Tag Archive for Nashville Predators

Stanley Cup Playoffs: Race For The West

May 3, 2012 NHL

The past week, the second round of the Western Conference semi-finals got underway, and gave us an idea of how this series will play out. The Kings haven’t taken their foot off the gas from the first round, and the Coyotes continue to impress.

(2) St. Louis Blues vs. (8) Los Angeles Kings: Kings Lead 2-0

This series is going just how I thought it would, and it wasn’t that hard to figure out. Like I said last week, when you’ve got Kopitar, Brown, Richards, Williams, and Quick all playing well–you’ve got a very good chance of advancing.

In game one David Backes got the Blues out to a 1-0 lead, but the Kings would completely take the game away. Penner had one goal and a helper, Brown and Richards each picked up an assist, and Matt Greene had a short handed goal to propel the Kings to a 3-1 win. I’m a firm believer of if you give up a short handed goal in a game–you’re not winning that game.

In game two, the Kings never let St. Louis see the light. Just 31 seconds into the game Mike Richards drilled a loose puck home to give LA the lead. Later on in the period Anze Kopitar would score short-handed which sparked the Kings to score three goals in a five minute and 22 second time period. Kopitar had two of those goals.

It looks like I was wrong when I said the Kings have this series in six games. I should’ve said four or five the way Los Angeles is working the Blues. If a 2-0 hole isn’t bad enough for St. Louis, the Kings are getting more scoring outside their core group. Dustin Penner has caught fire in this series scoring one goal and collecting three assists in the two games played. Jonathan Quick playing out of his mind for LA isn’t helping the Blues either. For an example: http://nhl.cdn.neulion.net/u/videocenter/embed.swf

As far as the Blues are concerned, they need to wake up, and they need to wake up quick. Brian Elliot is doing all he can, but he’s not getting any help from his front line. The only offense they’re getting is from their Captain David Backes who has a goal and two assists so far.

The Blues better figure something out tonight as game three takes place tonight in the Staples Center. A Kings victory tonight, and the series is essentially over for St. Louis.

(3) Phoenix Coyotes vs. (4) Nashville Predators

The Coyotes weren’t kidding around when they beat the Blackhawks in the first round, and they aren’t joking now. The Coyotes ability to get out to a 2-0 series lead is pretty impressive considering they almost threw away game one.

Phoenix opened up the game scoring first on a Radim Vrbata snipe shot, but then would lose it later in the period to Brandon Yip. That’s how game one went. Phoenix would score, Nashville would respond, and wouldn’t let Phoenix run away with a one goal lead. With 4:42 left in regulation the Predators were able to tie the game forcing overtime, which is unfamiliar grounds for Nashville in the playoffs. For Phoenix, it was just another day in the office. Ray Whitney would score the game winner in the Coyotes sixth overtime game in, at the time, their seventh playoff game.

In game two the Predators just didn’t show up. I’m not trying to take away any credit from Phoenix, but Nashville’s heads were in a different place. The Coyotes were skating all over them, and got to every loose puck in front of the net. Three out of Phoenix’s five goals came from rebounds in front of the net. The Predators came close, and brought the game within one in the second period on a power play goal scored by Patric Honrnqvist. That one goal deficit would only last twenty seconds as Taylor Pyatt would slam a rebound home. Pekka Rinne could’ve done a better job absorbing some shots, but you can’t put all the blame on him. Nashville defenders were caught napping, and Coyote forwards were swarming the net all game long.

Last night, in game three, the Predators would have their backs against the wall. If being down 2-0 wasn’t bad enough, Nashville would be without top six forwards Andrei Kostitsyn and Alexander Radulov for breaking unspecified team rules. That was a big blow for Nashville. Radulov leads the team in scoring with one goal and six points. Kostitsyn is another big offensive contributor with three goals and four points.

Nashville would still get the job done without two of their leading post-season scorers. David Legwand stayed hot scoring the games first goal, and Mike Fisher finally scored his first goal of the 2012 playoffs as well–both goals scored in the first period.

Another factor in game three was Coyote net minder, Mike Smith. Smith didn’t play like the goalie we saw in the first round and first two games of this series. On Legwand’s goal, Smith played the puck at the side of the net, and sent it around the boards behind the net. Smith, who is usually smart with the puck, was not cognizant of his surroundings. Smith wanted to send the puck around the net for Aucoin, but didn’t realize Aucoin was busy fighting off a charging Gabriel Bourque. Bourque took the errand pass from Smith, immediately centered it for Legwand who was all alone in the slot with a wide open net to shoot at. It was that kind of night for Phoenix. The Coyotes would outshoot the Pred’s 32-26, but Pekka Rinne wasn’t about to have another poor performance, and stood on his head.

I picked the Predators in five, but this is shaping up like it could go to seven games. Nashville is 3-1 at home in the playoffs so far, and Rinne has a 1.5 goals against average on home ice. I like the Predators to win tomorrow night, sending the series back to Phoenix tied up at two game a piece.

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Stanley Cup Playoffs: Round 2 Western Conference Preview

April 27, 2012 NHL, Uncategorized

After a fast, violent, game seven-less, and over-time filled first round in the Western Conference, round two is finally upon us.

The first round showed us that the seeding really doesn’t matter. Road teams in the West went 14-7 in the first round, and all four teams that advanced (Blues, Coyotes, Predators, Kings) won three of their four games on the road. I believe that will continue to be the trend here in the second round.

The biggest factor going into the Western Conference Semi’s will be the goaltending. All four goalies (Brian Elliot, Mike Smith, Pekka Rinne, and Jonathan Quick) have been lights out, and are probably one of the main reasons their respected teams moved on to the second round.

(2) St. Louis Blues vs. (8) Los Angeles Kings

It shouldn’t be a surprise that St. Louis is favored in this series, but it is surprising that they’re favored to win the Stanley Cup– now that Vancouver and Pittsburgh have been eliminated. In my opinion, the Kings themselves are the bigger story. I knew Los Angeles would put up a fight against the President Trophy winning Canucks, but like I posted in my  Wild Wild West article I didn’t think they would get out to a 3-0 lead. If anyone knows that the Kings are a dangerous team, it’s the St. Louis Blues.

During the regular season the Kings won three out of four meetings against St. Louis. Kings net minder, Jonathan Quick, allowed just one goal in those three meetings posting a .989 save percentage. Brian Elliot faced the Kings twice, but only had one start. On October 18th Elliot came in to relieve Jaroslav Halak and allowed one goal in a 5-0 loss. March 22nd was Elliot’s scheduled start which resulted in a 1-0 shootout loss.

These teams were the two best defensive clubs in the NHL during the regular season. Jonathan Quick and Brian Elliot provided the formula with 19 combined shootouts. On the other side of the puck, these two teams finished towards the bottom in offense during the regular season. The Blues were 21st in the league in scoring, averaging 2.51 goals a game. The Kings were almost dead last with 2.29.

Gibs’ Prediction: Kings in 6.

I was impressed how the Kings handled the Canucks, especially in the Rogers Centre. The Blues dominated the Sharks, but Los Angeles is a lot younger than San Jose. I’m also a firm believer of playoff experience being an advantage. I know that the four teams that advanced in the West aren’t used to winning playoff series, but this is the third straight season the Kings have been in the playoffs (first year out of the three that they advanced). For St. Louis this is just their second appearance in four seasons (first time they advanced in 12 years).

So whats the deciding factor? Offensive weapons, and the Kings have a little more ammunition than the Blues. For LA–Kopitar, Brown, Williams, Richards, Doughty, and Carter all played a solid first round, and Jonathan Quick showed why he’s a contender for the Vezina Trophy in the first round. I expect those seven guys to stay hot, and lead the Kings past the Blues in the second round.

(3) Phoenix Coyotes vs. (4) Nashville Predators

I’m intrigued by this series. Nashville looked solid against the perennial Stanley Cup contending Red Wings, and handled the Shea Weber-Henrik Zetterberg drama tremendously. It may not seem like a big deal now, but a controversial hit can shift momentum in a series–the Predators responded well to adversity there. Phoenix was impressive in their series against the Blackhawks, and made history with their first playoff series win as the Phoenix Coyotes (the last time the franchise won a playoff series was in 1987 when they were the Winnipeg Jets).

Remember that stat about the record for road teams in the first round? Well that plays a strong role in this series.

In the regular season the two teams split the season series 2-2, and the two wins for each club came on the road. Like the Kings-Blues series, this series showcases two red hot goaltenders in Nashville’s Pekka Rinne, and Phoenix’s Mike Smith. Both of whom are the major reason why the two teams advanced to the second round. However, Mike Smith only faced the Predators once in the regular season, losing to Nashville 5-4 in a shootout. Coyote’s backup, Jason LaBarbera started in the first three meetings for Pheonix.

It wouldn’t be fair to Mikkel Boedker, Antoine Vermette, David Legwand, and Gabriel Bourque to say that goaltending was the sole reason their respected teams advanced into the second round. For Phoenix, Boedker had back-t0-back game winning overtime goals in round one, and Vermette currently leads the Coyotes in scoring with four goals, and five points. On the other side of the puck, Nashville’s David Legwand had goals in back-to-back games (games four and five), and rookie Gabriel Bourque has been raising eyebrows with his play registering three goals with four points.

Gibs’ Prediction: Predators in 5.

This series is so evenly matched I have to go with seven games. The tipping point for me is, again, experience. This is the second year in a row that the Predators have reached the second round of the playoffs. Another big factor going into my decision is how these two teams won their games. Three of Phoenix’s four wins were decided in overtime, and five out of the six games between the Blackhawks and Coyotes went to overtime. Nashville didn’t see or need extra time to eliminate Detroit. So what does that tell you? It tells you that once the Predators have a lead, they keep it.

You can’t say that about the Coyotes who played the majority of the series from in front with the lead. Phoenix coughed up a 2-1 lead in the final 15 seconds of the third period in game one (Hanzal won it for the ‘Yotes), failed to hold onto a 3-2 lead in the third period of game two (Bickell tied the series up for Chicago in overtime), and couldn’t make a 1-0 lead last long enough in the third period in game five (Toews kept the series alive in overtime). I like Nashville to take care of business against a Coyotes team who’s in unchartered territory playing in the second round.

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Wild Start To The NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs

April 16, 2012 NHL

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are underway and with just about 3 games played in each match up there has been some surprises thus far for the first round. We have seen everything from brawls, to higher seeds with the lead in the battle, head slamming on the glass and a series with over 30 goals in just 3 games!

The first interesting and possibly shocking outcome in the 1st round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs would be the number 8 seed Los Angeles Kings versus the number 1 seed Vancouver Canucks. The Kings hold a 3-0 series lead over the Canucks who were the winners of the Presidents Trophy during the regular season, finishing with the most points in the NHL. The Kings have really proven that a hot goal tender can very well steal a series, and the Kings have one of the best young goalies in the league in Jonathan Quick. In just 3 games Quick has given up only 4 goals, while shutting the Canucks out in game 3 last night in a 1-0 win. Can the defending Western Conference Champs bounce back from a 3-0 deficit? Something that has only been done 3 times in all of Hockey’s time? Or will Jonathan Quick put a stop to it and send the 8 seeded Kings to the 2nd round?

Staying in the Western Conference we have the match-up between the 3 seed Phoenix Coyotes and the 6 seed Chicago Blackhawks. Many, including myself had predicted that series would end early and the Blackhawks offense would be too much for goalie Mike Smith of the Coyotes. But with this series tied at 1, with game 3 tonight, and seeing 2 overtime games in the first 2 games, nobody knows how this series will end up. Both games the Coyotes had a 1 goal lead with under 30 seconds to go in the game, the first game the Blackhawks tied it with 15 seconds to go, but Martin Hanzal went on to score the overtime winner for the Coyotes and give them the 1-0 series lead. Phoenix in game 2 had a 1 goal lead with under 30 seconds to go when a shot was fired from the point and deflected in the net to tie the game with 5 seconds left in the 3rd period. Chicago went on to win the game with a goal from Bryan Bickell in overtime. With game 3 tonight in Chicago, who will prevail to take the series lead? Will Smith keep the Coyotes in the game with his goal-tending or will the high-powered offense of Kane-Toews-Hossa-Sharp, be too much for Smith the rest of this series? I still this series going to the Blackhawks, but in 6 games.

The Nashville Predators and the Detroit Red Wings are in an intense battle in the Western Conference 4 vs 5 match up. A series that is led by the Predators at 2 games to 1. A series that has seen some great goal-tending from Pekka Rinne and Jimmy Howard, to an illegal hit to the head on Henrik Zetterberg from Predators Captain Shea Weber. Shea Weber towards the end of game 1 took Zetterberg by the head and slammed it into the glass. As you can see in the video here, you be the judge on whether or not this hit was suspension worthy.


Download Video from YouTube | YouTube to MP3: Vixy

After the game there was talk that Weber could be suspended for a few games, but in the end he was only hit with a $2500 fine and was able to return to action in games 2 and 3 of the series. Had Weber been suspended, this series may have gone in Detroit’s favor but with Weber still in the series and no suspension, this makes the Predators still a strong candidate to win this series.

The St. Louis Blues and San Jose Sharks are tied at 1 a piece in their series and with an injury to Blues goalie Jaroslav Halak, we will now see a recent injured Brian Elliott back between the pipes for game 3 of this series tonight in San Jose. These games have gone back and forth and we will see which team will prevail with a win tonight and take a 2-1 series lead.

Heading over to the Eastern Conference we have the battle between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers, the 5 seeded Flyers have the series lead with 3 games to 0. This is a series that has seen 30 goals scored in just 3 games. Both goalies are at the bottom in the playoff leaders for goals against average in a game and both bottom in save percentage leaders. Aside from the mammoth amount of goals being scored in this series, we have seen plenty of clean and dirty hits and also some big fights in this series. This is a heated rivalry for the two interstate teams and that has carried over into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. We have seen plenty of players fight and land some big hits on each other and in last nights game alone, we saw some major hits that could end in suspensions and fines for some players.


Download Video from YouTube | YouTube to MP3: Vixy


Download Video from YouTube | YouTube to MP3: Vixy

As you can see from these hits the Penguins have been letting out some frustration on the Flyers by laying out some of some big illegal hits on some of their big name players. Asham who is a repeat offender and often suspended player, cross checks Brayden Schenn in the neck and proceeds to punch him while he is defenseless on the ice. Neal who is not often a dirty player and one of the cleaner players in the NHL, takes a charge at Sean Couturier and lays him out and minutes later takes a shot at Flyers superstar player Claude Giroux, which then lead to a huge brawl between the two teams with many players thrown out of the game.


Download Video from YouTube | YouTube to MP3: Vixy

In the 1 vs 8 seed match up in the Eastern Conference we have the 1 seed New York Rangers and the 8 seed Ottawa Senators locked up in a 1-1 series tie, with game 3 tonight in Ottawa. This has also been a very dirty series with plenty of big hits and some fights to go along with the games. The Rangers won the first game 4-2 and looked like they could dominate this series the whole way, but with some bad bounces in game 2, we saw the Ottawa Senators win a 3-2 game in overtime and split the series in NY. In a series that just saw Rangers rookie Carl Hagelin suspended 3 games on what was deemed a dirty hit on his fellow countrymen Daniel Alfredsson, and a 1 game suspension for Senators Matt Carkner for blind siding Brian Boyle with a big hit then punches on the ground while defenseless, this series will have a lot of bad blood for it and with a potential 5 games left to play this series can get ugly fast. Is this hit suspension worthy? Or was Shea Weber’s hit more suspension worthy and this one just a fine? You be the judge of it and see if what was handed out to Hagelin was fair.

The video cannot be shown at the moment. Please try again later.

With the other 2 series in the Eastern Conference, the Boston Bruins and the Washington Capitals, they are all tied up at 1 after each team won an overtime game in Boston. The Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils are also locked up at 1 win a piece as they head to game 3 tomorrow in New Jersey. With the way these games have been played and the way the officiating has handled them, we can see a few more games get out of hand, and with many more games to be played, we expect the intensity to only raise higher and higher for each game.

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The NHL 2011-2012 Playoffs Are Here!!

April 8, 2012 NHL

The NHL season has finally come to an end, and after a year of surprises of good and bad, it is now crunch time and the next few months will decide who will win hockey’s most coveted trophy in the league, The Stanley Cup. The 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs open up on Wednesday April 11th with 3 games on opening night. In this article I will discuss each match-up and my predictions for the first round of the playoffs.

Starting with the Eastern Conference bracket. We have the following games.

1 Seed, New York Rangers Vs 8 Seed, The Ottawa Senators

The number 1 team in the Eastern Conference for over 3 and a half months, the New York Rangers open up their series with the Ottawa Senators who have a record of 3-1 against the Rangers this season. This series opens up on Thursday Night at 7:00 PM on MSG and the NHL Network. This series can go either way, a lot will rely on the psychical play of the Rangers and their ability to wear the Senators down, who might not be able to hang with King Henrik and the Rangers in a 7 game series. Though the Senators have the Rangers number this year, everything is different in the post-season. We have potential to see a 6 or 7 game series here but I will go ahead and say Henrik Lundqvist, Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards will be too much for the Senators to handle and the Rangers will take this series in 5.

2 Seed, Boston Bruins Vs 7 Seed, Washington Capitals

This series features the defending Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins going up against one of the best players in the world in Alexander Ovechkin. The Capitals come into this series ready to give the nod to 22 year old rookie goalie Braden Holtby after goalies Michael Neurvith and Thomas Vokoun have went down with injuries. The Boston Bruins were the first team in the NHL to lock up their division title in the regular season and look to come off a strong playoff performance last season. With the experience of net minder Tim Thomas and most of their team returning from last years cup run, I see this series going the Bruins way and them winning this series in 6.

3 Seed, Florida Panthers Vs 6 Seed, New Jersey Devils

The Panthers are coming off their first ever South Division Title and their first playoff appearance since 2000. The Panthers have lead their division for most of the regular season but towards the end of the year, only closed it out with a 2 point lead over the Capitals. The New Jersey Devils are coming off a major turn around season from last year when they were a bottom dweller to now the 6th seed in the playoffs. Martin Broduer has shown some signs that he can still be an everyday goalie in the NHL even at his old age, and with superstars Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk, I can see the Devils making this an easy series for them, and finishing out the Panthers have in just 5 games.

4 Seed Pittsburgh Penguins Vs 5 Seed Philadelphia Flyers

In probably the best series of the first round of the playoffs, it features two of the biggest rivals in all of hockey, with just miles separating the two teams and them meeting 6 times a year, this series is going to be the longest and most hardest fought out series in the entire playoffs. With the brawl that happened in the 2nd to last meeting of the regular season occurring between the two teams and the hatred they have for one another, I see this series going to 7 games, a very tiring series that will wear each other down, leaving the winners with many bruises into the next series and the loser with a bitter taste in their mouth. Ultimately I see this series going to the Flyers in 7.

Over in the Western Conference we have some new comers to the playoffs and some regulars, there are some good match-ups in this first round. Starting with

1 Seed Vancouver Canucks Vs 8 Seed Los Angeles Kings

The Vancouver Canucks are coming off of their second straight Presidents Trophy and a runner up in the Stanley Cup Finals last season, are facing a very good Kings team who were in 3rd place and leading their division up until the final night of the regular season. In this series it features two of the best goalies in the league in LA Kings Jonathan Quick and Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo, this is a series that may not see many goals in it, but can see some 1-0, 2-1 games and some possible shutouts. This may be one of the best opening series in the Western Conference, but I think we may see an upset here with the Kings taking out the Canucks in 7 games.

2 Seed St. Louis Blues Vs 7 Seed San Jose Sharks

These teams after only one season have basically switched spots in the standings. Last season the Blues saw themselves on the outside of the playoffs looking in while the Sharks saw themselves as the 2 seed last year but now sit in the 7th spot, something they have not been used to seeing over the last few seasons. The St. Louis Blues have some of the best goal-tending in the league that is followed by up by one of the best defense’s of the league. The Sharks are a team that is normally bounced out early after finishing strong in the regular season, this year finishing 7th and having to face the Blues in the 1st round I see them getting knocked out in just 5 games. I give this series to the St. Louis Blues in 5 games.

3 Seed Phoenix Coyotes Vs 6 Seed Chicago Blackhawks

The Phoenix Coyotes have won their first division title in the franchise history, though it took them till the 82nd game of the season to clinch it, the Coyotes come into this post-season with a potential to advance to the 2nd round. The Blackhawks, who won the Stanley Cup two seasons ago against the Philadelphia Flyers, enter as the 6th seed, but they have the scoring power and young goal-tending to get by in this series. But they are facing one of the hottest goalies in the league in Mike Smith, Smith has been on a tear towards the end of the season and is one of the main reasons they won their division. The high power offense of the Blackhawks may provide too much pressure for Smith, and I think the Blackhawks and that offense will be able to sweep the Coyotes and advance to the 2nd round.

4 Seed Nashville Predators Vs 5 Seed Detroit Red Wings

In probably the second best series of the post-season, we get to see two Central Division rivals, the Red Wings and the Predators. Both featuring two of the best goalies in the league in Detroit’s Jimmy Howard and Nashville’s Pekka Rinne. Each of these goalies can take over a series for their team and help them advance, but the high power offense of the Wings lead by Pavel Datysuk and Henrik Zetterberg may be too much for the Predators in this series. If Rinne is on he can steal this one from the Red Wings and send them home early, but ultimately I think Jimmy Howard has a strong first round of the playoffs and helps his team advance in a long and hard fought 7 game series. So the Detroit Red Wings will advance in 7.

 

So lets sit back and enjoy the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and lets see if there are any upsets or any shockers in the 1st round. In the NHL you never know what can happen, and this is why they play 7 games.

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Which Division Is Better?

March 7, 2012 NHL

Two of the NHL powerhouse divisions would be the Atlantic Division, represented by the New York Rangers, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers. Then there is the Central division which is represented by the Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators, Chicago Blackhawks and the Columbus Blue Jackets. These two divisions also feature the two best teams in the NHL, the St. Louis Blues and the New York Rangers.

Both of these divisions have 4 of the top 6 teams in there conference. But both divisions have a bottom feeder in the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Islanders. three out of the last four Stanley Cup finals have had teams from these two divisions represent them in the 7 game series. With the Central having the lead with a two to one edge with the Blackhawks and Red Wings rightfully owning Lord Stanley’s Cup and the Penguins owning the other one, it is tough not to say that these are two of the best if not the two best divisions in the NHL.

Each division features top players in the NHL today with the Central having Pavel Datysuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Nicklas Lidstrom, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, Pekka Rinne, Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, Rick Nash, Brian Elliott. The Atlantic division features top players Henrik Lundqvist, Marian Gaborik, Brad Richards, Ryan Callahan, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Claude Giroux, Chris Pronger, John Tavares, Ilya Kovalchuk, Zach Parise and Martin Broduer.

Which division will prevail this year and possibly hold Lord Stanley’s Cup this season? Will it be a top team from the Atlantic Division or a top team from the Central Division? With less then a month left of the regular season, it will be a long tough battle to get the ultimate prize in hockey.[polldaddy poll=6016829]

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NHL Trade Deadline Winners & Losers.

February 28, 2012 NHL

So yesterday the trade deadline came and went, and though it started off slow it picked up around 1:30 EST. The first trade started at 10:45 in the morning when the Nashville Predators and Montreal Canadians exchanged some players and picks. From there 15 other deals were made before the clock ran out. Today we will discuss the winners and losers of the 2012 NHL Trade Deadline.

Winners:

1. Buffalo Sabres- The Sabres had a pretty busy day yesterday. They were getting a lot of interest from teams about center men Paul Gaustad, but with their high price of a 2012 1st round pick plenty of teams backed out. Until the Nashville Predators had contacted them where they received Nashville’s 2012 1st in exchange for Paul Gaustad and a 2012 4th round pick. With Gaustad leaving for Nashville, the Sabres were in need of a center, where they than had contacted Vancouver and agreed upon the biggest deal of the NHL trade deadline, Sabres traded off Zack Kassian and Marc-Andrei Gargnani to Vancouver for young Calder trophy candidate Cody Hodgson and defense men Alexander Sulzer. The Sabres were the clear winners from this deadline with these two moves they made.

2. San Jose Sharks- They made just one deal yesterday and though the players aren’t household names or superstars the deal they made can impact them now and in the playoffs and make them a stronger team. The Sharks had come to agreement with the Avalanche to send out youngster Jamie McGinn and two prospects for left wing T.J Galiardi and right wing Daniel Winnik along with a 7th round pick.  This gives the Sharks are solid 4th liner in Winnik and a nice young player in Galiardi who can fill in on the 3rd or 2nd line in San Jose.

Losers:

1. Toronto Maple Leafs- Now they did make a few trades yesterday but they were minor deals at most. they first shipped off prospect Keith Aulie to the Tampa Bay Lightning for former 1st round pick Carter Ashton. They also shipped out Dale Mitchell to Anaheim for Mark Fraser. Now coming into the deadline it was rumored the Leafs were looking at acquiring a steady goalie along with a big time scoring forward. There name came up plenty of time for 2002 1st overall pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Rick Nash, who has a limited NMC and can choose where he wanted to play. The Leafs were said to be “all in” for Nash and were putting together an offer, but GM Brian Burke had backed out after hearing about the large price for Nash. The Leafs did not help themselves get any better for the playoff push and this is why they are one of the deadline losers this season.

2. Calgary Flames- They stood pat this trade deadline after acquiring Michael Cammarelli a few weeks back from the Canadians. But with the obvious reason of needing a rebuild and having to get younger the Calgary Flames did not address that at all this deadline. A few of their older players could have gotten them some pretty nice returns had they put them on the block, Alex Tanguay who can have provided some goal scoring for another team, Captain Jerome Iginla whose whole legacy is in Calgary, but they could have gotten a great young package for him had they shipped him out and finally their star goalie Mikka Kippursoff, a team on the bring of the playoffs who need a goalie like the Capitals, Leafs, Blackhawks, Panthers, Lightning could have very well be in on him but they decided to stand pat and that is why they are considered a loser of this deadline.

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Red Wings Stay Hot At Home

February 13, 2012 NHL

Last night after defeating the Philadelphia Flyers, the Detroit Red Wings tied a record of most consecutive wins at home with 20 straight.  Ironically, the Red Wings tied the Flyers in the 1970′s and the Boston Bruins in the 1930′s for their 20th straight win at home.  Their next game comes Tuesday at home to face the Dallas Stars with the chance to break the record and ultimately own it all to themselves.  The last time the Detroit Red Wings lost at Joe Louis Arena was all the way back in November on the 3rd when they lost to the Calgary Flames 4-1.

With their next 3 games being home against the Stars, Predators and Sharks, who they have sometimes struggled against this season we can very well just see the record remained tied or continued on. The Sharks really seem to have the Wings number this year going 2-0 against them and outscoring the Wings 9-4 so far. The Sharks are a very tough game and though it is the 3rd game coming up, I’m sure the Sharks would love to spoil the Wings fun and potentially ruin the win streak.

During this 20 game win streak the Wings have outscored opponents at home 84-30 which is a tremendous amount of goal differential. Two other milestones were reached during this 20 game home win streak, Captain Nicklas Lidstrom became the NHL’s league leader for games played with a single franchise at 1,550, which he accomplished last night in the win over the Flyers. One other milestone was by Left Winger Tomas Holmstrom who just played his 1,000th career game on Febrauary 10th against the Ducks. Holmstrom has also spent his entire 15 year career with the Wings.

[polldaddy poll=5940127]

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