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.

For the record, Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin are without a doubt two of the best players in the league. I highly doubt any sane and rational person can dispute that fact; they’ve put up stellar numbers in the regular seasons and demonstrated tremendous individual skill for the past few years. This fact, along with the history of general discontent with one another, should not be a justifiable reason enough to put the Pens back in the Winter Classic. In 2008, the Pens beat the Sabres in a shootout in the inaugural Winter Classic with Crosby potting the final goal. Having the Winter Classic in Pittsburgh puts the Penguins in 2 of the first 4 nationally televised outdoor games, and I don’t see that it’s fair at all.

I’m sure the league office can justify why they’re choosing Pittsburgh to play again: Heinz Field was available and seats 65,000+, weather in Pittsburgh in January is conducive to a quality game atmosphere, etc. Most of all, it comes down to exposure for the league. Crosby and Ovechkin will draw a large audience because they’re easy to hype. Show each of them scoring some absurd goals, then the two of them jarring from the 2009 Playoffs, splice in a couple shots of each of them standing in a poorly lit hallway with spotlights on them and a bad voice over, “The NHL on NBC,” date and time of the game, and onto the next commercial.

What irritates me most is how much thought must have gone into this decision with only regards to how profitable the entire endeavor would be. The league office doesn’t seem to care that there’s other marquee players they could be promoting with such a great platform. Take a look at what Joe Pavelski did in this year’s playoffs and tell me they couldn’t turn that into a viable ratings success. Tell me that there’s no players that come close to the level of excitement of the two men I’ve mentioned so many times, I refuse to do it again here. Parise, Stamkos, Sedin, Kovalchuk (wherever he may land), Gaborik, Heatley, nothing? Maybe the NHL could have played off the success of NBC’s Olympic Hockey coverage and put two teams chock full of US and Canadian Olympians, like the Devils with Zach and Jamie, or the Sharks with their entire top line.

The bottom line is I’ll watch the game, and I’ll almost certainly enjoy it. I’ve watched every Winter Classic game from beginning to end like a giddy schoolgirl, loving every second of it. However, I promise that I’ll watch the game under protest with a distant hope that the 2012 Winter Classic will see the Devils take on the Rangers in Yankee Stadium. Make it happen, Bettman. If that’s not an option, don’t put a repeat team in this once-a-year masterpiece. Maybe you could get really crazy and put a Western Conference team in there that wasn’t an Original Six, perish the thought of me.

Having said all that, New Jersey residents, and Devils fans in particular, tend to be…dickheads. Which is great, in most social situations, but for me, at least, it doesn’t transfer over to hockey. It could be that I’m just painting too idyllic of a picture of other teams’ fans, but I never feel like a New Jersey crowd has the same energy of a place like Pittsburgh, or even Phoenix before the Red Wings slapped them with their wieners in game 7. When I go to a game, I feel like everyone around me is there more to criticize everything the team does, regardless of the score, rather than root their hearts out for the team. I mean, isn’t it an indication that something is wrong when the loudest shout of the night is invariably “Rangers Suck!”, even if the Devils are hosting Calgary at the Rock that particular night.

Don’t get me long, I love to bust some Ranger fan balls as much as the next guy. That’s one of the things makes the sport great, the rivalries, especially between teams in such close proximity, like the Devils and Rangers and their most recent playoff executioners, the Philadelphia Flyers.

I like to think of myself as a new breed of hockey fan at best, and at worst a guy already well suited for a job as an NHL analyst. I might bleed red and black, but I don’t live and die by the tip of Zach Parise’s stick (his dick?…totally different matter). I respect the players of the National Hockey League and all the great things they do every night. I’d like to see every team in the NHL win a Stanley Cup at some point in my lifetime; save one, and that one is a team currently ahead of the Boston Bruins by a score of 3-2. I’m a lover of the game man, but do I hate the fucking Flyers.

Now, don’t go calling me bitter. This isn’t about the first round. This is a matter of principle. Honestly, I like a lot of the Flyers players this year. Boucher, Pronger, Briere, even that vaudevillian villain Daniel Carcillo; these guys are great players, but they’re Flyers. I’m all for loving the game, and I think it’s important to be able to separate yourself from your team and enjoy the game from the perspective of a different team, but there is a flip side of that coin. Just as the game needs rivalries, the fans need an enemy. A nemesis. Ask most Devils fans who their nemesis is, and most answers will be the same. The Rangers of course.

Daniel Carcillo, Flyers Winger.

Having been raised by a pair of expatriot Ranger fans, I was never indoctrinated in the Ranger-loathing that so permeates the senses of most Devils fans. Instead, my parents ever so subtly (or maybe not subtly at all, I don’t remember, I just know it worked) directed my innate hockey-hate at the other nearest city and team, those Philthy bastards. Not that it was hard, growing up, to hate the Flyers. I didn’t know many Rangers fans as a kid, but there were plenty of heathens and idolaters rolling up to the playground during recess wearing some gaudy Flyers gear, or even worse, a Phantoms shirt.

Totally lame.

So, as the third period of this game four gets ready to kick off, let me make this plea to you, New Jersey Devils fans. In this new decade, as we approach thirty years as a franchise, let us stop waging a war on two fronts. Until such time as they prove a threat once more, let’s retire the Rangers as Enemy Numero Uno, and officially start hating  the Flyers, a team Colin Powell once called “The root of all evil and everything bad that has happened to anyone.” with all the copious pent up hostility and sexual frustration that comes along with every New Jersey childhood. Not because they out played us in Round 1, but because let’s face it, people who root for Philadelphia are usually WAY bigger dicks than people who root for New York or New Jersey. While the Devils fan base can’t do much to improve its ‘tude during the off-season, at least we can pass the time with spite.

Go Bruins.

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.

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 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.

© Sal Iovine

I spent half my morning trying to fix some code here so I may as well post something. Loudville has a new voicemail hotline: 732-646-LOUD

How ’bout those Mets? First in the NL East and they beat down on the Phillies 9-1 last night. Outstanding. If only they could keep it up all year… can you imagine if they had a manager who seemed like he knew what he’s doing? The Yankees won too, and the Rays and Sox lost so it’s like two wins in a day for the Bombers. Bonus. Oh, and Dany Heatley got his first playoff goal of the season on Thursday. He’s an all-star.

I wasn’t really looking to blog today so I’m going to cut it here with another “history will be made” video, this one on the Sean Avery rule.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

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

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.

She gets bigger if you click on her.

I’m absolutely thrilled that the Habs knocked out the Caps last night, not because I’m a dirty Canada-loving hippie but because I really hated the level of success the Caps had in the regular season for the past few years. I’m a jerk like that. Washington is great team and they finally have half-decent fans and good attendance, but the Habs have a long tradition of being called the Habs for no good reason and I can go along with that.

Now you may be thinking to yourself, “Dan, that’s a smokin’-hot chick in goalie pads,” and you’d be right. I’m throwing my full support behind Boston against the Flyers despite them being part of Red Sox Nation because I’m pretty pissed that Philly knocked out my Devs. I’m not ready to talk about the Devils yet though, so I’m just gonna move on to a new topic.

There was a video of a Canadiens fan in a bikini here that my buddy Bob sent me, but some youtube deity has taken it away. In its place, one of those “history will be made” videos:

Now, really back on track. Tonight’s only hockey game is Detroit at San Jose, and everyone’s astounded the Sharks haven’t choked yet. My brother seems convinced this is a sign they’re going to win it all and dance with the Cup. But here’s the thing: Dany Heatley hasn’t scored a playoff goal yet. One man is not a team, but he’s the league’s 8th ranked scorer. He’s an all-star. And for more on Heatley, I direct you to his biggest fan on the youtube.

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.

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.