Hockey Critic

My keeper league draft is this evening and I am just not prepared. We are in year 8 of the 10 year league and the salary caps will absolutely kill me this year. The likes of Joe Thornton, Olli Jokinen, Dany Heatley, Alex Tanguay and Daniel Sedin are now in the 5% of the salary scale and so I am going to have to dig out a lot of deals. As of right now, almost all 10 of my picks have to be very close to the minimum salary level for me to be able to make it under the cap. [Read More!]

After an excruciatingly long wait, the Stanley Cup Finals get underway in Anaheim, California this evening. This should be a very competitive series but the NHL may have managed to really screw it up. The bigwigs in New York have allowed themselves to be pushed around all playoffs by the US television networks and now, have seen a poorly planned Ducks schedule really come home to bite them. [Read More!]

About a week and a half ago, I had the opportunity to spend a couple of days in Silicon Valley for work. With the NHL playoffs in full swing and the San Jose Sharks in the mix, I thought I'd share some of my experiences. First off I couldn't watch any of the games live as my hotel didn't carry Versus - I had ESPN and ESPN 2, but no Versus. And ESPN and ESPN 2 didn't really give hockey a lot of coverage. Highlights began almost 30 minutes into Sportscenter though they did have Barry Melrose commenting on some of the games, during the late night broadcast. [Read More!]

It all began about a week or so ago. Tie Domi held a big news conference to announce his retirement from professional hockey and a move behind the camera with the Canadian sports television station, TSN. But now Domi continues to find himself in the spotlight, airing out some dirty laundry with a public divorce. The plot thickened as the public received confirmation that Domi has been having an affair with Liberal party MPP (and former Conservative) Belinda Stronach. This info was revealed as Domi's wife, Leanne, included Belinda Stronach's name in the divorce papers. For a hockey goon who got little media attention, except for when he did something dumb (like the Scott Neidermayer or Philadelphia fan incidents), Domi has gotten more newspaper and talk radio play than he'd probably care for. He can't blame them though...cause he is part of the same media guild!

Former NHL tough guy Andrei Nazarov said in an interview with a Russian newpaper that drug use is rampant in the NHL, espcecially within the enforcers. He also railed on the league for having a very ineffective drug testing policy. These comments come after WAPDA chief Dick Pound made waves with his allegations last year and the near miraculous record the NHL put forth in its first year with drug testing - zero positive tests. The league was quick to rebuke Nazarov's comments and came back with its usual "everything's under control here" attitude. [Read More!]

Steve Yzerman ended his 22-year career with the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL by announcing his retirement as a player. He ends his very distinguished career with three Stanley Cup rings and as the captain of the Red Wings for the last 20 years. Steve Yzerman suffered through some injuries over the last couple of years, but had adapted his game with his abilities in the later years. His leadership is hard to quantify but it touched those who played with him. On the other hand, his 1755 career points put him 6th all-time in NHL scorine. Stevie Y should be a first ballot Hall of Famer. [Read More!]

Less than a week after the Stanley Cup was awarded to the Carolina Hurricanes, the NHL hosted its annual awards ceremony in Toronto. The highlight of the night was Joe Thornton, who took home dual honours by winning the Art Ross (scoring leader) and Hart (MVP) trophies. He was joined by teammate Jonathan Cheechoo along with Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Lidstron, Miikka Kiprusoff, Rod Brind'Amour, Pavel Datsyuk, Lindy Ruff, Teemu Selanne and Olaf Kolzig. [Read More!]

After losing two games that tied the series at 3-3, the Carolina Hurricanes persevered to defeat the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 and win the Stanley Cup championship. Rookie phenom Cam Ward made 22 saves playing in net and defencemen Aaron Ward and Frantisek Kaberle scored as the Hurricanes captured their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. The team dominated most of the game, taking it to the Oilers with aggresive physical play. The Oilers falied to capitalize on a key 5 on 3 powerplay near the end of the second period and fell short of winning their first Stanley Cup in 16 years. [Read More!]

The Edmonton Oilers and the Carolina Hurricanes (Hartford Whalers previously) began their existance with the World Hockey Association in 1971. Today, they start playing their best of seven game series for the Stanley Cup. The Oilers made quick work of the Anaheim Might Ducks in the previous round while the Hurricanes ploughed through a close seven game series, defeating the Buffalo Sabres. With the series about to get going in Raleigh, North Carolina the two teams are all set to fight it out to the bitter end. [Read More!]

As of last night, the 2006 NHL playoff matchups are all set. As expected, there are several suprises of teams that did not make it to the postseason and those that did. Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks fall in the former while the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes in the latter. In the Eastern Conference, the Ottawa Senators are matched up against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Sens have struggled since the Olympic break, without future hall-of-fame goalie Dominic Hasek but the defending Stanley Cup champs have also had their struggles in net. The Carolina Hurricanes have proven to be a dynamic team in the regular season and will go up against the hot goaltending in Montreal. [Read More!]