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More Stuff... by Michael Dell, Editor-in-Chief
EL DIABLO EL SCORO New Jersey is doing that whole scoring-by-committee thing. Bobby Holik and Petr Sykora lead the way with 25 points each. And Holik (12), Sykora (10), Dave Andreychuk (10), Jason Arnott (9), and Jay Pandolfo (9) make the Devils the only team in the league that can boast having five guys that have scored at least nine goals each. The Devils went on quite the scoring spree recently, ringing up at least five goals in five consecutive games. El Diablo went 4- 0-1 during the stretch, collecting wins over the NY Islanders, Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, and Colorado. The string was snapped on December 18 when Calgary came to town and pulled off a 5-2 upset. The NHL record for scoring at least five-or-more goals in consecutive games is held by the 1985-86 Philadelphia Flyers, who turned the trick in 11 straight contests.
EL SCORCHO EL SURPRISO
Goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere has been spectacular. The 21- year-old was thrust into the spotlight when both Ken Wregget and fellow youngster Tyler Moss went down to injury. Giguere was the goaltender of record in all five games of the trip and stopped 75 of 80 shots in the final two games against the Flyers and Devils. Giguere's been able to be heroic despite losing as much as 10 pounds during games. The youngster even got so sick during the win over Florida that he started vomiting right there on the ice. Coach Brian Sutter sent the trainer out to check on him with one simple instruction: "Tell him to suck it up." Sutter wasn't about to let Giguere come out of the game. The kid fought through it and got the Flames the win. Oh, and when Sutter said to "suck it up," he just meant that Giguere had to pull himself together. He didn't mean to literally suck up the vomit. I mean, vomit's not that precious. Hell, give me about five ciders and I could make some now... Another note on Giguere, he's apparently telling people that he'd prefer to be known as just plain old Jean, and not Jean- Sebastien. Which reminds me, I no longer want to be referred to as jackass.
Calgary's offense has been paced by Theo Fleury. The little big man had three goals and seven points on the trip and leads the Flames in goals (17), assists (18), points (35), power-play goals (5), and plus-minus (+9). He also cemented his status as one of the coolest players in the NHL during the Flyer game. After missing a chance late, Fleury shouted sunshine to the heavens. As he skated along the boards during the ensuing stoppage in play, Theo stared through the glass at some lucky Philly fan in the first row and shouted sunshine, sunshine, sunshine! Aw, that's just Theo bein' Theo. Combine this incident with Fleury trying to don the jersey given to him by a fan when his game sweater was too bloody to wear, and Theo is moving right up the charts in coolness. In case you're wondering, here are the current standings as of December 22:
Coolest Players in the NHL
KOVALEV'S INCREDIBLE At least once each game Kovalev does something to lift the fans out of their seats. The majority of the time it's with his passing or stickhandling, but all three of his goals have been brilliant. His first was a modern day classic. Kovalev came off the left wing boards, slipped the puck through Al MacInnis' skates, and then piped a wrist shot high short-side on Grant Fuhr that busted the water bottle. Fuhr never moved. Kovalev started his Pittsburgh career skating the right side on a line with Robert Lang and German Titov. But after a few games coach Kevin Constantine decide to align his troops by nationality, moving Lang up to the top unit to center fellow Czechs Martin Straka and Jaromir Jagr, while Kovalev moved to the middle on a Russian line with Titov and Aleksey Morozov. This particular scheme does leave Stu Barnes out of the loop, but on the positive side it creates two extremely talented, exciting scoring lines that aim to entertain. Kovalev has just been devastating with the puck. Once he gets it on his blade the opposition is at his mercy. He can beat them with a deke or simply lower the shoulder and power his way to the net. Kovalev's been so dynamic one on one that Jagr seems to be trying to elevate his game in order to compete. Not wanting to be outdone by the new guy, the Czech Wonder Kid has been trying to match Kovalev move for move. The result has been some extremely creative plays that harken back to the Penguin glory years when Jagr and Lemieux tortured opposing defenders. And not only is Kovalev dazzling with his skill, he's also working both ends of the ice, paying close attention to defense, and even ringing up a few noteworthy checks. So far there have been no signs of the inconsistency or mental breakdowns that plagued him in New York. He's just been a tremendous addition to the team. Nedved who?
KASPARAITIS CLIPPED Kaspar originally hurt the knee in the preseason against Detroit. At the time he was scheduled to have surgery that would have kept him out for most of the regular season, but Darius elected to go the rehab route instead and only missed the first eight games. Here's hoping we don't have to wait another eight games to see him back on the ice. Because, as we all know, Darius Kasparaitis is the coolest player... in the world!
AUDETTE DEALT This is a great move for the Kings. Audette may not be a superstar, but he's a natural goal-scorer that will add some much needed pop to the Royalty's sagging offense. And he can't help but improve the Los Angeles power play which is currently ranked dead last in the NHL. Audette started his L.A. story like a champ by scoring on his very first shift as a King. And this just in, Audette scored again Tuesday night against the Penguins.
BLAKE IS LOS ANGELES The Royalty went 3-12-0 when Blake was out of action with a broken foot. In Blake's first game back, the Kings posted a win over the Vancouver Canucks. Unfortunately, the Norris Trophy winner was given a three-game suspension for slashing Harry York in the third period of the contest. Guess what that meant? Yes, that's right, three more losses for the Kings. Blake returned from the suspension and immediately guided the Kings to two straight victories over the Blackhawks and Penguins. So let's review. Without Blake the Kings are 3-15-0. With Blake they're 7-5-3. Give him the Hart Trophy, damn it.
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