A Job Some Would Kill For

I find it a little insulting that Evgeni Nabokov, recently released by the KHL and searching for employment in the NHL, has the nerve to turn down a job that admittedly would be tough. Having been signed by the Detroit Red Wings and placed on re-entry waivers, the New York Islanders swooped in and claimed Nabokov to help out with their goaltending situation. Nabokov, though, has stated that he will not report to Long Island, and that has me a little irked.

You probably know that I'm not really an Islanders fan despite me being a huge fan of the Fisherman movement. You might be asking yourself, "Teebz, why do you care about whether or not Nabokov plays for the Islanders", and I'll admit that it's not who he plays for that matters. Heck, he could be playing in the ECHL right now for all I care. It's his refusal to suit up for the Islanders that has me bothered.

Look, there are 30 NHL starting goaltender jobs in the NHL and 30 back-up goaltender jobs awaiting the next best goalie on each team. By default, Nabokov would be the starter or back-up based solely on how well he has played in the past. If you consider DiPietro's performance thus far this season, you'd have to think that Nabokov would be thrust into he starter's job almost automatically.

Being that he would have a guaranteed job through the end of the season with the Islanders plus giving the Islanders the option to trade him before or at the deadline to a contending team, it seems to me to be a no-brainer in terms of taking the job on Long Island. He would get to play, keep himself in shape, show off to the other 29 teams that he's still a top quality goaltender, and showcase himself for a trade or a major off-season signing as a free agent.

Honestly, for four months of work, Nabokov could set himself up very nicely for a good payday. There are players who have toiled in the minor leagues for years who would kill for an opportunity with any NHL team regardless of the situation or standing of the NHL team. It's an opportunity, and that's something you don't just ignore when opportunity comes knocking.

However, Nabokov chooses to remain in California, and the Islanders are left with the same conundrum before they claimed him on waivers. While it is certainly within Nabokov's right to sit this one out, he signed a deal with Detroit to suit up for them before the Islanders claimed him. It sounds to me like he's being quite selective in terms of who he plays for, and this is why I'm irked.

If I'm the Islanders, I'd ask the NHL to carry over the contract terms to next season and force Nabokov to either play or sit for another season. This sounds like I'm being vengeful towards Nabokov, but it's really a tit-for-tat situation. Had Nabokov shown up and played the four months, this entire article wouldn't exist. Instead, he's enjoying life in California while the Islanders struggle on the ice.

Some people would kill for the opportunity to play for the Islanders. I'm no murderer, but I'd love the opportunity to play in the NHL, even for just one day. Wouldn't you?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

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Antler Banter: Volume 14

The two-time defending champions rolled through MTS Centre this past week as Antler Banter looks at the two-game set between the Hershey Bears and the Manitoba Moose! There was some controversy stirred up by a local reporter with regards to jerseys the Bears wore earlier this season, but there was really only one thing for the Moose to focus on: four points in the standings. We'll also have a look at a special event that the Moose held on Sunday! Make sure you check out the Moose website for all your Manitoba Moose news and information. If you're interested in attending a Manitoba Moose game, please click here for seating information, ticket pricing, and availability. The Moose get three games against bear species in this week's Hardcore Hockey!

Showing Their Teeth

The Hershey Bears saw a few key departures occur in their lineup over the off-season, but they are still a very talented team. They showed off some of that talent on Friday night as they jumped out to a very early lead, putting Manitoba in a hole just 2:09 in. Could the Moose and Eddie Lack rally over the Bears and ex-NHL goaltender Dany Sabourin?

I thought Nolan Baumgartner had a strong game on Friday night. The Moose captain recorded an assist on Mark Flood's third period goal, and he ended the night with a +2 rating. I'm not sure why this happens with Baumgartner, but he seems to pick up his game considerably around the AHL All-Star Game break each year. Maybe Baumgartner needs to start playing hockey in July to be ready for October? I kid, of course, but the captain is looking much better since being paired with Mark Flood, and is making a difference once again on the scoreboard at both ends of the ice.

Sergei Shirokov continues his hot streak as of late as he scored a first period goal to extend his point streak to nine games. Shirokov's play has also earned him a place on the Western Conference roster at this year's AHL All-Star Game in Hershey, Pennsylvania, so congratulations go out to Shirokov on his selection for his second All-Star Game in his professional career!

The Herd's penalty killing units took a bit of a hit on Friday as the Bears scored a couple of powerplay goals in this game, including the game-winner with the man-advantage. While the Moose worked hard while playing a man down, you can't give good teams opportunities to score goals. Powerplay success certainly determines where you can end up in the standings, and tonight was no exception as the Moose penalty kill missed out on propelling the squad into first place in the North Division.

While all the blame can't be laid at the feet of the penalty killing units, the final two goals by the Bears were scored on the powerplay, including the game-winner as the Bears took the opening game of the two-game set by a 4-3 score. The Moose have two options if they want to correct this: stop taking penalties against good teams, or get back to shut-down mode on the PK. I'm sure the latter will be explored in depth by the Moose coaching staff, but the loss on Friday drops the club to 20-12-4 on the season.

Moose Fly Past Ursa Minor Penalties

The Moose and Bears met again on Saturday night as the homestand continues for the Herd. After losing the night before, Manitoba looked to rebound with a better performance, especially on special teams, as they tried to salvage the series with Hershey. This game saw goaltender changes on both sides as the Bears sent Braden Holtby to the blue paint while the Moose dispatched Tyler Weiman to their net.

Manitoba's powerplay showed up in a big way on Saturday. After going oh-fer-six on Friday night, Manitoba spent over a period playing with the man-advantage as the Bears were caught breaking the rules 12 times in this game! Manitoba responded with a 25% success rate as they scored three times on the powerplay in this game. I've been preaching all season about how important powerplay situations are and how good teams capitalize on them. The Moose got three goals with the man-advantage, and it was clearly the big factor on this night.

Nolan Baumgartner continued his impressive play on Saturday, putting together back-to-back impressive performances. Baumgartner was on the ice for all four Manitoba goals on Saturday, recording two assists and a +1 rating. Baumgartner, who logs a considerable amount of minutes for the Moose, looked strong with the puck, and really communicates well with linemate Mark Flood. Keeping these two men together should provide the Moose with great results as they continue to develop good chemistry on the blueline.

Sergei Shirokov had himself a "yin and yang" game on Saturday. The good part was that he scored his team-leading 15th goal of the season, extending his point streak to ten games. The bad part was that he ended the game as a -2 after having played some excellent defensive hockey over the last few weeks. While Shirokov isn't entirely responsible for the goals-against, it's a team effort in keeping the pucks out the net, and Shirokov's line was victimized twice in this game. While I like the offensive contributions, Shirokov still has to be responsible when he doesn't have the puck on his stick as well.

It would be easy for me to give Marco Rosa some credit for his game-winning, powerplay goal in overtime, but I was more impressed with Rosa's work in finding open spaces on the ice all night long. Rosa led the Moose with seven shots - a game-high total - and finally was rewarded for his hard work with the powerplay goal in overtime. Rosa has looked like a completely different skater since rediscovering his confidence and goal-scoring, and he's returning to his consistent ways of last year as well. Well done, Marco Rosa, and keep up the hard work and effort!

The Moose led 3-1 midway through the second period before the Bears battled back to send the game to an extra period. Sean Collins' blatent trip in overtime sent the Moose to the powerplay, and they made the Bears pay. The 4-3 overtime victory gave the Moose two important points as they keep pace with the Hamilton Bulldogs, and they improve to 21-12-4 on the season.

Moose Entertain More Bears

For the third straight day, the Moose met up with a team of bears as the Moose visited Kirkfield-Westwood Community Centre in Winnipeg's west end for an outdoor practice! The KW Kodiaks earned the right to host the Moose's outdoor practice in 2011 by winning second prize in last season's Manitoba Moose Community Jersey Contest! I highly encourage you to check out the Manitoba Moose Community Jersey Contest for your local community club. Your team and community club might be hosting the next outdoor practice!

Needless to say, the event gave the Moose a chanced to practice in front of their fans, and that upbeat 30-minute practice was followed by a shinny game that featured the Moose and 11 year-old Kodiaks team joining forces! Overall, the day was a lot of fun for both the Moose players and the KW Kodiaks players and parents!

"All the guys, even the kids, there were a lot of smiles today," Winnipegger and Moose forward Kevin Clark said to Tim Campbell of the Winnipeg Free Press. "It's not much time out of your day and it gives you a warm heart to see these kids and what it means to them."

Huge kudos go out to the Moose for continuing this tradition for the third consecutive year. I can tell you that the fans love it, the kids love it, and it sounds as though the players do too.

Coming In From The East

The Moose will face a team that seemingly has their number over the years as the Milwaukee Admirals roll into town for games on Thursday and Saturday against the Moose at MTS Centre. In their only meeting of the season thus far, Milwaukee beat up on the Moose by a 6-3 score on December 1. The Moose, however, have been playing much better, and look to take the series lead with this two-game set.

Milwaukee comes into the series with a 7-3-0 record in their last ten games, and sit second in the AHL West Division. They trail first-place Peoria by a single point, but have played more games. These points will be important for Milwaukee to keep pace with the Rivermen, so the Admirals will play with a purpose.

Following that series, the Toronto Marlies visit MTS Centre on Tuesday, January 18 and Wednesday, January 19. Divisional match-ups are important, especially when the team visiting is trailing you in the standings. The Moose and Marlies have yet to play one another this season - another of the AHL's scheduling quirks - so we'll get our first looks at this division rival next week.

The Marlies sit one point back of Manitoba today, but have played four more games than the Moose at this point. They haven't fared very well in their recent games, going 4-3-3 in their last ten contests. The Marlies desperately need the wins with Manitoba having a potential eight points still to determine through those four games in-hand, so the Moose need to be ready to play in each of the next four games.

One Man Down

Some breaking news came the way of the wire tonight as Tim Campbell of the Winnipeg Free Press is reporting that Jonas Andersson has left the Moose and is looking for employment in the KHL. Andersson, who played with Dynamo Minsk last season, is reportedly going to sign with Ak Bars Kazan in the near future after walking away from the Canucks and Moose.

In 20 games with the Moose this season, Andersson had five goals and six assists, but has suffered two concussions this season to keep him from everyday duty. The Swedish winger is listed as "day-to-day" with his injury at the moment, but it appears his North American season is done. He played three games with the Vancouver Canucks, but recorded no points with the NHL club.

Personally, I liked the addition of Andersson to the Moose roster as he brought speed and skill to the lineup, but his injuries have limited his abilities this season. While it's tough to see a player of Andersson's ability ride off into the sunset with no one there to replace him, it might be better for both him and the Moose as the Moose can now fill his veteran roster spot with a more resilient player. I wish Andersson well, and hope he does well in Russia or where ever he lands after clearing waivers!

Four games coming up over the next week with important points waiting to be earned. The Moose can put some space between them and the Marlies, and continue to try to overtake the Bulldogs ahead of them. DO IT!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

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Antler Banter: Volume 7

We're back with another edition of Antler Banter as we follow the AHL's Manitoba Moose through the season in their efforts to win the Calder Cup. The Moose had a fairly quiet week as they played host to the Rockford IceHogs at MTS Centre for two games. Both games were an opportunity to add some points to their overall standing as the Moose carried a 2-0 record against the IceHogs this year, so there definitely was something on the line as these two teams clashed. As always, if you're looking for news or information on the Manitoba Moose, check out the Moose website. If you're interested in attending a Manitoba Moose game, please click here for seating information, ticket pricing, and availability. Let's check out this past week's Hardcore Hockey!

Dude Looks Like An NHLer

Thursday night's game against Rockford had a definite defensive flavor to it as both goaltenders put on a clinic in stopping the puck. Eddie Lack was outstanding in the Manitoba net while former NHL goaltender Hannu Toivonen took his third shot at beating Manitoba this season for Rockford. Honestly, if the officials working on the scoresheets needed a quiet night, this was it.

Eddie Lack played an outstanding game in the net, surrendering just one goal early in the first period. From there, he was perfect for the rest of the night, stopping 29 of 30 shots on the evening. While Jonas Gustavsson got a lot of press for signing in Toronto, I'm thinking that the Canucks got the better young, Swedish goaltender when they signed Lack. He has been a bright spot since stepping on the ice for the Moose, and I'm guessing it may not be long before he gets a shot with Canucks after a little more seasoning in the AHL.

The Moose powerplay was fairly quiet as the IceHogs only provided two powerplay opportunities on the evening, but in a low-scoring game, the powerplay has to produce. The Moose were held scoreless with the man-advantage, so I'll keep beating this drum: the powerplay MUST be better. The Moose are 26th overall on the powerplay this season through 17 games with a 12.6% conversion rate as they've scored only 12 goals on 96 powerplays total. Simply put: not good enough for an elite team.

The story on the night was Hannu Toivonen's 29-save performance as he stymied the Moose at every opportunity. The former Boston Bruin, St. Louis Blue, and Chicago Blackhawk looked much better than he did in his previous two attempts against the Moose as he backstopped his team to a 1-0 shutout victory over the Moose. With the loss, the Moose fall to 9-6-1 on the season, and see their winning streak stopped at four games.

Putting Away The Rebound

The Moose needed a strong "rebound game" after being shutout on home ice, and Friday night's tilt was a very good look at a dangerous Moose team. The Manitoba fans came out on Friday for the team as the largest crowd since the 2009 Calder Cup Finals showed up, and the Moose had 14,134 fans behind them from start to finish. Kudos to the Moose fans for their efforts on this night, and it's great to see the "extra attacker" back in the seats at MTS Centre!

It's nice to see Jordan Schroeder breaking out of his slump as he scored a couple of goals on the evening. His powerplay marker broke the Moose shutout-streak at 107:39 as he scored in the third period. With Rockford defenceman Ivan Vishnevskiy in the penalty box for hooking, Schroeder loaded up the cannon and hammered a slapshot past Hannu Toivonen for his second goal of the season, knocking the monkey off his back. He then added his third goal of the season just 5:58 later as he poked home a puck during a goalmouth scramble. On behalf of all Moose fans, it's good to have you back, Jordan! Now just keep it up!

Tyler Weiman had himself another solid night, stopping 22 of 23 shots on the evening. The only puck that got away from him was Jeremy Morin's wrist shot that went over his right shoulder with 55 seconds to play. However, this Moose goaltending tandem is proving to be a major strength with both Weiman and Lack playing as well as they have. Weiman improves his personal record to 5-2-1 while narrowly missing out on his first blanking of the season.

The Moose gave their biggest crowd of the season something to go home happy about as they defeated the Rockford IceHogs on Friday night by a 3-1 score. While it looked like Toivonen might record back-to-back shutouts as he held the Moose in check over five periods, the Moose finally broke through as they scored three times on 41 shots! With the win, the Moose improve to 10-6-1 on the season.

Stats Crunch

Through 17 games, we're seeing some pretty clear trends emerge with this Moose team. Despite having played the fewest games at this point of the season, the Moose have some pretty encouraging numbers.

• When the Moose outshoot their opponents, they are 4-1-0 on the season, but they drop to .500 when outshot with a 5-5-1 record.
• Manitoba is 19th overall in the AHL with an average of 28.88 shots-per-game. Defensively, the Moose are 6th overall in only allowing 27.59 shots-per-game.
• Manitoba jumps out to games well with a 176-127 margin in shots (+49), but fall off dramatically in the second period as they fall to a 151-183 margin (-32). Overall, the Moose have outshot their opponents this season with a 491-469 margin (+22).
  
• The Moose rank 9th overall in goals-per-game with 3.12, and are 6th overall defensively in only allowing 2.59 goals-per-game.
• Despite having taken the most shots in the first period, Manitoba has only scored 14 first-period goals versus 11 scored against. With the second period being their worst in terms of the difference in shots, Manitoba makes those shots count as they have 17 goals-for in the second period versus 13 goals-against. The third period sees Manitoba with 20 goals-for compared to 19 goals-against. They have scored 53 times this season while only allowing 44 goals-against.
  
• The Moose are an impressive 5-0-1 when leading after two periods, but drop to 3-4-0 when tied after two periods. They are .500 when training after two periods with a 2-2-0 record, so a loss isn't a guarantee if the Moose enter the final twenty minutes trailing in the game.
  
• Thus far, the Moose are 5-3-1 in one-goal games, 2-3-0 in two-goal games, but a perfect 3-0-0 in three-goal or more games.
• The Moose have neither scored a shorthanded marker this season nor have they given up a shorthanded goal.
• The Moose have scored six powerplay goals both on the road and at home.

We'll update these marks randomly throughout the season, so check back to find out how the Herd is faring.

When The Phone Rings...

The Moose lost two players to call-ups this week as centerman Joel Perrault and winger Jeff Tambellini are in Vancouver with the Canucks. Losing these two players certainly creates some large holes in the Moose line-up, so the Canucks tried to fix them.

They did return centerman Mario Bliznak, and he had two assists against the IceHogs on Friday for a great return to the Moose line-up. Bliznak knows his role and knows the Moose system, so getting Bliznak back patches one hole.

The hole on the wing, however, will not be filled as easily.

First, the Moose released Jason Pitton from his professional tryout (PTO) contract. He played one game against the IceHogs, and had just two penalty minutes in his short Moose career. The Canucks, however, waived Peter Schaefer with the intention of sending him to the Moose to regain his effectiveness, but the scrappy winger decided he wasn't interested in reporting. Schaefer's wife, Julie, is expecting their second child any day now and he's still being paid a $600,000 buyout from the Bruins so he has options, but it appears he'll become an unrestricted free agent once he clears waivers.

I'm going on record here: as a Moose fan, we want someone who wants to play here for the Moose rather than having some player half-ass it here because he's unhappy being demoted. It happens. It happened to Wade Redden, it happened to Sheldon Souray, and it happened to Martin Gerber. All are going about their business like professionals. I appreciate Schaefer not reporting if he's not going to give it all he has, and the Moose are better off for it.

Checking The Calendar

The Moose hit the road for a pair of games in Abbotsford against the Heat this weekend. The Heat sit three points ahead of the Moose in the North Division standings, but the Moose still have four games-in-hand on the Heat. Winning these two games will be important in terms of the Moose finishing the season in good standing. As always, divisional games are must-wins, so the Moose need to go out and pin a couple of losses on the Heat.

The Moose then head back to the American Midwest as they visit the Chicago Wolves on Tuesday and the Milwaukee Admirals on Wednesday. Chicago is having an uncharacteristic poor season right now, sitting seventh in the West Division at 9-11-1-0. Milwaukee is sixth in the West Division at 9-6-1-3, so these two former IHL rivals of the Moose are struggling early in the season. Nothing should be taken for granted with these two as they are both former Calder Cup Champions, and both can be dangerous on any given night.

The main focus right now should be the games in Abbotsford on Friday and Saturday. Four points for the Moose would be a huge help for the Herd as it could possibly vault them into second-place in the North Division, but, at the very least, will put them one point ahead of the Heat. You know what to do, so DO IT!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

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I'm Living Another Life

So I spent the weekend away from the desk and the computer and all its bells and whistles like email, news, and everything else that happens to bask in the sun and actually enjoy a long weekend for once. The problem? I apparently have no clue what timezone I live in. I went back and checked and re-checked all the posts for the correct dates, and everything was correct. I had been fiddling with some of the settings on this blog, and I guess I somehow changed the timezone away from my current locale. Just another reason why I sometimes can be a dumbass. Either way, though, everything is reset, and we're back on-track. Here are some updates from stories I wasn't tracking during my weekend away from being online.

• It appears that Detroit is going to try to add another marquee player, but have him play in the same role that Steve Yzerman adapted to so well. Mike Modano will reportedly be signed by the Red Wings to center their third line, and, according to Freep.com, will wear #90 for the Winged Wheels. I like this signing as Modano brings a great veteran presence to Detroit's lineup, is a proven winner and leader, and can score if given the chance. I'm quite certain that Mike Babcock will put him in a situation where he can thrive rather than pinning him to the bench.
• The Buffalo Sabres, in a rather odd move, have placed winger Tim Kennedy on waivers after Kennedy won his arbitration case. Because of the $1 million awarded to Kennedy, the Sabres were forced to accept the ruling in the arbitration case as it was lower than the pre-determined $1,611,180 mark needed for teams to walk away from a player. I get that the Sabres may not have been excited about giving a million bucks to a player entering his second season in the NHL after he posted 26 points on the third-line, but it's not a significant pay increase. Personally, if I had the cap room as an NHL GM, I'd go after Kennedy.
• The Boston Bruins have signed the second-overall pick from this year's draft. Tyler Seguin will have a shot at making the Bruins out of camp, but GM Peter Chiarelli feels he may be a better fit on the wing than down the middle where he normally plays. Either way, getting Seguin signed is a great move by the Bruins, and they didn't have to move anyone to make it happen. I see Seguin as a major part of this team by next season.
• The Atlanta Thrashers and New York Rangers swapped a few players as the Thrashers sent centerman Todd White to the Rangers for Patrick Rissmiller and Donald Brashear. I'm a little shocked that Atlanta would swing a deal that does nothing to help them, especially when you consider that they are reportedly going to buy out Brashear. That buyout will count against Atlanta's salary cap! Rissmiller may earn a spot with the Thrashers. White should be a decent fit in New York, but this seems like nothing more than two teams trading salaries they no longer want. I guess that's the moral of this story.
• Glen Metropolit is moving across the pond. Metropolit has signed with EV Zug in Switzerland after posting 16 goals and 13 assists last season for the Canadiens. I always like Metropolit as a good grinder with decent scoring ability, and his willingness to go to the front of the net with the Canadiens, especially on the powerplay, made him invaluable to the Canadiens' scoring. I'm not saying that 29 points can't be replaced, but the intangibles are a lot harder to replace, and Metropolit's hole in the lineup will be felt by the Canadiens for part, if not all, of the season.

There are some quick updates for Tuesday. I'll be back tomorrow after setting myself up in the right timezone (again)! Is there such a thing a bloglag? Y'know, like jetlag for blogs?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

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Escaping The Tailspin

HBIC is back with another historical perspective. I'm quite fond of the Sports Illustrated online vault simply due to the overwhelming number of excellent articles produced back when hockey was still relevant to the magazine. Today's look back into SI history takes us to March 20, 1967 where Pete Axthelm looks at how the 1967 Chicago Black Hawks escaped their normal display of falling apart down the stretch had been replaced by a surprising run to the top of the NHL standings. There are a ton of interesting quotes and facts presented by Mr. Axthelm in his examination of the Black Hawks, and it's really a candid look back at how players were more than just teammates and contracts. In fact, I think you could say that this young squad was truly a family in how close their connections were.

Let's take a quick look at how the dust settled in 1967 after this article was written.

While the Black Hawks would not win the Stanley Cup in 1967 - the Toronto Maple Leafs dispatched the Hawks in the semi-finals four games to two - they showed an incredible improvement on previous seasons to win the regular-season standings, capturing the Prince of Wales Trophy. They finished with 94 points in 70 games, 17 points better than second-place Montreal, and racked up a league-high 264 goals-for while posting a league-low 170 goals-against. To put that in perspective, the Hawks scored 52 goals more than Detroit who were second with 212 goals-for, and gave up eighteen less goals that second-place Montreal. This Hawks team? Pretty darn good!

The Hawks would also dominate the accolades scene that year. Stan Mikita tied the NHL record for points in a season with 97, and Bobby Hull scored more than 50 goals for the third time in his career as he finished the season with 52 markers. Mikita would be awarded the Art Ross Trophy for leading the league in scoring, finishing 17 points better than second-place and teammate Bobby Hull. Mikita would also receive the Hart Trophy for being the league's MVP, and would add the Lady Byng for his gentlemanly play. Goaltenders Glenn Hall and Denis DeJordy would capture the Vezina Trophy for being the league's top goaltending tandem. The Black Hawks would finish the season with five players in the top-ten in scoring: Mikita, Hull, Ken Wharram (4th), Phil Esposito (7th), and Doug Mohns (9th).

Adding to the list of accolades, the Black Hawks saw five players named to the NHL All-Star teams that year. Defenceman Pierre Pilote, and forwards Stan Mikita, Ken Wharram, and Bobby Hull were first team NHL All-Stars, while Glenn Hall was named to the second team. These five players would square off in the 1968 NHL All-Star Game against the Toronto Maple Leafs to start the 1968 season. Mikita tied the game at 1-1 on a shorthanded goal at 19:53 of the first period from Hull and Montreal's JC Tremblay. The NHL All-Stars would go up 2-1 just 35-seconds into the second period when Ken Wharram notched a goal off a Stan Mikita pass. However, the All-Stars would eventually fall to the Maple Leafs by a 4-3 score, and Glenn Hall - now a St. Louis Blue in 1968 - would record the loss.

In looking back at the article, there are some amazing quotes that Mr. Axthelm puts forth:

• "Patrick James Stapleton, 26-year-old gentleman farmer, father of five and an outstanding Hawk defenseman". How many 26-year-olds do you know that play in the NHL, are fathers of five children, and work farms in the off-season? It was simply a different era forty years ago.
• "Last year everyone was preoccupied with Bobby Hull's drive toward a record 54 goals". That happened in 1966. Just five years after Hull scored 54, one-time Chicago forward and legendary Boston Bruin Phil Esposito would score 76 in 1971.
• "[T]he mythical Muldoon Jinx—a curse allegedly pronounced by the team's first coach, Pete Muldoon, when he was fired in 1927". Much like the Chicago Cubs, it appeared that the Blackhawks had their own curse as they were only successful in capturing three Stanley Cups in their history before 2010's return to glory.
• "Mikita, the best all-round player in the game, is a cinch to break Hull's record of 97 points". The first SI curse? Mikita would tie the record as he posted 97 points in 1967, but never surpass that scoring mark. He would score 97 points again in 1968-69.
• "'Enjoy this?' he says. 'Are you kidding? I'm around here for one reason and that's the money.'" Goaltender Glenn Hall's speech should make him the idol of some members of the NHLPA.
• "DeJordy can do almost everything Hall does, and since he is younger and more enthusiastic, he will undoubtedly be the goalie the Hawks protect this year in the expansion draft." Mr. Axthelm shows some very good hockey savvy as Hall was exposed in the expansion draft and picked up by the upstart St. Louis Blues. This, however, opened the door for another legendary Black Hawk as the Hawks claimed Tony Esposito on waivers from the Montreal Canadiens in 1969-70. The rest, as they say, is history.
• "A few players declined Esposito's invitation to join him in a pheasant hunt. 'I don't know why,' Esposito said. 'I'm a very good hunter. As soon as something moves I shoot.'" Either Phil Esposito was an early incarnation of Dick Cheney, or he was simply preparing everyone for his future NHL success. If a goaltender moved, Esposito shot the puck at him.

I can't explain how much I love looking back into the NHL's history, but articles like this are exactly why I love these old stories. Mr. Axthelm does an excellent job in capturing the essence of that Black Hawks team, and the candid chatter with the players is something you never hear today. And what journalist gets that kind of inside access to a National Hockey League team?

Kind of makes me wish players were still like the players of yesteryear.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

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Antler Banter: Volume 19

Antler Banter returns to its usual Wednesday spot this week, and there are some personnel changes to highlight thanks to the NHL trade deadline occurring just one week before the AHL roster deadline was set. Three games highlighted the schedule from last week as Worcester Sharks and Grand Rapids Griffins were the Moose's opponents. We'll also look forward to this week's games as the Moose start the stretch run to the Calder Cup Playoffs. Don't forget to get all of your Manitoba Moose news and information on the Moose website. If you're interested in attending a Manitoba Moose game, please click here for seating information, ticket pricing, and availability. Here is this week's edition of Hardcore Hockey!

We're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat

After handing the Sharks a 3-1 loss on Tuesday night at MTS Centre, the Moose and Sharks hooked up again for Game Two of the two-game set in Winnipeg on Wednesday. Honestly, the Tuesday night game was one of the best games that I've seen this season by the Moose, so there was hope for another solid 60 minutes on Wednesday. Alex Stalock was back in the water for the Sharks, while Daren Machesney was sent out to the nets for the Moose.

Before the ice was dry, the Moose were on the board. Just 29 seconds into the first period, Matt Pettinger fired a low shot from the left half-boards that Stalock kicked out into the slot area. The problem with Stalock's rebound is that it found the stick of Marty Murray. Murray snapped the puck into the open side of the net, and the Moose were out to the 1-0 lead on Murray's tenth goal of the season.

The rest of the first period was a collection of penalties on both teams, highlighted by a scrap between Worcester's Brett Westgarth and Manitoba's Dusty Collins. The Moose finished the period trailing in shots by an 11-9 margin, but they held the lead on the scoreboard with a 1-0 advantage.

Mario Bliznak took a goaltender interference penalty at the 4:25 mark of the second period, and that sent the Sharks to the man-advantage. 29 seconds after Bliznak sat down in the box, he was released. Steven Zalewski carried the puck down the left wing, and found the trailer, Dwight Helminen, in the slot. Helminen made no mistake as he buried his 11th goal of the season high over Machesney's glove, and the powerplay marker even the game at 1-1 just 5:14 into the middle frame.

Just 2:20 later, the Sharks struck again. Winnipegger Frazer McLaren's initial shot was stopped by Machesney, but defenceman Nathan McIver fell over top of Machesney as the rebound went out to Machesney's left side. With the interference, Machesney didn't have time to recover as McLaren jumped on the rebound. McLaren slid the puck along the ice into the crease, and Matt Jones banged home the loose puck. Jones' fifth goal of the season at 7:34 put the Sharks ahead by a 2-1 score.

To say the Moose didn't play well in the second period would be a huge understatement. The Sharks outshot Manitoba 22-6 in the period to lead 31-17 after two periods! Had it not been for Daren Machesney, the game could have been out-of-hand with the amount of shots that Manitoba saw in that period.

The Sharks added to their lead just 1:30 into the third period. With Logan Couture standing squarely in front of Machesney, TJ Trevelyan fired a puck under Machesney's glove that found the back of the net. Machesney had little chance of making the save with Couture being a perfect screen, and the Sharks had the 3-1 lead on Trevelyan's 18th goal of the season.

4:16 later, a two-on-one developed as Worcester's Ryan Vesce and Trevelyan broke in against Nathan McIver. With McIver giving Vesce the shot, Vesce broke on in the left side and fired a low wrist shot towards the right post and into the back of the net. Machesney should have had that shot from Vesce, but it dented the twine. Vesce's 11th goal of the season put the Sharks up 4-1 at 5:46.

2:12 after that goal, the Sharks had another. Evan Oberg turned the puck over in the right corner after falling, and Dan DaSilva picked up the loose puck. Manitoba's Jeff Waugh and Worcester's John McCarthy were all over the blue paint around Machesney as DaSilva pulled the puck out front to his backhand, and DaSilva buried the backhander past both Waugh and Machesney. Again, another goal that Machesney had little to no chance of saving, and Manitoba's bad game continued. DaSilva's 14th of the season gave the Sharks a 5-1 lead at the 7:58 mark.

It took almost seven minutes for the Moose to respond, but they did add to their total. Travis Ramsey's slapshot from the right point found a seam through Alex Stalock, and Ramsey's second goal of the season made it a 5-2 Sharks lead.

However, time was the enemy, and there wasn't enough time for the Moose to get any closer. The final total in shots was a ridiculous 43-29 for Worcester - a perfect example of why this game went poorly for the Moose. I can't fault Machesney as he did all he could in stopping 38 shots, but the Moose still take the loss. Their record falls to 31-27-5-1.

Griffins Are Mythical Creatures, After All

It has taken a long time for the Moose to meet up with their former IHL rivals, but the Moose and Griffins battled for the first time this season on Friday night. It's hard to believe that divisional teams haven't faced each other by this point in the season, but such is the case in the AHL. Daniel Larsson got the start for the Griffins against Manitoba's Cory Schneider at Van Andel Arena.

Hard-working teams can't take penalties when they struggle to score, and the Moose displayed perfect examples of this in the first period. Manitoba opened the game with five minor penalties, and the Griffins capitalized.

Newcomer Yan Stastny was sent off for hooking at 3:12, and the Griffins opened the scoring 49 seconds later. Doug Janik fed Jeremy Williams with a pass, and Williams roofed a wrist shot over Schneider on the left side. Just 4:01 in, and Williams had his 22nd goal of the season with the powerplay marker, and the Griffins had a 1-0 lead.

Geoff Waugh earned two minor penalties at 7:18, and the extra unsportmanlike conduct penalty he earned after the hugging match against Justin Abdelkader put the Griffins back on the powerplay. At 8:26, Jeremy Williams struck again after Patrick Rissmiller made a gorgeous cross-ice pass to the sniper. Williams had no trouble finding the back of the net as Schneider couldn't get across, and Grand Rapids had a 2-0 lead on Williams' 23rd goal and second powerplay marker on the night.

The second period looked much like how the first ended: tighter checking and more disciplined play. However, the stalemate in the second would be broken at the 18:18 mark. Manitoba's Lawrence Nycholat fired a shot from the point that found its way through a maze of players in front of Larsson, and the puck found the twine past Larsson's glove. Nycholat's third goal of the season cut the Griffins' lead to 2-1.

However, just 45 seconds later, the Griffins restored the two-goal lead. Logan Pyatt was in the right place at the right time as Schneider made the stop on Justin Abdelkader, but couldn't hold on to the rebound. Pyatt poked the puck across the line for his ninth goal of the season, and the Griffins led 3-1 with just 56.1 seconds left in the second period.

In what seems like a recurring theme this season, the Moose trailed 25-15 in shots by the second intermission. Honestly, Schneider and Machesney have seen more vulcanized rubber this year than Goodyear and Bridgestone combined. If there's any wonder why this team continues to struggle to put together strings of wins, it might have something to do with being outshot in every game. And, in most cases, by large margins.

The third period seemed to be fairly uneventful outside of a Guillaume Desbiens-Jamie Tardif scrap. Desbiens picked up the victory in the bout of fisticuffs, but the Moose couldn't manage any other offence against the Griffins. With Schneider on the bench for the extra attacker, Patrick Rissmiller scored his 17th goal into the empty net, and the Griffins secured the 4-1 win.

Full credit to the Griffins for playing a very balanced and thorough game in earning the win. With the loss, the Moose drop to 31-28-5-1, and really need to pick up two points against the Griffins in Saturday's game.

Slaying The Beast

Saturday night saw the Moose and Griffins battle again at Van Andel Arena. The Moose need to get back on-track against a lower-ranked team, and start winning games they are supposed to win. A sellout of 10,834 fans were on-hand for the game as Daniel Larsson and Cory Schneider took to the nets for the second night in a row.

Both teams limited chances early on as each team seemed a little more defensive than the night before. However, the Moose got on the board just past the halfway point of the first period. Sergei Shirokov ripped a shot past Larsson from the right circle at the 10:55 mark for his 20th goal of the season, and the Moose were out in front by a 1-0 score.

Neither team dented the twine before the horn sounded, giving Manitoba the 1-0 lead as the intermission began. Grand Rapids had a modest 9-8 lead on the shot clock, but the Moose seemed to be matching their opponents shot for shot for the first time in a long time.

But then the second period started. Cory Schneider, proving that he is Manitoba's MVP this season, stopped all 15 shots that he faced in the second period. Grand Rapids' Daniel Larsson, on the other hand, stopped all five shots he faced. After two periods, Grand Rapids had the 24-13 lead on the shot clock, but still trailed 1-0 due to Schneider's incredible goaltending.

However, the 25th shot of the game for Grand Rapids found its way past Schneider. Justin Abdelkader streaked down the left wing and found a hole with his wrist shot between Schneider's pad and the left post. Abdelkader's seventh goal of the season came just 20 seconds into the third frame.

The Moose didn't fold after Abdelkader's goal. The stingy defensive play by both teams continued despite Grand Rapids' growing shot total. Larsson and Schneider stood tall, and neither team could solve the tie in 60 minutes. Off to overtime!

Both teams had chances, but it was Manitoba's third shot of the extra period that ended the game. Logan Pyatt had the puck take a bad bounce in front of him in the high slot, and the puck found its way behind the Griffins' defender. Mario Bliznak picked up the loose puck, and he stuffed it through Larsson's five-hole for the game-winning goal. Bliznak's seventh goal of the season gave Manitoba the 2-1 overtime victory, and a great celebration for Bliznak as he scored on his birthday!

Despite Manitoba's win, they were badly outshot again. Grand Rapids ended the game with a 43-26 lead in shots. However, I'm not looking in the mouths of any horses. A win is a win is a win. With the victory, Manitoba improves to 32-28-5-1.

Controlling Your Own Destiny

It's safe to say that Manitoba would like to avoid a first-round series with division-leading Hamilton, so it's time for Manitoba to buckle down and start grinding out some wins. As it stands, Manitoba is fourth-place in the North Division. They trail third-place Abbotsford by four points and second-place Rochester by six points. The good news is that the Moose have a game in-hand on the Heat, but the Americans have a game in-hand on Manitoba.

With two more games against last-place Grand Rapids, two against the Heat, two against the Marlies, and four against the Hamilton Bulldogs before the end of the season, the divisional games become paramount in terms of their importance. Each one of those games essentially can be a four-point swing, so winning the divisional games is the only option for the Moose at this point.

If they want to avoid Hamilton in the opening round of the Calder Cup Playoffs, the Moose need to beat teams within their own division. It's that simple.

Taking Attendance Is Mandatory

After the NHL trade deadline and the AHL roster freeze deadlines passed, the roster of the Manitoba Moose looks significantly different. I'll run down these moves on a per-player basis.

• Mathieu Schneider - traded by Vancouver to Phoenix. It was a well-known fact that Schneider's stay with the Moose would be temporary. And it was.
  
• Nick Boynton - traded by Anaheim to Chicago. Boynton adds depth for Chicago's playoff run in the NHL, but he'll be back in Manitoba this week. Boynton was assigned to the Rockford IceHogs by the Blackhawks.
• Pierre-Cedric Labrie - traded by Vancouver to St. Louis. Labrie was a rugged competitor who performed fairly well before the trade in a checking role. However, his choppy skating style may have limited his development, and it appears that Vancouver wanted a change.
  
• Marty Murray - loaned by Manitoba to Milwaukee. Murray was disappointed about leaving his home province, but he'll be a good veteran presence on a young Milwaukee team.
• Brad Lukowich - re-assigned by Vancouver. Lukowich, who had been playing with the Texas Stars for most of the season in order to be closer to his family, was scheduled to be in Manitoba for this weekend's games against the IceHogs. However, the veteran defenceman opted for shoulder surgery to cure a wonky shoulder, and will not play again this season.
• Nolan Baumgartner - recalled by Vancouver. Baumgartner is back up with the big club, but the impending return of Kevin Bieksa should mean that Baumgartner will return soon.
• Peter Olvecky - loaned by Milwaukee to Manitoba. Olvecky, a Slovakian, is a big body who isn't afraid to get dirty in the corners. He has a great shot, and will most likely play on a line with former teammate Marco Rosa and Matt Pettinger this weekend against the IceHogs.
• Yan Stastny - traded by St. Louis to Vancouver. Stastny is a decent scoring forward who should help the Moose with his speed and hands. He was a scoring threat in Peoria, and has NHL experience. Stastny will be relied on to generate offence in Manitoba.
• Andy Brandt - signed to PTO. Brandt, a 22 year-old forward, had been playing with the ECHL's Victoria Salmon Kings before the Moose came calling. Brandt had a few good shifts in his debut against the Griffins, and is looking to continue his strong play as he works to earn a spot with the Moose.
  

Coming Up Next

The Moose have a weekend set against the Rockford IceHogs on Friday and Saturday. Rockford currently sits in second-place in the West Division with a 38-24-3-3 record for 82 points, so the Moose will need to play well in both games to have a chance at earning some points.

Bracken Kearns leads the team with 47 points, two better than Mark Cullen. Kyle Greentree leads the team in goal-scoring with 22 goals on the season. Jack Skille is the next highest goal-scorer with 20 markers. The IceHogs upgraded their goaltending at the NHL trade deadline when they acquired Hannu Toivonen. Along with Corey Crawford, the IceHogs boast a fairly good tandem in the nets. With both goaltenders have fairly unimpressive records, Crawford's 2.79 GAA and Toivonen's 2.72 GAA indicate that Rockford's goaltending has been steady all season long. The Moose will need to score more often than they have in their recent games if they hope to down the IceHogs.

Antler Branches

There have been a few interesting notes from the Herd that need to be brought to light.

• Sergei Shirokov will miss the Friday game of the Rockford series after he was suspended by the AHL after kneeing Ole-Kristian Tollefsen of Grand Rapids. The AHL announced the suspension today.
• Head coach Scott Arniel confirmed today that he has asked the Anaheim Ducks about Luca Sbisa. Sbisa is currently playing for the WHL's Portland Winter Hawks. When the season ends for Portland, Arniel is hoping that Anaheim will assign the big defenceman to Manitoba for the Moose's playoff run. Getting a player like Sbisa would be huge for the Moose. Sbisa, as you may know, suited up for Switzerland at the 2010 Winter Olympics, and he would bring a big shot to Manitoba's blueline. Stick tap to Joshua for catching my error on Sbisa's WHL team!
• Both Dan Sexton and Nolan Baumgartner were placed on "paper waivers" today by the Ducks and Canucks, respectively. This allows Manitoba to include the two players on their 22-man roster for the Calder Cup Playoffs. Both men will be vital in Manitoba's quest for the Calder Cup this season.
• Cody Hodgson, who played for the Moose in last season's Calder Cup Playoffs, suffered a hairline fracture when he blocked a shot last week for the Brampton Battalion. It is expected that Hodgson will be out until the OHL Playoffs start, but the Moose have expressed an interest in bringing Hodgson back when Brampton's season comes to an end. Honestly, his offensive abilities will be more than welcomed in the Moose dressing room.
• Saturday night's game against the Rockford IceHogs will be a special night. The Manitoba Moose are honouring the three divisions of the Canadian military on Military Salute night. The Moose will wear these beautiful uniforms in honour of the men and women who bravely put their lives on the line for all Canadians. This should be a great evening of hockey for the bravest men and women in the world!
  

There's your Moose update for this week. With all the changes that happened last week, there's hope that everything will settle for the Moose, especially with their roster. As it stands, 50 players have worn the Moose uniform this season, and the opening night roster hasn't been together since opening night.

Rockford invades MTS Centre this weekend, so get your tickets and get downtown to cheer on the Moose as they begin the stretch run to the Calder Cup Playoffs!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

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Before The Torch Is Lit

As the torch is carried closer to the Vancouver Olympic Games, the NHL has started to shut itself down as the players and executives not going to the Left Coast start a two-week holiday. However, HBIC is staying on hockey's trail, covering the Olympics as much as I can, but also keeping an eye on the AHL, ECHL, and various other leagues across the globe. But because this is a big day for Canada, I'm just going to post a few stories for today. They aren't any sort of breaking news stories, but they are stories that I found interesting from the hockey world.

• A very interesting story about a man I personally know and have the utmost respect for was published on the NHL website on Wednesday. Ryan Galloway, a linesman who plied his trade in Winnipeg for a long time, finally achieved a life-long dream by officiating in all 30 NHL arenas after suiting up in the stripes at Madison Square Garden. Congratulations on all your success, Ryan, and here's hoping you have nothing but good luck and success for as long as you're wearing the stripes!
• The Chicago Blackhawks opened up some cap room today when they dealt defenceman Cam Barker to the Minnesota Wild for defenceman Kim Johnsson and prospect Nick Leddy. Barker's salary hit wasn't good for Chicago's bottom line, so dealing the blueliner was almost inevitable. In Minnesota, Barker will get a lot of playing time, and the Wild can use his booming shot. The Hawks, meanwhile, get a solid prospect, and Johnsson's salary comes off the books at the end of the season - two perfect scenarios for Chicago.
• The Carolina Hurricanes made a move today, dealing Matt Cullen to the Ottawa Senators for defenceman Alexandre Picard and a second-round draft pick. Cullen goes to a team that has been searching for a solid two-way centerman that can play in any situation, and Cullen fits that bill. Picard will get a chance to eat up the minutes that Niclas Wallin left behind after he was traded, so it appears this is a deal that will work for both players as much as it will for both teams.
• Just a day after putting tough guy Donald Brashear on waivers, the New York Rangers went out and acquired Jody Shelley from the San Jose Sharks for a sixth-round draft pick. Why the Rangers went for a tough guy when they are already paying a tough guy not to play is beyond me, but Shelley should bring an element of toughness to the ice every time he hops over the boards. But again, this move seems inexplicable to me.
• The Montreal Canadiens added another player in the hopes that his effort and energy will help the club. Montreal shipped a second-round pick in 2011 to the Florida Panthers to get Dominic Moore. Moore should be a solid addition for the Canadiens as Moore can kill penalties and should be a useful addition to the Canadiens' second or third lines.
  
• According to Flyers' GM Paul Holmgren, goaltender Ray Emery will get three weeks off to rest his ailing hip. Holmgren also nipped the Turco-to-Philly rumours in the bud when asked about the possibility of the Dallas goalie being a target by the Flyers. Holmgren denied that the Flyers had any interest in the Stars' netminder.

With the trade freeze on now, there will be no deals made by NHL clubs until the Olympics are over. In knowing that, it's time to kick back and watch the best players in the world play for a gold medal. It all starts this weekend, so let's get ready for some Olympic hockey action! Tune in tomorrow when Uni Watch Blog's Phil Hecken and I look at all twelve men's teams' jerseys in the Olympic men's hockey tournament. It should spark some debate!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

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Antler Banter: Volume 15

Antler Banter returns today with a look back on this past week's events with the Manitoba Moose. The Moose welcomed the San Antonio Rampage to MTS Centre for a pair of games last weekend with the Moose needing to get back on some sort of winning streak after limping through Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. There have been a few player moves that have affected the Moose as well, so we'll look at who went where and who is new in town. Lastly, we'll look ahead as the Moose welcome a North Division rival to MTS Centre this upcoming weekend. Of course, you can always find all of your Manitoba Moose news and information, don't forget to check out the Moose website. If you're interested in attending a Manitoba Moose game, please click here for seating information, ticket pricing, and availability. It's time for some Hardcore Hockey!

Next Goal Wins!

The San Antonio Rampage rolled into Winnipeg for a two-game set on Friday and Saturday night last weekend. The Rampage are sitting in last place in the tightly-contested West Division, so the Moose were looking to stop the Rampage in their tracks. Cory Schneider got the call for the Moose in the crease while the Rampage sent Josh Tordjman out to their net.

Just 2:44 in saw the game's first goal. San Antonio's Gavin Morgan put a shot into traffic in front of Schneider that just squeaked through his pads to sit behind the Moose goalie. However, Francis Lessard was there to poke the loose puck in on the right side of the net for his first of the season, and San Antonio was out to the 1-0 lead.

The Moose evened the game up after controlling the play midway through the period. With Kyle Turris sent off for interference at the 10:04 mark, the Herd's powerplay went to work. Brian Salcido's blast from just above the high slot area went into traffic where Dan Sexton tipped the puck past Tordjman from the right side of the crease. Sexton's second goal of the season came on a powerplay at 10:49, and the Moose were squared up at 1-1.

The first period - and an entertaining period at that - drew to a close with the teams tied at 1-1, while San Antonio had the slight edge in shots at 10-9.

The second period saw chances on both sides, but only San Antonio capitalized. Matt Watkins broke hard down the left wing and gained a step on Brian Salcido, but Salcido forced him deep enough that Watkins had to head behind the net. Thanks to the speed he had built up, he was able to circle the net quickly and slide home a wraparound goal before Schneider could go post-to-post to make the save. With Watkins' sixth goal of the year, the Rampage took a 2-1 lead at the 11:57 mark of the middle frame.

Honestly, Watkins' goal is not going to make Cory Schneider's highlight reel. It was a weaker goal than what I've seen Schneider normally allow, but the Moose netminder is human. Mistakes happen, and the Moose needed to rally yet again. However, there were no more goals in the second period, and San Antonio led on the shot clock by a 21-15 margin.

The third period saw the Moose pull even. Michael Grabner broke down the right wing into the Rampage zone, and put on the brakes as the Moose flooded the zone. Grabner threaded a pass through to Marco Rosa cutting down the slot, but Tordjman got enough of it to keep the puck out. However, his rebound hit the hash marks where Dan Sexton was lurking, and Sexton wristed home his third goal of the year. Just 5:06 in, and the Moose tied the game at 2-2.

Three minutes later, and the Rampage claimed the lead for the third time over the course of the evening. Mikkel Boedker took a pass just over the red line and cruised into the Moose zone on the right side. Boedker teed up the puck from just above the face-off dot, and hammered the puck inside the left post just above Schneider's right leg. With Boedker's fifth of the season, the Rampage were back on top at 3-2.

Back came the Herd as the back-and-forth scoring continued. Matt Pettinger nearly replicated Boedker's goal as he took a pass in flight from Salcido as he crossed the Rampage blueline on the right side. Pettinger made a cut towards the middle, put the brakes on, and wired a wrist shot from the face-off dot over Tordjman's blocker just inside the left post. Pettinger's 11th of the season put the Moose back on even terms at 3-3 with 4:11 to play.

And the pattern continued. The Rampage went back to the powerplay at 17:34 of the third period when Lawrence Nycholat was sent to sin bin for delay of game. Off the draw, Sean Sullivan's centering attempt deflected off Chad Kolarik's skate into the slot. San Antonio's Kevin Porter ripped a low shot that deflected off Jeff Hoggan's shin, and found its way to the back of the Manitoba net. Hoggan's powerplay goal, his eighth of the season, made it 4-3 for the Rampage with 2:26 to play.

The Moose didn't go away. With the extra attacker on the ice, Evan Oberg's pass from the right face-off dot found Marty Murray in the slot. Murray deflected the pass up high towards the net where a number of players were battling, and the puck found its way over Tordjman, who had dropped to the ice, and into the net. At 19:39, Murray's ninth goal of the season drew the Moose even at 4-4, and overtime looked inevitable.

The extra frame didn't last long, however. Mikkel Boedker took a pass down the right wing from Shaun Heshka, and carried the puck into the Moose zone. His pass from the top of the face-off circle was intended for Kevin Porter who was streaking into the slot, but the puck deflected off Evan Oberg who had good position on Porter. Unfortunately, the deflected puck went straight back and into the Moose net. Boedker's sixth goal of the season sealed the win for the Rampage just 45 seconds into overtime.

With the 5-4 overtime loss, the Moose's record drops to 24-22-5-1 on the season. The Moose really picked up the pace in the third period as they outshot the Rampage 15-9, but the Rampage still won the battle on the shot clock by a 32-30 margin. It seems like it has been weeks since the Moose outshot anyone.

Staring Down A Moose

With the Moose having lost after rallying four times to tie the game the night before, you know head coach Scott Arniel wanted more from his players. Like the first goal. And a lead. Either way, the Moose and Rampage tangled again on Saturday night with both teams looking for the two points. Cory Schneider got the call for the Moose again, but the Rampage responded with Justin Pogge in between the pipes.

The action was fat and furious in the early going. Both goalies had to be sharp as the teams were flying around the ice. Jannik Hansen nearly had his first goal of the season for the Moose, but the puck rattled off both posts as it danced along the goal line.

However, one of the Moose newcomers got the home squad on the board. Russian speedster Nikita Kashirsky caught the Rampage defencemen flat-footed at the Moose blueline, and he broke away down the right side with the Rampage in pursuit. On the breakaway, Kashirsky went from right to left, and showed a nice deke from the backhand to the forehand before sliding the puck through Pogge's five-hole. Kashirsky's third goal of the season came unassisted at 10:56 of the first, and the Moose were out to a 1-0 lead.

The Moose couldn't celebrate long, however. Mike Keane took a hooking penalty at 11:14, and the Rampage went to work on the powerplay. A turnover in front of the Moose net found its way into the back of the net. Rampage forward Chad Kolarik picked Brian Salcido's pocket in the slot, and fired a wrist shot high stick-side that Schneider couldn't stop. Kolarik's 16th of the season while on the powerplay tied the game at 1-1 at the 12:13 mark.

The Moose should consider themselves lucky that they found themselves tied with the Rampage after being outshot 8-4 in the first period and, by my count, outchanced at least 5-2. However, a 1-1 score after one period of play was where the game stood.

It appeared that the wake-up call was sounded in the Moose dressing room between the periods. 52 seconds in, Guillaume Desbiens tipped a Travis Ramsey shot from the point past Pogge, and the Moose regained the lead. Desbiens' 11th goal of the season put the Moose back on top at 2-1.

4:02 later, however, the Rampage pulled even again, and in a gorgeous way. Kyle Turris showed NHL talent as he walked around Michael Grabner like he wasn't even there. With Ryan Weston off for hooking, Kyle Turris broke down the left wing on Grabner. As Grabner attempted the poke-check on Turris, Turris pulled the puck between his legs from back to front, and avoided both the poke-check and the bodycheck from Grabner. As Turris brought the puck from left to right as he crossed the crease, Schneider went down, Turris slid the puck under his left leg, and Turris might have scored the prettiest goal at MTS Centre this season. With Turris' marvelous shorthanded effort and 11th of the season, the Rampage tied the game up at 2-2.

Mario Bliznak was sent off for hooking at 17:39, and the Rampage powerplay was back on the scene. Mikkel Boedker started off the tic-tac-toe scoring play as he dished the puck to Matt Watkins along the right half-boards who one-timed a pass to Brett MacLean cruising into the slot. No one picked up Watkins as he headed to the net, and MacLean returned a pass to Watkins on the backdoor for the easy tap-in goal. Watkins' seventh goal on the powerplay gave the Rampage their first lead of the night at 3-2 with only 35 seconds remaining in the second period.

The third period saw the two teams settle down defensively, but one lost check changed the fortunes for the Moose. Tom Galvin's point shot was deflected on net by Mike Keane, but Pogge was there for the save. However, Pogge's kick-out went right on to the stick of the unchecked Guillaume Desbiens on the left side of the crease, and Desbiens had no trouble sliding the puck behind Pogge. Desbiens' 12th of the season at 13:53 tied the game at 3-3.

The third period drew to a close, and the Rampage only had a one-shot lead on the shot clock as overtime approached. With the 26-25 advantage, it seemed as though the Rampage had carried the play more often, but the Moose hung around long enough to salvage at least one point.

Overtime saw the Moose put three more shots on Pogge, but the Rampage didn't manage a shot. However, nothing was decided, so a shootout would decide this game. Boedker was stopped, but Rosa scored in the first round. Kyle Turris put one past Schneider, but Dan Sexton responded to keep Manitoba ahead 2-1 in the shootout. Chad Kolarik was stopped by Schneider, while Michael Grabner beat Pogge to give Manitoba a 3-1 lead. With Schneider stopping David Schlemko on the fourth shot, no more shots were needed, and the Moose earned a 4-3 shootout victory.

With the win, the Moose improve to 25-22-5-1, keeping them in third place in the North Division as of today. They are two points ahead of the Lake Erie Monsters and Abbotsford Heat, and trail the second-place Rochester Americans by six points.

This Isn't A Super Bowl Halftime Show

The Who sang "Who Are You" during the Super Bowl halftime show this past weekend, and the Moose should look at buying rights to that song. The amount of turnover on their roster is bordering on ridiculous.

• Nick Boynton - recalled by Anaheim. The Ducks didn't give Manitoba anytime to get acquainted with the defenceman. Just days after assigning Boynton to the Moose, they recalled him on re-entry waivers hours before Friday's game. However, after he cleared waivers again, the Ducks re-assigned him to the Moose, and he should be in uniform for this weekend's games.
  
• Jannik Hansen - recalled by Vancouver. The reconditioning assignment for Hansen came to an end quickly as the Canucks recalled the speedy forward on Monday.
• Evan Rankin - released from PTO. Rankin played well while in Manitoba, but simply didn't fit into Manitoba's long-term plans. Rankin scored one goal in four games before his release.
• Taylor Ellington - re-assigned to Victoria. Ellington is caught in the numbers game again, but he showed he isn't out of place on the Moose blueline. Ellington will most likely be back sooner than later.

Coming Up: North Division Rivals

The Moose have a couple of games on Friday and Saturday against a division rival in the Toronto Marlies. As I have repeatedly stated on this blog, divisional games mean everything in the grand scheme of things, so the Moose should be gunning for four points over the weekend.

Tough guy Andre Deveaux has proven his hands are more than just fists as he leads the Marlies in scoring with 14 goals and 32 points. With several of Toronto's better players currently playing for the Maple Leafs, the Moose need to capitalize. There's a good chance that Joey MacDonald will play one of the games against the Moose, and his stats are rather unspectacular. MacDonald enters the weekend with an 8-15-3 record and a 3.33 GAA. James Reimer has been much better in his limited action, posting a record of 6-1-1 with a 2.29 GAA. Reimer would be my choice, but it appears MacDonald has been shouldering the workload.

Four points or bust this weekend for the Moose. The Marlies are 19-24-5-5 and sit eight points back of the Moose. The mantra of this writer remains the same: beat teams that are lower than you in the standings, and always win divisional games. We'll see what happens when we reconvene next week.

Until then, keep your sticks on the ice!

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Antler Banter: Volume 6

Antler banter returns this week to find the Moose out on a roadtrip and down several key players as call-ups and waivers have decimated the Moose's lineup again. I'm ok with the fact that the AHL is a stepping stone for players to get to the NHL, but sometimes it's hard watching good players make a stop for no more than a week, do extremely well while with the Moose, and then move on to another team. In any case, we'll look at the Moose's recent trip through the US midwest, update who's here and who's gone, and review the injury situation. As always, for all of your Manitoba Moose news and information, don't forget to check out the Moose website. If you're interested in attending a Manitoba Moose game, please click here for seating information, ticket pricing, and availability. To the Hardcore Hockey!

Second Of Two

The Moose played the second game of a two-game set against the Rochester Americans at MTS Centre last Wednesday, and sported a 13-10-4-0 record entering the game. With the danger of falling deeper into a hole behind Rochester, the Moose needed to come up with a big effort to keep pace with the high-flying Americans. Cory Schneider started in the Moose net while Ryan Mior got his first start in the AHL for Rochester.

The Moose had suffered a 4-1 loss on Tuesday night, and head coach Scott Arniel was looking for a big effort from his club. However, the Moose got off on the wrong foot. Graham Mink made Nathan McIver look like a pylon as he deked around the Moose defenseman before sliding a backhander past Schneider just 26 seconds into the first. Mink's ninth goal of the season came just days before being named as PlanetUSA's captain at the upcoming AHL All-Star Game in Portland, Maine.

The Moose had a number of chances, including a Dan Sexton penalty shot, to equal the mark as the period progressed, but Mior stood tall as he turned away chance after chance. However, he couldn't stop them all. With Shawn Matthias and Jordan Henry serving minor penalties, Aaron Rome's wrist shot from the high slot with traffic in front of Mior found the back of the net over Mior's blocker-side shoulder. Rome had his first goal of the season at the 17:07 mark on a two-man advantage. The two teams would take the tied score into the locker rooms.

The second period saw the two teams trading chances again, but both Schneider and Mior were playing extremely well. Between the two of them, only one puck found the twine, and it was off the stick of the hometown Moose. Sergei Shirokov held the puck in at the Rochester blue line, and spotted Aaron Rome open on the half-boards. Rome took the pass, skated three strides into the face-off circle, and wired home a wrist shot to the far side of the net that got under Mior's blocker. Rome's second of the night and the season at the 9:08 mark gave the Moose a 2-1 lead. Chances were had after Rome's goal, but Manitoba held the fort and went into the second intermission up by a goal.

The third period saw Rochester kick it into overdrive as they threw twelve shots in the period at Cory Schneider. The Moose were quick to help their goaltender, clearing rebounds and players out from the crease area whenever necessary. Schneider stood tall, and the Moose shut down the high-flying Amerks in the third period to secure the 2-1 victory.

A very solid effort in all zones from the Moose, and they actually look like can hang with the elite teams in the AHL. With the minor upset, the Moose improve to 14-10-4-0 on the season.

First Of Three

The Moose made their way back to Illinois as they started their three-in-three roadtrip in Peoria against the Rivermen. The Moose had lost to Peoria by a 2-1 score in overtime just a week earlier, so they were looking for a little payback. However, the Moose would be without Erik Christensen as he was claimed by the New York Rangers off waivers, and Mike Keane who was in Montreal for the Canadiens 100th Anniversary celebration. Without two of their better players over the last week in the lineup, the Moose would have to buckle down and play hard. Cory Schneider started against Ben Bishop.

Things started slowly for the Moose as they missed an opportunity on a powerplay to put the Rivermen down. The Rivermen built a little momentum with the penalty kill, and used that to carry the play. With 9:32 to go in the first period, the Rivermen struck. Derek Armstrong fired home a rebound through Schneider's legs for his fourth of the season off a Chris Porter shot, and the Moose trailed 1-0. Lars Eller made it 2-0 at 15:47 when he put home a rebound off an Aaron Palushaj shot that hit the post. Schneider, out challenging Palushaj, was in no position to stop Eller on the rebound, and he deposited his fourth of the season into the empty net. The Rivermen went into the intermission leading 2-0.

The second period looked a lot like the first as Peoria controlled the game from the drop of the puck. A Moose turnover along the half-boards in their own zone led to Porter feeding a wide-open Barry Tallackson in the slot. Tallackson made no mistake, firing the puck through Schneider's five-hole for his sixth goal of the season at 6:54 of the second to make it 3-0 for the Rivermen.

Julian Talbot added his fourth of the season on a brutal defensive breakdown. With Eller standing in the face-off circle looking for a pass, Talbot found himself all alone in front of the net. Eller fed Talbot who redirected the puck past a helpless Schneider, and the Rivermen had a 4-0 lead at the 11:18 mark.

Peoria made it 5-0 before the end of the second period as Aaron Palushaj poked a rebound through Schneider's pads on a powerplay. Palushaj's second of the season came at the 16:21 mark of the second period. With the Rivermen controlling the play for the rest of the period, the 5-0 score after 40 minutes was indicative of the final outcome.

Daren Machesney came out to tend to Manitoba's net in the third period, but he fared no better than Schneider. Anthony Peluso put Peoria up 6-0 with his first goal of the season at 3:48 after breaking hard down the left wing to find himself on a partial breakaway. Brian Salcido's second goal of the season broke Ben Bishop's shutout as a blast from the top of the face-off circle eluded the goalie at the 8:30 mark. Peoria, however, finished off the scoring as Winnipeg-born Ryan Reaves netted his third of the season off a wicked blast from the face-off dot that got past Machesney's glove.

A very lackluster effort from the Moose on Friday as they get trounced by a 7-1 score. Defensively, the Moose appeared lost for most of the game, and they certainly didn't help either goalie very much. With the loss, the Moose drop to a 14-11-4-0 mark on the season.

One Mercifully Down, Two To Go

The Moose filed into Milwaukee on Saturday for the second game of their three-in-three roadtrip. Mike Keane was back after participating in the Canadiens' celebration, so one regular would be back in the lineup. However, another solid Moose contributor was recalled as Dan Sexton was off to join the Anaheim Ducks. Daren Machesney drew the assignment against Milwaukee while Winnipeg-born Chet Pickard tended the Admirals' net.

For the first time in what seemed like weeks, Manitoba was the first team on the scoreboard. Mario Bliznak sent a pass to Mike Keane in the slot. Pickard came way out of his net to challenge, leaving Pierre-Cedric Labrie wide open to tap in the gift on the weak side. Labrie's second of the season at 8:09 in the first period put Manitoba up 1-0. A rash of penalties closed out the period, and Manitoba led at the end of a period for the first time on this roadtrip.

The second period was completely forgettable as the Admirals stormed back. Milwaukee tied the game just 2:27 in as Triston Grant was credited with his third of the season after he shoveled the puck across the goal line with a pile of players sprawled all over the ice. Grant struck again at the 15:02 mark when he tapped in Mike Santorelli's cross-crease pass. And Milwaukee closed out the scoring in the period with 1:05 remaining when Peter Olvecky converted an identical goal to Grant's second marker off an identical pass from Mike Santorelli. Olvecky's fifth of the season gave Milwaukee a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes.

Aaron Rome's third goal of the season at the 13:33 mark of the third period closed the gap for the Moose. Rome's blast from the point found the back of the net on the powerplay, and the Moose trailed 3-2. However, the Admirals restored the two-goal lead 55 seconds later when Hugh Jessiman's slapshot from the left face-off circle caught the inside of the post past Machesney's blocker. Jessiman missed the assist on the Gordie Howe hat trick as he and Geoff Waugh went mano-a-mano with 50 seconds left in the game.

The Admirals downed the Moose by a 4-2 score, and drop the Moose to a 14-12-4-0 record. Again, some key defensive breakdowns did the Moose in. Fatigue may have played a role in the breakdowns as they played on back-to-back night, but it would be no easier as the Moose prepared to play Rockford on Sunday afternoon.

Two Down, One To Go, No Points Yet

The Moose desperately needed to salvage something from this roadtrip. The Moose had won the previous week on a 2-1 score when they stopped by Rockford. Rockford wanted to even the season series while Manitoba needed a couple of points to show for their efforts on the weekend. This one looked to be a battle as Cory Schneider and former Vancouver Canucks goaltender Dan Cloutier took to the nets. For Cloutier, it was his first game of the season in the AHL.

The game was slowed by penalties early on. A too-many-men bench minor was handed out to the Moose just over one minute into the game, and that was followed by a Matt Pettinger-Jack Skille fight just past the five-minute mark. Tommy Maxwell picked up a couple of minor penalties as well. The third penalty kill of the period seemed to give the Moose some life as Marco Rosa fed Sergei Shirokov with a gorgeous pass that Shirokov made no mistake on. Shirokov's team-leading tenth goal of the season paced Manitoba to a 1-0 lead at the 16:50 mark of the first period.

The events of the second period were, for lack of a better term, bizarre. Guillaume Desbiens was whistled for goalie interference after being pushed into the net, and Dan Cloutier - all too familiar to Canucks fans - went berzerk. He pummeled Desbiens with his blocker, and was ejected on Rule 51.3: throwing equipment. 26:22 into his first game, and Cloutier is sent to the dressing room. Sound familiar, Canucks fans? Aaron Rome and Mike Brennan settled the skirmish with some more fisticuffs. Joe Fallon came into relieve the ejected Cloutier, and the game resumed.

However, things took a turn for the worse again for the men in stripes. At 10:41, Richard Petiot was sent to the penalty box for hooking. 1:15 later, Ryan Flinn went ballistic, pounding on Desbiens again. Flinn was assessed 29 PIMs for his lack of discipline: two for roughing, two for instigating, five for fighting, a ten minute misconduct, and a game misconduct for being the instigator. All in all, Manitoba saw themselves with over thirteen minutes in powerplay time.

On the five-on-three, Brian Salcido's blast from the point got past Fallon for Salcido's third of the season at 12:33. With Manitoba still working the man advantage, Guillaume Desbiens added a little insult to injury when he potted a powerplay goal at the 17:33 mark. With Desbiens' third goal of the season, the Moose carried a 3-0 lead into the dressing room after 40 minutes.

The third period saw the powerplay units make this game a little more interesting. With Mike Keane still in the box after a late second-period penalty, Jack Skille fired the puck over Schneider to break the shutout on his sixth goal of the season just 53 seconds in. Defenseman Neil Petruic was whistled for interference, sending the IceHogs back to the powerplay. Skille added his second of the night at 5:19, whacking one in while on the doorstep, and suddenly the Moose found themselves with only a one-goal lead.

Bryan Bickell was called for slashing at the 6:04 mark, and the Moose powerplay went back to work. With 7:15 gone, sniper Aaron Rome fired a wrist shot past Fallon - his fourth goal in the last five games, and fourth of the season - to put Manitoba up 4-2. Alex Bolduc and Danny Bois did the Dance of Fists for off-setting majors at 17:17 while Mike Keane and Rob Klinkhammer went sent to the dressing room for starting another scrap. Marty Murray was sent to the penalty box for tripping 15 seconds later, and the IceHogs powerplay struck again. Bracken Kearns tipped a Kyle Greentree shot past Schneider at 19:02 for his fifth of the season, and it was 4-3 for Manitoba.

However, Schneider and the Moose played the last 57 seconds without incident, closing the book on a wild 4-3 win in Rockford. With the win, Manitoba improves to 15-12-4-0 on the season, finishing the roadtrip in second place in the North Division.

Quick Notes

• The three powerplay goals scored in the Rockford game is only the second time in 31 games this season that the Moose have scored more than once on powerplays in a game.
• Aaron Rome has been more than adequate in replacing the injured Nolan Baumgartner. Rome has four goals and one assist in five games. Baumgartner, on the other hand, has one goal and six assists in 24 games this season.
• Saturday's game was the 30th game for the Moose. December 5 is the earliest that any Moose team has played its 30th game. In comparison, the Moose logged their 30th game last season on November 27, 2008.
• The Moose have the most games lost to call-ups and injuries in the AHL at this point. 171 man-games have been lost thus far. That's more than two players lost for the entire season. And we're only 31 games in thus far.
• Nolan Baumgartner was named as the captain of the Team Canada all-star team Baumgartner is the third Moose player to be selected by AHL President and CEO David Andrews, following in the footsteps of Jimmy Roy in 2006 and Mike Keane in 2007. Congratulations to Mr. Baumgartner!

Manitoba Moose Intensive Care Unit

The Moose got one played back from the injured list, and he played a big role in that Rockford game. Here's the list of players who are still sidelined by injuries.

• Nolan Baumgartner - broken pinky finger. The earliest he could return would be after Christmas.
• Michael Funk - concussion. No return date set at this time.
• Lawrence Nycholat - foot and shoulder problems. I'm guessing January 2010 at this point.
• Matt Pope - high ankle sprain. Looks like possibly Christmas.
• Michael Grabner - ankle injury. He should be skating by the third week of December.
• Matt McCue - concussion. No return date set at this time.
  

Player Movement

As fast as they were here, the Moose are down a few good bodies.

Erik Christensen is now property of the New York Rangers after Rangers GM Glen Sather plucked him off re-entry waivers from the Anaheim Ducks. Christensen has yet to register a point, but fills Donald Brashear's spot on the fourth line as Brashear recovers from an injury.

Dan Sexton was recalled by the Anaheim Ducks after a good showing in Manitoba. Sexton replaces Teemu Selanne in the Ducks' lineup after Selanne broke his hand. In two games with the NHL club, Sexton has yet to register a point, and is a -1.

The Moose returned defenseman Taylor Ellington to the ECHL's Victoria Salmon Kings. Ellington appeared in two games with the Moose since he was recalled by the team on November 25, but didn't register a point.

Moose Outlook

Just two games for the Moose before the next Antler Banter hits your local website. This upcoming weekend sees the Moose battle the Norfolk Admirals in Norfolk, Virginia. It's the first visit ever to the Norfolk Scope for the Moose in their history.

The Moose were defeated by the Admirals at MTS Centre on November 2 and 3 by scores of 3-1 and 3-1. The Moose will need to play hard against the Admirals as they sit fourth in the East Division with a 12-14-1-0 record. Brandon Bochenski leads the Admirals in goals (12), powerplay goals (3), and points (23). Dustin Tokarski has been giving the Admirals excellent goaltending, and he looks to continue his winning streak against the Moose.

A split with the Admirals is minimum on this roadtrip, but a two-game sweep would go a long way in helping the Moose keep pace with the Rochester Americans. The Moose sit one point ahead of the Hamilton Bulldogs, two points ahead of the Abbotsford Heat, and six points ahead of the Grand Rapids Griffins. The problem? Hamilton has six games in hand, Abbotsford has two games in hand, and Grand Rapids has an incredible eight games in hand on the Moose. Every point is crucial right now until this schedule starts balancing out.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

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Antler Banter: Volume 4

Antler Banter returns as the Moose begin to slow down in terms of the number of games they're playing. The Moose entertained the Hamilton Bulldogs for a couple of nights this past week, and they won't see action again until tonight as they head to Rockford, Illinois on a roadtrip. We'll look at the games against the Bulldogs, preview the upcoming three-game roadtrip, check out the injury ward again, and look at the multiple player moves in this edition of Antler Banter. As always, for all of your Manitoba Moose news and information, don't forget to check out the Moose website. If you're interested in attending a Manitoba Moose game, please click here for seating information, ticket pricing, and availability. Without further adieu, let's get to the Hardcore Hockey!

Down To The Wire

The Hamilton Bulldogs, sporting a 10-4-1-3 record, visited MTS Centre for a Friday-Saturday set against the hometown Moose. The Moose, having played four more games that the Bulldogs by the time Friday rolled around, needed to earn the majority of points in these weekend games in order to try to close the gap between them and the second-place Bulldogs.

The game started at an intense pace, going up and down the ice with scoring chances at either end. However, it seemed that the Moose were slightly off as a number of their shots rattled off the endboards. At the 13:46 mark, the visitors struck as Blake Trotter snuck a low shot under Cory Schneider's right pad to the far corner of the net for his fourth goal of the season, and the Bulldogs were out to a 1-0 lead. That lead, however, was short-lived as Sergei Shirokov's team-leading eighth goal of the season just 54 seconds later drew the Moose even again. Shirokov literally has a ridiculous arsenal of moves, and his backhander past Curtis Sanford's pad and the post was a big league move.

Newly-arrived Erik Christensen, here on a conditioning stint from the Anaheim Ducks, put the Moose ahead at 4:02 of the second period with his first goal of the season. Evan Oberg's point shot was stopped by Sanford, but Christensen won a battle for the loose puck and netted the rebound. Mario Bliznak, on a solid rush displaying his speed, broke into the Hamilton zone and wristed his third of the season past Sanford at the 8:23 mark. While Sanford would have liked that one back, he found himself on the bench after Bliznak's unassisted marker as Cedric Desjardins took over in the Bulldogs' crease. The Moose went into the second intermission with a 3-1 lead.

The third period saw some craziness in the last two minutes of action. With Brian Salcido sitting in the penalty box, Hamilton pulled Desjardins for a 6-on-4 advantage. Mike Keane, whose hard work did not go unnoticed tonight, was rewarded with 91 seconds to play as he scored his fifth of the season into the yawning cage. Hamilton, not willing to go away quietly, responded with two goals in 38 seconds. Andrew Conboy fired a laser past Schneider for his second of the season at the 18:48 mark, and PK Subban added his second goal of the season at the 19:19 mark to close the gap to 4-3. However, Mike Keane iced the game, this time for good, by scoring his second empty-net goal of the night twenty seconds later. With the win, the Moose improve to 11-9-2-0 on the season.

Kind of a neat statistic, but Mike Keane's empty-net goals are the first time in his professional career that he has netted two empty-netters in the same game in his illustrious career.

Good, But Not Enough

Saturday night's game saw the Moose play to their largest crowd of the season as 13,582 people passed through the turnstiles to see the Moose tangle with the Bulldogs. And some of them, admittedly, were also there just to see Jason Earles, aka Jackson Stewart, from Disney's Hannah Montana. Luckily for those fans, they got to see a great AHL game between these two rivals.

Despite Manitoba mounting early pressure in the first period, it was Hamilton who struck first. With Hamilton pressuring the Moose by the midway point of the first period, out-shooting them 10-3, Mathieu Carle's point shot off an offensive zone face-off win eluded Cory Schneider and found the back of the net for his second goal of the season. The first stanza closed with the Bulldogs leading 1-0 on the scoreboard, and leading 10-9 in shots.

The second period saw the scoring happen early and often. Hamilton made it a two-goal advantage at the 2:04 mark when Mathieu Carle slapped home his second of the night off a rebound on a David Desharnais shot that had found the goalpost. Sergei Kostitsyn scored his fourth goal of the season at 7:35 of the middle frame as he one-timed a wrist shot to the top of the net over Schneider from the face-off circle. With the Bulldogs leading 3-0, things looked a little bleak.

Manitoba came back to life seconds later. Erik Christensen scored his second goal in a Moose uniform as he redirected a Sergei Shirokov pass under Curtis Sanford to put Manitoba on the board at 8:13. 1:07 later, Marty Murray slapped home a backhander as Sanford kicked out an Evan Oberg shot to the slot. Murray's fifth goal of the season narrowed the gap to 3-2. David Desharnais restored the two-goal lead for Hamilton at the 13:06 mark when he converted Sergei Kostitsyn feed in the slot for his fourth goal of the season. And finally, Sergei Shirokov showed a little moxie with 13 seconds left. Eric Walsky fed a lead pass to the streaking Russian at the blueline after a scramble in the Moose zone, and the shifty playmaker used a headfake in combination with a forehand-backhand-forehand to freeze Sanford, allowing Shirokov to record his ninth goal of the season. Again, another big league move from the young Russian.

The third period saw the Moose trailing 4-3, so the pressure was on the home team to equal the score. The Bulldogs rang a couple of shots off posts, but it took a powerplay for the Moose to respond. From the top of the face-off circle, Marco Rosa hammered a slapshot past Sanford for his sixth goal of the season at the 10:39 mark. Both teams battled down the stretch, but neither goaltender would allow another goal as the horn sounded.

In overtime, the extra ice benefited the Hamilton Bulldogs. Their defense jumped into plays and pressured the Moose. With 1:07 left in overtime, PK Subban used the extra room to find himself a lane where he wristed home the game-winner just inside the post from the face-off circle. Subban's third goal of the season gave Hamilton the 5-4 overtime victory. With the loss in the extra frame, the Moose drop to 11-9-3-0 on the season.

Continuing with the neat statistics, goaltender Cory Schneider picked up his first professional point as he earned the second assist on Shirokov's breakaway goal at the end of the second period.

Like A Junkyard Dog

Manitoba did themselves a huge favour by capturing three of four points against the Bulldogs. While it may seem small now, winning these weekend series could prove huge down the stretch. As it stands today, Manitoba remains one point ahead of the surging Grand Rapids Griffins and Abbotsford Heat, one point back of the Hamilton Bulldogs, and six points back of the division-leading Rochester Americans.

Manitoba Moose Intensive Care Unit

There are still a lot of bodies in the intensive care unit this week.

• Michael Funk - concussion. No return date set as he is still suffering from symptoms.
• Lawrence Nycholat - foot and shoulder problems. Just had his knee scoped, so he's out another month. Let's set this return tentatively for January 2010.
• Matt Pope - high ankle sprain. Looks like late December.
• Pierre-Cedric Labrie - shoulder separation. Potentially this roadtrip if all things continue well.
• Guillaume Desbiens - foot injury. Has been skating, but an early December return is most likely.
• Michael Grabner - ankle injury. According to his blog, he gets his cast off in two weeks. Let's put this return at mid-December.
• Alex Bolduc - shoulder injury. Early to mid-December at this point.
• Matt McCue - concussion. No return date set as he is still suffering from symptoms.
  

Player Movement

Centre Erik Christensen made his Moose debut after being assigned to Manitoba by the Anaheim Ducks on a reconditioning stint. After two games, he has two goals and a +3 rating. Honestly, Christensen was one of the better players this past weekend for the Moose in their games against Hamilton.

The Ducks also assigned ECHL scoring star Dan Sexton to the Moose. Sexton comes to Manitoba from the Bakersfield Condors. The right-winger has put up an impressive 13 goals and 13 assists in 18 games at the AA level. He's fourth overall in ECHL scoring, and second in goal-scoring. Keep an eye on this 22 year-old.

Matt Pettinger returned to the Moose after Daniel Sedin was cleared to play in Vancouver. Pettinger will be in the lineup tonight as the Moose begin a three-game road trip through the state of Illinois. The downside to Pettinger returning is that he could be recalled at any time as his salary in the AHL allows him to avoid re-entry waivers if Vancouver finds themselves down a player again.

John Lammers was released from his professional tryout contract (PTO). Lammers appeared in 11 games with the Moose, but recorded no points and had two penalty minutes. The one stat that jumps off the page at you is the -7 rating. Those numbers won't keep you around for long.

The Moose also recalled defenceman Taylor Ellington from the Victoria Salmon Kings of the ECHL. Ellington has one goals and four assists in 13 games with Victoria. The 33rd overall pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft should hopefully see some action on the Moose's three-game roadtrip.

Finally, centerman Derek Leblanc was assigned to the Rapid City Rush of the CHL. With the myriad of centermen in Manitoba right now, Leblanc wasn't seeing much playing time. In order to maximize his ice-time, the Moose assigned him to the Rush where he played last season. Here's hoping that Leblanc can get back with the Moose before the season's end.

Name In Lights

Moose forward Sergei Shirokov got back on track this week after being paired with Erik Christensen. He was named the AHL Player of the Week, and Shirokov showed off some serious talent and speed in the two games against the Bulldogs, proving that if teams don't keep a shadow on him, he'll do some damage. Goaltenders in the AHL haven't been able to solve him in the shootout or on breakaways, and that's a great sign from a young player. Over the long term, Shirokov appears to be headed for a long career in Vancouver if he continues to develop at his current pace.

Moose Outlook

The Moose head into Rockford, Illinois tonight to play the IceHogs. The IceHogs sit sixth in the West Division with a 9-10-2-1 record. Led by former Moose Mark Cullen's 19 points, the IceHogs only have three players in double-digits for points. Goaltender Corey Crawford should provide a formidable test for the Moose, though.

Friday night sees the Moose in Peoria, Illinois to battle the Rivermen. Peoria sits fourth in the West Division with a 9-7-1-2 record. Jonas Junland leads the team with 16 points, while Nicholas Drazenovic and Chris Porter have seven goals apiece. Ben Bishop and Hannu Toivonen have split the goaltending duties down the middle, and both have GAAs above 3.00.

The third game of the three-game roadtrip will be another meeting with the Chicago Wolves on Saturday night. The Wolves sit third in the West Division with a 10-8-0-1 record. Former Moose Jason Krog leads the way with 18 points while Tim Stapleton has dented the twine 10 times thus far this season. Former Moose goaltender Drew MacIntyre should draw the assignment against the Moose, and his 2.36 GAA is showing how effective this defensive unit can be.

These three games can go a long way in helping the Moose climb in the standings. While all three teams will be a test, the Moose should be aiming for a minimum of four points while spending some time in Illinois.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

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