Category: NHL (Page 4 of 44)

Hockey Fight! Janssen vs Leblond [video]

Bill Simmons is calling this the hockey fight of the year. To me, this is one of those scenes that makes the sport so strange…

I know most hockey fans enjoy this, but I’d rather see these guys use that pent up anger and energy and make a play that actually impacts the game. A situation where two guys grab the other by the jersey and throw 50 right hooks doesn’t seem like it should take place in a professional sport, save for boxing or MMA.

James Wisniewski lights up Brent Seabrook

Check out James Wisniewski’s hit on Brent Seabrook in a recent Ducks-Blackhawks game:

I’ve watched the video several times now and I still can’t tell if Seabrook was selling the hit or not. If he was, give the man an Oscar because that was some fine acting.

Sidney Crosby’s goal booed in Pittsburgh

As the Buffalo Sabres visited the Pittsburgh Penguins last night, Team USA/Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller got a strong ovation (along with chants of U-S-A, U-S-A) while Canadian/Penguin Sidney Crosby drew boos from the crowed when the jumbotron showed footage of his gold-medal winning goal.

Miller’s ovation is at the start of the video, while Crosby is introduced at around the 1:10 mark. Pittsburgh won, 3-2, but Miller didn’t play.

USA forces OT, but eventually falls to Canada in gold medal finals

An impressive run for the USA hockey team fell short at this year’s Winter Olympics, as the Americans lost to Canada 3-2 in overtime in Sunday’s gold medal round. Sidney Crosby beat Ryan Miller 7:40 into overtime to allow the Canadians to become the first host nation in 30 years to win the gold medal in men’s hockey.

The win certainly didn’t come easy for Canada, however, which led 2-1 for most of the game.

After pulling goalie Ryan Miller late in the third period, Jamie Langenbrunner redirected a Patrick Kane wrister off Roberto Luongo’s body and Zach Parise gathered up the rebound and snuck it past Luongo to tie the game with just 24.4 seconds remaining. But after seizing the momentum thanks to the thrilling goal, USA couldn’t get the job done in overtime and the heavily favored Canadians (who were 1/2 to win the tournament at the start of the Winter Games) seized the gold.

Even though they lost, USA’s push for the gold was arguably the most exciting part of the Winter Olympics. It would have been nice to see them go undefeated and complete the underdog story, but there’s no shame in beating Canada once and nearly knocking them off on their home ice in the finals. Gold would have been fine, but there’s a lot of pride for USA in taking home the silver.

Kings set franchise record for consecutive wins

Los Angeles Kings

Down 3-0 to the Red Wings at the start of the second period, the Kings magically rallied to tie the score. With 2:21 left to play, the Kings’ Michal Handzus suddenly knocked in his second goal of the game to help the team win their ninth straight — a franchise record.

From ESPN.com:

Alexander Frolov, Handzus and Ryan Smyth scored in the second period, and Jonathan Quick made 20 saves in his NHL-leading 34th victory. The Kings surpassed the Second Six franchise’s eight-game winning streaks established by Wayne Gretzky’s 1991-92 team and the 1972-73 squad.

Los Angeles needed just two shootout victories to establish this mark with a roster that’s only now discovering what it can do. After a midseason swoon that dropped them from first place in the Western Conference to the middle of the pack, the Kings have moved back up to third with their 11th victory in 12 games.

“We have a lot of confidence right now, and we know that if we stick to our game, most nights we will be successful,” said Handzus, who also had an assist to give him six points in the last two games. “We knew we didn’t play well in the first period. … We decided not to try and hit a home run. We just wanted to try and score the first goal and go from there. It’s great, and a great comeback for us.”

I was at this game and it was one of the most exciting turnarounds I’ve ever seen. The Staples Center was absolutely lifeless for the first period, stunned by the Red Wings’ instantaneous three goals. Truth be told, since the Kings were coming off a hard-fought victory against the Ducks just last night, I expected them to lose. The team just looked drained, so I resigned myself to leaving after the second period if they hadn’t scored. To everyone’s surprise, they beat the talented Red Wings, simply by turning up the intensity.

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