The NHL has released the Three Stars for last week, and it will surprise absolutely no one to see Connor McDavid on the top. The Edmonton Oilers captain scored ten points in three games including an incredible six-point game against the Colorado Avalanche. McDavid is on pace to score 149 points this season.
Speaking of the Colorado Avalanche, Nathan MacKinnon takes home the second star after his own excellent week with seven points in three games. Keith Yandle took the third spot after posting eight points and now sits sixth among all NHL defensemen in scoring.
- The AHL has suspended Chicago Blackhawks prospect Dennis Gilbert for two games after an interference incident on Saturday night. Gilbert is still looking for his first point at any level this season after going scoreless through seven AHL games and three NHL games.
- Matt Calvert has been sent back to Colorado and is out indefinitely after taking a puck to the head over the weekend. Calvert’s injury was the subject of much discussion in the hockey world after the officials did not blow the whistle even with him bleeding profusely on the ice. The Denver Post’s Mike Chambers reports that Logan O’Connor has been recalled from the AHL Eagles, likely indicating that Calvert is headed for a stint on the injured reserve.
COL vs VAN – yet another example of referee incompetence not understanding that an injured player, who is bleeding profusely, absolutely constitutes DISTRESS. WHISTLE THE DAMN PLAY ALREADY! Those SOBs need to be suspended a minimum of 30 days without pay. Can you imagine if they had pulled that garbage on Clint Malarchuk??? He’d have died on the ice.
Clint Malarchuk was squirting profusely and the net had been taken off its moorings. Max Calvert slid awkwardly into a block that went off what looked like the back of the helmet or shoulder and put the officials in an awkward spot. There wasn’t even a drop of blood on the ice once he was skated off. I am an anti Canucks fan being a fan of a team in the pacific, but this was not close to being a comparable situation. Yes, the play probably should have been called, but players have embellished injuries off shot blocks in the past to get whistles. Even Petty was looking for a call as he saw where the puck hit, but for officials on the outside its not something they can just call immediately in a critical time of the game. If there was any blood i am sure the whistle would have blown. But as things stood… it didnt appear as a critical injury so play goes on. If the whistle blew right away and he skated off people would criticize the league for being too soft and to go back to how it was back in 89 when Malarchuk suffered the cut.
I was listening to SN650 when this happened. Both Batch & Hirschy noted bleeding almost immediately. The clips show him trying to get up to get off the ice, but he can’t. Yes, the SN650 guys noted that Petey was looking for the play to be stopped too (clearly shown in some of the vid clips). While it’s true that every time a guy gets hit in the face or head area is not a potential fatal event, this situation absolutely constitutes “distress.” Most fans are in agreement that this was yet another black eye for NHL officiating for not getting it right. As it stands now the idea of “player safety” with the league office is another lawsuit waiting to happen. Here are just three links I just looked at to see if it was overstated:
link to twitter.com
link to twitter.com
link to twitter.com