Today In Sport

Washington Capitals superstar forward Alexander Ovechkin has been suspended for two matches by the NHL for a knee on knee hit involving Carolina Hurricane’s defenseman Tim Gleason.  It was determined that Ovechkin had deliberately caused the collision even though both players had been hurt.

Here is the incident in question.

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Earlier this week, NHL legend Joe Sakic announced his retirement.  He played his entire 20 season career with the one franchise.  Recruited in 1987 by the Quebec Nordiques he quickly established himself as one of the best in the league.  He became captain in 1992 and his leadership was second to none.

Sakic played in 1,378 games, tallied 625 goals and 1,016 assists for 1,641 points, leaving him eighth on the NHL’s all-time point list.  He also was voted into 13 NHL All-Star games as well as starring for Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics where he was named the Tournament MVP.

The Nordiques moved from Quebec to Colorado and became the Avalanche in 1995.  That season they captured the first of two Stanley Cups with Sakic a major contributor scoring 51 goals and had 69 assists for 120 points.  He also was a star in their second cup win in 2001 when he scored 118 points. (continue reading…)

The Pittsburgh Penguins today won Game 7 of the NHL Stanley Cup Final series over the Detroit Red Wings.  A great series came down to a one game showdown in Detroit.  All six of the preceeding games were won by the home team so it was up to Pittsburgh to buck that trend.

The first period was a tight but fast paced affair with chances at both ends.  It was clear early on that both goalies were on their games.  The opening minutes of the second period saw an incident that could have shaped the rest of the match, an injury to Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby.

Coming soon after Maxime Talbot had given The Pens a 1-0 lead with a pounce on a defensive lapse, the loss of Crosby to a leg injury was pivotal.  He had been crunched along the boards in a clean hit from Franzen but came up limping and struggling to reach the bench.  He would not return for the rest of the period. (continue reading…)

The 2009 Playoff season in both the NBA and NHL have been full of exciting games and series.  The last few years have been so full of one sided sweeps that someone must have a large collection of brooms somewhere.  But it seems like this year is different and teams are actually fighting for their playoff lives.

Take the NHL Conference semi-finals for instance, three of the four series have gone to game 7.  Even Chicago took 6 games to defeat Vancouver.  The Pittsburgh - Washington series up until game 7 had been a battle of titanic proportions…and then Washington hit the iceberg the Penguins were on and sunk.  The Penguins now march on to the Conference finals after a 6-2 shellacking of the hapless Capitals. (continue reading…)

The 2009 NHL Post-season begins on Wednesday.  All the matchups are set and teams are setting themselves for a deep run into the playoffs.  Will there be some upsets?  Are teams like the Penguins ready to take the next step?  Let’s have a look at the first round shall we. (continue reading…)

Today the quarter finals of the UEFA Champions League began.  Manchester United hosted FC Porto and Arsenal travelled to Spain to take on Villareal.

Porto’s Cristian Rodrigues put the visitors ahead on 4 minutes to announce to the ManU fans that this would indeed not be a wak in the park as they had hoped.  On 14 minutes though they handed the advantage back to United when an errant back pass was intercepted by Wayne Rooney and cooly slotted past a dumbfounded keeper.  (continue reading…)

Just recently New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur eclipsed former Montreal and Colorado goaltender Patrick Roys’ all-time games won record.  This started the debate over who is the best goalie, Roy or Brodeur.  Some even threw up names like Jacques Plante, Terry Sawchuck, Grant Fuhr and Ed Belfour.  All goalies have different attributes that make them great.

Goalies have different styles, from Butterfly to Stand-up to Brodeur’s hybrid style and also Dominik Hasek’s Floppy Fish technique.  No one style is better than another and whatever suits a particular goalies attributes best is the one he should take.  But let’s concentrate on the two most winningest goalies.

Patrick Roy is without doubt one of the most reliable money goalies in history.  When you needed a game won, 9 times out of 10 he would come through for you.  A four time Stanley Cup winning goalie, he also holds the record for most playoff wins by a goalie.   Roy is also the only 3-time Conn Smythe Trophy winner for best player in the playoffs.

But stats are one thing, the plays you make in games are another.   His three Conn Smythe trophies attest to his big game mentality.  Sure he was also on the losing end of Stanley Cup finals but you can’t always make up for the shortcomings of the men in front of you.

Martin Brodeur has 3 Stanley Cups to his name and in his 15 seasons has led The Devils to the playoffs in all but one of those seasons.  He is a 4 time Vezina Trophy winner for best goalkeeper in the NHL.

He has the most number of 40 win seasons and is one of only two goalies to have scored a goal in both regular and playoff seasons.  He also won the Calder Trophy for best rookie.

So both these guys have excellent records and maybe when you look at goals against averages and the fact that by the time he is finished Brodeur will be miles ahead in wins that the Devils goalie looks golden.

But I believe that Brodeur has been aided greatly by New Jersey’s infamous Trap and the help he gets in front of him.  There were times that Roy was in  a shooting gallery and somehow survived.

As with any comparison the ultimate answer comes down to personal preference.  In my opinion Patrick Roy is and always will be (until someone I think is better comes along) the greatest goalie in NHL history.

For all the Brodeur fans out there, good luck to you.

On a night where New Jersey Devils team mate Patrick Elias broke the team record for career points it was Goaltender Martin Brodeur who stole all the headlines.  By completing the 3-2 win over Chicago he overtook former Montreal and Colorado legend Patrick Roy as the all-time winningest goaltender in NHL history.

The three time Stanley Cup Champion recently returned from a long term injury but has quickly returned to form.  He has played all of his sixteen seasons with The Devils recording his first win in his first game against Boston way back in the 1991-1992 season.  He won the Calder Trophy for best rookie in his first full season in 1993-1994.

His career resume is impressive with 10 NHL All-Star game appearances and being named on either the 1st or 2nd team end of season All-Star awards on seven occasions.  He holds over 30 team records including wins (obviously), most games, most saves and shut outs.  Brodeur is second on the NHL list for regular season shutouts behind Terry Sawchuck.

He has the most 40 win seasons (7) and is one of only two Goaltenders (Former Flyers goalie Ron Hextall being the other) to have scored a goal in both regular and post season.  Brodeur also holds the record for most Shutouts in one playoff season (7).

Although he is universally respected throughout the league he has had his share of controversy as well.  His most notable feud has been with NHL bad boy Sean Avery who once referred to Brodeur as “Fatso” after Brodeur snubbed Avery in the post series handshakes after the Rangers had beaten Brodeur’s Devils.  The feud was fuelled by Avery and his over the top face guarding of Brodeur during the series trying to block his vision of the puck.  Brodeur lost concentration during much of that series worrying about the Rangers tactics and in particular Avery.

Personally I still consider Patrick Roy the greatest goaltender of all-time but there is no doubt that he is one of the all-time greats.  Congrats to Brodeur and let’s see how far he can take it in the 3 or 4 seasons he has left.