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Kustron opens with a Mighty Ducks 2 reference that stirs some brief debate of the legendary Disney films. After a week away for the NHL All-Star break, Schwartz and Rubeo fill Kus and Kittelberger in on their epic trip to Ketchum, Idaho playing for the East Coast GutterSnipes. Clearly, the boys enjoyed chirping, telling stories, and chewing on some beers with the boys off the ice, sweeping the hometown team, the Sun Valley Suns, was simply the icing on the proverbial cake. Maybe having Mario Lemieux on their first flight was good luck.
ICYMI:
The Metropolitan division, led by Sidney Crosby, won $1,000,000 by beating the Central Division 10-5 in the NHL All-Star game. Crosby and Islander’s forward Matt Barzal showed uncanny skill and chemistry, recording 8 and 6 points each, respectively.
The NHL stats leaderboard at the All-Star break is mostly par for the course – Ovechkin leads in goals, Kucherov leads in assists and points, Fleury leads in wins – although no one would’ve predicted Robin Lehner would be leading the league in goals-against-average (GAA) and save percentage (SVP).
Jonathan Toews scored his 20th goal of the season for his 12th-straight season of 20+ tucks. Phil Kessel scored his 20th for his 11th-straight NHL season. Everyone knows they’re good but with that kind of consistency, are they under-appreciated?
Mike Hoffman, #68 of the Florida Panthers, has 23 goals at the All-Star break. We all know the league has banned any NHL player from wearing #99, but do numbers like #66 and #68 deserve the same, yet unspoken, respect? What numbers are “off-limits” in the NHL?
New York Rangers netminder, Henrik Lundqvist moves into 6th all-time for wins.
The NHL announced the Dallas Stars will face off against the Nashville Predators in the 202 NHL Winter Classic.
Hurricanes bench-boss, Rod “the bod” Brind’Amour, called out his team, saying he was tempted to get dressed. “We were so bad, I almost dressed and got out there. I might have been as good as what we were throwing out there, We just didn’t want to play the way we were supposed to.”
In episode 13, the HPC podcast crew debated what the hell could be going on with the Buffalo Sabres and Patrik Berglund to mutually walk away from his remaining $12.58M contract. Mr. Berglund cleared the air in his interview with Hockeypuls SE in Sweden, saying, “Why skate around and do something I don’t like anymore, show a facade that everything is all good when I really feel like shit. I feel better today. My goal was to come home. This is my start to find my way back to my self again — through friends and family.”
Oilers GM, Peter Chiarelli was let go by the struggling club mid-game… but not before one more peculiar move: inexplicably signing goaltender Mikko Koskinen to a 3-year, $13.5M contract extension with only 27 NHL games-played experience. Is he just trying to burn down the house on his way out?!
Ryan Johansen was suspended for 2 games while Paul Byron was suspended 3 games for separate, unrelated instances.
The Mighty Ducks cast reunited, and it doesn’t look like they’ve skated much since the movie.
And did you see the goalie in the KHL who shot the puck off his teammate’s balls into his own net? Rubeo and Schwartz said the video made them immediately think of Kittelberger, who is known to play the puck an excessive amount in beer league games, often for easy goals against.
All before…
Weekly Picks:
Peter Collins won the $20 HPC gift card for leading the pack last week, scoring 21 points. With 10 points up for grabs between now and February 1st, Michael Filarski sits atop of the Weekly Picks leaderboard. If he can fend off the competition, he’ll win a free HPC XV3 hockey stick for scoring the most points this January.
As usual, our podcast crew discussed 3 of their 9 picks for this week’s Weekly Picks:
And no Hockey Players Club Podcast would be complete without a round of Top Shelf Trivia. This week Kittelberger goes full-on nerd for the team, researching and amassing a list of the point totals this season by each jersey number in the NHL. We suspect he’ll be fired from his 9-to-5 any day now.
Please follow and reach out to the Hockey Players Club via Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to submit your questions and comments to the HPC podcast crew. And don’t forget, take 60-seconds to submit your Weekly Picks for a chance to win a FREE $20 HPC gift card (for weekly winners) and Hockey Players Club XV3 hockey stick (awarded to monthly winners).
Looking to improve your game and score more goals? Check out the video Schwartz and Rubeo made about improving your catch-and-release shooting:
Want a light, top-of-the-line hockey stick without spending an arm and a leg?! Check out our XV3 hockey sticks.
Don’t just take it from us, look what others are saying:
And don’t forget to check out our:
Shooting in Your Stride To Score More Goals Like Phil Kessel [VIDEO]
Ultimate Hockey Stick Buying Guide
VIDEO: 5 Drills to Improve Your Snapshot
Why Are Hockey Sticks So Expensive?! Full Explanation Here.
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