Friday 29 May 2015

NHL PO - Round 2 - Chicago Blackhawks beat Minnesota Wild 4-0


Game 1 - Minnesota @ Chicago 3-4 OT - Fri, May 1 - Hawks Lead 1-0

After the Blackhawks took what appeared to be a commanding lead in the first period of Game 1 of their Western Conference Second Round series against the Wild, they were wilting in the second. Then a rookie's harmless-looking play saved them. Teuvo Teravainen scored his first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal with 59 seconds left in the second period to lift the Blackhawks to a 4-3 victory at United Center. Seconds before Teravainen's goal, the Wild declined to touch the puck in the neutral zone because they would have been whistled for a hand pass. After a delay, Niklas Hjalmarsson played the puck into the Minnesota zone and eventually it came to the Finnish rookie along the left wall. Teravainen, who had not played since Game 2 of the first-round series against the Nashville Predators, flicked a shot toward the net, and Minnesota goaltender Devan Dubnyk missed it. The Blackhawks stormed to a three-goal lead in the first period but gave it back by the midpoint of the second. Dubnyk, who made 31 saves, said he didn't see Teravainen's shot until it was too late. Teravainen's was the lone goal in the final 30 minutes, and it allowed the Blackhawks to continue their postseason dominance of the Wild on home ice and their ability to finish off games this season. Chicago has won seven straight playoff games against Minnesota at United Center over the past three years. After going 25-0-0 in the regular season when leading after two periods, the Blackhawks are 2-0 in the playoffs. Goaltender Corey Crawford allowed three goals in less than 10 minutes in the second period, but he made 30 saves to earn the win in his first start since Game 2 against Nashville. It took Minnesota less than half the second period to erase the three-goal deficit from the first. Jason Zucker scored at 1:21 after nearly scoring seconds earlier. Crawford made a great save to stop a Zucker one-timer and force a faceoff, but the Wild forward didn't miss on another one-timer, this time with the pass coming from Thomas Vanek from along the right wall. Crawford appeared to have a chance to grab the puck near the crease with Minnesota on the power play, but he hesitated and it led to the Wild's second goal at 5:07 of the period. Vanek backhanded the puck back toward the top of the crease, and Zach Parise was there to shovel it into the net. Wild center Mikael Granlund completed the comeback at 9:30. Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith tried to make a short pass from below the goal line to Jonathan Toews, but it never reached him. Instead, Granlund stepped between them, collected the puck and flipped it over Crawford at the near post. The Wild's top line of Granlund, Parise and Jason Pominville, which had six goals and 17 points to lead Minnesota against the St. Louis Blues in the first round, had three points Friday. For 20 minutes, the Blackhawks looked like the same bullies who knocked the Wild out of the playoffs in 2013 and 2014. Brandon Saad scored 75 seconds into the opening period on the first shot of the game. Saad started the rush by knocking the puck away from Granlund in the defensive zone to Marian Hossa. After getting it back from Hossa, Saad flipped the puck past the Wild's Ryan Suter, and then shed the defenseman's attempt to check him before snapping a shot past Dubnyk. Patrick Kane made it 2-0 at 13:11 of the first after another misplay by a Wild defenseman. Brad Richards carried the puck away from a faceoff win in his own end toward the Minnesota blue line and deked past Marco Scandella before feeding Kane for a long-distance one-timer. Marcus Kruger pushed the lead to three goals at 15:15 of the first. The Wild were trying to get the puck out of danger, but Keith's one-handed poke near the left point to Andrew Shaw led to a shot on goal, and Kruger was there at the top of the crease for the rebound. The Blackhawks nearly made it 4-0 when Johnny Oduya's shot grazed off the crossbar, but from that point the Wild took control until the 20-year-old Teravainen provided some unexpected heroics.

Teuvo Teravainen: "I think that wasn't the biggest shot, but sometimes good things happen when I shoot."
Niklas Hjalmarsson: "I thought the way the game developed during the second period, they took over the game in the second totally. They had pretty much everything, and it felt like the game was also slipping away there for a while, but then [Teravainen] scored the huge goal at the end of the period, and we got the momentum back and took care of business in the third."


Devan Dubnyk: "I didn't pick it up until it was about 5-6 feet in front of me. It was just kind of a flash, and that's why I kind of just waved at it and missed it. The way it came up the wall, I didn't see it come off the guy's stick and I didn't pick it up at all, but that's my job. My job is to get out and find a way to find the puck at all times. I didn't do that there and it cost me. It was certainly a disappointing play to give up when we work as hard as we did to come back. It's one play, and you have to make sure it doesn't happen again."
Mikko Koivu: "You want to take all the good things with you and move on and learn from the things we need to do better and start preparing for Game 2. It's a good thing we were able to come back, but at the same time you don't want to fall behind three goals."

Game 2 - Minnesota @ Chicago 1-4 - Sun, May 3 - Hawks Lead 2-0

The stars of the Blackhawks overwhelmed the Wild in Game 2 of this Western Conference Second Round series. Patrick Kane scored twice, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp also had goals and the Blackhawks earned a 4-1 victory at United Center. Marian Hossa and Duncan Keith made excellent plays to set up goals for Chicago, which leads the best-of-7 series 2-0. The Blackhawks have won all eight games in this building against the Wild during the past three Stanley Cup Playoffs. Minnesota was close in Game 1, a 4-3 victory for Chicago, and the Wild felt like they had played well. That was not the case in Game 2, a contest filled with errors for the road team. The Wild have lost back-to-back games in regulation for the first time since Jan. 11 and 13. Goaltender Devan Dubnyk arrived in a trade from the Coyotes the next day and started his first game for the Wild on Jan. 15. Toews put the Blackhawks on the board first with a shorthanded goal at 12:28 of the second period. Hossa poked the puck past Ryan Suter along the left wall with Minnesota on the power play, and fed Toews near the far post. Dubnyk made the save on Toews' shot, but the puck ticked off the knob of his stick and trickled back and across the goal line before Suter could reach it. It was Toews' fourth goal of the postseason and a seventh assist in eight games for Hossa. For the second straight game, the Wild yielded a goal in the final minute of the second period. Kane had gone behind the Minnesota net to forecheck and was trailing the play. He tried to lift Suter's stick, and Suter's outlet pass ended up in Thomas Vanek's skates. Vanek's pass at the Chicago blue line was off the mark and would have put the Wild offside, and Keith took advantage. He snapped a long diagonal pass to Kane, who was well behind Suter. Kane skated in unmarked and snapped a shot past Dubnyk with 19.9 seconds remaining in the period. It was Kane's second goal in the series and fourth of the playoffs. Keith leads all defensemen with 10 points in the postseason. Rookie defenseman Matt Dumba got one back for the Wild early in the third period with a power-play goal. Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford got a piece of his shot from the right wall, but not enough to keep it out of the net. It was Dumba's second goal of the postseason. Another rookie made the play to set up Chicago's third goal. Teuvo Teravainen chipped the puck off the boards in the neutral zone and into the path of a hard-charging Sharp, who skated in alone and put a shot past Dubnyk to the far side at 7:39. It was Sharp's fourth goal of the playoffs and the second straight game with a point for Teravainen since returning to the lineup. Crawford made 30 saves, including two great ones in the second period when the score was still 1-0. Dubnyk, a Vezina Trophy finalist, finished with 27 saves. He has allowed seven goals in the two games.
Kane added an empty-netter with 2:07 remaining seconds after Dubnyk went to the bench for an extra attacker. He now has 101 points in 101 career Stanley Cup Playoff games.


Patrick Sharp: "It's been a key to the success here the last six or seven years; you've got a bunch of guys that want the puck on their stick in key situations and want to be the guy that scores that goal."
Joel Quenneville: "Huge goal. First one today was going to be a big goal; being shorthanded even accentuates that point. [Hossa] makes a great play there. We get a fortunate break off the shot, but certainly we'll take it. Shorties are deflating one way and great the other way."
Patrick Kane: "It's fun. You hear so much about playoff hockey when you come into the League, it's more intense, it's the best hockey to play. Every game is do or die. They're fun games to play in. I've been fortunate enough to play with some great teammates, where you're getting a lot of good chances. I've had a lot of fun here in my seven years in the playoffs. Right now we're not really worried about numbers. We're worried about taking care of business, getting the wins. We did that twice here at home. We got the job done here."


Mike Yeo: "We didn't make those mistakes. I don't know what team played that game, but it wasn't us tonight. It was 0-0 through the midway point of the game. We were doing some OK things without the puck to keep it at 0-0, but with the puck, like I said, that's not us."
Zach Parise: "Can't happen. Those are backbreakers. You always grow up learning you don't give up a goal in the last minute of a period. Those hurt us the last two games. Things like that, they just can't happen. We can't continue to do that to ourselves."

Game 3 - Chicago @ Minnesota 1-0 - Tue, May 5 - Hawks Lead 3-0

The Blackhawks have struggled to win Game 3 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in recent years, but they found a solution. Not allowing a goal is one way to reverse that trend. Corey Crawford made 30 saves and Patrick Kane scored for the Blackhawks, who moved within a victory of reaching the Western Conference Final for the third consecutive season with a 1-0 victory against the Wild at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild had several quality chances, but they couldn't get the puck past Crawford. Their frustration grew; groans from the crowd and sticks slamming off the boards near the Minnesota bench became the soundtrack of the final two periods. Minnesota has four goals in three games in this series, and six in the past five postseason games against Crawford dating back to Game 5 last year. Chicago has won all five of those games. Kane scored the lone goal at 14:06 of the first period with the Blackhawks on the power play. Patrick Sharp flubbed a pass in the neutral zone, but Andrew Shaw seized control and connected with Kane, who went in alone on Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk and put a shot between his legs for his sixth goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Kane missed the final seven weeks of the regular season because of a broken clavicle. The original prognosis was he could need up to 12 weeks, but Kane was in the lineup for Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round against the Nashville Predators and is second in the NHL with six goals and 11 points in the postseason. The Wild played like a desperate team for the first six or seven minutes of the first period, but Crawford kept them off the scoreboard. Chicago controlled the tempo from there and created several great chances during the rest of the period. Minnesota's desperation became frustration in the second. Jason Pominville missed the net from the slot. Crawford denied Mikael Granlund on a breakaway. Nino Niederreiter had the puck fall onto his stick at the top of the crease, but he couldn't jam it in. The Wild continued to press for a goal in the third, creating nearly all of the best scoring chances in the period. There were a couple of scrambles near the net, and Crawford had to dive to his right to keep the puck from trickling across the goal line with his blocker to keep the best chance out. At one point, Zach Parise threw the puck into the offensive zone after the Wild were called for offsides, then slammed his stick. The Blackhawks produced more offense to win two games at United Center to start the series. They needed a Teuvo Teravainen goal late in the second period to prevail 4-3 in Game 1 after yielding a three-goal lead earlier in the period. It was not as close in Game 2. Kane scored twice, and the Blackhawks received key contributions from their other star players in a 4-1 victory. Yeo said he's never been in this situation, down 3-0 and trying to avoid a sweep. The Wild are going to need to find some offense to extend the series. Kane has scored as many goals in this series as the Wild, and he's outscored them 3-1 since Game 1.

Corey Crawford: "It's never easy, especially against this team in their building. They came hard the whole night, but our guys stood strong. Especially at the end, we were all together as a unit. Good effort by our [defense]. That was good for myself but as a team too, it was great for us defensively to have no goals in a game."
Patrick Kane: "The puck was bouncing there. I think [Sharp] was trying to come over to me. It got to [Shaw] and I think he said he heard me calling for it, so he just kind of threw it over and I got it and tried to shoot it quickly."


Mike Yeo: "Crawford, he's a star against us. He's (Martin) Brodeur, he's (Patrick) Roy. He's everybody. We've got to find a way to solve that."
Zach Parise: "Frustration that we couldn't score. That's about it. We didn't score one, so I don't think we did enough. There's got to be something more we can do."
Nino Niederreiter: "As of right now, it's definitely frustrating. We had plenty of chances to win this hockey game, I feel that we played a really good game. We played solid and we had enough chances. Now we have to find a way to regroup and we got to win [the] next game."

Game 4 - Chicago @ Minnesota 4-3 - Thu, May 7 - Hawks Lead 4-0

For the fifth time in seven seasons, the Blackhawks will play in the Western Conference Final. For the third time in as many years, the Wild will spend the offseason trying to get over the fact that the Blackhawks ended their Stanley Cup Playoff run. The Blackhawks completed a sweep of the Wild in the Western Conference Second Round with a 4-3 victory in Game 4 on Thursday at Xcel Energy Center. Chicago never trailed in the series, but the clinching game was not without drama. Minnesota scored two goals 51 seconds apart with goaltender Devan Dubnyk pulled and had 87 seconds to try to complete a furious three-goal comeback. The final seconds were frantic, but the ending for the Wild, a solemn handshake line with the Blackhawks, has become too familiar. They have won three Stanley Cup Playoff games in three years against Chicago. Kane, Brent Seabrook, Andrew Shaw, and Marian Hossa scored for the Blackhawks. Goalie Corey Crawford made 34 saves. Chicago became the first team to reach the NHL's final four at least five times in a seven-year span since the Colorado Avalanche did it six times from 1996-2002. The Blackhawks continue to be the best team in the salary-cap era at closing out playoff series.

They are 14-4 in potential series-clinching games since Kane and Jonathan Toews arrived in 2007-08, including 13-2 when it isn't Game 7. Chicago also won for the 30th time this season without a loss (30-0-0) when leading after two periods. Aside from a couple of desperation goals in Game 4 with six attackers on the ice, Minnesota could not find enough offense to topple Chicago. Before those two, Kane had scored as many goals as the Wild in the series. While Chicago's star players were pacing its offense, Minnesota's were frustrated by missed opportunities. Zach Parise and Mikael Granlund each scored his lone goal of the series in Game 1. Jason Pominville's only goal made it 4-2 on Thursday. Vanek and captain Mikko Koivu never scored one. Erik Haula and Nino Niederreiter also scored for the Wild on Thursday, and Dubnyk made 21 saves. Dubnyk became the second 2015 Vezina Trophy finalist to lose his award-worthy form against the Blackhawks in these playoffs. He made saves on 100 of 111 shots for a .901 save percentage, well shy of the .936 he had after arriving in a Jan. 14 trade with the Coyotes and making his debut with the Wild the following night. Dubnyk and Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne are two of the three Vezina finalists. They combined for a .906 save percentage against the Blackhawks in the postseason. Michal Rozsival's left leg buckled on him in the second period near the Chicago blue line shortly before Minnesota's first goal. Rozsival was unable to put any weight on his left leg as he was helped off the ice; he did not return. Kane's seven playoff goals are second to the Tampa Bay Lightning's Tyler Johnson (eight), and his 13 points are second to the Anaheim Ducks' Corey Perry (14). The original recovery timeline after he sustained a fractured clavicle Feb. 24 was up to 12 weeks, but he returned in seven.

Patrick Kane: "I think it just shows that we like playing at this time of year. It's the best time of year to play. When you think of the playoffs and going through the whole process of going round by round, and you get a new matchup with a different team every time, it is fun for us, and we get excited. We have great fans at our backs. The weather gets a little nicer. The city of Chicago starts buzzing a little bit. It is just a fun city to play in. I still think there's some areas that I can try to improve a little bit. I play with some great players who have given me some great chances to get some great looks, and it is going in the back of the net."
Patrick Sharp: "It was little more reserved than years past, but guys felt pretty good about it. We appreciate how hard it is to win a playoff series, to beat a team like Minnesota. We're proud of the accomplishment to get out of the division. We think it's a pretty tough division to play in. Ton of enthusiasm going forward. We can't wait to get back in the conference finals and try to win another series."
Joel Quenneville: "Tough loss [Rozsival, who had averaged 18:34 of ice time in the playoffs]. Doesn't look good."


Thomas Vanek: "It's really frustrating because it just didn't feel like a sweep. That's a good team over there. They know how to win. Sometimes it's just a matter of bounces. That's a team that's won two Stanley Cups. They know how to win. We didn't play well enough."
Mike Yeo: "Certainly, their big guys, they've got guys that are a little bit different from our guys, that's one thing. We've got guys that do tremendous things for us too. We might not have a guy that's going to get 100 points a year for us right now, but we have guys who are going to contribute offensively, but they play the game a certain way and that allows us to be successful as a team. Right now, we're a good team and we have to find a way to be the best team."
Devan Dubnyk: "Doesn't feel right. To be with the group that we have, to finish it that way, it just doesn't feel right."

Thursday 28 May 2015

Bylsma Confirmed Buffalo Coach



Dan Bylsma was named coach of the Buffalo Sabres on Today [Thursday].
Bylsma received a five-year contract, according to TSN. Bylsma was fired as Penguins coach following the 2013-14 season. His contract with the Penguins runs through the 2015-16 season and the Sabres will give Pittsburgh a third-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft as compensation. The Sabres have three third-round picks in 2016, including one acquired from the New York Islanders and one from the Vancouver Canucks. The Penguins will receive the higher of those two picks. The 44-year-old went 252-117-32 in 401 regular-season games with the Penguins and 43-45 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He led the Penguins to the Stanley Cup in 2009 and won the Jack Adams Award in 2011. He coached Pittsburgh to four 100-point seasons and finished no worse than second in its division in all six seasons. Bylsma recently served as an assistant coach for the United States at the 2015 IIHF World Championship, where he coached Boston University center Jack Eichel, likely to be selected by the Sabres with the No. 2 pick of the 2015 NHL Draft on June 26. Bylsma replaces Ted Nolan, who was fired last month. The Sabres had pursued Mike Babcock, but the former Detroit Red Wings coach signed an eight-year contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs on May 20.


Dan Bylsma: "There is a bright future ahead of this team, a lot of young, great hockey players here and on the way … a fan base that's passionate about the game of hockey."


Vladimir Sobotka Set To Decide Future



The St. Louis Blues expect to know in the next week whether forward Vladimir Sobotka will return from the Kontinental Hockey League for the 2015-16 season, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. A restricted free agent when he left the Blues in the summer of 2014 to sign a three-year contract with Avangard Omsk of the KHL, Sobotka has an out clause following each season allowing him to return to the NHL.
Sobotka has two weeks from the end of the IIHF World Championship to let Omsk know of his decision. The World Championship ended May 17, giving Sobotka until the end of the month. Sobotka had NHL career highs of nine goals and 33 points during the 2013-14 season with the Blues. He had 10 goals and 38 points for Omsk this season. Sobotka is set to make $4.5 million tax-free in the KHL next season, which Armstrong acknowledged could make it difficult for the Blues to entice him back. The Blues filed for NHL salary arbitration after Sobotka signed in the KHL, and an arbitrator awarded him a one-year, $2.725 million contract which would take effect upon his return to the Blues.
If Sobotka does return to St Louis it would surely be a huge positive and could be the spark the franchise needs to get over their recent playoff disappointment.

Doug Armstrong: "If he decides to come back to the NHL, we'll welcome him back with open arms. And if not, we'll address it a year from now. He knows he's going to come back through St. Louis. I had a good talk with his agent, The agent told me that the money he made last year, they guaranteed him for next year. … I said, 'We'd love to have him back.' I understand if the economics are so great in the KHL and he has to stay. I respect that. Then we'll talk again a year from now."

Martin Brodeur Looking Forward to New Role



When Martin Brodeur announced his retirement as a player, he had an idea where he wanted his life to go. He just didn't know where that would be. Brodeur, who retired from the NHL with the most regular-season wins (691), shutouts (125), games played (1,266) and minutes played (74,439), joined the St. Louis Blues front office as a senior adviser to general manager Doug Armstrong in January and was named assistant general manager on Wednesday. Brodeur, 43, played 21 seasons with the New Jersey Devils before joining the Blues as a free agent this season. He played seven games for St. Louis, which included a 16-save shutout against the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 29, and was 3-3-0 with a 2.87 goals-against average and .899 save percentage before announcing his retirement Jan. 29. He becomes an important piece of the Blues front office in helping structure a roster that has been on the cusp of making strides in the Stanley Cup Playoffs but has not been able to get out of the first round the past three seasons. Brodeur, who has put his New Jersey home up for sale, will move to St. Louis and be responsible for observing the Blues' minor-league teams, particularly the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League. Brodeur has made it clear in the past that he's not interested in coaching. He's more intrigued by the management side of the NHL and this is the first step to what he hopes is an opportunity to become a general manager. With the Devils naming Ray Shero as general manager, and longtime GM Lou Lamoriello stepping down and focusing more on his role as president of hockey operations, there was talk of Brodeur potentially going back to New Jersey.


Martin Brodeur: "I'm really excited to join the organization. I had a good learning curve last season jumping in after retirement and going as a senior adviser to Doug. That led me to make the decision to stay long term here in St. Louis and I'm really excited for the opportunity. I had the luxury to spend a lot of time with Doug and also with Dave Taylor and Bob Gainey. I asked a lot of questions about the position. I'm definitely up for the challenge. There definitely will be some learning curves for me going forward, but I'm excited about this new chapter in my life and my career. I'll do my best to be as much as an impact as possible. We always kept in touch, me and Doug, throughout this whole process. "I never really had any conversations with any other organization. I was just glad that I got an opportunity to live the great experience last season. My goal was to come back to St. Louis. It's something that I've built throughout my career is stability. So for me, some of the conversations that I've had with Doug, if I was going to make a move, it was going to be for more than one year. I'm excited that we were able to make a deal that I'll be able to stay at least for the next three seasons."
Doug Armstrong: "Last year when he came in, he came in here to help us out on the ice, and when we got healthy in goal, he told me he still wanted to participate in a team structure as far as being around. It gave me a good opportunity to get to know him. Traveling with him and getting his understanding of the game, certainly of the goaltending position, I gained quite a bit of knowledge about that one area, things that he looks for in a player. But then more importantly, talking about playing on winning teams, talking about winning characteristics of championship teams and championship players, that just sort of led into what he wanted to do moving forward. I look at where Marty is right now as someone maybe like Rob Blake in Los Angeles, an All-Star player, a Hall of Fame player that wants to get into management, is willing to put the time in to understand this side of the business. He's going to be in the office, he'll touch our minor-league system watching our players, he'll travel with our team when I'm not around and sometimes with us together. He's going to learn the business side of it from player contracts to the mundane of scheduling and all the things that go on about behind the scenes to put a team on the ice from a business perspective and competitive perspective. It's really going to be an open canvas for him to explore and to get stronger. I think one day, probably the goal is to be a [general] manager. I really appreciate the way that he wants to go about doing this in putting the time in to make sure he's building a foundation for himself so as matures in his off-ice capacities, he'll be ready for whatever job's ahead of him."


NHL Coaching Rumors


There has been a lot of speculation regarding the destination of certain coaches within the NHL ahead of next season. Here are the latest rumors:
St Louis - The Blues will turn back to a familiar face and voice. The way general manager Doug Armstrong spoke Tuesday to announce that the Blues signed Ken Hitchcock to a one-year contract, there never seemed to be a doubt whether the 63-year-old would return to coach St. Louis for a fifth season. Hitchcock's contract was set to expire June 30. He and Armstrong took time after the season to reflect on certain issues, but each is comfortable with the other and seems fine with a one-year extension. Aside from the shortened 2012-13 season, the Blues finished with 100-plus points in each of Hitchcock's four seasons, including 109 this season. Hitchcock is 175-79-27 in the regular season with the Blues and fourth on the NHL's all-time wins list with 708, but he's 10-17 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with St. Louis, including three straight first-round exits with home-ice advantage. The Blues have lost four consecutive playoff series since 2012, when they defeated the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Quarterfinal. St. Louis' entire coaching staff will also return.
Hitchcock's status has been in limbo since the Blues were eliminated from the Western Conference First Round in six games by the Minnesota Wild. The Blues have lost in the first round in six games in each of the past three seasons.
The Blues were granted permission by the Detroit Red Wings to talk to Mike Babcock, whose contract was set to expire June 30, but Babcock signed an eight-year contract worth a reported $50 million on May 20 to coach the Toronto Maple Leafs. After the season, Hitchcock said he needed time to reflect and decide whether he would return. He is comfortable going on a year-by-year basis. Hitchcock was named Blues coach on Nov. 7, 2011, replacing Davis Payne, who is currently an assistant on Darryl Sutter's staff with the Los Angeles Kings. Hitchcock coached the Dallas Stars to a Stanley Cup championship in 1999 and returned to the Cup Final in 2000. He also coached the Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets for four seasons each.
Doug Armstrong: "I just had to make sure that the passion level that's going to be necessary in November, December, January, February ... the dog days of the season, that Ken still had that passion. I didn't want him to come back and feel that he was coming back out of anger and disappointment. I wanted him to come back out of excitement and energy. When we talked, I felt that. I felt that talking to him and I felt that talking to members of his staff that there's a real excitement in getting back to work here."
Ken Hitchcock: "This was a long process for me, ...It was very disappointing in losing, especially the lead-up to it when we were on top of our game, and having the ability to process that and go through it here in the last three weeks, it's given me some time to detox. Today was the first day we started preparing for next season. It was an exciting day for me. I'm really proud to be able to coach this hockey club again. I'm really proud the staff is back together. This is unfinished business for me. I don't want to coach to coach. I want to coach to win. From a friendship standpoint and a coaching standpoint, from a relationship with players, this has been a great place for me. I just don't want to cheat them. I don't want to be signing on for a bunch of years that I know I can't answer the bell for. So for me, this is a perfect scenario. I want to take this group to the next level and Doug gets to decide the stewardship moving forward. Doug and I have been together for a very long period of time, We've got great communication and the ability to get this team back to the playoffs and back into that hunt again is first and foremost in both of our minds."


Hitchcock and Babcock are close friends.
"You can't help but not do that," Hitchcock said when asked about following the reports on Babcock. To which Armstrong joked, "I was sending them to him."
"I don't care," Hitchcock said. "The reason I don't care is that we have a relationship where we can tell each other pretty much anything, and there's no consequences. I know one thing: [Armstrong] keeps me informed on everything. Some of it I don't want to hear sometimes, but it's information that's necessary."

Buffalo - The Sabres have an agreement in place to hire Dan Bylsma as coach pending compensation to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Associated Press reported Today. Bylsma interviewed with the Sabres about their coaching vacancy for a second straight day Thursday, according to the AP, which stated the meeting Wednesday took place in Buffalo and included Sabres owners Terry Pegula and Kim Pegula, and general manager Tim Murray. After losing out on Mike Babcock, who became coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs on May 20, the Sabres received permission to interview Bylsma to replace Ted Nolan, who was fired last month.
Bylsma was fired as Penguins coach following the 2013-14 season. His contract with the Penguins runs through the 2015-16 season but he has permission to interview with other teams. The 44-year-old went 252-117-32 in 401 regular-season games with the Penguins and 43-45 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He led the Penguins to the Stanley Cup in 2009 and won the Jack Adams Award in 2011. He coached Pittsburgh to four 100-point seasons and finished no worse than second in its division in all six seasons. Bylsma recently served as an assistant coach for the United States at the 2015 IIHF World Championship, where he coached Boston University center Jack Eichel, likely to be selected by the Sabres with the No. 2 pick of the 2015 NHL Draft on June 26. The New Jersey Devils are believed to have permission to talk to Bylsma about their coaching position, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Sunday.


Detroit - Jeff Blashill, the leading candidate to replace Mike Babcock as coach of the Red Wings, will meet with general manager Ken Holland sometime this week to discuss the job, the Detroit Free Press reported Tuesday. Holland said Blashill, 41, is his only candidate at the moment. Blashill is coaching the Red Wings’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, in the Western Conference Finals; the best-of-7 series against the Utica Comets is tied 1-1 and resumes Thursday. Blashill would not discuss his future on Wednesday, or say whether he has met with Holland, according to The Detroit News. Blashill has been coach of Grand Rapids since June 2012 and has made the playoffs in each of the past three seasons, including winning the 2013 Calder Cup.
Ken Holland: "I've had some people reach out to me, but as of right now, I haven't expanded the list."
Jeff Blashill: "I owe it to our players to make sure my sole focus is on trying to win this series. It's not difficult for me, and that's why I choose not to comment right now because it's real easy for me to focus on the [playoffs]. These are great, great opportunities. You only get so many of them in life. So let's really cherish this and enjoy the journey."
New Jersey - Could be the last remaining NHL team without a coach if three openings are filled soon, as expected. The San Jose Sharks reportedly are about to hire Peter DeBoer same with the Buffalo Sabres and Dan Bylsma. The Detroit Red Wings are likely to promote Grand Rapids coach Jeff Blashill, according to reports (see above). Shero would not reveal, who the Devils' candidates might be, but speculation includes Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coach John Hynes, Capitals assistant Todd Reirden and former Ottawa coach Paul MacLean. Reirden and Hynes worked together with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pittsburgh's American Hockey League affiliate. DeBoer was fired by the Devils 36 games into this season, replaced by co-coaches Lou Lamoriello, Adam Oates and Scott Stevens. Shero was hired as general manager May 8, replacing Lamoriello, who remained as president of hockey operations. The Flyers (Dave Hakstol), Oilers (Todd McLellan) and Maple Leafs (Mike Babcock) have filled coaching vacancies in the past two weeks, and Ken Hitchcock will return to the St. Louis Blues for a fifth season after he agreed to a one-year contract Tuesday.

Have San Jose Found Their Man?


Peter DeBoer reportedly will be announced as San Jose Sharks coach Today [Thursday]. The Sharks have scheduled a press conference for 1 p.m. PT Thursday to introduce DeBoer as their coach, the San Jose Mercury News reported. The newspaper said Sharks players have been invited to the event at SAP Center. DeBoer was fired by the New Jersey Devils after 36 games last season, his fourth with the team. In 2011-12, his first season, he coached the Devils to the Stanley Cup Final. DeBoer would replace Todd McLellan, who left the Sharks on April 20 after seven seasons. McLellan coached the Sharks to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in his first six seasons, but this season they finished eight points behind the Calgary Flames for third place in the Pacific Division. DeBoer was an assistant to McLellan on the Canada staff at the 2015 IIHF World Championship. DeBoer coached the Florida Panthers for three seasons (2008-2011). In parts of seven seasons, he was 217-200-77. The trip to the 2012 Final is the only time he's coached in the playoffs. Sharks director of player development Larry Robinson was an assistant on DeBoer's staff with the Devils.
The Devils are not seeking compensation from the Sharks for hiring DeBoer, Northjersey.com reported. DeBoer had one year left on his contract with New Jersey. McLellan was hired as coach of the Edmonton Oilers on May 19. The Sharks also reportedly considered Dan Bylsma, Randy Carlyle, Adam Oates and Dave Lowry.
Update: At 1pm PT DeBoer was announced as the San Jose Sharks new coach.


Tommy Wingels: "From everything I've heard, he's the right guy for this job. I know the players here, I haven't talked to too many, but the guys I have been in contact with, we're excited for him to be at the reins of this team. The guys who are here are looking forward to having him in town and getting to know him. And I'm sure he'll want to get to know the players that are here, that he'll reach out to guys. That's all part of the process. I'm sure he had questions to ask of Todd during this whole process, having a relationship with him."
Larry Robinson: "I enjoyed working with him. He's a very detailed, smart hockey man. I think he'll make a good choice."


Wednesday 27 May 2015

Warriors Confirm Skippy Signing



The Whitley Warriors roster is starting to take shape ahead of the 2015/16 season and it was officially confirmed this week that forwards Shaun Kippin and Daniel Good will take to the ice in maroon & gold again.
Shaun took an enforced year off from hockey last season due to a shoulder operation, but having proved his fitness, the former captain can't wait to return to the Warriors.
Shaun Kippin: “I’m delighted to be back, I had to take last season out due to shoulder surgery, but I always hoped to return and finish my career with the Warriors. I’m looking forward to getting back on the ice with the team and trying to win some silverware again, we have a great opportunity this season. I watched Lobby (David Longstaff) play as a youngster and always looked up to him as one of the best Brits in the country. Aims for this season are silverware, I think we will have one of the best teams in the league on paper but we need to prove that out on the ice.”

I may be slightly biased, as I know Shaun quite well, but this is really great news for Whitley, to get him back on the team. This is equally as important as the news recently that David Longstaff was joining as player-coach. Shaun is one of the most hardest working players I have seen play for the Warriors in over 20 years. The former captain brings experience along with his usual enthusiasm, goal-scoring prowess and great on-ice leadership. With so many young players on the roster last season, Shaun will provide a great role model for them to learn from.

One of Shaun's closest friends, Daniel Good, is also returning. Daniel was an ever-present in the line-up last year, scoring 26 points along the way. But is looking to put a disappointing season behind him.
Daniel Good: “I’ve resigned simply because I enjoy playing. Last season was disappointing for more reasons than one so I want to play better and get more out of it this campaign. Lobby (David Longstaff) coming in brings a real energy and everyone will be massively motivated, I think it will be like a new team. With his experience and personality it’ll be really exciting to see how things will pan out with him as the coach. Also to have him as a player as well is such a bonus. I’m looking forward to pre season and to see which players have been brought in and re-signed.”


Goaltender Richie Lawson will also return having made 15 appearances last season, whilst posting a save percentage of 90 and a 4.07 GAA.

With the signings of Shaun and Daniel, along with that of David Longstaff, it means there is certainly move skill depth to the line-up. All three can conceivably play center, and as we have seen recently from the NHL teams that are stacked at center, such as the Los Angeles Kings, they have reaped the benefits. Richie Lawson is one of the most talented goalies in the league, and although the Blackburn Hawks will take some stopping again next season, there is every reason to believe the Warriors are ready to regain their crown.


Further roster additions are due to be announced in the coming weeks as we count down to one of the most exciting seasons in the Warriors recent history.

Tuesday 26 May 2015

NHL PO - Round 2 - Anaheim Ducks beat Calgary Flames 4-1

Game 1 - Calgary @ Anaheim 1-6 - Thu, Apr 30 - Ducks Lead 1-0

Anaheim showed what a week's worth of rest and preparation will do for the top-seeded team from the Western Conference in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Corey Perry had two goals and two assists and Ryan Getzlaf had a goal and three assists to help Anaheim overpower Calgary 6-1 in Game 1 of the Western Conference Second Round at Honda Center. The Ducks played for the first time in eight days after sweeping the Winnipeg Jets in the first round and got right back into playoff mode. Perry gave Anaheim leads of 3-0 and 5-0, the latter on a power-play goal 44 seconds into the third period when he took Getzlaf's pass, skated down the left side and beat Flames goalie Karri Ramo. Perry's four points tied his own franchise Stanley Cup Playoffs single-game record set in Game 1 of the first round. Getzlaf matched Perry by scoring a power-play goal at 2:32 of the third period for a 6-0 lead. He set a career single-game playoff career high in points and assists as Calgary was exploited by Anaheim's top line. The Ducks and Flames were among the NHL leaders in third-period comebacks, but Calgary's lone goal came from rookie Sam Bennett, who scored at 9:16 of the third period when the puck ticked off the skate of Francois Beauchemin and onto his stick for a slap shot that ended Frederik Andersen's bid for his first playoff shutout. Things couldn't have gone much worse for Calgary, which pulled goalie Jonas Hiller early in the second period after he allowed three goals on 14 shots in his first playoff game against his former team. The Flames also lost Micheal Ferland and Jiri Hudler to undisclosed injuries, and Johnny Gaudreau was rested in the third. Including the playoffs, Calgary has lost 20 straight games at Honda Center since winning Game 3 of their first-round series in 2006. Hiller, who spent seven seasons with Anaheim before signing with Calgary as a free agent last summer, said the Flames have to chalk this one up as a lesson learned. The second period has been Anaheim's weakness all season, but Perry and Emerson Etem scored to give the Ducks a 4-0 lead after 40 minutes. Perry was left unguarded to skate from behind the net to the left side and scored easily 2:13 into the second period, prompting Hiller's removal. At 10:11, Etem put in a loose puck off Beauchemin's shot, with Tim Jackman creating traffic in front, for his second goal in as many games. Matt Beleskey and Maroon gave Anaheim a 2-0 lead after one period. Beleskey tapped in a deft pass by Kyle Palmieri from behind the goal line at 10:17 after the Ducks penned the Flames in their zone. Maroon chipped Getzlaf's backhand pass from the corner past Hiller at 13:11 after the top line cycled down low and Maroon outmuscled Matt Stajan in front of the net. Anaheim killed nearly three minutes of Calgary power-play time in the opening 10 minutes because of cross-checking and high-sticking penalties by Perry, and Andersen stopped Josh Jooris on a breakaway early in the game.

Game 2 - Calgary @ Anaheim 0-3 - Sun, May 3 - Ducks Lead 2-0

Karri Ramo helped his team weather the storm and make it a game. Frederik Andersen helped his team weather the storm and get a win. Andersen made 30 saves and Matt Beleskey and Hampus Lindholm scored to lead Anaheim to a 3-0 victory against Calgary in Game 2 of the Western Conference Second Round at Honda Center. It was a reversal of the blowout in Game 1, and it again proved Anaheim can play multiple styles and win with Andersen, who got his first Stanley Cup Playoffs shutout and is 6-0 in the postseason this year. Anaheim won six straight games to start the postseason for the first time since 2003; the Ducks last won six straight playoff games at any point in 2006. Andersen stood his ground with 21 saves in the final 40 minutes during Calgary's push to set up Lindholm's backbreaking goal. With the Ducks holding on to a 1-0 lead, Lindholm gave them some breathing room when he scored on a wrist shot to finish a rush at 11:15 of the third period. He took a drop pass from Corey Perry, and his shot from the top of the right circle to beat Ramo, who made 32 saves and gave the Flames a chance to win. Nate Thompson added an empty-net goal with 2:16 remaining in regulation to crush any flicker of life for the rally-prone Flames. Lindholm's goal came after Calgary played perhaps its best hockey of the series so far. But the Flames were outplayed for the first period and a half and needed Ramo's 19 saves in the first period to keep it a one-goal game.
Anaheim's 1-0 lead after one period could easily have been more if not for Ramo, who stopped Ryan Getzlaf on a 2-on-1 and Kyle Palmieri and Jakob Silfverberg on high-quality chances. Beleskey scored the only goal through the first 51 minutes when he converted Kesler's saucer pass threaded through two defenders at 7:27 of the first period. The Ducks transitioned quickly in the neutral zone as Francois Beauchemin passed to Silfverberg to start the play. Beleskey one-timed Kesler's pass from the right side past a helpless Ramo for his second goal in as many games. Andersen's best save came when he stopped Mason Raymond from point-blank range early in the second period. He said his defense did the rest and kept Calgary to the outside and limited second chances. Andersen's six straight wins tied a club record set by Jean-Sebastien Giguere in 2003 and matched by Ilya Bryzgalov in 2006. The Flames have been outscored 9-1 in the series. Calgary's top-end forwards, Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau and Jiri Hudler, had no shots on goal through 50 minutes and managed a total of two for the game. The Flames scratched Micheal Ferland and Drew Shore. David Wolf made his NHL playoff debut and played some on Calgary's top line. Hartley said the Flames found out Ferland was unavailable after warm-ups. Including the playoffs and regular season, Anaheim has won 21 straight games at home against Calgary dating to Game 3 of their first-round playoff series in 2006. But the series shifts back home for the Flames.


Game 3 - Anaheim @ Calgary 3-4 OT - Tue, May 5 - Ducks Lead 2-1
Mikael Backlund couldn't have picked a better time to score his first Stanley Cup Playoff goal. Backlund scored 4:24 into overtime to give the Flames a 4-3 victory in Game 3 of the Western Conference Second Round at Scotiabank Saddledome. During a lengthy delayed penalty call, the Flames controlled the puck before Backlund snapped a shot from the point that went through a screen and past Frederik Andersen to give the Flames their first win of the series. Backlund was the extra attacker who jumped over the boards when goaltender Karri Ramo came to the bench. Backlund's winner came after Ramo was tested early in overtime, denying Getzlaf and Corey Perry on back-to-back chances 23 seconds apart. He stopped Getzlaf's shot from the high slot, then turned aside Perry on the doorstep on the next rush. Calgary forced overtime when Johnny Gaudreau scored from the lower left circle with 19.5 seconds remaining in regulation. Coincidental penalties to Calgary's Matt Stajan and Anaheim's Simon Despres, followed by a delay of game call to Anaheim's Sami Vatanen for flipping the puck over the glass and into the crowd, put Calgary up one skater. Ramo then went to the bench for an extra attacker, giving Calgary a 5-on-3 advantage, and Gaudreau tied it when he came off the half-wall and picked the top corner on the short side over Andersen's shoulder. It was the first overtime playoff game for the Flames since April 16, 2009, and their first at home since April 22, 2007. The victory was the third for the Flames in this year's playoffs when trailing after two periods; they were third in the NHL with 10 such wins during the regular season. After being outscored 9-1 in two losses at Anaheim, Calgary took its first lead of the series on Brandon Bollig's second goal of the playoffs 2:07 into the game. But Anaheim got even five minutes later. With the puck at the bottom of the circle, Getzlaf zipped a pass across the top of the crease that Patrick Maroon tapped past Ramo at 6:57 to tie the game. Getzlaf also helped set up the go-ahead goal with 5:50 remaining in the first, knocking down TJ Brodie in Calgary's end. That allowed Despres to circle behind the net and center a pass that bounced off the skate of Perry and across the goal line to put the Ducks ahead 2-1. The goal gave Perry a League-leading 14 points this spring and moved him ahead of Teemu Selanne into second on Anaheim's all-time franchise playoff scoring list with 70 points. Getzlaf is tops with 86 points.
Calgary pulled even early in the second period. While killing a tripping penalty to Stajan, Colborne picked up a turnover by Hampus Lindholm at the Calgary blue line, went in alone on Andersen and pulled the puck backhand-to-forehand before pushing it past the goaltender's pad at 4:17 to tie the game 2-2. The goal came on Calgary's sixth shot of the game. Anaheim needed a little more than four minutes to regain the lead. Jakub Silfverberg had his stick lifted on Ryan Kesler's centering pass from below the goal line, but Matt Beleskey, following up on the play, picked up the loose puck and fired a shot over Ramo's glove at 8:20 for a 3-2 lead. Flames rookie Sam Bennett appeared to tie the game with 6:22 remaining in regulation when his wraparound went off Andersen's pad, but video review was inconclusive in determining whether the puck completely crossed the goal line. The Flames rebounded to force overtime with Gaudreau's goal. Calgary scratched Micheal Ferland for a second straight game. He leads the Flames with 42 hits in the playoffs but hasn't dressed since sustaining an undisclosed injury in the first period of Game 1.


Game 4 - Anaheim @ Calgary 4-2 - Fri, May 8 - Ducks Lead 3-1

Matt Beleskey scored the game-winning goal, and Frederik Andersen made 25 saves to lift the Ducks to a 4-2 victory in Game 4 of the Western Conference Second Round at Scotiabank Saddledome. Including the Stanley Cup Playoffs and regular season, the Ducks have won 21 straight games at Honda Center against the Flames dating to Game 3 of their first-round playoff series in 2006.
Anaheim hasn't advanced to the conference final since winning the Stanley Cup in 2007. On a four-minute power play to start the third period after Joe Colborne was assessed a double minor for high sticking at the end of the second, Karri Ramo stopped Jakob Silfverberg's initial shot but kicked the puck to Beleskey, who beat the Calgary goaltender to make it 3-2 at 1:11 with his fourth goal of the playoffs. Beleskey has one goal in each of the first four games of the series. He and Teemu Selanne are the only players in Ducks history to score in Games 1-4 of a playoff series; Selanne did so in the first round in 2011 against the Nashville Predators. Patrick Maroon scored an empty-net goal with 36.7 seconds remaining, and Andersen made saves on all eight shots he faced in the third period, including two during a 56-second, 5-on-3 man-advantage for the Flames, to earn his seventh win of the playoffs.

Silfverberg gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal early in the first period, but the Flames responded 39 seconds later. Stickhandling into the Ducks end, Johnny Gaudreau darted between two Anaheim defenders before stepping around Hampus Lindholm and breaking in on Andersen. The Ducks goalie got his pad down to stop Gaudreau from jamming the puck in, but Sean Monahan tapped the rebound into the back of the net to tie the game 1-1. Micheal Ferland, playing in his first game since leaving in the first period of Game 1 of the series with an undisclosed injury, stepped over the Anaheim blue line and beat Andersen to the blocker side with a slap shot from 40 feet out 67 seconds later to put Calgary ahead. Andersen's glove save against Gaudreau on a rebound at 5:32 of the second period and Ramo's point-blank pad save against Maroon at 11:00 helped to hold the score at 2-1 until a Gaudreau gaffe led to Andrew Cogliano's game-tying goal with 3:18 remaining in the period. After picking up a loose puck in the Calgary end, Gaudreau started to head up ice but was stripped by Cogliano, who took a quick return pass from Kyle Palmieri before beating Ramo between the legs to tie the game 2-2.

Game 5 - Calgary @ Anaheim 2-3 OT - Sun, May 10 - Ducks Win 4-1

When Corey Perry was desperately trying to drag himself off the ice on one leg, the Ducks grip on this Western Conference Second Round series could have been in peril. When Perry returned, and eventually shoveled the puck across the goal line while on one knee 2:26 into overtime of Game 5, the series was over.
Perry's goal Sunday lifted the Ducks past the Flames 3-2 at Honda Center. It is the first time the Ducks are a part of the NHL's final four since 2007 when they won the Stanley Cup. Perry left the game briefly earlier after a collision with Calgary's Matt Stajan in the second period, but he returned for a brief shift near the end of the period and then took regular shifts in the third and overtime.
He said he felt the collision was incidental, but didn't want to talk about what part of his leg was injured on the play. The Ducks outshot the Flames 47-19, including 7-0 in overtime. Karri Ramo made 44 saves. Ramo kept the Flames in the game, but the shots were 35-10 after the first period, and eventually he couldn't stop them all. It was a season full of surpassed expectations in Calgary and possible foundation blocks laid for future success. The Flames were predicted to finish near the bottom of the NHL standings by most preseason pundits, but Calgary not only reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs and finished ahead of the 2014 champion Los Angeles Kings for the final spot in the West, it also defeated the Vancouver Canucks and reached the second round for the first time since 2004. The Flames did so despite losing Mark Giordano, a Norris Trophy contender, to a season-ending injury. Calgary will need to improve its depth, particularly on defense, and fix its issues with possessing the puck, but Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Sam Bennett could be an elite young core to build around. Jiri Hudler went pointless in the first four games, but scored Calgary's first goal with Ryan Kesler in the penalty box and setup Gaudreau's goal to give the Flames a 2-1 lead. Gaudreau, a Calder Trophy finalist, led the Flames with nine points in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Sunday was his 100th game of the season, including preseason, regular-season and playoff games. That's more than double what he played the previous three seasons for Boston College. Kesler had Anaheim's first goal, a power-play one-timer from Jakub Silfverberg. Their linemate at even strength, Matt Beleskey, scored the game-tying goal 59 seconds into the third period with a man-advantage. Beleskey set a Ducks record by scoring in his fifth consecutive postseason game. The Ducks dominated the third period, but Calgary still had a 2-on-1 in the final seconds of regulation. Anaheim controlled play early in overtime before Perry scored and set off the celebration. For Bruce Boudreau, it is his first trip to the conference finals as an NHL coach. For Perry and captain Ryan Getzlaf, it is the first trip to the conference final in eight years, but for the majority of the Anaheim players it is also a bit of redemption. In each of the past two postseasons, the Ducks have had a 3-2 series lead only to lose Games 6 and 7. In 2013 it was in the opening round to the Detroit Red Wings, but last season it was in the second round and the rival Kings were involved. Los Angeles defeated the Ducks in Game 7 at Honda Center, and Boudreau said after the morning skate Sunday his players hoped to make amends for the way that series ended. It might be a year later than originally expected, but the Ducks will get their chance to square off with the Blackhawks.

Thursday 21 May 2015

Blues Discussing Hitchcock's Future



The St. Louis Blues could be close to a decision on retaining coach Ken Hitchcock, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Thursday. The newspaper reported Blues general manager Doug Armstrong and Hitchcock met at a coffee shop Wednesday. Neither would comment on the meeting. Hitchcock has finished first or second in the division in his four seasons with the Blues, including a first-place finish in the Central Division this season. However the Blues have won one Stanley Cup Playoff series with Hitchcock; the Blues lost to the Minnesota Wild in six games in the Western Conference First Round this year. His contract expires this summer. The Blues were one of four teams to receive permission from the Detroit Red Wings to discuss a job for coach Mike Babcock. Babcock was hired as coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday.
After the loss to the Wild, Hitchcock, 63, said he would need time to evaluate his future before deciding on his next step. In 18 seasons as coach with the Dallas Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets and Blues, Hitchcock has a record of 708-428-97, with 88 ties. He won the Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars in 1999 and took the Stars back to the Cup Final in 2000. In his 14 82-game seasons, his teams have made the Stanley Cup Playoffs 13 times. His 708 wins are fourth all-time behind Joel Quenneville (754), Al Arbour (782) and Scotty Bowman (1,244); Hitchcock's 1,322 games coached are ninth, and third among active coaches behind Quenneville (1,375) and the Stars' Lindy Ruff (1,329). Hitchcock also won the Jack Adams Award in 2012.


Ken Hitchcock: "I need time. I need time to reflect right now. I need some time to evaluate right now what I've done, what I've accomplished and what's happened to us both positive, a lot of it, and the negative, which goes along with the territory. I feel like I've let people down right now and I need to think about that and what needs to improve. I want time and space to evaluate it. I'll sit down with Doug, and Doug's right, we've been together a long period of time. I know how good a coach I am. I know what I can do. But I want some time. This is a really emotional time for me because I feel a real connection to the community. I need to just step back and evaluate where this thing's at."


Lightning Second Line Doing the Business



The three players on the Tampa Bay Lightning's delightfully skilled and fantastically young and energetic second line are known as "The Triplets." The nickname works because it's quick, to the point, memorable and easy to digest.
Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov are nothing alike. But in an odd way that's what fuels their chemistry, what makes them so good and so awesome to watch. They've been that way all season and, most impressively and importantly, throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Nothing changed Wednesday at Amalie Arena, when "The Triplets" combined for four goals, including Kucherov's overtime winner, and three assists in the Lightning's 6-5 victory against the New York Rangers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final. The threesome has accounted for 25 of Tampa Bay's 47 goals in the playoffs. The Rangers have had no answer for them. They read off each other well largely because they know the other guy isn't going to be doing what they do. Kucherov, a Russian, and Johnson, an American, are the two highly skilled members of the line, so they feed off of Palat's powerful game.

Palat, a Czech, digs out pucks, hits and does all the dirty work so that Johnson and Kucherov have more space to work with. They don't have to do all of that because Palat does. That's his skillset. That's what makes him unique on the line. Palat was like a train in Game 3; to go along with his three points he was credited with two hits and had eight shot attempts, including four on goal. Palat was a seventh-round draft pick, the 208th player chosen in the 2011 NHL Draft. Now he's the glue to the best line going in the NHL. Palat was drafted 150 spots after the Lightning selected Kucherov, who is all skill with a shot that will fool you, like it did Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist on his overtime winner. Whereas most players would have dumped the puck in when faced with an outnumbered situation as Kucherov was, he decided to fire the puck on net.

Johnson, who was passed over three times in the NHL draft before signing with the Lightning as a free agent, said all he has to do is float around and let Palat and Kucherov find him. He's being humble. He does more than that. A lot more.
Johnson plays a responsible 200-foot game, gets in the battle even though he's only 5-foot-8, and has terrific skill. The combination makes him unique among his linemates. His hat trick in Game 2 was a thing of beauty: a goal off a 3-on-5 breakaway, a goal off a 4-on-3 power play, and an even-strength goal. Johnson's goal in Game 3 was off a one-timer from a saucer pass through two sticks by Palat.


Ondrej Palat: "It's so much fun to play with those two guys. Hopefully we're just going to keep going. We read off each other. I know exactly where [Johnson] and [Kucherov] are going to be on the ice. It's just fun."
Nikita Kucherov: "[Palat's] a big grinder. He's just like a train on the line. Any shot is a good shot. I was just trying to hit the net. [Kucherov] learned how to play defense [last season] and it was huge for him. He's a skilled player, and he will make those plays like that."
Tyler Johnson: "[Palat] was playing possessed. He was unbelievable all over the ice. He's a tough, physical guy. It's hard to get the puck off of him. He has skill and he can make plays. [Kucherov] is one of those guys when you think he literally has nothing he just whips up something. [Palat and Kucherov] make my job a lot easier."
Palat says the same thing about Kucherov and Johnson. Kucherov says the same thing about Johnson and Palat. They may not look alike, act alike, sound alike or play alike, but they are "The Triplets" because the way they play together makes it look like they've been together forever.
Jon Cooper: "They've impressed me for a long time and now they're impressing the world."

NHL PO - Round 2 - Tampa Bay Lightning beat Montreal Canadiens 4-2

Game 1 - Tampa Bay @ Montreal 2-1 2OT - Fri, May 1 - Bolts Lead 1-0
Nikita Kucherov and the Lightning were not going to be denied in overtime. Certainly not twice. Kucherov scored 2:06 into the second overtime to give Tampa Bay a 2-1 victory against the Canadiens in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Second Round series at Bell Centre. Kucherov took a pass from Valtteri Filppula and beat Montreal goalie Carey Price with a low shot from the top of the slot. Kucherov had an apparent goal waved off 2:56 into the first overtime. Referee Eric Furlatt ruled that the puck went over the goal line as a result of Kucherov pushing Price's pad into the net after the goaltender made the initial save. Tyler Johnson gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead 2:34 into the third period. Lightning coach Jon Cooper conceded that the no-goal call was the right one. Michel Therrien took a lot of positives from the game, though he complained that the Lightning were offside on the play that led to the winning goal. Max Pacioretty drew Montreal even at 1-1 with his third goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 5:13 remaining in the third period. Pacioretty's shot from the top of the left faceoff circle popped out of the base of the webbing of Lightning goalie Ben Bishop's catching glove, flew into the air and dropped behind him before crossing the goal line. Johnson scored his seventh goal of the playoffs to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 2:34 of the third. He deflected Matt Carle's shot from the left point past Price 16 seconds after Alexei Emelin's hooking penalty expired. Pacioretty's goal ended Bishop's shutout streak at 133:18. Bishop, who made 43 saves, got his first playoff shutout Wednesday with a 31-save effort in the Lightning's 2-0 win against the Detroit Red Wings in Game 7 of their first-round series. Johnson's goal ended Price's shutout streak at 103:24. Price made 33 saves Friday after making 43 on Sunday for his fifth playoff shutout in Montreal's 2-0 first-round series-clinching win against the Ottawa Senators.
Bishop made a sensational save on Tomas Plekanec's shorthanded chance at 17:27 of the second period. The 6-foot-7 goaltender stacked his pads and flashed his glove to snare Plekanec's 2-on-1 shot on a pass from Pacioretty. Bishop also stopped Pacioretty on a shorthanded breakaway 6:55 into the second. Montreal came out flying from the opening faceoff, and David Desharnais nearly put the Canadiens ahead on his first shift when he fired a wrist shot that beat Bishop but hit high on the right post 1:51 into the game.
Bishop got some help from the right post again when Pacioretty's low shot from the left side hit the post, and Bishop denied Brendan Gallagher's shot with a pad save off the rebound at 11:38. Alex Galchenyuk was called for the Canadiens' first three minor penalties. Each team's power-play struggles during the playoffs continued. Tampa Bay went 0-for-4; the Lightning are 2-for-34 (5.9 percent) with the man advantage. Montreal went 0-for-3 and is 1-for-23 (4.3 percent).

Game 2 - Tampa Bay @ Montreal 6-2 - Sun, May 3 - Bolts Lead 2-0
What Jon Cooper liked most about his power play was that it scored, so his players gave him a lot to like. Nikita Kucherov scored two of Tampa Bay's four power-play goals, and Steven Stamkos and Valtteri Filppula each had a goal and two assists in a 6-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Second Round series at Bell Centre. The Lightning, who entered the game in an 0-for-23 power-play drought and failed to score during a four-minute advantage in the first period, scored on four consecutive power-play shots and cruised the rest of the way. Filppula broke the Lightning's power-play drought when he scored with 24 seconds remaining in the first period. Kucherov and Victor Hedman each scored with the man-advantage in the second period to give Tampa Bay a 4-1 lead, and Kucherov scored his second power-play goal of the game at 6:37 of the third to increase the Lightning's lead to four. Filppula, who set up Kucherov's double-overtime goal in Game 1, one-timed a wrist shot from the right side on a return pass from Hedman for the first power-play goal, which tied the game at 1-1. Montreal had dominated the first period, and Cooper said Filppula's goal changed the game's momentum. The goal came moments after Torrey Mitchell went in on a shorthanded breakaway but was stopped by Lightning goalie Ben Bishop. Stamkos scored his first goal of the playoffs in the second period and assisted on each of Kucherov's power-play goals. Bishop is 12-1-2 with a 1.49 goals-against-average in 16 regular-season and playoff games against the Canadiens. He missed the Canadiens' first-round playoff sweep of the Lightning last spring because of an elbow injury. Stamkos, who had not scored a goal in his previous nine games, including eight in the playoffs, gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead at 8:06 of the second period. The Lightning captain got behind Tom Gilbert and Andrei Markov and drove in on a breakaway. He deked Price and tucked the puck inside the right post for his ninth goal in 31 Stanley Cup Playoff games. Kucherov made it 3-1 when he scored at 12:29 during a 4-on-3 power play. Kucherov shot into an open right side to finish off a passing play with Tyler Johnson and Stamkos 15 seconds after Gilbert was called for cross-checking while each team was already a man short. Hedman increased Tampa Bay's lead to 4-1 with 14 seconds remaining in the period by scoring Tampa Bay's third power-play goal. Johnson got his second assist on Kucherov's second power-play goal of the game, at 6:37 of the third. Gilbert scored his second goal of the playoffs at 11:06 to draw the Canadiens within 5-2, but J.T. Brown restored the Lightning's four-goal lead at 16:05. Jeff Petry scored his first NHL playoff goal at 7:20 of the first period to put the Canadiens ahead 1-0 when he beat Bishop with a wrist shot from the right point. It was the second time Montreal has scored first in eight playoff games. Carey Price, who made 18 saves, had not allowed more than five goals in his 73 previous games this season, including the first seven in the playoffs. Montreal went 0-for-3 on the power play. The Canadiens are 1-for-26 in the playoffs. Cedric Paquette did not play after taking a shift of the second midway through the period. He sustained an undisclosed injury and did not return. David Desharnais was a late scratch because of the flu and was replaced in the lineup by Brian Flynn. Penalties
1st Period
01:13
TBL
Matthew Carle  Roughing against  Brendan Gallagher
13:45
MTL
Brandon Prust  Roughing against  Braydon Coburn
13:45
MTL
Brandon Prust  Unsportsmanlike conduct
18:04
MTL
P.K. Subban  Cross checking against  Ryan Callahan
2nd Period
01:30
TBL
Alex Killorn  Holding against  P.K. Subban
04:35
TBL
Brenden Morrow  Illegal Check To Head against  Greg Pateryn
10:49
MTL
Alexei Emelin  Interference against  Vladislav Namestnikov
10:49
TBL
Vladislav Namestnikov  Embellishment against  Alexei Emelin
12:15
MTL
Tom Gilbert  Cross checking against  Tyler Johnson
18:57
MTL
Jeff Petry  Interference against  Ondrej Palat
3rd Period
06:10
MTL
Torrey Mitchell  Interference on goalkeeper against  Ben Bishop
11:06
MTL
Dale Weise  Misconduct (10 min)
11:06
MTL
Torrey Mitchell  Delay Gm - Face-off Violation
18:07
MTL
Brandon Prust  Fighting (maj) against  Braydon Coburn
18:07
TBL
Braydon Coburn  Fighting (maj) against  Brandon Prust
18:07
MTL
Brandon Prust  Tripping against  Ben Bishop
18:07
MTL
Brandon Prust  Misconduct (10 min)
18:07
MTL
Brandon Prust  Game misconduct

Game 3 - Montreal @ Tampa Bay 1-2 - Wed, May 6 - Bolts Lead 3-0
Tyler Johnson scored with 1.1 seconds remaining to give the Lightning a 2-1 win in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Second Round against the Canadiens at Amalie Arena. It was Johnson's League-high eighth goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and it was set up by Victor Hedman, who has more points than any Eastern Conference defenseman with six. It was the eighth consecutive win by the Lightning against the Canadiens this season and gave them a 3-0 lead in the best-of-7 series. With time running down and the Lightning buzzing in the Canadiens zone, Johnson went to the net, took a pass from Hedman and put the puck past Carey Price. The time on the scoreboard read 0:00 while the Lightning celebrated, but a video review determined the puck went in with 1.1 seconds remaining. Johnson never would have had the opportunity to win the game for the Lightning were it not for goalie Ben Bishop at the other end of the ice.
Bishop continued his stellar play, withstanding a push from the Canadiens over the final two periods. After making 30 saves, he has allowed four goals on 135 shots in his past four games, a save percentage of .970, a run that began as soon as the Lightning faced elimination against the Detroit Red Wings in Game 6 of the first round. Brendan Gallagher, on his 23rd birthday, tied the game at 10:03 of the third period when he slid a rebound behind Bishop while Brian Boyle was falling on him. Gallagher's goal came on Montreal's 27th shot while the Lightning had 12, seemingly content up until that point to sit on their 1-0 lead. The Lightning put seven shots on Price over the final 9:57 after generating 12 in the first 50:03. With a little more than a minute remaining, Stamkos jumped on the ice and his line had a dominant shift in the Canadiens zone. Johnson's line followed, and another magical moment for the undrafted center ensued. Alex Killorn opened the scoring at 12:00 of the first period when he completed a nifty give-and-go play with Stamkos to get in on Price and beat him to the glove side. The Canadiens began to pressure the Lightning from the second period onward, controlling long segments of play and hitting the goal post or the crossbar three times. Michel Therrien refused to find fault with his players after the game and would not discuss who made a mistake on the winning goal. Instead, he wanted to focus on the effort put forth in a desperate situation. They don't have time to with fewer than 24 hours before Game 4, with the Canadiens fighting for their lives and the Lightning aiming to pay back their sweep at the hands of the Canadiens in last season's playoffs.

Game 4 - Montreal @ Tampa Bay 6-2 - Thu, May 7 - Bolts Lead 3-1
The Canadiens avoided being swept out of the Eastern Conference Second Round with a 6-2 win against the Lightning in Game 4 at Amalie Arena. Max Pacioretty scored a shorthanded goal and had two assists, helping Montreal take a 5-0 lead midway through the second period. Andrei Markov, David Desharnais, Jeff Petry, Brendan Gallagher and Brandon Prust scored for the Canadiens, who defeated the Lightning for the first time since sweeping their Eastern Conference First Round series last season. Markov scored 2:44 into the game on the Canadiens' first shot on goal. Pacioretty started the play by escaping from Matthew Carle and cycling the puck to P.K. Subban, who found Markov open in the slot, where he scored top-shelf over a sprawling save attempt by Ben Bishop. Pacioretty scored his fourth goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at 8:43 with the Lightning on a power play. Tom Gilbert raced to an open puck and passed it to Pacioretty, who scored on the breakaway to give the Canadiens a 2-0 lead. Desharnais' goal at 5:08 of the second period came off a slap shot from the left circle. Bishop tried to make a glove save but the puck bounced out and into the net. Bishop, who had won eight straight games against Montreal, was pulled for Andrei Vasilevskiy. The Canadiens scored twice on Vasilevskiy, a 20-year-old rookie making his NHL playoff debut, in a 15-second span with Petry's power-play goal at 9:39 and Gallagher's wrist shot at 9:54. Nikita Kucherov got the Lightning within 5-1 with his fourth goal of the playoffs at 12:28 of the second. Tampa Bay's Ondrej Palat and Prust scored in the third period.
Game 5 - Tampa Bay @ Montreal 1-2 - Sat, May 9 - Bolts Lead 3-2
Canadiens were fed up with their shots ringing off goalposts when PA Parenteau fired a one-timer off the crossbar that struck just the right note and kept their Stanley Cup hopes alive. Parenteau scored with 4:07 remaining in the third period on a shot that went in off the crossbar to give Montreal a 2-1, Game 5 win against the Lightning at Bell Centre, extending the Eastern Conference Second Round series a second time. Parenteau beat Tampa Bay goalie Ben Bishop from the top of the slot on a pass from P.K. Subban. Devante Smith-Pelly scored his first goal of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs 9:01 into the first period for Montreal, which hit the post three times while going 0-for-2 on the power play in the second period. It is the first time the Canadiens won Game 5 in a series they trailed 3-0. Montreal led the Ottawa Senators 3-0 in the Eastern Conference First Round and lost Games 4 and 5 before winning that series in six games. Therrien said hockey is a game of momentum and it is up to the Canadiens to maintain it. Smith-Pelly scored on a wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle. Play continued briefly even though referee Steve Kozari immediately signaled a goal, and a video review confirmed his on-ice ruling that the puck struck the bar inside the top of the net. Bishop, who was pulled in Game 4 after allowing three goals on 14 shots, made 27 saves. Subban struck the crossbar during a brief 4-on-3 advantage after Tampa Bay's Nikita Nesterov was called for interference with each team short a skater. Parenteau, who came out of the penalty box at the same time as Victor Hedman, hit the post later in the same power play. Jeff Petry hit the left post on another power play, and Anton Stralman cleared the loose puck behind Bishop to deny Alex Galchenyuk's scoring chance. Price, who is a finalist for the Hart and Vezina trophies, made 24 saves. He got his left glove on Lightning forward Valterri Filppula's wrist shot from the right side at 7:21 of the third period. Price had his right pad in position to make the save on Tampa Bay left wing Brenden Morrow's shot in the second.
The 2014 Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings are among the four teams in NHL history to come back from 3-0 down to win a best-of-7 series. Los Angeles did so in the first round against the San Jose Sharks. The Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1942 Stanley Cup Final against the Detroit Red Wings were the first team to accomplish the feat, which was achieved by the New York Islanders against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the quarterfinals in 1975, and the Philadelphia Flyers against the Boston Bruins in the 2010 Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Game 6 - Montreal @ Tampa Bay 1-4 - Tue, May 12 - Bolts Win 4-2
The pressure, everyone kept saying, had shifted to the Lightning. After winning the first three games in their Eastern Conference Second Round series, they were on the verge of blowing it. The Canadiens had found their game and were brimming with confidence. A Game 7 at Bell Centre would have been akin to a Canadiens coronation. The Lightning won the best-of-7 series at Amalie Arena with their most complete game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, stifling the Canadiens in a 4-1 defensive masterpiece. Nikita Kucherov had two goals and an assist, and Ondrej Palat had a goal and an assist to make sure the collapse people were predicting didn't happen, with the Lightning dominating play from the first intermission onward and getting solid goaltending from Ben Bishop, who made 18 saves to continue his impressive run in his first career appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Bishop has allowed one goal in two series-clinching wins. The Lightning advanced to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 2011. The only Lightning players who were also on that 2011 team are Victor Hedman and captain Steven Stamkos, who finally looked like his usual, dominant self in Game 6 after struggling offensively for much of the playoffs. The Lightning advanced again this time because of the "Triplets" line of Kucherov, Palat and Tyler Johnson. After Johnson dominated the first round with six goals against the Detroit Red Wings, it was Kucherov's turn in the second round with six goals in six games. Carey Price lost in an elimination game for the first time in eight tries dating to the 2014 Sochi Olympics, where he helped Canada win the goal medal. In his previous seven elimination games, three at the Olympics, two in last season's playoffs and Games 4 and 5 of this series, Price had allowed five goals on 176 shots. Price allowed three on 28 shots. It was hardly Price's fault the Canadiens lost, even though he felt differently. The first period turned significantly on two plays that took place in a span of less than three minutes just past the midway point, and Tomas Plekanec was in the middle of each. Brendan Gallagher made a great play in the Tampa Bay end to chip the puck around Jason Garrison and get it in front to Plekanec. Bishop got across and made a pad save on Plekanec, who was all alone but could not elevate the puck, at 13:09. Plekanec had an opportunity to clear the puck from the Canadiens zone on his next shift but didn't, and Palat wound up taking a sharp-angled shot on goal that Kucherov tipped into the top corner behind Price at 15:35 for his fifth goal of the series. Plekanec felt the turnaround there typified what ended the Canadiens' season. The first period was evenly played aside from that stretch, with the Lightning coming out with a decisive 13-6 edge in shots based on testing Price five times on the lone power play of the opening 20 minutes. The second period, however, was not evenly played. And that's when the Lightning won the game. The Canadiens came out for the second looking jittery, unable to string passes together or get the puck through the neutral zone effectively. The Lightning were ready to pounce, and it didn't take long for their captain to do just that. Stamkos skated into the offensive zone, took a pass in the slot from Alex Killorn and deftly maneuvered the puck in front of Jeff Petry before putting a shot over Price's left shoulder at 5:12 of the second to put the Lightning ahead 2-0. It was Stamkos' third goal of the series after he was held without a goal in seven games against Detroit. Stamkos scored on Tampa Bay's fourth shot of the period; Montreal did not get its first until a minute later. The Lightning continued to carry the play through much of the period before Andrej Sustr was called for slashing at 16:05, giving the Canadiens' embattled power play an opportunity to make an impact in the series. It didn't, and when the Lightning got the same opportunity 33 seconds after killing off the Sustr penalty when Devante Smith-Pelly was called for holding, they capitalized almost immediately. Palat sent the puck to Kucherov in the corner and cut straight to the net, taking the return pass and quickly beating Price with a shot to the far post for his third of the playoffs at 18:56 of the second, making it 3-0. The score was fitting, considering it represented the lead the Lightning once held in this series, but the Canadiens made only a minor dent in it when Max Pacioretty scored late in a third period that played out more like a parade toward the inevitable. Kucherov iced it with an empty-net goal with 2:01 to play. The final period gave the sellout Amalie Arena crowd, one that appeared nervous when the game began, a chance to cheer and exhale a sigh of relief. Their beloved Lightning players on the ice could do the same thing as they, and their fans, await their next opponent.