Toews, Sharp OK with Oiler rookie's flashy move

SAN JOSE, Calif.-- Edmonton Oilers rookie Linus Omark became a YouTube sensation Friday night with his showboating move in scoring a shootout goal against Tampa Bay.

Omark did a spin-o-rama as he reached the blue line, tapped his stick on the ice in front of Lightning goalie Dan Ellis and fired the puck in the net.

Ellis and his teammates were outraged, claiming Omark disrespected them.

“It's embarrassing for him,” Ellis told reporters.

Reaction from two of the Blackhawks' biggest stars was just the opposite.

Patrick Sharp thought what Omark did was great, while Jonathan Toews had no problem with it either.

“I haven't heard any of the comments specifically from the Tampa Bay players, but I can imagine if you get beat by a move like that you're going to have a few words about it, but he's the one who had everything to lose there,” Toews said.

“It's a high-risk, low-reward, if you ask me. He pulled it off so congrats to him. Let's see him do it again.”

Oilers coach Tom Renney probably put it best.

“The shootout is there for a reason and if anybody has a problem with that then take it out of the game,” Renney said.

Winging it:

The Hawks decided against bringing up two forwards from Rockford for the game against the Sharks, opting to use defensemen John Scott and Jordan Hendry at wings on the fourth line.

Rookie Jeremy Morin was the only recall. Hendry hadn't played in 13 games.

“We could have (brought up a second forward),” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “We did last game, and it was an option.

“One thing about putting defensemen up front, you know they're responsible with their defensive mind-set, which is kind of like how we want to approach it.”

Pang remembers:

Darren Pang, the last Hawks rookie goalie before Corey Crawford to win seven straight games, remembered his January 1988 streak as a career highlight.

“I felt like I belonged in the NHL,” said Pang, who wound up third behind Joe Nieuwendyk and Ray Sheppard in the Calder Trophy voting for rookie of the year. “I remember late in November I got a new pair of pads, all white, that were the first pads I ever had custom made to my legs,” said Pang, who played at 5-feet-5 and 155 pounds. “I just felt like nothing could beat me down there.”