Kukla's Korner

Morning Line

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

04/19/09 at 11:38 AM ET | Comments (0)

Trouble is, Bob (Gainey), in Montreal, Carey Price has already been anointed the future of goaltending.  Even if the glass slipper doesn’t fit, you’re going to force it onto his foot.

-Mick Kern of NHL Home Ice XM204.  Read much more from Mick.

Filed in: NHL Teams, Montreal Canadiens, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: carey+price

The Talk Around The League

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

04/19/09 at 11:26 AM ET | Comments (0)

The Hotstove on HNIC last night touched on numerous subjects including John Tavares, the next Edmonton coach. the Minnesota Wild, Jim Nill & Steve Yzerman.

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

Would You Consider Osgood’s Play As ‘Shaky’?

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

04/19/09 at 11:20 AM ET | Comments (0)

from Michael Arace of the Columbus Dispatch,

He is fighting shots and fumbling pucks. “Shaky” is the age-old hockey term. The thing is, the Wings seem to have the puck all the time, and when they don’t, their defensive bearing has been superb. The ice has tilted. The shots Osgood is facing are coming uphill.

Osgood faced eight shots in the last 40 minutes of Game 1. He faced 15 shots in the first 40 minutes of Game 2. His teammates have erected a force field in front of him. They have flipped the switch. Their keepaway game has given them a physical advantage against a bigger team. The Jackets might be finishing their checks, but the puck is usually gone by the time the hit is made.

read on

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

Instant Datsyuk Classic

Blog: Abel to Yzerman By IwoCPO

04/19/09 at 11:18 AM ET | Comments (0)

Antoine Vermette was frustrated.  Pavel Datsyuk has that effect, I guess.  So frustrated that he rode #13 to the ice late in yesterday’s ass kicking and attempted to drive him into the JLA surface.  Datsyuk was not impressed. The result?  A quote that will live on for the ages.

Detroit News

“He just used me like pony,” Datsyuk said. “He was on top of me. I don’t like being the pony. I want to be on top.”

Continue Reading »

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The Best Chicago Has To Offer

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

04/19/09 at 11:07 AM ET | Comments (0)

from Steve Rosenbloom of RosenBlog at the Chicago Tribune,

Your best players have to be your best players.

Not only have the Blackhawks’ best players been their best players against Calgary, but they have been the best players in this first-round playoff series. Period.

Start with Nikolai Khabibulin and Martin Havlat in Game 1. Then it was Nik At Night again in Game 2 on Saturday, but this time he was joined by Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and the obviously recovered Patrick Sharp.

For a kid with exactly 60 minutes of Stanley Cup playoff experience before Game 2 – no wait, 60 minutes and 12 seconds – Toews certainly looked like he was familiar with meeting the moment. When his team desperately needed a power-play goal to break Calgary’s early domination for the second straight game, Toews delivered.

continued

Filed in: NHL Teams, Chicago Blackhawks, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Hockey Notes On A Sunday Morning

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

04/19/09 at 10:52 AM ET | Comments (0)

from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

• The more playoff hockey there is on television, the more replays we see, the more the game is being micro-managed by referees, media and the NHL.  The endless debate on every call is getting annoying.

• Why save percentage is a flawed statistic: When Marc-Andre Fleury steals a goal from Jeff Carter with a quick leg kick, it just counts as another save. It doesn’t tell you that one stop changed a playoff series.

• Strange firing of Doug Risebrough in Minnesota: In a troubled economy and dollars growing ever tighter, don’t you retain a cheapo GM like Risebrough, who has short arms and deep pockets? But then, what would you expect from a clueless owner like Craig Leipold, who did what Gary Bettman told him and left all that Jim Balsillie money on the table in Nashville.

• Anybody who compares Washington’s Mike Green to Paul Coffey never watched Coffey in his prime. Green doesn’t even belong in the same sentence with Coffey.

more hockey topics mentioned…

Filed in: NHL Teams, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Kerry Fraser Should Be In the Playoffs

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

04/19/09 at 10:40 AM ET | Comments (0)

from Larry Brooks of the NY Post,

There’s no better example of the NHL’s intention to turn its referees into automatons programmed by VP of Officiating Stephen Walkom than the decision not to use Kerry Fraser in the playoffs. It’s sad, indeed, to see this signature referee treated with such disrespect by Gary Bettman and the league office.

Why didn’t they just slap him across the face at center ice then send it Toronto for video review?

It’s sadder, still, when people like Bill McCreary—who failed to see Scott Hartnell throw his stick at the puck when Petr Sykora was winding up to shoot in Game 2 of the Penguins-Flyers series—and Dave Jackson get the call to work the postseason instead of Fraser.

more plus some Leafs and Messier talk…

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

The Cammalleri Non-Suspension

Blog: The Puck Stops Here By PuckStopsHere

04/19/09 at 04:28 AM ET | Comments (0)

An obvious follow-up to yesterday’s post on Daniel Carcillo’s suspension is to look at a similar situation where Mike Cammalleri of the Calgary Flames was not suspended.  Early in the third period of Calgary’s game one vs. the Chicago Blackhawks, with the game tied 1-1, Cammalleri sucker punched Chicago’s Martin Havlat right off the faceoff.  For his efforts, Cammalleri was given a two minute penalty.  The main differences that the NHL has played up in explaining the lack of a suspension in this case is that it was a close game (so the resulting penalty mattered) and Cammalleri is a skilled player as Calgary’s top goal scorer this season.  Cammalleri is not a goon.  At 5’ 9” and 185 pounds he is on the small side for an NHL player.  Thus Cammalleri is not a repeat offender and he was not “sending a message” at the end of a game.

Continue Reading »

Filed in: | The Puck Stops Here | Permalink
 

Columbus Employs New Defensive System Tonight

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

04/18/09 at 10:42 PM ET | Comments (0)

Filed in: NHL Teams, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: jakub+voracek

Sharks Get A Wakeup Call

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

04/18/09 at 09:20 PM ET | Comments (0)

from Allison High of SanJoseSharks.com,

II’s not out of the ordinary for the rookie coach to bark at his players, but after seeing their slow start to practice, McLellan whistled his men back to the white board.

“It’s April,” said McLellan. “We wish that they could come out and be sharp right from minute one to minute 45, but sometimes they have to be woken up. It’s not the first time and it won’t be the last time. I was happy with the pace of practice. The execution early wasn’t as good, but it got a lot better and we should be ready to play.”

This strategy is not uncommon for coaches at this time of the year. McLellan explained that the same thing happened in Detroit during his tenure. And by doing it on Saturday in San Jose, the Sharks responded. The twenty minutes spent on special teams’ drills was some of San Jose’s best.

“We were still asleep,” explained Sharks center Jeremy Roenick in response to his coach’s pep talk. “A little wakeup call is always nice.”

read on

Filed in: NHL Teams, San Jose Sharks, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

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