Showing posts with label Alex Ovechkin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alex Ovechkin. Show all posts

4/11/2010

Final Round


Henrik Sedin did what he could against the Calgary Flames. His teammates also did what they could to get the puck to him all night. Henrik played around five minutes more then usual and ended up with four assists. Brother Daniel also had a four-point night. He scored three goals, of which the last one was a sick stick-between-the-legs stunt. So Henrik Sedin leads the point race with his franschise-record 112 points. Now all he can do is wait and see what Alexander Ovechkin can do in his last game. The Russian sits three points behind in the hunt for the Art Ross.

In Philadelphia it all comes down to what feels like a Game 7 between the Flyers and the New York Rangers. One game. The winner is in the playoffs, the loser is out. It's a tough one. The Blueshirts looked good in the last game against the Flyers and the are 7-2-1 in their last ten and winners in the last two. Philadelphia, eventhough they are playing at home, are just 3-6-1 in their last ten. I will go with the Rangers.

Detroit are in a good spot right now. Currently in fifth place in the Western Conference, they will face the fourth-placed Phoenix Coyotes in the first round. Not that Phoenix is in any way a bad team, they have had a fantastic season, but I don't think they were hoping to get the Wings in the first round. Actually, I doubt any team were hoping to get Detroit. Well, it all comes down to the last game. The Red Wings need to win their last game, away against Chicago. If they lose and Los Angeles beat Colorado away, the Wings will instead face Vancouver in the first round.

Wow, there is so much at stake in this final round of the season. Just the way it should be.

__________________________________________________________________

4/30/2009

The Hart goes to...

The finalists for the Hart Trophy have been annonced. To no one's surprise, two of them are Evgeni Malkin and Alexander Ovechkin. The trio is rounded out by Detroit's puck wiz, Pavel Datsyuk.

Like always this award is misintepeded. The Hart is constantly refered to as "given to the league's MVP", when it actually is supposed to be given to the player most valuable to his team. The team MVPs have always been overlooked, most notably during the 80's when Wayne Gretzky held on to it for eight straight seasons during 1980 to 1987.

Malkin gets the Art Ross Trophy for having the most points, Ovechkin recives the Rocket Richard Trophy for his 56 goals this season, and Datsyuk is arguably the best allround player in the NHL, but neither would get the Hart, not if I'm handing out the trophies.

My Hart Trophy goes to Zach Parise for being the most valuable player on a New Jersey Devils team playing most of this season without their star goalie, Martin Brodeur.

Special mentioning goes to Steve Mason for backstopping the Columbus Blue Jackets to their first ever Stanley Cup playoffs.

____________________________________________________________________