When you run a sports team in a media-centric city like New York, there aren’t a lot of places to hide if your team isn’t successful. Sure some, most notably the Yankees’ Joe Torre when he coached here, could parlay past success into a fairly consistent waiver from criticism, but other than that, if you’re [...]

I love when people say hockey is a team sport and one person really never has the ability to dominate a game, unlike the NBA. If anyone says that, show them last night’s Caps-Pens game, where Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin each had a hat trick.
It’s funny to watch Washington play Pittsburgh so well considering [...]

Wow. Two crazy game sevens last night.
Down in DC, Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist made some stunning saves against the Capitals, but ended up giving up a soft game-winner, once again showing how vulnerable he is when you shoot shortside on him. For whatever reason, Lundqvist just does not fully hug the post.
The Rangers controlled the [...]

How can you not be impressed by the poise and maturity of the Chicago Blackhawks?
Going into Calgary in game seven, you would think a young team like Chicago would collapse under the pressure and expectations. Instead, they went in and won the first round of the playoffs.
The Blackhawks were aided by Calgary playing without defenseman [...]

In a lot of ways, it’s kind of a relief for a coach to be down 4-1 in a game. It frees the coach up to make riskier decisions, since the game is pretty much gone anyway.
Last night, down 4-1 to the Flames, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville rode his third and fourth line to a [...]

Everyone made a big deal about Alex Ovechkin sitting on the Caps bench to watch the Rangers practice before game three.
Maybe he caught some of a passing drill and decided he wanted to pass the puck, too.
After spending the first two games almost pathologically refusing to pass up a shot, Ovechkin spent game three distributing [...]

The beauty of the playoffs is that teams see each other over a series, allowing each to adjust.
This is key as last night’s Ranger win over the Capitals was a bit of an upset. The Rangers want to do it again. The Capitals are looking to put themselves back on track.
Washington goalie Jose Theodore was [...]

Is it me, or is every Eastern Conference team in the middle of some kind of slide?
Montreal has lost its two best defensemen and last night couldn’t beat Ottawa to solidify their playoff spot.
The Flyers are firmly entrenched in the playoffs, but have struggled lately.
The Devils seem to be coming out of their recent skid, [...]

Mike Heika posed an interesting question this morning: why didn’t Sean Avery work in Dallas?
Heika obviously can’t say for sure. My suspicion is that ultimately, Avery’s salary was a source of jealousy and that kept the other players from embracing him. Salary is a huge thing — especially in a league with a salary cap. [...]

This year’s trade deadline was basically fantasy hockey. Not a lot of big names moved. It was a lot of second-tier players. The kind you spend a lot of time moving on a fantasy team.
Adrian Dater called it Tuesday: GMs are scared to death of the probability of a shrunken future cap.
Pretty much everyone GM’d [...]