It almost seems like every other week you could watch another 'awards' show.  I have to admit most of them bore me to death and I rarely watch them.  The Grammy's?  Blech.  The Emmy's?  Nah, I'll pass.  The ESPY's?  Lame.  The NHL Award's Show?  Yawn.  Yet there is one awards show I make sure I watch and that is the Academy Awards for Film, better known as the Oscar's.  I'll be honest I am not sure completely why this one doesn't bore me; its basically the same as the rest.  Usually they have a funny emcee; in this year's edition it was the voice of Ted and Family Guy, Seth McFarlane (who I thought did a great job by the way) and then all the glitz and glam that Hollywood has to offer.  I guess I am always in search of a good movie and figure the Oscar's might help me put together a list.  Yet for the first time ever I can say I had a somewhat 'personal' connection to the Oscar's as the short live-action film Curfew won.  One of my former students and tennis players, Andrew Napier was an associate producer in the film.  I have to admit, its was a huge surprise and I'm immensely proud of him.  I am not going to say I got him started or that I inspired his movie career because even as a teenager he was driven like few others are and I cannot take any credit for that.  Just to give you an idea, this student had produced an award-winning documentary before his junior year of high school.  I guess it just shows anyone, that if you follow your dreams you can make it to the top; even in movies and being a kid from a small rural midwestern town who moves to Los Angeles to make his dream come true and now he plays major part of an Oscar-winning film.  Almost sounds like a movie plot doesn't it?  So what does this have to do with hockey?  What if the NHL had more of Oscar night-like awards as opposed to the lame but predictable awards like the Vezina (best goaltender), Norris (best defenseman) etc.  What if it was more like the popular movie website Rottentomatoes.com or the Raspberry Awards?  Where it roasts the players, owners, coaches a bit rather than just patting each other on the back?  So here is my 1st annual NHL Rotten Tomato awards!   Envelopes please...  

Best Diver (Actor) - Alexandre Burrows (Vancouver) - Canucks fans won't like it but Burrows is one of the most overly dramatic players in the league.  His phantom trips and incessant whining does little to endear him to officials or opposing fans.  Yet, he keeps right on diving, because obviously he's good at enough in order to draw a few cheap penalties here and there.  Burrows also was nominated for Best Coward too in case you were curious. 

Worst Coach (Director) - Guy Boucher (Tampa Bay) - The Lightning are too good to have just 19 points.  They have lots of offensive firepower, speed and grit but can't seem to defend a lead to save their lives.  Boucher got lots of kudos at first but the only thing Tampa Bay has been consistent with is that its incredibly inconsistent.  Adam Oates, Todd McLellan, and Todd Richards all breathed a sigh of relief at not winning in this category. 

Worst GM (Producer) - Jay Feaster (Calgary) - I have to admit this one was recently axed Columbus GM's Scott Howson's category to lose from the start, but leave it to Howson to even screw up at being the worst GM in hockey if not all of professional sports.  Only his termination spared him from earning this Rotten Tomato award.  Feaster takes this one for the simple fact he's in such incredible denial.  Instead of taking the opportunities to deal Miikka Kiprusoff and Jarome Iginla and starting a true rebuild he's tried to tidy up a few little pieces around them and then had the audacity to sell it as though the team has 'improved' itself.  Sorry, Jay, only YOU believe that and its time you join Howson.  Now Iginla looks to be way past his prime and ready for the pasture and that once 'hot' commodity may get you a tiny bit of sympathy at the trade deadline instead of the giant piece for a rebuild that it once would have. 

Worst Owner (Executive Producer) - Charles Wong - While I sympathize with him on the arena issue and don't really blame him for taking steps to move the team to the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn in a few years what I don't understand is why don't you just sell the team if you're not interested in fielding a winner.  I like the New York Islanders, I admire their scrappy play most nights but why not give this team a few decent free agents and help this cast of youngsters reach the next level?  You admitted that buying an NHL team was a mistake, ok, we get that but why not change it?  John Tavares, Matt Moulson, Michael Grabner and Mark Streit could use some help and the Islanders have plenty of cap space. 

Last Saturday the Wild went to Calgary and for a good portion of the game sort of went through the motions.  The Flames are not that good of a team and the Wild still had a chance to win despite its lethargic play, will Minnesota have a repeat performance tonight?  You know what they say about sequels...

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Minnesota Wild (8-7-2)  18pts  2nd in the Northwest

2.06 Goals For per game (29th in the NHL)

2.41 Goals Against per game (9th in the NHL)

13.8% Power Play (27th in the NHL)

84.9% Penalty Kill (6th in the NHL)

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #11 Zach Parise ~ 7G 5A = 12pts

2. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 3G 9A = 12pts

3. #15 Dany Heatley ~ 5G 4A = 9pts

4. #7 Matt Cullen ~ 3G 6A = 9pts

5. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 0G 9A = 9pts

Top 3 PIM's:

1. #28 Zenon Konopka ~ 52 PIM's

2. #27 Mike Rupp ~ 22 PIM's

3. #10 Devin Setoguchi ~ 12 PIM's

Top Goaltender(s):

1. #32 Niklas Backstrom (6-5-2)  2.26GAA  .917%SP

2. #35 Darcy Kuemper (1-1-0)  2.02GAA  .933%SP

3. #37 Josh Harding (1-1-0)  2.92GAA  .885%SP  1SO

Vs.

Calgary Flames (7-7-3)  17pts  4th in the Northwest

2.82 Goals For per game (12th in the NHL)

3.29 Goals Against per game (27th in the NHL)

22% Power Play (8th in the NHL)

75% Penalty Kill (27th in the NHL)

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #40 Alex Tanguay ~ 5G 10A = 15pts

2. #12 Jarome Iginla ~ 3G 10A = 13pts

3. #22 Lee Stempniak ~ 5G 7A = 12pts

4. #13 Mike Cammalleri ~ 5G 7A = 12pts

5. #20 Curtis Glencross ~ 7G 4A = 11pts

Top 3 PIM's:

1. #40 Alex Tanguay ~ 14 PIM's

2. #18 Matt Stajan ~ 14 PIM's

3. #12 Jarome Iginla ~ 12 PIM's

Top Goaltender(s):

1. #35 Joey MacDonald (3-2-0)  2.85GAA  .901%SP

2. #34 Miikka Kiprusoff (2-3-2)  3.24GAA  .870%SP

3. #37 Leland Irving (2-1-1)  3.33GAA  .883%SP

4. #41 Danny Taylor (0-1-0)  4.00GAA  .892%SP

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Selective amnesia, its one of those things I come across on a daily basis as an educator, when a student tries to think of a creative way to tell me an assignment hasn't been completed.  "I didn't know it was due" or other forms of selective amnesia.  The stereotypical "my dog ate my homework" is more myth than anything bound in reality.  So what do you call it when you have an NHL player attempt to float a pretty weak excuse?  The player in question is Edmonton's Taylor Hall in his post-game interview after his dirty low hit on the Wild's Cal Clutterbuck.  "The first thing I did was look back to the officials to see if it was a penalty, which it obviously was (guilty right there)  I really didn't feel like it was knee-to-knee at all, I thought I got him with the hip or torso area, it was a weird play.  I don't think it was a dirty play, I don't think I led with my knee."  Really?  Well the National Hockey League certainly was not buying Hall's excuse as they handed the Oilers' star a 2-game suspension.  I will admit, I was surprised that the league gave him 2-games.  With Hall being a star player the league rarely doles out suspensions to high profile players and since he's a 'first time offender' I felt the league would use that to give him to little to no discipline.  I think the suspension was certainly warranted and probably should've been longer if this was a normal-length season.  I thought NHL Director of Player Safety Brendan Shanahan's explanation was fantastic.  Good to see the NHL step up and take a stand, and if you're Taylor Hall you better keep your head on a swivel because I have a feeling there will be more punishment handed down by the Wild.  

Despite the dirty hit Minnesota earned a huge road win over Edmonton so now it will try to re-focus to take on a struggling Calgary Flames squad.  This should be the easier of the two Alberta teams which makes tonight's match up for the Wild a perfect trap game.  The Flames' high scoring attack will hope to overpower the Wild, but Minnesota while being the 2nd worst team in the league in scoring will hope to take advantage of Calgary's porous defense.  Will the Wild manage to earn the Alberta sweep?

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Minnesota Wild (8-6-2)  18pts  2nd in the Northwest

2.12 Goals For per Game (29th in the NHL)

2.38 Goals Against per Game (10th in the NHL)

14.3% Power Play (23rd in the NHL)

84.3% Penalty Kill (7th in the NHL)

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #11 Zach Parise ~ 7G 5A = 12pts

2. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 3G 9A = 12pts

3. #15 Dany Heatley ~ 5G 4A = 9pts

4. #7 Matt Cullen ~ 3G 6A = 9pts

5. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 0G 9A = 9pts

Top 3 PIM's:

1. #28 Zenon Konopka ~ 52 PIM's

2. #10 Devin Setoguchi ~ 12 PIM's

3. #27 Mike Rupp ~ 12 PIM's

Top Goaltender(s):

1. #32 Niklas Backstrom (6-4-2)  2.28GAA  .917%SP

2. #35 Darcy Kuemper (1-1-0)  2.02GAA  .934%SP

3. #37 Josh Harding (1-1-0)  2.92GAA  .885%SP

Vs.

Calgary Flames (5-7-3)  13pts  5th in the Northwest

2.67 Goals For per Game (15th in the NHL)

3.40 Goals Against per Game (28th in the NHL)

24.1% Power Play (6th in the NHL)

73.5% Penalty Kill (29th in the NHL)

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #40 Alex Tanguay ~ 4G 8A = 12pts

2. #13 Mike Cammalleri ~ 4G 7A = 11pts

3. #22 Lee Stempniak ~ 5G 5A = 10pts

4. #24 Jiri Hudler ~ 4G 6A = 10pts

5. #26 Dennis Wideman ~ 3G 7A = 10pts

Top 3 PIM's:

1. #40 Alex Tanguay ~ 14 PIM's

2. #5 Mark Giordano ~ 12 PIM's

3. #15 Tim Jackman ~ 12 PIM's

Top Goaltender(s):

1. #34 Miikka Kiprusoff (2-3-2)  3.24GAA  .870%SP

2. #37 Leland Irving (2-1-1)  3.33GAA  .883%SP

3. #35 Joey MacDonald (1-2-0)  3.09GAA  .893%SP

4. #41 Danny Taylor (0-1-0)  4.00GAA  .892%SP

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You're probably familiar with the old Master Card commercials.  Where the commercial lists various items along with their prices and then at the end it will list something simple and likely non-material and it will simply say "Priceless."  The commercial resonated with people for making that connection between the things people buy and what really cannot be bought but might be far more important.  In this day in age of NHL contracts being more or less public, sometimes you see a writer bring up a player's salary when they relate it back to their production.  For example, if the Wild's team captain Mikko Koivu, does not manage to score a goal for the rest of this season that means the franchise paid Koivu approximately $1,305,000 per goal.  Zach Parise's 7 goals have come at a cost $624,615 per tally.  Obviously that total per goal decreases each time they light the lamp but it certainly puts it into a different perspective.  How much is a nasty body check worth?  Apparently its worth about $8,108.11 according to the National Hockey League after Devin Setoughi's vicious cross check to the grill of Detroit's Kyle Quincey on Sunday.  With the signing if the new CBA, players being fined for the first time can only be a maximum of $10,000 or half of their daily salary during the course of a normal 185-day season according to Minneapolis Star Tribune's Star Tribune.  That means Setoguchi clears $16,216.22 per day!  How does that compare to your salary (if you have one)?   

Now that I've likely made you feel as though you are poor, let's talk about wealth shall we?  One team that has a wealth of young talent is the Edmonton Oilers, who have benefited from some tremendous fortune in the NHL draft lottery having connected on the 3-peat of 1st Overall selections.  Its great to have young blue-chip talent because for owners not only do you have players that serve as the cornerstone of the franchise in their first few years they are also tremendous bargains.  Using that same formula I used with Parise and Koivu take a look at how much the Oilers pay per goal from some of it star talent.  Jordan Eberle has racked up his 5 goals this season at a fairly affordable $134,366 per tally, while rookie Nail Yakupov has 5 goals of his own at $437,900 apiece.  I am not going to try to say that justifies you spending $8 on your glass of beer or your $6 hot dog but prices seem to be high all over, especially on the ice.  So will the Wild's players make themselves more of a 'bargain' by earning a victory in Edmonton or will the price paid still look pretty steep? 

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Minnesota Wild (7-6-2)  16pts  (2nd in the Northwest)

2.07 Goals For per Game (30th)

2.47 Goals Against per game (10th)

15.1% Power Play (22nd)

84.0% Penalty Kill (9th)

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #11 Zach Parise ~ 7G 5A = 12pts

2. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 3G 9A = 12pts

3. #15 Dany Heatley ~ 5G 4A = 9pts

4. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 0G 8A = 8pts

5. #77 Tom Gilbert ~ 3G 4A = 7pts

Top 3 PIM's:

1. #28 Zenon Konopka ~ 52 PIM's

2. #10 Devin Setoguchi ~ 12 PIM's

3. #27 Mike Rupp ~ 12 PIM's

Top Goaltender(s):

1. #32 Niklas Backstrom (5-4-2)  2.40GAA  .912%SP

2. #35 Darcy Kuemper (1-1-0)  2.02GAA  .934%SP

Vs.

Edmonton Oilers (6-6-3)  15pts  (4th in the Northwest)

2.33 Goals For per Game (25th)

2.67 Goals Against per game (16th)

23.9% Power Play (6th)

87.1% Penalty Kill (4th)

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #89 Sam Gagner ~ 5G 11A = 16pts

2. #4 Taylor Hall ~ 3G 12A = 16pts

3. #14 Jordan Eberle ~ 5G 6A = 11pts

4. #83 Ales Hemsky ~ 7G 3A = 10pts

5. #64 Nail Yakupov ~ 5G 4A = 9pts

Top 3 PIM's:

1. #94 Ryan Smyth ~ 30 PIM's

2. #5 Ladislav Smid ~ 29 PIM's

3. #55 Ben Eager ~ 17 PIM's

Top Goaltender(s):

1. #40 Devan Dubnyk (5-4-3)  2.76GAA  .918%SP

2. #35 Nikolai Khabibulin (1-2-0)  1.91GAA  .940%SP

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Minnesota Wild (6-6-2)  14pts  (3rd in the Northwest)

2.00 Goals For per Game (29th in the NHL)

2.50 Goals Against per Game (11th in the NHL)

21st ranked Power Play (15.7%)

13th ranked Penalty Kill (83%)

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #11 Zach Parise 7G 4A = 11pts

2. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 3G 8A = 11pts

3. #15 Dany Heatley ~ 4G 4A = 8pts

4. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 0G 8A = 8pts

5. #77 Tom Gilbert ~ 3G 4A = 7pts

Top 3 PIM's:

1. #28 Zenon Konopka ~ 52 PIM's

2. #27 Mike Rupp ~ 12 PIM's

3. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 10 PIM's

Top Goaltender(s):

1. #32 Niklas Backstrom (5-4-2)  2.40GAA  .912%SP

2. #37 Josh Harding (1-1-0)  2.92GAA  .885%SP  1 SO

3. #35 Darcy Kuemper (0-1-0)  2.03GAA  .933%SP

Vs.

Detroit Red Wings (7-5-2)  16pts  (4th in the Central)

2.64 Goals For per Game (17th in the NHL)

2.93 Goals Against per Game (20th in the NHL)

24th ranked Power Play (14.5%)

24th ranked Penalty Kill (74.6%)

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #40 Henrik Zetterberg ~ 5G 13A = 18pts

2. #13 Pavel Datsyuk ~ 6G 8A = 14pts

3. #26 Damien Brunner ~ 6G 4A = 10pts

4. #55 Niklas Kronwall ~ 1G 9A = 10pts

5. #93 Johan Franzen ~ 3G 6A = 9pts

Top 3 PIM's:

1. #22 Jordin Tootoo ~ 32 PIM's

2. #93 Johan Franzen ~ 31 PIM's

3. #55 Niklas Kronwall ~ 22 PIM's

Top Goaltender(s):

1. #35 Jimmy Howard (6-5-2)  2.97GAA  .900%SP 

2. #34 Petr Mrazek (1-0-0)  1.00GAA  .963%SP

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Its Hockey Weekend America, a new attempt to celebrate hockey in the United States.  Did that get you excited?  Nope?  Me neither.  In my opinion it doesn't hold a candle to Hockey Day Minnesota which actually has authentic tradition to draw from.  It seems odd to celebrate hockey in February when in many cases the ice has melted or is starting to in most parts of the nation.  Yet on this day, their is an outdoor game being played in Chicago's Soldier Field.  The Hockey City Classic between the Miami (OH) and Notre Dame followed up by the University of Minnesota versus the University of Wisconsin.  I understand the NHL missed out on the Winter Classic due to the lockout so this is the 'alternate' version of that 'spectacle' for the league.  The Wild and many other American teams are going to be playing across the National Hockey League as part of this celebration but I am not sure how many Minnesota fans are in a celebratory mood after an embarrassing shootout loss to Colorado on Thursday night.      

The team's inspirational story Josh Harding has been placed on Injured Reserve until the foreseeable future and the team now has called up Johan Larsson and Jason Zucker.  Detroit comes to town, and while they may appear not to be as sharp as previous Red Wings' teams the Wild's most recent game proves they can be beaten by even the worst, most banged up teams in the league.  Needless to say expectations are pretty low, so will the Wild live up to those lowered expectations or will they give us a surprise by earning a victory?  

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"I'm Henry the eighth I am, Henry the eighth I am, I am, I got married to the widow next door, She's been married seven times before, And every one was an Henry, She wouldn't have a Willy or a Sam, I'm her eighth old man, I'm Henry, Henry the eighth I am.  Second verse same as the first" are the lyrics to the ever-annoying song Henry VIII I am by Herman's Hermits.  So why am I bringing up this song?  A thought struck me as I watching the Wild Live post game show after the Wild's most recent 2-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks.  The Wild have scored just 1 goal in regulation over their last 6 games.  Then after that segment of the show was over with the Wild's promotional commercial went on where the franchise is attempting to sell some very early opinions shared by NHL Network's E. J. Hradek, and NBC Sports Network commentator Keith Jones and Fox Sports Net Detroit's Larry Murphy saying how they like the Wild's offense and feel the team has 'firepower'.  Really?!?!  29th in the NHL in scoring means you have firepower?  Now I am not calling those broadcasters liars, as those quotes were cherrypicked by the Wild's advertising department but obviously the image they want to sell is this team now has some offensive weapons and they're putting up points.  However the truth is as I stated earlier that the Wild are far from being confused for an offensive juggernaut.  But this is nothing new to this franchise, and to quote the song above, "Second verse, same as the first" and the team's scoring woes are just as glaring as ever.  Maybe you'd modify that line in the song to say "Second line, same as the first".  Last season the Wild finished dead last in the league scoring just 2 goals per game; and this season the Wild have actually managed to score even less at 1.92 Goals For per game!  So to say the Wild have firepower is like a little kid telling someone he carries explosives where he carries a box of Whipper Snappers where you'll make a little noise but accomplish little beyond that.  Remember these? 

This box of Whipper Snappers might be more 'explosive' than the Wild's offense

I loved these as a kid.  You'd walk around and throw them on the ground and see if you could surprise someone.  However, back to the analogy does the Wild's offense really seem to surprise anyone anymore?  The Wild's top 3 scorers have been held off the scoresheet for the last 4 games.  So dare I say it, and that a box of Whipper Snappers might actually be more 'explosive' than the Wild's offense?  At least the box of Whipper Snappers make a little noise. 

Luckily for the Wild they are going against the team with the 28th best offense in the NHL with a scant 2.09 goals for per game.  You might be working your way up to a Black Cat level now, so it will be the Whipper Snappers versus the almost Black Cats.  Which team will make more noise Thursday night? 

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Minnesota Wild (6-6-1)  13pts  (2nd in the Northwest)

1.92 Goals For per game (29th in the NHL)

2.46 Goals Against per game (9th in the NHL)

21st ranked Power Play (16%)

7th ranked Penalty Kill (84.4%)

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #11 Zach Parise ~ 6G 4A = 10pts

2. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 2G 7A = 9pts

3. #77 Tom Gilbert ~ 3G 4A = 7pts

4. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 0G 7A = 7pts

5. #15 Dany Heatley ~ 4G 2A = 6pts

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #28 Zenon Konopka ~ 50 PIM's

2. #27 Mike Rupp ~ 12 PIM's

3. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 10 PIM's

Top Goaltender(s):

1. #32 Niklas Backstrom (5-4-1)  2.35GAA  .913%SP

2. #37 Josh Harding (1-1-0)  2.92GAA  .885%SP  1SO

3. #35 Darcy Kuemper (0-1-0)  2.03GAA  .933%SP

Vs.

Colorado Avalanche (4-6-1)  9pts  (5th in the Northwest)

2.09 Goals For per game (28th in the NHL)

2.67 Goals Against per game (15th in the NHL)

30th ranked Power Play (8.1%)

19th ranked Penalty Kill (80%)

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #15 P.A. Parenteau ~ 7G 3A = 10pts

2. #9  Matt Duchene ~ 3G 7A = 10pts

3. #7 John Mitchell ~ 4G 3A = 7pts

4. #26 Paul Stastny ~ 3G 3A = 6pts

5. #11 Jamie McGinn ~ 1G 5A = 6pts

Top 3 PIM's:

1. #55 Cody McLeod ~ 37 PIM's

2. #58 Patrick Bordeleau ~ 35 PIM's

3. #3 Ryan O'Byrne ~ 29 PIM's

Top Goaltender(s):

1. #1 Semyon Varlamov (3-6-1)  2.58GAA  .909%SP  1SO

2. #35 Jean-Sebastien Giguere (1-0-0)  2.25GAA  .933%SP

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