Ovechkin Listed Week-To-Week, Simon Gagne out 6-8 weeks, and other NHL related going-ons.

Corey Masisak of the Washington Post is reporting the Capitals have said Ovechkin has been listed week-to-week, initially everyone thought he'd be day-to-day at worst, but apparently the upper body strain Ovi suffered on Sunday against the Blue Jackets is enough to make him miss more games than we thought.

This is a blow to the Capitals who have been looking like a different team lately, and taking Ovi's stick out of the line up isn't going to help them get back to their winning ways. All is not lost, however, Ovechkin is a freakish human being and I'd be surprised if he's out for more than one week, actually, although I don't know the severity of the injury, Ovechkin isn't the type of player to be sidelined for a long time, so we'll see what happens with that.

Meanwhile, Simon Gagne of the Philadelphia Flyers has been sidelined for 6-8 weeks, from what I understand he's getting surgery to have not one, but two hernias repaired and needs that time to recover. If you have Gagne on your fantasy team, like yours truly, expect a December-January return, and who knows how he'll do when he gets back, I think I'll hold on to him unless someone surprises everyone and has the season of his career that happens to still be available.

Tom Renney, assistant coach for the Edmonton Oilers, had a conversation with Newsday's Islander corespondent Katie Strang and apparently said the Isles are a playoff bound team:

"It was fits and starts getting the job done. Scott came in here with a really good game plan and structure and a way he wanted to get things done. Last year you saw the beginning of that and at the front end of this year--where guys were still trying to get in line with it--but now it’s corrected itself and I think they’re an excellent team. I think they’re a playoff team.”

Now I'm not sure of Renney is drinking the same Kool-Aid he did when he thought the Rangers he was coaching last year were Stanley Cup-bound using his system, but hey, whatever's clever.

Speaking of the Oilers, they skate vs. the aforementioned Islanders tonight at Nassau Coliseum, Isles are coming off a 3 game win streak which saw them down the Rangers, Capitals, and Sabres, whereas the Oilers have lost 4 of their last 5.

Philly Flyers and Tampa Bay are currently in action, at the time of this, the Flyers are up 5-1 in the 2nd with 8:15 to go. That game was moved up for tonight's game 5 match up between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees, NY leads the series 3-1, opening pitch is at 7:57. The other game happening tonight is a west coast clash between the Phoenix Coyotes and the LA Kings, Shane Doan is going to start after being destroyed against the Ducks, speaking of which, James Wisniewski received a suspension for that elbow to Doan's face, and he earned it, I'd not be surprised to see Jeremy post his further thoughts on it later on, so I won't go into too much detail there.

ESPN released their week 6 power rankings, I usually look at them for fun and not for real analysis, ESPN is lacking on hockey, and every other sport, but that's neither here nor there. They have the Penguins at number one right now, rightfully so, they have the best record in the league. Some peculiar things though is the Devils ranked at number 8 while winning I think a total of 1 game at home, while the Islanders were ranked at 20, with one home win, and they made that the reason they weren't higher. Again, ESPN can't be taken seriously, but you can look at their list here.

Also, the NHL schedule is finally picking up, it was skimpy the first few weeks, so I think there should be more wiggle room in the coming weeks, and I'd not be surprised to see teams finally decide on their lines they'll probably use for a majority of the season, this is the first week where there's multiple games every single night, and that's something to be excited about.

Making Excuses is In Vogue for the 2009-2010 Season.

Be it Colin Campbell making excuses as to why action is hardly taken on borderline hits, such as the aforementioned one in Jeremy's previous post, or losing to the Islanders.

Yes, the Islanders had the game by the throat by the middle of the second period in last night's, truth be told, 5-0 romp of the Buffalo Sabres at Nassau Coliseum. While the Sabres are one of the hottest teams of the season, I want to note they've also played the fewest games in the NHL, the Islanders seemed to rub their faces in it last night. What's more is the Sabres up until last night, had given up the fewest even strength goals in the league, 9 to be exact. The Islanders managed to put up 4 goals against the Sabres last night, and scored the fifth and final goal, on the powerplay. What does this mean? Well, it could be that we haven't seen a large enough sample size of the Sabres to jump on the Sabres are hot wagon. I'm guilty of it myself, most teams seem to be cooling at this point, but the Islanders are heating up. They're actually meshing and playing like a team for the first time in a long time, so long, in fact, that I can't remember the last time they played this way.

Jeff Tambellini put up a hat trick, his first career hat trick, actually, last night. His previous high water mark was two goals in one game, oh yeah, that was actually on October 26th, of this year. What up surprise player of the year? It seems the Islanders are getting more scoring from their "secondary" scoring than from their primary scoring at this point. Tambellini is a surprise because it seemed earlier in the season he was going to show all this potential, and no production, as he's done throughout his career. He has points in three consecutive games at this point, which I think may be a career high for him as well, though that stat isn't handy to me right now. Who were the other scorers from the Isles you may ask? Why, it was Richard Park and JOSH BAILEY. Yes, Bailey finally found his stick scoring a goal, which most Islander fans have been dying for this season, seeing as how well he did at the tail end of last year, there's been high hopes for Bailey in Islander Country. John Tavares, Kyle Okposo and Matt Moulson were held to 0 points in 5 on 5 play and Okposo and Tavares tallied assists on Jeff Tambellini's third goal of the night. So the Islanders are getting scoring from players that aren't on their top lines and were still out shot 38-30.

Where are the excuses? Oh, just the Buffalo Sabres being flu ridden, the Caps didn't play to their full ability, and the Rangers didn't have Marion Gaborik. All of the teams out shot the Isles, but were not able to convert when they needed to, so why make excuses? Why not just admit you ran into a goaltender who wasn't going to let you beat him. Speaking of goalies, Martin Biron posted his 200th career win against his former team, and to make it sweeter, he shut them out. He didn't do it on his own, though, jumping to my mind most immediately was Radek Martinek making a beautiful save in the crease on Biron's behalf in the first period. It was good positioning by the Isles that beat the Sabres, not to mention, their winning seems less flukey this year than it did last, I think the Atlantic division is earning it's title as one of the toughest divisions in the east. The Isles are currently tied for points with the Flyers, and have a .500 record for the first time since the 2006-2007 season, when they went to the conference quarterfinals.

Of course, I'm not going to jump the gun and say the Isles are playoff bound just yet, but the chances are looking a lot better than they did last year. Well done, Islanders, when you end up having a winning record for a sustained amount of time, maybe only then, will other teams (and fans) show some respect. Attendance was horrible for the game last night, with the official number being 8,889, this number is punctuated by the fact that they were giving out free tickets to anyone under the age of 14 who showed up in costume. Hockey fans, take notice, I think the league just got a bit more competitive.

Shane Doan Is Toews'd & Confused

James Wisniewski, come on down - you're the next contestant on The Price is Irrelevant Because Colin Campbell's Judgement on Hockey Morality is Arbitrary, Inconsistent and, Frankly, Screwed Up Eight Ways From Tuesday (Don't act like you don't watch).

During a Ducks power play in last night's Coyotes-Ducks tilt in Glendale, Wisniewski gave a hard elbow to the jaw of a streaking Shane Doan, who was moving with the puck in the Ducks' zone, in a collision that sent both skaters to the ice, but left Doan stumbling to regain his footing shortly thereafter:



Doan would eventually return and get his vengeance in a grudge match that saw Doan land a few punches on Wisniewski before pile driving him to the ice and landing once last haymaker before the stripes intervened. (Maybe if either of the jerseys said "Crosby" on the back, they'd have intervened as quick as they did in Pittsburgh last night, where the refs' moved quicker than Kyle Wellwood chasing a ham sandwich so as not to subject pretty boy Sid's Travolta Face to any potential punishment.)

Here's Doan's retaliation:



I suspect we'll be hearing from Campbell's NHL Disciplinary Lottery Balls shortly, and I wouldn't hold my breath for any particular result. The max fine ($2,500) is as likely as a pat on the head and a "Now, Jimmy, go apologize to Shane."

In related news, the Coyotes won said matchup, extending a three-game win streak and moving them into a tie for 2nd place in the Pacific Division with the Los Angeles Kings. MVP goalie Ilya Bryzgalov was the 1st Star after stopping 32 of 34 shots through regulation and overtime, then pitching a shutout in the shootout, stoning Anaheim supersnipers Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Teemu Selanne. (SHB-fave Sami Lepisto was the 3rd Star.). Both teams sit one point back of division-leading San Jose and will face off in Glendale Monday night. Center Icers should definitely tune in, and look for yours truly during any action in the corners at the bottom right of your screen. I'll be the guy explaining to Rob Scuderi exactly what a Sally he is.

UPDATE: a credible-quality video finally made it to YouTube. You no longer need suffer my embarrassing digi-cam recording of my circa-1993 TV screen. Check it out up there.

UPDATE, Episode II: The NHL has thrown a 2-game suspension at Wisnewski today. He'll miss upcoming games against Pittsburgh and Nashville, and should be available for Saturday's game against...Phoenix. Keep your head on a swivel, Jimmy.