Kukla's Korner

Gonchar played with torn MCL, Wings with several injuries as well

Blog: The Confluence By Tony

06/14/09 at 11:05 PM ET | Comments (0)

As is customary nowadays, details of both Stanley Cup Finals teams’ injuries have started to come to light.

The major injury for the Penguins, suffered by Pens’ defenseman Sergei Gonchar after a collision with Alex Ovechkin, turned out to be a partially torn MCL.  Head Coach Dan Bylsma indicated there were some other injuries to the Penguins, but didn’t elaborate.

The Wings had several injuries of their own as well, including surgery for injured testicles to captain Nik Lidstrom after a stick from the Hawks’ Patrick Sharp.

Filed in: , | The Confluence | Permalink
  Tags: detroit+red+wings, nhl-hockey, pittsburgh+penguins

Talking HNIC

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

06/14/09 at 10:57 PM ET | Comments (0)

from Bruce Dowbiggin of the Globe and Mail,

Perhaps CBC’s tepid ratings until now stem from confusion over content. Hockey Night in Canada seems to believe the show is Don Cherry with a little hockey game on the side. A few deluded souls believe the players and game should take prominence over He Who Will Not be Ignored. Once again, Game 7 featured another homage à Cherry as he fished an octopus out of the Detroit River. This after the laboured Dos Equis beer spoof and a season of otherwise bowing and scraping to his schtick….

Hockey Night will also have to consider the polymorphous Ron MacLean, Cherry’s caddy. One minute he’s the crack reporter on The Hot Stove, all fedoras with the business card and a pencil behind the ear. Then he’s the frozen Deepak Chopra, spouting homilies about Pittsburgh’s rookie head coach Dan Bylsma, “He learned there was a busload of adversity and a flight of opportunity along the way.”

The next moment he’s the unabashed fan, gushing over the players on the ice Friday night.

more

Filed in: NHL Media, Hockey Broadcasting, CBC HNIC, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Penguins, Cup visit Pirates at PNC Park

Blog: The Confluence By Tony

06/14/09 at 06:14 PM ET | Comments (0)

The Penguins continued their journey around Pittsburgh since returning from Detroit Friday night with the Stanley Cup. today visiting PNC Park, where ironically enough, the Pirates are entertaining the Detroit Tigers.

The championship parade is Monday at noon in downtown Pittsburgh, using the same route that the Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers used this past February.

Filed in: Pittsburgh Penguins, | The Confluence | Permalink
  Tags: detroit+red+wings, nhl-hockey, pittsburgh+penguins

Time To Move On

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

06/14/09 at 03:17 PM ET | Comments (0)

from Kevin Allen at Mucking and Grinding at USA TODAY,

Having witnessed a splendidly played Stanley Cup Finals between two exceptional hockey teams, it bothers me that the fallout from the series is akin to what we get from 13-year-old girls soccer.  It has come down to how fans behaved during and after the game,  who didn’t shake hands with whom and how childishly fans can react to what has transpired

  Can we just put a moratorium on hate dispensing for 24 hours just to acknowledge that this was a whale of a series, maybe the best I’ve seen in a quarter-century of writing about the NHL. The Penguins scaled Mt. Everest in beating this high-caliber Detroit team.

  As someone who knows all of the parties involved, let me see if I can bring some reason and civility to this messiness.

continued

Filed in: NHL Teams, Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Talking Hockey On The First Sunday Of The Post-Season

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

06/14/09 at 12:46 PM ET | Comments (0)

from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

• One reason to wonder about Red Wings coach Mike Babcock as the choice for Canadian Olympic hockey coach: The Olympics are one-game playoffs. And the one thing Babcock didn’t do well in Game 6 or 7 against the Penguins was adjust. His team needed to get pucks in deep and to the net, especially in the second half of Game 7, and stubbornly his players kept trying to carry it through crowds, turned it over and generated little offence.

• The only way the Anaheim Ducks steal defenceman Jack Johnson and an early first-round pick from L.A. for diminishing asset Chris Pronger is if Kings general manager Dean Lombardi happens to lose his mind.

more hockey notes…

Filed in: NHL Teams, NHL Talk, Non-NHL Hockey, International Hockey, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Sunday Issues: Draper, Belts, Scumbags And Hossa

Blog: Abel to Yzerman By IwoCPO

06/14/09 at 12:06 PM ET | Comments (0)

Interesting.  Can anyone recall a single time Kris Draper’s said anything to the media that could be construed as controversial or critical of another player?  Even after his face was ravaged by one of the more cowardly hits in NHL history, Draper said little to nothing.

Draper, who’s never shirked his responsibilities after Wing losses, who’s never said an ill thing about an opponent, who’s respected league wide…is now just making stuff up. Right?

“Nick was waiting and waiting, and Crosby didn’t come over to shake his hand” in the traditional handshake line. He added that, “that’s ridiculous, especially as their captain, and make sure you write that I said that.”

Continue Reading »

Filed in: | Abel to Yzerman | Permalink
 

Wings Need Defensive Help

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

06/14/09 at 10:51 AM ET | Comments (0)

from Pat Caputo of the Oakland Press,

There are two very good unrestricted free agent defensemen — Florida’s Jay Bouwmeester and Montreal’s Mike Komisarek. Both are in their 20s. Bouwmeester, the third overall pick in the 2002 draft, is at the high end because he has offensive skill to go along with his size (6-foot-4, 215 pounds) and defensive ability. Komisarek, who starred at the University of Michigan, is a bull with pretty good skill. He is 6-4, 245 pounds and a physical presence. The situation in Montreal deteriorated for a number of reasons this season, and he had a lot of injuries. But he was the seventh overall pick in the 2001 draft and played excellent hockey for the Canadiens leading up to last season.

A change of scenery, especially coming home in a sense to the Red Wings, would really benefit Komisarek.

It’s often overlooked, too, how good defense leads to offense. It was apparent the Red Wings weren’t making quite as many defensive plays in the Finals. It hindered their transition game, which has long been one of the best in the NHL.

They’ve got plenty of scorers and young forwards.

Get some “D” men.

more

Note to Caputo, it will not happen and doesn’t need to happen.

Filed in: NHL Teams, Detroit Red Wings, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Moving Time

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

06/14/09 at 10:36 AM ET | Comments (0)

from Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe,

• According to one veteran agent with a list of high-profile NHLers, the Krejci deal, worth $11.25 million over three years, created a salary “barrier” on the Bruins.

“Guys like Kessel, [Milan] Lucic, and [Blake] Wheeler, they all know what their limit is now,” he said.

Kessel becomes a restricted free agent July 1, while Lucic and Wheeler, the latter of whom just completed his rookie season, don’t reach that threshold until July 1, 2010.

Asked what he felt would happen with Kessel, the agent said, “I think he’ll be gone. Chiarelli will dump him with a West Coast team where he can score his 40 goals every year, and he’ll be out of sight, out of mind.”

• Word around the Cup finals was that the Sharks, off another postseason collapse, are trying to move Patrick Marleau and Milan Michalek. Their combined cap hit is $10.6 million. GM Doug Wilson needs to get back a couple of large dollops of grit and nastiness to avoid another second-round KO.

more hockey talk…

Filed in: NHL Teams, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Now It Is Decision Time For Holland

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

06/14/09 at 10:21 AM ET | Comments (0)

from Ansar Khan of Mlive,

General manager Ken Holland doesn’t anticipate making any moves for a couple of weeks, when he has a better idea of next season’s cap figure. Much will depend on whether Hossa is re-signed.

Whatever happens, the Red Wings still have a strong nucleus of players in their prime and some good, young talent in their system, ensuring they will remain among the NHL’s elite.

One day after losing to Pittsburgh in Game 7 of the finals, Holland lamented his team’s inability to close out the series after leading 3-2. But he commended his players, some of whom played through significant injuries, for their effort, feeling they just ran out of energy at the end.

And he praised the Penguins, whom he said were focused and hungry and gained tremendous experience—particularly young players Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, Jordan Staal and Marc-Andre Fleury—from losing in last year’s finals.

read on

Filed in: NHL Teams, Detroit Red Wings, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: marian+hossa

No To Heatley In Edmonton

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

06/14/09 at 10:09 AM ET | Comments (0)

from Robert Tychkowski of the Edmonton Sun,

Which brings us to Dany Heatley. He shoots Edmonton a sideways glance and fans are reaching for their wallets -or, Katz’s wallet - faster than a drunken sailor on the first day of shore leave.

Let’s hope Oilers management shows a little more restraint.

Edmonton, of all places, should be wary of mercenaries like Heatley. Have we learned nothing from Mike Comrie and Chris Pronger?

With a salary cap that’s dropping fast, do the Oilers really want to invest a big chunk of their allowance for the next five years on a guy who only seems to care about one thing: Himself?

We’re not talking about Henrik Zetterberg here. We’re talking about one of the lead dogs on one of the biggest, softest underachievers of the last 20 years. The Ottawa Senators were supposed to be Stanley Cup champions two times over by now, but they gagged and folded and got outworked year after year until their window of opportunity had finally closed for good.

more

Filed in: NHL Teams, Edmonton Oilers, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: dany+heatley

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