The Puck Stops Here
New Jersey Devils Make The Finals
by PuckStopsHere on 05/26/12 at 01:10 PM ET
Comments (2)
Who would have predicted that New Jersey would make the Stanley Cup finals this year? They missed the playoffs last year with a very similar roster to the one they have this year. If I made a power ranking list I wouldn’t have ranked them in the top ten when the season ended. They wound up with the ninth best record at the end of the regular season. There is little to see here that makes them look like a team that might make the Stanley Cup finals. There is nothing to see here that makes me think they might be an elite team.
Nevertheless, let’s take a look at them with my necessary (but not sufficient) conditions to be an elite team.
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Tags: Ilya+Kovalchuk, Martin+Brodeur, New+Jersey+Devils, Patrik+Elias, Zach+Parise,
Top Conn Smythe Candidate
by PuckStopsHere on 05/25/12 at 12:00 PM ET
Comments (2)
I haven’t mentioned the question of playoff MVP since the first round when I picked Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers. He has been out of the playoffs since the end of the second round but I would still argue he is likely the playoff win shares leader among position players. He is starting to be challenged - most clearly by Dustin Brown of Los Angeles. I think the best players of the playoffs have been the West Conference goalies. Jonathan Quick and Mike Smith have had incredible playoffs. The success of their respective teams is strongly due to their strong play. Quick has a .946 saves percentage and a 1.54 GAA. Smith has faced significantly more shots per game and has a .944 saves percentage and a 1.99 GAA. I pick Smith as having more playoff win shares at this point because of his heavy workload but he is out of the playoffs. Therefore Jonathan Quick is the top player in the Conn Smythe race as he is playing well is still active in the playoffs.
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Tags: Claude+Giroux, Jonathan+Quick, Los+Angeles+Kings,
Memorial Cup Round Robin
by PuckStopsHere on 05/24/12 at 06:13 PM ET
Comments (1)
The round robin portion of the Memorial Cup concluded last night. This tournament is taking place in Shawinigan, Quebec. It includes the WHL champion Edmonton Oil Kings, OHL champion London Knights, QMJHL champion Saint John Sea Dogs and host Shawinigan Cataractes.
Here is a summary of the results so far:
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Los Angeles Kings Make The Stanley Cup Finals
by PuckStopsHere on 05/23/12 at 11:07 PM ET
Comments (1)
Yesterday the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Phoenix Coyotes 4-3 in overtime to win their semi-final series 4 games to one. The Kings are having one heck of a playoff run. They have a combined record of 12-2 in the playoffs so far. This is a very good record. It is a remarkable record given that the Kings are the lowest seeded team in the West Conference to make the playoffs. This Los Angeles Kings team is better than a traditional eighth seed as they added Jeff Carter in a very lopsided trade a few days prior to the trade deadline. That acquisition gives the Kings two solid forward lines, which frees up their top forwards from playing exclusively against the top shutdown players of their opponents.
That said it is quite clear that this Los Angeles team is not an elite hockey team in a historical basis. After all their eighth seed in the regular season is far from elite. We can make that determination without discussing the player personnel on the team.
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Tags: Anze+Kopitar, Drew+Doughty, Dustin+Brown, Jeff+Carter, Jonathan+Quick, Los+Angeles+Kings, Mike+Richards, Simon+Gagne,
Another Potentially Important Signing
by PuckStopsHere on 05/22/12 at 12:36 PM ET
Comments (4)
I am always on the lookout for players who are signed who might make a significant impact in the NHL. I pointed out the Roman Cervenka signing by Calgary. There is another one that I think could make a big impact. The Anaheim Ducks have signed Viktor Fasth who was the Swedish goaltender in the World Championships. He is a 29 year old goalie who signed a 1 year $1 million one way contract. He is expected to be Jonas Hiller’s backup goalie but if he plays as well as he might, he could take over as their starter.
Fasth has been a very successful goalie in Sweden.
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Tags: Anaheim+Ducks, Viktor+Fasth,
Toughness In The Playoffs
by PuckStopsHere on 05/21/12 at 01:54 PM ET
Comments (1)
In the first round of the playoffs I advanced the theory that teams were playing a tough style because they perceived it as a cheap way to get an advantage over their opponents. This was partially because of the NHL’s copycat culture. The Boston Bruins are the defending Stanley Cup champions and they did so in part by overpowering the Vancouver Canucks with their tough play. In a salary capped environment teams are always looking for a way to gain an advantage without a salary cap hit and this looked like a method. I also noted that the teams that had been responsible for most of the suspendable acts in the first round were losing their series and that would soon solve the problem of too many playoff suspensions.
Looking at the semi-finals, I have been correct for the most part.
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World Hockey Championships: Medal Round
by PuckStopsHere on 05/20/12 at 11:21 PM ET
Comments (0)
The World Hockey Championships concluded today. The preliminary round was summarized here and the quarterfinals here. These are medal round results. We start in the semi-finals with Finland playing Russia and Czech Republic meeting Slovakia.
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2012 Hall Of Fame Picks
by PuckStopsHere on 05/19/12 at 01:01 PM ET
Comments (0)
At some point during the Stanley Cup playoffs I like to make my picks for who will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame after the playoffs complete. This year we have a pretty good group of first time eligible players. This list includes Joe Sakic, Jeremy Roenick, Brendan Shanahan, Mats Sundin, Claude Lemieux, Gary Roberts and Curtis Joseph. While all the players on that list will receive some Hall of Fame consideration, there are three I see as Hall of Famers. They are Joe Sakic, Brendan Shanahan and Mats Sundin. I think all three will find themselves inducted into the Hall of Fame this year. It is possible that a fourth from that list may be selected but I think a better pick is Adam Oates. He has been eligible for a few years but has thus far been overlooked. I think he is due for induction. I would select Sakic, Shanahan, Sundin and Oates if I had the chance to pick the 2012 Hall of Fame class.
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World Hockey Championships: Quarterfinals
by PuckStopsHere on 05/18/12 at 12:48 PM ET
Comments (0)
The quarterfinals occurred in the World Junior Hockey Championships yesterday. They followed from the preliminary round which I summarized here. They are a single elimination playoff where winners make the medal round. As a single elimination game, upsets can occur and they did in this year’s tournament.
Here are the quarterfinal results:
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The 10,000 Pound Gorilla In The Room
by PuckStopsHere on 05/17/12 at 12:57 PM ET
Comments (8)
As hockey fans enjoy the Stanley Cup playoffs, it is hard not to think about the problems on the horizon. The Central Bargaining Agreement ends this summer. There was a season lost to lockout the last time this occurred. The NHL essentially broke the player’s union and dictated the CBA. They brought in a salary cap and escrow system. It turns out the NHL decided that isn’t good enough for them. The main reason for that is the player’s union is still weak and will have little choice but to give in to NHL demands.
Currently the players get 57% of defined NHL revenue under the salary cap system. This number will be reduced to 50% or less. Likely there will be some disruption in NHL play to accomplish this. The pre-season will be interrupted and the start of the season may be delayed.
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About The Puck Stops Here
The Puck Stops Here was founded during the 2004/05 lockout as a place to rant about hockey. The original site contains over 1000 posts, some of which were also published on FoxSports.com.
Who am I?
A diehard hockey fan.
Why am I blogging?
I want to.
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