Thrash Win = Boston Out

The Thrashers are running out of time but the hockey gods have aligned the schedule for them like a gift from the clouds. What could be better than Atlanta playing Boston in their own shed when the two teams are divided by a single point for a playoff spot? I mean, holy shit folks...

Plus, both teams are evenly matched in every way.

Bergeron and Recchi are on fire for the Bruins and Afinogenov and Antropov have to be clutch for the Thrash. The Bruins are hurting without the noggin rattled Savard but they have kicked Atlanta’s ass in every game this year. Thrash fans are calling it the game of the season. If youre a rabid Thrashers fan, call out sick tomorrow.

I’m just pissed because I don’t have Center Ice. This one should be a dandy! Check out the stats - these teams look more alike than Claude Julien and Homer Simpson:

Detroit's Dogfight

Two crucial games tonight, tomorrow:
Tonight: Pittsburgh vs Detroit (7pm VERSUS)
Tomorrow: Calgary vs Anaheim (9pm EST)

Tonight will prove how badly Detroit wants to be in the top eight. Although the Pens have comfortably secured their spot this is a necessary win if the Wings want a chance. The Pens are not the Wings biggest rivalry tonight; throwbacks to Stanley Cup contests may stir the Wings, but they mean nothing when the Calgary Flames are chasing you in an air combat dogfight for 8th. The Flames have played 72 games and are now two points behind the Wings.

Detroit is playing their 72ND game tonight. They need to be in the mind set of this is all or nothing, no leads, no advantages, game over and the fat lady has sung. If the Wings need to pretend that this is game seven of last year to get them motivated and pissed off then so be it, sometime old memories die hard (and who could forget that game).

 The choice is theirs. They can win tonight and gain two points to secure their spot or they can play like a bunch pansies and hope that Calgary has one too many Kokanees and throws an egg in tomorrow’s game. Detroit has 11 cups, Calgary has 1. The Flames still have a great coach they don’t want to see filling boxes with pictures of his wife and kids in his office. To even have their eyes on the chalice Calgary needs to fight like hell for 8th and they need to blowtorch the Ducks and eat them for dinner tomorrow night.

Now is not the time for the Wings to squander their one game advantage by sitting back and sipping CC and Coke while they wait for Pittsburgh's charter flight to land. There will be plenty of time for that when the season is over. Tonight is yet another opportunity for them to bank right and get out of the Flames crosshairs. It is up to them when they want their season to end.

Versus, 7pm tonight... Be there! And for those of you without Center Ice, thank GOD theres a network that gives a crap about hockey.

Rink Rat is Pissed Off

So how many hours ago did I say the NHL moonbats (GM’s), were pontificating over how to categorize and enforce hits to the head? Here we are, how many hours outside of the cigar smoking, margarita sipping conference in Boca Raton since yours truly posited that the league had lost focus, putting their cross-hairs on an issue far less important than players getting hit on the numbers.

Ovechkin’s hit on Campbell was gasping. As a player, I absolutely love the guy – he is what the NHL stands for: competitive, skilled, tough as nails, fearless, and not afraid to hit.

But this hit on Campbell could have come at an unforgiving price. And its not the only time Ovie has done this. Ovie will rightfully sit for 2 games for the stunt he pulled on Campbell.
 
I think some of you took me the wrong way in my article. My point on head shots is simply this:

It is going to be very difficult to categorize a head shot. There absolutely has to be some policing of the head shots, and decisions at the ice level will have to be made within 2-3 minutes, with no replay to watch and no true knowledge of that players history. Its not like they can pull out their i-phones and hit the application for “Frequent Head Shot Data Base” to find out how many times a player has hit someone. We have to be careful how we change the rulebook in the NHL. Ideas have consequences. I like instant replay and I think it needs to be used more. Once the rule is established, a referee makes a call on the hit, and it goes to Toronto.

 For God friggen sakes, people… If a guy gets hit in the face with a stick and draws blood, it increases the consequence. We all KNOW the high stick happened, but until a zebra inspects the players injury, we cant determine the penalty.

 In the case of head shots, the referee can blow the whistle and call boarding, interference, elbowing, whatever; and then go to replay to determine if the player broke the established rule. Why will we do this for questionable goals, but not for enforcing a potentially life-saving rule without taking the (audience-saving) physicality out of the game? Not to mention we can NOT be arbitrarily penalizing players because they simply “have a reputation” and the on-ice official has no proof. If this sort of discipline was handed down in the corporate world they would have authorities and attorneys probing their assholes for whatever damages they can bleed from them.

The action and the call should speak for itself. The ONLY way for the league to do that is to go to replay. Will it extend the game time? Yea, but how often does this really happen? Besides it means more commercials and more money for the network.

The other piece to this is the one that no one has thought of, and that’s the equipment the players are wearing. There needs to be some research on the type of hits that cause the injuries and exactly WHAT the injuries are. You can make rules, you can police those rules, and maybe you can cut down the number of injuries. Every bit of research demonstrates that lowering speed limits and wearing seat belts saved lives. But it wasn’t until airbags were developed, tested and utilized that a clear reduction in mortality could be quantified for high velocity impact. The game is different – its faster, the players are bigger – and the protective equipment simply has not evolved with the game. Instead, the moonbats got together and talked about how we can “change the rulebook on head hits”.

That’s was IT!

Nothing about players getting hit from behind (like the hit on Campbell), nothing about equipment; nothing about instant replay; nothing about case-by-case versus reputation…

I wonder who paid for the GM retreat and where that money could have been better spent.

Either way I bet the weather was great and Florida and while guys like Brent Sutter (coach of the Calgary Flames) and a million other white and blue collar folks in the great nations of US and Canada are out of work, not one of those guys really worried about having a job come August.

And you wonder why I call them “moonbats”…

Rangers Hex Bruins for Playoff Seat

If you're a serious hockey fan, tonight you should strap yourself to a chair, order a pizza and turn off your cell phone... especially if youre a Bruins or Rangers fan. 

An inspired win by the Rangers last night put them within one point of Boston for the 8th spot in the East.

I would be pulling out the voo-doo dolls, horse shoes and eye-of-newt if I were the Rangers. Then I would study every video the Habs have played in the last 10 games.

The Rangers have to hope and pray the Bruins lose twice; once in New Jersey tonight, then to the Hurricanes on tomorrow. The rest is up to the Rangers. With Boston leaving the castle door open, the Rangers will have a MONUMENTAL opportunity to waltz in and plant their flag if they can beat the Habs while the Canes are playing Boston.

Any way you slice you, one thing is abundantly clear: the Rangers have to beat Montreal in Madison Square Garden Tuesday. Get out the remote and prepare to picture in two games tonight and tomorrow night! (Three if your own team is playing) Here are the standings (the LAST category of numbers are the teams points.:

Games to watch:

TONIGHT: Boston vs. NJ; Detroit vs. Calgary

TUESDAY: Boston vs. Carolina, Montreal vs. NYR

Calgary's Two Day War

If I were Brent Sutter (Calgary’s head coach) I would be chomping TUMS like candy and listening to Enya to keep my heart rate down. Brent knows his prevailing in the 8th spot for the post-season and possibly his job are at stake if his players don’t view the rest of the regular season as if they were the playoffs. He was in this spot years ago with a team called the New Jersey Devils.

Tonight the Flames face the Vancouver Canucks. If they win, they will finally catch Detroit for the 8th spot. If they go to overtime and lose, they will be tied with Detroit at 78 points. A win will put them one point ahead.

If the Flames lose they will get a second chance tomorrow night. But it will keep them in desperation; a place where Brent Sutter is tired of being.

At 10pm (EST) tonight its Vancouver. Then they have to try to get some rest on the quick ride home, where they will play again at 9:30pm (EST).

Take one guess who the Flames play Monday night. That’s right, Detroit! Calgary will try yet again to either hang on for dear life or, win both tonight and tomorrow and possibly pole vault all the way to 6th place in the west (depending on the Nashville and Avalanche games).

 No matter what happens, The Flames are in the very critical spot that could mean the difference between fighting for their playoff lives or being able to take a punch and not hit the canvass while the count to knock out is pointed at their heads.

Calgary fans, I empathize with you. Load your fridges with beer to keep the edge off. Two wins in a row would give you all something great to start your Tuesday.

Tonights Game to Watch

New York Rangers vs Atlanta Thrashers 7:30pm

You NEED to be in 8th place to get into the playoffs. As soon as the last game is played, where you are when the music stops determines whether you keep playing hockey or break out the golf clubs.

Every game is crucial right now for so many teams. The Rangers need to find 2 points tonight to keep from running out of gas, and Atlanta needs to 2 points to avoid diluting themselves even more into the “66’ers” – the Lightening, Panthers, and Hurricanes are all in a log jam with one point separating them from each other, but ALL of them 5 or more points away from the 8th spot where the Bruins are trying to build a castle.

Both of these teams have lost their last 4 games so the pressure is incredible for both of these teams to stay in the race by winning tonight.

(Reminder: need 2 points for a win, 1 point for an overtime loss)
Ill start with 7th place because right now this is where it all matters -
Place: 7 Montreal Canadians 74
Place: 8 Boston Bruins Pts: 72
Place: 9 New York Rangers Pts: 67
Place: 10 Atlanta Thrashers Pts: 66
Place: 11 Tampa Bay Lightning Pts:66
Place: 12 Florida Panthers Pts: 64
Place: 13 Carolina Hurricanes Pts: 64
Place: 14 New York Islanders Pts: 61
Place: 15 Toronto Maple Leafs Pts: 56

Players to Watch
NYR: Marian Gaborik. With 70 points, 13 power-play goals, this guy is a dynamo.
ATLANTA: Maxim Afinigenov. His agility, finesse and creativity are amazing. Here’s a taste of what Max is like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oeb56blvxtQ

More Rules from the NHL Moon Bats

Head shots were THE main topic of the GM’s meeting in Boca Raton Florida. I really need a job in the NHL.

Suffice it to say they’re trying to categorize and somehow regulate shots to the head. This will be like the “foot in the crease” rule in my opinion. We have guys getting hit in the numbers and at risk for paralysis all the time and the whistle is mothballed.

 But a short player’s shoulder goes into a guys head, or a defensemen’s chest in the head of a munchkin like Martin St. Louis or Phil Kessel; or a guy gets rattled in open ice and has whip-lash; or a guy falls while he is being hit and the shoulder meets the head… and… then what? Suspension? 5 minute major? We’re getting a bit ridiculous and trying to qualify a head shot is going to be a convoluted mess. Worse, it may stop open ice hitting and maybe the physicality of the game altogether.

Players are going to get hit. Guys heads are going snap forward and back from the inertia of a hit and it may have nothing to do with a direct hit to the head. Will he be out cold? Uh, yea. Should there be a penalty? Abso-fricken-lutely not.

The hit on Savard from Cooke is one of those odd situations. Savard was in the process of taking a shot and in the motion of “hunkering down” on a follow-though. Cooke, who was already in motion for an open-ice check clipped his head. There was no way, in my opinion for Cooke to abruptly halt his momentum and stop himself from hitting Savard. To send a message, perhaps a 5 minute major and then review it afterward. So many of these hits need to be handled case by case. In a sport where a quarter inch wedgie in a guys trousers can be zoomed in on by 20 cameras, the NHL needs to avoid being reactive, in their ATTEMPT to be proactive. If that makes any sense...

The best comment though was Paul Holmgren saying with deadpan seriousness, “We’re all trying to get ahead on this topic.” Ummm…. Ok. Sorry... I had to go there.

Not one thing was said in these 8 gazillion meetings about how players are going back to bad habbits and slamming guys in the numbers making them launch head-first into the boards. Ill take a concussion over paralysis any day, folks.

A little perspective here, please from our braintrust in the NHL. And preferably BEFORE they dip into the sauce and get to the podium.

The GM's actually did discuss other items that are relevant.
• Goaltender equipment and its significance on both safety and consumption of net area.
• Procedures/algorithm for next seasons draft (yawn)
• Collective bargaining transfers from European league players (yawn)
• Attendance, ice operations and rule changes
• The GMs plan to review emergency medical procedures and standards in the wake of former Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov's death last week while playing for Avangard Omsk of Russia's Kontinental Hockey League.

NOTES: A win for the New York Rangers tonight can put them within two points of Boston the 8th spot in the East. They play the Devils at 7pm tonight. As I said in my previous article, the Flames got their auxiliary scoring and leapfrogged Detroit for the 8th place out west. What a great time for hockey!