Songs They Should Play In Winnipeg Right Now

With the return of the NHL to Winnipeg (it is not known if they will be called the Jets) I thought I'd chime in to some music that all fans Winny would like to hear. And for those of you that don't know these, here are the lyrics.

Back in 1975, debuted a tv series called Welcome Back Kotter. Coincidentally, the show went of the air in 1979, the same year the Jets arrived in the NHL. Here's the theme song, for those unaware!

Welcome back, 


Your dreams were your ticket out. 


Welcome back, 


To that same old place that you laughed about. 


Well the names have all changed since you hung around, 


But those dreams have remained and they're turned around. 


Who'd have thought they'd lead ya (Who'd have thought they'd lead ya) 


Here where we need ya (Here where we need ya) 


Yeah we tease him a lot cause we've hot him on the spot, welcome back, 


Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back.

Then there is my favourite Nick Nolte movie, 48 Hours. It did more for Eddie Murphy, truth be told. Now, remember the song by the Bus Boys, The Boys Are Back?

We’ve been waitin’ for a long time



Yes, we’ve been waitin’ for a long, long time


We’ve been waitin’ for a long time


But we ain’t gonna wait no more


We’re getting’ ready to rock & roll


We’re gonna - 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3!



Well, there’s a reason everybody should be shakin’ in the house tonight


And you should grab your favorite lady and promise her you’ll do it right.


Tell Fat Jack to jump back and give you a shot of some booze


So you can party to some stomp-down, butt-bumpin’, rock & roll, rhythm & blues.



‘Cause the boys are back in town.


The boys are back in town.




I know that everybody when they hear the music will be doin’ it on the floor


Jump up and down they turn around and tell the band to play some more


‘Cause tonight you can dance and romance and do anything you feel like doin’


But don’t look surprised ‘cause you know what I like and tonight we ought to do it




‘Cause the boys are back in town.


The boys are back in town. Oh, yeah.




Well, there’s a reason everybody should be shakin’ in the house tonight


And you should grab your favorite lady and promise her you’ll do it right


Tell Fat Jack to jump back and give you a shot of some booze


So you can party to some stomp-down, butt-bumpin’, rock & roll, rhythm & blues.



‘Cause the boys are back in town.


The boys are back in town.


Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!


The boys are back in town.


And when the boys are back,


There ain’t no foolin’ around!

The Hard Knock Against Harvey Haddix

Harvey Haddix, by all accounts, had a better than average career. He won 20 games with the St Louis Cardinals in 1952, but otherwise was a win one, lose one pitcher.

On the night of May 26, 1959, Harvey Haddix was on the mound against the Milwaukee Braves. The Brave lineup included Hank Aaron (755 lifetime homeruns) Eddie Mathews (548 lifetime homeruns) Joe Adcock (376 lifetime homeruns).

Facing that would he Haddix, whose record at that point was  4-2, but he was coming off a game that, although he won, he was tagged for 10 hits in 9 innings. It was against his old team, St. Louis. His ERA was at 2.16 going into Milwaukee. 19,194 fans took this one in at County Stadium. The game got underway at 8:00 PM.

How did Harv fair?

Haddix came out smoking the ball to Smokey in the first 9 innings! The Braves kept striking out looking (two times), striking out swinging (six times) popping out (one time), flying out (eight times), grounding out (eight times), line out to the infield (two times) . You name it, the Braves couldn’t touch him.

Alas, Haddix's own Pirates did get the hits, but his team wasn't about to score, either. Oh, they had hits, hits and more hits. Eight by the end of nine innings. By the end of the day, they had twelve, but it wasn't enough. Lew Burdette kept pitching out of jams.

The Pirates actually got 3 of those hits in inning #3. Haddix himself getting one of those hits. Seems like Haddix could do no wrong on this night! But on Haddix's single, which was the second hit of the inning for Pittsburgh, Roman Mejias was out trying to go first to third on the hit. Dick Schofield stroked the Bucs' third hit of the inning. This time, the runner (Haddix), made it to third. But no further, alas. This would prove to be the Pittsburgh Pirates' best chance to win the game.

Burdette came up in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and the bases...empty, of course. He fanned. Haddix had the perfect game. But not the win.

With one out in the top of the 10th, Don Hoak singled, but was stranded right there, at first, as pinch hitter Dick Stuart (whose nickname was Dr Stangeglove, due to his poor fielding. That's why he's pinch hitting!) flied out and Haddix himself (Hey! They're not just gonna pull him when he has the stuff!) grounded right back to Burdette.

Joe Christopher, who would later play for the 1962 Mets, replaced Roman Mejias, (who Stuart had pinch hit for) in right for the bottom of the 10th. He got a view of a couple of close calls.

Del Rice came in to pinch hit for second baseman Johnny O'Brien. He lashed the ball to deep center. Bill Virdon made the catch.

Then Eddie Mathews came to bat. He lashed the ball to deep center. Bill Virdon made the catch.

Hank Aaron grounded out. Now 30 straight batters had been retired by Haddix.

In the top of the 11th, Felix Mantilla came in to play second base for the Braves. The inning got off to a promising start as Dick Schofield singled to left.

But once again, the Pirates could do little more. Schofield would be forced at second by Virdon. Then Burgess hit into an inning ending double play.

Haddix was equal to the task in the bottom of the frame, however. Adcock grounded out to Schofield. Wes Covington lined out to Virdon and Del Crandall flied out to Virdon.

The top of the 12th brought up Rocky Nelson, who went out on a fly to left. Bob Skinner then lined out to first baseman Adcock, but second baseman Bill Mazeroski finally got his first hit of the game, in his 5th trip to the plate. Hoak ended the inning by forcing Maz at second, alas!

Haddix made it 36 batters in a row when he retired Andy Pafko by taking his grounder and flipping it to Rocky Nelson at first. Johnny Logan flied out to center, and then Haddix covered first as Nelson took Burdette's grounder, and tossed to Harvey for the third out of the inning.

Top of the 13th! Superstitious time! Can this finally mean the Pirates break through?

Christopher grounded out to Burdette. Then Haddix was retired on a fly to center. Schofield kept the inning alive with a single to left, his third hit of the day and the Pirates twelfth overall in the game. Virdon grounded out to second. Couldn't the Pirates just get one crummy run for Harvey?

One of the reasons they couldn't was the conspicuous absence of two of the Pirates best players, Roberto Clemente and Dick Groat.

The reason was interesting. Clemente, was out with soreness in the shoulder. Groat, was in a bad hitting slump Coming into the game, he was hitting only .248. However, Groat would hit .283 the rest of the way, finishing the season at .275. The next year, Groat would become one of many Pirates to win a batting title when he hit .325.

Another key player for the Pirates, Dick Stuart, didn't even start the game.

Haddix’s perfect game suddenly ended in the bottom of the 13th inning. After getting two strikes on Felix Mantilla, Haddix poured on another pitch that looked like strike three. The umpire didn’t think so. Then Felix hit a bouncer to Hoak at third.

Hoak's throw went in the dirt to Rocky Nelson.

Realizing that they weren't about to get any hits, Mathews sacrificed Mantilla to second, bringing up Aaron. The Pirates would do the smart thing and walk him intentionally. That brought Joe Adcock to the plate.

It was 10:54 PM

Haddix had gotten Adcock out on some fine inside sliders. He threw him one outside for ball one. Then he threw Joe a slider that was too high.

Adcock blasted it out of the park. No-hitter over, game over. 3-0 Milwaukee. But wait a minute!

Aaron thought the ball had hit the ground on the outfield side of the fence, rather than the ground behind the fence. (County Stadium had those see-through chain link fences at the time) When Mantilla touched the plate, Aaron (who touched second) trotted across the field and into the dugout. The second Adcock (with his head down) touched third, he was declared out, his homerun changed to a double. And the final score was officially, 1-0. Haddix had pitched 12 2/3 of an inning in this game despite the fact that the winning run was scored with one out!

References

Web Sites

Chen, Albert. "The Greatest Game Ever Pitched." SI.com. Sports Illustrated, 1 June 2009. Web. 27 May 2011. <http://www.si.com/vault/2009/06/01/105819842/the-greatest-game-ever-pitched>

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 27 May, 2011.

"Harvey Haddix." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 27 May 2011. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Haddix>

Books

Buckley, James Jr. Unhittable: Reliving the Magic and Drama of Baseball's Best-pitched Games. Chicago: Triumph, 2004, Print, PP. 64-67 Includes DVD, "No-Hitters, Perfect Games And Near-Misses."

Kaplan, Jim. The Greatest Game Ever Pitched: Juan Marichal, Warren Spahn, And The Pitching Duel Of The Century. Chicago: Triumph, 2011, Print, PP. 136-139.

Reichler, Joseph L. Baseball's Greatest Moments. 1985 ed. New York: Bonanza, 1981, Print, PP. 75-78.

Videos

Baseball's Greatest Moments. Major League Baseball Productions. VHS, 1991. 

Baseball Playing Card Of The Day: Ralph Kiner

Ralph Kiner was an outstanding right handed swinging slugger, whose career was all too brief.

He signed with the Pirates, and after a three years in the minors (including one in Toronto in 1943) he was in majors by 1946, as baseball stars returned from the second World War.

The pitchers who returned encountered a big problem in Ralph. Although they did find some ways to cope with him.

In his rookie year, he hit 23 homeruns to lead the senior league. Now, he also led in strikeouts with 109, as well and batted just .247.

But the next year, Kiner really took off, belting 51 homeruns, upping his average to .313 and drove in 127 runs.

His slugging would continue for the next several years: 40, 54, 47, 42, 37 homeruns. Indeed, he led the league in homeruns his first seven seasons.

Traded, to the Cubs, he added 35 more, although he would finish a distant fifth to Eddie Mathews 47.

From there his totals winded down and he retired after the 1955 season, having played his last season in the AL with the Indians.

About Kiner there are two stories which stand tall:

In the 1950 All Star Game, Kiner hit a high drive to left which Ted Williams made one of the finest catches of his career, a nice over the right shoulder. Unfortunately, The Splendid Splinter crashed into the concrete wall, breaking his elbow. He missed    games that season.

And the Red Sox still finished with 94 wins. One has to think that with a healthy Williams, the Red Sox could have won the pennant that season. See dad, the All Star Game does affect pennant races!

The other story was after the 1952 season. Given Ralph's power (He would famously say, "“Singles hitters drive Fords, home run hitters drive Cadillacs.”, at one point in his career) he would usually asked for a raise after putting on a tremendous power display each season. Soon, he was the baseball pro to get $100,000 a season.

He asked for another raise that season, but Branch Rickey, the Pirates GM, famously told him, “We finished last with you, and we can finish last without you.”.

References

http://www.baseball-reference.com/

http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Kiner__Ralph.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Kiner

1961 Yankee Of The Day: Tex Clevenger

Clevenger would be one of the most unknown Yankees of 1961.

He didn't even start the season with The Bronx Bombers. Actually, his first 1961 team was the expansion Los Angeles Angels, where he posted some good numbers. The Angels had acquired the right handed pitcher in the 1960 expansion draft from Cleveland.

In 12 games with the Angels, Clevenger posted a 2-1 record with a more than fine 1.69 ERA. Then, on May 8th, the Yankees traded pitchers Ryne Duren, Johnny James and outfielder / first baseman Lee Thomas to Los Angeles for Tex and Bob Cerv. This would be Cerv's third time around as a Yankee.

For Clevenger, 1961 was a bit of a letdown with the Yankees. He made 21 appearances, posted a high ERA (4.83) and more than a hit per inning (35 in 31 2/3 innings).

He did have his moments, though. His very first Yankee game (May 10) saw him polish off the Kansas City A's with 4 strong innings reliving Ralph Terry. Although it goes into the record books as a blown save, he picked up the win by allowing just 1 hit and 1 walk. It also goes into the books as a win for Tex.

He also tossed 2 innings of scoreless relief on May 16th, May 22nd, June 8th and Sept 15th.


References


Gallagher, Mark. Explosion! Mickey Mantle's Legendary Home Runs. New York: Arbor House, 1987. Print, pp. 160-177, 345-353.

Golenbock, Peter. "61."Dynasty: The New York Yankees 1949-1964. Contemporary Sports Classics, 2000. Print. pp. 405-445.

Mantle, Mickey and Herskowitz, Mickey. All My Octobers: My Memories of Twelve World Series When the Yankees Ruled Baseball. Harper Collins, 1994. Print. pp. 129-145.

Smith, Ron. 61* The Story Of  Roger Maris And Mickey Mantle And One Magical Summer. The Sporting News, 2001. Print.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 25 May. 2011.

The World Series Of 1961. Dir. Lew Fonseca. Prod. Dick Borden. Perf. Mel Allen. Major League Baseball Productions., 1961. DVD.

Baseball Playing Card Of The Day: Christy Mathewson

The man from the 1905 World Series!

Matty started 3 games in that World Series, which pitted his New York Giants against the Philadelphia Athletics.

Game one saw Mathewson square off against Eddie Plank. And did Christy ever set the tone!

The game was scoreless through 4 innings. But in the top of the fourth, the Giants broke through with 2 touches of home, which was all Matty would need. The Giants added a run in the top of the ninth, but there would be no other scoring in this game. Matty rolled along with a 4 hit shutout.

After Chief Bender evened the series with a shutout of his own in game 2 (3-0, btw), it was Mathewson's turn again in game 3. This time the Giants scored him nine runs, but once again, he needed only one as he rolled along to another 4 hit shutout.

After Joe McGinnity out dueled Plank in game 4, 1-0, the stage was set for Christy's third start.

Facing Bender, once again the score was "no score" through four. But then the Giants plated a run in bottom of the fifth frame. They would add another in the bottom of the eight.

Once again, Mathewson didn't need it.

Amazingly, Christy finished off the A's for good with a 2-0 triumph, behind a brilliant 5 hitter. The Giants had won the World Series, 4 games to 1.

What an amazing statline for Mathewson: 27 IP 13H 0ER 1BB 18K!

Actually, the whole Giants pitching staff deserves a look. Amazingly, the 3 runs scored by the Athletics in the second game were all unearned, so the Giants staff compiled an ERA of 0.00 for the 1905 World Series.

Joe McGinnity would go on to a Hall Of Fame career that saw him win 246 games. (The Giant's third pitcher, Red Ames, who pitched in game 2 in relief of Joe, would finish up with 183 victories himself.)

For the Phillies, Chief Bender, an Indian, posted a ERA of 1.06 and got the only win for the junior circuit champions. He went on to a Hall Of Fame career himself, and is considered by some to be the inventor of the slider.

Plank would go on to win 326 games and also make the Hall.

Andy Coakley was the game 3 started for the A's. Although charged with 9 runs (he threw a complete game, regardless) only 3 of them were earned. He is the forgotten man from this series, as he would finish up with only 58 victories.

But he can always brag of a span of 6 days where he brushed shoulders with 4 Hall Of Famer pitchers...

None better than Matty.


Reference


Burns, Ken, director. Baseball, PBS, 1994.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 17 May. 2011.

Stanley Cup 2011: Western Conference Finals

Vancouver (1) VS San Jose (2)

So the best two teams in the West did end up advancing to the Conference Finals! San Jose returns from last year, whereas Vancouver is back for the first time since 1994.

Offence

Vancouver

Kesler leads the Canucks in points(15) and assists(10). Second on the team in points is Daniel Sedin with 10, but also first on the team in goals with 6. Brother Henrik has 9 points, but just one goal. Alex Burrows has 4 goals and 4 assists. Left winger Mason Raymond has a goal and 4 assists. Another left winger, Chris Higgins, has 3 goals.

From the point comes Christian Ehrhoff with 2 goals and 7 assists to pace all Canucks blueliners. Alex Edler has 2 goals and four assists, while Kevin Bieksa has a goal and 3 assists.

San Jose

Ryan Clowe, despite missing a game, lead the Sharks with 13 points. His 9 assists are tied with 2 other players for team lead. Logan Couture has 6 goals and 6 assists. Their top center, Thornton, is tied with Clowe and defenceman Dan Boyle for team lead in assists. However, he has only 2 goals.

Devin Setoguchi is tied with Couture with 6 goals. Left winger Dany Heatley had 8 points and Joe Pavelski has 7. Kyle Wellwood has 7 assists, but only 1 goal. Patrick Marleau has 3 goals and 3 assists. Torrey Mitchell has a goal and four assists.

Boyle leads all Shark defenceman with 2 goals and 9 assists. Ian White has just one goal, but also 6 assists. Nic Wallin has 1 goal and 3 assists.

Edge: (Slight) San Jose

Defence

Vancouver

Bieksa is second on the team with a +5.Dan Hamhuis is second among defenceman with a plus 3.

But some of the defenceman really are struggling with the +/-. Ehrhoff is a minus 7. Edler, Aaron Rome and Sami Salo are minus 1.

Foward Kesler leads the team with a +5. Right winger Jannik Hansen is second among Vancouver forwards with a plus 4. Higgins and Raymond are +3 and +2. Also at +2 is Raffi Torres. Maxim Lapierre is down at plus 1.

The Sedin twins really need to improve in this area. They are both a minus 8.

San Jose

White tops all blueliners with a plus 5. Marc-Edouard Vlasic is next with a plus 2. Wallin is also +2.

But Douglas Murray and Jason Demers are both minus 1. And then Boyle is a minus 2.

Among forwards, Clowe also tops them with a plus 6. Pavelski is a plus 4. Couture is a plus 3. Mitchell is a plus 2. Marleau is a plus 1.

There several forwards that are minuses.

Jamie McGinn was a minus 1. Ben Eager, Thornton and Heatley were all minus 2. Setoguchi was a minus 3. Right winger Jamal Mayers was a minus 4 and Scott Nichol was a minus 6.

Edge: (Slight) San Jose

Goaltending

Vancouver

Roberto Luongo is where he's never been before. He's been this far in the Olympics, World Juniors and World Championships.

But never in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Like some of his teammates.

He looked a little shaky and unsure of himself against the Hawks. Against the Preds, there were moments of both brilliance and unconsistantcy. Still, he got through both. Which is going to help.

In 13 games he has posted a 8-5 mark with 2.25 GAA and .917 S%.

And with that, he is now a vetran of 57 playoff games.

Corey Schneider has yet to impress and will only appear if Luongo struggles.

San Jose

Antii Niemi has been here before. Last year, he took the Hawks all the way. And now, he's the first goalie since Patrick Roy to win his first 6 playoff series that he has appeared in.

Having said that, though, he and Luongo share a dubious mark this season. They've both been forced to win a seventh game after having been up 3-0.

That's not going to happen to either team this series.

But how will Niemi respond. Was he a fluke last year? Then how has he gotten this far this year?

It's not often that you can have a GAA of 3 or over (3.01) and get this far, but so far he has done it.

Mind you, when needs be, he's been very good. But those numbers have to improve, or we will see the other Ant appear.

Here are Niemi's numbers 13GP 7W 5L 3.01 GAA .906 S%

The other A N (Antero Niittymaki) has actually won a game and played the equvilant of half of another. He's 1-0, 0.66 GAA and .967 S%. That might be needed in this series!

Edge: (Wide) Vancouver

Prediction: Vancouver in seven games

Stanley Cup Predictions: Eastern Conference Finals 2011

Boston (3) VS Tampa Bay (5)

So it’s down to two in the East. Both swept past their second round opponent, after needing 7 to get to that round. Boston last made the Conference Finals in 1991/92 and Tampa Bay entered the league in 1992/93, winning the Stanley Cup 12 seasons later, before the strike.

Offence

Boston

Patrice Bergeron, despite just two goals, leads the Cubs with 12 points. Brad Marchand had 5 goals and 6 assists. Nathan Horton (Mr Overtime in this year’s playoffs) has 5 redlights and five passes. Also with that is David Krejci. Chris Kelly is the fourth center on this list with 7 points.

The Bruins lost to the Pens in the 1991 and 1992. On the Penguins in 1991 was Mark Recchi. This year, the 43 year old has contributed 2 goals and 5 assists on this run. Finally, Rich Peverly has a goal and 5 assists.

From the point, Dennis Seidenberg has the same numbers as Peverly. Andrew Ference has a goal and 4 assists.

Tampa Bay

Stamkos needs to get with the other 2 to form the big three. For now, the new big three is

St. Louis 13 pts

Lecavalier 12 pts

Downie 12 pts (in only 10 games)

Tedd Purcell has only 1 goal, but also has 10 assists. Sean Bergenheim has scored several key goals so far, and leads Tampa with 7. Dominic Moore has 8 points. Simon Gage has 7 points in only 8 games. Finally, we have Stamkos at 6 points.

Eric Brewer leads all Lightning rearguards with 6 points. Pavel Kubina has 2 goals in only 8 games.

Edge: (neither wide nor slight) Tampa Bay

Defence

Boston

The Big Z, Chara is an amazing +11 in only 10 games. Seidenberg, meanwhile is a plus 8. Ference is a +6. Thomas Kaberle, +5, Boychuk, +4. Adam McQuaid is also a plus 4.

For the forwards, Marchand and Recchi are both an impressive +9. Bergeron and Kelly were both +7. Horton and Peverly were each a plus 6.  Krejci and Ryder were +5.

Tampa Bay

A lot of minus guys!

Steve Downie, the right winger, actually lead Tampa in +/- at this point.

As for defenceman, tops on the team is Mattias Ohlund with a +6. He’s not getting much help. Mike Lundin is only +3,  Kubina is only a plus 2, Brewer, +1. Indeed, this needs to improve.

Hedman is a minus three.

Up front, we have Downie with a team leading +9. Lecavalier, Bergenheim, and Moore were all +4. Purcell is a +3.

St Louis, though, is minus 5, and Stamkos a minus 2.

Edge: (slight) Boston

Goaltending

Boston

Thomas continues to step it up, and has stretched his winning streak to 5 games. Doesn’t look like were going to see much, if any, of Rask. 8-3, 2.03, .937 S%.

But now, he will need to steal a few against this kind of offence.

Tampa Bay

Continuing to amaze, Dwayne Roloson nears 42 years and is on a 7 game winning streak here in April / May. His numbers are actually a little better than Thomas’ 8-3, 2.01, .941 S%. He’s proving that he has the abilities to steal some. I see no reason why we won’t see more of that.

Edge: (slight) Tampa Bay

Prediction: Boston in seven games

Stanley Cup Playoffs 2011: Western Conference Round 2

(more apologies for getting this one a little late)

Vancouver (1) VS Nashville (5)

Vancouver finally beat Chicago, but no Vancouver fan wants to talk about it, it was that close. Meanwhile Nashville finally won a playoff series.

Offence

Vancouver

Sedin continued his strong season by adding 5 goals and 2 assists. That's Daniel I'm talking about. Meanwhile the hero of the series, Alex Burrows had 3 goals and 3 assists.

Henrik Sedin was held to without a goal in the series, but had 5 assists. Also without a red light was Ryan Kesler although he too was dishing: 4 assists. As well, Mason Raymond had not red lights and three assists.

From behind the (forward) lines were

Christian Ehrhoff (1-3-4)

Kevin Bieksa (1-2-3)

Alexander Edler (1-2-3)

A warning though. The team seemed to fade from games 4-7 in offence as they managed just 2 meaningless goals in game 4, none in game 5, three in game 6 and two in game 7. Yup, that's just 7 goals in four games. They need to get pucks in more regularly. As it was, they finished the Chicago series with just 16 goals.

Nashville

Mike Fisher had 3 goals and 3 assists for team lead. Joel Ward and defenceman Shea Weber also had 3 goals each.

Jordin Tootoo had 4 assists for (I should say tied for) team lead, while a pair of centers, David Legwand and Nick Spaling each had  2 goals and 2 assists.

Left winger Sergi Kostitsyn also had 4 assists, but is still looking for his first postseason goal this year.

As for defencemen, in addition to Weber, Cody Fransen was the third Pred to register 4 assists. But like Kostitsyn, he needs to dent the twine sometime soon. Kevin Kline had 3 points. Ryan Suter had 3 assists, but again, no goals.

Edge: (Slight) Nashville

Defence

Vancouver

Again, it was something that was at times good and at times bad against Chicago.

Bieksa had a strong series on defence with a plus 3. Dan Hamhuis was +2.

Unfortunatly, you had Ehrhoff at minus 4, Edler and Sami Salo at -2. This needs to improve.

Up front, Kesler was a +4 and Burrows was +2. Mason Raymond was a +2.

But both the Sedins were a minus.

Nashville

Weber topped all Nash rearguards with a plus 4, which also led the team. Kline, Suter and Jonathon Blum were all +2. Shane O'Brien was a minus 2, however and Cody Franson was a even 0.

Forwards were led by Tootoo, who was a plus 3. Fisher, Spaling and Matt Halishchuk were each a +2.

But Ward and Legwand were each -1.

Edge: (Slight) Vancouver

Goaltending

Vancouver

It's either confidence or concern about Roberto Luongo.

He got a shutout, he won game 7 in overtime after almost getting another shutout. He made a big save on a Chicago power play in overtime in that game 7.

But his overall numbers weren't so good. His S% needs to improve: .903 and his GAA is way to high for this time of year: 2.97

Will we see more of Corey Schnieder? He's already made 3 appearances. But alas, he has yet to impress: .878 S% and 3.09 GAA

Nashville

Though they got through, Pekka Rinne had some difficulty. Allowing 19 goals in only 6 games, his GAA was too high: 3.29. And his S% is nowhere near .900, at .876.

Anders Lindback did play in the series, albeit a short appearance. Should Rinne continue to struggle, we'll see more of him. He managed to get into 13 minutes of game 4 against the Ducks.

Edge: (Slight Vancouver)

Prediction: Vancouver in 6 games

San Jose (2) vs Detroit (3)

A rematch of last year's Western Conference Semifinals. San Jose came through in five games last year, even though they actually were outscored in the series. Detroit comes in red hot. Despite what you are going to read below, I'm going with San Jose because the have a Stanley Cup winning goalie, home ice advantage, and the face they overcame their mediocre playoff results last year and are continuing to do that this year. They won three games in overtime against the Kings, including game 3, when they came back from 4-0 down, on the road. This is not the same team that had struggled notoriously in the postseason in the past.

Offence

San Jose

The Fierce Fish come into this one having really taken it to Los Angeles on offence. Not that it was easy.

Ryan Clowe led the was with 4 goals and 3 helpers. From there, you had 4 players with five points:

Logan Couture

Patrick Marleau

Joe Thornton

Ian White (defenceman)

Then you had 4 players with 4 points

Joe Pavelski

Dany Heatley

Torrey Mitchell

Kyle Wellwood

In addition to White the following defencman were contributing from the back. The following defencmen had three points each:

Jason Demers

Dan Boyle

Niclas Wallin

Detroit

Detroit did step it up against the Coyotes. And they needed to because although the swept, many of the games against Phoenix were not decided until the third period.

Pavel Datsyuk led the way with 2 goals and 4 assists. But right behind him was another center, Filppula with a goal and 4 helpers.

Thomas Holmstrom, forgetting about his 38 years, netted 2 and added 2 assists, while the third center, Franzen also had 2 goals.

Bertuzzi, Cleary, Helm, Hudler and Kronwall all managed to get 3 points.

Drew Miller added two goals.

For the defence offence, after Kronwall you had Brian Rafalski with 2 goals and Nic Lindstrom with 2 assists, but still looking for his first marker this postseason. Look for that in this series.

Edge: (Slight) Detroit

Defence

San Jose

White was the high +/- man on defence with a plus 4. Marc-Edouard Vlasic was only a +2 and Boyle was actually a minus (-1).

Demers was an even zero and Wallin was a +1, as was Douglas Murray.

Wellwood, the center, actually led the team with a plus 6 rating. Joe Pavelski was second among forwards with a +4 and Torrey Mitchell was right there with a plus 3. Clowe and Marleau were each +2.

Detroit

Kronwall and Ruslan Salei tied for team lead of the the defence corps with +6 each.

Lindstrom was only a +3, but that will improve this series.

Rafalski and Brad Steward were both +2.

Jonathan Ericsson was only a +1.

Datsyuk was the third player to be +6, so he led all forwards. Filppula was right behind him in this category as well with a plus 5. Holmstrom was a plus 4.

Kris Draper didn't get a point this series, but was a plus 3. Franzen, Cleary, Helm, Hudler, Eaves and Drew Miller were all +2.

Edge: (Slight) Detroit

Goaltending

San Jose

Which A.N. do we choose?

Antti Neimi looked a little shaky Actually, he really looked shaky!

Here are his numbers: 3-2/3.99/.863

Now that's gotta get better because the Sharks aren't going to score more than about 3 goals a game against Detroit. The good news is he still won 3 games. And he's still got that Stanley Cup ring from a year ago with the Hawks.

Should he falter, Antero Niittymaki could see some more action. He managed not only to win a game, but also post some fine numbers in limited duty: 1-0/0.66/.967

Will he play more, all depends on how Antti performs. I tend to think that with his experience, Niemi will right the ship.

Detroit

Jimmy Howard will get his second shot at San Jose.

So far this post season, he has performed well. 4-0/2.50/.915. Now the problem is, can he do it against San Jose?

Detroit's two other goaltenders, Joey McDonald and Chris Osgood, haven't played one minute so far. I doubt we will see them in action this series.

In order for Detroit to win this series, they will need for Howard to steal some games. I don't know if he can. He still has played better than Niemi this postseason.

Edge: (Slight) Detroit

Prediction: San Jose in seven games

Stanley Cup Playoffs 2011, Eastern Conference: Round Two

 (Note, sorry for the delay in getting it up)

Washington (1) vs Tampa Bay (5)

Which team comes in hotter? Washington was swift and methodical in sending the Rangers to the golf course, while Tampa Bay clawed back from 3-1 down against the Penguins.

Offence

Washington

The Big Guy, Ovie had three goals, but they were all pretty important. He added three assists while the other Alex, Semin also notched three goals in the five games.

Marcus Johansson and Brooks Laich gave stellar performances, and Jason Chimera was clutch with two game winnings goals. Jason Arnott provided his experience and savvy.

Matt Green scored a goal and added four assists from the blueline. 

Tampa Bay

The Lightning scored more as the series went on against the Pens.

St Louis 4-4-8

Gagne 2-5-7

Downie 1-6-7

Lecavalier 2-4-6

Purcell 1-4-5

Stamkos, though, was held to just 2-2-4. Bergenheim scored three times.

From the point, Eric Brewer had a goal and five assists.

You know though, I watched that series against the Pens in earnest. The Lightning were shutout in game 1, scored just twice in games 3 and 4 and just once in game seven. Yes, I know winning overcomes everything, but they'd better be more consistent game to game in getting pucks through.

Edge: (Slight) Tampa Bay

Defence

Washington

Jeff Schultz was an impressive +5 in the 4 games to 1 triumph. Also tightening the screws on d were Scott Hannan, Green and John Erskin.

Semin led all forward with a plus 4. Erich Fehr, despite playing only two games, was a plus 3.

Tampa Bay

Despite all that offence, the best any defenceman could muster in a series like this was vetran Mathias Ohlund's +3.  Bret Clark was second on the point with a plus 2.

It was actually Right Winger Steve Downie who led the team in +/- in the first round with a +5.

Edge: (Neither slight nor wide) Washington

Goaltending

Washington

Michal Neuvirth's numbers, now were they better than they appear. 4-1, 1.38 GAA, .946 S% and even his first playoff shutout in his first ever playoff series. Hmmmm, the Caps have answered they're playoff troubles? We'll see if it continues.

Tampa Bay

Dwayne Roloson gutted it out with a 4-3 record, 1.77 GAA and a S% of .949. He got a huge, game seven, 36 save shutout performance, to get the Lightning here. Can he continue? It's hard to say. He has the experience (over 40 playoff games) and the age (42 later this year)

Edge: Neither

Prediction: Washington in 7 games.

 Philadelphia Flyers(2) vs Boston Bruins(3)

Boston overcame a 2-0 series deficit to come back and beat their hated rivals, the Habs (for just the 9th time in 33 playoff meetings). Meanwhile, Buffalo gave Philly all they could handle before falling in seven games, as well.

Offence

Philadelphia

Strong team offence carried the Flyers past the Sabers, and they netted 22 goals in that series.

Giroux came through with 9 points, although he scored just once. Danny Briere scored six times, though, and finished with 7 points.

Failing to score in the seven well played game against Buffalo were Mike Richards and Chris Versteeg although each had 5 assists.

James Van Riemsdyk scored four times and another left winger, Ville Leion scored 3. Scott Hartnell, despite just one goal, should be watched in this series.

As for the blueline, Andrei Meszaros had just one goal but four assists. Kimmo Timonen scored just once as well, but had 3 assists. Matt Carle potted nothing in the twine, but had 4 assists.

Boston

Patrice Bergeron came on with 7 points and Chris Kelly was right behind him with 6. Still another center, Brad Marchand had a goal and 4 assist.

Rich Beverly put up the same numbers as Marchand, while 43 year old Mark Recchi, with his goal in game 7, became the oldest player to ever score in a game seven. (Take that Gordie and Chris).

The other player to look out for is right winger Nathan Horton, who had 3 goals.

From the point came Andrew Ference with a goal and 3 assists. Dennis Seidenberg had a goal and 2 assists.

Edge: (slight) Philadelphia

Defence

Philadelphia

Kimmo Timonen was a very impressive plus 9, while Braydon Coburn was a plus 6.

But look for two veterans to step it up in this series.

First we have the return of Chris Pronger, who was so instrumental in getting Philly to the finals last year. And while we're on the topic of experience, Sean O'Donnell was an even 0 in the series, but he will probably get more ice time this series, and I expect him to play better.

Versteeg is at plus 6 right now to lead all Flyer forwards, just ahead of Giroux and Richards, who were each a plus 5.

Boston

Ference was a very good +6, which lead the team. Surprisingly enough, almost all the other defencemen were low.

The acquired Kaberle was only +1 as was Zedeno Chara, and Seidenberg was -2.

Some were better, though. Adam McQuaid was a +3 and Johnny Boychuk the same.

But it was the forwards that impressed me with the +/-.

Bergeron, for instance was a +5, as was Marchand. Right behind them was Kelly with +4 and Peverly with +3. Recchi, belying his 43 years, was a plus 4, if you can believe it. Michael Ryder's +3 isn't too bad either.

Edge: (Slight) Boston

Goaltending

Philadelphia

So once again it came down to Brian Boucher. The minute BobrovskyGAA (2.10) and a high S% .934. What was most impressive was that two of the wins were in relief.

Will the Flyers stick with him? Here's where it gets interesting.

Late in the season, the Flyers called up Michael Leighton. This is the same Leighton who played an important part in the Flyers run to the Stanley Cup Final. He wasn't suppost to contribute. But injuries to Ray Emery and Brian Boucher forced him in, and he took advantage of it.

I was so sure he wasn't going to play, despite a late season call up, that I didn't even mention him in my first round predicition. Lo and behold, he did play! Twice. Although, he didn't do much. Still the fact that he is here suggest the Flyers will use him if both Boucher and Bobrovsky struggle.

Boucher, right now I'm high on. I think he's just someone who knows how to play in the postseason. Bobrovsky, I'm not sure of. And frankly, I think the Flyers will be the same. It's going to be Boucher in game 1, and we'll see from there!

Boston

The Bruins took no chances with Rask and stuck it out with Thomas for all seven games. Talk about a difference from Philly's situation!

Thomas was 4-3, of course, but his GAA was 2.25, and he gutted it out in that overtime in game 7, which always helps. A .926 S% isn't quite as good as Boucher's, but given his rough start in the first two games and then needing four out of five to close out the Habs, he comes into this series on a hot note.

Edge: Neither (Hey! This one is too close to call as well, okay?)

Prediction: Boston in seven games


References

"Official Site of the National Hockey League." NHL.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2011.

Baseball Playing Card Of The Day: Whitey Ford

The Chairman Of The Board! Ford has some fine World Series records.

Not to mention an impressive .690 winning % in his career 1950, 1953-1967. If you subtract his last three years, it's even better, .720.

In looking at Ford's World Series performance I'm amazed to find somethings amazing:

Ford never started a game 7!

But no doubt, Ford was the man you wanted if you went to a World Series. Consider that he holds World Series' records for:

Games Started (22)

Innings Pitched (146)

Wins (10) [Okay, fine! Also losses (8)]

Strikeouts (94)

Consecutive Scoreless Innings (33 2/3)


References


Golenbock, Peter. Dynasty: The New York Yankees, 1949-1964. Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary, 2000. Print.

Snyder, John S. World Series!: Great Moments and Dubious Achievements. San Francisco: Chronicle, 1995. Print.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 02 May 2011.

How Jim Maloney Nearly Had 4 No-No's In 1965, Part 1: Jim Overcomes A Brave New World!

Jim Maloney was known as a hard thrower. Some claimed he even threw harder than Koufax.

The big righthander was born in Fresno in 1940, and in 1959, The Cincinnati Redlegs (Their name from 1954 to 1959) signed him. By 1963 he was a twenty game winner (actually 23), and he went on to top that mark again in his famed 1965 season.

You can't be Juan Marichal, you can't be Bob Gibson and you can't be Sandy Koufax.

Yet there were four games in the 1965 season where Jim was every bit as good as them all combined!

He first start of that season was on April 19, 1965, ten days after the Houston Astros opened their brand new indoor stadium, the Astrodome. It was the Reds (now and forever their name) 6th game of the season.

He was opposed by the Milwakee Braves.

Maloney started out fast as he fanned Mack Jones and Ty Cline. Then the dangerous Eddie Mathews was retired on a fly ball to center field.

The Reds, meanwhile, wasted no time in getting him something to work with as they touched home twice in the top of the second. Could Jim make it stand up? It would be the only two runs the Reds would score.

Making the task somewhat easier, at least now, was that Hank Aaron was not in the lineup.

With that, Jimmy mowed 'em down in the second and third, although he managed just one strikeout in that time.

In the fourth, he faltered.

Jones was k'd and Cline went out on a fly to center.

Two away.

But then Mathews was walked and the batter was Joe Torre. Yes, that Joe Torre!

Wild pitch, Mathews to second.

Torre walked.

Lee Maye ended the inning by hitting a fly to left.

So the perfect game is gone, but the no-hitter is still intact!

The fifth inning was no problem, but then came the sixth.

It started out with Wade Blasingame, the opposing pitcher (himself an 8 inning 5-hitter on this day), striking out. However, back to the top of the order and back to another walk, this time to Mack Jones.

Further trouble was diverted when both Cline and Mathews were retired on a fly to right and a pop up to first.

Blasingame, despite some troubles of his own in the top of that inning, induced three grounders to third, short and second in the top of the 7th as this game was now a full fledged pitcher's duel.

In the bottom of the 7th, Torre popped out to second, Maye fanned and Felipe Alou fouled to the catcher.

Six more outs to go.

In the top of the eight, the Reds had a chance to put this game away. Pete Rose singled, and then with one out, Vada Pinson walked. However, Frank Robinson flied out and Deron Johnson forced Rose at third. So the score was still 2-0 Reds.

Dennis Menke led off the bottom of the eighth with a single. There goes the no-hitter at last!

Maloney, calmed down and perhaps a bit relieved, focused now on winning the game.

Pinch hitter!

Hank Aaron.

Aaron was the all-time leader in homeruns.

Now he's second to Bonds.

He was also the all time leader in grounding into double play.

Now he is third behind Ripken and Rodriguez.

Which would he do?

Grounder to Rose. Rose steps on second and fires to first. Double play!

Lou Klimchock batted for Blasingame and flew out to center.

In the top of the 9th, Dan Osinski took over on the mound. The Reds had a shot at him.

Tony Perez led off with a single, but was caught stealing. Don Pavletich, the team's second string catcher, then doubled. Maloney came to bat and no doubt got a standing ovation from the 2, 804 fans.

He couldn't help his own cause, however, as he grounded out to first. Still just 2-0.

Three outs to go, to still get the shutout.

Maloney wasted no time. Jones went down on strikes, as did Cline.

The Braves last hope was Mathews.

Rose took his grounder and fired to Perez at first to end the game.


References


Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 25 April 2011.

Total Baseball. 1994 Edition. CD-ROM. Chicago, Ill: Creative Media. 1994.

"Jim Maloney." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2011.

Baseball Playing Card Of The Day: Bob Gibson

Some time ago, dad gave me some playing cards, with baseball players on them. Why not play with you? Or at least show you? One a week.

Bob Gibson. Ace of Hearts? He's more like an ace of the Cardinals. But he did have a lot of heart.

During the 1960s he won seven straight games in the World Series. And in every one of the seven, he went the distance. Consider some of them:

A 13 Strikeout performance in game 5 of the 1964 World Series

A 3-hitter in game 7 of the 1967 World Series (he hit a homerun in that game, too)

A 17 strikeout performance in game 1 of the 1968 World Series

Gibson's ERA that regular season? 1.12!


References

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 20 April 2011.

Whiteford, Mike, and Taylor Jones. How To Talk Baseball. Revised ed. New York: Dembner, 1987. Print. P. 97

Stanley Cup Playoffs 2011: Western Conference Round 1

Vancouver (1) vs Chicago (8)

So we have last year's winner versus what some, including myself, are calling this year's winner. Vancouver soared to the top of the entire NHL this year, courtesy of 54-19-9.

Offence

Vancouver

The deadly Sedin twins did it again this year.

Daniel finished with 104 points, while Henrik, despite just 19 goals, was ten back with 94 points.

And there were others, of course.

Ryan Kesler popped in 41 to tie Daniel for team lead in goals. Mikael Samuelsson had 50 points. Alexandre Burrows scored 26 goals for third on the team. Mason Raymond is the third most dangerous left winger on the team as he had 39 points in 70 games.

From behind the blue line, Christian Ehrhoff had 14 goals and 36 assists. Another defenceman, Alexander Edler had 33 points in only 51 games.

Injury-wise, the Canucks will have to make due without center Manny Maholtra, who suffered an eye injury and will miss the entire playoffs.

Overall, though, the Canucks lead the NHL in goals for with 262.

Chicago

So the defending champions slipped a bit. The most obvious is on offence as the team scored just 219 goals, tying Nashville for second fewest goals among April teams.

Jonathan Toews had 76 points to lead the team.

The offence did have a nice balance to it, as 10 players scored 36 or more points.

Patrick Kane averaged a point a game despite missing 9 games. And the other Patrick, Sharp, had 71 points and led the team with 34 goals. Marian Hossa, trying to make it 4 Stanley Cup finals in four years, had 57 points in 65 games. Another right winger, Thomas Kopecky, had 42 points.

The teams offence from the blueline featured Brent Seabrook (48 points) and Duncan Keith (45 points).

Other players to watch before we move on, just in case they catch fire and I forget:

Bryan Bickell (17 goals)

Dave Bolland (15 goals)

Troy Brouwer (17)

Edge: (Slight) Vancouver

Defence

Vancouver

Want evidence of Daniel’s play on defence this year? Check it out: a plus 30 for second on the team. His brother’s +26 isn’t bad either. That was also Burrow’s rating, as well.

As for defencemen, Ehrhoff was only plus 19, but Dan Hamhuis, a slightly less offensive player, was a plus 29 in only 64 games. The team leader was Kevin Bieksa with a plus 32.

Edler was a plus 13.

Chalk it all up and Vancouver also led the NHL in fewest goals surrendered, 185.

Chicago

Brian Campbell was a +28 in only 65 games. Toews showed some all around game as he notched a plus 25 to lead all forwards.

Nicklas Hjalmarsson was a plus 13. Another defenceman, Brent Seabrook, was a 0 in the plus minus, but his defence was better than that. Ducan Keith was a minus 1 despite his offence.

Chicago as a team, permitted 225 goals. That's more than Vancouver, but it should be noted, three other teams still playing, (Detroit, Anaheim, Phoenix) gave up more.

Edge: (Slight) Vancouver

Goaltending

Vancouver

Another typical season for Roberto Luongo.

League leader in wins (38), fantastic GAA (2.11 for second in the league), great S% (.928 for 4th in the league). Add to that, he won the Jennings trophy this year with backup Corey Schneider, for allowing the fewest goals.

Speaking of which, I don’t expect Cory to play much this postseason. Too bad, because he put up some good numbers. Of the 25 games he played, he won 16 of them and posted a 2.23 GAA. His save percentage was .929.

Chicago
 
The Blackhawks used another Cory, Corey Crawford this season. This will be his first NHL postseason experience. Okay, that’s one minus. Okay, he's played here before, happy? His postseason experience at the NHL consists of 16 minutes in Chicago's drive to the 2009 Final Four.

Now fore the good part: He had a great regular season this year. In just 57 games, he won 33 of them. His S% could have been better, .917, but his GAA was 8th (2.30).

But will they be enough against Vancouver? If his name is Dryden, Roy, and perhaps Halak…

In the offseason, the Hawks acquired Maty Turco, hoping he would lead the way, when he struggled (11-11-3, 3.02, .897), the Hawks decided to go with Crawford. Despite all that, Turco, with his postseason experience, might see some action.

Edge: (Wide) Vancouver

Prediction: Vancouver in six games

San Jose (2) vs Los Angeles (7)

Did you know, by the way, that there are more teams from sunny California in the postseason than from ALL of Canada? Somewhere, Gretzky, McNall and Pocklington are all smiling. There little parley of 23 years ago has taken the game that far. That far south!

Speaking of which, the Great One’s old team outscored the opposition on 46 occasions for the second straight year. This had, at one time, been a long time coming for the Kings. They won 46 games in 1990/91, with Gretzky there, and it took them until 2009/10 to get that total again.

Meanwhile, San Jose returns with a new goaltender (who happened to win the Cup last season) and look to build on their final four appearance a year ago.

Offence

San Jose

The Fierce Fish lit the red lamp 248 times this season, third among Western Conference teams kicking around this spring.

Let’s start with the experience of Joe Thornton. Hard to believe it, but he’s now 31 years old. But he had 70 points. Worse for LA, that didn't even lead the team.

That honour went to another 31 year old, Patrick Marleau

But no two players can do it all by themselves. Here's who also chipped in:

Joe Pavelski (66 points)

Dany Heatley (64 points)

Ryane Clowe (62 points)

Logan Coutler (56 points)

Devin Setoguchi (22 goals)

And from the point, Danny Boyle (41 points)

Los Angeles

The Kings, by contrast, netted just 219 goals, using a more defence oriented system in front of Jonathan Quick.

Justin Williams is a little banged up, and leading scorer Kopitar is out. So here is what the Crowned Ones must go with.

Williams had 57 points, as did Dustin Brown. Veteran Ryan Smyth played all 82 games and showed he's still got it by getting 47 points. Jarrett Stoll, now proabably the team's top center, scored 20 goals and got 43 points.

Two other forwards to look at: Michal Handzus and Wayne Simmons.

Jack Johnson led LA the defence in offense with 42 points. Also getting it done from the point is DD, Drew Doughty, with 11 goals and 40 points.

Edge: (Wide) San Jose

Defence

San Jose

Coutler lead all forwards with a plus 18, and Clowe's +13 isn't bad.

The team defence was lead by Jason Demers, who posted a +19.  Marc-Edouard Vlasic was a plus 14.

Ian White played with 3 teams and was a plus 3. However, it should be noted, he was a plus 9 in only 23 games with San Jose.

Los Angeles

The Kings were one of three teams to allow less than 200 goals in among spring teams in the Western Hemisphere this season.

Kopitar lead the team with +25, so this will be something they will have to work around. Two right wingers were both plus 17 and 14: Brown and Williams.

Doughty lead the defence with a plus minus of +13. Alec Martinez was a plus 11 in 60 games.

Willie Mitchell was a plus 4 in 57 games.

Edge: (Slight, due to Kopitar's absence) San Jose

Goaltending

San Jose

With the departure of Nabakov, the Sharks turned to the man who ended the 49 year drought for the Hawks, Antti Niemi.

Niemi has proven that his leading the Hawks to the Stanley Cup last year was no fluke, by posting the following numbers with his new team:

35 wins, .920 S%, 2.38 ERA

Okay, but remember how good he was last year in the playoffs? The Hawks wouldn't have done it without A.N.!

The backup is another A.N., Antero Nittymaki, whose numbers (12-7-3, 2.72, .896), weren’t that great. I imagine that San Jose will be reluctant, at best, to use him if Niemi falters.

Los Angeles

The quick hands of Jonathan Quick return for another postseason go around. I’m sure he wants to make it longer than six games, like last year against the Canucks.

He didn't play as much as he did in the 2009/10 season, but this year he really upped and dropped some of his numbers.

He dropped his GAA from 2.54 in 2009/10 to 2.24 this season. That was good enough for 5th in the league. His save percentage shot up 11 points from last year, for a .918 mark.

Now, his win total dropped because he played in 11 less games this year, but his 6 shutouts placed him 6th among league leaders.

The backup is another Jonathan, Bernier. He time in the twine was just 25. His S% wasn't bad .913 and his GAA 2.48 was good. A good sign was his 3 shutouts.

Edge: (Slight) San Jose

Prediction: San Jose in seven games (Slight every time!)

Detroit (3) vs Phoenix (6)

Last year, these to teams squared off in a fine seven gamer. This year they're back again. Can Detroit do it again without the Z man?

Offence

Detroit

The Red Wings were second among all teams in goals for (261). But having said that, Zetterberg had 80 points to lead the team. Fill in the void, the Motor City boys must!

Detroit comes in with the usual mix of a balanced attack. After Z, you have Pavel Datsyuk with 59 points, Johan Franzen with 55 points and Dan Cleary with 46 points.

And then there were more.

Todd Bertuzzi (45 points), center Valtteri Filppula (39 points), Jiri Hudler (37 points), Thomas Holdstrom (37 points), Darren Helm (32 points), Patrick Eaves (13 goals in 63 games) and Drew Miller (10 goals in 67 games).

And the defence did not rest on offence.

Nik Lidstrom was second on the team in points (62). Brian Rafalski had 48 points in only 63 games. Plus, another Nik, Kronwall, had 37 points.

Phoenix

The Coyotes scored 241 goals against as a team. That is exactly in the middle of the pack (15 out of 30).

Shane Doan had only 60 points, but it was enough to lead the way.

Ryan Whitney had 57 points from the left side of the attack.

Radim Vrbata chipped in with 48 points from the right.

The team had many players get above 26 points. Some were done in considerably less than 82 games, it should be noted.

Eric Belanger and Lauri Korpikoski each had 40 points. Former Leaf, Lee Stepniak had 38 points. Taylor Pyatt had 31 points.

Now for some players that had some injury woes.

Scottie Upshall and Martin Hanzal (16 goals in 61 games, each). Kyle Turris, (11 goals in 65 games).

The top defenceman was Keith Yandle with 59 points. And that was in 82 games.

Edge: (Slight, due to Zetterberg's absence) Detroit

Defence

Detroit

Lidstrom should get at least some votes for the Norris trophy, but strangely, he was a minus this year (-2).

It was Justin Abdelkader who led Detroit with a plus 15.

Datsyuk was a plus 11.

Rafalski led all defenceman with plus 11.

Jonathan Ericsson was second among the "stay-at-home" defenceman with a +8 rating.

Detroit's defence wasn't quite up to speed with what it had been in previous years, as they permitted 241 goals. That's the most of the top eight team in the Western Conference.

Phoenix

The Howling ones gave up 226 goals.

Adrian Aucion was a plus 17 to lead the team. In close second was Keith Yandle with a plus 12.

Some of the forwards +/- was pretty good. Mikkel Boedker and Pyatt were both a +11, as was Belanger.

Two other defenceman posted good +/-, albeit in limited duty. David Schlemko was a plus 8 in only 43 games and Sami Lepisto was a plus 7 in only 51 games.

Edge: (Slight, due to Lidstrom's strong postseason history) Detroit

Goaltending

Detroit

The Red Wings will go with Jamie Howard again, although they did use former Leaf, Joey McDonald and veteran Chris Osgood in some stretches.

Howard overcame a strong challenge from the ‘Yotes last postseason and can expect more of the same this time around.

His record was 37 wins, 17 losses, 5 ties. But his other numbers weren’t very good, and he has yet to prove himself in postseason.

Chris Osgood has proven himself in postseason, but that was two seasons ago. Actually, he led Detroit to Stanley Cups in 1998 and 2008. But this year, he didn’t play much, and it is doubtful that he can help in the postseason because of the rust.

Joey McDonald only played a little more than Osgood (15 games).

Phoenix

The Howl of the Hollow Iron Cage, Illya Bryzgalov, was 5th in the league in games played. He won 36 games for 8th, lost 20 and lost 10 in overtime or shootout. His 2.48 GAA wasn’t that great, but his shutouts (7) and S% .921 suggest he can steal games for you.

He’ll be backed up another 30 + year old, Jason LaBarbera. His record wasn't very good (7-6-3 in 17 games). His GAA was quite high, 3.26, and his S% was .909. I don't think he'll play unless Brygalov really get shelled.

But if Breezer plays the way I expect him too...

Edge: (Slight) Phoenix

Prediction: Detroit in six games

Anaheim (4) vs Nashville (5)

The two teams that both finished with 99 points (like Phoenix).  A series that may very well see the return to postseason of Ray Emery. That is enough to make this series one to watch. Not to mention you have Nashville, still looking for it's first ever playoff series win since coming into the league back in 1998/99.

Topping it off is the Rocket Richard trophy winner, Corey Perry.

Still, will we see Emery?

And what will we see of him?

Offence

Anaheim

Perry is the lone man to net 50, and he added 48 assists to lead the team in points.

Watch out for Temmu Selanne. This might be his last ever playoffs. Given his flare for the dramatic, this might be a curtain call to remember!

However, I doubt he'll hang 'em up. Wait 'till I tell you about his stats.

In only 73 games, the 40 year old Fin had 31 goals and 49 assists. That sound like a guy whose ready for retirement? Finnish Flash and not Finished Flash!

Ryan Getzlaf was the third Duck to average a point a game, as he led the team in assists (57) in only 67 games.

The big four is rounded out by Bobby Ryan, the left winger, who got 71 points.

Veteran forward Saku Koivu had 45 points, while former Leaf Jason Blake had 32.

As for the defenceman , we start with Lubomir Visnovsky, who recorded 68 points in 81 games, although only 18 of them were goals. But look out for newcomer Cam Fowler, who had 40 points in 76 games.

Nashville

They were a low scoring bunch, but they managed to score only 20 goals less as a team than Anaheim. The Predators don't have that "one guy" or "Big Three (or Four)", but they are sort of like Buffalo. A lot of guys that can shoot and move the puck!

Sergi Kostitsyn led the Preds with just 50 points. I really think he might end up being someone that Montreal regrets letting leave Les Habs.

Tying him for scoring lead was someone who only played 64 games, Martin Erat. He's played his entire career in Nashville, so he too, will hope to make it into round 2.

Then we have right winger Patric Horqvist with 21-26-47, Dave Legwand, 17-24-41. Colin Wilson scored 16 goals, while Joel Ward, Steve Sullivan and J.P. Dumont added 10 each.

Shea Weber accumulated 48 points from the blueline and Ryan Suter added 39 in 70 games.

Edge: (Slight) Anaheim

Defence

Anaheim

Toni Lydman led the team with +32. Visnovsky was also a plus 18. Neither of these two defencman took many penalties, so they won't be riding the pine of the penalty box when they're scored on, either!

Ryan had the best +/- among forwards with a plus 15. Getzlaf was a plus 14.

Luca Sbisa, Andreas Lilja and Fowler were all minuses, however. As was Sheldon Brookbank and Francois Beauchemin.

Anaheim gave up 235 goals for second most in the Western Conference among postseason teams.

Nashville

The Preds gave up just 194 for second fewest in the entire NHL.

Erat was tops among forwards with +14. Legwand was a plus 13, while Hornqvist and Kostitsyn were plus 11 and 10, respectively.

Also at +10 was defensive center Marcel Goc, but he hasn't played a game since Feb 17. It looks doubtful that he will play, at least in this series.

Suter led defencemen (and the team) with a plus 20. Cody Franson was a plus 10 and KK, Kevin Kline, (not the actor!) was a plus 9. I guess they are going to use Jonathon Blum, who appeared in only 23 games. Even so, he was a plus 8. It will be interesting to see if he plays and how he plays!

Edge: (wide) Nashville

Goaltending

Anaheim 

From the looks of things, it will be Ray Emery, one of the games finest characters, in net for the Ducks. No, he’s no lame duck, but he must feel like a roasted turkey after all that surgery. The Ducks took a chance on him late in the season, and he went 7-2 in ten games. Actually, his numbers were better than even that. Low GAA: 2.28, high S% .926.

With regular John Hiller out, it will probably be Emery’s job throughout this entire series.

The other goalie they might go to however, is Dan Ellis. His numbers weren't far off Emery's. He played three more games than Ray, went 8-3-1 with a GAA of 2.39 and a S% .917.

Nashville

The Predators will go with Pekka Rinne. He's kind of like Ken Dryden: 6-5. This guy just gets better with every season.

As for his numbers, behold:

33 wins, .930 S%, 2.12 GAA.

Okay, can he keep it up in postseason? He played fairly good last season in the playoffs, but wasn't enough as the Preds bowed out to the eventual champs, Chicago, in six games.

Should he falter, there is Anders Lindback. A rookie. Like Rinne, he's tall (6-6). He was put out for 22 outings and acquitted himself quite admirably, 11-5-2, .915, 2.60 and even 2 shutouts for good measure. Of course, he has no postseason experience at the NHL level!

Edge: (Slight, because of Emery's postseason experience) Anaheim

Prediction: Anaheim in seven games

References

"Official Site of the National Hockey League." NHL.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 April 2011.

Stanley Cup Playoffs 2011: Eastern Conference Round 1

Washington (1) VS New York (8)

So Washington did their best NOT to finish first in the East. But, alas, Philly and Boston slumped, so they did just that.

Their reward this year? A playoffs against the Rangers.

Good news: They HAVE beaten the Rangers before

Great news: Ryan Callahan is out

Bad news: It was in seven games after trailing 3-1! SEVEN GAMES? Oh no!

Offence

Washington

Washington got it from Ovi, but not quite as in the past.

Ovechkin had, for him, and off year offensively. Just 85 points, and 32 goals. The good news was he was more committed to two way play, which will help this time around. Center Nick Backstrom was second on the team with 65 points. Semin has 54 points, but that was in only 65 games. Plus Brooks Laich had 48 points.

As for the blueline offence, Mike Green was hurt and played in only 49 games. Still, he got 24 points. If anything it was two defencemen who picked up the slack. Dennis Wideman had 40 points and John Carlson had 37 more. If these guys stay healthy, don’t be shorthanded! Wideman is nursing an injury, however.

The whole Capitals team wasn’t as explosive as before. They ranked 19^th in goals for per game (224).

New York

The Rangers themselves scored just 233 goals. Aside from the Caps, the only other Eastern Conference team (that qualified for postseason) to pot fewer this season was Montreal.

Add to that Ryan Callahan (Look, I'm not about to quote Clint Eastwood, okay?) is out. The Rangers will miss him, as he netted 23 goals and 48 points in just 60 games.

But picking up the slack, no doubt, as he has all year will be Duby, Brandon Dubinsky. He led the Rangers with 54 points in 77 games. And he wasn't alone. The always reliable Marian Gaborik had 48 points in just 62 games.

In addition to Dubinsky, there were three other pretty good centers:

Derek Stepan (45 points)

Artem Anisimov (44 points)

Brian Boyle (35 points)

Erik Christensen (27 points in only 63 games)

Great strength down the middle. Although, I'm not sure how much Christensen can help. No shootouts in the playoffs, remember.

Brandon Prust had 29 points from the port side of things. However, the Rangers acquired Polish Wojtek Wolski, who is the real threat from left, as he finished the year with 35 points in 73 games with the Rangers and Coyotes.

As for some blueline offence, another of the Staal brothers is here!

Marc Staal racked up 29 points in 77 games.

And there was the recently acquired Bryan McCabe 

Despite all that, I'm giving the edge to Washington because of Ovie's flare for the dramatic!

Edge: (slight) Washington

Defence

Washington

Conversely, the Capitals were fourth in the league in goals against per game (2.33).

Green is good at both ends of the ice despite a low +/- (6). Then there is Carlson, who was a plus 24. Wideman was a minus, but it should be noted he was the only defenceman on the Caps to play more than 33 games and post a minus. But, again, if he's not playing...

The stay at home corps consists of Karl Alzer, Scott Hannan, John Erskine, and probably the best of them, Jeff Schultz.

New York

The Blueshirt's blueline defence was led by Micheal Sauer, who posted a plus 20, which is good for a "stay-at-home" defenceman. Ryan McDonagh, despite injuries, posted a fine plus 16 in only 40 games.

Wolski was a plus 12 in his 37 games as a Ranger.

Edge: (slight) Washington

Goaltending

Washington

Ah, now for the Capitals real problem!

But I believe it has been corrected.

Washington sort of shuffled three goalies around. Here are their numbers:

GOALIE                               GP       GAA      W          L        OT

MICHAL NEUVIRTH              48         2.45      27         12         4               

SEMYON VARLAMOV            27         2.23      11           9         5              

BRADEN HOLTBY                 14         1.79      10            2         2          

Further:
                                                       SO     SV%

MICHAL NEUVIRTH                              4        .914

SEMYON VARLAMOV                            2        .924

BRADEN HOLTBY                                  2       .934

Okay, put ‘em all together, and that’s pretty good.

Problem is, by themselves, no one by themselves seems enough. Varlamov has some playoffs experience ands a good save percentage, but he didn’t play much. Skate rust. Holtby was very impressive in only 14 games but has never played in the playoffs before (at the NHL level, anyway).

So I guess it comes down to Neuvirth. But, Boudreau has a short tolerance. He could be ushered out and replaced with Semyon or Braden (remember Ken Dryden in ’71?) in a finger snap.

New York

Mr Lundqvist has been the man where "The Puck Stops Here!"

The Iron Man in front of the square iron notched his sixth straight 30 win season (All with New York). The negative?

He was forth in the league losses (27). Other than that, look out! 36 wins (6th in the league), 2.28 GAA (7th) .923 S% (7th) 11 SO (1st), 68 GP (5th).

Anything more need to be said?

And his backup, Biron, is no stranger to the playoffs if needs be. Three seasons ago, he led the Flyers to the Eastern Conference Finals.

His W-L-OT record wasn't great (8-6-0), but he had a GAA of 2.13 and a S% of .923

Edge: (Neither Wide Nor Slight) New York

Prediction: Washington in six

Philadelphia (2) vs Buffalo (7)

Philly slipped a little and almost lost the division crown to Pittsburgh, while Buffalo surged at the end to hold off Carolina and Toronto from nudging in. They also kept the Rangers in eighth place.

Offence

Philadelphia

Nearly SEVEN Flyers scored 20 or more goals this season. What a balanced attack.

Claude Giroux paced all of them with 76 points, while Jeff Carter lit the lamp 36 times.

Curiously, it was the team’s two right wingers (Giroux and Danny Briere) then two centers (Carter and Mike Richards) who were the top four.

Then if you can believe it, two left wingers (Ville Leino and Scott Hartnell) who came in 5th and 6th. Some nice groupings. Actually, here’s where the, “Two wingers, two centers, two wingers”, pairings ends, as a third left winger James Van Riemsdyk, was seventh on the team in scoring.

If you’re wondering who among those didn’t score twenty, it’s Leino, the left winger. But what’s wrong with 54 points from the port side?

Two other players: Winger Nikolai Zherdev (16 goals) and Andres Nodl (11 goals in 67 games) should be watched. As should last year's Flyer killer, Chris Versteeg!

Then, amazingly, four defencemen round out the top ten (and 11) in team scoring.

Matt Carle, look at his stat line: 1 goal 39 assists, 40 points. You know, he must be kicking himself for scoring that one goal. He might have set a record for most points in a season without scoring a goal! In any case, he needn’t apologize. No Flyer defenceman scored more than 8 goals.

But note the consistency:

Kimmo Timonen: 6 goals, 31 assists

Andrej Meszaros: 8 goals, 24 assists

Chris Pronger: 4 goals, 21 assists (in only 50 games)

An offence to be reckoned with.

Buffalo

The Sabers were a little more defensive minded than Philly. Even so, 11 Sabers scored 10 or more goal. And the Flyers actually scored just 14 more goals than the Sabers (259 -245)

Thomas Vanek lead the Sabers with 32-41-73. Drew Stafford might have lead the team had he not missed 20 games. Even so, his 31 goals and 52 points is mighty good.

Center Derrek Roy also might have led the Sabers in scoring had he not been hurt in December. He’s kinda in the Crosby boat as there is talk of him returning. For what it is worth, he averaged a point a game, 35 points in 35 games before the injury.

But, like the Pens, they had found a way to fill the void, somewhat.

What I like about the Sabers is they had 5 players who can play center with good numbers. In addition to Roy, your have

Tim Connolly 13-29-42

Paul Gaustad 12-19-31

Nathan Gerbe 16-15-31 (64 games)

Jochem Hecht 12-17-29 (67 games)

Cody McCormick 8-12-20

What does that mean? It means Lindy Ruff (God! Is he STILL coaching Buffalo?) can mix and match with different line combos. Sure will be interesting to see!

Tyler Myers, Jordan Leopold, Andrej Sekera and Steve Montador all recorded 26 or more points from the blueline.

Edge: (Slight) Philadelphia

Defence

Philadelphia

As a bonus, Jeff Carter was a plus 27.

I’m not 100% sure if Pronger is going to play in the first game, but it is a good bet than he’ll play game 2 onwards. He has experience galore! Think of him as today’s Larry Robinson.

And he’s got some nice pairings. Carle may have scored only one goal, but was a plus 30, as was Meszaros. Braydon Coburn, a stay-at-home defenceman was a plus 15.

Buffalo

A new guy to Buffalo was Mike Weber, as he set career marks in everything. This will be his first ever playoffs. But his defence was good this regular season.

The others have pretty much been to the playoffs before. Shaone Morrisonn is probably hoping to have better luck in the postseason with Buffalo than he did with Washington.

Montador led the team with a plus 16. Weber and Sekera were +11 and +13 respectively.

Edge (Slight) Philadelphia

Goaltending

Philadelphia

The Flyers unveiled a new kid this year: Sergi Bobrovsky. In 54 games, he performed admirably: 28-13-8 to go along with .915 and 2.59. Now might be a good time for him to do something he didn’t do this year. He didn’t record a shutout! This will, needless to say, be his first ever NHL playoffs.

Brain Boucher played a-plenty during the regular season. In 34 games, he posted 18 wins and 4 OT losses. His GAA and S% were actually lower than Bobrovsky, 2.42 and .916. He has been around a while. It is interesting to note that he has a losing record lifetime in the regular season (like Dwayne Rolson), with a 119-131-44 record. But strangely, he has a winning record in the playoffs, 17-14. I have a feeling that if Brobrovsky falters, he’ll be put in without a second thought.

Buffalo

The Sabers, meanwhile look like they have the second coming of Dominik Hasek in Ryan Miller. That Olympic performance in 2010 will never be forgotten. He followed it up with an early playoff loss to Boston, however, and now he gets his chance for redemption.

His record was not as good as in 2009/2010, but once again he was the war horse. Appearing in 66 games, he won 34 and only five goalies faced more shots. He is one of those goalies, statistics aside, that “gets in shooters heads”. You know you need to set up just right to get a goal on him. Otherwise, hope for a tip-in or a rebound. And he has some great playoff performances already in his career. Back in 2006, he took the Sabers to within a game of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Edge (Wide) Buffalo

Prediction: Philadelphia in six.

Boston (3) vs Montreal (6)

Here we go again, is all I can say.

They’ve met 32 time in the playoffs with the Habs holding an edge of 24 to 8.

Montreal wants to win the series and kill Chara.

Neither will prove easy.

Offense

Boston

Again, we see a very balanced attack as the Bruins had TWELVE players with 10 or more goals. Having said  that, the Cubs only ended up with 246 goals. Far more than Montreal, though.

Two players, Milan Lucic and David Krejci tied for the team lead in points with 62.

The rest?

Patrice Bergeron (22-35-57)

Nathan Horton (26-27-53)

Mark Recchi (is he still playing?) (14-34-48)

Brad Marchand (21-20-41)

Michael Ryder (18-23-41)

Greg Campbell (13-16-29)

Blake Wheeler (11-16-27 in only 58 games)

Tyler Seguin (11-11-22)

Shawn Thornton (10-10-20)

For blueliners we have the guy Habs fans hate: Zedeno Chara. But the problem is, Montreal will hate him for other reasons. Namely, his offence (14-30-44), his defence. And he hits!

Dennis Seidenberg had 7 goals and 25 assists from the point.

The new guy, Thomas Kaberle, is finally back to the postseason. Acquired in trade from Toronto, he posted 47 points in 82 games. However, I left him for last because he tailed off a bit after the trade. Here:

2010/11

Toronto 58 GP 3G 35A 38 PTS

Boston 24 GP 1G 8A 9 PTS

Kabbi's gotta play like he did in Toronto.

Montreal

The Canadians scored just 216 goals this season, which is the lowest of any team that qualified for the postseason.

Even so (he we go again!) 8 of their players scored 11 or more goals and David Desharnais scored 8 in only 43 games.

Okay, ready?

Tomas Plekanec (22-35-57)
Michael Cammalleri (19-28-47)
Brain Gionta (29-17-46)
Andrei Kostitsyn (20-25-45)
PK Subban (14-24-38)
Benoit Pouliot (13-17-30)
Mathienu Darche (12-14-26)
Jeff Halpern (11-15-26)
Max Pacioretty (14-10-24)

Pacioretty, of course, was given a concussion by Zedeno Chara, and it is unknown when he will return. Still that will make an interesting subplot to this series. Max's numbers are impressive when you consider he played in only 37 games.

In addition to Subban, you have other defencemen that put up numbers for the Flying Frenchmen. Roman Hamrlik with 34 points and James Wisiewski with 30 in 43 games.

Edge: (Wide) Boston

Defence

Boston

Chara led the way with a +33. It's worth noting that Adam McQuaid was a plus 30 in only 67 games.

I should also mention, before going any further that some of the forwards were good on the +/-. Lucic, the team's (tied for) leader in points, posted a plus 28, which isn't even tops among forwards. Nope, that goes to Horton with +29.

Back to defencmen. Andrew Ference posted a fine +22 in only 70 games and Johnny Boychuk, always steady, was a plus 15 in 69 games.

Back to Kaberle.

He was a minus (-2) in Toronto, but he improved to plus 6 in 24 games. So I guess, give defence, take offense from Thomas!

Overall, Boston permitted just 195 goals.

Montreal

A notch below Boston, despite the numbers. Most importantly, Montreal allowed 209 goals against. That's fifth in the Eastern Conference among the eight that are competing for Lord Stanley's mug. But, how much more is that than Boston gave up?

Jaroslav Spacek led Montreal with a plus 9 rating in only 59 games.

I should bring up PK Subban, the young kid who had a great postseason last year. This year, he had a good season on offence, as mentioned earlier. His defence was a little erratic to say the least, as he finished with a minus (-8). Now, he is capable of playing good defence. It's just a question, which PK will show up? Consistent or erratic? They need the former.

Hamrik and Wisniewski are better than average. And of course, I should mention Hal Gill, who always seems to bring his best to the big stage in hockey. In the last three years, his teams have gone at least as far as the Conference Finals.

Edge: (Slight) Boston

Goaltending

Boston

Which do you prefer? Thomas or Rask? Both played often enough to be ready for the postseason. Two years ago, Boston went with Thomas in the postseason, and Rask didn't play a game. Last year, Raask played the postseason and Thomas didn't play in a game.

Tim Thomas had a breakout year as he led the NHL with a goals against average of 2.00. He led the league in S% with a .938 mark. He also won 35 games despite appearing in only 57 games, and was second in the league in shutouts with 9. In the 2009 playoffs, he played very, very well.

Then there is Tuuka Rask, who made it into 29 games himself, but posted a lossing record. It was a bit of a comedown from last season. But the amount of games played suggest that, if Thomas falters, we might just see him against the Habs. Here are his numbers: 

Montreal

If Carey Price isn't tired now, he'll never be. He's gotta feel stronger than the iron that's in the frame of the net. Appearing in 72 games, he won 38 to lead the league, faced the second most shots (2,147), posted a .923 S% and recorded 8 shutouts.

If it matters for postseason experiece, he did face the Bruins three seasons ago, and helped the Habs come out on top in seven games. Since then, though, he has played in just 8 postseason games, failing to record a win in any of them (to be fair, some of them were relief appearances, he was 0-5). Will he play like that? Or will he play like he did this season and three years ago against the Bruins?

Backup Alex Auld (I call him AA) is playing on his eighth team in nine years. He hasn't played in a postseason game since before the strike. His numbers weren't bad (6-2-2, 2.64, .914) but I feel it would be a risk to play him.

Then again, if Price falters or gets hurt...

Edge: (none) I'm calling this even!

Prediction: Boston in seven.

Pittsburgh Penguins (4) vs Tampa Bay Lighting (5)

Pittsburgh’s Record the last 5 years:

2006/07 47W 24L 11OT 105 PTS

2007/08 47W 27L 8OT 102 PTS

2008/09 45W 28L 9OT 99PTS

2009/10 47W 28L 7OT 101PTS

2010/11 49W 25L 8OT 108 PTS

Pittsburgh's record on January 5th (The day Crosby went down): 26-12-3 for 55 points.

Pittsburgh's record the rest of the season sans Crosby 23-12-5 for 51 points.

Pittsburgh's record on Feb 4, 2011 (The day Malkin went down): 34-15-4

Pittsburgh's record the rest of the season sans Malkin: 15-10-4

Pittsburgh's record in the last 16 games of the season: 12-4-0

You read that correctly!

Yes, despite the loss of Crosby (41 games misses), Malkin (39 games missed), Staal (40 games missed) the Pens won more games this season then any other since 1995/96 (I think their current owner had something to do with that) and had more points in this season than in any other since 1992/93. Again, I think the owner (now) had something to do with that.

So amazing what they have pulled off this year. The Pens have been able to adapt!

Meanwhile, Tampa Bay returns to the playoffs for the first time in years. And Stamkos test the postseason waters for the first time!

This series brings together two of my favourite goalies: Dwayne Rolson And Marc Andre Fleury

Offence

Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh is obviously lacking their two best playmakers. Yet, the Pens have found ways to pick up the slack. Either by trades or by callups.

Two of the players the Pens acquired at the deadline were Alex Kovalev and Chris Neal. SO FAR, I’d say they haven’t contributed much. But they both bring experience and savy to this team. Look for them to contribute. Neal, despite his slump, still finished with 45 points. Kovalev, playing most of the season with a shallow offensive Ottawa team, had 34 points.

And then there are the other Pens.

Many have called this Chris Letang breakthrough year. He picked the right year to. Playing in ALL 82 games, he scored only 8 goals but garnered 42 assists. Plus he played some great defence (more on that later).

Chris Kunitz missed 16 games and still got 48 points. Tyler Kennedy tacked up 45 and Pascual Dupius had 37.

And tremendous two way man from Thunder Bay, Jordan Staal, who missed the first half of the season, had perhaps his best season despite all that. He averaged almost a point per game and showed what many have long suspected: if he got more ice team, we’d all see how good he REALLY is. Crosby and Malkin absence gave him that chance, ironically. He averaged 21:21 ice time this year, a career high.

Tampa Bay

St Louis, Stamkos, Lecavalier.

The Big Three

Tough to stop all three.

Stamkos may have slumped at the end of the years. Hey, it happens to all of these “streaky” scorers. He finished with 99 points, 45 of them goals. Lets not forget, 2009/10, he tied Crosby for the league lead in goals with 51. This will be his first taste of post season. I expect him to be a little nervous, but watch: he will overcome it.

Lecavalier HAS been their before. In fact, he was there back in 2004 when Tampa Bay won it all. He finished with 54 points as he had some injuries himself. Lately, though, he back to “Same Old” Vinny as he scored five goals in his last four games.

St Louis is the most feared. He just missed 100 points (99 pts for 2nd most this season) and finished second in the league with 68 assist.

And there were others.

Teddy Purcell (Now it’s the big four, eh?) was uninjured (he missed just one game) and effective as the second line right winger: 17 goals and 34 assists.

Two other players need to mentioned right now, because they both have an interesting plot to this series.

First is Simon Gagne. He’s faced the Pens in the past (2008, 2009) and then last year, helped the underdog Flyers go all the way to the Stanley Cup finals and get within two games of the cup. This year, despite some injuries, he racked up 40 points in 63 games. I can’t imagine he won’t be reeved up to face Pittsburgh for the third time in four years.

Another who should be also up for this is Ryan Malone. Born and bred and Pittsburgh, not to mention he is the son of . He’s another good left winger, notching 38 points in only 54 games. This will be his first playoff series since leaving the Pens after 2008.

Some more?

You have former Toronto Maple Leaf, Dominic Moore as the teams third line center. And he managed a respectable 32 points in 77 games. Another guy to look out for is Steve Dowie. Like others in this series, he had a bit of a banged up year (just 57 games played) but contributed (32 points). Sean Bergenheim scored 14 goals for third on the team among left wingers.

The team’s top blue line point getter would be Brett Clark, with 31 points.

The guy to watch on the Lightning Defence will be Victor Hedman. After putting out Sid Crosby with a check into the glass on Jan 5, he finished with 26 points. Only three were goals, though.

Edge: (slightly) Tampa Bay

Defence

Pittsburgh

So Letang had people talking about a Norris Trophy candidate. No one gets talked about that without playing at your own end. Letang was joined this year by Paul Martin, who really fit in well with the Pens.
Ben Lovejoy missed 35 games, but when he could play, he played often, and effective. Zbynek (how do you pronounce that? Anyone?) Michalek also contributed.
And the other defenceman aren’t to shabby either.

Brooks Orpik, despite a broken toe earlier in the season, has returned and made solid contribution

Deryk Engelland and Matts Niskanen were both minuses, but I believe they were better than the plus minus stats indicate.

Notice, that’s seven defenceman who played more than half the season. So the Pens can even overcome any injury to any one of the above.

Did I mention that the Pens allowed 199 goals this season?

Tampa Bay

Tampa lacks that one defencemen that sticks out. They also are behind the Pens in defencesive defenceman.
Clark and Hedman are fine defenceman, as is another former Leaf, Pavel Kubina.

Randy Jones and Mike Lundin and former Canuck Mattis Ohlund were the other healthy ones. None are great statistically but Ohlund has postseason experience and that should help.

There were other defenceman in and out of the lineup due to injuries. Among them are Marc-Andre Bergeron (23 games), Eric Brewer (22 games) and Matt Smaby (32 games).

Looking at the team, they employed 11 defenceman.

6 were a minus.

Edge: (wide) Pittsburgh

Goaltending

Pittsburgh

After a slow start, Mark Andre Fleury got better and better as the season went on. His record was 1-6-0 at one point, but that must have made him feel that he had a point to prove. And he sure did. One of the reasons the Pens finished so strong in how Fleury would steal games for the Pens. I remember a game he lost, where he played great. On Jan he faced the Capitals in a game the Pens would ultiamtly lose, 1-0. But you could see it. Out of the net, staring Alex the Great down. Confidence!

When Fleury slumped out of the gate, Brent Johnson stepped in and probably pushed Mark to trump him. Whenever the Pens needed him to come in, he seemed to be ready for the challenge. Plus, he does have some playoff experience.

Tampa Bay

Dwayne Roloson started this year on Long Island, and was traded to Tampa Bay. His record with the Lightning was 18-12-4 and he tossed in 4 shutouts. At 41, he is playing in his first playoffs since leading the Edmonton Oilers to the Stanley Cup finals in 2006. The long playoff layoff could hurt him.

He finished the year with a losing record (24-25-5) and was 8th in the league in losses, and even eight in the league in PIM by a goalie (8).

Given his age, we might see some action from Dan Ellis or even Mike Smith. Both posted winning records, but had GAA close to 3.

Edge: (Wide) Pittsburgh

Prediction: Pittsburgh in seven games.