The NHL season kicks off this afternoon with the Hurricanes facing the Wild in Helsinki and then four more games tonight. Will the Blackhawks, after moving multiple players to get under the cap, be able to make a run at repeating? Will the Capitals make up for last year's playoff disaster and make the finals? Or maybe it is Sidney Crosby and the Penguins again, or how about the Sedin brothers in Vancouver?
Plus Randy Moss gets traded, the baseball playoffs have started, college football is cranking along and the NBA preseason has started, which means the hype surrounding the Heat just starts getting louder. Enjoy.
As for my NHL predictions, for me it is very much "chalk" with my picks. I think hockey fans get Sidney Crosby and the Penguins against Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals in the Eastern finals, while in the west, we get those Sedin brothers taking on Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and the Blackhawks. In the end, I think the Penguins once again lift the Cup in a great series against the Vancouver Canucks.
The SportsFan Buzz: October 7, 2010 (right click to "save as target)
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Showing posts with label Alex Ovechkin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alex Ovechkin. Show all posts
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Capital Offense.....
Kudos to me for going 4 for 4 in picking the NHL Western Conference Quarterfinals after the Red Wings defeated the Coyotes in Game 7 of their series Tuesday night. I see no reason to change my picks concerning the Western Semifinals, even though some others are joining the Detroit bandwagon, and think we are headed for a Chicago / San Jose conference final.
As for the Eastern Quarterfinals, let's just say my picks will not win any awards, but I'm not sure anyone saw these results coming as the top 3 seeds were knocked out in the first round. The three regular division winners are gone and the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins are now in the position of home ice advantage for the next two rounds.
I picked Pittsburgh to come out of the east and I see no reason to change that pick and they will handle the upset minded Montreal Canadiens. As for the Boston / Philadelphia series, the most surprising stat to me coming into this matchup is that they have not faced each other in the playoffs since 1978. Both teams are playing like they were predicted to prior to the season starting, but I think the Bruins are a little better and have home ice, so I see Boston moving on to the conference finals.
But the real story so far of these playoffs is the collapse of the Washington Capitals against the eighth seeded Canadiens. Not only did the Presidents Trophy winner lose in the first round, but they became the first #1 seed to ever lose a first round matchup by squandering a three games to one lead in the series.
The hero for Montreal was goaltender Jaroslav Halak, but for as good as he was, the Capitals were just as bad. Some will point to their 1 for 33 performance on the power play in the series, but for me the change came after the first period in game 5 when the Capitals seemed to go from a team getting ready to advance, to one not looking to get upset.
Washington came into the fifth game after battering the Canadien goaltenders for 11 goals in the two games in Montreal, but after a first period where the Canadiens scored twice while the Capitals were stopped on all 15 shot attempts by Halak, they seemed to start getting nervous. Then after only one goal on their next 23 shots, the teams were going back to Canada and the Canadiens seemed to be given life.
Games six and seven were exhibitions of great goaltending by Halak and the squeezing of sticks by the Capitals. After each save, the Capitals seemed to grip their sticks tighter and tighter. When the dust had settled, Halak and Montreal were advancing and Washington was left to ask, "What went wrong?"
Most thought Washington had that burning to advance further in this year's playoffs after being ousted by the Penguins last year in a great series. Now, Sidney Crosby and the Penguins get the chance to not only defend The Cup, but in the process beat the team that upset the Capitals. Score another one for "Sid the Kid" over "Alexander the Great".
As for the Eastern Quarterfinals, let's just say my picks will not win any awards, but I'm not sure anyone saw these results coming as the top 3 seeds were knocked out in the first round. The three regular division winners are gone and the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins are now in the position of home ice advantage for the next two rounds.
I picked Pittsburgh to come out of the east and I see no reason to change that pick and they will handle the upset minded Montreal Canadiens. As for the Boston / Philadelphia series, the most surprising stat to me coming into this matchup is that they have not faced each other in the playoffs since 1978. Both teams are playing like they were predicted to prior to the season starting, but I think the Bruins are a little better and have home ice, so I see Boston moving on to the conference finals.
But the real story so far of these playoffs is the collapse of the Washington Capitals against the eighth seeded Canadiens. Not only did the Presidents Trophy winner lose in the first round, but they became the first #1 seed to ever lose a first round matchup by squandering a three games to one lead in the series.
The hero for Montreal was goaltender Jaroslav Halak, but for as good as he was, the Capitals were just as bad. Some will point to their 1 for 33 performance on the power play in the series, but for me the change came after the first period in game 5 when the Capitals seemed to go from a team getting ready to advance, to one not looking to get upset.
Washington came into the fifth game after battering the Canadien goaltenders for 11 goals in the two games in Montreal, but after a first period where the Canadiens scored twice while the Capitals were stopped on all 15 shot attempts by Halak, they seemed to start getting nervous. Then after only one goal on their next 23 shots, the teams were going back to Canada and the Canadiens seemed to be given life.
Games six and seven were exhibitions of great goaltending by Halak and the squeezing of sticks by the Capitals. After each save, the Capitals seemed to grip their sticks tighter and tighter. When the dust had settled, Halak and Montreal were advancing and Washington was left to ask, "What went wrong?"
Most thought Washington had that burning to advance further in this year's playoffs after being ousted by the Penguins last year in a great series. Now, Sidney Crosby and the Penguins get the chance to not only defend The Cup, but in the process beat the team that upset the Capitals. Score another one for "Sid the Kid" over "Alexander the Great".
Sunday, March 14, 2010
The SportsFan Buzz Podcast (3/14/2010).....
Did you remember to change your clocks forward? A lazy Sunday "This & That" podcast covering all four major sport stories from this past week, plus Manny Pacquiao's dominating performance on Saturday night and PGA players can finally take some 20 year old clubs out of their bag. Also, what else is coming out of the Ben Roethliberger situation. Enjoy.
The SportsFan Buzz: March 14, 2010 (right click to "save as target)
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Voice over talent provided by Morgan Thomas.
The SportsFan Buzz: March 14, 2010 (right click to "save as target)
You can find and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.
You can subscribe to have The SportsFan Buzz delivered to your inbox.
The SportsFan Buzz is on Facebook.
Follow The SportsFan Buzz on Twitter.
Voice over talent provided by Morgan Thomas.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Winter Olympics & The SportsFan Buzz Podcast (2/13/2010).....
It's time for the Winter Olympics and Mike Tursi joins me to discuss the Vancouver Games. Tragedy clouds the Games after an accident at the luge track. We talk about the events we'll be watching throughout the two weeks. We wonder if Lindsey Vonn be able to compete? Plus we preview the top hockey teams and their players. Can anyone beat the Canadians on their home ice?
Mike Tursi on Twitter.
The SportsFan Buzz: February 13, 2010 (right click to "save as target)
You can find and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.
You can subscribe to have The SportsFan Buzz delivered to your inbox.
The SportsFan Buzz is on Facebook.
Follow The SportsFan Buzz on Twitter.
Voice over talent provided by Morgan Thomas
Mike Tursi on Twitter.
The SportsFan Buzz: February 13, 2010 (right click to "save as target)
You can find and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.
You can subscribe to have The SportsFan Buzz delivered to your inbox.
The SportsFan Buzz is on Facebook.
Follow The SportsFan Buzz on Twitter.
Voice over talent provided by Morgan Thomas
Friday, January 22, 2010
This & That (Friday 1/22/2010).....
--- Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers checked himself into a rehab clinic for alcoholics. It was on an outpatient basis and Cabrera underwent three months of treatment. After his strange behavior during the last week of the season, when the Central Division was still on the line, most people assumed something was wrong, and it seems Cabrera himself knew there was something wrong.
Good for Cabrera to see there was a problem and to seek help to overcome it. Hopefully he is able to defeat this demon, because he has the abilities to be a very big offensive star if he gets his personal life together.
Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners avoided arbitration and instead got together to on a new contract for 5 more years and $78 million. The deal keeps Hernandez in Seattle until 2014, when at the age of 28 and in his prime, he will be able to test the free agent market and collect on a second large payday.
Hernandez and the newly acquired Cliff Lee will lead the Mariners’ staff this year and look to bring the team back into the playoffs, which they have missed since their last appearance in 2001.
Lee’s old team, the Philadelphia Phillies, who said they had to trade Lee because of their bloated payroll avoided arbitration with pitcher Joe Blanton when they agreed to a new three year, $24 million contract. While I thought it was short sighted to trade Lee after acquiring Roy Halladay, you could understand what the Phillies were saying when talking about the high payroll they were trying to avoid, but this new deal just makes you wonder if the Phillies just didn’t want Lee around. While Blanton is a nice starter, for only a little more money this year they could have had Halladay and Lee at the top of that rotation.
Add in the club extended Jimmy Rollins through 2011 before the 2010 season even started, and from the outside it has been a head scratching off season for Philadelphia.
--- To correct and then comment something discussed in the last podcast, the Cowboys only extended Coach Wade Phillips’ contract through 2011. It was first reported that Phillips was given a three year extension, but the correct story is only a one year extension. While I thought the three year extension was strange, it told me Jerry Jones had confidence in Phillips. Now by just adding a year to the contract, the same questions will start being asked of Phillips throughout the year about his contract status. Of course Phillips and the Cowboys can squash all questions by playing up to the team’s potential, but isn’t that the reason we have the questions in the first place?
Rex Ryan handed out a game ball after beating the San Diego Chargers in last week’s Divisional Playoffs. While there usually is nothing special about a game ball, this one was a little different because of who it was issued to, Marty Schottenheimer. Marty, the father of Jets’ offensive coordinator, Brian Schottenheimer, was fired by the Chargers following the 2006 season after leading them to a 14-2, but losing as the #1 seed in the divisional playoffs to the New England Patriots. I’m sure Charger AJ Smith didn’t laugh out loud when hearing the news.
--- Hopefully you got a chance to watch hockey and basketball’s best go head to head on Thursday night. It doesn’t happen often (During the regular season, Bryant and James meet twice a year and Crosby and Ovechkin four times), and even rarer that it would be happening on the same day.
In Cleveland, LeBron James and the Cavaliers were hosting Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. While in Pittsburgh, the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby welcomed Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.
Kobe scored his 25,000th point and became the youngest player to do so (it helps that he started playing at 18, and oh yea, LeBron will eventually top this mark), but it was James leading the Cavaliers in the 4th quarter to a 93-87 victory.
On the ice in Pittsburgh, the Capitals broke open a 3-3 tie game with two goals in the first three plus minutes of the third period on way to a 6-3 win. Ovechkin had 2 goals (giving him 32) and an assist, while Crosby scored his 33rd goal of the year.
Both basketball and hockey league offices and many fans (if it can’t be their favorite team) hope for these match ups in the spring when the playoffs roll around, but for now we’ll take the regular season collisions and just enjoy the show.
Good for Cabrera to see there was a problem and to seek help to overcome it. Hopefully he is able to defeat this demon, because he has the abilities to be a very big offensive star if he gets his personal life together.
Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners avoided arbitration and instead got together to on a new contract for 5 more years and $78 million. The deal keeps Hernandez in Seattle until 2014, when at the age of 28 and in his prime, he will be able to test the free agent market and collect on a second large payday.
Hernandez and the newly acquired Cliff Lee will lead the Mariners’ staff this year and look to bring the team back into the playoffs, which they have missed since their last appearance in 2001.
Lee’s old team, the Philadelphia Phillies, who said they had to trade Lee because of their bloated payroll avoided arbitration with pitcher Joe Blanton when they agreed to a new three year, $24 million contract. While I thought it was short sighted to trade Lee after acquiring Roy Halladay, you could understand what the Phillies were saying when talking about the high payroll they were trying to avoid, but this new deal just makes you wonder if the Phillies just didn’t want Lee around. While Blanton is a nice starter, for only a little more money this year they could have had Halladay and Lee at the top of that rotation.
Add in the club extended Jimmy Rollins through 2011 before the 2010 season even started, and from the outside it has been a head scratching off season for Philadelphia.
--- To correct and then comment something discussed in the last podcast, the Cowboys only extended Coach Wade Phillips’ contract through 2011. It was first reported that Phillips was given a three year extension, but the correct story is only a one year extension. While I thought the three year extension was strange, it told me Jerry Jones had confidence in Phillips. Now by just adding a year to the contract, the same questions will start being asked of Phillips throughout the year about his contract status. Of course Phillips and the Cowboys can squash all questions by playing up to the team’s potential, but isn’t that the reason we have the questions in the first place?
Rex Ryan handed out a game ball after beating the San Diego Chargers in last week’s Divisional Playoffs. While there usually is nothing special about a game ball, this one was a little different because of who it was issued to, Marty Schottenheimer. Marty, the father of Jets’ offensive coordinator, Brian Schottenheimer, was fired by the Chargers following the 2006 season after leading them to a 14-2, but losing as the #1 seed in the divisional playoffs to the New England Patriots. I’m sure Charger AJ Smith didn’t laugh out loud when hearing the news.
--- Hopefully you got a chance to watch hockey and basketball’s best go head to head on Thursday night. It doesn’t happen often (During the regular season, Bryant and James meet twice a year and Crosby and Ovechkin four times), and even rarer that it would be happening on the same day.
In Cleveland, LeBron James and the Cavaliers were hosting Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. While in Pittsburgh, the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby welcomed Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.
Kobe scored his 25,000th point and became the youngest player to do so (it helps that he started playing at 18, and oh yea, LeBron will eventually top this mark), but it was James leading the Cavaliers in the 4th quarter to a 93-87 victory.
On the ice in Pittsburgh, the Capitals broke open a 3-3 tie game with two goals in the first three plus minutes of the third period on way to a 6-3 win. Ovechkin had 2 goals (giving him 32) and an assist, while Crosby scored his 33rd goal of the year.
Both basketball and hockey league offices and many fans (if it can’t be their favorite team) hope for these match ups in the spring when the playoffs roll around, but for now we’ll take the regular season collisions and just enjoy the show.
Friday, December 4, 2009
This & That (Friday 12/4/09).....
--- NFL Playoff scenarios starting to take shape as we come down to the final five weeks, but the way the last few weeks have played out, it could be a mess by the time the Monday Night game ends. It's not that all the teams have a chance, but the teams you think are ready to fall off the "playoff ledge" seem to be getting the right combination that still keeps their hopes alive.
NFL MVP talk is starting to heat up with the names Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Brett Favre leading the discussion, but the Titans' Chris Johnson is starting to get some whispers. While Johnson may get to 2,000 yards, if the Titans don't make the playoffs, he should not be part of the conversation.
--- Ron Artest and Hennessy? I find it strange that he admitted this in the middle of a season and not during an off season. While Artest claims he no longer keeps a "stash", how closely do you think the Lakers and the NBA are watching his behavior?
Never thought I would see Allen Iverson making a return trip to 76ers, much less the emotional press conference to reintroduce himself to the city of Philadelphia. It will be interesting to see if Iverson plays well and is able to help the team win a few more games, along with putting more fans in the seats, which is the primary reason AI was brought back to Philly.
--- Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow, Mark Ingram and Toby Gerhart are the Heisman Trophy front runners. Gerhart's season is finished, while the other three have their final chances to show the voters they are "the one", but each face their toughest defensive opponent this weekend. If any of the three have a "statement game", they should move to the top of the list. If the three have their normal productive games, then it will be a very interesting night next Saturday in New York.
Personally, while I think Gerhart has had the best year in terms of pure statistics, but last week's game against Texas A&M put it in McCoy's hands, and only a terrible game against Nebraska will cost him the trophy.
After ripping Florida coach Urban Meyer a few weeks ago, I must give my kudos to him for his quick action with regards to suspending defensive end Carlos Dunlap, for this week's SEC Championship game against Alabama. Dunlap was issued a DUI after falling asleep in his car at a red light. Besides the DUI, Dunlap is under age, which makes this a double mistake. There are some who think Meyer is making the wrong decision in suspending Dunlap as it hurts his team's chances to win the game, and winning is supposed to be Meyer's job. Plain and simple those people are wrong. Winning the game is one thing, but doing the right thing is another, and Meyer did the right thing in this situation.
If Dunlap was found drinking at the frat house, then maybe a suspension would not be warranted. The same goes for Dunlap just falling asleep at the wheel from exhaustion. Combine the two, and there is no question he should have been punished.
--- Vin Scully will be coming back to broadcast Dodger games in 2010. This will be Scully's 61st season in the booth, and he still sounds as great as ever. Not to be out done on the golden tones front, the San Diego Padres will have Dick Enberg describing their games for the local television broadcasts. With those two legends calling games, there are some very lucky baseball fans in Southern California.
Roy Halladay has told the Toronto Blue Jays that he will now accept a trade to the New York Yankees, which can only make the Toronto front office happy, as that should help them get a better deal for the star pitcher. At the same time Halladay also informed them that he will not accept any trade made once the spring training starts, which will handcuff the Blue Jays' management.
I'm sure Halladay's thinking for issuing the deadline is that last year his season hit a bit of a swoon while all the trade discussion was going on, and he doesn't want to go through that mess again.
There was a large amount of players not offered arbitration, which will flood the second and third tier free agent markets. Looks like it will again be a buyers' market for those players not considered superstars.
--- Keith Ballard accidently hitting Tomas Vokoun is still the talk of the NHL and sport fans in general. In all my years of watching hockey, I have never seen anything close to what happened Monday night. Vokoun has forgiven Ballard, and they are trying to put the incident behind them and move forward with the Panthers' season.
There were some rumblings by hockey fans that maybe the league should have looked into suspending Ballard for his loose work with his stick. While I am a strong proponent of players controlling their sticks, I think Ballard has been punished enough for his mistake, and if discipline was to be handed out, it should have been the Panthers call to make, and not the league.
Alex Ovechkin was suspended two games due to his knee to knee hit on the Carolina Hurricanes' Tim Gleason, last Monday night. The suspension was fair, as that type of play is dangerous for both players, and in this case as Ovechkin was the one hurt on the play. I was at the game, and didn't think the hit had intent behind it, but nevertheless, the league needs to send a message to it players.
The 2010 Winter Olympics are still a couple of months away, but the NHL is already causing a stir with regards to the 2014 Olympics set to take place in Russia. At this time, the NHL says it is not sure if it will stop the season for the two week Olympic break. That is not sitting well with the current NHL players from Russia, who want to play for their Olympic team in their home country. I would say now the NHL is thinking "no", but does not want to take away from the Vancouver games. In the end though, the NHL will send players in 2014, only to avoid the nasty scenarios that could occur otherwise.
NFL MVP talk is starting to heat up with the names Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Brett Favre leading the discussion, but the Titans' Chris Johnson is starting to get some whispers. While Johnson may get to 2,000 yards, if the Titans don't make the playoffs, he should not be part of the conversation.
--- Ron Artest and Hennessy? I find it strange that he admitted this in the middle of a season and not during an off season. While Artest claims he no longer keeps a "stash", how closely do you think the Lakers and the NBA are watching his behavior?
Never thought I would see Allen Iverson making a return trip to 76ers, much less the emotional press conference to reintroduce himself to the city of Philadelphia. It will be interesting to see if Iverson plays well and is able to help the team win a few more games, along with putting more fans in the seats, which is the primary reason AI was brought back to Philly.
--- Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow, Mark Ingram and Toby Gerhart are the Heisman Trophy front runners. Gerhart's season is finished, while the other three have their final chances to show the voters they are "the one", but each face their toughest defensive opponent this weekend. If any of the three have a "statement game", they should move to the top of the list. If the three have their normal productive games, then it will be a very interesting night next Saturday in New York.
Personally, while I think Gerhart has had the best year in terms of pure statistics, but last week's game against Texas A&M put it in McCoy's hands, and only a terrible game against Nebraska will cost him the trophy.
After ripping Florida coach Urban Meyer a few weeks ago, I must give my kudos to him for his quick action with regards to suspending defensive end Carlos Dunlap, for this week's SEC Championship game against Alabama. Dunlap was issued a DUI after falling asleep in his car at a red light. Besides the DUI, Dunlap is under age, which makes this a double mistake. There are some who think Meyer is making the wrong decision in suspending Dunlap as it hurts his team's chances to win the game, and winning is supposed to be Meyer's job. Plain and simple those people are wrong. Winning the game is one thing, but doing the right thing is another, and Meyer did the right thing in this situation.
If Dunlap was found drinking at the frat house, then maybe a suspension would not be warranted. The same goes for Dunlap just falling asleep at the wheel from exhaustion. Combine the two, and there is no question he should have been punished.
--- Vin Scully will be coming back to broadcast Dodger games in 2010. This will be Scully's 61st season in the booth, and he still sounds as great as ever. Not to be out done on the golden tones front, the San Diego Padres will have Dick Enberg describing their games for the local television broadcasts. With those two legends calling games, there are some very lucky baseball fans in Southern California.
Roy Halladay has told the Toronto Blue Jays that he will now accept a trade to the New York Yankees, which can only make the Toronto front office happy, as that should help them get a better deal for the star pitcher. At the same time Halladay also informed them that he will not accept any trade made once the spring training starts, which will handcuff the Blue Jays' management.
I'm sure Halladay's thinking for issuing the deadline is that last year his season hit a bit of a swoon while all the trade discussion was going on, and he doesn't want to go through that mess again.
There was a large amount of players not offered arbitration, which will flood the second and third tier free agent markets. Looks like it will again be a buyers' market for those players not considered superstars.
--- Keith Ballard accidently hitting Tomas Vokoun is still the talk of the NHL and sport fans in general. In all my years of watching hockey, I have never seen anything close to what happened Monday night. Vokoun has forgiven Ballard, and they are trying to put the incident behind them and move forward with the Panthers' season.
There were some rumblings by hockey fans that maybe the league should have looked into suspending Ballard for his loose work with his stick. While I am a strong proponent of players controlling their sticks, I think Ballard has been punished enough for his mistake, and if discipline was to be handed out, it should have been the Panthers call to make, and not the league.
Alex Ovechkin was suspended two games due to his knee to knee hit on the Carolina Hurricanes' Tim Gleason, last Monday night. The suspension was fair, as that type of play is dangerous for both players, and in this case as Ovechkin was the one hurt on the play. I was at the game, and didn't think the hit had intent behind it, but nevertheless, the league needs to send a message to it players.
The 2010 Winter Olympics are still a couple of months away, but the NHL is already causing a stir with regards to the 2014 Olympics set to take place in Russia. At this time, the NHL says it is not sure if it will stop the season for the two week Olympic break. That is not sitting well with the current NHL players from Russia, who want to play for their Olympic team in their home country. I would say now the NHL is thinking "no", but does not want to take away from the Vancouver games. In the end though, the NHL will send players in 2014, only to avoid the nasty scenarios that could occur otherwise.
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