Vladimir BYCHEK
HERO OF THE WEEK
Entering the same river twice is much more difficult than sitting twice in the same puddle. Dominik Hasek managed the impossible - three times to plunge into the cold Michigan waters and at the same time not to dampen his reputation. Recall everything. Having won the Stanley Cup 2002 as part of the Detroit, the Czech announced his retirement in the NHL. Having rested for a year, Dominator made a turn at one hundred eighty degrees and returned to his favorite team. Groin injury lubricated that season, and the veteran was traded to the Ottawa. Further more - after the recurrence of damage at the Turin Olympics at the honored "senior citizen" put an end to. In difficult times of doubt and expectation, “Detroit” came to the rescue, and Hasek suddenly opened a third wind. Both matches last week - against “Edmonton” and “Nashville” - the Czech defended to zero, and now his dry streak is 153 minutes 28 seconds. But in less than two and a half months, the Dominator will be 42 ...
TEAM OF THE WEEK
Choosing the best club of the past seven days was not easy. The fact is that at once six teams (one from each division!) Without loss passed the distance from Monday to Sunday, which means they equally claimed for laurels. However, the throne can not accommodate all the winners - “New Jersey”, “Toronto”, “Tampa”, “Detroit”, “Calgary” and “San Jose”, therefore, to identify himself, he had to resort to an analysis of defeated rivals. As a result , Calgary was crowned king, having defeated the strong Dallas with Vancouver and stopped the leader of the Anaheim championship. The “Energizer” is captain Jerome Iginla and the goalkeeper Mikka Kiprusoff hastily returning to former conditions is not childish, and the mighty flame, singeing “duck” feathers and smoking out of the frame Ilya Bryzgalov, threatens to spread the whole league. After all, November is the month of the Flames. A year ago, it was the eight-match winning streak in the last month of autumn that transformed the club’s unfortunate start into the title of the Northwest Division champions, and Kiprusoff’s modest statistics in the second row finish the most impenetrable NHL guard.
TOPIC OF THE WEEK
The first goal in the NHL of 19-year-old striker “Montreal” Guillaume Lyatendressa caused an unexpectedly sharp reaction of the legendary Patrick Roy , a new member of the “Hockey Hall of Fame”. The great goalkeeper, who is now the head coach of the Quebec Remparts from the youth league, sarcastically said in an interview with one of the newspapers that he "can not believe that the rookie has finally touched the puck." The proud young man had the audacity to answer the idol of millions. Lyatendress's words: “I have never been a fan of Roy and in my years I demonstrate much more maturity than he did at the end of his career” - circled Canada and touched the lively 41-year-old Patrick. Already on Thursday, the latter issued another slander to the young striker, explaining why he "laughed at the goal of Lyatendress." Evil tongues say that Rua wanted to trade Guillaume in the minor league, but was deprived of this opportunity by his friend Guy Carbonno, a Montreal coach who left the child prodigy to himself. The war of words continues ...
RUSSIAN WEEKS
For a long career in the NHL, he used to be in the shadows. In Detroit, the main roles were given to the charismatic Steve Aizerman, Brendan Shenahan and Sergey Fedorov. Early Atlantis Dani Heatley and Ilya Kovalchuk ruled at Atlanta. But even an invisible man with experience is hard to remain invisible in the pouring rain of abandoned washers and assists, which hit his head. On Monday, 34-year-old center forward Vyacheslav Kozlov scored 4 (1 + 3) points in a match with Boston. On Wednesday, in a battle with the Ottawa, a veteran designed a hat-trick and rocket ascended to the bombing heights. On Friday, his goal sweetened the Pill defeat against the Rangers. The next evening, three assists of the Russians became the only bright spot against the surrender of the Atlanta in Tampa. 11 points per week is a fantastic achievement! With a salary of just over two million dollars per year, Slava Kozlov is almost an ideal investment. In turn, the experience of two-time Stanley Cup winner and calm calm healing balm spilled on the explosive winger Marian Gossu and Kovalchuk. Still, not without the active mediation of our hero, both are now marching in the front rows of a sniper column.
BATTLE OF THE WEEK
Montreal, November 7th. Edmonton bully Brad Winchester pushed David Ebisher into the goal, and then arranged for the exemplary “dark” Canadiens defender Mike Komisarek , who had the courage to stand up for the goalkeeper.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“The events of last fall embarrassed me to such an extent that I did not know what to do next, how to look people in the eyes. But time passed, and I realized: hockey is not everything. After a cardiac arrest, I got radically new views on the meaning of human existence. That incident decisively changed my life for the better. Now I am much happier than before losing consciousness on the bench, "- Detroit defender Jiri Fischer in an interview with Detroit Free Press. On November 21, 2005, during a game with Nashville, the Czech was in a state of clinical death and since then has not gone on ice.
NUMBER OF THE WEEK
16 consecutive matches without defeats in most of the time took place at the start of the Anaheim regular championship. This is the new NHL record. The previous achievement belonged to the phenomenal “Edmonton”, which in the fall of 1984 began the championship with 12 wins and 3 draws. New times do not accept the division of points, so the current defeat, which went beyond the three periods, can be conditionally equated to the draws of that time. Fortunately, both of them are evaluated (and evaluated) by one point. As for the “ducks,” they in their series once lost in overtime and three more times in a series of shootouts. True, we will make a reservation: a dozen victories “Dax” and “Oilers” - not just one field of berries. One Victoria came to “Anaheim” in overtime, two more - on shootouts, which means that according to the old calculus of “real” victories, the Californians have only nine.
WAITING FOR THE WEEK
From November 15 to 20, three meetings will be held at once by sworn enemies in the Nashville Central Division and Columbus. A duel between Russian striker Sergei Fedorov and compatriot Alexander Radulov is not planned due to the latter’s link to the farm club. But with impatience the battle of small tough guy Jorden Tutu with Jody "Bulldozer" Shelley is expected, which is 18 centimeters higher and 14 kilograms heavier than the opponent! Twice in a week, the paths of the unexpected outsider of the Ottawa season and the not-so-expected leader, Buffalo, intersect. I want to believe that the forward of the “blades” Maxim Afinogenov will manage to heal the sores, and the defender of the “senators” Anton Volchenkov will show him worthy resistance.
CM. ALSO
On Monday, November 6th, the Atlanta Slovakian super sniper Marian Gossa scored his 13th goal this season. Hurry up to see! Goal of the month, definitely!