If You Miss The NHL Like I Do
Then check out these plays. I was looking through YouTube and came across this nice montage of the plays of the season to date. Some of these goals are absolutely incredible. So are some of the hits.
Enjoy.
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February 23, 2010
Hossa Wow's The CrowdDid you see this yesterday? Blackhawks winger Marian Hossa scored one of the best goals of the NHL season so far. Check it out!
Nice. For You Puck Heads In JulyI know some of you out there are clamoring for some hockey talk, since it has been a month since anything ice-related has been relevant. Our buddies up at NYRangerscast.com caught up with newest New York Ranger Matt Gilroy (the former Boston University star), and if you're interested you should check it out. Other Notable NHL Signings Today
Hossa Signs With BlackhawksThe Chicago Blackhawks have signed superstar winger Marian Hossa to a twelve year, 62-million dollar contract to play the rest of his career in Chicago. The Hawks have also signed Tomas Kopecky to a two year contract. The center played the last few seasons with the Detroit Red Wings. Hossa scored 40 goals last year, ranked 5th in the NHL, and is considered one of the most prolific scorers in the league. Kopecky has been a defensive minded winger and center, who has played regularly for the last two years in Detroit. With the signing of Hossa, it likely means that Marty Havlat will not resign with Chicago, and rumor has it the LA Kings are interested. As soon as I have more info, I'll post it. I have been working the phones this morning. Winter Classic At Fenway?From ESPN.com news services: The Philadelphia Flyers will accept an invitation to play the Boston Bruins in the NHL Winter Classic in Fenway Park on New Year's Day, a source told ESPN.com's E.J. Hradek. Earlier reports indicated the Washington Capitals would play the Bruins in the third Winter Classic. But the NHL has an eye on matching the Capitals and the Rangers at the new Yankee Stadium on New Year's Day 2011. Also, a plan for a New Year's Day 2010 Winter Classic doubleheader (Flyers versus Bruins at Fenway; Leafs versus Flames at McMahon Stadium in Calgary) continues to move forward. The first game is set. The second half of the twin bill should get the approval of the league's competition committee, which will meet tomorrow morning in Montreal. I am already excited for both these games. Fenway and Yankee Stadium are ideal venues for the Winter Classic after Wrigley Field this year. Well done NHL! Your thoughts welcome. Hockey Season Ends Tonight, And I Can't WatchSo I was really excited to watch the finale of the hockey season tonight. Nothing better than Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals to determine which team is crowned hockey's next champion. Instead, I'm not going to be able to watch, as the family has sucked me in to go see Fiddler On The Roof. No offense to the performers, but I'm guessing no performance of "Sunrise, Sunset" is going to top the hoisting of Lord Stanley's Cup. Just a thought. It's a shame I won't be able to watch this game, because it's the last hockey game of importance until next October. After such a great year of hockey, missing the last game of the season is like reading a book that is missing the last 10 pages. You've gotten all the way to the end, and then you miss out on the big ending. Of course, Detroit could just blow Pittsburgh out like they did in game 5, but for hockey's sake let's hope they don't. What a story it would be if Pittsburgh was able to win this series, and win for the first time on the road in this year's Stanley Cup Finals. They'd get revenge on the Red Wings for last year's cup win, and this time Sid the Kid would get the chance to hoist the cup for the first time, on the enemy ice, just like the Wings did last year in Pittsburgh. And Marian Hossa, who left the Penguins following last year's Stanley Cup loss to "win a cup" in Detroit, would lose to the team he left in the Cup Finals. Not to mention Hossa hasn't even scored in this series. What if he were to finally net a goal to beat his former club in game seven? Oh the storylines and the intrigue I'll be missing. This show better be good. Otherwise? A huge flop of an evening. I'm setting the DVR. Hockey Leaving The Desert?The Phoenix Coyotes only have one thing going for them: they have the biggest star in the history of the game as their coach. Otherwise, there's not much that's been positive for Wayne Gretzky's team in the desert. Hockey's not really a sport for the warm weather, and consequently people out in Arizona aren't showing up to games. The team had the third worst attendance figure in the league last year, averaging just 14,875 people in paid attendance for the 2008-2009 season. Now, they could be moved out of Phoenix by a Canadian billionaire. Good move. Jim Balsille says he's "one step closer" to bringing the Coyotes to a new location in Southern Ontario, according to an Associated Press report. He feels confident after a hearing at a U.S. Bankruptcy Court where discussions were held about the potential sale. At this website, you can get the updates about Balsille's quest to bring a seventh NHL team to Canada, and if you ask him this seems like something that could happen soon. Last year's Coyotes outfit finished 36-39-7, meaning they were bad, and no one cared. Not sure if anyone in Phoenix would notice if the team moved to Canada. It would be good for the sport if hockey-crazed Canadians got another team where they could fill an arena to the rafters and maybe have the team prosper in a new and better location. Here's to hoping this happens soon. NHL On NBC: A Must, No Matter WhatAll week the NHL took a lot of heat from national media outlets that don't adequately cover hockey (ahem, ESPN) for rescheduling game two of the Stanley Cup Finals for tonight to ensure that NBC can carry the game instead of their cable partner, Versus. The controversy stemmed from the fact that games one and two of hockey's championship series would be played on back to back nights, an abnormality for the playoff format. The NHL originally slated for the Stanley Cup Finals to begin June 5th, but with Pittsburgh ousting Carolina in a four game sweep and Detroit taking care of Chicago in five games in the Conference Finals, the league decided to move the series up to begin last night. If you didn't see the game, the Red Wings beat the Penguins 3-1 at the Joe Louis Arena in game one. Now the two teams will be forced to play game two tonight so that NBC can carry the contest instead of Versus, ensuring a larger national audience. The situation is not ideal, as anyone who knows a thing about hockey knows that the sport is so physically demanding and draining that playing on back to back nights, while it occasionally happens in the regular season, is not easy for most teams. But in this case the players, coaches, fans, and anyone affiliated with the sport of hockey must understand that no matter what, the league needs these games to be on network television at whatever cost. Top 10 Goals of the NHL's Conference FinalsWatch all the way til the end. The goals by Patrick Kane and then Evgeni Malkin are sweet at the end. Especially Malkin's. It's a ridiculous goal.
Top 10 Plays Of The NHL Regular SeasonSaw this today, and now I'm sharing it with you. SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays of the NHL Regular Season. They are unbelievable. Enjoy.
Because You Can't Change The ChannelI have watched both the NBA and NHL Playoffs. I have watched many teams, both rounds and have enjoyed the suspense that the post-seasons provide. But I can't help noticing how little the suspense of the NBA Playoffs compares to that of the NHL's. I'm not saying the NBA playoffs haven't been interesting. They have been. The Boston vs. Chicago first round series was fantastic. There were some great moments in the Miami vs. Atlanta series. I have enjoyed the parts of the Houston and Los Angeles series that I have watched. Yet it just doesn't compare to the moments I've experienced watching the NHL Playoffs. Carolina's two goals in the final eighty seconds to steal a victory from New Jersey. The goal with 0.2 seconds left on the clock by Hurricanes winger Jussi Jokinen. A triple overtime victory for Anaheim in Detroit. The top seeded Sharks being knocked out in the first round. (And top seeded Boston could be out in the east soon too.) Chicago's game tying goal in the final three minutes of regulation vs. Vancouver and it's overtime winner just a few minutes into the sudden death. The list goes on. Besides the great moments, however, the reason I'm watching hockey more than basketball is because the games are so suspenseful you can't turn them off. The sense of urgency is extraordinary. You can't change the channel. If you do, you might miss everything. The Rivalry To Revive HockeyThey are the two biggest stars in the NHL. Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin. And lucky for the league, the two are facing each other in a second round playoff series. The winner moves on to the Eastern Conference Finals, the loser goes home. But the series only figures to strengthen the rivalry between the two big stars and provide many heroics for hockey fans across the country. Gary Bettman must be watching this series with a grin from ear to ear. Why There's Nothing Better Than Being A Sports FanI decided to go into covering sports for a living because ultimately, I'm a huge fan. That's also why I decided to start this website five months ago, because I wanted to comment on all the things in sports important to me. Regardless of what I cover in the media, I'll always have that same passion for sports. If at any point I don't care about the games anymore, or I feel like it's work, I'm getting out of this industry for good. Last night I covered the Stanley Cup Playoff Game between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Calgary Flames. I sat among the press in the beautiful United Center press box with media members I knew from the newspaper, television or radio. I watched the game with a pen and pad of paper, taking notes on things to ask about in the post game interviews. Mostly, though, I was watching the game as a nervous wreck hoping the Blackhawks would find a way to win. Calgary scored the first goal of the game at the 7:36 mark of the 1st period, a Jarome Iginla goal assisted by Mike Cammalleri and Dion Phaneuf. (For those of you who don't follow hockey, that means with 12:24 left on the clock). I could do just fine pretending not to be partial for this. I don't usually react when my teams perform poorly, so I marked it down on my pad of paper and was able to play the character of "impartial media" without a hitch. Same thing when Calgary scored again. This time at the 16:15 mark of the 1st period. This time it was former Hawks captain Adrian Aucoin, assisted by Iginla and the newly acquired Olli Jokinen. I was annoyed, given that Aucoin was garbage when he played in Chicago and was frequently injured. "Figures," I uttered under my breath. Still, I don't think anyone noticed my emotion. Between periods I was chatting with other members of the media sitting around me. They were joking about the Blackhawks poor play in the first twenty minutes. I kept thinking to myself, some of these guys are from around here, or have covered the team for years. Don't they want this team to win at all? Why aren't they nervous, or frustrated? I was nervous and frustrated, but laughed it off with these media cohorts hoping we wouldn't be having the same conversation at the end of the second. Forty six seconds into the second period the Blackhawks netted their first goal. "YES!" I blurted, this time unable to keep my cool. Jonathan Toews (Scott's boy) sends one in from the right side of the net over the shoulder of Flames goalie Mikka Kipprusoff. Assists to Cam Barker and Patrick Sharp. A guy sitting next to me chuckled to himself and scoffed, "well at least they showed up." I wanted to swat him and remind him there was nearly forty minutes of hockey left and it was a one goal game. Anything could happen. Thirteen minutes go by. Scoring chances are squandered by both teams. Then Patrick Kane races down the side wall, and floats a perfect saucer pass for Patrick Sharp in front of the net. Deke, shot, score. The United Center explodes. I nearly jump out of my seat. I didn't yell, but I had a grin across my face so wide it nearly broke my cheek bones. The guy next to me now knows I can't contain myself, and he says to me, "this is fun, isn't it?". "I'm having a blast," I reply. The second period was nearly in the books and I was ready to go check out this unbelievable media spread they had in the pressbox. Until with less than a minute remaining in the period, Toews struck again. This time he plunks in a rebound off a Dave Bolland shot. The other assist to Brent Seabrook, I hear in the press box. Now the Blackhawks are winning. I am pumped. Between periods I chatted up some more media but now I can't decide whether I'm excited or still nervous. Sure, the Hawks just took the lead but can they hold it? Can Nikolai Khabibulin continue to come up with ridiculous saves? Plus, can we wear them down in the third period? We need to win both these games at home... It's the third period now and I turn to the guy next to me. "How long after the game will the players come out?" "Put it this way," he says. "You better haul your ass downstairs as fast as that clock hits zeros. It's a mad rush to the locker room. In fact, if the game's well in hand, we usually leave around the five minute mark." No one scores in the third period as five minutes are left on the clock. Still a one goal game, and still none of us can leave the press box. No empty-netters, but the Blackhawks prevail. A 3 to 2 victory, as the fog horn goes off and the stadium erupts one last time. I pack up my stuff and rush towards the elevator. Meeting me there to wait for the first trip down are people I've been watching, reading, and listening to for years. Some of them since I learned how to read. "This is the fun part now," the guy next to me said. I enter an elevator with probably twenty more people than suggested and we plunge down to the basement. When we get out, everyone is walking, but has a hop in their step, as if they could be in a dead sprint at any moment. We enter the Blackhawks locker room and immediate the walking turns into jogging. People are jockeying for positioning around Jonathan Toews. Two goals, including the game winner for the team captain. I turn on my digital recorder and listen to him talk. He finishes, and the herd flocks towards Patrick Sharp. Then we flock towards hawks defenseman Duncan Keith. A lull, for maybe two minutes, then Dustin Byfuglien comes out to meet us. All the while, we're asking whether they feel relieved by winning both games despite falling behind? Was this the most gratifying win in the young careers of these players? What adjustments can they make heading into Calgary on Monday? All of a sudden out of the corner of my eye Khabibulin waddles in with his pads just removed and the herd gallops towards him. Finally, we clear out and make our way to the press room where head coach Joel Quenneville addressed the media. This was the most relaxed part of the whole experience. You ask for the microphone, you ask your question, and the rest of the time you sit and listen to the other questions, some good and some insane from Canadian or foreign media sources. After ten minutes of this, Quenneville thanks us and walks off. I pack up my stuff and make my way towards the exit. The Calgary players are all ducking out early, so I can't get a sound bite from any of them. Now it's time to leave. I walk up the stairs to the media exit, look behind me to see if anyone's there. A Blackhawks representative is walking behind me and asks me if I had a good time. "It was great," I said. "But it was great because they won." I look again to make sure none of these other guys were around. "I know I have to pretend to be impartial right now, or at least, I've had to all night. But I'm so excited they won. What a great night." He smiled and got into the elevator. "I agree," he said, as the door closed. I opened the door of the United Center and left the building. I let out a huge fist pump outside the door. We've got a two game series lead, I thought, as I left. This is great! As fun a night as it was, it was fun because they won. It was fun because I was lucky enough to be a part of the electricity in the arena, the euphoric atmosphere of the crowd. It wasn't fun just because I was talking to athletes or sitting in a place providing me free food. That was all good, sure. But I'm a fan, and my team won. That's all that mattered. And that's why I do this. My First Hockey Playoff Game
Everyone says there is no better post-season than the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I never disputed this claim, because I had yet to experience it myself. But I was skeptical, and ignorant. Prior to this season, I had fell out of touch with hockey. I was a fan as a kid, but lost interest due to a series of organizational failures by my hometown Blackhawks. As a result, I couldn't wrap my mind around a hockey playoff being better than baseball, football or basketball. I was wrong. What I experienced tonight was one of the greatest sporting events I have ever attended, and it was only game one of a first round series. The electricity of the sell-out crowd at the United Center could only be comparable to the National League Championship Series crowds I experienced at Wrigley Field in 2003 pre-colossal Cubs choke. It was definitely better than any of the Bears playoff games, Bulls playoff games, and other baseball playoff games I have been to. The crowd cheered at deafening volumes during the National Anthem, they erupted during the two Blackhawks regulation goals, and they exploded when Marty Havlat fired in the game winner just twelve seconds into overtime. This year, my passion for the sport of hockey was reinvigorated, and it doesn't hurt that the Blackhawks had a great team. Their 104 points was third most in the Western Conference but they earned the fourth seed since they didn't win their division. I went to this game hoping to have a great time and not expecting to have any kind of mind blowing sports experience, despite what people kept telling me about playoff hockey. This experience blew away my expectations. Maybe I wouldn't be saying this if they hadn't won. Sure. But the atmosphere of the game was as intense as any sporting event I've ever seen. The excitement I experienced was nearly unparalelled. Now I know what everyone was saying about playoff hockey. I'm sold.
The Craziest Coach Ever?I don't have an explanation for this video, other than to say my dad sent this to me, and it's funny. It features Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios and actor Samuel L. Jackson. I don't know what it was made for, or why, but I think you'll find it entertaining. Enjoy.
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By Jordan Bernfield
By Jordan Bernfield
