12th Edition: 5+GAME

5+Game with Danny Boome 02 /11/09

5+ Game with Danny Boome is the new Article and Blog for Powerplay magazine.  The article will cover the 5 main events of the week – games, trades, players, coaches – and anything else that affects the NHL community.

12th Edition: 5+Game

Danny Boome

09/11/09

The Hurricanes are in the eye of the storm, hockey greats take their place in the Hall of Fame, rocky times are ahead for the NHLPA and the Blue Jackets and Swine Flu hit the East and West of the league – it can only be this week’s 5+GAME!

Hurricanes are getting blown away: The Carolina Hurricanes don’t even resemble the team that has played the last 5 seasons.  With little confidence and even less offense, a quick look at NHL stats paints an ugly picture for this veteran group expected to contend for the Eastern Conference title.  In addition to being 29th in points, the Canes are last in goals per game (2.08), penalty minutes per game (21.5) after leading the league in fewest minutes last season, second-period goals allowed (20), second lowest in face-off percentage and third lowest in the NHL in 5-on-5 scoring.  To make matters worse, star goal tender Cam Ward was hospitalized over the weekend after suffering a laceration to his left upper leg from the skate of Columbus forward Rick Nash.  Nash was passing through the crease during the first period of Carolina’s 3-2 loss to the Blue Jackets on Saturday night.  Ward was expected to return to Raleigh on Sunday, but will remain in Columbus through tonight to guard against infection.

OUCH!!!

Hall of Fame Induction: This weekend saw the start of the 2009 Hall of Fame Inductions in Toronto, including hockey greats Brett Hull, Brian Leetch, Lou Lamoriello, Luc Robitaille and Steve Yzerman.  Brett and Bobby Hull are the only father-and-son combination to play in the NHL and be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Father and Son double act

NHLPA has to get it back on track: CBC Sports Elliotte Friedman made this insight into the ongoing turmoil of the NHLPA: “The NHLPA has disintegrated into an embarrassing and scary case of fratricidal warfare.  Embarrassing, because what you have now is one union brother against another.  Laughable, because the players have made it abundantly clear their only strength is on the ice.  Off it, they can’t make a decent, three-foot pass.  When a union is split into factions, it’s little more than putty in the owners’ hands.”

Blue Jackets are looking for a savior: Columbus Blue Jackets are entering a situation that is becoming increasingly familiar throughout the league.  They are the latest club experiencing financial difficulties with an ownership group looking to shed their responsibilities by either selling or taking bankruptcy.  Souring rental costs, high taxes and only breaking even with their profit share from the league, it looks that the Columbus franchise could face the same problems that Phoenix, Nashville and Tampa have in the past 18 months.  Watch closely as this develops – we could be sending another vote of no confidence to Gary Bettman’s business model.

H1N1 spreading through the league: At last count there were 7 players on the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames who have been struck down with the dreaded swine flu!  And that was just this week’s count – players from both the Boston Bruins and the New York Islanders have also been sidelined in recent weeks.

GAME

GAME ON: Two wins in a row and the Toronto Maple Leafs are off the bottom of the league!  Winning the battle of the basement against Carolina (3-2) and then steam rolling the Detroit Red Wings 5-1, the Leafs may be making a turn back on track.

WHOS GOT GAME: Columbus has won 3 of 3, Philadelphia 4 of 4 and New Jersey has very quietly won 5 of 5.  On form and dangerous, I would keep an eye on the Devils – yet another club proving you can’t judge a book by its cover.

WHOS NOT GOT GAME: Carolina is 0-6.  With Cam Ward out for 3-4 weeks and top goal scorer Eric Staal not producing, how will the Canes stop the slide?

LESS WOO , MORE WIN?

GAME OF THE WEEK: Was San Jose’s 5-0 whopping of Pittsburgh the 2010 Stanley Cup Final preview or just a bad night for the Pens? One thing is for sure, the Sharks rose to the challenge!

WHAT GAME ARE YOU PLAYING @? What is with all of this team protection malarkey?  Why can’t a good clean hit go by without a fight?  The rules of the game used to be: head down = fair hit.  A good fair hit is now answered with an opposing player jumping you and it’s getting a little boring.  Also, how on earth did Sean Avery get a penalty for getting speared by a Vancouver player while sitting on the bench?  See things get out of control on this weeks video blog.

WHO WHAT WHERE…..LET ME AT’EM!! LET ME AT’EM!!!

Check out this week’s Video Clips and News in the 5+Game Blog on www.dannyboome.tv

The information statistics and subject matter of articles is sourced from the official NHL web site NHL.com and it’s archives. The Hockey News.com, Yahoo Sports.com and ESPN.com. Research and quotations can at times come from other independent associated press.