Hockey

from Lynn Zinser of Slap Shot at the NY Times, Notice has officially arrived in Chicago that the N.H.L. playoffs have started. Perhaps part of the Blackhawks’ problem is that they are actually playing games in Detroit at the moment. Maybe the hockey gods should start delivering such things by text message. Thus, the Blackhawks would have been warned that Detroit no longer looks much like that identity crisis team that barely sneaked into the playoffs and whom Chicago had little trouble with in the regular season. Somehow, the Detroit team that has dug its fingernails deep into this second-round series with Chicago not only found an identity, but made it a not-so-charming one. The franchise that used to pride itself on skating rings around opponents and scoring goals out of the how-to-create-a-highlight-reel textbook is now knocking Chicago around for a stunning 2-1 lead in their series. continued

According to Darren Dreger on TSN Radio, John Tortorella could be on the hot seat if the Rangers lost out to the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. There have been a ton of fireworks surrounding Tortorella during this playoff run, and most recently, it stems from his shot at Carl Hagelin "stinking" on the power play. Here is a short excerpt from Dreger's report on TSN Radio. With Tortorella you have that bombastic figure, he doesn’t enjoy dealing with the media or selling the game one bit. Thankfully for the New York Rangers they don’t have to sell the game, it’s like the Toronto Maple Leafs, you kick the doors open and you have a capacity crowd that makes tens of millions per year. In Tortorella there is a shelf life, all coaches have that, his expiration date is probably sooner than most because of how he approaches the media and his players. I didn’t like his comment on Carl Hagelin. He was blunt and honest that he stinks that that is why he doesn’t use him on the power play. So to answer your question, if the Rangers are to be eliminated in short order by the Boston Bruins, is there a chance John Tortorella could be replaced? Yes there is a chance, absolutely. No question about it. Glen Sather made the big trade, he moved Gaborik out, prior to that they acquired Rick Nash, they aren’t done yet building this team into a true Stanley Cup contender but is John Tortorella the right coach, that management group for sure will have that discussion at the end of the Rangers season, whenever that is. While Dreger does make some solid points, I still don't think there is a chance in hell that the Rangers canTortorella during a lockout shortened season. It also sounds as if this speculation is a complete shot in the dark. Chance is a pretty big word to use in this case. There's a chance the Rangers could win the next four games of this series, and advance There's also a chance that the Rangers could score at least ten goals tonight. See where I'm going with this? There's absolutely no possible way to predict John Tortorella's future with this club. Sure, he's made a ton of questionable moves throughout his tenure, but he's been the main driving force behind this team, and is the reason why the Rangers are where they are. Simply put, I wouldn't place too many bets on Tortorella not being back with the Rangers next season.

lockout shortened season." src="http://www.blueseatblogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/dm_130514_nhl_bruinsrangers_preview.jpg" width="525" height="275" />Big picture outlook > lockout shortened season. After the Rangers loss against Boston Sunday night, much of the Rangers fan base went into panic mode. The usual suspects came out and called for Tortorella’s head, Michael Del Zotto’s and to some extent Brad Richards, as if the loss was solely on them. We’ve been down this road before, and quite frankly, I wasn’t surprised at the fan sentiment. The stakes are high at this time of year and everyone is wound tight. I get it. Still, despite some Rangers bloggers calling this team mediocre and overachievers (which kinda contradicts the Torts hate no?), I beg to differ. No matter what happens the next couple of games, I still believe the Rangers are closer to the Cup than most give them credit for. Do the Rangers need to make a couple of moves this offseason? Sure. But the right core is still in place, the right coach still leads them, and both will be back next season. I guarantee it. Look, there will be plenty of time to debate who stays, who goes, who we should acquire, etc. For now, take comfort in knowing the Rangers have the best goalie on the planet. We have one of the best defenses in the NHL (Sunday’s game was an aberration), and save a move or two, our offense will be much improved. And that’s not to say this season is over. The Bruins are still beatable. They have better roster depth, but throw in a healthy Staal, or even a Ryan Clowe and these last two games could have easily gone the other way. Save a few brain farts in coverage, the Rangers have been right with them. These mistakes they’ve made are correctable and I’m sure Torts will have them playing the right way tonight at MSG. Okay Suit, but what about the Penguins? We’d never get past them! The Penguins seem to be everyone’s pick to steamroll through the Eastern Conference, but a team with goaltending issues shouldn’t be guaranteed anything. The Islanders outplayed the Penguins and lost. Hockey happens. But they exposed their weaknesses. If we can comeback and beat Boston, I think we could carry that momentum into the Eastern Conference finals and perhaps beyond. McD and Girardi shutdown Ovie and Backstrom. Perhaps they wouldn’t have the same success against Crosby and Malkin, but perhaps they could contain them enough for us to have a chance. If not, there’s always next year. Maybe next fall Kreider takes a step forward. Maybe Miller replaces Richie. Maybe Dylan takes Eminger’s spot. Maybe we acquire a PP QB. If any of those things happen, the puck moves closer to the other team’s goal line. The point of all this is, this team isn’t mediocre. While Henrik Lundqvist is the best goalie in the world, if the team was as bad as people thought, his save percentages would be back down in the .916 – .917 range like when he actually did have a mediocre team in front of him. We’re getting there people. Though the hour seems to be getting late in Rangerland, the night is always darkest before the dawn. Chin up. Let’s go Rangers. Tweet

At the onset of the shortened season, the defensive corps of the Detroit Red Wings was a big question mark. Many were skeptical of a defensive lineup that had no “superstar” to bolster its ranks. Nick Lidstrom hung up the skates and the prime free agent targets went elsewhere. In the midst of all this was Niklas Kronwall, the heir apparent to lead the top Detroit defensive pairing. Known around the NHL for his tooth rattling hits, Detroit needed a big season of both play and leadership from Kronwall to be successful. Leadership was exactly what Kronwall, an alternate captain of the Red Wings, delivered throughout the season. He played well on the powerplay, and consistently  shut down opponent’s top pairing alongside the much improved Jonathan Ericsson. Was I snubbed? (Niklas Kronwall / File Photo) When Kris Letang, P.K. Subban, and Ryan Suter were announced as finalists for the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman, Niklas Kronwall may be feeling little bit jilted, and for good reason.  This season, Kronwall built himself a resume worthy of a Norris nod, in both statistics and intangibles. First, a look at a few of Kronwall’s notable statistics: 29 points 48 games played (full season) 44 player infraction minutes Kronwall’s 29 points are a few less than what the three finalists produced (Suter had the fewest with 32, and Subban and Letang each had 38). While his production may not have been up to par with the top three vote-getters for the Norris Trophy. Kronwall’s role for the Red Wings this season was not to score goals. His job was to contain major offensive threats and make the first pass out of the zone cleanly. Also of note is the fact the Kronwall was in the lineup for all 48 games in a season that saw Subban and Letang absent for six and thirteen respectively. What’s more is that Kronwall showed more discipline than Subban, who had 57 PIM. That’s ninth amongst all active defensemen. Kronwall was much more responsible with the puck than two of the three finalists. Kronwall’s 21 giveaways are considerably less than the 34 from Letang and the whopping 42 from Subban. Only Suter had Kronwall beat, with a very respectable 19. However, Kronwall has Suter tied on turnover +/-, illustrating that Kronwall created more takeaways than Suter. When push comes to shove, Kronwall may not have put as many in the back of the net, but his all around play this season was outstanding and should have garnered more attention and votes. Life after Lidstrom and those hits Additionally, Kronwall’s role in this “transition” year cannot be overlooked when considering Norris Trophy candidates. Kronwall has stepped into a very visible leadership role that puts him on the ice more than any other Red Wing player. While there is a bit of a learning curve amongst some of the younger Red Wing defensemen, Kronwall is setting a great example by putting himself in positions to make a difference when the game is on the line. The final intangible that Kronwall has on his side is that famous ability to deliver hits that change to course of a game and swing the momentum to Detroit’s side. Fans have coined the term “being Kronwalled” to describe his big hits. The most beautiful part about his hits is that they do not earn him suspensions or fines. In each of the hits in the video, note the crowd reaction and energy that each one generates. When was the last time you heard of anyone “being Sutered?” Anyone? That’s what I thought. Author informationZackary LandersBorn and raised in north-central Illinois, covering the Detroit Red Wings wherever they go. Attending the University of Illinois in the class of 2017 majoring in journalism. Follow and read me for Red Wings news as it breaks and opinions around the clock.TwitterThis article was originally published at: The Hockey Writers.

- pic via Resolute, wikimedia commons Although we focus a lot on corsi/possession analysis here at FN when it comes to assessing players and teams, there are obviously othe metrics to take into account when evaluating talent/impact. One of those things which we don't talk about too much is penalty differential, or the difference between a players penalties taken and drawn.Like all measures of performance, there's some randomness in penalties - sometimes the refs let 'em play and sometimes the zebras call everything. Sometimes a guy flips the puck over the glass by accident and sometimes the officials simply tag the wrong guy on a play. That said, the same folks tend to lead to lead the league every year in penalties drawn (and taken), give or take a name, so there's a talent (as well as a circumstance) component to this measure.Behindthenet.ca tracks penalties taken and drawn per hour of even strength ice time here. Sven Baertschi, Dennis Wideman, Mikael Backlund and Roman Horak lead the way while Mark Giordano, Alex Tanguay and Derek Smith pull up the rear.We can go one step further and investigate what impact penalty differential has on wins for the team. According to some work done by Tom Tango recently, a penalty is worth about +/- 0.027 wins to an NHL team on average*:The average NHL team scores an average of .606 PPG and allows .065 SHG, for a net of +.541 goals. They have 3.32 PP opportunities, therefore, per PP Opp, the net effect is +.163 goals. To convert goals to win is roughly 6 goals per win. So, that +.163 goals translates as .027 wins. That is, when a referee calls a penalty, he’s basically shifting the win expectancy by .027 wins.*(of course, in particular, some penalties can cost or win a game depending on timing of the infraction and if the team on the man advantage scores. Say, a hooking call in overtime, for example.)Meaning, for every extra penalty a player draws, he's adding about 0.163 goals to a club's goal differential. That would be a higher number for clubs with especially potent PP's and lower for teams that shoot blanks, but let's work with the average to keep things simple.Penalty Differential and WinsAnyways, here's how things worked out for Flames players this year. The table features guys who played at least 100 minutes at ES and forecasts their penalty differential rates and win effect over an 82 game season. table.tableizer-table { border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: ; font-size: 12px; } .tableizer-table td { padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc; } .tableizer-table th { background-color: #8C1010; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold; } Player GP Ptake Pdraw diff/60 Time on ice Total diff wins diff/82 goals/82 wins/82 Sven Baertschi 20 0.5 1.6 1.1 234:09:00 4 0.12 18 2.87 0.47 Dennis Wideman 46 0.1 0.6 0.5 890:40:00 7 0.20 13 2.16 0.36 Mikael Backlund 32 0.7 1 0.3 426:39:00 2 0.06 5 0.89 0.15 Roman Horak 20 0.2 0.5 0.3 252:21:00 1 0.03 5 0.84 0.14 Brian McGrattan 19 0.4 0.8 0.4 136:23:00 1 0.02 4 0.64 0.11 Lee Stempniak 47 0.4 0.6 0.2 671:55:00 2

Make sure to follow Mark on Twitter! With their hard-fought 3-1 victory in Game 3 Monday night at the Joe Louis Arena, the Detroit Red Wings proved their Game 2 domination of the Chicago Blackhawks was no fluke. Jimmy Howard stood tall on this evening, stopping 39 of Chicago's 40 shots to spearhead the Red Wings to a 2-1 series lead in this compelling Western Conference semi-final series. Gam...

There are few phrases the draw the fire of chowderheads as easily as "this is their Stanley Cup’, and with good reason! It’s an excuse to take the blame away from an underperforming team losing to a non-contender, for reasons like "resting" or "not needing to send a message". The users of the phrase say. If our team is going to make the playoffs, why should we worry about dropping a few games to Buffalo? Because the playoffs are a different beast altogether. Just on the first round, we’ve been on both sides of underestimating an opponent- failing in games five and six to eliminate the Toronto Maple Leafs, giving them confidence- and eventually- a 4-1 lead halfway through the third period of game 7. Toronto was playing the better Hockey, and it was their Stanley cup. Then the Bruins got confident. Three straight goals, by Horton, Lucic , and then Bergeron sent the game to overtime. The bear had finally woken up. We’ve seen the flashes throughout the season, but something was different this time- the bear stayed awake, winning the game in overtime. The first game against New York was just as promising, despite the, again, close score. Torey Krug and Matt Bartkowski stepped up. Game two was a 5-2 dissection of Henrick Lundqvist. Game three is tonight, and this is where we’ll find out if the team is ready to roll over and keep hibernating, or become the beast of the east once again, and step on the throat of the Rangers, and every other team we will have to play. Choke the Breath out of them and keep rolling. This isn’t about this game, or this series. This is our Stanley Cup. There are few phrases the draw the fire of chowderheads as easily as "this is their Stanley Cup’, and with good reason! It’s an excuse to take the blame away from an underperforming team losing to a non-contender, for reasons like "resting" or "not needing to send a message". The users of the phrase say. If our team is going to make the playoffs, why should we worry about dropping a few games to Buffalo? Because the playoffs are a different beast altogether. Just on the first round, we’ve been on both sides of underestimating an opponent- failing in games five and six to eliminate the Toronto Maple Leafs, giving them confidence- and eventually- a 4-1 lead halfway through the third period of game 7. Toronto was playing the better Hockey, and it was their Stanley cup. Then the Bruins got confident. Three straight goals, by Horton, Lucic , and then Bergeron sent the game to overtime. The bear had finally woken up. We’ve seen the flashes throughout the season, but something was different this time- the bear stayed awake, winning the game in overtime. The first game against New York was just as promising, despite the, again, close score. Torey Krug and Matt Bartkowski stepped up. Game two was a 5-2 dissection of Henrick Lundqvist. Game three is tonight, and this is where we’ll find out if the team is ready to roll over and keep hibernating, or become the beast of the east once again, and step on the throat of the Rangers, and every other team we will have to play. Choke the Breath out of them and keep rolling. This isn’t about this game, or this series. This is our Stanley Cup.

The Maple Leafs reaped the rewards during the 2013 season of allowing their top prospects to gain confidence and experience with the AHL Toronto Marlies. Nazem Kadri, Matt Frattin and Jake Gardiner all played a significant part in the Marlies 2012 run to the Calder Cup Final and that exposure made them more effective, mature and well-rounded hockey players. The organization is hoping that histo...

Let's start off this article with a very clear statement: All that follows is purely hypothetical musings on the options the Stars have at their disposal this summer. Dallas Stars winger Loui Eriksson is arguably the best player on the team. An incredible two-way forward with top possession ability as well as elite scoring prowess has Eriksson's name on the list of some of the top forwards in the NHL. His humble demeanor and and off the ice, as well as where he plays, has led to Eriksson becoming known as the most underrated player in the NHL. Eriksson was one of just four players with more than 70 points in three straight seasons from 2009 to 2012 and is undoubtedly one of the more valuable wingers the Dallas Stars possess given his absurdly low $4.25 million cap hit until 2016. It's that inherent value that could potentially become a major factor in the Dallas Stars' strategy this summer. The task ahead for new general manager Jim Nill and owner Tom Gaglardi is not an easy one. There are some very promising pieces from which to begin their molding of a winning team, as well as a solid framework of core players, yet there are some notable holes at the center position. As it currently stands, Jamie Benn and Cody Eakin are you top two centers, with Vernon Fiddler having received top six minutes the final month of the season. While Benn will likely remain the top center on the team, the Stars absolutely need another option for the second line that allows the team the depth up the middle needed to be successful. Unfortunately, the options in free agency this summer for centers are not all that promising. Derek Roy and Mike Ribeiro will both be the most sought-after centers -- although Roy's stock has surely plunged this season -- and neither are returning to the Stars. Roman Cervenka, Matthew Lombardi, Stephen Weiss, Kyle Wellwood are all names that don't exactly thrill you and Tyler Bozak is more than likely going to be locked up long-term by Toronto. Options remain, however, specifically when it comes to a trade. If there would be a top-six center available via trade, however, the price to acquire said player would be very steep -- which is where Loui Eriksson would come into play. Now, Eriksson as trade bait is a thought that is getting a lot of mentions in the Canadian media right now. Perhaps it's just a case of one writer thinking out loud and the rest copying that thought -- but this is a scenario that will certatinly be talked about over the course of this summer. Eriksson is one of the top forwards in the NHL, he's under contract for three more seasons at a ridiculously low price and from what we understand his no-trade clause does not begin until the 2013-2014 season. This makes Eriksson an incredibly valuable trade target and could be part of a trade that completely alters the course of this franchise. Make no mistake, any trade involving Loui Eriksson would be one hell of a blockbuster. The big question, however, is which is more valuable to the Stars -- a proven elite scorer with top two-way ability who is just 27 years old or a top-six, proven center capable of rounding out a dangerous top two lines. Logic states that a young center capable of producing more than 60-70 points per season is certainly more valuable than a scoring winger; we are seeing right now exactly how difficult it is to find good depth at that position. The Stars do have a number of promising prospects coming up on the wing, including Alex Chiasson, Matej Stransky and Brett Ritchie. All three project to be top six wingers at the NHL level, although there is absolutely zero guarantee that any of them reach the level of Eriksson in the coming years. There are also options at center, although even Radek Faksa is at least two years away from being ready for the second line center position in the NHL. So the Stars must explore every option. Perhaps Eriksson is used to move up to a top five spot in the draft, although I'm doubtful any o

The Boston Bruins face the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden tonight at 7:30pm In praise of Claude Julien and his coaching. [WEEI] Counterpoint- Testy John Tortorella is... testy. [BostonHerald] Five issues that led to one big overtime problem for the Rangers. [TheScore] The Bruins have discovered the way around the Rangers' shot blocking. [MetroWestDailyNews] Secondary scoring has been key for a Bruins team that has taken pride in its depth. [SportsMedia101] It is "pedal to the metal" time, as the Bruins will need to be relentless. [BruinsDaily] It isn't Freddy Krug giving Henrik Lundqvist nightmares. Every Bruins line is chipping in. Tuukka Rask is maintaining an even keel. Dismal Rangers power play is dismal. [HockeyBuzz] Might there be more lineup changes tonight? [CausewayCrowd] Dennis Seidenberg is not likely in for tonight. [NHLBruins^CS] Sorry for my late posting, if you missed yesterday's Jack Edwards chat, the transcript is here: [Boston.Com] Dunkin Donuts' Bruins doughnut seems not quite right, somehow. [BostInno] Former Boston College Eagle Brian Boyle, now a Ranger, has had a tough season. [BostonGlobe] Yet more stunning insight from the Masters of the Universe about the relative value of certain teams meeting in the Stanley Cup Finals. [WallStreetJournal] A bit of potourri... Are these the OT Playoffs, the Bad Ref playoffs, the Delay-of-Game Playoffs, or the Unsung Hero Playoffs? What about Raffi Torres, and the fines his employers were levied? [GuardianUK] You need this for your bathroom Throne of Games. [PuckDaddy] Michael J. Fox has a witty quip and picture of each Stanley Cupcake he has devoured as NHL teams are eliminated from the playoffs. Here's the one dearest to our hearts, and do check his gallery of the others. [@realmikefox]