1. Thu Apr 16 at Boston 7:00 pm ET CBC, RDS
2. Sat Apr 18 at Boston 8:00 pm ET VERSUS, CBC, RDS
3. Mon Apr 20 at Montreal 7:00 pm ET CBC, RDS
4. Wed Apr 22 at Montreal 7:00 pm ET CBC, RDS
5. Sat Apr 25 at Boston 7:00 pm ET CBC, RDS *
6. Mon Apr 27 at Montreal TBD CBC, RDS *
7. Wed Apr 29 at Boston TBD CBC, RDS *
Series tied 0-0
(2) Washington Capitals
(7) New York Rangers
1. Wed Apr 15 at Washington 7:00 pm ET TSN
2. Sat Apr 18 at Washington 1:00 pm ET NBC, TSN
3. Mon Apr 20 at New York 7:00 pm ET VERSUS, TSN
4. Wed Apr 22 at New York 7:00 pm ET VERSUS, TSN
5. Fri Apr 24 at Washington 7:00 pm ET VERSUS, TSN, RDS *
6. Sun Apr 26 at New York 2:00 pm ET NBC, TSN, RDS *
7. Tue Apr 28 at Washington TBD VERSUS, TSN, RDS *
Series tied 0-0
(3) New Jersey Devils
(6) Carolina Hurricanes
1. Wed Apr 15 at New Jersey 7:30 pm ET TSN, RIS
2. Fri Apr 17 at New Jersey 7:30 pm ET TSN, RIS
3. Sun Apr 19 at Carolina 7:30 pm ET TSN, RIS
4. Tue Apr 21 at Carolina 7:30 pm ET TSN, RIS
5. Thu Apr 23 at New Jersey 7:30 pm ET TSN, RIS *
6. Sun Apr 26 at Carolina TBD TSN, VERSUS *
7. Tue Apr 28 at New Jersey 7:30 pm ET TSN *
Series tied 0-0
(4) Pittsburgh Penguins
(5) Philadelphia Flyers
1. Wed Apr 15 at Pittsburgh 7:00 pm ET VERSUS, CBC, RDS
2. Fri Apr 17 at Pittsburgh 7:00 pm ET VERSUS, CBC, RDS
3. Sun Apr 19 at Philadelphia 3:00 pm ET NBC, CBC, RDS
4. Tue Apr 21 at Philadelphia 7:00 pm ET VERSUS, CBC, RDS
5. Thu Apr 23 at Pittsburgh 7:00 pm ET VERSUS, CBC, RDS *
6. Sat Apr 25 at Philadelphia 3:00 pm ET NBC, CBC *
7. Mon Apr 27 at Pittsburgh TBD VERSUS, CBC *
1. Thu Apr 16 at San Jose 10:30 pm ET VERSUS, CBC, RDS
2. Sun Apr 19 at San Jose 10:00 pm ET VERSUS, CBC, RDS
3. Tue Apr 21 at Anaheim 10:30 pm ET VERSUS, CBC, RDS
4. Thu Apr 23 at Anaheim 10:30 pm ET VERSUS, CBC, RDS
5. Sat Apr 25 at San Jose 10:00 pm ET VERSUS, CBC, RDS *
6. Mon Apr 27 at Anaheim TBD VERSUS, CBC, RDS *
7. Wed Apr 29 at San Jose TBD VERSUS, CBC, RDS *
Series tied 0-0
(2) Detroit Red Wings
(7) Columbus Blue Jackets
1. Thu Apr 16 at Detroit 7:00 pm ET VERSUS, TSN
2. Sat Apr 18 at Detroit 6:00 pm ET TSN
3. Tue Apr 21 at Columbus 7:00 pm ET TSN
4. Thu Apr 23 at Columbus 7:00 pm ET TSN
5. Sat Apr 25 at Detroit 7:00 pm ET VERSUS, TSN *
6. Mon Apr 27 at Columbus TBD TSN *
7. Wed Apr 29 at Detroit TBD VERSUS, TSN *
Series tied 0-0
(3) Vancouver Canucks
(6) St. Louis Blues
1. Wed Apr 15 at Vancouver 10:00 pm ET CBC, VERSUS, RDS
2. Fri Apr 17 at Vancouver 10:00 pm ET CBC, VERSUS, RDS
3. Sun Apr 19 at St. Louis 7:00 pm ET CBC, VERSUS
4. Tue Apr 21 at St. Louis 8:00 pm ET CBC, VERSUS
5. Fri Apr 24 at Vancouver 10:00 pm ET CBC, VERSUS, RDS *
6. Sun Apr 26 at St. Louis 8:00 pm ET CBC, VERSUS, RDS *
7. Tue Apr 28 at Vancouver TBD CBC, VERSUS, RDS *
Series tied 0-0
(4) Chicago Blackhawks
(5) Calgary Flames
1. Thu Apr 16 at Chicago 8:30 pm ET TSN, VERSUS
2. Sat Apr 18 at Chicago TBD TSN
3. Mon Apr 20 at Calgary 9:30 pm ET TSN, VERSUS
4. Wed Apr 22 at Calgary TBD TSN, VERSUS
5. Sat Apr 25 at Chicago 10:00 pm ET TSN, RIS *
6. Mon Apr 27 at Calgary TBD TSN *
7. Wed Apr 29 at Chicago TBD TSN *
Todd McLellan of the Sharks is one of the three finalists for the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's top coach, the league announced today.
The others are Claude Julien of the Boston Bruins and Andy Murray of the St. Louis Blues.
The winner will be announced June 18. Voting was conducted before the playoffs began by members of the NHL Broadcasters Association.
The Sharks led the Western Conference with 117 points, while the Bruins won the Eastern Conference with 116 points. The Blues reached the playoffs after posting the fourth-worst record in the NHL a year ago.
McLellan could become the second NHL rookie head coach in as many seasons to capture the award, following Washington's Bruce Boudreau. The former Detroit Red Wings assistant led the Sharks to the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's top regular-season club, posting a 53-18-11 record for 117 points and setting a franchise record for victories. They charged out of the gate with a 25-3-2 record, surpassing the 1929-30 Boston Bruins for the best start through 30 games in NHL history, and went 20-0-2 in their first 22 games at HP Pavilion.
Julien, a first-time Adams finalist, guided the Bruins to the Eastern Conference's top record, finishing 53-19-10 for 116 points -- the third-highest total in franchise history, a 22-point increase over 2007-08 and 40 points more than 2006-07. The Bruins ranked second in the NHL in offense with 274 goals, a dramatic turnaround from their #25 ranking in 2007-08 when they tallied 212. They hit the 30-win mark in their 41st game of the season (30-7-4) on Jan. 8 vs. Ottawa, the fastest they have reached 30 wins since 1929-30.
Murray, another first-time finalist, engineered one of the greatest comebacks in NHL history over the second half of the season. The Blue had the league's best record over the last 41 games (25-9-7) and jumped from 15th place in the Western Conference standings to the #6 seed for their first playoff berth since 2003-04. What's more, they made their epic run without a trio of core players, defensemen Eric Brewer and Erik Johnson and LW Paul Kariya, all sidelined with long-term injuries.
The following is a list of finalists for all awards, winners to be announced June 18.
Hart Trophy (MVP to his team): Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings; Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins; Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Calder Trophy (outstanding rookie): Steve Mason, Columbus Blue Jackets; Bobby Ryan, Anaheim Ducks; Kris Versteeg, Chicago Blackhawks
Norris Trophy (outstanding defenseman): Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins; Mike Green, Washington Capitals; Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings
Lady Byng Trophy (skill, sportsmanship): Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings; Zach Parise, New Jersey Devils; Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning
Vezina Trophy (outstanding goaltender): Niklas Backstrom, Minnesota Wild; Steve Mason, Columbus Blue Jackets; Tim Thomas, Boston Bruins
Frank J. Selke Trophy (top defensive forward): Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings; Ryan Kesler, Vancouver Canucks; Mike Richards, Philadelphia Flyers
Masterton Trophy (perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey): Chris Chelios, Detroit Red Wings; Steve Sullivan, Nashville Predators; Richard Zednik, Florida Panthers
Buat sapa2 yg follow NHL ni, boleh cite tak, how good is Sidney Crosby?
DanIno Post at 8-1-2011 02:12
where i live, we don't get to watch the penguins play a lot. but, this much i know, sidney crosby is a very good hockey player. i put him top three among top line players, along with rick nash and alex ovechkin. i really like nash but crosby is better all around. ovechkin is more of a scorer. crosby, he can change the tempo of the game and can carry the team by himself. he's similar to mario lemieux (a great penguins player and current owner) - wayne gretzky is in his own class (haven't seen a player like him yet since i started watching NHL).
however, crosby still has a long way to go before he's deserved to be mentioned in the same sentence as lemieux. but, he'll be there one day and by the time he retires.
other players i like are jarome iginla, mike modano, joe sakic, sergei fedorov and teemu selanne.
defenseman: i really like chris chelios.
goalies: i like patrick roy, martin brodeur and ed belfour.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) The Nashville Predators are young, deep and talented. They're also the NHL's first team to advance this postseason.
The Predators moved on to the Western Conference semifinals by topping Detroit with a 2-1 victory Friday night to win the series in five games.
David Legwand, a native of the Detroit area, scored the game-winning goal 13 seconds into the third period, and goalie Pekka Rinne made that stand up the final 19 minutes.
#4 Nashville Predators vs #5 Detroit Red Wings
Predators eliminated Red Wings from playoffs, win series 4-1 Published on Apr 20, 2012 by ESPN
"It's huge," Rinne said of beating the Red Wings. "They have such a great team, great organization with a lot of history with a lot of success. It was a great chance for us to play against the Detroit Red Wings and beat them in five games. It's great. It tells something about this team. We have a lot of talent in this locker room, and (we're) having a great time playing right now."
The Predators now get several days off. They could face third-seeded Phoenix in the second round. The Coyotes lead Chicago 3-1 in that series.
"It's not time to celebrate," Predators forward Alexander Radulov said. "I mean it's only the first round."
This is the second straight postseason the Predators have won the opening series, but beating Detroit makes it even sweeter.
Teresa M. Walker is an Associated Press Sports Writer based in Nashville, Tennessee
Follow Teresa M. Walker on Twitter @TeresaMWalker
red wings need to re-evaluate their team in the off-season. it's an old team. the talent is still there but they have no speed to keep up with predators. nashville has less talent than detroit but they are a young and fast team. i've seen predators played may years in the playoff against san jose sharks and even though the sharks kept bouncing them out, those were not easy games (even though the outcomes looked like it). so, i'm really not surprised with this outcome.
During the Olympics, Ryan Kesler came under fire from Canadian fans for saying that he "hated" Team Canada prior to Team USA's round robin matchup with the hometown favourites.
On Friday, this controversy was seemingly sparked up again when the Vancouver Canucks' centre told Mike Dunsmore of Fox Sports that he preferred American fans after the Canucks' Game 4 win in Los Angeles.
Kevin Bieksa Doing His Best Ryan Kesler Impression
Published on Apr 21, 2012 by MoreDuns
According to Wyatt Arndt of the Province's Legion of Blog, after the game, Dunsmore approached Bieksa, mistakenly thinking he was Kesler, and Bieksa simply never corrected him.
Writer. Editor of Vancouver Sun #Canucks Blog @PassItToBulis
Associate Editor of Y! Sports Blog Puck Daddy.
I agreed with his quote:
"That guy's an idiot. It's his own fault if he can't tell the difference between an all star center and a plug defenceman", explained Kevin Bieksa. "He shouldn't even be allowed in the room."
bieksa gave him a lot of clues and he never picked up, let alone really know who kesler is.
ST. LOUIS -- Whatever hopes the Sharks had of being one of the few NHL teams to come back from a 3-1 series deficit ended Saturday night with a 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues in Game 5.
Two goals 45 seconds apart by Blues forwards Jamie Langenbrunner and David Perron midway through the third period were all the offense St. Louis needed to offset the 1-0 lead the Sharks had taken on a goal by Joe Thornton in the final minute of the second. An empty-net backhand shot by Andy McDonald with 38.2 seconds left sealed the outcome.
The first-round exit capped a disappointing 2011-12 campaign that saw the Sharks squeeze into the playoffs the final week of the season, finishing as the seventh seed and facing a second-seeded St. Louis team that was 4-0 against San Jose this season.
#2 St. Louis Blues vs #7 San Jose Sharks
Blues eliminated Sharks from playoffs, win series 4-1 Published on Apr 21, 2012 by ESPN
The early exit came after two consecutive appearances in the Western Conference finals and was the quickest end to a Sharks season since the team was upset in 2009 by the Anaheim Ducks.
Sharks coach Todd McLellan made it clear earlier in the day he was going to push his top players hard.
"We'll push them — the 'there is no tomorrow' cliché that we're all using," he said. "We can run our horses until they die basically and that's what we'll do. If anybody's playing well, we'll run them and get the most out of them as possible."
David Pollak's Working the Corners blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/sharks.
ahhh...very frustrated, but expected. my beloved los tiburon out of contention. just like the red wings, sharks is an old team. their top two lines could not keep up with blues' speed, hungriness and youth. watching sharks played, it seemed like they were in slow motion, having a hard time moving their legs. on the other hands, the blues looked energetic and really wanted this series from the beginning.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) Claude Giroux wrapped up a dominant series with his sixth goal, Ilya Bryzgalov had his first outstanding effort in net and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-1 on Sunday to win their Eastern Conference opening-round series in six games.
Giroux scored only 32 seconds into the game, and the Flyers rolled from there. In a series where no lead was safe, the Flyers scored the first three goals and made it stand behind stout defense and stellar play out of Bryzgalov.
Bryzgalov allowed 20 goals in the first five games. He settled down in Game 6 and gave up only Evgeni Malkin's goal in the second period.
#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs #5 Philadelphia Flyers
Flyers eliminated Penguins from playoffs, win series 4-2 Published on Apr 22, 2012 by ESPN
The Flyers had stormed out to a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series before Pittsburgh won two straight. Philadelphia finished off the 108-point Penguins and wait to find out who they play in the next round.
A day before Game 6, Flyers forward Scott Hartnell called out his defense and Bryzgalov and said it was their turn to win a game.
They delivered.
Dan Gelston is an Associated Press Sports Writer based in Greater Philadelphia Area, PA
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) Jarret Stoll beat Cory Schneider with a wrist shot at 4:27 of overtime to give the Los Angeles Kings a 2-1 victory over Vancouver on Sunday night, knocking out the top-seeded Canucks in five games in the Western Conference first-round series.
Stoll scored from the left wing after a turnover at Vancouver blue line. The forward skated in on a 2-on-1, but took the shot himself, picking the top-left corner above Schneider's blocker.
Brad Richardson tied it for Los Angeles at 3:21 of the third period, and Jonathan Quick made 26 saves.
Los Angeles Kings' Jarret Stoll, right, and Dwight King celebrate after Stoll scored the game-winning goal against Vancouver Canucks' goalie Cory Schneider during the first overtime period of game 5 of an NHL Western Conference quarterfinal Stanley Cup playoff hockey series in Vancouver, British Columbia on Sunday April 22, 2012. Los Angeles won the series 4 games to 1. AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darryl Dyck
Henrik Sedin opened the scoring for Vancouver with a power-play goal in the first period.
Schneider made 35 saves in his third straight start after Roberto Luongo lost the first two games.
The Kings will play the second-seeded St. Louis Blues in the second round.
The Canucks dropped out in the first round after leading the NHL in regular-season points for the second straight year. Last season, they lost to Boston in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals.
Vancouver's new second line of Ryan Kesler, Alex Burrows and Max Lapierre made a quick impression. Burrows fed Kesler from behind the net about a 90 seconds in, but Quick stopped the center's shot from the slot.
congrats to the kings and their fans. lombardi is doing an excellence job in rebuilding the roster, just like he did for the sharks.
CHICAGO (AP) His 6-foot-4, 218-pound frame blocking all access to the goal, Mike Smith pushed away shots from all angles and sent the Phoenix Coyotes into unfamiliar territory - the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
''You know what? Smitty was unbelievable and thankfully he's on our team. It was a good way to win,'' Coyotes captain Shane Doan said after finally reaching the second round in his 16th NHL season.
The Coyotes, with Smith making 39 saves, finished off the Chicago Blackhawks 4-0 Monday night to win the series in six games. They'd never captured a first-round playoff series since moving from Winnipeg to Phoenix for the 1996-97 season, and the franchise's last opening-series victory came in 1987, when the team was called the Jets.
#3 Phoenix Coyotes vs #6 Chicago Blackhawks
Coyotes eliminated Blackhawks from playoffs, win series 4-2 Published on Apr 23, 2012 by ESPN
"It's a relief because you just want to get a chance to do something in the playoffs," said the 35-year-old Doan, who began his career with Winnipeg in 1995. "Everyone always talks about if you get out of the first round, anything can happen."
Now it's onto the next series against the Nashville Predators and another stellar goalie.
"They've got Pekka Rinne and he's unbelievable, too," Doan said. "You look what he did in the Detroit series."
On Monday night, Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored in the second for the Coyotes and Gilbert Brule, Antoine Vermette and Kyle Chipchura had goals in the third.
congrats to the coyotes and their fans. what an improvement. i always think they do have a good team for the last three years, good enough to make the playoffs. but, somehow they manage to tank it. this year, they are making it.
BOSTON (AP) Tim Thomas had every reason to be confident heading into overtime of Game 7 in Boston's first-round playoff series against the Washington Capitals.
After all, the Bruins won three seventh games in last year's run to the Stanley Cup title.
"I'm probably in shock," Thomas said Wednesday night after Joel Ward beat him at 2:57 of overtime to lead the Capitals to a 2-1 victory over Boston and give Washington a spot in the Eastern Conference semifinals. "I really believed that we were going to win."
#2 Boston Bruins vs #7 Washington Capitals
Capitals eliminated Bruins from playoffs, win series 4-3 Published on Apr 25, 2012 by ESPN
"I really had a deep feeling that this wasn't the end of the road for us, that this wasn't going to be the last game of the season."
Thomas made 26 saves for Boston, which was hoping to become the first team to repeat as Stanley Cup champions since the Detroit Red Wings in 1997-98. Tyler Seguin scored the Bruins' goal as rookie Braden Holtby stopped 31 shots for Washington in the seventh one-goal game of the series.
Matt Hendricks also scored for the Capitals, who barely made the playoffs this year after finishing atop the Eastern Conference in each of the previous two seasons - and winning just one postseason series combined.
Jimmy Golen is an Associated Press Sports Writer based in Greater Boston Area, Massachusetts
NEW YORK (AP) Rangers defensemen Marc Staal and Dan Girardi scored 4:18 apart in the second period, Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves and top-seeded New York eliminated the pesky eighth-seeded Ottawa Senators from the playoffs with a 2-1 victory in Game 7 on Thursday night.
Staal broke the scoreless deadlock, and Girardi gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead with his first career NHL playoff goal. Lundqvist allowed Daniel Alfredsson's power-play goal in the second but stood tall the rest of the way to send the Rangers into an Eastern Conference second-round matchup with the seventh-seeded Washington Capitals.
#1 New York Rangers vs #8 Ottawa Senators
Rangers eliminated Senators from playoffs, win series 4-3 Published on Apr 26, 2012 by ESPN
The Rangers hadn't hosted a Game 7 since their Stanley Cup victory over Vancouver in 1994, but they stayed perfect at home in deciding games - winning their fourth. New York is 4-5 overall in Game 7, and the Senators dropped to 0-5.
Lundqvist withstood tons of pressure from the Senators, who spent most of the closing 5 minutes in the Rangers' end.
The win wasn't secure until Sergei Gonchar tripped Carl Hagelin as he skated toward the empty net with 36.2 seconds remaining.
Craig Anderson was nearly as good in the Ottawa net, making 27 saves.
Ira Podell is an Associated Press Sports Writer based in Greater New York City Area, New York
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) Jose Theodore thought Adam Henrique was going high. The rookie went low.
And with that, the New Jersey Devils went to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Henrique scored his second goal of the game at 3:47 of the second overtime to give the Devils a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers early Friday, sending New Jersey into a second-round series starting Sunday against the Philadelphia Flyers.
#3 Florida Panthers vs #6 New Jersey Devils
Devils eliminated Panthers from playoffs, win series 4-3 Published on Apr 26, 2012 by ESPN
"Got a pretty good bounce," Henrique said. "Found myself alone and tried to get it on net."
He did a lot better than that. Theodore said afterward he didn't have a great look at the final shot.
"I kind of lost it," Theodore said. "I thought he was going high. I didn't really see it through. And he beat me with a good ol' five-hole shot."
Just like that, the Devils were winners of a postseason series for the first time since 2007. And with the game ending in the early hours of April 27, it marked the 20th anniversary of Martin Brodeur's first postseason appearance in goal for New Jersey.
Tim Reynolds is an Associated Press Sports Writer based in Greater Miami Area, Florida
LOS ANGELES (AP) Dustin Brown scored two goals, Jonathan Quick made 23 saves, and the eighth-seeded Los Angeles Kings finished an improbable four-game sweep of the St. Louis Blues with a 3-1 victory Sunday, advancing to the conference finals for just the second time in club history.
Rookie Jordan Nolan scored an early goal for the Kings, the first No. 8 seed in NHL history to eliminate their conference's top two seeds in the same postseason.
After steamrolling top-seeded Vancouver and second-seeded St. Louis with eight wins in nine games, the Kings will face the winner of Phoenix's series with Nashville in the Western Conference finals.
#2 St. Louis Blues vs #8 Los Angeles Kings
Lings eliminated Blues from playoffs, win series 4-0 Published on May 6, 2012 by ESPN
Los Angeles won despite its weakest effort of the postseason, clinging to its 2-1 first-period lead through 40 minutes dominated by St. Louis. The Kings didn't adapt well to an unusually early start time, yet Quick made a handful of stellar saves before Brown scored his sixth goal of a stellar postseason into an empty net with 25.8 seconds left.
"It's a special group, and we knew that all along this season," said Anze Kopitar, who had assists on both of Brown's goals and tackled the Los Angeles captain after his empty-netter.
"Maybe we didn't break out when we would have liked to, but I think we've peaked at the right time, and that's the most important thing."
Greg Beacham is an Associated Press Sports Writer based in Los Angeles, California
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) The Phoenix Coyotes had been waiting so long for a new owner that they barely blinked when NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced a tentative deal was in place.
They had become immune to the ownership saga and, besides, had more pressing business in front of them: a spot in the Western Conference finals.
Capping a momentous day, the Coyotes celebrated news of a new owner with a 2-1 win over the Nashville Predators on Monday night to reach the conference finals for the first time in 33 years as an NHL franchise.
Nashville Predators' Alexander Radulov (47), of Russia, tries to get the puck in front of the goal as Phoenix Coyotes' Mikkel Boedker (89), of Denmark, and Predators' Roman Josi (59), of Switzerland, watch the second period during Game 5 in an NHL hockey Stanley Cup Western Conference semifinal playoff series Monday, May 7, 2012, in Glendale, Ariz. AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin
"The organization, obviously there's been some adversity a lot of teams don't have to go through," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "It's very rewarding to know that our players have to put that on the backburner and just move forward and try to do whatever they can to help us win."
The day started off with news the Coyotes and their fans had been anticipating for three years.
Speaking as players from both teams warmed up in the hallway, Bettman announced the tentative agreement to sell the Coyotes to former San Jose Sharks CEO Greg Jamison.
John Marshall is an Associated Press Sports Writer based in Phoenix, Arizona
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Post time 25-9-2010 10:29 AM
