The race for The Rocket

Sidney Crosby with 47, and Alex Ovechkin and Steven Stamkos tied with 46 are in heated battle for the Rocket Richard Trophy and the 50 goal plateau. A three-way tie for the goal lead is extremely possible. In 2003/04 Jarome Iginla, Ilya Kovalcuk and Rick Nash finished tied with a mere 41 goals. It will be far more impressive if we have a three-way tie of 50 goals or more. The last time (and only time) that happened was 1979/80.
This is one of my favourite trivia questions, who were the three players to tie for goal lead in Gretzky's rookie year? Of course it was Blaine Stoughton, Danny Gare and Charlie Simmer with 56 each.

As for which of the three leaders this season has the best remaining schedule....it's a tough call who has the edge. Pittsburgh plays the Islanders and Atlanta twice each and once against Ovie's Caps. Crosby has 3 goals each versus the Isles and Caps but none so far in two games with Atlanta.
Washington has one extra game remaining with two as well against Atlanta (I don't like the Thrashers chances of sneaking into the playoffs), two against Boston and one each with the Pens and Columbus. Against these four teams, Ovechkin has 11 goals in 11 games this season.
Tampa Bay has two left with Florida and one each with Ottawa, Carolina and the Rangers. Versus these teams, Stamkos has 7 goals in 15 games including zero in five against the 'Canes this season.
My money would be on Sid the Kid holding off the other two, and hopefully all three can break through the 50 goal barrier.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WHA Ottawa Civics, The Two Week Franchise

Image
Tom Earl, Daryl Maggs, Mark Lomenda, Gary MacGregor, Garry Swain "Please let the fans make up their own minds," Henry Feller told a press gathering. "Let them decide if they want pro hockey here. We have to average 7,000 or 8,000 in the remaining 19 home games for a break-even point." Feller was a director of the Founders Club who had interest in buying the WHA's Denver Spurs club. Ivan Mullinex, owner of the Spurs had brought his team to Ottawa in an attempt to drum up interest and save his investment. The date was January 2, 1976 and Mullinex was in debt to a Denver bank to the tune of $1 million dollars. This same day, the newly christened Civics lost their first game under the new moniker by a score of 2-1 at Cincinnati. Star of the team, Ralph Backstrom said after the game, "Our first official notice of the move hit us when we entered the Cincinnati rink and the names on the big scoreboard read: Stingers and Civics. Until that moment we were un
Read more

Team Canada 1972, What Might have Been

Image
Guy Lafleur, if he had played in the 72 Summit Series "No way. Can you imagine what our fans would say if we allowed Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito to play for Canada in that series and either...suffered an injury that might prevent them from playing with us for a year or more?" This was the concern of Weston Adams Jr, president of the Boston Bruins as quoted on April 20, 1972. After being speculated and discussed since February 1972 at the Olympics in Sapporo Japan, the series was set to go. Early on however, controversy stirred as to who exactly would be representing Canada. Bruins GM, Milt Schmidt agreed with his boss saying, "My only interest would be to see the Russians play the Bruins for the world championship...or whatever team wins the Stanley Cup." In the Vancouver Sun a few days later, the legendary Jim Coleman responds to the American naysayers suggesting that Team Canada should be made up strictly of players from Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal
Read more

Ron Hextall and the stolen Conn Smythe Trophy

Image
Ron Hextall did not deserve the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1987....there, I said it. I recently caught game seven of the '87 finals on ESPN Classic, where the Oilers beat the Flyers 3-1. Hextall was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy to the disdain and boos of the Northlands Coliseum. Hextall was (and remains) the fourth player to win the trophy in a losing cause. Even as a teenager following these playoffs as they happened, I thought this was an injustice. Upon further inspection, I believe he only won because he was a rookie, and was the "sexy" pick as opposed to the proper pick. When looking at his numbers, it's hard to figure why he won. Hextall finished with 15 wins, 11 losses and a GAA of 2.77. Oilers, Grant Fuhr went 14 and 5 with an average of 2.46. I realize that stats cannot tell the whole story, but even if we dig further the award doesn't seem justified. His .908 Save Pct was the same as Fuhr's and tied for third behind Ken Wregget and Kelly Hrudey. Also,
Read more