Hockey

While the Phoenix Coyotes may not have many bright and flashy stars on the ice, they have a superstar in the front office. Thankfully for Coyotes fans everywhere, Don Maloney will remain part of the organization for several more years to come. The team announced in a press release this afternoon that GMDM has agreed to a "long-term contract extension", though true to form, the details of the agreement were not disclosed. Maloney has been the franchise's general manager since 2007, and since taking the reins of the club from Mike Barnett, has made a number of moves to turn the Phoenix Coyotes from a perennial doormat to a Western Conference Finalist a year ago. He was responsible for drafting players like Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Mikkel Boedker and Michael Stone. He's also developed a reputation for fleecing other NHL GMs with terrific trades; Maloney orchestrated the re-acquisition of Derek Morris, who has consistently received top-pair minutes with Keith Yandle, from Boston in exchange for a 4th round pick in the 2011 Entry Draft. He also acquired Lee Stempniak for perennial minor leaguer Matt Jones and a couple of picks. Stempniak would go on to score 14 goals in 18 games to power Phoenix to its first playoff berth in 8 years. While retaining Maloney provides some clarity to the Coyotes' on-ice future, its off-ice future remains fluid. In a statement included in the press release, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly reiterated the League's commitment to Glendale and Arizona, and GMDM's willingness to remain with the organization is a likely indicator that a final resolution to the ongoing saga that is the Coyotes' ownership situation is near. Regardless of the outcome with ownership, Don Maloney has several challenges that he will have to deal with almost immediately. Head coach Dave Tippett remains unsigned; and while Colorado's coaching vacancy has closed with the hiring of Patrick Roy, Vancouver and Dallas both could benefit from Tippett's attention to detail and responsible system. Maloney will also need to address the Coyotes' goaltending situation, as Mike Smith, Jason LaBarbera, and Chad Johnson are all set to become unrestricted free agents this summer. Shutdown defensive forward Boyd Gordon and youngsters Boedker and Lauri Korpikoski are also in need of contracts. And as always, GMDM will be tasked with scouring the free agent pool looking for underrated talent that can provide the consistent scoring punch this team desperately needs. The next few months in the Coyotes' front office will be quite hectic, but fans can be reassured that the calm, confident, and uncannily brilliant Don Maloney will find a way to steer Phoenix toward the ultimate goal of a Stanley Cup.

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- Phoenix Coyotes general manager Don Maloney signed a long-term contract extension Friday with the NHL-owned team. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

I wasn't surprised when I read that the Pens are 0-6 under Dan Bylsma when having the chance to win a series on home ice. I knew it had been a long time since the Black and Gold cheered after going through the handshake line on Consol Energy Center ice or that of the Mellon Arena(a.k.a Civic Arena, Igloo, house that Mario built, w/e). Then I realized, they've NEVER done this in the CEC. It's shocking when you consider that the last time the Pens won a series on home ice was May 18th, 2008, when the Pens hammered the rival Flyers 6-0 at the Mellon Arena in a Game 5, series-clinching victory that would send us to an ill-fated Stanley Cup matchup with the Detroit Red Wings. From a time capsule sort of perspective, the American president at that time was George W. Bush. Six opportunities and five years later, we're back in the Steel City again, ready to end another team's playoff run while we continue our own. Will the 7th time be the charm? I wasn't surprised when I read that the Pens are 0-6 under Dan Bylsma when having the chance to win a series on home ice. I knew it had been a long time since the Black and Gold cheered after going through the handshake line on Consol Energy Center ice or that of the Mellon Arena(a.k.a Civic Arena, Igloo, house that Mario built, w/e). Then I realized, they've NEVER done this in the CEC. It's shocking when you consider that the last time the Pens won a series on home ice was May 18th, 2008, when the Pens hammered the rival Flyers 6-0 at the Mellon Arena in a Game 5, series-clinching victory that would send us to an ill-fated Stanley Cup matchup with the Detroit Red Wings. From a time capsule sort of perspective, the American president at that time was George W. Bush. Six opportunities and five years later, we're back in the Steel City again, ready to end another team's playoff run while we continue our own. Will the 7th time be the charm?

Down 2-0 with a little more than 32 minutes left to play, and facing elimination, the New York Rangers playoff run was at a crossroads. They could follow the example of the Washington Capitals who folded like a cheap suit in Game 7. Or, the Blueshirts could decide to fight back and play with a desperation, urgency and resiliency that has been lacking in this series. If they were to choose the latter option, they were going to need a break. Well, one break coming up, courtesy of Tuukka Rask who certainly will not be winning Dancing With the Stars any time soon. Just 58 seconds after Rangers nemesis Torey Krug scored his third goal of the series, Carl Hagelin’s backhander trickled past the prone Bruins goaltender after Rask stumbled and fell to the ice. “Probably the ugliest goal I have ever seen,” Henrik Lundqvist commented to Larry Brooks of the NY Post. “It turned it around for us, and that’s hockey. ‘‘We need to be more focused, I need to be more focused,’’ Rask explained to Ira Podell of the AP. ‘‘I just took a step to the side in what I think probably was a skate mark or something. I lost my balance and the rest is history. ‘‘We gave them a couple of gifts and it cost us the game.’’ The other “gift” was Derek Stepan’s goal 75 seconds into the third period to tie the game as he picked Zdeno Chara’s pocket and stuffed home the tying goal. After the game Chara said he didn’t know Stepan was near him – which is understandable given that FrankenChara (copyrighted by my wife Roe) is like eight feet tall on skates and probably thought Stepan was a gnat buzzing around his head. “It certainly gave us life,” Stepan stated after the game. “It’s a timely goal at the right time.” The Rangers resiliency was tested again as Boston scored two seconds after Ryan McDonagh’s borderline call for Goalie Interference expired as the Bruins scored after Henrik Lundqvist made a flurry of stops late in the Boston power play. However, less than two minutes later a month of Sundays hit the calendar, pigs started to fly and cats and dogs were living in harmony as the Rangers power play woke up from its doldrums to tie the game midway through the third period. Credit Brian Engblom for pointing out the two things the Rangers did right, for a change, on their power play and the big mistake the Bruins committed. For one of the few times on a man advantage, the Blueshirts were able to gain the Bruins zone while carrying the puck. Combine that with some puck movement and player movement and you have Brian Boyle’s power play goal. The one main point Engblom pointed out was how the Bruins got caught watching the puck and no one was looking at the weak side and that allowed Boyle to skate into position in the slot. For the rare time, it was Boston that got burned puck-watching – not the Rangers. I hope John Tortorella puts the following quote up on the bulletin board in the TD Garden prior to Game 5 as a reminder of what the Rangers need to do on Saturday. “When we get a power play we need to be determined enough to go out and make a difference,” Boyle said to Dan Rosen of NHL.com. “We need to do it. It has to work. The games we lost, if we get a power-play goal it’s a different game.” The King rallied his teammates with a pre-game speech and then went out and backed it up – especially in overtime as he counted key stops on Patrice Bergeron, Jaromir Jagr and Brad Marchand among his 37 saves. “I told the guys before the game there was no way we were losing this game,” Lundqvist said. “We want to keep playing. We owe it to ourselves, to our fans. All our focus today was just on this game. Now we move our focus to the next game and the first period of that game. We will see how far that takes us.” All of Lundqvist’s talk and play would mean nothing without Chris Kreider’s overtime winner. Again, puck and player movement played a key following a huge faceoff win by Deric

Now Playing: Various Artists - Rocky IV: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Sports provide the greatest drama, and the Chicago Blackhawks are crafting another gem. I’ve written the ending.   A door slams in an otherwise silent Blackhawks locker room following the game four loss in Detroit. Unintelligible yelling is heard from Joel Quenneville’s office as silhouetted figures gesticulate demonstratively behind the frosted glass door with “COACH” etched at eye level. The door swings open wildly, and a fiery Toews storms out with Quenneville yelling after him, “Have some pride, dammit!” The assistants make a move to intercept Toews but Quenneville motions for them to stand down. “Let him go, maybe he can find a doctor to remove his head from his ass!”   The disgruntled Blackhawks captain heads directly out of the locker room to a car waiting in the parking lot to which he inexplicably has the keys. As he peels out of the parking lot of Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena, (cue modern synth music with inspirational lyrics) his seething rage has blinded him to any particular destination and he just drives. And drives. And drives. Unrecognizable highway signs pass in the pitch-black night. His mood turns to disgust as the scenes of three straight penalties flash through his head [music intensifies].   Toews pulls his car into a gas station to refuel and we see him re-enter the car with six pack of non-descript beer. *fade to black* As we fade back in,  it’s moments before dawn.  We see Toews on the hood of his car surrounded by a snow-covered landscape, it’s clear he’s been driving all night. He cracks the first of his beers and looks into the sunrise. From afar, children’s voices can be heard approaching. We hear a familiar slapping and clacking as the camera turns to show a handful of boys and girls gathering on a frozen pond, throwing sticks from the center as they divide randomly into teams. Toews scoffs at their innocence and takes a long pull from his beverage, but continues to watch from one unwavering eye. After several minutes of feigned indifference, Toews puts his beer down as his interest is piqued by this pickup game. He starts muttering instructions under his breath to the players on the ice. After an egregious defensive turnover results in a goal, he jumps up and in one fluid motion slaps the beer off the car’s hood, and retrieves a pair of skates from the trunk. He proceeds to lead the mite-sized skaters in a once-in-a-lifetime hockey clinic on a pond only slightly harder than the frozen tundra that surrounds it.   We see him pointing and directing kids this way and that, encouraging and demonstrating them the way to turnstile defensemen and find a goaltender’s weak spot.   The next shot shows the sun much further on the other side of the sky, and Toews turns towards the camera, and with steam rising from his sweat-covered brow, he cracks a wry smile for the first time.   “It’s getting late kids, I need to get going. Keep at it, you are all superstars,” Toews says as he climbs back into his car.   One of the plucky little 9-year-olds pipes up: “Thanks, mister! Where you from?”   “Oh, somewhere close,” Toews replies as he pulls away, and drives past a wooden sign with “Toews Lake” carved in it.   After averaging roughly 500 miles per hour, Toews arrives back in Chicago Friday evening and finds Coach Quenneville waiting at his parking spot at the United Center, puffin’ on a heater.   “So, did you find it?”   “Yeah, I found it. Didn’t have to go very far either, just about fifteen years ago.”   Quenneville turns to an open office window and says, “He’s back, boys. Keep the rink reserved for game seven.”   LET’S GO HAWKS!!!   -hackett

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, May 24, 2013 GLENDALE, ARIZONA --- The Phoenix Coyotes announced today that Executive Vice President and General Manager Don Maloney has signed a long-term contract extension. As per club policy, terms of the con...

A very well-attended optional skate today that only included players who dressed for Thursday night’s 4-3 overtime win in Game 4 against the Bruins as the Rangers avoided a sweep. Chris Kreider was given a maintenance day off bit Kris Newbury, Micheal Haley and Roman Hamrlik continued to skate with the varsity with the assumption that they’ll remain in the lineup for Saturday’s Game 5 at Boston’s TD Garden. The Rangers’ practice squad, the “Black Aces” skated separately. Brad Richards, Ryane Clowe and Darroll Powe skated with that group. However, defenseman Anton Stralman was not on the ice, though he did an off-ice workout. Still, that likely means he will not be in the Game 5 lineup. A few interesting factoids provided by the NHL this morning regarding the Rangers’ Game 4 win: - The 4-3 OT win was franchise’s fifth OT win when facing elimination. Last time was Mat-teau Mat-teau Mat-teau against the Devils in Game 7 of the 1994 Eastern Conference final. - Kreider has six goals in 25 playoff games as a Ranger, including three winners. In 23 regular season games, Kreider has two goals and no winners. - Henrik Lundqvist is 5?0 with a 0.98 goals-against average, a .966 save percentage and two shutouts in his last five home playoff games with the Rangers facing elimination. Over the past two seasons, the Rangers are 6-1 in elimination games: Two wins against the Senators when facing a 3-2 deficit in the first round of the 2012 playoffs, a win in Game 7 against the Capitals last year in the conference final, two wins over the Capitals when trailing in the series 3-2 in this year’s first round and now the Game 4 win over the Bruins. The only blemish was their Game 6 overtime loss to the Devils in last year’s conference final. “I don’t know,” captain Ryan Callahan said when asked why the Rangers can elevate their game that way. “I guess it’s just a sense of desperation and I think it shows the character we have in this room and a willingness to go out there and work and battle and not give in.” Added John Tortorella: “I don’t think our team gives. We’ve done some good things there. I go back to the first series, just winning two in a row to win that series. That’s something, you try to hang your hat on I guess. I’m not a real big believer in it, I think every game is a different situation. But our team doesn’t give. Listen we were ugly the first part of (Game 4), we end up finding ourselves after a flukey game. I think we played better. Bottom line is, all is forgiven, you don’t go back and dissect it, you won a game to keep yourself alive and that’s what we have to look to now. Just win a game, it’s in Boston.” ====================================================== Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/AGrossRecord Follow the Record Sports Staff at twitter.com/TheRecordSports

-Rumored over the last couple of days, it's now confirmed that Hockey Canada has cut ties with head scout Kevin Prendergast and goalie coach Ron Tugnutt. Prendergast was hired in September of 2010 and oversaw the U18 and U20 teams and worked with the U17 program as well.How did they do? We'll check the record after the jump.Canada wins gold at 2013 World U18There were 8 tournaments played under Prendergast's tenure with Hockey Canada during which time Canada brought home 6 medals; 3 golds, 1 silver and 2 bronze. Canada struck gold at both the 2011 and 2012 Ivan Hlinka U18 tournaments where they have traditionally dominated the international teams who have participated. Historically Canada has not fared well at the World U18s because the majority of its talent pool is still active in the CHL playoffs. However, two of Canada's five all-time podium finishes came on Prendergast's watch; a 2012 bronze in Germany and 2013 gold in Russia, one of just three gold medals ever won by Canada at the event. However, there is no question that failure at the U20 level is what most will point to. In the last four yeas, four countries have dominated the World Junior tournament - The United States, Russia, Sweden and Canada. All three of those nations have three medal finishes in that time and all three countries have missed the podium completely as well. But only Canada has not managed to win gold. Photo: IIHF ImagesGoaltending has been a major concern for Hockey Canada in the last decade and although the 2013 draft class is a very promising one, it's been a while since Canada was considered a top goalie producer. Earlier this week on The Pipeline Show, CHL President David Branch discussed an upcoming summit which will focus on the need to develop goalies in Canada. Ron Tugnutt has also been on The Pipeline Show in recent years suggesting that the CHL allows too many European and American goaltenders into Major Junior hockey which prevents Canadian netminders from developing to a higher level. There is no word yet on who may replace either Prendergast or Tugnutt. To comment on this article, Tweet at us (@thepipelineshow) or email us (pipeup@theteam1260.com)

Who's going to win the Conn Smythe Trophy this year? Could it be someone who doesn't even make the finals?? Jimmy Howard - His play has been amazing. He's played in 26 straight games dating back to March 28. In the playoffs, he is posting a .929% SV% and 2.21 GAA. While not being a top 3 in either stat for the playoffs, he's 3rd in saves and 3rd in shots faced. He's the reason the Red Wings are even in the playoffs and one win away from the Conference finals. He's been calm, cool, and collected. No other goalie has the pressure he has, knowing that there is no one else who will play between the pipes for the Red Wings in the playoffs. Henrik Zetterberg - THE Captain. Not A Captain. THE Captain. Is there another team that leans so heavily on their leadership? Where he goes, the Wings go. He epitomizes this team better than anyone else. He works harder than any other player, faces the toughest matchup, and when a goal is needed, he's risen to the occasion. 2 goals in game 6 and 1+1 in game 7 vs Anaheim. So far he's been in the head of Toews to the point of frustration. You rarely, if ever, see him rattled or complaining to the refs. Consummate professional. Sidney Crosby - 7 goals, 7 assists in 9 games. Always working hard (and crying harder) on the ice. Never out of the top awards talk. David Krejci - Really established himself as a future franchise leader. Chara gets a ton of love, but Krejci has made that top line with Lucic and Horton click. He hustles and bustles as much as anyone. Leads the league in SCP points at 17. +9 rating helps too. Joe Thornton - Jumbo Joe has found some new legs against LA this series. He's playing defense better than he has any other time I've watched him in his career. He's working harder too. I think he knows he doesn't have much left in the tank after this year and it's only going to be harder for the Sharks. Pavelski and Couture get some credit but seem to be taking a distinct back seat to Thornton in the playoffs. Jonathan Quick - An unreal 1.50 GAA and .948% SV %. Un-freakin-real. Can't say anyone is scared of LA's defense, but no one could possible want to face Quick. And that's while facing St Louis and San Jose. Corey Crawford, who has been outstanding as well, would get a nomination if they beat Detroit, but his numbers are inflated by playing Minnesota in the 1st round. I'm sure there are some others I didn't mention. Who would you put on your Conn Smythe watchlist? Who's going to win the Conn Smythe Trophy this year? Could it be someone who doesn't even make the finals?? Jimmy Howard - His play has been amazing. He's played in 26 straight games dating back to March 28. In the playoffs, he is posting a .929% SV% and 2.21 GAA. While not being a top 3 in either stat for the playoffs, he's 3rd in saves and 3rd in shots faced. He's the reason the Red Wings are even in the playoffs and one win away from the Conference finals. He's been calm, cool, and collected. No other goalie has the pressure he has, knowing that there is no one else who will play between the pipes for the Red Wings in the playoffs. Henrik Zetterberg - THE Captain. Not A Captain. THE Captain. Is there another team that leans so heavily on their leadership? Where he goes, the Wings go. He epitomizes this team better than anyone else. He works harder than any other player, faces the toughest matchup, and when a goal is needed, he's risen to the occasion. 2 goals in game 6 and 1+1 in game 7 vs Anaheim. So far he's been in the head of Toews to the point of frustration. You rarely, if ever, see him rattled or complaining to the refs. Consummate professional. Sidney Crosby - 7 goals, 7 assists in 9 games. Always working hard (and crying harder) on the ice. Never out of the top awards talk. David Krejci - Really established himself as a future franchise leader. Chara gets a ton of love, but Krejci has made that top line with Lucic and Horton click. He hustles and bu

ShareThis Say, whatever happened to the old Robin Lehner, the once bold and brash teenager who couldn’t wait to sprint ahead of the pack, who always felt life was moving far too slow for him? ShareThis