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Three things rattling around in my brain…

Posted on May 14, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

I have a few more things rattling around in my cranium other than this, but after crunchy peanut butter and last night’s Power Ball numbers, these are the only things that would likely matter to anyone else…

1) NHL commissioner Gary Bettman gets more hypocritical every day. He says he wants to do whatever he can for his owners, but when one gets in serious trouble — like Jerry Moyes in Phoenix — Bettman throws him under the bus.

Here is the latest response by Jim Balsillie to a court filing by the National Hockey League:

HAMILTON, ON, May 14 /CNW/ – Jim Balsillie today issued the following statement with regard to NHL motions filed in a Phoenix bankruptcy court: 

   … “I can tell you this. I made a generous good faith offer to buy the Coyotes from Jerry Moyes, who I understand is the owner of the Coyotes. Who owns or controls the team is a distinction without a difference. The team itself is still bankrupt, voluntarily or not. The owner of the team has a fiduciary obligation towards the creditors.

       “My offer, which goes the furthest in satisfying creditors’ claims, is still the same. It’s $212 million to buy the Coyotes and bring them to the best un-served hockey market in the world in Southern Ontario. We look forward to discussing this no matter what the outcome on May 19th.

    “At the end of the day, this is about the passion Canadians feel for the game of hockey and a chance to provide those fans with the opportunity to support a seventh NHL team. That’s what this is all about, great hockey fans in a great hockey market.”

Sadly, Gary Bettman wouldn’t know a good hockey market or a good hockey fan if one tripped and fell over his throat.

Why Bettman hates Canada and, for the most part, hates the game of hockey, is a mystery.

2) Remember Jean-Sebastien Giguere? In case you don’t, he led the Anaheim Ducks to the Stanley Cup in 2007.

Giguere is still in Anaheim, but he doesn’t play much anymore. the hero in Anaheim is now Jonas Hiller, a guy who already has three rings — for the championship of the Swiss League, in 2002, 2005 and 2007. He’s also won two Spengler Cups with Davos.

Of course, if the Ducks win Game 7 against Detroit tonight, he just could win another ring this year. Along with a Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP.

Or, he could lose and join Roberto Luongo and Simeon Varlamov in 2009 post-season infamy.

It should be a great game tonight. 

3) Finally, in the CFL, the league announced four rule changes that were suggested by the fans in an online poll:

          a) The league’s board of governors approved moving the kickoff back 10 yards to the 25-yard line following a safety.

          b) Allowing coaches to use “wildcat” formations that would move the quarterback around, instead of requiring him to stand behind or under centre.

          c) Requiring a team that makes a field goal to kick off rather than give the receiving the team the option of taking the ball at its 35-yard-line.

         d) Giving a team a third instant replay challenge if its first two are successful.

I have no problem with any of those rules changes. I guess I’m just like a lot of fans. I didn’t think the quarterback was stuck behind centre anyway, didn’t care if a team kicked from the 35 or 25 after a safety and didn’t realize that taking the ball at the 35 or kicking off mattered that much.

My rule change remains the same: If a CFL team uses a Canadian (non-import) as its No. 3 quarterback, it can use an extra import in the starting line-up. At some point, we must — in our own league — make it worth the coaches’ while to develop Canadian  quarterbacks, just like they develop U.S. college rookies.

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On to the Second Round: We like Chicago in an upset, Pens in a thriller plus the Wings and Bruins.

Posted on April 30, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

For the longest time, we have believed that the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs is the most exciting.

What the hell, there are 16 teams. Of course, it will be exciting.

This year, however, we seem to be a little more enthused about Round 2. After all, in Round 1 this year, it went pretty much as we expected — and when I say “we,” I mean everyone who follows hockey closely.

With the exception of those who always believe (for reasons I still don’t understand) that Detroit will be upset in the first round, most hockey people picked at least six of the opening round series correctly.

For the record, here at rcsportsblog.com (you can follow us on twitter), we went 7-1 in the first round. The only outcome we did not select correctly was, of course, Anaheim’s upset of Jonathan Cheechoo’s San Jose Sharks.

Round 2 will provide us with two spectacular match-ups: Chicago and Vancouver and Pittsburgh and Washington. I can almost guarantee that those two series will double the excitement we saw in any series in Round 1.

So on with the show. Here’s our look at Round 2 of the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs…

ROUND TWO

EASTERN CONFERENCE

No. 1 Boston Bruins vs. No. 6 Carolina Hurricanes

The Bruins played wonderfully in taking out the Montreal Canadiens in the opening round in four straight games. Everything about this team, that now has home ice advantage throughout the playoffs as long as it keeps winning, screams “Eastern Division Champion!” Tim Thomas has been sensational in goal, the big defence led by Zdeno Chara and Dennis Wideman moves the puck quickly and does a solid job of clearing the zone and the forward lines were nearly flawless in Round 1. And while we took Carolina to knock off New Jersey in Round 1, the dream ends here. The Bruins dominated the Hurricanes during the regular season, winning all four meetings by a combined score of 18-6. There is no reason for that to stop. Bruins in five games.

No. 2 Washington Capitals vs. No. 4 Pittsburgh Penguins

On the surface, this looks like a great series/ Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin of the Caps against Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby of the Penguins. Big names, big stars, should be exciting. However, the Capitals took three of four from the Penguins during the regular season and Washington’s only loss was the result of a shootout. Pittsburgh beat a tough Flyers team in six games, mainly because Philly’s goaltending was lousy. The Caps have not had lousy goaltending since the day head coach Bruce Boudreau decided to go with Simeon Varlamov. Still, the Caps were lucky to beat a dysfunctional Rangers team. Pittsburgh in seven games.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

No. 2 Detroit Red Wings vs. No. 8 Anaheim Ducks

The Red Wings should waltz through this second round match-up against a team that was very lucky to make the playoffs. Thanks to the fact the San Jose Sharks seldom if ever bring their A game (or raise their level of play) to the playoff dance, the defending Stanley Cup champs get a team with a hot goalie and not much else. This season, the well-balanced, well-disciplined Red Wings went 3-0-1 against Anaheim. As TSN says, “The Red Wings sacrifice individual glory for what is best for the team, which speaks to the professionalism of those inside the organization.” Detroit has the best team in the NHL and while I love the Ducks’ Teemu Selanne and Randy Carlyle, the Red Wings win in four games.

No. 3 Vancouver Canucks vs. No. 4 Chicago Blackhawks

Potentially, this is the best and definitely, the most exciting series of the second round. The teams went 2-2 against each other this season and this series should go right to the wire every single night. Both teams have exciting young players and, frankly, a match-up of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp against the Sedin Twins  and Alex Burrows, is more intriguing to me than the Crosby-Ovechkin dance. Ultimately, this series will come down to goaltending. Is Nikolai Khabibulin as good as Roberto Luongo when it counts? Stay tuned. This will be a dandy. Right now, I like Chicago in seven games. 

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Nobody playing better than Red Wings, and for all the right reasons

Posted on April 20, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

I have a dear friend, Scott O’Neil, who is the production manager at 92-CITI-FM. He’s the guy who makes all my NHL, NASCAR and NFL Reports sound so good.

 

O’Neil is like most sports fans. When it comes to anything other than his two favourite teams, he’s a smart, sophisticated fan who can look at objectively at any issue — either on-field or off.

 

However, when it comes to his two passions — the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Red Wings — he can get downright apoplectic. Nervous, cranky, bitter. When his teams don’t win, he’ll be happy to whine about it for hours on end.

 

In fact, before the playoffs started last week, he was giving it the old “woe-is-me” routine about his beloved Wings and how they were going to get ambushed and upset by the Columbus Blue Jackets, a decent club, but a club that shouldn’t be in the same league as the Red Wings, let alone the same opening-round series.

 

So while Scotty was going off about how “Ozzie had to be at his best,” and how “Kronwall can’t take any stupid penalties,” and about how “this team will get frustrated by (Columbus goalie) Steve Mason and start taking too many offensive chances,” I couldn’t help but wonder what it’s like to love a team so much that you actually become irrational when talking about them.

 

Anyway, after the Wings disposed of Columbus 4-1 and 4-0 in the first two games on the Western quarterfinal, I tried to figure out exactly why the Red Wings are so successful.

 

Here’s a five-point conclusion:

 

1) Chris Osgood is a much better goaltender than the so-called experts think. Nobody wants to give Ozzie any credit, but he’s been superb for a number of post-seasons and looked unbeatable in Game 2 this past weekend.

 

2) The Wings play just as well in their own end as they do in the opposing end and they’re frightening in the offensive zone.

 

3) The Red Wings special teams are better than any other special teams in the game today — when they want to be. The Wings scored three power-play goals in Game 2 and allowed none. In Game 1, they scored one power play goal and allowed none. This Wings team, right now, is just about perfect. 

 

4) They aren’t bored anymore. The 82-game regular season appears to bore the Wings to tears. They have not shown either cockiness nor boredom in the first two games of the post-season. 

 

5) The Wings move the puck better than any team in hockey. Some teams can’t complete one pass in a row. Watching the Wings breakout, you’ll often see them complete five, six, seven passes in a row. No team handles the puck better and no team breaks out of its own end quicker (OK, maybe Boston’s break out is just as good, but they don’t handle the puck as well).

 

The Wings are a great team that should win their second straight Stanley Cup title. However, saying that that suggests that another team’s goalie won’t steal a series from the Wings and we’re already watching Nikolai Khabibulin, Henrik Lundqvist and Roberto Luongo steal series right now.

 

What is it that one very smart general manager once said? “We call it the Stanley Cup playoffs because we can’t call it goalie.”

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The Stanley Cup Playoffs are Here: It’s prediction time.

Posted on April 12, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

Minnesota Wild assistant general manager Tom Thompson has a theory about the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

It comes true most years, but somehow, this looks like a year in which it might come to pass in spades (although I don’t believe it). 

 

“The first round of the playoffs is always the most compelling round because you generally have two types of teams,” explained Thompson. 

 

“You have the teams that were successful all year and feel that if they don’t get to the final or win the Cup, their season was a failure. Then you have the teams that snuck into the playoffs and have nothing to lose. The top teams are often tight while the lesser teams have already done what they set out to do and by the opening round of the playoffs are as loose as can be. 

 

“That’s why there are so many great series and so many big upsets in the first round.”

 

He’s right, of course. The first round of the playoffs is always the most exciting. So without further adieu, let’s look at the 16 teams and eight matchups for the 2009 series which have already begun.

 

THE EASTERN CONFERENCE

 

No. 1 Boston Bruins (53-19-10) vs. No. 8 Montreal Canadiens (41-30-11).

The Habs and Bruins go at it again, a repeat of last year’s first round, in which the Canadiens outlasted Boston four games to three. But this year, things are different. Boston was the best team in the East and the second best team in the NHL and they are on a roll. It’s a team that allowed the fewest number of goals in the league (196) and has a wide-open offence to go with a stingy defence. The Habs were very fortunate to make the playoffs (they finished with the same number of points as Florida) and in six meetings this season, Boston won five of them, two in shootouts. Bruins in five.

 

No. 2 Washington Capitals (50-24-8) vs. No. 7 New York Rangers (43-30-9).

Second-place Washington with all that firepower – Alex Ovechkin and Mike Green are a good start — will face the seventh-place Rangers. The Caps have been very good this season and won the Southeast Division by 11 points over Carolina. They also won three of their four meetings with the Rangers. Capitals in five.

 

No. 3 New Jersey Devils (51-27-4) vs. No. 6 Carolina Hurricanes (45-30-7).

New Jersey, which won the Atlantic Division, will play sixth-place Carolina after beating the Hurricanes in the season finale last week. However, Carolina won its first three meetings with the Devils this season and played much better hockey down the stretch than New Jersey. Hurricanes in seven.

 

No. 4 Pittsburgh Penguins (45-28-9) vs. No. 5 Philadelphia Flyers (44-27-11).

Pittsburgh won four of the six meetings between the two teams this season, one in overtime and another in a shootout. However, all Philadelp[hia had to do to earn home ice advantage throughout this series was to win the final game of the season at home against the Rangers and they couldn’t pull it off. Pittsburgh has too much offence and is just playing better hockey at this time. Penguins in six.

 

THE WESTERN CONFERENCE

 

No. 1 San Jose Sharks (53-18-11) vs. No. 8 Anaheim Ducks (42-33-7).

Although it’s No. 1 vs. No. 8, this is a matchup that features two of the most successful teams in the NHL since the lockout. Since the start of the 2005-06 season, the Ducks have gone 180-107-41 with four playoff appearances while the Sharks have posted a 197-94-37 mark with three consecutive 100+ point seasons, four playoff appearances and two Pacific Division titles (2008 & 2009). However, the Sharks were the President’s Trophy winners as the best team in the NHL during the regular season while Randy Carlyle’s Ducks were fortunate to make the playoffs. The Sharks also won the season series, 4-2. Sharks in five.

No. 2 Detroit Red Wings (51-21-10) vs. No. 7 Columbus Blue Jackets (41-31-10).

A tale of two cities: The Red Wings are the defending Stanley Cup champions while the Blue Jackets are in the playoffs for the first time in their eight seasons of existence. During the regular season, the teams split. Detroit won the first two meetings, Columbus won the next three (including an 8-2 win at Detroit on March 7) and Detroit geat the Jackets 4-0 in a statement game on March 17. I like Ken Hitchcock as a head coach, but Detroit has way too much of everything. Red Wings in five.

 

No. 3 Vancouver Canucks (45-27-10) vs. No. 6 St. Louis Blues (41-31-10).

The remarkable, red-hot Blues clinched the No. 6 seed in the final game of the year and put a cap on an amazing finish. From Feb. 15 to the end of the season, head coach Andy Murray’s Blues went 18-6-3. It was significant because on Feb. 15, the Blues were dead last in the West. This team finished the regular season by going 9-1-1 over its last 11 games and 5-1-1 on the road. Had the Blues lost their final game, they would have finished eighth — which would have meant a series with the top-seeded San Jose Sharks. Instead, they finished with the best second-half record in the League at 25-9-7. However, they have only four players who have ever won a playoff game. Vancouver, meanwhile, came back to claim the Northwest Division title by winning their last three games and going 6-3-1 down the stretch behind the tremendous goaltending of Roberto Luongo. This will be a match-up of two of the hottest teams in the game and two red-hot goalies – Luongo and Chris Mason.. Canucks in seven.

 

No. 4 Chicago Blackhawks (46-24-12) vs. No. 5 Calgary Flames (46-30-6). 

This series screams “Blackhawks!” Chicago swept the four-game season series with the Flames, winning 6-1 and 5-2 at the United Center and 3-2 in overtime and 5-2 at the Saddledome. Add it up. Chicago has more firepower and probably equal goaltending (Huet/Khabibulin vs. Kiprusoff). Chicago oputscored Calgary 19-7 during its four wins and really, the Hawks dominated the season. In fairness to Calgary, the two teams haven’t faced each other since the Hawks’ second win at Calgary on Feb. 5, but still, Hawks in six. 

 

* * *

 

THE 2008-09 NHL TROPHY WINNERS

 

Pittsburgh center Evgeni Malkin captured his first career Art Ross Trophy as the League’s leading scorer with 113 points while Washington Capitals leftwinger Alexander Ovechkin won his second consecutive Maurice Richard Trophy for being the League’s top goal scorer with 56. 

 

Meanwhile, Boston Bruins goaltenders Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez earned the William Jennings Trophy as the goaltenders on the club that allowed the fewest number of goals — 196.

 

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