No, the title isn't just echoing an annoying Roger's Video radio ad. here in Calgary. It actually points to the (improbable) number of shut-outs that occured in the NHL last night. That's right...out of the 6 contests played on Tuesday, 4 ended in a zero on one side of the board. Speaking of echoing, one might have expected a night of zeros perhaps 2+ years ago in the NHL, but given the current offensive landscape it makes last night's results all the more odd.
Even stranger are the architechts behind the various shut-outs. Edmonton's Ty Conklin and Colorado's David Aebischer are both tenders who have been cast the jaundiced eye by their respective fans thanks to their poor/inconsistent play. Similarly, Tampa Bay's John Grahame was also perfect last night, while the struggling Marty Brodeur (finally) authored a 1.00 save percentage in a game...
I must say, Im certainly glad I dont wager on the outcomes of NHL games this year. The totally unpredictable outcomes would make that a fools game this year.
On a Calgary Flames front, I heard on the local radio earlier today that as many as 4 Flames maybe back from sick bay for the game against Toronto on Friday. Apparently Nilson, Yelle, Amonte and Warrener are all close to returning to action. Only Hamrlik is still one to two weeks away from being totally healed (Byron Ritchie's status is still "unknown"). Of course, this is very good news for a Calgary club that has struggled to keep the shots and goals against down recently. The addition of even one or two of these players will probably help out significantly...to say nothing of Hamrlik's inevitable return near the end of the month.
