There will be a seventh game in the Western Conference semi-final of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
On Sunday night in northern California, Calgary native T.J. Galiardi put the Sharks into a deciding game with the Los Angeles Kings after defeating the Kings 2-1 in game six.
Joe Thornton put the Sharks up 1-0 in the first period on the power play from Joe Pavelski and Dan Boyle. The Sharks had the two man advantage on their first goal after Mike Richards and Anze Kopitar took minor penalties.
It’s times like these that I wish that Wayne Gretzky were the Prime Minister of Canada.
Sure, he might not be great at balancing budgets or tackling the socio-economic issues facing the country, but he’d probably get the hang of it. At the very least, it would ensure another win for Canada if the rumors about another Summit Series are true!
This September marks the 40th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union, and there will apparently be some kind of month-long celebration of the Cold War clash between the two nations. As part of that celebration, the Toronto Star reported this week that Prime Minister Stephen Harper would be facing off against Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in a couple of exhibition games, which the PMO quickly denied.
Sounds cool, right?
Well…it would be, if we were talking about leaders like Wayne Gretzky and Vladislav Tretiak, or Joe Thornton and Pavel Datsyuk! Instead, we’re talking about a Canadian who dropped out of hockey in his early teens and a Russian who only just recently picked up the sport. (AFTER THE JUMP: Video of Putin on skates!) (more…)
What a week it was in the NHL last week – there was the outdoor game, there were some big time blowouts and some tight match ups, all of which produced a lot of high quality tape for me to go through!
It took some time, but I managed to narrow it down to five beauty goals from the week that was in the league – this time around we’ve got a sick behind the back pass, a super-efficient power play, a solid breakaway on a legendary netminder, an unreal shorty and some dangles you’ll have to see twice to believe!
Let’s go!
5. Patrick Marleau
Sharks forward Patrick Marleau is the one who bats this puck in, but it’s all about the slick no-look pass by Joe Thornton in front of the Capitals net. Beauty!
(AFTER THE JUMP: More sick goals!) (more…)
Happy Monday!
This week on 15 Minutes of Fame: the Edmonton Eskimos get set to face the Calgary Stampeders in the CFL’s West Division semi-final, we break down the first month of the season for the Edmonton Oilers (and a couple of other storylines from around the NHL) and we look into the NBA labour situation.
In the GABBYs: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Ryujiro Ueda, Manny Pacquiao & Floyd Mayweather Jr., Iranian soccer, Andy Murray and the IABA. This week’s Punchline is Nickelback!
Happy Monday!
Another week has come and gone in the wide world of sports, and as always, the guys from 15 Minutes of Fame are here to get you up to date on just what went down!
This week on the show, we address what the week holds for Oilers rookie Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and we look at the biggest surprises from the first few weeks of the NHL season. In the CFL, we discuss the late-season surge of the Eskimos and the benching of Calgary QB Henry Burris, and in baseball, are the Red Sox really as bad as everyone says? Oh, and the Lingerie Football League wants to start a youth program…seriously!
In the GABBYS: Dewey Bozella, Joe Thornton, Hall Gill & Nick Lidstrom, Canada’s Pan-Am swim team, the Montreal Canadiens, Floyd Landis and Yoav Ziv. This week’s Punchline is the NCAA ref streaker!
Happy Monday!
It’s another jam-packed week on 15 Minutes of Fame, as we hit our 50th episode!
This week: Will Sidney Crosby miss time this season? Will the SJ Sharks finally get that Stanley Cup this year and is Drew Doughty going to be a holdout for the Kings? Are the Winnipeg Blue Bombers the “real deal” in the CFL? Also: Is this the Year of the Work Stoppage in pro sports?
In this week’s GABBYs: The NY Yankees, the BBC and Sir Alex, BYU, IndyCar and North Korea’s women’s World Cup team!
Dany Heatley (Harry How, Getty Images)
Dany Heatley has been traded from the San Jose Sharks to the Minnesota Wild for Martin Havlat.
Heatley, had 28 goals and 36 assists last season on a Sharks’ team that finished second in the Western Conference in the regular season and playoffs to the Vancouver Canucks.
It was the least number of points (64) that Heatley had in a season since his controversial 2003-04 year with the Atlanta Thrashers when he only had 25 points in 31 games. Prior to the 2003-04 season, Heatley was seriously injured after he lost control of the Ferrari he was driving. The accident killed Heatley’s teammate Dan Snyder.
The release of Heatley, breaks up the Sharks’ big three that included captain Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau.
Havlat has been relatively healthy over his last three seasons in Chicago and Minnesota after being a significant injury risk earlier on in his career. The 30 year-old Czech Republic native had 22 goals and 40 assists in 2010-11. It will be interesting to see how he fits into the Sharks’ top six forwards this season.
What a start to the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday night in Vancouver!
The Canucks opening game win over the visiting Boston Bruins had a little bit of everything – enormous saves at both ends, some big hits, a few nice offensive displays and a lot of nastiness between two clubs that seemed to develop a hate for each other in a hurry. It wasn’t all good though – there was also a bit of controversy that is sure to spill over into today.
The big discussion in hockey circles at the moment revolves around an incident that happened at the end of the first period of game one involving Canucks forward Alex Burrows. He was mixing it up with Boston’s Patrice Bergeron along the boards, with a linesman trying to pry them apart, when Burrows appears to chomp down on the gloved finger of his opponent.
It’s at this point that Bergeron gets heated and even skates over to try and show the referee the bite mark. After the game, Burrows was asked about the incident and said “I think he had his finger in my mouth, but I don’t think I bit him.” (After the jump: VIDEO of the bite, plus ANOTHER dive…why is it happening so much?) (more…)
Kevin Bieksa (Wikimedia Commons)
The Vancouver Canucks are heading to their third Stanley Cup Final in franchise history.
They defeated the San Jose Sharks Tuesday night 3-2 on an overtime winner by Kevin Bieksa.
Bieksa’s winner in the second overtime was as crazy of goals as you’ll ever see. The puck bounced off the glass along the side boards and right on to his stick.
Bieksa shot the puck from the point, as San Jose Shark goaltender Antti Niemi had absolutely no idea where the puck was.
The Canucks were a little lucky to get a victory in this one. The Sharks dominated possession of the puck as well as shots on net, out shooting Vancouver 56-34.
Patrick Marleau (Thearon W. Henderson, Getty Images)
The San Jose Sharks got back in the series with a big 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks Friday in Game Three of the Western Conference Final.
Vancouver still leads the series however 2-1.
Patrick Marleau scored two goals and an assist and Joe Thornton had three assists as the Sharks scored three first period goals to take a stranglehold of the game.
Unlike game two, it was the Canucks that were the more undisciplined team. Two Canuck penalties–a two minute roughing penalty to Maxim Lapierre and a four minute high sticking double minor to Christian Ehrhoff led to two power play goals by the San Jose Sharks.
Ryan Kesler (Bing Images)
A jammed packed weekend of sports takes this weekend. The Vancouver Canucks will host the San Jose Sharks in game one of the Western Conference Final (Sunday, 6pm, CBC).
This is the first Western Conference Final for the Canucks since they went to the Stanley Cup Final in 1994 and lost to the New York Rangers in seven games. But it is interesting that the Canucks’ playoff most valuable player is a Yankee. Ryan Kesler leads all players in the playoffs with 15 points. He also leads the Canucks in the playoffs in +/- with a +6, power play goals (3), short handed assists (1) and game winning goals (2).
Preview: NHL Conference Finals
Only four teams remain in this year’s battle for Lord Stanley’s mug as we get set for the Conference Finals to begin this weekend.
In the West, the San Jose Sharks will travel to Vancouver to face the Presidents’ Trophy winning Canucks on Sunday, after avoiding a complete meltdown on Thursday with a game seven win over the Red Wings. The Canucks had a much easier time with the Nashville Predators in round two, though it did still take six games for them to finish the job. This will be an interesting series because, as good as both of these clubs are, there are still question marks next to certain aspects of each team’s game. (After the jump: Who wins this series? Plus, a preview of Boston/Tampa Bay and a costly celebration continues to cost the LA Angels!) (more…)
The “15 Minutes of Fame” boys are back in the saddle for another go-round, taking a look at the best and worst from the world of sports in the past seven days! This week, Geoff Driscoll & Jim Kerr are recapping the first round of the NHL playoffs (the biggest surprise, most interesting storyline and the best moment) and UFC 129, while trying to figure out what’s happening in the NFL lockout.
In the GABBYs: MLB streaks, NHL celebrations, red cards, NBA upsets & lots more! In Quick Hits: Patrick Chan is at the top of the figure skating world, but how good is Kerrzy’s quad?
Check it out:
There’s a lot more after the jump. Click “continue reading.” ———————>
(more…)
Daniel Sedin (Harry How, Getty Images)
After the first round where I was red hot at 7-1, let’s see how things transpire in the Conference Semi-Finals.
WEST
(1) Vancouver Canucks vs. (5) Nashville Predators–The Vancouver Canucks are coming off an emotionally draining series where they knocked off their top nemesis, the Chicago Blackhawks. Will they have enough in the tank? I’m saying yes. But only if the Sedins show up. Daniel and Henrik Sedin were basically absent in the final four games in the Western Conference Quarterfinal, and will need a much better showing in round two. The issue with Nashville is they have an outstanding defense corps led by Shea Weber and Ryan Suter, but do they have a forward that can play the shut down defensive role like Dave Bolland did so effectively with the Blackhawks? I don’t think so, therefore Vancouver has the edge. On offense, the Canucks are also at an advantage. Don’t forget Nashville’s top scorer was Sergei Kostitsyn with 50 points. That’s right, the same Sergei Kostitsyn who lost his way, and could not get out of his brother’s shadow in Montreal. The Canucks take this one in five.
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