[27-JAN-2017] #OviWatch, etc. etc.

This week on #OviWatch...

Our Hero now has 23 goals in 49 GP this season, scoring his 23rd last night against the New Jersey Devils. That was his 548th career goal, tying him with Michael Goulet. 

Goulet was born on April 21st 1960 in Péribonka, Quebec, Canada; he was drafted 20th overall in 1979 by the Quebec Nordiques, and played for the Nordiques, until he was traded to the the Chicago Blackhawks during the 1988-89 season. A severe concussion ended his career during the 1993-94 season. Goulet now works as a scout for the Calgary Flames. In 1996 and 2001, he was Director of Player Personnel for the Colorado Avalanche when they won the Stanley Cup. His #16 was retired by the Nordiques on March 16, 1995, one year to the day after his concussion. 

Ron Francis - One of the 100 Greatest Players in NHL History

Ron Francis, with 549 goals, is next in line at #27. Born on March 1st 1963, he was drafted 4th overall by the Hartford Whalers in 1981, and played for the Whalers (1981-1991), Penguins (1991-1997), Hurricanes (1998-2003), and ended his career after 12 games with the the Maple Leafs after the 2003-04 season. He announced his retirement on September 14, 2005. 

In the all-time NHL regular season games played list, Francis sits at #3, with 1,731 games played in his career (only Gordie Howe, with 1,767, and Mark Messier, with 1,756, have more). Jaromir Jagr, with 1,679 games played, needs to play the remaining 32 games this season and 20 more next season to tie him. He won two Stanley Cups, both with the Penguins (1991 and 1992), was the NHL Plus-Minus award-winner and was awarded the Frank J. Selke Trophy in 1995; the Lady Byng Trophy in 1995, 1998, and 2002; and the King Clancy Memorial Trophy in 2002. He was inducted in to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2006, he became the Carolina Hurricanes' Director of Player Development, and now serves as the Executive Vice President and General Manager of the team. He lives in Raleigh with his wife, Mary Lou; their daughter, Kaitlyn; and their two sons, Michael and Connor. 

#20.....Mark Recchi..........577 G..........1652 GP

#21.....Mike Bossy...........573 G...........752 GP

#22.....Mats Sundin..........564 G..........1346 GP

#23.....Joe Nieuwendyk.......564 G..........1257 GP

#24.....Mike Modano..........561 G..........1499 GP

#25.....Guy Lafleur..........560 G..........1126 GP

#26.....John Bucyk...........556 G..........1540 GP

#27.....Ron Francis..........549 G..........1731 GP

#28.....Alex Ovechkin........548 G...........888 GP

#28.....Michel Goulet........548 G..........1089 GP

#30.....Maurice Richard......544 G...........978 GP

#31.....Stan Mikita..........541 G..........1394 GP

#32.....Keith Tkachuk........538 G..........1201 GP

#TrotzWatch

Head Coach Barry Trotz has a record of 691-533-60 in 1409 games played. This puts him 7th on the list.

1. Scotty Bowman.........1244 wins in 2141 games
2. Joel Quenneville.......831 wins in 1508 games
3. Al Arbour..............782 wins in 1607 games
4. Ken Hitchcock..........781 wins in 1453 games
5. Lindy Ruff.............722 wins in 1461 games
6. Dick Irvin.............692 wins in 1449 games
7. Barry Trotz............691 wins in 1409 games

8. Pat Quinn..............684 wins in 1400 games

#HoltBEASTWatch

Our HoltBEAST has 6 shutouts, in sole possession of the #1 shutout record in the league for the 2016-17 season today. S/T to NHL.com for the imagery. He is also in second place in Goals Against average (1.96, tied with Jimmy Howard), 3rd place for svae percentage (.930), and fifth place for wins (24). 

#BackyWatch

Nick Backstrom has 34 assists, tying  him for second in the league. Yep, that's right, he's in second place in the LEAGUE. Connor McDavid has 42 for first, and Backy is tied with Patrick Kane. 

[11-JAN-2017] #NickyWatch and other milestones - He did it too!

On January 7th against the Ottawa Senators, Nicklas Bäckström scored his 500th assist, on a game-winning goal scored by TJ Oshie in a 1-0 blanking of the Senators that would mark goaltender Braden Holtby's second consecutive shutout. 

S/T to Ben Raby (@BenRaby31) who Tweeted:

That, by the way, is combined. 

The #HoltBEAST's shutout streak would continue for 169:12, a career best mark. 

Meanwhile, in #TrotzWatch:

Head Coach Barry Trotz has tied Pat Quinn on the all-time wins list at #8 with 684 wins.

1. Scotty Bowman.........1244 wins in 2141 games
2. Joel Quenneville.......828 wins in 1997 games
3. Al Arbour..............782 wins in 1607 games
4. Ken Hitchcock..........776 wins in 1445 games
5. Lindy Ruff.............719 wins in 1453 games
6. Dick Irvin.............692 wins in 1449 games
7. Pat Quinn..............684 wins in 1400 games
8. Barry Trotz............684 wins in 1400 games

interesting that he has a near-exact tie with Quinn, who has 1556 points to Trotz's 1552. Tonight, Trotz has the chance to pass Quinn and start gunning for Irvin. It will be the Caps' 7th win in a row if they pull it off. 

The NHL record is 17 wins in a row; the Caps shut down the Columbus Blue Jackets at 16... and the Pens are on a 5-game streak of their own. Something breaks tonight... 

[11-JAN-2017] #OviWatch - HE DID IT!

Our Hero, the Gr8 Alex Ovechkin, has tied Maurice "the Rocket" Richard at 544 goals. He accomplished this feat, in Montreal on Monday, January 9th in a 4-1 victory against Les Habitants, in their home barn, Centre Bell. 

Tonight, the Caps face the Pittsburgh Penguins and their streaking Captain, Sidney Crosby (26G, 18A this season) at the Verizon Center. Pittsburgh's #87 has been cast as Ovi's arch nemesis - or, rather, Ovi has been cast as his - since the pair first played against each other in the NHL, and yet, it does not seem fair to either of them to pit a playmaking center against a sniper who plays left wing; the comparisons seem to be apples and oranges, to anyone who understands how the game is played.

This, unfortunately, does not stop NBC and Pierre Maguire (dubbed the Craig's List Dildo) from making the comparison every chance they get. Looks like I'll be "watching" the game with John Walton and the Caps' radio feed tonight.

Three NHL players are poised to break 1000 points this season; Ovi, unless something drastically bad happens, should be the first of the class. Standing at 999 points going into tonight's game, he is sixth among active players in points scored. The top ten (among active players), from NHL.com, are:

01. Jaromir Jagr..........1893 points in 1671 games
02. Joe Thornton..........1367 points in 1408 games
03. Jarome Iginla.........1284 points in 1513 games
04. Marian Hossa..........1114 points in 1274 games
05. Patrick Marleau.......1055 points in 1452 games
06. Alex Ovechkin..........999 points in  879 games
07. Henrik Sedin...........996 points in 1209 games
08. Sidney Crosby..........982 points in  740 games
09. Daniel Sedin...........965 points in 1186 games
10. Shane Doan.............956 points in 1506 games

Shane Doan, with 11 points in 40 games this season, is unlikely to break the 1000-point line this season; Daniel Sedin, with 23 points in 43 games might. Crosby is almost certain to join the club, as is Henrik Sedin, but Ovi will hopefully be the first of them. 

If Crosby gets there first, the Penguins fans and NBC will be insufferable.

They might all shut up if the Caps win the cup this year.

After all, the Cubs won the World Series... anything is possible! 

[09-Jan-2016] #OviWatch

With 543 career goals, Alex Ovechkin is one goal short of tying the late, great, Maurice "Rocket" Richard for 29th on the all-time goal-scorer's list. If he accomplishes this tonight, in Montreal, he will do it in 99 fewer games than it took Richard to accomplish his 544 goals. 

Maurice Richard was born August 4, 1921 in Montreal, Quebec. He played 18 seasons for his hometown Habs, and after the 1943-44 season, wore uniform #9 to match the birth weight of his daughter, Huguette Richard. 

A series of injuries kept Richard from serving in the Canadian military during the Second World War, and forced him to change his skating style to compensate for a deformed left ankle, the result of a break that had not properly healed. 

Richard was the first NHL player to score 50 goals in 50 games, a feat unmatched until the 1980-81 season, when Mike Bossy (21st all-time) would duplicate it. The trophy for most goals in a regular season is named for Maurice Richard; Ovi has the distinction of winning that trophy six times, including the last four seasons in a row. 

Maurice Richard passed away on May 27, 2000 at the age of 78. He was honored with a state funeral. 

Maurice Richard - One of the 100 Greatest Players in NHL History

#20.....Mark Recchi..........577 G..........1652 GP

#21.....Mike Bossy...........573 G...........752 GP

#22.....Mats Sundin..........564 G..........1346 GP

#23.....Joe Nieuwendyk.......564 G..........1257 GP

#24.....Mike Modano..........561 G..........1499 GP

#25.....Guy Lafleur..........560 G..........1126 GP

#26.....John Bucyk...........556 G..........1540 GP

#27.....Ron Francis..........549 G..........1731 GP

#28.....Michel Goulet........548 G..........1089 GP

#29.....Maurice Richard......544 G...........978 GP

#30.....Alex Ovechkin........543 G...........878 GP

#31.....Stan Mikita..........541 G..........1394 GP

#32.....Keith Tkachuk........538 G..........1201 GP

[28-DEC-2016] #NickyWatch and other milestones...

Nicklas Bäckström is three assists shy of hitting the 500-career-assist milestone.

Alex Ovechkin is eight points shy of hitting the 1000-career-point milestone.

While it might be fitting for them to hit their big milestone together, I'd like to see Bäckström hit his sooner than that... unless Ovi has a really big game! 

Karl Alzner has played in 491 consecutive regular season games, nine games shy of joining the 500 club. If he plays in all 82 games this season, his streak will hit 540 games, and he will join a group of 23 other players who have played in 500 or more consecutive games. The consecutive games record is held by Doug Jarvis, who played in 964 consecutive games from the start of his career, and is one of only four in that elite club of players to break the 500 mark to do so in that fashion. (Alzner's career began with a back-and-forth to Hershey, so he will not be in that group, but if he remains healthy, he will join the 500 club this season.

Let's go, Caps!!!

[28-DEC-2016] #TrotzWatch

#01...Scotty Bowman...............1244 W...2141 GC
#02...Joel Quenneville.............823 W...1494 GC
#03...Al Arbour....................782 W...1607 GC
#04...Ken Hitchcock................775 W...1439 GC
#05...Lindy Ruff...................717 W...1447 GC
#06...Dick Irvin...................692 W...1449 GC
#07...Pat Qunnn....................684 W...1400 GC
#08...Barry Trotz..................678 W...1393 GC
#09...Mike Keenan..................672 W...1386 GC

Head Coach Barry Trotz has won 678 games of the 1393 games he coached, putting him firmly in the #8 slot all-time. With another seven wins, he will top Pat Quinn.

Pat Quinn coached several seasons in the NHL, for:

• Philadelphia (1978-1982)
• Los Angeles (1984-1987) 
• Vancouver (1990-1996)
• Toronto (1998-2005)
• Edmonton (2009-2010)

He passed away November 23, 2014 after a long illness, having been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on the 17th of that month. Quinn coached two teams - the 1979-80 Flyers and the 1993-94 Canucks - to the Stanley Cup finals; neither team won the coveted trophy. He coached Team Canada to an Olympic gold medal at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City; in 2004, his Team Canada won the World Cup of Hockey with a record of 6-0. As a player for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Quinn leveled Bobby Orr in the 1969 playoffs against the Boston Bruins, starting a bench-clearing brawl. A left-shot defenseman, he played in 606 career games, scored 18 goals, and 113 assists, and spent 950 minutes in the penalty box.

[28-DEC-2016] #OviWatch

#20.....Mark Recchi..........577 G..........1652 GP

#21.....Mike Bossy...........573 G...........752 GP

#22.....Mats Sundin..........564 G..........1346 GP

#23.....Joe Nieuwendyk.......564 G..........1257 GP

#24.....Mike Modano..........561 G..........1499 GP

#25.....Guy Lafleur..........560 G..........1126 GP

#26.....John Bucyk...........556 G..........1540 GP

#27.....Ron Francis..........549 G..........1731 GP

#28.....Michel Goulet........548 G..........1089 GP

#29.....Maurice Richard......544 G...........978 GP

#30.....Alex Ovechkin........541 G...........872 GP

#31.....Stan Mikita..........541 G..........1394 GP

#32.....Keith Tkachuk........538 G..........1201 GP

Ovi's 16th goal of the season came last night in a 4-3 loss to the New York Islanders, but it propels the Great 8 into 30th place all-time (tied with Stan Mikita). The holidays prevented me from updating in the last month or so, but here we go.

Stan Mikita was considered the best centerman of the 1960s when he played for the Chicago Black Hawks. Elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983, Mikita's NHL career began in the 1958-59 season when he played 3 games for the Black Hawks. His career would span until the 1979-80 season, when he played in 17 games and scored 2 goals, to bring his total to 541 goals in 1394 games played. 

Mikita played in nine NHL All-Star games; he won the Hart Memorial Trophy, Art Ross Trophy, and Lady Byng Trophy twice, in 1966-67 and again in 1967-68, becoming the only NHL player to do so. In his career, Mikita played in 155 playoff games, scoring 59 goals and 91 assists, missing the playoffs only four times in his career - 1958-59, 1968-69, 1978-79, and 1979-80. Interestingly, his misses came a decade apart until the last. 

Mikita retired during the 1979-80 season due to chronic back problems. In January 2015, the Chicago Tribune released a statement indicating Mikita was suffering from suspected Demetia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and in June of that year, it was revealed that he had no memory of his life as a hockey player, and was being cared for by his wife. DLB is a progressive disease, and has no cure; it has not been linked with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, but may have genetic ties to the PARK11 gene, which is also associated with Parkinson's disease (which DLB is often misdiagnosed as, in early stages).