Blue Tongues Clutch Victory

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With a huge win over The Bears in their season home opener, the pressure was on the Blue Tongues to once again prevail over the league leaders. Having been introduced to the smaller rink and hard checking style of play produced by Gold Coast, The Bears were expected to hit back, and fast, against the Blue Tongues in their second game of the double header.

The Bears did not disappoint, coming at the Blue Tongues early in the game and changing their tactics to not only start playing a physical game, but also stamping their authority over the control of the game. Both teams seemed to lack the energy they had during Saturday’s game, and some simple rookie errors caused a line change for the Gold Coast team, starting to run two lines instead of three. Despite The Bears claiming control of the puck for majority of the first period however, it was Dave Upton of the Blue Tongues who netted the only goal of the first.

Tempers flared in the second, with roughing calls on both teams, and it was clear that neither team were giving up on their race to be the next to pot a goal. Both Sydney’s goaltender John Daugulis and Gold Coast’s Simo Mustonen had their work cut out for them in net as each team made shot after shot on goal. However, once again the Blue Tongues made some silly mistakes, costing them dearly on the penalty kill. It was The Bears that led going into the third, winning the period 3 goals to the Gold Coast’s lone goal, ending the period 3-2.

Excitement ruled the third, as the Blue Tongues tied up the scores on 3 a piece, before The Bears took advantage of a lapse in concentration and took the lead once more at 4-3 with little more than 8 minutes left in the game. The Blue Tongues never gave up, and with just under 2 minutes left, tied the game 4-4.

Anticipation was high in the stands as the teams took to the face off after a penalty was called on The Bears, giving the Blue Tongues a powerplay with a minute left in the third. Their fans behind them, Gold Coast focused on the job at hand and with 46 seconds left in the game, defenseman Ross Howell netted the game winning goal. The Bears failed to even up the scores in the dying seconds of the game, giving the Blue Tongues their third victory in the last three games.

The first star of the game was Blue Tongues Captain and centre, Billy Crumm. Second star of the game was Blue Tongues Defenseman, Don Burke and third star of the game was Bears’ Roberto Franchini.

Next weekend, the Blue Tongues face the Newcastle North Stars on June 21 & 22 at Gold Coast Iceland, Bundall. Games start at 3.30pm.

Article Source: Gold Coast Blue Tongues

Tags: IceHockey, AIHL, Blue Tongues, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sydney Bears, Gaetan Royer, Brian Lachance

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Ovechkin wins Hart & Pearson - NHL Award Results

Washington Capitals superstar Alexander Ovechkin made the NHL Awards night all about him today, capturing both the Hart Trophy as league MVP and the Lester B. Pearson Award as the players’ choice for the most outstanding player.

The complete list of awards and their winners:

Art Ross Trophy: Alexander Ovechkin
Calder Trophy: Patrick Kane
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl: Detroit Red Wings
Conn Smythe Trophy: Henrik Zetterberg
Frank Selke Trophy: Pavel Datsyuk
Jack Adams Award: Bruce Boudreau
Lady Byng Trophy: Pavel Datsyuk
Lester B. Pearson: Alexander Ovechkin
Masterton Trophy: Jason Blake
Maurice Richard Trophy: Alexander Ovechkin
Norris Trophy: Nick Lidstrom
Prince of Wales Trophy: Pittsburgh Penguins
Vezina Trophy (leagues top netminder): Marin Brodeur
William J Jennings Trophy: Chris Osgood / Dominik Hasek

To be awarded:

Lester Patrick Trophy (outstanding service to hockey)

Information Source: NHL.com - Trophies | NHL - Yahoo! Sports

Tags: Adams, Ales, alexander, alexander ovechkin, amp, Blake, blog, bruce boudreau, Calder Trophy, cam, Camp, Campbell, cap, Capitals, Chris Osgood, com, Conn, D, day, Detroit, detroit red wings, Domi, dominik hasek, Henrik Zetterberg, hockey, Ice, image, Images, Jason Blake, key, league, Les, Lidstrom, list, Mar, min, mind, MVP, Net, netminder, New, news, NHL, Nick, Nick Lidstrom, night, Norris Trophy, OUT, Ovechkin, Patric, Patrick Kane, Pavel, pavel datsyuk, Penguins, Pittsburgh, pittsburgh penguins, play, player, rd, Red, red wings, result, right, ross, row, size, Smythe, source, Sport, Sports, Star, style, Super, superstar, th, Title, today, Trick, Trophy, type, Ward, Washington, washington capitals, win, Wings, winner, www, yahoo, Zetterberg

Contenders Not Pretenders

After 3 disappointing first round playoff exits, the Stars have finally found their game.

For the first time in two years, the Dallas Stars won a game in which Marty Turco did not shut out the opposition.  In doing so they served notice to the league that they are indisputable contenders, not pretenders.
- Bleacher Report

Contenders, not pretenders.  That’s exactly the message the Dallas Stars are sending to the rest of the league right now.

The Stars are leading the Anaheim Ducks 2-0 in their first round series.  2 straight wins against the Ducks is impressive, no doubt.  What makes this extra special is the Stars did it on the road, without their top playmaking defenseman Sergei Zubov, who is out due to Hernia surgery.

The key to Dallas success so far has been team-play.  The entire team has played well, and the chemistry issues that plagued the team going down the last stretch toward the playoffs appears to be a thing of the past.  Mike Ribeiro and Brenden Morrow are dominating plays.  Mike Modano is showing he still has what it takes to be a top player in this league and newcomer Brad Richards is shining whenever his skates touch.  Richards appears to have gelled with young winger Loui Eriksson, who has a goal in each of the 2 games played in this series.  Jere Lehtinen and Steve Ott have also played a role in the scoring.

The Ducks travel to the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX this Tuesday for game 3.

Image source: Yahoo Images 

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Richards to Dallas, Hossa to Montreal

According to an NHL Executive, a multi-player trade has been made between Tampa Bay Lightning and the Dallas Stars.

The trade is rumoured to have Center Brad Richards move to Dallas in exchange for Center Jeff Halpern, Goalie Mike Smith and rookie Defenseman Mark Fistric.

“The Stars have looked to make a splash since Les Jackson and Brett Hull took over in the co-general manager role for the fired Doug Armstrong earlier this season. The source said Dallas is expected to package veteran checking center Jeff Halpern, backup goalie Mike Smith and young defenseman Mark Fistric to the Lightning, who needed to move Richards after signing defenseman Dan Boyle to a six-year, $40 million contract extension late Monday.”

…

By landing the 6-foot, 198-pound Richards, the Stars are set to receive a player who can handle loads of ice time, has a Stanley Cup on his resumé and is a centerpiece to build around as Mike Modano and Zubov look to pass the torch.

Richards has 18 goals and 51 points in 62 games, 228 shots and has averaged 24:17 of ice time. He’s durable as well. Richards has appeared in 552 of a possible 554 games since breaking into the league in 2000-01. The pivot is signed for $7.8 million each of the next three seasons.
- NHL @ Yahoo

It was also announced that the Atlanta Thrashers would ship Marian Hossa to the Montreal Canadiens.  Details of the trade have not been released at this time.

Expect the Canadiens to send at least a forward (Michael Ryder?) to Atlanta, which insisted it would only trade the 29-year-old Hossa if it could get a current NHL player in return. Hossa is the Thrashers’ second-leading scorer with 56 points (26 goals, 30 assists and a team-high 229 shots). Hossa is a minus-14 averaging 21:55 of ice time in 60 games.
- NHL @ Yahoo

Details of these trades are yet to be confirmed by their respective teams.

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