Here we are, only the week leading up to Halloween, and already it seems so much has happened. That’s hockey, I guess!

Goal of the Week

On Monday, Taylor Hall scored this penalty shot on Ben Bishop of the Tampa Bay Lightning, in what would eventually be the Oilers first win of the season:

This clip sadly doesn’t include the part where he pumps up the Rexall crowd before heading down the ice, but luckily we have a gif:

I have to say I’ve been really impressed with Taylor Hall lately. I was skeptical when they slapped the A on his jersey but he seems to have really matured this year. He isn’t getting rattled as easily as he would have last year or the year before, and he’s confident. And he’s pretty good at hockey too.

To make this section all about the Oilers, I might as well say the runner up for me is Leon Draisaitl’s first goal. It was a nice rebound and as a bonus he knocked Andrew Ference over with the force of his celebratory hug. There’s nothing better.

Fight of the Week

Last night I was catching on Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD because I’m a masochist or something, but as usual I had my eye on twitter to see how the games were going. And then I saw people mentioning the Anaheim-San Jose game in terms of “what the hell is going on” and “oh my god” so I turned on GCL.

The Sharks beat the Ducks 4-1, breaking the Ducks’ winning streak. There were also five (5) fighting majors, seven (7) roughing (aka fighting) penalties, seven (7) misconducts, and also John Scott left the bench which is an automatic ten game suspension, all in the third period, all between 10:18 and 16:54. As one of the announcers said, “They’re handing out game misconducts like they’re Halloween candy.”

What Don Cherry Wore

Appropriately, given the shooting in Ottawa on the 22nd, Don wore a sedate black suit and a poppy on his lapel. It suited the dignity of the O Canada sung in unison in Ottawa, Toronto, and Montreal, which you should watch if you  haven’t.

Rookie of the Week

Jonathan Drouin finally made his long-awaited NHL debut this week against the Oilers in the above-mentioned game and while he didn’t score in his first game, he did on Friday against the Jets. Here he is with Stamkos:

http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/embed?playlist=652349

And here’s his first goal!

Cottonmouths Corner

COMING SOON when Hannah writes it for me!!

ETA: Okay, here’s the thing. I get that it’s the SPHL, but I don’t care what league you’re in, from the NHL to your local beer league — if you’re a defenseman, you have to actually play defense in front of your goalie. The Cottonmouths didn’t do that this week. Shannon Szabados still doesn’t have her first professional win, despite playing a terrific game. The Cottonmouths dropped their season opener to the Knoxville Ice Bears, 5-4.

The defense didn’t play any better Saturday night in front of their other goalie Andrew Loewen, either, losing 5-0 to the Pensacola Ice Flyers despite Loewen making 38 saves. This week’s lesson for the Snakes? Be better to your goalies.

PS: You might recognize Loewen as the goalie who did the wobble last season in full gear.

Women’s Hockey Highlight

Noora Raty unveiled her goalie mask for her first year in the Finnish Men’s League, which features minions from Despicable Me (maybe she and Tomas Hertl should be friends) and a Latin quote that translates to “I shall either find a way or make one.” Pretty awesome!

Tweet of the Week

Okay, this one isn’t funny like they usually are, but I saw this I was reading about Olli Maatta’s scheduled surgery for a thyroid tumor and I was touched by the show of solidarity from the Senators.

To go back to the funny, we have this tweet from Paul Stanley complimenting the Penguins who dressed up as KISS:

(left to right: Paul Martin, Beau Bennett, Evgeni Malkin as a vampire, Robert Bortuzzo, and Nick Spaling)

Which is a nice transition into…

Halloween Costume of the Week

We’ll have a few more of these, I imagine, but let’s start with the best, aka PK Subban as Michael Jackson in Thriller:

That’s some serious make-up commitment. He looks amazing. I’m so jealous. I don’t know what to do with myself.

Anyway, apparently the Penguins had their Halloween party like two weeks early because we also have Chris Kunitz as Ron Burgundy:

And Max Ivanov (a powerskating and stickhandling coach as well as Malkin’s roommate) as a “disco man”, Kris Letang as the Mad Hatter, Evgeni Malkin as a vampire, and Sidney Crosby as…Rocky Balboa.

In bonus hilarity, there was this:

Tank Watch

It’s that time-honored tradition: looking at the NHL standings and seeing which teams are top (bottom?) of the tanking for McDavid pile.

5. Edmonton Oilers (3-4-1)

With 7 points, they’re actually tied with 7 teams for point total, which is nice! They’ve also won three in a row and have definitely looked better when I’ve watched them. Like I said last week, I think this team could be decent this team. This bottom of the standings thing probably won’t last for them.

4. Colorado Avalanche (2-4-3)

Is there a more inconsistent team in the NHL right now? Yes, they blew out the Canucks the other day. They’ve also only won two games. Varlamov is back, but he’s also been handed a lawsuit by the woman who went to the police for domestic abuse last year.

3. Winnipeg Jets (3-5-0)

Frankly, the only reason the Jets are this far down is that none of their losses have been in OT. A couple of loser points and they’d be above St. Louis.

2. Buffalo Sabres (2-7-0)

This was supposed to be Buffalo’s year. Their year to fail and get a franchise changer first overall. And maybe they still will — they have the worst goal differential in the league at -18 — but man they’ve got nothing on…

1. Carolina Hurricanes (0-5-2)

The Carolina Hurricanes, who are the only team left that has not won a game. They have a while to break any records with this streak but it isn’t looking good for the Hurricanes. I’m jumping on the tank bandwagon for them.

Special Feature: 1989

In honor of the release of Taylor Swift’s album 1989, here are the lead singles from the album as theme songs for NHL players born in 1989:

Shake It Off – PK Subban (May 13, 1989)

Out of the Woods – Sam Gagner (August 10, 1989)

Welcome to New York – Ryan MacDonagh (June 13, 1989)

Please imagine these songs as their walk-on music. You’re welcome.