Beauty and the Beast Series Begins Today

Hockey Talk

This is the type of series that the NHL and hockey media love. On one hand, you have Sidney Crosby, the media's darling going up against the beast, Alexander Ovechkin. It also happens to feature some other pretty good players such as the league's potential Hart trophy winner, Pittsburg's Evengi Malkin and Washington's other great Alex... Alexander Semin who just happened to make some unflattering remarks about Sidney Crosby, and then throw in two teams that don't like each other a little bit, and you have the making of a great series, and the type of series that the NHL will be focusing on in the next week or so. While the NHL has decided to use Crosby as their poster boy, he does possess incredible talent as does Ovechkin who is the rare player that brings incredible talent, and passion along with a physical style of play rarely seen in superstars, and even less from someone that hails from Russia, where the players are known more for their skill than physical play. The Penguins and Capitals had some great playoff series back in the 90's in which the Penguins usually won, but always payed a heavy price physically as the Capitals were known for their physical style of play back then. However it turns out, it should make for some incredible hockey and a great boost for the NHL.

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Sports and Culture

Teams that Can't Get Over the Hump

Hockey Talk

Watching San Jose making another early playoff exit can't help but make one empathize with the futility of the fans that support and follow the Sharks. While San Jose had a great regular season winning the President's trophy in the process, this team couldn't even get past the first round losing to its arch rival Anaheim in six games. I knew when the seedings came out that San Jose had the worst possible matchup for a number one seed but I still figured that they would be able to defeat Anaheim in 6 or 7 games. Alas, San Jose again showed that the regular season means little other than it gets you into the playoffs. However, once the playoffs begin, your regular season record means nothing, and you have to prove yourself all over again. It seems that some teams are just not able to get over the hump and gain hockey immortality by winning a Cup. San Jose may just be one of those teams. They are a team loaded with stars and veterans, and much was expected of them this year. With free agency and the salary cap, it's hard to keep a nucleus of players together for long, and this may have been their best chance to win a cup. The Ottawa Senators are another team that had some great teams in recent years, but were never able to complete the deal, although they did at least make it to the finals two years ago. While many are called, few are chosen, and it makes one appreciate even more the teams that are able to win hockey's biggest prize. Unfortunately, San Jose will not be one of those teams again this year.

Washington Capitals Hockey
Sports and Culture

Home Ice Advantage?

Hockey Talk

I used to believe that home ice was more of an advantage in hockey than other sports but watching this years playoffs makes me wonder if that is really the case. The latest statistic that I saw showed that home teams had won just over 50% of the games so far making home ice a virtual non factor in most of the playoff series. For instance, the San Jose Sharks and Washington Capitals both lost both of their first two games at home, and won their first game of the series on the road. Other teams such as the Red Wings, Canucks, and Bruins won all their games at home and on the road so I guess the point is, if you are a championship caliber team, you're going to win whether at home or on the road. While the fans can bring a lot of excitement to a game, it still comes down to the players on the ice and while fans and others that follow the game like to believe there's a big advantage to getting home ice in the playoffs, the benefit of home ice is probably overstated.

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Sports and Culture

Do Seedings Really Matter?

Hockey Talk

The structure of the NHL playoffs seem to be about as fair as you can make it, with the 1st seed playing the 8th seed, the 2nd playing the 7th, etc. The idea is that teams with the better records throughout the regular season play the playoff eligible teams with the worst record, providing incentive for the teams to get the higher seed. The higher seeds also get home ice advantage in that they get to play the first two games at home, and the deciding 7th game at home as well. While playing at home may give a slight advantage to the home team, I believe in general home ice is not as important as some would make it out to be. Playoff caliber teams win at home and on the road, and while most have a slightly better record at home, there are teams such as Anaheim that have a better road record than home. The other thing that can negate the seeding matchups is that many teams heading into the playoffs make significant roster moves picking up key players that make them a different and in many cases better team than the record indicates. Overall, while the higher seeds win the majority of the time, it seems that every year, there is a lower seed or two that makes it to the Conference or Stanley Cup Finals, and some favorites get bumped out early. That's what makes the playoffs so interesting and unpredictable. The key thing I believe is just to get into the playoffs, and after that, anything is possible.

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Sports and Culture

Hockey's 2nd Season Begins

Hockey Talk

Several of my friends believe that the NCAA 'March Madness' Tournament is the most exciting sports event occurring at this time of the year, but I'm here to cast my vote for the NHL playoffs. The marathon battles that lead to the Stanley Cup finals are unequaled anywhere in professional sports as the two survivors that get to compete for the ultimate hockey prize known as Lord Stanley's Cup will have to battle through 3-seven game series to get the chance to become Stanley Cup Champions. While most of the teams from last year are back in the East, the West features some fresh faces including the first ever trip to the playoffs for the Columbus Blue Jackets, and the return of the St. Louis Blues after a lengthy absence. This year features some intriguing first round matchups including a series between long time rivals the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks, and a repeat of last years Eastern Conference Final between the Flyers and Penguins. The thing that strikes me about this year's playoffs is that in looking at the matches, seedings don't really seem to mean a whole lot, and it wouldn't surprise me to see the lower seeds beat the higher seeds in several of the matches. Let the fun begin!

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Sports and Culture

Staged Fighting

Hockey Talk

It looks like the NHL might crack down on "staged fighting" next year by increasing the penalty to 10 minutes or some other heavier action. When they say "staged fights" they're talking about the ones that happen right after the drop of the puck. I have no problem with this because my attitude towards fighting is if your pissed off enough to want to drop the gloves and go at it, you're not going to wait until the referee drops the puck to do it. Staged fighting reminds me too much of WWW wrestling, and we all know how 'real' that is.

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Sports and Culture

Do The Referee's Play Favorites?

Hockey Talk

I see a lot of discussion about how the referee's seem to favor certain players when it comes to calling penalties; especially when the game is on the line. While it doesn't hurt to have a kid named Sidney on your team, I don't think that there is any kind of conspiracy by the referee's or pressure by the NHL office to see to it that some teams make it into the playoffs, but at the same time the referee's are human and are well aware that some teams and players are "more equal" than others, and may unconsciously lean a little toward certain players when it comes to penalties. On the other hand, I watched a game recently where the star named Sid was getting banged around all through the game, without nary a call. There can be a fine line in protecting a star player from constant harassment and abuse , and in allowing the opposing team to try and neutralize the key players.

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Sports and Culture

Hockey....Then and Now

As a child growing up in Baltimore, one of my passions was going to Baltimore Clippers hockey games in the Winter. While it wasn't the NHL, it didn't matter because it was still hockey, and besides it was all we had. While the game is basically the same as it was back then, there have been many changes since that time, and most are for the better. For instance, I remember a time when the teams were seated on opposite sides of the ice. I don't know why this change was brought about, but I imagine it's for the better or they would have gone back to the old way. I also remember when very few of the players wore helmets let alone face guards. Nowadays, the thought of players not wearing helmets seems ridiculous, but wearing a helmet back then would have qualified you as a sissy. I also remember that most of the players back then looked more like typical hockey players, beat up and missing most of their teeth. In contrast, many of the hockey players in the NHL today look as if they could be posing for GQ or Playgirl. Obviously most of the players back then didn't make the money that players make today, and most likely couldn't afford a good orthodontist, and wouldn't go to one if they could.

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Sports and Culture

NHL Needs to Ditch the Dive Penalty

I watched a game last night where a player was obviously tripped and a penalty was called on the player, but a penalty was also called on the player tripped for "diving". This penalty is one that I think that the NHL should consider getting rid of because it's too subjective of a call for the referee to make. To start off with, the majority of the time the call is against a player who trips another player, and the "dive" or "unsportsmenlike conduct" is assessed because the referee determines that the player tripped has tried to enhance the penalty by tripping a bit too much? Just what would be enough of a fall for it to be a penalty and what is too much? Is it that the player hits the ice too hard, or slides too much, or makes a funny face? The point is that the whole thing is too subjective and is not an obvious call like high sticking, boarding, elbowing, etc., and should be done away with, or maybe the referee's can use instant replay to see if the player actually did enhance the penalty or not.

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NHL Playoff Structure

I've heard several people comment that everybody in the NHL makes the playoffs. Well, the truth is only about half the teams do actually make the playoffs. While that may seem like a lot compared to other sports, I think that it actually makes the game more exciting in that just about every game during the last month of the season has some kind of playoff implications. For instance, if you look at the standings at this late point in the season, there are only four or five teams in each division that has no real chance of making the playoffs. The other teams are fighting for the playoffs and playoff position, making practically each game important.

Another thing I like about the NHL playoffs, is that each series consists of a best of 7 and not some lame best of 5 like Major League baseball has with their divisional playoffs. In a seven game series, the better team is going to win most of the time as compared to a best of five, where a team can throw a couple of dominant pitchers out there, and win the first two games virtually locking up the series before it even gets started. More than any other sport, the NHL playoffs are an endurance test, and the teams that get to the Stanley Cup Finals have earned their way their. While many people talk about the excitement of March Madness, I look forward to the excitement of NHL playoff hockey, and it's wars.

Brodeur Breaks Record

Congratulations are in order for Martin Brodeur who recently broke Patrick Roy's record of 552 wins. While people are quick to say that Brodeur now ranks as the greatest NHL goaltender, I would just say that he is indeed one of the best. Winning as many games as Brodeur has requires many things including good health, playing for a good team, lots of skill, and a bit of luck. For there have been many excellent goaltenders who's career was cut short by injury. And there have been many excellent NHL goaltenders who never won the cup because they never played for teams such as the Devils or Red Wings. There's no doubt that 20 or even 50 years from now Brodeur will rate high among the all time greatest goaltenders, but I believe it's enough to say he's one of the best, and not necessarily the greatest to have ever played the game.

How Important is the Plus/Minus Rating?

While watching a game, one of the statistics that they like to profile is the plus/minus rating of the players. The way that it works is that a player gets a plus if a goal is scored while they are on the ice, and conversely they receive a minus if a goal is scored against them while they are out there. While every player would want to have a great plus minus rating, there's several factors that come into play. First off, you have to be on a pretty decent team to have any realistic chance of having a great plus/minus rating. For instance, Brendan Witt of the New York Islanders has one of the worse ratings of -32. Is this terrible stat because he plays on one of the worst teams in the NHL or the fact that he's not having a very good year? Probably both, but I'm quite certain that if Witt played for the Red Wings or the Bruins his numbers would look a lot different. For instance, the only player on the Bruins who has a minus rating of more than -1 is Mark Recchi and that's because Recchi played most of the year for the lowly Tampa Bay Lighting, and was just recently traded to the Bruins.

While all players would love to have a great plus/minus rating I think it's obvious that it has as much to do with who you play for, and while the number is interesting to chart, doesn't necessarily reflect the true value of a player.

Coaching Turnover

I was surprised to find that the Washington Capitals coach, Bruce Boudreau is the 5th longest tenured coach in the NHL, and he's only in his first full season. It seems like G.M.'s have a much shorter leash these days when it comes to coaches, and the old line, "what have you done for me lately" is the motto in the NHL these days. For instance, both Guy Carboneau and Michel Therrien led their teams to the playoffs last year but both are out of work as their respective teams struggled this year. While many of the fired coaches turn up coaching somewhere else the next year, many G.M's are looking to the minor league ranks these days as many of the new coaches are coming from the AHL ranks. It's all about winning in professional sports, and as many NHL coaches are finding out, your track record means little these days.