Vladimir BYCHEK
HERO OF THE WEEK
Forward “Pittsburgh” Sid Crosby was a lot of puzzled when he was asked who is now the best player in the NHL. “Perhaps the Slovak is Marian Gossa,” suggested the Canadian child prodigy. “Or the Czech Jaromir Jagr? Alexander Ovechkin and Peter Forsberg are also serious contenders. As well as teammate Evgeni Malkin.” Finally confused in the names, Crosby shrugged: "There are too many good hockey players." Unlike the ward, the head coach of the “penguins” Michelle Terrien did not hesitate for a moment. "Sid is number one in the world," the coach categorically declared on Thursday. After the meeting, “Pittsburgh” with “Philadelphia” there are not many people willing to argue with him. Record-breaking in the second-year career, six points in the “goal + pass” system in one evening lifted the attacker to the first line of the scorer list and transferred them from promising ones to the category of those held. Even cautious of sonorous epithets, Mark Recci could not resist putting an equal sign between Crosby and young Mario Lemieux. Now Sid is not just the lifesaver of yesterday's outsider of the league, but also the catalyst of the team, maximizing the capabilities of each of its fighters. Like a venerable grandmaster, he calculates the game dozens of moves ahead and gives the puck in such a way that it would not be a luxury to transfer it to the net. In four games last week, Crosby scored thirteen points. Ten of them are assists. If the pace of advancement in the tournament distance is maintained, then only the old Hottabych can take away the Art Ross Trophy from the first issue of the draft 2005. After the Great Depression, only one player managed to win the scorer title at such an early stage in his career. The great Wayne Gretzky did it in the 79/80 season, already in his first year in the NHL.
TEAM OF THE WEEK
Three victories in a row lifted Toronto from tenth place in the Eastern Conference to fifth. The “maple” depression, which resulted in seven consecutive defeats, seems to be behind, although the memories of it are a good incentive not to relax and to maintain oneself in the same tonus as last week. “Toronto” came out of the tournament swamp on the corpses of the last two Stanley Cup winners - “Tampa” and “Carolina”, leaving instead for the role of ridicule “Rangers”. On Saturday, Mats Sundin and his comrades scored nine goals for the team of Jaromir Jagr - exactly as much as for the entire seven-match series of surrenders!
TOPIC OF THE WEEK
In his nineteen Boston rookie Phil Kessel did not have much in the NHL. Looking back on the past, it would be safe to say that five abandoned goals and four assists in 27 games is only the beginning. However, a harsh diagnosis - cancer - threatens to seriously correct ambitious plans. On Monday, the little bear was operated on, and ahead of him were troubled times. Meanwhile, the guy has excellently established himself as part of the junior and youth teams of the United States. In the finals of the eighteen-year-old world championship, held in 2004 in Minsk, he threw the puck into the goal of the Russian team, led by Valery Bragin, but it was not enough for a golden triumph. The title of the best sniper of the tournament and the inclusion of stars in the symbolic national team became weak consolation for the maximalist boy who was sobbing in the locker room. Now life has prepared for him a more serious test.
Inevitability of the week
The question of a change of coach in the “St. Louis” has matured like a boil. The chair near Mike Kitchen rocked last season, when the “bluesmen" not only flew past the playoffs, which they invariably went out for a quarter of a century, but also took a humiliating last place. This summer, the team has definitely strengthened, but the cart, as they say, is still there. For one unobtrusive difference: since last Monday, it has been ruled by the not-so-lit-up Kitchen, but by the ex-steering Los Angeles convoy Andy Murray . The record holder of “kings” in the number of victories, unlike the new mentors of “Chicago” and “Columbus”, began over the dead. The patient is still rather dead than alive, and only a good defibrillator can help him.
RUSSIAN WEEKS
An unfortunate misfire in the first duel of the season with Sid Crosby motivated striker “Washington” Alexander Ovechkin to exploits in the next matches. It so happened that another Russian Ilya Kovalchuk and his Atlanta, the leader in the Southeast Division, fell under Ovi's hot hand. If in a duel with “Pittsburgh” Alex tried himself in an unusual way of supplier of shells, then he habitually took control of the situation and personally put all three washers in the opponent’s net. And the second hat-trick in his career was crowned at the sixth second of overtime, when immediately after a throw-in in the central circle, Alex robbed someone else's defender and in the blink of an eye delivered the puck for its intended purpose. The unique goal was the reward for the constant focus on the goal, reflected in 12 shots on target.
BATTLE OF THE WEEK
Monday, December 11th. “San Jose” - “Phoenix”: 100 kg “coyote” Dave Sketchard versus 102 kg “shark” Rob Davison .
QUOTE N FOOD
“None of the phrases that I told the team in overtime was designed for the press. Sometimes there is no need to speak clearly and coherently. Where the profanity is filed at the maximum volume,” says Toronto head coach Paul Moris . On Tuesday, the “maple leaves” were inferior to the Tampa 1: 3, but, having undergone “matotherapy”, they started to get better: they scored four goals in a row and won. Moreover, the coach’s strong word so impressed Sundin and the company that Canadians celebrated a triumph on Friday and Saturday.
FIGURES OF THE WEEK
19 minutes 28 seconds - the average time on ice, for which the Nashville rookie Alexander Radulov scores a goal. Now the Russian has ten goals, and in terms of rate of fire he is significantly ahead of such recognized championship snipers as Marian Gossa (33 minutes 4 seconds), Brendan Shenahan (31 minutes 22 seconds), Teemu Selyanne (31 minutes 19 seconds), Alexander Ovechkin (30 minutes 25 seconds) and others like them.
WAITING FOR THE WEEK
In connection with the Christmas holidays, this game week will shrink to six days, but the fans will not be left out. On Tuesday, the paths of the leaders of the Northeast Division “Buffalo” and “Montreal” will intersect, which means that we will witness an interesting confrontation between Maxim Afinogenov on one side of the barricades and Alexei Kovalev with Sergei Samsonov on the other. Then forward, “Islanders” Victor Kozlov will hold the 700th match in the NHL. Unless, of course, - three times we knock on a tree! - to get into a duel with the “Rangers” the veteran will not be prevented by injury. Two times a week, Columbus veteran Sergei Fedorov will fight with Detroit, who gave him thirteen years of life. On Wednesday, Dallas defender Sergei Zubov can print the eighth hundred points in the NHL (now - 700) in a basic guest battle with the leader of the Anaheim championship race. In the course of the championship, the Texans scored 23 points out of 24 possible in their Pacific division! On Thursday, we look forward to a duel. Ilya Kovalchuk - Evgeni Malkin in the Atlanta vs. Pittsburgh match.
CM. ALSO
December 11th. “Washington” - “Pittsburgh”. “Penguin” Evgeni Malkin with a kite dives on the piglet and makes the score 4-4.