The Eastern Conference was on the schedule last night in the NHL Playoffs. The four teams took the spotlight and ran with it longer than they were supposed to as both of last night’s games ended in overtime. Continue reading
Pittsburgh Penguins
Hockey (Last) Night In Canada: Ovi’s World
Only one game on the NHL schedule last night as the Pittsburgh Penguins looked to even their series against the Washington Capitals. Continue reading
Hockey (Last) Night In Canada: Battle Of The Young Guns
Sure there was a game at night but no one seemed to care. The only game that was on anyone’s mind yesterday was Sidney Crosby and his Pittsburgh Penguins against Alex Ovechkin and his Washington Capitals. Continue reading
Crosby And Ovechkin Get Four Periods On NBC
The word has come down from NBC executives: Game one of Eastern Conference semi-finals between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals will be on the network for regulation and one overtime period. After that, coverage will switch over to Versus because NBC will begin coverage of the Kentucky Derby. Continue reading
Hockey Last Night In Canada: All About Momentum
The day was bookended with a matinee elimination game in Philadelphia and a late night elimination game in San Jose. Sandwiched in the middle was Calgary visiting Chicago, looking to break home-ice advantage. Continue reading
Hockey (Last) Night In Canada: The First One Bites The Dust
Last night was the busiest on the schedule so far with five games being played. We also had our first elimination game of the playoffs. Continue reading
Hockey (Last) Night In Canada: Working Overtime
The third day of the playoffs brought us a little closer to the next round as one team is closer to advancing. Also, we have a new, and catchier, name for the hockey recap. At least, until the CBC’s legal department decides that my homage/pun of a name is a trademark infringement. Continue reading
Red Light District: Let The Playoffs Begin
The NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs kicked off with a bang last night with four games on the schedule. For the duration of the playoffs, we’ll have our nightly recap of what went down on the ice. Continue reading
The First NHL Trade Domino Falls
Breaking news: The Pittsburgh Penguins trade Ryan Whitney to the Anaheim Ducks for Chris Kunitz and Eric Tangradi.
Whitney is considered one of the best young defensemen in the game today and has the potential to be a first-pair defenseman in the future. The fact that he was traded is not surprising because the return of Sergei Gonchar to the Pens’ lineup left Pittsburgh with a surplus of blueliners. With the Pens looking (again) for a winger for Crosby, Whitney was seen as likely to get the best return in a trade. With Scott Niedermayer expected to spend at most one more season in the NHL, this is Anaheim’s long-term solution.
Kunitz isn’t the biggest name in the league and probably not the biggest name that the Pens could have received if they pushed the issue. In his favour, Kunitz is a decent goal scorer with a career high of 25 goals in a season. Playing with Crosby or Malkin, that number should go up but Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko (who came to Pittsburgh this season) haven’t thrived playing with those superstars (both are on pace to score less than 40 points each). As for Tangradi, he’s been rated as the second best prospect in the Ducks’ farm system.
My early pick for trade winner: The Ducks
This past off-season, defensemen were paid a huge premium with even second pair defensemen getting contracts in the $4 million per season range. Being able to get a top player through 2013 for $4 million per year is a great spot for the perpetually salary cap challenged Ducks to be in.
Red Light District: Leafs Try To Ruin More Coaches Careers
NY Rangers 1 @ Toronto 2 (SO) – It wasn’t the prettiest game ever and neither team really deserved to win but Nikolai Kulemin’s shootout goal was all the Make Believes needed for two points. New Rangers coach John Tortorella was already calling out his team after one game saying that they needed better conditioning. Well, that’s one way to get them on your side.
NY Islanders 0 @ Pittsburgh 1 – Petr Sykora scored with less than 3 minutes left in the game to prove that the Pens don’t need Sidney Crosby to compete. They just need him to have any jump. Without Sid the Kid, the Pens played down to the level of the cellar-dwelling Islanders and were lucky to escape with a win.
Los Angeles 0 @ Philadelphia 2 – In another exhibition of an offensive master class, Jeff Carter scored in a scramble in front and Simon Gagne scored an empty netter to pickup two points for the Flyers. Martin Biron made 34 saves for his 25th career shutout.
San Jose 1 @ Detroit 4 – Henrik Zetterberg scored a highlight real goal while short handed to put the dagger to the Sharks. In a game that was being hyped for the return of super villain Claude Lemieux’s return to Detroit, there were no major incidents involving the cheap-shotting one. The win moves the Wings within 3 points of the Sharks for top spot in the West but the Sharks still have two games in hand. As a bonus, here’s that Zetterberg goal.
The Lowdown 