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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.

THW Live: What’s Wrong With The Calgary Flames?

The Calgary Flames were the sweethearts of the NHL last season. With countless third period comebacks and exciting players like Johnny Gaudreau, Sam Bennett and Sean Monahan, everyone thought the Flames were set to rise into a top team in the Western Conference for years. Unfortunately, that just hasn’t been the case.

Calgary has gotten off to a poor start even with players like Gaudreau and Monahan playing well. No matter what, they just can’t seem to string together multiple wins at a time.

In the latest episode of THW Live!, we talk about the problems plaguing the Flames with reporter Ryan Pike. What has been the biggest issue for the team’s lack of success this season, what needs to happen to fix the ship and how long until a major change happens in the organization?

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 @RyanPike using #THWLive. Your comments and questions could be used on an upcoming episode of the show.

WATCH: Penalty Boxes Fill Up In Nashville

*NOTE: The in-game microphones picked up some colorful language. Some may find it inappropriate.*

Saturday night’s blowout between the Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets saw it all. It saw the largest victory margin in the NHL this season, a 7-0 win for the Predators and as many penalty minutes — if not more — than some teams have all season long.

Before watching what happened and seeing the hilarity, let’s build up to what happened. The Predators were up 5-0 in the third thanks to an opening frame that saw Nashville scored four goals on nine shots. The Winnipeg rush was blown dead due to an offside, and that’s when an unwritten rule was broken.

Jets forward Mark Scheifele put the puck in the Nashville net well after the whistle, leading to a lot of unhappy players. The first player to go after Scheifele was defenseman Ryan Ellis, and that resulted in everyone getting involved. And because of the fact that teams were in the middle of a line change, there were far more players on the ice than usual.

Now it clearly wasn’t the most intense altercation between two teams in a one-sided game, but the end result was nevertheless funny. After the penalties were sorted out — almost all of which being unsportsmanlike conduct infractions — there were 13 penalties in total called as a result of the scrum. That led to 12 players in the penalty boxes that aren’t made to hold that many people. It ended up looking like a packed clown car.

When the game was over, 35 penalties had been handed out, totaling a whopping 156 minutes. Even Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne got in on the penalty action for leaving the crease to join the “fun”.

The full penalty listing for the altercation can be found below:

Nashville Pekka Rinne – Leaving the Crease – 2 minutes (Served by James Neal)
Nashville Colin Wilson – Unsportsmanlike conduct – 2 minutes
Nashville Mattias Ekholm – Unsportsmanlike conduct – 2 minutes
Nashville Mike Fisher – Unsportsmanlike conduct – 2 minutes
Nashville James Neal – Unsportsmanlike conduct – 2 minutes
Nashville Miikka Salomaki – Cross-checking – 2 minutes
Nashville Ryan Ellis – Unsportsmanlike conduct – 2 minutes
Winnipeg Mark Scheifele – Unsportsmanlike conduct – 2 minutes
Winnipeg Blake Wheeler – Unsportsmanlike conduct – 2 minutes
Winnipeg Jacob Trouba – Unsportsmanlike conduct – 2 minutes
Winnipeg Drew Stafford – Unsportsmanlike conduct – 2 minutes
Winnipeg Andrew Copp – Unsportsmanlike conduct – 2 minutes
Winnipeg Mark Stuart – Unsportsmanlike conduct – 2 minutes

Connor McDavid Injured

The future of the Edmonton Oilers may be put on hold as residents of the city of Edmonton hold their collective breath because of what transpired on Tuesday night.

During the second period of the Oilers’ contest against the Philadelphia Flyers, McDavid hit his left shoulder into the end boards. McDavid was skating into the Flyers zone, was checked and fell onto the ice. He then slid hard into the boards with Philadelphia defensemen Brandon Manning and Michael Del Zotto on top of him. No penalties were called on the play, which drew the ire of fans in Edmonton.

McDavid would remain on the bench for the final 1:44 of the second period, but did not return for the third period of the game. According to CSN Philadelphia, McDavid was seen with his arm in a sling. He’s going to be out for a prolonged period of time, though a full update will be provided on Wednesday.

The number one overall pick in this past June’s NHL Draft, McDavid is leading all NHL rookies in points with 12 (five goals, seven assists). He has been as good as advertised for the Oilers this season, and any missed time by the 18-year old is a huge loss for the team.

An update on his condition will come as soon as it is available.

 

The 4th Line Podcast: Rob Vollman

It’s episode 52 of The 4th Line Podcast presented by The Hockey Writers, and the guys bring a very special guest to the masses for their birthday episode.

The guys chat with Rob Vollman, author of the Hockey Abstract (www.hockeyabstract.com), as he gives them a crash course on advanced statistics in the National Hockey League. They also talk about the news of the week in the NHL, celebrate Jagr’s mullet and Virtanen staying, decide if the Habs can win without Price or if the Dallas Stars are actually a good team and more on this 1st birthday episode!

Coming from Calgary, AB and Nanaimo, BC, Carl and Joel provide their own unique and fun view of hockey. Every week the guys share their thoughts on the news of the week, have a variety of guests from the world of hockey and spend some time in segments like Kangaroo Court, The Rant Shack and The Hot Seat. So, tune in every week to hear the latest from the guys and their guests, and get a view on the game you can’t find anywhere else.

You can also find The 4th Line on Soundcloud, iTunes and Twitter.

THW Live Episode 1 with Steve Goldstein

As the industry expands into a more multimedia-based approach, the only way to survive is by branching out. That’s exactly what we are doing here at The Hockey Writers with the introduction of our new show, THW Live!

With THW Live!, our readers and listeners will get the best interviews, the best insight and the best conversations in the world of hockey podcasts from host Michael Straw and his guests. In this week’s debut episode, Mike is joined by the voice of the Florida Panthers Steve Goldstein.

[RELATED: Ranking All NHL Broadcasters]

Goldstein talks about his start in the business, what it’s like to call Jaromir Jagr games, the biggest moment of his career, and more! He also gives a his thoughts on what it’s like calling games in a “non-traditional” hockey market like Florida.

So tune in now, and be sure to keep an eye for the podcast on iTunes in the near future.

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