January 12, 2012

 

Wrote a piece on Canuck prospect defenseman Jeremy Price for the CanucksArmy today. Price is a puck-moving defenseman playing for the Colgate Raiders.

 

The DobberHockey Midseason Guide was released Friday, get it here. If you want to see how great the guide is, you can pick up last year's edition for free here. This will have an update added (an addendum) on Friday the 13^th.

 

For a 1-0 game, the Pens/Caps one from last night was pretty good. Both goalies (Fleury and Vokoun) were fantastic.

 

Dustin Jeffrey played in his first game since November 3rd. He had a few good scoring chances, but ended up with no points and no SOG in 14 minutes.

 

The recently called up Eric Tangradi also suited up – about 10 minutes of ice time for him. He looks to be a bit quicker than he has been in the past (skating has been the major issue for him at the NHL level).

 

James Neal played and looked good – really taking the puck to the net with authority, and shooting from anywhere in the offensive zone. The bone bruise on his foot didn’t seem to slow him down at all.

 

Troy Brouwer had a Clutterbuck-like 11 hits last night in just over 20 minutes of ice time.

 

Kovalchuk and Parise scored the two New Jersey goals, and the duo combined for 11 shots on goal.

 

Patrik Elias had two points and is now quietly in the top 10 in league scoring. Great season for a player many of us had written off as a top line producer.

 

Kovalchuk’s goal was short-handed, giving the Devils 11 on the season to lead the league.

 

I missed this the other night but wanted to comment on it – cool to see rookie Adam Henrique with the Gordie Howe hat trick against Calgary on Monday night. He had a short handed goal, and fought Jarome Iginla after leveling the Flames captain with a clean hit.

 

Sidney Crosby is ready to return to skating, according to ESPN.

 

Brian Gionta could be out for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on his arm. Tough break for a team already lacking goal scorers.

 

Erik Karlsson didn’t practice yesterday, but he could play tonight.

 

Cody Hodgson was moved to the RW against Tampa Bay. He had an assist and played 16 minutes (a lot for him), but he is obviously much better and much more comfortable at center. Pretty impressive rookie season – he's gone from unproven prospect to arguably the third most talented offensive player on Vancouver's roster.

 

Mike Cammalleri has some harsh words for himself and his teammates.

 

"”I can’t accept that we will display a losing attitude as we’re doing this year. We prepare for our games like losers. We play like losers. So it’s no wonder why we lose,” Cammalleri said in response to questions about the repeated failures of the Canadiens."

 

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