|
Links Pgh Sports Penguins Steelers Topics Books Food Hockey Horse Racing Movies News Politics Science Soccer Sports Restaurants TV shows Main blog Commentaries Photo Albums Archive Shows/Events 2008 Archive 2007 Archive 2006 Archive 2005 Archive Resources GRE Israel Sudoku Contact me |
NHL YouTube Channel Thursday, June 12, 2008 -- Evening The NHL had its award ceremony this evening. Here are the list of winners: CALDER MEMORIAL TROPHY Award for outstanding rookie Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks FRANK J. SELKE TROPHY Award for outstanding defensive forward Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings HART MEMORIAL TROPHY Awarded to most valuable player to his team Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals JACK ADAMS AWARD Award for outstanding coach Bruce Boudreau, Washington Capitals JAMES NORRIS MEMORIAL TROPHY Award for outstanding defenseman Nick Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings LADY BYNG MEMORIAL TROPHY Awarded to player that displays sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings LESTER B. PEARSON AWARD Awarded to the most outstanding player as voted by fellow NHLPA members) Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals VEZINA TROPHY Award for outstanding goaltender Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils MASTERTON TROPHY (For the player who exhibits perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey) Jason Blake, Toronto Maple Leafs Monday, June 9, 2008 -- Afternoon Dominik Hasek officially announced his retirement for the second time today. The first time Hasek retired was in 2002 right after the Detroit Red Wings last won the Stanley Cup. Hasek probably won't be coming back after this retirement because he is now 43 years and has had issues with injuries and motivation over the past year. Hasek has been one of my favorite goalies, and it will be sad to know that he will not be playing again. Wednesday, December 19, 2007 -- Evening Chris Simon received his penalty today, and it is one of the most severe ever handed out by the NHL. Simon will be suspended for 30 games without pay. The Islanders are still being supportive of Simon, but I don't think that 30 games is enough. I think that the NHL decided that since Jarkko Ruutu wasn't injured that 30 days was sufficient. I think they needed to look at the fact that this is the seventh time that Simon has done something that brought about the censure of the NHL. Simon should never come back on the ice. Tuesday, December 18, 2007 -- Afternoon There is some news about Chris Simon. The New York Islanders have given Simon time away from the team to get some counseling to get his career back on track. You have to admit that the way Simon is going now, he's just a play away from doing serious damage to someone. It will be too late when someone is permanently injured because of Simon's actions. We can only hope that Simon does get some help. He should be meeting with officials in Toronto today to determine the punishment for stomping on Jarkko Ruutu's foot. Saturday, September 29, 2007 -- Late Evening The NHL started its regular season today in Europe with a match between last year's Stanley Cup winners, the Anaheim Ducks and LA Kings. The Kings showed some power by winning the game 4-1. This was the first time that the NHL played in Europe. Everyone else starts the season this coming Wednesday. There will be another game between the Kings and Ducks tomorrow at noon on Versus. Sunday, July 1, 2007 -- Late Afternoon The big signing in the NHL free agency so far was Daniel Briere to the Flyers for $52 million over eight years. Sunday, July 1, 2007 -- Afternoon Today is the first day of the NHL free agency. It started around noon today, and some big names are available. There isn't any work yet on whether the Pens are considering anyone. Some of the people who are shopping around are Daniel Briere, Chris Drury, and Paul Kariya. Also in hockey news: the new members of the Hockey Hall of Fame were announced on Thursday. Mark Messier, Ran Francis, and Scott Stevens were inducted on their first year of eligibility. Thursday, June 14, 2007 -- Evening I hate Versus, and the NHL should be hanging its head in shame. Why? Because here in the US, Versus was supposed to carry the NHL Awards show starting at 7 p.m. Well, it wasn't on. A fighting show was on instead. Finally at 8 p.m., a scroll eent across the bottom of the screen saying that the show was being rescheduled for 11 p.m. What the heck! This is why folks here in the US are losing interest in hockey. Hockey is only available here on crappy Versus--and they can't even show the Awards show live. How absolutely ridiculous! For shame NHL and Versus. So to find out who won what, I have to resort to refreshing the TSN Hockey page. The Pens had some bad news when Michel Therrien lost the Jack Adams Award for Outstanding Coach. However things picked up when Evgeni Malkin won the Calder Memorial Trophy for Outstanding Rookie. Sidney Crosby won the Lester B. Pearson Award AND the Hart Trophy. I was whooping it up for Crosby when I read it on TSN. It seems that the vote wasn't even close. Crosby had 91 first place votes and 1,225 points. Roberto Luongo was second with 25 first place votes and 801 points. Martin Brodeur was third with 21 first place votes and 763 points. What a great night for Crosby and the Pens! Here are the list of winners: CALDER MEMORIAL TROPHY Award for outstanding rookie Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins FRANK J. SELKE TROPHY Award for outstanding defensive forward Rod Brind'Amour, Carolina Hurricanes HART MEMORIAL TROPHY Awarded to most valuable player to his team Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins JACK ADAMS AWARD Award for outstanding coach Alain Vigneault, Vancouver Canucks JAMES NORRIS MEMORIAL TROPHY Award for outstanding defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings LADY BYNG MEMORIAL TROPHY Awarded to player that displays sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings LESTER B. PEARSON AWARD Awarded to the most outstanding player as voted by fellow NHLPA members) Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins VEZINA TROPHY Award for outstanding goaltender (For the first time since the inception of the NHL awards in 1983, there are more than three finalists in a category; There was a third-place tie in balloting for the Vezina, resulting in four finalists.) Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils MASTERTON TROPHY (For the player who exhibits perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey) Phil Kessel, Boston Bruins Thursday, June 7, 2007 -- Afternoon The Anaheim Ducks won their first Stanley Cup last night. It was a pitiful display on the part of the Ottawa Senators. The really sad part was when Chris Phillips was coming around from behind the Senators net, mishandled the puck, and shot it into his own goal. It's as if the Senators are jinxed. Now I have to find some other sport to watch until hockey season restarts.
Sunday, June 3, 2007 -- Evening All viewers of yesterday's hockey game knew that it was bound to happen. Chris Pronger was given a one game suspension. Obviously the officals are leary of giving someone of Pronger's status a stiffer penalty, but I think that his continued thugishness needs to be addressed.
Saturday, June 2, 2007 -- Late Evening Chris Pronger was back to his thuggish ways in the Ottawa Senators and Anaheim Ducks Stanley Cup game this evening. Pronger elbowed Dean McAmmond in the head, knocking McAmmond to the ice. McAmmond's head banged off the ice, and then he slid into the boards head first. After a few minutes, McAmmond was helped off the ice. Pronger didn't get a penalty, but the play should be reviewed (as all plays are reviewed by the officials), and Pronger should get some sort of penalty. Unfortunately, the ref claimed that he didn't see the play so he couldn't call a penalty. Pronger's action illustrates why I don't care for the Ducks. They play rough and loose with the rules, and try their darndest to commit dirty acts. Fortunately Ottawa won this evening with a final score of 5-3.
Sunday, May 27, 2007 -- Early Afternoon I have to admit that I am having serious hockey withdraw. Part of the reason is the poor decision making on the part of the NHL and Gary Bettman. The NHL did itself a great disservice by having a week pass between the final game in the Western Conference final and the Stanley Cup. I can only imagine what the ratings will look like for the Cup. After all the first two games are being played on Versus--a channel which isn't available to everyone. The rest of the games (anywhere from two to five) will be on NBC. By the time that the games show up on network television, most people will have either forgetten that the season isn't over or will have found something else to do. Probably the only people outside of Canada who will be watching the games will be me and the some of the hockey fans in Anaheim. Wednesday, May 23, 2007 -- Evening The Anaheim Ducks beat the Detroit Red Wings last night. The final score was 4-3. Detroit had two goals in the last half of the third period, but it was too little, too late. The Stanley Cup games will start on Monday in Anaheim. The Ducks had the "home team" advantage because they were second in the Western Conference as opposed to fourth for the Ottawa Senators. Also in the regular season, the Ducks had 110 points to the Senators 104. I am rooting for the Senators to take the Cup. The only thing I don't understand is why the series isn't starting until Monday.
Saturday, May 19, 2007 -- Evening It has been a few days since I had anything to write about, but today there were two events of note, both on NBC. The Eastern Conference final match-up between the Ottawa Senators and the Buffalo Senators. The Sabres needed the win, and the hometown crowd showed up, both physically and emotionally. The atomosphere in the HSBC arena in Buffalo was electric. The crowd overflowed into the area around the arena which was full of fans and pompoms. The Sabres scored first, but Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza scored to give the Senators the lead. Fortunately for the Sabres, the Senators took a slew of penalties in the third period. The Sabres were able to tie the game with a goal by Maxime Afinogenov. The game went into overtime, but the Senators were not to be denied. Daniel Alfredsson scored at 9:32 in OT to give the Senators the win and the Eastern Conference Championship. The Senators have just been hot throughout the playoffs, and I am rooting for them to continue the donimination through the Stanley Cup finals. Unfortunately for most fans, NBC cut from the game to the Preakness stakes with the remainder of the game broadcast on Versus. Although I am a hores racing fan too, I think that that the hour of filler before the race could have been reduced for at least one hockey OT period. I finished watching the game on Versus, and noted that in the post-game handshake line that Heatley was being very nice to the Sabre players, giving quite a few of them a hug and longer words of congratulations on performance and encouragement for next year.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007 -- Evening Chris Pronger received a one game suspension for his part in the hit yesterday on Tomas Holmstrom. After the officials reviewed the tapes of the game today, they decided that although Rob Niedermayer was penalized during the game, Chris Pronger should receive his fair share. It was a nasty hit. It's really scary when you see a player being pancaked into the boards head first. That's called boarding, and that was the penalty that was assigned to Niedermayer. The NHL really needs to do something to prevent things like this because Holmstrom could have been seriously injured. Wednesday, May 16, 2007 -- Morning Last night's game between the Detroit Red Wings and the Anaheim Ducks was an exciting one. Well, I would have to say that it was exciting for me because I was rooting on the Red Wings, and they won in a blow-out, 5-0. I am not a huge Ducks fan, and I think that the team plays like a bunch of thugs. They are always making cheap shots on players on the other team. Yesterday, Tomas Holmstrom was crushed into the boards from behind by two Duck players, and left the game temoporarily. Holmstrom's helmet came flying off his head, and he was lying on the ice bleeding profusely from his forehead. He wound up with 13 stitches, but no concussion. Rob Niedermayer got a game misconduct for the hit. What was funny is that after the game, this woman reporter was talking to Holmstrom, and she said that the mother in her made her have to tell him to strap on his helmet better next time. I have to admit that the same thought has crossed my mind several times. I wonder if it is the female's sensible reaction. If you can avoid serious injury, why not!
Sunday, May 13, 2007 -- Morning Last night's game between the Ottawa Senators and the Buffalo Sabres was an exciting one. Buffalo had lost the first game at home, so there was alot of pressure on them not to lose both home games. Buffalo scored the first two goals in the first period. Then the Senators came on to score a goal each in the first, second, and third periods. As the clock was dwindling in regulation, the Senators had a 3-2 lead. Things were looking dire when Daniel Briere scored the tying goal with six seconds left in reguulation. The game went into overtime. There were two overtimes before Joe Corvo scored the winning gaol for the Senators at 4:59 in the second overtime. It's not looking good for the Sabres now because they will be heading to Ottawa for the next two games. It's going to hard to be the Senators at home. Also, the team just really seems to have picked up its play in the off-season. I'm rooting them on for a matchup in the Stanley Cup against the Detroit Red Wings.
Thursday, May 10, 2007 -- Evening The Ottawa Senators played the Buffalo Sabres this evening, and won. The Senators have been playing well all this post season. Now they have an advantage in the series because they have a 1-0 lead by winning an away game in Buffalo. I'm cheering on the Senators, and hope that they meet up with the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007 -- Afternoon Both Craig Patrick and Mike Lange might be heading to Phoenix for openings pertaining to the Phoenix Coyotes. Patrick is one of nine people being considered for the GM position with the Coyotes. All I have to say is that Patrick in the last few years here wasn't doing a great job with managing the team. He brought Eddie O in as the coach, and made some suspect trade deals. So if I were Wayne Gretzky, I would pass him up. Mike Lange, on the other hand, wants to return to television because that's where the money is. He took a huge cut when he moved from the tv announcer position to radio game announcer. Since there is no television opportunity for Lange here, one of the local sports reporters, Bob Smizik thinks that Lange might go for an opening in Phoenix. It seems that Lange started his career in Phoenix.
Friday, May 4, 2007 -- Early Afternoon The playoff games have been really exciting so far this season. For the most part, they have been close games with the deciding goal coming in the last part of the third or in one of multiple overtimes. Last night, the Anaheim Ducks moved on to the Western Conference Final. I was really hoping for an all Canadian final with the Vancouver Canucks and the Ottawa Senators. Ottawa is looking in good shape, and I really hope they beat the New Jersey Devils. I really like Martin Brodeur, but the Devils' GM was such an egotistical idea for getting rid of the coach. I'd love to see the Devils fail so Lou Lamoriello gets his comeuppance.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007 -- Late Evening The Buffalo Sabres and the New York Rangers game was a heart breaker this evening. The game was well played, and the Rangers pulled ahead in the third period to a 2-0 score. Buffalo came right back with a score to bring the Sabres within one. However, with 13 seconds left in the game, it looked like Buffalo scored. The play went to Toronto for review. It was funny watching the refs, but at one point, the one guy went to his knees, and I was joking about how afraid he was to give any answer because one team or the other would attack him. Well, although the replay looked like the puck crossed the line, it was hard to see beause of the shadow from Henrik Lundqvist's leg pads. So it was declared no goal. The two are tied now at two games a piece. I think the Sabres were robbed! But there's nothing I could do about it. Play goes back to Buffalo.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007 -- Evening The NHL announced the finalists for the various awards that are not based on statistics today. The Pens feature heavily in the awards this year. Sidney Crosby was nominated for the Hart Memorial and Lester B. Pearson awards. Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal are nominated for the Calder Trophy for Rookies. The one that I am most excited about is Michel Therrien's nomination for the Jack Adams Award for the best coach. I hope that he wins it. Here is the complete list of finalists: CALDER MEMORIAL TROPHY Award for outstanding rookie Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins Jordan Staal, Pittsburgh Penguins Paul Stastny, Colorado Avalanche FRANK J. SELKE TROPHY Award for outstanding defensive forward Rod Brind'Amour, Carolina Hurricanes Samuel Pahlsson, Anaheim Ducks Jay Pandolfo, New Jersey Devils HART MEMORIAL TROPHY Awarded to most valuable player to his team Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks JACK ADAMS AWARD Award for outstanding coach Lindy Ruff, Buffalo Sabres Michel Therrien, Pittsburgh Penguins Alain Vigneault, Vancouver Canucks JAMES NORRIS MEMORIAL TROPHY Award for outstanding defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings Scott Niedermayer, Anaheim Ducks Chris Pronger, Anaheim Ducks LADY BYNG MEMORIAL TROPHY Awarded to player that displays sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning LESTER B. PEARSON AWARD Awarded to the most outstanding player as voted by fellow NHLPA members) Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Lightning Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks VEZINA TROPHY Award for outstanding goaltender (For the first time since the inception of the NHL awards in 1983, there are more than three finalists in a category; There was a third-place tie in balloting for the Vezina, resulting in four finalists.) Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils Miikka Kiprusoff, Calgary Flames Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks
Sunday, April 29, 2007 -- Late Afternoon Today would have been Barbaro's fourth birthday, and in honor of the occasion, there are several celebrations planned at racetracks across the county. One ot the things that NBC wanted to do was to air the documntary, Barbaro, a Nation's Horse. The show should have been on at 5 p.m. EDT, but was delayed by a rather exciting New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres semi-final playoff game. The game is tied now with a score of 1-1, and is in the first overtime. Until someone scores, the game continues. Because the game has continued into the second overtime, the Barbaro documentary is rescheduled for 9 p.m. on Friday, May 4, repeating at midnight, on CNBC. The Sabres vs. Rangers game is really an exciting one, and there have been several close calls throughout the game. Both Ryan Miller and Henrik Lundqvist have made some nice saves. The game finally ended with only abit over three minutes left in the second overtime when Michal Rozsival scored for the Rangers. The Rangers played a hard game, and it would have really been a shame if they lost in the overtime because they would have been down in the series 3-0.
Sunday, April 22, 2007 -- Late Afternoon The New Jersey Devils beat the Tampa Bay Lightning to move on to the semi-final round in the Eastern Conference. All four teams are set for the Eastern Conference, and we just have to wait for the final two teams in the Western Conference. New Jersey will play the Ottawa Senators in the next round. The announcers during today's New Jersey game seemed to think that Ottawa might be able to get past New Jersey because Ottawa has a better defensive union. The other Eastern semi-final matchup will be the New York Rangers against the Buffalo Sabres.
Saturday, April 21, 2007 -- Late Morning Interesting story from yesterday. Sean Hill of the New York Islanders was suspended for 20 games for taking a performance enhancing drug. There wasn't any word on what the drug was, but this was the first time that an NHL player has been suspended with the new program that the NHL has put into place. It seems that there is this Montreal lawyer, Dick Pound, who says that 30 percent of NHL players take some sort of performance enhancing drug. When I first mentioned this to my boyfriend, his first thought was steroids. The thing is though that what hockey players need is stamina. It seems that the drug of choice is a stimulant--like ephedrine, which is the base for decongenstants (at least the decongestants that actually reduce nasal sweling). Hill is going to have to serve most of his penalty at the beginning of next season because the Islanders were eliminated from the playoffs by the Buffalo Sabres last night. Hill didn't travel with the team or play in the game yesterday.
As for hockey, the New York Rangers really whooped the butts of the Atlanta Thrashers. The final score was 7-0. I think that the problem with the seeding for the conference playoffs is that the division leaders get the top three spots. Unfortunately, Atlanta was the top of their division which gave them the number three spot. They didn't deserve it though because they were that good. Now Atlanta is on the brink of elimination as they go down three games to none in the series.
Bad news for the New Jersey Devils last night. They lost yesterday by one point. Martin Brodeur tried his best, but he let in three goals. The Devils were only able to score two. This is one team that is totally reliant on the goalie to win, and if he lets in more than one goal, they are screwed. I know that the Pens were worried about playing Tampa Bay because they seemed to have the Pens' number. Obviously they have the Devils' number too. Of course, everyone has to wonder if Lou Lamoriello was an egotistical idiot when he fired Claude Julien as coach. In a way, I'd love to see the Devils lose the series just to have Lamoriello with egg on his face.
The goalies are going to be the story in the playoff games tonight. Rick DiPietro overcame his post-concussion syndrome to make an appearance at the New York Islanders win on Saturday. He should be back in goal tonight. I think that the Islanders are really pinning their hopes on DiPietro. It's the goalie who can really make the difference between a win and a loss. We can also see that in the New Jersey Devils game on Saturday too. They lost on Saturday, and Martin Brodeur has been encouraging the players to forget about it so they can get up the steam to win tonight's game. The Devils are definitely a team that is very dependent on the well being of its goalie. The other surprising thing about the Islanders win on Saturday is that Alexei Yashin was, for all intents and purposes, benched during the game. It's not often that the captain of the team receives such treatment during the playoffs, but coach Ted Nolan had Yashin playing on the fourth line. Unfortunately, you have to say something worked since the Islanders did win.
I didn't see this game, but it sounds like the Dallas Stars and Vancouver Canucks game was a doozy last night. The game went into FOUR overtimes, and was finally won by Vancouver with 1:54 left in the fourth overtime period. Final score was 5-4. Roberto Luongo made 72 saves in the game which is second after Kelly Hrudley's record in the playoffs. I can just imagine how the fans must feel if they stayed for the game: happy, but tired--they must still be sleeping. The Pens game was the only one last night that wasn't a close one.
I just finished reading a very timely book. It is The Code: the Unwritten Rules of Fighting and Retaliation in the NHL by Ross Bernstein. As the title states, the book looks at fighting in the NHL, and the rules that players follow before, during, and after the fight. Some would have you believe that fighting means that the NHL is out of control, but the players themselves view fighting as the way to police the game. The enforcer's role on the team is to give the skill players room to play the game. Read my review of the book, and then go out and read the book yourself. Monday, April 2, 2007 -- Afternoon Shocking news from the New Jersey Devils! Head coach, Claude Julien was fired with less than a week left in the regular season. General Manager, Lou Lamoriello, is stepping in as head coach for now. I haven't seen anything in any of the news articles that explains why the Devils management might have done this. However, this is the second time in recent history that the Devils have pulled this type of move. The last time was in the 1999/2000 season when the Devils fired their coach, Robbie Ftorek, on March 23 and went on to win the Stanley Cup. The Devils have been trading the first place postion in the Atlantic division and second place in the Eastern Conference back and forth with the Pens over the past week. Tuesday, March 27, 2007 -- Afternoon Really bad news for the New York Islanders. Rick DiPietro is out indefinitely with post-concussion syndrome. That's the thing that is so bad with head injuries. You think that everything is fine, but it's not. The Pens have had the same issue with Eric Cairns. He has been out since Nov. 22 because of post-concussion syndrome. For the Islanders this is not good news because they are in a battle to get into the playoffs. Sunday, March 11, 2007 -- Afternoon Chris Simon was suspended for a minimum of 25 games for what he did to Ryan Hollweg a few days ago. I think that Simon should be punished. The only thing that irks me is that people keep on bringing up the Todd Bertuzzi incident and "claiming" that he had a stiff penalty. Unfortunately, it was really only a 13 game penalty because the 17 month suspension (and note that it is always referred to by time off--not a games suspension) was mostly during the lockout. Big whoop that Bertuzzi didn't get to play during the lockout. Several NHL players didn't play--and they weren't under suspension. Todd Bertuzzi is a sore spot with me because criminals like him should not be allowed to grace an NHL ice rink. Friday, March 9, 2007 -- Evening Everyone in the hockey world has been talking about Chris Simon's clothesline use of his stick on Ryan Hellweg of the New York Rangers. Hellweg checked Simon from behind into the boards, and his stick came up and tapped Simon in the face. No penalty was called on Hellweg, and when Simon got up, he put the hit on Hellweg. The shot was dirty, but at the same time, you know that emotions were running high in a game where penalties weren't being called. Granted, I am not a huge Chris Simon fan, and really hated his dirty play when he had the long hair (he's shaved bald now) and played for the Washingon Capitals. All I have to say is that it wasn't a Todd Bertuzzi move of blindsiding someone from behind with a punch to the temple and driving his head into the ice. Steve Moore, the recepient of Bertuzzi's criminal act, still isn't in good condition a few years AFTER the senseless beating. Bertuzzi was suspended for 13 games and boo-hoo, didn't play during the lock out. Don't get me started on Bertuzzi because I believe that the guy is the lowest of low and should NEVER have been allowed back into hockey, let alone play on the Canadian Olympic team. Hellweg has a injury to his chin and required a few stitches. He will be playing on Saturday. People say that Simon should have a life suspension. All I have to say is that Todd Bertuzzi went with his fists to someone's temple to intentionally maim him for life, and Bertuzzi still plays. As of now, Simon has been suspended indefinitely. Saturday, February 24, 2007 -- Afternoon The interesting game will be tonight's game between the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres. The Senators have added some goons to the roster to take care of the Sabres. Now what I find ironic about this is that the Senators were the ones who "started" the whole matter when Chris Neil hit Chris Drury from behind when Drury didn't even have the puck. It was pretty obvious that it was a dirty hit. Neil wasn't penalized for it, but it doesn't change the facts. The NHL is just really crappy about addressing things like this. They should penalize the player who pulls the dirty hit, the coach, and the team. That would be the only way this type of behavior will be addressed. Drury, meanwhile, is out indefinitely due to the 20 stitches in his forehead and concussion symptoms. So who does get fined? Lindy Ruff, the Sabres coach, for the Sabres retaliation. Ruff was fined $10,000. It totally misses the point that the problem was that Neil put that dirty hit to intentionally hurt a player. The NHL totally misses the picture, and it demeans the whole game. Putting on the first hit is fine and dandy. Letting yourself get emotional and taking justice into your own hands because the NHL is unwilling to do it, now that is something that the NHL doesn't tolerate. Disgusting! Shame on you NHL! Thursday, February 22, 2007 -- Evening I watched the women perform last night on American Idol. They were better than the men with a few really good performances. I really liked 17 year old Jordin Sparks, Melinda Doolittle, the backup singer who seems stiff when she moves, and LaKisha Jones, who has a little 4 year old daughter. I skimmed through the show this evening during an intermission in the hockey game to find out that Amy Krebs, the girl who Simon Cowell said didn't stand out--and she didn't, and Nicole Tranquillo were sent home. The surprise was on the mens' side. Paul Kim was the first to go, and that wasn't much of a shock. HIs performance wasn't that great. Also I think his ethnic background went against him because I don't think that America wants to vote for an East Asian. The second guy out was more of a shock because Sundance Head wasn't voted out, and Sanjaya Malakar, the 17 year old, wound up getting the fourth highest vote amongst the men. Rudy Cardenas was the second man sent packing. I only saw the highlights--or maybe it could be called lowlights--from the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres game. It all started when Chris Drury was violently knocked to the ice, and was lying there bleeding. Well, fights started to break out. The refs got things cleared up, but on the next face-off, the Sabres went for the Senators top player, Dany Heatley. A huge brawl broke out with the goalies coming out of the crease to fight each other. Both goalies were thrown out of the game, and I believe they said on the news clip that 120 minutes of penalties were divvyed out. The coaches were even yelling at each other. Saturday, December 23, 2006 -- Evening In other hockey news, the league is considering an overhaul that will change the structure of the conferences. Instead of having six conferences, officials are looking at consolidating to four. There will split up into two divisions with two conferences in each. Each division would send the top two teams to the playoffs (for a total of four teams) and then the top four seeds after that. The Pens, if they stay in Pittsburgh, could be in a division with Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Buffalo, and Boston. The restructuring plan is part of a scheme to look at ways to redo the scheduling. Right now I think the schedule sucks because here in Pittsburgh, we keep on seeing the same teams over and over again. I'm getting a little tired of seeing the same teams all the time, and would love to see more of the Canadian teams. I've been practicing O Canada, and so far, have only had one opportunity to sing it out of 18 games. I only will have six opportunities out of 41 games. Thursday, December 14, 2006 -- Afternoon There is news about another player that I like, Jeremy Roenick. It seemed he walked out on the Phoenix Coyotes on Tuesday. The Coyotes scratched him because of a "bad back", but Roenick said that he was well enough to play. So he just left the arena. Wayne Gretzky is going to make Roenick sit out tonight's game too as punishment. Friday, November 24, 2006 -- Afternoon Ken Hitchcock got the job with the Columbia Blue Jackets, but lost his debut effort last night against his former team, the Philadelphia Flyers. Monday, November 20, 2006 -- Evening Jaromir Jagr got his 600th career goal last night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Jagr says that he is going to give the puck his mom. Sunday, November 19, 2006 -- Afternoon The Columbus Blue Jackets are talking to Ken Hitchcock today to replace Gerald Gallant. It seems that the Blue Jackets GM, Doug MacLean has a short list of possible coaches and Hitchcock and Pat Quinn are on the list. I have to admit that I liked Pat Quinn, and sort of hope that he gets picked. MacLean hopes to have a decision this week. Friday, November 17, 2006 -- Evening Everyone can now vote for his or her favorite hockey All-Star at nhl.com. You have to register to vote, and when you do, you get entered into a raffle to win two tickets to the All-Star game in Dallas on January 24, 2007. We all have until January 2, 2007 ot cast our vote. So vote early and vote often as the Democrats say. Thursday, November 16, 2006 -- Evening YouTube has made a deal with the NHL to show clips of NHL games within 24 hours of the original broadcast. It's great that the NHL has seen the power of a site such as YouTube that provides free video content to the general public. The clips should start sometime this month on a channel that will belong to the NHL. I just searched for the NHL channel and couldn't find it. As soon as it is available, I will post a link to it. Sunday, November 12, 2006 -- Evening Another of my favorite goalies, Patrick Roy, will be officially entered into the NHL Hall of Fame on Monday. He has really impressive numbers, playing in over 1000 games, winning 551 times and winning more than 200 games for two different teams. Saturday, November 11, 2006 -- Morning The Dominator, Dominik Hasek is back to old form. Hasek shut out the Nashville Predators last night for a Detroit Red Wing win of 3-0. This is Hasek's second consecutive shut out. Hasek credited the defense with doing a good job which makes his job easier. Last night, Hasek faced 21 shots--the fewer number of shots that a goalie has to face, the better chance he has of stopping them. The Red Wing defense is good at clearing the puck from in front of Hasek, and keeping it out of his zone as much as possible. So far, the Dominator has 153 minutes and 28 seconds without a goal being scored on him. Hasek has 71 career shutouts. This is all good for Detroit with a record of 11 wins, four losses and one overtime loss. Way to go, Hasek! I wonder how long he can keep it up. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have made his way onto the NHL All-Star ballot. The voting will start on Nov. 15 with the game being played Jan. 24 in Dallas. Others on the ballot are Alexander Ovechkin, Eric Staal, Jason Speeza, Cam Ward, Dany Heatley, Saku Koivu, Mats Sundin, Petr Sykora, Markus Naslund, and Jarome Iginla. I know that I will be voting as much as i can for Crosby and Malkin. We will all be able to Click to Vote. I'll put up the link to the site as soon as it is available. Thursday, November 2, 2006 -- Early Afternoon Ken Hitchcock is still involved with the Philadelphia Flyers organization. Hitchcock will act as a scout for the team. However, Hitchcock has made very clear that he hopes to find a coaching job somewhere. Considering his skills, I'm sure that there must be a team out there who would value someone with Hitchcock's experience. Wednesday, November 1, 2006 -- Late Morning This was shocking news to me. Darius Kasparaitis, of the New York Rangers was sent down to the Rangers' AHL team for conditioning. It seems that Kasparatis hasn't been performing up to snuff since he underwent shoulder surgery over the summer for a torn labrum and side muscle. The surgeries were in May and June respectively, and Kasparaitis missed the first five games of the season because he was still recuperating. Kasparaitis used to play for the Pens a few years back, and used to be a huge fan favorite because he could always be counted on for solid defensive moves. Kasparaitis will be playing with the Hartford Wolf Pack for 10 days. Monday, October 30, 2006 -- Evening Dave Nonis, the general manager for the Vancouver Canucks has some interesting remarks about the state of the NHL free agency. As he said, with the way things are now, by the time players like Sidney Crosby or Jordan Staal hit their prime (around 25 years of age), the team that has put so much into their development will probably lose the player when he goes for the money with another team. That is the thing that really sucks, and it was one of the considerations in the Staal situation. The team has to wonder if they should play the kid because that will make the clock tick down on free agency. Another comment that Nonis said that I agree with 100% is that every team should play every other team in the NHL at least once during the year. It would be great to see some of the teams and players that we don't get a chance to see because they don't come to our area. We didn't play the Phoenix Coyotes last season, and are playing them in an away game this year (in January). I would LOVE to see the Coyotes. Even though I"m a Pens fan, I would love to do the Coyote howl if they score. I would love to see Wayne Gretzky. Hasn't happened because of the NHL's unbalanced schedule. That's what Nonis said--the people of Vancouver would love to see Crosby. They can't because of the schedule. Sunday, October 29, 2006 -- Early Afternoon The Philadelphia Flyers are really playing so far this season like the Pens of last season. It was rather interesting to read the commentary from the Philadelphia papers. I mean, the Flyers have their own players running into each other, and Derian Hatcher taking a penalty that lead to the goal by Evgeni Malkin and elbowing Sidney Crosby and giving up the puck that lead to Crosby's goal. As Hatcher says: "I don't even feel bad out there. Defense is a team concept. Six of those goals were on odd-man rushes. I know what the (plus-minus) numbers are, but I don't feel bad on the ice." It's nice that Hatcher doesn't feel bad when he's not performing up to par for the team. The comment that really riled my goat was by Peter Forsberg. He said: "ItŐs probably the worst (home) loss I ever had. We do have a young team but you canŐt blame it on that." Excuse me? A team that has 70% of its players (16 born before 1980 and only 7 after 1980), you don't have a "young" team unless you are deluding yourself about what young is. The Pens have a young team. The Flyers have a team full of geriatrics who are feeling the heat of having to perform in the fast paced world of the new rules in hockey. I am very glad that the Pens won. It appears that the Flyers fans were booing and taunting Crosby all evening. I would imagine that Crosby showed them what he's really made of when he scored his first ever career hat trick. Monday, October 23, 2006 -- Early Afternoon Shocking news on the hockey front! Ken Hitchcock, the Stanley Cup winning coach of the Philadelphia Flyers was fired last night after GM Bob Clarke resigned. Yeah, we all know that the Flyers have taken the Pens position as the worst team in hockey this season, and that they only have one win in eight games. Heck, I was calling for Eddie O's head around this time last year too. But Hitchcock is no Eddie O. I think that the problems that the Flyers are experiencing are still part of the change in the game since the lockout. Some of the older players still haven't rebounded from being off for a year, and loading up your roster in the age of new rules that call for a faster game really can put a geriatric team at a disadvantage. 16 of their current players were born in 1980 or earlier which means that most are 26/27 years of age or older. Only seven are younger than 26. Yeah, they have some big names, but obviously it is more than that. It's the way the team plays together. With all that said, it's not that the Flyers sucked last year. They finished second in the Atlantic Division with 101 points and 45 wins out of 82 games. Wednesday, October 18, 2006 -- Evening I wasn't expected the Pens to win today, because I was sure that Martin Brodeur would have an outstanding game. Why? Because Brodeur was booed at a home game yesterday for letting in five goals in the second period of a 7-6 loss. Brodeur handled the boos with class saying that folks who pay $90 a ticket are allowed to boo him if they want. Besides, Brodeur is Brodeur. He may have an off period, but the guy is great. Tuesday, October 17, 2006 -- Evening I just saw this interesting article about hockey on MSNBC. The interesting thing about it was that the geist was that the normal media outlets were giving less space to hockey while bloggers and others online were beefing up the information. I know that I try to make my small effort with the Pens page, but time is a limitation. I only wish that I had the time to do as mnay things that I would like. The other problem that I have if you have looked around The Daily Bongo is that I tend to be all over the place. Reality shows, sports, books, science, sometimes you name it and i have the interest. I should focus on one topic, like the Pens and just concentrate on that. Friday, October 6, 2006 -- Evening Jaromir Jagr finally decided to accept the offer of captain of the New York Rangers and led them to a win against Jagr's former team, the Washington Capitals with a score of 5-2. Dominik Hasek did not have a very good start yesterday. One of the sports reporters that I heard referred to Hasek as the goalie formerly known as the Dominator. I love Hasek. I suppose that I usually have a weak spot in my heart for goalies, but he is getting up there. He's 42. Yesterday he let in three goals off of 14 shots. Not very good at all. The Detroit Red Wings wound up losing 3-1. Anyway the Red Wings will be here in Pittsburgh tomorrow, and I hope to get some pictures of the Dominator. Saturday, September 30, 2006 -- Afternoon Malkin is lucky that his injury doesn't seem that bad. Jaromir Jagr just played in his first game since he had surgery five months ago for a dislocated shoulder. The recovery time for that type of injury is long, and there is always the risk that the shoulder will be in weaker condition and more susceptible to reinjury. The New York Rangers lost their exhibition game, and word is not firm on whether Jagr will play in the season opener. Tuesday, August 1, 2006 -- Early Afternoon Dominik Hasek has resigned for the third with the Detroit Red Wings. The contract that the Dominator has with the Red Wings is $750,000 for one year. Even though Hasek is getting older, I still think that he is the Dominator, and obviously the Red Wings think that he is just the ticket to take them to another Stanley Cup. Monday, July 3, 2006 -- Afternoon In other hockey news, Chris Pronger has been traded to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Anaheim traded away some future prospects for Pronger. The other news is that Steve Yzerman is retiring from the Detroit Red Wings. It seems that Yzerman thinks this will be in the best interests of the team and himself, and prevent things from becoming a soap opera. It seems that the coaching staff thought that Yzerman might be past it at 41, and didn't play him at crucial times in the playoffs. If you know that you aren't considered productive, you can take it to heart. Yzerman is a standup kind of guy and just wants to do what is best for the team.
Thursday, June 22, 2006 -- Late Evening The NHL gave out its end of the year awards. The show was longer than it needed to be with music and comedy skits throughout. I have to admit that some of the comedy skits were funny. Well, I suppose they have to make it worthwhile for the players to show up in their tuxedos. Unfortunately, Alexander Ovechkin won the Calder Memorial Trophy for rookie of the year. Ah well, we will see how he and Sidney Crosby in their whole careers. For the full table of winners, check out the hockey page. Monday, June 19, 2006 -- Late Evening I am hugely disappointed in tonight's Stanley Cup. It was a hard fought match, but the Carolina Hurricanes won tonight to become Stanley Cup champions. There were quite a few controversal moments, such as the near Carolina goal that was stopped by an Edmonton Oiler stopping the puck before it went into the net. Some were calling for a penalty shot because only the goalie should cause a stoppage of play by shielding the puck with his body. It is very disappointing that Edmonton would lose after struggling back from being down 1-3. Them's the breaks though. It's probably good for hockey that an expansion team won the Stanley Cup. Final score was 3-1 with the final goal for Caroline scored on an empty net seconds from the end of the game. Monday, June 19, 2006 -- Stanley Cup Finals
Saturday, June 17, 2006 -- Evening The Edmonton Oilers are really putting on a show this evening against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes were ahead 3-1 in the series, and the Oilers have come back with a vengence. The Oilers scored four goals in the game this evening, and held the Hurricanes to a minimum of shots. The Hurricanes had three and four shots on goal in the first and second periods respectively. The Oiler fans started chanting "We want a Cup" with five minutes left in the game, and it looks like the Oilers are definitely trying to comply. The game ends in a shut out with the Oilers winning 4-0. The Hurricanes only had 12 shots in the entire game. The Oilers went from 3-1 in the series to 3-3. Game Seven is on Monday. Let's go Oilers!! Saturday, June 17, 2006 -- Stanley Cup Finals
Wednesday, June 14, 2006 -- Evening The Edmonton Oilers came out to play tonight as was evidenced by the goal that they made in the first 16 seconds of the game tonight. It looked like Chris Pronger got the goal, but the video clip on television showed that it went off the stick of Marc-Antoine Pouliot. The Oilers took too many penalites in the first few minutes and that gave the Carolina Hurricanes an opportunity to tie things up with a goal by Eric Staal. The Oilers are going to get killed with penalties because now the Hurricanes have yet another goal by Ray Whitney. It's been a back and forth game. One team would pull ahead to only have the other come back and tie things. Staal is finally over his goal drought and has two goals in this game by the third period, and is trying for a hat trick. Going into the third period, the score is tied at 3-3. Carolina mostly played a defensive role in the period, but after regulation, the score is still tied, so that means overtime. What a great finish! The Oilers had a penalty and were shorthanded. That's when Fernando Pisani scored an unassisted short handed goal after he swiped the puck from the Hurricanes. It was great! The Oilers aren't out yet, and they will play again on Saturday in Edmonton. Wednesday, June 14, 2006 -- Stanley Cup Finals
Tuesday, June 13, 2006 -- Afternoon It is not looking good for the Edmonton Oilers. They lost again last night to the Carolina Hurricanes. The final score was 2-1 and Carolina is now 3-1 in the series. From the way Carolina has been playing, I don't think that Edmonton will be returning to play in Edmonton this season. That's really a shame because I really don't like Carolina. Yesterday's game was interesting because when the singer was performing Canada's national anthem at the beginning of the game, he stopped and the crowd finished singing the song. One of the folks that was captured in the audience by the cameras singing his heart out was one of the Edmonton locker room assistants. His name is Joey, and he suffers from Downs syndrome, but he is a diligent worker for the team. Monday, June 12, 2006 -- Stanley Cup Finals
Saturday, June 10, 2006 -- Evening In hockey news, the Edmonton Oilers won tonight! Finally! The final score was 2-1, and the audience was very vocal, and they could be heard chanting throughout the game. The series is now 2-1 in the Carolina Hurricanes favor. We can only hope that they tie up the series in the next game on Monday. Saturday, June 10, 2006 -- Stanley Cup Finals
Thursday, June 8, 2006 -- Evening I am so disappointed that the Carolina Hurricanes won the second game in the series last night. The final score was 5-0. It just seems as if the Edmonton Oilers have given up because of the loss of their goalie, Dwayne Roloson. I can only hope that the Oilers put on something of a fight in Saturday's game. Wednesday, June 7, 2006 -- Stanley Cup Finals
Wednesday, June 7, 2006 -- Evening The Edmonton Oilers have put Jussi Markkanen in goal for this evening's game. What other options did they have when Ty Conklin gave away the game on Monday. It's not looking good for Edmonton. The Carolina Hurricanes scored a goal in the first and second period while the Oilers are scoreless. If the Oilers don't win today, chances are that they will lose the series. Tuesday, June 6, 2006 -- Afternoon Dwayne Roloson won't be back for the remainder of the Stanley Cup finals with a knee injury. This is going to be quite a blow to the Edmonton Oilers chances of winning the Cup as we can see from the brilliant move that Ty Conklin made at the end of last night's game. That's really a shame because the Oilers have shined in the playoffs and deserve better. Also, I really hate the Carolina Hurricanes. I think that part of it is because geriatric Mark Recchi is playing with them. Monday, June 5, 2006 -- Evening The first game in the Stanley Cup finals is on this evening. The Edmonton Oilers are playing the Carolina Hurricanes. The Oilers scored in the first period to take the early lead. The game is pretty fast paced, and the Oilers are trying to press their advantage at this point. It's important that the Oilers win in Carolina because that will give them the advantage when they get to home ice. I have to admit that I am cheering on the Oilers. I'm not a fan of the Hurricanes, even if they do have phenom Eric Staal. The Oilers get a penalty shot because one of the Hurricane players, Niclas Wallin, was in the crease on the ice and put his hand on the puck because the goalie, Cam Ward, lost his stick. The Oilers decided to use defenseman, Chris Pronger, as the shooter, and he scored the goal! The Oilers lead, 2-0. The Oilers scored another goal later in the period, but the Hurricanes had an answering goal. Score as the second period ends is 3-1. Unfortunately, the Hurricanes came on strong in the third period to score two goals in less than five minutes to tie things up. The game is an exciting one with neither team rolling belly up. Darn! The Hurricanes scored on a breakaway to takes the lead. The Oilers came on to tie the game with six and a half minutes left in the game. Dwayne Roloson got injured on a play and had to be helped off the ice. With three minutes or so left in the game, Ty Conklin was put in goal for the Oilers. It looked like it was going to overtime when Conklin, in an amazingly stupid move with 30 seconds left in the game, went behind the net to get the puck, and passed it to a Hurricane, Rod Brind'Amour who scored the winning goal. Caroline wins the first game with a score of 5-4. You know, my pet peeve is when the goalie goes out from his net and gets into stupid situations like this. Brind'Amour wouldn't have been able to score an empty net (for all intents and purposes) goal if Conklin was in place--AND if stupid Conklin didn't feed him the puck. Goalies belong in the crease, and only seem to get into trouble when they leave it. Monday, June 5, 2006 -- Stanley Cup Finals
Thursday, June 1, 2006 -- Evening The seventh and final game in the series is underway now between the Buffalo Sabres and the Carolina Hurricanes. Of course, I have been saying all along that I am a Buffalo fan. Mark Recchi plays for Carolina, and that's one of the reasons I'm not a fan of the team. Anyway, in the game this evening, the Hurricanes scored first scoring in the first period. It wasn't looking good for the Sabres as it was going into the second period. In fact, most of the second passed without a score by either team. In the last four minutes (well 4:10) the Sabres came on strong to score two points to pull ahead of Carolina. The score is now 2-1 as we wait for the third period to start. Unfortunately 1:34 into the period, the Hurricanes scored the tying goal. Darn! And then the Hurricanes pulled ahead with another goal with less than 10 minutes left in the game. Then the nail was put in the coffin when Carolina scored another goal with 51.7 seconds left. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||