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Michael Straw

Michael is a former Managing Editor for The Hockey Writers. He's covered the Buffalo Sabres, along with the NHL in general, for various outlets since 2009. His work has been featured on outlets such as Yahoo, Sports Illustrated and Fox Sports.

Rasmus Ristolainen Records First Hat Trick

If you don’t know who Rasmus Ristolainen is by now, maybe you should pay more attention.

The 21-year old Buffalo Sabres defenseman has played at the highest level of his young career through the first two months of the season. With four goals and 14 assists heading into action Thursday night, the Turku, Finland native is on pace to record 53 points this season. It would be quite the accomplishment for any young player, let alone a defenseman at this stage of his career.

Ristolainen has shown excellent ability to not only play sound in his own end, but produce in different scenarios in the offensive zone. Fans saw no better example of that than during Buffalo’s game against the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.

Ristolainen tallied three goals in a 12-minute span for the Sabres to record his first-career hat trick. His second and third goals helped draw Buffalo even with the Flames, though they would ultimately fall 4-3.

Ristolainen is the first Sabres defenseman to record a hat trick since Hall of Famer Phil Housley did it in January of 1988 against the New Jersey Devils. For Ristolainen to be in company like Housley, that can only bode well for how is career is going to ultimately turn out.

The budding star is well on his way to elite status in the NHL. It’s time you get to know him.

THW Live: How About Those Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens have been nothing short of amazing during the first portion of the 2015-16 NHL season.

They lead the lead in goals, their goaltending has been nearly perfect and the defense is playing at levels we haven’t seen before. However, the big question on everyone’s mind is whether the momentum can be sustained.

THW Live tackles that subject as Mike Straw speaks with Canadiens writer John Benedetti about the team, and if anyone at all even has a shot at catching them in the Atlantic Division this season.

Tune in now to hear what we have to say, and don’t forget to subscribe to THW Live! on iTunes. Also, we want to hear your thoughts so contact us on Twitter @TheHockeyWriter, @MikeStrawWrites or @JBenedettiTHW using #THWLive. Your comments and questions could be used on an upcoming episode of the show.

Patrick Kane Sets Record

Saturday night was a historic one in Los Angeles for United States hockey.

If there was any doubt before, there isn’t anymore. Patrick Kane has cemented himself as one of the greatest American-born hockey players of all-time; he’s well on his way towards becoming the very best.

Kane scored a power-play goal a little more than halfway through the opening period to not only give his Chicago Blackhawks a 1-0 lead, but to also break the record for the longest scoring streak for an American player at 19 games. Kane’s goal broke the tie of an 18-game point streak that was done by Phil Kessel and Eddie Olczyk.

During his 19-game streak, Kane has tallied 11 goals and 20 assists. On the season, Kane has 13 goals and 22 assists. His 35 points is good for a tie for the NHL scoring lead with Dallas Stars superstar Jamie Benn.

Kane is now two games away from tying the Blackhawks franchise point streak record held by the legendary Bobby Hull. As far as the league record for consecutive games with a point, Kane has a long way to go to catch up with the great Wayne Gretzky who recorded at least a point in 51 straight games during the 1983-84 season with the Edmonton Oilers.

Kane’s next chance to continue his streak comes on Tuesday when Chicago hosts the Minnesota Wild. Should he continue it then, he’ll have a chance to tie the team record on Thursday in Ottawa against the Senators.

Colaiacovo Suffers Throat Injury

A “dented trachea”. That’s what Buffalo Sabres defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo is dealing with after his team’s game against the Nashville Predators.

The veteran blueliner was in his zone when he took a crosscheck from Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson right to the throat. Colaiacovo immediately went to the ice in pain, and Arvidsson was assessed a five minute major as well as a game misconduct.

The Sabres took advantage of the opportunity presented to them by tallying twice on the powerplay, once by Jamie McGinn and the other by Sam Reinhart. The latter would turn out to be the deciding goal as the Sabres would pull away by a score of 4-1.

Reinhart finished the game with two goals. Ryan O’Reilly tied Jack Eichel for the team lead with 8 on his empty net goal late in the third period.

Coach Dan Bylsma said that Colaiacovo was doing okay, but didn’t have a full update on his condition other than he was being treated at an area hospital.

Though it hasn’t been announced, Arvidsson is likely to get a hearing with the NHL regarding the incident.

A suspension is almost guaranteed after Columbus forward Brandon Dubinsky was given one just the other day for a similar, yet not as consequential, action on Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby.

THW Live: Reviewing the first quarter of the NHL season

The 2015-16 NHL season is a quarter of the way finished, and if we’ve learned anything so far, it’s that you can never predict what’s going to happen. The Montreal Canadiens and Dallas Stars are the top teams while the Anaheim Ducks and Columbus Blue Jackets have struggled mightily out of the gate.

This week’s episode of THW Live! takes a look at the season so far, and host Mike Straw and THW senior writer Marcy Di Michele give their thoughts on what has happened. What teams are the biggest surprises and disappointments? What about the players?

Tune in now to hear what we have to say, and don’t forget to subscribe to THW Live! on iTunes. Also, we want to hear your thoughts so contact us on Twitter @TheHockeyWriter, @MikeStrawWrites or @MarcyTHW using #THWLive. Your comments and questions could be used on an upcoming episode of the show.

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