Here is a compilation of eight things I do/don’t miss when there is no hockey being played. None of these things have anything to do with the actual game, like the awesome saves, goals, hits and rivalries, because that is a given. This is a list of the other things we have grown to love or hate.

8. Crosby vs. Ovechkin

Okay I actually don’t really miss having the same two people constantly shoved down my throat by the NHL marketing machine. But I do miss all of the Sidney Crosby Haters vs. Alex Ovechkin Haters going at it. It’s just not the same on Twitter in the off-season as it is during the season. Of course neither camp really brings anything new to the table. It’s always the same, Ovechkin has never won anything important and Cindy Crosby is a whiner and a diver.

7. ESPN’s Hockey Coverage

Who am I kidding? ESPN’s coverage is just as nonexistent during the season as it is in the off-season. If they had to pick between airing “The Decision” or Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, I think we sadly know which one they would pick. I remember when they used to have hockey doubleheaders on ESPN when I was a teenager. No, don’t sit there and try and figure out my age.

6. NBC’s NHL Coverage

Unlike ESPN at least NBC is trying, unfortunately it doesn’t always go well. Whether it’s missing goals to run promos, explaining basic rules or rotating the same seven teams into the “Game of the Week”, sometimes I just wished I could get CBC or TSN more easily than having to move near the Canadian/US border. Sure there’s online feeds but those aren’t always the best, reliable or in HD.

5. The Rink Experience

There is nothing like the NHL rink experience. It’s one of my favorite places to be and let’s face it there is nothing like experiencing an NHL game live. There are a few things I could do without though. For starters the outrageous prices of food and beverages. Although any rink/amusement place has those prices, not just an NHL rink, nine dollars for a bean and cheese burrito is a bit much. There’s that obnoxious fan you might have to sit next to, which is even worse if they are rooting for the other team. Also there’s something about being in a cold place that really makes me need to go to the restroom, a lot. I hate to go during the game, so I have to patiently wait until intermission to bolt out and beat the rush.

4. Cities That Believe They Can Win It All, But Never Do

You know which cities I am talking about. Cities like Vancouver, Philadelphia, and San Jose to name a few. They have teams that are pretty decent and generally make a long postseason run but they can just never put it all together. Some of them even plan Stanley Cup routes in advance. (See Canucks, Vancouver) I suppose it could be a lot worse though…

3. Don Cherry’s Suits

While I don’t see his suits as often as I would like to, you can’t help but not be interested in what he will wear next. All of his suits are custom made, a lot of the time from drapes. If the suits don’t do it for you, then you can always look forward to whatever will come out of his mouth next.

2. Being Disrespected as a Hockey Fan

Hockey, especially in the South, is still somewhat of a niche thing. I will admit the niche is certainly getting bigger. But there’s nothing like people making fun of you for watching hockey. My all time favorite quote was “Hockey? Do you watch the WNBA?” Of course! because the WNBA is JUST as exciting as the NHL.

1. The Opposite Hockey Sex

If you are a male fan

if you are a female fan (so I’m told)

I rest my case

Recap some of the best moments of the 2009-10 NHL season with this video set to Saosin’s Finding Home.

Watch this awesome Chicago Blackhawks season recap video courtesy of Lauren Brenner.

People said that hockey would never make it in Southern California. It’s too warm, they don’t even have a winter. Well tell that to the packed house at Anaheim Ice who came in on a Saturday evening on the final day of prospects camp to watch a friendly scrimmage game between players who will more then likely not make the team this season. California hockey is alive and well so much so that two 1^st rounders at this years NHL draft were born and raised in the area. Current Duck 1^st round draft choices Cam Fowler and Californian Emerson Etem were at prospects camp. Late rounder Devante Smith-Pelly as well as previous years picks Peter Holland, Justin Schultz, Jake Gardiner, Ryan Hegarty, Nicolas Deschamps, Matt Clark, Scott Valentine and Justin Vaive to name a few. Also on hand was fan favorite Dan “Big Sexy” Sexton. The game ended 8-5 (including an empty netter) but it was a lot closer than it seemed.

The White team (guest) was led by Dan Sexton and Emerson Etem and the Black team (home) was led by Devante Smith-Pelly and Cam Fowler. The White team simple dominated the first 10 minutes of play as the puck was always in the Black end. But wouldn’t you know it the Black team led 2-1 after 10 minutes, basically converting on their only two scoring opportunities. The rest of the game was about even. Goaltending in this game was average at best, to put it nicely. Other than a couple of nice saves it wasn’t pretty. Despite being a mostly friendly game, there were a handful of really great hits. Justin Vaive, who had a few hits, is one big guy coming in at 6’5” and around 210 pounds. He could eventually replace George Parros as the enforcer on the Ducks. He would also bring a more offensive upside to the team than Parros does. Devante Smith-Pelly was a force around the net, hitting people and scoring. The star of the scrimmage and the only player that I can say for certain will be on the opening day roster is Dan Sexton. He was everywhere on the ice and had some nice slap shots and passes. He also scored I believe one goal. I particularly loved his heart and enthusiasm that in a pretty much meaningless scrimmage game, he was banging his stick on the ice in frustration on a missed play. All in all a great game and the Ducks have selected and signed a nice assortment of young players.

Let’s take a look at the possible opening day Ducks roster. The biggest question mark for the Ducks is obviously on defense. Just two years ago the top defensive pair boasted future hall of famers Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer. Now with both gone, it’s time for the Ducks to turn a new page on the defensive end. The old men of the group are 10 year vets Lubomir Visnovsky and Toni Lydman. Visnovsky will assume the leadership rule of the defensive unit and Lydman while a great talent, was probably brought in more to coax Teemu Selanne into playing another year. Next is where the real question marks begin. The next spot up for grabs would more than likely be filled by James Wisniewski, who is headed for arbitration for the second year in a row. More than likely that will go well and he will be back. The 4^th spot is more than likely going to go to Sheldon Brookbank who hasn’t really impressed me all that much in his short career. But maybe increased playing time and responsibility will improve his game. The last two spots are up for grabs. It’s rumored and a likely possibility that Luca Sbisa will get one of the remaining spots. Sbisa acquired in the Pronger trade, played eight games for the Ducks before being sent down. Coach Carlyle had wanted Sbisa to receive the maximum amount of playing time possible to further his development which he was not going to get in the Ducks lineup. With Niedermayer retired and the Ducks looking to shake things up, Sbisa should be ready to help fill the void. He was conspicuously absent from prospect camp, which I thought was quite odd. Hopefully this means the Ducks think he’s ready and he will definitely be in the starting six. I don’t think top draft pick Cam Fowler will be ready to grab the last spot so the ducks will more than likely look to acquire another player. There’s always Brett Festerling but I sure hope not.

Offensively, if things go correctly, you could be look at the most stacked offensive collection ever assembled on the Ducks and rivaling some of the all time great NHL teams. Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry will return the question is will Bobby Ryan join them? Ryan and the Ducks have hit a standstill in their contract talks but eventually I have hope that it will work itself out. On the second line we may possibly see one of the best second lines ever. Saku Koivu is the only definite coming back to anchor the line. On the one side you could have future hall of famer and 600 goal scorer Teemu Selanne, who I think will come back. On the other side you could have Joffrey Lupul who skated for the first time in a long time the other week. His back looks like it may be fully recovered in time for the start of the season. I know the Ducks and Lupul both hope that it is. Underrated Todd Marchant would anchor the third line with probably Dan Sexton and Jason Blake. The 4^th line is anyone’s guest at this point, until the Ducks management finishes making the roster. But the top three possible lines would give any opposing netminder and defense fits.

The goalie tandem of Jonas Hiller and Curtis McElhinney are as solid as they come. I believe McElhinney is an improvement over former back-up Justin Pogge, though Pogge never really played. I really think that Hiller will bounce from a fairly average year from him. After tearing it up in the Olympics most of that momentum carried over down the stretch for the Ducks. With the number one spot now firmly his and lower expectations coming into this season than last years, I think pressure will be a lot lower for Hiller and his focus will be a lot higher. I am looking forward to the Ducks getting better team chemistry and making a deep run into the playoffs.

Below are a few images from the scrimmage.

Happy 4^th of July all of our Pucking Awesome readers, and now that we are all full of hot dogs, hamburgers and fireworks we will look back at the fireworks that occurred in the first three days of free agency in this weeks Pucking Awesome Hat Trick.

The riches contract was given out before July 1^st as Tomas Plekanec got a 6-year, $30 million deal to stay in Montreal.   Patrick Marleau, also came off the market before July 1^st signing the riches per year contract as he will be paid $6.9 million per year to continue to know the way to San Jose.   

As for the riches deal given out on the 1^st was to the twice traded Dan Hamhuis, as he went home to the tune of $27 million for six years.  Sergei Gonchar left the friendly confines of Crosby land to sign the riches per year deal on July 1^st, a $5.5 million per year to play in Ottawa. 

Atlantic Division Goes Defensive:

The division that has had four teams make the playoff’s three out of the last four years just got tougher to play against, literally.  With the Flyers trading for talented defenseman Andrej Meszaros, a year after trading for future hall-of-famer Chris Pronger, re-signing young stud Bryadon Coburn and adding veteran Sean O’Donnell.  That signaled the race was on in the Atlantic to put up the best defensive unit in the division. 

The Penguins, who lost top defender Sergei Gonchar, responded by signing the block shot machine Zbynek Michalek to a 5-year, $20 million deal.  Later in the day the purged the division rival Devils, by signing the smooth skating Paul Martin to a 5-year, $25 million deal.

Lou Lamoriello responded to the loss of Martin by signing the hard hitting, tough nose Anton Volcehnkov to a 6-year, $25.5 million deal.  He also added the sturdy Henrik Tallinder to a 4-year, $13.5 million deal.

We also can’t forget that the last place Islanders upgraded their defense by signing former Penguins Mark Eaton to a 2-year, $5 million deal and the hard hitting Milan Jurcina to a 1-year, $1 miilion deal. 

To be fair the Rangers are more focused right now on signing their own young talent as both Marc Staal and Dan Girardi are restricted free agents and they are in talks to sign talent prospect Ryan McDonough away from the NCAA champions Wisconsin.

With all that in mind, the Atlantic division now holds some of the best defensive corps in the NHL and the matchups between all these teams got more interesting with players jumping ship for greener pastures.

Back to the Past

The biggest head scratcher of the free agent frenzy that ensued on July 1^st was the return of Olli Jokinen to the Calgary Flames.  Jokinen was exiled from the team just five months before and didn’t set off any fires while in New York, scoring only four goals and adding 15 points in 24 games with the Rangers. 

Why would Darryl Sutter bring back the fu man chu?  Well one answer is he got him back for a cheaper price as he signed a two-year, $6 million deal.  Another would be the crop of free agents at center were so thin that he felt maybe the former 30-goal scorer would relish his second chance to center Jarome Iginla.  But both players employ a shoot first mentality so Sutter’s other, under-the-radar move was to bring back the slick passing winger Alex Tanguay. 

The 30-year-old Tanguay had two successful years playing on a top line with Iginla, with 40 goals and 99 assists, before being shipped out for a first round pick to Montreal.  Sutter took a lot of heat in the media for bringing back both of these former Flames, but the joke might be on everyone, if they build instant chemistry and give the Flames a dominant top line to go with their already stellar defense and Miikka Kiprusoff, they just better hope that their playoff lives do not come down to a shootout.

The Best of the Rest

The second waves of signing are often the most overlooked signings in the offseason.  The names that still roam free are some heavy hitters that could round up most teams looking to win the Stanley Cup.  The question now turns to the players, if they are willing to take a short term contract to prove that they are who we thought they were.

Mike Modano has not announced his plans of if he will return for a 21^st NHL season, if he does and signs with a contender he could be a great third line player, who kills penalties as he did score 14 goals last season and showed no signs that he has lost his legs.

Lee Stempniak is only 27-years old and scored 28 goals last season for the Maple Leafs and Coyotes.  Sure sounds like an attractive free agent to round out your second line?  The problem is he had 14 of those goals in his 18 games with the Coyotes and with only 96 career goals in 374 games it is hard to judge what Stempniak’s worth is on the open market.

 Willie Mitchell is one of the most underrated defenseman in the league.  The 33-year-old will hit anything and is solid in his own end.  His absence from the Canucks blue line this season was very noticeable as they failed to get past the second round.  Concussion issues are  scaring off potential new teams, as Mitchell has had two in his last three seasons, including being out of the lineup for most of last year.  He could be a cheap fine for a contending team, if he can prove the concussion symptoms are behind him.

Some other players to keep an eye on are;  goalies Evgeni Nabokov, Marty Turco and Jose Theodore,  wingers Paul Kariya, Bill Guerin, Alex Frolov and Eric Belanger, and defenseman Andy Sutton, Joe Corvo and Kim Johnsson. 

This is a big weekend for the NHL, as general managers all meet to select the future of their franchises or make moves to impact the current roster. How can you not be overwhelmed with joy upon hearing your GM call out the name of some 18 year-old kid that could be the next big thing, or in a couple of years be taking your order at the local Tim Hortons? So, now to my Hat Trick. This week I change it up to the three most underrated story lines surrounding this weekend’s draft.

Hurricane Season:

The Carolina Hurricanes hold eleven draft picks this weekend, including three second round picks, and we all saw at this year’s trade deadline what second round picks can get you.  This is a team that is a year removed from the Eastern Conference Finals and four years removed from their Stanley Cup victory.  Carolina after the New year last season was 25-14-3. With the Southeast division so wide open after the Washington Capitals and in the salary cap era, it’s possible to go from being a non-playoff team to a Stanley Cup contender overnight; therefore, this weekend could be start of something good for the Caniacs.  Keep an eye on this team this weekend, for they can either package their extra picks to move up in the draft, or pick up necessary veteran pieces to upgrade their defense who were 26^th in the league in GAA (3.06).

Cap Tap Dancing:

Much has been printed about how the Stanley Cup Champions are in serious cap trouble, but there are other teams that are going to be interested in unloading salary for draft picks.  The Boston Bruins took on even more salary in the trade for Nathan Horton; now they will be asking some team to help them out by trading for backup goalie and former Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas, or even team leader Marc Savard.

Big changes were expected as the Calgary Flames failed to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2002-03 season.  Defensively they made the switch from Dion Phaneuf to Jay Bouwmeester, but now they have too much money tied up to their backline.  The team will try to move the likes of restricted free agent Ian White or veteran Cory Sarich, or they may try to get tough d-man Robyn Regehr to waive his no movement clause. But something will have to give as the Flames try to create some much-needed cap space.

Goalie Carousel:

With the news coming out that the Sharks are not retaining mainstay Evgeni Nabokov, the first domino has fallen in the great goalie debate.  Nabokov will now be the number one free agent goalie available with Marty Turco, Chris Mason, Dan Ellis and Michael Leighton falling in line after. 

Although we won’t know where these players will end up until July 1^st, the groundwork for some of their landing spots could be laid this weekend.  The teams in need of a starting goalie are San Jose, Washington, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay and Atlanta.  If those teams choose to trade for an available young goalie, then we know they are out of the running for the big free agent goalies available. 

The NHL offseason had officially kicked off as Montreal shipped off playoff hero and pending restricted free agent Jaroslav Halak to the St. Louis Blues for two prospects and the Nashville Predators traded their captain, Jason Arnott, back to a place he won a cup and pending free agent prize Dan Hamhuis to the Flyers.

Furious player movement in the summer has become the norm in the salary cap era and has given NHL fans across the board something to wake up and be excited about as teams attempt to win a paper championship.

This week is going to be a busy one around the NHL as schedules are announced on Tuesday June 22, and on the same day we will hear who will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2010.

Wednesday June 23 we roll out the red carpet for the NHL Awards as the likes of Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and Ryan Miller will rub elbows with Ducks fan Snoop Dog and the cast of The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil.

The week cumulates with the 2010 NHL Entry Draft with the first round on Friday June 25 and the rest of the draft Saturday June 26.

With all that in mind since each topic deserves its own Pucking Awesome Hat Trick this week (what a tease), so let’s first look at my picks for the four candidates that will make up the class of 2010, and could join the ranks of the immortal in Toronto.

Joe Nieuwendyk (20 NHL seasons, 1,257 GP-564 G-562A-1,126 PTS):

Joe Nieuwendyk is the only lock of the first time eligible players as the 20-year vet won three cups with the Flames, Stars and Devils capturing the Conn Smyth with 21 points in the Stars’ 1999 Cup run.

The Oshawa native broke onto the NHL scene in 1986-87, after three successful years at Cornell, scoring five goals in his first nine NHL games, and even chipped in with four points in six playoff games.

The next season, his rookie year, the 21-year-old scored a career-high 51 goals, including a league-leading 31 on the power play, and 91 points on his way to capturing the Calder Memorial Trophy.

The four-time NHL All-Star currently sits tied for 51st place with Hall of Famer Mike Bossy in career NHL points (1,126).

The current general manger of the Dallas Star also won a Gold Medal for Canada in the 2002 Olympics and most certainly will be able to add Hall of Fame to his signatures.

Doug Gilmour (20 NHL seasons, 1,474 GP-450G-964A-1,414 PTS):

Drafted 134th overall in the seventh round by St. Louis in 1982, Doug Gilmour has had to work hard to prove he belonged and the 20-year veteran continually showed his passion for the game.

The Kingston native has the most career points of the candidates (1,414), and currently sits 17th all-time in points.

Gilmour won the Stanley Cup in 1989 with the Flames and first-year eligible candidate Joe Nieuwendyk, scoring 22 points, including three game winners and team high +12. Gilmour was always dependable on both ends of the ice seen in his career +132 and was the Frank J. Selke Trophy winner in 1992-93.

From the beginning to the end Gilmour gave it his all in every game played and deserves the call to the Hall this year.

Adam Oates (19 NHL seasons, 1,337 GP-341G-1079A-1,420 PTS):

If Gilmour had to prove he belonged being drafted in seventh round, Adam Oates rise to one of the NHL all-time set up men is even more of a story as he went undrafted.

After Oates led Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to the 1985 NCAA Championship with an amazing 91 points in 38 games the Weston, Ontario native was given his NHL break with the Detroit Red Wings.

Nineteen NHL seasons later, Oates left the league sixth in all-time assists (1,079); the five players ranked above him are all in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Though Oates never won the Stanley Cup, twice losing in the Final (1998 with the Capitals and 2003 with the Mighty Ducks), he still finished with 156 career playoff points in 163 games.

Adam Oates was a magic man with the puck setting up Hall of Fame goal scorers, now should come his time to join those ranks.

Dave Andreychuk (23 NHL seasons, 1,639 GP-640G-698A-1,338 PTS):

When Dave Andreychuk raised the cup in 2004 as captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning most thought that sealed the 23-year vets place as a Hall of Famer.

Up against a stud class last season Andreychuck missed out in his first year of eligibility, this year should be different for the former first round pick of the Buffalo Sabres.

One of only 18 players to have scored 600 career NHL goals (640) the Hamilton native sits at 13th all-time in career NHL goals.

The two-time all-star also is the league’s all-time leader in power-play goals with 274 and ranks 27th in both career NHL points (1,338) and career game winning goals (77).

In November 2008 Andreychuck was inducted in the Buffalo Hall of Fame (played parts of 11 seasons with Sabres) and after Tuesday should be able to add Hockey Hall of Famer to his resume.

THE OTHERS:

Those are my picks for the four players that will get the call on Tuesday, below are some other candidates to keep an eye on including one of my all-time favorite players.

Eric Lindros (13 NHL seasons, 760 GP-372G-493A-865 PTS):

“Big E” changed the game with his aggressive power forward style.

Won Hart Trophy in the lockout shorten 1994-95 season and appeared in the 1997 Stanley Cup Final.

Injuries and contract disputes derailed Lindros’ career but his 1.138 points per game ranks 18th all-time and should give him serious consideration.

Alex Mogilny (16 NHL seasons, 990 GP-473G-559A-1,032 PTS):

The original “Alex the Great” is mostly known for his 1992-93 season where he scored 76 goals to tie Teemu Selanne for the league lead.

That season Mogilny scored his 50th goal in his 46th game but it will not go down in the record books as 50 in 50 for it was his team’s 53rd game.

The Russian won a Stanley Cup in 2000 as a role player for the New Jersey Devils and a Gold Medal in the 1988 Olympics.

Pavel Bure (12 NHL seasons, 702 GP-437G-342A-779 PTS):

The Russian Rocket was a three-time goal scoring champion, and a two-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner, twice scoring 60 goals and three-times scoring 50, including seasons of 59 and 58. The five-time all-star also won the Calder Memorial Trophy, gold medals at the World Championships and World Junior Championships and an Olympic bronze.

Dino Ciccarelli (19 NHL seasons, 1,232 GP-608G-592A-1,200 PTS):

Like Andreychuck, Dino Ciccarelli is one of only 18 players to score 600 goals in a career (608).

Ciccarelli’s inaugural playoff run was a memorable one as he scored 21 points in 19 games leading the North Stars to an improbably run to the Stanley Cup Final.

The four-time all-star had two 100 point seasons combined with his 1,425 career penalty minutes as Dino was one of the hardest players to play against.

Pierre Turgeon (19 NHL seasons, 1,294 GP-515G-812A-1,327 PTS):

With the most career points (1,327) of the first-year eligible players, the former first overall selection of the Sabres in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft has a chance to get the call on Tuesday.

Turgeon’s career defining season was 1992-93 with the New York Islanders, a season which he registered 58 goals and 132 points and won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy.

Turgeon added 13 playoff points as the Islanders marched to the Wales Conference Finals a place he would not see again until the 2000-01 season with the St. Louis Blues

As you sit there in your favorite team jersey waiting for it to be October, let’s recap and vote on our favorite moments on the season that was. The 2009-10 NHL season was one of the most thrilling ever, featuring a Stanley Cup playoff race that was wide open. The 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs smashed many ratings records on the way to crowning the Chicago Blackhawks as Stanley Cup champions. Most, if not all, of the twitter tending topics that night were NHL related. Hockey is definitely on an upswing. Some of the points below I didn’t go into as much detail as I would like to have. However, I already wrote about most of it in previous columns, so sometimes it’s hard to re-write. There’s a lot to read and videos to watch, so I hope you enjoy it! (Trust me when I say it’s really long)

To break this article down, in the first part I recap the season of the Stanley Cup Champions, then I go into the biggest surprises, disappointments and awards of the season and other miscellaneous stuff. I end it with voting for the goat and the fight of the season, compiled from the best of those during the regular season from my weekly Between the Pipes column. Which I hope you all come back to read next season.

The 2009-10 Stanley Cup Champions

Chicago Blackhawks

What an unusual season it was for the Chicago Blackhawks. Their offseason certainly wasn’t boring. First you have Marian Hossa signing a huge contract worth 62.8 million dollars over 12 years. That alone brings up many questions like won’t he be 42 by the end of it? How do you even know how he will perform towards the end of the contract? Then the good/bad of the signing, Hossa wanted to play for a contending team and he viewed the Blackhawks as the team with the best chance to do so. Well that’s great but then you wonder, didn’t he think that with the Penguins and the Red Wings as well? How did that turn out? Next up you have Patrick Kane and his cousin assaulting a cab driver for 20 cents. Wait he what? There’s nothing like having one of your top players being involved in a ridiculous incident like that. Still the Blackhawks pressed on and opened the season a talented loaded team with one huge albatross around their neck, what about your goaltending?

Cristobal Huet was the number one goaltender by default, despite not being the number one last season, because the Blackhawks didn’t have enough money to sign Nikolai Khabibulin. As the starting goalie, Huet certainly didn’t make the regular season boring. First you had his 25.29 GAA average against the Flames in October, where he gave up three goals on five shots in seven minutes. Though to speak to the resiliency of the Blackhawks this season, Niemi actually came in and gave up two more goals in the 1^st period to put the Blackhawks in a 0-5 hole at intermission. But the Blackhawks ended up scoring six unanswered goals to win the game in overtime. Then there was the game against the Stars in which Huet gave up four goals on ten shots. Finally he gave up 14 goals over a span of three games, when the Blackhawks finally said the hell with this and made Antti Niemi the starting goalie. He did have some high points, putting together a seven game win streak and posting four shutouts. But he will mostly be remembered for plays like this:

Despite their goaltending issues, Chicago came within one point of the best record in the West. They boasted a balanced scoring attack with six players each having 20+ goal seasons. They also boasted one of the top defensive pairs in the league in Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook. Antti Niemi started to develop into a number one netminder, hopefully vanquishing the albatross in the process.

The Blackhawks opened the 1^st round of the playoffs against the perennial stepping stone Nashville Predators. The Blackhawks lost the 1^st game at home and then the 3^rd game on the road to find themselves in a 1-2 hole. They seemed disinterested in the series and they weren’t getting the basics right. They managed to win Game 4 but then Game 5 happened. Game 5 was the kind of game that everything just went right, even when things looked bleak. It was the turning point of the series and the Blackhawks season. It was the game in which the Blackhawks got their swagger back. Let’s set the stage. Down in the important Game 5, 4-3, in the final minutes the Blackhawks try a final push only to have Marian Hossa get called for boarding. It appeared that Hossa was already working his curse magic. Instead it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as the inexperienced Predators played aggressive on the power play, looking for the kill goal. The Blackhawks were able to get a lucky bounce on the rebound and storm the other way and then pull their goalie to make it five on five. Then in some eerie foreshadowing, Patrick Kane scored the game tying goal off of a rebound in what would be his second most important goal of the playoffs.

After opening the overtime period shorthanded the Blackhawks ended up in the Predators zone and Hossa jumps out of the box and sets up right where Patrick Kane scored the previous goal. The puck once again took a fortuitous bounce and Hossa capped off the impromptu comeback.

In the decisive Game 6 you could tell it would be the Blackhawks year after Brent Seabrook gets an unexpected goal against Pekka Rinne.

From there it was the highly anticipated rematch with the Vancouver Canucks. Personally I found the series to be disappointing, as most of the games were pretty one sided. It had some comical moments though, like when the Canucks self destructed in Game 5 and committed four penalties in the span of four minutes and 40 seconds. There was also Roberto Luongo being himself hot, a 1.00 GAA in the two Canucks wins and cold, 5.25 GAA in the four losses. The soon to be Conn Smythe winner, Jonathan Toews was simply sensational against the Canucks. He was also in the midst of a 13 game point streak in which he amassed 25 of his 29 points.

Next was the highly anticipated match-up between the number one seeded Sharks. The win total of the two teams far surpassed any of the other match-ups in the 2010 playoffs. Oddly enough, it was also the only sweep of the playoffs. I’ll write more about it below in the disappointing section.

Then it was onward to the Blackhawks first Stanley Cup appearance in 49 years to face the Philadelphia Flyers and their 35 year drought. The series was very good and each game had a point in the 3^rd period, except for Game 5, where there was only a one goal differential. I don’t know about you but that’s hockey I want to see. Nobody on the Blackhawks had a truly remarkable series. They won as a team as it should be in hockey, the ultimate team sport. Some players did have remarkable games though, as Dustin Byfuglien did in Game 5 and Patrick Kane did in Game 6. The thing I love most about hockey is watching each player on the team hoist the Stanley Cup and skate around with it. You don’t see anything else like that in any other sport, period. Just the player, the Stanley Cup and the moment. It’s something every player in the NHL hopes to achieve but very few get too. An experience so awesome that it brings tears to those that didn’t get to achieve it, like Jeremy Roenick the great Blackhawk for eight seasons and 20 NHL seasons overall.

You shouldn’t be surprised that the Blackhawks won the series, as we still haven’t had a team with a regular season goal differential of less than a +25 win the cup in the past 20 years, maybe longer (This is my favorite hockey stat). The Flyers had no chance with their +11. It also wasn’t all bad for Huet. As many of you know, Niemi was the first Finnish goalie to win the Cup. Despite not really playing, Huet was also the first Frenchman to win the Cup. Here are some of the Blackhawks celebrating with Jay Leno, gag.

Finally for shits and giggles here are some of the best user comments on Yahoo by fans after the Blackhawks were down 1-2 to the Predators after their Game 3 loss.

A Yahoo! User Thu Apr 22, 2010 03:02 pm PDT

“I can’t wait next year for the Hawks 50 year anniversary since the last cup we won! We’re not gonna win it this year cause we won’t get out of the 1st round but when they bring those guys from the 1961 cup team come out on their rascals i will stand up and salute them. I hope they make snow tires for rascals. Maybe the Caps will let us borrow the cup next year for the ceremony. We probably won’t make the playoffs next year with a new coach and we play in a division with the Red Wings, Preds, (who are embarassing us) and the Blues and Jackets will be better next year so we might be last in the central. I also can’t wait to hang that central division banner next year. The Caps can have the cup we have the central division! That’s most important.” (This guy feels really stupid right now)

tom c Wed Apr 21, 2010 10:40 am PDT

“I don’t care who wins the cup if Detroit doesnt all I do know is it won’t be CHICAGO….1961…hahaha. Get used to it and the Wings will win another cup or two before you do if ever again…Love hossa now don’t ya…”

Biggest Surprises/Best of the Year

Teams

Phoenix Coyotes – How many of you had the Coyotes getting home ice in the 1^st round and then coming within a game of knocking off the perennial contending Red Wings? Nope nobody did and if you said you did, you’re lying. Apparently Wayne Gretzky was holding them back. Kidding aside this plucky group gave it their all. They even did it with the possibility of being sold at any moment during the season and having to possibly relocate at the end of the season. Ilya Bryzgalov, who had a few previous outstanding seasons, finally became a somewhat household name. He was 2^nd in the league with eight shutouts and he was nominated for the Vezina Trophy. The rest of the squad collectively overachieved. Shane Doan was the leading scorer with a whopping 55 points and only one other player had over 50 points (Matthew Lombardi). Radim Vrbata was the only Coyote to have over 20 goals during the season with 24. Despite losing in the 1^st round, the season was definitely something to build on. More importantly it may have finally sold hockey in the Phoenix desert.

Montreal Canadiens – The Canadiens magic season can be summed up with two words, Jaroslav Halak. If it wasn’t for his emergence the Canadiens would have had just another 1^st round exit. But he did emerge out of the shadow of Carey Price. I’ll admit Carey Price doesn’t cast a very large shadow but Halak had mostly been his backup until this year when they evenly split time in the regular season. Come the playoffs Halak was named the starter but he really didn’t flourish until after he was benched for Game 4 and then he came back with a vengeance. He even faced 134 shots over a three game span against the Capitals, not an easy task. It wasn’t all Halak though, Michael Cammalleri, Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez and Tomas Plekanec led the Canadiens offensively in the regular season and postseason. Though Gionta and Cammalleri combined for almost half of the 46 postseason goal total with 22 goals. There was also the emergence of P.K Subban who stepped in for the injured Andrei Markov and perhaps even surpassed his level of play. Subban was loved in Montreal for his hustle, determination and skill and hated everywhere else for his big mouth. The 2009-10 Canadiens returned the storied franchise to the Conference Finals for the first time since 1993. Even a 1^st round series win is celebrated like they just won the Stanley Cup in Montreal. I’ll leave with two videos, one the crazy but tame celebration and one not so tame.

Best Game 7

Washington Capitals vs. Montreal Canadiens

I can’t think of a game that had me at the edge of the seat like this one, in quite some time. Despite the Canadiens winning the previous two games, I didn’t really give them much of a chance. First you had the Canadiens taking the early 1-0 lead on the power play, just 30 seconds into the game. But it was still early and the Capitals had plenty of time to come back. Only after the second intermission it was still 1-0 and then you start to wonder, maybe the Canadiens can pull it off. When Montreal scored with about four minutes left in the game to take a 2-0 lead, you realized you were watching history in the making. About a minute and a half later the Capitals finally score to cut it to 2-1 and then you think maybe they can come back. All you know is the final two minutes would be the most intense you’ve ever seen in your life. Then Montreal gets called for a penalty to make 5 on 4. The Capitals pull their goalie to make it a 6 on 4 and you think surely the number 1 offensive team can score a goal with a two man advantage to save their season. But no Halak comes up huge the time runs out and see Alex Ovechkin slumped over to end another season. Relive the final two minutes here.

Best Series

This one was really hard for me to pick so I decided I’ll name four and you can vote. I didn’t include the Stanley Cup Finals because well it’s the Stanley Cup Finals so it would be memorable even if it sucked, which in this case it did not.

Vancouver Canucks vs. Los Angeles Kings

This was an awesome series that we were sadly deprived of a Game 7. It featured lots of open ice action, some high scoring and sometimes some great saves. Watching Doughty shut down the Sedin twins was also great to watch.

Detroit Red Wings vs. Phoenix Coyotes

This series was also great. The enthusiasm in the Jobing.com Arena (dumb name) was awesome and Detroit matched it. There was a ton of open ice as well in this series and high scoring. Game 7 took a little bit of the luster off of the series. Favorite moment is the Shane Doan face after his Game 2 goal, who could ever forget that.

Boston Bruins vs. Philadelphia Flyers

Game 1 was truly spectacular and featured a lot of pretty goals and an overtime win. Game 4 featured the same 5-4 score as Game 1 and another overtime. This series will mostly be remembered for the Flyers and their great series comeback and never give up attitude.

Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

Hard to pick this series over the Canadiens vs. Capitals series but I did because you didn’t really know what you were witnessing at that point, plus I missed a lot of the games because there were so many other series going on. Other than Game 7 (more on that below) I thought this series was pretty evenly matched with great intensity and an always great Montreal crowd. Just love that atmosphere in the Bell Centre.

Biggest Disappointments/Worst of the Year

Teams

Anaheim Ducks – After coming within a game of the Western Conference Finals last season, Anaheim made the off season trade of sending Chris Pronger to the Flyers for Joffrey Lupul and Luca Sbisa. They had hoped to bolster their offense while securing another blueliner of the future for Pronger. They felt the addition of Lupul coupled with the signing of Saku Koivu would give them the offense they needed in order to make another run at the cup. Unfortunately while that looked great on paper, absolutely nothing worked out for the Ducks. Sbisa, while he will probably be on the Ducks blueline for the next decade, at only 19 was not ready for the big leagues especially with the crowded Ducks defenseman corp; he wouldn’t have cracked the top two pairs. Coach Carlyle felt it was important Sbisa received playing time, so down to the minors to dominate he went. Lupul was reunited with the team that drafted him but a happy reunion it was not meant to be. He ended up playing in only 23 games and was out the rest of the year with back spasms and a subsequent herniated disk surgery. While in the long run the trade might look kindly on the Ducks, they essentially traded Pronger and received nothing in return.

Koivu and Teemu Selanne, Team Finland linemates, never really developed the chemistry the team was hoping for when they acquired Koivu. Selanne also suffered two of his worst injuries in his career almost in succession, further dampening the Ducks hopes of a potent second line. Towards the last few weeks of the season, the duo finally blossomed and showed their potential but it was to late. But give credit where it’s due, Koivu was the Ducks MVP for the last two weeks racking up 11 points in the final five games. On the back-end the defensive core seemed to be okay with the trade of Pronger because the Ducks had acquired James Wisniewski and Ryan Whitney last season. Wisniewski played adequately but found himself suspended a few times, causing the group to not be at full strength. Ryan Whitney did not fit in well, especially at the power play point where the Ducks had hoped he would fill Pronger’s skates. He did not and the Oilers and Ducks swapped Olympians with the Ducks receiving Lubomir Visnovsky (further giving me another beyond complicated name to type when I recap the past weeks Anaheim Ducks games). Lack of chemistry and injuries really were the downfall of the Ducks. Next year looks promising though if they can bring back all of the key players next season.

Washington Capitals – There’s an old adage that goes “defense wins championships”. Apparently the Capitals have never heard of it. Coasting through the regular season playing in the weakest division and racking up goals like nobody’s business, these Capitals seemed destined for great things. They were the Goliath of the NHL. But unfortunately for the Capitals, there was also a David lurking named the Montreal Canadiens and their mighty stone Jaroslav Halak. Now don’t get me wrong the Capitals had a 3-1 series lead at one point, so it’s not like they played horribly throughout. It’s just when you play four series in three seasons and they all go to even games and you only win one of them, people start to wonder many things. I don’t blame the Capitals for only getting three goals by Halak in games five, six and seven, because lets face it, the line of Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Brett Hull in their primes probably wouldn’t have scored any more goals either. I more concerned with their lack of heart and their willingness to do whatever it takes to win. I’m also concerned with their defense. Mike Green is probably the premier offensive defenseman in the league but he’s nowhere near the top of defensive defenseman in the league. That’s really where the Capitals need him to be. He just completed his fourth season though, so barring something drastic on his part I really don’t think he will improve. The NHL really needs to do him a favor and stop nominating him for Norris Trophies he doesn’t deserve. The Capitals need to acquire better defensive talent and they need to become a more dynamic offensive team. I will give props to Semyon Varlamov who had a pretty good postseason. Unfortunately not many noticed it. Who knows though, the Sharks had a 1^st round exit last year and made it to the Conference Finals this year. The same could happen to the Capitals.

Worst Game 7

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Montreal Canadiens

This Game 7 was somewhat reminiscent of last years 2^nd round game between the Penguins and Capitals in which the Penguins destroyed the Capitals 6-2 in the 2^nd round in a hugely disappointing game as well. This time the Penguins were on the losing end. I’m still not really sure how the defending Champions would show up so flat footed at home, but they did. They lost the game 5-2 and were even down in the 2^nd at one point 0-4, yikes. As awesome as this series was, and it was one of the best of the playoffs, this game couldn’t have been anymore anticlimactic. It also showcased none of the things that made the series great, other than Halak playing well again. Marc-Andre Fleury was awful, the Penguins defense was awful, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin had no points and the game wasn’t close.

Worst Series

Chicago Blackhawks vs. San Jose Sharks

I alluded to it in the Blackhawks season recap but this certainly was the most disappointing series in some time. Normally you don’t get the 1 vs. 2 match-up very often and considering what we got in the East, I expected so much more from this series. The Sharks had just come off a dismantling of the Detroit Red Wings and the Blackhawks looked strong coming off their Canucks series win. Now none of the final scores had more than a two goal win but you just got the vibe the whole series that the Sharks didn’t have much of a chance, especially after they dropped the first two games at home. The score in those games were a lot closer than the game actually was. Nobody on the Sharks came to play except Patrick Marleau and they never scored more than two goals in a game. You can’t expect to win the series when you average 1.75 goals a game in the series. The Sharks also took a bunch of dumb penalties in Game 4 when it was tied 2-2, basically handing the game to the Blackhawks on a silver platter. Evgeni Nabokov didn’t play well and now I hear the Sharks want to resign him, yikes. He’s a regular season goalie, not a playoffs goalie.

Miscellaneous

Can only happen in hockey

Duncan Keith loses seven teeth – Duncan Keith, or how he’s referred to on the internet Duncan Teeth, showed the world just how tough hockey players are. While trying to keep the puck in the offensive zone on the power play, Keith took a puck to his face from a clearing attempt by Patrick Marleau. Marleau ended up scoring a breakaway goal because Keith was taken out of the play. But showing the true hockey player that he is, Keith returned to the game minutes later. Here’s a nice video on the play and what happened afterwards.

You’ve got to be kidding me

The Philadelphia Flyers come back from an 0-3 series deficit – This feet was made all the more impressive by the fact that they only got into the playoffs on a shootout win in the final game of the season against the New York Rangers. But the Flyers became only the third team in NHL history to comeback, joining the 1975 New York Islanders and the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs. Not only did they come back down from 0-3 in the series, they also came back down 0-3 in Game 7. Not to mention they had to switch stating goalies in the middle of the series due to injury and they lost their 2^nd leading scorer, Jeff Carter, for a month due to injury. I can’t think of a team that had to battle so much to get so far. Many thought this might be a team of destiny but their destiny ran out in the Stanley Cup Finals. Special acknowledgment goes to Danny Briere for leading the whole NHL in postseason scoring and for having some pretty goals along the way.

Iron Man Award

Craig Anderson – Now here’s a guy that had never been a starter in the league before or played in more than 31 games. He played in 71 games this season for the Colorado Avalanche, almost the same amount of games he played combined in his first five years in the league. He didn’t stop there, as he faced the most shots of any goalie during the regular season with 2233. He was one of the primary reasons the Avalanche rebounded so quickly. In the playoffs he faced the highest shot total of any goalie to play six games and sometimes he faced more than those with a few more games played than him. He finished the playoffs with the highest SV% at .933. Here’s hoping he can keep up the pace next year.

Team on the Rise

Los Angeles Kings – Something is brewing in Los Angeles and it isn’t the latest motion picture. It’s the first legit team the Kings have put together since Wayne Gretzky left town. They’re a young and deep talented team. Anze Kopitar at only 22 has seemingly blossomed into an elite player leading the league in scoring for a good chunk of the time. He did severely cool off towards the end of the season. However, I think this season was just a little preview of what’s to come. The Kings have a great pair of young defenseman in Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson. Doughty is something truly special and his skilled were acknowledged with the Norris Trophy nomination. While I don’t think he will win it this year, my vote is on Duncan Keith, I think Doughty might dominate the award in the future like Bobby Orr, Raymond Bourque and Nicklas Lidstrom have in the past. Doughty was simply sensational in the Canucks series. How quickly the Kings can ascend, falls mostly on the shoulders of Jonathan Quick. Quick was a workhorse this season and will probably need to be again next season. He will need to continue to hone his skill in his 3^rd full season if the Kings hope to advance further in the playoffs.

The comeback that never was

Ray Emery – Nobody wanted to take a chance on Ray Emery because of his previous bad behavior but the Flyers desperate for goalie help decided it would be worth the risk. Emery started all of 29 games before suffering a torn muscle. He was later diagnosed with avascular necrosis and was out for the rest of the year. In his absence Brian Boucher and Michael Leighton led the Flyers all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. With the Flyers recently signing Johan Backlund and already having Brian Boucher under contract, its unlikely free agent Emery will return. I don’t think any other NHL team will give him a chance either and I’m not even sure if he is fully recovered to play.

Breakout of the year

Steven Stamkos – I gave it to Stamkos because he had struggled so much the previous year. It’s not easy to come into the league as the 1^st overall pick in the draft. Expectations are high and you are expected to perform. Stamkos rose to the challenge in his second year. Playing along side Martin St. Louis certainly helps but Stamkos is a special talent in his own right. Leading the league in goals in your second season is also an impressive feat. Stamkos will only continue to get better. John Tavares was another number 1 pick this year that put up almost identical numbers to what Stamkos did in his first season. I suspect his second season will end up being his breakout year as well. Craig Anderson would have gotten this nod for the regular season but I gave him another award. Jaroslav Halak would defiantly have gotten this award for the postseason but I already wrote about him.

Rookie of the Year (Calder Trohpy)

Tyler Myers – Besides goalie I think defenseman is the hardest position to learn. It’s not easy to try and stop the speed and skill of the top wingers in the NHL on a nightly basis. Myers was also the only defenseman on the Sabres in the top 80 in defenseman scoring. It’s very rare that there aren’t at least two defenseman from each team in the top 60. Leading all players on your team in ice time is always an honor for any rookie. Myers should compliment Ryan Miller for years to come.

Goalie of the Year (Vezina Trophy)

Ryan Miller – Goaltending has only gotten better over the years and there were a lot of strong contenders. Tuukka Rask came in a strong second but he played in 24 fewer games so I’d like to see what he can do with a full season under his belt. Miller had the 2^nd best GAA at 2.22 and the 2^nd best SV% at .931. Both were behind Rask. He faced the 4^th most shots and had the 4^th most wins. So while he wasn’t first in any major statistical category, he was 1^st in taking over a game. He isn’t perfect though as he did make a few of my Goat of the Week awards this season. But as the entire World witnessed in the Olympics, he can put on quite a good show. This past January I saw Miller play live against the Ducks. He didn’t start the game, Patrick Lalime did. But the Ducks chased Lalime after the first 10 minutes after he gave up four goals. Though the Ducks did manage to score one goal on Miller, the whole entire feel of the game seemed different when he came into it. It was if he told the Ducks this isn’t going to be easy anymore. It wasn’t. I hope that Miller doesn’t suffer the same fate Dominik Hasek did in Buffalo. That is to go cupless.

Player of the Year (Hart Trophy)

Sidney Crosby – Now before we start this, I am not a diehard Sidney Crosby fan. I think he is a great player but I do not worship the ground he walks on. Furthermore, I honestly don’t think he is the most talented player on his team. I think Evgeni Malkin is. Two years ago Malkin would have easily won my player of the year award (I know my award isn’t that prestigious). So why does Crosby get it when Alex Ovechkin and Henrik Sedin had just as good or even better seasons? Well first off, Malkin didn’t have the same year he had in the previous two seasons and a lot of that was due to injuries. So basically Crosby had to carry the Penguins on his back. The other important thing to remember is Crosby doesn’t really have anyone else on his line. Sure Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin are good players but they aren’t great. Sedin has his brother Daniel Sedin on the same line and Ovechkin has Nicklas Backstrom and sometimes Alexander Semin. Crosby is the line all by himself. He also scored 51 goals which was not only tied for 1^st in the league but his own personal best. He had never even reached 40 goals in any of his previous seasons. He was also red hot in the 1^st round of the playoffs before coming back down to earth against Halak. I don’t think he has reached his full potential yet but I felt he was the best player on the ice this season.

Vote for the best of the season

Some were hard cuts particularly in the Goat category, so many goats this season. But I narrowed it down to three fights and five goats. There is no playoff goats so no Dan Boyle own goal or Halak stupidly playing the puck way beyond his net.

Fight of the Season

Cam Janssen vs. Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond

David Koci vs. Brian McGrattan

Rick Rypien vs. Cam Janssen

Goat of the Season

Nikolai Khabibulin misplays the puck in the final minute of the game against the Flames to give them the win.

Tim Thomas mishandles the puck allowing the Penguins to get the win in overtime.

Keith Ballard taking out his own unsuspecting goalie

Ivan Vishnevskiy loses the puck off his stick and into his own empty net

Antoine Vermette comes sweeping in and knocks it in his own goal.

Well, it’s that time of the year again…the time when hockey action officially ends and the withdrawals officially begin. It hasn’t even been a week since Chicago lifted the Cup, and many of us are already counting the days until October 7^th. Surviving the off-season is a challenge, but when one is prepared for the challenge they’re about to face they tend to get through it better than those who go about it blindly. So to help you prepare, here is a hockey lover’s guide to helping you get through the off-season (relatively) pain-free.

June 22^nd marks our first taste of hockey during the off-season, with the ’10-’11 schedule set to be released on that day. You may have noticed that it’s being released about 3 weeks earlier than usual, and we have Mr. Gary Bettman to thank for that. I like to think it’s his way of saying “Here’s the schedule for next season, hockey addicts. Plan your lives accordingly.” In all honesty I’m not exactly sure why it’s being released so early, but you won’t hear me complaining.

The day after that we have the NHL Awards, which is always a fan favorite because while we love seeing the boys out on the ice, nothing quite compares to watching your favorite (or least favorite) hockey player awkwardly accept an award with a 15-second max. speech. Unless English isn’t the player’s first language, and then it’s more like 10 seconds and you can barely understand a word being said (I’m lookin’ at you, Datsyuk). But hey, no one ever said these guys were expert orators, and their awkwardness is just another reason to love them.  You can catch the awards that night on Versus at 7:30 ET.

Closing out the week will be the NHL Draft on the 25^th and 26^th, where we will finally find out the answer to the question, “Taylor or Tyler?” In addition to that we’ll be able to enjoy all the other things that seem to always accompany the draft: ridiculous rumors, blockbuster trades (let’s not forget that the Pronger trade was done at the draft last season), and of course the chance to watch your team draft the next superstar-in-the-making. You can catch the first round of the draft June 25^th at 7:00 ET on Versus, but rounds two through seven which take place on the 26th will not be televised, so you’ll want to be constantly checking your team’s website to get updates on the players they’ve drafted.

The real challenge to a hockey addict’s sanity comes after the NHL Draft, because that’s when things slow down significantly. Free Agency begins July 1^st, and for the first week there will be constant signings and trades and you’ll be refreshing the NHL.com home page 100 times a day to see who signed where. But after that we’ll enter a point where the highlight of your hockey week will be your team signing some minor league prospect that will probably never even play a game for your team…and that’s rough. The month of July is truly the dog days of the hockey off-season, and this will no doubt be the time where you’ll be so desperate for hockey that you’ll resort to watching games from last season 20 times, popping in that Stanley Cup DVD to relive the good ‘ole days, and maybe view Slap Shot a couple of times for good measure.

But fear not, for there are plenty of good resources for suppressing your craving for hockey during the off-season. First and foremost there is the NHL Network, which will supply you with a never-ending lineup of hockey action and the latest in hockey news. If you don’t have the NHL Network on your TV, you can watch it online here anytime for free. Now if you want to go back and watch specific games from last season, you can visit Hulu and there you’ll find past games (some full, some condensed) to watch for free as well.

Before you know it it’ll be September, where you begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Training camp starts in the first couple of weeks, and you’ll have your first real chance to hear (and possibly see depending on your proximity to your team) how your players are doing coming back from the break, who’s battling an injury, who came back from summer in less-than-stellar shape, and which prospects are fighting for a starting spot on the team among other things. Immediately after is pre-season, and while the games don’t count, I think we all can agree that hockey is hockey and after an off-season that seems like it lasts forever you’ll take what you can get.

I don’t think I need to say what comes next, hockey lovers. Because if you’re anything like me, you already have a countdown of your own going until that fateful day when real hockey returns. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and I find that to be true about hockey.  As tough as it is, going for such a long period of time without hockey will only strengthen your love for the game, and we all know that in the end it’s worth the wait.

First of all congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks from Pucking Awesome but now comes the fun part of speculation , cash flowing and all around craziness.  Below is some key dates of NHL events to keep an eye on and keep checking Pucking Awesome as we cover these upcoming NHL events.

June 22: 2010-11 schedule announced

June 23: NHL Awards (Las Vegas)

June 25-26: NHL Entry Draft (Los Angeles)

July 1: Free agency begins for players with expiring contracts

The 2010 Stanley Cup Final is now tied at two games apiece heading back to the Madhouse in Chicago tonight. This of course sets up the pivotal must win Game 5, or does it? In the last five Stanley Cup Finals only one team that won Game 5 actually won the series. That would be the Anaheim Ducks who clinched the series in Game 5 in 2007. Of course a few of those teams were up 3-1, so winning Game 5 wasn’t all that crucial. But this Game 5 is not as important as you might think. Both the 04 Lightning and 09 Penguins lost Game 5 after being tied 2-2 and ended up winning the the next two to take home the Stanley Cup. One thing we can be sure of is that Game 5 will be close. Every game has been at only a one goal deficit or tied at some point in the 3rd period. The Flyers have not lost a game 5, 6 or 7 this postseason. They are 5-0 so far. Let us take a look at the reminder of the series by first reviewing the last two games.

Antti Niemi has really been the anchor of the Blackhawks of late. Though the numbers don’t back it up, he really has been the only Blackhawk playing well in the past few games besides Marian Hossa. Almost all of the goals he has let in as of late, have not been his fault. The defense of the Blackhawks, one of their strengths throughout this season, has been bordering on atrocious as of late. Their inability to get the puck out of their own zone and their constant turnovers in their own zone, has contributed to three goals in the last two games. If you want you can chalk up the goal off of Versteeg’s back as the defense’s fault as well in Game 4, as well as the empty net goal that Duncan Keith didn’t play properly off the boards and a Claude Giroux goal with nobody on him. Well shoot that’s six of nine goals or 2/3 of the goals in the last two games chalked up to sheer defensive stupidity. The defense must play better.

I’m still not really sure why they blew the whistle in overtime of Game 3 after the goal that wasn’t. It wasn’t a goal but the rebound by Jeff Carter was a goal. The refs should have let the play continue and then at the next stoppage, which in this case was the Carter goal, reviewed the previous action like they did earlier in the game when the no goal was overturned. Of course they wouldn’t have needed to review the initial no goal because Carter’s goal would have nullified that. This pretty much sums up the inconsistency of the officiating in this series. On the eventually game winning goal, what were the Blackhawks’ defenders doing? Two Flyers right in front of the net with nobody on them, enabling Giroux to net the game winner on a deflection. Then came the debacle known as Game 4 for the Blackhawks.

The first two Flyers goals were caused by bad plays by Niklas Hjalmarsson in the Chicago zone, who Niemi won’t be sending any Christmas cards to anytime soon. The next Flyers goal can be attributed to awesome passing on the Flyers end or horrible defense, again, by the Blackhawks with nobody  anywhere near Giroux and Antti Niemi playing way to far out of his net. You can take your pick. Next was the goal off of Versteeg’s back to basically set-up a 1-4 deficit for the Blackhawks to try and overcome on the road. Certainly not impossible but not something you really want to have overcome.

From a Flyers point of view I say things are looking pretty good. While they lost the first two games, they only lost by one goal in each game. They went to overtime in Game 3 but they won and they basically crushed the Blackhawks in Game 4 except for a late rally by the Blackhawks in that game. The Flyers are just out hustling the Blackhawks on loose pucks and icings. It just seems like the Flyers want it more. Another thing the Flyers have done well is neutralizing the Blackhawks’ top line and Dustin Byfuglien. Byfuglien only has 1 assist so far in the series. He also has four PIM to Pronger’s only two (not including Pronger’s game misconduct). The four PIM for Byfuglien came all in Game 3 when the Flyers effectively got under his skin. Byfuglien’s main asset this postseason, especially in the series against the Canucks, was getting under the opponent’s skin and forcing them to take dumb penalties. He has not been able to do that this series, though I agree the refs have not been kind to the Blackhawks in regards to calling penalties. He also hasn’t been able to effectively get under Leighton’s skin and screen him. The majority of the Blackhawks’ goals this season has come from their net presence, which they have yet to establish in this series. In hindsight the 2-0 series advantage by the Blackhawks was probably more of an advantage for the Flyers. The Flyers seem to enjoy playing from behind and being the underdog. Where as the Blackhawks can get a bit cocky with a lead.

Keys for today and the rest of the series:

Blackhawks:

1. Continue to tinker with line changes to find the right combination. Coach Quenneville was successful in Game 4 as the 3rd period surge came as a result of the line changes in that game. Coach Q will continue to tinker in Game 5.

2. They must establish more of a net presence on all of their lines. Leighton needs to work harder and they need to be better positioned for rebounds.

3. The defense absolutely must play better. They need to not be so careless with the puck in their own zone. If they need to take icings to get the puck out of the net, then do so. It’s better than give it right to the Flyers.

Flyers:

1. Chris Pronger must continue to play as dominate as he has. He’s averaging major minutes and that likely won’t change.

2. Continue to get the balanced scoring from all lines. The Flyers have yet to have any player score more than one goal in a game. All lines and players are contributing.

3. Michael Leighton must continue to play better. His play and confidence has improved greatly since Game 1 but with Chicago’s line changes and with having two of the possible three games at Chicago, Leighton will be challenged more. He must rise to the challenge.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is not just a Clint Eastwood movie about an unlikely partnership, it is also a good way to breakdown the Chicago Blackhawks 6-5 win over the Philadelphia Flyers in game one of the Stanley Cup Final.

Since the NHL first went to best-of-seven in the Cup Final in 1939, teams winning both games one and two have won the Cup 41 of 45 times (91.1 percent). But not is all lost for the resilient Flyers as they can look to the Penguins last year, who were one of those four teams to come back from a 2-0 series deficit in the Stanley Cup Final.

With that in mind, in this week’s Pucking Awesome Hat Trick I will be looking at the Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo of each team as we move forward in this Stanley Cup Final.

Good

Chicago Blackhawks:

They did not get a point from captain Jonathan Toews for the first time in 13 games, so the good in that was they got scoring from pretty much everyone else.

Troy Brouwer (with two goals), Dave Bolland (shorthanded), Patrick Sharp, Kris Versteeg, and Tomas Kopecky all chipped in with goals.

The Blackhawks have been celebrated all season for their depth at forward and have gotten goals from 14 different players in this postseason and six players have five or more goals.

If this continues in this series then it could be another quick series for the deep Blackhawks

The Blackhawks also dominated the face-off circle winning 63 percent of draws.

Philadelphia Flyers:

So they were not as perfect as Roy Halladay was on Saturday, but they do have some positives to build on heading into the pivotal game two.

The biggest positive would be scoring five goals against Anti Niemi.

The line of Danny Briere, Scott Hartnell, and Ville Leino combined for nine points and all seemed to find a high chink in Niemi’s armor.

The Flyers heard all about the Blackhawks scoring depth in the four days leading to the Cup Final, but they also have had 14 different scorers this postseason and have nine players who have four or more goals, and in game one showed they can score with the big boys.

The highly penalized Flyers also went without a penalty in a game for the first time since 2000.

Bad

Chicago Blackhawks:

As the Flyers had no penalties, the Blackhawks had four penalties.

The strong PK continued as the Hawks only gave up one power play goal, but the bad was the type of penalties that they took. 

Chicago saw many borderline dangerous hits from their energy fourth liners, and if this trend continues, Coach Quenneville will be forced to play only his top three lines as the series goes on. This could put more strain on his top line players.

Philadelphia Flyers:

Chris Pronger played 32:21, 22:44 minutes played for Mike Richards, and 21:25 minutes played for the recently activated Jeff Carter.

These numbers should be troubling for the Philadelphia Flyers, for the same obvious reason why not playing the energy fourth line hurts the Hawks.

Even worse numbers for the Flyers’ top line of Richards, Carter, and Simon Gagne: they were a combined -7, and none of those goals came against the Blackhawks’ top line of Toews, Kane, and Byfuglien (who were a combined -9).

The Flyers feed off the emotions and energy of their top players and for them to upset the Blackhawks they will need their leaders to step up their play.

Ugly

Chicago Blackhawks:

Ugly is how to describe the type of win it was for the Blackhawks, but also the kind of play they will need to play in front of their own net to win game two.

The Flyers had most of their scoring chances in front of Niemi as the Blackhawks played a soft game in front of him.

The Blackhawks had 37 credited hits in the game, but 10 of them came from Byfuglien, with most coming in front of the Flyers net with Pronger, and only seven came from the Blackhawks backline.

In game two, the Flyers will continue to crash the nets and the Blackhawks defense, especially the top duo of Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook (only five hits and three shots blocked combined), will need to step up their physicality.

Philadelphia Flyers:

For the Flyers to win game two, they will need goalie Michael Leighton to forget his ugly game one performance.

The postseason leader in GAA and save percentage coming into the game showed signs of nervousness as he let five goals in only 20 shots and was pulled in the second period.

Peter Laviolette announced that he will be sticking with Leighton for game two and the 29-year-old will have the respond for the Flyers to have a chance in this series.

Some good news for Flyers fans is during the regular season; Leighton was 3-0-1 in games after being pulled as a Flyer.

Historically, since 2000, the goalies who allowed at least five goals in a Cup Final loss all bounced back to win the next game, except for current injured Flyer Ray Emery, who allowed five goals in the 2007 Cup clincher.

Read more at www.puckingawesome.com

Game 1 of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs was nothing short of an awesome showcase for the excitement that is the NHL. It had everything you could possibly ask for. A rocking crowd, lead changes, lots of goals, a close game and little known players stepping into the spotlight. In fact no team ever had a lead greater than one goal, you really couldn’t ask for anything more. It also had some questionable things, such as a seemingly skewed refereeing job. The top story of the night however was goaltending.

I went back through the past 50 years of NHL history and unless I’m wrong, I could not find any other match-up where both (not one goalie, both) starting goalies had no playoff experience prior to their current playoff run. If that’s true you’re watching history in the making. It also explains why we had such a high scoring affair. Both Antti Niemi and Michael Leighton looked pretty shaky, especially early on. Some of the shots that went in, probably wouldn’t have been a goal in the earlier rounds. Niemi seemed to get better as the game progressed and made some critical saves later. To wit he allowed four goals in the 1^st half of the game and only one goal in the 2^nd half. I honestly couldn’t believe it when Niemi raced out of his net, almost to the top of the face-off circle, in the 2^nd period with two Blackhawks and one Flyer chasing after the puck. It made me think of Halak’s huge blunder in Game 5 against the Flyers, which reversed the momentum in that game. Luckily for Niemi nothing bad happened but he really needs to not do that again.

The 1^st goal of the 2010 Stanley Cup Final was a pretty lame goal to christen the series with. Niemi blocked the initial shot only to bat it off of Niklas Hjalmarsson’s head and into the net. I like that the Blackhawks didn’t let them phase them as they marched right back down to tie the game 1-1 on Troy Brouwer’s goal.

It wasn’t much of a surprise to me that the Blackhawks scored a shorthanded goal on only their 2^nd shorthanded situation of the game. Chicago lead the league in shorthanded goals in the regular season and they currently do so in this postseason. They pretty much dominated this Flyers’ power play and I believe they had more scoring chances on it then the Flyers did. Dave Bolland got the short handed goal which Leighton probably should have stopped. The Flyers did get the equalizer on their next power play and knotted the game up at 2 a piece. Daniel Briere put the Flyers ahead in the closing seconds of the 1^st period following up his own shot.

About a minute into the second Patrick Sharp led a breakaway down the ice but decided to keep it and scored on another shot that Leighton probably should have stopped. Sharp tied the game at 3-3. Then some guy named Blair Betts, seriously I’ve never head of him before, brought the Flyers back in front 4-3. This goal was on Niemi as he could have and should have played the puck behind the net better to give position to the Blackhawks. Instead a few seconds Betts had the goal off the post. Kris Versteeg tied the game at 4, by cleaning up in front of the Flyers’ net.

Hossa nets his second assist on the night, both on Brouwer goals, with a sick little pass from behind the net. Leighton then gets pulled for Brian Boucher after he hits that magic number five, the number most goalies seemed to get pulled at. The score was now 5-4. Danny Briere then emulates Hossa with his own little nifty pass to Arron Asham who ties the game 5-5 for our 5^th tie of the night. Thomas Kopecky got the game winning goal after waiting out Boucher and with help from Brent Seabrook and Bolland keeping it in the offesnive zone.

Key Players: Briere broke his mini three game slump to have a huge game with a goal and three assists to pace the Flyers. Brouwer had two goals and an assist to lead the Blackhawks. Marion Hossa had two nice assists.

Not so Key Players: The Blackhawks top line of Jonathan Toews, Dustin Byfuglien and Patrick Kane produced no points and a -9 rating. Mike Richards, Simon Gagne and Jeff Carter were there own woeful -8 and also produced no points. I can’t even recall either captain, Richards and Toews, doing much of anything significant. Both will really need to step it up and get their lines out of their current funks.

Then there’s the referring. I like how there weren’t any calls in the 3^rd period, just let them play. What I didn’t like is that the Blackhawks had four penalties and the Flyers had none in the game. Hard to believe the 2^nd most penalized team in the league in the regular season did not commit a single penalty. I saw a few high sticks and holds that probably should have been called. The 20,000 or so “refs” in the stand sure saw some as well. I’m hoping we get better called games in the rest of the series.

As for the physicality of the game, I have to say I was expecting a little bit more. Early in the 1^st period Byfuglien was mixing it up with Chris Pronger and Asham but they didn’t but heads as much later on. Part of it was it just being the 1^st game, the other part was Chicago never really got their offense set, especially on the top line, for Byfuglien to do his thing and cause problems. Game 2 should be interesting to see how this dynamic progresses.

The goaltending is what really makes this series. Both of these teams are pretty even on all aspects of their game and they’re both really deep. If you want to see just how even these teams are, check out Game 1′s shots on goal. Both teams had 32 shots a piece. The team that ultimately wins Lord Stanley’s Cup is the team that gets the better goalie play between their two inexperienced netminders. Niemi got the better of the 1^st game, but not by much. The Flyers have a slight advantage, as they believe they have two goaltenders that they can confidently insert into the game. The Blackhawks have to rely solely on Niemi, as I’m pretty sure they have no confidence in Cristobal Huet. The Flyers have a decision to make in who should start the next game. Personally I would go with Boucher as he played better and seemed more composed. It’s obviously not an easy decision for the Flyers to make. Game 2 is set for Memorial Day May 31^st at 8pm ET.

This Day in Hockey History

May 29, 2002 Dominik Hasek recorded his 10th career playoff shutout in the Red Wings 2-0 win over the Avalanche at Colorado, in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals.

The road to the Stanley Cup Finals is one paved with determination, resiliency, sacrifice, pain, heartache and jubilation.  The historic Philadelphia Flyers and resurgent Chicago Blackhawks know all about those attributes, as they will face off for the right to be called Stanley Cup Champions.   Now let’s look at the Pucking Awesome Top 10 Storylines of the Stanley Cup Finals.

1. Cup Drought Over

The Philadelphia Flyers have not won a cup since the Broad Street Bullies days in 1975.  It has been longer for the Chicago Blackhawks, as they last won with the great Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita and Glenn Hall in 1961.  So the top storyline to watch for is one of these long draughts for a great hockey city will end.

2. Third Times a Charm

First Marian Hossa lost in the Stanley Cup Finals as a Pittsburgh Penguin in 2008 to the Red Wings, then he would jump ship to the enemy and go on to lose the 2009 Cup to the Penguins as a member of the Red Wings.  Now Hossa goes for that elusive cup for the third straight season.  According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Hossa will become the first player in NHL history to play in three consecutive Stanley Cup finals for three different teams.  Hossa had an impressive finals appearance in ’08 with points in four of the six games (3G, 4A), but a disappointing Cup final last season with only three assist in the seven games.  Will the third time be the charm for the veteran forward, or will this be known as the Curse of Hossa?

3. Welcome Back Part 1

Michael Leighton was a 6th round pick (165th overall) of the Blackhawks in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft.  The 29-year-old goalie played a career high 34 games in 2003-04, then the lockout came and injuries and he was shipped off to Buffalo in 2005. Four waiver wire claims later, Leighton ended up in Philadelphia who was desperate to find a backup with experience as injuries ravaged their net.  To put that in even more perspective, the Carolina Hurricanes chose to keep 37-year-old journeyman Manny Legace over Leighton as their backup to Cam Ward, and now Leighton is four wins away from etching his name on the Stanley Cup against the very team that drafted him. The Flyers goalie situation has been one of the best storylines in the NHL for a long time, but the Michael Leighton story has topped them all.

4. Welcome Back Part 2

Patrick Sharp was a 3rd round (95th overall pick) of the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft.  The Vermont product went on to have a very productive AHL career for the Philadelphia Phantoms, culminated with a 2005 Calder Cup Championship with the likes of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter during the lockout.  When Sharp returned from the lockout he was quickly put in the dog house of then Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock and shipped off to the Blackhawks Matt Ellison and a 3rd round selection, which will go down as one of the biggest coup.  All the 28-year-old has done is score 116 goals in the four plus season in Chicago.  Sharp, like Leighton, will be extra motivated to make that trade even more lopsided and hoist the Cup as his former team watches.

5. 2007 NHL Draft

The Philadelphia Flyers just finished their worst season in franchise history. The Flyers had a 25 percent chance to win the lottery and only four teams could leap frog them for that top pick and one of them was Chicago with an 8.6 percent chance. The rest is history as the Blackhawks won the lottery and the right to select right winger OHL rookie of the year Patrick Kane and the Flyers took left winger James Van Riemsdyk with the second overall pick. Now three years later, these former teammates on the U.S. development team face off for the Stanley Cup. Their journeys are much different as Kane came right to the NHL, won the Calder Trophy and has solidified himself as one of the top snipers in the NHL. While, JVR spent two seasons developing at New Hampshire and currently is in his rookie season. These two represent the first ever Americans to go first and second overall in an NHL Entry Draft and at the end of the series one of them will have bragging rights to own a Stanley Cup victory over the other.

6. Beginners Luck

Ken Dryden, Patrick Roy, Cam Ward and Antti Niemi, those could be the new answer to the trivia question, name the first year goalies that have led their team to a Stanley Cup Championship. The Finnish goalie has silenced many critics that said Chicago did not have the goaltending to win the cup with his 12-4 record, 2.33 GAA, .921 save percentage and two shutouts. The 26-year-old is too old to be considered a rookie and only had one season of North American play, the AHL Rockford IceHogs, before being called upon to be the goalie that brought this talented team to the promise land. His season started with a shutout in front of his family and friends in Helsinki and now he hopes to end it by skating around with the cup.

7. We Are Going Streaking

This storyline could end the first game. It is worthy to note that Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews comes into the Stanley Cup Finals on a 13-game point streak which is good for the franchise record, he also leads the postseason in points (26) through the first three rounds. The 22-year-old is trying to keep a trend going of young captain hoisting the Cup, as Toews could be the second-youngest captain to Sidney Crosby to hoist the Cup. Toews along with teammates Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook can also join the exclusive ranks of players who have won a gold medal and Stanley Cup in the same year; only three other players have accomplished that Ken Morrow (USA-New York Islanders in 1980), Steve Yzerman (Canada-Detroit Red Wings in 2002) and Brendan Shanahan (Canada-Detroit Red Wings in 2002).

8. Clark Reincarnated

On the other side, the Flyers are captained by the 25-year-old Mike Richards, often compared to the great Bobby Clarke, who was 24-years-old when he captured his first of back-to-back Stanley Cups. In fact the last time a Stanley Cup has feature captains so young was back in 1975 when Bobby Clarke (25) won his second Cup against the Sabres and Captain Jim Schoenfield (22-years-old). Richards is right behind Toews in points scored this postseason (21 points) and is coming off his most impressive game these playoffs with a highlight reel shorthanded goal and a will powered helper on the empty net goal that sealed the series. Toews teammate and sometimes linemate on the Canadian Olympic team also allows Richards to try to join the exclusive club of a gold medal and Cup in the same year (along with Flyers teammate Chris Pronger).

9. Killing Those Penalties

Both of these teams pride themselves on not only being great penalty killers but also being dangerous shorthanded. The Blackhawks led the league with 13 shorthanded goals and already have three this postseason. The Flyers had six this season after having 16 in 2008-09. Mike Richards has 23 career shorthanded goals and Marian Hossa has 21 career shorthanded goals. Special teams is always going to be a storyline in a playoff series, just ask the Washington Capitals, but in this series it might be the team that takes advantage of the other teams power play that will be the one lifting the cup.  

10. Lappy

Ian Laperriere is playing in his first Stanley Cup Finals; all it took was 16 seasons, 1,083 regular-season and 61 playoff games.  Numerous of blocked shots, broken bones and missing teeth.  For the veteran to be playing in this series is a story on itself, as Laperriere was hit in the face with a slap shot in Game 5 of the first round series against the Devils.  Lappy was diagnosed with a brain contusion and a fractured orbital bone; some called it a career threatening injury even the optimistic Laperriere said he would need a “small miracle” to play.  31 days after the injury he went on to play again as the Flyers finished off the Canadiens. He even had three blocked shots in those two games.  Only Montreal’s Roman Hamrlik (1,322 total games) and Minnesota’s Owen Nolan (1,265) have played more games without a championship and the Flyers are hoping they can cross their emotional leader Laperriere off that list.   

Well that was fast, a sweep and a five game series in the conference finals. Of course last year it was a sweep (Penguins) and a five game series (Red Wings) so I guess I shouldn’t complain because the 2009 Stanley Cup Final was one of the most entertaining in some time.

In case you are wondering and I’m sure you aren’t, I correctly picked 2 of 7 series in the East and 6 of 7 in the West. So even if I get the Stanley Cup Finals prediction wrong, I will still finish above .500.

WCS 2 Chicago Blackhawks vs. ECS 7 Philadelphia Flyers

Season Series: 1-0 Flyers in a 3-2 win

Playoff History: 1-0 Blackhawks, the only time they ever met was in 1971 in the quarter finals which the Blackhawks swept.

Cup Drought: Flyers 35 years, Blackhawks 49 years

Past Stanley Cup Experience: Flyers (Chris Pronger) Blackhawks (John Madden, Marian Hossa) I don’t think I missed anyone.

GF/GA History: The Flyers were a +11 during the season and the Blackhawks were a +62. Since we haven’t had a team win the Stanley Cup in the last 20 years with a less than +25 differential, it doesn’t look good for the Flyers. This is also the largest differential since the Detroit Red Wings (+64) beat the Carolina Hurricanes (Even) 4-1 in the 2001-02 Stanley Cup Final.

Stars to Watch: I mentioned that Jonathan Toews would have to step it up big time in this playoffs for the Blackhawks to reach their Stanley Cup aspirations. So far he has, leading the team in assists and points and a few sick passes to boot. He will need to continue his current pace. For the Flyers I’m going with Danny Briere. It’s important for the Flyers to get secondary scoring and Briere had been providing a lot of that with an eight game point streak out of nine games. The last three games he had 0 points and a -1. He will need to step it up for the Flyers to have a chance.

X-Factor: Marion Hossa has so far been mostly productive with 11 points in 16 games. But he only has two goals so far. If he really thinks that “third times the charm” and he really wants to win a cup, I want to seem he prove that on the ice. His shooting percentage is a paltry .039%, 2nd worst on the team. For the Flyers I’d like to see how Jeff Carter’s foot holds up. He seems good so far increasing his ice time in Game 5 and scoring two goals. If he can continue that, it will be a huge boost to the Flyers.

Goalie Problem?: The funniest thing about this goalie match-up is that the biggest question for both the Blackhawks and Flyers over the years was can they find the right goalie to led them deep into the playoffs? Now it could be argued it’s one of their greatest strengths. Michael Leighton vs. Antti Niemi, two guys who were not the starting goalies at the beginning of the season. Heck Leighton wasn’t even on the team on opening day. But here they are, two of the hottest goalies around. The Flyers actually boasted two hot goalies this postseason with Brian Boucher as well. Leighton is 1st in playoff GAA and SV%, Niemi is 3rd and 5th respectively (I ignored goalies with only 1 game played). The looming question is can they keep it up? I think they both will. I still think Niemi is more tested seeing as how he has played more games but he has also faced more offensively skilled teams. The key though is how many bodies will be in front of them? Whatever defense can keep the zone more clear will obviously give their goalie the advantage.

Fun Facts: Only three Flyers and two Blackhawks were alive when the Flyers last won the cup. The 1974–75 Flyers were the last Stanley Cup champion to be comprised entirely of Canadian born players.

Prediction: I don’t like the Flyers that much but bias aside I really think the Blackhawks have the more talented team. It’s amazing the Flyers even made the playoffs limping in with a 5-8-2 record down the stretch. Of course the team they beat right before that 5-8-2 stretch was none other than the Blackhawks. Then again the reason that Chris Pronger was acquired was to lead them to the Stanley Cup Finals and he did that. Though it was also to shut down the likes of Crosby, Malkin and Ovechkin, players he never ended up facing in the postseason. It’s funny how things work out sometimes. One thing this series will be is physical. I’m really looking forward to Byfuglien and Eager mixing it up with Pronger, Asham and Hartnell. Generally you don’t see many fights in the playoffs but I think this series will have a few. Dustin Byfuglien will need to continue to excel at the little things he does so well, in order for the Blackhawks to have the advantage. I’m thinking Blackhawks in five or six.

Numbers, Numbers

10 – The +/- rating for the Flyers’ Claude Giroux 2nd in the postseason

5 – Power play goals for Jonathan Toews tied for the postseason lead

9 – Power play assists for Mike Richards 1st in the postseason (Kane and Toews are 2nd with 8 each)

4 – Game winning goals for Danny Briere and Dustin Byfuglien 1st in the postseason

5 – The number of shutouts for the Flyers, almost half of the 11 total for the whole postseason

3 – The number of shots by defenseman Ryan Parent in 16 games played

This Week in Hockey History

Special thanks to the Hockey Hall of Fame site for making this section a little easier to do.

May 24, 2000 Claude Lemieux scored his 80th career playoff goal and Alexander Mogilny scored the game-winner, his first career playoff game-winning goal in the Devils 2-1 win against the visiting Philadelphia Flyers, in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

May 25, 1989 Calgary Flames beat the Canadiens 4-2 to win the 1989 Stanley Cup Championship. It was the first time since 1928 that the Canadiens lost the final game of the Finals on home ice (Rangers won at the Forum against the Maroons in ’28).

May 26, 1966 Chicago’s Bobby Hull was named the winner of the NHL’s Hart Trophy, as the league’s MVP.

May 27, 1994 Stephane Matteau scored the winning goal at 24:24 of overtime to lead the Rangers to a 2-1 win over the Devils, in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals in New York. Rangers advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals vs Vancouver.

May 28, 2003 Goalie Parick Roy announced his retirement after 18 NHL seasons with Montreal and Colorado. Roy retired as the NHL’s all-time leader with 1,029 regular season games 551 wins, 247 Stanley Cup games, 151 playoff victories and 20 playoff shutouts.

May 29, 1993 Wayne Gretzky set a Stanley Cup record, with his 8th career playoff hat trick, and added an assist to lead the Kings to a 5-4 win at Toronto, in Game 7 of the Campbell Conference Finals. The win advanced the Kings to the Stanley Cup Finals.