Larry Brown Sports

Beach soccer is apparently a thing (sanctioned by FIFA, too!). And apparently qualifying for the 2013 World Cup is currently in progress. That’s where the outstanding goal you see above took place (keep your eye on the upper left of the video). In this match between the Netherlands and Norway (two countries renowned for their beaches), Dutch beach bro Daryl Rawidjan, next to the touch line with a defender draped over him, flipped the ball to himself twice and then bicycle kicked it into the net, resulting in a truly remarkable goal for the Dutch and a totally demoralizing one for the Norwegian goalkeeper.

As awesome as that was, it’s still not as good as Wayne Rooney’s spectacular bicycle kick goal against Manchester City.

Video via The Big Lead

The interesting thing about NHL shootouts is there are some players who have as much of a chance of scoring as a 10-year-old would and others who seem to make it look easy.  Patrick Kane falls under the latter category.  Usually when we see a shootout goal scored it’s because the shooter made a couple of good stick moves and confused the goalie.  On Wednesday night, Kane beat Nicklas Backstrom by making about a dozen of them.  Check out this Patrick Kane shootout goal:

Unlike Daniel Briere, Kane managed to throw all those moves in without making the puck come to a stop.  Was there really anything Backstrom could have done? I guess he could have come out and knocked it off his stick, but it’s tough to think when his hands are moving that fast.

Trailing the San Jose sharks 3-0 in the Western Conference Semis and with their playoff lives at stake, the Detroit Red Wings turned to a 41-year-old man to keep their Stanley Cup hopes alive.  Fortunately for Detroit that old man is not just any 41-year-old defensemen, it happens to be Nicklas Lidstrom.  As LBS reader SpinMax pointed out, Lidstrom still has it despite his age.  We sort of already knew that when he played through testicle surgery in the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals.  Lidstrom scored two goals for the Red Wings Friday night, one of which was particularly amazing.  Check out the Nicklas Lidstrom skipping puck goal video:

I hope I can do anything athletic when I’m 41, let alone pick a corner on a hockey net and put a puck that is hovering about a foot over the ice into that spot.  Given his age, it’s tough to say whether or not Lidstrom will be back with the Red Wings next season.  One thing is for certain: if he retires, it won’t be because he can no longer play.

This goal actually happened on Saturday, but I’m only getting to it now because I’m probably the only person in America who missed the Oilers-Flames game that day. Luckily for us, the internet exists to ensure nobody misses the awesome goal that happened in the game. Early in the second period with the game tied at 1, Dustin Penner took a centering pass and flipped it off Flames defenseman Ian White’s face. The puck banked off his face and into the net, giving the Oilers the lead. If you haven’t seen it yet, you must check it out:

White needed six stitches to close the cut but he returned to the game. With no points on the season, I’m just sad the scorekeepers didn’t credit him with an assist on the play.

Richard Zednik has the dubious distinction of being sliced in the throat by his teammate’s skate right around this time last year in a game against the Sabres. A year later, the guy’s making headlines for his amazing goal against the Islanders on Thursday night. Check out this individual effort by Zednik as he goes airborne to record the goal:

Best part is his team won the game and gained ground on the Caps who lost to the Kings. While I don’t think the Panthers are in the same class as the Caps or Bruins, they’re much better than I thought they would be. Obviously they have some pretty good talent on the team.