TOP STORY
Let The Games Begin...
The Blackhawks and Canucks had a physical regular season series this year. The players expect more in their Conference Semifinals match-up.
(Photo Credit - Getty Images)
(4) Chicago Blackhawks @ (3) Vancouver Canucks
The rest and repair Vancouver enjoyed over the last week will probably be needed as the Canucks get ready to play the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round of the NHL playoffs. There isn't much love lost between the two clubs. The last game the teams played (a 4-0 Vancouver win in Chicago) featured a third-period brawl. "This is another team we don't really like," defenseman Kevin Bieksa said after the Canucks practised at GM Place Tuesday. "They are a hard-working, physical team. It will be a battle. "There will be a couple of scrums in this series. It will be entertaining for everyone."
The Canucks haven't played a game since a 3-2 overtime victory last Tuesday which gave them a sweep against the St. Louis Blues in the playoff's opening round. The Blackhawks advanced by beating the Calgary Flames 4-1 Monday night to win that series in six games
Canuck goaltender Roberto Luongo said it's nice to get the waiting and wondering over. "It's nice to know we finally have an opponent," said Luongo, who leads all playoff goalies with a 1.15 goals-against average and a .962 save percentage. "It kind of gets the butterflies going a bit in your stomach."
The Canucks are also the last Canadian team remaining in the playoffs. Bieksa smiled when asked about Vancouver being Canada's team. "Hopefully we'll get some of the fans back East to start cheering for us," he said. The last Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup was the Montreal Canadiens in 1993.
In Nikolai Khabibulin, the Hawks have a goaltender who won a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Players like Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Kris Versteeg and Cam Barker supply plenty of offensive power. Coach Alain Vigneault said the Blackhawks can come at an opponent in waves. "Chicago presents a team with so much balance," said Vigneault. "They have three lines that can score on a regular basis. They have their energy line and they have defencemen that join the rush a lot better than St. Louis did. We are going to need our four lines. We're going to need our forwards to do a really good job as far as reading the rush, picking up their defence and, when the opportunity is there, to hit their defence in a legal, physical way."
Kesler said the Canucks also can't continue to dare fate by taking penalties. Vancouver was called for 29 penalties for 81 minutes against St. Louis. The Canucks were saved by a penalty-killing unit that was 95.8 per cent effective. The Blackhawks power play is second best in the playoffs at 29.2 per cent. "We have to be very disciplined," said Kesler. "The first round wasn't good enough. We weren't nearly as disciplined as we should have been and we gave up a lot of power plays. We have to nip that in the bud, especially against a team like this."
Protecting Luongo will also be important. It was a hit on the Canuck captain that started the blood boiling the last time the two teams played. The Blackhawks were also accused of bumping into Calgary goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff. Canuck defenceman Shane O'Brien didn't want to talk about the history between the clubs. "I remember a lot about that but I won't talk about that," he said with a smile. "Actions speak louder than words. I guarantee one thing. They are not going to be getting to Lui as easily as maybe they got to Kiprusoff."
Vancouver and Chicago split four games this season. The Blackhawks won the first two games 4-2 and 3-1. The Canucks won the last two meetings 7-3 and 4-0. The Blackhawks remained in Calgary on Monday night and arrived in Vancouver on Tuesday. While the Canucks are rested, veteran centre Mats Sundin said the Blackhawks have momentum on their side. "It's going to be tough," he said. "They played really well to beat Calgary in six games. We have to make sure we get ready and get the intensity and get our team ready to play like we did against St. Louis."
I'm really looking forward to this series. They play very similar styles and there's a good amount of bad blood between these two teams considering that they aren't division rivals. The series boils down to the men between the pipes. The current best goalie in the world (Roberto Luongo) vs. one of the fomer best goalies in the world (Nikolai Khabibulin). Luongo played at his usual top level down the stretch of the regular season and against the Blues while Khabibulin got hot at the right time as well. Vancouver is well rested while Chicago has momentum. The only difference in this series is that the Blackhawks shade a little more on the younger side while the Canucks have a little more experience. I'm picking Vancouver in seven games in what should be an epic 2nd round series.
OTHER NEWS
-A trio of Russians will battle for the honor of being named most valuable player in the National Hockey League. Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings were named as finalists for the Hart Trophy on Wednesday. The winner is to be announced June 18 at the NHL awards show in Las Vegas. Ovechkin can become the first repeat winner of the Hart since Dominik Hasek in 1997 and 1998 and the first forward to do it since Wayne Gretzky won the Hart Trophy eighth straight times from 1980 to 1987. "It means a lot for me to be up for this award," Ovechkin told the Capitals' website. "I always wanted to be the best, so this is a great honor. "It's special, too, with three Russians nominated. It's a great thing for our country and our sport." A year ago, Ovechkin won the Hart as well as the Art Ross Trophy as NHL scoring leader with 112 points and the Rocket Richard Trophy as goal-scoring leader with 65. This season, he locked up a second Richard Trophy with 56 goals but his 110 points were second to Malkin's 113 for the Art Ross. Malkin, who was runner-up to Ovechkin for MVP honors last season, had 35 goals and 78 assists for the Penguins, who had a second 100-point man in Sidney Crosby with 103. Datsyuk is considered by many the league's most complete player. He was fourth in scoring with 97 points, was plus-34 and won 56 per cent of his faceoffs.
-Flyers captain Mike Richards will have surgery this week to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder, and also needs surgery on his left shoulder and faces to 10 to 12 weeks of rehabilitation. Richards will have surgery tomorrow and then have the left one repaired once he regains motion on his right side. Richards said his shoulders have been bothering him since training camp. He couldn't pinpoint a game or a date when they started to hurt. Even with a pair of hurt shoulders, Richards had 30 goals and 80 points this season and helped the Flyers reach the playoffs. He used anti-inflammatory medication to keep the pain down. "There were certain days that were a lot worse than other days," Richards said Wednesday. "But it wasn't like I was in agony or throbbing pain. It was more of like achy and sore. Like if you slept on it bad, you would wake up sore. But it wasn't like it was really bad pain where I couldn't bear it or anything." His 80 points were second on the team behind Jeff Carter. Richards added a goal and four assists in the first round of the playoffs as the Flyers fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games. Richards signed a US$69-million, 12-year contract extension in December 2007.
-Mike Keenan expects to be back behind the bench in 2009-10 for the Flames:
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=276968
Let The Games Begin...
The Blackhawks and Canucks had a physical regular season series this year. The players expect more in their Conference Semifinals match-up.
(Photo Credit - Getty Images)
(4) Chicago Blackhawks @ (3) Vancouver Canucks
The rest and repair Vancouver enjoyed over the last week will probably be needed as the Canucks get ready to play the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round of the NHL playoffs. There isn't much love lost between the two clubs. The last game the teams played (a 4-0 Vancouver win in Chicago) featured a third-period brawl. "This is another team we don't really like," defenseman Kevin Bieksa said after the Canucks practised at GM Place Tuesday. "They are a hard-working, physical team. It will be a battle. "There will be a couple of scrums in this series. It will be entertaining for everyone."
The Canucks haven't played a game since a 3-2 overtime victory last Tuesday which gave them a sweep against the St. Louis Blues in the playoff's opening round. The Blackhawks advanced by beating the Calgary Flames 4-1 Monday night to win that series in six games
Canuck goaltender Roberto Luongo said it's nice to get the waiting and wondering over. "It's nice to know we finally have an opponent," said Luongo, who leads all playoff goalies with a 1.15 goals-against average and a .962 save percentage. "It kind of gets the butterflies going a bit in your stomach."
The Canucks are also the last Canadian team remaining in the playoffs. Bieksa smiled when asked about Vancouver being Canada's team. "Hopefully we'll get some of the fans back East to start cheering for us," he said. The last Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup was the Montreal Canadiens in 1993.
In Nikolai Khabibulin, the Hawks have a goaltender who won a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Players like Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Kris Versteeg and Cam Barker supply plenty of offensive power. Coach Alain Vigneault said the Blackhawks can come at an opponent in waves. "Chicago presents a team with so much balance," said Vigneault. "They have three lines that can score on a regular basis. They have their energy line and they have defencemen that join the rush a lot better than St. Louis did. We are going to need our four lines. We're going to need our forwards to do a really good job as far as reading the rush, picking up their defence and, when the opportunity is there, to hit their defence in a legal, physical way."
Kesler said the Canucks also can't continue to dare fate by taking penalties. Vancouver was called for 29 penalties for 81 minutes against St. Louis. The Canucks were saved by a penalty-killing unit that was 95.8 per cent effective. The Blackhawks power play is second best in the playoffs at 29.2 per cent. "We have to be very disciplined," said Kesler. "The first round wasn't good enough. We weren't nearly as disciplined as we should have been and we gave up a lot of power plays. We have to nip that in the bud, especially against a team like this."
Protecting Luongo will also be important. It was a hit on the Canuck captain that started the blood boiling the last time the two teams played. The Blackhawks were also accused of bumping into Calgary goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff. Canuck defenceman Shane O'Brien didn't want to talk about the history between the clubs. "I remember a lot about that but I won't talk about that," he said with a smile. "Actions speak louder than words. I guarantee one thing. They are not going to be getting to Lui as easily as maybe they got to Kiprusoff."
Vancouver and Chicago split four games this season. The Blackhawks won the first two games 4-2 and 3-1. The Canucks won the last two meetings 7-3 and 4-0. The Blackhawks remained in Calgary on Monday night and arrived in Vancouver on Tuesday. While the Canucks are rested, veteran centre Mats Sundin said the Blackhawks have momentum on their side. "It's going to be tough," he said. "They played really well to beat Calgary in six games. We have to make sure we get ready and get the intensity and get our team ready to play like we did against St. Louis."
I'm really looking forward to this series. They play very similar styles and there's a good amount of bad blood between these two teams considering that they aren't division rivals. The series boils down to the men between the pipes. The current best goalie in the world (Roberto Luongo) vs. one of the fomer best goalies in the world (Nikolai Khabibulin). Luongo played at his usual top level down the stretch of the regular season and against the Blues while Khabibulin got hot at the right time as well. Vancouver is well rested while Chicago has momentum. The only difference in this series is that the Blackhawks shade a little more on the younger side while the Canucks have a little more experience. I'm picking Vancouver in seven games in what should be an epic 2nd round series.
OTHER NEWS
-A trio of Russians will battle for the honor of being named most valuable player in the National Hockey League. Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings were named as finalists for the Hart Trophy on Wednesday. The winner is to be announced June 18 at the NHL awards show in Las Vegas. Ovechkin can become the first repeat winner of the Hart since Dominik Hasek in 1997 and 1998 and the first forward to do it since Wayne Gretzky won the Hart Trophy eighth straight times from 1980 to 1987. "It means a lot for me to be up for this award," Ovechkin told the Capitals' website. "I always wanted to be the best, so this is a great honor. "It's special, too, with three Russians nominated. It's a great thing for our country and our sport." A year ago, Ovechkin won the Hart as well as the Art Ross Trophy as NHL scoring leader with 112 points and the Rocket Richard Trophy as goal-scoring leader with 65. This season, he locked up a second Richard Trophy with 56 goals but his 110 points were second to Malkin's 113 for the Art Ross. Malkin, who was runner-up to Ovechkin for MVP honors last season, had 35 goals and 78 assists for the Penguins, who had a second 100-point man in Sidney Crosby with 103. Datsyuk is considered by many the league's most complete player. He was fourth in scoring with 97 points, was plus-34 and won 56 per cent of his faceoffs.
-Flyers captain Mike Richards will have surgery this week to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder, and also needs surgery on his left shoulder and faces to 10 to 12 weeks of rehabilitation. Richards will have surgery tomorrow and then have the left one repaired once he regains motion on his right side. Richards said his shoulders have been bothering him since training camp. He couldn't pinpoint a game or a date when they started to hurt. Even with a pair of hurt shoulders, Richards had 30 goals and 80 points this season and helped the Flyers reach the playoffs. He used anti-inflammatory medication to keep the pain down. "There were certain days that were a lot worse than other days," Richards said Wednesday. "But it wasn't like I was in agony or throbbing pain. It was more of like achy and sore. Like if you slept on it bad, you would wake up sore. But it wasn't like it was really bad pain where I couldn't bear it or anything." His 80 points were second on the team behind Jeff Carter. Richards added a goal and four assists in the first round of the playoffs as the Flyers fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games. Richards signed a US$69-million, 12-year contract extension in December 2007.
-Mike Keenan expects to be back behind the bench in 2009-10 for the Flames:
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=276968
TONIGHT'S ACTION:
Gm 1 - (4) Chicago Blackhawks @ (3) Vancouver Canucks - 9PM - Versus
Email From The Slot at fromtheslot@gmail.com
Information from the AP and Canadian Press was used in this posting
Gm 1 - (4) Chicago Blackhawks @ (3) Vancouver Canucks - 9PM - Versus
Email From The Slot at fromtheslot@gmail.com
Information from the AP and Canadian Press was used in this posting
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