How the Last 13 Stanley Cup Champions Didn't Repeat, Part 4: Fan's Take (Yahoo! Contributor Network)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 12:46:00 PDT)
In the past 13 years, all 13 Stanley Cup champions fell short of raising the Cup another consecutive time. The first part of my series looked at how the champions from 1999, 2000 and 2001 failed to repeat. Part two studied how the 2002, 2003 and 2004 champions missed the chance to win again. Last week, part three explained how the 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 champions were undone the next year. Finally, this series ends by exploring the way the 2010, 2011 and 2012 champions went home early.

Coyotes, Kings Game 5 preview; Claude Giroux has fun; PK Subban on the ladies (Puck Headlines) (Puck Daddy)
(Tue, 22 May 2012 13:06:20 PDT)
Here are your Puck Headlines: a glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media. • Claude Giroux's beer pong adventures are rightfully getting attention on this lovely Tuesday, but it's the double-casted topless cornholing that we're sure a segment of our readership is more interested in. Playoffs leading scorer indeed. [ Crossing Broad ] • In case you missed it, the Los Angeles Kings' snarky infographic about being confused with the Sacramento Kings was hilarious. [ Kings ] • PK and Malcolm Subban talk race and hockey with Complex. And also, the ladies. Who "pulls the most ladies" in the Subban family? PK says: "Wow, well definitely me. I'm the oldest, I have the most experience, and I'm the best looking. I've been told that on numerous occasions, numerous. Now that doesn't take anything away from my brothers, Malcolm is good looking and Jordan's a good looking guy, too. I mean they are related to me so they get a little bit of the looks. But right now I have to say I have the most experience. I'm a veteran when it comes to that, they're still learning. They have lots of potential. They're like first-round picks right now in the game, they still have to develop." [ Complex ] • Coach Bob Hartley's Zurich Lions are ready to bid him adieu as he returns to the NHL. [ Swiss Habs ] • Speaking of the Lions, that's where Ryan Shannon of the Tampa Bay Lightning will be for the next three years. [ SB Nation ] • What kind of grade would Ville Leino receive for his effort with the Buffalo Sabres? [ Die By The Blade ] • In which Shane Doan compares the Phoenix Coyotes' plight to Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail. [ Arizona Sports ] • This is so strange: An entire column written about embellishment in the playoffs and how it needs to stop, without a single mention of Mike Smith's flopping. Oh, Arizona Republic you say? Well then. [ AZCentral ] • Look, we don't like to judge, but embezzling $144,000 from a Youth Hockey Association is a sort of [expletived] up. [ Cap Times ]

What We Learned: Embarrassing LA sports media moments while covering Kings playoff run (Puck Daddy)
(Mon, 21 May 2012 06:58:22 PDT)
Hello, this is a feature that will run through the entire season and aims to recap the weekend's events and boils those events down to one admittedly superficial fact or stupid opinion about each team. Feel free to complain about it. It's possibly the greatest bit of investigative journalism conducted since Woodward and Bernstein brought down Richard Nixon. This exemplary, collective effort of sleuth work is currently ongoing in Los Angeles, Calif., where an entire media market has unearthed the NHL's shocking secret: The city has a professional hockey team. Over the past week or so here at Puck Daddy, we've tried to document every startling discovery made by the intrepid Los Angeles media, like how to properly pronounce Anze Kopitar's name (it's hard because he's from Bosnia or something), the real name of this Drew Doughty character ( it's actually Brad !) and that hockey is in fact not played with a ball, but rather a little piece of rubber known as a "puck." That last one makes me pretty uncomfortable because of the word it rhymes with. ("Duck" — sorry, I just don't trust 'em; they have weird beaks). Just how villainous is this team, operating as a sort of sporting sleeper cell? They got all the way to the Western Conference Finals without one local noticing. That takes real criminal talent. And not only that, but, the NHL had the diabolical idea to hide it right under the Los Angelinos' noses, by having their home games played at the Staples Center. You know, where the Lakers play. Further, they named the team the Kings to intentionally confuse even the savviest media organization into thinking they are the NBA's Sacramento Kings. Astonishingly devious stuff. More twists and turns than the Da Vinci Code, which I've read three times just to make sure I understood it all. The best bit of this journalism on this pressing issue comes, of course, from the city's paper of record, the Los Angeles Times, winner of 44 Pulitzer Prizes since 1942, including three in 2012. It was for that towering beacon of journalistic excellence that columnist Chris Erskine successfully scruted several of the team and sport's most inscrutable mysteries . For instance, that thing I said earlier about the puck (again, yuck… oh and that's another gross word it rhymes with), I learned it from Erskine. Apparently they even freeze the thing. And that's a huge point of concern, because, "The hardest shots can reach 110 mph and tear flesh, crush bone, even kill you if you're not careful." Yikes, you guys! ( Coming Up: Rick Nash to Boston?; Tororella defends Prust; Ryan Suter faces his future; Evegni Malkin is having a pretty good season; why Lundqvist is King; why the Capitals can't win with Ovechkin; the Islanders know how to party; Canucks might keep Luongo; Ryan Miller on the CBA; Flames and Oilers coaching news; and are the Kings in trouble?)

Brandon Prust of Rangers suspended for Game 4 after elbow on Devils’ Anton Volchenkov (Puck Daddy)
(Sun, 20 May 2012 18:48:14 PDT)
New Jersey Devils Coach Pete DeBoer called Rangers forward Brandon Prust's Game 3 elbow against defenseman Anton Volchenkov "headhunting … plain and simple." New York Rangers Coach John Tortorella called Prust an "honest player" and inferred that Volchenkov sold the incident. Prust himself said "it wasn't vicious at all," while Volchenkov said it was "pretty dirty." The NHL Department of Player Safety? It determined it was worth a one-game suspension for Prust, who will miss Monday's Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final in Newark: The incident occurred at 2:31 of the second period. There was no penalty called on the play. As the video shows, Prust flailed out his arm to clip Volchenkov in the head after the Devils defenseman spun away from a check. That fact that there was no injury on the play and that Prust has no prior interaction with Brendan Shanahan and the Department of Player Safety might make a one-game suspension in the Eastern Conference final seem severe. But Shanahan and the NHL have sent a message twice about this kind of hit, with this type of result.

Russia back on top, defeats Slovakia 6-2 in final (The Associated Press)
(Sun, 20 May 2012 15:52:23 PDT)
HELSINKI (AP) Russia won the world championship Sunday by defeating Slovakia 6-2.

Russia faces Slovakia in hockey worlds final (The Associated Press)
(Sat, 19 May 2012 21:47:56 PDT)
HELSINKI (AP) Russia and Slovakia will meet in the world hockey championship final on Sunday for the first time since the Slovaks won their only title a decade ago against the Russians.

Malkin scores 3 goals in semifinal for Russia (The Associated Press)
(Sat, 19 May 2012 09:56:05 PDT)
HELSINKI (AP) Russia's Evgeni Malkin scored three goals to lead his team to a 6-2 win Saturday over Finland in the semifinal of the World Championships.

Evgeni Malkin’s hat trick puts Russia in World Championships gold medal game (VIDEO) (Puck Daddy)
(Sat, 19 May 2012 08:25:56 PDT)
In a little over a month, Evgeni Malkin will be awarded the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scoring and most likely the Hart Trophy for league MVP. Bouncing back from a torn ACL and MCL last season, Malkin put up 50 goals and 109 points for the Pittsburgh Penguins this season. After their first round elimination by the Philadelphia Flyers where he scored eight points in six games, Malkin has continued his tear with Russia at the World Championships in Helsinki and Stockholm. In today's 6-2 semifinal victory over host Finland, Malkin tallied his second hat trick of the tournament as the Russians moved on to Sunday's gold medal tilt against the winner of Slovakia-Czech Republic: With the hat trick, Malkin has points in all nine games and overtook Patrick Thoresen (!) as leading scorer in the tournament with 10 goals and eight assists. Second in scoring for Russia is Alexander Popov with 11 points. The Finns won the tournament last year, but according to IIHF.com , home ice hasn't been kind host teams. The Soviet Union in 1986 was the last host side to win gold. Next year's tournament will again be hosted in Helsinki and Stockholm. Maybe the Finns and Swedes can ask to have all of their games be played away from home? Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

LA Kings fight excitement about playoff run (The Associated Press)
(Fri, 18 May 2012 15:59:40 PDT)
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) Dwight King has been living in a hotel since the Los Angeles Kings recalled him from the minors just over three months ago, and the playoff hero isn't about to move out of his temporary digs.

Penguins GM Ray Shero wants Jordan Staal in Pittsburgh, not on trade block (Puck Daddy)
(Wed, 16 May 2012 09:32:48 PDT)
Jordan Staal could be a No. 1 center in over a dozen NHL cities right now. Instead, he's like Bill Hader on SNL: Brilliantly talented, the glue that holds sketches together, but rarely in the spotlight save for Stefon on "Weekend Update" because Andy Samberg and Kristen Wiig get all the airtime. (Evgeni Malkin in this case being Kristin Wiig; Sidney Crosby being Andy Samberg, as Lindsay Lohan informed us earlier in the season .) Staal has one year left on his current deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and rumors are that he wants more responsibility (re: ice time, offensive chances) with the team. Rumors were also that he could join his brother Eric with the Carolina Hurricanes , or potentially be moved elsewhere this summer. But Dave Molinari of the Post-Gazette spoke to GM Ray Shero , and he hopes to re-sign Staal and Sidney Crosby to extensions this summer: Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal have one year left on their contracts, and Evgeni Malkin has two. Negotiations with Crosby and Staal can't begin until July 1, so there's no way of knowing precisely what they'll be asking for, but Shero reiterated that his goal is to retain all three. "I'd like to do that, if possible," he said. "We're looking at hopefully getting extensions with [Crosby and Staal]." While it is conceivable that Staal, the team's No. 3 center, might want to play elsewhere so he can fill a more offense-oriented role, he apparently has not said anything of the sort to the Penguins. Asked if any of the top three centers had expressed a desire to move, Shero responded, "Absolutely not." The key issue in bringing Staal back will be the money he's seeking.

NHL questions: Can the Rangers go all the way? (The Associated Press)
(Wed, 16 May 2012 00:08:55 PDT)
The NHL's conference finals opened over the weekend without some of the top teams and big stars that highlighted the regular season.

Michel Therrien, Marc Crawford and the Montreal Canadiens’ coaching vacancy (Puck Daddy)
(Tue, 15 May 2012 11:00:13 PDT)
Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin has a few things on his plate this summer. He wants to re-up with PK Subban on a new deal. He has Carey Price headed to RFA status this summer, after making $5.5 million in his last deal. And, of course, he needs to hire a head coach. Bob McKenzie of TSN whet the appetite on Monday night by reporting that the Habs are "in the process of touching base with potential head coach candidates including Michel Therrien, Guy Carbonneau, Marc Crawford, Bob Hartley, etc." Michel Therrien (190 games as Habs coach, 2000-03) and Guy Carbonneau (230 games as Habs coach, 2006-09)? Canadiens fans like BK were lobbying for a complete break from the Gainey/Gauthier era: What the Habs need is electroshock therapy. That's why they also need a coach who didn't work with the ancien regime. So forget Alain Vigneault, Michel Therrien, and Guy Carbonneau. Yet two of the three could be candidates, and the third would be had the Vancouver Canucks cut him loose. Brian Stubits of Eye on Hockey thinks this is a symptom of the language requirements of the position: If you want proof that the ability to speak French is paramount to be coach of the Habs, look no further than the inclusion of Therrien. He has already done the Montreal thing once and was canned after 2 1/2 seasons. He then last 3 1/2 seasons in Pittsburgh. Yes, he did lead them to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2008, but he was fired midseason the next year when the team was struggling and was replaced by Dan Bylsma, who guided the Penguins to the championship. Carbonneau has earned an endorsement from Dave Stubbs of The Gazette, although a proposed reunion with Larry Robinson seems unlikely. The theory is that he's better prepared to handle the Montreal media circus than he was in the first go-round. Bob Hartley's an understandable candidate — veteran coach, with a Cup ring, although one imagines the Calgary Flames will come calling . But what about Marc Crawford?

It's all about winning for controversial Rangers coach John Tortorella
(Mon, 14 May 2012 10:47:56 PDT)
Tortorella often comes off as cantankerous and arrogant, but there's more to the New York Rangers coach than meets the eye.

Blue Jackets keep Richards with two-year contract (The SportsXchange)
(Mon, 14 May 2012 08:20:17 PDT)
The Columbus Blue Jackets are sticking with Todd Richards.

What We Learned: What to make of this Washington Capitals season? (Puck Daddy)
(Mon, 14 May 2012 05:28:10 PDT)
Hello, this is a feature that will run through the entire season and aims to recap the weekend's events and boils those events down to one admittedly superficial fact or stupid opinion about each team. Feel free to complain about it. There's been a lot of talk about what this season has meant for the Washington Capitals in the hours leading up to, and then immediately following, their final game of the remarkably eventful 2011-12 season. Wysh had a pretty good recap of the reasons the Capitals felt this little run to a pair of one-goal Game 7s against the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds in the Eastern Conference — both having been heavy favorites — vindicated the Dale Hunter system of everyone playing defense and collapsing to within three inches of the crease, and it's perfectly reasonable for people to feel that way. Certainly, no one expected these Capitals to do much damage in the postseason given that they frittered away a division they were picked to dominate. But the thing that everyone seems to forget is that, again, they were picked to dominate the Southeast, be a superpower in the East and the League at large. If the team tuned out Bruce Boudreau, and it appears they did, then wasn't his replacement, whoever it happened to be, more or less expected to get this far? Therefore, it becomes a question about what changed, and really, what didn't. Let's not forget, Boudreau came in originally and let guys like Alex Semin, Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green have their run of the rink. Two-minute shifts? Sure! Goals aplenty? You bet. But in the end, what did it get them? Bounce-outs, and if you believe the talk, disappointing ones at that. So Boudreau changed the style, focusing more on defense, tethering Ovechkin and Co. to an extent, and … getting the same amount of success. Under each of the two clearly definable Boudreau regimes, the team lost in the conference quarter- and semi-finals. Which is of course notable because the latter is exactly how far Hunter got in his first chance at the tiller, despite doing everything in his power not to: like limiting Ovechkin to fewer than 20 minutes a night in every game in this series save for Saturday's Game 7 and the three-overtime Game 3, in which he played 35:14 — or, if you prefer 17:37 per three periods of play. This therefore vindicates Hunter only as far as it vindicated Boudreau; which, with a roster like this, and given the "choker" label being hung liberally on the former Caps coach this time last year. The philosophy changed radically under Hunter, and worked only as far as it did for Boudreau. Why? ( Coming Up: Team USA, international ass-kickers; getting stupid about Patrick Kane's drinking; Parise's future; Could Brad Stuart return to the Sharks?; Kevin Lowe says Ryan Murray is the top player in this year's draft class; Suter/Weber questions; Pancakes Penner's revenge; Bruins pumped for Dougie Hamilton; Alfredsson retirement watch; Leafs/Penguins trade?; Lundqvist is King; Alex Burrows runs and hugs a goalie; and Winnipeg Jets fans are burning Coyotes jerseys.)

Seven potential Game 7 heroes for Washington Capitals and New York Rangers (Puck Daddy)
(Sat, 12 May 2012 07:58:51 PDT)
The top-seeded New York Rangers and the No. 7 seed Washington Capitals meet on Saturday night at MSG in another one-goal game. OK, that's just an assumption about Game 7, but when 10 of the Rangers' 13 postseason games and 12 of the Capitals' 13 playoff games were all decided by a single goal, it seems like a pretty decent prediction. Less predictable: Who will play the hero in Game 7? We know that either goalie Henrik Lundqvist or Braden Holtby will likely earn the chance to be called the hero by virtue of winning an elimination game, but they can't win without a goal. Here's a look at seven skaters that might make the difference in Game 7 for the Rangers and Capitals. • Nicholas J. Cotsonika: Capitals goalie Braden Holtby making the most of his opportunity Brad Richards, New York Rangers This is the $60 million moment for Richards. When the Rangers signed him last summer, it was to bring a Conn Smythe-winning veteran savvy to a championship run — to be the guy who creates the key goal that's eluded the Blueshirts in recent postseasons. He's already done his part, posting five points in six games vs. the Caps, setting up Marian Gaborik in triple-OT and scoring the game-tying goal with seven seconds left in Game 5. But he was scoreless in Game 7 against Ottawa, and scoreless in Game 6 against Washington. They need him to come through, on the power play in particular. Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals Ovechkin has dispelled a few myths in the 2012 playoffs. His nine points in 13 games, including five goals, should quiet critics of his postseason output. His ability to handle the fluctuating ice time from Dale Hunter without carping has been admirable (so far, at least). He has goals in two of his last three games, and was outstanding in Game 6. Can he play the hero in Game 7, earning a chance to join his friend Ilya Kovalchuk in the conference finals (and don't think for a moment that opportunity is lost on Ovi)?

Chatting with Evgeni Malkin about signing woman’s chest, Lionel Messi and beer called Giroux’s Tears (Puck Daddy)
(Fri, 11 May 2012 13:42:26 PDT)
Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins saw what happened with countryman Alex Radulov and the Nashville Predators this postseason, when he was kept out for two games following a curfew violation. Would this have happened on another team? "It all depends on the team. But it is very difficult for me to discuss it because I have not spoken with Radulov and I don't know what is true and what is not. Maybe he was late, maybe he was a bit tipsy. Who knows? It's difficult for me to say anything on the subject," said Malkin to Pavel Lysenkov of SovSport in a recent interview. "And if this was the case then he was wrong because this was during playoffs and he shouldn't have done that. But at the same time [the media] blows everything out of proportions especially if you cannot find your game and then you're late everything is then intensified in America. If a player is playing well and scoring goals no one cares where he goes and when, people will carry him around with their hands regardless. But if you're not playing late and break team rules then it becomes like a snowball." Malkin is currently playing with Russia in the IIHF world championships. Here is the rest of Malkin's interview with Pavel Lysenkov , which spans from playoff MVP to Lionel Messi to a beer called "Giroux's Tears." Enjoy. Q. Dan Bylsma doesn't wait for you in the hotel lobby with a stopwatch during the playoffs, does he? MALKIN: "No. Look, everyone is a professional. Yes, sometimes it happens when you're late coming back from dinner. But it is not a big deal. Of course if someone is late and accidentally bumps into [Byslma] downstairs he can have a talk. But I have been playing in America for six years now and I have never witnessed anything like that. It doesn't happen with our team. And it happened to Radulov for the first time. I think everyone was on to him primarily due to his play, because he wasn't playing the kind of hockey people were expecting from him." Who is the hockey equivalent of Lionel Messi? "For me it is Crosby and Datsyuk. I only see Datsyuk as an opponent. But I can say a lot about Crosby because we are together at practices, I see him in the locker room, I see how he works very hard, how he is dedicated to hockey. And all of his victories, all of his awards came to him through the sweat and very hard work. He is very talented, but the way he works on himself — I don't think I have seen anyone who lives hockey like he does." Name the oddest thing you were asked to sign your autograph on? "It has to be a woman's chest. Not a naked chest, but on a T-shirt that was covering it. It happened after the charity game we held last summer. One girl came up to me and asked for an autograph. Of course I was surprised a little bit."

Final eight players announced in EA Sports NHL 13 cover vote campaign (Puck Daddy)
(Fri, 11 May 2012 06:57:50 PDT)
EA Sports' NHL 13 cover vote has now completed two rounds and the final eight players have been revealed as we make our way towards the announcement of the winner during the NHL Awards show in Las Vegas on June 20. Over the next week and a half there will be two voting periods involving two separate matchups. After over 16 millions votes, here are your final eight: In Bracket A will be Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers vs. Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings, along with Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Scott Hartnell of the Philadelphia Flyers. Voting for this bracket begins today and will run through May 17th. Bracket B will feature John Tavares of the New York Islanders against Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings and Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers vs. Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators. Voting for Bracket B starts on May 18th and will end on May 23th. The final four players will be announced on May 24th. Some teams with players in the running have created their own campaigns to garner votes from fans. The Kings and Kopitar released a video last month, while the Islanders have pumped up Tavares' campaign by going old school with some promotional materials,  referencing the great NBA Jam . Boom Shaka Laka! Voting will take place at  NHL.com/CoverVote and fans can do so an unlimited number of times. A Twitter hashtag,  #NHL13Cover , will also track the cover athlete tournament discussion. Updates and other content will also show up on the  EA SPORTS NHL Facebook page . Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy