Puck Podcast – May 1, 2010

On this week’s show we’ll talk about the conclusion to an amazing first round of the playoffs. We’ll also tell you about an NHL head coach’s surprising announcement and debate two more controversial rulings from the NHL. We'll talk about the finalists for MVP and coach of the year plus read your e-mails and a whole lot more.

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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.

19 Comments

  1. Guys,

    When comparing the Caps’ failures this playoffs to those of past Sharks’ teams, Doug commented that to get over the hump, the Sharks got more scoring. While Heatly was a great add, most Sharks fans will credit the additions of Many Malhoeltra, Scott Nichol and a number of other role players as being at least as important. The difference between this and past Sharks team is grit and determination. The Sharks have always had plenty of talent. What they were lacking was a consistent will to win. This is a very different Sharks team than those of the past. As a long time Sharks fan, I am much more optimistic about this post-season than in the past because this team was made for both the regular season and playoffs.

  2. But the same could be said about the changes to the Sharks for the last two seasons. Blake, Roenick and Boyle were all brought in for their “grit and experience.” They even tried Claude Lemieux! And in the end, they kept taking steps BACKWARDS! Losing in the 1st round last year instead of the 2nd. I think adding Heatley has allowed the Sharks to be comfortable shuffling lines. Heatley and Marleau have been able to shift lines with Pavelski and the Gooch (for example) and put out combinations that opposing coaches may not bee able to match up with right away. Much like the Canucks coach had enough confidence in someone like Sammuelson, and Burrows to a degree, to switch them around and inject some energy or at the least a different look to the opposing bench for a few minutes. The Sharks look like a team that may be able to overturn their past failures, and that is due to the role players they added, but I think having Heatley (as much as I hate that smug SOB) on that team is going to be a deciding factor.

  3. Ken,

    I loved the final part of your post. Watching the game tonight I noticed something I haven’t seen from the Sharks in a long time. They were confident. They had a arrogant swagger about them that was like “We’re going to come out and we’re going to win”. They were hitting, Pavelski (Can you guys endorse the Name “Big Pavelski” on the Podcast, since that is taking on a whole new level here in the Bay Area) is playing out of his mind, and players like Thornton and Heatley are stepping up. I watch this team, and I actually feel good about them. Granted, the cloud of past failures is still brightly shining, but there is just something really different about this team this year that is making for some fun hockey.

    As for Heatley and Role Players, that is true, but it’s the players who were on the team last year that are coming through. Something is clicking with Pavelski, Seto, and Clowe right now and that is a scary line. I also like what Malholtra and Nichol have brought (Energy and speed mainly) to the ice this season and they were signed last year. I want to see Heatley kind of have a bigger role than he has shown (Same with Marleau), but I do think for the most part it is making an impact.

  4. I’ve been told by several Canucks fans that the Alex Burrows “bow and arrow” move after he scored into an empty net against my Kings was a tribute to the late Luc Bourdon. I obviously did not know that at the time we recorded our last show so I would like to retract my criticism of Burrows.

  5. I think the reason Zetterberg wasn’t called because the 5-on-3 situatrion was BS in the first place. Now after Game 2 against San Jose many Wings fans are outraged, but we all know refs try to even out the calls. But Detroit actually got called for three in that span. I don’t remember how bad Drew Miller’s trip was, but then they called Darren Helm for diving (they enforce that? Really?) then they called Stuart. Interestingly, before the 5-on-3, the penalties alternated. Hanzal, Kronwall. Hanzal, Eaves. Aucoin, Ericsson. Aucoin, Miller. But evening it out, they called Fiddler for two separate minors at the same time in the third.

    Speaking of Fiddler, I thought for sure you guys of all people would mention the hit that got absolutely NO coverage outside of FSN Detroit in Game 5. It was on Friday so it would have been in last week’s podcast, but anyway. This to me was worse than Ovechkin and Hossa “hits” because Rafalski wasn’t just pushed, he was checked, and he was already down one a knee after slipping against the boards.

  6. At least 4 of the 10 penalties assessed to the Wings last night were shit calls, but it happens to every team. How the Wings go from the 2nd least penalized team in the regular season to the most penalized in the playoffs is a question Mick Megough but being debated non-stop here today. If you really consider it, they should of been blown out last night, to keep it that close said something–not sure what just yet. For the Wings, it was nothing short of a hurricane the first half of the first period–never seen San Jose play like that, it could be their year.

  7. come on dug. this hit was nothing like ovies. Differances campbell didn’t have the puck after dishing it off a couple seconds earlier. ovie wasn’t playing the puck. that nashville skater had the puck but misplayed it changed direction because of it and put himself in a bad postion. only thing that was simular was it was a push. a weak one at that. so before calling this simular get your facts straight. personally i think a player need to be a little more aware of his postion on ice. but this is nothing but just a major boarding call. personally i think the hit on same player in your so called simular play a game earlier done by kopesky was actully worse

  8. Come on Wings fans, let’s be honest here. The officiating has been bad from both sides. I know it is commonplace for a fan to complain about it for their team but it does go both ways. For example, the “boarding” by Marleau and the goalie interference on Heatley this past game. Can you tell me those were good calls and keep a straight face? Yeah, Detroit was more penalized and some of those were bad, but the bad calls weren’t just against one team…

    As for the Fiddler hit, when I first saw it I thought it looked from replays as he realized that Rafalski wasn’t going to get up and at the last minute he tried to stop but it was too late and his speed took him into the hit anyway. I still say this after watching the replays because rather than gliding into the hit Fiddler turns his skates as if attempting to stop when Rafalski looks back at him rather than standing, though that didn’t leave much time to do so. No matter if he was trying to stop and couldn’t or wasn’t trying and intentionally hit him it still should have resulted in a 5 and perhaps 1-2 games because that was horribly dangerous. When you see the guy is on his knees you can’t assume he’ll be able to get up before your hit arrives, you have to pull off and hit the boards or skate by the play entirely.

  9. Yes it was bad on both sides and it was a bad call on San Jose near the end of the game, but that was a makeup call after two 5 on 3 situations. Officiating can be bad on both sides but when the “official” powerplay numbers are 10-4 it’s a little tough to say it was bad on both sides evenly. Not saying it cost them the game, the winner was scored even strength and San Jose’s defense shut down the guys that are normally able to carry the puck in. It just makes it tougher when those same guys are out there for PK, they can’t generate much.

  10. Dustin,

    If I were a Wings fan (I’m not…I’m a Sharks fan) I would be more pissed off about the Wings lack of dicipline after they were a man down rather than the initial calls. By my count, the Wings got penalized on three soft calls in game 2 (the Sharks only got hit by two). What were not soft calls were the ridiculous penalties taken after they were already a man down. The Wings are skating like a team that’s tired. Guess what…7 grueling games against Phoenix might just be the root cause of a lot of penalties. The Wings are not moving their feet the way they usually do. As a Sharks fan, my first thank you is to Phoenix for extending the series angainst Detroit.

  11. Ken,

    If I were a Sharks fan (I’m not…I’m a Wings fan) I’d keep my mouth shut. If I were a Sharks fan, I’d be routing for perennial playoff chokers that have done nothing but begin their golf season every year in April.

  12. Steve,

    Congratulations on a very “intellectual” comment. Generally I find Detroit fans to be some of the more objective in the NHL. Apparently there are exceptions to every rule.

    Do you have something constructive to add after game 3?

  13. Steve in the D – If I were a Sharks fan (wait a minute, I am) I would simply be happy that my team has a 3-0 strangle hold on the league’s most consistent team, the mighty Red Wings. Go ahead and remind us Sharks fans of our team’s well-earned reputation as chokers if you must, but the bottom line is that these same choke artists are likely going to give your Wings a head start on their way to the weeds. Even the gatekeepers to the WCF can have a bad post season now and then. Be happy, your team already has more cups than most ever will.

  14. Plus Sharks’ fans know how to spell “rooting”, too…

    Sorry. Telling Sharks’ fans to “keep (thier) mouth(s) shut” when your team is currently in a 2-0 hole (at the time) was a little much…

  15. Well, that’s that. Penalties were slightly better last night but still ridiculous, the NHL is embarrassing. The Sharks earned it, again. Bertuzzi is useless, I’d of packaged him up and Fed Ex’d him home after last night’s game. He won’t engage, won’t stop and start, won’t go after pucks, won’t hit anyone, he’s no Red Wing. Franzen and Kronwall and Ericsson have been useless, it’s time to hit the links as Steve from Detroit says. Go Vancouver.

  16. Mark – I’m surprised you’re so down on Big Bert. I thought he was a constant threat in game three. Like McCarty said in between periods, he was always buzzing around the net and getting in Nabby’s eyes. Initially I didn’t think he would be a good fit in Detroit but he still seems useful in the right role. Maybe I’m wrong but I thought he was one of the more dangerous Wings in this last game.

  17. Nate: I hear that he’s as good as gone due to the salary issue they have next year, however, his performance in the playoffs is enough for me to ship him out. I coached hockey for 15 years (I realize we all did) and what infuriated me then, and now, are skaters that refuse to stop and start. Bert NEVER stops, he circles and skates past the net, pucks, checks, everything. I’m sure he does that because stopping and starting require effort–it’s tough to put on the brakes, possibly be behind the play and then have to catch up. He cirlces to avoid that, but in doing that, misses opportunities to clear pucks, finish checks, and be in the right place at the right time (in front of the net, not behind it). No one does this better than Crosby, watch him. He isn’t in the right area by accident. He stops and starts all the time, in the right spots…Ovechkin is another serial “circle-er”. Alex may have the goals, but in assists, he’s dwarfed by Crosby because the wind is blowing through his helmet while Sid is stopped, battling in the right spots.

  18. Mark – Great insight. After you put it that way, what you say makes sense. I never coached sports, much less hockey, so I never considered that an older, bigger player would circle to the detriment of play based solely on a lack of endurance or physical capability. I would have thought that NHL level players wouldn’t be given a chance to make such behavior a bad habit, go figure.

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