Weekly review 01 / 22 / 28.01 | Weekly review 01/15/21/01
Vladimir BYCHEK
HERO OF THE WEEK
The first issue of the 2003 draft did not immediately claim a firm place at the heart of Pittsburgh. The useless defense of the “penguins” nullified all the attempts of Mark-Andre Fleury at the goal, and the difficult financial situation of the club forced the Pennsylvania bosses to exile the talented goalkeeper in the AHL over and over again. And the fact that he was talented, the leadership of “Pittsburgh” had no doubt, otherwise last summer would not have extended the contract for two years and did not pay 2.59 million dollars for it. Well, last week the guy worked out everything until the last penny: forged two “dry” wins and repelled 127 of 135 shots (94.1 percent).
TEAM OF THE WEEK
For the second week in a row, the title of the best seven-day club goes to Pittsburgh . And this is not a matter of subjective sympathy, but an objective axiom: nobody plays better than “penguins” now. Over the past ten matches, wards Michel Terrien scored 18 points! The Pennsylvania people made a jerk that even the most devoted fans did not expect from them, and forced the skeptics to bite their long tongues. Last week, “Pittsburgh” accomplished the almost impossible - dispelled the myth of the one-star team. On Saturday, the “penguins” won the match in which Sid Crosby did not score a single goal + pass system! During the Enhael career, the Canadian child prodigy spent 32 dry matches, and “Washington” was the first victim in a long line of executioners. Along the way, “Pittsburgh” was the first club that in 2007 managed to reset Alexander Ovechkin. The record-breaking scorer in the championship was interrupted by a damn dozen games.
TOPIC OF THE WEEK
On the first day of February, the fifteenth year of the reign of the NHL commissioner Gary Bettman began . Over the past fourteen clubs of the planet’s strongest hockey league, they experienced a lot of stress - four bankruptcies, three relocations, two lockouts and one season deleted from life, so it is not surprising that the anniversary caused a ninth wave of criticism of a high-ranking official. Bringing salary ceilings to near-heights, crazy experiments with expanding the gates, a one-sided calendar and low-ranking “All-Star Game” exacerbated the revolutionary situation, forcing overseas to openly sort out the names of Bettman's possible successors. North American newspaper men even spread the word that they were already in talks with Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage. However, the latter returned solid ground under the feet of the disgraced leader, saying that he was interested in commissioning in the National Football League, and not in the hockey. On the other hand, Gary’s contract expires at the end of next season, so the opposition has time to look for a decent alternative.
Insomnia of the week
The revived ghosts of the lockout came back at night with nightmares and union boss Ted Saskin . The split in the association of players is still visible to the naked eye, and the persecution of its leader has reached a new round. At the cost of incredible diplomatic efforts, a group of dissidents led by Chris Chelios managed to dissuade from litigation, but an independent internal investigation into the circumstances of Seskin’s election to high office has already begun. Behind him, presumably, a global financial audit starts, so Ted can not be expected to live in the foreseeable future.
RUSSIAN WEEKS
According to the fact that the Los Angeles striker Alexander Frolov is now replenishing the bombard's piggy bank, the general manager of the “kings" Dean Lombardi is fit to sit down for the complete works of Leo Tolstoy. I remember that in the fall, the chief of the Californians promised to read War and Peace if the Russian turned into a stable sniper. Moskvich exceeded his wildest expectations: having scored seven goals in the last eight games, he brought the number of goals in the championship to 28. A personal record was broken a long time ago - it would be time for Lombardi to take increased obligations.
BATTLE OF THE WEEK
1st of February. Boston - Buffalo. The first fist fight in the career of the Bears forward, Brad Boyce won: the knockout defender Tony Ludman saved the judges from the knockout. “I haven’t seen such a beating for a long time,” Paul Mara appreciated the efforts of his teammate. And for the game result - again “unsuccessful”: that same evening, “Boston” lost the fifth match in a row ...
FIGURES OF THE WEEK
49 games in a row, “San Jose” did not go beyond three periods. To exchange fifty last Tuesday prevented the defender of the “Dallas” Philip Boucher, who evened the score for 2.2 seconds before the end of the third period. However, the NHL record is set, for which honor and praise to the uncompromising Californians. Since the introduction of a five-minute additional period in 1983, no one has ignored it with such persistence!
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"I don’t know what’s the matter. The jagr is kicked, thrust, stabbed, beaten. He doesn’t answer, but goes out on the ice and plays, plays, plays. The judges seem to follow a different set of rules in relation to people acting against Jaromir Since the time Slava Fetisov arrived from Russia, I have not seen the referees so stubbornly ignore the star. It is hard to sit on the bench and watch from the side how they treat one of the best players in the league. For example, the NBA did not allow grabbing for Michael Jordan's jersey when he jumped out from under the ring. I’m with a similar attitude all season. In my lifetime I played with many superstars, and they got much more respect than this guy. Why ?! " - Rangers forward Brendan Shenahan at a press conference after Tuesday's match with Toronto.
WAITING FOR THE WEEK
This coming Tuesday, if the Pepsi Center Denver is not overwhelmed by avalanches, Colorado defender Karlis Skrastins will play the 486th consecutive match in the Enhael championships and repeat the league record for the defenders. That same evening, the leaders of the Southeast and Northeast divisions - Atlanta and Buffalo - will face off, and the only battle of the season's top scorer Sid Crosby with the current flagship of the Nashville championship race will take place. “San Jose”, having reached an arm's length to Anaheim, has every chance to get ahead of its closest competitor in the Pacific Division - California brothers will exchange visits on Tuesday and Wednesday. Finally, the week will be largely decisive for Washington. The team of Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin will hold all three matches in their native walls, where its opponents will not be the most formidable “Boston”, “Los Angeles” and “Rangers”. One hundred percent result will return the metropolitan card to the goblet deck.
CM. ALSO
January 30. Vancouver - Columbus. Forward “blue jackets” Nikolai Zherdev scores a decisive shoot at the goal of Roberto Luongo. Due to the flu, the Russian missed the previous match and did not take part in the Monday training session.