Like I said on twitter last night, everyone at the bar was either a Flyers fan (unlikely) or rooting for a game 7 (more likely). Nemmy said that when the Flyers tied it up there was no way the Hawks would win the game. He didn't count on Kane's mullet shake distracting Kimo and giving him enough space to beat Leighton.
Soft goal? Maybe. Its a quick shot thats probably harder to stop. Ask Ryan Miller.
Some final thoughts on game 7 and the series in general:
Did Pronger get dirtier or did the refereeing become stricter as the series went on?
Briere and Hartnell were the only Flyers to show up after game 4
Matt Carle got walked by Hossa with like 2 minutes left in the 3rd. Leighton got his chest in the way of the puck.
Does Niemi catch pucks in the weirdest way possible?
I wish this went to game 7. Now I have to go to a karaoke birthday party on Friday. Thanks a lot Kane!
Seriously, all the games friday were mostly disappointing. I'm glad series got extended, but there was nothing really of the high-light reel variety going on.
Saturday, though had some greatness:
First, there was the ridiculousness of the Hawks/Preds game:
Watch the whole replay. Why does Martin Erat make a blind pass to the slot. Why is there is only one Predator d-man in front for 2 hawks when the Preds have an extra man? That was gross
Later that night the Penguins had a "I don't care if Fleury is playing badly, we're gonna win" comeback.
and then to win the game Staal did his best Crosby impression and fed the puck to Dupuis who really quick-released a great shot:
Even later that night the Avalanche lost the game and series. I hope everyone now forgets the Dan Boyle own goal. Just look at this:
Coyotes/Wings are going to 7, unfortunately, the Kings are not.
There's no point in analyzing any of the deals. None were game-changers, only game adjusters.
Canucks beat the Red Wings, 6-3: I don;t think you can really consider Burrows and Kesler "grind guys," but on Vancouver, they kind of are. And when they get going, the Canucks are hard to beat. Kesler scored a sweet goal, splitting the D and stuffing the puck in 5-hole. Burrows scored by going to the net and tipping a great feed from one of the Sedins. Also, Kyle Wellwood sniped a high glove breakaway goal and didnt celebrate. The Wings first goal of the night was a great example of winning the puck along the boards, then Zetterberg perfectly used body positioning to wheel away from the D-man and fed a perfect pass to Jason Williams who blasted a one-timer home.
Blackhawks beat the Oilers, 5-2: Its officially "tank" season for the Oilers. Chicago's good and did score some pretty pretty goals. Jonny Toews walked the Oilers D, Hossa fed a sweet pass over the Kane. Its all there in Chi-town.
Wild shut-out the Flames, 4-0: The Wild scored a beauty of a goal in this game. A great passing play from Miettinen to Koivu to Brunette. Kipper never even had his car.
Avalanche beat the Ducks, 4-3: Peter Mueller scored in his debut. That's nice. Panthers beat the Flyers, 7-4: David Booth got a Gordie Howe Hat Trick. He fought Richards. At first I was disappointed that Booth didn't remove his bucket, because he wears a visor. But then I remembered the whole concussion thing.
Capitals beat the Sabres, 3-1: Green's game winner was the result of a him picking his cut to the net perfectly and great selling of the "shot" by Tomas Fleishman.
Senators beat the Sabres, 4-2: The Senators are playing very well and their best players are lighting it up. Spezza scored 2 ridiculous goals. The first was short side on barely any release and the second was sick shot to the top corner. And Alfie scored the other 2. Meanwhile, Brian Elliot is coming into form nicely. Ottawa has escaped that clusterfuck of teams all battling for the 3 play-off spots.
Flames beat the Hurricanes, 4-1: Eric Staal got his face beaten up this game - a high stick and then his own man's skate after Mark Giordano dumped the cane into the bench. If Curtis Glenncross scores a hat trick, you should be winning. Oilers shut-out the Flyers, 1-0: Oilers scored with 16 seconds left - heartbreaking. Also, because the Flyers had like 17 on-the-doorstep opportunities that they missed. Blues beat the Hawks, 3-2: The Hawks goal were beauties. Kane went top shelf on the backhand on a breakaway and the pass from Toews to Hossa for the 2nd was pure filth. Ducks beat the Wings, 3-1: Who's the starter and who's the back up in Detroit?
2010 started off nicely enough with a good game and better fight at Fenway.
Then team USA was announced. At least those boys won't have the pressure of Canada.
Even if we don't beat Canada at the Olympics, at least we can beat them up.
Kovalev had 4 goals last night. His 4th was probably his nicest, mostly because his head is down most of the way.
The Penguins suck in 2010, but Crosby scored this nice wrister:
And then MAF gave up 5 goals. He's playing himself right to 3rd on the Canada goalie depth chart.
This goal by Toews is my favorite of the weekend. Because everyone on the Ducks forgets about him and he sneaks back door and also Kane, who makes the pass, is chewing on his mouth guard the whole time.
I've been MIA on this and some recaps the past few weeks. Truth is, I'm actually getting crushed at work. I never experienced that before, so give me some time to recalibrate. Also, I'm going on my first non-hockey-related since 2004 tomorrow, so the recalibration won't actually start until after Thanksgiving.
Onto the games...
Tavares' first goal Friday night is sneakier more impressive than you'd like admit.
Its the veteran savvy to wait for the puck to come down below the crossbar and then the sweet hand-eye coordination to actually pull it off.
And then there was this move:
Ok, its not a move, but impressive that Nash composed himself to finish. And the reverse motorcycle kick might have stunned Giguere.
So maybe Giggy was embarrassed, but not as much as Luke Schenn was here:
So, that was all on Friday.
Saturday, had the game of the weekend - Bruins v Penguins
Crosby going to the net opens up the passing lane and Guerin beats Thomas.
2 players had hat-tricks Saturday night - Zetterberg and Sedin (I don't know which one). None of the 6 goals were really "highlight worthy"
There were a few games yesterday - the best goal came from Maxim.
Maple Leafs beat the Ducks, 6-3: Now the only team without a win in regulation are the Islanders. Are the Ducks really that bad this year? What are they missing? I'm going to go with goaltending. Neither Giguere nor Hiller is playing at the level of last year. I bet both guys think that they deserve the starting nod and the focus of the competition isn't there anymore.
Canadiens beat the Islanders in OT, 3-2: Only good thing for the Islanders is Jeff Tambellini scoring. Nice sauce pass from Cammaleri to Hamrlik for the game-winner.
Rangers win over the Coyotes, 5-2: The sports section of NYMag has a great description of the Gabby hat-trick. A goal, an assist, and an injury. It was fun while it lasted ranger fans.
Hawks beat the Wild, 3-1: Pat Kane is this generation's Gretzky. Maybe, eventually, he'll score like Wayne, but its more in the sense that a guy that small could play so well. How does Kane do that? He scored a goal last night coming from behind the net and turning and tucking a shot short-side high. Sick! But how does he not get knocked around more.
If you have the NHL Network, watch the Memorial Cup. You might catch your teams' young prospects, or future draft picks. You will definitely see some great, inspired hockey.
Anyway,
there was only one NHL game on this weekend and the Red Wings kind of, sort of, dominated the Blackhawks. Instead of the Hawks exploding for offense in the third, it was the Wings who had 3 goals in the final period. Pat Kane was invisible. The game was somewhere between ugly and fast paced. There were a lot of good back checks. And Khabibulan had that string of sick saves in the second period when the Wings were on the power play. Both Cleary goals were nice, the snipe on the rush and then the great tip.
I hate the Hurricanes for winning that series and ruining what would have been a salty match up. The Hurricanes were awful for most of the year and got hot at the right time to make the playoffs. But do the right thing (like the Ducks did) and bow out after round 2. Their only hope is for Cam Ward to be hotter than an SI swimsuit cover model.
I'm taking the Pens in 6.
Red Wings vs Blackhawks
I fucking love this series the way I love the snooze button. I love this series the way I love snack packs. I love this series so much that I want to take it home to meet my parents. I love this series so much that I want to introduce Artem to its sister. Patrick Kane fucking impresses me. He's tiny, but an absolute stud. That backhand off the bar and in in game 6. Watch it from this angle-even better
I know I might be wrong, but I'm going to be rooting for them anyway, so Hawks in 7
Here are the leaders after 2 rounds. Give your picks in the comments.
Blackhawks beat the Flames, 4-1 (CHI wins series 4-2): The best Flame on the ice last night was Todd Bertuzzi. That was the problem for the Flames. Jarome, really didn't show up for the last 2 games of the series. Patrick Kane showed up. Khabibulin definitely showed up. And Dustin whose last name I can't spell, really showed up last night. The Flames could be the new Sharks (if the Sharks weren't still the Sharks) if they don't win a first round series again. The matchup against Vancouver should be another exciting series. Both the Canucks and the Blackhawks are fast, young, and gritty.
Ducks beat the Sharks, 4-1 (ANH wins series 4-2): Great fight Thornton, how about scoring a point? Getlaf lost that battle, but won the war. The fake shot on the point during the powerplay, opened up the lane to get the puck on net, where Corey Perry got a goal. Later, Getzlaf got his passport to Snipe City stamped again when he ripped a goal to comple the Gordy Hat Trick and put the nail in the coffin. Up next is the Red Wings for the Ducks. I'll have to really think about who I want to take in that one.
Flames beat the Stars, 2-1: After pretty much sucking on their long-ass road trip, the Flames returned home with a win. Eric Nystrom had the GWG. The goal was a nice wrist shot, but the play to keep the puck alive and onsides was awesome. With one hand, Dustin Boyd swept the puck to Nystrom who beat Turco. BJs win over the Hawks in OT, 4-3: Currently, the Blue Jackets sit 6th in the west, meaning if the play-offs started today, they would face Calgary. I don't want the BJs to be a one(series)-and-done team, so I don't like that match up. Anyway in last nights game all the young kids scored. Patrick Kane off a great feed. Toews out-battled the BJ defender in front. And Nash scored a silly goal, that was equally silly and impressive (watch the overhead replay). Antoine Vermette scored the game winner when he outraced Brian Campbell and got to a pass and beat Huet in the 7-hole.
Hurricanes beat the Devils, 4-2: Sports Illustrated talks about how Erik Cole really changed or made the same again the dynamic in Carolina. Granted the Devils were coming off an emotional home game, but the Hurricanes have a lot of jump and now depth. Ducks beat the Predators, in OT, 4-3: Bobby Ryan had a great power play goal - he found the rebound and then a sneaky little drag to get room to roof the puck. Selanne had the game winner in OT, when he deflected, on his backhand, the pass-shot from Pronger
