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Archive for October, 2010

Yay or Nay: Winter Classic Uniforms

Oct 29

Posted by Eddie in Media | No Comments

Washington's uniforms for the Winter Classic

Washington's uniforms for the Winter Classic

This week the Pittsburgh Penguins unveiled their uniforms for this season’s Winter Classic. This is the second time Sidney Crosby and his team has appeared in the New Year’s Day showcase event. Last time, it was the first Winter Classic where they traveled to Buffalo and played against the Sabres. In comparing the uniforms to the 2008 game, I like the 2008 ones better. They had more of a historical background to it as they were similar jerseys when they first entered the NHL. The jerseys for this year features bits and pieces of jerseys used through their history. I’m not a big fan of the blue striping on the bottom, it looks like I’m getting ready to watch Michael Phelps swim laps in a pool versus a hockey jersey. All that’s missing is flopping penguins inside the striping.

The game is being played in Heinz Field, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers. I would not have complained if they went to a uniform during the Mario Lemieux era when they wore black and gold to play off the colors of the Steelers and the color scheme of the stadium.

 

Malkin showing off the Pittsburgh uniform for the Winter Classic

Malkin showing off the Pittsburgh uniform for the Winter Classic

However, I do like the Capital’s uniforms. It does back to the uniform used pretty much until the mid-90′s when they switched over to the flying eagle/capital building logo. The Cap’s went back to the Mike Gartner/Dale Hunter days where ther logo was simple. Washington unveiled their uniforms for the game October 2. Advantage: Washington.

What are your thoughts on the jerseys?

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Interview with Bob Probert’s widow

Oct 28

Posted by Chris in Media | 2 Comments

The death of Bob Probert sent ripples through the hockey world when he passed away suddenly earlier this summer after developing severe chest paints and collapsing while out on his boat with his family. While Probert certainly had his share of demons and subsequent legal troubles that were well documented in the media, Probert was also a kind-hearted individual and well respected on the ice as one of the greatest enforcers to ever lace up in the NHL. He played several seasons with both the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks.

Before his death on July 5, 2010, Probert had been working on a memoir about his life in and out of hockey. After Probert’s death, his wife, Dani, decided to go ahead and publish the memoir under the title “Tough Guy: My Life on the Edge,” which appeared in bookstores earlier this week. To help promote the book, Dani and former teammate Dave Lewis appeared on a local radio morning show to discuss the book and the life of Bob Probert. What ensues is a very honest interview with candid responses from both Lewis and Dani Probert. Check out the entire eight minute interview here.

Latendresse makes amazing stick save

Oct 26

Posted by Chris in Media | 1 Comment

The save of the game  during last night’s battle between the Minnesota Wild and Los Angeles Kings wasn’t a result of sprawling acrobatics from either of the respective goaltenders in the contest. In fact, it was Minnesota Wild forward Guillaume Latendresse who made a dynamic effort to keep the puck out of a wide open net when a terrible clearing attempt found it’s way directly onto Ryan Smyth’s stick. Latendresse deflected the puck out of mid-air with his stick in a diving effort to help preserve the Wild’s 2-1 lead. The Wild eventually lost the contest 3-2 in a shootout. Check out the video below for the save of the game:

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Tuesday’s Take: Benching Ilya Kovalchuk

Oct 26

Posted by EB in Soap Box | 6 Comments

Over the weekend a lot of publicity followed the benching of Ilya Kovalchuk of the New Jersey Devils which made me wonder, benching Kovalchuk, good or bad?

The background: none actually. Head coach John Maclean would not disclose any rationale for his decision while Kovalchuk also failed to share any details. You begin to wonder if there really was a reason?

Of course there is a reason, what that is specifically is not known, but with a record of 2-6-1 in 9 games, last place in the Eastern Conference, perhaps it was to spark the team.

Put on the breaks though coach Maclean. Your team has only won 2 games in 9 played and you bench Kovalchuk who has a team leading 6 points? Kovalchuk has 3 goals and 3 assists, one of which was a game winner. Could it be because of Kovalchuk’s -3 rating? With 7 other players with a worse rating, I would hope not, otherwise half the team is going to be benched. Sure Kovalchuk may not be the best back checker, but the guy puts pucks in the net, which your team needs. Why not bench goaltender Martin Brodeur for his 2-5-1 record? Probably because Brodeur is a major role in the success of your team, which like it or not, Kovalchuk is now as well.

Ending notes, I think the benching of Kovalchuk over the weekend was a bad idea. The team is off to a slow start which happens, but they can turn it around. Benching your star player, or shall I say your new franchise player, is a horrible call. What might have been an effort to rally the troops has now turned into another distraction, much like the whole signing of Kovalchuk in the off-season, much of which the team does not need anymore; distractions.

Let the boys play Maclean and let them find their chemistry. Once they do, they will be pushing for the top seed in the Atlantic Division. If you choose not to let them though, mark my words, your coaching job will be gone before you even unpacked your bags and got settled.

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Hockey World Blog Power Rankings: Week 2

Oct 25

Posted by Eddie in Power Rankings | No Comments

It’s still early in the season, so teams are beginning to find their way. We have seen some surprises in the league this year, both good and bad. Good being that the Central division looks like it will be the most competitive in years, as through at least seven games every team has a winning record. The bad is how the New Jersey Devils have looked so far, and several teams including Phoenix, Columbus, and Atlanta playing in frontof less than 10,000 fans. You mean to tell me in a city like Phoenix with a population of several million people, can only draw 6,706 fans to a Thursday night game against a division opponent? I’ve seen more fans attend events such as the WNBA, high school and NCAA Division II football games. Dear Gary Bettman, just move the team to Hamilton, Ont. or back to Winnipeg and get it over with. The NHL owning a team drawing crowds like that is getting similar to MLB owning the Expos several years ago. The Coyotes can’t play the Red Wings 42 times in Glendale (They did sellout the home opener against Detroit last week).

Check back next week where the monthly 1-30 rankings will appear.

 

Rank Team Last Week Team Notes
1 NSH 4 Only team to not lose in regulation. Posted 2-0-1 record last week. Games this week vs St. Louis and at Detroit will be exciting to watch.
2 |DET 6 Have won last three games. Jimmy Howard looks like he has not lost a beat in goal. Wings also have 3-0-1 record on home ice.
3 PIT NR Has earned points in last five games. Played two of three games in stretch against this week’s Top Six, beat Nashville in OT and lost to St. Louis in OT. Will be at Tampa Wednesday.
4 LA NR Tough decision to put Kings here. Could have been the Stars, but Kings looked impressive in game two of five game road trip against Avalanche. Wednesday at CHI will be good to watch.
5 STL NR Chicago may have more points, but Blues took three points from them this week in home-and-home series. Erik Johnson’s OT winner vs PIT was very impressive.
6 TB NR Was a bubble team in last week’s rankings. Posted 2-1-1 record last week with only loss coming Sunday night vs Nashville.
       
25 FLA NR Discount two shutout wins there they scored nine goals, they are 1-3 with -5 goal differential. Only team with + goal differential among ten worse records. Vokoun needs goal support in close games, not blowouts.
26 PHX NR They have a .500 record, but I can’t overlook the fact that 6,706 fans watched them play at home. At least they got to see their only win in last five games.
27 ANA 29 East teams can struggle on west coast. West teams can struggle playing east as well. Has 0-5 record at Central division teams this season. Still have to play at Chicago in three weeks.
28 NJ 26 When Martin Brodeur get’s a shutout, they win. When he doesn’t they lose. Something has to change, because he can’t get a shutout every night. Tough west coast trip on horizon this week.
29 OTT 20 Has 1-3-1 record on road, and 1-3 record last four games. They also got shutout by Carey Price, his first in 90 games or for those that need a date: Nov. 11, 2008.
30 EDM NR Lost four straight games. Counting the preseason, they will have faced Calgary five times including tomorrow night. By this time next week we should know if Taylor Hall will remain in NHL or be sent back to Windsor.

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Five Teams Off To Surprising Starts

Oct 21

Posted by Matt in Soap Box | No Comments

With the NHL roughly two weeks into its schedule, lets take a five teams that are off to a surprising start in 2010-11.

Toronto Maple Leafs (4-0-1; 9 pts) – Lead by Phil Kessel and Jean-Sebastien Giguere, the Maple Leafs look like they’ve figured out a way to compete in the Eastern Conference this season. Kessel is hot with 7 points in 5 games, and Clarke MacArthur has been a surprise, picking up 5 goals so far for the Leafs. Giguere, a trade deadline pick up late last season, has been stellar so far. His 1.96 goals against average, and .911 save percentage have gone a long way in allowing Toronto to win games. Dion Phaneuf and Tomas Kaberle have been strong defensively, and the team looks much improved over last season.

Dallas Stars (4-1-0; 8 pts) – Through 5 games, the Stars have averaged 4 goals per game. A team that many thought were going to rebuild after letting Mike Modano walk away, is now playing extremely well. Brad Richards, James Neal, Mike Ribeiro, Brenden Morrow, and Loui Eriksson have all gotten off to a tremendous start. Richards, a former Conn Smythe winner with the Lightning, has 10 points in 5 games, and is currently sitting at plus 8 on the season. Kari Lehtonen hasn’t been ridiculous in goal, but he’s been good enough. He’s made 40+ saves, however, in 3 of 5 games, so the Stars should hope to tighten up defensively if they expect to keep this up.

Tampa Bay Lightning (4-1-0; 8 pts) – New general manager Steve Yzerman was quick to put some of the pieces in place to try to turn the Lightning into a contender again. However, it seems to be last years players who are getting it done again. Steven Stamkos picked up right where he left off last season, and has 5 goals in 5 games to start the season. On the flip side, newcomer Simon Gagne has yet to register a point, and is currently a minus 7. He has also been a minus player in each of the teams first 5 games. Victor Hedman should continue to improve throughout the season, and the return of Pavel Kubina should take some of the pressure off Hedman. Steve Downie continues to be a threat whenever he’s on the ice as well, with both his scoring and phsyical play.

San Jose Sharks (1-2-1; 3 pts) – Is it too early to say the Sharks made a mistake in letting Evgeni Nabakov walk away? It may be, but Antti Niemi and Antero Niittymaki have been far from spectacular so far this season. Niemi, who has started 3 of 4 games, is sitting in the goalie hot seat with a 3.71 goals against average and .880 save percentage. One of these goalies needs to stand on their head and take the reigns as a true number one netminder. In addition, Joe Thornton needs to make his presence felt on both ends of the ice. He’s currently minus 6 through 4 games. In those games, he’s managed to put up 4 points, but 3 have come on the power play. Big Joe and Dany Heatley need to be more productive at even strength to get this team fired up.

Vancouver Canucks (2-3-2;  6 pts) – Six points in their first seven games is not the start that the Vancouver Canucks were hoping for. This is a team that many have picked to be Stanley Cup contenders, and they are off to a slow start. Part of the reason they haven’t been successful has been their lack of secondary scoring. A guy like Ryan Kesler, who finished with 75 points last season, has only a goal and an assist so far. He owns that second line, and will have to start playing like it for the Canucks to improve. The Sedin twins are still excelling, as you would expect, but they need some help. Back in net, Roberto Luongo has been a bit of a disappointment thus far. His 2.92 goals against average and and .900 save percentage are less than acceptable for such a highly regarded Canucks team. Luongo will have to go on a tear here soon to get the Canucks back to the top of the division.

Those are my picks for five teams that have gotten off to a surprising start this season. What teams have surprised you so far?

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Developing Story: Rick Rypien Attacks Fan

Oct 20

Posted by Eddie in News | 5 Comments

In a bizarre turn of events in tonight’s game between Minnesota and Vancouver, Canucks enforcer Rick Rypien took his enforcing off the ice when video showed him grabbing and pushing a fan who was applauding the fact that Rypien was double minor for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct.

fight

It all began when Rypien and Minnesota’s Brad Staubitz was about to drop the gloves for the second time of the night before being quickly separated by the linesmen. The altercation caused several scrums amongst the players on the ice which distracted the linesmen as they were trying to separate Rypien and Staubitz. They had previously fought in the first period and this altercation happened with 6:22 remaining in the second period.

Here’s a synopsis of the video that can be view here on fcfightlog’s Youtube page.

:05- First linesman that was closest to the players intervene to separate Staubitz and Rypien.

:10- Just before second linesman arrives (#91), Rypien gets in one last cheap shot on the face of Staubitz.

:20- More grabbing/clutching between the players on the ice.

:59- Watch the fan in the white jersey. All you can see is him clapping towards the Canuck’s bench.

1:02-When Rypien was on his way to the locker room, he reaches over the railing and grabs the fan. Fan in red jersey intervenes and pushes Rypien away. Rypien is then separated by teammate Manny Malhotra before continuing onto the locker room.

1:44- Both fans involved are both removed from their seats and presumably ejected.

The announcers broadcasting the game were right in that they were unfairly ejected because at least according to the video footage, they didn’t do anything wrong. All we can see is the fan clapping his hands. We don’t know or can’t tell if anything was said by the fan to Rypien. But we do know one thing, and that Colin Campbell at the NHL’s headquarters will at the minimum fine, and likely suspend Rypien for multiple games. Minnesota, which led 5-1 at the time, scored another power-play goal eight seconds later. Rypien was in the penalty box to start the third period.

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Is a goalie controversy brewing in Pittsburgh?

Oct 19

Posted by Chris in Fantasy, News | 2 Comments

Marc-Andre Fleury appears to be in the hot seat after receiving some tough competition from back-up netminder Brent Johnson recently, and Penguins coach Dan Bylsma seems to be more than willing to ride the hot hand.

Fleury has struggled early to find his game and has played dismally so far this season. In three starts, Fleury has yet to win a game and boasts an unimpressive 3.41 goals against average with a .853 save percentage. His most recent loss came at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs last week when Fleury let in four goals on only 14 shots.

Johnson, a career back-up goaltender who has spent time in the past with St. Louis, Phoenix and Washington, has been stellar for the Penguins thus far and has helped the team win three in a row since the loss to Toronto. During that time, Johnson has  posted a 1.49 goals against average and a .950 save percentage.

Before yesterday’s game against the Ottawa Senators, Bylsma stated that he didn’t know who the starting netminder would be for the team and that it would be a “game-time decision.” Johnson was awarded his third consecutive start and made the most of it by turning away 32 shots on net to advance his record to 4-0 on the season. The Penguins won the game by a margin of 5-2.

“It’s Flower’s (Fleury’s) team, everyone knows that,” Johnson said. “It’s important right now that if I am looked upon to get in there, I try to get the job done.”

If you happen to own Fleury in a Fantasy Hockey league, don’t panic just yet. It’s still early enough in the season that Fleury can rebound back to prime form. The Penguins have two games remaining this week. The team will visit Nashville on Thursday and then St. Louis on Saturday. Fleury will most likely receive at least one of those starts and get the chance to redeem himself and gain back some confidence.

Phoenix Coyote’s Shane Doan Suspended

Oct 19

Posted by EB in News | No Comments

In an effort to crack down on blindside hits, the NHL is enforcing their newly drafted rules in a suspension to Phoenix Coyote’s captain Shane Doan. Doan will be suspended 3 games for a hit against Dan Sexton of the Anaheim Ducks.

The distinction of a suspension or not was reviewed from a few angles: 1. Sexton released the puck well before the hit and 2. Doan’s angle of impact. Some may argue that the hit was legal, and since Sexton was not injured so therefore no foul on the play. These are of course subject to interpretation, legality of the hit that being, but to only suspend players who have another goes against the principal of the rules; to be proactive and avoid player injury.

Doan will miss games against the Los Angeles Kings, Carolina Hurricanes and the Montreal Canadiens. His return will be against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, October 26.

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Hockey World Blog Power Rankings: Week 1

Oct 18

Posted by Eddie in Power Rankings | 3 Comments

What a great first week of the season! We had games in Europe, as well as in North America. Every team has played at least three games, while others have played as many as six. While it’s still early in the season, evaluating teams over the last 10 days has allowed me to gauge where teams are, what they have to improve on, as well as who are the early season surprises. I hope that my preseason rankings are more of what will shake out over the course of the season, and not what I seen over the first week. This could be perhaps the best evaluation of the teams in relation to number of games played because of the fact some teams played as many as six games over the 10-day span. With the rest of the weekly rankings, teams could play as little as two, and no more than four games. I had a fan e-mail me asking why did I choose six teams for the weekly Top Six and Bottom Six and not a “more common” number like five? I figured since we had the Original Six in the NHL prior to the 1967 expansion, why not use six? Enjoy the rankings below and check back next week to see if your team cracked the Top Six or jumped out of the Bottom Six.

Rank Team Last Week Team Notes
1 WAS 1 Backup goalie Neuvirth is worth his weight in gold.
2 TOR 23 Leaf’s fans have been waiting for a contender for years. Is this their year?
3 DAL 25 Kari Lehtonen is 4-0 and they spanked Detroit 4-1 in home opener. Tonight’s game @TB should be exciting.
4 NSH 21 Posted impressive victory @CHI and managed to earn a point against WAS. Tied for Central lead.
5 MTL 11 Played five games in 10 days. Any team would take a 3-1-1 record in that short period of time.
6 DET 4 What will worry Wings fans more: Osgood’s performance @DAL or an injured Brian Rafalski?
25 MIN 24 They stayed fairly similar to preseason ranking. They are what they are, but havetime to improve.
26 NJ 8 Salary cap did Devils in when they dressed 15 skaters against PITT last week. Only win was in shootout against BUF.
27 VAN 2 Goal Roberto Luongo allowed to Justin Williams was one of softest I have ever seen. He must play better.
28 NYR 26 With Marian Gaborik and Chris Drury injured for several weeks, the Rangers and the Bottom Six will be good friends.
29 ANA 20 Started 0-3, but avoided last due to two wins and OTL in last three games.
30 BUF 10 Are ranked this low because of losses to two Bottom Six teams and earning 1 point in last five games.

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