Kukla's Korner

Will Anyone Back-Up Matt Cooke?

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

03/11/10 at 03:33 PM ET | Comments (0)

from Mark Spector of Sportsnet,

Next Thursday, Pittsburgh visits Boston. By failing to find a way to suspend Cooke for even one game, the league puts the onus on the Bruins to mete out their own vigilante justice.

With that, we have the prospect of another Todd Bertuzzi-Steve Moore incident; an incident where Bruins players — who have been blasted at home for doing nothing at the time of the Cooke hit — act on the pressure to defend Savard.

Or worse, they target the Penguins best player. How would the league look if Savard were not the only one to miss the rest of the season because of a throw-away player like Cooke, but Sidney Crosby was injured as well?

Cooke’s problem, another NHLer said on Thursday, is that he likely doesn’t have any friends inside his own dressing room right now.

“Two guys punch each other’s lights out, then you go to bar and you have a couple of beers together,” said injured Edmonton defenceman Sheldon Souray. “When you’re Matt Cooke, you go to the bar that night and there is no camaraderie. There are no friends.

“When you fight, there is something honourable in that. But you flip that switch — you start hurting guys — there is noting honourable in that.”

more

Filed in: NHL Teams, Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: Matt+Cooke,

Rangers Not Giving Up Hope

Blog: Goal Line Report By Patrick Hoffman

03/11/10 at 03:05 PM ET | Comments (0)

From Dan Rosen at NHL.com:

“Part of it is we have done it earlier in the year and we know we have guys that can do it,” defenseman Marc Staal told NHL.com, referring to the Rangers’ hot start that remains a major reason why they even are still in the playoff race. “We know we’re prepared. It’s just a matter of doing it.”

Rangers coach John Tortorella is trying to believe, too, but even he sounded a bit defeated after Wednesday’s game when he was asked if his defense looks run down.

“Our defense is what our defense is. That’s what we have,” he said. “There is no more trading. This is our club and we have to figure it out on our own. You see us play some minutes that we’re pretty good and we’re within our foundation and our structure, then we lose ourselves. That’s where I think we need to be better. We have to try to stay within our structure and be more consistent.”

Click here for more.

Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
  Tags: New+York+Rangers,

Steve Downie Can Actually Play

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

03/11/10 at 02:31 PM ET | Comments (0)

frrom Jeremy Sandler of the National Post,

One day in the not too distant future, Tampa Bay Lightning Steve Downie will be a cover story for all the right reasons.

Yes, the same Steve Downie who sparked a national furor when he knocked out three of teammate Akim Aliu’s teeth during a practice confrontation in 2005.

The same Steve Downie who received the fifth-longest suspension in NHL history—20 games—for leaving his feet to knock Ottawa’s Dean McAmmond into the boards during a pre-season game in 2007....

“He’s been one of our nicest surprises, not so much surprises from my end, I think maybe for the league,” Lightning coach Rick Tocchet said yesterday as the Lightning prepared for tonight’s game at the Air Canada Centre against the Maple Leafs. “He’s always had the tools. To me he’s upped his professionalism, his work habits. Guys love him in the locker room and he’s been a big part of our team this year for most of the year.”

read on

Filed in: NHL Teams, Tampa Bay Lightning | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: Steve+Downie,

Learning to play Good defense

Blog: Goal Line Report By Patrick Hoffman

03/11/10 at 12:30 PM ET | Comments (0)

From good friend of the blog Rick Carpiniello at Rangers Report:

I’ve seen about 30 or so basketball games the last month as part of my, you know, real job. And something occurred to me between hoops games, while watching the Rangers last night.

If I were their coach, I’d take them to a basketball court and show them how to play a zone defense. How you keep the opponent with the rock on the outside, force him to take long shots. How you don’t go diving out at him, taking yourself completely out of position, trying to block a pass inside. If you defend inside, the ball stays outside. I’ve seen teams with very limited size and skill do this very effectively.

Now I know hockey’s a different animal, and defending the pass is much more difficult—it is a little disc, rather than a pumpkin, after all—but the same theory can apply. You give up the long, bad-angle shot, and let your goaltender have that, and defend/box out the opponent down low. Once you go sliding to ice, if the puck gets by you, your goalie is going to have a ton of problems.

Click here for more from my good friend Carp.

Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
  Tags: New+York+Rangers,

Odds Of Making The Playoffs

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

03/11/10 at 11:16 AM ET | Comments (10)

Even though the Calgary Flames hold a one point lead over the Detroit Red Wings for the last playoff spot in the West, it is actually the Wings who have better odds to make the playoffs.

Check out your favorite team odds here.

Filed in: NHL Teams | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

An Interview with Shawn Lavigne of XM Home Ice

Blog: Goal Line Report By Patrick Hoffman

03/11/10 at 11:09 AM ET | Comments (0)

I was lucky enough this past week to do an e-mail interview with Shawn Lavigne.

You may ask yourself - why does that name sound familiar? Well, it should be as Shawn Lavigne, a.k.a “Big Country” is one of the hosts of Hockey This Morning (HTM) on XM NHL Home Ice. He’s witty, he knows his hockey and he’s proud to be “Big Country”.

Shawn was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to tell us about how he got into hockey, how he started working in the industry, how XM NHL Home Ice has grown and will continue to grow, and his current thoughts on happenings around the NHL today. Enjoy!

PH: How did you get into hockey?
SL: I grew up in Eastern Ontario about an hour away from Ottawa. So my interest in hockey goes back to my first hockey game at the Ottawa Civic Centre in 1977. Obviously the Senators were not around at the time but the Ottawa 67’s led by Bobby Smith, Doug Wilson, and head coach Brian Kilrea were a powerhouse in the OHA and I followed them every step of the way.

Continue Reading »

Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
  Tags: Shawn+Lavigne, XM+NHL+Home+Ice,

A Commitment To Stop Headshots?

Blog: The Puck Stops Here By PuckStopsHere

03/11/10 at 10:48 AM ET | Comments (6)

The major topic of discussion at the recent NHL general managers meeting was hits to the head.  After several presentations and proposals, it was decided that headshots are a problem in the league.  The following words were unanimously approved by the group:

A lateral, back pressure or blindside hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and or the principal point of contact is not permitted. A violation of the above will result in a minor or major penalty and shall be reviewed for possible supplemental discipline.

That two line statement is the most reported achievement of a three day meeting.  It seems a little underwhelming.  This two line statement must get approval from the NHL Board of Governors and from the NHL Competition Committee before it becomes law in the league.  At best this could happen by the beginning of next season.

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Filed in: | The Puck Stops Here | Permalink
  Tags: Marc+Savard, Matt+Cooke, Pittsburgh+Penguins,

Will “Superstar” Talbot be the odd man out?

Blog: The Confluence By Tony

03/11/10 at 10:36 AM ET | Comments (22)

It’s a nice luxury for Penguins’ head coach Dan Bylsma to have.

The trade deadline day acquisition of Alexei Ponikarovsky, along with the recent non-suspension of Matt Cooke and the healed back of Bill Guerin, has forced HCDB into having to make a difficult decision starting with tonight’s game in Raleigh.  With 13 forwards on the roster, who’s gonna sit ?

Realistically, Bylsma only has a few choices.  But one recent Penguins hero may have to be the odd man out.

The “Superstar”.

Continue Reading »

Filed in: | The Confluence | Permalink
  Tags: NHL-Hockey, Pittsburgh+Penguins,

Do You Like The Tie-Breaker Proposal?

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

03/11/10 at 10:31 AM ET | Comments (11)

from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,

The NHL’s tiebreak formula may be getting a facelift next season.

Currently, the first tiebreaker for teams tied in the standings at the conclusion of the regular season is total wins. At the conclusion of their meetings in Boca Raton, Fla., the NHL’s 30 GMs voted unanimously to change the first tiebreaker to count regulation and overtime wins only.

“So you exclude the shootout wins, which we all think is a fair way of doing it,” Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson, the author of the proposal, told ESPN.com after the meetings wrapped up. “If some team wins 10 games in a shootout and only two of your 10 wins are in the shootout, you’ve won eight more games that are more legitimate. ...

“The shootout is great and it’s added excitement to our game, but you get concerned about its impact,” added Howson. “And this is one way where you can take away some of that impact.”

The proposal will now be considered by the competition committee in June. If the committee OKs it, it will then need a final stamp of approval from the board of governors.

continued

Filed in: NHL Talk | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Rangers Continue to Fall; Ferrall’s View on the Game

Blog: Goal Line Report By Patrick Hoffman

03/11/10 at 10:30 AM ET | Comments (1)

Last night was obviously a game that the New York Rangers would like to have back and unfortunately, it’ll go down in the loss column as the Blueshirts continue to struggle.

The Blueshirts did not raise their game, including goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. Sure, Lundqvist did not receive much help but he needed to be better than he was and could not do so.

While it was nice to see both Vinny Prospal and Erik Christensen score, it was another quiet game for Marian Gaborik. Yes, he had an assist but he’s just not the same out there and one has to wonder if there is still something wrong with him.

Continue Reading »

Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
  Tags: Atlanta+Thrashers, New+Jersey+Devils, New+York+Rangers,

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