Dangle Days Weekend Hockey Recap
“Lifestyle switching, the illest up in the business. I’m hoping to make a killing. Get at me, get me me. Goin’ coast to coast. Goin’ coast to coast, we goin’ coast to coast. Coast to coast” – Sammy Adams” – Andreas Athanasiou.
Andreas Athanasiou isn’t quite a household name. But as the Detroit Red Wings inch closer to having to go in full rebuild mode, look for this kid’s name to pop up more often. Between him, Larkin and Anthony Mantha, the Red Wings have a few nice young pieces to build around. Because when the Greek Freak is doing shit like this…
Maybe life without Datsyuk and Zetterberg won’t be too terrible for Detroit fans.
Speaking of going coast-to-coast, Philadelphia Flyers prospect Travis Sanheim did this on Saturday night in the AHL for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
I should mention that this kid is a 20-year-old defenseman…..
Now we’re gonna take a real quick break from the Sauce Show and present the BEAUTY OF THE WEEK award. This week’s award goes to…
Cody McLeod. Ever heard of ‘em? No but seriously. Ever heard of the guy? Because I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who haven’t unless you frequently play as the Colorado Avalanche in NHL 2017. Anyway, Cody McLeod has played 660 games in the NHL as an undrafted free agent. 659 of those games have been with the Colorado Avalanche. He was the team’s longest tenured player. But on Friday, his time in Colorado came to an end when the Avs traded him to Nashville. Because yeah, that’s the trade that Colorado needed to make in order to turn that shit storm around.
But as fate would have it, McLeod’s first game as a Predator would be against the Colorado Avalanche. So how did McLeod handle his first game in a new sweater against his former club? By doing what he’s known to do. Throw some heavy bombs and chuck away like a maniac. They were teammates before the weekend, but yesterday Cody McLeod and Jarome Iginla dropped the mitters and went at it.
And then just around 5 minutes later, McLeod used his hands for something he’s not quite as known for. Scoring goals.
Which sparked the comeback. McLeod’s goal made it 2-1. Then Mike Fisher tied things up 5 minutes into the 3rd period. And 3 minutes after that it was Filip Forsberg to give Nashville the win.
Now let’s get back to the dangles. Starting with the Washington Capitals’ 3rd period evisceration of the Flyers yesterday afternoon….
Marcus Johansson Needs To Take A Shower
Because that assist was so filthy. Evgeny Kuznetsov is going to get credit for making the Twister a standard in the NHL. But usually you see him throw the puck out from behind the net on his forehand. MoJo put his own little spin on this one and Justin Williams was there to dunk it on the team who drafted him. Nothing but disrespect all around from this goal. And speaking of filthy hands…
Auston Matthews Treats The NHL Like A Street Hockey Game With The Boys After School
First he gets the foot work going. Then the little flip to himself for a clean breakout. This is the kind of move that hard ass coaches would always be freaking the fuck out at their kids about. I can already picture a peewee coach losing his shit on some 12-year-old trying this move at practice later tonight. But here’s Auston Matthews proving that dicking around is important for player development. You gotta have fun with the game. You have to make creativity one of your elements. This move doesn’t show up on a line graph. It doesn’t show up with you’re looking at pie charts and data entries. But it’s what makes Auston Matthews one of the top talents in the league right now.
While the 2016 1st overall pick was throwing all sorts of sauce on Saturday night, let’s see what the 2015 1st overall was up to that night.
McDavid Is Playing On ‘Easy’ Mode
Unfortunately Pat “It’s A Man’s Game” Maroon wasn’t able to bury it here. But just look at what Connor McDavid does here in overtime against Calgary. First he steals the puck away from Backlund and wins that battle. Then he turns on a time in order to stay onside. Then he puts the puck between his own teammate’s legs. And then watch this pass he manages to squeak by Dougie Hamilton.
Waits until Hamilton goes down, there’s about an inch of space between his stick and the ice, manages to thread the needle and hits Maroon in stride. Kid is unreal.
Mites On Ice
Blogged this goal on Friday. This kid is so lucky they probably don’t hit yet at his age. Because after pulling a move like that, the other team has no other choice but to take a run at him next shift and goon it up. Not enough mustard in the world to cover that hot dog.
Bruuuuuutal Hit Of The Week
This one comes to us from the Finnish Elite League and hollllllly shit that guy is dead. Joe Finley is an American who has played 21 games in the NHL over the course of his career. 0 goals. 1 assist. 32 penalty minutes. And now he’s probably wanted for murder in Finland so it looks like those will be his final career numbers.
Targets the head here, sure, but that’s a Hall Of Fame Buddy Pass right there.
Podcast Commercial Of The Week
If you haven’t listened to last week’s episode of Spittin’ Chiclets with Paul Bissonnette, might I suggest dropping everything that you’re doing right now and changing that right away. 10/10 interview with Biz. Subscribe, subscribe, subscribe.
Have a beauty of a week, everybody. And Stay Saucy, my friends.