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Category: NHL-Playoff-Talk

Deadline Deals: Impact on the Playoffs

by Alanah McGinley on 05/02/11 at 02:23 PM ET
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From Mike Brophy at Sportsnet.ca:

This season a number of teams made moves at the trade deadline designed to enhance their chances of going deep into the post-season. You can already see some of the trades paying dividends.

The most obvious is in Tampa Bay where it was determined neither Mike Smith nor Dan Ellis was going to give the Lightning the goaltending it needed to make a charge in the Eastern Conference. Rookie GM Steve Yzerman secured 41-year-old Dwayne Roloson from the New York Islanders. Roloson may be on his last legs as an NHL stopper and hadn’t played a playoff game since 2005-06 when he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers by the Minnesota Wild for a similar playoff run. Unfortunately he was injured and the Oilers fell short, losing in the final to the Carolina Hurricanes.

However, Roloson knows this could be his last shot at winning the Cup and is making the most of the opportunity.

read on for a look at other deals made around the NHL and how they’ve paid off

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Why Players are Tossed From Faceoff Circle

by Alanah McGinley on 04/30/11 at 12:11 AM ET
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Former NHL referee Kerry Fraser provides answers at TSN:

The reason players are being ejected more frequently is due to a tightening of the standard imposed upon linesmen to reflect a zero tolerance for face-off “cheaters!” The linesmen take this element of their job very seriously, knowing full well the importance of conducting a fair face-off; especially in crucial areas of the ice. The last thing they want to do is impact the outcome of a game should a goal result from a bad face-off. In recent years additional markings on and around the end zone face-off dots have been added to ensure players line up square to one another and place their sticks on a white marking on the outer edge of their respective side of the dot.

Gaining player cooperation goes a long way in conducting fair face-offs and reducing player ejections. The best linesmen solicit cooperation through dialogue before players even set their positions at the dot.

read on

Filed in: NHL Talk, NHL Officiating, NHL Playoff Talk, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: faceoffs, kerry+fraser

The Mystery of the Missing Linesman

by Alanah McGinley on 04/29/11 at 11:13 PM ET
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From Bob McKenzie at TSN:

[Steve] Miller worked Game 1 of the Pittsburgh-Tampa series on April 13 and then Game 3 of the New York Ranger-Washington series on April 17. But he hasn’t worked since then.

On April 20, three days after Miller last worked, ESPN’s Outside the Lines presented an in-depth story about the ongoing, year-long controversy surrounding the as-yet unfound game-winning goal puck from overtime in Game 6 of last year’s Cup final in Philadelphia. Video and still photographs in the ESPN investigative feature appear to indicate Miller picked up the puck. Miller was portrayed as a suspect in the story about the much-talked about unsolved mystery.

In the story, Miller denied knowing of the puck’s whereabouts.

Miller has not worked a game since the story appeared. The NHL has confirmed Miller, for now, has been taken off active playoff duty.

read on

Update 9:23pm ET: And more on this story from ESPN.

Filed in: NHL Talk, NHL Officiating, NHL Playoff Talk, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: officials, steve+miller

Media Highlights & Millestones From Round 1

by Alanah McGinley on 04/29/11 at 06:56 PM ET
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NEW YORK (April 29, 2011) – History was made, on and off the ice, in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  The National Hockey League, on the heels of announcing the most significant media rights deal in its history, continues to reach new heights across multiple platforms while earning praise from fans and critics alike.

One of the most exciting and compelling Conference Quarterfinal rounds in Stanley Cup Playoff history, highlighted by nine straight days of overtime games, four Game 7s (the most in the first round in 16 years), and 49 total games (tied for the most ever), led to ratings increases and milestones at both the national and local levels, along with record Internet traffic on NHL.com.  The first round, which the New York Times hailed as a round “that had everything,” and a “tough act to follow,” also scored in-arena with every arena at 100 percent capacity, achieving an all-time record for average attendance for the first round.

Continue Reading »

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Shots and Save Percentages

by Alanah McGinley on 04/28/11 at 04:29 PM ET
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From Scott Cullen at TSN:

So, Vancouver has averaged 31.9 shots on goal per game (regular season plus Round One) and Nashville has allowed 30.4 shots on goal per game (regular season plus Round One); the average of those two numbers is 31.15 shots, so that’s the number that is then multiplied by (1 - the opposing goaltenders’ save percentage in the regular season and playoffs) to determine an expected goals per game.

Finally, the number is multiplied by seven to indicate an expected goal total for a seven-game series. There’s no guarantee that scoring more goals in a series will result in winning four games first but, in the land of probability, the team that scores more is more likely to win the series.

It’s no guarantee, however. In the first round, Chicago lost the series despite scoring more than Vancouver, while Los Angeles and Montreal both scored the same amount as the series winners, San Jose and Boston, respectively. Obviously, how the goals are distributed over the games in the series makes a difference.

read on for how Cullen’s calculations shake out for all the 2nd round matchups

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Who’s Favored?

by Alanah McGinley on 04/28/11 at 04:22 PM ET
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Again from our friends at Sports Interaction, the betting lines for tonight and tomorrow night.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Nashville at Vancouver
Moneyline
• Nashville   +150
• Vancouver   -180

Over/Under
• Over +5.0 -125
• Under +5.0 +105

 

Continue Reading »

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An Exciting and Unpredictable Round 1

by Alanah McGinley on 04/28/11 at 03:59 PM ET
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NEW YORK (April 28, 2011)—Fifteen days, 14 overtimes and several dramatic comebacks and nail-biting finishes later, the 16 teams that began the post-season quest for the Stanley Cup have been narrowed to eight. Here are some highlights from an exciting and unpredictable Conference Quarter-Final round:

* The four Game 7s were the most in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 1995.
* Each of the final nine days of the first round featured an overtime game, an unprecedented streak. There were 12 OTs in that span.
* The 14 total overtimes were the most since the record 15 in 2001.
* The 49 total games matched the most ever in the first round.
* There were two Game 7 overtimes, tying the pair in 1997 as the most ever in the first round.

Continue Reading »

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Who’s Favored?

by Paul on 04/26/11 at 07:30 PM ET
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I am only picking the game seven matchups for tonight.

Buffalo 5-3 over Philadelphia and Vancouver over Chicago 4-3.

Now let’s see what the experts say about all the games tonight….

Presented by Sports Interaction.

Boston at Montreal

Moneyline
• Boston   -105
• Montreal   -115

Over/Under
• Over +5.0 -110
• Under +5.0 -110

Continue Reading »

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Best of the Week

by Alanah McGinley on 04/25/11 at 07:35 PM ET
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The top goals, hits and and saves from the past week in the NHL.

Here are the goals:

And here are the hits:

Continue Reading »

Filed in: NHL Talk, NHL Playoff Talk, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Who’s Favored?

by Alanah McGinley on 04/25/11 at 07:30 PM ET
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Presented by Sports Interaction.

Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay

Moneyline
• Pittsburgh   +125
• Tampa Bay   -145

Over/Under
• Over +5.0 -150
• Under +5.0 +130

Continue Reading »

Filed in: NHL Talk, NHL Playoff Talk, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

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