Kukla's Korner

NHL Award Nominees Announced

Blog: The Puck Stops Here By PuckStopsHere

05/18/13 at 01:44 PM ET | Comments (2)

Over the last couple of weeks the NHL has announced the nominees for the year end awards.  Earlier I posted the people that I would vote for if I had an award ballot.  That is not my predictions about who will get nominated, but rather who I think is deserving.  Now that we have seen the nominees, I want to comment upon who I think should win the award and what the nominations mean.  Given our shortened season, there has been less time for players to distinguish themselves as likely award winners, so I think some of these award races are more uncertain than they usually are.

Calder Trophy - Brendan Gallagher Montreal Canadiens, Jonathan Huberdeau Florida Panthers, Brandon Saad Chicago Blackhawks.  The only nominee of this bunch I would have voted for was Huberdeau and I think he will win it.  While there are narratives that lead to all three winning, I don't buy into the cases for Gallagher and Saad.  Gallagher is a very hard working player in a big market in Montreal.  This makes him a popular player but he cannot do the things that Nail Yakupov does easily and makes look effortless (and sometimes makes it look like he isn't trying even when he succeeds).  Yakupov also outscored Gallagher in a lower scoring conference (which was effectively a different league given no cross-over games).  I think he would have been a better nominee.  Saad is given a lot of credit for cracking a tough Chicago Blackhawk lineup and getting some first line minutes.  What is rarely mentioned is how Chicago was in need of a first line left winger and he got auditioned along with some other players and given Chicago's talent none looked out of place.  This shows he is an NHL player, but also one who is benefiting from the circumstances in which he plays.  I think Jonas Brodin was a better nominee as he played a much bigger role in Minnesota with much more icetime than Saad.  He was a far more important player to Minnesota than Saad has been in Chicago.

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Red Wings-Blackhawks Game 2 game-day updates: no changes for Chicago, Miller likely in for Detroit

Blog: The Malik Report By George Malik

05/18/13 at 12:06 PM ET | Comments (3)

Updated with AHL news at 12:19 PM: The Detroit Red Wings hope to right their ship by bouncing back from Game 1's third-period meltdown today as they face the Chicago Blackhawks in a matinee affair (1 PM EDT, NBC/CBC/97.1/post-game on WDIV and FSD), and there's little news on the player personnel front save the Chicago Tribune's Brian Hamilton, NHL.com, the Chicago Sun-Times' Mark Lazerus, ESPN Chicago's Scott Powers, Comcast Sportsnet Chicago's Tracey Myers and probably seven or eight other Chicago sources stating that Michal Handzus (back) will play for Chicago today, but Viktor Stalberg (healthy scratch) will not...

So enjoy Ken Kal's game-day preview from the Wings' website. It features Drew Miller, who may or may not play today, depending on whether coach Mike Babcock believes he's ready to go based upon his play in warm-ups...

And it's a day late, but Wings coach Mike Babcock's colorful and somewhat combative Friday afternoon presser should put you in the mood for hockey:

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No Surgery Required For Eric Staal

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

05/18/13 at 11:13 AM ET | Comments (0)

RALEIGH, NC – Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test on team captain Eric Staal’s right knee revealed a third-degree sprain of the medial collateral ligament (MCL). Surgery will not be required to repair the ligament, and Staal’s rehabilitation should last three months. It is expected that he will be healthy and ready to play to start the 2013-14 season.

Staal, 28, was injured when he took a knee-on-knee hit from defenseman Alexander Edler in the first period of Canada’s quarterfinal game at the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championships on Thursday in Stockholm, Sweden. Edler received a five-minute major kneeing penalty and a game misconduct by the game’s officials. On Friday, the IIHF Independent Disciplinary Panel determined that Edler should have received a match penalty as a result of the play and suspended him for the remainder of the tournament.

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Two Western Conference Games Today

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

05/18/13 at 11:05 AM ET | Comments (0)

The Red Wings will try to even the series at 1-1 with the Blackhawks while the Sharks need a win or else they will go down 0-3 to the Kings.

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Saving Both Barrels For Captain Farrell

Blog: Abel to Yzerman By IwoCPO

05/18/13 at 10:00 AM ET | Comments (637)

I've decided I don't like Marian Hossa.  I never blamed him for leaving Hockeytown for the starched collars and wine coolers of Chicago.  Well, I did because I'm me and I'm always looking for someone to blame for something.  But, I kind of understood it.  Our man with the plan Tick Tock made his choice and Gary wouldn't let us keep them both, so...it's history.

I don't like him now, though. Not one bit.  

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GDT - WCSF Game 2: Red Wings (0-1) at Hawks (1-0) 1:00

Blog: Abel to Yzerman By Jeff OKWingnut

05/18/13 at 09:40 AM ET | Comments (5)

Matinee tilt today boys and girls.  Captain Obvious, reiterating his comment from the LB:  "Color me pessimistic, but after the 1st period, I kinda thought DET got taken to the woodshed.  But for Jimmy, it’d been a whole lot worse."

Seems I'm not the only to notice that fact:  Babcock said it boils down to this: His team didn't skate.  “If you don't skate better, you have no chance,'' he said.  “We were very poor, we didn't execute at all, we didn't skate, so we're all spread out. There was no one for the D to pass to. We didn't play fast. We played fine in the first 20 minutes, after that we got skated into the ice.''

CHI have won 8 straight - - DET are due, right?  LGRW

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Brad Richards, The High Priced 4th-Liner

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

05/18/13 at 08:50 AM ET | Comments (4)

from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

So when Tortorella begins an answer to a question about Richards’ status as the club’s fourth-line center with the words, “Sometimes it’s not about Brad,” as he did yesterday on the first of two days between Game 1 of the conference semis and Game 2 against the Bruins here tomorrow, it’s kind of a whoa moment.

As much of a whoa moment as the whole of the 3-2 overtime series-opening defeat in which Richards got the least amount of even-strength ice time of any Ranger (9:59), including 26 seconds in the second period when he sat on the bench for a stretch of eight minutes.

Richards, who turned 33 a couple of weeks ago, isn’t some bit guy. He was supposed to be the missing link when he signed that nine-year, $60 million contract over the summer of 2011 under which he has already been paid $24 million — and would be owed another $24 million if the Rangers use their final amnesty buyout on him this summer.

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A Bad Night For Erik Karlsson

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

05/18/13 at 08:16 AM ET | Comments (0)

from Ken Warren of Senators Extra,

It was one of the worst nights of Karlsson’s career. He played only 15:37, an all-time low for him in a playoff game, clearly showing that he’s not even close to full health since his quick return from Achilles surgery.

“We finished pretty strong, but we started poorly,” Karlsson said, earlier in the interview. “Some of the blame is on me. I’m struggling a little bit.”

Karlsson says he’s not sure whether his problems stem from the injury or fatigue.

“I don’t really know,” he said. “I don’t think I have the answer to that myself. I just have to find a way to figure my body out and obviously I’m not feeling the same way as I’m used to. It started bad and I just couldn’t get it going.”

Senators coach Paul MacLean didn’t disagree with any of that.

“He played 15:37, which isn’t normal for him,” said MacLean, looking at the official game sheet. “So, obviously, he wasn’t one of our best players. On our team, the best players play. He wasn’t one of our best players, so he didn’t play.”

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San Jose GM Doug Wilson On The Torres Suspension

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

05/18/13 at 08:06 AM ET | Comments (1)

from the Sharks website,

The Sharks organization fully supports the NHL in its efforts to remove illegal and dangerous hits from the game but we strongly disagree with the NHL's decision to suspend Raffi Torres.

Upon review of the incident, it is abundantly clear that this was a clean hockey hit. As noted by the NHL, Raffi's initial point of contact was a shoulder-to-shoulder hit on an opponent who was playing the puck. He did not leave his feet or elevate, he kept his shoulder tucked and elbow down at his side, and he was gliding - not skating or charging.

As stated in the NHL's Player Safety video, Rule 48.1 says, "A hit resulting in contact with an opponent's head where the head is targeted and the principal point of contact is not permitted." Thus, with the use of the word "and", this rule clearly states that two elements must occur in order to violate the rule. Raffi absolutely did not target his opponent's head on the play. The call on the ice specifically acknowledged that the head was not targeted and nowhere in the NHL's ruling does it insinuate or suggest that the opponent's head was targeted.

continued

How does Don Cherry feel about the suspension?  Watch below and find out...

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  Tags: doug+wilson

Red Wings-Blackhawks Game 2 set-up and overnight report: time to see what the square wheel can do

Blog: The Malik Report By George Malik

05/18/13 at 03:04 AM ET | Comments (1)

The Detroit Red Wings will attempt to assuage a third-period meltdown as they face off against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 2 of their second-round series today (1 PM EDT to accomodate the Preakness Stakes on NBC, also on the CBC, 97.1, and WDIV and Fox Sports Detroit will air post-game shows in Michigan). If the teams' recent history (and the experts) are to be believed, as noted by the Chicago Daily Herald's Mark Lazerus noted, the Wings may as well give up now...

The Blackhawks have won eight consecutive games against the Red Wings. That’s their second-longest winning streak against the Wings in the 87-year history of the rivalry. The Hawks won 13 in a row during an 18-0-1 run from April 8, 1970, to Jan. 17, 1973.

The Hawks were 4-0-0 against the Red Wings in the regular season. Since 2005-06, teams that have gone 3-0 or better against an opponent in the regular season are 10-1 against that team in the postseason. In 2008, the Canadiens went 4-0-0 vs. the Flyers, then lost 4-1 to Philadelphia in the second round of the playoffs.

And Corey Crawford's record vs. Detroit in the regular season and playoffs is an equally scary 12-2-and-2, but the Hawks don't expect the Wings to give up easily. Instead, the Hawks told the Sun-Times' Mark Potash that they're expecting the Wings to literally and figuratively push back:

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