Overachieving and Underperforming Teams

A proverbial “attaboy”  to the New York Islanders. There is a fair amount of turmoil plaguing the team off the ice concerning their future and they do not have the best team assembled and people do not expect very much from them. Despite all of that the Islanders are in the midst of a four game winning streak that they and their fans should be very excited about. Not only have they won four-in-a-row but they are beating good teams in the process including a 5-0 thumping of the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. John Tavares is of course expected to be great and so far he has progressed well but he also has help from the likes of Matt Moulson and Kyle Okposo accompanied by solid goaltending from both Dwayne Roloson and Marty Biron (who despite a subpar record is putting up some good numbers). A playoff spot is unlikely to be in the Isles immediate future but as I wrote before (see: ) this team is going in the right direction in terms of its on ice play and has a very bright future.

Another “attaboy” to the Colorado Avalanche who are in first place in the Western Conference, which is a shock to everyone in the hockey world. The Avs are a team made up of mostly young guys who seem to be playing every game with house money because they don’t seem to know that they aren’t supposed to be any good. Perhaps the top story within the team is the performance of early season MVP candidate (yes I said it) Craig Anderson. Anderson has played all 15 of Colorado’s games and is posting staggering numbers including a .936 save percentage and 2.11 goals against average. It’s unlikely that the Avs can keep this going all season, but for now the fans in Colorado should enjoy being on top they’ve been a great hockey city since day one and certainly deserve it.

A major “tisk-tisk” to Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins who is not playing at all like the reigning Vezina Trophy winner. Over the years people have worried about Thomas’ style because it is kind of a free-for-all that resulted in him spending a lot of time in the minor leagues. Was last year and aberration? Perhaps, but if he does not get it together the Bruins will likely go looking for a replacement because expectations for this year are very high in Boston. Surely the Bruins’ early struggles do not fall solely on Thomas but he will be an easy scapegoat if the team fails to turn the corner.

Another major “tisk-tisk” to the Carolina Hurricanes. Last year they reached the Conference Finals, and this year with essentially the same team (if not a better one) as last year they have 7 points through 13 games… Enough said.

Thomas Made of Swiss Cheese?

As Tim Thomas goes so go the Boston Bruins and at the moment that direction is south… in the standings that is. Thomas has started five of the Bruins games so far posting a 2-3 record with a sub .900 save percentage including a game in which he gave up six goals on only 30 shots against the Anaheim Ducks. There is no doubt that Boston misses Phil Kessel  (who has yet to play a game yet for Toronto) but if they don’t get decent goaltending it won’t matter how many goals they score.  Thomas has had his doubters over the years but has silenced them a bit in recent history; however now all of those same questions will come up again if things continue they way they have been going. There is plenty of time to go of course but there might not be a whole lot of patience in Boston for the Bruins have very high expectations. In the meantime if things don’t turn around for Boston you may see a return of the famous neutral zone trap that just to take some pressure off of Thomas until he can get himself back on track. Personally I do not think Thomas is going to get his act together because he’s always been very erratic so when it works it’s great but when it doesn’t he has no real base to return to in order to simply his game until he regains his confidence. We’ll see what happens of course but I haven’t been a fan of Thomas in the past and still am not. Nevertheless, despite Thomas’ shortcomings the Bruins are good enough to recover and still be a very good team without him playing well (or without him at all) so people in Boston need not panic.

In other news:

Alex Ovechkin is having an incredible start to his year and is well on pace to be the first to score 70 goals in a long time. No matter what you think about Ovechkin and the Caps he’s one of the best players in the world and certainly there is no one more exciting to watch in any sport. Will he break Gretzky’s record of 92 in a season? Of course not; but he is still the best goal scorer in the NHL in quite some time.

Hey Toronto, how about winning a game eh? They haven’t even been competitive in most of their games managing one point in an overtime loss to a Montreal team that is in the midst of a five game losing streak. Toskala is definitely a big problem but scoring only seven goals in the last five games is not a good way to win games either; Phil Kessel will help but no one player can save this team.

Ovechkin Nets Hart Trophy at NHL Awards

The NHL Awards concluded Thursday night and Alexander Ovechkin was the big winner on the night taking the Pearson Award (MVP as voted on by the players) and his second Hart Trophy as league MVP. Arguably the most exciting player in the league the only thing missing now for him is a Stanley Cup Championship. There were plenty of other high moments for a number of people including Zdeno Chara (Norris Trophy), Tim Thomas (Veznia Trophy), and Steve Mason (Calder Trophy)—[sportsroids.com went 4-0 in picking the four major awards as a result so it was a pretty good night for us too!] On the whole it was a good night for the awards making its first appearance in Las Vegas and it seemed to go off without a hitch. Hopefully the tradition can continue there and perhaps draw more attention to the event and therefore the NHL and sport of hockey. It’s not only a night for celebrating but also to get a bit of a glimpse of the players in an element a bit different from how they are over the course of the season. You also get a chance to hear the players pay tribute to all those who have paved a way for them throughout their careers from influential coaches to parents, significant others, and other family friends. Many also honor we the fans who cheer them on from game to game and spend our hard earn dollars to passionately support them as they give their all to bring home championships. So congratulations to all those who took home awards as we look forward to the next big NHL event which is the entry draft.

NHL Round Two a Treat for All

Round two came to a close Thursday night and what a round two it ways. With three series going to game seven and the other an incredibly entertaining six game series the NHL should hold its head high tonight. Detroit/Anaheim and Boston/Carolina put the icing on the cake with two incredible game seven performances culminated with a game seven overtime won by the Canes over the Bruins. As much as I love hockey it has fallen from the graces of many people since the lockout in 2004, but this round has put the NHL back on the national map. Casual fans are tuning in and that base is continuing to grow as the ratings have skyrocketed as a result. Sports fans across the board have soaked up every moment of round two with many hoping the stage isn’t set for the Conference Finals to be a letdown. But with the stakes getting higher as we move onto round three it seems highly unlikely that something like that will happen. The time will come in short order to look forward to the next round but now is the time to reflecting upon round two and simply appreciate what we saw.

The Pens and Caps stole the headlines with plenty of star power, the incredible story of rookie netminder Simeon Varlamov, and six unbelievably entertaining games including three overtime contests and at least one lead change in every game. The Pens and Caps not only put on a great show but they further escalated a rivalry that will be sensational for years to come. The other second round series in the east did not have nearly the amount of drama as the Pens-Caps until game seven.

The Bruins and Canes gave us everything one hopes to get out of a game seven. Each team had a lead at one point in the game with the Bruins taking the early 1-0 lead before Carolina battled back to net two in a row only to see Boston send it to overtime. In the extra period there were chances aplenty stifled by tremendous goaltending by both Ward and Thomas. And just as it seemed like the game was destined for double overtime Scott Walker buried a rebound behind Tim Thomas to score his first career playoff goal… and boy what a time to do it.

In the West the headliner was the battle between the last two Stanley Cup Champions in Anaheim and Detroit. Despite Anaheim being seeded eighth many felt the Ducks had a chance to put away the defending champs. The two teams battled game to game until the series finally culminated in a game seven that went the way of the rest of the series. Both goaltenders put on a great show combined with a lot of heavy hitting and lots of drama with both teams getting ticked at the referees at one point or another. In the end however the defending champs showed their grit by scoring the series winning goal with three minutes remaining in the third period.

Lastly we’ll mention the upstart Blackhawks put away Roberto Luongo and the high-flying Vancouver Canucks. In their respective first round series the Hawks and Canucks traveled very different paths. Vancouver steamrolled St. Louis while Chicago had to battle to put away a banged-up but resilient Calgary Flames squad that had high expectations; as a result many felt the experienced Canucks would be able to dispose of a good but young Blackhawks squad whose “time was yet to come.” The people in Chicago—fans and players alike—had different plans as the young squad played each game like they had been there before withstanding early leads by Vancouver and eventually busting through the brick wall that is Roberto Luongo to advance to the Conference Finals.

Perhaps one of the best playoff rounds in any sport ever… and we’ve still got two rounds to go. See you in the Conference Finals everybody!

Sportsroids.com’s NHL Eastern Conference Playoff Preview

The playoff match-ups are all set and read to launch Wednesday evening. To start the first of two playoff previews I will take a look at the Eastern Conference match-ups, give you some notes about them and make a pick. This is the BEST part of the year by far so let’s get right to the previews.

1. Boston Bruins VS 8. Montreal Canadiens
Well it’s a year later and the seedings have been swapped but the first round match-up is the same as the Canadiens and Bruins throw more gasoline on the burning rivalry between the two. The teams are slightly different but the key pieces have gone unchanged. Carey Price and Tim Thomas are both back and bring with them playoff experience which neither of them had last year. Each netminder had stretches of brilliance and ineptitude in the series last year and with that experience under their respective belts they should each be relatively solid in net. Zdano Chara had a fantastic year on defense while Marc Savard, David Krejci, and others showed that you can score a lot of goals in a Claude Julien system. Montreal lost Mark Streit and last year’s version of Alexi Kovalev but they gained some size and toughness in Ryan O’byrne and Georges Laraque (something they desperately needed against Philadelphia last season). There are plenty of other things to consider and we can talk all day and night about this series… so who has the advantage? The Bruins had a great season but really sputtered toward the end including a 6-1 loss to a Sabres team spending another April on the golf course. Montreal did not have the best end of the season either but despite falling so far so quickly they are in and that’s what separates them from the Bruins, despite all odds the Canadiens end up where they want to be. Series outcome: Montreal in six.

2. Washington Capitals VS 7. NY Rangers
This is a battle of goaltenders, plain and simple. Despite the Caps star power when it comes down to a shooting contest I’ll take Henrik Lundqvist over Jose Theodore any day. Washington can score so they’ll steal a game or two but in the end the Rangers will advance in five or six.

3. New Jersey Devils VS 6. Carolina Hurricanes
How far can Martin Brodeur take the Devils? New Jersey did so well without him and once he returned it’s like the team reverted back to the old days of play defense and rely on Brodeur to win 1-0. Those days are over, and if they play that against one of the league’s hottest teams and a Conn Smythe winning goaltender they will lose. Ward has been unbelievable and with Eric Staal and Erik Cole in front of him the Devils are in serious trouble. All-in-all it’s an even match-up on paper, but once you reach the playoffs if Pittsburgh taught us anything last year you go with the hot team. The hot team is Carolina, therefore the Canes take it in five.

4. Pittsburgh Penguins VS 5. Philadelphia Flyers.
It’s the battle of Pennsylvania, division rivals, and the home of the “Crosby is a diver!” Tie that in with revenge on the minds of the Flyers after last year’s playoff thrashing at the hands of the Penguins what else could you want in a series? Crosby and Malkin more than likely have to play well for the Penguins to advance but it’s possible to see Pittsburgh in round two without top-notch play from their two stars. What the Penguins can’t afford to have is inconsistent play from netminder Marc-Andre Fleury. When Fleury is on he’s one of the best goaltenders in the league and shows flashes of what made him such a highly touted amateur player. But when Fleury is off the rest of the team is usually not good enough to bail him out. The same goes for Marty Biron on the other side of the ice. Even if Richards, Carter, Knuble, etc. are amazing if Biron is off the Flyers are done. So the key to this match-up is the goaltending; whoever wins the battle of the goalies will lead their team to round two. So who wins? Marc-Andre Fleury won last year and will win again this year. Both teams will have their moments but the Penguins will win in seven…(the Flyers will be kicking themselves for having lost home-ice on the last day of the season).

Bruins Bittersweet Victory; The Blues Sound Sweet in St. Louis

Despite their 7-5 win Saturday night the Boston Bruins have a lot of questions to ask/problems to address. First and foremost is goaltending. A lot of people don’t really believe in Tim Thomas being able to lead Boston to the Stanley Cup, but Thomas has yet to let them down and can still come up big in the playoffs. However, one question that was answered for certain Saturday was whether the Bruins could rely on Manny Fernandez should Thomas come up short in the playoffs or get injured. Fernandez gave up five goals on 38 shots but at one point had given up four goals on only 26 shots to TORONTO. Most would agree that the Leafs are a competitive team and have been playing great hockey as of late but four goals on 26 shots by a goalie on a playoff team is unacceptable. The one caveat to Fernandez’s performance is that the Bruins played awful defense in front of him. Boston still has a legitimate shot at winning the President’s trophy but this shaky defensive play and poor goaltending might make the President’s trophy their only reasonable shot at hardware this season.

In other news, a team doing the opposite of the Boston Bruins is in Saint Louis. The Blues have played amazingly well as of late and have battled back from deep in the standings into a tie with Edmonton for the final playoff spot in the west after defeating Columbus Saturday night. It has been an awfully long time since Blues fans have had something to cheer about so perhaps they were due. Saint Louis was awful at the all-star break as they were below .500 and seemed destined to only seek further at the commencement of the league’s second half. Instead, the Blues have rallied behind new number one netminder Chris Mason and despite having seasoned veterans like Keith Tkachuk but have been getting the most production from youngsters like Brad Boyes and David Perron. The Blues may not make the playoffs once all is said and done, and may make little noise even if they do. That said, the Blues have given their fans something to cheer about as well as look forward to. The future on ice in Saint Louis is very bright and hopefully that can reenergize a city with great fans who have really gotten behind the Blues in the past and the future will likely be no different. They are a fun team to watch and worth keeping an eye on this year and for many years to come.

A Bruins-Sharks Finals? Don’t Count On It

Monday night the Boston Bruins defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 to improve their East leading point total to 68. Later Monday night the Sharks improved their league leading total to 69 which might lead some to believe that San Jose and Boston are on a Stanley Cup Finals collision course. While clearly possible it is not going to happen, or at least I don’t think it will. San Jose still has to get by the Detroit Red Wings which will not be an easy task for a number of reasons namely their experience and goal-scoring ability. Chris Osgood has struggle a bit so far despite his good record and seems to be a weakness for Detroit at the moment but if last season is any indication come playoff time that weakness will morph into a strength. The Bruins seemed to lack a weakness; they play great defense, are scoring like crazy, have great size and will probably have fresh legs come playoff time because the trap they run helps to keep players from exerting too much energy by allowing them to simply stand in the neutral zone to clog it up as the other team comes to them. But two important pieces are missing for the Bruins: one is that their coach Claude Julien has experienced very little playoff success in the NHL. Secondly, Tim Thomas has one year of playoff experience and that was last year against Montreal in a series that he did not play particularly well, enough so that the Bruins brought in Manny Frenandez because they felt Thomas could not be trusted. Not having experience in other positions hurts but when the coach and goaltender both had very little success in the playoffs it is very detrimental to a team and in this case will keep Boston from even reaching the finals. So despite the looks of things now don’t count on a Bruins/Sharks finals, but Boston will make a lot of noise nevertheless in the playoffs.

Duhon, Harrington and Chandler push Knicks above Nets

The highly favored Nets did not pull through on Wednesday night at the IZOD center. Rather they fell victim

to below par New York Knicks team by a score of 121-109. The Knicks trailed early in the game allowing Devin Harris 14 points in the 1st quarter. It seemed like this night was destined to be a failure from the beginning for the Knicks, we have grown accustomed to seeing. Yet, some thing has changed within the New York Knicks, this team now after the departure of Randolph and Crawford and benching of Curry, refuse to quit. I almost hate to say this but Al Harrington plays with such passion while wearing his hometown orange and blue jersey, it’s almost inspiring. Al Harrington lead the knicks with 39 pts, 13 Rebounds, 3 Assists. The Knicks never lead in the 1st half and were getting pushed around until Tim Thomas took over in the 3rd putting up 9 points in about 1 minute. This sparked the crowd and Al Harrington to get to work. Chris Duhon had another great double double performance, with 10 pts and 10 assists. Chandler, who also put up big numbers, rebounded from his bad night in Chicago putting up 24 pts, 9 rebounds, 3 assists.

In other news:

Cuttino Mobley is going to announce his retirement from the NBA tommorow. He is retiring due to a heart condition that will prohibit him from playing basketball. This heart complication was caught during his physical conducted during his trade from the Clippers to the knicks this year. This is pretty upsetting story, but atleast he isn’t going to sit on the knicks bench and collect a paycheck while he gets fat and doesn’t work hard, due to his “injury or condition”. I applaud Cuttino for knowing when to get out. For Mobley I know there will be life after Basketball. Thats more than what I can say for some knicks!

Knicks shock world, and trade leading scorer!!

Jamal Crawford was sent to Golden State today in a trade deal that will bring disgruntled Foward Al Harrington to New York. Mike D’Antoni has had his eyes on this player for a long time, ever since Harrington had gone public with his distaste for his basketball situation in golden state. Now, the big question is who is going to be the big shooter for the knicks? Is it possible that Mike D’Antoni will now look back to Steph, to come replace crawford? Is it possible that he has played everyone for a sap, resting Steph keeping him fresh, for when he would move Jamal! Could it be that he increased Jamal’s value ?

Knicks new Foward AL Harrington

One thing is for certian, Donnie Walsh is making changes. The next trade on the table is Zach Randolph, who has been supposively place with Mardy Collins in a deal for Tim Thomas & Cuttino Mobley of the Golden State Warriors. I don’t see the point of this trade, though. Hopefully Walsh will get more back than just Thomas and Mobley cause personally I don’t see the value in that trade.

Short Blurbs From Around The League

I want to talk about a number of things in short order so a few blurbs on league wide news:

- Do not let Tuesday’s 7-2 loss fool you, these are not the same Columbus Blue Jackets from years past. People make pre-judgments about the team based on reputation only but they will make you bite your tongue when they beat your team.

- Yes, the Boston Bruins are that good. They may not dazzle you night in and night out but they play very good defense in front of Tim Thomas who is having an incredible start to the season. The Bruins will absolutely be a force throughout the season and I would NOT want to face-off against them in a best 4 of 7 series come playoff time.

- Brian Burke resigned as Anaheim Ducks GM (shocker…). Despite his denials he will most likely end up in Toronto and help their already ahead of schedule rebuilding process. Burke and Ron Wilson may knock heads but it will probably result in victories.

- The Chicago Blackhawks are once again relevant, THANK GOD. Not only is this great for the U.S. since Chicago can be a great hockey town if they have a winner to support but it also serves the league well since the Winter Classic will more than likely be a competitive and intriguing game.

- The Minnesota Wild have played the fewest number of games of all teams in their division and yet they are in first place. Minnesota plays very slow-paced methodical defense that puts teams to sleep, reminds me a lot of the Devils of the mid to late 90s and early part of this decade. All New Jersey did was win 2 cups in a 4 year period and 3 in 8 years; that’s good news for Wild fans.