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Guess what famous Chicago landmark it will be played at? From AP-
CHICAGO - Wrigley Field is going to be the frozen confines on New Year’s Day 2009 when the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings meet the Chicago Blackhawks outdoors in the home park of the Chicago Cubs.
It will be the NHL’s second Winter Classic. Jan. 1 in Buffalo, the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 before a crowd of 71,217. Snow fell during the game.
“We expect interest to be on an international level for this once-in-a-lifetime event,” Blackhawks chairman Rocky Wirtz said.
The game will be televised nationally on NBC.
The matchup will be the 701st meeting between the Red Wings and Blackhawks — no two NHL opponents have played more regular-season games against one another than the two fierce rivals.
It will mark the third regular-season outdoor game in NHL history. The Edmonton Oilers hosted the Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 22, 2003.
If you make a rare event a yearly occurence, well its no longer rare or novel. Now if the Florida Panthers or Tampa Bay Lightning hosted an outdoor ice hockey game in Florida, that would be newsworthy….err I mean impossible.
The defensemen is forty-six-years-old and still going strong. From AP-
DETROIT — Chris Chelios was on the ice for his 248th playoff game, breaking the NHL record set by Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy.
The defenseman played Saturday for the Detroit Red Wings against the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of the first-round series. He is making his 23rd postseason appearance, extending his own mark.
The 46-year-old Chelios became the second-oldest player in an NHL game earlier this season. Hall of Famer Gordie Howe was still skating at 52 for the Hartford Whalers during the 1979-80 season — almost a decade after leaving the Red Wings.
I had a Strat-O-Matic hockey set from the mid 80’s and remember Chelios playing back then. Hockey is a physically demanding sport, it amazes me this player is still going.
This trade is a real head scratcher.
WASHINGTON - The Washington Capitals have acquired goalie Cristobal Huet from the Montreal Canadiens for a 2009 second-round draft pick. The deal Tuesday comes a few hours before the deadline for making trades in the NHL.
Huet has been Montreal’s No. 1 goalie this season. The 2007 All-Star is 21-12-6 with a 2.55 goals-against average.
The Capitals’ top goalie has been Olie Kolzig, who is 21-19-6 with a 3.03 GAA.
Washington has climbed from the bottom of the NHL to within striking distance of a playoff berth.
The draft pick Montreal gets was previously acquired by Washington from Anaheim for Brian Sutherby.
This trade works out well for Washington. On the other hand I don’t get it for Montreal. The Canadiens have two very unexperienced goaltenders now, Jaroslav Halák and Carey Price. I haven’t seen Halák play but Price looked very green in the one game I saw him play against Florida. Montreal is 5th in the Eastern conference playoffs race, and only 1 pt out of the division lead. The East is pretty wide open, Montreal could win the conference though I was predicting them not to. Now I wouldn’t pick the Canadiens at all. This deal doesn’t make sense to me at present.
This comes with less than 20 games left in the NHL season.
OTTAWA — The Ottawa Senators, looking sluggish in a recent, lengthy slump, on Wednesday fired coach John Paddock.
General manager Bryan Murray will take over coaching duties for the last 18 games of the regular season. Murray was coach when the Senators advanced to the Stanley Cup finals in 2006-07, but stepped aside to become GM during the summer, and Paddock was given the job as coach.
The Senators lead the Northeast Division by a point over the Montreal Canadiens, but have been shut out in their past two games. Ottawa has lost six of its past eight games and 14 of its last 21.
Murray’s first game in his return behind the bench will be Thursday against the Flyers in Philadelphia.
Murray has been almost as well traveled as Mike Keenan. With stops in Anaheim, Detroit, Washington, and Florida. The Senators have been a disappointment after a fast start to the 07-08 season. I still feel the talent is there for Ottawa to win the conference. A resurgent Pittsburgh Penguins look like the Senator’s biggest obstacle, that is other than themselves.
Purse snatching hockey players?
TAMPA, Fla. - Police say two Montreal Canadiens players have been arrested outside a Tampa nightclub. The 23-year-old defenseman Ryan O’Byrne has been accused of stealing a woman’s purse, and the 29-year-old right wing Thomas Kostopoulos has been charged with resisting an officer, a Tampa police report says.
Make a bet alcohol had something to do with this. Now what fate awaits Kostopoulos and O’Byrne? Immigration frowns on law breaking foreigners. Deportation and a ban from entering the US for 10 years? Only makes sense, CIS wants to deport widows of US citizens. They need to be tough on immigrants! Why should hockey players born in Canada be different?
From top to bottom, the standings
Ottawa Senators 51 32-15-4-68
Montréal Canadiens 50-27-15-8-62
Philadelphia Flyers 49-28-16-5-61
Pittsburgh Penguins 50 28-18-4-60
New Jersey Devils 50-28-19-3-59
Boston Bruins 50-26-19-5-57
New York Islanders 51-24-21-6-54
New York Rangers 52-24-22-6- 54
Carolina Hurricanes 53-25-24-4-54
Washington Capitals 51-23-23-5-51
Atlanta Thrashers 52-23-25-4-50
Buffalo Sabres 49-22-21-6-50
Florida Panthers 51-22-24-5-49
Toronto Maple Leafs 52-20-24-8-48
Tampa Bay Lightning 51-20-26-5-45
Note- The numbers above from left to right are- Games played, wins, losses, Overtime losses, total points
Teams in Bold are Southeast Division teams
First of all barring a complete collapse by these teams, you have to think Ottawa, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New Jersey and Montreal are locks to make the playoffs. You can probably also toss Boston in.
The rest of the conference is pretty wide open. The only teams that appear to have little chance are Tampa and Toronto.
The Southeast Division is wide open. It is also a division likely to send only one team to the playoffs. First to fourth place is separated by a measly 5 pts, and the 4th place team Florida has played two less games than division leader Carolina. That would point to Florida having a good chance to make the playoffs for the first time in 8 years. On the other hand, there is the team’s listless play of late, only 4 wins in 14 games and this from today’s Palm Beach Post.
The Panthers, who return to action tonight against Buffalo following the All-Star break, say they are determined to end their agonizing playoff drought.
But some observers think the Panthers haven’t exhibited enough determination to reach the post-season for the first time since April 2000.
To put it more bluntly, some critics think they are soft.
“This team plays too much on the perimeter; I haven’t seen the willingness to get their noses dirty and do the dirty work,” said NHL broadcaster John Vanbiesbrouck, who starred in the nets for the Panthers when they reached the Stanley Cup Final in 1996.
“Winning isn’t easy. You’ve got to make up your mind you’re going to do whatever it takes to get there and play like that every night.”
I’m not totally sure if Vanbiesbrouck is right in what he says. Florida has blown at least five games this year in the last minute of play. They’ve also played games where they either quit or showed little effort. I’ve missed only a handful of games on television this year, Florida has the talent to win the division and even make a run in the playoffs. The only teams I worry about in the conference are Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Carolina and Toronto (The Maple Leaf oversized defensemen seem to intimidate the Panthers) when Florida faces them.
I question if the Panthers has the desire, and perhaps the coaching. Why the hell did the team send Shawn Matthias back to the minors? He scored two goals in four NHL games, two of which Jacques Martin barely played him in, and 21 in 32 games of OHL play before his callup. I rather have Matthias on the roster than the overrated Brett McLean or Kamil Kreps. After all, Kreps has just 4 goals in 45 games played!
Boy am I getting gloomy about this Panthers team.
They won last night, marking for the fist time this season that the team has a winning record.
Thursday night’s Panthers-Hurricanes game might as well have been played on a roller coaster, it had so many ups and downs.
In the end, the final up went to Florida, which registered a 5-4 victory at the BankAtlantic Center, taking the lead for good on Brett McLean’s goal midway through the third period.
Back home after winning three of four games on the road and facing the Southeast Division leaders, the Panthers had nothing but opportunity in front of them. A win would cut into their five-point division deficit and set an energizing tone for a year-end schedule that features four of five games at the BankAtlantic Center.
It looked bleak when Carolina took a 3-1 lead after the first period, but the Panthers rallied for their third consecutive victory. They now trail the Hurricanes by just three points.
I have felt from Opening Night, that this Panther team is capable of taking the Southeast Division. That the team is right on Carolina’s back at the moment says something(Other than the SE division being mediocre) about how Florida has come this far. They’ve been plagued by injuries this year, particularly to defensemen(Three are out at this time, and its not known when any will be back) but all through this the team has pulled themselves over .500. Yes I still worry about the lack of punch the team has, their tendency to sit on a lead, and whether they give up when they fall behind. As to the last, maybe we’ve seen the end of it. For Florida was down 3-1 a little over 16 minutes into the game. The Panthers then stormed back.
The Eastern Conference playoff picture stands like this. Teams in italics are Southeast division teams
1- Ottawa 22-8-3 47 pts
2- Boston 18-12-4 40
T3- Montreal 17-12-5 39
T3- Carolina 18-15-3
T3- New Jersey 18-13-3 39
6 NY Rangers 17-14-3 37
T7 Florida 17-16-2 36
T7 Pittsburgh 17-15-2
T9 with 35 pts Buffalo and Philadelphia(32 games played each) and Toronto(35 games)
T12 with 33 pts Atlanta and Tampa Bay in 34 and 35 games respectively.
You can look at it one of two ways. Florida is four pts out of 2nd place in the conference or that the cats are just a game or two from being in 10th place because of the fewer games played by Buffalo and Philadelphia. As I see the conference, Florida can play as well as anyone with the exception of Ottawa, and arguably Carolina and New Jersey. The cats, who are notoriously bad as a road team, are 8-9-1. When you factor in injuries and the Panthers road record, this team could finish as high as 2nd in the conference, but more likely 4th or 5th. I think my preseason prediction of Florida making the playoffs for the first time since 2000, is looking better and better.
The Florida Panthers played at the Bell Centre the other night. For a while I thought I was getting pummeled with subliminal advertising, but I was mistaken. Every time the cameras show play near center ice, there is this great big advertisment on the boards. What is it for? Viagra.
Yes, just what a NHL hockey fan needs. If you want the wife calling 911 after a game one cold evening. Most hospitals probably don’t offer NHL center ICE or even FSN. I think this advertising is counterproductive to say the least.(Cue the sarcastic laughter)
He was the last coach to lead the Boston Bruins to a Stanley Cup title. RIP.
BOSTON (Reuters) - Former Boston Bruins player and coach Tom Johnson has died at the age of 79, the team said on Thursday.
Johnson was an outstanding defenseman with the Montreal Canadiens and the Bruins, later becoming coach and executive with Boston for more than 30 years before he retired in 1998.
A native of Balfour, Manitoba, Johnson played 15 seasons in the NHL, helping Montreal win six Stanley Cups. He won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman in 1958-59.
He coached the Bruins to the Stanley Cup in 1972, their last championship, later serving as the team’s assistant general manager and vice president.
“The Bruins and all of hockey have lost a great person,” said Harry Sinden, the team’s former coach and general manager who is now an advisor.
Johnson was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1970.
The Florida Panthers had no business winning last night.
MONTREAL — Tuesday night showed why the Panthers grabbed goalie Tomas Vokoun this past summer.
Dead offensively throughout the game, the only reason Florida was within striking distance of the host Canadiens was the play of Vokoun. The All-Star netminder kept the Panthers’ deficit at a goal, giving his outplayed team a chance.
What a chance it was.
Nathan Horton’s goal with 10.2 seconds left tied the score, and Jozef Stumpel got the shootout winner as the Panthers crept out of town with a 2-1 victory at the Bell Centre. The Panthers have now won three games in a row after an 0-3 start.
”We were pretty bad for 59 minutes,” Jay Bouwmeester said. “[Vokoun] played real great. He stole that one for sure. He’s a good goalie. We knew he could do that. Sometimes a goalie has to steal one for you.”
Vokoun was nothing short of a miracle worker last night. After a slow start, probably atttributable to moving from the NHL’s Western to Eastern conference, the Czech born goaltender is playing like Florida Panthers fans hoped and dreamed he would.
The Panthers stand at 3-3, and have won their last three in a row. Unlike hurricane forecasters, I will stick by my preseason prediction. The Panthers, riding the likes of Stumpel, Horton, Olli Jokinen, Vokoun, and some fine defensemen like Bryan Allen(The only good thing to result from the Roberto Luongo fiasco trade), will make the playoffs this year.
Note- I’ve watched every Panther game this season so far. Including last night’s, which was only available on NHL Center Ice. I must be going through a mid-life crisis, for I hadn’t watched hockey seriously the New York Islanders were NHL Champs in the early 80’s.
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