On the eve of Round 1 Game 1

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The 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs are here.  In just a few hours the pucks will drop on a series of Round 1 games, marking the start of 2 months of grueling battles to find an eventual victor.

This is a good time then to take a look at the battles for Round 1.

In the east

Montreal Canadiens (1) Vs Boston Bruins (8)
The Bruins struggled this year.  First they lost Patrice Bergeron to a season ending concussion, then later in the year Marc Savard goes down with an injury.   Yet,  somehow they scraped through to the playoffs, and they go into them equal to all other teams.  Montreal however are a hot team who have the leagues best Powerplay.  Boston, in order to keep in this series will need to stay out of the box.

Pittsburgh Penguins (2) Vs Ottawa Senators (7)
Ignoring the fact that Brian Murray accused the Penguins of throwing their last game, am I the only one who hopes to see the Penguins kick some serious ass this series?  Last year the fresh faced Penguins were routed from the playoffs in just 5 games by a stronger, more powerful Senators team.  This year the teams are evenly matched and both offensive powerhouses.

Washington Capitals (3) Vs Philadelphia flyers (6)
The classic Cinderella story.  Alexander Ovechkin is in the playoffs for the first time, and with him is a solid determined Capitals team.  The management of that team deserve awards for the progress and improvements they made with the team.  The Flyers have been inconsistent, and will need to be 110% on their game to beat the Caps.

New Jersey Devils (4) Vs New York Rangers
The battle of the creek, as it was referred to earlier on today.  These 2 teams have plenty of reasons to hate each other, and you can guarantee a very passionate series.  Unfortunately neither team can guarantee an offensive display, so expect physical defensive style hockey.

In the west 

Detroit Red Wings (1) Vs Nashville Predators (8)
There is nothing bad you can say about the Red Wings this year.  Top of their division, top of their conference and top in the league on points.  The best goalie duo (by stats) in the league.  Nashville don’t have a Crosby or Ovechkin.  They don’t have a Hasek.  They do however have a very potent young goalie in Dan Ellis, and a very effective Pack Mentality style play.  At the end of the day however, the Predators may find themselves a little behind the eight-ball.

San Jose Sharks (2) Vs Calgary Flames (7)
If there was going to be an upset, this might be it.  Going into the last day of the regular season, there was a chance that the Sharks may face the Avalanche in the first round.  In fact, most Sharks fans wanted them instead of the Flames.  Look for Iginla to lead the Flames to a long series against the Sharks, possibly even 7 games.

Minnesota Wild (3) Vs Colorado Avalanche (6)
Veteran leadership Vs Young blood.  That’s how this series may end up being.  The Avalanche have been reuniting old team mates, the question now is whether the likes of Sakic and Forsberg are able to content with the young speedsters like Marian Gaborik.

Anaheim Ducks (4) Vs Dallas Stars (5)
Defending champions the Anaheim Ducks have had a strange type of season.  If not for the controversial return of both Selanne and Niedermayer earlier in the season they would not be in the playoffs.  Their leading scorer, Corey Perry is out and Chris Pronger is likely going to do something to get himself a suspension.  Unlike last year the Ducks don’t have a powerful attack this time round.  They do however have the best Blue Line in the league with Pronger, Niedermayer, Schneider and Beauchemin.  Dallas will have to battle with their own demons however.  Getting past the first round is the goal of this team, and you can expect goalie Marty Turco to be on his game.  The inclusion of proven playoff performer Brad Richards in the lineup may have the desired impact.  The Stars, unlike the Ducks, can score this year, so expect a very hard hitting, physical game.

Predictions?

I know people like predictions, so here are my wildly unpredictable, highly unlikely, but what they hey predictions…

East:
Montreal Canadiens in 5 games
Pittsburgh Penguins in 5 games
Washington Capitals in 6 games
New Jersey Devils in 7 games

West:
Detroit Red Wings in a 4 game sweep.
Calgary Flames in 7 games
Colorado Avalanche in 6 games
Dallas Stars in 6 games

Tags: alexander ovechkin, Anaheim, Avalanche, battle, Boston, Brad Richards, Brian Murray, Bruins, Calgary, canadiens, Capitals, Caps, Chris Pronger, cinderella, concussion, creek, Dallas, Dan Ellis, Detroit, Devils, display, Division, East, fact, flames, Flyers, Game, goal, hockey, injury, league, management, marc savard, marian gaborik, marty turco, Minnesota, Montreal, nashville, New Jersey, New York, NHL, nothing, order, Ottawa, Patrice Bergeron, Penguins, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, playoffs, plenty, Powerplay, predators, progress, Red, San Jose, season, Series, Sharks, Stanley Cup, Stars, start, story, style, Team, time, today, victor, Washington, west, Wings, year

Dallas Stars in a Serious Slump

Normally a team others look up for strong defensive play, a never say die attitude and gritty, hard hitting forechecking, the Dallas Stars of late have not fit the bill.  In fact over recent games the Stars, who have gone 3-7-0 in their last 10 games are in a major slump, and have chosen the worse possible time to do it.

All teams go through slumps though, and in the NHL these days a slump means very little in the big scheme of things.  The Detroit Red Wings, who lead the entire league in points went through a slump very similar to the one the Stars are in, and went on to a hot streak soon after.  The San Jose Sharks had a slump before going on their current hot streak.

For the Stars then, it’s surely only a matter of time before the team gains back its confidence and gets back on track.   Stars Captain Brenden Morrow spoke of confidence recently…

“That’s probably one way to describe it,” Stars captain Brenden Morrow said. “I think confidence is an attitude you have. We’ve had it at times, but right now we don’t, and it’s going to take more than just one game to get it back. It’s going to take a handful of games where you get ugly, where you dig in, and where you earn your bounces. That’s the way we have to look at this, we have to look at it that we have a lot of work to do.”
- Mike Heika, Dallas Morning News

The Stars face the San Jose Sharks later this week, and hope to break their slump in California.  Word is BJ Crombeen has been called up from the minors, so maybe look to see a cold-streak winger be a healthy scratch during the upcoming games.

Tags: A., back, break, Brenden, call, cap, captain, check, checking, com, confidence, Dallas, dallas stars, Detroit, detroit red wings, fact, Game, games, hockey, lead, league, look, Matt, May, Mike, NHL, Other, point, recent games, Red, right, row, San Jose, san jose sharks, Sharks, slump, Star, Stars, streak, Team, teams, th, THIS, Tim, time, track, way, Wee, week, win, winger, Wings, word

Consistant reffing a must for the Playoffs

It’s that time of year again.  The NHL Playoffs are just around the corner, and teams are already starting to prepare for the post-season.  In the West it’s highly possible that the 8 Playoff teams will be made up of 4 from the Northwest Division, 3 from the Pacific and 1 from the Central.  In the East it’s possible that there will be 4 from the Atlantic, 3 from the Northeast and just 1 from the Southeast.

One could argue that the Southeast and Central Divisions are the weakest in their respective divisions, and the current NHL schedule could be seen as biased towards strong teams from those divisions.   That is a topic for another day.

Today I want to touch on something that can make or break a game in the NHL, or in fact in any hockey league; Refereeing.

Bad calls are something we learn to live with in professional sports.  We must remember of course that the people in the black and white stripes don’t always see things the way we do.  There are times however when bad calls have influenced the result of a game.   Just this week referees made a bad call and caused a 2 minute minor on a team, then just 30 seconds later failed to pull up a goalie interference call on the opposition team, which resulted in a Powerplay Goal.

The Playoffs however are the be all and end all of NHL hockey.  Teams battle it out all season to make the Playoffs and the last thing they want or need are referees not doing their jobs properly.

We can only hope then that we will have a relatively clean Playoff Series, not just from the teams, but also the Referees.

Tags: Atlantic, black, call, Central Divisions, Consistant, corner, course, day, East, fact, Game, goal, Goalie, hockey, interference, league, minute, NHL, Northeast, Northwest Division, opposition, Pacific, playoff, playoffs, Powerplay, Refereeing, Referees, result, schedule, season, Series, something, Southeast, Team, time, today, topic, way, week, west, year

Sundin Refuses To Trade

Those who had hopes of their NHL team picking up veteran scorer, Mats Sundin will have to wait til possibly next year after the Maple Leaf Forward today refused to waive his no trade clause.

Sundin, a Maple Leaf all his professional hockey career does not want to leave the team he has dedicated his life to for the last 13 seasons.

“I have always believed I would finish my career as a Toronto Maple Leaf so the actual request was still a very difficult one for me to contemplate,” Sundin said in a statement released by his agent J.P. Barry on Sunday night. “I have spoken to and listened to my family and those closest to me about this issue. In the end, there is no right decision in a situation like this one.”
- NHL @ Yahoo

The Toronto media has not been easy on Sundin over recent weeks, with some sources claiming his refusal to waive his no trade clause will damage the team in the future.  The fact is, while the media and fans may complain about his refusal to be traded, they are forgetting that Mats Sundin IS the face of that franchise, and he has more than earned his right to stay in Toronto.

Due to his age, a trade would have put Sundin as a rental player, something Sundin himself completely disagrees with.

“I have never believed in the concept of a rental player. It is my belief that winning the Stanley Cup is the greatest thing you can achieve in hockey but for me, in order to appreciate it you have to have been part of the entire journey and that means October through June. I hope everyone will understand and respect my decision.”
- NHL @ Yahoo

The club now faces a major decision to make during the upcoming off-season.  Do they opt to re-sign Sundin, or let him go into the Free agent market?  Realistically, the best option for the Leafs would be to sign him for another year and let him finish out his career with the team he knows and loves.

Tags: career, com, D, ease, end, fact, franchise, free agent, hat, hockey, issue, J.P. Barry, Leaf, Leaf Forward, Leafs, Maple, market, Mats Sundin, media, NHL, off-season, Other, OUT, part, player, Realistically, refusal, score, season, situation, something, Stanley Cup, statement, Sunday, Team, th, today, Toronto, trade, Ward, way, Wee, yahoo, year

Cinderella Teams

As we head towards the NHL Playoffs we start to hear phrases like underdogs, rental players or cinderella stories.  The trade deadline is where these phrases really start to be thrown around.  Teams battling for 7th and 8th spot on the ladders start looking to bolster their lineups with trades, often picking up players they know they will only keep until the end of the season. ie. rental players.

The most recent cinderella story team was the Edmonton Oilers who 2 years back went into the playoffs in 8th spot in the West and battled hard to make it right to the NHL Stanley Cup Finals, only to be beaten by the Carolina Hurricanes.

While the cinderella story teams are fantastic to watch, the fact is, the chance of them actually winning the cup is minimal.  30% of the time, top 3 teams have won the Cup.  80% of the time, teams in the top 5 have ended up hoisting the cup.  In fact in recent years i believe only 1 team who started the playoffs in 8th place have won the cup.

But in a world of battlers, doing it hard and fighting to the end, there will always be that spark of belief that says the underdog, the great Cinderella team will once again be victors come June/July.

Tags: belief, carolina hurricanes, chance, cinderella, cup, Deadline, Edmonton, end, fact, fight, Finals, hoisting, July, June, NHL, place, playoffs, right, season, spark, spot, Stanley Cup, story, Team, time, trade, underdog, west, World

Is There More To Forsberg Not Returning?

We finally have an end to the ongoing Peter Forsberg saga.

Today it was announced by Forsberg’s agent, Don Baizley, that Forsberg has chosen not to return to the NHL this season, due to him not having enough confidence that his ankle / foot injuries are up to NHL standards.

To quote Yahoo Sports;

His agent, Don Baizley, told teams Forsberg did not have enough confidence in the strength of his surgically repaired right foot to play this season.

“He’s been hopeful that he would get the level of confidence that he needed, but he can’t,” Baizley said by phone. “I don’t know how close or how far away he feels. He was hopeful up until this weekend that he would be able to do it.”
- Yahoo Sports

As one who never shy’s away from controversy, i have to ask the question; is this the real reason Forsberg has chosen not to return to the NHL?

Numerous news sources have reported that there was a big race on to sign Forsberg, and that at least 8 different teams were trying to get him signed.  Dallas, Detroit, Calgary, Ottawa, Colorado, Philadelphia & Nashville to name just a few.

We know that Forsberg turned down offers from Dallas and Nashville recently, the reason is rumoured to be that they did not offer enough money.  In fact, sources claim that Forsberg, who is a high-risk injury player was asking for $5 million for next year and $2 million for the remainder of this year.  In the world of the Salary cap, that kind of money for a semi-broken, often injured player is, in a word, crazy.

Is there a chance then, that due to offers from NHL teams being “less than desirable” for Forsberg, he has chosen to wait out the rest of the year and try his hand at the Free Agent market during the off season.

This hockey fan definitely thinks this is something to ponder.

Tags: agent, ankle, cap, chance, Colorado, confidence, controversy, Dallas, Detroit, fact, FAN, foot, Free, hand, hockey, injury, kind, level, market, nashville, news, NHL, Ottawa, peter forsberg, Philadelphia, player, question, reason, remainder, rest, Salary, season, something, strength, today, Weekend, word, yahoo, year

West Heating Up

Going into the All Star break this year many people you could have been forgiven for assuming the Red Wings were guaranteed to take out the conference at the end of the regular season.

Who would have thought that the Red Wings, who dominated the season to that point in the competition would come out of the break looking like another, far less impressive team.

At the point of the All Star break, the Red Wings had a 17 point lead over the closest competitor. After todays loss to the Dallas Stars, their 6th loss in a row, that lead has been cut to just 8 points.

If the Red Wings are not scared yet, they should be. The Dallas Stars are on a roll and have their sights set on that top spot. 6 points behind Dallas are the defending champions, the Anaheim Ducks, who have yet to see the success they expected after the return of Scott Neidermayer and Teemu Selanne.

The west is a hot spot, and in the battle for the top 8 spots, there are in fact 12 teams still battling it out with realistic chances of making the top 8.

Tags: Anaheim, battle, break, competition, competitor, conference, Dallas, Eastern Conference, end, fact, lead, loss, NHL, point, Red, return, roll, row, scott neidermayer, season, Selanne, spot, Standings, Star, Stars, success, Team, Teemu, west, West Heating, Wings, year