(Courtesy of LasVegasLasVegas.com)
On Wednesday, the NHL will honor it’s best at the annual award show at the Palms Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. Yours truly will be on hand for FRWG’s first big league event and will hopefully be able to land a few minutes with the athletes that matter most to you.
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(Courtesy G Fiume/Getty Images)
The month of January has been very good to the Washington Capitals who are on the verge of breaking a franchise record for consecutive wins that has stood for 26 years. Fittingly Alexander Ovechkin, who was named captain on January 5th, had his best month of the year notching 9 goals, 26 points for a plus-16.
With Ovechkin’s new captaincy, Washington has surged to the top of the Eastern Conference with 80 points while making their Southeast lead a joke leading the Florida Panthers by 23 points.
While all the attention as usual was focused on Ovie, Washington’s other Alex(Semin) had himself a big month finding the net 11 times for 23 points in the month’s 15 games. Semin finished the month on a nine-game point-scoring streak earning himself honorable mention from the league.
The timing couldn’t be any better for Russia’s top forwards with the first game against Latvia just 15 days away.
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Without making a separate post for a lone highlight we decided to include Evgeni Malkin’s shootout goal from yesterday’s 2-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings just to get you excited for the Olympics a bit more. Jimmy Howard as you can tell was not amused.
On Thursday it was announced that former Soviet Union and NHL great Slava Fetisov would come out of retirement and suit up for CSKA Moscow of the KHL at the age of 51. Fetisov last played in a competitive match in 1998 when he was 40.
Fetisov, who serves as a lawmaker for the Federation Council of Russia as well as president of CSKA will feature in the team’s line-up on Friday against SKA St.Petersburg. According to head coach and also former NHL player Sergei Nemchinov, Fetisov will be filling in for a defenseman who is already injured.
Referred to as the Russian Bobby Orr, Fetisov captured two Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings and one as an assistant coach with the New Jersey Devils where he would also play prior to joining the Wings in 1995.
It is unclear whether he will play for the rest of the season but it is certainly exciting to see one of hockey’s most decorated and respected players lace up his skates once again.
When Andrei Markov injured his ankle back in early October it would start a wave of Russians to be bit by the injury bug with some of the most notable stars having to miss extended time.
First it was Pavel Datsyuk who recently returned to Detroits line-up to try and make up for lost time in hopes of helping a sub-par Red Wings team regain the momentum from last year.
Then within a few days of each other players such as Anton Volchenkov of Ottawa, Ilya Kovalchuk of Atlanta, Sergei Gonchar and Evgeni Malkin of Pittsburgh all have been placed on the shelf as their teams are forced to compete without their biggest helpers.
From shoulders to wrists to ankles the players have racked up a wide range of knocks to miss a small but important chunk of the season. Most players are expected back before mid November with plenty of time before the Olypmics in Vancouver.
Last night Alexander Ovechkin joined the party when he sustained a upper body injury after being involved in a scrum forcing him to leave mid-game and not return.
According to Capitals beat writer Tarik El-Bashir and Sport-Express’s Slava Malamud Ovechkin is likely to miss Wednesday’s game vs the New Jersey Devils which has one writer on here who has tickets very upset at the moment.
UPDATE: Ovechkin has been listed as week to week but will travel with the team. When asked about traveling but not playing Ovechkin responded with “Get some nachos, coke and enjoy the game”
courtesy of Getty Images)
In and after game 2, Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar both sent a message to Detroit on and off the ice. First it was Malkin who decided to drop the mits with Henrik Zetterberg earning him a game misconduct for instigating. However his match penalty was overlooked by the NHL who decided not to enforce their mandatory one-game suspension on one of the games brightest stars.
On Monday, Gonchar told Sovietsky Sport that his team can play against the Wings system and win while stating the series is not over. In game 3, both players let their sticks do the talking propelling the Pens to a 4-2 lead and making the series worthwhile.
Malkin would assist on three of the four goals while Gonchar would give the Pens the game winner on the power play midway through the third. Gonchar would lead his team with 22:29 minutes of ice time and his goal came on his lone shot of the game.
Malkin assisted on the first three Penguins goals, giving him 33 points in 20 games, the most in the playoffs since Joe Sakic’s 34 in 22 games for Stanley Cup champion Colorado in 1996.
Below is Gonchar’s goal courtesy of the NHL.
It seems like everything that happened this year was a waste of time as the same two teams from last year face off once again for the first rematch between the same teams in 25 years. In case you didn’t know this year will feature Detroit and Pittsburgh.
The new and improved Penguins take on the defending cup holders Red Wings who look to become the first team to win back-to-back cups since they themselves did in 1997 and 1998.
The Penguins come into the match-up with the most goals for and against with the Wings with second most. Marian Hossa will be under the microscope as he jumped ship from Pittsburgh to win a cup with Detroit. He will either look like a genius or a fool depending on the outcome.
Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby will be prominent players in the series as they are tied for most points in the playoffs. If the Penguins win the cup the Conn Smyth will go to the highest scorer overall as there is really nothing to set the two young guns apart.
Looking by position everything seems pretty even from the crease to the top lines. It is known that Pavel Datsyuk and Kris Draper will miss game 1(Tonight 8pm NBC) to injuries and their absence could prove dividend if they do not return soon.
I am alright at making predictions and as much as I like Malkin and young players I dont see them beating the Wings anytime soon. Wings in 6.
Russians in the mix-Malkin, Fedetenko, Gonchar, Datsyuk
On Wednesday, the NHL announced the finalists for the league MVP, commonly known as the Hart Memorial Trophy. This year’s candidates are all Russian born players marking the first time in history such an event has occurred.
In case you couldn’t guess which Russian players would be considered this year then you might want to start frequenting this site more. Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin is back to defend his trophy against of fellow countrymen Evgeni Malkin of Pittsburgh and Pavel Datsyuk of Detroit.
Ovechkin, who led the league in goals for the second year in a row will try to become the first player to win back-to-back MVP awards since Dominik Hasek did it in 1997 and 1998.
Malkin has already secured the Art Ross as he tries to overcome his “arch rival” Ovechkin as the two look to face off in the second round the Stanley Cup playoffs(second round prediction coming up today)
Datsyuk, who has never gotten the media attention despite playing on a Stanley Cup team will go for his first Hart. Finishing up the season 4th in scoring, Datsyuk has also been nominated for the Lady Byng Trophy as most gentlemanly player and the Selke Trophy as the league’s best defensive forward.
On Friday the NHL released the nomination for the Lady Byng Award. This years nominees are Zach Parise of New Jersey, Martin St. Louis of Tampa Bay, and Pavel Datsyuk (above with Byng and Selke awards) of Detroit. Datsyuk will be going for his fourth straight Byng having won it since 2005-06.
The trophy is awarded to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability. The trophy winner will be announced on June 18, 2009 at the NHL Awards ceremony in Las Vegas.
With the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs set to begin tonight here is a look at the Western Conference match-ups with predictions.
(1) San Jose Sharks vs (8) Anaheim Ducks
The President Trophy winning Sharks take on the Ducks in the battle of California. With a 4-2 head-to-head record in favor of San Jose the first step for the league’s top team will be a Ducks team with a new found confidence and a red-hot streak to enter the NHL’s second season. The Ducks enter the playoffs with a 7-2-1 streak but will have to battle against the team with too much depth for them to handle. Sharks in 5
(2) Detroit Red Wings vs (7) Columbus Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets first playoff appearance may be short lived as they face the Wings who haven’t missed the playoffs in almost 20 years. You can’t bet against the team which hails from hockey town as the experience out ways the Jackets’ in almost every category. Steve Mason could be the difference maker for the Jackets but dont expect them to overtake the defending cup holders. Wings in 5
(3)Vancouver Canucks vs (6) St. Louis Blues
The Blues make a return to the playoffs after a four year absence while the Canucks resurrected their season to over take the Calgary Flames for the Northwest title. The battle between the pipes should be key as Chris Mason battles Roberto Loungo who has been stellar in the second half of the season. While the Blues have experience in Keith Tkachuk and Mason the all around package is in favor of Vancouver. Canucks in 6
(4) Calgary Flames vs (5) Chicago Blackhawks
The Blackhawks have been riding the back of Nikolai Khabibulin who has had a comeback season of such. Being the uncle for the team of boys look for the young guns to back up the experience in the front. The Flames who let the division fall from their grasp will have something to prove with the likes of Iginla. This series is a toss up lets just say Blackhawks in 7
