AAA - LaSalle 9 vs Pine Richland 1
AA - Greater Latrobe 3 vs Conestoga 2
A - W.C. East 3 vs Quaker Valley 2
Congratulations to all of the teams who won their respective tier championships. Two of the three winners (LaSalle and W.C. East)are Philadelphia teams. Eastern PA hockey seems to be stronger than Western PA hockey and I'm not quite sure why. For club teams, Pittsburgh AA is equivelant to Philly A. Judging by the results, the same is true for high school hockey. Hell, even in prep hockey it's like that. I'd like to see Shady Side Academy play LaSalle. Shady Side is a solid prep team from near Pitt, but they don't seem to have much luck when they come out to this side of the state or into Jersey. I don't think they've ever beaten Lawrenceville or Hill (Go Blues), but they don't get blown out by either team. LaSalle can play pretty evenly with both L-Ville and Hill, so it would probably be a pretty even game. That said, I'd also like to see them play Pine Richland and get a solid comparison that way.
On another note, the Frozen Four is next week. Semi-final games between B.C. and North Dakota, and Michigan and Notre Dame are on April 10, with the championship game being April 12. This will be some good hockey that ESPN should televise...watch a game if you get the chance, it's more enjoyable to watch than a lot of NHL games.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Get a clue, NBC
Does it bother anybody else that any time the Penguins are involved in the NHL on NBC game of the week, Sidney Crosby gets interviewed right before the game? I like Sid, but this is an example of why people do not like him. He gets way too much exposure. This isn't his fault, it is the NHL's and NBC's fault. They need to stop trying so hard to market him and maybe market some other players. Sooner or later, people are going to be tired of Crosby and just tune out. He is a very good player, but there are plenty of other good players in the NHL who could be interviewed. Also, I'd love to see teams not named Detroit, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia shown in the G.O.W. Look at NBC's broadcast schedule; those teams are always involved. People in Phoenix aren't going to become more interested in hockey by watching the same east coast teams playing all the time. If the NHL wants to reach small markets, which they have tried to do time and time again and failed miserably time and time again, maybe that is a place to start.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
The Heat is On
I don't think there has been a division in the history of the league that was as tight and evenly matched as the NHL's Northwest Division. As of this morning, here are the standings:
1 - Minnesota, 91 pts, 3rd in the conference
2 - Calgary, 90 pts, 5th in the conference
3 - Colorado, 88 pts, 7th in the conference
4 - Vancouver, 86 pts, 8th in the conference
5 - Edmonton, 83 pts, 10th in the conference
All of the teams have either four or five games remaining. The regular season ends on April 6th; between now and then, who knows how the standings in both the conference and the division could change. Keep in mind the leaders of each division get the top three spots in the conference, which also means home ice advantage in the first round. With mostly divisional games only left on the schedule, expect to see a lot of flip-flopping between these teams. Whoever finished eighth in the conference (the final playoff spot) will have a first round matchup with Detroit, who is 15-2-3 against Northwest divison teams this year. Ouch. Hopefully my beloved Avalanche don't have to play them, seeing how they scored only two goals against Detroit in four games this year. I'd like to see Colorado make a late push and overtake Minnesota for the third spot, because that will likely bring a first round matchup with Dallas, who Colorado has done fairly well against recently. As of now, they are facing a first round date with San Jose, who plays very tight defense and could cause problems for a Colorado team who tries to match their opponent's style of play rather than sticking to a consistent style. Stay tuned.
1 - Minnesota, 91 pts, 3rd in the conference
2 - Calgary, 90 pts, 5th in the conference
3 - Colorado, 88 pts, 7th in the conference
4 - Vancouver, 86 pts, 8th in the conference
5 - Edmonton, 83 pts, 10th in the conference
All of the teams have either four or five games remaining. The regular season ends on April 6th; between now and then, who knows how the standings in both the conference and the division could change. Keep in mind the leaders of each division get the top three spots in the conference, which also means home ice advantage in the first round. With mostly divisional games only left on the schedule, expect to see a lot of flip-flopping between these teams. Whoever finished eighth in the conference (the final playoff spot) will have a first round matchup with Detroit, who is 15-2-3 against Northwest divison teams this year. Ouch. Hopefully my beloved Avalanche don't have to play them, seeing how they scored only two goals against Detroit in four games this year. I'd like to see Colorado make a late push and overtake Minnesota for the third spot, because that will likely bring a first round matchup with Dallas, who Colorado has done fairly well against recently. As of now, they are facing a first round date with San Jose, who plays very tight defense and could cause problems for a Colorado team who tries to match their opponent's style of play rather than sticking to a consistent style. Stay tuned.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Division III
Congratulations to St. Norbert College from Wisconsin, who defeated Plattsburg State 2-0 in the NCAA Men's Division III national championship game yesterday.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Old Time Hockey
One of the most famous hockey photos of all time. In game seven of the first round in the 1952 playoffs, Montreal's Maurice "The Rocket" Richard was KO'd, only to return and score the winning goal in overtime against beat up Bruins goaltender "Sugar" Jim Henry. Look at the two of them, black eyed and bloodied, fierce rivals who just fought a seven game war on ice, yet still shaking hands. That photo speaks volumes. I think any big ego athlete today needs to look at that to see why people play sports.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Flyers Cup
CPIHL teams didn't fare too well in the Flyers Cup...not a big surprise. I think LaSalle will take the AAA crown...if you want to see good PA high school hockey, that is the team to watch.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Quoteworthy
"Too bad sense eludes so many otherwise-sane Americans who have been brainwashed by the win-at-all-costs crusade. At the end of the day, whether we're talking about recruiting battles, high school championships or Little League games, the only thing that seems to matter to many people is the W."
That was written by Mary Buckheit of espn.com about the 8 overtime high school state championship game in Michigan that was declared a 1-1 draw for several reasons, with the biggest concern being that some players were no longer sweating from being so dehydrated. Some people commenting on the game were disgusted that no winner was declared despite the fact that the players on the ice could barely stand. It is a good article worth reading that makes some good points.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=buckheit/080314
That was written by Mary Buckheit of espn.com about the 8 overtime high school state championship game in Michigan that was declared a 1-1 draw for several reasons, with the biggest concern being that some players were no longer sweating from being so dehydrated. Some people commenting on the game were disgusted that no winner was declared despite the fact that the players on the ice could barely stand. It is a good article worth reading that makes some good points.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=buckheit/080314
Sunday, March 16, 2008
The Bears...
...are not playing very well at all. They had a pretty bad nine game road trip that ended Friday night on a high note with a 5-3 win in Philadelphia, but they then came home and lost two games against Manitoba, 5-0 and 3-1. They just didn't look good at all. Granted, they are missing a fair amount of important players, but it is easy to see why they are sliding. They better turn this around by the playoffs.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Rough Stuff
This may be my favorite fight that there is a video of. Too bad there aren't more like this. Too much defensive fighting now and most of it is within the first ten minutes of the game.
Regional NHL teams
The Flyers lost both games of a home and home with Toronto, including one in which they were up 3-0 in the 3rd period. I love it.
The Capitals had a big come from behind win over Calgary last night, but unfortunately Carolina also won, continuing their hot streak. I don't think the Caps can catch them. They're 7 points behind with roughly a dozen games left to play for each team. Their best bet for the playoffs is to hope either the Flyers or Bruins go ice cold for the last 12 or so games and that they go on a tear and can sneak into one of the last playoff spots. They're only 5 points behind the Flyers and 6 behind the Bruins, who are the 8th and 7th seeds in the East, respectively.
The Penguins beat Buffalo in a weird one. It was 3-0 Pens going into the 3rd. The final score was 7-3 Pens. Seven combined goals in the third period. Wow. What is even more amazing is that Buffalo had two disallowed goals and hit the post. It could have been much closer than 7-3.
If the playoffs started today, the 1-8 matchup in the East would be Flyers and Penguins. What a series that would be. I kind of wish they started today just for that reason.
The Capitals had a big come from behind win over Calgary last night, but unfortunately Carolina also won, continuing their hot streak. I don't think the Caps can catch them. They're 7 points behind with roughly a dozen games left to play for each team. Their best bet for the playoffs is to hope either the Flyers or Bruins go ice cold for the last 12 or so games and that they go on a tear and can sneak into one of the last playoff spots. They're only 5 points behind the Flyers and 6 behind the Bruins, who are the 8th and 7th seeds in the East, respectively.
The Penguins beat Buffalo in a weird one. It was 3-0 Pens going into the 3rd. The final score was 7-3 Pens. Seven combined goals in the third period. Wow. What is even more amazing is that Buffalo had two disallowed goals and hit the post. It could have been much closer than 7-3.
If the playoffs started today, the 1-8 matchup in the East would be Flyers and Penguins. What a series that would be. I kind of wish they started today just for that reason.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Hockey or Soccer??
There were five 1-0 games in the NHL last week, culminated by the Rangers 1-0 shootout win over Boston on Sunday. It seems like there are more 1-0 games than ever before in the NHL this year, including the 2003-04 season when scoring was at the lowest level since the original expansion in 1967. This is not good for hockey. I am not one of those people who thinks every game needs to be 8-5, and that said, I am not an advocate of bigger nets. However, there needs to be more than 1 goal scored in a game. If games aren't 1-0, many of them are 2-1 or 3-2 in overtime or a shootout, and many of these games are very predictable. How can the NHL increase scoring (6 goals combined seems to be the popular consensus amongst experts such as Barry Melrose and Damian Cox for the average number of goals there should be in a game) without doing something as drastic as making the nets bigger? Here are my thoughts.
The style of play needs to be changed. That's the bottom line. During the lockout 04-05 season, one of the new rules that was adapted was eliminating two line passes, which was supposed to eliminate the trap. It worked for about half a season. Then teams discovered the 1-2-2, which isn't too hard to break, but many teams now play the 1-4, which has one passive forechecker in the offensive zone and the remaining four players stacked across the defensive blue line. This is almost impossible to skate through, so teams have to dump and chase. If this doesn't work, then more often than not the defending team sets up a controlled breakout, the team that dumped the puck in sets up their own trap, and we go the other way. If they do manage to get into the zone and get set up, then they are often confined to passing around the perimeter as the other team clusters all five players in the slot around the goaltender. The attacking team has to take an outside shot that either gets blocked, or is a routine save for the goaltender. There is a slight chance that the puck will grow a set of eyes and find its way into the net, but this happens maybe one out of 70 shots. This is what happens in most of the 1-0 games. There are a lot of shots (The Islanders took 53 on Florida in their 1-0 loss last week) but most of the shots could have been stopped by a pee-wee. There are very few good scoring chances and no rebounds or sustained pressure around the net.
I don't understand why teams refuse to play aggressive. You don't want to be overly aggressive, but what's wrong with a 3 man forecheck with the third guy staying high in the zone? I can't tell you how many times I've seen a puck squirt into the high slot begging to be blasted on goal or passed to a forechecker for a one timer, but nobody is there because teams are in their precious trap. Anaheim beat Detroit in the playoffs last year in OT in one of the later games in the series because they suddenly played a very aggressive forecheck, caused a turnover, and scored. Why don't teams do this for the entire game??? Sure, you might give up an odd man rush, but I will give up a 3 on 2 all day long. Half the time they are broken up at the blue line, 47% of the time the goalie makes the save or the shot misses the net, and MAYBE 3% of the time the team scores. If the third forechecker stays high in the zone like he is supposed to, then he can get back and tie the third attacker up before one of the other players can drop a pass to him or a good rebound chance emerges. Trapping just doesn't make sense to me.
The Western Conference is much worse about this than the Eastern Conference. In the east, if there is going to be 1-0 game, there is a 99.9% chance that Florida, Boston, New Jersey, or the Rangers are involved. All of those teams have trouble scoring but have coaches who preach defense first and play the aforementioned 1-4 trap and clogging the slot frequently. Most other Eastern Conference teams like to play a little more open style of play though. If you look at the scoring averages for the league, the average goals scored per game is about 2.7. There are six Eastern Conference teams below this number. Four of them are the teams mentioned in the last paragraph. However, the average number of goals per game in the East is 2.8, and would probably be closer to 2.9 if not for the four horrifically boring teams I mentioned. However, in the West, the average goals scored per game is only 2.6 This is terrible. Western Conference games are painful to watch because they are chess matches on a regular basis. Very rarely are they run and gun. There are low shot totals, which often results in low goal totals. Much of the game is played in the neutral zone. Calgary, Chicago, and Nashville are the only teams who are fairly entertaining. Detroit can score, but they play such oppressive defense that unless you are a Wings fan, you get so pissed off watching them do nothing but run controlled breakouts, trap, block shots and play puck possession that you have to turn the game off.
So the first step is to convince teams to stop the controlled breakouts, trapping, and clogging the slot and play a little more run and gun and a little less chess. Step number two is to reduce the size of goalie equipment. This is a HUGE problem. Look at a goalie from 1980 and a goalie today. Goalies say that they need to be better protected, which is true, but I think it is possible to have ample protection with today's technology without having the goalies look like robo cops. The chest protectors are the first thing that has to be downsized. They're beyond gigantic. The pads are second. I was a goalie up until 2005 so I know the tricks. The NHL has to ban +3, etc. additions to the top of pads and force goalies to wear the correct size pad. Look at Henrik Lundqvist. A goalie pad is supposed to have 6 inches of pad above the middle of the knee. His pads have 9 inches. This is a legal way of cheating. With those extra 3 inches on each pad, a goalie can have a wider butterfly but still cover the 5 hole. Almost every goalie has these oversized pads, and I've seen quite a few pucks hit those extra inches during a game. There go a bunch of goals every year. Ten inch wide pads need to be reintroduced too. This was the legal size limit until 1990. They then increased it to 12 inches, and then in 2005 reduced it to 11. I don't think every goalie complies to this rule, though. When the Sharks were in Philly the other week, Evgeni Nabokov's pads looked wider than 11 inches. They should also eliminate the cheater on the catching glove. If goalies are such good athletes, make them show their true reflexes. I can't tell you how many shots I stopped with my glove by getting a piece of the puck with the cheater. One practice just for the hell of it I played with a glove from about 1985, which is when the cheater was a new concept but was still much smaller than it is today. I got absolutely lit up on the glove side with the smaller glove. So NHL, grow a set and crack down on the goalies. While the style of play is a big reason scoring is so low, the size of goalies is just as big of a reason.
The NHL will not attract new fans in the States by being played like soccer, but that is what's happening. So Mike Babcock, Randy Carlyle, Jaques Demares, Lou Lamouriello, Tom Renney, Claude Julien et al., please ditch your incredibly boring defensive, "responsible" systems and try to entertain people. Professional sports are part of the entertainment business. 1-0 hockey games are not entertaining 99% of the time. Predictable 2-1 games are not entertaining. Fans shouldn't pay $80 for a ticket to be bored to death. Please, for the sake of the damn game, switch things up and have the game look like it did in Gretzky's hey day.
The style of play needs to be changed. That's the bottom line. During the lockout 04-05 season, one of the new rules that was adapted was eliminating two line passes, which was supposed to eliminate the trap. It worked for about half a season. Then teams discovered the 1-2-2, which isn't too hard to break, but many teams now play the 1-4, which has one passive forechecker in the offensive zone and the remaining four players stacked across the defensive blue line. This is almost impossible to skate through, so teams have to dump and chase. If this doesn't work, then more often than not the defending team sets up a controlled breakout, the team that dumped the puck in sets up their own trap, and we go the other way. If they do manage to get into the zone and get set up, then they are often confined to passing around the perimeter as the other team clusters all five players in the slot around the goaltender. The attacking team has to take an outside shot that either gets blocked, or is a routine save for the goaltender. There is a slight chance that the puck will grow a set of eyes and find its way into the net, but this happens maybe one out of 70 shots. This is what happens in most of the 1-0 games. There are a lot of shots (The Islanders took 53 on Florida in their 1-0 loss last week) but most of the shots could have been stopped by a pee-wee. There are very few good scoring chances and no rebounds or sustained pressure around the net.
I don't understand why teams refuse to play aggressive. You don't want to be overly aggressive, but what's wrong with a 3 man forecheck with the third guy staying high in the zone? I can't tell you how many times I've seen a puck squirt into the high slot begging to be blasted on goal or passed to a forechecker for a one timer, but nobody is there because teams are in their precious trap. Anaheim beat Detroit in the playoffs last year in OT in one of the later games in the series because they suddenly played a very aggressive forecheck, caused a turnover, and scored. Why don't teams do this for the entire game??? Sure, you might give up an odd man rush, but I will give up a 3 on 2 all day long. Half the time they are broken up at the blue line, 47% of the time the goalie makes the save or the shot misses the net, and MAYBE 3% of the time the team scores. If the third forechecker stays high in the zone like he is supposed to, then he can get back and tie the third attacker up before one of the other players can drop a pass to him or a good rebound chance emerges. Trapping just doesn't make sense to me.
The Western Conference is much worse about this than the Eastern Conference. In the east, if there is going to be 1-0 game, there is a 99.9% chance that Florida, Boston, New Jersey, or the Rangers are involved. All of those teams have trouble scoring but have coaches who preach defense first and play the aforementioned 1-4 trap and clogging the slot frequently. Most other Eastern Conference teams like to play a little more open style of play though. If you look at the scoring averages for the league, the average goals scored per game is about 2.7. There are six Eastern Conference teams below this number. Four of them are the teams mentioned in the last paragraph. However, the average number of goals per game in the East is 2.8, and would probably be closer to 2.9 if not for the four horrifically boring teams I mentioned. However, in the West, the average goals scored per game is only 2.6 This is terrible. Western Conference games are painful to watch because they are chess matches on a regular basis. Very rarely are they run and gun. There are low shot totals, which often results in low goal totals. Much of the game is played in the neutral zone. Calgary, Chicago, and Nashville are the only teams who are fairly entertaining. Detroit can score, but they play such oppressive defense that unless you are a Wings fan, you get so pissed off watching them do nothing but run controlled breakouts, trap, block shots and play puck possession that you have to turn the game off.
So the first step is to convince teams to stop the controlled breakouts, trapping, and clogging the slot and play a little more run and gun and a little less chess. Step number two is to reduce the size of goalie equipment. This is a HUGE problem. Look at a goalie from 1980 and a goalie today. Goalies say that they need to be better protected, which is true, but I think it is possible to have ample protection with today's technology without having the goalies look like robo cops. The chest protectors are the first thing that has to be downsized. They're beyond gigantic. The pads are second. I was a goalie up until 2005 so I know the tricks. The NHL has to ban +3, etc. additions to the top of pads and force goalies to wear the correct size pad. Look at Henrik Lundqvist. A goalie pad is supposed to have 6 inches of pad above the middle of the knee. His pads have 9 inches. This is a legal way of cheating. With those extra 3 inches on each pad, a goalie can have a wider butterfly but still cover the 5 hole. Almost every goalie has these oversized pads, and I've seen quite a few pucks hit those extra inches during a game. There go a bunch of goals every year. Ten inch wide pads need to be reintroduced too. This was the legal size limit until 1990. They then increased it to 12 inches, and then in 2005 reduced it to 11. I don't think every goalie complies to this rule, though. When the Sharks were in Philly the other week, Evgeni Nabokov's pads looked wider than 11 inches. They should also eliminate the cheater on the catching glove. If goalies are such good athletes, make them show their true reflexes. I can't tell you how many shots I stopped with my glove by getting a piece of the puck with the cheater. One practice just for the hell of it I played with a glove from about 1985, which is when the cheater was a new concept but was still much smaller than it is today. I got absolutely lit up on the glove side with the smaller glove. So NHL, grow a set and crack down on the goalies. While the style of play is a big reason scoring is so low, the size of goalies is just as big of a reason.
The NHL will not attract new fans in the States by being played like soccer, but that is what's happening. So Mike Babcock, Randy Carlyle, Jaques Demares, Lou Lamouriello, Tom Renney, Claude Julien et al., please ditch your incredibly boring defensive, "responsible" systems and try to entertain people. Professional sports are part of the entertainment business. 1-0 hockey games are not entertaining 99% of the time. Predictable 2-1 games are not entertaining. Fans shouldn't pay $80 for a ticket to be bored to death. Please, for the sake of the damn game, switch things up and have the game look like it did in Gretzky's hey day.
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