Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Wednesday NHL action

Today in the NHL (Wednesday), there were six games being played. SPOILER: One game was very high scoring as of 6:43 PM Pacific. As for the games, we start in...

The Big Apple, with the New York Rangers hosting the Carolina Hurricanes. Cam Ward and Henrik Lundqvist were the designated puckstoppers. The game was scoreless through the first two periods, until Matt Gilroy got New York on the board with his third of the season, from Mats Zuccarello and Brandon Dubinsky. Carolina tied it on a goal by Eric Staal, his 19th of the year a byproduct of Joe Corvo and Tim Gleason. The tie lasted into overtime, where Zuccarello notched his first of the season to win the game for the Rangers 2-1 over the Hurricanes. Dubinsky and the goalie Lundqvist picked up the assists, and Lundqvist also led the three stars with 31 of 32 saves, followed by teammates Gilroy and Zuccarello.

After that, the Pittsburgh Penguins hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning. Dwayne Roloson and Dan Ellis saw action for Tampa Bay, with Marc-Andre Fleury being across the ice from either of them. Pittsburgh opened the scoring seven seconds in with a goal by Evgeni Malkin, his 15th of the season, an unassisted goal. Chris Conner extended the lead for the Penguins with his fifth of the year, assisted by Ben Lovejoy and Matt Cooke. Making it 3-0 was Tyler Kennedy, with his sixth of the year being helped by Kris Letang. Chris Kunitz took the lead farther for Pittsburgh, scoring back to back his eleventh and 12th of the year, the first from Sidney Crosby and Pascal Dupuis and the second a power play marker that had Alex Goligoski and Letang picking up the helpers. The Penguins kept the scoring going in the second period, with Mark Letestu notching his ninth of the campaign, with Kennedy and Goligoski picking up the assists. Kunitz made it 7-0, wrapping up his hat trick with his 13th of the season, a power play goal that saw both Goligoski and Letang finish off both of their sock tricks for the night. The Lightning made a whimper of life in the third period with Adam Hall registering his fifth of the year, assisted by Nate Thompson and Dana Tyrell. Goligoski made it 8-1 Penguins with his seventh of the year later in that period, with Conner and Lovejoy picking up the helpers on the eventual last goal of the game. Kunitz, Goligoski, and Letang picked up the three stars, all with tricks of some sort.

Going to a lower-scoring environment, we have the Florida Panthers hosting the Atlanta Thrashers. Ondrej Pavelec and Tomas Vokoun got the starting designations. Niclas Bergfors put Atlanta on the board first with his eighth of the season, assisted on by Andrew Ladd. Stephen Weiss tied it for Florida with his 13th of the year, helped along by Chris Higgins and Michael Frolik. Rich Peverley took the lead back for the Thrashers with thirty-one seconds left in the first period, his tenth of the year coming from Nik Antropov and Tobias Enstrom on the power play. Peverley chased away Vokoun in the second period with his second of the night and eleventh of the season, which came off of Ladd and Zach Bogosian. Scott Clemmensen came in to tend the Panthers net. The Panthers got a goal back in the third period with Higgins netting his eighth of the season, thanks to Mike Weaver and Jason Garrison, but failed to produce more offense after that and lost 3-2 to Atlanta. Peverley, Higgins, and Bergfors were the three stars.

Heading to the Windy City, where the Chicago Blackhawks hosted the Dallas Stars. Kari Lethonen and Corey Crawford were in between the pipes. Dallas scored first in the game, with Brenden Morrow potting his 17th of the season, with help from Loui Eriksson and Matt Niskanen. Mike Ribeiro extended the lead to 2-0 for the Stars on his seventh of the season, also a power play goal, with Brad Richards and Morrow picking up the helpers. Chicago got on the board in the second period with Fernando Pisani scoring his sixth of the year, helped along by Bryan Bickell and Niklas Hjalmarsson. Tomas Kopecky tied the game with his seventh of the campaign, assisted by Patrick Kane and Jassen Cullimore. Ribeiro gave Dallas the lead back with his second of the night and eighth of the year, another power play goal coming from Richards and Trevor Daley. Steve Ott iced the cake for the Stars, making it 4-2 with his ninth of the year, helped along by Eriksson to find the empty net to defeat the Blackhawks. Ribeiro, Pisani, and Morrow picked up the three stars.

To the west coast, where the Anaheim Ducks hosted the Nashville Predators. Pekka Rinne and Jonas Hiller played in net. Jerred Smithson opened the scoring for Nashville with his fourth goal of the year, with Nick Spaling picking up the lone assist. There was a fight between Nashville's Wade Belak and Anaheim's George Parros in the middle of the first period. The Predators made it 2-0 with the eleventh of the year by Patric Hornqvist, with help coming from Sergei Kostitsyn and Ryan Suter. Saku Koivu got the Ducks going in the third period with his own eleventh of the season, helped along by Dan Sexton and Teemu Selanne. Nashville, unwilling to lose, potted back to back empty netters to make it 4-1, with the first from Kostitsyn as his ninth of the season, assisted by Hornqvist and Marcel Goc, and the second going down as the seventh of the season from Shea Weber, unassisted. Pekka Rinne (40 for 41 saves), Saku Koivu, and Maxim Lapierre (Ducks debut) earned the three stars in the 4-1 Predators win.

Lastly, the Vancouver Canucks hosted the Calgary Flames. Miikka Kiprusoff and Roberto Luongo were given the starting nods. Vancouver struck first with a goal by Ryan Kesler, his 20th of the year coming off of the sticks of teammates Mason Raymond and Alexandre Burrows. Kevin Bieksa extended the Canucks lead with his fifth of the season, with Raffi Torres and Dam Hamhuis picking up the helpers. Daniel Sedin extended the lead to 3-0 with his 22nd of the year, helped along by Bieksa and Burrows. Tim Jackman got Calgary on the board with eleven seconds left in the third period, far too late to save the Flames from anything but the humiliation of a shutout, with Mikael Backlund grabbing the assist on his sixth of the season. Luongo (43 for 44 saves), Bieksa, and Burrows earned the three stars.

That's all for Wednesday hockey. Tomorrow will bring Thursday's recap.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Tuesday NHL recap

There were five games of hockey again Tuesday. However, in baseball, Adrian Beltre signs with the Texas Rangers for 6 years and 96 million dollars. In hockey, we start with...

The New Jersey Devils hosting the Minnesota Wild. Jose Theodore and Johan Hedberg played in net as a battle of the backups. Cal Clutterbuck opened the scoring for Minnesota with his eleventh of the season, an unassisted goal. Ilya Kovalchuk tied it for New Jersey in the second period with his tenth of the year, helped along by Travis Zajac and Nick Palmieri. The Wild answered back with the first of the season by Clayton Stoner, with help coming from Martin Havlat and Pierre-Marc Bouchard. This goal would hold up for the Wild, who took the Devils down 2-1. Clutterbuck, Havlat, and Stoner picked up the three stars.

Up next, the Washington Capitals hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning. Dwayne Roloson made his Lightning debut, opposing Semyon Varlamov. The game was scoreless throughout regulation, and the tie was broken in overtime by Martin St. Louis of Tampa Bay potting his 17th of the year, from Vincent Lecavalier and Pavel Kubina, producing a 1-0 win over the Capitals. Roloson (34 save shutout), St. Louis, and Varlamov (37 for 38 saves) were the three stars.

Heading out west, with the Edmonton Oilers hosting the Detroit Red Wings. Chris Osgood and Nikolai Khabibulin guarded the cages. Detroit drew first blood with Henrik Zetterberg netting his 15th of the year, assisted by Nicklas Lidstrom and Drew Miller. Edmonton tied on Gilbert Brule's fifth of the season, helped along by Liam Reddox and Linus Omark. Todd Bertuzzi gave the Red Wings the lead back in the second period with his sixth of the season, courtesy of Jiri Hudler and Valtteri Filppula. Kris Draper added on his third of the year to extend the Detroit lead, with help coming from Darren Helm and Brian Rafalski. Theo Peckham got the Oilers going again in the third period with his second of the year, assisted on by Sam Gagner and Ales Hemsky. They tied the game with Gagner's tenth of the campaign, from Hemsky only. Bertuzzi once again took the lead back for the Red Wings, netting his second of the night and seventh of the season, with help from Niklas Kronwall and Filppula. Forty-four seconds later, Helm iced the cake and made it 5-3 for Detroit with his third of the season, courtesy of Justin Abdelkader and Lidstrom. This ended up being the final, with Helm, Gagner, and Bertuzzi picking up the three stars.

Following that was the Phoenix Coyotes hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets. In front of the nets were Mathieu Garon and Ilya Bryzgalov. The first period went scoreless, and Scottie Upshall got Phoenix to strike first with his eleventh of the year in the second period, assisted by Eric Belanger and Shane Doan. Sami Lepisto made it 2-0 for the Coyotes with his third of the season, with Martin Hanzal and Radim Vrbata picking up the helpers. R.J. Umberger got Columbus on the board with his 14th of the campaign, helped along by Rick Nash and Derick Brassard. The Blue Jackets tied it on Jakub Voracek's power play goal in the third period, his eighth goal of any sorts on the season, which got assistance from Brassard and Fedor Tyutin. Doan took the lead back for Phoenix with his tenth of the year, with Keith Yandle and Belanger getting the assists. Vernon Fiddler made it 4-2 Coyotes with his fourth of the season, assisted by Adrian Aucoin and Taylor Pyatt. This would later become the final, with Doan, Bryzgalov (26 of 28 saves), and Belanger earning the three stars awards.

Lastly, the Colorado Avalanche hosted the Buffalo Sabres. Ryan Miller and Peter Budaj got the starting nods for the game. Colorado struck first with Daniel Winnik notching his seventh of the year, from T.J. Galiardi and the goalie Peter Budaj. Thirty-three seconds later, Buffalo tied it on the 15th of the year by Thomas Vanek, a power play goal assisted by Drew Stafford and Tim Connolly. Shortly thereafter, the Avalanche had the lead again on a shorthanded goal by Ryan O'Reilly, his fifth tally of the season, from Winnik. Both teams took the second period off from scoring, and the Sabres regained the trick with Jochen Hecht netting his fifth of the season in the third period as a tying goal, from Jason Pominville and Vanek. Steve Montador gave Buffalo the lead with his fourth of the campaign, with Stafford and Paul Gaustad picking up the helpers. Matt Duchene came in the clutch to retie the game at 3 only thirty-one seconds later, his 16th of the year coming off of Tomas Fleischmann and Milan Hejduk. The tie lasted into overtime until the Avalanche won it on the 13th of the year by David Jones, a power play tally made possible by Fleischmann and Ryan Wilson. Earning the stars in the 4-3 Avalanche win were Jones, Winnik, and Budaj (37 for 40 saves).

That's all the Tuesday hockey we've got. Wednesday hockey will be completed tomorrow.

Monday in the NHL

There were five games played in hockey for Monday. We start with bitter rivals...

As the Toronto Maple Leafs host the Boston Bruins. Tuukka Rask and James Reimer were the goalkeepers. Mikhail Grabovski put Toronto ahead first with his 14th of the season, assisted by Luke Schenn. Boston answered in the second period with Nathan Horton potting his 12th of the year, thanks to Dennis Seidenberg. The Bruins took the lead on Marc Savard's second of the season, which was helped along by Horton and Milan Lucic. The score lasted through a scoreless third period, giving the Bruins a 2-1 win over the Maple Leafs. Rask (36 of 37 saves), losing goalie Reimer (31 for 33 saves), and Horton earned the three stars.

Next on the slate were the Carolina Hurricanes hosting the Florida Panthers. Scott Clemmensen and Cam Ward picked up the starts. Zac Dalpe got Carolina up first with his second of the season, helped along by Troy Bodie. Florida evened the score with the third of the year from the stick of Dennis Wideman, which was assisted by Cory Stillman and Radek Dvorak. The Panthers took the lead in the second period on the seventh of the campaign from Chris Higgins. Dmitry Kulikov and Michael Frolik picked up the helpers. Extending the lead to 3-1 was Stillman with his fourth of the season, courtesy of Mike Santorelli and Evgeny Dadonov. Zach Boychuk started a rally back for the Hurricanes with his third of the year, from Erik Cole and Eric Staal. Jay Harrison tied the game at 3 with his first of the season, assisted by Cole and Jamie McBain. The tie would last into overtime until Florida's Bryan Allen netted his third of the year thanks to Shawn Matthias and Frolik to win the game for the Panthers. He earned the first star, with Stillman and Cole following the rest of the honors.

Heading to the opposite coast for the next game, with the Los Angeles Kings hosting the Chicago Blackhawks. Corey Crawford and Jonathan Quick were between the pipes. Michal Handzus opened the scoring for Los Angeles with his fifth of the year, assisted by Jack Johnson and Alec Martinez. Marian Hossa tied the game for Chicago with his ninth of the year, a power play goal helped along by Tomas Kopecky and Patrick Sharp. Sharp took the lead for the Blackhawks in the second period by registering his 22nd of the year, a power play goal courtesy of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, the latter returning from a minor injury. Ryan Smyth tied things at 2 for the Kings with his 15th of the year, made possible by Justin Williams. Sharp took the lead back in the third period for Chicago with his second of the night and 23rd of the season, which was helped along this time by Kopecky. Smyth tied it again for Los Angeles with his second of the night and 16th of the season, assisted by Johnson and Anze Kopitar on the power play. Toews came in to make it 4-3 for the Blackhawks with his 16th of the campaign, an unassisted goal that would eventually be the game-winner. Sharp, Johnson, and Toews earned the three stars.

Up into Canada, where the Calgary Flames hosted the New York Islanders. Rick DiPietro and Henrik Karlsson were given the starting nods. John Tavares opened things up for New York in the first period with his 12th goal of the season, with assists provided by P.A. Parenteau and Andrew MacDonald on the power play. Matt Moulson made it 2-0 for the Islanders with his 13th of the year, helped along by Parenteau and Tavares. Calgary cut the lead back a bit with David Moss potting his fifth of the year, from Adam Pardy and Anton Babchuk. Tavares answered to make it 3-1 for New York with his second of the night and period and 13th of the year, with MacDonald and Frans Nielsen picking up the power play helpers. Islanders starter Rick DiPietro suffered an injury in the second period early on, and he was replaced by Nathan Lawson. Moulson made it 4-1 in the second period with his second of the night and 14th of the season, which was helped along by Travis Hamonic and Zenon Konopka. Moss added another goal to reduce the Flames' deficit, his sixth of the season and second of the night made possible by Tim Jackman. Michael Grabner iced the cake for the Islanders in the third period with his ninth of the year, an empty net goal from Mark Eaton. Tavares, Moss, and Lawson (28 for 29 saves in relief) picked up the three stars. A notable first period fight was between Tom Kostopoulos of Calgary and Zenon Konopka of New York.

Lastly, the Vancouver Canucks traveled south to visit the San Jose Sharks. Cory Schneider and Antti Niemi received the starting nods. Vancouver opened the scoring with the 21st goal of the season by Daniel Sedin, with assists provided by Henrik Sedin and Alexandre Burrows. San Jose evened the score in the second period early with Ryane Clowe scoring his eleventh of the year, with help from Jason Demers and Benn Ferriero. Alexander Edler retook the lead for the Canucks with his third of the season, made possible by Christian Ehrhoff and Daniel Sedin on the power play. Patrick Marleau tied the game again for the Sharks with a power play goal, his 15th marker of the season, assisted by Dany Heatley and Dan Boyle. Jamal Mayers gave the Sharks a 3-2 lead with his second of the campaign, from Heatley and Kent Huskins. Jannik Hansen retied the game for the Canucks late in the second, his fifth of the year made possible by Ryan Kesler and Mason Raymond. Burrows gave Vancouver a lead in the third period with his eighth of the year, assisted on by Ehrhoff and Keith Ballard. Vancouver would go on to beat San Jose 4-3, with Daniel Sedin, losing goalie Niemi (43 for 47 saves), and Ehrhoff picking up the three stars.

That's all for Monday's hockey games. Tuesday hockey will be covered tonight and tomorrow.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Sunday NHL coverage

This post comes a tad late, as the return of work into my not-so-busy life has complicated matters a bit. I'll try to keep on pace with this now. The games for Sunday started in...

Montreal, with the Canadiens hosting the Atlanta Thrashers. Ondrej Pavelec and Carey Price guarded the cages. Rich Peverley got Atlanta scoring first with his ninth of the season, from Tobias Enstrom and Zach Bogosian. Montreal evened the score with a goal by Tomas Plekanec, his 12th of the year, a power play goal assisted by James wisniewski and Yannick Weber. The Thrashers retook the lead with Evander Kane potting his 13th of the year, with help from Patrice Cormier and Chris Thorburn. The Canadiens retied it on P.K. Subban's third of the season, a power play tally made possible by Roman Hamrlik and Scott Gomez. Atlanta retook the lead at 3-2 again with Andew Ladd netting his 13th of the season, from Enstrom and Niclas Bergfors. Brian Gionta tied the game again for Montreal in the third period, registering his 14th of the year with help from Max Pacioretty and Wisniewski. The tie was preserved until Dustin Byfuglien won it for the Thrashers in overtime on his 16th of the season, a power play goal from Enstrom, who completed a sock trick with that assist, and Kane. The three stars honors went to Byfuglien, Pavelec (47 for 50 saves), and Plekanec.

Next up was the Florida Panthers hosting the New York Rangers. Martin Biron and Tomas Vokoun were in net for the game. The game's first half went scoreless, and David Booth opened the scoring in the mid second period for Florida with his tenth of the season, a power play goal from Mike Santorelli and Dennis Wideman. Chris Higgins extended the Panthers lead in the third period with his sixth of the year, an unassisted goal. Stephen Weiss topped it off at 3-0 with his 12th of the season, into the empty net with no assistance. Higgins, Vokoun (32 save shutout), and Booth earned the three stars.

Heading up to Detroit, where the Red Wings hosted the Philadelphia Flyers. Brian Boucher and Jimmy Howard earned the starts from their coaches. The game was scoreless through the first period into the second until James van Riemsdyk opened the scoring for Philadelphia with his ninth of the campaign, from Andreas Nodl and Mike Richards. Dan Carcillo made it 2-0 for the Flyers with his second of the season, assisted by Andrej Meszaros and Matt Carle. Scott Hartnell extended the lead with his tenth of the year, with Sean O'Donnell and Danny Briere picking up the helpers. Jimmy Howard was replaced by Chris Osgood in the third period. Valtteri Filppula sparked Detroit into life with his tenth of the season, assisted by Johan Franzen. Henrik Zetterberg also scored for the Red Wings, cutting the Flyers lead to one goal with his 14th of the season, which was helped along by Tomas Holmstrom and Nicklas Lidstrom on the power play. However, Detroit managed no further offense, and fell 3-2 to visiting Philadelphia. Boucher (25 for 27 saves), Filppula, and Hartnell were the three stars.

Staying in the west, with the Minnesota Wild hosting the Phoenix Coyotes. Jason LaBarbera opposed Jose Theodore in the crease. Phoenix struck first with Ray Whitney potting his seventh of the year, from Radim Vrbata and Martin Hanzal. Minnesota answered late in the first period with Andrew Brunette, his eighth of the year coming from Mikko Koivu and Antti Miettinen. Brunette scored his ninth of the season and second of the game in the second period, a power play goal courtesy of Brent Burns and Koivu. Nick Schultz made it 3-1 for the Wild with his third of the year, from John Madden and Eric Nystrom. Scottie Upshall got the Coyotes going again in the third period with his tenth of the year, assisted by Shane Doan and Eric Belanger. Thirteen seconds later, Keith Yandle tied the game at 3 with his sixth of the season, from Vernon Fiddler and Lee Stempniak. Minnesota reclaimed the lead with Burns scoring his 12th of the year, with help from Koivu. Ed Jovanovski tied it up again for Phoenix with his fifth of the season, from Yandle and Doan. The Coyotes took the lead on the second of the night and eighth of the year from Whitney, assisted by Kyle Turris and Vrbata. The Wild tied the gmae at 5 with a Pierre-Marc Bouchard goal, his second of the year, with Brunette and Burns grabbing the helpers. Minnesota won it in the ensuing overtime on Cam Barker's first of the year, from Bouchard and Koivu, who wrapped up a four assist night. Earning the stars were Brunette, Burns, and Whitney.

Following that was the Nashville Predators hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets. Steve Mason and Pekka Rinne played in goal. R.J. Umberger got Columbus on the board first with his 13th of the season, assisted by Marc Methot and Derick Brassard. Shea Weber tied it for Nashville in the second period with his sixth of the year, from Colin Wilson and Patric Hornqvist. The Predators took the lead on Nick Spaling's second of the season, with help from Weber and Joel Ward. Hornqvist made it 3-1 for Nashville with his tenth of the campaign, a power play goal made possible by Weber and Ryan Suter. Sergei Kostitsyn brought it up to 4-1 with his eighth of the year, courtesy of Wilson and David Legwand. This was the final score, with Weber, Hornqvist, and Rinne (19 of 20 stops) getting the three stars.

Into St. Louis, with the Blues hosting the Dallas Stars. Kari Lehtonen and Jaroslav Halak played in between the pipes. The game opened with a pair of fights, involving St. Louis' Cam Janssen squaring off against Dallas' Krys Barch and later B.J. Crombeen dancing with Brandon Segal. David Backes opened the scoring for the Blues, notching his tenth of the year from Matt D'Agostini. Brenden Morrow evened the score for the Stars with his 15th of the season, a power play goal assisted by Brad Richards and Loui Eriksson. Alex Steen retook the lead for St. Louis with his 13th of the season, helped along by Eric Brewer and D'Agostini. The second period was scoreless, and Morrow retied the game in the third period for Dallas with his second of the night and 16th of the campaign, from Jamie Benn and Mike Ribeiro. Brad Richards gave the Stars the lead with his 18th of the season, assisted on by Trevor Daley. Extending the Dallas lead to 4-2 was James Neal, his 14th of the season coming from Toby Petersen and Richards. This would later be the final, with Morrow, Richards, and Eriksson picking up the three stars.

To the west coast, with the Anaheim Ducks playing host to the Chicago Blackhawks. Corey Crawford returned from injury to make a start, opposing Jonas Hiller in net. Andreas Lilja got Anaheim on the board first with his first of the year, assisted by Joffery Lupul and Brandon McMillan. Bryan Bickell later evened it for Chicago with his eleventh of the season, with help coming from Brian Campbell and Dave Bolland. Corey Perry retook the lead for the Ducks early in the second period on his 21st of the campaign, with the helpers accredited to Matt Beleskey and Toni Lydman. The 2-1 margin ended up being the final, with Hiller (39 for 40 saves), Lydman, and Bickell earning the three stars.

Lastly, the Vancouver Canucks hosted the Colorado Avalanche. Featured in net were Craig Anderson and Roberto Luongo. Vancouver got on the board first late in the first period with the first of the year (lots of firsts, eh?) by Alexandre Bolduc, with assists from Tanner Glass and the goalie Roberto Luongo. The score was unchanged in the second period, and the Canucks extended their lead in the third period on the eighth of the year by Mason Raymond, making a return from injury and receiving help from Bolduc and Kevin Bieksa. Colorado tried to rally back on Paul Stastny's 15th of the year, assisted by Matt Duchene and John-Michael Liles, but the Avalanche mustered no further offense and lost 2-1 in Vancouver. The three stars were Luongo (31 for 32 saves), Dan Hamhuis (unknown contributions), and Bolduc.

That's all for Sunday. Sorry for the delays, my laziness has returned. Officially in Ketchup mode.

Fantasy Football All-Stars, week 17

For all you poor souls who had to compete this week, here's who was most likely beneficial to have on your team.

Quarterbacks: Tim Tebow and Ben Roethlisberger
Running Backs: Ryan Mathews and Arian Foster
Wide Receivers: Larry Fitzgerald and Mike Wallace
Tight Ends: Rob Gronkowski and Vernon Davis
Kickers: Nate Kaeding and Adam Vinatieri

This weekly edition will return in Week 1 of the 2011 season. Watch for playoff recaps of the NFL on Sundays only. Good luck next year, and enjoy the games.

Fantasy Hockey All-Stars, week 12

Here's the MVPs of fantasy hockey this week, giving out fabulous performances.

Center: Mikko Koivu, 2 goals, 4 assists, +4, 0 penalty minutes, 1 power play point, 22 shots on goal
Left Wing: Tuomo Ruutu, 1 goal, 5 assists, +4, 0 penalty minutes, 3 power play points, 5 shots on goal
Right Wing: Shane Doan, 5 goals, 3 assists, 0, 2 penalty minutes, 2 power play points, 23 shots on goal
Defenseman: Nicklas Lidstrom, 2 goals, 6 assists, +1, 0 penalty minutes, 6 power play points, 8 shots on goal
Goaltender: Semyon Varlamov, 2 wins, 0.50 goals against average, 57 saves, .983 save percentage, 1 shutout

Those are the best options by position this week. Particularly weak was left wing, with no one in the top ten rankings for the week, so consider this a relative award for Tuomo Ruutu.

Song of the Week, I of 2011

This week's song of the week has special value to me, as it is the song that got me into Avenged Sevenfold. The song is called Trashed and Scattered (PG-13 language), the fifth track off of their mainstream debut City of Evil. At the first hearing of this song, I became interested in the band, and from there I have been a fan. This is common for me to fall in love with one song and then the band, and that's how it happened for this hard rock powerhouse group. Catch this segment next week.