Canadian Teams are heating up to end October ! Part 2:Western Conference

I already wrote about all of the Eastern Conference teams, now we will focus on the Western teams. Last year the Canucks made it to the Stanley cup final, but Edmonton finished dead last getting the second consecutive top pick in the draft. With Calgary finishing 10^th last year, and making no key acquisitions in the offseason it didn’t seem like Canada would have much to cheer about in the West this year either. The one thing the West did have to look forward to, was that it was very believable that a Canadian team would be leading a division, although you might be surprised which team is holding the top spot!

Edmonton Oilers: 11 GP, 7-2-2, 16 points. 3^rd in the West.

Edmonton after starting the year off well at 2-2-2, have been simply lights out since, as they have won 5 straight games. What makes those wins even more impressive is who they have come against, Edmonton has beaten the Rangers, Canucks, Capitals, Avalanche, and Blues. The Oilers have went to the annual whipping boys, to one of the toughest teams to play in the league. In those last 5 games the Oilers haven’t allowed more than 2 goals in any game. When you think of Edmonton, you think of offense due to all of the high-profile forwards they have drafted. The knock on them was always defense and goaltending. Yet this year, the strength for the Oilers has been come from their apparent Achilles heel. They have allowed only 18 goals in 11 games, by far a league best! In fact, they have allowed more than 2 goals only twice all year, both games coming against Vancouver. The Oilers may not be the best offensive team so far this year, but the top-end talent on this team has been very consistent. #1 overall pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has been incredible so far this year, scoring 5 goals, and putting up 11 points with a +4 rating in his first 11 games. RNH essentially has left the Oilers no choice but to keep him in the pros. The rest of the kid-line has been great as well as Eberle had 10 points, and Hall has 9. Judging from that you would assume it was youth that was carrying this team, however, it is the balance between the young players, and the vets that has caused this change. Veteran Ryan Smyth has been a huge addition to this team with his 5 goals and 10 points, and has been a great example for all of the young guns to look upto. But the real key to this turnaround for the Oilers, has been the renaissance of Khabibulin. The “Bulin Wall” has been out of this world so far! Going 0-5-2 so far this year, and posting a league best 1.12 GAA, and a .960 save%. Those numbers are incredible! He has allowed 1 or less goals in 5 out of his 7 games, and has still yet to give up more than 2 goals despite having 30+ shots in the majority of those games. Edmonton is also thriving on it’s special teams, as their powerplay is ranked 12^th (20.8%) and the penalty kill is ranked 4^th (89.1%). The only reason for concern with Edmonton is the fact that they have gotten no secondary scoring as of yet, as they have 6 players with more than 7 points, but only 8 players with more than 1 point! They will need more balanced scoring to keep this recent run of success up, but a promising stat is the fact that they have lost only 1 game by more than 1 goal, and that was the 1^st game of the season!

Vancouver Canucks: 11 GP, 5-5-1, 11 points. 10^th in the West.

The Canucks have clearly been suffering from what many people call the Stanley Cup hangover, as they were off to a pretty horrible start. The slow start isn’t due to the offense, it is due to the fact that they are giving up 3 goals per game. Luongo is off to yet another slow start, as he is 3-3-1, has a 3.54 GAA, and a shockingly low .869 save & so far. These are definitely not the numbers you would expect from Luongo, but he is a perennial slow-starter so Canucks fans shouldn’t worry too much. It shouldn’t be long before he returns to the form of last year when he put up a 2.11 GAA, a .928 save% , and had 23 more wins than losses! You don’t put those kind of numbers up by fluke. The Sedins have been great with 4 goals and 13 points each. Salo and Edler have been very dangerous from the blueline with 17 points and a +9 rating combined. When you consider the fact that Kesler hasn’t completely shown up this year since returning from injury, and the trade for Booth hasn’t paid dividends yet. But Kesler and Booth are too talented of players to not soon find some chemistry together and begin to produce. One bright spot for the Canucks is that Luongo has won 2 of his last 3 starts, one including a very big win against the very dangerous Washington Capitals. The win wasn’t due to the goaltending of Luongo as he let in 4 goals, but scoring 7 goals against Washington is a very good sign that the Canucks may be getting on track. Despite the slow start for the Canucks, I would be shocked if we didn’t see Vancouver in the playoffs fighting for a shot at the cup when it comes to the end of the year.

Calgary Flames: 9 GP, 4-4-1, 9 points. 14ht in the West.

Calgary has not looked good at all this year. That is most evident when you look at team leader Jarome Iginla. This season Igina has only 2 goals and 4 points in 9 games, while posting a -3 rating. What’s even scarier is that he has been held off of the scoresheet in 6 out of 9 games. Iginla hasn’t had under 67 points in any season in the last decade, and when you look at his current stats he is only on pace to have 36 points this year! Do I think he will stay that bad all year? Absolutely not. Especially not when you look at how he started off last year. Last season, Iginla was pointless in 10 out of his 1^st 15 games! But he then got points in 52 of his last 67, to finish with a total of 86 points on the year! So he should definitely turn it around soon, he is too talented, and plays too hard not to. It’s not all doom and gloom for Calgary’s forwards is Tanguay has 8 points, and Jokinen has added 7. The problem with the Flames is the other 3 lines…as only 2 players on the team have more than 5 points! The Flames have had a lot of trouble when it comes to scoring this year. They haven’t had trouble in between the pipes however, as Kiprusoff has allowed only 2.02 goals per game, and has a .930 save%. Kipper has done his best to keep the Flames in it so far this year, now it is the offenses turn to get it going and get them back into contention. With 2 wins in a row vs the Avs and the Blues, things seem to be on the right track for the Flames. They are now back at .500 and with a few games in hand on teams ahead, will have a chance to gain some ground in the next few games.

It may seem like the Western Canadian teams aren’t doing too great, but Edmonton couldn’t be any better right now, and Vancouver & Calgary seem to be getting on the right track, and will definitely finish higher than they are in the standings right now. After only 2 Canadian teams making the playoffs last year, it looks like Canada will have a much more successful year this season. Canada currently has 3 playoff teams, all of which missed the playoffs last year. And with both Montreal and Vancouver not far behind, there could soon be 5 Canadian teams in the playoffs. We will have to wait and see, but it’s looking good so far, and every team has given their fans reasons to have hope in the past few games!

Grant Robinson (@thesportsgrind)

Canadian Teams are heating up to end October ! Part 1 Eastern Conference

With only 1 out of 4 Canadian teams (Atlanta is now Winnipeg) making the playoffs last season for the Eastern conference, and that playoff  team (Montreal) finishing only 3 points ahead of 8th. It really didn’t seem like this season held a lot of promise for Canadian teams. Ottawa and Winnipeg were both considered to be in rebuilding mode. Toronto was a team that nobody was giving a chance too, as they were just “too young”. Montreal was the only Canadian team in the East that was given a chance to make any noise this year. After Montreal’s horrendous start, you would assume that this year would not be looking good for Canada, however, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Canadian teams have been on fire as of late, especially in the East. Now let’s take a look at each individual team and see why they are giving their respective cities reasons to be hopeful this year.

Toronto Maple Leafs: 11 GP, 7-3-1, 15 points. 2^nd place in the Eastern Conference.

The Leafs have not only been the best Canadian team in the East so far, but they’ve been one of the best in the entire league! 7 wins in 11 games is an incredible start, and it is due in large part to its top line. Phil Kessel has been an absolute force, netting 10 goals (including 3 game winners) and 18 points in 11 games and he leads the league in all of those stats. His linemate Joffrey Lupul has been great as well as he has added 5 goals and 11 points. The 2 clearly have something special going on here, as Kessel has been a completely different player ever since Lupul came over in the Beauchemin trade. That line has just become even more dangerous as Tim Connolly has now returned from injury, and has already shown some early flashes of brilliance with his linemates in his 1^st 3 games. The other key player for the Leafs so far this year has been captain Dion Phaneuf, as he has 11 points in 11 games. He is also a team best +7, while playing almost 27 minutes a game! He is beginning to look like the Phaneuf of old that dominated the league in his 1^st few seasons in Calgary. After suffering 2 tough losses against the Bruins and Flyers, the Leafs bounced back nicely and beat both the Rangers and the 1^st place Penguins, before losing on Sunday to the suddenly hot Senators. The good news for the Leafs is that in their last few games, they have begun to get secondary scoring from the Grabovski/Kulemin/MacArthur line. MacArthur has improved the most of late, as after having only 1 point in his 1^st 5 games, he has 4 goals and an assist in his last 3 games! The addition of Steckel has also been a very underrated move as he has won 60.9% of his faceoffs and has been a great addition to the team. Toronto’s special teams haven’t been a strength, as the slightly above average 13^th ranked powerplay, has been erased by the 27^th ranked PK unit. What is saving the Leafs is the fact that they are one of the best 5 on 5 teams in the league, as they score 1.33 goals (3^rd in NHL) for every time they are scored on at even strength. The good news for the Leafs is that the secondary scorers are starting to contribute, Connolly is in the lineup, and Reimer should be coming off of the IR soon.  For those of you doubting Toronto’s start and thinking they aren’t that consistent, only 1 game this year has been decided by more than 2 goals, meaning they might not blow anybody out, but they have had a chance to win in all but 1. Could this be the year Toronto finally makes the playoffs? Sure looks like it so far!

Ottawa Senators: 12 GP, 7-5-0, 14 points. 4^th in East

Ottawa’s record might not be as good as the Leafs, but they are definitely the hottest team not only in the East, but in the entire league right now. After starting the year with a horrendous record of 1-5, the Senators have completely turned the ship around and fired off 6 straight wins! After an embarrassing 7-2 loss to the Flyers, the Senators have scored at least 3 goals every game during a 6 game win streak. All but one of those wins came by one goal, 3 of which took incredible comebacks to win, but nonetheless the Sens have banked 12 out of the last possible 12 points! How are they having all of this success? The answer is definitely not defense or goaltending, as the Sens have allowed 45 goals in 12 games, and starter Craig Anderson despite having a 6-2 record, has posted a 3.66 GAA, and a .881 save %. To say those are weak numbers would be an understatement, especially considering the success he had last year after coming to Ottawa. The Senators are winning because of the offense. Spezza has 6 goals and 15 points in 12 games putting him among the league leaders in points. Linemate Michalek isn’t far behind as he has a team-leading 8 goals, and has contributed 13 points . Also, D-man E. Karlsson despite having only 1 goal, has also pitched in with 13 points! How are these players putting up so many points?? That is simple…Ottawa has the top-ranked powerplay in the league right now, they are almost impossible to stop from scoring on the man-advantage. Ottawa has scored a league leading 13 power play goals, on only 42 opportunities. That is a WHOPPING 31% PP scoring rate! Ottawa’s recent run has put them right in the thick of things with the top teams in the conference, and with 4 of their next 5 games coming against division opponents, the Sens have a great chance to make themselves a legitimate playoff threat! Not too bad for a team that people thought had no reason to be excited for this season other than another possible lottery pick!

Montreal Canadiens: 11 GP, 4-5-2, 10 points. 11^th in East

The Canadiens started the season off horrendously….after a 1-5-2 start, fans were calling for blood! They wanted the coach gone, the GM gone, and some of its highest paid players traded as well. And with the next 3 games on the schedule being Philly, and then Boston twice, it really looked like things were going to go from bad to worse for the Habs. But the Montreal team that couldn’t seem to do anything right in the 1^st games, have played pretty much perfect hockey in their last 3 and have now strung together 3 straight wins vs 2 of the toughest teams in the conference for them historically. Boston and Philadelphia have had their own struggles lately, so that definitely helped Montreal, but nonetheless the Habs have played essentially error free hockey (other than the Plekanec/Price miscue) over the last 3 games. A few more wins in a row, and Montreal might even be able to forget about the brutal beginning to October. Price has been great over the past 3 games, allowing only 4 goals, and posting a .950 save %, after having a GAA over 3, and a sub .900 save % to start the year. That is more like the Carey Price we all expected this year, returning to his Vezina candidate form. Plekanec and Pacioretty have been the only forwards who have looked like All-stars at any point this year for the team. However, those 2 being the leading scorers might not be great news as they only have 4 goals each and 9 points in 11 games. Not exactly dominant numbers you would expect from team leaders. But the Habs have taken some solace in the fact that they have gotten well distributed scoring, as they have 9 players with at least 5 points. And when you think about it, the Habs didn’t have any players last season or the year before at over a point per game, so this shouldn’t cause any worry with Habs fans. The one player who has to improve however is PK Subban, as he has 0 goals and only 3 points in 11 games despite playing 24 minutes a game. And it’s not exactly like he is playing great in the defensive zone as he is -3. But if the Habs play like they do in the last 3 games, then the playoffs are definitely attainable. The key to the recent string of victories has been Carey Price, and much improved special teams! The powerplay in the last 3 games has been clicking at 27.3%, compared to 13.3% on the season. And the Penalty Kill has been successful 91% of the time, compared to 83% on the year even counting the recent dominance.

Winnipeg Jets: 11 GP, 4-6-1, 9 points. 13^th in East

The Jets have been the least impressive of the Canadian teams, however, they may have turned a corner recently. In the last 5 games, they have went 3-2, both of those losses coming by only 1 goal. So the Jets have definitely been playing a lot better recently, being led offensively by Antropov (10 points in 11 games), and Burmistrov who has been GREAT. Burmistrov has 9 points in 11 games this year, after having only 20 points in 74 games last year as a rookie. Clearly he has found his game this year, and is showing no signs of slowing down any time soon. The key to the recent success however, in my opinion, has been Kyle Wellwood. He leads the team with 5 goals, and 8 points. His 8 points are good enough for 3^rd on the team, despite having 6 forwards on the team who average more ice time than him. Wellwood has made the most of the little ice time he has received, and the Jets must be incredibly with the signing. Things could get better for the Jets when you consider that Byfuglien, last year’s Norris candidate has only 4 points and is a -5 so far this year! After 53 points last season, his 0 goals are shocking, and you have to assume that he will soon turn it around. If they could get better numbers out of Pavelec then the 3.63 GAA, and .885 save% then the Jets could potentially make a run at the playoffs. One thing is for sure, however, the Jets have been one of the most entertaining teams to watch this year, just look at their last 3 games. First, the beat the Flyers 9-8 in one of the biggest roller-coaster games of the year, then losing a nail-biter to the Lightning 1-0, and finally vs the Panthers, they tied it in the last minute and won it in a shootout. I for one, am incredibly happy that the Jets are in Winnipeg, and the winning record the Jets have at home shows that the team appreciates the fan support as well!

Be sure to check out Part 2 that will focus on the Western Canadian teams.

Grant Robinson (@thesportsgrind)

MSG treat for Rangers in 5-2 victory over Sharks

The third time was a charm for the New York Rangers (4-3-3) to figure out the formula for success at Madison Square Garden, in their 5-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks (6-4-0) on Monday night. In a game featuring hard work, sacrifice and effort the Blueshirts gave a packed Garden a Halloween treat.

Making his debut with the Rangers was forward Andre Deveaux, who had the type of grind-it-out effort that’ll keep him with the Blueshirts for quite some time. Deveaux playing with childhood friend Dan Girardi, in what was a dream come true for both players.

Girardi also had an impressive night, earning the third star of the game thanks to his efforts. The Blueliner finished the night with three blocked shots, two hits and assists.

New York opened the night of scoring when Ryan McDonagh (3) scored on a perfect set-up by captain Ryan Callahan at the 4:46 mark. The Rangers added to their lead on a power play goal with 14:53 on the scoreboard when Derek Stepan tallied his first goal of the season.

The Blueshirts were all over San Jose in the first period, up until the 17:50 mark when Joe Pavelski (8) banged home a puck which hit both ends of Martin Biron’s (24 saves) cage before rattling in for the first Sharks goal. Pavelski finished the road trip with six goals in six games.

In what was a physical battle between the Sharks and the Rangers, as there were multiple scrums and one fight, San Jose tied things up in the second period, putting on a display of how to hold the puck. The Sharks overextended the Blueshirts blueline to even things up.

Pavelski was a big part of the Sharks’ second goal setting up second-year star Logan Couture (4) rifled home a shot to make things 2-2. It was sometime after that, the Rangers started to respond-getting back their game.

Spark plugging that effort was Captain Cally, who got a beauty of a pass from Erik Christensen, as the Rangers took the 3-2 lead at the 14:00 mark. The Blueshirts defense lead to the fourth goal at 16:42 as Artem Anisimov recorded his first goal of the season, adding on to the lead.

Christensen was a part of that fifth goal of the game along with Jeff Woywitka-who recorded his first point in a Rangers uniform. New York also had an impressive performance from Wojtek Wolski, who finished with a game-high seven shots in the game.

Capping off the game and the victory was Captain Cally, who on one leg gave the Rangers a 5-2 lead at the 19:12 mark.  The forward showed that effort, grit and spirit necessary to lead the team.

Now the Rangers will continue this six-game homestand with a Thursday night game against the Anaheim Ducks. The game is scheduled to air on the MSG network, with the puck drop slated for 7:00 p.m.

Stacy Podelski

http://www.smacksportvideos.com/

Battle of Ontario Round Two: Toronto Maple Leafs @ Ottawa Senators

Toronto Maple Leafs (7-3-1) @ Ottawa Senators (7-5-0)

Tonight’s battle of Ontario was the second of six meetings as Ottawa evened the season series one game apiece. Both teams came into tonight on fire as the Senators turned a five game unbeaten streak into six and the Leafs were coming off a hard fought win on top of their great start to the season.

Gustavsson started his third in a row since coming in for Reimer in Montreal.  Other than one soft goal he made some big saves which ultimately kept the Leafs in the game considering being outshot 25 to 30. Young Sens goaltender Robin Lehner started his first game of the year after 2 relief appearances. The 20 year old Swede came up strong when needed battling for the win.

Clark MacArthur spoiled the score sheet going high glove side on the powerplay as the Leafs climbed ahead with the first goal of the game. Clark has found his scoring touch with at least a goal in each of his last 3 games. Cornell graduate Colin Greening, also on the powerplay, made it 1-1. Greening is in first full season and is off to a productive start with 7 pts on the year.

The second period can be summarized by penalty after penalty with only team capitalizing. Chris Neil redirected a Karlsson point shot going five hole to beat Gustavsson on the powerplay, 2-1 Sens. The Leafs lost all of their momentum with the multiple penalties and goal against as the Sens healthfully outshot the Leafs once again. Up to this point in the game all goals were scored by way of the powerplay.

The first non powerplay goal of the evening came from Kaspars Daugavins as he increased Ottawa’s lead to two with a weak wrister past Gustavsson, over shadowing an other wise decent performance. MacArthur gave the Leafs hope as he finished off a nice pass from Grabovski to shrink the deficit to one goal. Too little to late sounds like I am referring to the Leafs playoff runs as of late as they were unable to climb that last hurdle. Positive pressure was shown in the last few minutes but Ottawa was able to hold on increasing their impressive win streak to six games.

By: Liam Niven

GETREALHOCKEY IS LOOKING FOR WRITERS WHO CAN COVER EUROPEAN AND KHL HOCKEY

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HABS OR HABS NOT ? (A LOOK INTO THE BEATING HEART OF THE NHL)

The Habs are without a doubt the beating heart of the NHL.  The team is a symbol for the city of Montreal, the country of Canada and the game of hockey.  The team has a history which is envied by every other NHL club.  Greats like Maurice Richard and Guy Lafleur are just two of the many legendary players who have worn the Canadiens uniform.   The ramparts at the Bell Center are covered in championship banners and the reminder of past success is present every time they drop the puck and the club takes on a new opponent.

This track record of success is a double edge sword for every player who steps on the ice for the Habs.  Expectations are always high and underperformance is punishable by excommunication from the hearts of loyal Canadiens fans.

This year's edition of the Habs is under that very same pressure.  Carey Price is their own ice leader and he has faced the most criticism so far this season. The pre-season tailspin foretold a rough start to the season and it looked that the Habs were headed to the basement in their division after the first few weeks.  Fans were calling for the head of Price, Demers and others as the team dropped key games to the Leafs and Avalanche. It certainly did not look good.

Somehow, disaster was avoided this past week for Montreal.  It was as though the team called on the ghosts of past Habs' greats and they managed to knock off the Flyers and the Bruins (in a home and home series).  The band wagon of Habs fans which had lost "loyal" followers for three weeks has been busy since last night picking up the same poor souls who had "lost" their way.

The question for all Habs fans and NHL fans is which Habs team we will show up for the rest of the year.  I suppose we can best express the anticipation with Habs or Habs not ? A true Habs team will pull together from here on and get back in the race.  The tradition of playing in Montreal should be enough to get these guys to play their best.  If the team fades; hockey history will banish them as an oddity and mark the players as not good enough to have worn the Canadiens jersey.  I guess it is up to them to answer the question; Habs or Habs not ?  Either way it should be interesting. 

What a mess! As Isles fall to Sharks 3-2

One of the phrases heard around Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, from both the employees and the fans, was ‘What a mess!’ As not only the weather, but the officiating cost the New York Islanders (3-5-1) in the 3-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks (6-3-0).
It was not only the weather, but the officiating as the guys in stripes cost the Islanders a shot at two points against a very good Western Conference Sharks team.  The main piece of good news from the arena for Islanders fans is that they skated well for three periods against a team that has been in the playoffs.

That was something head coach Jack Capuano emphasized afterward saying, “It was a good hockey team that we played tonight, one of the better teams in the league, and I thought for three periods, we skated with them. We did a lot of good things, and that is one thing that we have to take out of this game.”

New York had fought hard throughout responding to a 1-0 deficit after Joe Pavelski gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at the 0:17 mark of the first period of play. The Islanders responded back in the second period, when John Tavares (7) tallied a power play goal at the 3:15 mark.

“This one is a tough one to swallow, especially what happened at the end, “Tavares said. Of trying to snap the current losing streak, “We just need to try and understand that we’ve done a lot of good things tonight.  Our game has come a long way. If we keep playing the way we did tonight, we are going to win a lot more hockey games.”

For Tavares six of the seven points scored thus far this season have been on home ice, the forward was strong throughout the night, earning the second star of the game thanks to his efforts. Michael Graber (3) recorded his first power play goal of the season at the 11:28 mark to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead.
That lead evaporated though on a beautiful shot by San Jose star Logan Couture, who tied things up at the 13:19 mark. After being stalemated in the third period of play, things went into overtime-where the zebra’s made a call they’d probably like to have back.

Twenty-nine seconds into the frame, the referees blew their whistles thinking a puck flew into the crowd calling a crucial penalty against the Islanders. Before the puck went into the crowd though, it first deflected into the glass-which should have led to a face-off in the defensive zone.

In the end the Sharks cashed in on their 4-on-3 opportunity, as Brent Burns (3) scored the game-winning goal at the 1:07 mark.  Making his first appearance on home ice in the cage was Rick DiPietro, who showed flashes of his old form. ‘DP’ made 27 saves in what was a steady, calming game for the Islanders.

“I felt pretty good,” DiPietro said of his first start in the cage. On rebounding after the first goal of the game, “That was nuts, not the way you want to start your first game after a month off. Maybe it was good to get the nerves out and not have to worry about the shutout, get that out of the way.”

The guys will get four days off, before hosting the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, The game is scheduled to air on the MSG Plus 2 network, and face-off is slated for 7:00 p.m.

Stacy Podelski

http://www.smacksportvideos.com/

Notes: Prior to the game the Islanders celebrated the ’92-’93 team, which won the Patrick Division Championships. The team also capped off a month long Islanders Fight Cancer Campaign with a Halloween Basket Auction.