Stanley Cup Finals Preview: Devils v.s Kings

The Stanley Cup Finasls are set. It will be Zack Parise's New Jersey Devils against Jonathon Quick and the Los Angeles Kings. Game one is Wednesday in New Jersey. Both the Devils and Kings are coming off a relatively short conference final series. This is a very interesting final. The most exciting matchup is the two goaltenders. Future Hall Of Famer Martin Brodeur against young upstart Jonathon Quick. I personally think that as of 2011-12, the Kings have the advantage in this one. Defenseman is also interesting. The Kings have Drew Doughty leading them while The Devils are weak on Defense. Advantage Kings. Forwards are aplenty as well. NJ has Zack Parise, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Patrick Elias to go against Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Mike Richards, and Jeff Carter. Advantage Devils. In conclusion, I'm going with LA in seven.

Devils defeat Rangers, will play Kings in the stanley cup fina

The New Jersey Devils won a thrilling game six to knock out the top seeded New York Rangers. This hard fought entertaining series ended in two strange games. In game five the Devils got an early 3-0 lead but New York tied it 3-3. Then with three minutes left, the Devils Ryan Carter scored. New Jersey then won game six off an OT goal from Adam Henrique. The Stanley Cup Final begins Wednesday.

Kings defeat Coyotes, advance to Stanley Cup Final

The eighth seeded Los Angeles Kings are headed to the Stanley Cup Final. The Kings survived an intense game five. The Kings scored late in the first OT to knock out the first seeded Coyotes. The Kings got that goal from Dustin Penner. In OT a questoinable hit by Dustin Brown caused Phoenix captain Shane Doan to go ballistic at the ref. A few minutes earlier, LA defenseman Drew Doughty give his stick a hard time, smashing it everywhere in sight due to a penalty. The Kings will await the winner of the Rangers, Devils series. New Jersey currently leads 3-2. LA did not touch the Clarence Campbell Bowl. They did touch it last time they made a finals appearence. They lost to the Canadiens in five games. The Kings became the second eighth seeded team to beat the first, second, and third seeded teams, beating Vancouver, St Louis, and Phoenix. The first time this happened was the 2004 Calgary Flames. They lost to Tampa Bay in seven games.

Canucks fans, management, being disrespectful and ungrateful to Roberto Luongo

They used to chant Lou, now they chant boo. Roberto Luongo has been the face of the Vancouver Canucks for six years. He got them to the playoffs for five of those six. He led them to a point where they were a win away, from the franchise's first stanley cup. Since then it all went downhill for them. Younger backup Cory Schneider started to play more games, although Schneider maintaned that Luongo was the starter. Now Luongo has been told he will be traded. After two President's Trophies, and a birth in the Cup Final, this is how it will end for possibly the greatest Canuck goalie of all time? Plain and simple, the fans and management are ungrateful. Many say Luongo was the reason Vancouver lost the finals to the Boston Bruins. But people don't realize that Vancouver wouldn't be in that final without him. Luongo was stellar in the Canucks victories, recording two shutouts in three games. But that is all tosed away. Luongo was asked to give the list of teams. Luongo gave the list of teams. Now, he has to wait. A disrespectful gesture from a disrespectful franchise. Unbelievable.

Future is unclear for the Blue Jackets and Rick Nash

Despite scoring 30 goals, things were not good in 2011-12 for Rick Nash or the Columbus Blue Jackets. In the off season they aquired James Wisniewski from Montreal and Jeff Carter from Philadelphia. Many had them in the playoffs. But Carter failed to develop chemisry with anyone and was traded to the LA Kings for okay defenseman Jack Johnson, where he is a key member of their playoff run. Antoinne Vermette was traded to Phoenix. Rumors were floating around of a possible Nash deal. But he wasn't traded and it was later discovered that he asked for a trade. The Jackets finished last in the NHL with less than 60 points. It still wasn't enough to land the first overall draft pick. It is rumored a deal could take place in the entry draft in Pittsburgh. Here are some of the potential destinations. An unlikely scenario is the New York Rangers. The Rangers would have to give up Ryan Mcdonaugh or Michael Del Zotto, or even Dan Girardi, something they don`t want to do. A more likely scenario is a swap with the sharks involving Joe Pavelski. The Sharks had an extremely dissapointing season and Nash could help them a lot. A longshot would be the LA Kings. The Kings were active in trying to get Nash at the deadline but ultimately settled on Jeff Carter. Although it appears to have worked out for them. Plus with big contracts to Carter and Mike Richards, I really don`t see this happening. Another option is the Nashville Predators. It would certainly help keep Shea Weber and Ryan Suter in Nashville. No names have popped up but I feel that Martin Erat would have to be involved. Another option is Toronto. Nash was born in Ontario so he would be happy to play for the Leafs. This would likely result in Toronto breaking up the duo of Joffrey Lupul and Phil Kessel. But it would be worth it. Another option is Montreal. Remember, the Habs have the number three overall pick in the draft this year. Columbus has the number two pick. I think Columbus would like the idea of back to back top five picks. It would help them build towards a likely Nash-less future. Speculation says it`s either the pick or Tomas Plekanec. The last one is the Canucks. Roberto Luongo is on the market. But the Jackets are not on his list. It`s a longshot but the deal could include Cory Schneider while the Canucks keep Luongo. But that is highly unlikely. No matter what happens, it should be an interesting draft day for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Wayne Gretzky should coach Oilers

Think about it. The greatest Oiler of all time, coaching a prospect loaded team with a bright future ahead. Wayne Gretzky's time with the Oilers ended in one of the most bizarre trades in sports history. The Oilers sent him to the Kings for cash. The Oilers fans still haven't forgiven him for that and with good reason. If you don't believe me go play an Oiler trivia game and see how many accomplishment answers are Wayne Gretzky. Many Oiler fans would be delighted at the thought of Wayne Gretzky coaching. Some say after his Phoenix debacle that he would be a lousy coach. But the Coyotes had a horrible roster, the team was broke, and they were on the verge of relocating. Imagine the wonders having Wayne around would do for guys like Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle. Scary.

Russia wins gold at IIHF World Hockey Champioinship, Czech Republic claims bronze

Russia took the gold medal at the 2012 IIHF World Hockey Championship. They won 6-2 over the slovaks. Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin was named tournament MVP. Russia had goals by Alexander Semin [Semin actually had two], Alexander perezhogen, Evgeni Malkin, Alexei Tereshshenko, and Pavel Datsyuk. Both Slovakian goals were by Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara. The czech republic claimed Bronze with a 3-2 win over Finland. The czech's claimed it off goals from Petr Prucha, Jiri Novotny, and David Krejci. Finland recieved goals from Jussi Jokkinen, and Mika Pyorala. Russia went undefeated throughout the Tournament.