NHL Awards Recap

By Scott Antoszewski

The NHL’s post season awards were handed out on Wednesday night in Vegas, and no, I didn’t win MVP. Here’s who did win and a few comments:

Hart Memorial Trophy, MVP: Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks. This is being called a huge upset as he beat Ovechkin and Crosby. I think it’s good for the sport to have a different guy as MVP. He did lead the league in goal scoring which netted him the Art Ross Trophy as well.

Ted Lindsay Award: Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals. This is the “players” MVP, as this award is voted on by the players.

Norris Trophy: Duncan Keith, Chicago Blackhawks. The Norris is awarded for the best defenseman. Keith’s win signals a “changing of the guard” from the veteran defensemen like Nicklas Lidstrom.

Calder Trophy, Rookie of the Year: Tyler Myers, Buffalo Sabres. This was a mild upset, considering he beat out Matt Duschene, but certainly not a surprise.

Vezna Trophy, Top Goalie: Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres. I think we all know why he won this. He’s awesome.

Jack Adams Award, Top Coach: Dave Tippett, Phoenix Coyotes. Phoenix came within one win of getting to round two of the playoffs. Considering where they came from. Enough said.

Crazy round one

By Scott Antoszewski

We’ve seen our first casualty of the 2010 NHL Playoffs. The New Jersey Devils have been eliminated in five games by the Philadelphia Flyers. The fact that the Devils were a two seed makes this a fairly large upset. I didn’t get to see a lot of the games in this series, but I did see the one last night. Marty Brodeur looked very “ordinary”, and the Devils just looked like they weren’t really all that interested. Let the Kovalchuk free agent speculation begin!

I thought I was going to get to see a second elimination when the Penguins rallied to take a 3-2 lead on Ottawa in the third period, but to the Sens credit they fought back. The game kept me up way past my bedtime, but it was worth it to see Ottawa get a 4-3 win in triple overtime. Game 6 is back in Ottawa on Saturday night. (Pens win, advance)

The Capitals get their first chance to knock out the Canadiens tonight in DC. Washington has dominated this series ever since getting down 4-1 in the second period of game two. The Habs are going back to Halak in goal tonight to try and extend their season. The Buffalo Sabres are down three games to one to the Boston Bruins, which is a major surprise. (Caps lose 2-1, Sabres win 4-1)

Out west, the Canucks lead the Kings three games to two in their series. I haven’t seen many of these games, but the highlights are proving that they are playing some very entertaining games. The Red Wings took game five from Phoenix, also leading to a three games to two series lead. The Sharks have weathered an “own goal” in OT against the Avalanche and are now up three games to two. The Sharks need to close out this series as quickly as possible. They can’t let Colorado hang around and push it to a game seven, even though it would be played in San Jose. (Sharks won game six) Lastly, the Blackhawks and Predators are tied at two games a piece heading back to Chicago for game five. (OT win by Hawks, lead 3-2)

Round two will get going toward the end of next week. Overall the games have been very entertaining, I’m happy with the level of play and the officiating. Game five between Pittsburgh/Ottawa was the first real “epic” overtime game of the playoffs. I’m looking forward to at least one more three or four overtime marathon before the end of the playoffs.

Enjoy the games!

Best time of the year...for some

By Scott Antoszewski

The birds are chirping, the flowers are blooming, the temperatures are rising, and the Stanley Cup Playoffs have begun!

The last series of the first round starts tonight as the Nashville Predators head to Chicago to take on the Blackhawks. The story of the playoffs so far, granted it’s only been 3 days, has been the lack of home ice advantage. The home team has lost four out of the seven games played so far. Phoenix, Vancouver, and Buffalo are the only home teams to win. I loved seeing the whiteout in the desert. I find it interesting how people make such a big deal out of getting home ice for the playoffs, and every year it ends up meaning crap. The Capitals lost games one and two on home ice against the Rangers during last year’s first round. Carolina spanked Boston on home ice twice during last year’s second round. I don’t think it matters where the game is played; the better team is usually going to end up winning. I’ll have more playoff comments next week, after the series are a little bit further along.

In other news, the Tampa Bay Lightning have fired head coach Rick Tocchet and all his staff, as well as General Manager Brian Lawton. The new ownership in Tampa wants a fresh start for next year. They will be picking sixth in the draft, so they should be able to get another quality prospect, possibly an NHL ready player.

The New York Rangers have agreed to extend HC John Tortorella contract for one more season. The Rangers missed the playoffs by a single point this year. It’s going to be tough for them to make a lot of moves in the off season due to the overpaid and undervalued vets that are on the team. It will be interesting to see what they do for next year.

The Edmonton Oilers won the NHL draft lottery this week. They finished with the worst record in the league AND won the lottery so they will be picking first. The Boston Bruins got Toronto’s first round pick for Phil Kessel earlier in the year, and their number came up second. The Florida Panthers pick third, followed by the Columbus Blue Jackets.

There are playoff games basically every night for the next week, so enjoy the games!