Marty’s Better

The Man has had countless incredible seasons.  He’s been the league’s best goaltender since what seems like the day he entered the league.  The Conn Smythe Trophy has eluded him because many in the hockey-knowledge-lacking media believe him to be a system goalie.  Yet if there was ever a year to remove the “system goalie” from Marty, this is it.  And in this year, he’s the MVP.  I’m not saying he’ll win it, but after the jump, my argument for Marty as MVP. Continue Reading »

I recently had a chance to talk to the Predators play-by-play announcer Pete Weber. I worked with Pete at the Empire Sports Network in Buffalo during the late 90’s. I asked Pete about the Preds and his take of the league in general. Continue Reading »

The Caps trail the Rangers, Flyers, and Bruins by three points with three games to play for the eighth and final playoff spot.  However, they trail the Hurricanes in their division by two points.  This race couldn’t be any tighter.  Take a look at how this is going to shape up.  The Capitals and Hurricanes play Tuesday night.  Then, they both play Tampa, then Florida to close out their seasons.  Carolina will play Tampa the night after they play Washington.  Then, on Thursday, the Caps will get their shot at Tampa as Tampa plays their second game in two nights.  The Caps will then play their second game in two nights on Friday as they get the Panthers.  Finally, the Canes, after a day off, will get the Panthers on Saturday as the Panthers play two in two days.  Incredible drama if you ask me.  One final note of interest: The Rangers, Bruins, and Flyers are still very much in danger of missing the playoffs.  If the Caps and Canes play a three point game on Tuesday, they could very well knock one of those three teams out.  Should be a great last week.

For the record - I’m not dead, I’ve just been busy with a few things.  One is regarding a transition going on at work (you could say it is pretty High Def).  Another is watching my Sabres do what they do best year after year - choke.  After coughing up two leads of two goals or more this past week and turning them into monumental collapses, it’s pretty much stick a Sabre in them - they’re done.

I guarantee you that at the very end of Buffalo’s season (aka one week’s time), I will answer 5 of the most asked questions that surround the Sabres, and also give my spin on what the they must do for 2008-09.  In the meantime, I’m actually looking forward to the playoffs - here’s hoping my cohort Dish will spend another season wondering why the Devils came up short.  All I can say is this - Marty will only play for so long before calling it a career.

I can offer him an alternative, however - Ryan Miller, maybe?

First and foremost i am back off the matt.  A serious sinus infection left me home and miserable for over a week forcing me to watch only Bruin games because I only get NESN. 

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…to push the panic button in NJ.  The Devils, while mathematically still in the race for the Wales Conference and Patrick Division titles are going to finish no better than fourth after losing to Pittsburgh at home tonight.  The Pens have two more wins than NJ and won the season series tonight4-3-1.  The Devils will not recover from this.  The rest of the NJ scenario after the jump. Continue Reading »

I’ll keep this short and sweet.  Tonight is a MUST WIN for the Devils against Pittsburgh.  Sure, if they lose it’s a four point lead with six to play.  But a loss would mean that the Devils would most likely need to go 5-1 in their last six.  Taking this a step further, the Devils really need to win tonight and Thursday against the Rangers.  That would put them two up on Pittsburgh with both teams having five games left.  It would also have them one point behind the Canadiens with both having five to play.   It also would help in creating some separation between the Devils, Senators, and Rangers.   And don’t think the Rangers don’t know that a Devils loss tonight means they could win and pull to within one point of New Jersey on Thursday.  So it’s win the next two or face the possibility of finishing fifth or sixth.  Should be a great one after that 7-1 drubbing the Devils took this weekend.   

Kyle Okposo’s one-timer off a feed from Richard Park on the power play with 2:35 left to play was the game-winner in a 3-1 Islanders’ victory over the Devils Friday night at Prudential Center ruining Dish’s birthday. It’s the Isles 6th win in 7 games vs the Devils this season. Okposo also assisted on Blake Comeau’s goal in the 1st period. The Okposo-Comeau-Park line was by the far most effective line of the night for the Islanders. Okposo lost his helmet on a crosscheck during the Isles’ power play late in the 3rd period but there was no way he said that he was coming off the power play with 3 minutes left in the game. Isles fans I know it’s only been 2 games, but I think we may have something here.

The Rangers improved to 6-0-0 against the Devils last night, but in New York City, you’d never know it.  After the jump, the sad state of hockey in the number one TV market in America.

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By the time Rick Dipietro’s contract is up, the movie “Blade Runner” will be a movie about the future taking place in the past.  According to TSN, Rick D is getting shut down for the rest of the season and will undergo hip surgery.  After the jump, just how bad does that contract look now?

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