Kukla's Korner Hockey

ESPN Experts Chime In

by Paul on 04/24/08 at 05:39 PM ET
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With the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs kicking off Thursday, our experts took some time to ponder what lies ahead. ESPN.com’s Scott Burnside, ESPN The Magazine’s E.J. Hradek and ESPN analyst Barry Melrose answer these 10 burning questions:

Who will self-destruct first, Sean Avery or Georges Laraque?

Burnside: Avery. That’s an easy one. Both players understand their roles, but Avery has to play closer to the edge than Laraque.

Hradek: Avery has a better chance to self-destruct because he’ll get more ice time than Mr. Laraque. Avery is an important part of the Rangers’ attack. As such, he gets 15-20 minutes per game. Laraque is a fourth-liner who sees very limited minutes. The Pens’ best pest is Jarkko Ruutu. He could out-Avery Avery.

Melrose: I say Avery.

more at ESPN…

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The Puck Is About To Drop

by Paul on 04/24/08 at 05:33 PM ET
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from Bob Duff at NBC Sports,

Could it be better?

Maybe a little bit.

An Alexander Ovechkin-Sidney Crosby-Evgeni Malkin threesome in the second round would have left every National Hockey League executive salivating.

Regardless, the drool must still be forming in many mouths at the NHL’s head office among those whose main goal is to sell the game to the United States audience.

The second-round matchups in the Stanley Cup playoffs are intriguing on all four fronts.

continued

Filed in: NHL Teams, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Afternoon Line

by Paul on 04/24/08 at 05:18 PM ET
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via Rangers Report,

When I asked Shanahan about the rekindling of the bitter Red Wings-Avalanche rivalry, of which he played a major part while in Detroit, the veteran laughed.

“I thought it was pretty interesting, especially the fact that they went and got (Adam) Foote and (Peter) Forsberg back. I thought maybe Detroit would maybe try to swing a deal for me and Larry Murphy,” he said.

“I’ll watch a little bit, but it’s kind of in the past and I don’t really focus on that anymore. What everybody forgets about our rivalry with the Avalanche 10 years ago is that we were usually No. 1 and 2 in the league. Everybody talked about how much we hated each other and how dirty the games were and that was all true. But what made it most interesting was it was the two best teams in the league trying to do that to each other.”

 

Filed in: NHL Teams, Colorado Avalanche, Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: brendan+shanahan

The NHL Hour

by Alanah McGinley on 04/24/08 at 05:05 PM ET
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San Jose Sharks center Jeremy Roenick and Hockey Hall Of Famer Pat LaFontaine will be the guests on the NHL Hour today, hosted by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.

The show is on from 4-5 p.m. ET today on XM Satellite Radio (Channel 204) and NHL.com. NHL Hour is an interactive talk radio show that is hosted by a rotation of League executives, and co-hosted by XM sports host and former NHL player Bill Clement. 

*At show time, listen live at this link.  While on the air, listeners can call into the show at 1-877-645-6696, or send questions/comments via this email address: nhlhour@nhl.com.
**Archived shows available for download via a podcast on NHL.com.

Update 4:14pm ET: The ‘listen live’ link isn’t working as it should. The show can be heard live by going to this link served up by the NHL Online page.

Filed in: NHL Talk, NHL Playoff Talk, NHL Media, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: gary+bettman, jeremy+roenick, media, nhl+hour, pat+lafontaine, playoffs

Sudden Victory Overtime

by Alanah McGinley on 04/24/08 at 04:05 PM ET
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From Tori Sutton at The Caledon Enterprise,

So perhaps that is why, just a few weeks ago, a game summary submitted to the newspaper caused me great dismay. As I was happily typing away at my keyboard, I stumbled across a most interesting and most foreign phrase.

Sudden victory overtime.

Those three words knocked the wind right out of me like a brutal body check into the boards.

Sudden victory overtime? What? I’m no hockey buff but I always thought it was known as…gasp…sudden death overtime?

I’ve never been a volunteer with the political-correctness police force, so I must have missed the memo on this. An email to one of my colleagues employed at a respected hockey publication confirmed my worst fear.

more….

Good grief. “Sudden victory overtime”?  This is the first time I’ve heard this expression… and I hope it’s the last.

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Love Notes

by Paul on 04/24/08 at 03:52 PM ET
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Adam,

First I’ll (sic) like to say you suck, cause the Flyers are the best team in the NHL and always will be. Second I think you only hate the Flyers cause, your (sic) one of the ones that want to get rid of all the fighting in the NHL, and probably want to get rid of all the ruff (sic) stuff.

The Flyers are an in your face, hard working team and you don’t seem to like that. I bet you probably would rather go watch (homophobic slur deleted) hockey like they play in Europe.

Anyway you suck for not liking the way the Flyers bring excitment (sic) to the NHL!

Name: Unknown, Hometown: Dosen’t (sic) matter, Email: yousuckadam @hotmail.com

Ah, Flyers fans. Believe it or not, I’m looking forward to your e-mails whether or not Philly’s final tilt with Washington is resolved the way you’d like it. Gotta love amped-up fans, even when their passions don’t extend to areas such as simple spelling and grammar.

more letters to Adam Proteau of the Hockey News…

Filed in: NHL Teams, Philadelphia Flyers, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Sheldon Souray on the Playoffs

by Alanah McGinley on 04/24/08 at 03:34 PM ET
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During the playoffs, Sheldon Souray is blogging weekly at AskMen.com.  Today’s installment includes thoughts on home ice advantage, and the importance of veterans:

A veteran just brings experience. He’s never too high or too low. You can’t think you’ve lost the series after one game; you have to be even-keeled and provide stability for the young guys. And that ties into the home-ice advantage. A vet has been there before, so he’s not intimidated to play in places like Montreal, where the crowd is loud.

When you’re in the playoffs, you just have to trust that everyone else on your team is going to step up.

At the bottom of the post, you can find contact info to send your questions to Souray.

Previously on KK: Martin Biron’s blog at Maxim, and Milan Lucic and Jamie McLennan are blogging at The Hockey News

Filed in: NHL Teams, Edmonton Oilers, NHL Media, Hockey Bloggers, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: blogging, playoffs, sheldon+souray

Hockey Players & Their Religion

by Paul on 04/24/08 at 03:28 PM ET
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from crosswalk.com,

...That’s the dilemma Alex Pirus faces every time he speaks at a chapel service sponsored by Hockey Ministries International . Despite the fact that he played hockey in the NHL and can therefore relate to the players, Alex still faces hurdles in getting his audience to buy into what he is saying. Hockey players have a well-deserved reputation as he-men on ice who live on the edge and love to drop their sticks and get into a fight. It often takes years of work just to get a team to agree to sponsor a trial chapel service for the players. Then the players have to come. Then you have to get them interested in what you have to say.

read on

Filed in: Hockey Related Stories, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Talking Avs

by Paul on 04/24/08 at 03:23 PM ET
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It is all about the goaltending in the Avs/Wings series.

Read about it at my Hockey.com blog…

Filed in: NHL Teams, Colorado Avalanche, Detroit Red Wings, NHL Media, Hockey Bloggers, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Red Wings - Avalanche Rivalry is History

by Alanah McGinley on 04/24/08 at 03:16 PM ET
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From Terry Frei at ESPN,

[Joe Sakic:] “I was joking around that a lot of these kids were in elementary or junior high when that was going on. But they’re going to see what it’s like firsthand pretty quick, I’m pretty sure.”

So, first things first: If this upcoming series develops a sharp edge, it won’t be because of history, but because of the present—the high stakes and overheated emotions of today—not because anyone got psyched the night before by looking at footage of Patrick Roy duking it out with Mike Vernon or Chris Osgood at center ice; or Foote’s running battle with Brendan Shanahan; or even Lemieux’s infamous check of Kris Draper into the boards at the old McNichols Sports Arena in 1996 and Darren McCarty’s subsequent vengeance.

History will be an issue because of the infectious undercurrent, and even then not necessarily because it makes sense.

more…

Filed in: NHL Teams, Colorado Avalanche, Detroit Red Wings, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: playoffs, rivalries

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