Second Round NHL Playoff Predictions

Roberto Luongo is one of the goalie's on the hot seat heading into the second round of the NHL Playoffs

           The first round of the NHL Playoffs were probably the most exciting set of games in recent memory. Four of the eight series went to game 7 and there were overtime games for nine consecutive nights. I’ve never seen so much hype for the Blackhawks and Canucks seventh and deciding game, and they definitely didn’t leave anyone disappointed. That series had about as much drama as Jersey Shore and there definitely was a situation when Cory Schneider was given the start in game 6 in favour of Roberto Luongo. With one game of the first round already in the books, I’m a little behind, but the following are my predictions for the second round.

Vancouver (1) vs Nashville (5)

Season Series: Tied 2-2

            The Canucks are coming off an emotional victory against the Chicago Blackhawks and I think they’re going to roll through this series. Vancouver has a lot more depth on both forward and defense. All of the games will be tight-checking games and the Predators’ strong defensive tandem of Ryan Suter and Shea Weber will do their best to wear down the Canucks forwards. (On a side, Weber probably has the best playoff beard in recent memory, but he started growing it in February). The only way Nashville has a chance this series is if goaltender Pekka Rinne stands on his head. He had a .930 save percentage during the regular season and is a Vezina Trophy finalist.

Final Prediction: Vancouver in 5.

San Jose (2) vs Detroit (3)

Season Series: 3-1 San Jose

            The Red Wings steamrolled right through the Phoenix (potentially Winnipeg) Coyotes in four straight games all without top winger Henrik Zetterberg. Their game on Friday will be their first in ten games, so they’re definitely well rested. This could potentially mean the return of Zetterberg. The Red Wings have a lot of depth, including ageless wonder Nicklas Lidstrom, who has nominated for the Norris Trophy for the 10^th time in 12 seasons. Dany Heatley had one of his worst statistical campaigns with only 26 goals. The trio of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and Heatley will be integral to the Sharks success. However, I think Detroit’s depth will prevail in this series.

Final Prediction: Detroit in 7.

Washington (1) vs Tampa Bay (5)

Season Series: 4-2 Washington

            This is a classic Southeast Division match up between two teams that save their best for each other. Tampa Bay beat a depleted Penguins team in 7 games in round one, but they’ll need better play from their superstars if they want to compete with Washington’s forwards. Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos combined for a single tally in the opening round. That won’t be good enough this time around. The Capitals seem like one of the most complete teams remaining. They’re led by Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin, who combined for 29 points in 6 games in their series win against the Rangers. In both of Washington’s losses to Tampa Bay this season, they were shut out by Dwayne Roloson. ‘Rollie the Goalie’ will need to continue his remarkable play if the Lightning want a chance to win this series.

Final Prediction: Washington in 6.

Philadelphia (2) vs Boston (3)

Season Series: 3-1 Boston

            These are two teams with such a rich history full of bad blood. We saw last year that anything can happen between these two squads. For those that don’t remember, the Flyers became the first team since the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs to come back from a 3-0 deficit and win in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals last year against the Bruins. I wouldn’t be surprised if something similar happens in this series. Both teams were worn down in the opening round, but they both have a lot of depth. The Bruins went 0-16 on the powerplay against Montreal in the first round. The broad street bullies will take undisciplined penalties, and Boston will need to capitalize on their chances. Their prized acquisition this season was Tomas Kaberle, but he has done absolutely nothing to help their man advantage. If the Bruins want to win this series, they’ll need their powerplay to be much better. The Flyers have a goaltending dilemma. Surprise…Surprise… we’ve never seen that from Philadelphia! They used three goalies to eliminate Buffalo in round one, and they’ll need more consistent netminding to knock out Boston. Brian Boucher won all of the Flyers’ games, but he’s been a very streaky goalie. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sergei Bobrovsky makes an appearance at some point in this series.

Final Prediction: Boston in 7.

Report on Concussions

The video is only supposed to be 2 minutes, it is just repeated 5 times (not sure why). Enjoy!

The Future Looks Bright in Leafland

The emergence of James Reimer should leave Maple Leafs fans excited for the future

             The Toronto Maple Leafs have staged yet another one of their late season surges, where they’ve won a number of pressure-packed, must win games. It seems like this sort of thing happens every year. During past seasons, the common line out of Leaf fans was, “it’s our time next year.” They are one of two teams who haven’t made the playoffs since the lockout (Florida is the other team), so fans are definitely growing tired of not being able to see their beloved team playing post season hockey. I believe that this drought will end next year, only if certain things fall into place.

            They say defense wins championships. Brian Burke has built his squad around a strong defensive core. Heading into this past season, Dion Phaneuf and Tomas Kaberle were the pillars of the backend. When Kaberle departed before the trade deadline, Phaneuf, Schenn and young-gun Keith Aulie really stepped up in his absence. These three blueliners will be integral to Toronto’s success moving forward. (On a side note, looking back, it’s hard to believe that Calgary gave away both Aulie and Phaneuf to the Leafs for Matt Stajan, Ian White, Jamal Mayers and Niklas Hagman). Keith Aulie is kind of like a ‘poor man’s’ Chris Pronger in the sense that they’re basically the same size (around 6’5), and know how to play their position well. However, Aulie definitely isn’t as dirty as Pronger, but he certainly knows how to drop the gloves when called upon.

            For the first time since 2002-2003, the Maple Leafs have two players with at least 30 goals (Mikhail Grabovski just misses the cut with 29 tallies). For Toronto to have any chance next season, they need their big 4 (Phil Kessel, Clarke MacArthur, Nikolai Kulemin and Grabovski) to excel. In addition, a full season in blue and white for both Nazem Kadri and Joffrey Lupul will only help Toronto positively.

            For any team to have success in any level of hockey, the goaltender has to be at the top of his game. Throughout the first half of the season, JS Giguere and Jonas Gustavsson weren’t cutting it. Enter James Reimer (Optimus Reime, Reime Minister, Busta Reime) or any of his latest and greatest nicknames. The 23 year old Winnipeg native has a 20-8-5 record with a 2.51 goals against average and a .923 save percentage so far this season. He’s given the Leafs a legitimate chance to win on a nightly basis. The big test for Reimer (I actually heard someone call him ‘God’ this morning on the radio…a tad farfetched, I’d say) will be the off season. One of two things could happen. He could easily work very hard and come back in September looking like the Terminator, or he could spend the summer slacking off, hanging out poolside with an adult beverage constantly at his grasp. Judging by his humble personality, I would expect Reimer to continue to excel next season. With Francois Allaire as the Leafs goalie coach, Reimer’s technical skills will only improve.

            This may be the first blog on this site that is positive towards the Maple Leafs. I firmly believe that this late season hot streak is legitimate. If Toronto shows a similar level of play next season, they will finally end their post-lockout playoff drought.

Taking Head Shots Seriously

Sidney Crosby is one of several players that has missed significant time this season with a concussion.

     

       Hockey is a dangerous, full contact game and the risk of injury is obviously a very big one. Throughout the past few seasons, concussions have become a focal injury in the League. During this time, an increasing number of players have been concussed and up until the GM meetings this week in Florida, the NHL has done nothing about it.

       A concussion is very different than other injuries suffered playing hockey. The recovery time can’t easily be standardized based on the diagnosis.   A concussion is trauma to the brain as a result of a violent hit. Doctors used to talk about the severity of concussions in terms of whether it was mild or severe based on the hit to the player and the resulting head impact.  But these descriptors are somewhat irrelevant as an individual’s brain and its subsequent recovery time is different.  The brain will take as long as it needs to recover. For example, when Sidney Crosby was injured in early January, the Penguins announced that he would miss 7-10 days with a mild concussion. 30 games and more than 2 months later, Crosby still hasn't suited up for a Pens game. In fact, on Monday he skated for the first time since being injured.

       The big trouble with Crosby was that he suffered two traumatic blows to his head within a four day span. When he was first hit by David Steckel at the Winter Classic on New Year’s Day, he seemed very dazed and confused. He wasn't properly examined before going back to play in that game or before his next game.  This has proven to be a huge problem. During his next contest on January 4^th, he was hit awkwardly into the boards by Tampa Bay defenceman Victor Hedman, which left Crosby fumbling over his memory.

       

       At this week’s meetings in Florida, Commissioner Gary Bettman and the League's General Managers have finally reached an agreement that will likely be implemented as soon as next week into regular season games. Any players who feel any sort of concussion-like symptoms experienced during a game will have to be properly examined by a doctor in a quiet, private room. They'll have to be medically cleared before being able to re-enter that game. Finally this is a step in the right direction for the League. If this rule had been in place when Crosby was initially injured, he would likely have made a faster recovery and would presently be in the hunt for yet another scoring title.

       Another factor that has to be reviewed to help reduce the risk of concussions is the equipment currently used by players. Various reports have indicated that if players used a softer shoulder pad, it would decrease the risk of a concussion occurring.  In addition, the type and quality of helmet is a huge consideration. A number of the helmets don't adequately protect the players from high impact collisions. Recently, Mark Messier has created a helmet which is intended to improve a player’s head protection. The M11 is proven to absorb more energy from high impact linear forces than other premium helmets to provide maximum protection. If the NHL were to explore making this kind of helmet mandatory, the amount of concussions could decrease.

       The NHL has finally taken a step in the right direction to reduce the amount of serious concussions. This type of injury will never be fully eliminated from the game, but hopefully the severity and frequency will be reduced.

Tiger’s Fall from Dominance Continues

Tiger Woods was eliminated in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship by Thomas Bjorn Wednesday afernoon.

           Heading into the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Arizona, much of the speculation was about former world number one Tiger Woods. Which Tiger would we see? The motivated, determined player who nearly won the Chevron World Challenge in December, or the dejected Woods who spat his way (literally) to a final round 75 at the Dubai Desert Classic.

            Woods was the number one seed in the Sam Snead bracket and was set to face off against tour veteran Thomas Bjorn. Everyone expected Woods to run away with this match, but the complete opposite happened. Tiger made a mess of the first playoff hole, making a double bogey and basically handing the match to the 65^th ranked player in the world.

            It is clear that Woods definitely doesn’t have his ‘A’ game going. He’ll show flashes of brilliance and then hit a very poor shot. That was very evident on Wednesday afternoon. There were several instances where he had an easy opportunity to get up and down or a chance to sink a putt, but unfortunately he couldn’t get it done. The ‘old’ Tiger Woods would have completed these tasks in his sleep. In the past, if Tiger was in a playoff, he would usually blast his drive down the fairway, hit an iron onto the green and drain a twisting putt for birdie. This time around, not so much. He sprayed his tee shot well right of the fairway into some cacti-filled mulch and hacked his ball around for a double bogey.

            The world knows that Woods is going through a swing change. Whenever he’s been interviewed, he talks about how his overall game is progressing heading into a tournament. This time around, new coach Sean Foley has radically changed his swing. Previously, when Butch Harmon and Hank Haney were in charge of Woods’ game, he seemed free to really go after shots. With Foley’s instruction in his head, Tiger seems very restricted over the ball.

            Those who golf often know the feeling – you’re on the driving range and you find a swing key that makes the ball soar farther than it ever has before. But once you step on the course, the usual slice or hook comes back into play. I think Tiger is going through a similar problem. He may be playing well at home, but practicing on the range at home and competing in tournament golf with millions of dollars on the line is very different.

            Golf is probably one of the most mentally driven sports in the world. Ben Crenshaw said it best, “I’m about five inches from being an outstanding golfer. That’s the distance from my left ear to my right.” In his glory days, Tiger could never be phased mentally. Nowadays, he seems to get flustered a lot quicker and that translates to the rest of his game.

            In the past, Tiger has played in far less events than his competitors. But since he won so many times, he would be able to get away with it. It doesn’t appear that his playing schedule is going to change any time soon and I think that’s going to hurt his overall game. The well known cliché ‘practice makes perfect’ applies here. If Woods plays more tournaments, I believe it’ll make him a more consistent player.

            If Tiger plays more on the PGA Tour, he can become more consistent, which will allow him to win more tournaments. If he doesn’t, we may not see his name in the winner's circle any time soon.

To Tweet or Not To Tweet?... That is the Question!

Twitter can be a very fun social networking source, but as some athletes have learned, it can also be a very dangerous thing.

           Over the past few years, the evolution of social media has completely changed sports from both the fans’ and players’ perspectives. The most commonly used social media source is definitely Twitter.

            Twitter was originally created in 2006 and people used it to either update their whereabouts or promote their own companies. Movie stars and well known celebrities or icons also began to make accounts, which started a transition to the real purpose to Twitter. Everyday 'Average Joes' started to use Twitter for the sole purpose of following these icons and learning more about them. A glaring example of a well-known icon who has Twitter is US president Barack Obama, who has over 6 million followers. This transition that the movie stars created began to evolve into athletes. Hundreds of sports icons have verified Twitter accounts and can easily speak to the public about any issues. More recently, well known media personalities have created accounts and use the social media source to post recent blog posts, to promote a show they're starring in, or to announce the latest news or player signings. A prime example of this came just this afternoon when several media members tweeted that Francois Beauchemin had been traded to the Anaheim Ducks before network stations had reported it themselves.

            Twitter has been a great source for athletes and icons to post their latest thoughts, but it has also caused some people to get into some issues. Being in Toronto, Chris Bosh really 'stirred the pot' when he asked the Twitter world which team he should sign with when he was a free agent this past summer. Bosh was with the squad for seven years and is the Raptors all time leading scorer, but all of his credibility with the city quickly vanished after this whole scandal. Bosh and the Miami Heat haven't played in Toronto yet, but when he does, I'm sure he'll hear his fair share of 'boos' and it'll definitely be a hostile environment.

            Another prime example of a player who caused some commotion with Twitter was NHL player Paul Bissonnette. He is extremely popular solely because of his Twitter account. In fact, his original account 'PaulBizNasty' was deactivated because of some off colour remarks about New Jersey Devils forward Ilya Kovalchuk's recent 15 year contract. However, he has made up for this blunder and has made a new account. 'BizNasty2point0' has over 36,000 followers and has created a hilarious aura with NHL fans. His humorous tweets evolved him from a minimum salary NHL agitator into an NHL fan favourite. In fact, his work on Twitter was an integral reason he was named on The Hockey News 100 People of Power and Influence list.

            Twitter can be a very dangerous thing. Athletes who are posting may not be the smartest guys in the world, and there isn't any spell check on a post. In fact, the tweets aren't even editted by team's PR reps. Athletes and well known icons can either use Twitter as a source to bond with and create new fans, or it could just as quickly cause turmoil and hardship.

A Look Back on NHL All Star Weekend

Hurricanes Eric Staal and Red Wings Nicklas Lidstrom were excellent choices to be the team captains at this weekend's NHL All Star Game in Raleigh, North Carolina

           

Heading into this weekend’s NHL All Star Game in Raleigh, North Carolina, there were mixed reviews regarding the new fantasy draft formatting. It was believed that the players wouldn’t be open to the draft, but I think it was just the opposite.

            To begin, Eric Staal and Nicklas Lidstrom were excellent choices to be the team captains.  At 40 years old, Lidstrom was the oldest and most experienced all star and it will be one of his final seasons in the league (unless he tries to follow Chris Chelios’ footsteps). Staal was the hometown hero, so as long as he took care of his ‘boys’, he’d be in the fans good books.

            I found the draft very entertaining to watch, even though I didn’t agree with some of the selections. A few come to mind. For example, Cam Ward going first overall was a little puzzling. Yes, Ward was Staal’s ‘boy’ and had to be his goalie, but I don’t think Lidstrom would have picked a goalie with his first pick anyway

            I was also surprised that Phil Kessel was chosen last. Yes, many thought that he was the worst player of the 36 all stars, but in my opinion he would be the perfect player for this kind of game. The Maple Leafs forward has a killer wrist shot, but his backchecking isn’t anything to write home about. That is exactly the kind of player who excels in an all star format. He would be able to dipsy-doodle around the offensive zone and meander aimlessly back towards his defensive zone at his own pace. Instead, I really thought that St. Louis Blues forward David Backes should have been the last player selected. He’s more of a power forward and one who plays a ‘grinding’ dump and chase style of game. Since there’s no hitting during the all star game, he would almost be useless on the ice.

            Saturday night’s skills competition was also entertaining to watch. Having 16 top rookies was a great way for the league to promote some of their young talent and future all stars. The best moment of the event had to be the goalie version of the fastest skating contest. Tim Thomas looked to have the early edge over Cam Ward before completely blowing a tire turning around the net. Ward went on to win the race. The NHL did a great job with some of the new events, although the relay competition that involved several different skills took far too long to complete.

            As for the game itself, it was a typical all star fiasco for most of the first two periods.  It was evident that the players started to kick it up a notch with Team Lidstrom up 7-6 late in the second frame. The game was entertaining in the third, as the players started to compete harder. We saw the first ever all star game penalty shot in that final period, when Alex Ovechkin threw his stick at Matt Duchene (Duchene was then stopped by Henrik Lundqvist). In the end, Team Lidstrom was victorious 11-10 over Team Staal. Patrick Sharp won the game MVP with a goal and two assists. He’ll definitely be driving fellow Thunder Bay natives Eric, Jordan and Marc Staal around during the off season.

            Looking back on the weekend, I thought it was a success. The draft was great to see and created some intriguing storylines for the rest of the weekend. The moment that caused the world to giggle was when Phil Kessel was about to be selected last. When he was sitting all alone, Alex Ovechkin pulled out his Blackberry and snapped a picture of him with his incredibly great (cough) smile beaming. For those who didn’t see it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scg8Vzu7PK4 (go to the 30 second mark).

            Seeing Jeff Skinner excel throughout the weekend was also cool. I’m proud to say that he sniped a few past me during my ‘hay day’. Lastly, Daniel and Henrik Sedin were on different teams for the first time EVER, so that was definitely cool.

            I think the NHL should use the same format again at next year’s all star game in Ottawa. Besides, 1.5 million people viewed the draft Friday night on TSN. It appeared that the players were open to all of the changes and all in all, the entire weekend was a success.