NHL Playoffs Round 1 Analysis

Its a great day for hockey ain't it?

This year’s first round of the playoffs was full of suspensions, upsets, great goaltending, and proof that there is a changing of the guard happening in the NHL. With the 2^nd round starting tonight in Phoenix, here’s a look at what happened in the first round and why it happened.

1 New York Rangers vs Ottawa Senators 8

This was a match up that everyone assumed would be over with quickly, myself included. Lundqvist who is a Vezina candidate and the overall strength of the Rangers should have been too much for the Sens, but here we are. 1 day after a WILD game 7. As was the case all year long, Lundqvist was stellar posting a 1.70 GAA and a .945 save percentage. However the Rangers once again struggled to score and the play of Craig Anderson in net for Ottawa helped them take a 3-2 series lead and what seemed to be an upset waiting to happen. But as was obvious with the Alfredsson explosion, and the benching of Spezza in game 6 and 7, the team with the cooler head prevailed and New York deserved a series that contained some of the best grinding from all lines I’ve ever seen. Need an example? Look at the play of Brian Boyle and Chris Neil; my 1^st and 2^nd stars of the series, with Hank not too far behind in 3^rd. But for New York to succeed in the 2^nd round, Gaborik and the rest of the offense need to do something they haven’t done all year. SHOW UP.

2 Boston Bruins vs Washington Capitals 7

I’m going to talk a lot about goaltending when I get to my break down of the Western Conference match ups, but like most people will tell you, the winner of the Stanley Cup usually goes to the team with the best goalie in the months of April, May and June. That being said, Capitals rookie Braden Holtby made a huge statement in this series by besting last year’s Conn Smythe winner, Tim Thomas. The Bruins were clearly missing the spark that drove them last year and erratic play from guys like Tyler Seguin and Milan Lucic didn’t help. Washington though deserves credit for playing like the team they are on paper. Look at their roster and try to tell me that they should be a 7^th seed in the Eastern Conference. No way. Too much talent and maybe the hard-nosed, no bull**** policy of Dale Hunter is exactly what this team needed. Oh, and shout out to Joel Ward. Huge respect for this guy not only for scoring the series clinching goal but how he handled the ridiculousness of legions of racists afterwards.

3 Florida Panthers vs New Jersey Devils 6

I don’t even know where to start with this one. First of all, when your team is in game 7 of the playoffs and you can only manage to fill half of the arena, something is wrong. Aside from all the off-ice kerfuffle that followed this series around (rats on rats on rats), this was New Jersey’s to lose. Florida played like a team possessed and the tandem of Theodore and Clemmensen almost won the series, but I don’t really know anyone that picked the Kris Versteeg-led Panthers to beat Kovalchuk, Parise, and Brodeur in a 7 game series. From the perspective of a fan – this series was the most boring to watch for me. One team that probably won’t be in that city in the next 2 to 3 years, and another team that has been struggling to find its identity for a long time now. Congrats Pete Deboer, you get to face the Flyers in the next round.

4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs Philadelphia Flyers 5

Goals, fights, more goals, more fights and maybe a save or two is probably the best way to describe this series. Neither Marc-Andre Fleury nor Ilya Bryzgalov looked like they deserved to win this series. But I will tell you who did. Claude Giroux. Peter Laviolette was completely on point when he called Giroux the best player in the world right now. He played like a man possessed. The whole cast and crew of the Flyers showed up to play, and you cannot discredit the effect guys like Max Talbot, Wayne Simmonds and Sean Couturier had on the series. It was a total team effort that resulted in a big series win and sent a statement to the rest of the NHL. The Flyers are here, and it’s their time to shine. I said it before the playoffs started, but I firmly believe that the winners of the 4/5 match ups in each conference will be the teams vying for the Cup when it’s all said and done. Hopefully Ilya Bryzgalov can improve his stats – he is the only goalie out of the 8 teams advancing that was not in the top 8 in GAA or SV% in the first round. Bryzgalov? An abysmal 18^th in both stats. Behind even – GASP – Roberto Luongo.

1 Vancouver Canucks vs Los Angeles Kings 8

Just like Washington, Los Angeles should have in no way, shape or form have been seeded as low as they were. Once again, you just need to look at their line up and the play of Jonathon Quick to realize this team was going to be a serious contender come playoff time. Quick is my pick of the Vezina considering he got the SECOND LOWEST SCORING TEAM IN THE NHL into the playoffs, all while posting numbers that put him inside the top 5 in all goalie stats, including shut-outs leader. The offense picked up in the post season for these guys, as Jarret Stoll finally found his scoring touch again, and the Kings were able to just flat-out out work the Canucks who looked like they didn’t deserve to be the number 1 seed in the west. Bye-bye Roberto, and hello St Louis is what the Kings are saying right now.

2 St Louis Blues vs San Jose Sharks 7

Goaltending again the story in this series, but beyond that we see the changing of the guard that is happening in the west take firm hold in this series. San Jose, a long time dominating force in the west succumbed to a young, fast, hard hitting team that is clearly becoming the new norm in the NHL. Just look at Nashville, Philly, Los Angeles and Phoenix. All of these teams are advancing, and all of them are doing it in ways that traditional powerhouses like Detroit, San Jose, Vancouver, Boston, etc etc can’t. The Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau era may very well be ending in San Jose as the Sharks need to do what the Canucks are doing and look long and hard in the mirror at themselves and decide what they need to buy, what they need to sell, and how they want to do it. This is not intended to overlook the play of two amazing goalies in Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliot who combined for 16 shut outs in the regular season. In fact it’s a testament to them, a team who is comfortable splitting time in net between two stars because of the consistent play the get out front of them. The St Louis blues are for real, and could make a big statement this year.

3 Phoenix Coyotes vs Chicago Blackhawks 6

Two words: Mike Smith. A few more words. Watch highlights of his game 6 performance and it just about sums up a series that saw the first 5 games go to overtime. 

4 Nashville Predators vs Detroit Red Wings 5

Say it ain’t so. No one in the world of hockey wants to see the career of Nick Lidstrom come to an end, but Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, Pekka Rinne, Mike Fisher and the rest of the Preds were more than happy to send the Wings to the golf course early. Rinne and Howard were stellar and this series would probably compete with Pitt vs Philly for excitement factor. The Preds are not your prototypical powerhouse, especially being from a southern market but are doing amazingly well under the only coach in franchise history. Another team that struggles to score like the Rangers, these Preds will probably rely on a strong defensive presence (paging the USS Hal Gill) to win in these playoffs, but adding Alexander Radulov makes their offence potent and creates an interesting match up versus the Coyotes in which goaltending will probably be the story again. Detroit just seemed to be too old to compete, and Nashville wanted it more. With 3 teams from the south, and another from Missouri winning in the west, its hard to deny that there is a distinct changing of the guard happening.

Three Peat

Nail Yakupov - Consensus 1st Overall Pick

Wow. Talk about winning the lottery. Literally. Much to the dismay of most GMs and fans of other teams throughout the league, for the 3^rd year in a row the Edmonton Oilers will be selecting first in the National Hockey League’s entry draft this upcoming June in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This was a massive bonus for the Oilers who are about to enter year 3 of their 5 year rebuild plan and already have budding stars like Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Taylor Hall (the latter two being the last 2 number 1 overall picks).  However, this poses an interesting situation for all teams in the lottery, and particularly those with the top 5 draft picks.

With the general consensus being that the Sarnia Sting’s Nail Yakupov of Russia will be the number 1 overall pick, Edmonton is faced with a problem (one most teams would probably like to have). Do they take another couple years of development that comes with drafting a young 18 year old, or do they exercise all options that having the first overall pick offers them – in an attempt to address more pressing concerns than offensive fire power. Here we look at the teams that have the top 5 picks and avenues they could explore in order to bolster their roster through the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

A Happy Steve Tambellini

11)   Edmonton Oilers – With 21+ million dollars in cap space available for next year, and already a wealth of young offensive talent the Oilers are in an absolutely amazing position having picked up the number 1 pick in this years draft. Edmonton obviously needs to address a lackluster defensive core, as well as sketchy goaltending. Nick Schultz, Ladislav Smid and Ryan Whitney will all be back next year and are a good basis for any defense while Devan Dubnyk will be a starter in the NHL for years to come and is really finding himself in Edmonton. Starting here, Edmonton could, and is expected to by many, to try to deal the number 1 overall pick for some own-zone help. The two biggest names on that will be bantered around this summer are obviously Shea Weber and Ryan Suter. Who’s to say that a sign and deal for either one of those defenseman in exchange for the number 1 overall pick plus considerations (read: Ales Hemsky or Shawn Horcoff) couldn’t happen? If not Nashville, look perhaps to Duncan Keith or Brent Seabrook in Chicago to be names that get bantered around a lot by the Oilers, all while keeping in mind that there are 29 teams in the league that will be looking to take the number 1 pick off of Edmonton’s hand.

22)   Columbus Blue Jackets – For some reason, this team just couldn’t win anything this year, even something they had a 48% chance of winning, when the next best chance was 18%! Even though GM Scott Howson is pleased with getting the second overall pick, Columbus will be more concerned with a different transaction this summer. It’s obvious that Rick Nash wants out, and most draft-day trade talk will probably center around the big Right Winger. Columbus already took a step in the right direction in rebuilding during the season by acquiring Jack Johnson, but now they are faced with the plight that is drafting second overall. The Jackets have never had much success in the last few years when they’ve drafted Russians (ie Nikita Nikitin who was a bust) and obviously need to improve in all facets of the game. Ryan Murray has just surpassed Mikhail Grigorenko as the number 2 ranked skater heading into this draft and is an extremely viable option for the Jackets who are looking to land a solid player at any position. Given their struggles with Russian players, this might be the safest direction for them to go, unless they are able to pick up a proven defenceman via a Rick Nash trade, in which case Grigorenko or even Alex Galchenyuk are both worth the risk for them.

33)   Montreal Canadiens – The Habs are the most curious team that partook in this year’s draft lottery. The fell far below expectations this year and with the uncertainty surrounding the front office and coaches for the team leading into next year, it’s hard to determine if they are going to be entering a re-build or if they are still able to work with the assets they already have. Regardless, they need scoring touch and someone that Max Pacioretty can feed off of. Mikhail Grigorenko and Alex Galchenyuk seem to be the two most logical picks that Montreal could add to their roster. Both are big centers, with good speed, soft hands and skill sets that are unmatched by anyone but Yakupov. If Galchenyuk had been healthy all this year, there’s a good chance that he would be the consensus 1^st overall pick and should be considered a steal at anything past the 3^rd pick. Montreal is in a great position having this pick because they are almost guaranteed a stellar draft pick to fill a hole up the middle for them.

44)   New York Islanders – The Isles showed flashes of brilliance at times this year and it is clear with talent in John Tavares, Matt Moulson and Michael Grabner up front, offence shouldn’t be an issue for the Isles for years to come. But goaltending and defence, like most teams in the draft lottery, are issues that dearly need to be addressed. Matthew Dumba of the Red Deer Rebels snuck up into the top 5 of TSN’s annual pre-draft rankings and could be a good fit here for the Islanders. He is a big and fast defenceman, not afraid to throw the body around, and as exhibited through his captaincy at this spring’s World Under 18 IIHF Hockey Championships, he is a natural born leader. This is a long shot, but there is also the potentiality that the Islanders look to a goaltender and draft Malcolm Subban of the Belleville Bulls with the 4^th pick. They need goaltending arguably more than anyone else with Rick DiPietro constantly injured and Evgeni Nabokov seemingly on the way out.

55)   Toronto Maple Leafs – Just like an 18 wheeler driving off a cliff, the Maple Leafs are a disaster waiting to happen in recent years it seems. The talent on this team suggests it should be a playoff contender every year but something just doesn’t click. Most critics are looking to blame this year’s debacle on goaltending, which is very plausible, since James Reimer and Jonas Gustavson being thrown into a media hell fire. That being said, the Leafs will be looking to draft the best available player at this slot. That means Alex Galchenyuk, Filip Forsberg and Jacob Trouba will all be on the radar of the Leafs this off season, and the Buds would have the chance to add talent in one of 3 different positions by drafting any of these guys. Trouba is a big defenceman who would be a good counterpart for a veteran like Komisarek, while Galchenyuk would provide size and skill down the middle. Forsberg was one of the key members of this years World Junior Championship team and is clearly a bundle of skill on the left wing that Tyler Bozak would probably enjoy passing too. Regardless of who they draft, the Leafs will be getting a very good talent at the 5 slot, as much as it pains me to say that. 

Brian Burke - Happy or Mad?

5

Do You Believe In Miracles?

                                                (My 2012 Halloween Costume....)

I’ve never considered myself very religious, but after spending an Easter Sunday watching some of the world’s best work their magic at the hallowed grounds of Augusta National, I may in fact just have to convert. And how fitting it is that a man who indeed puts his faith before anything else won on a course that has an historic three-hole stretch appropriately named “Amen Corner”.

Bubba Watson, not necessarily considered ‘the’ favourite coming into this weekend put together an unbelievable finish on Sunday capped off with one of the all-time greatest recovery shots from the right hand rough on the 2^nd playoff hole. A consistent -1 front nine and a stellar back nine that included 4 straight birdies from 13 to 16 were all just part of what was a week of consistency from Bubba, a week that never saw him out of red numbers. 

While players like Tiger and Rory; the pre-tournament favourites, were struggling to find any rhythm in their game, Bubba was never out of it. An opening round 69 had him tied for 4^th going into Friday, and a solid 1 under 71 left him one stroke back of leaders Fred Couples and Jason Dufner. A third round 75 by crowd-favourite Couples, and yet another even-keeled round by Watson found some interesting pairings left for Sunday.

Peter Hanson, who entered the final day leading at -9 and looking to become the first Swede to win the Masters, was partnered in the final group with Phil Mickelson at -8 and looking to tie Tiger Woods for 2^nd all time with 4 Green Jackets. Bubba, the Georgia favourite, and 2010 British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen were the second to last tee time both sitting at -8 and 1 stroke back of Hanson.

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy never seemed to really have a shot, as they both finished tied for 40^th at 5 over par. Woods, who played his worst Masters ever, never broke par for a round, and for the first time in his career, played all 4 rounds at Augusta National in the 70s.

But the adage “The Masters doesn’t start until the back 9 on Sunday” seemed to be true as the real action heated up in the Georgia sun on Sunday afternoon. Louis Oosthuizen became part of Masters lore on the par 5-second hole as he managed to find the cup from 252 yards out and record only the 4^th albatross in Masters history, instantly vaulting himself into the lead at 10 under, a spot he wouldn’t relinquish for the rest of the day. However, Watson wasn’t to be denied as he used his length and shot shaping abilities to tame Augusta’s tricky lay out as players like Mickelson – who made a brutal triple bogey on the par 3 forth – exploded around him. Lee Westwood and Adam Scott both made back 9 pushes but the play of Oosthuizen and Watson was just too much and although both started the day 1 shot out of the lead, their consistency and ability to attack the course when they needed to set up one of the most exciting and heart pounding playoffs in Masters history.

Both players played the 18^th in exactly the same manner during the playoff as they did in regulation, and solid pars found the pairing travelling to the 10^th hole for what would be a hole to remember for both.

The 495 yard par four 10^th saw Watson step up first and block his drive right into the gallery, opening up a massive opportunity for Oosthuizen to capture his 2^nd Major Championship and become the 2^nd straight South African to win the Green Jacket. However, in what seemed like a moment of divine intervention on this Easter Sunday, Louis hit a push that found him right and in the rough 40 or so yards behind Bubba, but not in as much danger. Louis’ 2^nd shot however came up well short of the green and gave Bubba hope that maybe a punch out from the gallery and into the fairway would help him get up and down and send the pair to a 3^rd playoff hole.

At least that’s what any normal thinking person would have done. This is Bubba Watson though. The never-hit-a-shot-straight-if-my-life-depended-on-it Bubba Watson. And as he said in his interview in the famed Butler Cabin “I’m pretty good at hooking the ball”. And that’s exactly what he did. A 40 yard hook to about 15 feet opened the door for the Florida native to capture his first ever major title, and a 2 putt par later saw an emotional Watson breaking down while hugging his mother and caddy in celebration of one of the greatest wins in Master’s history.

Everything seemed to go right for the newly anointed Masters Champion on this most religious of holidays. And what could have been more fitting? A devout Christian, playing inspired golf to win the holiest of tournaments on Easter Sunday in an extremely poised and consistent fashion. Forget Tebow-Mania folks; it’s Bubba-Time.