Category: NHL General

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NHL General

Odds and Ends: Overtime hockey bumped by horse interviews



Glass completely empty

Everyone sort of agrees that even if you don’t like hockey very much that playoff hockey is exciting as hell. And overtime playoff hockey is basically the tits and/or ass. So how could it be possible that NBC decided to dump their hockey coverage of the Sabres/Senators in overtime to go to their coverage of the Preakness two hours before the actual race?

This makes absolutely no sense to us and we think it’s a travesty that the NHL has so little pull/cache that interviewing a bunch of rich jackasses about their horses takes precedence over an exciting sport where there are actual athletes.

In other news…

[Sports By Brooks]: If Reggie Bush loses out to this guy, the world might explode

[BBC Sports]: Soccer manager hired on Thursday, fired on Monday.

[The Offside]: These fans need some tutelage from Eagles fans — their aim is terrible

[Basketbawful]: Uhh… why is this news?

[Miami Herald]: Catching eggs makes more sense than catching bricks

And finally, a really fascinating look at how the NBA Draft became a lottery.

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NHL General

Wednesday Morning NHL Roundup



And you thought that Steve Nash took a nasty
check!

Red Wings 5, Ducks 0
The postseason in both sports currently experiencing it can get many titles – “Not that interesting” and “Lacking Individual Stars” come to mind – but here’s one I’d like to go with: “Men Behaving Badly.”

Nary a night after Robert Horry made Suns vs. Spurs Game 4 look like a hockey game, Chris Pronger whips out a nasty hit in the middle of Anaheim just getting laughed off their own ice in Game 3. Now the Wings are up 2-1, Pronger could get some type of disciplinary action, and here’s the aftermath for you, dear fan: out of all the potentially interesting Cup Finals Matchups – say, Buffalo vs. Detroit (Hasek), or Anaheim vs. Buffalo (two really good teams) – we’re likely going to get Ottawa vs. Detroit.

Now, I have no problem with this, per se: Ottawa’s first line is redonkeyballs, and there’s some good storylines there within. But, can the brothers on the ice and the hardwood just start being civil so that we can play these games full strength and see who really deserves a shot to lift the hardware? I hate tainted outcomes, unless I’m the one that cheated and did so successfully. But that was once – third grade dodgeball – and never again.

[Ted Bauer will be covering the NHL playoffs for us this year. You can find more of Ted’s work at A Price Above Bip Roberts.]

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NHL General

Monday Morning NHL Roundup


Ducks 4, Red Wings 3
Here’s a few interesting things about this tilt, which is now 1-1 after Scott Niedermayer scored in OT to put the Ducks over the hump. We like listing things numerically, so that’s what we’re about to do:

1. Scott Niedermayer is a really good name for a wallflower in high school. You know Biff, from Back to the Future? Can’t you just envision him screaming “NEE-DER-MY-ER!” in the same voice as he screamed “MC-FLY?” I can.

2. The fact that the Niedermayer brothers might have surpassed the Sedin twins in terms of “Western Conference relevance” is utterly surprising, although I guess the Ducks were a higher seed.

3. There are several moralistic questions involved with this series right now. For example, if you root for Anaheim to win – and they now have home ice, for whatever that’s worth – are you secretly supporting marital discord? See, there’s this long-standing rumor that Chris Pronger left Edmonton because he was cheating on his wife and needed to get out of dodge. If you support Detroit, are you a bandwagon guy? I mean, Detroit is en fuego recently: Pistons have lost a scant 1 game in these playoffs, the Tigers are the defending AL Champions, and even Kid Rock seems kinda relevant these days. Do you root for Teemu or Dominik to get their career-validating championship? Do you root for Holmstrom or MacDonald to get on the national radar first? So many questions. I might have to take a nap or something.

[Ted Bauer will be covering the NHL playoffs for us this year. You can find more of Ted’s work at A Price Above Bip Roberts.]

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NHL General

Friday Morning NHL Roundup


Senators 5, Sabres 2
I’d like to think this series right here might “save hockey,” in the sense of giving it a broader cultural relevance again. If Game 1 is any indication, I’m sorely mistaken. Here’s the problem: Buffalo had a lead, then squandered it (I’m not sure what else the city of Buffalo does, athletically), and the Senators ultimately won by three goals. This game, mind you, was in Buffalo, thus shifting home-ice advantage. The Sabres dropped a game at home to the Islanders in Round 1, but that’s The Islanders, and this is The Senators, and there’s a big difference aside from quality of generic nickname.

Since I didn’t write up my Eastern Conference Preview yesterday (sue me; I was at Spider Man 3), I’ll offer it up now, by way of a story from the way back. When the Red Wings and Avalanche were predominant, year-in-and-year-out rivals, they were playing in (I believe) the Western Conference Finals in the late 1990s or early 2000s. In one game, Claude Lemieux laid an absolutely disgusting hit into the boards on Kris Draper. Gary Thorne, calling the game, said (with limited emotion, which is odd for him calling hockey): “Far boards. Draper. (Pause) Draper’s hurt. (Pause) Oh, Draper’s hurt. He was leveled by Claude Lemieux.” It’s funny if you hear it, and also if you see it, because the ref just grabs Lemieux and shoves him towards the penalty box.

The relevance of that story is simple: every time I think about this series, I can hear Thorne in my head saying: “It wasn’t blood. It was paint.” No, no, that’s not it. I can hear him saying: “Far boards. Drury. Drury’s hurt.” Chris Drury, the lifeblood of the Sabres in many respects (notably being a guy consistently associated with winning, which they aren’t), is going to get absolutely leveled by someone in this series, and that’s gonna cause another brawl the size of the one they had in February. As Lindy Ruff screamed at Bryan Murray during a recent meeting between those teams, “Do that (expletive) to some hack. Don’t go after our (expletive) captain.”

Point is, this series will get personal. Once it does, I think the Sabres can show enough fire to get themselves back to a Cup – hell, they need this more than any sporting city needs anything right now, I’d argue – and contend with whoever I think is winning the West, which you’ll learn tomorrow. I’d say it takes ’em 7, and hopefully Game 7 is epic, and blood is all over the ice. Then we know hockey’s back.

[Ted Bauer will be covering the NHL playoffs for us this year. You can find more of Ted’s work at A Price Above Bip Roberts.]

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NHL General

Tuesday Morning NHL Roundup


Red Wings 2, Sharks 0

Most people who’ve seen my ramblings on the Internet know my Sharks connection, but I’ll summarize it here: I’ve never even set foot in the city of San Jose, but in August of 1999, a scant two weeks before I went off to college, my dad and I were shopping for potential room posters. I came across a Sharks poster in the bargain bin and, liking the colors more than anything, I purchased it. I threw it up on Move In Day, and sure enough, the token “Awkward Kid Who Lives on Your Hallway” (everyone has one) was from San Jose in my floor’s case, and came in all atwitter. Over that year, we bonded – we once got absolutely hammered watching a Sharks game, which might have been the first time he ever got drunk – and actually became pretty good friends. It’s entirely based, at least initially, on the Sharks. I’m intrigued by the power of sports to bring people together in an almost religious way, and the Sharks were the first team I saw it with, which is utterly random but also fun in many ways.

So, I’m a “Sharks fan,” at least as much as one person can be without ever really watching an entire game of theirs sober. So, it hurt me last night when they got bounced from the NHL’s postseason boogie in favor of the Red Wings, especially knowing they held a 2-0 lead on said Wings at one point. A 41 year old goalie, Mr. Hasek, looked like he was 25 last night in stoning virtually everything the Sharkies threw at him. ‘Twas depressing, and yet again, the Sharks will not compete for Lord Stanley.

With the Red Wings win, the Conference Finals are set: Anaheim vs. Detroit, in a rematch of an interesting rivalry; and Buffalo vs. Ottawa, in a rematch of an utter bloodbath. I’ll write more about that later today for Sportscolumn. For now, I have to drown my Sharks tears with some Starbucks Coffee, which is roughly equivalent to sticking a hot brick of dirt in your mouth.

[Ted Bauer will be covering the NHL playoffs for us this year. You can find more of Ted’s work at A Price Above Bip Roberts.]

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NHL General

Monday Morning NHL Roundup


Sabres 5, Rangers 4
First, because – in the words of Fiddy – this is “how I do,” here’s a personal anecdote from this game: I had just played a spirited contest of touch football, and after said game, I had returned to the same house at which I imbibed on Cinco De Mayo. We still had a large quantity of beer and some meats to grill, so we got all tossed up on a Sunday afternoon for no reason. The boyfriend of the hostess, an amiable young Rangers fan, kept departing for long stretches of time. Finally, as the event was nearing its conclusion anyway, he came outside to the back – where I was polishing off my fourth Harpoon – and said, “Yo, last 2 minutes. Come check this out.”

Sure enough, the Rangers were down 1 at The Garden – the same place where so much magic has happened, and yet, so much defeat has been wrought – and across the final 2 minutes, they got about 9 looks at Ryan Miller. The problem was, none of the looks was actually legitimate; he stoned them on every ill-conceived shot along the way. However, with about five seconds left – as my friend’s boyfriend screamed “This is it, gentleman! This is your season!” – Miller was sweating profusely, reminding me of Game 7 of the Eastern Finals last year.

Speaking of the Eastern Finals, this year’s edition has a chance to be the series that “saves hockey,” in much the same way that De La Hoya vs. Mayweather was supposed to “save boxing,” or this past weekend’s Nationals vs. Cubs series could have “saved Washington, DC sports.” Uh, scratch that last one. The Senators and Sabres friggin’ hate each other. This series will go seven – mark my words – and there’s a good chance Chris Drury, the Golden Boy of the entire thing, may not make it through unscathed. These two teams had the most epic NHL brawl of the past five years in February of this season, and Lindy Ruff – who is certifiably insane – has delivered so much venom at the Senators in post-game pressers over the years, you’d think a holy war was about to break out. Also, the fact that it’s two cities a geography major might not be able to explain the relevance of makes it even more interesting; it’s literally a battle for redemption, and there’s gonna be a lot of red on that ice.

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NHL General

Friday Morning NHL Roundup


Ducks 2, Canucks 1
In the irony of all ironies to end this one, a team that was based on a brother duo – the Sedins – for most of the season (hell, the Sedins ended that 4OT game in the Dallas series) gets run out of the playoffs for good by another, less-heralded-overall brother duo. Rob Niedermayer deflected a puck in the second overtime over to his brother, Scott, who poked it through Roberto Luongo to end another overtime battle between these guys.

Even though the series ended up 4-1 Ducks – they’re headed to the Western Conference Finals, awaiting the winner of Red Wings vs. Sharks – it was actually closer than it appeared. This makes us sad, when cities with one professional team of record get bounced. Look, I mean it sucks to be in Dallas right now (Tony Romo can’t hold snaps, Dirk is growing a man-gina, the Rangers haven’t been relevant since – well, ever, and the Stars lost to Vancouver itself in the first round of the NHL playoffs). But it might suck to be in Vancouver, because now you have nothing, unless you’re fans of the Warriors because the Sonics have ceased to be relevant, and, you know, well, the Grizzlies kind of left and all.

We’ll say this much: at least Luongo got his first-round win, right? At the very least, that happened. And Ducks vs. Sharks, if it happens – the battle for Paul Kariya’s Metaphysical Soul – is going to be a barn burner.

[Ted Bauer will be covering the NHL playoffs for us this year. You can find more of Ted’s work at A Price Above Bip Roberts.]

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NHL General

Thursday Morning NHL Roundup


Senators 3, Devils 2
As the Senators take a 3-1 lead in this series en route to their likely bloodbath with Buffalo in the Conference Finals, I don’t think the whole “What’s happening to Martin Brodeur?” point can be belabored enough. He won his first-round series against the Lightning, sure; but Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier pretty much scored on him at will; the only reason Tampa didn’t win that series is because no one else could score (kinda reminds me of how the Houston Rockets play sometimes, no?). Last night he got smoked again by a team of very quick shooting attackmen, and the Devils are on the brink, much like Tony Soprano in his final season. I’m not entirely sure what that means, but it sounded kinda cool.

Red Wings 3, Sharks 2
Two games, one night, one identical final. Spooky. But – they were quite different. See, I was at a bar last night (uh..), and right before I looked up, and Whoopi Goldberg was, for some reason, being interviewed by Michael Kay. Regardless of that image, the ticker on YES revealed Sharks 2, Red Wings 1 with about 17:00 left. I felt confident in that outcome – and the more pressing game in front of me, Phoenix vs. LA in hoops, wasn’t over yet, so I had to get home to watch that one. I wake up this morning, and what to my puck wondering eyes should appear but this outcome. Apparently, the Wings scored with 33 seconds left in regulation, then in OT to win this puppy. Series is 2-2, headed back to “The Joe” on Saturday. Remember when Hogan vs. Flair headlined Halloween Havoc ’94 at The Joe? I do. Hogan vs. Flair is, in many ways, an apt analogy for this series – both these squads have been around the block a few times postseason-wise. Hogan is probably the Wings – more glory in the past in the form of “world titles.” While Flair actually had more titles than Hogan, no one really gave a crap about that Crockett promotion, so his victories – like the Sharks’ – seemed less significant. If you’re scoring at home, please note I spent 3/4 of this post discussing MLB (Kay), NBA (Suns), and WWF/WCW, and about 1/4 discussing hockey. It’s a good thing Sportscolumn isn’t paying me.

[Ted Bauer will be covering the NHL playoffs for us this year. You can find more of Ted’s work at A Price Above Bip Roberts.]

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NHL General

Wed Morning NHL roundup


Rangers 2, Sabres 1
Is it just me, or is this whole “Upstate vs. Downstate New York” battle starting to look a little like Scott Norwood might come hopping onto the ice? The Sabres are falling apart a little, and doing so in creative ways they haven’t collapsed since the late 1990s. On Tuesday, Daniel Briere appeared to score a game-tying goal with 17 seconds left, but it was disallowed when it was ruled Lundqvist stopped it before it crossed the line. Somewhere, Brett Hull snickered and said “Buffalo… HA” under his breath before continuing to make out with a supermodel. The series is 2-2. You know Mike Bloomberg wants to make that bet now with the Buffalo Mayor.

Ducks 3, Canucks 2 (1 OT)
These guys don’t like to play just an entire regulation game, apparently. The Ducks took a 3-1 lead – they might wrap it up Thursday at home – when Travis Moen netted one 2:07 into overtime. Roberto Luongo has to be thinking that first round was a glorious dream at this point. Honestly, though, you should be pretty hyped about a potential San Jose vs. Anaheim Western Finals; that might take you back to the Avs vs. Red Wings days, i.e. “When hockey was once relevant.”

[Ted Bauer will be covering the NHL playoffs for us this year. You can find more of Ted’s work at A Price Above Bip Roberts.]

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NHL General

Monday Morning NHL Roundup


Rangers 2, Sabres 1
The Blueshirts hadn’t beaten the – uh, Blueshirts from the other part of the state, I guess – in 7 tries this season, and for a while, it seemed like it would be eight. See, this puppy went into one overtime, and then, as is the proper style for these NHL playoffs, it went into a second overtime, and that went close to 17 minutes – we were approaching the dastardly THIRD OVERTIME – before someone (specifically, Michal Rozsival) scored on a screened off Ryan Miller. It’s 2-1 Sabres series-wise, which is the mathematical inverse of the score of this game. That’s absolutely trippy.

Ducks 3, Canucks 2
Corey Perry, who was eligible for selection in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft yet was not selected at all (feel better, Brady Quinn? You should), scored the game-winner on Roberto Luongo, who once went No. 1 in the same Draft. Here’s the lesson Quinn should take away from this: someday in the future, the Browns will play the Raiders. Now, CBS will send their G-Level team to this game, because even though both fan bases are rabid, no one gives a crap. So, with Dan Bonner somehow on play by play (“But guys, I do college basketball color…”), Quinn will oppose Russell, and with :03 left, Quinn will absolutely bomb it out – showing Russell arm strength in the process – and hit Braylon Edwards in stride for a 77 yard TD. Edwards will then break his leg celebrating. Anyway, the point is, don’t pass on Corey Perry. He can do some damage. So can the Ducks.

[Ted Bauer will be covering the NHL playoffs for us this year. You can find more of Ted’s work at A Price Above Bip Roberts.]