation supporting the play like taught. that puck bouncing out after Ryan took Datsyuk out was bad luck & Zetterberg was attacking the play with speed. No defense for that just bad luck till Anderson didn’t do his job.
Lol yes Striker I watched it I just giving George a bit of a ribbing all in fun man, settle down, yes there was pressure and a hecktic day Im sure but still no one wants to start like that.
Shticky. That’s just cruel. Ha-ha! George can take it though.
Sorry I didn’t realize you were just cranking George up.
Dion didn’t have a bad first game with Ottawa. I did notice Chicago was awarded the 17 draft, which means Toronto has basically been snubbed for its 100th anniversary. Bit of a shock to see the NHL do that to the biggest market they have. Maybe they should cut off the welfare checks for a while.
Just another slap to the face of Canadian markets by the slimy Bettman and his cohorts.
You got that right George
LOL good one JD uep havent won a cup since 67
fun fact neither have the Sens
More fun facts since 92 the Sens have had 129 playoff games their record is 61 wins 68 losses
That other crappy team from ontario that didnt make the playoffs for 7 years straight in that same time frame has had 139 playoff games and has gone 69 and 70…more playpff games more wins and has actually won a cup in the past 100 years sooooo wouldnt pile it on too thick.