Video: Matt Bradley Knocks Out Tyson Strachan

Derek Stepan vs. Mike Green, Headshot? Could Stepan Get Suspended? (Video)

Early in the first period, on a play that would result in the New York Rangers goal, Derek Stepan and Washington’s Mike Green had multiple altercations.  Early in the shift Green would cross-check Stepan behind the net, which went uncalled, and then when the puck worked back to the corner Stepan and Green would collide with Green tumbling to the ice after being contacted in the head.  So was this a headshot?  Will Stepan be subject to suspension?

Here’s the video:

Larry Brooks of the NY Post  is reporting that the NHL will review this hit by Stepan and he indicates that he expects a suspension.  When I watched the video live I thought it was an elbow to the head, but on the video it does not appear it was the elbow that contacted Green.  It does look like Stepan was expected to battle with him and clearly swings out the elbow.  I do not know if that will matter because there clearly is direct contact to the head.  

The fact that Green was coming off concussion/inner ear trauma the last few weeks and that he did not return to the game certainly works against Stepan here.  The NHL might take into consideration the cross-check which could have injured Stepan earlier in the shift, but I would not be surprised if with the heightened caution over concussions to see Brooks be right and Stepan get a punishment.

What do you think?

Full Game Recap

Kessel NHL 'Mr Irrelevant'; Ovechkin Giddy (Video)

When the NHL went with the fantasy draft for the NHL All-Star game someone was bound to be the last man picked and that man ended up being Phil Kessel.  As many can tell you being the last one picked is not a fun experience, but in being the NHL equivalent to “Mr. Irrelevant” did not come without perks for Mr. Kessel.  For being the final pick in the draft Phil Kessel was given $20,000 to donate to the charity of his choice and a brand new Honda CR-Z.

Kessel was a good sport about being last, as he should be with the parting gifts.  The guy who probably is the most upset with way the draft played out is Paul Stastny to go second-to-last and get nothing for it.

The happiest person for the conclusion of the draft appeared to be Alex Ovechkin as you can see from the photo above.  A giddy Ovechkin snapped Kessel’s picture while he was the last one sitting waiting to be called. 

Video: Alex Ovechkin Flying Game Winner

It has been a relatively down year for Alex Ovechkin, but this flying goal might just let his game take flight for the Washington Capitals. He stormed down the left side and after getting Bryan McCabe's stick in the skates he goes airborn and still finishes the play for the eventual game-winner

Video: Ovechkin "Russian Spy" Sportscenter Commercial: File Under Hilarious

ESPN and Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin teamed up for this Sportscenter commercial and it reminds me why I miss ESPN covering the NHL. As much as that desire for ESPN to have hockey again is about the sport itself it is as much for the way they can promote the sport through their commercials. Check it out: When you have a recognizable player at the level of Ovechkin who has his playful personality you should be doing more of these fun commericals to make the game more accessible to the average sports fan. The way he goes from laughing and joking to that stone cold spy face was tremendous and getting help from fellow Russian, Semyon Varlamov to "escape" only adds to it. Great work

Video: Steckel Levels Crosby; Clean, Accidental Hit or Blindside Head Shot?

At the end of the second period of the Winter Classic tonight Capitals forward David Steckel collided with Sidney Crosby sending Crosby down to the ice where he would remain momentarily and would then be looked at on the bench.  The hit has sparked a debate that seems to depend on where you stand on Sidney Crosby in general as to what you thought of the hit.  Those who hate him want to make David Steckel the early favorite for man of the year in 2011 and those who love Crosby want him strung up for being a dirty player.  Before my take, let's watch some video.

Here's the hit from the NBC and CBC views:

NBC:



CBC:




After looking at both videos the NBC one definitely looks worse as from that angle you cannot see what the intent of Steckel was and see Crosby tumble.  On the CBC video, especially the second one it appears that the contact is made as Steckel is actually trying to avoid Crosby and get up the ice to follow the play.  Either way there definitely appears to be some contact between the shoulder pads of Steckel and the head of Crosby on the play, but with his arms down and no intent I do not see the league doing anything about it even though it in actuality is a hit from the blind side.

More amazing to me was that no Penguin really did anything about it after it initially happened as we have seen a lot of retaliation plays in the NHL this season for clean hits on far less important players to the teams involved.

Video: Rupp vs Erskine Throw Haymakers in Classic Fight

Crosby Vs. Ovechkin: Great For TV; Good For The Sport?

There is no denying that Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin are amongst the top couple players in the NHL with Crosby leading the way.  It is also a fact that the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals are among the upper echelon of teams in the league.  Combine that with the fact the NHL is on the verge of negotiating a new TV contract and it was a no brainer to put it's two most highly marketed stars on the ice against one another for their biggest regular season showcase game, the NHL Winter Classic.  The NHL is a business and the higher the ratings this year the bigger the leverage the league has in the next negotiations.  This game will undoubtedly be highly rated television after the endless promotion it has gotten and the added bounce HBO's 24/7 will give to the festivities, so for the business side it should be a clear win for the league. 

What can be asked though is if the non-stop promotion of just two players and their teams by the NHL is good for the sport.  Every night no matter what game you are watching you cannot escape a conversation or a commercial that contains at least one of the two of them.  As I said in certain aspects the promotion of these two has been good for the game and with the upcoming Winter Classic I have no doubt that HBO never signs on to do 24/7 without the match-up and storyline of Crosby vs Ovechkin.  It is that draw not a real rivalry between the Capitals and Penguins which made HBO go out on a limb with its critically acclaimed series, but the sport has to be about more than those two.  Luckily for the most part HBO has done a pretty good job, better than the NHL in showcasing the teams on which these stars play and not just having it be solely about them.

There will be many who will watch the Winter Classic purely because it is Crosby vs Ovechkin and that part of it is good for the NHL in terms of revenue.  On the flip side I believe it is a problem that Winter Classic has become in large part Crosby vs Ovechkin instead of Penguins vs Capitals.  Life in the NHL dictates that no matter what either individual player does on Saturday the game will be decided as much by all the other guys on the ice as those two.  If the NHL wants to change the rules and let them go one-on-one for the two points in the standings then that is a different story, but Ovechkin will not be marking Crosby and vice versa so each will rely on their teammates to slow the other down and give them a chance to work their own magic in getting a win.  I am not saying that these two tremendous athletes are not capable of dominating on any given night or for long stretches as we just saw with Crosby's 25 game point streak, but what got lost in that streak was the tremendous team record and spectacular play of teammates like Marc-Andre Fleury and Kris Letang.   

The reality though is the way the NHL has promoted the game and the league as a whole the articles on Sunday, if the game even happens Saturday with the weather, will not be about the Penguins and the Capitals but a comparison of the two individuals.  Is that good for the sport?

Video: Ovechkin Obliterates Russian Dolls In Shooting Practice

If the NHL really wants to change All-star weekend into something that gets more national attention than it currently does, then they should be doing things like what ESPN did with Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin. ESPN had Ovie take the traditional accuracy competition and "spiced" it up by changing the traditional disc targets to Russian Dolls and filling them with Russian salad dressing.

What ensued was a highly messy but even more entertaining display of the skill one of the top players in the world has to put the puck wherever he wants to at any moment. This is the kind of ingenious move that would help build the sport to a higher level among a national audience, so let's have more instead of the same boring commercials and gimmicks like fantasy drafts at the ASG.

The key beyond the skill and the mess which will make people pass this on to all they know is the personality of Ovechkin when he grins and says, "I'm glad I'm not one of the dolls." Now you know what NHL goaltenders must be thinking every time he breaks in on them.

Video: Alex Ovechkin Lays Out Evgeni Malkin With Huge Hit

If the build up to the Winter Classic next week needed anything else it may have gotten something in the first minute of tonight's Washington Capitals vs Pittsburgh Penguins game when Alexander Ovechkin took a direct line at Evegeni Malkin and laid the wood on him.  Ovie showing his team that tonight was not just another game and they had something to prove, but it doesnt count on the scoreboard.

2011 Winter Classic Promo Video

Rangers Paste Frustrated Capitals In Total Team Effort

 What a difference a night makes.  After failing to convert on just about anything last night the New York Rangers looked like they could do no wrong tonight whether it be the goal onslaught or the posts that the Capitals hit four different times in the game.  This is the kind of game the Rangers needed with this stretch of games and there is nothing negative to say about the way the team performed.  Over the past few weeks even when the Rangers have won their games it has left a lot to be desired in terms of the way they have played and then there have been the efforts in the losses but tonight was like a different team and a tremendous result came out of it.  We will see if the Rangers who have not been good at it can build on a performance like this and take it from game to game because these are the kinds of efforts that if done consistently can let them not only play with and beat any team in the league but be considered a contender.  The question as usual with this team though is if they can bring that consistency.

That said before I get to all the good stuff I sadly have to scold the classlessness of some and far too many Rangers fans that were in the building tonight who cheered when Alex Ovechkin was hit in the third period by Alex Semin’s shot on his knee.  It is one thing to boo him when he touches the puck and cheer when our guys shut him down, but you never boo an injury to ANYONE.  What makes it worse for me is that those same fans who were cheering Ovechkin being hurt would be setting this city ablaze if in another building an injury to Gaborik, Lundqvist, Staal, Callahan or any Rangers player had been hurt and the other fans cheered.  We are better than that kind of behavior and I expect not just next time but every time for our fan base to show that.  Now onto the game.

The first period in all honesty was not that great of a period for either side as each team would have chances but neither really put an imprint on the game, but the Rangers would get the only marker of the period late when a great shift by Frolov, Boyle and Prust would get cashed in.  Brandon Prust kept the puck alive and finally threw the puck at the net and it would deflect off Tom Poti’s skate at 17:57 of the period.

The second period was the best period of the season for the Rangers, though some of that luck I spoke of came into play as well as the Rangers would score four times and be saved by three posts that could have made it a different game.  Right off the start in the second Michael Del Zotto would make a very good play in center disrupting the Caps rush up the ice, eventually the puck would end up with Artem Anisimov in the neutral zone.  Anisimov would take the puck from there skating over the offensive blue line and ripping a wrister through Hannan’s legs and over the glove of Varlamov to make it 2-0 59 seconds into the frame.  The goal was Anisimov’s first in his last 11 games.

On the next shift more hard from Artem would draw a penalty to Scott Hannan and the Rangers would cash this opportunity in.  After a good shift Staal would work the puck to Rozsvial who gave it back to Staal who took the shot and Marian Gaborik would make a beautiful deflection through the five hole making it 3-0 3:07 into the period.  This would lead to Bruce Boudreau calling a time out and giving his team the business.

Unfortunately for the Capitals the response to their coach would be on delay as Alex Ovechkin would fail to dump the puck in deep and on a bad line change Brandon Dubinsky was left alone with the puck and he would score again through the five hole to make it 4-0 at 4:30 mark.

The Caps would start to get emotionally involved in the game when at 5:16 of the period Hendricks would challenge Michael Sauer to a fight and Sauer would oblige.  The fight was not much other than a few shots and a takedown though Hendricks would take a few liberties on the ice. 

The fighting side would continue when after a hip check from Alex Ovechkin to Dan Girardi, which was clean, Ovie would skate out to center ice and drop the gloves with Brandon Dubinsky as the frustration for the Caps captain had just boiled over at that point.  Dubinsky would win the fight and the video of the whole thing can be seen here.

Right after the fight Girardi would take a penalty and you felt even up 4-0 this was a crucial moment for the Rangers to kill this off.  Well not only did they kill it off but 35 seconds into the kill Marc Staal after making the defensive play in the corner would feed Brandon Prust who played the puck up to Brian Boyle.  Boyle would carry the puck into the zone and had a streaking Staal with him for the two-on-one and after delaying the pass Boyle would feed Staal for the shorthanded goal at 10:42 that made it 5-0.

The third period the Rangers would not let off the gas at least on the scoreboard as 4:11 into the period after a beautiful fake back to the point that froze the Capitals defense, Dubinsky would spin and play a forehand pass to the slot for Ryan Callahan who would double hit the shot into the net to make it 6-0 and complete Dubinsky’s Gordie Howe hat trick.

Things would get chippy after that as 12:29 into the period there were issues with Avery and Hendricks that we will come back to.  At 13:31 of the game Callahan would end the scoring as on a two on one with Dubinsky Cally kept the puck and ripped a shot high glove to beat Varlamov and make it 7-0.

In getting back to Avery and Hendricks they would battle as soon as they got out of the box much like Avery and Tootoo from the Nashville game.  The fight itself was unspectacular but as I brought up Hendricks taking liberties earlier when on the ice Avery did it too and that cannot be tolerated either.  The rest of the game there were scrums and some bad blood but the Capitals at least showed some fight in the third.  There was also the incident I referenced at the top with Ovechkin so no need to do it again.

What does need to happen again however is the Rangers matching this kind of effort on Wednesday against the Penguins

• The entire team played an excellent game but the standouts for me were Dubinsky, Anisimov, Callahan, Prust, Staal and Lundqvist.
• Henrik bounced back in a huge way making excellent glove saves at multiple times in a blowout where it would have been ok to give one up but he wanted the shutout.
• Huge night for the Rangers homegrown talent.
• Rangers now 8-0-0 in second game of back-to-back

Brandon Dubinsky Fights Alexander Ovechkin (Video)

Has the frustration in the nation's capital reached the boiling point for its hockey team as well?  In the second period of tonight's New York Rangers vs Washington Capitals game with the Rangers dominating play frustration boiled over for Alex Ovechkin who threw a hip check on Dan Girardi that while clean would draw the ire of the Rangers. Ovie would then skate out to the neutral zone and try fighting Brandon Dubinsky to get his team going but they would fail as well as Dubinsky after taking an early shot from Ovechkin would clearly get the better of him.  Ovechkin deserved to be called for the instigator as he clearly dropped the gloves and initiated the fight, but maybe the referees felt sorry for the Capitals star having to watch his team in this game.

The play for Dubinsky defines the difference in his game this season as he has consistently taken up for his teammates at every turn as have the Rangers for the most part this season to their credit.  Enjoy the fight.