The 1st round of the NHL was chalk full of intrigue and drama. It was packed full of controversial hits, overtime thrillers, epic combacks, and many tightly contested series. The 2nd round? Not so much. The dissapointing Washington Capitals have already been swept out by the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Philly Flyers and Detroit Redwings both find themselves down three games to none, facing down near insurmountable deficits. The closest series has been Vancouver and Nashville, but I fear an overtime victory for the Canucks in game three on a ridiculous penalty call will be too much for the already overmatched Predators to overcome.
The least surprising outcome of this round has been watching the Flyers goaltending implode once again. Has there ever been a team in sports that fails so spectacularly at the same position over and over again in the playoffs.
The biggest shock has been the Tampa Bay Lightning looking like a well tested playoff juggernaut. The 41 year old journeyman Dwayne Roloson is playing some of the best hockey of his life in net. Sean Bergenheim has been unreal good on a line with Dominic Moore. Ryan Malone has battled his way to the front of the net, stepping in for an again injured Simon Gagne. And Eric Brewer has been a dominate two way defensemen, especially with veteran Pavel Kubina going down. If the Bolts can keep this level of play up, they are going to be very hard for any team to knock off.
Meanwhile the Capitals showed a lack of heart, desire, and commitment that has become an unexplainable habit for them in the NHL playoffs. I really thought this would be their year to shine. Now Caps fans have to really wonder if it wouldn't be best to have some major changes down in DC. Alex Ovechkin deseves to have a better squad put around him. He is a force and Brooks Laich is a proven warrior. Everyone else on that team should be fair game for discussion about possible changes.
Showing posts with label Alex Ovechkin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alex Ovechkin. Show all posts
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Time for Ovechkin to Put Up or Shut Up
The Eastern Conference is the Capitals for the taking this offseason. They are the #1 seed, they have all the weapons, and there is an overwhelming sense that this is their time to shine. With Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin going down to injuries leaving the Pittsburgh Penguins punchless and out, and the Philadelphia Flyers goaltending exploding spectacularly (again), leaving them hanging on to Stanley Cup dreams by a faint thread of hope, the door is wide open for the Caps to storm through.
And yet the Caps seem to be inexplicably faltering to their division rival, the Tampa Bay Lightning, down two games to none in the 2nd round series. Even worse: those first two games were at home for Washington. They now face the daunting task of stealing some games back on unfriendly ice. If they are not up to the task, their season is over. Literally. With an unconventional playoff back to back tonight and tomorrow it is quite possible that within 48 hours they will be done.
The Capital’s Captain, Russian born snipe shooter Alex Ovechkin upped the ante with a bold prediction: "we're going there, and we're going to win two games."
Those are the kind of things a Captain of a favored team should say after a stunning OT loss that puts his team in such a hole. As Captain, Ovechkin must step up his game and make it happen to back up those words. The time for excuses is over. The stage is set for him. If AO is going to prove himself as one of the truly elite players in the history of the game, now is the time for him to do so. He has been good so far this playoffs. The Capitals need him to be Great.
Tonight especially, with the possibility of a three games to none deficit hanging over his squad like a hangman’s noose, Ovechkin must transcend the situation and play out of his mind. No doubt the team will be tight going into the game. They need a spark and a flash from their elitely talented Captain to shake off the doldrums.
Far too often this year we have seen a seemingly disinterested Alex Ovechkin out on the ice. The almost uncontrollable force of nature styled play that we have seen from him in prior seasons was there in flashes, but not with any level of consistency. He has still been very dangerous, but the Capitals really need him to kick things into another gear tonight. He needs to bring back the furious kinetic freight engine style of play that his team feeds off of. If Ovie brings that kind of energy, I am sure the Capitals can get back into this serious. If he doesn’t, I have my serious doubts that they will still be active Thursday morning.
And yet the Caps seem to be inexplicably faltering to their division rival, the Tampa Bay Lightning, down two games to none in the 2nd round series. Even worse: those first two games were at home for Washington. They now face the daunting task of stealing some games back on unfriendly ice. If they are not up to the task, their season is over. Literally. With an unconventional playoff back to back tonight and tomorrow it is quite possible that within 48 hours they will be done.
The Capital’s Captain, Russian born snipe shooter Alex Ovechkin upped the ante with a bold prediction: "we're going there, and we're going to win two games."
Those are the kind of things a Captain of a favored team should say after a stunning OT loss that puts his team in such a hole. As Captain, Ovechkin must step up his game and make it happen to back up those words. The time for excuses is over. The stage is set for him. If AO is going to prove himself as one of the truly elite players in the history of the game, now is the time for him to do so. He has been good so far this playoffs. The Capitals need him to be Great.
Tonight especially, with the possibility of a three games to none deficit hanging over his squad like a hangman’s noose, Ovechkin must transcend the situation and play out of his mind. No doubt the team will be tight going into the game. They need a spark and a flash from their elitely talented Captain to shake off the doldrums.
Far too often this year we have seen a seemingly disinterested Alex Ovechkin out on the ice. The almost uncontrollable force of nature styled play that we have seen from him in prior seasons was there in flashes, but not with any level of consistency. He has still been very dangerous, but the Capitals really need him to kick things into another gear tonight. He needs to bring back the furious kinetic freight engine style of play that his team feeds off of. If Ovie brings that kind of energy, I am sure the Capitals can get back into this serious. If he doesn’t, I have my serious doubts that they will still be active Thursday morning.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
.....And Justice For All
Sing High Praise: Matt Cooke has been suspended for the remainder of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs for his indefensible and incomprehensible elbow to the face of the Rangers' Ryan McDonagh. For those scoring at home, that would lead to total suspension of 17 games if the Penguins first round series goes the distance. For those with a memory and scoring at home, that is 3 less than games than Todd Bertuzzi received for ending Steve Moore's career. It's also 17 more than Zdeno Chara got for more-or-less paralyzing a guy, but let's not split hairs.
If you know me, I love and appreciate irony. I love that the Winklevoss twins are being sued by somebody for allegedly cutting him out of profits for the sale of ConnectU to Facebook after they sued Mark Zuckerberg for allegedly cutting them out of Facebook altogether. I love Mike Huckabee saying it was inappropriate to comment on Bristol Palin's out of wedlock teen pregnacny in 2008 yet blast Harvard grad and 29 year old Natalie Portman for also being pregnant out of wedlock. Irony would also rear it's beautifully hideous head when Matt Cooke would serve the first game of his suspension against a Red Wings team featuring the aforementioned Bertuzzi. Prior to the game, Red Wings Alternate Captain Henrik Zetterberg weighed in on the Cooke situation calling for Cooke to be shelved for the remainder of the season and much like everything else in the NHL, the Red Wings got their wish. Zetterberg clearly overlooked the fact that his chroiboy organization employs a guy who once came up behind another human being, grabbed him by the back of his sweater, wound up, and delivered a gloved punch to the back of his head sending him plummeting to the ice face first. The result was merely a concussion, 3 broken neck vertebrae, facial lacerations, and 5 months in a hospital plus a year in a neck brace. Nothing major, I guess. Heck the most storied Red Wing ever, Mr. Hockey himself, was known to throw an elbow or 10 during his career, so at least they have that going for them!
For all of Steve Moore and his family's suffering, Todd Bertuzzi was suspended for only 3 more games than Matt Cooke for an elbow that didn't even sideline a guy for a period. Since the "Steve Moore Incident" Bertuzzi has played in nearly 400 NHL games and pocketed nearly $18 million dollars for his troubles while Steve Moore can skate, but that's about it. While his neck has healed but he still suffers from the concussion he received when Todd Bertuzzi held the back of his jersey, cocked his fist, and sucker punched him in the back of the head so hard that he fell helplessly to the ice face first and unconscious. For that, Bertuzzi got only 3 more games than Matt Cooke for his stupidity in finishing a check with a dirty elbow. Get my drift?
Truthfully, I feel that the Cooke suspension is exactly what he deserved for his selfish actions. He has had umpteen chances to keep his focus on winning puck battles and doing the things that make him a valuable hockey player and he only has himself to blame for being out for 17 games. Bertuzzi, as far as I am concerned, got off light. So did Chara and Heatley amongst many, many others in the league.But Cooke, and the Penguins for that matter, are the only ones who face league wide scorn. The Pittsburgh Penguins are not the only team who employ a Matt Cooke type player and frankly it would be a shorter list of teams who don't and anybody who says otherwise is a bigger homer than I am.
With the Cooke punishment handed down from the father of Boston Bruin Gregory Campbell ( just thought I would mention that tidbit), the NHL has set a precedent that targeting the head is not going to be tolerated. That is awesome, that is progress. BUT, the NHL has also put themselves in a precarious position for future suspensions. Will Alex Ovechkin get the book thrown at him the next time he leaves his skates to hit somebody? Will Mike Richards finally get a suspension for one of his trademark blindside hits to an unsuspecting opponent? Will Zdeno Chara get off scot-free the next time he hospitalizes a player with whom he has a grudge and no longer has the puck? I would have to go with an emphatic NO on that one. If there is one thing we can ascertain about the NHL's policy on consistency, it's that there doesn't seem to be one.
If you know me, I love and appreciate irony. I love that the Winklevoss twins are being sued by somebody for allegedly cutting him out of profits for the sale of ConnectU to Facebook after they sued Mark Zuckerberg for allegedly cutting them out of Facebook altogether. I love Mike Huckabee saying it was inappropriate to comment on Bristol Palin's out of wedlock teen pregnacny in 2008 yet blast Harvard grad and 29 year old Natalie Portman for also being pregnant out of wedlock. Irony would also rear it's beautifully hideous head when Matt Cooke would serve the first game of his suspension against a Red Wings team featuring the aforementioned Bertuzzi. Prior to the game, Red Wings Alternate Captain Henrik Zetterberg weighed in on the Cooke situation calling for Cooke to be shelved for the remainder of the season and much like everything else in the NHL, the Red Wings got their wish. Zetterberg clearly overlooked the fact that his chroiboy organization employs a guy who once came up behind another human being, grabbed him by the back of his sweater, wound up, and delivered a gloved punch to the back of his head sending him plummeting to the ice face first. The result was merely a concussion, 3 broken neck vertebrae, facial lacerations, and 5 months in a hospital plus a year in a neck brace. Nothing major, I guess. Heck the most storied Red Wing ever, Mr. Hockey himself, was known to throw an elbow or 10 during his career, so at least they have that going for them!
For all of Steve Moore and his family's suffering, Todd Bertuzzi was suspended for only 3 more games than Matt Cooke for an elbow that didn't even sideline a guy for a period. Since the "Steve Moore Incident" Bertuzzi has played in nearly 400 NHL games and pocketed nearly $18 million dollars for his troubles while Steve Moore can skate, but that's about it. While his neck has healed but he still suffers from the concussion he received when Todd Bertuzzi held the back of his jersey, cocked his fist, and sucker punched him in the back of the head so hard that he fell helplessly to the ice face first and unconscious. For that, Bertuzzi got only 3 more games than Matt Cooke for his stupidity in finishing a check with a dirty elbow. Get my drift?
Truthfully, I feel that the Cooke suspension is exactly what he deserved for his selfish actions. He has had umpteen chances to keep his focus on winning puck battles and doing the things that make him a valuable hockey player and he only has himself to blame for being out for 17 games. Bertuzzi, as far as I am concerned, got off light. So did Chara and Heatley amongst many, many others in the league.But Cooke, and the Penguins for that matter, are the only ones who face league wide scorn. The Pittsburgh Penguins are not the only team who employ a Matt Cooke type player and frankly it would be a shorter list of teams who don't and anybody who says otherwise is a bigger homer than I am.
With the Cooke punishment handed down from the father of Boston Bruin Gregory Campbell ( just thought I would mention that tidbit), the NHL has set a precedent that targeting the head is not going to be tolerated. That is awesome, that is progress. BUT, the NHL has also put themselves in a precarious position for future suspensions. Will Alex Ovechkin get the book thrown at him the next time he leaves his skates to hit somebody? Will Mike Richards finally get a suspension for one of his trademark blindside hits to an unsuspecting opponent? Will Zdeno Chara get off scot-free the next time he hospitalizes a player with whom he has a grudge and no longer has the puck? I would have to go with an emphatic NO on that one. If there is one thing we can ascertain about the NHL's policy on consistency, it's that there doesn't seem to be one.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
NHL Injury Updates and thoughts on NATO
The Washington Capitals announced today that Captain Alex Ovechkin will be out 7-10 days with an undisclosed injury. The team has also been missing Mike Green with a concussion, but he should be back within the week.
Brooks Orpik should be returning to Penguins practice soon from a hand injury. The huge news for the Pens is that Sidney Crosby has been skating and working out with no return of symptoms from his concussion. There are also whispers in the Burgh that Evgeni Malkin is making 'amazing' progress rehabing from his knee surgery.
The Conference leading Flyers will be missing chief pugilist Chris Pronger with a broken hand till early April. Jody Shelley also went hard into the boards and is suffering with facial injuries.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are missing foward Ryan Malone who hopes to get back at some point in the playoffs.
The Detroit Redwings have been dinged up for months, but the vet heavy squad expects to have pretty much all hands on deck come playoff time.
The Wings primary rival, The Chicago Blackhawks, lost leading scorer Patrick Sharp to a 'lower-body' injury for the next two weeks.
The Vancouver Canucks lost Center Manny Malhotra for the rest of the year with an eye injury that required surgery. The Nucks have also has a boatload of blueliners go down.
Finally: The Edmonton Oilers have lost Ryan Whitney for the season with an ankle injury. But the last place squads loss has been the world's gain as @ryanwhitney6 has officially surpassed @BizNasty2point0 as the most amusing hockey player to follow on twitter.
NATO was set up as a defense pact by Western Nations during the Cold War in order to coordinate and provide symmetry for the defense strategies of Western Europe and the United States. Its mission was very clear: to keep the West safe despite its disadvantage in conventional forces by leveraging its members advanced weapon systems in a unified manner. Now the Cold War is over two decades gone, and the once elite status of NATO membership has given way to a sprawling bureaucratic nightmare of cross purposed nations. It is a relic that has outlasted its political usefullness and is only strategically valuable for the command stucture it gives its member nations in joint military operations. If the combat in Libya has proven one thing, its that NATO has become unruly and redundant and needs to be consigned to the dustbin of history next to the Warsaw Pact.
Brooks Orpik should be returning to Penguins practice soon from a hand injury. The huge news for the Pens is that Sidney Crosby has been skating and working out with no return of symptoms from his concussion. There are also whispers in the Burgh that Evgeni Malkin is making 'amazing' progress rehabing from his knee surgery.
The Conference leading Flyers will be missing chief pugilist Chris Pronger with a broken hand till early April. Jody Shelley also went hard into the boards and is suffering with facial injuries.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are missing foward Ryan Malone who hopes to get back at some point in the playoffs.
The Detroit Redwings have been dinged up for months, but the vet heavy squad expects to have pretty much all hands on deck come playoff time.
The Wings primary rival, The Chicago Blackhawks, lost leading scorer Patrick Sharp to a 'lower-body' injury for the next two weeks.
The Vancouver Canucks lost Center Manny Malhotra for the rest of the year with an eye injury that required surgery. The Nucks have also has a boatload of blueliners go down.
Finally: The Edmonton Oilers have lost Ryan Whitney for the season with an ankle injury. But the last place squads loss has been the world's gain as @ryanwhitney6 has officially surpassed @BizNasty2point0 as the most amusing hockey player to follow on twitter.
NATO was set up as a defense pact by Western Nations during the Cold War in order to coordinate and provide symmetry for the defense strategies of Western Europe and the United States. Its mission was very clear: to keep the West safe despite its disadvantage in conventional forces by leveraging its members advanced weapon systems in a unified manner. Now the Cold War is over two decades gone, and the once elite status of NATO membership has given way to a sprawling bureaucratic nightmare of cross purposed nations. It is a relic that has outlasted its political usefullness and is only strategically valuable for the command stucture it gives its member nations in joint military operations. If the combat in Libya has proven one thing, its that NATO has become unruly and redundant and needs to be consigned to the dustbin of history next to the Warsaw Pact.
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