Random Hockey Thoughs

What happens when there is a lot going on around the NHL and I can't focus on one thing to talk about? that's right, you get a notes column.

This is a sample of things that caught my attention this past week.


Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia:

In case you missed it Tuesday night the two best teams in the NHL took to the ice to play each other. When it was all said & done Philadelphia walked away with a 3-2 win over Pittsburgh.

The win was significant for a couple reasons.

1. It ended Pittsburgh's 12 game winning streak

2. It was the 3rd win of the season for Philadelphia over the Penguins in four games.

These two teams play twice more this season in late March. Right now the Flyers look to have the Penguins number. With as good as both these teams are there is a good chance that these two will be seeing a lot of each other during the spring time.

One more thing about this game that caught my eye was that it was the most watched NHL game on Versus since they started carrying the NHL back in 2005 when they were known as OLN.

The broadcast averaged 750,000 viewers and became the most-watched NHL regular season broadcast on cable since December 2003. Not bad for a cable channel that had little to no exposure when they took over the NHL cable contract. With the broadcasting rights up after the season I'm sure Commissioner Gary Bettman & the people who runs Versus took note of it.

Dino Ciccarelli night at Xcel on Thursday:

Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota  the Wild paid a tribute to one of the newest inductees into the Hockey Hall of Fame, Dino Ciccarelli.

Ciccarelli played nearly 10 seasons in Minnesota with the Northstars before being traded to the Washington Capitals.

During his time with the Northstars Ciccarelli scored 332 goals and became a fan favorite. He would spend 19 seasons in the NHL playing for Minnesota, Washington, Detroit, Tampa Bay & Florida reaching the Stanley Cup Finals twice with Minnesota in 1981 & Detroit in 1995.

He never skated for the Wild but it was nice to see them bring him back for one night so the fans could honor him & his days playing in Minnesota as that was taken away when the Northstars moved to Dallas. Hopefully other great Northstars that use to play in Minnesota will get their opportunity someday.

Markus Nasland's jersey being retired in Vancouver:

Naslund played in Vancouver for the Canucks from 1996-2008. With the Canucks he scored 346 goals and 756 points.

Along with Todd Bertuzzi & Brendan Morrison they formed The West Coast Express line which became one of the best line combos from 2001-2004. That line combo led Vancouver to five straight playoff berths from 2001-2004.

For as good as Naslund was I find it ridiculous that his jersey was retired by the Canucks last Saturday.

In my opinion jersey retirements should be held for the Elite in their sport. The best of the best. Not for players who were pretty good.

When I watched Naslund play I thought he was a dangerous player when he had the puck and I thought he was very good. I never thought he was Hall of Fame worthy.

Yes Naslund is the franchise leader in goals & points yet in his twelve seasons there the Canucks only advanced past the 1st round twice. If he led them to a Stanley Cup or a Conference Final I might have a better time understanding his number being retired.

If he makes it into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the next couple years I'll take back everything I wrote about him. However I don't see that happening. Naslund was a pretty good player. Pretty good shouldn't get your jersey in the rafters.

That's all for this week. Things will be busy during the holidays so I don't know if I will have any columns for you besides the weekly Power Poll but if something catches my eye I'll write about it.

Thanks for reading & enjoy the hockey.