The Los Angeles Kings are starting to play with the same sort of confidence that won them the Stanley Cup last season.
On Friay night in southern California, the Kings defeated the St. Louis Blues 2-1 to win he series 4-2. Former Edmonton Oiler Dustin Penner scored the game winning goal with two tenths of a second left in the second period to break a 1-1 deadlock.
The Kings will now face either the San Jose Sharks or the Anaheim Ducks in the second round. If Detroit eliminates Anaheim in game seven, the Kings will play the Sharks. However if Anaheim wins, the Kings will play the Ducks.
One of the funnies quotes in the Stanley Cup Playoffs came before the game from Kings head coach Darryl Sutter. When asked about Kings’ defenceman Robyn Regehr’s broken nose, Sutter said the following:
“Yeah, he got hit in the nose again. It was broke, so he can’t re-broke it.”
The Los Angeles Kings have won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
Dustin Brown scored a goal and two assists as the Kings defeated the New Jersey Devils 6-1 to win the Stanley Cup Finals 4-2.
Now it is your turn. Please comment below what Los Angeles you are most happy for by winning the Stanley Cup.
Is it Darryl Sutter, who controversially was fired by the Calgary Flames after a solid run as Head Coach and General Manager?
Was it Dustin Penner, who signed a contract that many questioned in Edmonton, and flourished on the Kings second line with Mike Richards and Jeff Carter?
Was it Mike Richards, Simon Gagne and Drew Doughty who have now won an Olympic Gold medal and Stanley Cup?
The New Jersey Devils are in the Stanley Cup Finals for the fifth time in franchise history.
Friday night, Calder Trophy candidate Adam Henrique scored at 1:03 of overtime to give the Devils a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers to win the Eastern Conference Finals 4-2.
Ilya Kovalchuk, the $11 million man next season, scored a goal and an assist for the Devils on six shots on net.
Kovalchuk still tends to be very one dimensional however. He was all alone on the Devils power play and easily scored on Henrik Lundqvist to put the Devils up 2-0 at the time. But he is still not one of the better defensive players on the team.
It’s a good thing that everybody else on the team is playing sound defense. The Devils and Kings are very similar in these playoffs because they have bought into the team approach set by respective coaches Peter DeBoer and Darryl Sutter and have played a fundamental, simple game plan in the postseason so far.
It will be interesting to see what team breaks first when the Stanley Cup Final starts Wednesday.
Prior to the game Los Angeles Kings Head Coach Darryl Sutter said there were five key ingredients in order to win the Stanley Cup A) You need great goaltending, B) Your star players need to be at their best, C) You need to be disciplined, D) Your special teams need to be strong, and E) You need unsung heroes.
Thursday night in Los Angeles, the Kings continued to get a solid performance by an unsung hero. Dwight King, who only scored five goals in the 2011-12 regular season, scored his fifth goal in the playoffs as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Phoenix Coyotes 2-1 to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the best of seven Western Conference Final. King’s goal was the game winner, his second straight game winner in fact, as he also opened the scoring in Los Angeles’ shutout win in game two.
I think it is safe to say that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman might be sleeping well at night. Why? Well, he is finally about to sell the Phoenix Coyotes and the two teams in the largest American markets are leading their respective conference finals.
The Los Angeles Kings lead the Phoenix Coyotes 1-0 in their best-out-of-seven series after their 4-2 win on Sunday night. The Kings continue to play flawless in these playoffs, especially on the road, where they are a remarkable 6-0. Dwight King scored twice and Dustin Brown scored the game winner. I know Darryl Sutter did a masterful job coaching the Flames in 2004, but he is doing equally a sensational job in southern California. Los Angeles outshot Phoenix 17-4 in the first period, as the Kings took the Coyotes fans out of the game early.
Meanwhile on the American east coast, Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers made 21 saves for a 3-0 game one win over New Jersey. The Rangers got all three goals in the third period, including a goal by Dan Girardi 53 seconds in which turned out to be the game winner. The Rangers must also be excited about the play of Chris Kreider who scored on the power play.
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.
The Toronto Maple Leafs after days of speculation, have fired head coach Ron Wilson Friday night and named Randy Carlyle his replacement effective immediately.
The Maple Leafs have slumped significantly in the Eastern Conference in going 1-8-1 in their last ten games, and sliding out of the playoff picture. They are currently five points back of the eighth place Winnipeg Jets.
At 29-28-7, they have lost four straight and are in danger of missing the playoffs for the seventh straight season.
A major reason for Toronto’s struggles has been their poor defensive coverage and goaltending. Currently Toronto has given up the third most goals in the NHL at 200. Only Columbus (212) and Tampa Bay (216) have given up more goals this season.
In Carlyle, Maple Leafs General Manager Brian Burke is trying to rekindle the magic of the 2007 Stanley Cup winning Anaheim Ducks, where Burke and Carlyle had their ultimate success.
But if Leaf fans are expecting Burke will repeat success in Toronto like he did in Anaheim and making Vancouver a legitimate contender, they must be running out of patience.
Burke is becoming a lot like Darryl Sutter during his latter stages in Calgary. Now the question is how long will MLSE allow Burke to bring in people he has had success with in the past in an effort to save his job?
On a side note, thank God I’m not a reporter in Toronto. On Christmas Day, Burke had a press conference signing Wilson to a contract extension, only to fire him just over two months later. Many members of the Toronto media were bitter that they had to work Christmas Day, only to see Wilson not even last this season.
The Los Angeles Kings defeated the Calgary Flames 4-1 Saturday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome in a game loaded with unique storylines.
In this particular game you had Brent Sutter coach for the Flames against his brother Darryl, who coaches the Kings. When the two worked in Calgary, with Brent as the head coach and Darryl as the general manager, they had somewhat of a rocky relationship.
You also had the return of forward Michael Cammalleri, who was traded to Calgary from Montreal for Rene Bourque this week. Cammalleri scored the only Flames goal, his tenth of the season.
After a scoreless first period, the Kings jumped out to a 3-0 lead on goals by Anze Kopitar, Mike Richards and Matt Greene.
Kings forward Dustin Penner was back in the lineup after suffering back spasms from eating his wife’s pancakes.
In other Flames news, General Manager Jay Feaster cleared up why Cammalleri wasn’t told immediately where he had been traded on Thursday night. According to CBC, the reason is Feaster didn’t want to make the trade official until the Flames’ game against Anaheim started so Bourque could serve one extra game of his five game suspension. This was a very classy move by Feaster that should strengthen his relationship with other General Managers in the National Hockey League.
It’s that time again folks – we’re back with a fresh episode of everyone’s favorite internet sports show: 15 Minutes of Fame!
This week on the show we’re talking about another concussion-filled week in the NHL, and going through the list of hired and fired coaches from around the league. As well, we react to the big news from last week in the CFL: The Edmonton Eskimos traded quarterback Ricky Ray, the face of the franchise, to the Toronto Argonauts.
In the GABBYs: Derek Jeter, Tebowing, Patrick Chan, the National Basketball League, fighting in hockey, Jerry Sandusky’s lawyers. The Punchline this week is the washrooms at the MTS Centre!
The Edmonton Oilers might have deserved a better fate on Saturday night, but in the end, lost 3-2 to the San Jose Sharks.
With the game tied at 2, Patrick Marleau scored the game winner on the power play.With the loss, the Oilers fall below the .500 mark at 14-15-3 and are now six points back of the Dallas Stars for a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
The next game for the Oilers is Monday night when they host the Detroit Red Wings.
Speaking of the Red Wings, it might be the worst time of year for the Oilers to play Detroit this season. That’s because the Red Wings were motoring on all cylinders last night in an 8-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings. Rookie Cory Emmerton led the Red Wings with two goals and one assist.
After the game, there was speculation in the hockey world that the Los Angeles Kings were to name former Calgary Flames Head Coach and General Manager Darryl Sutter as their new head coach, replacing the interim John Stevens.
The Red Wings were not the only team to score eight times Saturday night. The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabres 8-3, as Evgeni Malkin posted three goals and two assists, all without Sidney Crosby.
The Calgary Flames are now in search for a new head coach for their American Hockey League affiliate in Abbotsford.
On Monday, Jim Playfair was named the associate coach of the Phoenix Coyotes. Playfair, will be assisting Dave Tippett, who won the 2010 Jack Adams Award for NHL Coach of the Year.
Playfair is replacing Ulf Samuelsson, who was named as the head coach of Modo in the Swedish Elite League on May 2.
Playfair spent the last two seasons as the head coach for the Abbotsford Heat. He had a record of 77-61-22.
Prior to that, Playfair was the head coach of the Flames for the 2006-07 season, posting a record of 43-29-10. That year, the Flames finished 3rd in the Northwest Division, and eighth in the Western Conference, where they lost to the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference Quarterfinal 4-2.
From 2002-06, Playfair was the Flames’ assistant coach under Darryl Sutter and from 2007-09, was the Flames’ associate coach under Mike Keenan.
Over the last two seasons, the Coyotes have been one of the most remarkable stories of the National Hockey League. Despite all of the turmoil surrounding the future of the franchise, they have gone 93-51-20 in the last two seasons. However, the Coyotes have not equated their regular season success to playoff success, as they have lost each year to the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference Quarterfinals.
The Calgary Flames are only one point out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference Standings.
Sunday night in Denver, the Calgary Flames defeated the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 to pull within one point of the eighth place Chicago Blackhawks.
Olli Jokinen scored the opening goal for the Flames in the second period and Alex Tanguay scored the game winning goal for the Flames in the third. Veteran Milan Hejduk replied for Colorado. It interesting that it was the two players that former General Manager Darryl Sutter was criticized the most in the offseason for acquiring that contributed the most Sunday.
The Flames got help Sunday night from the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning shutout the Blackhawks 2-0 on a shutout by Mike Smith.
Calgary improves to 40-29-11 and Colorado falls to 29-41-8.
I’d also like to get your opinion on what you think. This evening Dallas beat Anaheim 4-3. With the win Dallas remains two points back of Calgary, while Anaheim remains two points ahead of Calgary in seventh place in the West. Flames play-by-play announcer Peter Loubardias stated that the Stars win helps the Flames. I don’t think so. I think Calgary needs to be more concerned with Dallas and Chicago if they hope to make the playoffs. The Stars and Blackhawks both have two games in hand on the Flames, while the Ducks have one.
It’s 15 Minutes of Fame for this week and Jim is in Mexico so it makes him a little hard to hear!
This week the boys talk a lot about the National Hockey League’s trade deadline. There have been lots of trades and the boys wonder if the Edmonton Oilers are going to get in on any of them.
Then in the GABBYs: On the good side – the resurgence of the Calgary Flames, the National Football League enters into mediated negotiations with the NFL players association and Peter Forsberg retires gracefully.
On the bad side: Peter Forsberg retires! Tiger Woods can’t do anything right and will the Canadian Soccer Association please pay the women players?
Check it out!
Lot’s more after the jump. Click “continue reading.” ———————> (more…)
Jim and Geoffrey talk this week about the Edmonton Oilers, and Taylor Hall. They then talk about the Calgary Flames and Darryl Sutter’s resignation as the general manager with that team. Then they finish up the first part of this week’s episode with a lively debate on Chris Osgood’s potential of becoming a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
In this week’s GABBYs – the UCONN women’s basketball team, Ryan Whitney and Santa Clause. On the bad side – Rex Ryan is in trouble, the weather has been trouble and fans are causing trouble.
In Quick Hits: Michael Vick’s MVP chnaces, the hockey World Junior Championship, Dwayne Roloson and the Governor of Pennsylvania says the US is a nation of “wusses.” Also: Thanks again to YouTube for the great screenshot where it looks like I’m really, really into Jim’s eyes.
Check it out:
Lot’s more after the jump. Click “continue reading.” ———————> (more…)
The Los Angeles Kings are starting to play with the same sort of confidence that won them the Stanley Cup last season.
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