An Unbelievable Finish; Vancouver Advances

It came down to one final game for the Canucks and Blackhawks.  One game to decide who moves on.  Vancouver won the first three followed by Chicago winning the next three.  Game 7 proved to be no disappointment.

All eyes were on goalie Roberto Luongo as he has proved year after year to be a no-show come playoff.  This year looks to be the same as he had a horrific game 4 and got pulled once again in game 5.  For game 6, Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault turned to backup Cory Schneider.  After losing game 6 as well coach Vigneault went back with Luongo for game 7.  He responded with 31 saves and only 1 goal allowed. 

Avoiding the Sweep

There were only two games last night, but neither of them disappointed.  The Canucks were going for the sweep in Chicago, and the Sharks took on the Kings in a thrilling game 3.

Chicago 7 vs. Vancouver 2

(VAN leads series 3-1)

-The Canucks were unable to take game 4 as the Blackhawks proved that they wouldn't go down without a fight.  Chicago got goals from Bryan Bickell, Duncan Keith, Michael Frolik, Brian Campbell, Dave Bolland, and Patrick Sharp in this scrappy game.  

Jake's Take: NHL Playoffs and Predictions

Well folks it’s that time of year. Time for beards to be growing and blood to start flowing. (yes I know it rhymed and I’m damn proud of it.)

Now I know this post is coming a tad bit late, but I plan on giving my insight into the future of the 2010-2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Opening Night of the NHL Playoffs: Goalies Stand Tall

Day one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs are in the books.  5 of the 8 series have begun and things are already shaping up to be interesting.  Two goalies, Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury and Vancouver's Roberto Luongo, recorded shutouts for their teams. One game ended in with a thrilling overtime finish, and one lower seed defeated the higher seed.

The Beauty of Twitter in the NHL, Pt.4

Heading into the playoffs, the official account of the Blackhawks gives us this.

In light of his inability to grow a proper playoff beard, Patrick Kane offers us the playoff mullet. Classy as always.

Pavel Kubina Suspended

The NHL has issued a statement that Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Pavel Kubina has been suspended for 3 games after elbowing Chicago's Dave Bolland in the head.



Kubina will forfeit close to $61,000 in salary.  He will be eligible to return March 17th vs. Montreal.

This hit comes just 2 days after the Zdeno Chara-Max Pacioretty incident.  To me, I think it is ridiculous that Chara doesn't get any kind of suspension seeing he put Pacioretty in the hospital and Kubina gets 3 games for an elbow that doesn't even get called as a penalty.  Now don't get me wrong, I think Kubina should be suspended, I just also feel like Chara should have been disciplined as well.

You can see the Zdeno Chara hit here.

Tonight's Other Two Trades

In the hours following today's Anaheim-Toronto trade, there were 2 additional deals announced, one relatively big one relatively small. Trades today involved players going from Chicago to Florida, and from the Islanders to the Phoenix Coyotes, with a grand total of six players and one draft pick moving today.

Read on for details...