The Hockey Handsome Hour

Once again, a special thanks to Hank from The Railroad Tie and Hoosier Hoops Report (and a longtime Washington Capitals fans and unabashed lover of hockey) for joining forces with me last night to do an off-topic BS podcast, the Hockey Handsome Hour.

We talked about what makes hockey awesome, each series in this year's first round, the dominance of the Blackhawks, the Caps-Rangers series that it so close to our hearts and, of course, we made some laughable Finals picks.

It's all crammed into a 90 minute podcast of excellence. So if you've got some time to kill and would love to hear some of your favorite familiar voices talk hockey, here you go.

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Hockey Handsomeness?

Yes, that's right. Hank of the Purdue site Twitter feed The Railroad Tie as well as Hoosier Hoops Report (I hope he feels dirty even having "Hoosier" in the name of his site) will join me tonight as we step out of the characters you've come to know and discuss something completely different.

Hank and I are both longtime, die-hard hockey fans. I currently even play the game; no word on whether Hank is manly enough to do such a thing. Tonight, we'll fire up the podcastmachine and talk nothing but hockey, Stanley Cup playoffs, and so forth. If you're a fan of hockey, even on a small-time basis, you might enjoy it.

So feel free to join us tonight live, as we'll be streaming the chat at 9:30 PM, Eastern Time. As per usual, the recorded version will be available in perpetuity.

Off-Topic BS: Stanley Cup Playoffs

Lucky Cup.

I don't do this to you very often, but there are like, I don't know, two or three readers of BS who enjoy hockey. And while I use the BS twitter feed to share my observations on NFL Sundays in the fall, for example, I've spared you all from seeing my hockey-related tweets because they are, uh, a bit on the biased side. (I'm basically a drunk guy in Madison Square Garden swearing at things.) But if you're so inclined, you can find J unplugged at @J_Boilermaker on Twitter. I do a lot of Rangers hockey tweeting.

Also, whether you like hockey or not, try telling me this isn't an awesome commercial:



Last year, I made my Stanley Cup Playoff picks exclusively on Twitter and was told when I picked the LA Kings to go far that I was being silly. Then they won the Stanley Cup. So there. More upsets? Glad you (didn't) ask.

Western Conference

(1) Chicago Blackhawks vs (8) Minnesota Wild -- The 8-seed out west will not advance this year. The Blackhawks were insanely good this year, losing only seven games in regulation over the 48-game shortened season. This will be over early. Blackhawks in 5.

(2) Anaheim Ducks vs (7) Detroit Red Wings -- The Wings haven't missed the playoffs since 1990 but came close this year; however, they've gotten things together and the Ducks seem to have cooled. Upset alert. Red Wings in 7.

(3) Vancouver Canucks vs (6) San Jose Sharks -- Two perennial playoff chokers meet; who survives? I'm going to go upset, mainly because Canucks fans are fooling themselves if they think Cory Schneider is going to lead them to the promised land. Sharks in 7.

(4) St. Louis Blues vs (5) Los Angeles Kings -- The Blues seem overmatched here to me. The defending champ Kings have too much talent and won the Cup from the aforementioned 8-seed last year, so being on the road won't scare them at all. Kings in 6.

Eastern Conference

(1) Pittsburgh Penguins vs (8) New York Islanders -- The Isles reward for making it back to the playoffs is to face the high-scoring Pens in the first round. I think the Isles will actually give them some trouble, but not enough to pull the upset. However, this is a rare occurrence where I'll be somewhat pulling for the other hockey team that claims New York. Penguins in 6.

(2) Montreal Canadiens vs (7) Ottawa Senators -- I think everyone will be picking Montreal here and I don't think you'd be crazy to do so, obviously. But their goalie Carey Price has been rocky lately, plus the Sens are playing some of their best hockey right now and got a star defenseman back (Erik Karlsson) who had 70% of his Achilles severed in February. Uh, what? Seriously, hockey players are tough. Senators in 7.

(3) Washington Capitals vs (6) New York Rangers -- The Rangers have been my team since I was a wee lad, mainly because they were my father's team. He began bringing to me to the pot-hazed Garden in the early '80s, thus my combative nature at sporting events (I had a broken leg at the 2001 Rose Bowl and Tim probably remembers me wanting to beat a Washington fan with my crutches). Anyway, the Caps are Hank of Railroad Tie fame's team and this is the fourth meeting in five years for these teams. I still like the Rangers even though the Caps have been hot. Rangers in 7.

(4) Boston Bruins vs (5) Toronto Maple Leafs -- The Leafs haven't been in the playoffs in a long time and sort of coasted to the finish line this year. While there are no easy outs in the Cup playoffs, the Leafs might have been the one team others weren't overly worried about facing. While Boston doesn't score many goals, I think they're a better team with better coaching and toughness. Bruins in 6.

Thank you for your indulgence.

MLB Network Continues to Be Awesome for Baseball Junkies

MLB Network has it right. If you're into baseball, as I am, then you likely already love this channel. And compared to the other dedicated channels, I'd say it's at or near the best of the lot. And often, to me, it's the little things that they do in the course of their long evening shows.

This is just one recent example. With a lot of arguing and ejections seemingly happening lately, Joe Magrane and Harold Reynolds give a little demo on how best to approach an umpire when you disagree with their strike zone while also not getting yourself thrown out of the game.

Like I said, for baseball junkies like me, this is just cool stuff.

MLB, NFL and the Big Ten Network, in my opinion, do very good jobs covering things as they do, though I'd probably put BTN third in that list, for now. Further down the list, in pathetic territory are NBA TV and the NHL Network. Those who know me know I love hockey, too, so that's not BS. They do a horrendous job.

A more thorough breakdown of the best and worst sports networks will be forthcoming from your favorite Website -- once our July 4th hangovers die down.

The Magical Return of SBF

So we got the following email last week from a Purdue student named Mike:

I love the blog and thought your coverage of this year in Purdue sports was high quality journalism. Also, I thought your analysis of the basketball season was spot on. As a sophomore in the secondary education program, I look forward to another year of mediocre football and high quality basketball complemented by someone who actually appreciates the Big Ten. However, your SBF posts got me through all my lecture classes in CL50 when I was hung over last semester. I've kept my trap shut thus far in the spring semester but with summer right around the corner and finals looming, I thought a few more SBF posts could get me through exams. Just a thought. Keep up the great writing and have a wonderful Easter!

Don't you like how he butters us up for four lines before really getting to his point -- that he misses SBF. Now, normally, I say hey thanks for the note but SBF was just one of our features and we like to do different things, etc, etc. But to tug at my heart like that, about getting through classes in CL50, etc. Well, I'm a sucker. And he probably works this same magic on his professors, too. (And for the record, if we'd had Internet access in CL50 when I was in college, I doubt I'd have ever heard a word of any lecture, ever.) And then he throws in a couple more compliments at the end.... okay, Mike, don't lay it on too thick. We know we're awesome. And your wish is thusly granted.

The NHL playoffs started this week and I've been a lifelong NHL fan -- specifically of the New York Rangers. So between that and MLB starting up, it's an exciting time for me, despite the lack of Purdue activity. So we'll dedicate this week's SBF to puck bunnies. Our first pic, above, is of one of the dedicated members of the New York Islanders Ice Girls Team, or whatever they're called. I can't decide if she's checking out her fabulous cleave or if she's checking to see if her camel toe is noticeable.


Next up is one of my all-time favorites, Elisha Cuthbert. Elisha returned to 24 this week, briefly, and has an affinity for NHL players. She's basically the Alissa Milano of the NHL. Just saying.

I am suddenly a fan of the Calgary Flames.

That's all for this week. So kick back, have a beer, watch your NHL playoffs this weekend and remember, be safe out there.

Sideboob Friday is a production of Boiled Sports and used to run every Friday in this space, but we got tired of the work involved and of being known as those guys who do SBF. So it went on hiatus for a while, but now it's back... to let you know... I can really shake it down. So do you love me? I'm rambling now. If you have SBF suggestions or commentary, send it to BoiledSports@gmail.com, with a copy to your mom. She'll be so proud.

NHL Conference Semi-Finals Breakdown

In case you haven't noticed -- and judging by the ratings numbers, you haven't -- the NHL has put together some exciting series and is threatening to climb out of the basement of sports relevancy.

Seriously, though, the first round had some outstanding series and some hockey markets that haven't had much to cheer about in a while got to have some fun.

The Washington Capitals pushed their series to seven games before losing to Philly; the Boston Bruins fought back (like Washington) from a 3-1 deficit to force a Game 7 that they, too, came up short in, losing to top-seeded Montreal. And in the West, the San Jose Sharks outlasted the Calgary Flames in a really terrific seven-game first rounder that unfortunately a lot of the continent didn't see much of because of all the late starts.

So now we move to the second round, still best-of-seven, and just eight victories from reaching the Stanley Cup Finals. Let's get into it.

Western Conference

(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (6) Colorado Avalanche -- Fans are all a-twitter over this one, because these teams have met before and there was incredible bad blood back in the mid-to-late-90s. In fact, these two are responsible for two of the most incredible, hate-filled brawls I've seen in modern hockey. But those hoping for goalie fights will probably be disappointed. While a lot of guys who remember those battles are still around, playoff hockey is a bit different and there aren't many cheap-shot artists left on these teams. Detroit got a scare in Round 1 against Nashville but seems to have steadied things. The Avs are only going to be stopped by two things: health (or lack thereof) and Jose Theodore's steadiness in net. If those two things go Colorado's way, I think the Avs will upset the Wings. Are the Red Wings hungry enough? Was their stumble against Nashville indicitive of a paper tiger? Or were they just looking on to this series? It's hard to say and they've stumbled early before. Logic tells me the Wings are just too good and will move on, but I also think the Avs have talent and a few guys (like, Sakic, Foote and Forsberg) who are back to make one more run. I'll call for the upset. Avalanche in 7.

(2) San Jose Sharks vs. (5) Dallas Stars -- I am hoping the Stars make the Finals and face my Rangers so that I can drive on up to Dallas and see some Finals games close to my new home. Not sure how likely this is to happen, though. The Sharks were a lot of people's picks to make the Finals out of the West after a strong season and an all-around, complete-looking team. But they were pushed to the limit by Calgary in Round 1 and looked like they were able to be intimidated. I think they moved on simply because they had home ice and were the more talented team and, in this case, talent won out. The Stars, meanwhile, came in completely unheralded after a very good season and drew the defending champion Ducks in the first round. I don't know many people who thought the Stars would win, but they did so pretty convincingly. They're not a flashy team and of the four left out West will likely continue to be the most overlooked team. Can this work in their favor? Could the Sharks be tired after a seven-game battle and multiple trips up to Alberta? I think they could be. And since I'm getting everything wrong early on, I'll go with the Stars in 6.

Eastern Conference

(1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (6) Philadelphia Flyers -- It's a good thing for the NHL that there isn't an easy series to pick. It shows how even their league is and how many good teams have made the playoffs. The Canadiens had the Bruins down 3-1 and seemed to not know how to close out a series. Plus they have a rookie goaltender who finally looked beatable in Games 5 and 6 against Boston. The Flyers, though, while having a lot of scoring power also have a questionable goalie, Martin Biron, who just won his first playoff series ever. Can he make it two in a row? Can the Flyers go from the bottom of the league last year (literally the worst record) to the conference finals the following year? I don't think it's far-fetched at all, but I'm going to say no. Montreal has too much talent and is playing too well. They got a scare in Round 1 but they dominated most of the games they won and that simply means they're good and couldn't quite close the deal. While that can be disasterous in the playoffs, I think having Round 1 behind them will allow them to simply play their game and I think the Flyers are into bonus time now. They never could have reasonably expected to turn things around this fast. Canadiens in 6.

(2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (5) New York Rangers -- The Pens are the darlings of the league, with Sidney Crosby, Evgeny Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury in net. They dispatched the Ottawa Senators in four straight in the first round and that's all well and good, but the Senators looked like a team with no heart or pride whatsoever. The Pens had their way with them and the goals seemed to come easily. None of this will be the case with the Rangers. New York has heart, leadership, timely scoring, good defense and a better goalie. The Rangers went 5-3 against Pittsburgh during the regular season, which means very little but at least proves they can play with the high-offense Penguins. I think everyone is quickly forgetting the Pens are still a young team and they might need another year of playoff downfall to solidify their resolve. The Rangers dealt with a humiliating sweep two years ago, then a near-upset in the conference semis last year, which has built nicely to them now believing they are meant to go further. I think they are, too. And not just because I'll be at Game 4 at Madison Square Garden. Rangers in 6.

NHL Playoffs; Yes, You Heard Me

Yeah, I know. Most of you don’t like hockey. But I do. And since this site is 1/3 mine, I’ll do what I please.

So today, because I do this every year but usually just in my head or on my personal blog, I’m giving a quick preview of the NHL playoffs. Yeah, yeah, I know… pick your joke here:

A) “The NHL what now?”
B) “I didn’t realize there was still an NHL.”
C) “I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out!”
D) “zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….”

All done now? Good.

The NHL playoffs are similar to the NBA playoffs in that the top eight in each conference make it and the seedings go 1 versus 8, 2 versus 7 and so on. Only the NHL doesn’t suck like the NBA because of many reasons, such as re-seeding after each round, the early-round matchups actually being good, exciting play, and no sub-.500 teams making the playoffs like the Eastern Conference of the NBA.

Anyway, here we go.

Western Conference

(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (8) Nashville Predators – The Wings find ways to choke badly as the top seed every few years and while Nashville is spunky, it won’t happen here. Detroit is healthy, has excellent scorers, top-notch defense and world-class goaltending. They’re just too much for the Preds. Red Wings in 5.

(2) San Jose Sharks vs. (7) Calgary Flames – Should be a very good series. Two Western teams that both have high expectations this year. However, I think the Sharks are just too good and too potent an offense with Thornton, Cheechoo and Marleau for the Flames to beat four out of seven times. Jarome Iginla is good, and I won money a few years ago by betting on the 7-seeded Flames to reach the Finals and they did, but I just think San Jose is too good. Sharks in 7.

(3) Minnesota Wild vs. (6) Colorado Avalanche – The Wild had a nice season and won their first division title ever. The Avalanche, however, have a very proven core group of playoff guys and the duo of Sakic and Forsberg should be plenty to move them to at least the second round. Avalanche in 6.

(4) Anaheim Ducks vs. (5) Dallas Stars – The Ducks are the defending champs and the Stars, with goalie Marty Turco, are perennial playoff disappointments. Despite winning a Cup in ’99, the Stars always seem tight (especially Turco) in the playoffs and the Ducks have the pedigree and the players. Ducks in 6.

Eastern Conference

(1) Montreal Canadiens vs (8) Boston Bruins – About the only complete gimme on the board (maybe Detroit-Nashville, too). The Canadiens have had a great season and, though I don’t think they’re as dominant as a #1 seed should be, they should have absolutely no trouble at all stomping the Bruins. They owned the B’s this season and it should be a quick exit for Boston. Good for them for getting back to the playoffs, though. Canadiens in 5, eh.

(2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (7) Ottawa Senators – These two met in the 4-5 matchup last season and the Sens took out the Pens with surprising ease. This year, more is expected of the Pens while Ottawa struggled down the stretch, going 14-21-4 after a 29-10-4 start. Probably the hardest series for me to handicap because the Pens still are young and inexperienced but the Senators and their coach sound like they’re losing it, accusing the Pens of tanking to make sure these two met in the playoffs, etc. Still, I think I’ll go with experience. Senators in 7.

(3) Washington Capitals vs. (6) Philadelphia Flyers – The Caps were on the outside looking in until the last weekend of the season and because they play in a terrible division – and in the NHL, like the NFL, the division winners automatically get the top 3 seeds) – they were able to leap from out of the playoffs to #3. They get the resurgent Flyers, who had the worst record in the league last year and rebounded to be pretty competitive this season. Offense isn’t a problem for Philly, but quick defense and any semblance of goaltending is. The Caps aren’t very good, except for 65-goal-scorer Alex Ovechikin, but I still think they’ll prevail. Caps in 7.

(4) NJ Devils vs. (5) NY Rangers – Yes, I still have season tickets to the Rangers, including full playoffs. And yes, I’ll be there if they get a little further along… but their first-round matchup is with the hated Devils. Goaltending is strong on both sides, there will be plenty of defense and hitting, but the Rangers simply have more offense (and went 7-1 against NJ this season) and so, even without my bias, it would seem the Rangers have to win. But they’ll make it interesting to give me a heart attack. Rangers in 7.

Go Puck Yourself

One of the sports we don't talk much about here is hockey, mainly because only one of us actually likes it. And that one is me, so occasionally I'm going to enthral you with a little bit of hockey goodness to pass the time. Sure, it probably won't be very frequent during the Purdue football and basketball season, but it'll happen from time to time.

I'm headed to a New York Rangers game tonight (I'm a season subscriber) and I'm enjoying every ounce I can since Mrs. Money and I will be moving to Houston, Texas in a couple months and so my visits to Madison Square Garden will likely become a bit less frequent.

Yesterday, it was announced that Eric Lindros is expected to retire. He played in the NHL from 1992 until last year and was supposed to be the next Wayne Gretzky. However, Lindros only had three or four truly healthy seasons and, despite being huge and willing to fight, he had a melon more fragile than a crate of eggs. Lindros suffered at least eight concussions and in 1999 a collapsed lung that caused him to lose perhaps half his body's blood and nearly die. When he and his family spoke out against the Philadelphia Flyers, the team and the fans turned on him. He was stripped of his captaincy and eventually traded away to the Rangers, with whom he played for three years.

But Lindros is perhaps best remembered for taking a hit that, while it doesn't look terrible, was the one that gave him perhaps his worst concussion. This is a guy who loved to mix it up and hit people hard. Yet when he skated through the middle of the ice he had a habit that usually is only found in pee wee hockey in that he would skate with his head down. Scott Stevens of the Devils saw him coming, lined up up and.... ka-powie.



Like I said, doesn't look SO bad (well, until his head whacks the ice) but he was truly not right after that.

I know hockey gets a bad rap for fighting but, truthfully, fighting is not a major part of the game anymore. There's an average of less than one fight per game anymore and there are literally almost none in the playoffs. The days where a guy could make a living being a thug and just going out there and fighting no longer exist. And the majority of the "fighters" in the league today get along with one another and are some of the nicest guys in the sport. Witness this battle between two guys who clearly decided before the face-off that they were gonna go and then, note the very end when one combatant skates over and offers a handshake:



Now don't get me wrong -- I'm not a huge proponent of fighting. I think it cheapens the game and is largely unnecessary. However, most guys go out of their way not to hurt their opponent and just try to land some face jabs, etc., and get the crowd into it. It also often fires up teams, but I'm of the opinion that scoring goals fires up your team even more. But the knock on hockey for being too much about fighting is an old notion and really doesn't ring true anymore. In fact, the NHL was the first major pro league to officially outlaw leaving the bench during a fight. If you do so, you get suspended for ten games, I believe, and your coach gets suspended for five games. That's a penalty with teeth and it worked. The last bench-clearing brawl in the NHL -- which was long known for having the benches empty like in baseball or basketball -- was in 1987.

As for what people do like and, in my opinion, should like about hockey, it's the amazing scoring, incredible goaltending, end-to-end action and, of course, the hitting. Oh, the hitting. For anyone who isn't sure about hockey but does like the hitting in football, well, I'm including the below video of the best hits of last season (I'd recommend watching with your volume down b/c the music is headache-inducing). What's amazing about these hits is that the vast majority of them caused no injuries and you often can see the guys scrambling to try to get back up. But, man, these are some blasts:



So that's today's hockey fun. Future hockey discussion will be held at future, unschedule, unknown times.

Back to your regular programming.

Yes We Do Hockey Here, Too

Okay, so no, we really don't usually write about hockey. But that's only because I'm the only one in the Boiled Sports house (note: we don't really all live in a house together) who loves hockey. Tim and Boilerdowd love it slightly less than me, which is to say that they don't love it at all. Or even like it.

But that doesn't matter. I have a been a New York Rangers ticketholder for most of my life, going back to the early '80s when my dad would take me to games and have to cover my eyes as we walked Eighth Avenue lest I see a hooker flash her goods (yes, the pre-Giuliani days were ugly). Madison Square Garden was no picnic, either, with the clear smell of weed throughout and with the "blue seats" as they were known up in the upper level well-storied in fan-fights that notoriously wound up with someone being pissed on (yes, it was an awful place). But I got to see the Rangers win the Stanley Cup in 1994 and then I went to college and the Rangers went into a downward spiral. They went to the Conference Finals in 1997 but then didn't make it to the playoffs again until last season. At which point they were obliterated in a 4-game sweep at the hands of the hated NJ Devils.

So last night, when the Rangers completed a first-round sweep of the Atlanta Thrashers, it was a hell of a lot of fun for me. I went to Games 3 and 4 the last two nights and took some videos along the way. You may or may not like them, but I'm putting them up here for your entertainment. As anyone who's ever been a crazed sporting event knows, it's hard to describe the loudness to someone and I've learned from taking video clips at Purdue games and other events that the true atmosphere doesn't really come through but it's fun to share nonetheless. So here we go.

This first video is from Tuesday night. The Rangers were up 2-0 in the series, having won twice in Atlanta, and the game had just started. The crowd was pumped and then just 32 seconds into the game, the Rangers got on the board. This was the crowd reaction after the goal, which, naturally, I don't have on tape.



The Rangers went on to win 7-0, an incredible blowout, especially for the playoffs.

Then on Wednesday night, we were there for the party-atmosphere that the Garden was. As nervous as I am for Rangers playoff games, I was enjoying this since they so clearly had things in hand. There is a guy who sings the anthem at most Rangers games who is SO beloved and the place went nuts when he was introduced. This is the last few lines of the anthem to give you an idea of the crowd and how it was to be there.



Game 4 was a better game, with Atlanta taking the lead twice and the Rangers tying it twice. Then, a couple of minutes into the third period, the Rangers thought they had scored but there was no goal signaled. At the next stoppage, the play was reviewed for a long time. During that time, Jaromir Jagr, the Rangers captain, slowly skated over to where the puck was lying on the ice and guided it to center ice, where he left it on the center face-off dot. The implication of this was that he felt it was going to be ruled a goal -- when a goal is scored, the ensuing face-off is at center ice. Within seconds, a Thrashers player skated over and roughly slapped the puck away and down the ice. It was funny stuff. And then the announcement was made that it was indeed a goal, the goal that would ultimately decide the series.



Late in the third period, the Thrashers pulled their goalie out in order to have the extra attacker on the ice and almost immediately, the Rangers got control of the puck and sent in an easy goal into the empty net to seal the victory.... and we got to cheer and chant again:



This next one is the last 30 seconds of the game. You can hear the "goodbye" chant as well as people beginning the "We want the Cup!" chant, which is kind of stupid in the first round no matter how well the team has played.



Last season, when the Rangers started to actually be a good team again, a tradition was born where the players would all gather at center ice after a victory and salute the fans. This is somewhat more common in Europe but very rarely seen in North America. The fans absolutely love the acknowledgement (as any fan of any sport could understand) and wait for the salute after all home victories now. One of the bittersweet moments of last year's playoffs was that after the Rangers were swept, they still waited on the ice and saluted the fans one more time and the roar was deafening. This year, we've already gotten to see a couple of victory salutes on home ice and now we move on to the next round. Anyway, here's the last clip, of the Rangers cheering their fans:



That's all for today's video essay on the New York Rangers.