Hockey

In the semifinal at the IIHF World Championship, Nino Niederreiter scored the only goal the Swiss needed in a 3-0 defeat of the U.S., meaning Switzerland will win a medal at the World Championship for the first time in 60 years. Niederreiter also assisted on the empty net goal that made it 3-0. The gold medal game is Sunday against Sweden, who defeated Finland in the other semifinal. The Finns will play the U.S. for bronze. Elsewhere: If you missed the season-wrapping Islanders chat with Arthur Staple of Newsday, a replay is viewable here. (Actually, it's viewable even if you didn't miss it.) He believes the Isles would prefer to have both Kevin Poulin and Anders Nilsson start next season in Bridgeport. He thinks Mark Streit has priced himself off the Island. Andrey Pedan, who graduated to an entry level contract and an ATO with Bridgeport at the end of the season, was unsurprisingly named Guelph's defenseman of the year. Raving about Doc Emrick is Joe Posnanski. Agree? Also a fan of the man they call Doc is Awful Announcing. Not quite as convinced to dispense such compliments is yours truly. Leaving the subject at the end of many play-by-play sentences is that man right there. Wade Redden isn't bitter. [ESPN] Quisp takes apart Doug Wilson's defense of Raffi Torres. Not hockey related, but this is just a good read about basketball in Slovakia. The Memorial Cup is underway. Here are some themes from Buzzing the Net. This "Sounds of Round 1" video is pretty great, and includes some chatter from Travis Hamonic. Needs more Coliseum though:

Eric Hartline-US Presswire As the 2013 NHL trade deadline neared, the Boston Bruins needed to make a move. They were in the middle of a midseason funk, and were struggling to score on a consistent basis. Everyone already knows the first chapter of this story: how the Bruins made an offer, one that was approved, for Calgary Flames‘ star Jarome Iginla. How fans went to bed giddy that night as the deal had been confirmed by multiple sources. And, how the thrill of acquiring the biggest name of the deadline was erased instantly when the Boston faithful awoke the next morning to find out Iginla decided to go to the Pittsburgh Penguins instead. It was tough to swallow, but Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli needed to react positively and find another deal to upgrade his team. In the end, he did, trading with the Dallas Stars to pick up future Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr. Fans and media alike applauded the deal. Yes, Iginla was the ideal choice, but Jagr brought more upside from the Bruins perspective. Even at age 41, Jagr was the more offensively talented option. Coming into Boston, he had already scored 14 goals and 12 assists, compared to Iginla’s nine goals and 13 assists. Jagr required less in terms of trade assets, and also had an expiring contract. The bottom line: Jagr was a hired gun, a skilled scorer the Bruins got pretty cheaply to inject some life into their offense. In terms of regular season play, Jagr played quite well for Boston. Coming into the playoffs, Jagr had two goals and seven assists for nine points. But, it was the postseason that Boston truly acquired Jagr for. The Bruins are now eight games into said playoffs, and it’s worth taking a look at how this deal is playing out for them. I touched on this a little bit in my last piece, but right now it’s safe to say Jagr is struggling a bit. Right away, the most obvious thing you can say about Jagr is that speed has left him far behind. He’s had a few breakaways, but just doesn’t have the wheels to get him to the net fast enough. This affects both his puck movement through the neutral zone as well as his ability to transition back into defense. His time on Boston’s much-maligned power play hasn’t really contributed too much either. The unit still struggles more often than not, and he has yet to really generate a chance for himself on the man advantage. However there’s one issue with the Czech winger that’s really becoming a problem as the playoffs continue: Jagr’s a bit of a puck-hog. Early on in his time with Boston, fans were reveling at how difficult it was to bump Jagr off the puck. He’d have two, sometimes three opponents on his back as he skated around the offensive zone, the puck following him wherever he went. Now? Well, he’s doing the same thing, just not passing. It’s becoming very obvious Jagr is trying to do everything on his own, whether it be a distrust of his teammates, ego, or both. Yes, it’s pretty tough to generate offense when you’re sharing a line with Rich Peverley and Chris Kelly, neither are known for their scoring touch. That being said, the more you watch Jagr, the more you see how early he gave up on these two. Trying to mix it up, coach Claude Julien bumped him up a line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand in Game 1 against the New York Rangers. It’s only been one game, but nothing seemed to change too much. Jagr still skates the puck all over the ice, shoving defenders off his back until he’s eventually overwhelmed and turns it over. Even worse, he’s even been seen stealing the puck from his own teammates. Nobody can discount his astounding career numbers. However, Jagr needs to know he’s not the same player he used to be. Age has slowed him down, and the game is too fast for what he’s trying to do. He can still contribute for the Bruins; he just needs to realize he’s not a one-man highlight reel anymore. Jagr was

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Kings are giving away free ice cream to fans today in Venice. The Kings will be taking over a Coolhaus Ice Cream truck in Venice today, Saturday. They will be handing out Ice Cream sandwiches with custom edible wr...

I love hockey. It's something I say pretty often after watching a great Sharks' victory, but it's just as evident after a devastating loss. And I know I'm not alone. The fact we can put so much passion into following a team, and have so much riding on the bounce of a puck is beautiful. The power it has is almost magical. Personally, I know I've never been more sure about spending my career covering this sport. Wins can turn even the crappiest days a bit brighter. And the losses can hurt just about as much. And game 2 hurt. A lot. It may have hurt more than any game since the quadruple-overtime thriller in Dallas back in the 2008 playoffs. Game 2 was able to turn bright to dark in about 22 seconds. It was quite the punch to the gut. But did a loss like that make me want to stop watching? No. Quite the opposite, in fact. After watching game 2, game 3 couldn't come soon enough. I couldn't wait for another opportunity. I would have watched another game that night, if I could. Bring on another gamble. Bring on another rush. Bring on game 3. Game 3LA leads 2-0 Projected Sharks Lineup T.J. Galiardi - Joe Thornton - Brent Burns Patrick Marleau - Logan Couture - Martin Havlat* Andrew Desjardins - Joe Pavelski - Tommy Wingels James Sheppard - Scott Gomez - Tim Kennedy Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Justin Braun Matt Irwin - Dan Boyle Brad Stuart - Jason Demers* Antti Niemi Thomas Greiss *If we all close our eyes and wish really hard, maybe both of them will be cleared to play. If one of you doesn't believe hard enough, then just refer back to the lineup for the last game. Projected Kings Lineup Dustin Brown - Anze Kopitar - Justin Williams Dwight King - Mike Richards - Jeff Carter Dustin Penner - Brad Richardson - Trevor Lewis Jordan Nolan - Colin Fraser - Tyler Toffoli Robyn Regehr - Drew Doughty Rob Scuderi - Slava Voynov Jake Muzzin - Alec Martinez Jonathan Quick Jonathan Bernier With Adam Burish hurt for the series, and Raffi Torres suspended for the series, depth has become an issue for the Sharks. But they might be getting some reinforcements soon. According to Kevin Kurz, Martin Havlat may be very close to returning. From the sounds of things, it wouldn't be surprising to see Havlat skating in warm-ups tonight whether he'll be playing tonight or not. But let's hope he does. Bringing Marty back into the fold gives the team so many more options. And he may provide the spark the team needs to finally put them over the top against this strong Kings team. Prediction: Sharks win 3-2. Goals by Havlat (x2) and Shepard. Meanwhile, 17,562 Sharks fans blow the fucking roof off the Tank. Go Sharks.

May 13, 2013; Boston, MA USA; Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Phil Kessel (81), defenseman Cody Franson (4), center Nazem Kadri (43) and defenseman Jake Gardiner (51) celebrate a goal during the third period in game seven of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports It’s been almost a week now since the Toronto Maple Leafs made a disastrous exit from the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs. Although the wounds have surely not yet healed for fans, hopefully the sting is at least not quite as bad. As difficult as blowing a three-goal lead with just over 10 minutes to play was to handle, that small stretch shouldn’t define the entire season for Toronto. Now that we have had a little time to digest everything that has transpired in this lockout shortened season, let’s look at what we’ve learned. Can we please stop worrying about James Reimer now? If Reimer didn’t silence his critics after his first round performance against the Boston Bruins, he probably never will. He just about won games 5 and 6 on his own, and was spectacular through most of the series. Sure his rebound control was suspect at times, but that means he’s at least making the first save more often than not. Reimer had a .924 save percentage this season and has a career record of 53-32-14. For some reason the expectations for Leaf goalies seems to be astronomical these days, but based on the play between the pipes in recent years, fans and everyone in the organization should gladly take Reimer’s numbers any day. Kessel, Lupul, and JVR are bona fide point producers Phil Kessel finished in the top 10 in National Hockey League scoring for the second straight season and showed he is more than just a scorer. He had 32 assists in 48 games and proved he has some slick passing ability. After a strong playoff against his former team, the Tyler Seguin nonsense and comparisons should be a non-issue. Joffrey Lupul proved he can be a consistent producer and emotional leader if he could only stay healthy. His 18 points in 16 games would have equated to a 92-campaign over 82 contests, which would have led the squad. Not only did Lupul put up points, but he was able to score on some great individual rushes that changed the momentum in games. As for James van Riemsdyk, his 18 goals made just about everybody forget about Luke Schenn. With JVR’s skill set and hands, something tells me that trade is just going to get better over time. Leafs have found a solid top four on the blue line If the last few games of the Bruins series taught us anything, it’s that Dion Phaneuf, Carl Gunnarsson, Jake Gardiner, and Cody Franson make up a solid top four. Phaneuf has his critics and one of them has been me on a regular basis, but there aren’t too many defenders who could have done what he did this season. He and Franson both finished in the top 10 in defensive scoring, and Phaneuf averaged over 25 minutes a game playing against the opponent’s best forward group every night. Everyone remembers that bad pinch that cost Toronto Game 4, but overall his play had more of an impact in 2013. If only he wasn’t making $6.5M a year. Gardiner showed what he can do with increased playing time during the playoffs, so hopefully Randy Carlyle sees that once and for all. Then again it is Carlyle, and it felt like he thought Mike Kostka was the second coming of Chris Pronger this season. Who knows what he will have up his sleeve next year. Nazem Kadri has a chance to be great Kadri had a breakout year with 44 points and showed signs that he can be one of the NHL’s best, but he isn’t there yet. He has the skill set to be a top 10 player in this league and if he keeps on developing at this pace, he soon will be. What was perhaps more impressive than his points in 2013, was they way he improved his defensive game. He averaged less than a giveaway per game this year and finished second on the Leafs with a rating of plus-15. These are

The return home for Game 3 will give the Ottawa Senators a little bit of a boost as they attempt get back into their second-round series with the Pittsburgh Penguins, but with a 3-0 hole looming, the club would no doubt welcome a boost to their boost. It looks like they'll get one of those too. After undergoing surgery for a herniated disc in his back and missing the last four months, Jason Spezza has been medically cleared to play. He'll be in the Senators' lineup for Game 3. (Double boost!) "I'm excited to have a chance to play again," Spezza said. "I feel ready to play." Where he'll play remains to be seen, but Spezza has practiced on the Senators' first line alongside frequent running mate Milan Michalek, so our educated guess would be there. That makes sense. Down 0-2, the Senators really aren't in a position to ease him into the lineup. Still, the question is what sort of impact he'll be able to have in his first game in 4 months. There's a good chance he'll see a lot of Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, the latter of whom notched a hat trick in Game 2. These are matchups he needs to win, and that's a lot to ask of anyone, let alone a guy that's played just 5 games this season. But it's not like Spezza's not capable of it. His last game with the Senators was versus these very Penguins, and while Ottawa lost the decision, 2-1, in a shootout, Spezza was a large part of the reason they came away from that one with a point, finishing well above water in his head-to-head matchups with both of the Penguins' star pivots, and assisting on Ottawa's game-tying goal. Spezza played the majority of this game matched up with Evgeni Malkin, while Kyle Turris saw the Crosby matchup (as he has for Games 1 and 2, and I'd expect he will in Game 3, Crosby's hat trick notwithstanding). But when Spezza didn't see Malkin, he saw Crosby, and despite playing the majority of the night versus two of the best centres in the Eastern Conference, Spezza finished the evening with an even-strength Corsi rate (plus/minus for shots attempted, basically) of plus-9. Crosby was a minus-9. Malkin was a minus-6. Spezza, who is a much better two-way player now than he was the last time the Senators and the Penguins met in the playoffs, also won 11 of 16 faceoffs versus this duo in that game. If the Senators can return a guy capable of winning these pivotal shifts, their chances of staging a comeback in this series increase exponentially. But after four months on the shelf, one wonders if Spezza can be the player he's capable of being right away.

WCSF Game 2, Blackhawks vs Red Wings : 3rd Period Thread

Well that's more like it. The Red Wings refused to bend over for Chicago like Game 1 and continued their strong play in the second. Goals from Damien Brunner and Brendan Smith gave the Wings their first lead in the series and they're 20 minutes away from tying this series and earning the split. Expect the Blackhawks to throw everything they have at Detroit in the third. Jimmy Howard just became the Wings' most important player.

Ottawa centre declares himself fit ahead of Sunday clash with Pittsburgh

Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen has put his major injury problems behind him since coming to Dallas, but he still has (and please try not to giggle) big groins to match his elongated, lanky frame. Two or three times a year they're going to need some treatment. Enter the backup net-minder, and a crucial need to maintain a certain caliber of play in net, as evidenced by this lockout shortened season where Richard Bachman and Cristopher Nilstorp participated in 18 games of a 48 game season. That duo was running the show in late February during a stretch that saw the team collectively surrender 28 goals in a 7 game span, including 5 pretty ugly losses. That included two losses to the hapless Calgary Flames - the 7-4 drubbing at the Saddledome and the 4-3 loss on a Sunday afternoon at home where Dallas led after two periods but pulled zero points from it. Richard Bachman was on duty for both of those, and as you may recall, a point or three there would have come in handy down the stretch. Unfairly, Bachman's play will probably get lumped in the minds of fans with Nilstorp's as the "Stars backups can't stop anything" memories from that February stretch pervert the facts. Even so, the statistical evidence says he was not great in 2013. He ranked 72nd in the league out of 84 goaltenders that played this year with a save percentage of .885%. Out of 57 goaltenders who played at least 10 games this season he ranked 8th worst with 2.85 goals against per 60 minutes of ice time. All that while the Stars protected him relatively well, allowing just 24.9 shots on net per 60 minutes he was on the ice (not per game). [Link - Behind The Net] Putting aside the quantifiable evidence for a moment, we must recall the team's overall defensive play, or lack thereof, and the number of rookie defensemen (and rookies altogether) that suited up in front of the Stars' net this season. We must also consider his exploits in April, which were, for a time, as thrilling and dramatic as the rest of the young team's in front of him. He was called upon early in a game against the Kings at home on April 9th when Kari Lehtonen pulled himself from the game and proceeded to play 45 scoreless minutes en route to continuing a run that would eventually amount to winning six of seven and giving the Stars control of their own destiny. He beat the Kings, Predators and Sharks, surrendering just three total goals in those three contests before dropping one to the Blackhawks in Chicago, which was, perhaps, unavoidable. It was a fine job bridging a brief Kari Lehtonen injury and a fine recovery after early returns in his season were less than desirable. Now he finds himself in need of a contract. He'll still be classified as an RFA coming off a one-year, one-way deal that saw him make $625,000. (Apparently league minimum this year was $525,000, if you're interested.) 29-year old Cristopher Nilstorp was the main man in his time with the Texas Stars this year, including their limited playoff run that ended last night in Oklahoma City, but he too has an expiring deal, though he'll be a UFA. After a head coaching decision the strategy on how to handle his backup net minder position could be a big piece of Jim Nill's inaugural summer. The diminutive Bachman has shown a lot of determination in earning some big wins for this franchise over the last two seasons, but the results were inconsistent and the position as a whole cost the Stars too many valuable points during Lehtonen's February absence. Jack Campbell, after not playing much down the stretch for Willie Desjardins, will not be thought of as ready unless the full rebuild/play the kids mentality really kicks into overdrive for the coming season. So the Stars' next backup will need to be signed to a new deal one way or the other. Do you give Bachman consideration and tender an offer in June, or take your chances on the market? Interesting times.