Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.
It's been a rather frustrating year for Sidney Crosby as he's fought an ankle injury and watched as Evgeni Malkin and Alexander Ovechkin steal his spotlight. With just six points in six March games, Crosby wasn't much of a factor as the Penguins battled the likes of the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers to Atlantic Division supremacy.
Last night, Sidney finally put his stamp back on the team with a two-goal performance in the Penguins 4-2 win over the Flyers. With the win, the Pens win the division for the first time since 1998, and can finish no lower than second place in the Eastern Conference.
"We ended up losing Crosby (for 28 games) and Marc-Andre Fleury (for three months) and so many other guys during the course of the season, and we were just trying to focus and maintain our position to make the playoffs," coach Michel Therrien said. "The guys surprised me with their commitment."
Another interesting note: The Penguins sold out all 41 home games for the first time in their 41 year history. Given the team's past attendance problems, this is just more icing on the cake for the revived antarctic dwellers. Still, I find it amazing that they never sold out a season back when Mario Lemieux and the Pens were winning Stanley Cups. What the hell?Over at ESPN, John Buccigross hands out his season-end awards, and most selections are pretty solid.
Although I am a Canucks fan, I have to disagree wholeheartedly with his selection of Roberto Luongo as the Vezina winner. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Luongo slips out of the top three.
Ever since Luongo took the All-Star break off to go see his pregnant wife, he has not been the same player. With his mind on his wife's bulging belly, and the fact that he's obviously worn down from playing so much, has taken a huge toll on Robocop's game.
Pre All-Star: 42GP 22-16-4 2.10GAA 92.5SV%
Post All-Star: 29GP 13-11-5 2.74GAA 90.9SV%
Luongo now sits in a log-jam for sixth place in save percentage, and has not been there for the Nucks when they needed him most. Vezina-worthy? Hardly.
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Crazy Rumor of the Day: Jaromir Jagr is going to play in Russia next season.
The Blueshirts Blog (NY Daily News) picked up a note on Avangard Omsk's website, and now the rumor mills are churning.
A report on the Avangard-Omsk Web site states that the team's new GM, Anatoly Bardin, is flying to New York on Sunday and that "the main objective of the visit are the negotiations with the Czech forward Jaromir Jagr about his possible return to the Vanguard."
Of course, Jagr pretty much had fun with the whole thing. Translation: No chance in hell.
As for Jagr, he was his usual playful self when asked about the reports this morning.---
"We're going to dinner and all that stuff," he said about meeting with Bardin. He then said: "I'm just kidding. I don't have any plans."
Wasn't it just last year when the Blackhawks rarely televised a home game?
Well, what was thought to be an April Fools joke is actually true: The Chicago Blackhawks will televise ALL 82 games next season, in OMGZ HIGH DEFINITION!!!!1111
Yeah, hard to believe, isn't it
All around the United Center banquet room, there were handshakes and smiles. The Blackhawks, Comcast SportsNet and WGN-Ch. 9 now are locked arm in arm.
For most franchises, televising games is as elemental as selling watered-down beer. But in the Blackhawks' case, this was the fall of the Berlin Wall.
"Every Blackhawks fan has been waiting for this announcement," team Chairman Rocky Wirtz said.
No kidding! It's amazing that Rocky Wirtz is relation to the late Bill Wirtz, given how completely different these two think about doing business.
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Hall of Famer Guy LaFleur was none to happy to be arrested last year, and now he's suing authority for 'tarnishing his reputation.'
Lafleur is suing Montreal police and Quebec's solicitor general for $3.5 million because of the warrant issued for his arrest earlier this year.
The suit targets Crown prosecutor Lise Archambault, Montreal police officer Francoise Fortin and their respective employers, lawyer Jean-Pierre Rancourt said in an interview Tuesday.
Rancourt said Lafleur's reputation has been tarnished by the decision by authorities to proceed with the arrest warrant instead of a summons.
"He received calls from everywhere in the world," Rancourt said. "People are wondering what he did so bad that he deserved an arrest warrant."
So, Lafleur thinks that being a big-time hockey star gets him special treatment with authorities? Mon Dieu!
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Gratutious YouTube Embed: The Georges Laraque-Riley Cote heavyweight tilt from last night's Flyers-Penguins game. Tell me, again, why the NHL would want to eliminate good bouts like this?
