By Josh Martin, Sports Editor

ere’s a look around the NHL to
H:= you up to date with what

has been the latest news over
the Christmas holidays and month of
December and to most importantly get
you ready for the upcoming New Year.

Darryl Sutter stepped down as
general manager of the Calgary Flames
last week after serving eight years to
the date under the organization. The
always-grumpy-looking fellow is
well known for coaching the Flames
to the Stanley Cup finals in the 2004
season but unfortunately ended up
coming up short against the Tampa
Bay Lightning in game seven. Ever
since that post-season run to the finals,
Flames fans haven’t really had much
to cheer about...especially after losing
defensemen juggernaut Dion Phaneuf
to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Sutter
re-acquiring Olli Jokinen again this
year after trading him away last season
because he was living up to the “bust”
reputation. It has been reported that
team president Ken King had asked
Sutter to voluntarily step down as GM.
So in the meantime assistant GM Jay
Feaster is the acting GM until further
notice and Darryl’s younger brother
Brent (who looks even grumpier than
Darryl) remains as Calgary’s head
coach.
Sidney Crosby has been the main

16

 

topic of discussion around the league
with his stellar play of late, creating
a lot of buzz with his recent 25 game
point streak which came to an end
last week where he accumulated a
whopping 26 goals and 24 assists for
50 points during his uninterrupted
run. He leads the NHL in scoring by
a wide margin with 32 goals and 33
assists for 65 points, ahead of Steven
Stamkos who is currently second in
the scoring race with 52 points. Crosby
was five games short of overcoming
Mats Sundin’s point streak record of
30 games which he set in the 1992-93
season with the Quebec Nordiques.
Crosby’s Penguins are playing strong in
the Eastern Conference, topping off the
number one position in the NHL with
52 points in 38 games.

If you haven’t already checked
out the new 24/7 Penguins/Capitals:
Road to the NHL Winter Classic HBO
series I highly recommend you do. The
behind the scenes view of both teams
is something every fan wants to be a
part of and that can finally happen in
this four part miniseries. This particular
series shows an insider dish of what it’s
like on and off the ice as a coach and a
player in the National Hockey League.
The contrast of morale between a hot
and confident Pittsburgh Penguins
team where nothing seems to stand in
their way and a struggling Washington
Capitals squad where they can’t find a

 

way to win is a great addition to see
what it’s like on both ends of the
spectrum of a hot and cold team.
The great thing about this series
is the fact that they show everything
that is going on and they don’t hold
anything back. In one segment
of the first episode Capitals head
coach Bruce Boudreau addresses
his team’s mistakes during an

       

intermission. As the Capitals
players sit with disappointment in
their dressing room Boudreau lets
them have it, throwing down the

“f bomb” every second word. This
HBO series will instantaneously
bring a broader audience to the
game of hockey and particularly in
the U.S. where hockey isn’t exactly
the primary sport to watch.

 

 

 
 

 

   

CU

We're inviting

B.C. youth to a conference
in Vancouver from August 19-21, 2011

— all expenses paid!

If you’re aged 18-30, live in BC, and want to
learn about transportation, sustainability and
planning, apply to attend by January 31, 2011.

See translink.ca/bcyouthsummit for full details!

scones

reans/AIniK