Ryan Clowe was named the NHL's First Star of the Week for the week ending Dec. 12 thanks to an impressive eight point outburst. Clowe led all scorers with his three goals and five assists as he helped lead his San Jose Sharks to victories in three of the four games the played during the span.
In each of the four games Clowe added a pair of points, whether it be two points as was the case against the Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres, two goals or one of each and his team could be none the happier. After registering 57 points all of last season, Clowe's 28 so far in 2010-11 put him on pace for a career year.
The Sharks simultaneously have done alright for themselves as well with a 15-10-4 record and 16/1 odds of winning the Stanley Cup.
The Second Star of the Week was awarded to Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury who has been a major reason why the Pens have won 12 straight. Over the course of the week Fleury posted a 3-0-0 record with a GAA of 1.67 and save percentage of .944. Will Pittsburgh continue their tear through the NHL? That's for you to decide. Get all your NHL odds at Bodog.
The Third and final Star of the Week was awarded to Columbus Blue Jackets captain Rick Nash who recorded six points on the week, factoring in to every single Jackets goal as they recorded two wins and a loss.
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Sidney Crosby managed to extend his point-scoring streak to 20 games on Wednesday night but it wasn't enough for the Pittsburgh Penguins to win in their second game in as many nights. Thanks to a torrid third period by the New York Rangers the Pens have now lost two straight following their 12-game win run earlier in the month.
The final scored red 4-1 in favor of the visiting Rangers but the Pens actually started the game with the lead. Luckily it was an Evgeni Malkin goal assisted by Crosby. With the most recent assist Crosby has scored 39 points in his last 20 games, giving him 54 on the year in just 33 games.
With the loss the Penguins fall to a record of 21-10-2 but still sit with the second best record in the entire NHL. After last night's loss to the Philadelphia Flyers the Pens gave up both their NHL and Atlantic Division leads.
The Rangers advanced to 19-13-1 proving that there is more to the division than simply Pennsylvanian teams. According to the Bodog Sportsbook the Rangers even have 35/1 odds of winning the Stanley Cup, not bad for a team that choked their playoff hopes away in the 2009-10 season.
On the bright side the Rangers saw team captain Chris Drury play for the second time of the season but lost Ryan Callahan to a broken left hand. It's expect that he'll miss up to six weeks.
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The Atlanta Thrashers got a hat trick out of fourth-line winger Eric Boulton on Saturday night as they took it to the New Jersey Devils early and often en route to a 7-1 home victory.
The feat came in front of the largest audience of the 2010-11 season, a pleasant reaction to a desperately creative advertising campaign executed this week. The club set up the arrest of their mascot for stealing and driving a zamboni down the highway. Only when a number of tickets had been purchased was Thrash released.
Boulton made sure not to disappoint the newcomers, quadrupling his previous season output through the team's first 27 games. With just four goals on the year nobody really knows what to make of the career night, but Atlanta will hope they see similar performances more often.
Though the Thrashers are currently playoff-bound (first in the Southeast Division and second in the Eastern Conference with a record of 18-11-5), they'll have their work cut out for them holding onto the spot in a tough conference.
According to Bodog's online sportsbook they have just 50/1 odds of winning the Stanley Cup. Have the Thrashers turned the corner and finally assemble a core of players committed to and capable of leading the club to prominence? A championship may not be in their immediate future, but that doesn't mean a surprising playoff run doesn't have to be.
It will be interesting to see how the remainder of 2010-11 plays out for Atlanta, you'll be hard pressed to find someone who wouldn't want to see them succeed.
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The Washington Capitals decided that an eight-game losing streak was enough for them, defeating the Ottawa Senators 3-2 on Sunday and bringing their overall season record to 19-12-4. For a team that's struggled so much recently, the Caps remain in playoff contention, a testament to their solid early start.
According to the Bodog Sportsbook, the Caps have 13/2 odds of winning the Stanley Cup, not quite as optimistic as they have been, given the slide, but lofty nonetheless.
It took a pair of goals from 22-year-old Mathieu Perreault to stop the skid but the Caps will take it, between his two and another from Eric Fehr in the second period alone Washington rallied for their big win. Down 2-0 after the first period it looked as though number nine wasn't out of the question.
Alex Ovechkin added an assist on the final goal, giving him 26 on the year. Now with just 38 points in 35 games he's had one of the least dominant offensive seasons of his career. Expect Ovechkin's numbers to rebound in the latter half of the year, or the Capitals will have some bigger problems to deal with.
Will the Caps manage to reverse their fortunes and get back to proving that they're just as much a legitimate contender as the Pittsburgh Penguins are this season? Or has the HBO series focusing on their forth coming Winter Classic performance proved to be too much of a distraction.
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Steven Stamkos potted the 100th goal of his career on Monday night, in a 5-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. It also happened to be his 26th marker of the 2010-11 season.
Once a legitimate 50-in-50 candidate through the first 20 or so games of the season the third-year center fell off track, but recently has been able to climb back to form. Fortunately he's been able to keep his Tampa Bay Lightning afloat in the Eastern Conference even despite his brief return to mortality.
Now with Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier healthy at his side, the sky is the limit for the franchise.
With the Monday night win the Lightning advanced to 19-10-4, good enough for second in the Southeast Division behind only the Atlanta Thrashers (that's not a typo) and fifth in the Eastern Conference.
According to the Bodog Sportsbook the Lightning have 22/1 odds of winning the Stanley Cup.
If their 5-1 win over the Canes on Monday night is any indication, the Lightning may be hitting their stride at a good time in the season. It never hurts to get a solid win streak in the books as the points will become crucial down the stretch for a bubble team like Tampa Bay.
With Stamkos now at 47 points in 33 games he's emerged as a clearcut NHL star. Does his presence on the Lightning combined with St. Louis and Lecavalier make the Bolts a safe bet this spring?
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The Dallas Stars snuck into first place in the Western Conference on Tuesday night, if only for the time being. They did so with a 5-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens, giving them 45 points in 34 games this season, as compared to second-place Detroit with 44 points in 32.
The Stars scored early and often on the night, jumping out to a 3-0 lead shortly into the second period. Finishing five overall, Habs goaltender Carey Price was not as sharp as he has been all season long. Starting his 10th game in the team's last 11, a fatigued Price stopped just 12 of 17 shots.
According to the Bodog Sportsbook, the Stars have 40/1 odds of winning the Stanley Cup. With Kari Lehtonen performing admirably in net and the offense scoring easily, the Stars could surprise some clubs this post-season.
On Tuesday night it was 33-year-old Stephane Robidas leading all scorers, with three assists while Loui Eriksson and Steve Ott each added a pair of points.
The win marked Dallas' third in a row, valuable momentum if they hope to keep the Detroit Red Wings at bay.
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The Detroit Red Wings may have come away with a 5-4 overtime victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night, but they didn't necessarily come out as winners on the evening. During the first period, star forward Pavel Datsyuk broke his right hand and could miss a considerable amount of time.
Though the team managed to bounce back and come away with the win, the longterm consequences of the injury could be something the Wings won't want to have to deal with.
The victory over the Canucks helped the Wings leap back into first-place in the Western Conference with a record of 21-8-4, but the loss of their number one leading scorer doesn't bode well.
Datsyuk currently leads the Wings with 39 points in 33 games, trailed closely by Henrik Zetterberg at 36.
Zetterberg showed that he might be shouldering a bit more of the offensive load without his partner in crime, registering three points, including the OT winner for the victorious Wings on the night.
According to the Bodog Sportsbook, the Red Wings have 13/2 odds of winning the Stanley Cup. Will they be able to go all the way for the first time since 2008? After losing in the 2009 Finals to the Pittsburgh Penguins the Wings started to fall off the mountain.
This season, with a revived Nicklas Lidstrom, a solid Jimmy Howard in net and the aforementioned two scorers getting things done offensively, Detroit looks as competitive as ever.
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The IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships are here, pitting the best under-20 hockey players in the world against each other for international glory. The tournament, which features the best young NHL prospects on the globe will take place from Boxing Day until early January.
To bet on the World Juniors, check out Bodog's online sportsbook.
With the event hosted in Buffalo, NY, the United States squad looks like an interesting bet. They did, after all, win it all in overtime of the gold medal game last January against Team Canada. The Americans won't have defenseman John Carlson back on their side, the man who scored the game-winning OT goal for them last year, but they will have a decent shot of winning the tournament. Even with Carlson now a full-time member of the Washington Capitals, Team USA is given 5/4 odds of winning the World Juniors in 2011.
Expect strong competition from the Canadian team that had their streak of five consecutive gold medals snapped last year. According to Bodog, Team Canada has 7/5 odds of winning the World Juniors.
An intriguing play option is the Russian team, given +350 odds to win Group B. If they can get by both Canada and Sweden, Team Russia could make a lot of bettors happy. Playing the "underdog" is one thing but with one of the best developmental programs in the world a Russian victory is well within reason.
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The Buffalo Sabres will be without forward Derek Roy for the remainder of the 2010-11 season following an injury sustained Thursday night. The loss of the 27-year-old will cost the struggling franchise greatly.
In 35 games so far this season Roy has posted 10 goals and 25 assists, helping the franchise to a 14-17-4 record in the Northeast Division. It had been a promising season for the centerman who looked poised to at least match a career-high of 81 games set back in the 2007-08 season.
According to the Bodog Sportsbook, the Sabres have 75/1 odds of winning the Stanley Cup. Without Roy, their most potent offensive option, the production will have to come from somewhere.
In the absence of Roy, the Sabres will turn to Tomas Vanek, currently second on the team with 25 points. If the club can get consistent contributions from Vanek and injury-plagued Jason Pominville, they could still salvage a respectable season. That's simply the advantage of having US Olympian Ryan Miller in net.
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Currently just two points separate Buffalo (12th in the East) from the Carolina Hurricanes (9th in the East) so a spot in the post-season is still well within reason. If they hope to capitalize they'll have to shake off their most recent loss and keep up the success that has made them a playoff team in 2009-10.
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Two Pacific Division rivals will throw down on Monday night when the Los Angeles Kings pay a visit to the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks have been gaining some steam on NHL betting odds.
San Jose (19-11-5) has won four straight games after dumping the Phoenix Coyotes 4-1 last Thursday.
The Sharks are getting by with some excellent defense and goaltending. They’ve surrendered just three goals over their last three games. Antero Niittymaki won the first three games during the winning streak, while Antti Niemi stepped in against Phoenix to make 24 saves.
At the other end of the ice, San Jose got several great signs. First, the struggling power play got on track. The Sharks hadn’t had much luck with the man-advantage, but Joe Thornton and Dan Boyle both scored power-play goals against Phoenix.
Second, San Jose got some scoring from its premier players. The Sharks’ top gunners are prone to disappearing for stretches, but Thornton scored while Patrick Marleau added a pair of third-period goals.
The Kings are coming off a game against Anaheim on Sunday night. Monday’s game against the Sharks is part of a five-day, four-game swing for Los Angeles.
If anybody is going to step up for L.A. on Monday, it will be Drew Doughty or Anze Kopitar. That seems obvious enough, but they crushed the Sharks last season. Doughty was an absolute monster, racking up nine points in six games against San Jose. Kopitar finished with three goals and seven points in six games. No other King had more than four points.
San Jose has a slight edge in the head-to-head series over the past few seasons, winning six of its last 10 games against Los Angeles. The Sharks are riding a three-game winning streak against the Kings, including a 6-3 victory in mid-November.
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It's been a few seasons since Jason Spezza was a premiere forward in the National Hockey League, but through no fault of his own. The oft-injured 27-year-old has found himself out of action yet again, this time indefinitely with an injured right shoulder.
Despite notching a pair of assists in an Ottawa Senators win against the Pittsburgh Penguins yesterday, the centerman will sit their next time out. Having already missed a handful of games in 2010-11, the fact that Spezza will be unable to play yet again, and for an uncertain amount of time, doesn't bode well.
Over the 37 games they've played so far this season, the Ottawa Senators have gone 16-17-4, it's been good enough to rank them ninth in the Eastern Conference. If the club hopes to climb into the playoff picture, they'll need some big contributions from the rest of the Ottawa offense. In 32 games of action for the Sens this year, Spezza has tallied nine goals and 11 assists.
The combined 20 points may not be breaking any records any time soon, but the sheer scoring potential of the former 90-point forward is what makes the Senators such a potentially threatening team.
According to Bodog's online sportsbook, the Senators have 80/1 odds of winning the Stanley Cup this year. If team captain Daniel Alfredsson can continue to hold down the fort in the offensive zone and sophomore defenseman Erik Karlsson continue to exercise his point-getting abilities on the blue line, you never know what's in store.
Regardless, a healthy Spezza will be of much more use for Ottawa than an injured one, so the club will anxiously await his return.
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Sidney Crosby continued his merciless scoring rampage through the NHL Tuesday night, with a four-point performance against the Atlanta Thrashers. The points helped Crosby extend his point-getting run to a whopping 25 games, just five games short of the second-longest of all time (set by Mats Sundin in the early 1990s)
Though he has a long way to go before matching Wayne Gretzky's 51-game run of yesteryear, his dominance has not gone unnoticed.
With two goals and two assists on the night, Crosby helped his Pittsburgh Penguins down the Atlanta Thrashers 6-3. The first tally came less than 10 minutes into the first period matching an even earlier goal scored by Evander Kane.
The four-point night gave Crosby his 50th point in 25 games and a league-leading 65 points in 38 games. The longer the run goes, the more the gap between Crosby and the rest of the NHL widens. Though it isn't yet 2011, Crosby has almost pencilled in his name as the guaranteed Art Ross and Rocket Richard trophy winner.
Currently Crosby holds a 13-point lead over second place Steven Stamkos. To bet on Crosby and other NHL player props, get in the game with Bodog.
With the most recent victory, the Pens advance to 25-11-2, the top record in the entire NHL. According to Bodog's online sportsbook they now have 9/2 odds of winning the Stanley Cup.
Having not shown any signs of slowing down, it's a wonder just how far Crosby and the Penguins will go. With the Winter Classic at Heinz Field fast approaching, it's hard not to be excited about Pittsburgh hockey. Bet on the Pens now.
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The Anaheim Ducks will be without star center Ryan Getzlaf for at least the short term as the forward took a puck to the forehead on Tuesday night and will miss the next few games.
As a result of a series of nasal sinus fractures, Getzlaf will be shelved as he copes with the injury. The club will hope that the recovery time is minimal as they currently sit 19-17-4 in the Western Conference. Now just one spot out of the playoff picture in the West, the Ducks will need to bounce back and fast, for fear of falling behind in a gruelling conference.
Just three points separate ninth-place Anaheim from the 13th-place Columbus Blue Jackets.
According to the Bodog Sportsbook, the Ducks have 40/1 odds of winning the Stanley Cup. If they hope to make noise in the playoffs this spring, they'll have to start winning more games and looking to oust a series of legitimate contenders. The San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks are two of four teams currently tied for the final playoff spot.
So far in the 2010-11 season, Getzlaf has been on a tear for the Ducks. Combining with young stars Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan to establish one of the most feared trios in the NHL. In 40 games for Anaheim so far, Getzlaf has logged 37 points and a number of big time hits, making him one of the most versatile (and valuable) players in the league.
Will the Ducks be able to hold down the fort until their captain returns? Bet on the Anaheim Ducks now.
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The Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins have been turning heads for a while now, but in the 2010-11 season the two clubs have raised the intensity of their rivalry to a whole new level.
As a result, NHL betting could not be more exciting.
Whether the result of the ongoing development of superstars Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin as both point-getters and league ambassadors, or the continued emergence of secondary players Evgeni Malkin and Nicklas Backstrom, the two clubs make up one of the most impressive relationships in all of professional sports.
Now, each established as legitimate contenders in the Eastern Conference, they also have an HBO documentary television series and Winter Classic showdown to add to the mix.
The Jan. 1, 2011 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic is proof alone of the excitement the two headlining teams are capable of creating. The Classic registered 4.5 million TV viewers, the highest of any NHL regular season game in the past 36 years. It also yeileded a sellout crowd of 68,000 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.
Though the novelty of outdoor hockey contributed largely to the popularity of the game, what was more important were the two teams featured.
Currently 25-12-3 in 40 games so far this season, the Pens are two points up on the 23-12-5 Capitals. Trailing only the Philadelphia Flyers and Tampa Bay Lightning in the standings, the clubs will be hot on the heels of their respective division leaders for as long as it takes for them to overpass them.
The Penguins have, according to Bodog's online sportsbook, 9/2 odds of winning the Stanley Cup. Whether they'll be able to pry the Atlantic Division title from the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers remains to be seen.
The Capitals have a 7/1 shot of going all the way, currently inches away from Southeast Division-leading Tampa Bay.
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The Washington Capitals haven't had the 2010-11 campaign they expected to have, but that's not to say the entire season is a wash. Thanks to couple of big games at the end of December, the Caps have started to show some of the potential they've flirted with over the course of the past several years.
Goaltender Semyon Varlamov has been a big part of his club's most recent success, stopping 55 of 56 shots faced in the two games they played this week. For his troubles, Varlamov was named the NHL's First Star of the Week. The best part about the recent resurgence is that the opponents faced haven't exactly been pushovers either. On Dec. 28, Varlamov posted a 23-save shut out over the Montreal Canadiens before turning aside all but one in the team's impressive 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Winter Classic.
Now with a 23-12-5 recordd, the Caps are starting to climb back up in the Eastern Conference playoff standings. According to Bodog's online sportsbook they have 7/1 odds of winning the Stanley Cup.
The NHL's Second Star of the Week was presented to Phoenix Coyotes captain Shane Doan, who logged five goals and three assists in four games over the week. Over that span Doan recorded a pair of two-goal games, giving him 37 multigoal games in his career – all without a hat trick.
Detroit Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom was named Third Star of The Week for extending his point-streak to seven points and picking up eight of them overall in four games with the Wings over the break.
To bet on any of the league's three stars with Bodog's NHL player props, there's only one place to go.
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The first six NHL All-Stars have been announced as we draw closer and closer to the new midseason classic we've heard so much about over the course of the 2010-11 season.
Making the cut as guaranteed position players in the game are an impressive combination of Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks.
Throughout the first few months of the NHL season fans have had the opportunity to vote for players they think should have reserved spots in the All-Star Game. They, combined with a forthcoming deeper list of players, will then be divided on All-Star Weekend into two competing teams.
As fan voting wrapped up this week forwards Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jonathan Toews led the ballots, joined by defensemen Kris Letang and Duncan Keith. In net for one of the teams will be Marc-Andre Fleury.
Given Crosby's torrid run through the league this season, and the sheer popularity of the Pittsburgh Penguins, it's no surprise that the players who are leading the way are the ones to be doing so. Pittsburgh blue liner Letang had so much support that he actually led all defenseman even as a write-in candidate.
As the late-January weekend fast approaches, NHL betting heats up. Given that the Pens and Blackhawks are the past two Stanley Cup winners, the fact that all six guaranteed players hail from either of those two teams is proof of how much a Stanley Cup win can affect a player's career.
While you're waiting for the rest of the All-Star Game rosters to be revealed, bet on the Stanley Cup with Bodog's online sportsbook.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs had one of their most uplifting performances of the season on Friday night, routing the Atlanta Thrashers by an impressive six goals. The 9-3 victory came largely thanks to a second period that saw the Leafs tally six goals in less than eight minutes.
Clarke MacArthur scored twice on the night, giving him 12 goals on the year and 33 points overall while Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin each added a pair themselves.
Rookie goaltender James Reimer stopped 41 of the 44 shots he faced on the night, helping his team to a big-time win over a surprisingly tough competitor – the Thrashers are currently play-off bound in the east. In four appearances so far this year, Reimer has posted a save percentage of .947 and a GAA of 1.87.
With the victory the Leafs advanced to 16-20-4, good enough for 13th place in the Eastern Conference. Now just three points behind 10th-place Buffalo, the franchise isn't far out of playoff contention.
According to Bodog's online sportsbook, the Toronto Maple Leafs have 150/1 odds of winning the Stanley Cup. Now winners of two straight, it certainly wouldn't hurt for them to put together a small streak of wins and start chipping away at the teams that sit ahead of them.
If the club continues to perform as they did on Friday night, they should be headed down the right track. An impressive 11 players scored points on the night, led by Kulemin and Tomas Kaberle who each added four.
Though they may not hit the nine-goal mark on a nightly basis, the performance will serve the franchise well as they look for momentum in the final half of the season.
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The New Jersey Devils have had a pretty terrible 2010-11 season so far, going just 10-29-2 in their first 41 games of the 82-game NHL regular season. Eight point separate them from the second-worst team in the league (the New York Islanders), falling dastardly short of expectations many had of the veteran squad prior to puck drop last October.
On Sunday night, in their 42nd game of the season, it appears as though they may have turned things around.
Thanks in part to a five-goal second period, the Devils downed the Southeast Division-leading Tampa Bay Lightning 6-3. The offense flowed freely and veteran netminder Martin Brodeur looked like the elite level goaltender he has been for the past 20 years.
Brodeur stopped 33 of the 36 shots he faced on the night, making his first start of the new year. Previously the team had gone with reserve goalie Johan Hedberg after the 20-year veteran Brodeur had seemingly forgotten how to stop pucks.
The Sunday night victory was Brodeur's first victory since a Dec. 15 contest between the Devils and the Phoenix Coyotes, a span in which he lost 10 of the 11 games he started.
Though Brodeur has been an abomination in net, relative to his undisputed Hall of Fame career, he hasn't been the only problem for the Devils this season. Star forward Zach Parise has been out of action for months with a knee injury and will be out for the foreseeable future. Even superstar free agent Ilya Kovalchuk has been a bust after signing a $100 million contract this past summer.
With the first half of the season in the books, the Devils will look to continue the momentum of their second half going strong. They'll have their work cut out for them convincing NHL bettors that they can make up for their early season misery.
According to Bodog's online sportsbook, the New Jersey Devils have just 250/1 odds of winning the Stanley Cup.
Is it too early to count them out of a playoff spot? If it were any other team it would be tempting to say yes. Now 25 points behind current eighth-place Montreal, the Devils will have to start stringing some wins together fast if they hope to even be in the postseason conversation come spring time.
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We now have the full roster for the Jan. 30 NHL All-Star Game in Raleigh, N.C. Fans voted in the first six players named to the All-Star team and the NHL hockey operations department, led by former All-Star Brendan Shanahan, filled out the remaining players on the 42-man roster on Tuesday.
What we don’t yet know is how the teams will be set up. That’s because the two teams will be chosen by two captains (yet to be elected) after the league scrapped the usual exhibition between conferences. The captain selections will be made on Friday, Jan. 28, in a televised event. A coin toss will decide first pick with the team captains, joined by their two alternate captains, alternately drafting the 36 remaining All-Stars through 18 rounds. Each team will consist of three goalies, six defensemen and 12 forwards total. Look for Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Chicago’s Jonathan Toews to be elected captains.
Here are the 36 All-Stars named by the league. The six players voted in are denoted by asterisks.
FORWARDS: David Backes (St. Louis), Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh)*, Matt Duchene (Colorado), Patrik Elias (New Jersey), Loui Eriksson (Dallas), Claude Giroux (Philadelphia), Ales Hemsky (Edmonton), Jarome Iginla (Calgary), Patrick Kane (Chicago), Ryan Kesler (Vancouver), Phil Kessel (Toronto), Anze Kopitar (Los Angeles), Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh)*, Rick Nash (Columbus), Alex Ovechkin (Washington), Corey Perry (Anaheim), Brad Richards (Dallas), Daniel Sedin (Vancouver), Henrik Sedin (Vancouver), Patrick Sharp (Chicago), Martin St. Louis (Tampa Bay), Eric Staal (Carolina), Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay), Jonathan Toews (Chicago)*
DEFENSEMEN: Dan Boyle (San Jose), Brent Burns (Minnesota), Dustin Byfuglien (Atlanta), Zdeno Chara (Boston), Tobias Enstrom (Atlanta), Mike Green (Washington), Erik Karlsson (Ottawa), Duncan Keith (Chicago)*, Kris Letang (Pittsburgh)*, Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit), Marc Staal (N.Y. Rangers), Shea Weber (Nashville)
GOALIES: Marc-Andre Fleury (Pittsburgh)*, Jonas Hiller (Anaheim), Henrik Lundqvist (N.Y. Rangers), Carey Price (Montreal), Tim Thomas (Boston), Cam Ward (Carolina)
The Pittsburgh Penguins continue to wait for an approximate return date for their superstar center Sidney Crosby, and it couldn't come soon enough. Until a much-needed Wednesday night victory over the Montreal Canadiens, the Pens hadn't won a game since Crosby suffered a concussion on Jan. 5.
Immediately following news of the injury, Pittsburgh head coach Dan Bylsma, had anticipated that his team would be without Crosby for about a week. The tentative return date has come and gone, however, and he isn't yet symptom free.
The Penguins are right to be patient with their superstar, given that he currently leads the league with 32 goals and 66 points. As nice as it would be to have him continuing to lead the team to Eastern Conference superiority, they'll have to play it safe. Any possible setback with Crosby's health could jeopardize Pittsburgh's chance of winning the Cup this year.
According to Bodog's online sportsbook the Pittsburgh Penguins have 9/2 odds of winning the Stanley Cup.
In the three games that Crosby had missed prior to tonight's victory, the Penguins had gone 0-2-1, scoring just three goals. Thanks to tonight's 5-2 performance against the Habs, however, it appears as though they shaken their slump. To bet on the Penguins as they strive to win games undermanned, check out Bodog's online sportbsook.
In the week that Crosby has been out with an injury, details on his condition have come few and far between. Considering how much of Pittsburgh's success depends on his health, they'll be anxious for him to get back on schedule.
Will Crosby's uncertain health get in the way of Pittsburgh reclaiming the Stanley Cup title from the Chicago Blackhawks who won it in 2010?
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In each of the four games Clowe added a pair of points, whether it be two points as was the case against the Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres, two goals or one of each and his team could be none the happier. After registering 57 points all of last season, Clowe's 28 so far in 2010-11 put him on pace for a career year.
The Sharks simultaneously have done alright for themselves as well with a 15-10-4 record and 16/1 odds of winning the Stanley Cup.
The Second Star of the Week was awarded to Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury who has been a major reason why the Pens have won 12 straight. Over the course of the week Fleury posted a 3-0-0 record with a GAA of 1.67 and save percentage of .944. Will Pittsburgh continue their tear through the NHL? That's for you to decide. Get all your NHL odds at Bodog.
The Third and final Star of the Week was awarded to Columbus Blue Jackets captain Rick Nash who recorded six points on the week, factoring in to every single Jackets goal as they recorded two wins and a loss.
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