So You Think You Can Fight Chara...???

((HT: Deadspin/NHL on NBC))

The Detroit Red Wings Brendan Smith thought he wanted to...

But this happened... thanks to the 7-inch height advantage...


Dumb idea...

Just dumb...

Just How Frustrated Are The Bruins In Game 1...???

((HT: NBCSN/NHL))

Just ask Danny DeKeyser after getting this from Milan Lucic


The only thought the HQ had was this, though...


"Low Bridge!"

Winter Classic Looks Cool, Sets Records

((HT: NHL on NBC))

When 106,000 people start tailgating at 9:30 in the morning for the Detroit-Toronto game, you know it has the shot to be something really special and really cool...

This was...


While seeing a toque on Jonathan Bernier is quite funny, but more out of necessity, it's still a riot...

Here's the Sportsnet version...

So, the HQ firmly believes the league is in a dangerous place... making sure that the Winter Classic is preserved as its special event, but not overdoing the damn thing- like Dodger Stadium this year...

SAVE OF THE YEAR!!! (And We're Not Doing This For Hyperbole)

((HT: Vine via @TheRoar_24/FS1))

Dion Phaneuf gets absolutely ROBBED!!!


There was no other way to put it...

Absolute hijacking...
it kept the game tied after 40 minutes...

Panthers Replace Broken Plexiglass With Plywood

((HT: NHL))

The HQ doesn't know how to read this one, but there are plenty of jokes here...

The whole concept of having broken plexiglass is to replace it with more plexiglass...

So, what do the Panthers do...???
It's either sad or typical of their whole situation...


Not that they couldn't send the fans who would have to look around the plywood to different seats- which the HQ is fairly certain are quite available...

But...

C'mon...

Plywood... really...???

Mike Smith Adds Name To Goalie Goal-Scoring List

((HT: FS Arizona/NHL))

Pop quiz, rookie...

There's a second left in the game... what do you do...???

SHOOT!!!!!


Only 11 goaltenders are on the list now, but it has happened three times in the last three years now...

Not Quite The Dirtiest Hockey Hit Ever, But...

((HT: FS Detroit/NHL/Puck Daddy))

Now, we have Cody McLeod driving Niklas Kronwall into the boards...


Third time this week, if you include the KHL hit we just posted...

And that's not a good thing...

Here's the Colorado point of view, thanks to Kukla's Korner...
((HT: Sportsnet))

DEVELOPING: Blackhawks Advance Despite Steven Walkom

((HT: Fred Murtz/NHL on NBCSN))

Brent Seabrook's goal 3-plus minutes into overtime sends the Chicago Blackhawks into the Western Conference finals to play the 5th seed Los Angeles Kings.

It was the first Game 7 overtime in 806 career match-ups and it almost didn't get there but for the intervention of Steven Walkom late in the third period. Everyone thought the Niklas Hjalmarsson goal was that...

But it wasn't one... even if it was...


Game 1 is Saturday night... Seabrook's goal goes off the stick of Niklas Kronwall before handcuffing Jimmy Howard...

And that will do...
For now...

And, Now Your Game 7 National Anthem...

((HT: NHL on NBCSN))

The task at the Madhouse every home game is to drown out the singer of the National Anthem, Jim Cornelison...
The task was the same at the Stadium with Wayne Messmer at the mic...

There is no singing along, just noise upon noise...

Here's how it was before tonight's Game 7 (which amplifies it even more) with the Blackhawks and Detroit...


And that's why the HQ loves this time of year...

Hawks Make It 22 With SO Win

((HT: NHL on NBC))

It always takes a different guy to make sure your team makes a run to a title...

Sometimes, it's a star... sometimes it's a guy off the end of the bench, sometimes it's someone who just showed up for a key moment when everyone thought all hope was lost...

This time for the Chicago Blackhawks, it was the first one...

Patrick Kane made it happen in the third so the team could go 19-0-3 to start the 2013 NHL season after taking out Detroit in the shootout...

Evidence below...

Now we wait...
Again...

HOCKEY: Tootoo and Boll scrap after just three seconds

COLUMBUS - There are a lot of hockey fans that go to games just to see the fights. Well, those fans at the Columbus Blue Jackets' home opener Monday  night had to wait just three seconds for what they wanted.

Columbus enforcer Jared Boll and new Detroit Red Wing Jordin Tootoo dropped gloves immediately after the face-off, trading blows in front of a delirious Blue Jacket crowd.

“When (Tootoo) is on the ice, he’s got a job to do. You just want to make sure he doesn’t run around and knows that this is our rink. That’s my job," Boll told the Columbus Dispatch after the game. “They obviously wanted to get momentum, and we wanted to get momentum. There was a huge crowd tonight, and I wanted to get (the fans) into it right away.”

Check out the video of the fight...Boll definitely got the best of Tootoo...


The Red Wings were looking to the former Nashville Predator Tootoo to create a spark, after losing their season opener 6-1 to the St. Louis Blues.

The final result: the Blue Jackets lost 4-3 in a four-round shootout before a standing-room-only crowd of 19,206 in Nationwide Arena. I guess Boll won the fight, but Tootoo and the Red Wings won the war...

DEVELOPING: NHL Set To Cancel Winter Classic...

((HT: Sportsnet))

According to Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos and his Twitter feed, the NHL is going to choke its golden goose and cancel the Winter Classic- scheduled for the Big House in Ann Arbor, Michigan on New Year's Day as well as associated events at Comerica Park...

Sources saying sponsors r being notified the #NHL Winter classic gm' will be cancelled. An official announcement coming as early as 2pm est

The crowd expected for the game was expected to surpass all attendance records for a hockey event...

The HQ would LOVE to see how the league is going to explain this one off the books...
And the HQ would like to congratulate all parties involved on their mangling of the labor issue and the associative Pee-Ahr nightmare...

More when we know more...

An Interesting First Night Of NHL Playoffs (UPDATED: Helm In Surgery, Shea Weber)

((HT: NHL/NBCSN/CNBC))

First off, Pittsburgh gave up a 3-0 lead to Philly before losing in OT on a Jake Voracek goal...

Second, Nashville-Detroit will probably go the distance. But it took the folks at CNBC and the NHL until late in the second period to lift the blackout in the southeastern parts of the US- since the promise was, after all, for the Peacock's family of networks to show every game.

Which is cool...

But it was a long night for the Red Wings...
First, Darren Helm got his wrist inadvertantly slashed and had to be sent to a local hospital...

Here's the play...


But, more importantly, Wings head coach Mike Babcock might be hearing from the league office after this exchange with Brian Engblom...
((HT: PuckDaddy))


What the HQ figured it would do is let you know about all the cool traditions that the best post-season has...

Here's FOSG Sarah Spain in Chicago...
((HT: espnW))


2315 UPDATE: Helene St. James from the Detroit Free Press has a Darren Helm update through her Twitter Feed...

Babcock says Helm in hospital, undergoing surgery on forearm. Doesn't know if any tendons cut.

Also, Predators defenseman Shea Weber spiked Henrik Zetterberg's head at the end of regulation... only there was no turnbuckle, just plexiglass...


Will Weber get a phone call from Brendan Shanahan...???

Henrik Zetterberg Channels Peter Forsberg

It was a little drag show for Z last night in the Red Wings-Coyotes game...
((HT: NHL/FSDetroit/youtube))


It was good enough for Jimmy Howard's 100th win in net for the winged wheels...

And that'll do it for you...

Here's the original...from 1994...
((HT: CBS Sports/IOC/youtube))

Wings Brendan Smith Gone For 8

Elbows to the side of the head will do that for you...
((HT: NHL/CSNChicago))


Smith is suspended for the remainder of the preseason and, on top of that, the first five regular-season games for the hit on the side of Chicago Blackhawk Ben Smith's grill earlier this week.

Smith loses $23,648.65 in salary from the suspension.

"It's exactly the hit they are trying to get out of the game," Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville said when the hit initially went down. "It's the blow to the head where it's the first point of contact. It's unfortunate for us but hopefully at the same time the players will adjust."

Fan throws banana peel at black hockey player

((ht: philly.com))

Sigh... There are a lot of things in sports that make you wonder if we live in the 21st century or back in the 1950's.

And this is one of them.

Thursday night in London, Ontario (Canada), a fan at the Philadelphia Flyers/Detroit Red Wings exhibition game threw a banana peel on the ice in front of Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds.

Simmonds is black.

It didn't hit Simmonds nor cause any problem on the ice, but it really angered the players and quite a few others at the game.

Witnesses say the peel came from the upper deck of the rink during a shootout as Simmonds was taking his turn shooting.

And it gets worse. According to the Philadelphia Daily-News it wasn't the first attempt at that during the game.

Read the Philly.com story RIGHT HERE

To say this was an "Unfortunate" incident would be completely underselling it. It most certainly is a sad statement about some hockey fans. Hockey is not a sport known for its diversity, though they've made strides over the past few years. The NHL itself tries very hard to be inclusive, hockey is just a tough sell to some demographics.

We'll steer clear of ranting on our thoughts about race and sports. If you know us, you know where we stand. We don't see color and never have. We see people. We certainly don't condone stuff like this and it saddens us as hockey fans to see it. We hope it was an isolated incident and eventually authorities will figure out who the moronic idiot who did it was.

That person should never be allowed the "Privilage" of attending a sports event ever again. And spare me the "As long as they have money" or "If you buy a ticket you can do what you want argument", that doesn't fly here.

Your TV story from MyFoxPhilly.com:

Ugly Incident Unfolds During Flyers Game: MyFoxPHILLY.com