Hello Hockey Fans!  It is here!  After a sprint of a season the Stanley Cup playoffs are commencing tonight!  Teams had 48 games to earn a playoff spot and there is some interesting seedings this year!

1) The Toronto Maple Leafs made it into the playoffs for the first time in 10 years!
2) The Detroit Red Wings earned a playoff spot for the 22nd consecutive year!
3) The New York Rangers are the 6th seed in the East but be careful they could be the Los Angeles Kings of 2012. A fantastic team that could go very far in the playoffs.  (Plus they have a very good looking goal tender, while 2 actually and you will learn about one in Episode 3 of Hockey Talk with Courtney debuting later this week)

The playoffs get a lot of talk and it also gets confusing because while everyone is talking about playoffs, the 14 teams that didn't get a spot are getting their lottery pick.  Forget about that for now.  Enjoy playoffs!  Remember the playoffs work different then a regulation game here are the main points to focus on

1)  Overtime looks different.  In the regular season over time looks like this: 5 minutes of overtime with no break after the 3rd period end, sudden death and if no goal is scored it goes to the shootout.  In the playoffs there are NO SHOOTOUTS!  If overtime happens it is still sudden death BUT after the 3rd period players get a full intermission break and then head out onto the ice for a full 20 minutes.

2) It is the best of 7 so the team to WIN 4 games first wins the series and moves onto the next round.  There are four rounds, the last round is the Stanley Cup Final.

3) The teams seeded 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th get home ice advantage.  Meaning the games 1 and 2 are played in their arena, games 3 and 4 are played in the opposing teams arena.  If game 5 is needed (remember a team can sweep) it goes back to the home arena and alternates back and forth until game seven if needed.

4) The same number of players dress for every game, coaches and bench staff! (Check out Episode 2 of Hockey Talk with Courtney below to learn about coaches and bench staff)

5)Game #1 is life or death in a series.  It can create the entire tone of the series and one team could always be playing catch up.

6) Finally playoffs just look different.  It is said the regular season doesn't create rivalries in NHL hockey, the playoffs create rivalries!  Case and point the always entertaining Vancouver vs Chicago match ups.  They game moves faster, the players are more intense and the physical aspect is amped up a lot!

At the end of the day weather you watched every game during the regular season or are just jumping on the wagon now remember this: The Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy to win in professional sports world wide.  Not only do teams have to play 82 games during the season they need to win 16 games in the playoffs to get the trophy but they could play as many as 28 games!

7) Lastly, weather you are cheering for the Vancouver Canucks, Detroit Red Wings, Anaheim Ducks, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, New York Islanders, San Jose Sharks, Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins, Minnesota Wild, Los Angeles Kings or the St Louis Blues,  HAVE FUN!

Hello Hockey Fans!  Again this week I was running ideas through my head for Fantasy Friday and then yesterday as I was writing the light went off!  Tampa Bay Lightning forward Martin St Louis!

There are a few hockey players I can think of that can honestly say "I was playing NHL hockey in the 90s when most of my current teammates were in elementary school (diapers if you count Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nail Yakupov of the Edmonton Oilers who were both born in 1993 but play with Eric Belanger who was born in 1977 and drafted in 1996) Ray Whitney, Teemu Selanne, Sami Salo and Martin St Louis to name a few have had long careers in the NHL.    You know these seasoned veteran players are going to bring a stability and calmness to games.  After watching Martin St Louis surpass Sid the Kid in the scoring race Wednesday night it was an obvious choice.

Here are a few reasons why Martin St Louis has Fantasy Friday status!

1) St Louis went undrafted!  He was spotted by the Calgary Flames in 1998 and signed a contract with the team then.

2) One of best forwards in the league, St Louis is 5'8" tall.  One of the shortest players in the NHL St Louis had to find other ways to stand out other then his size (6'0" seems like the minimum for height in the NHL)and amazingly he has only missed 7 games between the 2000-2012 season!

3) Leadership is something this player has.  St Louis is an alternate Captain for Tampa Bay

4) St Louis shoots left and was born June 18th 1975 in Laval, Quebec!

5) In 977 career NHL games St Louis has scored 339 goals and assisted 571 others for 910 points total!  Making him just shy of a point a game player!  WOW!

6) When Steven Stamkos got his 60 goals in a single season Martin St Louis was literally right behind him feeding him the puck.  The chemistry these two have is undeniable.  St Louis helped Stamkos out with 13 passes getting the 1st assist but then had the secondary assist 7 times.  So Stamkos can thank St Louis 20 times!

7) St Louis is +13 in his career meaning he is on the ice for more goals scored by his team then goals scored against his team.  

8) St Louis was on the 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning Stanley Cup winning team!  That year alone Martin played all 82 games.  Scoring 38 goals and assisting 56 others for 94 points total. In the playoffs Martin played 23 games scoring nine times and assisting 15 others for 24 points for more then a point a game average!  This was well before St Louis had his linemate Stamkos.  Stamkos wasn't drafted until 2008!  

9) 2004 is possibly St Louis best year in the NHL awards wise.  Not only did he hoist the Cup but he took home the Art Ross Trophy for most points in a season, he took home the Lester B. Pearson Award for MVP chosen by fellow NHL players, also winning the Hart memorial Trophy for MVP and he was also the assist leader tied with Scott Gomez and the plus/minus leader tied with Marek Malik.

10) After the 2009-2010 AND the 2010-2011 season Martin took home the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for most gentlemanly player in the league!

11) Married with 3 children St Louis runs a hockey school during his summers in his off season residence of Connecticut.

12) St Louis has donned the Team Canada Jersey 4 times.  Once in 2004 as part of the World Cup of Hockey team where Canada won the cup, he was also on the 2006 Olympic Team and won Silver twice at the World Championships in 2008 and 2009.

And there you have it Hockey Fans!  All the reasons why Martin St Louis is this week's Fantasy Friday!!

It happened last night!  Three of the four Staal brothers played on the same team.  Coach let them take the opening face-off together and I can only imagine that it was a pretty surreal feeling for the brothers and mom and dad Staal.  They were playing other brother Marc Staal's New York Rangers.  The game ended up going into OT and NY took the win with a goal by Captain Ryan Callahan and clinched a playoff spot!  That means the eastern conference is set for the playoffs.  It is just a matter of who plays who with teams collecting a few more points during the last few days of the regular season but the 8 teams heading to the playoffs are 

1) Pittsburgh Penguins
2) Boston Bruins
3) Washington Capitals
4) Montreal Canadians
5) Toronto Maple Leafs
6) Ottawa Senators 
7) New York Rangers
8) New York Islanders

The last 3 teams all have 54 points so like I say, it is still up in the air who will play who!  The western conference isn't set yet.  The Columbus Blue Jackets still have a chance.  The Minnesota Wild are hanging on to a spot by their teeth and Detroit Red Wings have slid into the 7th seed with a 3 game win streak.

That is all for today Hockey Fans!  Have a great day and Happy Hockey!

Hello Everyone!  Like I said earlier this week it is a wild wild ride to playoffs!  The shortened 2013 season is not letting down.  Four major things happened in the NHL last night and I will recap for you quickly what they were!

1) The Detroit Red Wings beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-1 meaning that right now Detroit is the 8th seed in the west and heading to playoffs!  It was a game winning goal by Jordan Tootoo and an insurance goal by Johan Franzen that sealed the deal.  Both the Red Wings and the Columbus Blue Jackets have two games remaining.  Columbus is only back a point so depending on wins and loses the 8th seed is still up for grabs.

2) The Chicago Blackhawks sealed the deal and won the Presidents Trophy for the 2nd time ever in franchise history.  It was possibly their record smashing 24 game point streak to start the season that had a lot to do with it or the fact they have only lost 6 games in regulation ALL season!  Either way Captain Toews scored the opening goal.  Chicago netminder Ray Emery let in one goal by Nail Yakupov and left with a lower body injury.  Cory Crawford went into net and stopped the remainder of the shots.  Patrick Kane scored the game winning goal.  Both Toews and Kane scored their 22nd goals of the season!  This is the 2nd time in franchise history the Blackhawks have won the Presidents Trophy.  The 1st time it happened was in 1991.  They went on to play the Minnesota North Stars(remember them?) in the 1st round and were booted out.  Better luck this year Chicago with the amazing year they have had!

3) Sidney Crosby was injured back in March and was at the top of the points race with 56 when he took a puck to the face.  Crosby's injury was sustained March 30th and it took till April 24th for someone to pass his 56 points.  It happened in Tampa Bay.  It was Martin St Louis that passed Crosby and St Louis did it in classic fashion with a hat trick!  It was St Louis's 7th career hat trick!  It was a 5-2 win for Tampa Bay and St Louis scored goals 2, 4 and 5!  Interesting fact?  Tampa Bay teammate Steven Stamkos tied Crosby's record with a goal and an assist in the same game so now the two scoring leaders are both not only teammates but often linemates!  It was Martin St Louis that fed Stamkos the puck to help Stamkos get his 60 goals in single season last year!

4) Lastly one of the most entertaining call ups happened yesterday.  Youngest Staal brother Jared was called up from the Charlotte Checkers to the Carolina Hurricanes to make his NHL debut!  Interestingly his Captain will be eldest brother Eric and his linemate will be other brother Jordan and his opposing team will be other brother Marc's New York Rangers!  The only bummer is Marc has been out with an eye injury since March so he won't be playing.  I think it would be fun if Marc suited up for warm ups and flicked pucks at his youngest brother.  You can bet Mum and Dad Staal will be in crowd cheering on their boys!  I am soo watching this game!

And there you have it!  The four most entertaining hockey facts from yesterday!  Enjoy X

It is that time of year again!  This is why I love hockey.  I quick look at the standings this morning and the Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings are the 4th seed right now in the west but western conference runner up in 2012, the Phoenix Coyotes don't look playoff bound with 46 points and 3 games remaining.  Take a look at the eastern standings and notice last season's Stanley Cup runner up the New Jersey Devils don't look playoff bound this year and their eastern conference opponent from last year the New York Rangers are the 7th seed right now with 52 points but could get bumped out of a playoff spot if the Winnipeg Jets win even one of their next 2 games remaining and the Rangers lose all 3 of theirs.

There are 2 things that I love when I look at the standings

1) the Columbus Blue Jackets could make the playoffs.  Last year the Blue Jackets were the only team in the Central Division to not make playoffs.  Columbus is definitely an underdog.  They are in the 8th seed spot right now and could be bumped out by the Detroit Red Wings or Columbus could nab the 7th seed if they win their games and the Minnesota Wild lose.

2) The 2nd thing I love about the standings is all the Canadian teams making the playoffs!  In the west it is the Vancouver Canucks (Calgary and Edmonton are both out of the race) but in the east you have the Montreal Canadians, the Toronto Maple Leafs (first playoff appearance since 2004) the Ottawa Senators are sitting in the 8th seed and depending on how the Sens and Rangers play the Winnipeg Jets could head to the playoffs (right now the Jets are in 9th place) It would be a great thing if the Cup came back to a Canadian team.  It is one thing I hear from Canadian hockey fans in any city.  

Another freaky thing happened last night in the NHL.  Henrik Sedin, Captain of the Vancouver Canucks became the Canucks all time points leader passing Markus Naslund February 16th 2013.  It was a beauty of a goal assisted by Alex Burrows (kind of the 3rd twin) and Daniel Sedin.  It happened to be Henrik's 905th NHL game.

Last night brother Daniel passed Markus Naslund and the Sedin Twins became the highest scoring Canucks of all time!!!!!!  The freaky part it was Daniel's 905th NHL game......... I don't know if it gets any more identical then this hockey fans.  For fun I have included both Daniel and Henrik goals that put them above Naslund.  But if you ask Henrik, he accomplished the feat 2 minutes faster then his twin brother Daniel!  And they say there is no competition?!?!  Congrats Brothers!

Hello Everyone!  How are you?  What a run to the playoffs this last week of hockey is becoming.  For this week's Fantasy Friday I wanted to pick someone who has won a Cup.  Someone who knows what it takes to compete in 4 intense rounds of playoff hockey.  I was thinking and thinking.  Then is came to me, Los Angeles King Colin Fraser.  

You may have never even heard about Colin Fraser but he has had a pretty crazy career for being drafted 69th overall in the 3rd round in 2005.

I frist took notice of Colin Fraser when I was walking on the BC Ferries last year.  This was after the Stanley Cup playoffs, Los Angeles had won.  There was this man who stood out in the crowd.  He was carrying a child's car seat and was very fit.  We looked at each other because I knew I recognized him.  I was trying to place him, was he a customer I served at a  serving job? Did we go to school together, take an acting class together?  Then it hit me "he is totally Colin Fraser of the LA Kings!" I do a quick search to confirm and see Colin grew up in Surrey B.C and it makes sense.  Colin was home for summer!

Why did I choose Colin Fraser for Fantasy Friday?  You don't have to read to far into his bio to see he has won not one, but two Stanley Cups in the last 3 years.  But before we talk Stanley let's learn about Colin Fraser.  

Fraser was born in Sicamous B.C in 1985.  The same town and year Shea Weber (captain of the Nashville Predators and one of my favourite players was born) There must have been something in the water that year to produce two fantastic NHL players.

Fraser stands 6'1 weights 193 pounds, plays centre and shoots left.  Drafted by Philadelphia in 2005 Fraser never laced up skates for Philly.  Fraser was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks where he spent a number of years playing for their AHL team. 
Eventually getting a permanent spot on the Blackhawks roster in the 2008-09 season and  winning the Stanley Cup with the team in 2010!  

Then Fraser was dealt to the Edmonton Oilers after the Cup win where he played for a year and had the exact opposite success then in Chicago.  Edmonton finished dead last in the NHL that year with only 62 points in 82 games with a 25-45-12 record.  

After that season Fraser was dealt again but this time to sunny Los Angeles where he became a member of the Kings.  The Kings had never won a Cup and to say the least had a rough start at the beginning of the season.  With two months remaining the Kings had a slim chance of winning the Cup or even making playoffs for that matter.  They would literally have to win every remaining game.  What did the Kings decide to do?  They decided to win almost every remaining game.  The Kings got the 8th and final seed in the west and their first task was to knock out the Western Conference Champions, the Vancouver Canucks.  The Kings completed the task in 5 games steam rolling the Canucks.  Up next the St. Louis Blues.  The Kings swept the Blues in four games.  Steam rolling continued.  Next was a surprise round 3 against the Phoenix Coyotes.  Why stop a good thing?  The Kings didn't and steam rolled the Coyotes in 5 games.  Finally the Stanley Cup Finals.  The Kings had made it there fair and square.  The Kings set an NHL record for being the 8th seed and knocking out the 1st, 2nd and 3rd seeds.  When Game 1 of the Finals started Coin Fraser scored 1st getting his team on the board.  It took 6 games for the Kings to win the Cup but it was done and the Kings won for the 1st time in franchise history.

Possibly one of the best things I learned while doing research for Colin Fraser is not the fact he won Gold with Canada at the World Juniors in 2005 or the fact he has be awarded not one but two humanitarian awards.  First the Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy (WHL Humanitarian of the year) in 2005 or the CHL Humanitarian of the Year Award in 2005 which goes to show Fraser is a good guy but the best part is who Fraser played with growing up and how special it must have been to win a Stanley Cup in Chicago.

In 2010 when Chicago won the Cup, the team consisted of not only Colin Fraser but Troy Brouwer (now playing for the Washington Capitals), Andrew Ladd (now Captain of the Winnipeg Jets) and Brent Seabrook (still playing for Chicago)  These four guys are all from BC, Brouwer from Vancouver, Ladd from Maple Ridge, Seabrook from Richmond and all played minor hockey together with the Vancouver Vipers!  Nobody could have guessed these 4 would not only play in the NHL, but win a Stanley Cup and all do it while playing together on the same team!  Wow.  There must have been something in the water while these guys were playing minor hockey!

Colin Fraser:
Good Looks: Check
Hockey Skills: Check
Humanitarian: Check
Thank you Colin Fraser for being such a great hockey player and always finding a way to bring the Stanley Cup back to B.C!  Happy Fantasy Friday! Below also check out Episode 2 of Hockey Talk with Courtney!

Hello Everyone!  No Fantasy Friday last week.  I was in Victoria editing episode 3 of Hockey Talk with Courtney and polishing episode 2!  So here it is above.  Please enjoy.  I have the Fantasy Friday for this week chosen.  Hint: King Hint 2: Small Town Boy?

It is that time of year again, playoffs are just around the corner.  I thought after the "Commonly used terms in hockey" in episode 1 I would share some commonly used terms pre playoffs since the lingo does change a bit.

While watching a game a commentator may say "that team has a game in hand" which only means that that team has played one less game.  You usually hear it when a team is leading another team by 1 point of maybe 2 points.  Which means depending on a win or a loss the standings could change.  

Remember Hockey Fans that the playoffs spots are determined by a points system.  The top team in points from all 3 conferences are placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd and then the next 5 teams no matter the conference with the most points get seeds 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

You will also hear commentators talk about games won in regulation.  This comes up because if two teams are tied in points they will look at regulation wins to see who gets the top seed between the two.  The team with the most regulation wins get the seed.  

Possibly the team getting the most talk right now is the Detroit Red Wings.  The Wings are fighting for a playoff spot for the first time in 21 years.  I am not denying that teams fight for a spot every year but the Wings always make it in.  The Wings have played in the playoffs for the last 21 years and won 4 Stanley Cups in that time!  Saturday the Wings weren't in a playoff spot they were 9th after the Dallas Stars took the 8th seed (remember in the playoffs they aren't 1st spot 2nd spot, they are 1st seed 2nd seed) Looking at the standings in the west this morning Detroit is back in the playoffs with the 8th seed.  The last few games before the start of the playoffs always have fans biting their nails.  Good Luck Detroit and what a playoff run it will be!

I will be back to explain the playoffs in more detail, this is when all bets are off!

Fantasy Friday is back!  This week I was bouncing around ideas yet again.  I wanted someone who reflected a true old school hockey player.  That could be a lot of things and then it came to me: A player missing teeth!

Well this is easy to come by in the NHL but a handsome handsome player with no teeth, light goes off Calgary Flame Mike Cammalleri!  

Most adults have 32 teeth: 8 incisors, 4 canines, 8 premolars and 12 molars (including wisdom teeth).  Most adults not including NHL hockey players have all of them.  If a player is lucky he retires with all 32 teeth and possibly a chipped tooth but if you get a puck in the face a few times or throw a few punches you can bet those 8 incisors goes down to 7 or 6 or 5.

Mike Cammalleri is missing his front teeth and yes he does have a fake pair he pops in for interviews.  That is old school.  And a perfect Fantasy Friday!

I first heard about Cammalleri last year.  I was watching a Bruins vs Canadiens game in the early evening.  Cammalleri left the bench at the end of the 2nd period and did not return to the lineup for the 3rd period.  That sent the hockey world a buzzing and it turns out Cammalleri was traded from the Montreal Canadiens to the Calgary Flames mid game!  We don't have to get into the details of the trade but let's talk about the toothless hockey player's stats!

Mike Cammalleri was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in 2001.  He was chosen in the 2nd round, 49th overall.  Not bad for the kid from Richmond Hill, Ontario who in the hockey world had the odds stacked against him with his 5'9" height. Cammalleri weights 190 pounds, shoots left and was born June 8th 1982, which makes him a Gemini and very social.

In his nearly 11 years in the NHL Cammeralleri has played 594 games, scored 208 goals and assisted 242 others.  Possibly the best part about Cammalleri is the most suiting for a Fantasy Friday, his charity work.  Cammalleri mainly focuses on children's charities like Starlight Children's Foundation, World Vision and also the SickKids Foundation in Toronto.  Cammalleri also took it one step further.  We all know how expensive hockey tickets are, especially in hockey mad cities like Montreal.  Well, while Mike was playing in Montreal he started "Cammy's Heroes" It was a program that involved Cammalleri buying hockey tickets for Quebec military men and their families so everyone could enjoy the game.  I also heard a rumour that Cammalleri would meet with the men and sign some autographs before every game!

The Montreal Canadiens noticed this and in the 2010-11 season Cammalleri was awarded the Jean Béliveau Trophy by his team which is given to a player who best exemplifies leadership within the community!

For all of your goal scoring, #13 wearing and work within your community I am happy to present Mike Cammalleri with this week's Fantasy Friday!

If you want to see Cammalleri without his fake teeth in watch the video below where he scores his 5th career hat trick on an empty net vs the Dallas Stars.  It gave me a good laugh!  Who needs a mouth guard when you have no teeth?  Cammalleri does!