It’s a good thing that this is Sunday morning because I am definitely in a slow-start-up mode today. Or should I be “mod” and say that I’m slow to boot up today? Anyway, you get the idea.
It’s been a while since I’ve “talked hockey” and this is a good point in the season to take a look at what’s going on around the National Hockey League. The NHL is the only major sports league that takes a break for the Christmas holiday. By league rules, and labor contract, there are no games played on either Dec. 24 or 25 so that the players can be at home with their families. In addition, the league imposes a no-trade period from the 21st(?) to the 27th so that there are no upsets to the family gathering. I like that.
The Christmas break more or less acts as a divider between the first phase of the season and the second of the three unofficial phases that starts just after the All-Star game break in February. By the end of December, the teams have either got themselves sorted out, or are in disarray and in need of fixing. This is where an active player-trading spurt usually occurs and is fun to watch. Most of the action is taken by the dozen or so teams that are struggling to get positioned high enough in the standings to make the playoffs. Sometimes they feel that they are just a player or two away from success while the better teams are looking to make a tweak to their lineup without messing with the team chemistry that they’ve been building.
This year is a little different because of the upcoming Winter Olympics that will be held in Vancouver, B. C., next month. The NHL has once again, and perhaps for the last time, chosen to shut down for two weeks so that their players will be eligible to play for their home countries in the hockey competition. The All-Star game has been knocked off the schedule this year. So in order to accomodate the lengthy spell of inactivity, the league has compressed more games than usual into this early phase of the season with the teams having played 36 to 40 games, nearly half the schedule, already. I think this accelerated schedule has led to the increased number of injuries so far. And that has an effect on trade activity because teams are reluctant to trade for a player who is on the injured list, not knowing when, or if, he will return to playing form. I’ll chat about the standings and who’s where later this week. But before we break, I wanted to show you the goal-of-the-week. It happened on Wednesday the 23rd in Washington when the Capitals played the Buffalo Sabres. Caps winger Brendan Morrison (in red, #9) gathered up a rebound with his skate blade and then shot the puck through his legs and into the net. A nifty move, you’ll agree. Watch the slow-motion replays:
Ok, let’s get this equipment checked out. I’m going to check on the Sunday breakfast operation and make some more coffee. See you back in the day room.
Also on FireGeezer…
- Morning Lineup – February 15 – February 15, 2010
- Morning Lineup – February 6 – February 6, 2010
- Morning Lineup – February 28 – February 28, 2010
- Morning Lineup – October 24 – October 24, 2009
