Nitzy's Hockey Den

Maple Leafs goaltender Jonathan Bernier is not used to this. This, being facing an inordinate number of shots each and every game. In his 40 games this season, Bernier has faced over 30 shots an amazing 27 times, or 67.5% of the time. In his 62 games played with the Los Angeles Kings prior to this season he faced over 30 shots a mere 12 times or 19.4%. He's literally had THREE TIMES as many high shot games as he had before being traded. In addition to that, he has had 10 games this year of facing 40-plus shots while prior to this campaign he had ONE game in 62. While with L.A., Bernier actually did quite well when he faced over 30 shots. Although his record was only 6-5-1 in those games, his Save Percentage was .932. This year with the Leafs, his record when facing over 30 shots is a splendid 16-8-3 and his Save Pct., once again is at .932. As a contrast, his 13 games facing 30 or under shots this season, Bernier's record is 3-7-2 (1 no decision) with a Save Pct. of .897....

These are actual cards from my collection that were issued for various Winter Olympic games either as souvenirs or as premiums in cigarette packages. The rear of these two cards are translated; "The magnificent Olympic ice skating rink, the tribunes are filled every day until the last seat is the battleground exciting hockey games." "Hockey at Garmisch winter sun, or shade Games at the Olympic Ice Stadium. A picturesque scene of the fighting around the hard rubber disc to play bare ice surface." Built in 106 days for the 1936 Olympics, the Olympia-Kunsteisstadion opened on Dec. 16, 1934. With a seating capacity for 10,000 spectators, the arena was rebuilt for the 1940 Winter Olympics which were cancelled due to World War II. It officially re-opened in 1948 and in 1964 the stadium was enclosed with a roof. In the early 1990's it was overhauled again and is used to this day as the home of SC Riessersee of the German send division hockey leagu...

These are actual cards from my collection that were issued for various Winter Olympic games either as souvenirs or as premiums in cigarette packages. The rear of this card is translated; "Great Britain beat Canada and thus became Olympic champion in ice hockey tournament" And here they are, pictured in the beautiful outdoor scenery of Garmisch-Partinkirchen, Germany, the Olympic gold medalist Great Britain hockey club. The Brits, with only one player (their leading scorer Gerry Davey) who was born in Canada did however have 9 of their 13 players raised in Canada and 11 of the 13 had previously played there. Nevertheless, on a late third period goal by Edgar 'Chirp' Brenchley the Brits beat Canada 2-1 in the preliminary round. As was the custom at outdoor tournaments in those days (due to the unpredictability of weather), this result was carried forward once the final four medal round participants were determined. Thusly, Canada would not have an opportuni...

                                         Phil Kessel is a streaky scorer. That seems to be the consensus among hockey observers. He certainly does seem to collect points in bunches, but is really  that  inconsistent of a point producer? Does he go long stretches without getting points? I decided to have a look at how he compares to the rest of the top players in the league in this regard. Firstly, what is it exactly that I'm looking for? I figured I would look for slumps in Kessel's production over the last three years and see if he has any more or less dry spells compared to others. How can we quantitatively define a slump though? Well, on most hockey broadcasts a player who has a point in at least three straight games is considered to be on a streak, therefore in my opinion a player who goes three games  without  a point would be considered to be in a slump...

These are actual cards from my collection that were issued for various Winter Olympic games either as souvenirs or as premiums in cigarette packages. The rear of this card is translated; "So stormed Canada ... Latvia was the object found: 11:0 was the result of the game in the Olympic hockey tournament" February 7, 1936 was the date that Canada beat Latvia 11-0 in their first game of the Olympic games  at Garmisch-Partinkirchen, Germany. The Latvian goaltender seen sprawling here is Roberts Lapainis who allowed 18 goals in his two losses at the Olympics. The Canadian skaters are difficult to identify but the player in the middle attempting to dig the puck from the goalie definitely has a "1" of a two-digit number just creeping over his left shoulder. An educated guess names him as Ralph St.Germain a left shooting Right-Winger who would score 10 points in 4 games at the Olympics. 

These are actual cards from my collection that were issued for various Winter Olympic games either as souvenirs or as premiums in cigarette packages. The rear of this card is translated; "Germany's young ice hockey team did not have much to order in Oslo. They were not trained well and was only the 8th Place, respectively. The picture shows a scene in front of the Finnish Gate, Germany in the attack. Finland won 5-1." This game took place ohm February 22, 1952 at Oslo, Norway. The Finnish goalkeeper pictured was named Unto Wiitala and he won two and lost two during the 1952 Olympics while posting a GAA of 6.00. His other victory was a 5-2 win over host Norway. In addition to this Olympics, Wiitala represented Finland at five World Championship events.  The Finnish player #13 in front of the net is Aarne Honkavaara a Centre who played domestically for Ilves Tampere. He collected 2 goals and 2 assists in the '52 Games. The #3 German battling for the puck ...

These are actual cards from my collection that were issued for various Winter Olympic games either as souvenirs or as premiums in cigarette packages. I love the stance on the goaltender in this photo, a fair bit unorthodox. The rear of this card is translated; "Winter Olympics: From the Ice Hockey match between Germany and Poland: Before the gate of the German". I assume that is referring to "in front of the German net". Germany played Poland twice in the double round-robin, four team tournament at Lake Placid in 1932. They won 2-1 then 4-1 to secure the Bronze medal. The German goaltender pictured is 6'4" Walter Leinweber who played every minute for the Germans in 1932 posting a GAA of 4.50 Canada, represented by the Winnipeg Hockey Club captured the gold medal. They would beat Poland by scores of 9-0 and 10-0 and beat Leinweber and the Germans by scores of 4-1 and 5-0.