Puck Podcast – April 12th, 2008

In this episode of the Puck Podcast we recap the first three days of the Stanley Cup playoffs with analysis and highlights from each game. We also talk with Puck Podcast Playoff Analyst and Kings goalie Jason LaBarbera to get his thoughts on the games so far and who he thinks will meet in the Cup Finals. We also talk about some controversial calls, and non-calls, that made an impact on the games so far, Doug talks with Stars forward Steve Ott about his game-winning goal in Game One and Dallas’ chances against the Ducks, plus we’ll tell you about a special gift sent by a listener as well as answer your e-mails and a whole lot more.

MP3 File

Puck Podcast Playoff Analyst, and Kings goalie, Jason LaBarbera

Puck Podcast Playoff Analyst & Kings Goalie Jason LaBarbera

About Doug Stolhand 27106 Articles
Doug Stolhand is one of the co-founders and co-hosts of the Puck Podcast and has been a member of the NHL media since the show's inception in 2006.

9 Comments

  1. i think it’s very funny that on your playoff preview show you thoght it was a good thing that hatcher might be getting healthy… ha ha. the flyers without hatcher = a winning team! screw him, he really does suck.

  2. It was Carney, not Rolston, who covered the puck in the crease during the Avs vs. Wild game 1, where Smyth got the penalty shot.

  3. Is there any end to Sean Avery’s ability to embarrass himself and the NHL at the same time? Two good things happened since face-guarding Brodeur. The first is the NHL actually amending the conduct rule and second, the Devils beating the Rangers in OT by a puck deflecting off Avery’s very skate and past Lundquist! Sweet justice, what a world-class prick!

  4. Actually Mark it went in off of Staal’s skate, not Avery’s. But I agree what he did was absolutely embarrassing. I really don’t want this guy wearing Rangers blue anymore. He’s a disgrace to the league and I don’t want him to disgrace my team’s uniform.

  5. Matt:
    You’re absolutely right, sorry about that. A few hockey insiders today were saying how annoyed the Rangers were and are at this moron. It’s hard to believe Shanahan and the others haven’t sat him down yet, or even knocked his teeth out.

  6. Yeah, no problem. I know there were some players that weren’t happy with it. I’m sure some of them talked to him about it. He is a very good player, and if he could just ever grow up a little and control himself, then we’d all be better off. But we’ve been saying this for what, five years now? lol

  7. I have absolutely no problem with what Sean Avery did and think that Martin Brodeur is becoming a caricature of himself. First of all, the way I see it, the objective of screening is to block a goaltender’s view and distract him. Done and done. Is it slightly immature/childish to play the hockey version of “not touching you, not touching you, you can’t hit me I’m not touching you?” Sure. But it was clever. No one had tried it before (possibly because a previous generation of goalie would’ve given them a stick in the groin). I don’t see what he did as being significantly different from trash talking, little stick taps and pokes, anything you need to do to get under your enemy’s skin. About the best you can argue is that it’s slightly dangerous to be waving your stick in the air, but that wasn’t the root of anyone’s complaints. As for the hooting by TSN’s panel and Ron MacLean about “the integrity of the game” and so on…come on, guys. Marty can put on his big girl panties and deal with it, and you can drop the melodrama and discuss the issue intelligently. I expect better from the professional hockey media, especially here in Canada.

    As for Brodeur, isn’t it funny how he’s now gotten two rule changes passed mid-stream* in the last three years? First the mirrored visor, now this. And once again, he’s been playing like crap in the playoffs, with the play you mentioned this week the most egregious example. Dude needs to slow down a bit during the regular season, I think, because this is two years in a row, and it’s starting to look like a bit of a pattern.

    I feel dirty for standing up for Sean Avery, but there we go.

    Finally, you guys mentioned the “labrum” in Vincent Lecavalier’s shoulder a couple of weeks ago, and didn’t know what it was. Wikipedia and my anatomy notes deliver the answer: it’s a cartilaginous formation on the glenoid fossa of the scapula (shoulder blade) increases the articular (connecting) surface in the shoulder joint and deepens the resultant cavity for greater stability. A similar construct exists in the hip joint. The menisci of the knees are superficially similar, though they serve a number of other purposes, too, including shock absorption and friction reduction. The rotator cuff, which you also mentioned, is a series of muscles surrounding the joint that are generally believed to be a key component of the joint’s dynamic stability over a large range of motion, keeping the humerus (upper arm) attached to the scapula.

    * – The NHL can bite me with this “interpretation” BS. It’s a new rule. Period. It’s not the first time it’s happened — I remember reading about how, in ’79, the Habs would jump the boards every time they scored, in a bit of psychological warfare against the woefully overmatched Leafs. They tried it the next round against the Bruins and found Don Cherry more than happy to send his boys over the boards in kind. The NHL, not wanting the potential for a battle royale every time there was a goal, put a quick stop to it by threatening fines and penalties for all involved should it happen again. (Eight or nine years later, when Ron Hextall scored his first goal, the Flyers got nailed with a delay of game penalty for clearing the bench to celebrate. Same rule.) But there’s a big difference between that situation, which was dangerous and unnecessary, and this, which is basically punishing Sean Avery for being creative in his asshattery.

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