The "Fans" Don't Laich It

Wahhhhhhhhh ;(

Habs pull off what literally everyone thought was absolutely impossible. I'm still in shock myself, but thoroughly enjoying it. The Montreal Canadiens, bottom seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, down 3-1 in a best of seven series to the Washington Capitals, top seed in the Eastern Conference.

99% of the Caps "fan"base

Caps came out of the season #1 in standings points and offense. Sure enough, in an epic choke-fest, the Caps lose at home game seven, and get to stay

home on the couch for the rest of the playoffs. I'll never be confused with a Caps fan, and this is certainly biased, but I don't really care. This should have never come to game seven. Bruce Boudreau again shows he has no fucking clue what he's doing in the big leagues coaching position.

What The Hell Am I Doing?

Don't worry, the Caps have super-stud Norris-nominee defenseman Mike Green! Oh wait, he took the unnecessary cross-check/interference penalty leading to the Habs first goal. And he was on ice for the second Habs goal. Nevermind...

Ian Laperriere Done For The Season :(

Ian Laperriere Leaving His Heart and Soul on the Ice

Typical fucking New Jersey fans cheering an injury. Unfortunately this just cost Ian the rest of this season. I literally just died a little inside, feeling completely terrible. This happened to literally the last player who deserved it. Here's a link to the transcript of a teleconference with Philadelphia Flyers GM Paul Holmgren regarding Ian's status.

Love how the Chief Neurosurgeon at the University of Pittsburgh Hospital backtracks when asked about the concussion.

"First he said no, he didn’t have a concussion but then he kind of back tracked and said ‘Well its safe to say that he’s got a mild concussion’ so Ian felt… obviously the blurred vision scared him." - Philadelphia Flyers GM Paul Holmgren when asked what the doctor said TODAY

What. The. Fuck. How much more bad luck can this franchise take with these injuries (Emery,Leighton, Carter's second sting, Gagne's second stint, Lappy ALL currently out) and crack-pot doctors?

Oh, that's how...

Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy Finalists

The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey. The winner is selected by a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association after each team nominates one player in competition. It is often awarded to a player who has come back from career- or even life-threatening illness or injury. A player can receive this trophy only once in his career.

This year's three finalists have literally incredible stories, so I'm going to go out of my way to make sure as many people know as possible what these human beings have had to endure. I won't even pretend to know what it's like to go a day through some of these guys' shoes:

Jose Theodore, Goalie for the Washington Capitals

Theodore created Saves for Kids, which benefits the neonatal intensive care unit of the hospital where his son, who died last summer, spent his 54-day life.

Jed Ortmeyer, Right Wing for the San Jose Sharks

Ortmeyer must inject a blood thinner into his stomach each day to combat a hereditary blood-clotting disorder. He had 19 points in 76 games.

Kurtis Foster, Defenseman for the Tampa Bay Lightning

Foster had career bests of 71 games, 34 assists and 42 points, after returning from a broken leg.



As with all trophies in the NHL, the Masterton will be awarded after the season at the NHL's awards ceremony. Information from the Associated Press (via Yahoo Sports) was used in this post.

Define irony: Ruutu suckers Cooke

In a great moment of sports irony, Jarkko Ruutu sucker punches Matt Cooke.

Cooke wisely turtles, since he is a horrible fighter, and Ruutu is more than capable, but this is the playoffs. Show some heart.

FINALLY

Finally, I get to watch a Caps game.

Game 1, I was in class.

Game 2, I was away at drill.

Game 3, I was in class.

Game 4, I had the opportunity to pick up a shift and make some good money, but I couldn't pass up playoff hockey. Go Caps.

The NJ Nightmare

The "Danimal"

Yep, I'm pretty sure this is what Brodeur wakes up from at 3am in a cold sweat. Philadelphia Flyers winger Daniel Carcillo is playing some good playoff hockey - so far.

Game 3 - Home of the Best Home-Ice Advantage Fans in Hockey

Sample:

Centre Bell:

Theodore:

Habs fans, get more of your stuff on youtube. You guys have way better to offer, get it on the net.

Game 3 - Home of the Second-Best Home-Ice Advantage Fans in Hockey

That Sound You Heard at the End Was NJ Realizing They Stood No Chance

Crosby Sucks!

Hey Ref You Suck!

Mandatory. So Synchronized, Colleges Are Jealous

Can you tell I'm ready for some Game 3 action? 6:00 Eastern can't get here soon enough. Let's not forget this semi-recent gem courtesy of the Washington Post and its sorry excuse for hockey coverage, courtesy of sports "columnist" Mike Wise 'Beaten To the Punch':

"The fans wore orange instead of the Capitals' red, and many of the women and children looked as if they could work security for Megadeth."

I'll leave this alone for now, as this needs no commentary (very difficult for me, as this is one of my FAVORITES). The T-Shirts rolled out at the next home game (sample):

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz?

We've already got our money, why play hard?

Screw guaranteed contracts. Just look at the Philly remake of the childhood favorite Wizard of Oz, "starring:"

Scott Fartsmell (19) as the Scarecrow - If I Only Had a Brain
Daniel Briere (48) as the Tin Man - If I Only Had a Heart
Braydon Coburn (5) as the Cowardly Lion - meow
Riley Cote (32) as Dorothy Gale - I Just Want To Go Home

Well children, we're not in Kansas anymore. This is the playoffs, so start fucking acting like it. Hit, chase, dig deep, get fired up, and score some points. Boucher has been left to fucking dry two games in a row now. Get it together, I don't care how. Game three in Philly tomorrow, act like you care - the fans do (as evidenced by 1/3 of the Rock being filled with loud and proud Flyers fans for game two). The livers in Philly are depending on you.

The Invisible Man

Where did he go?

Duh Award of the Year

Ovechkin is the NHL's top Russian player.

Flyers @ Devils Game 1 Observations

• Ilya Kovalchuk is about twice as fast as the entire Flyers roster combined. Holy freaking crap. I'm pretty sure he was found changing in an old-school phone booth before the game...
• Ian Laperriere wears a mouth guard??? Like beer without alcohol, what's the point? This is basically the equivalent of putting air bags on a motorcycle or an ice hockey team in Atlanta.
• Mike Richards refuses to be out-done by Pronger. Nearly invisible until Pronger scores, then he slaps one in too.
• TSN coverage is way better than anything on NBC or VS. I doubt USA ESPN could do better. Maybe it's time for TSN to expand into the US?
• Brodeur is now mortal? Huh?
• Briere STILL can't play a game without his stick in the air half the time.
• The Devils have plural scoring threats, possibly the best collection since their EGG (Elias/Gionta/Gomez) line. Now it's Kovalchuk, Elias (still? c'mon man...), Parise, and Zajac. For the Devils, that's a cornucopia.
• Devils fans are retarded. You score a goal and chant "Hey, you suck"...but you're down 2-1. Let's not forget, that place was quiet as a church on Sunday during their "Let's Go Devils" music. No one spoke.
• Philly didn't want it enough. Why play defensive on a PP late in the game? Stupid crap like that loses you games. Stomp the throat, skate on (for those who suck at sarcasm, that's not literate).
• NJ wants it. 6 forwards on ice during empty net time. Nice.
• Philly fans: Booooooooouuuuusssssshhhhhhh! Keep it loud and proud!

Apparently the Devil likes little girls...pedo....

What?

Fight from April 11; Rechlicz vs. Rupp

Few days late on this one...

I seriously was laughing very hard at Wrecker's glove drop. I've never seen anything like this before.

Absurd. Awesome.

Theodore leaves the ice after being hit by Ovechkin shot

TSN.ca reports:

It has been an eventful two days for Washington Capitals goaltender Jose Theodore.

After being named the Caps' starting netminder for the playoffs and having his credentials questioned by former teammate Tomas Plekanec on Tuesday, Theodore left the ice at practice Wednesday after being hit by a shot by Alex Ovechkin.

Ovechkin's shot hit Theodore in the arm, causing the 33-year old keeper to head to the bench for a brief period. He then returned to the ice before heading to the locker room for the remainder of practice.

While Theodore did not speak to the media following practice, Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau said that Theodore got a "stinger" from being hit by Ovechkin's shot. Boudreau also believes that Theodore should be fine.

The Capitals kick off their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday. It's a game you can catch on TSN and TSNHD starting at 7pm et/4pm pt.

Good. Pile it all on Theo. He's a big boy. He handled all the pressure in the world from the Habs fans while putting up stellar numbers for a team whose leading scorer averaged less than .7 points per game and was a 30 year old Yanic Perreault - he wasn't even in the top 50 that year. Trap hockey my ass, this team just sucked.

Yet, Theo was able to transcend all of this and elevate this team to the 8th seed, upsetting top seed Boston in a very memorable series. Even though they lost in the second round, the point remains: Theodore took a very bad team into the second round of a playoffs they had no business participating in, while under the microscope of a starved Montreal fanbase.

He was run out of town because he didn't win a Cup. Guys, the team sucked. I can't stress this enough. Theo had so much pressure put on him, and still played this well.

Theo needs this kind of pressure for him to play well. He's the official starting goaltender for the best regular season team in the league, had a tumultuous year, has a former teammate questioning his ability, and now this? Good. Let Theo deal with all of the pressure and distractions so he doesn't become his own worst enemy.

Don't sleep on Theodore guys. He's legit, and always has been.

Colin Campbell is an idiot (pt. 20?)

Darren Dreger reports, via TSN.ca:

On a pre-playoff conference call on Monday, Colin Campbell, the NHL's director of hockey operations informed coaches and general managers of what the league views as potential postseason hot spots.

The threat of any confrontation in the pre-game warmup is of particular concern to the league. To the point, Campbell warned the 16 teams, if an altercation mars the series, the offending team could lose a roster spot on the night the incident takes place, meaning the disciplined team would be forced to play the game with 17 skaters and two goalies.

In light of a recent incident, the Flyers-Devils series has the potential to turn nasty. Philadelphia forward Dan Carcillo was suspended two games for crosschecking Devils forward David Clarkson in the head late in a game on March 28th. The two teams haven't played since.

In a regular season game in Toronto in 2007, Rangers forward Sean Averyenraged Darcy Tucker and a collection of Maple Leafs, sparking a pre-game skirmish.

Fines and, or suspensions will be handed out if something similar occurs this postseason.

Late game “message sending”, namely a fight or a seemingly deliberate intent to injury when the game is out of hand was also strongly discouraged by the league on Mondays call with threats of suspensions and fines.

A year ago, Philadelphia's Dan Carcillo was given a one game suspension for an apparent butt-end to Pittsburgh's Max Talbot's face as time expired in the Penguins 4-1 series opening victory. Flyers coach John Stevens was also fined $10,000.

Finally, coaches and general managers were also told goaltender interference will be watched closely.

The Phoenix Coyotes are sure to remind round one officials of this on a game by game basis as Detroit's Tomas Holmstrom has mastered the art of screening, deflecting pucks, and generally agitating opposition goaltenders.

The NHL intends to watch Holmstrom and all “crease crashers” closely, and Colin Campbell suggests it's best to stay out of the blue paint to avoid a penalty.

The National Hockey League understands it's an intense and emotional time of year. However, the tolerance for what the league considers unnecessary, as per usual in the playoffs, will be minimal.

Way to be, Colin. Instead of letting a series play like a series, we want a few individual games against a common opponent instead. The playoffs are the playoffs because of message sending, relaxed penalties (especially goaltender interference), pre-game altercations/shit stirring, and so on.

Encouraging teams to avoid the goalie crease? Punishing teams by forcing them to play with one fewer roster spot? We are actively trying to avoid fun, physical hockey, and PROMOTE RIVALRIES. Isn't that what the NHL was bragging about having? Good rivalries? What the NHL still seems to fail to realize is that a 6 game set between the Caps and Thrashers isn't a rivalry. A 7 game series full of fights, iffy hits, grinding, and hatred between fans and players alike is what makes a rivalry.

The Devils and Flyers could be a great series. Let the Dan Carcillo story arc play out. Let PLLL and Clarkson take care of business. Let Asham and Hartnell stand on top of Brodeur.

Nah, we want Kosher hockey. Lots of triple axels. I hope there's some good baseball on tv.

Playoff Ladder

Round 1 Eastern Conference:

1 Washington - Washington in 4

8 Montreal

Washington rolls over Montreal, as I stated in a previous post.

4 Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh in 6

5 Ottawa

The defending champs roll on, beating a hot Ottawa team, behind strong play from Fleury and a motivated Crosby carrying the team.

3 Buffalo - Buffalo in 5

6 Boston

Ryan Miller.

2 New Jersey - New Jersey in 7

7 Philadelphia

Philly scratched their way into the playoffs, and they will scratch out at least 2 wins in this series, but the Devils have too much firepower for the Flyers (seriously, New Jersey with firepower, and I don't mean guns).

Round 2 Eastern Conference:

1 Washington - Washington in 6

4 Pittsburgh

Probably the most anticipated playoff matchup this year will happen in the second round again this year. Ovechkin's boys get some revenge this time around. We'll see a great series, with some good physical play in front of both nets, but the Caps have the firepower and the depth that Pittsburgh just doesn't have. This is going to be a star on star matchup, but it's the role players that decide this one. Cue Scott Walker and Eric Belanger.

2 New Jersey - New Jersey in 6

3 Buffalo

A great goalie vs. goalie matchup. Probably the best two guys in the league outright. New Jersey's advantage comes from experience, and a determined Iyla Kovalchuk. He won't get his ring this year, but he'll have a hell of a series.

Round 3 Eastern Conference:

1 Washington - Washington in 7

2 New Jersey

Two powerhouses battle, but Washington's firepower is too much. This is going to be a shootout and Washington comes out on top, but just barely. Home ice is key.

--

Round 1 Western Conference:

1 San Jose - San Jose in 5

8 Colorado

San Jose stumbled into the top seed, but Colorado barely made the playoffs after a late season meltdown. Sharks win handily.

4 Phoenix

5 Detroit - Detroit in 6

I suppose this is an upset, if only for the length of the series, but Detroit is healthy and is just too good of a team to not advance at least one round, especially against an inexperienced team.

3 Vancouver - Vancouver in 5

6 Los Angeles

Los Angeles is an enigma. They have good goaltending, inconsistent offense, and a strong young defense. This just isn't their year to shine; no Cinderella stories this year.

2 Chicago - Chicago in 4

7 Nashville

Chicago is Washington of the West. Nashville is a surprise 7 seed; they have great coaching and a strong defense, but they won't score much on this motivated 'Hawks team.

Round 2 Western Conference:

1 San Jose - San Jose in 7

5 Detroit

I think Detroit is the better team in this series, but home ice proves to be key.

2 Chicago - Chicago in 6

3 Vancouver

Probably the toughest series to call. Chicago is great, has great firepower, a fast defense and solid but not starpower goaltending, and Vancouver has even better firepower, a stronger defense, and a Hall of Fame goalie. Both teams match up well physically - we will see Kesler and Ladd fight at least once - but this is where Hossa's experience comes into play. He knows what it takes to win in the playoffs now, and he's determined to do it.

Round 3 Western Conference:

1 San Jose

2 Chicago - Chicago in 5

Sharks just aren't that good. Early series implosion, Nabby steals a game, then Chicago rolls on.

--

Stanley Cup

1 Washington

2 Chicago - Chicago in 6

There you have it folks. No major upsets this year. The top seeds are strong, hot, and with the exception of Washington, all win in the goalie matchups in the first round. Don't expect to see any first round shockers.

Hossa gets his ring. For real.

Penguins eh?

Penguins eh?

I couldn't care less where Table Mountain National Park is, but this is just too perfect. I don't care that it's certainly on the opposite side of the Earth from Ottawa. Winning the series might be tough without Kovalev (depending on who you ask, it might help too)...Go Sens?

Brian Boucher

It's that damn Boucher! He's so hot right now!

Although it's naive to hang your hat on stats, especially barely relevant ones, Rich Hoffman of the Philadelphia Daily News (via philly.com) brings up a nice point regarding Brian Boucher:

In the last five games, though, it is .931, which is excellent.

It's a good read, one of the few nowadays unfortunately, but I digress. Bouch may have hit one of his hot streaks he's been known to hit once in a while. Remember back in Phoenix when he blanked five in a row (nearly six, ruined by a fluke goal)?

If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'

I'm not saying it's going to happen again, but let's be honest here, Sunday was the perfect day to get hot. Hopefully he can keep it up playing opposite the greatest goaltender to ever play the game. It's payback time for 2000 (what IS the record for longest time between playoff rematches with the same goaltenders on the same teams?), and we all know payback is a bitch.

Let's Go Flyers! Beat the Devils!

Caps first round playoff matchup

The Washington Capitals will play the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs. The Habs won the season set 2-1-1.

Key matchups:

Markov on Ovechkin. Hal Gill used to be decent at being a shut down defenseman, but that was in the hook and hold era. Markov isn't anyone's shut down guy, but he's the best Montreal has, is a good skater, and an interesting twist is that he and Ovechkin are great friends off the ice. I wonder how this will play out. Advantage Ovechkin.

Schultz on Gionta. I hate to say it, but Schultz has become the Caps top shut down dman. That's a sad sight, as he is about as physical as a marshmallow. But he is a good skater for his size, and that's going to be key in this matchup. Gionta is slippery, but Schultz isn't going to throw any big hits anyway, so that doesn't matter. Schultz will have to remain in good positioning, keep Gionta to the outside, block some shots (Gionta averaged 3.92 shots per game), to give whoever's in goal a chance to win. Advantage Schultz.

Halak on Theo. I predict the Caps will start Theo, and Halak should be the Habs starting goalie. This goalie head to head matchup will be key, along with every playoff series, ever. We've seen how a goalie can steal the show (Cam Ward), and this series is no different. Even with all of the Caps firepower, if Halak shows up to compete, and Theo is soft, the Habs will have a strong chance to pull off this unlikeliest of upsets. Advantage Theo, for the simple fact that he's been there, and he's done that.

The Caps' firepower is too much. Sure, the defense is shaky, but they can skate, which is all you need against this small Habs team. No one is really going to plant themselves in front of the Caps net, so the Caps won't have to worry about another 8 goal embarrassment in this series. I really like the depth forwards the Caps have (who would expect that Brendan Morrison and Scott Walker would be third liners being rotated in and out of the line up?). I like the goaltending situation. People gave up on Theodore because he hasn't played like Roy for his whole career, but he's damn good and he has proven it this year.

Slick skating, and high scoring is all the Caps will need against this similarly built Habs team. The Caps are just better overall, and easily win this matchup. My prediction: Caps in 4.

Awesome SPHL brawl

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/30/sphl-hockey-fight-lasts-s_n_518435.html

I have nothing to add as I've heard no news since, but this is a really cool video and a brief write up of the incident. Check it out.

Phoenix to Winnipeg?

One Great City! Eh?

The rumors get more interesting, when they come from local (for this story) sources.

*IF* this would happen, the NHL should do this smart. All jokes aside, I'm not ripping the NHL this time. I would move Winnipeg to the Northwest division with Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Minnesota - and moving Colorado to the Pacific with San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim, and Dallas. Bluntly, it makes sense from a travel expense point of view for all affected teams, especially since the semi-recent increase in games played in division. It would foster more Canadian rivalries, hopefully spurring income for the four Canadian teams in the same division.

While on the topic, please move Atlanta to Hartford. Bring back the whale!