Tag Archives: Pittsburgh Penguins

May 14

NHL Playoffs: Second Round Predictions That Will No Doubt Be Proven Wrong

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No rest for the wicked, eh? A scant 24 hours after two very intriguing Game 7 implosions, we’re back at it with two first round series starting up tonight! Back to offer their thoughts are Glen, Troy and a Coin who all did surprisingly well last round!

In third place is a man who correctly predicted the Penguins, Senators, Bruins, Blackhawks, and Kings advancing, and earns an extra point for correctly calling the Hawks winning in 5, for a total of 6 points is Troy!

Troy Says: That first round was crazy! It was heartbreaking to see my Canadiens lose to an incredibly scrappy and determined Ottawa team….especially since their first goal in game 4 was EXTREMELY obviously kicked in and it completely boggles my mind as to how in the world that was actually allowed to count…..but I digress. It was a mix of fun and sad to watch the Canucks implode once again. Watching the magic that follows the Red Wings continues to amaze. They had an incredible stretch just to make the playoffs and then they defeated a loaded Anaheim team.

Back in the East watching Marc-Andre Fleury pretend to play for the Penguins while obviously being paid off by the Islanders was interesting to say the least. If the Islanders had gotten absolutely any goaltending from Nabokov they could easily be in the second round right now.

In the Boston/Toronto series my heart truly breaks for the Leafs. That was an epic and unmatched collapse. It’s all part of the learning process though. Next year will be different for the Leafs. Same with Montreal and the Islanders. They are young teams trying to get their feet wet and as they say you have to learn to lose before you can learn to win.

In second place is a man who perfectly predicted all four series in the East and called both the Blackhawks and Red Wings advancing. In addition he called the Rangers 7 game win, giving him 7 total points is Glen!

Glen Says: What an unbelievable First Round we saw! For the first time in recent memory, the Eastern Conference was more compelling and entertaining than the West.

We had the Penguins look very beatable, only to resolve things with a goalie switch. Then the Senators and Canadiens had an all-out blood war that featured some of the best quotes of the post-season. The Capitals and Leafs both gave their teams reasons to hope only to completely fall apart in different yet spectacular ways in Game 7.

The second round as a whole looks incredibly promising as we get two Original Six showdowns, a geographic battle, and of course Matt Cooke in Ottawa. Even if  most of the series end quickly like they did last year, this still should be a ton of fun.

Last year in the West, everyone was amazed that perennial contenders in Chicago, Detroit, Vancouver, and San Jose all fell in the first round and everyone called it a changing of the guard. Well guess what? A year later and three of those four teams are back in the second round and they are joined by the Stanley Cup Champion  – who coincidentally join the ’08 Red Wings and ’09 Penguins as the only champs since 2002 to win a series the next year – needless to say, what’s old is new again out West, and it’s pretty damn exciting!

And somehow or another the Coin was able to predict the Pens, Sens, Rangers, Bruins, Blackhawks, and Sharks to advance and even more astonishing – it called the Sens and Hawks in 5 and the Rangers in 7. Yeah they coin has 9 total points…kill us all.

WESTERN CONFERENCE
 
#1 CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS vs #7 DETROIT RED WINGS

One more time for the last time

Troy: If you aren’t following @Eklund on Twitter…you should be. He made a point about the Red Wings that is absolutely bang on. They are by far the best coached team in the playoffs. Combine that with the fact that Chicago was not on their game in the first round and this could be a very entertaining series. I think the Wings will be a good test for the Blackhawks and I think it will be the push they need to start firing on all cylinders again. The unknown here is Howard. These teams are close enough that Howard could absolutely steal a game or two so Chicago will be able to take absolutely no short cuts. Even though Chicago wasn’t completely in their game in the first round they still took out Minny in 5 games and their captain, Jonathan Toews did not play anywhere near his capabilities. Toews won’t let that happen two series in a row.

Blackhawks in 6

Glen Says: If anyone is going to beat the Hawks this year, it won’t be the Red Wings. The Wings were lucky enough to matchup against the weakest non-Southeast Division leader in recent memory. As Troy said, the Wings are very well coached, but Babcock simply doesn’t have the horses for this race. The Hawks are just too deep and the Red Wings don’t have Lidstrom anymore. There is a reason that Ryan Sutter played a million minutes in the last round, they wanted him out there against both Kane and Toews. The Red Wings just don’t have a minute muncher anymore to do that. Thankfully there is the Original Six Factor here, because this series will be a ugly.

Blackhawks in 5.

Coin Says: Blackhawks in 5

Expect to Hear: ”How do you feel like playing a few more games?” – Ken Holland talking to his cell phone as he makes a mysterious call to Sweden.
#5 LOS ANGELES KINGS vs #6 SAN JOSE SHARKS

Gamers vs. Chokers

Troy Says: This is a series that pits two teams each having won four straight games. The Kings had a very tough start to their series but then rattled off four wins in a row against a damn good St. Louis team. San Jose however swept a disorganized and pitiful Vancouver team that completely lost themselves. That being said I think this is LA’s series to lose.

Kings in 5

Glen Says: I want to like the Sharks, really I do. I started blogging about sport in 2007, and sending e-mails to Troy for many years before that, and I picked Teal and Black to win or at least make the finals nearly every time. However, after too many disappointments, I just can’t do it. Last round I said that the winner of LA-St. Louis would make the finals, so I better stick with it. Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski, and Anti Niemi will do their best to make a series of it, but the Kings have the experience. Oddly, this is the first time the Kings have had home ice in a playoff series since the first round of the 1992 playoffs. They were undefeated at home against the Blues…

Kings in 6

Coin Says: Kings in 6

Expect to Hear: “We’re part of the Battle of California too” – All 12 Ducks Fans

EASTERN CONFERENCE
#1 PITTSBURGH PENGUINS vs. #7 OTTAWA SENATORS

CSI Ottawa: Staring Eugene Caruso 

Troy Says: This is easily the series I am most looking forward to in the second round. I think Ottawa is going to be a really tough opponent for the Pens. Pittsburgh’s goaltending in the first round was horrible. They had to use Vokoun because Fleury couldn’t stop a beach ball. Now look at the other end of the rink and you’ll see Anderson. He played incredibly well against Montreal and was a huge reason why they took out my Habs in 5. Pittsburgh beat the Islanders in 6. But they did it in spite of their goaltending. Ottawa will not be that easy to overcome. Daniel Alfredsson has given his team everything and he’s proven that he still has a lot left in the tank. As Karl Eriksson gets his game back this team is only going to get better. This Ottawa team seems to have a cinderella feel to them and I think the Pens are vulnerable.

 

Senators in 6

 

Glen Says: Let’s see, one team rolled over their opponents in 5 games which included two 6-1 curb-stompings. The other had a goaltending controversy despite winning two shutouts, and survived two other overtime scares to win an incredibly close series in 6 games.

If I wrote that as a “future preview” two weeks ago you’d be expect the first sentence to be about the Pens route and the second one to be about the Sens route. Yet somehow or another, things changed and the Senators come in looking like world beaters and the Penguins come in a little shaky.

Honestly, I think that the Islanders poked the dragon here. The Penguins looked very focused in Games 6 and 7 after being tied 2-2 and going with the goalie switch. Expect Tomas Vokun to start this series but be given a short leash. The team just seems to play better in front of him. Now Evgeni Nabokov was pretty bad in the first round, I mean, not Marc-Andre Fleury bad, but pretty terrible. Expect the Penguins to have a much harder time scoring on Craig Anderson. However, Malkin, Iginla and Crosby are 2,4,5 in playoff scoring and people haven’t noticed them, so expect all three to step it up as things keep going.

This series will be fun and the games should be very close, but the Sens just can’t hang with this team that seems to be starting to click on all cylinders.

Penguins in 5 very close games

Coin Says: Senators in 5

Expect to Hear: ”It wasn’t Matt Cooke! It was Colonel Mustard in the Observatory with the Skate Blade” – Eugen Melnyk after finding the results of his forensic investigation

#4 BOSTON BRUINS vs #6 NEW YORK RANGERS

HRR Bonanza!!

Troy Says: Another Original Six matchup! I love it! This one should be very tight. Callahan has been everything for the Rangers and with Lundqvist between the pipes they are going to be extremely tough. Boston is coming off one of the biggest Game 7 comebacks in playoff history (first team to comeback from 3 goals down in the 3rd period of a game 7) so they are certainly going to be emotionally charged. The Rangers are obviously a much different team than the Leafs and they boast much more playoff experience so they will not be a pushover. i honestly don’t have a feel for which team has the advantage in this series. In a series like this is tends to come down to goaltending and New York has the advantage there.

Rangers in 6.

Glen Says: Which team should be more excited about their Game 7 win?

The Rangers looked bad in the first two games of the series but once they got going, they never looked back. Henrik Lundqvist, the best goalie in the world is coming into this series on back-to-back shutouts and they got the win despite Rick Nash and Brad Richards not showing up much on the score sheet. If those two guys can start to play to their level, and if Chris Kreider can recapture some of the playoff magic he had last year, these guys could really make some noise.
The Bruins on the other hand are a curious story. In Games 1,3, and the last few minutes of Game 7 they looked like world beaters, but the rest of the series they looked pretty average. People are, quite rightly, praising the Leafs for hanging with the Bruins, but shouldn’t they also be asking the Bruins why they played down to the Leafs level for so long? How can a team this good be down 4-1 against a team like the Leafs? The Bruins need to figure this out or they will be in trouble. Lucky for them their Marchand-Bergeron-Seguin like finally clicked in the dying minutes of Game 7, hopefully they can keep delivering when their backs aren’t against the wall.
I took the Bruins to make the Conference final at the start of the playoffs, so I better stick with it but I think that this series will be a lot closer than I initially predicted.
Bruins in 7

Coin Says: Rangers in 4

QUICK HITS
Troy Says: 
Blackhawks over Kings in 7
Senators over Rangers in 5

Blackhawks over Senators in 6 (If it goes 7, Anderson gets the Conn Smythe no question)

Glen Says:
Kings over Blackhawks in 7
Penguins over Bruins in 6

Penguins over Kings in 6

 

Coin Says:

Kings over Blackhawks in 5
Rangers over Senators in 7

Rangers over Kings in 5

Judging by the way things went in the first round we better put our money on the Rangers here…

May 01

NHL Playoffs: Eastern Conference First Round Predictions That Will No Doubt Be Proven Wrong

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Welcome back to the second set of first round predictions. Here we will look at the Eastern Conference. Will the Penguins dominate as expected or will the big bad Bruins have something to say about it? Both the Rangers and Capitals have been peaking of late, so one of those hot streaks will come to an end. Let’s not forget that the three Eastern Canadian teams are in the playoffs, and we are getting our first all Canadian series since 2004, so that’s pretty exciting!

#1 PITTSBURGH PENGUINS vs. #8 NEW YORK ISLANDERS

The Sidney Crosby Injury Watch

 

Glen Says: While everyone expects this series to be short, and they are probably right. These games may be closer than some people expect. While the Penguins won the season series 4-1 but three of those wins came in Pittsburgh’s undefeated month of March and they haven’t played since the Islanders really took off in the last month of the season. Expect Tavares to really arrive on the big stage with this series and Evgeni Nabokov to remind people that he was a pretty damn good goalie back in San Jose. Don’t get me wrong, the Isles aren’t taking this to seven or anything, but I expect this to be like the old Dallas-Edmonton series that Dallas would continually win in four or five, but every game would be tight and fun to watch.

 

Penguins in 5

 

Troy Says: Well this is basically the Eastern Conference’s version of CHI-MIN. No question Chicago was the best team in the league in the regular season but Pittsburgh was not far behind. Especially when looking at the second half of the season. Don’t forget that Pittsburgh has been without Crosby and Malkin for a while now but they haven’t skipped a beat. It’s been impressive. This is an incredibly deep team and the Islanders simply can’t match. The weakest link in Pittsburgh may be their goaltending. Fleury can sometimes be an enigma. He has the ability to lead a team to Stanley Cup but he can also stink out the joint. Still though, I’m pretty sure I could play goal for the Pens in this series and still win.

Penguins in 4.
Coin Says:  Penguins in 5

 

Expect to Hear: ”The last time the Islanders won a playoff series was against the Penguins in ’93 when Sidney Crosby was 5, Jonathan Tavares was 2. What a coincidence we were all 20 years younger then!”

#2 MONTREAL CANADIENS vs. #7 OTTAWA SENATORS

The Anti-Rivalry-Rivalry

 

Glen Says: Somehow, someway these two teams have shared a division for over 20 years and have never once played one another in the playoffs. These two teams are the closest geographically of any two Canadian teams yet have absolutely no rivalry to speak. Their fan bases have even bonded over their mutual loathing of the Leafs. Hopefully this series will find a way to kick start a blood feud here. The Sens must be tickled that they not only spoiled a Toronto-Montreal love fest, but they also got their ideal matchup in the first round. The Sens would have been in a lot of trouble against the Bruins or Penguins, but they matchup well against the Habs. Think about it: Subban vs. Karlsson, Anderson vs. Price, The Calder Line vs. Galenchuk and Gallagher, these teams are a lot more even than the standings would indicate. Both teams are even limping their way into the playoffs.

These same Sens took last years Rangers to seven games, and last years Rangers are a much better team than this years Habs.

Senators in 7

Troy Says: This one tears my heart out. The Habs are my favourite team but Ottawa is probably number two. I love seeing an all Canadian series but I hate seeing it in the first round. Seems like such a waste. I’m really looking forward to this series though. It should be incredibly tight. This year I had the chance to go to my very first Habs game and it was against Ottawa (sans Karlsson). Montreal won 4-3 in a shootout and it was a fantastic game. It was probably the most fun I’ve ever had with my pants on. Much like in the West this is a 2 vs 7 series that really doesn’t feel like one. All year long Ottawa’s depth and character has been tested and they’ve come through with flying colours whereas for whatever reason all the success Montreal has had feels odd. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. So far it hasn’t but I can’t shake this feeling that they’re not the team I want them to be. I think Ottawa may expose that.

Ottawa in 6. (Can you believe that??)
Coin Says: Senators in 5

Expect to Hear: ”This is the first playoff meeting of these two teams since 1927. We used to agree that these Senators weren’t the same as the old ones, but since we called that team in Winnipeg the Jets we’re kind of forced to now…”

#3 WASHINGTON CAPITALS vs. #6 NEW YORK RANGERS

Fourth Time in Five Years: Get Ready for Divisional Playoffs Next Year!!!

Glen Says: This series, again? Have two teams met so frequently yet hated one another so little? Last years second round series was the most boring shot-blockingest series I can remember. Thankfully though, Dale Hunter is out and Adam Oates is in, oh and that Russian guy is playing about a thousand times better now than he was a year ago. I think that this will be the closest series taking place and we will see some legitimately amazing games from some truly elite players. The two guys under the most scrutiny will be Rick Nash, to see if he can be on the winning end of a playoff game in his career, and Braden Holtby, to see if he can duplicate his success from last year. I know which of those two I have faith in.

Rangers in 7

Troy Says: The two playoff chockiest teams get to play each other again. This one should be different though. First of all Ovechkin finally got over his love of Ice Dance and decided to start playing hockey again and wow has he been good. I’m not 100% sure on my stats but I think he had 234 goals in the last 15 games of the season. On the other side of the coin New York is an incredibly deep team lead by a Captain who is incredibly tenacious and completely capable of putting this team on his back and willing them to a win. In the last couple seasons Callahan has really begun to impress me. In the end I think Ovechkin is going to drag his team through this round. He’s a sleeping giant who has finally awoken.

Washington in 7
Coin Says: Rangers in 7

Expect to Hear: ”Can you believe that he only scored 6 goals in 7 games? Ovechkin is such a choker. Look at that Brad Richards, he got 4 points in 7 games, he’s so clutch.”

#4 BOSTON BRUINS vs. #5 TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Nothing of Interest Here, Nope, Not a Series of Lopsided Trades That Helped Define Both Franchises

Glen Says: This will be an unmitigated slaughter, plain and simple. The Bruins have stumbled a bit to close the season, but let’s not forget: this is essentially the same team that won the Cup two years ago. Sure you can replace Thomas with Raask, Recchi with Jagr, and Kaberle with Redden, but I’ll be damned if those aren’t lateral moves at worst, and more than likely full scale improvements. These guys can and will flip the switch and the Leafs will be in their way.

Even as an abject Leaf hater, it’s hard not to be a little caught up in their stories. Nazem Kadri finally arrives, Reimer plays so well that Luongo is stuck in Vancouver, but this will be a tough one.

Bruins in 4

Troy Says: I would love nothing more than to see Toronto knock off Boston in this series but unfortunately for Leafs fans I just don’t see it happening. Boston is deeper, tougher and bigger. Toronto’s best offensive threat is Kessel and for whatever reason he disappears against his former team. In 22 games against Boston he’s scored 3 goals. None of which were even strength. The plus here for Toronto could be Reimer. He has played very well against Boston of late and if he can outplay Rask he will give his team a chance. In the end I think the Bruins will be too much.

Boston in 6
Coin Says: Boston in 5

Expect to Hear: ”Kessel for Seguin and Hamilton isn’t the only time the Leafs made a bad trade with the Bruins. On November 9, 1954 the Leafs acquired Joe Klukay for Leo Bovin and well we all know how that worked out…”

Quick Hits:

Glen Says:

#1 Pittsburgh Penguins over #7 Ottawa Senators in 6

#4 Boston Bruins over #6 New York Rangers in 6

 

#1 Pittsburgh Penguins over #4 Boston Bruins in 5

 

Troy Says: 

#1 Pittsburgh Penguins over #7 Ottawa Senators in 5

#4 Boston Bruins over #3 Washington Capitals in 7

 

#1 Pittsburgh Penguins over #4 Boston Bruins in 7

 

Coin Says:

#7 Ottawa Senators over #1 Pittsburgh Penguins in 5

#6 New York Rangers over #5 Boston Bruins in 6

 

#6 New York Rangers over #7 Ottawa Senators in 4

So that means that the Stanley Cup Final will be…

Glen Says: Pittsburgh Penguins over St. Louis Blues in 5

Troy Says: Pittsburgh Penguins over Chicago Blackhawks in 7

Coin Says: New York Rangers over Chicago Blackhawks in 7

…go home coin, you’re drunk!!!
Jan 19

Eastern Conference Predicted Standings

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…apparently there is going to be an NHL Season and soon! I’m sure this is the first time you’ve heard about it.

With the rush between the CBA being officially signed and the puck dropping tomorrow it’s hard to do a full-fledge prediction blog. As such, we here at Bladejobs of Steel going to do a very quick 15-1 Countdown of each Conference. Of course with a variety of changes to big teams, a short schedule, and other mitigating factors like travel and game shape of the players make this season much harder to predict than usual, as such it would not be a huge shock to see every single one of these end up wrong.

Before we start, just a quick general prediction: more than ever strength of the divisions will have an effect on standing. In a normal 82 game schedule teams play their four division rivals six times each for just under 30% of their games against their closest rivals. In this strange 48 game season teams play four games against two division rivals and five against the other two for just under 38% of their total games. While that may seem like a small increase, but when 7 points separated 1st in the East from 6th, this could make a hug difference in standings for teams in tough divisions like the Atlantic.

Today we’ll look at the Eastern Conference where teams like the Hurriances Sabres, and Rangers made huge changes, will they pay off? Will the clock strick 12 for the Cinderella Panthers and Senators? Will a healthy Crosby change anything?

The answers to all of these questions (and more) is…

15. Montreal Canadiens: Let’s see they were 15th last year, made no significant additions last year and their best skater has yet to report to camp. Galynchuk should put up big numbers in his rookie year, but he may end up having Nathan McKinnon on Jonathan Druin as a linemate soon enough.

14. Winnipeg Jets: Last year they had a staggering 23-13-5 record at home, but that really is not sustainable for a team that’s this bad. Pavelec and Kane both tried to play in the KHL during the lockout but could not hack it, Byufglien’s questionable fitness may hurt him in a sprint of a season, and let’s not forget the very long road trips they are forced to go on for still being in the Eastern Conference. Expect Scheifele to be in contention for the Calder as one of the few bright spots on this team. Let’s not forget, they are still very much the Atlanta Thrashers.

13. Toronto Maple Leafs: Yes, three Canadian teams will fight it out for last place in the Eastern Conference. The Leafs have yet to make any noticeable improvement since the last lockout and are the only team to not make the playoffs between Lockouts II and III, don’t expect them to change that just yet. Tyler Bozak is still not a first line centre, no matter how much they try and convince him otherwise.

12. New York Islanders: These guys are probably the hardest team in the East to figure out. Someday the young pieces will fit together and this team will be great. Tavares should build off his point-a-game season and players like Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey can’t be waiting to break through forever, can they? Sure Rick DiPietro may be the very definition of a goaltending question but Evgeni Nabokov could return to his San Jose Sharks form. Of course, everything could easily go wrong and they could end up with Seth Jones next year.

11. Florida Panthers: The strange, strange chemistry experiment paid off last year. Last year Kevin Dineen was able to get career years out of so many castaways like Kris Versteeg, Tomas Fleishcmann, and Jose Theodore. However it seems unlikely to happen again. Add in the fact that they benefitted greatly from a terrible Southeast Division last year and expect the other teams to be much better this year.

10. Tampa Bay Lightning: Lindback and Carle are interesting additions but they just can’t be the answer. Lindback has never played more than 22 games in a season and let’s not forget the Chris Mason and Dan Ellis lesson: it’s easy for a goalie to look great with Shea Weber in front of you. Sure Guy Boucher is a great coach, but it’s not quite enough to get this team back into the promised land.

9. New Jersey Devils: Wait, weren’t they just playing for the Stanley Cup a few months back? Last years great playoff run will be a distant memory soon enough. The loss of Captain Zach Parise and Assistant Coach Adam Oats will have a huge impact on this team. Add in the fact that Martin Brodeur and Patrick Elias are not getting any younger and we have a team that should certainly regress.

8. Buffalo Sabres:  Last year this team was among the best in the league in the second-half of the season after they recovered from a terrible start to the season. The additions of Steve Ott and John Scott will no doubt add to their toughness. Not really sure who will be their first line centre, but expect a good enough year from Ryan Miller to get them to the dance.

7. Ottawa Senators: Sure they may be my personal favourite team, but it’s hard not to be excited for this squad right now. They surpassed everyone’s expectations last year by making the playoffs and taking the vaunted Rangers to 7 games. All of their great young talent is a year older, and the high proportion of games against the Leafs and Canadiens will help them immensely. Lastly, with the high volume of games their goaltending platoon of Anderson, Bishop and maybe even Lehner will help them immensely.

6. Washington Capitals: If this were a full 82 game season this team could certainly win the division, but switching to a new coach in Adam Oates who is going to be the exact opposite of their old coach Dale Hunter may give them a rough start out of the gate. Add in the fact that Braden Holtby is probably less Ken Dryden and more Patrick Lalime. This team should be in the hunt to win the Southeast division down the stretch but will just fall short, which sends them all the way down to 6th.

5. Philadelphia Flyers: This is essentially the same team that finished 5th last year. They looked great in the first round of the playoffs against Pittsburgh but terrible in the second round against New Jersey. The loss of Bobrovsky does hurt them more than one may think, but hopefully Bryzgalov is able to find earth this season.

4. Pittsburgh Penguins: Here we go again, another Flyers-Penguins first round war! What more could the NHL want? If Crosby stays healthy and Fleury can rebound from his rough playoffs then this team will be scary and should be in contention for the top spot in the Conference, however playoff seedings being what they are, and they are stuck in the 4th spot.

3. Carolina Hurricanes: On paper they are the most improved team in the East and it should show in reality. Alexander Semin should be motivated with a one year contract on a new team and the Staal brothers should bring out the best in one another. Cam Ward is one of those good year-bad year goalies, and it’s his turn to have a good year. Add in the fact that they did well under Kirk Muller last year and there’s little reason to expect otherwise again.

2. New York Rangers: Here we rant on the schedule again: this team should be the best team in the East and perhaps even contend for the President’s Trophy, yet they are stuck playing a ton of games against the Flyers, Penguins and Devils which should hurt their spot in the standings. Nevertheless, there is no reason to think that they can’t win the division again. Last year they were one of the best teams in the league and then they went out and added Rick Nash while not losing too much in the process. Expectations will be very high on Broadway and for good reasons.

1. Boston Bruins: It’s Tuuka Time! Sure the loss of Tim Thomas hurts, but as long as Chara is still there then there is no need to panic. This team is essentially the same group of guys that won the Cup in 2011 and was running over the league in the first half of the season last year. Add in the fact that they benefit more from the schedule than any other team in the East and there is little reason to think that they aren’t a show-in for their division and a strong contender for top spot in the East.

 

As for the playoffs: Boston beats Buffalo in an absolute war, the Rangers make shorter work of then Sens than they did last year, the Capitals “upset” the Hurricanes and the Penguins get revenge on the Flyers. This leads us to Boston beating Washington and Pittsburgh beating the Rangers before Pittsburgh beats Boston to make it to the finals to face…

Wait until next post and find out.

Jun 26

Weekly Plus/Minus: NHL Draft, Dark Anniversaries, Summerslam Plans, Brotherly Love, and More!

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Welcome to a slightly delayed edition of the Weekly Plus/Minus! The NHL Draft came and went and provided spills, thrills, and chills. Meanwhile the anniversary of the lowest moment in the history of professional wrestling passes, and lots more! Without further ado…

Hit my banner!

 

Pittsburgh Penguins: The unequivocal winners of the NHL Draft Weekend were the host Penguins. They start out by making a very bold trade, shipping Jordan Staal to Carolina for three very good, young assets and then things just started to get better from there. They lucked out when Oli Maata, considered a Top 15 prospect by many, fell down to their spot at 22, and then were able to trade away Zybnek Michalek, who really wasn’t fitting in anyway.

With these two deals, they were able to shed almost $9 million in cap space and rumors are abound that they are going to make a run at Zack Parise and/or Ryan Sutter come July 1. The rich get richer.

Copy Cat NHL: Need further proof that the NHL is run by schoolyard copycats? Why look at this NHL Draft. This past spring, defense was the order of the day, as the defensive minded Rangers, Coyotes, Blues, and (somehow) Capitals all advanced to the second round. So what does every team looking to explode on the scene do?

Draft defense of course! Eight of the top ten picks went to defense, with only can’t miss forwards (and teammates) Nail Yakupov and Alex Galchenyuk stopping the sweep. While this was a defense heavy year, allowing Top 10 talents like Filip Forsberg, Mikael Grigorenko and Teuvo Teravinen to fall is something that many General Managers are going to regret soon enough. This is doubly, nay triply true for teams that are light on offensive prospects like Toronto and Winnipeg.

Forward Thinking: There have been rumblings that at Summerslam, we may very well get Punk-Cena III — technically IV, but their match on the Raw after Summerslam last year doesn’t count because it was stupid. The logic behind this decision is that the event will be headlined by HHH-Lesnar and they want John Cena to be near the top of the marquee, given that this is the second biggest show of the year coming from the second largest city in North America.

While this was initially met with disdain, as everyone was hoping for Punk-Bryan XVIII, or whatever they are up to by now. But with a little bit of thought, this is one of the few possible matchups for Cena. Since they are set on HHH-Lesnar in the Main Event, then they need Cena in the second highest match, and if they give him a non-title match then it will further devalue the already devalued WWE Title. During Punk’s current reign, he has only closed out a Pay-Per-View once, at TLC in December, when Cena was not wrestling. While this match will almost certainly not go last, it will still get a great deal of attention during the build up to the event.

The only other possibilities for a Cena match are Bryan or Sheamus, both of which would be very interesting, but may not look great on the marquee just yet. The build to their matches last year was downright fantastic, and it could be great again this year. More importantly though, Punk and Cena flat out delivered in their matches last year and it would be pretty excellent to see if they can try to top it this time.

General Managers Gone Wild: With the high pressure of the NHL Entry Draft and free agency coming soon. It seems like several General Managers are going crazy.
First Jay Feater figures out that he gave away a 2nd round pick to Buffalo to take Robyn Reghr off their hand last year. Realize that maybe they should have one this year, so decide to trade down in the first round and end up with Buffalo’s second round pick as well as a lower first rounder.

So far, not the worst series of decisions, but then things got really dumb. In trading down they allowed the Sabres to take Zemgus Girgensons, a big centre that the Flames severely lack. Then instead of taking the aforementioned Maata, they decide to take Mark Jankowski, a player that they almost certainly could have gotten with the second round pick they just acquired from the Sabres.

To make it even worse, Jay Feaster justified this lunacy by saying he’ll be the best player in the draft in 10-12 years time. Newsflash Feaster: if you keep making bonehead moves like that, you won’t be employed in 10-12 years time to see how well this kid if playing.

Then the news breaks that the water in Pittsburgh must have been laced with liquid insanity! Apparently Garth Snow and the New York Islanders were so enamored with defenseman Ryan Murray that they offered the Columbus Blue Jackets all seven of their draft picks in order to take him. Somehow, someway the Scott Howson refused this deal, thinking that Murray was too great to pass on. This despite the massive glut of defensive talent, including Griffin Reinhart who plays a pretty similar game to Ryan Murray who Columbus could have just as easily drafted in the four spot.

How on earth these three can justify such lunacy? Of the three, it seems like Garth Snow is the only one who will not live to regret this insane decision, since Howson was dumb enough to not let him have his way.

Brothers in the NHL: This weekend was a great weekend for most families in the league. It stated on Friday night when Jordan Staal was traded to Carolina to join his brother Eric and Jarred — who plays in Carolina’s farm system. Then things got more entertaining on Saturday when Toronto traded defenseman Luke Schenn to Philadelphia where he gets to join his brother Brayden in the City of Brotherly Love.

But the most interesting one happened when Boston stepped up to the Draft Podium on Friday night and took the brother of the player that their fans hate the most. When they took PK Subban’s younger brother Malcolm in the first round, they added a whole new, interesting story to the NHL’s most storied rivalry. Sure, Malcolm will not see any time in the pros for another few years, but it sure will be fascinating when he does, now won’t it?

Really the only NHL brother duo that got father apart was the Michaleks. But apparently, the Senators were close to reuniting them. Perhaps the Suter’s can get back together somehow to make it a hat trick

Anniversaries: Has it really been that long?

This past week sees the five-year anniversary of the Chris Benoit murder-suicide. Obviously this horrible moment was not mentioned on WWE TV, nor should it be. But it makes one reflect on where they were of when they found out the news.

Should you be interested in finding out my own personal thoughts from that day, please read here. While I hoped that I would be able to move on by now, the second last paragraph sticks out to me:

I guess I have some deep thinking to do for the next little while. In the mean time though I will not throw away my Chris Benoit DVD, which I was so excited to receive as a gift one Christmas. But I’m not making any special plans to watch it.

In five years those thoughts haven’t changed, and it appears as though they never will.

 

 

Prediction for the Week Ahead: Chris Jericho returns as a face and starts to plant the seeds for a feud with Daniel Bryan.

Apr 20

Weekly Plus/Minus: NHL Playoffs, Brock Lesnar/John Cena, Goalies, Violence, and More!

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Greetings one and all! After taking a couple of weeks off, welcome back to the Weekly Plus/Minus were we look at the best and worst in the ring and on the ice. With the NHL Playoffs well underway and the WWE being in a great post-Wrestlemania period, there is certainly a ton to discuss. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

American Born Goalies: For the longest time Canada, and especially Quebec was seen as the Goalie Factory. In recent years, some have made the argument that Finland has supplanted French Canada as the new place to look to find a good back-stopper.

This post-season could end up as a bit of a coming out for American Born goalies. While Tim Thomas has taken a slight step back he’s still been very good. Scott Clemmensen has played very good in relief, Corey Schneider has been even better, and Craig Anderson has flown under the radar this post season, and has been keeping pace with Henrik Lundqvist since the 3rd Period of Game 1.

Of course the one American goalie who has been down right spectacular has been LA Kings netminder Jonathan Quick. This entire season has been a coming out party for Quick, but he has really upped his game against one of the best offenses in the league. If they awarded a Conn Smythe every round, Quick would be the runaway favourite to take it for the first round. Make no mistake here we are watching something very special here with Jonathan Quick, and it wouldn’t be very surprising to see them make it pretty far this Spring.

If you’re still not sold on the strength of American goalies, remember their 2010 Olympic Hero is out golfing. These guys are going to be very tough to score on in Sochi.

Goalies That Play in Pennsylvania: This series has flown in the face of all logical, sane predictions. Everyone expected the big names on Pittsburgh to run roughshod over the Flyers and give us a very long, intense series.

Instead we’ve had Claude Giroux and Sean Coturier top the scoring, we’ve had the Penguins blow two 3-0 leads, and we’ve had three straight blow outs that have been better known for the cheap shots and violence than the majesty on ice which we were all expecting.

At the core of it though, there are the men behind the net. Before the playoffs everyone was trumpeting Marc-Andre Fleury as a money goalie and that currency has certainly been devalued. Ilya Bryzgalov has (perhaps less surprisingly) been impossible to predict. On one moment he absolutely robs Kris Letang with the save of the year, and the next moment it looks like the Tupac Hologram would be a more serviceable goaltender.

Both teams were hyped as Cup contenders before the playoffs, but whoever wins this Keystate Showdown is going to be in serious trouble if they come up against Tim Thomas or Henrik Lundqvist in the future.

New Stars Rising: WWE Legend Mick Foley has recently been engaged in an on-line feud with prospect Dean Ambrose, these two calling each other out on Twitter has been blurring the lines between fiction and reality quite nicely. Apparently the plan is to give Ambrose a huge program right away and make him a major name very quickly.

Add in the fact that recently (re) debuted Lord Tensai got a huge win over John Cena, and it looks like we may finally be seeing some new stars come in. Sure it won’t be as big as the Class of 2002 which included Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Randy Orton, Batista, and Shelton Benjamin, but it looks like we may finally be getting some new big names on the horizon.

Randy Orton vs. Kane: This feud is still going on, really?

It was boring and obvious filler before Wrestlemania, it’s boring and obvious filler for Extreme Rules, and damnit it’s boring and obvious filler in this column.

Orton deserves better, and so do you, Dear Readers.

 

Brock Lesnar: The return of The Next Big Thing, could be one of the best things to happen to the WWE in a very long tim. He’s brought with him a ton of buzz, cross-over appeal, and some legitimacy.

While many would obviously question matching him up with Cena right away and not holding off until Wrestlemania, sometimes you have to strike while the iron is hot. Having him give an F5 to John Cena the night after Wrestlemania was an amazing way to have him return, and to have those two face off so soon really helps carry the post-Wrestlemania buzz even longer.

The possibilities for Lesnar going forward are incredibly exciting, and it’s fun to imagine potential matchups with The Rock, The Undertaker, Randy Orton, or CM Punk, and it’ll be even more fun to not have to imagine them anymore.

Obvious Double Standards: Here at a site that’s 50% Dedicated to professional wrestling, you certainly won’t find a ton of complaining about violence in sports.

The complaint here is coming out of the Department of Player Safety. Brendan Shanahan has the hardest job in the league, and for the most part has been very good at it. However, some things here are a little strange.

Aaron Asham cross-checks a guy during play and gets four games while Niklas Backstrom gets only one game for a cross-check to the face when the clock ran out. The book will certainly be thrown at Raffi Torres for his late hit on Marian Hossa, but James Neal only got one game for obvious head-hunting. Shea Weber gets nothing for ramming Zetterberg’s head into the boards, but Andrew Shaw gets three for bumping a goalie, of a team owned by the league no less.

The message is clear, third and fourth liners are fair game for suspensions but people who have the ability to dictate the game like Neal, Backstrom, and Weber can get slaps on the wrist. This makes it seem like Johnny Laurinitus is in charge and all of these top liners are people like Mark Henry and Dolph Ziggler, and that’s in nobody’s best interest.

 

 

Prediction for the Week: Only one series goes to seven games.

Apr 12

Penguins vs. Flyers and Why the NHL Won’t Change Their Playoff Seeding

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Last night we had to privilege of watching a phenomenal game of what should be a phenomenal series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers. After this series was clinched a few days ago the complaints starting coming in.

How could these two great teams meet in only the first round? The Penguins had the second best record in the Conference and fourth in the league, while the Flyers had the third highest point total in the East and sixth most in the league. Meanwhile inferior teams in Boston and Florida get a higher seed, an easier opponent, home ice advantage, and a better chance of advancing. It’s a shame that one of the Pennsylvania teams will be golfing in two weeks, to say nothing of those two Central Division teams in the same situation.

Cries have gone up to switch things around (including on this very blog) with the three most common suggestions being: Top 8 in each Conference just make it, Division leaders guarenteed a playoff spot; The NBA Model with the Division leaders getting a top four spot; or Top 16 make it no matter what.

As intriguing as it would be to have a Top 16 NHL Playoffs, this option seems highly unlikely. The travel schedule would be unreal, and perhaps more importantly, there is less of a chance to have rivalries and repeat matchups. What are the odds that Vancouver and Chicago would have played each other for the past three years if they weren’t locked in the same half of the league? So let’s throw this out as both fair and fun to consider, but highly unlikely.

The other two options leave things certainly more equitable. They would instead give us the following series:

TOP 8 IN CONFERENCE                                         
#1 New York Rangers vs. #8 Ottawa Senators
#2 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #7 Washington Capitals
#3 Philadelphia Flyers vs. #6 Florida Panthers
#4 Boston Bruins vs. #5 New Jersey Devils

#1 Vancouver Canucks vs. #8 Los Angeles Kings
#2 St. Louis Blues vs. #7 San Jose Sharks
#3 Nashville Predators vs. #6 Phoenix Coyotes
#4 Detroit Red Wings vs. #5 Chicago Blackhawks

NBA MODEL                                         
#1 New York Rangers vs. #8 Ottawa Senators
#2 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #7 Washington Capitals
#3 Boston Bruins vs. #6 New Jersey Devils
#4 Florida Panthers vs. #5 Philadelphia Flyers

#1 Vancouver Canucks vs. #8 Los Angeles Kings
#2 St. Louis Blues vs. #7 San Jose Sharks
#3 Nashville Predators vs. #6 Chicago Blackhawks
#4 Phoenix Coyotes vs. #5 Detroit Red Wings

First off, it’s entirely coincidental that both of these options give us the same Eastern Conference matchups, as we can see it doesn’t hold true in both Conferences.

Of course everyone looking at that is salivating at the thoughts of another Crosby-Ovie showdown, but that’s only an option because of how disappointing the Capitals were this year. Had they preformed even half way to expectations things would be very different. Outside of that fluke, the only real “WOW” series is Detroit-Chicago in the 4-5 slot. Of course, hardcore hockey fans would probably find some fascination in all of the matchups, but the fact is: we’re not the target, and we can’t be.

The fact is that we’ll watch anyway. Even if there somehow was a Columbus-Minnesota showdown in the first round, those of us who come up with these crazy schemes are likely to watch it anyway. What the NHL needs to do is get ways to hook in the casual fan, and for better or worse the Philly-Pittsburgh and to a lesser extent Detroit-Nashville help with that.

With this current crazy system lets the NHL (and NBC) do is give a higher chance of a true “Main Event” to happen in the first round. The league gets to hype the hell out of one, or both, of these showdowns to get eyeballs on the television. Of course, they would draw better if they were playing in the 3rd round, but there are no guarentees of that happening, with all of the upsets that happen in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

To take it to the other half of this blog, professional wrestling, we should look to the King of the Ring tournament. From 1993 to 2002, the WWF/E would have an annual tournament on Pay-Per-View with the winner being crowned King of the Ring. This was great for hardcore wrestling fans, but the casuals didn’t seem to want any part of it.

In the 1993 event, Bret Hart had great 2nd and 3rd round matchups with Mr. Perfect and Bam Bam Bigelow, which many casual fans would have paid to see, but there was a big problem. They weren’t advertised, since they happened later on in the night, and were only deemed as possible. Instead the company was only able to hype up matches like Mr. Perfect vs. Mr. Hughes and Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan, as they were the first round showdowns, which few people really wanted to see.

The company had to change their plan and instead give us first round matchups that could help sell the card on their own. Perhaps the best example of this was in 2000, when the two favourites to win the tournament were Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho. It would have been great to have these two face off in the finals, and it would really add some prestige to the event, but instead they were matched up in the first round. After Angle won, his next two matches against Crash Holly and Rikishi were pretty much foregone conclusions, but that point it didn’t matter. We had already made the investment and bought the event, we were stuck with those matches. People paid for the definite matchup in Angle-Jericho who may not have paid for the possibility of Angle-Jericho.

And that’s where we come back to hockey. People will watch Philly-Pittsburgh in the first round, hopefully some of those casual fans will be entertained enough to follow the winning team to the second round and beyond should they be so lucky.

The league needs a marquee series in the first round. They need something to sell people right from the start, and hope to get them hooked going forward. The second round usually gives us at least one good series like Boston-Philadelphia, Detroit-San Jose, or Pittsburgh-Washington, while the third and fourth round can usually sell themselves (unless it’s Edmonton vs. Carolina and you don’t live in Canada).

Still don’t buy that this is the league’s motivation? Consider their failed realignment plan, if we had those divisions and the same standings (which is of course impossible since there would be different standings and we would get: VAN-LAK, PHX-SJS, STL-CHI, NAS-DET, BOS-BUF, OTT-FLA, NYR-NJD, PIT-PHI.

Yes, we would still get Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia in the first round, to be our first round Main Event, with Nashville vs. Detroit to serve as a nice undercard. The proposed Conferences involved lumping most of the big US Draws in one division to give us a good chance for a Main Event in the first two rounds, and then the other top draws like Boston, Toronto, Montreal, Detroit, and Chicago get divided up and placed with some second tier draws like Tampa Bay, St. Louis, and even Nashville and Dallas to give us a good chance of a solid undercard for those other nights or late games.

The fact is that the NHL is a business, and as such is focused on the bottom line first and fairness second. It just makes more business sense to have a higher chance of having a guaranteed barn burner then to hope for one later, and like it or not, we’ll most certainly be getting these Angle-Jericho style matchups were the potential winners are going head to head at the beginning.

Of course the Stanley Cup Playoffs will most certainly lead to some more compelling series in the second and third rounds, since hockey isn’t scripted like professional wrestling. That is unless you’re a Flyers fan, then you may have other opinions on that…

Apr 11

NHL Playoffs: Another Pair of Idiots Guide to Every Series in the Eastern Conference and the Stanley Cup Finals

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Yesterday, myself and special guest Troy looked at the playoff series in the West, today we’ll look at the East, which features the real marquee matchup of the first round in Philly-Pittsburgh.

#1 New York Rangers vs. #8 Ottawa Senators

The Battle of teams that are 6-8 places ahead of their pre-season predictions! That’s right, the Senators were expected to be near the bottom of the Conference, while the Rangers were thought to be a bubble team, sitting in their usual 7-9 spot, but yet, here we are. Both teams have worked very hard and been very well coached to get to this point, but the clock will strike 12 for one of these Cinderellas very soon.

Troy Says: How surprised is everyone to see the Sens on the playoffs? I don’t think there were many people this year that thought they had it in them. Karlsson has emerged as one of the best defencemen in the league. According to NHL.com he’s joined by Bobby Orr, Paul Coffey, and Denis Potvin as the only players to lead blueliner scoring by more than 20 points. That’s just flat out impressive. Their goaltending has also been good this year even though Anderson has been inconsistent at times. The play of Alfredsson and Spezza has been a big boost and their veteran leadership will certainly help this team. Too bad they’re up against the Rangers though. New York is a team I’ve enjoyed making fun of for the last number of years because they’ve been trying to buy their way to a cup and each time they’ve fallen flat on their faces. This year though they’ve finally got it right. Brad Richards has fit in very nicely and their young D corps has been impressive. Add to that Lundqvist in the net and this will be a hard team to beat. The only chance Ottawa has it to outscore them, which they are capable of doing.

Most Interesting Story: Goaltending, goaltending, and goaltending! The Senators have been striking gold all season with their men in the cage. First Anderson plays dynamite, and then when he gets hurt, Lehner steps in, and then they give Bishop a whirl and he looks great too. It doesn’t matter who they seem to put in, they seem to have some success.

Success, though is in the eye of the beholder, as few goalies have been as successful as current Vezina favourite, and potential Hart Trophy nominee, Henrik Lundqvist, who has been absolutely lights out this year. These two teams oddly match up very well in every other position, great playmaking centre, dynamic (but injury prone) scoring winger, and some great young d-men, but when it comes to the most important position, it’ll be like Ancient Rome. The Senators may have to bow to the King, but it’ll be a close fight to the end.

Et tu Bishop?

Most Interesting Stat: The Rangers earned 17 more points than the Sens this year, and allowed 53 less goals than they did. Both of these differences are tops amongst all of the playoff matchups this year. That being said, the Sens scored 23 more goals than the Rangers.

Glen’s Prediction: Rangers in 7 with both teams combining for four shutouts along the way.

Troy’s Prediction: For my money though this is New York’s series.

New York in 6

Coin’s Prediction: Senators in 7

#2 Boston Bruins vs. #7 Washington Capitals

Let’s see, where do we even start here? The defending champions taking on a team that thinks “Because it’s the Cup” is a reference to their Jock Straps? Or Tim Thomas exercising his rights as a Free Citizen by winning some games in DC, or will that damn Lamestream Media throw him off his game?

This is a simply fascinating series both on and off the ice and will no doubt provide endless analysis going forward.

Troy Says: This is not going to be a fun series for Washington. Washington is a team that tends to choke in the playoffs and they’re going against the defending champs. Not good. What is good though is that Ovechkin finally decided in the last few weeks to put the team back on his shoulders again and he has been his old self which is fun to see.

Most Interesting Story: Toughness! You have one team that is perceived as being soft against another team that often has the words “Big” and “Bad” in front of their name. Both teams have a ton to prove.

Chara vs. Ovechkin will be the most interesting matchup on the ice to watch for the next two weeks. Both men are big, both men can hit, and both men can take a hit. Chara is one of the best in the league and slowing guys down, but if Ovechkin is truly motivated than he’ll have his work cut out for him.

Most Interesting Statistic: The Boston Bruins scored 61 more goals than they allowed this year, far and away tops in the NHL, while the Capitals allowed 8 more than they scored. The Caps join their division rival Florida as the only teams in the league to make the playoffs with a negative goal differential.

Glen’s Prediction: Bruins in 4 with both Alex’s combining for only 2 goals

Troy’s Prediction: This could be a fun high scoring series, but it’s not going to last long.

Boston in 4.

Coin’s Prediction: Capitals in 6

#3 Florida Panthers vs. #6 New Jersey Devils

Much has been said about how little the Panthers deserve this spot. They backed into the three seed with a series of losses, they only have the sixth best record in the Conference, they have an embarrassing -24 goal differential, they lost a zillion games in overtime, and I heard some people blame them for both the Kennedy Assassination and the hole in the ozone layer. But the fact is, all of this doesn’t matter. Sure the standings probably should be changed, but they haven’t been. The 2012 Florida Panthers are not the first inferior team to benefit from the standings, and probably won’t be the last one. Right now everyone has zero wins and that’s all that matters.

Troy Says: Florida?? Really? They still have a team? Wow….and not only are they in the playoffs but they won their division so they actually have home ice against the Devils. As much as I like to make fun of this team they are worthy of their position. They don’t have that high end talent but they are consistent and can wear you down. The Devils however do have that high end talent. And they have three 30 goal scorers this season so if one cylinder isn’t firing, they have lots more to go to. Add to that Marty Brodeur who – even though he’s gotta be in his 50s by now – is still a damn good goalie and I think Florida’s return to the post season will be short lived.

Interesting Matchup: Coaching! Peter DeBoer was hired as the Panthers coach, was given nothing, and then thrown under the bus for it. Thankfully he was given another chance by the Devils this year and made the most of it, helping them return to the playoffs and post over 100 points in the process.
But rookie head coach Kevin Dineen has been pretty great this year too, sure Dale Tallon gets a ton of credit for his July 1 chemistry experiment working out, but Dineen was there to make sure that it didn’t blow up in anyone’s face.
Interesting Stat: This is only the third first round series since the Lockout between two teams that both didn’t make the playoffs the year before. The other two were both in 2008, Montreal-Boston and Washington-Philadelphia.

Glen’s Prediction: New Jersey Devils in five with three of the games going to overtime.

Troy’s Prediction:  New Jersey is like Detroit in that once they’re in the playoffs all bets are off.

New Jersey in 6.

Coin’s Prediction: Devils in 5

#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #5 Philadelphia Flyers
This is the absolute main event! This series will be a rough, high scoring affair featuring two of the most exciting and dynamic teams in the league. These two teams have a chance to show everyone what’s right about our beautiful game, but also what’s wrong with it. Hopefully they make the right choices.
Troy Says: This is the series everyone wanted. I can’t wait! The only shame is that this is happening in the first round and not the third. This series is worthy of a Conference Final and at the end of it, a very good cup contending team will be going home. Philly is a tough team, much tougher than Pittsburgh, but they also boast some serious offensive ability. It’s this toughness that will be hard on Pittsburgh. Also, for the first time in a long time, Philly finally has a legitimate and unquestioned number one goalie in Bryzgalov. He stunk out the joint last year in the playoffs with Phoenix so he’ll definitely be looking to atone so look for him to be strong. Other than the toughness, Pittsburgh can counter everything Philly has. Pittsburgh has unreal talent up front and a solid defensive group that will make life tough for the Flyers. Behind it all you have the reliable Marc-Andre Fleury and that’s what could tip this series. This one could go the distance.
Most Interesting Matchup: It may be cliche to say goaltending here, but how could it be anything else?
In the red corner you have a calm, cool, collected goalkeeper who showed Niklas Lidstrom how clutch he could be back in 2009. In the blue corner you have a man best known for waxing poetically about masks and the size of the universe.
How these two men perform when it counts will be a fantastic story to watch for the next few weeks.
Most Interesting Statistic: Despite these two being labeled as blood rivals, they’ve only met in the playoffs five times before, with two of those coming post-Lockout. The Flyers have faced the Rangers twice as many times in the playoffs, with the Penguins most common playoff opponent being the Washington Capitals.

Glen’s Prediction: Pittsburgh win in six of the best game you’ve ever seen

Troy’s Prediction:  Pittsburgh in 7.

Coin’s Prediction: Pittsburgh in 6

Quick Picks: The 2nd and 3rd Rounds

Glen Says: 

Devils over Rangers in 6 stunning games
Penguins over Bruins in 7 heavy games
Penguins over Devils in 5 to move on to face the Canucks
Finals have Penguins over Canucks in five with Crosby scoring the Overtime winner to leave the city very conflicted.

Troy Says:

NYR over New Jersey in 7 (Callaghan gives a Messier-like guarantee!)
Pittsburgh over Boston in 7
Finals: Penguins over Canucks in 6
Coin Says:

Penguins over Senators in 6
Devils over Capitals in 4
Penguins over Devils in 7
Finals: Detroit over Pittsburgh in 5

Does the coin know it’s not 2008 anymore?

Apr 09

Historical Stats for the Sixteen Playoff Bound Teams

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With the NHL Playoffs scheduled to start tomorrow, everyone and their mothers are throwing playoff predictions out there (expect some on here tomorrow by the way…), but before that, we should learn a bit about the sixteen teams headed to the big dance.

In this blog, we’ll look at some strange historical statistics for every team. Obviously not every team has an equal history — we’re looking at you Nashville — but there are some interesting and rather bizarre stats out there.

All stats come from Wikipedia, most of them from the List of [Insert Team Here] Seasons.

Boston Bruins: The Bruins and the Canadiens seem to need each other in a Batman-Joker kind of way — we’ll leave you to figure out which team is which comic book character. Dating all the way back to the Bruins inaugural season in 1924, they have only made the playoffs seven times previous to this when the Habs missed out. Of those times, they won the Stanley Cup once in 1970, lost in the second round once in 1999, and lost in the first round the other five of those times. They’ll look to buck that trend and not join the Canadiens on the golf course this time.

Chicago Blackhawks: Since losing the Stanley Cup Finals in 1992 to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Blackhawks have only won nine playoff series, six of which came in 2009 and 2010!

Detroit Red Wings: If making the playoffs the past twenty seasons wasn’t impressive enough, they have only lost in the first round six of those times, with three of those loses coming in the first four years of this streak.

Florida Panthers: Since defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins on June 1, 1996 in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Florida Panthers are 1-12 in playoff games.

Los Angeles Kings: Since making it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1993, the Kings have made the playoffs only six times, and were only able to win one playoff series, and that was eleven years ago now!

Ottawa Senators: The Senators have made the playoffs 12 times in their history. Nine of those times they were defeated by either the Buffalo Sabres, Toronto Maple Leafs, or Pittsburgh Penguins. Oddly those other three loses came in mile stone series for them. First trip to the second round, defeated by the Capitals. First trip to the third round, defeated by the Devils. First trip to the finals, defeated by the Ducks.

Pittsburgh Penguins: The last time the Pittsburgh Penguins lost a playoff series when they had Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Jordan Staal all in their lineups was the 2008 finals to the Detroit Red Wings.

Philadelphia Flyers: The franchise has lost their last six trips to the Stanley Cup finals (1975, 1980, 1985, 1987,1997, 2010), which ties the Detroit Red Wings six finals loses from 1956 to 1995 for longest streak in NHL history.

Nashville Predators: Last year, the Preds won six playoff games. In their previous five trips to the post-season, they won a total of eight.

New Jersey Devils: Despite going 2-5 in playoff series since the Lockout, the Devils are a stunning 22-17 in playoff series dating back to their miracle run in 1998.

New York Rangers: In the six previous times that the Rangers lead their division in the regular season, they tended to not do very well in the post-season. They were only able to win two rounds of the playoffs once during those years.

Bonus Stat: 87% of people said “94″ aloud after reading the last paragraph.

Phoenix Coyotes: The last time this franchise won a playoff series, Sidney Crosby was in his mothers womb. In the past 25 years, they have blown a 3-1 series lead three times, a 3-2 series lead once, and lost another game seven. This gives them a streak of 12 consecutive failed attempts to close out a series

San Jose Sharks: Their 21 seasons without a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals is second only to the Phoenix Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets 1.0 for longest of any active franchise in the league.

St. Louis Blues: Like the Panthers, the Blues are in a very long playoff slump. Since winning Game 4 against the Vancouver Canucks on April 16, 2003, the Blues have been an abysmal 1-11 in the playoffs since then.

Vancouver Canucks: Since the NHL assumed control of the Stanley Cup in 1926, the losing finalist has only ever won the Cup the next year six times, the ’33 Rangers, ’43 Red Wings, ’53 and ’68 Canadiens, ’84 Oilers, and ’09 Penguins. Being a true Canadian team, the ’12 Canucks would like to Make it Seven.

Washington Capitals: This franchise has blown a 3-1 series lead four times, tops of any team in the league.

 

Mar 03

The Most Intriguing Possible Playoff Matches

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With around 15 games left in the regular season, the playoffs are really starting to take shape. If the playoffs started today we would get some pretty intriguing matchups including a Keystone Showdown, the Jets returning to the playoffs to take on the Rangers, St. Louis and Nashville in a defensive showdown, and Detroit taking on San Jose for the third straight year.  But few tell truly captivating stories.

In this post, we will look at the most intriguing realistic first round matchups. Sure we would all love to see Calgary and Edmonton somehow play, or Ottawa to get a chance at removing the Maple Leaf shaped monkey off their back, but those seem rather unlikely at this stage.

So that leaves us with…

Vancouver Canucks vs. Chicago Blackhawks

The Canucks seem like a lock for either first or second in the West yet again this year. Up until a few months ago, the Hawks seemed like they could finish in the top five, or top six at worst. Well it seems to have gotten worse, and the Hawks are on a bit of a downslide, making seventh or eighth a certain possibility. This could be the fourth straight year we get Kane vs. Loungo, and it would give the Canucks a chance to even the series. On paper the Hawks are better this year, but the Canucks aren’t too bad themselves. Given how close the Hawks were to pulling of a miracle last year, I’m sure that people in Vancouver are having Chelsea Dagger dreams at the thought of having to go through this again.

Speaking of the Blackhawks…

Detroit Red Wings vs. Chicago Blackhawks

Original six matchups are always fun, and these two teams have probably the fiercest O6 rivalry that doesn’t involve the Montreal Canadiens. Back in 2009 this Chicago core was ousted in the Conference final to the defending champion Red Wings. I’m sure that Toews, Kane, et al would love to get vengeance for that.

Two of the Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators

This may be a cheater pick, but it would be interesting no matter what. Two of these Central Division rivals are sure to meet in the Western Conference 4-5 matchup. All three teams feel, quite rightly, that they have a shot at a deep playoff run this year. It’s a pitty that the NHL seeding system will prevent one of them from that. Worse still, whoever wins that 4-5 showdown will most certainly be so beat up that they’ll be picked off in the next round.

Moving East…

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Philadelphia Flyers

This seems to be the most likely matchup possible and it’s pretty damn interesting. Like the 4-5 matchup in the West, both of these teams are legitimate contenders, so it is a shame that only one will make it past the first round. What makes this more interesting are both teams concussed captains. Will Pronger or Crosby even play? How effective will they be? Both teams have a reputation for being rough which could make it hard for someone recovering from a concussion to get involved.

New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals

The last two times the Rangers made the playoffs, they were a low seed playing the indestructible higher seed Capitals. This year, those same Capitals look to limp their way into the eighth seed and face the indestructible higher seed Rangers. Both teams are more or less the same teams that they were in 2009 and 2011, which would certainly make this a very heated affair.

Florida Panthers vs. Ottawa Senators

Imagine the money you could have made betting that this would be a first round matchup in October? These teams were pegged for the bottom two spots in the East, and could very well face off in the 3-6 series in a showdown of the leagues two most surprising teams.

Winnipeg Jets vs. Ottawa Senators

The NHL’s return to Winnipeg has been like a fairy tale to the people of Manitoba. If the Jets are able to make the playoffs it will be a way to push the clock past midnight. The Jets have an outside chance of winning the Southeast Division, which would guarantee them the third seed, and potentially a date with the sixth seed Senators. The Jets making the playoffs would be great, but to have them give us our first all-Canadian matchup since 2004 would be down right legendary.