Kukla's Korner Hockey
Hockey Thoughts On A Wednesday Morning
by Paul on 05/22/13 at 10:00 AM ET
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from Elliotte Friedman of CBC,
- Prior to this year's playoffs, Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman talked about last season's post-playoff discussions with his leaders. "It was such a sudden end," he said. "We all felt there was a lot more hockey left in our group ... there was an empty feeling, [that] we should still be playing, we're not far away. We didn't make drastic changes ... we didn't need to blow it up because we had a good approach." Chicago ousted the Minnesota Wild in five games for its first playoff series win since the 2010 Stanley Cup victory, but if it doesn't come back against Detroit, will the organization feel the same?
- One coach on Niklas Kronwall of the Red Wings: "He is taking it on his shoulders. It's like [Mark] Messier determined to prove he can win without [Wayne] Gretzky."
- A lot of angst in Washington after the first-round defeat. This was a good season for the Capitals. They rediscovered enthusiasm, very similar to what happened when Bruce Boudreau first arrived. The biggest question the Capitals must answer is: How did we lose what Boudreau built and how do we prevent that from happening again?
more thoughts plus some Patrick Roy talk...
Filed in: NHL Teams, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Chris Neil Not Happy With Hit From Brooks Orpik
by Paul on 05/22/13 at 09:40 AM ET
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from Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun,
"I was going down. I was in vulnerable position. He gave me an extra shove which made me pick up speed going into the boards," said Neil.
"That's the way he plays, he plays a physical game. I wouldn't expect anything less."...
"Playoff hockey your intensity is high out there. You finish checks," said Neil. "Put it this way, I wouldn't have done that to him to put him in that situation. I'm lucky I'm no worse for wear and I'll keep going."
Told of Neil's remarks, Orpik fired back and thought that was pretty rich coming from Neil.
"My response is (that's) very laughable coming from him. I thought it was a pretty harmless play," said Orpik. "I didn't even know he didn't return. He's done his fair share of things to me and everybody else in here.
"We all know how he plays, and he's a guy who plays hard and he's a competitive guy. Everybody knows how he plays. He's out there to agitate and I don't have much to say about it. He gets away with a lot, let's put it that way."
Filed in: NHL Teams, Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: brooks+orpik,
chris+neil
Bruins On A Roll
by Paul on 05/22/13 at 09:28 AM ET
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from Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe,
The Bruins are undefeated since they escaped elimination May 13. That was the night it all kicked in. It was “The Miracle On Ice” of the New Millennium. Faced with what appeared to be certain extinction, the Bruins staged the comeback of the ages. They flipped the switch one last time. Claude Julien’s Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde team became a monster that cannot be stopped.
“Since Toronto, no doubt,’’ said Julien when asked about his team’s new charge. “You don’t just see it on the ice. You feel it in the dressing room. This is a very focused group right now. The Jekyll-Hyde thing I haven’t seen since the Toronto series.’’
And now the Bruins are on the threshold of the conference finals and have a real shot at their second Stanley Cup in three seasons.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Boston Bruins, | KK Hockey | Permalink
LA Kings Twitter Account Goes In The Wrong Direction
by Paul on 05/22/13 at 09:21 AM ET
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from Chris Foster of the LA Times,
The Kings' official Twitter account received a game misconduct penalty Tuesday … from the Kings' front office.
Kevin Ryder, of KROQ's "Kevin & Bean" morning show, handled the Twitter posts for the Kings' Stanley Cup playoff game against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday. He took over after the first period, with embarrassing results for the team.
At one point Ryder made light of sexual assault when describing a play that happened in front of the San Jose Sharks' net when the Kings' Anze Kopitar was knocked to the ice.
continued and read more about this at Puck Daddy and The Sporting News.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Los Angeles Kings, | KK Hockey | Permalink
There’s Lundqvist Then Everyone Else
by Paul on 05/22/13 at 08:44 AM ET
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from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,
It was hardly earth-shattering stuff, nothing like saying a player “stinks” on the power play, for instance, but John Tortorella sure had it right before the playoffs started when the Rangers’ coach talked about legacies being made in the postseason and not in the regular-season.
Ten games into the playoffs following last night’s dagger-to-the-heart, 2-1 defeat to the Bruins in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinal, we’re still waiting.
There is Henrik Lundqvist, all right, whose back-to-back shutouts with the Blueshirts facing opening-round elimination by the Caps in Games 6 and 7 of the first round carried his team forward, and whose spectacular work last night was all that stood between the Rangers and humiliation.
Filed in: NHL Teams, New York Rangers, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Kings dinged by ‘intent to blow’
by George Malik on 05/22/13 at 02:33 AM ET
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The Los Angeles Kings dropped a 2-1 decision to the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday evening, allowing San Jose to tie their second-round series at 2 games apiece, and USA Today's Mike Brehm reports that referees' discretion played a role in the outcome of a game for the second time in two nights:
Tuesday, the Los Angeles Kings' Dustin Penner scored to cut his team's deficit against the San Jose Sharks to 2-1.
The problem: Referee Brad Meier had blown the play dead.
Replay showed that Slava Voynov's shot, deflected by Tyler Toffoli, had snuck through Sharks goalie Antti Niemi's pads. It was rolling across the goal line on its own when Penner helped it along.
Penner argued with Meier, but the no-goal call stood.
Brehm provides a YouTube video of the goal, and NHL.com's Eric Gilmore reports that the Kings were none too pleased with the call:
Filed in: | KK Hockey | Permalink
Four Teams in Playoff Action Tonight
by Paul on 05/21/13 at 06:45 PM ET
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The Rangers need a win tonight at home in order to avoid going down 0-3 in the series while the Sharks hope to even the series at two with a win tonight against the Kings.
Feel free to discuss the games below or anything playoff related.
Filed in: NHL Teams, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Phil Housley Named Assistant Coach For Nashville
by Paul on 05/21/13 at 04:48 PM ET
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Nashville, Tenn. (May 21, 2013) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that Phil Housley has been named assistant coach of the team. Housley coached the United States to a gold medal at the 2013 World Junior Championships and ranks fourth all-time among NHL defensemen in points (338g-894a-1,232pts).
“Phil brings a unique skill set to our coaching staff,” Poile said. “He was one of the most talented offensive defensemen to play in the NHL, and he has worked extensively with young players during his coaching career. He will continue to focus his efforts on our young defensemen and assisting on the power play.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Nashville Predators, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: phil+housley
What Type Of Fan Are You?
by Paul on 05/21/13 at 03:24 PM ET
Comments (23)
1. The Fan Who Punches a Wall
2. The Single F-Bomb Fan
3. The “Oh My God Oh My God Oh My God NOOO!” Fan
Sean McIndoe of Grantland has 17 more for you with an explanation on all.
Filed in: NHL Teams, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Kings Looking For A Road Win
by Paul on 05/21/13 at 03:12 PM ET
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from Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles,
Despite not having as much success on the road this season as the Kings did last season and losing Game 3 in heartbreaking fashion in San Jose, Sutter didn't believe that would be a factor in Tuesday night's Game 4.
"There's zero momentum," Sutter said. "Once you get in the playoffs, there's no momentum unless somebody is way better than somebody, which as you see, nobody is. There's zero momentum. If there is a carryover, you're probably not a playoff team anyways."
The Kings don't have to be as dominant on the road as they were last season in order to advance to the Western Conference finals. All they need is a win Tuesday to put them in position to close out the series back in Los Angeles on Thursday.
"We've played better at home but we can't rest and be comfortable with being a great home team," Williams said. "We need to be killers on the road. Coming back with a 3-1 lead is something we're certainly going to do our darndest to do."
more on the Kings...
Filed in: NHL Teams, Los Angeles Kings, | KK Hockey | Permalink
About Kukla's Korner Hockey
Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.
From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.
Email Paul anytime at pk@kuklaskorner.com
