02/27/12 Studs & Duds

[pharling]

Five games on the docket last night and trade deadline studs and duds, lets drop the puck on todays Studs & Duds.

Studs

Kassian to Vancouver ca"Nucks"
Shipping out the highly talented but pain in the back Cody Hodgson was a gutsy move for sure. Kassian is a stud in the mold of Milan Lucic, Wendel Clark and Cam Neely. Vancouver fans will love this guy! He has skill and can also finish if he polices the Sedin line. Adding Pahlsson will fill the void left by Hodgson, and give the Canucks a solid defensive center. Gragnani provides depth on the blue line, a deficency that mayhave cost Vancouver a Cup last year as they suffered injuries to several defense and could not compenstae.

Blues Hitting a High Note
Don't look now, but the St. Louis Blues won again thanks to two goals from Jason Arnott, and two assists from Patrick Berglund. Jaroslav Halak played another strong game allowing one goal in 21 shots and the Blues now sit tied for third in the League!

The King, the Captain, and the kid
The New York Rangers are a force to be reckoned with right now. A shut out performance by the King Henrik Lundqvist (possibly the best goalie in the NHL right now), two points from their captain Ryan Callahan, and two points from rookie Carl Hagelin, powered the Rangers to victory over the New Jersey Devils.

Honorable Mention
Steve Downie had two assists for Colorado.
Erik Karlsson named first star of the week with four goals, eight assists, +5 in four games. Karlsson leads all NHL defense in scoring with a 23 point lead, and is seventh overall in league scoring. This kid is unbelievable! How can he not win the Norris?

Duds

Howson throws Nash under the Colum"bus"
After failing to trade Rick Nash yesterday GM Scott Howson addressed the media and said Nash asked to be traded. It would have been fine to say that if he traded Nash, but since he did not now Nash has to play out the season in Columbus where he obviously does not want to be infront of the fans who will feel betrayed by him. This situation could quickly become similar to the Dany Heatley fiasco in Ottawa. Columbus now has to trade Nash after Howsons comments. Nash has the leverage of saying where he wants to go. The longer this drags out, the less Columbus will be able to receive for Nash. This could get ugly fast!

Oh My Gaustad!
Nashville surrenders a first round pick for Paul Gaustad! Just goes to show you what to expect from this years crop at the draft!

Lame Ducks
Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry combined for zero points and a minus -4 in yesterdays lost.

[bondon]

Haha Oh my Gaustad...nice!

Man when I opened up the boxscore to find out Halak let in a goal on the first shot he faced I was all "FML" but then he shut the door for the rest of the game. Happy Halak owner here!

Also Parise and Kovalchuk...FU.....