Posts Tagged ‘andy mcdonald’




Weekend Sports Preview–ATP, Stanley Cup Playoffs, MLB

Friday, April 27th, 2012

David Perron (Matthieu Masquelet, Wikimedia Commons)

Round Two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs gets underway this weekend with the Conference Semi-Finals about to begin.

The series I will be most interested in is the St. Louis Blues and Los Angeles Kings. Can Darryl Sutter incorporate a similar game plan to shock the Blues like he did the Vancouver Canucks? The Blues looked great in beating the San Jose Sharks in five games and look even more dangerous in the playoffs than they did in the regular season because they are very healthy. Andy McDonald, Alexander Steen and David Perron, who all missed considerable time during the regular season, combined for 14 playoff points in five games.

As for the Kings, captain Dustin Brown was their best player against the Canucks. He led the team with five points and was very physical along the way.

Game one is Saturday night at 5:30pm on TSN. My pick is Blues in five.  Here are the other events I’ll be watching:

Saturday–ATP–Barcelona Open Semi-Finals–(3) David Ferrer–ESP vs. (11) Milos Raonic–CAN–5:30am–Sportsnet One–Milos Raonic won the match of his career on Friday, defeating Andy Murray of Great Britain in straight sets in the Barcelona Open quarterfinals. On Saturday, he will try and defeat another elite player in Spain’s David Ferrer. The Spaniard is 3-0 against Raonic including a victory in the fourth round of the Australian Open in 2011. Spaniards Fernando Verdasco is playing Rafael Nadal in the other semi-final.

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Posted in ATP World Tour, Home, MLB, More, NHL |

Weekend Sports Preview–Stanley Cup Playoffs & MLB

Saturday, April 21st, 2012

It’s amazing. The Los Angeles Kings have all of a sudden become Alberta’s team in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Almost hated by Edmonton Oiler fans 20 years ago because they acquired their superstar Wayne Gretzky, the Kings are having a strong following at the present time in Alberta by Oilers and Flames fans that just don’t want to see the Vancouver Canucks go far.

Sunday night at Rogers Arena, the President’s Trophy winning Canucks will try to prevent elimination as they will take on a Los Angeles Kings team up 3-1 in the Western Conference Quarterfinals. Game five can be seen Sunday night at 6pm on CBC.

Here are the other events I’ll be watching:

Saturday & Sunday–NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 5 & 6–Washington Capitals vs. Boston Bruins–NBC–1pm–With the series tied 2-2, the Capitals and Bruins will now play an abbreviated best-of-three to determine who goes on to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. Playing back-to-back games is difficult in the regular season, and I can’t imagine what it is like come playoff time where the mental intensity can be emotionally draining. Brian Rolston, who was acquired at the trade deadline from the New York Islanders, leads the Bruins in playoff scoring along with three points in four games.

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Posted in Home, MLB, NHL |

Blues and Predators impressive in Stanley Cup Playoffs

Wednesday, April 18th, 2012

I know we’re early into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but I don’t think anybody expected the results we’re getting so far.

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Vancouver Canucks are quite simply underperforming. More was expected and remarkably both teams could be eliminated from the entire playoffs as early as tonight.

Two favourites that are quietly going about their business however are the St. Louis Blues and Nashville Predators.

In St. Louis, goaltender Jaroslav Halak got injured in game two. No problem! Brian Elliott has been very impressive the last game and a half as the Blues have taken a 2-1 series lead. The Blues are also getting strong offensive production from players who were injured from major parts of the season–Andy McDonald, Alexander Steen and David Perron.

In Nashville, the Predators have actually been outplayed each and every game by the Red Wings, but find themselves up 3-1 thanks to the play of Pekka Rinne, who has made 83 saves over the last two games–two victories by Nashville in Detroit.

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Posted in Home |

Oilers sing the blues at home

Thursday, March 1st, 2012

The Edmonton Oilers failed to capitalize on their opportunities Wednesday night at Rexall Place.

Andy McDonald scored twice and Kevin Shattenkirk added a goal and two assists as the Blues defeated the Oilers 5-2.

I have become very impressed with the young defenceman Shattenkirk who the Blues acquired last year from the Colorado Avalanche with Chris Stewart for Erik Johnson and Jay McClement. Everytime I watch either the Avalanche or the Blues play these days, I am reminded of the deal, and how the Blues dominated the deal.

In the third period, Stewart, who is one of the top power forwards in the game, got by Taylor Hall with ease and forced a penalty shot, where he put the game out of reach.

Wednesday was the first time the Oilers got to see Yann Danis who came in for Devan Dubnyk, who was shaky. My primary concern with Danis, who leads the American Hockey League in goals against average, is his size. At 6’0″, 185 pounds, I felt he struggled at times to be intimidating.

The Oilers next play Friday against Dallas.

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Posted in NHL |