Coyotes, Kings Game 5 preview; Claude Giroux has fun; PK Subban on the ladies (Puck Headlines) (Puck Daddy)
(Tue, 22 May 2012 13:06:20 PDT)
Here are your Puck Headlines: a glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media. • Claude Giroux's beer pong adventures are rightfully getting attention on this lovely Tuesday, but it's the double-casted topless cornholing that we're sure a segment of our readership is more interested in. Playoffs leading scorer indeed. [ Crossing Broad ] • In case you missed it, the Los Angeles Kings' snarky infographic about being confused with the Sacramento Kings was hilarious. [ Kings ] • PK and Malcolm Subban talk race and hockey with Complex. And also, the ladies. Who "pulls the most ladies" in the Subban family? PK says: "Wow, well definitely me. I'm the oldest, I have the most experience, and I'm the best looking. I've been told that on numerous occasions, numerous. Now that doesn't take anything away from my brothers, Malcolm is good looking and Jordan's a good looking guy, too. I mean they are related to me so they get a little bit of the looks. But right now I have to say I have the most experience. I'm a veteran when it comes to that, they're still learning. They have lots of potential. They're like first-round picks right now in the game, they still have to develop." [ Complex ] • Coach Bob Hartley's Zurich Lions are ready to bid him adieu as he returns to the NHL. [ Swiss Habs ] • Speaking of the Lions, that's where Ryan Shannon of the Tampa Bay Lightning will be for the next three years. [ SB Nation ] • What kind of grade would Ville Leino receive for his effort with the Buffalo Sabres? [ Die By The Blade ] • In which Shane Doan compares the Phoenix Coyotes' plight to Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail. [ Arizona Sports ] • This is so strange: An entire column written about embellishment in the playoffs and how it needs to stop, without a single mention of Mike Smith's flopping. Oh, Arizona Republic you say? Well then. [ AZCentral ] • Look, we don't like to judge, but embezzling $144,000 from a Youth Hockey Association is a sort of [expletived] up. [ Cap Times ]

McBain signs two-year deal with Carolina (The SportsXchange)
(Mon, 21 May 2012 15:00:19 PDT)
Defenseman Jamie McBain signed a two-year, $3.6 million contract with the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday.

Ratings down for conference finals; Ted Nugent backs David Booth; NHL 13 teaser (Puck Headlines) (Puck Daddy)
(Mon, 21 May 2012 13:07:28 PDT)
Here are your Puck Headlines: a glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media. • You're probably seen Zdeno Chara's tribute to Pavel Demitra by now, but here's Slovakia's Branko Radivojevic rocking a tribute T-shirt after their semifinal win over the Czech Republic at the Hockey World Championship in Helsinki. • NBC audiences were down over the weekend for the conference finals. Lepore: "Saturday's Rangers-Devils game drew a 1.3 overnight rating, down 13% from last year's Game 4 between Boston and Tampa Bay. It may have been hurt by the early timeslot, or the fact that there was a huge dip in ratings in the lone local market, New York. Game 3 drew a 4.2 in the Big Apple, well down from the 6.2 for Game 1 on the NBC Sports Network.  Sunday's Game 4 between the Coyotes and Kings drew a 1.1 overnight, down 15% from last year's Game 4 between the Canucks and Sharks, which was a 2-1 series, as opposed to the 3-0 lead the Kings had heading in. The game drew a series high 2.7 in Los Angeles." [ Puck The Media ] • Henrik Lundqvist on the New York Rangers fans that invade the Rock: "We always have played there in Newark. It's one of the things that makes it special to play these types of games, play New York teams.  We have a lot of support, and talked about it earlier, a couple days ago, when you see the way that the fans react to things that happen during the game or even the results, it's exciting." [ Rangers Rants ] • Looks like Stu Bickel will move up to forward to replace the suspended Brandon Prust. [ Slap Shot ] • Larry Brooks believes the hate-o-meter is slowly seeing the needled move on the Rangers and New Jersey Devils. [ NY Post ] • Sports Business Journal is reporting that the Detroit Red Wings have settled on a designer for a new 18,000-seat arena to replace the Joe. [ Detroit News ] • Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League's Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has agreed to terms with defenseman Jamie McBain on a two-year contract. The deal will pay McBain $1.7 million in 2012-13, and $1.9 million in 2013-14. [ Hurricanes ] • They signed Bobby Sanguinetti and forward Nicolas Blanchard to two-way contracts, too. [ Canes Country ] • Zach Parise is a free agent … risk? "It is very likely that he will elevate whichever team signs him in the short run, but as teams weigh the idea of making him an offer, they need to keep in mind the distinct possibility that he will underperform this contract in the near future and eventually become an anchor on the team's salary cap finances." [ NHL Numbers ] • Bear killin' David Booth has a friend in Ted Nugent. [ PITB ]

What We Learned: Embarrassing LA sports media moments while covering Kings playoff run (Puck Daddy)
(Mon, 21 May 2012 06:58:22 PDT)
Hello, this is a feature that will run through the entire season and aims to recap the weekend's events and boils those events down to one admittedly superficial fact or stupid opinion about each team. Feel free to complain about it. It's possibly the greatest bit of investigative journalism conducted since Woodward and Bernstein brought down Richard Nixon. This exemplary, collective effort of sleuth work is currently ongoing in Los Angeles, Calif., where an entire media market has unearthed the NHL's shocking secret: The city has a professional hockey team. Over the past week or so here at Puck Daddy, we've tried to document every startling discovery made by the intrepid Los Angeles media, like how to properly pronounce Anze Kopitar's name (it's hard because he's from Bosnia or something), the real name of this Drew Doughty character ( it's actually Brad !) and that hockey is in fact not played with a ball, but rather a little piece of rubber known as a "puck." That last one makes me pretty uncomfortable because of the word it rhymes with. ("Duck" — sorry, I just don't trust 'em; they have weird beaks). Just how villainous is this team, operating as a sort of sporting sleeper cell? They got all the way to the Western Conference Finals without one local noticing. That takes real criminal talent. And not only that, but, the NHL had the diabolical idea to hide it right under the Los Angelinos' noses, by having their home games played at the Staples Center. You know, where the Lakers play. Further, they named the team the Kings to intentionally confuse even the savviest media organization into thinking they are the NBA's Sacramento Kings. Astonishingly devious stuff. More twists and turns than the Da Vinci Code, which I've read three times just to make sure I understood it all. The best bit of this journalism on this pressing issue comes, of course, from the city's paper of record, the Los Angeles Times, winner of 44 Pulitzer Prizes since 1942, including three in 2012. It was for that towering beacon of journalistic excellence that columnist Chris Erskine successfully scruted several of the team and sport's most inscrutable mysteries . For instance, that thing I said earlier about the puck (again, yuck… oh and that's another gross word it rhymes with), I learned it from Erskine. Apparently they even freeze the thing. And that's a huge point of concern, because, "The hardest shots can reach 110 mph and tear flesh, crush bone, even kill you if you're not careful." Yikes, you guys! ( Coming Up: Rick Nash to Boston?; Tororella defends Prust; Ryan Suter faces his future; Evegni Malkin is having a pretty good season; why Lundqvist is King; why the Capitals can't win with Ovechkin; the Islanders know how to party; Canucks might keep Luongo; Ryan Miller on the CBA; Flames and Oilers coaching news; and are the Kings in trouble?)

Boston Bruins at the World Championship Update for May 20: Fan's Take (Yahoo! Contributor Network)
(Sun, 20 May 2012 14:15:00 PDT)
Boston Bruins fans have two things to be proud of at the conclusion of the 2012 IIHF World Championship: Zdeno Chara and David Krejci. They both leave Finland as medalists and Chara even paid tribute to a departed friend while receiving his accolades.

Russia beat Slovakia 6-2 to win ice hockey world title
(Sun, 20 May 2012 13:42:48 PDT)
Russia battled from a goal down to win the world championship on Sunday, beating 2002 champions Slovakia 6-2 in the final.

Czechs win world ice hockey bronze
(Sun, 20 May 2012 10:00:18 PDT)
Czech Republic grabbed bronze at the world ice hockey championship on Sunday with a tight 3-2 win over the last year's champions Finland.

Renney will not return as Oilers coach
(Thu, 17 May 2012 19:41:07 PDT)
Tom Renney's coaching contract will not be renewed by the Edmonton Oilers, the National Hockey League club announced, ending his two seasons of guiding the team.

Finns, Russia go through, Slovaks upset Canada
(Thu, 17 May 2012 14:23:16 PDT)
Holders Finland advanced to the semi-finals of the world ice hockey championships with a last-gasp winner against the United States on Thursday, but Olympic champions Canada were shocked by Slovakia.

Slovakia ousts Canada 4-3 at ice hockey worlds (The Associated Press)
(Thu, 17 May 2012 08:12:55 PDT)
HELSINKI (AP) San Jose Sharks' Michal Handzus gave Slovakia the winning goal in a 4-3 victory over Canada in the quarterfinals of the ice hockey world championships in Helsinki on Thursday.

Penguins GM Ray Shero wants Jordan Staal in Pittsburgh, not on trade block (Puck Daddy)
(Wed, 16 May 2012 09:32:48 PDT)
Jordan Staal could be a No. 1 center in over a dozen NHL cities right now. Instead, he's like Bill Hader on SNL: Brilliantly talented, the glue that holds sketches together, but rarely in the spotlight save for Stefon on "Weekend Update" because Andy Samberg and Kristen Wiig get all the airtime. (Evgeni Malkin in this case being Kristin Wiig; Sidney Crosby being Andy Samberg, as Lindsay Lohan informed us earlier in the season .) Staal has one year left on his current deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and rumors are that he wants more responsibility (re: ice time, offensive chances) with the team. Rumors were also that he could join his brother Eric with the Carolina Hurricanes , or potentially be moved elsewhere this summer. But Dave Molinari of the Post-Gazette spoke to GM Ray Shero , and he hopes to re-sign Staal and Sidney Crosby to extensions this summer: Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal have one year left on their contracts, and Evgeni Malkin has two. Negotiations with Crosby and Staal can't begin until July 1, so there's no way of knowing precisely what they'll be asking for, but Shero reiterated that his goal is to retain all three. "I'd like to do that, if possible," he said. "We're looking at hopefully getting extensions with [Crosby and Staal]." While it is conceivable that Staal, the team's No. 3 center, might want to play elsewhere so he can fill a more offense-oriented role, he apparently has not said anything of the sort to the Penguins. Asked if any of the top three centers had expressed a desire to move, Shero responded, "Absolutely not." The key issue in bringing Staal back will be the money he's seeking.

Finland beat Kazakhstan, Russia sink Italy
(Mon, 14 May 2012 13:34:59 PDT)
Reigning champions and co-hosts Finland beat Kazakhstan 4-1 on Monday to notch their fifth win at the ice hockey world championships.

What We Learned: What to make of this Washington Capitals season? (Puck Daddy)
(Mon, 14 May 2012 05:28:10 PDT)
Hello, this is a feature that will run through the entire season and aims to recap the weekend's events and boils those events down to one admittedly superficial fact or stupid opinion about each team. Feel free to complain about it. There's been a lot of talk about what this season has meant for the Washington Capitals in the hours leading up to, and then immediately following, their final game of the remarkably eventful 2011-12 season. Wysh had a pretty good recap of the reasons the Capitals felt this little run to a pair of one-goal Game 7s against the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds in the Eastern Conference — both having been heavy favorites — vindicated the Dale Hunter system of everyone playing defense and collapsing to within three inches of the crease, and it's perfectly reasonable for people to feel that way. Certainly, no one expected these Capitals to do much damage in the postseason given that they frittered away a division they were picked to dominate. But the thing that everyone seems to forget is that, again, they were picked to dominate the Southeast, be a superpower in the East and the League at large. If the team tuned out Bruce Boudreau, and it appears they did, then wasn't his replacement, whoever it happened to be, more or less expected to get this far? Therefore, it becomes a question about what changed, and really, what didn't. Let's not forget, Boudreau came in originally and let guys like Alex Semin, Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green have their run of the rink. Two-minute shifts? Sure! Goals aplenty? You bet. But in the end, what did it get them? Bounce-outs, and if you believe the talk, disappointing ones at that. So Boudreau changed the style, focusing more on defense, tethering Ovechkin and Co. to an extent, and … getting the same amount of success. Under each of the two clearly definable Boudreau regimes, the team lost in the conference quarter- and semi-finals. Which is of course notable because the latter is exactly how far Hunter got in his first chance at the tiller, despite doing everything in his power not to: like limiting Ovechkin to fewer than 20 minutes a night in every game in this series save for Saturday's Game 7 and the three-overtime Game 3, in which he played 35:14 — or, if you prefer 17:37 per three periods of play. This therefore vindicates Hunter only as far as it vindicated Boudreau; which, with a roster like this, and given the "choker" label being hung liberally on the former Caps coach this time last year. The philosophy changed radically under Hunter, and worked only as far as it did for Boudreau. Why? ( Coming Up: Team USA, international ass-kickers; getting stupid about Patrick Kane's drinking; Parise's future; Could Brad Stuart return to the Sharks?; Kevin Lowe says Ryan Murray is the top player in this year's draft class; Suter/Weber questions; Pancakes Penner's revenge; Bruins pumped for Dougie Hamilton; Alfredsson retirement watch; Leafs/Penguins trade?; Lundqvist is King; Alex Burrows runs and hugs a goalie; and Winnipeg Jets fans are burning Coyotes jerseys.)

Americans blank Finland for a quarter-final spot
(Sun, 13 May 2012 14:08:11 PDT)
The United States secured their place in the world ice hockey championship's last eight with a confident 5-0 win over reigning world champions and the event's co-hosts Finland here on Sunday.

Canada come back to upset hockey hosts Finland
(Fri, 11 May 2012 14:36:48 PDT)
Olympic champions Canada battled back from two goals down to clinch their group lead with a 5-3 win over reigning champions, and co-hosts of the world ice hockey championship, Finland here Friday.

US beats Kazakhstan 3-2 at hockey worlds (The Associated Press)
(Fri, 11 May 2012 13:25:18 PDT)
HELSINKI (AP) Justin Faulk of the Carolina Hurricanes scored four minutes into overtime for his second goal of the game Friday, sending the United States to a 3-2 victory over Kazakhstan at hockey's world championships.

Watch Justin Faulk save Team USA from total embarrassment vs. Kazakhstan in OT (VIDEO) (Puck Daddy)
(Fri, 11 May 2012 08:47:16 PDT)
For a while, it seemed like their IIHF world championship tournament game was headed to an understandable tradeoff: The U.S. helped make Borat the singular cultural stereotype about Kazakhstan, and then Kazakhstan gets arguably its biggest win in international ice hockey at the expense of the Americans. Defenseman Justin Faulk of the Carolina Hurricanes, however, saved Team USA from embarrassment against Kazakhstan in the preliminary round with an OT goal. It was Faulk's second goal in a 3-2 win . "Team America, Faulk Yeah!" ( joke via Jeff Swanson ) Someone named Talgat Zhailauov tied the game late with 4:06 left in the third period for Kazakhstan, forcing overtime. That in itself was a loss for Team USA: The IIHF world championship tournament uses a three-point regulation win format, so the Americans lost a point in the standings. Through five games, they now have 10 points (two regulation wins, two overtime wins, one loss), which puts them in the top four behind Finland (12 points in four games) and right with Canada (10 points in four games). The U.S. still has to face Finland and Switzerland. This lost point might hurt. Not as much as the monsoon of Borat jokes that would have been made at Team USA's expense had it lost this game, but hurt nonetheless.

Perfect Finland thrash hapless France in ice hockey
(Thu, 10 May 2012 13:51:36 PDT)
Defending champions and co-hosts of the world ice hockey championship Finland thrashed France 7-1 here on Thursday to move top of their group and maintain their perfect record.

Will Ryan Suter stay in Nashville after all? (Puck Daddy)
(Thu, 10 May 2012 09:29:56 PDT)
The notion that Ryan Suter could become an unrestricted free agent must make anyone that handed out a 10-year contract to Christian Ehrhoff furious. Here's an all-star, minutes-hording defensive stalwart who'd be considered a franchise defenseman were it not for playing in the shadow of Shea Weber's beard. They don't come around often at 27 years old. So there's going to be heightened attention given to Suter over the next two weeks, as he allows the frustration of the Preds' loss to Phoenix subside and begins sussing out his future with David Poile. From The Tennessean: "I haven't really had time to sit back and talk with my family and figure out what we want to do. This morning I had a meeting with David (Poile) and we talked about everything and the future, and how everything will go, and I think we're going to meet again in a couple of weeks and kind of make a decision." … "Wherever I sign I want to be there for the rest of my career , and that affects my family, my wife, my kid, if we have more kids, everything plays into it." Cynically, one might read this as "I'll let Poile know where they should trade my UFA negotiating rights." It becomes even more cynical when you read this in The Province , in a wishful thinking post about Shea Weber coming to the Vancouver Canucks, on Suter: "Those around his situation claim he has a list of teams he wants to play for and Nashville isn't on it." So are we ready to write off Suter as a Predator or is there still a chance he'll finish his career in Smashville?

US loses to Slovakia 4-2 at hockey worlds (The Associated Press)
(Mon, 07 May 2012 14:46:12 PDT)
HELSINKI (AP) The United States lost to Slovakia 4-2 Monday for its first loss at hockey's world championships after opening with two victories.

Capitals, Rangers and their shot-blocking: Troubling sign for the NHL playoffs? (Puck Daddy)
(Mon, 07 May 2012 14:33:22 PDT)
Through the first four games of their Eastern Conference semifinal, the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers have combined for 182 blocked shots. If you're one of the many living in ever-present fear that the Dead Puck Era has just been laying dormant in the waters of the deep, waiting to rise once more like the phoenix (perhaps in Phoenix), watching scoring chances die on players' ribs and shinpads with regularity in this series has to alarm. On Monday, Larry Brooks likened this strategic emphasis on sacrificing the body to the trap, that most evil of evils.  From the New York Post : The Rangers and Capitals will play a pivotal Game 5 tonight at Madison Square Garden in an eastern semifinal matchup that might otherwise be known as the Blocked Shot Series. Next to nothing gets through on either side, with both sides committed to doing whatever is necessary to prevent the puck from reaching the goaltender and in that way minimize scoring chances. [...] The increase in blocked shots around hockey does not equate to an increase in commitment toward winning the Stanley Cup. It's just the latest strategy devised to negate talent, like the trap before the lockout that everyone hated with a passion. Shot-blocking is indeed on the rise in the NHL, at least in the postseason. The total number of playoff blocked shots has risen every year since 2006-07, when the 16 teams combined for 1,140. In 2010-11, they combined for 1,522. But 2005-06, the first year after the lockout, bucks that trend.

Sweden beat Danes to keep perfect record
(Mon, 07 May 2012 13:55:26 PDT)
Co-hosts Sweden extended their winning streak at the world ice hockey championships by beating Denmark 6-4 in Stockholm Monday to claim three wins from as many matches.