Kukla's Korner

Red Wings-Blackhawks Game 4 game-day updates: Wings understand gravity of their situation

Blog: The Malik Report By George Malik

05/23/13 at 02:29 PM ET | Comments (10)

Updated 5x at 4:46 PM, and Babs' game-day presser is below: As Paul's already noted, the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks exchanged the usual "all is well" sentiments as they prepared to face off in Game 4 of their second-round series tonight (8 PM EDT, NBCSN/CBC/97.1 FM, with a post-game show to air on FSD), and coach Babcock was in fine form during his game-day presser...

The NHL Network also filed a game-day report which includes comments from Babcock, Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall and Justin Abdelkader...

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Video- Dalton Thrower Suspended For The Remaining Games Of The Memorial Cup

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

05/23/13 at 02:21 PM ET | Comments (4)

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Chicago And Detroit Ready For Game 4

Blog: The Malik Report By Paul

05/23/13 at 01:05 PM ET | Comments (6)

from Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times,

Toews was indeed smiling, and most of the Hawks seemed to be in a rather good mood after an unusually focused morning skate at Joe Louis Arena. If the pressure's mounting, they weren't showing it.

"Our group's been fine. We're definitely disappointed, we haven't been in this position all year. We've quietly gone about our business and [they've] gotten our attention over the last couple of games. The focus has got to be in the right place. We want to play our best game of the year tonight, and we're going to need it."

After a disastrous Game 2, the Hawks felt they played a strong game in Game 3, particularly in the third period. The way they see it, if a break or two had gone their way, they'd be the team up 2-1 in the series. Of course, they're not. And the fact that one of their better efforts wasn't good enough to beat the surging Red Wings might not have damaged the Hawks' confidence, but it certainly boosted Detroit's.

"It shows that we have a lot of confidence and we're playing close to our best hockey right now, and that's what we want to keep doing," said defenseman Brendan Smith. "I think we've still got to work on a few things. I don't think we've played a full 60 minutes and that's something we're going to need to do tonight, because we all know Chicago's going to come out blazing. It's such an important game. Seems like every game gets more important -- it's unbelievable how that works. They're going to up their ante and we're going to have to do the same."

read on

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Classic Babcock This Morning

Blog: The Malik Report By Paul

05/23/13 at 11:29 AM ET | Comments (6)

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Brad Richards A Healthy Scratch Tonight

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

05/23/13 at 11:23 AM ET | Comments (25)

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TiqIQ Ticket Preview: Sharks vs. Kings

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

05/23/13 at 10:46 AM ET | Comments (2)

By Matthew Feuerman of TiqIQ,

It was close late in Game 3, but in the end, Antti Niemi got it done for the San Jose Sharks. The veteran goalkeeper stopped 22 of 23 stops en route to a clutch victory for the Sharks, their second in a row.

It was also the second straight game where Niemi was near unbeatable. In games three and four he allowed only two goals combined, and give his team a decisive advantage on the ice. Niemi has posted a stellar 1.93 Goals Against Average this postseason.

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You’re The GM - How Much Do You Pay Bobrovsky?

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

05/23/13 at 10:25 AM ET | Comments (13)

from Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch,

It has been about a month since the Blue Jackets’ season ended and two months since contract talks between the club and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky started, but the sides are no closer to reaching a deal.

“We’ve talked. We’ve exchanged ideas,” general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said this week. “But we haven’t made any progress, really. It’s been pretty quiet for a while now.”

Bobrovsky, 24, can become a restricted free agent on July 5, and he’s due a big raise from the roughly $1.7 million a season he made in his entry-level deal, including salary and bonuses.

continued

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  Tags: sergei+bobrovsky

Wings Loaded With Homegrown Talent

Blog: The Malik Report By Paul

05/23/13 at 09:56 AM ET | Comments (13)

from Cam Cole of the Vancouver Sun,

There is something vaguely unfair about the Detroit Red Wings.

The lineup they iced for Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinal series against Chicago on Monday had 15 players who were either their own draft picks or who were Red Wings property before anyone else got them.

That's 15 out of 20, and if forward Darren Helm and defenceman Danny DeKeyser were healthy, the number would be higher.

This, despite having not had a top-10 pick in the draft since 1991 (Marty Lapointe), and only two inside the top 20 in the 22 seasons since then - in each of which, by the way, the Red Wings have made the playoffs.

Oh, and just to rub it in a little, the Wings' system includes the NCAA college defence-men of the year in the CCHA (DeKeyser) and WCHA (Nick Jensen), the top defenceman in the Canadian Hockey League (Ryan Sproule) and one of the QMJHL's two or three best rearguards, Xavier Ouellet.

continued

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Hockey Takes A Backseat In NYC

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

05/23/13 at 09:45 AM ET | Comments (4)

from Dan Shaughnessy,

Hockeytown, this is not.

The New York state of mind is not focused on the neutral zone trap. It’s hard to be a Rangers fan in the city. Spike Lee and Whoopi Goldberg don’t splice Rangers footage into their films.

Sure, the Rangers have fans and sellouts and Original Six tradition, and they even won a Stanley Cup back in 1994. But I have been here since Monday and I am here to tell you that there is no buzz in this town for the New York Rangers. The House of Blueshirts is the hockey house of blues.

It’s not just because the 2012-13 Rangers can’t score goals, have no power play (2 for 38 in playoffs), and are teetering on the brink of elimination. No. It was like this in the days leading up to Tuesday night’s de facto clincher by the Bruins.

The Knicks are the big deal here. The Yankees are a big deal. And the Giants. Even the Jets.

The Rangers? Not that big of a deal. They get sketchy coverage in the local papers. They aren’t a hot topic on sports radio. Except for their All-World goalie, Henrik Lundqvist, they lack star power.

continued

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Rangers Need Some Edge To Their Game

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

05/23/13 at 09:33 AM ET | Comments (1)

from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

The Rangers have been shorthanded just 21 times in 10 playoff games, and just 17 times since the 7:00 mark of the second period of Game 1 in Washington. Twice in the last five matches — Game 6 against the Caps and Game 3 against the Bruins — they went entire games without being down a man.

That goes beyond discipline. That goes to a lack of initiating and responding and it goes to a fear of playing on the edge. And now they’re on a ledge.

Down 3-0, it almost impossible to see all the way up. But if the Rangers are going to go down, at least they don’t have to be so polite about it.

more

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