Cross Checks: Sidney Crosby
The Penguins will be swept: It doesn't matter what the media is told afterward; the Flyers have the Penguins completely off their game. Evgeni Malkin is a shadow of himself, intimidated into a peripheral role, going from MVP to Most Invisible Player. The Penguins -- captain Sidney Crosby, especially -- are too paralyzed by the goon show to be able to play the way they did during the season. The Flyers' goaltending has been ripe for the picking, too. This is a lost opportunity, and now the Penguins will be left with thinking about what could have been with one of the best collections of talent they've ever had.
Shea Weber for Conn Smythe: Now that's how a captain reacts to adversity. Shea Weber, public enemy No. 1 in Detroit, scored and let everyone know he doesn't get fazed. This guy is a cold-stone killer. Preds are up 2-1 in that series.
The Panthers bounced back: The Panthers won a playoff game for the first time since 1997, which was a long time ago, eh? Before full-body searches at the airport and everything. Don't know about you, but it took me that long to get over the proliferation of "rats" headlines.
The Canucks are cooked: In other news about wildly favored teams choking away potential, the Canucks are one game from playing golf or catching salmon or whatever they do for a pastime in British Columbia. (Chill, people; I've been to Stanley Park.) Hindsight is 20/20, of course, but it just goes to show you what having a settled situation in net will do for your team's confidence in the playoffs. If he keeps this up, no one will say, "If only Jonathan Quick played on the East Coast, he'd get the recognition he deserves ..."
Shea Weber for Conn Smythe: Now that's how a captain reacts to adversity. Shea Weber, public enemy No. 1 in Detroit, scored and let everyone know he doesn't get fazed. This guy is a cold-stone killer. Preds are up 2-1 in that series.
The Panthers bounced back: The Panthers won a playoff game for the first time since 1997, which was a long time ago, eh? Before full-body searches at the airport and everything. Don't know about you, but it took me that long to get over the proliferation of "rats" headlines.
The Canucks are cooked: In other news about wildly favored teams choking away potential, the Canucks are one game from playing golf or catching salmon or whatever they do for a pastime in British Columbia. (Chill, people; I've been to Stanley Park.) Hindsight is 20/20, of course, but it just goes to show you what having a settled situation in net will do for your team's confidence in the playoffs. If he keeps this up, no one will say, "If only Jonathan Quick played on the East Coast, he'd get the recognition he deserves ..."
PHILADELPHIA -- At some point Penguins center Sidney Crosby sent Jakub Voracek’s glove away as he tried to pick it up during one of the late-game dust-ups.
After the game a reporter asked Crosby is that was a reflection of the team’s frustration.
“I don’t like any guy on their team. His glove was near me, he went to pick it up and I pushed it,” Crosby said.
“Because why, I’m sorry?” the reporter said.
“I don’t like him,” Crosby said.
“Why don’t you like him?” Crosby was asked.
”Because I don’t like him. I don’t like any guy on their team. So ...,” Crosby said.
A few minutes later, Crosby went back to the incident.
“Guys are emotional and there’s a lot of stuff going on out there," he said. "There’s no reason to explain. I don’t have to sit here and explain why I pushed a glove away. They’re doing a lot of things out there, too. You know what? We don’t like each other. Was I going to sit there and pick up his glove for him? What was I supposed to do?”
The same reporter suggested he could have skated away.
“Skate away? OK, well, I didn’t that time,” Crosby shot back. “It’s the playoffs and a lot of things happen out there from both sides. Everyone is guilty of it. Nobody is blaming anyone here. It’s heated out there and that’s what the playoffs are like.”
***
The strange sight of Sidney Crosby and Claude Giroux dropping the gloves in the first period of Game 3 harkened back to the now-famous fight during the 2004 Stanley Cup finals between Calgary’s Jarome Iginla and Tampa’s Vincent Lecavalier.
“I thought it was great. In the end, that’s really playoff hockey, isn’t it?” Philadelphia coach Peter Laviolette said. “A couple of the best players in the world dropping the gloves and going at it? Would I rather have [Giroux] keep his gloves on? Sure. But when he’s fighting Sidney Crosby, that’s the playoff hockey, that’s this series. In the end, that’s probably what it’s about. You get guys out there and they want to win on both sides and they’ll do anything to do it. You’ve got to be ready to play at that level.”
***
While the Flyers and their fans were enraged there was no call when James Neal leveled Sean Couturier in the third period, Neal said he tried to hold up.
“Yeah, I’m flying through the neutral zone, I’m regrouping, I didn’t even mean to hit him. I don’t know if the puck was in his feet or not or where it was. I let up as much as I could and it is what it is,” he said.
For his part, the Flyers' Brayden Schenn downplayed the incident with the Penguins' Arron Asham, even though it could have been more serious.
"It was just a hit. I didn't really see him coming at me, I didn't really expect a cross-check but that's what happened,” he said.
As for the shot while he was on the ice, Schenn said, “That's just his temper rising, nothing more than that. Really nothing really more than a cross-check and a punch."
Did he think it was dirty?
“I didn't expect it, that's for sure,” Schenn said.
After the game a reporter asked Crosby is that was a reflection of the team’s frustration.
“I don’t like any guy on their team. His glove was near me, he went to pick it up and I pushed it,” Crosby said.
“Because why, I’m sorry?” the reporter said.
“I don’t like him,” Crosby said.
“Why don’t you like him?” Crosby was asked.
”Because I don’t like him. I don’t like any guy on their team. So ...,” Crosby said.
A few minutes later, Crosby went back to the incident.
“Guys are emotional and there’s a lot of stuff going on out there," he said. "There’s no reason to explain. I don’t have to sit here and explain why I pushed a glove away. They’re doing a lot of things out there, too. You know what? We don’t like each other. Was I going to sit there and pick up his glove for him? What was I supposed to do?”
The same reporter suggested he could have skated away.
“Skate away? OK, well, I didn’t that time,” Crosby shot back. “It’s the playoffs and a lot of things happen out there from both sides. Everyone is guilty of it. Nobody is blaming anyone here. It’s heated out there and that’s what the playoffs are like.”
***
The strange sight of Sidney Crosby and Claude Giroux dropping the gloves in the first period of Game 3 harkened back to the now-famous fight during the 2004 Stanley Cup finals between Calgary’s Jarome Iginla and Tampa’s Vincent Lecavalier.
“I thought it was great. In the end, that’s really playoff hockey, isn’t it?” Philadelphia coach Peter Laviolette said. “A couple of the best players in the world dropping the gloves and going at it? Would I rather have [Giroux] keep his gloves on? Sure. But when he’s fighting Sidney Crosby, that’s the playoff hockey, that’s this series. In the end, that’s probably what it’s about. You get guys out there and they want to win on both sides and they’ll do anything to do it. You’ve got to be ready to play at that level.”
***
While the Flyers and their fans were enraged there was no call when James Neal leveled Sean Couturier in the third period, Neal said he tried to hold up.
“Yeah, I’m flying through the neutral zone, I’m regrouping, I didn’t even mean to hit him. I don’t know if the puck was in his feet or not or where it was. I let up as much as I could and it is what it is,” he said.
For his part, the Flyers' Brayden Schenn downplayed the incident with the Penguins' Arron Asham, even though it could have been more serious.
"It was just a hit. I didn't really see him coming at me, I didn't really expect a cross-check but that's what happened,” he said.
As for the shot while he was on the ice, Schenn said, “That's just his temper rising, nothing more than that. Really nothing really more than a cross-check and a punch."
Did he think it was dirty?
“I didn't expect it, that's for sure,” Schenn said.
Look for veteran defenseman Pavel Kubina to get back into the Flyers' lineup after being a healthy scratch in Game 1. Marc-Andre Bourdon is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury and his equipment was unused Friday morning. Kubina was brought in from Tampa at the trade deadline to add depth to a Flyers blue line that has been without captain Chris Pronger since before the new year.
“It’s always hard when you’re not playing. But I do understand it,” Kubina said Friday morning.
“Hopefully, I can help the team in the future,” he said.
***
Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen has played almost 1,000 NHL games and said he cannot recall ever winning the first two games of a playoff series on the road. But he said he has always enjoyed starting the playoffs on the road because there are fewer distractions and less pressure.
As for coming up with a second straight win to start this series, Timonen said it’s obvious the Flyers cannot replicate their start in Game 1 when they were down 3-0 after the first period.
“We all know what was the reason we had a bad start,” Timonen said.
The Penguins, meanwhile, liked their start in Game 1 but weren’t happy with allowing the Flyers to dictate the terms in the second and third periods and then win 4-3 on Jakub Voracek's overtime goal.
“We know we have better and we know what our game looks like,” Penguins center Sidney Crosby said.
***
Many of the Penguins were wearing a special T-shirt Friday that, among other things, featured a stylized captain’s "C." The "C" harkens back to a time earlier in the season when there was a local story that the Penguins wanted to name an interim captain while longtime captain Sidney Crosby rehabbed from concussion issues. The team denied that such a discussion took place, and in solidarity, the players showed up on the ice one day wearing a "C" taped to their practice jerseys.
That marked a turning point in the season for the Penguins, who ended a brief slump and began a period of winning.
It was a time when the team became closer, James Neal said Friday after an optional morning skate.
“That’s why we’re wearing it [now],” Neal said.
Coach Dan Bylsma noted that there were a couple of different items on the shirts that were made a couple of weeks ago.
“It’s not a today thing, but that’s a playoff T-shirt they made and there’s more than one or two things on the shirt,” Bylsma said.
“We’ve got a few things that have gone on throughout the year, little symbols on the T-shirt,” Crosby added.
PITTSBURGH -- Although this has hardly been a normal season for Sidney Crosby, the Pittsburgh captain insists he feels nothing different as he approaches his first playoff series in two years.
“No. I don’t think anything’s changed as far as mindset or anything like that,” Crosby said after the Pens’ practice Tuesday in anticipation of Game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the Philadelphia Flyers Wednesday night. "Playoffs are an exciting time, and when you try to be the most focused and it’s all about winning, that’s what makes it so fun. As far as I know, I don’t think anything’s changed."
Crosby came back twice from concussion-related issues and was on fire, recording 25 points in the final 14 games of the regular season.
He missed last season’s first-round loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning because of the concussion issues, but he insisted the motivation remains the same, regardless of his absence from last season’s playoff series.
“It’s always there, whether you’ve missed two years or not. I think you’re excited to play in the playoffs; that’s why you work so hard. It’s to get to this point,” he said. "It’s pretty simple, pretty clear -- everyone cares about winning, they don’t care about anything else. That’s what I like most about it."
Coach Dan Bylsma said he thinks the 14-game stretch at the end of the season was critical for Crosby in terms of getting his timing back, sharpening his mental game, working in different situations that he hasn’t been in because of his injury.
“He wanted to play 14 games. He thought it was important to play 14 games to get ready for the postseason, to get ready for the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs,” Bylsma said. “I think you see a guy who’s really, really excited, really focused on getting back and playing in a Stanley cup playoff game, which starts tomorrow.”
While the Penguins are considered one of the top contenders for the Stanley Cup given their health and skill set, Crosby cautioned that talent alone isn’t a recipe for success in the spring, but that the determining factor is in the details and how teams execute them.
“That’s what separates teams. Everyone has the will to win the Cup. Everyone wants to do it, but execution and details end up being the difference," he said. "There’s a lot of good hockey teams in the playoffs. A lot of good hockey teams that don’t win the Cup, and that’s for a reason.
“If I were to talk about our group, though, I think we’ve really focused on those details and all those different things throughout the season. It’s not something that has to be just turned on a switch when the playoffs come. So I think we’re confident in that area and we feel like we’ve done the right things leading up to this point to give ourselves a chance to do it,” he said.
“No. I don’t think anything’s changed as far as mindset or anything like that,” Crosby said after the Pens’ practice Tuesday in anticipation of Game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the Philadelphia Flyers Wednesday night. "Playoffs are an exciting time, and when you try to be the most focused and it’s all about winning, that’s what makes it so fun. As far as I know, I don’t think anything’s changed."
Crosby came back twice from concussion-related issues and was on fire, recording 25 points in the final 14 games of the regular season.
He missed last season’s first-round loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning because of the concussion issues, but he insisted the motivation remains the same, regardless of his absence from last season’s playoff series.
“It’s always there, whether you’ve missed two years or not. I think you’re excited to play in the playoffs; that’s why you work so hard. It’s to get to this point,” he said. "It’s pretty simple, pretty clear -- everyone cares about winning, they don’t care about anything else. That’s what I like most about it."
Coach Dan Bylsma said he thinks the 14-game stretch at the end of the season was critical for Crosby in terms of getting his timing back, sharpening his mental game, working in different situations that he hasn’t been in because of his injury.
“He wanted to play 14 games. He thought it was important to play 14 games to get ready for the postseason, to get ready for the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs,” Bylsma said. “I think you see a guy who’s really, really excited, really focused on getting back and playing in a Stanley cup playoff game, which starts tomorrow.”
While the Penguins are considered one of the top contenders for the Stanley Cup given their health and skill set, Crosby cautioned that talent alone isn’t a recipe for success in the spring, but that the determining factor is in the details and how teams execute them.
“That’s what separates teams. Everyone has the will to win the Cup. Everyone wants to do it, but execution and details end up being the difference," he said. "There’s a lot of good hockey teams in the playoffs. A lot of good hockey teams that don’t win the Cup, and that’s for a reason.
“If I were to talk about our group, though, I think we’ve really focused on those details and all those different things throughout the season. It’s not something that has to be just turned on a switch when the playoffs come. So I think we’re confident in that area and we feel like we’ve done the right things leading up to this point to give ourselves a chance to do it,” he said.
From the official NHL release:
SMITH, STAMKOS AND CROSBY NAMED NHL ‘THREE STARS’ OF THE WEEK
NEW YORK (April 9, 2012) – Phoenix Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith, Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos and Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby have been named the NHL’s ‘Three Stars’ for the week ending April 8.
FIRST STAR – MIKE SMITH, G, PHOENIX COYOTES
Smith posted a 3-0-0 record, 0.67 goals-against average, .982 save percentage and one shutout as the Coyotes (42-27-13, 97 points) won three straight games to capture the Pacific Division, their first division title in franchise history. He began the week by making 54 saves, an NHL record for saves in a regular-season shutout, in a 2-0 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets April 3. The win also extended Smith’s shutout streak to three consecutive games, a career high. He extended his overall shutout streak to 234:25, the third-longest stretch in the League this season, before allowing a goal at 14:26 of the first period in a 4-1 win at the St.
Louis Blues April 6. Smith made 161 consecutive saves during that run, the most since saves were introduced as an official statistic in 1976-77. He closed the week by making 23 saves in a 4-1 victory at the Minnesota Wild April 7 as the Coyotes claimed the third seed in the Western Conference.
The 30-year-old Kingston, Ontario native played in 67 games this season, establishing career bests with 38 wins, a 2.21 goals-against average, a .930 save percentage and eight shutouts.
SECOND STAR – STEVEN STAMKOS, C, TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
Stamkos recorded 4-1—5 in four games to become the second player since 1995-96 to reach the 60-goal mark (Alex Ovechkin: 65, 2007-08). He scored twice, including his League-leading 12th winner, and added an assist in a 4-2 victory against the Washington Capitals April 2, potted his 59th goal in a 3-2 overtime loss at the Toronto Maple Leafs April 5 and netted No. 60 on the final day of the season, a 4-3 overtime win at the Winnipeg Jets April 7. Stamkos captured his second Maurice Richard Trophy as the NHL’s goal-scoring leader (2009-10) and finished second in the League’s points race with 60-37—97, a career high. The Markham, Ontario native leads the NHL with 156 goals since the start of the 2009-10 season, 36 more than the next-closest player (Ovechkin, 120).
THIRD STAR – SIDNEY CROSBY, C, PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
Crosby tied for first in the League with 3-3—6, including two game-winning goals, as the Penguins (51-25-6, 108 points) won their final three games to finish fourth in the Eastern Conference. He scored twice and added an assist in a 5-3 victory at the Boston Bruins April 3, collected an assist in a 5-2 win against the New York Rangers April 5 and closed the season with a goal and an assist in a 4-2 triumph against the Philadelphia Flyers April 7. Since returning from injury March 15, Crosby recorded at least one point in 10 of his 14 games, totaling 6-19—25. The 24-year-old appeared in 22 total games, recording 8-29—37 for a career-best 1.68 points per game.
SMITH, STAMKOS AND CROSBY NAMED NHL ‘THREE STARS’ OF THE WEEK
NEW YORK (April 9, 2012) – Phoenix Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith, Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos and Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby have been named the NHL’s ‘Three Stars’ for the week ending April 8.
FIRST STAR – MIKE SMITH, G, PHOENIX COYOTES
Smith posted a 3-0-0 record, 0.67 goals-against average, .982 save percentage and one shutout as the Coyotes (42-27-13, 97 points) won three straight games to capture the Pacific Division, their first division title in franchise history. He began the week by making 54 saves, an NHL record for saves in a regular-season shutout, in a 2-0 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets April 3. The win also extended Smith’s shutout streak to three consecutive games, a career high. He extended his overall shutout streak to 234:25, the third-longest stretch in the League this season, before allowing a goal at 14:26 of the first period in a 4-1 win at the St.
Louis Blues April 6. Smith made 161 consecutive saves during that run, the most since saves were introduced as an official statistic in 1976-77. He closed the week by making 23 saves in a 4-1 victory at the Minnesota Wild April 7 as the Coyotes claimed the third seed in the Western Conference.
The 30-year-old Kingston, Ontario native played in 67 games this season, establishing career bests with 38 wins, a 2.21 goals-against average, a .930 save percentage and eight shutouts.
SECOND STAR – STEVEN STAMKOS, C, TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
Stamkos recorded 4-1—5 in four games to become the second player since 1995-96 to reach the 60-goal mark (Alex Ovechkin: 65, 2007-08). He scored twice, including his League-leading 12th winner, and added an assist in a 4-2 victory against the Washington Capitals April 2, potted his 59th goal in a 3-2 overtime loss at the Toronto Maple Leafs April 5 and netted No. 60 on the final day of the season, a 4-3 overtime win at the Winnipeg Jets April 7. Stamkos captured his second Maurice Richard Trophy as the NHL’s goal-scoring leader (2009-10) and finished second in the League’s points race with 60-37—97, a career high. The Markham, Ontario native leads the NHL with 156 goals since the start of the 2009-10 season, 36 more than the next-closest player (Ovechkin, 120).
THIRD STAR – SIDNEY CROSBY, C, PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
Crosby tied for first in the League with 3-3—6, including two game-winning goals, as the Penguins (51-25-6, 108 points) won their final three games to finish fourth in the Eastern Conference. He scored twice and added an assist in a 5-3 victory at the Boston Bruins April 3, collected an assist in a 5-2 win against the New York Rangers April 5 and closed the season with a goal and an assist in a 4-2 triumph against the Philadelphia Flyers April 7. Since returning from injury March 15, Crosby recorded at least one point in 10 of his 14 games, totaling 6-19—25. The 24-year-old appeared in 22 total games, recording 8-29—37 for a career-best 1.68 points per game.
Sidney Crosby fired back after John Tortorella called out several Penguins following their physical game on Thursday night.
Morning jam: Overnight game facts
April, 4, 2012
Apr 4
10:11
AM ET
By Elias Sports Bureau | ESPN.com
• The Rangers completed a clean sweep of their six-game season series against the Flyers with a 5-3 win at Philadelphia on Tuesday night. It's the fifth time that a team has won every game in a season series of six or more games against the Flyers. The other Philadelphia opponents to do that were the Bruins in both 1970-71 and 1971-72 (both six games), the Rangers in 1971-72 (six games) and the Penguins in 2006-07 (eight games).
• Sidney Crosby tallied two goals and one assist to lead the Penguins to a 5-3 win at Boston. Crosby has scored 22 points in 12 games (5 goals, 17 assists) since March 15, when he returned to action after being sidelined for more than three months due to a concussion. That makes him the NHL scoring leader since that date, one point ahead of teammate Evgeni Malkin (21 points)
• Coyotes goalie Mike Smith’s 54 saves Tuesday night are the most in a shutout in the expansion era (since 1967-68).
• Patrik Elias scored the first goal in the Devils’ 3–1 win over the Islanders and he set up New Jersey’s second goal with an assist, his 50th of the season. Elias, who will turn 36 years old on April 13, has recorded 50 or more assists in one season only once before and that was 11 years ago (56 assists in 2000–01). He’s the first player in Devils franchise history (including the team’s years in Kansas City and Colorado) to register 50 or more assists in one season at age 30 or older. Before Elias, the oldest player in team history at the time he notched his 50th assist of a season was 29-year-old Scott Stevens in 1993–94.
• Maple Leafs rookie Matt Frattin scored a goal, recorded an assist and picked up the first fighting major of his NHL career all in the first period of Toronto's game in Buffalo. Frattin was only the second rookie in the last 18 seasons to register a "Gordie Howe hat trick" in a single period of one game. Brandon Dubinsky did that for the Rangers in the first period at Montreal on Feb. 19, 2008.
Derek Roy's second goal of the game capped the Sabres' comeback from a 3-0 deficit at the end of the first period and earned Buffalo a 6-5 overtime victory against the Maple Leafs. It was the sixth regular-season overtime goal of Roy's NHL and Sabres career, tying the Buffalo team record established by Thomas Vanek earlier this season (Nov. 8). Roy's two-goal performance was the 20th multiple-goal game of his NHL career and his fourth multigoal game against Toronto, his highest total versus any opponent.
• Carolina goaltender Cam Ward, who made 38 saves in his 2-1 win at Ottawa, is 12-2-6 with a 2.02 goals-against average and .945 save percentage in the last 20 games in which he faced 30 or more shots on goal, dating back to Jan. 12.
• Andrew Ladd scored his second overtime goal in five days to cap the Jets' comeback from a 3-0 deficit and enable Winnipeg to post a 5-4 victory against the Panthers. Ladd, who beat Carolina in overtime last Friday, is the first player in Thrashers/Jets history to score two OT goals in such a short time frame. The previous record of two overtime goals in 11 days was set by Ilya Kovalchuk in 2002-03 and matched by Marian Hossa in 2007-08.
• Logan Couture ended his 10-game goalless streak with a power-play goal late in the second period that proved to be the game winner for the Sharks in their 5-2 victory at Dallas. Couture's 10-game dry spell matched the longest previous goal drought of his three-year NHL career. He went goalless in 10 consecutive games in 2009-10.
• Anders Lindback made 25 saves and went unscored upon in the shootout that earned him and the Predators a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Wild in Nashville. It was the Predators' first regular-season or playoff win on home ice that was recorded by a goaltender other than Pekka Rinne since Dec. 15, 2010, when Lindback beat San Jose, 3-2. Rinne, who missed Tuesday's game due to illness, recorded 40 regular-season and two playoff wins in Nashville between those two home-ice wins by Lindback.
• Sidney Crosby tallied two goals and one assist to lead the Penguins to a 5-3 win at Boston. Crosby has scored 22 points in 12 games (5 goals, 17 assists) since March 15, when he returned to action after being sidelined for more than three months due to a concussion. That makes him the NHL scoring leader since that date, one point ahead of teammate Evgeni Malkin (21 points)
• Coyotes goalie Mike Smith’s 54 saves Tuesday night are the most in a shutout in the expansion era (since 1967-68).
• Patrik Elias scored the first goal in the Devils’ 3–1 win over the Islanders and he set up New Jersey’s second goal with an assist, his 50th of the season. Elias, who will turn 36 years old on April 13, has recorded 50 or more assists in one season only once before and that was 11 years ago (56 assists in 2000–01). He’s the first player in Devils franchise history (including the team’s years in Kansas City and Colorado) to register 50 or more assists in one season at age 30 or older. Before Elias, the oldest player in team history at the time he notched his 50th assist of a season was 29-year-old Scott Stevens in 1993–94.
• Maple Leafs rookie Matt Frattin scored a goal, recorded an assist and picked up the first fighting major of his NHL career all in the first period of Toronto's game in Buffalo. Frattin was only the second rookie in the last 18 seasons to register a "Gordie Howe hat trick" in a single period of one game. Brandon Dubinsky did that for the Rangers in the first period at Montreal on Feb. 19, 2008.
Derek Roy's second goal of the game capped the Sabres' comeback from a 3-0 deficit at the end of the first period and earned Buffalo a 6-5 overtime victory against the Maple Leafs. It was the sixth regular-season overtime goal of Roy's NHL and Sabres career, tying the Buffalo team record established by Thomas Vanek earlier this season (Nov. 8). Roy's two-goal performance was the 20th multiple-goal game of his NHL career and his fourth multigoal game against Toronto, his highest total versus any opponent.
• Carolina goaltender Cam Ward, who made 38 saves in his 2-1 win at Ottawa, is 12-2-6 with a 2.02 goals-against average and .945 save percentage in the last 20 games in which he faced 30 or more shots on goal, dating back to Jan. 12.
• Andrew Ladd scored his second overtime goal in five days to cap the Jets' comeback from a 3-0 deficit and enable Winnipeg to post a 5-4 victory against the Panthers. Ladd, who beat Carolina in overtime last Friday, is the first player in Thrashers/Jets history to score two OT goals in such a short time frame. The previous record of two overtime goals in 11 days was set by Ilya Kovalchuk in 2002-03 and matched by Marian Hossa in 2007-08.
• Logan Couture ended his 10-game goalless streak with a power-play goal late in the second period that proved to be the game winner for the Sharks in their 5-2 victory at Dallas. Couture's 10-game dry spell matched the longest previous goal drought of his three-year NHL career. He went goalless in 10 consecutive games in 2009-10.
• Anders Lindback made 25 saves and went unscored upon in the shootout that earned him and the Predators a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Wild in Nashville. It was the Predators' first regular-season or playoff win on home ice that was recorded by a goaltender other than Pekka Rinne since Dec. 15, 2010, when Lindback beat San Jose, 3-2. Rinne, who missed Tuesday's game due to illness, recorded 40 regular-season and two playoff wins in Nashville between those two home-ice wins by Lindback.
Mike Milbury’s comments on Philadelphia radio regarding Sidney Crosby’s concussion history has left the Pittsburgh Penguins fuming.
"If it was an attempt at comedy, it falls real short," Penguins GM Ray Shero told ESPN.com Tuesday.
Shero takes serious issue with Milbury’s reference, obviously in jest, to Crosby’s "35th concussion."
The controversial broadcaster was on sports radio 94WIP in Philadelphia on Monday morning discussing the previous day’s game between the Penguins and Flyers, which ended in a mini-brawl:
"Little goody two-shoes [Crosby] goes into the corner and gives a shot to [Brayden] Schenn," Milbury said. "Schenn was late to the party, he should have turned around and drilled him right away, but I guess better late than never. So you know, Crosby gets cross-checked, big whoop. He said after he came back from his 35th concussion, ‘I’m not going to do this anymore, I’m not going to get into these scrums, I’m going to stay away from that stuff.’ He couldn’t help himself because there’s a little punk in Crosby. He’s not the perfect gentleman. He’s not the sweet kid you see in interviews with his hat pulled down over his eyes. I’d say screw him, hit him."
Shero said the concussion comment crossed the line.
"It’s fine to have an opinion on players but when you’re making light of concussions, that’s not right,” said Shero. "I’ve gone through this with my own kid (who had a concussion), obviously we’ve gone through it as a team with Sidney Crosby and saw what it took for him to battle back from it over the past year, there’s nothing funny about post-concussion syndrome. I don’t think it would have been very funny had he made fun of [concussed Flyers captain] Chris Pronger in that light. There’s nothing funny about [former Flyers captain] Keith Primeau having to retire from it. This is an issue that is at the forefront of our league right now and to make light of these concussions is a real lame attempt at humor. He should know better than this.’’
As for Milbury calling Crosby a "goody two-shoes,’’ Shero doesn’t understand it.
"I’m not sure what he’s implying there,” he said. "Sidney Crosby is a fierce competitor, that’s what makes him great, that’s what makes him a great captain. It’s no different than a Peter Forsberg -- they’re fierce competitors and they play to win the game."
The full Milbury clip on 94WIP can be found here.
Milbury issued a statement Tuesday afternoon, apologizing for his comments:
“I reached out to David Morehouse and the Penguins about the comments I made yesterday on Philadelphia radio. In hindsight, I realize what I said was inappropriate and wrong, and I want to apologize to the Penguins organization and their fans.”
The rival Penguins and Flyers are slated to open the playoffs against each other in the first round next week.
"If it was an attempt at comedy, it falls real short," Penguins GM Ray Shero told ESPN.com Tuesday.
Shero takes serious issue with Milbury’s reference, obviously in jest, to Crosby’s "35th concussion."
The controversial broadcaster was on sports radio 94WIP in Philadelphia on Monday morning discussing the previous day’s game between the Penguins and Flyers, which ended in a mini-brawl:
"Little goody two-shoes [Crosby] goes into the corner and gives a shot to [Brayden] Schenn," Milbury said. "Schenn was late to the party, he should have turned around and drilled him right away, but I guess better late than never. So you know, Crosby gets cross-checked, big whoop. He said after he came back from his 35th concussion, ‘I’m not going to do this anymore, I’m not going to get into these scrums, I’m going to stay away from that stuff.’ He couldn’t help himself because there’s a little punk in Crosby. He’s not the perfect gentleman. He’s not the sweet kid you see in interviews with his hat pulled down over his eyes. I’d say screw him, hit him."
Shero said the concussion comment crossed the line.
"It’s fine to have an opinion on players but when you’re making light of concussions, that’s not right,” said Shero. "I’ve gone through this with my own kid (who had a concussion), obviously we’ve gone through it as a team with Sidney Crosby and saw what it took for him to battle back from it over the past year, there’s nothing funny about post-concussion syndrome. I don’t think it would have been very funny had he made fun of [concussed Flyers captain] Chris Pronger in that light. There’s nothing funny about [former Flyers captain] Keith Primeau having to retire from it. This is an issue that is at the forefront of our league right now and to make light of these concussions is a real lame attempt at humor. He should know better than this.’’
As for Milbury calling Crosby a "goody two-shoes,’’ Shero doesn’t understand it.
"I’m not sure what he’s implying there,” he said. "Sidney Crosby is a fierce competitor, that’s what makes him great, that’s what makes him a great captain. It’s no different than a Peter Forsberg -- they’re fierce competitors and they play to win the game."
The full Milbury clip on 94WIP can be found here.
Milbury issued a statement Tuesday afternoon, apologizing for his comments:
“I reached out to David Morehouse and the Penguins about the comments I made yesterday on Philadelphia radio. In hindsight, I realize what I said was inappropriate and wrong, and I want to apologize to the Penguins organization and their fans.”
The rival Penguins and Flyers are slated to open the playoffs against each other in the first round next week.
And here we are, the final Rants of the season! I’ll be on the playoff trail the next two months solely focused on whatever series I’m involved in, so this wraps up our regular-season Rant soap box. You guys have been terrific again this season with this, and I thank you for taking to the boards with such passion. Let’s take a look at what I selected for our final week:
TwinsFan10157: Pierre, honestly, is there ANYTHING, ANYTHING positive about a team that is out of the playoffs but winning this late in the season? Take my Wild, THEY NEVER get a top-3 pick and here we thought with all the injuries they've suffered this season that no way this year's team (which has been tanking for 3 months) can hang around and win games no matter how hard they try, BUT NO! Instead, THE WILD PICK NOW to decide to win 3 games in a row, all against playoff teams (thank you very much) and fell all the way from possibly second or third overall in the June draft to 7th! AGAIN, a MIDROUND PICK! Is there seriously anything positive at all from my Wild winning this late in the season because I just want to rip my hair out (as much as I love them) for continuing to win when it seemingly gains them nothing!
AND
atchi020: As a WILD fan, I could not be more disgruntled. Starting from 1st in the NHL to falling out of the playoffs to injuries to the late-season collapse and flop. Now, after they tossed the great start and were sitting in place to get a top 3 pick in the draft, they decide to go on a 3-game win streak against playoff-caliber teams? Could being a Minnesota sports fan be any worse? Please get us Parise back to his home state!
My take: I certainly empathize with Wild fans this season. You got teased in early December and then hit over the head with the reality hammer the rest of the season. This club needs to find some offense moving forward. I don’t mind the young pieces on defense. I will also say I like how GM Chuck Fletcher and his staff have restocked the organization's depth. The cupboard was bare when he took over. That hasn’t quite translated yet at the NHL level but there are some quality prospects coming. You saw 20-year-old Jason Zucker join the team last week, he’s part of that wave. And yes, if Zach Parise hits the July 1 market, you better believe Minnesota will be all over him, although the Wild will hardly be alone (Detroit, Rangers and a list of other teams will be in the hunt).
Girouxsalem28: It really ticks me off when I hear all of these "experts" talking about how it was the Flyers' fault for the brawl Sunday. They seem to point out the incident when Brayden Schenn crosschecked Sidney Crosby, saying that they can't go after the face of the NHL and it's a blatant attempt to hurt him, etc. Didn't anyone see Crosby initiate any of it? He hit Schenn after the goal and Schenn retaliated. I don't understand why nobody in the media other than Philly members see this.
My take: I think you’re seeing the coverage through your own Flyers-colored glasses. I know here in Toronto the footage on TSN showed both Crosby’s shove of Brayden Schenn and the melee at the end. The bottom line is, there isn’t a smoking gun here. I don’t blame Schenn or the Flyers at all. Nor do I blame Crosby or the Penguins. You’ve got two intense rivals and the blood was boiling all game long. Good old-fashioned hockey, if you ask me. Nothing wrong with it. And this is the difference between the orchestrated line brawls between the Devils and Rangers, which I hated because it was decided ahead of time and had no bearing on the game, compared to the late-game theatrics Sunday afternoon that were a spontaneous, emotional reaction between players whose emotions reached a boiling point. There’s a clear difference between both instances, and put me in for the latter any day.
Dubsg123: One of the things that really grinds my gears is the fact that once again, Anze Kopitar is being overlooked for the Selke. There is a reason that the Kings are the second-best defensive team in the NHL with the third-best PK. Kopitar is matched up night in and night out against the league's best players/lines. He is the first choice for centerman during the PK (and yes, we have Mike Richards). His plus/minus is in double digits even though his team only has a plus-15 goal differential (thanks to their inability to score for 80 percent of the season). Very few players are more valuable to their team than Kopitar is to his (one of the few who mean more plays in between the pipes behind him). I know you as an appreciator of the Kings...so what gives?
My take: Excellent points, sir. And I will indeed have Kopitar among my five choices on my official NHL ballot for the awards (I got my ballot last week; going to fill it out sometime this week). But my No. 1 vote will go to Patrice Bergeron of the Bruins this season. I think even more than Kopitar, he’s long overdue. He’s had another thoroughly consistent, two-way season for the Bruins and I believe he’s honestly the best defensive forward in the NHL today. But hang in there, my friend, Kopitar’s day will come.
SumNoob: I'm sick of the mediocre on-ice product the Flames have put out in the last two decades. We're becoming the Leafs of the West. I want a big change without a drawn-out Edmonton style rebuild. Do you think GM Jay Feaster can pull of a decent retool this summer with the expiring contracts we have? Without moving Jarome Iginla and Miikka Kiprusoff (pretty sure Iginla is retiring a Flame), who goes, who stays?
My take: I spoke with a Flames source Monday and it’s clear there’s no appetite for an Edmonton-style rebuild. But change is indeed coming. Three straight years out of the playoffs is not sitting well with ownership whatsoever. The fact half of Calgary’s roster has expiring contracts will allow the Flames that natural window to exact change. But personally, I believe the Flames need to sit down with captain Jarome Iginla and goalie Miikka Kiprusoff to finally have The Chat. They need to know from those two quality veterans if they want to stick around for this retool. If not, would they agree to waive their no-trades and provide the Flames with the return in assets both those stars would fetch? If Iginla wants to finish his career in Calgary and be a mentor for the younger, retooled Flames, that’s fine as well (similar to what Daniel Alfredsson and Chris Phillips have done in Ottawa). But either way, Flames ownership and management have to have that chat with Iginla and his agent, Don Meehan.
AIs76ers: I know you won't post this, you have never once acknowledged the issue, and you refuse to engage in this debate, but it's time for you to own up to the bias the NHL holds in the Penguins favor. It is totally out of control and it might rob the fans of a deep run by the better Pennsylvania team. Even NBC's announcing trio acknowledged that the Penguins were guilty of a handful of automatic slashing penalties (the exploding sticks) that somehow went uncalled, plus Crosby's violent slash on Claude Giroux on a faceoff that Giroux won cleanly. Today all we hear about is the crosscheck on Crosby. Enough already. It was a penalty and it was called. The goal erased it. And, whatever happened to a penalty for diving? All afternoon the NBC announcers praised Crosby for his strength on his skates, then he flopped like he had been shot. Not to mention, if you rewind the play back a little bit, you will see that Crosby took an equally dirty shot at Schenn, but ESPN has so far refused to show this. I have yet to read a single ESPN writer calling out Vitale for his knee-to-knee hit on Grossmann, which was not exceptionally dirty, but because he is a fringe player his only option was to stick out a leg to make the hit. Then he targets Danny Briere. The only reason that his was not dirty was, again, because he is a fringe NHL player. He targeted Briere's head and followed through with an elbow. And then after it is all settled Arron Asham (another guy who isn't a legitimate player) instigates an additional fight. Yet somehow the Penguins will not hear from the league. Asham and Bylsma should get their automatic suspensions, and maybe Laviolette, too. Enough is enough. I am not going to say that the NHL is actually rigging games or encouraging refs to make the wrong calls, but it is clear the officials are applying a different standard with the Pens.
My take: And this is why we call you guys "fans." In this case, short for "fanatic." You view everything through the tainted glasses of your team, in this case, the Flyers. Honestly, I’ve covered the NHL for 17 years. I would tell you if I thought for a second that the league in any way favored a team over any other. The mere suggestion is simply moronic. You can watch every single game and see missed calls for/against your team. The NHL’s on-ice officials don’t pitch perfect games, and some nights it’s even worse than that, I agree. But to honestly think "the fix" is in on any level is nothing short of ridiculous.
MaizeandBluePucks: Too many things to rant about with my Leafs.
My take: I've been living in Toronto since 1995 and I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything like it -- even for Maple Leafs' standards. Most of my friends and certainly my brother-in-law, Mitch, are die-hard Leafs fans, of course. I’d characterize their mood as a mixture of disdain, disbelief and genuine hurt. This is a huge offseason for GM Brian Burke and his front office. I think they made a wise choice in hiring Randy Carlyle as coach and a fresh start at camp will help prove that; I think the Leafs have greatly improved their organizational depth, but they’ve struck out so far on some of their key decisions at the NHL roster level. James Reimer wasn’t ready to be a No. 1 goalie. Their blue line had quantity, yes, but not enough quality. The top-six forward group remains small. And Dion Phaneuf is not captain material. The Leafs need to land a No. 1 goalie, a No. 1 center and shift a few of their parts on a roster that crumbled mentally over the past two months. Not an easy offseason, at all.
cnato14: Here I have a rant Pierre.... WHY THE FUDGE IS CHARLES WANG STILL THE OWNER OF THE ISLANDERS!? This man has run the organization into the ground; he feels the need to rehire a below-average coach in Jack Capuano, who has done nothing to try to bring this team up from the cellar of the Eastern Conference. I think that something on Long Island needs to change soon or else the once perennial contender Islanders will be looking for a new home.
My take: I feel your pain, brother. I’ve written this before in this space, but Islanders fans to me are the most loyal in hockey. How can you remain a fan of this team with Wang as owner? Successful organizations begin with stability at the top. But if he’s willing to continue to sink money in this team, the NHL certainly won’t stand in his way. It’s been hard enough to solve ownership issues in Phoenix, and even in decent markets in New Jersey and St. Louis, that the league isn’t going push out an owner who wants to still own a team, even if his eccentric ways hurt the team’s on-ice performance. It’s hard to find deep-pocketed people who want to own sports teams of any league.
sporty7527: When is this gimmick known as the shootout gonna go away? I find it appalling that a game of hockey has to be decided by a skills competition to determine a winner. Up through 2004, there was never anything wrong with ties. The best teams won their fair share of games. The Red Wings had no problem posting 100-plus point seasons when ties were in place. They set the record for wins during the time of ties. Now you have teams breaking franchise records for points in a season, and it's tainted by the all the shootout wins that, prelockout, would have been ties. You have teams like the Devils having 12 of their 45 wins won by shootout or the Penguins, who have won 9 of their 48 games by shootout. You take the shootout away, the Flyers are ahead of the Pens. Teams like them seem reliant on the shootout, and you have teams sitting back to get to a shootout. It doesn't matter if they were outplayed during an entire game. If they can deke out a goalie, they can still get rewarded with a win. And the shootouts are now more and more frequent. The 5-minute OT flies by. Why not make it 10 minutes? Defense slows the game down in OT, so 10 minutes might do better than just 5. I bet if that's implemented there'd be a lot more wins by actually scoring in OT than ties or relying on who can best deke a goalie in a shootout.
My take: Amen, brother. I’ve been anti-shootout on these pages for years, as most people know. I like Ken Holland’s idea: 3-on-3 overtime for five minutes following the 4-on-4 overtime period. So, 10 minutes of OT in all. That would greatly reduce the number of shootouts.
YogitheDuck: Week in and week out I come to you complaining about the Ducks. Everywhere from my disgust with Ryan Getzlaf, games like this last Saturday's against Phoenix, where we put up a season-high 44 SOG but we can't even buy ourselves one goal, and the woes for next season: possibly losing Selanne and fears of a repeat of this season.
Again, I would like to start with my disappointment with Getzlaf. He is the Dos Equis man of the Ducks organization: "I don't always score against San Jose, but when I don't, it's because I missed an open net." Missing that shot only confirms my feelings towards our captain. Lazy play, lack of motivation and leadership that is more than burned out. How can the Ducks afford to let Teemu retire when he is the force keeping them halfway alive and motivated?
Pierre, once again, what do the Ducks need to do to be the team they were in 2007 and be viable contenders for the Cup, or at least be a playoff-seeded team?
My take: Here’s something that will drive you even crazier: Since Jan. 1, the Ducks are 23-14-5 for 51 points, ranking first in the Pacific Division, fourth in the Western Conference and eighth in the NHL (courtesy of Ducks PR). In other words, that’s the team they should have been in the first half, too. But it seems to happen every year when the Ducks get off to a slow start. Last season, they were able to dig out of the hole and make the playoffs. You’re right on Getzlaf, he’s had a very disappointing season. For my money, he’s got the tools to challenge for the Art Ross Trophy. It’s mind-boggling that he hasn’t put it together yet. I think GM Bob Murray has some big, big decisions to make this offseason about the core of this team, where it’s headed and why he thinks they can’t figure it out on the ice. Personally, I wouldn’t trade Getzlaf, because all you’re going to do the next decade is try to replace him -- No. 1 centers of his ilk are few and far between.
But this team needs some sort of shake-up.
TwinsFan10157: Pierre, honestly, is there ANYTHING, ANYTHING positive about a team that is out of the playoffs but winning this late in the season? Take my Wild, THEY NEVER get a top-3 pick and here we thought with all the injuries they've suffered this season that no way this year's team (which has been tanking for 3 months) can hang around and win games no matter how hard they try, BUT NO! Instead, THE WILD PICK NOW to decide to win 3 games in a row, all against playoff teams (thank you very much) and fell all the way from possibly second or third overall in the June draft to 7th! AGAIN, a MIDROUND PICK! Is there seriously anything positive at all from my Wild winning this late in the season because I just want to rip my hair out (as much as I love them) for continuing to win when it seemingly gains them nothing!
AND
atchi020: As a WILD fan, I could not be more disgruntled. Starting from 1st in the NHL to falling out of the playoffs to injuries to the late-season collapse and flop. Now, after they tossed the great start and were sitting in place to get a top 3 pick in the draft, they decide to go on a 3-game win streak against playoff-caliber teams? Could being a Minnesota sports fan be any worse? Please get us Parise back to his home state!
My take: I certainly empathize with Wild fans this season. You got teased in early December and then hit over the head with the reality hammer the rest of the season. This club needs to find some offense moving forward. I don’t mind the young pieces on defense. I will also say I like how GM Chuck Fletcher and his staff have restocked the organization's depth. The cupboard was bare when he took over. That hasn’t quite translated yet at the NHL level but there are some quality prospects coming. You saw 20-year-old Jason Zucker join the team last week, he’s part of that wave. And yes, if Zach Parise hits the July 1 market, you better believe Minnesota will be all over him, although the Wild will hardly be alone (Detroit, Rangers and a list of other teams will be in the hunt).
Girouxsalem28: It really ticks me off when I hear all of these "experts" talking about how it was the Flyers' fault for the brawl Sunday. They seem to point out the incident when Brayden Schenn crosschecked Sidney Crosby, saying that they can't go after the face of the NHL and it's a blatant attempt to hurt him, etc. Didn't anyone see Crosby initiate any of it? He hit Schenn after the goal and Schenn retaliated. I don't understand why nobody in the media other than Philly members see this.
My take: I think you’re seeing the coverage through your own Flyers-colored glasses. I know here in Toronto the footage on TSN showed both Crosby’s shove of Brayden Schenn and the melee at the end. The bottom line is, there isn’t a smoking gun here. I don’t blame Schenn or the Flyers at all. Nor do I blame Crosby or the Penguins. You’ve got two intense rivals and the blood was boiling all game long. Good old-fashioned hockey, if you ask me. Nothing wrong with it. And this is the difference between the orchestrated line brawls between the Devils and Rangers, which I hated because it was decided ahead of time and had no bearing on the game, compared to the late-game theatrics Sunday afternoon that were a spontaneous, emotional reaction between players whose emotions reached a boiling point. There’s a clear difference between both instances, and put me in for the latter any day.
Dubsg123: One of the things that really grinds my gears is the fact that once again, Anze Kopitar is being overlooked for the Selke. There is a reason that the Kings are the second-best defensive team in the NHL with the third-best PK. Kopitar is matched up night in and night out against the league's best players/lines. He is the first choice for centerman during the PK (and yes, we have Mike Richards). His plus/minus is in double digits even though his team only has a plus-15 goal differential (thanks to their inability to score for 80 percent of the season). Very few players are more valuable to their team than Kopitar is to his (one of the few who mean more plays in between the pipes behind him). I know you as an appreciator of the Kings...so what gives?
My take: Excellent points, sir. And I will indeed have Kopitar among my five choices on my official NHL ballot for the awards (I got my ballot last week; going to fill it out sometime this week). But my No. 1 vote will go to Patrice Bergeron of the Bruins this season. I think even more than Kopitar, he’s long overdue. He’s had another thoroughly consistent, two-way season for the Bruins and I believe he’s honestly the best defensive forward in the NHL today. But hang in there, my friend, Kopitar’s day will come.
SumNoob: I'm sick of the mediocre on-ice product the Flames have put out in the last two decades. We're becoming the Leafs of the West. I want a big change without a drawn-out Edmonton style rebuild. Do you think GM Jay Feaster can pull of a decent retool this summer with the expiring contracts we have? Without moving Jarome Iginla and Miikka Kiprusoff (pretty sure Iginla is retiring a Flame), who goes, who stays?
My take: I spoke with a Flames source Monday and it’s clear there’s no appetite for an Edmonton-style rebuild. But change is indeed coming. Three straight years out of the playoffs is not sitting well with ownership whatsoever. The fact half of Calgary’s roster has expiring contracts will allow the Flames that natural window to exact change. But personally, I believe the Flames need to sit down with captain Jarome Iginla and goalie Miikka Kiprusoff to finally have The Chat. They need to know from those two quality veterans if they want to stick around for this retool. If not, would they agree to waive their no-trades and provide the Flames with the return in assets both those stars would fetch? If Iginla wants to finish his career in Calgary and be a mentor for the younger, retooled Flames, that’s fine as well (similar to what Daniel Alfredsson and Chris Phillips have done in Ottawa). But either way, Flames ownership and management have to have that chat with Iginla and his agent, Don Meehan.
AIs76ers: I know you won't post this, you have never once acknowledged the issue, and you refuse to engage in this debate, but it's time for you to own up to the bias the NHL holds in the Penguins favor. It is totally out of control and it might rob the fans of a deep run by the better Pennsylvania team. Even NBC's announcing trio acknowledged that the Penguins were guilty of a handful of automatic slashing penalties (the exploding sticks) that somehow went uncalled, plus Crosby's violent slash on Claude Giroux on a faceoff that Giroux won cleanly. Today all we hear about is the crosscheck on Crosby. Enough already. It was a penalty and it was called. The goal erased it. And, whatever happened to a penalty for diving? All afternoon the NBC announcers praised Crosby for his strength on his skates, then he flopped like he had been shot. Not to mention, if you rewind the play back a little bit, you will see that Crosby took an equally dirty shot at Schenn, but ESPN has so far refused to show this. I have yet to read a single ESPN writer calling out Vitale for his knee-to-knee hit on Grossmann, which was not exceptionally dirty, but because he is a fringe player his only option was to stick out a leg to make the hit. Then he targets Danny Briere. The only reason that his was not dirty was, again, because he is a fringe NHL player. He targeted Briere's head and followed through with an elbow. And then after it is all settled Arron Asham (another guy who isn't a legitimate player) instigates an additional fight. Yet somehow the Penguins will not hear from the league. Asham and Bylsma should get their automatic suspensions, and maybe Laviolette, too. Enough is enough. I am not going to say that the NHL is actually rigging games or encouraging refs to make the wrong calls, but it is clear the officials are applying a different standard with the Pens.
My take: And this is why we call you guys "fans." In this case, short for "fanatic." You view everything through the tainted glasses of your team, in this case, the Flyers. Honestly, I’ve covered the NHL for 17 years. I would tell you if I thought for a second that the league in any way favored a team over any other. The mere suggestion is simply moronic. You can watch every single game and see missed calls for/against your team. The NHL’s on-ice officials don’t pitch perfect games, and some nights it’s even worse than that, I agree. But to honestly think "the fix" is in on any level is nothing short of ridiculous.
MaizeandBluePucks: Too many things to rant about with my Leafs.
My take: I've been living in Toronto since 1995 and I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything like it -- even for Maple Leafs' standards. Most of my friends and certainly my brother-in-law, Mitch, are die-hard Leafs fans, of course. I’d characterize their mood as a mixture of disdain, disbelief and genuine hurt. This is a huge offseason for GM Brian Burke and his front office. I think they made a wise choice in hiring Randy Carlyle as coach and a fresh start at camp will help prove that; I think the Leafs have greatly improved their organizational depth, but they’ve struck out so far on some of their key decisions at the NHL roster level. James Reimer wasn’t ready to be a No. 1 goalie. Their blue line had quantity, yes, but not enough quality. The top-six forward group remains small. And Dion Phaneuf is not captain material. The Leafs need to land a No. 1 goalie, a No. 1 center and shift a few of their parts on a roster that crumbled mentally over the past two months. Not an easy offseason, at all.
cnato14: Here I have a rant Pierre.... WHY THE FUDGE IS CHARLES WANG STILL THE OWNER OF THE ISLANDERS!? This man has run the organization into the ground; he feels the need to rehire a below-average coach in Jack Capuano, who has done nothing to try to bring this team up from the cellar of the Eastern Conference. I think that something on Long Island needs to change soon or else the once perennial contender Islanders will be looking for a new home.
My take: I feel your pain, brother. I’ve written this before in this space, but Islanders fans to me are the most loyal in hockey. How can you remain a fan of this team with Wang as owner? Successful organizations begin with stability at the top. But if he’s willing to continue to sink money in this team, the NHL certainly won’t stand in his way. It’s been hard enough to solve ownership issues in Phoenix, and even in decent markets in New Jersey and St. Louis, that the league isn’t going push out an owner who wants to still own a team, even if his eccentric ways hurt the team’s on-ice performance. It’s hard to find deep-pocketed people who want to own sports teams of any league.
sporty7527: When is this gimmick known as the shootout gonna go away? I find it appalling that a game of hockey has to be decided by a skills competition to determine a winner. Up through 2004, there was never anything wrong with ties. The best teams won their fair share of games. The Red Wings had no problem posting 100-plus point seasons when ties were in place. They set the record for wins during the time of ties. Now you have teams breaking franchise records for points in a season, and it's tainted by the all the shootout wins that, prelockout, would have been ties. You have teams like the Devils having 12 of their 45 wins won by shootout or the Penguins, who have won 9 of their 48 games by shootout. You take the shootout away, the Flyers are ahead of the Pens. Teams like them seem reliant on the shootout, and you have teams sitting back to get to a shootout. It doesn't matter if they were outplayed during an entire game. If they can deke out a goalie, they can still get rewarded with a win. And the shootouts are now more and more frequent. The 5-minute OT flies by. Why not make it 10 minutes? Defense slows the game down in OT, so 10 minutes might do better than just 5. I bet if that's implemented there'd be a lot more wins by actually scoring in OT than ties or relying on who can best deke a goalie in a shootout.
My take: Amen, brother. I’ve been anti-shootout on these pages for years, as most people know. I like Ken Holland’s idea: 3-on-3 overtime for five minutes following the 4-on-4 overtime period. So, 10 minutes of OT in all. That would greatly reduce the number of shootouts.
YogitheDuck: Week in and week out I come to you complaining about the Ducks. Everywhere from my disgust with Ryan Getzlaf, games like this last Saturday's against Phoenix, where we put up a season-high 44 SOG but we can't even buy ourselves one goal, and the woes for next season: possibly losing Selanne and fears of a repeat of this season.
Again, I would like to start with my disappointment with Getzlaf. He is the Dos Equis man of the Ducks organization: "I don't always score against San Jose, but when I don't, it's because I missed an open net." Missing that shot only confirms my feelings towards our captain. Lazy play, lack of motivation and leadership that is more than burned out. How can the Ducks afford to let Teemu retire when he is the force keeping them halfway alive and motivated?
Pierre, once again, what do the Ducks need to do to be the team they were in 2007 and be viable contenders for the Cup, or at least be a playoff-seeded team?
My take: Here’s something that will drive you even crazier: Since Jan. 1, the Ducks are 23-14-5 for 51 points, ranking first in the Pacific Division, fourth in the Western Conference and eighth in the NHL (courtesy of Ducks PR). In other words, that’s the team they should have been in the first half, too. But it seems to happen every year when the Ducks get off to a slow start. Last season, they were able to dig out of the hole and make the playoffs. You’re right on Getzlaf, he’s had a very disappointing season. For my money, he’s got the tools to challenge for the Art Ross Trophy. It’s mind-boggling that he hasn’t put it together yet. I think GM Bob Murray has some big, big decisions to make this offseason about the core of this team, where it’s headed and why he thinks they can’t figure it out on the ice. Personally, I wouldn’t trade Getzlaf, because all you’re going to do the next decade is try to replace him -- No. 1 centers of his ilk are few and far between.
But this team needs some sort of shake-up.
If you spent too much time celebrating St. Patrick's Day or cursing your bracket, that's OK. We forgive you. Just don't let it happen again. Here's what you missed in the NHL over the weekend:
Sunday
-- That Scott Hartnell did something annoying again. And he also scored a key goal, firing home a blast from the deep slot to give the Flyers a last-second OT win over the Penguins. The heartless Hartnell snapped the Penguins' impressive winning streak. But, really, I'm still laughing at his "Suck it, Phaneuf" line from the All-Star Game and subsequent beatdown. Classic.
-- Nifty note from Elias on the goal: Scott Hartnell scored with 0.9 seconds remaining in overtime to earn the Flyers a 3-2 win over the Penguins and end Pittsburgh's 11-game winning streak. It was the latest regular-season overtime goal in Flyers history and only the third overtime goal at the 4:59 mark in an NHL game over the past five seasons. Remarkably, the two other instances happened on the same day, March 20, 2010, with Carolina's Jamie McBain (at Pittsburgh) and Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg (at Vancouver) scoring the last-second game-winning goals.
-- The Blackhawks got a pair of goals from checker Andrew Shaw -- his assignment was Alex Ovechkin -- in a big win over the Capitals. The Caps better rally or else they face an offseason in a glass case of emotion.
-- Self-referential alert: Love me this playoffs matchups page of ours.
-- Outside looking in, with a shot: Winnipeg, Buffalo, Carolina; San Jose, Los Angeles, Calgary. Wait, Carolina? That can't be right.
Saturday
-- Dude named Sidney Crosby had three assists in the Penguins' win over the Devils. New guy, I think. Has good upside. Must have called him up from Wilkes-Barre or something. Hmph. I'll get back to you with more on this one.
-- Tim Thomas made a save in the shootout, Ilya Bryzgalov didn't. And that's the difference between a win and a loss in today's NHL. But you didn't go to the fridge while it was being decided, did you?
-- Despite the return of Ryan Callahan and Michael Del Zotto, the Rangers lost at home to the Avalanche. Those pesky Avs temporarily climbed into seventh in the Western Conference (they are eighth as of Monday).
-- The Blues beat up on the Bolts. By the way, the Blues have locked up a playoff spot and are No. 1 in the league. If you predicted that in September, your medication is better than mine.
Sunday
-- That Scott Hartnell did something annoying again. And he also scored a key goal, firing home a blast from the deep slot to give the Flyers a last-second OT win over the Penguins. The heartless Hartnell snapped the Penguins' impressive winning streak. But, really, I'm still laughing at his "Suck it, Phaneuf" line from the All-Star Game and subsequent beatdown. Classic.
-- Nifty note from Elias on the goal: Scott Hartnell scored with 0.9 seconds remaining in overtime to earn the Flyers a 3-2 win over the Penguins and end Pittsburgh's 11-game winning streak. It was the latest regular-season overtime goal in Flyers history and only the third overtime goal at the 4:59 mark in an NHL game over the past five seasons. Remarkably, the two other instances happened on the same day, March 20, 2010, with Carolina's Jamie McBain (at Pittsburgh) and Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg (at Vancouver) scoring the last-second game-winning goals.
-- The Blackhawks got a pair of goals from checker Andrew Shaw -- his assignment was Alex Ovechkin -- in a big win over the Capitals. The Caps better rally or else they face an offseason in a glass case of emotion.
-- Self-referential alert: Love me this playoffs matchups page of ours.
-- Outside looking in, with a shot: Winnipeg, Buffalo, Carolina; San Jose, Los Angeles, Calgary. Wait, Carolina? That can't be right.
Saturday
-- Dude named Sidney Crosby had three assists in the Penguins' win over the Devils. New guy, I think. Has good upside. Must have called him up from Wilkes-Barre or something. Hmph. I'll get back to you with more on this one.
-- Tim Thomas made a save in the shootout, Ilya Bryzgalov didn't. And that's the difference between a win and a loss in today's NHL. But you didn't go to the fridge while it was being decided, did you?
-- Despite the return of Ryan Callahan and Michael Del Zotto, the Rangers lost at home to the Avalanche. Those pesky Avs temporarily climbed into seventh in the Western Conference (they are eighth as of Monday).
-- The Blues beat up on the Bolts. By the way, the Blues have locked up a playoff spot and are No. 1 in the league. If you predicted that in September, your medication is better than mine.
I did not know that
March, 18, 2012
Mar 18
10:33
AM ET
By Elias and the ESPN Stats & Information Group | ESPN.com
• Pittsburgh wins its 11th in a row and 1st at New Jersey in 5 tries. Sidney Crosby notches 3 assists and has multiple-assist games in 6 of his 10 games played this season. Crosby is now plus-12 in 10 games this season. By comparison, Evgeni Malkin, who scored his 40th goal this season, is plus-15 in 63 games. It's his 2nd career 40-goal season (1st since '07-08, his 2nd year). The Devils had allowed only 7G over their last 6 games (5-1-0).
• Crosby recorded three assists in the Penguins’ win at New Jersey, after assisting on two goals against the Rangers on Thursday when he returned to action after being sidelined for more than three months by a concussion. Crosby has played 10 games this season but he’s picked up at least two assists in six of those games. Crosby had only seven multiple-assist games in the 41 games he played last season. On the other hand, Crosby scored two goals in his 2011–12 season debut (Nov. 21 vs. the Islanders) but he’s goalless in nine games since then, matching the longest goal drought of his NHL career (nine games in December 2008).
• Matt Cooke, who scored two goals in the Penguins’ 5–2 win over the Rangers on Thursday, scored two goals in Pittsburgh’s 5–2 victory against the Devils on Saturday afternoon. Cooke has four two-goal games this season, one more than his total for the previous six seasons combined (three from 2005–06 through 2010–11). The only other season in Cooke’s NHL career in which he recorded more than one multiple-goal game was 2001–02, when he had a pair of two-goal games for the Canucks.
• Boston ends its 4-game losing streak by continuing its dominance over Philadelphia. The Bruins have won 8 of their last 10 against the Flyers, including 3 of 4 this season. Tyler Seguin scored his 25th goal this season. The Bruins are 15-6 when Seguin scores a goal. Tim Thomas made 27 saves for his 4th career 30-win season, the most ever by a Bruins goaltender. Rookie Matt Read had a goal (20) and an assist for the Flyers. Bruins are 8-2 in shootouts this season.
• The Bruins scored on all three of their shootout attempts in their win over the Flyers on Saturday afternoon. It was Boston’s first perfect 3-for-3 shootout in the seven seasons that the NHL has used the tiebreaker. Three other NHL teams have gone 3-for-3 in a shootout this season: Ottawa (Oct. 11), Columbus (Dec. 13) and Colorado (Dec. 19).
• Flyers rookie Matt Read scored his 20th goal of the season in Philadelphia’s shootout loss in Boston. Read is the second rookie to reach the 20-goal mark this season, following Colorado’s Gabriel Landeskog, who scored his 20th goal on Wednesday. Since 1994–95, the only other Flyers rookies to score 20 or more goals in one season were Simon Gagne in 1999–2000 (20), and Jeff Carter (23) and R.J. Umberger (20) in 2005–06.
• Crosby recorded three assists in the Penguins’ win at New Jersey, after assisting on two goals against the Rangers on Thursday when he returned to action after being sidelined for more than three months by a concussion. Crosby has played 10 games this season but he’s picked up at least two assists in six of those games. Crosby had only seven multiple-assist games in the 41 games he played last season. On the other hand, Crosby scored two goals in his 2011–12 season debut (Nov. 21 vs. the Islanders) but he’s goalless in nine games since then, matching the longest goal drought of his NHL career (nine games in December 2008).
• Matt Cooke, who scored two goals in the Penguins’ 5–2 win over the Rangers on Thursday, scored two goals in Pittsburgh’s 5–2 victory against the Devils on Saturday afternoon. Cooke has four two-goal games this season, one more than his total for the previous six seasons combined (three from 2005–06 through 2010–11). The only other season in Cooke’s NHL career in which he recorded more than one multiple-goal game was 2001–02, when he had a pair of two-goal games for the Canucks.
• Boston ends its 4-game losing streak by continuing its dominance over Philadelphia. The Bruins have won 8 of their last 10 against the Flyers, including 3 of 4 this season. Tyler Seguin scored his 25th goal this season. The Bruins are 15-6 when Seguin scores a goal. Tim Thomas made 27 saves for his 4th career 30-win season, the most ever by a Bruins goaltender. Rookie Matt Read had a goal (20) and an assist for the Flyers. Bruins are 8-2 in shootouts this season.
• The Bruins scored on all three of their shootout attempts in their win over the Flyers on Saturday afternoon. It was Boston’s first perfect 3-for-3 shootout in the seven seasons that the NHL has used the tiebreaker. Three other NHL teams have gone 3-for-3 in a shootout this season: Ottawa (Oct. 11), Columbus (Dec. 13) and Colorado (Dec. 19).
• Flyers rookie Matt Read scored his 20th goal of the season in Philadelphia’s shootout loss in Boston. Read is the second rookie to reach the 20-goal mark this season, following Colorado’s Gabriel Landeskog, who scored his 20th goal on Wednesday. Since 1994–95, the only other Flyers rookies to score 20 or more goals in one season were Simon Gagne in 1999–2000 (20), and Jeff Carter (23) and R.J. Umberger (20) in 2005–06.
Sidney Crosby is good with the ordinary
March, 15, 2012
Mar 15
2:03
PM ET
By
Pierre LeBrun | ESPN.com
NEW YORK -- Game day.
What was once such a routine part of Sidney Crosby's life is now a cherished one.
With his father, Troy Crosby, watching from his usual spot way up in the stands Thursday morning, the Pittsburgh Penguins' franchise player hit the ice with his teammates at Madison Square Garden for what is to the other 700-odd players in this league a perfunctory exorcise.
Not for No. 87.
Because Crosby has played only eight games in 14 months, his career threatened, Thursday morning was anything but ordinary.
"You’re excited to get back out there,” Crosby said after the skate. "This is a big game. If anything, you’re trying to make it as normal as possible, if that’s possible."
A return to normalcy. Nothing has ever sounded so good to Crosby.
Of course, Thursday night’s game won’t be enough to bring that feeling. Nothing short of playing the remaining games of the season and playoffs will be good enough to bring back the feeling that all is well again.
Can he get back to where he was before the Winter Classic on Jan. 1., 2011, in other words the best player in the world separating himself from the pack? I remember having the likes of Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky, unprovoked, mentioning to me in separate conversations in November 2010 just how amazing Crosby was playing.
Can he get back to that? For now, it’s one game at a time. And this time, that’s not a cliché.
"I don’t expect to be where I was 14 months ago, but I expect to be at a pretty good level, create things and contribute,” said Crosby. "I’ll get a better idea of where I’m at once I start playing games, but I’m not going out there just to kill time."
With 14 regular-season games to go, is that enough time to find that A-game before the playoffs?
"I don’t know, I hope so,” he said. "That’s what I’m working towards. I’m going to do everything I can to do that. Whether it’s possible, we’ll see."
One thing’s for sure. He will not change his style. He plays the game in a direct line. He plays it hard. And that invites contact.
"You have to play the same way,” said Crosby. "When you hesitate, usually you’re in trouble. ... That’s why you practice hard, you test yourself and make sure you’re ready. I’m confident in that."
He’s picked a heck of a time on the schedule to return. Three road games in four days against Atlantic Division rivals. One wonders if the Penguins might not be wise to sit him out either Saturday or Sunday. Head coach Dan Bylsma said Thursday morning that yes, they’ve talked about the merits of playing it safe that way, but in the end just can’t look the player in the eye and tell him he’s sitting a game after everything he’s been through.
So yes, Bylsma said, the plan right now is for Crosby to play three games in four nights, and all 14 games remaining before the playoffs.
"There's really no thought in my mind that he's not going to play in all 14 games,” said Bylsma. "Would we think about certain scenarios? Maybe. But like I said, am I going to ask Sidney Crosby to not play in Philadelphia? It doesn't seem like that's a likely possibility in any regard."
Star blue-liner Kris Letang also returns to the lineup Thursday night. The Pens are locked and loaded. Just what a team with nine straight wins needs, right?
Really, they’re not too used to having all their big guns going at the same time. Amazingly, the Penguins have had only 10 games over the past two seasons where Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal, their Big 3 centers, have all been in the lineup at the same time.
"You want to see how good you can be with all three of them in the lineup,” veteran Penguins forward Pascal Dupuis said after the morning skate. "We have guys that have stepped their game up. But it’s definitely great to see these guys in the lineup."
The benefit of playing nearly two years without a healthy lineup has forged an important resilience in the Penguins dressing room.
"This group shows it’s never going to quit," Dupuis said.
And yes, Malkin’s numbers for whatever reason actually dip when Crosby is back in the lineup. But let’s stop the nonsense about whether the returns of Crosby and Letang will somehow affect the focus of a team that’s on fire. Believe me, Bylsma is a happy man right now. Finding ice time for all these stars? It’s a problem he’d rather have than not.
Crosby will begin Thursday’s game between Matt Cooke and Tyler Kennedy -- a way to manage his minutes. That line usually plays between 13 to 16 minutes a game.
Where it goes from there, even Bylsma doesn’t know.
Meanwhile, as Bylsma pointed out Thursday, this is a heck of a huge game for the Penguins. They’re six points back of the Rangers with one game in hand and play the Blueshirts one more time after Thursday night.
Both are must wins, Bylsma said, to have any chance at reeling in the Blueshirts.
The Rangers? If they see the charging Penguins in their rearview mirror, they’re certainly not letting on. Head coach John Tortorella wasn’t buying any of the hype Thursday morning about how big this game was.
"You’re not going to get me to bite on it, because I think it’s a bunch of bulls---. I really do," Tortorella said, like only he can.
While the Pens finally get healthy, the Rangers certainly are not for Thursday night. Backup Martin Biron starts in goal with Vezina Trophy candidate Henrik Lundqvist still not quite recovered from the flu. Captain Ryan Callahan and top-four blueliner Michael Del Zotto are also out.
I asked the Rangers' coach whether the new pressure the Penguins were suddenly exerting on his club could be a positive, given that his team has been in first place all season and hit March with not really much to play for until now.
"I don’t look at it as a new pressure,” Tortorella said. "Because we put pressure on ourselves no matter who we’re playing. We don’t spend too much time looking what’s going on in the standings. We really don’t. It’s something we addressed early on this year. And I think our guys have a maturity about how we go about it here. And that’s just worrying about us and worrying about today."
Besides, Tortorella insisted, first place in the conference is not something his team is focused on.
"You guys might think I’m crazy, but that’s how we think,” he said. "If you forget about what we’re doing today and get too caught up in what’s going on around, we’re not a good enough team to handle that. We need to worry about each and every day."
Just like Sid.
Crosby biggest acquisition of the season
March, 13, 2012
Mar 13
4:10
PM ET
By
Pierre LeBrun | ESPN.com
BOCA RATON, Fla. -- It was a few days before the NHL’s trade deadline and Pittsburgh Penguins GM Ray Shero sat his captain down for a chat. Shero wanted to feel him out. The Penguins had the option of putting Sidney Crosby on long-term injured reserve before the deadline and gaining the benefit of creating $8.7 million worth of cap space to make a big trade.
The flipside was that Crosby would not be able to return in their lineup until the playoffs, when the salary cap no longer applies.
"'It'll take you out of the lineup this year and you can only come back in the playoffs,'" Shero recalled telling Crosby. "I didn't have that deal, I just wanted to hear what he said. He was like, 'I'm not doing all this, not working this hard, not to come back, you know?' I'm like, 'Yeah, OK, I got you.'"
And with that, Shero had heard what he wanted. His franchise player was going to return before the regular season ended. So the trade deadline came and went without a move for Pittsburgh.
Heck, the biggest acquisition of the season is about to go down Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, when the hottest team in the NHL adds the game’s best player.
"He wants to play and he's worked really hard to get to this point again and come back and play," Shero said. "He said he's a hockey player, and I have great respect for that. He's the captain of our hockey team. I know it's exciting from a fan's standpoint. I'm the general manager of the team, but I'm a fan of the game as well, so from that standpoint, I'm really happy to see him come back. As the captain of our team, it's really important to have him back in our lineup. I'm looking forward to that as well."
The key in all this was Crosby playing regular-season games before the playoffs started. It’s a whole different animal come the postseason, and the Penguins were dearly hoping Crosby could use regular-season games to find his rhythm after playing in only eight games over the past 14 months.
"In the playoffs, when that puck drops, it's at another level,” Shero said. "He's only played eight games this year, so I think it's important to get back, get in the flow. We play three games in four days this weekend. We'll just kind of see how things go after Thursday.’"
The Penguins play back-to-back games Saturday (at New Jersey) and Sunday (at Philadelphia), and there’s no guarantee Crosby will appear in both.
"We'll see how he's doing, see how he's feeling," Shero said. "I don't know if he's going to play all three. If he feels real good, he will. If there's some reason, fatigue or whatever, it's OK. We're in this for the big picture to the end of the season and playoffs. We'll see how he's going to feel."
There’s an obvious level of apprehension after what happened last time around, Crosby appearing in eight games before concussion symptoms returned. The question now is just how long he’ll be back for, and how effective will he be.
"I think with anybody coming back -- could be [Evgeni] Malkin from an ACL or someone else coming back from a concussion or shoulder injury -- it's probably no different," Shero said. "Having gone through this the first time, he feels better about where he is, he knows what to expect. He'll jump into a certain situation on our team and not be relied upon to play 25 minutes, but if he does play 25 minutes, don't hold it against me."
But Shero and the organization are confident with Crosby’s decision.
"I think once he says he's ready to play, you trust the fact he is comfortable and confident to get out there and play, be hit and play his game,’’ the Penguins' GM said. "He feels great. There's no symptoms. It's three months now, so he has had lots of time to heal and train and get ready to play the game again."
The fact is, family, friends, teammates, the front office and fans will all be holding their breath every time he takes a hit. It’s going to be that way until the day he plays a full season without interruption.
But this isn’t a game that affords guarantees, not for the healthiest of players, let alone those recovering from a career-threatening concussion.
"I think he is in a good spot; he feels confident about where he is," Shero said. "He feels better than last time and knows what to expect this time."
Work can wait. Take a minute to peruse the highlights of the weekend:
- Breaking news!!! Sidney Crosby, who hasn't played in a game since Dec. 5, did not play against the Boston Bruins on Sunday, a game he never actually said he would play in. And while Crosby wasn't playing, the Pittsburgh Penguins won their ninth straight game and Evgeni Malkin reclaimed the NHL scoring lead with 84 points.
- The St. Louis Blues have quietly charged to the top of the standings in the NHL. While beating the Columbus Blue Jackets twice over the weekend is nothing to throw a parade over, winning nine of your past 10 games and separating yourself in the tough Central Division is impressive.
- Martin Brodeur earned his 650th career victory and needed only 18 saves against the Flyers to do it. The Devils are battling in the middle of the Eastern Conference standings, but the luckiest result for them could be a sixth-place finish. At least on paper, a first-round matchup against the winner of the Southeast Division looks more favorable than facing any team from the Atlantic Division.
- And speaking of the Southeast Division ... the Florida Panthers held a one-point advantage over the Washington Capitals at the end of the weekend. The Capitals have won three straight and sit in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, while the Panthers are just 2-3-1 in their past six games. It is looking like it won't be settled until these teams meet on April 5.
- On Saturday, Mike Smith did his part to make sure the Phoenix Coyotes held on to a playoff spot. Smith made 42 saves to shut out the San Jose Sharks, and the Coyotes are in seventh place in the Western Conference.
- As of Monday morning, the Calgary Flames pulled to the front of the traffic jam for the final playoff spot out West. The Flames, Kings and Avalanche are all tied with 76 points, while the Sharks are in 11th place with 75 points. San Jose's only advantage is that it has played the fewest games of the four teams, but it needs to end this five-game skid to make the extra games count for something.
- Everyone was quick to jump on Ilya Bryzgalov when things were going poorly in Philadelphia, but it is time to sing his praises. The Universe started his 11th straight game on Saturday (before resting on Sunday) and earned his third shutout in four games.
Possible Crosby return has league abuzz
March, 6, 2012
Mar 6
3:12
PM ET
By
Scott Burnside | ESPN.com
It appears we are now days away from the return of Sidney Crosby to NHL action, Part Deux.
And once again the league is abuzz with anticipation.
After talking to team doctors at Monday’s home game against Phoenix, Crosby was cleared for contact and took part Tuesday morning in his first full-contact practice with the team since early December. He told reporters in Pittsburgh after Tuesday’s skate that he was looking forward to the next few days of full contact and that he hoped for a speedy return to action.
“I’ll give myself days with contact,” Crosby told reporters after Tuesday’s skate.
“We have two more practices this week. No sooner than Sunday, I would say, but I’m not going to sit here and put a date on it. It would be total guesswork. I just want to make sure I get through these days fine and that would be a great decision to make if I get to that point,” Crosby said of a possible return to action.
Sunday?
Anyone who has even peripherally followed the Crosby saga, from its beginning 14 months ago, on Jan. 1, 2011, at the Winter Classic in Pittsburgh, through to his explosive return in November and his shocking disappearance again in early December, and the subsequent controversy surrounding his diagnosis and treatment, the notion that his return to action could be as close as a few days is in some ways breathtaking, almost surreal.
From wondering whether Crosby’s season was over and whether he might ever return to the NHL stage he has dominated for such long periods of time since breaking into the league in 2005-06, to wondering if he will face Boston in a nationally televised matinee on Sunday qualifies as a "holy cow" moment.
If there was nervous anticipation at Crosby’s return on Nov. 21, when he scored twice and collected four points against the New York Islanders, expect both the nervousness and anticipation to be ramped up exponentially for this return, whether it’s on Sunday or not.
The Penguins had prepared for this eventuality by not placing Crosby on long-term disability, a move that would have opened up significant cap space that GM Ray Shero could have used at last Monday’s trade deadline but would have precluded Crosby from playing before the start of the playoffs, which begin April 11. It was clear the team’s plan in conjunction with Crosby and his camp was to have him work out until he was symptom-free and then get him back into NHL action as quickly as possible. It’s clear that they believed this moment was going to arrive sooner than later and Tuesday’s news suggests their strategy was well thought out.
Plus, with Crosby working like a dog to get back into game shape, regardless of the insurance it might have theoretically provided, the Penguins didn’t want to have to tell their captain he wasn’t going to be able to play until the playoffs.
Crosby has been skating with his teammates off and on for a month but had until recently been dealing with injury-related symptoms. But a renewed course of treatment that included dealing with soft tissue issues in the neck at the base of the skull that were only recently diagnosed has helped Crosby get to the point where he can now entertain full contact in practice and a relatively quick return to game action.
“The neck [diagnosis] certainly helped. I definitely felt like I saw improvement with the work on my neck and getting that loose. Was it everything? I don’t know, but it certainly helped. It’s something I’ll continue to do and stay on,” Crosby told the media in Pittsburgh.
"It's a good step for him," Shero told ESPN.com via email. "He's been working hard on and off the ice, so let's see how things go over the next few days."
This season, Crosby played eight games before he started experiencing concussion symptoms again. He had 12 points and there was talk in that brief period about whether he could jump back into the scoring race and what kind of impact he could have if he stayed healthy.
He didn’t, of course, and just as quickly discussion about Crosby focused on whether he would return at all, not when that might happen. And so any discussion about his impact on the Penguins as they head into the stretch run before the playoffs must be tempered by that ominous "if."
What does it mean if Crosby does return in the coming days and stays healthy?
What would it mean for any team to wake up one morning on the eve of the playoffs and find out the best player in the world was ready to rejoin the fray? It would mean, in short, everything.
In Crosby’s absence, the Penguins have continued to impress as a team that doesn’t just battle adversity but overcomes it. Even without Crosby -- and more recently, without defenseman Kris Letang, who is out with what is suspected to be his second concussion of the season (the team won’t confirm whether Letang has a concussion after being belted by Dallas Stars forward Eric Nystrom last week) -- the Pens have thrived. Their 2-1 victory Monday over Phoenix was their sixth in a row and they boast the second-highest point total in the Eastern Conference.
Evgeni Malkin leads all NHLers with 81 points and is a current favorite to win the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP. Netminder Marc-Andre Fleury has been outstanding and Dan Bylsma continues to show why he is the defending Jack Adams Award winner as coach of the year.
Although it’s unlikely the Penguins will catch the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers, they have opened up breathing room as the fourth seed, which would mean home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Crosby’s return would make them favorites to beat any of the teams they would face in the first round.
Beyond that, Crosby’s return suggests the Penguins are a team that would match up extremely well with the Rangers should those teams meet, and it’s fair to say the Pens would enjoy a significant edge in terms of offensive depth.
As was the case in 2009, when the Penguins won their first championship since 1992, being blessed with incredible depth and talent down the middle with Crosby, Malkin and Jordan Staal makes them a force to be reckoned with, regardless of the opponent.
We would argue that with a healthy Crosby, this team is actually better than the one that defeated Detroit in the 2009 finals. The defense is deeper and more talented, and Fleury is more mature as a netminder. James Neal’s evolution as a top-flight scorer and Staal’s continued evolution as one of the top two-way centers in the game give the Penguins a completeness that few teams can rival.
All of which makes the anticipation for the coming days and weeks keener, and the nervousness that will walk in lockstep with that anticipation more pronounced.
And once again the league is abuzz with anticipation.
After talking to team doctors at Monday’s home game against Phoenix, Crosby was cleared for contact and took part Tuesday morning in his first full-contact practice with the team since early December. He told reporters in Pittsburgh after Tuesday’s skate that he was looking forward to the next few days of full contact and that he hoped for a speedy return to action.
“I’ll give myself days with contact,” Crosby told reporters after Tuesday’s skate.
“We have two more practices this week. No sooner than Sunday, I would say, but I’m not going to sit here and put a date on it. It would be total guesswork. I just want to make sure I get through these days fine and that would be a great decision to make if I get to that point,” Crosby said of a possible return to action.
Sunday?
Anyone who has even peripherally followed the Crosby saga, from its beginning 14 months ago, on Jan. 1, 2011, at the Winter Classic in Pittsburgh, through to his explosive return in November and his shocking disappearance again in early December, and the subsequent controversy surrounding his diagnosis and treatment, the notion that his return to action could be as close as a few days is in some ways breathtaking, almost surreal.
From wondering whether Crosby’s season was over and whether he might ever return to the NHL stage he has dominated for such long periods of time since breaking into the league in 2005-06, to wondering if he will face Boston in a nationally televised matinee on Sunday qualifies as a "holy cow" moment.
If there was nervous anticipation at Crosby’s return on Nov. 21, when he scored twice and collected four points against the New York Islanders, expect both the nervousness and anticipation to be ramped up exponentially for this return, whether it’s on Sunday or not.
The Penguins had prepared for this eventuality by not placing Crosby on long-term disability, a move that would have opened up significant cap space that GM Ray Shero could have used at last Monday’s trade deadline but would have precluded Crosby from playing before the start of the playoffs, which begin April 11. It was clear the team’s plan in conjunction with Crosby and his camp was to have him work out until he was symptom-free and then get him back into NHL action as quickly as possible. It’s clear that they believed this moment was going to arrive sooner than later and Tuesday’s news suggests their strategy was well thought out.
Plus, with Crosby working like a dog to get back into game shape, regardless of the insurance it might have theoretically provided, the Penguins didn’t want to have to tell their captain he wasn’t going to be able to play until the playoffs.
Crosby has been skating with his teammates off and on for a month but had until recently been dealing with injury-related symptoms. But a renewed course of treatment that included dealing with soft tissue issues in the neck at the base of the skull that were only recently diagnosed has helped Crosby get to the point where he can now entertain full contact in practice and a relatively quick return to game action.
“The neck [diagnosis] certainly helped. I definitely felt like I saw improvement with the work on my neck and getting that loose. Was it everything? I don’t know, but it certainly helped. It’s something I’ll continue to do and stay on,” Crosby told the media in Pittsburgh.
"It's a good step for him," Shero told ESPN.com via email. "He's been working hard on and off the ice, so let's see how things go over the next few days."
This season, Crosby played eight games before he started experiencing concussion symptoms again. He had 12 points and there was talk in that brief period about whether he could jump back into the scoring race and what kind of impact he could have if he stayed healthy.
He didn’t, of course, and just as quickly discussion about Crosby focused on whether he would return at all, not when that might happen. And so any discussion about his impact on the Penguins as they head into the stretch run before the playoffs must be tempered by that ominous "if."
What does it mean if Crosby does return in the coming days and stays healthy?
What would it mean for any team to wake up one morning on the eve of the playoffs and find out the best player in the world was ready to rejoin the fray? It would mean, in short, everything.
In Crosby’s absence, the Penguins have continued to impress as a team that doesn’t just battle adversity but overcomes it. Even without Crosby -- and more recently, without defenseman Kris Letang, who is out with what is suspected to be his second concussion of the season (the team won’t confirm whether Letang has a concussion after being belted by Dallas Stars forward Eric Nystrom last week) -- the Pens have thrived. Their 2-1 victory Monday over Phoenix was their sixth in a row and they boast the second-highest point total in the Eastern Conference.
Evgeni Malkin leads all NHLers with 81 points and is a current favorite to win the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP. Netminder Marc-Andre Fleury has been outstanding and Dan Bylsma continues to show why he is the defending Jack Adams Award winner as coach of the year.
Although it’s unlikely the Penguins will catch the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers, they have opened up breathing room as the fourth seed, which would mean home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Crosby’s return would make them favorites to beat any of the teams they would face in the first round.
Beyond that, Crosby’s return suggests the Penguins are a team that would match up extremely well with the Rangers should those teams meet, and it’s fair to say the Pens would enjoy a significant edge in terms of offensive depth.
As was the case in 2009, when the Penguins won their first championship since 1992, being blessed with incredible depth and talent down the middle with Crosby, Malkin and Jordan Staal makes them a force to be reckoned with, regardless of the opponent.
We would argue that with a healthy Crosby, this team is actually better than the one that defeated Detroit in the 2009 finals. The defense is deeper and more talented, and Fleury is more mature as a netminder. James Neal’s evolution as a top-flight scorer and Staal’s continued evolution as one of the top two-way centers in the game give the Penguins a completeness that few teams can rival.
All of which makes the anticipation for the coming days and weeks keener, and the nervousness that will walk in lockstep with that anticipation more pronounced.
WHO'S DELIVERING THE CHECKS
Scott Burnside
Scott Burnside covers the NHL for ESPN.com. Before joining the website in 2005, he was a reporter for The Windsor Star and Toronto Sun. Burnside also co-authored the best-selling true crime book "Deadly Innocence."
• Follow on Twitter (@ESPN_Burnside)
Pierre LeBrun
Pierre LeBrun covers the NHL for ESPN.com, joining the website in Sept. 2008 after spending 13 years with The Canadian Press as its national hockey columnist. He is also a regular panelist for TSN of Canada.
• Follow on Twitter (@Real_ESPNLeBrun)
Craig Custance
Craig Custance joined ESPN in Sept. 2011 to cover the NHL for ESPN the Magazine, ESPN Insider and ESPN.com. Previously, he covered hockey for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Sporting News.
• Follow on Twitter (@CraigCustance)
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