Week 3 Review

NWT 6-2 Branson

Pekka Rinne finally showed why the Moose selected him 5th overall in this year's draft, posting a steady 2 W, 1 SO, 1.68 GAA week to lead the Moose to their second win in as many weeks. The Moose offense was led by a pair of unexpected heroes, as Kimmo Timonen busted out for 7 DEF points, and Jordan Eberle chipped in with 3 G and 2 A. NWT finished with 33 points for the week, second only to the Alberta Bears (34). It was an uncharacterstically bad week for King Henrik in net for the Bull Frogs, with a GAA hovering near 4.00. NWT is the league's last remaining unbeaten, with 2 wins and a tie in their first three affairs. Standouts: Kimmo Timonen (NWT) 7 A, 7 DEF---Danny Briere (BRAN) 2 G, 3  A

Sandusky 5-2 Vancouver

In a rematch of last year's semi-finals, Tron Ries and the Slanderers enacted a bit of revenge on the defending champion Villains. The loss was Vancouver's first of the year. Though Sandusky wasn't spectacular offensively (11 G, 12 A), they continue to put the puck in the net at an impressive rate (38 G leads the league). Thomas Vanek continued his tear this week, with 2 G and 3 A. Vanek now has 15 points in 10 games. The Villains were absolutely dreadful in net, with a 3.94 GAA and .873 SV% for the week. After leading the league in GAA a season ago, the Villains now find themselves in dead last in both GAA and SV% three weeks into the season. Standouts: Antti Niemi (SAN) 2 W, 1.50 GAA, .942 SV%---Marian Gaborik (VAN) 1 G, 3 A

Istan 5-3 Alberta

Marc-Andre Fleury has made quite the impression since arriving in Istan a few weeks ago. How about this for consistency...Fleury's stats in his Buls debut last week: 2 W, 2 GA, 50 SV, 1.00 GAA, .962 SV%. And this week: 2 W, 2 GA, 1 SO, 50 SV, 0.96 GAA, .962 SV%. Fleury's steady presence, along with the return to form of Carey Price has suddenly returned the Istan Buls to one of the premiere goaltending clubs in the game. Meanwhile, Sean Slevin's "offense first" mentality is becoming all too obvious this year, as his Bears have struggled to a 1-9-2 record in the Goaltending categories, while enjoying a 10-4-1 mark on offense. His 95 points for the year ranks the Bears #1 in Princes of Hockey, but because of the goaltending woes, Slevin would find himself outside of the playoff picture if the season ended today. Standouts: Jaromir Jagr (IST) 5 G, 2 A, 17 SOG---Claude Giroux (ALB) 2 G, 5 A

Latvia 6-2 Winnipeg

Yes, I think it's time we face reality on this one: The Latvia Lipsuckers are here to stay. They have recorded impressive results against both Sandusky and Winnipeg over the past two weeks, and stayed close with Vancouver in the opening week. After this latest victory, Travis Todd finds himself in a very unfamiliar position...sitting in first place and looking down at the rest of the league below. It didn't take long for goaltender Brian Elliott to reward Todd for picking him up, as the Blues new starting netminder posted a shutout just hours after joining the Latvia roster. This Lipsuckers squad is difficult to beat, because not only do they have an outstanding crop of skaters, they now seem to have a goaltending trio that warrants respect. They are here to stay. Standouts: Teemu Selanne (LAT) 1 G, 5 A, 3 PPP---Joe Pavelski (WINN) 3 G, 2 A

Newfoundland 5-2 Lake Erie

The steady demise of the Lake Erie Shtonsters continues. Meanwhile, the surprising NorthStars are trying to prove all their doubters wrong, and find themselves in the thick of things after three weeks. Let's be fair and call this one what it was, a battle between two statistically unimpressive squads. The two squads finished in the bottom three in terms of G, A, PPP, and DEF this week. The goaltending wasn't much better, as Ewing's 2.64 GAA (good for 7th in the league this week) got the job done. But a win's a win, and for the rebuilding NorthStars, they'll take what they can get. Standouts: Phil Kessel (NEWF) 2 G, 2 A, 13 SOG---Mike Richards (LE) 1 G, 3 A

Question of the Week:

Are the Lake Erie Shtonsters giving up on the 2011-12 season with their latest trade with the Vancouver Villains. Tynan shipped his entire set of offensive keepers (Thornton, Hossa, Iginla) to Vancouver in exchange for Henrik Sedin and a couple toss-in players. Yes, the Shtonsters received the best player in the deal. Yes, the duo of Henrik Sedin and Evgeni Malkin looks good (should Malkin regain health in his surgically repaired knee). But did Tynan give up too much, too early? The Lake Erie offense is going to lack depth behind Malkin and Sedin, and the goaltending is shaky to say the least now that they shipped Fleury to Istan in order to acquire Malkin. And how about the other side of the trade, where Vancouver loses it's best player behind Sid the Kid, but bolsters the overall depth of their offense, which has struggled at points this year. With names like Crosby, Gaborik, Thornton, Iginla, Hossa, Sharp, Franzen to go along with the best defensive corps in the league (Letang, Weber, Green, Johnson)...this team became a real force offensively in the blink of an eye.

League Leaders

Goals-Sandusky (38)

Assists-Alberta (60)

PPP-Alberta (42)

SOG-Istan (347)

DEF-Winnipeg (28)

Wins-Newfoundland/Istan (14)

Shutouts-Winnipeg (4)

GAA-Latvia (1.958)

SV%-Latvia (.934)

Week 4 Match Ups

Istan @ Sandusky

Branson @ Latvia

NWT @ Newfoundland

Vancouver @ Winnipeg

Alberta @ Lake Erie