• 14May

    2010 Conference Finals Predictions

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    I only got 50% of the teams moving on to the conference finals correct and I was wasn’t exactly right on either of them. I predicted that the Flyers would beat the Bruins in 6 (not 7) and that the Blackhawks would need 7 (not 6) games to eliminate the Canucks. I thought the Penguins would beat the Canadiens, not be the second team to be eliminated in 7 games by the very determined Montreal team. I’m sure it’s got to be hard for a team that just won the Cup to be as motivated as a team that hasn’t won it since 1993, but that series is still one of the most surprising of the playoffs for me so far. I also thought the Red Wings would beat the Sharks. Instead, the Sharks became the first team to advance, beating the Red Wings in just 5 games. The Sharks have broken through the glass ceiling that’s been in place since the NHL lockout. The last time the Sharks made it to the conference finals was in 2004. The Sharks have never gotten past the Conference Finals into the Stanley Cup Finals. Will this be the year they make it there? I don’t think so, but time will tell. They’re bound to make it eventually.

    Normally, the conference finals are a pretty perfect round for hockey lovers. There’s a hockey game every day, but that still leaves time for other things in your life and all the games are nationally televised. I understand having the first two hockey games in the conference finals on the same day. Sunday is a weekend day and the day that NBC has a playoff game. So, there is a game on NBC and a game on Versus. However, having two games for the second day of games in this round is really silly when playoff games could last a lot longer than a typical hockey game, since there is no shootout. Though the games are set three hours apart (7pm and 10pm Eastern), there could be overlap. If there is, fans outside of Chicago and San Jose may not be able to get the full second game of the day. Some television providers may have alternate channels for Versus set up so you can get all of both games, but in order to find out if that will happen and what channel to watch, one must be watching the games live. Those of us who live on the west coast and work 8-5 jobs can’t do that to start and may not be able to get home in time to catch up to live fast enough without missing the beginning of the game. (Besides, some of us prefer not to watch commercials and don’t watch games live until later in the playoffs.) It would be nice if Versus would announce their backup plans for all providers early so those of us who really care and can’t or won’t turn in to the games live have the opportunity to record the extra channel just in case it’s necessary. Thankfully, they didn’t schedule any games at the same time (or a half hour apart) and as of game 3 of this round, things get straightened out and there is a game per day. I’m sure that the schedules of the arenas had something to do with the way this round starts, but it’s still a shame that they couldn’t work things out. Here’s hoping that the eastern conference game 2 doesn’t go into overtime for too long…

    Here are my Conference Final predictions.

    Eastern Conference

    Flyers vs. Canadiens
    Flyers in 7 – This was a very difficult choice for me. Both the Flyers and the Canadiens have the momentum coming into this round. The Flyers won 4 games in a row to do something no hockey team had done in years and beat the Bruins after being down 3-0 in the series to start. The Canadiens won their last three games in a row to come back from being down 3-1 to the Penguins. Clearly, both teams are determined to win and have taken out teams ranked higher than them twice. The Flyers and Canadiens were ranked 7th & 8th in the eastern conference. They’re the teams in the 2010 playoffs tied with the least points of any team that made the playoffs this season. They’re both ranked below Anaheim (who finished 11th in the west) overall. This series should be very exciting no matter who makes it to the Stanley Cup Finals from the East. The part of this equation that may sway things the other way is Halak. He’s been the best goaltender of the playoffs with a save percentage of .933 and is definitely the main reason Canadiens have made it this far, in spite of Cammalleri’s offensive performance. This is definitely the series I’m looking forward to watching more than I have any other series of the 2010 playoffs.

    Western Conference

    Sharks vs. Blackhawks
    Blackhawks in 6 – In contrast to the teams left in the east (the lowest ranked teams in the east and NHL to make the playoffs), San Jose and Chicago are the two highest ranked teams in the western conference (though the 2nd and 3rd ranked in the NHL). I thought Chicago’s goaltending wasn’t strong enough to get them this far when the playoffs started and didn’t see San Jose getting past the first round, let alone the second. Both teams have their weaknesses, but I think the Blackhawks will beat the Sharks. It should be a great series, but the Hawks have the advantage of not being over-rested, the top scorer in the playoffs by points and points/game (Jonathan Toews), the goaltender with the better save percentage (though not by much), the better power play, and the best penalty killing left in the playoffs (the Bruins had a better pk than the Hawks).

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  • 28Apr

    2010 Playoff Predictions – Take 2

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    First, the results from the first round of the 2010 playoffs… I was bound to do worse than I did last year (7/8). This year, I only got 5 out of 8, though I did get 4 of the series exactly right (winner and number of games), so I guess I could have done worse. I definitely don’t know many people who picked the Canadiens or the Flyers to win and who would have guessed that the Flyers would be the first team to advance to the next round?

    I can’t remember a first round of the playoffs that was this interesting. Almost all the series went to 6 games or more. I hope that round two is as interesting and that this doesn’t mean we’ll have a boring second round.

    Here are my predictions for round two…

    Eastern Conference

    Bruins vs. Flyers
    Flyers in 6 – I know I didn’t pick the Flyers to beat the Devils, but they did it well from what I hear (I didn’t get out to the bars to see any of their full games, so I can only judge on what I read and heard from others in addition to the clips I saw). They split their regular season match-ups, but for the playoffs I have to pick Philly.

    Penguins vs. Canadiens
    Penguins in 5 – The Canadiens looked good against the Canadiens and coming back from being down in the series 3-1 will probably give them a good boost, but I don’t think they’re much of a match for the Penguins’ fire power. Sidney Crosby has 2.33 points per game so far. He has 4 more points than the Habs’ Michael Cammalleri, though Cammalleri played in one more game. The Pens won the regular season series and I think they’ll advance in the playoffs, too.

    Western Conference

    Sharks vs. Red Wings
    Red Wings in 6 – I predicted that the Sharks would lose in the first round as they had last year against Anaheim. They managed to beat the Avalanche, but I can’t see them doing the same against the Red Wings. Though the Red Wings had to fight to get through the first round, they proved in game 7 that when it comes down to the wire they are a great playoff team. They know how to battle through and play well when it counts. The Sharks have years of experience at buckling under pressure and leaving the playoffs before the conference finals. Everyone keeps saying that one of these years the Sharks are bound to break through. I’m sure it’ll happen at some point, but I don’t think this is their year. The Red Wings won their regular season series and I think they’ll advance to the conference finals.

    Blackhawks vs. Canucks
    Blackhawks in 7 – This is the hardest series for me to predict. The Canucks have the top scorer in the NHL and he seems to have started to score a bit in the playoffs now. They also have the second highest scorer of the 2010 playoffs in Mikael Samuelsson. I think before the playoffs started I would have picked the Canucks to win this one, since Luongo is such a great goalie. However, Luongo has looked a bit shaky in the playoffs this year. Though the Hawks don’t have the most solid goaltending, I think they’ll get past the Canucks.

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  • 25Apr

    Murphy’s Law of Playoff Predictions

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    Though I haven’t read Murphy’s Laws of Playoff Predictions, I’m guessing one of them would work to ensure that the only prediction I’ve gotten totally correct so far (team and number of games – I correctly predicted that the Pens would advance, but thought they’d do it faster than 6 games) was the Kings vs. Canucks series. I predicted that Vancouver would win in 6 games and they did. Since I want the Kings to do well, that prediction was the one I most wanted to have wrong. So, naturally, it was the first I had exactly right. The last couple years, I did really well in playoff predictions. I was due for an off year, I guess. It’s very possible the Kings/Canucks series will be the only prediction I get exactly right in the first round.

    Most of the players seemed to think (as I do) that Roberto Luongo stole the series for the Canucks. Luongo made a huge difference in the series – especially the last two games in Staples Center. Ryan Smyth pointed out that he thought Luongo got better as the series continued and I agree. He didn’t look as sharp in the first few games, but he was really amazing the last few games. In the playoffs, you need your key players to step up. The Kings’ number one scorer in the regular season was almost kept too far out of the equation by the Canucks and when Kopitar hit the post today, you could tell how frustrated he was getting. He knows he’s a player that should be up there scoring more than their defense and closer to the scoring of the Sedins. Perhaps it just takes time to adjust to playoff hockey. Terry Murray thought the Sedins made the difference in this series. They really stepped up their play in the last three games and he thinks they were the reason the Canucks beat the Kings to advance in the playoffs. Murray’s got a point. Luongo played all the games in the series and only really looked like the amazing goalie everyone knows in the games where the Sedins stepped up their play.

    The last time a team similar to this Kings team got into the playoffs for the first time in a while with many players who’d never played a game in the playoffs, they didn’t even make it to 6 games. The Penguins lost a very disappointing 5 game series to the Senators. The picture of Crosby upset in the locker room seemed to be everywhere. A lot of people say you need to learn how to lose the playoffs before you can win them. When Helene Elliott asked Terry Murray’s thoughts on that, he said he agreed with the idea. The Penguins said the main thing they learned from that first playoff series for many of their players was that the playoffs are a lot of fun, but losing in the playoffs is a horrible experience. They made it to the Stanley Cup Finals the two years after that, winning the second year. If Kings fans could look forward to that outcome, I’m sure they’d be perfectly happy about their team not advancing this time.

    This was the Kings’ first time in the playoffs since 2002. Most of the fans stayed for the entire game and cheered for their team at the end thanking them for getting back to the playoffs. The Kings and their fans know the future looks bright. They have a very good young team and a lot of good players in the system. It looks like they’ll be a force for years to come and have a good streak of making it to the playoffs now. However, next year if the Kings don’t make it beyond the first round, players and fans alike are sure to be very disappointed. One round isn’t going to be enough to satisfy the Kings next year.

    As a side note, I’m a big fan of the Kings’ Back in Black logo. Every Kings fan I talked to really likes the logo. Unfortunately, the Kings only thought it was worth using this logo on one t-shirt (men’s sizes only, of course). Someday, perhaps they’ll realize that Alyssa Milano’s Touch line is a lot more along the lines of what women want than pink shirts that are too cutesy and not in line with the team’s colors.

    Kat
    Contact Kat

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  • 21Apr

    Henrik Sedin’s 1st 2010 Playoff Goal Game-Winner in the Canucks’ Win in Game 4

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    Tonight’s game 4 in L. A. looked like it was going to have to be decided in overtime. The Kings scored the only goal in the 1st period. The Canucks scored early in the 2nd. Then, the Kings scored a couple minutes later, then the Canucks… It went back and forth that way until the Canucks scored two goals in a row thanks to the Kings’ too many men on the ice bench minor penalty. Vancouver hadn’t been able to score on the power play or stop the Kings’ power play in LA during the playoffs this year, but they got their power play and penalty kill going by shaking things up a bit in the line-up. Clearly, what Alain Vigneault did worked.

    Henrik Sedin, the number one scorer in the 2009-10 regular season, only had three points in the playoffs this year coming into tonight’s game at Staples Center and none of them were goals. I’m sure Canucks fans think it’s fitting that Henrik Sedin assisted on the Canucks’ first go-ahead goal of the night and scored the goal that won the game for Vancouver. Vigneault had said Monday that his top players needed to be his best players and they definitely stepped up to the plate tonight. Though the Canucks only allowed the Kings to get 26 shots on goal tonight, Luongo was called on to make some very good saves at key times in the game, which definitely had an impact.

    The Kings were outshot 37-26 tonight, which is unusual for them. Clearly, limiting shots again is something the Kings will want to work on before facing the Canucks in Vancouver for game 6 on Friday. Getting the Kings’ playoff-leading power play back on track would also be a good thing.

    With the series all tied up, the Kings are still in a position where they have to win another game in Vancouver. They’ve won one there already, so they know they can do it. Terry Murray has always been big on sticking to the routine. After examining tonight’s game as usual, the Kings will need to move on to concentrate on their game. They know if they play well they can beat the Canucks. They need to do that two more times to advance to the second round of the playoffs and the Kings are convinced they can do it. Fans of both teams are anxiously awaiting Friday’s game and wondering when they’ll be watching their teams on Sunday.

    The game in L. A. was the only game today where the team behind managed to tie the series. Many people may not have expected the Kings to ever lead their series with the Canucks, but the Kings did expect to do well and that might be enough. Kings fans are guaranteed one more game at Staples Center this playoffs. Clearly, they’re all hoping for more. Only time will tell. All the teams can do is prepare as much as possible as their fans hope for the best.

    My favorite sign of the night: “got pk?” Unfortunately for Kings fans, the Canucks found theirs.

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  • 12Apr

    Kat’s 2010 Playoff Predictions

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    In 2009, I went 7 for 8 in first round predictions. Somehow, I think that’s very unlikely this year. It was difficult for me to decide who I think will win a couple of the series this year, which I hope means there will be some great match-ups. Here are my predictions…

    Eastern Conference

    Capitals vs. Canadiens
    Capitals in 5 – I don’t think this will be at all challenging for the Capitals, but I think the Canadiens will win a game, hopefully at home for their fans.

    Devils vs. Flyers
    Devils in 6 – I think the Devils will take this one unless they have a completely unexpected breakdown or the Martin Brodeur of the Olympics resurfaces. It seems like Marty is determined to make everyone forget about his horrible performance in the 2010 Olympics, which will probably help the Devils, but the Flyers are still a very good team in spite of how they were playing the last couple weeks. I think they’ll bounce back and win a couple games.

    Sabres vs. Bruins
    Bruins in 6 – I know it’s not a popular choice, but I think the Bruins are going to step up and beat the Sabres. Buffalo hadn’t been doing that great in their last couple weeks and Boston may just take their winning streak into the playoffs.

    Penguins vs. Senators
    Penguins in 4 – A lot of those who know me will say I’m being too much of a fan in this prediction, but I disagree. I think that the Penguins (especially their Captain Sidney Crosby) still remember the 2007 meeting with the Senators in the playoffs. The Penguins swept the Senators when they faced the team the following year in the quarterfinals and I think they’ll do the same 2 years later.

    Western Conference

    Sharks vs. Avalanche
    Avalanche in 6 – I know everyone keeps saying the Sharks are bound to break out of their playoff slump some year, but I don’t see it happening any time soon. The one thing that makes me a bit skeptical about this pick is that (unlike recent playoff years) the Sharks went 8-1-1 in their last 10 games of the season as opposed to barely squeaking by to win the western conference title. The Avalanche have struggled at the end of the season, so if the Sharks don’t crash and burn early, they may get past the Avalanche and lose in round 2.

    Blackhawks vs. Predators
    Blackhawks in 6 – I think the Blackhawks will take the series, though it’ll be more difficult for them than it would if they had a better goalie. A team can win the Stanley Cup with an amazing defense and an okay goalie, but Huet is near the bottom out of all ranked goalies. Niemi has been doing well, but has very little experience. Of course, many new goalies (even those like Hedberg with the Pens, who had played only 9 regular season games) have great playoff runs, so I think the Blackhawks will get through the first round in spite of the goaltending questions.

    Canucks vs. Kings
    Canucks in 6 – I’ve talked to a lot of people who think the Kings will win this one, but I have to go with the Canucks for a few reasons. First, the Canucks have a lot more playoff experience than the Kings. I don’t see them making it to the Stanley Cup Finals, but I do think they’ll get past the Kings. In 2007, I was sure the Penguins would beat the Senators and then collapse. Instead, they were out of the playoffs in 5 games. I think the Kings will win one more game than the 2007 Pens, but they don’t have much playoff experience and I think that’ll hurt them. The other issue in this match-up is the goaltending. Luongo just won the gold medal with Canada in his home arena in Vancouver. Conversely, Quick (who Terry Murray keeps reminding everyone is the “number one guy”) had never played as many games as he did this season (72). He played only 44 last season and came from college hockey, where he played fewer games. It’s been speculated that part of Nabokov’s problem in the playoffs is that he’s so tired (he played 71 games this season). If a lot of games affect a seasoned goalie the way they have Nabokov, what will it do to a goalie with a lot less experience? As if that’s not enough, the Canucks have the number one scorer in the NHL (and 3 of the top 25). All those factors add up to me thinking the Canucks will win this round and a picture similar to that of Sidney Crosby’s depressed locker room shot of captain Dustin Brown.

    Coyotes vs. Red Wings
    Red Wings in 7 – This series was the hardest series for me to pick a winner, which is why I had to predict that it’ll go to 7 games. The Red Wings have been doing so well lately (8-1-1 in their last 10 games) that I had to pick them. Until I started writing this, I was going to pick the Coyotes. I think it’ll be a great series. The Red Wings do seem to already be in playoff mode, though, and their playoff goaltending has been amazing lately (leading them to two Stanley Cup Finals in the last two years and one Cup). I don’t think the Red Wings will get as far this year, but I don’t think they’ll collapse until at least the second round. The Coyotes have been playing really well this season, but recently they’ve been good, but not great and I don’t think that’s quite enough to beat the playoff Red Wings. Would anyone have predicted that the Coyotes would have home ice advantage in this series? It’s doubtful. The Red Wings didn’t play that well overall this season, but they know how to win in the playoffs. They have a history of winning for a reason.

    Hopefully, a lot of the match-ups will be exciting this year. I think that’s all most serious hockey fans want (other than their own team winning the Cup, of course, but we can’t have that every year).

    Enjoy the playoffs!

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  • 06Apr

    Kings and Avalanche Officially End Ducks’ Post-Season Hopes

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    This year will be another without both southern California teams in the playoffs. It’ll be great for southern CA hockey to see them play in the playoffs the same year. Maybe next year it’ll happen. In spite of the fact that so many things could end the Ducks’ playoff run (and did), before the game I was having a disagreement with a friend in the press box about whether the Ducks could make it. Sure, before the Colorado/Vancouver game ended in a shootout (not long before the Kings beat the Ducks the same way), it was still possible for the Ducks to make it to the playoffs this year. Most of us knew that wouldn’t happen. I called it in October from the way they were playing and publicly predicted the Ducks missing the playoffs in November. I didn’t believe you could fail the first 30% of your season and still squeak into the playoffs. The Avalanche and Kings helped prove me right tonight.

    The West is all sewn up for those in and out of the playoffs. Exact positions have yet to be decided, but there is no question that the Flames, Blues, and Ducks are out of the playoffs and the Avalanche will be playing in them again.

    Terry Murray pulled Quick after the third goal by the Ducks and the Kings rallied to win the game 5-4 in a shootout. Kopitar and Johnson scored for the Kings after Perry scored for the Ducks, winning the shootout 2-1. Kopitar came close to ending the game in overtime, but had to go on to use his most famous shootout move to beat McElhinne and win the game for the Kings.

    Now the debate turns to where the teams will end up in the standings and what teams will face each other in the playoffs. As usual at this time, there are many possibilities there. The last few days of the season are always exciting. Kings fans are looking forward to seeing their team in the playoffs for the first time since 2002 and many of the Kings are looking forward to their first playoffs of their NHL career.

    With their playoff spots secure, many teams are having trouble coming out strong in these last games before the playoffs. Hopefully for Kings fans, tonight’s game against the Ducks will help the Kings to finish the regular season strong so they can build on that performance when the playoffs start.

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  • 30Oct

    Déjà Vu All Over Again for Kings Fans

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    If Kings fans missed the game last night against Vancouver, they might have thought they were seeing things when they read that their team lost 2-1 in a shootout. The only difference in the simple box scores was the game in San Jose taking 3 more rounds of the shootout to end the game.

    Though he always went on to say that he liked the shootout for the fans and realized that the fans like the shootout and get excited, Terry Murray made it very clear that he hates the shootout. Many of us think it’s a bit ridiculous to decide a game by a team with a skill competition. Yes, penalty shots are exciting and the skills competition of the All Star game is always my favorite part. However, other sports don’t end team games with individual competition, why does the NHL? Could you imagine after 9 innings of baseball deciding the game in a home run competition instead of continuing to play? What about the team that loses in 22 innings getting a point for that in the standings? Didn’t think so. What about the NBA ending in a free throw competition or a game of HORSE? So why give a goaltender who’s played well enough to keep his team in the game and get them through 65 minutes of play a loss (even if it is in the separate overtime loss column)? Okay, enough of my anti-shootout rant.

    Naturally, the Kings didn’t look as good in the second night of their back to back games. I still think that teams in back to back games should be facing other teams who played the day before on their second night (which would have worked if the Canucks had played the Ducks on Wednesday instead of playing them Friday). The Canucks will have the disadvantage against the rested Ducks tonight and the Ducks will be at a disadvantage on Saturday when they play in Phoenix. Somehow, it seems it could have been coordinated a bit better.

    On the bright side for Kings fans, their team got a point for the shootout loss in both of their last two games and points in their last 6 (4-0-2) games. The Kings had two four game winning streaks in the same month for the first time since… I’m not sure when. I went back to the late 90s and couldn’t find another time when the Kings put together two winning streaks of 4 games or more in the same month. The Kings are at the head of their division and despite many reports to the contrary, when they were tied in points with the Sharks the Kings were in the lead of the division, since they’ve gotten 3 points in their 2 games with the Sharks and the Sharks have only gotten 2. They only had two four game winning streaks in their entire last season (and none longer).

    It’ll be very interesting to see the Kings play the Penguins next week. They’ve played the Sharks, but the Penguins are the defending Stanley Cup Champions and (having lost only two games so far) are clearly still at the top of their game. The Penguins haven’t been to LA since November of 2006. For some reason, they tend to come to southern California in November or December (escaping the Pennsylvania weather for a bit?). I’ve seen the Penguins play so often the last couple years in Pittsburgh that I sometimes forget how little most southern California hockey fans have seen of the Penguins. The last time the Penguins were in LA was the season where they made the playoffs for the first time in years. It was Sidney Crosby’s first trip to California in the NHL and Evgeni Malkin’s first year in the NHL. They both had fairly big nights in LA and the Kings lost in overtime (Malkin scored the OT goal). Both teams have changed quite a bit since then. The Penguins have found a coach (Dan Bylsma) who seems to know exactly how to lead a group of young superstars. Bylsma’s record in his 61 games as a coach of the Penguins is 44-13-4 (they’ve won 72% of their games, 83% since his first training camp with the team). The Kings have done well with Terry Murray’s system focusing on defense and seem to have found a goaltender (in Jon Quick) capable of making the saves to give the Kings a chance to win every night. They’ve also added a few key players to help them achieve a higher level of play. Anze Kopitar has definitely stepped up his game this season. It’s early, but Kopi’s on pace to score almost 60 goals this season and has scored 1.5 points per game so far. (He was leading the NHL in points until Alex Ovechkin passed him last night.) Next Thursday’s game should be very interesting and will certainly be the biggest test the Kings have faced so far this season.

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  • 08May

    Red Wings/Ducks Series Tied at 2

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    Corey Perry tied the Ducks’ franchise postseason record for the fastest goal scored at the start of a game (Sykora scored 42 seconds into game 5 of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals in New Jersey on June 5, 2003), established a career high for points in a postseason game with 3 (2-1), & had his first career postseason multi-goal game. However, his first goal of the game was probably the highlight for most Ducks fans at Honda Center tonight. Perry’s goal gave the Ducks their only lead of the game, which they held until Hiller gave up a soft goal to Franzen at 11:49 in the first period.

    Ryan Getzlaf extended his league-leading postseason point streak to 8 games. He has 14 points in those 8 games (2-12) and has regained the solo lead in postseason scoring (he was tied with Sidney Crosby going into tonight’s game). Chris Pronger & Scott Niedermayer also extended their point streaks (to 5 & 3 games respectively), but overall the Ducks looked pretty bad tonight in front of their announced attendance of 17,601 (including 427 standing room only tickets) breaking the record set this season against the Philadelphia Flyers on January 2, 2009 (17,597). One of my friend’s who was at the game joked that it was all Red Wings fans, but the Ducks fans were well represented in the crowd, in spite of the “Let’s go Red Wings” and “Ozzie” chants that could probably be heard by watching the game on TV near the end of the game almost as well as they could in Honda Center.

    Another bright side for the Ducks is that they managed to continue their power play goal streak, scoring one goal in their 3 power play chances. For a while, it seemed like the Ducks didn’t want a full power play, since they took a penalty 31 seconds after Detroit’s first penalty and only 6 seconds after Detroit’s second penalty. They scored to end their third power play opportunity after only 12 seconds. Obviously, that’s the way the Ducks would prefer to end a power play early. I’m sure the Ducks will aim to spend less time in the penalty box in games 5 & 6, even though Detroit only scored one goal in their 5 power play opportunities tonight.

    The Red Wings clearly didn’t start game four as they’d planned. Mike Babcock mentioned in his post-game interview that they’d talked a lot about starting the game stronger, since he feels the Ducks have out-skated the Red Wings for about the first ten minutes in every game this series and that the Red Wings have improved as the games progressed. The plan was to change that tonight and start stronger, which they obviously didn’t accomplish. Babcock also mentioned that he thought the first period of tonight’s game was their worst period they’d played in a long time and that he’s not sure how they managed to come out of it with a 2-1 lead.

    The Ducks and Red Wings have two days off to rest up before playing game 5 in Detroit on Sunday. The series has become a best of 3 series and whichever team can come out of it winning 2 of the next three will advance to the conference final against the Vancouver Canucks or Chicago Blackhawks (also tied at 2 a piece after tonight’s overtime Hawks win).

    Honda Center will surely be packed again Tuesday night for game 6, since everyone already knows the series cannot end earlier.

    Note: Hiller was pulled for the first time in his playoff career (his 10th playoff game). I’m sure Hiller will still start game 5 for the Ducks, since he started tonight’s game as the number one goalie in the playoffs and was in the top for the regular season, as well.

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  • 11Mar

    Ducks Win First Game Since Trade Deadline

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    The new players on the Ducks seemed a lot more at home in Anaheim tonight. Nokelainen got his first goal of the season, Whitney & Christensen got 2 assists each and Christensen got a goal that was questionably called off by the ref, due to goaltender interference by Getzlaf. As a Kings fan, I wanted the Ducks to lose tonight’s game in regulation. However, I think the call by the ref taking away Christensen’s goal was one of those calls that could go either way and would normally go the other way. Clearly, when Vancouver scored their third goal, the goal that got called back was very important. Fortunately for the Ducks and their fans, Scott Niedermayer scored 3 on 3 (after the Ducks had taken a penalty to remove their power play advantage) in overtime to win the game.

    Perhaps the Ducks did a better job at the trade deadline than most seem to think. I thought their first trade was probably the best trade they made this season and I’ve talked to many people who think the Penguins or the Ducks didn’t do well with that trade. I still think both teams got what they needed a bit in their first trade of the trade deadline time.

    I was curious how it felt for a player to go from Pittsburgh where the arena is full every night to the home crowd in Anaheim where there are a lot of empty seats – even on the nights when they have standing room only sellouts. Tonight’s announced attendance was 16,967; however, there were a lot fewer fans at the Honda Center than that. Whitney said that the Honda Center is “pretty loud” and that the three games he’s played in Anaheim have had a “really good atmosphere.” That it’s “not like going to the Islanders or Atlanta where you really feel an empty building.” He went on to say that the fans are great here and clearly he seems to be comfortable with his new teammates, he’s getting used to playing with Pronger. Obviously, it was also nice to get the first home win (he was traded early enough that he had won a game with the Ducks in Dallas against the Stars on February 28th) and experience the Anaheim crowd when the team wins.

    Needless to say, Erik Christensen didn’t agree with the call made when he got the puck in the net, but it all worked out in the end and the Ducks won the game. He never got an explanation from the refs, since he doesn’t have a letter on his jersey. The ref refused to talk to him about the call, since he’s not the captain or an alternate. Christensen said, “Nothing you can do about it now, so, I mean, I disagree with the call, I guess.” He saw the replay and didn’t really see Getzlaf push anyone into Luongo, but at least it didn’t make a difference in the outcome of the game.

    The games at this time of the season are so important to everyone (especially with the tight competition in the western conference) and all three games today were decided after regulation, giving out 3 points in each game. This frustrates players and fans alike when their teams are relying on other teams failing as much as their team doing well for the rest of the season. Every point matters and the teams are competing strongly to get as many points as they can down the stretch to the playoffs.

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  • 10Mar

    Is Nothing Gonna Stop Them Now?

    Hockey No Comments

    We’re all used to hearing Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” after games now and it’s clear that the Kings haven’t stopped. “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now,” a rock ballad by Starship, may be another appropriate song for this season’s Kings. Last night, the Kings (who many had counted out of the playoff race a while ago) ended the Canucks’ winning streak – a streak that included a regulation win against the Sharks who have only 12 losses in regulation this season. Roberto Luongo and his team were on a roll, but the Kings didn’t let that stop them. Don’t tell any of the Kings that in spite of being only 3 points away from 7th – 9th in the conference they are unlikely to get into the playoffs. They don’t need to hear that. All they can do is control how they play and they believe that if they play their best they can make it.

    The problem isn’t that the Kings are 3 points away from a playoff spot. The problem is that in spite of being only 3 points away from 7th place the Kings are in 12th place and only 6 points ahead of 14th. If the Kings were in the eastern conference, they would be 9 points out of 8th place, but only 11th in the conference. Those extra teams between the Kings and 8th place are very important. While the Kings can control their play, they can only control how the other teams do on a few occasions (when they play Nashville & Dallas twice, Edmonton, & St. Louis). Most days, they can only control themselves and for the next four days the Kings will practice as other teams play and hope that the games work out in their favor. Clearly, at some points, the teams the Kings need to lose for them to move into playoff position will play each other. All the Kings and their fans can hope for when the teams around them in the standings play each other is for a regulation win on one side or the other. If three points are handed out in those contests, it hurts the rest of the teams contending for a playoff spot.

    The Kings look happier than I’ve seen them – ever. I didn’t have access to the Kings the last time they were in the playoffs. Lately, their playoff hopes have been over pretty early in the season. At this time of last season, the Kings were trying to make themselves feel better about the fact that none of the games they played mattered. There was no way they could make it into the playoffs and they all knew it. The excitement of the playoffs and trying to get into the playoffs is what the players love. They live for the exhilarating games. Now, the Kings are fighting for a spot and every game is like a playoff game. They know how much each game means and they’re battling to get every point. One game at a time… The team realizes it’s a long shot, but they believe they have the power to make their dreams of making the playoffs come true and perhaps believing will make all the difference. Most Kings fans certainly hope it will.

    The Kings will be in Vancouver on Friday to face the Canucks again (after the Canucks play in Anaheim Wednesday) & in San Jose to play the Sharks Saturday. They return to Staples Center on Monday to face the team currently in 8th place, the Nashville Predators. It’s a rough road, but the Kings having fun trying to get to the playoffs and the fans that are attending the games are having fun with them. Last night, the Kings had an announced attendance of just under 17,000 fans. Sure, many of these fans were cheering for Vancouver, but Staples Center was fairly full. There are only four home games left in the regular season and the fans are enjoying their team’s excitement and energy as they fight to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2002.

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