Hockey

The Phoenix Coyotes have been sold... again. The deal is contingent on the Coyotes reaching a deal with the city of Glendale.... again. The group is led by Canadian millionaires... again. This deal will inevitably fall though.... again.

There are several images that stick out from the 2013 IIHF Women’s World Championships. Jenn Wakefield’s backhand top-shelf shootout goal to help seal a preliminary round victory for Canada over the United States. Amanda Kessel’s bottle-popping game-winner in the third period of the gold medal game. The victorious Americans bounding toward their goaltender as the horn sounded, a shower of sticks and gloves in their wake, the signature of nearly every hockey championship. But the tournament’s most lasting image might be a snapshot from the U.S. players’ post-game celebration. It might be a picture of an elated band of Americans triumphantly holding up a banner with one simple declaration: “HOCKEY IS OURS”. Before becoming the Americans’ prop, the banner had donned the boards at ScotiaBank Place as an advertisement and an all-too-premature Canadian claim. At some point in the United States’ euphoria, it was gleefully ripped down in a rush of emotions that only a gold medal can bring. In reality, the U.S. players tearing down and posing with that banner was nothing more than some good-spirited fun. No anger or hard feelings, just a bunch of ecstatic women enjoying themselves after a huge win. But symbolically, that picture says a thousand words. It tells a story of one country boldly declaring it has a right to a victory, to an entire sport, because of what it’s done in the past, and another just as boldly putting that idea to rest, with a resounding performance in the present. That picture says a lot about what might have gone wrong for Team Canada. The Issue At Hand Caroline Ouellette (TylerIngram/Flickr) After ten World Championships and three Olympic gold medals, there is no denying that the Canadian women’s national team has historically been a world powerhouse. And they still are, without a doubt. But the fact of the matter is, they’ve lost four of the last six gold medals in major international competitions. Questions have risen about the state of the program and what needs to be done to ensure continued dominance, and understandably so. How does a country with such a rich history endure that kind of downward trend? One theory is that Canada can no longer compete with the U.S. when it comes to player development, that Canada just isn’t producing enough of the right players to be better than the U.S. Many others, though, are of the opinion that the problem lies not in player development but in player selection. The Canadians have the right players; they just might not have all of the right players on the roster. That implies that there are “wrong” players on the roster, and who might that be? The aging veterans. The old guard. The players who built this storied Canadian program to what it is now, but who are now in the twilight of their careers. Jayna Hefford, Caroline Ouellette, Hayley Wickenheiser. There’s no denying the impact that these players have had on the Canadian glory of the past. For a long time, they were part of the solution, the answer to the complicated riddle of winning a gold medal. But they might now have become part of the problem, as Hockey Canada seems to insist on building a team around a core of players whose best years are behind them. It’s hard to watch Jayna Hefford’s slick passes and sharp vision and say she shouldn’t be on the roster. But it’s just as hard to watch Amanda Kessel blow by Hayley Wickenheiser in the neutral zone on a gold medal-winning play and say that the Canadians shouldn’t be giving their younger players a chance. Like picking players based on reputation and past performances, it would be just as ill-advised and senseless to select players solely because they’re young. But if Canada is going to capture Olympic gold in 2014, a changing of the guard may be in order. The United States: A Measuring Stick and a Model Sometimes in sports, it can be dange

If the Bruins win at home tonight, their next opponent will be the Pittsburgh Penguins in the ECF. If the Wings win in Chicago tonight, they will be facing either the LA Kings or San Jose Sharks in the WCF. One key for each game, Boston does not want to travel to NYC for a game 6 and the Blackhawks want to avoid shaking hands on home ice tonight.

0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} As the sting of the disappointment of the 2012-2013 Sabres season begins to disapate, it is a good time to look at how the future of this team will stack up. With the playoffs heating up, and a renewed organizational drumbeat of long-term Stanley Cup contention, it is likewise a good time to evaluate our roster vs. the teams having success in the playoffs. This post will focus only on the organizations forwards, and how the Sabres should think about them, in attempting to build a legitimate Cup contender. Personally, I feel that one of the biggest things that has held the Sabres back in the past has been a lack of purpose in assembling the forward corps. It is not good enough to get the best talent available to you and try to figure it out where they will play once the team is assembled. Each piece should be brought in for a specific reason. Specifically, each piece should be carefully considered with the rigors of the Stanley Cups in mind. Below, I have listed the 20 forwards currently in the system that I believe will be given a chance to make the roster, and if not will likely form the corps of call-ups in Rochester. As we are looking at a true rebuild and I feel that the team’s centers are far from set in stone, I have only broken the players down by left hand vs. right hand shot. Left: Vanek, Ott, Ennis, Adam, Girgensons, Grigorenko, Foligno, Lleino, Porter, Gerbe, Scott, Larson, Cattenacci Right: Hodgson, Armia, Stafford, Flynn, Kaleta, Tropp, McCormick As you can see there are a lot more lefties than righties. This shouldn’t really be a shock, as there are just more left shooting NHLers. Nevertheless the organization is much deeper down the left than the right. Parsing through this group of players, figuring out which of these guys go, which stay, where they play, and what needs to be brought in around them is the crux of the rebuild (at least on the forward side). Ultimately you need to develop a core of players who can contend for a cup. In watching the playoffs this year and in the past I have seen lots of different kinds of teams have success. You can lean on a few stars, or do it with depth. You can be more defensive, or more offensive. You can be faster and more skilled, or bigger and more physical. You can just be a good balance of everything. In all cases, you will have to successfully defend against good offensive teams, outscore good defensive teams, not be bullied or easily injured by big physical teams, and you need to play with intensity. To me, the best way to ensure that you can do this is to have players who do multiple things well. The more things that each player does well, the more your team does well. Another way to say this is avoid one dimensional players when possible. Sure, there are some skills that very few guys can do at an elite level. For example, sometimes you just need goal scoring, adding an elite goal scorer who doesn’t do much else is the most efficient way to do that. Nevertheless, what you want in Stanley Cup players is similar to what you want in a Stanley Cup team. You want individuals who can score (or create scoring), defend, play physically, and play with intensity. To me, this starts down the middle. Cup winners are typically strong down the middle. Like most teams a

ShareThis Senators head coach Paul MacLean says his team was thoroughly schooled by the Pittsburgh Penguins ShareThis

Torey Krug. Bruins outshooting the Rangers 24-17 so far in the game. Merlot getting it done. 20 minutes left in the game. FINISH. THEM.

Nazem Kadri made great strides under Dallas Eakins. (Tony Ding/Icon SMI) The Toronto Marlies’ season has come to an end, and so have the restrictions that keep coach Dallas Eakins firmly within the organization. Written into his last contract extension was a clause that prevented Eakins from seeking a National Hockey League position until the end of the 2012/2013 season. While he does technically have two years left on his current deal, he now has an out, and the freedom to explore any opportunity he is presented with. In his four seasons behind the bench of the Toronto Marlies, Eakins has developed into a very good developmental coach. This fact is evidenced by the number of players he has guided into the Maple Leafs’ lineup, especially during this lockout shortened season. The likes of Matt Frattin, Jake Gardiner, Korbinian Holzer, Ryan Hamilton and Mark Fraser all owe a large part of their development and promotion to Eakins, as he has established a culture of respect, hard work and accountability within the lower levels of the Maple Leaf organization. No player, however, has improved more under the tutelage of Eakins than Nazem Kadri, who finally enjoyed a long-awaited breakout season for the Blue and White this year. The 22-year-old London native’s attention to detail and overall and confidence level were greatly improved over previous seasons and it showed in every aspect of his game. Starting with calling him out on the first day of Marlies training camp in September for not being in good enough shape, Eakins kept Kadri on a tight leash, while still giving him room to create and develop his offensive game. Eakins even resorted to making Kadri a healthy scratch in an AHL game in November in an attempt to motive the young centre, and it worked. Since that game, Kadri played with more fire and determination, eventually making the jump to the NHL and recording 44 points in 48 games, good for second on the Leafs behind superstar Phil Kessel. Kadri’s plus-15 rating was also second on the team behind Mark Fraser, another Marlies product, who recorded a plus-18 in 45 games played. Nazem had improved his decision-making and defensive play, something directly attributed to working closely with Eakins and his staff. It was obvious from the start of the season that Kadri had made the jump from prospect to legitimate NHL’er, and he was a major contributing factor towards the Maple Leafs ending their 9 year playoff drought. Jake Gardiner proved his time in the AHL under Eakins wasn’t wasted (Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports) His improvement, as well as the contributions of Frattin and Gardiner throughout the season and playoffs point to the importance of having a solid minor league system and having a good instructional coach leading it. One could even make the argument that Eakins was the Leafs MVP (most valuable person) this season, as the club would have looked much different without the young players that he helped take the next step in their careers. Eakins is arguably one of the better coaches in the AHL and will be high on a few team’s lists of potential candidates to fill head coaching positions, given his newfound freedom. There are coaching vacancies in Vancouver and Dallas currently, with Eakins surely in contention for both jobs. There are also other potential openings that don’t yet exist, but may come available following the playoffs. Disappointing seasons for the New York Rangers and Winnipeg could lead to coaching changes sooner than later. As well, with the Phoenix Coyotes ownership situation yet unresolved, Dave Tippett has not renewed his contract and may not be back as coach. The one thing working against Eakins is his competition’s experience level. Coaches like Lindy Ruff, Guy Boucher, Alain Vigneault and Paul Maurice may be more attractive for teams looking to fill their coaching vacancies. This could work to Toronto’s advantage, as having a coach like Dallas Eakins leading their AHL affiliate

The Chicago Blackhawks host the Detroit Red Wings for Game 5 of their best-of-seven Western Conference Semifinal series. Game time is 8 p.m. ET.The Red Wings have a chance to eliminate the President's Trophy-winning Blackhawks tonight, as they currently lead the series 3-1.After giving up four goals in Game 1, Red Wings' goalie Jimmy Howard has given up just two goals in the last three games—including a shutout in Game 4—to give the Red Wings an opportunity to advance to the Western Conference Finals with just one more victory.Can the Blackhawks stave off elimination and force Game 6 back in Detroit with a victory, or will the Red Wings advance with a win tonight?Keep it locked to this live blog for scoring updates and in-game analysis of Game 5.Read more NHL news on BleacherReport.com

A little while ago Andrew Berkshire of Habs Eye On The Prize approached me and asked me to help him write the Puck Daddy Eulogy for the Ottawa Senators. Obvioulsy I said yes and we started it 2 weeks before they lost to the Pens because we're prepared douchebags. Here's the Eulogy, enjoy!http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/eulogy-remembering-2012-13-ottawa-senators-190501244.html

Versus AHL Eastern Conference FinalsGame OneListen Live on The Fan 1260 Where: Onondaga County War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, New YorkWhen: 7:00 PM EDTMedia: 1260 AM (radio) So where were we? I mean, it's been eight days since the Syracuse Crunch last took to the ice at War Memorial and took a broom to the Springfield Falcons. Since then, the Crunch have lost players to cuts atnd to injuries, but they've also had time to heal, to rest, to reflect... and to wait. ...and to wait. ...and to wait. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins did the improbable impossible in terms of the AHL Calder Cup playoff: They came back from the dead. Down 3-0 to the Providence Bruins, WBS won four games in a row to advance to the conference finals. The question now becomes what they have left in the tank after a bruising series with Providence. Actually, that might not be the question, it might be more pertinent to ask if the Syracuse Crunch can solve WBS goalie Brad Thiessen. Where the Crunch had to deal with Curtis McElhinny playing like a pushover backstop in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Theissen isn't simply playing lights-out; he's playing insurmountable. Playing in 7 of 11 WBS games in the playoffs so far, Theissen has an unbelievable 0.89 GAA and a .970 save percentage. In a word, he's been awesome. He's given up 6 goals total in the playoffs. The Crunch put up 5 goals three times last round. Something's gotta give is the point... This could be a long series.... That is, if the Providence series didn't tap all that WBS had left.