Wednesday, April 27, 2011
2011 Stanley Cup
As of right now, the playoffs are filled with teams that have not won a Stanley Cup in a while, and some have never won it at all. The Detroit Red Wings are the most recent team still in the playoffs to have won it, claiming hockey's Holy Grail in 2008. The Chicago Blackhawks and the Pittsburgh Penguins, the two teams to have won it after Detroit, have been knocked out of the postseason in game seven, both by one goal margins. The Nashville Predators, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals, and San Jose Sharks are all vying for their first championships. The Montreal Canadiens have not been atop the hockey world since the early 1990's, and the Bruins not since the 1970's. The Tampa Bay Lightning won the Cup in 2004, but with a completely different structured team, and a different coach. Anyway, there is a more than likely chance that we will see a team that has never won a championship claim the Holy Grail this June.
Blackhawks
Last night, the Vancouver Canucks beat the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime to clinch the series 4 games to 3, and knock the defending champs out of the postseason. Vancouver jumped to a 3-0 series lead, but Chicago fought back to tie the series at 3 games a piece. Although the Hawks lost the series, I am proud to be a Hawks fan, as anyone should be. They showed a lot of heart after being down 3-0, and showed their full potential to rally back and become only the seventh team in NHL history to tie a series after trailing 3-0. They still lost but, as is true for any team, in any league, in any sport, there's always next year.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Tonights Games
There are two 2011 Stanley Cup Playoff Quarterfinal games tonight. Here they are:
Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning: 7:00 on VS, CBC, and RDS
Pittsburgh leads series 3 games to 2
San Jose Sharks vs. Los Angeles Kings: 10:00 on TSN, RDS, and VS
San Jose leads series 3 games to 2
Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning: 7:00 on VS, CBC, and RDS
Pittsburgh leads series 3 games to 2
San Jose Sharks vs. Los Angeles Kings: 10:00 on TSN, RDS, and VS
San Jose leads series 3 games to 2
Henrik Lundqvist and the Vezina
The Vezina trophy is awarded annually to a National Hockey League goaltender who is judged to be the best at this position. This year, there were three nominees for the trophy, only two of which I agree to be nominees. Although all of them have performed well, Roberto Luongo and Tim Thomas should be accompanied by Henrik Lundqvist, not Pekka Rinne. Although Rinne played well, he had a solid team in front of him. Henrik Lundqvist did not, and performed much better. Lundqvist backed up a young and inexperienced team, and led the league with 11 shutouts. He was unquestionably the only reason the Blueshirts even made it as far as the 1st round of the playoffs. He carried a team that with someone like Rinne would have ended up fighting for 13th place all the way to the playoffs. He did all that, barely getting a rest, and he is not even a nominee! It gets you thinking that maybe the nominees are based on whether or not the choosers like the teams they play for or not. Henrik Lundqvist deserves to be nominated for the Hart Trophy for MVP, because no player has been more valuable to his team than he, let alone nominated for the Vezina.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
HAWKS WIN!!!
HAWKS WIN!!! The Chicago Blackhawks take game 6 of the Western Conference Quarterfinal series that they are competing in versus the Vancouver Canucks. The final score was 4-3 in overtime thanks to a Ben Smith tally in the extra period. The Blackhawks came back from a 3-0 series deficit to tie the quarterfinal 3-3! The series now shifts to a huge game 7 in Vancouver.
Rangers Ink Tortorella To 3 Year Extension
According to Larry Brooks of the New York Post, the New York Rangers have extended the contract of head coach John Tortorella for three more seasons. Originally Tortorella was to have his contract expire after this season. There are positives and negatives to Tortorella, like any coach, but the job he has did this year certainly earned him more time at the helm.
The 2010-11 Rangers overachieved as they continued the transition from the old way of buying big names to growing our own players into NHL pieces with the final goal to be building a championship contender. I am not sure that Tortorella will be the guy that ultimately takes them to the final level, but for now he is showing that he can get the most out of some inferior pieces. Now the challenge will be to meet the rising expectation levels the team will face next year or he will quickly go from coach helping a team overachieve to a coach that has us continually battling for 8th to either miss the playoffs or leave early.
Brent Seabrook
Defenseman Brent Seabrook will play tonight for the Chicago Blackhawks as they attempt to tie their Western Conference Quarterfinal series with the Canadian based Vancouver Canucks. The Hawks were only recently down 3-0 in the best-of-seven series, and the series is currently 3-2. They are attempting to take the series after trailing 3-0, just as the hated Philadelphia Flyers had done last year against the Boston Bruins. Getting Seabrook back will be a big boost for the defending champs. Seabrook is a fantastic defensive defenseman, who makes big contributions on the defensive side and registers points from time-to-time. Seabrook played very well in last year's post-season, most notably making big defensive contributions in the Stanley Cup Final versus the Flyers. Although the Hawks proved they can win without him, as they did with a 5-0 shutout in the most recent game of the series, you can expect him to add a noticeable boost to the Chicago team tonight, most likely on defense. Don't be surprised if he blocks shots, intercepts passes, and throws some hits. Look for him to put some pucks on net too.
Why The Rangers Fell Short
You can say what you want about John Tortorella, the Rangers bombastic coach, but he knows his team well. When analyzing his club’s disappointing defeat in five games to the Washington Capitals in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, Tortorella explained:
“I don’t think our team is fully built yet. We’re not there yet as far as talent. There are areas of our team that need to get better, so we continue to build.”
Player for player, the Rangers are not as talented as the Washington Capitals. That’s the main reason the Caps finished as the first overall seed in the Eastern Conference with 107 points and the Rangers were 14 points behind them and barely squeaked into the playoffs. That being said, as former NHL coach and GM Marshall Johnston once said, the more talented team does not always win.
So here are the reasons the Rangers are heading for the golf course and the Capitals are moving on:
1) The Rangers were just 1-for-20 on the power play in the series. When you are the less talented team, you need to take full advantage of your opportunities. The Rangers were in every game of this series as no contest was decided by more than two goals. It is no coincidence that the Rangers only power play goal came in their only win. In their four losses, the Blueshirts were 0-for-15 with the extra man. Change that to 3-for-15 or 4-for-15 and we have a very different series.
2) The Rangers couldn’t hold late leads. During the regular season, New York was 29-0-0 when they led after two periods. In game 1 of the series, the Rangers held a 1-0 lead with less than seven minutes left in the third period before losing 2-1 in overtime. In Game 4, the Rangers led 3-0 entering the third period and again, fell in overtime. Even in the game they won, the Rangers held a 2-1 third period lead which they temporarily relinquished. Sometimes when you score is almost as important as how many and the Caps came through late in tight games.
3) The Rangers best scorer did not raise his game: While the Caps have Alexander Ovechkin, Niklas Backstrom, Mike Green and Alexander Semin, the closest the Rangers have to a top tier offensive threat is Marian Gaborik. The former 40 goal scorer had a poor season and did not regain his scoring touch in the playoffs. He scored one goal and added one assist in five games while making a costly defensive mistake in double OT that led to Washington’s winning goal in Game 4.
4) A lack of scoring depth: With Ryan Callahan out of the lineup, the Rangers needed their secondary scorers to raise their offensive output. However, players like Derek Stepan (0 pts and a minus-5), Erik Christensen (1 point), Artem Anisimov (1 point) and Vinny Prospal (1 point) just didn’t produce consistently. The Rangers need to be a grinding team to score goals and win hockey games, but the Caps defense consistently prevented the Rangers from getting quality scoring chances and limited the number of rebounds the Rangers had. In the end, the Rangers scored eight goals in five games which is simply not enough to win a series.
Looking Forward
The Rangers definitely need to add some scoring this off-season, but the club should continue to build the team primarily through the draft, the way they have been recently. The team’s most productive and talented players this year have been home grown like Marc Staal, Dan Girardi, Henrik Lundqvist, Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky. Younger players like Anisimov, Stepan and Christensen are also clearly part of the future and the Rangers have some quality prospects like Chris Keider who have not yet reached the NHL level. Adding a piece or two via free agency may be fine, but the days when this franchise built itself around expensive free agents should remain in the past.
Decisions have to be made this summer with players like Prospal, Ruslan Fedotenko, Bryan McCabe and Alexander Frolov who are each set to be unrestricted free agents while Dubinsky, Callahan, Matt Gilroy and Anisimov are restricted free agents and will need new contracts to stay on Broadway. Then there are players like Chris Drury, Sean Avery and even Gaborik who will still be under contract, but may no longer be a part of the franchise’s future plans.
Tortorella is right, the Rangers are not as talented as the Capitals or the Flyers or the Canucks for that matter, and they are not done building. Where they go from here will be the key to whether or not they can join the league’s elite and if next season will end a lot later than this season.
“I don’t think our team is fully built yet. We’re not there yet as far as talent. There are areas of our team that need to get better, so we continue to build.”
Player for player, the Rangers are not as talented as the Washington Capitals. That’s the main reason the Caps finished as the first overall seed in the Eastern Conference with 107 points and the Rangers were 14 points behind them and barely squeaked into the playoffs. That being said, as former NHL coach and GM Marshall Johnston once said, the more talented team does not always win.
So here are the reasons the Rangers are heading for the golf course and the Capitals are moving on:
1) The Rangers were just 1-for-20 on the power play in the series. When you are the less talented team, you need to take full advantage of your opportunities. The Rangers were in every game of this series as no contest was decided by more than two goals. It is no coincidence that the Rangers only power play goal came in their only win. In their four losses, the Blueshirts were 0-for-15 with the extra man. Change that to 3-for-15 or 4-for-15 and we have a very different series.
2) The Rangers couldn’t hold late leads. During the regular season, New York was 29-0-0 when they led after two periods. In game 1 of the series, the Rangers held a 1-0 lead with less than seven minutes left in the third period before losing 2-1 in overtime. In Game 4, the Rangers led 3-0 entering the third period and again, fell in overtime. Even in the game they won, the Rangers held a 2-1 third period lead which they temporarily relinquished. Sometimes when you score is almost as important as how many and the Caps came through late in tight games.
3) The Rangers best scorer did not raise his game: While the Caps have Alexander Ovechkin, Niklas Backstrom, Mike Green and Alexander Semin, the closest the Rangers have to a top tier offensive threat is Marian Gaborik. The former 40 goal scorer had a poor season and did not regain his scoring touch in the playoffs. He scored one goal and added one assist in five games while making a costly defensive mistake in double OT that led to Washington’s winning goal in Game 4.
4) A lack of scoring depth: With Ryan Callahan out of the lineup, the Rangers needed their secondary scorers to raise their offensive output. However, players like Derek Stepan (0 pts and a minus-5), Erik Christensen (1 point), Artem Anisimov (1 point) and Vinny Prospal (1 point) just didn’t produce consistently. The Rangers need to be a grinding team to score goals and win hockey games, but the Caps defense consistently prevented the Rangers from getting quality scoring chances and limited the number of rebounds the Rangers had. In the end, the Rangers scored eight goals in five games which is simply not enough to win a series.
Looking Forward
The Rangers definitely need to add some scoring this off-season, but the club should continue to build the team primarily through the draft, the way they have been recently. The team’s most productive and talented players this year have been home grown like Marc Staal, Dan Girardi, Henrik Lundqvist, Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky. Younger players like Anisimov, Stepan and Christensen are also clearly part of the future and the Rangers have some quality prospects like Chris Keider who have not yet reached the NHL level. Adding a piece or two via free agency may be fine, but the days when this franchise built itself around expensive free agents should remain in the past.
Decisions have to be made this summer with players like Prospal, Ruslan Fedotenko, Bryan McCabe and Alexander Frolov who are each set to be unrestricted free agents while Dubinsky, Callahan, Matt Gilroy and Anisimov are restricted free agents and will need new contracts to stay on Broadway. Then there are players like Chris Drury, Sean Avery and even Gaborik who will still be under contract, but may no longer be a part of the franchise’s future plans.
Tortorella is right, the Rangers are not as talented as the Capitals or the Flyers or the Canucks for that matter, and they are not done building. Where they go from here will be the key to whether or not they can join the league’s elite and if next season will end a lot later than this season.
Good Website
Recently, I discovered a good sports website. It is called Yardbarker. The URL is www.yardbarker.com. It has sports rumors, and info about teams and sports of your choice. There is also an application for the Apple iPhone to go along with this website. The app is called Yardbarker. You can change the settings so that you get notifications for your favorite leagues and teams. It is a great app to have, because you also get updates on your favorite players when they are injured or sign contracts or etc. Anyway, I recommend getting this app and/or visiting this website.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Chicago Comeback?
Only recently, it seemed to many that the defending Stanley Cup Champions Chicago Blackhawks season was over. They were down 3-0 in their best-of-seven playoff series to their hated rivals, the Vancouver Canucks. The Hawks and the 'Nucks had met in the postseason the previous two years before this, with the Hawks taking both series in 6 games. The Canadian based Canucks came into this series as the President's Trophy winners (finished atop the NHL), and seeking vengeance for the previous two years. The Blackhawks Cup roster was decimated by the Salary Cap, and they just managed to squeeze into the 8th and final Western Conference playoff seed.. Facing elimination in game 4, the Hawks battled for a 7-2 win. The Hawks were faced with elimination again in game 5 (as they will for the rest of this series), and they dominated the game for a 5-0 shutout victory. I think that if they take the next game, they will be able to win the series. It is currently 3-2, but the Hawks only need one victory to tie the series. If the Hawks win one more game and are able to tie the series, they will go into the next game with all the momentum, and the Canucks will go in knowing that they have just blown a 3-0 series lead. Then the Hawks will most likely win game 7, taking the series 4-3, and becoming only the 4th team in NHL history to come back from a 3-0 deficit, just as the hated Philadelphia Flyers had done last year.
The New York Rangers
Today, the New York Rangers were eliminated from the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Washington Capitals. I am disappointed, but I knew that the Blueshirts were not going to make it past the second round. The Caps are an offensive juggernaut, and although they do not have a strong defensive system or goaltending, they were still too powerful and experienced for the young New York team. The Rangers are a very young, promising team, with some veteran leadership and talent mixed in. They have young offense that is not in its prime yet, but is till scoring, veteran defense that will be stable for many years to come, and they already have possibly the best goaltending in the league in Swedish star Henrik Lundqvist. Look for the Rangers to be in the league's elite in a future seasons.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Beards
With the final post-season matchup determined today by the work of God (the Dallas Stars loosing and the Chicago Blackhawks getting the final Western Conference playoff spot), you know what that means. That's right, the beards are on! As tradition has it, you are not to shave any facial hair that you have, or that you grow during the Beard-a-Thon. You do not have to go without shaving if your team did not make the playoffs, or if they get eliminated, but you can choose to go without shaving if you are a true hockey fan, like me, for example. Anyway, my point is, throw out the razors, and throw up your hands when the Stanley Cup is won (hopefully by the Hawks or the Blueshirts).
Saturday, April 9, 2011
The Best Part of Hockey
People have been arguing over the best part of hockey ever since the game was created. Some people say that scoring is the best part of hockey, while others say things like checking are. I like all aspects of hockey but personally, I feel that there is nothing better than holding that championship trophy up high. It signifies ultimate success at the end of a tough and rigorous season. Filled with hard times and feeling as good as can be, the season is the time where all players compete at the tops of their abilities for one common goal, being crowned champion. When that final buzzer goes off or that puck goes in the net in overtime, teammates piled off the bench and start celebrating. Gloves, helmets, and sticks go flying in the air, while the winning teams spirits soar up high with them. For that team, they wish the celebration never ends, but for the other team, the feeling of being so close and coming up short sinks in, and there spirits are lower that the level of the ice that their skates are at. It is the highlight of the season for one team, and the low point for the other. This past year my team won the championship in overtime, and, as people say all the time, I was speechless. There are no words that can describe the felling that you have when you reach the top of the mountain.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Great Fantasy Roster
Here are the players that I had on my fantasy team that I won the championship with:
| C | (TB - C) | |||||||||||||
| C | (SJ - C) | |||||||||||||
| LW | (NYR - LW) | |||||||||||||
| LW | (Phi - LW) | |||||||||||||
| RW | (Phi - RW) DTD | |||||||||||||
| RW | (SJ - LW,RW) | |||||||||||||
| D | (Det - D) | |||||||||||||
| D | (Det - D) | |||||||||||||
| D | (Pit - D) | |||||||||||||
| D | (Atl - RW,D) | |||||||||||||
| Util | (Fla - RW) | |||||||||||||
| Util | (Atl - C) | |||||||||||||
| BN | (Mon - C) | |||||||||||||
| BN | (Det - C,LW) | |||||||||||||
| BN | (Mon - LW) | |||||||||||||
| BN | (StL - RW) |
| G | (Bos - G) | ||||||||||
| G | (NYR - G) | ||||||||||
| BN | (Phi - G) | ||||||||||
Friday, April 1, 2011
Rangers/Islanders 3/31/11
On Thursday March 31, 2011, the New York Rangers visited the Nassau Coliseum to take on the New York Islanders. The Blueshirts were coming off a 1-0 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. Star Swedish goaltender Henrik Lundqvist had not had a rest in weeks, and he was starting to tire. The Rangers played awful, and the Isles dominated most of the game. Although the Rangers were up 1-0 on a goal from Vinny Prospal, the Islanders fought back to take the game 6-2. The loss can seriously affect the Rangers in the playoff race. The two points don't mean anything to the Islanders, because their season has been over for a while. The loss, however, was not as bad as it seems. The Rangers have been fighting to keep their playoff spot for a while, the they are tiring out. Lundqvist was off his game, but how can you not be when you have not been rested in what seems like forever? Anyway, the loss was not good, but it was also not awful.
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