NHL Plays of the Night 4/29/11

NHL Plays of the Night 4/27/11

Hart Trophy Finalist 2010-11

The 3 finalist for the 2010-11 Hart Trophy as league MVP are:

Corey Perry - Anaheim (2010-11 Richard Trophy Winner)

Daniel Sedin - Vancouver (2010-11 Art Ross Trophy Winner)

Martin St Louis - Tampa Bay (2004 Hart Trophy Winner)

Alex Burrows - History Will Be Made 4/26/11

Vancouver wins their first round series in a game 7 OT thriller

Today in Hockey History

Today in 1935 the NHL permanently awarded the original Lady Byng trophy for Gentlemanly Play to Frank Boucher.   After winning the trophy 7 out of 8 years Boucher was given the trophy to keep and Lady Byng donated the trophy that is awarded today.

Stat of the Night (Playoff Edition)

Last night in what was just a great game to watch as a hockey fan, we saw a first.  For the first time in the 86 years the Chicago Blackhaws have been in the NHL they had never had a player score a playoff penalty shot.....until April 24th 2011.

Michael Frolik put his name in the record book as the first Blackhawk to register a penalty shot goal in the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs in route to a 4-3 OT win over the Vancouver Canucks. 

In the process of the play the starting goaltender for Vancouver, Corey Schneider, tore his hamstring which meant that benched starter/All Star/Vezina finalist Roberto Louongo had to come into the game.  He ended up losing the game on the OT game winner.   Game 7 Tuesday night in Vacouver, fasten your seat belts they are going to let it all hang out.

NHL Plays of the Night 4/23/11

NHL Plays of the Night 4/21/11

Trophy Finalists for 2010-2011

Here are the finalist for:

The Vezina Trophy - Roberto Luongo (Van), Tim Thomas (Bos) and Pekka Rinne (Nsh)
Last year's winner was Ryan Miller (Buf) and Thomas is the 2009 winner.

The Calder Trophy (Rookie of the Year) -
Michael Grabner (NY Islanders) 34 goals, Logan Couture (SJ Sharks) 32 and Jeff Skinner of the (Car) 31

The Lady Byng Trophy - Niklas Lidstrom (Det), Loui Eriksson (Dal) and Martin St. Louis (TB)

Lidstrom could be the first defenseman to win the award in 57 years or St. Louis could win his second in a row.

Here is the schedule for the rest of the trophy finalist announcements

Date		Award
4/25/11		James Norris Memorial Trophy
4/26/11		Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy
4/27/11		Frank J. Selke Trophy
4/28/11		Hart Memorial Trophy
4/29/11		Jack Adams Award
5/02/11		NHL Foundation Player Award

1951 Stanley Cup Finals

Today in 1951 the Toronto Maples Leafs put the final touches on a 4 games to 1 Stanley Cup Finals victory over the Montreal Canadiens.  All 5 games of the series went to overtime with the game 4 winner being scored by Toronto defenseman Bill Barilko, who tragically would die the following summer in a plane crash.

All but one of the 5 games was a 3-2 score, with game 3 the exception, a Toronto 2-1 win.   This was the 6 Stanley Cup win for the Maple Leafs since 1942.  It would be the last win for the Leafs until 1962, when they would win 3 years in a row.

The leading scorers in the 1951 playoffs were Maurice Richard of Montreal and Max Bentley of Toronto who both had 13 points.

Stat of the Day

NHL Teams with the most consecutive Stanley Cup playoff appearances

1 - Boston Bruins - 28 (1968-1996)

2 - Chicago Blackhawks - 27 (1970-1997)

3 - St. Louis Blues - 24 (1980-2004)

4 - Montreal Canadiens - 23  (1971-1994)

NHL Plays of the Night 4/16/11

2011 Trophy Winners

Well with the close of the 2010-2011 regular season we have 3 confirmed trophy winners.  First the Presidents Trophy was won by the Vancouver Canucks for the best regular season record. 
The Art Ross Trophy winner for the regular season scoring leader, Daniel Sedin (Vancouver Canucks) with 104 points.   This win along with brother Henrik Sedin winning the Ross Trophy last year, makes the Sedin's the only brothers to win the scoring title in back to back seasons.
The Richard Trophy for most goals in the regular season for 2010-2011 goes to Corey Perry (Anaheim Ducks) for his 50 goals.  He was the only player to reach that milestone this year and its the lowest goal total for the Richard Trophy since Rick had only 41 goals 2003-2004.   Alexader Ovechkin (Washington Capitals) holds the record for most goals to win the Richard Trophy with 65 in 2007-2008, but the award has only been awarded since the 1998-99 season.

2011 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs

Well the opening night gave us a couple of surprises, first Marc Andre Fluery got a shutout against Tampa Bay in the first game of their series, then the Red Wings turned it on to top the Coyotes.    In the other Eastern quarterfinal the Washington Capitals waited until the 3rd period before getting a goal against the Rangers but it tied the game at 1 and went to OT where Alexander Semin decided it with a one timer from the point.
The Canucks and Preds had little trouble in their series openers.

NHL Network plays of the year 4/10/11

NHL News and Notes

Lemaire Retires (again)
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- Unlike a year ago when he could barely get the words out, New Jersey Devils coach Jacques Lemaire had little trouble announcing his retirement this time.

There was a smile on the face of the 65-year-old Hall of Famer on Sunday as he said he was leaving the coaching ranks for the third and probably the final time.

"I'm going back where I was before," Lemaire said after going out a winner following a 3-2 victory over the Boston Bruins. "It demands a lot and I want to enjoy life. I want to enjoy the family."

Lemaire made his decision about two days ago and told his team about it before the game. He added his love of the game hasn't diminished, but it is time for him to leave.

Read more SI.com

Hapless Panthers fire DeBoer

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -- Peter DeBoer took over as coach of the Florida Panthers three years ago with a sparkling resume from junior hockey, fully expecting that he could bring the downtrodden franchise back to the playoffs.
He was wrong.
The Panthers fired DeBoer on Sunday, one day after the team finished its 10th straight season without a playoff appearance. Florida's 72 points were worst in the Eastern Conference and the third-fewest in the 30-team NHL.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/hockey/nhl/04/10/deboer.fired.ap/index.html#ixzz1JAbxh8Uv

 Playoffs may force political debate rescheduling

MONTREAL (AP) -- File this under "Only in Canada."
A move is afoot to reschedule a federal election debate slated for Thursday so it doesn't conflict with the opening game of the Montreal Canadiens' first-round playoff series against the Boston Bruins.
Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe got the ball rolling Sunday by saying there's little doubt hockey-mad Montreal fans will choose the game over the debate.
NDP Leader Jack Layton later echoed those sentiments, the Liberals followed suit, and the Conservatives said they could live with whatever the debate broadcasters decide.
Bloc leader Duceppe wants other party leaders to join him in urging the consortium of broadcasters who organize the debate to move it back a day.
He pointed out that the first English debate is scheduled for Tuesday, before the playoffs begin. The only other Canadian team in the playoffs is the Vancouver Canucks, who still don't know their first-round opponent.
"All I'm asking is that the debate take place Wednesday so that Quebecers have as much access to this debate as Canadians," Duceppe said.
"We all know that hockey is very popular in Canada and in Quebec, which is why it would be a better idea to push the French debate back to allow hockey fans to watch the debate as well as the game on Thursday night."
The response from two of the other parties was strongly in favor, while the answer from the Tories was more equivocal.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the decision belongs to the broadcasters and the Tory leader will be there whichever day they choose.
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/hockey/nhl/04/10/politicians.canadiens.ap/index.html#ixzz1JAcRw2kt

 

 

NHL Plays of the Night 4/8/11

2011 Frozen Four Champion

The 2011 NCAA Men's Hockey Champion are the University of Minnesota - Duluth Bulldogs.

They defeated the University of Michigan 3-2 in OT for the schools first national championship.  This was the first OT championship game since 2009 when Boston beat Miami 4-3 in Washington DC.