Toskala Stellar in Leafs Victory over Habs

Vesa Toskala looked like regained some of his old confidence as he led the Toronto Maple Leafs to victory over a beleaguered Carey Price and the Montreal Canadiens last night.

Toskala has been the subject of much controversy in Toronto, the self-proclaimed “hub of the hockey world”. Not only were the fickle Toronto fans loudly questioning Toskala’s netminding skills, Coach Ron Wilson and GM Brian Burke also called out their goalie earlier in the week. But last night Toskala was the best Leaf on the ice. He stymied the Habs on a couple of “five on three power plays” proving once again that a hot goalie is the best penalty killer a team can have.

Three other Leafs played prominent roles behind Toskala’s brilliant performance. Jason Blake notched a couple of key goals and Dominic Moore won some key face-offs as well as providing some great checking and passing to get the puck to Blake on several occasions.

But a major surprise for me was the play of Matt Stajan who played a feisty game adding some much needed sandpaper to an otherwise soft Leaf line-up.

On the other side of the ledger, Montreal’s Carey Price looked bewildered at times in the Montreal nets. In the third period I thought he was getting back into a groove with a couple of key saves and then just when I thought he was back to normal he allowed a couple of soft “glove side” goals to sink any thoughts of a Habs comeback.

The Montreal Canadiens now head out on a tough six-game road trip. Perhaps a few games away from the boo-birds in Montreal will allow Price he opportunity to re-gain his confidence as the team heads down the home stretch and on into the play-offs.

Luke Schenn, Toronto highly-hyped rookie defenseman, opened the scoring with his first NHL goal.




Ice Chips: Bobby Ryan (the NHL Rookie of the Month in January) scored a nice goal in the Ducks victory over the Flames. Another ex-Owen Sound Attack player Dan Lacosta recorded his first NHL victory as he led the Columbus Blue Jackets past the high-flying Sharks 3-2 in overtime. Meanwhile in Ottawa, former Owen Sound junior star Adam Mair settled an old score with Jarkko Ruutu and then scored a nice goal for the Sabres.

All Star News

Good for the NHLPA!! With little fanfare the players agreed not to reopen the Collective Bargaining Agreement, instead allowing things to remain the same until 2011.

While the NHLPA were showing class and concern for the game of hockey Emperor Bettman failed to show the same good sense when he announced that Detroit Red Wing and perhaps the best defenseman in hockey Nicklas Lidstrom would be suspended for one game for failing to show up for the All Star events in Montreal.

Lidstrom has attended about nine All Star games, never complaining. Now, he wants to miss the game with good reason probably and Bettman with his "what have you done for me lately attitude" shows what a shallow man he is by acting in such callous manner to one of the truly good guys in professional sport.

WAKE UP GARY!! Use some common sense!

Northern Hockey Card Show

February 1, 2009

One of the best sports card shows in Northern Ontario will be held in Sudbury.

Where?

Moose Lodge
212 Frood Road
Sudbury, Ontario
10:00 AM to 3:00 PM

And,

Best of all,

Admission is FREE!

Five Times Gold!!

Five times gold! Canada's junior hockey team destroyed Sweden 5-1 to capture their fifth gold medal in as many years.

Cody Hodgson, John Tavares and just about every Canadian junior player made a contribution to this historic victory.

Tampa Lightning brass must be beaming this morning as it was their draft pick, Dustin Tokarski, who faced 39 shots to back stop the Canadian victory. Tokarski's stellar play included denying Sweden's vaunted scorers on four straight power plays in the 2nd period.

Angelo Esposito (who I have blasted in previous posts for soft play) was one of the Canadians who set the tone for the night. The future Atlanta Thrasher skated furiously all night hounding the Swedish puck carriers and getting in the face of the Swedish netminder. His chippy and aggressive style unsettled the Swedes and led to at least a couple of Canadian goals.

Speaking of the Swedish goalie, Jacob Markstr0m, appeared to be demonstrating his ballet skills for an upcoming career with the Swedish Ballet or auditioning for a role as a "fish out of water". When he wasn't writhing on the ice he was flopping around like a fish out of water. His dramatics did little to help his club. They say his is a great goalie but his histrionics last night leave me wondering about that.

So it on to Saskatchewan for next year's World Junior Hockey Championships. If it is going to be half as good as this year's I can't wait!

Canada Beats Russia - Face Sweden For Gold Monday

Three times the Canadian juniors took the lead, only to have the Russians bounce back to tie the game and then ultimately go ahead.

I was about ready to turn off the television, when with only a few seconds left, John Tavares grabbed the puck along the boards and fired the puck towards the Russian net. A Russian defenseman blocked the shot but instead of smothering the puck he allowed Jordan Eberle the opportunity to get the puck free, take a couple of skating strides and score the biggest goal of his young career! There was only 5.4 seconds left on the clock.

Boy, am I ever glad that I had not turned off the TV.

Ten minutes of nail-biting overtime resolved nothing and then the dreaded shoot-out.

I hate shoot-outs.

Canada's Jordan Eberle shot first and scored on a great backhander past the Russian netminder.

Canadian goalie, and Tampa draft pick, Dustin Tokarski then thwarted Russia's Dimitri Kugryshev.

Canada's next shooter was none other than John Tavares who fired a great wrist shot to score Canada's second shoot-out goal.

Pavel Chernov, representing Russia's last hope of keeping Russia's shoot-out hopes alive was turned aside by Tokarski to give Canada a 6-5 decision.

Monday Canada faces Sweden for the gold medal.

Canada Roars Back to Defeat U.S.A. in World Jr. Action

A shaky first period by the Canadian Junior squad allowed their rivals from below the border to jump out to a 3-0 lead. But before the teams could go their dressing rooms for the first intermission the Canadians had roared back, scoring three goals to tie the game.

It was John Tavares who led the Canadians’ comeback and before the game was over the budding superstar, and probable first over-all selection in next summer’s amateur draft, had notched a hat trick (the final goal went into an empty net).

Although the final score 7-4 indicates a solid Canadian victory, this is far from reality. Canada’s final two goals were dumped into an empty net as the Americans had pulled their goalie for an extra attacker in a desperate attempt to score the equalizer and force overtime.

The game, although not a sudden-death affair, still had a lot of significance as the winner received a bye to the semi-finals on Saturday and loser had to play an extra game on Friday to advance to the semis.

Although Dustin Tokarski had a shaky first period he made some saves late in the game. Some of those stops will have hockey fans talking for a long time. The biggest save, and one for highlight reels for sure, occurred when U.S.A.’s Colin Wilson was left alone in front of the Canadian net for what must have seemed like an eternity.

As the American star tried to baffle the Canadian netminder with a series of moves, not one Canadian skater could be found in the vicinity. Finally, with Tokarski down, Wilson fired a hard shot towards the wide open Canadian net. But, equally as fast the Canadian goalie flashed the leather and made a fantastic catch to rob the Americans of a sure goal.

The save and others by the Watson Saskatchewan native no doubt had the Tampa Lightning brass drooling over the thoughts of this youngster playing for them in the next few years.

Note: On other occasions I have lamented the lack of good officiating in international hockey and last night’s game does not change my mind. Although there were questionable calls in both directions I thought (and I bet Team USA’s coaching staff agrees) that the Americans were the victims of some calls that probably had an impact on the final score.

On a final note: In a previous post I criticized Angelo Esposito for his lack toughness with the puck. Last night the youngster exhibited a much stronger work ethic and hockey toughness. Keep up it up Angelo you are capable of being a very good hockey player.

Canada Out-Muscles Germany 5-1

Canada’s World Junior hockey squad scored a 5-1 victory over their counterparts from Germany on Monday night.

Although the score seems one-sided and the shots on goal favored the Canadians, the game was full of high speed and hard hitting action.

The Germans seemed to want to turn the game into a street-fight and the Canadians were only too willing to respond. The result: lots of heavy hitting, great checks and penalties.

Many of the penalties (to both sides) were borderline at best or “phantom calls”. Like most international hockey games, the officiating is often less than good and many times it is just downright awful!

Barrie Colts and Washington Capital’s draft pick, Stefan Della Rovere of Maple Ontario seemed to be running all over the ice delivering awesome bodychecks. The 5'11 200 pound forward was sentenced to the sin bin three times, but in reality he should probably only have cooled his heels in the penalty box once.

For two periods the Germans kept the score close by frustrating the Canadians at every turn. (not the mention great goaltending by the German netminder) But the turning point in the game had to be Belleville Bulls defenseman PK Subban’s dramatic end-to-end rush which resulted in a foiled scoring attempt but the rebound was banged home by Evander Kane for a 3-1 lead.

After that goal the Germans played nastier and the Canadians just did what they do best, hit hard and score goals.

Zach Boychuk led the assault on the German goal with two goals and lots of other nifty plays.

Chet Pickard got the start between the pipes for Canada facing only 14 shots. The one that got behind him was a screen shot from the point on a power play.

NEXT UP: The games are only going to get more difficult for Team Canada. On New Year’s Eve they meet Team USA in a match that has all the marks of being something special. The stakes will be high as the winner will most likely get a bye into the Semi-final round.

Canadian Juniors Clobber Kazakhstan 15-0

On Sunday I usually watch NFL football but because it is that time of year when the World’s best junior hockey players play World Junior Hockey Championship I switched the channel to watch a hockey game. Imagine my surprise when the Canadian Juniors defeated their opponents from Kazakhstan by more than two converted touchdowns.

From the opening face-off the Canadians roared into their opponent's end of the ice and they seemed to stay there for the entire game. Chet Pickard, Canada's goalie may have recorded the shutout but he was virtually alone for the entire game facing only 11 shots.

Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s Andrei Yankov faced 44 shots and was mercifully pulled at the end of the second period.

Before everyone condemns the Canadians for “running up the score”, it is important to remember that in international competition, goal differentials (goals for vs. goals against) are used as tie-breakers. So to protect themselves later on in the tournament the Canadians had to score when they could.

What was interesting and admirable on the part of the Canuck juniors was their lack of celebration after scoring a goal. Some of them seemed to be almost embarrassed to have scored against the Kazaks. (Especially late in the game.)

Although they won, the Canadians had better look in the mirror and evaluate themselves before they skate out on the ice against the Germans tonight.

They tried to be too fancy with their passes at times and the result often meant a turnover. Against stronger competition this would have meant goals against.

Another note: Angelo Esposito can score goals there is no doubt but he has to learn to be stronger on the puck or his pro career will not be what many think it should be.

Finally, I have to agree with TSN’s Pierre McGuire. The International Ice Hockey Federation should cap the number of goals that can be applied against the goal differential tie-breaker. If the differential was limited to 5, then debacles like yesterday would be less likely to happen.

2008-2009 McDonald’s Hockey Card Inserts

The 2008-2009 McDonald’s hockey card set is as usual a great sports card collectible. In a previous post I detailed the base set. Today, let’s look at the inserts.

First of all, the 6 card Checklist set features goalies from the 6 Canadian NHL hockey clubs. The card below features Calgary’s Mikka Kiprusoff. The other goalies featured include Carey Price of the Canadiens, the Senator’s Martin Gerber, Edmonton netminder Mathieu Garon, Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo and Leafs goalie Vesa Toskla.




Upper Deck suggests that you will pull a Checklist once out of every four packs.

The Superstar Spotlight series is a 14 card subset featuring stars such as Tampa’s Vincent Lecavalier, Joe Thornton of the Sharks and Red Wings’ dynamic forward Pavel Datsyuk.




According to company statistics on the back of the hockey card packages cards from this brightly colored and sharp looking insert set can be found on average once in every ten packs.

Unfortunately Upper Deck featured Jaromir Jagr who no longer plays in the NHL on the 12th card of this set.

The 10 card Profile subset features a wide array of NHL stars including Martin Brodeur, Dany Heatley and Roberto Luongo.




Of note, Mats Sundin, who has yet to decide whether he will skate in the NHL and with which team is a part of this hockey card subset.

The availability of the Profile cards is a ratio of one in fifteen packs.

The Speed Skater inserts are a 10 card set featuring some of the fastest skaters in the NHL. To accentuate the skating aspect of this set the cards are shaped like a hockey skate.

Cards from this set are a little more difficult to find as they are randomly packed one to every twenty five packages of hockey cards.

Some of the fastest skaters in the NHL are featured from the first card, the Lightning’s Martin St. Louis to Atlanta’s dynamic Ilya Kovlchuk, to the last card in the series Anaheim’s super fast defenseman Scott Niedermayer.



My favorite subset is also the most difficult to pull from a package. Cards from the “Clear Path to Greatness” subset are only found on average once in every 60 packs of hockey cards.

This set is going to be difficult to fill not only because of the 1:60 packs ratio but also because there are 14 cards in the set.

Featured stars include Henrik Zetterberg star forward with the Detroit Red Wings, superstar Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin one of the Penguins young stars.









These subsets are all well produced, featuring great colours, and Upper Deck’s usual photographic brilliance.

Postscript: There is another subset to this McDonald’s hockey card set but it is so scarce that I have yet to see a card from this set. McDonald’s have produced a limited edition gold parallel set. Each card is numbered out of 100.

The 2008-2009 Upper Deck McDonald’s hockey card set is a great set. Fun to collect and should be part of every hockey card collector’s collection.

Upper Deck Hockey Cards – 2007-2008 Series One

Upper Deck hockey cards are probably the most sought after hockey cards each hockey season. Of course, 90%, or more, of the hockey cards produced each year come from this giant of the sports card industry. But, the main set is simply the one called Upper Deck hockey.

I have to admit at first I was not crazy about the 2007-2008 set. There was something about the copper colored writing and logo that just did not seem right. But as with most things in life after a while I got used to the set and started collecting it.

Collecting this set actually began in earnest when we were shopping in a local store and I discovered a nicely packaged tin container with a picture of Sidney Crosby on the top and eight packs of Upper Deck 2007-2008 Series One hockey cards inside.

When I opened the packages I was delighted with my cards. Especially the contents of the second pack where I pulled a card of one of my favorite players, Tampa Lightning star Vincent Lecavalier. The photo (below) is an example of another of Upper Deck’s strengths, great photographs in either unique settings or action shots.





But, the pack also contained the most highly valued rookie card in the set, Montreal Canadiens’ great young goalie Carey Price.




I also found some neat inserts including an NHL’s BEST Alexander Ovechkin in the other packages.





These unique collector tins also contained an over-sized card. The one that was in my tin was of Mike Modano, the Dallas Stars veteran star.

The Series One set of 2007-2008 Upper Deck Hockey cards features the company’s great photography, especially of the goalies. In particular I like this card showing Minnesota Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom in action.





As for unique photo shots check out this overhead view of superstar Joe Sakic attempting to score on Edmonton netminder Dwayne Roloson.





There are a lot of good rookie cards in this issue, including Coyotes Young Gun Peter Mueller and Montreal’s other rookie goalie Jaroslav Halak. There are some very interesting insert sets, including Lord Stanley’s Heroes, Hometown Heroes, Award Winners, and of course jersey cards.

I have to admit that I went back to the store and bought another collector tin of cards and much to my delight I pulled a jersey card of Curtis Sanford, in a Vancouver Canucks uniform. Now, this may not be a newsflash for the collecting world, but I have known Curt and his family for many years. (I even featured him in an article in our hometown newspaper.)

The packs in this tin contained a few inserts and a Sidney Crosby card.

The 2007-2008 Upper Deck Series One hockey cards is great set of hockey cards and the rookie cards especially are going to cause this set to be in great demand for years to come.

Tampa Lightning Defeat Toronto 3-2

Vincent Lecavalier and Mike Smith led Tampa to a 3-2 victory over a hard checking Toronto Maple Leaf team.

Lecavalier netted 2 goals, one of which came as the result of a fantastic breakaway that ended with a deke that has Toskala still bewildered as to how the Bolts' star could make a move like that.

While Toskala played a great game in the Leafs' net, at the other end of the ice Bolts' goalie Mike Smith was demonstrating all game that not only is he adept at stopping the puck he is also very sharp when it comes to handling the puck. Many times throughout the game the Leafs would shoot the puck deep into the Tampa end, but before they could chase it down or start a forecheck Smith was firing long bombs to his forwards at, or near, the Leafs blueline.

Smith looked every bit the gunslinger, firing pucks all over the ice to his forwards and leaving the Leafs wondering how they could get the puck safely into Tampa's end.

Ice Chips: Of historic note, Bolts super rookie Steven Stamkos, notched his first NHL point with an assist on Lecavalier's second goal of the game.

Tuesday Morning Musings

Ottawa Senators Win a game!

Jason Spezza scored 2 and Dany Heatley notched a single to lead the Senators to a 5-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.

But, more importantly, perhaps, Alex Auld got a victory. This should solidify his status as number one goalie for now.

It has been a strange first couple of weeks for the Senators. Sure they opened in Europe and perhaps they have not found their legs. But the Rangers and Penguins were also across the pond and they have looked pretty good so far this year.

Many point to the defense as the problem. But, I think it is deeper than that. Starting the season with Martin Gerber as the number one netminder just does not make sense. Gerber's track record as a number one goalie is less than stellar. I have always thought that Gerber does not "care enough" about victories. What motivates him, I don't know. But Craig Hartsburg better find out, and in a hurry. The Eastern Conference is just too tough for a late run to the playoffs.

Maple Leafs: I just can't believe that the Leafs are going to keep Luke Schenn around this year. Yes I can! The Leafs have a history of destroying young players and this is just another example of this situation. I sure hope that I am wrong on this count.

But you have to give the Leafs credit on the ice. I warned everyone in an earlier post that this team would be dangerous. Ottawa is the latest team to find out too late that Toronto's hard work and discipline combined with low expectations from their opponents has led to some victories.

Tampa Lightning: Early this summer, after some of their great free agent signings I suggested that the Lightning would be a contender. So far, I been proven to be completely wrong. Maybe they should have found a way to keep Dan Boyle. Because right now Tampa's defense looks pretty bad. But things can change, and with the great goaltending from Smith and a strong forward unit, the Bolts can still make my prediction look pretty good.

Tampa could start tonight with a victory in Toronto. All they have do is not take the Leafs too lightly.

A Hockey Team for Toronto

Another NHL team in Toronto, Please!

It must have been a slow news day in Toronto. The Globe & Mail broke a story that the NHL was contemplating putting another team in the Toronto area.

Does anyone think that Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the owners of the Leafs, is going to allow another team into their market. NEVER! They might have to offer competitive ticket prices and, come to think of it, a competitive hockey team.

Nope, sorry Toronto fans, get used to it, there is no way that the Leafs are going to allow another team in their market.

But it is interesting that just about every national news broadcast in Canada covered this story and even regional broadcasts such as CTV's Sudbury channel carried this story.

I wonder what hockey rumor will surface on the next slow news day.

Red Wings lose a close one in OT to Canucks

The night started off great if you are a long time Red Wings fan. After all, what could be better than a tribute to Alex Delvecchio the legendary center who played more than two decades in the Motor City.

Unfortunately, the line of Ryan Kesler, Alex Burrows and Jannik Hansen were not all that interested in Detroit's storied history. Instead these three Canucks led a buzz-saw attack that once again left the Red Wings defense bewildered and giving up turnover after turnover. What is going on? The Red Wings defense is supposed to be the best in the league, but last night's game and last week's home opener against the pitiful Leafs makes you wonder if they miss Chris Chelios more than anyone realizes.

The Red Wings forwards and powerplay are still something to amaze, but when they run into a great goalie (Luongo) and a pesky forecheck the team as a whole suffers.

But don't blame this loss on Chris Osgood, without him the game would not have gone to overtime, it would have simply been a loss.

Maple Leafs Win the Stanley Cup!

The Maple Leafs are going to win the Stanley Cup! Can't you just hear the Toronto media and the fans this morning?

As I said yesterday, the Maple Leafs are a dangerous team to face. Not because they have an abundance of talent. No, because most "experts" give them little chance of making the playoffs. Therefore, no pressure for the young team and you saw the results last night. They were loose and they played with a reckless abandon that had the Red Wings wondering what hit them.

The Leafs were a force in the Red Wings end of the ice all night. The best defense in the NHL looked ordinary, at best, and confused most of the game as the Leafs swarmed them at every turn.

Add Toskala playing great in the nets and the result was a stunning 3-2 Leafs victory.

Star of the Game: The best player on the ice for both teams was Dominic Moore who led the Leafs forecheck, scored a goal, and played an outstanding game.

Postscript:

About the Leafs and the Stanley Cup, Toronto fans and media should enjoy last night's game and forget all the prognostications about a Cup in the immediate future. Just take one game at a time.

Red Wings - Leafs Kick off The NHL season

Two original six rivals the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs open up the 2008-09 NHL season on this side of the Atlantic Ocean tonight.

The defending Stanley Cup Champion Red Wings are everyone's favorite to win the Stanley Cup this year and the Maple Leafs are everyone's choice to miss the playoffs this year.

Although you would think that tonight's game would be a walkover for the Red Wings, don't be too sure! Because no one expects much from the Leafs, the Toronto players have no pressure and that is often the formula for a win when it is least expected!

Luke Schenn - A Leaf for Now!

The Toronto Maple Leafs seem headed to starting their season with youngster Luke Schenn on their blueline.

I can't help but think that this is a bad idea. Sure the Leafs have Pavel Kubina and Tomas Kaberle to mentor him. But, this is the big leagues and players have to be responsible for themselves and with probably the weakest forward unit in the entire NHL in front of him there are going to be many times that Schenn is left exposed and the result will certainly be a goal, but more importantly the result may be a loss of self-confidence in himself.

There are many who think that the Leafs will be eliminated from play-off contention early in the new year. So why expose your future defensive anchor to even nine games in the NHL. The mediocrity may just rub off.

The Leafs should recall what happened to another young can't miss defenseman. Fred Boimistruck first donned a Leaf jersey for the 1981-82 season. That team was just terrible! Boimistruck, Jim Benning and Bob McGill where all youngsters with lots of potential. But after a couple of seasons with the Leafs, Boimistruck a former member of Canada's World Junior team, was out of the NHL and not long later became an engineer with VIA rail.

Sure Benning and McGill had relatively long careers, but they became journeymen defensemen never really living up to their supposed potential.

Whether its only nine games or not, if Luke Schenn has the potential that the Leafs think he does, they should let him watch tomorrow's opener from the stands in Detroit and then send him back to junior.

Pittsburgh Penguins 4 - Ottawa Senators - 3

Sidney Crosby's Pittsburgh Penguins took only 40 seconds to score their first goal of the new NHL hockey season. But, wait, it was not Crosby or even Malkin bulging the twine, it was Tyler Kennedy.

Martin Gerber, Ottawa's number one goalie, looked anything but number one on that goal and then again on the overtime goal scored by, yep, you guessed it! Tyler Kennedy!

Like the earlier game yesterday (Tampa and the Rangers) turnovers were almost as prevalent as nice passes.

Kennedy's overtime winner came on a turnover from Jason Spezza with only 25 seconds remaining before the shootout.

If this game is any indication of the goaltending situation in Ottawa this year, then the Sens had better start shopping. I have never been a big Martin Gerber fan and yesterday's action gave me little reason to reconsider my thoughts.

Both games played in Europe were less than fine examples of NHL hockey. Turnovers, missed checks and sloppy play seemed to be the order the day. In the Rangers and Bolts game the best players were the two goalies. Lundqvist and Smith seemed to be in mid-season form. Maybe, the time spent flying to Europe, getting over jet lag, etc seemed to leave the teams playing less than their best hockey.

I am sure that from a vacation standpoint the players have enjoyed themselves, but one has to wonder if there will be any impact on their game once the season swings into full gear in a few days

New York Rangers 2 - Tampa Lightning 1

The first game of the new NHL season is over and the Tampa Lightning's young defense served up more turnovers than your local bakeshop.

Mike Smith making his debut as the Lightning's Number One netminder faced 41 shots and turned aside all but two, as his inexperienced defense left him hanging out alone on more than one occasion.

Perhaps he should have stopped Naslund's goal. But, it was his inexperience that allowed Naslund to score using his favorite scoring trick, a shot to the stick side, about 18" off the ice. Next time Smith will probably get that one.

The Rangers's second goal came from a screened shot by Dubinsky. Again a rookie mistake caused a Bolts' defenseman to move into the shooting lane and block his goalie's vision.

But before you think that the defeat was all the fault of the defense, the Lightning forwards seemed to lose their legs in the second period, giving the Rangers plenty of opportunity to pressure the young Tampa defense.

Martin St. Louis scored a nice goal on a backhand high over the Lundqvist in the Rangers net.

Despite all the turnovers and sloppy play there were many bright spots for the Bolts and with a little hard work and patience from the coaching staff, this Tampa team is a playoff team.

ICE CHIPS
Rookie sensation Steven Stamkos did not look out place. In fact, he had two brilliant scoring chances, one on a partial breakaway late in the game. Defensively he was not a liability especially late in the game when it looked like Naslund might make it 3-1, Stamkos moved quickly to bodycheck the Rangers' veteran off the puck just a few feet from the crease.

Roberto Luongo

It took four decades, but the National Hockey League has another goalie who has been named the captain of his team.

Tuesday, the Vancouver Canucks announced that Roberto Luongo, the team's superstar goalie would be the club's captain.

With the free agent departure of captain Markus Naslund to the Rangers there had been a lot of speculation about who would wear the "C". Well, according to NHL rules goalies cannot wear the "C", even if they are captain. To meet NHL standards and still make Luongo captain a convoluted process had to be created.

Luongo is the captain, but Willie Mitchell is the player designated to talk to on-ice officials, and for ceremonial face-offs, once again Luongo will not be lumbering to center ice to take the draw, that honor instead will go to Mattias Ohlund, the longest serving Canuck.

Luongo is the seventh goalie in NHL history to captain his club, the last was Canadiens Bill Durnan during the 1947-48 season.

Why Luongo?

There are many reasons. The two most likely are:

-- Luongo is the most popular and best hockey player on the team.

-- With two years left on his contract, the club is hoping this will help them re-sign their only legitimate superstar.

Whatever the reason, I think Roberto Luongo is a great choice for team captain of the Vancouver Canucks.