Congratulations to Martin Brodeur on setting a new mark for wins by a goaltender. When he came into the league I immediately became a fan. When you are a young goalie the NHL seems far away. Marty made it look that much closer and more attainable because he was a great talent and he could compete at a young age.

It has been a lot of fun to watch him and even more fun to compete against him. A highlight for me was sitting next to him in the locker room at the All-Star game and talking about hockey, life and even equipment... It is what all goalies do so don't judge me! When you get 2 or more goalies together at some point the topic of equipment comes up and I can't explain why.

Although I don't play anywhere like his style I count him as one of my idols and I try to learn from watching him read the game. So I wish him well while he inflates his record... Just not the best of luck against my team.

The Ovechkin celebration debate...

I really didn't think I wanted to touch this debate but since Don Cherry is on it I really want to... I always wanted to debate with Don face to face and maybe this is a good way to throw down a gauntlet. All in good fun of course. I think it would be a lot of fun to get him going on a topic over a few beers.

Don is the definition of a "look at me/listen to me" personality so I find some of his comments about Ovechkin just a little hypocritical. It is obvious that both of these guys crave the spotlight... He should understand
Ovechkin more than most people. From what I have heard about Don he is a passionate person and a great competitor, not unlike Ovechkin. Here is my argument... Besides playing and coaching, Don created a niche in hockey broadcasting that brought people in front of the television and sparked discussion about hockey. He did it by always taking a hard line and always while wearing a suit that makes me cringe. But his biggest asset was that he loves to get people buzzing and he does it with passion... I find that I
rarely agree with his opinions or his fashion sense, but I end up watching when I can and I enjoy that he talks about hockey with energy. Isn't that the point? The fact that Ovechkin is passionate makes him good for the game and his celebrations are the way fans get to see the enthusiasm and joy. The same passion and dramatic flair is how Don became more than an old coach...It made him a cultural icon.

Injury update...

I am not really going to bother doing an injury update because if you read this blog you probably already know that I am skating with the team and looking forward to getting back into the battle. We are not in a good spot in the standings at the moment but the season is 82 games last I checked... There are 20 more points to be had and I would prefer to make this interesting down the stretch. I know that fans are nervous and there is a lot of talk about missed opportunity and shortcomings this season... But we still have roughly an 1/8th of the season left to prove that we are making progress and growing as a team... And we have a chance to do something we can be remembered for. It is up to us to embrace that.