13 Thursday Thoughts: From Around the NHL

You know those random thoughts that pop into your head, we all have them. The ones that are worth putting out there but are to under developed to deserve more than a paragraph. These are the thoughts often left to Twitter and the myriads of readers it indulges. These are the thoughts that will be left for you to read, in their raw fledgling form, every Thursday.

I'm going to propose an order of importance to each of these thoughts, though realistically there is usually only one prominent thought on my mind leaving numbers 2-13 with fairly equal value.

Please, don't let me hold you up. Here are my 13 Thursday thoughts from around the NHL:
(please read responsibly)

#13     It's really a shame that the NHL couldn't put together something for hockey fans on American Thanksgiving. I'm not looking for anything special, we don't need a corn field game or all-day college hockey, but wouldn't it be nice to have an American original six matchup to watch and provide us with some non-football options?

#12     Yeah, we all know JT is amazing (Tavares, that is - but Timberlake is pretty rad too). He shocked me with his production, I really thought he would've been a Stamkos in his first pro season. But as of late it is Trent Hunter who has grabbed my attention on the Isle's squad. TH is averaging over point a game and a +/- on the good side.

#11     No need for Malkin to ease back into post-injury play. Since returning in early November, Evgeni has posted an average of 1.3 pts/g, a surprising increase over 1.1 in his first 12. Now if only my bracket pool didn't award two points per goal and only one for an assist, I'd be flying!

#10     Being an Eastern Conference'r, the headlines aren't really flooded with tales of western heroics. Because of this I hesitate to call this next team Silent but Deadly, but I will anyway. The Nashville Predators have the second best record over the past 10 games (8-2-0), second only to the Chicago super-Hawks (8-1-1). The Preds have won their last seven, but I fail to see them anywhere in the paper. Imagine they had been moved to Hamilton.

#9      Is it just me, or have the New Jersey Devils fallen off the face of the earth? With an unbelievable 9-2-1 record on the road (matched with a winning record at home), I'm surprised all the conference hype is spent on the Pens, Flyers, Rangers and Isles. Do we just expect New Jersey to be this good every year?

#8      Carolina is back in the basement and the Raleigh team is already 11 points back of a playoff spot. It blows my mind that the same team who defeated New Jersey and Boston in last year's playoffs, and then made minimal off-season changes, is this far out so early. Will Rutherford bid farewell to Maurice for a second time?

#7      And you wanted to move Phoenix (the second time I've spoken about relocation today). The Coyotes are tied for 8th in the West and are on the plus side off 500. Heck, with how Toronto has been playing I'll buy a Yotes jerz! I bet you could probably fly to Phoenix, purchase two glass tickets and a hotel room for less than Toronto platinums.

#6      Hey Wings, "Wha' Happen?" I really start to worry about a team when they're shutout by Atlanta! Currently holding the 9th spot in the West, Detroit is looking up on Phoenix, Columbus, Nashville and Colorado - who would'a thought?

#5      Chicago's an offensive atomic bomb, blowing out opponent after opponent. The Hawks have scored five or more goals in three of their last four, all the while being the visiting team! Talk about setting a new standard of excellence. In fact, Chicago has won eight straight potting at least four goals in five of them. And did I mention their 7-2 win last night was against San Jose? Sheesh.

#4      Antero Niittymaki leads the league in save percentage. I'm just as shocked as you are, trust me.

#3      Boston needs Lucic, they struggled without him. And to remind everyone of his worth, Milan scores his first night back in the black-and-gold. Sounds good, right? Wrong. Lucic is out again after only a couple games back, this time with a knee injury. And I thought this was going to be Boston's year.

#2     Five minutes and a game misconduct for Ovechkin's hit last night as the refs rule it as being delivered from behind. Is the league getting tighter, or are the refs just getting dumber? This was maybe worth two minutes, emphasis on maybe. Boudreau would have a pretty good case fighting against a minor penalty in this situation. But they always say the sweetest revenge is that which is dealt on the scoreboard. Ovie had already scored and his talley is later accredited as the game winner.

#1      Dear Brian Burke, your team is fighting to stay out of last place. Though adding Phil Kessel to the line-up, the Leafs have been unable to match the offensive production of last year's failed season. And remember those big blue line aquisitions you made over the summer? We're still waiting! Until now, you have a rookie battling with the guy you slated as seventh in the depth chart for the title of best Leafs d-man. But amidst all this failure and controversy, I'm glad you're using the 16 minutes of air time on TSN to speak about your son coming out of the closet. Next week Burke will address the media regarding the use of black and white stick tape, proposing the league unite under a single, non-discriminatory colour of cloth tape with which players can tape their equipment with. Oh please.



I'll see you all tomorrow for the Friday Foto.
Until next time, stay online!

Your buddy,
Chansler