Gold Coast Blue Tongues Drop Double

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Powered by ScribeFire.

Tags: aihl, australian ice hockey league, blue tongues, gold coast, hockey, ice hockey, iceland, lizardinsider, matt ezzy, Newcastle, north stars, shutout, simo mustonen, sydney bears

Red Wings G Dominik Hasek retires

After 18 seasons in the NHL, 2 MVP awards and 6 Vezina Trophies, “The Dominator” Dominik Hasek has announced his retirement.

“Physically, I’m felling great—as well as ever,” Hasek said Monday as he announced his retirement. “I just don’t feel that I’m ready to compete on the highest level.“I need motivation. Right now, I don’t feel it’s there and I don’t want to disappoint anyone.”
- Yahoo! Sports

Hasek was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks and spent his rookie years as backup to Ed Belfour.  In his career he spent 2 seasons with Chicago, 9 seasons with the Buffalo Sabres, 4 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings and a short 1 season stint with the Ottawa Senators.

During his career, Hasek has won:

• Hart Memorial Trophy for MVP twice (nominated 5 times)
• Lester B. Pearson Award twice (nominated 3 times)
• Vezina Trophy 6 times
• William M Jennings Trophy 3 times
• Stanley Cup in 2002 with the Detroit Red Wings
• The 2002 gold medal at the Nagano Olympic Games for the Czech Republic

Hasek has named on:

• NHL first All-Star Team 5 times
• NHL All-Rookie Team in the ‘91 and ‘92 season
• NHL All-Star Game 5 times (although did not play in 2000 due to injury)

In his NHL Career, Hasek played a total of 735 games, totaling 42836 minutes of ice time.  He collected 389 wins, 223 losses, 82 ties and 13 overtime losses with 81 shutouts.  His career GAA and SV% stand at 2.10 & .922 respectively. 

Tags: amp, back, backup, belfour, black, Blackhawks, blog, Buffalo, call, Care, career, Chicago, chicago blackhawks, com, cup, Czech Republic, D, day, Detroit, detroit red wings, Domi, dominik hasek, Draft, First, gaa, Game, games, Great, hat, hockey, Ice, image, Images, injury, key, lack, Les, level, line, loss, losses, Mar, Me., min, minute, Monday, MVP, name, New, news, NHL, NJ, NY, olympic, one, Ottawa, ottawa senators, OUT, overtime, Photo, play, point, rd, Read, Red, red wings, redwings, right, Rookie, row, Sabres, season, senators, shutout, size, Sport, Sports, Stanley, Stanley Cup, Star, style, sv, Team, th, Tie, Tim, time, Title, Total, Trophy, TWICE, type, Ward, win, Wings, www, yahoo, year

The Defending Champs Curse Strikes The Anaheim Ducks

Not since 2003 has a Stanley Cup champion made it through the first round of the playoffs the following year.  That trend has continued today after a highly underestimated Dallas Stars routed the Anaheim Ducks 4-1 in Dallas, TX.

The victory in todays game 6 not only eliminated the defending Stanley Cup champions from the playoffs, but broke the “first round” curse that has plagued the Dallas Stars for 5 long painful years.

Marty Turco, who has taken the brunt of the criticism over the previous years showed that he is one of the elite netminders in the NHL, finishing the round with a GAA of 2.01, including a shutout in game 1.

Anaheim, who were one of the strongest teams going down the final stretch into the playoffs faltered under the constant Dallas Attack, and struggled to get past the Dallas Defensive group; a group that included 3 rookies and was missing Sergei Zubov and (for most games) Philippe Boucher.

“It’s disappointing because we believe we could do better,” said Anaheim defenseman Scott Niedermayer, the Conn Smythe winner as MVP of last year’s postseason who retired then decided to return to chase another Cup. “Our sights were set higher than this.”
- Yahoo! Sports

Dallas now have a few days to relax before the Western Conference Semi-Finals begin.  The Stars will face either the Colorado Avalanche or the San Jose Sharks in round 2, but wont know who until after game 7 between the Flames and Sharks on Tuesday evening.

Tags: Anaheim, Attack, Avalanche, brunt, champion, Champs, Colorado, Conn, criticism, Curse, Dallas, defenseman, Defensive, elite, evening, Finals, flames, gaa, Game, group, marty turco, MVP, NHL, Philippe Boucher, postseason, Round, San Jose, Scott Niedermayer, Semi, Sergei Zubov, Sharks, shutout, Smythe, Stanley Cup, Stars, stretch, today, trend, Tuesday, victory, Western Conference, winner, wont, yahoo, year

McKeon on Richards and the Stars

Todays article by Ross McKeon of Yahoo! Sports is all about the Brad Richards trade to the Dallas Stars, and talks about how Richards shines during the post season.  Richards fit into the Dallas system didn’t come easy however.  After a career best 5pt game in his first appearance for the Stars, the star forward went the next 11 games with only a handful of points.

“It was a lot tougher than I ever imagined,” Richards said in preparation for Saturday’s Game 2 of a best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal series the Stars lead over the Anaheim Ducks. “The last couple of weeks I wasn’t doing anything wrong but I wasn’t doing anything right either. I had clogged my head with too many things. It’s tough when you get traded and your new team loses. It’s a new experience for me.”
- Yahoo! Sports

And then there was 2 days ago in Anaheim, in the Dallas Stars post season opener against the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Anaheim Ducks.  A game that saw the Stars, with Richards assistance win by a convincing 4-0 shutout.

…Tippett said it was Richards’ best game as a member of the team, and that includes the Feb. 28 score-a-thon against the Chicago Blackhawks.

“It’s like when a traded player finishes up and comes back the next season. Everything comes easier, and that’s what we’re looking for right now,” Tippett said. “And (Game 1) was a byproduct of that transition from one phase to another.”
- Yahoo! Sports

Anaheim Ducks players and coaches alike had nothing but praise for Richards after his impact on Game 1 of the series.

“You’re talking about an MVP of the playoffs, we’re not talking about a player who doesn’t know how to get around the rink,” Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said.

“He’s one of those guys who can cause everyone a lot of headaches when they’re on the ice because it’s up to everybody to play smart and be in position to protect breakout passes and stuff like that,” Ducks defenseman Scott Niedermayer added.
- Yahoo! Sports

Game 2 between the 2 clubs starts this evening, and the Stars can be sure to see a much more physical and determined Ducks team than they did in game 1.

Tags: Anaheim, anything, appearance, article, assistance, Blackhawks, Brad Richards, byproduct, Chicago, coach, couple, Dallas, doesn, everybody, everyone, Everything, experience, Feb, Game, handful, head, Ice, impact, lead, lot, member, MVP, nothing, opener, player, post, praise, preparation, right, rink, Ross McKeon, Saturday, Scott Niedermayer, season, Series, shutout, Stanley Cup, Star, Stars, system, Team, Tippett, Todays, trade, transition, wasn, Western Conference, win

Crosby Returns, Pens Shutout Bolts

The long awaited return of Sidney Crosby came today, and with it a 2 goal shutout of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

But don’t think this was an easy game for Crosby and the Penguins.  It took til the 17th minute of the third period before a puck finally reached the back of the net, a Maxim Talbot goal that was setup by none other than Crosby himself.

“It’s good to get it over with and get that feel and get that timing back, but it’s still not there,” Crosby said. “I had some great chances that I would have loved to put in. It didn’t happen. Sometimes that’s the way it goes. I’m a little rusty.”
- Yahoo! Sports

Evgeni Malkin also scored, putting the puck in an empty net to ensure victory, and a shutout for goalie Marc-Andre Fleury

Tags: back, Bolts, didn, Evgeni, Game, goal, Goalie, hockey, lightning, marc, marc andre fleury, Maxim Talbot, minute, Net, Penguins, Pens, period, puck, setup, shutout, sidney crosby, Tampa Bay, til, timing, today, victory, way, yahoo