Deke2194

"Inside the Stripes..."

Edmonton, AB • Canada • 22 Years Old • Male

Week 1's Hero and Zero

I have decided to start up my own little blog entry, similar to the players of the week. Except it will be the Hero and Zero, (although I may add a couple of sidekicks for the Hero if I feel it is necessary), pretty self explanatory I think so I will just get right into it for week one.

HERO:


This weeks Hero; Well I'm breaking my own rules right off the bat, and splitting the Hero cape in half. Goaltenders Pascal Leclaire of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Martin Gerber of the Ottawa Senators each receive half of the honour. I just couldn't take it away from either guy. Leclaire has played two games so far this year after an injury plagued campaign last season, having wrestled the starting job back from Fredrik Norrena, and has posted 28 and 32 shot shutouts against the defending champion Ducks, and the Phoenix Coyotes. Gerber meanwhile has gone 4-0 to start the season, including wins in both sides of a home and home with the Leafs, and solid outings against the explosive NY Rangers, and the New Jersey Devils. He is boasting an impressive 0.949 save percentage and 1.73 GAA, all while knowing he loses the starting job when Ray Emery is back and healthy. Very good starts by both guys.


Sidekick nod: Paul Stastny - 4 goals, 4 assists and +4 in 3 games for the Avalanche.

ZERO:

Well this is pretty clear to me, but it is a split again, and again two goaltenders. the Leafs Vesa Toskala and Andrew Raycroft have both had ample opportunity to run off with the Leafs starting job, and they have both failed miserably. Neither guy has been able to show bench boss Paul Maurice any reason to believe they are the go-to guy. You would think having the two of them there would be enough motivation that one of them could elevate their game to another level. Apparently not.

A disappointed head shake also goes out to both Raffi Torres and Darcy Tucker, who have both played beyond poorly thus far, and their stats are very indicative of that. Tucker is -5 in 4 games with only 7 shots on goal. And having watched the first 4 Oilers game live, I don't even want to get started on how Torres has played.

NOT JUST ZERO, BUT RATHER NEGATIVE INFINITI:

Jesse Boulerice, I'm not going to go into detail here, but for more information on him, see my other blog from earlier today. What a disgusting act he committed in last night's game against the Canucks Ryan Kesler. Brutal.