“We Want the Cup!”-New York Rangers Eastern Conference Champions!

One piece of the Stanley Cup Finals picture is in place officially. The New York Rangers defeated the Montreal Canadiens in 6 games to advance to their first Stanley Cup Final in 20 years. This match-up had its fair share of storylines...

Game 1: Montreal goaltender Carey Price gets injured in an accidental collision with New York’s Chris Kreider. The Bell Centre and home team get news that Price is out for the entire series with knee injury. No punishment is issued to Kreider, and sentiments about the hit sway towards venom as the prognosis is revealed. Coach Therrien of Montreal even accuses the young Ranger of running into Price recklessly.

Peter Budaj is placed in net to continue the game. The New York Rangers offense sparks to life for 7 goals. Montreal taken out of game mentally by loss of Price and cannot respond.  Final Score: 7-2 New York

Game 2: Goaltender for the AHL’s Montreal affiliate the Hamilton Bulldogs’- Dustin Tokarski-makes NHL playoff debut in net.  The game is tense as the Canadiens are out for retribution. Benoit Pouliot of New York adds more fuel to the already driven home team by delivering a hard hit to Alexei Emelin. Pouliot is punished for 2 minutes for boarding. Anger blinds the Canadiens though as they fail to get past the aggressive offense that they encountered in Game 1. Led By Martin St. Louis, the Rangers play a great team game and go on to take a 2-0 series lead. Final Score: 3-1 New York

Game 3: The Conference Finals series shifted back to Madison Square Garden. Former New York Ranger Brandon Prust started the night off by delivering a hit to Derek Stepan of New York that broke his jaw. No initial call during the game. The refs’ blindness to the hit led to agitation from the Rangers’ bench. Derek Dorsett exchanged blows with Prust while Daniel Carcillo stood by as a spectator. Linesman Scott Driscoll tried to pull Carcillo away from the confrontation only to get hit by the feisty forward. Consequently, the linesman gave the Ranger a game misconduct, which led to a suspension. The absence of New York agitator Daniel Carcillo led to Montreal trying to be more brazen on the ice. P.K. Subban was especially guilty, slew footing Dorsett and slashing at New York Rangers’ sticks at every opportunity.   At times the refs were not even cognizant of the additional players the Canadiens had on the ice, which should have been a penalty if caught.  Despite all the play away from the net, there was a close offensive contest taking place. Tied at 2 goals, the game went into an overtime the Canadiens quickly ended with a goal from Alex Galchenyuk. The series was now 2-1 New York. Final Score:    3-2 Montreal

Game 4: Following the behavior in the game before, the Canadiens were short Brandon Prust-who was serving a 2 game suspension for the hit on Stepan- and the New York Rangers were without Derek Stepan (broken jaw) and Daniel Carcillo (10 game ban for abuse of officials). John Moore and J.T. Miller stepped into the line-up for New York. It was another close contest as the New York Rangers had to battle the opposing team as well as themselves to get a positive result. The refs were calling a lot of penalties on the Rangers, putting them on the defensive for at least 8 times during regulation time.  For all the penalty killing and embellishment on Montreal’s part, the game went into overtime with the Canadiens and Rangers tied at 2. Unlike Game 3, overtime would belong to New York this time as Martin St. Louis got the puck past Dustin Tokarski. With a 3-1 series lead, New York could advance if they just won one more game.  Final Score: 3-2 New York

Game 5: The series clincher is always the hardest game to win in a playoff series. Game 5 proved this as Montreal put on a clinic on how to get past New York goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. The returning Derek Stepan-complete with helmet cage- bolstered the spirit of the Rangers early on, but the goal blitz would soon undo that. Rene Bourque of Montreal would get a hat trick, scoring 3 times on Lundqvist. The Rangers would come within one of the 5-4 lead late in the third only to fall 7-4 in the Bell Centre. To make matters worse, John Moore would receive a 5-minute major and 2 game ban for his hit Dale Weise of the Canadiens; Dale would be later diagnosed with a concussion. With the series at 3-2 New York, Montreal now had the psychological edge with the potential to force a Game 7 at Madison Square Garden. Final Score: 7-4 Montreal    

Game 6: Montreal would get agitator Brandon Prust back the same time as New York would lose John Moore for two games. To replace the suspended John Moore, Former Canadien Raphael Diaz took his place in the Rangers’ line-up. This game was as close as the Game 3 and Game 4 tilts were. New York started the game out-shooting the Canadiens 11-1. The Rangers were determined to finish the series that night as any edge they had would vanish under a Game 7 in the Bell Centre. Henrik Lundqvist put on a stellar performance in net, making save after exciting save. The lone goal in this shut-out victory for New York came from Dominic Moore- a returning Ranger who resumed his career after a year and a half of dealing with a personal issue. The New York Rangers held onto the 1-0 lead till the end of the game. This win not only gave the Rangers the right to face the Western Conference Champions for the Stanley Cup, It was also Henrik Lundqvist’s 42^nd playoff victory and 9^th playoff shut-out. Final Score: 1-0 New York  

The Western Conference is still being decided as of press time. The finals start June 4^th, 2014.

 
Sources used: www.nhl.com, NBC Sports Network broadcasts of the 2014 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs

Battle for Conference Supremacy: Round 3 of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs

Much like the prior rounds, the suspense builds in the tournament for the Stanley Cup.  Water became a source of controversy when Shawn Thornton of the Boston Bruins squirted P.K. Subban of the Montreal Canadiens from his spot on the bench and the New Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist used his water bottle against the persistent Pittsburgh Penguins squad at the end of the second period in game 6.  In addition to fines, the National Hockey League issued a two-game-suspension to Chicago Blackhawks’ Brandon Bollig after a boarding incident involving Keith Ballard of the Minnesota Wild during game 4 of their playoff series. Other in-game misbehavior included Matt Cooke (already suspended for Round 1 kneeing incident) boarding Chicago’s Johnny Oduya, an action that may have warranted punishment had Minnesota advanced. However, not all news was negative as heroes emerged when needed, such as Anaheim Ducks goaltender John Gibson.

Round 3 decides who goes to the Finals. The best of the Atlantic and Metropolitan Divisions from the East square off as do the lone representatives of the Central and Pacific counterparts in the West.  These match-ups are entertaining and test the teams that have endured grueling series in prior rounds. The storylines to follow: 1. Kentucky Derby winning horse California Chrome may not be the only California-named newsmaker with title aspirations as the Los Angeles Kings of the Pacific Division set their sights on their opponents the Chicago Blackhawks; 2. This “Original 6” Eastern conference match-up is going to generate headlines as the Montreal Canadiens face off against the New York Rangers.

To recap the Western Conference:

The Central Division

Wild Card-Minnesota Wild

#3-Chicago Blackhawks-won series in 6 games

The Pacific Division

#1-Anaheim Ducks

#3-Los Angeles Kings- won series in 7 games

Here’s how the Eastern Conference fared:

The Atlantic Division

#1-Boston Bruins

#3-Montreal Canadiens- won series in 7 games

The Metropolitan Division

#1-Pittsburgh Penguins

#2-New York Rangers- won series in 7 games

Round 3 is underway

*Sources: www.nhl.com

Then There were 8: Round 2 of the 2014 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs

The journey for the richest prize in the National Hockey League (NHL) has begun. Along the first round, fans have seen thrilling overtime victories and great team play. There have also been very passionate rivalries that get only more heated by the post-season intensity. Matt Cooke and Brent Seabrook have each faced disciplinary hearings for hard hits that resulted in St. Louis’ David Backes being charged into the boards (Seabrook) and The Colorado Avalanche being short defenseman Tyson Barrie due to a knee injury (Cooke). Wild Card entrants gave the tops in their conference some serious competition, but three of the four fell short of achieving a round 1 series victory. Three match-ups went to game 7.

Round 2 means the field of 16 teams has been reduced to 8. Each match-up takes place within the division set-up that the first round used. The plots to follow during this part of the NHL Playoffs:  1.Rivalries will intensify as the winner of this bracket goes on to the conference finals (see Boston Bruins versus the Montreal Canadiens); 2. California will be showcased as the Anaheim Ducks draw the L.A. Kings for their next opponent; 3. The Pittsburgh Penguins advance to the next round and will face the New York Rangers; 4. Last year’s Stanley Cup Champions the Chicago Blackhawks are back on the road(they hope) to their next trophy as they play the Minnesota Wild; 5. There will be no jet lag for the teams and no late nights for the fans as each match-up takes place within the same time zone

Round 2 is underway.

*Sources used: www.nhl.com

Presenting the Western Conference updated brackets:

Central Division

#1-Colorado Avalanche

Wild Card- Minnesota Wild-won series in 7 games

#2- St. Louis Blues

#3-Chicago Blackhawks-won series  in 6 games

                                                                                               

Pacific Division

#1-Anaheim Ducks-won series in 6 games

Wild Card-Dallas Stars

#2-San Jose Sharks

#3-Los Angeles Kings-won series in 7 games

And now for The Eastern Conference :

The Metropolitan Division

#1-Pittsburgh Penguins- won series in 6 games

Wild Card-Columbus Blue Jackets

#2-New York Rangers-won series in 7 games

#3-Philadelphia Flyers

Atlantic Division

#1-Boston Bruins-won series in 5 games

Wild Card-Detroit Red Wings

#2-Tampa Bay Lightning

#3-Montreal Canadiens- won series in 4 games

 

Patrick Sharp of the Chicago Blackhawks