Throughout the offseason, most hockey personalities, when discussing good picks for fantasy hockey, would almost always mention Jamie Benn's name. Jamie Benn is in his third season with Dallas and the Left Winger has been pretty impressive so far in his career. He scored 56 points in just 69 games last season and maintains a clear level of skill.
Going into my fantasy hockey drafts I figured I'd snag Benn in the latter rounds of the draft but to my surprise, he was selected early. In fact, I was only able to draft Benn in one of my three fantasy leagues. In the other two, he was gone before I had the chance to select him. I've tried proposing trades to get him back but so far the owners wouldn't accept any offer for him.
Well last night, Jamie Benn scored what might be in the top 10 goals of the year. Watch:
What I love about this goal is that most goals of the year come from a player dancing through a crowd of players and usually the only quality you see in that player is his skill. With this goal, you see Benn's skill (batting it out of mid air and then eventually a quick move on the goaltender followed by shelfing it), but you also see his effort. He had to work pretty hard to get it deep and once there, he put on a heavy forecheck in order to get the puck back. In my opinion, that quick poke check was the best part of the goal.
Now will it end up being the goal of the year? Probably not. As I've mentioned before, the NHL filled with talent and it's only a matter of time before someone scores a beauty. But this one should definitely be recognized for it's great effort.
-After we saw the touching memorial by the Jets for Rick Rypien, it was Vancouver's turn to honour their former player. First, I'd like you to read a touching article about Rypien right here. But last night against the Rangers the Canucks had a presentation of their own; this one a bit more emotional.
And in case you want them, here are the lyrics to the song that was playing (It's Not Easy To Be Me by Five For Fighting). This tribute speaks for itself and Rick Rypien will truly be missed.
-The Bruins got what they asked for. Their "style" of hockey is known to be physical and explosive. Their fans are often arrogant and their players are often dirty. Well they got what they deserved last night. A night where 6 of their players combined for 68 penalty minutes, a night where the oblivious Bruins announcer actually couldn't understand why some of the penalties were called, a night where the Bruins coach, the one that's supposed to control his team, got ejected, and a night where the sometimes moronic Bruin fans littered the ice with bottles. Well here's the video showing all of the altercations. The Hurricanes capitalized when they needed and thankfully the Bruins lost 4-1. If only it could have been more.
-Last year NHL fans were given a treat in the Conference Finals. The Lightning-Bruins series was physical and filled with exciting hockey and the Sharks-Canucks series was filled with plenty of offense and big goals. Well this season all four of those teams aren't playing so well. Last night, Vancouver and Boston lost making the four teams from last year's conference finals a combined record of 6 wins and 16 losses. But don't panic because all of those teams are pretty good and I'm certain they'll bounce back.
Note: In case you missed it, here is my summary of the 2011 NHL playoffs!
When thinking about what to write about these NHL playoffs, I realized how great they were this year. It had classic overtime thrillers and low scoring matches and there wasn’t a game that was lacking in action. In addition, there were four first round series that went the distance. 3 of the 4 7 game series were from the Eastern Conference. The one Western Conference series we saw the Blackhawks almost come back from down 3 games to none and forced a game 7 in Vancouver. That game 7 was probably the best game of the first round playoffs and saw a late game tying goal by Jonathan Toews to send the game to overtime. There, Alex Burrows scored the goal for Vancouver and the Canucks finally beat the Blackhawks in the playoffs (who have beaten them the previous 2 years in the first round).
The great first round series with the Canadiens and the Bruins was also an instant classic. The Canadiens too tied the game late on the powerplay and sent the game into overtime. There, Nathan Horton scored the goal for Boston and ended the series between these 2 great rivals.
The Penguins were leading the series against the Lightning 3 games to 1 before Steven Stamkos came alive and brought the Lightning back in the series before Dwayne Roloson shut out the Pens in game 7.
The Flyers also won their series in 7 games.
So the first round in all, their were 9 days in a row of overtime games and 14 games in all. This is 1 short of the record that was set in 2001 when there were 15 overtime games in the first round. Their four game 7’s were a rarity as well.
Though the second round wasn’t as magical, it still had its moments. The Nashville Predators made everyone believe in them against the favoured Vancouver team. You wanted the series to go 7 games just so the Preds would have a chance at the upset but the Canucks were able to finish up their business in 6 games.
The Sharks almost choked again in the playoffs, this time almost blowing a 3 games to none lead against the Detroit Red Wings. The historic Red Wings battled well and just barely lost the game 7 in San Jose’.
The Eastern Conference series finished pretty quickly. The Capitals continued their playoff struggles and Tampa Bay walked all over them and swept the series.
Last year the Flyers came back against Boston from down 3 games to none and won the series. This year they found themselves down 3 games to none once again but Boston made sure to win the series in 4.
In the Conference finals, The Canucks and the Sharks were both facing ‘choking’ tendencies that they would have to overcome. The Canucks started off strong and won the first 2 games convincingly. The Sharks put up a fight for games 3 and 4 but only managed to win one of those games and Vancouver went on to win in 5 games.
The Lightning were hot and were on a 7 game winning streak going into the series with Boston. The series went back and forth with both teams gaining and losing momentum. At the end of the day, however, the Bruins were just too strong and beat the Lightning in 7 games.
This set up a historic Stanley Cup Finals matchup. The Boston Bruins, a team who won their last Stanley Cup in 1972, and the Vancouver Canucks, a team that hasn’t won a cup in their existence, since 1970.
Game 1 was very close and it took 59 minutes and 42 seconds for the first goal to be scored. The Canucks cast the first stone of the series. And now you suspected how the series was going to go. Most likely it would be a very low scoring series with great goaltender. If you thought that, you’d be correct with a little less than half of the games.
In game 2, it was still pretty low scoring. The teams went back and forth exchanging leads and the game eventually went to overtime. Just 11 seconds into the extra frame, Tim Thomas gives up a goal he would like to have back and Alex Burrows’ wrap-around gave the Canucks a solid 2-0 series lead.
Game 3 was when it all changed. Aaron Rome, a defenseman on the Canucks, leveled Nathan Horton of the Bruins. Horton wasn’t moving for several minutes and the Bruin fans were upset and once the game continued they rallied behind their team and perhaps gave them the extra push they needed.
And because of the change of attitude of the Bruin players and fans because of the giant hit (which resulted in the suspension of Rome, and the ‘severe’ concussion for Horton which ended his series), the Bruins routed the Canucks on home ice in games 3 and games 4 and outscored them 12-1 in those 2 games.
So now you’d think the Bruins will easily win the next two games and get the cup right?
Well the Canucks were able to muster up another 1 goal win on home ice.
So back in Boston, the Canucks struggled again and lost 5-2.
This set up a highly anticipated game 7 matchup. This game brought in the most views for a game 7 hockey game since 2003 where a New Yorkmarket team (the Devils) faced off against a Los Angeles market team (the Mighty Ducks). Not only that, THE VIEWS FROM CANADA DON’T FACTOR INTO THIS. The Canadian channel (CBC) was not connected to the views of that from NBC, the channel that had the game in America. So the fact that there was a Canadian team in the game and the viewers north of the border didn’t even factor into the equation is something remarkable for the NHL. The reason for this climb was because of the lovely fans from Boston. In Boston, game 7 had a 43.4 rating and a 64 share (meaning that 64% of televisions in Boston were tuned in for game 7). This was the best rating for a hockey game in Boston AND, get this, it was the most viewed sporting program featuring a Boston team since the Patriot’s Super Bowl. And wait, it doesn’t stop there. The average views from the 7 games (INCLUDING the 2 games that was on Versus which is not a big market channel) were HIGHER than the average of the 7 games of the NBA finals when the Celtics were involved. Once again, another sign that hockey is making a comeback.
So back to the game. The first period of game 7 was one of the most action-packed periods of the playoffs. Vancouver did a pretty good job controlling play while both teams had their fair share of chances. Then the Bruins attacked. First it was Patrice Bergeron, and then eventually, the pest, Brad Marchand, got a goal as well. And before you knew it, the Bruins were ahead 4-0 and would go on to win the game.
And then of course there was celebrating on one end and rioting and sadness on the other.
So to sum up the last few weeks of playoff action I’ll say this:
There was goal scoring, there were great saves, there were hard hits. Also, there were some cheap shots, some suspensions, and some diving. But at the end of the day hockey is hockey. And this year, I truly believe, we saw hockey at its best.
Just some notes: They said that the team will remain in the southeast division. Winnipeg is about in the middle of Canada and just above Minnesota. So that means teams like the Lightning, Panthers and Hurricanes. The trip from Tampa Bay to Winnipeg? It's 1109.6 miles (kudos to mapquest for giving me the number). This is a ridiculous journey for any of the southern teams (6 games between division teams) so I'm almost certain that they'll adjust divisions after this year.
Another thing is that they still haven't announced on the name of the team. The Manitoba Moose are reportedly leaving Manitoba and might move to St. Johns so the possible Manitoba or even Winnipeg Moose is available. Another possibility will be changing the name back to the Jets. There was only one time in NHL history where a team kept its name after moving. The Atlanta Flames became the Calgary Flames. But I still don't think they'll keep it this time around. Also the name "Falcons" are available and Falcons is pretty badass. If it were up to me though, I'd keep it as the Jets. Once again I'll keep you kind people updated.
Situation: Well we remember game 6 where Mr. Nathan Horton was involved in some controversy http://robinsnest-yoro.blogspot.com/2011/05/possible-suspension-for-bruins-for-game.html. Once again, he wasn't suspended for doing something written explicitly in the NHL rule book. Well how does he get re-compensated for his actions in game 6? WHAT???? A GAME WINNING GOAL TO PROPEL HIS TEAM TO THE STANLEY CUP FINALS?!?!?!?! WHAT IS THIS?!?!?!
Yes. Believe it or not, Nathan Horton continued his timely goal scoring this postseason with the only goal in game 7 in the 3rd period and because of him, Boston made it to the Stanley Cup Finals defeating the Lightning in 7 games.
video courtesy to bestdanghockeygoals. like him on facebook
This type of thing kind of makes you scratch your head. How someone can succeed after such a childish immature act.
In the mean time, while the hockey gods ignored their duty with Nathan Horton (just received word tonight, the day after game 7, that Horton was fined an undisclosed amount. Pfff. Big deal. That's like receiving a free Porsche but you have to pay for the tires. He just made it to the Stanley Cup Finals. I'm sure he doesn't mind paying a small sum), they ignored another chance to do good. Tampa Bay Surperstar, Steven Stamkos, was struck in the head with a puck during the second period of game 7. Stamkos went down immediately and skated off the ice in a bloody mess. Well hockey is toughest sport on earth with BY FAR the most competitive and tough players. Stamkos barely missed a shift and was back on the ice just 5 minutes later wearing a cage on his mask.
video courtesy to NHL
Now let me ask you something. Wouldn't it be fitting that a player who gives it his all, and plays through a brutal injury such as Steven Stamkos', wouldn't it be fitting that HE is the one to score a game winning goal? This would be the perfect scenario for a fairy tale-type team to make it to the finals. Just look at these photos of Stamkos and tell me he didn't deserve to win based on suffering alone:
But the hockey gods disappeared on us and now the Boston Bruins, the diving hypocrites, are in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Well the schedule is set for the final round. Regardless of who wins the game 7 between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Boston Bruins to face the Vancouver Canucks, this is the schedule of the games:
all times Eastern all channels American *denotes if necessary
Game 1: Wednesday, June 1st: @Van 8:00 PM, NBC
Game 2: Saturday, June 4th: @Van 8:00 PM, NBC
Game 3: Monday, June 6th: @Bos/Tbl 8:00 PM, VERSUS
Game 4: Wednesday, June 8th: @Bos/Tbl 8:00 PM, VERSUS
*Game 5: Friday, June 10th: @Van 8:00 PM, NBC
*Game 6: Monday, June 13th: @Bos/Tbl 8:00 PM, NBC
*Game 7: Wednesday, June 15th: @Van 8:00 PM, NBC
So a couple of notes. First off, regardless of the matchup, there'll be a far journey to either arena. Look at this map. Vancouver is upper west part of the map in British Columbia while Boston and Tampa are all the way on the East coast.
I apologize for the Thrashers still being in Atlanta in this picture. No updated photos yet.
Between games 2 and 3, there is only 1 day off for travel and rest. As a matter of fact, the only time there isn't a 1 day rest is between games 1 and 2 and between games 5 and 6. This may benefit the team in the east. First off, either team (between Boston and Tampa) will be tired from their 7 game Conference Finals series. So a day off early on in the series (between games 1 and 2) might help that team. Also, an extra day of rest, late in the series, right before a home game is also a great advantage. So in that case, the East has the favorable set up.
Also, none of these games conflict with the NBA finals. Apparently some people would rather watch basketball in this country instead of watching a playoff hockey game. But they avoid the competition this year.
Furthermore, only 2 games are on NBC so that should help with the views as well.
One last thing. These finals go legitimately far into the month of June which isn't always the case. So look forward to intense hockey into the Summer!
After game 6's victory, Tampa fans threw their clapper paddle images on the ice in celebration.
This is common in NHL playoff games where fans throw towels or whatever is given out at the game onto the ice. There's no real reason for it but it's just something to do for the fans I guess.
Well Bruins players didn't appreciate this. While having towels thrown at you (which is usually the case) is harmless, these paddles are probably a little harder and might sting a little if hit by one (just ask David Krejci).
Well one Bruin player, Nathan Horton, decided to do something about this. While skating off the ice, he took a gatorade bottle from the bench and quirted liquid at a fan and then threw the water bottle at him. Here's the video:
Happens at the 1:30 mark.
Well time for a history lesson boys and girls.
Prior to this season, the NHL made an announcement about this type of behavior.
Any identifiable player who uses obscene, profane or abusive language or gestures directed at any person runs the risk of an unsportsmanlike penalty and possible supplemental discipline.
Well several people say Ference wasn't suspended because he's on the Bruins and the guy in charge of dealing out disciplinary actions, Colin Campball, is the father of Boston forward Gregory Campbell. Well if that was the reason, then it looks like Horton will go unpunished as well. Furthermore, if you say "well it's playoff time and it's a bigger hit if there's a suspension" well look back to 2009 when Rangers coach John Tortorella was suspended a game in the playoffs for literally the same exact thing.
So the Bruins have been getting away with dirty play several times so far in the postseason. Once again, we'll see what happens with this case.
Edit: For about the 3rd time this postseason, I will say this again. It enrages me to say this but the Bruins will go unpenalized AGAIN for disobeying the rules. @HabsLaughs puts it perfectly in several tweets:
before the decision not to suspend him: "Horton should get suspended, but he won't be. We all know he won't be"
and "I know there is no conspiracy, but it's weird that I have to say that every time the Bruins do something illegal and then get away with it"
Edit: just received word tonight, the day after game 7, that Horton was fined an undisclosed amount. Pfff. Big deal. That's like receiving a free Porsche but you have to pay for the tires. He just made it to the Stanley Cup Finals. I'm sure he doesn't mind paying a small sum.
I'm sure everyone has seen the great save by Tim Thomas by now. In complete desperation, Thomas dove, stick first, at his right post to stop the chance by Steve Downie in the 3rd period against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Sure for everyone it's an unbelievable save at a key moment. Hockey fans will forever marvel in its brilliance. But I want to share with you what it feels like for the opposing team and fans when you get robbed on such a chance.
On December 23rd, 2008, I was at a Devils-Bruins game with my Dad. It was an extremely close game and neither team was able to get on the scoreboard. The reason? Well Tim Thomas (eventual Vezina Winner) was in net for Boston while injury-replacement Scott Clemmensen was in net for the Devils during Brodeur's injury. Both goalies were hot at the time and neither team was able to do too much. The first goal took until the beginning of the third period to happen.
Well in the second period, the Devils got a fantastic scoring opportunity short-handed. Jamie Langenbrunner and Patrick Elias came in on a 2-1 odd man rush against Boston. After a booming shot by Langenbrunner followed by a big rebound by Thomas, Elias had the net wide open. He put it on net but Thomas somehow got his paddle down and stopped the puck while diving across.
So the question is, how does a fan of the opposing team react to a save like this?
Not well. At first I thought the puck had gone in because my usual seats (Section 22) was the opposite side that the save happened on. Once I saw that it didn't go in, I tried to rationalize what had happened. I was trying to not be impressed by the save. I figured 'well it was his (Thomas') fault to begin with. He was out too far and then gave up a big rebound. He was lucky to react in time.' Then I started to degrade the actual save all together. 'Well Elias didn't shoot the puck as hard as he should have. He (Thomas) probably just dove with his eyes closed and made a 1-in-a-million save.'
So while everyone else figured it was a fantastic save, I was forced to not admire it. And I'm sure the Lightning fans did the same when Thomas made that save on Downie.
After giving up 3 goals on 9 shots in the previous game, Tampa Bay's Dwayne Roloson sat out in game 5 in Boston. In his place was on-and-off starter Mike Smith. Smith is a pretty good goalie who started about half of the games for Tampa in the 08-09 and the 09-10 seasons. He always appeared to be solid in net and he wasn't even too bad this year either in the regular season. This year he wasn't that bad either. He had a .899 SV% with a 2.90 SV% but injuries and other competition (Dan Ellis and Dwayne Roloson) forced him to only play 22 games this year. But he has proven himself to be reliable-enough when they need him to be. And Mike Smith was just that in tonights game. He appeared steady and calm during game 5, which isn't an easy task especially in the TD Garden in Boston. I was truly impressed with the way he plays the puck. I previously expressed my concerns about NHL goalies playing the puck (http://robinsnest-yoro.blogspot.com/2011/05/goalies-playing-puck.html) but Smith is exceptionally well at it. Several times he wristed it the length of the ice in hopes of springing an odd man break. He also had a dazzling save against Zdeno Chara in the 3rd period on a 2-1 rush. He stretched out his glove and snagged it before it crossed the goal line. http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?hlg=20102011,3,315&event=BOS448
So only one question remains:
WHO WILL START GAME 6 FOR THE BOLTS?
In possible-elimination games this year, the Lightning are 3-0. They came back from down 3-1 against the Penguins in the first round and stunned the hockey world with their series win. All of those wins came from Roloson. As did every other win in the playoffs for Tampa up until game 4. Roloson was lights out and didn't give up more than 3 goals in a game up until the game 2 against the Bruins. Boston appears to have figured Roloson out along with figuring out their 1-3-1 game play. The Bruins attacked the Lightning differently with quick passes up the ice and they were able to get passed the zone-type defense and get to the goalie. While not all of the goals this series were Rolosons fault, his 13 goals in less than 4 games is something that he has to fix quickly if he wants his team to win.
Smith on the other hand has yet to do anything wrong. It was Smith who relieved Roloson in game 4 when down 3-0 and he played great and didn't give up another goal and helped the team come back and win the game. Tonight the goals weren't his fault at all and he played very well again.
So the question remains.
Do we go with the previously-hot and veteran goaltender who gut us this far in the tournament although he hasn't been playing well recently?
Or do we go with the youngster and give him a chance to continue to play well but potentially risk the loss?
Well in my opinion, there's no way you sit Roloson again. Roloson played spectacular against the Penguins in the comeback and his team will feel more confident with him in net which is something they'll need in game 6. This series has been filled with quick goals, quick leads, and blown chances so far and the Lightning have to muster up a good performance on home ice in order to stay alive. Guy Boucher has been a pro handling his team this post season and I'm sure he'll want Roloson back in net for his team.
What do you do against a team that has just won 8 games in a row?
What do you do against a 41 year old goalie who, in 12 playoff games this season, has never given up more than 3 goals in a game and has the lowest GAA and best SV%?
What do you do in a situation where if you lose game 2 on home ice, you are going to be forced to steal a game or 2 on the road to climb back into the series?
Well Boston answered all of these questions.
You score 6 goals. That’s what you do.
The Boston Bruins put up an impressive 6 goals against the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight in game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. This was an important answer to their game 1 5-2 loss on home ice. People doubted their chances again in game 2 because forward Patrice Bergeron is still out with a concussion. But tonight 19 year old Tyler Seguin was magical and scored a couple of goals to help his team win.
Now I can go on discussing the excitement of this game tonight. On how the Bruins were able to chase Dwayne Roloson who, up until now, looked almost unbeatable. But I just want to briefly discuss one goal in the game and what happened.
With his team down 6-4 with just 6:45 left to go in the game, Tampa’s Viktor Hedman took a shot from the point that hit both posts and rolled through the crease. After much scurrying, the puck was finally stuffed into the vacant net by Dominic Moore. At first I thought there should have been a whistle because I saw Boston goalie Tim Thomas’ helmet lying on the ice. And any hockey fan knows that when a goalie loses their helmet, there is an automatic whistle and the play is dead. People on twitter were raving about how there was a missed call and that it should have been waived off immediately.
“How does a goal not get automatically disallowed if the goalie's mask is off? That's dangerous,” said hockey fan/comedian @whatnojagr.
“How on earth does the whistle not blow there? 4 stripes on the ice and no one sees Thomas without his bucket...” said NJ Devils backup goalie Mike McKenna. (@MikeMcKenna56)
Washington Capitals defenseman John Carlson said “Do they not blow the whistle when the goalies mask falls off?” (@JohnCarlson74)
And Yahoo! Puck Daddy cowriter Rob Pizzo said “I thought the whistle was supposed to be blown as soon as a goalie's helmet is knocked off” (@robpizzo)
On the replay it showed that the puck ended off caroming off of Thomas’ face before crossing the goal line. So at the time my thought process was this:
‘So they make a bad call by not recognizing that his mask came off. And the whole point of the rule in the first place was so the goalie wouldn’t get hit in the face with the puck. Which was exactly what happened. So the referees missed a standard call which was made specifically to avoid a situation like this.’
Thankfully there is an NHL rulebook online and after a few minutes of scrolling through it I found the answer.
Rule 9.5: Protective Equipment
When a goalkeeper has lost his helmet and/or face mask and his team has possession of the puck, the play shall be stopped immediately to allow the goalkeeper the opportunity to regain his helmet and/or face mask. When the opposing team has possession of the puck, play shall only be stopped if there is no immediate and impending scoring opportunity. This stoppage of play must be made by the Referee. When play is stopped because the goalkeeper has lost his helmet and/or face mask, the ensuing face-off shall take place at one of the defending team’s end zone face-off spots.
So there you have it ladies and gentleman. Since Tampa had possession of the puck, and since there was an immediate scoring opportunity (they had the puck on the goal line with the net wide open) there was no whistle. SO this was a fantastic job by the referees to not make the call when all common sense (the fact that there’s a goalie lying in the direction of a puck coming at him and the fact that if he doesn’t blow the whistle, all of TD Garden will boo him) pointed otherwise.
One last note.
My good youtube friend bestdanghockeygoals put this video up due to my request. I promised him to post to my followers to like his page on facebook so if you can just press the like button on this page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bestdanghockeygoals-Offical-Fan-Page/186090148109150or you can just search “Bestdanghockeygoals official fan page” on facebook and do it that way. This guys nice so please help him out.
2nd round results:
This was a shockin, eye opening second round for everyone. I follow many hockey people on Twitter and even they expressed how poorly they did in predicting this round. I just want to point out though that going into game 6 I predicted the outcomes of both series (SJS-DET and VAN-NSH). So I correctly predicted that Vancouver will beat Nashville in Nashville and the Sharks will win game 7 after losing game 6. This does not count as overall points for me but it does give me several bragging points.
Lightning-Capitals
I said Caps in 7
Bolts won in 4
0
Bruins-Flyers
I said Flyers in 6
Bruins won in 4
0
Predators-Canucks
I said Canucks in 5
Canucks won in 6
.5
Red Wings-Sharks
I said Sharks in 6
Sharks won in 7
.5
This round: 2/4 teams correct but 1/4 points.
Playoffs: 9/12 teams correct but 5.5/12 points
Predictions:
3 Boston Bruins vs. 5 Tampa Bay Lightning
Bruins won season series 3-1
I may get a ton of criticism for this but I am still not impressed with Boston's offensive capabilities. Sure they are second in the playoffs in goals per games but I don't think they were challenged as much in their series as other teams were. Last series they played the train wreck known as the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers don't have a single impressive goaltender so obviously a playoff team like Boston will dominate them completely. Also, today the Flyers came out with a list of players who just had surgery meaning they were playing with injured guys the whole time. The Lightning on the other hand had to beat the Penguins (after going down in the series 3-1) and then swept the best team in the Eastern Conference. Their offense is alive and well and they've enjoyed great defense as well. I think the Lightning will be making a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals after this round.
Lightning in 6
1 Vancouver Canucks vs. 2 San Jose' Sharks
Canucks won season series 3-1
The Sharks barely limped out of the series with the Wings after blowing their 3 game lead and barely hold on in game 7. I think the rest for the Canucks will help a lot early on this series. I think the Sedins will be great this round and so will Luongo for the Canucks. I think San Jose' and Antti Niemi will be able to make this series interesting later on in the series but the Canucks will find a way to win. I predicted the Canucks AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEASON to win the Stanley Cup and I am still behind them 100%. Canucks-Lightning Stanley Cup Finals.
Canucks in 7
Well it would have been difficult to match the exciting first round that we had this year but so far the second round has been unmemorable to say the least. Although there have been 6 overtime games so far in the second round, we were not given a magical game yet or a classic finish. True, Setoguchi's hattrick and overtime winner was so far the best moment of the second round. But the problem this time is that none of these series are as good as they could have been.
Philly against Boston, you'd expect a fast paced, physical series with a lot of big hits. But Boston has dominated the Flyers who have appeared flat footed and slow throughout the series. Boston leads the series 3 games to none (similar to last year) and Philly seems like they'll go quietly in game 4 also in the garden.
San Jose' against Detroit you'd expect a series with great hockey involved but Detroit hasn't done their part and seem too slow and not good enough against the Sharks. Their best just doesn't match the Sharks best and they aren't able to win the games by the end and fold up when the game's on the line. San Jose' is also up 3 games to none and if Detroit wants to make this a series, then they'd have to have a complete turnaround going into game 4 in Detroit.
Canucks against Nashville was the series where people expected Vancouver to dominate but they most likely expected more from Nashville. The lack of pressure on Luongo has been their downfall in many games. They owe their 1 win so far in the series to the performance of their all-star net minder Pekka Rinne in the game 2 double overtime winner. Vancouver now leads the series 3-1 with game 5 being in Vancouver. Hockey fans are hoping desperately for the Predators to turn their offensive game around and turn this into a series.
Capitals against Tampa Bay you'd expect a high scoring series with all the superpower involved. But Washington's stars came up empty this series (besides for Ovechkin) and were stoned time and time again by Roly the goalie. Tampa DID show up and easily took the series in 4 games.
With the help of Tom Gulitti, we have some interesting stats about this humdrum second round. If San Jose' and Boston win their game 4's and Vancouver wins their game 5, then the second round would total 17 days in length, 1 more than the minimum of 16 days. This will be the quickest second round since 1995. That year, Philadelphia swept the Rangers, Detroit swept the Sharks, and Chicago swept Vancouver while New Jersey beat the Penguins in 5 games. That year's second round also lasted for 17 days. Also, that 1995 season was the last time that there were 3 sweeps in a second round. That could happen this year as well with wins from the Bruins and the Sharks.
Going into this series, this is what I was anticipating:
The Lightning, coming off of an impressive 3-1 comeback against the Penguins, will look sharp having just won 3 games straight. I figured, however, that guys like Ovechkin, Backstrom, and Semin (hehehe Semin) will play with a ton of passion that has been missing since previous playoff runs. I figured they'd fight back after losing the first couple of games and eventually win the series in 7. The Capitals finally figured out what they needed in net, and although many a people criticized Neuvirth throughout the series, the goals weren't necessarily HIS fault. Lazy defense and immense pressure from Tampa were the reasons for most of the goals he gave up this series. Neuvirth, in my opinion, played well enough for the Caps to have won each game.
So the question is this:
What went wrong for the Capitals and what went right for the Lightning?
What went wrong for the Capitals?:
The NHL isn't the NBA. Just because you put a Derrick Rose-type player on skates, doesn't mean you are going to receive instant success. Ovechkin is a great player but he's going to need some help if Washington wants to finally exercise their demons and get past the second round. Well you're going to tell me that the Capitals DO have a legitimately good supporting cast for Ovie. But this series, guys like Semin, Green, Backstrom, and Laich (basically everyone on the team not named Ovechkin and Neuvirth), guys that have been on this team for a few years and know how desperate this team needs to win, simply didn't show up to win hockey games. Their defense was very weak and were 100% at fault for their game 3 collapse when they gave up 2 quick goals to blow their lead and to blow their game.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPbXJaveghQ Failed clearing attempt. Noone covering Stamkos. A goal scorer scores goals. Next, defenseman doesn't do a good enough job at tying up forward who's charging the net. Bad play and they lost the pivotal game 3. In game 2, when they lost in overtime, the players AND the coaching staff were at fault. The classic scenario of the first overtime in the playoffs is that there are long shifts and the changes are longer because of the positioning of the benches. Your bench is going to be farther away from your defensive zone. This is why you see so many odd man rushes and deep passes in overtime. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihbuugdmjIk This was Lecavalier's overtime winner. An awful change by the Capitals. The coaching staff has to prepare the team better for this type of stuff and the players need to do it quicker. I went to a Devil-Flames game earlier this year (when both teams were struggling) and while watching the game I noticed something. The Flames were so fluent and quick whenever they changed on the fly. They may not be a good team but they focused on a detail that may be important and may just lead them to a few wins. So the coaching staff is also someone to blame for this sweep. People are talking about Bruce Boudreau being fired because of the lack of #winning and I wouldn't be surprised if he does. But the Cap's problem goes beyond the coaches. The players didn't put enough effort into it. Tonight, they were down 4-2 with 3 minutes to go. During an offensive zone attack, Alex Semin was tripped down and stayed down on the ice for a few seconds. When he got up, he yelled a few words to the referee and skated slowly to the bench for a change. While he was doing this (not going back on D), the Lightning got it out of the zone and went down to score on a rush.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7Czn-0xLQA&feature=feedu This just shows you the lack of will the Capitals had this series.
EDIT: So today, the day after being swept, the Russian head coach went right out and said they were not going to take Alex Semin onto the Russian team for the World Championships. The reason why? "We won't invite Semin under any circumstance. His play in the last Washington game was very weak."
OUCH
But this doesn't mean you should take away credit from the Lightning.
Going into the playoffs, their system was criticized. What was their system? An intricate 1-3-1 system. What it is? One man is deep in their own zone when the other team has the puck. This way, if a team dumps it in, or shoots it in on net, he'll be the first one back and will have plenty of time to deal with the puck. The one man attacking forces the team to make passes up the middle which are intercepted by the 3 in the neutral zone. This system worked to PERFECTION against the Caps. Plays like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ulg12oE-Nc happened over and over again. The system is to create turnovers and when the turnovers happen, it transitions easily into an attack. The Lightning scored a handful of goals like this.
Edit: Into the 3rd round the Lightning are scoring off of this. Here's Teddy Purcell's goal from game 1 against Boston http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3b0V15BG3k
So Tampa looks poised now to make a run all the way to the Finals. With this great system, and having just won 7 STRAIGHT GAMES, they look unstoppable.
In the first round, we were given multiple fantastic series. The Blackhawks put up a great fight against the top seeded Canucks and it took until overtime in game 7 for Vancouver to finish them off. Tampa Bay upset Pittsburgh in what was an exciting comeback in a series with a whole list of all stars playing (and not playing) in it. The Flyers were finally able to get past the Sabres after a game 6 and game 7 win. And who can forget about the Boston-Montreal series. The rivalry gave us another great chapter and Boston won it in 7 games in overtime. So great series AND there were 14 games that were decided in the sudden death frame.
Round 2? Well statistically there would had to have been less overtimes but there were still a few good games so far. But tonight's games (Sharks at Wings, Capitals at Lightning, Flyers at Boston) might cause some trouble for the NHL. The Sharks and the Bruins both lead their series 2-0 so if they win tonight they'll take an (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/15/sports/hockey/15flyers.html almost) insurmountable lead in their series. As for Tampa, they already maintain the dominant 3-0 lead and look to close out the series tonight on home ice.
If the Sharks, Bruins, and Lightning all win tonight, that would mean 3/4 of the second round series would pretty much be boring and meaningless to neutral hockey fans. So the NHL either needs A) for at least one team out of the Wings, Caps, and Flyers to win tonight. or B) Nashville makes a great series.
The Predators played all 3 games close so far and managed to even win one of them in double overtime. The other 2 games, they lost by one goal (one of them in overtime). So they can easily make this one interesting as the Cinderella-type, good defensive team looks to make an upset on the big high scoring powerhouse that is Vancouver. I wouldn't say you should expect the refs to make some bad calls on the favorites to make it interesting but I'm just saying the NHL will be quietly routing for Nashville to come back in the series.
Losing at home is something that would be better for a team to omit during the playoffs. Especially for a team that's ranked in 1st or 2nd any advantage has to be used to beat your opponent. Both the Capitals and the Flyers saw their home ice advantage go to waste after losing 2 games straight to their opponents.
The Capitals lost to the Lightning 4-2 in the first game in the Verizon Centre and their late game comeback went to waste in game 2 when they lost 3-2 in overtime.
The Flyers were skunked in game 1 in the Wells Fargo Centre before losing in overtime in game 2.
What does this mean for these teams? They have to climb back into the series by stealing 2 games from their opponents on THEIR home ice. Return the favor a little bit. The Capitals in Round 1 were 1-1 against the Rangers on the road. Their second round opponents (Tampa) were 1-2 on home ice against Pittsburgh in round 1. During the regular season, the Lightning were the 5th best team at home record-wise while the Capitals were the 10th best in the league when playing outside of Washington. This Washington team is determined, however, and they feel that they're going to win the Cup this year. I even predicted that it was likely for the hot Tampa team to steal a game or 2 on the road. Washington had just had about a week and a half off before starting the second round so it was only likely for them to look a little lackadaisical right out of the gate. So I still think that the Capitals will come back in the series. Both games were close and they should be fine playing in the St. Pete Times Forum.
Now the Bruins were 14th best in the league on home ice and Philly was the third best team on the road so this series is also far from over. The pestering Flyers were able to bounce back from their game 1 embarrassment and were able to put up a decent fight in game 2. Most importantly for the Flyers though, it appeared that Boucher looked steady for them in net. Not only that, but went Boucher went down momentarily in the second, Bobrovsky came in relief and looked good and steady before being replaced by Boucher at the start of the third. So Philly also has a very good chance at coming back in the playoffs.
But go ahead and ask Boston how they feel about their 2 game lead. They should know about this stuff
The year? 2006. This was my favorite Stanley Cup Finals (that didn't involve the Devils) because it was a brutal series with great goaltending and was just what the NHL needed the season after the lockout year. The 8th ranked Edmonton Oilers met the 2nd seeded Carolina Huricanes in the finals.
The Hurricanes got destroyed in game 1 to the Canadiens in round 1 by a score of 6-1 and after another 3 quick goals in game 2, 22 year old Cam Ward replaced Martin Gerber in net. The result? Even though they lost that game 2 in overtime, they went on to win 4 straight.
Next the 'Canes met the Devils. Game 1 was dominated by the Canes and skunked the Devils by a score of 6-1. Game 2 was one of the best games in NHL history. The Devils finally got a lead in the series when Zach Parise scored with 20 seconds left in the game. But the Devils let up and Eric Staal tied it for the Hurricanes with just 3 seconds to go. The Hurricanes ended up winning this one in overtime. Much of the same in game 3 in New Jersey. Another tight game but the Hurricanes managed to take a 3 games to 0 lead by a score of 3-2. The Devils won game 4 but were beat in game 5 and Carolina cruised to the next round.
The Sabres and the Hurricanes were very similar. Same strengths on defense, both opportunistic offense, and both had rookie goalies who have played stellar. In game 1 it went back and forth but the Sabres came hard and came often and Ward gave up 3 goals and they lost 3-2. A crazy game 2 game where the Canes came out electric and almost blew a 3 goal lead but held on. Game 3 was much of the same. Buffalo was electric and they once again came at Ward who gave up 4 goals and was eventually pulled from the game. Carolina almost came back this time from down 3 but came up just shy. Game 4 had Gerber starting in net for the Hurricanes. He answered the call and pitched a shutout and the 'Canes won 4-0 to deadlock the series at 2 games a piece. Game 5 also had Gerber starting but he gave up 3 quick and ugly goals and down 3-1, Ward was switched back in (sounds like this season's Flyers). Carolina fought back and managed to tie up the game and win it in overtime and had the chance to eliminate the Sabres in game 6. Another overtime game in game 6 but this time Danny Briere ended it for the Sabres by scoring off of Ward. Game 7 had the Sabres winning by a goal entering the third. The Sabres were down a few defensemen and it showed as the Hurricanes scored 3 unanswered goals in the third and won the game to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals.
The journey was quite different for the Edmonton Oilers. The 8th best team in the West played the leagues best Red Wings in the first round. After losing a heart-breaking double-overtime game in the first game, the Oilers were able to muster up a solid 4-2 win in game 2. *This just in: Osama Bin Laden is reported to be dead!* The Oilers then took command of the series with a game 3 win in Edmonton with a double-overtime win of their own. And then after a game 4 loss, they completed the upset and beat the Red Wings 3-2 and then 4-3. In their game 6 win, they came back from down 2-0 and then they tied the game on a controversial no-kick call for Ales Hemsky who later ended the game with a goal with 1 minute left in the game.
The first 2 games were in favor of the 5th ranked San Jose' Sharks. After winning 2 ugly games early on by the score of 2-1, the Sharks fell apart. First they lost a tough 3-2 triple-OT loss in Edmonton from a goal by Shawn Horcoff. Then they blew an early 3-1 deficit and gave up 5 unanswered goals and just like that the series was tied. In game 5, the Oilers erupted in the third period and won yet again 6-3. Game 6 was pretty much all Edmonton and goalie Dwayne Roloson got his first shutout of the playoffs 2-0.
The Oilers beat the Ducks in game 1 of round 3 by goals from Hemsky, and Peca (shorthanded). Anaheim lost the must win game 2. They were putting a lot of pressure on Roloson but he played well and Edmonton were able to score a few goals and went back home with a commanding 2-0 lead. The Oilers cruised through game 3 at home and had a 4-0 lead at a point. But the Ducks began to climb back. They scored three goals to make it close but after an insurance goal by Pisani, the Ducks fell short and lost 5-4. In game 4, the Ducks easily beat the Oilers 6-3 but they were only delaying the inevitable. Back in Anaheim, the Ducks had an early lead but after surrendering goals to Raffi Torres and Ethan Moreau, they were down a goal and their season was on the line with a minute to go. They had the rare opportunity of a 6 man to 3 advantage (2 powerplays and they pulled their goalie) but Roloson and the Oilers shut the door and made it to the finals.
In game one of the finals, the 'Canes came back from a record breaking 3 goal deficit and won 5-4. In that game, Roloson went down a series ending knee injury (more on this later). With 30 seconds to go in regulation, Edmonton backup Ty Conklin committed, what is now, one of the most memorable finishes to a Stanley Cup Final game. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKrDzJdgrsU.
In game 2, Jussi Markkanen started for the Oilers but to no avail as the Hurricanes skunked Edmonton 5-0.
Markkanen started game 3 also for Edmonton, now down 2 games to none. This game ended in controversy as with just over 2 minutes left in the game, Ryan Smyth banged home a rebound to give Edmonton a 1 goal lead. Carolina complained it should have been waived off for goalie interference but no such call was made and Edmonton won 2-1.
Edmonton's powerplay remained missing in game 4 as they went 0-5 on the man advantage and they fell to a 3-1 series deficit.
Pronger scored a mere 16 seconds into game 5 and the back-and-forth affair ended in overtime on Pisani's overtime shorthanded goal (first time it ever happened)
Game 6 is one of my favorite games of all time. It wasn't close or anything but Edmonton just dominated on home ice when they were facing elimination. Here is a high-tempo video from youtube on it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRLFyafSuEo.
All good things came to an end in game 7 and Carolina celebrated the cup victory. Ward was given the Conn Smythe trophy for playoff MVP. He had 2 dazzling saves throughout the playoffs and it was well deserved.
Now to the point (and relevance to today) of this post.
Dwayne Roloson has been utterly outstanding so far for the Tampa Bay Lightning. He leads all playoff goalies in wins, most shots faced, 2nd in GAA, 1st in SV%, and he's been on the ice the longest out of any playoff goalie so far. The goalie (who depressingly started off the season on the Islanders) seems poised to make a long playoff run with the Lightning who have looked excellent as of late in the playoffs, winning their last 5 games. Roloson, who shut out the Penguins in game 7 of round 1 1-0, says he doesn't feel different about being in the playoffs again. This was his first time since that golden 2006 run and he says he's just taking it a game at a time. “No. You still have the same enthusiasm, the same mental makeup, the same everything.." said the 41 year old goalie. The Lightning needed goaltending and traded for Roloson on January 1st. The result was instant improvement and the Lightning excelled with him in net. Everyone attached to Roloson, whether it be former teammates, or current teammates, said how competitive he is. “We’ve seen in previous years what he’s done,” Steven Stamkos said, “and he’s doing it again now.” No doubt Roloson knows this might be the last time he has at reaching the Stanley Cup. He had a tough break when he got injured in 2006 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoZNiv6kysc. He was clobbered in an ugly collision and missed out on making the final steps toward ultimate victory. Imagine riding a bike up a big mountain, and with just several feet to go to get to the top, you lose your balance and tumble all the way back down the mountain. This was exactly what happened to "Roli the Goalie" in '06 but this year he's determined to win it all this time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL4T1VX229o - Helm
Datsyuk tried the same type of move earlier in the series with the same big rebound but noone was there to bang it home. This time, however, Darren Helm cleaned up the trash in front of the net for the impressive assist for Pavel. People said he did it just to show off but that is not the type of player he is. He systematically created a better shooting angle for himself. The result just happened to look goddamn amazing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7D4PcS5r3k - Gagne
This goal for the Lightning made it onto the list because of the slick passing and creative teamwork that was displayed. 8 crisp passes followed by a shot off the crossbar and then the finisher by Gagne. This was in the midst of an 8-2 skunking of Pittsburgh in game 5. Tampa later went on to win the series.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PNHJJ26FSc - Vanek
With a possible advancing for Buffalo, Vanek scored this big goal to push their lead up to 2. It was a big cushion goal at the time from their big star player. He pulled a Malik (or Sedin if you prefer) and stuffed it 5 hole on the Flyers goalie. A very nice goal.
Easily the best of the first round. He undressed Legwand on Nashville and then deked out a sprawling Rinne for the goal. Keep in mind, however, that Legwand isn't a defenseman, just another forward playing the point on the powerplay. But it doesn't take away from the individual effort by Bobby Ryan. Unfortunately, this was the only good thing about the Ducks in this years playoffs.
1st round results:
I get half a point for every winner I get right and if I get the amount of games then I get 1 point.
*I just want to point out, that I got 7/8 teams correct. Screw you Boston*
Rangers-Capitals
I said Caps in 6
Caps won in 5
.5
Sabres-Flyers
I said Flyers in 7
Flyers won in 7
1
Canadiens-Bruins
I said Canadiens in 6
Bruins won in 7
0
Lightning-Penguins
I said Lightning in 4
Lightning won in 7
.5
Blackhawks-Canucks
I said Canucks in 5
Canucks won in 7
.5
Kings-Sharks
I said Sharks in 7
Sharks won in 6
.5
Coyotes-Red Wings
I said Wings in 5
Wings won in 4
.5
Predators-Ducks
I said Preds in 6
Preds won in 6
1
out of 8 points I got 4.5 which is very impressive if you ask me. Now off to the second round predictions!
1 Washington Capitals vs. 5 Tampa Bay Lightning
Capitals won season series 4-2
The NHL didn't get their always-anticipated Pens-Caps rematch in the playoffs but this year they may be happier that they didn't. Sure if Crosby made a return in that series it would have been pretty cool to see but it still would not have been the same series that everyone would expect it to be. Instead the NHL has the superstar-filled Tampa Bay team with Stamkos, St. Louis, and Lecavalier against the high powered Washington team with Ovechkin, Backstrom, and Green. Goaltending on both sides are both surprisingly great so far. Rookie Neuvirth has answered the call for the Caps and soared through the first round relatively problem free. Dwayne Roloson has also been spectacular for his club. He faced a ton of shots against Pittsburgh and played like he did when he went on a playoff run with Edmonton in '06. Tampa has that advantage. Right now, the Bolts are hot, coming back from down 3 games to 1 and won 3 straight to defeat teh Penguins. The Capitals have had a while off since beating the Rangers in 5. So my predicion is that Tampa might steal a game or 2 on the road early but fall apart by the end.
Capitals in 7
2 Philadelphia Flyers vs. 3 Boston Bruins
Bruins won season series 3-1
A rematch of last year when history took place. Philly came back from down 3 games to 0 and even came back from a 3-0 deficit in game 7 and won the series. Both teams just held on to seven game series wins from round 1. Boston gave Montreal a lot of opportunities to come back in the series because of many bad penalties that they took. Philly just got Pronger back so their powerplay should look forward to ending their slump. Boston does have better goaltending as Philly had to juggle through netminders in several games in the first round. It'll likely be Boucher and Leighton as their combo. Both goalies played in the Boston series last season and I believe it was Leighton who won the games against them last year. Philly is very gritty and home ice will play a factor in this one. Both buildings are very loud. This one can go either way but I think Philly will win with their grit and their powerplay goals.
Flyers in 6
1 Canucks vs. 5 Predators
Season series tied 2-2
Vancouver just came off of an emotionally draining series that went the distance against Chicago. Now they face a team with not a lot of scoring power but great core defense and scoring punch when needed. Good news for Luongo though because I think he'll make a rhythm for himself and he'll play better in this round. Rinne looked shaky in net at times for Nashville who have a false-sense of security after a series win against the Ducks. They'll soon realize that Anaheim is barely close to the level that the Canucks are on and Vancouver should dominate this series. The Pred's only hope is if Rinne stands on his head, Luongo remains shaky from the Chicago series, and the rest of the Canucks are drained from the Chicago series. But this is Vancouver's year.
Canucks in 5
2 San Jose' Sharks vs. 3 Detroit Red Wings
Sharks won season series 3-1
A rematch of last years Western Conference Semi-Finals. San Jose' won it last year and this year they are a better team in my opinion. They finally got goaltending they needed for the playoffs and, hey, their team got more experience. Franzen said he'll hopefully be back for game 1 after missing a couple of games in the 1st round for Detroit. Zetteberg on the other hand, still has A LITTLE recovering to do before coming back. The Red Wings, who swept Phoenix, hasn't played for a few weeks and San Jose' seems warmed up for this battle. I think San Jose' will win a few and then the Wings might win 1 or 2 (perhaps from waking up or from Zetteberg's potential return) but the Sharks will eventually win this one out.
Sharks in 6
For the first time since 1995, the NHL has produced 4 first round 7 game series. The Lightning in Pittsburgh will be on Wednesday at 8 o' clock. The Canadiens at Boston will be Wednesday at 7 o' clock. Tonight Philly is looking like they will beat Buffalo as they are ahead 4 in the third in their game 7 in Philadelphia. And later tonight (at 10) Vancouver hosts Chicago at home.
All of these series have been magical. The Lightning battled back from down 3 games to 1 and won game 5 convincingly 8-2. Game 7 should be an offensive explosion. Buffalo came into the playoffs hot and put up a fight against the heavily favored Flyers but couldn't get the job done tonight (or in game 6). The Habs finally won at home and now can win the series in Boston in what was the most anticipated first round matchup. And of course the rematch of the Hawks and the Canucks. This series was just awesome and Chicago is looking to do what the Flyers did last year. Come back from a 3 games to none deficit.
If the first round is any indicator, we are in for a hell of a playoff season.
As Tampa Bay will face possible elimination on Saturday in Pittsburgh, Lightning fans as well as NHL fans want to know one thing
WHERE THE HELL DID STEVEN STAMKOS GO?!?!?!?
The top 3 most electrifying players in the NHL, one of the best scorers in the game has essentially disappeared. The guy who scored 45 goals over the season has yet to score in the first four games of the playoffs. Teams NEED their star players to take things up a notch in the playoffs and Stamkos hasn't been able to do so. St. Louis has done most of the heavy lifting scoring-wise so far and perhaps if Stamkos involved himself a bit more, this would be an even series. His time out on the ice hasn't really increased much in the postseason than from the regular season so that's not an excuse for him. It might be the pressure that has gotten to the 21 year old superstar who made his first playoff appearance this year. Whatever the case, he only has 1 point (a secondary assist in game 3) and if Tampa has any idea of making a comeback in this one, he needs to wake up. Because the guy who averages a little over a point a game in the regular season, should not be averaging .25 points a game in the playoffs.
EDITOR'S NOTE: He answered the call today. Must've read my article. He had 2 goals and an assist.
Another 2 suspensions were given by the NHL, both accuring in Pittsburgh-Tampa Bay Game 3. First was Tampa's Steve Downie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5E90MtPMYg
Downie received a 1 game suspension and missed game 4's overtime loss to Pittsburgh tonight. A penalty was called on the play (as it should have). Downie left his feet and made contact with the head of Lovejoy. I see it being a suspension. The hit was vicious but I think if he didn't leave his feet he would have gotten away without the suspension. But I think the NHL got this one right.
Next was Pittsburgh's Chris Kunitz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjkJYQXPtWk
This was a penalty and clearly a suspension. There was no way he did not target the head and the elbow of Kunitz hit Simon Gagne' pretty hard. Gagne' went down but got up and continued playing just fine. This may be why Kunitz only got 1 game for the elbow.
