So as I was watching the third period of this not too thrilling Avs-Wings game (Detroit’s dominating them making a 1-0 lead feel like 5-0), I stumbled across some more “great news.” As it turned out, the league’s 55th All Star Game took it on the chin last Wednesday. Just how bad was it? Compared to 2004 when they ran the game on a weekend, they dropped 76 percent. The most disturbing aspect:

While Wednesday’s game was the most-watched cable show that night in Buffalo and Pittsburgh, it did not place among the top 20 cable shows in NHL markets such as New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Washington and Miami.

Anyone hear the alarms going off yet? Look. We all knew moving the game to a weeknight on a station (Versus, OLN or Nature and Pioneering) few could find was not a wise move. Especially when you consider their stiff competition in American Idol. I might be one of the few who don’t watch it but many do just to hear what kind of criticism Simon will say. Or maybe they just watch for Paula Abdul?

I just don’t see how this is positive for a league that has lost interest. They’re trying to rebuild the game. Fyi…it’s not working! When diehard fans who go back 40 years admit that they didn’t watch the NHL’s marquee game, it’s not a good sign. Part of the problem is it’s become an exhibition with little passion showed. There’s absolutely no intensity. But what can be done? Players don’t want to get hurt in such a game which explains the lack of physicality.

I don’t agree with taking an entire week off either. It kills the momentum. Three days is plenty of time to rest. In a league where there already are too many games with the playoffs extending into the summer heat of June, there’s no reason for it. Personally, I feel they should cut down to either 76 or 72 games. But that will never happen. I also believe the regular season needs to finish a little earlier. This way they can have more of a big stage than getting overshadowed by the NBA. The postseason should be over by the end of May.

One of the big topics discussed by NBC studio host Bill Clement along with sidekicks Ray Ferraro and the controversial Brett Hull was the unbalanced schedule. The consensus was that they should ditch it because not every Western hockey fan will get to see the league’s best young player Sidney Crosby. Ferraro went out of his way to trash the Northeast Board of Governors for voting to keep it the way it is, ending a three-year cycle next season. I am pretty mixed on this whole issue because I like rivalry games. And when you can play your divisional foes eight times, it puts more emphasis on it and could mean closer races although you’d never know it by how uncompetitive the Atlantic is. I also understand Ferraro and Hull’s point about selling the game. If only there were a way to satisfy all parties. Maybe play divisional foes seven times a year instead of eight?

At present there are 82 games played. This is the breakdown:

vs division foes: 8 each totaling 32 games
rest of conference: 4 each totaling 40 games
2 divisions from other conf: 1 each totaling 10 games

The league dilemma is that one conference division won’t see everyone. Of course, it’s hard to fix this under the current format. When natural Original Six rivals such as Toronto and Chicago meet for the first time in almost five years, there’s a problem. I think every Original Six should play each other every year. So how can it be possible under this format? It can’t.

What would I do? Let’s try something that could make everyone happy:

vs division foes: 7 each totaling 28 games
rest of conference: 4 each totaling 40 games

Total so far: 68 games

That leaves 14 for the opposing conference which wouldn’t be bad. You’d get to play almost everyone. So at worst, you’d see a Crosby, Ovechin, Spezza, Brodeur, Hossa, Phaneuf, Kopitar, Thornton, Kiprusoff, Havlat from the other conference every two years.

Here’s another option:

vs division foes: 8 each totaling 32 games
rest of conference: 3 each totaling 30 games

Total so far: 62 games

Who needs to see the other two divisions in your conference more than three times? Missing one Florida game isn’t going to be too upsetting. The only problem I see is who gets the extra home game? One team will have 2 home games while the other gets only 1. And if it can be worked out to satisfy everyone, that leaves 20 games on the schedule meaning you would get to play everyone at least once in the other conference. But what would be the need for playing Games 78, 79, 80, 81 and 82? But there’s no way they’d decrease to an odd amount of games (77). There wouldn’t be a balance.

Dare we suggest Option 3:

vs division foes: 8 each totaling 32 games
rest of conference: 2 each totaling 20 games

Total so far: 52 games

This would leave 30 games against the other conference, meaning you’d get to play each team twice at home and on the road. It also would mean you play the other two divisions in your conference one at home and once on the road. The dilemma is fairly obvious. It would put a lot of wear and tear in regards to travel which was the main reason they made the switch to the unbalanced schedule in the first place. So what about using this formula and subtracting 10 games? That would total 72 games. Everyone would still see the other conference at least once. Use the extra five games to play one opposing conference division again. So let’s try an example:

Rangers- played all 3 Western Conference divisions. They hosted the Central. So Detroit, Chicago, Nashville, Columbus and St. Louis aren’t happy cause they didn’t see Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan and Henrik Lundqvist. The Rangers play those other five in each city.

It would be a good way to create rivalries with the other conference because even if you only see these teams once the next year, it would add more intensity to those games.

So, can it be done in the future? I guess we’ll have to wait another year.

Okay. So I can imagine Steve either doesn’t feel like posting about how in the world the Devils lost at Florida or maybe he’s out partying again. Get your groove on kid!

I’m not going to bother with too many details except for one thing. How the hell did Joel Kwiatkowski get the game winner? Sorry man. Well if I were in your shoes, I might have a few drinks after that too. All kidding aside, you can’t win every night. And besides, you got the Atlantic wrapped up. So at worst, you’re a 3 seed. But the way Buffalo’s going, who knows?

Which makes me wonder what the heck is going on with the Sabres? They lost again this time to the Islanders in Uniondale, blowing a 3-2 lead and falling 5-3. Clearly, Lindy Ruff’s bunch is going through a bad patch right now. And the defense has been weakened by the noticeable absence of the steady Henrik Tallinder. It’s little coincidence that Buffalo is giving up more goals with him out. His presence is sorely missed. I know this streak is killing my Sabres buddy Brian out in Anaheim. Hang in there man.

Basically, all the bottom teams competing for the eighth seed won. So the Rangers were unable to pickup any ground.

And with it pretty much being a wasted night, I found a classic video on You Tube which amused me before. I think it’s the perfect cure for Steve or any upset fan who needs a good laugh. I love comedy and I’m sure you’ll love this classic mock video of “Barbie Girl” too. Here was a reaction from my Devil buddy Kraze before.

Kovy274Hart [11:35 PM]: no reaction?
KrAzE96 [11:35 PM]: wtf
KrAzE96 [11:35 PM]: is that
Kovy274Hart [11:35 PM]: this video is hilarious
KrAzE96 [11:35 PM]: lmao
Kovy274Hart [11:35 PM]: tell me something that right there was more exciting than either of our hockey teams’ games
KrAzE96 [11:35 PM]: well at least your team didnt lose to the panthers

And with that, here is the hilarious video. I promise it’s worth the watch:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Lhl0nvhAaAQ

How often can you say that the fourth line was the difference in a Ranger victory this season? Exactly. Crazy as it might sound, that’s exactly what took place in Cheesesteak town this afternoon as the Blueshirts edged NHL Siberia Philadelphia 2-1, dealing them their ninth consecutive defeat. Man, when’s the last time the Flyers were this dreadful? Nevermind.

Anyway, from start to finish the Rangers were the better team. But you’d never know it by the score. That’s because they had trouble finishing in this tilt. They came out very strong and even had five power plays in the opening period but failed to capitalize. Despite better puck movement and more shots, they couldn’t beat Robert Esche. Though Brendan Shanahan (2 posts) and Jaromir Jagr (1 post) came close, the Rangers had nothing to show after one despite outshooting the Flyers 17-4.

The good news for them was that they got off to a quick start in the second thanks to a nifty Jagr redirect of a Karel Rachunek shot less than a minute in putting them ahead. It was his second consecutive game with a goal as he also tallied the lone Ranger goal in a 3-1 loss to Atlanta last Saturday.

But the lead didn’t last long. Less than three minutes later, Flyer defenseman Joni Pitkanen tied it on a delayed penalty. It was started by the much talked about Peter Forsberg, who whipped a perfect diagonal pass to Mike Knuble, who in one motion passed across for a cutting Pitkanen, who then buried it past Henrik Lundqvist at 3:24. It was the only offense the Flyers would get on a day which saw them register just 18 shots due to an improved Ranger team effort.

After the Flyers tied it, the second kind of dragged. The Flyers had their best sustained effort late in the stanza but couldn’t really get the kind of shots they needed to take the lead. Some of them never made it to the net due to the Ranger D and others were just repelled by Lundqvist with nobody getting to rebounds due once again to the Rangers actually doing their jobs. Amazing, huh?

Even though it was kind of boring, there was some physical play which at least helped. All game, Ryan Hollweg was agitating the Flyers. In fact, I’d say this was one of his best games as he drew two power plays just by throwing a couple of hits and then drawing a retaliatory penalty from rookie Ryan Potulny and later a Flyer bench minor for unsportsmanlike conduct. But in the second, the Flyers had the better hits and that’s when they played well. But all they could muster were six shots, totaling 10 for the first two periods.

The combination of being hungry and not being too excited about the end of the period convinced me to go make a strawberry omelette and listen to the beginning of the third via ESPN Radio with Kenny Albert and Dave Maloney calling the action. It worked in surprising fashion as a rare occurrence then happened. No. Shanahan didn’t score at even strength. No. Petr Prucha didn’t hit the back of the net. And no. Hollweg didn’t register a point but actually was out there when the go-ahead goal happened. So he had something to do with it. Somehow, Jason Krog was able to trickle a backhand in front past Esche to give the Rangers the lead at 3:49. As Albert noted, it was only his second goal of the season and first as a Ranger. In fact, it was his first in 17 games since scoring a goal for Atlanta in his first game of the season back on November 24th last year. Amazing what happens when he’s utilized as a fourth line pivot instead of as a “2nd line solution.”

I’m still amazed that his goal was the difference in this game. Hey. Even Adam Hall who was back after three healthy scratches picked up an assist. Truthfully, that fourth line was effective today and even got enough ice-time. All three got at least 10 minutes as Coach Tom Renney rolled his lines. Got to love Krog’s postgame assessment of their contribution:

“We just got the puck deep and did two or three cycles. Adam (Hall) threw it across the crease and I was just there banging it and it found its way in. We managed to get an ugly one…I’m sure our line is not looked upon to score too much. It’s always nice to contribute whenever you can.”

Yeah, it was ugly. And I remarked to my brother that that’s probably the only way they could put one in. But it still counted.

So how was the rest of the period? Honestly, it was pretty boring as the Rangers actually reminded me of that other metropolitan rival that makes its living playing a perfect system infuriating opponents in the process. Yes, Steve. It was that kind of third period. The good news for the Broadway Blues is that they won to pull their record to 24-21-4 and temporarily tie Pittsburgh for the final playoff spot. The Pens have two games at hand and play later tonight at Phoenix.

I was also informed by Outside The Garden poster 51tyutin that Jagr indeed scored according to Swedish telecasts in the same period when his shot rang off the inside bar and back out. It did kind of make a funny sound. Nobody picked it up. Fortunately, it didn’t prove costly. Speaking of Jagr, the Ranger team captain played one of his most inspired games of the season. Looking fresher after the week off, the 34 year-old former Hart winner was much better in all facets today. Skating like he cared and looking stronger and even backchecking, No.68 was all over the ice. There was even a shift late in the game when the moody Czech gave opposing star Forsberg the Jay Pandolfo treatment as MSG’s Sam Rosen noted. Yes, he actually stayed with Forsberg during the shift until he went to the bench. It was quite impressive. This is the kind of play the Rangers will need from their team leader. The past couple of days, he admitted to the local press that he had to carry this club on his back. Well, Jaromir, today was a good start. Keep it up!

Here was Jagr after the win:

“For us it was a huge game. It doesn’t matter if you win 1-0 or 6-5. We need to win a lot of games to make the playoffs.“

The performance also earned high praise from Renney:

“He (Jagr) was great. He battled every inch of ice tonight. He certainly was the leader that we need at this point in time. I thought he played a terrific game amongst others. I don’t know that there’s a player we can single out tonight that didn’t show up.“

This was a solid game for the Rangers to build on. In particular, the third line of Jed Ortmeyer, Matt Cullen and Petr Prucha was good. They played with energy, recovered loose pucks in the Flyers zone and generated chances. I still don’t think Prucha should be with them but they certainly deserve another look. Ort btw was the most impressive player on the line. He just seems to be gaining more confidence offensively and is taking more shots which is nice to see.

This also was 22 year-old rookie defenseman Daniel Girardi’s NHL debut. The recent Hartford call-up who replaced waived veteran Darius Kasparaitis didn’t look too bad in his first game. Paired with Fedor Tyutin, the righty D played a shade underneath 12 minutes and was steady for the most part. He was forced to take a penalty when the pair had a mix up leaving a Flyer open in front late in the first. But it was one of those good penalties. The only other problem he had was a change he made in the third where the Flyers quickly countered and almost got a good chance. But a hustling Aaron Ward got on in time to break up the play. Girardi will learn from that.

Notes: Jagr’s 19th goal of the season was his 610th of his career, tying Bobby Hull for 13th on the all-time NHL list. … After not practicing yesterday due to a stomach virus, LW Martin Straka was able to suit up in place of healthy scratch Jason Ward and logged 18:06 of ice-time and registered one shot. Still though, it was his diligent backchecking on one shift late while protecting the lead which forced the Forsberg line to change. Also healthy scratches were team enforcer Colton Orr and defenseman Thomas Pock. … Making 17 saves, Lundqvist became the first Ranger netminder since Mike Richter to post back-to-back 20 win seasons. … Rangers improved to 14-11-1 on the road as compared to 10-10-3 at home. … With an assist, Forsberg notched his 602nd helper of his career to tie Kirk Muller for 68th on the NHL list. … Flyer defenseman Randy Jones left the third period with a separated right shoulder. … Esche finished with 33 saves in a losing effort. … It was the Flyers’ 10th consecutive loss on home ice. Their last win came back on November 24 against Columbus.

The Devils take on the enigmatic Florida Panthers tonight after that 2-0 win over the Lightning, didn’t see much because of a party. I apologize Derek, I know we hockey nerds aren’t supposed to have lives ;-).

I say the Devils will have a big win tonight against Olli and the Cats. Maybe a break-out game for a guy like Travis Zajac.

3 on NBC tomorrow. Colorado-Detroit is somehow airing on Channel 4. Really? With Philly-Atlanta on too? I guess the Flyers are that bad. Anyway, for Center Icers, Doc, Edzo and Pierre have COL-DET, Strader, Hayward and Micheletti have Dallas at Anaheim, and Cuthbert, McNab and Pang have Philthy-Atlanta.

Well, it didn’t take long for the Devils to continue their recent hot play. I believe they were something like 9-1-2 in their last 12 entering the All Star break. Predictably, that trend continued as they shutout the Lightning in Tampa 2-0.

Admittedly, I didn’t catch much of this game as I was preoccupied with Jamal Crawford’s 52 point performance which included 16 straight makes along with Serena Williams’ destruction of Maria Sharapova for the Australian Open. If you saw it, you know how much of a mismatch it was. It’s detailed as part of my other blog in which I provided a recap to appear later on NY Sportsday: http://hardhits.blogspot.com/

In regards to the Devil game, as it turned out, I didn’t miss much. On the strength of a Brian Gionta goal (team-leading 22nd), the Devils used their usual team formula of stifling defense and Martin Brodeur’s goaltending to pickup their 30th victory of the season giving the Atlantic Division leaders 65 points. Combined with Buffalo’s 3-2 loss at Columbus, the Devils only trail the Sabres by five points for the conference lead. Remember when Buffalo had an insurmountable double digit lead? It’s gone. And the Devils do boast a game at hand. What this will come down to is those three big match-ups the teams will play over the final portion of the season. I believe the Devils host the Sabres in about 10 days. I might try to get out to that one if my schedule permits. That should be a really exciting race where the two teams might also do battle with Western powers Nashville and Anaheim for the President’s Trophy.

Brodeur made 28 saves for his league best ninth shutout of the season. I heard that he made one big glove stop of a Vaclav Prospal shot with about 4:00 left. Was that the only decent chance Tampa had? I’ll leave that for Steve to answer later if he wants.

With that in mind, I have two schools of thought on the Devils right now. This team has scored the second fewest goals in the East. Only NHL Siberia Philadelphia is worse. What exactly that means I don’t know. But if you’re even the most diehard Satans’ fan, you might be a little concerned about the offense. There have been past Devil teams who used this grind it out formula to perfection in the regular season producing division titles and 100+ points only to fizzle out in the playoffs due to you guessed it:

1.Not scoring enough goals
2.Running into a hot goalie

That’s all it will take for Claude Julien’s club to fail. Can it happen? Absolutely. When you look at the Devils’ goal differential (128 GF, 111 GA for +17), they’re playing a lot of tight games. That can take its toll. It also puts a great deal of pressure on everyone to execute the gameplan. One mistake and things can turn around quickly. Come playoff time, most teams tighten up and try to play the same mistake free hockey. But in this new NHL, there is a wrinkle to just playing team D. And that’s playing an aggressive forechecking game utilizing team speed. Carolina did it last year. I believe the teams that attack the most will get rewarded. You can’t always win every game 1-0 or 2-1. There are going to be some games where the Devils will need to open it up and finish.

Sure, they have guys such as Gionta, team captain Patrik Elias, Jamie Langenbrunner and super soph Zach Parise who can do that. But it will all depend on one thing. If they’re playing from behind. This team is one of the best frontrunners in the sport. Give them a lead and it’s like a death trap. They can milk the clock and wait for one of those turnovers in the neutral zone and pounce. But if you put them behind, the game becomes more difficult. It’s not like the Devils can’t muster up the attack. When behind, they become a lot more aggressive and even will pinch their D. They have proven that late in games, they can rally to tie them and force overtime. So they are very resilient.

Which brings me to my second school of thought. All these one-goal lowscoring games could benefit them this Spring. They have so much experience winning games such as last night’s that it might be an advantage in the playoffs. Plus the core is still intact and knows what it takes to win. Which leaves me to conclude two things regarding this team:

1.Either they’re going to reach the Cup Finals
2.Or get bounced in the first round

It could depend on who they face. Stay tuned.

As the league restarts tonight after almost a week off to celebrate the 55th All Star Game in Dallas, one of Versus’ novel ideas which made the game fun to watch was their interactive goalie mic. As I noted the other night, hearing Marty Turco make some funny remarks while play was going on was great stuff.

Both myself and Sports Fan Mag’s Greg Wyshynski agreed that the concept should be used more during regular season games. Imagine hearing what a netminder had to say after being run into or after giving up a goal they feel they should’ve stopped, etc. Wyshynski had an article which went into more detail about why it should be looked into along with some other All Star Game commentary:

http://www.nysportsday.com/news/combined/1169833515.php

It’s a great read. And like Greg, one of the things I couldn’t understand while I was doing my show was what the hell Chuck Norris was doing on my TV while play was going on. Who cares about whatever new lame show he has debuting. Remember when Conan used to show those silly lines from Walker, Texas Ranger? Point being the former Missing In Action star is more washed up than Jeremy Roenick!

As good as the goalie mics and rail cam were, there were still some things which boggled my mind. Like during the Skills Competition when they failed to put up a freaking clock while the Fastest Skater was taking place. Why not? I mean it shouldn’t be that freaking hard. Instead, viewers just watched and had to determine if Patrick Marleau was beaten out by Andy McDonald. This from the same network which has those silly popup promo ads which go across the bottom of the screen while play is going on.

Also, I know they love to show different looks as these guys make their individual moves. But at one point, a camera switched to the other end of the ice where nothing was going on. Meaning they actually missed a couple of shots. That’s inexcusable.

I also thought the postgame wrap sucked. Who was it again? Bill Clement, Brian Engblom, Keith Jones and special guest Mark Messier. Did I miss anyone Steve? Anyway, they spoke for about 2-3 minutes and then signed off the air for whatever nature and valley program they had coming up which has nothing to do with hockey. How nice. What. They couldn’t have stayed a little longer? Good god. Everyone thought the NHL moving from the Total Sports and Entertainment Network would be so great. Turns out it isn’t. Even when it’s supposed to be the centerpiece, it’s crapped on.

Makes you really wonder wtf is going on.

And while we’re back in hockey mode, so I see the Rangers put defenseman Darius Kasparaitis on waivers. He cleared yesterday. His $2.9 million salary must’ve factored in as well as the conclusion that he just didn’t have much left. In a shocker, they recalled 22 year-old defenseman Daniel Girardi. The question is will he make his NHL debut tomorrow in Philly. And if he does, who will be scratched? Thomas Pock? It’s just typical. Everyone knows the odd man out should be the worst defenseman to ever lace up the skates as a Blueshirt, Karel Rachunek. But will the coach actually do it? Of course not.

Now keep in mind also that Renney and staff took in Pack practices all week. And here is a disturbing quote from him about why nobody else was recalled courtesy of an article NY SportsDay’s own Joe McDonald wrote:

“And it was a worthwhile trip. We’re content with any number of people down there — there are some kids there in a position to play here and help us. But at this point in time the numbers don’t allow that to happen. We have to make some type of provision for that to happen. Whether or not we’re able to do that should we choose to, that remains to be seen.”

Typical. They’d rather stick with what they have because of the salaries commited than take a chance of one of their offensively challenged bit forwards having to pass thru waivers. Who has more upside people? Jason Krog or Nigel Dawes? Marcel Hossa or Ryan Callahan? Ryan Hollweg or Dane Byers? Jason Ward or Jarkko Immonen? It’s not that these guys don’t try hard. They do. But on a team that clearly relies too much on their top four forwards, don’t they need to try some other guys out and see if they can actually improve the offensive balance? And that’s just what is so frustrating about this team. They are afraid of their shadows. Other teams have guts. I really am at a loss for words.

Hope ya’ll enjoy the first batch of games tonight as the stretch drive begins!

Thanks to Paul Kukla for plugging the blog on KuklasKorner.com

Last night’s show featured myself along with cohost Gary Harding and a “special guest” who’s become a familiar lightning rod on our show. Can anyone say violins?

In all seriousness, it was a good show in which we brokedown the 55th NHL All Star Game which took place at American Airlines Center in Dallas. We tried to keep up with the goals in the West’s 12-9 victory. The action was fast and furious as I mentioned in my previous All Star post. If the league was looking for good entertainment value, they got it. Along with the running dialogue between Dallas netminder Marty Turco and commentators Doc Emrick and Ed Olczyk, it made for a fun watch. Btw…based on Turco’s third period of work, I’d have given him the MVP over Eastern choice Daniel Briere. But maybe it would’ve been viewed as a hometown favoritism. Oh well.

In any event, also part of our show in the second segment was special guest Bob Gallerstein, who is in his second season as the New Jersey Devils PA announcer. The broadcasting extraordinaire detailed his background with us and was a solid interview.

Also covered in this show were our Midseason Awards along with some other wacky stuff .

There are a couple of options for catching last night’s show archive.

If you want the podcast, it’s here:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/NewYorkHockeyReport/~3/81229472/nyhockeyreport012407.mp3

If you would rather listen to the streaming archive via Windows Media Player, it’s here:

http://www.broadcastmonsters.com/NewyorkHockey/nyhockey012407.asx

If you are interested in subscribing courtesy of iTunes, please go here:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=97958449

We appreciate your support of the show and hope to always hear back from you on what can be done better. What would you like to see? More guests? A caller segment? More crazy production? My Tom Poti All Star campaign voice becoming a regular part of the show?

Want to find out what’s coming up? Just check out out site:

www.nyhockeyreport.com

Hope you puck fans have enjoyed the break! I know I did.

This’ll be a report on ONLY players who’ve appeared in 15 or more games. Sorry, Clemmy and Dan LaCouture.

1. Martin Brodeur (G)
THE STATS: 46 GP, 29-13-4, 2.01 GAA, .928 Save Pct., 8 Shutouts
THE FACTS: An absolute renissance season for Marty. He IS The Devils this year. Any other goalie, and we are nowhere near 1st place in the Division, and probably not in the playoff picture. Destined to play 70 once again, hell, maybe even 80. He might be able to do it. If he is, and still has energy for the postseason, we will contend for the Cup again.

2. Patrik Elias (LW)
THE STATS: 47 GP, 16 Goals, 28 Assists, 44 Points, -3, 18:21 per Game
THE FACTS: Patrik’s transition to captain of the team has been uneasy at times, but his desire to lead this club has been admirable, and the players definitely seem to have an unspoken respect for #26. His offensive play also seemed to struggle in the early going, but has picked up big time of late, and could reach 90 Points at season’s end if he keeps playing this well.

3. Brian Gionta (RW)
THE STATS: 48 GP, 21 Goals, 17 Assists, 38 Points, -2, 19:16 per Game.
THE FACTS: Brian just continues to score goals. It hasn’t been at the pace it was last season, but he’ll net at least 35 and maybe 40 by year’s end. Success has not turned Gio into any different a player, as he still goes all out on ever shift.

4. Scott Gomez (C)
THE STATS: 40 GP, 9 Goals, 27 Assists, 36 Points, +6, 18:38 Per Game.
THE FACTS: Scott has been considered by many to be a disappointment, but the last 10 or so games, he’s started shooting more and has been rewarded with some higher stats lately.

5. Zach Parise (C)
THE STATS: 48 GP, 17 Goals, 19 Assists, 36 Points, +2, 17:09 Per Game.
THE FACTS: Everyone expected improvement from THE ZACH, but he has been absolutely unbelievable, with a great first half capped with an MVP award at the NHL YoungStars Game in Dallas.

6. Jamie Langenbrunner (RW)
THE STATS: 48 GP, 16 Goals, 16 Assists, 32 Points, -2, 18:40 Per Game.
THE FACTS: He’s tapered off his torrent pace as of late, but Jamie Langenbrunner remains worth the investment we made on him in the offseason. The guy does nothing but score goals at the most important spot possible.

7. Brian Rafalski (D)
THE STATS: 48 GP, 2 Goals, 29 Assists, 31 Points, +2, 25:44 Per Game.
THE FACTS: I’ve been hard on Raffy this season, but he’s logged key minutes and somehow come out half of the season a plus player. Sometimes he’s been uncharacteristically out of position, but his offensive input remains absolutely invaluable.

8. Sergei Brylin (LW)
THE STATS: 48 GP, 10 Goals, 15 Assists, 25 Points, -2, 17:32 Per Game.
THE FACTS: No one expected Sarge to have this kinda season. He has flourished offensively under Julien, and most forwards don’t expect that when they get moved to the Madden line. He remains one of the most irreplaceable players in hockey. He is a guy you want a championship team.

9. Travis Zajac (C)
THE STATS: 46 GP, 8 Goals, 15 Assists, 23 Points, +3, 15:33 Per Game.
THE FACTS: Having a much better rookie season than Zach Parise did, and look what he’s flourished into. Zajac will be a great asset for the future, he’s shown that he can play with the big boys and chip in offensively, as well as play some “D”.

10. John Madden (C)
THE STATS: 48 GP, 6 Goals, 13 Assists, 19 Points, -5, 18:38 Per Game
THE FACTS: Madden always comes to work with a purpose, and he always performs his tasks with flying colors. Jagr, Crosby, Ovechkin and others have all left the swamp dazed and confused this year because of John Madden and Jay Pandolfo

11. Paul Martin (D)
THE STATS: 48 GP, 1 Goal, 15 Assists, 16 Points, -7, 25:40 Per Game
THE FACTS: When Colin White went down, Martin stepped up and finally played the game the Devils think he’s capable of. Until then, however, he has been putrid, looking less-than-solid in back and rarely contributing offensively.

12. Jay Pandolfo (LW)
THE STATS: 48 GP, 6 Goals, 9 Assists, 15 Points, -4, 18:09 Per Game
THE FACTS: See John Madden FACTS, just substitue Jay’s name and add SELKE TROPHY WINNER to it.

13. Brad Lukowich (D)
THE STATS: 41 GP, 2 Goals, 5 Assists, 7 Points, +4, 20:00 Per Game
THE FACTS: I’m not as high and praise-filled with Lukoil as everyone else is. I think , like most of the Devs “D”, he didn’t step up until Whitey went down, but hes been very good as of late.

14. Johnny Oduya (D)
THE STATS: 42 GP, 1 Goal, 4 Assists, 5 Points, -2, 19:41 Per Game
THE FACTS: An absolute revelation, on Brian Rafalski-proportions. He has been this team’s best defenseman when he has been in the lineup, all-around.

15. Mike Rupp/Jim Dowd/Eric Rasmussen/Cam Janssen (4th Line)
THE FACTS: They play on the fourth line, they play sparringly, and bad things rarely happen when they’re out there. ‘Nuff said.

16. Colin White
THE STATS: 40 GP, 0 Goals, 4 Assists, 4 Points, -7, 22:45 Per Game
THE FACTS: Poor Whitey’s looked clueless out there at times. Frankly, I think he was overpaid this Summer, and he’s been out-of-position and flat out out-of-place in every game he’s been in.

17. David Hale
THE STATS: 29 GP, 0 Goals, 1 Assist, 1 Point, +3, 10:07 Per Game
THE FACTS: Hale plays 10 minutes a game? I could’ve sworn it was more like 3. Anyway, Hale hasn’t been totally useless when out there, and he’s a plus player, so you can’t say much more than “He warms the bench quite well”.

It was kind of predictable that the 55th NHL All Star Game was a wide open shootout with no defense to be found. It was during our NY Hockey Report show that I laughed at how Montreal defenseman Sheldon Souray backed in allowing a free path to the net for Western sniper Teemu Selanne.

That’s the kind of fast paced game it was. Lots of skating, free wheeling and skill was on display. The goalies were left to fend for themselves.

Still though, from what we saw, it looked like a lot of fun to watch. The thing I enjoyed the most was the nifty goalie mic they had on Stars netminder Marty Turco during the final period. It was an interactive mic where he could hear the Versus team of Doc Emrick and Ed Olczyk and communicate with them throughout while play was going on. It was a bundle of laughs. One time when he was scored on, the former University of Michigan product told Ottawa’s Dany Heatley to “Get out of here. Go celebrate somewhere else.” How could a fan not love that? It’s seeing the game within the game.

I particularly also liked when the East came in 2-on-1 and Marian Hossa setup Zdeno Chara on the doorstep for their second goal of the period just out of the reach of Turco’s outstretched stack of the pads. Afterwards, he admitted to the guys that “I should have had it,” going on to add that he correctly anticipated the pass but just missed getting there.

This was really cool to see a goalie provide such info. Imagine if they added that for a few regular season network telecasts. Aside from that, just listening to Turco’s back and forth dialogue with Emrick was classic. He really seemed to be enjoying himself and even made some tough stops right after some plays developed. It was kind of ironic that after Martin Havlat scored to put it out of reach, the chatty netminder informed the guys that he needed to give up one more goal to get the victory. Fast forward to a Souray rush and blast which made it 11-9, ensuring him of that win, stopping 12 of 15.

Of course, what would it be without a funny bounce providing a comical conclusion? With Montreal goalie Cristobal Huet pulled in favor of an extra attacker, Calgary defenseman Dion Phaneuf rocketed a clear off the boards that the puck took a weird hop and went directly into the vacated net 180 feet away.

In a losing effort, Buffalo’s Daniel Briere was chosen as Game MVP. He picked up the first goal of the night and later added four assists for a game best five points. While he shined, top vote getter Sidney Crosby didn’t manage to get on the scoresheet in his first All Star appearance. Kind of weird considering there were so many goals scored which left the 19 year-old to remark:

“There were 21 goals, you think I would have had one. I guess it wasn’t meant to be. I had a few chances, it just didn’t work out.”

Maybe in future years, the wiz kid will get his chance to dominate. I’m sure it made my cohost Gary Harding’s night that he was not only without a point but tied for a game worst minus-five. Somewhere Mr. Harding is laughing. He disdains Crosby with a passion.

Meanwhile, 2005-06 Calder winner Alexander Ovechkin scored his first career goal in the big game. But it wasn’t his night to shine either.

Elder statesman Joe Sakic registered four assists in his 12th appearance to surpass Mark Messier’s record of 14, lifting his total to 16. He now trails just Wayne Gretzky (25 pts) and Mario Lemieux (23) for the all-time lead in points. It just goes to show how brilliant a career the former 2001 Hart winner has had. Sure, he’s played mostly in the shadows of No.99 and No.66 as well as Messier, Steve Yzerman and even Jaromir Jagr. But Sakic is one of the greatest players of our time. The best part about the original Nordiques’ 1987 15th overall pick is that he’s played his entire 19-year career with the Nords/Avalanche franchise. Already having led them to two Stanley Cups, the classy 37 year-old shows no signs of slowing down. He leads the revamped Avs in goals (20), assists (32), points (52, power play goals (10) and power play points (23). He’s proven once again how valuable he is. The future Hall of Famer is six goals away from 600, needs 53 assists to reach 1000 and is 59 points shy of 1600. Amazing stuff from an very gifted player. Congrats in advance Joe!

For the locals, it was a fairly quiet night on the stat sheet. Martin Brodeur was victimized for six goals on 16 shots in a second period Western onslaught. Hey. He is human and it’s an exhibition. But I was remarking to Greg of Sports Fan Magazine before that he looked fat in that new Reebok “form fitting jersey.” It left us both to wonder how the three-time Cup winner, soon to be three-time Vezina winner and gold medallist could make some of the athletic stops he does. It’s one of life’s wonders.

Teammate Brian Rafalski notched two assists in defeat. Meanwhile, in his debut All Star contest, the Isles’ Jason Blake also collected a pair of helpers. The lone Ranger representative and East team captain Brendan Shanahan was kept off the scoresheet.

Among the standouts included first-time All Star Yanic Perreault. All the overlooked ‘Yotes center did was score twice and finish plus-five. Rick Nash had a couple of goals and assists for a four point outburst as did Brian Rolston. Martin Havlat added two goals and a helper.

In a losing effort, Boston’s Zdeno Chara tallied twice but didn’t become the first defenseman to record a hat trick in the celebrated game. Marian Hossa finished with four assists and Dany Heatley had a goal and two assists.

The only goalie who allowed less than three goals out of the six was Huet, who allowed just two get by him in the third on 10 shots.

Here are lots of pics from the game courtesy of yahoo: