For you Caps fans who can't wait til training camp (me included) - here's some insight from TSN analyst Scott Cullen on what the Caps need to do in the off-season (in addition to Ovie bringing home more "major awards" next week a la The Christmas Story). Somehow HM can envision Alex displaying the leg lamp with pride if he'd ever won such a thing of beauty!
Other schtuff going on as hockey fans count the minutes until the big Game 7 tomorrow:
Another one bites the dust as the Dallas Stars fired their bench boss Dave Tippett.
He's baacck - bad boy Ray Emery has signed a contract with the Philadelphia Flyers - might we see flashbacks of Ron Hextall at Wachovia Center next season with another hothead minding the crease?
Penguins'Petr Sykora may not get to play in the biggest game of the year tomorrow as he is ailing from an injured foot.
HM is very excited to report that Musings of a Hockey Mom has been nominated for a 2009 HockeyBarn.com New Media Award in the (what else - Hockey Mom/Dad Writer of the Year Category).
As hockey moms are a tenacious bunch, I am honored to be included among two other fabulous nominees: Liz Goddard of Hockeymoms.com and Dani Muccio, a pioneer of the NHL Tweetup movement.
Here are more details about the 2009 New Media Awards from the HockeyBarn.com Press Release:
The final nominees for the 2009 HockeyBarn New Media Awards have been announced. Nominees were selected based upon their outstanding levels of commitment, quality, and service to new media in hockey. Nominations from peers, readers, and fans were carefully considered in the selection process. The award winners will be presented by Hall of Famer Glenn Anderson from Las Vegas, Nevada on June 17. Each winner will receive a gift package presented by Zamboni®. The Writer of the Year will receive a ticket to attend the 2009 Hockey Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony with Glenn Anderson on November 9, 2009.
The Caps-centric Japers Rink has been nominated for the Glenn Anderson Leadership Award: and the wild and wacky Puck Daddy himself (whose blog makes me laugh out loud and spit out my coffee on a daily basis), Greg Wyshynski is up for Writer of the Year. HM wishes all the awesome hockey writers who keep us in the loop on the sport we hold so dear the best of luck!
HockeyBarn.com is an online community for all grassroots players, coaches, parents, and fans who love the game of ice hockey. The site provides an in-depth and complete hockey online experience through the fusion of social networking with the latest hockey news & editorial, trends and technologies.
The Pittsburgh Penguins won a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings last night in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals and the Manitoba Moose staved off elimination at the hands of the Hershey Bears in the Calder Cup Finals (Hockey Mom is sensing a zoo theme with all these critter-related teams in the finals).
Penguins' d-man Rob Scuderi momentarily tried his hand at goaltending by kick-saving a last second goal attempt by Detroit's "Mule" Johan Franzen to preserve the win. In a game that saw a lopsided 12 shots on goal for the Pens to the Wings' 3 in the first period, Crosby and pals showed no memory of the 5-0 losing debaucle that was Game 5. In addition to stellar goal tending from Marc-Andre Fleury, the Pens saw fabulous efforts by the likes of Jordan Staal, Brooks Orpik and Scuderi. Plus they did have a few calls in their favor (yes, Bill McCreary - Matt Cooke's hit on Pavel Datsyuk should have been an interference but that's now water under the Mon River bridge).
So Game 7 moves back to Detroit on Friday night in what will prove to be a true-nailbiter for fans of both teams. HM may have to throw up just a little should I have to watch Crosby hoist Lord Stanley's Cup, but on the other hand it would reinforce the lesson I'm always preaching that "anything is possible when you refuse to quit" - which applies to the Pens, our beloved Capitals and of course my kids' youth hockey teams. I admire the grit and determination that the Pens have shown throughout this series, especially after coming back from that ugly Game 5 thumping. That said, I still am not and probably will never be, a big Sid fan - Geno Malkin on the other hand is cool in my book.
Meanwhile down at the farm, the Hershey Bears saw goals last night from Graham Mink and John Carlson but ultimately lost a 3-2 decision in Game 5 of the Calder Cup Finals. The Bears still lead the series 3-2 and will attempt to clinch the title on Moose home ice on Friday.
While we're on the theme of zoo animals, the Philadelphia Flyers might get a little more thugnasty (if that's even possible) as rumor has it that the team is close to signing former Ottawa goalie and poster boy for detention hall, Ray Emery.
Caps bench boss Bruce Boudreau will forego throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at tomorrow's Washington Nationals game and head up to Chocolate Town to cheer on the Hershey Bears!
From the Caps PR staff:
Bruce Boudreau first pitch canceled
ARLINGTON, Va. – Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau will no longer throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Washington Nationals game on Tuesday, June 9. Instead, Boudreau will be at Game 5 of the Calder Cup finals between the Hershey Bears and the Manitoba Moose in Hershey, Pa. The Bears lead the best-of-seven series 3-1 and have a chance to win their tenth Calder Cup on Tuesday and first since Boudreau guided the Bears to the Calder Cup in 2006.
Say it one more time (LOUDER) - Let's go Bears! Be the WALL Michal Neuvirth...
The Pittsburgh Penguins had some bad mojo at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena in last night’s 5-0 thrashing at the hands of the Red Wings. The Penguins disintegrated in Game 5, taking 12 penalties including three 10-minute misconducts from Talbot, Craig Adams and mean ole Matt Cooke. Sidney Crosby took a completely undisciplined slash to Hank Zetterberg’s ankle in Period 2 that brought back memories of Tonya Harding trying to eliminate Nancy Kerrigan (though next time Sid, you may want to borrow Tonya’s bodyguard – that was a weak effort).
With Pavel Datsyuk (one of the most disciplined players in the game who's a finalist for yet another Lady Byng award for gentlemanly behavior), the Pens could ill-afford to self-destruct in the penalty department. Datsyuk had an incredible return after missing the first four games due to injury and kicked in assists on goals from Dan Cleary and Brian Rafalski. Marc-Andre Fleury was pulled for bench duty for the first time in these playoffs after letting in five goals on 21 shots. Backup goalie Mathieu Garon stopped the remaining eight shots he faced but the writing was on the wall for the self-destructing Pens. The ice birds face elimination but will be playing in front of their raucous home crowd when Game 6 returns ‘dawntawn to the Igloo’ on Tuesday night.
Meanwhile down on the farm, the Hershey Bears won another big one in the Calder Cup Finals last night, beating the Manitoba Moose 3-0 in the land of chocolate kisses. Graham Mink and Alexandre Giroux both lit the lamp for the Bears and once again, Quintin Laing topped it off with an empty-net tally. Goaltender Michal Neuvirth stonewalled all 28 of Manitoba’s attempts. The Bears lead the best of seven series two games to one and Game 4 takes place today Chocolate Town at 5 p.m. Let’s Go Bears!
One of Hockey Mom's fabulous readers recently brought a situation to my attention that leaves me speechless. Check out this article on United States Air Force Academy hockey player, Kevin Wright, and his issues with eligibility according to the NCAA's hare-brained rules.
You have got to be kidding me with this. In the world of collegiate sports, it seems like every day there is a front-page sports story of some Division 1-A athlete in trouble for sexual assault, theft, drug use, accusations of accepting gifts from overzealous alumni, the list goes on. Yet, the NCAA wants to penalize a true student-athlete, whose only offense was trying to further his academic career (and on the advice of an academic counselor no less). And who upon graduation, will be serving our country as a member of the armed forces.
Bogus - completely and utterly incomprehensible....HM is pulling for you Kevin.
Hockey Mom has a confession to make - yes, I fell asleep last night before the third period of Red Winds/Penguins Finals Game 2. I know - what kind of hockey fan am I? But with marathon lacrosse tryouts, a house hockey game, co-worker's baby shower plus the zillion other items on my to-do list every weekend, I was just plain spent. Turning on the NHL Network this morning, I thought I was seeing the score from Saturday night's game (Wings 3 - Pens 1) but the Wings rolled through Game 2 with the same end result as Game 1. Frustrate the heck out of the Penguins' offense, hold Sid the Kid scoreless and plant yourselves in the paint in front of your goalie Chris Osgood (who has been phenonemal).
It's been fun watching the Penguins get feisty (though HM thought Crosby's "love tap" on Kurt Maltby's ankle at the end of Game 1 was uncalled for). And Evgeni Malkin's fight against Wings stud Henrik Zetterberg last night was beautiful (not in an enforcer sense but nice to see Geno drop the gloves). Old time hockey - jerseys, fists and sticks flying. This series is getting ugly fast.
But watching the Red Wings - there are so many reasons why they've been so great for the past few seasons (and why Gabby the cat picked them to repeat as Cup champions). Their play as a "team" is stellar - yes, they have some of most elite players in the game in Nick Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Marian Hossa and yada yada yada. But from the minute the puck drops, there is no "I'll just do it myself" mentality on this bench.
I'll say it again: They are crazy-deep in talent (and secondary scoring). They have dudes like Justin Abdelkader, (HM just calls him "The Abdelkader" for fun) - who never scored an NHL goal before the Finals and now has two! And what more needs to said for The Mule (Johan Franzen) - who is one of the hardest-working players in the game today?
And though it seems like the refs have stashed their whistles in their pockets for the duration - the Wings had virtually no penalties in last night's contest (with the exception of that mean ole Nik Kronwall cross-checking Malkin).
Plus, they have Chris Osgood, who despite being a bit shaky during the regular season, has become an absolute wall in stopping 62 of the 64 shots he faced in Games 1 and 2.
But it's not over til the fat lady sings so the Pens' faithful better be cheering loud and waving those terrible towels furiously tomorrow night at the Igloo.
In other miscellaneous news, the Montreal Canadiens have a new bench boss in Jacques Martin, former GM of the Florida Panthers.
And the Washington Capitals can add one more Cap-crazy fan to the masses. Always a sucker for a happy ending, HM reads Date Lab in the Washington Post magazine every Sunday. So Carolyn, who got set up in this issue, may or may not have found true love but the Caps have added another fun gal to proudly rock the red:
UPDATE: Happy hour didn't work out, but the two did go to a Capitals game together. "We had lots of fun," Carolyn says. A bonus: "I'm a huge ice hockey fan now."
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