Top Moments in the National Hockey League in 2011 -NHL Special Part 2
Max Pacioretty suffers serious injury
One of the scariest moments during the 2011 year was that when Montreal Canadiens’ young forward, Max Pacioretty, was smashed into the sideboards by Boston Bruins’ enforcer and captain, Zdeno Chara, during a game in the 2010-2011 National Hockey League (NHL)
regulation season.
The 23-year-old faced a severe concussion and a non-displaced fractured fourth cervical vertebra in his neck earlier in March, causing him to miss the remaining part of the season, the postseason and a major chunk of the offseason.
Pacioretty finally made his debut this season and at the moment, is playing well after making a full recovery.
The scene was not only about his injury but the reaction that it triggered amongst Montreal fans. People took to the streets against Boston and Chara along with registering a number of police reports against the player.
The NHL also made enquiries of its own and termed the incident coincidental and not intentional, which only added fuel to the already raging flame.
Now, the situation has cooled down after months of raged statements from external and internal sources. It also sparked a debate about safety of players in the league, which is something the higher authorities had to take drastic action on.
Boston Bruins win Stanley Cup
The Boston Bruins showed great resilience and determination on the road to winning their first Stanley Cup in over 40 years.
They were up against the Vancouver Canucks, which were also focused on grabbing the championship, which would have made it their first in franchise history but in a thrilling and extremely close seven-game Stanley Cup Finals series, Boston emerged as the
winners, closing another chapter in NHL history.
It was not only about them winning, the big part was that they won it on Vancouver turf, which immediately triggered mass protests which left downtown of the city up in flames, filled with crowds rioting against their own club.
The situation was not easily defused but once everything cooled down, Vancouver realised that they needed to win once and for all, which is something they are currently working towards.
Offseason Acquisitions
The offseason is always big in the NHL, especially for those teams looking to change themselves around for the upcoming season in the hope for a fresh start. The teams that invested big and are profiting from it now are without a doubt the Florida Panthers
and Minnesota Wild.
Being some of the lowest ranked teams last season and out of the playoffs, Minnesota and Florida made some big changes in their line-up and management.
Minnesota brought on new head coach, Mike Yeo, along with a deal that gave them two top ranking players from the San Jose Sharks, Brent Burns and Devin Setoguchi.
They also got two more from the same team, Dany Heatley in exchange for Martin Havlat, which is something that has given them a huge boost now.
At the moment, Minnesota amazingly ranks second in the Western Conference with 45 points and has become one of the frontrunners in the race to make the playoffs.
Florida acquired Brian Campbell from the Chicago Blackhawks and a change around in their performance now has given them the third number spot in the East, a huge boost from where they stood last time.
Brad Richards, former Dallas Stars All-Star player, also surprised the league by leaving his long time team and joining the New York Rangers to a huge contract, along with Steven Stamkos being rumoured of leaving the Tampa Bay Lightning before eventually
re-signing with the same club.
To be continued in Part 3....
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