The Frozen Four

Well for everyone who has been following my blog my apologies for the lack of posting but I'm back in full swing now that were hitting the final four.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

VS

Lets start out in the battle of the west. The Dallas Stars and the Presidents Trophy winners the Detroit Red Wings. The last time these two teams met in the playoffs was back in 1998 in the Western Conference finals. The Wings took the series by a 4-2 margin and were the eventual Stanley Cup Champs. The Red Wings are coming in well rested and re-focused while the Stars may be feeling a little bit hungover and tired from their series against the San Jose Sharks. Many people had the Sharks penciled into the Stanley Cup finals but the best players for the Stars stepped up and proved they can play. This series will be a battle right from the get go and goaltending will be the biggest factor in this series. However, the Eastern Conference battle between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers will be no cake walk either. Both tenders played phenomenal in their respective series' and I think both conference finals will come down to which goaltender is playing at the top of their game.
Marty Turco has been playing spectacular throughout the playoffs and is an early candidate for the Conn Smythe. He was a big reason for the Stars series victory. Captain Brendan Morrow has also been on fire and that move to acquire Brad Richards looks genius right now. However, I think the Wings will show their true talent and experience in this series. The Wings are stacked with four good lines and their ability to role four lines may be a killer to the Stars. The best players have to be the best players and Henrik Zetterberg is my early candidate for the Conn Smythe. Although lets not forget the play of Chris Osgood who has had a tremendous season right from day 1 and is playing like he did back in the '98 playoffs. Turco is playing awesome as well but I think Osgood will be the answer for the Wings.
When all is said and done this series should be filled with end-to-end action with neither team giving an inch. My pick is the Red Wings in 5. At home the Wings are unstoppable, and Marty Turco is 0-7-2 in the Joe Lewis Arena. I think they'll be able to steal one in Dallas and wrap it up at home.
DETROIT IN 5.

BATTLE OF PENNSYLVANIA

VS

In the Eastern Conference Finals we see a surprsing match-up between the Penguins and Flyers. Many people had the Penguins penciled in to this series but not the Flyers. After a disasterous 2006-2007 season the Flyers made some off-season changes that paid-off drastically this season. The Penguins have one of the best core of young talented players in the league and their lack of playoff experience has not been a factor. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has showed why he was taken first overall in the 2003 draft. Flyers goalie Martin Biron has been now slouch in the playoffs either. He has kept his team in games they had no business being in and in my opinion was the only reason why Philly beat out Washington. The Flyers are big and tough hockey club but don't get me wrong they have players who can finesse but their bang and crash strategy has paid off thus far. The Pens powerplay is one of their biggest assets but the Flyers penalty kill is also one of their biggest assets. They shut down the top ranked powerplay of the season with ease but the question will be can they shut down the likes of Malkin, Crosby, Gonchar and Hossa? The Canadiens moved the puck well but looked for one man and one play only. The Alex Kovalev play. The Penguins are much more creative and should be able to out-smart the likes of the Flyers penalty killers. The Flyers are going to come out hitting and try to knock Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin off their games but they are going to need to keep their composure if the Pens hope to reach the Stanley Cup Finals. The Flyers gave the Pens a good series during the season so I'm thinking this one will go to seven. I like the Pens in this series, not because I don't like the Flyers but because I think they have a better all around hockey club and I think the Pens will out-coach the likes of John Stevens and the Flyers. But lets be realistic how can you cheer for a team that should never have gotten past the first round?
PENGUINS IN 7.

The Elite Eight

Round two of the playoffs kicks off tonight with Philadelphia visiting Montreal and Detroit is home to their bitter rivals the Colorado Avalanche. After an exciting first round I hope the rest of the playoffs can meet those standards.
Lets start with the Philly and Treal series. Montreal is a fast and talented hockey club that thrives on the powerplay. They have a smart defence core and with Carey Price in net they'll be a difficult team to beat. Although it took longer than they had hoped to dispose of the Bruins they showed the way the Canadiens can play by pounding Boston 5-0 in game seven. The Flyers are going to be riding some momentum after their game seven overtime victory. They also have some fast and talented forwards that take advantage of other team's mistakes. The team that wins is the team with the best goaltending. Martin Biron has been playing terrific and Carey Price showed the hockey world his tremendous composure in round one. Should make for end to end action with some big saves. The downfall of the Flyers is their undisciplined penalties and slow defence. I think the Canadiens will run all over their defence and expose their slowness. The physicality the Flyers bring to the game may be enough to throw the Canadiens off their game. I'm gonna take the underdog on this one. I like the style of play the Flyers have and I think Montreal is going to be feeling the aftermath of their seven game series with Boston.
Philadelphia in 6.
Now to one of the biggest rivalries in hockey history. Colorado vs Detroit.
Detroit found their stride after blowing a 2-0 series lead. With Chris Osgood playing like he did back in '98 the Wings are soaring high. This series should be action packed as well with lots of end to end action. Colorado has went back to the future with their line-up and there are still a few players on their roster that were involved in the big rivalry. Detroit also still has players who can remember playing in those games. Colorado is a young team with great veteran leadership. Jose Theodore looks to have found his form and Colorado found their scoring touch against a very tight defensive Minnesota club. It will be a battle of the goal scorers, but the real battle is going to be between the pipes. Detroit has more of a veteran line-up that knows how to score goals and knows how to win. Coach Mike Babcock will have to get his troops ready to play from the drop of the puck in this series. I think the Wings are just too skilled and experienced to be knocked off by the Avalanche. Home ice will be huge in this series.
Red Wings in 6.

For those who don't remember the bitter rivalry check out the video!

Too Little Too Late

Well the cinderella story of the season has come to an end. After a devastating and controversial loss to the Philadelphia Flyers the Washington Capitals have been eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs. Not only was Washington ripped off in game seven, the Flyers didn't even deserve to win the series. The tremendous play by the young stars of both Washington and Philadelphia made this series the most exciting series to watch. It had end-to-end action with great saves, big hits, and unreal snipes. This series was a true gongshow!
Now lets get talk about the travesties in game seven.
First of all, the officiating was brutual. Several missed icings and penalties. And let me just say how does Philly's second goal not get called goaltender interference. The Capitals were called for goaltender inference THREE times throughout the series; all of which were borderline calls and not one resulted in a goal. Patrick Thoresen of the the Flyers intentionally ran the Caps defender into Cristobal Huet. After replay you can see Thoresen drop his shoulder into Shaone Morrisonn Huet slides ten feet out of his net and then they score. After all the penalties they were calling throughout the playoffs how do you miss one like this in game seven! Not only should the goal have not been allowed, Thoresen should have received a penalty for goaltender interference. Veteran officials such as Don Koharski and Paul Devorski should know have the knowledge and experience to make this call. Instead they turn a blind eye. Speaking of blind eyes, apparently they all turned blind in the third period. There was not one call made from the six minute mark left in the second until that garbage call in overtime. Did they leave their whistles in the dressing room?
I don't mind if the referee puts it away and lets the teams play, which is what I saw happen in the third and even though there were penalties he let them go both ways. But how does one let all those calls go and then call a questionable tripping penalty in overtime of game seven. If you need another person's more professional opinion check out The Hockey News' writer Adam Proteau's blog.

The most valuable player of this series was indeed Cristobal Huet. Huet stood on his head throughout the series and made numerous amounts of big saves. He gave his team a chance to win each and every night and was a big reason the Caps were able to claw their way back into the series. Unfortunately for Huet, Milan Jurcina forgot to pick up his man out front and Joffrey Lupul burried the winner. A great way to win but a tough way to lose. The Flyers will now play the Montreal Canadiens in the second round. Unfortunately we won't be able to see the Ovechkin vs Crosby match-up many people hoped for but hey there's always next year right.

Second round predictions are next!

Dead Ducks

There is going to be a new Stanley Cup Champion this season! The defending champions, Anaheim Ducks have been eliminated by the powerful Dallas Stars. This was Dallas' first series victory in five years.
Right from the start of the season Anaheim had a target on their backs because after last years championship season the Ducks were said to be the first team since Detroit in '97 and '98 to have enough talent still there to be able to repeat as champions but Dallas had other plans. Many people had the defending champs beating Dallas almost handily because of Dallas' lack of veteran defence. Instead it seemed like Anaheim was the team that lacked the defence. Dallas took control of this series right from game one and never looked back. Taking the first two games in Anaheim came as a surprise to many, but anyone who watched those games could see Anaheim did not look into at all. The Stars made Anaheim look like sitting Ducks the entire series. Dallas out skated, out hit and out hustled their opponent. Goaltender Marty Turco was a big reason for the six game series victory. He gave his team a chance to win in each and every game. Turco had also taken the majority of the blame for early first round playoff exits in 2004, 2006 and 2007. This season he looked to be a goaltender on a mission. If Dallas continues they're superb play they will be a very tough team to beat four times. A fast and talented group of forwards mixed with great leadership in Mike Modano and Brendan Morrow as well as strong defensive play, good goaltending and the grittiness needed to out battle their opponents makes this team a true cup contender.
(Click Here to view highlights from game 6)

In other NHL playoff notes the Detroit Red Wings have disposed of the Nashville Predators and are waiting for their second round opponent. Depending on what happens in game seven between San Jose and Calgary the Wings could face-off against their bitter rivals from Colorado. For anyone who saw game six in Nashville yesterday afternoon, the Preds lost the series when Niklas Lidstrom launched a shot past goalie Dan Ellis from beyond the centre ice line. Shorthanded no less! Ellis came out to challenge at the top of his crease and the puck took one of the craziest bounces I have ever seen. The puck seemed to have went on edge when it landed and bounced top cheddar, ALMOST WATERBOTTLE! It seemed as though that goal took all the wind out of the Predators sails. Chris Osgood shut the door and Jiri Hudler added the insurance marker in the third and the rest is history. But with all do respect to Ellis he was the only reason the Preds even had a chance in this series. He couldn't have played better, personally I think he played above and beyond what everyone expected. The Preds gave the Wings a better series than many people thought and for that the Wings will be better prepared for round two.
(Click Here to view highlights from game 6)
As a Red Wings fan I hope to see one of hockey's greatest rivalries from the late 90's between Colorado and Detroit be revived in the second round and with the way Chris Osgood and Jose Theodore are playing it would be one hell of a series!
Keep your head up and stick on the ice!

TV Guide Column

This TV Guide column was written by me for MagWorld Magazine. MagWorld was put together by the journalism classes as part of our course requirements. Although it's not about hockey if you're checking out my blog have a quick read.

The Canadian TV Guide vanished from newspaper stands after standing tall for over 30 years. When it came to television listings or program descriptions the TV Guide magazine was the industry leader. In 2002 they were producing over 430, 000 issues of the magazine. Unfortunately those numbers decreased steadily over the next four years. In what is now being known as the iPod generation of today, many television viewers are looking to the Internet or their free interactive programming guide to find their favourite show times and program descriptions. In November of 2006 Transcontinental Media Inc. made the decision to turn the print magazine into a completely free web publication. When Canada was running a total circulation of merely 243, 000 copies in 2006, Transcontinental Media decided they had to make a change. Shortly after the removal of the print magazine Transcontinental Media President Natalie Lariviere sent out a press release stating that the move to take the TV Guide off of newsstands is part of a business plan that would see close to ten million dollars being invested into digital properties through 2010. The business investment is called Evolution 2010. They changed over to online to make them the essential source for Canadians to find their television entertainment updates and program listings.
In 2004 the TV Guide took a turn for the worst. They tried to revamp their entire magazine as a way of competing with the satellite and digital companies. With digital cable and satellite companies such as Rogers, Star Choice and Bell ExpressVu implementing free program guides into their services at no extra cost, interest in the magazine was lost. They remodeled it and made it look more like an entertainment magazine rather than a TV Guide. The magazine could never recover from its downfall in 2004 and sales continued to decrease. As a way of keeping the TV Guide alive they made the decision to move it online and they have never looked back. By moving their print version online, the TV Guide website was able to provide more options for readers with numerous links related to entertainment and lifestyle information.
Not only are the free interactive program guides taking away from the interest in print listings, but the Internet has grown to be an important tool when searching for entertainment and television information. The new generation of online websites does not only include television listings and entertainment updates, they are also attracting viewers and readers to their website by publishing feature profiles on television stars, movie reviews, lifestyle columns on food, shopping, health and home decoration. The online editions are becoming more popular and user friendly because of the amount of options available when logging on to these websites. Logging on to the newly vamped TV Guide website at www.tvguide.ca, will provide you with quick and easy access to all your favourite television listings, program information, show updates and entertainment information.
With the print generation slowly declining, the iPod generation is just becoming.

Hey Hey Hey Goodbye!!

Well, after an astonishing 15-2 start to the 2007-2008 season who would have thought the Ottawa Senators would bow out four straight in the first round. They didn't even put up a fight in the first round either. Everyone looked lost out there. The Pittsburgh Penguins jumped on the Sens early and never looked back. Remember at the beginning of the season when everyone was saying the Sens are for real this year, check again! An abundance of locker room problems, terrible defence, inconsistent play and injuries took over the Senators season and smashed it into the ground.
I would just like to know where the top players were for Ottawa in the playoffs? Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley combined for a brutual two assists and a minus nine rating. Daniel Alfredsson was no where to be found either. With all do respect to Daniel Alfredsson even though he didn't play the way he can, he was injured and still tried to play through it. I give respect to a guy like that even if I don't like him as a hockey player. At least he was trying, it seemed like Heatley and Spezza were merely going through the motions. Somebody should have tapped them on the shoulders and reminded them this is the playoffs! In the playoffs your best players need to be your players and the Penguins certainly had that going for them. Penguins' stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin combined for 15 points in the four game series. Crosby currently leads the league in playoffs points as well. Pittsburgh took control of the series right from the start and I believe this team to be a serious cup contender. They have the speed, goal scoring, goaltending, defence and grit a team needs to be a champion. Although their defence had been speculated at the start of this series they are all playing like veterans back there.
In game three on Hockey Night in Canada they showed a picture on the wall in the Senators arena that was located right across from the Penguins dressing room. This picture was of the Senators and Penguins shaking hands after the Sens beat them out last spring. This was the last thing the Pens would see before going on the ice. Why would a team put a picture like that on the wall RIGHT ACROSS FROM THE PENGUINS DRESSING ROOM! For me that would be even more motivation to want to beat them, and apparently it did. Also, that shows no class, like what was the point of that? Were they trying to get them off their game by remembering the past? Big deal they lost to the eventual Stanley Cup finalists, it's a new year and a new team. Pittsburgh certainly played with that motivation I don't know what Ottawa was playing with because it certainly didn't look like much. Maybe you'll bring a better game to the golf course boys because that's all you'll be playing!!
I hope to see Sidney Crosby and company make a trip to the finals because I believe this team has a legitimate shot at the Cup! They are playing fabulous hockey and are one of the most exciting teams to watch!! They will now play the winner of either the Philadelphia/ Washinton series or the New York/ New Jersey series.

What went wrong in Ottawa? Take a look!

Backstrom is WILD

Another overtime victory for the Minnesota Wild meant another astonishing performance by goaltender Niklas Backstrom. The most exciting series thus far in the playoffs has to be the Wild and Colorado Avalanche. It's been everything a good playoff series should be. It's had a penalty shot, overtime, big saves, great goals and big hits. All three games have went into overtime and both goalies have played well enough to win. Unfortunately a couple bad bounces has one team trailing the series.
Backstrom has given his team a chance to win each and every game and is a big reason his team is leading in the series. Last night he kept his team in game three throughout regulation as they were outshot 40-30. With the absence of two of their top defenders (Kurtis Foster and Nick Schultz), Backstrom has been forced to step up his game. In the dying seconds of the second period Backstrom was down but not out when Wotjek Wolski picked up a rebound in the slot and had the entire top half of the net to shoot at. Backs stretched up and robbed Wolski of the go-ahead goal. For the most part this series has been back and forth with the goaltenders stealing the show. Also, hats off to the Avs Jose Theodore as well, he has picked up his game this season and is finally starting to resemble that same goalie who won the Hart Trophy back in 2002, as the leagues most valuable player. Not only do the goalies help make this series fun to watch but the speed both these teams possess make for exciting back and forth hockey. The Wild is such a tough team to play against because of their defence first mentality and their unbelievable transition game. The Wild have been successful at capitalizing on the Avs mistakes and with the terrific play of Backstrom, the Wild look to be in control.

If these two teams keep up the same intensity as we have seen in the first three games this series certainly has the potential to go the distance. Although the Avalanche are putting up one hell of a fight; Wild in six. Backs will continue to steal the show!!