Another example of the NHL's inconsistent disciplinary procedures, Donald Brashear was dealt a six-game suspension for his hit on Blair Betts (who has a concussion and broken orbital bone) and the pre-game shove on fellow enforcer Colton Orr.
Believe me, I completely get the efforts to crack down on hits to the head. And the one to Betts was forceful, out-of-the-blue and very ill-timed on Brash's part. Memo to the guys in stripes: let's just make sure we call all the major infractions tomorrow, huh? Because I have a feeling that this just turned uglier than it already is....
Monday, April 27, 2009
Happy Birthday Varly!
Hockey Mom joins all the great fans in Capsland in wishing Simeon Varlamov a happy 21st birthday! Hard to believe that this kid, who's been a rock in the net in these intense playoffs is only 21 - and he's only going to get better in time like a fine wine. Speaking of wine, hope the boys take him out for a legal adult beverage - after Game 7, of course!
Kudos to Tom Poti for his huge game yesterday in his old stomping grounds! Also to Mike Green with his first playoff goal and to Milan "Juice" Jurcina for getting his team on the board first, which has been crucial in this series!
Meanwhile, we wait to see if the "Donald" receives any disciplinary action for his hit on Blair Betts and the pre-game bump on Rangers' enforcer Colton Orr. From my standpoint watching the game at the ice rink, I couldn't see well enough to make my own decisive call on whether or not the hit on Betts was clean.
Then the Rangers' Brandon Dubinsky, who's been trying to stir things up throughout the series, claims to have been "bitten" by Shaone Morrison. Now Moe is a tough d-man but he's no Jarko Ruutu and it's interesting how that little tidbit of information comes out after all the players had left MSG. Lots of odds and ends to tie up after yesterday's contest!
Speaking of Jarko Ruutu, there's an interesting article that he penned for The Hockey News on playing the role of agitator, especially during the playoffs. So if you want a glimpse of what's been going on in Sean Avery's warped mind during this series, check it out. In other worthwhile reading, one of HM's favorite sportswriters, Sally Jenkins, has a great piece in today's Washington Post about the Rangers' whining and complaining about the Capitals' behavior in the playoffs. A bit like the pot calling the kettle black, eh?
A huge Game 7 awaits us all tomorrow - I expect a very frustrated Rangers club to come out swinging. While we're on that subject, check out last night's swinging action in the Hurricane's 4-0 thrashing of the New Jersey Devils:
More from Hockey Mom later - in the meantime, hope you all are rocking the red!
Kudos to Tom Poti for his huge game yesterday in his old stomping grounds! Also to Mike Green with his first playoff goal and to Milan "Juice" Jurcina for getting his team on the board first, which has been crucial in this series!
Meanwhile, we wait to see if the "Donald" receives any disciplinary action for his hit on Blair Betts and the pre-game bump on Rangers' enforcer Colton Orr. From my standpoint watching the game at the ice rink, I couldn't see well enough to make my own decisive call on whether or not the hit on Betts was clean.
Then the Rangers' Brandon Dubinsky, who's been trying to stir things up throughout the series, claims to have been "bitten" by Shaone Morrison. Now Moe is a tough d-man but he's no Jarko Ruutu and it's interesting how that little tidbit of information comes out after all the players had left MSG. Lots of odds and ends to tie up after yesterday's contest!
Speaking of Jarko Ruutu, there's an interesting article that he penned for The Hockey News on playing the role of agitator, especially during the playoffs. So if you want a glimpse of what's been going on in Sean Avery's warped mind during this series, check it out. In other worthwhile reading, one of HM's favorite sportswriters, Sally Jenkins, has a great piece in today's Washington Post about the Rangers' whining and complaining about the Capitals' behavior in the playoffs. A bit like the pot calling the kettle black, eh?
A huge Game 7 awaits us all tomorrow - I expect a very frustrated Rangers club to come out swinging. While we're on that subject, check out last night's swinging action in the Hurricane's 4-0 thrashing of the New Jersey Devils:
More from Hockey Mom later - in the meantime, hope you all are rocking the red!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Where's the Boss?
Ranger's bench boss John Tortorella won't be anywhere near the bench in today's showdown Game 6 at Madison Square Garden, as the NHL suspended him for his part in the fan altercation that took place Friday night at Verizon.
From the NHL's discipline czar Colin Campbell:
"While it is a difficult decision to suspend a coach at this point in a playoff series, it has been made clear to all of our players, coaches and other bench personnel that the National Hockey League cannot -- and will not -- tolerate any physical contact with fans. We do not take this action lightly. It is the result of an entire day of investigation and evaluation that included the retrieval and review of videotape of the incident and discussions with Mr. Tortorella, other Rangers' bench personnel and a number of other people, including the security personnel at the Verizon Center.
That investigation revealed that Mr. Tortorella squirted a fan with water before Mr. Tortorella was doused with a beverage."
Sounds like Torts may need to reserve a vacation spot at the behavioral facility attended by his benched agitator, Sean Avery. How ironic to preach control and discipline to your players and turn around and lose your mind in front of the entire hockey world...
So assistant coach Jim Schoenfeld will take the lead for the Rangers in this crucial Game 6 in front of a tough home crowd. We'll see how this all affects the Blueshirts, who saw a lackadaisical effort from their stars on Friday night, giving the Capitals the win and the momentum.
Hockey Mom will be at one boys' house game with my butt planted in front of the t.v. - sorry Jake, it's the playoffs! I'm rocking my red today from my head to my red toes and flying my Capitals "pizza man" car flag with pride - let's bring it back to Verizon boys!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Game 5: Caps Shut Out Blueshirts
As I walked into the Verizon Center for tonight's do or die contest (after I almost had to hip-check some dork in an Avery jersey who was taking his Sunday stroll in addition to wearing an Avery jersey), I felt the kind of nerves you got when you went on your first date back in high school!
We all know what had to be done tonight - and the boys did it! The last team to come back from 3-1 to win a series was 2004, when Montreal beat Boston in seven games.
Noticeably absent from Ranger warm ups was the uber-pest himself, Sean Avery. And present for the warm ups was Caps' gritty captain Chris Clark - could this be the night we see him back in action? Once I got my roster in the press box, the answer was on the sheet: no Avery, no Clark. From where I sit, Torts had no choice but to bench the goon but we'll miss his penalty gifts!
Caps saw their first power play on a hooking call on Scottie Gomez merely 2 minutes in. Shortly thereafter, Brian Pothier went to the box after tripping Nik Antropov. And the Caps went on to do what they needed to when Matt Bradley broke free and roofed one over King Henrik - short-handed! This place went wild. The last Capital to score a shorty in a playoff game was Steve Konowalchuk on 4/19/2000 in a 3-2 win against the hated Penguins!
The Rangers then took a too many men on the ice call with about ten minutes left and the home team was on yet another power play. And lo and behold Matt Bradley is ON FIRE - roofing ANOTHER ONE! Rock on with your bad self! And tonight marked Bradley's first ever playoff goal (make that 2 goals in 2 shots)! Varly made an unbelievable save on Brandon Dubinsky late in third throwing his body outside the right side of the net.
The crowd went nutso after that save and then again after they showed Uncle Ted rocking out with "more cowbell" on the jumbotron! And another interesting note, the Caps' penalty killers held the Rangers to no shots on goal in their first two power plays. The boys went into the locker room at the end of the first with a 2-0 lead.
At 15:03 into the second period, Alex Semin had the deke of the week on Henrik Lundqvist for his fourth goal of the playoffs and the Cap's third goal of the night which set off loud roars of "Henrik Henrik" from the rowdy crowd. Varlamov's instincts and quick glove hand held the Rags scoreless through the second. With less than 20 seconds left in the second period, Alex the Great made a play we'll be seeing on every sports network highlight reel this side of the Atlantic as he faked out two Rangers and scored one on
Lundqvist. Wanna see it again?
End of the second: Caps 4 - Rangers 0.
The King was dethroned going into the third period after allowing 4 goals on 14 shots, replaced by Rangers' back up netminder Stephen Valiquette. Things got heated after a Caps' attempt on Valiquette resulted in a scrum and all the Rangers piled on top of the Caps and their goalie. Blueshirt Brandon Dubinsky got real brave and was yapping at the Donald. Brashear took a 10-minute misconduct for his part while Dubinsky got a 2-minute trip to the sin bin.
Hockey Mom is going to take a sidebar here and give a bit of a lecture. During the third period someone among the Caps faithful took it upon themselves to throw a beer (or something) on Rangers' coach John Tortorella. Seriously? Act like you've been out before - we rag on the Flyers and Rangers fans for doing the very same thing. If you want to act like that outside the arena that's your business but there's no need for that kind of behavior. How would we feel if Rangers' fans did that to Gabby? Not cool and I'm sure that Ted Leonsis will have something to say about it as well. Now Torts lost his cool as well and retaliated by throwing a water bottle into the stands and waving a hockey stick, actions which will probably be reviewed by the NHL. Basically the entire Rangers club lost their cool towards the end, even without their instigator in the lineup.
So anyhoo, that's my manners lesson for today for what it's worth - now back to the game. After the scrum with Brash, Dubinsky seemed to get frustrated and took a roughing call with about 7 minutes left. The Caps had yet another power play but were unable to convert. The Rangers' Colton Orr and Aaron Voros continued to unravel as Orr took a 10-minute misconduct with 4 minutes to go and Voros took 2 penalties as well.
In the end, the Caps did everything they needed to do to ensure a Game 6 - fabulous effort all around!
In the post-game press conference, Gabby praised the efforts of Matt Bradley (calling him an unsung hero and commenting on his hard work) and young goalie Varlamov, in addition to AO of course, joking that he "might play Alex another shift come Sunday." He also reiterated the fact that the Rangers will be ready for Game 6, noting that when he saw the first Bradley goal go in his thoughts were "Uh oh, he's (Lundvquist) gonna be great on Sunday."
So a huge Hockey Mom high five to the boys for bringing it all tonight!MSG is gonna be wild tomorrow - let's see some more CAPITALS hockey!
We all know what had to be done tonight - and the boys did it! The last team to come back from 3-1 to win a series was 2004, when Montreal beat Boston in seven games.
Noticeably absent from Ranger warm ups was the uber-pest himself, Sean Avery. And present for the warm ups was Caps' gritty captain Chris Clark - could this be the night we see him back in action? Once I got my roster in the press box, the answer was on the sheet: no Avery, no Clark. From where I sit, Torts had no choice but to bench the goon but we'll miss his penalty gifts!
Caps saw their first power play on a hooking call on Scottie Gomez merely 2 minutes in. Shortly thereafter, Brian Pothier went to the box after tripping Nik Antropov. And the Caps went on to do what they needed to when Matt Bradley broke free and roofed one over King Henrik - short-handed! This place went wild. The last Capital to score a shorty in a playoff game was Steve Konowalchuk on 4/19/2000 in a 3-2 win against the hated Penguins!
The Rangers then took a too many men on the ice call with about ten minutes left and the home team was on yet another power play. And lo and behold Matt Bradley is ON FIRE - roofing ANOTHER ONE! Rock on with your bad self! And tonight marked Bradley's first ever playoff goal (make that 2 goals in 2 shots)! Varly made an unbelievable save on Brandon Dubinsky late in third throwing his body outside the right side of the net.
The crowd went nutso after that save and then again after they showed Uncle Ted rocking out with "more cowbell" on the jumbotron! And another interesting note, the Caps' penalty killers held the Rangers to no shots on goal in their first two power plays. The boys went into the locker room at the end of the first with a 2-0 lead.
At 15:03 into the second period, Alex Semin had the deke of the week on Henrik Lundqvist for his fourth goal of the playoffs and the Cap's third goal of the night which set off loud roars of "Henrik Henrik" from the rowdy crowd. Varlamov's instincts and quick glove hand held the Rags scoreless through the second. With less than 20 seconds left in the second period, Alex the Great made a play we'll be seeing on every sports network highlight reel this side of the Atlantic as he faked out two Rangers and scored one on
Lundqvist. Wanna see it again?
End of the second: Caps 4 - Rangers 0.
The King was dethroned going into the third period after allowing 4 goals on 14 shots, replaced by Rangers' back up netminder Stephen Valiquette. Things got heated after a Caps' attempt on Valiquette resulted in a scrum and all the Rangers piled on top of the Caps and their goalie. Blueshirt Brandon Dubinsky got real brave and was yapping at the Donald. Brashear took a 10-minute misconduct for his part while Dubinsky got a 2-minute trip to the sin bin.
Hockey Mom is going to take a sidebar here and give a bit of a lecture. During the third period someone among the Caps faithful took it upon themselves to throw a beer (or something) on Rangers' coach John Tortorella. Seriously? Act like you've been out before - we rag on the Flyers and Rangers fans for doing the very same thing. If you want to act like that outside the arena that's your business but there's no need for that kind of behavior. How would we feel if Rangers' fans did that to Gabby? Not cool and I'm sure that Ted Leonsis will have something to say about it as well. Now Torts lost his cool as well and retaliated by throwing a water bottle into the stands and waving a hockey stick, actions which will probably be reviewed by the NHL. Basically the entire Rangers club lost their cool towards the end, even without their instigator in the lineup.
So anyhoo, that's my manners lesson for today for what it's worth - now back to the game. After the scrum with Brash, Dubinsky seemed to get frustrated and took a roughing call with about 7 minutes left. The Caps had yet another power play but were unable to convert. The Rangers' Colton Orr and Aaron Voros continued to unravel as Orr took a 10-minute misconduct with 4 minutes to go and Voros took 2 penalties as well.
In the end, the Caps did everything they needed to do to ensure a Game 6 - fabulous effort all around!
In the post-game press conference, Gabby praised the efforts of Matt Bradley (calling him an unsung hero and commenting on his hard work) and young goalie Varlamov, in addition to AO of course, joking that he "might play Alex another shift come Sunday." He also reiterated the fact that the Rangers will be ready for Game 6, noting that when he saw the first Bradley goal go in his thoughts were "Uh oh, he's (Lundvquist) gonna be great on Sunday."
So a huge Hockey Mom high five to the boys for bringing it all tonight!MSG is gonna be wild tomorrow - let's see some more CAPITALS hockey!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Sour Grapes Gets it Right...
For all the ridiculous blather from Don Cherry regarding Alex Ovechkin and his unconventional celebrations the past month or two, Hockey Mom is proud to report that I am finally on the same page as the old guy when it comes to Sean Avery. Plus I wonder if I can get slipcovers for my sofa made from his jacket material - groovy Grapes!
Here's Sir Cherry after last night's Boston Bruins' sweep of the Canadiens:
HM must have been busy banging my Pepperidge Farm bread thunderstix together as I totally missed that imbecile putting his stick in Ovie's throat - are you kidding me? The thing about Avery is that even the Caps sic Brash or someone else on him tomorrow night, he will cave and refuse to fight. That's part of his schtick. I'm thinking Torts should bench him but then we wouldn't have anyone to take idiotic penalties and give the Caps more scoring opportunities so hope to see him at the end of the bench tomorrow!
Here's Sir Cherry after last night's Boston Bruins' sweep of the Canadiens:
HM must have been busy banging my Pepperidge Farm bread thunderstix together as I totally missed that imbecile putting his stick in Ovie's throat - are you kidding me? The thing about Avery is that even the Caps sic Brash or someone else on him tomorrow night, he will cave and refuse to fight. That's part of his schtick. I'm thinking Torts should bench him but then we wouldn't have anyone to take idiotic penalties and give the Caps more scoring opportunities so hope to see him at the end of the bench tomorrow!
Green Gets Norris Nod
Cap's defenseman Mike Green has been nominated for the NHL's Norris Trophy along with the Bruin's Zdeno Chara and Red Wing's Nick Lidstrom.
Congrats to Green and let's hope he celebrates by knocking Sean Avery on his keister tomorrow night!
From the team's press release:
ARLINGTON, Va. – The National Hockey League announced today that Washington Capitals defenseman Mike Green is one of three finalists for the Norris Trophy, which is presented annually to the top defenseman in the league. Green joins Boston’s Zdeno Chara and Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom as the three finalists.
Members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association submitted ballots for the Norris Trophy at the conclusion of the regular season, with the top three vote-getters announced as finalists. The winner will be announced Thursday, June 18, during the 2009 NHL Awards Television Special, which will be broadcast live throughout the United States on VERSUS and in Canada on CBC from inside the Pearl Concert Theater in the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas.
Green could become the second Capital to win the Norris trophy and first since Rod Langway won the award in back-to-back years (1982-83, 1983-84). Green’s eight-game goal streak (Jan. 27 to Feb. 14) set a NHL record for a defenseman and matched the longest streak in the NHL since 1997-98 (Teemu Selanne, 11 games). The Calgary, Alberta, native had eight more goals and nine more points than any other defenseman despite missing 14 games due to injury, finishing with 31 goals and 73 points. The Capitals were 20-4-2 when he scored a goal and 33-5-4 when he registered a point.
At 23, Green became the youngest defenseman with 30 goals since Paul Coffey in 1983-84 and had the most goals by an NHL defenseman since former Capitals Kevin Hatcher had 34 in 1992-93. He was just the seventh defenseman in NHL history to score 30 goals in a season and the first to do it while playing fewer than 70 games. He led all defenseman and ranked seventh in the NHL (minimum 20 game played) with 1.07 points per game. His 73 points were the most points by a defenseman in the NHL since 2005-06 (Nicklas Lidstrom, 80).
Green’s 18 power-play goals ranked fourth in the league and set a Capitals record for power-play goals by a defenseman (one shy of the NHL record). Green finished second on the team and tied for fifth among NHL defensemen with a +24 rating.
Green won the “Espo Award” as the best defenseman in the league from Phil Esposito on NHL Home Ice. He was the NHL’s Second Star for the month of February after scoring 20 points in 13 games.
Congrats to Green and let's hope he celebrates by knocking Sean Avery on his keister tomorrow night!
From the team's press release:
ARLINGTON, Va. – The National Hockey League announced today that Washington Capitals defenseman Mike Green is one of three finalists for the Norris Trophy, which is presented annually to the top defenseman in the league. Green joins Boston’s Zdeno Chara and Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom as the three finalists.
Members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association submitted ballots for the Norris Trophy at the conclusion of the regular season, with the top three vote-getters announced as finalists. The winner will be announced Thursday, June 18, during the 2009 NHL Awards Television Special, which will be broadcast live throughout the United States on VERSUS and in Canada on CBC from inside the Pearl Concert Theater in the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas.
Green could become the second Capital to win the Norris trophy and first since Rod Langway won the award in back-to-back years (1982-83, 1983-84). Green’s eight-game goal streak (Jan. 27 to Feb. 14) set a NHL record for a defenseman and matched the longest streak in the NHL since 1997-98 (Teemu Selanne, 11 games). The Calgary, Alberta, native had eight more goals and nine more points than any other defenseman despite missing 14 games due to injury, finishing with 31 goals and 73 points. The Capitals were 20-4-2 when he scored a goal and 33-5-4 when he registered a point.
At 23, Green became the youngest defenseman with 30 goals since Paul Coffey in 1983-84 and had the most goals by an NHL defenseman since former Capitals Kevin Hatcher had 34 in 1992-93. He was just the seventh defenseman in NHL history to score 30 goals in a season and the first to do it while playing fewer than 70 games. He led all defenseman and ranked seventh in the NHL (minimum 20 game played) with 1.07 points per game. His 73 points were the most points by a defenseman in the NHL since 2005-06 (Nicklas Lidstrom, 80).
Green’s 18 power-play goals ranked fourth in the league and set a Capitals record for power-play goals by a defenseman (one shy of the NHL record). Green finished second on the team and tied for fifth among NHL defensemen with a +24 rating.
Green won the “Espo Award” as the best defenseman in the league from Phil Esposito on NHL Home Ice. He was the NHL’s Second Star for the month of February after scoring 20 points in 13 games.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Game 4: Caps Fall to Rangers 2-1
As I got ready to settle down (if that's possible) for tonight's Game 4, I realized I could use the two Pepperidge Farm frozen garlic breads I bought on the way home to make some thunderstix of my own to cheer on the Caps. As long as they stay frozen, they're pretty loud - way cooler than those Star Wars things they gave to the Rangers fans the other night (which ended up on the ice anyway).
In all seriousness, I'm sure I'm one of many Caps faithful who has been on edge all day in anticipation of this game to see if the boys come out with the fire and fight they displayed in Monday night's huge win. The Rangers (and their loud fans) were jazzed and seemed to have the momentum through the first. Paul Bunyan, make that Paul Mara, got on the board first. The Blueshirts held the visitors without a shot well into the first period.
Ranger's ailing captain Chris Drury took advantage of a loose puck that Varlamov was unable to catch, and netted one to give his team a 2-0 advantage. The Caps had 19 shots on goal to the Rangers' 5 but were unable to get one through Henrik Lundqvist, who made the stellar stops required, including a flash glove save on a rocket from Alex Semin. The Caps went into the locker room after the second, still down by two goals.
The Caps had to come out swinging and stronger than ever in the final period. At 2:13 into the third period, Alex Ovechkin snuck past D-man Derek Morris and sniped one past King Henrik, who looked like he had absolutely no idea where the puck went. With a littler over nine minutes left and the Caps only trailing by a goal, Sean Avery got Milan Jurcina right in the schnozz with his grimy fist, drawing blood along with a penalty for roughing. In the resulting power play, both AO and Feds had strong chances but both clanked right off the goal posts. At the end of the power play, the refs who swallowed the whistles again, missed a Rangers cross-check but nailed Semin for a trip. Big John Erskine did his part on the critical PK and the Rangers were held at bay.
Avery took another idiotic penalty in the last minutes of the third by high-sticking Brian Pothier. The Rangers, who boast one of the best PKs in the league, killed another one for their problem child team mate. The final seconds were a mad frenzy of activity as the Caps fought to get one on the boards with an extra man and an empty net. But alas, Lundvquist had another magnificent performance, much to the dismay of the Capitals and the fans that love them.
Now down 3 games to 1, the Caps come home on Friday to fight for their playoff survival. After watching the better team (the Caps, of course) walk away from such a battle with a loss, my head is pounding. I think I'll go eat my thunderstix...
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