Patrick Kane's Loose Change

Ode to Brendan Burke

2011-02-05T13:13:00.000-08:00

Brian Burke has always been a figurehead in the NHL spectrum that I've always admired.

He has a way of being the most honest and outspoken member of the general managers, and is never, ever afraid to say anything. But it was last year that we got to see a different side of Burke--acceptance. His son, Brendan, was playing hockey as a goaltender in high school and became a student manager at Miami University of Ohio, and it was in those years at high school he discovered his homosexuality. He quit the high school team because he was afraid of his teammates figuring out.

Turns out, he had one HELL of a group of guys at Miami University of Ohio, because all of his teammates, including the coach, Enrico Blasi, gave him full support of his orientation. No questions asked. It wasn't a big deal at all. Huge praise came to the Burke family, with tons of support coming from fans and the press alike.

Goes to show you, homosexuality in the athletic world means absolutely nothing in a negative sense, when you put your mind to it. John Buccigross wrote a long article for ESPN, and TSN did a long interview with both Brian and Brendan Burke, continuing to spread the word of the acceptance of not only his sexuality, but the fight to accept gay athletes.

It just felt like for the first time in a while, a great man with a great passion and great vision would stick around and make a huge impact in the world.

Then, it happened. One year ago, while driving in Indiana with a friend, Mark Reedy, the horrible road conditions forced Burke to lose control of his car and hit an oncoming truck...and that was that.

Brendan Burke, dead at the age of 21. An unspeakably awful tragedy that struck the hockey world and the sports world right at the heart. It goes to show you that sometimes, the wrong people are taken away at the worst possible times. But what Brendan Burke did for the world was take the first of many bold steps in the fight for acceptance. He was an advocate, but not a martyr. He and his mission will be forever missed.

Continue to rest in peace, Brendan. One day, that vision will be complete. You took the biggest step that nobody had the courage to.

Because you were a Burke. And the Burke family does bold things all the time.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

2010-12-30T09:29:00.000-08:00

The Winter Classic is coming up.

There's one problem. I have a feeling the word Winter should be put in quotation marks, because the weather looks awful. As of Thursday afternoon, the National Weather Service is forecasting a high of 51 degrees, and a 70% chance of showers. According to several sources, rain is not good for the ice surface.

The NHL has said if it can't be played on New Year's Day, it would be played the day after. Luckily for them, Mother Nature says mostly cloudy with a high of 35 degrees. That's better, but it's no true "Winter Classic".

In years past, the WC has been in Boston, Chicago and Buffalo. There's a key and significant similarity between these locations--they are consistently cold. With it a little bit more south than in years' past, the NHL took a gamble on it being a little warmer, and with questionable weather as a side effect.

The choice to have it in Buffalo in the midst of lake effect snow season was genius.

Problem is, that created expectations beyond what's conceivably possible. It should be snowing. It should be freezing cold. But it shouldn't feel like Spring and it shouldn't be raining. For the NHL, this is a disaster. If it doesn't happen on New Year's Day, that alone, I feel is a disaster. If the NHL were smart in this instance, they should start putting the rain date in their advertisements. If someone turns on NBC when the game were on and they see other programming, they won't know what happened.

Let the fans that aren't privy to that information know that it will be played the next day. I'm not sure why the NHL hasn't said that at all yet. That may be partially because they aren't counting their chickens before they hatch. Either way, it should have crossed their mind at this point.

A few suggestions for next year...pick a more established rivalry, not a manufactured rivalry. And pick a better location. I could go on about how the League should spread the wealth in different teams instead of having Pittsburgh twice, but if anything, I just feel like they should have picked a better location. Stay north. The mid-atlantic is a mess this time of year.

What are your thoughts?

Stupid Shootouts

2010-12-23T20:47:00.000-08:00

I'm sick of the shootout.

You've heard both sides of the argument before.

One side says it's great for the game. It's great to showcase the talent of the stars in the League. It decides ties in a timely manner. It's exciting. I mean, we've seen some pretty dazzling goals in the shootout, like Marek Malik's stunner through the legs in the umpteenth round against the Washington Capitals, or Mike Ribeiro's through-the-legs-one-handed-shot, or Brad Boyes' sheer dangles on a few occasions.

But I'm just sick of it.

There's only so many times you can dedicate your life to a hockey game, watch a really good one go down to the wire, head to overtime, and just get the feeling that you're destined to go to a shootout. So many tight checking games with low scores go to shootouts where the tight checking is out of everyone's hands. It's up to a skills competition to decide it.

Case in point, tonight's affair between the Penguins and Capitals.

That's not fair.

For those who do or don't know, I'm a Flyers fan. I know for a fact that the sole reason the Flyers made it to the playoffs was because of a shootout on the last game of the season. It was an unforgettable moment. But that isn't how it should have happened, in the true spirit of the game. I can't say I'm a hockey purist, but what I can say is if a game is an example of hard work, then let the hard work continue. Let overtime be five more minutes. Ten minutes of 4-on-4 will give a better chance for a game to end.

Five minutes is enough to make a sandwich, but it's not enough to solve a hockey game.

Make the overtime longer. We'll see less of this shootout gimmick, and more hockey games solved by the game of hockey itself. If a team is more of a grinding team, let them grind out the win. If a team is more of a skill team, let them dazzle you to the win. But don't make it a skills competition. Because it's not in the spirit of the game.

Do you think shootouts should exist?

I don't think so at all.

Hockey Passion At Its Finest

2010-12-18T18:47:00.000-08:00

HBO just recently premiered its flagship sports program for this winter: Penguins/Capitals 24/7. I got a chance to watch it recently, and I didn't know how I was going to feel about it going in. Candidly, I'm a Flyers fan first and foremost, but a fan of the game of hockey overall. I enjoy watching the game and every team fight their heart out night in and night out.

And that's exactly what HBO encapsulated in its first episode of this four-part special. I don't like the Penguins, I don't like the Capitals, but the passion that these hockey players exhibited in the show, right from the start, was extremely refreshing. These are two really good teams in the NHL--admittedly overplayed in the media, but...HBO captured the essence of these two teams really well.

Since it's presented as a drama, there are times where people might think that the producers scripted some of the moments, but as a hockey fan, I'd like to think that's not true. Sometimes, you can't script using the f-word 15 times in a span of 1:22. We know Bruce Boudreau of the Washington Capitals is a hothead to start with, and we know that Alexander Ovechkin is rather flamboyant with his mouth too. We know that this is entirely conceivable.

And the Penguins seem to have so much fun together. Everyone seems to love to hate Evgeni Malkin (and I can see why). As I was watching this program, I just grew to have this gigantic respect for these two teams. You could see how confidently serious the atmosphere is when a team is on a gigantic roll, and you could see how depressingly desperate a team is when they can't find the answers (and as of the 3-2 loss to Boston tonight, they haven't found them yet).

On the broadcast side of things, you see the game. As a broadcaster, I bring you the game. But as the HBO cameras roll behind the scenes, you can clearly see the frustration, the passion, the determination, and the sacrifice that goes into every single game that these players play. Broadcasting seems so simple when you see the game as it is. It's a back and forth affair, trying to accomplish one goal.

But this special has added a new-found appreciation of the game for me. And I hope that it has for everyone else too. It's wonderfully produced, expertly shot, seamlessly edited...it's just a beautiful program that captures why we all love hockey. Even if we don't like the teams involved.

Give it a watch if you have HBO, or if you hit the NHL's YouTube channel, you can watch it there.

Avs Make it 4 Straight In Windy City

2010-12-15T23:19:00.000-08:00

4 Straight. Twice in 2 days.

Two great stats there. The Avalanche's current streak, and the number of times they've dealt the hawks a loss. Today's recap will have a special element to it. We here at MHS have a man on the inside. Friend of the blog Tim Vander Tuuk was nice enough to forward along some audio from the Avs room.

Craig Anderson was a different goalie from the other night in Denver. I said after Monday's game that tonight would be a tigher affair. Anderson seems to read my stuff, or he came up with it on his own..He also took responsibility on himself for the two he let through..

I mentioned the streak above, Andy has a bit about that, and on new acquision Tomas Fleischmann (CTL C/V'ed once again)who had a hat trick tonight.

If you sense a re-occuring theme here, it's defensive tightning. Matt Duchene talks about it, and how the team started and ultimatley ended tonight..

The Avs try and make it 5 in a row Friday night when they face Ottawa at Pepsi Centre. It's an important home stretch for the club, as they don't play on the road again till Dec 30th where they travel to St. Louis. But we're not going to look ahead quite that far.

What's better than 4?

- Jaye

Guest Post

2010-12-14T21:30:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Matt from Down Goes Spezza

So as we get close to the start of 2011, we're beginning to see what teams are in it, and what teams are out of it. Needless to say, that's gonna make the trade market the place to be. We've got a few possible deals that might begin to go down. We think they're plausible. (All salary numbers from CapGeek)

Free Agents:

Evgeni Nabokov (G):

Possible destinations: Tampa Bay, Toronto, Florida (Pending a Vokoun move), NYI (Pending Rick DiPietro's annual stint on LTIR), Colorado

Tampa: Needs goaltending, has an amazing offense but suspect D after the top pair. Also has the cap space to make a move happen.

Toronto: Needs goaltending as well, but has a suspect offense and underachieving D, could be the fire Ron Wilson needs to help the Leafs move forward

Florida: Could use Nabby to finish off the season if Vokoun gets moved.

NYI: He's the best option short of trading away the young future forwards of the team for Vokoun which I can't see happening.

Colorado: If Anderson can't stay healthy, having a Nabby/Budaj would work for them.

Now trades:

The Flyers need to unload salary to keep under the salary cap. Any of the 4 players above could be moved. (Ed. Note - You knew this was coming)

Matt Walker (D): He's in a rehab assignment with AHL Phantoms right now, could be back next week or so. (Note: Walker was re-injured during this assignment, he's now on LTIR)

Possible Partners: Jiri Hudler for Nik Zherdev and Matt Walker

Like last year when the Flyers sent Tollefsen for Leino, Hudler could come for Zherdev and Walker. The cap hits would wash because of the LTIR exception on Walker.

Brian Boucher/Mike Leighton (G): One of these guys is the odd man out in Philly with the emergence of Sergei Bobrovsky, who's early Calder Trophy worthy performance has the Flyers sitting with the 2nd best record in the NHL as of the writing of this post,

Possible Partners:

Mike Leighton (G) and Daniel Carcillo (LW) to the Bolts for Steve Downie (RW)

Bolts have the cap room for this deal, it solves TB's goaltending if they can't sign Nabby. Also, Carcillo for Downie basically trades the same type of player but allows PHL to stay under the cap.

DGS Dream Trade:

To DAL: Andrej Meszaros (D), James van Riemsdyk (LW) Mike Leighton (G), Nik Zherdev (LW), 1st round pick

To PHL: Brad Richards (C), Trevor Daley (D)

Yeah, it fits under the cap per cap geek.

We're Back, So is Stammer.

2010-12-11T23:16:00.000-08:00

Oh, hello there. It's been a while hasn't it. My apologies, my day job has ramped up and hence, my blogging time has been reduced.

Tonight we had a bunch of games on the sked. The Penguins kept their unreal streak going (12 games now) and Sidney Crosby extended his points streak. (but what's with the 'stache?) 4 games went to OT and one went to shootout. The Avalanche extended their winning streak to two and the Capitals losing streak to 5.

In one of those overtime games. We welcome tonight's Man Crush.

He came in on a 6 game goalless drought, that ended tonight. Two ginos.

Tonight was supposed to be all about Markus Naslund. His number being retired by the Canucks for reasons still unexplained.

Steven Stamkos came in, said 'fuck it' as the Canuck fans said 'fuck you'

3 points tonight, welcome back.

(Yahoo! Images/Getty)

- Jaye

I've Decided To Take My Talents To...

2010-12-07T23:10:00.000-08:00

(bleacherreport.com)

First, before I spill all the beans, the site will NOT be going anywhere, PKLC still remains a priority of mine and I will be updating it accordingly. Those of you who just wait for the 'New PKLC' message to pop up on twitter or facebook will not be disappointed. Now, for the decision..

I have moved my Avalanche views to Mile High Sticking.

Was that Lebron enough for you? Those of you who read us for our Avs news now have a brand new place to do it. They have a great staff, great content and I encourage all of you who read my thoughts here, to read them over there as well.

- Jaye

Caps Make 'History'

2010-12-06T23:13:00.000-08:00

(Bostonbias.blogspot.com)

There once was a time where there was really only two teams in the East, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals. (and 13 'other' teams)

The Penguins have been rolling this season, winning their 10th straight against the Devils. Crosby has been on fire, and this is without Evgeni Malkin or Jordan Staal.

The Capitals, on the other hand, while they're still sporting a record 9 games over .500 and second in the East and 1 point behind the aforementioned Pens, they're hearing footsteps in division a they've always seemed to dominate. Teams like the Thrashers and Lightning are making waves and the Southeast might not be the cake walk it use to be.

I mentioned above how Crosby has been rolling this season, his counterpart in Alex Ovechkin has been..lacking, compared to other years. This has sent some fans into a tizzy.

If Caps fans had their fingers quivering over the panic button before tonight's game against the Leafs..well...look at this..it's special..

I've spent the past few minutes (half an hour) pouring over a game log of every game since the lockout. There is nothing that shows this team blow a 3 goal lead and consequentially lose EVER. That's insanity. Granted the Caps sucked before two years ago, I mean when you're an expansion team since 2005..Wait..the Caps have only existed since 2005..right? oh shi...

- Jaye

PKLC Man Crush - Another Hat Trick?!

2010-12-05T21:24:00.000-08:00

In today's NHL, we seem to be living in a world of Shut Outs and Hat Tricks. If we had Tim Thomas, Sidney Crosby & Stevie Stamkos in our fantasy hockey leagues, we'd all be laughing. Who ever had tonight's Man Crush..well I'd like to meet them and shake their hand for pulling one over on us.

Not to be outdone by the above superstars, is Chris Kelly. He had exactly 3 goals in 27 games before tonight, so said 'what the hell' and doubled it in one. His 3 tonight came a man down, even strength and to cap it off, into an empty net. (almost as good as Sid's 4 goals done 4 different ways, and Mario's 5) NHL.com has his SV% at a blistering 100% tonight against the Rangers. Biggest Question..can Chris Kelly keep it up?

(ESPN.com/AP)

- Jaye (Big Announcement in the coming days, so stay tuned)

The Ol' PKLC Switcharoo

2010-12-04T22:41:00.000-08:00

~~We continue with our Guest Man Crushes. Tonight we've got Matt from the Flyers blog Down Goes Spezza.~~

Today Chris Pronger played a glorious game leading the Flyers as they fought the good fight against the evil New Jersey Devils. Pronger had one assist, as Mike Richards had a beautiful deflection-goal on a slap shot from Chris Pronger. Chris Pronger was +2 and he played very effective defense against the Devils today. His active stick and monster body were working well as they kept Devils players away from Flyers Goaltender Czar Sergei I. Assistant Captain Elbows also made usage of his nickname by elbowing many Devils players behind the backs of the referees so he never got sent to the box. At the end of the day, Chris Pronger was amazing, and the Flyers made easy work of the Devils 5-3.

Threw that out the window the second this happened...

Taylor Hall is becoming the Matt Duchene (2 points tonight) of the Oilers. His last two weeks have been beastly (at least in comparison to the start of the season, Magnus who?)...his points aren't mind blowing like Crosby (31 points in 15 games) or Stamkos (who's gone ice cold all of the sudden) but they win you hockey games, get you back into games. They're momentum shifters. The Oilers are going to need that going forward if Hemsky is out for the long term. To think I shit all over this kid. Now I just shit all over Matt. Boom.

- Jaye

Man Crush December 2nd

2010-12-02T22:23:00.000-08:00

We're going to jazz it up tonight. The NHL was full of blow outs so we're going to blow this Man Crush out of the water and triple up the Man Crushes.

For the second time in less than a week, he had another hat trick, a natural one this time. Like we've said before, HT's are automatics here, so no doubt MC #1 goes to Sidney Crosby

(Yahoo!/AP Images)

This second one pains me. I think this next player is incredibly over hyped on a team that is going nowhere, but he got a couple geno's against a Leaf team that is..also going nowhere. Second MC goes to...ugh..Taylor Hall.

(Yahoo!/Getty Images)

The explanation for our third Man Crush comes from Jason whom you may remember from a little blog called Discard What You Don't Need...

Andrew "No one believed in me, including every Stars fan in the US" Raycroft threw up 37 saves on the one and only #1 team in the NHL, Washington Capitals. He not only extended Alex Ovechkin to a new career high 9 game goaless drought, but denied Mike Greene (who was playing on his natural position of wing) of 4 shots as well. The man deserves not only a mention in the Man Crush of the night, but considering everyone assumed Marc Crawford was trying to phone in the game and blame the inevitable loss on goaltending, he deserved the title "Master of the Universe" (right after He-Man of course). Bravo sir...even if your first periods highlights included incredible saves of giveaways that you obviously induced to pad your stats.

(Yahoo!/AP Images)

Boom.

- Jaye

(NOTE: If you're doing nothing tomorrow around 10 ET hop on Skype to talk some puck with some of the PKLC Crew and guests. Find me @horbayj on twitter for the details)

Guest Man Crush

2010-11-30T22:24:00.000-08:00

Once again we took the Man Crush vote to the streets. We have Pete from Up The Pucks who took it and just wrote the damn thing...

Man Crush is John Scott. Buying his player shirt tomorrow and also this..

Pete goes on to add..

John Scott is becoming more than a man. He is becoming legend. Any man the gets a penalty for just stepping on the ice is spawned from the toughest of trees. There you go, I just wrote it.

(Yahoo!)

Honourable Mention goes to Dustin Byfuglien who basically ran roughshod over the Avalanche tonight. He also has a hell of a cannon. In the irony of ironies, it was Anthony Stewart, (brother of Avs forward Chris) who would score tonight's OT winner for Atlanta.

Big thanks to Pete for tonight's Man Crush writeup via Twitter.

- Jaye

Crosby Shows More Manger®?

2010-11-30T00:05:00.000-08:00

(Editors Note: In lieu of PKLC Man Crush, we have another installment of Crosby Manger® Management)
I love that registered trade mark thing. In case you didn't see the Penguins/Rangers last night (I didn't) the Pens rolled to their seventh straight win. Ho Hum. The below video was the real story of the night..

Thanks to Puck Daddy for the Video.

This above play shocks me for two reasons.

1) No penalty on the play (please no "of course not, it's Crosby", shut up and get a better argument)

2) An open ice slew foot, c'mon, how many times do you see that a year? (please let me know, cause I know all of Ovechkin's slew foots come along the boards) That's straight up slew foot talent.

I think anyone who has followed Sid's career with any grain of interest knows his comments are incredibly bland and 'by the book.' The guy did a commercial for Dempsters bread and made the bread look interesting by comparison.

But more to the point of our title, it seems Sid is trying to shed his 'Kid' image. Check out these post game comments..

From The Pensblog..
“How many penalty minutes do I have this year, if I’m that dirty?,” said Crosby, who has 15 penalty minutes this season. “I mean, please. Show me all those dirty plays. It’s a battle and he falls. I think Dubi has done his fair share of things out there that are questionable. I guess he’s talking again. But I’m not surprised. “It’s a battle (with Callahan),” Crosby added. “He’s holding me going up ice and I’m trying to push him off. Is it that calculated? I’m trying to get to the net. I’m not worried about that kind of thing. If I tripped him, I tripped him. Am I dirty hockey player? C’mon. I think Dubi is smarter than that.”

I find it a little difficult to defend Crosby on his '..and he falls' comment after see the video, but I digress..this is some tough talk from the Penguins captain. My personal favorites are 'How many penalty minutes do I have this year if I'm that dirty?' and 'C’mon. I think Dubi is smarter than that.' Not something I'd write a book over, but still pretty golden when compared to his usual stuff. If anyone has these comments on video, please pass them along.

- Jaye

Revamping Man Crushes - November 27th

2010-11-27T23:21:00.000-08:00

Before we get to this weeks MC's, we're going to try something a little different from now on. I've been fielding 'complaints' that we've got the wrong Man Crush for the night, that it should be player x or y.

Tonight this all changes. For the first time, we've got tonight's PKLC Man Crushes as decided by you, the reading public.

Here they are..Boom...

(Yahoo!/Getty Images)

We'd be amiss here at PKLC if we didn't award at least a partial Man Crush to Hat Tricks. Hat Tricks that are also 200th career NHL goals are automatics around here. We tip our hats to Sidney Crosby on his hat trick (and 200th career goal) this afternoon against the Flames. Crosby also has a mind boggling 26 points in 13 games. Jesus.

(Yahoo! Images)

Tonight's Man Crush number two goes to a player who's been in the league since 2001, but could never catch on with a team despite posting pretty good AHL numbers. With 4 points in a 7-4 thrashing of the Minnesota Wild, Colorado's Greg Mauldin almost had as many points tonight as AHL team's he's been with.(5) With some injuries to the Avs' top 6 tonight, look for Mauldin to stick around with the big club.

Along with great plays, we had some great fights tonight, here are a couple of them.

First, we've got Chris Stewart lettin' them fly against Kyle Brodziak..

Stewart would leave the game after this one, with a fractured left hand, I sure would to after dropping those bombs. (can we re name his fists Fat Man and Little Boy)

The Second (and way sicker) fight of the night came between Chicago's Jon Scott and LA Kings scrapper Kevin Westgarth..

Check Westgarth after that one, Don Cherry was all over it. Big thanks to Hockeyfights.com for the videos.

Be sure to keep up the voting every night for your PKLC Man Crush pick. You can vote for them by reaching any of us on twitter. We might even let you write it!

- Jaye

On the Decline

2010-11-27T10:03:00.000-08:00

Courtesy Zimbio.com

New York Islanders - (5-12-5)
It's about time the Isles faithful had something good to talk about, but sadly, not even their announcer has anything good to say either.

Finally, after about a month of absolute depressing efforts by the Isles, they finally got their act together defensively and snapped a 14-game winless streak with a 2-0 shutout against the New Jersey Devils. I remember a few years ago when the Flyers had a 10-game winless streak and it felt like forever. Tack on four more games, and that's just scary.

Who's to blame?

Josh Bailey, one of their (few) promising players, and first round draft picks, was sent back down to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL. The Islanders really are a bunch of kids. But they're not the sort of kids like Edmonton has--real studs. You can look at first overall pick John Tavares and young Kyle Okposo (who is injured) as your top scorers and look to the oft-injured Rick DiPietro as a solid netminder. But as far as the supporting cast goes, there's not much there.

Mark Streit (also injured) is a huge part of that team too, but he's only around for a couple years, and the Isles won't be competitive by then. James Wisniewski, a very capable defender, is only on that team for a year. He's helping, but not exactly advancing his career. Defensively, they're just as young and terrible as up front.

Time, as much as the Islanders have waited a fair amount of it, may be the only solution for the team. There's not much there, and they still have to get rid of the Alexei Yashin and Brendan Witt buyouts, which still have five and two years remaining, respectively.

Courtesy Zimbio.com

Nashville Predators - (9-8-4)

This team was hot, hot, hot, to start the season. It looked like the young Finnish goaltending tandem of Pekka Rinne (left) and Anders Lindback were going to be enough to catapult the usually underwhelming Nashville Predators to another stunningly great season.

However, after this hot start, the Predators have hit a huge pothole, with their latest loss a bad one against the Minnesota Wild. Rinne only made six saves and ended up getting yanked for Lindback, who didn't fare much better.

The epitome of this meltdown by the Preds was a horrific loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Nashville exploded to a huge 4-1 lead until the Leafs absolutely stormed back and took the game 5-4 with several power play goals. Coach Barry Trotz called out his defense, calling it one of the worst defensive games he had ever seen from his team. Pretty remarkable.

Statistically speaking, Nashville needs to start scoring. Their goal differential is down to -8, and their leading goal scorer, Steve Sullivan, only has six. Patric Hornqvist and Marcel Goc are tied in second with five. Their leading point getter is Cal O'Reilly with 13. Something has got to give with this offense, unless they want to rely on Ryan Suter and Shea Weber's cannons from the point forever.

And that may be where the turnaround for the Preds lies. No doubt about it, they are playing in a tough Central Division with the Western Conference leading Detroit Red Wings, upstart Columbus Blue Jackets, resurgent St. Louis Blues and defending Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks (ugh), but they need to find a way, and fast, if they're to turn this season around.

Canucks 4 Avs 2

2010-11-25T01:49:00.000-08:00

See that look Sacco is giving, he looks like someone just took a piss in his corn flakes, and he's not going to take it. This was also BEFORE what would take place tonight at ~~GM Place~~ Rogers Arena. Colorado was trying to extend a 4 game winning streak, while Vancouver was trying to stop a slide that saw them winless in their last 4

First off, I'd like to thank Stub Hub for giving me these choice seats you see below..

The game started off as most Avs/Nucks games do, with a lot of open ice play, and the Avs standing around and watching it. The first goal for the home team came as a penalty was going to be called on the boys in burgundy. The Canucks were 6 on 5 and worked the puck around the perimeter well when Kevin Bieksa tipped a Samuelsson point shot past the waving glove of Craig Anderson to make it 1-0 Canucks. The Avs, I found, got out worked down low this period, and despite tieing the Canucks in shots,(and losing Adam Foote - again) the road team left the ice after the opening frame down by one. Also got to chat a little puck with Avs Radio man Marc Moser which is always a pleasure.

I hate myself for my next point, but I missed the first Colorado goal. See, my buddy I was with just HAD to introduce me to some of his friends. Johnny Liles said 'screw this' and just put a PPG goal home without me. Boom, tie game. In my lateness, I noticed a '31' in goal on the other side of the ice and not '41' not sure what the status on Anderson is, but he didn't return tonight. (does BC do something to him?) The moral of the second was, if the Avs weren't on the powerplay, nothing really got done in the Vancouver zone. Could it have been the days off? Might have been, but if it weren't for Peter Budaj making some sweet post to post saves, this one might have been over in the second. The Canucks did score, however. Those god damned Sedins and their tag-along pal Alex Burrows combined twice (more on the second goal later) tonight and just made the Avs look silly in their own zone all night.

Second Intermission had the Avs down by one, much like the first. As the third began, the team looked like they might actually want to win a hockey game. That was until Ryan Kesler, the only Canuck I have a shred of respect for, showed up. We'll take you to Mile High Hockey for their take on the 'goal'

'In the third, a long review of a Kesler shot that hit the post and went straight up in the air and then off of Budaj and in the net, resulted in an eventual 2 goal Vancouver lead. It was ruled no goal on the ice, because it looked like it was hit in with a high stick. However, video review ruled that Tambellini never touched the puck and it was a good goal. I call bullshit. Tambellini didn't hit the puck because he smacked Budaj's face instead, which knocked Budaj's helmet into the puck and the puck into the net. I guess you can lumberjack high-stick the goaltender - when he is standing upright. Makes sense.'

I really didn't get a clear view of the 'beheading' (despite the fact it was right in front of me) till I was at the bar post game and saw the SportsCentre hilights, total bull shit call, refs missed that one.

You would think the Avs would turtle at this point (they did) until Matt Duchene poked a loose puck under Luongo in what was probably the greasiest goal he's scored in his career, which made it 3-2 Canucks. I mentioned above how much I loathe the Sedins and their tag-along-pal Burrows, the 4th Vancouver goal, is the reason why. Any other team, I would laud this goal, but it's Vancouver, so I can't.

there's the video, the sadistic ones in the audience wearing the Avs gear can watch.

That was game. I thought the Canucks played a strong game, something like what Colorado should have played. This wasn't the team that won 4 straight, nor was this the Canucks team that had dropped their last 4. As I said earlier on twitter, some teams just have other teams' numbers. Chicago CLEARLY has Vancouver's, and as we witnessed tonight, Vancouver CLEARLY has Colorado's. If Colorado wants to be in the upper echelon of the Western Conference, these games have to be must wins.

The Avs continue their brief western road swing tomorrow where they face the Edmonton Oilers. The Canucks continue their home stand Friday against the San Jose Sharks.

Man Crush November 23rd

2010-11-22T23:07:00.000-08:00

I would say shut outs are rare, but they seem to be popping up everywhere lately.

(NHL.com)

Carey Price has been unreal this year, the same goes with Tim Thomas.

Tonight though, Johan THE MOOSE Hedberg (yes, he's still around) shut down Ovechkin (5 SOG) and co. (Semin with 5 SOG) tonight, going 30 for 30. This is also the second time in 3 games the Caps have been shut out (Atlanta was the other one) PANIC IN THE DC AREA!!

(ESPN.COM)

I'm not a big Caps fan, so anytime anyone shuts down (or out in this case) their big guns, that's an ace in my book, and a Man Crush on my blog.

- Jaye

Man Crush of the Night Nov 22nd Edition

2010-11-22T01:13:00.000-08:00

I'm finding it difficult to come up with a Man Crush tonight. Mostly because I spent my day watching football, (CFL Division Finals) and not watching hockey. It's sunday people, there' was 5 games on tonight. I watched the Flames/Red Wings game for all of 4 minutes, just enough time to watch Nik Lindstrom score that nasty OT goal. Company had come over and as they talked about things I wasn't interested in, I sat and watched the Oilers/Ducks game on mute. (best way to watch a Sportsnet West telecast?) Someone said Corey Perry scored (passed?) the puck past Hiller into his own net..if they did I didn't see it. (EDIT: Just saw it. Into an empty net..from the other side of the rink, you've GOT to be kidding me?!)

Probably because I was flipping between that and the Canucks/Coyotes game. Without sound. (the only way to get through a Sportsnet Pacific telecast, god damn do i hate John Garrett, someone find me a bigger homer, please) and watched the 'home town boys' drop another one, though they piled it on in the final minutes with Lou pulled. This puts the Canucks at 4 straight losses, and Colorado rolls into town Wednesday (yours truly will be in attendance) riding a 4 game winning streak. Which streak falls and which continues hinges, of course, on my jersey selection for the evening. (Road RBK has been shit luck vs. Old Tanguay Third is 1-0) and if Andy manages to NOT injure himself in warm up again.

We were supposed to get to a Man Crush tonight weren't we, I don't know if I can top yesterday's, so I won't try.

- Jaye

Man Crush of the Night Nov 20th Edition

2010-11-20T22:40:00.000-08:00

*Spoiler Alert* it won't be a member of the Canucks.

actually you know what, we'll pass on tonight's Man Crush in lieu of this...

RIP Pat Burns, the Ultimate Coach Crush

- Jaye

More Scoring? No thanks.

2010-11-19T08:29:00.000-08:00

I don't believe that I watched a hockey game last night.

Last night's game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Tampa Bay Lightning was a case-in-point why the NHL does not need to take any measures to increase scoring. The game was 7-6 before it was even halfway said and done. That's just too much.

It was a disgrace.

We live in an era where all of the rules were changed post-lockout. Scoring, speed and skill are emphasized, and more penalties are called in favor of more powerplay opportunities, and thus more goals. I'm okay with the fact that the extent of these high scoring games are in the ballpark of 4-3, 5-4, and whatnot. But 8-7?

That's just wrong.

I've been given the argument that "that's how it was in the 80s". Fair enough. But this is the 2000s. The game has changed tremendously, and the superstars that ran rampant over barely athletic hockey players and under-equipped goaltenders had free reign to score. That's just how it went. It's not commonplace anymore. We're at a good middle ground right now.

Now the game of hockey is a lot more structured, and these games shouldn't be the direction the NHL wants.

I've been given the argument that these games will happen anyway. Agreed! They will. I have no doubt that teams go on scoring binges. It's easy for a team to rack up goals if given the chance under the current rules. But if this became commonplace, the game would become tiring, and a lot less exciting over the course of time. Do we really want double digits all the time?

The NHL has brought up the idea of making the nets bigger, or changing the rules so that more goals = more excitement, and more excitement = more fans, and in the end, more fans = more money.

I call crap.

Listen, as a broadcaster, I love calling goals as much as the next guy. But if every game has double digit goals, it becomes tiring. Last night's game was tiring to watch. Seeing goals back and forth would become tiring on an extremely regular basis. Goals should be worked hard for and earned. Hockey has pride in hard work.

But the way last night was going, these two teams didn't have to work for anything. They just traded goals back and forth. Do you want this to become hockey reality?

Some would argue that I'm sour that the Flyers lost as a result of one of these games. I would respond, maybe, but not entirely. A loss is a loss. I'm over that. The fact that the NHL desires something like this on a regular basis is a sad direction to go in, though. They really need to be careful they don't make the game something it isn't.

Think about Chris Pronger--one of the best defensemen in the history of the game. He prides himself on his solid defense at all times. But last night, he was entirely helpless against a game going 100 mph with goals at every second. If the game was just shinny all the time, where would be the pride in watching good defensemen go to work? How about the adage of "defense wins championships"?

We'd be stuck watching defensemen like Mike Green play all the time, and I don't think that's hockey as we, the real fans, want it.

But of course, it's not about what the real fans want. Of course not.

So, in essence, the NHL needs to chill out with perhaps increasing scoring. Because that would mean something like last night would be common, and the 2-1, 1-0 games would become a lost art.

I don't want those to be lost arts.

Late Night Man Crush

2010-11-19T00:14:00.000-08:00

Even though it's technically Friday by the time I post this, I feel obligated to make this short and to the point.

If you haven't heard or seen the hi lights from the Flyers/Lightning ~~football~~ game tonight, you've been living under a rock. Stamkos hatty and 2 apples.

Vintage Stammer (Yahoo/Getty Images)

Man Crush.
All Day.
Any Day.

- Jaye

Man Crush of the Night Nov 17th Edition

2010-11-17T22:00:00.000-08:00

Couple of Man Crushes tonight. You know how your team has games where they're down and out, getting run over, out hit and out chanced, it seems everything the other team throws a the net goes in. We've all been there, It's about that time where you just go 'fuck it' and flick the channel.

If you're an Oiler fan, your TV was probably turned after Captain Serious' hat trick goal, or Sharp's shorty which made it 4-0 Hawks. If you're an Avalanche fan, well, you could have taken your pick out of a number of places. (a minute into the third is when yours truly had his 'fuck it' point) and I was wrong, the team stormed back to force OT. It was in OT where tonight's co-Man Crush was sent in alone and popped in the winner.

We raise or glasses to Man Crushes Jonny Toews and Kevin Porter.


(ESPN.com)

(ESPN.com)

- Jaye

PKLC Mavalanche Crush Nov 15 Edition

2010-11-15T22:27:00.000-08:00

I try and stay on the fence when we do the Man Crush of the Night here at PKLC. I've only picked one Penguin (Malkin's HT the other night) and have yet to pick a member of the Avalanche. (when I picked the whole team aside) That all changes tonight.

After his hot start, where he went 9 straight games with a point, he could have been the MC every night, and not just cause of his sick flow. His play dipped a little as of late, but tonight he came out gangbusters as did the rest of his team. With his team dispatching the suddenly reeling St. Louis Blues by a score of 6-3, our Man Crush netted his first 2 goals of the season.

(Yahoo.com/Getty Images)

We raise our glasses to Johnny Liles.

ALSO...Matt Duchene just endeared himself to me a little more, by dropping the gloves tonight with Vladimir Sobotka. Next time, Dutch, helmet. off. got it? good..carry on..

Stick tap to the crew at Mile High Hockey for the video.

-Jaye

Oilers/Rangers 'Cause The Game Was A Wash' Edition

2010-11-14T19:03:00.000-08:00

For those of us who weren't watching a) NFL Football or b) CFL East Division Semi Finals there was this little ditty of a game this morning (or early afternoon) in NYC where the Oilers limped into MSG to face the Rangers. After a torrid second period, where the Oilers scored 2 in 28 seconds, only to be matched as the Rangers scored another 2 in 25 seconds, things got ugly in the third period of a game that was looong over by this point..

Glove tap to Puck Daddy for the video and below penalty breakdown..

Obvious dick move by Avery on Smid (nothing new for Avery) Who knows why Peckham wanted to get after him, (or where he came from..was he even on the ice then?) save it for after the game when you can jump him in the parking lot.

Moving on from that though...you might have noticed the Oilers have been outscored a lot these past few games..(33-13 in the month of November) and currently have the worse goal differential in the NHL. (-24) Seeing as a number of people are drawing comparisons of this years team to the 80's Oilers, I looked at the 1979-80 team. This was their first in the NHL.

(NHL.com)

The Jets sucked, didn't they? but more to the point, 69 points at a -21 goal differential...I think they're on pace to be much worse than their first season, so I think we can put that 'This team is the 80's Oilers 2.0' shit to bed already.

-Jaye

Man Crushes Bitches..cause it's all we seem to post these days...

2010-11-13T22:59:00.000-08:00

Man Crush time kids. HT's are almost automatic here at PKLC, but so are 5 point nights. Double Man Crush Action tonight to the one they call 'Geno'. In front of a crowd that I'm sure was mostly Penguin fans (so can you call it a home game? like the games against Columbus?) Evgeni Malkin pumped in 3 goals tonight in a win over the Thrashers in Atlanta.


(Yahoo/AP)

In other Man Crush News, Ray 'Where Do You Play Again?' Whitney. 5 points (2 G 3 A) as the Coyotes went on to beat the Blues 5-3. Here are the Hilights...(Via NHL.com)

Boom. Apologies for the lack of posts these days, we'll be getting back into the swing of things soon.

- Jaye

PKLC Man Crush of the Night Nov 9th Edition

2010-11-09T23:10:00.000-08:00

Seems we've been much to quiet on the PKLC MC's so we're going to blow up your internet tonight.

I don't know how many of you out there have seen Battle of The Blades, but long story short hockey players put on figure skates and either sink or swim. They've said time and time again on the show that figure skating will really help you with your hockey skating, so don't knock the kids who figure skate.

This brings us to tonight's Man Crush of The Night. He won the 2004 bronze medal in the juvenile division at the Canadian Junior National Figure Skating Championships. That's right. Dude was boss with toe picks. He decided to drop it in favour of a stick and puck. He also happened to be a first round pick in this years' draft, and one of six 18 year olds to stick in the NHL this season.

He was having quite the season thus far, racking up 12 points in his first 14 games. Tonight he picked 2 apples off the tree, handing them to Erik Cole and Joe Corvo, and added a Geno to his collection as his team cruise to a 7-1 shellacking of the Edmonton Oilers.

Jeff Skinner of the Carolina Hurricanes, we raise our glasses to you.


(AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

- Jaye

PKLC Audio Blog Hawks/Oilers

2010-11-07T20:01:00.000-08:00

Coming back to a city it seems like they just left, the Edmonton Oilers once again faced the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Centre, and for the second time in eight nights. The road team walked away with a W, as Sam Gagner and Kurtis Foster struck twice in 14 seconds in the third to seal the Oilers victory. Once again, thanks to Tim Vander Tuuk we've got PKLC Exclusive post game audio from the BlackHawks locker room.

Continuing what I called 'The Ex-Oilers Curse' former Oiler Fernando Pisani struck first for the Hawks with a tally that would last for the majority of the game. He talks about scoring against his old team and the disappointing finish...

As I said above, the Hawks blew a third period lead, a trend all to common in recent games. Pisani wishes he had a cure for it.

Hawks goalie Corey Crawford is equally miffed about tonights loss, especially after dominating the Oilers for stretches of the game.

Defenseman Brian Campbell dismisses the idea that the Oilers have their number, but adds that when you lose twice at home to the same club, you need to start looking at the guys in locker room.

We end with Coach Q talking about getting back to their strenghts of winning at home, putting their foot on teams in the third period and playing desperate hockey.

Big Thanks again to Timmy (PKLC Insider) for the audio that makes the Audio Blog happen

- Jaye

PKLC Man Crush of the Night Nov 6th Edition

2010-11-06T23:29:00.000-07:00

This isn't exactly a singular Man Crush as much as it's a 'Team Crush.' That team, is the Colorado Avalanche.

After coming off a stinker of a game Thursday night against the Canucks, in which they didn't do much of anything, sorta just skated around, and, not surprisingly, lost 3-1.

Fast forward to today, coach Joe Sacco rolls the dice and throws rookie D men Colby Cohen and Kevin Shattenkirk to the wolves, and they come out smelling like roses. Add in recent call up Kevin Porter (who before tonight, had no goals or shots in 10 games) with 3 points. Phillipe Dupuis also had a SHORTY!! (He plays for the Avs, not Dallas, I know, just making sure)

Peter Budaj also got his first Shut Out in over a year!! Congrats to Boods.

Enough of my rambling, we'll just cut to video...

- Jaye

PKLC Man Crush Nov 5 Edition/Oilers Curse?

2010-11-05T23:13:00.000-07:00

Tonight's PKLC Man Crush ties into the second part of tonight's title.

It seems lately, former Oilers have been striding into Rexall Place in a bit of a funk (Raffi Torres only had 3 goals in 10 games before returning to his old stomping grounds to pop in a hatty) only to burn their former teammates. The same can be said for tonight's PKLC Man Crush. The Red Wings, ever since getting bounced by the Oilers in the 2006 playoffs, really haven't gotten their grove back in the City of Champions. That all changed tonight, with the help of tonight's Man Crush.

(Yahoo.com)

Walking out of Rexall with a pair of Apples and a Geno (that's two assists and a goal for those of you out there who were confused) was Daniel Cleary. If Fernando 'you put the puck in the net like a pizza in the oven' Pisani and the Blackhawks roll into town sunday, and throws down on his former team..I'm going to say I called it.

(EDIT: Loui Eriksson and his 4 points (2 on the pp) have gotten some people angry that he was not tonight's Man Crush..while it was admirable..he wasn't a former Oiler..so it didn't work tonight)

- Jaye

PKLC Podcast Pt 2

2010-11-04T21:09:00.000-07:00

Part two with Jason from 'Discard What You Don't Need' enjoy!
-Jaye

PKLC Podcast Pt 1

2010-11-04T12:19:00.000-07:00

Here you have it! The first PKLC Podcast..part one

I can't ruin all the fun in one shot, so part two with Jason from 'Discard What You Don't Need' will be up later today

Enjoy listening!

-Jaye

PKLC Man Crush of the Night - Nov 3rd Edition

2010-11-03T22:09:00.000-07:00

I didn't watch this game. I think I was napping. Jordan tells me this fellow had a whale of a game. Twitter and NHL.com also told me the same..

After all the recent shit Phoenix has got from members of the media about if the Coyotes 'fit' in the NHL, it's nice to see the focus shift to the product on the ice. (and not Ray Whitney calling the fans out) Tonight we raise our glasses to the one we call 'JovoCop' and his three goals.

(Yahoo.com/Getty Images)

See that look on Jovo's face? that's what it's all about. Right there. Oh, look who's coming to congratulate him..enough fans there for yah, Ray?

- Jaye

Crosby releases Inner Manger®*..fights Stars' Niskanen

2010-11-03T20:36:00.000-07:00

*(An amalgamation of Man and Anger. ®Manger is a registered Trademark of PKLC)

With a '5' in the column marked 'PIM' is where we found Sidney Crosby on the score sheet tonight. First, a little backstory...

Pittsburgh is down 4-1 and getting outplayed pretty handily..when at 7:27 of the second period, Crosby (who is a -2 on the night) basically says 'Fuck This Shit.."

(via NHL.com)

BOOM.

(EDIT: Check that face out, that's pure terror right there. Glove Tap to Puck Daddy)

Tale of The Tape:

Crosby - ht: 5'11" wt: 190 lbs
Niskanen - ht 6'0" wt: 199 lbs

We've all seen Crosby scrap before. 76% of viewers on Hockeyfights.com rated this tilt in favour of ~~Sid the Kid~~ *ahem* SIIID THHHEEEE KIIIIIIIIIDDDDD *ends announcer voice* The matchup was pretty fair on paper, as we see above. I feel as though we at PKLC should give a couple of pointers for both combatants if they ever decide to go again.

1. Take Your Damn Helmets Off.
- I'm not telling the kids out there to chuck buckets and start wailing, but if you're both wearing visors and don't want broken hands, please remove them. I reference you to hands that are both hard as rocks and soft as babies bottoms, Jarome Iginla

See kids, buckets off FIRST.

2. More Punches. Less Rag doll.
- Sid, and I say this to you as a fan, enough of the 'shaking the other player' stuff. Did Georges Laraque teach you nothing? It's Grab. THEN Punch. Not Shake. Shake. Punch. He's a fellow player not a bottle of salsa.

At least he didn't jump the guy off the faceoff this time...

I get that Sid isn't a fighter, but learn some moves, alright bud?

- Jaye

PKLC Man Crush of the Night - Nov 2nd Edition

2010-11-03T00:06:00.000-07:00

Tonight's PKLC MC is brought to you by the magic of youtube

Amazing? I guess..if Sidney Crosby did this we'd all be talking about it non stop..if anything it's good hustle by the former Oiler. His HT goal was total bull crap, wasn't it?

Tonight we begrudgingly raise our glasses and let out a sarcastic "Yay" to Raffi Torres and his Hat Trick.

(Yahoo Sports)

- Jaye

PKLC Man Crush of the Night

2010-11-01T23:16:00.000-07:00

I know we've been a little lax on this, but excuse us, we had to go through like..14 games on saturday all whilst battling video code from NHL.com that didn't like us, sorry about that, I think you might have all got the Ducks/Sharks hilights 14 times over..our bad

Time for tonights Man Crush of The Night...

He cut his damn hair, stopped looking like a freakin hippie, then donated it to cancer. With teammate Danny Briere out for a nasty cross check on the weekend, he willed the Flyers to victory tonight with 2 goals and 2 assists for 4 points (thanks Math Blaster!) and that's only after 4 shots on goal...

We raise a glass to Scott Hartnell. Tonights PKLC Man Crush of The Night.

- Jaye

(EDIT: I almost forgot, you should all check out Shirts Off For Horcoff written by long time friend Brad Smith. I can only assume by reading the tiny ass font with a microscope, that he'll be talking about Oilers hockey and other 'league related things'. Tell him PKLC sent yah!)

Shut Outs Shoot Outs and Scuffles - Saturday Night Hockey (with Hi lights)

2010-10-30T23:49:00.000-07:00

Lots of action tonight so lets get right to it.

Leafs 0 Rangers 2
Just by looking at the score, you would say this game was won by Henrik Lundqvist. But we can credit the Rangers with blocking 35 shots tonight. Only 19 got to King Henrik. Penalty Shot number one of the night went to Ryan Callahan.

Canadiens 1 Panthers 3
In our second of 4 penalty shots, David Booth went dang dang GOAL on Carey Price.

Senators 0 Bruins 2
Second shut out of the night, Tim Thomas once again...(what's that..sorry, Jordan is yelling .984 SV%) stole the show for the B's.

Islanders 1 Flyers 6
The fact that the Isles basically rolled over and died in this one is secondary to the rough stuff that went on in the game. Dan Carcilo ALONE got 22 minutes in penalties. (Matt from DGS just squealed with joy) The cross check delivered by the stick of Daniel Briere to the head of Frans Nielsen (who netted Penalty Shot # 3 of the night) and will most definitely get looked at by Colli Campbell and his Wheel of Justice™. Best part was when Rick Dipietro tried to fight Pronger, Carcillo and Mike Richards.

Hurricanes 0 Penguins 3
No Evgeni Malkin? no problem. Pascal Dupuis netted two and Mad Max Talbot scored his first of the year as the Pens cruised by the Canes. Shut out number 3 of the night by Brent Johnson.

Predators 2 Red Wings 5
The Wings knocked their high flying division foes down a notch thanks to two goals from Pavel Datsyuk.

Thrashers 3 Blues 4
Had Jaroslav Halak's shut out streak gone another 25 mintues, he would have set a franchise record. (still held by Greg Millen) The Blues are still hot though, as T.J Oshie kept them winning by potting one in the shoot out.

Wild 1 Blackhawks 3
After getting torched 7-4 by the Oilers the night before, The Hawks came out and took care of business against the Wild.

Sabres 0 Stars 4
SO # 4 tonight. Andrew Raycroft in typical World-Beating form as Dallas' special teams were clicking tonight. 2 ppgs and one SHG.

Blue Jackets 1 Avalanche 5
Adrian Dater of the Denver Post called it a 'rare easy win' and based on the last two one goal games the Avs have had to slug through, they'll take this one. Just one thing I'd like to point out..

See that name below Steven Stamkos..CHRIS STEWART BABY! Peter Budaj also played a strong game tonight, was hoping for a shutout from him, but someone on twitter jinxed it..

Friend of the Blog, Marc Parsons...literally 2 minutes after he tweeted this..Dorsett scored for the Jackets.

Coyotes 0 Lightning 3
8,171. The number of people who bothered to come out to Glendale to watch one of the most exciting teams this young NHL season WITH the leagues points leader (as seen above) in Stevie Stamkos. Dan Ellis recorded shutout #4 of the evening.

Flames 2 Capitals 7 (yes, SEVEN)
The Flames were up 2-0 in this game, they could have put their foots on the throats of the Caps, but this is Calgary..and these are the Capitals. Did we mention Alex Ovechkin popped in 2 goals in 12 seconds to put the Caps ahead 3-2. Then this Happened (stick tap to the boys at Puck Daddy)

I feel for Sarich, being a former Saskatoon Blade, he was the one WHLer that I 'saw good' during my youth in Saskatoon. Guy has a cup ring..shame he's sucked in Calgary. Had the Flames went on to lose by that score and the Caps not pump another 2 goals (one being a penalty shot by David Steckel) past them, this might be a bigger story. That being said, getting burned for 12 goals in two games isn't good for anyone.

I'll mail in the next two games, I didn't watch them and I don't know what happened enough to talk about it..

Devils 1 Kings 3
Oh look! NJ lost the game and Parise. Kovalchuk was also booed all night by Kings fans.

Ducks 2 Sharks 5
Thorton-Marleau-Heatley. Perry-Getzlaf-Ryan now can we all move on. Hit up Battle of California, I'm sure they'll be all over this one.

Good god it's finally over..Still editing the podcast by the way..

- Jaye

First PKLC Podcast Tonight

2010-10-29T12:41:00.000-07:00

Light day in the hockey world, I've stared at this blinking cursor for half an hour thinking about what to write about and nothing has come to fruition. There is a little thing that I'd like to draw your attention to though..

PKLC PODCAST TONIGHT!!

It'll be our first one, so please bear with us as we work through some kinks. Hopefully we'll get it edited and ready for public consumption sometime next week. We'll have Jason from the Stars blog 'Discard What You Don't Need' on tonight and if our conversation last night was any indication, tonight might be the longest podcast in the history of podcasts. If you have skype, let us know and we'll bring you on.

- Jaye

Koval-Choke

2010-10-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

Courtesy OilersNation.com

Trading for Ilya Kovalchuk was bad enough for the New Jersey Devils.

Going through the long, LONG process of re-signing him--twice--was even worse.

Now the New Jersey Devils go into their 11th game of the season only winning twice. One of the most stark statistics you'll ever see come out of New Jersey may not be the fact that they only have two wins...it's that they have a goal differential of -18.

Yeah, this is the team with gifted goal scorers Jamie Langenbrunner, Zach Parise, Travis Zajac, and did we mention they have the one, the only Martin Brodeur in net? Oh, did we forget a guy named Ilya Kovalchuk, perennial 40-50 goal scorer?

In his tenure as a Devil, he had 10 goals and 17 assists in 27 games to get to the playoffs to lose to the Flyers in the first round. In that playoff series, Kovalchuk added 2 goals, 4 assists, and one of those goals was an empty netter. This year, he has 3 goals and 3 assists for 6 points in 9 games. He was scratched against Buffalo because he was reportedly late to a team meeting, and John MacLean saw it fit to punish him like so.

Drama, drama, drama.

What do we take out of this, then? I'll say it bluntly: Lou Lamoriello's decision to trade for Kovalchuk was the only mistake he made. If he didn't trade for him, the team would have been so much better off.

If you look at the Devils' history, you know for a fact that they have always been more of a defensive minded club with the stellar goaltending of a living legend. That's what got them their Stanley Cup championships, after all. And the Devils were on a good roll throughout the year. But once the Devils traded prospect Niclas Bergfors, Johnny Oduya, Patrice Cormier and a first round pick, it was all downhill from there. After the contract debacle, turns out it was more than one draft pick. Regardless, that's a steep price to pay for Mr. Kovalchuk.

It would have been all for naught if they couldn't re-sign the pending UFA, so they did: to 17 years. But the NHL finally caught wind of too many long-term contracts and shut it down with authority. After almost a MONTH of deliberations and distractions, Kovalchuk was locked up for 15 years. I'm going to be 35 years old when he's done his contract. That's hard to believe in itself.

Regardless, the Devils don't need Kovalchuk. That's a point I think every hockey fan can agree on. Not only does he tie up tons of cap space, but he ties up a ton of attention for all the wrong reasons. On the powerplay, you know he's going to get a lot of passes for one-time shots. What did the Flyers do in their playoff series? Case in point. They already have goal scoring sources, and they could have done more than get Henrik Tallinder and Anton Volchenkov. They could have re-signed Paul Martin with the money they didn't spend on Kovalchuk. They could have made their unknown defense a bit more...known.

Kovalchuk and the Devils also don't mix, philosophically. He's not a defensive player. He's already -4. He's going to put points on the board, but only if he lets his speed and shot do the work for him. Ovechkin and the Caps work philosophically because they are a quick team. Crosby and the Penguins work. Richards and the Flyers. Getzlaf and the Ducks. You get where I'm going. Kovalchuk was a FORCED addition, and one the Devils, as much as their players laud him, didn't need.

They could be at least .500 at this point without him. He's a distraction, and he's going to be forced to be in Newark for the next 15 years.

I'm so sorry, Mr. Kovalchuk.

Some Avs News and BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!

2010-10-27T22:07:00.000-07:00

Please come back

Hey there PKLC reader(s) it's been a while since we've all had a good conversation here in blog world.

First though, to the news of the day, thanks to Shane G from Colorado Avalanche Talk we now know that Craig Anderson's once thought SEASON ENDING PLAYOFF SCREWING WE'RE ALL GUNNA DIE injury he suffered in last nights warm up isn't serious (at least it doesn't require surgery.) From Terry Frei of the Denver Post;

“It’s going to require some treatment and rehab, and we hope to have him back as soon as possible,” [Joe] Sacco said after Colorado’s practice in the Saddledome.

Hear that..that's the collective breath of Avs Nation being exhaled all at once..

While this still sucks for the Avs (I don't really believe in Budaj..yet) it's nice to hear that Anderson will be back sooner rather than later. Speaking of Budaj, this is HIS TIME to shine, prove the doubters like me wrong and show that you deserve more than 11 starts a season. For those of you wondering the team called up John Grahame from Lake Erie to back up Budaj.

Some quick thoughts on Tuesday night's Avs/Canucks game, my first at ~~GM Place~~ Rogers Arena.

- Nice rink, great layout, there really is no bad seat (and I was high up)
- I thought the concourses were tight at Rexall Place in Edmonton, throw another 2000 and even the spacious and newer (1995 construction) Rogers Arena becomes a tight squeeze
- I counted about 6 fellow Avs fans
- The outcome sucked, but the boys battled hard for that OT point, my man crush for Duchene grew a little more

I'm looking at heading to the Nov 24th game (once again vs. Colorado) so let me know if you're around, always nice to meet the readers for some 'adult beverages'

Ok, I know you're all waiting for the big announcement' that I eluded to in the title, well wait no longer..are you sitting down? it's all right I'll wait..oh you're at a computer..right..never mind..

Patrick Kane's Loose Change Proudly Presents...

THE PKLC PODCAST (echo: cast..cast..cast)

This friday, myself Jordan and Stephen will be skyping it up, talking puck and shootin' the breeze If you (yes, you) want to get in on this, let anyone of us know (twitter or e mail work the best) and we'll try and bring you on. Hopefully it'll be up for all to view sometime next week.

- Jaye

PKLC Man Crush 10% In

2010-10-26T09:49:00.000-07:00

So taken large interest in Jaye's PKLC Man Crush of the Night I though I'd take a look at who the top players in the NHL where through the first 10% of the season (19 teams have played 8 or more games).

Eastern Conference Man Crush: Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning

8 Goals (Leads League)
7 Assist
15 points (Leads League)+/- +6
6 PPP
2 GWG

Born February 7th, 1990 Steven Stamkos could have graduated High School with me and Jordan yet he is leading the NHL in points while leading the Lightning to a 5-2-1 start. After putting up only 46 points in his rookie year he posted 95 last year and is on an outstanding pace this season. Avalanche fans like myself only hope sophomore Matt Duchene can match his performance, and talking about the Avalanche brings me to our Western Conference crush.

Western Conference Man Crush: John Michael Liles, Colorado Avalanche

10 Assist (Leads League)
+/- +5
4 PPA
Assist in each of first 8 games (Ties NHL record)

John Michael Liles has been the subject to a lot of conversation among the Avalanche community over the last 7 seasons: "star in the making", "when will he get over the hump", "will he ever get back to his early form", "Is this the year JML is traded?", and then last season the ever so popular "JML in the doghouse, again". Now 30 years old and in his 7th NHL season Liles is playing like he was at 23 and making Avalanche coach Joe Sacco unable to say anything bad. Plus as Jaye Horbay has said "The guy is just so damn pretty!" lets not forget Jaye denounces Ice Girls (Just Sayin').

@SCrociata

PKLC Man Crush of the Night

2010-10-25T00:42:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the night of the goalie. So the Cork Board will be a cluttered.

Mikka Kipprusoff - 27 save performance against the Sharks for his 36th career shut out.

Henrik Lundqvist - The Rangers got their third straight win tonight, their first at MSG. King Henrik stopped 27 of 28 pucks. Yet there is still no love for Michal Rozsival.

Anders Lindback - seriously, where does Nashville find these guys?! They unearthed Pekka Rinne from God Knows Where, Finland,(2004 8th round 258th overall) and now Lindback (2008 7th round 207th overall!) who just so happens to be currently holding a .925 SV% and is 3-0-1 in 4 games played. Will the Preds be dark horses in the West this season?

- Jaye

PKLC Man Crush of the Night

2010-10-23T22:41:00.000-07:00

In yet another new feature, one we hope to actually keep up, (unlike the Best Part of Saturday) we present to you the PKLC Man Crush of the Night..statistically speaking that is..

First one on the wall...

Brad Richardson - LA Kings.

A 3 goal night against the Avs earns him honours and the first to go up on our virtual cork board.

Honourable Mentions
(they don't get a picture, but we'll write their names down on some scrap paper and tape it next to the winner)

John Tavares - first NHL hat trick
Alex Semin - HT #3 tonight in the NHL, 3 goals for Jizz
Carey Price & Jaro Halak - both pitched shut outs tonight
Henrik Zetterberg - if he wasn't a Red Wing, he'd have got it. 4 points. 7 SOG
Mike Richards - breaks out of his slump, first goal and 2 helpers lift Philly past the Leafs

agree? disagree? let us know who you'd put on the Cork Board in the comments or on twitter (@PKLoosechage) or any of our personal accounts (to your right)

- Jaye

PKLC Returning to Up The Pucks

2010-10-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

After Jaye's successful stint on Up the Pucks a week ago I will be taking my talents to their podcast in about two months. I will be joining Brandon (@UTPBrandon) and Peter (@Real_PeterEvans) the week of December 20th for an episode centered on the NY Rangers, my hometown team. I look forward to doing the show and sharing it with all the fans of PKLC!

PS: Get ready Glen Sather because I'm coming after you!

@SCrociata

Oilers looking for Cheerleaders? Really?

2010-10-21T16:06:00.000-07:00

Today's Whisky Tango Foxtrot moment came in the form of a tweet from the Vancouver Sun's Lionel Wild

Click that link and your nightmares become real. What I thought was WAY BEYOND Canadian franchises, especially ones with such a storied history as the Oilers have. This is what the Oilers 'Media Spin Crew' have cooked up:

The Edmonton Oilers cheer team will “amplify the already electric in-game entertainment lineup for fans at Rexall Place” and “augment participation at events and community functions throughout Oil Country.” (via Edmonton Journal)

You've GOT to be kidding me..now granted, some nights the on ice product at Rexall Place isn't the best thing to look at, so a distraction from the teamis more then welcome. But cheerleaders? in a hockey rink? in places that actually SEE snow? Unless they're tossing me free t-shirts or Boston Pizza cupons, sorry, but not in my backyard.

Oilers CEO Patrick Laforge goes on to say that this is “another example of the Oilers responding to the wishes of our valued customers.” Patrick, the citizens of Edmonton want a new arena, not some Puck Bunnies in lulu lemon pants shaking their asses in the old one. This might be a New Era of Oilers Hockey but you're putting it in the wrong direction.

Wait you say there will be a calendar...

- Jaye

Is Anybody Out There?!

2010-10-21T10:28:00.000-07:00

If you haven't seen this yet, get ready for some rather striking statistics.

9,802 spectators watched the Columbus Blue Jackets take on the Anaheim Ducks last night at Nationwide Arena. The place holds 18,500, officially, making it only filled to 52% capacity. Coincidentally on the same night, only 8,820 spectators watched the Atlanta Thrashers get thrashed by the Buffalo Sabres. Philips arena officially holds 18,545 people, making the arena only 47% full.

EDIT: On October 21, only 6,706 spectators watched the Phoenix Coyotes play the Los Angeles Kings in a capacity of 17,125. 39% capacity! 39%!!

Staggering.

It brings me back to my days as an intern with the Reading Royals of the ECHL. The team got somewhere between 3,500 and 4,200 fans on a regular basis. Even when the team reached the conference finals, there were only about 5,000, maybe a little more, on board. The Sovereign Center holds about 10,000 fans. I joked with now-LeafsTV correspondent Steve Dangle (www.twitter.com/steve_dangle) on his radio show that when the Royals had "white-outs" during the playoffs, it was more like a "blue-out" because of the majority of empty seats.

Where is everyone?

For a pro team on the top of the food chain of leagues to only fill LESS THAN HALF of their arena is SAD. Let's not mince words. It may be a slight against the marketing department, or the product on ice, but it's still depressingly unacceptable. If this trend continues, which it has been seen in other locales, mostly in the south (Dallas, Phoenix, Florida, Atlanta), then it may be time for something drastic.

In March, the Dallas Stars ran a promotion called "The Real Deal". Fans could get an upper level seat, Arby's meal coupons and a James Neal t-shirt for $25. The Stars are wrapping up "Ott-toberfest", where fans can get two premium lower level seats, two beverages and two Steve Ott t-shirts for $100. Attendance in Dallas is slowly getting better with the promise of a new season and proactive deals such as these. I like this trend.

Fans get more than a hockey game out of a hockey game.

Columbus, Atlanta, Florida, may have to start running really bold promos that give fans something else. I still like the Dallas Stars, and I regularly wear my James Neal tee that I got with the promo. It's all about identification with a team, or a player. Growing the game is every team's priority, and these promotions are a good start.

Fascinatingly enough, the BankAtlantic Center that houses the Florida Panthers have seats as low as $25 on a regular basis. And two years ago, the Panthers ran an absurd promo...something along the lines of 4 lower level seats, four drinks and hot dogs for $50. I could be wrong. However, this should be enough to gather SOME fans. Hard to believe it didn't achieve its desired effect.

A rebuilding team takes time, and the front office can only do so much to help the on-ice product. It's up to the marketing departments to create identification with the team or a certain player RIGHT NOW. If that can't happen, then these teams are in serious trouble.

Let's hope the ultimate of all ultimatums doesn't happen as a result of said trouble.

Colorado Avalanche Recall David Van der Gulik

2010-10-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

That's right you may remember him from Dawson's Creek, obviously just kidding but yes that is a James Van Der Beek reference on a hockey blog. Ok so getting serious today the Avalanche recalled David Van der Gulik from Lake Erie in a pretty interesting move. The Avalanche had to call up someone after David Jones suffered an arm injury, but it seems their were better suitors than Van der Dulik. Mark Olver who was just sent down could've be called up or how about Greg Mauldin or Matthew Ford who have both had nice starts in LE. Van der Gulik only has 2 points in 6 games with the Monsters one of those points a SHG, it bothers me that he has had little 5 on 5 success. I don't see him getting to much playing time and in hopes Jones is OK and that the Avs don't seriously have a line where Van der Gulik is essential lets hope I'm correct. The Avalanche host the Sharks in a remake from the 2009 NHL Playoffs tomorrow at 9:00 pm EDT.

@SCrociata

NHL "Common Law"

2010-10-20T06:27:00.000-07:00

I took a look at Rick Rypien's tussle-shove move with a Minnesota Wild fan this morning. Not to say I was horrified, but I was confused at what must have been going through Rypien's mind at that point to endanger a fan like that.

That whole scenario was just strange, and it may involve strange judgment.

Regardless, now the ball's in Colin Campbell's court. As we all know, his wheel of justice isn't exactly a really sturdy one. It seems to land on all of the most random places. Speculation says that Rypien either gets 8-10 games, as per James Mirtle, Bob McKenzie and Darren Dreger, and as little as 5 games from David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.

I think he deserves more.

And, it's time this case sets the precedent. One thing that has been missing from the NHL is the concept of "common law"--using past precedents to lay out judgment for the future. If any other player gets in a tussle with a fan, it's no discussion, it's "x" games. If it's a blindside hit, Campbell should just look at what Shane Doan did over the weekend, and say bam, 3 games. Nice and easy. If they're repeat offenders, add two, and say that's the precedent.

It's time for precedents. Case-to-case bases add for way too much scrutiny, which we already know through Campbell's interviews on NHL Live, he absolutely hates when people question his judgments. But why shouldn't we? He probably rolls a dice to figure these out.

If Campbell gives a 5 game suspension, or less, then he needs to stick to that. Then, and only then, it'll be fair. But I think this punishment deserves 8-10 games, maybe even more. It's unacceptable to threaten the safety of the fans, which can exercise their speech rights. If only the players heard what's said in the upper levels of the arena. They'd be brawling then.

That's beside the point. We'll see what Campbell, and the rest of the NHL hands out for Rypien. But before you overreact, wait for the next instance. Then we'll just see if it's fair.

-Jordan

Le Sigh .... Expected.

2010-10-20T01:06:00.000-07:00

Hello! Ev here ... coming out of hiatus First I would like to advise I did not watch the Canucks/Wild game .... reason, I was at school. Did I think they were gonna lose? .... not at all ... and if they did .. I did not think they would get their asses handed to them. Started off on a good note ... but what happened? WHAT HAPPENED? Luongo happened .... Personally, I think he is SOOOO overrated!!!! .. His lack of skill lately has dropped team morale. I still can't believe he was signed for so long .. what a waste ... his time is over. He needs to stop being such a baby .... and get on it!. It annoys me when I see 8 out of 10 jerseys around Vancouver with Luongo's name on them ... (wouldn't surprise me if the people wearing them didn't know any of the others' players names) .. I won't only blame the city's beloved "Luo"... the rest of the team needs to get on it. Watching the highlights, I saw an unmotivated team that gets lazy as the game goes on. I love the Canucks ... don't get me wrong but I just think .. that .. well from watching how the season is going so far ... I can tell it is going to be one of those years. Minnesota clearly were the better team tonight. We shall see what happens tomorrow vs Chicago. Marty Turco is not the man he used to be ..... Vancouver may have a chance .... say, hmm I dunno .. we start Schneider! :p

-Ev

Canucks Get Shelled, Fan Gets Shoved

2010-10-19T21:14:00.000-07:00

It always seems the games I care the least about, something exciting happens. I planned to write about the Caps/Thrashers game a couple weeks back, and that's when Pavelec had his fainting spell. Tonight, the story quickly switched from 'Canucks get their asses handed to them in a tea cup' and 'Luongo played like crap' to..this...

It was getting ugly at this point in the game, for the Canucks that is, down 6-1 and tempers were flaring at the benches. Rick Rypien ends up getting the game misconduct in all of this and gets escorted to the dressing room, and here's where Twitter exploded...

As we clearly saw, Rypien went after the guy, wrong time to applaud I guess? totally not cool. How will Colin Campbell spin this one on his wheel of justice? No doubt worthy of a suspension.

Time for the NHL PR machine to go into overdrive. Does the League come down heavy on Rypien, most likely. If it's 8-10 games I think that would be fair. Despite the fact Rypien CLEARLY broke the rules, this is all the Official ones say (Via Bryan Reynolds)

40.1 Physical abuse of officials... auto gamer, and auto suspension = not less than 20 games.

The Rypien shove reminded me of the fan who got into a scuffle with Tie Domi in the penalty box a few years back.

More on this story as the info becomes available, stay tuned.

UPDATE:

Rule 23.7 states that "Any player, goalkeeper or non-playing Club personnel who physically interferes with the spectators, becomes involved in an altercation with a spectator, or throws any object at a spectator, shall automatically incur a game misconduct penalty and the Referee shall report all such infractions to the Commissioner who shall have full power to impose such further penalty as he shall deem appropriate." Thanks Vancouver Sun and to Bryan Reynolds from Hockey Wilderness

- Jaye

The Rumors of Our Demise Have Been Greatly Exagerated

2010-10-19T11:15:00.000-07:00

So it's been a busy couple of days hasn't it? I 'forgot' the recaps Saturday night, but really, It would have been a single link to nhl.com. There was 26 teams in action, so forgive us. However, we'll be back tonight or tomorrow with a different recap of the Canucks v. Wild game tonight.

PKLC Fun Fact - Jaye HATES the Canucks.

This hate has only grown the more I've lived in Metro-Vancouver. For a team that has won nothing, and who's marketing campaign slogan should really be 'We'll Get Em This Year' it makes me sick the loyalty this city has to its franchise.

I look at Vancouver like..Toronto West. (Cup futility aside) Toronto fans will say "our team is going to make a run at the cup" their tongue is FIRMLY in cheek when saying this statement, cause they know that most years (aside from possibly this one) the team will more then likely be on the outside looking in. This suits the Leaf Fan just fine, spring in Ontario is quite lovely, why would they want to waste it watching hockey.

Canucks fans, on the other hand, will say the above statement and SWEAR by it for year after year. Fully believing that Luongo will finally win that Vezina, Henrik will REPEAT as Art Ross and Hart winner (psst..fluke year) and the team as a whole will make that 'next-step' despite decades of doing just the opposite. I would say they're blinded by success, but you need to win something other than the division to be called successful. (just ask the Capitals)

I may have strayed from my original point here, what the purpose of tonight's recap will be about. It'll be no doubt biased, but not towards either team, cause I can't stand them. I'll call spades spades and if the Canucks string together a solid 60 minutes, I'll politely credit them. If they roll over and die, well, this recap will be much funner to write. Keep watching Twitter, Facebook or refreshing your page to see what I've come up with.

- Jaye

Audio Blog - Hawks/Sabres

2010-10-16T23:32:00.000-07:00

In what I hope will become a regular segment on the blog, thanks to faithful PKLC reader Tim Vander Tukk, we got some sweet post game audio from the Blackhawks/Sabres game. Which the Hawks won 4-3. All we've got is the Hawks side of the story, if anyone knows any Buffalo reporters willing to send me their raw audio files, please let us know

First up, We've got Patrick Sharp talking about the flow of the game

Sharp also got a goal tonight, but this was a more physical game than the Hawks were use to

Coach Q echos praise for Chicago's 'other' Patrick, saying he worked especially well on the Hawks PP tonight

Finally, Hawks goalie Marty Turco comments on the gritty win by the team in front of him

Big thanks to Tim for the audio!

- Jaye

Friday Night Recap

2010-10-15T22:46:00.000-07:00

I finally had a day off after god knows how many straight days at work. So I did what anyone else would do in my position, I spent my evening on my ass, watching hockey. Here are your recaps.

Colorado Craig Andersons 3 New Jersey Devils 2
- This one didn't begin pretty, the Avs were outshot 17 to 3 in the first 20 mins. (and something like 11-0 in the first 7) The penalty kill came through for them tonight, holding the Devils to only 1 goal in 3 attempts. After going 1-10 in their last games on the PP, Colorado's most unlikely power play artist, Cody Mcleod got the first Avs goal on their first shot. (then got sent off for boarding) Goals also came from Chris Stewart (a total rocket from the circles) and TEE. JAY. GALIARDI (that was my best Mike Haynes Impression) The Devils got tallies from Ilya Kovalchuk (a goal that had just enough zip to beat Anderson, and after the amount of shots he had tonight, he was due for one) and rookie Matt Taormina (first NHL game and he gets two points, not bad) For a team who didn't want to rely on Anderson all game, they sure did tonight. In typical Andy fashion, he bailed them out. Johnny Liles continued his assault on the single season assists record, adding another to his now 6 Apples in 4 games.

Toronto Maple Leafs 4 New York Rangers 3 (OT)
- Please, do not feel the need to adjust your monitors. The Leafs are ACTUALLY 4-0. They didn't make it easy on themselves tonight though, and they blew a 1:10 5 on 3 with around 6 minutes left in the third as the Rangers came back to tie the game. Phil Kessel had 2 goals including the OT winner. The big worry for the Rangers would have to be the loss of Chris Drury, 6 weeks broken finger..the same one he broke 4 weeks ago, and Marian Gaborik (Ok, who had October 15th? he's out 2-3 weeks with a separated shoulder.) Yet they got deuces from an unlikely source in Brian Boyle, who had 4 goals in 71 games last season. I smell MVP. The Leafs haven't got off to a start like this since 1993. I'm telling yah, it's these new jerseys.

New York Islanders 2 Pittsburgh Penguins 3 OT
- The Isles were without Robbie Schremp, Kyke Okposo, John Tavares and Mark Streit, suffice it to say, they're a hurting club limping into Consol Energy Center. The Pens, on the other hand, had yet to win a game in their new home, and had a power play that was lower than dirt. That all changed tonight..well..almost. They obviously won, but their PP was still shit. It went 1 for 8 (I swear Tony Granato is running their PP INTO. THE. GROUND) The only goal they did manage to score on the man advantage was Alex Goligoski's OT winner.

Chicago Blackhawks 5 Columbus Blue Jackets 2
- In a surprise to exactly no one, the Hawks (or Cocks, as Drunk Jackets fans refer to them as) thumped the BJ's 5-2. I watched a bit of this game, and saw Patty Sharp pump in 2 goals and rip 13 shots from his twig. This will cause podcasters Brandon and Pete from Up The Pucks to bitch at each other (Pete's a Hawks fan, Brandon, a Jackets) and it will make me laugh hysterically.

Montreal Canadiens 2 Buffalo Sabres 1
- I'm going to admit something, I don't very much care for Buffalo. Ryan Miller has a weird looking face, Vanek is over paid thanks to Kevin Lowe, and Lindy Ruff might as well live at HSBC Centre for the amount of years he's been with the team. The ONLY reason I watch Buffalo games is for the one and only, Rick Jeanneret.

I even put up with MSG being dicks and not showing their games in HD, just to listen to Jeanneret. I've yet to hear him call a goal live. Oh yah, Montreal won.

Atlanta Thrashers 4 Anaheim Ducks 5 (SO)
-I watched enough of this game to know two things. One, the Honda Center was EMPTY tonight. Two. Anthony Stewart, brother of Avs forward Chris Stewart, not only scored 17 seconds into the game, but had his FIRST hat trick. Congrats to Anthony tonight.

Vancouver Canucks 1 Los Angeles Kings 4
- It's October here in Vancouver, so that means a few things, it gets rainy and the Canucks start off incredibly slow. This wasn't more evident than it was tonight, as LA basically dictated the play from the get go. Luongo looked his usual 'October self' and the only plus you could really say for Vancouver was the pretty passing play that led to their only goal. (Henrik to Daniel..or was it Daniel to Henrik?) Oh look, fans gathering on the Lions Gate Bridge..wait..why are the all dressed in Canucks gear?

- Jaye

PKLC on Up The Pucks

2010-10-15T09:10:00.000-07:00

After 5 hours of utter silliness, it's finally here. If you head on over to Up The Pucks you can hear THE VOICE of PKLC (I was sick, so I sound terrible)

Big Ups to Pete and Brandon again for the opportunity.

Could We Scrap The Cap?

2010-10-15T01:11:00.000-07:00

We'd see more back problems as players walked home with more of these

What if we went back to a world without the salary cap? This is just a little bit of what they're discussing over at Puck Daddy. The Cap has brought the mathalete out in all of us.

They go on to say that without the cap, we'd have Kovalchuk and Ovechkin flanking Crosby in Pittsburgh, IF they could compete with the 'powerhouse' teams with all that cash, like the Rangers, Avalanche, Red Wings. Hell maybe even the Leafs could put together a team..(wait..they're...undefeated??) and the league wide competition that we have now become accustomed to would vanish like Joe Thorton in April.

Has the cap hurt the league? Well no. as it hurt individual teams? Obviously. We saw that first had as Chicago had its still beating heart ripped out last summer. The Cup Champs weren't even champs for 24 hours before the media started talking about who would stay and who would go. Dynasty hasn't been a word we've uttered in quite a long time, and as of recently, Detroit would be the only team you could even come close to attaching said label to. (and even that's stretching the definition)

From personal experience as an Avalanche fan, and as many other Avs fans can attest to, the cap initially hurt us the most. We were raised as the spoiled kids on the block. Daddy never said 'no' to us. We kept winning and Uncle Stan kept writing the cheques to make sure we stayed there. (Some would say we 'bought' our way the 2001 Stanley Cup, but that's just bull. I will argue anyone any day on this topic, and they will be sent home in tears.) As we came out of the lockout, the Avs lost a couple of big names in Rob Blake and Peter Forsberg, and some would say, that was the beginning of the end. As we learned to become accustomed to less 'big names' wearing the Burgundy and Blue, we also embraced the youth. The road ahead looks bright, do we thank the cap for that? Can we honestly say that we would have seen runs from teams like Ottawa or Edmonton if there was no 'league wide parady?'

Now lets say we never had a salary cap. Would we see the rise of young stars such as Steven Stamkos, Matt Duchene or Chris Stewart? or would we still see Brendan Shanahan, Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Lindstrom lifting cup after cup one season to the next? Would young stars not named Sid or Alex even get a shot at big minutes?

Now, for John Q Casual fan, he/she is going to want POWERHOUSE teams where if you have the dough, you'll burn though it, which doesn't always work. (see Rangers, New York - 2000-2004) but you would see a 'Kurri' to Crosby's 'Gretzky' (which I totally thought would be Marian Hossa) and all would be right in the Land of Old NHL. Would we even see a team with the likes Sid, Alex and Evgeni Malkin? Would we go back to the 'Have' and 'Have Not' teams of yesteryear?

Back to the present. (and they mentioned this in the PD write up as well) does the cap hinder teams from being totally awesome? As the article said, we COULD see Crosby play with TRUE superstars such as we did at the Olympics, with Jarome 'Joe Sakic Saved My Career' Iginla and Eric 'They finally found someone else to play with Crosby' Staal. Instead, he's been 'burdened' with Chris Kunitz (who has an 'A' which was news to me) and Pascal Dupuis (the only part left of the Hossa trade.) GM Ray Shero, as we've seen in the past, isn't afraid to pull the trigger on trades. (remember that Avs fans? I miss Pierre Lacroix so) I'd put money on the fact that IF Sid's struggles continue, they'll find him an 'equivalent' winger that isn't Malkin but someone else who will play at the same level as him, who isn't just along for the ride and without taking Geno off the second line.*

*please come back Jordan Staal.

Now to the point of all this. Do I like the salary cap? At the end of the day, I'll take it over watching fucking Detroit load up and run the table year after year. I don't really understand how people can pour over sites such as Cap Geek. I could honestly give two shits about how much the Islanders are STILL paying Alexi Yashin NOT to play for them. (ok, it's still funny) (and it's 4.7 mil) I also hate Corsi, but that will have to wait for another post.

- Jaye

Nightly Recaps: 10/14/10

2010-10-14T20:23:00.000-07:00

Lightning 3 @ Flyers 2: There was a huge reunion tonight which we will get to later,but what about the under the radar return of Simon Gagne to Philadelphia. The current Tampa Bay LW, and future Avalanche LW, played 10 seasons in Philadelphia totaling 524 points in Flyers orange. Gagne's current team came out on top with Gagne not figuring much in the game except being on the ice for a Flyers goal, but in a very classy move he was chosen 1st star of the game.

Hurricanes 2 @ Senators 3: Well here is a prediction even the "experts" who picked the Avalanche to finish in dead last last season probably had, Pascal Leclaire goes down again. Leclaire left Thursday night's game with a lower body injury suffered in the 1st period just adding to the log of injuries Leclaire has had since his NHL debut in 2006. Mr. Carrie Underwood, Mike Fisher, added 2 goals for the Senators including the GWG late in the 3rd.

Blues 3 @ Cal O'Reilly 4: Ok so tonight the Blues lost a game in Nashville to the Predators 4-3 but I've decided I want to have a little fun. Cal O'Reilly the big brother of the Avalanche center, Ryan O'Reilly, added 3 assist in the game and since I'm not sure how often Cal will have a game like this I want to enjoy it. I would totally get the kids jersey if I wasn't positive he will never find a permanent home.

Oilers 2 @ Wild 4: Ok here is the 1st game I really don't have much interesting to say about except I'm surprised it took the 3rd game for the Oilers to get their first loss. People were comparing the Oilers to last years Avs team and even this loss is similar, a 2-1 lead and then 3 unanswered goals. Don't lose faith yet Oilers fans, although you can probably do that by the end of next week. Also no surprise Mikko Koivu led the Wild with 2 goals and an assist.

Red Wings 1 @ Stars 4: So lotta hype for the Mike Modano's return to Dallas game but not much of a result. Modano was literally non-existent in the game (15+ minutes no shots) but thanks to future HOF'er Chris Osgood the fact that Dallas played a horrible game didn't matter. The Stars scored 4 goals on only 15 shots (4 over first 11). With his goal and 2 assist Brad Richards now has 7 points (2 goals and 5 assist) through his first 3 games. Richards was named the 1st star of the game and unlike the classy move made by the Flyers earlier in the night the Stars who declined to bring Modano back in the first place also decided not to honor him. Good night to this recap...Stay classy Dallas.

Panthers 3 @ Flames 0: Sometimes you just sigh when you see a game on the schedule and this game did that for me because you have two teams going nowhere and there isn't even a conference rivalry involved. Only thing that makes this recap worth writing is the Flames go it handed to them tonight thanks in large part to Czech Radek Dvorak (2 goals) and another goalie fail by Mikka Kiprusoff. Cute little finishing story on this one I am trying to get my girlfriend into hockey so last Saturday we are watching the Flames home opening ceremony on Center Ice and her first words to me were "They are called the FLAMES?!" then conveniently the Flames show a video and the first guy, a player I can't recall, goes "I'm proud to wear the FLAMING C" and me and my girlfriend laughed at the stupidity and hilarity of the comment. Being an Avs fan myself I'm glad my girlfriends first run in with the Flames went terribly.

@SCrociata

PKLC's CoverItLive Event: Modano's Return to Dallas

2010-10-14T16:27:00.001-07:00

*Note: CoverItLive is closed for the night we decided just to make it a test run but we will run a full event sometime in the near future!*

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=a095d3fdf6"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Modano makes his return to Dallas&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Michael Thomas Modano, Jr. Makes His Return to Dallas

2010-10-14T08:12:00.000-07:00

I can almost guarantee you will never see a Detroit Red Wings based article here at PKLC unless we are brutally bashing something that occurred in the organization but this is a different story. Tonight Mike Modano, the all time leading American scorer in the NHL, makes his debut against the team he played with from 1989-2010. The team he currently plays for, his hometown Detroit Red Wings (2-0-1), go into Dallas tonight to play the Stars (2-0-0) who have been a bit of a surprise in their first two games, wins @ NJ and NYI.

Hockey fans know how Modano's story unfolded this summer: decided not to retire and wanted to return to Dallas but the Stars had decided to move on. This probably helps Modano who will undoubtedly have teas in his eyes when the Dallas crowd erupts in an ovation for him tonight. I personally have a strong distaste for both of these teams but I have always liked Modano. He is a character guy plus he's Italian-American like myself so that helps. This season has been an early see-saw for Modano as he scored on his first shot in his first game with Detroit, was invisible in game 2, and then put up a -3 in the loss against the Avalanche. I can never root for Detroit so my only hope is Modano is not a disaster tonight and he holds his own. Good Luck Michael Thomas Modano, Jr., Not that he really needs it the guy is married to Willa Ford!

-Stephen @SCrociata

Ducks Win Home Opener vs Nucks in Special Teams Battle

2010-10-13T21:38:00.000-07:00

*Writers Note: I'm covering for Jaye here who is doing his best to get the word out on our blog here by taking part in a podcast*

Scoring Summary
1st Period
Anaheim	2:41, Ryan Getzlaf 1 (power play) (Bobby Ryan, Cam Fowler)
Vancouver	3:57, Daniel Sedin 3 (power play) (Henrik Sedin, Alexander Edler)
Vancouver	4:14, Raffi Torres 1 (Dan Hamhuis, Manny Malhotra)
2nd Period
Anaheim	15:09, Teemu Selanne 1 (power play) (Ryan Getzlaf, Lubomir Visnovsky)
3rd Period
Vancouver	5:23, Christian Ehrhoff 2 (power play) (Alexander Edler, Daniel Sedin)
Anaheim	8:54, Corey Perry 1 (Ryan Getzlaf, Brendan Mikkelson)
Anaheim	10:12, Bobby Ryan 1 (Ryan Getzlaf)

So far up to this point the Ducks have greatly struggled but they partially redeemed themselves in their home opener. Anaheim reduced mistakes and in the 3rd period took advantage of the Canucks mistakes to get their first win of the year, it is also the first time this season the Ducks have scored more than one goal and allowed less than four. There were a combined 4 PPG in the game two for each side but it was two 5 on 5 goals in the middle of the 3rd that put Anaheim ahead for good.

3 Stars:
1- Ryan Getzlaf
2- Daniel Sedin
3- Bobby Ryan

-Stephen @SCrociata

Nightly Recaps: 10/13/10

2010-10-13T18:55:00.000-07:00

Cody McCormick!!! (on Right)

Devils 1 @ Sabres 0 (OT): Well it took the Devils longer then they would've liked but in their 4th game of the season they finally came away with 2 points. Only 53 seconds into overtime Ilya Kovalchuk scored his first goal of the year to give the Devils (1-2-1) the victory. Martin Brodeur was also a big part of the victory with his 111th career shutout, and his counterpart Ryan Miller wasn't too bad himself making 35/36 saves but his Sabres (1-2-1) just couldn't put it in the net.

Islanders 1 @ Capitals 2: The Islanders (1-1-1) continue to fight through every game but on this night the Capitals (3-1-0) gave just a little more. Nino Niederreiter netted the first goal of his career but it wasn't enough as Alex Ovechkin netted his 4th of the year to tie it then a late PP goal by Nicklas Backstrom gave the Caps the win.

Maple Leafs 4 @ Penguins 3: Uh oh don't look now but the Toronto Maple Leafs (3-0-0) can't be stopped! It is hard to base a season ending result on 3 games but no matter what ensues it is nice to see the Leafs get out the gate well and have their first good start since the CuJo days. Clarke MacArthur added two goals (3,4) for the Leafs who look to maintain their hot start with their next 3 games vs NY teams (1 vs NYI 2 vs NYR). The Penguins (1-3-0) on the other hand will look to get on the right track on Long Island vs the Islanders Friday.

Lightning 4 @ Canadiens 3 (OT): Many people are high on Tampa Bay's (2-0-0) PP and for good reason as they gave Tampa two of their four goals tonight. Brett Clark, yes Brett Clark, gave the Lightning their first PP goal on the night and down 3-2 with under 2 minutes to go Steven Stamkos tied the game on the PP. With less than a minute left in OT Ryan Malone scored for Tampa Bay to drop Montreal (1-1-1), who were celebrating their home opener.

Predators 3 @ Blackhawks 2: Who needs overtime?! Not the Predators (2-0-0) who scored with 27 seconds left in the game vs the Blackhawks (1-2-1) on the PP. Joel Ward scored the game winner for Nashville who is the latest team to put a speed bump in the defending champs road to a title defense. Next on tap for the struggling Hawks is the Bluejackets who are possibly the best team to attempt a turn around against.

Canucks @ Anaheim: Come back for a full recap from Jaye

Tomorrow: 3 games featuring two teams who have yet to have a result in which they did not pick up a point (Tampa Bay @ Philadelphia, St. Louis @ Nashville, and Detroit @ Dallas)

-Stephen @SCrociata

Hittin The Big Time

2010-10-13T09:58:00.000-07:00

Big news PKLC Boys and Girls, we've got our first guest appearence on a podcast tonight!

I'll be the guest co-host on Up The Pucks where we'll talk Avs hockey, the Central division and Colorado Punk Rock (currently doing a crash course as we speak..or..type)

Be sure to check it out later tonight or tomorrow. Big thanks to Brandon and Peter for the opportunity

- Jaye

Avalanche Fight Back 3 Times Take Down Detroit in a Shoot Out

2010-10-12T19:41:00.000-07:00

Can't do a full recap but I can't end the night without posting the fact that the Avs took down the Detroit Red Wings tonight. Jaye was close on his 4-3 prediction as the Avs took it 5-4 in a shoot out, after being down 3 times (1-0,3-1,4-3). Brandon Yip scored the game winning shoot out goal. Here is a picture of McLeod wrecking Doug Janik in the first, it was a very one sided bout.

Avs v. Wings TUESDAY! TUESDAY! TUESDAY!!

2010-10-12T10:44:00.000-07:00

Cause really, this is the only game that matters tonight. Once of the fiercest rivalries in sport, this has become a bit of a fizzle lately. Blame it on roster turnover, the lack of playoff games between to two teams, whatever. If you're a fan of either of these teams, you circle these games on your calendar.

For the second time in two weeks, the Avs get to show their stuff in front of a nationwide TV audience, as those in the US get to see the game on Versus, (TSN2 will air the game here in Canada, using the Versus feed) please no Joe Beninati.

Stat Pack

(Getty Images)

Johnny Liles seems to have checked himself out of the Joe Sacco Chateau he so frequently visited last season, with 4 points in 2 games. Could he finally be that offensive dynamo that we've seen in spurts past seasons?

(Getty Images)

Valtteri Filppula notched two saturday night against the Hawks to give himself 3 points in two games. Always a threat when on the ice. (totally mailed that one in)

Peter Budaj will get his first start this season. Considering we had to wait till November 4th to see him play last season, chalk one up on the 'Smart Move' board for Sacco

This is the first of back to back games for the Avs this week (they play the Islanders and Devils Friday/Saturday) Detroit doesn't play again till Thursday night in Dallas

Prediction - Avs 4 Wings 3 But the Avs will spot the Wings at least one first period goal.

PKLC Biased Game of The Night: Flyers vs. Avalanche (Losers edition)

2010-10-12T06:50:00.000-07:00

*Writers Note: If you want to read an accurate recap read the one posted earlier by Jordan aka the perspective of a winner. A fan of the losing team is not as interested in writing a graphic novel about a loss*

Avalanche Powerplay is pathetic leads to two first period goals.
The Avalanche disguise themselves as a respectable team in the 2nd and pull the game to 2-1
Somehow 32 seconds into the 3rd the Avs tie the game on a Hejduk goal.
The usual characters come out later in the 3rd and the Flyers take control.
Craig Anderson allows a REALLY bad goal with less than 3 minutes to play.
An empty netter seals the deal.
Congrats to that other team who was in the Stanley Cup finals last season.
My 3 stars (all members of the Flyers): 1- Avs PP 2- Jeff Carter 3- Claude Giroux
Also a special thank you to Ryan O'Reilly who was the only Av on the ice I saw play a 3 period game

Yes I know I sound like a cry baby but that was the whole idea of this two recap thing (which to add insult to injury was my idea) we get to see the obvious emotions of a winner and loser. On a quick serious note about this game yes it was nice to see the Avs fight back but even when they game got good you could see the whole time the game was in the Flyers hands. Hopefully the Avs are not to beat up from the physical nature of the game and they are able to bring it to Detriot, who has looked good early on, tonight at the Joe Louis Arena.

PS: I better see Holos play tonight Sacco!

-Stephen @SCrociata

PKLC Biased Game of The Night: Flyers vs. Avalanche

2010-10-11T22:31:00.000-07:00

(Ed. Note - Sometime tomorrow, we'll have Stephen's recap from the Avs' point of view. Tonight - or this morning, depending when you're reading this - We've got Jordan, resident Flyers fan, and his take on the game tonight through his Orange and Black tinted glasses)

This actually pains me to put Pronger front and centre (Getty Images)

As biased as this should be, I’m going to take some time to rip on my team real quick.

The Flyers, coming off of an emotional banner-raising in South Philly and yet another standing ovation for Ian Laperriere (thanks Avs, also, sad face), the Flyers came out to a roaring start.

They used their physicality really well, did something offensively, and got some early saves from resident new guy Sergei Bobrovsky. The Flyers forced the Avs to cycle up high and create a few mistakes. First it was Mike Richards that was robbed shorthanded. Then Richards made a deft pass to Claude Giroux for his beauty of a second goal that easily trumped his first goal in Pittsburgh. Then it was Carter right after a penalty kill with his patented forehand-backhand deke that beat Craig Anderson.

But the Flyers got way too content with that 2-0 lead. For a time the Flyers were all over the place—then they stopped. It reminded me a lot of the midway point of last year when the Flyers seemed to give up at points during the game. The other team would find a way to start really working hard, and make the game a real tightrope walk. Do the Flyers have a case of hubris?

The Avs started to really work hard and show the Flyers they were not done. Their forecheck forced the mistake-prone Scott Hartnell to turn the puck over, and Brandon Yip picked a corner for his beauty of a first goal of the season. Then Milan Hejduk may have gotten a little lucky, finding a slight hole through Bobrovsky to tie it up.

It didn’t take long to realize—wow, the Flyers are giving the Avs this game. Nothing was working offensively, the defense was rimming the puck around to nobody, and the powerplay was absolutely atrocious. The Flyers were doing nothing to win this game—the Avs were.

Then it took a bit of luck for the Flyers’ Jeff Carter to backhand the puck past a clearly unready Craig Anderson, who was good in this game tonight, to give them the lead. Darroll Powe, whose speed is a marvel, beat a defender for the empty netter, and that was the hockey game.

The positives? Sergei Bobrovsky does not crack under pressure. He is a goalie that has serious star power in the future. Interestingly enough, he may have given up that bad goal, and at one point, I wondered if that would rattle him. But he bounced right back and made some seriously awesome saves. He is always square, and he is quick to react to pucks going to corners. He is quickly showing he’s the real deal. And not James Neal (I know, I should stop using this corny joke).

Also, the Flyers showed what they could do when they are at their aggressive and relentless best. They only made the Stanley Cup Finals last season, so they had to be good at something. (Pronger being a douche?) So if this is just early-season jitters, I’ll forgive them. But if I see this in mid-season, I’m sure I won’t be the only one getting angry.

Negatives? Nikolai—excuse me, Nikolay Zherdev was nonexistent out there. Made some stupid plays, and wasn’t exactly great tonight. The Flyers let the Avs back in this game, and it goes back to playing an entire 60 minutes. (Ed. Note - Welcome to what Avs fans refer to as 'the third period')

But credit the Avs on being a really opportunistic team with a lot of promise this season. So I’m glad the Flyers were able to fight through this game against a really tough team. It’s time for the Flyers to get their stuff in gear because the schedule certainly doesn’t get any easier.

I know, positive, right? I’m brimming with optimism.

- Jordan

Rangers @ Islanders Battle of NY Round 1: Twitter Recap

2010-10-11T12:56:00.000-07:00

*Writers Note: Sorry that the recap is essentially backwards only way to view a twitter feed so if you want to read play by play in order read from the bottom up.*

-Stephen

Oilers undefeated - Parade down Jasper Ave planned for Tuesday

2010-10-10T22:23:00.000-07:00

"Greatest moment of my career" - Eberle

(The Edmonton Sun)

EDMONTON - Two days after going 2-0 to start the NHL season, the Edmonton Oilers are being celebrated in a way only the City of Edmonton would do.

They're throwing a parade.

Said Edmonton's Mayor Stephen Mandel, "What a better way then to throw a parade for this team, two days into the season, they've put this city on the map" adding "hey, did you SEE that Eberle goal?!"

Yes, the city is a buzz with Oiler fever not seen since the 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs, where fans celebrated in the streets after the team won series against both San Jose and Detroit.

The hype has not eluded the team either, the locker room was ripe with energy after the Oilers dispatched the Florida Panthers sunday night.

"Best Thanksgiving Gift, EVER" commented Taylor Hall, who must have been given stuffed turkeys as gifts in his youth. "and now they're throwing us a party, life is sweet."

Head Coach Tom Renny doesn't want his players to get too big of egos, but still enjoy the moment.

"I told the boys, things like this don't come around every season here, so you gotta appreciate it, but remember, we still have a lot of hockey to play, we want to be a playoff team."

The parade will start at the west end of Jasper Ave, near 117th Street, before making a turn toward City Hall at 100th street where Mayor Mandel will proclaim October 'Oiltober', new captain Shawn Horcoff will read aloud the two box scores from the paper.

Quick Recaps/The Best Part of Saturday debut

2010-10-09T23:10:00.000-07:00

Work wiped me today, so you're all getting the lazy version...and a new debut, we take the best part of what happened in the games, and try to get you a video or paint a picture through our words.

Some guy for the Rangers scored an HT. First game. Beauty.

Pens still winless at Consol as the Canadiens climb back in it to win it.

Leafs also won, which ties their entire win total all of last october.

Canucks opened their 40th season the same way they piss away season after season, losing in the clutch.

games from europe, Coyotes won, Jackets won.

Wings ruined the Hawks banner raising ceremony by winning.

Best Part of Saturday (new feature)

Mike Green v. Ilya Kovalchuk, check the part at 0:21 where Green almost falls, Caps beat their asses 7-2.

- Jaye

Saturday Night Hockey

2010-10-09T00:57:00.000-07:00

Big night tonight in the NHL, so lets not waste any time. Previews below.

Boom.

(getty images)

Phoenix v. Boston 12:00 ET from Prague? Latvia? Europe..
- Eager to build on their 4th seeding and 100 + point campaign (and a 3-1 win against Dinamo Riga) the Coyotes are raring to go. It's anyone's guess as to which version of Wojtek Wolski comes to play. Boston, well..we all remember what happened to them (cue the Bruin fans whining 'that was last year') Like the kid who crapped his pants in jr high, we don't forget.

(bleacherreport.com)

San Jose v. Columbus 3:00 ET from Stockholm Sweden
- For the first time this season, one team will remain undefeated or winless. We'll let NHL.com fill you in...' Special teams meant everything on Friday, as there were 17 minor penalties called in the game. The Sharks scored twice on the power play, including Couture's game-winner in the third period. The Jackets were just 1-for-7 with the extra man but looked sharp at 5-on-4. If the Jackets can cut down on penalties and play as well as they did at 5-on-5 for a second straight game, they could earn the split in Sweden.' Sound good?

(getty images)

New York Rangers v. Buffalo 7:00 ET from Buffalo
- Coming off a win in Ottawa friday night, the New-Look Sabres (love the jerseys) take on the Rangers, who haven't played a meaningful game in 6 months. (It came down to a shoot out against Philadelphia in the final game of the season, they lost and so went their playoff hopes) The Sabres took the season series 3-1.

(nationalpost.com)

Ottawa v. Toronto 7:00 ET from Toronto
- Saturday night, and the Leafs are on CBC, some things never change. Except this season, the Leafs have a shot at winning two in a row, something they didn't do much of to start the season off last year. They also get the fortune of playing the Senators, a team they usually dominate. NHL.com Fun Fact '[The Leafs] are trying to start the season with back-to-back victories for the first time since winning three in a row to start the 1999-2000 season.' Told you. Season Series went 4-2 in T.O's favor.

(Getty Images)

New York Islanders v. Dallas 7:00 ET from Long Island
- After a hard fought W friday night in New Jersey, the Stars roll into Nassau Coliseum on a high. The Isles suffered two big losses in the pre season, with Mark Streit and Kyle Okposo going down for the long term. GM Garth Snow responded by grabbing Michael Grabner off waivers and signing Mike Mottau to a two year deal. Rick DiPietro has been cleared to play, which marks the first time in forever he's started a season in pads and not in a padded room trying not to further injure himself.

(montrealcanadians.net)

Montreal v. Pittsburgh 7:00 ET from Pittsburgh
- Both the Pens and Habs will be searching for their first win Saturday night. The Flyers spoiled Pittsburgh's christening of Consol Energy Center, and Montreal lost a close one 3-2 to the Leafs. This will mark the first time since Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semi Final that these two teams will meet. The Penguins will no doubt be out for a little revenge. Season Series saw Pittsburgh with the advantage 3-1.

(nydailynews.com)

New Jersey v. Washington 7:00 ET from Washington
- The Capitals will raise their 2010 Presidents Trophy banner tonight, (I'm sure Ted Leonsis will tell the fans that the Caps have 'arrived') and the go out and try and maybe..you know..win? They dropped their first game 4-2 to the Thrashers. New Jersey is also searching for their first W, after surrendering 3 different leads against Dallas before losing in OT, yet the line of Zajac-Parise-Kovalchuk contributed 2 goals and 5 points in the loss. Ovechkin picked up an assist in the Caps' loss to Atlanta. New Jersey took the season series 4-1.

(lightningshout.blogspot.com)

Atlanta v. Tampa Bay 7:30 ET from Tampa
- The Stevie Y era beings in Tampa as the re-tooled Lightning take on their Southeast rivals in the Thrashers(Hawks.) Steven Stamkos will begin his assault on the net (from the top of the circles) as he looks to improve on last years' impressive 51 goals that saw him walk away with half of the Richard Trophy (Crosby taking the other half.) Simone Gagne will make his debut in something other than Flyer Orange for the first time in his career. For the Thrashers, Evander Kane will try and expand on his NHL Leading 2 goals. NHL.com Fun Fact 'Tampa Bay has missed the playoffs the last three years with three different coaches, three general managers and two owners.'

(getty images)

Philadelphia v. St. Louis 8:00 ET from St. Louis
- We can count on one hand (finger) how many times these two teams meet. The Flyers won 2-1 in OT. Netminder Sergei Bobrovsky will try and keep the good times going for Philly, who stole the show in Pittsburgh stopping 29 of 31 shots. St. Louis will open their season trying and rebound after a disappointing showing last season, where many picked them to make the playoffs.

(getty images)

Anaheim v. Nashville 8:00 ET from Nashville
- Anything would be an improvement over last game for Anaheim, where they fell behind by 2 only 6 minutes into the game versus Detroit. (losing 4-0) Nashville opens up their season with a new Captain as Shea Weber dons the C after Jason Arnott left for New Jersey in the off season. (Pekka Rinne better be lights out, I've got him in my Fantasy League.)

(getty images)

Detroit v. Chicago 8:30 ET from Chicago
- As you read above, the Wings had a solid showing against the Ducks Friday night.(complete with Pavel Datsuyk chucking knuckles with Corey Perry) looking to go 2-0 against the defending champs, who dropped their first in Colorado. Speaking of defending champs, Chicago will raise their 2010 Stanley Cup banner to the roof of the United Center, which will be sure to set the crowd into a frenzy.


(inform.com)

Los Angeles v. Vancouver 10:00 ET from Vancouver
- 40 years ago today, someone decided it would be a great idea to put an NHL team in Vancouver, whoever that was lost serious money on their investment. 40 years and one finals run in 94 is all the Canucks have to show for themselves. These two teams met last year in the first round of the playoffs, with the Kings bowing out in 6. (prompting the city of Vancouver to throw a party) Experts are picking either one of these two teams as legitimate Stanley Cup contenders this season. Living in Vancouver, I really hope they're wrong. Expect the tin foil hat brigade to argue every call against the 'Nucks. Vancouver took the season series 3-1, but the last game had the Kings putting a touchdown plus 2 past Lou in an 8-3 win. LA played Vancouver 40 years ago, and both teams will be outfitted in their respective retro jerseys. LA's looking like a bottle of Crown Royal, while Vancouver will sport a jersey similar to the atrocity that is their 'stick in the rink' look.

- Jaye

The Night the PVR shit the bed

2010-10-08T22:25:00.000-07:00

Bad news, the PVR (the BRAND. NEW. PVR) decided to screw around with me, and I got 5 minutes of the third period in the Caps-Thrashers game..My cone of silence ruined...

What happened with Pavelec? from the pictures and a couple of articles, that sounded like scary stuff.

15k on hand in Atlanta tonight, must have been nothing better to do, or Ovechkin really does draw crowds. Oh look there was also a freakin penalty shot, sounds like Evander Kane had a whale of a game, 2 goals including that penalty shot.

- Jaye

Nightly Recaps

2010-10-08T21:54:00.000-07:00

(getty images)

Minnesota 1 @ Carolina 2 (SO): In the 2nd game of a "home and home", which actually took place in Helsinki, Finland, the Hurricanes came away winners in the 1st shootout of the '10-'11 season (lone goal by rookie Jeff Skinner. The Canes swept the Series as the Adjectives (Wild) fall to 0-1-1.

(getty images)

San Jose 3 @ Columbus 2: Another game taking place overseas this time in Stockholm, Sweden had the Sharks cough up a two goal lead but then win the game on a Logan Couture 3rd period goal. Joe Pavelski continue his hot streak which started in the playoffs last season adding 2 assist.

(getty images)

Dallas 4 @ New Jersey 3 (OT): The Devils wasted a great effort by their star 1st line, Travis Zajac with 1g 1ast/Ilya Kovalchuk with 2 ast/Zack Parise with a goal, and fell to Dallas who had their game winner by Loui Eriksson. Eriksson scored when he was on an oddman rush and took the shot when it seemed Martin Brodeur expected him to pass.

(getty images)

Anaheim 0 @ Detroit 4: The Red Wings absolutely kicked some Duck tail in this one, but when you have 19 HOF'ers on the ice it's to be expected, but seriously Detroit didn't even play (biased comment there haha) that well hence they couldn't convert on the PP (0-7). To me this game showed just how bad Anaheim is as I had predicted in my article. Out shot 43-21 7 PP for DET only 1 for the Ducks and granted Jonas Hiller faced a lot of shots but he allowed 4 in the first 19 just not acceptable. Mike Modano finished the game with 5 SOG and scored on his 1st.

(getty images)

Buffalo 2 @ Ottawa 1: Everybody saw Jordan Eberle's only competition for the Calder trophy tonight in Tyler Ennis who started exactly where he left off in his 10 GP last season and assisted on both Buffalo goals. Derek Roy who was the lone Buffalo scorer is going to really enjoy a full season on a line with Ennis not to mention a PP with Ennis and last seasons Calder winner Tyler Myers. Oh and Buffalo also has some Ryan Miller guy in goal who stopped 25/26 shots. (Ed. Note - what sweet threads Buffalo has now)

- Stephen

You'll notice we're missing the Atlanta - Washington game. We'll have it later tonight or tomorrow as the 'PKLC Game We Know NOTHING About'

Nightly Breakdown/PKLC Game We Know NOTHING About takes centre stage

2010-10-08T12:04:00.000-07:00

Did we all recover from last night? Good. I'd hate to see us O.D from all that hockey.

Last night we had our first PKLC Biased Game of The Night as the Avs played the Hawks. As you saw, we had Stephen recap the game, good job by him, all that homerism was great. (and cause I forgot all about it till mid way through the first, bad editor)

Tonight, we're going mix things up a little bit. We'll have our much anticipated 'PKLC Game We Know NOTHING About.' Captials vs.ThrashHawks. Now I know, we're getting Ovechkin shoved down our throats, and we know all about the Captials. But what do we know about the Thrashers? (besides half of the Hawks now living in Hotlanta) EXACTLY! We know NOTHING. (neither do the Thrashers coaching staff. Byfuglien on D..what the hell?!) Plus I can count on one hand the amout of Southeast Division hockey I watched last season (one, for those of you keeping score at home, I think it was Panthers/Lightning)

On to the nights other games....(sorry for the lack of pics or vid, crunched for time)

San Jose vs. Columbus 3:00 EST from Stockholm Sweden
- By the time this post is up, the game will be on. The Sharks took the season series 3-1 last year. Antti Niemi is out to prove he can guide another team to the promised land, and Steve Mason is looking to rebound from his nosedive last season. Joe Thorton gets to show off his new C, looks good on yah Joe.

New Jersey vs. Dallas 7:00 pm from Dallas
- Ilya Kovalchuk gets a full season with the Devs. Marty Broudeur gets another year older. Dallas..uh..we get to see their defense explode in real time. Without Turco, they might win a game or two more than last season. Season series was tied at one last year. This is literally all I can come up with off the top of my head.

Anaheim vs. Detroit 7:30 pm from Detroit
- There's nothing nice I can say about Detroit, so we'll talk about the Ducks. Selanne is back, so is Getzlaf, Perry and Bobby Ryan finally has a contract. 18 yr old Cam Fowler makes his defensive debut for the quackers. Season series was tied at two.

Buffalo vs. Ottawa 7:30 pm from Ottawa
- Buffalo only scored 11 goals vs the Sens last year. It goes without saying their asses got handed to them in the season series. How did they win the Division? oh right, Ryan Miller. Derek Roy was hot in the pre season with 10 points, Jason Spezza is a game time decision.

Washington vs. Atlanta 7:30 pm from Atlanta
- Washington took all 6 from Atlanta last season. Whopped them pretty good 8-1 on Jan 9th. As noted above, this will be tonights PKLC Game We Know NOTHING About. So look for a lot of blank spaces as we type OVECHKIN in our best Joe Beninati impressions.

- Jaye

PKLC Biased Game of The Night: Avs Big Names Tomahawk the Defending Champs

2010-10-08T09:20:00.000-07:00

*Note: Just like the Avalanche.nhl.com motto this recap is all about the A*

(courtesy of Tim Vander Tukk)

In the opening night of the season the Colorado Avalanche absolutely plummeted the Chicago Blackawks, ok that is a lie this is a biased recap but let me make it realistic. Before the start of the game the Avs '96 Cup team was honored for their 15 year reunion although based on the coverage on Versus you would think the game was between the Chicago Blackhawks and Chicago Blackhawks considering there was no Avalanche coverage except for the last 3 minutes of pregame. After about 45 minutes of the Versus pregame crew performing inappropiate sexual actions on the Hawks the game finally got underway.

The puck dropped to open the 1st period, the Hawks won the exchange and the game was over, no. The 1st period started sloppy for the Avs as they seemed quite anxious as the Hawks worked to set up early opprotunities, but the first real chance came after a tripping penalty on Mark Olver (who didn't see a second of ice time after this foul). While short handed Paul Stastny raced toward Marty Turco got the puck between his legs but the puck went off the side of the net. About 20 seconds later on the Hawks counter, while still on the PP, Bryan Bickell found the puck on his stick in a great scoring area and buryed it top shelf on Craig Anderson giving the Hawks a 1-0 lead that they would easily hold, nope. The Avs commited two more penalties in the 1st, and drew no power plays, but they seemed to have more chances on the PK then the Hawks has on the PP with a slew of SH chances. After they killed off an interference penalty by Adam Foote The Avs were on an odd man break with Chris Stewart holding the puck as Cumiskey skated along with him. Turco seemed sure Stewart would pass across to Kyle but instead Stewart held the puck and put on a sweet move to knot the game at 1-1. The 1st period would end with the game tied at 1-1 and the Avalanche leading in shots 15-11 (shocking).

The Avalanche seemed to be setting the pace early in the second period as they seemed to hold the puck much more than the Hawks. A few seconds after Duchene got back on the ice following a penalty kill the Avs drew a penalty but in the delayed penalty time Adam Foote made a shot toward goal which Matt Duchene masterly tipped right past Turco to give the Avs their first lead 2-1. The Avs kept up the intensity, pressure, and physicallity as the Hawks seemed more inclined to wait for an Avs mistake, but the Hawks were the team to make the next mistake. On the Avs 2nd PP of the game Stastny won a FO which Liles saved at the blue line and sent it back toward net. Stastny found the puck back on his stick tipping the puck to himself in better position and sneaked it past Turco to give the Avs a 3-1 lead. This led to the Pepsi Center chanting "TURCOOOOO" which was absolutely incredible I must say. Toward the end of the period the Avs had a three minute stretch where they looked like a QMJHL team and at the 18:24 mark of the 2nd Marian Hossa tipped in a shot past Anderson tocut the Avs lead to 3-2.

To the surprise of no Avalanche fans the Avs seemed to hold back to often in the 3rd period and the Hawks strategy of waiting for the young Avs to make a mistake paid off about ten minutes in. The Avs had a holding call on Cumiskey and at the 10:25 mark of the 3rd Patrick Sharp put in a shot past Anderson to tie the game at 3-3; which of course would lead to four more Hawks goals as they ran away with the game, wrong again (are you catching the drift yet?). After a number of gut wrenching chances on both ends (leaving me with a large ulcer in my stomach) the game would go to OT. The OT was very fast based both teams going up the ice back and forth even though there was only 3 shots. The Avs made their one shot in OT count as a 4 man line including Stastny, Duchene, and Liles passed around the puck until Stastny found himself a shooting lane as he snuck another one past Turco to give the Avs the win. A great start to a season with a ton of questions for the Avs.

The Actual 3 stars: 1: Stastny (2 goals- GWG) 2: Stewart (1 goal 1 assist) 3: Hossa (1 goal 1 assist)
The Biased 3 stars: 1: Stastny 2: Duchene (1 goal 1 assist) 3: Stewart
Honorable Mention: Craig Anderson (35/38 SV) Liles (2 assist)

Up Next: Avs @ Flyers Monday 10/11 7:00 PM EDT

- Stephen

Quick Stuff

2010-10-07T22:00:00.000-07:00

How bout those Oilers? is Eberle the real deal or what.

Avs/Hawks needed OT, Avs pulled it out.

Some other games happened today, but they're long over

PKLC Biased Game Recap tomorrow with Stephen.

Hockey's back. Boom.

- Jaye

Here We..Go!

2010-10-07T08:09:00.000-07:00

Well it's finally here ladies and gentleman, after 119 hockey-less nights, we have the first puck drop of the regular season. Everyone has a shot at first place. (except for Detroit)

In what I hope will be the first of many game day posts, this is going to be a simple little break down of each game.

(hockeywilderness.com)

Carolina v. Minnesota 12:00 ET from Helsinki

- Once again the NHL starts its season off in Europe, pairing the most boring team who just happens to have finnish stars, against the 'Canes, who's only Fin I can name off the top of my head is one of the Ruutu's.

(canada.com)

Montreal v. Toronto 7:00 ET from Toronto

- It wouldn't be right without the Battle of Ontario to kick off the season. These two classic rivals tied the season series last season at 3 wins each. With no 90 minute pre game 100th anniversary ceremonies, the Canadiens might not know what to do with themselves. (Ed. Note - they'll make a 90 min video of them almost making it to the Cup Finals last season)

(getty images)

Philadelphia v. Pittsburgh 7:00 ET from Pittsburgh

- First, a fun fact from NHL.com 'The Flyers and Penguins tied 1-1 in their first game in Pittsburgh on Nov. 4, 1967, when 4,179 showed up at the Igloo. Nearly four times that many, 17,132, were on hand for the final home game there between the teams last March 27.' Neat. Last season the Pens owned the Flyers, winning their season series 5-1. Oh right they're also opening the state of the art Consol Energy Centre. This is one of my favorite rivalries in all the NHL.

(getty images)

Chicago v. Colorado 10:00 ET from Denver (PKLC Biased Game of The Night)

- The Hawks begin their cup defense the same night the Avs will be honouring the 15th anniversary of their first cup. I'll be looking forward to not only the game, but the pre-game ceremony. These two teams produced some amazing hockey to watch last season, with all but one of their 4 games needing a shootout to determine a winner. Big measuring stick for the young Avs team right out of the gate. (This will also be our first Biased Game of the Night, look for our biased take of this game either later tonight or tomorrow)

I thought it looked cool, okay?! (awildermode.com)

Calgary v. Edmonton 10:00 ET from Edmonton

- Both of these teams begin the season fresh after seasons they'd both like to forget. Calgary's off season moves might look familiar, as they brought back both Alex Tanguay and Olli Jokinen. (bringing us the great #SutterLogic hashtag on twitter) The Oilers officially started a rebuild, bringing youth in the form of #1 overall pick Taylor Hall, Canadian Jr. star Jordan Eberle and Swede Magnus Pajaarvi. (all of the above expected to be in the line up) To say this season series was lop sided last season would be doing the Oilers a favour, they were dominated for 6 games and were outscored a combined 25-11. The Battle of Alberta has lost a lot of what it once was, but seeing these two teams go at it is always fun.

Enjoy the games tonight! Let us know which one you're most looking forward to. We're not sure what we're going to do tomorrow for tonight's games, so stay tuned for fireworks.

- Jaye

An Open Letter to Steve Tambellini Re: Shawn Horcoff

2010-10-06T10:43:00.000-07:00

Dear Stevie,

I don't know if anyone calls you Stevie, but I don't feel like we have to get formal. After all, I'm merely a fan, (not of you, don't get your hopes up) writing this in my parents' basement. But more to the point of this letter, did you forget your 'thinking cap' this morning when you strode into the Oilers management office, picked up the phone and said 'we've got our new captain?' I'm sure you were giddy as fuck. In a summer where you seemingly grew a pair and started handing pink slips left right and centre, you thought nothing could go wrong, 'I'm Steve F'in Tambellini, I'm King Shit' I'm sure was your mantra this off season.

But back to your office. When you picked up that phone, what went through your head? Did the thought ever cross your mind 'this guy was a MINUS 29 and BOOED, AT HOME by the fans at almost every opportunity last season, is this stitched letter on the front of his jersey going to rationalize his mind fuck of a contract?' was the answer to the voice inside whatever grey matter you have left 'yes?'

Look Steve, I get that half your roster should still be in Junior (cause they're young, some of them cause they still should be there, yes, Gagner.) and you need a 'leader' who isn't a 'young whippersnapper' and that after Jason Strudwick, your list isn't that long. But did you consider Dustin Penner? You wanna talk about a guy who's a good quote in the morning sports section? Penner for freakin Mayor. Maybe you just wanted to break the trend of 'absolute fucking plug' Captains? Sadly, you didn't really do that. I know you're thinking 'but Horc plays on the first line' yes, yes he does, good for you, you can read a depth chart. Ever thought 'where would he fit on an average NHL team?' If that answer is anything but 'first line centre' congratulations, your prize is in the mail. He also plays significantly more BIG numbers than your last captain did, as I wrote above, your last 2 captains have been either shut down defensemen or 6 minute a night guys. (remember when Doug Weight was captain..good times)

In closing, I'd just love to hear your thought process without using those lies of 'leader' 'hard worker' and 'great presence in the room.' Instead Steve, give us the truth. "I didn't want the last 5 years of his contract to be forgettable' 'I like to reward my worst players' 'Kevin Lowe made me do it.'

Your Blogging Buddy,

- Jaye

It’s Only Preseason

2010-10-04T15:33:00.001-07:00

This time of year, I’m reminded of when Theo Fleury tried to make a comeback last year for the Calgary Flames, accepting a tryout deal when he was well into his 40s. He made a good showing, scoring a beauty of a shootout goal in his final preseason game.

He was subsequently cut from his professional tryout agreement, and the Flames showed no offensive punch, and ended up losing the playoffs. I’m not the only one that probably wanted Fleury to make the team, but such is the way it goes.

We’ve seen a few cuts this season, like Brendan Morrison cut from Vancouver, or Kyle Wellwood cut from Phoenix. It’s a cutthroat competition in preseason, but this isn’t exactly what this blog is about. Not entirely.

More than anything I see, everyone wants to make some sort of judgment from a team’s preseason outings. I happen to remember two preseasons ago when Devin Setoguchi of the San Jose Sharks absolutely tore it up. People touted him as the “next big thing”, and while he’s a good player, he turned out not to be the “next big thing”.

The Flames ended preseason undefeated in their 7 games, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to win all 82 games--far from it. This is a time for players to prove themselves, and the Flames had a fair amount of regulars on the roster every night, giving them an edge against teams like the Oilers, who they beat twice, with plenty of players trying to prove themselves (see Hall, Eberle, Paajarvi, Omark).

Also, a loss like the Philadelphia Flyers took last night, 9-3 against the Buffalo Sabres, caused way too many upset feelings and judgments by the fans of this elite Eastern Conference team. Crying foul, in a way, that the team couldn’t piece together defense, that they will always make horrible turnovers, and that Johan Backlund sucks.

I was on that last bandwagon, mostly because I think he’s overrated, but for the most part, look at the roster that the Flyers put out there last night.

Their first line looked something like Blair Betts, Bill Guerin and Daniel Carcillo. Only one of these players is a true offensive threat, that being Guerin. Betts is not an elite offensive player, so it’s no wonder the Flyers barely got any offense. We got a good look at Mike Testwuide and Ben Holmstrom, two players who should have a good chance to either be called up this year or make the team next year, but otherwise, we can’t be too angry. And on the defensive side of the puck, no Pronger, no Timonen, no Coburn, no Carle, just about nobody.

It’s no surprise the Flyers lost with barely any offensive power, and no defensive depth. But that won’t be the opening night roster. Not even close.

So if you’re looking for something to take out of preseason, only take injuries out and how it affects your team. Otherwise, just wait. You’ll be glad you did.

-Jordan

Grabner cut by Panthers. World stops spinning for split second

2010-10-03T19:48:00.000-07:00

How bad do you have to be cut from the Florida Panthers?

Let's ask Michael Grabner, who was placed on waivers after a less than stellar Camp.

Coming from Vancouver in the Keith Ballard deal, he had a decent season on the left coast (20 gp 5-6-11) after posting pedestrian numbers in Manitoba of the AHL. Even so, coming into Florida, you think he would have a pretty good shot at cracking a Panthers roster that included the likes of Stepen Weiss and David Booth.

I know VERY little about the situation as to why he was cut. PKLC Insider Caity Kauffman has her take on it;

"He didn't exactly produce in the preseason, I believe he was a minus 4 or 5 and didn't contribute any points at all for Florida However, considering we acquired him in a trade for Ballard, I'll take Grabner over Ballard any day"

Coach Peter DeBoer also said he 'lacked finish'. Again, these are the freaking Panthers.

He's still young, so there might still be hope for Grabner, but this does put a dent in his NHL career.

- Jaye

NHL Award Predictions from DGS

2010-09-27T18:33:00.000-07:00

Another 'Celebrity' post today. Seems our friends at Down Goes Spezza read yesterdays post about Stephen doing every prediction BUT who will win what award. Fear not psychics. Our friends and rivals at DGS have you covered....
****
NHL Awards Predictions 2010-11

Hart Memorial: MVP

Nominees:
Henrik Sedin, Steven Stamkos, Sidney Crosby

(nhlsnipers.com)

Winner: Stamkos takes his first MVP, beating out Ovi and Crosby in a close vote.

Art Ross: Scoring Champ

(thehockeynews.com)

Winner: Henrik Sedin 33G 92A 125P

Other 100P topping players

Steven Stamkos 55G 45A
Sidney Crosby 41G 77A
Ilya Kovalchuk 60G 42A (Look at the weak goaltending of the Atlantic division)
Daniel Sedin 41G 61A (if he stays healthy)
Evgeni Malkin 35G 72A

Rocket Richard Award: Most goals

(nucksicemen.com)

Winner: Ilya Kovalchuk 60G

Names:
Alex Ovechkin 57G
Steven Stamkos 55G
Jeff Carter 47G (could be a Flyers homer here)

Selke Trophy: Best Defensive Forward

Nominees:
Ryan Kesler, Mike Richards, Pavel Datsyuk

(phinallyphilly.com)

Winner: Mike Richards finally takes this award

Norris Trophy: Best Defenseman

Nominees: Duncan Keith, Drew Doughty, Zdeno Chara

(bleacherreport.com)

Winner: Zdeno Chara, Chara has a big year as he looks for a new contract.

Vezina Trophy: Best goaltender

Nominees: Ryan Miller, Martin Brodeur, Jon Quick

(blog.suntimes.com)

Winner: Miller takes this award, Brodeur’s too old to be elite…tho still a talent, and I can’t see Quick duplicating his success from last year.

Jennings Award: Fewest Goals Allowed

(committedindians.com)

Winner: Marty Turco

Turco’s an underrated goalie who will face next to nothing in net because of how great the Hawks Defense is, this award will be won by Keith/Seabrook/Hjallmarsson more than Turco, but Turco’s name will be on the trophy.

Calder Trophy: Rookie of the Year

Nominees: Taylor Hall, Tyler Seguin, someone else (Ed. Note - Jordan Eberle)…it’s the Taylor vs. Tyler rematch!

(prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)

Winner: Tyler Seguin wins this award having decent numbers…say 60-65pts on a solid Bruins team.

Lady Byng

Nominees: Chris Pronger, Steve Downie, Sean Avery (just kidding)

Real Nominees: Martin St. Louis, Pavel Datsyuk, Brad Richards

(zimbio.com)

Winner: Martin St. Louis again, just to watch his 5’5” frame give a speech. (Ed. Note - I want to see him give another one from his Blackberry)

Jack Adams: Coach of the Year

Nominees: Dave Tippett, John Maclean, Peter Laviolette

(gettyimages)

Winner: Maclean wins the award for surviving Lou and the jelly tossed at him in NJ.

Predictions from Stephen

2010-09-26T22:09:00.000-07:00

(Ed. Note - I'm not a predictions guy, well, not to the extent of the below post. Stevie has decided to make an insane prediction, like the season hasn't even started and he's making Cup finalist calls, I'm shocked he hasn't made Award predictions. Without further ado, Stephen's Predictions)

2010-2011 NHL Predictions: It's Ovie's turn.

Eastern Conference
(Conference standing in parenthesis)
Atlantic
1. Pittsburgh Penguins (2)
2. New Jersey Devils (4)
3. Philedelphi Flyers (5)
4. New York Rangers (7)
5. New York Islanders.

Northeast
1. Buffalo Sabres (3)
2. Boston Bruins (6)
3. Ottawa Senators (8)
4. Montreal Canadiens
5. Toronto Maple Leafs

Southeast
1. Washington Capitals (1)
2. Atlanta Thrashers
3. Tampa Bay Lightning
4. Florida Panthers
5. Carolina Hurricanes

Western Conference
(Conference standing in parenthesis)

Central
1. Chicago Blackhawks (3)
2. Detroit Red Wings (5)
3. Nashville Predators(6)
4. St. Louis Blues
5. Columbus Blue Jackets

Northwest
1. Vancouver Canucks (1)
2. Colorado Avalanche (8)
3. Minnesota Wild
4. Calgary Flames
5. Edmonton Oilers

Pacific
1. San Jose Sharks (2)
2. Los Angeles Kings (4)
3. Phoenix Coyotes (7)
4. Anaheim Ducks
5. Dallas Stars

Playoffs

EAST:
(1) Capitals over (8) Senators in 5
(2) Penguins over (7) Rangers in 5
(6) Bruins over (3) Sabres in 6
(4) Devils over (5) Flyers in 7

(1) Capitals over (4) Devils in 6
(2) Penguins over (6) Bruins in 5

(1) Capitals over (2) Penguins in 7

WEST:
(1) Canucks over (8) Avalanche in 6
(7) Coyotes over (2) Sharks in 6
(3) Blackhawks over (6) Predators in 5
(4) Kings over (5) Red Wings in 6

(1) Canucks over (7) Coyotes in 5
(3) Blackhawks over (4) Kings in 6

(3) Blackhawks over (1) Canucks in 6

FINALS:

Capitals over Blackhawks in 7

- Stephen

(Ed. Note pt II - fuck the caps, I'd rather have florida win than Washington)

On Mueller, Paajarvi & Hall

2010-09-23T22:30:00.000-07:00

News was sent earlier today that Avalanche forward Peter Mueller is once again shelved with a concussion. Cue Avs Nation acting irrationally. I've read calls to "Trade for Player X or, Why didn't we sign Player Y" and to these folks, I say this..

If this turns out to be a long term problem, go ahead and address the hole with a trade, signing, whatever. But only IF no one in your organization can fill it.

If this is a short term injury (month to two months) and they do something as drastic as said above, it's a slap in the face to your depth players. To just sign a player to sign him? Doesn't show much faith in your players. Last season, David Jones went down in Mid November, he was on pace for career highs, but did the fans call for a trade? I don't think so. They had FAITH in the depth guys. Faith that they would be able to shoulder the load. Had Greg Sherman gone and traded for someone, would we see the emergence of Brandon Yip? Doubtful.

Maybe in this case we see a rookie step up, or Ryan Stoa even. As for the cannon from the point, maybe this is where you take on Kevin Shattenkirk or Cameron Gaunce as a 7th D man.

****
If you listen closely, you can hear the collective minds of Edmonton Oiler fans meticulously planning a parade for 2011 down Jasper Ave. Pre season?! WHAT PRE SEASON?! CUP IN 2011 BABY!!

The Oilers, or more specifically, Magnus Paajarvi, ran roughshod over the Tampa Bay Lightning's B team, (no Vinny, Marty or Stevie..Stamkos) popping in 3 goals in a 5-2 Oilers win.

How did 2010 Number 1 Pick Taylor Hall do?

goal at the 1:05 mark, I'll bet you he tells his kids it was top cheese roof daddy on a clear cut break away.

But it was really Magnus Paajarvi that stole the show tonight. You can definitely see his development curve over Hall. (3 years playing in the Swedish Elite League vs. CHL) but who will have the better career? Time will tell. I'd like to put my money on MPS, but that's just cause I can't stand Hall. We'll save that post for another time.

- Jaye

DGS vs. PKLC..fantasy style

2010-09-23T11:46:00.000-07:00

Back to blogger, It was fun with MarsEdit, maybe I'll suck up the $40 and buy it.

For those who might have missed it yesterday, we're throwing around some ideas for this season. We want to keep things interesting around here and not bore you all like some blogs. (Corsi can suck our collective behinds) One of the ideas was a Fantasy Update, where we give you a run down about out billions of fantasy teams we have on to go.

We already have a challenge.

Friends of the blog, Down Goes Spezza have spit in the face of the All-Mighty PKLC.

They want a Fantasy Hockey Showdown, we'd be rude not to accept.

Loser writes a guest post on the winners' blog explaining how awesome the other is at fantasy hockey, blog writing, life.

By April look for a special post here from our friends at DGS explaining how we kicked their asses.

-Jaye

Welcome Back Hockey

2010-09-22T20:29:00.001-07:00

It's been a while, but we might finally have something to talk about in this corner of the internet. It's only pre season, and I don't really care enough to recap all the games. But things will really get moving when the regular season starts.

Some thoughts we're working on..

- The Biased PKLC Game of The Night - simply put, we'll talk about an upcoming game, or recap a game from the night before, with an obvious bias. We warned you.

- The 'We Have No Idea Who These Teams Are' PKLC Game of The Night - again, pretty self explanatory. If we have to watch a game between basement dwellers, two teams we don't care about, or even the Islanders vs. Wild on a friday night, just because we called ourselves an NHL blog, and for the sake of completeness, we have too.

- Fantasy Updates - I think we have like 6 fantasy teams between the 4 of us, so we might bore you with how bad we're getting our asses kicked in Fantasy hockey.

If you have any ideas about what you would like us to write about, let us know! Let us know in the Comments or tweet our Twitter. (@PKloosechange) or the our personal accounts, they're to your right.

Drop the puck already!

- Jaye

Hawk Camp with Ryan Hackett

2010-09-21T22:12:00.001-07:00

I told you we'd have more camp news. Ryan has been nice enough to write a bit about his experience at Hawks Camp.

****

Yes, hockey is back. I checked out the Chicago Blackhawks training camp this past weekend, and Jaye asked me to share my observations on how the Hawks look early in the preseason.

We'll start with some of the more disappointing performances:

Ivan Vishnevskiy (D) - I counted no less than a half dozen passes that were more than a little off the mark, some of which ended up on opposing sticks. His positioning was decent, but poor puckhandling and decision-making suggests he needs a bit more time on the farm.
Simon Danis-Pepin (D) - It seemed like every rush down the ice he was getting turnstiled by tripping over his own clunky feet. At 22 years old, another year of development to work on his skating, and at a formidable 6'6", his size could be a huge asset.
Jassen Cullimore (D) - Hard to be too harsh on a guy who has three years on Marty Turco, but I think it's safe to say he's not going to suddenly find his fastball close to age 40 a la Lewis Black.
Jake Dowell (C) - Wow. This guy has United Center zamboni drivers fearing for their jobs. He spent all kinds of time on the ice. I don't mean he had a lot of icetime, he just couldn't stay on his skates to save his life. He could make the team if and only if they strap wet towels to his legs and backside to save money (zambonis are big time gas-guzzlers).

But hey, there were some very impressive performances to be noted as well:

Igor Makarov (RW) - I don't think his effort flew under anyone's radar. This guy was digging hard. It may be because he is realizing it might be his last time to make a significant contribution to an NHL roster, but he busted up and down the ice all day. Good to see, and I would be shocked if he doesn't make the team.
Jeremy Morin (LW) - I know it was just one day (let alone the first day) of camp, but this kid certainly made his case for an Indian Head sweater. He was aggressive but not reckless, and had a magnificent period of hockey including a beautiful behind-the-back assist to Brandon Pirri.
Viktor Stalberg (LW) - I have mixed emotions about putting him in the "good" category. He showed some absolutely breathtaking speed, but as I have heard from many a Maple Leafs fan, his puckhandling is, shall we say, "suspect". The thing is, the art of the finish can be learned, but you can't teach speed. This kid is promising to say the least.
Jonathan Toews (C) - It's hard to put the Conn Smythe winner in the positive section of the first day of training camp, but he was like a man possessed. It seemed to click for Captain Serious after a rather tough hit from Niklas Hjalmarsson in the corner. He proceeded to notch a pair of goals in that contest and one later in the day, and once again showed why he deserves to wear the "C" for Chicago.
John Scott (D) - Good God. I will honestly be surprised if he doesn't kill someone this season. This guy is an absolute monster. I believe the Hawks have the leadership and coaching to harness his massive 6'8"/260 lb frame and make him a contributing force on the blue line. Just maybe not this year.

Call me a homer, but I honestly believe the Blackhawks are the class of the Central and definite favorites to defend their Western Conference and Stanley Cup titles this year. Granted, they lost several role players in the offseason, but their leadership is strong and will create the chemistry needed to succeed.

Ryan Hackett

http://www.nhlhotstove.com

http://www.twitter.com/hawknut

***

I'd like to thank Ryan for his insight. Hockey is back baby! More as we roll through the pre-season and on to the real stuff!!

- Jaye

Sean Payton goes to Camp

2010-09-18T14:05:00.001-07:00

More news from Avs camp (I swear if more people were going to camps, we'd have more than just Avs stuff) I contracted Sean Payton from Anyone But Detroit. (don't tell him he's getting paid in magic beans) He crafted this post about today's action.

****

Today’s session:
The Avs roster was divided into 3 teams - black, grey and blue. There were three 45 min scrimmages (with a running clock) - each team played in two of the scrimmages. The sessions were refereed - the refs put away their whistles for the most part, only calling major / obvious infractions. When a penalty was called, a penalty shot was awarded in place of a PP, so we saw no special teams action.

Overall, the mood was spirited. Not a ton of hitting, but contact wasn’t limited to prospects - in fact Quincey almost took Galiardi’s head off in the middle of the ice during game 1.

Top Lines:
Team Black: Galiardi / Stastny / Stewart
Team Grey: Mueller / Duchene / Hejduk
Team Blue: Jones / O’Reilly / Yip

Goalscorers:
Grey 3, Black 1 -
Grey - Carmen, Hishon, Hejduk (EN)
Black - van der Gulik

Black 5, Blue 2 -
Black - Porter, Walter (PS), Stewart, Ford (2)
Blue - Stoa, Dupris

Blue 3, Grey 2 -
Blue - Maudlin, Olver, O’Reilly
Grey - McLeod, Duchene

Notables:

#4 John Michael Liles - Seemed to be all over the ice and was impressive. He probably knows he has something to prove to Sacco - despite being the Avs best defensive option on the PP last year, JML ended riding the bench frequently due to his defensive liability.

#8 Kirk Shattenkirk - Played solidly, but wasn’t particularly spectacular. Late in game 3, I did notice a play he made late in game 3 where he smartly went to the front of the net and was wide open - would have had a goal if Dupris saw him.

#10 Kyle Cumiskey - Did not play.

#18 Brandon Yip - I love his game, always have since I first saw him at a Developmental Camp in 2007. Maybe its just the way he skates, but he’s always seems to be playing at 110 mph.

#20 Greg Mauldin - One of the most visible players on the ice all day. Not a ton of talent, but he just seemed to keep coming and the puck kept finding him. Had a gorgeous cross ice pass that set up Dupris’ goal in game 2. Too bad he’s 28.

#29 Ryan Stoa - Seems to be making strides - his play isn’t demanding that he gets a spot on the roster just yet, but I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t play in at least 20 games for the Avs this season.

#34 Daniel Winnik - Noticed at warm up that he has a heavy shot. Should be a nice addition on the Avs fourth line.

#28 Joey Hishon - He is small, in fact he seemed to be swimming in his small jersey. Got physically handled a number of times, BUT his skill level was apparent. Needs some time to develop, but he could be something really special in 3-4 years.

#53 Troy Gawryletz - My wife thought he was hot and hoped that he would make the team. Sadly, for her, he will not.

#58 Patrick Bordeleau - Big, big winger - 6’6 - threw his weight around. Unfortunately, he was drafted in 2004, so not much room for growth in his game.

#60 Brandon Maxwell - Looked like a rattled goalie. Severally lacked confidence.

#64 Calvin Pickard - Read all week about what a great Rookie Camp he had - but he wasn’t very good today. I guess that’s young goalies for you.

#88 Peter Mueller - Avs listed him as a center on the roster.

Remembering The Igloo

2010-09-17T23:45:00.001-07:00

(thepensblog.com)

This hockey season will be a little different for Pittsburgh Penguins fans, players, hell, even the visiting teams.

No longer will Pens fans sit in their familiar seats at Mellon Arena.

No longer will visiting teams have to dress in one of the smallest locker rooms in the league.

Sidney Crosby will have to find new superstitious doors to walk through and poles to walk around.

Mellon Arena, The Igloo, The Pittsburgh Civic Centre, whatever you called it, will be no more

The Penguins, of course, have moved across the street to the shiny new Consol Energy Center, and Lady Mellon will sit empty.

The Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority has moved to demolish the Pittsburgh land mark.

The boys at The Pensblog have started a wave - nay - a tsunami of support for a way to memorialize the Mellon Arena.

It's freaking brilliant if you ask me.

Check it out.

- Jaye

Avs Rookie Camp from Scott Pantall

2010-09-17T14:56:00.001-07:00

The one thing that sucks about cheering for a team 21 hours south of you, is you can't make it out to the training camps. Luckily for me, and for all of you, PKLC has friends around the world. Scott Pantall was gracious enough to write up an amazing post about the Colorado Avalanche Rookie Camp.

****

This year I had the joy of checking out the Rookie Camp for the Colorado Avalanche. It was 3 days of drills and scrimmages performed by the Avalanche prospects as well as a lot of the players already on the roster. Each day was broken up into 3 sections: first the rookies would perform drills, then the veterans would come out and do drills with the rookies. Then they would scrimmage, playing black vs. gray jerseys until they tired themselves out. After the scrimmage would be a free skate where players would practice stickhandling, passing or shooting. The only day there wasn't a scrimmage was the 3rd day. There weren't many veterans that day and I'm sure the rookies were tired after 3 days of hard skating.

Anyway, on to the players! That's why you're reading this right? We'll start with known names first:

38 - Joey Hishon (Center): Drafted in the first round in 2010 by the Avalanche. He has some skills! He looked great in the rookie-only drills. During the 2-1 drills on day 1 he beat goalie, Brandon Maxwell every time. When going up against the veterans though, his confidence didn't look like it was there. He wasn't the same player. It'll get there in time.

6 - Jonas Holos (Defenseman): I don't know how to type that o with the line through it. Anyways, Holos looked ok. I didn't notice him much. I saw him miss a pass to Foote in the offensive zone during one of the scrimmages. Foote responded by impatiently passing the puck back to the goalie. Like Hishon, he looked nervous with the veterans but good against the other rookies. I attribute his mistakes to nerves. It's his first NHL training camp. I say give him some time. Here's a video of Holos during one of the drills:
8 - Kevin Shattenkirk (Defenseman): If you're a Shattenkirk fan I'm sorry. I didn't really notice him which isn' t necessarily a bad thing. Nothing about him stuck out as lacking but nothing that stuck out well either.

Now on to some names you might not have heard of but these are my favorite rookies...

14 - Mike Carman (Center): Carman was by far my favorite rookie. It was fun watching Carman play in the scrimmages. During the scrimmage on Day 1 he hooked up with Cody McLeod for 3 goals. I also saw him deke past Foote during the game. He's confident in traffic and doesn't seem to be intimidated at all. If only the Avalanche weren't already stacked at the center position....oh well.

3 - Cameron Gaunce (Defenseman): "We need more big, physical defensemen" is one of those things I hear a lot about the Avalanche. Here is someone who could be an answer to that. At 6', 203 lbs he doesn't stand out but he's very physical. On Day 1 he was already pissing people off. During the "Race for the puck, 2-0" drill he lost the race against Wacey Hamilton, but pestered him the whole way down the ice which earned Gaunce a stare-down after the drill. Here's a video from day 3 of Gaunce during the "Race for the puck, 2-0" drill. If you beat him, he'll just trip you...

Some notes about the veterans: Almost the entire Avalanche roster was there. The only one I didn't notice there was Matt Duchene, but I hear he was across the country doing promo stuff. Kyle Cuminsky still looks younger than all the rookies. Cody McLeod is intense! Not only did he skate hard during the drills and scrimmages, after the scrimmage on Day 1 he convinced some other players to do sprints from goal line to goal line. Then he did tip-in drills with one of the rookies shooting the puck at him. Brandon Yip showed some good speed and endurance at the end of the scrimmage on Day 2. I hope he can keep that up all year. Peter Mueller looks like a pirate.

More pictures from the camp can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/54012974@N02/

More short video clips can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/user/aspantall

***

HUGE thanks to Scott for this great post, all HTMLed and everything. (makes my job easier) Look for a post this weekend about the main Avs Camp by Anyone But Detroit's Sean Payton.

- Jaye

Talking Avs hockey with Marc Parsons

2010-09-16T14:33:00.000-07:00

Recently, I was asked by Marc Parsons, an Avalanche-centric writer for hendrickshockey.net, for my views on the upcoming Avs season. You can see them here. (mine are the one sentence responses which I thought passed for insight)

I asked Marc to return the favour, so here are his thoughts (to his same, awesome questions) about the upcoming season in Colorado.

******

First of all, which part of the world do you reside in?
Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada

When did you become an Avs fan?
When Patrick Roy was traded to the Avs in the 95-96 season

In the last 15 years of the Avs being in Denver, which player is your all time favorite and why?
Definately Patrick Roy. He was the greatest goalie of his time, and was huge in the Playoffs when it mattered. When the Avs made it to the Finals twice, he made sure to seal the deal both time.

How do you feel about the direction the Avs future is heading?
I love the youth movement, with the speed and energy it takes to play in the NHL, they avs are training their young guys to use their speed and energy to their advantage. They are going to be a tough, speedy team with many years of success coming their way. Its going to be wonderful to be an Avs fan for the next 10 years.

How long do you think it will take this new generation Avs team to make an appearance at the Stanley cup Finals?
Im going to give it a few years until the Defense becomes stronger and able to play more of a full defensive shutdown group. 2012-2013

A lot of writers are counting out the team to miss the playoffs this year. Where do you predict the Avs to finish this year and why?
I predict the Avs will finish 5th in the western Conference and 2 in the Northwest division. I dont believe the Avs of last year were a Fluke and that this team is going to surprise alot of teams again.

Which current Avs player do you think Will have a breakout season?
David Jones. I think we will finally see a full year of a healthy Jones. As we all seen last year before his injury, he can produce. Its going to be a big boost for goal scoring on the team.

The Avs management has always been quiet in the off-season. Are you pleased they didn't go out and try and lure a big name player with all the available Cap room they have? Why?
I would of liked to see a few current d-men moved this off-season, and try to snatch up a top defensive UFA. But in the long run with the Upbringing up prospects like Shattenkirk and Guance, even propects that were drafted this year like Silas and Rutowski. The defense will vastly improve in the next few years. But as for going after a Superstar like Kovalchuk, im glad they never made a serious move to aquire him. although he would of been nice on a line with Dutchy.

What area do you believe the team has improved the most.
Penalty Killing and the Powerplay. Having Mueller on the point in the Powerplay is going to be huge this year. With the signing of Winnik, our PK should improve.

Which part of the game do you see the team struggling with this year?
Defense. i hate to say it, but with Adam foote still on the team, it will show his age and his slowness. Which will slow down the defensive part of the game. Sure he's a good veteran to teach the young guys, but it is a drag on the team.

Last year shown that rookies can be a strong part of how a team does during the year. Which Avs prospect do you think will see a considerable amount of NHL playing time this year?
I would say we will see quite a Bit of Justin Mercier. Dont know why, just a hunch.

How important do you think it will be for Anderson to get more nights off? He was wonderful last year. Do you think fatigue set in on him during the end of the season?
It will be very important for Andy to get at least 5-8 more games off then he did last year. And even more important for him not to be expected to play back to back nights. Budaj is a solid #2 goalie and will earn some wins for the team this year.

****
Good Alberta boy cheering for the Avs, I like that.

I'd like to thank Marc for taking some time answering these questions, and for allowing me the opportunity to answer them as well.

Be sure to check out his blog at www.hendrickshockey.com
- Jaye

Sheldon Souray - To Play or Not To Play

2010-09-13T22:48:00.001-07:00

About 6 months ago, Sheldon Souray had some choice words to say to Sportsnet's Mark Spector about the way Oilers management was treating him, and because of that, wanted out of Edmonton. I don't have to go into what he said, it's been beaten to death 6 ways from Sunday.

So the summer dragged on, nothing was done with Souray. The Oilers couldn't get rid of him even if they put a bow on him and shipped him first class to Calgary.

Here we are, a mere days away from training camp, and the white elephant in the room is what to do with Souray.

TSN's Darren Dreger has informed us about the goings on in Camp Souray and Camp Oilers.

Ouch.

Your move, Souray.

I smell snark from Souray.

If you ask me, the Oilers are acting like 5 year olds. 'You made fun of us and now we won't let you play in our sandbox.' If you think he's a cancer to your young team, you should have shipped him to Sibera (or the minors) back in May. Totally unprofessional by a team that is trying (quite hard I might add) to turning its franchises' image around.

Souray has put this behind him... (from TSN.ca)

"Things happen, I guess, however as a professional and a proud guy, I wanted to be part of all of the positive things that are happening around the team right now. My focus was to come in here and be a pro. There never would have been any distraction from my end,"

The flip side to this coin. Souray is realizing he's screwed for a job. He could be making Mea Culpa's faster than the temperature dips in Edmonton. We'll be watching this story as close as we can from 1200 km's away

- Jaye

The Great Pacific Preview – Dallas Stars

2010-09-13T20:15:00.001-07:00

(mnscore.com)

What Happened Last Year

37-31-14 – 88 points

13th in the Western Conference

5th in the Pacific Division

Over the offseason coming into last season, coach Dave Tippett was ousted from his job as bench boss, and in came Marc Crawford, formerly of the Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks. Tippett did not get the job done the year prior with his team finishing 36-35-11. Crawford instilled a more up-tempo and attacking style of play for the Stars, who were more used to playing a stark defensive style under Tippett’s direction. This looked to be a year of change for the Stars, because a few key icons who had worn the Star on their chest for years were on the verge of leaving. The problem with Crawford’s new up-tempo style of play was that the skill players didn’t catch on right away, and that the Stars were giving up way too many goals against (-17 differential.)

Turco was getting lit up frequently with the lack of consistent defensive help, and Mike Ribeiro and Brad Richards were not working together offensively. This forced young-guns James Neal and Loui Eriksson to take the spotlight on the scoresheet. The team was remarkably inconsistent on both sides of the puck. They were either on, or they were off. They were not able to get it together in a tough Pacific Division and a top-heavy Western Conference. (Fun Fact: the Dallas Stars finished with the same amount of points that the Philadelphia Flyers did!)

Near the deadline, the Stars made one deal that was clearly done with the future in mind. Since the Stars were stockpiled on prospects, they dealt defenseman Ivan Vishnievsky to the Atlanta Thrashers for disgruntled goaltender Kari Lehtonen. Lehtonen was known for not living up to his draft standing (2nd overall pick in 2002) by being inconsistent and having chronic back issues. But the Stars needed a solution in goal. (Which, to be honest, sounds strange…they have always been good at drafting goalies, but trading them away…)

By the end of the season, the team was still tough enough to force overtime 23 times out of the 82 game season. Of course, of those 23 times, they lost 14 games, but the Stars showed they were resilient enough to get a point out of games. Interestingly enough, the shootout went from a tremendous advantage of the Stars to a terrible disadvantage. The Stars lost their most powerful weapons in Jussi Jokinen, and Ribeiro didn’t dazzle quite as much in the shootout this year. Turco was not on in the shootout this year either. But one shootout mattered quite a lot to three certain players.

Let this video paint a picture for you. It’s fan appreciation night against the Anaheim Ducks. It’s three iconic Stars’ last game at the American Airlines Center. Mike Modano ties the game up with just a minute and some change left to go. And then this.

Modano opens up the shootout with his absolutely patented wrist shot. Lehtinen snipes one past Hiller. Turco makes two great stops. Could it have been scripted any better? But this night signified the complete changing of the guard in Big D. It was another disappointing season in the books for the Stars, forcing them to force a marketing deal in March called “The Real Deal.” $25 upper level seats, a free James Neal shirt, and Arby’s coupons. Don’t believe it?

I took part in “The Real Deal”.

Checking In (Acquisitions)

RW Adam Burish

G Andrew Raycroft

RW Jonathan Cheechoo (tryout)

Checking Out (Departures)

C Mike Modano

RW Jere Lehtinen

G Marty Turco

G Matt Climie

The Season Ahead

Minus the top three familiar faces, the Stars have a lot of weapons to choose from that were around last year. Before this season starts, General Manager Joe Nieuwendyk must sign James Neal and Matt Niskanen. Other than that, this team can expect to be rather middle of the pack, but slightly improved due to the maturation of some players, and the addition of some grit and potential goal scoring ability in Adam Burish and Jonathan Cheechoo. The Stars need to cut down on goals against. They have veteran weapons like Brenden Morrow, Brad Richards and Mike Ribeiro, but none are known as standouts on the defensive side of the puck. They will need to rely on their young defense, headlined once again by Stephane Robidas, to try and prevent the biscuit from even coming close to getting in the basket as many times as it did last season. The Stars will need to rely on maturing defensemen Mark Fistric (+27) and Nicklas Grossman (-3) to be as defensively solid as they were last season. They also need Matt Niskanen to be a whole lot better than he was last season.

Players to Watch

(blog.mlive.com)

#18 James Neal

Once Neal gets signed, the Western Conference will need to look out. The Stars’ 33rd selection in the 2005 entry draft has turned into a deadly sniper. In his rookie season, he netted 24 goals, and in the following year, he scored 27. He will easily top 30 goals this season with suitable linemates. He may not be the best defensive player, but he reminds me of Mike Modano’s successor. He’s not a flashy player, but he has a wonderful release on his wrist shot. He is a bona fide scoring threat in all situations, including the shootout.

(nhltalk202.com)

#41 Jonathan Cheechoo

This was a low risk, high reward move by Nieuwendyk to land Cheechoo on a tryout basis. He should almost a complete lock-in to make the team on a tryout basis. (If I’m wrong, God help me) When Cheechoo works with a skilled set-up man, a la Richards or Ribeiro, he can flourish on the offensive side of the puck. When he worked with Joe Thornton in San Jose, Cheechoo was magical, scoring 56 goals and winning the Rocket Richard Trophy. Numerous injuries have kept the wily Cheechoo ineffective for the most part, but he still has the tools to score—he just hasn’t had the opportunity to work with people that can set him up.

(hockeyhermit.com)

#21 Loui Eriksson

He is the next Swedish star for the Stars. Eriksson has quietly put up two very strong seasons in a row, playing all 82 games in each. He’s not quite a point per game player yet, but he is a consistent threat on a nightly basis. The best part for the Stars is that he is still a young player whose point totals are growing with every season. He has all-around skills, and he plays alongside some nice skilled players. Even better…he’s signed until 2016-17. He’ll be doing this in Big D for some time.

(The AP)

#32 Kari Lehtonen

He’s replacing Marty Turco. He has a lot to prove in Big D. He was wildly inconsistent in Atlanta, and only led them to the playoffs once. And that only one time resulted in a resounding sweep at the hands of the New York Rangers. The Thrashers haven’t been to the postseason dance since. Lehtonen went 6-4-0 with a 2.81 GAA and .911 save percentage in 12 starts. He will get the resounding majority of the starts for the Stars, so he will need to prove his number one goaltending title, as well as his second overall draft pick status. He’s a big dude who is fundamentally sound. As long as the defense tightens up in front of him, he will have a decent year.

PKLC Prediction

Division Rank: 3rd in Pacific

Conference Rank: 10th in Western Conference

Final Word

This is a big year of maturation for the Dallas Stars. They are having trouble filling seats, but they have some really good players that are worth watching now. Brad Richards may only be around for one more year, James Neal (barring he actually SIGNS a deal as a restricted free agent) will be sniping the top shelf, and Loui Eriksson will be bringing his patented mix of skill and defensive acumen to the table. But the Stars have some really good prospects on the way—their AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars, came within two games of uprooting the Hershey Bears for the Calder Cup. The Stars may need to wait a few years until Jamie Benn, Scott Glennie, Loui Eriksson, James Neal, and last but not least, 2010 first rounder Jack Campbell grow together and form the new Stars core. For now, it’s just a growing process.

-Jordan

Lou Hands Over C

2010-09-13T14:40:00.001-07:00

Just as we all suspected, Roberto Luongo is no longer captain of the Vancouver Canucks.

I'm not all that surprised, this was a controversial, almost laughable move when he was named two years ago.

Mike Gillis had this to say when he first thought to name him. From TSN.ca

"(head coach) Alain (Vignault) and I were looking for someone to lead this team, who inspires his teammates, is respected for his on-ice accomplishments and who embodies the core values we are striving for as a hockey club

Being a gigantic choke job in the playoffs despite having astounding regular season numbers? Yes, that does sound like the core values of Canucks we all know.

But this begs the question, 'Why Lou? Why did you give it all up?'

Mike Gillis (not Luongo) tells us why.

"He confirmed last night and said he'd rather just focus on stopping the puck," Canucks general manager Mike Gillis told reporters Monday. "He's going to continue with all the leadership stuff he did before but not have the same sort of expectations with the media on game days that has happened the last couple of years.

Cause that HUGE weight of having the 'C' painted on your mask didn't allow you to stop pucks? That you had to talk to the media to tell them WHY Chicago dismantled your team for a second straight year? Did the one audacious reporter even ask why your city threw the team a party after Round One of last years' playoffs? Was the pressure of knowing you had to talk to aforementioned media after the game rattle you? I thought you were one of those 'mentally strong' goalies?

I'd love to know what this 'Leadership stuff' is that Gillis talks about.

The story now shifts to who will get the C next. My personal choice is Ryan Kesler. I have a feeling they'll name Henrik Sedin the next in line. (cause those Art Ross and Hart Trophies that come once ever 10 years are REALLY shiny) They will no doubt over do it, in typical Canucks fashion. (see: Nasuld, Markus. Number Retirement)

More on the New Captain when it's announced.

- Jaye

Live Blog - Oilers Rookies v. Canucks Rookies

2010-09-12T15:55:00.001-07:00

Location: Penticton BC

Time: 4 PST 5 MNT 7 EST

Who to Watch

For Edmonton:

obviously top pick Taylor Hall, who will be on the top line with Milan Kytnar and Jordan Eberle

Magnus Paajarvi - he'll be on the left side with Tyler Pitlick and Mr. Always at Oilers Camp Phillipe Cornet

For Vancouver:

Bill Sweat - just for his awesome name, I know nothing else about him or any of the Vancouver rookies

3:56 pst

Turns out this is a Rookie Tournament put on by the Canucks, the other teams participating are Calgary, San Jose and Anaheim

still 3 mins till puck drop, I hear Peter Loubardius is doing play by play, this will be SOME KINDA game

4:00 pst

College friend Tommy G. just interviewed Jordan Eberle, I have obviously picked the wrong career path

whoever is in charge of the mics in this damn game need a smack upside the head, there is HUGE echo going on

Gene Principe is doing this game, there is no man alive that hates Gene.

Anthem time, this game is about to go down

4:02 pst

Ceremonial Puck drop, Eberle just snubbed the hand shake, Kris Draper isn't amused

4:03pst

Puck drop, Hall gets dropped, colour me surprised

4:05 pst

Cornet with the chance, tried to stuff it in there, save by Leak

Oilers cycling well here.

The sound on this cast sucks

4:07 pst

Oilers doing well getting pucks into Lack.

Sweat and Schroeder on the ice for Van

Hall had some nice speed coming off the side boards, shot was kicked away, Eberle wasn't there for the rebound

4:10 pst

Pajaarvi with the garbage goal 1-0 Edm

ok this sound is actually unbearable to listen to, cracking mics all over the place

4:13 pst

Canucks were controlling the play, top lines are against eachother.

the Pajaarvi - Pitlick - Cornet line has gotten some big chances in this game.

4:16 pst

and now the sound has gone from high to low..Get it right Web guys, maybe they did

Canucks had a 2 on 1, broken up

80's Oilers reference count 1

4:22 pst

Roy standing tall here for the Oilers

4:24 pst

Canucks with the equalizer, Kevin Connauton with a goal from the point, a wrister Roy would like back 1-1

The feed seems to have died, and I can't keep this up with players I can't name..

we'll call this a success

- Jaye

First Live Blog of the Season

2010-09-12T14:29:00.001-07:00

Yes, it's only pre season, and it's only a rookie game, but we're going to give this live blogging thing a shot.

Tonight it's the Canucks rookies v. Oiler rookies in Penticton.

Thanks the Dan Tencer, we've got the line ups for tonight.

SEP 12 ROSTER – OILERS

Taylor Hall - Milan Kytnar - Jordan Eberle

Magnus Paajarvi - Tyler Pitlick - Phillipe Cornet

Curtis Hamilton - Chris Vande Velde - Kristians Pelss

Teemu Hartikainen - Ryan Martindale - Cameron Abney

Martin Marincin – Nolan Toigo

Brandon Davidson - Alex Plante

Johan Motin - Jeremie Blain

Olivier Roy

SEP 12 ROSTER – CANUCKS

Bill Sweatt – Jordan Schroeder- Kevin Clark

Prab Rai – Alex Friesen – Matt Fraser

Aaron Volpatti – Stefan Schneider – Kellan Tochkin

Pierre-Olivier Morin – Brad Smith – Dan Gendur

Evan Oberg – David Fischer

Kevin Connauton – Chris Tanev

Taylor Ellington – Adam Polasek

Eddie Lack

Michael Houser

___________________

HALL!! EBERLE!! SWEATT!! can you feel the excitement?! (is Prab Rai the best name or what?!)

Game starts at 4 pm PST.

- Jaye

When Sport Didn't Matter

2010-09-11T14:47:00.001-07:00

Today is September 11th.

10 years ago, this was just another day. Another day at work, school, a day like any other day.

In 2001. That all changed.

From a Canadian perspective, we saw our once indestructible neighbour at her knees.

Like the rest of the world, we were helpless.

I can remember I was in grade 8. I, like many others my age, had never heard of the World Trade Centre. But we all realized that the world would be changed forever.

I was in English class, it was sometime in the afternoon, in every other class that day, we had the tv on cnn and watched the coverage of a nation in shock and trying to come to grips with what had happened.

Our teacher said nothing except "For the rest of your lives, people will ask you, where were you when." He continued on with his lesson plan.

That day, sport didn't matter.

It didn't matter who you cheered for or what sport you watched.

We were all united as one team.

Take a moment out of your day today to remember the lives lost today, 9 years ago.

- Jaye

Mueller Signs - Avs Nation rejoices

2010-09-10T15:14:00.001-07:00

From Bob Mckenzie:

It only took the entire summer, but it's finally done. The cap hit @ 2 mil is an absolute STEAL. If he flops, they're not shelling out huge money for well..Darcy Tucker 2.0

If he continues the streak he went on last season, once again people sing the praises of Greg Sherman for a bargain signing. (think Craig Anderson last season)

While it is a raise for Mueller, there isn't a ton of pressure on him to 'perform to his contract.'

Add Mueller's name to a long list of Avalanche not signed past 2012 (minus Paul Stastny) either the Avs know something we don't (lockout?) or if this 'rebuild' doesn't work in two years, they shed contracts and start again? Feel free to steal a Canuck fans' tin foil hat and list your conspiracy theories in the comment section.

****

One more hold out signed today. Andrew Cogliano re-signed in Edmonton. From The Edmonton Journal's Jim Matheson:

A good deal for Edmonton in the way that if he has another lame duck season, they're not paying out the nose for him. Already in his 3rd NHL year, only making a million? If I'm Cogliano, this is a wake up call for me to step my game up, or be a third line plug for the rest of my career.

As always, feel free to berate us on twitter (our twitter names are to the right) or drop a comment.

- Jaye

Gargamel Teams up with the Smurfs

2010-09-09T17:56:00.001-07:00

Yesterday it was announced that the Rangers have signed 20 year old Kelsey Tessier, drafted in the 4th round in 2008 by the Colorado Avalanche. Tessier has spent the last four seasons in the QMJHL, most spent with the Quebec Remparts until a late season move to Moncton last season. Tessier has shown some great scoring ability in the QMJHL with an astounding playoff performance last season for the Moncton Wildcats putting up 30 points in 21 games played.

Now let me wipe the smiles off all of the Ranger fans faces by letting everyone know this move isn't even a good depth move by the Rangers. Tessier is essentially the next Darren Haydar, a player Avalanche fans became familiar with last season, a player who impresses at the lower level but doesn't have enough skill to overcome his small size. The major problem with this acquisition is Tessier is not the only small player on the Rangers. They also signed Mats Zuccarelo Aasen this offseason, the only player who I think can overcome his size, and Tim Kennedy who is also of small stature. Though lets take Tessier out of the equation because he is destined for the AHL, but this still brings up the point of the Rangers size.

If Mats Zuccarelo Aasen makes the team seven Rangers will be under 6' tall: Avery, Callahan, Drury, Kennedy, Prust, White, and Zuccarelo Aasen. To put that in to perspective I will use my favorite team, the Colorado Avalanche, as an example. Die hard NHL fans know how the Avs have been an undersized finesse team for a while and even they are only likely to have 4 guys under 6' tall on the ice for opening night. None of the Rangers small guys have Martin St. Louis or Sidney Crosby talent and the only one who plays considerably bigger than his size is Callahan. Of the top teams in the Atlantic only Pittsburgh ices a team as small as the Rangers but no one will contest that majority of the Pens smaller players would be top line players for the Rangers.

I recently did my season preview for the Rangers and I did not make an issue of their size and I still feel the Rangers will grab one of the final playoff spots in the east. Though come playoff time I believe the Rangers will be physically worn making for a very easy 1st round for whoever their opponent may be. Oh and my final thought on the day (reason for the title of the article)...when Derek Boogaard is skating around with the other players during pregame who else thinks it's going to look like Gargamel chasing the Smurfs around?

- Stephen

What's In A Name

2010-09-09T13:43:00.001-07:00

Recently, we've had some confusion as to what 'kind' of blog we are.

Are we Hawks fans?

Are we slightly biased?

Do we hire monkeys to write our posts?

1) Are we Hawks fans?

While I'm sure we all (minus Jordan & Evelyn) appreciate the fact that the Blackhawks won the cup after 49 long years of futility. We're not diehard Chicago fans. The fact we use Chicago colours is purely for aesthetic value.

1b) Why use Patrick Kane as part of your blog name, if you're not Chicago fans?

Seeing as we're brining you a league wide blog, we wanted a name that all fans could relate to. (Pronger's Power Tools was too much alliteration) Even the Hawks fans I've talked to get a kick out of this incident. Bottom line, I didn't want an inside joke or meme as a title that only a few people and fan bases understood.

2) Are we slightly biased?

Yes. Despite being a 'league wide' blog, we each have the teams we root for, and teams we just can't bring ourselves to write anything nice about. But we'll try.

3) Do we hire monkeys to write our posts?

do we look like Red Wing fans? (I said we'd try to be nice)

Hope we've cleared up any misconceptions about PKLC!

- Jaye

Crosby Socks Dinger

2010-09-08T17:13:00.001-07:00

Something that doesn't happen very often at PNC park in Pittsburgh happened today.

What can't Crosby do.

Where was the Jose Bautista call out? like his rival calling out Tiger

Apologies for the garbage Ovechkin video, the HQ one didn't allow embedding.

(more team previews coming soon)

- Jaye