Canadiens storm Halak, New York Islanders posted by Canadiens Fan

The Montreal Canadiens, not necessarily known for their quick starts, scored early goals in all three periods of a 6-4 victory over the visiting New York Islanders on Saturday night.

“It’s no surprise that we’re not a good starting team,” said Canadiens Dale Weise, whose tap-in goal in the second period equaled his career high in points scored (16), set last season. “For whatever reason that is, we wanted to focus on that tonight.”

Montreal is just (28-13-3) and ranks a meager 29th in the NHL in first-period productivity, ahead of only the Buffalo Sabres, with just 18 goals in 44 games, a slow start indeed.

Dustin Tokarski started in net for the Habs in place of Carey Price, who suffered an upper-body injury against the Colombus Blue Jackets on Wednesday night. Head coach Michel Therrien said there was no immediate timetable for his return. As a response, Joey MacDonald was recalled from the Hamilton Bulldogs to fill for Therrien’s absence.

Former Habs goalie Jaroslav Halak started for the New York Islanders for the second straight night and had been 4-0 with just four goals against when facing his old team. On this night, he allowed all six Montreal goals before getting the hook.

“I’m sure he’s frustrated . . . but we didn’t play very well in front of him,” coach Jack Capuano said of his goaltender, recently named to the NHL all-star team as an injury replacement.

While the win is sure to boost the morale of the Canadiens, they are not out of the water yet. Being such a slow starting team isn’t enough to win a Stanley Cup let alone make a significant play off run, where the name of the game is fast starts and holding dominating leads.

Sabres know they aren't paying the price. posted by Sabres Fan

The Sabres faced a Minnesota Wild team on Thursday that had won two of 14 games. Buffalo proceeded to lose 7-0 for their worst loss ever in this building.

Philadelphia comes to town with three losses in four games and has not scored a goal in two games. Yes, in the last two games the Sabres have outscored the Flyers 1-0!

Overall the Flyers have 10 more points than Buffalo and scored 44 more goals.

Before the shutout string, captain Claude Giroux had five points in four games. Giroux has 48 points in 44 games.

Also before the streak, Mark Streit had assists in 15 out of 19 games.

Rob Zepp has been in goal the past three games going 1-1-0 with a 1.90 goals against and a .917 save percentage. Zepp is 33 years old and was a fourth round pick of Carolina Hurricanes in 2001. This is first stint in the NHL after stops in Lehigh Valley, Berlin, SaiPa Lappeenranta, the Florida Everblades and Lowell.

Buffalo had been doing very well at home, but have lost four straight here to fall to 10-12-2 overall.

Buffalo has just seven goals in eight games. Ted Nolan said on Friday that the players are wondering why they aren’t scoring goals. He said it’s because they don’t pay the price. Matt Ellis is a player that pays the price every shift and he said, “We 100 percent have to pay the price. One thing I’ve noticed is we do a lot on the outside. In order to score goals in this league you have to get to the gritty areas in front of the net and you do, you have to pay the price if you want to score goals.”

The Buffalo Sabres Seek to find their Footing after an Eventful Season posted by Sabres Fan

The Buffalo Sabres did not do very well in the 2013-2014 season. They had only 157 goals which was the lowest in the NHL post expansion era. The number of shots on goals were also very few. The Sabres have a very poor power play unit. They had the second poorest showing of any team in the NHL particularly in the last season.

Goal Tenders

The Sabres have had good goal tenders which is one of the things that has been going well for them. Andrey Makarov, who was signed in the last season, could not play for the team for the most part due to an injury. He was able to play later in the season and exceeded expectations.

Coach Ted Nolan who took over in January has to find a replacement for Ryan Miller. Currently, Jhonas Enroth and Michal Neuvirth who were acquired last season, are the leading contenders to fill the gap left by Miller.

Weak Offensive

However, their offensive game is the weakest point for the Sabres. The off season has been going well for the team. The coach has been trying to rebuild the team, by using youthful players. Some players such as Sam Reinhart, the number 2 draft who is one of the youngsters that could find a spot in the draft.

The Sabres could have even more young players if 18 year old Reinhart makes the roster. They could have up to five young players this season. With Ted Nolan coming back after years away from the team, they now have a good chance of making the playoffs.

Pegulas’ Record Bid

In Other news, the team owners set the record with a $1.4 billion bid for the Buffalo Bills. This was above the $935 million estimated value of the bills They set a record and had a bid higher than what was set by Donald Trump, whose bids were never disclosed. They cited upholding Ralph Wilson’s legacy as their greatest motivation. 

Miller and Anderson Making Pitch for Team USA Starting Job posted by Jeff Ponder

Tim Thomas has been the heavy favorite for the starting goaltender position for Team USA in 2010 for quite some time.  But Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller is turning some heads with his strong play to start the 2009-10 campaign.

Heading into the United States Olympic Hockey Camp in July, reigning Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas was the clear cut number one guy to lead the USA Men's Ice Hockey Team to a Gold Medal.  But his play suffered early, as his Bruins currently sit at 11th in the Eastern Conference with a 6-7-2 record.  The troublesome stat that may worry Team USA officials is that in his first three games Thomas suffered twelve goals against, also posting a dismal .870 save percentage in that span.  It is just the first three games, but the Olympics are a short two weeks where teams can play up to 8 games in about 11 days.  The Olympic committee will have worries if Thomas cannot handle the pressure of jumping right into a situation on the ice.

While Thomas has still played well enough, Ryan Miller has outplayed his counterpart to the fullest extent of the word.

Miller is currently leading the league in save percentage (.941%), second in GAA (1.69), and tied for second in shutouts.  It is no mistake that Miller and the Sabres are 3rd in the Eastern Conference with a remarkable 9-2-1 record.  The East Lansing, Michigan native has enjoyed one of the best starts of his career, after witnessing his team miss the playoffs in 2009.

"That's who he is. He's a battler and the backbone of our team," Buffalo captain Craig Rivet said about Miller after a hard-fought win against the Maple Leafs on October 30th. "We played against a feisty team that wanted a win, and he stood on his head a couple times to help us out. He was the main reason we got the win."
Continue reading "Miller and Anderson Making Pitch ..."

Goaltender Options for the Flyers - Part 2 posted by Kevin Christmann

Part 2 of this series will include Restricted Free Agent options as well as possible acquisitions via trade.

In Part 1 of this series I covered some of the more realistic Unrestricted Free Agent options for the Flyers in their quest to acquire a starting goaltender. In addition to the Unrestricted Free Agent options, there are several viable Restricted Free Agent options. The benefit of restricted free agents is that they are all young…that is, after all, why they are restricted free agents. They are often times coming off their entry level contracts, and just haven’t played enough seasons to be eligible for unrestricted free agency. The bad part about restricted free agency is that, depending on how much the player is signed for, the team is required to pay some sort of draft pick compensation.

The compensation thresholds are dependent upon the salary cap ceiling for that respective season. Since we don’t know what the salary cap will be set at for next season, the compensation thresholds have not been set either.

Last year’s compensation was as follows:

-at or below $863,812 = no compensation

-$863,813 to $1,307,812 = One 3rd round pick

-$1,307,813 to $2,615,625 = One 2nd round pick

-$2,615,626 to $3,923,437 = One 1st round pick, one 3rd round pick

-$3,923,438 to $5,231,249 = One 1st round pick, one 2nd round pick, one 3rd round pick

-$5,231,250 to $6,539,062 = Two 1st round picks, one 2nd round pick, one 3rd round pick

-$6,539,063 or above = Four 1st round picks

Inbound link contest winner announced! posted by Earn Money Blogging

A big thanks to everyone who participated in the "Inbound Link Contest".  We have a winner!  A big congratulations go out to Marija.  Thank you for all your hard work on this.  While we had a lot of people participate, Marija was able to win with only 4 links!  So it wouldn't have taken a lot to win this contest!  We'll be having another contest soon so stay tuned.

The whole purpose of this contest was to get our bloggers networking with other webmasters and to start to build up their inbound links which will help their traffic.  Even a few links can help you with the search engines as they will see you as more of an authority on your topic the more inbound links you have.

To learn more about marketing your blog check out this post: http://www.nbabasketballonline.com/sports_content-rev_share_faq.html#my_faq_2971

Marija's blog can be found here.  If you're a Knicks fan, check it out: http://www.newyorkknicksnews.com/marijak

The original post announcing the contest can be found here: http://www.nbabasketballonline.com/bloggers/weblog/2984.html

And if you're not already signed up with Google AdSense and making money from your blog, check out our Revenue Share FAQ page: http://www.nbabasketballonline.com/sports_content-rev_share_faq.html

Inbound link contest - Win $100! posted by Earn Money Blogging

To try and motivate our bloggers to get inbound links we're going to have a contest to see which blogger can get the most inbound links to their blog. The contest begins now and ends July 31st, 2008. To be entered in to the contest all you have to do is go out and get as many websites to link to your blog as you can and at the end of the month send us an email listing all those links. All links must be active from August 1st through August 7th when we'll be judging the entries - a winner will be announced on August 7th. All entry emails must be received by Midnight on July 31st, 2008. You can email them to sportsfan@nbabasketballonline.com

We're going to impose some restrictions on the types of links you can get so please see below for the full list of links that do NOT count.

To get started simply go to Google and find other websites and blog that are about the sports and teams that you write about. Email the website owner and ask them for a link by explaining that you think your blog would be a good resource for their readers. Or offer to write a guest post for them with your by-line and URL at the bottom of the article. Or offer to exchange links with them by writing a quick write up of their site and a reciprocal link back to them. Some webmasters will be happy to add you to their blog roll even if you don't give them a link back (which is ideal) but some may want you to link back to them - you can easily do this with a quick blog entry on your blog about their website.

To learn more about inbound links and marketing your blog in general check out this post:

Canadiens crush Bruins' spirits posted by Bill Koch

The fact that the Boston Bruins are about to be eliminated from the NHL postseason by the Montreal Canadiens is sickening enough.
Watching the Bruins be relegated to visitors' status in their home building, however, is just one more reminder of what a complete and utter debacle hockey has become on Causeway Street.
Montreal fans swarmed the TD Banknorth Garden for Tuesday night's pivotal Game 4, a match-up that Boston desperately needed to win to avoid falling behind 3-1 in their best-of-7 Eastern Conference quarterfinal. I didn't think that the eighth-seeded Bruins stood any chance against the top-seeded Canadiens when the pairings were announced, what with that 11-game losing streak against Montreal and all, but to see Boston be humiliated on home ice by thousands of traveling Canadiens fans was the last straw.
These games between the two Original Six rivals were as much a blood feud as the current Red Sox-Yankees struggle back in the old Adams Division days. The Buffalo Sabres, Quebec Nordiques and Hartford Failures Whalers were supporting acts to the main stage that pitted the Bruins and the Canadiens against each other seemingly every season. My earliest hockey memories as a kid were watching Ray Bourque, Cam Neely and the rest of the Boston legends face off against Patrick Roy, Chris Chelios and Montreal's bunch of divers and frauds. And there was absolutely no way that any Montreal fan would have been able to find a seat in the old Boston Garden, a building that was as great a home-ice advantage as any arena in the NHL.
Continue reading "Canadiens crush Bruins' spirits"

Los Angeles Kings @ Detroit Red Wings (Game Recap 12/19/2007) posted by Matthew R. Hastings

Different Game, Same Story for the Los Angeles Kings.  On Tuesday against Colorado the Kings took a bad early and it set the tone for the rest of the game, well against the Red Wings it was no different!  Jason LaBarbera was looking to build off that performance he gave Monday night against the Avalanche, but in this game he would get no help.

Cammalerri took holding penalty just 22 seconds into the 1st period, and just like that the Red Wings are up 1-0 less than one minute into the game!  The Red Wings got another goal from Hudler toward the midway of period one.  With a 2-0 deficit, the Kings were in another hole early.  Detroit forward Franzen was called for a holding penalty with two minutes left in the 1st period.  The Kings, Dustin Brown then cashed in on the golden opportunity to get them back in the game by netting a Power-play goal. 

The Kings came out for the 2nd period and shocked the Red Wings, by not only scoring 15 seconds into the period but tying the game as well.  The people in the Hockeytown thought they were going to be in for a game, but then the Red Wings woke back up with some help from the Kings. Three minutes after tying the game Zetterberg flipped the puck towards Kings goalie Labarbera when defense-man Tom Preissing deflected the puck with his hand confusing goalie Jason LaBarbera, Thomas Holmstrom was then able to poke the puck into the goal to give the Red Wings the lead right back at 3-2. 

After that it was no looking back as the Red Wings poured it on.  The Red Wings got 3rd Period goals from Cleary, Franzen, and Filppula to cap of the win.  The game that was once tied 2-2, was quickly changed by four straight goals from four different Red Wings.  Future Hall of Fame goalie Domink Hasek was sharp enough for the Red Wings stopping 18 of 20 shots.  Once again bad penalties and mistakes cost the Kings.  The Red Wings showed why they have been an elite team for the last 10 years.  All the players on the team know their role and they combine it into the system to work.  They also get good goal-tending, make teams pay for the mistakes made, and they capitalize on the Power-play.   

The trade is done... the waiver wire work has begun. posted by Roland Lesterlin

I woke up this morning with a sense of joy.  Jarome Iginla managed to produce a wonderful 4 point night, including a game winner.  As any fantasy hockey enthusiast will surely attest, a hat trick is a wonderful thing.  A hat trick that includes a powerplay goal and a game winning goal is even better; throw in 9 shots on goal and a couple of PIMS and the dream night is complete. 

As we approach the 30 game mark of the season, it is time to let the sleeping dogs lie.  If you have underperformers on your fantasy team, now is the time to cut bait and find new fertile fishing grounds.  It is better to have a hot player that gets you a few points then drop him and find the next hot commodity then to hang onto a massive underperformer.  It is true that I continue to hold my breath on Maxim Afinogenov, but that is because he has finally started to put up points. 

Here are some hot players to consider: 

Sean Avery:  One of the leagues best agitators is returning to the Blue shirts line-up.  New York wins with this guy in the line-up.  He will get plenty of PIMS, shots and even powerplay time.  What more could you want from your 2nd or 3rd string LW?

Mike Fischer:  This guy can flat out play the game.  If he was on a team that didn’t boast some of the highest scoring professionals in the game today, he would get a lot more respect.  He’s feeling it right now and his ice-time is increasing.  Ride him while he’s hot, which might be for a little longer than you’d expect. 

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