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.

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!

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!

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.