Buff Talks USA Hockey

Team USA Hockey held an orientation camp at Seven Bridges Ice Arena in Woodridge, IL during the week of August 17th. After the first practice, cameras caught up with star Blackhawks forward Dustin Byfuglien.

Roenick Talks with Chelios During Retirement Announcement

A great moment during the Jeremy Roenick retirement press conference, when he talked with longtime Chicago teammate/friend Chris Chelios. For those growing up during the 90's watching Blackhawks hockey, JR and Cheli were fun to watch, and brought many exciting moments to Chicago (sound familiar...cough Toews, Kane cough)

2009 Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins

Congratulations to the Penguins for winning the Stanley Cup. Sidney Crosby became the youngest captain in NHL history, as the 21-year-old hoisted the Cup above his head this evening in Detroit, after a well-executed team performance in Game 7. Marc Andre Fleury leaped after one, last, game-saving save as the seconds clicked down to zero and the Penguins stormed the ice (no, I'm not going to use the "March of the Penguins" phrase that every media outlet is using) to win the Cup.

P.S. It's gotta suck to be Marian Hossa right now...ouch......

Hawks Win to take 2-0 Series Lead over Flames

The prettiest goal of the night!

DG Quickie: The Fight- 'Nucks v Hawks

Quote: "Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith is still rather stunned that Alex Burrows of the Vancouver Canucks pulled his hair last night like they were fighting over Bret Michaels on the Rock of Love Bus: "That's not something I've ever had happen to me ... My little sister never even pulled my hair when I was a kid. It's kind of comical when you have a grown man trying to pull your hair on the ice." Adam Burish, meanwhile, lamented the fact that no player should have to endure that, "especially a nice haircut like Duncan has." [Chicago Tribune] -per Yahoo! Sports Puck Daddy Blog

Two subtle highlights of the fight: One, I loved the fact that the United Center sound guy played U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday," amidst the ruckus. Also, when the camera was showing Burish exiting the ice on his way to the locker room, Coach Quenneville could be seen yelling at the opposing bench/head coach and appearing to say "You started it!"

Pictures:

The aftermath (right) after the fighting subsided, while the above--no, that's not the bench, that's the penalty box (it should be pointed out that Havlat and Kane were serving the penalties of their unavailable teammates).

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ9nVbp_0U0

"Ma! The Meatloaf!!!"

Announcers are a varyingly entertaining bunch (yes, varyingly is the proper form of vary...I looked it up). The famous ones all have their own unique styles, and provide us with endless entertainment (unintentional or not); to see this just visit Awful Announcing. Below are two YouTube videos of the various goal calls of Florida Panthers' announcer Randy Moller, and the seamless movie quote references.

What? Me? No, my stick's not illegal!

After the officials and Toronto coaching staff were heard discussing the possibility of Jason Spezza having an illegal stick, the hilarity of the cover-up and subsequent penalty ensues...

Hawks Add Top Talent as NHL Free Agency Begins

At noon eastern time Tuesday, the NHL Free Agency signing period officially began; and signifying a commitment to winning in the new era of Chicago Blackhawks hockey, GM Dale Tallon set off on a spree of signing two of the best available players.  In shoring up two areas of need, the Hawks acquired defenseman Brian Campbell and goaltender Cristobal Huet.  Campbell, who was traded to San Jose from Buffalo at last year's trade deadline, signed for an astounding 8 years/$56.8 million.  He is self-described as a complete player, but is known for contributing on the offensive side.  He will add a perfect dimension in quarterbacking the Blackhawks power-play attack (which was weak last year), as well as adding depth to a young, defensive core on Chicago's blueline.  Huet, meanwhile, signed for 4 years at just over $5 million/year.  He was one of the league's top goaltenders last year for both Montreal and Washington, to whom he was traded at the deadline.  Had had 32 wins last season, including 9 straight wins to help the Capitals make the playoffs.  Hawks GM Dale Tallon stated that his intention right now is to have Huet split time with current Blackhawk netminder Nikolai Khabibulin (who is being paid over $6 million in the last year of his deal).  In regards to the day's events, Dale Tallon had this to say:

"Habby and Cristobal give us great goaltending to go with a really good defense.  We scored goals last year.  We were in the top 10 despite injuries.  But our goals against was too high and our power play was not very good, so shoring up our defense and goaltending will help get us to where we want to go...There's only so much money that goes around.  We paid a lot of money for the services of these players.  We have to be careful now and give our young players an ability to come in and play some of those other positions."

Now, the Hawks are $3 million over the salary cap for the coming season and seemingly have some good talent going into this season, but some big names still remain for the taking in the NHL Free Agency pool.  Among them are Marian Hossa, Brendan Shannahan, and Jaromir Jagr.  I believe that it would be an outstanding move if the Hawks could somehow sign one of these players to add to the top offensive lines, and give them another lock they could count on to produce big numbers.  Another signing I'd like to see by the Hawks: Pens-UFA enforcer Georges Laraque.  He's done a nice job protecting Sid the Kid and the rest of Pittsburgh's young talent, I believe he'd be a good addition to do the same in Chicago with Kane/Towes and the rest of this young roster.  The Hawks could be looking for an enforcer-type now that David Koci signed with Tampa Bay.  One player in the system, however, who could fill this role (and much more) sooner, rather than later, is recent 1st round draft choice Kyle Beach.  Beach is not only a tough guy, but also was rated as the top 2 or 3 forward in this year's draft with great offensive talent.

Here's some links to articles about today's Blackhawk signings, as well as some overall NHL rumor/news sites:

Chicago Blackhawk's Official Site-Campbell Says Yes to Hawks

ESPN-Hawks add D Campbell after agreeing with G Huet

HockeyBuzz.com

TheFourthPeriod.com

SecondCityHockey.com

In some other, marquee news from today's NHL signings, a goalie-shuffle transpired as Jose Theodore signed with the Capitals, pushing Olaf Kolzig to sign with Tampa Bay, and Andrew Raycroft replaced Theodore in Colorado.  Minnesota sniper Brian Rolston signed a deal with the Devils, and D Wade Redden signed with the Rangers.  We now keep an eye out in the coming days to see where superstars Jagr, Shannahan, Hossa, and Sundin end up!

DG Photo Quickie-Your Sports Update in a "Flash"

This week was a fun week in sports, and that fun is only just beginning.  Let's recap some of the big events in photos.  Starting with Tuesday's big news out of the NBA Draft Lottery:

With this pick, the Bulls have gained the potential to improve drastically next year.  They can now draft one of the two elite players in the June's draft: Derrick Rose, PG out of Memphis, or Michael Beasley, PF out of Kansas State.  Then, the pick would give them flexibility to trade a couple of guards/forwards they already have for other key pieces.  It is still early, but at this point I would choose Rose; the Chicago kid looks poised to follow in Chris Paul's and Deron Williams' footsteps as the next elite, NBA point-guard to lead his team to big things.

Next, we had Wednesday's UEFA Champions League Final, which pitted the two English clubs against each other for the title:

Late into the Moscow night, Manchester United and Chelsea FC battled for the crown in the pouring rain.  During regulation, Christiano Ronaldo headed in the goal for Man U, but after over 120 minutes, the teams were locked in a 1-1 tie.  For the fourth time in eight years, the UEFA final went to a shootout, as Manchester United took the crown after seven rounds.

Next up during the week, we started the Conference Finals in the NBA, as both the Lakers and the Celtics took leads over their opponents.  The Lakers, dominating the Spurs with good team play led by Kobe Bryant are 2-0 and will play Game 3 on Sunday.  While the Celtics, after losing their first game at home in Game 2, came right back to win on the road in Game 3 to go up 2-1 in their series.  They'll challenge the Pistons in Game 4 Monday night on ESPN.

In the other playoffs underway right now, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings started their final journey to hoisting the Stanley Cup on Saturday night.  The Pens came into Hockeytown and took a 4-0 loss to the Wings, as the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals started with authority.  The star power was also on hand for the ceremonial puck drop, as past Pen and Wing captains Super Mario Lemieux and Stevie Yzerman kicked off the festivities by dropping the pucks to current captains (and former teammates) Sidney Crosby and Niklas Lidstrom.

And finally, tomorrow it's time for ladies and gentlemen to "start their engines" as the 92nd running of the Indy 500 starts.  Danica Patrick, Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti, and Helio Castroneves are all positioned to start towards the front, as a thrilling day of racing should be expected.

DG Thriller: Stars harpoon Sharks in 4 OT Classic

In a marathon game that started at 8:04 pm CDT in Dallas Sunday night, and ended over 5 hours later at 1:21 am CDT early Monday morning, the Dallas Stars knocked the San Jose Sharks out of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and themselves advanced to the Western Finals v. Detroit.  After regulation ended in a 1-1 score, the teams proceeded to play into four more 20 minute periods of play to decide the winner.  In the overtime periods, both goaltenders turned in stellar performances.  The games first star, Marty Turco, turned away 61 of 62 shots.  Everyone grinded it out, as the OT periods kept passing by with the score still locked in at 1-1.  There was some exceptional performances by Dallas' Brad Richards and San Jose's Jeremy Roneick in particular, as both kept setting their teams up for chances to score.  In the 4th OT, the dagger finally came when Dallas captain Brenden Morrow tipped in a blast by Stephan Robidas to get past the also stellar Evgeni Nabokov.  Both teams battled to the end, in a game that is surely to go down in hockey history as one of the classics of all-time.  Now, the final four of the Stanley Cup Playoffs are set.  The Eastern Conference Finals will feature two teams from Pennsylvania: the Flyers v. the Penguins, while the Western Conference Finals will feature perennial powerhouse Detroit Red Wings v. the Dallas Stars.  It should be a good one.  As a final note from this early morning's broadcast, it was revealed that in between overtime periods, the players are given pizza, gatorade, and IV fluids to replenish their bodies and keep them going through the night.

DG Quickie: Updating You on a Great Sunday of Sporting

A quick update from a nice Sunday in sports.

First...Crouching Tiger Obliterates Field!

Tiger Woods completely left his competition in the dust while taking the 2008 Buick Open (his first event this year) by 8 strokes.  He looked extra dominant outdriving, sinking putts, and showing a preview of perhaps a great year to come.  With the win today, he tied Arnold Palmer for fourth all time with 62 career wins.

Second...Eastern Stars Triumph Late in Close NHL All-Star Game

It was a surprisingly competitive installment of the All-Star Game this year as many of the league's elite came out to show off their skill to the Atlanta crowd.  It was entertaining from the beginning as the Versus network had two goalies (the East's Rick DiPietro and the West's Manny Legace) mic'd up for the night.  It was fun for the crowd to hear them talk not only to the players on the ice, but to the announcers in the booth as Emerick and Olzyck (and even the Commish at one point) were in the goalies' ears all night.  The East struck quickly in the first going ahead with a 5-1 lead, but in the later periods, the West's goalies only allowed 3 more goals the rest of the night while the West came back to tie it at 7-all in the third period, behind a Rick Nash hat trick.  However, in the last 20 seconds of the game, former Atlanta favorite and current Bruin Marc Savard scored the goal to give the East the 8-7 win.  Eric Staal, who had an assist on the winning goal and 2 goals of his own on the night, took home MVP honors.

And lastly...Shaun White Takes Gold at Winter X-Games

Shaun White edged Ryo Aono on a super run down the Men's SuperPipe in the X-Games finals, while battling blizzard conditions.  He gave a stellar run with huge air, major tricks, and finished it off with a backside 1260 which brought huge cheers from the crowd and sealed the victory for Shaun giving him a score over 96+!

It's Kaner, It's Ovie, It's St. Louis...It's NHL All-Star Weekend: Pt.1--SuperSkills

Every year (except for the Olympic years), the NHL's brightest stars come out to shine at the NHL All-Star Game.  This year the festivities kicked off with the newly, revamped SuperSkills competition in Atlanta, Georgia.  It was a night, while maybe lacking some of the biggest stars due to injuries/unable to participate, certainly packed a lot of punch with some huge performances and great moments for everyone.  The first event was a new relay/obstacle course.  It featured some cool new tasks including a return of the goalies trying to score from the other side of the rink.  Some of the favorite events returned, including the Fastest Skater, Shootout, and the Hardest Shot which saw Zdeno Chara's 103.1 MPH blast edge Vinny Lecavaleir's 101.9 MPH shot.  In the Accuracy Shooting challenge, the 4 for 4 Club of knocking four targets in four shots got a new member in Tommy Kaberle of Toronto, who's accurate shot earned him a place in all-star lore among Ray Bourque, Mark Messier, and Jeremy Roenick.  One of the more interesting events of the night, however, was the Breakaway Challenge.  This event was the NHL's try at a dunk contest, and saw player's supposedly try to score a shootout goal in a creative manner.  They even had celebrity judges in dunk guru Dominique Wilkins and former Thrashers captain Scott Mellanby, among others.  However, I think that something was missed along the way.  Not all of the participants really got the memo on the being creative part as most of them just skated toward the goal with a couple of dekes thrown in and took a shot.  It started to get a little more exciting later as a few guys put in some between the legs and behind the back moves, but in my opinion the only three guys who actually tried to make this a competition were Marty St. Louis, Marion Gaborik, and Alex Ovechkin.  Marty, unfortunately couldn't elevate the puck to execute what looked like some pretty good moves, and Ovie tried to do some pretty cool puck juggling, but kept whiffing on the shot.  They both had great ideas though.  Marion Gaborik's attempt didn't receive much attention, unfortunately, as it probably deserved.  He revved up his engines and skated full speed with the puck, before spraying DiPietro and going around the back of the net to try and sneak the puck in around the other side.  This move, while amazing, was also met with an amazing scissor save by DiPietro.  So this event, in my opinion, needs to be explained a little more in future all-star games to make sure the players know to be creative...oh, and Sidney Crosby being included probably won't hurt either.  The event, however, that most caught my attention was the amazing YoungStars Game.  This game featured the best rookies in the league playing 3-on-3 hockey for two, 6-minute periods.  The game had an ongoing clock and vets Legace, Vokoun, and Osgood in goal.  It was a really fun game, which saw the rookies showcase their amazing youth and talent.  What made it even more fun, however, was the fact that Western goalie Manny Legace was mic'd up and talking to Emerick and Olzyck in the booth while he was playing.  It was entertaining to hear his commentary and reactions as it was all happening on the ice.  The highlight came when Legace made a save and then skated out of the crease to make a long pass to Kane who was flying up the ice where he proceeded to score his second goal of the game.  So overall, it was a really fun night where all fans of hockey could just enjoy the festivities and the players could just have some fun.  In the future of course, this event can only get better as more of these young players improve and join the elite ranks, and many of the stars who were absent tonight (Sakic, Crosby, Luongo, Broduer, Lundqvist, Jagr, Towes, Sharp...)have improved health or hopefully choose/are chosen to participate.  By the way, the East won by final score of 9-6 in the SuperSkills...the All-Star Game is tomorrow night (Sunday, January 27, 2008 @ 6ET/5CT). 

Here Come the Hawks!...and there go the Hawks :(

What's up with those Blackhawks? I know teams go through tough times, and the core of this team looks nice for years to come, but come on. A couple of weeks ago people were talking about a revival, and they looked like one of the elite teams early in the year, but with the 5-2 loss tonight to the Minnesota Wild they have lost eight in a row and with 42 points are last in the Central and 7 pts out of a playoff spot in the West. Now there still is time, Towes hopefully will be back in a week or two, and this team should learn how to play better with each loss. But for now, there are a couple of things that I don't understand.

Let's start with the current lines that have been going out there the last week and a half:

1st line: LW Kane - C Lang - RW Havlat
2nd line: LW Versteeg - C Sharp - RW Ruutu
3rd line: LW Bourque - C Perreault - RW Skille
4th line: LW Burish - C Dowell - RW Lapointe

Defenseive Pairings
Keith/Seabrook
Hendry/Sopel
Barker/Byfuglien

Khabibulin between the pipes

Now with this lineup on the ice, this team should be playing awesome. There is a huge core of young, fresh talent that should be playing with enthusiasm, energy, and the amazing skill that they were drafted so highly for. Over the losing streak, granted, no one has been playing well at all. All the key parts that made this team win earlier in the year haven't been working...Byfuglien's scoring, Kane's assists (which might be due to the absence of Towes), Langer and Sharpie's goals, and solid, consistent contribution all around. However, looking at how some of the younger names have performed this year is perhaps most puzzling. Ruutu, Bourque, Skille, and Barker have all been highly-touted youngsters in the Hawks organization (all of them high first round picks except Bourque). Even with Towes out, these guys should be playing almost as good as Towes and Kane.  With the talent they have shown in the past, they should all have 20 goals and 40 pts right now.  Ruutu was drafted 9th overall in the 1st rd. of the 2001 draft and he only has 6G/11 A on the year.  He was supposed to be the leader of this young team with his years of success in the past.  And Bourque had set scoring records wherever he'd been in the past and played great in the 05-06 campaign with 34 pts, yet he hasn't looked the same this year after recovering from injuries.  And then we of course arrive at Skille and Barker.  Barker was drafted 3rd overall in the 2004 draft, he's had a couple years to develop now and has excelled at the minor league level.  However,  in 10 games played so far this year he's accrued only 2 pts and a minus 5 rating.  Skille was drafted 7th overall, again in the 1st round!  In 7 games this year, he's had 2 points.

Now I hope that during the past 8 games of losing, this team has grown and learned on the ice.  As I previously mentioned, there is a lot of talent right now in the locker room that should start to translate into great play on the ice with some more time.  I think that hopefully Towes will come back, and the rebuilding process can continue this year.  If they make it to the playoffs this year that would be great, but at least we know that this team should be fine for years to come.  Just listen to the names that are still so young and will be growing together as a core for the future:  Kane, Towes, Skille, Barker, Byfuglien, Seabrook, Rutuu, Sharp...they all have so much potential and have shown flashes of brilliance, so let's see where they go this year.

Sid the Kid Shines in Thrilling Winter Classic Victory

The Pittsburg Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabres today in a 2-1 shootout victory. However, this wasn't your normal hockey game. The NHL transformed Buffalo's Ralph Wilson Stadium from an NFL stadium to a frozen, outdoor NHL rink. As both teams walked out of the locker room, they were met by sub-freezing temperatures, blinding blizzards, and 71,217 screaming fans; yes, this wasn't your normal hockey game, this was the 2008 NHL Winter Classic! From the start, it was "Old Time Hockey...how you played the game as a kid," as NBC's broadcast team was advertising it. The excitement was evident through reminiscing by broadcaster Bob Costas and the enthusiastic playcalling by Doc Emerick. The snow came pouring down as the two NHL teams gathered for the opening face-off. Only 21 seconds into the game, Pittsburgh took the lead as Sidney Crosby assisted on a Colby Armstrong goal. Crosby and his teammates gathered in celebration like kids on the local pond. The game then proceeded in excitement with great plays on both ends, stellar saves by Sabre goalie Ryan Miller (as well as Penguin netminder Ty Conklin), and passionate play by Crosby, Malkin, and the other players. The audience was also treated to some candid player interviews mid-game by NBC analyst Darren Pang who was standing in between both benches throughout the game. Over a minute into the second period, Buffalo tied the game on a goal by Brian Campbell. The game remained tied throughout the remainder of regulation and the overtime period. So, the game went to a shootout! The first two rounds saw the teams trade goals and saves. In the third attempt by Buffalo, Maxim Afinogenov streaked down the ice on Ty Conklin who met the show with a glove stop, and so the shootout would all come down to Pittsburgh's attempt. The third shooter for the Penguins was none other than...Sidney Crosby. How fitting that on of the biggest day's for the game of hockey, in front of over 70,000 people, the savior of the NHL would have a chance to win the game in amazing fashion. And...that he did. After skating right at Ryan Miller, Crosby poked a shot in through the 5-hole for the goal, and the win. He then rushed in celebration to his teammates, before both teams raised their sticks in salute to the crowd. It was a thrilling game that not only made history as the first outdoor NHL game in the United States, but was a step in the right direction for a sport looking to regain respect on the American sporting map.