The Fifth Liners

I'd almost forgotten about  John Scott's challenge on Loui Eriksson  that earned him some quality time with NHL disciplinarian-in-chief Brendan Shanahan.  The seven game ban was given because of the illegal check to the head, injury and Scott's no history of supplemental discipline. Because no history is somehow worse than a history of bad hits.  Scott has already missed three games and will give up $26,923.05. This is more bad news for the Buffalo Sabres, who are currently last in the league, having only won two of fourteen games. 

Some games are pretty, some are boring, and some are just tight. This was definitely the latter. The past few weeks have been tough for Detroit. Since defeating the Colorado Avalanche way back on the 17th, the team has lost at the hands (gloves?) of the Coyotes, Sharks, Senators and Rangers. Taking two overtime points from a possible eight. The Vancouver Canucks on the other hand have won four of their last five games, and despite a close loss to Washington are performing well under new coach John Tortorella.  Detroit's Luke Glendening is fast becoming a regular in the Wings' squad, what with the team's inability to remain injury free. Meanwhile Johan Franzen and Mikael Samuelsson were scratched for the game. The tight first period brought more penalties than goals, Vancouver's Dan Hamhuis was given a minor for holding Niklas Kronwall. Kronwall returned the favour five minutes later and was boxed for slashing Hamhuis. Vancouver was the first team to break

Last night the Colorado Avalanche were dealt a swift blow when number 1 goalie  Semyon Varlamov was arrested for on second-degree kidnapping and third-degree assault charges after a domestic incident in which he allegedly assaulted his girlfriend. He was remanded in a Denver Jail on Wednesday before he could stand trial where he kept separated from the other inmates due to his fame. Today a judge has allowed Varlamov to travel with the Avalanche on bail of $15,000 but a restraining order has been imposed whilst investigations continue. The Russian native will likely feature in tomorrow nights game against the Dallas Stars at the Pepsi Center! Upon release, Varlamov's agent, Paul Theofanous, said: "My client Semyon Varlemov is completely innocent of all of these charges." Whilst a spokesperson for the NHL has informed us," We will not comment unless or until we have a fuller understanding of all of the facts and circumstances related to the legal charges that

The Ottawa Senators are having a tough time of it recently. With each loss, that playoff spot keeps slipping away. Coming off the back of two homes losses (San Jose and Anaheim), the team needed to rekindle the same spirit that beat the Detroit Red Wings 6-1 a week ago. Current Stanley Cup holders Chicago aren't exactly having a walk in the park either. A few overtime losses means that the Blackhawks trail the Colorado Avalanche in the Central Division chase. Last night the Blackhawks welcomed the Senators to the United Center and the high scoring affair meant that for either team to take the edge, the game would require something a bit special. Step up Jonathan Toews . Last night Toews earned the right to drink for free in any tavern in Chicago. Except that one in Chicago Fire, cos it isn't real. Andrew Shaw opened the scoring early in the first to give Chicago the lead, only for Milan Michalek to restore parity with one minute left on the clock. The game stayed tigh

On Sunday, New York Islanders GM Garth Snow made a shock announcement when it was reveal that Islanders future star Matt Moulson had been traded to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for a  Tomas Vanek! Despite the Islanders going 4-4-3 so far and gaining 8 points, Snow has decided the shake the tree and this decision has left widespread shock amongs each member of the Nassau Coliseum- particularly captain John Tavares who was close friend with Moulson. Moulson has made a great star to new life in upstate New York and last night he bagged two goals on his Sabres debut in a 4-3 loss to Dallas Stars! But Islander fans have been demanding an explanation for Snow's actions, finally now the GM has broken his silence. Click here to see Snows explanation

The Vancouver Canucks won a closely fought battle against the Washington Capitals last night win a 3-2 win at the Rogers Arena to make it four wins straight under John Tortorella! The home side were given a lucky break after Alex Ovechkin was given a penalty shot for the Capitals after less an a minute played, but Roberto Luongo was on hand to save it and save Vancouver from going behind! Zack Kassian then put the home side in front after 11.31 played but the Canucks were quickly pegged back when Jason Chimera made things a tie game after 14.36. In the second period there were no more goals, but both Luongo and Capitals goalie, Michal Neuvrith were kept busy making several excellent stops- Ovechkins bad luck in front of goal in this game continued when he hit a post! After only 1.52 of the third period played, Mikhail Grabovski scored to edge Washington in front, but Vancouver had no desire to the fans going home disappointed and Ryan Kesler hit home a rebound to make things a

Recently Alex observed that Phoenix look like a whole new team. He asked what that key ingredient was, and more importantly, can it last? Well, the Phoenix Coyotes are currently fifth in the Western conference, 7-3-2 is a respectable place to be for a team which, not long ago, thought it may have been playing its hockey in a different state. So what's led to this resurgence? Well firstly compare the team's performance to last season. After 12 games last season the Coyotes were 5-5-2. The difference being that so far, the team has won two more games than it did last season. Which is great, but it isn't groundbreaking. While the performances on the ice are to be admired, especially from the team's defenceman, I think it's maybe too early for the team to be planning its Stanley Cup victory party. Oliver Ekman-Larsson  is dominating and dictating the play and he's doing a damn good job.  However... It's still too early to bet the farm on the

The Chicago Blackhawks stuttering start to their new campaign continued with a 5-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild at the United Centre last night- this defeat leaves the Hawks record as 6-1-3 which after their glorious start last year, is making them look slightly awkward. Zach Parise got the Wild started after he scored a rebound on a powerplay after 12.39 of the 1st period played after Corey Crawford had saved the initial effort! But then Niklas Backstrom made an excellent save from Marion Hossa on the break away with six minutes remaining! Minnesota's lead was then increased to 2-0 when after only 1.03 of the second period, Kyle Brodziak tipped in Marco Scandella's shot to leave Hawks fans bewildered! Their frustration grew when Backstrom denied Jonathan Toews and then the post denied another potential goal to still leave Chicago behind, they also had a goal waived off for a high stick before Bryan Bickell finally smashed one in for the home side to reduce the scores to 2-1

After emerging from a tense couple of hours in the cinema watching Tom Hanks cope with being hijacked by pirates in 'Captain Phillips' I found Mike's question of the week on my phone which read, " Pekka Rinne is going to miss 4 weeks due to Injury, how much will this affect his teams performance?" The two time Veniza trophy nominee has proven to be a wall in net for the Nashville Predators since arriving in 2005 and so far he holds a win/loss rate of 153-83 and impressively holds a save percentage of .920! Rinne has without question been the most important factor of the Predators over the last few years and has led them to no less than 8 visits to the Playoffs. But with the team no losing him, it will either be a time for his backups to sink or swim and now Nashville has the worrying issue that both Carter Hutton and Magnus Hellberg do not have any NHL experience under their belts. Hutton briefly was called up to the Chicago Blackhawks during their Stanle

The Philadelphia Flyers claimed just their second win of the 2013/14 season with a hard fought 2-1 victory over fellow strugglers the New York Rangers at the Wells Fargo Center. Matt Read put the home side in front after 9.07 of the 1st period as he made the most of a 2 on 1 advantage to shoot past Rangers goalie Cam Talbot and give Philadelphia the lead! Brad Richards then levelled the scores for New York after 18.56 to set up an interesting battle. The Flyers kept Talbot busy in net for the majority of the second period but it wasn't until 3.03 of the third period that Braydon Coburn 's long range effort flew in to give Philly a much needed win! Currently the Flyers lie 15th in the Western Conference and are currently in a heated battle with the Buffalo Sabres for the wooden spoon- good luck lads!

Buffalo Sabres   John Scott will be summoned to the principle's office after his hit to the head of Bruins ' Loui Eriksson gifted the Swedish winger an extra overnight stay in a Buffalo hospital. No date has been announced yet for Scott's hearing. Buffalo are still without Patrick Kaleta , who received a 10 game ban for his hit on Jack Johnson 14 days ago so the last thing the Sabres need is another suspension. Sadly (for the team) a suspension looks inevitable given how things are right now. Updates when they happen. Mike.

Minnesota Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin will miss the rest of the season after suffering a broken cheek bone in Tuesdays 2-0 win over the Nashville Predators. Brodin suffered a hit during his second shift in Tuesdays game. So far this season he has chalked up three goals and six points in n his 10 games played. We wish you speedy recovery Jonas!

The Vancover Canucks came out smiling from the epic battle waged at the Nassau Coliseum last night as they claimed a 5-4 win over the New York Islanders - they provides the perfect bounce back after being beaten by Columbus on Saturday. From the very get go this game was action packed and in the first period the Islanders took an early advantage when rookie Brock Nelson scored his first NHL goal after less than 02.26 played and Matt Moulson then pushed them further in front as he scored a rebound off Roberto Luongo for a powerplay goal after 4.41. But Vancouver were not going down without a fight and only 16 seconds later, Ryan Kesler scored a rebound off Evgeni Narbarkov to put the Canucks back in contention. But incredibly after just 9 minutes played we were given a tie game when Daniel Sedin scored to bring things to 2-2! Second period started similar to the first when Matt Moulson scored his second again off the powerplay after 4.48 of the period. Zack Kassian had a goal waive

The Anaheim Ducks are enjoying a great start to their 20th anniversary year and last night they extended their winning streak to seven game after a 6-3 win over the Dallas Stars at the Honda Center! Fan favourite Teemu Selanne coolly slotted the Ducks in front on a powerplay after only 2.38 of the 1st period, but then the Stars rallied with Ryan Garbutt getting them started when he hammered his shot past Jonas Hiller to make the scores 1-1 and then Brenden Dillon's shot from the point swerved into the net to push Dallas ahead after 14.38 played and finally Shawn Horcoff capped an impressive fight back for the Stars when he redirected a shot to put Dallas 3-1 up! But Anaheim had no intention of letting their fans down and Corey Perry pushed them back into contention only 54 seconds into the second period and then made the scores 3-3 with a tip in from a long range shot off Cam Fowler after 11.48. Emerson Etem then bundled in a short handed goal to finally give the home side t

Goaltender Martin Biron announced his retirement today. Martin Biron  ‏ @ martybiron43 After thinking about it it with my family, I've decided to retire as a player and move on to a new chapter. Thank you all for your support. Biron had most recently played for the New York Rangers but last week was placed on waivers and assigned to the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack. The Quebec native first made his NHL debut in 1995 when he was drafted 16th overall by the Buffalo Sabres. He spent five years in the juniors and in 2000, became the Sabres main goalie once Dominik Hasek was traded to Detroit. After the 2004-05 lockout, he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers, finding success, especially in the postseason. Unfortunately for Biron, the Flyers had signed Ray Emery and Brian Boucher, leaving Biron surplus to requirements. Biron spent three seasons in Philly before being traded to the New York Islanders. After a mixed season at the Isles, he made the short journey to the Rang

The Pittsburgh Penguin s won a closely won 4-3 contest over the Vancouver Canucks last night at the Consol Energy Center which was only decided by a shootout! Vancouver got a somewhat fortunate start as Alex Edler's spectacular centre ice slap shot on 13.49 minutes bounced off the mask of Marc-Andre Fleury and crept into the goal but Pittsburgh didnt waste time and captain Sidney Crosby made things a tie game after 15.44 played. On the powerplay, Chris Kunitz pushed the Penguins in front after 7.56 of the second period following good work behind net by Malkin. But Vancouver weren't going down without a fight and Brad Richardson levelled things at 2-2 following some good drop passes. Into the third and Zach Kassian deflected Kevin Bieksa's shot past Fleury to put the Canucks ahead 3-2 after 12.50 played! But cruely only 22 seconds later Olli Maata scored a rebound off Luongo to claim his first ever NHL goal and tie the game at 3-3. But there was to be late drama as Bra

Musings, observations and general stuff.  Daniel Alfredsson seems to have found his happy place, the veteran forward picked up his first Detroit goal this week and has also grabbed plenty of assists. Alfredsson has nine points so far. Only Datsyuk and Zetterberg have more. Niklas Kronwall's concussion is a real concern. Widely regarded as the cornerstone of the Red Wings' PK unit, it's hard to tell who will step up if he doesn't return soon. Detroit's blueliners haven't been spectacular recently but backup goalie Jonas Gustavsson is playing out of his skin. Last season may have been forgettable for Gustavsson but so far he's .922 for the season. Jimmy Howard is expected back for tonight's game against Phoenix. The goalie has been sat out since bruising his hand in the warm up against Boston.  Darren Helm is expected to be back soon, which is probably bad news for Luke Glendening who was brought up from the Calder Cup winning Grand Ra

The St. Louis Blues will be without Maxim Lapierre for five games (one already played) after the Dept for Player Safety decided his boarding penalty against the Sharks' Dan Boyle was suspension worthy. Patrick Kaleta's illegal check to the head of Jack Johnson earned the Sabres winger a ten game suspension. Cody McLeod will find out his fate on Tuesday after his boarding hit on Niklas Kronwall earned him a major penalty and a game misconduct in the Colorado Avalanche's first loss of the season. 

The Dallas Stars produced a great performance last night to edge the San Jose Sharks 4-3 at the American Airlines Arena and in doing so they bring an end to the Sharks 100% start to the season! But at the start most of the home fans thought it would be business as usual for visiting San Jose as Tyler Kennedy put them in front after only 9 seconds of the first period! Dallas goalie Dan Ellis helped stem the flow of goals with a couple of smart stops before Tyler Seguin tied the scores at 1-1 after 16.44 played. But then Matthew Nieto siezed on a breakaway chance and slotted home to push the Sharks 2-1 ahead after 17.52 of the period! Stars didnt have to wait long for the tying goal though as after only 1.53 of the second period, Trevor Daley scored past Niemi to make it 2-2! But then Mr Consistent Patrick Marleau again put San Jose in front after scoring a wrap around chance on 12.32, though he was made to wait until after a video replay confirmed the puck crossed the line! But Dal

The Colorado Avalanche have been on fire recently. So far this season Patrick Roy's men have won all six of their games. Mostly down to Semyon Varlamov's heroics between the posts. The Detroit Red Wings are also in a good place. Having got over their slightly shaky start, the team is settling in to life with Daniel Alfredsson and life without Valtteri Filppula. Expectations for the Red Wings' visit to the Pepsi Center were high for both teams. Mike Babcock's men are desperate not to repeat last season's chase for a playoff spot while the Avs need to prove that they're serious contenders. The Avalanche got off to a bad start when Cody McLeod was assessed a game misconduct and a boarding major penalty after his push on Niklas Kronwall left the big Swede with concussion and cuts. Kronwall was stretchered off the ice but not taken to hospital. The resulting powerplay allowed Henrik Zetterberg to set up Johan Franzen who then put the first goal on th

The Vancouver Canucks helped end a two game losing streak with a late winner in a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center last night! Though the game was notable for the fact that coach John Tortorella chose to separate the ever present Sedin Brothers duo onto different offensive lines! But the Canucks win was anything but easy and after rookie Tye McGinn put the Flyers in front after 12.26 of the 1st period, but incredibly Vancouver levelled only 10 seconds later through a neat finish from Ryan Kesler! In the second period McGinn again got the home fans excited when he scored only 2.10 into the second period and despites Vancouver's best efforts they couldn't find a way past Flyers goalie Steve Mason! Tortorella's big game occured with six minutes to play in the third period when he chose to move Chris Higgins onto the top line in place of Daniel Sedin and it was this man who tied the scores at 2-2 after 7.31 minutes played off an assist from

Is it time for Sabres fans to be worried? After six games the team is sat at the bottom of the league, division and conference. Their one solitary point came from an overtime loss hosting Tampa Bay. The New Jersey Devils are currently the only other team without a win under their belts but they've forced three games to overtime. Let's have a look at some numbers: Buffalo Sabres League Leader Goals Per Game (Avg) 1 4.80 (SJS) Powerplay 9.5% 37.5% (STL) Faceoff 44.5% 58.4% (MIN) There's some worrying stuff there, the biggest concern has to be the number of goals be scored (or not scored). Thomas Vanek is the team's leading goalscorer and he has two from six games. Compare that with Tomas Hertl who has seven from five games. The powerplay stat is also a worry. This season; teams are living and dying by how they take advantage of the extra man offered by the powerplay. To be converting less than 10% of those opportunities is not a recipe for success. The stat

A Sidney Crosby Hat tricked helped the Pittsburgh Penguins come back from an embrassing defeat last night to the Panthers with an entertaining 5-4 win against Tampa Bay Lightning ! One of the most interesting offensive teams this- their trip to the Sunshine State has been a mixed one so far! Valtteri Filppula gave the Penguins a shock when he scored off a deflection from Killorn after 13 mins of the third period and again it looked like Pittsburgh were in for a tough night. But when Crosby tied the scores at 1-1 on a powerplay after only two minutes of the second period, the mood was temporarily lifted. But then Steven Stamkos pushed the home side in front again three minutes later. Brooks Orpik levelled the game at 2-2 with a tip in for Pittsburgh after 7 minutes to complete a stunning opening goal flurry! But again it was the Lightning who went ahead at the break when Teddy Purcell tipped Sami Salo 's shot into Fleury's net to make it 3-2 after 15.42. In the third

At the start of the fifth game of the season, the Detroit Red Wings were 2/4 and hadn't scored a single powerplay goal. Sure they'd done pretty well on the penalty kill, fending off some serious five on three attacks, but after ten attempts, had not been able to take man advantage and grab some goals. That changed last night when the Red Wings welcomed the Struggling Philadelphia Flyers to the Joe Louis Arena.  Detroit didn't take long to open the scoring when Todd Bertuzzi , promoted to the first line, scored a great wrap-around after Michael Raffl went to the box for hooking. Raffl had been called up to deal with the Flyers' injury woes. The second period brought more goals and more penalties. Luke Schenn 's trip to the box allowed Niklas Kronwall the chance to remind us he's not just there to flatten the opposition. The big Swede opened his scoring account for the season.  Erik Gustafsson immediately decided to emulate his fellow countryman

The Canucks had a bit of a shocker last night, things were not helped by this. You can't really blame Luongo for this but seriously? Bit of talking guys? 

During their 3-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center, New York Islanders captain John Tavares took a high puck to the face and after realizing he had a loose tooth- Tavares decided to attempt his own amateur dentistry and pulled the tooth out himself! A show of real steel from a rising star of the game- but please DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME KIDS!!! The Blackhawks won the game early in the second after a goal from Seven Days in Hockey favourite Michal Handzus!

The Pittsburgh Penguins perfect start has hit a flat spot as their road trip ended in a surprising 6-3 lost to the Florida Panthers ! So far the Panthers form has been nothing to write home about, but their fans will be dancing in the streets after this result Brad Boyes got the ball rolling when he gave the Panthers the lead after 1.55 of the first period but soon the home side were pegged back when Evgeni Malkin's first goal of the year tied the scores at 1-1! Kris Versteeg then restored their one goal lead as he bagged his first goal in a Florida jersey off an assist from Scott Gomez (yes you heard that right!). But Craig Adams ensured the Pens went in level at the break when he poked in from a goal mouth scramble to make it 2-2! Into the second period and the Panthers offense truly came alive with goals on two successive powerplans, first Jonathan Huberdeau scored off an assist from Versteeg and then Panthers 2nd overall draft pick Aleksander Barkov scored to push the adva

A 1st Star performance from Colorado Avalanche goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere ensured a shut 2-0 victory against the Boston Bruins away at the TD Garden last night to push their winning record to 4 straight wins over new coach Patrick Roy. Goals from Ryan O'Reilly, who scored a tip in goal with only 40 secs of the 1st period remaining and a late empty net goal in the third from Matt Duchene capped off a brilliant performance but it was Giguere who deserves all the plaudits as his 39 saves proved key to shutting out the Bruins! I don't know what is happening so far in Denver but Patrick Roy is making it work!

It's been over a week since Montreal Canadiens' George Parros was stretchered from the ice  in the Habs' opener against the Maple Leafs. Although there's no date for Parros' return, he's said to be almost free of symptoms and recovering well. Full story here . Hat-tip to the Montreal Gazette for the full story.

The St Louis Blues clinched a dramatic late 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at the Scottrade Center last night to continue the reigning champions indifferent start to the 2013/14 season. Vladimir Tarasenko put the Blues in front after 15 minutes when he scored a high shot past Corey Crawford, but Patrick Kane tied the scores at 1-1 only two minutes later. After 7 minutes of the second period Alex Pietrangelo's long shot deflected off Blues captain David Backes to put the home side 2-1 in front on a powerplay! But yet again the Blackhawks levelled the scores again when Jonathan Toews scored on their own powerplay to bring things to 2-2. But with only 21 seconds remaining in the third period, Alexander Steen seized on a 3 on 1 breakaway chance to slot the puck underneath Crawford and give the Blues the win! To see the celebrations erupt among the home fans, you would have thought this was the playoffs! Jaroslav Halak was to thank for keeping the champions out and his fi

The San Jose Sharks might be looking at a couple of games without defenseman Brad Stuart . The blueliner was assessed a minor penalty for elbowing Rick Nash in the Sharks' 9-2 smashing of the New York Rangers yesterday. Nash did not return after the first intermission. The NHL Department for Player Safety will hold a hearing on Wednesday to determine if Stuart should face extra punishment. Rule 28 in the NHL's big book o'rules says that any infraction of the rules can be investigated to see if further fines/suspension are required. Irregardless of whether it was punished in the game or not. I can see Stuart getting a few days off cos of this one. Hits to the head are a really big bone of contention right now within the hockey community. Whatever happens, Stuart will now be enemy number one when the Sharks head to the Madison Square Gardens!  In other news; the New York Islanders' center Frans Nielsen also found himself in hot water yesterday after

The San Jose Sharks might be looking at a couple of games without defenseman Brad Stuart. The blueliner was assessed a minor penalty for elbowing Rick Nash in the Sharks' 9-2 kicking of the New York Rangers yesterday. Nash did not return after the first intermission. The NHL Department for Player Safety will hold a hearing on Wednesday to determine if Stuart should face extra punishment. Rule 28 in the NHL's big book o'rules says that any infraction of the rules can be investigated to see if further fines/suspension are required. Irregardless of whether it was punished in the game or not. I can see Stuart getting a few days off cos of this one. Hits to the head are a really big bone of contention right now amongst the hockey community. Whatever happens, Stuart will now be enemy number one when the Sharks head to the Madison Square Gardens!  Update! Stuart has been suspended for three games. In other news; the New York Islanders' center Frans Nielsen also found him

All eyes were on Cory Schneider last night as he made his hotly anticipated return to the Rogers Arena with his new side the New Jersey Devils against the team that traded him the Vancouver Canucks . But it was the British Columbia side who got the last laugh as the secured a 3-2 overtime win to push their current purple patch under John Tortorella to 3 wins in a row! NHL veteran Jaromir Jagr got the ball rolling for the visitors with just over a minute remaining in the first period with a shot which deflected past Roberto Luongo to put the Devils 1-0 up. Patrick Elias then doubled their advantage seven minutes into the second before Daniel Sedin scored past old team mate Schneider to give Vancouver a lifeline at 2-1. But Alex Edler then capped a remarkable comeback as be brought the scores to a tie game at 2-2 after 14 minutes played. After a scoreless third period, things were pushed to overtime- Canucks fans didnt have to wait long for the result they desired as Mike Santorell

The Philadelphia Flyers aren't having a great start to the season. The team is currently 0/3 having lost to Toronto, Montreal and Carolina. In total the team has scored three goals and conceded nine. In addition to missing the playoffs last season, the writing was on the wall that something had do change. The winds of change are blowing through Philadelphia and head coach Peter Laviolette is out. Assistant coach Craig Berube will be taking over.

Unlike you, seasoned veteran fans of the hockey, my introduction to the sport truly came at the tender age of 24 when visiting Vancouver during 2011 when the Canucks were on the road to the Stanley Cup final! Drinking beers with fellow Canadians and strangely a lot of Australians- I got to know the game well and the Sedin brothers became my instant idols! But if I were to pinpoint one moment that first irked my interest, I would have to turn the clocks back to December 28th, 2000 when at age 13 on a family visit to New York City, my Dad managed to acquire tickets to see the New York Rangers vs Atlanta Thrashers at Madison Square Garden! At this point in time hockey was a completely foreign subject to me and part of me then secretly wished he had gotten Knicks tickets instead! However this was to be an evening to remember and as I ascended the stairs into 'The Garden' I remember being struck at how big and impressive it all seemed-but then again compared to being boxed int