It’s not easy for a coach to be named Goon of the Week. Especially a coach like Denis Savard, a wispy, ice-dancing forward during his NHL career. Although he didn’t invent the move, Savard patented the “spinorama” during his career, mostly with the Blackhawks. Now the head coach of that same team, Savard pulled a move on New Year’s Day that would have made Stu Grimson and Mike Peluso proud. And, considering the game was on the West Coast and televised on the NHL Network (via FSN West), I’m guessing most of you missed it.
It was early in the second period of the Hawks’ “contest” with the Kings. Chicago was already trailing 5-2 (en route to a 9-2 pasting). The perfect time for the visiting Hawks to pull the time-honored gambit of starting a fight. Except–oops–Coach Spinorama “forgot” to actually put any fighters on the ice during a faceoff at which the Kings’ Raitis Ivanans was clearly looking for someone to ask him to drop the gloves.
But the puck was dropped without incident, and play continued. However, Coach Spinorama made a quick substitution, sending enforcer Dave Koci onto the ice. Koci made no pretense of attempting to join the play, but promptly made a beeline for Ivanans (who was alertly waiting for him), and they had a relatively uneventful scrap.
I send you to the good folks at Hockey Fights to see the full video, including the post-faceoff insertion of Koci.
For “forgetting” to send out his enforcer for the faceoff and instead electing to attempt a cheapshot sneak attack (and even worse, having the move completely backfire, as the Kings went on to pile on 4 more goals), Denis Savard is your Goon of the Week. Congratulations!
11 Comments
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
Melt Your Face-Off 
Whoa, hold up – the Savardian Spinorama has nothing to do with Denis (and yes, Paul McCartney was in another band before Wings).
Is that the guy that Heather from Dancing with the Stars just divorced?
I thought that was her dad or something.
My brother, OrneryRetard could straighten this whole thing out.
Danny Gallivan, R.I.P.
The ultimate Gallivanism was a word he coined: the “spinarama,” which described a player evading a check or when a player would deke a defender with a sudden 180- or 360-degree turn. Its chief practitioner was Canadiens’ defenseman Serge Savard, so the move was also known as “The Savardian Spinarama”.
Or, in easy-to-remember verse,
A mere Savardian namesake
Does not a Spinaramian make
forgot to cite Wikipedia for the spinarama definition – we’ll sleep better now
Now come I to sing a dirge
For the legacy of under-appreciated Serge
The Spinorama he may have invented
But his non-kin Denis it patented
While the term was coined by Danny Gallivan
Denis’ version was prettier than deHavilland
Still, the Senator can shine all his rings
While his praises the retard brothers sing
@lenoceur: +1. beautiful, man.
Kudos. William and Toe Blake would be proud.
That fro and mustache must make him eligible for child molester of the week.
Come Check Out The New Artist PRO A.K.A. King Of Dem Streetz In His New Video “No Nigga Season Part.1” & Let The Streets Know What You Think So Leave A Comment & Enjoy The Music For More Info Visit Our Website