I have to admit I’m not totally looking forward to the Boston Bruins-Philadelphia Flyers second round matchup. Between Boston’s defensive crouch and Philadelphia’s often overly physical play, I’m concerned there won’t be too much skating or movement. Also, both teams have pretty bad power plays going right now. And factor in that the Flyers have [...]

Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo shouldn’t be nervous about tonight’s game seven against the Chicago Blackhawks. He shouldn’t be embarrassed about earning tonight’s start because Cory Schneider, the backup who replaced him in game six is hurt (but feeling better). Everyone wants to be the goalie who dominates his way through the playoffs. Everyone wants [...]

New York Rangers’ coach John Tortorella, despite another bumpy year, deserved the contract extension he received (thought to be three years). Ultimately, he managed to make the playoffs with a team that was not only inexperienced and/or bad, but one that was also injured for much of the season. Tortorella got a pretty bad team [...]

The Blackhawks have played their post-season perfectly. Shutout in game one, they lost two close games before turning on the heat in games four and five. Chicago lulled the Vancouver into a false sense of security. No one looks more surprised than Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo, who wound up pulled in games four and five. [...]

Logos courtesy of Versus I’m OK with the NHL going with NBC/Versus for the next 10 years. Versus telecasts are still very much a crap shoot, but on the whole, they’ve gotten much, much more watchable. And even though NBC seems to love having 12 analysts covering a game, the productions are fine. But I [...]

When a coach’s team is in trouble, he’ll typically do or say something provocative or outlandish to draw media attention away from his team and their performance and onto himself. It’s a standard coaching move that’s common across sports. Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau worked that move yesterday, calling New York Rangers defenseman Marc Staal [...]

Much has been made of Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau’s sudden conversion into the Church of Defensive Hockey. When the Capitals struggled during the regular season, Boudreau moved the team into a more defensive system and found consistency and success. And Boudreau hasn’t looked back, maintaining a defensive posture into the playoffs. So far it’s [...]

Before last night’s Philadelphia Flyers-Buffalo Sabres match-up, I thought the Flyers were the deeper team. But after watching them actually play the game, they seem pretty evenly matched. Buffalo wound up winning, but it could have just as easily been Philadelphia. A lot of that was because you had two strong goalies putting on great [...]

The New York Rangers tried to steal a game in Washington, last night. Ultimately, it didn’t work, as they lost in overtime, but Rangers coach John Tortorella almost pulled it off. Tortorella had the Rangers start off the first period and most of the second playing passive hockey. The defense didn’t pinch or get involved. [...]

It was just about two years ago that New York Rangers coach John Tortorella scratched Sean Avery from game five of the Rangers’ first round playoff game against the Washington Capitals. The Rangers would go on to lose that game 4-0. Avery would eventually be reinserted into the lineup for games six and seven, both [...]