The Stanley Cup will be handed out either this week or the next. Originally purchased as a punch bowl in 1893 for $48.67 by Lord Stanley of Preston, the Stanley Cup has undergone several redesigns since then. That brings us to our Question of the Week. If you get it right, you get five minutes in the penalty box with Dani. The answser is after the jump.
When was the current version of the Stanley Cup first awarded? (and a hint: it is not 1940)
Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals was pretty epic. I love low-scoring games. The tension is unbearable. The Canucks and Bruins were scoreless for over 59 and a half minutes until Jannik Hansen made a pretty feed to Raffi Hansen for the game-winner. The fans in Vancouver were delirious, but perhaps none more than these guys, who drove 15 hours to watch the Canucks play in San Jose in the Western Conference Finals and ended up drinking with the owner of the team, making a hospital visit, and scoring comps for the next game. It’s a good read.
Game 7 of the NHL Eastern Conference Finals is tonight. I have three words for you.
I’ve always said that Vancouver Canucks fans are some of the best out there. On top of being a major city with only one sports team (sorry BC Lions), it’s Canada and Canadians are crazy about hockey. Coverage of the NHL Draft makes the NFL Draft look like Nickelodeon. The Canucks have been in existence since 1970 and have never won the Stanley Cup, although the Vancouver Millionaires won it in 1915. They’re like the Red Sox and Cubs but without the Celtics and Bulls to soften the blow, respectively. In fact, the last time the Canucks made the Finals and lost in seven games to the Rangers, there was a full-fledged riot. This wasn’t a weak college-style riot. It was the real deal. Like in Philadelphia, except the participants were obviously better conditioned for maximum destruction.
So now with four first place finishes in the past five years and still no Cup, the fans are hungrier and crazier than ever. The Green Men heckle opponents in the penalty box and had the Canucks within three wins of a return to the Finals. Last night, they won again 7-3 over the San Jose Sharks, but the real news is that one of their fans may have put them over the top not only in their quest for the Cup, but in the discussion for best fanbase. Here she is, after the jump (NSFW).
It’s a little known fact that Jason Voorhees was a huge fan of the California Golden Seals and goaltender Gilles Meloche. When the team left Oakland for the greener pastures of Cleveland without ever advancing past the first round of the playoffs, Jason, inspired by Meloche’s badass dragon mask, started wearing his own and butchering camp counselors. My predictions are doing just about as well as those camp counselors. I’m 4-7 so far after going 2-2 in the Semis but I’m going to nail these picks if it’s the last thing I do. Like I said before, the Stanley Cup Playoffs are the hardest to predict.
In the East, the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning have taken similar roads to get the Conference Finals. Both had solid seasons but neither was expected to reach this far. After sweeping favored teams in the previous round, the B’s and Bolts are rested and hot. Tim Thomas and Dwayne Roloson have been fabulous in goal, respectively. However, the Lightning have a trio of big-time scorers in veterans Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier and young gun Steven Stamkos, who was second in the league in goals during the regular season with 45. The Bruins, on the other hand, are without one of their leading contributors in Patrice Bergeron, who is still dealing with a concussion suffered against the Flyers. Don’t forget: St. Louis and Lecavalier led the Lightning to the Cup only seven years ago. If Thomas gets hot, it’s going to be tough, but Tampa Bay knows what it takes to get to the next level. Lightning in 6
Out West, the two best regular-season teams meet in the Vancouver Canucks and San Jose Sharks. Regular-season is the operative word because both are known for their past failures in the playoffs. Luckily, one will finally get over the hump and make the Finals while the other will have a long summer. These teams have strong offenses, with the magical Sedin twins leading the Canucks against the Sharks’ Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau. They should have plenty of opportunities to score against a couple of goaltenders that have struggled a bit so far in the playoffs. Antti Niemi is an upgrade over the skittish Evgeni Nabokov for the Sharks and won the Cup last year in Chicago. The Canucks’ maddening Roberto Luongo has mixed brilliance with putridness throughout his career and is always good for a free goal. Hopefully, it won’t be an important one. The Canucks won the Presidents’ Trophy for a reason, while the Sharks always seem to go down in flames. I just don’t want to see another riot in Vancouver like in 1994. Canucks in 7
Sean Avery’s recent PSA for marriage equality has raised quite a stir. First, it drew criticism from Todd Reynolds, an NHL agent, who tweeted, “Very sad to read Sean Avery’s misguided support of same-gender ‘marriage.’ Legal or not, it will always be wrong.” Rogers SportsNet broadcaster Damian Goddard then added, “I completely and whole-heartedly support Todd Reynolds and his support for the traditional and TRUE meaning of marriage” for his his 500-or-so followers. A few hours later he was fired.
It shocks me that people would publicly comment so negatively about Avery’s PSA. Right or wrong, it’s a pretty innocuous 30 seconds. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but what kind of idiot involved with a mainstream entity like the NHL puts it online like that? What did this assclown expect? As for Reynolds, I’m sure anti-gay comments are really going to be great for his business. He represents Mike Fisher, who’s married to Carrie Underwood. She’s really going to want to be associated with him. Look guys, if gay dudes and ladies want to get married, is it really going to ruin your life? The only thing that will ruin your life is posting stupid, ignorant comments on Twitter. Mind your own fucking business.
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Capitals over Lightning in 6
Bruins over Flyers in 7
Canucks over Predators in 7
Red Wings over Sharks in 7
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Capitals 3, Rangers 1
Capitals win series 4-1
The Rangers are like an ugly girl with huge tits. No matter how revolting she is, she’s always going to get attention from guys because of those boobies. Henrik Lundqvist is that set of double D’s.
It was Henrik that kept it all together. This playoff series showed what an outstanding goaltender he is. He stood on his head to keep the Rangers in every game. He’s the real difference with the Rangers pre- and post-lockout. Otherwise, they’re not even a playoff team. All-star. All-world. However you want to describe The King, it’s probably not enough.
The real shame of it all is that Henrik cares so damn much. When they pulled him today, you could feel the emotion in his eyes. He’s not going to be great forever so there’s no time to waste. When Jaromir Jagr was still around, scoring wasn’t the problem. Unfortunately, that’s still a void.
The Rangers have a nice young team, and hopefully its nucleus will develop into a force to be reckoned with. It’s a hard-working bunch of guys and you have to admire the fact that everyone is willing to take a hit or block a shot.
Ryan Callahan emerged as a true leader over the course of the season and losing him for the playoffs hurt a ton. Brandon Dubinsky, Marc Staal, Dan Girardi, Derek Stepan, Bryan Boyle, and Michael Sauer are all fine hockey players, but the Rangers scored eight goals over the five-game playoff series with the Capitals. It wasn’t only the playoffs; scoring was scarce all season, especially on the power play.
Marian Gaborik and Chris Drury both had injury-affected subpar years so the Rangers had to rely on their young guns. They did as best as could be expected but the team lacked an instinctual scorer, the guy that gets the puck and puts it in the goal by any means necessary. If anything, the team is too unselfish. It seemed like everyone was too concerned with setting up the next guy than doing anything himself. Being selfish is a good thing sometimes. The more the puck heads to net, the greater a chance it has to go in. It’s simple math. In other words, SHOOT THE PUCK!
Management should be commended for building through the draft instead of going for short-term fixes with trades and free agent signings. At the same time, the window of opportunity is so small. What is the right combination of youthful grittiness and veteran savvy that can get this team to the next level? Brad Richards is rumored to be on his way in. Blueshirt backers have grown frustrated with Drury and especially Gaborik but it may be to too early to give up on them.
Still, it’s better to have big tits than be an ugly flat-chested broad (like a certain team from Long Island). With a little plastic surgery over the summer, a touch-up here and there, and hopefully some natural improvement, the Rangers can go from ugly duckling to beautiful swan. King Henrik is far too good for the Rangers to remain in the middle of the pack in the Eastern Conference.
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Capitals 4, Rangers 3 (2OT)
Capitals lead series 3-1
That was brutal. Imagine the girl you had a crush on was like “I really just like you as a friend…wait actually…no just like a friend…wait actually…no just a friend.” That’s what this game was like. I didn’t think anything would be worse than the DeSean Jackson Eagles game but this was worse. Same scenario. We were up by three scores. First one they got back, it was because of a lack of effort. The second one was a bit of luck. And that third one. The backbreaker. They just worked for it. But then, they didn’t go for the kill right away. They let us hang around for an extra two periods. Gave us hope. And then pulled it away. It just hurts because after Boudreau’s comments the other day, we were really letting him hear it. It was personal. I can’t bear the thought of him leaving the Garden with a smile on his face. The Rangers were plain overconfident. They kicked ass in the second period but forgot the game was still going on in the third. The first goal they gave up was total carelessness and it gave the Caps the momentum to get back into the game. It’s going to be tough to win in Washington but that’s two third period-leads the Rangers have blown in the series so it’s far from being a beatdown. The Rangers have survived every time they’ve been counted out this season. Hopefully, this is another of those times.
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Captials coach Bruce Boudreau spent the day after losing Game 3 to the Rangers trashing Rangers fans and Madison Square Garden. On a Washington radio show today, he said, “Well, the one thing, its reputation is far better than the actual building. I mean, it’s nothing. The locker rooms are horrible. The benches are horrible. There’s no room for anything. But the reputation of being in Madison Square Garden is what makes it famous. Also, our building’s a lot louder, too. So I mean, they can say what they want, but it’s not that loud in there.” Now I know why his team never makes it past the second round.
The Garden is over 40 years old. It’s not perfect. That’s why it’s undergoing a massive renovation over the summer. Sorry that your locker room isn’t cushy enough, Bruce. Who the fuck do you think you are? J. Lo? You’re coaching a hockey team whose greatest moment is getting swept in the ’98 Finals. You think Caps fans are better than Rangers fans? I saw some awfully new looking jerseys on their fans on TV during Games 1 and 2. Dancing Larry has more passion than all Capitals fans combined. Seriously, how stupid is this? He’s got a 2-1 lead in the series and now he’s insulting the other team’s fans. If Boudreau wants to know what makes Madison Square Garden so famous, he’s about to find out.
Rainman Suite 