IIHF World Championship | Day 5 | May 3rd, 2011

And so Day 5 comes to a conclusion. Had planned to watch Canada-Switzerland and Russia-Slovakia, but due to a long day at work I was happy enough to catch the second game. Wish I had seen Canada-Switzerland too though, the reports are interesting. Anyways, as the day winds down, let me write up a quick overview of the games played.

[Slovenia-Germany] 2-3. Well well well, those Germans did it. For the first time since 1930 they started the World Cup with three wins in a row. I know this because the guys at the IIHF site said so. Do not worry! I have not magically turned into a stats-crunching, trivia-spewing blogger ;) ... anyways, the guys had to take it to SO, but a win is a win and the Germans are first placed in their group and moving on to the Qualification Round.

[Canada-Switzerland] 4-3. I am truly sorry I missed this gem. After Russia, Switzerland is my fave European team and I am glad they made things difficult for Team Canada. But Canada of course holds a special place in my heart. I prefer the outcome as it is, but I would not have minded too much if the Swiss had won this one. It took an OT goal to decide the victor of this game. Canada is first in Group B and the Swiss have secured second place. I am content.

[Russia-Slovakia] 4-3. Yeah, Russia won! It was an exciting game to watch and the tension of it all made me go walk around my place a few times. One such walk occured after the Slovaks made it 2-3. And because of it I missed Nikulin make it 3-3 ;) ... he scored two of the goals. Kovi also scored one; he played a good game. Russians are in second place in their group, right after those pesky Germans!

[France-Belarus] 2-1. Another OT game. I apologise, but I just could not get excited about this game. France is through to the Qualification Round, whereas Belarus will have to fight for survival in the Relegation Round. Next!

Oh, that was it for today. But here a pic for fellow Reimer fans! My buddy Ferd is in Slovakia to watch some games. Hell yeah, of course I am jealous. Hahah, I must also add that he is a fellow Flyers fan but he remembered my ramblings about Reims, so just for me - I like to think hahah - he took some pics! :D

Playoffs Daily | Game 2 | May 3rd, 2011

A bit later than you are used to, but it was one hell of a hectic day. OK. Just one game last night! Unfortunately it did not bring me the result I hoped for, but for you Bruins fans a nice win for sure. Was watching the game as I was typing up this post.

[Bruins-Flyers] 3-2. Bruins lead series 2-0. At least the Flyers brought more energy to the game than in Game 1. And it started of great with two goals in the first ten minutes of the game, both by JVR. Then a lucky easy goal by Kelly, followed by something of a soft goal by Marchand and we were all tied again. Hmm, I have seen a lot of folks saying how soft that goal was and some dude on ESPN America agrees. I have looked at it a great number of times and call me silly or stupid lol ... but I do not think it was easy for Boosh to read that one *shrugs and sticks to her own opinion* ... I am not a Boosh-fan, but I think he did alright this game. Personally I am more annoyed by the OT goal! Lacklustre defending, lots of Bruins heading towards the net, our D was a bit invisible. Some easy puck-passing and Krejci clinched the win. Annoying! And to stay on the topic of goalies, Sergei got to play the last six minutes of the second period as Boosh was having some injury tended to (perhaps for the best as the last minutes were tough!), and Sergei looked solid and made some awesome key saves. And he seems to be standing a bit taller, or maybe I just forgot what kind of presence he actually has guarding our goal :)

Timmie. Well, he was amazing. Anyone denying that fact is not right in the head. 54 shots, 52 saves. And we could not score a few more with that much firepower? I would have given Timmie that first star.

JVR was awesome. He has been quite the force these playoffs so far and I hope he can continue his scoring streak. And eversince the waivers debacle and actually even before that, people have taken a dislike to Zherdev. I did not jump on the 'Hate-Z'-bandwagon, but neither did I expect him to have much ice-time either after all that, but I suppose Lavi trusted the man enough. And he has been getting better in my humble opinion, and I think he is doing a great job in the Playoffs. Just wanted to say that. Thanks Z!

All in all I think we outskated the Bruins and we definitely outshot them ... so what does a Flyer have to do to buy a goal ;) ... I hope our guys bring the same energy to the next game and SCORE :)

Alright, going to get ready for some World Cup hockey. Think I will watch the Russia-Slovakia game.

IIHF World Championship | Day 4 | May 2nd, 2011

Today's games have been played, so time for my end-of-day update.

[Czech Republic-Denmark] 6-0. Well, that was just a beating the Czechs dished out to the Danes. Specifically hectic second period where the Czechs scored four of the goals. And eventhough things might have been a bit different if the Danes had scored early in the second period when they had a two-man advantage, I wonder if that is really true. How do I even come to this assumption? Havlat said it: "Had they scored on the 5-on-3, it would have been a different game." :D

[USA-Norway] 4-2 Norway was still high on beating the Swedes and continued euphorically by scoring two goals in the first period and hanging on to that lead throughout a rather boring second period. Palmieri finally put Team USA on the scoring board. The puck went in via his skate though, so it took a bit of debating by the refs, but ultimately it was deemed a good hockey goal. Phew for the USA. Just before the 15 minute mark the Americans scored again. Jack Skille got this one and this is where the Americans started to believe in it too, while the Norwegians hardly even got anywhere near Al Montoya. A third goal followed 6.5 minutes before end of play, Palmieri again. And Smith closed up with a goal in final two minutes. {edit: had Stepan for the goal, but he ended up with the assist I just noticed and also I had to ammend the first sentence, they were of course high on beating Sweden, thanks for that one Mike, phew}

[Latvia-Finland] 2-3. I watched the other evening-game, but I caught the shoot out. The Finns nailed that one. I was score-watching throughout though and at some point I thought the Finns would lose this one. Lets just say they managed to win it, but it definitely was not pretty.

[Sweden-Austria] 3-0. Missed the first period as I was cleaning my place lol, but was ready for the rest of the game. Picked this one over the Latvia-game because I thought it would be more interesting. But frankly, it felt like watching a morning skate, but without the fun. It was not exciting at all. Sorry Sweden or Austria fans, but even the goals did not excite me. I wish I could write more or find something great to focus on, but no. Just a snoozefest.

Ha, that is it for today. Looking forward to Canada-Switzerland. I think the Swiss might be my European favourites and I wonder how they will play against Canada. Wonder if the German will continue their winning streak and oh, Russia playing too. Interesting hockey day!

Leafs Nation | Play of the Year Award | May 2nd, 2011

Fellow Leafs fans, this one is for you. You can vote for your favourite play of the year right here:


Leafs Nation | Play of the Year | VOTE NOW


The voting starts with two awesome saves by The Monster & Reims. Guess who I voted for ;)

Voting so far included:
Round 1
Monster's Stick Safe vs Reims' Stick Safe >>> winner is: Reims
Rosehill fights Lucic vs Muhammad Aulie >>> winner is: Aulie
Dion Steamrolls Ruute vs Brent's Blocking Awesomeness >>> winner is: Brent
Bozak's 5-on-3 Shorthanded vs A Dangling Crabb >>> winner is: Bozie
Brent Fakes Ward vs Brown Dances & Lups Scores >>> winner is: Brent
Grabo's Spinorama vs Nazeem's Nifty Mittens >>> winner is: Grabo
Kulemin Can Dangle Too vs Schenner Beats Everyone And Scores >>> winner is: Schenner
Grabo beats Pens vs Grabo beats Bruins >>> winner is Grabo lol in Boston

Round 2
Reims' Stick Safe vs Brent's Blocking Awesomeness >>> winner is: Brent
Muhammad Aulie vs Bozak's 5-on-3 Shorthanded >>> winner is: Bozie
Brent Fakes Ward vs Schenner Beats Everyone And Scores  >>> winner is Schenner
Grabo's Spinorama vs Grabo Beats Bruins >>> winner is Boston Grabo

Semis
Brent's Blocking Awesomeness vs Schenner Beats Everyone And Scores  >>> winner is Brent
Bozak's 5-on-3 Shorthanded vs Grabo Beats Bruins >>> winner is Bozie

FINALS
Brent's Blocking Awesomeness vs Bozak's 5-on-3 Shorthanded >>> and the winner iiiiiissss .... ?

Playoffs Daily | SF Game 2 | May 2nd, 2011

Hmm. What the hell is going on?! Both my series faves have failed to win and are now 2-0 behind in their respective series. Add to that that horrible Flyers game (for me anyways hahah) and my hockey weekend was not so great ;)

[Red Wings-Sharks] 2-1. Sharks lead series 2-0. Watched the second and third period and somehow the game did not pull me in. At least the Wings played better than in Game 1. And Datsyuk dazzled me a few times :D ... let me see. The Wings PPs were far from great again and the game was very even in many respects. I think the difference can be found in the Sharks' D ... look at the three stars: Niemi, White and Whallin. A goalie and 2 D-guys :)

[Bolts-Caps] 3-2. Bolts lead series 2-0. I was actually watching the rerun of this game as I was writing this up. It was a fun game to watch, but the Caps just were not not sharp enough in front of the Bolts' net and like so many other teams did not manage to capitalise on PP situations. But the same can be said for the Bolts. They did however make it 2-1 in the third and as the minutes were winding down I was ready to write this down as a 2-1 loss for the Caps. But leave it to Ovi to pull a stunt so it was awesome to see him score with just 68 seconds left on the clock! He is just such a beast out there on the ice! So it was OT time and it was a pitty that some asinine line changes by the Caps gave the Bolts the edge. But the Bolts' celebration when Lecavalier scored the OT goal was fun to watch. I just cannot hate the Bolts, they are a fun team :)

But boy, so far the Game 1s and 2s have wreaked havoc on my predictions. Hurry over to this place to see those:
My Whimsical Playoffs Predictions - New & Improved

And feel free to leave your own predictions in the comments :D

IIHF World Championship | Day 3 | May 1st, 2011

My quick end-of-day update!

[Russia-Slovenia] 6-4. Hmm, you would expect Russia to have a little less trouble with Slovenia. Slovenians were happy with their game despite the loss. I wish I had been at home for this game, especially for the third period where it rained goals ;) Kovalchuk was doing his thing, so was Afinogenov and it is fun to see Nabokov in goal. Still suspended from the NHL as he refused to report to the Isles when he was picked up on waivers earlier this year lol

[Canada-France] 9-1. My word, that is some serious ass-kicking. Spezza got one, Skinner scored twice and ♥Nash♥  scored too. Reims of course had a great game. He got replaced by Dubnyk for the last 14 minutes (at which point it was 7-1). I checked why - got worried maybe Reims got injured or whatever - and apparently it was to get Dubnyk some ice time too. Makes sense. Oh, and Phaneuf was pronounced best player of the game for the Canadians. Nice going my Leafies. I had a look at the game stats. Yes, it is true. I can hardly believe it myself ;) ... and it was fun to see all Team Canada guys were plusses ;)

[Slovakia-Germany] 3-4. I got home in time to see the Germans lead 4-0. Seconds later the Slovaks made 4-1, then the Germans almost let the game slip ;) ... like Jurcina put it: "We said that if they can score three in a period, so can we. With a few more minutes, we probably would have tied it." Sort of like that saying 'We did not lose the game, we just ran out of time' ;) Anyways, the Germans probably surprised everyone by already having secured their place for the next round. Oh, Hossa, Gaborik and Hanzus are the other three NHL'ers playing for Slovakia. Just so you know. {edit: I forgot to mention Marian Gaborik in this list at first, thanks for setting me straight Sven!}

[Switzerland-Belarus] 4-1. Suppose things are not looking great for Belarus and Grabo will not go far in this World Cup. But good for Switzerland. I watched some Swiss teams during the Spengler Cup in December and I liked what I saw. Goran Bezina played well, I remember him from that tournament where he took a puck in the face doing some D work. I like that kind of dedication.

A fun World Championship so far!

Playoffs Daily | SF Game 1 | May 1st, 2011

Early game yesterday and as the Bruins were playing and because there were no other games scheduled at the same time, I got to see the Flyers play live on ESPN America! It started well enough, there is always a buzz at the Wells Fargo Center. Orange & Black dominates. Watching tiny streams in the past did not always make me appreciate it, but seeing it on a large TV-screen definitely impresses the hell out of me.

Unfortunately it went downhill from there on ... lol

[Bruins-Flyers] 7-3. Bruins lead series 1-0. What?! 7-3? What?! 7-3?! Yes 7-3. What?! Horrible! More later.
[Preds-Nucks] 2-1. Preds lead series 1-0. Whoa. I might have to add a bit more later, but wow. Rinne is awesome.

OK. Flyers. I am going to keep it short.
- Boosh - and I am definitely not his biggest fan so I will hardly ever stand up for him - was hung out to dry! I felt sorry for him. And I did not see this happen myself, but one of my friends tweeted this to me: "Did you read Boosh's lips when he was on the bench? He said, I'm getting no fucking help out there."
- That said is all really. Where was our D? They certainly did not show up for the game!
- And it affected our offensive lines. My first impression was that they skated around as if it was a morning skate. But more likelye the lack of proper D messed up their gameplay too. They just could not pressure our opponent like they usually do. Roo was certainly irritated by the whole game, slashing unsuspecting Bruins ;)
- Like I said, our goalies got no D love at all, Sergei was called in to replace Boosh but it was the worse of times for our Bobs to return to the ice.
- And finally, the Bruins played an awesome game. Great work by Timmeeeeh! And his team mates :)

Phew. Better to quickly forget this one. And I am not worried, we will do better next time!