Stanley Cup Finals

         The Stanley Cup Finals are here and after two short series that still managed to provide some excitement we are left with the #2 seeded Chicago Blackhawks and the #7 seeded Philadelphia Flyers. There are many stories that can be talked about with the way these two made it to the finals and I will look into the basics then break down the teams.

The Chicago Blackhawks
       The Hawks really got going last season with Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews developing into to huge stars in the league. Chicago went to the Western Conference finals last season but ultimately fell to the more experienced Detroit Redwings. Like the Flyers, the Hawks were a preseason pick by many to bust through to the finals this year. This team was considered one of the worst in the league a few years back and has made a huge turn around by revamping this team with young talent. Jonathan Toews is only 21 years of age and he captains this team even though through interviews he appears wise beyond his years. This team has one of the hottest lines in the playoffs made up of Toews, Kane and Dustin Byfuglien. Byfuglien was playing defense at the start of the playoffs and since being placed on a line with Kane and Toews he has done nothing but score big goals. He scored in all four games of the Conference Finals sweep of the San Jose Sharks including a couple of game winners. He will be a heavy task to deal with in front of the net as he stands at 6'5 and 257 lbs. The defense men for the Hawks is a talented group and includes one of the best shut down pair in the league with Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook. This skilled group also includes Brian Campbell, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Brent Sopel. The Hawks have a lot of momentum and celebrities on their side along with a city amped with excitement.

The Philadelphia Flyers
      The story of the Flyers has been well documented in how they fought through injuries after making it into the playoffs on the last game of the regular season in a shoot out against hated rivals the New York Rangers. At that point in time it looked as though the Flyers excitement would be short lived until they realized they would be playing the New Jersey Devils in the first round. Philadelphia had beaten the Devils five times during the regular season this year and took care of them in only five playoff games. After Montreal upset the Capitals it meant the Flyers would play the Boston Bruins in the second round. This series did not begin well as stars Jeff Carter, Simon Gagne and Ian Laperriere would all be forced out of competition due to injury. G Brian Boucher struggled against the Bruins and the Flyers found themselves in a 3-0 hole. Simon Gagne would return for game 4 and bring the team a huge lift as he would score the winner in OT to propel the team to victory. It was also in this game that Boucher would too go down in what has been an injury plagued season for Philly men between the pipes. The hero from earlier in the season Michael Leighton was ready on the bench and helped the Flyers make history as they were the 4th team in pro sports to come back from a 0-3 deficit in a best of 7 series. Montreal was their opponent in the Eastern Conference Finals and it was there where Michael Leighton really made a name for himself. Leighton posted three shut out in the first four games of the series and the Flyers beat the Canadians in five games. Mike Richards showed all kinds of heart in the series clinching victory and sets up what should be a great race for the Conn Smyth trophy between the two young captains. The Flyers have also gotten healthy and now have Jeff Carter and Ian Laperriere back in the line-up just in time.

Match-up Breakdown
      There are many interesting match-ups in this series and how the coach's choose to deal with them will be heavily important. The main one being talked about is the line of Kane, Toews and Byfuglien and who on the Flyers defense will be left to deal with big Buff. The man that is assumed to be left with that task is Chris Pronger. Pronger was picked up by the Flyers to be a shut down defense man and help this team to the Stanley Cup Finals. He has done his job so far by logging a lot of minutes each game and is, I think, the best D man left in the playoffs. However Flyer coach Peter Laviolette could also put very capable D man Kimmo Timonen on big Dustin Byfuglien. Timonen is a 12 year veteran who has spent most of his career shutting down talented forwards despite being only 5'10 and 194 lbs. Timonen makes up for his lack of size with great positioning skills and an active poke check. Pronger and Timonen are not defensive partners so Laviolette will be able to maybe use both on Byfuglien instead of only one at different times.

      The top line of the Philadelphia Flyers includes captain Mike Richards, Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne. This highly skilled line of the Flyers will probably be forced to deal with Dave Bolland of the Chicago Blackhawks. Bolland is a great agitator and is very effective at getting at the other teams top lines and did a fantastic job against the Sedins' in the Vancouver series and followed it up quieting the powerful forwards of the San Jose Sharks. Bolland is also the teams best penalty killer and has even put in a few big goals to help the Hawks move on. Another veteran that will be used for defensive purposes is John Madden, who like Ian Laperriere of the Flyers, is the kind of player every championship team needs. They are the kind of players that lay it all on the line and will do anything to win.

Depth
      In order to make it to this point in the year you have to have scoring depth and both teams have just that. The Blackhawks get scoring from lines other than their top group with guys like Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp, Kris Verteeg and Andrew Ladd. The Hawks overpowered the Predators, Canucks and Sharks but the Flyers can also throw back four lines. Philadelphia has been getting scoring from Daniel Briere, Claude Grioux, Ville Leino and James Van Riemsdyk. The top lines will be important but possibly more important is the depth.

      The defensive depth is impressive as well for both teams. One of the best shut down pairs in the league is that of Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook. They did a great job in keeping the high octane offense of San Jose down. San Jose only scored 7 goals in the entire series against Chicago and Patrick Marleau scored 4 of them. Philadelphia has four D men that will have a large task in front of them as well. The pairs of Chris Pronger and Matt Carle along with Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn have been successful thus far in the playoffs and will see all kinds of time against the many offensive weapons that the Blackhawks have.  Pronger will no doubt continue to see large of amounts of ice time and his success in his job will be very important if Philly is to pull away with the Cup. 

       When people picked these two teams at the start of the season Antti Niemi and Michael Leighton were not the goalies that were in their minds. Both goalies before this season spent more time in the AHL then the NHL. Cristobal Huet was brought in to be the goalie for the long haul last season and the play of Niemi gave him the starting job and he has been wildly successful this year. In the four game sweep of the Sharks, Niemi had two games where he made 44 saves. On the other side Michael Leighton has spent a lot of his time in the NHL moving from team to team. Leighton was drafted by the Blackhawks in 1999 and since then has not been able to stay put. His journey may be over as he saved the Flyers season in December when down went both Ray Emery and Brian Boucher. The Flyers had been struggling and then in came Leighton off waivers and he went on a great run. He again came in to save the Flyers in the playoffs and since he has been in has been playing out of his mind. In the last series alone he had three shut outs in the first four games, the series only lasted five. 

     Both these goalies are red hot and are showing no signs of slowing down. In my opinion all the match-ups mean nothing compared to this one. This series will come down to which goalie makes less mistakes. Neither of them have been on a stage like this and one of them will have to falter, at least a little. This will be a long series with a lot of back and forth play. Many people have made the "easy pick" with the Blackhawks but I don't think it that simple. This series could easily go either way and it will depend on who shows up and who doesn't crack under the pressure. 


X Factors
      For the Chicago Blackhawks the X factor is Marian Hossa. He will be competing in his third straight finals with a third different team( He has yet to win). He looks like nothing more than bad luck at this point due to his lack of performance for at least what he could bring to the table. With all the great players the Redwings have, the role of Marian Hossa was uncertain. On this Blackhawks team he seemed to shine early when being put with Toews and Kane, but who wouldn't have. Now that he is one the second line if he is able to produce more in the playoffs then in years past, it could be the overwhelming factor that brings Chicago its first Stanley Cup since 1961. 

For the Philadelphia Flyers the X factor is Chris Pronger. The Philadelphia Flyers are the third team since 2006 that Pronger has taken to the finals. He brought the 8 seeded Edmonton Oilers to a game 7 in the finals against his current coach Peter Laviolette and the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes won that one but Pronger would play a pivotal role in winning the Stanley Cup with the Anaheim Ducks. Now at age 35 he is looking to continue what has been a stellar 14 year career with another chance at Stanley Cup glory. He is logging more minutes than any other player in the playoffs and whether or not he is able to do his job of shutting down key forwards against Chicago could determine the finals. 

Flyers in 7  

Conference Finals

               There are not many words that can describe what has happened in the Eastern Conference playoffs this year. Remarkable, improbable and incredibly entertaining come to mind. The Eastern Conference looked pitiful all season long except for a few choice teams at the top. None of the lower half teams looked anywhere near worthy of a playoff spot. Yet here we are at the Conference Finals with two teams left, the 7th seeded Philadelphia Flyers and the 8th seeded Montreal Canadians.

              Everywhere in American sports television it has been said how the fact that Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby are out of the playoffs is bad for hockey. Those people have no idea what they are talking about. For the true hockey fans this postseason has been filled with surprises and what more could you ask for? I for one am very happy not to see another rematch of Penguins vs Redwings in the finals for the third straight year. This excitement is much more the case in the Eastern Conference then the West and here is why. The paths taken by the two teams remaining in the East Finals is simply amazing. The Montreal Canadians as an 8 seed had the mighty task of facing the 1 seed Washington Capitals in the first round. I for one picked the Canadians to bail out after only 5 games and after being down 3-1 in the series I felt great about that pick. 3 games later the Capitals were left wondering what just happened as the Canadians were moving on to face another superstar and last year’s Stanley Cup Champions. Sidney Crosby and the Pens would face the same fate as in yet another game 7 the Canadians prevailed against all odds. This time I didn’t make the same mistake as I chose the Canadians in 7. (They really helped me look good on that one).

         The Philadelphia Flyers were a team that had a roller coaster ride of a season after being many people’s preseason pick to make it out of the East. Injuries would be their downfall for much of the season as they struggled to even make the playoffs. Ray Emery was the starting goalie at the beginning of the season but he would be forced out due to hip surgery. Brian Boucher would be his replacement and it was quickly realized that someone else would have to come in. When Boucher too would go down to a fluke injury in came journeyman Michael Leighton. Leighton was brought in to be a part time solution until the others healed, yet with him in net the team began to win. There was once again hope in Philadelphia. Although near the late push for the playoffs, Leighton too would find himself on the list of injured goalies in Philly. By this time Boucher was back and would have to keep the team a float. The Flyers were the last team to make the playoffs as they beat their bitter rivals the New York Rangers in a dramatic shoot out. They would then handle the New Jersey Devils in only 5 games in the first round of the playoffs. In round two the Flyers met another rival in the Boston Bruins. Boucher struggled as the Flyers went down 3-0 to start the series. Then came some good news as Simone Gagne would return to the line-up just in time to help the Flyers pull off a Game 4 OT win to stay alive. Then once again came the injury news as Boucher would indeed go down with yet another injury. This would happen in the same game Leighton was activated to back up Boucher as he became healthy. Leighton and the rest of the Flyers then went on a tear as they became the 3rd team in NHL history to erase a 3-0 deficit to win a series. They also came back from a 3-0 lead in Game 7 in dramatic fashion.

                So here we are the 7 and 8 seeded teams in the East defying all odds to make it to the Conference Finals and a chance to play for the Stanley Cup. The Canadians now appear to be a team no one wants to pick against because of the play of G Jaroslav Halak. His play has already put him in the running for the Conn Smythe if the Canadians find their way to the Finals. Montreal has also benefited from the spectacular game of Mike Cammalleri, who is looking to set Canadian playoff records with his goal scoring. The Flyers now have home ice as a 7 seed in the Conference Finals, something that has never happened in the history of the NHL. The Canadians have been great on the road so home ice should mean little in this series. Both teams needed 7 games to get to this point in their last series and the Canadians have played more than anyone thus far. Montreal has been deemed the team of destiny after their performance so far and look to make it to the Finals. However, the Flyers have been so impressive and haven’t lost since getting Gagne back and seem to have an abundance of confidence in Michael Leighton by the way they have played in front of him all year. Chris Pronger was added to this Philly team to do one thing and that is take this team through the playoffs and he is doing just that. It would appear to be foolish to pick against the Canadians if this series goes seven games. Which is exactly why the Flyers must take care of business before then and I think they will.


Flyers in 6.

The Western Conference Finals will again display the Chicago Blackhawks who exploded on to the scene last year with the emergence of young stars like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. They fought their way to the West Finals last year only to look very young and inexperienced against the mighty Detroit Redwings. This year they look like a team that has learned from their past mistakes and are ready to take the next step. Their opponent will be the San Jose Sharks. The last few seasons the Sharks have been seemingly unstoppable in the regular season and have finished with the best record in the West. Then would then go into playoffs only to exit soon after. Their recent collapses have made them an easy target for jokes around the league. I once again had little faith in the Sharks to win the cup this year because of those faults but did think that this year they would make it to at least this point.

            Chicago is full of youthful exuberance and the line of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Dustin Byfuglien was extremely strong in defeating the Vancouver Canucks for the second straight year in the Western Semi-finals. This team added depth and has gained experience over the last year and is looking to make a name for itself. Marian Hossa was added to this squad last offseason after making it to the finals the last two seasons with both the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Redwings. His playoffs experience will be quite valuable however in both those trips to the finals with those different teams, Hossa was on the losing end. The Blackhawks faced all kinds of criticism of their goaltending all season long and many said it was their only downfall. This was not a problem last year when Nikolai Khabibulin was between the pipes for the Hawks but they let him go for G Cristobal Huet. Huet was later replaced by newcomer G Antti Niemi, who has claimed the starting job for the Blackhawks run at the cup. They have great defense with the likes of Brian Campbell, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, and Kim Johnsson who should cause problems for the San Jose offense.

            The San Jose Sharks started the playoffs against the 8^th seeded Colorado Avalanche and survived a scare of last year’s fate. They would come up big though against the Detroit Redwings as they handled them easily in 5 games. The poor play of G Jimmy Howard for Detroit had much to do with that. The Sharks won a few close games with some great play from Joe Pavelski and also their big dogs in Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley , and Patrick Marleau. Nabokov still looks a bit shaky in net for the Sharks and hasn’t really looked great since his collapse at the Olympics that sent Russia home early. How will he play this series?

            The Chicago Blackhawks have a lot of speed that was too much to handle for Nashville and Vancouver but San Jose can match it. Both goalies don’t look particularly strong and are neither teams anchor. This series may be a high scoring affair if both teams get going offensively. Both these teams have a lot of star power as they should being 1 and 2 seeds in the powerful Western Conference.  This one will come down to which teams stars show up and which goalie is able to steal a game or two for their team. It is so difficult to choose the San Jose Sharks one year after getting bounced from the first round by an 8 seed. The Sharks finally are living up to their potential as they are in the Conference finals but the Blackhawks were here just last year and are looking for a better showing. The Blackhawks are probably many people’s pick in this one and I’m no different.

Blackhawks in 6

           

Conference Semi-Finals

What a first round it was for the Eastern Conference that finds itself much different looking then many anticipated at this point. The Eastern Conference looked to be all about the top 4 teams as the bottom 4 limped into the playoffs on the last few days of the season. The way the bottom half of the East was playing this year had many calling for the top 16 teams to be in the playoffs as opposed to the top 8 from each conference. After the first round finished the Eastern Conference said goodbye to seeds 1,2 and 3 as Washington, New Jersey, and Buffalo were all eliminated by Montreal, Philadelphia, and Boston. The only team that moved on that was expected to was the Pittsburgh Penguins as they defeated the Ottawa Senators in 6 games. Philadelphia, the last team to make it into the playoffs, disarmed the 2 seed New Jersey Devils in only 5 games and were the first team into the second round. The Boston Bruins took care of the Buffalo Sabers quite easily and the Montreal Canadians took care of the top team in the Washington Capitals in 7. All of that leaves us with is Pittsburgh, Boston, Philadelphia and Montreal.

1. 4  Pittsburgh Penguins vs 8 Montreal Canadians
The Pittsburgh Penguins are coming off back to back seasons making it to the Stanley Cup Finals while the Montreal Canadians are running on fumes after just taking out the team everyone felt would be not stopped in the East, the Washington Capitals. The Penguins are basically the same team as last year and are not looking to surprise anyone. They won their title last year and are looking to repeat. Sidney Crosby had another great season as he is once again a contender for the Hart Trophy. Evgeni Malkin was less impressive this year as was the play of Marc-Andre Fleury. This team will need both of them to step up and be solid if they are seriously looking at repeating. Montreal is a team I didn't think I would be talking about still but here they are. Down 3-1 to Washington, the Montreal Canadians shocked everyone when they won three straight to take down the President's Trophy winners. The main reason for the upset was the tremendous play of G Jaroslav Halak. Halak allowed only 3 goals against in the final 3 games of the series on 134 shots. Just incredible numbers for a goalie who was not considered the number 1 throughout the entire season. Montreal has exactly what it needs to surprise not only Washington but Pittsburgh as well and that is a hot goalie and a team that believes. The Penguins are not going out easy and will make this quite the series. Being safe will get you know where though and sometimes you have to branch out and go with the unexpected. Will beats skill, every time.

Montreal in 7

2. 6 Boston Bruins vs 7 Philadelphia Flyers
 The Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers were teams that at the beginning of the season were picked to fight for the top spot in the conference. Tim Thomas finished last season with the Vezina as the best goalie in the league and the Flyers traded for Chris Pronger and signed G Ray Emery. They were eventually the pre-season pick for the annual Winter Classic, then the season started. Neither team started the season the way anyone thought they would. Tim Thomas was not the same from the year before and the team missed the scoring from Phil Kessel after he was traded to Toronto. Although at this point it looks like Boston won in that trade as they will be receiving next years 2nd overall pick in the draft. Tukka Rask took over for Tim Thomas and is looking incredibly strong. Philadelphia then started out the season playing well and looking strong, then injuries set in and the poor play began. The play of Ray Emery was not too impressive but the drop off was noticeable 
when Brian Boucher came in when Emery needed hip surgery. Micheal Leighton was eventually brought in off waviers as a short time solution. Unexpectedly, Leighton came in and was sensational and even matched Emery in total season wins in less games played.All seemed to be right again in Philly until down went Leighton and back in came Boucher. Boucher has struggled mightily at times but he was able to play well enough to help the Flyers fight into the playoffs on the last day of the season. Players that need to step up include David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron, Marc Savard and Milan Lucic for Boston. For Philadelphia it's Daniel Briere, Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell and James Van Riemsdyk. Injuries are key in this series as the Bruins are without Marco Sturm and are just welcoming back Marc Savard who hasn't played since March 7. The Flyers lost Jeff Carter, Simon Gagne, Ian Laperriere and Michael Leighton. Gagne and Leighton have potential for a return but Carter and Laperriere look to be done for the year. This will be a gritty series with a lot of phyisicality. The Bruins were the lowest scoring team in the league this year and are where they are because of team defense. The Flyers will need Boucher to stand on his head and will look to leaders such as Mike Richards and Chris Pronger to carry them. Tukka Rask started a total of 5 games before this season but is looking great for Boston but will his lack of experience be an issue? Going on hart and belief...


Flyers in 7

The Western Conference playoffs could have had a new look to them had a few teams advanced to the second round but it was not to be. The Phoenix Coyotes took the Detroit Redwings to 7 games before going down and the Los Angeles Kings went 6 before losing to the Vancouver Canucks. Both the Kings and Coyotes spent the last 8 years watching the playoffs from home. The San Jose Sharks survived a quick scare from the Colorado Avalanche as they looked to not repeat last years fiasco of bowing out in the first round as the top seed. Then the Chicago Blackhawks took care of the Nashville Predators in 6 games, a series that showed some weaknesses for the eventual winners. This then left San Jose, Chicago, Vancouver and Detroit. 


1. 1. San Jose Sharks vs 5 Detroit Redwings
The San Jose Sharks are the top team once again in the West but this time they find themselves in the second round. The Detroit Redwings fought threw early injuries and the possibility of not making the playoffs to eventually sitting at the 5 seed. The Sharks had some early difficulties with the Colorado Avalanche and didn't get much scoring from the big names such as Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley and Patrick Marleau. Joe Pavelski, Devin Setoguchi and Ryan Clowe will all also need to chip in if San Jose is going to finally break over the hump. The Detroit Redwings must be an exhausted hockey team. This team has been to the finals the last two seasons and hasn't missed the playoffs since 1990. Think about the fact that they have played 2 months more hockey than every other team except for Pittsburgh the last two seasons. That's that much less rest for a team that is here and ready to do it again. They fought through the injuries and quickly became the team no one wanted to play. It took them 7 games to get through a Phoenix Coyotes team that was destined to prove the world wrong. They still have all the talent and all the experience with Niklas Lidstrom, Paval Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen and Brian Rafalski. The one thing they no longer have is complete confidence in their goaltender. As much a Detroit fans want to credit Jimmy Howard with the success at the end of the season, when that team got healthy is when they began to pick it up again. Both teams have the star power up front but I'm not psyched on either G Jimmy Howard or G Evgeni Nabakov. Detroit is a very strong team and will be for years but Jimmy Howard will be the reason for this seasons failures. In time he may be the answer but not quite yet.


San Jose in 6

2. 2. Chicago Blackhawks vs 3 Vancouver Canucks
The Chicago Blackhawks burst onto the playoff scene last year with the emergence of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. It looked good to have a big market like Chicago with a team primed to make so serious playoff noise. Experience caught up to them when they eventually met the Detroit Redwings in the Western Conference finals. Here they once again meet the Vancouver Canucks in the semis after beating them last year. The Blackhawks have a bit of a new look this year with the loss of G Nikolai Khabibulin and Martin Havlet and the addition of Marian Hossa. The Vancouver Canucks are a story that involves the same players as last season just playing better hockey. The Vancouver Canucks were led by the sensational play of Henrik Sedin who finished the regular season with 112 points. He and brother Daniel Sedin are very difficult to stop along with Alex Burrows, Ryan Kesler and Pavol Demitra. Don't forget about Mikael Samuelsson whom the Canucks got from Detroit, a player with a lot of talent and perfect for this team in the playoffs. The Blackhawks will be once again relying on great hockey from Kane and Toews along with Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa, Brian Campbell, Duncan Keith and John Madden. Chicago has the talent and should be able to win this series on paper. Vancouver does have one advantage that may be a big one, Roberto Luongo. Roberto Luongo is the captain of the Canucks and will look to lead them in this series but will he be able to stop all of the Blackhawks weapons? Antti Niemi has looked shaky and this may mean we could see Cristobal Huet in the lineup at some point. Will the loss of Khabibulin and Havelt for Marian Hossa be the answer for the Blackhawks? Or will it prove to be the wrong move?


Chicago in 6

Playoff Breakdown: Western Conference

Let's take a look now at the teams from the Western Conference and how the first round should play out.

Western Conference 
1. San Jose Sharks vs 8. Colorado Avalanche 
If there is one team out of the 16 that will most likely not win the Stanley Cup this year it's the Colorado Avalanche. The Avalanche's play at the end of the season was extremely poor compared to how they started the season. They barely made the playoffs and their young new comer Peter Mueller, who has scored 20 points in 15 games, is out indefinitely. Having said that if there is one team that should not overlook an 8 seed it's the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks once again won the Western Conference during the regular season and did so with tremendous talent. Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Dany Heatley, Dan Boyle, Joe Pavelski, Ryan Clowe, and Rob Blake make for quite the roster but will it take them anywhere in the playoffs? Last year is a close memory of being the top point team in the league and leaving after the first round. Evgeni Nabakov has been a strong goalie for the sharks for a number of years during the regular season but has never been successful in the playoffs. Will he be able to lead this team beyond the second round? Maybe. But for now they will be ok. The Sharks will move on in this series but just because of their past I don't want to give them too much credit. 

Sharks in 6

2. Chicago Blackhawks vs 7. Nashville Predators
The Chicago Blackhawks were on many people's pre-season radar to fight for the Stanley Cup. The Blackhawks followed up the praise with a tremendous season including a division title and a second place finish just behind the Sharks. The Hawks have a great young core group that should keep this team a threat for a long time. Young stars like Patrick Kane (89 points) and Captain Jonathan Toews, (68 Points) D-man Duncan Keith (69 points) and don't forget about Marian Hossa and all of his recent playoff experience. The Nashville Predators are that little team that could. They keep on trucking despite their fluctuating roster. Barry Trotz does a good job getting this team into the playoffs or at least fighting for one at the end of the year. They have every year been unsuccessful in the playoffs but this has been a great regular season for the Preds. The Predators will fight and they will claw to do as well as they can but will likely fall short to a Hawks team looking to prove they can take the west. The Hawks only question all year has been who will start in goal and at this point that is still unknown. They will possibly look to continue to rotate Cristobal Huet and Antti Niemi. 

Blackhawks in 5

3. Vancouver Canucks vs Los Angeles Kings
The Vancouver Canucks were led all season by the play of Henrik Sedin and his league-leading 112 points. He has been extremely consistent and has been a rock this year. The team values the play of Captain Roberto Luongo, however I consider him to be a very beatable goalie and we will see what he brings to the playoffs. The team also gained help from Henrik's brother Daniel and 35 goals from Alex Burrows. Vancouver was a difficult team to play against this year and look better then they have in some time. The Los Angeles Kings have had a remarkable season for recent standards and even competed for the top spot in the Conference at one point this year. Ryan Smyth and Anze Kopitar were huge at the beginning of the season and later fell off a bit. Kopitar's furious start looked to take the Kings to the top but when he slowed down so did they. The Kings have benefited from the rise of G Jonathan Quick who manned a 72 game season. Los Angeles has been consistent since their fast start and are back in the playoffs for the first time in 8 years. The young defensive talent of Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson has been monumental for this team along with the leadership on young American  Captain Dustin Brown. This will be a hard fought series with home ice advantage being very good to the Canucks. I think this LA team is on the rise but their youth will catch up with them. 

Canucks in 6


4. Phoenix Coyotes vs Detroit Redwings
The Phoenix Coyotes have had an incredibly improbable season and have finished 4th in the Western Conference. The Coyotes have a better record then the third place Vancouver but the Canucks are division winners. The Coyotes are a well mixed group of veterans and youngsters that is the quintessential team. This is a team with no 60 point player on it that late in the season was fighting for top spot in the conference. The Coyotes won 9 straight after the trade deadline picking up several key players including Lee Stempniak and Wojtek Wolski. Ilya Bryzgalov has had a Vezina caliber season and the Coyotes are ready for their first playoff appearance in 8 years. The Detroit Redwings went through early woes as injuries plagued this team to the point where late in the season people were questioning whether or not they would make the playoffs. Chris Osgood has fallen off significantly but the play of Jimmy Howard has kept the team afloat. Many big time analysts say Jimmy Howard is the main reason for the Redwings righting the ship in late in the season but I for one disagree. This is a team that has been to the last two Stanley Cup finals the last two years and has an abundance of talent. To say a rookie goalie is the one to thank for the team having the best record since the Olympic break is unlikely. Detroit got healthy and back came Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, Tomas Holmstrom, and Niklas Kronwall. This team is loaded with talent and playoff experience much more than this current Coyotes team has. Everyone said this was the year the Coyotes would move past the first round. People also said no one wants to play the Redwings in the first round. Something's gotta give. This for me would be a dream Conference finals series but it is a first round match-up. The teams tied the season series two a-piece and both are looking their best. The Coyotes won a lot of games by the shoot-out and in the playoffs there is no shoot-out but they found ridiculous ways to win in several circumstances. This will be an incredible series.

Coyotes in 7

Playoff Breakdown: Eastern Conference

  With the last games of the season over the playoff picture is clear and the East needed the final day to finish the current spots.

Eastern Conference
1. Washington Capitals vs 8. Montreal Canadians
The Washington Capitals' offensive statistics are staggering compared to any other team in the League let alone the Eastern Conference. Starting at the top with Alex Ovechkin, (50 goals 109 points) who should have little problem doing what he does best in this series. This high powered offense includes Nicklas Backstrom (33 goals 101 points), Alex Semin (40 goals 84 points) and D man Mike Green with (19 goals 76 points).  This team is built to score and they will, a lot. Although being in the bottom 1/3 of the league in penalty killing may catch up with them but as far as this series goes it won't matter. The Montreal Canadians lie in that area of teams that make up the bottom half of the Eastern Conference to make the playoffs. Teams that were in the top 8 in their conference but were not in the top 16 of the league and are lucky to still be playing. Brian Gionta, Tomas Plekanec and Mike Cammalleri make for decent play but not enough to compete. Scott Gomez was a recent acquisition that has been a clear disappointment in what it could mean for this team if he was playing what his contract is worth. 57 points in 78 games with 47 being assists is average and not worth his 8 mill a year. Don't forget that number one seeds do get up set in hockey but not this time. 

Washington in 5

2. New Jersey Devils vs 7. Philadelphia Flyers
The New Jersey Devils look pretty good going into the postseason and Brodeur with another 40+ win season. The Devils finished the season beating out the Penguins for the division title and taking the 2 seed from Buffalo. Then on the last game of the season the Flyers beat the New York Rangers to slide in to the 7th spot and are the last team in the playoffs. The Flyers could have very easily not been here and have some serious questions marks in net. Brian Boucher has done well lately but this is a team that has not been successful when Boucher is behind the pipes. But when you look at the season series the Flyers have taken 5 of 6 and look to be the one team the Devils didn't want to see. This is why the Flyers went to get Chris Pronger whom the team named team MVP at seasons end. He carried an 8 seed Edmonton Oilers team to game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals in 2006. Not saying that is likely with Boucher in net but it may get them through a rough long series.

Flyers in 7

3.Buffalo Sabers vs 6. Boston Bruins
The Buffalo Sabers have won behind the incredible play of Goalie Ryan Miller and find themselves with home ice advantage in the three spot. The Sabers are not much talked about but have a goalie that can carry a team far. Derek Roy quietly scored 69 points with Tim Connolly and Jason Pominville not far behind. Boston on the other hand won their way into the playoffs at the end of the season and are looking to not be an easy out. Scoring is spaced out on this Boston team much like Buffalo but have only two 50 point players. Boston will end up with two number one draft picks to come but misses scoring from Phil Kessel. Tim Thomas has not been the same since last season but the emergence of Tuukka Rask will have him with the start even with no prior playoff experience. This series may show some surprises later but Buffalo looks to be a bit stronger and sits where Boston maybe thought they would be at the start of the season.

Buffalo in 6

4.Pittsburgh Penguins vs 5. Ottawa Senators
The Pittsburgh Penguins have an abundance of talent lead by Captain and 51 goal scorer Sidney Crosby. The team is not quite where they thought they would be at this point but no one is over looking the two-time defending Eastern Conference champs. Fluery has been inconsistent but again come playoff time he has played more time in the last two years then anyone. Ottawa Senators will miss the play of Alexi Kovalev and it's difficult to know how Elliot will play in net. The Senators do have Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza both whom had good seasons but the only other notable player to have an impact on this series is Anton Volchenkov. The Pens are much more built for the playoffs then Ottawa and shouldn't have much of a problem with them.

Pittsburgh in 5

The Story of the Year

 

 

   Let me start out by saying I don't want to sound like a "homer" because I live in Arizona and have been a fan of the Coyotes since 1997 when they came to the desert from Winnipeg. They are also the main reason I got in to hockey and why it has shaped my life the way it has, but the Phoenix Coyotes are the story of the year as they march into the playoffs. The Coyotes currently sit at 4th place in the Western Conference after a loss on Tuesday Night to the 1st place Chicago Blackhawks. After Sunday night's shoot out victory in Dallas the Coyotes had won 9 straight games dating back to March 3rd at the trade deadline. Phoenix made key additions to their team and look to be very dangerous. One name that I had my eye on was Lee Stempniak due the fact that he has had previous success and that Phoenix got him for very little. He has since scored  9 goals and 2 assists in the 9 of the 10 games he has played in with the Coyotes and has been exciting to watch. All of the additions appear to definitely strengthen this team.

   During the 9 game winning streak the Coyotes have five shoot out victories including their last three. They have admitted to not playing their best hockey yet continue to find ways to win which is what the good teams do, especially at this time of the year. They have set numerous franchise records including wins in a season, wins for a single goaltender, overall points in a season, consecutive home wins, and then tied the most overall consecutive wins with 9 dating back to the 84-85 Winnipeg Jets. The Coyotes have done all of this and will most likely finish the season without a player scoring 30 goals or even 60 points. Many of the top level teams thought of as top contenders for the Cup have one or even two well known stars in the league while the Coyotes are playing great team hockey. The most notable name on the roster even being mentioned for an award at season's end is goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. Ilya has accumulated 39 wins and a league best 8 shut outs and has a save percentage of .921. He is one of two goalies reasonably considered for the Vezina (Best Goalie) and is in the top 5 for the Hart Trophy (MVP). He has been a rock for this team all season and makes the big saves when he has to. An award that will definetly be given out is that of the Jack Adams award for the Coach of the Year to Phoenix head coach Dave Tippett. Tippett was fired from the Dallas Stars last season after failing to reach the playoffs for the first time in the last 7 years that he coached them. He has brought in his great defensive style and the more the team kept winning the more they believed in him.

   The Phoenix Coyotes were expected to finish last in Western Conference according to ESPN's pre-season rankings and many others assumed a similar finish. Stemming from last summer the team is still looking for ownership and is currently owned by the NHL. Some teams cried foul about the teams deadline acquisitions, saying they would not have other wise had the money if they were not owned by the NHL. That is something we will never  know and can not just be assumed. This team was in ruins last summer after several years of the Gretzky experiment not paying off. I personally feel losing Gretzky as coach was less of a reason for the team's success compared to the addition of Dave Tippett. If they playoffs started today then the Coyotes would be set to play the Los Angeles Kings, a team the Coyotes are very familiar with and would be a great first round match-up. I feel that this is a win-able series for the Coyotes looking to win their first playoff series since moving from Winnipeg. This will be their first playoff appearance since 2002. Many of the players on the current roster have little to no playoff experience so only time will tell how they will finish this story book season. No one predicted this team would be here at this time of the year, so hopefully the surprises will continue in the post season.

A few thoughts...

                                            Image provided by the Chicago Tribune
    As the season winds down there are a few circumstances that should be looked at. The big topic right now is hitting and players getting hurt. After a great Game of the Week last Sunday where the Capitals erased a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Blackhawks in overtime without Ovechkin. The reason Ovechkin wasn't playing has been in the news much more than the fantastic comeback itself. Early in the first period Ovechkin pushed Brian Campbell a few feet from the boards causing him to fall forward and ram his shoulder. The severity of the hit appeared to be from the physical strength of Ovechkin and a slight loss of balance on the part of Campbell. The hit looked bad and Ovechkin was given a 5 min penalty and a game misconduct. Under no circumstances should the NHL hand out suspensions based on whether the player is injured or not but it's clear that if Campbell hopped back up right away a suspension would not have occurred. The news came shortly after the game that Campbell would possibly not return this season as he has a broken clavicle and a few broken ribs then yesterday the word from Colin Campbell, the league's disciplinarian, that Ovechkin would be suspended for 2 games.
 
   Colin Campbell is taking some heat for his decisions and this case is no different. Many players from around the league were interviewed after the game calling Alexander Ovechkin "reckless". However most agreed the injury was unintentional and that Alex is not a "dirty" player. He is known for going a 100 mph every game and going all out on every shift. This being the second time he was suspended this season and it was clearly a message being sent to the rest of the league that there will be no special treatment for superstar players. If he didn't suspend him then fans would assume it was only because of who he is, so Campbell was in a lose lose situation. One of the lingering questions is whether these suspensions will change the aggressive style of play that attracts people to Alexander Ovechkin. I personally hope not but also hope that players become more aware and make better decisions when checking others. This doesn't mean there has to be less hitting or full on play from the players its just a matter of being responsible. Brian Campbell mentioned that after the Olympics everyone was raving about hockey but now the Matt Cooke hit and then this is making parents stop and think before letting their kids play hockey. He was quoted saying "This has to stop".

   Right before the situation mentioned above was what I talked about in my last post, the situation involving Matt Cooke and Marc Savard. This story was thrown a new twist as since no one defended Marc Savard directly after the hit, there is expected to be premeditated fights in this Thursday's rematch between the teams. This situation could have been avoided if the Bruins went after Cooke at the time of the incident. Now there is talk of the Bruins going to Sidney Crosby in order to take out there star, an eye for and eye situation. With all the headaches of people talking down on hockey for the current injuries situation the last thing the league needs is another Todd Bertuzzi incident. In that instance Bertuzzi was retaliating for a hit by Steve Moore on then Captain Markus Naslund of the Vancouver Canucks. There was a lot of talk about retaliation before the game and then what happened during that game is something few will forget. This game between the Bruins and Penguins will most likely be filled with controversy but how out of hand will it get? The Bruins need a win right now more then payback if they want to be a part of the postseason.

 

Head Injuries

Pic provided by National Post

   Head injuries are becoming a much too common theme in today's NHL. Last night saw another instance of high hits to the head as Marc Savard of the Boston Bruins was carried off the ice on a stretcher after being blindsided by Matt Cooke of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The GM's of the National Hockey League are meeting to discuss what actions need to be taken to prevent such horrible instances in the future. Players need to be more aware of their body movements when making such hits. It is easy to say that they are moving quickly and sometimes the hits are unavoidable however, the hit on Savard was taking liberties at a player that could not protect himself.

   There have been an over abundance of hits to the head this season that have had devastating affects. The only thing to ask is where do you draw the line? In October Mike Richards nearly decapitated David Booth of the Florida Panthers but there was no suspension for the hit. The hit was within the league rules as a shoulder to the head. David Booth was admiring his pass as he crossed the center of the offensive zone when Richards caught him. This example seems to be more often then not what is happening in most cases, where as with Savard he was shooting the puck with his head out in front and Matt Cooke chose to take advantage. I think when the league goes to look at plays like this there may be gray area. Everyone seems to be saying that there must be a clear cut rule to prevent any future instances like this but that would mean taking out shoulder to head hits. The league does the best it can for policing hits to the head with anything else like elbows but at the end of the day it comes down to the players. The players have to make the decision of possibly letting up when others are in a vulnerable position as opposed to ending their season or possibly career. This doesn't have to mean taking hitting out of the game, it is just a matter of safety for your fellow players. Here is the clip of Matt Cooke's hit on Marc Savard, you decide for yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_F7LEZ78_o

  Another issue is the hard glass that surrounds the boards. Hitting the boards is becoming a dangerous issue for players now as the heavy glass that is made to be perfect to see through for the fans and is causing head injuries as well. Players have been taking seemingly innocent hits against the boards and seriously hurting themselves as their heads bounce off the glass. I was watching the Coyotes game in February just before the Olympic break and witnessed Petr Prucha get taken off on a stretcher due to a hit from James Neal of the Dallas Stars. Neal was not suspended for the hit. Here is a clip of that play as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZzEOVZcz-s 

NHL Game of the Week

The NHL has a contract with NBC that shows a "Game of the Week" on Sundays. The NHL knows this is its only time to premiere its best players to hopefully new fans nationwide. That is why every week it is a match-up of the same few teams as they involve the young superstars that shape the league. The Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers, Detroit Redwings and Chicago Blackhawks are the usual teams seen on Sundays. All but the Capitals have been in a Winter Classic by the way. Yesterday's game included the Detroit Redwings and the Chicago Blackhawks. The game was great, it had 9 goals and a comeback attempt by Chicago but ultimately ended with a 5-4 Detroit win. It is understandable why they chose these games as they are all rivals and involve such great players that the league is trying to market. It is a good start however, there are many other great players and teams out there that are not being showcased anywhere other then their home states. As a huge hockey fan obviously this is disappointing to only see a few teams as NBC and Versus are the only channels showing hockey. Versus is a channel that most sports fans don't have and will not purchase to see a sport they are just thinking about getting interested in. When the NHL's contract with NBC and Versus ends they need to go back to where they were before the lockout, ESPN. When the NHL was on ESPN they were not the biggest sport obviously but there wasn't talk about being behind NASCAR and college sports. After a great Olympics where the gold medal game was seen by 27 million Americans, an extremely large number for hockey, it was expected that the NHL would take advantage of the press and start moving in the right direction. With Gary Bettman in charge making all kinds of claims about how the NHL may not be in the 2014 Olympics just shows how much help is needed. What the NHL needs is a new Commissioner that is committed to improvements and a new contract with ESPN so that they will once again be a watched sport in America.

Trade Deadline

The trade deadline is finally over and there is a lot to look at.  Not a lot of big names moved as many of those happened before the Olympic break. Names like Kovalchuk to New Jersey and Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Dion Phanuef to Toronto. A lot of things that we knew were coming did and then some that were expected that didn't. This wasn't the craziest trade deadline day but significant changes were made and there were definite winners and losers today.

Noteworthy trades
The Phoenix Coyotes were rumored to possibly be looking to dump Peter Mueller and add some offense to their line-up. By the end of the deadline the Coyotes ended up making several moves. Most worth mentioning was that of sending Peter Mueller and Kevin Porter to Colorado for Wojtek Wolski. This is a great move for Phoenix considering the disappointing play of Mueller this season while the team is excelling. Both Wolski and Mueller are looking for new starts in their new homes. The deal that was done shortly before this one was that which brought back defenseman Derek Morris from Boston. Morris was with the Coyotes from 03-09 and was well respected in the Coyotes locker room. Also on defense for a young team going to the playoffs, the Coyotes brought in Mathieu Schneider. He may help on a power play that is ranked 29th in the league or he may not find his way on the team at all. The Coyotes were very busy today as the also added Lee Stempniak, Alexandre Picard, and Petteri Nokelainen.

The Washington Capitals added some depth as well to what is expected to be a long playoff run. The Caps high octane offense needs no help so they added D men Joe Corvo and Milan Jurcina. Jurcina was previously with the club and I'm sure is happy to be back as the Caps are a top the league standings while Columbus is struggling mightily. Washington also added F Scott Walker and F Eric Belanger for 3rd line depth purposes and to help their penalty kill.

The Anaheim Ducks are looking to make a push for a playoff spot and may have helped themselves by adding Lubomir Visnovsky for Ryan Whitney and later Aaron Ward.  Vesa Toskala didn't last long as the back up as he leaves for Calgary in exchange G Curtis McElhinney. G Joey MacDonald was added as well.

The LA Kings had talk of taking F Ray Whitney and before that Ilya Kovalchuk. Instead they have brought on F Fredrik Modin and F Jeff Halpern. Not nearly the same amount of power but still improvements for a good team.

The Pittsburgh Penguins added Jordon Leopold and Alexei Ponikarovsky to their line-up making them again dangerous, especially in the East. Ponikarovsky has yet to play for the Pens as he has issues with his visa for playing in the United States. This problem should soon be resolved and the Pens will be a force in the Eastern Conference yet again come playoff time as they are looking to repeat as champions.

The Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs did their big trades prior to the Olympic break. As I mentioned earlier Toronto brought on Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Dion Phanuef. The Flames recieved Ian White, Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman and Jamal Mayers from Toronto while the Leafs also got Fredrik Sjostrom and Keith Aulie in addition to Phanuef. In order to bring on Giguere the Leafs also traded with Anaheim by giving up Jason Blake and Vesa Toskala. The Flames started the season well but were going through a rough patch and decided to go through with the big change. They also traded away  Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust for Christopher Higgins and Ales Kotalik of the New York Rangers, who don't appear to be any better or worse. It is too early to tell if the Flames made the right choice but GM Brian Burke and the Maple Leafs are clearly looking to make a lot of changes and adding Phanuef and Giguere is a great start. As for the Ducks Jason Blake is a nice addition and they have already traded away G Vesa Toskala for Curtis McElhinney.

There was a long debate on where Ilya Kovalchuk would go after turning down a $101 million deal over 12 years from Atlanta. The Kings seemed like a good fit as they would be able to possibly give him an extention and not make him simply a rental player. I personally enjoyed hearing the possibility of this as I live in Phoenix and would get to see him quite often. This deal never happened because The New Jersey Devils came in an gave the Atlanta Thrashers enough to make them give up their superstar. Although to others looking in it doesn't appear the Devils gave up that much. In the deal the Devils traded youngster Niclas Bergfors, D man Johnny Oduya, the young captain of the world junior Canadian team Patrice Cormier and a 2010 first-round pick. This deal has seemed to make the Thrashers play more like a team while the Devils struggled out of the gate. I'm still unsure whether this deal will pay dividends for the Devils this season. They will try and re-sign him after the season but that may be unlikely, so this is probably a rental situation and the Devils are going for it all this postseason.

The Chicago Blackhawks were very quiet this trade deadline however they have close to the best record in the league and shouldn't need to change much. The only question mark is whether the combo of Cristobal Huet and Antti Niemi is good enough to take the Hawks to the Cup. All the experts were sure the Hawks would at least attempt to make some move at the goaltender position but they didn't and we will see how that works out for them. The one move they did make was trading young defenseman Cam Barker for some experience on D in Kim Johnsson from the Minnesota Wild.


The Ottawa Senators made a couple trades that seem minor but should ensure them a playoff spot. They picked up Matt Cullen and Andy Sutton which in the East are actually good acquisitions. The Eastern Conference is close right now and some poor teams will make the playoffs. The Senators were considered a bad team to start the year but have played well as of late and have the talent to maybe upset in the early rounds but shouldn't go deep in the playoffs.

Winners
The Phoenix Coyotes for the first time were buyers at the deadline and they may have made significant progress in becoming one of the elite teams in the West. (at least for now)The Coyotes have added some scoring and solidified their defense and hope to surprise some people in this years playoffs.

The Washington Capitals made moves that should make them a legitimate contender for the Stanley Cup. I'm sure they were already considered a contender but these moves at least let people know they are leaving it all on the line this year.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have added defense which come playoff time should be very beneficial. The Pens are looking to repeat and have a some what better team than last year and in the East could maybe at least still get to the finals.

It would be hard to say that the New Jersey Devils hurt themselves in any way by adding the likes of prominent 50 goal scorer Ilya Kovalchuk. Kovalchuk has done little lately but it will be interesting to see what happens with him and this team come playoff time.

Losers
There were teams that were expected to make specific moves and chose not to and were considered losers on this day as they did not improve their teams in anyway.

The Philadelphia Flyers lost 1st string goalie Ray Emery for the season and were looked at to make a significant move. With many goalies available the Flyers chose not to make any moves and chose to stick with Michael Leighton as the starter, who has been on waivers 3 or 4 times in his career and that is exactly where the Flyers got him. He replaced Brian Boucher as the back-up with his play and has become the starter. The Flyers will have to look to Leighton in the playoffs even though he has never started a postseason game due to their lack of activity during the trade time period. This move or lack their of may not hurt the Flyers but only time will tell how Leighton will payoff for a team that has been searching for a franchise goalie since Ron Hextall retired.

The Edmonton Oilers have many players on their roster with large contracts that are not paying off and could have been dealt, most notably Sheldon Souray. The Oilers are last in the league but mainly due to injuries however, they could have eased the pain by unloading some money and chose not too. They did unload Visnovsky and will also probably take the number one overall pick in the upcoming draft. 


The Boston Bruins were also expected to make a move for a scorer and chose to stick with their current squad except chose to add defenseman Dennis Seidenberg. A need seemingly not necessary by the fans.

Several other moves were made as it was a busy trade deadline day however, none to important. If I didn't mention the moves made by other teams that is because the team did not improve or decrease they instead stayed the same and will probably not affect the overall standings in many ways. 

Power Rankings. Caps at #1

Now that the Olympics are over the participants have returned to their respective teams and it's time to go back and look at where the teams stand going into the final stretch.

 Washington Capitals-The Caps won 14 games in a row looking to tie the most ever with 17 before the Olympic break. However they instead lost 3 straight, but an angry Alex Ovechkin can get this team going again. 

Chicago Blackhawks-  Kim Johnsson is a nice veteran pick-up for a very young team looking to go far in this year's playoffs. However is Cristobal Huet going to cut it in net for a long playoff run?

San Jose Sharks- The Sharks clearly have the talent to win it all with 4 players playing together on a line for Gold Medal winning team Canada, but is Nabokov going to be able to shake a poor Olympic showing?

Los Angles Kings- The Kings are 8-1-1 in their last 10 and may be looking to add the likes of Ray Whitney to their squad. 

Phoenix Coyotes- The Coyotes have been incredible this season and sit 4th in the overall standings. They may be looking to be buyers for the first time in a while at the trade deadline and will be aiming to add some scoring while Upshall is out. 

Vancouver Canucks- Vancouver has been impressive and now has a confident Roberto Luongo rejoining the team after winning a gold medal. Only issue may be the 6 game road trip to start after the 2 week break.

New Jersey Devils- New Jersey picked up Ilya Kovalchuk to try and separate themselves from the others in the Eastern Conference. Kovalchuk has only scored one goal as a Devil and the team has gone 3-5-2 in their last 10. We will see if the break helped this team at all. 

Pittsburgh Penguins- Sidney Crosby brings his swagger that will come with scoring the overtime game-winning goal for the Gold Medal in the Olympics. The Pens also just picked up Jordan Leopold from the Panthers for a draft pick.

Colorado Avalanche- These youngsters are rolling and are are not looking to stop anytime soon. 

Buffalo Sabers- Ryan Miller was amazing in Vancouver, leaving with a silver medal and MVP honors. He looked dejected at first after the gold medal game was over been then looked very impressive for how well he was taking in the experience of what just happened during the closing ceremonies. 

Ottawa Senators- Ottawa started horribly this season but are 8-2-0 in their last 10 and can do some damage in the East for a solid playoff spot. 

Nashville Predators- The Preds have been solid this year with consistent play from various players and they continue to just swap goalies over the last few years and still win some games. This team gave Detroit a scare in the playoffs a bit ago then Jason Arnott went down with a concussion as did the teams hopes of winning that series. 

Detroit Redwings- The Wings are barely in the playoff picture but that should surely change as they become healthy. 

Philadelphia Flyers- The Flyers would be no where without Micheal Leighton who may see some playoff time if Emery can't stay healthy. Philly is 6-4 in their last 10 including winning 4 straight to go into the break.

Calgary Flames- Jarome Iginla was hitting his stride before the break and continued it in Vancouver with his gold medal while Kiprusoff comes home with a bronze. 

Dallas Stars- Everyone thought Marty Turco was out the door in Dallas and yet he has been impressive and Auld was the one moving on. 

Anaheim Ducks- The Ducks looked dead in the water at the beginning of the season but now with Jonas Hiller playing confident hockey, the Ducks are back in playoff contention. Look out if they once again find themselves as an 8 seed. 

Boston Bruins- The Bruins have won 4 in a row but are the lowest scoring team in the league. This team has battled injuries to Lucic and Savard and need more consistent play from Tim Thomas.    

Minnesota Wild- Looking forward to watching Cam Barker with the Wild and his increase in time and hopefully productivity. 

St. Louis Blues- The Blues have some good young American talent in David Backes and T.J Oshie but they will be watching the playoffs from home. 

Montreal Canadians- Montreal is just bad considering their roster. 

Tampa Bay Lightning- See Montreal. 

New York Rangers- Oli Jokinen has been good but New York could still find themselves watching the playoffs. However I can see them getting in with other names like Marian Gaborik and Henrik Lundqvist. 

Atlanta Thrashers- They are now the Thrashers and no longer the Atlanta Kovalchuks. It will be interesting to see how this team plays together now. 

Carolina Hurricanes- Looking to be sellers at the deadline. 

Florida Panthers- Looking to make some changes and not sure what this team will look like. 

Columbus Bluejackets- Raffi Torres will likely be dealt soon and Steve Mason has been dreadful. 

New York Islanders-  Last season's worst team is not far from it this year. 

Toronto Maple Leafs-  Have made big changes getting Dion Phaneuf and J.S Giguere and GM Brian Burke will look to continue to revamp the Leafs.
 

Edmonton Oilers- The Oilers lost Ales Hemsky, Nikolai Khabibulin, Sheldon Souray, and Sam Gagner making them easily the worst team in hockey. They will be deciding who to take with the number 1 pick this year. In other news G Nikolai Khabibulin was arrested in Scottsdale for an extreme DUI.          

 

Canada Wins Gold, Heartbreak for USA

All the pressure on Canada to win at home in the final event of the Olympics and a surging undefeated USA team with upset on their minds. An amazing game that by far lives up to the hype that came with it. USA knew coming in that Canada would demand the play and puck possession and that their game would be more about weathering the storms and counter attacking. USA had already beaten Canada to secure their place in the quarterfinals and create a harder road for Canada. The Americans did just as Captain Jaime Langenbrunner said they would as they played well in their defensive zone and took the chances when they came. Canada would score first though as Mike Richards made a great play and gets the puck for Jonathan Toews who buried the puck from the side of the net. Canada would score again on a nice play from Ryan Getzlaf who threw the puck in front as it found its way to an open Corey Perry who puts it past the tournament MVP Ryan Miller. As the first period ended a slight altercation occurred when Jack Johnson, defense man for Team USA and the LA Kings, bumped Sidney Crosby cause him to fall. Players gathered and it was quickly broken up. This play seemed minor yet also showed that USA was very much awake and not ready to go down with out a fight.  USA would counter late in the second when Patrick Kane took a simple wrist shot towards the goal that was tipped by Ryan Kessler in front and it squeaked by Roberto Luongo. USA played well but none better then Ryan Miller who kept his team in it and confident. The third period was nothing but great hockey. Both teams had heavy surges through out making for an exhilarating 20 min. With the clock ticking down USA was putting on the pressure trying to tie the game and it was getting tense. USA would pull Ryan Miller to add an extra attacker and give everything they had. A shot from the point came in on Luongo who was unable to grasp the puck. So instead of a whistle USA pounced on the puck and continued to pressure the play. The puck found its way to Patrick Kane who took a shot from the slot. Somehow Zach Parise and Jaime Langenbrunner found themselves behind the Canadian defense and right on the doorstep in front of Roberto Luongo. The puck came free and Parise slammed in the rebound with 24 seconds to go. An incredible effort from team USA to tie the game and send it into overtime. The Canadian fans now filled with doubt, silent as could be after the goal. 4 on 4 overtime would commence, anyone could score to finish the game and instantly become a hero for their respective country. The overtime was tight with both teams getting scoring chances, more so for team Canada. Sidney Crosby and Jerome Iginla were playing well down low when Iginla found Crosby with some open space. Crosby turns and quickly fires the puck low through the pads of Ryan Miller. The Stadium erupts in excitement as Canada had indeed won gold in front of their home fans. The rest of team Canada would continue to jump on Crosby and celebrate as who other then the Pens captain and one of the ambassadors of today's NHL scored the winner. If you are not a fan of hockey and you saw this game and it doesn't make you want to watch the NHL then something is seriously wrong, for that was the greatest hockey game in some time. All the emotions and all of the talent on the ice made for one incredible spectacle. The Americans showed tremendous heart and determination and have shown how far hockey has come in the United States. I have never been prouder to be an American hockey player.