Top Line: Old-school Alex Ovechkin, Dallas Stars avoid fire sale, more links
The Jets’ Bryan Little learned that as goes Alex Ovechkin, so go the Capitals. (Photo by Marianne Helm/Getty Images)
By Allan Muir
A notated guide to this morning’s must-read hockey stories:
• Wait..where’s he been all year? Old-school Ovie made a rare appearance in a must-win game against the Jets. No surprise then that Washington came out on top. Convince that guy to show up more often and maybe the Caps will make a race of this yet.
• Want a realistic look at your team’s up-to-date chances of making the playoffs?. Check this out. Math is fun.
• An 8-1 loss to the Blackhawks last Saturday put the Dallas Stars were on the verge of a being blown up. Thursday night’s 2-0 win over the defending champs shows why it’s hard for GM Joe Nieuwendyk to push the plunger.
• Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf help the Ducks emerge from the shadow of the mighty Blackhawks.
• Mike Babcock is leaning on Teemu Selanne to provide a little inspiration for struggling rookie Damien Brunner.
• Montreal’s Marc Bergevin is the front-runner for NHL GM of the Year honors. But not for the player moves. It’s all about the culture change.
• Their coach ain’t bad, either. Michel Therrien lit a fire under David Desharnais and P.K. Subban with second-period benchings. As a critic of his hiring last summer, it’s time for me to concede. Therrien has pushed all the right buttons this year.
• Here are two crazy numbers that add a little perspective to Martin Brodeur’s goal-scoring heroics.
• Winnipeg’s goalies climbed up on a soap box and worked themselves into a lather over proposed changes to the size of their equipment. Can’t say I blame them. Pekka Rinne isn’t happy, either, although I don’t think his concern about the record books carries a lot of water.
• In a must-win game against a struggling opponent, the Calgary Flames wet the bed in Nashville. Oh, and that minus-3 effort from Jarome Iginla? Not the sort of performance that enhances a guy’s trade value.
