奥运会和非霍奇金淋巴瘤，结束接触结冰，枪战愚蠢

我今天我发牢骚：

1。 NHL球员或下一届奥运会吗？

没有任何理由的非霍奇金淋巴瘤不应该派球员，在2014年北京奥运会。 比赛得到全球关注量的非霍奇金淋巴瘤也不过是一件积极的事情。 即使是像德国拉脱维亚（其中包括）不太可能在比赛中获得奖牌的球队，这使他们暴露和网关，让更多的人有兴趣在游戏中这将导致更好的球队，随着岁月的流逝。 这也是真正的国家，不能有资格获得奥运会的时候。 更多的国家参加曲棍球更好的人才库，因此在NHL的比赛水平将继续上升，更好的产品推向市场。

其次，据报道，近3000万的人谁看了金牌的比赛中美国。 非霍奇金淋巴瘤（NBC为此事）一直在寻找办法，以更好地在美国市场的游戏，并在全国范围内获得更高的收视率。 奥运会（特别是金牌的比赛），非霍奇金淋巴瘤大家都在冰面上，目前效力于NHL球队。 不仅，但它得到的人谁通常会不关心有关曲棍球调入;该组的人，让说500万你不关心有关曲棍球一般，如果甚至20万的人，是只有4％增长的兴趣本场比赛，使得它完全值得参加奥运会的非霍奇金淋巴瘤。 这是20万更多的人购买门票和商品，或者在自己的曲棍球比赛的竞争，也许本场比赛暴露给其他人。

当然，美国队不会总是使它金牌的比赛，那场比赛也将包括所有NHL的球员，还有时区的问题时，游戏在北美举行。 也有没有钱的问题，非霍奇金淋巴瘤获得这些游戏的同时也有制止他们本赛季的两个星期，牺牲自己的全明星赛，并须NHL球员受伤，可能导致他们错过常规赛的时间。 但最终的曝光，他们得到的是无价的，他们没有投资一分一毫，，。 玩家将支付他们参与奥运，至少不是NHL-NHL业主是没有薪水的问题。 更何况事实，即它是四年一次的东西，大多数人都同意，最终有助于NHL远远超过它伤害，如果它伤害了联赛只有两个星期。 有些人认为这只是一个讨价还价的工具由NHL谈判时使用的下CBA的情况下，无论是的NHL球员应该是在奥运会这样就够废话，已经让他们去。

2。 触摸结冰：

无论出于何种原因出现了多年的辩论是否实行自动结冰的非霍奇金淋巴瘤，像他们这样做，在国际和NCAA曲棍球。 它应该是没有道理的，END TOUCH积冰。 我已经给我的作品，在此之前，所以我就不说了一大堆。 过去一周内就摆脱触摸结冰教练唐樱桃在加拿大CBC冰球之夜的角上做了很大的部分，请访问以下链接看到一块（ http://www.cbc.ca/video/＃/运动/ CBC％27s_Hockey_Night_in_Canada ），然后单击“Coach的角（在屏幕的左侧），然后看该年3月6 ^日的视频，它是一个在最后的事情樱桃会谈约向视频结束和我可以不同意与他更多。

3。 球赛，为什么主队总是选择先拍？

我永远不会明白为什么主队总是决定拍摄第一路队的最后一次机会得分。 有人说，这是因为他们希望把其他球队的得分第一压力。 坦率地说，逻辑是垃圾，存在固有的缺陷。 问任何一个在任何体育项目的运动员，当它归结为，他们希望有球在手/在他们的脚下，或对他们的棍子冰球的比赛就行了女巫有机会赢取。 考虑棒球，最古老的游戏在美国多年，多年来一直给予主队一个显着的优点，让他们最后的机会，在比赛中得分（即第九届底部）。 如果任何经理去在比赛前向裁判说：“我知道我们是主队，但今天我想首先蝙蝠，而不是给他们最后的出场击球的第九届。 是啊，这从一开始，我们可以把他们的压力。“他几乎立刻会被解雇。 这个逻辑是合理的，唯一的一次，我可以看到的是，如果你的守门员是你最好的球员，当然，你去给你最大的资产，在最好的位置可能为你赢了这场比赛，但99％的时间是不的情况下。 我不知道更多关于曲棍球教练或职业球员，但在这种情况下，决定先拍的是愚蠢的。

三呼沙纳汉

我会记住这短暂的甜蜜。 这一宣布是过去的这一周，布伦丹·沙纳汉正式宣布退休后的非霍奇金淋巴瘤21个非常成功的一年。 沙纳汉赢得了多个斯坦利杯冠军，一枚奥运金牌，世界冠军，加拿大杯冠军（现在被称为世界杯曲棍球）。 无论身在何处，他演奏了由他的五个NHL停止或为加拿大国家队 - 沙纳汉提供的存在，这是几乎每个人都在他的时代所无法比拟的，因为无论是怎样的游戏会每次沙纳汉触动了他可以在进攻区域冰球得分。 布伦丹·沙纳汉进行开启和关闭的方式，这是非常令人钦佩的，和所有的年轻球员都应该立志冰。 他是一个类的行为和非霍奇金淋巴瘤是他这些年来，也许他将继续促进非霍奇金淋巴瘤和曲棍球的游戏，在他的退休。

NHLPA处于动荡之中，把它关掉

如果你还没有听说过保罗·凯利被驱逐头的的NHLPA（球员工会）在今年夏天的后果，显着;当我说我的意思是显着的一个位的灾难。 中期导演还没有被选中，人们辞职，左，右从球员工会的许多地方，从球员代表律师，但游戏去。 所以，这究竟是什么意思，因为我们的球迷吗？ 目前，它并不意味着一大堆，但在时间上也可以有重大影响的国家的联赛一般。 据我所知，有许多注意事项要作出这样的转换在大型组织中，有大量的电力和包含在一个很大的个性不时发生。 但是，从风扇的角度来看，坦率地说没有人有很大的同情和耐心，任何问题，任何一方在谈判桌上（NHL或NHLPA）可能只是一起。 有过两次停工，其中包括在过去的15年里杀害了整个赛季，所以任何来自联盟内部的这种混乱的问题，可能会从球迷，如果它开始影响到在冰面上发生了什么，但无奈画没有。 工会的顶部（或不久将在那里）的人赚了不少钱，做他们的工作，他们将因此它是不公平的要求得到解决的问题，把工作做好。 因此，足够的戏剧，让您在一排鸭子，并把事情想通了内部联赛面临的问题可以解决，并计算出任何形式的锁定之前再次发生很快。

曲棍球大杂烩

几个随机的想法的时刻：

在附近的八场比赛后，大多数的NHL球队都发挥重要的是要注意（应该说，每年大约在这个时候），因为他们似乎深不见底的团队是那么糟糕，因为他们似乎没有顶级球队是很好的。 因此，笔和流浪者队的球迷保持你的眼皮和叶子的球迷真的会变得更好。

洛杉矶国王队是真实的。 有一些争论，无论他们是准备好现在仍然有一年的时间。 一个非常良好的开端后，应该毫无疑问，在任何人的心中，他们是现在竞争。 因此，给在座的各位如果你不看任何其他游戏西海岸队在东海岸LA一定要赶在一次主场比赛，如果你可以的值得观看的团队才刚刚开始绽放。

早期迹象显示，在东部的大西洋赛区和太平洋赛区在西部是最有竞争力的部门，在每个会议。 因此，他们可能会拥有最多的球队在季后赛来月。

首都华盛顿的会议在允许的目标是在倒数第三位。 令人兴奋，因为该罪行是，观看他们可以赢得以外的任何分工忘了，如果他们不打更好的防守（这并不完全是守门员）。

渥太华参议员已经打得很好。 享受它，而它持续桑斯的球迷，因为他们是一个诈骗。

信用不允许任何关闭冰戏从夏天开始影响他们的凤凰城土狼的玩家。 他们都打得很不错，现在和球队将是坚实的全年他们可以继续关注曲棍球。 季后赛？ 可疑，但W的人是不容易的。 荣誉的球员，并保持了良好的工作。

，竟有多达puckheads可能不愿意承认，底特律红翼队是我的最爱，赢得了西部季后赛的争夺，直到它们被正式淘汰或淘汰了自己的季后赛。

的曲棍球每个人都享受你的周末，星期六在比赛中，所有的团队应该是一个很好的一个。

季节问候（曲棍球赛季）

那么它已经很长一段时间来，但最后的NHL的赛季后，我们和这样的回报的非霍奇金淋巴瘤的sportsroids.com部分。 我只是本赛季的人一样兴奋，一样转起来了，所以我得到正确的。

匹兹堡企鹅队卫冕，和罗布Scuderi动手的损失与例外的球队是一样的，因为他们现在的一天，他们获得过世界杯冠军的。 尽管如此，重复将是一项艰巨的任务，因为他们不仅是卫冕冠军，但以重复他们将要达到的斯坦利杯总决赛连续第三年在一排。 同时，他们还有两个在世界上最好的球员对自己的球队，这将是有趣的，看看如何在匹兹堡​​故事的发展。

至于其他球队也有很多有趣的故事，包括一些老面孔在新的地方（例如丹尼希特利圣何塞，圣母玛丽亚的Hossa芝加哥），以及从他们的回报，一些留意消失的行为（在费城的光芒刚玉粉，西奥弗勒里在卡尔加里）。 也有很多要问的问题和未来的团队，以及那些谁一直在风口浪尖上，但还没有完全提出，下一个重要步骤：
在东方，华盛顿发挥足够的防御今年让他们进入决赛，并且可能使他们的第一个总决赛在奥韦奇金时代吗？ 费城终于得到了一致的净他们缺乏在过去两年，将有可能让他们渡过了难关发挥？ 东南赛区是否继续两匹马的比赛，也可以坦帕湾终于把自己的才华一起，足以成为严重的季后赛竞争者吗？ ，什么是究竟要在蒙特利尔和渥太华，他们终于得到了他们各自的行为吗？
搞西，芝加哥抓住这个机会，废黜底特律红翼队在中部赛区？ 丹尼希特利的答案圣何塞终于把他们常规赛的胜利，进入赛季后的荣耀？ 是洛杉矶国王队准备把他们的年轻人才进入了季后赛的外观吗？ 卡尔加里准备好踢的第一轮就被淘汰的习惯，过去的几年里吗？ 土狼，它们移动或什么是交易？

当然，随着上述所有问题的有两件大事在地平线上今年冬季经典（1月1日起在Fenway公园）和奥运会曲棍球比赛在温哥华二月。 有如此多的谈论，并期待着在本赛季。 在接下来的几天中，我将通过每一个会议的预览，让您不仅将赢得每但是其他的故事，看喜欢什么样的团队将超额完成，这将令人失望。

所以，很多事情，谈论，这是伟大的再次谈论冰球。 我们在这里sportsroids.com非常兴奋，开始第二年的曲棍球博客，这是伟大的您与我们联系！

熊的传单;上限和奥韦奇金OUT

非霍奇金淋巴瘤日前宣布，将于2010年冬季经典在Fenway公园，波士顿棕熊队和费城飞人。 一般来说，我可以不在乎谁在玩这个游戏，因为作为一个球迷的运动，这个游戏的独特性，我将看着它从开始到结束，将享受。 这就是说，我不明白为什么非霍奇金淋巴瘤和NBC已经决定，熊传单匹配，在美国有一个更好的拉伸，不如说是一个熊资本对决。 它是真实的，这两支球队有很大的电视市场，这将导致在两个单独参与城市巨大的吸引力。 然而，比亚历山大奥韦奇金在今天的NHL有没有大明星，不管你觉得他是什么，我认为所有的球迷都认为他是整个世界最令人兴奋的曲棍球运动员之一，从他在冰上表现，他关闭冰的个性。 不仅特区和波士顿地区的人对这场比赛感到兴奋，但在全国各地的冰球球迷和休闲运动爱好者的一致好评走出去的方式，以观看奥韦奇金发挥特殊的游戏，已成为冬季经典。 不仅奥韦奇金及上限应该玩这个游戏，而不是明星电力的传单，而且还因为在这场比赛中对阵波士顿费城打推开的企鹅传单冬季经典比弗体育场多年的想法。 这使得决定把费城的部分非霍奇金淋巴瘤和NBC在本场比赛失误的双重打击。 评级将受到奥韦奇金是今年，因为没有它（并且应该）和未来潜在的比赛，也可能导致巨大的收视率和风扇投票的人，因为一直向后推下去。 所以，再一次，我会看这场比赛不管是谁打它，它是可能的，本场比赛仍然会得到巨大的吸引力，主要是娱乐，我仍然认为非霍奇金淋巴瘤和NBC伤害的潜在冬季经典，不仅为2010年，但在不久的将来。

NHL冬季经典连赛？

冬季经典一直是最好的事情发生在NHL也许永远锁定后时代的最高点，但肯定是。 所以，应该有一个元旦户外游戏连赛的两个冬季经典？ 我们的想法是这样的：第一关已经确定，将于今年的冬季经典，在芬威公园波士顿棕熊队和一队尚未确定。 一些游戏内的游说是第二室外比赛被演奏在卡尔加里在芬威公园版的游戏结束。 在这个潜在的第二场比赛的支持者是加拿大的球迷和在加拿大广播公司（CBC），因为在第一个2冬季经典有包括美国基于团队和它是不太可能的计划包括一个加拿大的基于团队在波士顿，因为NBC的评级将最有可能遭受。 非霍奇金淋巴瘤的竞争委员会批准的这第二场比赛，他们将有可能将其否决。

作为一个实际问题，它可能是不明智的，现场不止一个冬季经典事件是独特的，因为它的吸引力的一部分。 但是，基本的主题是一个重要的非霍奇金淋巴瘤，应考虑的是，如果这种趋势继续下去，加拿大的团队将始终被排除在每年的冬季经典，这是一个糟糕的前景。 曲棍球是目前最流行的运动在加拿大，大部分的球员NHL名册是加拿大出生，和所有六个加拿大队的支持下，是首屈一指的。 他们的热情支持他们的团队用自己辛苦赚来的钱购买了大量的其他的东西之间​​随着商品的比赛门票（都很贵），使他们至少有一支球队在冬季经典值得。 当然，游戏的名称是金钱和NBC的最好办法做到这一点是收视率可能会达到自己最大的潜能，有两个美国队在比赛中的。 但作为主要的问题从长远来看，这些球迷可以不被关闭了，直到永远。 采取的最大应变的球迷之一，完全不顾他们在考虑以什么已经成为了本场比赛的最神圣的事件之一，这是不公平的。 即使是从每个国家在游戏中的团队，这是不可能的收视率将大幅下滑，因为本场比赛的新颖性仍然存在。 艾萨克·牛顿先生教给我们的每一个动作有一个大小相等，方向相反的反应，如果非霍奇金淋巴瘤不工作，包括加拿大在冬季经典不知怎的，它一定会卷土重来咬他们沿途的某个地方。

盲人的眼睛落在魔拐杖系列

我知道在美国的网络要出售的星星，即克罗斯比，奥韦奇金，以提高收视率，但有时你必须有信心在冰无论是谁打的产品。 我指的是一个事实，即只有一场比赛的新泽西州，北卡罗来纳州系列的六起至今一直在国家电视台和东部的第一轮中，它一直是最有竞争力的系列。 两场比赛每队赢得比赛的房子去加班。 另一场比赛结束的最后一秒拍摄跳跃猎犬4-3击败只需要0.2秒，其余的时钟。 马丁Brodeur和凸轮病区是显着的全系列长期的甚至是设法使一个1-0的比赛最精彩的比赛之一，任何时候都希望看到任何体育迷。 当然，不是每场比赛都可以全国播放，但它会容易得多，如果NBC加强和转播在平日的游戏！ *喘气无论哪种方式，它是一个耻辱，这样的好曲棍球已经引起了很多既严肃又休闲的冰球球迷的注意，因为它根本没有在电视上，除非你有中心冰包。 停止所有的噱头和使用小常识，不管是谁invovled在一个特定的竞赛游戏的质量是高的，你最好相信人们会涌向他们的电视机。 所以，NBC停止欺负曲棍球，喜欢它周围的小兄弟的职业体育，意识到这是比以往任何时候都好，如果你表现出游戏的人会看！

没有哭泣在圣路易斯蓝调/哥伦布

经过四个简短的游戏圣路易斯蓝调和哥伦布蓝夹克都被淘汰后戏剧。 两个队有非凡的季节，在4月15 ^日开始的季后赛上两个最好的故事情节。 这是有史以来首次亮相，并首先在很长一段时间圣路易斯哥伦布因此，尽管在很短的时间内被淘汰，有很多两支球队可以借鉴的经验。 首先，两支球队都拥有梦幻般的年轻守门员谁，除非极端的情况下，只会更加强的时间，因为他们获得更多的经验和建立信任。 其次，基地的这两支球队都比较年轻，最有可能的是能够一起成长，作为一个团队，只能帮助在各自的任务更加成功的未来。 最后，也许是最重要的，他们有令人难以置信的球迷已经通电的背后两支球队本赛季的结果，是100％的。 不管任何一支球队在职业体育人才的水平，如果他们没有社会各界的支持下，他们在那里是没有办法，他们可以向前迈进。 因此，尽管两支球队都没有了，现在，社会各界的支持和新的结构，工资上限NHL圣路易斯，哥伦布会回来的比以往任何时候都强。 在季后赛走没有他们，我行礼，两队这种令人难以置信的运行，并期待着看到他们明年。

罗伊的眼睛的NHL Headcoaching工作

有传言说， 帕特里克罗伊是在headcoaching工作在非霍奇金淋巴瘤感兴趣的现在。 罗伊将在顶层，没有人真正知道作为一个教练，但是这将是一个很大的乐趣。 他作为一名球员的个性，增加了浮华，这是不可思议的。 一般来说罗伊的焦点在传送数据时间没有干扰他在冰上玩的亲和力，实际上它可能使他提高他的比赛。 试想一下，同样的潇洒与能源后面的板凳上。 一瞥，在他的努力在初中水平，但作为一个教练了一些争议。 在非霍奇金淋巴瘤的水平，风格将在所有的可能性几乎没有任何争议的范围内，在他的小辈演出。 事实上，这种风格可能会激励球员和球迷的一致好评导致一些非常有趣的夜晚，无论是赛季中或在厚厚的季后赛。 罗伊可能会教练在蒙特利尔和美国科罗拉多州，无论哪个城市，他的土地将有故事情节的丰富。 如果他结束了在蒙特利尔的媒体都会有一个重要的日子，一个活着的传奇，这一切都开始于1986年为他的回归。 在蒙特利尔的球迷和媒体既爱又恨的关系必将发展成为成功的两个词，两个词只有“斯坦利杯曲棍球疯狂的城市，它定义。”罗伊知道什么期望在这种情况下，我想他会茁壮成长，一定会被放在广场上他的肩膀上的压力。 因此，球迷之间，媒体（更不用提粗鲁的方式，他作为一个球员离开了球队） 所有帕特里克·罗伊在蒙特利尔的旧论坛，在贝尔中心的走廊里，喊价的鬼，会是什么，但平淡。

帕特里克·罗伊在丹佛也工作得非常好。 随着能源，他给我带来了替补席上（如上所述），他可以振兴一个城市，一直是一个令人难以置信的曲棍球之乡，因为他们从魁北克市近15年前搬到那里。 团队没有过个好年，第一次在很长一段时间在百事中心的席位仍然空置。 将罗伊在长凳肯定是球迷在座位和雪崩一些急需的国家的重视（加拿大和美国）。 当然，这不仅是谁的球迷将罗伊的回归到丹佛，但也很兴奋的球员谁养活了罗伊的火灾和激情的游戏。 最后，但并非最不重要的，是炒作导致四次会议帕特里克·罗伊和韦恩 - 格雷茨基将不可避免地被创建的。 带领他们的团队对彼此的生活传说是那场比赛，一定要添加一个额外的无形元素。 截至目前，并没有真正的科罗拉多州和凤凰城之间的竞争，但与后面的板凳上，这两个家伙，他们各自的竞争性质是一定要波及到的冰，这是一个非常令人兴奋的前景。

爱他还是恨他无论身在何处的罗伊结束了他的存在，有没有产生积极的影响，但他的球队，这个城市，和联盟作为一个整体。

梅森的掌握领先的哥伦布季后赛

随着常规赛即将结束，已经出现了很多精彩的故事，也许更来的季后赛接近我们的。 无论它是在熊的意外上升到突出，圣何塞的能力，以发挥在一个高的水平，从线到线;或佛罗里达州的拼一个季后赛现货和纳什维尔的持续推动向在季后赛，尽管小的钱和传言，他们离开纳什维尔旋转的不时周围。 但可以说的最好的故事，今年已被了令人难以置信的性能哥伦布蓝夹克 netminder史蒂夫·梅森谁已经看似无处不在的风暴在联赛和已哥伦布准备，以使他们的第一个赛季后的外观在球队的简要历史。 梅森张贴2.24 GAA，0.918保存百分比的记录31-18-5令人难以置信的数字。 梅森似乎总是固体时，他绝对需要得到这个TEN完全封锁对方！ 下一个关闭梅森三个守门员并列七个这是绝对不真实的。 如果你问周围的许多曲棍球界去年和今年的早期阶段许多令人尊敬的曲棍球的大脑不能告诉你任何东西，如果他们甚至没有听说过他在所有关于史蒂夫·梅森。 蓝夹克“netminder，一直贯彻整个赛季，尽管他的成功也许是梅森的质量最好的是不是他的手套，定位于净，或任何其他技术属性，这是事实，他只有20岁。 这是不太可能，Mason将能够继续今年的成功，随着岁月的流逝，但如果有一件事我们肯定知道的是，他将给予非霍奇金淋巴瘤的对手真的很辛苦多年的时间来。 随着守门员像梅森和琳琅满目的其他年轻人才聚集在哥伦布 这是一个团队，可以在季后赛中的噪音，不仅在今年，但今后许多年里，在哥伦布市的人都有理由很兴奋。

曲棍球是大非霍奇金淋巴瘤，请不要搞砸了

回国后锁定的非霍奇金淋巴瘤制定了一套全新的规则的改变，伴随着“严格”执行现有的规则。 在第一的游戏了是令人沮丧观看的球员调整到新的主礼风格的“新”NHL。 现在，几年过去了，大家已经习惯了的规则改变了游戏规则，几乎所有的账户有所改善。 也许梯形是一个不好的规则需要改变，并把脸部的平衡后，谁犯的处罚提起今年是一个例子，一个很好的调整了球队在防守区的处罚，但我们能不能单独离开游戏。 这一切谈如何改变战斗和做爆头以及如何独自离开游戏？ 如果人们不喜欢打架，那么他们就没有打，有没有规定说你必须争取当记者问。 此外，据爆头去，如果打的是一个肮脏的发挥，然后调用一个点球，但如果出现这种情况是在头上，它是一个干净的命中，然后告诉玩家在一个旋转，并把他们的头，要知道，接触！ 对于那些谁觉得游戏太粗糙（球员，教练，经理，球迷等），然后撇清自己的游戏！ DO /看别的东西！ 此外，最好的办法，以增加得分的团队能够更好地发挥在进攻上，而不是由守门员设备或增加的净尺寸或切割球门柱大小的一半。 我把功劳归于是由于后锁定游戏是一个很好的产品，但非霍奇金淋巴瘤，知道什么时候该说什么时候。 刚刚离开不够好孤单，享受惊人的产品被吹捧每天晚上在冰面上。 季后赛的比赛比以往任何时候都更接近，超级明星似乎变得更好，更有趣的看每一年，并，收视不断增加。 非霍奇金淋巴瘤，需要做出改变后，每赛季游戏“更好”，因为如果这种情况持续下去，他们将不可避免地搞砸了，那么没有人会很高兴。

Sean Avery's Elisha Cuthbert, The NHL's Communial Girlfriend

Yes we have all heard the Sean Avery stories, and if you haven't you need to go to Wickapedia and look up Avery. Not many people know the girl who was the girl involved so we wanted to help put some pictures to a face. Also, I also wanted to pose a question for all our readers. “Why does it seem that Hockey has the most groupie women ever?” Elisha who is a famous actress seems to only date and screw NHL players and I am wondering if she has some clause in her contract forcing her to do so. Either way Sean Avery is my hero, and you know what he hit that 1st. Here's to you Sean and Elisha Cuthbert we salute you as Sean's hot sloppy seconds! GO RANGERS!!!!!

NHL to Revamp Point System?

The NHL GMs meeting just happened and perhaps the most prominent of them was fighting's future in the NHL. To be short on this, it's not going anywhere. Nobody who has any significant weight wants to get rid of it and so it is going to stay, end of discussion. Another topic they discussed that actually might change is somehow giving more weight to regulation wins versus overtime or shootout wins. Most of you probably know this but for those who don't the current system is two points for a win while the losing team gets zero for a regulation loss, and one point for losing in overtime or a shootout. With that in mind as a base, the following are some of the suggestions for how to change the current format in no particular order:

1。 A system that puts three points at stake in every game. Under this system a team gets three points for a regulation win and two points for an overtime or shootout win; while the losing team gets one point for an overtime/shootout loss and zero for a regulation loss.

2。 The winning team gets two points for a regulation or overtime win and one point for winning in a shootout while the losing team gets zero points regardless of the stage of the game in which they lose.

3。 Make regulation wins the first tie-breaker. The theory behind this is that it leaves the point awards as is but adds some emphasis on the number of games won in regulation versus overtime/shootout. The current first tiebreaker (assuming teams play the same number of games) is wins no matter when they occur.

There may in fact be other ideas but these are the most talked about and probably have the best chance of being implemented. Personally I'm ok with either of the three of these but we are sportsroids.com would like to hear from you. What do you think of the ideas above? Are there any other ideas you have that you want to pose? Do you think a change should be made at all? 让我们知道！

Therrien/Renney Out, Bylsma/Tortorella In. But Will it Matter?

There was only one game Monday night but that didn't mean the NHL would be lacking in drama after an action packed weekend both on and off the ice.

On the coaching end Pittsburgh's new head man Dan Bylsma picked up his first two victories as an NHL coach in two 5-4 victories over Montreal and Philadelphia respectively. The Penguins lost to Washington on Sunday but five points out of a possible eight in Bylsma's first four games is a good start for the new headcoach who is hoping to guide the Penguins back into a playoff spot after a disappointing start to the new year for Pittsburgh.

Staying in the Atlantic Division takes us to New York where the Rangers fired Tom Renney this weekend only to name John Tortorella as his replacement on Monday. Many close to the team believe Tortorella can provide a spark for the Rangers they could not seem to get from Renney. Tortorella has a history of calling out players publically which may inject the Rangers with just the right amount of energy to help save this sinking ship by not only keeping it afloat but guiding them to the playoffs. There is no denying that Renney is a great coach who will ultimately get another job and most likely be successful in that new position. However, Tortorella sweetens the pot by adding his Stanley Cup ring and that demands the utmost respect; something Renney simply couldn't add to the mix.

In the future there will undoubtedly be many coaching changes across the sports landscape—especially in the NHL. In reality, mid-year coaching changes tend to do very little to change the course of a team especially when they are made toward the end of a season. The players normally don't change—save for a few here and there—while a season is ongoing and so the chances of a different outcome no matter the coach is slim to none. And this year will probably be no different as both the Penguins and Rangers will probably continue on the paths they were on before coaching changes were made because personnel remains basically the same. If there's one thing the sports world can learn from the Pittsburgh Steelers is that consistency in coaching and upper management yields sustained, long-term success.

I Need A New Sport

My father used to say that Rodeo was the only sport. That no one was tougher than a Cowboy. He himself used to “bulldog” back in his day. Though those days were short lived after having seen a man have his head stomped in and spend the rest of his days talking to himself. Dear old Dad wore cowboy boots, snap button shirts and had a license plate that read RODEO: Everything Else Is Just A Game!

I have to say that with all that is going on in the seemingly unwatchable professional sports world that I must agree. Parity in football sucks. The last ten Superbowl champs just do not measure up to those before them. Baseball is a mockery now. The commissioner is coward. The players union is run by as group of arrogant jackasses empowered by lazy good for nothing drug addict ball players. Even the government is standing on ceremony now in their day late and dollar short effort to rectify the situation. NBA basketball is a disgrace. Between what they allow on and off the court coupled with the FACT that they have a gambling problem how could anyone take it seriously? Hockey lost me when the Sabres lost to the Stars on a goal that should not have counted in a game that decided the Stanley Cup Champ. I would still rather be playing NHL Hockey on Sega. And don't bother with any other sport. You are lucky I felt generous enough to include Hockey in the conversation. Next you will want to whine about soccer and tell me it is “so popular”. Yeah well not here in the real world United Stated where its biggest star bailed to go back over seas and play for less money. Soccer is a baby sitting service for terrible parents who do not love their kids and are afraid they might get hurt playing a real sport.

Which brings me to Rodeo. Beer drinking, tobacco chewing, jeans and denim shirt wearing men atop 1200lbs of raw power! Even the advertisements at these events are manly. You will not see advertisements (at least not yet) for weenie girlie men and their “ED” or hair loss. You see ads for trucks, guns, hunting, beer, sponsor tags for tobacco and even some good old fashioned down home Americana: www.borderpatrol.gov. 这是惊人的。 我很喜欢。 I can not get enough. I am sure one day ESPN and the advertising industry will ruin it like they have ruined every other sport worth watching. For now it really is the only thing worth watching.

The last three weeks, at work behind the bar, I have turned off both college and pro basketball, ESPN's Sportscenter, MLB network and all three New York area hockey teams in favor of VS coverage of bull riding. At first I get “what the hell are doing?” or “Whoa, what the..” “Hey put that back”. Yet every time I put on the rodeo after the first bull comes out from the chute it gets very quiet as the entire bar is focused on the one tv that is showing the bull riding. The only noise you hear from the crowd is when a cowboy gets “throwed” from his horse. Absolutely no one is watching the other 5 tv's that are all showing basketball, hockey etc. And when I turn it off the whole place erupts with an emphatic “WHOAAAA, PUT IT BACK!”

Rodeo: Everything Else IS just a game.

Role Players are Golden Commodities

In all sports there is always talk about the superstars and what they bring to teams. A lot of fans—teams for that matter—expect superstars to be super heroes. Like all sports people see superstars on a team and assess their team's chances based on—essentially—the big names alone. Now that the NHL season has hit February a lot of teams who were successful last year are learning—if they didn't know already—how much impact a role player can have on a team's success or lack thereof. Two great examples of that are the Pittsburgh Penguins and Montreal Canadiens.

Granted, the Penguins lost Marian Hossa in the offseason but even before him the Penguins were a pretty good team; but along with Hossa they lost a number of role players and now they find themselves struggling just to get into the playoffs. Pittsburgh is really missing the toughness of Georges Laraque but also his ability to handle the puck down low in the offensive zone which really helps protect leads, something the Penguins have really struggled to do. Another thing the Penguins have not had a lot of are “garbage” goals in front of the net because nobody is willing to stand in front of the net to take that punishment the way Ryan Malone did. A strong presence in front of the net for any team is invaluable and it was almost poetic for Ryan Malone to score one of those “garbage” goals against the Penguins in Tampa's 4-3 loss at Pittsburgh last week. Likewise, Jarkko Ruutu's ability to not only draw penalties but frustrate the other team getting them to focus on things other than winning the game was priceless. Pittsburgh has a pretty good chance of making the playoffs with the team they have assembled but they would be in better shape with at least those three guys back in all likelihood.

The free-falling Montreal Canadiens role player issues focus mainly on losing Mark Streit to the Islanders. With Streit the Canadiens had an incredible power play that made teams who took penalties against them pay dearly and pay often. In the offseason the Canadiens lost Streit and now their power play is one of the worst in the league. The advantage of the power play is obvious but it is an even bigger deal when a team thrives on it because when its performance goes down the team is less likely to be successful. Since their power play is no longer lethal, the Canadiens needed other guys to accelerate their respective games to be successful and for most of the season they got that. Robert Lang became the team's leading scorer providing them with more than they could have possibly hoped for from him. Along with Lang's play Carey Price's game had really improved and that allowed Montreal to stay afloat. But now Robert Lang is out for the season, Price has been struggling with his confidence and Kovalev's play has been below average all year. As a result of these recent events the Canadiens are in a free-fall and coming dangerously close to missing the playoffs. Now, both Pittsburgh and Montreal know the value of role players more than ever before.

Four Important NHL Lessons to Learn

There was a lot of action in the NHL this past weekend as there is every weekend but there are four big things we learned and should keep in mind the rest of the year:

1。 The Washington Capitals are for real. They have been on a roll lately but nothing like Saturday when they beat the East leading Boston Bruins 2-1 at Verizon Center. And after defeated the new trap playing penguins (more on that later) and the similar defensive style of the Bruins who supplement that with great goal-scoring the Caps showed they can beat anybody and play any style. Their team speed breaks that trap better than any other team in the East and they can win high scoring AND low scoring games… the rest of the league should be on high alert.

2。 The Pittsburgh Penguins have finally figured out that with all their injuries a change in strategy is necessary and the trap is just what the doctor ordered. In casual conversation with a friend on December 12 ^th I mentioned the Penguins need to run a trap if only temporarily to keep themselves in games until they get some guys healthy and sure enough a month and a day later they run it and win against the Flyers. Now they have won two of three and despite all the injuries are in a playoff position. The Penguins are now a team to worry about again and once they get guys healthy the teams at the top of the standings should worry… just ask the Flyers and Rangers.

3。 The San Jose Sharks beat Detroit 6-5 on Saturday. They are not going to fade away… the Western Conference has been warned.

4。 The Phoenix Coyotes (yes Phoenix) is a viable team and WILL make the playoffs.

Have a great holiday everybody.

NHL to Consider Eliminating Trapezoid

A light schedule Monday night in the NHL as only two games were played but one story of note is that Chris Osgood accumulated six minutes in penalties a double minor for high-sticking and 2 minutes for delay of the game. Getting six minutes in penalties in a single game for a goalie who was not involved in a fight is certainly a new one on me so kudos to Osgood for pulling that off. But the delay of the game penalty for playing the puck outside of the trapezoid is worth talking about for a moment. The NHL competition committee will review that rule to consider changing the penalty because many believe it leads to injuries in the corners down low. The rationale is that players are more susceptible to major injuries chasing pucks into the corner because of new interference rules that do not allow defensemen to impede the progress of offensive players coming into the zone. The theory is that allowing goaltenders to play the puck anywhere behind the goal line will eliminate the chase to the corners since they will be able to reach the corner before either player and in doing so reducing the likelihood that either player will sustain an injury in the process.

Doing this probably would not change anything on the injury front, but what should be changed is the penalties given for taken a hand off the stick to “obstruct” one's progress along the boards. In this situation if a player is allowed to push an opponent against the boards while the puck is close by; this would cut down on injuries and keep the trapezoid rule in place. Just remind players that grabbing and holding is not allowed and once the puck is gone he must release his opponent from the boards. What do you think should be done? Oh and as for the game itself, Dallas won 5-4 in overtime.

NHL All-Star Game Insignificant

Both NHL All-Star teams have been announced but you know what, who cares? The naming of the guys on the team is fun but it's something that should be saved for the end of the season because it should be something to honor players for a full-season's worth of work not half. They say the game is for the fans and it really should be but for the most parts fans could not care less! The game used to be fun, in the age before the internet, expansive cable/satellite TV, NHL Network, and NHL Center Ice packages the game meant something. It used to be a chance for those not in a particular sports market to see the league's best perform on a big stage. If you lived more than 150 miles away from the Canadian border there were some players and even some teams you may see only once or twice a year when they played against your team if you saw them at all. That also held true for the different regions of the US not seeing players/teams from other regions or even before the US had a worthwhile national broadcast of the Stanley Cup Finals. Now things have changed a ton and anytime any fan would like to see a superstar perform from anywhere around the league/North America the outlets named above give fans that opportunity. The skills competition is enjoyable because it's different and players do activities they would not normally do but is that enough to keep the weekend going? In closing, the game is not what it used to be, name an All-Star team at season's end and do nothing more with it.

Rutuu Bites, Wild Patient, Caps Finish

Tuesday night Jarkko Ruutu of the Ottawa Senators apparently bit Sabres' defensemen Andrew Peters in the thumb. It is awful that Ruutu did that and hopefully he is severely punished, but it is the hope of hockey fans everywhere that the casual fan will not once again only see hockey in this light (since ESPN eats stuff like this up) and think that's all that goes on in hockey. If all they did in NFL coverage was show guys getting poked in the eye or really bad facemask penalties and quarterbacks getting knocked out or guys getting paralyzed it would give football a bad name for sure but we all know that stuff does not happen frequently and the NHL should be given the same consideration. So please, if you have casual fans as friends and think this is how it is all the time please just get them to follow a number of games and they will quickly see it is not an every game occurrence.

Now to the better side of hockey and that would be two great match-ups Tuesday night between the Boston Bruins and Minnesota Wild, and the game of the night between Washington and Philadelphia. Boston was defeated 1-0 by Minnesota making it two in a row for Boston cooling off the then hottest team in the league. What is to be learned from that game is Minnesota is simply better at running the dreaded neutral zone trap than the Bruins head-to-head. Boston has been able to open up the ice to score more goals now but if other teams are paying attention Minnesota taught them a great lesson. If you slow the game down and play most of it at center ice Boston will get so frustrated because they are so hungry to score that they end up skating in circles and don't get anything going. Patience is the best way to beat Boston not trying to outscore them.

As for Washington and Philly, all that needs to be said about that at the moment is that if you're looking for the anti-Ruutu game, this was the one to watch. That game was everything that makes hockey such a great game to watch.

Talent Not Enough for Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins will have two starters at the NHL All-Star game later this month but that's about all the team has going for itself at the moment. Pittsburgh has lost four in-a-row and only won 5 games in December of the 14 played and thus far January does not look good either. Malkin and Crosby are both in the top three in scoring in the league but winning is so much more than simply putting up good numbers; there are, after all, OTHER parts of the game that equate to winning. Much like in the playoffs it is important to have strong role players and more importantly big bruisers to: A. keep the other team from beating up on your team's stars without being punished for their actions and B. to wear down the other team much like an run-game does in football so that by the end of the game your team has stronger legs than the other as well as stronger legs as the season progresses. Goaltending has not been strong for the Penguins either but the biggest problem is not getting enough from big, tough guys. Eric Goddard and Matt Cooke do a bit of that but it's not deterring other teams from inflicting punishment on the likes of Crosby and Malkin.

Also, the Penguins can no longer slow the game down with big guys who can protect the puck and burn time the way Georges Laraque could for them last year. Pittsburgh's power play lacks a guy who can stand in front of the net and take punishment while giving the opposing goaltending grief while getting a stick on pucks to get a tip goal or clean up the garbage on a rebound (Ryan Malone anyone?). These are all things Pittsburgh had last year and to some degree early on but now they are trying to use their skill and talent to push forward and get them out of the slump but it is not and will not work. If Pittsburgh happens to make the playoffs without correcting these problems then they will be the very reason the East winners of a year ago will win NOTHING this year.

Coyotes Improving; Fans Indifferent

Perhaps it is Wayne Gretzky working his magic or maybe they are finally molding into a decent team by the Phoenix Coyotes are in 6 ^th position in the Western Conference and in prime position to make a push toward the playoffs. Since finishing sixth in the 2001-2002 season the Phoenix Coyotes have had very little success and have frankly been down-right abysmal. But, at least for now, the Coyotes are a viable franchise that are unlikely to make any noise in the playoffs if they do qualify but some progress is better than no progress after all. For the most part the Coyotes' roster consists of mediocre players at best with a goaltender in Ilya Bryzgalov who is putting up pretty good numbers with a sub-three GAA and a respectable .911 save percentage. In the midst of the mediocrity there is a shining light who has been more or less unnoticed in the death pit of a sports market that is the great Phoenix (more on that later) and that is right-winger Shane Doan. Doan leads the team with 38 points (18 G, 20 A) with the next closets teammate at 28 points. He also leads all forwards on the team with an average ice time of 20:38 and is 4 ^th behind only defensemen who traditionally have the highest average ice time. He is a work horse who can not only score goals but set up teammates regularly as he leads the team in both goals and assists. Overall there is not much going for this franchise (and hasn't been since they moved from Winnipeg in the '90s) but for all the fans in that area who can get a chance to see Doan play they are witnessing something special—at least for this year.

Unfortunately for the city of Phoenix and the NHL the Coyotes are reportedly expected to lose 30 million dollars this year and are struggling to draw attention in a city that is not just a weak hockey market but a terrible sports market. The Arizona Cardinals are to host a home playoff game Saturday for the first time in Arizona and for the first time since the franchise was in Chicago in 1947. And yet despite that the Cardinals needed two extension by the NFL to sell-out the game so there would not be a local blackout in affect. The area does not even support America's most popular sport when its team is in the playoffs let alone a sport that continues to struggle in some areas like hockey. The 30 million dollar loss may have something to do with the team's futility over the years but not entirely. Sports fans in that region seem to be few and far between and if they are not going to support a team in Phoenix there are plenty of other cities who would. The Phoenix hockey experiment has basically failed and there is no reason to reward that city with a hockey team (or any other major sports team for that matter) anymore.

Winter Classic Excitement

The NHL's second Winter Classic is only two days away and the sports world should be in for a real treat. The Chicago Blackhawks have won 9 straight games and have recorded a point in each of their last ten. Not only is winning nine straight impressive but the Hawks have been putting away some very good teams including at home against Philadelphia and four road games against Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Minnesota. Chicago is getting great play from not just their big stars (Kane, Sharp, Toews, Campbell) but also from guys like defensemen Duncan Keith who has 18 points and is a plus 19 for the season. They are a solid team and are finally coming together to create what could be something very special not only in the years to come but this season in particular.

On January 1 ^st the Blackhawks welcome the Detroit Red Wings to Wrigley Field and rumor has it that the Red Wings are pretty good… Clearly the Red Wings are very good for not only are they the defending Stanley Cup champions but they are second in the West with 50 points trailing only the amazing San Jose Sharks who the Wings recently pummeled 6-0. Complimenting the Wings would take all day so I'll just let mentioning names like Lindstrom, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Hossa, and Frazen (among many others) do all the explaining themselves. Not only will the atmosphere be great but the hockey won't be half bad either. The fans are hyped and the players are excited as face-off approaches. In two days the eyes of the hockey universe will be focused on Chicago, live at 1pm eastern time on NBC in the US and CBC and RDS in Canada. The wait… is almost over.

NHL Standings Basement Battle

In the battle for futility on Long Island Tuesday night the Atlanta Thrashers defeated the New York Islanders 4-2. The game was actually pretty close essentially a one-goal game with a garbage empty-netter to close it out. And while this game perhaps shows that Atlanta is just a little better than the Islanders, the Isles do in fact have a brighter future and it's not just because they will have a better chance at winning the draft lottery.

The Islanders' future on the island is very much up in the air at the moment as they wait out the passing of the “lighthouse project” that will determine its long-term outlook. But for the moment let's table that just for the sake of conversation and focus on other aspects of the two teams. What the Islanders have as an advantage over Atlanta is a rich history with great tradition. The Islanders won 4 straight Stanley Cup titles in the 1980s making them one of the premier hockey teams of the time and historically one of the greatest runs for a team in NHL history. While they have never quite reached that level since they have been competitive at times and their fan base is still pretty much intact. All the Islanders need to do is win again and their building will begin to fill up, fans will start having faith in their team again and there will be a buzz again on the island for their beloved hockey team.

Atlanta has an awful hockey history to accompany their mediocre present. The Atlanta Flames were not a viable team and ended up moving to Calgary after losing their fair share of games and money. Now they have a new team who has been mediocre at best in a city that couldn't care less about hockey and barely supports their NFL team when it's good. As the economy worsens the fate of the Thrashers in Atlanta is up in the air no matter how many games they win. So despite the score Tuesday night it is Islander fans who have reason to celebrate.

Patience Needed in NHL

The Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, and San Jose Sharks are the only three teams in the NHL that have shown any amount of consistency all year. The Pittsburgh Penguins once upon a 6 game winning streak, and now it looks like they cannot play defense or hold a lead for the life of them. At times Toronto has looked very strong at times and at others look very much like the young team they are. The New York Rangers started hot out of the gate and since have settled down a bit but are still playing well. Anaheim started pretty sluggish but now they look great and Phoenix was awful at one point but have seemed to put it together to become a much better team since the beginning of the year. Ottawa was up and down for a while got hot for a moment and now they are looking to have a fire-sale. The list of teams and stories to accompany them goes on and on, the point being, save for the three teams mentioned in the first sentence above we don't know anything about anybody. There is Panic in Pittsburgh with how the team has stumbled, there are rumblings in Montreal with how poor their power play is and how well the Bruins are playing. Bottom line is for players, coaches, front office managers, analysts and fans alike what is needed most in the NHL is to have patience with a team and that's what there seems to be the least of. See where your team is come late January early February and then start to Panic.

Welcome Back Chicago Blackhawks

It really is good to have the Chicago Blackhawks back in the playoff hunt; it is good for Chicago, US Hockey and the NHL at-large. As it stands right now the Blackhawks are 6 ^th in the Western Conference two points behind 4 ^th place Anaheim and one point behind 5 ^th place Calgary but have two games in hand over both those teams. They are getting very good goaltending from both Cristobal Huet and Nikolai Khabibulin, and watching Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, and Jonathan Toews is a lot of fun now and will be for years to come. It is also very nice to see the fans fill the arena to see the Blackhawks who, to the fans defense, have not been very good in quite some time. That said, two years ago the Blackhawks were 29 ^th out of 30 in attendance average and now they are first with 21,481 per game. Watching these fans at the Winter Classic should be a lot of fun and come playoff time they will give the Blackhawks an incredible home ice advantage especially because it has been a while since Chicago made it to the playoffs. Blackhawk fans are showing what a great hockey town Chicago really is and this is just the beginning of what could form into a series of great teams in the years to come. How can you not love a team that has its own song? If you have never heard the song the following link will give you a taste of it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPBw45ETm7o . So to all those who think “no one” cares about hockey in the US Chicago is yet another example of how wrong you are!

Avery Goes Way Offside

Note to Sean Avery; keep your mouth shut! On Tuesday before the Dallas Stars were to face-off against the Calgary Flames, controversial center Sean Avery lived up to the billing with some off-color comments directed at Flames defensemen Dion Phaneuf. In the locker room Avery sought out the media and said “I just want to comment on how it's become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds. I don't know what that's about. Enjoy the game tonight.” For those who do not know, Phaneuf is dating Avery's former girlfriend, actress Elisha Cuthbert. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman promptly suspended Avery indefinitely prior to a meeting that will be held later on to determine his ultimate punishment. Avery has a history of being an antagonist on the ice, and although he has walked the razor's edge in the past, he went way overboard with this comment. Hopefully Avery is taught a valuable lesson by this and maybe he will realize that if he only keeps his mouth shut, and uses his skills on the ice, he will be much more of an asset to his team. Despite his reputation, Avery is actually a very skilled hockey player who most think would be valuable to any team with what he brings to the ice. Depending on what Avery's punishment is, he should probably be very careful the next time Dallas and Calgary lockup.

NHL, Get Rid of Touch Icing Now!

Newsflash touch icing is dangerous! The powers that be in the NHL believe it is an exciting play and is a good way for “hustle guys” to show partly why they are so valuable. It matters not what the argument is the bottom line remains the same, touch icing gets a lot of players seriously injured and one too many times puts players in harm's way even if they do not end up suffering a long-term injury. If you watch Coach's Corner (with Ron MacLean and Don Cherry) at cbcsports.ca from November 15 ^th there are a few videos put together from various moments over the years where guys have been hurt from touch icing. Overall the game is very well played and has many exciting moments, so much so that taking away touch icing would not take anything away from the game. Most other levels of hockey have automatic icing (once it crosses the goal line) and it hardly takes away from the excitement of those games. In Europe they had touch icing until years ago when somebody died as a result of an injury suffered from a touch icing play. The NHL needs to be proactive rather than reactive so that nobody suffers a career ending injury or is killed.

Russian Stars Soar, Toskala Shines

Let me start by saying I hope everyone had a happy and healthy Thanksgiving Day. There was not much action in the NHL on Thanksgiving, but since it was not Canadian Thanksgiving there were two games on the night one featuring the battle of Ontario, Toronto vs. Ottawa. Vesa Toskala has been taking an awful lot of criticism as of late (from the likes of me mainly) and his play certainly warranted that criticism. However, I have to give credit where credit is due and on Thursday night Toskala came up with a lot of key/great saves and although the Leafs lost 2-1 in a shootout if not for Toskala it could have easily been a two or three goal regulation loss. So I salute Toskala's performance against the Senators, and if he plays like that more often the Leafs can be a dangerous team.

Unlike Thursday, Wednesday had a full slate of action including two great performances by Russian stars Evgeni Malkin and Alexander Ovechkin. Led by Ovechkin's hat trick the Washington Capitals ended their three-game-losing-streak by defeating the Atlanta Thrashers 5-3. Also on Wednesday the Pittsburgh Penguins were down 3-1 in the third but Malkin's natural hat trick helped the Penguins get the come-from-behind 5-3 win over the suddenly surging New York Islanders. Sure there are a lot of other stars in the league but we should be very thankful to have them playing in the NHL because not that long ago both men would have remained hidden behind the iron curtain that was the Soviet Union.

Toskala Hurting Leafs' Chances

The Toronto Maple Leafs have certainly started to turn the corner toward becoming a good team. They are not stacked with talent but they have done well with who the put on the ice every night. Although the Leafs are not winning as much as they would like they are always competitive and are much improved from the last few years. If the Leafs are ever going to enter into the company of the NHL elite they MUST get rid of Vesa Toskala. I have never been high on Toskala but the Leafs have been patient with him and I kept telling myself he had a good team in front of him his performance would reflect that. Unfortunately for Leafs fans everywhere it has not improved, in fact it does not seem as though he has improved at all. As this team continues to grow they are leaving Toskala far behind them and it is getting to the point where—as Don Cherry so brilliant stated on coach's corner—he has become a liability. Not only is Toskala not helping the Leafs achieve success but he is letting in weak goals and is costing his team games. He has a 3.24 goals against average, an embarrassing .878 save percentage and is showing no signs of improvement (not to mention he only made 19 saves on 22 shots Monday against Boston). I know back-up Curtis Joseph is past his prime and under normal circumstances I would agree he is no longer an everyday goalie, but one thing he will not do is cost the team wins.

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.

NHL GMs Please Keep Your Coaches

From some reason the NHL is notorious for firing coaches at the very first sign of trouble. In some cases the teams can be doing reasonably well and slip for a week marking the end of that coach's tenure. So far this season the Chicago Blackhawks have already fired Denis Savard as their head coach four games into the season, FOUR. The last time I checked the NHL season is 82 games long, so in my humble opinion the firing of a coach four games into the season, no matter the records, is outrageous. In the meantime, most teams have played nine games and some suggest newly hired Tampa Bay Lightning coach Barry Melrose is on the “hotseat.” Are you kidding me? Melrose has not coached in a number of years and he has a newly assembled team who need time to adjust to the new coaches and each other before they can be expected to have a great amount of success. So far there have been a number of teams that started slowly but been able to rebound including the Philadelphia Flyers, Anaheim Ducks, and Calgary Flames to name a few. Give Melrose some time. The all-time disaster in coaching changes was just prior to the 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs when the New Jersey Devils—who had the second best record in the Eastern Conference and been crowed Atlantic Division Champions—fired coach Claude Julien. The Devils subsequently lost in round 2. Please NHL, stop prematurely firing coaches.

Some teams have started out hot in the 2009 NHL season. Can they continue?

by Tony E

A note to all NHL fans, PLEASE CLAM DOWN! Overall the bad teams are not as bad as they seem and teams that started off too fast are not as good as they seem. Let things settle down, allow teams to mesh and by the end of December we will know more. In the meantime I give you my early season picks that you can take to the bank! In the west a lot of teams will be challenging the Red Wings; namely Minnesota, San Jose, and Anaheim. But the San Jose Sharks match up best and will represent the west in the Stanley Cup Finals. They are big, experienced, and talented, but more-so than that they are disciplined. They run their puck-possession system to perfection and they DO NOT TAKE STUPID PENALTIES. The Sharks will never beat themselves and come playoff time neither will anyone else.

Joining San Jose will be the Montreal Canadiens who are off to a flying start. Last year they could score but the team was overpowered by a much bigger Flyers team in the playoffs. However, combining the offensive prowess of the Kostitsyn's and Kovalev with the likes of 6'5” Ryan O'Bryne and Georges Laraque; throw in a more experienced Carey Price and voila, an Eastern Conference championship for the most storied NHL franchise as they celebrate their 100th season. But the greatest celebration will take place in the bay area as the San Jose Sharks will win their first ever Stanley Cup title.

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