In case you need something to feel better about after last night’s loss, check out this photo and more importantly this photo of Victor Hedman’s visit to Mt. Vernon Elementary School this morning, where fourth-grader Andrew White got to take him to school. I’m a grown adult and I’m a little jealous.
ps. to Andrew: awesome sign
Here are your links for the week:
Your Lightning links:
- How does Steven Stamkos‘ 50 goal season so far stack up against best offensive years of all time? (Backhand Shelf)
- The Hockey News has their annual top 50 player rankings as voted by players themselves. Stamkos slots in at #4, Martin St. Louis at #15, and surprisingly Lecavalier at #50
- To say that Keith Aulie is a work in progress is being quite generous, but assistant coach Dan LaCroix thinks he has the potential to be a solid defensive defenceman (The Tampa Tribune)
- Stamkos joined the 50 goal club the other day and Down Goes Brown looks into the history of the 50 goal club
The rest of your links after the jump…
- Breaking down Dustin Tokarski’s first NHL win (The Goalie Guild)
- Tokarski is wearing a pair of pad’s that were originally made for Roberto Luongo (The Goalie Guild)
- Even though Tokarski is on the small side as far as height at 5’11” he shows that size isn’t the what makes a good goalies. “There’s always been talk about my size,” Tokarski said. “But look at a guy like Tim Thomas. He’s good because he’s so agile. A goalie who’s 6-6 can’t move like a goalie who’s 5-11. At the end of the day, it’s all about stopping the puck.” (National Post)
- The Hockey Writers on Tokarski and an interview with the Goalie Guild on him. Bare in mind this was written after the win over the Bruins
- I’m not sure if he’ll still be around next year but Alexis writes on Mike Commodore and the power of the character guy (Sons of Andreychuk)
- Dobber hockey ranks Mark Barberio as number 10 in their list of top defensemen in hockey
- Re-living Steve Yzerman’s goal against the Blues in 1996 (The Malik Report)
Your links from around the NHL:
- Alexander Radulov tweets that he’s on a plane headed to join the Nashville Predators (Puck Daddy)
- A great read on Paul Bissonnette and how tough it is to be a healthy scratch. “It got to the point where I was getting a lot of anxiety, and I had to go talk to (head athletic trainer Jason Serbus) and I said, ‘Serbs, I need to get on medication or talk to someone.'” (AZ Central)
- The opening faceoff brawl in the Rangers-Devils game has the topic of staged fighting back in the spotlight. Imagine if these two teams or the Penguins and Flyers face each other in the playoffs (Puck Daddy)
- Are players avoiding hitting Sidney Crosby? Three games into his return (at the time of the article) and Bruce Arthur is wondering is players around the league are treating him with deference? (National Post)
- Love the former-player perspective that Justin Bourne brings to his writing. This post is on the 5 non-sanctioned games pro hockey players play throughout the season like the bag game or lemon boy (Backhand Shelf)
- Goaltender Steve Mason of the Blue Jackets switches to larger pads after finally realizing the NHL allows him to use larger pads (Columbus Dispatch)
- Michael Farber writes on the St. Louis Blues having found their stride. A gem at the beginning on how before the game starts Kevin Shattenkirk announces the starting line like “At center the best dog rescuer in Houston, David Backes.” (SI.com)
- Not everyone loved the ‘Crosby’s better’ chant from the Winnipeg Jets fans last week, one of which was Jets player Tanner Glass (Globe and Mail)
- Dr. Mark Recchi continues to troll the Vancouver Canucks (Days of Y’Orr)
- Larry Brooks decides to pen a piece on the Islanders and comes to the conclusion that the they no longer matter (NY Post)
- Scott Heggart is an openly gay hockey player with the Lanark-Carleton Minor Hockey League. His story is impressive and his strength is an inspiration (Ottawa Citizen)
- A Canucks blogger with his Canadian smugness documents his viewing of the Lightning-Leafs game. Part 1 is here, and Part 2 is here (Smug Nation)
- Well at least Tampa Bay fans don’t have our players calling us out for being quiet like Kevin Bieksa did to Canucks fans last week (The Province)
- Makes your picks for the Frozen Four in the College Hockey Pickem 2012
- Caption this Steve Downie photo (Backhand Shelf)
- The Orlando Solar Bears are looking for fans to help out with their uniform unveiling
