The 2011 Stanley Cup Final is a little different than most because it features a chance for a Canadian NHL team to win the Stanley Cup. Most pundits thought the Canucks felt this pressure since before the puck dropped. They were the strongest of all of the Canadian teams in the league this season. Both [...]
Read More…The Hat Trick: Who Is Passing Out Valentines by Matthew Sitkoff
Love is in the air this Valentine’s Day, but no so much in the NHL these days. After a fight filled week of Bruins-Canadiens, Islanders-Penguins and Wild-Blues, suspensions, tempers and emotions are running at a high in the NHL. Even one of the greats of the league is not happy at what is happening around the league. Penguin’s owner Mario Lemieux was outspoken about the leagues handling of the big Penguins-Islanders brawl and even hinted he would want “out” if the league continued in this manner. So in the spirit of love being all around, except in the NHL, let’s give out some ...
NHL Power Rankings by Matthew Sitkoff
2010-11 NHL Pucking Awesome! POWER RANKINGS Week of February 10 Current Prev. Team Comment 1 1 Canucks Defensive depth will be challenged as Edler, Ballard and Hamhuis injured. 2 2 Flyers Teams behind Flyers could not catch up even four day lay off 3 3 Red Wings Welcome back Pavel Datsyuk goal and assist in first game back 4 4 Lightning 3-2 to start crazy 11-game homestand 5 7 Bruins Starting to fight their way to the top with 300 PIM in last 3 games 6 5 Penguins Will be tested to stay near top without Malkin, Crosby and now Kunitz 7 8 Capitals They get Semin back but lose Green as he gets a puck to the face. 8 6 Stars 1-5-1 slump tighten the race in the Pacific 9 11 Sharks 9-0-1 in last 10 games bring them ...
NHL Hat Trick: A Look at the NHL with an NFL Viewpoint on Super Bowl Sunday by Matthew Sitkoff
On this Super Bowl Sunday, as the nation sits down to celebrate the ending of the National Football League season, it is a time to eat, drink and be merry. In the spirit of the end of the NFL season, in this week’s Pucking Awesome Hat Trick we will take a look at the National Hockey League in an NFL style. Historic Franchises The two teams that are matched up in Super Bowl XLV have combined for 18 NFL Championships and 11 Super Bowl appearances. With that in mind for the NHL, the Stanley Cup Final this season would match up Montreal ...
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Apr 29
The second round begins with the 1,2,3,5 seeds left in both conferences. We are also treated to a couple of 2nd round rematches from last year. 1 Washington Capitals vs. 5 Tampa Bay Lightning Season Series: 4-2 Capitals Playoff Series History: 1-0 Lightning. The only meeting was in the 1st round in 2003. What We [...]
Read More…Apr 13
Well start growing your hockey beards it’s that time of year. Let’s take a look at the match-ups and try and break it down. In the East, Washington and Pittsburgh are the same seeds they were last year and Philadelphia and Boston flipped their seeds but are still in the same seeding match-up. Also of [...]
Read More…Apr 9
In the last 20+ years, we have never had a Stanley Cup winner with less than a +25 goal differential in the regular season. The Penguins win over the Red Wings in 2009 was the lowest of the 20 years with a +25. How about the loser? Well for the losers there have been various goal differentials. For the most part they’ve all had a positive goal differential too. There are three exceptions. Carolina in 01-02 lost to Detroit and had a 217/217 GF/GA. In 92-93 Los Angeles lost to Montreal with a negative differential 338/340 GF/GA. The Kings gave up a lot of goals that year, only three teams gave up more goals than them that season. In 90-91 the Minnesota North Stars (remember them) had a negative 10 differential 256/266 GF/GA and a 27-39-14 record (yikes!). Of course that year there were only 10 teams in the West so all but two teams got in the playoffs.
Read More…Feb 14
Love is in the air this Valentine’s Day, but no so much in the NHL these days. After a fight filled week of Bruins-Canadiens, Islanders-Penguins and Wild-Blues, suspensions, tempers and emotions are running at a high in the NHL. Even one of the greats of the league is not happy at what is happening around [...]
Read More…Feb 6
NHL Hat Trick: A Look at the NHL with an NFL Viewpoint on Super Bowl Sunday
Analysis Written by: Matthew Sitkoff 1 CommentOn this Super Bowl Sunday, as the nation sits down to celebrate the ending of the National Football League season, it is a time to eat, drink and be merry. In the spirit of the end of the NFL season, in this week’s Pucking Awesome Hat Trick we will take a look at the National [...]
Read More…Jan 31
The Hat Trick: What Should You Watch for in the Second Half of the NHL Season
Analysis Written by: Matthew Sitkoff 2 CommentsThe unofficial second half of hockey begins on Tuesday night with 13 games. First before we look ahead in this week’s Pucking Awesome Hat Trick, let’s look back at the first half and hand out some hardware. In the ever tight race for first half MVP it came down to three players in my opinion.The [...]
Read More…Jan 20
The defenseman is the most underrated fantasy stud an owner could have. They are important in those swing categories like power play points and plus/minus. Let’s break down some of the Weekend Warriors of could be fantasy studs to watch out for. Teams with 2 games this weekend: Thrashers, Sabres, Flames, Blackhawks, Panthers, Canadiens, Devils, [...]
Read More…Dec 15
Recap of Week 10 in the 2010-11 NHL Season. Including Goalie Spotlight, Fights of the Week, Goats of the Week, Things I Like, Things I Don’t, This Week in Hockey History, Stat Line of the Week, Did You Know, Quotes of the Week, Numbers Numbers and Rankings.
Read More…Dec 8
Recap of Week 9 in the 2010-11 NHL Season. Including Goalie Spotlight, Fights of the Week, Goat of the Week, Things I Like, Things I Don’t, This Week in Hockey History, Stat Line of the Week, Did You Know, Quotes of the Week, Numbers Numbers and Rankings.
Read More…Dec 6
Holiday shopping has begun and as mall parking lots become a hazard zone people search high and low for that perfect gift for their special someone. So in the spirit of the holiday shopping in this week’s Pucking Awesome Hat Trick we will take a look at what is on some teams wish lists. The [...]
Read More…Dec 1
Recap of Week 8 in the 2010-11 NHL Season. Including Goalie Spotlight, Fights of the Week, Goat of the Week, Things I Like, Things I Don’t, This Week in Hockey History, Stat Line of the Week, Did You Know, Quotes of the Week, Numbers Numbers and Rankings.
Read More…Nov 22
This week we said goodbye to a hockey legend as Pat Burns finally lost his battle to cancer at the age of 58. The three-time NHL coach of the year and Stanley Cup winner with the Devils in 2003 touched the lives of many owners, coaches and players of today. He will be missed by [...]
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