[Hockey] Is this Flyers team ready for the Cup? + Semis updates + Worlds in Finland/Sweden

ESPN America's schedule allowed me, up till now, to see all the Philadelphia Flyers' games during this playoff season.
Especially after the 6 games against the Pittsburgh Penguins, I'm finding myself asking, if the Flyers would be ready for their third Stanley Cup?
It's been a long time, the Philadelphia Flyers raised it. They won in 1974 and 1975 and had their last appearance in a Stanley Cup Final 2010, when they lost in 6 games against the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Flyers had some important keypoints during the first series, I want 1) to point out in the following and 2) to compare with the first three games of the 2nd round series vs. the New Jersey Devils.

Keypoints during the series vs. the Penguins and how they managed it vs. the Devils:

1)Comeback: In the first game of the series, the Pittsburgh Penguins were 3-0 after 20 Minutes and lost the game in overtime, in games 2 and 3 the Flyers also came back from a deficit and were 3-0 after three games. Their ability to come back and not give up, was one of the reasons, they won this series.
Down 1-0 in the first game against the Devils, the Flyers won in overtime, again, but couldn't win the second and third game after a 1-0 lead.

2)Rookies: Flyers' new kids outscored Penguins' stars Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby in 6 games. Claude Giroux scored 6 goals and had 14 points during the first round, along with Sean Couturier, Brayden Schenn, Wayne Simmonds, Jakub Voracek or James van Riemsdyk, he played 6 great games.
Against the New Jersey Devils Giroux isn't as productive as he was in the first series. Only one powerplay goal in three games and no assists are in the books for a player, called the "best player in the world" by his coach Peter Laviolette after the victory against cross-state rival Pittsburgh.

3) Danny Brière: He scored the Flyers' first goal in the first round and scored the game winning OT goal in the first and the 3-3 equalizer in the third game against the New Jersey Devils.
Up till now he has 8 goals (leading the statistics) and 12 points in 9 games this post season and 108 points (50 goals) in 106 playoff games. There is a reason, why they call him Mr. Playoffs!

4) Powerplay: 14/39 in 9 games, 12/23 vs. Pens and 3 short handed goals, only two PP goals vs.the Devils in the first and third game (having at least wasted three powerplays during the overtimes), no PPG in the 2nd game.

5) Goaltending: In the first round, the Flyers' goalies allowed 4,33 goals per game, after 9 playoff games 4,11 goals/game. Not only that they allowed so many goals, the goalies looked a bit shaky during the first round, that said, the Penguins couldn't capitalize and allowed even more goals. Although the Flyers lost the 2nd and 3rd game against the Devils the goaltender did a great job and had some awesome saves (it is definitely not his fault that they lost), while the Flyers themselves just couldn't produce any great chances, especially in game two (example? 2nd period: first shot on goal 2 minutes before the period ended)

6)Final thoughts: The Flyers literally overrun the Penguins in the first round, but they have a lot of problems shutting the Devils down now. (Maybe it was their motivation against the Pens oder the Penguins' problems they faced the last months before the playoffs or just the mental aspect after game 1, beeing 3-0 in front and losing in overtime could be tough).
But their powerplay isn't working as well as it did in the games against the Pens, or in other words, the Devils PK is much better, than the Pens' one was. In last night's overtime for example, the Devils had to kill two penalties and did it well and "the best player in the world" Claude Giroux hasn't been a factor yet. (But it's still great, being world's best player for a week or so)
The way, they played against the Pittsburgh Penguins I'd say, they had a chance to make the Stanley Cup finals, but after the last two games against the New Jersey Devils, I'm not sure though.


Semis updates May 4th:

West:
Phoenix Coyotes - Nashville Predators 2-1
The Preds were down 2-0 after two games, while their goaltender Pekka Rinne allowed 9 goals in the first two games (he allowed 9 goals in 5 games in the first playoff round). Not enough problems with that, the Predators suspended two players because of "violation of the team rules". Maybe just what they needed, they won their first game at home in this series and goalie Rinne had his first career playoff shutout in wednesday night's 3rd game.

Los Angeles Kings - St. Louis Blues 3-0
The Los Angeles Kings had 5 away games in the playoffs, till now, and won all of them, only lost 1 game at home.
Could it be the LA Kings, that move to the Stanley Cup finals from the Western Conference?

East:
New York Rangers - Washingtion Capitals 2-1
After two games, the series was tied and the third game, wedneday night, took place in Washington. The New York Rangers won this game in the 3rd OT period, after they almost played 55 minutes during this overtime. (They nearly played two complete hockey games = 120 minutes on one evening)

Philadelphia Flyers - New Jersey Devils 1-2
After their victory in the first game during overtime, the Flyers fell short in the 2nd and 3rd game. In game 2 the hometeam had the 1-0 lead after 40 Minutes, then the Devils scored 4 unanswered goals in the 3rd period to tie the series in one. The third game went into OT, where the Devils scored the game winning goal after 17 minutes.

Worlds in Finland/Helsinki and Sweden/Stockholm 4-20 May 2012:

Today, the 76th men's world ice hockey championships are starting in Finland and Sweden.
I love hockey, but I really get exhausted by seeing this big ice hockey rink (comparing to the ones in North America).
As I am from Germany, I am really excited about it and how the German team will play their first game today, team captain would be Marcel Goc, the only NHL player in Germany's roster (his team, the Florida Panthers lost against the New Jersey Devils during the first playoff round).
The last two world championships were really awesome to watch, beating the Russian team 2-0 last year, was all over the news here in Germany, a country, where a lot of people dont't know much about hockey. (Germany lost their quarterfinals against Sweden, who won the silver medal in the finals against Finland)
It is also a tournament with a lot of starts especially from Sweden, Russia and Canada, that said, these would also be my picks to win the worlds this year.
New mode: 2 groups with 8 teams each, first 4 are playing the quaterfinals then, the 8th will be relegated.

[Hockey] NHL - Playoffs first round wrap up

Today, I just wanna give you an update after the first round of the NHL playoffs, what happened during the last weeks and which teams advanced into the second round of the playoffs.

Eastern Conference:

New York Rangers (1st) - Ottawa Senators (8th) 4:3
The New York Rangers, the best team during the regular season in the East, were down 2:3 after 5 games, so it was a great effort to force game 7 and they used their home ice advantage at Madison Square Garden to win the last game.

Boston Bruins (2nd) - Washington Capitals (7th) 3:4
Games 1-7 were decided with a one goal difference. Game 7 went into OT and the Caps scored the game winning goal to eliminate last year's Stanley Cup Champion Boston.

Florida Panthers (3rd) - New Jersey Devils (6th) 3:4
The Devils forced a 7th game in Florida and won it in the second overtime to move into round 2.

Pittsburgh Penguins (4th) - Philadelphia Flyers (5th) 2:4
I've already said enough about this series. I love the Pens, and I believed, when they won the games 4 and 5. But these just disguised the problems, they've had in the defense and with the goaltending. Interesting to see, if there will be any moves during the off season.
On the other hand, I am looking forward to the next Flyers games, not sure, how they will play against the upcoming team(s).

Western Conference:

Vancouver Canucks (1st) - Los Angeles Kings (8th) 1:4
Wow, that was fast, the Vancouver Canucks entered the post season with winning the Presidents' Trophy (meaning, they got the most points during the regular season) and were last year's Stanley Cup finalist (they lost 3-4 against the Boston Bruins then), now they are out, just won one game during this series (4th game). Excited to see the Kings during the next round.

St. Louis Blues (2nd) - San Jose Sharks (7th) 4:1
The Sharks just won the first game, but had no chance against the 2nd in the Western Conference during the regular season.

Phoenix Coyotes (3rd) - Chicago Blackhawks (6th) 4:2
While the first five games all went into overtime, the Coyotes won the last game 4-0 in Chicago and advanced to the next round.

Nashville Predators (4th) - Detroit Red Wings (5th) 4:1
Just kind of surprising, what happened in the first round, never thought, the Penguins, Canucks and Red Wings, wouldn't pass the first round. The Predators had an amazing goalie during the regular season and an even better one now. Pekka Rinne is just outstanding. One of the reasons the Predators moved into the next round, now facing the Phoenix Coyotes.

Notes:
3 of  4 series in the East went to 7 games, while just one game in the West went to 6, the other three just took place in 5 games/series.
It's the third elimination in round 1 or 2 for the Pittsburgh Penguins after they won the Stanley Cup 2009.
No team in the Western Conference, moving into the 2nd round ever won the Stanley Cup. In the East, only the Washington Capitals haven't won the Cup, yet.
In the East 3 of 4 teams, advancing to the next round are from the Atlantic Division (Rangers, Devils, Flyers).
Goaltending was a big issue in the Western Conference, all 4 teams, that advanced, allowed 37 goals (in 21 games) combined, meaning 1,76 goals per game, while the Pittsburgh Penguins in the East allowed 30 goals in 6 games, 5 goals per game. (Their opponent wasn't just that better, the Philadelphia Flyers allowed 26 goals, 4,33 goals/game).
First round eliminations for the last four Stanley Cup Champions: Detroit, Pittsburgh, Chicago and Boston plus Presidents' Trophy winner and last year's finalist Vancouver Canucks.
All 8 teams in the 2nd round don't have the same seed number.
Last but not least, I want to mention the German players, that had a chance to play in the first round of the playoffs. San Jose Sharks' back-up goalie Thomas Greiss just missed the second round with his team, same as Dennis Seidenberg with the Bostson Bruins and Marco Sturm und Marcel Goc, who are with the Florida Panthers.

And with that, we have the following matchups for Round 2: (starting this friday)

Eastern Conference (Semis):

New York Rangers (1st) - Washington Capitals (7th)
Philadelphia Flyers (5th) - New Jersey Devils (6th)

Western Conference (Semis):

St. Louis Blues (2nd) - LA Kings (8th)
Phoenix Coyotes (3rd) - Nashville Predators (4th)

[NOTD]When all is said and done - Penguins Nail Art - for the last time this NHL season

The Pittsburgh Penguins' season came to an early end, as they fell short to the Philadelphia Flyers in game six in the first Playoff round, last sunday. Again a year without seeing the Pens moving to the Stanley Cup finals is a bit sad, knowing the potential, that team has.
Anyways, on tuesday the team had their clean-out-day, the guys took their equipments, and left the CEC for some loooong summer holidays.
It was sad to see, that this season is finally over now. A lot of things to regret, but we also saw some great things during the regular season from the Pens. Sidney Crosby came back (twice) after his concussion and Evgeni Malkin just scored 50 goals in one season for his first time.

To cheer myself up a little bit, while thinking the next season will just start next october, I created a Penguins Nail Art for the last time this season.

Did you know, that World Penguin Day was on April 25th and that there are about 17 different species of them?
Awww, I love penguins, not just the ones from Pittsburgh, but also the real animals.

Here we go:
I just thought, I should do something with blue and silver. You know, when I hear the word penguins and it is associated with the animal, I'm always thinking of ice and water. So I just did a base with blue/turquoise by using a sponge and stamped the penguins on my thumb and the ringfinger.

What I used:

polish: left to right: Maxfactor Dazzling Blue, Essence Open Water Dive,
Absolute Nails Lara, Manhattan Only 1, back P2 being in heaven,
front essence silver twister

Basecoat: Essie Help me Grow
Topcoat: Essie Good to go
Nail Polish:
P2 Being in heaven
Manhattan Only 1
Maxfactor Dazzling Blue
Essence Open Water Dive
Absolute Nails Lara
Essence Silver Twister

Stamping Plate: HB-41










So for the start I applied one coat of Essie's Help me grow, followed be 3 coats of P2's Being in heaven, and I am still not convinced, as you can see, the polish still shows my white finger tips, and is very milky. I guess I won't use it alone. I like the color in the bottle, but if you have to apply three or more coats, that's not how it should go.
1 coat of Essie Good to go, to finish the first part of the manicure.

Then I just started so sponge some blues and greens onto my nails:
I used Manhattan Only 1, Maxfactor Dazzling Blue and Absolute Nails Lara
Additionally, I put one coat of Essence Open Water Dive onto my index, middle finger and pinky.

To finish it, I stamped two penguins onto the thumb and ring finger with image plate HB-41 and essence silver twister. Topped with a coat of Essie Good to go.

[Hockey] They all fell down - Pittsburgh Penguins lose first round series vs. Philadelphia Flyers

During Pittsburgh's 11 game winning streak in the regular season, a lot of people, me including, tought, they saw the new Stanley Cup Champion and wanted to bring the Cup to Pittsburgh without playing one game in the playoffs.
But then, the Philadelphia Flyers ended that streak, winning a game in March 3-2 in Overtime with just a second left to play (after the Pens had a 2-0 lead) and the Penguins from Pittsburgh lost their ability to play defense. Tough losses against the Ottawa Senators, who are having, by the way, a 3-2 lead in their series against the New York Rangers, and the New York Islanders (twice) showed some huge problems, 1) the Pens had to fix till the playoffs and 2) costed them the first spot in the Eastern Conference.

So the worst case scenario for the first playoff round came up, the Pens had to face their cross-state rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers. Not only, that the Flyers won 4 games out of 6 during the regular season against them, no they just won 5/6 games in the Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh's home, since the arena opened it's gates in 2010 (and the only victory for the Pens was the last regular season game, not an important win, but actually they just showed that they could win on home ice against the Flyers). Definitely not the best conditions to start a best of 7 series with having the first two games at home, and 4 in total, if the series would see 7 games.

It was probably just the first game of that series, that took it away from the Penguins. After being up 3-0 after 20 Minutes, Pittsburgh lost 3-4 in overtime. They lost, once more, their defense skills and what might be more concerning, the Flyers got their first powerplay and scored, while the Pens had 3 without scoring.
It should be one of the stories in the series, that the Flyers used their powerplays (and also scored 3 shorthanded) and the lack of discipline and killing a penalty on the Penguins' side, that decided the series.
After being down 3-0 after the first three games, with an embarassing third game for the Pens in Philadelphia, not only being outscored 20-12 after 3 games, they have lost 3 men for game 4 due to suspensions.
And so the Pittsburgh Penguins were just facing the possiblity to get swept in the first round of the playoffs. The fourth game was crucial and the Pens came back. And that's not just a phrase, they did it in a convincing way, they outscored the Flyers for the first time 10-3 and forced a fifth game. But would it also be possible to force a sixth or even a seventh game?
It seemed, that they gained some momentum; made some moves within the team, by dressing 7 defensemen and 11 forwards and won game five at home 3-2. They showed some "old-school" Penguins' defense play and goaltending - like they did earlier that season and it seemed just months away, but it was quite recently, not one month ago, when the defense faltered and the problems started - in the third period.
If it was potential to win game 6, the Penguins might have had a chance to advance to round 2, but it wasn't like that. Actually, it was never close.
The Pens just missed the start, the first shift scored 32 seconds in the game for Philadelphia. Well nothing to worry about that, the team who scored first in games 1-5 hasn't won the game then, but game six was different from that point, however not from the Pens' defense play. Pittsburgh was close to be eliminated, being down 3-0 after half of the game. Trying to gain back some momentum after the 1-3, but 36 seconds later, Philadelphia scored their fourth goal and seemed like the winning team.
Not only they wanted that victory more than the Pittsburgh Penguins, you just knew it, the moment you saw the Pens' faces and their body language after the 1-4 at the bench. It was over. They fell 5-1 to the Flyers, after an empty net goal, in their last playoff appearance this season.

Maybe, it wasn't meant to be, but after the second round loss 2010 against the Montreal Canadiens, the first round loss 2011 against Tampa Bay Lightning, didn't expect much last year, with having neither captain Sidney Crosby nor Evgeni Malkin in the lineup, this year with a full lineup and all the "stars", just showed, that it might be not enough, to have the names only on paper, if they cannot produce anything. Just 3rd line center Jordan Staal, who was one of the better ones in that series (in my opinion), scored 6 goals, while Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin (who had 50 goals during the regular season, but was shut down by the Flyers' rookies) had 6 goals combined.

By any chance, there will be some changes this offseason, looking for some new defensemen , or getting rid of some old ones, getting Crosby and Staal to long term contracts, but that bitter taste in my mouth after that blow out against the Flyers will remain for a longer time.

That said, the hockey season isn't over yet, not even the first round, and there is still a lot of great hockey to be played till one team will rise Lord Stanley's Cup, although, a lot of favorites faced their elimination. (New post is coming about the end of the first round and the 2nd round matchups.)

[Hockey] Something is missing: the defense - Pens lose second playoff game against the Flyers

Well, as I am from Germany, the NHL playoff games usually start really late or early. The first two games in the playoff mseries between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers just started 1:30am and it was almost 4:30 in the morning, when they ended. Thanks to ESPN America for showing the Pens' games, also the upcoming ones (Game 3: Sunday 9pm CET)
So, after last night's game, I was just awake at 5:30  and far from any sleep, just heard that the birds started to chirp outside and the sunrise wasn't far away.
To tell it at the beginning, Pens lost both games at home against the Flyers and both times in a way, I was really surprised and concerned about.

Just some quick notes and recap, didn't manage to write a continuous text, after sleeping only 2 1/2 hours last night:
- when Pittsburgh's captain Sidney Crosby scored the first goal in the first game of the playoffs against the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pens had a 3-0 lead after the first period, no one ever thought, that the Penguins could blow that lead just like that and lose the first game in overtime 3-4. But they did, it was just like they stopped playing defense or at least hockey.

- so I was just waiting for a reaction the Pens had to show in the second game, the story of this game is told quickly: they started like the first game and just blew it away. Crosby scored after 15 seconds in the first period. Pens just worked on the powerplay and they scored a second goal. But nothing lasts forever. The Flyers just had a shorthanded goal (well, they had 2 in the game, their first and third) Pens answered and managed to have a 3-1 after 20 Minutes. Then they just gave it up and we had the equalizer 3-3. Pens just got another lead, 6 seconds after the Flyers scored the 2nd shorty. But lost it again, within 3 seconds to play in period 2, we were tied in 4. Pens came out strong in the 3rd period just took a 5-4 lead after 1:04 minutes. And then I don't know what happened. All seemed like a deja vu. Pens just really lost it, blew their lead away just 17 seconds later and the Flyers just took their first lead with 10 Minutes to play. The Penguins never came back. Gave it up to 5-7 and faced an empty net goal seconds before the final buzzer. Endgame 5-8.

-great starts --> weak endings

-blowing away leads (and come on, I do not mean the 4-3 and 5-4 leads, I mean the 3-0 and 3-1 leads) and losing then is the story of the Pens playoff games 2011/12

-Offense wins games, defense wins Championships. Maybe a cliché, but the truth! You can't win the playoff games and the Stanley Cup with playing no defense, like the Pittsburgh Penguins did. Defense?! We don't care about defense?!

-Sidney Crosby with 2 goals and 2 assists in 2 games. Evgeni Malkin 2 secondary assists (both on Pens' powerplay goals), you know when Tyler Kennedy (2 goals) and D-man Paul Martin (1 goal) both have more goals than Malkin in this playoff season something is clearly wrong!
-I am at least not convinced what the Penguins' first line did the 2 games. They were just shut down by the Flyers.

-Game 2: Flyers: C. Giroux 3 goals, 3 assists, S. Couturier 3 goals, 1 assist
-Both, J. Jagr and M. Talbot, who are former Pittsburgh Penguins' players (and won the Stanley Cup with them) scored in the second game.


Just wanted to make it clear, nothing is lost, it's not over till it's over, but it's going to be tough in Philadelphia for the next two games, they'll have to make a 180 to turn around. Without an improvement, there is still the chance to lose just in 4 games (getting swept by the cross-state rival is not really what you want to achieve). They have to eliminate the mistakes and get rid off their sloppy style, they're showing for a month now (sometimes, you don't recognize that, when you win 8-4, but getting 4 goals is not a great defense play) and nothing changed.
-When they have a lead, the have to keep it till the end!

Just got this from twitter. If you are interested in hockey and the Pittsburgh Penguins you should follow! 

[Hockey]NHL- the regular season is over - it´s time for the playoffs

So, last saturday was the last game day of the regular season in the NHL, and that means we are now heading to the playoffs, starting on wednesday April 11th, and that is just tomorrow!

I just wanted to give you a quick update, what matchups (best of seven mode) we are going to expect in the first round:

Eastern Conference:
New York Rangers (1st) - Ottawa Senators (8th)
Boston Bruins (2nd) - Washington Capitals (7th)
Florida Panthers (3rd) - New Jersey Devils (6th)
Pittsburgh Penguins (4th) - Philadelphia Flyers (5th)

Western Conference:
Vancouver Canucks (1st) - Los Angeles Kings (8th)
St. Louis Blues (2nd) - San Jose Sharks (7th)
Phoenix Coyotes (3rd) - Chicago Blackhawks (6th)
Nashville Predators (4th) - Detroit Red Wings (5th)

I am really excited about most of the Eastern Conference playoff games, especially the battle of Pennsylvania is going to be awesome, hopefully the Penguins could make it.
And I am also looking forward to the Blackhawks/Coyotes and Predators/Red Wings games.
It´s going to be a great April, May and June till the Stanley Cup finals.

Talking about the German players, that I mentioned in the post some days ago, we have now 4 out of 7 who will start in the playoffs (D. Seidenberg/Bruins, M. Goc + M. Sturm/Panthers, T. Greiss/Sharks). It is sad, for me, to see, that the Buffalo Sabres didn´t make it to the playoffs, it was very close, but the Capitals just managed it in game 81 to climb the final 8.