Another week in the NHL and just like every week, I am here to give you the highlights and the things you may have missed over the last week. Look for this segment at Stick to Hockey every week as I recap the weeks stories all in one article.

Streaks

The New Jersey Devils extended their road win record to 9-0 on Thursday night by beating the slumping Penguins 4-1. The Penguins had a streak of their own, losing 5 straight before Christmas coming early on Saturday night as Tim Thomas and the Bruins hand them a gift in OT. Continue reading »

I don’t know about you but I am sick of hearing about the Anaheim Ducks. First we heard all the crying from the fans about the officiating in their loss to the Leafs a couple of weeks ago and since then there has been the goaltender controversy.

This week Jean-Sebastien Giguere tells the LA Daily news that he would rather retire than be a back up goaltender. With Giguere back in the line up, the Ducks have some decisions to make. Jonas Hiller has held the fort down and played well as he started the last 6 games for the Ducks while Giguere was patting his groin and has proved once again he is a number one goaltender, an under paid one at that making a mere 1.3 million this season. This is the second time in two years Hiller has taken the #1 spot from Giguere at least for now. Continue reading »

If you read the rumor mill and see all the reports it is heavily rumored that Jean-Sebastien Giguere may be heading to Toronto for Vesa Toskala. I have hinted around with this for almost a week and to me the Ducks are going to get the better deal if this happens.

It’ no secret that Vesa Toskala is having and off season but you need to look at the cast of characters that was in front of him for his 0-2-2 start. Don’t get me wrong, Jonas Gustausson was very solid as he  made 35 saves in his first real challenge of the season when the Leafs beat Wings over the weekend. But  2 of his 3 wins came when Phil Kessel returned. For the time being Gustausson has earned  #1 spot  in Toronto which brings me to my point. Continue reading »

For 30 minutes tonight, we saw that killer B’s team we saw pound the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night. Marco Sturm scored at the 16:33 mark of the first period as they peppered goalie Jonas Hiller with 19 shots by periods end.

I don’ t know what coach Julien said or did in the locker room but when that Killer B’s team that left the ice at the end of the first period, returned as ugly ducklings in the second and third. They stopped skating and more importantly….they stopped hitting much like the team we saw on opening night. Even though the B’s out Anaheim 11-6 in the second, the Ducks took complete advantage of the Bruins lack of intensity and Selane scored two goals in just over a one minute span early in period two and leading to a 6-1 final.

Last years Vezina winner, Tim Thomas looked shaky at time stopping 24 of the 30 shots he faced. Hiller on the other hand had something to prove, he wants the number one spot for the Ducks and may have proven that tonight stopping 33 of the 34 shots faced. There has been trade rumors milling around the pond as J-S Giguere may be asked to waive his no trade clause in his contract since the Ducks can’t justify a 6 million dollar back up goalie. There are more rumors circulating that Toronto may be interested in Giguere as they are having goalie issues.

Next up for the Bruins will be the Islanders on Saturday night and hopefully we will see the Killer B’s once again. One other game note, with the game clearly out of touch tonight, why didn’t we see Bruins back up goaltender Tuukka Rask ?