Way to sell your soul.

I have a few issues with this signing, so let me air my grievances. The Pens gave up a substantial amount of assets to acquire Hossa at the deadline. Clearly they believed they could lock Hossa up in the off season. Any rightfully so, this is the team with the brightest future in the league, is well managed in Ray Shero, and destined for dynasty status for at least the next 6 to 7 years. Who WOULDN’T want to play here?

To my knowledge, the Pens were offering the same amount of money, potentially on a longer contract. Althought for the reported $7.4-million he signed for on a one-year deal, I’d be 100% positive the Pens would have signed, without a question.

This guy makes Alexei Yashin look like a saint if you ask me. I was always a fan of Hossa, but I now turn my back. Pittsburgh took him for a ride to the Finals, put him on a line with Crosby and afforded him the opportunity to salvage a horrendus season and keep his “superstar” status… THIS is how you repay them?

So why leave? Your guess is as good as mine. It’s probably just greed. You see Detroit win a cup, you figure you can get on that train for one more season, then ask for a ridiculous amount of money the next season.

If I had one wish, it would be for the Penguins to face the Red Wings in the final next season and give them Hossa what he deserves. Everyone will be a little older, a little wiser… but Hossa will still be the no-class ass clown he always was.

Looking at my Alexa stats for puckwise.com, I thought… “hmm… I have a few other domains laying around, i wonder how they’re doing?”.  So i scurried on over to one of my previous projects which was put on hold and/or turned into the PuckWise project – NHL Fantasy Guide (myfantasyguide.com).

Much to my surprise, what was once a 1/10 Google PR, is now a 3/10!  What is PR? PageRank! Google uses PR to determine how high you show up in a search result.  So basically when someone now types in “NHL Fantasy Guide”, they get MyFantasyGuide.com as the second hit!  Neat huh?

So what else can you get from PR?  Well now you become valuable!  So anyone who is familiar with SEO will know that incoming links from higher ranking PR sights will increase your own PR, so partaking in link exchanges, advertising revenue, etc, now become a possibility!

What does this all mean?  Probably nothing major at the moment.  But having a 3/10 hockey site is certainly a good start if I plan to continue down this road.  At the worst, this provides some leverage and hopefully some organic traffic once the site (now possibly SITES) are complete, or close to it.

Now I can sit back and wait for the dollars to roll in… just sit… and wait… for the dollars… yup…

I predicted the New York Rangers over my beloved Pittsburgh Penguins in 7 games, Sharks over the Stars in 6, Flyers of Montreal in 6 and the Red Wings over Colorado in 5.

So very likely I’ll go 50/50 on the teams, however after the Sharks battled back last night (with some help from the refs), perhaps they could overcome the near impossible 3 game come back with a little momentum.

Some would argue that the Red Wings have yet to play any seriously challenging team, however if the man-handling that was this last series with Colorado is an indication, the Wings are cup bound.  (Yes, the Wings were my favourites going into the playoffs this year… not much of a bold pick I suppose)

As much as I’d like to Montreal make a come back, how can you deny Philly’s potent offense and tight checking?  In the interest of full disclosure, I have Brier, Prospal, Carter and Umberger in my pool, so deep down, I hope they move on. (Here is a link to our NHL Playoff Pool. Yes, that’s me in first!)

Finally, my Penguins.  What to say, what to say?  As a rabid Pens fan growing up, you would think i’d be elated to see them push this far (and with such force!).  Of course I am… stupid.

But really, coming into the playoffs, I just wasn’t convinced this team was as good as everyone else made them out to be.  Call me stupid perhaps, but I just thought maybe they needed another year, maybe they needed to be strong, maybe they needed to gain some playoff experience.

I was obiouvly proven wrong, and for once, I’m very glad to be!  The Pens seem to be a team possesed.  Frankly, I think it’s on Flurey now to make this happen and get them to the finals.  Perhaps hindsight is 20/20 (it obviously is), but the way they’re playing, I can’t see Philly or Montreal even putting up a fight.

Regardless, this playoffs has been shaping up to be quite an eventful affair with the climax beginning to show it’s colours.

Here’s hoping those colours are black and gold.

I’m talking about Sean Avery, pest extrodinare.  His recent “antics” have raised a lot of eyebrows around the league and eventually resulted in the NHL making revisions to the rule to prevent players for impeading goaltenders in an unsportsmanlike way.

If you’re still not sure what I’m talking about:

Frankly, Sean Avery is an innovator.  The guy comes up with new ways to pester opponents and frankly, he’s good at what he does!  The league obviously had to react to the situation or this would get out of hand around the league, but this was a fair-game tactic and was executed to perfection as Avery scored moments later.

No player in recent memory has been able to annoy so many opponents and still tally as many points as Sean Avery.  Contract talks are just around the corner, here’s hoping he gets what he deserves this time and doesn’t end up with a bum rap from how own owners and GM.

Keep up the good work!

EASTERN CONFERENCE

1. Montreal Canadiens vs 8. Boston Bruins

I really think Montreal is a bit overrated, ya, I said it! That being said, the only thing to gloat about in Beantown is steller goaltending from Tim Thomas (Jr!) and perhaps the fact that Patrice Bergeron will be back in a Bruins jersey (I don’t think it’ll happen this season, sorry guys).

Canadiens in 6

2. Pittsburgh Penguins vs 7. Ottawa Senetors

This seems to be the favourite series to watch in Toronto since the Leafs are off golfing somewhere sipping Pina Coladas not caring about all the weeping fans left behind in the big city. I dispise Penguin bandwagon jumpers since I’m a life-long Pens fan, but I consdering the injuries I’m going to have to go with the critics.

Penguins in 7

3. Washington Capitals vs 6. Philadelphia Flyers

Phily is hot! Capitals are hotter! Ovechkin is a beast, but I think the playoff built Flyers are prime for an upset (can you call it an upset if the lower seeded team has more points?). Brier will step up, Ovechkin will be left all alone.

Flyers in 6

4. New York Rangers vs 5. New Jersey Devils

I like the Devils. The Devils play boring playoff hockey (not as much this year as previous years though) and have the best goalie int he league, and likely of all time. However, I look at prooven playoff performers like Jagr and Gomez and factor in a hot goaltender in Henrik Lundquist and tough-guys pests like Sean Avery and you’re looking a team of possible destiny!

Rangers in 5

EASTERN CONFERENCE

1. Detroit Red Wings vs 8. Nashville Preditors

You have to want to like Nashville. Detroit has prooven to be a playoff flop year after year lately and there is bound to be a huge upset. I think Nashville will go the distance, but Detroit will barely pull it off. I also think they’ll learn from their mistakes and start dominating like they should next round!

Red Wings in 7

2. San Jose Sharks vs 7. Calgary Flames

I love Joe Thornton as much as an avid pooler could love his star player. However, when it comes to playoffs, we all know about “No-Show-Joe”. Calgary is bigger and stronger and will be able to pull off the upset!

Flames in 6

3. Minnisota Wild vs 6. Colorado Avalance

The record for the most overtime goals in the playoffs is held by one Joe Sakic. Combine that with Forbergs prooven playoff success and a team who still has many of their cup winning players in place. Minni is tough and gritty and plays shut-down hockey, but look for Colorado to play spoiler.

Avalance in 6

4. Anaheim Ducks vs 5. Dallas Stars

This has mis-match written all over it! The former champs look to take on the Stars who have been less than consistant in the second half of the season. Richards was a solid addition as he’s a playoff MVP, but the Ducks should be able to railroad the Stars in the first round.

Ducks in 4

Look for next round predictions in about two weeks!

During the 1994-95 draft (at the ripe age of 12) I vividly remember being at a condo in South Florida with my parents, watching the draft and seeing that captain Wendel Clark had been traded for youngster Mats Sundin.  Needless to say, I was a happy young boy.

Fast forward a few months, I was lucky enough to get tickets to the Toronto Maples Leafs first exebition game after a long NHLPA strike.  Typically those kinds of game are never notable, except this was the first time Mats Sundin would suit up in a Maple Leafs blue and white.

I don’t remember much of the game, but what I remember most vividly was the game being tied 3-3 and Mats scoring the overtime winner.  “Captain Clutch” was born.  No single NHL player has score more overtime goals than Captain Clutch, that’s a worth record, certainly one that Leaf fans should be proud of (and more aware of!).

Sundin has now announced that he will not be playing in the Leafs final two games due to injury and frankly, this could be the end of Mats’ career (if not his career, at least with the Leafs).

As someone who has followed Mats from the start of his Leafs career right to the end; from someone who isn’t a real Leafs fan, but always routes for Mats when he’s on the ice; from someone who can say Mats Sundin is a true class player and has served this hockey market and it’s fan with dignity; it’s only suiting that #13′s final season as a Maple Leaf, may be his 13th.

What did I expect?  A few hundred hits, the standard stuff, perhaps a thousand at most by the time it’s run had ended.  What happened? Over 48,000 hits and counting!  Talk about a great marketing medium.

I had posted a link to this blog, as well as one to the home site PuckWise.com.  So of 48,000 views, how many translated into site hits? Not as many as you think.  Only about 250-350**, from what I can tell.

One site that tackles YouTube marketing very successfully is HockeyFights.com.  David Singer has done a great job of posting hockey fight videos on YouTube very rapidly and regularly and has built a great hockey community.  (In the interest of full disclosure, I exchanged a few emails with David recently in hopes of getting a link from his homepage to the site.  This proved unsuccessful unfortunately, but he seems like a nice enough guy regardless!)

So what’s to be learned from all this:

1. Controversial hockey stories spread like wild fire on YouTube – people love brutality.

2. YouTube can be a successful marketing medium if done correctly and updated frequently.

3. If you’re Patrick Roy or related to him, hockey fights can get you charged criminally!

Well, onwards and upwards.  There have not been any major changes done to the site lately.  Unfortunately some of my other projects have taken a front seat.  However, the next time someone stomps a leg, or beats someone mercilessly, you’ll be sure you can find me on YouTube!

** Most sites feel that disclosing traffic numbers is a big no-no.  I think that’s silly personally! I have nothing to hide when it comes to traffic and I think it’s in the best interest of the development community to share numbers and help web communities grow, especially when it pertains to hockey online.

Watching this fight however, really got me going today!

In the interest of full disclosure, I’m a huge Patrick Roy fan. I loved him when he played, I loved him when he coached the Ramparts to a loss against my Peterborough Petes in the 2006 Memorial Cup. The guy is the greatest goalie of all time and a total ego-manic, what’s not to love?

Further disclosure will reveal that I also like a good hockey fight (as most fans do)!

This takes us to the current playoffs, game two, Ramparts vs Sagueneens. Chicoutimi goes up 7-1 in the second period and shit break loose. Players pair off, Ramparts goalie Jonathan Roy rushes opposing goalie Bobby Nadeau, hilarity ensues.

As stated, I’m all for hockey fights. And we’ve seen some pretty classic goalie fights in our day (one of the most notable was the one and only Patrick Roy vs Chris Osgood – one of the best commentating jobs I’ve ever heard on a fight… ahem)

So you have to think, was little Johnny (no pun intended) just trying to impress daddy?

Probably!

Either way, anyone getting their knickers in a knot needs to look at this as what it was, a hockey moment. Whatever, call me a bigot, but I think Roy was reacting to the crowd and certainly it didn’t help that he had just been served his ass for seven goals! He figured he would win back his pride in a fight. And if that was the objection… I think he faired pretty well.

Okay, so “Nadeau wasn’t interested in fighting“, you say? Well you’re probably right. But when Sébastien Rioux jumped off the bench to take on a blood thirsty Roy, maybe he should have been better prepared! We’re talking about a lot of extra equipment here and a guy who’s already just thrown about 20 some-odd punches. Roy handled himself pretty well.

So I’m going to go ahead and tip my hat to Jonathan Roy, but in the same breath, say that he should probably be suspended and very likely will.

As for coach/father Patrick Roy. People need to just let it be. Patrick has said some pretty outrageous things about teams and leagues and has shown in the past that he’s not exactly an A+ ambassador for the game. However I don’t think this was an issue of father/son “whatever”, that the media is making it out to be. Any coach would have let that happen the same way. Down 7-1, if your players want to fight, you just keep your mouth shut and let them go. That’s what he did.

So does anyone win? Probably not Roy (either of them), definitely not Nadeau or Rioux. Maybe the Sagueneens if they can capitalize on an imminent Roy suspension, not to mention the momentum from the incident and a 10-1 victory on the road.

Regardless, hockey is what it is. That’s why we love it. If you want to know who really won, it’s probably the fans. We have more to watch, more to blog about, more to talk about.

And isn’t that what makes the game great?

I’m all for the “never say die” attitude, however, where is the line between allegiance and stupidity?

Should a team outright throw a game? NO. But would this be a good time to throw in a guy like Justin Pogge to gain some experience in goal, absolutely. We’ve all seen what a little experience last year did for Carey Price in Montreal, he’s now potentially on his way to be a World Class goaltender. Should Leaf fans not want the same?

With such a rich draft pool this year, regardless of where the Leafs fall (outside of the playoffs of course), they’re guaranteed a decent pick in the first round. However, finishing in the bottom six would guarantee them A CHANCE at all but guaranteed first overall pick Steven Stamkos. What could be better?

The problem – THE LEAFS KEEP WINNING!

Before the trade deadline, cries of “Trade _____” (fill in any half decent player on the roster) were the consensus. “Throw the season” was often spoken by fans on local talk radio stations.

Then suddenly, without warning, it stopped.

Slowly but surely the Leafs began winning. Winning “must win” games against Philly and continuing through to a big win last night against provincial rivals, the Ottawa Senators.

Can you fault the players for wanting to win? They’ve been taking so much criticism and personal attacks, how can you now want to prove your worth. Could their be a better time?

I want to say my biggest gripe is with the fans. The supposed “Leaf Nation”. So willing to give it all up when they felt there was no hope for the playoffs this year. In my opinion, they still don’t have much of a shot at the last playoff spot with only 6 games left and 4 points between them and Philly (not to mention Boston, Washington, Buffalo and Florida in the mix as well).

However the fans have now changed their tune as they not only believe the team has a shot – they expect it!

Shame on the media most of all though. No one fuels this fire more than the radio show hosts and “highlight jockeys” (trademark!). When I hear phrases like “ONLY four points back”, I want to rip out my eye balls. “ONLY four points back” assumes that all the other teams that are in the mix will ALL lose their games from now until the end of the season. Further more, it assumes the Leafs will even win 2 of 6 games – and that’s just to tie!

False hope is a bitch! Leaf fans are going to be very disappointed when their career 17th place team does it again. Lose in October, lose until the all star break. Lose some more until the trade deadline. Then win! But don’t win all your games, just enough to get RIGHT THERE, just enough to give fans a taste.

But isn’t that what they want though? Just a taste…

Now I’ll start by saying that before the season started I had predicted a San Jose vs Ottawa final. Two months ago you would have said I was probably crazy. At the height of the Emery debacle, San Jose was also sturggling. (Note: “Struggling”, really mean “not first in their division” by San Jose’s standards). So it looked like my prediction was highly unlikely.

Now with less than 10 game to go, we’re seeing a surging Sharks team who looks destined to push for the cup. While Ottawa is still competing for the top spot in the ultra competative Eastern Conference, posting a modest 5-4-1 record in their last 10 games.

I’m going to break this up into two blogs, starting with the dominating Western Conference.

Here’s how the West stacks up in my opinion:

Detroit - Obviously a favourite. The Wings have struggled under pressure the past few seasons, yet continue to dominate the regular season year after year. Detroit has struggled with defensive injuries the second half of this season, but are still the team with the least goals against and if I had to guess, I would say have the least amount of shots against in the league by a long shot! I think this is the year that Detroit at least sees the Conference Finals.

San Jose – As I stated above, I think the Sharks are the team to beat. I was really hoping they would close the deal on a scoring winger at the deadline, but it just wasn’t in the cards. However guys like Cheechoo and Pavelski have stepped up big time. Combined with Nabokov’s game stealing play of late, the Sharks are still my personal favourite to come out of the West.

Anaheim - Gritty, strong, playoff team! The defending champs still have something to prove. Amidst controversy with their captain’s stomping antics they haven’t wavered much and look like a guarantee to finish in the 4th spot. It’s likely Anaheim will face Dallas in the first round, in which case they’re going to easily walk through. If you ask me, Neidermayer is till the captain of this squad and has the know-how to lead this team deep. I wouldn’t count out Anaheim as a possible representative from the West this season.

Minnesota - Seems as if the West is full of gritty, hard nosed teams. That’s best exemplified by the Wild! Can you really call them an “upsetter” type team if they finish first in their division to take that 3rd overall spot in the West? I think so. Most critics would say this team doesn’t stand a chance against the Ducks and Wings of this world, but solid coaching and hard nosed forwards can make this team a real pot-stirrer in the West.

Dallas - Sorry, OVERRATED! I think this team is playing far better than their worth. I love what they did at the deadline in picking up a proven playoff performer in Brad Richards, but I don’t think this team has what it takes to go the distance in the West.

Colorado - I really didn’t think much of this team coming into the season, but it lookes like despite a long string of injuries, they’ve persevered and continue to hold on to the last playoff spot. Colorado could play a spoiler if they can get healthy and Theodore can be the Jose (MVP!) of old. I would just love to see Foppa raise the cup again. The guy is a class act and in my mind, would have been one of the best players in the game had he not had so many injury problems.

Calgary - Love Iginla, love Phaneuf, but unless Kipper stands on his head, I don’t think the Flames have a chance to make it back to the finals. This is a playoff built team, and Keenen is a superb coach, so I’m not going to count them out just yet. However, given the stiff competition in the West, Calgary would have to upset a lot of teams if they were to make a push.

Vancouver - Are they guys still around? If not for Luongo, this team would be at the bottom of the barrel. “No Trade” Nonnis has really done a number on this squad, really under preparing them for the playoffs once again. If Luongo doesn’t walk at the end of this contract, I’d be suprised. The Canucks don’t have a shot in hell!

Nashville - Despite the complete fire sale this team went through in the off season, they are still managing to hang on to a hope. I can’t see this team userping a team like Colorado from a playoff spot, but they’ll continue to fight. I still like Radulov to be a break out player in the coming years. Nashville is still a few years away from another team that could make a legit run at the cup.

Phoenix - I love this team. I know what you’re thinking, “why?”. This team has some really solid up and coming talent in Turris, Mueller and Bryzgalov. They’re still a few years away from a cup run, but expect them to make some noise next season.

Edmonton - Is there anything to like here? Some good young talent, but nothing makes me happier than seeing Dustin Penner fail. It’s not that I don’t like Penner, I just really hate Kevin Low and everything he stands for! I was a big fan of this guy when he started putting this team together years ago, but after the classless move in the off season, I stand strongly behind Burke and I think this guy is just a clown. Edmonton = Fail!

Chicago - I know they’re a little far out, but I just really wanted to see this team do it this year. I like the direction the club is heading. I really like Dennis Savard behind the bench as well. This club is certainly in my top 5 “up and coming teams” to look out for in the next 3 seasons. Probably unlikely they’ll see the playoffs, but I’m still routing for them!

Columbus - Looked like they had some promise, then it just went down the drain with the rest of their season. Hitchcock has some work to do in the off season.

St Louis – I really had high expectations for this team. I thought maybe 5th or 6th this year. They started out strong and have just began to fall apart after the trade deadline. A young team, great GM in Davidson, but obviously there is still some work to do in the off season. Locking up Boyes was a great move, there is definitely a future in St Louis, just not this year.

Los Angeles – FAIL FAIL FAIL. Seriously, get a goalie!

So after all that, I still like San Jose to come out of the West. They still lack a scoring winger, but compensate in so many areas. It’s about time Joe Thornton raises a cup, he’s certainly paid his dues. Here’s hoping we see that this season.