Olympics End but Great Hockey Continues

A week ago today the world saw one of the best hockey games in quite some time and certainly the best game of the Olympic tournament. Despite tremendous tenacity expressed by the Americans it was hockey king Canada led by Sidney Crosby who left the Vancouver games with the Gold Medal. Crosby’s overtime goal marked the end of a fantastic two weeks of hockey that produced a plethora of unpredictable moments. While it was the Canadians who climbed to the top of the mountain, in the end the real winners were hockey fans the world over. So I take this time to congratulate the Canadians on their victory, to salute the game of hockey generally, and to bid farewell to what was an awesome two weeks of hockey.

With the Olympics now behind us we transition from one set of great hockey to another as the NHL stretch run goes into full swing. As it stands today spots 6 through 11 in the Eastern Conference are separated by a total of four points while the battle for the 7^th and 8^th spots in the West is an even tighter race. Over the next few weeks we’ll find out who made the right moves at the trade deadline and who should have done more. We’ll see if upstart Phoenix can Colorado (back to glory days depicted above?) can keep their level of play high enough to maintain playoff positions as it is a new concept for both of these teams as assembled today. Can the Detroit Red Wings manage to solidify a playoff spot or will they be left out for the first time since dinosaurs roamed the earth? Did the Pittsburgh Penguins add enough new faces to their lineup to sure up any deficiencies they may have had to put them into the team to beat in the East? Have the Washington Capitals finally addressed their defensive woes enough to catapult themselves into the category of serious cup contenders? Why didn’t Boston—who was top seed in the East last year—not do more to address their inability to score? All the while who will score more goals before season’s end Alex Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby? Each of these questions will be answered over the next month  and that means hockey fans are going to be spoiled from now until the end of the Stanley Cup Finals in June. So gear up puckheads because this is going to be awesome!

Penguins Fly, Oilers Flop

Greetings puckheads, hope everyone in the U.S. had a great Thanksgiving (and to you as well Canadian friends, although I’m about a month late eh?). I am back from my break and have a lot to cover so let’s get started.

Saturday night Sidney Crosby and the Penguins opened up a can on the New York Rangers with an 8-3 win vaulting Pittsburgh back into first place in the Atlantic Division (at least for the moment). Crosby netted his third career hat trick on free hat night in Pittsburgh (the ice was covered) while Sean Avery put up big numbers of his own jumping Ruslan Fedetanko midway through the third period yielding a 7 minute power play for Pittsburgh as Avery got two for instigating, five for fighting  and a ten minute game misconduct penalty. Quite a turn of events for Pittsburgh who just a short time ago had most of their starters sidelined with injury, and now they can focus on defending their title as most everyone returns to the lineup.

There is also a certain level of delight in three Eastern Conference cities who have not seen (or had much success) in the playoffs the last few years. As I write this the Ottawa Senators, Atlanta Thrashers, and Tampa Bay lightning occupy the final three playoff spots which few expected. Most new Ottawa could be good but not be able to put things together so well so quickly as they have. We all knew Atlanta could score with Ilya Kovalchuk, but now he has a supporting cast in Rich Peverley, Maxim Afinigenov, and Nik Antropov. We also knew that there was a ton of talent in Tampa but it never produced anything last year so there was little reason to think otherwise this year but so far so good. It is my contention that NONE of these teams (that’s right zero) will make the playoffs, simply because there is too much talent in the East; but all of these teams can hang their hats on the amount of success they’ve had to date and possibly parlay that success into a playoff run proving me wrong.

The news is not so good in Edmonton as the team continues to struggle they have officially lost their second leading scorer Ales Hemsky for the year with a shoulder injury that will require him to have surgery to repair. It has really been tough going for Edmonton since making it to game 7 of the finals in the first year after the lockout.  Mediocrity has plagued this hockey crazed city and this year was finally supposed to be different. There was a new coach, a seemingly a brand new Dustin Penner , and they went out to get a big time netminder in Nikolai Khabibulin, all of which coming together nicely for the Oilers. Despite their great start to the season the month of November has been a disaster where Edmonton has only been able to muster three wins in 13 attempts dropping them not only out of a playoff spot but into 14^th in the conference ahead of only the Minnesota Wild.  With Ales Hemsky the Edmonton Oilers had a chance to rebound from this rough stretch, but with him out they will need more than just Penner to push this team into playoff contention and I simply do not believe they have the fire power on their roster to do that as it stands today. As a result the mediocrity will probably continue in hockey crazed Edmonton.

There is so much more to talk about but so little time. But I will say that the season has been incredibly entertaining so far and it’s only going to get better with the Winter Classic and Olympics right around the corner!

Defending Champs Sitting Pretty

The Pittsburgh Penguins could not have asked for a much better start to their championship defense as they are 6-1-0, undefeated on the road, have a starting netminder who has yet to lose, and are seeing Jordan Staal ride last year’s playoff wave by becoming a major force in the middle. Crosby and Malkin are of course still leading the team, (and Sergei Gonchar continues to play extremely well) but they are also getting strong play from the likes of Tyler Kennedy who has four goals and an assist which equals Crosby’s total to date. Defenseman Alex Goligoski is very much taking advantage at his first chance to play a full season at the top level for he has been brilliant. Not only does Goligoski have five points but he has been working extremely hard to get to loose pucks and to make other teams pay for every inch of ice they gain against him; Goligoski is also in the top twelve in the league in terms of blocked shots (see: http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/statistics?stat=nhlscoring&league=nhl&sort=bs&order=true&qual=true&season=2009&seasontype=2&pos=r for more blocked shot numbers among other stats). The season is still young and as the Ottawa Senators (of two years ago) and New York Rangers (of last year) will tell you a fast start does not carry you throughout the season. It never hurts to get off to a great start and few would doubt that the Penguins have the team that can sustain their early success but their energy level has to remain high. The Stanley Cup hangover certainly has not been an issue thus far but they must also hold off the complacency bug as the season rolls on.

Team Cohesion = Championships, Not Amount Spent

When free agency began there were a lot of teams with a lot of needs and as a result the early hours have seen plenty of shuffling around. It’s funny to see how quickly teams respond to players leaving, for instance there is the news that Dwayne Roloson is heading to Long Island and shortly thereafter Edmonton makes a deal to acquire Stanley Cup winning netminder Nikolai Khabibulin. Teams spend a lot of money trying to improve their rosters and to play a bit of cat and mouse with their rivals. There are even GMs who learn from other GMs how to circumvent the salary cap to get their man; last year Detroit signs the likes of Zetterberg to long term deals and low and behold the rival Blackhawks do the very same thing when they signed Marian Hossa to a 12 year deal. So does spending all of this money, playing mind games, etc. really result in better chances at winning the Stanley Cup? Ask the pre-salary cap Detroit Red Wings and the answer will be yes but that system has not lended itself to very much success otherwise. Consider the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers of the past few years; so much money spent on those considered to be big stars but yielded very little success compared to expectations.

A great example of what it takes the win is the current Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Sure they have the superstars in Malkin and Crosby but anyone who watched the playoffs knows their performances alone were not enough. Guys like Staal (a star perhaps in the making but not their yet), Kennedy, and Talbot played key roles in bringing the Penguins the title and clearly would not have won without them. Picking up a few pieces along the way (not to mention a timely coaching change) and the Penguins had the cohesion needed to take home the Cup. We will know more about the makeup of the teams come training camp but in the meantime if you’re keeping a close eye on your teams moves in free agency be looking at the whole picture. It’s not just about signing the big scorer or even a big time goalie; what you should look for is if your team is putting together a cohesive unit. Make sure there is a role for every superstar signed and look to see if every role that needs to be filled is done so and you don’t have a bunch of guys all signed to do the same thing. If there is a place for everyone the deals work, and if there isn’t Championships become a pipe dream.

2009 Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins defied the odds Friday night by defeating the Detroit Red Wings to win the franchises third Stanley Cup and first since 1992. The hero of the night was Max Talbot who scored both of Pittsburgh’s goals and had the Red Wings scurrying to keep up with him all night. It had been said that the Wings were going to be able to use their experience to walk all over the Penguins to win back-to-back titles with ease. What Pittsburgh showed Friday night is not only did they have outduel Detroit in a game seven, but for the second game in a row they showed more depth than the Red Wings from top to bottom. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were again both held without a goal and once again the Penguins showed they don’t need their stars to score in order to win. Malkin did in fact have an assist on this night propelling him to his 36^th point and ultimately the Conn Smythe trophy making him the first Russian and only fourth non Canadian to win the Award.

One star the Penguins did need to come up with a huge game was netminder Marc-Andre Fleury and boy did he delivery. Fleury played arguably his best game of the series in game seven exercising all of his Joe Louis Arena demons in the process. Going into the game most felt that Pittsburgh needed a strong game from everyone on the ice to ultimately hoist the cup and that’s exactly what they got. Pittsburgh was sharper than Detroit from start to finish including the man who came to the Red Wings in the offseason from Pittsburgh in one Marian Hossa. It was the ultimate irony as Hossa not only did not win a Stanley Cup in Detroit but he lost to the team he left because he felt he’d have a better chance of winning as a Red Wing. Hossa was a ghost in the final series and perhaps the pressure to perform got to him, or maybe we’ll later on about an injury he was playing with but the bottom line is he left Pittsburgh last summer to win a cup and it was the Penguins who ended up winning the whole thing.

So congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins on their victory. This is a bunch of young guys who may find themselves in this position time and time again in the years to come. But for now, it is a moment for them to simply soak up and enjoy because despite their talent it is also something that may never happen again. Detroit will no doubt be back next year as they retool and get re-energized for next season, but for now the mountain top belongs to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Red Wings/Penguins Game 7 Showdown

The time is almost upon us and no one is more excited than I as the hockey world prepares for the 15^th game seven in Stanley Cup Finals history. All of the hype over the past few days will culminate it what we hope will be one of the best nights of hockey in recent memory and perhaps one of the best games in all of sports history. That remains to be seen of course but one thing we know for sure is that the Stanley Cup WILL be hoisted tonight and if that isn’t enough to get you charged up then you simply don’t like hockey.  The fans, players, coaches, and media are all ready to go so the electricity inside Joe Louis Arena at the drop of the puck should be extraordinary.

So who will be victorious tonight and raise the Stanley Cup? Many think Detroit is the easy pick having home-ice advantage and experience on their side from having been here time and time again including last year over these very Pittsburgh Penguins. Detroit will also get last change so they expect to continue to hassle Crosby and Malkin at every turn frustrating them from the start of play until the final whistle. However, tonight’s X-factor is the third line of the Penguins with Staal, Kennedy, and Cooke. They have played very well at home providing great energy and both goals for Pittsburgh in game six. The biggest advantage for them is that Detroit likes to match-up against every line man-for-man and as a result of that the Penguins third line disrupts that order. For the most part this series the Penguins third line has got the best of Detroit even managing to frustrate them a few times. The top players are going to play well no matter what but when it comes down to it Pittsburgh’s third line has an edge over Detroit’s third line. So will all the emotion flowing through the Joe tonight it is the third line of the Penguins that will be the difference in them WINNING THE STANLEY CUP. I picked Pittsburgh to win at the outset of this series and I will not back away from that now. Detroit has a lot going for them tonight but it won’t be enough as the Pittsburgh Penguins will hoist the Stanley Cup for the third time in team history and first time since 1992.

Whether you’re a fan of Pittsburgh, Detroit, or just a fan of hockey generally tonight should be an exciting and memorable night; for no matter what happens it should be a great not for hockey. Enjoy the game everyone!

Penguins Win, Treat Fans to Game Seven

The Pittsburgh Penguins answered the call Tuesday night to force game seven on Friday in Detroit. Pittsburgh used a lot of energy to dominate the entire first period and second putting up two goals before Detroit could get on the board. A few interesting notes about Tuesday’s game are as follows: Sidney Crosby only played 17 minutes while Tyler Kennedy played 19; neither Malkin nor Crosby figured in on the score sheet; the players (excluding goaltenders) who had the best game were probably Jordan Staal, Tyler Kennedy, Brooks Orpik and Rob Scuderi; and last but not least Chris Osgood played a great game and the Penguins still won. Marc-Andre Fleury huge because he kept Detroit out of the net toward the end of the game which was exactly how Pittsburgh needed him to play after yielding five goals in game five. No save was any bigger than the breakaway save on Dan Cleary which probably would have put the Penguins behind the eight ball in terms of momentum.

On the other end were the Detroit Red Wings who were outplayed for most of the night but all-in-all did not play a bad game. Detroit was able to completely shut Malkin and Crosby out –at least kept them both off the score sheet—which most people ahead of time would have said that Detroit completing such a task would result in them hoisting the Stanley Cup. Chris Osgood also played a very solid game—as previously mentioned—a performance good enough for a victory on most nights. The unfortunate thing for Detroit was that they probably set out that night saying they would make the role players for the Penguins beat them on this night and Pittsburgh did just that. It’s unlikely that the Red Wings will panic as a result but it definitely gives them something to think about going into game seven.

It’s probably too early to make do any serious predictions about game seven just yet. With that in mind it’s probably safe to say that the sports world will be very excited in anticipation of this game. There are storylines aplenty as there have been all series long, and if nothing else the Penguins have garnered more respect from the Red Wings than they had before the series started. All of the stats will be thrown out the window once the puck drops on Friday night and it should be quite a treat for everyone from the diehard hockey fan to the casual fan of sport. Let the hype begin as Pittsburgh and Detroit prepare for a one game playoff for the Stanley Cup!

Tide Turning in Pittsburgh?

The funniest thing about this series so far is that arguably the team to play best in each game has lost. In the first two games the Red Wings looked tired and broken down, were outshot by an enormous margin and yet they took a 2-0 series lead to Pittsburgh. On Tuesday night (despite scoring first) the Penguins looked outmatched and yet they were victorious. The difference so far has been timeliness goaltending and goal scoring but also in being first to the loose puck at the right time. Special teams have also played a major role as Detroit’s penalty killing woes continue yielding two goals (including the game-winner) to Pittsburgh on Tuesday. So what will be the difference in the series as it rolls on? Pittsburgh simply needs to get timely goaltending from Marc-Andre Fleuryp; but furthermore they simply need Malkin and Crosby to each have decent games at the same time! The great news for Pittsburgh is that Detroit has played Crosby extremely tough and yet he still has a point, if that is as bad as it gets for Crosby then Pittsburgh has a great chance of not only getting back into the series but of winning it. Detroit on the other hand needs to use the time they have on Wednesday to rest. They seemed more upbeat on Tuesday and should be in much better shape come Thursday and perhaps that will help their penalty killing. Detroit also cannot continue to allow Pittsburgh to get on the board first because if they do then the Penguins will eventually get a two goal lead and build from there which can get to Osgood as has happened many times this season. In the end however it all comes down to who can one less mistake than the other team because that will likely be the difference between winning a game and therefore the series; and at the moment momentum seems to be in Pittsburgh’s favor. The fans are pumped, the players seem relaxed and the hockey world in genearlly is strapping up for a great game four… See you on the other side!

Canes Beat Buzzer; Fleury Steals Show

What an incredible night for Marc-Andre Fleury in Philadelphia as he helped the Pittsburgh Penguins get a strangle hold on that series. Not to be outdone however where the Canes and Devils who played a game that had quite an ending Tuesday night and that’s where we’ll start.

Coming into Tuesday’s game the Devils and Canes had traded overtime wins on the other team’s home ice and despite New Jersey’s dominating game one performance this looks like it can be quite a series. Carolina came out of the gates blazing building a 3-0 lead that was kept from getting worse by Martin Brodeur’s stellar play. The Devils were dominated for 39 minutes 30 seconds until Brian Gionta netted New Jersey’s first goal as the second period came to a close ripping the momentum from Carolina’s grasp. In the first nine minutes of the third period the Devils road the momentum into the net twice more to tie the game at three and looked to have taken control of game four. As the third period came to a close the contest looked destined for overtime where by all accounts the Devils would have held a marked advantage; NOT SO FAST! With time winding down in the third the Canes blast a shot from the blue-line that clips a skate in front and gets by Brodeur with only .2 seconds remaining! The goal was one of the most incredible plays in playoff history and perhaps in all of hockey. Buzzer beaters are a common occurrence in basketball but certainly not in hockey. For those of us who were able to catch the game witnessed history in the making. There really is no such thing as a bad shot in the playoffs, just ask the Carolina Hurricanes. The series is now tied at two and the story will just keep getting better.

Meanwhile in Philadelphia, Penguins netminder Marc-Andre Fleury was frustrating tens of thousands of Flyer fans by turning in one of the best performances of this young playoff season. After Crosby quieted the crowd by getting the Penguins on the board first Fleury did his part in keeping them silent for most of the rest of the game. Fleury was by far the best penalty killer for Pittsburgh who seemed to give the Flyers every chance in the world to allow Philly back into the game by taking Penalty after Penalty. But every chance Philly got was turned away by the absolute brilliance of Fleury. The final scored ended up being 3-1 Penguins but if not for Fleury the Penguins may very well have lost the game 5-3. Although he had some confidence issues this year the Penguins goaltender always seems to show up when the game is most important. Take note ladies and gentlemen because we may be witnessing the early stages of what could be a Conn Smythe Trophy candidate come early June. Pittsburgh now has a commanding 3-1 lead over the Flyers heading back to the Steel City for game five and a potential close out night. If the handshake line is indeed formed on Thursday night Flyers fans can address their complaints to Marc-Andre Fleury

Isles On the Clock; Coaching Coral Beings

The Stanley Cup Playoffs (previews: EAST, WEST) are off and running and has been quite entertaining thus far. There will be much more on that come this weekend when all of the series have gotten underway. In the meantime there is some news not related to playoff teams to be discussed. First off, the New York Islanders won the NHL’s draft lottery earlier this week officially putting them on the clock. Many think the Isles will take young sensation John Tavares who has had an enormous amount of success at the junior level. I got a chance to see Tavares play in the World Junior Championships in December and if that is any indication of the potential he has the Isles would be foolish to pass him up without some incredible trade offer on the line. Tavares is the type of player who can be the start of the resurrection of a team who is down but has a very strong tradition. Although the Isles made the playoffs just two years ago, that seems like it was decades ago as on ice success has been hard to come by and the future of the team on Long Island is in the balance. Drafting Tavares can give Isles fans hope for a better future, at least giving New York a strong base to build upon for the future. The situation on Long Island is similar to what the Penguins faced in Pittsburgh when they drafted Sidney Crosby. There are indeed a lot of other factors to put the Islanders in a better situation to give them a more viable long term plan; however, drafting a player who can give them hope for a successful on ice future can be a great catapult toward a solid future.

In other news, the Edmonton Oilers have fired long time skipper Craig MacTavish after missing the playoffs again. The Oilers enjoyed a lot of success under MacTavish including a 2006 finals appearance where they ultimately lost t Carolina in seven games. And in related news the Minnesota Wild decided to fire General Manager Doug Risebrough after coach Jacques Lemaire decided not to return to the team following the Wild’s ninth place finish and first playoffless season in three years. These are the first of what will undoubtedly be many offseason moves for teams across the league. The interesting part to make watch here is who each team puts into their vacant positions, what player changes are made (if any) and how long they let the changes stand before making a change if things improvements are not made right away at the commencement of next season. That’s all for now, we’ll see you for playoff talk this weekend. Enjoy the games everybody!

Penguins Not as Good as it Seems

The Pittsburgh Penguins are off to a very good start on paper. Stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are at or near the top of the scoring list and they are in good shape in the standings. However, their 4-1 win against New Jersey Saturday night was a performance that has become a rarity for the Penguins this year. Many times they have had to come from behind to win or have built big leads and struggled to hold on to them if they were able to hold on at all. Also, the Power Play has not been as good to them this year as in the past, in fact it has been very average overall thus far. The power play has resulted in one too many short-handed goals and their five-on-five defense has failed them on many occasions which is part of the reason they have such a hard time keeping big leads. The return of Ryan Whitney and Sergei Gonchar will no doubt improve the defense as well as the power play when Gonchar fulfills his role at the point which has been lacking to date. However, with both men returning from a serious injury there is no guarantee they will be able to play at a high level right away if at all this season. Bottom line, if the Penguins want to return to the finals and ultimately win the Stanley Cup they will have to play more consistently on the power play and defensively 5-on-5, otherwise it will be a long off-season of “what ifs” in Pittsburgh.

Penguins Making up for lack of Defense with two Straight Eleventh Hour Victories

The Pittsburgh Penguins have been a fun team to watch through their past two games. In the two contests, the Penguins have put up seven and five goals respectively and both games have been hotly contested and right down to the wire against two rivals.

 

On Tuesday night, November 11^th it was Pittsburgh skating at the home of the team that knocked them out in last year’s Stanley Cup Finals… the Detroit Red Wings in which they overcame a 6-4 deficit with just under five minutes left in the third period. After forcing overtime with the help of center Jordan Staal’s hat trick, it was an assist by Staal to Ruslan Fedotenko that set up the game-winning goal in OT.

 

Then, on Thursday night on the 13^th the Pens overcame yet another late deficit when they were down 4-3 in the waning minutes of the third period at home to divisional opponent, the Philadelphia Flyers. This game would not be settled in overtime however, as the two teams battled it out in a five shot per team shootout, with the lone goal being scored by a defenseman in Alex Goligoski on Pittsburgh’s final attempt.

 

Now with these two momentum charged high-scoring wins, the Penguins have some self-belief that they can weather the storm before their arguably two top defenseman return to the lineup; Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney.

 

However, no team can expect to keep winning games like this so they’ll have to definitely step up their game plan on the defensive side and start taking charge in the earlier parts of games by getting their goals sooner. But with that being said, these are still two solid wins for a still young team to build off of that has suffered many losses through free agency and injury in this past off season.