GOAL OF THE YEAR: SEMI-FINAL #2
John Jaeckel: This And That, v.1.1
Here are a few Hawk tidbits to tide you over until some of the other dramas of summer unfold further.
WORLD JUNIORS:
A lot of Hawks are playing well for their respective teams, chief among them Duncan Keith who has 9 points in 6 games (1G, 8A) and a team leading +7 while logging big minutes on Canada’s top pair.
Marcus Kruger and Viktor Stalberg are tied with Johan Franzen, Loui Eriksson and Erik Karlsson for the team lead in goals (3) for host Sweden. Kruger has also been named star of the game by his team in one contest.
Patrick Sharp has 6 points in 6 games and is +2. Michal Frolik has picked up a couple of goals for the Czech Republic and Niklas Hjalmarsson has also bagged a number of assists for Sweden.
Last, soon-to-be ex-Hawk Cristobal Huet led France to a 2-1 victory over a Belarus squad featuring the Kostitsyns and Mikhail Grabovski—yesterday. I, for one, will not be completely surprised if some NHL club invites Huet, who racked up some outstanding numbers in Switzerland this season, to camp for a tryout as a backup.
SUTER’S SUITORS:
More and more signs are pointing to the Hawks making a serious run at soon-to-be UFA Ryan Suter. Barring what I feel is an unlikely early signing with Nashville, watch the Hawks here on July 1. For a variety of reasons, I believe the Hawks are going to be at least in Suter’s final two to three teams, and might be the frontrunners in terms of what the Suter Camp is looking for and what the Hawks will be willing to do to make the deal.
What this likely means is Johnny Oduya will be allowed to go to UFA on July 1, and more than likely not re-signed, though that would remain a possibility if the Hawks failed to land Suter and Oduya were still available. It would also mean the Hawks would move another contract or two prior to the draft to make room for Suter.
A prime candidate here would be Michal Frolik and his $ 2.3 million per year deal, if a team feels it can get the Frolik of the last two Hawk playoff series, versus the Frolik of most of the 2011-12 regular season.
My personal feeling is that Frolik can be a very useful third line player in a forechecking role, who also kills penalties. At that value, he is worth his salary.
Another issue here is the health and possible IR status of Steve Montador, who is signed for three more years at $ 2.75 million per. Montador’s latest concussion was said to be more severe.
MAKE OR BREAK TIME:
Three prospects who need to have big training camps and preseasons are C Brandon Pirri, RW Kyle Beach and D Shawn Lalonde.
Pirri was passed by fellow (and later) 2009 draftee Marcus Kruger this year. And looks to have 2011 draftees Mark McNeill and Philip Danault gaining on him. The question with Pirri is, with his game and at his size and skill level, is he destined to be a productive AHL player for most of his career—and only that.
Beach must show up in top shape, and demonstrate greater discipline in order to possibly make the Hawks. My information earlier this year was the Hawks were trying hard to package him in various deals at the trade deadline. So it could be he needs to have a huge camp in order to get off the blacklist at this point.
For the talented and feisty Lalonde, it comes down to solidifying his game and avoiding the egregious defensive zone coverage issues that have plagued him the last couple of NHL camps.
I am of the belief that prospects like these and perhaps bigger, brighter names like Brandon Saad or Jimmy Hayes could be included in deals to add proven, capable veteran talent this summer. While many in the fanbase are still willing to accept a lot of rookies on the roster, I don’t think Joel Quenneville—in particular— is anymore.
More later,
JJ
CATCHING UP WITH JHONAS ENROTH
CATCHING UP WITH JHONAS ENROTH
Eulogy: Remembering the 2011-12 Washington Capitals (Puck Daddy)
(Ed. Note: As the Stanley Cup Playoffs continue, we’re bound to lose some friends along the journey. We’ve asked for these losers, gone but not forgotten, to be eulogized by the people who knew the teams best: The fans who hated them the most. Here is are the Boston Bruins bloggers from Days of Y’Orr, fondly recalling the 2011-12 Washington Capitals. Again, this was not written by us … OK, by all of us. Also: This is a roast and you will be offended by it, so don’t take it so seriously.)
By Days Of Y’Orr
The definition of insanity: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results … like believing an Eastern Conference Finals game will be played in Washington D.C. after the turn of the century.
Welcome to the Washington Capitals Eulogy. We would, firstly, like to welcome all the Capitals fans in attendance. If this were 2003, we’re sure the room would be less crowded, but we have enough chairs that all 300 of you should be cozy. We’ll have our PA announcer say something whenever we need you to cheer throughout the eulogy, just in case you’re as lost here as you are during an actual hockey game. We’ll try to refrain from making “Alexander Ovechkin looks like the lovechild of the Geico Caveman and Adam Sandler’s boss from ‘Happy Gilmore’” jokes, but just know that they’re there; they’re there.
Before the season began, the media always plays its favorite guessing game known as “NHL Predictions,” and every season the same ole story happens. People pick the Washington Capitals to finish first in their division and either first or second in the Eastern Conference with Pittsburgh somewhere around them.
Every year, writers pat Alexander Ovechkin on the backside and immediately pencil him in for a 90-100 point season while scoring 50-60 goals and being Russia’s version of Superman. Well if Ovechkin is the Russian Superman, then clearly his kryptonite is the NHL playoffs.
And every year, the same thing happens to the Capitals. Ovechkin careens himself into the boards throughout the regular season en route to a Southeast Division Championship and then chokes when the playoffs start.
2007-2008: 1st in the Southeast, Lost in Conference Quarterfinals to Philly (4-3)
2008-2009: 1st in the Southeast, Lost in Conference Semifinals to Pittsburgh (4-3)
2009-2010: 1st in the Southeast, Lost in Conference Quarterfinals to Montreal (4-3)
2010-2011: 1st in the Southeast, Swept in Conference Semifinals by Tampa (4-0)
But they’re the best team in the NHL (or so everyone is told).
The beginning of the season, at least the first seven games into the season, started to prove everyone right. The Caps went 7-2 in October and Capitals fans started planning the parade to roll through DC. It was a magical time in Washington. Bruce Boudreau was still behind the bench, screaming obscenities and splattering the back of his players’ jerseys with whatever condiment he ate the night before, Ovechkin was calling Boudreau a “fat [expletive]” because his coach benched him in OT for being lazy and the Capitals were beginning to play their yearly “shuffling of the goalies” game.
November 28, 2011. A day that will live in infamy. With a 12-9-1 record and a 5-1 ass whooping at the hands of a Buffalo Sabres team that was so beaten down you’d think they represented House Stark, the Capitals told Bruce Boudreau to clean out his belongings, pack up his deep freezer and hit the bricks.
It was clear that his ‘fly by the seat of your husky Toughskin jeans’ offense wasn’t going to cut it anymore and the Capitals needed to bring structure to their hockey club. Enter a Capitals “great”. A man who would not take any flak from any of his players. A man a cut above the rest in terms of the way he played the game. A man who is known to deliver an elbow to the face adversity, should it rear the back of its ugly head.
The Capitals employed Pierre Turgeon’s best friend and Sunday croquet partner: Dale Hunter.
Under Hunter, the Capitals learned to play a defensive style and crept into the playoffs while Buffalo played their favorite game of “let’s pretend we’re the band on the Titanic” and squandered games away. Ottawa gave the Capitals a chance to face the Bruins, since Ottawa wasn’t too pleased of their 1-5 regular season record against Boston, and so the #2 vs #7 matchup was upon us.
Let’s refer back to Dale Hunter for a minute. Every check he threw in his career was an attempt to concuss or injure someone, so you can see why he was so easily confused when he thought Tim Thomas tried concussing Nicklas Backstrom when Backstrom was hacking away at Timmy’s glove hand post-whistle during the first round. Thomas thought to himself (with his head down, no less) “You know what? I should probably turn this dude’s brain into pudding.” It’s not like Thomas has ever fed a forward a waffle sandwich before for trying to take liberties with him before. Just ask Chimera. And Alexandre Burrows. And Sean Avery. And Andrei Kostitsyn. And one of the Magical Vancouver Gnomes. Who knows how many other people he’s fed waffles too. Every one of those was purposely intended to give Marc Savard and Nathan Horton a partner to play Mario Kart Wii with, right?
But the 7th seed, who was really a three seed that underachieved all year, took down the defending Stanley Cup Champions in seven games and took the Eastern Conference’s #1 seed to the brink of elimination. Fortunately, the Rangers realized that Alexander Ovechkin can’t defend himself from a cold and took it to him in Game 7.
And now, we come to the part of the eulogy where it’s time to say goodbye.
Goodbye Alexander Ovechkin. Not only are you one of the Top 3 douchebags to ever don the NHL shield, but you’re also going to live another calendar year without being named a Stanley Cup Champion. We would like to thank you for being the reason why the Rangers scored their game winning, series clinching goal in Game 7 on Saturday night. Without your lack of a defensive mind and the ability to know anything on your side of the ice, you could be playing Monday night in New Jersey instead of heading back to Russia to cut another awful rap video.
Goodbye Braden Holtby. We’re not sure how the NHL will survive the next two rounds without their media darling and Hockey Jesus, but part of me thinks that it will. Speaking of survival, we’re not sure that Pierre McGuire can stand between the glass and not lovingly stare at his binky anymore. Soon enough McGuire will end up on Holtby’s front lawn with a radio held high above his head screaming “I JUST CAN’T QUIT YOU”.
PierreRadiooo
Hey, if it means we don’t have to watch Pierre on TV anymore it’s worth it.
We can tell you one thing, the NHL is going to miss those dressy glove saves that Holtby enjoyed dolling out. He dressed those things up so much that you’d think he was about to take them to prom and then their virginity. His stick side though? That can be found in the dumpster from the prom night mistake.
Goodbye, Braden Holtby’s father. Your impression of Stephen Hawking after your son lost a triple overtime game in the second round will never be forgotten.
Goodbye, Nicklas Backstrom. In Round 1 you were suspended by the NHL for cross-checking a player in the face when the game was over. The best part about it was that you had no idea why you were getting suspended. We would make a concussion joke here, but can’t since concussions are no longer funny, We can only hope that the Swedish education system is teaching their students a better way to lie since whatever one you told Shanny was awful. Also, thank you for the one goal in seven games in the second round.
Goodbye, Alexander Semin. Seriously, goodbye. Whoever is going to pay you the $ 6M you’re making now is a fool.
Goodbye, Mike Green. We hope your offseason gig as the backup bass player for Good Charlotte works out better than your ability to play defense.
Goodbye, Dennis Wideman. It’s apparent that being named an All-Star means nothing in the NHL these days because you were the second biggest defensive liability on the ice not named Alexander Ovechkin. If you owned a bakery, we would hope that your item of the day is a turnover, because it’s the only thing that you can produce on a regular basis — tried and true.

Goodbye, Karl Alzner. Finally, you can take better care of your dogs and not have them rip your house apart.

Goodbye, Jason Chimera. You did the world a favor by giving Brad Marchand a man check. We love Brad-o over at Days of Y’Orr HQ but can you imagine him going all Duggar-family crazy and siring little “champians?” Twenty little Marchand’s running around, clipping school teachers and chirping kids in the sandbox? Yikes.
Goodbye, Ted Leonsis. We’re going to miss your passion and energy for Capitals hockey. What we’re not going to miss is your terrible blog posts, like the you’re the textual version of Herb Brooks. Apparently the Stanley Cup Champions aren’t the only teams not getting the calls, right? The New York Rangers, who haven’t sniffed a Stanley Cup since 1994 defeated your team in seven games. We’re sure you’ll come out and complain about something sooner or later. Luckily your team plays in Washington so the Capitals aren’t the worst franchise in the city. DC still has the Wizards…which…you own.
…Awkward…
And, awe, how fitting. Goodbye Washington Capitals “fans.” Year after year you remind us of the audience of a Shakespearean Tragedy. Forced to witness the downfall of their skilled, yet flawed heroes; powerless to stop the inevitable flood of tears that force the President and Congress to retreat to higher ground.
Your lovable screw-ups throughout the playoffs remind us that your fanbase is so green that it still pees grass between intermission. We understand that hockey can be a tough sport to grasp and there were a few understandable rule issues that troubled you. When you’re new to following a sport some of the details can get lost in the fray, such as why Backstrom was suspended for a cross-check…to the face…at the end of a game…

…or when you booed because you were upset that there was no Delay of Game penalty when the Bruins sent the puck over the glass at center ice.

If you listen close enough, you can still hear Wes Johnson in his empty living room telling Caps’ fans to stand up and cheer when the Rangers took a penalty because its obvious they don’t know what’s going on. You can still hear that schmuck with the horn blasting out patterned blows to get the fans whipped into a “frenzy.” If you really strain your eyes, you can see the “Rock the Red” signs and the shirts, and you can still hear the chants that Calgary Washington came up with.
But, alas, there’s always next year when ESPN will devote 20 seconds to pick the Washington Capitals as the best team in the Eastern Conference. There’s always next year when Alexander Ovechkin can score between 50-60 goals. There’s always next year when the Capitals can lose in the first two rounds and then the “good” people of Washington can focus on their cherry blossoms and filibusters. There’s always next year, folks.
Enjoy counting down to 8 and chanting “Ovi! Ovi! Ovi!” when there’s 2 outs left in the bottom of the 7th inning during a Nationals game.
On the bright side, you still have those pretty Southeast Division championship banners!



GOAL OF THE YEAR: SEMI-FINALS #1
What We Learned: What to make of this Washington Capitals season? (Puck Daddy)
Getty Images
Hello, this is a feature that will run through the entire season and aims to recap the weekend’s events and boils those events down to one admittedly superficial fact or stupid opinion about each team. Feel free to complain about it.
There’s been a lot of talk about what this season has meant for the Washington Capitals in the hours leading up to, and then immediately following, their final game of the remarkably eventful 2011-12 season.
Wysh had a pretty good recap of the reasons the Capitals felt this little run to a pair of one-goal Game 7s against the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds in the Eastern Conference — both having been heavy favorites — vindicated the Dale Hunter system of everyone playing defense and collapsing to within three inches of the crease, and it’s perfectly reasonable for people to feel that way.
Certainly, no one expected these Capitals to do much damage in the postseason given that they frittered away a division they were picked to dominate. But the thing that everyone seems to forget is that, again, they were picked to dominate the Southeast, be a superpower in the East and the League at large.
If the team tuned out Bruce Boudreau, and it appears they did, then wasn’t his replacement, whoever it happened to be, more or less expected to get this far?
Therefore, it becomes a question about what changed, and really, what didn’t.
Let’s not forget, Boudreau came in originally and let guys like Alex Semin, Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green have their run of the rink. Two-minute shifts? Sure! Goals aplenty? You bet. But in the end, what did it get them? Bounce-outs, and if you believe the talk, disappointing ones at that. So Boudreau changed the style, focusing more on defense, tethering Ovechkin and Co. to an extent, and … getting the same amount of success. Under each of the two clearly definable Boudreau regimes, the team lost in the conference quarter- and semi-finals.
Which is of course notable because the latter is exactly how far Hunter got in his first chance at the tiller, despite doing everything in his power not to: like limiting Ovechkin to fewer than 20 minutes a night in every game in this series save for Saturday’s Game 7 and the three-overtime Game 3, in which he played 35:14 — or, if you prefer 17:37 per three periods of play. This therefore vindicates Hunter only as far as it vindicated Boudreau; which, with a roster like this, and given the “choker” label being hung liberally on the former Caps coach this time last year.
The philosophy changed radically under Hunter, and worked only as far as it did for Boudreau. Why?
(Coming Up: Team USA, international ass-kickers; getting stupid about Patrick Kane’s drinking; Parise’s future; Could Brad Stuart return to the Sharks?; Kevin Lowe says Ryan Murray is the top player in this year’s draft class; Suter/Weber questions; Pancakes Penner’s revenge; Bruins pumped for Dougie Hamilton; Alfredsson retirement watch; Leafs/Penguins trade?; Lundqvist is King; Alex Burrows runs and hugs a goalie; and Winnipeg Jets fans are burning Coyotes jerseys.)
It’s not like there was a lot of roster turnover with this team. In fact, the only people in the room who either left or arrived since training camp broke in September were new coaches coming and going. Not one trade at the deadline to bolster the roster, not one waiver wire pickup. The guys on the roster in October were the guys packing up their stuff and sadly leaving Madison Square Garden last night, with the lone exception being Braden Holtby, who was called up in March, and only then out of necessity but was certainly no stranger to the team.
Most NHL fans would love to support a team that can play the type ultra-tight defensive hockey with which Washington made its hay this postseason, but also score four goals a night with little difficulty under a different system. This is a team that should, theoretically, be able to play and excel at any style of hockey their opponent sees fit to try.
They have the right players to be moderately successful when playing any type of hockey. And that’s important. They can free-wheel, and lose in the conference semis. They can park the bus, and lose in the conference semis.
This shows an amazing amount of adaptability on the roster, and stands largely as a testament to the strength of the team George McPhee has built; but if we’re going to agree that it’s not good enough for Boudreau — which requires you to buy into the narrative that playoff hockey outs the best teams more effectively than an 82-game regular season — it therefore can’t be good enough for Hunter.
The personnel is there. Now they just need the right coach to strike the right balance, and make them truly great.
Neither Boudreau nor Hunter were that guy.
What We Learned
Anaheim Ducks: More Ducks success for America, world’s greatest hockey country, as the US drubbed host Finland 5-0 and the two teams look destined to face each other again in the semis. Kyle Palmieri and Bobby Ryan both scored for the Americans, who are all strong and handsome.
Boston Bruins: Think Bruins brass is pumped for Dougie Hamilton to join the team next season? Though his Niagara IceDogs lost to the London Knights and other Bruins prospect Jordan Knight in the OHL finals, Hamilton finished his 20-game playoff run with 5-18-23.
Buffalo Sabres: Buffalo prospect Mark Pysyk is having a heck of a run for the Edmonton Oil Kings in the WHL finals against the Portland Winterhawks, which wrapped with a Game 7 last night.
Calgary Flames: Could Karri Ramo return to the NHL next season and play for the Flames? He seems to think so, and his KHL stats the last two seasons (GAAs of 1.96 and 1.97, save percentages of .925 each) are really pretty outstanding. An intriguing option to be sure.
Carolina Hurricanes: Justin Faulk continues to impress at the World Championships, scoring his fourth goal of the tournament (about 1:00 into the video), and leading it in points from the blue line. Pardon the Finnish. Or, as it’s now known: Losertalk.
Chicago Blackhawks: Patrick Kane, you’re a 23-year-old millionaire world-class athlete who has already scored a Stanley Cup-winning goal so please stop enjoying yourself in the offseason. The cabbie incident is obviously very fair to criticize, but calling out a kid of legal age for drinking at a college seems, well, pointless. And saying that he will one day embarrass himself on national television like Joe Namath did with Suzy Kolber is legendarily stupid.
Colorado Avalanche: The Avs are stocking up on goaltending prospects, signing three over the weekend, including the University of Minnesota’s Kent Patterson and Boston University’s Kieran Millan. I believe this brings the number of BU-related personnel in the Avs organization to an even 3 million.
Columbus Blue Jackets: What if the Rangers had traded for Rick Nash? I don’t know, Brad Richards would be forming an alchemical partnership with Marian Gaborik and him instead of Marian Gaborik and Carl Hagelin, and the Rangers would be headed to the Eastern Conference Finals? Is this a trick question?
Dallas Stars: Jamie Benn is having a great world championship playing alongside Patrick Sharp and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Sharp is the greybeard on that line, given that he’s 30. A full 18 of the team’s 25 roster players are under 26. Seven are 22 or younger.
Detroit Red Wings presented by Amway: The Wings held their annual equipment sale over the weekend, and team equipment manager Paul Boyer answered all fans’ questions, including why Niklas Kronwall’s skates have the Air Jordan logo on them.
Edmonton Oilers: Kevin Lowe says Ryan Murray is the top player in this year’s draft class. Yes, Oilers, please pass on the actual best player in the draft because he’s Russian. That wouldn’t be the Canadianest thing to do ever, not at all.
Florida Panthers: Know who’s going to bring some serious heat for the Panthers next season? Erik Gudbranson. I think that, at some point in his career, he might be considered one of the best defensemen in the game.
Los Angeles Kings: Dark horse breakout performer in this upcoming series with Phoenix? Dustin Penner. After all, someone’s gotta pay for the Coyotes’ bus backing into his car earlier this season.
Minnesota Wild: How should people feel about the contributions of Tom Gilbert to the Minnesota Wild? Fans are divided, but I have a hint: Badly.
Montreal Canadiens: Another guy having a huge World Championship? Max Pacioretty. He had the Americans’ opening goal and added an assist, running his total to 2-8-10 in the tournament, behind only Evgeni Malkin at the time of this writing.
Nashville Predators: So many Suter/Weber questions in the offseason. If Ryan Suter leaves, does Shea Weber demand a trade to the team that signed him? Does he stick it out in Nashville for the one season without his longtime partner? Does he sign long-term regardless? Unless the answer is, “It doesn’t matter because Suter signed with Nashville,” there’s no good answer.
New Jersey Devils: Might this deep playoff run be swaying Zach Parise to stay in New Jersey? “It means a lot,” Parise said. “It means we have a lot of good, young players who are going to be here a long time.” Hey not to be a party pooper here but umm, Marty Brodeur is a billion years old.
New York Islanders: Great story for Mother’s Day about John Tavares and his mom’s commitment to helping him succeed in the sport. “She’s watching every game,” he said. “It’s funny, her and my dad come so often on the road now that I don’t even go out to eat with them every time.” Moms rule. Go moms.
New York Rangers: Alex Ovechkin lazily lying on the ice while his man comes down the ice and scores the series-clinching goal for New York. Mike Del Zotto says, “Ovie, you just got NARRATIVED!!!”
Ottawa Senators: Know who’s giving Dany Alfredsson advice on retirement? Mats Sundin. This should go well.
Philadelphia Flyers: Jaromir Jagr thinks Ilya Bryzgalov will get his head on straight next season because the adjustment period is over. Man, if he does, look out: The Flyers might get replacement-level goaltending from a guy who has a cap hit north of $ 5 million.
Phoenix Coyotes: Man, where were these impassioned front-page columns on the viability of hockey in the desert the last 14 times the Coyotes almost moved to Yellowknife?
Pittsburgh Penguins: The Penguins really should have signed Rob Scuderi when they had the chance, writes a Pittsburgh columnist three full seasons after the fact. This kind of hindsight is 20/20 but you need a telescope too.
San Jose Sharks: Could Brad Stuart return to the Sharks? *whip sound effect*
St. Louis Blues: New Blues owner Tom Stillman loves his team. Free advice, Tom: Do not under any circumstance promise a Stanley Cup or two in the near future. That leads to signing Ville Leino. “The Blues will be consistent winners,” his wife Mary said. Nooooo!
Tampa Bay Lightning: Jeff Vinik just donated $ 10 million to his alma mater, Duke. Good thing he didn’t pay for them to build a rink and go Division 1 in hockey, because that eventually leads to signing Ville Leino as your No. 2 center.
Toronto Maple Leafs: Are the Leafs a potential trading partner for the Pittsburgh Penguins? “Also, defenseman Luke Schenn is the kind of physical, stay-at-home defenseman the Penguins badly need.” Hey, is this one of those things where people thought Hal Gill was good because Jagr said it that one time? Who doesn’t remember the Toronto/Pittsburgh game on Hockey Night in Canada during Schenn’s rookie year where he kept Evgeni Malkin in his back pocket for 60 minutes?
Vancouver Canucks: Do you want to see incredibly low-res video of Alex Burrows running into a goalie and then hugging him? Sure you do.
Washington Capitals: The difference between a loss and a win for the Caps in Game 7 and, by extension, the whole series, was a 5-on-5 shift in the second that looked like a power play in which they pushed the puck around with ease and were able to attempted close to 10 shots on goal in the space of about two minutes. None of which, obviously, went in.
Winnipeg Jets: It is now prohibited for members of government to receive free pro sports tickets, but by all means they can go to the symphony as many times as they like. The home-theater advantage the Winnipeg orchestra is going to enjoy when other symphonies come to town just got intense.
Gold Star Award
APAmerica: The ultimate hockey power.
Minus of the Weekend
SunSome Jets fans are burning Coyotes jerseys because they’re bitter crybabies who suck.
Play of the Weekend
Another major turning point in Game 7? This Henrik Lundqvist save on Alex Semin.
Perfect HFBoards Trade Proposal of the Week
User “wilfred” is thinking big.
To Clb
Bishop
Zibanejad
Foligno
ButlerTo Ott
Nash
Signoff
I am the Third Revelation.
Ryan Lambert publishes hockey awesomeness almost never over at The Two-Line Pass. Check it out, why don’t you? Or you can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter if you so desire.
Boston Bruins at the World Championship Update for May 13: Fan’s Take (Yahoo! Contributor Network)
Zdeno Chara and David Krejci continue to represent the Boston Bruins at the 2012 IIHF World Championship. Games played now are starting to become decisive, cutting the quarterfinalists away from the teams that will be sent home early, and both Slovakia and the Czech Republic are in good positions, although neither are assured of quarterfinal berths just yet.
Slovakia defeated Switzerland 1-0, knocking the Swiss out of quarterfinal consideration on the strength of just one goal by Tomas Tatar (of the Grand Rapids Griffins, the Detroit Red Wings AHL team) and strong goaltending from Jan Laco. Tatar popped home the only goal of the game near the end of the first period and, while there were certainly other chances on both ends, the goalies stood tall and Laco earned the shutout. Also in this game, Chara did not lead the team in ice time: his 21 minute tally came in second to Andrej Sekera of the Buffalo Sabres. He did earn a +1 rating for being on the ice at the time of the only goal, though. While Slovakia won this game, and is in fourth place in Group H, they are not yet safely in the quarterfinals themselves.
In Stockholm, however, Russia was the one shutting out the Czech Republic 2-0. The Pittsburgh Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin had one of the goals, which wasn’t as immense production-wise as his hat trick against Sweden, but along with a goal by Alexander Perezhogin that came in the first minute of play, it was all the Russians needed for the win. Krejci wasn’t as great in the faceoff circle this time, winning just 45 percent of his draws, and he had no shots on goal. Though the Czech team lost, they are still in third place in the Group S standings, four points behind Sweden, but they too need to focus on winning and securing a place in the quarterfinals.
Overall, May 13 was an interesting day at the World Championship: three of the four games were decided by shutouts (America shut out Finland 5-0), while the match between Norway and Germany ended with Norway winning 12-4. Talk about a combo breaker!
Next up for Slovakia is France on May 15. The Czech Republic will take on Germany on May 15 as well.
Click here for more news and fun from the World Championship.
Canada rout Kazakhstan to confirm group lead (AFP)
Vacouver Olympic champions Canada maintained their world ice hockey championship preliminary group lead with an 8-0 thrashing of former Soviet republic Kazakhstan here on Saturday.
Toronto Maple Leafs defender Dion Phaneuf scored twice, while Edmonton Oilers goaltender Devan Dubnyk made 24 saves for a shutout to virtually assure Canada a top-place finish in their group.
Canada looked in complete control from the starting face-off making Kazakhstan goalkeeper Vitali Kolesnik the most busy player at the ice of Hartwall arena.
But Canadians, who won their last world title in 2007, squandered a hatful of chances before Phaneuf scored the opening goal with 4:15 before the first interval on powerplay.
In the second Canada missed further numerous opportunities but scored through Anaheim Ducks winger Corey Perry, who skated behind Kazakhstan‘s net to send the puck in from behind the goal line at 32:05.
Vancouver Canucks left wing Alexandre Burrows added a shorthanded goal with 2:57 before the second break to make it 3-0.
In the third Kazakhstan ran out of gas allowing Evander Kane, John Tavares, Teddy Purcell and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to score one apiece, while Phaneuf netted his second of the match to complete the rout in the two teams’ first ever meeting at the worlds.
“Though we were playing within 24 hours after the last night’s emotional win (5-3 over Finland) we did a good job tonight playing really solid 60 minutes,” Canada coach Brent Sutter said.
“We came into the match with just with one thing in mind – to play well – and we did. My best credits to my players for it.”
In Stockholm, the event’s co-hosts Sweden experienced few troubles on their way to a confident 4-0 win over Italy to join leaders Russia atop their group.
The Swedes started in lively fashion with Chicago Blackhawks center Marcus Kruger opening the score 5:13 into the match, while blueliner Staffan Kronwall added his goal with 48sec remaining in the first period for a 2-0 advantage.
Ottawa Senators rear guard Erik Karlsson scored on two-man powerplay 5:45 into the second, while Colorado Avalanche winger Gabriel Landeskog completed the scoring 1:45 into the third.
In the early Helsinki match 2002 champions Slovakia thrashed Belarus 5-1 to boost their chances of making the knockout round.
Buffalo Sabres rear guard Andrej Sekera put Slovakia into the lead at 6:45 wristing the puck in from just inside the blue line through the traffic.
In the second Branko Radivojevic, Michel Miklik, Tomas Kopecky and Juraj Mikus scored one apiece to give Slovakis a commanding 5-0 advantage before Alexei Kalyuzhny netted a consolation for Belarus.
“Today, every little thing went our way,” said Slovakia’s coach Vladimir Vujtek. “We played well in defence and our forwards scored one by one in the second period winning the match within just five minutes.”
France recorded their second win at the event beating Switzerland 4-2 to chalk up their fourth win over the Swiss side in their 13th head-to-head meeting at the world championships.
Forward Stephane da Costa scored a double while veteran ‘keeper Cristobal Huet produced 41 saves to add three points to the French team’s balance to jump into fifth place in their group, three points behind the fourth-placed Slovakia.
Norway also set their sights on a quarter-final spot after they beat Latvia 3-0 in Stockholm to go fourth.
Germany meanwhile battled back from a goal down in their clash with Denmark to notch their second win at the tournament 2-1.