Dan Bylsma to coach team USA for the 2014 Sochi Olympic

USA Flag (Photo credit: freefotouk)

According to Kevin Allen of the USA today, Dan Bylsma head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins, has been selected to lead team USA in the 2014 Sochi games.  Bylsma is a good head coach and a great selection for to be the next head coach to USA Olympic team.  I would imagine many of us have a preliminary line up in our minds that would make the team. 

Kevin Allen, USA TODAY Sports -- USA Hockey is putting the band back together for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia, although the members will have a different place on the stage.

According to two people with knowledge of the decision, the Nashville Predators' David Poile will be the team's general manager, while Pittsburgh Penguins Ray Shero will be his associate general manager and Anaheim Ducks consultant Brian Burke will be the director of player development.

Penguins coach Dan Bylsma has been selected to be the USA's coach in Sochi.

The two people asked not to be identified because the official announcement will come Saturday in New York, the day before the NHL draft in Newark.

Related articles

• Deal to send NHL players to 2014 Sochi Olympics could be finalized by Monday (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)

Final Third Round Numbers; Former NCAA Hockey Players

Here is the list of NHL hockey players that are currently participating in the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs that have played Division I college hockey.

The players are listed by their NHL team. These are players that have played in at least “one” Stanley Cup Playoff game during in the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs. I have also listed their point totals as well.

This list doesn’t include players from teams that have been eliminated. The list doesn’t include players that are currently injured, or on their teams roster, but haven’t played in the Stanley Cup Playoff games yet.  I will update the list as much as I can.

Points lead after the completion of the third round

The third round is officially over. Former Vermont Catamount Patrick Sharp (8g-6a—14pts) is the leader in the club house.  Former Wisconsin Badgers and current San Jose Sharks forward Joe Pavelski(4g-8a—12pts) hangs on to second place, but his team was eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the defending Stanley Cup Champions

Here’s how the rest of the top six places for former college hockey players in the Stanley Cup playoffs shakes out.

There is a two way tie for third place, is former Michigan State Spartan and current Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith (2g-9a—11pts) is tied with former Golden Gopher and current Penguins Defenseman Paul Martin (2g-9a—11pts).

In fifth place, is former Ferris State Bulldog forward Chris Kunitz (5g-5a—10pts).  The Stanley Cup playoffs are over for this pair of Penguins, as their team was eliminate by the Boston Bruins 4-0.

Leader Board (National Hockey League rank in parentheses)

1. (6) Patrick Sharp, F, Vermont, 17GP, (8g-6a—14pts)

2. (16) Joe Pavelski, F, Wisconsin, 11GP, (4g-8a—12pts)

3. (19) Duncan Keith, D, Michigan State, 15GP, (2g-9a—11pts)

3. (19) Paul Martin, D, Minnesota, 15GP, (2g-9a—11pts)

5.  (27) Chris Kunitz, F, Ferris State, 15GP, (5g-5a—10pts)

If I have forgotten a player on this list, feel free to drop me a line at thegoon48@gra.midco.net

Boston Bruins (3)

Torey Krug, D, Michigan State, 9GP, (4g-2a—6pts)

Matt Bartkowski, D, Ohio State, 7GP, (1g-1a—2pts)

Richard Peverley, F, St. Lawrence University, 15GP, (1g-0a—1pts)

Chicago Blackhawks (6)

Patrick Sharp, F, Vermont, 17GP, (8g-6a—14pts)

Duncan Keith, D, Michigan State, 17GP, (2g-9a—11pts)

Jonathon Toews, F, North Dakota, 17GP, (1g-8a—9pts)

Nick Leddy, D, Minnesota, 17GP, (0g-2a—2pts)

Victor Stalberg, F, Vermont, 15GP, (0g-3a—3pts)

Brandon Bollig, F, St. Lawrence, 3GP, (0g-0a—0pts)

LA Kings (5) (Eliminated by the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1)

Dustin Penner, F, Maine, 18GP, (3g-2a—5pts)

Rob Scuderi, D, Boston College, 18GP, (0g-3a—3pts)

Alec Martinez, D, Miami, 7Gp, (0g-2a—2pts)

Matt Greene, D, North Dakota, 9GP, (0g-2a—2pts)

Jonathan Quick, UMass, 18GP, 9-9, .934 SV% 1.86 GAA

Pittsburgh Penguins (10) (Eliminated by the Boston Bruins 4-0)

Paul Martin, D, Minnesota, 15GP, (2g-1a—11pts)

Chris Kunitz, F, Ferris State, 15GP, (5g-5a—10pts)

Douglas Murray, D, Cornell, 15GP, (2g-1a—3pts)

Mark Eaton, D, Notre Dame, 8GP, (0g-3a—3pts)

Matt Niskanen, D, Duluth, 15GP, (0g-2a—2pts)

Brooks Orpik, D, Boston College, 12GP, (1g-1a—2pts)

Craig Adams, F, Harvard, 15GP, (0g-1a—1pts)

Joe Vitale, F, Northeastern, 6GP, (0g-1a—1pts)

Tanner Glass, F, Dartmouth, 5GP, (1g-0a—1pts)

Beau Bennett, F, Denver, 6GP, (1g-0a—1pts)

Related articles

• Final Third Round Numbers: Former NCAA Hockey Players (thehockeywriters.com)
• Final Numbers Second Round: Former NCAA Hockey Players (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• The third Round: Former NCAA Hockey Players (6/03/2013) (thehockeywriters.com)
• Bruins Sweep Penguins; head back to the Stanley Cup Finals (hockeywilderness.com)

Cross-posted at the Hockey Writers Combine. 

Maple Leafs toughest test for Bruins?

Toronto Maple Leafs (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I can't believe that someone would write this article. A loss, is a loss. Every series is different. It was like the Boston Bruins were a different team after they were done playing the Leafs as well. For what ever reason.

Kevin McGran, Sports reporter -- Leaf Nation must look at how the Boston Bruins manhandled the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins and wonder what might have been . . . if only the Maple Leafs had held on to that Game 7 lead.

The Leafs, however, aren’t wondering any such thing.

“We lost,” head coach Randy Carlyle said emphatically, putting the notion to rest.

“You can look at it and hypothesize we would have had success, but that’s far from guaranteed,” added goalie Ben Scrivens. “And I’m sure if you would have asked the Rangers (about the possibility of) playing Toronto, they probably would have thought they’d have had a pretty good shot against us.

“There’s a lot of speculation. I don’t know if I would go so far as to say we would have had as much success. Obviously we have a lot of faith within our group that we can get the job done.”

In a surprising twist given the one-sided Boston-Toronto matchup the past few seasons, the Leafs had more playoff success against the Bruins than did the playoff-experienced Rangers and talent-loaded Penguins.

And figure this out: Phil Kessel’s four post-season goals vs. Boston are more than Rick Nash (2), Brad Richards (1), Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin (zeroes) combined.

What did the Leafs do that Pittsburgh should have?

Sounds like Maple Leafs are still smarting from their game seven collapse to the Boston Bruins.

Eastern Conference Finals: If only the refs called more penalties

Boston Bruins (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am seeing a theme emerge this morning, the non-call that led to the game winning goal in game three in overtime, the uncalled interference call on Crosby in game four.

 You would have thought that the Penguins were totally hosed in the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Bruins. I guess the Penguins fans didn't see any of the numerous infractions that went uncalled against the Bruins that could have led to another power play in their favor.

 All that I heard after game one was Crosby whining about the officiating and how the Bruins were getting away with bloody murder. Did he see Jonathan Toews getting mugged on the ice against the Detroit Red Wings? It’s not just him.

Ken Campbell, The Hockey News -- There is not enough space in this column or any other to chronicle the litany of blown calls and shoddy work done by the supposed best officials in the world during these playoffs. But wouldn’t you like to, just once, see an important game that is officiated to the same standard as one in the regular season? And it all comes down to one of two things: Either the officials are making up their minds to be far more lax during the playoffs in the name of “letting the players decide it” or the league is mandating they change their approach. Neither one of them, quite frankly, is very appealing.

Case in point was Wednesday night in Game 3 of the Boston-Pittsburgh series. Had referees Marc Joannette and Dan O’Rourke called all the violations of the rulebook, there probably wouldn’t have been enough players to play 5-on-5 at some points in the game. Then again, had they called the fragrant fouls early, perhaps the players would not have gone through the game thinking they could get away with pretty much anything.

Instead, the two of them made it very clear that they were going to call next to nothing. Then what happened? Well, Jaromir Jagr clearly hooked Evgeni Malkin in the neutral zone and scooped the puck from him, a play that ultimately resulted in Patrice Bergeron scoring the game-winner in double overtime. Basically, Joannette and O’Rourke set the standard and the players responded to it and the game was decided in large part by a restraining foul that clearly should have been called.

Here’s my question, did Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins have the mindset that they were entitled to a Stanley Cup? It seems like the Penguins were never in this series. I almost think that the Bruins were the one team that they didn’t want to play from the start.

During the series, the Bruins took away the Penguins time and space and made it tough sledding for the Penguins offensive players. The Penguins never really seemed to make the necessary adjustments until game three and by then it was too late.

On the other side of the ice, the Bruins players got to the dirty areas to score goals and do the little things that they had to do to push their team over the top. Hockey is about making adjustments; the Boston Bruins made the adjustments and did what they had to do to win this series, the Penguins did not.

What if? What If the refs “had” called more penalties and called the games more tightly? Does anyone think that it would have really would have made much of a difference? I don’t… Both teams combined were 0-26 on the powerless play. Maybe the refs were saving us the agony of having to watch the Bruins and the Penguins suffer on the power play.

Here’s some numbers for you; “0” – here’s how it looks; Evgeni Malkin (0g-0a—0pts) -5 Sidney Crosby (0g-0a—0pts) -2 Jarome Iginla (0g-0a—0pts) -4. Tuukka Rask was the first goalie to have two shutouts in a series since Phiadelphia Flyers goalie Michael Leighton in 2010 Eastern Conference finals versus the Montreal Canadiens.

Now that the Boston Bruins have swept the Penguins, and they're going back to the Stanley Cup Finals - for a second time in three seasons - we can finally give the Bruins their due.

(Video) Game Four: final minute and a half of Bruins and Penguins and then the Handshake

Wow! What a mad finish to the end of a great game. This was a hard nosed series. Hard fought series. The Boston Bruins are going back to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in three years.

Against the Bruins in the ECF, Evgeni Malkin (0g-0a—0pts) -5 Sidney Crosby (0g-0a—0pts) -2 Jarome Iginla (0g-0a—0pts) -4
— Eric J. Burton (@goon48) June 8, 2013

Tuuka Rask goes 4-0, 0.44, .986 in the series.
— Mike McMahon (@MikeMcMahonCHN) June 8, 2013

Incredible to think that the Bruins never trailed the Penguins at any point in their sweep. #domination #hockeynight
— MoniKa Platek (@MonikaPlatek) June 8, 2013

Daniel Paille hit on Sidney Crosby

 Mike Milbury from NBC Sport Network didn't like this play and thought there should've been a penalty called on the play. I don't know. I looks like Sidney Crosby skated into Daniel Paille, but who knows, it really doesn't matter now since the Penguins didn't score on the power play anyways.

Boston vs. Pittsburgh game 4; 0-0 after two periods.

Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic is 25 years old today (6/07/1988). A good birthday present for Mr. Lucic would be a series win against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Game four

Period 1

Bruins  0  - Penguins  0

Peroiod 2

Bruins  0  - Penguins  0

Shots 20 - 17 in favor of the Penguins.

Period 3

3RD PERIOD 05:01 BOS A. MCQUAID (2) SLAP - ASST: B. MARCHAND (9) AND P. BERGERON (6) 1 - 0 BOS

(Video) Brad Marchand and Chris Kunitz incident

Okay, I have to admit that this was a bush league move, I admit it, I am not condoning this play one bit. It's a cheap play. I don't know any Boston Bruins fan or media member that excused this play. It's unacceptable. 

Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand was given a two minute minor penalty for kneeing and Pittsburgh Penguins forward Chris Kunitz was given a two minute minor for slashing. 

Johnny Boychuk and Sidney Crosby picture

Anyone have a caption for this one?

(Video) Patrice Bergeron's game winning goal; Bruins lead series 3-0

Boston Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron scored the game winning goal at the 15:19 mark of the second overtime to give the Boston Bruins a 2-1 double overtime win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Assisting on the game winning goal was Brad Marchand and Jaromir Jagr. This was the longest game of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs. With the win, the Bruins take a 3-0 series lead and can close the series out on Friday at home.

The Boston Bruins have outscored the Penguins 11-2. Who would've thought that the Penguins with their high flying lineup, would be held to two goals through three games? Not me.

Against the Bruins, Evgeni Malkin (0g-0a—0pts) -5 Sidney Crosby (0g-0a—0pts) -2 Jarome Iginla (0g-0a—0pts) -3
— Eric J. Burton (@goon48) June 6, 2013

Against the Pens, Brad Marchand (2g-1a—3pts) +4 Patrice Bergeron (2g-1a—3pts) +3 Nathan Horton (2g-3a—5pts) +6
— Eric J. Burton (@goon48) June 6, 2013

Related articles

• (Video) Patrice Bergeron wins Game 7 in OT (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Brad Marchand Shows Penguins He's Not Your Average Pest And Other Leftover Bruins Thoughts (boston.cbslocal.com)

Matt Cooke and Brad Marchand gif

(Click your mouse on the picture to get the picture to move)... What's that thing about karma? You can also tell who the actual skilled player is.  I think this is better than revenge. It's also a good example of how effective that the Boston Bruins have been in getting the Pittsburgh Penguins off of their game. I also believe, that the Bruins have also done a very good job not getting wrapped up in the extra stuff after the whistle causing them to have to kill a bunch of senseless penalties.

More Chara and Crosby Humor....

Pick a caption...  Mine, I must break you Crosby...

(Video) Brad Marchand scores 28 second in

Great shot of Brad Marchand's opening goal for the @nhlbruins. #StanleyCup #PITvsBOS PIC: twitter.com/NHL/status/341…
— NHL (@NHL) June 4, 2013

Brad "the Little Ball of Hate" Marchand scores 0:28 seconds into the first period for the Boston Bruins in game two of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Marchand would go on to score two goals in tonight's 6-1 rout of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

(Video) Boston Bruins goals against Penguins

Boston Bruins forward David Krejci scored two goals in game one against the Pittsburgh Penguins and now leads the NHL in points during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This was Krejci's first goal of the game and also the  first scored in the series, by either team. True to form, Krejci has been big during the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs and leads all players in scoring with (7g-12a—19pts).



This was Krejci's second goal of the game.


Fellow line mate Nathan Horton is also having a good 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs as well and is tied for fourth with Sidney Crosby (6g-9a—15pts). This was the goal by Horton that sent the Penguins fans to the exits.

Last night, the Top line was big for the Boston Bruins; Krejci had (2g-0a—2pts) and Horton had a three point night for the Bruins (1g-2a—3pts).

Fitting Penguins Humor; Sidney Crosby crying about the officiating already

Haha this is funny @jroadsreal @goon48 twitter.com/bergcar5/statu…
— gretchen berg (@bergcar5) June 2, 2013

Someone put this on twitter last night, I know it's old but it fits with the current Pittsburgh Penguins, especially with Sidney Crosby whining about the officiating after last night's game. Apparently, Sid bad mustache and all didn't watch the game between the Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings.

Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette --- Before Marchand's hit on Neal, Matt Cooke sent Boston defenseman Adam McQuaid into the boards in the second minute of the second period, earning a major penalty for hitting from behind, a game misconduct and a review from the NHL, which could decide to suspend Cooke.

Some of the Penguins' discontent stemmed from Marchand getting a two-minute boarding penalty for the hit on Neal, not something similar to Cooke's penalties. "I don't see the difference, really," Crosby said.

Crosby, rarely one to publicly criticize officiating, said the way referees Chris Rooney and Brad Watson called the game contributed to the overflow of emotion.

"It's tough," Crosby said. "They're letting a lot go out there, and the more it gets like that, the more it's going to escalate. You can only control and channel that stuff so much. You keep letting guys do that stuff, you're just going to push the envelope. That's something we obviously want to stay away from, but it's kind of a natural thing when it gets like that."

Asked if it was also a matter of the Bruins trying to get under the Penguins' skin, Crosby didn't back down.

Look, I don’t think anyone is questioning whether the hit that Brad Marchand put on James Neal was worthy of a five or not – I get that – the call probably should have been a five minute major and I was surprised that it wasn't. Now were going to have to put up with Crosby's excessive whining the rest of the series every time his team doesn't get a call.

No supplemental discipline expected for the Penguins Matt Cooke for his hit on Adam McQuaid

As expected no further #NHL discipline regarding #Pens Cooke hit on #Bruins McQuaid. Cooke avaiable
— Nick Kypreos (@RealKyper) June 2, 2013

Meh! Penguins forward Matt Cooke will escape supplemental discipline for his dirty hit on Boston Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid.  I would suppose that the NHL Department of Players Safety put Cooke on double secret probation and any further bad behavior will result in him being suspended a game for two.

Marchand boards James Neal: Dust up at the end of the period, Malkin vs Bergeron fight

I thought that Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand was lucky to remain in the game after his hit on Penguins forward James Neal. This could have been a five minute major. There could be two suspensions coming from this game, when it's all said and done. Probably not though. This was not a good hit, dangerous hit. Marchand is a repeat offender as well.

Video of dust up at the end of the period included as well.

Malkin and Bergeron fighting is why the playoffs are rad. Also, I like fighting.
— Ryan Kennedy (@THNRyanKennedy) June 2, 2013

Sorry but Crosby has no right to go after Rask, Crosby cut into Rask's path and gave him a bit of an elbow
— Erik Erlendsson (@erlendssonTBO) June 2, 2013

Marchand takes a bad penalty. Not worse than Cooke but still a stupid penalty, only gets 2 minutes, luckily #DailyLive
— Bruins Daily (@BruinsDaily) June 2, 2013

Boston Bruins moving.... Take on the Penguins in the Eastern Conference Finals.

No fight in the hand shanke line @pucknut9 RT @bruinsdaily: Best tradition in sports twitter.com/BruinsDaily/st…
— Eric J. Burton (@goon48) May 26, 2013

There is a new drinking game; every time the Boston Bruins fourth line/Merlot Line is mentioned drink a beer, or take a shot or you can take a drink. You would never make it through the game sober, unless you're drinking water or pop.

That being said, the Pittsburgh Penguins probably aren't going to be as impressed with the Boston Bruins fourth line, because they're a really talented hockey team, but the fact remains you can't discount what they accomplished during the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Here's the stats for the Merlot line Shawn Thornton (0g-3a—3pts), Gregory Campbell (3g-2a—5pts), Daniel Paille (1g-3a—4pts).

Jagr back in Pitt. Iginla saying no to Boston and yes to Pitt..Matt Cooke's hit on Savard..Two great hockey cities. 4 lines vs 4 lines. Yes.
— John Buccigross (@Buccigross) May 26, 2013

Related articles

• (video) The legend of Torey Krug keeps growing; four goals five games. (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

(Video) Brooks Orpik hit on Chris Neil

This is the hit that Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik put on Ottawa Senators forward Chris Neil. There was no penalty called on the play, in my opinion, this was a dangerous hit, but not necessarily dirty, but dangerous.

If you're a fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins you probably think this is a good hockey play. If you're a fan of the Senators, you probably wanted a penalty on the play. The head coach of the Ottawa Sentors Paul MacLean didn't like the play and was unhappy about on the players bench. I suppose in the regular season, there might have been a penalty called on the hit, it's a what we call a push check, a form of checking from behind. What do others think of the hit?

#TribHKY >> Neil lost footing, Orpik give him good shove during his fall. #pens #sens
— Rob Rossi (@RobRossi_Trib) May 20, 2013

Chris Neil.....hi...you're injured!
— Injury Ninja (@InjuryNinja) May 20, 2013

Like Lucic's hit on Gunnarson, that's a penalty a month ago.
— Joe Meloni (@JoeMeloni) May 20, 2013

(Video) Brooks Orpik check on Eric Gryba

It's better to be the hammer than the nail. This is like a collision of two freight trains. Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik lights up Senators defenseman Eric Gryba with this heavy check. So would we call this an (B.C.) Eagle on (B.U.) Terrier violence?