Holy Hairpulling Batman!!

(Cross posted at Couch Tarts)

Things are getting rough in the middle of the pack in the Western Conference playoff race. Chicago and Vancouver, 1st round foes if the playoffs began today, played their final regular season match-up today and the results were pretty outstanding. (Why is it I've never thought of Vancouver as a rough team and yet they seem to get into huge scuffles with other teams?) Most of the 98 penalty minutes came in a close to full line fight that took place early in the 3rd period.





Dustin Byfuglien: 2 Minutes for Goaltender Interference Roberto Luongo
Ben Eager: 5 Minutes for Fighting Kevin Bieksa
Kevin Bieksa: 5 Minutes for Fighting Ben Eager
Shane O'Brien: 10 Minutes for Misconduct Brent Seabrook
Ben Eager: 10 Minutes for Misconduct Kevin Bieksa
Cam Barker: 10 Minutes for Misconduct Willie Mitchell
Henrik Sedin: 2 Minutes for Holding Duncan Keith
Duncan Keith: 10 Minutes for Misconduct Alexandre Burrows
Adam Burish: 2 Minutes for Roughing Daniel Sedin (Served by Martin Havlat)
Adam Burish: 10 Minutes for Misconduct Daniel Sedin
Adam Burish: 2 Minutes for Roughing Daniel Sedin (Served by Martin Havlat)
Kevin Bieksa: 10 Minutes for Misconduct Ben Eager
Adam Burish: 2 Minutes for Roughing Daniel Sedin (Served by Martin Havlat)

Puck Daddy does a much better job summing up the fights than I can:

The first two players to dance were Chicago's Ben Eager and the Canucks' Kevin Bieksa, in a fight that featured more undressing than a burlesque show and one very stiff pop to the face by Eager that sent Bieksa to the ice. The linesmen would break it up, but not befire Bieksa left some blood on the Chicago ice after the fight.

Then, Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith and Vancouver's Alex Burrows had a skirmish which saw Keith apply a headlock and Burrows grab a lock of Keith's hair -- refusing to let go even as the two tumbled to the ice. So not only is Burrows one of the NHL's greatest pests, but he evidently learned how to fight by watching "Mean Girls."

Trust me when I say, I've seen hair-pulling girl fights and they are often worse than the boy fights because the girls never let go. I think most Sharks fans will agree that neither of those are teams that we want to face in the first round. If they end up facing each other, it looks to be a hell of a match-up.

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Friday Five!

This is actually being posted on time...because I'm on my way from Sacramento to Tacoma. Yay crew!
1.) Where is your favorite, sunny place?
2.) Do you enjoy water sports?
3.) Would you rather take a road trip or fly?
4.) Do you support keeping Lake Tahoe blue?
5.) Can you get a good night's sleep in a hotel?

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Shaving Cream Pie

The Sharks celebrated their 3-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche by smacking defenseman, and number one star of the game, Alexei Semenov in the face with a towel full of shaving cream. Jeremy Roenick is the main culprit, but you can also see Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Ryane Clowe and Sharks PR guy Tom Holy in the background.

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Unnecessary Hit; Penguins 4, Kings 1

With just a few seconds left in a game that you're winning, is it really necessary to take a shot to someone's head? Well, Evgeni Malkin thought it was. He gave the cold shoulder to Wayne Simmonds and the whistle blew to end the game. I'm not even upset about the loss. Who cares if it's the league superstar hitting a rookie's head? In this case, every single Kings fan whereas every Pittsburgh fan probably cheered the hit. But let's talk about questionable acts of unsportsmanlike conduct from the past few days (of which I'm only discussing two because I'm feeling a bit lazy).

Please go to A Queen Among Kings to see all the linkage.

(1) Alexander Ovechkin's celebration after he scored his 50th goal of the season. I've read many reactions both for and against. I'm on the fence since he is who he is. He loves to celebrate his teammates' goals as well as his own, but this definitely involved a bit of showboating. He received a talking to by Bruce Boudreau and everyone moves on. Don Cherry's going to have a field day with this one.

(2) Penguins' Malkin laying a hit on Kings' Simmonds with just a few seconds left in a game that the Penguins were going to win. As with Ovechkin, there have been many comments going around about this hit both for and against. Comments like "Get your head up, rookie!" But wait a second, did this person not see that all Simmonds was trying to do was poke the puck away from Malkin? He wasn't going to him to with the intention of hitting him.

Earlier in the game he and Jack Johnson toughed it out in front of the Kings net for a good chunk of time where both players received 2-minutes for roughing. This altercation is a part of the game, but anyone who says that hitting someone else in the head is "a part of hockey" has never had someone on their own team taken a hit to the head. It's not about being an objective observer of every team when you have your specific team that you love; it's about the passion that every single fan brings to the NHL, which is why there will always be cheers and jeers in every situation.

In the end, there are going to be comments all over the place with a questionable play such as this one from fans from every region across the US and Canada. But the plain facts are that (1) Simmonds' head was down in going for the poke check while (2) Malkin was defending himself by bracing for some kind of hit that was never going to come. In the end his shoulder goes straight into Simmonds' head. I think the argument of whether he was hit with the shoulder or elbow (legal or illegal) is not the point. The point is that the brunt of the hit was into Simmonds' head.

Malkin is subject to a disciplinary phone call where the resulting decision is to be announced tomorrow. Am I excepting a suspension? Hell no, who has the guts to suspend Malkin? Every situation is unique but I'm not expecting a fair trial here. Everyone has a hard-on for Malkin and the Penguins, so why should anyone care about Simmonds? I'm not saying I don't think the guy deserves punishment; I definitely think he deserves some sort of supplemental discipline. I just don't think the NHL is going to do anything about it considering who both players are.

Oh yeah, the game. Just some quick notes on an unimpressive outing:

* It was Justin Williams' first game in a Kings sweater so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt for this game since the entire team wasn't looking too hot. He had 13:36 minutes on the ice and one shot on net. He also had one recorded giveaway, but it definitely seemed to have happened more than just once.
* Alexander Frolov was allowed out of the doghouse, but is still chained to it. He had 17 minutes with one shot and one hit.
* They're definitely not ready for post-season play. The fact that it took a 5-on-3 to get a goal through all the traffic wasn't impressive. Impressive was the Penguins' penalty kill units. Aggressive and quick. They took 11 total penalties (with one as a 10-minute misconduct and others resulting in 4-on-4 play) but they were successful killing virtually all of them.
* The Kings finally got themselves over 50% in the faceoff circle. They won 60% while the Penguins went just 40%.
* Dustin Brown made a good showing with 7 hits and 6 shots on net.

(x-posted to A Queen Among Kings)

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Friday Five

I'm so close to spring break I can feel it!
1.) Best spring break trip ever?
2.) Do you tell people exactly where you are from, or give them a distance to a larger city?
3.) Have you made a March Madness bracket?
4.) How many road maps do you have in your car?
5.) What is your favorite local band?

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Ersberg in Directv Commercial

Not sure if this commercial is national or only shown locally but Erik Ersberg is in a DIRECTV commercial.

I don't know how long it's been on the air but I first heard about it today from my fiance and I saw it today when I was watching an episode of 'Friday Night Lights' that I recorded from last Friday. First Aubin, now Ersberg. How many other Kings goaltenders are in the pipeline to be in a commercial?

And speaking of 'Friday Night Lights', Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton have got to be the absolute best married TV couple. They are amazing together on-screen. And how many of you got teary-eyed when Tim Riggins realized he lost his best friend to the NYC? It's so heart breaking watching Tim Riggins get emotional.

x-posted to Purple Crushed Velvet

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Carolina Hurricanes--post Trade Deadline

As usual, I’m a day (or more) late and a dollar (or more) short. I was supposed to write a pre-trade deadline post about what the Hurricanes could possibly do on Trade Deadline day. Part of the reason I didn’t write it is because who the heck ever knows what Jim Rutherford is going to do. There was talk of players being shopped, such as defenseman Frantisek Kaberle, but that’s about it. In reality, what this team needed to be shopping for was consistency. They may have found it.

The entire season the ‘Canes have struggled with consistency on the ice. Goaltending led by Cam Ward has been better than previous season (is Wardo finally maturing as a goaltender?) but Cam still had some bad games in there, games where he should have been better. Backup Michael Leighton did ok when called upon. The defense, once again, had times where it had more holes that swiss cheese, which didn’t help the goalies at all. On offense, Eric Staal, the face of the organization, struggled to be the offensive superpower he is supposed to be. Justin Williams injured over and over and over. Rod Brind’Amour coming back from injury at one point had league worst -29 rating. Rutherford’s answer at the time (early December) was to fire head coach Peter Laviolette and bring in former coach Paul Maurice. For the most part, nothing changed, still an inconsistent team.

As a Hurricanes fan, I resigned myself to the likelihood Carolina wouldn’t make the playoffs and just sat back watched their mediocrity. I was busy on trade deadline day, work and all, but did happen to catch (YAY Google Reader) that JR had traded Justin Williams to LA for hometown kid Patrick O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan then traded to Edmonton for former ‘Cane and fan favorite, Erik Cole. I almost did a happy dance, but I was at work.

So what has happened to the ‘Canes since the return of Cole? In the two games he’s been back, they’ve outscored opponents (Calgary and Tampa) 15-4. Cole was the heart and soul of this team and getting him back is huge. He served as mentor to a then-teenaged Eric Staal and those two have been BFFs since. Staal’s lackluster performance so far this season I personally blame on Cole being gone. With Cole back, and he and Staal on the same line, Eric Staal has 8 points (4-4-8). He is rejuvinated having Cole on the ice. Cole creates time and space that allows Staal to be the superstar he is. Cole himself has 5 points in 2 games back (1-4-5). Cole never quite found his niche in Edmonton and didn’t have chemistry with anyone there like he has with Staal.

Will ‘Canes make the playoffs now? Hard to say, as of this writing, they are sitting in 7th place in the East. Hard to say if the excitement of the last couple games will continue, will Cole’s presence continue to lift this team up? Will goaltending stay strong? I wish I knew, in the meantime, I’ll just be excited the Eric/k’s are reunited.

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Friday Five

Epic fail on my part. Sorry, guys!
1.) Do you do any kind of spring cleaning?
2.) Name a random fact you learned this week?
3.) Have you made any plans for summer yet?
4.) How OCD are you about chipping nail polish?
5.) Who is the best dressed NHL player?

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Trade Activity to the Minute

Here's a link to the trade transaction summary as it happens:

http://www.sportscity.com/NHL-Trade-Deadline-Tracker

Just refresh the page every so often.

So everyone's up to date. Enjoy.

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Season Over.

After losing to Chicago on Sunday and then losing again tonight to Columbus, the Kings season is over. Done. Fini. When I can't get excited about watching any more games, I just know it's over.

The Kings have 21 games remaining this season but I don't think it's possible for them to win enough games to secure the eighth playoff spot in the West. Especially considering the way they've been playing as of late and how well some of the teams they're chasing have been playing. When the Kings play solid defense, they can't score. Yet when they find the back of the net they don't play well on defense. They won't finish last in the league or 29th, but I am worried that if they don't shape up soon they may find themselves sitting in last place in the Western Conference.

And to make matters worse, Jason LaBarbera is "Mr. March" in the Kings calendar; I'm going to have to replace him with someone else...probably Frolov.

The trade deadline is tomorrow. I didn't expect the Kings to be very active before tonight's game occurred and now that they lost the game, I definitely don't expect anything big. The team is in a selling position but the players most teams would want will not be traded unless it's an unbelievable deal that would have several highly touted prospects and/or high draft picks coming to LA. I could definitely see Kyle Calder being traded because he's a very gritty, in-your-face player that isn't afraid to go in the corners and do the dirty work. He hasn't taken as many dumb penalties lately and has proven that he can play well and even notch some points.

The only player I could see being dealt that would probably shock fans is Patrick O'Sullivan. He had an incredibly long contract dispute with the team over the off-season and he hasn't thrived offensively this year compared to last season (sounds a little too much like the Cammalleri situation). He's been shuffled around the lineup playing anywhere from the top line with Kopi and Brown to the fourth line. He's currently on the checking line with Handzus and Simmonds. He's a solid player but hasn't regained the scoring touch he had last year. However, the Kings have him for one more year on the cheaps, which is a pretty big reason to keep him.

Overall, I don't expect much to happen in LA tomorrow, probably just one minor trade. But, of course, I'll be glued to the interwebs all day, checking to see which teams go all in hoping to make the one crucial trade that will help them win the Cup.

(x-posted to Purple Crushed Velvet)

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The League Needs Your Help

Attention all general managers:

It has come to our attention that the NHL has been infiltrated by Cylons**. It has been well documented that goal tender Tim Thomas is a Cylon, but we believe there are others. We need them found and identified before they compromise the league.



All Cylons must be identified by June. This will allow for an even redistribution of them throughout the League over the summer. No team should have more than two Clyons at any given time to prevent them from having an unfair advantage. Coaches may also be Cylon. Do not tell them of your investigation or it will be compromised.

We have a few possible suspects already in mind, but we need YOUR HELP to find the rest. Once you have complied your lists, all subjects will submit to testing.

His test worked.

Please act with all haste and post your potential Cylon players in the comments below, as soon as possible. Findings will be relayed back to you as soon as we have confirmed the presence of all the Cylons in the League.

Thank You,

-Gray, Commissioner in Charge of Confirming Cylon Presence

**Cylons are robots that look and feel like normal humans. They are generally indistinguishable from the general population, though many may exhibit signs of unnatural stamina or strength. Please keep these qualities in mind when submitting your list of names.

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