Tag Archives: Phoenix Coyotes

Feb 01

Weekly Plus Minus: Rumble Fall-out, Dominant Sharks, Nail Fails (or does he?) and More!

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What a week it was! Since the last retrospective we had our first new WWE Champion since November 2011, a 19 year old phenom raked through the coals, and our favourite goalie in the world troll us with his excellent play. Oh so much to discuss!

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Predictable Booking: Most of the Royal Rumble went as we said it would happen, and you know, that’s not really a bad thing. Rock-Cena II is the money match, with an outside chance of a Triple Threat involving Punk, and the best way to do that was to have Punk drop the title and have Cena win the Rumble, otherwise it would just feel a little forced.

Before anyone complains about the predictability, remember all the times when the WWE swerved us for the sake of swerving us? Remember when Batista won the WWE Title back in 2009 only to have him drop it due to injury the next night and get it back to Orton through BS reasons? We should be glad that the WWE didn’t do something weird like that with having someone else win the Rumble and give us the most predictable Elimination Chamber match in history.

Add in the fact that we got the “shocking” reveal that The Shield and Brad Maddox are in cahoots with Punk and Heyman. This gives us a potential Dangerous Alliance 2.0 which also includes Brock Lesnar. If the strong booking of The Shield continues, then we have some real potential for the rookies to be elevated like few have been in recent memory.

If anyone is complaining about the straight forward story progression, remember the Road to Wrestlemania is just getting started, there will surely be some bumps and detours.

However, not everything predictable has been good this week..
Minus ThumbnailPredictable Deadlines: Was anyone in the world not surprised when Greg Jameson missed his deadline to secure money to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes?

Things are quite bleak for a franchise that has been through some very rough times over the past several years. It’s hard not to feel bad for Coyotes fans today…yes, we’re sure that they do exist.

Now hockey fans in the Seattle area on the other hand should be thrilled.

Plus ThumbnailTrolluongo: It’s almost as if Roberto Luongo figures out how people in Vancouver want him to play, and he goes out and does the opposite.

They want him to pitch a shutout, he goes out and shits the bed in front of Patrice Bergeron and Tyler Seguin just to see what would happen. They want him to be terrible so everyone can feel good about Cory Schneider and what does he do? Play lights out, earning a shutout in his most recent game and earning the nod against the hated Blackhawks and the Canucks fans are cheering for him.

Sure he’s increasing his trade value, but it’s also incredibly distracting for the Canucks and their always reasonable fans. It’s actually getting hilarious to watch.

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Break in the Streak?: Recent rumblings have Undertaker’s status for Wrestlemania in doubt which could lead to the first Wrestlemania in 13 years and only the third since they started having double digits to not feature The Dead Man.

Of course this shouldn’t be too surprising consider The Undertaker’s age and already limited schedule, but it sure is not good news. One could easily argue that The Undertaker has been involved in the best match in each of the past six Wrestlemanias, going all the way back to his war with Batista at Wrestlemania XXIII and to not have a dependable, high quality contest and if the rumours of CM Punk being this years streak victim are to be believed, then we could just well be robbed of something great.

Plus ThumbnailJaws has Nothing on These Sharks: One of the biggest surprises so far this season has been the insane start of the San Jose Sharks who have roared out to a 7-0 start. All of this on the heels of them being finally discounted by hockey pundits everywhere (maybe even here too…).

For this teams entire history there has been one pretty clear pattern. Whenever people count them out they are at their best. When people expect good things out of them, down they go.

So it’s clear, we should never believe in them, then they will be dominante. Which will most certainly make people start to believe in them again, which will make them choke, which will make everyone doubt them, which will…

Minus ThumbnailFails Against Nail: Last week we ignored the entire Nail Yakupov celebration hooplah, hoping instead it would go away. Yet here we are.

A nineteen-year old scores his first big goal and celebrates and everyone nearly crucifies him. A few days later he scores another huge goal and does a very subdued celebration with his teammates and everyone is still all over him.

Make no mistake, this is about one very clear thing, the country he is from. Don’t believe me? Wait until Nate McKinnon gets his first big goal for the Columbus Blue Jackets or Calgary Flames and see what the reaction is.

 

Prediction for the Week: Luongo gets pulled in the Chicago game and everyone goes back to hating him.

Jan 21

Western Conference Predicted Standings

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After posting picks for the East yesterday it’s time to look to the Wild Wild West. Last year the eight seed went out and crushed the Top 3 teams en route to winning the Cup, previous stalwarts like Detroit, Vancouver, San Jose, and Chicago all bowed out in the first round, and other squads like Minnesota, Dallas and Edmonton are looking to make some noise. As usual the Western Conference will be in a complete state of flux, and with such a short season it should be even stranger.

The predicted standings are…

15. Columbus Blue Jackets: Let’s start with the closest thing that we have to a sure fire prediction. This team was terrible last year and then went out and traded away their player netting very little back in return. Hopefully they actually win the draft lottery this year and end up with Seth Jones or Nathan McKinnon to help reinvigorate this incredibly struggling franchise before they become the Markham Blue Jackets!

14. Calgary Flames: The Flames have been one of the most consistent teams since the last lockout, consistently mediocre that is. For years they have been a lock to be penciled into the amorphous 7-12 spot in the West. This year things could finally come off the rails as their core keeps getting older, their big additions of Hudler and Wiedeman have “Boumeester Part II” written all over them, and the series of back-to-backs do not favour a workhorse like Kiprusof. The most interesting thing about this squad wil be to see if they actually trade Iginla this year.

13. San Jose Sharks: Sacrilege I know! This team was remarkably good for the better part of a decade, but their time may be up. Last year they finished 7th in the West and looked terrible in the playoffs. They made no noticeable additions in the summer and like Calgary, their core has passed their prime. The short season may drag on too long for this team.

12. Anaheim Ducks: Last season it looked like SuperPerry returned to earth after being dominant the year before. While the dynamite Getzlaf-Perry-Ryan trio is too good to be as horrible as they were last year, it doesn’t seem likely that any of them will be able to will this team into the playoffs like they did in 2011. Both Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry are free agents at year end, and if the Ducks give up and trade both of them, expect this team to be competing with Columbus for the Conference basement.

11. Colorado Avalanche: How on earth can this team give P.A. Parenteau $4 million and play hardball with Ryan O’Reiley? It just boggles the mind here! This team made some noise late last season and Varlamov was tearing up the KHL during the lockout, so don’t expect them to be terrible, but they won’t be able to compete with the other up and coming Western Conference teams just yet.

10. Dallas Stars: If this was 2007 they would have the best team in hockey. Yet unfortunately Jagr and Whitney won’t be putting up huge numbers, sure they will help, but they won’t be enough to get this team the handful of points that will separate most teams in the West. Now if they can get Jamie Benn signed and playing soon then things could be different, but that seems like it will be a bit of a protracted battle for reasons that defy logic.

9. Minnesota Wild: On July 4 when Parise and Suter were signed it seemed like everyone was ready to plan the parade dubbing them the Miami Heat of Hockey. Now that things have calmed down a bit this team is not quite as good as the hype leads one to believe. One must remember that they were worse than the Blue Jackets after New Year’s last year and adding two player won’t turn a bad team to champions. Sure they have some very good young players coming in like Mikael Granlund and Charlie Coyle, but those take time. This team will be a Western Conference powerhouse soon enough but it won’t be yet. The new players may have some difficulty adjusting to the system which will give them a bit of a slow start which will cost them a few points in the very close Western Conference.

8. Edmonton Oilers: Is this finally the time for this squad to get there? They have been bad for so long and have such a strong collection of talent that it’s only natural that they take the jump soon. Sure goaltending is a big question and the defense is a little shaky but the young player should benefit from the back-to-back games and most of this team has been dominating the AHL for the past few months so chemistry should not be an issue. Of course they won’t last too long in the playoffs, but there is a lot of reason to be excited in Oil Town.

7. Detroit Red Wings: This feels dirty doesn’t it? This team is clearly trending downward especially after losing one of the greatest defensemen of all time. For the first time in memory defense is a big weakness on this squad. Howard was very good last year and Gustavson has the potential for a bounce-back season so that should lesson some of their other shortcomings, obviously their forwards are world class but they are a little light on depth which should put them in a very unfamiliar spot at the middle of the pack.

6. Nashville Predators: Sure everyone wants to write them off after losing Ryan Suter, but let’s not forget that Shea Weber is still there. This team has the best defensemen in the world, one of the best coaches, and one of the top goalies. Let’s also not forget that this team scored the eighth most goals in the league last season without any big names up front. This is a squad that bounces back year after year, expect this to be no different.

5. Chicago Blackhawks: This team is pretty much the same as it was last year, high-level top talent, average depth, and questionable goaltending. Last year they were able to finish 6th, but three points out of 4th so there’s little reason to think that they won’t be in the same place especially if Patrick Kane is able to recover from an off year.

4. Phoenix Coyotes: Let’s see, they won their division and made it to the Conference finals after everyone counted them out. This year, everyone is counting them out again and they bring back the same pieces. Mike Smith was spectacular in the playoffs last year and should solidify his position as a top level goalie this year.

3. Vancouver Canucks: This is all contingent on how the goaltending situation resolves itself. If they trade Luongo for some top level talent they could easily finish first in the West, but as it stands now their prospects are not so bright. Currently they don’t have a second line as both Booth and Kesler are out with long term injuries and Jason Garrison seems like a flash in the pan last year. Of course they are still better than the bad (but improving) teams in their division. This seems to be their last chance to win, and sadly it doesn’t look like they will be able to do it.

2. Los Angeles Kings: They bring back the same roster that dominated the NHL last spring and are incredibly well rested. Not only should they win their pretty bad division with ease, they stand a very good chance of repeating as champions.

1. St. Louis Blues: There is no reason not to believe in this team right now. They are perhaps the deepest, most complete team in the NHL and with the rash of injuries that are bound to take place this year that’s incredibly important. They had two stellar goalies and can roll line after line of talented player. Last year was no aberration, this team is going to be a force in the West for a very long time.

 

As for the playoffs, the Blues should make short work of the Oilers while the Kings can pass the Wings in a tough series, expect Nashville to surprise the Canucks and the Blackhawks to get revenge on the Coyotes on the backs of a great Marian Hossa series and story. That leaves the Blues beating the Predators in a series that sees record low goals scored and the Kings rolling through the Blackhawks. St. Louis should get revenge on LA for sweeping them last year to move onto the finals where they lose to the Penguins. That’s right, Crosby hoists the Cup again.

We can dream, can’t we?

Jun 15

2012 Stanley Cup Playoff Plus/Minus: LA Kings, New Jersey Devils, Pittsburgh Penguins, and More!

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After a one week hiatus welcome back to the Weekly Plus/Minus here at Bladejobs of Steel. This edition will be slightly different, as instead of looking at the events of the past week, we’ll look at the events of the past two months or so. We will be looking at the good, the bad, and the ugly for the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

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Los Angeles Kings: Let’s get the obvious one out of the way now shall we?

The Kings were absolutely unbelievable this spring and could not possibly get enough praise. They lost a mere four games en route to their 16 wins, which is a third of the loses that last years Big Bad Bruins had by the way. They never once trailed a series, and had a stunning 10-1 record on the road. All of this while beating the top three teams in the Western Conference, and a “sixth seed” in the finals, that actually had the ninth highest point total in the league.

What’s even more exciting about this team is the fact that baring a complete overhaul of the CBA, they should be able to stay together for a long, long time. Kopitar, Doughty, Richards, and Carter are all locked up long term, with Jonathan Quick on the ticket for one more year and Dustin Brown on for two more years. It’s easy to think that this team could be a force for a few years to come. Which should be detrimental to the rest of the Western Conference.

Marc-Andre Fleury: Did anyone else’s reputation take a bigger hit this spring than his?

The narrative was simple, on one end you had the poised, playoff experienced net-minder who guided his team to the finals in 2008 and the Cup in 2009. On the other end you had a man who talked about bears and the size of the Universe. It was an easy pick in the most intriguing first round series.

Well things didn’t turn out that way at all. Both goalies looked bad in the Keystone State Showdown, but Marc-Andre Fleury was a new breed of terrible during those six games. Things were so rough that Penguins General Manager Ray Shero went out and acquired Tomas Vokoun to shoulder some starts next year and to provide effective relief.

Hopefully Fleury responds to the pressure like it was 2009 and doesn’t wilt under it like it’s 2012.

Ilya Kovalchuk: Of course the entire Devils teams deserves some love here, but special mention has to Mr. Job Security here.

After signing his massive, and sub-legal, contract in the summer of 2010, things did not go according to plan. Kovalchuk struggled in his first full season in Newark, as everyone cried that he was a “typical Russian” only playing for the money and would proceed to coast for the next 15 years.

Then something funny happened this year — he got better. This year, and especially these playoffs, Kovalchuk played better than he ever had before. He was suddenly a two way player who could be relied on in clutch situations. Sure his team lost in the end, but Kovalchuk finished one point behind the lead for playoff scoring, not bad for a coasting commie now is it?

Vancouver Canucks: Yet another wasted President’s Trophy for this squad.

This team was given the reputation as playoff underachievers after blowing a 3-2 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final last year. This year it was supposed to be different. They were supposed to show everyone what they were made of and win the Cup for the first time in franchise history.

But then things fell apart. They struggled to score, which was of course their goalies fault, and then completely fell apart, going down to the Kings in five games. If anything they were lucky that the Kigns plowed through everyone else, since it made them look a touch better…or should we say less bad.

Regardless of how well the team that beat them played, the fact remains this vaunted Cup contender is 2-8 in their last ten playoff games, which is hardly reason for optimism.

Braden Holtby: On the excellent Backhand Shelf blog, writer Daniel Wagner proposed the Dino Ciccarelli award for best rookie in a playoff series. The winner was pretty obviously Capitals goaltender, Braden Holtby.

Holtby started the first round as the third-string goalie after injured to both Neuvirth and Vokoun. Yet somehow he went toe-to-toe with last year Vezina winner, and this year’s probable winner. It was quite the shock to see how well he played throughout the entire playoffs, and it looks like the Capitals may finally have that starting goalie they’ve been looking for.

Phoenix Coyotes Fans: Seriously, where have these people been for the past three years?

As much flak as LA was getting for riding the band-wagon, that city has nothing on these guys….

May 25

Weekly Plus/Minus: LA Kings Advance, Punk and Bryan Dazzle, Big Show Bores, Nobody Guarantees and More!

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The Stanley Cup Finals are nearly set, while the WWE put on most of a good Pay-Per-View followed by a pretty average RAW. Needless to say there have been some highs and some lows this past week. Let’s get to it.

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When Punk Met Bryan: Their match at Over the Limit was faced with a very good (but difficult) problem. How could it possibly live up to it’s own hype? Heading into Sunday, this match was set up to become hyperbole.

Yet somehow, it delivered. These two went out and put on an absolute technical classic. These two traded holds, counters, and moves after moves after moves. The ending was amazing, with Punk reversing the Yes Lock into a pinning combination and then having a photo finish.

Somehow these two were able to deliver a great match with a slightly controversial finish that was both satisfying and left people wanting more.

How can anyone not be excited for the rematches between these two?

As the Big Show Turns: Has there been a heel or face turn more predictable in recent memory than this one?

Really, who the hell asked for this anyway? Big Show was going along just fine as a happy face that punches Cody Rhodes every so often, and could have transitioned nicely into a decent power feud to establish Tensai. So why this? There is a ton of fresh blood on the heel side who could easily feud with John Cena, so why do a rehash of the worst feud of 2009? It simply makes no sense in the long term and is downright boring in the short term.

To top things off, Show’s attack on Cena at the end of RAW seemed very dull. There is some potential for a Nuremberg style “Only Following Orders” heel and Show could do it, but it seems like he’s already evil.

Long Live the Kings: Mad congratulations are in order for the LA Kings. How could one not be impressed by these guys?

Even with Jonathan Quick having a bad (read: not super human) game the Kings are still able to get it done. They have four lines rolling and are simply amazing.

It’s great that the Kings may just be catching on in Southern California. They have rarely had traction in a very crowded sports market, so this run could help things out in the long run.

Us Against The World: Was anyone else struck by the paranoid nature of the Coyotes post game comments?

Mike Smith talks about how Dustin Brown should be “Gone Forever”,. Shane Doan says that he doesn’t know where he got those penalties. Keith Yandle says that having no owner somehow hurts the teams chances. One can’t help but wonder if the Coyotes helmets are lined with tinfoil.

Maybe this explains the success of the team in the last three years. Perhaps the culture of the team is to instill an Us Against the World mentality. They have no owner, they are given no credit, and yet the succeed. If true, it clearly works on the ice so there is no arguing.

But please, leave it in the dressing room, it looks classless, or at least they need to learn how to say “conspiracy” in French. They may need it come training camp…

As the Rumour Turns: With twenty-seven teams now focused on the off-season now, we’re finally starting to see the rumour mill heating up.

First we hear rumblings that Edmonton and Columbus are considering swapping picks — a great move for both teams.

Next we hear that Vancouver may keep both goalies, and that Tampa will try to draft or sign a goalie and may not make a trade after all — so clearly Luongo is going to Tampa, why would either team try to deny it at this point other than to drive up the market?

No matter what happens with Tampa, Vancouver, Edmonton, Columbus or anyone else, it’s great to be talking trades again!

Leave Messier Alone! Yes, everyone who was watching hockey in 1994 remembers Messier’s famous guarantee heading to New Jersey in Game 6. Yes, everyone who is watching know as well notices a similar situation.

But we should all notice that Messier isn’t playing anymore, so everyone needs to stop goading the Rangers into making a similar statement. Other than Martin Brodeur and Lou Lamorelio there are no connections between 1994 and 2012, leave it alone people.

It’s a historical curiosity and nothing more…unless Callahan gets a hat trick, then it’s getting eerie.

 

Prediction for the Week: Zack Praise scores a hat trick in Game 6 to clinch a trip to the Finals.

May 13

NHL Playoffs: Another Pair of Idiots Guide to the 3rd Round of the Playoffs

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Just when we thought things couldn’t get weirder, here we are! At the end of the first round, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Nashville looked like world beaters, while the Rangers, Devils, and Coyotes all struggled early. Yet somehow, those former heavyweights are golfing, while those that endured a nail bitter in early April are still playing in Mid-May. Really the only team that has been consistently strong has been an 8th seed team. What is this opposite year?

Things are really heating up between our three competitors for playoff prediction superiority.

We have a tie at the bottom of the standings with six points. The coin is gaining steam, correctly predicting LA and New Jersey series wins, adding to its four points from before, to bring its total to six. This pushes a tie with the owner of this blog, Glen, who had five points after last round, and went 1-3 in the Conference Semifinals, being the only one to predict a Rangers victory.

But Glen wasn’t the only one who went 1-3, Troy was able to predict a win for the LA Kings, which pushes his total up to seven. Making anything possible going forward.

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS

#3 Phoenix Coyotes vs. #8 Los Angeles Kings

Let’s see we have two Pacific Division teams playing a defense first system that have power forwards for captains, very good defense corps, and goaltenders with less than 2 for a Goals Against Average. These two teams are so incredibly even match that we may have our most likely series to go seven all spring, but with the way things are going this year it may end in four, who really knows anymore.

Troy Says: Didn’t see this coming. That’s for sure. It’s nonetheless still an interesting series. Although it’s LA first time getting this far since ’93 I believe it’s still not a major surprise. The Kings have been on the cusp of greatness for a few years now and it’s about time that they live up to their potential. Phoenix however, is definitely a surprise. They’re a decent team but I don’t think many people expected them to get this far into the playoffs. Unfortunately for all 10 Coyotes fans though, I think this is the end of their road. The Kings are too good. Jonathan Quick should be able to match Mike Smith shot for shot which will give LA’s offence a big advantage. Not to mention the LA is boasting Mike Richards. Richards is a man singularly born for big games. I don’t think this one will last too long.

Most Interesting Story: Is it getting repetitive to say goaltending? These two goalies are clearly the top contenders for the Conn Smythe trophy at this point, and it is not unreasonable to think that whichever goalie advances here will win the playoff MVP, regardless of wether they end up with their name on the Cup or not. Expect these series to have some insane performances by Smith and Quick.

Most Interesting Stat: The LA Kings are looking to be the second team in NHL history to defeat the top three teams in the Conference in one playoff season. The first you ask? Why it was the 2004 Calgary Flames…who was their coach again?

BONUS STAT: This is the first time in history that the Kings, Clippers, and Lakers have all made the playoffs. What on earth is going to happen to the Staples Center if all three teams advance?

Glen’s Prediction: Kings take it in 6 with Dustin Brown getting two game winning goals and two shutouts combined for the goalies.

Troy’s Prediction: Los Angeles in 5.

Coin’s Prediction: Los Angeles in 7 (the coin has the Kings going up 3-0, then Phoenix rallying only to lose)

EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS

#1 New York Rangers vs. #6 New Jersey Devils

Everyone immediately brings to mind memories of the unreal seven game Eastern Finals of 1994 here, but we forget that they have played three times since then with each series lasting either four or five games. Still though, this series has the potential to be very intriguing. Gaborik vs. Kovalchuk, Richards vs. Parise, Lundqvist vs. Brodeur, Tortorella vs. DeBoer and of course The Shore vs. The City. This series should be all kinds of interesting.

Troy Says: Well this is series we haven’t seen in years. Unfortunately I don’t expect it to be the most exciting series ever played. Having said that though you just never know in the playoffs what can happen. I was very surprised to see New Jersey get past the Flyers the way they did so this team cannot be taken lightly. With that in mind though this team relies heavily — as they always have — on the play of Brodeur. Somehow, even though he’s got to be an octogenarian by now, he’s still stopping pucks. The question then becomes does he still have it in him to keep it up in the next round? Well I bet against him last round and I was wrong so my heart tells me not to do it again. If you look at things from the Rangers’ side they’re firing on all cylinders and their goaltending is definitely not a question. Even Marty recently stated that he thinks Lundqvist is the best goalie in the game right now. So bottom line is I do think Brodeur will be strong, but I don’t think he’ll be able to carry his team past the Rangers.

Most Interesting Story: Coaching. Anyone else remember March 19? Because this happened:

 

And there were the great outbursts from the coaches afterwards. Hopefully the intensity is ratcheted up here, just like it was in the Pennsylvania showdown a few weeks ago.

Most Interesting Statistic: Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards are the only two players in the Top 25 of NHL Salary who are still playing (Stick Tap to Cap Geek on that one)

Glen’s Prediction: Who was the genius that predicted the Devils in the Final Four? Sure, that same genius may have also predicted the Rangers in the Stanley Cup Finals, but let’s not harp on such things.

Devils in 6

Troy’s Prediction: Rangers in 6

Coin’s Prediction: Jersey in 6

QUICK HITS FOR THE FINALS

Glen Says: The Kings over the Devils in 5 with Jonathan Quick as the Conn Smythe

Troy Says: LA over Rangers in 7. Quick with the Conn Smythe.

Coin Says: LA over New Jersey in 6.

 

Man that coin just can’t stay consistent, can it?

May 11

Weekly Plus/Minus: Paul Heyman on RAW, Braden Holtby is Made of Rubber, Fatal Four-Way, Some People are Jerks, and MORE!!!

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Welcome back to our weekly look at the boons and busts in the world of hockey and professional wrestling! Three of the four Conference finalists have been set, with the last series going seven games. Monday Night RAW got a huge surprise when Paul Heyman showed up and delivered an amazing promo, and a ton more happened!

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Braden Holtby is Made of Rubber: Why you ask? Well because he always bounces back!

Holtby’s numbers coming off of a loss are simply insane. After his great performance in Game 6 against the Rangers, he is 9-0 after losing a game. This is simply insane, how can you be so good to have not lost two games in a row?

Add to the fact that the last six of those wins have been against the New York Rangers or the Boston Bruins during these playoffs. Right now, George MacPhie looks like a genius for trading Varlamov for a 1st and 2nd round draft pick, and for not panicking when Vokoun and Neuvirth were not getting it done earlier. Obviously we need to wait and see if he’ll turn out more like Ken Dryden or more like Jim Carey, but it’s very fun to watch right now.

Phony Press Conferences with Greg Jamison: Seriously, what is going on in Glendale?

The NHL announces a Press Conference and it seems like we finally have a local owner in Arizona, who can keep the team there…right? Well not so fast. It later gets turned into a “Media Availability Day” to update everyone on the state of the sale, which is that nobody knows what’s going on. No offer has been presented to City Council, nothing was really made of the Goldwater Institute, and here we are in the middle of May with nothing concrete going forward.

This isn’t like in Atlanta where things fell apart very quickly, this has been going on for seriously three years. It’s simply unbelievable that this has dragged on for this long and nothing has been resolved. One can’t help but wonder if they are just throwing up smoke screens until the Coyotes are eliminated from the playoffs and then announce the move, because remember who the tickets sales are helping…

Paul F’n Heyman:  Paul Heyman graced our screens for the first time in a very long time this past week, and how could you not get excited for it?

Despite not appearing for a wrestling promotion in a few years, Heyman never missed a beat. Even in reading a prepared statement Paul Heyman is able to get everyone to hold on to every last word coming out of his mouth. This man is an absolute genius on the microphone, and we can’t help but hope that he plays a part in the Brock Lesnar storyline going forward, the thought of him working as an agent/mouth piece/corner man for Brock Lesnar in his Summerslam match against Triple H is every bit a plus.

9/11 First Responders…really?: In the intro to Game 6 of the Rangers-Capitals series, CBC Host Ron MacLean foolishly compared NHL Players to the firefighters and policemen that rushed into the flaming wreckage of The Pentagon and World Trade Centers on September 11, 2001.

War metaphors in sports really need to stop. Every game is not a “battle”, or a “war”, and these men are not “soldiers” or “warriors”. Brad Richards and Alexander Ovechkin are very talented athletes engaged in a struggle on behalf of their billionaire owners, nothing more. To compare them to soldiers, police officers, or anyone else is down right insulting to the people who are risking their lives.

In case you haven’t seen the video, have a look and wonder…

Fatal-Four Way: Alberto Del Rio challenging Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Title at Over the Limit wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire. After a very fun tag match on RAW, things got changed as Chris Jericho and Randy Orton were added to the match.

These four are certain to put on a great show, and hopefully are able to lead to some interesting spin-offs down the line. All six possible one-on-one matches featuring those four are incredibly intriguing and it should make for some interesting feuds going forward. This can add some much needed luster to the Sheamus-Del Rio feud since either of them can win this match without pinning the other to set up easy motivation going forward.

Of course, what puts this in the plus more than anything else is that it means that Orton-Kane is finally done.

David Menzies: How is this for a great hook to start an article?

Question: When do you know that a public figure really needs a P.R. boost?

Answer: When that person wraps himself in the rainbow flag.

If that doesn’t make you want to throw up, then I don’t know what will. The “columnist” David Menzies lead a recent article on the Canadian Version of the Huffington Post with this. What’s worse (and keeps it relevant to this site) is that the public figure he is accusing is Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager Brian Burke.

Burke, whose gay son was killed in a car accident, is also one of the founders of the If You Can Play, You Can Play initiative started a few months ago. Menzies accused Burke, as well as former New York Ranger Sean Avery, of standing up for gay rights as a means of shielding himself from criticism by “Milking the gay angle for all it’s worth”.

First off, to accuse Burke of starting “You Can Play” based on anything other than the memory of his son is disgusting, ever Brian Burke would not stoop to that level. Secondly, if he was out to escape criticism it has clearly failed, as people continue to call for his job. Lastly, Menzies also called for a boycott of the Grey Cup since they are allowed to use the Imperial System but nobody else in Canada is allowed to, alright so that point may not be relevant, but it shows what kind of a guy we’re dealing with.

By the way, he doesn’t work for Fox News, he gets to grace our televisions North of the Border, working for a company that starts with an “S” and ends with an “un Media”. What a wonderful time to be Canadian…


Prediction for the Week: Rangers win 3-1 against the Capitals, then get a split in Manhattan against the Devils.

May 07

How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Start Loving Sunbelt Hockey

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You can practically see the torches and pitchforks at the NHL head offices. For the first time in 16 years, and only the third time since the 1967 Expansion we do not have any Canadian teams playing past the first round. What’s worse the Final Four of the Western Conference features four of the worst kinds of teams, Southern teams.

You can feel the rage coming from North of the border, how can places that don’t get any snow appreciate *our* game? Add in to the fact that a team in DC is still playing, a team from Miami was one goal away from the second round, and Tampa Bay and San Jose both made deep playoff runs a year ago, and the game all Canadians love is under attack from some Great Southern Menace.

At the start of the season everything was looking great for Canadian teams. The Canucks were still considered Stanley Cup contenders, the Maple Leafs, Flames, and Canadiens were considered potential playoff teams, and the Oilers and Senators had a wealth of young talent that could break through in a few years time. But best a team was saved from the apathetic clutches of a failed Southern market and brought back to the True North Strong and Free to become, at the very least, the second favourite team of 35 million people in the Northern half of the continent.

Even better, the prospects going forward looked great. The team in Phoenix was still without an owner, with rumblings that teams in Miami, Columbus, and Long Island may need to look elsewhere, while they were building new NHL ready arenas in Quebec City and the Great Toronto Area. Maybe we could end up Making it Nine!

Well since then things have changed, dramatically. The Coyotes and Panthers won their division and improved their attendance, the Blue Jackets signed a new lease with the city of Columbus for roughly the next millenium, and the Islanders are almost certainly going to stay on Long Island, even if  they end up in Brooklyn.

Worst still the Oilers, the Leafs, and the Canadiens all finished in the bottom five in NHL Standings, the Calgary Flames predictably finished 9th, and after a late season collapse the Winnipeg Jets were unable to make the playoffs. Only the Canucks and Senators made the playoffs, with both bowing out in the first round.

Clearly this is not a good time for hockey north of the border. The Sunbelt is the new king of the NHL!

The truth is, this rage is misguided, misinformed, and fits an overly simplistic narrative.

For starters, this years playoffs have been wildly unpredictable. Who on earth would have imagined Vancouver, Pittsburgh and Boston all bowing out so early? These playoffs have been very flukey so far, and it’s foolish to react like this, especially when the last eight Cup finalists play in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Illinois, British Columbia, and Massachusetts. With the warmest place among them being Vancouver, which only gets 3 cm more snow a year than St. Louis for the record. So to say that we are in an era of “Sunbelt Hockey” is looking at the trees and neglecting the forest.
Secondly, and most importantly: bemoaning Southern markets really should be passe. Despite failures in Atlanta, and hiccups in Phoenix, the Great Southern Migration of the 90s has mostly been successful. Nashville and San Jose consistently have very high attendance, and LA, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, and Florida have had their off-ice success tied to on-ice success, which is exactly what has happened in Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Boston in the past decade. But more importantly, the NHL has increased their media footprint – do you really think that NBC would have signed such a lucrative deal for 30 teams North of the Mason-Dixie line?
Many Canadians don’t remember ever becoming hockey fans, they just sort of were. Children cheer for the same team that their parents love. But what if their parents aren’t hockey fans? How can they find an entry point into this wonderful game?
My parents are not sports fans at all, so I entered the game a little late. My older half-sister was a big Montreal fan and the spring of ’93 got her more excited than words can describe. Between her joy over Montreal’s miracle run and the ’92 expansion into Ottawa, I was hooked. It certainly didn’t hurt that the playoffs the next year in ’94 were among the best in history, clearly those two years had a tremendous effect on an impressionable 10 and 11 year old.
Who knows, maybe this miracle run by the LA Kings, or the probably news that the Coyotes will stay in Phoenix could help some other kid get hooked, and what’s not to love about that? Sure they may never be able to hold a Winter Classic there, or they may not have the steep tradition related to the game, but it’s time that we share it with someone else.
May 04

Weekly Plus/Minus: WWE Extreme Rules, Second Round Showdowns, Brock Lesnar, Partying Russians, and More!

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Has it been seven days already? With the second round of the playoffs in full-swing and a dynamite event from the WWE time just keeps flying by! What was good? What was bad? Well let’s just see here…

Extreme Rules – The Matches: Wow! What an event the WWE put on this past week. The company put on arguably their best event since last years Money in the Bank, coincidently in the same city.

In many ways, this event was what Wrestlemania could have been. Cena-Brock had a feeling of hatred that Cena-Rock didn’t, while Daniel Bryan and Sheamus showed what happens if they are given more than 18 seconds to do their thing. While Punk and Jericho really showed how to blow off a blood feud.

Add in the fact that we had a very good Orton-Kane match to start things out, and we had ourselves a damn fine PPV that sets the bar very high for the rest of the year.

Extreme Rules – The Decisions: Why on earth would they have Brock Lesnar lose his first match in eight years? Why on earth would they have John Cena cut that very bizarre (and wildly ignored) promo at the end?

Apparently after the match Brock Lesnar went crazy backstage, flipping out over the loss and Cena no-selling the beating he took. Or did he? Later reports were that this was exaggerated to “work the boys”. The reasons for this really aren’t clear. Of course, we all must keep an open mind as for what happens next, but at this moment it feels like things are not going in the direction that they should be.

Kneel Before the King: Sure the LA Kings are not your typical 8th seed. They could have finished as high as 3rd up until the last day of the season, so to label them as a Cinderella team is misleading.

Having said that, who on earth saw this coming? After their 4-2 win in Game 3, they have a record of 7-1 in the playoffs, which is easily the best out of any team. What’s more impressive, is the fact that they have been playing against the top two regular season teams in the league, so victories are very tough to come by.

This team looks damn scary, and after those first three games against St. Louis, should be a favourite to come out of the West. Who the hell saw this coming?!?!?

Phoenix Rising: The Phoenix Coyotes shocked many by defeating the Blackhawks in round one, and shocked many more by jumping out to a 2-0 lead against the Predators.

But the most shocking thing of all is clearly the fact that the games are selling out. Even more shocking, news came out today the Coyotes are once again one step closer to staying in the desert.

The fans at Coyotes games seem knowledgable. They are all decked out in ‘Yotes gear and/or white, they are cheering at the right time and booing at the right time. So the most obvious question comes out: where the hell have they been for the past three years? Sure it makes sense to not go see a bad team, but this is their third year in a row in the playoffs and only now these people are showing up. If, and this remains a huge if, the Coyotes stay in Phoenix next year, it will be incredibly interesting, and probably frustrating, to see how many of them are showing up to Tuesday night games in November…

Punk vs. Bryan, YES! YES! YES!: Daniel Bryan defeated Jerry Lawler at the end of RAW this past week to win the Beat the Clock Challenge and earn a chance to challenge CM Punk for the WWE Title at Over the Limit.

With all due respect to Mr. Jericho, this truly is a match between the two best in the world, and it’s hard not to get excited at the thought of it. When these two were tearing it up in Ring of Honor, could anyone have imagined that they would one day be fighting for the WWE Title on a Pay-Per-View? The thought of this is beyond surreal.

The outcome of the match is really intriguing. Daniel Bryan is very hot right now and Punk’s six-month reign is the longest the company has had in a while, so logic may dictate that veganism defeats straight edge. Yet, things are rarely that simple. Could this just be a chance to get people to boo Bryan? Could this just be a chance to have Jericho interfere in one of Punk’s matches? Or could this be the start of a long feud that would destroy the internet by making all of our dreams come true?


Blame it on the Russians: You gotta hand it to David Poile. The GM of the Predators chose to bench two of their most dynamic forwards for violating team curfews prior to Game 2. Sure Andrei Kostitsyn had been pretty average these playoffs, and Radulov certainly looked hungover that game, but this was a gamble. The Preds were having trouble scoring, and you would think that these dynamic players would be part of the solution, and not the problem. Yet the classiest organization that doesn’t play in Detroit stuck to their guns and went on and won a must win game without two of their Top Six forwards.

But this is in the minus camp for a reason. The narrative in several places on the media has been overly simplistic: these guys are Russians, and therefore care more about drinking in Scottsdale than drinking from Stanley.

Let’s count the reasons that it’s a flawed idea:

- The Kostitsyns are from Belarus not Russia, let’s get that out of the way right now.
- Do you really think that Evgeni Malkin or Pavel Datsyuk would break these rules?
- Why was nobody saying “Typical American hockey player” when Patrick Kane got drunk and punched a cab driver? Or “Typical Canadian” whenever Sean Avery did anything?

It’s 2012 this type of xenophobia is completely unfounded. The vast majority of players in the NHL want to win. Sure some make dumb life decisions, and some of these dumb ones may be from Russia, but there are plenty of Canadian, American, Swedish, Finish, Swiss, Belarusian, Korean, Slovenian, Moroccan, Brazilian, and Martian hockey players that do stupid things off the ice. Keep with the time, ladies and gents, the Cold War is long over.

 

Prediction for this Week: The Phoenix Coyotes don’t win another playoff game.

Apr 29

NHL Playoffs: Another Pair of Idiots Guides to the 2nd Round

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Well that sure was a strange first round, wasn’t it? Between the approximately 312 goals scored by Philadelphia and the 9 scored by St. Louis, Nashville, LA, and Phoenix combined, we saw it all. The first week had an insane amount of violence, but then things calmed down. We saw more overtime games that you could possibly imagine and the two favourites for the Stanley Cup are golfing while the Phoenix Coyotes are playing the latest games in the history of their franchise.

After the first round, Glen, Troy and the Coin all had some struggles., with the standings coming out as follows:

In third place we had the coin who correctly predicted series wins for the Washington Capitals, New Jersey Devils, St. Louis Blues, and the Nashville Predators, we have the coin!

In 2nd place, correctly guessing…err prognosticating the Rangers, Devils, Blues, and Predators all winning, with an extra point coming for going with the Rangers 7 game victory bringing his point total to 5 is the proprietor of this blog, Glen!

And in first place with a 5-3 record based on correct predictions for the Rangers, Devils, Blues, Coyotes, and Predators, plus correctly predicting the series length for the St. Louis Blues is Troy! Like the Western Conference we seem to be having a changing of the guard here.

For the next round we’ve got the following Predictions…

WESTERN CONFERENCE

#2 St. Louis Blues vs. #8 Los Angeles Kings

Remember after Michael Leighton made it to the finals and everyone kept saying that you don’t need goaltending to win? Well look at the roughly 712 shutouts that these two teams combined for this year and start to think again. As the Vancouver Canucks can attest to, the Kings are not a typical eighth seed, but the Blues looked damn scary in their last trip to California. After seeing records set in Philly-Pittsburgh last round for offense, expect records to be set for defense here.

Troy Says: In the West goaltending was king in the first round. All four Western Conference teams have amazing goaltending so with that in mind it’s most likely going to come down to good offence, or inversely, poor defence.  St. Louis is a young team with exceptional talent. Everything is coming together for them at the right time. However, keep in mind that the team they beat in the first round was San Jose….the chokingest team…..ever?!  If you look at what the Kings did in the first round it’s quite impressive. Los Angeles knocked out the defending Western Conference Champs and President’s trophy winners in 5 games. And you can’t even blame it on Luongo! This leads me to believe that at the end of the day, LA is the better team. LA has been on this precipice for a number of years now. Everyone was wondering when they were going to get over the hump and start making some noise and with the addition of a guy like Richards I believe this is their time.

Most Interesting Story: Could it be anything other than goaltending and defense? These were the two best defensive teams in the league during the regular season with the Blues allowing 165 goals and the Kings allowing 179.

Most Interesting Statistic: Despite these two teams sharing a Conference for most of their existence, they have only met in the playoffs twice before. The Blues swept the Kings in the 1969 Western Division final to earn their second straight trip to the finals, and again in 1998 to advance to the second round.

Glen’s Prediction: St. Louis Blues in 6 games with around 15 total goals scored.
Troy’s Prediction: I’ll take LA in 6.
Coin’s Prediction: LA in 7
#3 Phoenix Coyotes vs. Nashville Predators
Remember after Michael Leighton made it to the finals and everyone kept saying that you don’t need goaltending to win? Oh wait, we’ve already made that point? Well it’s further underscored here as we have two of the most impressive goalies in the first round. These two teams match up very well, they both have stellar defense, intelligent coaches, gargantuan goaltenders, and were both almost forced to move to Hamilton. Expect this series to be insanely close.
Troy Says: This series seems somewhat identical to St. Louis vs LA. They are both young teams with exception goalies and this as well will be a very tight series. I find this one a tough one to call. In my eye the Preds had the more impressive first round knocking out the Wings in 5 games whereas it took Phoenix 6 games to take out the Hawks. Nashville is lead with one of the toughest blue lines in the league and their ageless coach has this team firing on all cylinders. The Coyotes are in brand new territory and as such this is the first time this franchise has made it past the first round since the move from Winnipeg. From that I can figure that Nashville has the edge in experience and with two youngish teams that can make a large difference. This will be a close series but I’m going with Nashville.
Most Interesting Story: Offense. When Radim Vrbata is the closest this series have to a game-breaking forward, then it’s curious to all it an interesting matchup. Yet somehow, someway this year, the Predators are Top 10 in the NHL in Goals For and Number One in the Power Play. With everything else so close between these two teams, expect the ability to put pucks in a net, even if it is by committee, to be the deciding factor.

Most Interesting Statistic: The only time either of these teams won more than four games in a single playoff was last year when the Predators won six.
 
Glen’s Prediction: Nashville in 7 games with both teams combining for three shutouts.
Troy’s Prediction: Preds in 7
Coin Says: Predators in 4
EASTERN CONFERENCE
#1 New York Rangers vs. #7 Washington Capitals
These two teams survived Game 7 scares to make it to this point. This is their third playoff showdown in the last four years, with the Capitals taking the previous two as the favourite, the roles are reversed this time around. Will the results also be?
Troy Says:  Well….I picked Washington to fall flat on their faces against Boston and I was dead wrong. I sincerely didn’t think they had a shot at all. But notice who was, or better yet, who wasn’t, leading this team. It wasn’t Ovechkin; it was Matt Hendricks. This guy was everything for Washington in the first round. I find it interesting that Ovie has taken a bit of a back seat with this team and it hasn’t hurt them in the least. On the New York side, they shows some balls in coming back against Ottawa to win in 7 but as a number one seed against the number 8 seed they should have never been in that position to begin with. This team has made some major strides this year but nonetheless I think they can be beaten. I’m ready to put some faith in the Caps in this round. They severely impressed me with their play against the defending champs and they deserve some credit for that.

Most Interesting Story: Coaching.  Both teams have high end offensive players but are choosing to play a defense-first style. Tortorella has made the Rangers are kings of blocking shots, and Dale Hunter has somehow convinced Ovechkin and Semin that a 1-4 system is better than no system at all. Perhaps the winner of this series will come down to who lets their horses out of the barn at the right moment.
Most Interesting Statistic: Alexander Ovechkin has seen as many NHL Game 7s as Madison Square Garden.
Glen’s Prediction: Rangers get revenge by winning in 5
Troy’s Prediction: Capitals in 5
Coin’s Prediction:  Capitals in 5
#5 Philadelphia Flyers vs. #6 New Jersey Devils
The Patrick Division lives!!!! These two teams have long been geographic rivals, and will renew their hostilities once more. This series should be a very good once as it is the only one of the four series to feature two teams with over 100 points, and both of them were lower seeds last round. The Flyers used great forechecking and the stretch pass last round, but will it work against the team that quite literally wrote the book on positional defense?
Troy’s Prediction: New Jersey has run into a powerhouse in this round and I can’t wait to see the slaughter. Brodeur, as much as I love him, is not the goalie he used to be. Combine that with the fact that Philly averaged approximately 30 goals per game against Pittsburgh in the first round and this series may not be pretty for Marty’s GAA. New Jersey is going to try and trap like they always do and Philly is going to blow right through it.
Most Interesting Story:  Goaltending! Last round Ilya Bryzgalov was bad, but was able to escape criticisms based on the fact that Marc-Andre Fleury was worse. Martin Brodeur was very inconsistent  last round, and you have to wonder how much gas he has left in the tank. Both goalies should be on short leashes in this round. The Flyers were not afraid to run and gun last round, but you have to wonder if it will work so well this time.
Most Interesting Statistic: These two teams have met four times before in the playoffs, the winning team has gone on to win the Stanley Cup twice and lose in the finals one other time.
Bonus statistic: Despite advancing to the second round for the first time in his career, teams with Ilya Kovalchuk have a record of 5-11 in postseason games.
Glen’s Prediction: Flyers in 6
Troy’s Prediction: Flyers in 4
Coin’s Prediction:  New Jersey in 7
Quick Picks for the Third and Fourth Rounds:
Glen Says:
Predators over Blues in 6
Rangers over Flyers in 5
Predators over Rangers in 6 to win the Cup and send Canadians rioting. Rinne for Conn Smythe.
Troy Says:
LA over Nashville in 7
Philly over the Caps in 6.
Philly over LA in 5. Giroux with the Conn Smythe.
Coin Says:
Nashville over LA in 6
New Jersey over Washington in 7
New Jersey over Nashville in 7
That would be poetic after all of the relocation rumours from ’95, wouldn’t it be?
Apr 25

The Reshaping Western Conference

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Well who the hell saw this coming?

 The Vancouver Canucks, Detroit Red Wings, San Jose Sharks, and Chicago Blackhawks represent every Western Conference finalist since 2009, and all but two since 2007, and now they are all golfing. Three of those four teams bowing out in a paltry five games, while Chicago needed approximately 600 Overtime Periods to last one longer than their former Main Event competitors.
None of the Los Angeles Kings, Nashville Predators, Phoenix Coyotes, or St. Louis Blues have won the Stanley Cup and we are already guaranteed that one of them will have a shot at their first title. If that isn’t shocking enough, remember that the Coyotes and Predators have never been to the Cup Finals, or even past the second round before. The Blues made the Cup finals in their first three years of existence, going 0-12 in the process, the NHL got so tired of those lopsided series that they moved the Blackhawks into the Western Division right after in order to have a not terrible team in the finals. The Kings are the most recent franchise to end up getting a shot at the Cup, and their one and only chance came 19 years ago when a certain Mr. Gretzky was their captain, and this was only their second series win since losing out to the Canadiens in ’93.
What’s more interesting than the changes in the West, is how all four teams have taken very different paths to get here. The Coyotes have one team comprised almost entirely of castoffs and beating the entire world. The Predators have slowly and patiently been building to this moment for most of the decade. The Kings underachieved for most of the season before making an incredibly bold move in February and peaking at the right time. The Blues have been a team poised to break-through “someday” only to show everyone that someday is in fact, today.
If there’s one thing we can learn from this, is that there is no one way to build a team in today’s NHL, no matter how often GMs look to copy one another. All you need is vision, commitment and hard-work. Oh, all world goaltending doesn’t hurt, does it? Did you catch that one Burkie?