Tomas Kundratek and Steve Olesky are proud puck bearers and public enemy number one.
When you see a player smiling ear-to-ear and proudly holding up a puck for all to see, does it matter what team he’s on? There’s a lot more going on than just another snazzy photo op. From personal achievement and overcoming obstacles to a supportive family and hockey community to maybe a little luck on the ice and sometimes a little bit of sass in his smile, we should just be pleased for him that he’s having success as he launches into his NHL career, right? Maybe.
Let’s be real. At the end of the day, did he assist on or score the goal that helped his team clinch the OT win against your team? Yes? Then it does matter. It matters a lot.
I’m looking at you, Tomas Kundratek.
Though the Bruins didn’t enjoy having the Caps rally back from a 0-3 deficit to take their March 5th OT win, the Caps had a damn fine effort put in by two recent arrivals who instantly stepped up and made an impact on the scoreboard.
Tomas Kundratek netted his first NHL goal and his first NHL assist (that was on the goal that lifted the team to overtime), and Steve Oleksy got his first NHL assist that night. Olesky tallied two more assists the following night, scored his first NHL goal on March 10 when he was also awarded third star for his efforts in the game. He’s also racked up 4 points in his first 5 games.
Don’t worry, we got Dougie Hamilton. He smoked his first NHL goal past Ryan Miller on a superb powerplay effort in the first period of the Bruins 2-4 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on February 15. He’s now got 12 points (3G, 9A) in 24 games.
Tampa Bay spark plug Cory Conacher seems to have been bashful and unwilling to show us his pucks (or has destroyed all photographic evidence of such).
Scoring both his first NHL goal and first NHL assist in his first NHL might just do that to you. I mean, he could hardly believe he scored the goal right after it happened,
and his state of surprised disbelief didn’t improve much during the post-game interviews.
So, we’ll show you his pucks for him.
Cory is of the awesome. He’s got 20 points (7G, 13A) in 26 games so far and is even more talked about than when Alexandre Picard won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as Calder Cup Playoffs MVP. Not that Picard shouldn’t have taken it *cough* but comparatively speaking, the chatter is on fire.
The one player the league and – laugh it up! – the Leafs thought they’d never see score in the NHL was Leo Komarov. The Leafs selected him back in 2006 but Leo wanted to – long story short – accomplish other things before joining the ranks of the NHL. When he finally decided it was time to join the Blue & White, the lockout took hold and by mid-November he had packed his bags and was on his way back to Russia to play with Moscow Dynamo. For most fans, he wasn’t even a blip on the radar.
But Leo “Pain In The Ass” Komarov came back! And he scored his first NHL goal against the Habs on February 9th, 59 seconds into the Leafs 6-0 romp at the Bell Centre in Montreal. It was pretty great, especially given that Nikolai Kulemin assisted and then Mike Kostka and Mikhail Grabovski bear hugged him, and then Leo’s big perfect smiling face skated all around the Bell Centre.
This is how Leo looks sometimes when he’s excited. He’s super stoked right here. And stats don’t matter so much with Leo, because Leo’s the sandpaper.
Based on the reaction when J.T. Miller was recalled by the New York Rangers on February 4th, no one was expecting him to score twice in his second game with the team. In his Madison Square Garden debut he stole the show with his first NHL goal, and then saved the day with his second on the powerplay, and went on to wear the Broadway Hat.
(Thank you, New York Rangers Instagram!)
But the guy with the most impressive 1st NHL goal outing? Gotta be Brenden Dillon of the Dallas Stars. He started with an assist for teammate Antoine Roussel, followed up two minutes later by a perfect shot straight from the blue line to score an unassisted beauty of his own! Then a tussle in the 2nd period with Kyle Chipchura and – ladies and gentlemen – we’ve got ourselves Brenden Dillon serving up a Gordie Howe Hat Trick! And why is this even better than your regular old Gordie Howe Hat Trick? Because when Brenden scored his first WHL goal at the age of 17, it was wrapped up in a Gordie Howe Hat Trick, too.
Thank you, Brenden Dillon, for showing us your puck. (For the photo, too.)
