Daily Cupcakes: March 23rd, 2011

A tip of the hat to Milan Hejduk who played in his 900th game last night. Not only did he play he scored the only goal in the shootout.

Milan Hejduk, playing in his 900th career game, scored the only goal in the shootout to lift the Colorado Avalanche to a 5-4 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Pepsi Center.

Daniel Winnik scored with 3.3 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime, while Matt Duchene tallied twice for the Avalanche, who stopped an eight-game home losing streak and have won back-to-back games for the first time since January 14-18.

"My parents are Slovak and they always cooked. They taught me how to cook too," Paul says.  He confesses to regularly preparing meals for himself when he has time.

"During the season I do a lot of grilling. I also like searing fish and eating healthy," he says. Rice, potatoes or something nutritious are staples for the assistant captain’s meals the night before a game.

"He's been a tremendous player for our team," said Blades coach-GM Lorne Molleken. "He's been a great role model for our younger players as far as schooling and the work ethic he displays. He's also a tremendous leader on the ice."

Elliott was the Canadian Hockey League's top scholastic player in 2009, the same year he was drafted by Colorado. The Avalanche chose him in the second round, 49th overall.

This is a story about the medical staff for the Montreal Canadiens, but it reminds me of with how much can go wrong in a hockey game the incredible work that they do.  Thank you to the Colorado Avalanche medical staff who did such a wonderful job with the Ryan O`Byrne injury and the many others that they have dealt with this year!

There is talk this season that Canadiens goalie Carey Price should be considered for most-valuable-player honours. In a perfect world, that award would go to Rynbend and his supporting cast, a team of five that is working small miracles to keep at least a skeleton NHL squad on head coach Jacques Martin’s bench.

"Arrêtez de dire que les joueurs ne se respectent pas. C'est simplement que si un gars comme moi ne fait pas le travail, un jeune va le faire à ma place. Je ne veux pas dire qu'il faut que je fasse comme Matt Cooke, mais si je laisse passer un joueur sur le bord de la bande sans le frapper, on va m'asseoir sur le banc.

    -----Stop saying that players don't respect each other. It's simply that if I guy like me doesn't do it, a young guy will do it in my place. That's not to say that I have to play like Matt Cooke, but if I let a guy get by me without hitting him, I'll be benched.-----