Hockey Talk for the Intelligent Fan

And by work, I obviously mean figuring out exactly what the hell happened to the Boston Bruins, determining why the Blackhawks have put up such a strong fight against the Canucks, and discussing the possibly impending doom of the Phoenix Coyotes.

Will the real Boston Bruins please stand up?

Actually, I think they have.  The Bruins are an imperfect team with a lot of inexperienced guys playing key roles.  But this series has been far more about the Hurricanes proving the cliche “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish”.  The Canes roared through the second half of the schedule, and carried that momentum right into the playoffs.  The Bruins finished off Montreal early, rested, waited, and now they look like they have no idea what hit them.  Oh, and Eric Staal is pretty freaking amazing, too.

Image from http://cache.daylife.com

Canucks/Blackhawks - no domination?

The simple answer here is that the Blackhawks have found ways to put the puck behind Roberto Luongo, and Nikolai Khabibulin has looked like the “Bulin Wall” of his Tampa Bay Lightning Stanley Cup days.  I still think this series ends with Luongo taking over - but it’s turning into an excellent series to watch!

Image from http://cache.daylife.com

Bankrupt Coyotes?

This story reads like a bad soap opera.  Jim Balsillie, who has tried numerous times to buy an NHL team, has thrown his hat into the ring with an offer to buy the Phoenix Coyotes.  of course, he wants to move them to Southern Ontario, which has been his goal all along in attempting to purchase a team.

Meanwhile, while Commish Gary Bettman was en route to meet with current ownership about potential buyers, Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes suddenly filed for bankruptcy - which of course, means there will be far less legal opposition now to the Coyotes being moved, since the move would be a good thing legally and financially.

Bettman maintains that the NHL is refusing to pull out of Phoenix, because they aren’t giving up on the city.  The real point business-wise is that Phoenix fans won’t suddenly become fans of other teams, they’ll simply find something else to do. And while another team in Southern Ontario will draw very well and probably sell out often, they are already fans - they aren’t growing the sport any, just changing their affiliation.

This is gonna get ugly, friends.  Expect a protracted court battle on this one.

Apparently I’ve earned myself a new “fan” for my “hatred” of the Red Wings………

http://hockey-sense.today.com/2009/04/19/i-hate-the-red-wings/

He is my new hero!!

Forget this guy………….

And these guys………

Even these guys!

I now worship at the altar of the hallowed Red Wings.

 Yeah, not so much. 

Due to unavoidable circumstances, I’ve been out of the loop for several days, so my predictions post is a bit late.  I’ve chopped out the previews, because all of the series are already underway, and just left my predictions the way they were. 

Image from http://sports.espn.go.com

Boston (1) vs. Carolina (6) - Carolina dispatched of New Jersey in dramatic fashion, and carry plenty of momentum into this series.  Momentum (and terrific play by goalie Cam Ward) will carry Carolina to game 6, but no further.  Boston in 6.

Washington (2) vs. Pittsburgh (4) - The NHL has to be furious that the Devils gacked it up against the Hurricanes, because obviously it would have been even better fot he league to have Crosby/Malkin vs. Ovechkin in the Conference Finals.  But they’ll have to settle for an incredible series in the semis.  Pittsburgh in 7.

Image from http://thefanaticalfan.files.wordpress.com

Vancouver (3) vs. Chicago (4) - Chicago is young and talented.  Vancouver is young and talented……and has Luongo.  Vancouver in 5.

Anaheim (8) vs. Detroit (2) - Anaheim is the one team in the West that can give Detroit a series.  But not enough to win.  Detroit in 6.

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Image from http://imgsrv.wbz.com

Boston will defeat Pittsburgh in 6 games in the Eastern Conference finals because Tim Thomas is far superior to Marc-Andre Fleury.  Detroit will eliminate Vancouver in the West in a 6 game series that will only get that far because the aforementioned Luongo will steal a couple of games that his team has no business winning.

And unfortunately, Detroit will defeat Boston in a spirited 6 game Finals series to win the Stanley Cup.  Again.

- The hit Donald Brashear placed on Blair Betts of the New York Rangers is exactly what the NHL needs desperately to do away with.  And a 5 game suspension simply isn’t going to do it.  The Rangers are going to be missing a key penalty killer for their Game Seven against the Caps, while the Capitals will be missing a talentless goon who plays only a few minutes a night.  For those who somehow haven’t seen the hit yet, here it is:

As you can see, the hit wasn’t even a part of a play - Donald Brashear gets taken into the boards by another Ranger, and then when that Ranger leaves the ice before Brashear can catch him,  Brashear turns to find the next person to hit (an unsuspecting Blair Betts) and basically punches Betts in the face with his forearm.  A completely needless and dirty play - total garbage from a total garbage player who was pissed off that he took a hit.  Real manly, Mr. Brashear.  He should be suspended for a season, and his coach and general manager should get a punishment as well.  Perhaps then if the players are too stupid to stop dirty play like that, the coaches will simply not put them on the ice.  And maybe the GMs will realize that it isn’t worth having idiots like these guys on their teams.

- Now that the rant is over, is there anything better than Game Seven?  The tension, the desperation - it’s the best sporting spectacle on the planet.  And we get to watch two of them tonight!  Devils and Capitals win.

Image from http://www.wilkesbeacon.com

- The Pittsburgh Penguins took away the ‘interim’ tag from coach Dan Bylsma.  Fantastic move.  The guy had never been a coach in the NHL before, yet he stepped in and took over a team led by a veteran coach, and knew exactly what buttons to puch to drive his team to their full potential.  Perhaps his success (along with that of Cory Clouston of the Senators) will alow GMs to realize that just because a coach has been around the NHL doesn’t mean he’s better than a fresh pair of eyes with a hungry attitude.

Image from http://www.sportsnet.ca

- It appears that the emergence of young goaltender Craig Anderson will have Tomas Vokoun on the trading block this summer.  The Panthers played well in front of Anderson, who ended the season as pretty much a 1B instead of a #2.  And Vokoun is due to make $12 million over the next two years - far too much to pay for a goalie who isn’t a clear cut number 1 on your team.  I would expect the Avalanche to show some interest if it works within their cap, or possibly the Oilers if they decide not to bring back aging Dwayne Roloson.  

The Anaheim Ducks will end the San Jose Sharks season prematurely tonight - the 335th straight time the Sharks have made an early exit (OK, so I exaggerate).

Image from http://img.dailymail.co.uk

And to think, they’ve done this with Teemu Selanne notching only a single assist.

This is an epic failure for the Sharks, who seem to be bent on making a ritual out of these early playoff exits - a trend that will not stop unless they come to the realization that Joe Thornton is a mammoth failure in important games.

Image from http://www.cbc.ca

Speaking of predictions gone wrong, the Flames will cause my number of games prediction in their series to be incorrect, as they will win tonight to push the series back to Chicago for a seventh game.  Jarome Iginla has been a beast throughout the series so far - except for game 5, where he was invisible as the Flames got hammered.  Don’t think that will happen twice - Iginla will pick up his team and carry them to victory tonight.

Ken Daneyko played nearly 1300 regular season games in the National Hockey League.  He scored a total of 36 goals.  How does a player last 1300 games when he scores that little?

By being an indispensable defensive portion of the New Jersey Devils for his entire career.

By battling every single night, through fatigue, injuries and whatever obstacles might have been placed in his path.

Image from http://cdn.nhl.com

By being one of the toughest S.O.B.s to ever lace up a pair of hockey skates.

How does he become my favorite #3 of all time?

All the exact same things.

Sabres choice - James Patrick

When the Sabres acquired James Patrick, he was on the decline in his career - we was no longer the offensive force he had been in his younger days.  But he brought the Sabres a steadying, veteran presence that was crucial to their success at those times - as was evidenced by the fact that he was a part-time, number 7 defenseman throughout most regular seasons…..until the stretch run and playoffs, where he became an every night player who was relied upon for his savvy play.  He was tough and gritty despite not being a very physical player, and I loved watching the simplicity of his game - he may not have been flashy, but his game was a study in efficiency.

Image from http://cache.gettyimages.com

OK, fine - so I called OT for the wrong game.  But the predictions were right.

So, let’s take a look at today’s games.

The Rangers were already in trouble.  Then John Tortorella’s meltdown cost him a suspension, meaning the Rangers will be without him today.  Washington will deflate the Rangers crowd early, and go on to win, forcing a game 7 in Washington.

Image from http://d.yimg.com/eur.yimg.com

In the other game tonight, the Devils will finish off the Hurricanes, although it will be a battle, and OT wouldn’t surprise me one bit.

From last night’s games:

- Not surprising at all that the Penguins roared back on the Flyers yeaterday after falling behind 3-0.  I felt all along that Pittsburgh’s offense would carry them over the top in this series, and that Marty Biron wouldn’t quite be up to the task.

Image from http://chicagoist.com

- The Blackhawks continued the trend of the home team winning every game in that series.  Unfortunately, the trend of highly competitive games ended, as the Flames appeared to have no interest in competing last night.

- Seems kind of fitting given the Sharks playoff history that they blew a 2-0 lead in last night’s game before winning it in OT.  Look for another 8 vs. 1 upset, which would be the eighth time it’s happened since 1994.

Ummmm……..OK, now I’ve been ticked off at referees plenty of times in the past.  I’ve yelled, insulted, called names and slammed bench and penalty box doors with near-frightening regularity.

But apparently that’s not how you’re supposed to handle it.  At least not in Slovakia.

2004 Flyers draft pick Ladislav Scurko decided it was better to stab a referee 14 times and bury him in the Slovakian forest.

Image from http://vmedia.rivals.com

Apparently I’m not so rough on the refs after all.

Let’s see…….Bruins in 5.  Close enough.

Red Wings in 6.  OK, so Steve Mason didn’t steal any.

Blues in 7.  Oops.

Capitals in 5.  Damn you, Henrik Lundqvist.

So, I’m not perfect at predicting playoff series.  But I’ve done better with them than I did with predicting the final conference standings.  So I’m satisfied.

Besides……..forget predictions - most of the hockey has been fantastic!

And tonight’s games won’t be any different.  The Flames/Blackhawks series has been supremely competitive, and Penguins/Flyers has delivered an exciting, hard fought game each time.  Throw in the fact that the Ducks are on the verge of a major first round upset (damn predictions!) and this is proving to be one of the best first rounds in recent memory!

Image from http://bleacherreport.com

Tonight’s winners - Blackhawks win on home ice, keeping the home-winner trend of that series intact………..Penguins finish off the Flyers in a very close game (I expect OT)…………Sharks manage to hang on for one more night with a big win in their home arena.

In other hockey happenings……….

Image from http://3.bp.blogspot.com

-John Tortorella seems a little edgy for a coach on the verge of a playoff upset.  Despite his Rangers leading their series with the Caps 3-2, he got into a confrontation with a Washington fan, apparently throwing a water bottle and waving a stick at the fan.  Perhaps he senses his Rangers heading for the total collapse that they started in the latter stages of the regular season.  Either that or he’s been hanging around Sean Avery too much.

- I hadn’t really paid attention to this, but with their sweep of the Blue Jackets, the Red Wings became the first Stanley Cup winning team since the 2002 Avalanche. to advance past the first round the next season.  I guess it gives some credence to the “Stanley Cup hangover” theory……….and makes the fact that Detroit looks completely capable of repeating even that much more amazing.

I would imagine most casual hockey fans would have struggled to name the Washington Capitals backup goalie going into the playoffs.  Frankly, given the attention that Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green receive, a lot of fans might struggle to name either goaltender.  And yet, here we are, headed to game 6 in a series many had already assumed the Capitals had frittered away because young backup goalie Simeon Varlamov posted his second shutout of the series to lead the Caps to a 4-0 victory.

Image from http://farm4.static.flickr.com

It didn’t take long for Sean Avery’s act to wear thin, as he was benched for this game after amassing 24 penalty minutes without registering a point so far in the series.

Image from http://www.nhlsnipers.com

Henrik Lundqvist was also proved to be human, as the Caps chased him to an early finish with 4 goals on only 14 shots in the first two periods.

I foresee this game as the turning point - the Rangers had the opportunity to put the Caps away, and instead came out with a flat, uninspired effort.  The Capitals now carry some momentum back to New York for game 6 on Sunday afternoon against a Ranger team that is starting to show some of the flaws that almost caused them to fall out of the playoff race completely.  Get ready for a game 7 in Washington! 

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I want to also send out best wishes for Vancouver Canuck (and former Sabre) Taylor Pyatt, who returned to the Canucks today for the first time since losing his fiancee in a car accident April 3.  The Canucks have said they might have him back for the start of round 2.  I hope for nothing but success for Pyatt - a hard working player who has really blossomed in Vancouver.  Rest in peace, Ms. Bragnalo.

Image from http://www.tbnewswatch.com