Thank God Hockey’s Back (NHL Preview)

It's been an offseason to forget in the NHL

If you thought the NBA offseason has been hell then you don’t have the slightest idea about rough. The NHL’s offseason has been a public relations nightmare. The summer was supposed to be about the celebration of the Boston Bruins winning the Stanley Cup after 40 years of futility. Instead every other day there was a tragedy on the ice.

Rick Rypien, Wade Belak and the KHL Lokomotiv franchise’s plane crash that killed all passengers aboard including former NHL-ers Ruslan Salei, Pavol Demitra and Brad McCrimmon to name a few cast a shadow of the sport and brought sadness to everyone over the sport.

Add that to the fact that Rangers bruiser Derek Boogaard died towards the end of last season and you understand the somber mood that the NHL might seem to be in.

When looking at ESPN fashion guru Paul Lukas’s annual uniform design review there were less designs for jerseys and more decals and patches for fallen players. It’s like the NHL has become a graveyard instead the coolest game on earth.

If any sport needs to start their season and get back to the brilliant play on the playing surface it’s this league. Ever since the lockout 0f 2004-05 the NHL has been on a roll. The talent on the ice is the highest that it’s been since the mid to late 90’s with the emergence of the Paul Kariya’s, Keith Tkachuk’s and Mike Modano’s of the world.

The NHL has so many great players playing at a high level that it’s becoming hard to keep up with all of them. At first it was the hype of Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby and Dion Phaneuf. Then came Steven Stamkos, Corey Perry, Bobby Ryan, Patrick Kane and Ryan Kesler. Now we have kids like Ryan Nugent- Hopkins, Taylor Hall, Tyler Myers and others who are crowding the ice and making noise.

The Bruins are ready to repeat.

It’s not like the NBA in terms of star power but it’s a beautiful thing to watch when the games are flowing. There are great players on every team in the league and most are under the age of 27.  Every night in every city there is a reason to watch a game just to catch one of these young studs whether it’s Drew Doughty in Los Angeles or Jeff Skinner in Carolina. Even with the sports brightest star status still in doubt (Sidney Crosby is still having post-concussion issues) the league is as strong as it’s ever been and is staring one of its most competitive season in decades in the face.

This year there is no real clear cut favorite. Gone are the days of Detroit being the front runner in the league every year, nowadays they’re not even the favorites in their own division. There are 10 to 14 teams that have a realistic chance at winning the Stanley Cup this year whether it is because of their goaltending, offensive prowess or just the fact they have all of the right pieces in place to make a run at the cup.

The right pieces meaning the right balance of youth and experience. In the modern NHL the young teams win championships as seen with the Penguins, Blackhawks and Bruins in the last three years. Yes I know Tim Thomas is old as dirt and Zdeno Chara is no spring chicken, but the work put in by guys like Milan Lucic, Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand helped this team win the Stanley Cup last year. Unlike in other sports where the older teams win the titles the young ones take the crown in the NHL.

So who has the best shot at winning the crown this year? Well in order…

NASHVILLE PREDATORS

Now I know what you’re thinking… who the hell will score goals for them? Their leader in goals had 23 and their points leader scored 50. The Predators are the NHL version of the Baltimore Ravens in the 2000’s, they can’t score to save their lives, but no one can score on them. The backline led by Shea Weber along with Vezina finalist Pekka RInne were in the top 5 in goals allowed per game and the teams tough defensive play gave teams fits. If they get two goals a game they could win another 44 games and find themselves fighting for the crown.

BUFFALO SABRES

They can score in bunches thanks to Thomas Vanek and Drew Stafford. Tyler Myers heads a steady backline and Ryan Miller is one the game’s best goalies. They failed to take care of the Flyers in the first round of the playoffs last year but if Miller stays on top of his game they can go very far.

MONTREAL CANADIENS

Team Teemu and the Ducks have a shot at the crown.

 

Once upon a time the Habs had more titles than the New York Yankees after raising their 24^th Cup in 1993. Ever since they’ve been one big roller coaster, which has included numerous changes in net and on the bench and they haven’t had a real identity for a long time. Now they seem settled on Carey Price who came through big for them last year shaking off an up and down 2009-20 season that had him on the bench in the playoffs. This team isn’t too loaded with playmakers but it gets the job done with guys like Tomas Plekanec and Mike Cammalleri as well as dark horse Norris candidate P.K. Subban patrolling the blue line. They can make a run as long as they can hold onto a lead unlike how they did last year against the Bruins.

SAN JOSE SHARKS

I don’t care what they do in the regular season anymore. I don’t care if they win the Pacific division, if Joe Thornton scores 200 points and Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture score 90 goals. This team should’ve won a Cup by now and their time is running out. If they don’t get it done this year then they never will.

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

Is Ilya Bryzgalov finally the answer in net for the Flyers? He better be. The Flyers let go of fan favorites and team leaders Jeff Carter and Mike Richards to clear space for Bryzgalov. Sure they acquired L.A. Kings power forward Wayne Simmonds (who Flyer fans will love) and Brandon Schenn  (who from preseason reports looks like a beast) but you don’t replace Richards toughness and Carter’s skill overnight. I’m still not a fan of either trade but if the Flyers get back to the finals then it proves that maybe I really don’t know anything about hockey.

LOS ANGELES KINGS

I probably jumped the gun last year in making them Stanley Cup favorites, but they are close. Acquiring Richards from the Flyers gives them a much needed veteran presence in the locker room and they have Doughty, Jack Johnson and Anze Kopitar flying around and making things happen. The only question is will Jonathan Quick be their full time net minder or will it be Jonathan Bernier?

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

Without Crosby the Pens had 98 points last year and took the 4^th spot in the East (without Malkin also) so once Crosby comes back how do you think this team will fare?

(This Crosby injury by the way is really bad in both a game play and P.R. sense for the NHL. The league needs Crosby on the ice because he is the NHL. Crosby is the league’s most recognizable face and its best player. The league needs him on the ice as much as it needs Ovechkin. When Crosby is on the ice the game changes. He is the best passer and best scorer in the league and can change a game at the drop of a hat. If the Pens had him healthy in the playoffs they may have hoisted their second cup in three years. Once healthy the Pens once again become the league’s scariest team and might be the best team in the league… once he comes back.

His injury is the reason why Brendan Shanahan has been so harsh when it comes to physical play. This isn’t like the NFL where Roger Goodell is turning the game into flag

40 and still going strong.

football, the suspensions that “Shanaban” is handing out are necessary in order to change the culture of the game and protect the players. After the injuries to Crosby as well as Nathan Horton and Marc Savard it has become clear that the league needs to crack down on these types of hits. Hopefully it discourages this type of play and quick. Because if Steven Stamkos gets a Crosby type of injury then the game will really be in trouble.)

DETROIT RED WINGS

I mean when are they not a player for the Cup?

Also let’s pay homage to Nicklas Lidstrom. This is probably his last season in the league and it looks like he can play another five. At age 40 Lidstrom is still better than most of the defensemen in the league and is probably the front runner for his 8^th Norris trophy. What he did in replacing the irreplaceable Steve Yzerman as captain in Detroit and leading them to another title in addition to all that he’s done in his career has to put him in the top 10 players all-time right?

NEW YORK RANGERS

I probably just jinxed my team putting them in the top 7 and I’m probably overvaluing the acquisition of Brad Richards (which will help immensely) but after watching this team play together for two years I think that they will contend for a title this year. The Rangers youth movement has been a huge success with Ryan Callahan, Marc Staal and Brandon Dubinsky leading the way. The Rangers are a tough team that is defense driven but can score goals when needed. They just needed more consistent scoring and a veteran to get them over the hump. Enter Richards. Richards was a member of John Tortorella’s 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning championship team and is one of the game’s best scorers. His presence will help Marian Gaborik get back to scoring a ton of goals, should push Cally and Dubz to the 30 goal mark and should keep the Rangers ship steady in those late months. I’m saying they’ll win it all, but they will be a serious contender.

WASHINGTON CAPITALS

Hey Bruce Boudreau, you don’t get it done this year then you may want to update your resume.

VANCOUVER CANUCKS

The thought of Daniel Sedin taking four shots to the face and Roberto Luongo falling flat on his face in key situations is still fresh. If they didn’t get tougher this offseason then they’ll be done in a hurry.

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

The trades after the title killed their chemistry for the first half of last year. Once they got it going they looked like a machine. The key is Corey Crawford in net. We know Kane, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp will score, but the reason they were able to turn things around was because of Crawford’s play in net. He is primed for a breakout year and the Blackhawks are looking at a return to the Cup.

BOSTON BRUINS

With Richards the Rangers can contend.

 

Okay, your city won its 7^th title in all four major sports in 10 years… now go away. That wasn’t really analysis more like I’m sick of Boston and its championship reign.

ANAHEIM DUCKS

No one, and I mean no one will stop them from scoring goals especially of Ryan Getzlaf stays healthy all season long. The Perry-Getzlaf-Ryan line is the scariest line that the NHL has seen in a while. They can all go for 50 goals and 100 points and they make it easy. It helps when your 40 year-old second line winger can still get you 30 goals and 80 points to help back you up. I don’t know what fountain of youth Teemu Selanne has been drinking from but he needs to share it with others. However it always comes back to goaltending and Jonas Hiller decides whether I’m right about this team making the Cup finals or not. With him in net last year they would’ve won the pacific division. In that period in between before Ray Emery almost saved them the Ducks could’ve scored 10 goals a game and it wouldn’t have mattered because they still would’ve lost. Hiller’s health means so much to this team because they have no real second option behind him. It also doesn’t help that he is one of the top 6 goalies in the league. This team’s title hopes hinge on him, if he’s healthy then put them down for a June reservation. If not, then it’s another first round exit.

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

Yep, I just picked the Lightning to win the Stanley Cup. They have a 41 year-old goalie, I don’t know if their defense can stop the puck from going in the net and Vinny LeCavalier is still possible trade bait… and I don’t care. This team could’ve made the Stanley Cup Finals last year if not for a road game 7. This year I think Stamkos and company won’t fade late in the season like they did last year, which ultimately cost them home ice. They are settled in net and Roloson is a big game goalie who knows how to win also they can score with the best of them. Steve Yzerman put this team together in his image and if that’s the case then I have no doubts that they will be tough enough to get to and win the Stanley Cup.

The first puck is set to drop in a few hours and I’m more than excited. After a long offseason with so much tragedy and heartbreak it will be a welcome relief to see some of the best players in the world on the ice and making magic happen.

The league deserves some good news and good times after a few months of so many bad ones.

ATLANTIC- RANGERS

Stamkos is ready for a run at Lord Stanley.

NORTHEAST- BRUINS

SOUTHEAST- LIGHTNING

EC PLAYOFFS- CAPS, HABS, SABRES, FLYERS, PENS

ECF-  LIGHTNING- BRUINS

CENTRAL- BLACKHAWKS

NORTHWEST- CANUCKS

PACIFIC- DUCKS

WC PLAYOFFS- SHARKS, KINGS, PREDATORS, RED WINGS, BLUES

WCF- DUCKS- BLACKHAWKS

SCF- DUCKS- LIGHTNING

HART TROPHY- STEVEN STAMKOS

VEZINA- HENRIK LUNDQUIST

NORRIS- NICKLAS LIDSTROM

CALDER- RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS

SELKE- JONATHAN TOEWS

JACK ADAMS- JOHN TORTORELLA

Chicago’s Time Is One Year Away

Derrick Rose and the Bulls will have to wait until next year.

The Chicago Bulls are not ready to compete for the NBA championship.

Despite their league leading record, having the coach of the year and the MVP, and maintaining a roster of young, talented and energetic players, the Bulls proved after last night’s 101-93 loss to the Miami Heat that they aren’t quite there yet.

Though they are ahead of schedule.

The fact that the Bulls went 62-20 this year without a consistent second scorer and with constant lapses on the defensive end lets you know how good this team can be once it finds a better two guard than Keith Bogans.

Right now this is a one-horse team with a ton of energy guys that when the game is in their they can swing a game in their favor. Taj Gibson, Omer Asik and Joakim Noah can outhustle, outwork and out play any player on the opposing bench.  The problem is that when they play a more experienced and composed squad like the Heat they get exposed.

When you watched the Bulls last night you saw just how manipulative their energy can be. Whether its Derrick Rose slamming home two jaw dropping dunks, Noah coming up with huge rebounds or Boozer lifting spirits with an emphatic put back dunk you can tell that this team can wear you out with their hustle and build up a ton of momentum.

But the reason why this team isn’t ready for primetime is their reaction to receiving a counterpunch or when they can’t muster up any energy at all. Once LeBron James rocked home a monster dunk late in the third quarter and Mike Miller ran off a string of huge shots the Bulls went into a catatonic state.

Their was no offensive mojo, Korver couldn’t knock down a jumper, Watson and Boozer couldn’t create their own shot, Noah was ineffective and Rose either forced a bad pass, took an off balanced shot or just dribbled with no end in sight.

To put it plainly they look like a mess when only Rose is the only person that can find his shot and no one is in a rhythm.

Their inexperience isn’t uncommon. The old adage in the NBA is that young teams don’t win titles, the old guys do. The Bulls haven’t played in enough games like this together to know what to do or what to expect in the moments. Give these guys another year and another piece or two and they’ll be primed for the big moment.

The Bulls are following the same blueprint as their fellow stadium tenants.

Don’t believe me? Look no further than the team that they share the United Center with during the season.

The Chicago Blackhawks were in the same boat as the Bulls two years ago heading into a Western Conference Finals showdown with the Detroit Red Wings.

The Hawks were an extremely young nucleus that was coming together before our very eyes and were setting the league on fire. Patrick Kane was lighting up the playoffs with a hat trick that buried the Canucks, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook were Norris Trophy like defense that could swing a game with their physicality… and none of it mattered once the Red Wings got on the ice with them because the Wings were too experienced and too battle tested for the novice Hawks.

After their 5 game debacle the Blackhawks came back last year to run through Nashville, Vancouver and San Jose to make the Stanley Cup Finals and roll to a title.

The Hawks learned from their mistakes, added Marian Hossa for goal-scoring help and knew how to handle the big moments late in the game one year later. The Bulls are in the same boat.

They have to lose to the Heat to get to where they want to be. They have to endure an offseason of what ifs and could’ve been’s in order to seize the NBA title. In other words you have to lose it before you can win it.

Their 62 wins and regular season dominance wasn’t an aberration by any stretch of the imagination. Think of it as a preview of things to come. The Bulls have the talent, but not all of the pieces in place.

They need one more year of seasoning and this Eastern Conference Final heartbreak to fuel their future title runs. They need a consistent shooter and another guard that can find his own shot and take pressure off of Derrick Rose to do it all. They need to learn how to keep their composure in the big moments. Right now they don’t know how.

They will learn though. By this time next year you should be seeing Chicago back in the Eastern Finals ready to make a run for the NBA title and coming up big in big moments.

If you question my prediction then look no further than the Stanley Cup banner of the Blackhawks last year. Jonathan Toews and company did it, Derrick Rose and company will too.

And We’ve Only Just Begun

Alex Burrows series winner was one of the great moments from the first round of the NBA and NHL playoffs.

The first round of the playoffs are never interesting. There are your 1 versus 8 matchups that are usually over in a week, a slightly more interesting 2 vs. 7, a deceptively tough 3 vs. 6 matchup and the 4 vs. 5 is always the most evenly matched series but can swing either way.

All of the series normally run too long and in the past I’ve complained about how the playoffs need to be shortened. After the last two weeks, I’ve changed my mind at least for one year.

The NHL and NBA playoffs first round action was so compelling that it was hard to keep up with every series even though I tried my hardest. If Alex Semin wasn’t scoring in overtime to save the Capitals in game 1 versus the Rangers it was Derrick Rose carrying a sloth-like Bulls team to a come from behind victory against Indiana. If Chris Paul didn’t have a throwback game 1 against the Lakers, then Teemu Selanne looked a 24 year old instead of a 40 year old versus Nashville.

There were so many ridiculous occurrences that it made my head spin. Here I am at Eddie George’s trying to watch the Yankees-Orioles game and Lou Williams and Jrue Holiday are knocking down huge threes to keep the 76ers alive versus Miami, and as soon as I turn my head Daniel Briere and Ville Leino are forcing a game 7 versus Buffalo after scoring late goals to keep the Flyers alive.

It’s like the NHL and NBA are trying to one up each other… I like it.

Think about each series for a minute. Let’s subtract the Red Wings-Coyotes series and the Orlando-Atlanta series because Detroit dominated the Coyotes and no one cares about either Orlando or Atlanta.

After this first round exit, Dwight Howard's future in Orlando is now in question.

(Actually I lied. There is an interesting dynamic from the Orlando series; Dwight Howard won’t be playing for the Magic much longer. I can’t envision him staying with a team with no backup big man; a roster of shook players and no real consistent shooters around him. This series loss was almost the last draw for Dwight because when he played well he lost and when he played terrible the magic won, which I can’t understand at all. Dwight is probably sick of being in Orlando and hearing Stan Van Gundy in ear every two seconds and being ripped by everyone for not exceeding his talent level. Picture Dwight in L.A. or New York or maybe even Boston in a year or two. Yikes.)

Starting in both Eastern Conference matchups, The Bulls-Indiana series should’ve been a washout. Instead Darren Collison and company put heavy pressure on the Bulls for 4 of the 5 games and could’ve easily won the series as they lost it.

Why didn’t they? Derrick Rose.

To hell with PER rating and things like that, Rose was the best player on the floor at all times and packed the Bulls on his back leading them to victory in the first three games of the series. His acrobatics and constant driving to the hole was amazing. He was undaunted, vicious and would not lose. If you had doubts on the MVP then you didn’t after this series.

Miami versus Philly was mostly a wash except for game 4 when Philly had one last gasp and the Wells Fargo Arena went nuts thanks to Williams and Holiday’s heroics… and LeBron’s inability to close again.

LeBron James could’ve easily beaten the 76ers with a drive to the rim late in the game, but he stopped short, threw up a bad shot and Philly escaped. Thanks for the new material LeBron. We’ll be watching you closely throughout the playoffs again. And I have a feeling that you might be screwing up again.

The Celtics-Knicks series should’ve gone 7 games, if: Amar’e Stoudemire got the ball in the last 5 minutes of game 1, Carmelo Anthony got any help in game 2, and if the Knicks had any reliable players besides those two at all.

Truth be told the Celtics were only impressive in game 3 when they crushed the Knicks at The Garden. However, in the other 3 games they looked terrible. Sure the Big 4 lead them to victory by taking turns in handling the majority of the scoring, but they cant come out cold like they did in games 1 & 2 and they cant give up a huge lead like they did in game 4. If they do then Miami will eat them for lunch, unless LeBron has the ball late.

Derrick Rose's acrobatics put the Bulls in the second round of the playoffs.

In the NHL the Caps-Rangers series could’ve went both ways. The Rangers could’ve won games 1 & 4 if not for a late goal by Alex Ovechkin in a hard-fought game 1 and if they didn’t choke away game 4.

The Caps fans had to be thinking “here we go again” as the third period of game 4 started and they were down 3-0. Another Washington collapse after they had an early 2-0 series lead had to be in the back of their minds . Then Alex Semin and Marcus Johansson led a charge that sent the game into overtime where Jason Chimera effectively ended the series with a fluke goal that gave them a 4-3 win.

Instead of concerns of another early exit, the caps pulled it together and won the series in 5.

The Sabres and Flyers series was fun and head scratching at the same time. The Sabres chased a Flyers goalie in 3 of the games in the series, had a 3-1 lead in game 6 at home and had the series in their hand… and lost.

Philly’s goaltending has been bad since Bernie Parent retires it seems, but in this series it was a cluster****. If not for Daniel Briere’s timely offense and Ryan Miller’s ineffectiveness in net for Buffalo then the Flyers would’ve been toast. Instead they move on and Buffalo has another postseason horror story.

Speaking of fans saying “Oh no not again” how do you think Boston Bruins fans felt after losing the first two games of their series at home after the playoff collapse to the Flyers last year?

Boston showed incredible resilience by taking the next two games in Montreal before winning a pair of overtime games at home, including a raucous game 7, to win the series.

It was a classic rivalry that seesawed between both sides and was a thrill to watch (even though the Spurs were clinging to their lives versus Memphis. More on that later.)

Finally Tampa Bay continued its revival of a season by coming back from 3-1 down to Pittsburgh to win in 7 games.

First off this wasn’t a collapse. The fact that Pittsburgh was almost in the second round without Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin is a shock to me. What else was a shock was how dominant Tampa looked in games 5,6 & 7.

Nathan Horton and the B's finally got rid of the Habs.

They were a different team from the first 4 games. They were flying around without a care and just took it to the Penguins. Steven Stamkos and company looked like a Stanley Cup contender than a team in the middle of a grand rebuilding plan that took a huge leap this year. There 1-0 game 7 victory was even more impressive because of their defensive play that they hadn’t had all year.  Are they for real? Maybe, but it’ll be fun to watch it play out.

(Ok, halftime. I told you these playoffs were nuts. And we’re not even into the West yet. Ready and break.)

Now the Western Conference where arguably the best series in each sport took place.

The Thunder vs. Nuggets was interesting for one reason and one reason only, the possible alpha-dog fight between Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant.

Let’s be clear about this… THE OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER ARE KEVIN DURANT’S TEAM PERIOD!

Yet in game 4 Westbrook took it upon himself to take every big shot when the game got down to the wire and he also made every big mistake. It was like watching a train wreck. Westbrook chucking up bad shot after bad shot while Durant just stood there calling for the ball and not getting it.

In the end the Thunder lost and Westbrook took 30 shots to Durant’s 18. Scott Brooks probably wanted to ether Westbrook on the spot.

Sad part is that it was in the process of happening again in game 5. Westbrook was making more bad plays late in the game and was putting the Thunder behind the eight ball again. Then Durant said enough.

With the Thunder down 9 with 4 minutes left, Durant hadn’t yet scored in the quarter. Once he got the ball that changed. In an instant the lead for Denver went from 9 to 7 to 5 to 3 to 1 and then OKC was up. Durant had a Jordan blackout moment. No one could stop him at all. He drove to the lane, hit from three, from 18 feet, hit floaters, right-handed and left-handed. He was unstoppable and led the Thunder to victory.

I run OKC... got it?

Hopefully Westbrook learned his lesson but I don’t know. This is going interesting to watch over the next few weeks.

Dallas had a message for everyone that picked Portland in their series, kick rocks, barefoot.

Despite Brandon Roy’s heroics in two wild games in Portland, Dirk Nowitzki guided Dallas to Victory in a series that no one had them picked to win. At this point in his tenure in Dallas the Mavs are more than ever Dirk Nowitzki and a bunch of parts. His 28 a game and 33 in the clincher paced the Mavs and his cool demeanor weathered any storm that Portland gathered up for Dallas and led them to an impressive series win.

The Lakers-Hornets series was a throwback series. We saw glimpses of the greatness of Chris Paul’s past with his 33/17 performance, we saw how Andrew Bynum can alter the play of any game when he’s healthy, and we saw Kobe go HAM with a dunk over Emeka Okafor that brought us back to when Kobe had all of his hops 5 years ago.

It also showed that the team to beat is still the L.A. Lakers. Despite the problems of game 1 the Lakers dominated 4 of the next 5 with their size and defense even without a dominant offensive output from Kobe or anyone. The West is still theirs especially now that…

…San Antonio is gone thanks to the 8^th seeded Memphis Grizzlies. How great was this series as a fan?

Memphis didn’t even have Rudy Gay, arguably their best player, and still mashed on San Antonio like they were ants. Zach Randolph has gone from an NBA outcast to the leader of a team of young lions that are making lots of noise and looking for respect.

The Grizzlies were animals in this series. Tony Allen brought some of that Boston toughness out, Mike Conley looked like an all world point guard and Marc Gasol looked like the Gasol that plays in L.A. only a lot tougher.

Zach Randolph and The Grizzlies are having a good time in these playoffs

They pounded the smaller and older Spurs and except for an aberration of game 5 where Gary Neal hit a game tying 3 with no time left, the Grizzlies were the better team all series long.

As great as the Grizzlies and their crowd were, you have to wonder about the future of the Spurs.

This has to be the end of a great run form one the leagues best franchises of the last 12 years. Tim Duncan is getting older, Manu Ginobli is breaking down and the Spurs have no real front line depth to battle with any team in the Western Conference. This might have been the last of the Spurs dynasty and if so then the shift of power in the Western Conference has already begun to shift.

As we shift to the NHL and the Nashville and Anaheim series there were three things about this series I hated. 1. I was thinking that these two would meet in the West Finals because no one team could stop the Corey Perry, Bobby Ryan and Ryan Getzlaf line, 2. Because no one was going to score on Pekka Rinne and 3. Because they were the two hottest teams going into the playoffs.

And of course I loved the series, well, except Bobby Ryan trying cut someone’s foot in half with his skate.

It was a seesaw battle that showed the each team’s strength at its best form, and that every game was intriguing.

The MVP’s of the series were Jordin Tootoo for the Preds who was a monster by setting up the game-winning goals in games 5 & 6 and by just being a pest and getting under Anaheim’s skin all series long, and Teemu Selanne who scored 6 goals and kept Anaheim in each game if the series… and he’s 40.

(Side note: people think I’m crazy for picking Nashville to go to the Stanley Cup Finals but why not? They have arguably the best goaltender in the playoffs in Rinne, the best defense lead by Shea Weber, and even though they don’t score a lot of goals they score them when they need to. I’ve seen weirder things happen, but a hockey team from Nashville in the Stanley Cup Finals? It could happen.)

The Predators in the Finals... why not?

If you want another reason as to why I still will never pick the San Jose Sharks to win a Stanley Cup then look at their series versus the L.A. Kings:

Game 1: back and forth battle between two very good teams ending with Joe Pavelski winning the game for the Sharks in OT.

Game 2: L.A. embarrasses them 4-0. Unacceptable.

Game 3: L.A. jumps out to another 4-0 lead, Antti Niemi gets pulled, L.A. has the win in the bag and somehow San Jose ties it at 5 at the end of the second period and win 6-5 in OT. Gutsy but still, how do give up 8 straight goals in the playoffs?

Game 4: they dominate the Kings and roll 6-3. Impressive.

Game 5: Kings jump out to a 3-0 lead in the first period on the road and win 3-1. Terrible.

Game 6: The Sharks overcome a raucous crowd and another OT to win in L.A. and clinch the series.

You call them gutsy I call them soft. Until the Sharks consistently beat teams in the manner that they should I will not take them seriously as a Cup contender. Period.

But none of these series NHL or NBA matched the Vancouver Canucks-Chicago Blackhawks. Vancouver was the leagues best team in the regular season with the leagues top offense and was a favorite to win the Stanley Cup. However in the last two postseason’s the Blackhawks owned them in the playoffs.

This was Vancouver’s main nemesis, the number one roadblock to the Cup even though it was a first round matchup. The Canucks had to slay this dragon to reach its destination and through three games it looked like it was easy as 1,2,3.

Then game 4 happened, 7-2 Blackhawks. Ok no problem. They don’t want to lose at home, sort of a last gasp effort no biggie. Then game 5 happened, 5-0 Hawks… in Vancouver. Uh-oh.

Panic spread, Alain Vineault sat Roberto Luongo for game 6 in Chicago, which was the biggest knee jerk reaction I had ever seen a coach make to two bad losses. I mean the guy won you 38 games during the season, why pull him just because of two games?

Game 6 was played on pins and needled by the Canucks. Sure they led 2-1 and 3-2 but they looked tense all game long. It seemed like the pressure to close out was getting to them. Then when Cory Schneider injured his groin during Michael Frolik’s game-tying penalty shot things got real tense. Luongo came in and did a decent job in relief… until overtime when he allowed Ben Smith to grab a rebound off of a Marian Hossa shot to send the series to a game 7.

Put Vancouver on a suicide watch at that point.

Vancouver-Chicago might’ve been the greatest game 7 in the early stage of the playoffs ever. It was fast paced throughout with Luongo (hey! He’s starting again) and Blackhawks rookie Corey Crawford standing on their head throughout the game. The series looked like it was in the bag for Vancouver as Duncan Keith hooked Alex Burrows for a power play that was surely then end of Chicago’s season. Until Hossa had another shot at Luongo that just missed, but it came right to Jonathan Toews who had a Canuck on his back while he was falling down, and he still put it past Luongo to tie the game.

I still dont believe in San Jose, no matter how mentally tough Joe Thornton and company seem.

Rogers Arena was ghostly quiet. I mean like someone died quiet.

Another overtime, more anxiety and the possibility for more heartbreak. When Burrows took a penalty for holding Keith you could see the Canucks fans beside themselves. Could it really end like this? Could we really lose to this team again and in this manner? Burrows himself must’ve been losing his mind in the penalty box. When that penalty ended you could hear a collective sigh of relief from the 20,000 in attendance.

Two minutes later you could hear joy from those same fans. When Chicago’s Chris Campoli tried to clear the puck form his zone, Burrows pounced on it, moved in and fired a rocket past Crawford that gave Vancouver a 2-1 win and sent Rogers Arena into a frenzy.

The Canucks mobbed Burrows and it looked like they won the Stanley Cup. The demons were gone, the suicide watch was over, Vancouver had finally beaten Chicago.

What a series, what a first round. Can it get any better than this? Can Dallas-L.A., Miami-Boston, Boston-Philadelphia and Detroit-San Jose match the craziness of what we saw in the last two weeks of April?

Hopefully so. As great as round one was, I have a feeling that we haven’t seen the best that these playoffs have to offer just yet.

Can Vancouver Beat Chicago?

Ready for round 3?

I pondered something as I watched the Chicago Blackhawks lose on Sunday to the Detroit Red Wings; do you think the Vancouver Canucks secretly through a huge party?

 

Let’s face it; in the last two years that the Blackhawks have returned to relevancy they can largely thank the Canucks for their resurgence.

 

In 2009 the Blackhawks shook the United Center to the ground in game 6 as Patrick Kane lit the lamp three times and the Blackhawks moved on to the Western Conference finals 7-5. Last year the Hawks got into the Canucks heads and baited them into several horrible penalties on their way to another series win as the Canucks were left shaking their heads for answers and Roberto Luongo’s stock as a big-time goalie took a huge hit.

 

So this year as the Canucks ascended to the top of the West despite a ton of injuries they were probably thinking that maybe, just maybe when the chaos of the 3-8 seeds was finally over with that they would have an enjoyable matchup where their offense would overpower the other opponent and once again overshadow a ridiculously banged up defense. Nope.

 

The Blackhawks did lose and their playoff lives were in the hands of the Minnesota Wild who needed to beat the even more wildly inconsistent Dallas Stars for them to make the playoffs. And when Pierre Marc-Bouchard’s empty netter clinched the Hawks playoff berth British Columbia collectively had to go, “not again.”

Even without Dustin Byfuglien the Blackhawks own Roberto Luongo.

Blackhawks Center Ryan Johnson said this week that the Hawks were in the Canucks heads, how could they not be?

 

Kane, Jonathan Toews and company have owned the Canucks whether its in Chicago or Vancouver. Last year the Hawks beat the Canucks in all 3 home playoff games and embarrassed Luongo in each contest. The Blackhawks physical style got the Canucks out of their game and out of character especially in game 4 when Daniel Sedin, Alex Burrows and others took horrible penalties that led to 3 power play goals and left Vancouver for dead.

 

So even though the Hawks come into this series as the 8^th seed and start out on the road you would have to think that its just water under the bridge for them.

 

The Canucks are facing a fate that many teams in other sports had to face on their way to the top of their sport. Jordan’s Bulls had to beat Thomas’s Pistons, the Red Sox had to conquer the Yankees and Vancouver has to beat Chicago if it wants to play in June for Lord Stanley’s Cup.

 

Daniel and Henrik Sedin have to lead the Canucks past this Midwest bully that has its number. This team has to avoid the bad penalties that killed them last year and Luongo in particular has to play up to the level that he’s played at in the regular season. Luongo was a top 10 goalie in all major categories from save percentage, GAA and wins this year. Luongo has to play at least a fifth better in this series than last year if Vancouver has a shot.

 

Though they say that they are different from year’s past (and it shows as the Canucks have become a more disciplined team this year.) this is where it counts. All of the regular season fireworks displayed by the offense and defensive injuries don’t matter now for Vancouver. To get past a hated rival they’ve got to do it in the postseason starting tonight when it really matters.

 

If not then it’ll be another early exit and another offseason wondering what in the world they have to do to beat the Chicago Blackhawks. Even worse they may start believing that they can’t beat them and those “Not Again’s” will turn into “no way in hell.”

Kings With A Crown (NHL Preview)

The L.A. Kings are next in line for Lord Stanley's Cup.

So how crazy would I be to pick the L.A. Kings to win the Stanley Cup? Nuts? Out of my head? Or maybe just smart.

Consider this if you will: the last two Stanley Cup champions have had a considerable amount of young players that were the main core of the team and provided most of the fireworks whether it be offensively or in the physical department, not to mention young goaltending that played at a high level to help its offense out.

The Pittsburgh Penguins of 2009 and the Chicago Blackhawks of this past year may have steered the direction of where the NHL is headed for the future. Teams with a young core that can play big when asked to and can win now and still be set for the future. When you look at Pittsburgh they are set for well into the middle portion of this decade and their best players haven’t even hit 25 yet.

Sidney Crosby is the captain at age 23 (made captain at 20), Geno Malkin is the number two guy at age 24, Marc-Andre Fleury just turned 25 in net, plus don’t forget about Jordan Staal and Alex Gogligosgi on defense. The Pens future is set in stone and they can acquire on the cheap to build around Crosby, Malkin and company like Pascal Dupuis, Mike Comrie and Matt Cooke.

Same goes for Chicago. Last year’s team featured Jonathan Toews as its 21 year old captain, with Patrick Kane as a 20 year old play maker that made all of his teammates better. Add in Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Dustin Byfuglien and company and the Hawks had the same nucleus to work with. Funny thing is that when people saw the Hawks dumping salary and trading away every key piece of their championship puzzle they figured this team was dead. What they forgot is guys like Toews, Kane, Patrick Sharp, Keith and company are still there to set the tone so guys like Fernando Pisani and Ed Belfour can come in an add to a already stable foundation and the Hawks won’t miss a beat (which they won’t).

Which brings us back to why I think Los Angeles has a good shot to win it all, or come close; the Kings match both the Penguins and the Blackhawks in the youth nucleus

Anze Kopitar and Jonathan Quick compose two parts of the Kings young attack.

factor. Captain: Dustin Brown, 25. Brown has seen the resurgence in L.A. first hand since being drafted in 2003 when the Kings were dreadful. Brown played on the 2010 Silver Medal team from the U.S. gaining valuable experience and playing at a level versus high competition and competing well. What he lacks in Toews leadership and Crosby’s offensive output he matches in the cool head department. Brown totaled only 41 minutes in penalties and had a -6 +/- rating, the lowest of his career.

Young playmakers: Anze Kopitar, 23, and Wayne Simmonds, 22. Kopitar, to many around the league, should compete for the points title sooner than later with his flash and great stick work. Kopitar has the ability to kill any defenseman in their zone with the way he moves but hasn’t seemed to conquer it yet. Like Kane and Malkin, Kopitar can pack a huge punch when it comes to offensive potency for this team. Simmonds was sort of a shock for this team last year. In his second season the 22 year old posted a +22 rating with his aggressive play and found himself on the second line for much of the second half of the season. If Simmonds can continue with this play for the whole 82 games then that gives the Kings a second huge scoring option besides Kopitar and makes them a formidable offensive opponent.

Defense: Drew Doughty, 20, Jack Johnson, 23. Talk to any GM in the league or analyst or fan and they’ll tell you that Doughty is the second coming of Bobby Orr… um, he might be. This is his third season and he might be the man to beat for the Norris trophy for top defenseman. On offense he’s slick with his passing and is the perfect power play quarterback. On defense his 6-1 211 pound frame can beat up any forward who comes in front of the net looking for a rebound. Johnson is a beast himself. Though not as polished as Doughty he is a workhorse. Johnson led the team in playoff points and plays as physical as any defenseman in the league. Put these guys together for 23 minutes a night and it’s a problem for anyone.

(Side note: I fell in love with Jack Johnson’s aggressiveness in the Olympics. There was nothing better than him beating up Canadian forwards as they flew into his zone and watching him talk smack back at em. If the Rangers didn’t have about 80 young talented defensemen that were amazing I would love for him to be a Ranger.)

(Side note two: have you looked around the league lately at all of these defensemen that are top notch d-liners? Sports Illustrated did a great story on the large amount of first class young defenders in the league in their preview and featured in particular Doughty, Zach Bogosian in Atlanta, Erik Johnson in St. Louis and Tyler Myers in Buffalo. That’s just scratching the surface. There’s still Keith, Marc Stall and Michael Del Zotto in New York and Dion Phaneuf in Toronto all skating around and punishing forwards every minute. It’s like the NHL scouting department had a master plan after the lockout; put all of the offensive guys out early and dominate, then let’s wait three years and unload a boatload of defensemen to clash with them. It’s a masterful mesh of talent that the league hasn’t seen in over 15 years, it’s a perfect way to gain interest in the game again… oh wait Gary Bettman would never do that, he’s too stupid to help improve hockey. What am I thinking?)

Goaltending: Jonathan Quick, 24. Played 72 games last year, won 39 and one heck of a workhorse. He was top ten in shots faced, and had a 2.54 GAA. Funny part is that he may not even be there best goalie. Jonathan Bernier is the French-Canadian wunderkind that maybe next in line if the Kings don’t want to pay Quick in the future (and if I know the new NHL they won’t).It’s a good problem to have if you’re L.A., however Quick should be the starter because of his experience and I wouldn’t be shocked if he contended for the Vezina this year.

So to that core you add guys like Rob Scuderi, Ryan Smyth and Alex Ponikarovsky and you have a team that’s ready to make a run for the cup and take down the vets like the Sharks and Wings who are getting a little long in the tooth and are retooling while trying to contend.

So why take Los Angeles over Pittsburgh or Washington or Chicago to repeat? I don’t know if Pittsburgh’s defense is strong enough to keep up with the offense or if Marc-Andre Fleury’s head can be in the game for a full season. I don’t know if Chicago can rebuild the chemistry that they perfectly began planning 5 years ago with this new roster. Washington…

Washington I couldn’t tell you about. They seem to match the Blackhawks and Pens plan. They got Alex Ovechkin, best player in the league at 25, Nick Backstrom at 22 who

Ovechkin is larger than life in Washington, but the expectations are growing along with concerns.

might be the best Center in the league not named Crosby offensively, Alex Semin as a great secondary scorer at 26. Mike Green at 24 who is the best offensive defenseman in the league and a great young goalie in Semyon Varlamov. They ran through the Eastern Conference in the regular season and looked like they were going to breeze to the Stanley Cup finals (that never happens in the NHL by the way so shame on all of you for even thinking that). However, they can’t defend anyone. The Habs, who were not an offensive juggernaut, were able to penetrate their zone at will in the playoffs and it made Mike Camilleri look like Maurice Richard. Also this team doesn’t have a heart when faced with adversity. When they get down, they can’t seem to right the ship. It happened last year versus Pittsburgh in the playoffs, and this year versus Montreal. They’re a regular season champion that can’t get it done in the playoffs (see San Jose), could it happen this year? Yeah, maybe. We know Ovechkin could win MVP, we know they’ll score a ton of goals, we know they’ll blow away everyone in their division… but do you think that they can get it done in the postseason when it seems like they have one big mental block that they can’t overcome? Exactly.

I could see anyone coming out of the east (not Boston, not doing that to myself again), including Philadelphia. That was a team that was a 3 seed in a 7 seed’s place (lets not discuss how they got in the playoffs, I’m still salty). The only concern for Philadelphia is… brace yourself… goaltending (in other news ice is cold). However, if Mike Richards got by last year on depth and physicality, then it should work again this year. Especially when you have Jeff Carter, Claude Giroux and James Van Riemsdyk backing him up.

(Side note three: in the NHL draft of 2006 the Rangers had the 21st pick of that draft, we took Bobby Sanguanetti with that pick, a big defenseman in the mold of Rob Blake. The Flyers took Giroux with the 22^nd pick… if you watched the playoffs and saw Giroux play you would understand why I was banging my head against the Eddie George’s bar top. By the way, we just shipped Sanguanetti to Carolina. I really hate Glen Sather.)

Let’s hope I’m right about this L.A. thing. I wanted to pick Chicago last year but didn’t because I thought they were too young to win it right away, oops. Now I know, go with your gut and not common sense. This is the direction that the NHL is going in, win now and win young. If I’m right about this then the Kings will be raising Lord Stanley’s Cup in June of 2011 right before Kobe and the Lakers three peat in the same month. Whatever happens the Kings will contend for a long time after this season, and their main competition might follow their blueprint. Hey it worked for Chicago and Pittsburgh, why not everyone else?

ATLANTIC- PHILADELPHIA

Mike Richards should have Philly back in the Cup this year.

NORTHEAST- BUFFALO

SOUTHEAST- WASHINGTON

PLAYOFFS-  PENS, RANGERS, BRUINS, CANADIENS, LIGHTNING (trust me, Stevie Y will get it done quick… well if Vinny LeCavalier can get his head on straight.)

CENTRAL- CHICAGO

NORTHWEST- VANCOUVER

PACIFIC- LOS ANGELES

PLAYOFFS- DETROIT, ST. LOUIS, COLORADO, SAN JOSE, ANAHEIM

HART- STEVEN STAMKOS

ART ROSS- SIDNEY CROSBY

NORRIS- DREW DOUGHTY

VEZINA- HENRIK LUNDQVIST

CALDER- P.K. SUBBAN

JACK ADAMS- TERRY MURRAY

ECF- PHILADELPHIA VS. WASHINGTON

WCF- LOS ANGELES VS. CHICAGO

Your Wacky Week In Sports Recap

The Isner-Mahut match was one of the many crazy things to happen this week

And you thought that once the NBA Finals ended that sports would go into a deep sleep with the long slumber of the baseball season, oh what little you knew.

The annual conception of sports is that once David Stern’s rig-a-thon of a finals ends yearly in June that we just sit around and twitter our thumbs until the baseball trade deadline then football season begins.

Tennis isn’t as big as it once was, golf lulls you to sleep (Tiger or not) and NASCAR—well NASCAR isn’t a sport. So there is baseball and when you talk to people they all have complaints about the length of games, season, the lacking continuous wow factor and just the slowness of the sport in general. So honestly the 6 weeks between the end of the NHL and NBA playoffs and the beginning of NFL training camps are usually repetitive, slow and boring… then this week happened.

It looked like just a normal week for sports fans; two drafts (NHL and NBA), interleague baseball, Wimbledon Tennis, the U.S. Open and World Cup soccer. Nothing big, the names all match the faces, you know what happens, who wins, loses, etc. There was a huge curveball thrown this way this week, weird things were happening everywhere to the point that if you turned away from your TV you probably missed seven different things in an hour.

SUNDAY

Tiger was in striking distance at the U.S. Open as was Phil Mickelson yet Dustin Johnson was the headliner heading into the final round. At 6 under, Johnson held a 3 shot lead over Grahame McDowell and a 5 shot advantage over a lurking Tiger. Then he threw it all away in three holes on Sunday and finished with a final round 82. Johnson buckled under the pressure with triple and double bogeys on no.2 and 3. He was so bad the NBC golf analyst caught fire this week for saying that Johnson wasn’t using his brain during his meltdown… OOPS!

McDowell wasn’t exactly stellar either; he finished at even for the tournament after a final round 74 to become the first European golfer to win the open since Tony Jacklin 40 years earlier. Yep Colin Montgomery never did it, nor Nick Faldo, or Paddy Harrington.

It was also the tournament that may have ended the notion that Tiger Woods is the most feared player on the planet. That tends to happen when you go from totally focused to whining about the holes to anyone that listens, and blasting your caddie in public. Apparently Tiger lost some since of class when he lost half of his money.

MONDAY

The Federer fiasco.

If Federer wanted people to pipe down about his fading skills, then this was not the way to do it. His near collapse is only topped by his opponents. Alejandro Palla had Federer beat, twice. He had the opportunity to break Federer for the match twice in the third set and he blew it. He eventually went on to lose in five sets including a 6-0 beat down in set five. Palla could’ve pulled off one of tennis’s biggest upsets; instead he is a great dinner date for Dustin Johnson this week.

Then there was the Phil Jackson conundrum in L.A. during their parade. Jackson skipped out on the festivities for a previous doctor’s appointment that he said he couldn’t reschedule. Keep in mind that he’s Phil Jackson; he could do whatever he wanted when he wanted. You couldn’t get a doctor’s appointment rescheduled? I’m broke and I get appointments redone all the time.

There couldn’t have been a more telling sign that Jackson is on way to retirement. This might be his way of riding off into the sunset like a lone cowboy. He could’ve done it in a less discreet way, maybe.

In a side note, the Yankees continued their plan to kill their young starters by skipping Phil Hughes because he’s pitching too many innings. Ask Joba Chamberlain how that worked out for him.

(Also Hughes is 10-1 with a 3.13 ERA! He’s the best pitcher on the staff right now. Yet he gets skipped for a start and A.J. Burnett continued his implosion by allowing 7 earned runs on Monday for his umpteenth unimpressive start lately. I’m starting to wonder if Jeffrey Luria knew what he was doing when he fired Joe Girardi…)

TUESDAY

… Until he fired Fredi Gonzalez Tuesday after their win against the Orioles. Luria says that he feels that the Marlins have every necessary tool to compete in the NL East. Yes Jeff except that you have no bullpen, no reliable cleanup hitter and no reliable starters that are not named Josh Johnson. Very true.

WEDNESDAY

Landon Donovan Saved the U.S. yet again

Wednesday was exhausting. I had to start a new job Wednesday and the was the least exciting thing in my life on that day.

First off U.S. soccer almost got jobbed again by a ref in their game versus Algeria. Clint Dempsey got the Maurice Edu treatment when a phantom offside call robbed him of a goal early in their match. Added to that was the pressure that England placed on the Americans. Jermaine Dafoe’s goal in the 23^rd minute against Slovenia placed the U.S. squarely on the edge of elimination where it stayed until the extra time of the second half. Then after an amazing outlet pass from keeper Tim Howard Landon Donovan saved our hopes of a World Cup title with a rebound put back that put the U.S. up 1-0 and into the knockout round on Saturday against Ghana. Easily the greatest goal scored in U.S. Soccer history. The feeling was amazing for a nation that isn’t easily influenced by soccer but loves a champion. Even I was speechless as Donovan saved the U.S. in the second straight match when all hope seemed lost.

That reminds me; doesn’t this team reek of destiny? Let’s be real, the U.S. should easily be eliminated with one point as they are the winners of their group. Their slow starts against England and Slovenia could’ve easily been losses if not for Robert Green’s butter fingers or Michael Bradley’s right place right time goal. For all of the talk of the U.S. being screwed out of goals, we have just as easily lucked into two or three of them. Makes you wonder what will happen next on Saturday.

That brings us to after the match and the wonders of the American language. My buddy Will Whatley introduced me to a word called fooleywang a while ago. He uses it to describe certain instances of ridiculousness that you view on a daily basis. It’s a play on foolishness, and adjective, here it is used in a sentence; the match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut on Wednesday was pure fooleywang. How does that happen? When Wimbledon instituted that they would have no tiebreakers in the fifth set of their men’s matches they couldn’t have possibly expected this.

I began paying attention to the match at around 30-29 Isner. Which turned into 34-33, 38-38, 40-39 and then I began to wonder, is this ever going to end?

It was pure will and endurance by both Isner and Mahut. They just couldn’t break each other to take control of the match. When Isner pulled back for an ace, Mahut followed. Winner after winner, ace after ace neither man was budging. Isner had three chances at match point but each time Mahut fought back with a great first serve and winner to keep his hopes alive. The crowd at the 18^th court went from 100 people to 1000 with spectators stopping to watch the epic fifth set for hours, not budging for anything. They watched Isner and Mahut battle like prize fighters praying to make it to the next round.

The most telling point of the match came when Mahut dove for a ball well out of reach and watching his racket fly across the court in agony. He just wanted it so badly. He didn’t want to lose. Who would? When you’re on a court for ten hours and still at a draw you can’t lose. Both men took it to the extreme and both finally gave in as darkness set in and it was clear that they would need another day to settle this epic. 59-59 after two days, 150 aces and ten hours of tennis, still no winner. In other words I started a new job, wrote a blog, cleaned my room, Germany won soccer match, the Reds reclaimed first place and one tennis match didn’t end. Wow.

Then after that hockey just had to make no sense at all. The Blackhawks traded 3 of their most important role players due to financial restrictions Ben Eager, Brent Sopel and Dustin Byfuglien… DUSTIN BYFUGLIEN!?!?!?! You mean the guy that made Kane and Toews fly, the guy that scored eleven goals and five winners in the playoffs you traded him! Really?

I understand that the market isn’t great now and you have to save money, but to trade your third best forward and most important force on offense? Really Rocky? Byfuglien is going to command lots of money next offseason based on his clutch performing in these playoffs which meant the Hawks couldn’t afford him anymore. Byfuglien’s big body and presence will be missed but in these economic times you’ve got to do what you got to do to save money. I just don’t get trading one of your most beloved players. Makes no sense, sort of like Henrik Sedin winning MVP over Alex Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby, but I digress.

Thursday

The sad afterlife of Lawrence Taylor continued.

Lawrence Taylor was officially indicted on felony sexual assault charges for having sex with a 16 year-old prostitute; if this wasn’t rock bottom for LT then I couldn’t tell you what it will be. Funny thing is that two months ago at the NFL Draft Taylor was all smiles speaking about what the Giants needed to get back to on defense, and his legacy. Now Taylor’s latest misstep just punctuates what has been a mess of a post career.

I’ll never understand why Taylor continues with this type of behavior when it has caused so many problems including his Hall of Fame selection. He never learned when it was a good time to slow down. Even when it seemed like he was getting it, he didn’t. You’ve got to wonder if the judge will put an official end to this behavior with a lengthy sentence that will all but end with LT being a shell of the person that we once knew as the most feared man in football.

Then there was a bore of a NBA Draft, well except Wesley Johnson’s pants those were the most exciting things of the evening. Except for Utah reaching for Gordon Haywood at 9 (insert racial joke here) and the Grizzlies reaching even higher for Greivis Vazquez at 28 the draft was highly irrelevant because it was just a set-up for free agency.

Think about it, Miami traded out of the first round to save money as did Chicago. The Knicks did their prep work by packaging deals out of the next two drafts for this year’s free agency period. Really all the draft was, was just an appetizer for July 1^st. teams close to contention clearing room for Bron and Wade or Bosh or Amar’e or Dirk. Teams don’t just want one star they want two because they believe that will put them over the top.

David Stern for all of his lauding about how he wants Bron to stay in Cleveland because it would be better for the league is facing a huge problem, and that is the competitive balance of the league. Really the league is just 6 good teams with everyone else there for fun factor. You don’t expect Golden State or Indiana to contend for anything anytime soon, it makes the league less relevant and makes the draft a sham.

Think about this for a second; Dwyane Wade and LeBron James set a precedent by signing shorter deals 3 years ago to get to free agency with no strings attached quicker, pretty much they now dictate who they want to play for. Who’s to say 6 years from now John Wall DeMarcus Cousins and Wesley Johnson won’t do the same and put Minnesota, Sacramento and Washington in similar situations like the one they are in now? Stern has to find a way to make the league more competitive so teams like New Orleans and Memphis won’t feel like they can’t compete with larger scale teams because of their attraction.

(But will Stern do it? Of course not. He’s more concerned with that $400 million dollar debt his league is in. not knowing that spreading the balance will help alleviate some of that debt.)

Oh and Isner-Mahut just ended 70-68 Isner. Eleven hours, 220 aces, 1000 points won, 183 games, an 8 hour 30 minute fifth set and finally a winner.

FRIDAY

• Quickies from weeks end: Clijsters-Henin match setup for Monday
• Rasheed Wallace retires. Referees rejoice.
• Carlos Zambrano threw a fit in the dugout after getting hammered in the first inning against the Chisox. He got suspended and rightfully so. I love Zambrano but his temper is ridiculous. The guy has to find a way to slow himself down and regain his form before he finds himself out of baseball.
• Taylor Hall was the number overall pick for the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL Draft. Tyler Seguin was second for the Bruins.
• The Toronto Blue Jays host the Philadelphia Phillies… in Philadelphia. So you couldn’t play in another stadium in Canada, really? C’mon Son! You know that’s three extra home games for the Phils Bud. Don’t lie.
  

  Edwin Jackson threw another no-hitter, but who hasn't this year?

Oh yeah and Edwin Jackson threw a no-hitter against the Tampa Bay Rays— WITH 8 WALKS! Ok what should be the story here; a. the no-hitter itself, b. the fact that this is the fifth no-no of the season (yeah I’m still counting Armando Galarraga’s) or c. the fact that Tampa has been no hit three times in the last year?

I understand that no-hitters are a big deal, but come on 8 walks? That’s eight base runners plus a hit batter, that takes away from the luster of the no hitter big time. It’s still an accomplishment to not allow a hit over an entire outing but Jackson’s wildness makes it less of a big deal. The same goes for Ubaldo Jimenez’s 6 walk no-no in April. They weren’t great performances like the Halladay, Braden or Galarraga games because those guys were in complete control from start to finish. I think we make a big deal out of no-hitters because we never used to see them a lot, but now that were entering a pitcher’s era in the sport maybe we should hold up a higher standard of how to celebrate no-no’s because Jackson’s to me isn’t that big of a deal.

What is a big deal is the fact that there are all of these no-hitters flying around like hotcakes. With the steroid era being cleared away you have to wonder that the use of PED’s really did amp up the last 15 years of baseball’s run production, who knows how many more of these things we’ll have this year, 2? 4? It is highly possible.

And please Tampa, learn some plate discipline. 3 times in 140 games? You get a big Ed Lover C’mon Son!

Oh and today, Saturday there’s another A.J. Burnett start, U.S. versus Ghana, Rafa trying to avoid another five set meltdown and whatever else could possibly happen as a crazy happenstance in this crazy week of sports. Just stay tuned because you might miss something special.

Chicago And Philly Look To End Cup Droughts

Can the Hawks run continue?

Think of the names for a second. Stan Mikita, Bobby Hull, Bobby Clarke, Bernie Parent, Bill Clement… think of where those men stand in the annals of folklore of hockey history. The popularity of those faces and their playing style made them who they are and how respected they are today.

We know about the Broad Street Bullies, The Golden Jet… we know about how these two hockey crazy towns embraced them for their style of play, we also know that ever since these men took the ice, that was the last time that the Chicago Blackhawks and the Philadelphia Flyers won the Stanley Cup. Philly in 1972, Chi town in 61’ the longest current drought in the sport.

Since then there has been hope on both sides of the ice. The Blackhawks had the Chris Chellos and Jeremy Roenick combo in the 90’s while the Flyers put faith in The Legion of Doom in the late 90’s.

Both teams made appearances, both teams ran into the steamrollers known as the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings respectively, both teams haven’t smelled championship success since then,

The Blackhawks have been in shambles under the ownership of Bill Wirtz, the Flyers couldn’t get over the hump with the conservativism of GM Clarke. The Hawks traded Roenick and Chellos and went into a 15-year slump where the city of Chicago fell out of love with the Hawks. The Flyers saw Mikael Renberg come and go, as did Rod Brind’Amour, the Hatcher twins and watched injuries ravage fan faves like Keith Jones, Keith Primeau and Lindros.

They’ve watched their divisions become controlled by dynasties in the making in Detroit and the New Jersey Devils. In essence, both sets of fans, huge hockey fans, seemed to fade away with the occurrences in their cities and were swayed by their newly minted baseball champions in the White Sox and Phillies (except for the Cubs, their fans are still bitterly holding on for a hope that seems so far away its Katt Williams funny).

Yet here we are, May 29, 2010, two championship starved franchise on the verge of ending their droughts in resurgent markets in a resurgent league.

The teams mirror themselves in so many ways: Young Captains who lead by example with a calm but furious demeanor (The Hawks Jonathan Toews and Philly’s Mike Richards). Playmaking wings who are dreams to watch (Patrick Kane and Jeff Carter) absolutely bruising backliners who are great both offensively and defensively (Duncan Keith and Chris Pronger) and goaltenders, who three months ago you couldn’t pick out of a police lineup (Antti Nieme and Michael Leighton). The similarities are endless.

Flyers fans are just as starved for a championship.

Their playoff fortunes have been formed by star-making performances by mere role players. Dustin Byfuglien’s breakout has been chronicled over and over, but the Flyers Claude Giroux has been just as big, if not bigger. Giroux was dominant in the Montreal series including a two-goal performance in game 4 which all but sealed the series. As for Byfuglien, well lets just say if not for his two game winning goals in games 3 & 4 against San Jose, or his hat trick against Vancouver in Game 3 or his great work as a defenseman in the Nashville series (he’s a winger just to let you know)… you get the idea.

Then there have been stories of perseverance that have transcended certain individuals. Look at Simon Gagne of the Flyers. Earlier in the decade he was a deadly goal scorer that helped Canada win gold in the 2002 Salt Lake City games. He then suffered a rash of injuries that damaged his career and made him an afterthought in Philly. In this postseason he has returned to form of sorts. He’s scored seven goals including 2 in the historic game 7 clincher versus Boston and he had a great series against Montreal scoring a goal in each of the first three games of the series.

So how can you tell these teams apart this series to decipher a winner? Well you can’t. All you can do is look at certain aspects of each team to see where each side has an advantage:

1. The Byfuglien factor. Vancouver couldn’t figure it out, nor could San Jose. Byfuglien as you’ve seen is a monster. He’s 6’4” 260 and has quick hands. His presence around the net gave Evgeni Nabakov fits last week and lead to multiple power plays for The Chi in both series. However, the Flyers have a big monster in Pronger who at 6’6” can help shift Byfuglien out of Leighton’s way.
2. The Briere factor. I hate Daniel Briere. I hate his facial hair, his size (5’6”) and his style of play. However, dude’s a baler. His play against the Bruins was the reason the Flyers came back to win that series and why Montreal couldn’t keep up with them. It’ll be interesting to see how the Hawks can maintain what he does when he’s on the ice.
3. Who’s going to contain Kane and Toews or Richards and Carter? Both backlines have challenges in containing the high scoring lines that have been killing teams all postseason.
4. Who’s got the better x-factors? What are Dave Bolland, Andrew Ladd, Ville Leino and James Van Riemsdyk going to do? Each of those aforementioned men has at one point or another come through with big plays for each teams. Ladd is out with an injury this evening yet the role players for each side could have as much to do with the factoring of the Stanley Cup than the big guns.
5. Goaltending. Remember when Chicago’s main issue was between the pipes? Yes it was an ongoing story all season but Antti Niemi has done everything to stop those fears with a 2.33 GAA and a .921 save percentage. The Flyers are no strangers to goaltending problems; they haven’t a steady goaltender since Ron Hextall in the 80’s and early 90’s! Yet no one knew what to expect out of Leighton who has been huge for the Flyers. He’s only allowed 11 goals in 9 games including 4 shutouts. Both men weren’t even on the roster at the start of the season and could have their names on the Cup at the end of next week.

Speaking of the cup, who wins and why? I said Chicago would get there and lose at the start of the season I said they were too young and needed one more year. Yet I didn’t know that they would be playing a Flyers team that just two years ago was the worst team in the league and had no real help in net. Yet I can’t change now, I like Philadelphia in six. Why? I mean they came back from 3-0 down against Boston; they made the playoffs on the last day of the season and have been unstoppable with a backup goalie in net. They’re a team of destiny and there is no stopping right now. I know Chicago has the more well-known and respected team, but you can’t go against the hottest team in the league.

So there you have it. In a match up of two teams that haven’t seen a title in a combined 88 years, the legends of the Broad Street Bullies will come through. Whatever happens it’s going to be a great series and someone will join the legends whose shadows they skate in front of every game.

The Blackhawks Turnaround Is Complete

Chicago is a hockey town once again.

As bad as it sounds to say, but after the Blackhawks defeated the San Jose Sharks to go to their first Stanley Cup finals since 1992 I couldn’t help but wonder how bad of shape that the Blackhawks would be in if Bill Wirtz were still alive.

If you remember, once upon a time long ago the Chicago Blackhawks were not that good and nobody cared about the Hawks at all, namely because of the actions of one William Wirtz. He cut corners to save money, turned down plans to help Chicago contend for titles for years, never paid players, and the most unforgiveable sin of all, he blacked out all home games so you couldn’t watch them at home.

All of this made Chicago, an original six city, the home of the Golden Jet, Stan Mikita, and the spin-o-rama forget about hockey and the men that wore the Indian headed sweaters.

Fast forward to yesterday where in front of another sell-out crowd at the United Center and you wouldn’t even believe that The Chi was a dormant hockey town just three years ago. The Fratellis “Chelsea Dagger” blared over the entire arena as Jonathan Toews accepted the Clarence Campbell trophy for the Western Conference Champions. Fans waved red towels like rabid wolverines screaming at the top of their lungs with nearly everyone still in attendance. Hockey in Chi town was back.

It started five years ago after the NHL lockout and the league searching for any positives. The Hawks took Toews in the draft to begin a rebuilding process and hope that the team would pull itself out of oblivion. The next year they drafted Patrick Kane, the perfect attention grabbing compliment to Toews’s laid back demeanor. Together they began to draw attention due to their skill and age. The city slowly began becoming re-engaged to the Blackhawks though they were still a ways away from being anything significant.

Then came the death of the elder Wirtz and the turnaround officially began. Rocky Wirtz for years pleaded with his father to change his ways but it always fell on deaf ears. Now in charge, Rocky did things his way and began a transformation that is more and more impressive to fathom.

He held a fan convention in February of 2008, the first in the team’s history, possibly to rejuvenate the significance of the team to the city. Four months later, it was announced that the team would be hosting the newly implements, and annual Winter Classic from the historic Wrigley Field. After the success of the event at Orchard Park in Buffalo, a crazed hockey town in itself, it was a shoe in to be a great event.

Though they lost it, the Winter Classic was a huge part of Chicago's revival.

Next was the hiring of successful coach Joel Quenneville, who guided long playoff runs for the St. Louis Blues in the early 2000’s. His hiring gave great leadership to a young rising team in the league and it came with immediate returns. His first order of business, and the team’s for that matter, was to award the Captain’s “C” to Toews to officially make him the face of the team as well as Kane.

The Winter Classic was the beginning of on ice success though it was in defeat. The Wrigley experience of their 6-4 loss to the Detroit Red Wings made the Classic a huge event for a national audience and it let people outside of Chicago know who these boys were. Then came the playoffs and great showings from Kane, Duncan Keith and guys like Kris Versteeg and Brent Seabrook.

It all culminated into this season.  A turn around four years in the making that led to pressure that these young men, or the city hadn’t seen since the days of Jordan and the Bulls. ESPN the magazine had Kane, Toews, Keith and newly acquired winger Marian Hossa on the cover chronicling the pressure that they would face and the troubling offseason that accompanied the success (Hossa’s injury and Kane’s run-ins with the law). Critics were quick to place the young untested core at the top of their yearly predictions over more proven teams like Detroit, Vancouver and San Jose. You wondered whether this team was ready for such exposure, if they play larger than their age and let their talents take over for a full 82 game season.

It was funny because Dave Bolland said in an interview after the game yesterday that the celebrations that came with wins last year had been replaced with a cooler temperament this year and more focus, and it showed.

Despite lingering questions about the subpar goaltending, the Blackhawks finished second in the West, first in the Central division (the first champion this decade not named Detroit) had 6 20-goal scorers and became the talk of the town. These playoffs added to their luster with break out performances by Dustin Byfuglien, Antii Niemi and Bolland in addition to the stars on the team. Every night a new Hawk steps up and takes over while Kane and Toews calmly and spectacularly guide the ship.

Yesterday’s win more than anything showed the grit, toughness and talent that has followed the team all year. Niemi shook off two early goals to deny any other San Jose advances, the Seabrook and Keith led defense held the Sharks to 3 third period shots, Keith also lost 4 teeth on a puck deflection yet stayed in the game for a fierce 20 plus minutes on the ice (he’s a hockey player come on). A Toews blocked shot led to Bolland’s game tying goal and then “Big Poppa” (Byfuglien) came through with another clutch goal as he parked his wide-bodied frame in front of Evgeni Nabokov to put the Hawks up for good. Just another jaw dropping game from the most talented team in the league that knows how to use their talents to their advantages instead of playing lackluster in big games and expecting to turn in on whenever (ahem Geno Malkin, Alex Semin and Milan Lucic).

The end result was an amazing scene in the United Center; fans going crazy in anticipation of ending a 50 year Cup drought, with Stan Mikita in attendance funny enough. A young Captain refusing to touch the Clarence Campbell trophy because of the bigger prize that waits in the wings. Rocky Wirtz jumping around like a kid in a candy store as the final horn sounded. A far different scene from what the town has been used to for the years leading up to yesterday. No more Eric Daze disappointments, no cutting corners, no selling out the fans, just sellout crowds and a large sea of red jerseys with that infamous Indian chief on the front and a range of names from Kane to Toews to Keith on back. Just like it should’ve always been in a hockey crazed town, hockey is back in Chicago and its return has been welcomed arms, open hearts and Champion starved fans. Even Bill Wirtz has to smiling at this scene.

Toews And The Blackhawks Keep Their Cool

For all of the attention that Patrick Kane receives in Chicago, and rightfully so, don’t forget that other young guy that just so happens to the captain of the Blackhawks and is an offensive threat as well. That being Olympic gold medalist Jonathan Toews.

Jonny Toews lead the Hawks over an overly aggressive Canucks squad.

Toews put on a show last night in Vancouver as the Blackhawks ran the Canucks out of their own building 7-4 behind Toews hat trick and two assists. All three of his goals came on a power play that went 4 of 8 last night and lambasted Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo all night long.

“The power play had a heck of a night,” said Blackhawks winger Patrick Sharp, who chipped in with a goal and three assists last night. The power play was effective due to the lack of discipline on the part of Vancouver as they were whistled for seemingly infantile penalties such as Daniel Sedin cracking his stick across Kris Versteeg’s leg, Alex Burrows cross-checking Dustin Byfuglien in the neck during a scrum and Shane O’ Brien going to the penalty box for cross-checking Byfuglien in the first period, twice.

“We didn’t react well to what was going on and they made us pay for it,” Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said. “I really believe that this group is ready for this moment, but obviously our actions right now are proving me wrong.” It also doesn’t help that the Blackhawks are taking advantage of every opportunity that the Canucks are giving them. The Hawks are 7 of 24 on the power in the series and have dismantled Luongo who was facing questions about his leadership and production long before the postseason began. Now with their playoff lives hanging by a thread, the talk has been raised again.

“He’s the second-best goaltender on the ice,” Vigneault said after the Blackhawks scored 6 goals on 33 shots against Luongo in game four. They’ve scored thirteen goals in the two games at General Motors Place. Meanwhile his counterpart Antti Niemi has been better since his game one meltdown only allowing 8 goals in the last 3 contests and finally bringing some stability to a goaltending situation that was becoming dire in Chicago.

Yet the man in the spotlight tonight was Toews who at times seems like a forgotten man on a team that had six 20-goal scorers this year and Toews 25 seemed pretty pedestrian. Yet Toews doesn’t laud for attention that he should rightfully receive. He’s not really an outgoing guy like Kane and is way more reserved. Hence the reason the Blackhawks decided to give him the captains “C” at the age of 20. His poise has rubbed off on his teammates and it showed last night as they held their composure while Vancouver crumbled around them.

Toews production has also increased throughout the series as he has taken advantage of a lackluster Luongo and has 10 points in 4 games and now leads the NHL in postseason scoring with 18 points. Not bad for a guy that finished third on the team in scoring in the regular season behind Kane and defenseman Duncan Keith.

Now Toews and the team’s collective cool heads have put the Canucks on the brink of elimination and have the Blackhawks one step closer to achieving a goal that every analyst in the NHL has had the pegged for since the beginning of the season, that being the Stanley Cup. “It’s nice to get up in the series, but it’s far from over,” Toews said. “We’ll be happy when it’s over.” If the Toews and the Blackhawks play like they’ve played in the last two games than it should be over on Sunday Night