Hockey Update

Exciting week for hockey fans, a lot of really good games and Team Canada announced their final roster about a half an hour ago. Scary good team, but I'll get to that later. First, standings:

Eastern Conference:                   Points:
1. Pittsburgh Penguins                   63
2. Boston Bruins                            58
3. Montréal Canadiens                   55
4. Tampa Bay Lightning                54
5. Detroit Red Wings                     48
6. Toronto Maple Leafs                 47
7. Philadelphia Flyers                    46
8. Washington Capitals                  46
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9. Carolina Hurricanes                   45
10. New York Rangers                  45
11. Ottawa Senators                       45
12. New Jersey Devils                   42
13. Columbus Blue Jackets            42
14. Florida Panthers                       38
15. New York Islanders                 37
16. Buffalo Sabres                          28

Western Conference:                   Points:
1. Anaheim Ducks                          67
2. Chicago Blackhawks                  67
3. St. Louis Blues                           63
4. San Jose Sharks                          60
5. Colorado Avalanche                   56
6. Los Angeles Kings                     56
7. Vancouver Canucks                    54
8. Phoenix Coyotes                         49
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9. Minnesota Wild                           49
10. Dallas Stars                                47
11. Winnipeg Jets                            43
12. Nashville Predators                    42
13. Calgary Flames                          36
14. Edmonton Oilers                        33

Notes: Ducks continue to be pesky in the West, and the Blackhawks blew two huge opportunities for points, an OT loss against the Islanders and a shootout lost at home against the Sharks. They look like they're starting to lose their legs and have had some bad turnovers in their own zone. The Capitals have fallen all the way to 8 in the dumpster fire that is the Eastern Conference, and the Islanders are red hot after beating the Bruins and the Blackhawks this week. They're a team to watch in this second half as a possible 8 seed and watch out for the Lightning and the Blues, play great defense and know how to score.

Goals of the Week:
Ryan Johnasen vs. New York Rangers (shootout) 1/6/2014

Dangle city! Johansen just told Lundqvist to take a seat while the big boys play with that one. Basically standing right in front of him dangling the puck in his face then beats him stick side on a backhand. That's like he was just fucking Lundy's wife right in front of him on the ice (no it's not, but I'm too tired to thing of a better simile).

David Desharnais vs. Florida Panthers 1/6/2014

Honestly can't tell if that was a whiff or a fake. If that first shot was a fake then this is nasty. Just a little PEEK-A-BOO courtesy of White Goodman with that one, spins and beats Thomas backhanded. Nasty.

Kyle Okposo vs Chicago Blackhawks 1/2/2014

I was at this game so while it hurt to see my Hawks lose live, this was a sweet goal. Okposo had just gotten snubbed by the US Olympic Team the day before and rips a game winner top shelf to show everyone what he's got. Gotta feel good for the guy, even though I think it's justified that he's not on the US team.

It sucked to show the Hawks losing on a game winner as a goal of the week, so to make up for it here's Patrick Sharp's second hat trick in as many weeks.

Ahh, now I feel better.

In Other News: The Canada Hockey Team was announced today, and let me tell you, they are REALLY good. Luongo in net, Toews, Tavares, Sharp, Crosby, Rick Nash, Duncan Keith, Bergeron, really too many stars to list all of them so you can find the full roster here. Team Canada returns 11 players from their 2010 gold medal team and are definitely the favorites going in to Sochi. These guys are scary good and can really skate, so expect them to be in that Gold Medal game on Feb. 23. About 10 Blackhawks were named to Olympic teams which is awesome but kind of sucks because they are gonna be tired when the NHL playoffs roll around. Only good thing is the Blues have a ton of presence too, so they should hopefully lose some of their legs too.

So there's the halfway point update puckheads. Only a month away from the Olympics and a lot of games to watch this January so enjoy it. Also, shoutout to +Dj Anderson for his Florida State Seminoles winning the 'ship last night. The better team won and hats off to Deej, must be exciting. And to conclude, here's the Blackhawks Ice Girls to get you through your day.