Entries with the tag: playoffs

Linden Chats with ESPN

by Alanah McGinley on 04/11/08 at 12:25 PM
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From ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption”, Tony Kornheiser (a.k.a. The Most Annoying Man on Earth When He Talks About Hockey) and Michael Wilbon chat with Trevor Linden about some NHL playoffs storylines.

Some pretty good, quick analysis from Linden on Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, and the East & West playoff races—which he figures will ultimately come down to a Devils/Sharks final.

Video:

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Canucks in the Playoffs

by Alanah McGinley on 04/10/08 at 04:40 PM
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I spent most of the 2007-08 season snarkily referring to the Vancouver Canucks as ‘the best AHL team in the NHL’.  Well, it turns out there was more truth to that than just my fatalistic humor, because now that they’re all actually playing in the AHL, they seem to have found their niche.

On a soon-to-be-determined date, the Manitoba Moose will be opening the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs against the Syracuse Crunch, and with a notable list of players that spent a good amount of time in Vancouver this year. Including:

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How to Pick a Bandwagon Using No Rational System Whatsoever

by Alanah McGinley on 04/08/08 at 02:22 PM
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I know plenty of people quit watching hockey when their team is eliminated before or during the playoffs, but I’m not one of them.  I certainly understand the desire to—it’s just basic psychology, after all, to want to end one’s suffering—but there’s more to playoff hockey than wanting to see my team win the Stanley Cup. (Which is a no-brainer, I suppose; I’m a Canucks fan).

But if you don’t have a “2nd favorite” team you automatically root for, how do you decide on your heroes for the next 3 months? Who deserves your pain and frustration, elation and cheers? 

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Some Canadian Playoff Hockey Stuff

by Alanah McGinley on 04/08/08 at 12:18 PM
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On the eve of the race for the 2008 Stanley Cup, the award-winning CBC Digital Archives Website has launched the Top 10 NHL Playoff Moments—an online collection that pays tribute to some of the most memorable playoff moments in National Hockey League history.  Some really amazing footage there.  (And unlike some other video material on CBC, it can be viewed by browsers outside of Canada, which is nice.)

Also at CBC, some stuff that probably won’t make it into history’s digital archives:  What’s Your Playoff Ritual? (It was this video caught my eye especially; the world ugliest—and yet most awesome?—hockey basement.)

Anyway, to open up the first round of the playoffs, below you’ll find the scheduling info for TSN (sharp new website design, btw) and CBC.

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The Tie Breaker Deal

by Alanah McGinley on 04/03/08 at 08:18 PM
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For some idiotic reason, I’d been under the impression (stupid ESPN wording!) that the first tie-breaker—after points—was the outright number of wins for each team.

1. The fewer number of games played (i.e., superior points percentage).
2. The greater number of games won.
3. The greater number of points earned in games between the tied clubs. If two clubs are tied, and have not played an equal number of home games against each other, points earned in the first game played in the city that had the extra game shall not be included. If more than two clubs are tied, the higher percentage of available points earned in games among those clubs, and not including any “odd” games, shall be used to determine the standing.
4. Goal differential

But I misunderstood that they were simply referring to head-to-head games, not ‘wins’ in general at #2. (How could I not have realized this?? Fake-blonde-itis? Geezus. Apparently...)

Anyway, on the off-chance another blonde out there requires my assistance, here’s the NHL’s official policy (provided by their media resource site) for the tie-breaker.

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Who Will Be the Last Men Standing?

by Alanah McGinley on 04/02/08 at 02:09 PM
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Down to the wire with two games left, Nashville and Vancouver are duking it out for the #8 spot in the only playoff-like contest one of these teams is going to experience this spring.  Which makes every game into ‘must see’ hockey.

Perfect timing then, to lose my cable & internet connection for 4 freakin’ days.  Thus: no hockey games, no hockey news, no hockey emails, no hockey video highlights…

No hockey at all. Nada.

It was the best 96 hours of my life.

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There’s No Such Thing as an “Unthinkable Collapse”

by Alanah McGinley on 03/21/08 at 04:43 PM
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From Matthew Sekeres at the Globe & Mail,

The Canucks face the Minnesota Wild at GM Place on Friday night in a showdown for the Northwest Division lead. But for the moment, more important than the head-to-head race with Minnesota, is the distance between Vancouver and the playoff bubble.

With a win tonight, the Canucks would move eight points clear of a post-season berth – a Good Friday, indeed. It would take an unthinkable collapse to blow such a lead with just seven games remaining.

Of course, the Canucks don’t yet see it that way.

Nor does any Canucks fan with an IQ over 35 and a memory that extends beyond the last game.  Or even the last period.  Vancouver isn’t safely in the playoffs till they’re doing warmups for Game #1.

Believing otherwise is just begging for trouble.

Playoff Hockey in March

by Alanah McGinley on 03/13/08 at 01:38 PM
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[Updates below -- because Pronger is really just “misunderstood” and “the nicest boy”...]
[Video now added at bottom]

Shockingly, the always-wholesome, sweet-natured, Lady Byng -worthy Chris Pronger has been accused of a nefarious act.  From TSN:

Anaheim Ducks defenceman Chris Pronger could face disciplinary action from the National Hockey League after stomping on Vancouver Canucks centre Ryan Kesler on Wednesday night.

The incident happened in the opening minute of the second period in Anaheim’s zone after a dump in from the blue line by Canucks defenceman Sami Salo.

Class act, that Pronger.  But then, I shouldn’t really comment—the game was on Canucks PPV last night, and being the top-quality broadcast that it is, they provided no video of the incident.  Tommy Larscheid had a verbal eruption while witnessing it from the broadcast booth, and then… nothing.  But assuming the Ducks broadcast caught this on tape, there’s reason to believe Pronger might be in some trouble for once…

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Time to Panic?

by Alanah McGinley on 02/15/08 at 05:09 PM
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February is a hockey fan’s worst headache—especially when their favorite team is on the bubble and experts start dispensing their wisdom. 

Case in point, in Allan Muir’s mailbag on SI, a Canucks fan writes a panicked note:

I’ll admit it. I’m in full panic mode over my Canucks. I’m starting to think the playoffs are a longshot at best unless we add a big piece to the puzzle, and soon. What do you think of our chances?
-- Steve Joe, Sacramento

A Canucks fan in a panic is hardly news (that’s just what we do) but Muir’s response seems pretty over-the-top:

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