Round #2 Predictions
This will be real quick because I need to get some sleep before my long day at the Joe tomorrow.
Here are my Round #2 predictions:
Wings-Avs / Wings win in 7
Dallas-Sharks / Dallas wins in 6
Penguins-Rangers / Penguins win in 6 (but hopefully Rangers win!)
Canadiens-Flyers / Canadiens in 5
NHL TV Notes
Joe here. A couple notes on the NHL, television, and the start of the most miserable part of the NHL playoffs: cable exclusivity.
The NHL has noted that games 1 and 4 of the Wings/Avs series will be exclusively on Versus (meaning not on FSN Detroit) in the U.S. That means if you don’t have Versus (or don’t feel like paying the extra $20/month for the digital package), you’re out of luck (TSN has the rights for that series in Canada). Remember that Versus has cable exclusivity for the conference finals and the Stanley Cup finals. That’s why you always root for the Canadian teams: CBC would’ve had the series had the Flames won last night.
Also this morning, the NHL announced they’re renewing their contract with NBC for another year. There had been rumors during the second half of the season that the NHL was going to try to convince ESPN to pick up the entire NBC package (which would’ve required renegotiating their exclusive cable deal with Versus).
Wings to face Colorado in round two
The Detroit Red Wings will take on the Colorado Avalanche in round two in what might be a rekindling of the rivalry (especially now that Forsberg, Foote, and McCarty have returned to their former teams). The first two games of the series will be, unofficially, Thursday and Saturday at Joe Louis Arena.
I’ll be sure to update this post once the official schedule is released.
Update - 4/23: Thanks to Joe’s comment below, here is the full schedule.
1 Thu Apr 24, 7:30 pm, at Detroit, VERSUS
2 Sat Apr 26, 3 pm, at Detroit, NBC
3 Tue Apr 29, 10 pm, at Colorado, VERSUS
4 Thu May 1, 10 pm, at Colorado, VERSUS
5 Sat May 3, 1 pm, at Detroit, NBC
6 Mon May 5, 10 pm, at Colorado, VERSUS
7 Wed May 7, TBD, at Detroit
(All games on TSN)
The 1pm start for Game #5 is a killer time. The Wings never seem to play well in the uber early afternoon and for Colorado, that’s like playing at 11am! And the teams have a couple days off between Game #2 and Game #3. Not too shabby.
Media starting to appreciate Kronwall
I will have a game recap/roundup later this evening after work, but until then be sure to read Joe’s live blog of Game #6!
Since the retirement of Steve Yzerman, BTJ adopted Niklas Kronwall as the blog favorite player. While his bazillion injuries were frustrating, the physicality of his play along with his potential upside garnered our attention. I bought a jersey last season since I retired my Yzerman jersey upon his retirement and that jersey was an autographed Kronner jersey. A couple years later, fans and the media alike are finally starting to really appreciate his style of play.
Kronwall had one big open-ice hit in almost every game of round one with at least one indirectly resulting in a Wings goal or at least a momentum change. He tied Pavel Datsyuk and Jiri Hudler in offensive points (5) for the first round and assisted on both of the goals in a critical Game #5.
Ansar Khan / MLive.com:
“Especially in the playoffs now, he’s such a big force for us, the way he can step up and hit guys, and he’s able to make the right plays at the right time, jumping into the play, playing power play,” Henrik Zetterberg said. “He’s just the full package.” … “It’s no surprise for me, I’ve seen him play in Sweden for a long time and I know what kind of player he can be when he’s healthy,” Zetterberg said. “After he got back from an injury he got better and better. He is really showing this is the way he can play and contribute to the team.”
“Because of his physical dimension it makes him different than Nick and Rafi with a lot of the same offensive flair,” coach Mike Babcock said. “Actually, Junior (Kronwall) is more active (joining the rush) than Rafi or Nick, they more support it from the back and Nik takes off and jumps in more. I think he give us a real good player there.”
Helene St. James / Detroit Free Press:
“He made a great, great pass on the breakaway goal in overtime,” Chris Osgood said Saturday. “He’s been everything we’ve asked. I think last year we missed him more than anybody knew. Sometimes you don’t realize how much you miss guys until they’re out. Kronner is a big guy back there. He’s one of those guys the opposition has to keep their heads up for. He’s real important for us.”
The coaching staff refers to Kronwall as “Junior” because he’s Swedish like Nicklas Lidstrom, shares a first name with Lidstrom, is sublimely talented like Lidstrom, and is, for that matter, also — like Lidstrom — extremely polite. But there are differences between them, and as Wings defensemen present and past go, Kronwall has more in common with Vladimir Konstantinov, the ferocious open-ice hitter whose career ended 11 years ago after a limousine crash.
Dave @ Gorilla Crouch:
That actually sounds a lot like Niedermeyer, although Kronner is more of an open-ice hitter while Niedermeyer tends to lay out guys who are camped out in the slot area. At any rate, it’s been great to see him contribute during the playoffs. The saying goes that you don’t appreciate what you’ve got until it’s gone, but in this case I don’t think we could fully appreciate Kronner until we had a chance to see him play during the playoffs. His game is ideally suited to this time of year.
Steph @ No Pun Intended:
Niklas Kronwall is excellent. No seriously, how well has he been playing lately? Someone needs to build him a little bubble so he can stay healthy all season because he is a serious force. I love him paired up with Connie’s Brad Stuart, too. While our defense terrified me a little at the start of this game, guys like these make me worry less for the future.
Matt @ On the Wings:
Niklas Kronwall had another big, open ice hit. His reputation is developing.
Ducks knocked out of playoffs in 4-1 loss
I have a Sport Finance exam at 8am tomorrow and I still have a ton of studying to do (it’s 11:45pm) so this will be quite brief.
The Dallas Stars beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-1 tonight in Dallas, which means the Ducks lost their series 4-2.
The fact that Detroit won their series today AND the Ducks lost their series has put me in an absolutely fantastic mood!
Since Calgary won tonight, the Flames-Sharks series is going to Game #7 so we won’t know who Detroit will play in round two until the conclusion of that game on Tuesday (that game starts at 10pm). We will either play Calgary or Colorado.
Thank you Dallas Stars for defeating the evil Ducks and the always hated Chris Pronger!!
Now, back to studying.
Game 6 Live Blog: Wings/Predators
It’s Joe again. I’ll be liveblogging Game 6 today at 3:00 ET. As an added bonus, we get the CBC to boot!
See if Christy can make dinner plans Tuesday night after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Game #5: Wings 2, Preds 1 (OT)
Tomas Holmstrom takes a pounding in front of the net.
As I watched the seconds tick toward zero after Nashville scored that tying goal, dread and anxiety had overwhelmed my body. I was a mess and couldn’t sit still. I was thinking that if Detroit lost after outshooting the Predators by such a large extent at home while Nashville was missing three top forwards, we weren’t going to win this series. It would have been such a devastating blow to morale. Fortunately, the team held it together heading into overtime and got it done. When I saw Franzen break free and then deke Preds’ goalie Dan Ellis, my heart jumped with joy as the Joe Louis Arena masses rushed to their feet in celebration. A wave of relief washed over my body and I felt so calm and was at peace. It’s amazing what one goal can do to your spirits come playoff time!
Anyways, here are a couple quick thoughts mixed in with a media roundup from Game #5 reactions. Thanks again to Joe for live blogging the game last night! My dad sat in the second row next to the zamboni pit where he took some sweet photos, which are also mixed in with this post. To view the photos in a larger size or see some that I didn’t put in this post, please check out the gallery here. He enjoyed his seat so much that he bought that single seat for the rest of the playoffs so as long as the Wings are playing at home, BTJ will have professional looking game photos!
Darren Helm plays in his first NHL playoff game. He won 80% of his faceoffs last night.
Dan Ellis played a fantastic game and was the sole reason that the Predators were only down by one goal in the third period. Truly impressive effort as he stopped 53 shots in 60 minutes of action.
John Glennon / The Tennessean:
Ellis was the sole reason the Predators even reached overtime, as the inexperienced netminder turned away 52 of 53 shots in regulation before surrendering a breakaway goal to Johan Franzen.
“The way Ellie played tonight, there really aren’t words to describe it,” Predators forward J.P. Dumont said. “It would have been great if we had found a way to win for him. He deserved to win.”
Any thoughts that Ellis might suffer from jitters while playing in his first postseason had probably been eliminated after the first four games of this series. But in case there were still doubters, Ellis nearly single-handedly beat one of the most skilled teams in the league on Friday.
“The biggest disappointment,” Predators Coach Barry Trotz said, “was that we wasted that good goaltending effort.”
One of the many shots Dan Ellis stopped in Game #5
On the other end, Wings goaltender Chris Osgood only faced 20 shots in regulation. He made some key saves, but definitely didn’t get to see the puck too much last night.
Bob Wojnowski / The Detroit News:
Osgood certainly was doing his job at the other end. There just wasn’t much to do.
“Some goalies say they need to see 40 shots, but I’m just happy as long as we win,” Osgood said. “I’ve never over-exaggerated my role — I just feel I can give this team a good chance every time I play. I feel like I’ve always been a Red Wing. I was gone for three years, longer than it should have been, but I’m glad to be back.”
Chris Osgood makes a save. Numerous “Ozzie, Ozzie” chants broke out during the game.
BTJ favorite (now that Yzerman has retired) Niklas Kronwall had a big night with assists on both of Detroit’s goals last night including a nice pass to feed Johan Franzen in overtime. And I love this “please, please, please” quote from Kronner that was in a Detroit Free Press article:
“Dumont tried to put it out to their D-man and it ended up right on my blade, almost,” Kronwall said. “I just saw Mule in the corner of my eye and tried to give it to him. It wasn’t really a good pass, he was just able to handle it really well and he came in and scored.
“I was just like, please, please, please. We deserved to win. We played really well and just stuck with our game plan the whole time. There was never a time when we sat back and relaxed. We kept plugging away.”
Niklas Kronwall prepares for the impending face-off in Detroit’s end.
Game #6 is Sunday at 3pm (EST). If you live in southeast Michigan, you can tune into either the NBC or CBC broadcast of the game.
NHL issues octopus twirl ban
Photo taken by Michael Hammond before Game #5
In a frustrating move, the NHL has issued a ban on any employee picking up an item that would fall to the ice (ie. an octopus). Linesmen are the only ones allowed to remove it now and if anyone goes against that, it’s a $10,000 team fine. The act of throwing octopi on the ice is a 56 year old tradition. Al Sobokta, the Wings’ zamboni driver, has been twirling octopi over his head for the last 17 years so this isn’t an issue that just popped up yesterday. Since I’m not sure if what I say could get the Wings in trouble, I’m not going to comment on this matter. I’m simply going to let these other bloggers and media members speak for me.
I don’t expect it to last very long: This decision seems like the kind of flimsy legislative appeasement that’s quickly tossed in the trash after die-hard fans in an Original Six city and their newspaper columnists offer colorful rebuttals. Every facet of the octopus toss in Detroit contributes to one of hockey’s most inspiring and distinctive fan traditions.
Details were scarce Friday, but the Wings have been told by the NHL that head octopus wrangler Al Sobotka no longer may swing the mollusks over his head while removing them from the ice at Joe Louis Arena. If he (or anyone else) does, the team will be fined $10,000. That’s $1,250 per tentacle.
In an e-mail to the Free Press, NHL spokesman Frank Brown gave this explanation: “Because matter flies off the octopus and gets on the ice when he does it.” The Wings wouldn’t comment.
Ducks general manager Brian Burke complained about Sobotka’s swinging last year. Before Friday’s game, an octopus landed on the ice, as usual, and Nashville defenseman Greg Zanon whacked it aside with his stick.
“Certain teams and certain traditions, they should just leave them alone,” the Wings’ Chris Osgood said. “It’s a shame. It’s great for the atmosphere, and the fans love it. The league should ask the fans first before they do anything. That’s who pays to get into the rink and see the game.”
Ironically, it was 56 years ago this week the tradition started, when Pete Cusimano tossed an octopus on to the ice to celebrate a playoff goal by Gordie Howe against the Canadiens. The Wings then reeled off eight straight victories en route to the Stanley Cup, and a playoff tradition was born in Detroit.
Sobotka’s own unique role in it began in 1991, as he recalls.
“Last game of the regular season against Chicago, and somebody threw one just inside the blue line and nobody went to grab it,” he said. “So I went out and got it, and since the playoffs were coming up, I twirled it. And that was the start of it all — it just grew from there.”
Matt @ On the Wings:
According to John Niyo, the act of removing an octopus (or any other object) from the ice will be the responsibility of the linesmen from now on.
So there goes a tradition that has served to get fans revved up for the game for years. What’s next, a team fine for having an octopus thrown on the ice at all?
Dave @ Gorilla Crouch:
I read about the ban on Al Sobotka’s routine for pulling an octopus off the Joe Louis Arena ice and on the one hand it’s not that big of a deal to me. But given that it’s a) wildly popular and b) completely harmless it just seems like an incredibly retarded decision by the league. It’s a bit like the NFL’s crackdown on touchdown celebrations which earned the league the moniker of No Fun League.
But twirling an octopus isn’t a form of excessive celebration and it doesn’t disrespect the opponent. Those are the two reasons the NFL fines celebrations that cross the line. Otherwise they’ve pretty much relented and realized that the choreographed routines that definitely put the I in TEAM generate insane amounts of attention and enjoyment.
Game 5 Live Blog: Wings/Predators
Joe here. A heads up that I’ll be live blogging tonight’s elimination game! I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had a chance to get the score of Game 4, but I’m sure the Wings buried them and Hasek stood on his head. In fact, let me go grab a look at Christy’s Game 4 live blog…
Hmmm…two quick Nashville goals…Hasek pulled…team unnerved. I’m suddenly very itchy…what are these red spots all over me…numbers in my eyes…2003…2006?
Well, stop by at 7:30 as Chris Osgood tries to apply the metaphorical calamine lotion to the annual case of Red Wings playoff collapse fever.
Remember: do not take internally. Follow along after the jump.
Game 4 Live Blog: Wings/Predators
Tonight, I will be live blogging Game #4 of the series between the Detroit Red Wings and Nashville Predators. I can’t promise that my live blog will be as specific as Joe Hass did in the first three games of this series, but I’ll do what I can. The most recent updates can be found at the end of each post.
Until the puck drops at 9pm, I’ll be watching the Rangers-Devils game. See you in an hour!
Puck Drops!
20:00 - Brian Rafalski is paired up with Brad Stuart to start the game with Nick Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall (5-55) on the second line. Brett Lebda is in instead of Andreas Lilja.