NHL History & News

On Monday, June 6 2011, Boston Bruins defeated Vancouver Canucks 8-1 in Game 3 of Stanley Cup final. Even though tens of thousands of hockey fans remained optimistic on Monday at the new and improved Canucks viewing area in downtown Vancouver at least until second intermission, the score was disappointing. The Canucks saw their best of 7 final series lead cut to 2-1.

The Bruins settled other scores in the third period, once the score was settled. While Kesler and Dennis Seidenberg wrestled at centre ice, Milan Lucic motioned to the mouth of Alex Burrows with his fingers in an endboards scrum.

When Mason Raymond executed a toe-drag move on Seidenberg and ripped a forehand that Thomas made a pad save on before recovering to get a glove on the winger’s rebound backhander, the Canucks had the best chance to open scoring.

Early in the second period, the break the Bruins were looking for came though. With a broken stick Edler tried to move the puck and it started a sequence that ended with an Andrew Ference point shot finding its way through a crowd. When Kesler dove to stop a Recchi cross-ice, power-play feed the Bruins caught another break. The effort deflected off the stick of the Canucks centre and between Luongo’s pads.

After Henrik Sedin coughed up the puck on the power play, Kesler then simply couldn’t hold off Marchand. Before roofing the puck to make it 3-0, the Bruins winger went wide and waited for Luongo to go down. To turn it into a laugher, Krejci and Daniel Paille then scored.

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.

Now the hockey world turns to more important things after the excitement of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver is subsidized. For the Stanley Cup, the hockey wars begin in earnest. There are four teams making a playoff push in the Northeast Division, with the top two expecting to make at least a deep run and possibly hoisting the Cup.

Buffalo and Ottawa are the contenders currently jockeying for the better seeding barring a monumental collapse. Among a number of teams still trying to secure the final playoff slots are Boston and Montreal. Hockey Betting odds are always available.

A “hot” goalie can win the Cup is a traditional thinking in the NHL. No goalie is performing better then Ryan Miller of the Sabres’. Fresh off of an MVP performance in the tournament at the winter olympics, Miller seems poised to carry the Sabres to the division title. Miller only surrenders 2.16 and has a save percentage of 93.1% while Buffalo currently averages 2.73 goals per game.

Converting on the power play and killing penalties have been season long problems for the Ottawa Senators but they are playing some of their best hockey as of late. The Senators have surrendered more goals than goals scored while they put a lot of shots at the net. Whoever finishes second in the division will probably have to face New Jersey or Pittsburgh, a tough draw in the first round.

Boston may have the size to upend Washington as an eight seed on a final note. It is seemed Montreal a season away. You can bet on hockey with your favorite online sportsbook.