Author Archives: Kevin

Instant Replay In Baseball Is A Joke

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Galarraga walking away in disbelief that the MLB can accept such malarkey as reasonable functionality

The history of a game between the Indians and Tigers that occurred June 2nd, 2010 could be read a whole lot differently and with better spirits than it will be written. Two men will forever go into the record books with blemishes on their record, one much more egregious than the other.

A single play at a base isn’t always reason to completely rethink the approach to integrating technologies into a game whose professional history runs deep into the 19th century. I just don’t think it’s correct to accept the idea that human error is a part of the game when it comes to the rules that govern that game. We have the ability to implement these technologies, they merely need expansion.

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Dear NHL: You have more than two stars.

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Oh good, this jersey on NBC again!

According to multiple reports, Gary Bettman is going to announce today that the 2011 Winter Classic will be played at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh between the Penguins and the Capitals. It’s been rumored that this would be the sight and matchup since 10 minutes after this year’s Winter Classic ended and the US Olympic Hockey team was announced by racially diverse children wearing oversized jerseys. I personally remember saying that they’d fashion a network ratings wet dream: Crosby vs. Ovechkin vs. The Snow.

I’m a fan of great hockey, regardless of who’s playing. Regardless of who’s playing, I can enjoy the game that I love, even if it’s a bitter rival of my Devils (i.e. the Stanley Cup Finals this year). But the fact of the matter is that the NHL has been billing itself as a league with 2 superstars, and the rest of the players are just a bunch of ragtag guys who beat each other about the face and head until their teeth fly out, and I’ve just about had enough. Continue reading →

Stat Central – OPS

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Completely improper use of a Venn Diagram

Baseball is a thinking man’s game. Presumably it’s been labeled as such not only because mental defectives make poor base runners, but because there’s a great deal of thought that goes into the actions of a single player. Fielders need to make decisions regarding where they’re throwing the ball depending on whether or not they can get the runner out, pitchers and catchers need to be on the same page about pitch locations and what to throw to beat the man at the dish, and the manager pulls it all together like an orchestral conductor who likes touching his ears, nose, and chin with his index finger.

But in reality, I think baseball was invented for one group of people – statisticians. Someone in a basement emerged one day, taking off his glasses, declaring that he figured out which team was best and would win the pennant, boldly shouting the word, “SCIENCE!”

Statistics are an ever present reality in all sports nowadays. Save, slugging, and down-conversion percentages; points, assists, and yards per game; batting average, all purpose yards, sacks, minutes on ice, you get the picture. Omnipresent panels and scrolling bottom bars bombard you with every number you could ever dream of having, most of it very useful. Which brings me to my least favorite stat ever. Continue reading →

Malkin scores PP goal on the unstoppable brick wall that is Jaroslav Halak

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Halak in his natural state.

There has never been a goalie like Jaroslav Halak in the history of the National Hockey League. And For the record, I don’t think there’s been a single goaltender who can even call themselves a goalie without crediting Jaroslav Halak for their playing ability, their poise, or their skill. He stopped over 28 of Alexander Ovechkin’s 34 shots on net (29 to be exact). And I’m including the shots on Carey Price, because we all know Jaroslav Halak was on the ice in spirit, Halak was the reason why Price made those saves. Halak possesses the power of telepathy, and was communicating with Price the entire time he was on the bench after he’d been pulled or sat. Everyone knows that Carey Price is a slouch, and there’s nothing he could do without Jaroslav Halak. Quite frankly, the fact that I haven’t been able to work Jaroslav Halak’s name into this opening more is an outright embarrassment.

Nobody this year has been able to stop a shot from the the great #8. You can look it up yourself, he took 50 shots on goal, scored 50 times. The Capitals didn’t need to put traffic in front of the net, they had the best snipers the game had ever seen on the ice. They took shots on net that Halak could see from the tape to his glove every time, just daring him to stop it. And he did more often than not. Washington once again relied heavily on their individual skill rather than their creativity or teamwork in the post season. One moment that sticks out heavily in my mind is Mike Green bringing the puck out from around Varlamov, through the neutral zone, and past the blue line where he met some defenders wearing Habs jerseys, and decided to cross check one of them, drawing a penalty. He had ample time to pass to wide open men along the far boards and even around the faceoff circle, but chose to carry the team on his back and ended up taking an asinine penalty. Halak caused all of that.

Tonight’s game between the Pens and the Habs saw 2 scoreless opening periods. There were good chances on both sides leading into the third, but a carry-over holding penalty on Hal Gill allowed the Penguins power play to provide the difference in the game. Sergei Gonchar passed from the point down to the side boards where Evgeni Malkin was situated. Without stopping the puck to control it first, Malkin let loose a blistering slap shot that was truly one for the record books. This confused Halak, who had never seen such ungentlemanly play before in his illustrious career as the long-time Canadiens goaltender.

Jaroslav Halak relaxing

Relaxing in front of the net during tonight's game. (Photo courtesy NHL/Getty)

As Malkin was releasing a devilish slapper from the side boards, the Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was obscuring the vision of Mr. Halak, which more than likely assisted in the resulting goal. Frankly, it’s not my place to say, but I believe such unsportsmanlike play should be illegal. Who does Sidney Crosby think he is? How did the referees not call an obstruction penalty against Crosby for being so intrusive of Halak’s sight of the puck? In all my years as a sports fan, I have never seen such play celebrated, and frankly will not stand for it. The goal let every gust of wind out of the Canadiens sails, which they have been flying without blemish for in excess of 100 years. Who’s to say that their fans aren’t the greatest in the history of sport? They quietly voiced their distaste when a leading goal scorer was suspended after being assaulted by a referee in 1955, right? I think any other unruly fans would have done much more than hold a silent protest outside of the arena after the game. That’s how it happened, right?

After Malkin and the Penguins manufactured an outrageous goal, Marc-Andre Fleury had the audacity to make a number of outstanding saves on the other side of the ice. The Canadiens were eventually forced to remove their sensational veteran goaltender Halak in a failed attempt to find the back of the net. Pascal Dupuis really rubbed it in the face of the 197,000 fans in attendance at the Bell Centre by putting the puck into an unattended net, assuring a Penguins victory. The fact that he would not even give the Canadiens a sporting chance for a comeback in front of 250,000+ paying fans is absurdity beyond comprehension. I think that the entire Penguins organization, starting with their owner and rumored chauvinist Mario Lemieux  should be investigated by the spotless NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. The Penguins 2-0 victory over the Habs should be a shameful black spot on the history of the NHL.

Savard returns, lifts Bruins over Flyers in Game 1 OT

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This is how fairy tales are written. On March 7th, Matt Cooke delivered a late hit on Marc Savard after he’d shot the puck on Marc-Andre Fleury. Savard was diagnosed with a Grade 2 concussion and was sidelined for just under 2 months, missing the entire remainder of the Bruins regular season, as well as their first round series against the Sabres. For those that can’t remember, here’s the hit.

Savard was back in the lineup today for the beginning of Round 2 with the Bruins taking on the Flyers. It was expected that Claude Julien would use Savard sparingly in his first game back, but an injury in the opening minutes to Marco Strum left the Bruins bench short, and Savard picked up the slack. Boston started the game very strong, scoring twice in the 1st period while shutting down the Flyers with an aggressive forecheck and a pace so grueling, everyone died of exhaustion and dysentery after attempting to ford the Charles River. The Flyers fought back, scoring twice in the 2nd and 3rd periods, with Briere splitting two defenders and burying his own rebound off of Tuukka Rask with just over 3 minutes to go in the 3rd period to tie the game at 4 a side.

But Boston had a fire lit under them during the 3rd intermission leading into the first overtime period. They came out on full attack, launching a full assault on Boucher and his defense. With just over 6 minutes left in the first OT, Zdeno Chara launched a rocket from the left point that hit off Boucher’s left pad. The bouncing puck was pinched and kept in the zone by Dennis Wideman, and Savard blasted the still-spinning unsettled puck past Boucher’s glove, winning the game.

Savard after his OT winner in the first game back from his concussion. (Courtesy NHL/Getty)

Watching Halak and Montreal upset the Capitals was so unexpected on my part, and their last-minute attack was so exciting to watch that I’d say that was a better game, but this was a very close second. I hoped Savard would at least be influential in his return to the ice, I could have never guessed he’d bury the finisher today.

Round 1 Rundown – East

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Devils/Flyers

The D.E.N.N.I.S System works, believe it.

Dennis is the Flyers, The Waitress is Jeff Carter, Christina Hendricks is Boucher. I win at analogies.

The 5 game series between the Devils and Flyers proved to be a physical one, with 75 penalties called, totaling 180 minutes of box-filling goodness. For those playing the home game, that’s three 60-minute games. The only way there could have been more penalties called is if the 1974 Flyers played the 1975 Flyers in some ungodly, paradoxical time warp that could put boxing to shame.

The difference maker in this series was Brian Boucher. Philly successfully re-DENNIS’ed Boucher after a 10 year period of Step 4, the Flyers once again turned to Boucher to take on the Devils in the playoffs. He was a 6′x4′ brick shithouse in front of the net the whole series, yielding a 1.59 GAA and a .940 save percentage. His play in net was backed up by a Flyers forecheck that smothered the Devils offensive attack, which generated more turnovers in the neutral zone than I could bear to watch.

That’s not to say that Martin Brodeur didn’t show up. This save was one of many highlight-reel robberies he had during the series. Especially during games 3 and 4, he was the only thing keeping the Devils in the game. Zubrus was great in front of the net, though only having 1 point. Kovalchuk did everything he could and led the team with 2 goals and 6 points, but the effort all around from the Devils just wasn’t enough.

Philly moves on to face Boston in a rematch of the Winter Classic from this year. However, they’ll be without Jeff Carter or Simon Gagne, who are both out with injured tootsies.

Penguins/Senators

I didn’t watch all that much of this series, mainly because every game was played on the same day as the Devils and Flyers series. However, when I did tune in, I saw Sidney Crosby showing why he was 2nd in the league in points, tied for the lead in goals, and a finalist for the Hart this year. He currently leads all players in points and assists in the playoffs, and is tied for 3rd in goals with 5. The Senators put up a reasonable fight, taking Pittsburgh to 6 games included a triple-OT win, but the Pens were too much and move on to face the scrappy Habs in the 2nd round. Which brings me to my next story.

Capitals/Canadiens

Blatently stolen from Yinks on Facebook

Maybe I find Cup next year...

Holy goaltending, Batman. First, Jose Theodore falls apart after going 20-0-3 in the last 3 months of the season, then Jaroslav Halak goes out of his mind, stopping 131 of the 134 shots the Capitals threw at him in the final 3 games of the full 7 game series. Halak took a shutout 58 minutes deep on the highest scoring team in the NHL in Game 7 on the Caps home ice.

In the final minute after the Caps pulled Varlamov, Nicklas Backstrom made a diving save on a puck heading for the unattended twine; it was probably the best individual effort by a skater in the playoffs so far, and it still wasn’t enough to energize the explosive Wasington offense to pot one more puck to keep their dreams alive. This was the first time in history that an 8 seed upset a 1 seed after trailing 3-1 in the series. The Habs get the Pens in the next round, that’s going to be fantastic to watch.

Sabres/Bruins

Completely unrelated video, but the Bruins have some of the best commercials I’ve ever seen.

Again, this was a series I didn’t watch much of, but Boston moves on over their division rival Sabres. Mark Recchi was dusted off and had his rusty hinges oiled and is currently tied for the team lead in goals and points. 3 of the 4 Bruins victories came with a 1 goal margin, which was not surprising in a series where two of the top goalies in GAA and save percentage faced off. Tuukka Rask, winner of the “Most Awkward First Name To Spell In History” award was a bit stingier than US Olympic hero Ryan Miller, so the Bruins advanced. It didn’t help that the Sabres leading scorer during the regular season Thomas Vanek was out for half the series, but seeing as the Bruins were without Marc Savard, I’d say it’s fair. The B’s get the Broad Street Bullies in Round 2.

Round 2 hopes and dreams:
Marc Savard comes back healthy and the Bruins put 28 goals past Brian Boucher in 5 games, the 1 game Boston loses was started by Tim Thomas, who loves himself more than the sun is bright.
Jaroslav Halak wakes up from this dream world he’s living in right now and drops the series to Crosby, Malkin, and the Pens. I’d much rather see the Pens win it again than see Scott Gomez win anything ever again.

Jacques Lemaire Retires From Coaching, Gum Chewing

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Jacques Lemaire finger pointing, a favorite pastime.

Jacques Lemaire stepped away from the head coaching job of the New Jersey Devils today.  His coaching career backs up a Hall of Fame playing career with the Montreal Canadiens with whom he won 8 Stanley Cups between 1967 and 1979. He coached 1,213 games between the Canadiens, Devils, and Wild between 1983 and 2010, having won the Stanley Cup with the Devils in 1995. He won a Jack Adams trophy in 1994 with the Devils, and in 2003 with the Wild.

Lemaire served as the head coach of the Minnesota Wild from their inception until the end of last season. Instead of retiring, Lou Lamoriello talked Lemaire into returning to the Devils as their head coach. He led the Devils to an Atlantic Division title while presenting his trademarked ‘defense first’ style of hockey. In his first stint as the Devils head coach, Lemaire implemented a notorious neutral zone trap, which allowed the Devils to subdue and control the offenses of most teams in the league. This was most notably the way the Devils won their first Stanley Cup when they shut down the Red Wings offense with their impervious trapping. Such play led to rule changes during the 04/05 lockout when the league determined that all obstruction penalties need to be called to increase the speed and scoring of the game.

Lamoriello said today that Lemaire will remain with the Devils organization on some level. As a Devils fan, I would like to see the vacancy filled by a coach that is willing to open up the offensive scheme more while hopefully retaining some of the young and talented free agents (Kovalchuk, Martin) in that scheme. The Devils have never been an offensively potent team since 2001 when the led the league in goals. Since then, they’ve been at or below the fold in terms of goal scoring in the East. The Devils have quality goal scorers, including Parise, Elias, and potentially Kovalchuk leading the pack; I’d just hate to see it all be underutilized in a stale offensive blueprint.

Hockey @ Loudville

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The excitement of hockey, embodied here by Zach Parise

Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images North America

Ice hockey is a game of unyielding passion. Players and fans pass every second of every game with their emotions on their sleeves. Split second decisions can lead to buzzer beaters with a tape-to-tape pass right on the money when you’re looking to tie the game with an extra attacker. The game’s intense physical play and quickness is unmatched by any game on the face of the planet.

Hockey has a strong following of enthusiastic fans, and this will be a blog for them. Those that don’t quite get the game should look elsewhere, I’m not looking to baby people into liking something they’re not interested in. I’ve been a hockey fan as long as I can remember, I have pictures of me at a kindergarten orientation wearing a Rangers sweatshirt. My first game was a Devils/Senators game back in 1995 just after the lockout, and since then I haven’t lost track of what the men in red have done. Today is an odd day for me to pick up this blog, seeing as the Flyers finished smothering the Devils with forechecking last night in Game 5; let’s just say this is my way of not cutting my throat.

Above all, this will be for fans of good hockey. Whether you like the high-flying scoring of the San Jose Sharks or the Washington Capitals, the finesse play of the Detroit Red Wings or the New Jersey Devils, or the rough-and-tumble game of the Philadelphia Flyers or the Anaheim Ducks, we’ll keep you entertained and cover major stories going on in the NHL. Most of all, we’ll keep my mind off of what happened last night at the Prudential Center.