A tale of two goalies (Ben Bishop and Daren Pang)

Ran into my little buddy @BenBishop30 before they hit the ice this morning in TB. #Padsbiggerthanme pic.twitter.com/hRPoyHhBXF
— Darren R Pang (@Panger40) November 4, 2013

Former Maine goalie "Big" Ben Bishop is 6'7" tall, that's a very tall goalie. Daren Pang is 5'5" tall, and he's very short goaltender. I once met Panger when I was working the check point at the GFK airport after World Juniors in 2005, he's really not a very big man.

Are goalie fights a thing of the past?

Apparently, after Philadelphia Flyer's goalie Ray Emery fought Washington Capital’s goalie Braden Holtby last Friday night in Philadelphia, goalies fights could now be a thing of the past. You have got to be kidding me?!? This is what happens when we have an incident and then we have an over reaction. So, when Patrick Roy fought Chris Osgood, no one seemed to care.

League sources tell me #NHL will discuss 10-game suspension for goalies leaving their zone to fight much like player leaving bench rule #bn
— gary lawless (@garylawless) November 4, 2013

Goalies Ray Emery and Braden Holtby fight (Video)

While the game between SCSU and UND was on going on last night, my twitter feed blew up with this game and incident. Nothing beats a good ole fashion Donnybrook in my opinion.That being said, Emery might be getting a call from the department of player safety for this one.

This is one thing about the sport of hockey, when the score gets out of hand you had better tighten the chin strap and keep you head on a swivel. Some say that Flyers goalie Ray Emery had no business skating down the ice and challenging Washington Capitals goalie Braden Holtby to a fight. They’re probably right.

Canada's 2013-14 National Men's Team Orientation Camp Roster

Former Fighting Sioux forward Jonathan Toews  has made the team Canada Orientation Camp Roster. Also, three Boston Bruins Milan Lucic, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand have made the roster as well. Team Canada's camp will be on 25-28 August, 2013. 

Goaltenders
Corey Crawford	L/G	6'2"	208	12/31/84	Montreal, Que.	Chicago Blackhawks(NHL)
Braden Holtby	L/G	6'2"	203	09/16/89	Lloydminster, Sask.	Washington Capitals (NHL)
*#Roberto Luongo	L/G	6'3"	217	04/04/79	Montreal, Que.	Vancouver Canucks (NHL)
Carey Price	L/G	6'3"	209	08/16/87	Anahim Lake, B.C.	Montreal Canadiens (NHL)
Mike Smith	L/G	6'4"	215	03/22/82	Kingston, Ont.	Phoenix Coyotes (NHL)
Defense
Karl Alzner	L/G	6'3"	217	09/24/88	Burnaby, B.C.	Washington Capitals (NHL)
#Jay Bouwmeester	L/G	6'4"	212	09/27/83	Edmonton, Alta.	St. Louis Blues (NHL)
*Dan Boyle	R/D	5'11"	190	07/12/76	Ottawa, Ont.	San Jose Sharks (NHL)
*Drew Doughty	R/D	6'1"	208	12/08/89	London, Ont.	Los Angeles Kings (NHL)
Mike Green	R/D	6'1"	207	10/12/85	Calgary, Alta.	Washington Capitals (NHL)
Dan Hamhuis	L/G	6'1"	209	12/13/82	Smithers, B.C.	Vancouver Canucks (NHL)
Travis Hamonic	R/D	6'1"	206	08/16/90	St. Malo, Man.	New York Islanders (NHL)
*Duncan Keith	L/G	6'1"	200	07/16/83	Penticton, B.C.	Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)
Kristopher Letang	R/D	6'0"	201	04/24/87	Ste-Julie, Que.	Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Marc Methot	L/G	6'3"	231	06/21/85	Ottawa, Ont.	Ottawa Senators (NHL)
Dion Phaneuf	L/G	6'3"	214	04/10/85	Edmonton, Alta.	Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL)
Alex Pietrangelo	R/D	6'3"	201	01/18/90	King City, Ont.	St. Louis Blues (NHL)
*Brent Seabrook	R/D	6'3"	221	04/20/85	Tsawwassen, B.C.	Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)
Marc Staal	L/G	6'4"	207	01/13/87	Thunder Bay, Ont.	New York Rangers (NHL)
PK Subban	R/D	6'0"	216	05/13/89	Toronto, Ont.	Montreal Canadiens (NHL)
Marc-Édouard Vlasic	L/G	6'1"	205	03/30/87	Montreal, Que.	San Jose Sharks (NHL)
*Shea Weber	R/D	6'4"	233	08/14/85	Sicamous, B.C.	Nashville Predators (NHL)
Forwards
*Patrice Bergeron	R/D	6'2"	194	07/24/85	Sillery, Que.	Boston Bruins (NHL)
Jeff Carter	R/D	6'4"	210	01/01/85	London, Ont.	Los Angeles Kings (NHL)
Logan Couture	L/G	6'1"	200	03/28/89	London, Ont.	San Jose Sharks (NHL)
*Sidney Crosby	L/G	5'11"	200	08/07/87	Cole Harbour, N.S.	Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Matt Duchene	L/G	5'11"	200	01/16/91	Haliburton, Ont.	Colorado Avalanche (NHL)
Jordan Eberle	R/D	5'10"	184	05/15/90	Regina, Sask.	Edmonton Oilers (NHL)
*Ryan Getzlaf	R/D	6'4"	221	05/10/85	Regina, Sask.	Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
Claude Giroux	R/D	5'11"	172	01/12/88	Ottawa, Ont.	Philadelphia Flyers (NHL)
Taylor Hall	L/G	6'1"	194	11/14/91	Kingston, Ont.	Edmonton Oilers (NHL)
Chris Kunitz	L/G	6'0"	193	09/26/79	Regina, Sask.	Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Andrew Ladd	L/G	6'2"	205	12/12/85	Maple Ridge, B.C.	Winnipeg Jets (NHL)
Milan Lucic	L/G	6'4"	220	06/07/88	Vancouver, B.C.	Boston Bruins (NHL)
Brad Marchand	L/G	5'9"	183	05/11/88	Hammonds Plains, N.S.	Boston Bruins (NHL)
*#Rick Nash	L/G	6'4"	213	06/16/84	Brampton, Ont.	New York Rangers (NHL)
James Neal	L/G	6'2"	208	09/03/87	Whitby, Ont.	Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
*Corey Perry	R/D	6'3"	210	05/16/85	Peterborough, Ont.	Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
*Michael Richards	L/G	5'11"	200	02/11/85	Kenora, Ont.	Los Angeles Kings (NHL)
Patrick Sharp	R/D	6'1"	199	12/27/81	Thunder Bay, Ont.	Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)
*#Eric Staal	L/G	6'4"	205	10/29/84	Thunder Bay, Ont.	Carolina Hurricanes (NHL)
Jordan Staal	L/G	6'4"	220	09/10/88	Thunder Bay, Ont.	Carolina Hurricanes (NHL)
#Martin St. Louis	R/D	5'9"	185	06/18/75	Laval, Que.	Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL)
Steven Stamkos	R/D	6'0"	190	02/07/90	Unionville, Ont.	Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL)
John Tavares	L/G	6'0"	199	09/20/90	Oakville, Ont.	New York Islanders (NHL)
*#Joe Thornton	L/G	6'4"	225	07/02/79	St. Thomas, Ont.	San Jose Sharks (NHL)
*Jonathan Toews	L/G	6'2"	210	04/29/88	Winnipeg, Man.	Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)

More hating on Timmy Thomas?

First off, if you cover hockey or watched it for more than a minute you will know that goalie are weird ducks. You have to be odd to stand in front of a rubber disk that is going 85-95 miles an hour. Like my buddies kid said once, there is no team in goalie but there is a big friggen "I"... In other words, goalies are basically in their own worlds and the game starts with and revolves around them. Think about it - a lot of times when things are going bad, goalies are the ones that the fans focus their attention on and a lot of times they get blamed when their favorite team's loses.

Of course there are some in the Boston Media that have hung on ever word that Tim Thomas has said this season, the Facebook posts brought some unneeded attention his way and you can tell by reading some of the articles in the Boston Media that there are some that want to run Timmy him out of town.

Then there were the references to the rest of the Bruins team as “they” at least five times during his postgame interview. If one were a conspiracy theorist it sounds like there is a clear separation of State and Tim Thomas going on.

"What it says about our guys is that they’re battlers and they’re still champions," he said. "They gave everything they had to the bitter end. Unfortunately this is sports and they fell short this time."

The remarks were consistent with Thomas' tendency to paint himself as an individual. [Joe Haggerty, CSNNE.COM]

Thomas would not be the first professional athlete to feel the wrath in Boston, it's a tough city to play in for professional athletes if you catch the ire of the fans, just ask Bill Buckner and Bob Stanley of the 1986 Red Sox, it's not quite as bad as Montreal but it up there.

‘Capitals GWG shouldn't have counted’ - per Kerry Fraser

When I watched the Washington Capitals score the game winning goal I thought that the refs blew that call and while the officials can't review that goal, the rules should be tweaked to allow a review. I thought there was some interference on Thomas by Mike Knuble. According to Veteran NHL Officials Kerry Frasier that goal shouldn't have counted.

Last night in Boston reality struck when the series ended with a Game 7 overtime goal that was manufactured by Mike Knuble in another example of goalkeeper interference. After taking a backhand shot from close in that Tim Thomas saved Knuble continued on his path entering deep into the goal crease and made sufficient physical contact with the Bruins goalie to knock him off his set position and back toward the goal line. The undetected rebound was shot past Thomas as he attempted to pull his head out of Knuble's midsection and right arm.

It would defy logic to maintain that rule 69, as it is written, was not sufficiently violated for the referee to disallow this goal.

Rule 69.1 — "Interference on the Goalkeeper...Goals should be disallowed only if: (1) an attacking player, either by his positioning or by contact, impairs the goalkeeper's ability to move freely within his crease or defend his goal; or (2) an attacking player initiates intentional or deliberate contact with a goalkeeper, inside or outside of his goal crease.

"The overriding rationale of this rule is that a goalkeeper should have the ability to move freely within his goal crease without being hindered by the actions of an attacking player. If an attacking player enters the goal crease and, by his actions, impairs the goalkeeper's ability to defend his goal, and a goal is scored, the goal will be disallowed."
[Kerry Fraiser TSN]

Related articles

• Should Officials Have Disallowed Joel Ward's Game-Winning Goal Due to Goalie Interference?
• Ward OT hero for Capitals
• Ward's OT goal gives Caps Game 7 win over Bruins

Alexander Ovechkin elbows Patrice Bergeron in the head

The Washington Capitals star forward Alexander Ovechkin's is known for playing on the edge and there is nothing wrong with that. Unfortunately, Ovechkin is also know for his questionable and sometimes dirty hits and in today's game Ovechkin was able to connect with a sneaky dirty elbow on  Patrice Bergeron's head.

Edit: If you go back and watch this video, you will see that Ovechkin hit Bergeron twice in the head.

Ovechkin's elbow caused Bergeron to miss most of the third period. With his previous concussion history, one has to wonder if Bergeron is suffering from another concussion. Don't expect the league to look at the Ovechkin elbow on Bergeron because Ovechkin is a star player.

Just for the record Alexander Ovechkin is a repeat offender and he has been suspended three times by the National Hockey League for hits that were deemed dangerous.

Related articles

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• Caps Practice Recap: Michal Neuvirth Returns In Back-up Role
• Pratfall alert: Alex Ovechkin falls backwards over the boards (VIDEO)
• Bergeron With Gresh & Zo: 'Doesn't Really Matter Who You're Put Out There With'

Niklas Backstrom cross check on Peverley

The Washington Captials "could" be without one of their best players because of this unnecessary and dirty cross check by Niklas Backstrom on Boston Bruins forward Richard Peverley at the end of tonight's game. Backstrom received a match penalty at the end of the game tonight for this cross-check. It will be interesting to see what kind of supplemental discipline that Backstrom receives.  [Box Score]

Based on how erratic Brendan Shanahan has been in his ruling during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, I would be surprised if Backstrom receives any punishment, mainly because of his star status. I predict that if there is any punishment it will be the maximum 2,500 dollar fine.