NHL History & News

In Game 1 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals, two teams, Detroit Red Wings and Nashville Predators (Wed, Apr 11, 8:00 PM ET). With Detroit taking the first two in six games each (2004 and 2008), this is the third time the Predators have faced the Red Wings in Nashville’s eighth trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, this is a different kind if Predators team. The best hockey betting odds are Detroit Red Wings (6/5), while Nashville Predators (10/13).

Thanks to a number of late-season moves, this one has already won a playoff series and seems primed to make a deep postseason run. For Wednesday’s Game 1 at Bridgestone Arena, the big question for Detroit is whether injured third-line center Darren Helm (sprained MCL) will be available or if he will have to wait until Game 2.

Helm has not ruled out the series opener just yet, although he said the target date is Game 2 or 3. What remain question marks is that when he returns and to what extent his speed game will be as effective as before. Johan Franzen might still be battling soreness from back spasms that sidelined him late in the season and Lidstrom is still slowed by a deep ankle bruise that kept him out for a career-high 11 straight games down the stretch. The Red Wings went 17-21-3 on the road. They never figured out their season-long struggles away from Joe Louis Arena.

Nashville (104 points) reeled off three straight wins to conclude the regular season and finish ahead of Detroit in both the Western Conference and Central Division standings, after dropping a disappointing 5-4 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on March 31 at home. In those three games, the Preds also gave up just five goals and goalie Pekka Rinne finished with the League lead in wins with 43.

In the past 10 games, Jiri Hudler has four goals and four assists for the Red Wings. In six of the past eight games for the Preds, Andrei Kostitsyn has recorded points, including one goal and five assists. Rinne has not allowed a goal in the last 38 shots he has faced.

Danny Cleary (knee soreness) and Helm (knee sprain) are questionable for Detroit, while Patrick Eaves (concussion) and Joey MacDonald (back) are out. On Tuesday, Radulov, Brandon Yip and goalie Anders Lindback (upper body) all missed Monday’s practice. They are expected to play for Nashville. Gill (lower body/foot) is questionable and he missed both practice sessions.

Detroit was the second least in the NHL and they were penalized an average of 8.5 minutes per game, behind only Nashville (8.4 PIM); The Preds ranked second overall with a 35-3-4 mark when scoring first and finished with the League’s best power play (21.6 percent).

In what could be a potential first round playoff matchup, the Detroit Red Wings will skate into Chicago on Sunday afternoon to do battle with the Blackhawks. Detroit is at 8-1 to win the Stanley Cup in NHL Odds and NHL Betting. The Blackhawks are at 18-1 in NHL Picks. This game will actually be the second of a home and home series to close out the 2010-2011 regular season for both teams.

Surprisingly, with only two games remaining for both clubs there is still a lot left to be decided when it comes to playoff berths and seeding. Chicago helped its chances of making the playoffs again this year with a crucial victory over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night. That overtime victory puts the Blackhawks in seventh place in the Western Conference, four points ahead of Dallas who is in ninth place and on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. Chicago will really help secure its playoff status with at least one point during the weekend series with Detroit. On the other hand, the Red Wings are already locked into a playoff position after winning the Central Division last weekend.

With this year’s playoff berth, the Red Wings have made the postseason for a record twenty years in a row. This streak is also the longest streak for any team in all of the four major sports. While the Red Wings are gearing up for another long playoff run, Detroit still has a chance to jump into the number two seed in the Western Conference. Currently, the Red Wings trail San Jose by one point in the standings, and if the Red Wings would like to secure home ice for the first two rounds, they will need to try their best to win these last two remaining games against Chicago over the weekend. 

The NHL’s annual all-star game will showcase the greatest hockey players in the world this weekend.

NHL fans will be treated to a unique format during this year’s game that is taking place at the Carolina Hurricane’s home arena in Raleigh. The NHL decided to name two captains for the all-star game and have those players choose their team from a list of eligible all-stars, rather than having the best players from each conference square off.

Nicklas Lidstrom form the Detroit Red Wings and Eric Staal from the Carolina Hurricanes will be this year’s captains. This Friday night these captains will select their rosters from a list of 42 eligible players.

Hockey betting odds are not yet available for the All-Star game.

The skills challenge that takes place Saturday night is the one thing that has not been changed about this year’s all-star weekend. The skills competition will pit the best players in the world against each in various tests of their hockey ability such as shooting accuracy, breakaway competition and hardest shot, always a highlight of the NHL all-star weekend.

The absence of two of the game’s best players will be one drawback of this year’s all-star game. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin both have said that they will not be attending this year’s game. Malkin just announced he will be out with a sinus infection as Crosby is still suffering from lingering effects of a concussion. For two other young stars to make their NHL all-star appearance, the absence of these two great players will just open up the door.

Lineup of Saturday NHL games of this week is advancing to be one of the better ones of the season. The game between the Detroit Red Wings and the Vancouver Canucks is highlighting all of the day’s match ups.

For this matchup NHL Odds have not yet been posted.

With 55 points each presently the Canucks and Red Wings are tied for first place in the Western Conference and in the NHL this is also good for the best record. A sizzling ten game stretch which the Canucks have used, has seen them go 9-0-1 with a six game winning streak. By compiling a 5-3-2 mark, the Red Wings have been pretty good their last ten games as well.

On December 22nd at Joe Louis Arena the only team to recently beat the red hot Canucks happened to be Detroit back. In order to send the game into overtime where Henrik Zetterberg won the game, the Red Wings needed a late third period goal by Nicklas Lidstrom in that game.

The Canucks have vaulted themselves into the top 10 in just about every key statistical group while riding this current hot streak. With having the 2nd best power play percentage at 24.8%, currently, Vancouver is ranked 2nd overall in the NHL averaging 3.4 goals per game. With the 4th best power play percentage at 22.7%, the Red Wings have the 1st ranked offense scoring 3.5 goals per game. When these two teams meet again this coming Saturday, much like the 5-4 overtime thriller two weeks ago, one can surely expect another offensive shootout.

In 2010-11, Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock believes the veteran Red Wings will be stronger in part because they played a shortened schedule by their standards last season.

In the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Wings went out quickly, losing in five games to the San Jose Sharks and it is not something for which Babcock was happy, but rather being an eternal optimist, he sees the silver lining.

All summer, Detroit had stayed relatively quiet. The team has signed the 40-year-old Mike Modano to add yet another scoring presence to a lineup that is already loaded with them, including Jiri Hudler.

with 102 points, the Wings finished ’09-10, fifth in the West, salvaging a difficult season that began with back-to-back losses to St. Louis in Sweden and gave way to various injuries to Tomas Holmstrom, Valtteri Filppula, Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, Niklas Kronwall and Dan Cleary.

Pavel Datsyuk and Zetterberg each had only 70 points, down seasons by their standards. Moreover, for the top defenseman award, strangest of all, six-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom was not even nominated. Through the hockey world, that sent a collective gasp.

In Hockeytown, all told it was a different 2009-10 season but one that a lot of teams would still love to have. In the coming season, Babcock believes everything will be better and that the Wings will again be a legit Stanley Cup contender.

The Coach said, “Chicago’s going to be thinner as we all know and I think we’re going to be better. I like what has happened for the Red Wings as far as the dispersal of talent goes in the Western Conference. I like our team. I even told my wife that.”

On June 23, this year’s 2010 NHL Awards will be held in Las Vegas and there are several hotly contested categories. Below are the four most closely watched of the award.

For the Hart Memorial Trophy, this year’s finalists, which is awarded to the player judged most valuable to his team by the Professional Hockey Writer’s Association, are Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks, and Sidney Crosby from the Pittsburgh Penguins. To the President’s Cup, Ovechkin led his team and he is a two-time defending champion, but there are some who believe that Sedin played on a weaker team and thus was more valuable, overall to his team.

For the Vezina Trophy, which is given to the league’s best goalie as voted on by the NHL clubs’ general managers, are Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils, Ilya Bryzgalov of the Phoenix Coyotes, and Ryan Miller, the goalie for the Buffalo Sabres, are the goalies vying. Miller is a sentimental favorite for his outstanding play for Team USA in this year’s Olympics games, even though, what happened in the Olympics shouldn’t be a factor in the awards.

For the James Norris Memorial Trophy, which is given to the best defensemen as selected by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association include Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings, Mike Green from the Washington Capitals, and the Chicago Blackhawks‘ Duncan Keith, are the nominees.

For the James Norris Memorial Trophy, which is given to the best defensemen as selected by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association include Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings, Mike Green from the Washington Capitals, and the Chicago Blackhawks‘ Duncan Keith, are the nominees. With 76 points, Green had an outstanding year and has the best plus/minus of the three with a plus 39.

For the Jack Adams Award for coach of the year, which is voted on by the NHL Broadcasters’ Association, are Joe Sacco of the Colorado Avalanche, Dave Tippett of the Phoenix Coyotes, and Barry Trotz of the Nashville Predators, are vying for the award. After just plain ugly seasons last year, Both Sacco and Tippett unexpectedly brought their respective teams back into contention.

On June 23rd, the other awards presented include the Frank J. Selke Trophy for outstanding defensive forward. Detroit Red Wings‘ Pavel Datsyuk, Vancouver Canucks’ Ryan Kesler, and Pittsburgh Penguins’ Jordan Staal are included as nominees. Up for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct is Pavel Datsyuk of the Red Wings, Brad Richards of the Dallas Stars, and Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning, are the nominees. Nominees for the Calder Memorial Trophy for outstanding rookie are Colorado Avalanche’s Matt Duchene, Jimmy Howard of the Detroit Red Wings, and Tyler Myers of the Buffalo Sabres. Lastly, for the Masterton Trophy, which is awarded to a player for perseverance and sportsmanship is Tampa Bay Lightning‘s Kurtis Foster, the San Jose Sharks‘ Jed Ortmeyer, and the Washington Capitals’ Jose Theodore, are the nominees for the award.

It is not good enough to relax but as far as playoff hopes are concerned, the Nashville Predators are currently in a pretty good spot. The Red Wings have been known to improve their play right before the playoffs and they hold a three point lead on the Detroit Red Wings.

They have 83 points this season and currently hold a record of 39-26-5.  Of the tight race for the eighth spot in the NHL Western Conference, a three game win streak has helped them to jump out.

The Predators have struggled to remain consistent throughout the season. The Predators have gone 5-3 so far and this is especially true for March.

The head coach Barry Trotz called a team meeting to discuss where the team is at when the Predators lost 8-5 to the San Jose Sharks last week.  A pep talk was given by him to the team on calming their nerves so that they could group together and retain a playoff spot.

The Predators have struggled to be an offensive threat but they have met expectations as far as goal tending and defense have gone.  It has been a huge struggle for the team to stay afloat without Patric Horngvist stepping up as he has been the Leading goal scorer and has not shown up offensively in March.

The Nashville Predators look to have making it into the playoffs and a good shot at keeping their seventh seed spot. They have shown that they are bringing things together and can be a real contender within the next couple of years even if they may not make it to the second round.

In the NHL Western Conference with only 21 wins and 42 losses The Edmonton Oilers are currently sitting at rock bottom.  They are sure to end the regular season with the worst record in the NHL and have failed to make any sort of impact on the league this year.  They are currently on a three game losing streak, and don’t look to improve their position much before the end of the season.

The Oilers are now just battling to stay away from the franchise worst record of 60 points for a season, set back in 1992-93, with their current record,. They will have to score at least one or more points in the rest of their games this season in order to avoid that.

They are currently 31 points behind the Detroit Red Wings and are at last place in the NHL Western Conference. The Columbus Blue Jackets who are 12 points ahead of Edmonton Oilers are the next closest team to them in the conference.

This season, the Edmonton Oilers have just not been able to get into rhythm.  Marc Pouliot has not been able to direct the offense like he needs to and goalie Jeff Deslauriers has been sloppy at the net.

The Edmonton Oilers are now just hoping to get a good lottery pick in the draft and to rebuild and are far from the playoffs. In order to be contenders in the NHL Western Conference again in the near future, they need to establish a consistent offensive and defensive effort.