All Entries Tagged With: "Stanley Cup"
Playoff Preview: Isles, Penguins Set to Meet in Postseason for the First Time Since 1993
The playoffs are upon us, Isles fans. You may have wanted Pittsburgh. You may not have wanted Pittsburgh. Regardless, the New York Islanders drew the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Could it have been prevented? Sure. The Islanders didn’t close out the season as we would have hoped [...]
Fleury, PK both critical for Pittsburgh in 1st round match against Islanders
Most pundits have selected the Penguins to easily cruise by the surprising New York Islanders, but as someone who was scarred for life by last spring’s 30-goals-allowed-to-Philadelphia debacle, my approach to fandom and blogdom this year is to adopt a “prove-it” approach. At the end of March, a friend on Good Friday morning jokingly shook [...]
No Hard Feelings… It’s the Playoffs
The Blackhawks have locked up 1st overall in the Western Conference. They have 4 games left to maintain their lead over the Penguins for tops in the league. The quest for the Presidents’ Trophy shouldn’t affect Coach Q’s decisions leading into the playoffs. It appears the Patrick Sharp return was rushed, which then found him [...]
Blackhawks: Trading Places
The post-mortem on Stan’s 2013 trade deadline has come in and some may see his performance as a premeditated attempt to an early exit in the playoffs. The reality was there were too many teams still in the race, creating a more stagnant deadline “frenzy”. After watching GMs overpay for role players and Bowman’s unwillingness [...]
GROW UP! … and Be Somebody.
The Chicago Blackhawks are on what feels like a 2 week hiatus. Following a 4-2 loss to the Ducks on March 20th, the Hawks don’t play until they approach royalty on Monday (March 25th). The Kings pose as another tough foe however, fatigue will need to be checked off the excuse list. There are plenty [...]
Mr. Bowman, Your Delorean Sir!
The Blackhawks are coming off an impressive 8-1 win against the Dallas Stars. This game followed a squeaker of a win vs. Columbus, which ended a two game losing steak. To those who watched this pure domination by the Hawks in Texas it must have put your minds at ease. I mean, those fears of [...]
The NHL’s Next “PR Offensive”
“As I said we know that no words of apology or explanation will soften the disappointment. I read the letters, I followed the tweets, I read the blogs: we have a lot of work to do. The National Hockey League has a responsibility to earn back your trust and support, whether you watch one game [...]
Hockey Independent Roundtable: Preseason Stanley Cup Predictions
Hello everyone and welcome again to the Hockey Independent Roundtable. In today’s piece, five HI writers will provide you all with their early picks for the playoffs ad the Stanley Cup. This piece will double as Part III of my five-part 2013 NHL season preview. Part I –> Northeast Division Preview Part II –> Eastern [...]
2013 NHL Season Preview: Part I: Predicting the Northeast Division
Alas, after nearly four months of bickering over every last nickel and dime that could possible be salvaged, the NHL and the NHLPA have signed a new collective bargaining agreement, making way for a 48-game 2013 hockey season! After remaining optimistic throughout most of the process, I became a bit skeptical in the last week [...]
Keep The Good Going
Outside of hockey, one of my favorite things to do is practice yoga. The lockout has allowed me to practice more, since there’s been no need for me to blow it off to get home or to Madison Square Garden in time for opening faceoff. When I attended class this past Thursday, the instructor opened [...]
Boston Bruins Continue to Lock Up Core, Sign Milan Lucic to Three-Year Extension
Upon the completion of Saturday’s transactions, the Boston Bruins will have locked up every member of their 2011 Stanley Cup winning core with long term contracts that will keep them in the Hub for the foreseeable future. After inking both Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand to new contracts over the past handful of days, general manager Peter Chiarelli turned [...]
Fan Favorite Brad Marchand Signs Four-Year Extension with Boston Bruins
On Friday afternoon, the Boston Bruins announced, via press release, that they had come to terms with forward Brad Marchand on a four-year contract extension worth a total of $18 million dollars. The contract will pay no. 63 an average of $4.5 million dollars per season until the conclusion of the 2016-17 campaign. “I just [...]
Boston Bruins Offseason Notebook: Horton Cleared, Julien Earns Extension, B’s Re-Up With CBS Boston
Bruins, Head Coach Claude Julien Agree To Terms On Contract Extension – Thirteen months ago, Claude Julien became the first Boston Bruins’ head coach to hoist the Stanley Cup above his head since Tom Johnson in May of 1972. The Blinder River, Ontario native was rewarded for his efforts this week, in receiving a brand [...]
2012 Hockey Independent Mock Draft: Selections 26-30; The First Round Concludes
The Hockey Independent crew has come together again; this time to piece together a 2012 NHL Mock Draft for your reading pleasure. The contributing authors to today’s piece will be Cris Cohen (New York Rangers), Seth Levin (New Jersey Devils), Alex Muscat (Detroit Red Wings), Bill Philp (Tampa Bay Lightning) and myself, Benjamin Woodward (Boston [...]
Kings’ Captivating Cup Run Perfectly Exemplifies Hockey’s Greatness
It was a 49-year championship drought that was snapped by the Chicago Blackhawks on a warm summer night in Philadelphia just two years ago. A 39-year wait came to an end in June of 2011 when the underdog Boston Bruins took down the heavily favored Vancouver Canucks on Rogers Arena ice. On Monday night, the [...]
Boston Bruins Postseason Report Cards: Part IV: Extra Skaters/Call-Ups
Throughout the month of May, I will be providing you all with a four-part Boston Bruins’ postseason review, grading the performances of each and every player that donned the eight-spoked “B” during the 2011-’12 campaign. The schedule looks like this: Part I –> Top Six Forwards Part II –> Bottom Six Forwards Part III –> [...]
Life Without Tim Thomas: Bruins Confirm “Strong Possibility” That Reigning Vezina Winner Will Sit Out Next Season
When reports began to emanate on Thursday that Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas was toying with the idea of taking a season off, many — including myself — simply shrugged it off in the belief that it was pure speculation on the part of the media. However, the tide took a major turn on Friday [...]
Nicklas Lidstrom Hangs ‘Em Up, Calls It a Career
After a legendary 20-year career with the Detroit Red Wings, team captain Nicklas Lidstrom made it official Thursday morning as he announced his retirement during a press conference at the Joe Louis Arena. Lidstrom, 42, will go down as not only one of the best defenseman, but one of the greatest players in NHL history. [...]
Boston Bruins Offseason Notebook: A Steal, A Deal And A Departure?
With the off-season in full swing here in Boston, news out of Causeway street has been few and far between since the B’s first round exit at the hands of the Washington Capitals. In the meantime, I hope you’ve all been enjoying my series of postseason report cards. Soon enough things will begin to heat [...]
Stanley Cup Finals 2012: One Man’s Preview of New Jersey Devils and Los Angeles Kings
It’s been a magical ride for the two teams that now site just four wins away from hockey immortality and forever staking their claim in NHL history with their names on the Stanley Cup. It’s taken a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to this point, and now over the course of the [...]
