Blackhawks Tributes Part 1 & 2 By PIB (Paint It Blackhawks)

Presenting PIB's (Paint It Blackhawks) Two Tribute videos to get you geared up for the highly anticipated upcoming season!

PIB Tribute #1:
http://paintitblackhawks.com/2009/08/31/paint-it-blackhawks-tribute-part-1/

PIB Tribute #2:
http://paintitblackhawks.com/2009/09/05/paint-it-blackhawks-tribute-part-2/

Time to paint the NHL Blackhawk!

Read more...

Boston Bruins Prospect Joe Colborne: Two Part Interview

Check out my latest 2 part series at The Hockey Writers. It is an in depth interview with Boston Bruins elite young gun prospect - Joe Colborne.

Part 1:
http://thehockeywriters.com/joe-colborne-boston-bruins%E2%80%99-prospect-%E2%80%9Cfull-potential%E2%80%9D-profile-and-interview-part-1/

Part 2:
http://thehockeywriters.com/joe-colborne-boston-bruins-interview-part-2-rapid-fire-shootout/

THW (The Hockey Writers) has also granted me my own section, Prospects/Draft, located on the main page, two tabs over from the "Top Story". Keep checking back for more prospect profiles, interviews, rankings, entry draft preview, draft rankings and mock drafts.
http://thehockeywriters.com/#three

Here's a video of a great Colborne goal:

 

Read more...

The Hockey Vigilante! Calling Out & Taking On Hockey Ignorance in Sports Media!

My latest article at The Hockey Writers:

The Hockey Vigilante Targets Fox Radio Sports' Steve Czaban! 5 minutes for hockey ignorance!

http://thehockeywriters.com/the-hockey-vigilante-target-steve-czaban-of-fox-sports-radio/

State your case why you love hockey below or email me at hockeyspy@gmail.com

Here's 10 more reasons why hockey is so fantastic:

Read more...

Hockey History Repeating? How Do The Penguins And Red Wings Stack Up Against The 1980s' Oilers And Islanders?

Check out my latest article at The Hockey Writers (THW):
http://thehockeywriters.com/hockey-history-repeating-do-the-penguins-and-red-wings-compare-to-the-1980s-oilers-and-islanders/

A borderline hallucinogenic optimistic hockey writer's version of history repeating.

Some great classic videos inserted as well!

With both conference finals at 2 zip, a Pittsburgh versus Detroit final seems all the more inevitable.

Evgeny "Geno" Malkin's 4 point and hat-trick performance last night sealed the victory for the Penguins in Game 2. Check out the interview and highlights, especially the amazing third goal in the following video courtesy of Versus:

Read more...

Top 10 Key Unsung Hero Players In Hockey's Version Of The Final Four

Check out my latest piece at The Hockey Writers (THW):
The Top 10 Key Players In Hockey's Version Of The Final Four
http://thehockeywriters.com/top-10-key-players-in-hockeys-version-of-the-final-four/

The article has been linked by Yahoo Sports' own Puck Daddy on his Puck Headlines column.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Puck-Headlines-Carolina-ready-for-must-lose-gam?urn=nhl,164198

Until next time, check out this video montage put together by Blackhawks scoreboard crew for pregame in Round 1:

Testify: Chicago Blackhawks Highlights Montage - Celebrity bloopers here

Read more...

Quest For The Holy Grail Update: The John Tavares Sweepstakes

With the official 2009 NHL Entry Draft Lottery taking place tomorrow evening, I thought we should revisit the teams' percentage shots at winning the big prize - the #1 overall pick in June! I have also added the prospect by each respective team, based on my recently posted The Hockey Spy's NHL Entry Draft Rankings.

This time of year when you think of the "Quest For The Holy Grail", you think of a grueling Cup run to have members of the victorious team engraved on the chalice of Lord Stanley. Tomorrow, however, the Holy Grail is the prize position of the winner of the NHL 2009 Entry Draft lottery - John Tavares. If you happened to forget just how talented this kid is, take a lot at the above video clip of a goal scored at this past year's WJC.

Coming into this hockey season, hockey experts projected Victor Hedman would likely be the 1st overall selection this June. An elite d-man with mammoth size and outstanding skill, he's the type of guy you can build a franchise around. While that may very well still be the case, Tavares has risen atop of this year's draft crop and is now the consensus #1 pick after the fantastic WJC tournament he had. The elite centerman is the Next "Next One"!

Tavares has just recently shattered the OHL all-time goals record with 215, after sniping a hat-trick on Mar. 8 in a London Knights 4-3 victory over the league-leading Windsor Spitfires.

As of Apr. 13/09, here's a lookout teams with the highest projected percentage chance of landing Tavares, that is the 1st overall pick in the 2009 Entry Draft (courtesy of TSN's Lottery Lookout ):

Team (% Chance of Winning*, % Chance of Winning 1st Overall Pick):

1. New York Islanders (25%, 48.1%) = John Tavares
2. Tampa Bay Lightning (18.8%, 18.8%) = Victor Hedman
3. Colorado Avalanche (14.2%, 14.2%) = Matt Duchene
4. Atlanta Thrashers (10.7%, 10.7%) = Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson
5. LA Kings (8.1%, 8.1%) = Evander Kane
6. Phoenix Coyotes (6.2%) = Jared Cowen
7. Toronto Maple Leafs (4.7&) = Braydon Schenn
8. Dallas Stars (3.6%) = Jordan Schroeder
9. Ottawa Senators (2.7%) = Ryan Ellis
10. Edmonton Oilers (2.1% = Dmitri Kulikov

* % Chance of Winning = chance the team's ball will get drawn in the lottery
** = "Player" is what prospect the team would get based on The Hockey Spy's current Draft Rankings {This is not a mock draft - stay tuned for The Hockey Spy's Mock Draft}
***Note: A team cannot move up more than 4 positions (thus only the bottom 5 teams have a shot at #1 overall) and a team cannot mov down more than 1 position.

The Islanders could use a potential franchise player like Tavares to help try and turn this team around. The Lightning, with Vinny and Stamkos already patrolling the middle, might be tempted to grab d-man Hedman even if they win the draft lottery. One thing is for certain: the winner of all the losers will be one thrilled franchise!

Interestingly, in the 13 years since the lottery has been introduced (not counting the SC87 post-lockout draft when everyone had an equal shot), only 6 out of the 13 teams with the highest percentage chance actually went on to get the #1 overall pick. In fact, in the past 9 weighted lotteries, only 2 of the teams with the highest percentage change indeed landed the coveted position. Obviously then - nothing is etched in stone at this point. Have no fear Islander Faithful, however, as the worst they can do is #2 overall. If that happens to be one Victor Hedman, you might just end up with the best player out of this draft!

Stay tuned as The Hockey Spy infiltrates the amateur hockey ranks to uncover in depth previews, prospect profiles, rankings and mock drafts via Eagle Eye Scouting - your source for inside coverage of the NHL 2009 Entry Draft.

Read more...

Red Light District: Mike Ribeiro Silky Smooth Between The Legs Goal!

March 28, 2009 Versus Florida Panthers:




Are you kidding me? What else really needs to be said about the creativity and sick hands Ribeiro displays with that move.

From this goal, I'm reminded of a Rick Nash goal last year, and a shootout goal by none-other-than Marek Malik a couple years back.

"Rarely imitated, never duplicated!"

Read more...

Top 10 NHL Goalies (Not Girls!) Gone Wild

After Martin Gerber's freak out last night (Read The PowerPlay's article here) and Tuuka Rask's outburst a couple days back (See my post), TSN was inspired with this excellent Top 10 Goalies Gone Wild highlight reel!

Ray Emery (surprise, surprise) make three appearances, with Ron Hextall making a couple himself. My favourite was 'little' known Neil Little at #3 (2:20 mark of the video), when he dives in on the action in a fashion that would make Superman himself proud! Enjoy!

Read more...

Light My Fire: Flames Fail To Burn Penguins

The Hockey Spy has been out of commision for a couple days and just now starting to recover from a nasty flu. I just finished watching the Flames-Pens game and this 2-0 game is full of highlights that are definitely worth 4 minutes and 22 seconds of your time if you have yet to see them.

With this loss, The Flames give the Canucks even more life in their quest to overtake the once thought untouchable NorthWest Division title. The 'Nucks are now behind the Flames by just 3 points with a game in hand.

The Flames, in this one, I thought played fairly well against the red hot Penguins, but after Calgary defeated the Red Wings Monday night, I was looking for a feast of "Roasted Penguins with Frank's Red Hot Sauce". No such luck!

Here are the key points in the above video highlights:

• At the 1:25 mark, Marc-Andre Fleury made an amazing save on Curtis Glencross, who thought he had a wide open net after a nifty pass from David Moss, who was easily the best Flame on the night. This save will go down as one of the better ones all year.
• At the 2:15 mark, Malkin takes the puck behind his own blue-line and decides to take control - he weaves and winds his way through several Flames only to be denied by Kipper. Amazingly, Malkin ends up with a double-minor penalty as he took Vandermeer's helmet off with a high stick and cut him. He actually could've been also called with a high stick to Kipper at the end of the play.
• At the 4:00 mark, Matt "I Ain't Gordon Ramsey" Cooke must've thought he was in 'Hell's Kitchen' as he could not convert on sure-shot empty-netter. The video only shows one chance by him, but he actually had a few chances to finish it off.

Next up for the Flames: The finally playoff-bound Rick Nash and his Columbus Blue Jackets.

Read more...

Off The Iron: Tuuka Rask Loses His Temper After Shootout Loss

March 21, 2009: Anger management is likely in the future for Tuuka, the Bruins goalie of the future. After a 2-1 Providence Bruins loss in a shootout to the Albany River Rats (AHL), the 22 year-old Rask put on a John McEnroe-esque tantrum display. The River Rats scored 2 controversial shootout goals to clinch the victory and Tuuka proceeded to lose his mind.

He displayed outstanding samurai-like control of his goalie stick as he slashed and hacked at the goal multiple times. He followed that up with slamming his stick against the glass and when the glass didn't fight back (and a somewhat embarrassing falling to the ice - if the rest wasn't embarrassing enough), he flung his stick across the ice. Sometime after that he had time to heave a milk carton across the ice as well. All in all, an impressive display of intensity by the young netminder.

A somewhat clearer video can be seen by clicking here - from ABC Channel 6 in Providence.

Read more...

Views From the Sin Bin: Hockey Fight From Game 1 Calgary Hitman Vs Edmonton Oil Kings

Great fisticuffs action from the Hitmen Game WHL playoff battle. The Hockey Spy had a great view of the battle. Ian Schultz (St. Louis Blues 3rd round draft pick) played possum for much of the fight against the imposing size of Drew Nichol. In the end though, it was the mohawk-sporting Schultz landing the most impressive blows.


Drew Nichol Vs Ian Schultz - More bloopers are a click away


I'm really looking forward to heading to the Saddledome tomorrow afternoon for Game 2. The Oil Kings might not be possessing the same enthusiasm. They are, however, a team with nothing to lose and likely consider themselves lucky to be in this situation. Thus, the Hitmen better not sit back and take these guys lightly.


Technorati Profile

Read more...

Quest For The Holy Grail: The John Tavares Sweepstakes

This time of year when you think of the Quest For The Holy Grail, you think of a gruelling Cup run to have members of the victorious team engraved on the chalice of Lord Stanley. Today, however, the Holy Grail is the prize position of the winner of the NHL 2009 Entry Draft lottery - John Tavares.  If you happened to forget just how talented this kid is, take a lot at the above video clip of a goal scored at this past year's WJC.

Coming into this hockey season, hockey experts projected
Victor Hedman would likely be the 1^st overall selection this June.
An elite d-man with mammoth size and outstanding skill, he's the type of guy
you can build a franchise around. While that may very well still be the case,
Tavares has risen atop of this year's draft crop and is now the consensus #1
pick. The elite centerman is the Next "Next One"!

Tavares has just recently shattered
the OHL all-time goals record with 215, after sniping a hat-trick on Mar. 8
in a London Knights 4-3 victory over the league-leading Windsor Spitfires.

As of Mar. 15/09, here's a lookout teams with the highest
projected percentage chance of landing Tavares, that is the 1^st
overall pick in the 2009 Entry Draft (courtesy of TSN's Lottery Lookout ):

Team (% Chance of Winning):

1. New York Islanders (25%)

2. Tampa Bay Lightning (18.8%)

3. Atlanta Thrashers (14.2%)

4. Phoenix Coyotes (10.7%)

5. Colorado Avalanche (8.1%)

6. Ottawa Sentors (6.2%)

7. LA Kings (4.7&)

8. Toronto Maple Leafs (2.7%)

The Islanders could use a potential franchise player like Tavares to help try and turn this team around. The Lightning, with Vinny and Stamkos already patrolling the middle, might be tempted to grab d-man Hedman even if they win the draft lottery. One thing is for certain: the winner of all the losers will be one thrilled franchise!

Stay tuned as The Hockey Spy infiltrates the amateur hockey
ranks to uncover in depth previews, prospect profiles, rankings and mock drafts
via Eagle Eye Scouting - your source for inside coverage of the NHL 2009 Entry Draft.

Read more...

Thoughts From the Sin Bin: Hockey Fights

My opinion on fighting in hockey is quick and to the point: I'm all for it! However, the growing trend in the league of a guy jumping in for a teammate after he has been hit legally should, in my opinion, be at the top of the league's brass agenda of things to deal with and correct. See the video shown here for an example. Phaneuf nails Duck's forward Andrew Ebbett legally (his elbow was down folks!), and Pronger jumps in on Phaneuf immediately thereafter. I have seen this time and time again and it has to be taken more seriously by the league!

I just recently discovered a blog by Georges Laraque hosted on Sportsnet that unfortunately has since been discontinued due to a Canadiens' team policy. The Rock's Last Word is a lengthy but intriguing post on a unique perspective on hockey fighting from one of the, if not the, best enforcers in the league.

The article reminded when I met former NHLer Brant Myhres after a pre-season game with Edmonton in September '05. His eye was swollen shut (not sure where the guy got this pic) and I was after listening to the game on the radio on the Fan960, so I knew he was after being in a scrap with Laraque. I discussed the incident with him and he told about how it went down: "Being a long-shot at making the roster, I wanted to make my mark," Brant explained "Behind me I heard a voice say 'Hey, ya wanna go?'; I turned around and said to myself 'Oh f%^k!' and replied sure, why not". The result was quite obvious. Myres missed a lot of time that season, but did later play 34 games in the AHL, but never set foot on an NHL ice surface thereafter.

Laraques begins his post showing sympathy for the family of Don Sanderson who dies in from the tragic incident in December of last year after hitting his head on the ice during a hockey fight. He then sums up perfectly some sentiments that I found I share with Georges. He chimes in on some important debates that this incident brought forth. He goes on to talk about unwritten Code amongst hockey players, especially scrappers. He shares a couple of great stories about former heavyweight NHL champ, Dave Brown. Lastly, he talks of his opinion of the toughest guys in the league now, along with the toughest guy pound-for-pound. I see a book from him in the future when he retires!

The Hockey Spy
"Rarely imitated, never duplicated!"

Read more...