24 Oct 2008 by Craig in NHL 2008
On Saturday October 25th, there will 15 games in 15 cities in 1 night. Everyone is involved and there will be some great match ups. The 15 games will match rivalries, struggling teams and teams off to fast starts. For all you fantasy hockey players out there, this night will go along way to showing who has the best teams in your league. I love it when the National Hockey League has this many games in one night, there is something for every fan to watch. This will be a night to watch, the hockey will exciting and entertaining. I am going to tee up a few games you should watch this night.
Toronto Maple Leafs vs Ottawa Senators
The first battle of an Ontario of this season, and both teams will be looking to have a good showing. The Maple Leafs have started off better then some expected and they would like nothing more then to beat the Sens on Hockey Night in Canada. Ottawa on the other hand is off to a tough start, and already seem to have a goalie controversy. Martin Gerber is off to a bad start and the Senators coaching staff is searching for ways to win. They have split up there big three, Heatley, Alfredsson and Spezza, trying to find the mix that will work. The Maple Leafs lineup has been different every night and you never know who will be in there. The Leafs don’t have near the talent of the Sens, but they work hard and play a good defensive system. These teams are kind of opposites Ottawa has no problems scoring while that is the Leafs biggest problem. Toskala is Toronto’s advantage in net, while Gerber just can’t figure it out in Ottawa. There might some new players and the teams might not be as good as they once were, but that doesn’t change the fact these franchises don’t like each other. If Ottawa gets decent goaltending and defense they should win, but you can’t count on that.
New Jersey Devils vs Philadelphia Flyers
Philly still hasn’t won a game this year and if they want to get that win on Saturday they will have to beat future Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur. Brodeur is off to an amazing start and has proved that he is still the best goalie in the National Hockey League. Philadelphia is deep up front, but struggle playing defense and haven’t gotten very good goaltending thus far. The Flyers have to win eventually, they are to good to be playing this bad. They will be hard pressed to beat the Devils trap. These two franchises are in the same division and that usually makes for a high energy game. Every time the Devils play you have to expect a low scoring game, they will trap from the drop of the puck to the last buzzer. It’s the only afternoon game and probably won’t be the most exciting game you have ever seen. If the Flyers want to win there defense is going to have to play way better then they have and they will have to take advantage of any opportunity the Devils give them. The Flyers can score, but the question is can they score on the Devils.
Detroit Red Wings vs Chicago Blackhawks
The Blackhawks are young and this game will be a measuring stick for them. In the past couple of years Chicago has played Detroit well and have had more success against them then any other franchise. Detroit is off to a fine start, but haven’t been as dominate to start the year as some predicted. Detroit is still the better team then Chicago, but the Hawks have some good young talent. The Blackhawks will be up for this game and look to continue there dominance of the Wings. Since Quenneville took over as the coach in Chicago, the team has played well and look like they might just be a playoff team this year. Both teams can score at will sometimes and to win this game the goalies will have to play well. If you like to watch stars this will be the game for you, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Hossa and Lidstrom vs. Kane, Toews, Havlat and Campbell. This should be a high energy, fast game that might be the most entertaining of the evening.
Pittsburgh Penguins vs New York Rangers
Two of the best teams in the East will do battle on Saturday night. Since Pittsburgh have started playing there super stars Malkin and Crosby together they have been on fire. New York has slowed a little bit, but still boast two very good scoring lines. The story early on has been the Rangers second line of Zherdev, Voros and Dubinsky who have played great hockey and produced for the blue shirts. Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist is off to a great start and the Penguins have a good goalie of there own in Marc Andre Fleury. This will be a premiere match up and I don’t think it will disappoint. Any time you get a chance to see great players and great teams go head to head it makes for great entertainment. There might even be some fights in this game, and I look for a tough physical affair. You can’t go wrong if this is the game you choose to watch, big stars, big game and on a big stage.
Other big games on this night will be Canucks vs Oilers, San Jose vs Tampa Bay and Anaheim vs Montreal. This should be a whole night of great National Hockey League action, and will make all hockey fans extremely happy. Whether you like offense, defense or physical play you will be able to find a game for you on Saturday October 25th. Enjoy the action and for all you fantasy players I hope you have a big night.
23 Oct 2008 by Craig in NHL News
The season is under way and some great story lines have developed. From teams over achieving, stars playing ordinary and a lot of teams with goalie problems. One thing I have noticed is that the next generation has truly taken over the league. We all know about Ovechkin and Crosby, but it seems like a lot of there peers are catching up and leading the league. There is a lot of players in the league who are under the age of 20, its up to you to figure out if that is a good thing or not. Wow some big market teams are off to bad starts and might be growing impatient. The National Hockey League seems strong, the play seems good and there seems to be a lot of fans enjoying the game.
Philadelphia Flyers – A lot of hockey people picked the Flyers to be one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, and guess what they have zero wins.. There seems to be a lot of problems here, but the most prevalent is the goals they are allowing. Don’t blame it all on the goalies, the defense looks lost out there. This team might need to trade one of there forwards to get a good defenseman. I don’t know if there is a trade to be made, but I would be looking if I was the GM in Philadelphia. Its obvious that something has to change, the defense is soft and Biron isn’t good enough to over come these time of defensive problems. The Flyers don’t tend to be a patient franchise and if this continues they will make deals that they think will improve there club. I am not ready to give up on this team, its only six games and they are to talented.
The Anaheim Ducks have only scored 16 goals in 7 games, they will not win a lot of games in the West averaging just over two goals a game.
Back to Canada - I have heard a lot of talk this week about putting another team in Canada. I hope this is a relocation idea, not expansion, this league doesn’t need more teams. We need to face facts some southern teams are struggling and they could end all that by putting a team north of the border. A lot of the talk surrounds putting a team in southern Ontario and maybe even a second team in Toronto. Not a bad idea, I’m not sure whether another team right in Toronto will work, but there are a lot of fans and money in southern Ontario. Other possibilities have putting team back in Winnipeg or Quebec City or what about Halifax. First off I think if a team is going to move the likely candidate is Nashville, sorry Preds fans, but you have ownership problems and you just don’t have enough of a fanbase. Hockey people realize that it is easy money to put a team in Ontario and it will be harder and harder to keep the franchises away.
Jason Blake is going to be a healthy scratch from the Maple Leafs lineup when they take on Boston. This has to hurt for a guy who had 40 goals just 2 seasons ago. He has never produced in Toronto and it looks like he has fallen out of favor with the coaching staff.
Evgeni Malkin leads the league in points with 11 and Thomas Vanek leads with 7 goals. Big surprise Malkin leads the league in assists and Vanek looks like he might be that star Buffalo hoped he would be.
Goalie Problems – I am not surprised that some teams have some serious goaltending problems early in the year. I am not surprised about Martin Gerber in Ottawa, Jose Theodore in Washington or Peter Budaj in Colorado. If these teams want to compete this year, they will need to figure this out. Budaj and Gerber especially, how about making a trade, we all know Khabibulin is available. “The Bulin Wall” is off to a great start, and it might be time one of these teams make a move for him. Yes, he makes way to much money, but you have to do what you have to do if you want to win. All around goalies haven’t been very good guys like Turco, Osgood, Luongo and Bryzgalov are all not playing as we expect them to. It is early and there is no reason to panic for most team, but if I was an Ottawa or Colorado fan I might be a touch concerned about the future.
Martin Brodeur had his 98th career shutout. Brodeur is a future hall of famer and is getting close to the all time shutout and wins records. When it is all said and done Brodeur might be considered the best goalie of all time.
Sarah Palin will drop the puck at an NHL game again, this time in St. Louis. I am sure her and her supporters hope to get a better response then they did in Philly.
The Ottawa Senators continue to struggle at home and have started re arranging there lines. Spezza will try to play on the second line, while Fischer will play with Alfredsson and Heatley. This team is struggling and I think need to make a major shake up move, in my opinion trading Spezza might be something they should look into.
Don’t worry its not panic time yet for most teams, the season is still very young. Goaltending is a big issue all over the league, but that was predicted in the pre season. You cannot truly evaluate how a season is going until your team has played about 20 games, at that point you might see some teams scramble to make there clubs better. The NHL product has been great so far and I look forward to more great story lines as the year continues.
17 Oct 2008 by Craig in NHL 2008
The NHL season has just started, but we have a full schedule of games this weekend. Certain teams are off to bad starts and others are playing un-characteristically great. We will see a lot of rivalry games this weekend and it should be extremely fun to watch.
Edmonton Oilers vs Calgary Flames Home and Home
These teams historically don’t like each other and they will play a home and home series this weekend. If you watch these games you can expect a high emotion level, as if were a playoff game. The crowds will be into the games, and cheering as if the games were life or death. Both these teams are good and expect to make the playoffs this season, and both are fun to watch. Edmonton is young, fast and creative on offense and might be the most entertaining team in the league. Players like Hemsky, Horcoff, Cole, Gagner and Cogliano will lead the Oilers attack . Calgary plays a tough physical and solid all around hockey game. The pressure will be on there defense to stop the high flying Oilers. If Calgary wants to win these games Dion Phaneuf and Robyn Reghir will have to play like the all stars they are. Up front Calgary have some talent of there own, Jerome Iginla is one of the best players in the league and Todd Bertuzzi and Mike Cammalleri will help out. The problem for Calgary to this point of the season has been goalie Miikka Kiprusoff, who has looked horrible. Kiprusoff will have to play like he used to because Calgary doesn’t really have a useable back up. If Edmonton wants to win these games they will need to match the physical intensity of Calgary and get some secondary scoring. I am going to watch these games, they should be highly entertaining. Calgary vs Edmonton is the best rivalry in hockey and I would expect these two games to be filled with emotion. Look for two close games that are fast and physical. I don’t like to pick hockey games, but I would expect these games to be split.
San Jose Sharks vs Anaheim Ducks
Friday night, we will be treated to a match up of favorites in Western conference. These two teams are off to completely different starts, San Jose has looked great and Anaheim has looked brutal. The Ducks have looked bad everywhere goaltending, goal scoring, defense and special teams. The Ducks need to stay out of the penalty box, if they don’t they will continue to lose hockey games. Anaheim desperately needs there stars to show up, guys like Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Teemu Selanne need to be productive. San Jose is off to a 4 -0 start and have looked like the best in the West. Goalie Nabokov has been excellent and the team has been producing in front of him. Patrik Marleau looks like the coaching change has allowed him to play like the player of old and Joe Thornton is still a star. These two teams are very familiar with one another and would expect a good game on Friday night. San Jose is playing a lot better then Anaheim right now, but playing an old rival in San Jose might be the boost that the Ducks need. Ducks win, I just think they will be up for this game. Close game it might even come down to a shootout.
New York Rangers vs Detroit Red Wings
An all original six match up, that should be fun to watch. Both teams are highly talented and have huge expectations for this season. The Rangers are coming off there first loss of the season and the Red Wings are yet to get it going. The Rangers have leaned a lot on there second line for production, but will need there stars like Drury, Gomez and Naslund to play well to beat the Wings. The Red Wings are full of Stars like Hossa, Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Lidstrom, and it is hard to find any weaknesses. These teams don’t get a chance to play that often and the fans of the two franchises should be excited to see what happens. This could be a measuring stick game for both team and I expect a close battle. Two of the best teams in the league, you can’t go wrong if you choose to watch this game.
Boston Bruins vs Ottawa Senators
Northeast battle, both teams are off to a 1-1-1 start. I think these teams will fight it out all year and battle for playoff spots. Senators captain Alfredsson may miss this game and leave the Sens looking for some help. Boston is a deep team with guys like Bergeron, Ryder, Savard and Chara. Both teams have the same question marks, goaltending is the key to both teams. Neither team is overly comfortable with starting goalies and which ever goalie plays the best will lead there team to victory this weekend. In the Sens want to win Spezza and Heatley will have to play great games and put some points up on the power play. Look for a fast physical game between these two, before the years out the Senators and Bruins will hate each other. I will pick the Bruins to win, because I really don’t like Gerber as the goalie in Ottawa.
Should be a great weekend of hockey and there are even more games to check out. Toronto vs New York and Vancouver vs Buffalo on Friday. Saturday has some great match ups Colorado vs Dallas, Phoenix vs Montreal and Philadelphia vs San Jose. With a full schedule, this seems like the official start of the National Hockey League season. Original six match ups, home and home series and divisional rivalries rule this weekend. Watch as many games as you can, enjoy the action and cheer on your team.
03 Oct 2008 by Craig in NHL 2008
Columbus Blue Jackets - This organization feels that it is time they earn themselves a playoff spot. They went out and got some help for Rick Nash by adding R.J. Umberger and Kristian Huselius to play with him. There defense core is unproven, but they have a great goalie in Pascal Leclaire. I am not sure they are good enough to make the playoffs in the Western Conference this year, but for the first time they may have a chance to fight for a spot. The fans in Columbus deserve to have a good team for the first time.
Dallas Stars - This is an interesting team and I think they may be one of the best in the league. Dallas is very deep up front with players like Mike Modano, Brendan Morrow, Brad Richards and Mike Ribeiro. They added super pest Sean Avery and highly touted Swedish forward Fabian Brunnstrom. With great goaltending by Marty Turco and a solid defense led by Sergei Zubov, the Stars look prepared to take a run in the West. Dallas will be disappointed if they don’t win there division and at least make in to the conference final.
Detroit Red Wings – Defending champs and perennial favorites, the Red Wings seemed poised to have another great season. They added Marian Hossa to play on the top two lines and will team up with Datsyuk and Zetterberg to score a lot of goals. They have a great defense headlined by Nik Lidstrom and solid goaltending from Osgood. If this team stays healthy, its hard to say that aren’t the Cup favorites this year, anything less then the Stanley Cup will be a disappointment.
Edmonton Oilers - Goals, goals and more goals, Edmonton is an offensive power house this year. They are deep and young up front with players like Ales Hemsky, Eric Cole, Shawn Horcoff and Sam Gagner. They also have a solid defense, and goaltending. The key is Mathieu Garon in net, if he is good the Oilers should be a playoff team.
Florida Panthers – This team has been selling potential for years and soon they will have to live up to that potential. They lost there best player in Jokinen in the off season, but made a trade for Brian McCabe who should fit in nicely with Boumeester. They have solid goaltending and some good young forwards, but I still don’t see them as a playoff team.
Los Angeles Kings – Sorry Kings fans, but they are horrible again. They have some good pieces up front with Kopitar, Dustin Brown and Frolov. Still have a lack a defense and no goaltending, the Kings look like they will finish last in the West.
Minnesota Wild - Hard team to explain this year, they have been close a few times, but didn’t do much to improve there team. They are solid and play a good defensive game, but may not score enough goals. They still have dynamic forward Marian Gaborik for at least this year, but they might trade him if they are not fighting for a playoff spot. I don’t think they are a playoff team this year.
Montreal Canadiens - The Canadiens are good and I think East favorites this year, Strong forward lines with players like Kovalev, Tanguay, Lang and Higgins. The key to there success will be whether or not young goalie Carey Price can be as good as they think he is. If Price is good and the defense holds up, look for Montreal to have a great year. Anything less then an appearance in the East final will be a failure.
Nashville Predators – The Preds are having a lot of financial problems, and continue to have low player salaries. They are not as good as they were last year, but still have some good players in Arnott, Erat, Dumont and Hamhuis. They might be a surprise team this year and fight for a playoff spot.
New Jersey Devils - One of the most consistent franchises in the NHL, the Devils will be much of the same this year. As long as Brodeur is with this team, they will be contenders. They are not great, but they are good enough to compete in the East with players like Elias, Gionta and Rolston. Solid defense will be the way they win, the same old boring Devils team.
New York Islanders – Well not much to say here, they are not good. Not much to talk about they have very little talent and won’t compete in the Eastern Conference. They have a good goalie in Dipietro, but ultimately that won’t be enough.
New York Rangers – The Rangers expect to compete in the East this year. Led by great goaltending by Henrik Lundqvist and a solid group of forwards with Drury, Gomez and Naslund. Defense is the way they are going to win hockey games, they will play a solid team game. They need good years out of guys like Prucha and Zherdev to add secondary scoring and balance to the line up. Look for the Rangers to be near the top of the Eastern Conference and compete for the East title.
Ottawa Senators – The Sens are looking for a bounce back season. Last year they started off looking like one of the best teams in the league, but faded and lost out in the first round of the playoffs. They still have great forwards in Spezza, Heatley and Alfredsson and they will score enough goals. The defense is a question mark, but the real problem is in net with Martin Gerber. Ottawa needs Gerber to play better then he has in his entire career and the defense may not be good enough to cover up mistakes. The dynamic forwards will help the Sens compete, but they will have to battle for one of the final spots in the Eastern Conference.
30 Sep 2008 by Craig in National Hockey League
Part of a new annual event the NHL has sent four teams to start the NHL season off in Europe. It’s part of the leagues continued efforts to increase its market and make the NHL the globally excepted best hockey league in the world. The NHL is an international league and it makes sense that they would want to show off in Europe. Its yet to be determined whether or not these games have a positive effect on the game or not, but it all gets underway on Saturday October 4th.
Stockholm Sweden - The Pittsburgh Penguins and. Ottawa Senators, will play two regular season games in Sweden. The NHL has sent there poster boy Sydney Crosby across the pond to grow the game in new markets. The league has shown that they will use Crosby in special events and he will participate in high profile games for the second straight year, last year he played in the Winter Classic. Last years Winter Classic was a success for the league and they hope that this years European schedule will be much of the same. The Penguins are going to use this trip as a team building experience, they hope this trip will bring the team closer together. There are big expectations on Pittsburgh this season after they made the Cup final a year ago. The team has some new faces in the locker room this year and there hope is when they come back to North America the team will be one and ready to have a great year. Yes Crosby is in Sweden, but he probably isn’t going to be the fan favorite, Senators forward Daniel Alfredsson is a home town hero. Alfredsson will be met with great fan fair and the expectations of putting on a good show in his home country. Daniel will skate on the top line with Spezza and Heatley, and they will look to put on a show. Ottawa will be looking for a bounce back year and will need to get off to a good start in Europe. These teams will play two games one on Saturday night and the other on Sunday night and should be fun to watch.
Prague Czech Republic - In Prague the New York Rangers will play the Tampa Bay Lightning in two regular season games. Both these teams made big changes in the off season and are looking forward to having big seasons. The Rangers have two Czech players in Petr Prucha and Michal Rozisal, that will no doubt be the fan favorites. The Lightning have some of the NHL’s biggest stars in Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St Louis and 1st overall selection Steven Stamkos. Stamkos will play in his much anticipated NHL debut and will draw attention from both sides of the pond. Tampa Bay has a lot of new players and will be looking to build some chemistry and build towards what they hope is a much improved season. The Rangers are a big market team and the NHL will be looking to draw a lot of fans out to the games. Both these teams will be looking to get off to good starts, to prove that they are favorite teams in the Eastern Conference. The games will be Saturday and Sunday, the crowds should be rocking and hopefully the NHL gives them a good product.
Traveling to Europe has ups and downfalls for these four teams. The travel and time change can take a lot of the players and put a damper on early season expectations. On the other hand, you can use these trips as team building experiences and bring the teams closer together. The teams are going to end up being in Europe for almost two weeks this season, I would expect when they get home it will take a while to get readjusted. Last year Anaheim and Los Angeles played in London and both teams got off to rough starts when they got home. Hopefully all four of these teams will adapt well and there will only be positive impacts on there seasons.
The future in Europe for the NHL is yet to be determined, but it makes sense for the league to expand its European fan base. The NHL more then any other North American professional sports league has a lot of European talent. Stars like Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Marian Hossa and Henrik Lundqvist all are European, and could go along way to the NHL being a success in Europe. In my opinion I like that four teams are going to these countries to start the year, but that is enough. You don’t need to send anymore then that, go over to Europe for a couple weeks and show off the great product the league has. This is not a vacation for these teams, the games matter and it will be important for them to get off to good starts.
It has been said that maybe there will NHL franchises in Europe within the next 10 years. I’m not sure I agree with that, the travel would be tough on everyone and the time changes would make it hard on the schedule makers. In my opinion if there is a good European league I could see an opportunity for the NHL’s Stanley Cup Champions to play the European Champion in a series at the seasons end. I’m not sure that will ever happen, but it might be interesting. Whatever the NHL does, they need to capture the hockey market in Europe. Hockey is big in Sweden, Russia and the Czech Republic and the league has a lot of great stars from those countries. Who knows what the future holds, I hope the fans in Europe enjoy the NHL games this weekend and continue there love for hockey.
