Quick Update on the NBA + NHL Playoffs

NBA- YAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNN. I don't get it. How is this sport more popular than the NHL. Awful. Terrible. The playoffs should be 4 teams from each conference because nearly every game has been a blowout. Just another piece of evidence on how bad Gary Bettman sucks as commissioner of the NHL. Maybe we can trade him for David Stern and some cash considerations.

NHL- The Bruins won a thrilling 2OT game over Ryan Miller and the Sabres to take a 3-1 series lead. It would be nice to keep the Boston TV market but losing the U.S. Olympic hero Ryan Miller in the first round has to be bad for NHL marketing. Can the Sabres please get more offensive talent to help Thomas Vanek and Miller?

Also the Capitals took over in the 3rd period to beat the Canadiens 6-3. This series is over and keeps Crosby-Ovechkin series on track.

The Canadian hope team, the Vancouver Canucks knotted their series with the L.A. Kings at 2. I still believe the Kings will win this series if Roberto Luongo continues his poor play in net for the Kings. JOnathan Quick for the Kings has outplayed him for most of the series and the young Kings are exciting to watch. I think the Kings will be that young team that matures to be like this years Chicago Blackhawks.

VIDEO: Ryan Miller Diving Save in Overtime

Roethlisberger Gets 6 Games

First off let me get my initial reaction out of the way, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW. Did Roger Goodell really just pull that off? Did he just suspend a guy who had not been arrested or charged with a crime for the first time in NFL history? The answer to both questions is of course yes. Ben Roethlisberger, the quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers was suspended for the first six games of the season. First let me say I think this reeks of a suspension that will be lessened. Most suspensions like the drug offense suspension are four games and I don't see Ben sitting a game past week four. With good behavior and an appeal to the league I think Ben will lessen this suspension by four games. Second these rumors of Ben being traded are null and void. Not going to happen. The Rooneys did not build the Steelers into a consistent power house by being over reactionary. Roethlisberger is still a top ten quarterback and his on the field performance will not suffer from this problem. This is a guy who hurt himself riding a motorcycle after winning a super bowl and came back and won another one. The trade talk is a PR move in my opinion. I mean we never thought Santonio Holmes would be traded by the Steelers a few weeks ago, do you really think the Rooney's will choose now to let trades out into the public?

Now to Roger Goodell who I think is very interesting in this suspension. Does this guy have big marbles or what? Not only did he just do something that has never been done before but he set an incredible precedent. When you get down to it what was Ben Roethlisberger suspended for? You can't say rape or sexual assault because then Goodell would be saying that the Georgia D.A. is flat out wrong. He said in his letter to Ben Roethlisberger that that was not the case. In my mind Goodell is suspending Roethlisberger for being in a bar and drinking copious amounts of alcohol. Some will say it was for buying alcohol for a minor. How is that Ben's fault when the bar was checking ID's and decided the accuser of Roethlisberger was 21? I am wondering how often Goodell will extend his power over players in bars now. If T.O.'s reality show features him in a bar buying shots for a girl is that bad for the league and grounds for a suspension? I have to believe in the labor negotiations Goodell's power will be a contentious issue for the union. I am getting sick and tired of this Roger Goodell is a tough ass talk. Yeah yeah he suspends harshly but has he curved players problems. One look at all the problems this off season clearly shows that he has done nothing in curbing bad behavior. The benefactor in all this has to be the charity getting all of Ben's suspended pay.

VIDEO: Goodell Speaks

College Hockey Look Ahead #1

Next year's college hockey season will provide a few storylines that will be great to watch. Here a few that I will be following closely:

1. Realignment- There will be a huge shift in college hockey alignment with the folding of the CHA conference. The league had four teams last season and three of the teams have found new homes. Bemidji State will move to the WCHA which features teams such as Minnesota and Wisconsin, and both Robert Morris and Niagara will be moving to the Atlantic Hockey Conference. That leaves only Alabama-Huntsville alone. They have been declined membership by the CCHA (home of MSU, UM, FSU) and will act as an independent next year.

2. WCHA Expansion and CCHA's Response- The WCHA will be taking the University of Nebraska Omaha from the CCHA along with Bemidji State to go from 10 teams to 12. This also means the CCHA will go from 12 teams to 11. I am hoping that the CCHA will save UAH to go back to 12 teams. Alabama-Huntsville has shown that it can compete with CCHA teams by winning a few games and would sell out when football names like OSU, MSU and UM come to play them. College hockey should be looking to expand and not kill programs. The game has increased in popularity on ESPN2 and I believe now is the time to look to expand to teams like Penn State or Pittsburgh.

My early top 5 for next year:
This is incredibly too early and I have done this with out much research. I plan on doing a more comprehensive rankings when all the pro signings are done and after the conclusion of junior hockey tournaments so I can better understand the class of recruits coming in. Coming later this summer I also will talk about the other teams in the top 20.

1. Boston College- The returning champs will have John Muse back in net. Also Cam Atkinson who scored two goals in the national championship game will be a junior. BC played one of the fastest teams in the nation, Wisconsin, and wore them down. BC will be back strong and is definitely a title contender.

2. Miami- It's deja vu all over again. Miami has back to back frozen four appearances and they should be strong again. Cody Reichard and Connor Knapp will both be junior goaltenders. Coach Enrico Blasi likes to rotate goalies but I think if one steps up they should be named the starter. They are the key to Miami finally breaking through.

3. Wisconsin- They lose seniors Blake Geoffrion and Michael Davies. As long as Brendan Smith doesn't sign with the Red Wings they could have the deepest and most talented defensive corps. Scott Gudmandson MUST be better as a goalie.

4. North Dakota- Had a disappointing league campaign this year. They learned early how to play without Chay Genoway and were a very young team. They should be better next year and Brad Eidsness made stride last year in net and if he gets better as a junior they will be scary good.

5. Cornell- They lose Ben Scrivens but I think Cornell plays possibly the best defensive system in the nation. They have an identity and they always know how to play it well. However knowing Cornell they will flame out to a team they shouldn't in the NCAA tournament.

Video: Matt Frattin scores a top play

Frozen Four In Review

On April 8 and April 10 I attended my 7th frozen four. This year it was held in Detroit at Ford Field and attracted record breaking crowds for indoor hockey with 35,000 on Thursday for the semi-final and 37,000 for the championship game. I decided to rate a few aspects of the event on a scale of 1-5.

Seats/View: The seats and angles were up-and down depending on where you sat. If you sat about 20 rows up on the normal football seating side the view was comparable to NHL rink site lines. However the seating on the temporary risers along the boards wasn't so great. This is where I sat in row three. I found this unfortunate since my parents belong to the highest ranking in the ticket lottery. The view was obstructed by the boards and the view at the opposite end of the ice was non existent.

City/Venue: Bad seats aside the Ford Field staff was excellent and Detroit was a great host city. They allowed you to trade in your seats for better ones if you came to the ticket office. This was a nice touch that they certainly didn't have to do. The city was also an excellent host and showed a great enthusiasm for being host. The restaurants were great, hotel staff was excited and there was certainly plenty going on to keep people busy. Unlike in 2004 when I went to Boston and the city took the event and it's patrons for granted, the citizens of Detroit went out of their way to make you feel special.


Hockey: The hockey was the worst I have seen at a Frozen Four. There was not one compelling game. I was excited to see how R.I.T and there tremendous goalie Jered DeMichiel stacked up against a potent Wisconsin offense. It was a no contest as Wisconsin boat raced R.I.T. 8-1. In the other semi-final Boston College beat Miami in the NCAA tournament for the 4th time in 5 years by a score of 7-1. In the championship game Boston College collapsed in front of goaltender John Muse to block the shots of the Wisconsin defensemen. The Badgers never adjusted to the defense and had shots blocked all night. John Muse, junior goaltender for BC, is now 8-0 in NCAA tournament play and the BC seniors have amazingly only lost 2 playoff games in their career. They lost in the 2007 national championship to MSU and in the Hockey East playoffs last year as they missed the NCAA tournament.

My MVP: John Muse. 8-0 in tournament play is unbelievable and he shutout an offense that had averaged well over 3 goals per year.


Detroit in my Frozen Four rankings: I would have to rank my frozen fours in this order:
1. St Louis 2007 (Not a great city but saw my team, MSU, win a thrilling Championship)
2. Milwaukee 2006(Great host city and plenty of great bars/restaurants to visit and a good BC vs. Wisconsin title game)
3. Boston 2004 ( My favorite city in the world. Awesome sea food and a good title game with Denver beating Maine and surviving a 6 on 3 at the end of the game. Maine's roster featured a goaltender named Jimmy Howard)
4. Detroit 2010 (Great city, great food, Tigers opening day, Ford Field is beautiful, just bad hockey)
5. St. Paul 2002 (Great atmosphere as the hometown Gophers win the national championship in overtime, this city is probably the best city for the frozen four as it is the state of hockey and the XCel is the best NHL rink)
6. Columbus 2005 (Not bad just doesn't compare to the other hosts. Too football crazy of a town.
7. Anaheim 1999 (bad weather, bad host, no restaurants and MSU as the #1 team all season lost in the semi-finals to New Hampshre.

Later this week I will do a preview of next season but here is a rudimentary and early look at what my top five will probably look like:
1. Boston College
2. North Dakota
3. Wisconsin
4. Miami
5. Cornell

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACkji82n7L8&feature=related

NHL Playoffs= Entertaining, NBA= Next Round Please

The NHL playoffs have had me hooked all week. Not a single one of the 8 series has had a team go up 2-0. Every single game has been tight and played with great passion. 5 games have gone to overtime and the most lopsided game was the 4-1 win for the 7 seed in the west, Nashville, over 2 seed Chicago.

The NBA playoffs on the other hand in my opinion have started out with a dud. When watching Sportscenter this morning I heard this analysis of the Celtics-Heat game from Michael Wilbon, "This game was played like a second or third round game, not a first game where teams feel each other out". There is my problem with the NBA playoffs. Teams and players take nights out off because they don't feel pressure apparently. They only have to win 4 out of 7 games.

In the interest of full disclosure I am a hockey player and I am not fond of the NBA. So I may seem a little biased. However, I don't feel like I am incredibly off base. The NBA playoffs feel like the bowl season in college football. You have to watch a lot of crap early to get to the good stuff at the end. The NHL playoffs feel more like the NCAA Basketball tournament. Upsets and craziness early and the cream eventually rising to the top at the end.

The NHL needs to capitalize on this chance right now. Show the passion in your game while the NBA playoffs stay dormant. In a couple of weeks the NBA playoffs will matter and become entertaining. The olympics opened the eyes and ears of many people who are waiting to be enticed again by the NHL. Hopefully today the Red Wings- Coyotes game is played hard and fast to capitalize on the national exposure. The NHL needs to behave like a small business. Take nothing for granted and go take on the big boys with some attitude. Go after the NBA and their soft "playoffs". I have to go watch the NHL playoffs now. And wake me up when the NBA gets good in about 3 weeks.

Video: Muskegon native Justin Abdelkader steals the puck and lights the lamp for the Wings in game 2