Today we are going to do a bit of potpourri…but first up…a follow-up on our poll question last week. We asked the simplest question…what is the toughest division in the NHL? Well our loyal readers answered with a loud and raucous opinion that the Atlantic (52% of the vote) was the hardest division by far. I was a bit surprised more because the Central is not like it was in years’ past. All five teams in that division can more than hold their own but I am thinking the Flyers-Pens game from Tuesday might have helped the Atlantic out just a bit. Very interesting stuff indeed and thank you to everyone that voted.
Next up…a quickie edition of the fab 4. Last night’s game was the Minnesota Wild VS. Los Angeles Kings. Surprisingly, this was quite the entertaining game and one amazing performance that stood out above all the rest. So here goes.
4th cider — Anze Kopiar (0 pts but 5 shots) — He was all over the ice and had so many point blank chances.
3rd cider — Marian Gaborik (1 goal…5 shots..+1) — Same thing as Kopitar but scored a very nice goal that set the tone. Yes Rolston got the GWG but Gaborik’s goal changed the game.
2nd cider — Josh Harding (1 GA — 35 saves and the win) — Overcame a stomach bug and stoned everything in creation before Rob Blake scored while on a 6 on 5 with 1:12 left.
1st cider — The Wild PK unit — killing six Kings’ PP chances in the 2nd..including a 5 on 3….and all 8 chances for the team. This was a true team effort at its finest. A good chunk of the team was battling the stomach flu and they came together to stop the Kings.
Now to the last part ….. What It Means. I’ll take a hockey term and dig a bit deeper into it. Today it is time to play with the trapezoid? What is it? Simply, its that little area behind the net where the goalie can play the puck. He is still more or less protected….but anything outside that trapezoid that isn’t in front of the net is out of bounds and results in a delay of game penalty for the goalie. Now while the goalie can pretty much play the puck like before…he can’t go out into those corners to dig the puck out in certain situations. It can hurt a team’s PP some and does impact the really good puck handling goalies. So the next time you see that weird trapezoid behind the net…now you can look at it and be like oh I know what it means.
