NHL Season 08-09

[Abraxas]

they look like twins. who couldnt pick his mom out

[Vedder]

Wow, never thought I'd see the day where the Canes would score 4 in a playoff game and lose. The series isn't over yet, but they need to play 60 mins of flawless defense if they want to get a win ... they also need to get more shots on Fleury. Canes coulda had 6-7 goals last night themselves if they shot it more in the 2nd & 3rd periods.

[Brill Weave]

I don't think it's that the Canes need more shots. They are obviously scoring on Fleury with some regularity. But the problem is that they just are not playing well defensively in front of Ward. True when Malkin decides he wants to take over a game, he usually does. But with the secondary scoring finally showing up on a regular basis that's just a back breaker. I think that this will still end up being a close series. I hope the Pens are able to beat the piss out of the Canes, but I'm sure they will win a one or two in Carolina.

[Thoronas]

The Canes seem to need to get punched in the face before they really start playing well in a series so far in the playoffs. Pittsburgh has to win the first game in Raleigh otherwise I could see the Canes make a serious push back against Pittsburgh. So far I have to say this has easily been the more entertaining series of the final two. Would love to see it go to game 7.

But if Detroit ends up sweeping Chicago or finishing them off in 5 I want to see Pittsburgh end this quickly otherwise they have no chance of beating Detroit this year.

[Richybear]

Random Note: Flames just fired Mike Keenan.
Hello Oilers, bring in a real coach. Now's your chance.

Malkin is on fire. 14 points in the past 5 games. I hope he can keep up scoring and stuff, without fizzling out in the Finals like he did last year.

[Brill Weave]

I'll be blunt. If the Penguins end up playing Detroit again this year, I just don't see them beating them. As much as it kills me to say it. They haven't improved that much since last year. Though they are playing a much more wide open style of hockey that could Detroit some issues. If they make it to the finals against Detroit I'll be cheering my ass off but it would not surprise me if they came up short again. But then again, they know how Detroit plays. So it's not like anything Detroit would do would surprise them.

[Tythera]

Holy hell at that hit on Havlat

Edit: and a 5 minute game misconduct, yet the knee to knee shit in other games is played through

Pretty sure this one is over for Detroit

[Brill Weave]

Wow did anyone read the Ovechkin interview he just recently gave? He acts like a fucking asshole.

Ovechkin talks recovery from playoff loss, preparing for Vegas - Puck Daddy... - NHL - Yahoo! Sports

Since his season ended at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins and he cleared out his locker for the summer, Alexander Ovechkin(notes) of the Washington Capitals has been laying low.

"You know, I have a moratorium of a kind," he told Sovetsky Sport. "I decided that in the first three weeks after coming [to Russia] I will cancel all PR appearances. I don't give interview, won't be in magazines or on TV."

Pavel Lysenkov of Sovetsky Sport, however, caught up with Ovechkin in Moscow for a wide-ranging interview that will publish in Russian this afternoon. Here is an except I have translated, as Ovechkin speaks about life after Game 7 against the Penguins, recovering from a "difficult" season and expectations for his first trip to Vegas.

Q. So, you decided to lay low like a submarine? Alexei Morozov had the same kind of mood after the World Championships in Bern this year.

OVECHKIN: No, I am not laying low. I just want to relax to the fullest. I just don't need a lot of commotion around my name right now.

Can you say that this was the most difficult season in your career?

Yes. One of the most difficult... Look how far we made it in the playoffs. I never played in the second round before. It was tough both mentally and physically.

Let's cheer you up a bit. The Sporting News named you the best player in the NHL after surveying 292 NHLers. More than a half named you the best player in the league. Do you like it?

This is so far [away] for me now... I don't even want to think about it now.

Now I believe you that this was a very tough season.

You have to understand me correctly. It is very nice to hear news like that. But I have switched off from hockey right now. It is in the background for me.

I remember what you said after the season ended: "No one will make me watch hockey now."

I won't even get close to a TV.

Not long ago [OnFrozenBlog] rated Washington's players' season. Two marks: one for the regular season, the other for the playoffs.

Like in school for essays? One for grammar, the other for content?

Yes. So, Ovechkin got A+/A+. How would you rate your season?

I don't like to either praise or criticize myself. What's the point? I will only agree that the team and I played well in the Stanley Cup. But there is a huge difference between 'playing well' and 'we got past Pittsburgh and made it to the [finals].' Do you see it? Pittsburgh right now is battling with Carolina, but our season is over.

But you had your first postseason hat-trick. Even now you're currently third in the scoring race in the playoffs.

As a professional, I will say that my individual play was good in the playoffs. But as a part of the team... Yes, we didn't get the Cup. But let's be optimistic. Last season we lost to Philadelphia in the first round, also in seven games. This year we got stopped at Pittsburgh in the second round. So, God willing, just like this, step by step we will make it to the championships rings.

Was it a serious blow that you lost Game 7 at home to Pittsburgh with a score of 2-6?

Honestly? Serious... It took me about a week to recover. I couldn't accept the fact that playoffs were over for us.

Also your coach Bruce Boudreau said that Ovechkin played in the postseason with groin and wrist injuries. If it was in the regular season you would go to see a doctor and not an opposing goalie.

And who didn't have injuries, tell me? Semin played with a injury, Sergei Fedorov(notes), John Erskine(notes), Mike Green(notes). Half the team was injured. But what can you do? You have to play. I personally played every game on painkillers.

Who do you feel for if the Stanley Cup? Ilya Kovalchuk confessed that he is rooting for the Penguins.

I wouldn't say that I am feeling for the Penguins. I actually don't care who wins the Cup. If it's Detroit, Chicago or Carolina, I won't be upset.

But you also told Malkin and Crosby, when they knocked your team out: "Go ahead and win the Cup."

That's not what I said. I just wished them luck, that's all. It won't be some kind of a bonus for me if Pittsburgh wins the Cup and it will be like Washington lost to the eventual winner. It is a position of a loser.

You won't even give your predictions?

I will, if you want. Pittsburgh and Detroit will meet in the final, just like last year.

When are you traveling to Las Vegas?

On June 14, I am traveling with a friend.

Four days before the awards ceremony?

Actually I have never been to Las Vegas before. There will be time to hang out there, walk around...

Go to a casino...

Only on a tour. I won't play the roulette. I am not a gambler.

[Maybe] you can bet on 8, take the jackpot. Beginner's luck.

Do you think money falls on me from the sky? I earn them with sweat and blood. I cannot throw them left and right.

And this is after you made $9 million last season? Making one million a month, what do you do with this kind of money?

I don't look at my bank account. Yes, I treat money wisely, they are not stashed in my closet without use. Sorry, I won't give media any details. But nothing has changed in my life because of the fact that I am making more money now than I did last year. I am still the same Alex Ovechkin.

When the season ended, Boudreau did not have a team meeting but rather invited each player individually to talk. What did the coach talk to you about?

My contract is not ending. That's why we didn't talk about the future. Just some common words: what wasn't good during the season, and what was... We wished each other to have a great vacation. Nothing serious.

Did he give you any homework for the summer?

I am not a little boy. Boudreau knows that I get ready for the season myself. I work with a fitness trainer.

And when will it start?

Oh, don't ask! Let me take a rest!

I know that as soon as you came to Moscow you went to a Eurovision song contest.

Yes. Ari Zakarian picked me up at the airport and we went to get a credential [for the contest], ate at a restaurant. Then we went to the contest. I watched it together with Ari, Dima Bilan, Yana Rutkovskaya. And, can you imagine, I fell asleep when contestants started singing. The time difference took its toll. I just switched off for like 10 minutes. They I was woken up and even felt good.

Why didn't you go to Miami? Your whole "gang" is there now - Kovalchuk, Semin, Kozlov, Fedorov probably, even Morozov promised to come...

I don't feel like going there, you know... I wanted to go to Moscow, to my parents' dacha. I rushed there the second day I was here. Right after the Eurovision song contest. I missed Moscow so much, that even on a plane from Washington I felt such nostalgia.

What kind of schedule is the famous hockey player Alex Ovechkin living now?

I sleep until I am completely happy. Now I get it all after whatever sleep I missed during the NHL season. I can easily wake up at three or four in the afternoon.

And then go to a club?

It depends on how it goes. My Moscow days are just starting... Alright! Gotta go!

[Grey Jorildyn]

That really should not have been a 5min major. It was a good hit. Havlat was just completely unaware and it got sold easily. Hope he's OK.

[xerodok]

That really should not have been a 5min major. It was a good hit. Havlat was just completely unaware and it got sold easily. Hope he's OK.

That was a stupid ass call. Especially since he got up and was fine.

[Tythera]

I shouldn't be such a pessimist, fuck yeah 3-3

[Ace-o-fire]

ot time!

[Ace-o-fire]

damn lucky goal, well.. it was a good goal.

btw bull shit call. i think they just had to give something to them.

YouTube - Kronwall Hits Havlat - Wings at Blackhawks Game 3 - May 22 09

[Sepukku]

Four days before the awards ceremony?

AO: Actually I have never been to Las Vegas before. There will be time to hang out there, walk around...

Interviewer: Go to a casino...

AO: Only on a tour. I won't play the roulette. I am not a gambler.

Interviewer: [Maybe] you can bet on 8, take the jackpot. Beginner's luck.

AO: Do you think money falls on me from the sky? I earn them with sweat and blood. I cannot throw them left and right.



....got a little more respect for him after that comment, but I still hate his guts and would point and laugh if I saw him hit by a car. He still hates America and is full of himself, but at least hes not NBA/NFL style with his ego + money.

[Thoronas]

He's from Russia, much different point of view in regards to life. It's interesting to read, but I can see how it would come off as being cocky.

As for the Havlat hit, I thought it was one of the best hits of the post season and the fact that it was called a 5 min interference penalty was fucking bullshit. Sucks for Havlat, especially considering he's had a history of concussions. Reminds me of Scott Stevens hit on Lindros.

[Selamis]

That was a stupid ass call. Especially since he got up and was fine.

Really? Did you not see him on the ice, laying there with his face beat red and him convulsing? I wouldn't call that fine. I am quite positive if Kronwall plays in game 4 that there is gonna be some head hunting going his way. Hopefully Marty won't miss more than a game or two.

[Ivaden]

Honestly, it was a clean hit, but holy shit was it brutal.

[Sepukku]

Player getting hurt does not automatically make it an illegal hit. I'm remembering a hit in the playoffs a couple years ago where a, I believe, Carolina player was coming up the ice from his own end and got clobbered right at the top of his right circle as he skated with his head down looking at the puck he was carrying. Knocked him into the 26th century, and was 100% legal. Believe it was a Buffalo player although I could be wrong...

[Arnwulf]

The player getting hurt doesn't make it an illegal hit, the fact that he led with his forearm to the head does. End of debate. It was a borderline dirty hit at best.

[Sepukku]

Huge difference between getting hit by an elbow and getting hit by the forearm, both in terms of legality within the NHL's rules as well as general impact risk for injury to whomever's being hit. I hate Detroit and want Chicago to win, so I wouldn't be defending Kronwall if I didn't believe the hit was alright.