Joe Thornton with the Celly of the year, League news.

So.. In a post game interview, Joe Thornton couldn't help but over hear an interview between Patrick Marleau and a reporter. She asked Marleau, "Do you think Hertl was showboating a bit." To which Thornton epically responded, "Shut up, have you ever played the game? I'd have my cock out if I scored four goals. I'd have my cock out strokin' it." 

Celly level = LEGENDARY. 

I can't believe Thornton actually had the stones to say that to a reporter. Afterwards a few reporters had words with coach Todd McLellen and asked him about what Thornton said to which he responded,"(chuckle) you've never been in an NHL locker room before?" Props to coach for laughing that one off. 

Staying with the Sharks, Vancouver defensemen Alex Edler will miss three games for a controversial hit on Sharks Forward Tomas Hertl. Knew that one was coming.. doesn't surprise me that it comes from a team like Torts' Canucks. Sharks took this one 4-1, even without a contribution from Hertl. The kid had to know it was coming.. so did the rest of the squad. You don't go out there and do that to a team as a rookie, and than expect to be treated like an all-star. Fact: players in the NHL gun for another teams all-stars. Thats why I wasn't that upset about what Adam Oates had to say about the young Czech forward.  Kinda surprised Edler didn't get more for this but either way.. here's the hit in case you missed it: 

Patrick Kaleta is also facing a hearing for his hit on Columbus defensemen Jack Johnson. Good on Boll for stepping up, gotta love that. What would have been even better would be if Dubinsky rolled up, mustache and all. Kaleta should see significant time for this. Clear head shot, and you can see him crack Johnson in the jaw with ease. According to CBSsports.com, since the league offered Kaleta an in person meeting, they can suspend him for a minimum of five games. Not like the Sabres are going to miss him anyways.. they stink. Here's the video:

So last night, Steven Stamkos recorded his sixth shutout in his young career.  Whilst this was happening, my roommate was pondering who to drop on his fantasy roster, to pick up an extra goalie. Knowing I had the #1 waiver pick up (because my team is far superior to the rest), I egged him on to drop Stamkos, and it was working. That is until his phone rang with a ESPN scorecenter update, "duh na na duh na na Stamkos records 6th shutout.." He smiled and politely dropped Mike Ribiero. Fuck. Anyways.. I just have a feeling this guy is going to pump out some goals this year. Like 60. Ok that's a little much.. but he's got the talent to do it, I wouldn't be surprised if he reaches 50 again, but hit 60 so I can look good. Bolts route the Panthers 7-1, and there's still no time table for Thomas' return. 

Jonathan Bernier recorded his first career shutout as a Leaf, and I think it's safe to say that James Reimer is going to be sitting in the corner with a dunce cap for a while. The two are just light years apart, and Bernier has a decent defense in front of him, and a more than capable offense. There's no reason he shouldn't play well this year, and there's no reason he SHOULDN'T be starting in Toronto. J.S. Gigurere recored a shut out last night as well, against the runners up for the cup. Pretty impressive.. He's a sneaky goalie.. Since becoming a backup, he's only posted two losing records since 2009 and has had a save % of .90 or above since the beginning of his career. Varlamov and Giggy are a nice 1-2, and it's paying off. 

Chirp Hard on sunday, 11 PM eastern, 8 Pacific, come talk shit. One more thing, Matt Duchene is REALLY fast:

League round up, come CHIRP HARD este noche.

OK so we're gonna play a game today. We're gonna guess what today is. Here's a few hints.. It's the middle of the week.. Lots of people like to do this stuff when they're drunk... or sober.. w/e.. Nothing? We'll if you couldn't guess you're an idiot. It's next to the time on the upper right hand side of your computer screen.. only down fall is.. it doesn't say HUMP DAYYYEEEEEEEEEE.

Awesome. Now that that's off my chest, we've had a few things going on in the league over the past few days. Jonathan Quick gives up a quickie.. lol Rick Nash took a bump to his noggin, on the same night the Rangers get smoked.... by the San Jose Ninja Hertl's. Torts is still yelling at people, at least its not at Pete Deboer this time. Anyways...

Just quickly had a conversation with my associate Chris Macri, and he says Tomas Hertl is just the flavor of the week. I disagree. I think he's going to end up like Vlad Tarrasenko on steroids. The Sharks haven't had an up and comer like this since Logan Couture. They reached the conference finals the first two years into Couture's entry level contract. Not only that he killed it in the playoffs those two years, netting 4 goals as a rookie in his first year. He went on to sport 56 points next year followed by 14 in the playoffs.. He's still on the team. So is Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski, Martin Havlat.. There's just too many weapons on this roster for him not to continue his success. Obviously he's not going to record two goals a game for the rest of the year, but he's going to produce. Another reason I think he's going to have a successful season is this:

Props to the two smoke shows in the back making him blush. But its not because of the women, fame, and fortune. It's because he's humble. He loves to play the game. Look at how excited he is in that interview just to be playing in the league. You can tell just by the way he plays how happy he is to be in the league. On top of that he's the first rookie to score four goals in a game since 1988 when Jimmy Carson did it, and the first player to score four goals in a game since the great Owen Nolan. The kid is going to have a year, and I wouldn't be surprised if he broke 40-50 points. 

In this same game, Rick Nash took a nice shot to the head, shoulder. It's debatable, Stuart was just finishing his check, and it looks like he caught his shoulder more than anything. In my honest opinion, the Rangers weren't getting smoked just yet, but Nash new it was coming.. the Rangers played like garbage all night, and Nasher didn't want to stay out for an embarrassment. Come on.. I love my blueshirts more than anything, but the guy barely hit you. You'll be lucky if he sees a fine. If he is out for a while though, being that this is a concussion scenario, the Rangers scoring woes will be even worse. In case you haven't been watching, they're currently being outscored 6-14. Three of those goals came with help from the other team, like this one:

So really they've only scored three goals themselves. Pathetic. Something needs to change. On the other side of the river, the scoring isn't the problem. It's keeping the lead. Things will come around for the Devils but it has to be heartbreaking to lose three games in a row with a lead. Vancouver is a toughie, but there's no excuse for the Islanders at home, and losing to Edmonton. Jagr can't be their number one scorer all year.. and its not going to happen, because he's probably going to get hurt. When is Henrique and Mr. Ryder going to show up?

Speaking of Injuries, Niklas Backstrom suffered his first of many injuries this year stopping a breakaway from Eric Nystrom. During the move, he sprained his knee and left the game. The worst part about it is, they called a penalty shot on the play, and Josh Harding was left out to dry, taking a penalty shot as his first shot of the game. The guys has averaged 49 1/2 games in the past four years. The Wild were hoping that the Injury prone Backstrom would come around this year, but he's out right in the middle of week two. Take note fantasy fans: he's on my team, and I'm probably getting rid of him. 

Tim Thomas also left his game last night with an apparent groin injury. I guess that's what happens when you take a year off to practice politics, big time Timmy Jim. Taking a look back at the play though, you can clearly see that he's injured. It was a SOFFFFFT shot from the point, and he barely got back to the far post before the puck came out of the back of the net. There's no time table for his return, but both are listed as day to day. 

That same game got new head coach Craig Berube his first win as a Flyers coach. I still think good ol' Pete got the short end of the stick but that's neither here nor there. The Flyers looked better last night, and had a little more jump to their step. They were playing the Florida Panthers mind you... but a W is a W. 

While we're on the subject of goalies, check out this new mask from Detroit keeper Jimmy Howard: 

Howard is supposedly wearing pink pads, a blocker and catcher. What a stud. Real classy thing to do, to support all of those beautiful women out there that fight this terrible disease. If you're interested and feelin' saucy, donate to Relay for Life and support cancer research right MEOW. That's all for today folks, don't forget to check out Chirp Hard radio tonight, drink some beers, and talk hockey.