Cannot believe the Los Angeles Kings have made it to the Stanley Cup Finals! And same for the New Jersey Devils. Obviously, I have to root for the team I grew up with as a kid. But everything I learned in my time following the Kings leads me to believe something will happen to screw it up again. We'll just have to wait and see.

Go Kings, go!

Lisa's Mid-season NHL Awards

Saw an article on CBS Sports, and figured I'd take a crack at naming my mid-season NHL awards for 2011-12!

Hart: Claude Giroux - hands down, this kid is the real deal. Hope he can stay healthy the rest of the year, and claim the real Hart in June!

Vezina: Henrik Lundqvist - I think it's time that everyone realizes he's *the* reason the Rangers have been as good as they are. He plays a ton of minutes, and is very reliable. Will be interesting to see if he can take it to the next level in the playoffs.

Norris: Zdeno Chara - You want to call me a homer, but you have to admit Chara's been phenomenal this year. Yes, Shea Weber is also fantastic, but Chara has a decisive edge when it comes to +/-, +27 to +12. The Bruins shut down the other teams' offense, and a main reason is Chara.

Calder: Adam Henrique - As a Devils season ticket holder, I've seen this kid in a number of games. He's quick, smart, and he definitely flies under the radar. If for some reason the Devils can't win the shoot-out with their first three guys (Kovalchuk, Parise, Elias), they've got Henrique at four. They've got a lot of faith in him and so do I. If he stays healthy, he has the edge over Nuge, and he'll win in June.

Jack Adams: Paul MacLean, though I've been saying I think the Senators will be back in the playoffs before the Leafs! He's done a phenomenal job with this team, one that most figured would be competing for a lottery pick.

Selke: Patrice Bergeron - This guy is insane and it's high-time he gets some recognition. I attribute the growth of both Seguin & Marchand, Bergeron's line-mates, to him. He's a great leader and such a responsible player.

Best Surprise: Ottawa not sucking. I thought they'd be better than the Leafs, but didn't think they'd be doing this well.

Biggest Disappointment: Los Angeles Kings. Seriously?! This was supposed to be their year. I have no clue how they manage to suck year in, year out. Though I guess I really shouldn't be surprised after spending my youth following them. Curse of McSorely's Curved Stick.

Best Acquisition: Ian White - What a bargain! How on earth did they get him to sign under $3 million?

Worst Acquisition: Tomas Kaberle - Seriously Carolina?! If the Bruins didn't want him, you must have known something was up. He's lazy and out of shape. But I guess I don't have to tell you guys that. Luckily you were able to get rid of him.

Why Everyone Hates the Boston Bruins

Photo Credit: AP

Ahem. Aside from the fact they're in Boston.

I think the issue here is that first & foremost, people are jealous. Their team didn't win the Cup. The Bruins did.

And of course there was the stanchion incident with Chara and Pacioretty (honestly, I wouldn't have blamed the league if he got a game or two suspension, though I don't think he deserved one--the rink and speed of the game were the ultimate cause of Pacioretty's injury). Montreal & it's media hyped it up so much, and then a huge conspiracy was on our hands. A few silly things happened, the Ference finger, the Horton squirting water at fans--those were things that if it was the regular season, they would have been fined or suspended. And since the Bruins didn't get suspensions for these minor things (sorry, but they were. I'd sooner see PK Subban or the Sedins punished & suspended for their pathetic diving, if you're going to hand out unsportsmanlike suspensions). If you want an example of things going against the Bruins, look no further than Alex Burrows' biting Patrice Bergeron. In the regular season, he'd be looking at a couple games suspension easily. But in the playoffs, everything is amped up. The league knows this, and the players get some leniency.

It also needs to be mentioned that somewhere along the line, some genius started saying that the Bruins were getting leniency due to Gregory Campbell, son of former disciplinarian Colin Campbell, being a member of the team.

Moving on, in the Stanley Cup Finals Horton was injured on a late, blindside hit, and Rome was suspended the rest of the series (you do the math on who lost more: the Bruins lost their first line winger and the Canucks lost their sixth d-man). So the Canucks fans began jumping on the bandwagon that the Bruins were receiving favoritism from the league. (Sorry guys, that was a dirty hit.) Also, they were upset that Mason Raymond was injured on a legal check from Johnny Boychuk, and wanted him to be suspended as well. Canucks GM even spoke out about the hit. Again, this added more fuel to the fire of fans hating the Bruins, and more conspiracy theories.

Lindy Ruff didn't help matters when he declared it was now, "open season on goaltenders," after the Milan Lucic hit on Miller. I think Milan took liberties there, but he was in close & didn't have time to get out the way without possibly hurting himself (kind of like that philosophical question--"If your brakes are out, and you have to drive off a cliff & die, or drive into 10 school children and you'll survive, but most likely kill/injure them all... what would you do?" Well, Lucic steamrolled the kids. So... it was just a very awkward play, and Miller was unfortunately unprepared. In my perspective--someone that played goalie in soccer--if I came out of my net, I knew I was taking risks. He's crazy for not bracing himself, and paid the price losing games to injury.


Photo Credit: Lisa Gansky

And now, some ass hat "reporter" in Pittsburgh started claiming it was Krejci's hit that Sidney Crosby was reinjured on. And low and behold, now Sid himself is agreeing with him! I mean give me a break. He's been playing with a full head of steam since he came back, pretty much bouncing off the boards--much more physical than before. Of course he's going to get checked. He did take a hit from Krejci, but if that's how he got reinjured, there's a big problem. That was far less than what Hunwick dealt Savard, and you don't see anyone blaming Hunwick. The Kunitz-Crosby collision seemed extremely jarring to me, and the look on Sid's face was like, "Oh shit, what just happened... am I okay?" Half these idiots didn't even see the game, and they're all crying that the league favors the Bruins.

My last note is that I am pretty frustrated with Brad Marchand, which I posted briefly about last night on Tumblr. He's the one Bruin who's definitely gotta clean up his game. He plays chippy and all that, but he makes some poor decisions. The slew foot thing was bad and in all honesty, I'd have given him a game since he's a repeat offender. That's a really dangerous play. I can defend anyone but him... and it's frustrating because I know he plays with heart, which I definitely love. He just needs to stop crossing the line, or he could end up hurting someone. I don't want to see him getting lumped in with players like Avery and Cooke. Frankly, he's too skilled and too valuable to the team to go that way. I hope the mentoring from Bergie pays off. Ultimately it's up to him. I love that the Bruins play physical, but I have no patience for dirtiness. That's not what the big, bad Bruins are about. And the more poor judgments Marchand makes, the more he's going to tarnish their image.

2011-12 NHL Predictions

The Boston Bruins celebrate their 4-0 win in the decisive Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals. (Photo by Dave Sandford / Getty Images)

Decided to whip up a quick post on my predictions this season. The Pens will finally get a healthy Crosby & Malkin back in the line up at the same time, and cruise into the Finals. The Kings aka Philly-West will ride their newly acquired former Flyers and overcome poor MAF. Kris Letang will cut off his hair in protest. I'm taking the Los Angeles Kings over the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games, the Kings taking their first ever Stanley Cup back to sunny and smoggy LA.

Eastern Conference

Washington
Pittsburgh
Boston
Buffalo
Tampa Bay
Montreal
Philadelphia
Winnipeg
New Jersey
NY Rangers
Carolina
Ottawa
Toronto
NY Islanders
Florida

My boldest guess is predicting Winnipeg will make the playoffs, ahead of NY & NJ. Just going on a whim here, but I don't think they're as bad as everyone thinks. Kane is going to lead the team, along with Buff and Ladd. Disappointed fans in Atlanta will take a lot of abuse as the Winnipeg fans blame them for the Thrashers' inability to make the playoffs the last few years.

The Leafs will get off to another good start, then disappear. Kessel will be in the doghouse again, yadda yadda. On the bright side, the Senators will finish ahead of the Leafs, much to the delight of hockey fans everywhere (come on, you know you love seeing the Laffs fail!).

Western Conference

San Jose
Los Angeles
Vancouver
Detroit
Chicago
St. Louis
Anaheim
Columbus
Calgary
Dallas
Nashville
Minnesota
Edmonton
Phoenix
Colorado

Sharks and Canucks will again disappoint their fans. No big shocker. Detroit will have another strong year, and Columbus will sneak into the playoffs.

Meanwhile, I'll still be hoping I'm wrong, and my Boston Bruins can pull off a repeat!

It's Hockey Season!

So glad hockey is back. I have some very interesting news: for the first time in my life, I'm now a season ticket holder! Not for the Boston Bruins, unfortunately. I'm a 100-level season ticket holder for the New Jersey Devils. It happened by accident actually. I called to inquire about a mini-game plan for 14 games. As it turned out, doing 14 games + one more game would have cost just $150 less than a full season! So I bit the bullet and took the whole season, hoping that if I sell off some games I can end up paying a bit less than I would have for the mini pack. I've already managed to sell off three games, so I'm well on my way.

Why NJ, and why not NY? Well... the Rangers tickets are not only more expensive, but higher up, and the rink isn't as nice (sorry, but it's the truth!). I love the Prudential Center. The lighting is great, and the 100-level seats are nice. I'm thrilled to be able to get to quite a few games this year. Especially looking forward to seeing the Los Angeles Kings for the first time live in over a decade (they were the team I grew up with, for those that don't know).

This season is going to be great! I am really looking forward to my Boston Bruins working to defend their title. Also, I'm looking forward to seeing the Jets, especially Mark Scheifele. He looks to be quite an exciting player.

In any case, I leave you with a view from my seats. If you're in the NY/NJ area and are looking to attend a particular game, let me know; we might be able to work something out. (Section 117, Row 10, Seat 7)

On Behalf of the Thrashers

Dear Mr. Bettman,

I sincerely hope you don't let the Atlanta Thrashers move to Winnipeg. News Flash: They're in the 8th largest TV market in the US. This seems to go against everything you've been preaching since you've been named NHL Commissioner, and said you wanted to get hockey into the southern markets. Why haven't there been press conferences, or advertisements to get new ownership in Atlanta? This is what you'd do if you were truly serious about keeping the team there. Maybe you should have been attending Atlanta games more often, particularly this past season, and helped to publicize the Thrashers as you have been doing with the Coyotes.

It's a bad move with all the support the NHL has given to Phoenix, and not helping the Thrashers in the same manner. Not only are you abandoning a very large fan base, you're abandoning all the good that's happened so far. What they need is stability, and not owners arguing, etc. Recent trades have really helped the team, and they have a bright future. What Atlanta needs is a winning season, and some playoff hockey. It'll work wonders!

And let's take a moment to consider Winnipeg. They already recently lost a franchise. Their population is less than 1/8 of Atlanta. They may be rabid hockey fans, but they also already tune into hockey games on TSN and CBC. What is having local games going to do? Not much of anything. Particularly not when you compare it to the population of Atlanta.

Let's be honest: Atlanta Spirit didn't have a clear title to the team until the end of 2010. They haven't been trying to sell them for "years." They have been trying to sell them for a few months. The NHL is propagating misnomers and blatant lies to try to justify this move. We know that you're not being truthful. You're not committed to Atlanta, to the extent that you're spreading lies to make it look like you're helping the NHL when you're really not. We see through those lies. And we also know that it has to do with money.

Is it just the relocation fee? That's what I and many others believe. We do know that if the NHL allows Atlanta to relocate, NHL owners will benefit from the ~$60 million relocation fee. If the Thrashers stay put, they won't get anything. Don't let the owners line their pockets by giving up on a team that is in a solid market. The NHL won't just lose Atlanta fans, they will also lose the trust of NHL fans globally. Give Atlanta a chance to get better and win over fans. Please protect the integrity of the game. It's your job.

Sincerely,

Lisa Gansky


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You can contact Gary Bettman too! Tell him you want him to support the Thrashers. His email is gbettman@nhl.com. Check out Keep the Thrashers for more information.

Can the Cooke Crumble Already?

Come on NHL, please get it right today! If you don't want hockey to be a joke, you're going to have to bite the bullet and give the biggest head shot offender a more painful suspension. Yep, Matt Cooke's been at it again: this time with an elbow to the head. I doubt they'll get it right, but obviously the piddly suspensions they've given him thus far haven't taught him anything. My vote: 20 games minimum.

If Mario Lemieux utters a word, he'll become a laughing stock. The only way he could redeem himself in my eyes is by sending Cooke down to the ECHL. Permanently.

Here's the latest Cooke hit:



His in-person hearing with the NHL is at 1pm EST.