Weekly Cupcakes – Bitter Cupcakes

Colorado Avalanche

So let’s start off with the obvious. I’m going to take a moment to complain. Matt Calvert takes a puck to the head and lays prone on the ice while bleeding from the ear due to the hit. No Avalanche handles the puck and the play is not stopped for him. The Canucks go on to score in the play before Calvert can be seen by the medic. It’s bad enough that he was down. He tried to get up more than once and couldn’t. All the while he was bleeding from the head. What would’ve happened if he had been hit in the head again by the puck? It is a dangerous situation and the safety of a player should come before the play.

Avalanche players were visibly upset at how it was handled. Erik Johnson said what a number of us thought “It’s a fucking joke. You want to protect a guy? Guy’s got a family at home, he’s laying there bleeding out of his head and you don’t blow the whistle? It’s a complete joke. An absolute joke. They should be ashamed of themselves.”.  [Twitter]

Johnson wasn’t the only one who was in his words “pissed”, Bellemare was as well. He was too hot to deal with it at the moment. It’s a dangerous sport, blow the whistle so the guy can get some help. [Altitude Twitter]

Another Avalanche player decided to compare it to another sport. MacKinnon on Calvert injury ‘I can only imagine if that was LeBron James’ [Sportsnet]

ICYMI: Colorado Avalanche Pavel Francouz in concussion protocol. [Last Word on Hockey]

Makar in legendary company amid blistering start to career. Not only can he be in the conversation for the Calder, but the Norris Trophy as well. [The Score]

Cale Makar is the real deal as an NHL rookie defenceman. [The Province]

The Rest of Hockey

Maple Leafs have received trade calls on Tyson Barrie. [Sportsnet]

Grant earns right to name friend’s child after scoring hat trick. Ducks forward had first three-goal game of NHL career against St. Louis. [NHL]

Budget burdens: The five NHL players providing the least value. There are few things worse than an expensive asset failing to put points on the board. Here are the five players with the worst cost-per-point values in the NHL. [The Hockey News]

‘An impossible situation’: Ron MacLean’s speech met with mixed reaction online. [Global News]