Caps Name Assistant Coach

Washington Capitals Head Coach Bruce Boudreau’s named his new assistant coach on Monday and he is a very familiar name to the media and fans: Bob Woods. Woods is fresh off directing the Caps farm team, the Hershey Bears, to the 2008-09 Calder Cup. According to Boudreau, one of the main criteria in the selection was a former defenseman and since Woods is one and is very familiar with the d-men in the organization, especially young players Mike Green, Jeff Schultz, Karl Alzner, and John Carlson, it helped him a great deal. Also, the fact that he has worked with Boudreau before easily made him the front runner. This is Boudreau’s first chance to put his stamp on a coaching hire since he took over in November 2007. A new head coach in Hershey has not been named yet. Here is the official press release from the Caps:

The Washington Capitals have hired Bob Woods from the American Hockey League’s (AHL) Hershey Bears as an assistant coach, vice president and general manager George McPhee announced today.

Woods, 41, served as Hershey’s head coach last season and guided the Bears to a Calder Cup championship in six games against the Manitoba Moose. He was an assistant coach with the Bears and helped current Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau lead the Bears to a Calder Cup title in 2006. Woods was appointed head coach of the Bears when Boudreau was hired by the Capitals on Nov. 22, 2007.

The Leroy, Saskatchewan, native compiled an 83-47-15 (W-L-OT) record in 145 regular season games with Hershey and was 17-10 in 27 Calder Cup playoff games. Prior to joining Hershey as an assistant coach for the 2005-06 season, Woods was the head coach of the ECHL’s Mississippi Sea Wolves from 2001-05 and compiled a 169-94-25 (W-L-T) regular-season record.

Woods was selected in the 10th round, 201st overall in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft by the New Jersey Devils. He played 13 seasons of professional hockey, including 10 in the ECHL and was a player/assistant coach with Mississippi from 1998-2001. He was a member of the 1999 Kelly Cup championship team that was coached by Boudreau. The 1998-99 season was the only year that Woods and Boudreau spent together in Mississippi.

He retired from competitive play after the 2001 season and at that time was the ECHL’s all-time leader in games played with 559 (record has since been broken). He also set an ECHL record on March 14, 1998, as a member of the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks when he fired 17 shots on goal against the Louisiana IceGators. Woods was named second team defenseman on the ECHL’s 15th anniversary team in 2003 and was also named second team defenseman on the Hockey News’ 50th anniversary All-ECHL team in 1997. He scored 176 points in 209 games with Mississippi and the Sea Wolves retired his number in October 2002.

Woods also played for Hampton Roads, Johnstown and Mobile in the ECHL and for Hershey, Portland and Utica in the AHL. He won the 1997 Calder Cup with Hershey, making him involved in the organization’s last three Calder Cups. He is the only player in Hershey’s 71-year history to win a Calder Cup as a player, assistant coach and head coach.

COMMENT: Having interviewed Woods on several occasions since last summer I think this is a good move. Boudreau should be able to bring in someone he is very comfortable working with since he inherited current assistant Dean Evason and former assistant coach Jay Leach. Woods is a very personable and sharp guy and the Caps need someone to help them with their defense, especially the young players. The fact that Woods won the Calder Cup this spring made it easier for him to leave and his goal was to get to the NHL and someday he hopes to be a head coach in the league.

Other Caps Tidbits

The NHL draft is this weekend in Montreal. Round 1 is on Friday night and will be shown on Versus starting at 7pm. Rounds 2-7 are on Saturday starting at 10am on the NHL Network. The Caps currently having the 24th pick in the first round. By the way, for a nice preview of the draft the Caps Media Relations website, Welcome to the Show, has a ton of information. So thanks to Nate Ewell, Paul Rovnak, and their staff for making it accessible to the media and fans.

Also, McPhee said today that he does not think the Caps will be participating in the Winter Classic on January 1, 2010 in Boston. Word has it that the Philadelphia Flyers will be chosen because NBC pushed for them instead of the Caps. The NHL apparently wanted Washington in the game because of the Alex Ovechkin factor – he draws lots of fan interest. Personally I think NBC is making a huge mistake choosing the Flyers over the Caps but the NHL has made a deal with the devil in NBC and are stuck with them.

NHL News

The Calgary Flames still have not named a head coach yet but all signs point to GM Darryl Sutter hiring his brother, Brent (coached the Devils the last two years), to take over for the fired Mike Keenan. I first brought you this scenario in this blog. While I think Sutter will do a good job, I believe the better hire for Calgary would be to go with Dave Tippett, the former Capitals player who was recently fired in Dallas by new GM Joe Nieuwendyk. I spoke with an NHL scout this week who is very familiar with Tippett and he says he is a good man and a good coach. If Calgary doesn’t hire the former Cap, and it looks like Brent Sutter is their man, some NHL team would be wise to snag him up. As much as I wouldn’t like to see this because he would contend with the Caps, Tippett would be a GREAT fit in New Jersey. Devils GM Lou Lamoriello is still without a head coach since Sutter resigned after New Jersey lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round. Former Devil player and current assistant coach John Maclean has been linked to the job by some media outlets.

Tippett made the playoffs in each of his first five seasons before missing this past year. He led the Stars to two division titles and took Dallas to the Western Conference Finals in 2007-08 before losing to Detroit. However, Tippett was stuck with having to deal with Sean Avery after co-GM’s Brett Hull and Les Jackson signed the whacky forward despite protests from Tippett and several top players including Mike Modano, Brendan Morrow, and Marty Turco. Avery, as everyone now knows and I warned about in this blog last summer, wrecked the Dallas locker room. Tippett not only had to deal with the Avery situation but also a season ending ACL injury to Morrow in November after the team captain only played 18 games plus the Brad Richards wrist injury in February. The Stars turned things around for awhile despite the distractions and injuries but ended up finishing in 12th place, eight points out of the playoffs. I think Nieuwendyk made a huge mistake by letting Tippett go. There will be a GM who will get smart and hire Tippett, at some point, and end up looking like a genius.

Back to the NHL draft, I still think the New York Islanders should take London Knights forward John Tavares with the first overall pick in the 2009 Entry draft on Friday night. The next two projected best players are defensemanVictor Hedman of Sweden and forward Matt Duchene of the Brampton Battalion. However, former Flames GM Craig Button (now with the NHL Network) believes the Isles should pick Hedman because New York needs a top defenseman to go up against guys like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Ovechkin on a regular basis. Another draft eligible defenseman that I really like is Spokane’s Jared Cowan, who won the Memorial Cup in 2008 and looked like a sure top five pick until he injured his knee last winter. Cowan is big (6′ 5″ and 220 lbs.) and could really skate before his knee injury so it will be interesting to see if he remains a high pick despite possible questions on his health.

This will be an interesting draft weekend as it seems to be one of the few times during the year that trades actually occur. I would not be surprised if McPhee makes a deal to get the Caps either a second line center or a physical defensemen. To me the bigger need right now is a second line center since Michael Nylander appears done and Sergei Fedorov is an unrestricted free agent. The Pittsburgh Penguins are loaded at center with Crosby, Malkin, and Jordan Staal so to compete with them next season Washington needs to get better up the middle of the ice.

NHL Award Show in Vegas

Alexander Ovechkin has already won the Richard Trophy for the leading the NHL in goals (56) during the 2008-09 season and on Thursday night in Las Vegas the Great #8 will seek to add the Hart Trophy (NHL MVP) and Pearson Award (NHL’s most outstanding player as voted by fellow members of the NHL Players Association) to his trophy collection. I’m not in Vegas to wager on this but my money is on Ovechkin to capture both awards over Evgeni Malkin of Pittsburgh and Pavel Datsyuk of Detroit.

Mike Green, who told the Washington Post and Washington Times yesterday that he was suffering from an undisclosed illness in addition to shoulder trouble in the playoffs and that he would take better care of himself next season, is up for the Norris Trophy against Nicklas Lidstrom of Detroit and Zdeno Chara of Boston. Green had an incredible regular season scoring 31 goals and adding 42 assists in just 68 games plus he broke the NHL consecutive game goal scoring streak by defensemen with tallies in eight straight contests. My money is on Chara to win this one ever so closely over Green. By the way, if you follow my blogs then you know that “the mysterious illness” Green likely suffered from was mononucleosis as reported by Bruce Boudreau on TSN earlier in the month (you can read that blog here).

Also, for those interested in watching the award show with a bunch of Caps fans, my fellow bloggers and all around good guys John Press (Japers Rink) and Greg Wyshynski (Yahoo’s Puck Daddy) are hosting a party at Bailey’s Pub and Grill in Ballston Mall. For info on it click here. It sounds like it will be a great time and these guys know hockey and are both very personable.

Caps Re-Sign Quintin Laing

The Capitals re-signed penalty killing and shot blocking specialist Quintin Laing to a one-year contract today. It is a two-way contract in that Laing’s pay is based on whether he is up with Washington or down with Hershey in the AHL. Here is the press release from the Caps great PR staff:

The Washington Capitals have re-signed left wing Quintin Laing to a one-year contract, vice president and general manager George McPhee announced today. In keeping with club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Laing, 30, played one game for Washington last season. He was recalled by the Caps from the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League on March 19 and played the entire game (10:19) at Tampa Bay despite suffering a torn spleen on his second shift in the first period. Laing ended the game with a +1 rating.

The 6’2”, 210-pound native of Rosetown, Saskatchewan, spent most of the season with the Calder Cup champion Bears. He tallied 25 points (9g-16a) in 55 regular-season games before his recall. Laing missed more than two months with his spleen injury, but he returned to the Bears during the Calder Cup playoffs and had two goals and two assists in nine games.

Laing was drafted by Detroit in the fourth round of the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, 102nd overall. He has played in 43 career NHL games (40 with Washington and three with Chicago) and has one goal and six assists. He was signed by Washington as a free agent on July 18, 2006.

Caps Re-Runs Next Week

Want something good to watch on television next week? I suggest you turn into Comcast to catch the replays of 5 Caps classic games from this past season. You can see Alexander the Great rally Washington over the Rangers in Madison Square Garden in December, then see the Great #8 score his goal of the year against Montreal in February, next catch games 5 and 7 of the Caps-Rangers series, and close it out with the Caps Game 6 win over the Penguins in overtime. Here is the lineup courtesy of the Caps PR department’s blog, Welcome to the Show (click here):

The below games air during Caps Week, June 22-27. All games begin at 7 p.m. following Geico SportsNite.

June 22, Capitals at Rangers: Biggest Comeback in Team History (12/23/08)

Alex Ovechkin and Shaone Morrisonn led the team to this incredible come-from-behind victory, the team’s first in Madison Square Garden in five years.

June 23, Canadiens at Capitals: Ovechkin Shines in Capitals Shootout Victory (2/18/09)

The Capitals took the shootout victory as Ovechkin tallied one of the most amazing goals of his career.

June 25, Rangers at Capitals: Game 5 of the First Round Series (4/24/2009)

Down 3-1 in the first round, Matt Bradley scored twice and Simeon Varlamov posted another shutout.

June 26, Rangers at Capitals: Game 7 of the First Round Series (4/28/2009)

With a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals on the line, Varlamov led the team to a Game 7 victory.

June 27, Capitals at Penguins: Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals (5/11/2009)

Facing elimination again this postseason, Dave Steckel led the team to overtime victory to force a Game 7.

If Comcast had televised Game 2 of the Penguins series instead of Versus Caps fans likely would have be getting the Great #8′s hat trick in which Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby complained to the referees about a “second wave” of hats coming down on the ice.

No, I’m still not happy about the Penguins Stanley Cup victory and apparently neither is Boudreau or several Caps according to this post. Ataboy Bruce!

The Hershey Bears are the Calder Cup Champions after knocking off the Manitoba Moose, 4-1, in game six of their series tonight in Winnipeg. Hershey blitzed Moose goalie Cory Schneider for three goals in the first period and never looked back. Rookie goalie Michal Neuvirth, who won the Jack A. Butterfield trophy for AHL playoff MVP, made 24 saves to get the win.  Andrew Gordon, Chris Bourque, Alexandre Giroux and Keith Aucoin scored for Hershey. Congrats to the Bears and the Washington Capitals organization!

Revenge is a dish best served cold if you are a Penguins fan tonight as Pittsburgh held off a furious Red Wings rally to win the Stanley Cup in exciting fashion, 2-1, to avenge last season’s Stanley Cup Finals loss to Detroit. Hockey fans will be watching the incredible Marc-Andre Fleury save on Nicklas Lidstrom with one second left for years to come. Evgeni Malkin was the Conn Smythe Award Winner for Playoff MVP but in my mind, the Pens aren’t anywhere without Sidney Crosby (who was injured in game 7 and barely played after that). Crosby carried this team in the first two rounds, especially against the Caps, and he goes against the opponents best defensive group every game while Malkin gets the second unit.

In Detroit tonight, defenseman Brad Stuart is wearing the goat horns for taking the first penalty (slashing Malkin), then giving the puck away that allowed Maxime Talbot to make it 1-0 Pens, and then pinching at the blue line to set up a two on one for Pittsburgh that they, of course, scored on (Talbot again). I’ve been saying this all playoffs and will say it again – the Penguins are about as good a team as I’ve ever seen at converting two on one breaks.

Btw, please check out my on air discussion with Nestor today in the WNST audio vault (http://wnst.net/wordpress/section/audio/) for my pre game thoughts on the NHL and AHL finals.

For Caps and Baltimore sports fans it was tough seeing Pittsburgh win another trophy but given that the Caps lost two contests in OT to the Pens before bowing out in 7 games should make you and the entire Caps organization realize that they are very close to their first ever Stanley Cup victory. With some salary cap room freeing up from the Viktor Kozlov and Sergei Fedorov departures (and hopefully a Michael Nylander release too), Caps GM George McPhee should finally have some cap space to make the moves he needs to put Washington over the top. There is lots of talent in this organization in the NHL, AHL, and ECHL (the Caps team down there, the South Carolina Stingrays, won the Championship as well).

The NHL Awards show is next week from Las Vegas (Alexander Ovechkin should win the Hart Trophy for MVP and Mike Green is up for the Norris Trophy (best defenseman)), followed by the NHL draft the week after in Montreal (June 26 on Versus), and then free agency begins on July 1 so the NHL off-season will start fast and furious.

Congrats again to Coach Bob Woods and the Hershey Bears on their championship!

Where are my U.S. Soccer fans? Who was watching the game last night? If you’re among the many who would say, “What, there was a soccer game last night?” it’s time to awaken to World Cup season.

Yep, Uncle Sam’s boys played last night in apparent silence across America for the sports team that represents us to the World on the grandest stage every four years.

And last night’s was a qualifier, no less. On American soil, in Chicago at Soldier Field. And, in embarrassing fashion, the stadium looked more like Red Sox fans at Camden Yards as most of Honduras found its way to the Windy City.

They announced the crowd at 55,000-plus and it easily topped 35,000 Hondurans in the house on a gorgeous night there. The U.S. got behind early (again) but found a way to escape with a 2-1 victory all but guaranteeing their safe passage to South Africa next June for the World Cup.

Drew Forrester (who has forgotten more about soccer than I’ll ever know) has a full account of the game here…

As many of you know, I’m a bit of a dweeb for World Cup soccer and I attended the Germany “Copa Mundial” in 2006. It’s one of my favorite sports memories and was the experience of a lifetime as a sports fan.

So, if you’ve made it this far in my blog, please mark my birthday on your calendar this year. It’s October 14th and the U.S. is hosting Costa Rica at R.F.K. Stadium. I want to put a busload of American crazies together for a big night in D.C. with Sam’s Army and the red, white and blue.

If you are interested, just drop me a note at Facebook or nasty@wnst.net

Oh, and if you’re wondering about the progress of World Cup Soccer Festival idea, I’ll have some updates coming soon…

*****

The Orioles are in a funk. Bats are cold. Arms are weary as the team has now given up 18 runs in two games in dreary Oakland and the sweep looks to be a’coming today unless Rich Hill can put together another masterpiece. The enthusiasm of Matt Wieters’ arrival could be overwhelmed by coming home with a five-game losing streak.

They had 10 hits last night and scored four runs. But the bullpen is taxed. They need seven outta Hill.

By the way: Is anyone going to the ballpark this week? I’m considering putting together a night of fans if anyone is game…

*****

It’s amazing how many Pittsburgh items I see around Baltimore. I went for a walk this morning and passed roughly 200 people. I saw a baby blue Pens Malkin jersey. I saw a Willie Stargell Pirates hat. And you can’t walk a block without a Steelers hat, shirt or bumper sticker plastered on the rear of someone’s car with Maryland plates.

Makes me wanna puke.

Hershey Tied with Manitoba

The Hershey Bears lost a heartbreaker Tuesday night in Winnipeg to the Manitoba Moose giving up the winning goal with less than a minute to go in regulation. The Moose would add an empty netter to close out the Bears, 3-1, in game two to tie this best of seven series at one game a piece. The next three games are in Hershey on Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday. If either the Bears or Moose don’t sweep the three contests then the series goes back to Winnipeg for games 6 and 7 (Friday, June 12th and Sunday, June 14th). I’ll be covering games 4 and 5 so please look for blogs after those contests with quotes from players, coaches, and possibly even Caps personnel (GM George McPhee and Coach Bruce Boudreau will be in attendance).

Meanwhile, some good news out of Hershey today as defenseman Karl Alzner participated fully in practice for the first time since he was injured in the second round of the playoffs against Wilkes-Barre Scranton (Penguins farm team). Tim Leone of the Patriot News has a good write-up on today’s practice at http://blog.pennlive.com/patriotnewssports/2009/06/defenseman_karl_alzner_concuss.html.

Forward Oskar Osala (Caps 4th round choice, 97th overall in 2006 NHL Entry Draft) has had a very good regular season with the Bears notching 23 goals, 14 assists and was +11 in 75 games and in the AHL playoffs he has continued to play well scoring six goals and four assists in 18 games while going +8. Osala had two goals in Hershey’s thrilling Calder Cup Finals game 1 victory, 5-4, in overtime. Check out yesterday’s chat transcript with the 6′ 4″ and 220 pound left winger at http://www.theahl.com/headlines/index.html?article_id=10177. Osala confirms, as I’ve mentioned in this blog before, that he needs to improve his skating if he is to consistently play in the NHL.

Also, John Walton, who is Senior Manager of Communications for the Bears and is the team’s radio play-by-play voice, posted a nice blog on the Calder Cup finals travel situation at http://johnwaltonhockey.blogspot.com/2009/06/thursday-thoughts-heading-to-game-3.html. Neither team seems to have gained any advantage over the other based on their respective long journey’s from Winnipeg this week.

For those who don’t know much about the Moose, they are the AHL farm team for the Vancouver Canucks. One of their most familiar NHL prospects is their goalie, Cory Schneider, who came up to the big club back in late November when superstar Roberto Luongo went down with a groin injury. Kelly Hrudey of Hockey Night in Canada Radio thinks that Schneider (Vancouver’s 1st round draft choice in 2004, 26th overall) is the real deal and will one day be a regular starter for an NHL team. This year Schneider went 28-10 in the regular season for Manitoba and is 13-4 in the current playoffs. The 23 year old net minder, who was 2-4-1 in eight appearances with the Canucks, is an American born in Massachusetts and he played at Boston College for three seasons. Their other top prospects are 19 year old center Cody Hodgson, who was a first round pick in the 2008 NHL Entry draft (10th overall), and 21 year old right wing Michael Grabner, who was also a first rounder in 2006 (14th overall).

The Moose are a much older bunch than the Bears with some familiar hockey names like 42 year old Mike Keane (current team captain who won Stanley Cups with Montreal, Colorado, and Dallas), 34 year old Jason Krog (22 goals in 220 games at the NHL level), 33 year old defenseman Nolan Baumgartner (Caps first round pick in 1994, 10th overall), and 27 year old forward Michal Ouellet (played for the Penguins, Lightning, and Canucks).

Winning this series will be a tough task for Hershey because of Manitoba’s experience.

Stanley Cup Finals Analysis

As I predicted in this blog on Monday night, the Penguins were victorious in game three and put themselves back in the series. Thursday night, Pittsburgh took things another step further by striking for three goals in five minutes in the second period to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead and eventual victory. The Pens power play is a blistering 4 for 9 in the Stanley Cup Finals while the Red Wings went 0 for 4 in game four and gave up a short handed tally to Jordan Staal that tied the game at two. That play seemed to be the turning point in the series as Staal badly undressed Wings defenseman Brian Rafalski en route to the goal that got Mellon arena rocking and gave the Pens some serious momentum.

I am not happy about saying this but right now Pittsburgh looks like the better team, especially with 2008-09 Hart Trophy finalist Pavel Datsyuk still out with a foot injury for Detroit. Chris Osgood, who was outstanding in goal in games one and two gave up some softies in the next two contests at the Igloo while his counterpart in net, Marc Andre-Fleury, turned in superb performances in Pittsburgh. Game five is Saturday night at 8pm on NBC.

Home ice has been a real advantage in this series because the host coach gets to put his players out on the ice second and that worked well for Wings coach Mike Babcock in Detroit when he was able to put top defensive pair Nicklas Lidstrom and Rafalksi out against Sidney Crosby. In Pittsburgh, head coach Dan Bylsma had the last change and he had the luxury of putting either Crosby or Evgeni Malkin’s line out against the players he desired. Malkin leads the NHL playoffs in scoring with 35 points but right now Crosby is my Conn Smythe winner for playoff MVP. His passing has been incredible and it seems every time he is involved in an odd man rush the Penguins score. He rivals Wayne Gretzky for scoring efficiency on two on one breaks, in my opinion.

I think the game five winner takes the Stanley Cup and if I was in Vegas would wager on the Pens at this point, despite my pre-series pick of Detroit in six games. Pittsburgh appears faster and they continue to do a very good job of protecting the front of their net, something I thought they might have more trouble with against the Wings.

Other Hockey News

The Colorado Avalanche have hired former Capital, Joe Sacco, to be their head coach next season. Sacco played three seasons (1999-2002) in DC.  The Avs, once one of annual members of the NHL elite, have been a mess the last several seasons. Ian Ceverny, who covers Colorado for the Denver Examiner, has an interesting read on this situation at http://www.examiner.com/x-7651-Denver-Page-One-Examiner~y2009m6d5-Avalanche-tab-Sacco-as-next-fall-guy. Still no word on whether soon to be 40 year old Joe Sakic will be back with the Avalanche in the fall.

Finally, I had mentioned in one of my blogs recently that an NHL scouting director told me that the best head coach available but not behind an NHL bench was Jim Playfair. Playfair, who is extremely loyal to Flames GM Darryl Sutter, has been named head coach of the Flames farm team, which just moved recently from Iowa to British Columbia. You can read the story at http://theahl.com/news/league/index.html?article_id=10179

Caps News

For those who missed it, Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau was on TSN’s Off the Record with Michael Landsberg last week and the biggest news out of the interview, which ranged from the steroid allegations against the Caps to the overblown topic (and I thought dead) of Alexander Ovechkin’s 50th goal celebration in Tampa, was that Washington defenseman Mike Green is believed to have mononucleosis. Thus the so-called “flu” we heard as a reason for #52′s subpar play early in the playoffs is apparently more serious. And given that Green re-injured his shoulder in the Rangers series it is likely that the lack of energy he was feeling from that illness helped contribute to the shoulder situation. What is the bottom line in all of this? Green, who is only 23 years old, needs to take better care of himself in the future.

Another interesting thing in that interview was Landsberg mentioned that Viktor Kozlov and Sergei Fedorov were signed to play in the Russian Kontinental Hockey League next season, meaning they will no longer be Capitals. Boudreau didn’t contest the statement nor react to it indicating either the pair is definitely gone next season or he is just leaving that issue for General Manager George McPhee (who is in charge of team personnel) to handle.

Last bit of Caps news before moving on to discuss the Calder Cup, here is a link for the latest update on the steroid allegations that were made by Richard Thomas against Washington last week: http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=4220886

Bears News

The Hershey Bears went into a sold out (15,003) arena in Winnipeg last Saturday night and stunned the Manitoba Moose, 5-4, in overtime in Game 1 of the Calder Cup Finals. Alexandre Giroux had a hat trick, including the game winner, and continues to show why he was the MVP of the American Hockey League (AHL) this past season. Game 2 is on Tuesday night at 830pm. You can watch it live on the internet via http://www.theahl.com/ for only $8. Games 3 through 5 are in Hershey on Saturday, Sunday, and then next Tuesday.

In game 1, the Bears took too many penalties giving the Moose 10 power plays to only 5 for Hershey. In addition, Manitoba’s Matt Pope had a penalty shot 14:14 into the second period with the Moose up 3-1, but Hershey rookie goalie Michael Neuvirth came up big with the save. Manitoba also had a two minute 5 on 3 power play in the final minutes of regulation but could not score. Neuvirth made 26 saves on 30 shots but two of the goals he gave up were on breakaways. Oskar Osala, who has NHL potential, had the other two goals for the Bears.

If you haven’t yet seen the incredibly exciting highlights from game 1 click here: http://ahl.neulion.com/team/console.jsp?catid=2&id=2242

Stanley Cup Finals Analysis

The Detroit Red Wings held serve at home this past weekend to take a 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Finals with game 3 scheduled for Tuesday night in Pittsburgh. Much was made, especially by Detroit, of the schedule change that moved the series up for NBC and had the two teams playing on back to back nights in prime time. Many people felt that favored the younger Penguins but the defending Stanley Cup Champions persevered.

Defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom returned from a lower body injury and helped to hold Penguins star Sidney Crosby scoreless through the first two games. #87 has been as good as you can be without scoring a point and he had five shots on net in the loss on Sunday night. Crosby has been all over the ice and Wings goalie Chris Osgood, who is a big reason why this series is in favor of Detroit so far, has robbed the superstar on several occasions. Crosby also set up winger Bill Guerin for some “layups” yet #13 has either hit the post or been denied by Osgood.

For some strange reason Penguins Coach Dan Bylsma decided to go back to dressing 12 forwards on Sunday night (he had been going with just 11 since early in the Caps series) inserting the supersoft Pascal Dupuis, who’s turnover to Marian Hossa led to Detroit’s go ahead goal, instead of giving extra ice time to Crosby and Evgeni Malkin (who has been flying around the rink as well). Dupuis tried to blame Hossa for breaking his stick on the play and wanted a penalty. I still haven’t seen where Hossa broke #9′s stick, in fact, it looked to me like Dupuis broke it on Hossa. Regardless of that, if Dupuis was stronger and had more heart he gets the puck out of the zone before his stick breaks. He belongs in the press box, if you ask me.

Crosby and Malkin seem to be the only guys who have really shown up for Pittsburgh and goalie Marc Andre-Fleury displayed in both games that he is definitely the weak link on that team. The goal he gave up off of the backboards in game 1 to Brad Stuart was horrible and the two goals he has given up to Justin Abdelkader (Red Wings 2nd round pick, 42nd overall in 2005 NHL Entry draft) were soft ones. Abdelkader only played two regular season games with Detroit this year as he spent most of his time in the AHL for Grand Rapids (Wings farm team). Detroit’s depth has been another reason they are up two games to none since they have had to play without Hart trophy finalist, Pavel Datsyuk, in those contests.

I still think the Penguins can get back in the series because they have dominated portions of the first two games. However, goaltending and experience (players and coaching) seem to be decidedly in Detroit’s favor. I do expect the Pens to win game three but if they don’t it is time to start the engraving process for the Red Wings and plan the Cup parade and parties.

Finally, a good piece here ( http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Malkin-Non-Suspension-The-embarrassment-continu?urn=nhl,167172 ) by Puck Daddy’s Greg Wyshynski on the instigator rule and the various ways it has been interpreted since enacted by the NHL head shed in New York.

NHL News

Wild news out of Montreal today as current Florida GM Jacques Martin, who had four more years left on his contract as Panthers GM, stepped down to become head coach of the Canadiens. I have criticized Martin’s poor managing ability in this blog before and you combine that with the word that the Panthers owners are looking to sell the team and you see why the former Ottawa Senators coach wants to get back behind the bench. Martin is a good coach but he has his work cut out for him in one of the toughest cities to work in pro sports.

Former NHL star Joe Nieuwendyk has been named GM of the Dallas Stars since owner Tom Hicks, as I mentioned in this blog before, is holding former co-GM’s Les Jackson and Brett Hull accountable for the Sean Avery debacle. Jackson is going back to scouting and pro player personnel while Hull is being moved to an executive VP position and out of personnel management. This seems like a smart move by a man who sources have told me doesn’t mind spending money but does not like to waste it (and that is exactly what happened in the Avery debacle).

Just like last season the NHL is getting the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Finals. This matchup should generate good television ratings for the league (Game 1 is on NBC on Saturday night and Game 2 is on Sunday night on NBC) and from a publicity standpoint, the only thing that might have gotten more viewers would be if the Washington Capitals had made into the finals simply because of the Alexander Ovechkin factor. The Great #8 is the most popular player in the league, and the best, in my opinion. But the NHL still has to be happy because Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin of the Penguins are the second and third most marketable players in the league right now because of their incredible skill level. Crosby and Malkin are outstanding and are right there with Ovechkin. Unfortunately for the Great #8 both of those guys are on the same team and Ovechkin was not able to beat those two guys alone in the second round in a series that will be talked about for several years, or at least until those two teams likely meet again in next year’s post-season.

Now on to the series and the big talk today was about the NHL schedule change. Thanks to ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun for the following on that topic:

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With just two full days to recharge before the Stanley Cup finals begin, the injury-riddled Detroit Red Wings were not hiding their feelings about the finals schedule being moved up.

“We’re not happy, I have to be honest,” Wings GM Ken Holland told ESPN.com from his office Thursday. “We’re disappointed that we haven’t had an extra day’s rest. It’s a double-whammy, the quick turnaround and back-to-back games [to open the finals]. We’re disappointed because we think when you win a series in five games or less, that you have earned an opportunity to have a few more days of rest.

“But at the same time, we understand and we’re not going to dwell on it. Because we don’t want to lose our focus with the job at hand. It is what it is. Let’s play.”

The NHL originally put out a release saying the finals would begin June 5 unless both conference finals were sweeps and then changed its mind mid-stream when it realized a nine-day break would be a killer for fan interest.

Starting the series with back-to-back games Saturday and Sunday and having three games in four nights, when you factor in Game 3 Tuesday in Pittsburgh, will be a tough challenge for the beat-up Red Wings.

————————

As I blogged last night, the schedule change definitely favors Pittsburgh due to some of the key injuries that the Red Wings currently are dealing with in Nicklas Lidstrom (lower body injury), Pavel Datsyuk (foot injury), Jonathan Ericsson (appendectomy), and Kris Draper (groin).

Anyways, time to start handicapping this match-up.

Red Wings offense vs. Penguins Defense

Pittsburgh’s defense has played extremely well in the post season and basically ever since Coach Dan Bylsma took over this team in February. Brooks Orpik, Hal Gill, and Rob Scuderi are very good in their own zone and can play physical. Gill is a little slow but he makes up for some of that with his size and reach. Sergei Gonchar and Kris Letang are the two primary offensive weapons from the blue line and both can skate and shoot the puck. Gonchar can be a defensive liability if pressured but so far he hasn’t been tested by the Eastern Conference opponents he’s faced. He still is not 100% as a result of the Ovechkin knee to knee hit he sustained in game four of that series. Mark Eaton and Phillipe Boucher round out the Pittsburgh defensive group as Bylsma has had alot of success dressing seven defenseman in the post season.

The Red Wings are loaded up front and this group controls the puck and attacks the net like no other team in the league. Pittsburgh has not had to face a group of forwards such as Tomas Holmstrom, Johan Franzen, Dan Cleary, and Jiri Hudler who aren’t afraid to go to the front of the net and do the dirty work. Cleary had 5 goals in the Western Conference Finals doing just that. Detroit also has great skill to go with those guys who crash the net in Henrik Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Marian Hossa (who played for the Penguins in a losing cause last season and was all over the ice in the final game of the Blackhawks series Wednesday night), Mikael Samuelsson, and Valteri Fillpula.

Penguins Offense vs. Red Wings Defense

Detroit is banged up on defense with Lidstrom hurting but word today is he will play in game one on Saturday night. #5 plays close to 30 minutes a night as does blue line partner Brian Rafalski. Both of those guys are great with the puck and are a threat to score at any time. Brad Stuart and Nicklas Kronwall are very good physical defensemen and Kronwall will lay out opposing forwards with big hits if they don’t keep their head up (just ask Chicago’s Martin Havlat). After that the troops get thin with Brett Lebda as the fifth defensemen and then Ericsson (if he is healthy enough). Rounding out the blue line are Derek Meech and the amazing 47 year old Chris Chelios, who played a good game five against the Hawks with both Lidstrom and Ericsson out of the lineup.

Because of Crosby and Malkin, the Penguins can throw two potent lines at an opposition forcing the other coaching staff to pick their poison with their best defensive pair. #87 is in the driver’s seat for the Conn Smythe Award (NHL’s playoff MVP) and ever since Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin arrived at trade deadline time his game has gone to another level. Malkin has been flanked successfully by Ruslan Fedotenko (2004 Stanley Cup winner with Tampa) and Maxime Talbot. These three have been together since the Caps series and have been a force on the ice. The third line is another good one with Jordan Staal centering the pesky, hard working pair of Matt Cooke and Tyler Kennedy. Miroslav Satan and Craig Adams have been the 10th and 11th forwards and have chipped in nicely.

Goaltending

It is Detroit’s Chris Osgood (two Stanley Cups as a starter) vs. Marc-Andre Fleury (lost in last season’s Stanley Cup Finals). Osgood is the underrated veteran who has been there while Fleury has been fortunate to be protected by a good defense and system throughout the post season. Both of these goalies are about to face their TOUGHEST opponents of the playoffs.

Coaching

Dan Bylsma took over the Penguins in February after head coaching in the AHL in just his first season. At 38, he is the youngest head coach in the NHL. On the other hand, Mike Babcock has been coaching teams in the NHL for six seasons. The Penguins have won primarily on talent so far in these playoffs and solid coaching will be needed to beat the smart and efficient Red Wings. Their isn’t much comparison here and the edge goes big time to Detroit.

Intangibles

Pittsburgh has an edge as the less banged up team plus they are really hungry for the Cup after losing last season. Detroit has the experience of being there before plus home ice advantage.

Prediction

I have been on the Detroit bandwagon all year long and am not jumping off now! If Lidstrom is healthy then I think the Red Wings win this series in six games. If Lidstrom isn’t right then this thing goes seven games but I still see Detroit winning. I’m not saying Pittsburgh can’t win, because the way Crosby and Malkin are playing they can beat anyone, but I think their rookie coach hurts them so a team that knows how to score the ugly goals in Detroit, is too much for Pittsburgh to handle.

[Note: My prediction record in the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs is 11-3 (lost with just San Jose in the first round, Vancouver and Boston in the second round, and was successful in picking both Detroit and Pittsburgh in the Conference Finals).]

With the Detroit Red Wings knocking off the Chicago Blackhawks, 2-1, in overtime on Wednesday night the NHL has shifted course and has decided to move up the start of the Stanley Cup Finals. The series, between the Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins, was originally slated to begin on Friday, June 5th,  but it will now commence this Saturday, May 30th at 8pm on NBC. Game Two will be the next night (Sunday) on NBC as well, so the almighty TV dollar is ruling the scheduling of the rematch of last year’s Stanley Cup Finals (Detroit won 4-2). It is not very often that you see Stanley Cup Finals games played on consecutive nights. The series starts in Detroit for the first two games and then will shift to Pittsburgh on Tuesday, June 2nd and Thursday, June 4th (both games on Versus). Game 5 will be in Detroit on Saturday, June 6 on NBC, if necessary. Games 6 (Tuesday, June 9) and 7 (Friday, June 12) would also be televised on NBC, if necessary

The quicker start favors the Penguins because the Red Wings played games 4 and 5 of their series against Chicago without two very key players in defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom (the league’s best player at that position) and forward Pavel Datsyuk (2008-09 MVP finalist, up against Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin). Datsyuk reportedly has a bad foot and the Lidstrom injury is undisclosed. Sidney Crosby and Malkin have been fantastic for the Pens in these playoffs. However, the Penguins will be facing a very talented and experienced Detroit club that has players who go to the net consistently, something Pittsburgh has not had to really deal with in these playoffs (the Flyers were the only team they played that had multiple net crashers in their lineup). I’ll have my Stanley Cup Finals preview up on Thursday night.

Hershey Defeats Providence to Advance to Calder Cup Final

The HERSHEY BEARS announced today in conjunction with the American Hockey League that the club will face the Manitoba Moose in the 2009 Calder Cup Finals.  The announcement was made today by BEARS President/GM Doug Yingst.

The BEARS won the 2009 Eastern Conference Championship Monday with a 5-2 win over the Providence Bruins at Dunkin Donuts Center.  Manitoba, the 2009 Western Conference Champions, defeated the Houston Aeros 3-1 Monday night at MTS Centre to advance.  HERSHEY will make an American Hockey League record 21st trip to the Calder Cup Finals, while the Moose will be in the AHL’s championship round for the first time.

The schedule for the 2009 Calder Cup Finals is as follows:

Game 1:            Saturday, May 30             at Manitoba        8:30 p.m.          MTS Centre

Game 2:            Tuesday, June 2              at Manitoba        8:30 p.m.          MTS Centre

Game 3:             Saturday, June 6            at HERSHEY        7:00 p.m.          GIANT Center

Game 4:             Sunday, June 7              at HERSHEY        5:00 p.m.          GIANT Center

*Game 5:          Tuesday, June 9             at HERSHEY        7:00 p.m.          GIANT Center

*Game 6:          Friday, June 12               at Manitoba        8:30 p.m.          MTS Centre

*Game 7:          Sunday, June 14             at Manitoba        8:30 p.m.          MTS Centre

Comment: Coach Bob Woods and the Bears have had a great season. There is great depth in the Washington Capitals farm system as evidenced by the success of the Capitals, the Bears, and even at the ECHL level where the South Carolina Stingrays are playing the Alaska Aces for the championship (series tied 1-1 with the next three games in Charleston).

NHL Playoffs Update

As predicted here on Friday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins won game three in Raleigh on Saturday evening to take a commanding 3-0 lead in their best of seven series against Carolina. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and company continue to roll. Eric Staal has been missing in action for the Hurricanes and for Carolina to have any chance he needs to show up big time tonight in game four.

The Red Wings, depsite playing without injured players Nicklas Lidstrom (2009 Norris Trophy Finalist for best NHL defensemen), Pavel Datsyuk (2009 Hart Trophy Finalist for NHL MVP), Kris Draper, and Andreas Lilja manhandled the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday (6-1) to take a 3-1 series lead. Goalie Nikolai Khabibulin is out with a lower body injury for the Hawks so they turned to former Caps goalie Cristobal Huet (signed to a 4 year, $20+ million dollar contract last summer) in net and he was awful. Given the rapid development of young goalies Simeon Varlamov and Michal Neuvirth (not to mention 2008 4th round draft choice Brandon Holtby looks like a potential future NHLer in net as well), I’m guessing Caps GM George McPhee is really feeling better about not signing Huet last summer. The Caps also still have goalie Jose Theodore under contract for next season (he has one more year at $4.5M).

Nothing like MASN to decide that the fans of the Orioles and Nationals probably don’t want to see their own broadcasters call the games, huh. I mean, why have Rob Dibble be a guest analyst during the Orioles’ broadcast when you can just pay one TV for the weekend? Nothing says money-saving quite like MASN. Ugh….

You deserve props…..

1. Danys Baez

If chicks dig the longball, then who digs the rally-starting dribbler? Ferrets? I’m glad Danys Baez has decided to be a contributor; because Chris Ray usually decides not to be.

2. Lyoto Machida

After beating previously undefeated Rashad Evans Saturday night at UFC 98, Lyoto Machida shouted “Karate’s Back”! I certainly hope so, because this guy has been looking for work for like 25 years…..

3. Kobe Bryant

Remember how everyone spent the week talking about how LeBron James was a better player than Kobe Bryant? Can I remind you of a couple things???

A-Three rings
B-Kobe can SHOOT the ball (And spare me about how LeBron made one really big outside jumper)

LeBron James might go down as one of the greatest players in NBA History. But Kobe Bryant already has a Hall of Fame resume. Maybe getting ahead of ourselves isn’t the best idea in the world.

4. David Hernandez, Brandon Snyder, Troy Patton, Caleb Joseph

David Hernandez collected 14 strikeouts Friday night. Chris Ray has 15 on the season.

You know what what, maybe I’m piling on Chris Ray unfairly. Brad Bergesen has made 7 starts this season and only has 18 strikeouts. But I paid money to go to a baseball game Sunday, and I liked what I saw from Brad Bergesen. I didn’t like what I saw from Chris Ray.

Before I move on from this weekend’s O’s-Nats series, I’d like to thank the Mottram Brothers at Mister Irrelevant for posting this image of a hat I saw at Nationals Park.

Washington sports fans are TERRIBLE. And since I’m at it, I have to call out my friend Matt Palmer from The Catholic Review….

PICK A TEAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ROOT FOR THEM!!!!!!!!

5. Evgeni Malkin

You know how good the basketball playoffs are right now? The hockey playoffs are equally as bad. Like-you couldn’t pay me enough bad. I know everyone likes to tell me about how great the NHL regular season is, but the postseason has been about as exciting as this week’s PGA golf Tournament (which Rory Sabbatini apparently won-but I knew better than to think you cared).

6. Rob Pannell and Pat Perritt

So…..the lacrosse Final Four happened. Of course, since it happened in Boston and no teams from Maryland were involved, I didn’t care. Apparently no one else did, as attendance was down some 10,000 fans. Organizers said the drop in attendance was likely based on the decision to ban alcohol from the infield the economy. In a related story…..

7. Frederick Cadets

I was going to write a joke here, but then I remembered that the name of the team was the Cadets. Let’s move on…..

8. Phil Dalhauser and Todd Rodgers

I know what you’re thinking. “It must have been a lame weekend if you had to include the results of a beach volleyball Tournament. But that’s where you’re wrong. I simply included this because I REALLY needed an excuse to finally include this picture in a blog…..

9. Kenshin Kawakami, Gavin Floyd, Kyle Lohse, and Brandon McCarthy

And just in case Forrester is reading, here’s a picture of Derek Lowe…

Wait a second!!!! What’s that???? That’s Trinka Lowe!!! The lovely MRS. Derek Lowe! I’m sorry Drew…….

10. Scorpio Brown and Val Teixeira

BOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Sorry, I heard someone say Teixeira)

11. C.W. Post and Cortland

Notable alums from Cortland, you ask? Try…..

and….

You see, it’s not all about lacrosse titles at Cortland! They gave us Paul Blart!

12. Mickael Pietrus

The NBA Playoffs…..where “WHO THE EFF IS MICKAEL PIETRUS?????” happens.

13. David Traver and Jack Passion

The World Beard & Moustache Championships were held this weekend in Anchorage, Alaska. The fact that Rollie Fingers wasn’t invited should be subject of an international investigation, but I think these particular winners in the beard category were well deserving.

14. Ben’s Chili Bowl Half Smoke (All the Way)

While DC, their teams, and their fans can all bite me; I will prefer to take a bite out of this monster, which was my lunch Sunday-and was absolutely DELICIOUS. It was a mix of pork, beef, chili, mustard, cheese, onions, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickes, onions on a sesame seed bun.

15. Memorial Day (and whoever it is we’re supposed to honor on this Holiday)

Is this the one for the trees?

(Edit from GMC: I’m KIDDING, people! I know this is the one that honors grandparents. You kick ass Pop Pop!)

You got lucky……

1. LeBron James

You want me to say something that would be more captivating than the highlight? Fat chance.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8Ry–J8hwg[/youtube]

Of course, there might still be 2 or 3 of you that didn’t see this…..

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvTsT_zPGm4[/youtube]

The NBA is like REALLY entertaining again. Thank God, because Baseball is really not.

2. Helio Castroneves

You mean to tell me you can go from the edge of prison to drinking milk and hanging with Danica Patrick in the span of less than a month? There’s hope for me after all!!!!! And did you know Helio Castroneves used to be on Dancing with the Stars? That reminds me that I’d rather be looking at a picture of Julianne Hough than talking about the Indianapolis 500…..

Julianne Hough is reportedly on “Dancing With The Stars.” I say reportedly because admitting I watch Dancing with the Stars would make some of you question things about me. Things like, “what kind of food do you normally eat when you’re watching Dancing with the Stars?” The answer is ice cream.

3. Adam Dunn (as in….the Nationals are REALLY lucky to HAVE Adam Dunn)

Spare me the thing about the Orioles shouldn’t have signed him because he strikes out a lot. He wins games…..like the one I was watching today. The following hitters are all amongst the top 25 strikeout kings in baseball…..

4. Meredith Frank, Katrina Dowd and the Northwestern Wildcats

I hate saying this: but women’s lacrosse is just awful. I mean, really painful to watch. Thankfully for me; Northwestern and Penn found a way to make this particular game slightly less unbearable to watch. The Quakers scored 4 goals in the final minute of regulation; and then scored a goal with 11 seconds left in overtime. But since women’s lacrosse DOESN’T have a golden goal rule for some reason; the game went on, and Dowd poked home a goal with less than a second left. Frank scored the golden goal in a later overtime, then Northwestern topped North Carolina for the championship Sunday. The entire weekend at Unitas Stadium included maybe 3 hits. And they came when I was punching Maryland media relations star Sam Angell for letting me watch a women’s lacrosse game. But he did bring Berger Cookies to RFK Stadium for out “Battle of the Beltways” tailgate. And he doesn’t root for two teams. Because he’s not a comunist.

5. Panathinaikos

You mean to tell me Nick Calathes is Greek???

I don’t see it.

6. Giles Simon

The 7th seed at the French Open had to go 5 sets to advance to the 2nd round. Another seeded player has already advanced to the 2nd round in my heart…..

And sadly that might be as far as he advances this week…….

7. Anyone who still remembers all the words at the end of the night at Howl at the Moon…..

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV2RWK28bsY[/youtube]

By the way, I asked around; and this DOES kick ass after all…..

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-eD-AQjByQ[/youtube]

You’re a zero……

Randy Starks

First Lonny Baxter shoots up the White House, now Randy Starks hits a cop with a truck. What’s next? Shay Doron sexually assaults an overweight morning radio sidekick?

(Editor’s Note: There’s nothing funny about sexual assault. Especially not if it involves Shay Doron and my dreams. WHAT?)

-G