Vladimir BYCHEK
HERO OF THE WEEK
Heroism is a form of death, not a way of life. Willingness to fight, not sparing the abdomen and other parts of the body, as well as laying head on the chopping block in the name of a just cause, distinguishes the real hero from the crowd of workers who are shining with prosperity and who think every second about returning to family warmth and comfort. Goethe also emphasized that talents are formed at rest, characters - among everyday storms. In hockey the same way, and he, the rebellious Olaf Kolzig , is looking for storms.
“Washington”, whose gates are guarded by a 36-year-old veteran, cannot be classified as the favorite of the strongest league on the planet. Two Alexander the Great - Ovechkin and Semin - can not hide flaws in the defense and facilitate the fate of the goalkeeper sentenced to eternal execution. In away games with Colorado and Vancouver, Kolzig scored 87 shots, earning three points out of four for the team! Five minutes before the end of the third period of the Friday battle with the Canucks, the puck hit the unprotected part of Olaf's left thigh. But even being seriously wounded, the fighter did not leave post number one. In fact, on one leg the German first reached overtime, and then - to a series of shootouts. And only there he died the death of the brave in an unequal battle with the enemy. Honor and praise to the heroes!
TEAM OF THE WEEK
Fans of the Detroit Red Wings early live memories. A week ago, after three away defeats in a row, we talked about a glorious club exclusively in the past tense. Say, there was a good team, scored a lot, the Stanley Cup periodically won. Not like the current tribe, completely devoid of steel arm-wings and fiery motors in the chest.
The past seven days has cooled the hot heads of critics. Mike Babcock's wards won three victories, including a bargain for a shaky renowned Victoria in Dallas. Texans in their entire history did not start the championship better and before the visit of the “red wings" had a modest unit in the defeat graph. By Saturday morning, she was transformed into a much less attractive t-shirt, and the happy triumphs on the move took another St. Louis fortress. But it’s too early to talk about the final healing of Detroit. In terms of reliability in the minority and implementation of the majority, the team takes 26th and 27th places in the league, respectively! However, the patient is more likely alive than dead.
TOPIC OF THE WEEK
Who will stop the Buffalo ? The answer to the burning question was received on Saturday evening, when the fiery “dance with blades” calmly extinguished the “Atlanta”. To the credit of “Buffalo”, the last undefeated championship club rested against the last. Four times losing in the course of the meeting, he found the strength to equalize the numbers on the scoreboard, while the former “blade” Slava Kozlov killed the frail hope in a shootout. In the end, what is he up to lofty thoughts of Maxim Afinogenov, who was swinging at the absolute record with his comrades? They wedge a wedge ... Achievement of “Toronto”, who stamped ten victories at the start of the 93/94 season, stood and will stand. And a place in history will have to be won at a much higher price. In the course of the championship-92/93, “Pittsburgh” gave a series of 17 victories - are the Sabers that have descended from heaven to earth to climb to a new peak?
RUSSIAN WEEKS
Among the good dozen of our legionnaires, who are prominent overseas and occupying the front pages of the newspapers there, we will single out Atlanta striker Ilya Kovalchuk . Starting the week with a hat-trick at the gates of “Florida”, a native of Tver did not leave the ice rink without goals and in the next three games - with “Carolina”, “Philadelphia” and “Buffalo”. As a result, Ilya put together a nice collection of six goals and a pair of assists. The sprint spurt allowed Kovalchuk to double his striking performance and break into the top five most productive strikers of the championship with a hurricane.
BATTLE OF THE WEEK
Derek Bugar (Minnesota) vs. Todd Fedoruk (Anaheim). The Friday meeting of the leaders of the Western Conference was decorated with a spectacular fist fight of their best tough guys. The 104-pound duck called for the 112-pound Boogeyman, which she later regretted. Derek Bugar proved that this season is the most powerful contender for the title of best NHL tough guy. During the evening, Bugar fought twice: Sean O'Brien, who had run into him with fright, did not hit hard, but sent Todok Fedoruk to a more status knockout.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“I could be the first owner of the club, who fired himself as a coach. The last ten days have been like ten months. I'm really tired,” - Wayne Gretzky after a Tuesday defeat with a score of 1: 6 from “Calgary”. The four-time Stanley Cup winner and top scorer in NHL history has been co-owner of coyotes since February 2001 and head coach of the team since August 2005.
NUMBER OF THE WEEK
1500 points on the system “goal + pass" in the NHL scored only the most-most. Until last week, ten legendary personalities could boast of such an achievement - Wayne Gretzky, Marc Messier, Gordy Howe, Ron Francis, Marcel Dionne, Steve Aizerman, Mario Lemieux, Phil Esposito, Ray Bourke and Paul Coffey. For six years (!) The 1,500th line did not obey anyone until last Wednesday the captain of Colorado Joe Sakik entered the elite club. In the home game with “Washington”, the jubilee assist was the anniversary for the 37-year-old striker. That same evening, Sakik saluted a significant event also with an abandoned puck, but the holiday still turned out with a touch of sadness - under pressure from Alexander Ovechkin and the company the hosts lost with a score of 3: 5.
WAITING FOR THE WEEK
Six points and 53 goals wasted after a dozen games pushed to the edge of the abyss, “Phoenix” and put on the brink of retirement Wayne Gretzky. No matter how brave the Great Gray-haired, as the loser coach overseas is now called, only a Stakhanov-style shock week will save him from the sword of self-dismissal of Damocles. But how to give out a plan on the surface if there is a voyage to Anaheim and a duel with embittered five defeats by Los Angeles ahead?
For the Russians, all the fun begins on Friday, when Kovalchuk and Vyacheslav Kozlov will confront Ovechkin and Semin in the match between Washington and Atlanta. A day later, plans are scheduled for the return of current Columbus leader Sergei Fedorov to Detroit, a former hometown, and San Jose goalkeeper duel Evgeny Nabokov with namesake rookie from Pittsburgh Malkin. The Magnitogorsk fugitive has not yet left NHL ice without goals - will the scythe find a stone in California?
CM. ALSO
October 24th. New Jersey - Pittsburgh. The fourth and so far the most beautiful goal of Evgeni Malkin.