Off Wing Opinion

I flipped on the NHL Network, and Alex is being asked a few interesting questions. Since his mom played basketball and his dad played soccer, he was asked how he got into hockey. "I had a dream...to play in the NHL." He also mentioned that he never really played hockey outdoors; he only skated outdoors for fun "with the pretty girls."

Nicklas Backstrom was interviewed as well. He was asked about the English he's had to learn, and he admitted some of the things he's learned in the locker room can't be said on tv. And when asked for his thoughts on his game being compared to that of Peter Forsberg, he said that "I don't really care...I just want to play my game."

They were both short, informal interviews full of light-hearted questions, and it was nice to see the league giving the Caps some coverage. Ovechkin was expected, but Backstrom was a nice bonus.

My latest over at the Sporting News.

Nearly midway into the second period of the Bruins-Penguins game Sidney Crosby received his first ever NHL major penalty. B's defenseman Andrew Ference was hanging on him into the B's corner, and after Crosby got rid of the puck there was some shoving. It turned into a fight, but not much of one. Crosby's visored helmet never came off, so his head wasn't in too much danger. They went down after throwing only a couple decent punches each, and it was over pretty quick.

Ference ended up getting an additional two minutes for roughing, which I'm not sure I understand; but maybe that's just cause I'm a Bruins fan.

Coupled with his two assists and one goal, Sid the Kid gets his first Gordie Howe hat trick less than halfway into the game.

UPDATE: Click here for the video.

My thoughts on the longest suspension in NHL history, here.

It's the end of the year, and I've been doing my level best to burn all of my extra vacation as possible. One way I did it was to spend last weekend in Las Vegas. I write about that, among other things, at this morning's Ice Sheet over at FanHouse.

Click here for my movie review of The Rocket: The Legend of Maurice Richard -- coming to selected cities and DVD soon.

It's been a quiet two weeks here as many of you may have noticed. Eric has resurfaced with some great writeups, and I will be back to my roundups and other pieces of note in a few days. Last papers and finals are being taken care of, and one of the first things Eric told me on taking this job was that I shouldn't worry about it when I needed to focus on my work. But anyways, I have a few minutes free today, so I figure I'd chime in on a few things I've noticed the past few days.

* I can't remember the last time new goalies have been so important. Phoenix wins 4 straight to start off with Bryz, and Boston has 2 in a row with Auld, including a 44 save effort against Buffalo. And in Detroit backup Chris Osgood has been phenomenal; his stellar play keeping the Dominator mostly on the bench. Even Dallas' Mike Smith is outplaying Marty Turco.

* Where did all the high-scoring games come from? Last night Philly gets an 8-2 win, Colorado beats St. Louis 9-5 the other night, Buffalo gets 7 against San Jose Saturday after giving up 8 to LA last Thursday. I've seen higher combined totals, but single-team numbers this high this often is surprising.

* We all knew Detroit was good, but this good? They've quietly been putting together a league-best 46 points, the only team so far to crack 40. They're currently on pace to break 120 points, which shouldn't be much of a surprise, considering they're the only team to break 120 points since the inception of the Presidents' Trophy for best record. Two years ago they finished with 124 points, and even hit 131 in the '95-'96 season.

* NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and league disciplinarian Colin Campbell held a conference call with Flyers GM Paul Holmgren on Monday. It's about time. I don't mind a physical style of hockey, hell, I picked Anaheim to win it all last year because I thought their hard-hitting style would get it done. But when you have 5 guys suspended 30 games into the season, and are accounting for such a large percentage of league suspensions, something needs to be done. It's not as if the entire league is running wild, just the Flyers. I'm not saying don't play your game, I just think they need to play physical hockey within reason, and with some class.

* The goaltender category on the All-Star ballot is the screwiest thing I've ever seen. The East has Ray Emery, Cristobal Huet, and Olaf Kolzig. I mean I love Olie, but Tim Thomas, who sits right above him in the wins category, has a better save percentage (2.14-2.79) and a better GAA (.936-.900). In the West, the Dominator is the only goalie I'd really replace, and it'd be with his backup, Chris Osgood. I know there's a limit to how many players a team can put in, and generally everyone sends in the same couple guys every year, and that goes for all players. Jonathan Cheechoo is on the ballot again, even though he has only 9 points. I understand the selection is done early in the season, but I don't understand why it can't be put off for a couple weeks or so and give the season time to unfold, and give players the opportunity to make the All-Star game based on stats, not name.

Not anywhere in particular. I've just been so busy that I haven't had all that much time to tend to things here at Off Wing. To catch up, here's some of my writing from elsewhere that I've been keeping up with:

FanHouse:
The Ice Sheet: Avalanche!
Boyes Has His Eyes On Hurley
The NHL to Vegas: 300 Million Reasons Why

Sporting News:
Bertuzzi's Testimony Puts NHL on Trial
NHL is Way Overdue on Punishing Flyers' Violence
Hallelujah! The unbalanced schedule has been smote
Hockey bashing always in season

Finally, I've also got a massive backlog of video I've only recently begun to dig into. Here's a clip from back on November 26, where Washington Caps defenseman Tom Poti complains about the quality of the ice at Verizon Center:

As you can tell, there was a great turnout by both teams, and everyone had a good time.

Saturday afternoon Ft. Dupont Ice Rink hosted a charity hockey game between Catholic University and the DC Police Hockey team. The game benefited the Sgt. Roddy Burke Foundation. From last year's game:

Sgt. Burke, an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, died in March 2006 while pursuing a stolen vehicle in the Colombia Heights neighborhood where he lived and worked.

He was just 39 years old. Some of Roddy