(Video) Almost Fight - Brendan Smith versus Zdeno Chara.

To quote Doc Emerick, "There are many in the NHL watching this and if I were Smith, I would hope that the linesmen arrive." This would have been the mismatch of the century.

Lucic will not be suspended

According to Joe Haggerty of CSNNE.COM, Milan Lucic will not be suspended. Lucic was fined $5,000.00 for his spear.

Joe Haggerty ( @HackswithHaggs) tweeted at 12:12pm - 19 Apr 14: Milan Lucic: "I don't know what I was thinking. I pride myself on playing within the rules, and that's obviously something I can't be doing"

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Joe Haggerty ( @HackswithHaggs) tweeted at 12:09pm - 19 Apr 14: Milan lucic said there's no hearing on his spear of Danny DeKeyser, but he does have to call the league office about it.

Where’s the feigned outrage for Corey Perry cup check on Jamie Benn?

By now, you’ve probably seen the chop to the groin region of Detroit Red Wings defenseman Danny DeKeyser by Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic … Almost on cue, the Lucic haters have demanded a lengthy suspension of the Bruins forward.  

Ah, but there’s a catch, while everyone was drawing and quartering El Diablo Milan Lucic, the Ducks forward Corey Perry was also checking Jamie Benn’s cup region as well. Where was the feigned outrage for that stick incident? Both plays are equally objectionable, and if you suspend one player, you must suspend the other one, right?

Here's a prediction, neither player will receive any games off. However, they will be given a stern warning and put on double secret probation. Frankly, that's playoff hockey.

(Video) Milan Lucic cup checks Danny DeKeyser

That's going to leave a mark. Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic cup checks Detroit Red Wings defenseman Danny DeKeyser There was no call on the play.

Because It's The Cup: 2014 Playoffs

Because it's the Cup.... The 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs start tomorrow night. Who's your pick to win the Stanley Cup?

My NHL Stanley Cup Predictions - Bruins win Rematch over the Blackhawks

Zach Hawkins has made his predictions for the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs, here's mine. Feel free to chime in with your picks.

Bruins, Sioux humor...

@goon48 the most hated man in St. Paul tonight @thesnake34 pic.twitter.com/ZlcbrI1NVt
— Cliff Nystrom (@chetnystrom) April 8, 2014

This was sent to me on Twiter yesterday. This picture made me laugh. I wonder if he was given a hard time last night at the Wild vs. Bruins game?

Boston Bruins: Torey Krug no goal (Video)

Blown call by the officials. Boston Bruins defenseman Torey Krug was robbed of a legit goal. Zdeno Chara made no contact with Jimmy Howard.

Tale of two GIFS Patrice Bergeron's goal

Check this out. We have both sides of Dougie Hamilton shot and the redirect goal by Patrice Bergeron. It was the game tying goal for the Boston Bruins. The Bruins would lose the game in a shootout. 

Kevan Miller's huge hit

I was going to add this picture yesterday, but my wireless in the hotel was sketchy at best.

Jarome Iginla Knuckle Puck - GIF

Boston Bruins forward Jarome Iginla scores a knuckle puck goal against Minnesota Wild goalie That was goal 553 of Iggy's career. Darcy Kuemper had no chance on that goal.

Wild and Bruins Battle for First Time in Two Years

Tonight the Minnesota Wild will face the East's best Boston Bruins at the TD Garden in Boston. The match-up will be the first time the two teams have met since February of 2012 because of last season's half season lockout.

The B's come into tonight's tilt as the hottest team in the NHL with an eight game win streak. During that streak, the Bruins have scored 32 goals, plus one extra added because of a shootout victory, which averages out to four goals a game. Teams scoring like that don't lose that often.

Tonight also is the first game that Jarome Iginla would play against his former division rival Minnesota since being traded to the Eastern Conference last season. Iginla, a known Wild killer, has scored more goals against the Wild than any other player in the NHL since the Wild would come into the league in 2000. In His last five games, Iginla has five points with four of those being goals. He also leads the Bruins in goals with 23 and looks to pad his totals tonight against a team where he has had great success against.

As for Minnesota, they find themselves in a little bit of a late season funk, and wins haven't been that easy to come by for the Wild. Since the beginning of March, the Wild are 2-1-3, which isn't terrible, but could have been a lot better if they could hang on to some leads. Having leads in the games against Edmonton and Dallas, they would sit back and watch their wins slide away from them, missing out on key points this late in the season.

Forwards Jason Pominville and Zach Parise, need to keep the offense going and lead this team to victory once again. Pominville, who also has five points in his last five games, and scored the only goal in the Wild's last game against Columbus, seems to be one of the only consistent things offensively as of late. The same can be said for Parise as well.

Minnesota goalie Darcy Kuemper has played virtually lights out hockey since the Olympic break ended, aside from the two speed bumps in Dallas and at home against Edmonton. In his last five games, Kuemper has posted an outstanding .925 save percentage and a goals against of 2.20, solid numbers for any goalie in any league.

People are wondering why Minnesota can't seem to finish games as of late then, and I say it's simple. They aren't playing that puck control hockey they were playing when they were having success. I know this is stating the obvious here, but chances are you control the play with the puck, you control the outcome of the game. Not only that, but Minnesota can't seem to catch a bounce as of late either. A good example of this is the two posts they hit Saturday night against Columbus.

Tonight is West vs. East and we will see if the West hast their continued dominance against the East, or if the hot play of the Bruins can shut down a Minnesota Wild team who can't seem to find a way to finish games as of late. One thing on Minnesota's side tonight is that Boston has not beat Minnesota since 2009. Will this slump end and the Bruins stay hot, or will the Wild finally find a way to finish a game off?

Crazy OT Thought for the NHL...and maybe other leagues (RW77)

Overtime Power Play Face Off (Photo credit: clydeorama)

I was driving around, listening to the Boston Bruins vs. Florida Panthers game on SiriusXM and the Florida commentators (never got their names) were talking about the upcoming considerations regarding Overtime and the Shootout.

The growing opinion is that the shootouts are not popular among players and coaches because it takes away the team aspect of winning among other things.  Aside from the commentator having a ridiculous reason (airports close so their private jets cannot take off if the game ends, say, 10 minutes later than it would normally.  Ok, nothing prohibits the aircraft from taking off first thing in the morning?), they brought up a few ideas such as 3 on 3s or lengthening OT to 8 or 10 minutes.

I got a crazy idea.  And yeah, it's crazy.  Instead of doing a shootout, why not solve the game outside of OT via the powerplay?  If OT ends and it is still a tie, they resurface the ice and put two minutes up on the clock.  The home team starts off with a 4 on 3 powerplay for 2 minutes.  If the home team scores, the visiting team gets a 4 on 3 powerplay to tie it up.  If they don't score, game over.  If they do, they reset and move to 5 on 3 powerplay for 2 minutes.  I should say:  Shorthanded goals end the game immediately (sort of sudden death).  It's sortof a restating of the college football OT rules.

My original idea, which is you play 10 minute OT periods until someone scores, seems to no longer be ok, so what about this crazy idea?

Can you come up with a better idea? 

Boston Bruins: Torrey Krug sweet move (Vine)

Here's a sweet shootout move by former Michigan State Spartan  and current Boston Bruins defenseman Tory Krug.

NCHC honors Zane Gothberg and Luke Johnson

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

Luke Johnson, North Dakota

Freshman Forward

Grand Forks, N.D.

Johnson sparked North Dakota to a sweep at Minnesota Duluth, UND’s second straight sweep, behind a two-goal, four-point series. In Friday’s 3-0 victory, the Chicago Blackhawks prospect had a hand in all three goals for a career-high three-point game, scoring twice and assisting on the other. Johnson scored the game’s first goal in the first period on the power play, which proved to be the game-winner, while he set up the second goal with the primary assist and capped the outing with an unassisted goal in the third period. He had a +2 rating in the game and was named the game’s first star. The next night, Johnson assisted on a power play goal in the second period that tied the game at 2-2 as UND went on to a 6-2 victory. He completed the weekend with a +2 rating while earning NCHC Rookie of the Week for the second time this season.

GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK

Zane Gothberg, North Dakota

Sophomore Goaltender

Thief River Falls, Minn.

Gothberg continued his strong play in net of late, backstopping North Dakota to a sweep at Minnesota Duluth. He played all 120 minutes in net, while allowing just two goals in the series with a .970 save percentage and a 1.00 goals-against average. In Friday’s 3-0 win, the Boston Bruins prospect stopped all 33 shots that came his way in his second start back from injury to pitch his first career shutout, while he was named the game’s second star. On Saturday, Gothberg totaled 31 saves on 33 shots against in a 6-2 victory, while stopping all 23 shots over the final 40 minutes, as he is now unbeaten in his last 12 starts. He also helped UND go 9-for-9 on the penalty kill against the Bulldogs, including 5-for-5 on Saturday. Gothberg totaled 64 saves in the wins while claiming NCHC Goaltender of the Week for the second time this season.

@UNDSID have to think that Gothberg should be @TheNCHC defensive player of the week
— Eric J. Burton THW (@goon48) February 23, 2014

Related articles

• UND Hockey: Another Circle of Sticks and More Inner Geek (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• UND vs UND: Series preview (hockeywilderness.com)
• NCHC Hockey: Breaking Down the Numbers Half Way Point (thehockeywriters.com)

T.J. Oshie's game winning goal against Boston

Of all the people to beat my favorite hockey team, it had to be former Fighting Sioux forward  T.J. Oshie. Actually, Boston Boston overcame a 2-0 deficit to come back and tie the game in the third period. Before Oshie won it for the Blues in overtime.

Oh marvelous, T.J. Oshie scores for the Blues to beat the Bruins in O.T.
— Eric J. Burton THW (@goon48) February 7, 2014

Related articles

• T.J. Oshie hit on Torey Krug (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

T.J. Oshie hit on Torey Krug

Well former Fighting Sioux forward T.J. Oshie was engaged tonight. I wish the refs would have let Johnny Boychuk and Oshie fight first. Osh had his glove off.

The box score reads.
17:59 BOS Johnny Boychuk Roughing - 2 min against T.J. Oshie
17:59 BOS Johnny Boychuk served by Shawn Thornton Roughing - 2 min against T.J. Oshie
17:59 STL T.J. Oshie Roughing - 2 min against Johnny Boychuk

Florida Panthers: Tim Thomas snaps on Carl Soderberg

Former Boston Bruins and current Florida Panthers goalie Tim Thomas made his return to Boston tonight and Timmy's new team didn't do very well against his old team. In fact the Panthers were shell 6-2 by the Bruins. Check out Thomas, as he goes Paul Bunyan on Boston Bruins forward Carl Soderberg.

Dustin Brown scores on Chad Johnson - GIF

That's some bad goaltending by Boston Bruins goalie Chad Johnson. Of course, you have to give Mr. Elbow Dustin Brown some credit as well.

Jonas Hiller Robs Brad Marchand - GIF

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What a save by Jonas Hiller as he robs the "little ball of hate" Brad Marchand.