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.
Ilya, Ilya, Ilya ... As in Bryzgalov, the goalie cast adrift by the defending Stanley Cup Champion Anaheim Ducks and picked up by the Phoenix Coyotes. While the Desert Dogs are still mired in last in the Pacific, don't blame Bryzgalov, who has only won all four of his starts with his new club, most recently a 5-1 decision over the Maple Leafs. Over those four games, he's only yielded six goals. In the four games before his arrival, the Coyotes had given up 17.
Streaking Stars? I can understand how a team can have a fire lit under it when the head coach gets canned -- more on that later -- but I don't understand how firing a general manager can have the same effect. Still, that seems to be exactly what's happened in Dallas, as the Stars are now 5-0-1 in the six games since ex-GM Doug Armstrong was been shown the door. Having the power play go 7 of 15 over the last five games hasn't hurt.
The Bruce Is Loose! Ok, I know that new Washington Capitals' bench boss Bruce Boudreau isn't exactly the first head coach to go 2-0 in his first two games in the NHL, but when your team is mired in last place in the Eastern Conference with what is still the worst record in the league, any glimmer of hope is a welcome one. Better yet, knocking off Philly and Carolina, two of the top teams in the East, in the same weekend is never anything to sneeze at.
A Moment with Uncle Larry: Given it's Monday morning, it's time to check in with Larry Brooks of the New York Post to see what he wrote in his regular Sunday Slap Shots column -- you know, the one that normally evokes reactions of anger and incredulity everywhere from Gander in the East to Anaheim in the West.
In this week's missive, Uncle Larry talks options on Washington's Alex Ovechkin:
There's a new coach in Washington after two years of regressing under Glen Hanlon, and the guess is there will be a new GM, too, by the end of the season if George McPhee's team doesn't show marked progress between now and the end of the year. Amid all this uncertainty and performing in a backwater hockey room with talents designed for the big stage, why would Ovechkin commit now to remaining in Washington? Sinatra left Hoboken, didn't he?
To get a better idea as to why Brooks writes columns like this one, check out this reaction from Scotty Hockey.
On the other hand, it does beg the question: Just what is the status of the negotiations with Ovechkin? The Caps are set to have a very busy offseason, with 8 players becoming restricted free agents and another three, including goalie Olie Kolzig, reaching unrestricted status. Simply put, there are a lot of decisions to make, and there isn't any bigger decision than Ovechkin. Just how much longer will it take to get a deal done?
Weekend FanHousing: Just a few items from over the weekend from the hockey guys that you might have missed:
Gratuitous YouTube Embed: It's been a while since we've included some fisticuffs with your Monday morning hockey fix, so here's some footage of D.J. King and Eric Godard throwing down last night in St. Louis:
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