NHL History & News

For their recent success in the games the Hawks have become the most likeable team in the League. They also are one of the youngest with a refreshing and animated fan base. After a Western Conference final run last season, it has been a very long time since Chicago team is seen excited and full of optimism. With 29 home wins for the Hawks, The United Center has been their happy hunting ground.
The Hawks are top in their defense and also have a highly balanced scoring attack. The Hawks are also one of the league’s top penalty killing teams. Jonathan Toews and John Madden are NHL’s best in the faceoff dot. Even though rookie Antti Niemi has never played a single second of NHL playoff hockey, he played fabulously this season for Chicago. For a team with Stanley Cup dreams in their minds, performance of veteran Cristobal Huet is quite crucial. As a team they should have enough faith on their goaltenders which will play a crucial role.
David Poile and head coach Barry Trotz are the main reason why the Predators are performing well despite being one of the lowest payrolls in the league and any superstars. Star power is what is lacking with the Preds but their performance is commendable and quite worthy too. With Shea Weber in the defense, without making any headlines, Preds defense is solid. Nashville has yet to win a playoff series. They need to improve their game plans and not just play for the sake of playing. This team has great potential, just need to nurture it more. They even are the least penalized team in the League.
The odds are certainly stacked against Nashville from advancing but you never know who comes out on the top.

On Tue Apr 20, 2010 witness an interesting fight when Pittsburgh locks horns with Ottawa (7:00 PM ET, CBC). The Penguins are at 47-28-7, 101 pts 47-28-7, 101 pts and Senators are at 44-32-6, 94 pts.

The Penguins are defending champions and are a hot favorite to surface out of the East. The success achieved by the Penguins is because f the presence of super stars Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby. Although Malikn is not at its best this season because of the injuries and must be looking to perform at his level best in this upcoming match against Ottawa. To go along with the Olympic gold he won in Vancouver, Canadian hockey fans would definitely love to see Crosby pull off the double of a second Stanley Cup ring. The Penguins are a very balanced team with a very dependable defense, an offence which has a lot of potential and solid goal scores make them quite a dangerous one too. Pittsburgh has reached the finals and they very well know how to win it. One thing that might bother Head coach Dan Byisma is the lack of intent or motivation for the season’s title. He needs to work out on his team so that they get motivated to perform well, consistently.

Senators is a good team with great potential, they have not been able to stabilize their teams since a very long time because of the numerous changes in coaching by Dany Heatley. Head coach Cory Clouston has done a commendable job in transforming the team from a mentally flimsy team into a well gelled, team. Although the team is not doing it well in terms of scoring but with players like Jarkko Ruutu, Chris Kelly and Chris Neil they have the ability to give the opponents a fitting reply. They have been the best team in penalty killing and have a better defense as critics may expect, provided by Andy Sutton, Anton Volchenkov and Chris Phillps. The Senators have a lot to prove with unimpressive record away from home.

The Penguins are the favorites to win this match because of their impressive performance but Senators will definitely give them a healthy fight.