Winnipeg is Back

The picture you see right now is the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, MB.  If you haven't quite figured out what this piece is about just from the first sentence, I'm sure many a Winnipeg native will be happy to tell you that Winnipeg is back in the NHL.  An hour ago, the deal that would see the True North Sports and Entertainment group purchase the Atlanta Thrashers was finalized in a press conference in Winnipeg.  Among the attendees for this announcement was NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.  No nickname has been announced for the new Winnipeg team, and the team will compete in the Eastern Conference next season.  Stay tuned for more, and the Atlanta Thrashers eulogy will also be forthcoming.

Stanley Cup Moments, Part 2

Continuing the theme of great moments in the Stanley Cup Finals, today will be a look at a few more moments that forever defined some players.

Here, we have Mario Lemieux in a "History Will be Made" video from last year's playoffs.  The moment in question is him splitting two North Stars players in the 1991 Finals on his way to scoring a goal.



Next, we have the famous call from Game 6 of the 1994 Finals.



While Linden did indeed play the next game, it was the Rangers who would ultimately come away from the Cup.  This series was a conflict of who to root for, as at the time, I liked both teams.

Great Stanley Cup Moments, Avalanche Edition

Being that the Stanley Cup Finals begin Wednesday, that means I have to find ways to pass the time until that day.  So, what is there to do, except reliving moments from past Stanley Cup Finals that mean something to me.

First, we have the 1996 Finals, and the Colorado Avalanche sweeping the Florida Panthers on a Uwe Krupp goal in triple OT.  I remember staying up for this game, and if you were to ask me why I didn't get angry with Krupp when he signed as a free agent with the hated Red Wings a few years later, this would be why:



No matter what else he did in his career, this moment is the one that will forever define him in Avalanche history.

And here, we have the best way to leave the game on top:



Watching this as it played out was a chilling moment, particularly since the first person to skate with the Cup wasn't Joe Sakic, but Ray Bourque.  An equally momentous part of this celebration is that the Boston Bruins fans were nothing but class throughout Bourque's quest for a championship to the point of holding a celebration just for him when the Avs won the Cup in 2001.

Finals Time!

It's been a year in the making, but we are almost at the end of the hockey season.  It's been a fun season as the Boston Bruins and the Vancouver Canucks will battle for the right to hoist Lord Stanley's Cup.  Between now and Wednesday, I will annoy you, the reader, with some personal favorite moments from the last 30 years or so.  In the mean time, the predictions must be made, so without further ado, here is my analysis and prediction:

Goaltending: Tim Thomas has been up and down this playoff season, but when he's had to steal a game for the Bruins, no one has risen to the challenge better than Thomas.  After a problematic first round against Chicago, Roberto Luongo has been remarkably good since game 7 of that series, and not seeing Corey Schneider in net can only be deemed a good sign for him.  Advantage: Boston...barely.

Defense: Boston has had the duo of Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg handle nearly half of the game's 60 minutes.  That's not so bad, since both have been a shutdown pairing.  However, missing in all of this is Tomas Kaberle, who was supposed to be the power play quarterback the Bruins needed.  The Canucks cannot boast a shutdown duo that can play half the game.  Instead, they can boast 7 NHL caliber defensemen who play as well as the the sum of the parts suggest.  Advantage: Vancouver

Forwards: Boston is all about the Lucic-Krejci-Horton line.  However, the last series was also about Tyler Seguin's arrival to postseason hockey.  However, Boston will need the likes of Rich Peverley and Patrice Bergeron (if he's healthy) to provide some offense, too.  Vancouver can roll out three capable lines.  Their top two lines are a lethal game of Russian Roulette in that you hope their impact is limited.  Their third line is equally dangerous, even though they don't get the headlines their top two line counterparts get.  Advantage: Vancouver

Intangibles:  Boston has been on a mission to erase last year's embarrassment in losing a 3-0 series lead in the Conference Semifinals.  Vancouver has the weight of a city and a country on their shoulders, and they could get Manny Malhotra back for the Finals.  Advantage: Even

Prediction: For Boston to win the series, Thomas has to be the Vezina Trophy finalist that he is and not the one who looked shaky in the Tampa Bay series half the time.  Boston will also have to impersonate the 1995 Devils' defense.  Vancouver has everything to gain and everything to lose here.  There's just too much firepower up front and a balanced blue line for them not to win.  As always, it ultimately comes down to Luongo, who has played well since his game 6 benching against Chicago.  Ultimately, I will take Vancouver in 6.

Canuck Playoff Anthems

Since the Stanley Cup Finals won't begin until Sunday at the earliest, and given that I need material to write about, but don't want to commit to player stories, I came across a story about the latest of what is becoming the Canucks playoff songs.  So, without further ado, let's look at some of the songs being submitted in this year's playoff run:

Philbert Simon:


This video by the Philbert Simon Band is a parody of "Lazy Song," which I had no idea existed.  After watching this video, I don't even want to hear the original.  I like this version better, if only because they included some "Green Men" in the mix.  The song is catchy enough to work, but clearly, the Kesler jersey is a jersey foul.  If you're going to have any player jersey, please get the numbering and lettering correct.  Those little details matter.  Also, if you're going to have Green Men, you better have them in full body suits, and not just hoods and gloves in the neon green colors.  Shoes are okay, though.

Kyprios



This entry from the rapper known as Kyprios is titled "How the West was One."  There's no video for the man to embarrass himself with, as the only things there are the Kyprios logo (nice way of incorporating the Skate in Rink logo) and the words to the song.  Points for working the past in with the present, but not my favorite song of the bunch, though it comes fairly close.

Bodhi Jones


The song by Jones is called "We are all Canucks," and is quite possibly the catchiest song of the three.  The basis of the song includes many of this year's playoff participants, from opponents to the Canucks players themselves.  As for the video, you get to see the man himself, a few spelling errors ("Janik Hansen," "Samuelson," and "Oreskavitch"), and the worst dance moves this side of the hemisphere (which says something, since I'm a horrible dancer myself).

I'm fairly sure that I'm missing a few Canuck anthems this playoff season, so if you think there's something that should catch my eye, send them my way.

Split

In the midst of all of the hockey celebration that will continue until the first game of the Stanley Cup Finals (when it becomes all business), I must take some time to remember the face of the Kansas City Royals.  Paul Splittorff died yesterday at 64 after a battle with melanoma and oral cancer.  For most of his 64 years on this planet, he wasn't just the winningest Royal pitcher as the older generation remembers him for, he was also the face and voice of Royals television games, as I had come to remember him by.  No matter how good or how bad the Royals were, and there were some horrible Royals teams, there was one thing I could count on: "Split" being the voice that carried the games on television.  What Denny Matthews was to the radio for the Royals, Splittorff was to the television for the team.  His service to the team began in 1968 as a pitcher drafted in the 25th round and ended as a broadcaster for the team in 2009.  Even when it became apparent that he could no longer handle the full time duties of being a broadcaster, he kept on, not letting the ailments be a story.  News of his sickness was reported a couple of weeks ago, a sign that Splittorff offered no excuses when it came to living life.  Now that he's passed on, the Good Guys have one more pitcher on their team and if they want, a man to call the games, too.

Funeral at Sea

Today, we are here to eulogize the 2010-11 San Jose Sharks.  Like many of the Sharks teams before them, they had high expectations, and like every last one of them, they didn't make the Stanley Cup Finals.  But let's not just bury them, though.  After all, it takes a special talent to choke on the expectations every year.  Whether it's to the eight seed, as the Sharks did with Anaheim in 2009, or not even bothering to show up, as the Sharks did against Chicago in 2010. So, what was the Sharks' excuse this year?  In a word: discipline.  That was the thing that eluded them against the Canucks and proved to be their downfall, but even then, this year's Sharks should have been eliminated in the first round against the Kings for playing down to their level and again versus the Red Wings in the Conference Semifinals for nearly choking away a 3-0 series lead.  And before you say anything, yes, I am perfectly aware of the Canucks' own close call in the first round.

So, the autopsy of the season could read like this: the goalie that was supposed to take them over the top in Antti Niemi, wasn't a whole lot better than the guy he replaced in Evgeni Nabokov, who himself screwed himself out of a potential starting job next year with his own contract issues in re-entering the NHL.  Niemi had a terrible first round, spectacular second round, and terrible Conference Finals.  He was inconsistent last year, which is often overlooked, since Chicago ended up winning the Stanley Cup.  Joe Thornton actually showed up for the playoffs.  The problem?  He's the captain, and with the captain's responsibilities, comes the praise and blame for the team's fate.  Same goes for Patrick Marleau, only without the captain's C.  If you could point to one person who disappeared this year, including playoffs, it has to be Dany Heatley.  At one point, he was dropped to the third line in the Vancouver series.  Defensively, the Sharks could have used Niklas Hjalmarsson, and would have had Chicago not matched the Sharks' offer in the off-season.  And then there's Ben Eager, who just can't get enough of the penalty box in Vancouver.

Getting a second seed in the playoffs should be something that the Sharks should be proud of...however, no Stanley Cup Finals again this year should really be considered a failure.  All season long, the Sharks had a chance to finally shake the label of "unable to win the big one," but like the bizarre goal that ended their season, the Sharks are once again, bitten by the same bad luck that they've had for twenty years.  As we say goodbye to the Sharks' 2010-11 season, the last word in this eulogy is that there will be Shark sushi served for the reception, so come hungry.