User Rating: / 0
PoorBest 

Friday, 29 April 2011 06:08

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

Penguins

-Generally, when Arron Asham is your leading goal-scorer in the postseason, that's not a good thing.

-The Confluence takes a look at the Penguins 2010-11 season.

-Calder Cup Playoffs: Brad Thiessen made 16 saves for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 3-2 loss to the Charlotte Checkers in Game 1 of their Eastern Division final. Charlotte leads the series, 1-0.

-Highlights courtesy of The Wilkes-Blog:

-"We have to have that hatred right from the start, not getting down in the series. We gotta have that edge right from the start. I don't feel we had that tonight. Hopefully we'll regroup and we'll get it for Saturday." - Penguins forward Geoff Walker.

-Happy 50th birthday to former Penguins forward Doug Shedden. A fifth-round pick in 1980, Redden spent parts of five seasons with the Penguins. As a rookie in 1981-82, Shedden saw action in 38 games and scored 25 points. He followed that up in 1982-83 by playing in 80 games and scoring a team-leading 67 points. During 1983-84, he was limited to 67 games and 57 points. In 1984-85, Shedden appeared in 80 games and contributed 67 points. After 67 games and 66 points in 1984-85, Shedden was traded to the Red Wings in exchange for Ron Duguay. In 332 games with the Penguins, Shedden scored 282 points, 23rd-most in franchise history. The first player in franchise history to score a home overtime goal in the regular season, Shedden is currently the coach of EV Zug in Switzerland.

-Today would've been the 73rd birthday of former Penguins forward Mel Pearson. Claimed in the 1967 expansion draft from the Blackhawks, Pearson's Penguins career amounted to two games and one assist with the 1967-68 club. After being loaned for most of the next two seasons, he was traded to Portland of the WHL for cash during the 1969 offseason. He died in 1999.

Playoff Stuff

Capitals - Lightning

-"We are the new kids on the block here, let's not kid ourselves, they are the powerhouse, they are the monsters and we are the little naggers biting at the ankles. It's Goliath against David, that's what it is, and we better get our slingshots ready.'' - Lightning coach Guy Boucher on the Capitals.

-Out no where, Lightning forward Sean Bergenheim (right) has become a playoff performer.

Flyers - Bruins

-"They are going to use it as motivation. But we know we are in their head, and that is going to be with them this whole series. So we are using it to our advantage as well." - Flyers forward Daniel Briere on his team's re-match with the Bruins after last season's semifinal series which saw the Bruins blow a 3-0 series lead to lose.

-The NHL will not discipline Bruins defenseman and former Penguin Andrew Ference for his hit to the head of Canadiens forward Jeff Halpern in Game 7 of their quarterfinal series with the Canadiens. The hit in question:

EN Says:

-Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara is apparently not a diabetic:

Canucks - Predators

-Roberto Luongo made 20 saves and led the Canucks to a 1-0 win against the Predators in Game 1. Vancouver has a 1-0 series lead. Nashville's Pekka Rinne made 29 saves in the loss.

-Save Of the Night: Rinne on Vancouver captain Henrik Sedin:

-Hit of the Night: Check out this hip check by Vancouver's Keith Ballard on Nashville's Jordin Tooto:

-A good look at the hit:

-Rinne having a moment:

-Nashville's Blake Geoffrion had his lid knocked loose here:

-Luongo kept his eyes on this puck:

-Louongo apparently had issues with Kevin Bieksa's neck:

-Towel times in Vancouver:

-"He played phenomenal. He made a lot of hard saves look easy." - Vancouver's Christopher Higgins on Rinne.

-"If it wasn't for Pekka, it could have been 5-0." - Nashville's Jerred Smithson.

-“It was embarrassing, 3-and-22, are you kidding me? When you start without the puck. that's where everything starts. And winning the face-off is not just the centremen, it's the wingers helping out and I didn't think as a group we did a good job of helping out so we chased the puck and never had it.” - Nashville coach Barry Trotz on his team's poor night in the faceoff circle.

-Less than a day after his dramatic overtime goal against the Blackhawks in Game 7 of their quarterfinal series with the Blackhawks, Canucks forward Alex Burrows' wife gave birth to a daughter.

Sharks - Red Wings

-Slowly but surely, Sharks captain Joe Thornton (right) is doing away with his poor postseason reputation.

-Red Wings coach Mike Babcock is kicking around the idea of sticking all-star forwards Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg on the same line.

-A Red Wings fan who was charged with disorderly conduct after he threw an octopus on the ice during the first round, is fighting it in court.

Non-Playoff Stuff

Northeast Division

-Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller (right) revealed he suffered a concussion late in the regular season.

-"He's been nothing but upbeat and positive. He's been around before and after games. He's been a presence, and I expect him to be a presence during the summer." - Miller on new owner Terry Pegula.

-“I’m the first to admit, the first one to say it, I was awful and I let the guys down. There’s no one more embarrassed than me. I had a terrible year … and I’m sorry … I let the guys down.” - Canadiens forward Scott Gomez who had a career-worst 38 points in 2010-11.

-The Canadiens demoted forward Ryan White to Hamilton of the AHL.

Central Division

-The Blackhawks top offseason priority is re-signing restricted free agent goaltender Corey Crawford (right).

-After a short summer in 2010, the Blackhawks are looking forward towards getting more rest in 2011.

Northwest Division

-The Oilers signed forward Anton Lander, a second-round pick in 2009, to a three-year entry-level contract.

Pacific Division

-The NHL lost $36.6 million operating the Coyotes during the 2010-11 season.

Norris Division

-Anaheim's Corey Perry, Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis and Vancouver's Daniel Sedin were named finalists for the Hart Trophy.

-Kukla's Korner needs your help.

IIHF World Championships

-The first games of the World Championships begin today.

-Maple Leafs forward Mikhail Grabovski (right) was named captain of Team Belarus.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed