Fuhr Facts #2

Grant Fuhr was asked why he played 36 holes of golf on an off day during the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals. His reply was, "Because there wasn't enough time to play 54".

The man was as cool as the other side of the pillow. The Flyers never had a chance.

NHL Draft Spotlight - 1986

The 1986 NHL Entry Draft was, in many ways, a typical entry draft...

One future Hall of Famer, Brian Leetch was selected at #9 by the New York Rangers.

Some mild controversy arose when the Detroit Red Wings selected Joe Murphy over native son Jimmy Carson. This was rectified when Edmonton dealt Carson to Detroit for Murphy in a multi-player trade when retooling for their fifth Cup run several years later.

Solid, if unspectacular, NHL regulars in the first round highlighted by Vincent Damphousse and included Zarley Zalapski, Craig Janney, Tom Fitzgerald, Pat Elynuik, Jocelyn Lemieux, and Kerry Huffman.

Steady D-men Teppo Numminen at 29 in the 2nd round and Jyrki Lumme at 57 in the 3rd round.

Vancouver thinking ahead of the time and out of the box by selecting Vladimir Krutov in the 12th and final round.

Lost amongst all of this DRAFT HISTORY was a player that would never play a minute in the NHL but would play 15 years across Europe with teams like the HUSKIES and MOSQUITOES, making stops in his native Finland, as well as, Germany, Italy and The Czech Republic.

The IMMORTAL and LEGENDARY: JUKKA-PEKKA SEPPO

Jukka caught the eyes of the Philadelphia Flyers Brass with his performance at the Under-18 European Junior Championships in 1986 where he posted 3 goals and 8 points in 5 games. He was selected 23rd overall by the Flyers with the 2nd pick of the 2nd round right after Adam Graves was drafted. He won an U20 WJC Gold medal in 86/87 with 3 goals and 12 points in 7 games and won a Bronze in 87/88. He appeared in 39 games with Tappera Tampere in Finland in 1986-87 notching 11 goals and 27 points.

For whatever reasons, he never landed in North America, instead spending 15 seasons in Europe. He played 571 career games, recording 196 goals and 478 points. If he was so highly rated, one has to wonder the impact he could have had in the league here. Maybe he could have developed into a Selanne-lite, the "Finnish Flash" himself was drafted 10th overall only 2 years later. Who knows? But is fun to look back at the woulda couldas in any past draft.

Till next time...

Da H8R

Fuhr Facts - #1

Grant Fuhr had an assist on Wayne Gretzky's 50th goal of 1981-82 season on Dec. 30, 1981, vs. Philadelphia, as Gretzky reached 50 goals in a record 39 games.

Swiss Miss or Swiss Army Knife?

Time to shine the light on a guy that quite possibly could be the most disrespected player in the entire NHL: MARTIN GERBER.

Look at his FOUR NHL Seasons:

1. Giggy was the man during his first two seasons in ANA. He was a capable back up as they made their cup run.

2. He moved to Carolina, started 57 games, won 38, and led them to the playoffs where he lost his starting gig to Cam Ward as the Canes Won the Cup.

3. He moved to Ott where he stumbled a bit out of the gate last season and lost his job to Emery, though he did win 10 of his last 11 starts. If Ottawa was so sold on Emery going into last season, WHY DID THEY EVEN SIGN GERBER?

Martin Gerber has now WON 10 of his 11 starts this season. He has been to the Finals in three of the past four seasons. Everyone complains about his salary but the 3.7 mil is only bad for a goalie that doesn't play. How can you think he is not a better bang for the buck than Khabby at $6.75 mil, Kolzig at $5.45 mil, or Roloson at $3.5 mil (and 38 years old). Heck, even Colorado has a $6 mil backup goalie.

Look at his numbers too...

NEVER has had a GAA above 2.78 in his Four-plus seasons.

NEVER has had a Sv. Pct. below .906.

After tonight's win he has now won 63 of his last 94 starts, and that includes his 5-9 start last year. Big Stage? What about the 2006 Winter Olympics when Gerber was in net against Canada and made 49 saves in a 2-0 victory?

All this from a guy that pretty much did not have a job if Emery doesn't need offseason surgery. His salary makes him nearly un-tradable, and Ottawa better thank their lucky stars they have such a solid netminder.

Da H8R

Blizzard of OZ

Time to give props to another under appreciated and often overlooked NHL star. Goalies that win Stanley Cups are usually given a free ride from criticism. Just look at Khabby and Cam Ward in the past several seasons.

In Detroit, Chris Osgood was the 54th overall draft pick and third goalie selected in 1991. Chris won 23 games his rookie year but Detroit still dealt for Mike Vernon following that season. Following the strike, he backed up Vernon as the Wings were swept in the finals by the Devils. The next year he won a career best 39 games and was the second goalie to ever shoot a puck into an opposing teams net. He backed up Vernon as the Wings won the cup the year after that. Vernon was dealt and Osgood led the wings to their second Cup in a row with a sweep of the Capitals. The Wings then acquired Hasek and Osgood was ushered out of town when claimed on waivers by the Islanders.

After his two-year stint in New York, he moved on to St. Louis for two seasons. Even after winning 31 games with a 2.24 GAA with St. Louis, his contract was not renewed by them. Chris came back to Detroit to back up Hasek for under a million dollars a year. He appeared in 32 games last year, winning 20, but did not appear in the playoffs and was a back up for the Dominator's apparent Swan Song.

Which brings us to this season...

Dominik Hasek is 40-whatever. The chances of him holding up again health wise were pretty slim. Jimmy Howard, the Wing's Prize Goaltending prospect, is Not Quite Ready to be the man yet. This all meant that Osgood had to be ready to shine. And shine he has.

With Dom shelved with a bum hip, Ozzie was kept the Wings at the top of the NHL standings. He is 7-0 with a 1.43 GAA out of gates this year and his road wins against Edmonton, Vancouver, and Calgary in the last FIVE DAYS marks the first time in 21 attempts that the Red Wings took all three games of a trip to western Canada.

• In 13+ seasons he has never had a GAA above 3.00






• Six times has won 30 or more games in a season






• 43 Career Shutouts






• 45 Career Playoff Wins in 87 Games Played






• 10 Career Playoff Shutouts with a LIFETIME Playoff GAA of 2.24






• Two Cup Wins

That says it all. Quiet, unassuming CHRIS OSGOOD continues to be THE MAN. He is right there with that non-descript Glenn Healy/Wendell Young style mask and just makes the saves. Detroit is going to need him to continue his stellar play if this is to be the end of the Dominator.

Da H8R

Cory Stillman

Is there a more under-appreciated Skill Player in the league than Cory Stillman? Tampa and Carolina can definitely attest to his value on their respective clubs. As one of the few players in NHL history that has won a Cup in back-to-back years with different teams he still flies under the radar. Both teams relied on the unheralded Stillman during their cup runs. He averaged over a point-per-game in those back-to-back seasons and was invaluable in the playoffs. He had 7 points in 21 games in a complimentary role with the Lightning. He followed that up with 26 points with nine goals, of which 3 were game winners, in 25 games during the Hurricanes run.

His injury-shortened season last year was as much to blame for the Canes missing the playoffs as any other excuse. He missed the first three games of the 07-08 season as Carolina came out of the gate 1-1-1.

Since he returned to the lineup, the Canes have gone 5-0-2. His valuable leadership and timely scoring have helped to balance Carolina's solid forward lines. In his 7 appearances, Stillman has 10 points with half coming with the man advantage, including 3 of his 4 goals.

His 4 goals have him second on the team even having missed 3 games already and with talented playmakers, Justin Williams and Rod Brind'Amour setting them up, Eric Staal and Cory should notch career high goal totals.

Before last years injury shortened season, Stillman had topped 21 goals in 7 of the previous 8 seasons with a high of 27 two times. With a veteran defense corps, a deep solid forward unit, and Cam Ward's steady maturation, the Hurricanes seem to be definite factor in the Eastern Conference playoff race and could even make another run at their second Cup in three years.

Da H8R

Trash Truck Time

Da Blues, Blackhawks, Predators, Blue Jackets, Desert Dogs, Oilers, Habs, Stars, Bruins and Hurricanes are ALL GARBAGE.