There are a few things I was pretty sure we could count on as hockey fans: Kyle Wellwood fat jokes continuing to be funny, despite the fact that he’s actually quite fit. Vesa Toskala being the default setting for all comically bad goaltending jokes, despite the fact that he’s…no, no nevermind, he actually is quite bad. And I thought Olli Jokinen being somewhat of a goofy-lookin’ overpaid guy was a lock too.

Not that long ago, he seemed en route to playing himself out of the...

Don't worry. I can fix everything.

Ralph Nader is the last person I expected to hear from in the NHL fighting debate. Politics and consumer protection are more in Nader’s wheelhouse, but the activist apparently also has an interest in sports. He started a project called the League of Fans back in 2001 and a post on their website details his activism in the world of sports dating back to 1977.

The project’s stated goal is to “encourage social &...

Every year there are players that flat out underachieve. They are the players that fans (and pissed off fantasy players) had high hopes for going into the season, but for different reasons have just…sucked. When these players don’t put up numbers, everyone gets in their shots. Fans and media alike will jump on every opportunity to point out how bad they are playing. I am no different (it’s kind of my job), but I also give credit when...

Tomorrow afternoon the NHL is going to go ahead and make it official: the 2013 Winter Classic will be played between the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs at the University of Michigan’s “Big House.” But that’s not all. There’s also going to be a second press conference from Comerica Park, which will also be involved in the festivities.

The only thing that will actually be at The Big House will be The Big Game (the actual Winter...

After the recent chaos that Tim Thomas heaped on himself by choosing to not attend The White House with the rest of his Boston Bruins teammates, one assumed he’d be avoiding anything that would make him the center of attention for awhile.

He didn’t help his cause in the wake of the incident by not defending his decision to not attend (instead choosing to post a single Facebook status and act like it never happened), but still…the circus was starting slowly leaving town.

He’s been...

Welcome to a Wednesday edition of the Backhand Shelf Podcast!

Wednesday Wednesday means Pizzo and I discussed a little gambling, as well as…

* Should goalie interference calls be reviewable?

* Owen Nolan retired as a San Jose Shark yesterday  – did he meet the expectations of a #1 pick?

* We look at the next 20 years of #1 picks – who met expectations, who failed to?

* Claude Julien would not like to answer your reasonable questions.

* Does...

Alexei Cherepanov of KHL Omsk Avangard died suddenly during a game in 2008 at the age of nineteen.

A sadly familiar scene played out this week near Ottawa when 15-year-old Tyler Kerr collapsed during a hockey game and later died. He had just returned to the bench after a shift when he lost consciousness, and was quickly tended to by coaches and volunteer firefighters. They did CPR, used an AED (automated external defibrillator) to deliver shocks, and he was...

The New York Rangers have been in battle for first place in the NHL for a big chunk of the season and even with last night’s loss, they are still just a point back.  The last time they finished first in the NHL was way back in 1994. It was their second President’s Trophy in 3 years and they went on to win the Stanley Cup and end a 54 year drought. This year’s team is battling for first place...

Above: Not the save captured on video below

We’ve already profiled one epic save from earlier tonight, but I think this one may have it beat in a battle of goalies from Quebec. Roberto Luongo, getting the start in Nashville, came up with an absolute desperation gem and left Colin Wilson in a rather grumpy mood for his effort.

In this clip, a jam play by David Legwand leads to a scramble in the slot with Nashville on the...

This is a pretty big game, no?

It’s been a while, and I may tattoo myself to remember to do this more often, but here are my picks for tonight’s NHL games – many of which will be crucial when we look back at how things shook out down the stretch come April. In two tweets, I relayed my score line predictions:

Today’s NHL Game predictions: NYR 3 – NJ 1; PHI 2 – NYI 1; FLA 4 – WAS...

I realize not everyone has DVR so they may not be able to catch all three of these games, and that’s all good. But if you’re going to watch a game, I suggest picking one of these.

When the all-star break ends, the playoff push begins. Because of that, the three games you should watch tonight are….

Who: The Florida Panthers vs. the Washington Capitals

Where: Washington DC (TV: FS-F, CSN-MA)

When: 7 PM EST

Why you should watch: If you’ve...

If you’re someone who uses your weekend to, y’know, actually “do stuff,” then you may have missed some of the best highlights from the weekend that was.

And hey, if you’re someone who prefers to “do nothing” and stay in (which is fantastic in itself), then maybe you just want to see the best highlights over again.

Either way, here you go: the best hit, fight, save and goal from the weekend.

After getting the starting nod in six straight games, it’s become obvious that the Edmonton Oilers are giving Devan Dubnyk his chance to be an NHL starter.

Paul Brothers from theScore caught up with him to talk about his masks the other day, and he was kind enough to give us a tour of those and explain why he chose the looks he did.

With inspiration from Bill Ranford and Freddy Brathwaite, we present Face Paint with Devan Dubnyk.

I apologize for the amount of Systems Analyst posts that have been Leafs-or-Caps-centric, but hey, they just keep getting involved in goals with noticeable breakdowns.

Last night was another one of those times, as the Leafs poured in six on the hapless Oilers defense. We could’ve gone over a number of the goals from last night, but this one was the best example of defense gone wrong (and offense gone right).

First, take a look at the goal:

As you...

theScore’s video team was inspired by Ilya Kovalchuk knocking Brayden Schenn to his knees this weekend, and because of that, savages like myself were given a gift. For whatever reason, I find fights between offensive-minded point-getters endlessly entertaining.

This is the Top 10 NHL Non-Fighter Fights – Gretzky’s “fight” didn’t quite crack the list because, y’know, it was relatively awful. But the rest of these…not too shabby for guys whose hands are best used to do something else.

Starting at 10 and...

Did I write about Kovalchuk just so I could use this picture of him with a silly expression on his face? Maybe.

When the New Jersey Devils traded for Ilya Kovalchuk in 2010, I must confess that I scoffed. I had an image in my head of who Kovalchuk was – an elite goalscorer with no concept of or interest in the defensive zone – that completely clashed with the ethos of the Devils, a team that has been built...

Two teams in the NHL this year are definitely proving that there is no place like home. Unfortunately, they are also proving that Willie Nelson’s “On the road again” is a song that they absolutely hate. The two teams I am talking about are the Detroit Red Wings and the St Louis Blues. Both teams have been almost unbeatable on their home ice, both have less than stellar records on the road, and they are separated by just...

Lindy Ruff, after getting accidentally leg-swept by Leopold. Explanation within.

While Systems Analyst, The Whiteboard and Beerability have entrenched themselves as steady features on Backhand Shelf (on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday respectively), I’ve yet to lock down a fun Monday feature. Thus, a new one is born.

For those of you who weren’t able to catch all the news from the weekend that was, and want to get back on top of things for the week ahead (especially before the night’s games), I give you One-touch passes:...

College hockey fans are to hockey what hockey fans are to other sports.

They feel slighted, like some niche group that isn’t worthy.

They feel like people think all good NHL players come from major junior, and gosh darnit, if they’d just pay attention, they’d see how great their niche is. Because of that, they’re quick to bring up the alma mater of every NHL player who’s worth their salt.

After a Sabres’ goal: “That Tomas Vanek was a University...

Today on the Backhand Shelf Podcast, Pizzo and I discussed the Ilya Kovalchuk/Braydon Schenn fight (and other superstar fights of the past), Scott Gomez and the one year anniversary of his last goal, the Philadelphia Flyers being unable to beat the New York Rangers, our favourite teams to watch play, our current NHL power rankings, and we catch up with Jackie Redmond for a few “off the beaten path” type stories.

You can listen to it here:

Left to right: Kevin Bieksa, Roberto Luongo, Mason Raymond, all members of the Vancouver Canucks' "scapegoat trio". (Credit to Canucks blogger @ArtemChubarov for that term)

Something funny happened in Denver Saturday afternoon. Vancouver’s Kevin Bieksa, after playing one of his worst games of the season against the Colorado Avalanche, made a diving save off an empty net attempt with his team down 2-1 with under a minute to go before recovering a curious bounce from an Erik Johnson clearing attempt...

I consider myself a fan of all sports; football, basketball, baseball, I love watching them all. But in the end it always comes back to hockey. It’s just the way my brain is wired, regardless of the sport I am watching, I am always trying to think of the hockey equivalent. I did just that yesterday during the Super Bowl. So many story lines, means there HAS to be some hockey parallels.

Giants become first team to win Super Bowl...