Rangers run out of playoff luck as Game 5 rally goes awry at the worst time
(Wed, 23 May 2012 23:06:27 PDT)
New York's resiliency and goalie Henrik Lundqvist's play have been exemplary throughout the 2012 postseason, but the breaks and bounces went against the Rangers when they could least afford it.

Stephen Gionta leads Devils in Game 5 triumph over the New York Rangers (Puck Daddy)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 20:46:41 PDT)
Full disclosure: This entire post is just an excuse to show you this unbelievable photo by Bruce Bennett. The New York Rangers controlled Game 5 for 40 minutes, limiting the New Jersey Devils to just 10 shots during that stretch and outscoring them, 3-0. Unfortunately, these 40 minutes were bookended on either side by 10 minutes that they did not control. During those 20 minutes, the Devils scored 5 times on 7 shots, and that was all the offence they'd need in a 5-3 win. It was a strange Game 5 -- "An adventure," according to Devils coach Peter DeBoer -- with all sorts of unexpected offense and strange bounces. The Devils came out flying, beating Henrik Lundqvist twice in the first five minutes. Stephen Gionta opened the scoring after finding himself alone with a rebound in front of Henrik Lundqvist. Then, just two minutes later, Patrik Elias doubled the lead when an Adam Henrique point shot pinballed around like it was teaching children how to count to 12 before deflecting off the back of his leg and in. Five minutes later, Travis Zajac stunned the Madison Square crowd when he extended the lead with a perfectly-placed wrister off the rush. This put the Rangers in a tough spot. They had only reached four goals in a game once this poststeason -- in the playoff opener versus the Ottawa Senators in April 12. But they were undeterred by the daunting task, and they put their game into overdrive. Also they got some luck.

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.

Rested and ready, Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist remains New York's best player and best chance
(Wed, 23 May 2012 10:38:30 PDT)
The Rangers rarely score more than a few goals, and that's not about to change. But with Lundqvist in net, they've always got a chance to win.

Peter DeBoer’s Devils: How coach’s philosophy, rivalry with Tortorella have defined New Jersey’s playoff run (Puck Daddy)
(Tue, 22 May 2012 08:05:58 PDT)
The New Jersey Devils' three Stanley Cup winners since 1995 have featured some constants: Goaltender Martin Brodeur, Grand Emperor Lou Lamoriello and the defensive foundation those champions where constructed on. But their coaches have defined each of them. Jacques Lemaire's trapping Devils in 1995. Larry Robinson, the players' coach, whose stunning conference finals tirade sparked the Devils' 3-1 comeback over the Flyers and eventual Cup win in 2000. The late Pat Burns, the coaches' coach, who reined in their offensive stars and oversaw a return to defensive discipline in 2003. Tied 2-2 with the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Final, the Devils may still fall short of the Cup in 2012. But should they grab the Chalice, Coach Peter DeBoer has personalized this team in the same manner as his Hall of Fame (and should-damn-well-be-in the Hall of Fame, in Burns's case) predecessors had. He's pushed the right buttons. Preached the right sermons. Earned his players' belief in an offensive system that attempts to re-chisel the cemented stereotypes about Devils hockey. His comportment is one of intellectual serenity — Dan Bylsma style — with a touch of rage. His communication with the players has been honest and non-political. He couldn't have done this three years ago, when ego prevented him from fulfilling his potential as an NHL head coach. That he was the given the chance to do this at all tracks back to July 2011, when Lamoriello stunned the hockey world with an uncharacteristic choice behind the bench.

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?)

Rangers' Prust gets 1-game ban for elbowing (The Associated Press)
(Sun, 20 May 2012 18:37:17 PDT)
NEW YORK (AP) Rangers forward Brandon Prust has been suspended for one game by the NHL for his elbow to the head of New Jersey Devils defenseman Anton Volchenkov during New York's win in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Rangers-Devils Preview (The Associated Press)
(Sun, 20 May 2012 18:24:37 PDT)
NEW YORK (AP) John Tortorella stood out again at a playoff news conference. Only this time it was because of his feistiness toward the New Jersey Devils and not for his brevity and contentiousness with the media.

Tortorella takes shots at Devils, defends Prust (The Associated Press)
(Sun, 20 May 2012 18:21:32 PDT)
NEW YORK (AP) John Tortorella stood out again at a playoff news conference. Only this time it was because of his feistiness toward the New Jersey Devils and not for his brevity and contentiousness with the media.

Rangers set to counter Devils' success in Game 3 (The Associated Press)
(Sat, 19 May 2012 01:52:07 PDT)
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) For one game, at least, in the Eastern Conference finals, the New Jersey Devils found a way to beat Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers.

Last four teams battle for World ice hockey final berth
(Fri, 18 May 2012 23:47:26 PDT)
Finland, Russia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are preparing to do battle for a place in the ice hockey world championship final, guaranteeing the title for a European nation after the USA and Canada crashed out.

Oilers torched for Renney firing; Milan Hejduk back; Alex Radulov fallout (Puck Headlines) (Puck Daddy)
(Fri, 18 May 2012 13:26:44 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. • Look, JGL: "Inception" was the bomb. You were Han Solo in "500 Days of Summer." You probably become Batman when Bane breaks Bruce Wayne's back (/speculation). But please do not wear the Lakers gear to the Kings game. That said, feel free to wear the Kings gear to the Lakers game, if there are still going to be Lakers games this spring. • The Ryan Suter watch begins next week. Hold on to your butts. [ Malik ] • Shea Weber on Alex Radulov's quasi-suspension in Round 2 for the Nashville Predators: "You feel a little bit betrayed, but I am sure he feels bad about it now and he looks back on it and wishes it didn't happen. Those are the things you can't take back and we've got to move forward." [ Examiner ] • Pekka Rinne on Radulov and the curfew issue: "It didn't affect as much as media made it seem like. The way I see it, Radulov joining the team mid-season affected the atmosphere more than the incident that happened in the playoffs." [ On The Forecheck ] • Milan Hejduk is back with the Colorado Avalanche for one year and $2 million. Says Dater: "Yeah, I'm a little concerned about where/what Hejduk's role might be. I mean, it's a little worrisome to think he'll be relied upon perhaps as a top-six forward. And yet, would he really be effective on a third or fourth line? Those are questions Joe Sacco will have to grapple with next season." [ All Things Avs ] • Great work here by Nick Cotsonika on burgeoning New York Rangers star and rookie sensation Chris Kreider. [ Y! Sports ] • Ryan Callahan says his left hand isn't injured, despite blocking a shot with it back in the Ottawa series. [ NYDN ] • Darryl Sutter, on the growth of Los Angeles Kings forward Dwight King: "Growth?" Sutter said. "He's still 232 (pounds). After games, he's 228." [ LA Kings Insider ] • Kerry Fraser on embellishing players in the postseason: "The Conference Finals of the Stanley Cup playoffs is not the time for the referees to strap on the six guns in an effort to clean up embellishment in Dodge. The refs must however, ramp up their radar and if any doubt is created in their mind as to the legitimacy of a foul, then I would suggest they keep their arm down and play on. I also hope they will seize every opportunity to enforce obvious embellishment by calling a penalty (whether as a 'stand alone' penalty or a coincidental minor when embellishment occurs as the aftermath to a legitimate foul)." [ TSN ] • John MacKinnon torches the Edmonton Oilers for firing Tom Renney. "This move — anticipated as it was — was a long, slow slap in the face to a coach who deserved better. If you're the incoming man, it would be wise to at least ponder the fashion in which the Oilers will ultimately dump you. That might help you decide whether you want to accept the job in the first place." [ Journal ] • David Staples does much the same: "My bottom line on Renney? He  earned a new deal. He made a few big miscalculations, but much more was going right than wrong under his direction." [ Cult of Hockey ] • From Black Dog: "The Oilers are like the opposite of that and maybe this should be their master plan. Howson has already destroyed Columbus. Maybe Messier can take over the Rangers and Prendergast can move to Chicago. Let Tambo move back to Vancouver and Buchberger coach the Avs. Let them go forth and multiply and take their special brand of incompetence to the rest of the league, like the Black Plague, destroying franchises as they alight from their private jets, just as flea ridden rats destroyed cities as they swarmed ashore from ships manned by infected doomed sailors." [ BDHS ] • Ellen Etchingham on the Los Angeles Kings: "These Kings, they just look so brilliant. So clearly and completely and definitively ass-whoopingly eye-catchingly heart-liftingly brilliant. They play the way I'd always hoped a Cup-winning team would play. They play like they are actually so much better than everyone else that they ( *gasp* ) deserve to win. There's still a part of me that can't wholly believe they're for real. There's a part of me that's still tensed for the inevitable fall. But, nevertheless, I hope. I would like to see a team take the Cup this decisively, in less than twenty games. I want to see a juggernaut victory." [ Backhand Shelf ] • Alex Ovechkin was named the 11th most marketable athlete internationally in 2012. [ Alex Ovetjkin ] "A finalized lease agreement with a potential Phoenix Coyotes buyer has yet to emerge publicly but a Glendale City Council majority appears poised to approve a $17 million fee to operate the city-owned arena." [ AZ Central ] • Hopefully, when Daniel Alfredsson says he may have played his last competitive game, he means all 82 games next season for the Ottawa Senators (plus playoffs) are blowouts. [ Senators Extra ] • Finally, the New York Mets all wore hockey jerseys on their road trip to Canada. Expected to see more Islanders sweaters, given that both franchises have been living off the glory of the 1980s for decades… ( Kukla )

Rangers rookie Chris Kreider making it look easy in impressive jump from NCAA title to NHL playoffs
(Fri, 18 May 2012 12:15:57 PDT)
Kreider went from big man at Boston College to a rushed-in rookie on a tight-knit Rangers team, but his power-forward skills and quietly confident ways have eased the transition.

Finns, Russia go through, Slovaks upset Canada
(Thu, 17 May 2012 14:23:16 PDT)
Holders Finland advanced to the semi-finals of the world ice hockey championships with a last-gasp winner against the United States on Thursday, but Olympic champions Canada were shocked by Slovakia.

Devils rally past Rangers, 3-2, tie series, 1-1 (The Associated Press)
(Thu, 17 May 2012 01:33:20 PDT)
NEW YORK (AP) The New York Rangers don't like being all even after two games, but they sure are used to it.

Playoff Puck Previews: Kings look for 7th straight road win in Game 2 vs. Coyotes (Puck Daddy)
(Tue, 15 May 2012 15:55:16 PDT)
"Beat LA" strikes me as a really unimaginative slogan. Was "Win the hockey match" taken? Preview: Los Angeles Kings at Phoenix Coyotes, 9 p.m. ET The Coyotes will attempt to do what no other team has done versus the Kings this postseason: win a game at home. The Kings have won 6 consecutive road games, just one off the NHL record held by the Blackhawks of 2010, the Islanders of 1980 and 1982, thew Devils of 1995, and the Avalanche of 1999. The Coyotes will have to pick their game up considerably to avoid a repeat of Game 1, where they were out-possessed handily and outshot 48-27. Do they have it in them? The key will be shutting down Dustin Brown and his linemates, something no one has been able to do thus far. If they can't, the Kings will tie that record.

Lundqvist, Kreider lift NYR over Devils in opener (The Associated Press)
(Tue, 15 May 2012 01:20:27 PDT)
NEW YORK (AP) Henrik Lundqvist stopped all 21 shots by the New Jersey Devils that got through to him. The other 26 attempts blocked in front by his teammates were every bit as important in the New York Rangers' Eastern Conference finals opening win.

Chris Kreider continues resurgence, Rangers win Game 1 vs. Devils (Puck Daddy)
(Mon, 14 May 2012 20:41:09 PDT)
Chris Kreider was thrown into the NHL fire beginning with Game 3 of the New York Rangers' opening round series with the Ottawa Senators. Just weeks removed from winning a national championship with Boston College, the 21-year old Kreider has been given a crash course on professional hockey quickly understanding the highs -- two goals in New York's first two series, both game-winners -- and the lows -- seeing his ice time limited in Games 4, 5 and 6 against the Washington Capitals after a couple of defensive lapses. [ Recap: Rangers beat Devils 3-0 in Eastern Conference finals opener ] Monday night during Game 1 against the New Jersey Devils, the roller coaster began to angle back upward as Kreider scored his third goal of the playoffs as the Rangers celebrated a 3-0 victory: Kreider was benched in Game 4 of the second round against the Washington Capitals, but it was a punishment that served him well. Having the rookie watch the action from the bench was a good learning tool forcing him to re-focus despite the magnitude of these games at the start of his career.

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.