Mid Ice Power Play

With more than half the NHL regular season now on the melt, the hard skate towards home ice for the upcoming Stanley Cup Playoffs is now on. All of the division races are still very much alive but the teams that appear to be true cup contenders are starting to make their presence felt in different ways with one common trait, winning. Of course anything goes once the post-season gets underway, which makes the hockey playoffs one of the best tournaments in all of sports. But you have to feel this group of leaders each can make an argument why they’ll be raising the cup in May at this point of the season.

There hasn’t been a celebration on ice at Madison Square Garden since Captain America, a.k.a. Mark Messier and the Rangers rallied after blowing a commanding 3-1 series lead against the Vancouver Canucks in 1994, to win the seventh and deciding game. But the play of the New York Rangers thru 44 games is giving fans of the blue sweater that old feeling again. With the best goals against average in the NHL this season, allowing just two per game, the Rangers have skated to the top of the point’s race with 62. They lead the Atlantic by four over Philadelphia and three over Boston in the entire Eastern Conference. Their consistency has owner James Dolan spitting the teams praises to the media while Coach John Tortorella would much rather have him shut up! But one statistic sticks out about the Rangers. Since Christmas they’ve only averaged two goals per game but have maintained their position in the conference with defense and the goalie play of Henrik Lundqvist. In 32 games played he’s 19-9 in regulation with four shutouts. Once the tournament starts a hot keeper between the pipes can make all the difference and New York has a goalie capable of just that.

You can’t mention the cup of course without talking about the squad who is defending the title! Once again the Boston Bruins have given Bean town fans something cheer about while the Celtics grow older and Tom Brady has the day off. The reigning Stanley Cup Champions are rolling offensively as the top scoring team in the hockey while the defense isn’t bad either as the number three team in goals against. However, it’s the offensive firepower that makes the Bruins such a favorite to repeat last year’s championship. With a 156 goals, their differential is an amazing plus 68! That almost doubles anyone else in the league. The Bruins can bring it offensively from so many different players. Tyler Seguin leads with 17 goals and 23 assist. Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand have each tallied 16 apiece, but Boston has four others with double-digit goals and three more on the cusp. Facing the Bruins in the post-season if Tim Thomas gets on a roll like last spring will be almost certain death for all opponents.

Out west the Detroit Red Wings are one team you don’t want to face if they possess home ice! At the Joe, Motown’s stick-masters sport the best home record in the NHL at 18-2-1 overall. Away from the Motor City the difference is incredible as the Red Wings are under .500 at 12-3-0. While their points lead in the Western Conference is slim over Central rivals Chicago and St. Louis along with Northwest leader Vancouver, you have to respect the power of home ice come playoff time. Jimmie Howard might be the most consistent keeper between the pipes in the entire league. Thru 38 games played, he is 28-10 with five shutouts. The magic the Wings possess in front of their home fans is becoming the stuff of legend. 15 straight home victories is the longest run in franchise history and matches the fourth longest streak in modern NHL history. You have to go back all the way to the 1975-76 Broad Street Bullies of Philadelphia Flyers fame to find a significantly better home run and that streak ended at 20 in a row. If the Red Wings can hang on to the best record in the West then look out!


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New faces might not just be faces in the crowd

I realize we’re only 30 games into the season but I ready to declare the NHL surprise teams for real this season. Mark it down in December, the Wild, Stars, Panthers and Jets will be competing not just for playoff spots but hosting a first round game when things are all said and done at game 82. We’re beyond the point where a favorable season opening that is home ice heavy or a schedule written for a non-playoff contender explains everything eventually you’ve gotta give Tibow some credit for winning games. In the case of the Wild there is nothing to speculate about, 20-8, while going 10-4 both at home and on the road. Another thing I like is that they’re doing it with defense ranked 4th in goals against, and 9th on the kill. I understand they haven’t played Philly, Dallas, or Boston and did lose to the Hawks in a shootout but aside for awarding them a moral victory, but with with Pronger out for the season for the Flyers, and everyone wondering if the Caps will put together the kind of chemistry necessary to win three series, even skeptics have to say if they aren’t already in the elite they’re right at the door.
The Stars seemed to be more likely to be disbanded at the beginning of the season than leading the division come Christmas time but have more issues surrounding their start than the Wild. Their division may not be the best in the league, they still only have a 2-point lead by the time this gets read could be in second place, but to endure the BK, the uncertainty, and a five-game losing streak and still lead a division shows some staying power to me.

When was the last time we were in December and the hottest sports team wasn’t the Gators, Noles’, Dolphins, or Heat? I can’t either so savor it but the Panthers are for real and consistency is the reason why. In the top half of the league in the four points of interest, (goals, goals against, power play pct, and kill) means they don’t give many games away. Actually they have played most of their games away and look forward to increasing a six point lead over the caps when the wheel goes round’ and they’re spending more time at Bank Atlantic Center. Wins over Dallas and Boston got expectations soaring but losses against Pittsburgh and Chicago bring pundits back down to earth.

How great is it to see hockey back in Winnipeg? Not just hockey but good hockey?? And the Jets are more than just a novelty they’re quickly making clubs realize that. Hanging with the Caps and Panthers six points out of first but very tough to beat at home at 10-5. I gotta admit I’m really hoping to see them around at the end so I may be a bit bias, and they give up a ton of goals (22nd in the league) but the youth movement at center with Burmistrov, Little, and Wellwood have to have them thinking they might be a staple in the Southeast for years to come. On the downside they also give up a ton of goals, particularly in the penalty, but they seem to rise up big in big games. They just need to do it on the road and be able to pull it off four times in seven games.

Kid of Charisma

There was a happening in the world of the National Hockey League on Monday Night. It wasn’t the Stanley Cup Playoffs or the all-star game. It was bigger if you can believe it! The game’s biggest name was back in action after a daze filled 61 games of watching and waiting. January 5th of last season was the last time Sidney Crosby graced the ice of an arena in an NHL game. That was the night he got drilled and the suffered a hit that rocked him and the league to its foundation. A hit, from Tampa’s Victor Hedman that jolted the marquee star out of the atmosphere, and brought him crashing down to the air of the ordinary.

So the league was forced to wait. Past the 2011 playoffs, passed the off-season and 21 games into the 2011-2012 season. That’s how long it took Sid the Kid, to lose those post-concussion symptoms. But the wait was well worth it! A packed house at the Consol Center in Pittsburgh roared and soared when number 87 took the ice. If the true sign of a star is the level of performance when the most eyes are watching and the most pressure is on, then Crosby showed why he is the face and name of the league. Just 5:24 into his first game back, he swept around New York Islanders defenseman Andrew McDonald and lifted a top shelf shot past rookie goalie Anders Nilsson for the game’s first score. The Pittsburgh faithful erupted like Franco Harris had just carried the Immaculate Reception into the end zone again at now gone Three Rivers Stadium back on December 23rd of 1972. But the kid was just finding his groove. Later in the period he set up teammate Brook Orpik for the first of two assist, showing that while his mind might have been hazy for 10 months, his skills had simply just taken a long rest. He finished off the opening act of his return with an amazing back-hand goal to close out the scoring of a 5-0 win. Not only did Crosby live up to the hype on this much anticipated night but he surpassed it!

This wasn’t the 2010 Vancouver Olympics where he scored the winning goal for Team Canada in the gold medal match against the United States. That stage was indeed bigger and more important. The emotional stability of an entire country was riding on each shift from that night. But this wasn’t a neighbor pond match-up in the dead of winter either. Everyone wanted to see just how he’d react to contact and if his timing and aggressiveness were in need of more work. The kid passed with flying colors last night even if it was against an Islanders squad that’s only won twice over its last 10 outings. After that first goal when the outcome of the game was still to be decided, Crosby was caught on camera smiling with teammates as if to say, “I haven’t lost a thing”. Well that’s how the fans in Pittsburgh feel and that’s what NHL brass now knows. Sidney Crosby is back and with him comes the star power the sport of hockey needs.