First of all if you are reading this I want to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving. If any of you are Canadian I hope you are enjoying your Thursday.
There is a lot happening this week in the NHL so here's a notes column to get you through this holiday weekend.
Sidney Crosby returns for the Penguins:
I briefly talked about his return at the start of Monday's Power Poll but I wanted to wait until his first game before sharing my thoughts. After watching on Monday night I just walked away shaking my head in amazement of what I saw.
Crosby scored the first goal of the game 5:24 into the 1st period to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. He would score another goal in the 3rd period with two assists sandwiched in-between en route to Pittsburgh's 5-0 win over the Islanders. All that was missing for Crosby was a fight to give him a Gordie Howe Hat-Trick.
Watching Crosby skate on Monday you couldn't tell he had missed 10 months of NHL action. It looked like he had only been gone for 10 minutes.
I'm always a little leery of the hype a player receives when he enters a professional league because it usually comes with expectations that are nearly impossible to achieve. Not only has Crosby lived up to the level of play people expected, he is exceeding it.
Granted it was the Islanders he was facing but the way Crosby played showed why he is the best player in the NHL. His return makes a deep Penguins team already deeper. If they can stay healthy I don't see anyone in the East beating them.
Welcome back Sid, the NHL missed you.
Minnesota Wild sign a 51 year old goaltender:
Yes, you read that headline correctly.
When I arrived at Xcel Energy Center last night I learned that Nicklas Backstrom would not play due to personal reasons leaving Josh Harding to get the start.
The Wild called up Matt Hackett from Houston to back up Harding. Only problem was because Wednesday is considered one of the busiest travel days of the year there was no guarantee he would make it to Xcel in time for the game.
Enter Paul Deutsch, a 51 year old who operates a screen printing shop and plays goalie in a beer-league in Bloomington.
Deutsch, who is friends and played hockey in high school with former Wild assistant coach Mike Ramsey, has filled in at goal in the past at Wild practices when other goalies have been out with injuries.
He received a call yesterday afternoon and because he had no professional experience he was able to sign a contract for an amateur tryout and take place in warm-ups before the game against Nashville.
Hackett did arrive at the arena at around 7:00 PM and was on the bench a minute into the hockey game backing up Harding meaning Deutsch ended up being a healthy scratch.
But stories like this are why I love the NHL. I can't think of another professional league where any average person could be signed to a contract, even for just one day, in case of an emergency.
Discover Showdown:
On Friday afternoon the Detroit Red Wings travel to Boston to take on the Bruins in the first ever Discover NHL Thanksgiving Showdown.
Now this isn't the first time an NHL team has played on a Friday afternoon. In fact for many years the Bruins have been playing on the Friday afternoon after Thanksgiving. (Usually against the Hartford Whalers before they moved to Carolina.)
What makes this game unique is for the first time ever this game will be shown on National Television.
As part of the NHL's new TV Contract signed last spring NBC will now air an NHL game on Black Friday. With Boston being the defending Stanley Cup Champions and traditionally playing at this time it was a no-brainer for them to host the game. As for the opponent, you can't go wrong bringing in an Original Six team that has the fan following Detroit does.
What I like most about this idea is the NHL looks to create an event on a date where a lot of people are able to watch. The NHL has done a nice job of making the Winter Classic a must-see event on New Year's Day which in the past has been reserved for College Bowl Games.
The day after Thanksgiving has usually been reserved for College Football Rivalries. (Nebraska vs. Oklahoma/Colorado) As College Football keeps re-inventing itself (not for the better I might add) a place at the table has opened up for the NHL.
I'm not going to say the NHL is going to draw more TV viewers than any of the college football games but Detroit vs Boston should capture some interest especially with the Bruins on a 10 game winning streak.
If anything it will serve as a good warm-up for Arkansas vs. LSU later that afternoon.
That's all for today. I'll be back next week with the Week 7 Power Poll. In the meantime enjoy your holiday weekend & enjoy the hockey.
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