Rip Van Semin Awakens

Alexander Semin's career has been anything but typical. It appeared that early in his career that he and Alexander Ovechkin would rule the ice for the Washington Capitals, but he often resembled Alexei Yashin, another talented Russian, in his ability to be invisible for long stretches of play. He left Washington for a free agent deal with Carolina worth $7 million per season despite only posting a high of 22 goals and 44 points with the Hurricanes. The most frustrating part in watching Semin play is that he's still invisible for long stretches of time. He re-appeared today, though, much to the chagrin of the Edmonton Oilers.

With Edmonton leading 3-0 midway through the second period, the Hurricanes needed a spark in a big way to get back into the game. You'd normally expect a Staal or maybe Skinner to be the catalyst for that spark, but this afternoon saw Alexander Semin awaken from his slumber with what should be a Goal of the Year candidate. Check it out.

I love that the announcers are pretty ho-him about this goal when this is entirely the reason why you're surprised it's Alexander Semin scoring the goal. He takes the puck to the front of the net, something he's not known to do, and draw a penalty on the play. But it's the second effort that is un-Semin-like as he sweeps that puck into the net while lying on his stomach. Semin isn't known for a good first effort, let alone a strong second effort!

With the goal, Semin sparked a seven-goal outburst by the Hurricanes as they downed the Oilers 7-4 in just over thirty minutes of work. While they seemingly slept through the first-half of the game, the man in the longest slumber of the season was the guy who woke up and sounded the reveille.

Like the Oilers, I don't think anyone expected that out of Semin!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!