The 50 Club

Will it Reopen Again ?

The last season the NHL played NO ONE got into The 50 Club... no one got even close to getting into the place. This season if the scoring pace continues like it has a dozen or more players have a shot at getting into that exclusive club.

My how times have changed.

"It'll be hard for everyone to keep up that pace all season long but it is fun to see for sure," said Briere, who has 10 goals in 14 games this season.

No one came close to 50 the last time NHL hockey was played in 2003-04 - Jarome Iginla, Ilya Kovalchuk and Rick Nash all sharing the Rocket Richard Trophy with 41 goals apiece.

Only Milan Hejduk got to 50 in 2002-03 and Iginla was the only man in 2001-02. Three did in 2000-01, only one the season before that and none in 1998-99.

"They've tried to bring that back and I think right now the NHL has done a great job to change a couple of things and it's going to be fun seeing somebody get 50 this year," said Gagne, the league's leading goal-scorer with 16 goals after scoring again in Tuesday's 4-3 win over Boston.

"And right now, it's looking pretty good that we might have more than one guy."

I think in the end we'll see about six players with solid shots at hitting 50.


VIRTUAL REALITY HOCKEY SIMULATION

Have you ever dreamed of being a GM and/or Coach of your very own hockey team? Have you always thought that YOU could make better personal and coaching decisions than some of the GM/Coaches you've seen out there?
Well now you can be the big guy in charge and run the whole show and I do mean the WHOLE show. It's called NHL Eastside Hockey Manager.

You assume the role of General Manager, which in the National Hockey League is usually confined to the business end of running a team: signing players and coaches, making the large-scale personnel moves outside the day-to-day activities on the rink. But with NHL EHM 2005, you can be quite hands-on, and in many ways assume some coaching-level duties as well, such as setting the roster and choosing line combinations and defensive pairings as well as emphasizing what players need to work on during practice, such as conditioning, shooting, defensive skills, etc.

I think it's fun watching the continued evolution of these computer hockey games. The immersion levels just keep getting higher and higher with each passing quantum leap in hard and software development. With online leagues and tournaments already thriving and continued tech advancements guaranteed we may reach a point where hyper charged virtual play will be more important, followed and rewarded than real play.

Naaaaah, it could NEVER happen..... could it ?

Finally, the curious case of the unknown goalie.

Police in West Vancouver, B.C. are trying to determine the identity of a young man who can't remember who he is.

The only piece of evidence they have to work with is a bag of hockey equipment filled with goalie gear

Personally I think it might be because the poor kid took one too many slap shots to the melon while playing in goal. It can happen.

UPDATE: On the mystery of the unknown goalie.