Nathan Horton

Horton got caught up in a heated scrum with some Lightning players just seconds after Tampa had sealed the 5-4 victory, but when the referees finally intervened and sent the players on their way, he turned his attention to the Lightning fans.

While making their way to the dressing room, Horton witnessed fellow teammate David Krejci get hit in the head with a noisemaker, before taking matters into his own hands and hosing down a few of the rowdy Lightning fans with a water bottle.  Horton could receive a fine for the incident, which wasn’t caught on television, but was recorded on a fan’s cell phone.

As for the Lightning fans, if they thought this was bad, they will be happy to hear that Rick Rypien will not be in the Vancouver Canucks lineup during the Stanley Cup Finals, should they make it there in the first place.

Here is a look a Horton’s water bottle incident at the conclusion of Game 6.

And here is a closer look at David Krejci getting hit in the hear with a noisemaker.

The goal came during an 8-5 playoff victory over the Washington Capitals.  Despite finishing in first place in the Patrick Division, the Caps would lose to the Philadelphia Flyers in six games.  As for Hextall, that would be the last goal he ever scored, as he accumulated an impressive two goals and 36 assists in both the regular season and playoffs throughout his entire career.

Till this day, only nine goalies in the NHL have ever recorded a goal.  Hextall, along with Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils, are the only goaltenders to record two goals in their careers.  They are also the only two goaltenders to record a goal in the playoffs.

Here is a look at Ron Hextall’s first career playoff goal.

Notable Birthdays

Mark Teixeira, MLB – Born on April 11, 1980 (age 31) in Annapolis, Maryland

Trevor Linden, NHL – Born on April 11, 1970 (age 41) in Medicine Hat, Alberta

Trot Nixon, MLB – Born on April 11, 1974 (age 37) in Durham, North Carolina

If the change of location wasn’t strange enough, the actual event had the feel of a 1980s game show.  Weird lights and creepy music made you wonder whether Bob Barker would be presenting the next trophy.  Speaking of trophies, the Stanley Cup was in attendance.  Luckily it was fished out of Mario Lemieux’s pool in time.

There was also the excessive reading which was only made worse by the fact that presenters were expected to say so much.  The biggest victim was Jeremy Roenick, who was stumbling early and had to restart at one point as his word-juggling became too apparent that he couldn’t even make sense of it anymore.  The random man beside him seemed to enjoy it.  He was probably thinking, “if only J.R. would have given me some lines, he wouldn’t have to say so much.”

When it was all said and done, Alex Ovechkin made his presence felt, taking home the Hart (MVP), Richard (most goals) and Pearson (MVP voted by the players) trophies.  The Bruins also did well, with Claude Julien, Zdeno Chara and Tim Thomas receiving honors as the best coach, defenseman and goalie respectively.  Thankfully the choices for the awards were not as out-of-whack as the actual event itself.

Here is the clip of Roenick’s not-so-smooth moment.

Tonight the National Hockey League hosted there annual NHL Awards in Toronto.  Alexander Ovechkin was the big winner on the night, he took home 4 awards “The Art Ross, The Rocket Richard, and the Leaster B. Pearson awards.” 

2008 Trophie Winners

Hart (Awarded to the player judged best in the NHL)- Alexander Ovechkin

Vezina (Presented to the leagues top goltender)- Martin Brodeur

Norris (Awarded to the top defensemen in the league)- Niklas Lidstrom

Calder (Given to the rookie judged top in the league)- Patrick Kane

Lady Byng (Given to the leagues’s most gentlemanly player)- Pavel Datsyuk

Frank Selke (Awarded to the top defensive forward)- Pavel Datsyuk

Jack Adams Award (Presented to the leagues best coach)- Bruce Bourdreau

Masterton (Given to the player who shows perserverance to hockey)- Jason Blake

Lester B. Pearson (Given to the NHL’s top player voted by the NHLPA)- Alexander Ovechkin

Art Ross (awarded to the player who leads the league in scoring points at the end of the regular season)- Alexander Ovechkin

Maurice Richard (awarded annually to the leading goal scorer in the National Hockey League)- Alexander Ovechkin

William J. Jennings (awarded to goaltenders playing in a minimum of 25 games for the team with the fewest goals allowed)- Chris Osgood, Dominek Hasek�