FanHouse

Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.

I'm guessing that most of the world wasn't paying much attention last night as the Minnesota Wild defeated the Colorado Avalanche in 3-2 St. Paul to move the team to 7-0-1. That's Mikko Koivu, Saku's brother, getting some well deserved congratulations from his teammates after scoring the game-winning goal with a little more than 3 minutes remaining.

After eight games, the Wild have now set a new record for the best start in franchise history and are now the only NHL team that has yet to be defeated in regulation. On the downside, Jes Golbez favorite Pavol Demitra strained his right hip early in the third.

With most of the rest of the hockey world still catching its breath after Jonathan Toews' goal against Colorado, the Blackhawks served notice on Canada's favorite team on Saturday night, scoring five times in the third period to beat Toronto, 6-4. Neither Toews nor his rookie counterpart Patrick Kane scored, but it seemed like everybody else managed to.

Meanwhile, back in the Eastern Conference, Ray Emery returned from offseason surgery to make his first start of the 2007-08 season, a 4-1 win over Florida. Ottawa is now 8-1-0, and has the best record in the East ... After a 3-2 OT over Carolina on Saturday, Philly is on top of the Atlantic with a 6-1-0 mark ... Frustration is beginning to mount in Washington, as the hard-luck Caps dropped their fourth straight, a 2-1 loss to Pittsburgh ... Sputtering to 4-5-1 after a 3-1 loss at Dallas, it's far too early to hit the panic button in the OC ... Jeremy Roenick got goal #498 Saturday night in a 3-0 San Jose win over Nashville.

Four-Point Weekend: Chicago, Pittsburgh, Minnesota. Lost Weekend (2 losses): Buffalo, Carolina, Colorado.

Local Nashville Ownership Group in New York
The Tennessean is reporting that William "Boots" DeBaggio and the prospective local ownership group that intends to buy the Nashville Predators and keep them in town will be in New York today to meet with the league's executive committee. In addition, Del Baggio, a minority partner in the San Jose Sharks ownership group, told the San Jose Mercury-News that he expects the sale to be approved by October 31, and that new arena lease deal -- the Predators already have one of the most favorable arrangements in hockey -- will follow shortly thereafter. Thanks to Sports Business Daily for the pointers. Meanwhile, the average attendance for the first four home dates is down about 1,500 fans from last season.

Next Under the Microscope: Raffi Torres
Calgary took the latest edition of the Battle of Alberta with a 4-1 win on Saturday, but the bigger news may be the blind side hit that Calgary's David Moss suffered at the hands of Edmonton battering ram Raffi Torres. After the game, Calgary head coach Mike Keenan was calling for a suspension. To see for yourself, check out the highlight reel from TSN.

Impolite Thought of the Weekend
Courtesy of Larry Brooks of the New York Post:

The people in Nashville who are yelling "Hands off our team!" they wouldn't be some of the same ones who were trying to bribe the Devils to leave New Jersey during the 1995 playoffs, now would they?

Be sure to check out the rest of his Sunday column, especially for his blunt advice for the presumptive new head of the NHLPA, Paul Kelly.

Boring Hockey or Winning Hockey?
Over at LetsGoSabres, Robert Harding is lamenting the development of a rougher style in the Western Conference that's preventing his Sabres from playing their type of game:

Eastern Conference hockey features high-flying teams that can put up five or six goals a night. Western Conference hockey features the old, methodical style of playing the neutral zone trap and capitalizing off of turnovers to get those two or three goals needed to win.

In other words, you have exciting hockey versus boring hockey.

Or winning hockey. After all, Columbus and Ken Hitchcock's trap beat the Sabres 3-0 on Friday night. Then again, there are others who are completely on board with the "New NHL" concept:



Game 1,000 for Nolan
On Monday night, Calgary Flames veteran Owen Nolan will play the 1,000th game of his NHL career. While I might not know what his #1 memory in the game is, I think I have something of an idea.

Gratuitous YouTube Embed
The marketing staff in Dallas has just released its latest string of local promos, including the following beauty that probably wouldn't make it on the air in most of the markets on the East Coast:


Gotta love that Razor. Thanks to Andrew's Stars Page for the pointer.