Gaudreau led the NHL with five goals in two games to help the Flames (17-16-2, 36 points) set a franchise record with their 11th consecutive victory on home ice. He opened the week with his third career hat trick – and second of the month (also Dec. 4 vs. BOS: 3-1—4) – in a 4-1 triumph over the Winnipeg Jets Dec. 22. Gaudreau then scored twice, including the game-winning goal, in a 5-3 comeback victory over the Edmonton Oilers Dec. 27. The 22-year-old Salem, N.J., native paces the Flames and shares sixth in the NHL in both goals (17) and points (39) in 35 appearances this season. His five game-winning goals are one shy of the League lead (Joe Pavelski: 6).
SECOND STAR – ANTTI NIEMI, G, DALLAS STARS
Niemi went 2-0-1 with a 1.02 goals-against average, .966 save percentage and one shutout to lift the Stars (27-7-3, 57 points) back into first place in the League standings. He turned aside 30 of 31 shots in relief of Kari Lehtonen in a 6-3 win over the Minnesota Wild Dec. 21. Niemi then made 20 saves for his 35th career shutout (third this season) in a 4-0 victory over his former team, the Chicago Blackhawks, Dec. 22. He closed the week with 35 saves, plus another four in the shootout, in a 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues Dec. 26. The 32-year-old Vantaa, Finland, native boasts a 15-5-3 record (2.28 GAA, .917 SV%, 3 SO) in 24 outings this season, his first with the Stars.
THIRD STAR – TYLER BOZAK, C, TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
Bozak ranked second in the NHL in both goals (4) and points (tied-5) to power the Maple Leafs (13-14-7, 33 points) to two victories in three starts. He recorded his second career hat trick, including the game-winning goal, in a 7-4 triumph over the Colorado Avalanche Dec. 21. Bozak then collected one assist in a 3-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes Dec. 22 before closing the week with one goal in a 3-1 win over the New York Islanders Dec. 27. The 29-year-old Regina, Sask., native shares second on the Maple Leafs with 9-15—24 in 30 games this season, including 5-5—10 in his last eight outings.
Player of the month of December surely to follow.
Last edited by sureLoss; 12-28-2015 at 10:06 AM.
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I hope you're right. Often it's brought up that ''no team wins by building around a winger''. But I've never bought into that like of thinking. You take what you can get and right now, we've got a franchise guy erupting onto the scene. You absolutely build around that.
Johnny is a special guy and he's only in year 2. Even my casual hockey friends are taking notice of the guy.
I hope you're right. Often it's brought up that ''no team wins by building around a winger''. But I've never bought into that like of thinking. You take what you can get and right now, we've got a franchise guy erupting onto the scene. You absolutely build around that.
Johnny is a special guy and he's only in year 2. Even my casual hockey friends are taking notice of the guy.
JOHNNY B GOODE
Yes and no. Your center man and top d- pair are extremely important.
You can potentially win without star wingers, buy you can't win without a star C and D.
Lucky for us, in addition to superstar Johnny at wing, the Flames have Mony and Bennett at C, and Gio, Brodie and Hamilton at D.
Personally, I don't think Sean Monahan gets enough credit, but that's a discussion for another time.
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It almost scares me to to think about this kids's ceiling. He's at worst a conservative 60 point player, and at best.......god who knows. Still early but I can't help but dream about what he can do for the franchise. He's a gamebreaker right now for sure.
I hope you're right. Often it's brought up that ''no team wins by building around a winger''. But I've never bought into that like of thinking. You take what you can get and right now, we've got a franchise guy erupting onto the scene. You absolutely build around that.
Johnny is a special guy and he's only in year 2. Even my casual hockey friends are taking notice of the guy.
JOHNNY B GOODE
We still need a dominant two-way centre. Gaudreau has potential to be as good as guys like St. Louis and Kane. But those guys still had LeCavalier, Richards, Toews anchoring their teams down the middle. We've gone down the road of building wrongly around Iginla before, I don't want a repeat of that era.
It almost scares me to to think about this kids's ceiling. He's at worst a conservative 60 point player, and at best.......god who knows. Still early but I can't help but dream about what he can do for the franchise. He's a gamebreaker right now for sure.
Look at his history:
1st year USHL: ROY
1st year college: ROY
2nd year college: Hobey Baker finalist
3rd year college: Hobey Baker by a landslide
1st year NHL: ROY finalist
2nd year: Hart conversation
3rd year: watch out
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Gaudreau named NHL 1st star of the week
