Alright, I know this month consists of just 12 days of regular season hockey but there was enough to write this thing up so just bear with me. This year the playoff picture is settled before the last day of the season and we have some great matchups for the first round and with the new playoff format, this could be a very exciting Spring.
FINAL REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS
EAST
Atlantic
Boston Bruins- 54-19-9; 117 points
Tampa Bay Lightning- 46-27-9; 99 points
Montreal Canadiens- 46-28-8; 100 points
Metropolitan
Pittsburgh Penguins- 51-24-7; 109 points
Wild Card
Columbus Blue Jackets- 43-32-7; 93 points
Detroit Red Wings- 39-28-15; 93 points
_________________________________________________________________________________
Washington Capitals- 38-30-14; 90 points
New Jersey Devils- 35-29-18; 88 points
Ottawa Senators- 37-31-14; 88 points
Toronto Maple Leafs- 38-36-8; 84 points
Carolina Hurricanes- 36-35-11; 83 points
New York Islanders- 34-37-11; 79 points
Florida Panthers- 29-45-8; 66 points
Buffalo Sabres- 21-51-10; 52 points
WEST
Central
Colorado Avalanche- 52-22-8; 112 points
St. Louis Blues- 52-23-7; 111 points
Chicago Blackhawks- 46-21-15; 107 points
Pacific
Anaheim Ducks- 54-20-8; 116 points
Wild Card
Minnesota Wild- 43-27-12; 98 points
Dallas Stars- 40-31-11; 91 points
_________________________________________________________________________________
Phoenix Coyotes- 37-30-15; 89 points
Nashville Predators- 38-32-12; 88 points
Winnipeg Jets- 37-35-10; 84 points
Vancouver Canucks- 36-35-11; 83 points
Calgary Flames- 35-40-7; 77 points
Edmonton Oilers- 29-44-9; 67 points
2 POSITIVE SURPRISES
Two things that shook the hockey world, in a good way
PLAYOFF FORMAT WAS A HUGE SUCCESS
Many people were skeptical going into this year because of the Division realignment and new playoff format. Hockey fans generally don't like change and always prefer things kept the way it was. After all, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
But we already see the major benefits of the divisional playoff rounds as we have a ton of heavy rivalry series right off the bat.
We have the New York Rangers facing off against the Philadelphia Flyers, the San Jose Sharks against the Los Angeles Kings, a Blackhawaks-Blues series, and an exciting Detroit Red Wings-Boston Bruins matchup. This was exactly what the NHL was hoping to start up with this new format and in the first year they were successful. This new style will indubitably produce more exciting rounds for years to come and we have a lot to look forward to.
NYPD vs FDNY BRAWL
These kinds of charity games are all the same. People show up kind of excited, sit through a generally boring game, and then clap for the players at the end and go home unsatisfied but somewhat happy that you went.
This was not the case for the fans who attended the New York Police Department vs Fire Department of New York game.
Yes, it might not be the best thing that these heroes were put in a bad light at a family event but how freaking incredible is it? Hockey is a game of emotion and seeing New York's finest punching each other in face is just such pure hockey, I can't handle it.
Pretty much every interview with the players after the game was jovial and there were many references to Old Time Hockey from '70s.
FDNY pulled out an 8-5 victory, snapping a 5 year losing streak.
I'll tell you one thing. This was great for publicity and I intend on buying tickets to this next year.
2 NEGATIVE SURPRISES
Two things that shook the hockey world, in a bad way
RJ UMBERGER INJURY
One thing that's well documented on this blog is that I love RJ Umberger. A talented player who doesn't get much recognition, Umberger is simply a player that you can't find a reason to hate. This year he has 18 goals in 74 games and has helped lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to the post season for the first time in five years.
And RJ Umberger made it 78 games this season before getting hurt.
You gotta feel for the guy. I wrote a post a couple of years ago documenting his terrible luck and I guess he still hasn't escaped his troubled past.
Umberger is out for 2 weeks with an upper body injury and might miss the playoffs if Columbus makes a quick exit, something that we've seen before.
I hope RJ Umberger a speedy recovery because, c'mon people, this is getting ridiculous.
ALEX OVECHKIN NEEDS NEW XBOX BATTERIES
It might be the best .gif of all time. In a playoff series with the New York Rangers, Alex Ovechkin was seen looking indifferent on a Rangers goal and it quickly became this.
Well in a crucial playoff game against the Dallas Stars, it seems that Ovechkin simply gave up on another play that resulted in an opposition goal.
This was followed by some harsh, yet well deserved, words by head coach Adam Oates. For a captain to quit on a play during an important game is simply unacceptable and the fact that Ovi is a -35 shows why this team will miss the playoffs this year.
TOP 5 MOMENTS
5) Vernon Fiddler Falls But Still Scores
The Dallas Stars were fighting for a wild card spot and needed points really badly. They couldn't waste any opportunity.
And Vernon Fiddler knew this when he fell down in his shootout attempt vs Nashville. So he knew he had to get up and finish his attempt.
So he did.
This saved the Stars and forced a fourth round in the shootout, a shootout which they ended up winning and gaining that crucial extra point in the standings. Great preservation by Fiddler to stay with it and not panic.
Somewhere, Devin Setoguchi and Dennis Wideman wonder if they could have finished their attemps...
4) Alex Ovechkin's Drought
Alex Ovechkin has downright impressive stats this season. 51 goals, 79 points, 24 powerplay goals, and, wait what? -35?
How could someone who scores so much end up with so many minus ratings?
It's because for a long period of time Alex Ovechkin did not have a single even strengthed goal.
Between February 27th and April 4th, Ovi didn't register a single even strengthed goal. He finally got one in a 2-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils. He went 16 games without an EV tally.
Ovechkin is an enigma. Simple as that.
3) Justin Holl Buzzer Beater Goal For Minnesota
If you're a hockey fan, you might be aware that the NCAA Frozen Four College hockey tournament just finished and brought some excellent hockey and memories with it.
I'm not going to pretend I know anything about College Hockey (like I pretended to know about the KHL a couple of years ago!). If you want the extensive preview of the tournament, just read Ryan Lambert's post on Puck Daddy.
One highlight of the tourny was when the Minnesota Golden Gophers were faced off with the North DakotaFighting Sioux errr...ummm the North Dakota team....
(What's crazier than the goal is the fact that ESPN was showing a hockey game)
But seriously. A shorthanded goal as time expired to send your team to the National Title game.
Doesn't get any better than that.
2) Ilya Bryzgalov Doesn't Surprise Anyone
Ilya Bryzgalov has a history with the city of Winnipeg.
During his stay in Phoenix, the topic of the team relocating to Winnipeg came up and he said he wouldn't play there because of the lack of parks and Russian people.
Ever since that famous statement, whenever Bryzgalov team plays in the Peg, the fans torment him throughout the contest with their "Illlllyaaaaaa" chants.
Well if you haven't noticed, Ilya Bryzgalov and the Minnesota Wild have been on an incredible hot streak. Since joining Minnesota during their playoff run, Bryz is an impressive 7-0-3 allowing just 17 goals. He's the sole reason the Wild are sitting in a playoff spot right now.
And he's been playing with confidence, as you can see in the next video.
Yes, it's all fun and games for Bryzgalov right now as he's seeing the puck really well.
Gotta love the sequence where he pumps up his arms right as Zach Redmond unleashes a slap shot which Bryzgalov just eats up. And then we see that huge grin under Bryzgalov's mask which just tells us that he's got everything under control.
Bryzgalov got the shutout that night, by the way.
1) Ryan O'Reilly Snaps Streak As He Snaps His Stick
I love Ryan O'Reilly. He's one of those players that plays the game right. He plays hard in all three zones and is a promising player for the Colorado Avalanche.
Also he's incredibly clean.
How clean you might ask?
Well it took 71 games for him to finally get a penalty. And even that penalty was really, really lame.
The entire hockey world, at the time, couldn't even fathom what had happened.
For those of you who couldn't figure it out, there's a penalty for continuing to play while holding a broken stick. O'Reilly was so focussed on winning the faceoff (just one of those small things that he makes sure to do correctly), he didn't even realise that his blade broke off. Once he figured it out, he dropped his stick but it was too late.
He was later asked about the incident.
TOP 5 OBSERVATIONS
5) Keep Tweeting Your Injuries!
At the beginning of the month, Mitch Callahan of the Grand Rapids Griffins gained a few Twitter followers after tweeting a picture of his face after a pretty disgusting injury.
Some people chastised him, saying that a social media site is no place for something so gruesome and painful.
Well they're wrong.
And Callahan continued referencing the injury with some creative ways.
But that wasn't it. Christian Erhoff wanted in on the action after he got hit in the ear with the puck.
So remember hockey players. If you got any cool injuries, make sure to tweet them out for the whole world to see.
4) Halak Decides He'd Rather Not
The Washington Capitals have always had a goaltending problem. They've gone through many young goalies for a couple of seasons but they just were never able to get deep into the playoffs.
Last year they thought they finally solved this problem when Brayden Holtby stood on his head. But this season showed a different, ugly side of their alleged future netminder.
That's when the Capitals remembered how they're 2010 playoff run ended.
A 7 game series loss to Jaroslav Halak and Michael Cammalleri.
So the Capitals snagged Halak at the trade deadline and hoped that he would lead them down the stretch and help them into the playoffs.
So it seemed pretty odd that Halak sat in a pivotal game against the St. Louis Blues on April 8th.
According to a source, Halak asked coach Adam Oates if he could sit on the bench instead of facing his former employer with their playoff lives on the line.
I'll say it right now that Halak is lucky they won this game. Otherwise, I can't imagine how much more heat he would have received from the Washington faithful.
There are two sides to this argument.
The first side says that Washington went out and gave up a lot in order for Halak to PLAY HOCKEY FOR THEM DOWN THE STRETCH. That means that Halak actually has to PLAY THOSE GAMES.
The fact that he was in St. Louis for four years doesn't mean anything because they paid the price for him to be on their team and they desperately needed him to step up for them.
The other side says that Halak did the right thing. He knows that his head won't be where it should be in this pivotal game and he doesn't want to jeopardize the Capitals' chances, knowing that he might not be on his game.
But what's interesting here is that Adam Oates once again threw his player under the bus. Up top, I wrote about how Ovechkin quit on the play and Adam Oates chewed him out because of it. Here again, Oates is putting the pressure on his player for doing wrong. For a player to have a feeling that his coach doesn't have his back isn't a good situation.
Oates is a young coach and I'm sure he'll figure out the right things to do later in his career but some interesting moves to put his players in the negative spotlight.
The Caps missed the playoffs, by the way.
3) Brendan Shanahan Changes Jobs
Say goodbye to Rule 48 and say hello to your new President of the Toronto Maple Leafs. After 3 seasons of being the highly recognised Head of Department of Player Safter, Brendan Shanahan has been hired by the Maple Leafs in a senior position. He begins the job immediately.
Stephane Quintal will fill the void in the Dept. of Player Safety.
Here's where things get interesting. Should the Maple Leafs have been allowed to negotiate with Shanahan during the season while Shanahan was still in charge of giving out punishments? Seems a little odd that Shanny was still allowed to take job offers while still making major decisions.
Do you remember the previous Department of Player Safety?
It was Colin Campbell. And if you remember, there was ALWAYS controversy surrounding the fact that Colin Campbell's son was on the oft-suspended Boston Bruins team and people always feared there was some foul play going on with that connection.
So why would the NHL risk any more controversy here? Why not just wait for the season to end before negotiating a new job offer?
Well, whatever the case, Shanahan should be pretty good in his new role and let's just say it. The minute a player on the Leafs gets penalized for Rule 48, let's just say he's going to have a 1 on 1 meeting with the President.
2) The Devils Even Out
Flashback time. It's 2012. The New Jersey Devils are the 6 seed in the Eastern Conference with an impressive 102 points.
How did the Devils accumulate 102 points, you ask?
Well the Devils won 12 shootouts that season.
I wrote a post that year about how automatic they were.
Zach Parise went first.
Ilya Kovalchuk went second.
If needed, Patrik Elias sealed the deal in the three spot.
And Marty Brodeur was a wall.
That combination led to 12 extra points in the standings. Had the Devils gone 0-12 they would have missed the playoffs that season.
But what were the chances that the Devils would go 0-12 in the shootout? How could that possibly happen that the Devils don't win a single shootout and miss the playoffs because of it?
Let me introduce you to the Devils' 2013-2014 season.
0-13.
Islanders (no goals)
Oilers (no goals)
Canucks (no goals)
Maple Leafs (no goals)
Canadiens (Reid Boucher)
Blue Jackets (no goals)
Maple Leafs (no goals)
Avalanche (no goals)
Coyotes (no goals)
Islanders (no goals)
Sabres (Jacob Josefson and Jaromir Jagr)
Islanders (Damien Brunner)
Senators
13 points. Simply left on the table. The Devils will miss the playoffs by less than 5.
If the Devils were half way decent in the shootout this year, they'd be a playoff team.
So what's gone wrong?
Well we'll start with the scoring. The Devils are 4-45 in the one on one competition this season.
You want to hear a scary stat?
THE DEVILS SHOOTING PERCENTAGE IN THE SHOOTOUT AND IN REGULATION IS ALMOST IDENTICAL!!! (8.9%)
That's actually impossible. When 1 player has the puck against the goalie with nobody else on the ice, you should be able to score more successfully than when you also have to deal with 5 defenders.
Scoring is tough to figure out because the Devils have guys who were historically good in the shootout. Patrik Elias was always a pretty good weapon but is somehow 0-8. Travis Zajac is 0-6. Adam Henrique and Ryan Clower 0-5. Jaromir Jagr 1-6.
It's an enigma.
The goaltending has also been mediocre. Martin Brodeur, in what may be his last season, is simply too slow and players just skate in fast and shoot high, a move that's just too quick for Brodeur to catch up too. Cory Schneider too hasn't been able to keep them alive in the shootout, giving up a goal on the opposition's first attempt all too often.
Had the Devils just won 5 of their shootouts, they're a playoff team. Instead, now they have to figure out where to go from here.
1) Nathan Horton Phantom Goal
If you watch the NHL highlights of the Columbus-Dallas game from April 9th, you'll notice some bizarre stuff.
If you recall, Rich Peverley had an emergency situation on the bench last month (The Story of the Month from March). The game was ultimately postponed but with a 1-0 lead for Columbus.
The game was to be played from the beginning but with that one goal lead by the Blue Jackets. The one interesting thing though is that Columbus forward Nathan Horton was injured and therefore couldn't play in the makeup game. This made things interesting because he was the goal scorer.
Therefore we had a situation where he was going to be credited for a goal in a game he technically didn't play in.
Not only that, but since there are no carried over stats from the previous meeting, the penalty that led to the powerplay goal doesn't count so Horton's PPG is now simply an even strengthed goal.
I'm sure Alex Ovechkin would have been willing to make that trade too.
STORY OF THE MONTH
The one occurrence that shook the hockey world
Last November, a lawsuit was presented to the NHL regarding how the league dealt with concussions.
This whole thing was beaten to death back then.
So when I heard that yet another suit was being brought to the NHL, I thought "here we go again".
But it turns out this one was hilariously put together.
It's almost embarrassing some of the things that are in it and several analysts say it might not even be a legitimate case.
Puck Daddy already beat me to it, but here are some of the ridiculous things inside the law suit.
First of all, one of the players in the lawsuit is the brother of two of the Hanson Brothers from the hit movie Slap Shot. Y'know, the movie where these three goons just go around headshotting people.
Good start.
Next, they mention that Gordie Howe died in 2009.
Gordie's alive and well.
They also misspell the word "medal" when listing Paul Kariya's achievements. They misspell Sidney Crosby's name. They bring proofs from movies.
I'm not going to get into it, but these lawsuits seem to be a desperate grab at money for former players. To say they didn't know the risks of injury when they started their careers is insane. That being said, I have Dan LaCouture's autograph from when he was with the Devils so if he wins this case, I could see that hockey puck going up in value.
TOP 5 "WOW! OH BABY!" MOMENTS
It was just 13 days of action but we do have 3 great plays.
3) Jamie Benn Leaps To Open Ice, Scores
Great goal in a fantastic season for Benn. Saw the opening and went for it with a great finish.
2) Zemgus Girgensons (double checks spelling) Nifty Deke
Remember this name, because this kid's gonna be great one day. That is..if you can pronounce it.
Great toe-drag between the legs and then a smooth finish. A rare happy moment in Buffalo.
1) Marc-Andre Fleury Pulls a Hasek
The windmill leg save was something that Dominik Hasek started. This is Fleury's best impersonation, I suppose.
But the question remains. Is this the nicest shootout save ever or just the worst poke check attempt ever. Hmmmm.
PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS
This year I'm not going to make a big post with each round prediction but I'll write a small preview here.
DETROIT RED WINGS VS BOSTON BRUINS
Bruins in 5
Red Wings are still missing some key parts and the Bruins are the team to beat this season. They're built to win hockey games with their size, skill, and goaltending. The Bruins are just too strong for the pesky Red Wings.
MONTREAL CANADIENS VS TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
Canadiens in 6
The Canadiens are feeling optimistic this year and they have a well balanced team this season and with Carey Price zoned in they're feeling a long run coming. The upstart Lightning will most likely be without goalie Ben Bishop and without him they don't have much of a prayer. That being said, they're speedy and talented forwards might be enough to cause some headaches.
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS VS PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
Penguins in 6
Yes, we know Marc-Andre Fleury has been nothing short of a sieve the past 2 post seasons but this season will be different as the Penguins need to get past the first round this year. This is an underrated rivalry that's about to erupt. Steelers-Browns/Bengals, Pirates-Reds, Penn St.-Ohio St. and finally Blue Jackets-Penguins. The Jackets can bring the heat and this could be an interesting series to follow.
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS VS NEW YORK RANGERS
Rangers in 7
The Flyers exploded in the second half of the season and really pushed things after their slow start to the season. They've been getting good play from their forwards but I think home ice will win this one for the Rangers. The Rangers unloaded in order to get Marty St. Louis here and their scoring will need to pick things up in this series. Expect a physical blood bath.
MINNESOTA WILD VS COLORADO AVALANCHE
Avalanche in 7
A rematch of the 2003 classic, I think Colorado will take this one. They're fast-paced play has been difficult to stop all season and Patrick Roy has these guys playing well. Minnesota was money down the stretch but it'll be tough for them to go the distance against this talented, young team.
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS VS ST. LOUIS BLUES
Blackhawks in 7
David Backes, TJ Oshie, Patrik Berglund, Vladimir Sobotka, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Brenden Morrow all missed the end of the season with injuries. As of this point, it's unclear who'll be ready in time for the opening round but the Blues well-oiled machine might be in trouble if they're missing all these important players. However, their well-structured team will put up a great fight but I still think the defending champs will be too great for them. This will be the best series of the first round, hands down.
DALLAS STARS VS ANAHEIM DUCKS
Ducks in 6
I really like the Dallas Stars this year. They're a fast-paced, offense-first team that can really cause some teams problems. However, I just don't think they have the depth to keep it going for a full series. I've always liked the way Anaheim built their team and they were simply second to none in the West this season.
LOS ANGELES KINGS VS SAN JOSE SHARKS
Sharks in 7
From the beginning of the season I had the Sharks winning the Cup but this is a tough first round opponent to be matched up with. The Los Angeles Kings are a team built for postseason hockey and they look pretty intimidating once again. They added Marian Gaborik at the trade deadline, a move that only made them stronger.
I'm picking the Sharks only because I stick with my picks. But the Kings can easily take this series.
But before we get to the playoffs, we still have those 12 days of action to dissect. So here we go.
Atlantic
Boston Bruins- 54-19-9; 117 points
Tampa Bay Lightning- 46-27-9; 99 points
Montreal Canadiens- 46-28-8; 100 points
Metropolitan
Pittsburgh Penguins- 51-24-7; 109 points
New York Rangers- 45-31-6; 96 points
Philadelphia Flyers- 42-30-10; 94 points
Philadelphia Flyers- 42-30-10; 94 points
Columbus Blue Jackets- 43-32-7; 93 points
Detroit Red Wings- 39-28-15; 93 points
_________________________________________________________________________________
Washington Capitals- 38-30-14; 90 points
New Jersey Devils- 35-29-18; 88 points
Ottawa Senators- 37-31-14; 88 points
Toronto Maple Leafs- 38-36-8; 84 points
Carolina Hurricanes- 36-35-11; 83 points
Florida Panthers- 29-45-8; 66 points
Buffalo Sabres- 21-51-10; 52 points
WEST
Central
Colorado Avalanche- 52-22-8; 112 points
St. Louis Blues- 52-23-7; 111 points
Chicago Blackhawks- 46-21-15; 107 points
Pacific
Anaheim Ducks- 54-20-8; 116 points
San Jose Sharks- 51-22-9; 111 points
Los Angeles Kings- 46-28-8; 100 points
Los Angeles Kings- 46-28-8; 100 points
Wild Card
Minnesota Wild- 43-27-12; 98 points
Dallas Stars- 40-31-11; 91 points
_________________________________________________________________________________
Phoenix Coyotes- 37-30-15; 89 points
Nashville Predators- 38-32-12; 88 points
Winnipeg Jets- 37-35-10; 84 points
Vancouver Canucks- 36-35-11; 83 points
Calgary Flames- 35-40-7; 77 points
Edmonton Oilers- 29-44-9; 67 points
2 POSITIVE SURPRISES
Two things that shook the hockey world, in a good way
PLAYOFF FORMAT WAS A HUGE SUCCESS
Many people were skeptical going into this year because of the Division realignment and new playoff format. Hockey fans generally don't like change and always prefer things kept the way it was. After all, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
But we already see the major benefits of the divisional playoff rounds as we have a ton of heavy rivalry series right off the bat.
We have the New York Rangers facing off against the Philadelphia Flyers, the San Jose Sharks against the Los Angeles Kings, a Blackhawaks-Blues series, and an exciting Detroit Red Wings-Boston Bruins matchup. This was exactly what the NHL was hoping to start up with this new format and in the first year they were successful. This new style will indubitably produce more exciting rounds for years to come and we have a lot to look forward to.
NYPD vs FDNY BRAWL
These kinds of charity games are all the same. People show up kind of excited, sit through a generally boring game, and then clap for the players at the end and go home unsatisfied but somewhat happy that you went.
This was not the case for the fans who attended the New York Police Department vs Fire Department of New York game.
Pretty much every interview with the players after the game was jovial and there were many references to Old Time Hockey from '70s.
FDNY pulled out an 8-5 victory, snapping a 5 year losing streak.
I'll tell you one thing. This was great for publicity and I intend on buying tickets to this next year.
2 NEGATIVE SURPRISES
Two things that shook the hockey world, in a bad way
RJ UMBERGER INJURY
One thing that's well documented on this blog is that I love RJ Umberger. A talented player who doesn't get much recognition, Umberger is simply a player that you can't find a reason to hate. This year he has 18 goals in 74 games and has helped lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to the post season for the first time in five years.
And RJ Umberger made it 78 games this season before getting hurt.
You gotta feel for the guy. I wrote a post a couple of years ago documenting his terrible luck and I guess he still hasn't escaped his troubled past.
Umberger is out for 2 weeks with an upper body injury and might miss the playoffs if Columbus makes a quick exit, something that we've seen before.
I hope RJ Umberger a speedy recovery because, c'mon people, this is getting ridiculous.
ALEX OVECHKIN NEEDS NEW XBOX BATTERIES
It might be the best .gif of all time. In a playoff series with the New York Rangers, Alex Ovechkin was seen looking indifferent on a Rangers goal and it quickly became this.
Well in a crucial playoff game against the Dallas Stars, it seems that Ovechkin simply gave up on another play that resulted in an opposition goal.
TOP 5 MOMENTS
5) Vernon Fiddler Falls But Still Scores
The Dallas Stars were fighting for a wild card spot and needed points really badly. They couldn't waste any opportunity.
And Vernon Fiddler knew this when he fell down in his shootout attempt vs Nashville. So he knew he had to get up and finish his attempt.
So he did.
Somewhere, Devin Setoguchi and Dennis Wideman wonder if they could have finished their attemps...
4) Alex Ovechkin's Drought
Alex Ovechkin has downright impressive stats this season. 51 goals, 79 points, 24 powerplay goals, and, wait what? -35?
How could someone who scores so much end up with so many minus ratings?
It's because for a long period of time Alex Ovechkin did not have a single even strengthed goal.
Between February 27th and April 4th, Ovi didn't register a single even strengthed goal. He finally got one in a 2-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils. He went 16 games without an EV tally.
Ovechkin is an enigma. Simple as that.
3) Justin Holl Buzzer Beater Goal For Minnesota
If you're a hockey fan, you might be aware that the NCAA Frozen Four College hockey tournament just finished and brought some excellent hockey and memories with it.
I'm not going to pretend I know anything about College Hockey (like I pretended to know about the KHL a couple of years ago!). If you want the extensive preview of the tournament, just read Ryan Lambert's post on Puck Daddy.
One highlight of the tourny was when the Minnesota Golden Gophers were faced off with the North Dakota
But seriously. A shorthanded goal as time expired to send your team to the National Title game.
Doesn't get any better than that.
2) Ilya Bryzgalov Doesn't Surprise Anyone
Ilya Bryzgalov has a history with the city of Winnipeg.
During his stay in Phoenix, the topic of the team relocating to Winnipeg came up and he said he wouldn't play there because of the lack of parks and Russian people.
Ever since that famous statement, whenever Bryzgalov team plays in the Peg, the fans torment him throughout the contest with their "Illlllyaaaaaa" chants.
Well if you haven't noticed, Ilya Bryzgalov and the Minnesota Wild have been on an incredible hot streak. Since joining Minnesota during their playoff run, Bryz is an impressive 7-0-3 allowing just 17 goals. He's the sole reason the Wild are sitting in a playoff spot right now.
And he's been playing with confidence, as you can see in the next video.
Gotta love the sequence where he pumps up his arms right as Zach Redmond unleashes a slap shot which Bryzgalov just eats up. And then we see that huge grin under Bryzgalov's mask which just tells us that he's got everything under control.
Bryzgalov got the shutout that night, by the way.
1) Ryan O'Reilly Snaps Streak As He Snaps His Stick
I love Ryan O'Reilly. He's one of those players that plays the game right. He plays hard in all three zones and is a promising player for the Colorado Avalanche.
Also he's incredibly clean.
How clean you might ask?
Well it took 71 games for him to finally get a penalty. And even that penalty was really, really lame.
For those of you who couldn't figure it out, there's a penalty for continuing to play while holding a broken stick. O'Reilly was so focussed on winning the faceoff (just one of those small things that he makes sure to do correctly), he didn't even realise that his blade broke off. Once he figured it out, he dropped his stick but it was too late.
He was later asked about the incident.
TOP 5 OBSERVATIONS
5) Keep Tweeting Your Injuries!
At the beginning of the month, Mitch Callahan of the Grand Rapids Griffins gained a few Twitter followers after tweeting a picture of his face after a pretty disgusting injury.
Ouch pic.twitter.com/8DfILryNg7
— Mitch Callahan (@Mcally15) April 3, 2014
Some people chastised him, saying that a social media site is no place for something so gruesome and painful.
Well they're wrong.
And Callahan continued referencing the injury with some creative ways.
But that wasn't it. Christian Erhoff wanted in on the action after he got hit in the ear with the puck.
WARNING, graphic images! #pucktoear #about40stitches #toughdayattheoffice #greatjobdoc pic.twitter.com/lnroJFY8EG
— Christian Ehrhoff (@TheRealHoff10) April 7, 2014
So remember hockey players. If you got any cool injuries, make sure to tweet them out for the whole world to see.
4) Halak Decides He'd Rather Not
The Washington Capitals have always had a goaltending problem. They've gone through many young goalies for a couple of seasons but they just were never able to get deep into the playoffs.
Last year they thought they finally solved this problem when Brayden Holtby stood on his head. But this season showed a different, ugly side of their alleged future netminder.
That's when the Capitals remembered how they're 2010 playoff run ended.
A 7 game series loss to Jaroslav Halak and Michael Cammalleri.
So the Capitals snagged Halak at the trade deadline and hoped that he would lead them down the stretch and help them into the playoffs.
So it seemed pretty odd that Halak sat in a pivotal game against the St. Louis Blues on April 8th.
According to a source, Halak asked coach Adam Oates if he could sit on the bench instead of facing his former employer with their playoff lives on the line.
I'll say it right now that Halak is lucky they won this game. Otherwise, I can't imagine how much more heat he would have received from the Washington faithful.
There are two sides to this argument.
The first side says that Washington went out and gave up a lot in order for Halak to PLAY HOCKEY FOR THEM DOWN THE STRETCH. That means that Halak actually has to PLAY THOSE GAMES.
The fact that he was in St. Louis for four years doesn't mean anything because they paid the price for him to be on their team and they desperately needed him to step up for them.
The other side says that Halak did the right thing. He knows that his head won't be where it should be in this pivotal game and he doesn't want to jeopardize the Capitals' chances, knowing that he might not be on his game.
But what's interesting here is that Adam Oates once again threw his player under the bus. Up top, I wrote about how Ovechkin quit on the play and Adam Oates chewed him out because of it. Here again, Oates is putting the pressure on his player for doing wrong. For a player to have a feeling that his coach doesn't have his back isn't a good situation.
Oates is a young coach and I'm sure he'll figure out the right things to do later in his career but some interesting moves to put his players in the negative spotlight.
The Caps missed the playoffs, by the way.
3) Brendan Shanahan Changes Jobs
Say goodbye to Rule 48 and say hello to your new President of the Toronto Maple Leafs. After 3 seasons of being the highly recognised Head of Department of Player Safter, Brendan Shanahan has been hired by the Maple Leafs in a senior position. He begins the job immediately.
Here's where things get interesting. Should the Maple Leafs have been allowed to negotiate with Shanahan during the season while Shanahan was still in charge of giving out punishments? Seems a little odd that Shanny was still allowed to take job offers while still making major decisions.
Do you remember the previous Department of Player Safety?
It was Colin Campbell. And if you remember, there was ALWAYS controversy surrounding the fact that Colin Campbell's son was on the oft-suspended Boston Bruins team and people always feared there was some foul play going on with that connection.
So why would the NHL risk any more controversy here? Why not just wait for the season to end before negotiating a new job offer?
Well, whatever the case, Shanahan should be pretty good in his new role and let's just say it. The minute a player on the Leafs gets penalized for Rule 48, let's just say he's going to have a 1 on 1 meeting with the President.
2) The Devils Even Out
Flashback time. It's 2012. The New Jersey Devils are the 6 seed in the Eastern Conference with an impressive 102 points.
How did the Devils accumulate 102 points, you ask?
Well the Devils won 12 shootouts that season.
I wrote a post that year about how automatic they were.
Zach Parise went first.
Ilya Kovalchuk went second.
If needed, Patrik Elias sealed the deal in the three spot.
And Marty Brodeur was a wall.
That combination led to 12 extra points in the standings. Had the Devils gone 0-12 they would have missed the playoffs that season.
But what were the chances that the Devils would go 0-12 in the shootout? How could that possibly happen that the Devils don't win a single shootout and miss the playoffs because of it?
Let me introduce you to the Devils' 2013-2014 season.
0-13.
Islanders (no goals)
Oilers (no goals)
Canucks (no goals)
Maple Leafs (no goals)
Canadiens (Reid Boucher)
Blue Jackets (no goals)
Maple Leafs (no goals)
Avalanche (no goals)
Coyotes (no goals)
Islanders (no goals)
Sabres (Jacob Josefson and Jaromir Jagr)
Islanders (Damien Brunner)
Senators
13 points. Simply left on the table. The Devils will miss the playoffs by less than 5.
If the Devils were half way decent in the shootout this year, they'd be a playoff team.
So what's gone wrong?
Well we'll start with the scoring. The Devils are 4-45 in the one on one competition this season.
You want to hear a scary stat?
THE DEVILS SHOOTING PERCENTAGE IN THE SHOOTOUT AND IN REGULATION IS ALMOST IDENTICAL!!! (8.9%)
That's actually impossible. When 1 player has the puck against the goalie with nobody else on the ice, you should be able to score more successfully than when you also have to deal with 5 defenders.
Scoring is tough to figure out because the Devils have guys who were historically good in the shootout. Patrik Elias was always a pretty good weapon but is somehow 0-8. Travis Zajac is 0-6. Adam Henrique and Ryan Clower 0-5. Jaromir Jagr 1-6.
It's an enigma.
The goaltending has also been mediocre. Martin Brodeur, in what may be his last season, is simply too slow and players just skate in fast and shoot high, a move that's just too quick for Brodeur to catch up too. Cory Schneider too hasn't been able to keep them alive in the shootout, giving up a goal on the opposition's first attempt all too often.
Had the Devils just won 5 of their shootouts, they're a playoff team. Instead, now they have to figure out where to go from here.
1) Nathan Horton Phantom Goal
If you watch the NHL highlights of the Columbus-Dallas game from April 9th, you'll notice some bizarre stuff.
If you recall, Rich Peverley had an emergency situation on the bench last month (The Story of the Month from March). The game was ultimately postponed but with a 1-0 lead for Columbus.
The game was to be played from the beginning but with that one goal lead by the Blue Jackets. The one interesting thing though is that Columbus forward Nathan Horton was injured and therefore couldn't play in the makeup game. This made things interesting because he was the goal scorer.
Therefore we had a situation where he was going to be credited for a goal in a game he technically didn't play in.
Not only that, but since there are no carried over stats from the previous meeting, the penalty that led to the powerplay goal doesn't count so Horton's PPG is now simply an even strengthed goal.
I'm sure Alex Ovechkin would have been willing to make that trade too.
STORY OF THE MONTH
The one occurrence that shook the hockey world
Last November, a lawsuit was presented to the NHL regarding how the league dealt with concussions.
This whole thing was beaten to death back then.
So when I heard that yet another suit was being brought to the NHL, I thought "here we go again".
But it turns out this one was hilariously put together.
It's almost embarrassing some of the things that are in it and several analysts say it might not even be a legitimate case.
Puck Daddy already beat me to it, but here are some of the ridiculous things inside the law suit.
First of all, one of the players in the lawsuit is the brother of two of the Hanson Brothers from the hit movie Slap Shot. Y'know, the movie where these three goons just go around headshotting people.
Good start.
Next, they mention that Gordie Howe died in 2009.
Gordie's alive and well.
They also misspell the word "medal" when listing Paul Kariya's achievements. They misspell Sidney Crosby's name. They bring proofs from movies.
I'm not going to get into it, but these lawsuits seem to be a desperate grab at money for former players. To say they didn't know the risks of injury when they started their careers is insane. That being said, I have Dan LaCouture's autograph from when he was with the Devils so if he wins this case, I could see that hockey puck going up in value.
TOP 5 "WOW! OH BABY!" MOMENTS
3) Jamie Benn Leaps To Open Ice, Scores
2) Zemgus Girgensons (double checks spelling) Nifty Deke
Great toe-drag between the legs and then a smooth finish. A rare happy moment in Buffalo.
1) Marc-Andre Fleury Pulls a Hasek
But the question remains. Is this the nicest shootout save ever or just the worst poke check attempt ever. Hmmmm.
PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS
This year I'm not going to make a big post with each round prediction but I'll write a small preview here.
DETROIT RED WINGS VS BOSTON BRUINS
Bruins in 5
Red Wings are still missing some key parts and the Bruins are the team to beat this season. They're built to win hockey games with their size, skill, and goaltending. The Bruins are just too strong for the pesky Red Wings.
MONTREAL CANADIENS VS TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
Canadiens in 6
The Canadiens are feeling optimistic this year and they have a well balanced team this season and with Carey Price zoned in they're feeling a long run coming. The upstart Lightning will most likely be without goalie Ben Bishop and without him they don't have much of a prayer. That being said, they're speedy and talented forwards might be enough to cause some headaches.
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS VS PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
Penguins in 6
Yes, we know Marc-Andre Fleury has been nothing short of a sieve the past 2 post seasons but this season will be different as the Penguins need to get past the first round this year. This is an underrated rivalry that's about to erupt. Steelers-Browns/Bengals, Pirates-Reds, Penn St.-Ohio St. and finally Blue Jackets-Penguins. The Jackets can bring the heat and this could be an interesting series to follow.
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS VS NEW YORK RANGERS
Rangers in 7
The Flyers exploded in the second half of the season and really pushed things after their slow start to the season. They've been getting good play from their forwards but I think home ice will win this one for the Rangers. The Rangers unloaded in order to get Marty St. Louis here and their scoring will need to pick things up in this series. Expect a physical blood bath.
MINNESOTA WILD VS COLORADO AVALANCHE
Avalanche in 7
A rematch of the 2003 classic, I think Colorado will take this one. They're fast-paced play has been difficult to stop all season and Patrick Roy has these guys playing well. Minnesota was money down the stretch but it'll be tough for them to go the distance against this talented, young team.
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS VS ST. LOUIS BLUES
Blackhawks in 7
David Backes, TJ Oshie, Patrik Berglund, Vladimir Sobotka, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Brenden Morrow all missed the end of the season with injuries. As of this point, it's unclear who'll be ready in time for the opening round but the Blues well-oiled machine might be in trouble if they're missing all these important players. However, their well-structured team will put up a great fight but I still think the defending champs will be too great for them. This will be the best series of the first round, hands down.
DALLAS STARS VS ANAHEIM DUCKS
Ducks in 6
I really like the Dallas Stars this year. They're a fast-paced, offense-first team that can really cause some teams problems. However, I just don't think they have the depth to keep it going for a full series. I've always liked the way Anaheim built their team and they were simply second to none in the West this season.
LOS ANGELES KINGS VS SAN JOSE SHARKS
Sharks in 7
From the beginning of the season I had the Sharks winning the Cup but this is a tough first round opponent to be matched up with. The Los Angeles Kings are a team built for postseason hockey and they look pretty intimidating once again. They added Marian Gaborik at the trade deadline, a move that only made them stronger.
I'm picking the Sharks only because I stick with my picks. But the Kings can easily take this series.
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