Stanley Cup Roundup: Day 7

All 16 teams remain alive, though some are barely clinging to life. The quality of hockey seems to increase every game, and as teams start to face elimination, we're seeing that desperate ferocity that makes for really entertaining hockey.

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS 7, VANCOUVER CANUCKS 2
Vancouver leads series 3-1

The Hawks staved off elimination with an offensive onslaught against a sluggish Vancouver team. Chicago's defensemen got involved in the offense, as both Duncan Keith and Brian Campbell scored. The Blackhawks power play, which helped propel them past Vancouver in last year's playoffs, also woke up, scoring 2 goals. This series hadn't been as brutally violent as last year's, until the 3rd period. 92 penalty minutes were issued in that frame, including six misconducts. Game 5 should be exciting.

SAN JOSE SHARKS 6, LA KINGS 5 (OT)
San Jose leads series 2-1

44 seconds into the 2nd period, the Kings scored to make it 4-0. The Sharks pulled Niemi, and looked dead. But by the end of the period, it was 5-5. Devin Setoguchi scored the OT game-winner and the Sharks completed a monumental comeback, the likes of which has only happened 4 times in Stanley Cup history. That's why the NHL Playoffs are so exciting. One btilliant period of hockey could be the difference in this series. As the Sox are out West this week, do yourself a favor and watch bits of Game 4 of this series on Thursday night while the Sox game is in a commercial break.

Tonight's games:
7:00 PM - Capitals @ Rangers (Washington leads series 2-1) - Versus
7:00 PM - Penguins @ Lightning (Pittsburgh leads series 2-1)
7:30 PM - Flyers @ Sabres (Philadelphia leads series 2-1)
8:30 PM - Ducks @ Predators (Nashville leads series 2-1)
10:30 PM - Red Wings @ Coyotes (Detroit leads series 3-0) - Versus

-The Commodore

Stanley Cup Playoffs: West Preview

We don't get to see the Western Conference teams very often in Boston. It's a shame that we play Florida and Atlanta far more often than Detroit, Chicago, Vancouver, or even San Jose.

#1 VANCOUVER CANUCKS vs. #8 CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
The defending champion Hawks were victimized by the salary cap in the off-season, which I think will do the NHL more long-term harm than good, and that's why they barely made it in as an 8 seed. Vancouver have been electric all year. #1 in goals scored, goals against, power play, and #3 in penalty kill. The Sedin-Samuellson line totaled 78 goals. Then Ryan Kesler added 41 more from the 2nd line. Luongo had a brilliant year, and on paper, the Canucks have to be favorites to win it all. The Hawks also boast plenty of weapons, but their goaltending is untried, and their defense is suspect. Vancouver wins in 6 high scoring games.

#2 SAN JOSE SHARKS vs. #7 LOS ANGELES KINGS
The Pacific Division sent 4 teams to the postseason and these are two of them. They split the season series 3-3. And while San Jose has dangerous scorers like Marleau, Thornton, Pavelski, Heatley, and 22 year old Logan Couture (who scored 32 goals), I have my doubts. The Sharks are perennial postseason failures. Their offense depends a great deal on the power play, and LA has an excellent penalty kill. The Kings also have Jonathan Quick. I don't think LA has the offense to go very far, but they do have enough defense to stop San Jose. Kings in 7.

#3 DETROIT RED WINGS vs. #6 PHOENIX COYOTES
Detroit made the playoffs for the 18th straight season. They can score, but their defense and goaltending is shaky. Zetterberg's health is a question mark, but the Wings can deploy plenty of other weapons. Not to mention a roll call of strong, experienced forwards. Datsyuk, Franzen, Cleary, Bertuzzi, Draper. And it's the same on defense. Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall, Stuart. Phoenix doesn't have many recognizable skaters. Even goalie Ilya Bryzgalov had an off year. Phoenix are solid 5-on-5, but have an anemic power play and a gaping penalty kill. That will be their undoing. Detroit wins in 5.

#4 ANAHEIM DUCKS vs. #5 NASHVILLE PREDATORS
The Predators were 3rd in goals against, and 21st in attendance. The Ducks had the 3rd best power play, and were 26th in attendance. Two of the best players in the NHL will duel each other in this series. And they'll finally be able to do it in front of full houses. Anaheim's Corey Perry scored 50 goals, with 48 assists. Nashville's Pekka Rinne had a 2.12 GAA and a .930 SV%. The Ducks have some weapons beside Perry, including George Parros' bristling black mustache.

But Anaheim's offensive output depends too much on getting power play points. The Predators also have Shea Weber, a burly defenseman who also scored 16 times this year. I'm picking Rinne and the Preds in 6.

It's difficult to not pick Detroit to win the West. But they're old. They don't have the goaltending. I think this is finally the year for Vancouver to shine and go all the way to the finals.

Tonight's games:
7:00 PM - Red Wings @ Coyotes - Versus
7:00 PM - Lightning @ Penguins
7:30 PM - Rangers @ Capitals
10:00 PM - Blackhawks @ Canucks - Versus
10:30 PM - Predators @ Ducks

-The Commodore

Sharks 2, Bruins 0

After the Bruins' hard-fought (literally) win over Dallas, you couldn't help but feel optimistic. But as they've done with frequency for the past 3 years, the B's followed a strong performance with a flat one.

They absolutely dominated the Stars, and if not for Rask and the refs, the score would have been closer to 8-1 as opposed to 6-3. Then they give us 60 minutes of mediocrity against San Jose. They managed 26 shots on Niemi, very few of which came from good scoring positions. The thing about Niemi is that he'll give up some juicy rebounds. The Bruins didn't collect any of them. Give credit to the Sharks, who usually had 4 bodies positioned around Niemi at all times, and clearing those rebounds. They outmanned and outmuscled the Bruins down low.

They outmuscled the Bruins everywhere, and that's been a repetitive theme of Sharks/Bruins games. The Sharks are bigger, they skate with power, they win battles.

The Bruins had 4 power plays, and failed to get a shot on goal for 3 of them. That's simply sad.

Krejci played like an utter turd. I don't know how he received the 3rd Star. Maybe it was a typo. Maybe it was a joke. I wouldn't be surprised if I heard he played the game drunk, he was that careless with the puck. It was the worst game I've seen him play. He was by far the worst player on the ice. His shorthanded foolishness cost the Bruins a goal, and who knows how many scoring chances he cost Lucic and Horton with his giveaways.

It's the same old story with this team. Ups and downs. Fighting for 60 minutes, then a few days later relaxing for 60. Playing with intensity and focus, then making stupid mistakes. And simple adjustments fail to be made during the game. Niemi gives up rebounds, so why not try some bad angle shots? Bad angle shot=good angle rebound, as this kindergarten level diagram illustrates:

I just don't expect much from this team. Not with these same repeating lapses in focus and intensity. Not with this coach. This cast of characters. This GM. Guys like Thomas, Lucic, and now Bergeron and Marchand have carried this team. Along with the defense. But they've been undermined by the likes of Michael Ryder, Blake Wheeler, Nathan Horton, and Claude Julien.

We have a good team in Boston, but they're too good at self-sabotaging themselves.

A few days off, then a short but tough stretch of games. The Bruins are 2 points ahead of Montreal and host them Wednesday night. Then it's a home and home with Detroit, the #2 team in the West. Time for the B's to bring their A-Game.

-The Commodore

Blake Retires After 20 Years

Rob Blake is finally retiring. Everyone knew it was coming after the Sharks were swept out of the playoffs. Blake will easily be a first ballot Hall of Famer. Rob ended his career 10th all time in goals, and there is some great company around him...

Goals by a defenseman:

1. Ray Bourque 410
2. Paul Coffey 396
3. Al MacInnis 340
4. Phil Housley 338
5. Denis Potvin 310
6. Larry Murphy 287
7. Red Kelly 281
8. Bobby Orr 270
9. Brian Leetch 247
10. Rob Blake 240

Blake went to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1993 with Los Angeles, won it all in 2001 with Colorado, won a gold medal for Canada the following year and helped the Sharks post the best regular-season record in the Western Conference in each of his two seasons in San Jose (even though they did choke both times). His 136 power-play goals are the third most by an NHL defenseman, trailing only Hockey Hall of Famers Ray Bourque (173) and Al MacInnis (166).


Anyways, the guy deserved a shoutout after 20 years.

Bruins 2, Sharks 1 (SO)

Some hockey fans in Boston have been suffering from amnesia lately. These people think it's "Tuukka Time." Incorrect. Nothing against Rask, but Tim Thomas is an elite goaltender. And he reaffirmed that last night, stopping 41 of 42 shots in regulation and OT. Then he stood on his head in the shootout, stopping everything, and extending it long enough for Chara to net the game winner.



Chara's shootout attempt was exactly what the Bruins' shootout efforts are missing. He just shot it, challenging Nabokov to make the save. No deking, no trickery, little deception; just a blast from the high slot.

I know it's only one game, and I've said this many times this season; but this is the kind of win that you can build a season on. The Bruins went into the Sharks' building, and beat the team with the best record in the NHL. And they did that without their top 3 centers (Krejci has an undisclosed injury).

And nothing against Trent Whitfield, but he shouldn't be wearing #42. The Bruins need to retire those digit.



Yeah, we really need to dump fighting in the NHL.

Bruins @ Kings Saturday afternoon.

-The Commodore

Another Phil Kessel Update

Seems like the Sharks are not going to walk away from this...

"The Sharks are still interested in Phil Kessel, and it appears they may submit an offer sheet for the restricted free agent, Slam Sports reports. The Boston Bruins don't have the cap space to sign the restricted free agent because the 21-year-old center is demanding $5 million. For the Bruins to sign Kessel, they would have to dismantle their roster to stay under the cap. So if the Sharks sign Kessel, they would likely not match the offer sheet (ESPN)."

I really thought Kessel would be back, but if the Sharks offer him an offer sheet i don't see how the Bruins could match it. I like Kessel a lot, but he is not worth $5 million at this time. A lot of his points are against bad teams, and there have been a lot of stats that really question how good he is. We'll keep ya posted, but it seems his days in Boston could be over...

Jeremy Roenick To Retire

"San Jose Sharks forward Jeremy Roenick is expected to announce his retirement Thursday, ending the provocative hockey star's 20-year career. The Sharks have scheduled a news conference for Thursday in which Roenick will make an announcement about his career. The nine-time All-Star has scored 1,216 points, third-most among American-born players in NHL history. Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, the Sharks' television broadcaster, said the 39-year-old Roenick planned to retire. Roenick didn't immediately return a phone call or text message from the Associated Press (Sportsline)."

One of the last players from that era is now retiring, though this one really doesn't matter to me. I never really liked Roenick, and I really have nothing behind other then he always kind off seemed like he was a douche, but he is a Hall of Famer with 513 goals and 703 assists which tied with Larry Murphy for 39th place on the NHL's career scoring list. He is from Mass so I guess we have to give him some respect.

Sharks 5 Bruins 2

I said the in the preview that I had a bad feeling about this game, and I was right, even though the Bruins played really well till the 3rd period. Boston was up 2-1 going into the 3rd, but then let in 4 unanswered goals. Boston is now only 2 games up on the Sharks for the best record in the NHL.

Milan Lucic had a hell of a game scoring 2 goals in the first period, as the Bruins seemed to be able to crash the net against the Sharks. Their energy seemed to dwindle as the game went on, and you have to wonder if not having Ward, and Ryder hurt them (not to mention Sturm who is out for the year). Still, the Bruins had this game, and let it slip by when the Sharks turned up the heat. Boston is going to need to learn how to close games like this out, because when the playoffs come everyone is going to step up their game.

The Bruins should not be overly worried about losing this game, as they should get healthier before the playoffs start, and hopefully they will put it into another gear come crunch time. I bet with this loss you will start hearing a lot of Bruins fans talk about "adding another guy" in a trade, but all the trades I have heard they would have to give up a lot of young talent, so I hope they stay put.

Sharks @ Bruins

The Bruins are facing off against the Sharks tonight in what could be a preview to the Stanley Cup Finals. It is funny to think that only 3 years ago the Bruins traded away All-Star center Joe Thornton to the Sharks, and it seemed like the Bruins were never going to recover. Now these are the best two teams in the league, and tonight will be a good matchup to see who can be called the "best in the NHL".

Now I am not going to go crazy about how important this game is, because I see it the same as the Lakers vs. Celtics game. The season is so long, and teams step up in the playoffs, so right now it is all about positioning yourself. Both of these teams really don't need to worry about that as they have awesome records.

The Sharks have lost the last 3 in a row (2 were OT losses), so you would have to say this game is more important to them, so they can get back on track. Boston is cruising, but recent injuries (Ryder), and the flu (Ward) will slow them down a bit. Still, the Bruins have showed all year that one of their best strengths is their depth. Even with all their injuries this season the Bruins lead the league with a 2.15 goals-against average and rank second with 3.41 goals scored per game.

With all that being said I am really worried about this game. I just have a bad feeling that the Bruins are a little too banged up, and the Sharks really are going to be pressing hard for this win, since they have hit a bit of rough patch. The great thing is that this will have the feel of a playoff game for the first time during the regular season in a long time (other than games against Montreal).

Game is at 7pm on NESN and Versus