Tag Archives: teemu selanne

Our NHL All-Star Break Award Winners

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment
alex ovechkin 19 apr 10 271x300 Our NHL All Star Break Award Winners

Alex Ovechkin

It could be argued that Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin are the two most talented players in all of hockey.

But of course, Crosby has been out for almost an entire year with a concussion and Ovechkin, although he’s trying to change his game, hasn’t quite come to grips with his coaches’ demand for a more defensive approach to the sport.

As a result, for different reasons, hockey’s two greatest talents have been missing.

For fans and fantasy players, that’s not great news. For other players, however, it’s an opportunity to step up, score some goals, become leaders and make a name. One man’s disappointment is always another man’s opportunity.

As a result, a whole collection of new, young stars has risen to the top in the National Hockey League this season. Names that might not have been well known a year or two ago are now getting the respect that their coaches, teammates and a whole lot of scouts believed they always deserved or, at least, would earn.

nhlasg2012logo Our NHL All Star Break Award WinnersWe’re now just a week away from the NHL’s Mid-Winter Classic, the All-Star Game in Ottawa. At that game, you will no doubt be introduced to a number of young players who could, one day, take up the mantle that has been left virtually untouched since Crosby’s injury.

You will no doubt also recall some old names that have been stars in this league and are clearly stars once again. The one thing that this year’s all-star game will bring clearly to mind is the names of the players who should be honored at the end of the 2011-12 season.

In order to set you up for the big game in Ottawa, here’s a look at the players who should be honored at the mythical midway point of the campaign. These are our seven major award winners for the opening half.

evgeni malkin 237x300 Our NHL All Star Break Award Winners

Evgeni Malkin

The Hart Trophy, Most Valuable Player: Our winner is Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins and our runners up are Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers and Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers. nhl.com gave us a pretty clear outline of what Malkin has done in order to almost single-handedly keep the banged-up Penguins in the heart of the Stanley Cup playoff race:

“Since Crosby exited the lineup on Dec. 5, the Penguins have limped to a 9-9-0 record in his absence. If not for the heroics of Malkin things could be a whole lot worse. In those 18 games without Crosby — and not to mention Kris Letang one of the NHL’s best offensive defenseman who returned to the lineup after a two-month absence on Thursday — Malkin has 15 goals and 15 assists. He has factored in 30 of the Penguins’ 53 goals during that time (56.6 percent) and has been on the ice for a whopping 34 (69.8 percent) goals during that stretch.”

Malkin has also taken over as the NHL’s scoring leader (54 points) and he’s kept the Penguins within the Top 6 in the Eastern Conference.

Our runners-up are Giroux who is more responsible than anyone in that Flyers lineup for keeping Philly in the Top 5 in the East and Lundqvist, because the Rangers have 62 points and are first in the East for only one reason: goaltending. 

Lundqvist 300x245 Our NHL All Star Break Award Winners

Henrik Lundqvist

The Vezina Trophy, the Best Goaltender: Well, if he’s almost the MVP, Henrik Lundqvist is certainly the best goalie. The runners-up are Jonathan Quick and Jimmy Howard.

Lundqvist has played 34 games and has a 1.93 goals against average to go with his .936 save percentage. He’s 20-10-4 and has saved the first-place Rangers on more than one occasion.

Howard has played 39 games and is 28-10-1 with a 1.98 goals against average and .926 save percentage while Quick is 20-11-9 with a 1.92 GAA and a save percentage of .934. Frankly, if the Rangers aren’t first in the East and Lundqvist doesn’t make so many game-saving stops, I’d look at Quick as the best goalie in the game this year.

Of course, there is also that two-headed monster in Boston. Tuukka Rask is 11-4-1 in 16 games with a 1.61 GAA and a .946 save percentage while Tim Thomas is 19-9-0 in 30 games with a 2.02 GAA and a .936 save percentage. Turn those two guys into one and you have the best goalie in the world.

9793419 large1 226x300 Our NHL All Star Break Award Winners

Adam Larsson

The Calder Trophy, Rookie of the Year: There are three players I love for this award at the midway point of the year. Edmonton’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins leads all rookie scorers with 13 goals and 22 assists. Adam Henrique in New Jersey is next with 13 goals and 21 assists. And then there is New Jersey’s Adam Larsson, a big, powerful defenseman who is logging 22-25 minutes a game.

If I had to vote today, Larsson would get my vote. It’s tough enough to learn to become a regular defenseman in the NHL. Larsson, the No. 4 pick overall last spring, has not only learned, he’s instantly become one of the best rearguards on a defensive minded team. In fact, he’s the No. 1 defenseman in the Devils lineup right now.

At 6-foot-3, 210-pounds he has all the tools to play the position but the fact he can skate, hit and clear the front of his own net, makes him, potentially, one of the great players of the future in the NHL today.

2010 10 11 2010 10 11 0 30 40 jpg 33050 245x300 Our NHL All Star Break Award Winners

Zdeno Chara

The Norris Trophy, Best Defenseman: We still love Nick Lidstrom and always will, but this year, Zdeno Chara, all-star captain and leader of the Boston Bruins, has been remarkable. He won his first Norris Trophy in 2008-09, and has been the Bruins rock ever since. He is currently on a pace to set career highs in assists, total points, and plus/minus, all while being the most imposing force on defense in the game – anywhere on the planet.

Our runners up are Nick Lidstrom (of course) of the Detroit Red Wings, and Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators for reasons that are obvious.

4d42525a95f91.preview 300 276x300 Our NHL All Star Break Award Winners

David Backes

The Selke Trophy, Best Defensive Player: There is only one choice for the Selke this year and while Ryan Kesler, Pavel Datsyuk, Jonathan Toews and Patrice Bergeron will get a load of support from the media voters, there is only one guy who passes the best defensive forward test at every level.

Centre David Backes of the St. Louis Blues covers the opposition’s best line on every shift. He starts most shifts as the centre in his own end and wins most of his faceoffs – and almost all the important ones. In fact, Blues coach Ken Hitchcock sends Backes out on to the ice 63 per cent of the time when his team has to start with a faceoff in its own end.

Backes also leads his team in scoring with 14 goals and 19 assists, is a plus-13 and is the leader on the power-play AND the penalty-kill. He’s also a leader on a team that is a remarkable 28-12-6 this season. He was snubbed by those selecting the players to attend this year’s all-star game and he’s been snubbed by the media mob that wants to give Toews an award, but won’t give him the Hart Trophy. Still, quite clearly David Backes is the best defensive forward in the game.

selanne 242x300 Our NHL All Star Break Award Winners

Teemu

The Lady Byng Trophy, Most Gentlemanly Player: I don’t even have a runner-up for the Lady Byng. There is only one player who is even in the mix: Teemu Selanne.

The fact that he plays the game with passion, is the 15th leading scorer at age 41, seldom gets a dirty penalty, is beloved throughout the league and is such a class act at every possible level that there is no greater gentleman in all of hockey, makes this award a no-brainer. In fact, he should get it as a lifetime achievement award for being both a great player and a great human being.

I frankly, don’t care about anyone else. As one of my colleagues, Jonathan Willis, recently wrote: “This award really should go to a guy like Selanne, who has shown over a long career that he’s a superb player and someone who has exhibited exceptional sportsmanship throughout his career.”

Can I get an Amen?

93737 Senators Penguins Hockey 199x300 Our NHL All Star Break Award Winners

Paul MacLean

The Jack Adams Trophy, Coach of the Year: Absolutely no doubt about it, Paul MacLean of the Ottawa Senators is the coach of the year. Our runners-up would include Ken Hitchcock of the St. Louis Blues and Mike Babcock of the Detroit Red Wings.

MacLean, the former Winnipeg Jets rightwinger has the Senators in fourth place in the East with a record of 27-16-6. A man who learned his coaching philosophy as a player and as an assistant to the very accomplished Babcock in Detroit, MacLean has taken an Ottawa team that was 32-40-10 (13th in the East) last season and nearly equaled that win mark by the all-star break.

There is no doubt that MacLean’s efforts have taken a team that was expected to miss the playoff this year and turned it into a team that is now three points out of first place in the entire NHL.

Babcock has Detroit in first overall with 63 points and what makes him great is his ability to handle some huge egos and make the gifted Red Wings play as a team. Meanwhile, Hitchcock replaced Davis Payne early in the season and in a very short time coaxed the Blues into fourth in the West.

By the way, I have no problem with those people who promote the efforts of Alain Vigneault in Vancouver, Barry Trotz in Nashville and John Tortorella with the Rangers. They’ve all done great work.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Blog, NHL

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The 10 Most Surprising Players of 2011-12

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment
sidney crosby smile 300x269 The 10 Most Surprising Players of 2011 12

Sid the Kid

Sidney Crosby is still out of the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup, nursing a concussion that has essentially kept him away from the NHL for an entire calendar year.

Sean Avery didn’t impress New York Rangers head coach John Tortorella in training camp so Tortorella decided to waive him through the league. Rangers fans screamed for Avery’s return and Tortorella gave hockey’s bad boy a second chance. Torotorella was correct in the first place. Avery came back, was dreadful and was waived through the league again.

Martin Brodeur was, for most of the 2000s, the best goalie in all of hockey. A Team Canada fixture and a stalwart in the net of the always-contending New Jersey Devils, Brodeur has started to show his age in recent years and this season, it looks as if the train has stopped at the station for the final time. Brodeur is now 35th in the NHL in goals against average (2.98) and 42nd in save percentage (.891). At 12-10-1 in 26 games, he’s just not the same goaltender.

These are just a few of the surprises that have been foisted upon National Hockey League fans and fantasy players in the first half of the 2011-12 season. But there have been more – many more!

While the fates of Crosby, Avery and Brodeur and might soon be decided, there is a whole slew of players who have surprised the experts this season – both in good and bad ways.

Here is a quick look at the 10 Most Surprising Players in the NHL this season. And, remember, they are not always surprising for the right reasons:

g238862 u86448 teemu2 204x300 The 10 Most Surprising Players of 2011 12

Teemu

1. Teemu Selanne, Anaheim Ducks: While some players have long retired at the age of 41, the Finnish Flash is like fine wine. He improves with age. After 18 seasons in the NHL, Selanne is now 14th in scoring with 15 goals and 28 assists. He picked up two goals last weekend and then two assists on Tuesday night and a goal and an assist on Friday night. He’s well ahead of legitimate, young NHL scoring stars such as the Kings’ Anze Kopitar, the Islanders John Tavares, Chicago’s Patrick Kane, Washington’s Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom New Jersey’s Ilya Kovalchuk. No wonder Anaheim GM Bob Murray, a guy who says he’s ready to break up the Ducks and start over, called Selanne “an untouchable” this past week.

2. Jason Spezza, Ottawa Senators: OK, so from the day he entered the NHL, everyone had high hopes for Spezza. But for years he’s been a victim of his own potential. Playing for some marginal coaches on some horrendous lines, Spezza put up with a lot of baloney in Ottawa. He never reached that gigantic potential he was said to have but you can bet there was no coach ready to take responsibility for Spezza’s failures. Then along comes Paul MacLean and everything changes. Last year, Spezza had 21 goals and 36 assists. It was a decent season, but not as spectacular as his big year in 2007-08 when he had 34 goals and 58 assists. This year, however, the 28-year-old from Toronto who was the second overall pick in 2001, has a chance to record his best season as a pro. After 45 games, he has 18 goals and 28 assists and is seventh overall in NHL scoring. The arrival of MacLean, who put him on a line with Daniel Alfredsson and let him do what he does best, has made Spezza a star again – and a starter in the All-Star game.

giroux 199x300 The 10 Most Surprising Players of 2011 12

Claude Giroux

3. Claude Giroux, Philadelphia Flyers: In 2006, Giroux was the No. 1 draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers, 22nd overall. This guy had enjoyed two straight 100-point-plus seasons with the Gatineau Olympiques of the Quebec League, had wonderful speed, great moves and soft hands and yet it took 21 selections before the Flyers could grab him because so many teams thought, that at 5-foot-11, 170 pounds, he was just a little undersized. Still, the Flyers were prepared to wait for him to reach his potential and it appears that the potential has been reached. Last year, Giroux had 25 goals and 51 assists. This year, he has 18 goals and 31 assists, is tied for second in scoring in the NHL and has missed four games with a head injury. Right now, 23-year-old Claude Giroux might be the best young player in the NHL.

4. Jason Pominville, Buffalo Sabres: Last year, Pominville had 22 goals and 30 assists in 73 games. It wasn’t his best season in the NHL and it even appeared as if his play was tailing off. The concussion he suffered early last season might have been a reason for his declining numbers — he had 80 points in 2007-08 and then 66 in 2008-09, 62 in 2009-10 and 52 last year. This year, however, with the captain’s C on his jersey, Pominville has suddenly awakened. After 43 games (he has played in every Sabres game this season), the former second-round draft pick (55th overall in 2001) has 15 goals and 29 assists and is 10th in scoring in the NHL. Most NHL followers expected Pominville to be a good player for the Sabres. No one expected him to be in the Top 10 in scoring, let alone a participant in the all-star game.

colton orr arron asham 2010 4 6 20 33 20 242x300 The 10 Most Surprising Players of 2011 12

Colton Orr vs. Arron Asham

5. Colton Orr, Toronto Maple Leafs: On Jan. 5 of this year, Orr was waived through the league and sent to the Toronto Marlies of the AHL. While in Winnipeg two weeks ago, just before he was waived, Orr said to me,” The game is changing again. They don’t need guys like me like they used to.” Orr is an “enforcer.” Some might say, a “goon.” And yet, he was an integral part of the Leafs plans until head coach Ron Wilson decided he didn’t need a fighter who had only played five games. Leafs GM Brian Burke said sending Orr to the Marlies was one of the most difficult things he’s ever done. Even Burke knows that Orr’s demotion was an admission that fighting is being used on a very limited basis in the game these days.

6. Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals: Perhaps the most skilled player in the NHL, Ovechkin has 18 goals and 16 assists in 42 games this season and is 46th in league scoring. This is a 26-year-old hockey player – make that superstar – who had 32 goals and 53 assists last year, but 109 points in 2009-10 and 110 points in 2008-09. Something is either wrong with Ovechkin or wrong with the game when a player with this much skill is held to only 34 points in 42 games at the age of 26. Of course, most observers will tell you he’s being held back by his own coaches, coaches who are more interested in stopping the other team from scoring than scoring goals themselves.

Erik Karlsson 2 300x202 The 10 Most Surprising Players of 2011 12

Erik Karlsson

7. Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators: Make no mistake, most hockey experts that Karlsson would be a good one when he arrived from Sweden as Ottawa’s first round pick (15th overall) in 2008. But like so many young defensemen, it’s taken him a few seasons to adapt to the speed and grit of the NHL. But this year, Karlsson has adapted. Last year, he had 13 goals and 45 points in 75 games and was a dreadful minus-30. This year, he already has six goals and 43 points and is a plus-eight on an Ottawa team that moved into fifth in the Eastern Conference after a 3-0 shut out of the New York Rangers on Thursday night. He’s a starter in the all-star game and when you’re the 15th leading scorer in the NHL and tops among defenseman, no one can argue.

8. Dwayne Roloson, Tampa Bay Lightning: Certainly, people thought Dwayne Roloson was just about done. But after the way he played last season at age 41 – 18-12-4 with a 2.56 goals against average and a .912 save percentage – many people, including Lightning GM Steve Yzerman, believed Roloson had something left in the tank. But this season has been a nightmare for the 16-year NHL veteran. He is 72nd in goals against with a 3.68 mark and 71st in save percentage at .880. The reflexes had just disappeared. At 6-10-2 in 23 appearances this season, Roloson does not even resemble an NHL-level goaltender. Yzerman gambled and kept Roloson one season too long.

eberle jordan courtesy 381 300x162 The 10 Most Surprising Players of 2011 12

Jordan Eberle

9. Jordan Eberle, Edmonton Oilers: It’s his second full season in the NHL and this former first round draft pick (22nd overall in 2008) has matched his scoring output from last year. Last season, Eberle had 18 goals and 43 points. This year, after 41 games, Eberle has 17 goals and 43 points and he’s helped make Ryan Nugent-Hopkins the early favorite for rookie of the year (on a line with Nugent-Hopkins and young Taylor Hall, they are known as the “Diaper Snipers.”). Eberle is tied for 10th in NHL scoring. Not one rightwinger in the Western Conference has more points than he does and the rightwingers on the all-star team from the West are a pretty nice group — Jarome Iginla, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa and Corey Perry. Right now, Eberle has a sprained knee and probably won’t play until after the all-star game, but when he does come back, he’ll no doubt take a run at a 70-point season.

10. Ondrej Pavelec, Winnipeg Jets: At 24, he’s still a young NHL goalie, but Pavelec doesn’t appear, on the surface at least, to be a very good one. He’s 40th in the NHL among ALL goaltenders in save percentage with a .910 mark and 50th in goals against with a mark of 2.92. But he’s a fan-favorite in Winnipeg and a guy who has single-handedly won a half dozen of the 15 victories on his record (he’s an average 15-15-5 on the season). What makes Pavelec so surprising is his ability to play at home in the tiny MTS Centre in front of Winnipeg’s loud, proud fans but on the road, he’s a wonky goalie. Pavelec has a 3.50 goals against average and a .896 save percentage away from home, both well below average. At home, however, he has a 2.32 goals against average and a .925 save percentage. If he could play on the road as well as he does at home, he’d be one of the best goaltenders in the NHL. As it is, he’s in the bottom third of the league. Go figure.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Blog, NHL

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The 10 Biggest Stories of the Opening Half

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Scott Taylor| 1 Comment

sport 257 The 10 Biggest Stories of the Opening HalfIt’s halftime. Most of the National Hockey League’s 30 teams have played 41 of 82 games and for some of the teams, it’s been quite a ride. For a load of others, of course, it’s been a nightmare.

The Anaheim Ducks were fourth in the West last spring with 99 points. At the midway mark of 2011-12, the Ducks have only 11 wins and 28 points. Last year, the Atlanta Thrashers were in the midst of a downward spiral, set to miss the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. This year, the Thrashers are now the Winnipeg Jets and after a win in their 41st game of the season on Saturday night, they sit in ninth place in the East, just a point below the post-season line.

Still, there was a lot more to the first half of this season’s NHL campaign than just the woes of the Ducks and the euphoria in Winnipeg. In fact, finding the 10 most important issues of the first half was so easy, we had to exclude a few for the first time in four seasons of making this list.

So without further adieu, here’s our First Half Top 10 NHL Issues for 2011-12:

teemu selanne1 240x300 The 10 Biggest Stories of the Opening Half

Teemu

10. The Collapse of the Anaheim Ducks: Last season, with 99 points, the Ducks made the playoffs easily. With stars such as Teemu Selanne, Saku Koivu, Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Bobby Ryan and Cam Fowler, the Ducks were expected to challenge for the Stanley Cup. Uh, oh. The Ducks have 12 wins in their first 40 games and general manager Bob Murray told the Los Angeles Times last week that he’s just about ready to blow it up. Murray said Selanne and Koivu were “untouchable,” but everybody else was available. This is a very good team with very good players but something is wrong. Murray fired head coach Randy Carlyle and replaced him with Bruce Boudreau and nothing changed. One suspects that the Ducks will be a completely different team by the trade deadline. Oh yeah, and Teemu won’t be an untouchable by the Feb. 27 trade deadline. He’d look great in a Jets uniform.

claude giroux looking forsberg esque with the beard in 2010s stanley cup finals 199x300 The 10 Biggest Stories of the Opening Half

Claude Giroux

9. The Emergence of Claude Giroux: In 2006, Claude Giroux was the No. 1 draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers, 22nd overall. This guy had enjoyed two straight 100-point-plus seasons with the Gatineau Olympiques of the Quebec League, had wonderful speed, great moves and soft hands and yet it took 21 selections before the Flyers could grab him because so many teams thought that at 5-foot-11, 170 pounds, he was a tad undersized. Before Giroux was taken, Florida took Michael Frolik, Tampa selected Riku Helenius, Anaheim took Mark Mitera and Montreal took David Fischer. Huh? Giroux was playing at the Habs doorstep and that organization didn’t even notice. Last year, Giroux had 25 goals and 51 assists. This year, at the midway point, he has 18 goals and 30 assists, is second in scoring in the NHL and has missed four games with a head injury. Right now, 23-year-old Claude Giroux might be the best young player in the NHL.

628x471 The 10 Biggest Stories of the Opening Half

Scott Arniel - gone.

8. Coach Firings: It started when the St. Louis Blues fired Davis Payne on Nov. 5 and replaced him with Ken Hitchcock. Now, nearly one-sixth of the entire league has fired its coach. Washington fired Bruce Boudreau and replaced him with Dale Hunter; Carolina fired Paul Maurice and replaced him with Kirk Muller; Anaheim fired Randy Carlyle and replaced him with Bruce Boudreau; Los Angeles fired Terry Murray and replaced him with Darryl Sutter; Montreal fired Jacques Martin and replaced him with Randy Cunneyworth and on Monday, the Columbus Blue Jackets fired Scott Arniel and replaced him with Todd Richards. St. Louis, Washington and L.A. have benefited from the changes. Not so much for Anaheim, Carolina and Montreal. We’ll wait on Columbus, but that’s an American Hockey League team. I wouldn’t expect a change in fortunes.

9793419 large 226x300 The 10 Biggest Stories of the Opening Half

Adam Larsson

7. The Game’s Great Teenagers: On Jan. 31, Tyler Seguin turns 20. Until then he is one of the league’s many outstanding teenaged stars. Seguin has 37 points in 37 games this season and is a plus-32, that’s the best in the entire NHL. Meanwhile, 19-year-old Jeff Skinner (down with a concussion), 18-year-old Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (35 points in 38 games) of the Oilers, 19-year-old Adam Larsson (24 minutes a game as a defenseman) of the Devils, 19-year-old Gabriel Landeskog (plus-10 on a minus team) of the Avalanche and 19-year-old Sean Couturier of the Flyers, are all playing regularly – and well – in the best league in the world.

6. Realignment: The league voted 26-4 to realign the league in 2012-13 from a two-conference, six-division operation in which 16 teams made it to the playoffs, to a four-conference league, separated by time zones. It was brilliant, but it didn’t even get off the ground.

5. The Rejection of Realignment: This was a bigger deal than realignment itself. In an effort to fire a salvo at the owners, the players rejected the league’s new realignment. NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr said it had something to do with travel and fairness (since when did the Agents Association give a crap about fairness?). Seems the players couldn’t get a clear feel about the travel issues, days off, etc. etc and they didn’t like the fact that there were seven teams in two conferences and eight teams in two others and the players thought it would be harder to make the playoffs in the West. Most people involved with the NHL believed that this was simply Fehr’s first shot at the owners in what everyone believes will be a long, ugly battle for a new collective bargaining agreement (the old one expires on Sept. 15, 2012). In fact, many people are convinced there will not be a hockey season in 2012-13.

3a803cdc4e69a089b4e45d08f18d 222x300 The 10 Biggest Stories of the Opening Half

Randy Cunneyworth, not the bad guy.

4. The Mess in Montreal: Here is the biggest problem facing the Montreal Canadiens: They don’t win enough games. At the midway point of the season, the Habs are 16-18-7 and in 12th place in the NHL’s Eastern Conference. However, many Quebeckers are not angry at the fact the Habs are a lousy team, but they’re incensed by the less-important fact (at least to a rational individual) that the Canadiens fired Jacques Martin and replaced him with Randy Cunneyworth, a coach from Etobicoke, Ont., who does not speak French. On Saturday night, Quebec Nationalists protested that the Canadiens, “aren’t French enough.”  What really pissed them off was the fact they found out the language of the locker room is English and that the team is made up of eight players from English Canada, five Americans, 10 Europeans (none from France) and only two Quebecois. In a roundabout way, the protesters have a right to be upset. How good and French would Montreal be today if they’d drafted PA Parenteau in 2001; Patrice Bergeron in 2003; Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Marc-Andre Gragnani in 2005; Claude Giroux, Brad Marchand and Mathieu Perrault in 2006; and hadn’t traded away Maxim Lapierre, Guillaume Latendresse and their first-round pick in 2008? Of course, have you noticed that after Giroux and maybe Vincent Lecavalier, there aren’t that many great French-Canadian players anymore? Maybe the problem in Quebec is at the minor hockey level, not the NHL level.

Opening Night1 300x193 The 10 Biggest Stories of the Opening Half

Opening Night in Winnipeg

3. The Return of the Winnipeg Jets: It was one of the biggest stories in Canadian sport in 2011. On May 31, Mark Chipman and David Thompson announced that they had acquired the Atlanta Thrashers of the NHL and they were going to move the team to Winnipeg. They sold out the season tickets at the MTS Centre – for five years! – in just 17 minutes. Since then they have won 19 of their first 41 games (19-16-5) and remain a legitimate playoff threat. After 16 years without an NHL team, Winnipeg had its beloveds back again and Canada had a seventh franchise. The crowd at MTS Centre is so loud, enthusiastic, fun and intelligent that it has become an international story unto itself. Happy days are here again.

2. Concussions and The Shanahan Justice: This season, Brendan Shanahan took over from Colin Campbell as the NHL’s director of discipline and it’s clear he’s been told to do everything possible to lower the number of concussions being suffered by NHL players. The concussion “epidemic,” is indeed and epidemic, but there is one big problem: Many of the concussions suffered by the game’s top players came as a result of (a) contact with teammates, (b) inadvertent contact based on the speed and size of the players and (c) injuries that were a result of hard plastic equipment that is a dangerous weapon when it’s placed on large, fast hockey players. So far this season, Shanahan has suspended 30 players while another 14 players have been fined. Trouble is, in the big picture, none of this is making a dent in the problem.

sidney 300x225 The 10 Biggest Stories of the Opening Half

Will We See Him Again?

1. The Loss of Sidney Crosby: So far this year Chris Pronger (who signed a seven-year contract with Philadelphia in 2009) has been lost for the season with a concussion, young superstars Claude Giroux and Jeff Skinner missed time with concussions or concussion-like symptoms and even Ottawa forward Milan Michalek (20 goals already) has missed games due to head trauma. However, the loss of Sidney Crosby — the game’s best player – since last January because of a concussion is what makes this epidemic so tragic. When the face of the game is also the face of the game’s biggest problem, the NHL has trouble.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Blog, NHL

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

“New” Jets Inaugural Uniforms Coming Soon to River City Sports

Posted on September 6, 2011 by Scott Taylor| 1 Comment

It’s been a long day and I’ve heard just about everything since the Winnipeg Jets jerseys were unveiled on Tuesday morning.

A couple of Jets fans (both season ticket holders) called them dull. Three people said to me they’re excited to see the third jersey. One person said, “They’re OK. They certainly aren’t offensive.” Another wondered if the Jets were “going to wear the same jerseys all year or change them after 20 games.”

The response to the jerseys was mixed, but I didn’t hear anyone say they hated them. And that’s the one thing about Tuesday’s unveiling of the first uniforms to be worn by the new Winnipeg Jets. There is nothing wrong with the jerseys. It’s impossible to criticize.

new jets jerseys 300x209 New Jets Inaugural Uniforms Coming Soon to River City Sports

Jets Players Model the New Jerseys.

Sure, you can say the blue is dull and there will never be a blue like the early 1990s Jets and that’s probably true. But there is nothing about this jersey that would suggest to me or anyone I spoke to on Tuesday that would make me NOT buy one.

In fact, I would be surprised if they aren’t sold right out within hours of the general release.

Now, I would call them “conservative.” Both small ‘c’ and capital ‘C.’ According to the release sent out by the Jets yesterday: “The jerseys consist largely of two shades of blue. The primary navy blue base of the home dark jerseys is referred to as “Polar Night Blue” which is found on many of today’s Royal Canadian Air Force planes, including the Dash 8. The lighter, secondary blue is called “Aviator Blue” which is similar to the historical colours by used the RCAF, including traditional RCAF flags and the jerseys of the 1948 RCAF Flyers. The jersey also features the previously unveiled primary logo on the front, with the secondary logo placed on the shoulders of each jersey.”

teemuselanne1 New Jets Inaugural Uniforms Coming Soon to River City Sports

Teemu Selanne, circa 1993.

Great. They aren’t the beautiful blue of the late early 90s Jets, but they do have history on their side.

According to Jets executive vice-president and general manager, Kevin Cheveldayoff, “We wanted to create a look that worked well with Reebok’s modern and innovative ‘Edge System’ uniforms. However, it was also vitally important to us to honour the rich history of hockey in our city, and fit the era of the Royal Canadian Air Force which inspired the primary crest design. The result is clean, simple and traditional.”

Can’t argue with that. And what the heck, regardless of any opinion, they probably have more staying power than the uniforms worn the University of Maryland Terrapins football team this weekend.

Maryland Uniforms 300x169 New Jets Inaugural Uniforms Coming Soon to River City Sports

The Terps: Hard to miss.

Now, frankly, I thought those uniforms were epic, but I must admit, I wouldn’t buy one. I would be amazed if very many Maryland fans bought them, either. But you have to admit, they caused a commotion. Kind of look like a couple of jockeys from Pimlico ran into each other and created the defensive lineman you see in the accompanying photo.

Anyway, ignore that nightmare. You can get your new, yet traditional, Jets jersey right here at River City Sports. And it would be good idea to pre-order:

159461 300x283 New Jets Inaugural Uniforms Coming Soon to River City SportsWINNIPEG JETS 2011 REEBOK PREMIER HOME JERSEY
Style#: N718521C
Color/Version: T/C
Price: $129.99
Description: PRE-SALE! Be one of the 1st to get your team jerseys! This guarantees you a spot on River City’s initial order. River City will be one of the 1st places to receive the jerseys when released in late September/early October. The initial shipments are sure to sell out in hours, so order now and AVOID THE LINES! If ordered on-line they will ship out the day they arrive.For local purchasers, we will have a designated pick-up spot to avoid the 1000’s that will be in line.
The Premier Jersey from Reebok is made of high-quality polyester two-way stretch pique fabric and has solid mesh inserts for ventilation. This officially licensed jersey is engineered to duplicate the on-ice team jersey. Features an embroidered front crest and single layer screen printed tackle twill shoulder patches (where applicable).

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Blog, River City Sports News, Winnipeg Goldeyes, Winnipeg Jets

Tagged , , , , ,

It’s The Best Time of the Year. Here Are Our First Round Picks.

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

I love Christmas, but this is, without question, the greatest time of the year.

Baseball has started, the NBA post-season starts on the weekend and tomorrow night, the NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs begin.

As we do every year, let’s take a look at the first-round matchups and take a long, blurry look into our crystal ball.

2011 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS OPENING ROUND

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Series A: No. 8 New York Rangers (44-33-5) at No. 1 Washington Capitals (48-23-11).

Season Series: Rangers 3-1-0

The Rangers were the best over the regular season in terms of the head-to-head matchup, but the Capitals clearly have more talent and are the better team. Rangers goaltender, Henrik Lundqvist, however, could be the wild card in this one. If Lundqvist does what he’s certainly capable of doing, the Rangers could surprise simply because Lundqvist was the reason the Rangers won the season series.

Key player: Henrik Lundqvist, Rangers

Our pick: Washington in six.

Series B: No. 7 Buffalo Sabres (43-29-10) at No. 2 Philadelphia Flyers (47-23-12).

Season Series: Flyers 2-1-1

It’s the same thing every year. If the Flyers get the goaltending they require, they will win and advance. If they don’t, well… Philly won the series, has more firepower and a better defensive unit. However, Brian Boucher is 21st in save percentage at .916 and 13th in goals against average at 2.42 while Sergei Bobrovsky was 23rd in save percentage at .915 and 25th in goals against average at 2.59. If the Flyers get decent goaltending, they’ll win.

Our pick: Flyers in six.

Key player: Ryan Miller, Sabres

Series C: No. 6 Montreal Canadiens (44-30-8) at No. 3 Boston Bruins (46-25-11).

Season Series: Canadiens 4-2-0

The Habs won the season series, but were blasted 7-0 in Boston on March 24. That was the statement game. Tim Thomas is best goalie in hockey and Boston is bigger and tougher than the Habs. If Carey Price stands on his head, the Canadiens could win a game or two, but Boston is just too deep and too tough.

Key player: Tim Thomas, Bruins

Our pick: Bruins in five

Series D: No. 5 Tampa Bay Lightning (46-25-11) at No. 4 Pittsburgh Penguins (49-25-8).

Season Series: Teams split 2-2-0

If there is to be an upset in the opening round, it’s here. The Penguins are still without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and as well as they played down the stretch, which was inspiring, they still aren’t the team that contends for the Cup every year. If the Lightning get any goaltending at all, they can win this series. Vinny Lecavalier has six points in his last four games and is starting to dominate again.

Key Player: Marty St. Louis, Lightning

Our pick: Lightning in six.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Series E: No. 8 Chicago Blackhawks (44-29-9) at No. 1 Vancouver Canucks (54-19-9)

Season Series: Canucks 2-1-1

The Blackhawks were very fortunate to make the playoffs while the Canucks are the best team in the NHL. With Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider, the Canucks have plenty of goaltending and with two Sedins, Kesler and a great supporting cast, the Canucks should have an easy time. Jonathan Toews is great but he couldn’t will a home victory over Detroit in a must-win game to finish the season, he won’t do it against Vancouver.

Key player(s): The Sedin Twins

Our pick: Vancouver in five.

Series F: No. 7 Los Angeles Kings (46-30-6) at No. 2 San Jose Sharks (48-25-9).

Season Series: Sharks 3-1-2

Without Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams, the Kings aren’t the same team that raced to fourth in the West at one point in the season and then went 6-4-0 in their last 10 and lost their last two. If Jonathan Quick stands on his head, the Kings will compete, but they simply don’t have the firepower to beat the talented Sharks.

Key player: Jonathan Quick, Kings

Our pick: Sharks in five.

Series G: No. 6 Phoenix Coyotes (43-26-13) at No. 3 Detroit Red Wings (47-25-10).

Season Series: Coyotes 2-0-2

The Coyotes had a great season against Detroit and they are very well coached. This could be an upset in the making. However, the Red Wings are a team that tends to get bored during the regular season and go on listless stretches. They won’t be listless in the playoffs. Ilya Bryzgalov is the key for Phoenix, although we all must remember, the Coyotes have never advanced past the first round.

Key player: Ilya Bryzgalov, Coyotes

Our pick: Red Wings in five.

Series H: No. 5 Nashville Predators (44-27-11) at No. 4 Anaheim Ducks (47-30-5).

Season Series: Nashville 3-1-0

This will be the best series of the bunch. Both these teams are evenly matched and while Nashville won the season series, you have to give head coach Randy Carlyle and the Ducks credit. They played very well down the stretch and look good heading into the playoffs. The Ducks have a great No. 1 line and they’ve received quite a performance from Teemu Selanne this season. Nashville, meanwhile, has a load of no-names, but is very well coached. The potential here is for a long, tight series.

Key player: Teemu Selanne, Ducks

Our pick: Ducks in seven.

(Check out more at http://www4.fantrax.com)

 

 

 

→ Leave a comment

Posted in 2011 NHL Playoffs, Blog

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

The Playoffs Are Coming. It’s Manitoba’s Best Year Ever.

Posted on March 26, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

This was a big week around the National Hockey League.

Jonathan Toews and the Chicago Blackhawks clinched a playoff berth, Travis Zajac continued to have the best year of his career as he leads the New Jersey Devils into the post-season and Barry Trotz, the head coach of the Nashville Predators, keeps the Preds winning even though they don’t have enough personnel or enough star personnel to be as good as they are.

Some notes from a week in the hockey trenches observing the brilliance of the Manitoba kids in the NHL…

1) This is as good a time as any to praise the Finnish Flash, Teemu Selanne. Last Sunday night, Selanne scored his 600th career goal to become only the 18th player in history to reach the 600-goal plateau.

Congratulations to a great guy, a guy who scored his first 147 with the Winnipeg Jets.

2) When he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg-born Alexander Steen appeared to be spinning his wheels, going nowhere fast. Now, as a member of the St. Louis, Steen is having a career year.

Through 60 games, Steen has 21 goals and 21 assists and is a plus-five on a minus team. He’s the Blues third leading scorer and is tied for the team lead in goals even though he’s played 10 and 11 fewer games than the two players ahead of him.

After struggling in Toronto and often being a healthy scratch, he has become a big time offensive player in St. Louis. At 26, he is developing into one of the two or three best players on the Blues.

3) If there was one player who could have played on Canada’s Olympic team and didn’t, it was Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos. Now, as the season winds down and Tampa misses the playoffs, Stamkos, who was a great friend of 92-CITI-FM and the old Cosmo Show, has a chance to show how good he really is.

Heading into the weekend, Stamkos was tied with Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin for the NHL goal-scoring lead with 45. Could Steven Stamkos win the Rocket Richard Trophy? You bet he could.

4) The Calgary Flames, and the red-hot Nigel Dawes of Winnipeg, have an uphill battle to make the Stanley Cup playoffs, but we will know by this coming Sunday whether the Flames have what it takes to reach the post-season.

The Flames started a five-games-in-seven-days stretch with a 4-3 loss at Minnesota on Sunday. They beat the Anaheim Ducks in Calgary on Tuesday night, but lost a big game to the Islanders, 3-2, on Thursday night. They play at Boston on Saturday and at Washington on Sunday and if they don’t win both of them, they’ll be pretty much done.

5) Manitoba’s top young players have had rock solid seasons in 2009-2010.

Winnipeg-born Duncan Keith, a Chicago Blackhawks defenseman, has 13 goals and 52 assists for 65 points, 31st overall in the NHL and second among defensemen. He’s also a plus-18.

New Jersey rightwinger/centre Travis Zajac has 23 goals and 38 assists for 61 points, 34th in scoring in the NHL. He’s also a plus-16.

Winnipeg-born Patrick Sharp (plus-22) of the Blackhawks has 22 goals and 39 assists and is also 34th in NHL scoring.

Winnipeg’s Jonathan Toews, the captain of the Blackhawks, has 22 goals and 37 assists for 59 points and is a plus-20. He’s 43rd in scoring.

Winkler’s Dustin Penner has 27 goals and 28 assists and is a plus-5 on a very minus Edmonton Oilers team.

Meanwhile, Alexander Steen of Winnipeg and Eric Fehr of Winkler each have 21 goals while Nigel Dawes of Winnipeg has 13.

This might be Manitoba’s best year ever in the NHL.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Blog, NHL

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Sports Media Never Disappoints. Another Week of Stunning B.S.

Posted on December 22, 2009 by Scott Taylor| 1 Comment

I promised myself I would not criticize the mainstream media this week. Like far too many of THEM, I was becoming a one-trick pony.

Then the bull cupcakes hit the industrial-sized fan and we were blasted by a another week of utter insanity.

So with apologies to those who think I’m getting a little obsessed with this crap, here’s another look at another week of the mainstream media’s crazy talk.

1) The Winnipeg Football Club sent out a news release on Monday announcing that ticket renewals were running at a 97 per cent pace for 2010. And very few of those renewals had come in since the firing of Mike Kelly late last week.

Nice job. Good for the football club. Is it true? Who knows? But if it is, it means that almost every word written by our local papers during the last football season was a fabrication.

We all read this stuff every day. Both papers made it sound as if Kelly’s presence would mean that every single Bomber fan would cancel his season tickets. According to the papers, the fans all hated Mike Kelly so much, they were never going to go back to another game. They were never going to buy another ticket, period.

We were told that most of the Bomber board was so worried that if Kelly stuck around, the club might never sell another ticket again.

Well, apparently all the people screaming about never buying another ticket, never bought one in the first place. 97 per cent renewals?! That’s damn good.

If that’s true, only one thought comes to mind here: Liar liar pants on fire.

And we’re not referring to the Bombers. We’re referring to the newspapers. If the 97 per cent renewal thing is true, why would you believe a word written in a Winnipeg newspaper? The entire Kelly mess was the creation of a group of people so embarrassed by the fact the local football coach called “B.S.” on ‘em, that they waged war. The papers won, but apparanetly they did it with what we now see as outright lies.

2) There has not been a major trade in the NHL this year and there are fewer major trades every year, thanks in no small way to the NHL’s salary cap. However, if you read the Winnipeg Sun on Sunday, you’d think teams were making deals daily.

Sun Media’s Bruce Garrioch, who writes in Ottawa, now has every player in the NHL with the exception of Joe Thornton, Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin on the trading block. This weekend, the Sun had Sheldon Souray, Vincent Lecavalier, Teemu Selanne and Eric Staal on the road to different teams, while almost every starting goalie in the NHL was apparently heading to the Philadelphia Flyers. Just for fun, the Ottawa Sun added Philly’s Jeff Carter and Edmonton’s Shawn Horcoff and Lubomir Visnovsky to the list of players about to be moved, “Any second. Maybe now. Tomorrow. Next week. We’re sure of it. Unnamed sources told us. Who nows?

Oh, poppycock.

Sun Media’s NHL trade rumours have gone way past just the rumour stage. It’s now reached the level of completely silly.

3) The Associated Press is convinced that Brett Favre and Brad Childress dislike each other and Favre is righteously angry at Childress because the coach even suggested that he might take Favre out of a game.

The game was Sunday night’s debacle against Carolina, a 26-7 loss  in which there wasn’t a member of the offensive line who could block the Panthers’ Julius Peppers — or anybody else for that matter. Favre was getting killed in there and Childress said on Monday that he suggested to his quarterback that it might be safer if he came out of the game.

Favre didn’t like the idea, the two talked about it and Favre stayed in. And then he nearly got his head ripped off by a Carolina defensive line that had a field day with a lethargic Vikings O-line.

Monday, I listened to the Childress news conference and the coach made an interesting point. He said: “We don’t do anything in a vacuum. On the sidelines we talk a bout a lot of things. In terms of my question to Bret, it was something that was talked through. I wish I could remember how it finished.”

It was no big deal, but the AP, along with a few other outlets, wanted to turn it into a big deal. Just like they turned “Unhappy Randy Moss hates Tom Brady,” into a story that wasn’t a story two weeks ago.

In guess you missed it, Moss was absolutely tremendous last week in a 17-10 Patriots win in Buffalo and the mainstream media was wrong. Again.

I guess when you’re not selling any papers and your business model has virtually collapsed, manufacturing stories works a lot better than the truth.

4) Because I’m always criticizing, I must admit that I go on daily searches looking for good stuff. Found a nice rant yesterday afternoon on ESPN radio, when host Kevin Cowherd went after a caller who suggested the National League was more exciting than the American League because the NL does not have the designated hitter.

Cowherd went nuts. And in a good way. He asked the caller why the NL is better without a DH and the guy responded, “the strategy,” and Cowherd echoed everything I’ve been thinking for years.

“When baseball was in trouble in the 1990s, what saved it?” Cowherd asked, “strategy or home runs? You don’t even have to answer that.

“Home runs saved baseball. McGwire and Sosa saved baseball. Strategy? Nobody goes to baseball games to watch strategy and don’t start handing me this ‘baseball traditionalists’ stuff either. Nobody cares about strategy. Strategy doesn’t make you hot. Home runs make you hot. The old double-switch. I love the old double-switch. Oh, that’s exciting. Your girlfriend gets so hot after the double-switch that she says, ‘Honey I’m so hot, I have to go back to the hotel right now.’ What a crock!

“Home runs saved baseball. Two-out bunts by pitchers didn’t save baseball.”

Then he got personal with the caller, who just happened to be from St. Louis.

“Even in St. Louis, the only person who cares about strategy is Tony LaRussa and yet his best friend is Mark McGwire. His best friend on the field right now is Albert Pujols, a guy who hits home runs.  David Eckstein is strategy. Yeah, everybody loves David Eckstein. The biggest heroes in St. Louis are Albert Pujols, Mark McGwire and Stan Musial — all power guys! Strategy nearly killed baseball. Home runs saved it. I’d rather watch a DH hit than a pitcher hit every single day. And there is nothing more boring than the old double-switch. Baseball is entertainment, not homework.”

Kevin Cowherd is a our media monster of the week.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Blog, CFL, NFL, NHL

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A Big Night For Our Local Jocks Out in the Wide World of Pro Sports.

Posted on October 9, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

I’m off to Tampa tomorrow. Hockey, football, Disney, my daughter, all the things that make Florida great. When you live and work in Winnipeg, MB., it’s October and the snow is on its way, heading off to sporting events where it’s 40 degrees C. is better than a morning on the Tom & Joe Show on 92-CITI-FM — and that’s about as much fun as a human being should be allowed to have.

Speaking of Tom & Joe, we had Chicago Bears defensive tackle Israel Idonije on this morning talking about his fund raising raffle for both the Bisons and Sister McNamara School. What Izzy still does to raise money for the right causes in Winnipeg is way past commendable, but he does it and we love him for it.

This past week, Idonije was tremendous in a 48-24 Bears win over Detroit. He had a tackle and a forced fumble and then, on Monday, went out and had arthroscopic surgery on a minor knee injury. Interestingly, one of our local bird-cage liners carried the headline “Idonije Could Be Out For The Season.” The story came from AP, so you can’t blame the fishwrap, but come on, it was minor arthro. Think before just blindly running an AP story on a local guy who isn’t as injured as the Associated Press (which doesn’t know him and didn’t know the injury) tried to make him out to be.

“I’m doing great, heading off to work, I’ll be ready to go in the Atlanta game,” Idonije said. “It wasn’t a big deal. Just a little clean up. I’m fine.”

Look, the Bears might hold him out an extra week, but he says he’ll be ready to go Sunday night, Oct. 18 against the Falcons. The reason he had the procedure this past week was because the Bears are on their bye-week. Have people suddenly become stupid?

But hey, Izzy is just another extremely talented Manitoba kid caught up in the nasty and high-paying world of big-time pro sports — which might not be as nasty or as messed up as the media types who follow it.

In fact, Thursday was a great day for Manitobans and folks with close ties to the province. Let’s review:

1) In Los Angeles, former Winnipeg Goldeyes reliever, George Sherrill, pitched another scoreless inning against the Cards and earned the win in a 3-2 Dodgers victory. The Dodgers lead the series 2-0 and Sherrill has been almost flawless in two appearances.

2) The Calgary Flames beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in a shootout. Winnipeg’s Nigel Dawes scored his first goal of the year for the Flames and also added a goal in the shootout. Finally, Dawes is getting a chance to play on a scoring line in the NHL. The Flames might have the best $750,000-a-year player in the game. By the way, former Jets goaltender, Nikolai Khabibulin, was the best player on the ice for the Oilers

3) The New Jersey Devils beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 in a shootout in Tampa. Winnipeg’s Travis Zajac scored his second goal of the season and added an assist. His goal came at the 19:59 mark of the third period and sent the game into overtime.

4) Pittsburgh beat Philadelphia 5-4, but Portage LaPrairie’s Arron Asham finally got a chance to play and gave the Flyers 11 solid minutes.

5) The Anaheim Ducks massacred the Boston Bruins 6-1 as former Winnipeg Jet Teemu Selanne scored twice, 82 seconds apart, in the second period. Head coach Randy Carlyle’s Ducks (Carlyle is a former Jets defenceman and Manitoba Moose head coach) blasted the Bruins right in downtown Boston.

6) Detroit beat Chicago 3-2, but Winnipeg’s Jonathan Toews, the Blackhawks captain, played 26 minutes. There is pretty serious talk now that with three of their biggest stars in the final years of their respective contracts, the Blackhawks might be forced to make a trade to free up some salary cap space for next season. Toews, Patrick Kane and Winnipeg-born Duncan Keith can become restricted free agents next summer, however the Blackhawks intend to keep all three. If a deal is done, it won’t be done until next year’s draft and yes, defenceman Cam Barker from Winnipeg (he has a $3,25 million per year salary) appears to be the most likely player who would be involved in a deal.

7) Atlanta beat St. Louis 4-2 but once again former Winnipeg Jets leftwinger-centre, Keith Tkachuk, had a terrific game. Tkachuk had a goal and an assist ad now, at 37, has three goals and three assists in the Blues’ first three games.
icon cool A Big Night For Our Local Jocks Out in the Wide World of Pro Sports. And the Nashville Predators beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2. Jordin Tootoo from Chruchill and Colin Wilson, the son of Winnipeg’s Carey Wilson, were scratched with injuries Thursday night, but Neepawa’s Triston Grant got a chance to play and did a good job in 11 minutes of action.

In a week in which Todd McCullough, the former NBA star from Winnipeg’s Shaftesbury High School, was inducted, with the first class, into the Manitoba High School Athleltic Association Hall of Fame, it was a pretty great for Manitoba’s athletes.

Keep coming back here for regular updates. Unlike AP, we’ll make an effort to get it right.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Blog

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Pronger to Philly, Bouwmeester to Calgary. Somebody had a Good Weekend.

Posted on June 27, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

For the most part, what we expected to happen, happened, at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft in Montreal.

We expected the New York Islanders to take Swedish defenceman Victor Hedman, if the Isles wanted a guy who could play (well) right now, and John Tavares if they wanted a Canadian junior sniper they could market like Steven Stamkos.

The Isles took Tavares with the No. 1 pick and will now be more sizzle than steak for another year. That’s not to say Tavares won’t eventually lead the Islanders out of the wilderness — a wilderness created by Mike Milbury’s failures — but it won’t happen in 2009-2010 and not like the year after, either.

There were plenty of interesting trades. Chris Pronger, along with forward Ryan Dingle, went from Anaheim to Philadelphia , in exchange for defenceman Luca Sbisa, forward Joffrey Lupul, two first-round picks and a conditional third-round pick in 2010 or 2011. Pronger is 34 and on the downside of a great career.

The Calgary Flames had a great day on Saturday. The Flames acquired the rights to 25-year-old Florida Panthers defenceman Jay Bouwmeester in exchange for defenceman Jordan Leopold and the 67th overall pick that Florida used to select Josh Birkholz. Bouwmeester is still an Olympic-calibre defenceman and he will make Calgary a force in the West.

Later on Saturday, the Flames sent six-year veteran defenceman Jim Vandermeer, 29, who played 45 games in Calgary last year, to Phoenix in exchange for a former Flames draft pick, 25-year-old Brandon Prust. Nice to see the Coyotes getting older and slower.

The made-up trade rumour that had the Boston Bruins sending Phil Kessel and a draft pick to the Leafs for Tomas Kaberle turned out to be aprochryphal. Who makes this crap up?

Sadly, there will be more ridiculous rumours this week with the free agent deadline on Wednesday. Wonder who will be the first to report, ohh I don’t know, Sidney Crosby to Washington for Alex Ovechkin? Please, somebody make that one up.

In the meantime, Teemu Selanne, a 10-time all-star and former Winnipeg Jets rookie of the year, told the Anaheim Ducks that he would be back next season. The 38-year-old Selanne will play his 18th NHL season this coming year. He had 27 goals and 27 assists in 65 games last season. Why is it that the NHL is just better with Teemu Selanne in it?

Finally, congratulations to Winnipeg’s Scott Glennie (eighth overall to Dallas), Winnipeg’s Carter Ashton (No. 29 overall to Tampa), Winnipeg’s Cody Eakin (third round, 85th overall to Washington) and Winkler’s Byron Froese (fourth round, 119th to Chicago), the Manitobans taken in this weekend’s draft.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Blog, NHL

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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. 

→ Leave a comment

Posted in 2009 NHL Playoffs, Blog

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,