Top Cheese (Friday, Unassisted)

Welcome to the second installment of Top Cheese or Friday, Unassisted. In my first post, I asked for our readers to vote for one of my two titles. While some of you had very nice things to say, no one mentioned the title. God knows I can't make a decent decision by myself, so please help me pick a title.
Onto the NHL where there are no shortage of talking points. Sadly, the more dominant ones seem to revolve around the continuing concussion problem. I'll get to that later, but why not start with the positives.

Minnesota Defensemen- Even after back to back losses to their future conference rivals in the Jets and the Blackhawks (shootout loss), the Wild still sit in first place in the West. Undoubtedly, their d-men have had a lot to do with the team's surprising success this season. The twenty-two year old Jared Spurgeon has been particularly impressive, logging well over twenty minutes of ice time while standing a mere 5' 9". As good as the Wild have been, Minnesota born defensemen have been just as impressive. Jake Gardiner, Justin Faulk, Ryan McDonagh, and Nick Leddy have all played significant minutes for the Leafs, Canes, Rangers, and Hawks respectfully. More impressive: McDonagh is the oldest of the group at 22, and three of their four teams are in playoff position. McDonagh is fourteenth in the league in time on ice per game, and the nineteen year old former UMD Bulldog Faulk is second on the Hurricanes. The twenty year old Leddy is sixth in scoring on the Blackhawks behind the likes of Toews, Kane, Hossa, Keith, and Sharp. Keep an eye out on these guys (ahem, kids) because the future is very bright. I wouldn't mind seceding from the United States so Minnesota could send a team to the Olympics. I'll take that back line (throw in Paul Martin, Matt Niskanen, Dustin Byfuglien, or Tom Gilbert to provide a veteran presence) in 2014.

Jason Garrison- Speaking of d-men with ties to Minnesota, how about former UMD Bulldog Jason Garrison? He's +11 for the first place Panthers, and leads all NHL defensemen with 9 goals including 5 on the powerplay.

24/7- Glad to see the return of the best show on television on Wednesday night. I was particularly excited, given that my beloved Philadelphia Flyers are one of the two teams on the show. Two things I took from episode:
1. Ilya Bryzgalov is one strange cat. His soliloquy on the Universe had me near tears laughing. Quote: "It's so humongous beeg." Also liked his take on tigers: "There are less than 500 species left. If you kill one in China, you get death penalty." Ah, goalies, the best ones are crazy. That bodes well for my Flyguys, I guess.
2. While Mac Miller's "Knock, knock" is certainly catchy (rookie d-man Kevin Marshall apparently enjoys it Knock, knock Flyers), I think it's quite blasphemous to have a Pittsburgh native sing the Flyers' victory song.

Concussions- Since I wrote last, the NHL has lost its best player (Sidney Crosby again), its leading goal scorer (Ottawa's Milan Michalek), and its leading point getter (Claude Giroux :( ) to concussions or concussion like systems. Just last night it was announced that the menacing Chris Pronger will miss the rest of the season due to post concussion syndrome. At 36, his injury could be career ending. Jeff Skinner, Joni Pitkanen, are others among the growing list of concussion victims. All of this reminds me of the time I had to get stitches in eighth grade. I cut myself above the eye (I won't tell you how), and was rushed to urgent care. The room was a cacophony of coughs, sneezes, sniffling, and crying; victims of the perennial flu epidemic. When a nurse finally came to treat me, she broke down crying. Apparently my stitches were a welcome distraction from treating the flu. That's how I feel about concussions right now. When Mikko Koivu went down with a mere "lower-body" injury this week I celebrated a bit inside, as cruel as that sounds.
The difficulty with concussions is that the NHL has done nearly all it can to curtail hits to the head. Yet concussions still happen. Ironically, Giroux, Crosby, and Michalek all went down from hits from their own teammates. According to Barry Melrose (some source, I know), the NHL has started implementing new helmets that are supposed to be more concussion proof. They also have researchers working on safer shoulder pads as well. All of this is good and all, but as long as hockey is played on ice surrounded by hard boards by 200 pound athletic men moving at twenty to thirty mph concussions will happen. Let's wish that these guys have speedy recoveries, and that they can continue to play at their highest level.

Goal of the Week

If I could rink with one player in the NHL, that player would be Claude Giroux. If Giroux didn't answer his phone, I would call Pavel Datsyuk. As he enters the zone he mesmerizes the entire defense while using his peripheral vision to watch the bench. He knows a forward is coming on, so he delays, delays, and then throws a no-look back hand pass across through the slot. Unreal.

That's all for this week. Get back to me on the name, and absolutely watch 24/7.
Friday, Unassisted