Category Archives: Hockey

Are The Phoenix Coyotes a Playoff Team?

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Pictured above is alternate captains Keith Yandle and Martin Hanzal, with Captain Shane Doan, and Steve Sullivan #26, celebrating his 1000th game. Steve Sullivan #26 of the Phoenix Coyotes is presented with a photo collage to commemorate his 1000th NHL game during a ceremony before the start of their game against the Los Angeles Kings at Jobing.com Arena on April 2, 2013 in Glendale, Arizona.

      This year the Phoenix Coyotes are lead by Keith Yandle, Martin Hanzal and Shane Doan. They are a fairly old team with a lot of experience in the roster, especially Shane Doan. He is 37 years old from Halkirk, Alberta, Canada. He has been in the NHL for 17 years and has played for the Original Winnipeg Jets/Phoenix Coyotes.

     Last year they did not make the playoffs finishing 4th in the Pacific Division. This year they are off to a good start.  I believe that they have a great chance at making the playoffs this year. But you know how hockey goes, the team has to stay healthy and injury free. If that happens then I believe that they will make the playoff this year.

Thomas Hertl 4 Goal Game vs Rangers

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          Tomáš Hertl (born November 12, 1993) is a Czech Professional Hockey Player who currently plays for the San Jose Sharks. Hertl was selected 17th overall in the 2012 entry draft by the Sharks. Before getting drafted, Hertl played for HC Slavia Praha of the Czech Extraliga. After getting dafted he went back to play with them for one more year before heading to San Jose.

In the preseason, Hertl scored 3 goals and 1 assist, and joined Joe Thornton and Brent Burns on a line, filling the hole created by Raffi Torres‘ injury. He tallied his first career point with an assist on a goal by Brent Burns. Hertl scored his first two NHL goals in the next game on October 5th. Hertl became the youngest player to score 2 goals for the Sharks in one game since Patrick Marleau on March 17, 1999.  On October 8, Hertl registered 4 goals against the New York Rangers in a 9-2 victory, making him the youngest player in the NHL to record a four-goal game (19 years, 330 days old) since jimmy Carson did in the 1987-88 season with the L.A. Kings (19 years, 254 days old). Hertl also became the first Shark to score four goals in one game since Owen Nolan in 1995.

          Tomáš Hertl scored 4 goals, while just getting just 11 minuets of ice time. While 4 goal games are rare themselves, being 19 adds to it, and doing it in under 12 mins of ice time is just amazing.

NHL Realignment

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I think the realignment of the NHL Divisions is spot on. For one the Red Wings are finally in a division where the teams are in the same time zone. If you look at the map, that was probably the overall goal of the realignment. There are four divisions, The Atlantic, The Metropolitan, The Central, and The Pacific.

The Atlantic consists of, The Boston Bruins, The Ottawa Senators, The Montreal Canadians, The Toronto Maple Leafs, The Buffalo Sabres, The Detroit Red Wings, The Florida Panthers, and the Tampa Bay Lightning. This is one of the divisions who have 8 teams, the others have 7.

The Metropolitan Division consists of, The New York Rangers, The New York Islanders, The New Jersey Devils, The Philadelphia Flyers, The Pittsburgh Penguins, The Washington Capitals, The Columbus Blue Jackets, and The Carolina Hurricanes. This is going to be  the biggest rivalry division. With the Caps and the Pens, The Pens and the Flyers, Isles and the Rangers. The division games between these teams are going to be very exciting.

In the Central Division, it consists of, The Chicago Blackhawks, the raining Stanley cup Champions, The St. Louis Blues, The Minnesota Wild, The Winnipeg Jets, The Colorado Avalanche, The Dallas Stars, and the Nashville Predators. This Division, is one of the least competitive divisions. I am not saying that the teams are bad, but I am saying that the Blue and the Wild are the two dominant teams in the division.

The Pacific Division consists of, The LA Kings, The Calgary Flames, The Anaheim Ducks, The Phoenix Coyotes, The San Jose Sharks, The Vancouver Canaucks, and The Edmonton Oilers. This Division is made up of mainly newly formed teams, none of the original six. But these teams are getting better and based on last years performance, some are Stanley Cup contenders.

To go along with the Realignment, the playoffs are going to work differently.

“The top three teams in each division will make up the first 12 teams in the playoffs. The remaining four spots will be filled by the next two highest-placed finishers in each conference, based on regular-season points and regardless of division. It will be possible, then, for one division to send five teams to the postseason while the other sends three.

The seeding of the wild-card teams within each divisional playoff will be determined on the basis of regular-season points. The division winner with the most points in the conference will be matched against the wild-card team with the lowest number of points; the division winner with the second-most points in the conference will play the wild-card team with the second fewest points.

The teams finishing second and third in each division will play in the first round of the playoffs. The winners of each series will play for berths in the Conference Championship series.

The two divisional champions in each conference will then play in the conference finals to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.”

– Credit to Donald Wood of the Bleacher Report 

http://bleacherreport.com/users/348984-donald-wood

This was the most helpful thing I read that explained the NHL Playoffs.  The Playoffs are a bit confusing but as the season goes on, if you keep up with the NHL, they will explain the playoffs more in-depth.

Fight Night in Toronto

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Fighting is part of hockey. It is a way to stick up for your teammates. There is always an enforcer for each team, wither he is a fighter, or just a physical presence  on the ice. For the Sabres, it’s John Scott, one of the biggest goons I have ever seen play hockey. For the Maple leafs, there are two guys, one guy is Phil Kessel. He is a small, very skilled, forward. He gets under people’s skin, he slashes, he hits, he makes guys mad. Then there is David Clarkson.  He is a Fighter, he isn’t as big as Scott, but he is tough. He can beat the crap out of people. You either like him or you hate him, that’s how it is with ever enforcer.

In the Video, it starts of with a normal fight, where both guys want it. After the brawl, Adam Scott lines up against Kessel on the wing, they exchange words and Scott throws off his gloves and grabs Kessel. It obvious that Kessel does not want to fight. He brakes Scotts grip and gives him a few hacks to the back of the legs. This is when Clarkson Jumps off the bench and takes on Scott. During all of this, Kessel finds another wing and fights him. Now everyone is in a fight, except the goalies. After you think everything has cooled down, the camera shows Buffalo Goalie Ryan Miller squaring up with Toronto’s James Reimer. Now they are going at it. Reimer ends up getting his arm out of his pads and is launching hay-makers at Miller. Then, after the have been broken up, there are a few pushes and sissy shoves, but that’s it. Everyone on the ice got Fighting majors and were sent off the ice. The NHL are still reviewing the brawl for further penalties.

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Chirping

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          Chirping is as much a part of the game of hockey as the Zamboni, power plays, and Donald Cherry. It starts in peewees, and goes all the way up to the pros. Yes some people look down upon it, but it can have an effect on one’s opponent, and take their head right out of the play.

         One of my favorite plays and forms of chirping, is the little stuff. Just look at the way New York Rangers winger Sean Avery got under the skin of Devils goaltender Marty Brodeur in the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The tender said afterwards, “It was not an easy series, that’s for sure. They did a great job of getting to me, getting in front of me and making my life tough out there.” And, he refused to shake the pesky Avery’s hand after his New Jersey squad was eliminated in the first round by the Blueshirts. This I don’t really get. Its part of the game, and just because he is good at it doesn’t mean you don’t shake the guy’s hand. There is nothing wrong with a little chirping, especially if the result is your team winning. It doesn’t always have to be harsh words either. A simple knock on a guy’s inability to score can put a player over the edge.

With that being said, here are a few of my favorite hockey chirps.

My list of Top 11 Hockey Chirps, in no order.

11. “Hey goalie, I’ve seen coupons that save more than you.”

10. “It must be hard to eat, when you got no hands.”

9. “That’s a nice helmet…does it come in men’s too?”

8. (When a player with a visor is talking trash) “What’s that? Roll down your window, I can’t hear you.”

7. “I’ve seen better hands on a digital clock.”

6. “I’ve seen bigger hits in Little League.”

5. “Hey tender, switch to Geico so you can save 15% or more.”

4. At the face off, do a double take of the guy your squaring off against and say…”Hey man, does your coach know you’re out here?””

3. “Hey buddy can I borrow your hands, I need a stone for my skates.”

2. “Ray Charles sees more ice than you.”

1. “Funny, I heard you were the worst player on your last team too.”