The NHL announced this week that Chris Stewart has been named the first star of the week.

Stewart was amazing this week, scoring five goals and four assists, including his first career NHL hat trick.

Stewart is one of the most dangerous players in the entire league. Listed at 6'2" 228 pounds, Stewart has a perfect combination of size, speed and skill. He can power to the front of the net, work down below the goalline, put a slap shot on net, tip pucks in or just flat-out blow by defensemen.

In fact, this season, when Stewart has been on, there has only been one defenseman to truly shut him down and that's Shea Weber. Weber is the only defenseman who can keep up with Stewart's speed whilst also being able to deal with his size.

Last game, Stewart showed how dangerous he is. On his first goal, he parked himself in front of the net and put home a Paul Stastny pass. Oh his second goal, he wired a slap shot past goaltender Chris Mason. Then, on his third goal, he got a step on Erik Johnson and was hauled down, leading to the penalty shot which he wristed by backup goaltender Ty Conklin.

Stewart is one of the rarest players in the NHL, a goal scorer who will grind. A fighter that will score. A checker that has speed to burn.

One of the reasons for Stewart's week is the play of TJ Galiardi. The guy who is suddenly elbowing his way into the Calder Tropy race has been helping Stewart and Stastny grind and move the puck and has been instrumental at getting the offense to work on the first line.

His versatility and selflessness combined with his size and his skill have made the Avs extremely dangerous

It is as much because of Galiardi as it is because of Stewart that Stewart put up the numbers that he did this week.

Also, congratulations to Steven Stamkos and Brian McCabe for also earning the second and third star of the week, respectively.

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