The Hockey Stop

YZERMAN SNUBS GREEN



Calgary native Mike Green was left off Team Canada's Olympics roster. What a shame. I don't know what executive director Steve Yzerman was thinking when he left the Washington Capitals' Norris-nominated defenseman off the team. What I do know is that it was a mistake.

Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty, all of 20 years, made the cut over Green? Come on. The National Post quoted Yzerman as saying he picked players who "will you to a win." And what does Green do then?

In the 2007-2008 season Caps commentator Joe Beninati nicknamed Green "Game Over" because he finished the season with 4 game-winning goals along with a league-leading 18 goals by a defenseman for 56 points. Last season Green set an NHL record by scoring in eight consecutive games. As of Dec. 13 he led all defensemen with 32 points (6 goals and 26 assists) in 32 games.

I just don't understand this decision, other than a bias against offensive-minded defensemen. Green should be skating in Vancouver in February. Oh well, I guess this is more ammunition for Green to prove the critics wrong. Expect a big second half of the season for the All-Star blue-liner.

SUN-TIMES: BLACKHAWKS ONE OF DECADE'S BIGGEST LOCAL STORIES



The rise of the Chicago Blackhawks is No. 6 on the Chicago Sun-Times' top ten biggest local stories of the decade. No. 1? The White Sox winning the World Series of course! Here is the 'Hawks entry from the Sun-Times website:

"6. Rocky Wirtz takes over the Blackhawks

When longtime Blackhawks chairman Bill Wirtz passed away in September 2007, he left behind a crumbling organization, a lousy hockey team and an embittered fan base. Enter son Rocky Wirtz. Within days, he vowed to put fans first and to restore the franchise to its glory days of the past. And he has delivered on his promises, rapidly transforming the organization into one of the best in the NHL. Hawks games, long an afterthought in this city, have become exciting, must-see events. And the team has become a Stanley Cup contender."

BIG TRADE: CHIMERA FOR CLARK, JURCINA



The Caps and Jackets made a big mid-season trade, with gritty, hard-charging forward Jason Chimera going to the Caps for veteran forward and captain Chris Clark and defenseman Milan Jurcina. I got a taste of Chimera's fearless net-crashing turbo boosters while watching last night's 5-2 loss at San Jose on NHL GameCenter Live. At one point late in the game Chimera skated full speed towards Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabakov. He nearly scored, but instead flew into and over Nabakov. Chimera should be a valuable irritant to opposing goalies.

IMPACT! MAGAZINE MAKING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT?



The December 2009 issue of NHL.com's Impact! Magazine is available online. The cover story is about the rise of Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin. The web-only edition looks great and is easy to read online by flipping the virtual pages the same way you would read a print magazine. But if the point of providing the magazine online instead of print is to save paper and the environment, then NHL.com probably shouldn't lead off with this:

"The best part: print out the entire magazine and take it with you!"

DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN, I MEAN KINGS DEFEAT FLAMES



As an online news editor myself I can certainly sympathize with late-night errors when your eyes and mind are a bit foggy. But still, this is really bad. On the top of NHL.com the final score is 2-1 Flames over Kings, but the headline (which was up for a good 45 minutes) says "Kings edge Flames." Somebody was asleep at the Zamboni!

The number of high-profile NHL players in the injury penalty box is starting to add up and it is only November.

With the Swine Flu and Seasonal Flu skating around, we might need Tamiflu instead of Gatorade on the bench and new no-touch rules in place -- meaning no roughing up star players such as Alex Ovechkin.

The Washington Capitals star is the latest player to miss time due to an injury. Ovechkin suffered an "upper-body strain" in Washington's overtime loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets at Verizon Center last night. The Great Eight was apparently injured during a second period scrum with Jason Chimera.

Ovechkin will definitely miss the Capitals' next game Wednesday night in New Jersey and might miss this weekend's home-and-home series against the Panthers.

Without the league's reigning MVP and leading scorer, the Caps are going to need to tighten up on defense. Perhaps it will be good for the team to learn how to play without an automatic goal scorer such as The Russian Machine.

But the Caps aren't the only team having to make adjustments. There have been a number of star players that have succumbed to injuries so far in this young season. Here is a rundown of the fallen stars:

• Anaheim netminder Jean-Sebastian Giguere is out with a groin injury until early November.

• Atlanta Thrashers left wing Ilya Kovalchuk is on injured reserve with a foot injury. He is expected to return to the lineup in mid-November

• Boston's Marc Savard is also out with a foot injury. He is expected to return late November.

• Carolina's Eric Staal has an upper body injury and is doubtful for Wednesday's game against Florida.

• Both the Blackhawks' Marian Hossa and Jonathan Toews are beat up. Hossa is out until late November with a shoulder injury while Toews is questionable for Nov. 5 at Phoenix. Toews has already missed four games due to "concussion-like symptoms" from a hard hit against Vancouver.

• Dallas Stars center Mike Modano is out until early November with a rib injury.

• Detroit Red Wings center Johan Franzen suffered a knee injury and will be sidelined until at least mid-February.

• Nashville Predators star Jason Arnott is out until early November with an arm injury.

• Pittsburgh has lost both Sergei Gonchar and Evgeni Malkin. Gonchar is out until late November with a wrist injury while Malkin is out with a shoulder injury and is expected to return mid-November.

• Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo is questionable for tomorrow night's game against the Rangers with a rib injury.

Other notable injuries include Kari Lehtonen, Milan Lucic, Valtteri Filppula, Rick DiPietro, Donald Brashear, Jason Spezza, Simon Gagne, Danny Briere, Joe Pavelski, Devin Setaguchi and Phil Kessel.

Click here for the full injury report.