09Jun
The Chicago Blackhawks hadn’t won the Stanley Cup since 1961, though they’d been in the Finals 5 times since then. I predicted Blackhawks in 6, but had my doubts when the Flyers tied the game and took it into overtime. Patrick Kane scored the Stanley Cup winning goal in overtime of game six of the Stanley Cup Finals. He seemed to be the only one who knew the puck had gone into the goal. While watching it on TV (I’d even caught up to live), I thought it was a goal, but play kept going, so I figured I was mistaken. Then, we found out that the puck was caught in the net and Kane had scored the game and series winning goal.
Apparently, the third time is the charm. Marian Hossa is the only player in the NHL to ever play in the Stanley Cup Finals three years in a row with three different teams. He lost with the first two teams (the Penguins & Red Wings), but this year he was on the right team and was the second player (after Jonathan Toews, Captain and Conn Smythe Trophy winner for playoff MVP) to hoist the Cup this year.
Blackhawks fans will surely be celebrating for a long time. Many of them weren’t alive the last time the Stanley Cup was won in their city and the parade will certainly be a sight to behold. I hope I’ll be able to watch it online as I did the Penguins’ parade last year. Enjoy the party, Blackhawks fans!
Tags: Blackhawks, Conn Smythe Trophy, Flyers, Hockey, Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, NHL, overtime, Patrick Kane, Penguins, Red Wings, Stanley Cup, Stanley Cup Finals
27May
I was 100% right for the winners of the last round, but was drastically off for the number of games it would take each team. I thought the Blackhawks (who swept the Sharks) would need 6 games to eliminate the Sharks. I thought the Flyers/Habs series would go to 7 after the road the Flyers and Canadiens had taken to get to that point, but the Flyers (who shut out the Canadiens in 3/5 of their games) figured out how to effectively shut down the Habs and eliminated them in 5 games.
In spite of the fact that the Flyers were ranked 7th in the east and tied in points to the Canadiens as the team with the lowest points to make it to the playoffs and the Blackhawks were only third in the NHL (2nd in the west), I think this year’s Finals will be very interesting. It was hard for me to pick a team to win this one. Though I’m picking the Blackhawks, a lot of this series might depend on which team ends up having the hottest goalie and Michael Leighton of the Flyers, ranked 1st in playoff goaltending save percentage among goalies that have played more than one game and having the most shutouts of the playoffs (3, all in the last round against the Canadiens) is definitely the hottest goalie coming into the Finals. I think the Blackhawks’ scoring will make enough of a difference to neutralize the Flyers’ momentum coming into the Finals.
My prediction is… Blackhawks in 6. The Flyers may have the hottest goalie, but Antti Niemi is still doing very well in goal. The Blackhawks also have the number one scorer in the playoffs (by points and by points per game) and two in the top 10 in points per game. The Flyers’ top scorer is 11th in points per game. The Flyers have the top penalty takers remaining in the competition and with a 22.6% success rate, the Blackhawks have the best power play left (ranked 5th out of the 16 teams in the playoffs). The Flyers (87%) and Blackhawks (86.6%) both have great penalty kills (ranked 2nd & 3rd overall in the playoffs) and defenses, so the Finals this year should be very intense.
The Flyers haven’t been to the Finals since they lost to the Detroit Red Wings in 1997 (the first year of Detroit’s last back-to-back Stanley Cup wins). The Blackhawks lost to the Penguins in 1992 (in their second year of their only back-to-back Stanley Cup wins).
No matter which team wins this year’s Finals, it will be a team that hasn’t won the Cup in quite a while. It will also definitely go to a team who lost the last five times they were in the Finals. Philadelphia last won the Stanley Cup in 1975 – they won back-to-back Cups in 74 & 75. Chicago, who last won the Cup in 1961 is actually the team in the NHL with the longest period without winning the Cup. It’s been almost 40 years and I think it’s time. The Blackhawks and Flyers have each been in the Finals five times since their last wins 49 & 35 years ago.
Both teams have a lot of drive and both have good stories about not having won the Stanley Cup in a long time. Versus and NBC must be thrilled. This year’s Finals includes two teams that have been around for a long time. The Blackhawks are one of the original six teams of the NHL and the Flyers are part of the next six. Both teams have fans all over the country, so this year’s Finals should do well in the United States.
Tags: Antti Niemi, Blackhawks, Canadiens, Flyers, Hockey, Michael Leighton, NBC, NHL, original six, penalties, penalty kill, Penguins, power play, Red Wings, Sharks, Stanley Cup, Stanley Cup Finals, Versus
23May
The Sharks may have had home ice advantage in their first conference finals since 2004, but that didn’t matter to the determined Chicago Blackhawks. The Sharks took the early lead and even went so far as to lead game four 2-0, but the Blackhawks came back to take the only lead that mattered – the one that ended the game. Chicago is the only team that swept a series in the 2010 playoffs and for a third year in a row Marian Hossa will be playing in the Stanley Cup Finals. Is the third time the charm for him? Will he finally be on the happy side of the handshake when the Finals finish, or will he be on the losing end of the Finals for a third year in a row?
San Jose really can’t seem to succeed in the post season. They did better this year than they had in a while, but they can’t ever seem to live up to their regular season drive. The Sharks make the regular season look easy and win the west (and sometimes even the Presidents’ Trophy), but they can’t seem to get to the Stanley Cup Finals. Since their start in 1991, they’ve gotten to the conference finals twice (including this year). However, they can’t seem to make it past that point. This year, they didn’t even win a game of the conference finals, leaving them with a record of 8-2 in the conference finals and sending them home before the Finals again.
The Blackhawks will most likely face the Philadelphia Flyers in the Stanley Cup Finals, but the Montreal Canadiens want to change that. They’ve come back from a 3-1 deficit in a series twice already in the 2010 playoffs, so they may surprise everyone again. Either way, the Blackhawks were the first to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals and are certainly happy to get back to the Finals for the first time since 1992 when they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins as they won their second Cup in a row. This year, they’ve got a young team excited to be in the Finals for the first time.
Tags: Blackhawks, Canadiens, Flyers, Hockey, Marian Hossa, NHL, Penguins, playoffs, Sharks, Stanley Cup, Stanley Cup Finals, sweep
14May
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).
Tags: Blackhawks, Bruins, Canadiens, Canucks, Flyers, Hockey, Jaroslav Halak, Jonathan Toews, Michael Cammalleri, NBC, NHL, Penguins, playoffs, Red Wings, Sharks, Stanley Cup Finals, Versus
15Oct
One of the teams had to end their winning streak last night when the Rangers hosted the Kings in Madison Square Garden. Unfortunately for Kings fans, the team that extended their streak was the Rangers. The Rangers remain tied for first place in the Atlantic division and the NHL (with the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins). The Kings remain in first place in the Pacific division, but drop from 2nd to 5th in the Western conference.
Definitely not the best game to attend as a Kings fan, but there were up sides to not getting credentials from the Rangers. I got to talk to more fans (Kings and Rangers alike). I also didn’t have to talk to the Kings after the game and somehow I don’t think they were in the best mood – especially with their upcoming flight to Detroit immediately following the game.
As a Kings fan, I was definitely in the minority at Madison Square Garden, but I did see quite a few Kings fans. I talked to almost all the Kings fans I saw before the end of the game. One of the fans hasn’t lived in LA for years (he’s spent most of that time overseas serving our country), but he still manages to follow his favorite team. One of the fans is from Philadelphia, but he’s been a Kings fan most of his life. Apparently, he really liked their earliest purple jerseys and chose the Kings as his team as a result.
Everyone watching the game saw Brian Boyle (a former King) score his first goal in a Rangers jersey. Considering how little the Kings face the Rangers, it’s pretty surprising that he scored his first goal of the season against the Kings.
Special teams were definitely a problem for the Kings last night. The Kings’ penalty kill (tied for 27th in the league going into last night’s game) was already struggling, but the power play had been tied for 4th. The Rangers fan next to me turned to me to say that the Kings were making the Rangers look good near the end of one of the Kings’ last power plays of the game – and he was right. I couldn’t keep track of all the times the Kings passed the puck to the point without looking to see if there was someone there and cleared the zone for the Rangers (the Kings did this when they weren’t on the power play, too). Los Angeles was 1-7 (14%) with the man advantage and only stopped one of the three Rangers power plays. If I had to guess, I’d say the Kings will spend a lot of money working on their power play and penalty kill in upcoming practices.
Erik Ersberg was in goal for the Kings, since they face the Red Wings tonight in Detroit. His save percentage of 81% is definitely not what he would have wanted, but two of the goals scored against him were scored on the power play (one with a two man advantage), which clearly made his job more difficult.
The Kings hadn’t had a four game winning streak since about 2 months before the end of the last season and hadn’t started out with a record of 4-1-0 since the 1992-1993 season (the year they went to the Stanley Cup Finals and lost to the Montreal Canadiens) and ties with the best 5 game start in Kings history. It’s too early to be super optimistic if you’re a Kings fan (especially since Kings fans have seen their team start out well and finish way out of the playoffs before), but I do think that the team Dean Lombardi has put together is on the right track and will finish in the playoffs this year.
Tags: Brian Boyle, Canadiens, Dean Lombardi, Erik Ersberg, fans, Hockey, Kings, Madison Square Garden, NHL, penalty kill, Penguins, playoffs, power play, Rangers, Red Wings, special teams, Stanley Cup, Stanley Cup Finals
01Oct
When the NFL kicked off their season on Thursday, September 10th, there was one game that night. The Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers faced the Tennessee Titans at home. That game was the only game on opening day. It was nationally televised and well advertised. They showed the ceremony with the fireworks and the Steelers started off their season with the NFL world watching them celebrate their championship a bit before the game started.
As the MLB kicked off their season on Sunday, April 5th, the only regular season game that day was played by the World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies as they faced the Atlanta Braves at home. This opening game of the season was also available for all baseball fans to enjoy as the Phillies celebrated their win with their fans one last time before starting the new season.
The NBA started off their season last year on October 28th with a double header on TNT starting with the NBA Championship Boston Celtics hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers. The second game of the double header featured the first regular season game for the number one draft pick in the 2007 NBA draft.
All of these leagues have a few things in common. The reigning champion of the league gets to start off the next season. The start of the season is a well advertised event with countdowns on public websites. The opening game and pre-game events are nationally televised in HD for anyone in the country to see without a special sports package. The national TV coverage of the games happens on a channel that everyone with cable gets (I realize that TNT is a cable channel) for free. They don’t need to purchase a sports package (as I do in order to get Versus) and the channels are all on DirecTV (which Versus is not as I write this – I’m still hoping they’ll work that out before I move, since I really want to change back to DirecTV when I’m able to get it). These games also all take place in the United States of America.
In contrast, the NHL starts their season with four games on opening day (Thursday, October 1st). Two of these games are nationally televised (including HD) on Versus – the Washington Capitals at Boston Bruins (7pm) and the San Jose Sharks at Colorado Avalanche (10pm). The other teams playing on opening day are The Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, and Calgary Flames. None of the teams playing on opening day were even in the Stanley Cup Finals last season. In fact, only three teams out of the eight playing on opening day made it out of the first round of the playoffs. They (the Capitals, Bruins, & Canucks) were all eliminated in the conference semifinals.
The Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins play their first game the second night of the hockey season. They play the 8th game of the season and will have all the fanfare of raising the Stanley Cup Championship banner with only local audiences (Pittsburgh & New York City) as well as those of us who have the NHL Network (a pay channel on my cable service). I am hoping the NHL Network shows the Pittsburgh feed of the game. Center Ice normally airs the home feed for home openers and I’m hoping the NHL Network will do the same. I’m also hoping that when entering the info someone just forgot to check the box to select that the show is in HD, since as of this morning the repeats on the NHL HD Network are going to be in HD, but the live feed will not. I think it’s horrible that the first game of the reigning champs isn’t nationally televised on a channel that’s easily accessible to all sports fans. Those wanting to see the raising of the banner living in New York will most likely have to settle for YouTube replays or watching it on the Penguins’ website, since the NHL Network feed will be blacked out in NYC due to the MSG telecast. I’m sure the Rangers will do the same thing the Ducks did when they played in the Penguins’ first home game a few years ago and cut out anything fans of the Penguins would want to see of the opening of the season and local fans will not get a choice.
The NHL messes up a lot of their marketing (or lack of marketing, as it were). Their not acknowledging the reigning Stanley Cup Champion is just one of many errors. The NHL continually tries to compete with the NBA (which will always be more popular in most parts of the US). This competition makes it difficult for some people (especially those in southern California and other areas where local basketball teams were doing well) to find a bar that will show the games if they’d like to go out with friends to enjoy them (or, as in the case of my one friend, didn’t have cable and needed to find someone willing to show hockey that had Versus – at least Versus and DirecTV didn’t have their battle until the playoffs ended). If I didn’t know better, I’d swear that Bettman was brought in to lower the NHL’s ratings and prove that it should eliminate some teams. A lot of the choices he’s made seem more like the choices networks make when they want to kill a show’s ratings. I could talk about different errors in judgment the NHL makes for ages like most hockey fans.
Southern California residents not attending the Ducks’ season opener (also their season opener), which is the same night as (and only a half hour apart from) the Kings’ season & home opener, will be disappointed if they’d like to watch it later. It’s one of the few games airing on KDOC instead of Fox Sports Prime Ticket or West, so it will only be aired in standard definition. I’ll be at the Kings game that night and was disappointed that the Ducks’ first game of the season will not be televised in HD. I think this is another bad marketing choice, though this one was probably made by FSN & KDOC, not the Ducks. I’m sure the Ducks would prefer all of their games to be aired in HD. Who wouldn’t? It makes fans happy and that’s the goal, isn’t it?
I know fans of all sports complain about choices those running the league make, but how is it possible that all the other major league team sports in the country have figured out that celebrating the reigning champion is a good idea and the NHL still hasn’t understood this simple fact? It doesn’t take a brilliant mind to figure out that having one (or two) game(s) to open the season and making a big deal out of the opening night with the current champ as well as nationally televising that game (and the game after it, if applicable) is a good marketing strategy. For all of Bettman’s talk about expanding interest in the NHL in the United States, he doesn’t seem to make choices supporting the concept.
Tags: Braves, Cavaliers, Celtics, Center Ice, Ducks, FSN, Gary Bettman, HD, Hockey, Kings, marketing, MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, NHL Network, Penguins, Phillies, Rangers, Stanley Cup, Stanley Cup Finals, Steelers, Titans, TNT, Versus, YouTube
17Jul
As a Yankees fan, I was disappointed that the NHL chose to have the 2010 Winter Classic at Fenway Park in Boston instead of the brand new Yankee Stadium, but I’m still interested in watching the Bruins play the Flyers outside on New Year’s Day. I haven’t attended a Winter Classic yet and will always regret not getting to Buffalo for the first Winter Classic with the Penguins and Sabres. I know I’ll get to a Winter Classic someday, but since I missed the first one I might as well wait for a Winter Classic that means a lot to me or works around visiting friends and family in another part of the country.
I’m very surprised that the games in Europe are being played at the same time the rest of the season starts in the US. It seems that this change will put more travel pressure on the teams involved in the games overseas, but I guess the impact of starting the season is hard to judge. The Penguins started in Sweden last season and won the Stanley Cup. Since they also lost in the Stanley Cup Finals (to the Red Wings) in 2008, the Penguins had the shortest off season and still managed to win the Stanley Cup. Perhaps it’s just me, but I think this weakens the argument that the Ducks’ first round loss to the Stars could basically be blamed on their starting in Europe and having such a short off season. Perhaps it was more of a Stanley Cup hangover. There always seems to be one team from the previous year’s finals starting in Europe (first the Ducks, then the Penguins, now the Red Wings). The teams are chosen early enough that this hasn’t been specifically chosen by the NHL. It’s just the way things have worked out so far.
I still firmly believe every NHL team should play every other NHL team twice each year (once at home, once away), but I’m glad that the teams all face each other at least once in the season still.
I haven’t had time to closely analyze all 30 team schedules, but skimming the combined schedule, it seems like the NHL has done a better job with the end of the season schedule this season. Though I see the Red Wings playing the Flyers on April 4th, most of the games in the last couple weeks seem to be within the same conference (and many in the same division). Though no one knows which of these games will be the most important for playoff standings, having teams play within their own conference should ensure that more games that affect the playoffs happen during the last couple weeks.
Tags: Bruins, Ducks, Flyers, Hockey, NHL, Penguins, Red Wings, Sabres, schedule, Stanley Cup Finals, Winter Classic, Yankees
12Jun
What a game. I don’t know about all Penguins fans, but this Penguins fan has a sore neck. It’s amazing how stressful just watching a game 7 in the Stanley Cup Finals can be… When watching the horrible game 5 at Diesel on the south side in Pittsburgh, Bryan Trottier mentioned that he was just watching this year as a fan and that it was very stressful to be a fan watching your team in the Finals. Hearing that from a guy who won the Cup six times (4 with the Islanders, 2 with the Penguins) as a player and once as an assistant coach (with the Avalanche) was pretty surprising.
In Pittsburgh, it would have been simple to pick a bar for watching game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals and you probably couldn’t have made a bad choice. Every bar was surely filled with fans wanting the Penguins would win and the fact that the NBA wasn’t playing tonight didn’t matter as much to Penguins fans in Pittsburgh as it did to hockey fans in southern California. Here, most people care more about the Lakers than they do two out of town teams in the NHL Finals. Heck, even if the Ducks or Kings were in the Finals, I’d bet a lot of money that more people would care about the Lakers being in the Finals.
I went to my favorite local sports bar (The Corner Office) with a friend figuring there were bound to be other hockey fans there watching the game and I was right. I left work a half hour early and we just barely got there in time to get one of my 5 favorite booths in front of the big screens. There was another fan in a Penguins jersey (also Mario Lemieux), a fan in a Red Wings jersey, one in a Red Wings t-shirt, etc. More people in the bar seemed to want the Penguins to win, but there were fans on both sides. The Corner Office even put the sound on for the game, which I didn’t expect. Could we hear it most of the time? Not really, but the bar tried and I think that was really nice of them.
Game 7s don’t happen every year in the Finals, but they are a lot of fun when they do. The Penguins/Red Wings series was an exciting one, in spite of the blow-out in game 5 (where the Red Wings won 5-0). The 7th game lived up to my expectations. The game wasn’t over until the buzzer sounded. It was exciting and Penguins fans everywhere went crazy. I’m sure many of them worried when Sidney Crosby went down, but Max Talbot was amazing and gets the Stanley Cup winning goal, which he definitely deserved. Marc-Andre Fleury made some amazing saves, including one highlight reel save that will even show up on ESPN over and over, I’m sure. Dan Bylsma came a long way in a short period of time. From assistant AHL coach to Stanley Cup Champion head NHL coach. It must seem like a bit of a blur for him, but he’s done an amazing job and deserves a lot of credit for the turnaround the Penguins made this season.
Sidney Crosby may not have played much in game 7 (he didn’t even get to 10 minutes, due to his injury), but he was still the youngest captain in NHL history to lead his team to a Stanley Cup victory and raise the Cup. Evgeni Malkin became only the 5th player in history to win the regular and Stanley Cup playoff scoring titles (he also won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP). Marc-Andre Fleury proved he can play with the best of them and Marian Hossa chose the wrong team. Of course, there’s always the question of whether the Penguins would have been able to keep the necessary players (like Brooks Orpik) or afford the late season additions that allowed them to win the Cup this year. The NHL Network mentioned that Maxime Talbot specifically said he wanted to meet up with Hossa in the hand shake line and tell him he picked the wrong team. Clearly, he got to do that and I’m sure he enjoyed it as much as he thought he would.
The Penguins didn’t make the playoff run easy for the fans. The Washington series was rough, but the Finals against the Red Wings were even more difficult. Pittsburgh has two reigning teams (the Penguins and Steelers). A friend of mine mentioned that the pressure is on the Pirates now, which is (of course – if you know anything about baseball) hilarious, since the Pirates are most likely to become the team with the longest streak of losing seasons in MLB history this year. Of course, the other end of the state (Philadelphia Phillies) is the home of the reigning World Series champions. Three out of the four top professional team sports – not a bad year for Pennsylvania sports.
Now, we can all look forward to next week’s NHL Awards ceremony and the draft.
Tags: Bryan Trottier, Dan Bylsma, Ducks, Evgeni Malkin, fans, Hockey, Islanders, Kings, Lakers, Marc-Andre Fleury, Mario Lemieux, Maxime Talbot, MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, Penguins, Phillies, Pirates, playoffs, Red Wings, Sidney Crosby, sports bar, Stanley Cup Finals, Steelers
04Jun
Another great game tonight in Pittsburgh and the Pens are now tied in the series with Detroit 2-2. Clearly, I’m very glad I was able to make the trip to Pittsburgh for the finals and lucky enough to have tickets and be a fan at games 3 & 4. I had an amazing time cheering for the Penguins and waving my towel (though I’ll never quite understand the need for giving out towels).
I think Marc-Andre Fleury completely deserved to be #1 star of the game, since he had a 94.9 save percentage and 37 saves against Detroit. I understand Crosby being named #2, since he had the game winning goal and an assist. I have NOTHING against Malkin (in fact, I bought this great “Got Milkin?” t-shirt yesterday complete with a puck being dunked in a glass of milk), but I do question the decision to make him the #3 star of the game. Yes, he had a goal and an assist, but so did Jordan Staal.
It’s my belief that Staal’s short handed goal at 8:35 in the 2nd period was the turning point of the game for the Penguins. Not only did he score the tying goal, but it was short handed! I’m not really sure how they could have skipped him in the 3 stars of the game. He is listed as the third top performer of the day for ESPN. At least he got listed there…
I find it interesting that the team shooting the most has lost every game in this series, all games have been won by two goals (perhaps that’s why Kunitz missed the empty net…), and the scores have been the same by city so far (both Detroit games 3-1; both Pittsburgh games 4-2).
As a side note… Does anyone know if they track missed empty net attempts? I don’t have time to look it up now, but it seems like the Penguins have more missed empty net goals than any team I’ve seen (in years). It’s clear that Kunitz is truly a Penguin now – he’s missed an empty net at fairly close range. Perhaps that’s part of the initiation to the team. 
Saturday’s game should be amazing. It’s too bad NBC isn’t allowing the Penguins to show the game on the big screen outside. If you’re a Penguins fan, be sure NOT to record the game on NBC (or unplug the line that records that if you can – I know that’s not possible for those who have cable, but if you have DirecTV unplug the phone line) and go to a bar to watch the game. I’m all for higher ratings for NHL playoffs (especially the finals), but NBC’s reason for not allowing the game to be aired at the arena seems to be completely ratings based, so I think working to keep their ratings as low as possible is the best fans can do to show them how you feel about their enforcement of their contract.
Tags: Chris Kunitz, empty net, Evgeni Malkin, fans, Hockey, Jordan Staal, Marc-Andre Fleury, Mellon Arena, NBC, NHL, Penguins, Red Wings, Sidney Crosby, Stanley Cup Finals
02Jun
It’s very different to attend a game as a fan. The last NHL game I had attended as a fan was game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals in Pittsburgh last year (May 31st, almost exactly a year ago). Same teams, same venue and also the only games I attended as a fan last season. Though I was kicking myself a little for not trying to get credentials worked out in case I could afford the flight back to Pittsburgh for the finals, a large part of me is glad. There’s something about being able to get your face painted and jump up and down and lose your voice cheering for your team. It’s a lot of fun. I’m not saying I don’t have a blast as a member of the media. I do. I’m very thankful for the access I have and really appreciate all the Kings, Ducks, Eklund, and many others have done for me in that area.
I traveled all day to get to game 3 of the finals in Pittsburgh. (I left my house around 5 my time and had gotten very little sleep last night.) So, I’m not completely coherent, but we had a great time at the game tonight. My sister’s favorite player is Maxime Talbot. She predicted that he’d get a goal early and he scored within a minute or so of that comment. Naturally, she was totally thrilled that he got (and deserved) the number one star of the game. Not only did he get half of the goals the Pens scored tonight (true, one was an empty netter, but what a decisive empty net goal), but Talbot created a lot of other opportunities and hit the post once.
It was nice to see that there were fewer blatant missed calls in tonight’s game. With any luck, that will continue.
Jordan Staal had a very good game in spite of being absent from the score sheet. He did have 3 blocked shots. Evgeni Malkin increased his scoring lead from 2 to 4 points with his three assists (Sidney Crosby only had one tonight). I may not have a voice and my throat is definitely sore, but it was great to scream like crazy. I have a whole day to recover before I really need my voice again.
I really like that they had a special moment to thank Versus for allowing the Penguins to show the game outside on their big screen in front of TONS of fans. NBC is not allowing them to do that (not even for the finals) and I think it’s a very sad statement. Personally, I think Gary Bettman should have tried to iron that one out. I understand that it’s in NBC’s contract, but the NHL keeps talking about trying to expand the game and gain fans. The party atmosphere OUTSIDE the Mellon Arena for the game looks amazing (if the pre-game atmosphere was any indictaion). The fans are great and that’s what it’s all about. The Pens aren’t charging for the service, so I don’t understand NBC’s issue. If I were a Pens fan who wanted to do that, I would make sure everyone I knew did NOT watch at home, so I could lower the ratings as much as possible. I’d tell everyone to go to one location (a bar that would have it on anyway – Pittsburgh doesn’t have an NBA team, the only thing people care about around here is the NHL Finals – talk about a switch from southern California where it’s all about the Lakers) to watch the game and fight the urge to record. I know many people (like me) even record the games they attend, so they can watch certain plays again when they get home.
The Red Wings still lead the series, but the Penguins have definitely shown that they have life and I’m sure most Penguins fans are happy with the way the tide has changed a bit in Pittsburgh. Needless to say, Hossa got booed pretty much every time he touched the puck. I’m sure you could hear it on TV at times. Fans here in Pittsburgh have good reason for booing him and I’m not really against booing when it’s the other team’s player and with a good reason. (As many of you know, I always frown on booing a player on your own team.)
I hope you’re all enjoying the finals as much as I am.
Tags: booing, Evgeni Malkin, fans, fighting, Gary Bettman, Hockey, Jordan Staal, Marian Hossa, Maxime Talbot, Mellon Arena, NBC, NHL, Penguins, Red Wings, Sidney Crosby, Stanley Cup Finals, Versus
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