The 2005/2006 Hockey Season Thread

[CKN]

Associated Press

3/8/2006 11:09:09 PM

ATLANTA (AP) - Marian Hossa missed his chances during regulation, then came through in the shootout.

Hossa scored the clinching goal in Atlanta's 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers on Wednesday night, the third straight win for the Thrashers in either a shootout or overtime.

Atlanta won for the seventh time in nine games to close within one point of the Montreal for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Rangers have lost three straight since a seven-game winning streak.

''It's not pretty, but we got the points,'' Hossa said.

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Jaromir Jagr scored his NHL-leading 43rd goal for the Rangers, but he was caught with an illegal stick in the overtime and couldn't take part in the shootout when the referees ruled that his backup stick didn't conform to the rules, either.

Still, the Rangers had a chance to win after scoring on their first two tries against Atlanta goalie Kari Lehtonen. Martin Rucinsky failed to get off a shot with New York leading 2-1, and Slava Kozlov tied it up for the Thrashers on a shot that caught the top of the net.

Martin Straka went next for the Rangers, firing the puck off Lehtonen's right arm. Then it was Hossa's turn. The high-scoring forward beat Henrik Lundqvist with a blistering shot over the goalie's left pad.

''It's a great feeling when people are shouting your name,'' Hossa said. ''It gives you that extra boost, and I just tried to make it happen.''

Lundqvist slammed his stick in disgust, while Hossa was mobbed by his teammates in front of the penalty box. The Thrashers also beat Florida in a shootout on Monday, following an overtime victory over Washington last weekend.

''It's been crazy for the past few games,'' Lehtonen said. ''All of our fans, they've been in the games, so it's just an amazing feeling. And we got two points - that's the most important thing.''

Marc Savard also scored for the Thrashers in the shootout, while Michael Nylander and Petr Sykora converted for New York.

''There were some pretty good goals,'' Lundqvist said, ''but I still made it too easy for them.''

Hossa had it tough before the shootout.

First, he was thwarted by Lundqvist on a breakaway. Then, Hossa beat the goalie with a low shot, only to have it clang off the inside of the post. The fog horn signaling an Atlanta goal went off, but the puck wound up under Lundqvist. For good measure, Hossa fired a shot over the net with just seconds to go in the third period.

At least he got another chance. Jagr didn't have an opportunity, sidelined by the curve of his stick.

''It was not illegal,'' Jagr insisted. ''I know they're going to measure. Why would I go out with an illegal stick? It depends on how you measure it. You have to measure from the bottom of the stick. If (the referee) doesn't do it, what are you going to do?''

Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk picked up his 40th goal just 1:13 into the game. He tried to flip the puck in front of the net, but it bounced off Michal Rozsival and came right back to the Atlanta star. Kovalchuk tried the same tactic again from a bad angle and wound up with a goal when the puck appeared to deflect off Rozsival and sail past a surprised Lundqvist.

The Rangers tied it up only five seconds after going on a two-man power play. Steve Rucchin won a faceoff to Jagr, who passed to Rucinsky and then got the puck right back for a low shot that beat Lehtonen on the glove side.

After spending much of the second period on the power play, the Thrashers finally scored at even strength, thanks to pure hustle from their blue-collar line of Serge Aubin, Brad Larsen and Eric Boulton.

The trio managed to keep the puck in the Rangers' zone, even after Aubin was struck by a shot from his own team while sprawled in front of the net. Aubin got up, took a pass from Larsen and beat Lundqvist between the legs.

But New York tied it up again before the period was done. With only 6.8 seconds remaining, Thomas Pock scored his first goal of the season on a shot from just inside the blue line. Lehtonen appeared to be screened by towering Thrashers defenceman Andy Sutton.

[Clawson]

Honestly if I was the Rangers coach after Jagr got called I would have asked about Kovalchuk because everybody know he has a banana blade.

[SeanDMan]

By the way, during a brawl in Florida, Tim Hortons ripped off another players helmet and clocked him on the head with it.

So much for people learning their lesson.

Ugly spear in the Sens/Thrash game too. How many times this year has Spezza been speared now?

[The Sultan of Swank]

Hoo-ray to Huet, bouncing back after 2 less than stellar performances with a 3-0 shut-out over the Bruins. I'm hoping Montreal can string a few wins together and move up to 7th or 6th as it really is pretty close between 6th and 8th.

I seem to be the only person in Montreal upset that Theo was dealt for so little. I don't find Dave to be enough for a goalie like Theo, then again after a season like he had it's pretty understandable.

I know Theo's time was basically up in Montreal, but this will more than likely come back to bite Montreal in the ass sooner or later.

[SeanDMan]

It's easy to say that if you didn't watch the Olympics, but Aebischer is a big game player. He's a guy who can step it up and get it done. Theo is damaged goods.

[CKN]

By the way, during a brawl in Florida, Tim Hortons ripped off another players helmet and clocked him on the head with it.

So much for people learning their lesson.

Ugly spear in the Sens/Thrash game too. How many times this year has Spezza been speared now?

[The Sultan of Swank]

It's easy to say that if you didn't watch the Olympics, but Aebischer is a big game player. He's a guy who can step it up and get it done. Theo is damaged goods.

[prime time]

Bernard (Boom Boom) Geoffrion said he invented the slapshot as a youngster, swiping at pucks on a rink behind a church near his home in Montreal.

Others have also claimed the invention, but there is no question that Geoffrion was the player who popularized the shot that would give him his nickname.

Geoffrion died in an Atlanta hospital on Saturday of stomach cancer. He was 75. The Montreal native passed away on the day his No. 5 jersey was to be retired by the Montreal Canadiens in a ceremony before a game Saturday night against the New York Rangers.

''Obviously, it's a very sad moment,'' said Canadiens captain Saku Koivu. ''It's something we wished for him to see, his banner being raised to the roof. That would have been an extremely proud moment for him, but I'm sure he'd also wish it was a night of celebration.''

Bernard Andre Joseph Geoffrion, born on Feb. 16, 1931, was dubbed Boom Boom by sportswriter Charlie Boire of the Montreal Star while he was playing junior hockey for the Laval Nationale in the late 1940s.

One boom was for the sound of his stick striking the puck; the second was for when his rocketing shot hit the boards.

The shot, combined with his speed and competitive temperament, made Boom Boom Geoffrion one of the most dangerous goal-scorers of his era.

Geoffrion scored 371 goals in 14 seasons with the Montreal Canadiens in the 1950s and 1960s and another 22 goals in a two-year comeback with the New York Rangers from 1966 to 1968.

He was named to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972.

Geoffrion was known as much for his outgoing personality and love of practical jokes as he was for scoring goals in his time with the star-studded Canadiens of the 1950s.

''He was a great guy,'' said New York Rangers boss Glen Sather. ''He was one of those dynamic personalities you don't see very often in sports. He loved life, loved to play, always enthusiastic. He was just a terrific guy.''

During road trips, Geoffrion would sometimes join a band onstage at a nightclub to sing a tune or two, and he appeared on television shows in Quebec, usually singing joke songs.

As teammate Jean Beliveau described it in his biography My Life In Hockey: ''Nowadays it's called karaoke. Back then we had another phrase for it: big ham.''

His teammates were so used to his mischief that in 1958, they thought he was playing a trick as he writhed on the ice after a minor collision during a practice and were shocked when he was rushed to hospital to have his spleen removed.

It was the first of a string of injuries and illnesses that would mark his career as a player and a coach and follow him into retirement after he settled in Atlanta with his family in the 1970s.

Geoffrion battled ulcers that cut short coaching stints with the expansion Atlanta Flames and the Rangers and led to surgery in 1968 to remove part of his stomach. In the 1990s, he survived prostate cancer and macular degeneration, an illness that reduced the vision in his right eye.

But in his youth, Geoffrion was superbly gifted player who arrived in the NHL at a time when the Canadiens were amassing the NHL's greatest dynasty of all time, which won five consecutive Stanley Cups between 1956 and 1960.

Geoffrion and Beliveau made their NHL debuts together during a brief call-up from their junior teams in a 1-1 tie with the Rangers in 1950, with Boom Boom scoring his first NHL goal. Another Canadiens great, Dickie Moore, also played his first NHL game that season.

Geoffrion joined the Canadiens full time the following season and won the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie in 1951-52, when he scored 30 goals.

He was booed by Montreal fans for winning the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL scoring leader in 1955, but cheered for winning it again 1961, when he was also named the league's most valuable player.

That season, he became only the second player in NHL history after teammate Maurice (Rocket) Richard to score 50 goals in a season.

Richard was at the root of his booing six years earlier.

The Rocket was leading the NHL scoring race - on pace for his first Art Ross, when he was suspended for the final three games of the season and the playoffs for a stick-swinging incident with Boston's Hal Laycoe.

In the following game against Detroit, Montreal Forum fans rioted over the suspension.

Many fans also wanted Geoffrion, who trailed Richard by two points, and Beliveau, who was three points back, to let up so Richard could win the scoring title.

Beliveau said Geoffrion, a ''sensitive guy who was concerned about his public image,'' fretted over the predicament until defenceman Doug Harvey told him: ''We're going for first place, Boom, so there's no question of shooting wide of the net.''

Geoffrion ended the season with 95 points, one more than Richard, who even Boom Boom considered an idol. When he was presented with the Art Ross before the opening playoff game against Boston, the fans booed.

It was not his last disappointment with the Canadiens.

In 1961, he was said to be hurt when his teammates elected Beliveau ahead of him as team captain.

And after two final seasons marked by knee injuries, Geoffrion was asked by owner David Molson to retire and accept a two-year stint as coach of the Canadiens top farm club, the Quebec Aces.

After guiding the Aces to pair of first-place finishes, he was told there was no room as coach in Montreal because the legendary Toe Blake was still running the team and he was offered a job coaching the Montreal junior Canadiens, which he considered a demotion.

Geoffrion said later he suspected the coaching jobs were a ruse to get him out of the way so they could bring up junior sensation Yvan Cournoyer. He opted to return as a player with the Rangers.

After two seasons, New York boss Emile Francis named him coach, but he had barely got into the job when his ulcers forced him into surgery.

He got another chance at coaching in 1972 with the expansion Flames and led them into the playoffs in only their second year of existence in 1973-74. But the following season, health problems led to his removal after only 52 games.

''Boom Boom was an incredible man who meant a great deal to me and I'm fortunate to have called him a friend and mentor,'' said Atlanta Thrashers coach Bob Hartley. ''I'm sincerely honored to be a part of the same coaching fraternity and to follow his lead as an NHL head coach in Atlanta.

''We lost a very special person today.''

Geoffrion finally got the coaching job he always wanted in 1979 when the Canadiens asked him to replace Scotty Bowman, who left for Buffalo in a huff after being refused the general manager's job.

His son, Danny, played for Montreal that season, but Geoffrion lasted only 30 games and 100 days on the job, stepping down over what he called interference from management. Blake was still with the team as a vice-president and Claude Ruel, who replaced him, was also with the team.

Danny Geoffrion went to the Winnipeg Jets the following year and retired in 1984 after playing in Japan.

Finally, Geoffrion returned to Atlanta with his wife, Marlene, who is the daughter of former Canadiens great Howie Morenz. They had three children.

And at long last, well after teammates like Richard, Beliveau and Harvey had their numbers retired, the Canadiens announced in October that Geoffrion's jersey would be raised to the rafters.

But he never lost his attachment to the Canadiens.

''I wish things would have been different, but I have no regrets,'' he said in 2003. ''I got to play for my favourite team. I got to play with my boyhood hero, the Rocket. I had some success and the team had some great success.''

[Toe]

It's easy to say that if you didn't watch the Olympics, but Aebischer is a big game player. He's a guy who can step it up and get it done. Theo is damaged goods.

Ahh, see I didn't know that. All I had to go with was his stats from this season which aren't that much better than Theo. Apparently according to the Gazette this is the first time in 40 years that a Quebecoise isn't one of the goalies for the Habs. I'm going to go look around and see if that's true, I find it a bit hard to believe that from 1965-66 to now there was never a span with a non Quebec goalie.

Edited March 11, 2006 by desiredtoe

[prime time]

QUOTE(Basha @ 11th Mar 2006, 11:11 am)

QUOTE(SeanDMan @ 10th Mar 2006, 11:42 pm)

It's easy to say that if you didn't watch the Olympics, but Aebischer is a big game player. He's a guy who can step it up and get it done. Theo is damaged goods.

Ahh, see I didn't know that. All I had to go with was his stats from this season which aren't that much better than Theo. Apparently according to the Gazette this is the first time in 40 years that a Quebecoise isn't one of the goalies for the Habs. I'm going to go look around and see if that's true, I find it a bit hard to believe that from 1965-66 to now there was never a span with a non Quebec goalie.

Was Jeff Hackett a Quebecoise?

I just checked TSN, and no. Hackett was from London. So boo urns to the Gazette.

[Toe]

Isn't Huet a french canadian?

[NobBe Nobbs]

Wait, London Ontario, or the good London?

[prime time]

Huet is from France

[SeanDMan]

Correct, Heut is from France.

As for the hip check... a lot of people think it's cheap because it's body on knee, but most of the times it's only body on knee if a player tries to jump out of the way. One thing people are always taught when they play hockey is to keep your head up and take your licks. If you see a hit coming, don't turn away... Eric Cole, write that one down. If you see the hip coming, stride around, brace yourself, stop short, but don't try and jump around or over it. Sidney Crosby, Ilya Kovalchuk, you will be tested later.

For the most part, I'm fine with the hip check... BUT in this game, it was a bad idea. Earlier in the game Chris Niel dropped Petr Bondra with a vicious elbow as he trying to get off the ice. There was really no need for it and it seemed very random, but no doubt it got the guys on the Atlanta bench testy since he was right there trying to change at the time. And I mean, you add a forearm to the face on Bondra and Kovalchuk taking one below the belt (even if it's his own fault) and you can understand how Atlanta could be angsty. I'm just amazed Larsen only got two minutes... that was pretty blatent.

I almost wonder though if Spezza is going for the record of most spears absorbed in a season.

[Clawson]

Honestly in all the times I've played hockey nobody got a spear unless they really pissed off the other team. So Spezza must be a damn good trash talker.

[The Sultan of Swank]

Boom Boom's Birthday is the day after mine. Sad day for hockey, especially on a night when his jersey was to be retired. There was a really nice ceremony for it.

The Habs didn't let him down though. Gaining a 1-0 shutout over the Rangers and the biggest suprise of the night to me was Begin going neck and neck with Jagr in a footrace than swiping the puck off his stick.

Montreal played a solid first two than were awake for maybe a combined 5 minutes in the third. Solid game by Huet and New York's goalie was making some incredible saves.

Montreal now moves into 7th, and this is the only, ONLY time that I will say this, but thanks to Toronto winning against Tampa Bay Montreal moves to within 3 points of Jersey who also lost tonight.

With Montreal trying to solidify a playoff spot in what is a great race for the last few spots(sure, I say that now while we're still in the thick of it) If Montreal can keep 7th or even take 6th I wouldn't mind Toronto taking the last spot if only to see that every Canadian team, even incompetant ones like the Leafs get into the playoffs.

[Toe]

I always cheer for all the Canadian teams to make it into the playoffs at this point in time. Usually, not all of the teams even have a chance, but this year all of our teams are competitive.

Toronto won tonight, and has to win a good majority of the games remaining to make it into the playoffs. I don't see Montreal, Tampa or any of the other teams fighting dropping off huge, so I think if Toronto wants in, they are going to have to take the spot. Oh, and Allison got two goals. TWO goals. So Sean Burke must have had a really, really, really, really, really, really off night.

Edited March 12, 2006 by desiredtoe

[prime time]

All of his nights recently have been off nights. He doesn't appear to have a lot of confidence. On the Stajan goald he was so deap in his net that where ever Stajan shot it, it would have gone in. That's a sign of lack of confidence. I didn't see any of the other goals.f With that being said, Stajan made a phenomenal play to get into position to score the goal, so I'll give him credit where credit is due. For some reason, he has always been one of the few players on that team who I like.

Edited March 12, 2006 by prime time

[Clawson]

That's because Stajan=God.

If the Leafs are going to make the playoffs it's going to be because Tampa Bay is sucking almost as much dick as them right now.

[NobBe Nobbs]

That's because Stajan=God.

If the Leafs are going to make the playoffs it's going to be because Tampa Bay is sucking almost as much dick as them right now.