Pens Advance To Conference Finals!!!

What a series. What a matchup. Hockey fans couldn't have asked for anything better during the 7 games that the Capitals and Penguins played. The only thing that would have made this better, would have been if the series was the Stanley Cup Finals. Crosby and Ovechkin both showed why they are the two best players in the world. It was simply one of the best series in recent memory. Some are saying that it ranks with some of the best seven game series in hockey history.

Regardless, last night was a little anti-climatic. Pens and Caps fans probably thought going into game seven, that the game would be decided by one goal for sure, perhaps even an overtime or two. This series had every thing except for a blowout and a multiple OT game. We finally did get a little bit of everything. The better team prevailed in this series. The only reason it went seven games was because rookie goaltender Simeon Varlamov stole some games and that was what made the difference in the series. If he isnt in net, this would have been a 5 game series easily, maybe even a sweep.

The play of the game last night however, was Fluery's stop of Ovechkin on a breakaway. If Ovie scores on that breakaway, I think we see a totally different game. I still think that the Pens were going to win, but maybe if that shot goes in, its a different game. Fluery made the big save when he needed to. The Pens now wait for the winner of the Boston/Carolina series.

Here is my prediction for tonights game sevens...

Boston/Carolina: Carolina had control of this series. They had a 3-1 series lead. Boston fought back to force a game seven. This doesnt look good for the Hurricanes. Boston is probably one of the best teams in hockey right now. They have a ton of depth. I think Carolina has a goaltending edge however in Cam Ward. The guy is amazing and already has one cup under his belt. But I think it is going to be a collapse for the Canes. Bruins win.

Anaheim/Detroit: Here is another great series. Both teams hate each other. Anaheim apparently is sick of Detroits ways, because at the end of Game 6, they started beating up on Detroits stars literally. This one could go either way. I think Detroit has the edge however. They are a very deep team and the defending champs. As much as I hate them and would love to see them eliminated, I just dont see it happening. Red Wings win.

One more thing.....

Phoenix filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. This is somthing that Penguins fans know all too well (Pens filed twice in their existence). It looks like the team may be moved but the NHL is saying they are behind the Phoenix area and want it to recover. My bet is the NHL allows the team to move. I think it would be better for everyone in this case. I hate to see it happen, but to me it is only a matter of time until the Coyotes leave town. The team would probably be relocated to Kansas City or to Canada. KC seems likely since they have a new arena in place and wanted the Pens very badly. If the team would move to Canada, its hard to say where it would go. I personally would like to see a team back in Quebec, but that is probably unlikely. Winnipeg I believe lost their team because they couldn't support the franchise. Hamilton seems likely or maybe Toronto could get a second team. I don't think that would be wise, but you can never be to sure until it happens. New York has two teams. Several other cities in other sports have two teams. Who knows.

How High Can They Go?

Wayne Gretzky holds alot of NHL records. All of the following are Gretzky records that will likely never be touched: 1981-82 he scored 92 goals in a season, 1985-86 he scored 215 points in a season (he went over 200 points three other times in his career), and he scored 50 goals in 39 games during the 1981-82 season. Looking at all of these records makes you realize how great he really was. I want to make the point also that the 1980's was a time when the game was very offensive and goaltending was poor. I think players like Gretzky and Lemieux would have had the same kind of success in this era because they were that damn good (Lemieux by the way is the only other player I know of to come close to Gretzky's feats). But this begs one question....how great will this group of players we are watching now become (Crosby, Ovechkin and Malkin)?

On NHL.com last week John Buccigross recieved an email from a reader asking what he thought that these three players would reach in terms of their peak (Goals, Assists and Points) in their careers. I could go into a very long dissertation of how this could happen and the factors involved in it. Maybe I will this weekend with my extra day off, but regardless its interesting to wonder. Buccigross however feels that the peaks for the three players should be about this: Ovechkin's line from last season (65-47-112) with a possibility of 70 goals in a season next year or the year after if he stays hot, Crosby should have a line of about 45-101-146 if he gets that scoring winger he needs but it could be around 38-94-132 given the parity in the leage, Malkin on the other hand could go even higher. He could end up with a line of 54-90-144 but he also said that he wouldnt be suprised to see a line of 61-101-162 in the future simply because Malkin keeps getting better and better. The biggest point is that Crosby is shooting less and Malkin is shooting more and getting more assists. The whole point of this post, is that its going to be very exciting to see these three players the next couple of years. I hope every day that any or all of these three will challenge one of those records. Crosby is hailed as the "Next One" however I think that Malkin will be better because of his size. Ovechkin could have a problem with injuries if he continues to play the way he does. Stay tuned for a more interesting, longer post in the coming days and check out the links below....

John Buccigross wrote a solid article about play-by-play announcers and their relationships with local fans this week on ESPN.com

Read more about the 50 in 50 feat on wikipedia.org

WWIII: Crosby vs. Ovechkin

So now that hockey fans have the rivalry they so desperately wanted, I'm gonna give my take on it. I'll have links at the end for you to read and get up to date on what is going on.

I know I've said this before and I'll say it again: I love the way Ovechkin plays the game. He plays hard and he plays to win. I don't care who you are, you'd love this guy if he was on your team. But when a guy goes after another guy that isn't cool. Ovechkin tried to wreck Malkin in just about every game the two played earlier this season. Crosby now seems to be the guy that Ovie has his sights set on. I really just don't understand the point of trying to intentionally cheap shot a guy. I mean, Ulf Samuellson, as Pens fans know, ended the career of Boston Bruins star Cam Neely in a playoff game a while back. It's not cool. It is good for the game to have two stars duking it out for supremicy, but if you are going to cheap shot a guy, it's not a healthy rivalry and needs to be addressed. I don't like it when anyone goes after another player with the intent to cheap shot him. It's just flat out wrong. So I guess I am hoping that Ovie takes it down a notch and doesnt decide to cheapshot Crosby. Bottom line seems to be that the Caps are taking a little too much joy in the fact the Pens are floundering this season. That's very classy. Thankfully the two teams play only one more game this season. Unless that is, the two teams meet in the playoffs...

Check out PensBlog for more on Redskins TE Chris "I think I'm so" Cooley and what he said about Crosby.

The Post-Gazette has a little tid-bit on the Crosby/Ovechkin fued.

A Washington Post columnist shares his two cents.

The NY Times had a story about the fued.

Also, here is an update on some trade rumors as we near the deadline...

Fox Sports.com has a list of "rumors" yinz should check out.

Sporting News is reporting a Lecavalier to Montreal rumor.

Hockey Buzz has some trade rumors as well.

Whats With Ovie and Geno?

Whats with Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin. Anyone that follows the NHL knows about the ongoing rivalry between Alexander Ovechkin of the Capitals and Evgeni Malkin of the Penguins. But it was apparently resolved on Saturday night during the NHL's Super Skills competition. Geno and Ovie apparently have put their fued with one another aside. Acutally I would say that it must have been Ovie that put his fued with Malkin aside, being that he was the one trying to kill Malkin on every shift this season when they played. Regardless, from what I read it appeared that Ilya Kovalchuk of the Thrashers, who is also a russian, said they needed to get over it and that was it, everyone was friends again. This leads me to one of two theories. Either 1)Kovalchuk is one hell of peace maker. If that is the case he needs to be in politics bringing world peace and not in the NHL, or 2) maybe this was Ovechkin just being a jerk. Don't get me wrong, I like the way he plays and I like the fact that he is probably the most exciting player in the league but this all seems fishy to me. It just doesn't make sense that Ovechkin has hated Malkin for about a year or so and now they are buddy buddy again. It's too early to call this one, but stay tuned because I get the feeling more will come from this weekend in the coming days or weeks.

By the way, it was great to see Ovie do what he did in the super skills competition. Thats what this entire weekend is all about.




Here are some links to the stories...
Fanhouse & Washington Post