Team Canada got off to a decent start this morning at the World Hockey Championships in Helsinki, Finland.
Sherwood Park Alberta raised Cam Ward of the Carolina Hurricanes made 19 saves as Canada defeated Slovakia 3-2. The Team Canada goal scorers were Jordan Eberle of the Edmonton Oilers, Andrew Ladd of the Winnipeg Jets and Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars.
The Team Canada squad were the victim of the injury bug however. Alexandre Burrows of the Vancouver Canucks might have suffered a concussion after hitting his head hard on the ice. Burrows’ possible injury came just a few days after Team Canada had to send home P.K. Subban, who injured his knee in an exhibition game against Team Switzerland.
In other games, United States beat France 7-2, Germany blanked Italy 3-0, Czech Republic shut out Denmark 2-0, Finland beat Belarus 1-0 and Sweden defeated Norway 3-1.
Canada’s next game is against the United States at 10am on Saturday morning on TSN.
This week on 15 Minutes of Fame – lots of overtime and lots of fighting to kick off the NHL playoffs, the Oilers win the draft lottery & discuss the future of their coach, the Maple Leafs apologize and a number of top players head to the World Championships. Also – the head of the MLB players union talks steroids and the Hall of Fame.
In the GABBYs: Martin Brodeur, Thierry Henry, the NFL, Lamar Odom, Lingerie Football and Dwyane Wade. The Punchline this week involves Augusta and an attempted cup of sand!
Well, it finally feels like winter in Edmonton, which means I had absolutely no issues with staying inside and checking out a week’s worth of hockey highlights for the latest edition of the GOTW!
This week starts with a nice breakaway from a guy who doesn’t score often, followed by a couple of beauty goals from a couple of recent top draft picks, a dazzling fake clapper and a diving Gino.
Let’s go!
5. Nate Thompson
He’s only got about four goals on the season, but it’s quality over quantity when you’re dealing with Nate Thompson! Check out the hands as he breaks in all by himself and freezes Cam Ward with some nifty moves.
Well, 2011 ended with a bang and another round of filthy dangles and sweet snipes taking us into the New Year.
On this edition of the Goals of the Week, we’ve got a nifty backhander, some top corner magic, a couple of solid individual efforts and a passing play for the ages from a team we’re used to seeing it from!
Let’s go!
5. Alexander Semin
Alex Semin makes Marty Biron look like a backup goalie on this one, breaking in all alone and rifling a backhand shot past him with some authority!
(AFTER THE JUMP: The Rest of the Best from around the NHL!)
It is not many times where you’ll find me calling out the NHL referees in a hockey game. They have a very difficult challenge on a regular basis, and it is difficult to see everything that is on the ice.
But in today’s NHL, there are two of them– and on Monday night there were two instances where the referees made a decision, that went against the Oilers, and eventually cost them the hockey game in a 5-3 Vancouver win.
In the first period, it became very evident to me that Daniel Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks got away with a penalty. Sedin knocked down Oiler checking line forward Lennart Petrell, got into an open area, received a pass from his twin brother Henrik and put the puck past Nikolai Khabibulin to put the Canucks up 2-0. If Daniel Sedin doesn’t knock down Petrell in front of the net, he doesn’t have the open space to score. Khabibulin protested, but it was to no avail.
Then in the third period, with the Oilers having momentum and down by two, Ryan Smyth was called for interference. Smyth on this particular play was standing on the blue line because he didn’t want to be offside. A Canuck skated into him and fell down.
What Kelly Sutherland and Dave Jackson were thinking tonight, I’m not sure. But I expected better from two experienced referees.
In other action tonight, Cam Ward became the first goaltender this season and first in five years to be credited with a goal. Devils’ forward Ilya Kovalchuk attempted a pass with the goaltender pulled, but the puck got by Adam Henrique and all the way into the Devils’ net. Ward was the last Hurricane player to touch the puck and was credited with the goal in Carolina’s 4-2 win over New Jersey. Chris Mason of the Nashville Predators was the last goaltender to score a goal on April 15, 2006. Ward becomes the tenth goaltender in NHL history to achieve the feat.
We’re through another week of action in the NHL and I’ve got to say, this may have been the toughest one so far when it comes to whittling my list of potential Goals of the Week down to a top five!
Cracking the list this time around is a beautiful spinning backhander, some slick breakaway moves, a bit of between the legs magic, a clutch play from a young forward and a one-man show at the United Center!
Let’s go!
5. Tyler Bozak
Toronto’s Tyler Bozak checks in at number five this week, corralling some knee-high sauce from Phil Kessel and hitting the top shelf with a spinning backhander over the shoulder of Roberto Luongo. Beauty!
Another week has come and gone in the NHL, which means another week’s worth of beauty snipes and sick dangles.
Last week’s big winner was Philly’s Claude Giroux – did he make the list again? Do any goals from the past seven days beat his opening night gino? Do we have any repeat offenders? This week’s top five starts off with the Battle of New York and a little Johnny T, and finishes with a beauty from Music City!
Let’s get to it!
5. John Tavares
John Tavares is off to a red-hot start this season, and his NY Islanders actually look like a team that might make some noise this season. Check out this sick connection between Mark Streit and Tavares in a win over the Rangers (starts at 0:12)! (Goals after the jump!) (more…)
It’s been four days since Fernando Torres made headlines in the soccer world by moving from Liverpool to Chelsea on a record breaking transfer, and while he gets ready to face his old club on Sunday, one Liverpool fan is mourning his team’s loss more than any other…
His name? Fernando Torres McCormark.
This Is Scunthorpe says the man, formerly known as Shaun McCormark, changed his name in December to honor his favorite team’s best player. Now he is left with a tough decision: does he stick with his club and get his name changed to something else, or does he follow Torres and become a Chelsea supporter? (more…)
Well, it finally feels like winter in Edmonton, which means I had absolutely no issues with staying inside and checking out a week’s worth of hockey highlights for the latest edition of the GOTW!
What’s in a Name?
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