Category Archive: NHL

Mar 30

Penguins Chasing History as Latest Team to Go Streaking

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NHL

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PenguinsWinningStreak

By beating the Winnipeg Jets 4-0 Thursday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins now have a 14-game win streak and are three away from tying the record

This has been a year of streaks. In the NBA the Miami Heat’s run of 27-straight wins just came to an end. And in the NHL the Chicago Blackhawks began the shortened season at 21-0-3 with a 24-game point streak. But there is another streak that is getting far less attention.

By beating the Winnipeg Jets 4-0 Thursday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins now have a 14-game win streak – not a point streak, a win streak. Just a few weeks ago, it was unthinkable that anyone would be able to catch the Hawks. But with their streak, the Penguins have now also taken over the NHL points lead. And in the West, the Anaheim Ducks have now gotten to within three points of Chicago.

The league record for consecutive wins is 17, set by the Mario Lemieux-led Penguins in 1992-93. Now as co-owner of the team, Lemieux would hardly mind if these Penguins beat his streak.

The Penguins host the New York Islanders today and the Buffalo Sabres next Tuesday. If they can win these two they will head to New York on Wednesday to face the Rangers with a chance to tie the record.

Part of the reason why the Penguins have gotten so hot is, well the play of Sidney Crosby, but it is also because they have made the big moves as the trade-deadline approaches April 3. So far they have added Calgary’s Jarome Iginla, Dallas’ Brenden Morrow and San Jose’s Douglas Murray. It also won’t hurt to have the reigning-MVP Evgeni Malkin back in the lineup after missing nearly three weeks with an upper-body injury.

NHL: Montreal Canadiens at Pittsburgh Penguins

During the 14-game streak Sidney Crosby has 25 points, including a 5-assist effort against the Islanders on March 10

As for Crosby, the Penguins captain is beginning to run away with the Hart Trophy, distancing himself from Chicago’s Patrick Kane and Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos. Through 35 games Crosby has 56 points on 15 goals and 41 assists.

So with all the other streaks and cinderella teams we’ve seen recently, the Penguins chasing history is undeservedly a footnote. But if they win their next two, and head into Madison Square Garden next week with a chance to tie the record, the media-train will certainly pick up steam.

As we’ve seen, winning streaks are extremely difficult, in and of themselves, and with all the added pressure they bring. To win 17 games in-a-row in any sport is remarkable but especially in hockey. The only other NHL teams to reach 14 straight wins were the 1929-30 Boston Bruins (14), the 2009-10 Washington Capitals (14), the 1981-82 New York Islanders (15) and the 1992-93 Penguins (17). So if Pittsburgh can keep this going and win 17-straight or more everyone should take notice, if you haven’t already.

Some facts about the streak:

  • During the streak they’ve scored 51 goals averaging 3.64 goals per game
  • They’ve allowed 26 goals, or 1.89 goals per game. The season leader for GAA on the season are the Ottawa Senators at 1.95 GAA.
  • Sidney Crosby had a point in every game save for one: March 16 vs. the New York Rangers. He has 25 points in the 14 games, including a 5-assist effort against the Islanders on March 10.
  • Chris Kunitz had 11 goals in the 14 games.
  • Malkin played in just four of the games, and had four points.
  • Before his injury, Marc-Andre Fleury won eight of the 14 games, giving up one goal or less in each of his last five starts. He had a 1.97 GAA overall with a .928 save percentage. He is now 28-10-3 in the month over the last four seasons.

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Feb 23

Blackhawks Off to Best Start in NHL History

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NHL

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Blackhawks

At 14-0-3 and having earned points in each of their first 17 games, the Chicago Blackhawks are off to the best start in NHL history

No team in the history of the NHL has had as good a start to a season as the Chicago Blackhawks.  With their 2-1 win last night at home over the San Jose Sharks the Hawks have earned a place in history earning points in each of their first 17 games.  At 14-0-3, they have surpassed the Anaheim Ducks who started the ’06-’07 season with points in each of their first 16 games.

San Jose took a 1-0 lead at the end of the first period off a goal by Patrick Marleau.  But late in the second period the Hawks tied it up on a goal by Viktor Stalberg.

With 3 seconds left on a San Jose power play early in the third period Hawks’ rookie Brandon Saad scored a short-handed goal to snap the 1-1 tie. It would stand up to be the game-winner giving the Hawks their fourth straight win.

“It’s nice to get another win and make history,” the 20-year-old Saad said. “Our group’s had a great year so far, so we never expect anything less.”

“We’re celebrating the win now.  I’m sure it will sink in a little bit more tomorrow, but it’s awesome to be part of history.”

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville also commented on their historic achievement.

“The guys should be proud of the achievement, the accomplishment,” he said.

“I just think we shouldn’t be happy with where we’re at. We just want to keep trying to get better.”

Saad scored the winning the goal after closing in on the left wing one-on-one with San Jose defenseman Brent Burns.  Saad made a quick fake then fired a shot from the circle that went under the glove of San Jose’s goalie Antti Niem just 2:24 into the third period.

Brandon Saad

Chicago Blackhawks’ Brandon Saad, right, celebrates with Patrick Sharp after scoring the game-winning goal during the third period against the San Jose Sharks in Chicago, Friday, Feb. 22, 2013

“I just took him (Burns) wide and tried to get a shot off,” Saad said.

“Luckily, I beat (Niemi) glove side. Sometimes power-play guys drop back a little, and I took advantage of it.”

But according to San Jose coach Todd McLellan, Burns gave Saad too much room on the play.

“I thought that we let a player that wasn’t very dangerous, not because he’s not talented or anything, but a player in a situation that wasn’t very dangerous skate into a primary scoring spot without even challenging him,” McLellan said.

“I’m not sure if our goalie was on the angle or not,” he added, “but I’m disappointed we didn’t challenge him earlier.”

But San Jose had their chances on offense too.  In a span of 14 minutes late in the second and early into the third periods the Hawks killed all four San Jose power plays.

Hawks goalie Ray Emery made 26 saves to win his fourth straight start and improve to 7-0.

“(The record) is a notch in your belt, Emery said. “It’s special to do something as a group.

“The start of the year is the worst time to do it, I think,” he added. “You’d rather do it at the end, but it’s great.”

Niemi also had a good night in net for the Sharks.  Allowing just the two goals he saved another 32.  Niemi was the goalie for the Hawks when they won 2010 Stanley Cup.  Now with San Jose this is his second loss to his old club in a week.  Last Friday he let in a couple of soft goals in a 4-1 loss at the United Center in Chicago.  This is also the third meeting between the two clubs in the last 17 days. On Feb. 5 the Hawks beat the Sharks 5-3 in San Jose.

The Chicago Blackhawks are definitely the best team in the NHL right now. With just three overtime losses, they have yet to lose in regulation.  If there is any indication to what this start may lead to, the Ducks who started the ’06-’07 season 12-0-4, went on to win the Stanley Cup.  But as Emery said about their record start, “you’d rather do it at the end.”

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Jan 25

NHL’s Opening Week Sets League TV Rating Records

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NHL

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Watching HockeyAfter the 119-day lockout one would think T.V. ratings for the NHL‘s opening week would be low. But in fact the ratings have been the highest for the sport in a long time. As with the NBA last year, a lockout or strike can sometimes have a positive impact when the games commence, even if just for the first couple of weeks.

The sports fan is a peculiar creature. When our teams win we say “we” won, as if we actually had anything do with their success. And when they lose we wipe our hands clean by saying “they” lost because, hey, we had nothing to do with it in the first place.

When it comes to lockouts and strikes you always hear fans ripping the players and owners, calling them selfish and greedy. And you always hear from some fans how they’re going to protest the sport when the lockout finally comes to an end. The sport’s public image does briefly take a hit but those same fans who, just last week were so angry at the league, always come back.

During NBC’s season-opening regional coverage last Saturday, the NHL drew a 1.6 rating and an average of 2.8 million viewers, peaking at 3.8 million in the final minutes of the Penguins-Flyers game. Not since FOX’s broadcast of Wayne Gretzky‘s last game in 1999, which drew 3.1 million viewers, has the league had so many fans watching at once.

The league’s regional markets saw even higher numbers. NBC’s Flyers-Sabres telecast on Sunday drew a 20.1 local rating in Buffalo, shattering the old mark of 13.0 for the same match-up back on April 8, 2011. For the Blackhawks home-opener against the St. Louis Blues, Comcast SportsNet Chicago earned a 5.4 local rating, marking the net’s best-ever rating for a Blackhawks regular-season game. Their previous high was a 4.4 rating back on March 5, 2010 against the Vancouver Canucks.

Meanwhile in New York, the MSG Network saw it’s highest rating in 15 years for both the Rangers and Islanders. For Saturday night’s game against the Boston Bruins, the Rangers earned the network a 2.9 local rating, marking it’s best since they played the Hartford Whalers back on April 20, 1995. For the Islanders, MSG+ earned a 1.0 local rating for their game against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, marking the second-best regular-season Islanders game since the net began recording ratings for the team in 1991.

Other teams such as the Blues, Bruins, Washington Capitals and Minnesota Wild also reported record-setting ratings on their local networks. In Minneapolis-St.Paul, FS North earned a 7.7 local rating for the Wild’s home-opener against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. Their previous record was a 4.6 when the team played the Winnipeg Jets on December 13, 2011. And just the next day on Sunday, the Wild earned the network it’s second highest-ever rating, with a 5.4 against the Dallas Stars.

Leafs FansNorth of the border, where hockey is religion, the Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs‘ game gave Sportsnet Ontario 1.1 million viewers, the best-ever audience for a regional telecast on any of Sportsnet’s channels. Sunday night’s game between the Canucks and Edmonton Oilers earned Sportsnet Pacific an average of 623,000 viewers, marking the network’s fifth-best Canucks telecast of all-time.

We’ll see how long these high T.V. ratings last for the NHL. Probably not the rest of the season. But perhaps this is the silver-lining for the lockout, that the fan’s thirst for the game had become almost unquenchable. Sometimes an 82-game season can make for some pretty boring games in December and January that have no real importance or impact on the season. Now as all games are in-conference, there is an immediate push for the playoffs that are only three months away.

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Jan 19

Drop the Puck! The NHL Gets Underway

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NHL

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Kings FaceoffThe puck finally drops today in the NHL as thirteen marquee match-ups get underway at 3 p.m. E.T. After such a long wait, it should be an exciting day of hockey as the story lines resume and the immediate push for the playoffs begin

Out west the Los Angeles Kings will begin their Stanley Cup title defense at home against the Chicago Blackhawks. GM of the Kings, Dean Lombardi, spent all offseason studying past dynasties, in hopes of finding the magic formula for a repeat. The last team to win back-to-back Stanley Cups were the Detroit Red Wings in 1996-97 and Penguins vs Flyers1997-98. Last year’s defending champs, the Boston Bruins, were knocked out of the playoffs by the Washington Capitals in the first round, albeit in seven games. The Blackhawks are looking to get back to the finals for the second time in four years. In 2010 they ended their 49-year title drought when they beat the Philadelphia Flyers for the Cup. Captain of the Blackhawks, Jonathan Toews, did not practice Friday, but is expected to play today.

This afternoon back east, the Philadelphia Flyers host the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Winnipeg Jets host the Ottawa Senators. Both the Flyers and Penguins Devils vs Islandersare legit contenders in the Eastern Conference while the Jets and Senators are not. Doesn’t matter in Canada though, hockey is back. Beginning just their second year back in Winnipeg, the Jets will continue to revive their fan base. And in Ottawa, the Senators will be giving out free beer to their fans at their home-opener Monday night against the Florida Panthers. With or without this ingenious promotion, Senator fans will certainly be excited to see their team play again.

In the night games there will be no shortage of excitement. The defending Eastern Conference champion, New Jersey Devils, will jump across the river to play on the Bruins vs Rangersroad against the New York Islanders.

Other regional games continue further north as the Boston Bruins host their rival New York Rangers. Both the Bruins and Rangers will pose serious threats in the East this year. Another rivalry game will be north of the border as the Montreal Canadiens host the Toronto Maple Leafs. Both teams have chances to make the playoffs, but realistically neither will contend. The Canadiens are the last team from Canada to have won a cup, back in 1993. And the Maple Leafs have the longest title drought in the NHL, their last cup win being way back in 1967.

Canucks vs DucksTwo other night games that should be good are the St. Louis Blues hosting the Detroit Red Wings and the Vancouver Canucks hosting the Anaheim Ducks. Two seasons ago the Canucks came oh so close to bringing the cup back to Canada when they lost in seven games to the underdog Bruins. They will be the favorites in the West to reach the finals again this year.

So here we are, finally. After 119 days, hockey fans can now watch their favorite teams go at it, with dreams of Stanley Cup glory just six months away. Drop the puck!

Chicago at Los Angeles (3 p.m.)
Pittsburgh at Philadelphia (3 p.m.)
Ottawa at Winnipeg (3 p.m.)
New York Rangers at Boston (7 p.m.)
New Jersey at New York Islanders (7 p.m.)
Washington at Tampa Bay (7 p.m.)
Toronto at Montreal (7 p.m.)
Carolina at Florida (7:30 p.m.)
Phoenix at Dallas (8 p.m.)
Columbus at Nashville (8 p.m.)
Detroit at St. Louis (8 p.m.)
Colorado at Minnesota (9 p.m.)
Anaheim at Vancouver (10 p.m.)

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Jan 12

Flippin’ Eh: 2013 Marks 20 Years Since Canada’s Last Stanley Cup

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The 1993 Montreal Canadiens are Canada's last victorious Stanley Cup team.

The 1993 Montreal Canadiens are Canada’s last victorious Stanley Cup team.

With hockey season finally back it’s time to take a moment and reflect on a stat that Canadians want to make sure we don’t know.

 

A stat so embarrassing and hurtful to what little pride Canada has to claim, that it makes the nation root for teams they’d never dream of. Selling out their personal loyalties for the good of the motherland.

 

2013 marks the twentieth anniversary of Canada’s last Stanley Cup.

 

Come on, Canada! What is this all aboot?

 

Since the upstart Montreal Canadiens led by Patrick Roy, Guy Carboneau, Mark Recchi, and Denis Savard defeated Wayne Gretzky’s Los Angeles Kings no team from north of the border has drank from Lord Stanley’s cup.

 

Think about that for a moment. Imagine the SEC going 20 years without winning a national title. It’s unfathomable.

Despite winning the Presidents Trophy and being heavily favored-- the Canucks and Roberton Luongo choked in Canada's best chance to reclaim their biggest prize.

Despite winning the Presidents Trophy and being heavily favored– the Canucks and Roberton Luongo choked in Canada’s best chance to reclaim their biggest prize.

 

Just like the SEC, Canada has advantages that most American teams don’t.

 

Canadian fans are the most passionate in the sport. Hockey is not one of the biggest sports in Canada—it’s THE sport in Canada. Kids grow up there dreaming of playing for the Maple Leafs, Canadiens, or Oilers; pretending to be Wayne Gretzky, Sidney Crosby, and Mario Lemieux in the ponds in their backyards.

 

Because Canadian boys grow up playing hockey mostly, the best athletes are hockey players. Meaning Canada has a monopoly on the best hockey talent the sport has to offer.

 

Unfortunately, thanks to the draft—a lot of these talents end up on U.S. teams. But one would have to think that a couple of Canada’s native sons would want to return home to bring a hometown team back to glory?

 

Over the past 20 years, Canada has had a couple of chances to bring home Lord Stanley’s cup; including a few game sevens. Vancouver (1994, 2011), Calgary (2004), and Edmonton (2006) all fell in the series deciding game only to break the heart of a country that was rooting for them. Rooting for themselves because their pride depended on it. Ottawa was unceremoniously swept in 2007 by a team from Anaheim.

 

ANAHEIM!

 

To give you an idea of just how ridiculous this draught is for Canadian teams let me list a few things that have happened since Canada’s last cup win:

 

Canada’s favorite son Justin Bieber was born.

 

O.J. Simpson is now one of America’s most hated figures.

 

Michael Jordan has retired three times.

 

Barack Obama was a community organizer when Canada won it’s last cup.

 

The Simpsons were considered new and funny.

 

McDonalds Happy Meals didn’t offer apples to kids.

 

Winnipeg lost the Jets, went without a team for 15 years, and then got the Jets back in 2011.

 

Pluto has since lost it’s status as a planet.

 

Dan Marino had an Achilles tendon.

 

The internet had not been invented by Al Gore yet.

 

It was still legal to smoke in public.

 

The mullet was in style.

 

This is how long it’s been since Canada won it’s last cup. A travesty for a country who claims to be official nation of hockey.

 

If Canada wants to be taken seriously at hockey again, then it must win back it’s biggest prize. Gold medals are nice but it isn’t the allure of a Stanley Cup. A trophy that originated in your homeland, Canada.

 

Will it happen this year? Well, you can automatically eliminate the Maple Leafs, Oilers, Flames, and Jets. All four of which were ranked near the bottom of the league last year in the standings and don’t appear to be ready to take a step into the postseason.

 

The Canadiens and Senators could be playoff contenders; however, unless a surprise run were to happen then Canada’s draught will not be broken this season by one of these teams.

 

That just leaves the Vancouver Canucks. A team who has flirted with

Despite the heroics of goaltender Mikka Kipprusoff, the Calgary Flames fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games in 2004.

Despite the heroics of goaltender Mikka Kipprusoff, the Calgary Flames fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games in 2004.

greatness for four seasons. A franchise that has rightfully earned it’s title as chokers. A team that was humiliated by the Boston Bruins on home ice in game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals. They were outmatched last year as they fell to the eighth seeded Kings, who were on their way to hoisting the Stanley Cup. A team whose goaltender, Roberto Luongo’s playoff shortcomings have earned him the nickname, “Roberto LeBrongo”.

 

With all due respect to our neighbors of the north but if Vancouver is your hope, then it may not be a banner year for Canada. Which is a shame with how much this nation loves their hockey.

 

But betting and hoping on Roberto Luongo is about as risky as climbing a slope as slick as Barry Melrose’s mullet.

 

Twenty years is way too long for Canada to be in a draught. Don’t tell the natives though, they know and don’t want to hear nothing aboot it.

 

With hockey season finally back it’s time to take a moment and reflect on a stat that Canadians want to make sure we don’t know.

 

A stat so embarrassing and hurtful to what little pride Canada has to claim, that it makes the nation root for teams they’d never dream of. Selling out their personal loyalties for the good of the motherland.

 

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Jan 08

Romo Caught in Crossfire of Dallas Twitter Battle

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NFL, NHL

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Tony Romo“Nobody cares” about hockey being back? Yeah well apparently some people don’t care about winning or losing either. In a town and country where football will always be more popular than hockey, the Dallas Cowboys will continue to get their undeserved attention even with Tony Romo peeing his pants every December.

Monday morning Josh Ellis, a writer for the Cowboys, tweeted about baseball while taking a shot at the return of the NHL. Later on, the official twitter account for Cowboys displayed this:

Cowboys Twitter

Such a tweet as this on the Cowboys’ official account is kind of surprising considering the usual ‘political-correctness’ of team-official twitter feeds. It didn’t appear to be a mistake however, as the team’s digital media director, Derek Eagleton, posted the same thing to his personal account Monday morning. He has since deleted it.

Even if it were a mistake, the Dallas Stars, were sure going to respond. On Tuesday morning the Stars had updated their official twitter post along with a photo.

 Stars Twitter

Long before Romo played for the Cowboys, Mike Madano wore No. 9 for the Stars. Where Romo is known for choking in the big games, Madano captained the Stars to the 1999 Stanley Cup.

After a burn like that the Cowboys had no comeback and instead made this weak apology.

Cowboys Twitter 2

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Jan 06

Hallelujah, Let There Be Hockey!

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NHL

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Stanley Cup

The Los Angeles Kings now have a chance to defend the Stanley Cup as the lockout comes to an end. All players of every championship team are inscribed on the Cup except for 2004-05 when the entire season was locked-out.

 

“We have reached an agreement on the framework of a new collective bargaining agreement,” commissioner Gary Bettman told reporters in New York.

Finally, after a 113-day lockout, there will be hockey. Around 5 a.m. E.T. Sunday morning, the NHL and the NHLPA reached a tentative agreement that will save the season. If a deal hadn’t been reached this week, the season very likely would have been cancelled entirely. But after a 16-hour marathon of negotiations a new collective bargaining agreement has been made. And as early as January 15 a 50-game, in-conference-only, season will begin.

Executive director of the NHLPA, Donald Fehr, who’s hope was to get to “business as usual”, described the negotiations.

“Any process like this in the system we have is difficult; it can be long,” said Fehr. “I’ve said repeatedly throughout this process, somebody would say, ‘What do you see ahead?’ And, the answer was, ‘You get up tomorrow and you try to find a way to do it and you keep doing that until you find a way to succeed.”

In this latest round of negotiations a number of issues were resolved that go beyond a revenue split. Some of these were where to set the Year 2 salary cap, salary variance, contract limits and the players’ pension plan.

The new CBA will last 10 seasons and will have an eight-year mutual out. Believing every player should get the chance to be involved in CBA negotiations during their career, Fehr had favored a shorter agreement, but of course the owners refused.

One of the biggest challenges in their negotiations was over the Year 2 salary cap. The original cap for the 2012-13 season was set at more than $70 million. The players had wanted it to be at least $67 million and the owners, $60. But the two sides slowly came closer and closer, finally settling on a $64.3 million cap and a $44 million floor for the season.

Another resolution was over player contracts and salaries. In the new agreement players cannot sign a contract that exceeds seven seasons, or eight if they’re re-signing with their current team. The owners had lost in their push for a five-year limit. Also in the agreement a players’ salary cannot drop more 35 percent year-to-year nor below 50 percent from its highest point.

Bettmen and Fehr

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Executive director of the NHLPA, Donald Fehr

While all the pieces are now in place for a shortened season to begin, the NHL is not completely out of the woods yet. A ratification of the CBA must be made from a majority of the 30 owners and approximately 740 players.

But as of now it appears the chains are off. It is likely a 50-game season will begin on Tuesday January 15. It should make for an exciting day of hockey as all 30 teams will be going at it in conference rivalry match-ups. For all those suffering hockey fans, hallelujah!

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