Showing posts with label Canadiens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canadiens. Show all posts

Wednesday, 11 June 2014

Stanley Cup Playoffs - Conference Finals Review

Stanley Cup Playoffs - Conference Finals Review




We entered the second round with many predicting a repeat final four of Pittsburgh, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles. Two out of the four are heading home, for a holiday retreat or golf course. Chicago and Los Angeles are heading for the Conference finals again and if Chicago repeat as Western Conference champions they'll defend their Stanley Cup against a team whose last appearance in the cup final ending with them lifting the legendary trophy, Montreal in 1993, when they beat LA, and the New York Rangers in 1994, when they beat Vancouver.

Stanley Cup Playoffs - Second Round Review

Stanley Cup Playoffs - Second Round Review

Round one was so good it's hard to imagine how the second round could ramp up the intensity. Before we get started on the second round matchups we must say goodbye to eight teams. The Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers, Detroit Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets, St Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, and, like the inevitability of a Tim Peel intent to blow call we say goodbye to the true nearly men of the league, the San Jose Sharks.

Saturday, 3 May 2014

Stanley Cup Playoffs - First Round Review

Stanley Cup Playoffs - First Round Review

The opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs is the most exciting, most unpredictable round of the playoffs. For me it all starts with the opening montage Tim Thompson of CBC's Hockey Night in Canada puts together that airs before the first game of the playoffs. This year he went with Metallica's For Whom The Bell Tolls for the backing track to accompany the clip montage which I think doesn't hold a candle last years that featured The Who's Baba O'Riley. 

Wednesday, 26 February 2014

Trade Deadline - Who will be the movers and shakers on March 5th?

Trade Deadline - Who will be the movers and shakers on March 5th?


Whether you prefer the crew of Dreger, McKenzie, LeBrun, McLennan and Ward on TSN, or Marek, Kypreos, Millard, MacLean and Stellick on Sportsnet one thing we know as hockey fans is on March 5th (next Wednesday) we will all somehow be glued to one of those channels like we do every August and January 31st for football's (soccer to any Northe American readers) Transfer Deadline Day on Sky Sports News.

Sunday, 23 February 2014

Sochi 2014: Tournament in review

Sochi 2014: Tournament in review



The dust has settled on yet another Olympic hockey tournament, and for the 2nd consecutive games the Canadians have taken the top prize. But first we're going to look at what happened in the knockout phase (The next logical step after last weeks preview).

Monday, 2 December 2013

The Night Ahead: December 2nd 2013

In "The Night Ahead" we take a look at the upcoming slate of games in the National Hockey League tonight. The NHL had a few games played last night, with the standout fixture of note being Daniel Alfredsson returning to Ottawa to face the Senators.

Eastern Conference


Home Away Last 10 Eastern Western

Team GP W L OTL Pts GF GA W L OTL W L OTL W L OTL W L OTL W L OTL Streak
1 Boston Bruins 27 18  7   2 38 75  55 12  3   2 6 4   0 7 2    1 16  6   0 2  1   2 Won 2
2 Pittsburgh Penguins 28 18  9   1 37 86  64 11  3   0 7 6   1 7 2    1 14  7   1 4 2   0 Won 3
3 Detroit Red Wings 28 14  7   7 35 78  73  5  4   6 9 3   1 5 2    3 10  3   4 4 4   3 Won 4
4 Tampa Bay Lightning 26 16  9   1 33 76 66 10  3   0 6 6   1 4 5    1 9  6   0 7 3   1 Lost 1
5 Washington Capitals 27 14 11   2 30 82 78 9  6   0 5 5   2 5 4    1 8  5   1 6 6   1 Won 2
6 New York Rangers 27 14 13   0 28 60 66 5  5   0 9 8   0 5 5    0 10  7   0 4 6   0 Won 1
7 Montreal Canadiens 27 15  9   3 33 73 57 8 5   2 7 4   1 7 1    2 9 3   2 6 6    1 Won 1
8 Toronto Maple Leafs 27 14 10   3 31 75 73 9 4   0 5 6   3 3 4    3 8 6   2 6 4   1 Lost 4
9 New Jersey Devils 27 11 11   5 27 59 64 5 4   2 6 7   3 6 4    0 8 5   2 3 6   3 Won 2
10 Philadelphia Flyers 26 12 12   2 26 57 63 7 7   0 5 5   2 7 2    1 9 9   1 3 3   1 Won 2
11 Carolina Hurricanes 27 10 12   5 25 57 78 6 6   4 4 6   1 4 5    1 8 7   2 2 5   3 Lost 2
12 Ottawa Senators 27 10 13   4 24 78 90 4 8   2 6 5   2 3 7    0 9 5   2 1 8   2 Lost 2
13 Columbus Blue Jackets 27 10 14   3 23 67 80 5 7   1 5 7   2 4 4    2 7 9   3 3 5   0 Lost 1
14 New York Islanders 27 8 15   4 20 72 93 5 6   4 3 9   0 2 7    1 5 11   3 3 4   1 Lost 6
15 Florida Panthers 27 7 15   5 19 59 91 4 6   3 3 9   2 4 5    1 2 9   2 5 6 3 Lost 2
16 Buffalo Sabres 28 6 20   2 14 48 85 3 11   1 3 9   1 3 6    1 4 11   2 2 9 0 Lost 1

Western Conference


Home Away Last 10 Eastern Western

Team GP W L OTL Pts GF GA W L OTL W L OTL W L OTL W L OTL W L OTL Streak
1 Chicago Blackhawks 28 20  4    4 44 102 76 9 1    3 11 3    1 8 2    0 7 0    2 13  4    2 Won 6
2 San Jose Sharks 26 18  3    5 41 92 60 10 1    2 8 2    3 8 1    1 7 1    1 11  2    4 Won 5
3 Anaheim Ducks 29 18  7    4 40 91 77 10 0    1 8 7    3 3 4    3 9 5    3 9  2    1 Lost 1
4 St. Louis Blues 25 18  4    3 39 89 57 11 1    2 7 3    1 7 2    1 8 2    0 10  2    3 Lost 1
5 Colorado Avalanche 25 19  6    0 38 76 52 10 4    0 9 2    0 6 4    0 8 3    0 11  3    0 Won 2
6 Los Angeles Kings 27 16  7    4 36 70 58 8 4    2 8 3    2 5 1    4 8 2    2 8  5    2 Lost 2
7 Minnesota Wild 28 15  8    5 35 68 67 10 3    2 5 5    3 5 4    1 8 3    2 7  5    3 Lost 4
8 Phoenix Coyotes 26 15  7    4 34 85 84 9 2    2 6 5    2 4 4    2 7 1    1 8  6    3 Lost 1
9 Vancouver Canucks 29 14 10    5 33 77 77 5 5    3 9 5    2 3 4    3 10 4    2 4  6    3 Won 1
10 Nashville Predators 27 13 11    3 29 62 75 6 4    2 7 7    1 5 4    1 6 5    1 7  6    2 Lost 2
11 Dallas Stars 25 12  9    4 28 70 73 4 3    4 8 6    0 5 3    2 5 3    0 7  6    4 Lost 2
12 Winnipeg Jets 28 12 12    4 28 73 80 7 6    3 5 6    1 5 3    2 6 2    1 6 10    3 Lost 1
13 Calgary Flames 26 9 13    4 22 70 93 4 5    3 5 8    1 3 5    2 5 2    2 4 11    2 Won 1
14 Edmonton Oilers 28 9 17    2 20 73 95 3 8    0 6 9    2 5 5    0 6 10    1 3  7    1 Won 1

There are four games tonight in the NHL, so lets get into them starting with......

Winnipeg Jets @ New York Rangers

The Rangers have been playing better as of late, being in nearly every game they played, winning more than their fair share against the eastern conference, and on Saturday night played the first game of eleven games in the next twelve at Madison Square Gardens, they come into the game off the back of a 5 to 2 victory over the Canucks, On the back of Chris Kreider's first NHL hattrick.  The Rangers are also injury free, and are set to start Henrik Lundqvist against an injured Winnipeg Jets, missing  Zach Bogosian who is on IR at the moment, alongside Paul Postma and Jim Slater there. Young Star Evander Kane is day to day with a lower body injury.

My pick for  tonight is the Rangers.

New Jersey Devils @ Montreal Canadiens

New Jersey come into this game having to have put Adam Larsson onto Injured Reserve with a lower body injury, joining Brian Gionta, Bryce Salvador, and Ryane Clowe, compared to just Davis Drewiske for the Habs. That right there is a little edge to the Habs, the Devils are missing some serious quality compared to the Habs.

For the Canadiens, Max Pacioretty is an inform man and may be the difference tonight. His battle with Martin Brodeur will be critical to the outcome of the game tonight. Carey Price will still need to have a big night as the Devils, and brodeur are still in some good form, going 6 and 4 over their last ten.

For once, (for those who listen to the podcast) I am picking the Canadiens at home, purely based on the injuries to the devils.

Philidelphia Flyers @ Minnesota Wild

The Flyers are hot going seven, two and one over their last ten. Problem is, Josh Harding has been outstanding this season. Since ditching their coach, (nick's pick for coach of the year) The flyers have been on a tear and upward curve, and now they sit just two points out of the playoffs, and if results go their way, potentially depending on tiebreakers, they could take the Rangers for the 6th seed.

Chris Pronger and Marc Andre Bourdon for the Flyers are both on ir with post concussion Syndrome. Mikael Granlund is the only Wild out with an upper body injury.

The Wild ideally need a win to keep up in the playoff race. Currently they are a wildcard, and would like to move ahead in the standings. Besides that I reckon The metro division will be going 2 and 1 tonight, somehow i see the flyers winning, He might not be liked/loved, but Claude Giroux is one skilled Son of a gun, and his skill set will be one of the many Keys to victory.

St Louis Blues @ Los Angeles Kings

 Go ahead, get comfortable, get ya popcorn and relax. This should be a cracker. The two teams that have faced off in the playoffs the last two years face again tonight and if previous games are any indication, its going to be all out war between these two.

L.A are missing Johnathan Quick but Ben Scrivens has performed admirably in relief so far. Jordan Leopold is the stand out injury for the blues.

This will go to overtime, if not penalties. This is really a close well matched teams, after tossing a coin, I am picking the St Louis Blues, why, because it isn't the playoffs, (lemme check the calendar, nope I can say it isn't the playoffs yet)


     

Sunday, 1 December 2013

Stars - best of Saturday 30th November

Stars is our daily look at the previous night's action in the NHL and who stood out amongst the rest.


FIRST STAR

 
Chris Kreider - NEW YORK RANGERS vs Vancouver Canucks

Kreider scored his first career NHL hat trick against the team now coached by his favourite man the man who dropped him to the AHL for much of last season, John Tortorella. As John was run out of town by the Rangers for the 2nd time in 2013.




SECOND STAR

 
Max Pacioretty - MONTREAL CANADIENS vs Toronto Maple Leafs

Max continued his recent goal scoring form picking up two more goals and an assist. His first was from an fantastic breakout pass from P.K. Subban. His 2nd was this awesome short handed effort.




THIRD STAR

 
Evgeni Malkin - PITTSBURGH PENGUINS vs Florida Panthers

"Geno" had a goal, the game winner, and three assists in the Penguins 5-1 rout of the Panthers.




Honourable Mentions

Penguins backup goalie, Jeff Zatkoff, had 40 saves in the Pens win over Florida..... Semyon Varlamov had 37 saves in Colorado's 3-2 win against Minnesota.....

Subban had a nice goal.....



Tomas Plekanec also scored on a nice move.....



Alex Ovechkin scored, again.......




Look Away Moment of the Night

After all his brilliance recently, against Calgary, Ben Scrivens reminds us that he's just a man god damnit!!!

Saturday, 30 November 2013

Stars - best of Friday 29th November

Stars is our daily look at the previous night's action in the NHL and who stood out amongst the rest.

FIRST STAR

 
Brent Burns - SAN JOSE SHARKS vs St Louis Blues

Burns picked up his first career NHL hat trick in the 6-3 win over the Blues. He also picked up an assist on Tomas Hertl's late empty netter.




SECOND STAR


 
Braden Holtby - WASHINGTON CAPITALS vs Montreal Canadiens

Holtby had a surprise start at the Verizon Center when Michal Neuvirth hurt himself pre-game. He saved 35 shots in the 3-2 shootout win.




THIRD STAR



Darren Helm - DETROIT RED WINGS vs New York Islanders

Darren scored the opening two goals in the 5-0 demolition of the New York Islanders. Ending the Wings losing streak against the Isles.



Honourable Mentions

Mikhail Grabovski had a goal, an assist and the shootout winner in the Caps-Habs game.......



Tomas Plekanec also had a goal and an assist but his miss in the shootout gave the winner point to the Caps......



The man mountain that is Zdeno Chara got himself a Gordie Howe hat trick. He fought with Brian Boyle, assisted on Brad Marchand's goal, and then scored the game winner in the Bruins 3-2 win against the New York Rangers......


 

Rick Nash also scored in that game. It was easy on the eye......

Thursday, 28 November 2013

Stars - best of Wednesday 27th November

Stars is our daily look at the previous night's action in the NHL and who stood out amongst the rest.

First, Happy Thanksgiving to all Americans. Enjoy the day whilst the rest of the world go to work.

Back to a full program in the NHL last night with 13 games played, and for the joy of fans, after the last few days of dominant goaltending it was literally raining goals last night.

And it was an emotional night in Florida, as the Philadelphia Flyers visited the Tampa Bay Lightning with Bolts legend Vinny Lecavalier and another former Bolts favourite in Steve Downie on the team.



FIRST STAR

 
Evgeni Malkin - PITTSBURGH PENGUINS vs Toronto Maple Leafs

Another two goal, one assist performance here. Malkin's effort came as the Pens fought back from 4-1 and 5-3 down to beat the Leafs 6-5 in a shootout. His assist and 2nd goal were the Pens 4th and 5th goals. He also scored the game sealing goal in the shootout.



SECOND STAR

 
Victor Hedman - TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING vs Philadelphia Flyers

Hedman had a point on each of Tampa's first three goals, scorer of the 1st & 3rd, plus an assist on the 2nd.

Here's his first goal. Ray Emery and goalie's everywhere, watch with caution. This may cause harm to your health.



THIRD STAR

Patrick Kane - CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS vs Calgary Flames

Kane played the hero with the game winner on a clever backhand shot. He scored the first Blackhawks goal in what turned out to be a two goal night for him.




Honourable Mentions

Tomas Tatar did this.....



Sean Monahan continues to impress and had a nice goal on a wrist shot.......



Brendan Gallagher is now one goal short of hitting double digits for the 2nd consecutive season. This ripper on the PP, the number one PP on the road, was his 9th of the campaign....



Brad Richards scored a long range goal for the Rangers on Tim Thomas.....




MY PICKS

3-2 for me last night. Pittsburgh, St Louis and San Jose with the wins.


NOTE: Yesterday's "The Night Ahead" will be the last one for the foreseeable future. Unless somebody else would like to write it everyday.