CAROLINA HURRICANES

Transcription

CAROLINA HURRICANES

CAROLINA HURRICANES
NEWS CLIPPINGS • April 23, 2013
Canes’ Alexander Semin a little-known star
Published: April 22, 2013 Updated 8 hours ago
By Chip Alexander — [email protected]
RALEIGH — Having signed a five-year contract extension with
the Carolina Hurricanes, Alexander Semin will become one of
the best-known sports figures in the Triangle.
How well sports fans come to know Semin is another story.
The Russian winger rarely gives interviews. Even rarer are
appearances on camera. He speaks passable English but
appears uncomfortable with the media.
Some say Semin, 29, is wary of the media. Some say he’s a
shy, introverted person, although teammates describe him as a
friendly, easy going type.
“He’s a fun guy around us,” forward Jiri Tlusty said. “He
seemed like a quiet guy at first, but now he’s all over the place.
I think he enjoys his time with us. That’s great, and we’re
happy to be around him.”
“He’s actually pretty open. He won’t do it in the big group, but
he’ll come to me one-on-one. He’s been good that way.”
Staal, the Canes team captain, said he knew nothing of
Semin’s personality before the season began in January. In
seven years with the Washington Capitals, Semin played many
games against the Canes in the Southeast Division and scored
a lot of goals, but that was the extent of Staal’s knowledge of
him.
“I’ve since gotten to know him on a personal level as well as a
competitive level,” Staal said. “He’s a guy who has been a
good teammate to everybody. He’s a guy who has been ready
to work and ready to compete, in practice and games,
“For me, to be able to play with a guy with the work ethic he
has and then the skill level he has, it has been fun. It has made
my game better.”
Soon after signing the $35 million extension last month, Semin
took the team out to eat, picking up a sizable tab. A good time,
apparently, was had by all.
Staal, who centers the line, ranks among the NHL scoring
leaders with 49 points (18 goals, 31 assists). Tlusty, who has
played the left wing on the line, has a career-high 21 goals.
That’s all anecdotal. For now, that’s how the media – and, in
turn, hockey fans – get information about a player who has
been a point-per-game producer for the Canes in his first
season and played on the top line with Eric Staal and Tlusty.
A smart hockey player
Triangle sports fans are accustomed to having more
immediacy with their stars, whether it’s homegrown figures
such as Josh Hamilton and Webb Simpson or those who play
college sports. Staal is interviewed often. Fans see and hear a
lot from, say, the Canes’ Jeff Skinner.
There is no language barrier. They are willing interviewees. It’s
different with Semin, but that could change, Staal said.
“Well, he’s going to be here the next five years, so the fans can
continue to learn about him,” Staal said. “I’m sure his
personality as the time goes on will come out more and more. I
think he’ll continue to learn the language more and people will
get to know him and his personality.”
‘He’s actually pretty open’
Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford signed Semin to
the extension but says he does not speak to him often, leaving
that to Canes coach Kirk Muller and the staff. But Muller says
he has no problem communicating with the forward.
“I probably talk to him maybe more than any player on the
team,” Muller said. “It’s not long (but) he has no problem
coming to me, direct, whether he feels like he needs a day off
or has a question about the power play.
Semin has 12 goals and 31 assists – 43 points in 43 games –
and a plus-14 rating. For those wondering how the signing of
an extension might affect Semim, he had 30 points in 30
games before the March 25 signing, 13 points in 13 games
since it.
Muller said he would like to see Semin be more selfish – in a
good way. Don’t pass up good shots. Don’t look to make the
perfect pass. Shoot the puck.
“The thing with Alex – he’s not going to do everything 100
percent in alignment with your system because he thinks the
game in a special way,” Muller said. “He reads the play one
play ahead of a lot of people. He’s a smart hockey player.”
Tlusty sits next to Semin in the PNC Arena locker room,
learning a few more Russian words each week. All the better,
Tlusty said, to needle the Russian.
Tlusty said there was a power outage in PNC Arena last
season, and the players jokingly blamed it on Tuomo Ruutu
signing a contract extension.
“We were telling him the power would probably go off again,”
Tlusty said.
During games, the Staal line has been consistently good.
Against Tampa Bay on Sunday, Tlusty scored twice. Semin
had a goal and two assists and Staal two assists.
CAROLINA HURRICANES
In the heat of games, with the crowd roaring, it can be difficult
for players to talk to each other, even side by side on the
bench. And then to have a player who has trouble with English
...
“That’s what I love about playing with him. We kind of think on
the same level of what we’re doing on the ice.”
But that is not a problem with Semin, Staal said.
While the Canes likely will undergo offseason changes, there
should be one constant: The top line will stay together. The
chemistry with Semin will continue to grow, Staal said.
“He grasps everything you’re trying to tell him,” Staal said.
“When you play together you can read situations, read plays
and understand what each other’s kind of thinking.
“It’s going to be fun for the next while to be able to play
together and continue to develop a relationship off the ice and
on the ice,” Staal said.
Islanders' playoff chase continues vs. Hurricanes
Brian Compton - NHL.com Deputy Managing Editor
ISLANDERS (24-16-5) at HURRICANES (18-24-3)
TV: MGS PLUS 2, FS-CR
Last 10: New York 8-0-2; Carolina 2-7-1
Season series: This is the third of three meetings. The Carolina
Hurricanes are aiming for a sweep of the New York Islanders
after recording two victories over a 13-day span in February at
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Big story: The Isles are on the verge of clinching a spot in the
Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2007. New York,
which is 11-1-2 over its past 14 games, entered Monday’s
action in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, one point
ahead of the Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers.
Carolina, meanwhile, has struggled mightily down the stretch –
it won twice in a 19-game span -- and will looking to play
spoiler against the Islanders. This is the first of three games
remaining for the Hurricanes.
Team Scope:
Islanders: New York improved to 2-0-0 on its season-ending,
five-game road trip by earning a wild 5-4 shootout victory
against the Winnipeg Jets at the MTS Centre on Saturday. The
Isles opened the trip with a 5-3 win at Toronto last Thursday.
“There was a lot on the line tonight, and in the last week of the
season especially, every win is big,” said John Tavares, who
tallied the shootout winner Saturday. “With where both teams
were sitting in the standings, we knew what the game was
going to be like. We’re happy we were able to pull it out after
squandering a couple leads.”
Hurricanes: Carolina has provided itself an opportunity to win
back-to-back games for the first time in over a month. The
Hurricanes earned a 3-2 victory against the Tampa Bay
Lightning on Sunday at the Tampa Bay Times Forum behind
two goals from Jiri Tlusty and a goal and two assists by
Alexander Semin.
“We came out hard and that was the difference in the first
period,” Tlusty said. “We could have had a better third, but
sometimes you need saves like [Dan] Ellis made in the net
tonight. He was amazing. That what it is, you’re a team and
everyone has to do his job and Ellis did his job tonight.”
Who's hot: Isles winger Michael Grabner has three goals in the
past three games and Kyle Okposo has five assists in his past
five. Evgeni Nabokov is 10-1-2 with a 1.74 goals-against
average over his past 13 starts… With his two goals Sunday,
Tlusty extended his points streak to five games. He has four
goals and three assists over that span.
Injury report: Goalie Cam Ward (knee), defenseman Joni
Pitkanen (heel) and forwards Tim Brent (lower body) and
Drayson Bowman (upper body) are out.
CAROLINA HURRICANES
DeCock: ‘Southleast’ will be missed here, if nowhere else
By Luke DeCock - staff columnist
[email protected]
Posted: Saturday, Apr. 20, 2013
Across the hockey world, not many will mourn the demise of
the Southeast Division, a collection of ne’er-do-well teams in
tenuous markets that played less of a role in the NHL’s
postseason over the 13 years of its existence than any other
division, yet somehow still managed to win a pair of Stanley
Cups.
The Carolina Hurricanes, who accounted for one of those two
championships, will miss it. They will miss it deeply.
Sunday night’s game at the Tampa Bay Lightning represents
the end of an era for the Hurricanes, who have played in the
Southeast for their entire tenure in North Carolina but will move
to a powerful new eight-team division next year. It’s their final
“Southeast Showdown,” as the teams once tried to brand their
games, without gaining any traction.
Were it not for the training wheels provided by the also-rans of
the oft-maligned “Southleast,” with a schedule heavily loaded
with division opponents that annually ranked among the worst
in the NHL, the Hurricanes would have an even worse record
of postseason qualification. As it is, they have missed the
playoffs in six of the past seven seasons and made it in only
five of their 15 seasons here.
You can toss out 2000-01, when even against that weak
schedule the Hurricanes wouldn’t have had enough points to
qualify under the new groupings, and that playoff series
against the New Jersey Devils was absolutely pivotal to the
franchise’s future.
That’s the future the Hurricanes face in their new division. The
presence of teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia
Flyers and New York Rangers will be a convenient boon for
ticket sales on the eve of a price hike (if not the Hurricanes’
home-ice advantage at PNC Arena), but it could be
devastating to the team’s postseason prospects.
the teams in the league qualify for the playoffs. (Only eight
even managed to get out of the first round.) The other five
divisions? 43, 40, 39, 34 and 31.
As a group, the Southeast Division has a 19-19 playoff series
record since 1999. To put that in some perspective, the Detroit
Red Wings alone have won 18 playoff series over the same
span, the Devils 17.
It’s the only division that has never sent more than two teams
to the playoffs. The Atlantic Division, which will join the
Hurricanes’ new division in its entirety, has never sent fewer
than three.
Things only get tougher off the ice.
During the past four years, the Washington Capitals were far
and away the spending leader in the Southeast, but the
Hurricanes, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers and
Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets have all been clustered within
$3.5 million per season of each other in terms of payroll.
In the new division, the Hurricanes would rank seventh out of
eight teams in average annual spending, ahead of only the
New York Islanders – a team that has padded contracts with
extra bonuses just to get to the cap floor – and behind some of
the NHL’s biggest spenders. It’s an expensive new
neighborhood, and the Hurricanes have never flashed that kind
of cash.
There were plenty of negatives about the Southeast for the
Hurricanes – surprisingly harsh travel to all those games in
Florida, not to mention milquetoast opponents that failed to
captivate new fans – but those negatives may look pretty
positive in hindsight.
So long, Southleast. You won’t be missed by many, but you’ll
be missed very badly by a few.
The Southeast Division sent a mere 21 teams to the
postseason in 13 years under a format where more than half
Canes uninspired against Flyers
By Chip Alexander
[email protected]
Posted: Saturday, Apr. 20, 2013
RALEIGH Next season, the Carolina Hurricanes and
Philadelphia Flyers will be divisional rivals under the NHL’s
new conference alignment.
Who knows, an April game may mean something then.
On Saturday, the Canes and Flyers were two teams playing in
the final throes of disappointing seasons. Neither will be a part
of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
CAROLINA HURRICANES
The Flyers, for their part, put in a strong effort. Wayne
Simmonds notched his first career hat trick and added an
assist off a blocked shot in a 5-3 victory.
“That’s kind of what we need, that energy and those kind of
shifts from our fourth line and our third line,” Westgarth said.
“Physical play, cause havoc.”
The Hurricanes picked up goals from Jeff Skinner in the first
period, defenseman Justin Faulk in the second and Eric Staal
in the third. But the Canes (17-24-3) never led and were
outshot 38-29, beaten in puck battles and undone by defensive
mistakes.
Skinner’s goal in the first came when defenseman Tim
Gleason pressured the Flyers’ Daniel Briere along the boards.
Briere’s attempted pass wound up near Skinner, who took a
golf-swing whack at the puck in the circle to beat Mason and
tie the score 1-1.
“I think it was the first game in a long time that I was
disappointed with the effort and commitment from our guys,”
Canes coach Kirk Muller said. “We’ve been praising them for a
while and they’ve been going hard and playing hard and not
getting the results. But tonight I was disappointed some of the
guys did not compete at the level we want them to.”
“I just kind of closed my eyes and swung at it,” Skinner said.
Simmonds scored twice in the second period as the Flyers
took a 3-2 lead. Early in the third, his shortside shot squeezed
past Canes goalie Justin Peters at the post for his third goal,
sending a few hats onto the ice from the many Flyers fans in
the crowd.
Staal pulled the Canes within 4-3 with his 18th goal of the
season, off the rebound of a Jiri Tlusty shot. A few minutes
later, the Canes’ Tuomo Ruutu got off a shot that hit the post.
Simmonds then blocked a shot by Canes defenseman MarcAndre Bergeron and the puck bounced out to Matt Read for a
breakaway. Read’s goal pushed the score to 5-3.
“The hockey gods don’t like us a lot right now,” Canes forward
Kevin Westgarth said. “But you’ve got to work through that. It’s
hockey.”
Aggressive forechecking by Westgarth and the Canes’ fourth
line resulted in Faulk’s goal. Westgarth made a nice play at the
blue line to keep the puck in the zone, forward Nicolas
Blanchard went to the front of the net to screen Flyers goalie
Steve Mason and Faulk unloaded his shot from the point to tie
the score 2-2.
Faulk, playing his 100th career game at age 21, earned his fifth
goal of the season. Westgarth’s assist was his first point of the
season.
Simmonds gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead almost two minutes into
the second, catching the Canes in a poor line change. Read
picked up the assist.
Read had a goal and two assists for the Flyers (20-22-3), who
set up numerous odd-man rushes. Simmonds and Read both
were plus-4 for the game.
“I think we gave them too many opportunities,” Skinner said.
“They’re a skilled team. They’re going to score on those.”
Simmonds’ second goal came as he jumped off the bench on a
line change, skated in unchecked and ripped a shot from the
right circle.
Skinner has scored three goals in his past four games, but was
held out of the Winnipeg game Thursday after taking a big hit
from Ottawa defenseman Jared Cowen on Tuesday.
The Flyers controlled the first 10 minutes of the game,
peppering Peters with shots. Jakub Voracek nearly scored 14
seconds into the game, but the puck stopped inches short of
the goal line.
Voracek then scored his 20th of the year seven minutes into
the game after taking a stretch pass from Claude Giroux for a
breakaway. Peters faced 19 shots in the first period.
The Hurricanes left after the game for a road contest Sunday
against Tampa Bay. That will be Carolina’s final Southeast
Division game.
“We want to play the right way,” Skinner said. “We’ve got a lot
of character guys and want to play for each other.”
Hurricanes outhustled in 5-3 loss to Flyers
April 21, 2013
By: Peter Koutroumpis
The Carolina Hurricanes didn’t give as much as the visiting
Philadelphia Flyers did as they lost 5-3 at PNC Arena in
Raleigh, N.C. on Saturday.
Defenseman Justin Faulk scored his fifth goal of the season,
tallying his sixth point in four consecutive games, while playing
his 100th NHL game as a Hurricane.
Forwards Jeff Skinner and Eric Staal both scored goals and
even the team’s fourth line of Kevin Westgarth, Nicolas
CAROLINA HURRICANES
Blanchard, and Tim Wallace, who averaged between and four
and seven minutes of playing time, made contributions to try to
keep Carolina close to the Flyers, but Hurricanes head coach
Kirk Muller was disappointed in his team’s overall effort against
Philadelphia.
"That’s what we’re lookin’ for from that group,” Muller said of
the fourth line.
“They didn’t play a lot of minutes tonight because we got trailin’
most of the game. It’s ironic that their energy was great, but I
think tonight was the first game in a long time that I was
disappointed with the effort and commitment with our guys.
We’ve been praisin’ ‘em for a while and they’ve been goin’
hard and playin’ hard for a while and not getting’ the results;
but tonight was probably the first time I was disappointed with
some of the guys with not competing at the level that we want
to.”
Battle at the bottom
The fate of the Hurricanes was sealed on Thursday, following a
4-3 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets at MTS Centre in
Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The team was mathematically eliminated from contending in
the NHL playoffs for the fourth consecutive season and the
longest stretch since the franchise has played in North
Carolina.
Winning the Stanley Cup, the team’s first and only
championship title, in between a five-year span between the
2002-2003 and 2007-2008 seasons in which they also missed
the playoffs four times, has been the only tonic keeping
everyone in the Triangle hopeful that this team could repeat
that feat sometime soon.
You would have thought that no one would have cared to
watch this game between these non-contenders, but a near
capacity crowd of 18,112 in attendance cheered throughout the
game as both teams skated from end to end to determine who
would come out the victor.
Flying fast
Philadelphia had its playoff fate decided on Friday and was
also eliminated from playoff contention, but losing didn’t look
like an option for the Flyers as they literally came out flying
against the Hurricanes after the opening puck drop.
It took forward Jakub Voracek only 14 seconds to singlehandedly pick up the puck along the boards and almost beat
Hurricanes goaltender Justin Peters to put the Flyers ahead.
Before Peters could catch his breath, Philadelphia had fired
eight shots at him during the first five minutes of play, but he
managed to keep the game at a scoreless tie.
The Hurricanes quickly got Flyers netminder Steve Mason into
the game as he was forced to stop four shots quickly shortly
afterwards.
As Carolina worked to get another shot on Mason, Jordan
Staal mishandled the puck as it caromed off the boards and
Philadelphia's Claude Giroux picked it up near his blue line.
Giroux then made a tape-to-tape pass to a streaking Voracek
along the right boards who then skated in and beat Peters to
give the Flyers a 1-0 lead at the seven-minute mark.
Carolina continued to roll different lines to keep fresh legs on
the ice, but a hooking penalty to Riley Nash gave the Flyers a
power play and they continued to keep Peters busy as he did a
formidable job in keeping the puck out of the net at the time.
After 11 minutes of play, Philadelphia had outshot the
Hurricanes 13-4.
Skinner goes three-wood
On an ensuing puck possession, Carolina's forechecking work
finally paid off as Jordan Staal made a hard check on Flyers
defenseman Oliver Lauridsen who lost control of the puck
along the boards where Hurricanes defenseman Tim Gleason
was able to chip it towards Jeff Skinner in the high slot.
While covered, Skinner made a long swipe at the puck that
turned out to get enough of his blade behind it from the top of
the right circle to beat Mason high to his glove hand with 6:42
remaining in the period.
Both teams skated to a 1-1 tie for the remainder of the period
with the Flyers outshooting the Hurricanes by an 18-8 margin.
Scoring burst
The second period showed some early promise for the
Hurricanes as they worked to take the lead, but it was the
Flyers who claimed possession of it first.
An errant drop pass from the Hurricanes' Tuomo Ruutu was
picked up by the Flyers’ Matt Read as Ruutu’s teammates had
deserted him and were making a line change which then
allowed Read to carry the puck deep into the Carolina zone.
From Peters' right side, Read’s pass found a streaking Wayne
Simmonds in the slot who got a stick on the puck to redirect it
into the net while Hurricanes defenseman Marc-Andre
Bergeron looked on.
Both Simmonds (3g, 1a) and Read (1g, 2a) carried the Flyers
offense for the rest of the game while the Hurricanes had to
work hard on every shift just to keep up.
Carolina tied it up five minutes later as a result of the
forechecking efforts of Westgarth, Blanchard, and Wallace.
Westgarth gloved a flying puck down and found Wallace along
the right boards, and his pass to Faulk set up the
defenseman's lone goal of the game as the puck found its way
past Mason while Blanchard and Westgarth screened him in
front.
With the game tied 2-2, Hurricanes fans were barely finished
high-fiving one another when Simmonds put the Flyers ahead
3-2, just over a minute later with 11:47 remaining in the period.
By the time the second intermission arrived, Peters had turned
away another 12 shots while Mason blocked eight in his end.
Final touches
CAROLINA HURRICANES
As the puck barely got wet from the faceoff to begin the third
period, Simmonds took a shot from just in front of the goal line
that snuck through Peters’ pads and extended Philadelphia’s
lead back to two goals, leading 4-2 at the 48-second mark.
Playing a somewhat pedestrian game, the line of Jiri Tlusty,
Eric Staal and Alexander Semin finally connected to bring
Carolina to within one goal again just under two minutes later.
Semin’s feather pass to Tlusty resulted in a low shot that
Mason stopped but provided Staal a big rebound in the slot
which he didn’t hesitate to stick into the back of the net.
With the Hurricanes trailing by a goal again, the Flyers
continued to hover around the Hurricanes net throughout the
period while continuing to pepper shots on Peters who made
33 saves in the game.
Read scored the Flyers final goal at 7:03 with Simmonds
tallying the assist to complete a night during which he finished
with his first career hat-trick and four-point night.
Trailing by two goals, Carolina was provided with a power play
opportunity late in the game as Brayden Schenn’s hooking
penalty allowed the Hurricanes to pull Peters in an attempt to
get closer with just over two minutes to play.
However, the man-advantage went unrewarded and the Flyers
completed the win by scoring another goal as the final horn
sounded.
The goal was eventually disallowed as the puck did not cross
the goal line in time, but that didn’t matter as the Hurricanes
had lost at home again.
Closing comments
It seemed that Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette, who had
coached the Hurricanes when they won the Cup in 2006, was
determined to not allow his team to come out on the losing end
against Carolina on this night.
His team was battling for respect as well and he praised his
team for its effort in earning a road win.
“I think it was good for confidence,” Laviolette said.
“We have to finish the season – we need to play every game
and make it count – make it matter. The guys did that tonight.
They put a lot of pucks on the net and they scored a lot of
goals tonight.”
In the Hurricanes dressing room, which was bustling with
activity as the team prepared to depart for its game on Sunday
against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Westgarth thought his line’s
work would lead to more positive results against the Flyers.
“That’s kind of what we need is that energy and those types of
shifts,” Westgarth said.
“Third and fourth line really,” he continued.
“Just hem them in, some physical play going and get those
pucks, and cause some havoc. We haven’t been doin’ that well
enough obviously. Tonight we lost. Obviously, we’re still not
doin’ it well enough. The hockey gods don’t like us a lot right
now.”
New York at Carolina
Time: 07:00 P.M. EST Venue: PNC Arena
It's been quite some time since the New York Islanders were
battling for playoff position while facing non-contenders down
the stretch, rather than it being the other way around.
Now they're hoping to reverse their fortunes against the
Carolina Hurricanes.
The Islanders look to win their fourth straight while salvaging
the final meeting of the season with host Carolina, which is
simply hoping to close its season on a positive note.
"It's April. There's a lot on the line, and in the last week of the
season especially, every win is big," Tavares said. "I think we
knew it would have a playoff atmosphere. You could sense it in
the locker room before the game and during the game."
New York hasn't qualified for the postseason since 2006-07
and hasn't won a playoff series 1992-93. Rather than trying to
be spoilers down the stretch like in recent seasons, it has to
contend with others playing that role this year.
New York has gone 11-1-2 over its last 14 games to bolster its
postseason chances. It is two points behind Toronto for the
fifth seed in the Eastern Conference while holding a one-point
edge on the eighth-place Rangers.
The Islanders, who beat Toronto 5-3 on Thursday to open a
season-ending five-game trip, follows this contest with
matchups against Philadelphia on Thursday and Buffalo on
Friday - two other teams that won't be playing in the
postseason.
The Islanders (24-16-5) won their third straight when John
Tavares scored the final shootout goal for a 5-4 road victory
over Winnipeg on Saturday.
Carolina (18-24-3) was eliminated largely because it dropped
17 of 19 before earning a 3-2 road win over Tampa Bay on
Sunday. Jiri Tlusty scored twice, Alexander Semin had a goal
CAROLINA HURRICANES
and two assists and Eric Staal added two assists, while Dan
Ellis made 35 saves.
"We are not pushing for playoff spots but we are pushing to
honor our fans, honor the crest on our jersey," Ellis said.
Coach Kirk Muller hasn't specified if Ellis or Justin Peters will
get the start Tuesday for the Hurricanes, who haven't won
back-to-back games since beating New Jersey and
Washington on March 9 and 12.
"He stepped up and had a good, strong game," Muller said of
Ellis, who was 0-6-1 with a 3.74 goals-against average over his
previous eight appearances. "That's what you need from him."
A couple bright spots in an otherwise disappointing season for
the Hurricanes were a pair of victories over the Islanders, who
had won the previous four matchups. Tlusty, who has a teambest and career-high 21 goals, scored twice and added two
assists in 6-4 win Feb. 11, then Jordan Staal had a goal and an
assist in a 4-2 victory Feb. 24.
Despite the defeats, Tavares and Matt Moulson continued their
torrid stretches against Carolina.
Tavares has nine goals and eight assists during a seven-game
point streak versus the Hurricanes, and he's scored in each of
his last five against them. Moulson has four goals and five
assists during a four-game point streak in the series.
Evgeni Nabokov, 10-1-2 with a 1.74 GAA over his last 13
starts, likely will be in net Tuesday. He's 8-1-1 with a 2.04 GAA
in 11 career starts against the Hurricanes.
Heika: Masterton trophy nominee Ray Whitney not wasting time looking back on career
By MIKE HEIKA, Staff Writer
Published: 22 April 2013 11:55 PM
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Ray Whitney’s NHL career started in San
Jose more than 20 years ago when Whitney was a rookie
trying to break in with the expansion Sharks.
So, with the Stars visiting San Jose on Tuesday, it seems a
perfect time to look back and explore the 40-year-old’s circle of
life, right?
Well, perfect if you’re a sports writer looking for a story, maybe.
Not so perfect if you’re a highly tuned athlete trying to stay on
top of your game.
So, Ray, do you ever take the time to look back at the arc of
your career?
“Nope.”
That is Ray Whitney. Ask him about what’s wrong with the
power play or how to get both strength and flexibility in core
training, and he’ll talk for hours. Ask him about himself, and
you might be in for a quick conversation.
It’s part of what makes Whitney the Stars’ nominee for the
2012-13 Masterton Memorial Trophy, given to the NHL player
who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance,
sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
He doesn’t talk about how he got here, he simply plays. He
doesn’t ponder the past, he looks to the future.
“He’s a very direct person and a very direct player,” Stars
coach Glen Gulutzan said. “You know what you get with the
Wizard, he lays it out there in a very straightforward manner.”
He is “old school,” a term that makes him both smile and
cringe. He was a stick boy on the old Edmonton Oilers of the
1980s, and came up in the NHL at a time when men were
men. He views team building and leadership the way his
forefathers did. He’s not a fan of headphones in the locker
room or displays of individuality that eat away at the core of the
team.
And yet, he wouldn’t be here today if he didn’t embrace at least
a little of the “new school.” He works out and takes cares of
himself the way the kids do. He jumps fully into the technology
and research of physical fitness, diet and training. In fact, he
does it much more at 40 than he ever did at 20.
“You learn to modify how you eat, how you enjoy yourself off
the ice and how you train,” Whitney said. “I used to take the
whole summer off and get in shape at training camp. Now I
take three or four days off in the summer, and I start training
again. I have a higher price to pay now.”
The irony of his training is he’s actually a better scorer now
than he was at 20. He had a couple of high-flying seasons in
the IHL and a couple of solid seasons with the Sharks (41
points in 60 games in 1995-96), but then San Jose let him
leave via free agency.
He signed with the hometown Oilers and lasted just nine
games there before he was placed on waivers. Florida picked
him up, and he reestablished himself as a goal-scorer there,
getting seasons of 32, 26 and 29 goals with the Panthers. He
bounced around to Columbus and Detroit before finally settling
in with Carolina.
CAROLINA HURRICANES
There, Whitney became a different level of player. He helped
Carolina win the Stanley Cup in 2006. He tallied 83 points in
2006-07. But after a 58-point season at age 37 in 2009-10, the
Hurricanes decided not to re-sign him.
Whitney signed with Phoenix for two seasons and gave the
Coyotes 77 points in 2011-12, helping them to the Western
Conference finals. They too felt that Whitney’s age was too
risky, so they passed on him as a free agent.
But Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk decided to roll the dice, giving
the 40-year-old a two-year deal.
Whitney has rewarded the Stars with 27 points in 29 games
and looks like he has plenty of gas left in the tank.
“Right now, my body is allowing me to play at the level I want
to play,” he said. “If that continues to happen, I’ll continue to
play.”
And then we can look back on the career?
“Maybe,” Whitney said.
Maybe it is.
Early 2013-14 forward rankings
Updated: April 22, 2013, 3:26 PM ET
By Sean Allen | ESPN.com
There isn't much more we can do at this point in the season to
help you, other than wish you the best. Weekly leagues will
have set their final lineup for the season and even daily
leagues face a diminishing return on what you can do as a lastminute scramble.
That said, there are some recommendations for this final week
of the season at the bottom of this article. The majority,
however, is to start getting you prepped for next year. That's
right. We present our initial 2013-14 fantasy forward rankings.
Obviously there are a lot of question that get asked and
answered between now and your fantasy draft next season,
but that's why these rankings will get updates as we progress
through the NHL playoffs, entry draft and free-agent period.
In the meantime, this list should be a starting point for your
plans for next season or, in keeper leagues, some indication of
which direction players might be headed.
Top of the list
1. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins: There is no denying
that Crosby belongs here. There was such a separation
between him and the rest of the league that despite missing
the final few weeks of the season he will finish as No. 2 on the
ESPN Player Rater among forwards. The jaw injury won't be a
major concern going forward, unless you are Crosby's dentist.
It's difficult to hold the injury against Crosby because it was
such a freak accident, but he is becoming just a little too wellknown for being out of the lineup. It's something to watch, but
shouldn't be any reason to discount him next year.
2. Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning: Keeping
Stamkos as No. 2 was not a clear-cut choice. This shortened
NHL campaign wasn't his best, but it's impossible to argue with
his track record as an elite goal scorer. Stamkos will take
another run at 60 goals next season and the Lightning will
have some secondary scoring that should be more adjusted to
the NHL to help. Additional threats on the team will go a long
way to taking pressure of Stamkos and Martin St. Louis.
3. Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins: If Malkin and Crosby
were ever healthy at the same time, look out! Malkin had his
own fair share of ailments this season that kept him out of
more games than fantasy owners want to see from a top draft
choice. That said, the results are there when Malkin is on the
ice. Even if you count on him to miss 10 games next season,
he is still the third choice to make in fantasy drafts. The
Penguins may even try to retain some of the services they
collected at the trade deadline and leave both Crosby and
Malkin a better winger selection than they are used to.
4. Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals: It was later to arrive
than we expected, but the bounce-back from Ovechkin was
undeniable this season. Since March 17, Ovechkin has scored
in all but three of 18 games played, collecting 29 points during
that span. His 20 goals during that time vaulted him into the
league lead, where -- barring a complete breakdown -- he will
finish the season with the Rocket Richard Trophy. Ovechkin is
being deployed as he should be by coach Adam Oates, so
expect the success to continue as long as Oates is calling the
shots.
5. John Tavares, New York Islanders: Tavares really found
his goal-scoring rhythm this season and in just 45 games (with
three more to play) is only five goals back of his career-high of
31 goals, set during an 82-game campaign last season. His
adaptability means only good things to come as the Isles
continue to get better with the graduation of prospects. All he
needs is one dynamic linemate to go from a point-per-game
player to a 100-point guy.
6. Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks: The most impressive
part of Kane's season is that he largely performed without
superstar assistance. In other words, Jonathan Toews and
Marian Hossa rarely played on a line with Kane, while Patrick
CAROLINA HURRICANES
Sharp was injured for a large chunk of the season. With a
healthy Sharp by his side next season, Kane could challenge
for a spot even higher up this list.
7. Eric Staal, Carolina Hurricanes: Give Staal an elite-level
winger to play with and see what happens? Alexander Semin
helped remind us all what a dominant player Staal can be on
the ice. It probably didn't hurt to have his brother taking some
pressure off on the second line, either. The Hurricanes have
some strong offensive pieces in the system, notably
defenseman Ryan Murphy, who could further elevate the
attack next season.
8. Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks: If recent games are
any indication, the Sedin brothers miss Ryan Kesler most of
all. It makes sense that with Kesler leading a second line for
the Canucks, that opponents can't simply focus all their
attention on Daniel and Henrik Sedin. Kesler is all mended and
the Canucks will go into next season with two lines instead of
just one. That should make all the difference in the world for
the Sedins.
9. Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings: There is a reason
Kopitar continues to get top-10 billing in fantasy circles, despite
the fact that his raw numbers are more that of a top-25 player.
He is amazing to watch on the ice. When Kopitar decides to do
something, he does it. So even though we are seven years into
this 25-year-old's career, it still feels like there is untapped
potential for fantasy owners.
he has disappeared. Did he rush back from his foot injury and
lose a step? Since returning to the lineup following the early
injury, Hartnell has nine points in 26 games. Compare that to
the elite stat-stuffer that usually fills all categories for fantasy
owners. Hartnell was tough to rank because it seems to be an
either/or case with Hartnell and Wayne Simmonds. They are
similar players and there is likely only room for one toughnosed fantasy contributor at the top of the Flyers lineup.
Bouncing back?
33. Jason Spezza, Ottawa Senators: One thing is certain:
The Sens team that Spezza returns to will have some
experienced young players with huge upside. If Spezza can
connect with some of the young talent like Kyle Turris, Cory
Conacher, Mika Zibanejad and/or Jakob Silfverberg, next
season should see the Sens playmaker return to the forefront
of fantasy production.
43. Thomas Vanek, Buffalo Sabres: Was it truly stamina or
conditioning issues for Vanek? Or did he have an underlying
injury for most of the season? He was a top-10 (maybe topthree) player out of the gate this season, but Vanek dropped
off sharply after a couple of weeks of elite scoring. Can he find
a pace that works or will Vanek continue to be a boom bust
acquisition? There are a lot of questions surrounding him and
the Sabres for next season.
10. Corey Perry, Anaheim Ducks: There were a lot of
possible choices to include in the top 10 for next season, but
Perry beats them all on track record and totality of value. If
Perry isn't scoring, he is getting penalty minutes. If he isn't
getting penalty minutes or scoring, he's taking a ton of shots or
assisting goals. Perry contributes to all the fantasy categories
like few elite players can. Now that he and Ryan Getzlaf are
locked up, the Ducks just have to develop some of their
intriguing prospects to joint them.
61. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Edmonton Oilers: A textbook
example of why the meaningless term "sophomore slump" still
exists. While there might not be actual evidence of a secondyear slump trend, RNH will be a player folks point to when
making the argument (actually, all three Calder finalists from
last season -- RNH, Adam Henrique and Gabriel Landeskog -don't help with the fallacy). But considering the supporting cast,
Nugent-Hopkins' fall was the most devastating to fantasy
owners. The Oilers still boast a ton of young talent and NugentHopkins is having his shoulder surgically repaired, so there is
hope for next season.
Two steps forward
Looking for work
26. Jakub Voracek, Philadelphia Flyers: For about two
weeks this season, Voracek was the best player in the league.
That was, finally, a glimpse of the potential he has had coming
up through the Columbus Blue Jackets system. The Flyers
need some consistency in net and among the forward ranks to
be a top team, but Voracek should continue to have a
connection with Claude Giroux.
34. Jarome Iginla, Pittsburgh Penguins: While he is a free
agent in principle, he may not be in practice. Iginla is probably
going to stay with the Pens and have a chance to play with
Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. But if Iggy goes out on the
market, he remains an elite fantasy player as long as he lands
somewhere with quality, experienced linemates.
37. Derek Stepan, New York Rangers: Filling roles on
scoring lines in the past, Stepan finally emerged from his
teammates' shadows late in this season. The defensive
awareness aside, Stepan has found an offensive connection
with captain Ryan Callahan that has resulted in 17 points in 11
games so far in April. While also providing a presence on the
Rangers' top power-play unit, Stepan is just shy of a point-pergame pace.
Three steps back
81. Scott Hartnell, Philadelphia Flyers: If it hadn't been for
his out-of-the-blue hat trick last week, Hartnell might have been
completely overlooked for these rankings because how much
58. Michael Ryder, Montreal Canadiens: It's also difficult to
imagine Ryder seriously testing the free-agent market. He had
such success as the Habs' go-to power-play shooter, it would
benefit both parties to bring him back next season. If not, his
value becomes extremely situational. Ryder needs to play
somewhere that affords him ample room and opportunity to
shoot the puck.
63. Mike Ribeiro, Washington Capitals: It's tough to put a
gauge on Ribeiro's season. A lot of his success came from
stepping up and filling the offensive void for the Capitals when
Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin were struggling at the
start of the season. Once Ovie and Backstrom got going,
Ribeiro was not leading as much, but still drafting points off the
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star players. The bottom line is that Ribeiro is an aboveaverage playmaker and can earn a lot of fantasy value in the
right situation.
Future Sophomores
76. Jonathan Huberdeau, Florida Panthers: While he is
showing advanced leadership and skills as the season
progresses, Huberdeau still needs the Panthers to get better
around him to become a serious offensive threat. His minus-16
this season is a serious drag on any fantasy owner that tried to
use him.
85. Brandon Saad, Chicago Blackhawks: As hoped, Saad
settled in on a line with Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa
and started scoring. When you consider that he really didn't
start finding chemistry with the line until March, his stats
become a little more impressive. He could do big things in a full
season.
88. Mika Zibanejad, Ottawa Senators: The Sens played the
majority of the season without their best forward, defenseman
and goaltender. That is not an easy season to debut as a
rookie. That said, Zibanejad and Jakob Silfverberg showed
some big-time potential. Zibanejad gets to sneak into the top
100 because he has more overall potential.
89. Alex Galchenyuk, Montreal Canadiens: Getting better
and better as the year wore on, Galchenyuk arguably had the
better rookie season between himself and former linemate Nail
Yakupov. The two are separated by minimal points and
Galchenyuk's peripherals look a lot better. The best part about
Galchenyuk is that he has inserted himself in the Calder
Trophy race, despite playing the least ice time of all the top
rookies.
2014 Calder hopefuls
Mikhail Grigorenko, Buffalo Sabres: Likely retaining his
rookie eligibility by playing in fewer than 25 games this season,
Grigorenko will be a boom-or-bust pick for fantasy next
season. The talent is definitely there as a top scoring, visionary
on the ice. But can the Sabres roster coax it out next season?
Sven Baertschi, Calgary Flames: The Flames will be looking
for a new identity next season and Baertschi could be the
ticket. He is ultra-smooth with the puck and could be the next
star forward for the team if he can put it all together in the NHL.
He needs strength, but that comes with time. Baertschi will be
afforded tons of opportunity next season, the only real concern
is whether his talent can shine without a great supporting cast.
Evgeny Kuznetsov, Washington Capitals: We probably
have to wait one more season to see Kuznetsov flanking Alex
Ovechkin, but just on the off chance that Kuznetsov appears in
North America sooner than expected, you need to be ready.
This talented Russian already plays way above his age level.
He looks like man among boys in the KHL, even though he is
actually a boy among men.
Filip Forsberg, Nashville Predators: Martin Erat has
consistently been one of the Predators' scoring leaders. When
they traded him to the Washington Capitals for Forsberg, they
got back a player who can potentially replace Erat as soon as
next season. Already up with the Predators for a cup of coffee
in the NHL this season, Forsberg will work to be on the team's
top line next season.
Final week of this season
Bryan Little, Winnipeg Jets: The Jets are making a final push
this week for the postseason, with Andrew Ladd and Blake
Wheeler leading the charge on uber-hot streaks. Little is right
up there with them though as the third member of the team's
top line. Little is available in 39 percent of ESPN leagues, so
he might be available to you.
Nikolai Kulemin, Toronto Maple Leafs: Coach Randy Carlyle
gave Kulemin another shot on the second line on Saturday and
he finished with a plus-2 and an assist. That grants him a stay
on the line with Nazem Kadri and Joffrey Lupul heading into
the Leafs' final three games. The Maple Leafs get a doubledate with the struggling defenses of the Tampa Bay Lightning
and the Florida Panthers. Kulemin may have a good final
week.
Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello, New York Rangers:
If the Leafs have a good schedule, the Rangers have a dreamcome-true schedule as they look to secure a playoff berth. The
Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers are No. 1 and No. 2
in scoring allowed during the past three weeks and the
Rangers get to play both of them before a date with the
already-eliminated New Jersey Devils. Brassard and
Zuccarello are the best of what is likely available on the freeagent pile in your league. Playing with Ryane Clowe and Rick
Nash should make it obvious how Brassard has managed nine
points in 10 games as a Ranger. Zuccarello has been reinvigorating the play of Brad Richards on a line. Richards has
exploded for seven points in the past three games with
Zuccarello at his side for most of the scoring. Zuccarello sports
a modest four points in four games compared to Richards, but
it could be higher than that with different bounces.
CAROLINA HURRICANES
Presidents' Trophy, division titles can be won Monday
Monday, 04.22.2013 / 12:15 PM / Drive to the Playoffs
By Brian Compton - NHL.com Deputy Managing Editor
The 2012-13 NHL season is racing toward the finish line. In
fact, the regular season ends Sunday, April 28. Although the
Stanley Cup Playoffs are clearly in sight, the qualification
picture is far less clear. To help make sense of the numerous
permutations that exist, NHL.com's Playoff Push Primer looks
at some of the biggest movers and shakers among the
postseason hopefuls.
Teams that clinched Sunday: None.
Teams that can clinch Monday: The Chicago Blackhawks
can clinch the Presidents' Trophy if they beat the Vancouver
Canucks and the Ottawa Senators beat the Pittsburgh
Penguins in regulation.
The Senators can clinch a playoff spot with a win against the
Penguins and if the Buffalo Sabres defeat the Winnipeg Jets in
regulation.
The Anaheim Ducks can clinch the Pacific Division with a win
against the Edmonton Oilers. The Vancouver Canucks can
clinch the Northwest Division if they earn at least one point
against the Blackhawks.
Islanders, but a victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins on
Monday would put the Sens back into the sixth slot. However,
they'll have to find a way to beat a Pittsburgh squad that has
reeled off six consecutive victories and secured the No. 1 seed
in the East.
Phoenix at Detroit: It's difficult to envision a postseason
without the Detroit Red Wings, but with four games to go, the
Wings enter the week ninth in the West, three points behind
the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Phoenix Coyotes, who
reached the conference finals a year ago, are in serious
danger of missing the playoffs. They're 11th, five points behind
Columbus.
Anaheim at Edmonton: The Anaheim Ducks beat the
Edmonton Oilers 3-1 Sunday, the first of their rare back-toback set of games against at Rexall Place. The Ducks will
have an opportunity clinch the Pacific Division on Monday.
Sunday's loss eliminated Edmonton from postseason
contention.
Two teams not playing Monday also can clinch playoff spots. If
the Phoenix Coyotes beat the Detroit Red Wings in regulation,
the San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues both would clinch
playoff spots.
Chicago at Vancouver: The Chicago Blackhawks have
wrapped up the Western Conference. All that's left is the
Presidents' Trophy, which they're inching towards claiming with
a five-point lead on the Pittsburgh Penguins with four games
remaining. The Vancouver Canucks, meanwhile, can clinch the
Northwest Division with one point Monday.
Playoff positions to be claimed: 7
Teams on the rise:
Teams in contention: 11
Columbus Blue Jackets: The Blue Jackets earned another
victory Sunday with a gritty 4-3 win against the San Jose
Sharks at HP Pavilion. While they remain in eighth place in the
West, the Jackets pulled even with the seventh-place
Minnesota Wild at 51 points apiece. The Wild, who lost to the
Calgary Flames on home ice on Sunday, have a game in hand
on Columbus, which has two games left on its schedule.
Days remaining in regular-season: 7
Total games remaining in regular season: 48
Monday's schedule:
Winnipeg at Buffalo: The Winnipeg Jets are in the rare
situation where they are three points out of both the eighth
seed and the third seed in the Eastern Conference, as they
trail the New York Rangers for the final spot and the
Washington Capitals for the Southeast Division crown. They
have a golden opportunity to collect two points Monday against
the Buffalo Sabres, who have been mathematically eliminated
from playoff contention.
Pittsburgh at Ottawa: The Ottawa Senators were bounced
from sixth place in the East on Saturday by the New York
Teams on the decline:
Minnesota Wild: The Wild suffered their second straight
defeat Sunday in a 4-1 loss to the Flames at Xcel Energy
Center. Minnesota, which was 13-3-1 after its first 17 games at
home, has dropped its past five in front of its own fans.
Because of that, the Wild enter the week tied with Columbus at
51 points, just three more than the ninth-place Detroit Red
Wings in the West.
CAROLINA HURRICANES
Ladd, Richards, Couture named 'Three Stars' of week
Monday, 04.22.2013 / 12:00 PM / News
NEW YORK – Winnipeg Jets left wing Andrew Ladd, New York
Rangers center Brad Richards and San Jose Sharks center
Logan Couture have been named the NHL's "Three Stars" for
the week ending April 21.
FIRST STAR – ANDREW LADD, LW, WINNIPEG JETS
Ladd led the NHL with eight points and six assists in three
games to help the Jets pick up five out of a possible six points
in their push for a playoff berth. He recorded three points (21—3), plus the shootout clincher, in a 4-3 victory over the
Tampa Bay Lightning April 16. Ladd then tied a career high
with three assists, including the primary helper on Dustin
Byfuglien's overtime winner, in a 4-3 triumph over the Carolina
Hurricanes April 18. He capped the week by collecting two
assists, including the primary helper on Bryan Little's gametying goal with 2:01 left in regulation, in a 5-4 shootout loss the
New York Islanders April 20. Ladd is currently on a career-high
seven-game point streak (4-10—14) that dates to April 4. In 45
games this season, the 27-year-old Maple Ridge, B.C., native
leads the Jets in goals (18), assists (28) and points (46).
SECOND STAR – BRAD RICHARDS, C, NEW YORK
RANGERS
Richards led the League with four goals and tied for second
with seven points in four games as the Rangers earned six out
of a possible eight points to remain in the top eight in the
Eastern Conference. After being held off the scoresheet in a 42 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers April 16, Richards rebounded
with a goal and an assist in a 6-1 win over the Florida Panthers
April 18. He recorded his first career hat trick, including the
game-winning goal, in an 8-4 victory over the Buffalo Sabres
April 19. Richards then closed the week by posting two assists
in a 4-1 triumph over the New Jersey Devils April 21. The 32year-old Murray Harbour, P.E.I., native has played in 43 games
this season and ranks third on the Rangers in both points (30)
and assists (20).
THIRD STAR – LOGAN COUTURE, C, SAN JOSE SHARKS
Couture totaled 3-3—6, including two game-winning goals, in
four games to help put the Sharks on the verge of clinching
their ninth consecutive playoff berth. He scored the winning
goal in a 4-0 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes April 15.
Couture then posted a career-high four points (2-2—4),
including the game-winner, in a 6-1 triumph over the Minnesota
Wild April 18. He finished the week with one assist in a 4-3 loss
to the Columbus Blue Jackets April 21. In 45 games this
season, the 24-year-old Guelph, Ont., native leads the Sharks
with 19 goals and ranks second on the team in both points (35)
and assists (16).
Eleven games to watch in final week before playoffs
Monday, 04.22.2013 / 11:58 AM / Drive to the Playoffs
By Dan Rosen - NHL.com Senior Writer
Seven days remain in the 2012-13 NHL regular season, and
entering Monday night there are seven spots available in the
Stanley Cup Playoffs and four division titles to be won.
Of the 48 games left on the schedule, here are 11 that as of
right now you shouldn't miss:
Western Conference, but they are still in control of their own
destiny because they have two games in hand. If Detroit wins
out, it will get into the playoffs. Phoenix is five points back with
four games to play.
Winnipeg Jets at Washington Capitals
Winnipeg Jets at Buffalo Sabres
Tuesday, 7 p.m. ET, TSN-JETS, CSN-DC
Monday, 7 p.m. ET, TSN-JETS, MSG-B
No matter what Winnipeg does in Buffalo, the Capitals will win
the Southeast Division and clinch the third seed in the Eastern
Conference if they beat the Jets in regulation on Tuesday at
Verizon Center. The Jets would be eliminated from playoff
contention with back-to-back regulation losses to Buffalo and
Washington.
If the Jets win, they will pull within one point of the Washington
Capitals for first in the Southeast Division and one point of the
idle New York Rangers for eighth-place in the Eastern
Conference standings. Winnipeg is 5-0-1 in its past six games,
but is coming off a 5-4 shootout loss to the New York
Islanders. The Jets have beaten Buffalo twice this season.
New York Rangers at Florida Panthers
Phoenix Coyotes at Detroit Red Wings
Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. ET, MSG-PLUS, FS-F
Monday, 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TSN, RDS, FS-D
Depending on what the Jets do Monday against the Sabres,
the Rangers may clinch a playoff berth regardless of what
happens in their game at BB&T Center. As stated above, if the
Jets lose back-to-back games in regulation, they will be the last
team eliminated in the East. The Rangers would also clinch a
playoff berth if they beat Florida and Winnipeg loses in
The Red Wings have work to do if they want to make the
Stanley Cup Playoffs for a 22nd straight season. Their big
week starts at home against the Coyotes, who are in a tough
spot but haven't yet been eliminated. The Red Wings are three
points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for eighth in the
CAROLINA HURRICANES
regulation to either Buffalo or Washington. Then again, the
Rangers could also drop out of the top eight if they don't beat
the Panthers and the Jets beat both Washington and Buffalo.
Los Angeles Kings at Minnesota Wild
Tuesday, 8 p.m. ET, PRIME, FS-N, FS-WI
Minnesota has to overcome its untimely and dreadful 4-1 loss
to the Calgary Flames on Sunday. The Wild are still battling for
a playoff spot with 51 points and three games left. They're
already selling playoff tickets on Wild.com. The Kings are
striving for home-ice advantage even though they proved last
year it doesn't mean all that much. They are coming off a 4-3
overtime win over the Dallas Stars that, coupled with the San
Jose Sharks' regulation loss on Sunday, gave the Kings a twopoint cushion for fourth place in the Western Conference.
Dallas Stars at San Jose Sharks
Tuesday, 10 p.m. ET, NBCSN, FS-SW+, CSN-CA
Thursday, 8:30 p.m. ET, FS-O, FS-SW+
By Thursday, the Blue Jackets will know if they control their
own playoff destiny or if they're going to need help. That
depends on the Red Wings. Right now Columbus is three
points up, but this game against Dallas will be its first since
Sunday. If the Red Wings win Monday and Wednesday, the
Jackets will not be in control of their playoff fate. But if Detroit
stumbles once, Columbus will maintain control. The Stars need
to beat the Sharks on Tuesday for this game to really matter to
them.
Nashville Predators at Columbus Blue Jackets
Saturday, 7 p.m. ET, FS-TN, FS-O
It's far too early to gauge the meaning of this game, but odds
are it will matter for the Blue Jackets in their pursuit of the
second playoff berth in franchise history. Drumming up the
calculations on how this game affects the standings is
impossible now. Check back later in the week.
The Stars are still in the hunt after picking up one point in an
OT loss at Los Angeles on Sunday. They have 48 points with
three games left, including one each against the Detroit Red
Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets, the two teams they're
chasing now. They are 1-2-1 in their past four games. San
Jose could have its playoff spot locked up before this game.
The Sharks clinch if the Red Wings lose in regulation to
Phoenix. If Detroit wins or gets a point, the Sharks clinch with a
win over the Stars.
Detroit Red Wings at Dallas Stars
Los Angeles Kings at Detroit Red Wings
Sunday, 7 p.m. ET, NBCSN, SNET-E, TVA, NESN
Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TSN2
This game was originally scheduled for April 15, but had to be
postponed due to the Boston Marathon bombings. It's the final
game of the regular season and the only game on Sunday. So,
not only will it be dripping with emotion because of the
surrounding circumstances, it's the only game to watch and, at
least right now, it has the potential to be a first-round preview.
Boston is currently second in the East and Ottawa is seventh.
Both have four games remaining.
This game represents another chance for the Red Wings to
move closer to a playoff berth and another chance for the
Kings to move closer to the fourth seed. If the Red Wings beat
the Coyotes on Monday, they can move into the top eight,
potentially as high as No. 7 depending on the Wild, with a win
over the Kings.
Saturday, 7 p.m. ET, NBCSN, FS-D
Like the Predators-Blue Jackets game listed above, the
meaning of this one between Detroit and Dallas is still TBD. It's
not out of the realm of possibility that it's a win-and-you're-in,
lose-and-you're-out scenario for both teams.
Ottawa Senators at Boston Bruins
Columbus Blue Jackets at Dallas Stars
Blackhawks, Penguins remain League's top teams
Monday, 04.22.2013 / 9:26 AM / Super 16: NHL Power Rankings
By Dave Lozo - NHL.com Staff Writer
The Chicago Blackhawks remain the class of the West while the Pittsburgh Penguins continue to reign supreme in the East.
But in this week's Super 16 power rankings, it's once again the Blackhawks who are on top.
The Montreal Canadiens take a tumble, while the Los Angeles Kings are looking like defending champions as the regular season winds
down.
Here are the rest of this week's penultimate power rankings:
CAROLINA HURRICANES
1
Chicago Blackhawks: Just when it looked like Ray Emery was seizing control of the No. 1
1 goalie duties down the stretch, he suffered a lower-body injury. Corey Crawford has
stepped up by allowing eight goals in his past four starts (3-0-1).
2
Pittsburgh Penguins: The Penguins lost two straight after winning 15 in a row and were
2 dealing with a rash of injuries. Still missing many of their big guns, they have won six
straight and secured the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
3
Los Angeles Kings: Jonathan Quick's disappointing season -- at least compared to last
5 season -- is ending on a very strong note. He is 4-0-1 in his past five starts and has
allowed nine goals (.931 save percentage) over that stretch.
4
Vancouver Canucks: In nine games since the acquisition of Derek Roy, the Canucks are
4 6-2-1 and on the verge of a third straight Northwest Division title. He has just two goals and
three assists, but Roy provides the Canucks center depth few teams have.
5
St. Louis Blues: The Blues are 9-3-0 in their past 12 games and Brian Elliott has been at
8 the heart of it. He is 8-2-0 during the run, with a 1.37 goals-against average and .947 save
percentage. There still is no timetable for the return of Jaroslav Halak (groin).
6
Washington Capitals: The Caps are 9-1-0 in April, and it's largely due to Braden Holtby's
11 stellar play in net. He gave up five goals in a win against the Lightning on April 13, but has
allowed four goals in his past three games.
7
Montreal Canadiens: Despite five losses in seven games, they remain in the hunt for the
Northeast Division title and the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. They close with
3
three road games -- in New Jersey, in Winnipeg and in Toronto, in a potential first-round
series preview.
8
Toronto Maple Leafs: In their past four games, the Leafs have been outshot by a
6 combined 157-86. They won twice behind stellar showings from goaltender James Reimer,
but the Leafs haven't outshot an opponent since March 28, a span of 10 games.
9
Boston Bruins: The Bruins ended a four-game winless skid with a 3-0 win against the
7 Panthers, capping an unimaginably difficult week in Boston. They finish the season with
four games in six days, including their home finale against the Senators on April 28.
CAROLINA HURRICANES
10
San Jose Sharks: Their 4-3 loss to the Blue Jackets on Sunday was just the Sharks'
10 second regulation defeat at home all season. With three games left, however, it seems
likely that they will be opening the postseason on the road.
11
New York Islanders: Barring a collapse, the Islanders are heading to the playoffs for the
first time since 2007. During their current 11-1-2 push, John Tavares has established
14
himself as a Hart Trophy candidate with eight goals, four assists and the shootout winner
against the Jets on Saturday.
12
New York Rangers: An 8-2-1 mark in April has the Rangers looking pretty secure for a
13 playoff berth. Ranked 30th offensively entering the month, the Rangers lead the League in
April goals with 41 goals.
13
Ottawa Senators: If the Senators are to avoid falling out of the top eight, it won't be easy.
15 Three of their final four games are against the Bruins, Penguins and Capitals, with the
fourth occurring at home against the Flyers.
14
Anaheim Ducks: The Ducks ended a four-game winless slide with a 3-1 win in Edmonton
9 on Sunday. Their only two victories since April 8 have come against the Oilers, making the
Ducks seem like a vulnerable target for a first-round upset.
15
Columbus Blue Jackets: Their six-game road trip that easily could've broken the Jackets
NR ends in Dallas on Thursday. They're 4-1-0 on the trip, and their game against the Stars
could be for a postseason spot.
16
Dallas Stars: A 1-2-1 week may have torpedoed their chances at the No. 8 seed in the
16 West, but their final three games include dates with Detroit and Columbus. If the Stars
close 3-0, they have a very good chance at the playoffs.
Missed: Minnesota, Detroit, Winnipeg, Buffalo, Phoenix
CAROLINA HURRICANES
NHL Three Stars: Howard blanks Coyotes; Canucks, Ducks clinch division titles
By Sean Leahy | Puck Daddy – 7 hours ago
No. 1 Star: Jimmy Howard, Detroit Red Wings
The Red Wings stayed alive in their playoff pursuit with a 4-0
blanking of the Phoenix Coyotes. Howard made 34 saves for
his fourth shutout of the season and 15th of his career. Three
of Detroit's four goals came via the powerplay, with Johan
Franzen, Damien Brunner and Valtteri Filppula all scoring with
the man advantage. Franzen would add his second of the night
on an empty-netter late in the game. Henrik Zetterberg
recorded all three of his assists on those power play tallies,
including this gorgeous helper:
No. 2 Star: Viktor Fasth, Anaheim Ducks
Fasth continued his stellar first season in the NHL with his
fourth shutout in a 3-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers. Behind
Fasth's 24 saves and goals from Ryan Getzlaf, Radek Dvorak
and Sami Vatanen, the Ducks clinched the Pacific Division
crown and the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.
No. 3 Star: Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks wrapped up their fifth straight Northwest Division
title with a 3-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Sedin helped
set up Zack Kassian's goal midway through the second period
and then added his own eight minutes later as Vancouver built
up a 3-0 lead by the end of two. Brother Henrik recorded a pair
of assists, while Cory Schneider made 24 saves.
Honorable mention: Antti Miettinen's goal with 7:36 left in the
third period snapped a 1-1 tie and gave the Winnipeg Jets the
lead for good in their 2-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.
Ondrej Pavelec made 24 saves as the Jets kept pace in the
mix of the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Winnipeg sits
ninth, one point behind the New York Rangers and Ottawa
Senators for eighth and two points behind the Islanders for
sixth. Pavelec kept the lead intact with this glove save on
Thomas Vanek late in the game:
Brenden Morrow set up two first period goals and Tomas
Vokoun made 34 saves as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the
Ottawa Senators 3-1. Dustin Jeffrey had a goal and an assist
to help the Penguins to their seventh straight win. Head coach
Dan Bylsma won his 200th NHL game to become the fastest in
league history to reach the milestone.
Did You Know? "Henrik Sedin passed [Markus] Näslund as
Canucks all time scoring leader in his 905th game. Tonight
Daniel passed Näslund. 905th game." (@jhititela)
Dishonorable mention: Via the AP, the Coyotes last win in
Detroit came Oct. 28, 2010 ... Phoenix was on the losing end
of a shutout for the third time in seven games ... Edmonton has
lost eight of their last nine games.
Matt Cooke visits Ottawa; Blackhawks try for Presidents’ Trophy (Puck Previews)
By Sean Leahy | Puck Daddy – 14 hours ago
Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins at Ottawa Senators, 7:30
p.m. ET. Matt Cooke plays in Ottawa where there still are bitter
feelings toward him after Erik Karlsson's February injury.
Grudges aside, the Senators have yet to lock up a playoff spot
and two points could secure their hopes of playing beyond next
weekend. Tomas Vokoun will be in net for Pittsburgh as MarcAndre Fleury and his wife prepare to welcome their first child.
Kris Letang is out with food poisoning. Guillaume Latendresse
is in for the Senators.
Preview: Chicago Blackhawks at Vancouver Canucks, 10
p.m. ET. They're comfortably in the playoffs and have already
sewn up the Western Conference's No. 1 seed, but on Monday
night the Blackhawks can also add a trophy to their mantle. A
win over the Canucks, coupled with a Penguins loss in
regulation to the Senators would give Chicago their first
Presidents' Trophy since the 1990-91 season. The Canucks
have something on the line, too, as a point will give them the
Northwest Division title.
Preview: Phoenix Coyotes at Detroit Red Wings, 7:30 p.m.
ET. The Coyotes still have hopes of making the playoffs, but
with four games to go and five points out of the No. 8 seed,
those hopes are slim. Detroit is in a similar boat and their
chances are quickly fading. With Columbus' win over San Jose
Sunday night, the Red Wings are three points behind the No. 8
spot with four to go. Not helping is the fact that they've only
won one of their last six games.
Check out previews and updated scores for all of today's
games on the Y! Sports NHL scores and scheds page. For
tonight's starting goalies, check out Goalie Post.
Evening Reading
• Here's today's Marek Vs. Wyshynski podcast featuring Tyson
Nash of Fox Sports Arizona.
CAROLINA HURRICANES
• Neil Greenberg on why Alex Ovechkin isn't quite Hart Trophy
worthy just yet. [Washington Post]
• "Police said two men were arguing about the Pittsburgh
Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers around 11:08 and when the
woman interjected her opinion, one of the men punched her in
the eye." [Centre Daily Times]
Puck Daddy Reader Comment of the Day: Joseph on buying
out Ilya Bryzgalov:
would put a goaltender who had his best years in a defensefirst system under a coach who employs a run-and-gun style is
just beyond me.
Either buy Bryz out, or go get a coach who can maximize the
asset that's sucking up $51M in cap space over nine years.
Holmgren is an idiot."
Bold Prediction: Matt Cooke doesn't drop the gloves and later
scores the overtime goal as the Pens win 4-3.
"Laviolette can certainly coach a contending team. Bryzgalov
can certainly backstop a contending team. But why a GM
EA Sports’ NHL 14 cover voting is gloriously weird
By Greg Wyshynski | Puck Daddy – 15 hours ago
I want to live in a world where Lee Stempniak is the cover
athlete for EA Sports’ NHL 14, for the sheer looks of
befuddlement that consumers would wear on their faces if they
were oblivious to online voting. It’s like the first time you see
Henry Cavill as Superman: That journey from “WHO?!” to “well,
at least he fits the suit.”
players’ names and likenesses from the NHLPA for use in its
game. The cover voting is something separate from that
agreement. Perhaps that factors into some of the names being
promoted in this year’s “tournament.”
Stempniak of the Calgary Flames is a candidate for the NHL
14 cover in that series’ latest online election. As we mentioned
last week, so is Brandon Yip of the Nashville Predators. Ditto
Carl Hagelin of the New York Rangers, Teddy Purcell of the
Tampa Bay Lightning and Matt Beleskey of the Anaheim
Ducks.
"For now, these are my best guesses at the potential all-time
great and modern candidates for each of the National Football
League's clubs. While an established relationship with EA
Sports, and visibility at an offensive skill position (running back,
quarterback or wide receiver) counts for a lot, remember that
EA Sports has been willing in years past to put names on its
cover-vote bracket without yet having an agreement in place
for their appearance. That leaves open the possibility for some
wild card candidates."
Which is sort of like having a bunch of third option wide
receivers vying for the cover of Madden.
EA Sports had its share of creative candidates for last year’s
cover vote, although many of the lesser ones were rookies.
(Matt Stajan being the exception.) But this season’s has a
decidedly different … how to put it … Vote For Rory-ish vibe.
As Kotaku wrote in its Madden piece in February:
Or maybe EA Sports just wants the word to get behind
Brandon Yip for its cover.
Coming up, the 60 players in the field for the EA Sports NHL
14 cover.
One reason for the random candidates like Hagelin and Purcell
from star-studded teams: Licensing. EA Sports licenses the
Via EA Sports:
Our picks? Pavel Datsyuk as the
sentimental choice and, hence,
likely winner. And Brandon Yip as
the why-the-hell-not candidate,
powered by engaged Preds fans.
CAROLINA HURRICANES
Praise for Brian Burke from Leafs; Stefan Matteau quits team (Puck Headlines)
By Greg Wyshynski | Puck Daddy – 16 hours ago
• All of the EA Sports cover candidates have been released for
NHL 14, from Zdeno Chara to … Matt Beleskey. More on this
in a bit. [EA Sports]
• Winnipeg Jets left wing Andrew Ladd, New York Rangers
center Brad Richards and San Jose Sharks center Logan
Couture have been named the NHL's "Three Stars" for the
week ending April 21. [NHL]
• Toronto Maple Leafs COO Tom Anselmi: “I think Burkie
deserves some of the credit. Burkie brought in two-thirds of the
roster. He built the race car, now David and Randy are driving
it. It’s a really good group of players that has come together.”
[QMI]
• If you’re wondering why Ryan White earned five games from
the NHL, the words “knocked out cold” probably didn’t help his
case. [Philly.com]
• The Detroit Red Wings. Devious. [Malik Report]
• Strange case from juniors, as Devils pick Stefan Matteau
quits the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. [Buzzing The Net]
• Allan Muir on Matteau: "This isn’t an ender for him, but
someone needs to call a come-to-Jesus meeting. Whether it is
his dad, his agent or the Devils, someone must step up and
adjust his attitude. Playing with an edge is one thing. Playing
with fire is another. The Armada finally decided the risk wasn’t
worth the reward. Next it might be New Jersey that comes to
that conclusion." [SI]
• Solid piece here on Antti Niemi of the San Jose Sharks:
“Niemi was undrafted and it has taken plenty of time to earn
the respect of many in the hockey community. Even after
winning a Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks he still
had his doubters. San Jose decided to take a chance on him
and have been rewarded with consistent play. Slowly but
surely Niemi continues to get better while often flying under the
radar. Maybe that’s a good thing for this Sharks organization
who hasn’t met high playoff expectations with the greatest
results in recent years. San Jose would certainly trade a quiet
regular season for a loud spring in 2013.” [Dobber]
• Ray Whitney gets the Dallas Stars nod for the Masterton.
[Dallas Stars Blog]
• Tom Poti gets the Washington Capitals’ Masterton nod.
[Capitals Insider]
• Brian Elliott gets the St. Louis Blues Masterton nod. [NewsDemocrat]
• Cam Charron with a lengthy piece on how the New York
Islanders became the playoff team they apparently are.
[Backhand Shelf]
• Jack Todd with some advice for Carey Price: “Price needs to
get in touch with his inner pit bull. Blame Markov all you want:
the simple truth is that either Price turns it around, or the
Canadiens are on the golf course by mid-May, one and done.”
[Gazette]
• Enrico Blasi of Miami (OH) signs what amounts to a 10-year
contract. [CHN]
• Finally, if you’re wondering what the KHL playoffs would look
like as an old-timey newsreel, wonder no more:
The Player: NHL realignment, fraternizing with the enemy and the shootout
By The Player | Puck Daddy – 18 hours ago
(The Player is an active member of a National Hockey League
team. Anonymous by choice, he will provide insights about life
in hockey on occasion throughout the season.)
Many of you have written in with questions about life in pro
hockey. Here are some answers in our latest mailbag edition:
Q. What are your feelings about NHL realignment next
season? (J. Smith)
A: I would say I have mixed feelings about realignment.
Geographically, it makes more sense, with the exception of the
Florida teams being in a division with the teams from the
Northeast. The way I understand it is that travel will be
significantly improved for some teams – particularly for the
likes of Winnipeg, Dallas and Detroit. The creation of a true
Central Division is a positive thing for all the teams in that time
zone. Likewise, moving Detroit and Columbus over to the East
makes so much sense simply because they are in the eastern
time zone. To have had them in the Western Conference at all
was quite an ask for those teams.
There are so many things about the realignment that make
sense. One could even argue that the extra home dates with
the Canadian teams, Boston, and Detroit will help the bottom
lines of the Panthers and the Lightning.
Having said all that, there are quite obviously some things
about the new format that make no sense.
How can you have two divisions with eight teams and two with
seven when access to the playoffs is in large part determined
by the division standings?
Is this the best we can do, and how did some of these teams in
the East agree to this?
You don't have to study the new divisions for very long to figure
out that making the playoffs just got very difficult for a few
teams.
CAROLINA HURRICANES
This is a major issue, despite what those at the League office
would like you to believe. Players want to play in the playoffs
for the obvious reason of having a chance to win the Cup.
Beyond that, playoff performances, perhaps moreso in hockey
than in any other sport, can make a player's career.
In the playoffs, the eyes of the hockey world are on you. A
good showing does wonders for a player's reputation, and
often his pocketbook. As such, I think a lot of players are
concerned with having at least an equal chance to experience
playoff hockey.
The inequity seems so strange in some ways that one has to
wonder if NHL isn't working on expansion behind the scenes.
Getting to 32 teams might be the solution they have in mind.
Q: Does changing coaches in midseason work? Why does
it sometimes not work? (Fred)
A: It's tough to answer this question in general terms, because
every team and every coaching change is different. However, I
will say that I think that the success, or the lack thereof, of a
coaching change might have more to do with the team than
with the coaches.
I say that because it seems that there are two types of
midseason coaching moves that a GM can make. In one case,
a coach is fired because his team, which is perceived to be a
good team, is underachieving. In another case, the coach is let
go because his team is bad and the GM wants to go in another
direction.
I would say that a midseason coaching change is much more
likely to be successful in the case of the former rather than the
latter. This is true because a good team can be shaken out of a
funk by a new coach. Recent examples include the 2008-2009
Pittsburgh Penguins who went on to win the Stanley Cup after
Dan Bylsma took over midseason. Lou Lamoriello has also
never been shy about replacing his coaches on the eve of the
playoffs if he feels that his New Jersey Devils are
underachieving.
A different coach can make a big difference if the potential is
there. On the other hand, it's much more unlikely that a bad
team will miraculously become a good team simply because a
new coach is calling the shots.
Q: How far can you punt a football? (Andrew O’Brien)
A: Probably farther than you.
Q. How important is who has a letter on their jersey? Does
a team respond to a guy any more or less just because
he's a captain? Does the wrong guy wearing a letter
negatively affect the team or will they rally around the guy
who should be wearing it? (Peter Plevritis)
A: I think most players will tell you that it's not overly important
who has the letters on their jerseys. The cliché is that you don't
need to have a 'C' or an 'A' on your chest to be a leader – and I
think for the most part that's true.
In my experience, it's also rarely an issue because the guys
who end up wearing a letter are the prominent leaders on their
teams. It is as it should be.
I have seen instances, however, in which a player is named
captain or assistant captain, but doesn't command the respect
of his teammates needed to assume those roles. Ironically,
though, this usually means very little in real terms. Players are
going to follow, gravitate to, and defer to certain players
naturally, regardless of titles. It simply means there is a
disconnect between how a player is perceived by his coaches
and management and how he is perceived within the dressing
room.
Q. What do you think of the spin-or-rama in shootouts?
(Nate)
A: I don't like it, and I think the League has to come up with a
more clear definition of what is and is not allowed in the
shootout.
I can tell you that most players and goalies don't even know
what the rules are governing the penalty shot/shootout.
Consequently, there is heated debate in front of the TV every
time someone tries a questionable move.
The way I understand it is that the puck can move backwards
but it can not stop. The problem I have with the spin-o-rama,
aside from the obvious goalie interference, is that in a lot of
cases the shooter completely stops his forward motion and
actually ends up heading away from the net, back in the
direction from which he came.
To me that's ridiculous. That's not a breakaway that's
something completely different. I don't think you should be able
stop. You should be able to slow down as much as you like
and cut as hard as you like but your motion should always be
forward.
Q. How are guys who are called up from the AHL for a
game or two treated by the team? I ask this not so much
for on the ice, but off the ice. Are they treated like a part of
the team off the bat, or more like guests? Are guys being
called up from the AHL seeing as "just a tryout" and a bit
of a nuisance. (James Doist)
A: I think that, in general, call-ups are treated very well.
Obviously a player who is called up is on the cusp of being a
full-time NHL player, so they have most likely attended multiple
training camps and have spent at least a season or two on the
AHL team. As such, they aren't strangers by any means. They
have probably met all the guys on the team at one time or
another and might be close with one or two of the younger
players, having been teammates in the minors.
A call-up is probably going to take a few friendly jabs, but
overall the emphasis will be on making them feel comfortable
so that they can perform that night. Even a veteran player who
might have reason to feel threatened by a call-up will do what
he can to ease the transition because ... well ... that's what
hockey players do.
Most of us are good teammates. It's part of the culture and we
understand that in most cases more team success means
more individual success as well.
Q. In the arenas, I have noticed that there is often a
colourful reflection on the ice from the advertising video
CAROLINA HURRICANES
board that is around the rink, usually between the 1st and
2nd levels of seats. My question is if these or any other
lighting in the arenas ever bother the players while the
game is happening? (Murray Robb)
A: In short, no. I have never been bothered by any light or
colors coming off the scoreboard or the ribbon board around
the rink.
The one thing I will say is that some players are bothered by
the difference in the level of light from rink to rink. Madison
Square Garden has always been dark, like you were waiting
for them to turn a few more lights on. I'm not sure if that has
changed with the renovation or not. In Montreal, it is light
enough on the ice but the stands are very dark. It takes a little
while to get used to.
Q. Do players of opposing teams ever casually talk and
joke with each other during games? (Andrew Myrland)
A: Sometimes. It's definitely not like baseball where you see
the first baseman and the base runner asking each other about
their families and making dinner plans. One reason is that the
game moves so much faster that you rarely have time at a
face-off for friendly banter. The other is that you're much less
inclined to share a laugh with someone you're going to try to
run through the boards a few seconds later.
Having said that, players do talk sometimes. If I have a friend
on the other team I will try to say “hi” to him in warm-up or at a
face-off if we're lined up next to each other.
Aside from that I don't say too much. I prefer not to get too
familiar. I think it makes playing the game easier. I also need to
focus on what's about to happen when the puck is dropped. I'm
not good enough to multi-task.
I think if you have the personality to pull it off, building a rapport
with other players can help you in the long run. I once played
with a guy who had a great sense of humor and would always
be cracking jokes to the opposition during stoppages in play
and at the face-off. He is a skilled player, and under-sized. I
have no doubt that his approach has benefited him more than
once. Half the guys in the league who are supposed to be
trying to take him out think he's a great guy even though
they've never really met him.
Q. Most of you guys all know each other, and know the
nicknames you are called by. Do you guys ever call an
opposing player by name on the ice in an effort to trick
him into giving you the puck? (Eddie Iacobelli, Jr.)
A: I can't remember ever doing that, although I may have in a
weak moment. Doing something like that is frowned upon, to
say the least, and could get you in trouble.
I would suggest you make sure that you are bigger and
tougher than the player you are trying to trick.
Q. Question for the player: How do players react inside the
locker room if a guy like Kaleta is on your team and he
makes a dirty play like he did on Brad Richards? Is he
ostracized? Are players like that (Kaleta) looked at
differently amongst teammates compared to a guy with a
good reputation? (Ben DeSantis)
A: Of course I have been in a situation in which a player is
scratched unexpectedly and is unhappy about it. Typically,
though, that plays itself out in private and not in front of the
cameras. I have never been a part of any team-led suspension
of a teammate, nor I have I heard of such a thing happening.
I think the media and the fans sometimes think that players
have more influence over coach's decisions than they do.
Q. What do you think of a coach's challenge? (Andy)
A: I like the idea of a coach's challenge.
I think one coach's challenge per game would not only lead to
fewer missed calls but it would be good television. I assume
that most fans would be familiar with the concept of the
challenge from watching the NFL. I don't buy into the argument
that it would slow the game down to a significant extent. I
mean, has anyone noticed how long it takes them to make a
decision back in the booth in Toronto these days? It can't get
any slower than that.
The League already reviews goals so the obvious question is
what types of plays would be eligible for a coach's
challenge/review.
Two plays that immediately come to mind for me are off-sides
and high-sticking calls. If we had a coach's challenge to review
off-side, I think Matt Duchene might be minus one goal this
year.
As far as high-sticking goes, sometimes a player embellishes
when a stick hits him on the shoulder or the chest. Other times
the player is hit in the face with a stick but it belongs to his
teammate.
These are tough calls for the referees and they can change the
course of a game or a playoff series.
Why not have another chance to get it right?
Today’s Links
http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/04/22/2842912/canes-alexander-semin-a-little.html
http://hurricanes.nhl.com/club/preview.htm?id=2012020683&navid=DL|CAR|home
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/04/20/3994875/decock-southleast-will-be-missed.html
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/04/20/3994998/canes-uninspired-against-flyers.html
http://www.examiner.com/article/hurricanes-outhustled-5-3-loss-to-flyers
http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/gametracker/preview/NHL_20130423_NYI@CAR/islandershurricanes-preview
CAROLINA HURRICANES
http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/dallas-stars/headlines/20130422-heika-masterton-trophy-nominee-ray-whitney-not-wasting-timelooking-back-on-career.ece
http://espn.go.com/fantasy/hockey/story/_/page/frontline130422/sidney-crosby-steven-stamkos-evegeni-malkin-lead-early-forwardrankings-2013-14-season
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=667037
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/nhl-three-stars-howard-blanks-coyotes-canucks-ducks-051047766--nhl.html
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/matt-cooke-visits-ottawa-blackhawks-try-presidents-trophy-223653126--nhl.html
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/ea-sports-nhl-14-cover-voting-gloriously-weird-213842203--nhl.html
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/praise-brian-burke-leafs-stefan-matteau-quits-team-201319585--nhl.html
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/player-nhl-realignment-fraternizing-enemy-shootout-180157039--nhl.html
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New York Islanders
Newsday LOADED: LOADED: 04.23.2013
Lubomir Visnovsky, Thomas Hickey working well together
671784
Originally published: April 22, 2013 7:32 PM
Crushed Ice: Derek Stepan’s consistency, Henrik Lundqvist’s start streak,
Taylor Pyatt tallies in 4-1 Rangers win over Devils
Updated: April 22, 2013 8:41 PM
By ARTHUR STAPLE
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Ten years ago, maybe even five years ago, you'd have
had a difficult time finding a coach who'd pair two defensemen shorter than
6 feet. It goes against the big, physical blueliner mentality that most in the
NHL have.
But Jack Capuano did it with Lubomir Visnovsky and Thomas Hickey, both
generously listed at 5-10. The result has been a second-pair combo who
lead the Isles in plus-minus as well as the advanced statistic known as
"Corsi,'' which measures total shots -- including those blocked and missed - for and against while a player is on the ice.
"It's about puck possession and about being on the right side of the puck,''
Hickey said. "When you have the puck and you can move it quickly, that's
as important as the physical side.''
Neither of them shies from the physical aspects, though Hickey, 23, isn't
built quite as solidly as his older counterpart. But Hickey, in his first NHL
season, has learned a lot about positioning and skating from the quiet,
happy-go-lucky Visnovsky, 36. The pair has worked well together the last
two months.
"He's such a positive guy, so it's mostly 'good job' or 'keep doing that,' ''
Hickey said. "You see the decisions he makes, when to jump into the play
and when we switch sides inside the zone to confuse the coverage. I'm
picking up a lot.''
And Visnovsky, the guy who supposedly didn't want to be an Islander, not
only has blended in well but might be the veteran leader of a very young
defense if Mark Streit does not return.
"When I came here, I saw this was a very good team, and I'm very happy I
will be here two more years,'' said Visnovsky, who has 14 points and a
team-high plus-12 rating.
New York Rangers
BY Pat Leonard
The Rangers are scoring in bunches, with 18 goals during their three-game
winning streak. Seemingly everyone is getting on board. But let’s stop for a
second and consider specifically just how consistently center Derek Stepan
has not only played but produced.
Stepan, who had a goal and an assist in Sunday’s 4-1 win over the Devils
at the Garden, has a four-game point streak (two goals, three assists). He
has at least one point in 10 of the Rangers’ last 11 games (six goals, nine
assists). He has at least one point in 12 of their last 15 games (eight goals,
12 assists).
As good as Rick Nash is, Stepan arguably is this team’s MVP. He is tied
with Nash for the team lead at 40 points, and granted he’s played four more
games than Nash due to the big fella’s midseason injury (presumed
concussion). But honestly: consider Stepan’s point production, his
contributions on the penalty kill and power play, and the fact that he plays in
practically every big situation.
Stepan has been on his game since the Rangers’ 12th game, a 4-3
shootout win in Boston on Feb. 12. He played 21:03 in Sunday’s win over
New Jersey, leading the Blueshirts’ top line and the only line that really
possessed the puck consistently with captain Ryan Callahan (two goals,
team-high 23:18 ice time among forwards) and winger Carl Hagelin (assist,
18:18 ice time).
Nash, even in a game when he wasn’t effective, tied Callahan for a teamhigh four shots on goal.
Brad Richards, the man whose shoes Stepan has filled at center this
season, is finally coming back around and had a pivotal takeaway from
Devils defenseman Anton Volchenkov in the second period. Richards kept
the puck in the offensive zone and dropped a pass to Taylor Pyatt in the
slot for a wrist shot past Martin Brodeur that gave the Rangers a
comfortable 3-0 lead.
The most important aspect of the Visnovsky-Hickey pairing working well is
alleviating some of the huge minutes Streit had been playing at even
strength. His minus-15 rating is the worst on the team. With the return of
Brian Strait, Capuano has a six-man defensive alignment with which he's
quite happy.
“I thought we controlled most of the first period, and they had a little bit of a
push there in the second,” Pyatt said. “We sort of held strong. Henrik
(Lundqvist) made some big saves and to get that third goal, it’s nice to get a
three-goal lead going into the third period.”
"Viz and Hickey have gotten more comfortable with one another, and that
leads to confidence,'' Capuano said. "They've been good for one another.''
Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who assisted on Stepan’s goal and
marked Devils forward Ilya Kovalchuk successfully all afternoon, pointed
CAROLINA HURRICANES
out how pivotal it was at that juncture for Pyatt to net his fifth goal of the
season and his first in 27 games.
“It’s huge. You kind of take their will out of it there,” McDonagh said of the
Devils. “They were coming in the second period, putting us in our own zone
in the first half. He comes back and puts it in the twine.”
Pyatt, 32, was acquired last offseason not only to provide depth but
because of his penchant for producing in pressure situations. Last season
with the Phoenix Coyotes, Pyatt turned it on late for five goals and four
assists in an 18-game span to end the regular season into the second
round of the playoffs.
Tortorella again complimented defenseman John Moore, who saw more
power play time and began a couple shifts with top defenseman Dan Girardi
when the Rangers had offensive zone faceoffs.
“This kid Moore, who knows where he goes?” Tortorella said, meaning
Moore’s potential is high. “He’s one that … we’re putting in offensive
positions now. He seems to accept it.”
On the blue line, McDonagh, Anton Stralman and Michael Del Zotto each
picked up assists in Sunday’s win. But that is only the second best note on
Del Zotto. The first is that in Tortorella’s postgame press conference, the
coach referred to Del Zotto as “Mike.”
“Playing your most important games, you always want to play your best
hockey,” Pyatt said. “I felt the last couple games my game was starting to
improve, and scoring tonight definitely helps.”
I’ve heard “Michael,” “DZ” and of course there is Tortorella’s favorite
nickname: “Del Z.” But Mike? Maybe this shouldn’t entertain me as much as
it does. At least it’s not “Mikesy.”
It also was a fitting night personally for Pyatt to score such a big goal,
considering he was playing in his 800th career NHL game.
-You knew it was coming. Someone asked Tortorella about the Marian
Gaborik trade, and the coach tried to throw it back in everyone’s faces that
“I told you guys. Gabby was close (to snapping out of his slump) … I told
you too that it was going to help both teams.” Hey, as long as no one gets
in the way of his great relationship with Gaborik, right?
“I got a call from my dad this morning to congratulate me,” Pyatt said. “And
it’s definitely a nice way to celebrate, to get on a big line and score. It feels
good.”
Richards helped us reporters out with a good quote about how it felt good to
eliminate the Devils considering what happened in last spring’s Eastern
Conference finals (see game story link above), but everyone from the
veteran center to Callahan to McDonagh to Lundqvist honestly explained
this game was first and foremost about their own playoff push.
“We weren’t thinking about last year,” McDonagh said. “This is a totally
different year and we’re trying to fight for our lives and give ourselves the
opportunity to get back to that stage again. We just want to continue to
keep building off of these wins every night and try to play close to 60-minute
games and be strong in all areas. We’ve been able to gain some
confidence over this last stretch of games. It’s helping us get closer to that.”
Callahan said such a high-pressure game against a rival in such a loud
atmosphere, though, can be a good “dress rehearsal” for the playoff hockey
they intend to play in a little more than a week.
CAN’T STOP, WON’T STOP, MUST START
The Rangers were planning to give Henrik Lundqvist 75% of the starts in
net as they had last season, but their poor early record and recent
desperation to win just to make the playoffs has made for a much more
lopsided split between Lundqvist and backup Martin Biron.
Lundqvist has started 40 of the Rangers’ 45 games and likely will start at
least two of their three remaining regular-season games, perhaps getting
one night off if a result won’t affect the Blueshirts in the seeding. So far,
though, the workload hasn’t gotten to Lundqvist, who has made 11 straight
starts with an impressive 8-2-1 record during the stretch.
“This is what I’m used to,” Lundqvist said after Sunday’s win, smiling.
THE “A” IN AHL STANDS FOR “AVAILABLE”
The Rangers’ AHL affiliate, the Connecticut Whale, missed the playoffs this
season by finishing a dreadful 0-5-1-0 in the final six games. The only good
news is that their failure to qualify makes every player on the Whale’s roster
eligible to the Rangers from here on out, regular season and postseason.
The typical procedure is for the Rangers to form what’s known as a ‘taxi
squad’ of players from the Whale roster who will continue practicing by
themselves to stay in game condition in case the NHL club needs them.
PLAYOFF TRACKER FOR RANGERS AND ISLANDERS
The Rangers, who eliminated the Devils from postseason contention on
Sunday, are seeking their third consecutive playoff berth. Meanwhile, the
Islanders are close to clinching their first postseason appearance since
2007. Here is how the seeding shook out Monday morning in the bottom
half of the Eastern Conference standings:
Maple Leafs – 5th place, 25-15-5, 55 pts, three games left, 25 non-SO wins,
@ Lightning Wed.
Islanders – 6th place, 24-16-5, 53 pts, three games left, 20 non-SO wins, @
Hurricanes Tues.
Senators – 7th place, 23-15-6, 52 pts, four games left, 19 non-SO wins, vs.
Penguins Mon.
Rangers – 8th place, 24-17-4, 52 pts, three games left, 20 non-SO wins, @
Panthers Tues.
Jets – 9th place, 23-19-3, 49 pts, three games left, 21 non-SO wins, @
Sabres Mon.
The goaltender admitted that around the trade deadline, when the Rangers
played five games in eight days, he was a bit fatigued by the jam-packed
schedule. That was most noticeable in a 4-3 loss in Toronto on April 8,
when Lundqvist was clearly spent after having made 49 saves in a 4-1 win
in Raleigh, N.C., two nights prior.
New York Daily News LOADED: 04.23.2013
“All I do right now is just prepare and then I recover from games,” Lundqvist
said. “My focus is just on games.”
BRETT CYRGALIS
Lundqvist said John Tortorella has asked the goalie multiple times during
the season to tell him if the workload gets to be too much, but Lundqvist
laughed as he explained that’s not how it works.
“I know he asked me a couple times during the season, and I told him I
can’t make that call,” Lundqvist said. “(I said) ‘It’s up to you.’ I’m not gonna
say no. But it’s a lot of fun to be out there, and we’re playing well as a
group,as well.”
TORTS’ TIME
671785
New York Rangers
No rest in plans for Rangers goalie Lundqvist
Last Updated: 4:42 AM, April 23, 2013
Posted: 1:35 AM, April 23, 2013
SUNRISE, Fla. — This season has been a sequence of maybes for Henrik
Lundqvist.
First, the Rangers’ backbone goaltender had to deal with the NHL season
maybe being canceled. Following the four-month lockout, he has had to
deal with his team teetering on the brink of maybe not making the playoffs.
Now, with three games remaining — starting tonight against the Panthers
— Lundqvist has to deal with the fact maybe there is a chance he won’t get
CAROLINA HURRICANES
to watch a game from the bench the rest of the season, no matter if it’s over
in three games or tumbles on as spring turns to summer.
NHL STANDINGS
“We’re in a situation where we’ve been working good as a group and we
don’t want to change too much,” Lundqvist said after yesterday’s practice at
BB&T Center, the Rangers having gone 8-2-1 in their past 11 games. “Even
with the lineup, with the skaters, not only with them, but we’ll see.
“Maybe I’ll get a break this week, but I know I’m going [tonight].”
The Rangers (24-17-4) hold the seventh spot in the East — by virtue of
having one more win than the Senators, though both have 52 points — as
the ninth-place Jets closed to one point behind after their 2-1 victory over
the Sabres last night. With the Rangers traveling from Florida to Carolina
for a game with the Hurricanes on Thursday, then wrapping up the season
at home against the Devils on Saturday, they won’t face a playoff-qualifying
opponent the rest of the way.
But at this point, that is the last thing on anyone’s mind.
“The way we’ve always talked about it, you look at it as an opportunity,”
said coach John Tortorella. “We put ourselves in this situation, we were
never far gone. We were always treading water.
“They weren’t down when things were going bad, they weren’t great when
things were going great. They just stayed flat-lined and went about their
business. That’s what gives us an opportunity to keep on fighting here.”
That inconsistency is also what has made Lundqvist such a workhorse.
It was last season, when Lundqvist won the Vezina Trophy and the
Rangers made it to within two wins of the Stanley Cup finals, that a winning
formula was seemingly found. The franchise netminder played 62 games in
that 82-game season, the least he played since his rookie year of 2005-06.
It was his sharpness that carried the Blueshirts through all of the offensive
doldrums and the tight-checking postseason contests.
But now, in this shortened season, the 31-year-old Lundqvist is set to start
his 41st game tonight, what would equate to a pace of 72 starts in a regular
82-game schedule. He has played 2,393 minutes, just 71 minutes short of
league-leader Antti Niemi of the Sharks.
No specific number of players or roster has been released yet — although
assuredly it has been determined who is coming and who isn’t — and the
Rangers should be expected to bring up at least five to seven players.
Normally, those called up practice separately during their time in the NHL,
but are around the team to get a feel for the postseason atmosphere.
NHL STANDINGS
Among the interested parties are a couple familiar faces, including forwards
J.T. Miller, Brandon Segal, Brandon Mashinter and Benn Ferriero. The
defense corps is a little lighter, with Dylan McIlrath and Mike Vernace being
the most likely to be recalled.
* Tough forward Derek Dorsett is getting closer to playing as he recovers
from his broken right clavicle. He took part in yesterday’s practice at the
BB&T Center with a non-contact orange jersey, but performed some battle
drills with defenseman Marc Staal.
Staal, wearing a tinted visor which went down past his nose, is still
recovering from his horrific right-eye injury.
Coach John Tortorella said he had “no update” on either player as his team
readied for tonight’s game against the lowly Panthers.
* Forward Brian Boyle is on the trip with the Rangers, but did not practice
and appeared to still have a brace around his right knee. Boyle hurt the
knee last Tuesday night in Philadelphia, keeping out of the Rangers’ past
three games.
Tortorella again said, “no update.”
* Also on the trip with the Blueshirts is general manager Glen Sather, who
seemed in good spirits as he recovers from prostate cancer surgery
undergone in late March.
New York Post LOADED: 04.23.2013
671787
New York Rangers
Gross: Rangers' looking to continue April success into playoffs in May
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
The Record
“I thought it would be like last year, play three or four, then sit out,”
Lundqvist said. “But I don’t mind it. I want to play.”
It’s an old story line in sports. The struggling team finally finds its game to
reach the playoffs, fueling strong optimism it will be better prepared for the
postseason because it has already been playing at that intensity.
In conjunction with his massive amount of playing time, among goalies who
have started 30 or more games, he has the third-best goals-against
average (2.08) and the third-best save percentage (.927).
The Rangers, a popular preseason pick for the Stanley Cup Finals, are that
team right now.
“I knew going into this season, it was going to be more intense,” Lundqvist
said. “With such a long break, I don’t feel that tired. I think [that] definitely
helped you to get ready for this, playing a lot, hopefully a couple more
months of playing.
“I think it’s important to set the bar high and not be satisfied with getting in.
Let’s get in first and then sit down and talk about our chances. But right
now, all the focus is on this week and getting it done.”
New York Post LOADED: 04.23.2013
671786
New York Rangers
Minor detail on way
By BRETT CYRGALIS
Last Updated: 4:42 AM, April 23, 2013
Posted: 1:33 AM, April 23, 2013
SUNRISE, Fla. — Just as it was around playoff time last season, the
Rangers are readying for the taxi squad to arrive.
The Blueshirts’ AHL affiliate, the Connecticut Whale, lost on Saturday night
and were officially eliminated from the minor-league playoffs. That means
all of the prospects playing in Hartford are available to join the Rangers for
practices now as the postseason approaches.
They enter tonight’s game at Florida 8-2-1 in April and with strong odds of
securing a playoff spot, albeit one of the Eastern Conference’s bottom
seeds.
"We’ve been playing playoff-style hockey the last couple of games," captain
Ryan Callahan said. "These are must-wins. It gives us a dress rehearsal, I
guess you can say, for the playoffs."
Teams like the Rangers want to believe they can be last season’s Los
Angeles Kings.
The reigning Stanley Cup champs switched coaches in December, snuck
into the playoffs with the final berth in the West before becoming the first
No. 8 seed to win the Stanley Cup, beating the same Devils who eliminated
the Rangers in a six-game Eastern Conference final.
Too often, though, the playoffs wind up exposing the deficiencies that led to
the early-season struggles in the first place.
The Rangers have scored 18 goals in their past three games, including a 61 win over the visiting Panthers on Thursday. But, before that game, the
Rangers were an offensively challenged team tied for 23rd in the NHL in
scoring.
And before this month began, they were a mediocre 16-15-3.
CAROLINA HURRICANES
"We just have to take care of business," said goalie Henrik Lundqvist, in
reality, the real reason the Rangers can hope for playoff success. "If we do
our job, we’re in."
Then it’s anybody’s guess which way the Rangers’ fortunes will swing.
A lot, of course, will depend on matchups. The eighth seed would bring a
first-round series against the top-seeded Penguins, who beat the Rangers
in four of five regular-season games and could have Sidney Crosby back.
They could meet the surging Bruins and ensure seven games with either a
1-0 or 2-1 result, in which case, refer back to what was just said about
Lundqvist. They could face the slumping Canadiens, who never lose to the
Rangers in Montreal. Or maybe the Capitals, a team that, like the Rangers,
did its best work late in the season.
In any case, April’s "dress rehearsal" is no guarantee of May success.
Bergen Record LOADED: 04.23.2013
671788
New York Rangers
Henrik Lundqvist has thrived despite grueling schedule
Originally published: April 22, 2013 8:17 PM
Updated: April 22, 2013 9:21 PM
By STEVE ZIPAY
SUNRISE, Fla. -- When practice drew to a close, Henrik Lundqvist didn't
linger for extra work. He skated to the visiting locker room at BB & T Center
and began peeling off his equipment.
"This year I've been managing my practices, I don't stay out that long," said
Lundqvist, who will start his 12th consecutive game and 41st of the season
against the Panthers tonight and has been an absolute workhorse this
shortened season.
Lundqvist has played 2,394 minutes, only 66 behind the league leader, San
Jose's Antti Niemi, and is third in goals- against average (2.08) and save
percentage (.927) among goalies who have played more than 20 games.
"It's been a test, it really has," said Lundqvist, who recalled that last season,
when he started 62 games, he would play three or four in a row and Martin
Biron, who started 20 games, then would step in.
Not so this time, when Lundqvist has been asked to hold the fort in the
playoff push. And, Lundqvist, who turned 31 in March, has responded. He
has allowed two or fewer goals in 14 of his last 16 games and the Rangers
are 8-2-1 in his last 11 starts. And to put his career in perspective, with 274
wins, he recently passed Ed Giacomin for second place in franchise history
and likely will surpass Mike Richter's 301 next season.
But this campaign has been far from easy. "That extra day [last year]
between games, sometimes you get two days, it makes a big difference,"
he said. "When you play every other day and you have a back-to-back in
there as well . . . All you do is prepare for the game, you play the game, you
recover from the game and start over . . .
"It's mental now; you think about something else, family, friends, then you
come back to the rink recharged. I don't mind it, though. I don't think they
want to change the lineup. We'll see. Maybe I'll get a break this week, but I
know I'm going [Tuesday night].''
The eighth-place Rangers, with 52 points and three games to play, entered
Monday night three points ahead of Winnipeg, which faced Buffalo.
Lundqvist, who won the Vezina Trophy last year and did not play in Europe
during the lockout, said he knew before the season that the schedule was
"going to be intense. But I had such a long break, I don't feel that tired. You
try to look at it as positive as possible. As a group, we're in a good flow. The
good thing is, we do our job and we're in. If we make it, I'll have the time to
get some rest. You set the bar high; we just don't want to get in. I hope we
have a couple more months of hockey."
Notes & quotes: With the Connecticut Whale failing to qualify for the AHL
playoffs, a group of players is expected to join the team as a sort of non-
playing taxi squad, as was the case last season, president and general
manager Glen Sather confirmed. The contingent is expected to include J.T.
Miller, Kris Newbury and Dylan McIlrath . . . Brian Boyle (right leg) did not
skate and will miss his fourth straight game.
Newsday LOADED: LOADED: 04.23.2013
671789
New York Rangers
Rangers-Devils in review
22 April 2013 by Carp
New Jersey Devils v New York Rangers
My math … you know by now to get your own calculators out to learn the
truth when I start tossing numbers around.
But this is how I see it. If Winnipeg loses once in regulation in its final three
(at Buffalo tonight, at Washington tomorrow, home against Montreal
Thursday) then it can max out at 53 points. If the Rangers get two points in
their final three games (at Florida tomorrow, at Carolina Thursday, vs.
Devils Saturday) that’s 54.
Not going to break down all the possibilities with Bettman Loser’s Points, or
the “ROW” tiebreaker, etc., and I’m pretty sure Winnipeg can still finish first
in the SouthLeast, but that in that case Washington would finish behind the
Rangers.
So the Rangers could clinch a spot as early as Tuesday night. I think.
Anyway, here’s my game story from The Journal News and LoHud.com.
Thoughts:
1) I’m going to come right out and tell you that my favorite part of the game
– maybe my favorite moment of the season—was when they played “Sweet
Caroline” to honor the sports fans of Boston, and they showed that woman
in the Bruins jersey waving the American flag. Chills. Goosebumps. Tears.
Just freakin’ awesome. I also hadn’t heard until then that Neil Diamond flew
to Boston to sing it in person at the Red Sox or Bruins game (not sure
which) on Saturday.
2) Captain Callahan. Sure set a tone with those first few shifts … the goal at
:34 on the great play by Hagelin (he’s made quite a few big plays lately),
and then the two or three hits that followed. It didn’t seem the Devils were
terribly interested in getting smacked around like that. Callahan
understands that the voting for the Steven McDonald Extra Effort award is
over, right?
3) You would think a team like the Devils, built for so long on discipline,
would not get so crazy distracted during a game that they needed to have
just to keep their season going. Originally I thought the first conduct minor
was to Pete DeBoer, but he said it wasn’t. So I don’t know who it was, but
the Rangers’ power play didn’t make the Devils pay at 2-0 there. Could
have been devastating. Then Patrik Elias, the most experienced Devil, got
one. Then DeBoer got himself a game misconduct – not that it mattered at
that point. But, geez.
4) Must say, though, that the officiating was kind of, um, interesting. The
call on Darroll Powe for roughing? The call on Hagelin for removing David
Clarkson’s hat? The holding-the-stick call on D’Agostini after that
thunderous, clean hit by Dan Girardi? The refs also let a few too-many-men
incidents slide, at least two on the Rangers and one on the Devils. Several
non-calls.
5) By the way, nice job by Chris Kreider jumping into the first pileup of the
game. You have to like the way the kid’s been engaged. He sure had some
more struggles, though. He’s learning. Slowly. I think next season he gets a
full camp, makes the team, and gets a chance to learn on the fly here. And
that he will be a very good player very soon, and for a long time.
6) The Taylor Pyatt goal got him the Broadway Hat, and good for him. But it
was another night that made you wonder if the real Brad Richards – the one
from last year, or at least the one not from this year, is coming around. And
makes you wonder how much better this team is if the real Brad Richards is
on it. Or is this a product of the opponents? I normally don’t get nuts about
CAROLINA HURRICANES
stats, but the guy has made a lot of plays the past three games, after that
woeful game in Philly that had him so down in the dumps.
Gryba's decision to attack Cooke contrasted with his comments from nine
hours earlier following the morning skate.
7) And if they have the real Richards, and if they have the recent-weeks
Lundqvist, and if they can create just enough offense, who knows if they
might shock somebody in the playoffs? Might be nice to be a big underdog
with no pressure/expectations.
“It hasn't even crossed my mind to worry about him,” Gryba said. “This is a
big win for us. We want to go out there and get two points.”
8) Back to the officiating. I like that they’re not calling it too tightly at this
stage of the season, but it’s got to be hell for the players never knowing
when one will be called, and then they make up a couple (see above).
9) Dan Girardi=Monster.
10) Also another good game for Ryane Clowe, who some of us were
burying after the Philly game (along with many others). Still no idea if they
re-sign him, but could be a massive cog in a playoff series.
11) Does anybody, including Skid Crosby, whine more than David
Clarkson?
12) For an afternoon crowd, loaded with kids, and between Knicks playoff
games, the Garden was pretty good Sunday. It wasn’t sustained by any
stretch, but it was better than most nights. Of course, it helped that they
were up 1-0 by the time John Amirante left the ice.
13) See the post below this one for more photos.
14) Critique it any way you want, but it’s 8-2-1 in the last 11.
15) So, not sure where I heard this, but some hockey scholar once said,
“Fire this CLOWN, his players hate him and won’t play for his BS.”
My Three Rangers Stars:
1. Ryan Callahan.
2. Derek Stepan.
3. Dan Girardi.
(the real) Kenny Albert’s Three Rangers Stars:
1. Ryan Callahan.
2. Henrik Lundqvist.
3. Derek Stepan.
RangerJHW’s Three Rangers Stars:
1. The King….nothing more to say.
2. Capt Cally…nothing more to say.
3. Mr. Stepan…nothing more to say
HM-Brad Richards-do I dare to think I see the light? We are all pulling for
you! In general-a solid team victory..knocking out the Devs…keep on
truckin’ boys
Rockland Journal News: LOADED: 04.23.2013
671814
Pittsburgh Penguins
Senators seemingly still upset with Penguins’ Cooke
By Josh Yohe
OTTAWA — The Ottawa Senators spoke at length before Monday about
ignoring Penguins left wing Matt Cooke and focusing on claiming two points
in their pursuit of a playoff berth.
Getting two points clearly was secondary for Ottawa on each of Cooke's
first two shifts as a number of Senators went out of their way to make
contact.
On Cooke's first shift, Ottawa right wing Chris Neil confronted Cooke at the
Penguins' blue line and repeatedly challenged him to a fight. Cooke, in a
familiar scene, ignored Neil.
Ottawa's outrage against Cooke stems to February when Cooke's skate
blade inadvertently sliced through the back of star defenseman Erik
Karlsson's Achilles tendon. Karlsson hasn't played since but is believed to
be close to returning.
Neil challenged Cooke to a fight the evening of Karlsson's injury and
received the same disinterest from Cooke on that occasion. Cooke rarely
fights, though he did in 2010 when playing in Boston for the first time since
delivering a controversial hit against now-retired Bruins center Marc Savard.
“What happened between me and Erik is a complete freak accident,” said
Cooke, who was swamped by dozens of Canadian media members before
the game Monday. “I've said it before. I'm glad he's close to coming back.”
Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson said much of Ottawa's supposed
animosity toward Cooke is a media creation.
Senators coach Paul MacLean initially made a joke about Cooke.
“I thought he was suspended,” he said, before slightly foreshadowing what
could take place. “Hockey players are hockey players. If things happen
during the game, they get taken care of.”
The Senators claimed to not feel any additional desire to confront Cooke.
Though team owner Eugene Melnyk launched a “forensic investigation”
regarding Cooke's actions against Karlsson. Ottawa general manager
Bryan Murray also has publicly ripped Cooke on numerous occasions since
the incident.
The Penguins were decidedly unmoved.
Left wing Brenden Morrow, who wasn't with the Penguins at the time of the
incident, said it was virtually impossible that Cooke had bad intentions.
“That's hockey,” Morrow said. “It's a fast game. Things happen. No one
goes out there trying to intentionally slice a guy open. That's not the way it
is. One time, I got stepped on, cut nine tendons in my wrist. The last thing I
did was blame (Radim) Vrbata.”
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Pittsburgh Penguins
Penguins notebook Fleury stays home with pregnant wife; Bennett also out
By Josh Yohe
OTTAWA — Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury didn't make the trip to Ottawa
because his wife is close to giving birth to their first child.
Less than two minutes into the game, the truth was revealed: Cooke
remains in Ottawa players' heads.
Fleury was originally scheduled to start against the Senators and still could
play Tuesday against Buffalo.
The Senators challenged Cooke to a fight during his first shift, and
moments later, defenseman Eric Gryba was penalized for interference,
clearly going out of his way to belt Cooke.
Coach Dan Bylsma said he still would like Fleury to play three more regularseason games. There are only three regular-season games left.
Defenseman Kris Letang has food poisoning and also didn't make the trip to
Ottawa.
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Rookie Beau Bennett, an offensive force recently, also missed Monday's
game. He's dealing with an upper-body injury and is “day-to-day,” according
to Bylsma.
The Penguins already are playing without standouts Sidney Crosby (broken
jaw), Evgeni Malkin (injured shoulder), James Neal (concussion) and Paul
Martin (broken hand), none of whom made the trip.
The victory also was Bylsma's 200th, as he reached that milestone faster
than any coach in NHL history. The Ottawa game was Bylsma's 316th
behind the bench; the previous record-holder, Bruce Boudreau, needed
326.
Optional workout
"When you look at career numbers for coaches, I'm not sure where 200
ranks," he said. "It's still a long way to go, when it comes to some of the
other good coaches. But certainly, I'm happy to have gotten it. I got the
puck."
Although Bylsma made Monday's morning skate an optional workout at
Scotiabank Place, almost all of the Penguins participated.
There are not, it should be noted, a lot of good feelings between the
Penguins and Senators these days.
A couple of veterans did bypass the skate, however, including right wing
Jarome Iginla, whose appearance in Ottawa was his first in Canada since
being traded from the Calgary Flames.
Most of the talk before the game centered on whether Ottawa would seek
retribution against Penguins left winger Matt Cooke, who had been accused
by some in the Senators organization -- including owner Eugene Melnyk -of intentionally stepping on the leg of outstanding defenseman Erik
Karlsson earlier this season, slicing his Achilles tendon.
Cover contest
Malkin and Letang are among the players included in the EA Sports Cover
Vote Campaign, which allows fans to vote for who will be on the cover of
the “NHL 14” video game. Malkin is pitted against Letang in current voting.
Although the crowd was fairly hostile toward Cooke and the Senators took a
few runs at him, there were no major incidents.
Fans can vote on Twitter or at NHL.com.
"We won," Cooke said. "That was the most important thing. That was the
goal from the outset."
Annual awards
The Penguins will hand out their annual awards Tuesday before facing the
Sabres at Consol Energy Center.
Tribune Review LOADED: 04.23.2013
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Pittsburgh Penguins
Dustin Jeffrey steals opening act as Penguins win 7th in row
By Dave Molinari / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
OTTAWA -- Nothing Dustin Jeffrey has done this season has been enough
to secure a steady spot in the lineup.
Putting up a couple of points in the first 11 minutes of the Penguins' 3-1
victory against the Ottawa Senators Monday night at Scotiabank Place isn't
guaranteed to do it, either.
Scoring the Penguins' first goal and assisting on their second, however, did
earn him an upbeat evaluation from coach Dan Bylsma.
"That was a good way to start the game from him," Bylsma said. "He
absolutely made some great plays, was good in the faceoff circle [winning 9
of 12]. I thought he played a really good game."
Jeffrey had been a healthy scratch for nine of the previous 10 games, but
filled in more than capably at center on the second line.
"That's what I can contribute when I'm given an opportunity to come into the
lineup," he said. "I have to make that kind of stuff happen.
"You can only come in and do your best and see what happens. We
obviously have a lot of guys out with injuries now.
"Coming into the playoffs, you just want to try to stay in the lineup. We'll see
where it goes from here."
Jeffrey probably made it out of street clothes only because the Penguins'
already diluted lineup was missing a few more regulars.
In addition to their usual list of injured players -- forwards Sidney Crosby,
Evgeni Malkin and James Neal and defenseman Paul Martin -- they played
without goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, defenseman Kris Letang and forward
Beau Bennett.
Fleury's wife was reported close to giving birth to the couple's first child,
Letang had food poisoning, and Bennett is listed as day to day with an
undisclosed injury.
Fleury's absence created an opening for Tomas Vokoun who, appearing in
his 700th NHL game, made 34 saves en route to his 300th victory.
"I'm pretty proud of that," Vokoun said.
Penguins defenseman Simon Despres received the most controversial hit
of the game.
Senators tough guy Chris Neil laid him out behind the Penguins net midway
through the second period. There was no consensus on whether Neil
dropped Despres with a forearm to the head; not surprisingly, reaction
broke down along strict party lines.
Despres said Neil's initial contact had been with his head -- "My helmet
came off, so I guess something hit my head," he said -- but he did not miss
any playing time.
He also verified that he had his head down when Neil made contact.
Bylsma, meanwhile, said he thought it was clear that Neil had delivered the
blow to Despres' head.
"I don't think you need to see the hit on a replay to see what happened," he
said. "I'm sure it will be looked at [by the league office] in both real time and
slow time."
Jeffrey put the Penguins in front to stay at 6:15 of the opening period, and
Jarome Iginla made it 2-0 at 10:28 by converting a Brenden Morrow set-up.
Patrick Wiercioch pulled Ottawa within one on a power play at 7:18 of the
third, but Tyler Kennedy scored on a Cooke feed at 17:26 to give the
Penguins (35-10) their seventh victory in a row.
"We knew it wasn't going to be easy," Vokoun said. "Everybody played
hard. We played for each other, and it showed on the scoreboard."
Post Gazette LOADED: 04.23.2013
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Pittsburgh Penguins
Ottawa Senators will see a different Penguins team in playoffs
By Dave Molinari / April 23, 2013 12:09 am
OTTAWA -- It's entirely possible that the Penguins will face Ottawa in the
first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
If so, the Senators seem to understand that defeating the Penguins four
times in seven games wouldn't be easy.
Probably not much tougher, though, than simply recognizing them might be
if these teams collide in the postseason. At least if Ottawa uses the
Penguins' lineup for their game Monday night at Scotiabank Place as a
guide.
Scouting report
Matchup:
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Buffalo Sabres vs. Penguins, 7:38 p.m. today, Consol Energy Center.
Probable goaltenders:
"Obviously, there are some personal matters Marc had going, so [remaining
in Pittsburgh] was probably the best scenario for him," he said. "For me, it
doesn't change anything. It's just another game."
Ryan Miller for Sabres; Marc-Andre Fleury for Penguins.
Similar situation
Penguins:
The Penguins clearly have had their share -- and probably another team's,
as well -- of injuries to significant players, especially this month.
Have killed all 20 opponents. ... power plays in past six games at Consol
Energy Center. ... LW Chris Kunitz has team-high 27 penalty minutes on
home ice. ... Are 4-2 in second game when playing on consecutive days.
Sabres:
Are only team to defeat Penguins in their past 15 home games, posting a
4-1 victory April 2. ... LW Thomas Vanek has 20 points in 19 games. ...
Were outshot in 31 of their first 43 games.
Hidden stat:
Sabres have chance to win season series against Penguins for first time
since 2005-06.
What has become the usual list of medical no-shows -- Sidney Crosby,
Evgeni Malkin, James Neal and Paul Martin -- was swollen by the absence
of defenseman Kris Letang (food poisoning) and forward Beau Bennett
(undisclosed injury)
What's more, goalie Marc-Andre Fleury didn't play because his wife was
believed to be close to giving birth to their first child.
"They don't have their big guys here, obviously," Senators right winger Eric
Condra said. "So it's going to be a different team when they get into the
playoffs."
The Senators, though, might have experienced even more significant
losses. They've played extended stretches this season without defenseman
Erik Karslsson, center Jason Spezza, winger Milan Michalek and
goaltender Craig Anderson.
Despite all of that adversity, the Senators were closing in a on playoff berth
Monday night and have discovered that some promising young prospects
are ready to contribute in the NHL.
"I don't think, when you lose your best players, it really makes you a better
team," Senators coach Paul MacLean said. "But what it has done is to give
a lot of good, young players an opportunity play in the National Hockey
League that maybe wouldn't have had that opportunity if everybody had
stayed healthy."
Those players include defensemen Patrick Wiercioch, Andre Benoit and
Eric Gryba; center Mika Zibanejad and goalie Ben Bishop, the latter of
whom was traded to Tampa Bay a few weeks ago.
"Those opportunities that young players took advantage of is where the
growth of our team has been and where the success of our team has been,"
MacLean said.
Non-playoff matchups
Precisely what the lineup will look like for Game 1 of a first-round series,
which seems likely to be May 1 at Consol Energy Center, still isn't clear.
The game Monday was the Penguins' final one against a playoff team until,
well, the playoffs.
Coach Dan Bylsma said that Crosby (broken jaw), Malkin (shoulder), Neal
(concussion) and Martin (hand surgery) skated Monday in Pittsburgh, but
did not mention any target date for them to return.
Their remaining three games -- at home tonight against Buffalo in a
rescheduled game, Thursday at New Jersey and the regular-season finale
Saturday against Carolina at Consol Energy Center -- will pit them against
clubs eliminated from playoff contention.
There's no indication any of them will be in uniform tonight when Buffalo
visits Consol Energy Center.
Penguins winger Brenden Morrow, while acknowledging the obvious
importance of the players who didn't dress against Ottawa, suggested other
players could benefit from opportunities those absences create.
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"You never like to see guys not in the lineup," he said. "But ... other guys
[are] getting experience or getting put in situations maybe they haven't been
in."
By Dave Molinari / April 22, 2013 10:28 pm
First-time backup
Penguins goalie Tomas Vokoun, appearing in his 700th NHL game,
recorded his 300th victory.
Fleury staying home allowed goalie Eric Hartzell, signed as a free agent out
of Quinnipiac last week, to crack an NHL lineup for the first time, as he
backed up Tomas Vokoun.
Not having Fleury available against the Senators likely scrambled the
Penguins' plan for using their goalies in the final week of the regular
season, although Bylsma said the basic idea -- to use Fleury in three of the
final four games -- has not changed.
"The plan right now is for Marc to play three games, still," he said. "That's
not changing right now. Obviously, with the pregnancy they're having, we
don't get to dictate that."
Vokoun said the possibility of Fleury not traveling to Ottawa first came up
when the Penguins were in Boston, but that the situation didn't become
clear right away.
"They thought Marc was going [to Ottawa]," Vokoun said. "Then everything
changed again."
The game Monday night was Vokoun's 700th NHL appearance, and all of
that experience probably had a lot to do with way he took the unscheduled
start in stride.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Bylsma records 200th career victory with 3-1 Penguins win over Senators
OTTAWA -- The Penguins stretched their winning streak to seven games
with a 3-1 victory against Ottawa at Scotiabank Place tonight.
The victory was coach Dan Bylsma's 200th, as he reached that milestone
faster than any coach in NHL history. The Ottawa game was Bylsma's
316th behind the bench; the previous record-holder, Bruce Boudreau,
needed 326.
Beating the Senators raised the Penguins' record to 35-10 and guaranteed
Chicago would not be able to clinch first place in the overall standings with
a victory in Vancouver later tonight.
In addition to their usual list of injured players -- forwards Sidney Crosby,
Evgeni Malkin and James Neal and defenseman Paul Martin -- the
Penguins played without goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, defenseman Kris
Letang and forward Beau Bennett.
Fleury's wife was reported close to giving birth to the couple's first child,
Letang had food poisoning and Bennett is listed as day-to-day with an
undisclosed injury.
None of them accompanied the team here.
Dustin Jeffrey gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 6:15 of the opening period,
as he took a cross-ice pass from Brenden Morrow and beat Senators goalie
Craig Anderson from above the right hash.
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Pascal Dupuis got the second assist on that goal, Jeffrey's third of the
season.
Jarome Iginla made it 2-0 at 10:28, when he set up at the right side of the
crease and converted a Morrow pass from behind the goal line.
Jeffrey, a healthy scratch for nine of the previous 10 games, received the
second assist.
Ottawa finally got a puck past Vokoun during a power play at 7:18 of the
third, as Patrick Wiercioch beat him with a slap shot while Brenden Morrow
was serving a tripping minor.
Tyler Kennedy restored the Penguins' two-goal advantage at 17:26,
however, as he punched in a feed from Matt Cooke.
The Penguins will play Buffalo Tuesday at 7:38 p.m. at Consol Energy
Center. That game had been set for last Saturday, but was rescheduled
when the Penguins' game in Boston last Friday was postponed until the
following day.
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Websites
ESPN / Need to know: Wild still have work to do
By Scott Burnside
So, maybe we were a bit hasty in assuming the Minnesota Wild were locks
to make the playoffs.
After a lackluster 4-1 loss Sunday night to the lowly Calgary Flames, the
Wild woke up Monday to find that they'd sunk into a tie with the Columbus
Blue Jackets for the final two playoff berths in the Western Conference, with
the Detroit Red Wings just three points back with a game in hand.
Now, credit Joey MacDonald, who was stellar for the Flames, stopping 34
of 35 shots. But, come on, these are the Flames -- a team long banished
from playoff contention. The Wild's offense, never the team's strong suit
and less so with Dany Heatley out with injury, continues to sputter.
Minnesota has only three wins in its past 11 games and has gone from
battling the Vancouver Canucks for the top spot in the Northwest Division to
fighting for its playoff life, a fall that is mindful of the Wild's great descent
from the top of the standings midway through last season to a 12th-place
finish in the conference.
"There's a fine line between winning and losing in our league, that's how
tight it is," Flyers GM Paul Holmgren told ESPN.com Monday. "You don't
have to look very closely at the standings to recognize that. There's a few
teams that had runaway years, you look at Pittsburgh and Chicago in
particular, but everybody else is fairly close.
"I look at our team, it's amazing that's where we're at with the power play
and penalty killing near the top of the league; but 5-on-5 goals, we're way
down. That's probably what did us in, more than anything."
Indeed, it's hard to believe a team that Monday morning sat third overall on
the power play and sixth on the penalty kill will miss the playoffs. However,
when you look at the 5-on-5 goals for/against ratio (one of my favorite
stats), the Flyers sit 28th overall at 0.82, just ahead of the Calgary Flames
and Florida Panthers.
"We changed the way we played a little bit in our end and I think it affected
us offensively," Holmgren said. "We didn't really get the hang of how we
were trying to play, I think."
Not re-signing Jaromir Jagr last season has been pointed out by many as a
mistake, as the future Hall of Famer meshed very well with Claude Giroux
last season. Trading James van Riemsdyk to the Toronto Maple Leafs last
summer has also been linked to the Flyers' offensive struggles.
Losing Scott Hartnell for a month early in the season to a broken foot was a
huge loss to the top line. It was the beginning of a long list of injuries to the
Flyers in general that certainly impacted the team.
"Obviously losing people at different times of the year doesn't help,"
Holmgren said. "But you have to find ways to fight through that stuff, and we
didn't."
Another key factor: The Flyers had hoped that second-year forwards
Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier would take their games to another
level, and that simply didn't happen.
"We rely a lot on Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier, they both played
significant minutes this year," Holmgren said. "They probably had similar
years than they had last year in terms of numbers if you pro-rate it, but
obviously when you're playing those minutes maybe you expect a little
more. Maybe our expectations were a little bit too high for those young
guys. I think they're both good young players; they're going to continue to
grow and get better. Sometimes you can't speed up that process no matter
what you do. You just have to let time take care of it."
During this 11-game span, the Wild have been outscored 33-19. Sorry, that
won't cut it.
Sometimes when young players don't develop as quickly as the team had
hoped, the coaching staff feels the heat.
Even though Zach Parise and linemate Mikko Koivu combined for 15 shots
Sunday, the Wild are going to need more finish or this season is going to
end quickly, whether they make the playoffs or not.
And certainly with the pressure to win in Philadelphia, missing the playoffs
is usually a dangerous thing for a coach. But when asked about the future
of Peter Laviolette, Holmgren denied the speculation about the coach being
in trouble.
The Wild still control their destiny in the race against the surging Blue
Jackets (who came up with a huge 4-3 road win Sunday against the San
Jose Sharks) and with the Red Wings, Dallas Stars and Phoenix Coyotes
lurking in the weeds. The fact that the Wild play the Edmonton Oilers and
Colorado Avalanche down the stretch (along with the Los Angeles Kings)
should help pave the way to their first postseason berth in five years.
Of course, we would have thought that heading into Sunday's game, too.
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ESPN / It's back to the drawing board for Flyers
By Pierre LeBrun
With the Flyers about to miss the playoffs for only the second time in 18
seasons, the focus in Philadelphia turns to what has to be done for the
team to avoid a similar fate a year from now.
This isn't a town where missing the playoffs is taken lightly. Owner Ed
Snider wants to win -- now.
Having said that, there's the danger of overreacting to a lockout-shortened
season when a lot of strange and surprising things happened around the
league.
"I've never even thought along those lines," Holmgren said. "I think Peter's
a good coach, I think our coaches have done a good job under the
circumstances. Nobody's happy with the position we're in and not being in
the playoffs. We need to sit down at talk at the end of the year and figure
out a way to get back in. That's what we do."
There's been just as much if not more speculation about the future of Ilya
Bryzgalov, who is wrapping up Year 2 of a nine-year, $51 million deal with
the Flyers. Some believe the proper thing to do with the Russian netminder
would be to use one of the two compliance buyouts the NHL offered up in
the new CBA which don't count against the cap. All it would cost is money,
as in $23 million over the next 14 years according to capgeek.com, if the
Flyers were to buy him out.
That talk intensified at the trade deadline after the Flyers acquired goalie
Steve Mason. But as Holmgren put it Monday, he was only trying to
strengthen the team's depth of the position, not replace Bryzgalov. People
should not have read more into it than that, the GM said.
"Steve is a guy that we've liked. When the opportunity came up to make the
trade for him, it was the intention of having good goaltending," Holmgren
said. "I think right now with Ilya and Steve, we've got good goaltending
CAROLINA HURRICANES
moving forward. Any talk of anything other than that I think is out of
bounds."
they downed the Phoenix Coyotes 4-0 Monday to strengthen their playoff
hopes.
The point, Holmgren said, is to protect Bryzgalov next season so he doesn't
have to play too many games.
The Red Wings remain in ninth place, but if they win their final three games
against the Los Angeles Kings, Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars, they
would extend the playoff appearance streak to 22 seasons.
"Ilya played a lot of games this year, but he's not going to play 82 games
next season," Holmgren said. "You need a guy that can go in. Steve's a
young guy still, he's had some success at an early age in our league. I think
working with (goalies coach) Jeff Reese he can get back to a good level. He
certainly has the right attitude about it. He's been great since he's been
here."
To be clear, I asked Holmgren if there was any basis at all to the
speculation of a Bryzgalov buyout.
"No," he said.
But there is offseason work to be done for a Flyers team that is just three
years removed from a berth in the Stanley Cup final.
"Now we have to figure out a way to get back in the thick of things,"
Holmgren said. "I like our group moving forward. We'll look at a number of
different things through the draft and through the rest of the summer and
come up with something that will help us get back in the mix."
ESPN LOADED: 04.23.2013
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Websites
USA TODAY / NHL awards vote coming down to wire
"The only thing we really care about is getting into the playoffs," Zetterberg
said. "And we would have the same feeling if we hadn't made it last year."
Johan Franzen scored twice, and Zetterberg contributed three assists to
support the 34-save shutout posted by Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard.
"I'm impressed with how hard we have played," said Detroit coach Mike
Babcock. "Lots of times we've played hard, and haven't gotten the results.
Tonight, we played hard and got the results."
The Red Wings' streak is the longest active one among the four major
sports. The NBA's San Antonio Spurs are second with a 16-year streak.
The Red Wings have 50 points, but they are one point out of seventh place
in the Western Conference. The Minnesota Wild are seventh with 51 points
and have three games remaining. The Columbus Blue Jackets are eighth
with 51 points and two games remaining.
The loss devastates the Coyotes' playoff aspirations. They are five points
out of a playoff spot with three games remaining.
"Five-on-five, we were hanging in there good," said Coyotes coach Dave
Tippett, "but special teams dictated the outcome."
More than playoff positioning is at stake in the final week of the season.
Detroit generated three of its goals on the power play. Franzen redirected
Brunner's shot from the point at 2:37 of the first period to give Detroit a 1-0
lead.
The latest vote of the 12-member USA TODAY Sports power rankings
suggests that postseason awards could also come down to the wire.
"Any time you get the first goal, it's a lot easier playing," Detroit defenseman
Niklas Kronwall said.
Eight people on the panel are voting members of the Professional Hockey
Writers Association, which will decide the Hart Trophy (MVP), Norris Trophy
(defenseman) and Calder Trophy (rookie), among others.
With less than a minute left in the period. Brunner scored his 12th goal of
the season with Zetterberg and Kronwall assisting.
Mike Brehm, USA TODAY Sports12:39 a.m. EDT April 23, 2013
Results of the April 22 vote:
-Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby, who continues to lead the league
in scoring three weeks after suffering a broken jaw, maintained his position
atop the MVP race. He did receive one fewer first-place vote.
Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin jumped to within eight points of
Crosby after a late-season surge in which he has scored 21 goals in 20
games.
-The closest vote is for the Norris Trophy, where the Minnesota Wild's Ryan
Suter, Montreal Canadiens' P.K. Subban and Penguins' Kris Letang were
tied for first among defensemen.
-Columbus Blue Jackets' Sergei Bobrovsky passed the Boston Bruins'
Tuukka Rask for the goaltending lead (general managers vote on the
Vezina Trophy) and Florida Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau
remained top rookie.
USA TODAY LOADED: 04.23.2013
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USA TODAY / Red Wings rout Coyotes, aid playoff hopes
Kevin Allen, USA TODAY Sports11:52 p.m. EDT April 22, 2013
DETROIT — Henrik Zetterberg says he will ponder the Detroit Red Wings'
streak of 21 playoff appearances more when he's in a rocking chair than he
does now as captain of a team scrapping to keep it alive.
"It's something to (think about) when you are done playing," Zetterberg said.
But Zetterberg added "you don't want to be part of the team when the
streak is done," and he and his teammates took steps to avoid that when
The same pair assisted on Valtteri Filppula's power play goal in the second
period. Franzen's second goal was an empty-netter.
It was the first time in a month that the team had scored as many as four
goals in a game. The Red Wings have struggled to score of late.
"Let's not jinx anything," said Red Wings forward Dan Cleary. "It was
obviously a good sign."
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USA TODAY / NHL preview: Matt Cooke goes to Ottawa
Mike Brehm, USA TODAY Sports2:54 p.m. EDT April 22, 2013
Five games are on the schedule with seven days left in the regular season.
Things to know about Monday's games:
Pittsburgh Penguins at Ottawa Senators, 7:30: The Senators could clinch a
playoff spot with a win and a Winnipeg Jets loss. But the media buildup to
the game has been about what happened in February. Pittsburgh's Matt
Cooke took Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson into the boards and his
skate ended up cutting the Norris Trophy winner's Achilles tendon. Karlsson
has been out since, though he's practicing again and getting close. The
NHL called the hit a hockey play gone bad, but Senators owner Eugene
Melnyk ripped Cooke as a goon soon after. Expect Cooke to be booed
every time he's on the ice, and hockey code suggests that he will have to
drop the gloves at some point in the game. But with a playoff berth not yet
secure, the Senators can't focus on revenge. Penguins goalie Marc-Andre
Fleury didn't make the trip because his wife is in labor, and defenseman
Kris Letang is out with food poisoning, according to the Penguins' Twitter
feed.
MORE: Monday's NHL scoreboard
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Phoenix Coyotes at Detroit Red Wings, 7:30: The Columbus Blue Jackets'
big win on Sunday night makes this a must-win for both teams. Neither
team would officially be eliminated with a loss, but they would no longer
control their fates. Detroit's Patrick Eaves will join the lineup for Drew Miller
(broken hand), according to the Detroit Free Press.
O’Brien was stationed at Boylston and Fairfield, about 300 yards from the
finish line. He said he was with Mike Foley, who grew up with Yandle and
served in the U.S. Army in Iraq. He said they could hear and feel the first
blast, and Foley knew immediately it was a bomb. They hopped a fence
and ran toward the smoke, as others ran away.
Chicago Blackhawks at Vancouver Canucks, 10:30: A Chicago win and a
Penguins regulation loss would give the Blackhawks the Presidents' Trophy
and home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. The Canucks had won
the last two. Vancouver will clinch the Northwest Division title by getting to
overtime.
“And then the second one went off [about a block away],” O’Brien said. “We
were in the second pile.”
LOOK AHEAD: What's at stake this week
Anaheim Ducks at Edmonton Oilers, 9:30: If the Ducks can beat the Oilers
for the second night in a row, they will clinch the Pacific Division title.
Winnipeg at Buffalo Sabres, 7: The Jets, trying to make the playoffs for the
second time in franchise history, can still finish eighth or win the Southeast
Division and finish third. The Jets' big game is Tuesday at Washington, but
they need this one, too. With Zach Bogosian (head) out, the Jets recalled
defenseman Zach Redmond. Jets captain Andrew Ladd (eight points in
three games) was named NHL player of the week.
671879
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YAHOO SPORTS / Keith Yandle to give 'Martin Richard' jersey to family of
8-year-old bombing victim
Nicholas J. Cotsonika
Keith Yandle will not auction off the Phoenix Coyotes jersey he wore in
warm-ups Saturday night to honor Martin Richard, the 8-year-old hockey
fan who died in the Boston Marathon bombings last week.
Keith Yandle has had the words "Pray For Boston" on his skates since the
bombing.The family has reached out to say it would rather have the jersey
itself.
Yandle hopes that one day, when the Coyotes’ season is over and he’s
back home in Boston, he will be able to deliver the jersey to the family
personally. He hopes to go with his wife’s uncle, Sean O’Brien, a Boston
fire lieutenant who was on the scene of the bombings, and O’Brien’s 9-yearold daughter, Ava, a classmate and close friend of Richard’s.
“It’ll be tough,” said Yandle on Monday. “But it’ll be something they wanted,
and it will be special giving it to them.”
Yandle wanted to do something, anything. He is the grandson of a Boston
firefighter. He has a child himself and another one due soon. He grew up in
Milton, maybe 20 minutes from the marathon finish line, and returns every
summer. When he speaks of home, his Boston accent comes back strong.
Last Monday, he had a pregame meal and went to his place in the Phoenix
area. He noticed something unsettling – group texts and email messages in
which friends and family members were asking things like, “Is everybody
OK? Where are you?”
“And then I turned on the news,” he said, “and it was a pretty scary thing to
see.”
Two bombs had gone off on Boylston Street. Yandle knew so many people
in and around the area – spectators, runners, first responders.
Yandle’s brother, Brian, was watching the marathon with his 6-year-old son,
Brian Jr. They were about 800 yards away from the finish line. They started
walking toward it, but they had been at the Red Sox game earlier and were
tired. They turned around and went home.
Many of Yandle’s buddies were there. One of them was running. Brendan
Byrne finished about six minutes before the bombs went off. His parents
stood right at the row of flags about five minutes before the first blast.
In an online chat with buddies, Yandle asked if anyone had an idea of
something he could do. Ryan Whitney, a Boston native who plays for the
Edmonton Oilers, suggested he write “PRAY FOR BOSTON” on his skates.
Yandle had the Coyotes’ equipment man write the message in black marker
on the white plastic above his blade, because he didn’t trust his own
handwriting. He wore the message that night against the San Jose Sharks
and has continued to wear it since.
“It was a hard day for everyone,” Yandle said. “I just wanted everyone back
home to know I was praying for them and with them in spirit.”
Martin Richard's family has asked for the jersey that Yandle wore in tribute
to the 8-year-old bombing victim.Later came official word that three people
had been killed and dozens had been injured. One of the dead was
Richard. He was from the Dorchester part of Boston. Yandle’s brother lives
there. Yandle’s wife, Kristyn, grew up there.
“It’s a tight-knit community,” Yandle said. “Everybody knows everybody.”
O’Brien’s daughter was in the same Grade 3 class with Richard at
Neighborhood House Charter School. O’Brien said they were part of “a very
tight crew” of five or six friends.
Yandle texted O’Brien, asking if there was anything he could do.
One of the photos released of Richard showed him smiling at a Boston
Bruins game. Before the Coyotes played Saturday night against the
Chicago Blackhawks, Yandle warmed up in a jersey with “MARTIN
RICHARD” across the back. It was No. 8.
“I just wanted to show the family that I was thinking about them and trying to
have their son’s spirit live on, just to get a game in the NHL and have him
out there on my jersey,” Yandle said. “It was just something. I just wanted to
show my respects to them.”
O’Brien said Yandle’s gesture was “from the heart.” The idea to auction it
off was secondary.
“If Keith was a garbage man in Boston, he’d want to go over there and cut
their lawn,” O’Brien said. “He’s just that type of kid. He’s a great kid. …
“You can count professional hockey players from this part of the world on
one hand. To have someone who excels as much as Keith does is
impressive. It makes for a small world. He wants to do something for the
family. He doesn’t want to throw money at it. He wants to do something that
will last.”
Yandle said a member of Richard’s family reached out to his brother
Sunday and asked for the jersey. He said that was “even better.” They can
always auction off other stuff to raise money.
He talked to O’Brien on Sunday and told him he wanted to deliver the jersey
himself this summer. He asked O’Brien if he’d go with him. O’Brien said he
would.
They just want to help any way they can and respect the family’s wishes.
“I think when the season’s over I’ll reach out to [the family], and if it’s OK,
Keith and I will walk over, maybe take Ava with us,” O’Brien said. “We’ll
probably take the jersey over to the Richards, if it’s OK with the

CAROLINA HURRICANES

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