Wednesday night marked the final game of the first round of the AHL playoffs. The Providence Bruins dropped the first two games of the series against the Hershey Bears, but managed to come back and win the second two games, forcing a game 5. The Eastern Conference semi-finals were waiting for the series winner to determine the match ups for the second round. After jumping out to a 2-0 lead against the number 1 seed, it seemed that Hershey had all the momentum they would need to continue onto the second round. But, a phrase and an unwillingness to give up gave Providence what they needed to even up the series.
“We’ve done it the hard way all year. We’ve been in a lot of close games and tend to pull them out,” Head Coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We played against a good opponent. It’s never automatic in the playoffs.”
During a pregame nap on Saturday, veteran Providence forward Bobby Robins came up with the phrase that pushed the team forward: be the better bear. It fit with the fact that the Bruins were taking on the Bears, but also on a different level too. It fit with the idea that in order to win games, you have to be the better player that wins the battles to win the game.
The game started off quickly for Hershey and it seemed like the tide might have been shifting back in their favor. Just over a minute into the game, Casey Wellman put the puck over Niklas Svedberg’s shoulder to put the Bears up 1-0. But after that, the Bruins really picked up the pace. At 5:04, Bruins forward Justin Florek got credit for his first goal of the playoffs. It was a deflection in front of the net that happened to beat Phillipp Grubauer to tie the game.
The game stayed tied through the end of the period. The second period picked up right where the first had left off in terms of physicality. Being in the fifth straight game, the tensions were high. The two teams knew that whoever lost would be at the end of their season. But, it became clear that Providence wanted it more as Hershey only took 6 shots in the 2nd period. It was the Bruins that took the lead after Jordan Caron beat Grubauer on a shot from between the faceoff circles.
Hershey seemed to be reignited when they came out for the final period of the series. The Bears evened up the score when Joey Crabb scored an impressive fifth playoff goal. It seemed like both teams were competing much more as the end of the post season loomed for one of the teams. The Bruins proved that they were in it to win it. At 9:20, Jamie Tardiff, the Bruins regular season leading goal scorer, put one through a lot of traffic in front of Grubauer to put his team back on top.
“He does what he does,” Bruce Cassidy said of Tardiff and the game winner. “He gets to the front of the net. He’s scored 3 goals in this series all from pretty much the same spot.”
The Hershey Bears had a late chance to even the game and send it to overtime. They pulled their goalie and then found themselves on a power play. Although they put up some amazing pressure, Svedberg held strong and the Bruins held on for the win. It was a hard fought series and the Bruins were sure to never give up. They have a quick turnaround now as they are set to host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for the second round starting Friday.
Photo Credit: Providence Bruins
The San Jose Sharks gave fans a rollercoaster ride of emotions during the regular season before making the playoffs. They started the season off hot and won 7 straight before then dropping 7. In the second half of the season, they had another 7 game winning streak. At the end of the season, the result was the 6th seed in the Western Conference and meeting the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks earned the 3rd seed by winning their division. Despite the differences in seeding, the teams were fairly evenly matched. In fact, San Jose won all three games against the Canucks during the regular season.
Last night the Sharks had a chance to do something no other team in the first round of the playoffs did: move onto the second round with a sweep. The Sharks won both games up in Vancouver, both times coming from behind to end up winning. Game 3 was a much more convincing win as Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski each put up 2 goals in the 5-2 win.
Game for started out fast for the Sharks. Less than 3 minutes into the game, Brent Burns tipped a shot in for his first goal of the playoffs. The assists went to Scott Hannan and Joe Thornton. Later that same period, the Canucks evened the score after Mason Raymond added his first goal of the playoffs on a wrist shot assisted by Dan Hamhuis. At 14:44 of the first period, the Sharks capitalized on the powerplay for the first time that game. Just 8 seconds after Derek Roy was called for boarding Brad Stuart, Pavelski found the back of the net for the third time in the post season. They took the 2-1 lead into the first intermission.
Despite a lot of shots in the second period for the Sharks, they could not get another goal past Cory Schneider. The two teams would start the third period with the Sharks still up 2-1. At the 8:00 mark of the third period, Sharks forward Andrew Desjardins took a penalty for roughing. About halfway through the period, Alex Burrows capitalized on the power play opportunity. The assists went to Henrik and Daniel Sedin. Just two minutes later, the Canucks took their first lead of the game when a slapshot from Alexander Edler beat Antii Niemi.
The Sharks were down, but did not give up hope on the sweep. Instead, they showed why you cannot take penalties against them. Just 34 seconds into Kevin Bieksa’s penalty for cross checking, Joe Pavelski put his second goal of the night past Schneider. Both of his goals came on the power play.
The end of regulation came with the game still tied. It was the second game in the series that the Sharks had come back to force an extra period. Once again, the Sharks showed how strong they are on the power play. Patrick Marleau became the overtime hero fifteen seconds into Daniel Sedin’s penalty. They improved to 3 for 7 on the power play for that game and 7 for 20 on the series.
With the win over the Canucks, the Sharks won the series 4-0 and became the first team to advance to the second round. They will likely have to wait at least a week until their next series starts. While they are waiting, they can celebrate their goaltender, Antii Niemi, being one of the three finalists for the Vezina. He will be competing against Henrik Lundqvist of the Rangers and Sergei Bobrovsky of the Blue Jackets for the title as the best goaltender from the regular season.
By Kelsie Plesac
Patrick Sharp registered his second two-goal game of the playoffs Tuesday night as the Blackhawks defeated the Wild 3-0. Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford had 25 saves and was credited with the shutout.
At 8:48 in the first period Sharp put the Blackhawks on the board with his 3rd goal of the series. Michal Handzus and Marian Hossa registered assists. Sharp also struck again early in the second period, tallying his 2nd goal of the night and 4th of the playoffs. The Hawks final goal came from Bryan Bickell at 12:43. The goal was Bickell’s 3rd of the series.
The Blackhawks now lead the Western Conference Quarterfinal 3-1. They hope to put the Wild away Thursday night in front of the home crowd at the United Center.
By Kelsie Plesac
Despite a tremendous effort by Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford, who made 34 saves in the contest, the Hawks fell 3-2 in overtime to the Minnesota Wild Sunday afternoon in St. Paul. The loss brings the series to 2-1 with the Blackhawks still having the advantage.
After a first period goal by Johnny Oduya, his first of the playoffs, assisted by Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa, the game would sway in the direction of the Wild. At 18:37 Pierre-Marc Bouchard would also tally his first goal of the playoffs, tying the score. Cal Clutterbuck registered an assist.
After a quiet second period Zach Parise put the Wild ahead in the third period. The Wild would maintain the lead until Duncan Keith tied the game in the final minutes sending it into overtime. Jason Zucker put the game away for the Wild.
Game 4 will take place Tuesday night in Minnesota.
“Because its the cup,” a phrase that has become synonymous with the quest for hockey’s holy grail. In Boston, fans have coined “B”elieve, a term that became popular during the 2011 cup run. Believing worked when Boston took the cup that season, the hope is that it will work again during this playoff run.
It’s safe to say that the Leafs had the added emotional excitement of bringing the first playoff game back home since 2004 as Toronto tied the series 1-1 on Saturday in Boston.
But will history repeat itself for Boston? Heading into Game 3, the similarities were certainly skating in that direction. In 2011, the Bruins had veteran Mark Recchi, this season they have veteran Jaromir Jagr. In 2011, Toronto native and then rookie Tyler Seguin impacted the playoffs tremendously. This season, young rookie and Toronto native Dougie Hamilton made his playoff debut in Game 2. Finally, defencemen Andrew Ference was fined during the first round in 2011 for his obscene gesture towards Montreal fans. Fast forward to 2013, Ference will be sitting out Game 2 for an illegal check to the head on Leafs Mikhail Grabovski during Game 1. Finally, the player of the game jacket in 2011, it was an old Bruins Starter jacket found by Ference on eBay. This season, it’s a jacket with a bit more sentimentality, but a jacket nonetheless. The jacket, worn by an Army Ranger involved in capturing the Boston Marathon bombing terrorist encompasses “Boston Strong” and shows the Bruins undying love for the city they represent. Perhaps history will repeat itself, after a 2012 off-season.
The first two games of the series had already proven to be rough hockey, but just 7-minutes into the first period, the atmosphere was guaranteed to get chippy. Pushing, shoving and hard hitting were all the name of the game after the first face-off. Bruins Rask was faced with pressure early on, but he didn’t crack, nor did Leafs Reimer despite being tested mid way through the period. Penalties aplenty plagued the first two games in the series, but the first period went penalty free. A rocket shot from a defencemen, Adam McQuaid put the Bruins on the board at 13:42 (assists, Lucic, Krejci).
Shortly into the second period, Boston was able to skate up ice to make it 2-0, (5:57, Peverley (G), Jagr (A)). The lack in penalties in the first resulted was surely made up for in the second and benefitted Toronto. Jake Gardiner capitalized on the power play at 13:45 with an unassisted goal, his first of the playoffs, putting Leafs within one. The lead was short lived. Nathan Horton, made it 3-1 for Boston with a quick goal at 14:35, (Krejci, Lucic (A)). A consistent and reliable player all season, Daniel Paille needed no assistance at 16:37 for his first of the playoffs, giving Boston a 4-1 lead.
Down by three heading into the third, Toronto came out with a renewed energy and a goal for their efforts. At 00:47, Phil Kessel scored his second of the playoffs with a power play goal from Franson and Van Riemsdyk. Personalities began to bubble over half way through the period with Kessel and Marchand hitting the box at 9:58 for matching unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. When Toronto pulled Riemer for the extra attacker, Boston managed to hit the empty net, giving them a 5-2 win and a 2-1 series lead. Both teams will be back at it Wednesday night at the Air Canada Centre.
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Dictionary.com Definition:
Ice Hockey
-noun
A game played on ice between two teams of six skaters each, the object being to score goals by shooting a puck into the opponents’ cage using a stick with a wooden blade set at an obtuse angle to the shaft.
Origin: 1880-85
Winter Adams Definition:
Ice Hockey
-noun
A game played on ice year round, where once you’re a fan… you’re always a fan. The object being to take numbers, light the lamp and show no mercy.
The greatest game on Earth, hockey.
As far as I’m concerned it’s the best six letter word in the dictionary. It’s not just a sport, it’s a lifestyle where everyone is family. The mere mention of the word can bring a smile to both the young, old and everyone in between. Whether it’s 60 minutes on the ice or 60 minutes watching it be played, it’s 60 minutes of bliss. Once you’ve loved the sport, there is no going back.
Hockey is obviously my job, I write about it, read about it, debate about it, conduct player interviews, watch countless games, practices and then recap it all. But long before it became a job, it was my passion. I can remember begging my parents to take me to the flooded parking lot downtown, the ice rink, a pond, heck I think I even begged to skate on a swimming pool one year. Any frozen water that I could get my little gloved hands on, you bet I was there. As I got older, the begging stopped and I found myself skating on that same flooded parking lot mid-day and flicking on my headlights as the sky grew dark. In high school, I got a job as a receptionist at the local rink and would skate for free on my lunches. While all my friends were snoozing away in bed on a Saturday morning, I was up teaching skating lessons; anything to get a few minutes of ice time. 20-years later, nothing has changed. Of course I’m a little older and probably not much wiser, but ice is something you can never get enough of.
That being said, I went skating the other morning. Some people do yoga to de-stress, I skate. I’m not one to chime in with my opinion, obviously I have them but I tend to keep it to myself. To each their own. However, while lacing up my skates I was extremely frustrated by a conversation I overhead. A woman was lacing up the figure skates of her daughter, while the daughter was protesting that she wanted to play hockey like her brothers. The woman’s response was the following, “Honey, hockey is for boys, girls wear sparkly outfits and glide on the ice. Figure skating is for pretty little princesses like you. Only ugly girls play hockey.”
I can break this down a few different ways. I’m fairly sure this woman’s comments could not have been any more inept. If looks could have killed, the woman would be 6 feet under. Upon seeing me glare at her, she looked to my skates (hockey, obviously) and my face and said “Of course not you, I just don’t think it’s right for my daughter to play hockey, it’s dangerous.”
Everyone is entitled to an opinion. I’ll be the first to admit that hockey can be dangerous, I have had a concussion or two. Quite a few beatings against the boards and so on. Would I have less injuries if I played lets say ping pong? Probably. Contact sports run the risk of injury, that’s common knowledge. Hockey is no less dangerous than football, rugby or even field hockey. Not to mention that the sport doesn’t really become overly physical until kids are much older.
So, her daughter isn’t allowed to play because it’s dangerous. Fine. Next up on the list of idiotic comments would be the fashion aspect. It’s a sport, not a runway in Milan. But hockey doesn’t have to be all black and white. My practice jerseys and socks are a rainbow of colors, my “Jill” is pink leopard print, my hockey tape is camoflauge and my laces are purple. Perhaps not the most elite fashion, but still colorful and fun. I’m sure I could whip out the be-dazzler and make my jersey shine if I really felt it necessary.
Only ugly girls play hockey. This really got under my skin, mainly because I usually get the same gist of this comment from people. “Their is absolutely no way that you play hockey, you’re too pretty.” While I appreciate the compliment on my looks, in what universe does that have anything to do with my ability to play a sport, have knowledge on a sport etc. The only people who are ugly are the ones who have the mindset that they’re better than anyone else based upon looks. Looks and ability don’t correlate. End of story.
Finally, the whole mindset that only boys play hockey. No matter how many times I hear it, it drives me insane. True it’s a male dominated sport, but that is changing. Every year more and more females become part of the hockey family. NHL12 added the option of a female player last year and NHL13 had more female player options this time around. Canada and the US took gold and silver home at the Vancouver Olympics for women’s hockey. More women’s leagues are popping up throughout the US and Canada than ever before. But to some people the mindset that girls don’t play hockey, boys do is the only view they see. The sport of hockey does not have a preference when it comes to it’s players.
For anyone who knows me, they know that I’m consistently chirping people to get in the game. I fully encourage girls or anyone for that matter to try it. Learn to play leagues and classes are becoming available at many rinks for both children and adults. Used equipment sales are becoming all the rage as well, so you don’t have to drop hundreds of dollars to try it out. A helpful site is: http://www.arenamaps.com/ here you can put in your location and find rinks near you (US and Canada). Often your local rink can give you information about clinics and programs to pursue your hockey dreams. Hockey, it’s not just for boys anymore.
Hockey has helped me in so many ways. You don’t really understand it until you become submerged in it. It’s a lifestyle, a family and a piece of my heart.
A few hockey quotes that make me smile:
Jacques Plante: “How would you like a job where, every time you make a mistake, a big red light goes on and 18,000 people boo?”
Steve Rushin: “By the age of 18, the average American has witnessed 200,000 acts of violence on television, most of them occurring during Game 1 of the NHL playoff series.”
Unknown: “Hockey players have fire in their hearts and ice in their veins.”
Jim McKenny: “Half the game is mental; the other half is being mental.”
Unknown: “Ice hockey players can walk on water.”
The Manchester Monarchs hosted the Springfield Falcons on Saturday night for Game 4 of their playoff series. With the win on Thursday, the Monarchs had forced the game in the best-of-5 series. If the Monarchs could manage another home win, they would send the series back to Springfield for a 5th and final game to decide who moved onto the second round of the playoffs. With so much on the line, the game was understandably a little rough. There was also a lot of energy between the two teams.
“We knew it was going to be a grind,” Head Coach Brad Larsen said of the series with the Monarchs. “They played really good hockey to get into the playoffs. They had to fight.”
It was the Falcons who struck first and they did not waste any time getting things going. Just under two minutes into the 1st period, Cody Bass fed the puck to Blake Parlett. The defenseman put the puck in the net high on the glove side of Monarchs goaltender, Martin Jones. It was the second goal of the playoffs for Parlett with Bass and Andrew Joudrey earning the assists. But the Falcons would run into what could have been trouble after that first goal.
Later in the 1st period, rookie Jordan Weal of the Monarchs managed to get the puck on a breakaway. At the last minute, he passed across to Colton Yellow Horn who beat Curtis McElhinney easily on the stick side. Weal and Tanner Pearson earned the assists. Just under two minutes later, the Monarchs took the lead. Andy Andreoff took off but dropped the puck between his legs in a beautiful pass to Linden Vey. Vey was then able to pick the puck and put it into the net over McElhinney’s shoulder.
The 2nd period started with the Monarchs still up 2-1 and they would add to that lead. Once again, Linden Vey would find the net. McElhinney found himself far out of the crease after making a save. The rebound went to Vey who had no trouble putting it in the open net, despite an attempt by a Falcons defenseman to keep it out. The Monarchs fans seemed sure that this was good news for their hopes to stay alive in the playoffs.
“These guys are committed to doing the right things,” Larsen said. “We’ve been in this position a couple times already and we pulled through again tonight.”
But, the Falcons have been a tough team all season and they have thrived in situations where they needed to score big goals. After the halfway mark in the 2nd, Boone Jenner reduced the deficit to 3-2. Monarchs defenseman Andrew Bodnarchuk attempted a pass that ended up on the stick of Falcons forward Nick Drazenovic. Drazenovic passed to Jenner, who was able to wrap around and get it past Jones. Then, with about a minute and a half to go in the period, Jones found himself with a lot of traffic in front of his net. Michael Chaput managed to push the puck in at the side of the net and tie up the score going into the 2nd intermission.
Despite a number of good chances, the 3rd period ended with the score still tied 3-3. Both teams kept pressure on the opposing goalies, but this game was going to overtime as two of the previous three had. In those previous two games, the Falcons had come out on top, each time with a goal from Bass. Once again, the Falcons would come out on top but this time it would be Drazenovic that was the hero. It was the first goal for him with the Falcons since March 16th and it could not have come at a better time.
“This one is huge to move onto the next round,” Drazenovic said. “I always tend to pass but I saw the d-man come sliding over and just tried to have a quick shot off. It just so happened to slide through.”
The Falcons win sent them onto the second round of the playoffs and ended the post season run for the Monarchs. It was a hard fought series. Springfield will have to wait to see who wins the series between the Providence Bruins and Hershey Bears before they know who they will square off against next. If the Bruins win, the Falcons take on the Syracuse Crunch. If Hershey wins, that will be the team Springfield plays. Either way, the Falcons are excited to still be alive in post-season action.
Photo Credit: Springfield Falcons
By Kelsie Plesac
Michael Frolik and Patrick Sharp tallied 2 goals apiece in the Blackhawks, Wild Western Conference Quarterfinal matchup on Friday night at the United Center. The Blackhawks defeated the Wild 5-2 and went up two games to none on the series.
After a slow start in game one on Tuesday for the Hawks, their first period play tonight was anything but. At the 8:34 mark Michael Frolik tallied his first goal of the 2013 playoffs and his 5th career playoff goal. Andrew Shaw and Nick Leddy were credited with assists. The Blackhawks also outshot the Wild 17-7 in the first period.
The second period began with a high-sticking penalty from Hawks captain, Jonathan Toews. However, at 0:49 Michael Frolik registered a shorthanded goal, his second goal of the night and his 6th career playoff goal in 13 career playoff games. The Wild would cut the lead in half before the third with Devin Setoguchi tallying his 15th career playoff goal at 17:57.
At 3:44 in the third period, however, Patrick Sharp increased the lead back to two goals with his first goal of this year’s playoffs and the 24th playoff goal of his career. The goal was assisted by Patrick Kane and Michal Handzus. Sharp would also tally his second goal of the night in the third at 14:08. A little more than two minutes later Marco Scandella added to the Wild score, tallying his 1st goal of the quarterfinal. However, Bryan Bickell would put the game away with an empty-netter with ten seconds remaining. The goal was Bickell’s 2nd of the series and 6th career playoff goal.
Blackhawk goalie Corey Crawford made 26 saves in the game. The Blackhawks will travel to S. Paul for a game three matchup on Sunday afternoon.
Will this ring true? Or will the Leafs skate past the Bruins in the 1st round?
Andrew Ference will have a disciplinary hearing today with Brendan Shanahan. The call stems from Ference’s check to the head of Mikhail Grabovski in the first period of last night’s 4-1 Bruins win. Ference stated that he couldn’t recall the play during post-game availability last evening.
Ference is not considered a repeat offender. Although he was fined for his obscene gesture during the first round of the 2011 playoffs against Montreal, the year the Bruins won the Stanley Cup.
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