Blue And White Beat: Random thoughts and Final prediction
May 29, 2010 by RobDM
Filed under Blogs, Blue And White Beat
Random thoughts and Final prediction
Earlier this week the Leafs signed defenceman Korbinian Holzer, their 4th round pick in the 2006 Entry Draft. Holzer, 22, has represented his native Germany internationally on numerous occasions, including the most recent Olympics in Vancouver. Born in Munich, Holzer joins a fellow German-born teammate on the Leafs current roster. Who is he? (answer is provided below).
***
Here’s my report card for the third round, based on my predictions from two weeks ago (in brackets)
Western Confernce:
Chicago over San Jose in 4 games (Chicago in 7)
Eastern Conference:
Philadelphia over Montreal in 5 games (Philadelphia in 6)
The Conference Finals brought me to .500 overall (7-for-14). So if you choose to go with my Cup winner pick, hey you have a 50% chance of being right!
This year’s Stanley Cup Final provides no shortage of superstars, led by captains Jonathan Toews of Chicago and Mike Richards of Philadelphia, who were linemates on Canada’s gold medal winning team at the Vancouver Olympics. The bluelines of both teams also boast world-class talent in Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook on the Blackhawks’ side and future Hall-of-Famer Chris Pronger for the Flyers. The matchup guarantees that no fewer than two names will be added to the short list of players who have won a Stanley Cup and an Olympic gold medal in the same year (Ken Morrow 1980, Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan 2002).
Ultimately the series will be decided by Chicago’s phenomenal speed overmatching Philadelphia’s defence. Pronger, Matt Carle, Braydon Coburn and Kimmo Timonen have provided ample containment over the first three rounds, however they have yet to face an opponent with the Blackhawks’ skill set led by Toews, Patrick Kane, David Bolland and the quick Brian Campbell. Fatigue and conditioning will be factor as Philly’s top four defencemen have carried the bulk of the workload, with Ryan Parent and Lucas Krajicek being utilized as mere spare parts. The forecast is that the ice time will catch up to them.
Prediction
Chicago over Philadelphia in 6 games. Jonathan Toews will be the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoffs MVP.
***
TMLfans.ca congratulates former Team Canada women’s captain Cassie Campbell-Pascall and her husband Brad Pascall on the announcement that they are about to become parents. In November, Campbell-Pascall is scheduled to join her three-time Olympic teammates Becky Kellar and Cheryl Pounder in the ‘moms’ club.
Congratulations also go out to Steve Yzerman in his new appointment as general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Coincidentally, six years ago Vincent Lecavalier was an injury replacement for Yzerman for Team Canada’s entry at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. Who knew that Stevie Y. would one day be placed in a position of potentially having to trade away the Lightning superstar?
Trivia answer: Mikhail Grabovski was born in Potsdam, East Germany – moving to Belarus at age 3.
Rob Del Mundo is the author of Blue And White Beat, and is a regular columnist at TMLfans.ca
Follow TMLfans.ca on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tmlfansrob
Reading Royals, End of Season Review
May 19, 2010 by RobDM
Filed under Blogs, Reading Royals Review
The Royals Review
(April 21-May 12)
Season at an end after Royals make ‘history’
READING, Pa. – Making history is often a good thing. That wasn’t the case for the Reading Royals this season.
The ECHL affiliate of the Maple Leafs and Marlies made it to this year’s American Conference finals and were in complete control after winning three straight against Cincinnati. But that’s where the history part comes in. Reading lost the next four games and became the first team in the 22-year history of the league to lose a best-of-seven series after taking the first three games. So the Royals, who just completed their ninth season, are still looking for their first trip to the Kelly Cup Finals).
While Cincinnati (the ECHL affiliate of Nashville and Montreal) battles Idaho (Dallas’ affiliate) for the Kelly Cup, the Royals will start their summer thinking about how close they were to a very special season. That’s especially true after losing game seven in Cincinnati, 1-0. To be sure, the team accomplished plenty. And some of the players with Leafs/Marlies connections made big strides during the season and the playoffs. But no one goes home happy when you drop your last game – let alone ending the season with a four-game losing streak.
Here’s how the Toronto-contracted players fared during the series versus Cincinnati (with 2010 ECHL playoff statistics).
Alex Berry – The Danvers, Mass. native spent most of this series as the 10th forward (ECHL teams dress 16 skaters per game). As such, he didn’t get loads of ice time. But when he did get on the ice, generally at LW, he certainly wasn’t out of place. He was generally responsible on defence and showed enough that he was in the lineup for all the team’s playoff games. (16 GP-2G-4A- +3 -4 PIM)
Stefano Giliati – In the four games he played against Cincinnati, the LW had some good performances. But he also had some where he wasn’t particularly effective. He did get lots of ice time and saw power play duty as well. But consistency was lacking in his game during the playoffs. He’ll have to find that if expects to make noise with the Marlies next season. (13 GP-4G-4A- -1 -16PIM)
Ben Gordon – He was second on the team in assists during the playoffs but was unable to generate much offence when the going got tough in the latter stages of the series. The second-year pro LW is an excellent skater (as evidenced by his four call-ups to the AHL this season) and a real “skill” player, but his 5-11, 180-pound stature may work against him in the future. Late in the series he was playing on the boards when the Royals needed forwards to go to the net. Although he’ll never be a power forward, he still needs to develop that part of his game. (Under contract to Reading.) (16 GP-2G-12A- +3 – 8 PIM)
Todd Perry – The Ingleside, Ont. native didn’t contribute as physically as he might have during the series, but the defenceman did see plenty of penalty-killing time and was on the ice against some of Cincinnati’s best forwards. He’ll never be a big point contributor so he’ll have to ramp up the body-contact segment of his game to be effective at higher levels. (16 GP-0G-1A- -1 -6 PIM)
Joey Ryan – He was the eighth defenceman during the series and only got into a game as a result of suspensions to a couple of teammates. (2 GP-0G-0A- -1 -12 PIM)
Greg Scott– Was named the second star for scoring the game-winning goal in game two. After spending most of the regular season with the Marlies, the RW from Victoria, B.C. seemed to get the most out of the playoff run with the Royals. He was solid at both ends of the ice, showed a physical nature to his game and displayed fine puck-handling ability. He’s got the potential to be a solid contributor with the Marlies next season. (13 GP-1G-9A- +1 -0 PIM)
Andrew Engelage – Got his first pro playoff action in game five of the series. He played the third period in a mop-up role. It was his first game since returning from the Marlies a month ago. The only shot to beat him was high to the glove side during a 4-on-3 power play. (1 GP – 0-0 – 3.00 GAA – .857 SV%)
Blast from the past – Reid Cashman, who appeared in 15 games with the Marlies in 2007 and 2008, was one of the mainstays on the Cincinnati blue line during the series. After seeing action with Milwaukee in the AHL during both the regular season and the Calder Cup playoffs, he’s contributed five assists in nine games thus far for the Cyclones in the Kelly Cup tournament.
Barry Schickling can be contacted at Barry.DoubleSMedia@rocketmail.com
Blue And White Beat: Original Six standards of celebration lowered
May 16, 2010 by RobDM
Filed under Blogs, Blue And White Beat
Original Six standards of celebration lowered
It is said that absence makes the heart grow fonder.
The adage was certainly exemplified by the destructive celebrations of unruly Montreal fans following the Canadiens’ colossal upset of the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins in their Eastern Conference Semi-Final series.
The looting, rioting and vandalism in the Habs’ home city – which resulted in over 40 arrests – tarnished what was otherwise a mood of euphoria as the team advanced to the third round of the playoffs for the first time in 17 years.
Without discrediting the accomplishment of Jacques Martin’s underdog squad in knocking off not only the Penguins but also the Presidents’ Trophy winning Washington Capitals, the reaction was needlessly overzealous.
The behaviour was undoubtedly a release of long-time, bottled frustration as Montreal fans haven’t seen their team come this close to a championship since winning the Stanley Cup in 1993, when now assistant coach Kirk Muller patrolled the left wing and Wayne Gretzky – then six years away from retirement – was an opponent in the Final.
Coincidentally Canadiens’ most recent Cup victory occurred in the same year that their historic rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs enjoyed a post-season of relative success. Led behind the bench by one-time Habs coach Pat Burns, Toronto ended a long drought of appearing in the NHL’s final four by winning a pair of hard-fought seven-game series, just like Montreal has achieved in this year’s post-season.
Like the Habs of 2010, the Leafs of 1993 achieved their success with not only strong goaltending, but a commitment to defence. Toronto would have been quickly eliminated without the likes of Felix Potvin in goal, or Sylvain Lefebvre and Bob Rouse on the blueline, just like Montreal would have found the golf course by now if not for Jaroslav Halak, Hal Gill and Josh Gorges.
Similarly, the Leafs exhibited a curious celebration of their own that year, in spite of an eventual defeat that left their Stanley Cup dreams unfulfilled.
While there was no rioting in Toronto’s streets of which to speak, the team released a commemorative video “The Passion Returns”, in celebration of the club’s return to the NHL’s semi-finals after a 15-year absence.
The hour-long documentary produced by now-defunct Molstar Communications, was well-assembled.
Yet its mere existence was open to some ridicule, looking out of place on many store shelves in subsequent years as it appeared next to videos honouring the 1994 New York Rangers and 1995 New Jersey Devils – actual Stanley Cup champions.
In fairness, the video would not have been made had their not been a rabid market that existed for it, as is the case in Toronto where there is no lack of enthusiasm for its hockey team, even during its periods of futility.
Likewise, the Montreal store looting resulted from a relatively small group of hooligans, and certainly does not represent the mentality of the city as a whole – most of whose citizens are able to show their support in an enthusiastic but civilized manner.
Yet the reactions speak to the hockey culture that has been prevalent in both Toronto and Montreal since both cities were part of the membership when the National Hockey League was founded.
Between 1942 and 1967, the Maple Leafs and Canadiens combined for twenty Stanley Cups in 26 seasons, winning ten times each.
Who could have foreseen the days when either city would react so vigorously after merely making it to the final four?
***
Here’s my report card for the second round, based on my predictions from two weeks ago (in brackets)
Western Confernce:
San Jose over Detroit in 5 games (Detroit in 7)
Chicago over Vancouver in 6 games (Chicago in 7)
Eastern Conference:
Montreal over Pittsburgh in 7 games (Pittsburgh in 6)
Philadelphia over Boston in 7 games (Boston in 6)
That makes me 1-for-4 in the second round, and 5-for-12 overall. Hopefully you’re not placing money on my picks, if so, maybe you should just wager against me.
Nevertheless, here are my third round predictions:
West
Chicago over San Jose in 7 games
East
Philadelphia over Montreal in 6 games
Rob Del Mundo is the author of Blue And White Beat, and is a regular columnist at TMLfans.ca
Follow TMLfans.ca on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tmlfansrob
Couch’s Corner: Obnoxious Habs Fans
May 13, 2010 by Rick
Filed under Blogs, Couch's Corner
Hell hath froze over, or at least it appears to be chilly down there, now that the Habs have successfully knocked off both the Caps and Pens in the first two rounds.
And congrats to the team for doing so. Both series were well-earned victories.
Where it starts to get chilly in a normally hot spot is when we’re all bombarded by Habs fans, coming out of the woodwork like termites, all swarming to tell everyone that will listen that they knew the Habs had it in them to win both series. Right….
Whenever the Leafs win a series or two, from what I remember at least, we brag a bit. We celebrate (without the obligatory rioting that Habs fans seem to always pull off downtown Montreal). And then Habs fans are right there to jeer us in our victory. Happens every time.
I applaud Montreal for how far they’ve come, I really do. Or at least I marvel at how well Halak has played, at least. But what bothers me is the idiotic Habs fans, especially those who claim to have known that the team would get this far, that go overboard in their celebration. The rioting puts it over the top.
Enjoy the wins, but please… Do us all a favour and turn off the obnoxious verbal diarrhea tap and violence. You’re still a very long way from hoisting Lord Stanley, not that there’s any real chance of that happening anyway…