Stanley Cup: game two recap

By Scott Antoszewski

Game two was the exact opposite of game one. A tight checking, defensive battle that put stellar goaltending on display. The Blackhawks scored two goals somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 seconds apart in the second period, and that’s all they would need. Philly goalie Michael Leighton rebounded nicely from a tough game one, but still took the loss. The legend that is Antti Neimi continues to grow as the rookie is now only two wins away from a Stanley Cup Championship. The Flyers activated Dan Carcillo for game two for some reason. He had little to no impact on the game. His accidental hit on teammate Mike Richards, will stick in most people’s memory; I would be surprised if he plays again in the series. The Hawks are still waiting for a breakout game from Patrick Kane. He played well, just hasn’t been the offensive force that he was all year long. The Hawks’ goals were scored by Marian Hossa and Ben Eager. The Flyers’ lone goal came courtesy of Simon Gagne.

I watched game two with a friend of mine who does not follow hockey. I very much enjoyed getting his perspective on the game. Avid hockey fans can enjoy a tight checking defensive battle; much like a die hard baseball fan can enjoy a 1-0 pitchers duel. I tried to explain to him that games like this are not what the league is looking for from the finals. The NHL wants a more wide open, run and gun, 6-5 final.(See my post about game one) The league believes that more scoring will entice the “casual fan” to pay more attention to the game, hence the changes to the red line rule, the goalie equipment sizes, the trapezoid, etc. Overall, it was a fun game to watch, both teams have proven they can play wide open and tight defensive hockey. Game three is Wednesday night in Philadelphia. Enjoy!

Stanley Cup: game one recap

By Scott Antoszewski

I remember thinking as I watched the Olympic hockey tournament back in February, “This is great hockey, I hope the NHL can live up to this level of hockey when it starts again.” Honestly, the last couple months of the season were entertaining, but not nearly as entertaining as the Olympic tournament… until Friday night.

Game One between the Flyers and the Blackhawks was the most entertaining game of the season in my opinion. The NHL needs more games like that to draw in new fans. The game was high paced, end to end, and full of excitement, especially offensive excitement, which is exactly what the league wants. The skill players got to show their stuff, we got to see Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Patrick Sharp lighting up both of the Flyers goaltenders. The Flyers responded with Daniel Briere, Simon Gagne and even Aaron Asham putting pucks past a rookie goalie, but came up just one goal short.

The old Chicago Stadium was nicknamed ‘The Madhouse on Madison’ and I noticed they put a sign up facing of the upper deck that read exactly that. The environment in that building was amazing, and I can only imagine how loud it must have been. The hockey fan in me was dying to be there, even though the ‘Hawks aren’t my team. The ‘Hawks sent almost 22,000 fans home happy. Personally, I can’t wait to see if game two is more of the same.

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”.