Hockey is Back

Hockey is back as pre-season and training camp comes to end tonight.  So, October begins the 2009-2010 NHL season.  Looking forward to seeing if the Pittsburgh Penguins can defend the Cup from all challenges this season.  The action starts tomorrow on Versus with some keys games, Washington and Boston, and San Jose and Colorado.  Joe Sakic’s 19 jersey is officially retired in Denver tomorrow night.

And in Europe, Detroit and St Louis and Chicago and Florida are starting their season with double header games on Friday and Saturday.  Should be great action.
I look forward to watching HNIC on NHL Network (US), but I have heard rumors that the network may reduce the number of games.  From Yahoo! NHL Sports Blog, The two line pass posts in What We Learned:

Minus of the Weekend

This week the award goes to not a person, but a thing. Steve Lepore reported that the NHL Network would no longer air every Hockey Night in Canada of the season. What’s the matter, need to squeeze a few more replays out of that 2009 Stanley Cup Final?

We’ll almost never get the late game, and we won’t get Coaches Corner and the Hotstove ever week. Granted, we’ll get a couple extra games a week instead, but this is still a terrible decision that, like all decisions made by the NHL, will only serve to upset hockey fans. It’s not like they couldn’t do both.

Good work as always, National Hockey League.

I will be disappointed if this true, but the network website appears to have HNIC games scheduled for most Saturday in October and November.  So, we’ll see what the future holds.

2009 NHL Awards Winners, All-NHL and All-Rookie Teams

Last night, the NHL held their Award Show last night for the first time from Las Vegas.  Details on all the awards can be found on NHL.com here.  Here are the winners of most coveted trophies in sports:

Stanley Cup
Pittsburgh Penguins

I had picked the Red Wings.  Congratulations to the Penguins.

Prince of Wales Trophy
Pittsburgh Penguins

Campbell Trophy
Detroit Red Wings

President Trophy (League best club)
San Jose Sharks

Art Ross Trophy (League scoring champion)
Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin

Maurice Richard Trophy (League’s top goal scorer)
Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin

William Jennings Trophy (Club surrendered the fewest goals)
Boston Bruins goaltenders Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez

Here are the award winners announced last night.  I include my comment if I had picked the incorrect winner.

Calder Trophy (top rookie)
Columbus Blue Jackets Steve Mason

I had picked Kris Versteeg to win the Calder, but Mason had a great season in goal.

Norris Trophy (top defenseman)
Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins

Lady Byng Trophy (sportsmanship)
Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings

I had picked Zach Parise to break Pavel’s streak.

Vezina Trophy (top goaltender)
Boston Bruins Tim Thomas

Selke Trophy (top defensive forward)
Detroit Red Wings Pavel Datsyuk

Hart Memorial Trophy (MVP)
Washington Capitals Alex Ovechkin

I had picked Malkin to win it this year, but Alex was deserving his second Hart.

Masterton Trophy (perseverance)
Steve Sullivan, Nashville Predators

I had picked Richard Zendik, but Steve deserved this award.

Adams Award (Coach of the Year)
Claude Julien, Boston Bruins

Pearson Award
Washington Capitals Alex Ovechkin

I did not do as well as last year in picking winners, but it was difficult to pick one since all these players are deserving.  So, it will not be surprised to see the All-NHL and All-Rookie teams:

2008-2009 NHL First All-Star Team

G – Tim Thomas, Boston Bruins
D – Mike Green, Washington Capitals
D – Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins
C – Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins
RW – Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames
LW – Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals

2008-2009 NHL Second All-Star Team

G – Steve Mason, Columbus Blue Jackets
D – Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings
D – Dan Boyle, San Jose Sharks
C – Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
RW – Marian Hossa, Detroit Red Wings
LW – Zach Parise, New Jersey Devils

2008-2009 NHL All Rookie Team

G – Steve Mason, Columbus Blue Jackets
D – Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings
D – Luke Schenn, Toronto Maple Leafs
F – Patrik Berglund, St. Louis Blues
F – Bobby Ryan, Anaheim Ducks
F – Kris Versteeg, Chicago Blackhawks

Did some did not make this list this year? The rookie team is what I expected, but I wonder if there were other who could make it on the second team.

Pittsburgh Penguins 2009 Stanley Cup Champions

Pittsburgh Penguins 2009 Stanley Cup Champions (AP)

Well, this year’s Pittsburgh Penguins did it.  They became to first team to win a Stanley Cup re-match since Edmonton Oilers did it 25 years ago.  Although Evgeni Malkin won the Conn Smythe Trophy, I believe that their role players were the key to helping their team win the final two games. of this series  The results of last night game are evident of this fact.  Maxime Talbot became the third player to score the team’s only two goals in a game 7 final.  These players set the tone in these final games. Although I thought the Detroit Red Wings would win because of experience and having home ice, the Penguins were able to win two 7 games series on the road.  Another great accomplishment for this Pens team.

As for the series, there were some interesting facts.  If Pittsburgh were able to score 2 or more goals, they won.  Detroit was able to win if they score more than 3 or more goals.  This is might not be uncommon in other series during the during 1950s and 1960s, the common scores of each game.  Pittsburgh won 2 games each by score of 4-2 and 2-1. Two of Detroit wins were by a score of 3-1.  It shows that series was very good for the league.

I had heard on a local talk radio show that the game of hockey became very entertaining when watching in the high def format.  Although I do not have HD TV, I watched the first peroid using a converter box. I found that the over the air digital signal was much clear than on the cable network. So, I would welcome your your comments on this fact.

Of course, this means I finished with an 8-7 record in picking the winners of this Stanley Cup tournament. Yet, I can be confident that I knew that this series would go seven games.  Oh well, there is next year.  

But wait, next Thursday is the NHL Awards Show from Las Vegas.  Do not forget to watch it on Versus.

2009 Stanley Cup Finals Through Game 5

I have not had a chance to write on the Stanley Cup Finals, as I have been working on my current job search.  But, we are now five games into this series.  As I review the series to date, the home team has won every game.  Nothing strange about this fact.  But, in these first four games, it was odd to see the same score won by the same team in back to back games.  Detroit, with a great start to the series, winning Game 1 and 2, 3-1.  Pittsburgh, gaining momentum in the series at home, winning Game 3 and 4, 4-2. 

Yet another change in momentum happened last night.  This key shift was the return of Pavel Datsyuk.  He provided the Red Wings the spark need to gain control in this series.  Without this spark, I thought the Red Wings were sliding down the hill and losing control of the series.  They played better on special teams.  They were passing the puck much better.  They were working as a team.  In conclusion, Datsyuk play helped the Red Wings win convincingly 5-0. 

What about the Penguins?  They started very well and look to be able to win it.  But, after the first three goals, they seem to lose interest in winning.  The dumb penalties did help the Pens but rather helped the Red Wings get their power play going again.  This is not good for them.  The Pens will need to learn the lessons again to even the series.

So how will the Penguins respond on Tuesday?  It is still looking to go seven games as I expected, but could last night play lead the Red Wings to reclaim the Cup again in 6 games this year?

2009 Stanley Cup Finals

Tonight is the beginning of the re-match of last year’s Stanley Cup between the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins.  One difference from last year’s final is Marian Hossa and Ty Conklin are Red Wing players instead of a Penguin players.   Will these players achieve their dream of raising the Cup with their new team?

In last round, I was 1-1 in my predictions.  I have an overall record of 8-6.  I believe that the Red Wings will win this series.  But, if the Penguins play like they did in the Eastern Conference Finals, they have a great chance of accomplishing what the Edmonton Oilers did 25 years ago, win the cup after losing it in the prior year.

I am expecting this series to go seven games.  So, that is why I am going with the Red Wings.  They have home ice.  With their defense healed and ready to go, I do believe that their veteran defensemen can stop the Pens top guns.  This true as long as they remain healthy.  I do foresee injuries playing a part in this series.  If the Red Wings lose players on the blue line for more than two games in row, the Pens have a good chance to win the series.  And a lot of Pens I know will be real happy to see the Cup back in Pittsburgh.

The NHL has announced the start time of Game 2, so the schedule has finalized as follows:

GAME 1: SAT. MAY 30, PIT @ DET, 8PM, NBC, CBC, RDS

GAME 2: SUN. MAY 31, PIT @ DET, 8PM, NBC, CBC, RDS

GAME 3: TUE JUN 2, DET @ PIT, 8PM, VS, CBC, RDS  

GAME 4: THU JUN 4, DET @ PIT, 8PM, VS, CBC, RDS

*GAME 5: SAT. JUN 6, PIT @ DET, 8PM, NBC, CBC, RDS

*GAME 6: TUE JUN 9, DET @ PIT, 8PM, NBC, CBC, RDS

*GAME 7: FRI. JUN 12, PIT @ DET, 8PM, NBC, CBC, RDS

Enjoy the series.

 

Detroit Red Wings Advance to 2009 Stanley Cup

2009 Campbell Trophy - Detroit Red Wings (NHL.com)

In great finish to the Original 6 series in the Western Conference, the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime, 2-1.  Read NHL.com story here.  Although I missed the first period, this game was exciting to watch.  There were some great saves and some great plays in Game 5.    After Dan Cleary scoring a redirect play near the mid point of the final period, I was impressed with how Cristobal Huet played.  He had great game and kept the Hawks in it.   One impressive play with 7 minutes left in the third period was the Patrick Kane’s backhander to tie the game.  I just wonder where he was during this series when he scored.  At this point, I was thinking overtime.  And this was confirmed later when Darren Helm helped kill a penalty by holding on the puck for 25 seconds.  It was hard work on his part.  Then later in the period, Huet’s spectular save with seconds left in the third period was the best save of the Stanley Cup.  So in overtime, it was difficult to see the Hawks lose the game in overtime the way they did. But if anyone deserved to score the game winning goal in OT, Helm was the best choice after his effort in the third period.  So, it is an official re-match in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Pittsburgh Penguins Advance to 2009 Stanley Cup

2009 Wales Trophy - Pittsburg Penguins (NHL.com)

Well, the Pittsburgh Penguins advanced to the Stanley Cup for the second consecutive year with a 4-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.  Story at NHL.com here. By sweeping the Hurricanes, the Penguins look to become the second team to win the Cup after losing the previous year.  There are a lot of comparison between this Penguin team and the Edmonton Oilers lead by Wayne Gretzy.  They impressed me in this series with their play that it will be difficult to pick against them.  I am re-considering my pick at this time.  It seems that this team should be the favorite to win it since the defending champions, Detroit Red Wings, have several experienced and key players on day to day injury list.  Whoever the Penguin team plays, it should be an interesting final.

Update 5/28/2009 17:08

Correction, on Versus last night I discovered that there were other Stanley Cup series prior to 1980s where two teams  had a re-match in consecutive years.  Since I started following hockey in 1980, it has been almost 25 years since the last the time this has happen.