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Two Montreal Canadiens Players Arrested in Florida

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?

 

Post NHL All-Star game playoff assessment- Eastern Conference

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.

 

Are the 2007-08 Florida Panthers over the hump?

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 dangers of watching Montreal Canadiens hockey

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)

 

NHL owners approve scheduling changes

All NHL teams will meet again once every season. From AP-

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – The NHL’s board of governors approved the sale of the Nashville Predators and changed the league’s scheduling format Thursday night to allow every team to face each other at least once every season.

Paul Kelly, the new executive director of the NHL Players Association, also addressed the league’s owners during a late-afternoon session to open the board’s two-day meeting at an elite resort on the Northern California coast.

After a three-year experiment in developing rivalries in hockey’s far-flung outposts, the NHL voted to go back to the scheduling format used before the 2004-05 lockout, most notably decreasing the current eight games against every team’s divisional opponents to six.

Starting next season, teams will play just 24 total games against their four divisional foes, 40 against the rest of the conference and 18 against the other conference — one game against all 15 foes, and three home-and-home series against wild-card opponents.

First let me state, my interest in hockey was only rekindled in the last year. Otherwise I had watched little of the sport since the end of the NY Islanders Dynasty in the early to mid eighties.

The arrangement where teams didn’t all meet seemed dumb to me. Fans in the west miss out on seeing players like Sidney Crosby and fans in the east miss getting to see……. well see what problem I have. LOL, make that former Florida Panther and ace goaltender Roberto Luongo. Now I can learn about the LA Kings, San Jose Sharks etc. To be honest I’m sick of Atlanta. You would be too if you had to see the Thrashers and Panthers cross sticks eight times a year.

 

Hockey Hall of Famer Tom Johnson dead at 79

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.

 

Miracle in Montreal

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.

 

Are you ready for some hockey?

The 2007-08 NHL season has its North American opener tonight.

DETROIT – If you don’t count two regular-season games played in London over the weekend, tonight is the NHL’s opening night.

The Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks, who split two games in England against the L.A. Kings, are in Detroit to play the Red Wings.

Elsewhere, the Montreal Canadiens travel to Carolina to play the Hurricanes, the Ottawa Senators are at the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Dallas Stars visit Denver to play the Avalanche.

The Florida Panthers begin their schedule tomorrow with a road game at the New York Rangers. Based on the acquisition of Goalie Tomas Vokoun, the team’s play late in the 2006-07 season, and the current talent on the team, I’m predicting a third place finish in the Southeast Division and a playoff spot next spring.

 

Boston Bruins hire Claude Julien as coach

He will be the NHL franchise’s third coach in just one year.

Claude Julien was hired as coach of the Bruins on Thursday, less than a week after Boston fired Dave Lewis and two months after Julien was dismissed by the New Jersey Devils in the season’s waning days.

Julien is the Bruins’ third coach in a year. He was let go by the first-place Devils in April with three games left in the regular season and the team preparing for the playoffs.

Lewis led to the Bruins to a 35-41-6 record in his only season. He was dismissed Friday — more than two months after they missed the playoffs for the second consecutive year — and will be given another job in the franchise. Boston hasn’t won a playoff series since 1999.

*****

In his only season with New Jersey, Julien was 47-24-8. He also coached the Montreal Canadiens for three years, leading the Canadiens to the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2004 — when they beat the Bruins in the conference quarterfinals — before he was fired midway through the 2005-06 season with a 19-16-6 record.

“He demands execution,” Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said. “He demands that his players do what he wants.”

*****

Julien is the 17th person to coach the Bruins in 30 years.

Julien has had some success with other teams. The Bruins on the other hand have been poor to mediocre since the cancelled 2004-05 season. Something tells me Julien will be looking for employment again in 2 to 3 years at most.

 

NHL Faces CBC Anger Over NBC

Playoff scheduling by the league has raised the ire of the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company) and many Canadian hockey fans.

It’s bad enough the Toronto Maple Leafs mismanaged and misplayed themselves out of the Stanley Cup playoffs. That Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers were both too lousy to qualify for the post-season doesn’t please many Canadian hockey fans either.

But now, to add insult to injury, Saturday’s Ottawa Senators-Pittsburgh Penguins game has been shifted to the afternoon to appease NBC.

No Hockey Night in Canada featuring a Canadian-based team. Instead, we get the trap-happy New Jersey Devils against the also-ran Tampa Bay Lightning.

NBC only bothers televising National Hockey League games in the afternoon, and it wants this game because Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby is the game’s marquee attraction. He’s young (just 19), successful (the NHL regular-season scoring champion) and plays hockey with a reckless abandon that endears him to fans everywhere.

One would think that this decision would be a no-brainer for the NHL suits, and league commissioner Gary Bettman. This season, the CBC is paying the NHL $65-million for the rights to broadcast hockey games. And the CBC has also extended its contract with the league for six years at a total of $600 million.

NBC pays nothing for the rights to broadcast NHL games. Instead it has a profit-sharing agreement with the league. Which begs the obvious question of why the NHL would bow to NBC’s request, rather than side with the CBC, which is paying the league all those millions.

Its hard not to blame the Canadians for being mad, their big teams aren’t in and now they can’t watch one of the few Canadian Teams in the playoffs as well as one of the best players in the game. Hockey Night in Canada is their Monday Night Football and they feel its a god given right to have the best teams (or the teams they want to see) playing. Unfortunatlly the league sees reality, the game is at critical mass in Canada. They don’t have to invest in Canada to attract fans in Canada it part of the Canadian gene make up, butthe NHL does need to invest heavily in the US to get the game fan base growing and the way they see doing that is getting the msot exciting young players in the game on US broadcast TV. The NHL need NBC (not vise versa), NBC can choose from a host of sports that would pull in simialr rates and make jsut as much money. Its a choice the NHL was willing to make as they try to become a big sport again, even though it may not work the have to try it.

 
 


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