Hot Stove Hockey

By Scott Antoszewski

I thought I was going to have a hard time finding interesting things to write with the NHL in the off-season, and my general lack of interest in baseball so far this year. Boy was I wrong.

The news is simple and complex in so many ways. The Chicago Blackhawk’s signed free agent goaltender Marty Turco to a one year, $1.3 deal. Ordinarily this wouldn’t be newsworthy but the way the Hawks got there is newsworthy. I’ll start back in June, when the Hawks won the Stanley Cup. The team was overloaded with players in the final year of their contracts, which is how they managed to get so good and stay under the salary cap. Goaltender Antti Niemi was in his first full year with the Hawks, and earned the starting job earlier in the year. Niemi was making a modest $825,000 which isn’t all that bad for a young goalie. Niemi went on to backstop the Hawks to the Cup and went looking for a substantial raise.

The Hawks had already dumped the likes of Dustin Byfuglien, Ben Eager, and Andrew Ladd to make salary room. Neimi and the Hawks went all the way to salary arbitration, and the arbitrator sided with Neimi. He was awarded a one year $2.75 contract. The Hawks had a couple of days to decide to accept the ruling or allow their rookie goaltender to become an unrestricted free agent. The Blackhawk’s made the decision to let Niemi walk, and signed Turco to the $1.3 million deal. That’s how the Hawks go from winning the Cup, to signing a goalie whose reputation is built on playoff futility. I’m sure occurrences like this are normal in the NBA and the NFL, but the salary cap is still new to the NHL, so teams are still learning to adapt to it. I’m sure there will be more instances like this one in the future, but this one sets the precedence. Neimi is rumored to land in Philadelphia or San Jose. Both cities are in dire need of goaltending.

The arbitrator in the NHL v. Kovalchuk case should rule early this week, so this may be quite a historic week in the league. Stay tuned!

Blackhawks advance, Habs look for more magic

By Dan Rodgers

So...the Chicago Blackhawks have returned to the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1992. Good for them. Chicago finally has something to cheer about considering the Cubs and White Sox currently stink (White Sox lost 13-0 tonight, and the Cubs are battling to keep their heads above .500). Of course, they'll probably cheer up a storm when they get LeBron James, but that's for another post.

Anyway, the Blackhawks will sit at home and relax while the Flyers attempt to put away the Canadiens in game five. Might seem fairly simple considering they've dominated them just about the entire series. Except for this one statistic, the Habs are an undefeated 5-0 this year in elimination games. Whether that was luck or them playing well with their backs against the wall, props to them. I hope they pull it out again... being down 3-1 to the Caps, then 3-2 to the defending champion Pens, and now 3-1 again to the seventh-seeded Flyers.

Let us look at something else. Does Chicago actually have a disadvantage here? They were the two seed and absolutely dominated the first-seeded San Jose Sharks without question. Well beyond a reasonable doubt. However, if the Habs pull out a win on tonight...and maybe even another, the Hawks will be at home watching. Ever think they might cool off in the process, and even though the other team will be tired, they'll still be hot. Just something to think about. I hope Montreal pulls out another one, but something tells me the story stops here.

Go Blackhawks in the finals...they're a fun team to watch.

Rodgers That

History will be made

By Scott Antoszewski

That is the slogan the NHL is using for this year’s playoffs. I though it was an interesting slogan, if not a tad unoriginal because history is made in the playoffs every year. The magnitude tends to vary from year to year, but you can safely say that something historic happens during the playoffs each year. I’m sure the marketing folks couldn’t be happier with the events of this years playoffs, especially in the Eastern Conference.

The Philadelphia Flyers made the greatest comeback in team history to beat the Bruins in game seven on Friday night. I was at the Greene Turtle in Columbia watching that game with players from my beer league team, two of which are huge Flyers fans. I found it interesting, that even when the B’s were up 3-0, (that’s right, Philadelphia came back from down 3-0 in game 7) the Flyer fans, like the team, weren’t panicking, and their confidence was rewarded. The comeback wasn’t stirring, or dramatic, the Flyers just kept pushing and getting the dirty goals they needed to get even. Simon Gagne capped the comeback with one of the prettiest goals you will ever see, and the bar erupted in cheers. It was a seriously fun evening.

I find it even more entertaining that the Flyers now get to take on the eighth seeded Canadians. Never in the history of the current eight team per conference playoff format, have the seven and eight seeds ever met.

The Habs are another team that people are referring to as a “team of destiny” after eliminating Washington and Pittsburgh. Hopefully the remaining games of this series will be more entertaining that the Flyers 6-0 thumping of the Canadiens last night. Montreal had to see this coming as the Flyers were on a serious roll, and Halak was well overdue to lay an egg. Game two will tell a lot about how that series goes.

Lastly, don’t overlook the Sharks. San Jose is also looking to get into uncharted territory by getting to the Cup finals. The Blackhawks will make it very difficult, which will make for a fun series. The ‘Hawks took Game one in San Jose 2-1 yesterday afternoon.

Keep watching, who knows how much more “History Will Be Made”.

NHL Playoffs prove why sports are great

By Dan Rodgers

This post is going to simply and clearly explain why this year's NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs prove why sports are great.

The eight-seeded Montreal (Habs) Canadiens beat Sidney Crosby and the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games. The Habs absolutely owned game seven, winning 5-2 on the road. The team from up north now looks to take on either the (7) Philadelphia Flyers or the (6) Boston Bruins.

This series is another great story because the Bruins were up three games to none and now the Flyers have won three in a row. Coming back from three down in a series is an almost unprecedented feat in the sports realm. (I would know, my Yanks blew it to the Sox in '04)

No one should care about the other conference right now. The Sharks beat the Red Wings four games to one, and the Blackhawks overtook the Canucks in six games.

The reason the West doesn't matter is because it's one vs. two in the conference finals. In the East, it's eight vs. six/seven.

That's awesome and it's awesome that the Flyers came back in the series. This is when random people pay attention. I'm not a Flyers/Bruins fan by any means, in fact, I strongly dislike both those sports cities to say the least. However, I will definitely at least be semi-watching the game because of how awesome the story is. Maybe it's just the journalist in me, who knows.

All I know is that I'm rooting hard for the Habs to go all the way, preferably against the Blackhawks. I think if Montreal plays the way they've been playing, they have a legitimate shot to win the Cup.

Rodgers That

Biting their tongue, on to round two

By Scott Antoszewski

The Canadiens improbable comeback against the Capitals capped off a first round for the ages in the NHL playoffs last night. The final toll looks like this:

In the east, Montreal, an eight seed, took out Washington, the number one overall seed. The Flyers are a seven seed and they took out the Devils, who were a two. The sixth seeded Bruins eliminated the third seeded Sabres, and the Penguins were the only higher seed that moved on in the East, taking down Ottawa in the four vs. five matchup.

Out west things were a little less unpredictable. The Sharks beat the Avalanche in the one vs. eight matchup. The Blackhawks beat the Predators in the two versus seven, and the Canucks beat the Kings in the three versus six. The only upset was the Red Wings beating the Coyotes in the four against five series. A lot of people don’t really consider that an upset considering the hot streak the Red Wings were on going into the playoffs.

The first round was incredibly competitive and exciting. There were no series sweeps, in fact each series went a minimum of six games. I see that as good for the league, good for the fans and especially good for the sport. Sports leagues generally seem to be aiming for the type of parity you see in the most recent seasons of NFL football, and it looks like NHL hockey is certainly moving in that direction. I find that exciting as a highly involved fan of the sport.

The second round starts tonight in San Jose, the matchups are as follows:

San Jose Sharks vs. Detroit Red Wings: Can the Sharks shake off the ghosts of playoffs past and get to the conference finals? This year is probably their best chance in the last three.

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Vancouver Canucks: The Hawks knocked out Luongo and the Canucks in the second round last year. Vancouver has stated that they are looking for revenge. This has the potential to be a very nasty series.

Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins: If the Canadiens can get through the Caps in round one and the Pens in round two, there may not be any couches left unburned in Montreal. It’s another tall task though as Crosby and the Pens are stacked for another cup run this year.

Boston Bruins vs. Philadelphia Flyers: What a great rivalry series this is. The Bruins have a chance to redeem themselves from a short playoff run last year, and the Flyers are playing with house money. It will be interesting to see if Brian Boucher can carry the banged up Flyers through another round.

There are still enough teams in play that there should be a game on television each night of the week. Most of the weeknight games can be found on Versus, which is also back to being available to DirecTV subscribers. So make some time to watch a game or two, you never know, you might see something historic!

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!

NHL playoffs underway

By Dan Rodgers

The first games of the first round of the NHL playoffs have been rather interesting:

• (8) Montreal stunned (1) Washington in OT to take a 1-0 series lead against the best team in the NHL
• (7) Philadelphia beat Marty Brodeur and the (2) New Jersey Devils to switch the home ice advantage
• (1) San Jose continues to struggle in the playoffs, dropping the opener to (8) Colorado
• (5) Ottawa upset the defending champion (4) Penguins in game one

Hopefully, the rest of round one games will be as interesting as these. Nothing better than the underdogs coming through. Both one seeds going down would be extremely interesting. Best of luck to everyone...

Rodgers That

How do you define success?

By Scott Antoszewski

The NHL playoffs start in about a week. Last night the Colorado Avalanche completed the Western Conference bracket by dousing the Calgary Flames. There is only one spot left in the East and it appears that the New York Rangers just aren’t interested enough to get it done.

The beginning of the playoffs had me thinking about what the different playoff teams would consider a successful season. The Avalanche have a rookie head coach and are in year one of the rebuilding process, so the fact that they led their division several times this year and have made the playoffs is huge success for them. The Phoenix Coyotes are in the same type of situation. They were picked to miss the playoffs altogether, so the fact that they darn near won their division was a success in and of itself.

The other side of the coin has team like the San Jose Sharks and Washington Capitals. Success for the Caps and Sharks is measured much differently. The Sharks recent playoff failures have their whole fan base in a wait and see mode as the playoffs start. The popular thinking is that anything short of a Conference Final or Stanley Cup final may mark the end of the GM, the coach and many of the players. The Caps on the other hand are working against an ever shrinking window. There will be serious salary cap issues for Washington to deal with in the not too distant future. Nicklas Backstrom is a restricted free agent after this year, Alexander Semin has one year left on his deal, and players like Schultz, Morrison, Poti, and Fehr will be due big raises, not to mention the questions in goal. The time to win is now for the Caps. Anything short of a Conference or Stanley Cup final would leave fans of Ovechkin’s army very disappointed as well. Presidents Trophy teams do not have a stellar track record of converting that into playoff success. I doubt people will be jumping off the Caps bandwagon, but an early playoff exit will make for a long summer in our Nation’s Capital.

It will be interesting to see how these teams handle the success they’ve had or the huge expectations of their fan bases in the coming weeks. Buckle up folks, the playoffs should be a wild ride.

NHL round-up

By Scott Antoszewski

They are printing playoff tickets and selling division champion shirts and hats in D.C. The Capitals are the first team this year to sew up their division and a playoff berth. It will be interesting to see if they can keep up the level of intensity for the rest of the regular season.

The Sharks are still in first out west, but are staring right down the barrel of a first round match-up with a quickly strengthening Red Wings team. Will this be another short run for San Jose? If so, will it cost GM Doug Wilson his job?

The Canucks finally return home after a fourteen game road trip with an Olympic break in the middle. They lead the northwest division by six points over Colorado who is looking more and more like a team that could make some noise come playoff time. The Flames and Blues are going to need very strong finishes and someone above them to falter if they plan on playing deep into April this year.

The battle for the eight seed in the Eastern Conference will probably go down to the last few days. The players are the same as last week, as the Rangers, Bruins, and Lightning are making a push. The Bolts gained valuable points with a rare road win in Washington on Friday night, and are my pick to bump the Rangers for that spot.