The Edmonton Oilers have added a checking line forward in their efforts to make the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
On the day of the National Hockey League trade deadline, the Oilers picked up Jerred Smithson from the Florida Panthers for a fourth line pick.
Don’t expect too much from Smithson. The veteran only has two goals and three assists this season. However, he does provide valuable leadership, playoff experience from his days with the Nashville Predators and can play center, something important when you consider the fact the Oilers have been dreadful all season in taking faceoffs.
In 578 career games, Smithson has 38 goals and 57 assists for 95 points.
Smithson also has strong Alberta roots having played for the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League from 1995-2000.
Henrik Lundqvist (Robert Kowal, Wikimedia Commons)
The 2012 NHL Award Ceremony takes place tonight in Las Vegas with Nickelback performing.
Let’s see how well I do:
HART–The question here is should the Hart Trophy go to a goalie? The answer this season is yes. Henrik Lundqvist was the primary reason the New York Rangers led the Eastern Conference in points. You can’t give the Hart to a player that missed the playoffs (Steven Stamkos) and in Pittsburgh, when healthy Sidney Crosby is just as valuable to the Penguins as Evgeni Malkin.
VEZINA–If Lundqvist wins the Hart, he’ll win the Vezina too.
NORRIS–Erik Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators had more assists than Zdeno Chara and Shea Weber had points.
The Canadian media may final pay attention a little bit more to the American Hockey League’s Western Conference Final.
Gosh, golly, gee? Could a network care enough to actually broadcast one or more of the games? Could The Score possibly step up and bring some quality programming for once?
I’m not sure, but you can stay in tune to www.anysportanytime.ca for complete recaps and analysis of the Oklahoma City Barons (AHL affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers) and the Toronto Marlies (AHL affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs) which will start Thursday.
Friday night in San Antonio, the Barons defeated the Rampage (AHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers) 4-3 to win the best-out-of-seven series 4-1 in the Western Conference Semi-Final.
The Barons and Rampage each scored a goal in the second period and two goals in the third period. So what was the difference? Well it was Mark Acrobello’s lone first period goal. Ryan Keller also had a huge impact in this one, scoring the game winning goal for the Barons on the power play with 2:06 left.
Last night the Washington Capitals defeated the Boston Bruins 2-1 on an overtime winner by checking line forward Joel Ward.
But it was the comments afterwards on Twitter by some racist Bruins fans that have become the center of attention. Ward, from North York, Ontario, is black, and received inappropriate backlash by two Bruins fans on the World Wide Web after the game.
This news is really too bad because it has overshadowed an outstanding series where every game in the seven match contest was decided by a single goal.
TSN has since made the point it is a little ironic because Willie O’Ree, who played for the Bruins, was the first black player in the NHL.
It must be said though that these two ignorant individuals do not reflect the opinions of all Bruins fans.
Tonight there are two more game sevens as the Ottawa Senators play the New York Rangers and the Florida Panthers play the New Jersey Devils.
The New Jersey Devils defeated the Florida Panthers 3-2 Tuesday to force game seven in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal. Travis Zajac scored the overtime winner for the Devils.
But the question I have is where was Panthers’ goaltender Jose Theodore and how serious is his injury?
After Theodore was brilliant in game five of the series Saturday afternoon, in making thirty saves, he did not take part in Tuesday’s morning skate in New Jersey.
The injury is very puzzling to me because Theodore was excellent in the last game and showed no signs whatsoever of any particular ailment.
Right now all the Panthers are saying is that he has an undisclosed injury. I’m sorry. I know it’s playoff time, but hockey fans simply deserve more information. How did Theodore get hurt between Saturday and Tuesday? Did he get an injury while possibly being reacquainted with Paris Hilton? Probably not, but until the Panthers supply us with all the information, it’s a little fun to speculate.
The Phoenix Coyotes are off to the Western Conference Semi-Finals. The Winnipeg Jet-almosts beat the Chicago Blackhawks convincingly in Chicago Monday night by a score of 4-0.
The Blackhawks were the better team in the series in every area except one–the position of goaltending.
The bottom line was that Mike Smith was completely brilliant, compared to the shaky Corey Crawford who needless to say was horrible at specific times when the games were tight.
Last night, after the Blackhawks dominated the first half of the game but couldn’t beat Smith, the Coyotes dominated the third period. Former Oiler Gilbert Brule, Westlock’s Kyle Chipchura and Oliver Ekman-Larsson all notched a goal and assist as Phoenix will now play the Nashville Predators in round two.
In other hockey news, Oilers forward Jordan Eberle has been nominated for the Lady Byng. This season he had 34 goals and 42 assists and only 10 penalty minutes. He’ll be up against Brian Campbell of the Florida Panthers and Matt Moulson of the New York Islanders. Campbell will try to become the first defenceman to win the Lady Byng since Red Kelly of the Detroit Red Wings in 1954.
Eberle meanwhile is being joined by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who is being nominated for the Calder. No Edmonton Oiler has won a major award since Mark Messier won the Hart and Bill Ranford won the Conn Smythe in 1990.
For the fifth consecutive time in their Western Conference Quarterfinal series, the Phoenix Coyotes and Chicago Blackhawks went into overtime.
On Saturday night, it was Jonathan Toews’s turn to deliver overtime magic. When Toews scored at 2:44 of the opening overtime period, he kept the Blackhawks alive. Chicago currently trails Phoenix 3-2 in the Western Conference Quarterfinal with game six slated for Monday.
In other playoff action, the Saint Louis Blues became the second team to advance to round two. The Blues scored three times in the final ten minutes to beat the San Jose Sharks 3-1 to win the series 4-1.
In the East, there were a pair of shutouts. Jose Theodore made 30 saves as the New Jersey Devils beat the Florida Panthers 3-0 and Craig Anderson made 41 saves as the Ottawa Senators beat the New York Rangers 2-0. Both the Senators and Panthers are up 3-2 in their respective series.
Meanwhile, the Washington Capitals took a 3-2 series lead on the Boston Bruins with an overtime winner by Troy Brouwer.
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.
Heading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, I like many, projected a Vancouver Canuck/Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup Final.
Now it is very possible that both teams may not even win ONE playoff game. Yesterday afternoon the Penguins lost 8-5 to the more highly talented Philadelphia Flyers and the Vancouver Canucks were shutout 1-0 to the Los Angeles Kings.
That’s right. The Penguins and the Canucks are down 3-0 and unless they win Wednesday night, they will be both swept in their conference quarterfinals.
So, what is actually going on? Well, the Penguins are scoring but goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has been so bad he wouldn’t be able to stop a beach ball at the moment. I’m in one playoff pool where all six have Fleury on their team.
Team Canada is back in the final of the Women’s World Hockey Championship. Friday afternoon in Burlington, Vermont, Meghan Agosta, Laura Fortino and Marie-Philip Poulin each scored a goal and an assist as Canada beat Finland 5-1 in the semi-final game.
Agosta, was a huge force on the Canadian side, notching nine shots on goal. Canada’s opponent tonight is once again the United States, who hammered Switzerland 10-0 in the other semi-final. The game can be seen live on TSN at 5pm.
Here are the other events I’ll be watching this weekend:
Saturday–NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 2–Washington Capitals @ Boston Bruins–NBC–1pm–The Capitals lost game 1 despite a brilliant goaltending performance by Braden Holtby. The Bruins meanwhile got a stingy defensive effort Thursday night as they only allowed 17 Washington shots in 61:18 of action. The Capitals simply won’t win many games in the series if Alexander Ovechkin only gets one shot. The Capitals sniper did record seven hits, but needs to find the offensive side of his game again. Tim Thomas is the only goaltender in the playoffs so far to get a shutout.
The Calgary Flames were outstanding for a five minute stretch late in the first period Thursday night in Phoenix where they scored three goals en route to a 4-2 victory over the Coyotes.
Jarome Iginla led the way offensively with a goal and an assist– his goal coming late in the third period into an empty net. Alex Tanguay was the other Flame with a multi-point performance with two assists.
The Flames actually scored their three goals in a span of 3:14. Michael Cammalleri opened the scoring, followed by a shorthanded marker by Curtis Glencross and then nearly a second shorthanded goal by Olli Jokinen, but T.J. Brodie had come out of the penalty box three seconds earlier. Glencross and Jokinen each scored their 20th of the season.
The Flames showed the hockey world Thursday they didn’t need a complete 60-minute effort to win an important game down the stretch. The Coyotes dominated the second period, outshooting the Flames 15-6 before a relatively even third period.
The Flames now travel west to Anaheim to take on the Ducks tonight. They are currently two points back of Dallas for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
In other hockey action, you had to have been impressed with the Winnipeg Jets’ unbelievable effort in their 7-0 win over the Florida Panthers. Evander Kane led the way with two goals and two assists and Ondrej Pavelec recorded 33 saves for the shutout. Winnipeg now leads Washington by one point in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
You won’t find a more bizarre reason for a National Hockey League trade.
On Monday, the Ottawa Senators made it official and announced the acquisition of Ben Bishop from the St. Louis Blues for a second round draft pick in 2013.
The reason why the Senators were forced to make the move is remarkable. It is because their number one goaltender Craig Anderson is out indefinitely after he injured his tendon in his pinkie finger while slicing a frozen chicken breast.
The Senators will be going with Bishop and Swedish rookie Robin Lehner in the meantime. Lehner, who was the 2011 Calder Cup MVP, backstopped Ottawa to a 5-2 win over the New York Islanders on Sunday.
Oiler fans might remember Bishop’s name. Bishop shutout the Oilers in only his second career NHL start in a 5-0 St. Louis win last year. Bishop became expendable however with the Blues having solid seasons from Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott.
In another deal the New York Rangers have traded Wojtek Wolski to the Florida Panthers for defenceman Mike Vernace and a 3rd round pick in 2013. Wolski showed great skill with the Colorado Avalanche from 2005-2010, topping out at 50 points in 2007, but has been lost in the shuffle the last two years while with the Phoenix Coyotes and New York Rangers.
The New Year is supposed to be a happy time of year and very festive.
Apparently certain members of the Montreal Canadiens and New York Jets didn’t get the memo.
In yesterday’s 19-17 loss that eliminated the New York Jets from postseason play, wide receiver Santonio Holmes was benched for the rest of the game by offensive co-ordinator Brian Schottenheimer after Holmes was arguing with his teammates in the huddle.
Then today, P.K. Subban and Tomas Plekanec of the Montreal Canadiens fought each other–in practice. Call it friendly fire. Call it what you wish. Both players said it was nothing personal and it strengthened their practice afterwards.
That’s not the only strange thing happening in Montreal these days, who are eight points back of the Ottawa Senators for a playoff spot. Canadiens General Manager Pierre Gauthier apologized to the Montreal people for hiring a unilingual head coach in Randy Cunneyworth. I’m sorry, but if he can do the job, it shouldn’t matter if he speaks French or not.
It’s also been an eventful time for Subban, as Krys Barch of the Florida Panthers was given a game misconduct Saturday night for using a racial slur against Subban in a 3-2 Florida win.
Whether you were naughty or nice this year, Christmas is finally upon us…but are you in the holiday spirit yet?
If not, I’ve got just the thing for you!
For some people eggnog does the trick and for others it’s repetitive seasonal music, but for many of us, nothing says Christmas like funny holiday-themed viral videos made by sports teams! As soon as you see these gems start to appear, you know the big day is just around the corner…so consider this my present to you!
In honor of the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships getting underway on Boxing Day, let’s start with the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings singing “All I Want For Christmas Is You!”
Take it away boys:
(AFTER THE JUMP: The Panthers sing “Jingle Bells” and the Sharks are out with another beauty Christmas vid!)
Whether you were naughty or nice this year, Christmas is finally upon us…but are you in the holiday spirit yet?
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