HockeyDirt.com

Double Norris

During tonight's Ducks-Nucks game, CBC colour commentator Harry Neale was wondering whether the Scott Neidermayer-Chris Pronger duo is the first case of two Norris Trophy winners playing together.  The answer is no, there have been a several other double Norris teams, and Neidermayer/Pronger aren't the only Norris pair in this year's playoffs.

Chris Pronger won the Norris in 2000 as a member of the Blues.  A year earlier the league's top d-man was fellow Blue Al McInnis. 

Chris Chelios won the Norris as a Hab in 1989, and he currently plays with Nicklas Lidstrom, who is the odds-on-favorite to win his fifth Norris when the NHL hands out the hardware at the end of this season. 

Earlier in his career Chelios played in Montreal with another Norris winner, Larry Robinson, who picked up the award in 1977 & again in 1980.  Chelios & Robinson were together in Montreal until Robinson went to LA in 1989-90. 

Doug Harvey owned the Norris Trophy from 1955 to 1962, with the exception of 1959 when it was won by his Hab teammate Tom Johnson.  1959 was an off year for Harvey (4G, 16A) while Johnson had a career year (10G, 29A).

Ooops - one more.  Rob Blake (Norris 1998) & Ray Bourque (Norris 1987, 88, 90, 91, 94) were teammates in Colorado.

HockeyDirt's Second Round Picks

We were 4-4 with our round one picks - mediocre, not good enough to make the playoffs.  Wild? Thrashers?  Uh, not close. 

Here we go again.

Rangers vs Sabres:  The Sabres won the season series 4-0 & finished 19 points ahead of the Rangers so this one's a no-brainer, right?  Wrong.  The Battle of New York shapes up as a very competitive series.  Somewhere around Christmas the Rangers discovered an identify and collectively committed to playing defence.  It also helped that Henrik Lundqvist re-discovered the form that made him a Calder candidate in 2005-06.  The Rangers ended the regular season with a better power play and penalty kill than the Sabres, and the trend carried through the first round.  Thanks to the thrashy Atlanta PP, the Rangers sit with a playoff-best a 94.1% efficiency rating on the PK.  Lundqvist (1.50GAA, .939 save % in the playoffs) is playing his best hockey and was huge in the Blueshirt's domination of Atlanta.  Part of the fun of this series will come from watching Sean "Hurt'em & Hit'em" Avery get under the skin of the little guys on Buffalo (Briere, Roy & Drury) who all play with big chips on their shoulders.  But the Sabres are deep, deep, deep and fast, fast fast.  If they stay out of the box they will give the big, but less mobile Rangers defence fits & Miller is more than capable of matching Lundqvist save-for-save. 

What to watch for:  Avery goading Lindy Ruff (aka Ruff @ Home, Lindy on the Road)

HockeyDirt's prediction: Sabres in 7

Searching for the Coolest Player in the NHL

The NHL gives out awards for all kinds of things, leading scorer, best defenceman, MVP, defensive forward, most sportsmanlike etc., and The Hockey News recently named the league's most respected, hated & overrated players. 

But HockeyDirt.com wants to know who the coolest player in the league is.  We have an idea that Ottawa goalie Ray Emery might qualify.  Check out this shot from the Ottawa Citizen of Ray walking away from his sweet ride. 

Apart from Emery, who else is cool?  JRo?  Lundqvist?  Ovechkin?  Tucker? Gaborik?  Cheechoo?  Gagne?  Miller?  Kuba?  (Mark) Smith...

Send us your cool player nominations and we'll followup with an online poll to find the Coolest Player in the NHL.

Sean Hill Suspended for Doping

The NHL has suspended Islander D-man Sean Hill for 20 games following a positive test for performance-enhancing drugs.

From NHL.com

NEW YORK/TORONTO -- New York Islanders defenseman Sean Hill has been suspended 20 games for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program. The suspension begins with tonight's Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Quarterfinal game against the Buffalo Sabres.

Zamboni Wakeboarding

Painful. 

Retirement Reality

Dancing with the Stars has Clyde Drexler, Pros vs Joes gets Claude Lemieux.

Round One MVPs

Rangers:  Sean Avery led the Rangers with 10 hits against Atlanta, a stellar 58.3% win rate on faceoffs.  He also chipped in a goal and 4 assists.  17 of Avery's 21 PIMs came late in the Rangers 7-0 blowout and even then he was helping his team since he tussled with Ilya Kovalchuk - a tradeoff the Rangers will take any time.  In the Hockey News Player Poll Avery was voted the most hated player and most overrated player in the league.  Undoubtedly he's still hated, but the overrated label no longer fits. 

Honourable mention to Rangers center Michael Nylander, who finished the Atlanta series with 4 goals - including 2 game winners, 4 assists and a +7 rating - Nylander was on the ice for none of the 6 goals the Thrashers scored in the series. 

Senators:  Ray Emery finished the Pittsburgh series with a 2.01 GAA, a .909 save percentage and a game 5 shutout.  Emery's best outing came in game 4, a 4-3 Ottawa win in which the Pens outplayed the Sens for much of the contest.  In the series clincher Emery was Ottawa's best penalty killer during first period 5 on 3 Pittsburgh power plays.  Razor Ray also managed to keep his cool & stay out of the penalty box, despite being run by Colby Armstrong and consistently bumped by Penguins. 

Honourable mention to Daniel Alfredsson - 3G, 3A and a huge performance in Ottawa's pivotal game 3 win. 

Ducks:  Chris Pronger 2G, 4A, 9 blocked shots.  Pronger was named a game star in 3 of Anaheim's 4 wins.

Honourable mention to Sammy Pahlsson (1G, 2A) who led the Ducks with 16 hits & played a key role in containing Wild sniper Marian Gaborik.

Report Calls for End to Hockey Violence

From today's London Free Press:  "In a report connecting hockey violence with abuse of women and children, the Middlesex-London medical officer of health is calling for action to remove fighting from the game."

The report "calls on Hockey Canada to boost penalties so fighting and other violent acts will be eliminated from the game of hockey."

"Beyond the risk of serious injuries, the violence can have an effect on children, particularly boys, who may see it as a normal means of resolving other conflicts, the report said."

"A child who watches and/or plays hockey could be left with the perception that acts of violence are acceptable. This sends the wrong message to all children at this impressionable age."

Dumping Refs

One of the reasons Gary Bettman was given the job of NHL Commissioner is that he previously worked at the NBA, where he presumably learned a few things from David Stern. 

Today Stern suspended Joey Crawford, one of the Association's senior referees.  The move comes in response to Crawford's ejection of San Antonio Spur center Tim Duncan, ostensibly because Duncan was laughing while sitting on the bench. 

Would Bettman ever follow Stern's lead?  We're not naming names (Mick McGeough) or anything, but at least one NHL ref has upset enough fans that an online petition has been started to have him dumped. 

Hunting for Head Shot Rules

Patrick Eaves will miss tonight's Ottawa-Pittsburgh tilt due to a concussion he sustained on a devastating, legal hit delivered by Colby Armstrong (video below).  The hit, like Chris Neil's concussion-inducing smack of Chris Drury and other high hits, has raised questions about the need for rules governing hits to the head in the NHL. 

Those who oppose the adoption of penalties for head shots typically point to issues like the speed of the game and size differences among players.  Phooey. 

The NFL, NBA, MLB, National Lacrosse League, Rugby League and even the Ontario Hockey League have clear & simple rules that punish players for hitting an an opponent in the head, regardless of intent.  Surely the big heads at the NHL head office can come up with something workable.  To give them a hand coming up with the rule we've pulled together the language these other leagues use to govern head shots. 

Croatia 25 - Turkey 2

Croatia edged out Turkey by a score of 25 - 2 at the World Hockey Championships to earn the right right move up to Division 1.

Masterton nominees

The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is given annually to "the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey."  The 2006 winner was Teemu Selanne, a choice that prompted some to suggest that the Masterton be renamed the Comeback Player of the Year" award. 

The winner is selected by a poll among members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association.  Boston's Phil Kessel seems like the obvious front-runner.  Kessel underwent surgery for testicular cancer in the middle of the season.   

Detroit's Dominik Hasek is a bizarre choice.  At age 42 Hasek qualifies as dedicated, but if age were the only criterion, the Wing's candidate would be 45 year-old legend Chris Chelios.  What evidence is there of Hasek's perseverance or sportsmanship?  Hasek bailed out on the Senator's last year and the Wing's game plan all season has been to limit his work and pamper him through the season to avoid injury.  As for sportsmanship, a month ago Hasek's own coach called him out for taking a diving penalty in a game that led to a Calgary victory. 

The list of this year's nominees follows - if anybody can fill in the blanks beside a few teams on the list it would be great.

Frozen Four Contest Winner

Congratulations to Matt Hanlon of Winchester MA - the winner of the HockeyDirt.com NCAA Frozen Four Bracket Contest. 

Matt is a big fan of the Boston University Terriers but in a classic case of going with his head instead of his heart he picked rival Boston College.  That, along with correctly picking a bunch of winners in the early rounds of the tournament, put Matt over the top. 

Special thanks to Ballistik Hockey for sponsoring the contest.  A cool new Ballistik composite is enroute to Matt. 

Thanks to everyone who took part in the contest.  We had a good time with this and have some ideas about how we can make next year's contest bigger & better. 

Thin-Skinned Penguins

It seems the management of the Pittsburgh Penguins is concerned about the fragile psyche's of their young players.  To protect them from having to see & hear fans of the Ottawa Senators at the Mellon Arena, the team is blocking the sale of tickets to fans from outside the Pittsburgh area. 

From the Penguins' site: 

To better serve local Pittsburgh Penguins fans, a restricted sales area has been implemented for Pittsburgh Penguins Game B (second home playoff game, first round). Sales to this event will be restricted to residents of the greater Pittsburgh area, northern West Virginia and eastern Ohio. Residency will be based on credit card billing address. Orders by residents outside the greater Pittsburgh area, northern West Virginia and eastern Ohio will be canceled without notice and refunds given.

Bobby Orr - Handyman

Check out this very funny ad for Kodiak Boots featuring Bruin great Bobby Orr.

Mooning Goalie Pleads Not Guilty

University of Southern California hockey goalie Michael Meyer is pleading not guilty in his mooning case. He faces a misdemeanor lewdness charge after dropping his pants during a tournament game against Brigham Young University. ... Police say he rode his hockey stick like a horse and slapped his bare bottom while mooning the crowd. Story

Brodeur & Robitaille: Screen Chemistry!

Move over De Niro.  Step aside DiCaprio. 

Brodeur & Robitaille have arrived.

HockeyDirt's Round One Picks

Apparently TSN's Pierre McGuire is unwilling to make playoff predictions because he doesn't want the grief that comes when confronted by the fans of team's he predicts will lose... 

Huh? 

A hockey analyst who won't make predictions?  Isn't that like being a celibate prostitute? 

Here at HockeyDirt we're fearless with our predictions & welcome any grief you want to give us if you have different opinions. 

San Jose vs. Nashville: It seems like it's been since forever that the Sharks have been touted as the next big threat. Ever since the days when Owen Nolan had a 40 goal season, the Sharks have been labelled as contenders. So, is this San Jose's year? Getting past Nashville in the first round may be difficult, but not impossible. As is the case with Detroit, Nashville's regular season stats may be padded by the fact they play in a weak division. However, one cannot discount the fact that Barry Trotz has a smooth running machine in Oprey country, with both solide netminding, decent defence and the West's best offence by the numbers. On the other side of the equation, San Jose, while a slow starter in 06-07, turned it on in the second half of the season. No coincidence that their turnaround coincided with Big Joe Thornton starting to put some serious numbers on the board. If he turned it on earlier, would Cheechoo have once again contended for the Rocket Richard Trophy? We think so. San Jose also have the luxury of two solid goaltenders, though the same argument could be made for Nashville since the emergence of Chris Mason, who nearly split goaltending duties with Tomas Vokoun (40 and 44 GP respectively). Both teams added offence at the deadline with Forsberg going a little bit country and Bill Guerin going West Coast. So who's going to blink first? In the end, HockeyDirt thinks Nashville's style of play, which is small and speedy and not too far removed from that of Buffalo, along with the greater scoring depth of the Predators compared to San Jose, will be the deciding factor in the series. However, with their lack of team playoff experience, it may take a few games for them to toughen up.

HockeyDirt's prediction: Nashville in seven

Dear Mr. Bettman:

I am writing you from a place called Canada.  You may have heard of our quaint little country.  It is directly north of your proud homeland.  Perhaps you have sampled some of our wares such as maple syrup, Neil Young, or beer with flavour (or flavor). 

During the winter months, it is very cold in Canada and it snows a great deal.  We Canadians like to spend a lot of time indoors.  We have discovered many enjoyable diversions to help us wile away the hours on chilly, blustery evenings.  Many Canadians like to knit or to shovel the snow in creative ways.  Some enjoy card games such as euchre.  Since healthcare is free we make frequent visits to the doctor.

A few Canadians have also developed a fondness for television.  One of our most popular shows is something you may have heard of called "Hockey Night in Canada."  When this little show got started 55 years ago, few thought it would last.  After all, who would want to watch hockey on television, much less on a Saturday night!  As an American I suspect you will be surprised and even amused to to learn that Hockey Night in Canada, especially the Saturday night broadcasts, has developed quite a little following up here.  We Canadians are, after all, a simple folk and clearly entertained by simple things.  Many of us even make it a point to keep our Saturday evening's free so we can watch a game.  While Canadians will watch hockey involving teams of any age, sex & skill level, we can be a rather parochial lot, and tend to favour (favor) games involving teams based in this country. 

Hockey has become so popular up here that the Canadian Broadcasting Network, the company that broadcasts Hockey Night in Canada, recently agreed to pay the NHL $600 million over the next 6 years so it can continue to treat us simple Canadians to televised hockey games.  Perhaps this agreement was handled by your underlings and not brought to your attention.  I appreciate that this is a trivial amount to a person of your position & importance.  I have read about some of the wondrous pro bono arrangements you have struck with some uber-important American broadcasters.  It must be very gratifying to lend your talents to charitable causes like NBC.

We Canadians have recently been informed that you have opted not to schedule the upcoming game between the Ottawa Senators & Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.  Instead this game will be shown at 3 p.m., noon in Western Canada.  This is most unfortunate.  I am certain that had you known about the "Hockey Night in Canada" tradition up here you would not have made such an absurd, foolish, harebrained, imbecilic, insane, lunatic, mad, moronic, nonsensical, preposterous, silly, softheaded, tomfool, unearthly, zany, cockeyed, crazy, loony, loopy, balmy, dippy, dopey, jerky, sappy, wacky, ridiculous, &#*!@!# idiotic decision. 

I hope this letter will help you make a wiser choice next time. 

Sincerely,

Your pals at HockeyDirt.com

Count Luongo

Playoff Pressure

"The only pressure I'm under is the pressure I've put on myself."
Mark Messier

With six Cup wins and more playoff points (295) than any player except Wayne Gretzky, Messier obviously knew a thing or two about coping with playoff pressure.  On the brink of the 2007 Stanley Cup playoffs every player, coach and GM in the league can look forward to intense media scrutiny and pressure, but some go into this year's post-season with more on the line that most. 

Anaheim - Last year the Ducks were dusted by the Oilers in the first (thanks CW) third round.  The Oilers' success was based on a game plan borrowed from Jacques Lemaire that involved slowing the game down.  Look for the Wild to do the same this year.  Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle must find ways to open up the game.

Eddie, Eddie, Eddie...

Panthers teammates Ed Belfour and Ville Peltonen arrested at South Beach bar

I wonder how much Belfour offered the cops to make this one go away....

This one also makes you wonder about the tale the Panther's were telling earlier this year when backup goalie Alex Auld wound up with some stitches when he got involved with Eddie and some late night partying. 

Stanley Cup Rim Rolling

There are all sorts of photoshop creations floating around, usually designed to poke fun at one team or another.  Many seem to focus on the trials and tribulations of the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Here's one that recently came our way: 

Lamoriello Starts Clemmensen

If you're Devil's GM Lou Lamoriello and:

1. Your playoff position and first round opponent are set
2. Your number one goalie has already appeared in 78 of 81 games
3. This same goalie has already set the single season record for wins
4. Don Cherry uses his CBC "Bully Pulpit" to essentially order you to start your number one goalie in your team's final, meaningless game

Who do you start in the last game of the season? 

In Lamoriello's case, it should be an easy call - start backup goalie Scott Clemmensen.  You have to think Lamoriello's decision was influenced by the fact that if the Islanders somehow manage to upset the Sabres in the first round, his Devils will get to play a team that is a short bus ride away in the second round.

Thrashers Tribute

Brodeur's Wins*

Martin Brodeur has set the single-season record for wins with his 48th.  As impressive as Brodeur's accompishment is, it should be accompanied in the record books by a big fat asterisk.

The record Brodeur has broken was set by Flyer's great Bernie Parent in the 1973-74 season.  Back then, the NHL season consisted of 78 games, 4 fewer than are played today.  In addition, Parent played in the pre-shootout era when a tie was a tie.  Along with his wins, Parent recorded 12 ties.  Fully one quarter of Brodeur's wins have come in games that would have ended in ties were it not for the rule changes.  Three of Brodeur's wins have come in OT, and 10 more by way of shootouts. 

Brodeur has had an amazing season, but his 48 wins are not comparable to Parent's accomplishment.

SqueegeeGate

Reading accounts of SqueegeeGate, the now infamous squeegee-spitting incident involving Henrik Lundqvist, the New York Rangers & the New York Islanders Ice Girls, it is tough not to be reminded of "The Boyfriend" - the classic Seinfeld episode in which Newman & Kramer recount the story of being spit upon by former NY Met star Keith Hernandez.

JERRY: Unfortunately the immutable laws of physics contradict the whole premise of your account. Allow me to reconstruct this if I may for Miss Benes as I've heard this story a number of times.  Newman, Kramer, if you'll indulge me. According to your story Keith passes you and starts walking up the ramp then you say you were struck on the right temple. The spit then proceeds to ricochet off the temple striking Newman between the third and forth rib. The spit then came off the rib turned and hit Newman in the right wrist causing him to drop his baseball cap. The spit then splashed off the wrist, Pauses In mid air mind you- makes a left turn and lands on Newman's left thigh. That is one magic luggie.

NCAA Final: Spartans vs Eagles

The NCAA Men's Ice Hockey championship will pit the Michigan State Spartans against the Boston College Eagles. 

MSU defeated Maine by a score of 4-2 to advance, avenging last years Regional Final loss to the Black Bears.  MSU's goals came from Chris Mueller, Chris Snavely, Jim Mackenzie (Senators 4th round pick in 2004) & Nick Sucharski (Blue Jackets 5th round pick in 2006).  State's tiny, perfect goalie, Jeff Lerg, was solid in the win, despite giving up a foot in height to Maine's Ben Bishop.

In the other semi, Boston College earned a repeat trip to the championship game with a 6-4 win over North Dakota.  Boston was led by Nathan Gerbe (Sabres 5th round pick in 2005) who scored 2 and assisted on 2 more and Dan Betram (Blackhawks 2nd round pick in 2005).  The Eagles also got goals from Joe Rooney & Ben Smith.  The game featured a wild finish ad the two teams combined for 6 goals in the final seven minutes, including two empty-netters by BC and one by the Fighting Sioux with their goalie out for an extra attacker. 

Boston College is chasing its first title since 2001, and the Spartans their first since 1986.  The final game will be played on Saturday, April 7 at 7pm in St. Louis.

Frozen Four Bracket Contest:  In the HockeyDirt.com NCAA Frozen Four Bracket Contest, it looks like it is all over but the celebrating.  No one picked the Spartans to advance to the final, and among those who picked Boston College to win it all one entry has more points than all the others.  The winner, who gets a composite stick from Ballistik Hockey, will be announced after the final game.

One Shot Might Make the Difference

Picture this. Two teams have finished playing the sixty minutes regulation of their game with the score tied at 3-3. They then played four on four overtime for an additional five minutes, but remain tied. The Zamboni has cleared a swath of clean ice down the centre of the rink, from net to net, and the first three shooters for each team have shot. No goals.

Now, it is sudden death. If one team scores, and the other doesn't on the next shooter, the team that scores wins the game.

But this isn't any regular game. It's 10:05 pm on Saturday, April 6. The two teams are Montreal and Toronto. They are tied, separated by one point in the standings, in 8th and 9th place respectively, and it is the last game of the regular season. Not only does the next goal win the game, the next "goal" decides whether the Habs or the Leafs get into the playoffs.

It could happen.

After collectively playing 164 games of hockey to see where they stand, the fate of Les Canadiens and the Leafs could come down to just a shooter a goalie, a puck, a stick, and a net. No wingers, no defencemen, no offsides, no penalties, no checking, no shot blocking, no passing, no stopping, no backward skating. No hockey.

An entire season of hockey, over $80 million in payroll, bruises, broken bones, concussions, trades, suspensions, goals and saves, the playoff fate of these two teams could be decided by a skills competition, by one nifty move normally reserved for road hockey.

If this happpens, it will certainly be interesting to see what the reaction is across the league. Be sure to tune in.

Jersey Dumps Julien

ESPN Radio is reporting that Devils Coach Claude Julien has been fired. 

Update:  General manager Lou Lamoriello will take over as coach.

This is tough to understand.  The Devils will win or come a close second in the Atlantic Division, so it is difficult to regard their regular season performance as a failure.  Much of the Devil's success is due to the stellar play of Martin Brodeur who is having an MVP-quality year.  The Devils rank near the bottom of the league in terms of offensive production.  Injuries account for some of New Jersey's offensive ineptitude, but much of the responsibility can be traced to Lamoriello and his preference for defence-first players.