The Fifth Liners

Very soon the Stanley Cup race shall be upon us and the bookies are currently making the Pittsburgh Penguins as their favourite to hoist the cup! But as we all know, this championship is far from straight forward and playoff time can always spring a surprise. Take for example last year where the LA Kings came from nowhere early season to being the team to beat as they swept all before them and were led by Captain Dustin Brown and goalie Jonathan Quick! Who will this year’s dark horses be? And more importantly, why shouldn’t we rule them out? Vancouver Canucks As a Canucks fan myself, I would like nothing better than a repeat of our run to the final in 2011 but this season has proven an up and down affair, not helped by the unclear goalie debate. But now things have been settled the Canucks are looking a more resurgent team and the Sedin brothers are showing the kind of form has made them a feared forward duo. Also they have been aided by the excellent play of Alex Burrows and n...

Today Detroit Red Wings legend Gordie Howe aka 'Mr Hockey' turns 85- as a player he made the Number 9 jersey his own and scored over 800 careers goals in 1,767 games, won 6 Hart Trophys and 4 Stanley Cups with the Red Wings between 1950 to 1955! To call this man a legend of the game would be an understatement and he proved an inspiration to many young hockey players including a certain Wayne Gretzky! From both of us here, many happy returns Mr Hockey! You're a true legend of the game.

Pittsburgh Penguins Captain and league points leader Sidney Crosby was taken to hospital today after a shot by team-mate Brooks Orpik was deflected into Crosby's jaw during his first shift. Taking a few teeth with it. Penguins have confirmed that Crosby had oral surgery today but no word on how long the Canadian center will be out for. Penguins went on to beat the Islanders 2-0. We wish Crosby a speedy recovery and hope to see him back on the ice soon. Update. Penguins have announced that Crosby is out indefinitely following surgery on his jaw.

Next big thing in hockey Danny DeKeyser is now officially a Red Wing, in a move that surprised nobody at all, he agreed a two year contract yesterday and skated with the team at today's morning practice. 

Tampa Bay Lightning played their first game under new coach Jon Cooper last night and reminded the Bolts' faithful just what the team can do. The first period ended in stalemate as neither team found the net. Bolts' Gudas and Devils' Kostopoulos picked up major penalties for fighting. Devils opened the scoring in the second with Loktionov and Kostopoulos. Stamkos and Thompson drew the Bolts level at 2-2 before Greene's snap shot on the powerplay gave the Devils the lead again. Carter increased New Jersey's lead at the start of the third to 4-2. Stamkos' wrist shot with 13 minutes left gave the Bolts hope and Killorn's goal with 16 seconds left in regulation time sent the game to overtime. Overtime saw no goals but Purcell and Hedman scored the only penalty shots giving the Lightning the win. First Star - Stamkos Second Star - Greene Third Star - Killorn

Last night’s tie between Toronto and Carolina was a cracker in every sense of the word, and its 6-3 score line ensured that every fan got their money’s worth. Both teams may be on form which may not put them in line to have a championship banner raised at their respective arenas, but it does prove that they have an abundance of young talent to get excited about! The moment of the game came from Joffrey Lupul’s stunning goal towards the end of the third period where he literally skated from one end to the other to slot past Hurricanes goalie Justin Peters- it was goal that even the great Mario Lemieux would envy, check it out here http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=35&id=230741&lang=en

Last night saw a few cracking games in the NHL, which was led by a pulsating 6-5 win by shootout for Montreal over Boston at TD Garden. The Habs started brightly and were two goals to the good by the beginning of the 2nd period thanks to goals by Matt Ryder and the ever excellent Patrice Subban. But a four goal rally mid second period by the Bruins led them to be 4-2 down in the blink of an eye. This glut of goals led to starting goalie Carey Price being benched in favour of backup Peter Budaj.   But it was a move that paid off as despite a Tyler Seguin goal from Boston- Ryder and Gallagher then pulled the Canadiens back into the game in the third period to bring score back to 5-4. Then with 8.2 secs left on the clock, defensemen Andrei Markov hit a long ranger which skimmed off Bruins Captain Chara to level the scores at 5-5! In the shootout it was left to Gallagher to score past Rask and give the Habs a deserved away win and the extra point! Elsewhere Calgary Flames put...

It's official, Jarome Iginla is now a Penguin. The deal sees the Flames pick up the Pens' first round draft pick and the rights to unsigned draftees Kenneth Agostino and Ben Hanowski. Early reports that Iginla was headed to the Bruins have since been confirmed as 'not true'. The theory that he would sign for the Red Wings was just wishful thinking by me.  Click  here  for more about the story on NHL.com.

1.        Ron Hextall vs. Chris Chelios (1989 Eastern Conference Final- Game 6): Goalie Ron Hextall was never far from controversy during his career and his 699 penalty minutes are the kind of stats usual seen by season enforcers rather than a man in net! At times he could be brilliant but at times he was purely insane and it was never demonstrated better than when decided to get revenge on Montreal’s Chris Chelios 2. Patrick Roy vs. Mike Vernon (Red Wings vs. Avalanche 1997): After Claude Lemieux illegal hit on Red Wing’s Kris Draper the season prior, winger Darren McCarthy decided to get brutal revenge on Lemieux. Never one to back away from a fight, goalie Patrick Roy chose to join in and protect his team mate. Then veteran Red Wing’s goalie Mike Vernon tried to intervene which prompted Roy to challenge him to a scrap- here things became interesting!   3.        Matthew Barnaby vs. Garth Snow (Sabres v...

 By Alex Watson Previously I wrote an article about the turmoil faced by Vancouver Canucks in relation to their goaltending scenario- well it now appears that things have been firmly resolved as Cory Schneider has been in net for the last 5 games and impressively the Canucks have now notched up 5 wins on the bounce after last night’s 1-0 shootout win over Columbus Blue Jackets at the Rogers Arena. Schneider is currently proving to be a hard man to get the puck past and incredibly has recorded two shutout wins during this time. Seems the man from Marblehead, MA is now the firm favourite to keep his place in net and has now elevated the Canucks to top spot above Minnesota in the Northwest Division and they are looking increasingly likely to among the play-off race. The game itself against Columbus was a tale of two goalies with Schneider and CBJ goalie Sergei Bobrovsky making a clutch impressive saves each which forced the game into a shootout where it was left to...

Craziness. That's all.

As well as the rest of the NHL. DeKeyser is a 23 year old D-Man from Michigan and probably the next big thing in hockey. He's still in college and currently plays for Western Michigan University. He can kill penalties and play on the power play. He can score, he can assist and most importantly, he's an undrafted free agent . The Wings have already held talks with the lad last season and the vibe on the internet reckons that they're the favourite team to pick him up. Still suffering with injuries, Detroit could do with a big, flexible D-Man right now. The Wings have reportedly already told DeKeyser he can enter the lineup immediately. This looks like a superb grab for the Wings if they can fend off serious competition from the Oilers and Predators as well as interest from every other team. If both our readers are so inclined, there's a whole twitter thing, look for #DeKeyserWatch.

Today the LA Kings reminded Washington what the Stanley Cup looks like. Reigning champs LA Kings (and also MLS champs LA Galaxy) paid a trip to the White House today to present the Commander in Chief with his own #44 Kings jersey and take photos of the highest office in the land.  The Kings next game is against the St Louis Blues on Thursday. 

This is a bit of a history lesson for our readers (yes, both of you). Half the fun of following a sport is learning about its history (for me anyway) and tonight I'm going to tell you where the Boston Bruins' name comes from. Boston. That bit was easy. But what's a Bruin? Well, when the Boston Bruins were born in 1924, manager Art Ross was instructed to come up with a nickname based on an untamed wild animal with speed, agility and cunning. Instead he came up with a bear. The actual word 'bruin' comes from old English meaning 'brown bear'. The first logo was the team's name with a yellow splat that resembled a bear, or a melty ice cream. This tied in with the team's yellow and brown colours. A variation of this logo is still visible on the shoulders of the Bruins' jersey.  There you have it. The Boston Brown Bears  Bruins continue in the age old tradition of naming teams after animals.

By Alex Watson The Pittsburgh Penguins are a team with a remarkable history, with three Stanley cup wins, near bankruptcy in 1998 to finally the acquisition of the brightest modern Hockey star in Sidney Crosby! But ever since their last cup glory is 2009, their recent follow ups haven’t quite lived up to expectations at the Consol Energy Centre and last season they were eliminated in the Eastern Conference quarter finals by the Flyers in six games. Arguably it could be said that their season had been interrupted by Captain Crosby’s persistent absence from the ice owning to the effect of post concussion syndrome. But it did leave the door open to Evgeni Malkin’s Hart Trophy winning performances where he led the team in scoring and was joined by breakout star James Neal and Jordan Staal. But even with all promise in Sid the Kid’s absence, their weak play-off performance left a sour taste in the mouth. However this season, Coach Dan Byisma has learned from last season’s m...

It has been a hard end of the week for Tampa Bay Lightning, firstly with the sacking of their head coach Guy Boucher by GM Steve Yzerman and a 3-2 defeat by Winnipeg Jets last night. But they at least had one major award contender from Goalie Cedric Desjardin- who here produces an early contender for Save of the Year from The Jet's Andrew Ladd! http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=72&id=227707&navid=nhl:topheads

So... After a week which has seen transfers and sackings, here's 5 teams who've had a good week, and 5 who haven't. For a list of all results, click  here for the Western  and  here for the Eastern  Conferences. Good Week 1. Pittsburgh Penguins . Not only are the Pens top of the Eastern and only a point behind league leaders the Blackhawks, but they've now picked up Stars captain Brenden Morrow. 2. Detroit Red Wings . The good ship Detroit has been anything but steady but 2 wins against the Ducks has seen the Wings rise up to 5th in the Western Conference. Justin Abdelkader bagged his first career hatrick. 3. Minnesota Wild . 3 wins and 0 losses this week see the Wild sat comfortably in a playoff place. Captain Mikko Koivu and D-Man Ryan Suter are both playing superbly and lead the team on 26 points apiece. 4. Washington Capitals .The Caps may still be 2 places outside the playoffs but Alex Ovechkin is back on form. He scored in all four games last week as...

Boston Bruins Wins Senators 2-1 Losses Jets 3-1 Maple Leafs 3-2 Buffalo Sabres Wins Canadiens 3-2 Maple Leafs 5-4 Canadiens 2-1 Losses Carolina Hurricanes Wins Losses Rangers 2-1 Panthers 4-1 Devils 4-1 Florida Panthers Wins Hurricanes 4-1 Rangers 3-1 Losses Devils 2-1 Islanders 3-0 Montreal Canadiens Wins Islanders 5-2 Losses Sabres 3-2 Sabres 2-1 New Jersey Devils Wins Hurricanes 4-1 Panthers 2-1 Losses Rangers 3-2 NY Islanders Wins Panthers 3-0 Losses Senators 5-3 Canadiens 5-2 Penguins 4-2 NY Rangers Wins Hurricanes 2-1 Devils 3-2 Losses Panthers 3-1 Capitals 3-2 Ottawa Senators Wins Islanders 5-3 Lightning 5-3 Losses Bruins 2-1 Philadelphia Flyers Wins Losses Lightning 4-2 Penguins 2-1 Pittsburgh Penguins Wins Capitals 2-1 Islanders 4-2 Flyers 2-1 Losses Tampa Bay Lightning Wins Flyers 4-2 Losses Maple Leafs 4-2 ...

New format, last time took ages. Here's a round up of the scores from the last 7 days. Anaheim Ducks Wins Sharks 5-3 Blackhawks 4-2 Losses Red Wings 5-1 Red Wings 2-1 Calgary Flames Wins Blues 3-2 Losses Stars 4-3 Predators 5-3 Blue Jackets 5-1 Chicago Blackhawks Wins Avalanche 5-2 Losses Ducks 4-2 . Colorado Avalanche Wins Stars 4-3 Losses Blackhawks 5-2 Stars 5-2 Canucks 3-2 Columbus Blue Jackets Wins Predators 4-3 Flames 5-1 Losses Predators 5-2 Dallas Stars Wins Flames 4-3 Kings 2-0 Avalanche 5-2 Losses Avalanche 4-3 Detroit Red Wings Wins Ducks 5-1 Ducks 2-1 Losses Wild 4-2 Edmonton Oilers Wins Losses Sharks 4-3 Blues 3-0 Los Angeles Kings Wins Coyotes 4-0 Coyotes 3-2 Losses Stars 2-0 Canucks 1-0 Minnesota Wild Wins Canucks 3-1 Red Wings 4-2 Sharks 2-0 Losses Nashville Predators Wins Flames 5-3 Bl...

Wall by name, wall by nature. The Swede welcomes Wild new boy Charlie Coyle to the big league. Unsurprisingly he picked up a double minor for this. 

Calgary Flames captain Jarome Iginla has submitted his wish list of teams he'd happily transfer to according to  Renaud Lavoie . It's no secret that Iginla has been in talks for a a while about moving away from the Flames and there has been speculation aplenty about where he would go. Sadly the Red Wings didn't make the list. The teams are: Boston Bruins , Chicago Blackhawks , LA Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins . Question now is do any of the above teams want Iginla? Sourced from  here.

Coach Guy Boucher has been officially relieved of duty at Tampa Bay Lightning. Bolts GM Steve Yzerman isn't satisfied in the direction the team is going and still has hopes to make the playoffs. The Bolts currently sit 27th in the league and play the Winnipeg Jets tonight.  Full video  here.

By Alex Watson Craig Anderson (Ottawa Senators) Since being traded to Ottawa in 2010, Craig Anderson has proven himself to be mister consistent and this season has been no exception and as it stands Anderson currently has the highest save percentage and currently has a GAA average of 1.49. His great goaltending has put him in line for a potential Hart Trophy and has also contributed to the Senators ever improving form and they are now firmly in line for a place off spot. Pekka Rinne (Nashville Predators) Nashville’s form so far this season has been very stop- start, but the one thing that hasn’t been is the goaltending of Finland’s Pekka Rinne who currently has already registered 5 shut out victories alone this season and has prove a bright spot in the Predators season and if his form continues, they could prove to be the wildcard of the playoff race! Nikolas Backstrom (Minnesota Wild) The Wild’s fortunes are ever improving this season due to some smart acquisiti...