WEEKLY TV Viewer Guide - Week of 3/14

Capitals LW Mike Knuble scores the game-winning OT goal against the Blackhawks on national TV on Sunday. The Caps will be featured twice more this week.

MONDAY - Sharks @ Blackhawks - 8PM - Versus

The week's national TV slate opens with a rematch of last year's Western Conference Finals. While the Blackhawks took care of business last year, Chicago is 0-2-1 in the three meetings with the Sharks so far this season. The Hawks have followed an eight game winning streak with a three game losing streak, but have earned a point in two of those three losses. San Jose has had a similar streak, going 9-1-2 in their last 12. San Jose sits in the Pacific Division lead and in 3rd in the West while the Blackhawks are in 7th but only a point out of 4th.

TUESDAY - Hurricanes @ Sabres - 7:30PM - Versus

These two teams are still battling it out for playoff positioning. This will be their 3rd of 4 meetings this season with Buffalo going 1-0-1 so far. The Hurricanes have lost four in a row and have only earned one point in that stretch while the Sabres are 7-2-2 in their last 11. Buffalo is playing like a team that's trying to consistently stay in the top 8 while Carolina is trying to regain their midwinter form. The Sabres sit in 7th in the East with 76 points while the 'Canes have 72 points and trail the 8th place Rangers by 4 points.

WEDNESDAY - Capitals @ Red Wings - 7:30PM - Versus

Talk about a clash of two titans. Both teams have 90 points, both are in 2nd place in their respective conferences, and both seem to pulling away in their respective divisions. The Caps have won 8 in a row and 11 of 14. Detroit has won two in a row after losing four in a row. This will be their only meeting of the season. 

THURSDAY - NO GAME

FRIDAY - Capitals @ Devils - 7PM - NHL Network 
For the 2nd time this week we get a chance to see Ovechkin and the Capitals. While the Caps are the hottest team in the NHL right now, they are playing one of the hottest teams in the league since mid-January. The Devils are still clutching on to the slim hope of sneaking in the playoffs, but every point counts now. This is their last meeting of the season with the first three coming very early in the year. Washington took the two games in DC by a combined score of 12-3 while the Devils won the won meeting at The Rock 5-0.

SATURDAY - Bruins @ Maple Leafs - 7PM - NHL Network

Games within the Northeast Division are always physical. While Toronto is still trying to chase the 8th spot in the East, time is running out and they need to go on a winning streak soon. The Leafs snapped a three game losing streak with a big win over Buffalo on Saturday night, but host Tampa Bay and travel to Carolina and Florida before this game. Boston has skidded a bit lately. Despite the great moves they made at the deadline, they are 2-2-2 since then. The rival Canadiens only trail by two points for the division lead. They have split their four match-ups so far with the last game in the season series coming later this month. 

SUNDAY - Rangers @ Penguins - 12:30PM - NBC
This one will be a big match-up for both teams. Despite losing Evgeni Malkin for the season and Sidney Crosby for a long time (he started skating today, but best case scenario is an early May return), they have hung on to the 4th spot in the East. With Philly slumping, the banged up Penguins only trail 1st place by three points and can still make a run at the top spot in the East.  After losing six of seven, the Pens have won three of four. The Rangers have won three of four after losing three in a row and are holding on to 8th in the East. The Blueshirts have taken three of the five meetings this season and this will be their last meeting.

NHL's Most Wanted: Zdeno Chara

Bruins D Zdeno Chara has become public enemy #1 in the hockey world

I wanted to let this Chara-Pacioretty stuff sit for a couple of days and see what the fallout was before I commented on it. But the combination of the Montreal police opening a criminal investigation in to this is AND Air Canada threatening to pull their sponsorship, that's enough for me. Everyone needs to get off of Zdeno Chara's back. If the league wants to suspend him to shut people up, then fine. But this was a bang-bang play where it was unfortunate timing and positioning on the ice.

If you've been under a rock for the past couple of days, here's the hit (sorry for the French):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlJ0Ca6SIj8

If the 6'9"  260lb Chara makes that hit anywhere else on the ice, Pacioretty goes down, gets up, maybe there's a 2 minute interference call, and the majority of the mainstream sports media wouldn't know Max Pacioretty if he spit on them. Do you have to be aware of where you are on the ice, absolutely. But to think that there was any sort of intent to injure from Zdeno Chara is ludicrous. If you feel that way, you need to watch more than two or three hockey games in your entire life.

Max Pacioretty spoke for the first time publicly on TSN in Canada today. From his hospital bed, he said "I am upset and disgusted that the league didn't think enough of (the hit) to suspend him. I'm not mad for myself, I'm mad because if other players see a hit like that and think it's okay, they won't be suspended, then other players will get hurt like I got hurt. It's been an emotional day. I saw the video for the first time this morning. You see the hit, I've got a fractured vertebrae, I'm in hospital and I thought the league would do something, a little something. I'm not talking a big number, I don't know, one game, two games, three games...whatever, but something to show that it's not right."

I understand his frustration. His career is in jeopardy, he almost had his neck snapped, it's a natural reaction. And like I said earlier, while I don't agree with it, I can understand the league deciding to hand out a minor suspension to save face. The part that bothers me is when he talks about other players seeing a hit like that and "thinking it's okay." I would bet that not even Matt Cooke, Trevor Gillies, or Sean Avery would think smashing someones head in to the stanchion is "okay." It was an accident. And Max, if you want to get on your pulpit about players thinking that dirty hits are okay, you should check your own closet. Last time I checked, leading with your elbow to hit someone in the back of the head in to the boards is not okay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1IDI1lTrBc

While I hope that Pacioretty makes a full recovery and is able to play again, I hope the NHL doesn't go the way of the NFL where it begins to become a "weeny" league (I wanted to use a much stronger word there). The NFL handed out numerous fines this year for hits that were "dirty". Just like the NHL, there are plays in the NFL where when you have big guys moving full speed with people changing direction at the drop of a dime. Impacts can happen in ways that weren't desired with players getting hurt. It's an unfortunate part of the game, but it is a part of the game.

The Montreal Police opening an investigation in to this is a partial reaction by the hometown police who are Habs fans. It makes them look silly. If the tables had been turned, where it was a Canadien hitting a Bruin like that, there wouldn't be a whisper about it. When former NHL'er Chris Simon took a baseball swing at the head of former Ranger Ryan Hollweg in a game between the Islanders and Rangers a few years ago, having a police investigation in to that would have been slightly more understandable. What Simon did was assault with a weapon and he's lucky there wasn't more damage done to Hollweg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esETGHljQi4). Chara didn't do anything remotely close to that. He made contact and extended his arm a bit. Yes, that's interference. But the last time I checked, an interference penalty was two minutes in a penalty box, not a felony.

And as for Air Canada threatening to pull its sponsorship...I would love to see them follow through on that. The NHL needs their money more than they need to advertise in the NHL. But if you're going to do something, you better make damn sure you do it all the way. That means finding a way out of your naming rights agreement with the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, where the Maple Leafs play. The Leafs are kind of a popular team in Canada and the exposure they get from having their name on that building is pretty valuable. NHL games are played in that building, so if you want to disassociate yourself with a "violent sport", that's part of the package, too. If you're going to take a moral stand against something, you can't do it when it's convenient. Stop the empty threats and keep your nose out of something that's not even your business. As much as I don't like Gary Bettman's decision making sometimes, he took a hard line with Air Canada and I applaud him for it.

"Air Canada is a great brand, as is the National Hockey League, and if they decide they need to do other things with their sponsorship dollars that's their prerogative, just like it's the prerogative of our clubs that fly on Air Canada to make other arrangements if they don't think Air Canada is giving them the appropriate level of service." Bravo Mr. Bettman.

The bottom line is that it was a very unfortunate result of a play in a game where physicality is as natural as skating and scoring. Pacioretty had an idea of where Chara was coming from and was in a bad place. If you follow hockey, you've often heard the phrase "Don't skate with your head down". Why? Because that's asking to get leveled. And that's considered a clean hit as long as you don't target the player's head or lead with your elbow. While I completely agree with that logic, how can hitting someone who isn't paying attention be considered okay, but it not be okay when a defenseman is trying to make a play to slow down an attacking forward in a way he's been taught to his whole career.

According to Bruins staffers, Chara is clearly shaken by the whole incident. You can call bull and say that's just PR damage control, but we'll see how much it's affected his game tonight when the Bruins take on Buffalo. You hope he's not tentative, but I'm willing to bet he's going to show hesitation at least once tonight, and that's a shame.

NHL WEEKLY TV Viewer Guide - Week of 3/7

Alexander Ovechkin moves the puck in on the Lightning. It's a battle for first place between these two teams on Versus Monday night (each team is televised twice this week on national television)

Capitals @ Lightning - 7PM - Versus
The Caps come in to this game on a four game winning streak and have won six of their past seven. The win over Florida last night put Washington back in 1st place in the Southeast Division and 2nd place in the East. Tampa comes in having lost three in a row and dropping down to 5th in the East. This will be the last meeting of the season between these two teams as the Caps have taken three of the first five. If you like physical, fast-paced hockey between two division rivals, this is your game.

Avalanche @ Wild - 8PM - Versus
This is another division game where the teams will be meeting of the last time this season. Minnesota has taken three of five in the series so far. The Wild have gone 4-2-2 in their last 8 but will need a winning streak to get some control of their own fate (they sit one point out of 8th but are in 9th in the West). Colorado's season has taken a drastic turn south since the beginning of February. Since February 1st, Colorado is 1-12-2 and have lost five in a row. The Wild are still alive for a playoff spot, but need to take care of business against bad teams if they want to keep chasing one of those 8 spots.

Blackhawks @ Lightning - 7:30PM - Versus
This will be the first of two games that we'll see the Blackhawks take on a Southeast Division team on national television this week. The Lightning get a nice tune-up on Monday against the Capitals while the Hawks will be on their 3rd game of the four game road trip (they play at Florida on Tuesday night). Going in to Monday, Chicago has won eight in a row and vaulted themselves to 4th place in the Western Conference. These teams will meet again in Chicago on Sun 4/3.

NO GAME THURSDAY OR FRIDAY

Sabres @ Maple Leafs - 7PM - NHL Network
This will be the 5th meeting of the season for these Northeast Division teams with Buffalo taking 3 of the four games so far. The Leafs are still alive for a playoff birth, but will need to win this game to keep pace with the other teams (including the Sabres) chasing the 8th spot. They play at the Islanders and host the Flyers before this game. The Sabres have earned at least a point in seven straight games (5-0-2) and now lead Carolina by a point for 8th in the East (Buffalo and Carolina have two more meetings this season).These two finish their season series on 3/29.

Blackhawks @ Capitals - 12:30PM - NBC
This is a rare late-season inter-conference match-up between the defending champs and a top team in the league. As of this posting, both are riding winning streaks (Capitals 4 games, Blackhawks 8 games) and are looking to accumulate any points they can and stay hot down the stretch. Washington plays at Tampa and hosts Edmonton and Carolina before this game while Chicago plays at Florida and Tampa Bay before this game. Maybe President Obama will take in his hometown defending champions as they come to town for their lone meeting of the season

Today's Flyers-Rangers contest @ MSG should be the physical battle it usually is (as demonstrated by Rangers D Dan Girardi and Flyers C and Captain Mike Richards). I will be live-tweeting from MSG, so check out @TheHockeyPress.