Interesting Hockey Notes
from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,
- ...Matthews, the putative Hart Trophy leader, is on his way to perhaps the best season by a U.S. native in league history, his targets likely including Pat LaFontaine’s 148-point (53-95) 1992-93 season and Brian Leetch’s 102-point (20-82) Norris Trophy winning 1991-92.
And the California-born and Arizona-reared 24-year-old is on track to become the greatest U.S.-born player in league history, though the center has a way to go before he’s included in the same sentence as Leetch and Chris Chelios, the latter of whom I have at the top of my list.
My top 10 Yanks: 1. Chelios; 2. Leetch; 3. Mike Modano; 4. Patrick Kane; 5. LaFontaine; 6. Matthews; 7. Keith Tkachuk; 8. Jere-me Roenick; 9. Joe Mullen; 10. Phil Housley.
- Forgive me if I cannot stop guffawing at Brendan Gallagher’s attempt to lecture Tim Stutzle about diving, considering that the Montreal forward has been one of the NHL faces of embellishment pretty much since he entered the league 10 years ago. That while also sharing the designation with Brad Marchand as the poster boy for goaltender interference.
Charged with faking an injury, Stutzle meanwhile has missed the two games following Tuesday’s match against Montreal in which the winger sustained a knee injury on a hit from Nick Suzuki.
- If you change the instigator to a five-minute major plus a game misconduct, and referees are instructed to call the infraction any and every time a player who’s thrown a legal check is confronted by fisticuffs, maybe that will end this epidemic of fights following legal hits.
more on Matthews and other topics too......
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