Shots With Cotts: We’re Halfway There! A Look Around The NHL

This season sure has flown by! Most of the league has reached the halfway point of their season, aside from the Oilers who finished up their 2014-15 season about three weeks ago.

Your division leaders are the Tampa Bay Lightning (Atlantic), Pittsburgh Penguins (Metro), Nashville Predators (Central), and Anaheim Ducks (Pacific). Interestingly, all four division leaders are within 4 points of one another.

Assuming these are your four conference finalists, I would expect the Lightning to shock the Penguins, due to the high volume of water in a typical penguin’s habitat. You see, water is extremely efficient at conducting the electric surge of a lightning strike, which will fry those Penguins in their tracks. A Steven Stamkos slapshot could have a similar effect.

I’d also predict the Predators to eat the Ducks. It’s the circle of life. That’s just how it works. Unless the predator was some sort of small fish, feeding on micro-organisms, I really don’t think a duck would have a chance. If the Ducks were playing a team called the Bread, then I could see them doing work. Ducks love bread. But, I don’t think bread is a natural predator to very many species, aside from humans. That stuff is fattening, or you could choke on it!

Alright, I’ve taken a simple premise (division leaders), and totally gone off the rails with it. That was fun. Let’s take a look at some other fun, interesting, or important stories that went down in the Hockey League of the National variety this past week. It’s your Shots with Cotts.

Canada hangs on to defeat Russia for World Junior Classic gold medal

The tournament favorite, and hometown Canadians, held serve and took home gold at the 2015 WJC. The final was a tight 5-4 victory for Canada, who had jumped out to a 5-1 lead, before allowing the Russians to storm back.

Many NHL prospects and former draftees participated, including Avalanche prospect Will Butcher, who is a defenseman currently playing at Denver University. Butcher played well for the United States, who also got a strong performance from Detroit Red Wings prospect Dylan Larkin. Larkin tied for the tournament lead with 5 goals in only 5 games, impressive considering the US was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Russia.

Arizona Coyotes prospect Max Domi had a standout performance at the WJC, with 5 goals and 5 assists in 7 games. He also scored a pair of goals and added an assist in the gold medal game, which helped him secure top forward honors for the tournament.

More from Mile High Sticking

• Could Colorado Avalanche move on from Pavel Francouz next offseason?
• 4 goalies to replace Pavel Francouz if he has to miss time
• Colorado Avalanche make sneaky signing with Tatar
• Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog could return in 2023-24 playoffs
• Colorado Avalanche rookie face-off tournament roster

Fellow Canadians Sam Reinhart (Buffalo Sabres), Nic Petan (Winnipeg Jets), and Connor McDavid (2015 draft eligible) tied for the tournament lead in scoring, with 11 points. Interestingly, Russia didn’t have any players in the top-ten in scoring, despite reaching the final.

US forward, Jack Eichel, didn’t have a great tournament in my opinion. He showed flashes of skill at times, but didn’t have a big impact in the round-robin game against Canada, and also struggled against Russia in the quarters. Teams seemed to do a good job of keying on Eichel, but for the hype he is receiving as a potential number one overall pick, I expected to see a bit more from him.

Andrej Sekera seems like a good dude

The Carolina Hurricanes defenseman was quick to lend a hand to Flyers forward Claude Giroux in getting down the tunnel. This just shows the NHL really is a brotherhood. Sure, it is competitive, fast paced, and they may stop and punch on each other every now and again, but at the end of the day they will lend a shoulder when needed.

Granted, there are a few players who lend shoulders when not needed, but that’s why we have suspensions…

Speaking of the Flyers

Pretty cool gift this young lad received from the team, and the above mentioned Giroux.

A young hardcore Flyers fan received a Sydney Crosby jersey as a gift, and his reaction was priceless. Say what you will about this kid’s gift receiving etiquette, he is loyal to his team. The Flyers organization took notice, and hooked him up with a boatload of gear, and a few other surprises. This video will tingle any hockey fans inner child.

Capgeek is no more

The fan-friendly site, containing every salary detail you could wish for as an NHL fan has been taken down.

"Effective immediately, Jan. 3, 2015, CapGeek.com has permanently ceased operations. This sudden decision is made with a heavy heart and is due to the personal health of CapGeek.com founder and director Matthew Wuest. While this decision may raise many questions, it is requested that you respect Matthew’s privacy and wish for no media or purchase inquiries. Thank you for your co-operation and understanding at this difficult time."

As a fan and writer, I feel like a part of me is missing. I’d like to send out warm wishes from all of us here at Mile High Sticking to Matthew Wuest. Here’s to a speedy recovery!

All-Star Jerseys

Semyon Varlamov goes ham

Varly followed up his 54-save shutout of the Blackhawks with a 36/38 save performance against the Ottawa Senators. When you’re hot, you’re hot.

That other Russian goalie is pretty good too, and the Blue Jackets showed him the $$$