My idea that Alex Goupil is a carbon copy of Coach as a player (albeit less violent) got some reaffirmation today when Goupil lost it after missing a pass in practice today. He's definitely a feisty guy.
Apparently I missed someone destroying a panel of glass with a shot before practice; hopefully that will get taken care of before the game on Thursday.
The guys mostly worked on the power play today, and for a very long time. Some of them were clearly frustrated coming off the ice, but Ruskowski is confident they can get things together soon enough with a few more minor changes.
Meanwhile, in honor of Election Day, I'd like to share this photo, courtesy of Puck Daddy:
I think we know who I'd vote for in that scenario. Speaking of them, I wish I could have seen this, and I hope the new jerseys the team is unveiling tomorrow don't disappoint. The Pens are No. 10 in Ross McKeon's power rankings for the first month, but their upcoming schedule is a bit kinder travel-wise, so hopefully they'll settle down soon.
In a bit more serious NHL news, New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur is going to miss three-four months after having surgery on his left elbow. When a hockey story is in the top three on Yahoo! Sports and ESPN.com, you know it's a big deal, and that is certainly a big blow to the Devils. Kevin Weekes didn't look half bad in last night's 2-0 loss to the Buffalo Sabres, but who knows how long he can keep it up...or if New Jersey will even give him the chance to try.
Back in the CHL, the league announced the second "Performance of the Week" winner, giving the Odessa Jackalopes their second honor of the week as their four goals in less than three minutes of their 9-2 win over the New Mexico Scorpions won the voting just a day after Alexandre Vincent was named Goaltender of the Week.
This week's nominees are: Colorado Eagles netminder Andrew Penner making 47 saves in the Eagles’ 3-2 road win over the then-undefeated Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs on Thursday; Amarillo Gorillas winger Sam Ftorek scoring an overtime goal to give the Gorillas their first win of the season, a 2-1 victory over the Texas Brahmas the same night; Killer Bees goalie Wylie Rogers’ 53-save performance in Rio’s 2-1 win over the Odessa Jackalopes on Friday; the Mississippi RiverKings ending the Colorado Eagles eight-game win streak with a 6-2 victory on Saturday; Scorpions center Chris Robertson scoring a hat trick in New Mexico’s 6-3 win over the Rocky Mountain Rage in Broomfield that night.
As always, you can vote here. If Scorpions fans are nearly as persistent this time as they were last time one of their players was nominated, I'd say you can expect Robertson to win. For right now, though, the more deserving Rogers is in the top spot.
In other CHL news, Officiating Supervisor Ray Scapinello will officially be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame next Monday. Fittingly, there is a nice story about him on NHL.com.
The CHL is off again tonight, while in the NHL, the New York Rangers will host the New York Islanders (which will be shown live on Yahoo! if anyone cares to watch), the Carolina Hurricanes are at the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Washington Capitals (with Alexander Ovechkin back in the lineup) are at the Ottawa Senators, the Nashville Predators are at the Vancouver Canucks, the Phoenix Coyotes are at the Calgary Flames, the Anaheim Ducks are the Los Angeles Kings and the Minnesota Wild are at the San Jose Sharks.
I guess that's about all for now, but I'll be sure to post as soon as anything becomes official with any more moves and while I'm writing my preview tomorrow for Thursday's game.
UPDATE: How silly of me to post that right before the NHL All-Star ballot was announced. Voting opens Nov. 12; we'll see if this year's online voting is as easy to deal with as the MLB one, which facilitated me voting about 200 times...
NHL Scores: Islanders 2, Rangers 1; Hurricanes 5, Maple Leafs 4 (OT); Senators 2, Capitals 1 (OT); Canucks 4, Predators 0; Coyotes 4, Flames 2; Ducks 1, Kings 0 (OT); Sharks 3, Wild 1.
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