Heading in Opposite Directions: Redux

Before I get to today's topic, the weekly Missouri Mavericks report will return next week, as I am preparing for this weekend's NHL All-Star weekend.

Today, there are two teams heading in opposite directions, one of them in the WHL and the other in the OHL. Heading up is the WHL's Lethbridge Hurricanes, who are three points clear of Kelowna for the top spot in the league and are in the midst of a 10-game winning streak. They are the best offensive team, which has been a dramatic turnaround from the last two seasons in which they were terrible in just about every way possible. The Hurricanes will have a chance to extend that winning streak on Friday as they visit the Victoria Royals.

On the other side is the OHL's Flint Firebirds. It's been an eventful first season for the team formerly known as the Plymouth Whalers, as they've had to deal with the embarrassment of having their players walk out after the owner fired the coaching staff, only to rehire them a few days later, as well as a water crisis in the city. Currently, they sit nine points out of a playoff spot, but haven't won since December 18, when they beat Oshawa that evening. They have also only managed two points in that drought, getting overtime losses in both instances. The Firebirds are the third worst offense in the league, as only Guelph and Sudbury are worse, with leading scorer Will Bitten in a bad funk, as he scored last game, which ended an eight game goal scoring drought. It hasn't helped that Josh Wesley, Alex Nedeljkovic, and Connor Chatham were all traded prior to the trade deadline. The Firebirds hope to get back in the win column this Friday at Sarnia.

New Faces for the Mavs

In an effort to bolster their push for the Kelly Cup, the Missouri Mavericks made some moves yesterday. Zach Cohen and Garrett Ladd will join the Mavericks while Scott Wamsganz will be joining his third team this season after the Mavericks traded him to the Alaska Aces for future considerations.

Cohen comes from the Rapid City Rush with a score line of seven goals and nine assists. Ladd will make the Mavericks his third team of the season after splitting time with both Adirondack and Elmira, notching three goals and three assists. Wamsganz had been acquired from Orlando a few weeks ago and suited up for five games before being sent to Alaska.

Mavericks Report: Coming Home and Then Some

The last leg of the Missouri Mavericks road trip happened last week, and for most of it, the Mavericks came out on top. Tuesday, the Mavericks bested their cross-state rival Wichita 4-1.  Friday and Saturday, the Mavericks wrapped up the road trip with a split in Colorado, winning 5-4 on Friday and losing 5-3 on Saturday.

The Mavericks come home this weekend to take on the Tulsa Oilers in back to back games on Friday and Saturday.

Because of early deadlines for this week, the next week's games will also include Evansville coming into town on that Tuesday before Wichita comes calling on Friday and Saturday.

From Last to First

As of this current writing, the WHL season sees the Lethbridge Hurricanes as the top team in the WHL, standing three points clear of Kelowna. At this time last year, the Hurricanes were cleaning up the mess left behind from the Brad Robson/Drake Berehowsky era.

It was thought that when Peter Anholt took over as General Manager and head coach, the latter role relinquished prior to this season, things could only go up from there. Just how far they've gone up this season was not what anyone expected, as Anholt and Brent Kisio, who was Anholt's hand-picked coach, have put Lethbridge not only in position to end a playoff-free streak that has spawned three regimes, but also a chance to claim the Scotty Munro Trophy for best regular season. Having a +63 in goal differential this season in contrast to a -102 goal differential last season is a big part of it, but now, we're seeing what talent such as Giorgio Estephan, Tyler Wong, and Stuart Skinner can do when competent people behind the bench and in the front office are present.  It's a new day in Lethbridge, and they're not finished yet, as they could be a team that makes a deep playoff run even in a tough Central Division that features Calgary and Red Deer.

I Watched This Game: It Was Wretched

On this episode of "I watched this game," I will examine the mess that was the Vancouver Canucks taking on the Washington Capitals. Because it was a mess, today's thoughts will be done as if the WWE stable New Day were penning this, so with that in mind, "It's a New Day, yes it is!"

• "Ohhhhh, Landover! Don't you dare be sour! Clap for your new 500 goal scorer, and feel the powwwaaaahhhh!!!" The Capitals held a pregame ceremony for Alex Ovechkin in honor of him joining the 500 goal club. The usual highlight package was mostly scrapped for some of the other 500 goal members (plus Pavel Bure) sending their congratulations. This would be followed by the Caps front office and Ovechkin's parents and fiancee joining him at center ice for a presentation of a specially made stick. In all, it was nice, but then the game started.
• No New Day references for the first period, as nobody scored or took a penalty.
• 
  

• Holy smokes, somebody found Tom Green!
• Alex Edler sits for two minutes, as he gets called for a penalty.
• The Canucks manage to kill off the penalty, but Edler turns the puck over, leading to a two on one the other way that sees Evgeny Kuznetsov put the Caps up 1-0.
• Linden Vey high sticks, and that is a no-no, so two for him in the box.
• Nicklas Backstrom gets called for a trip, but Edler also goes for bad acting.
• Another defensive lapse by Vancouver leads to Karl Alzner bring by himself at the blue line, where he fires a laser past Ryan Miller to put the Caps up 2-0.
• Backstrom gets called for a hook, but Vancouver can't put one past Braden Holtby.
• Period ends with Vancouver down two and with little life offensively. Of course, Derek Dorsett is playing with the Sedins, which is proof that even they can't make everyone better that plays on the same line as them.
• Third period begins, and just two minutes in, Tom Wilson scores to make it all but over.
• Marcus Johansson and Brooks Laich take penalties less than a minute apart, putting Vancouver two men up, which they manage to score just as the two man advantage was up thanks to Radim Vrbata scoring.
• Kuznetsov puts in an empty net goal to seal the deal for Washington.

Overall, it was an effort that can be best described as "booty." Miller played fairly well in his return from the injured list, but the defense let him down, with Matt Bartkowski and Edler at the forefront of the problems this game. Nothing worked offensively, either, as Willie Desjardins kept mixing lines (e.g. Vey-Cracknell-Burrows) to no avail. To conclude this segment, I'd like to end with what best describes the game last night: 

"This. Game sucked. This. Game sucked. This. Game sucked."

Still Howlin'

At this point in the NHL season, if you were to tell me that the Arizona Coyotes were going to be in second place in the Pacific Division, I would have thought you would be insane. Here we are now, and that is exactly where the Coyotes stand, four points clear of both San Jose and Vancouver despite having a -8 in goal differential and giving up the third most goals in the Western Conference. So, how have the Coyotes done it? An early hot start with Mike Smith in goal, scoring by committee that includes leading scorers Mikkel Boedker, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Max Domi, recent goaltending from Louis Dominique, stability in the ownership, and a stellar home record have all attributed to their success. At some point, the Coyotes should fall off, given that Shane Doan leads the team in goals and proven success hasn't always been a staple of the team, but we are talking about the Arizona Coyotes, a team that has had a history of proving people wrong in recent years. Domi and Anthony Duclair both have a hat-trick to their names, as Domi helped the Coyotes come back in their most recent game against the Edmonton Oilers while Duclair has proven to be NHL-ready this season after starting in the NHL with the New York Rangers last season before getting sent down and later traded in the Keith Yandle deal.

Mavericks Report: Two Out of Three...

Things are still moving for the Missouri Mavericks as they will finish their road trip this week. However, they had to play three games at Tulsa and Rapid City. Last Tuesday, the Mavericks needed a shootout to beat Tulsa 4-3, and after the game, the Mavericks saw goaltender Stephon Williams assigned to them while Loic Leduc was called up to Bridgeport. Friday and Saturday, the Mavericks spent those days in Rapid City, SD to take on the Rush in back-to-back games. The first half wasn't kind, as the Mavericks could only muster an overtime loss, dropping a 2-1 decision. Saturday, the Mavericks did better, beating the Rush 3-1 and were able to get five out of six points in the standings for the week.

The Mavericks finish their road trip this week, as they travel to Wichita to take on the Thunder on Tuesday before heading to Windsor, CO to take on the Colorado Eagles on Friday and Saturday. They will have two new faces, as left winger Quinn Smith and defenseman Mike Donnellan were signed to standard player contracts today.