Kukla's Korner

Two Eastern Conference Playoff Games On The NHL Schedule Today

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

05/19/13 at 10:59 AM ET | Comments (11)

John Tortorella plans to make some adjustments to the Rangers...

When asked if any significant adjustments were necessary following the Rangers' 3-2 overtime loss in Game 1, he conceded that some changes were needed. But he made an important distinction that piqued curiosity about what those might be.

"To me, it’s not so much on the ice," Tortorella said. "There’s some other adjustments we have to go through. I’m not gonna tell ya, but there are some other adjustments we have to go through and a lot of it really isn’t on the ice." 

When pressed further about the nature of these "adjustments," Tortorella declined to elaborate. 

"Don’t start pushing me on that," he said. "I really don’t want to talk too much about it."

more from Katie Strang of ESPN...

Meanwhile, the Ottawa Senators will have Jason Spezza in the lineup today, his first game back from injury since January 27th.

Will he provide the spark the Senators need to get back in the series or will the Penguins go up 3-0 tonight?

Filed in: NHL Teams, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Once Again, The Bigger Ice Debate

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

05/19/13 at 10:40 AM ET | Comments (20)

from Tony Gallagher of the Vancouver Province,

After watching the World Hockey Championships this past couple of weeks, you have to wonder at what point the NHL will begin to face reality.

We speak here of the failure to recognize how the entertainment value of their product is on a downhill slide.

We speak of their continuing insistence, for instance, on keeping their ice surfaces at exactly the same size as its always been, despite the fact the game is almost choking itself to death given the increase in the size of the players and the speed at which they move.

It’s a simple case of physics the NHL types simply won’t face.

You have bigger, faster players in better shape than they’ve ever been, racing around in the same confined area. That means more collisions and at a greater impact level, and as a result you’re getting the kind of horrific injuries you do, including concussion and skyrocketing injury rates that demand more and more depth in organizations. And more collisions mean more defence.

continued

Filed in: NHL Talk, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Morning Line

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

05/19/13 at 09:56 AM ET | Comments (6)

On whether he had a good vantage point of the goaltender interference call on Trevor Lewis:
“You know, I didn’t because I was watching Richards shoot it. I find it very tough to believe with a player as intelligent as Trevor Lewis that he’d run the goalie. I asked him. He said he got pushed from behind. I believe him, and I’m disappointed that the refs had enough confidence to make a gutsy call like that in the last whatever, 30 seconds in the period. It’s pretty impressive when you have enough gall to guess, because I’m going to look at the tape and I’m going to see if he got pushed, because I know what it’s like to drive the net. Sometimes it happens.”

-Dustin Penner of the LA Kings via Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider

Watch the interference call below, I have advanced the video to the time when the play started...

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Filed in: NHL Teams, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: dustin+penner

Hockey Talks On A Sunday Morning

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

05/19/13 at 09:36 AM ET | Comments (1)

from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- If you’d never watched hockey before and happened to catch the Penguins-Islanders series, you would think John Tavares, not Sidney Crosby, is the best player in hockey. After Game 2 against Ottawa, you might have changed your mind.

-The waiting game for Alain Vigneault has begun. And the same may be true with Dave Tippett.

Both men are still employed as NHL coaches. Both men are considered among the best. But Vigneault’s future with the Vancouver Canucks is in doubt and Tippett’s contract with the Phoenix Coyotes expires next month.

So the coaching openings in Colorado and Dallas, and maybe in Edmonton, are on hold awaiting moves in the marketplace. Should either Tippett or Vigneault be made available, they, along with Lindy Ruff, become the most likely hirings for teams looking for established coaches. With only two certain openings, and possibly as many as five, should Vigneault and Tippett become available, there is room for a game of coaches musical chairs here.

more including why the Leafs lost game 7 in OT...

Filed in: NHL Teams, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Quick Could Face League Discipline

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

05/19/13 at 09:27 AM ET | Comments (2)

via TSN,

The Kings were beaten on a goal by Logan Couture after the Sharks played the entire 89 seconds of overtime on the power play. The Kings were received penalties for both hooking and goaltender interference in the final minute of regulation play.

After conceding the game winner, Quick immediately skated out of his crease and was visibly upset.

Quick was assessed a 10-minute and game misconduct after the whistle. According to multiple reports the penalties were for abuse of an official.

According to Rule 39.5 of the NHL Rule Book a game misconduct for abuse of an official may be subject to supplemental discipline.

Watch the only reply I could find of the incident and you can stop watching once you see people chasing a soccer ref.

Filed in: NHL Teams, Los Angeles Kings, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: jonathan+quick

How About Some New Rules And Torres Talk Too

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

05/19/13 at 09:09 AM ET | Comments (1)

from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

* New rule: When a penalty is assessed at the 20:00 mark of a period, the next period shall begin with the faceoff in the offensive zone of the club on the power play and not at the center dot.

New rule: When a player intentionally is thrown out of the faceoff circle following an icing in order to give his team a few extra seconds of rest — as was the case twice with the Bruins’ Milan Lucic in Game 1 against the Rangers — a delay of game minor shall be called.

* Boy, oh boy, is there an abundance of misplaced pity on behalf of Raffi Torres, the serial predator now employed by the Sharks serving a suspension of up to six games for his — what else? — headshot that took out the Kings Jarret Stoll in Game 1 of the Western semis.

And in arguing on behalf of his player, Sharks general manager Doug Wilson comes off as just another in a long line of NHL enablers whose failure to condemn recidivists such as Torres and Patrick Kaleta contribute to the danger these players pose to those around them every time they take the ice.

more

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Red Wings-Blackhawks Game 2 wrap-up: so much for the two-game series

Blog: The Malik Report By George Malik

05/19/13 at 05:16 AM ET | Comments (13)

The time between the quick take, the Toews entry and the time that this recap hits the web has been an uncomfortable one for me (the norovirus apparently has death throes), so I feel like being a smarmy *#$%@&, and I'm gonna be one. Jonathan Toews most certainly let it be known that his team was hacked, whacked, hooked, held, touched, looked at and otherwise thought of in space-limiting terms, and much to the amusing chagrin of both Toews and his Hawk colleagues, the Red Wings played this mysterious game called puck possession hockey to its hilt over the course of a 4-1 win that shocked all the experts picking the Blackhawks in 2 games.

I'm not saying "seemed to pick the Blackhawks," because I sure as shit could swear, at least by what I read from everywhere on the internet and heard on the TV and radio, that there was going to be a handshake line after Game 2, when the Blackhawks would advance to play for the Stanley Cup against the Los Angeles Kings, and I was quite happy to hope that the Red Wings went out onto actual ice after a two-day break and, with determination, grit, poise and attention to detail, told the hockey world to go *#$%@& itself.

Now I don't believe that the team's really that tuned into what's being said about them--if the 48-games-in-99-nights marathon taught me anything, the players are so damn busy playing every other night that it takes a tremendous amount of effort to pay attention to what's being said about them...

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Something new: Red Wings-Blackhawks Game 2 multimedia post

Blog: The Malik Report By George Malik

05/19/13 at 04:09 AM ET | Comments (0)

Okay, trying something different: in addition to quick takes, I can generally get multimedia out of the way pretty quickly...And the crush of press interest in the Red Wings-Blackhawks series is forcing me to toss off the various multimedia offerings related to the Red Wings' 4-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday into a separate post. Enjoy post-break high-bandwidth fun. The wrap-up is still in progress at 4 in the morning (it's been a long night)...

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Filed in: | The Malik Report | Permalink
 

Sharks’ OT win avoids 3-0 deficit, aggravates Kings, Jonathan Quick

Blog: KK Hockey By George Malik

05/19/13 at 02:02 AM ET | Comments (0)

The San Jose Sharks climbed back into their second round series via a 2-1 OT win over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night...

But the Associated Press's recap reports that the Kings were particularly upset with the ways in which the San Jose Sharks were awarded a 5-on-3 in overtime...

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Nice hit, Stuey

Blog: KK Hockey By George Malik

05/18/13 at 11:24 PM ET | Comments (3)

Via We All Bleed Red on YouTube, as a Wings fan, I sure miss Brad Stuart, and the Sharks defenseman made the highlight reels for the right reasons on Saturday--he delivered a hard but clean hit to Kings forward Justin Williams, who eventually got up and is playing for the Kings right now:

Hitting can be clean and devastating without deliveirng nasty injuries or controversy. Who knew?

Filed in: | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

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