Archive for the ‘NHL Teams’ Category
Blackhawks Win Stanley Cup!
Finally last night the Chicago Blackhawks broke their dry spell of 49 years by winning the Stanley Cup in Philadelphia. They took the series 4-2 by beating the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime 4-3. The final goal was scored by Patrick Kane. What a great night for the Blackhawks who had gone the longest time without winning the Stanley Cup. That record now goes to the Toronto Maple Leafs who haven’t won the Cup since 1967.
The Conn Smythe Trophy went to 22 year old team captain Jonathan Toews.
Of the entire Blackhawks team only three players have had the pleasure of winning the Stanley Cup in the past. John Madden has won two with the New Jersey Devils, Andrew Ladd won one with the Carolina Hurricanes and Tomas Kopecky won one with the Detroit Red Wings.
After arriving back in Chicago for an early morning breakfast, the team headed to the parade route to be met by thousands of appreciative fans.
Well done Blackhawks!!
Blackhawks’ Got Their Grove Back!
What a game! Chicago Blackhawks beat the Philadelphia Flyers last night 7-4 to take back the series lead. The Chicago Blackhawks now lead the series 3-2 and are only 1 game away from winning the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1961. Chicago has not been successful in winning a game in Philadelphia but hope to change that with a win in game 6 on Wednesday night to take the Stanley Cup.
It seems as though the Blackhawks change up of lines have had great results with a 3-0 lead in the first period. Sometimes a shake up of the good old things can work wonders. After a terrible first period for the Flyers, coach Peter Laviolette pulled goalie Michael Leighton and replaced him with Brian Boucher.
With just over 2 minutes left in regulation time, Philadelphia pull their goalie for an extra man advantage. This, unfortunately, gave the Blackhawks an extra chance for another goal. With an empty net, Dustin Byfuglien, scored the Blackhawks 7th goal at 17:55.
With game 6 coming this Wednesday in Philadelphia the Blackhawks will have to go some to pull themselves together knowing their record of losses in Philadelphia. However, the pressure will also be on for the Flyers knowing that only one more loss for them will be the end of their hopes for the prestegious Stanley Cup.
Stanley Cup Finals Tied Up!
Chicago Blackhawks have lost their 2 game lead and are now back to square one. The Blackhawks have now lost 10 consecutive games in Philadelphia, however, they return home to the windy city tonight for game 5.
Chicago cut a three-goal deficit to 4-3 in the third period, but Jeff Carter scored an empty-net goal at 19:35. “We wanted to win at least one on the road,” Toews said. ”We had a lot of success before coming in here. It’s frustrating when you’re that close, but tonight was kind of like Wednesday night where it was too little, too late.”
Besides the fact that the Blackhawks spent too much time in the penalty box, their top three scorers continued to struggle. Maybe they will have to switch their lines around to create more scoring opportunities. Patrick Kane was minus 4 for the night. Jonathan Toews and Dustin Byfuglien had three shots on goal each and failed to score.
“It wasn’t good enough,” said Chicago captain Jonathan Toews. ”I don’t know if it was their crowd that gets them going, but we’ve got to find a way in this building. We need to click better from the start when we come back for Game 6. We’ll be ready for that when we do. We’ll put this one behind us and get excited that we’re playing at home again.”
The Chicago Blackhawks remain confident even after their 2 losses away from home. With the backing of a crowd in excess of 22,000 screaming fans, Chicago should be able to pull off a win tonight in game 5.
Leafs Win As Phaneuf Makes Debut
The Toronto Maple Leafs had something to cheer about last night at the Air Canada Center. The Leafs ended a six game losing streak to beat the New Jerseys Devils 3-0. The Leafs new defenseman, Dion Phaneuf, helped the leafs take a very needed win.
Phaneuf arrived in Toronto from Calgary as part of a seven player deal made on Sunday. Arriving from Calgary with Phaneuf is forward Fredrik Sjostrom. Sjostrom said that the Toronto Maple Leafs and their fans can expect more of the same results. Sjostrom had an assist during his first game last night while Phaneuf failed to earn a point. Phaneuf, however, did prove himself as a force to be reckoned with. Sjostrom said; ”He plays with heart and soul out there, tough, tough hockey. You’re going to see that every night from him.”
Toronto coach Ron Wilson said; “Dion got a couple of good hits in early and just the fact that he’s on the ice, the other team is looking before they ever attempt anything, so that’s nice. Any puck that gets in his wheelhouse he’s going to pound it in the general direction of the net. He moves the puck really well. He’s an excellent skater. It really wasn’t anything I didn’t know about him.”
Being a Leaf fan myself I will be watching the Leafs with a new sense of hope and perhaps even be able to toast the Leafs with one of my Toronto Maple Leafs Glasses.
Bobby Orr’s “Moment In Time”
Today I would like to put the spotlight on Bobby Orr, one of the greatest hockey players in the history of the game, if not the greatest player of all time.
I am lucky enough to own a piece of Orr’s history in the NHL with the Boston Bruins with a framed copy of Bobby Orr’s “Moment In Time”. Having a hand signed copy of this amazing picture is a fantastic thing.
Bobby Orr’s first season with the NHL, playing for the Boston Bruins, showed the fans just how talented the young man was at only 18 years old. He got his first point in that game with an assist. Orr had a great first season winning the Calder Trophy as the best rookie and also made the NHL’s Second All-Star Team. He was second in the league in scoring by defensemen and was a plus-30. Orr won his first Stanley Cup in 1970. The Boston Bruins hadn’t won the Stanley Cup in 29 years.
Bobby Orr’s “Moment In Time” occurred on May 10, 1970 in game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals between the Boston Bruins and the Saint Louis Blues. Boston led the series 3 games to none. With Orr coming in from the blue line to keep the puck in the St. Louis zone, he shot the puck into the corner where Derek Sanderson took control. Orr raced toward the net and Sanderson passed the puck to him. After Orr scored, Blues defenseman Noel Picard hooked Orr’s skate with his stick and catapulted Orr through the air to create one of the most famous sports pictures of all time.
At :40 in overtime of game 4, #4 Bobby Orr scored Boston’s 4th goal as the Bruins go 4 straight to win their first Stanley Cup in 29 years.
Thrashers Take a Beating From The Capitals
The Atlanta Trashers were destroyed last night by the Washington Capitals 8-1 at the Philips Arena in Atlanta. Atlanta’s record now 19-19-6 gives them 44 points for the season. Last night’s game certainly didn’t give their fans anything to cheer about.
Maxim Afinogenov scored the only goal for the Thrashers. The goal was assisted by Pavel Kubina and Tobias Enstrom. The assist gave Kubina his 20th for the season. While Enstrom now has the team high for the season at 32 and has 35 points. He is tied 8th overall for the NHL in assists and is ranked 4th among defensemen for points and is tied for 3rd for assists.
The Thrashers went through two goalies. Johan Hedberg took the loss for his team. He made five saves on nine shots. He was replaced in the second period by Ondrej Pavelec. Pavelec didn’t have much luck either making 24 saves on 28 shots. Both goalies let in 4 goals. Washington’s goalie Michal Neuvirth faced 39 shots only letting in one goal.
The Thrashers will face the Ottawa Sentors at the Philips Arena for the first time this season on Tuesday, January 12th at 7p.m. Hopefully they will give their fans something to cheer about on Tuesday and maybe they could raise a glass or two for their team. It might help if they have some NHL Atlanta Thrashers glasses to toast them with.
Ovechkin Adds a “C” to His Jersey
Alex Ovechkin made his debut as captain of the Washington Capitals last night in a game against the Montreal Canadiens. Ovechkin, 24, of Moscow is the 6th Russian native to be a captain in the NHL. He is the Capitals 14th captain and the second youngest captain in the team’s history. The youngest captain at the age of 21 was Ryan Walter in the 1979-80 season. Ovechkin takes over from Chris Clark who was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets on December 28th.
Washington general manager George McPhee and coach Bruce Boudreau made the decision to name Ovechkin as the new captain. Ovechkin told them to talk to his teammates first before he would accept the position.
“Our team has adopted Alex’s personality and the energy, passion and drive to win that are his hallmarks have become our team’s as well,” GM George McPhee said in a press release. “He sets the tone on the ice as well as off. He’s respectful to everyone and a great ambassador for our team and our sport. We look forward to him leading the Washington Capitals for a long time.”
With Ovechkin’s new position, I’m sure that the Ovechkin jerseys will be selling like hot cakes!
The Feel of a Franchise
Let’s face it—despite the fact that we are constantly preached the old adage of “don’t judge a book by its cover,” we are all influenced by appearances. One place where this is most evident is in professional sports. Although the players on a team largely create a squad’s character, the logo and uniform color scheme also plays a role in how we view the franchise.
In the NHL, for example, the NHL team logo, name and colors of the New Jersey Devils conjures up images of aggressive play and ruthless defense—although this was also the case during their glory days in around the turn of the millennium. Teams such as the St. Louis Blues, on the other hand, I always associate with finesse and somewhat timid play. This is in large part due to their team name and colors I am sure.
Fourth From The Bottom Toronto Maple Leafs To Send Players To The Olympics
Although the Toronto Maple Leafs are near the bottom of the NHL standings, they will be able to send a few players to the Olympics. Surprising as it may seem, the Leafs do have a handful of decent players who will be beneficial to the Olympic line up.
Tomas Kaberle will be in his third Olympics playing for the Czech team who won a bronze medal in the 2006 Olympics. Although Jason Blake is a long shot for the US team, Phil Kessel and Mike Komisarek will be heading to Vancouver in February.
Sweden’s team will be getting Jonas Gustavsson and Niklas Hagman who made up part of Finland’s team when they won the silver in the 2006 games will also go to the Olympics. And last but not least center Mikhail Grabovski will play for Belarus.
With all of this talent heading off to the Olympics, it makes you wonder why the Toronto Maple Leafs are so near the bottom of the standings. It would be nice for the Leafs fans to be able to wear their Toronto Maple Leafs Jerseys with pride instead of just wondering whether their team will ever get back to the way they were in the good old days.
Philadelphia Flyers To Have Strong Showing In Olympics
The Philadelphia Flyers appear to have the opportunity to have a strong showing in the upcoming 2010 Olympic games. Unfortunately, Simon Gagne who has played in the last two Olympic games for Canada has had two hernias and abdominal surgery in early November which has precluded any chance for a third shot at the Olympics.
Matt Carle, winner of a gold medal at the 2004 world juniors, has improved greatly since he joined the Flyers. He had not shined while playing with the San Jose Sharks and the Tampa Bay Lightning. If his performance continues to improve, he will be considered for the US team.
Also 35-year old Chris Pronger will likely join team Canada to play in his fourth Olympics. Kimmo Timonen will play for Finland as well as Mika Pyorala. Although Pyorala is only in his first season playing for the NHL, he has put in nearly a decade playing for Finland and Sweden. He played for Finland in the past three World Chamionships.
Jeff Carter and captain Mike Richards will suit up for team Canada although Carter still has to prove himself over the new month.