As we wrap up the season...

This will be my final post for the regular season, playoffs start in about a week.  To wrap up the season so far, the Pittsburgh Penguins have taken first place in the Eastern Conference.  They have been a amazing team so far, and they are schedule to play the New York Rangers.

The biggest rivals for the Penguins this year include Chicago and Boston.  Besides that, I can't see any teams being a big threat to the Pens in playoffs.

Even though the season was cut short about four months, it was a great season all together.  All teams had to make adjustments due to the shortened season, especially with playing more games back-to-back.  It was very exciting to see such a quick rise in leaders this year.  

If anybody out there is interested, go check out the Penguin's on the jumbo-tron outside the arena downtown during playoffs.  It is an amazing time, and maybe I'll see some people I know down there.

To finish up for the regular season, I wanted to have a little fun, and show some of my favorite clips of hockey's best and funniest moments.  Enjoy! 

Got to love this, it is hilarious!!

And finally, the hardest position in any sport, the goaltender.  This video put a smile on my face.

The Hart Trophy

The Hart Memorial Trophy, or Hart Trophy, is the oldest and most prestigious award in hockey.  It is award annually to the player who is considered most valuable to his team.

The Hart Trophy has, so far, been award 87 times, to 54 different players.

The picture to the left is Alex Ovechkin when he won in 2008.

The question is who is going to win the trophy this year.  Will it be Ovechkin, Crosby, Stamkos?  Maybe a player who sprouted this year such as Kunitz or Craig Anderson.



Who ever you may think will win the Hart Trophy, these players are on the list for the potential candidates to win this year.

Obviously there is no doubt Crosby is on the list, but in fact, Crosby is ranked number one to win this year.
Stamkos is number two for a candidate to win the award.

My opinion:
Crosby will win for his significant performance this year.

Since the regular season is over next week we will surely find out who the winner is.  In my opinion it will be Sidney Crosby for his outstanding skill on the first line of the Penguins.  Although he is out with a broken jaw, he pulled up at least 30 assists and 25 goals in the regular season.


Continue on to find out the other candidates for the Hart Trophy this year.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1547955-power-ranking-the-top-10-candidates-for-the-hart-trophy

NHL Playoffs are right around the corner!!

Who's ready for hockey playoffs?!  The best time of the year in my opinion.  In addition, it seems that the Penguins have made the number one seed in the Eastern Conference.  

Playoffs begin on Tuesday, April 30.  It is a very exciting time indeed!!

The last time I was this excited for the Pens to play in playoffs they won in 2009.  What an amazing time that was.  

My personal predictions for the playoffs:

1. The Pens will beat the New York Ranger with only five games in the series played.  

2. The Pens will play a tough match against Boston, but win in seven games

3. The Pens will play in the championship against the Chicago Blackhawks.  The Pens, with a full roster, beat the Blackhawks

Thankfully Philly and New Jersey have both  been eliminated so we will not have to face either of them in the playoffs. 

Use this link to check out all of the current match ups for the NHL playoffs, and to also check out which teams were eliminated.

http://espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/matchups

Pens strive for first seed in the playoffs

The Pittsburgh Penguins haven't always been the best team in the NHL.  Hell there was time when they were a really bad team.  However, I'd say they have really stepped up their game the last several years now.

After picking up several new players, all from other NHL teams, the Pens have rallied a team of superstars to hopefully win them the cup this year.

In my opinion, I truly feel like the Pens will take home the cup.  They have almost guaranteed the number one seed for playoffs.

Depending on how the next week or two goes for the competing teams in the league, I would see the Pens playing the New York Rangers in the first round of playoffs.  If this is true, I can very well see the Pens taking it by game five of the series.  The Rangers have a good team, but we have beaten them two games to one in the regular season.  They just don't have the skill that we have, even before we made all our trades.

My only worry is that Crosby and Neal won't be back by then.  Although I believe we will have a full roster come playoff time.  *KNOCK ON WOOD*  If not, though, we have enough power to keep our team in the playoffs.  Thankfully we have Letang back who is a very powerful defenseman.  He was out for a couple weeks, but thankfully he has made it back in time for playoffs.


My only concern would be the Pens against the Boston Bruins.  They aren't the best team, but they have a solid defense and goaltender, and they have a very well rounded team.  I can bet if we face the Bruins in the playoffs that, although we would win, it would probably go to game seven.

The last time the Pens won the Stanley Cup was in 2009.  I would love for them to win it again this year.  Personally, hockey playoffs are my favorite time of the year.


LETS GO PENS!!!

Best shootout goals in NHL history

This blog topic is a little different.  I wanted to talk about the past shootout goals that became some of the best goals in NHL history. 

For anybody that does not know, a shootout occurs after overtime if no winner has been proven.  When it takes places, each player goes head to head against the opposing team's goalie.  This is interesting to see what skill the individual player has by himself.

A shootout is one of the best things, in my opinion, about hockey in general.  I always enjoy watching a shootout take place at the end of the game.  Unless it is one of the 3 hour long games that goes on and on, but I still enjoy it regardless.  

Shootouts have changed over the years.  Compared to years and years ago, goalies now are required to wear much more padding, this makes it much harder for a shooter to score a goal, resulting in a lot less points in a shoot out.  This also adds to the skill it now takes to score those points.  

Here are the top 10 shootout goals according to ESPN.  You be the judge.  Personally, the second best goal  by Datysuk is my favorite.

For some extra fun, I think this goal scored by Alex Ovechkin is absolutely amazing!  Ovechkin is from the Washington Capitals.

CHECK THIS OUT!!  What a goal!!

Definitely my favorite goal of all time

The Pittsburgh Penguins may play the Chicago Blackhawks outside next year

There may be a chance that in March, 2014, the Pens and Blackhawks will play at Soldier Field. 

Apparently, after the canceled 2013 Winter Classic game, the NHL plans to pay back the fans with these outdoor games.

The Pens and Blackhawk game will be one of six outdoor games scheduled for 2014.

Above is the expected dates of next years games.  This was tweeted from Radio producer Lawrence Dushenski.


Pittsburgh has previously played in two outdoor games, winning the 2008 Winter Classic against the Buffalo Sabres and losing the 2011 Winter Classic to the Washington Capitals.


It isn't official yet as to what exactly will happen, but it is very exciting to see that there will be several games played outdoors, just like the Winter Classic.  Anybody that has gone to a Winter Classic game can agree that it is another level of fun at a hockey game.

The Pens and Blackhawks are two of the best and biggest teams in this shortened 2013 season.  One can only guess at how both of these teams will do next year in the regular season.




Information taken from:

http://www.pensburgh.com/2013/4/16/4232654/report-penguins-blackhawks-to-appear-in-nhl-stadium-series-at-soldier

Penguins want that cup badly!

The Pittsburgh Penguins are doing everything they can this season to get the Stanley Cup. 

Already making it on a current 13 game win streak, breaking the record, and hoping to continue that streak tonight against Winnipeg. 

The Penguins have made three very serious trades over this past week to bring in some very good players to add an edge for our team.  This was done without removing anybody from our current team roster, too. 

The newly added players are Brenden Morrow, a defenseman from the Dallas Stars, who was the captain of the team.  Douglas Murray, a defenseman from the San Jose Sharks. Also, as of yesterday the Penguins have picked up.  Jarome Iginla who was a forward on the Calgary Flames.

Although  we can only speculate how these three new additions will hold up, it's exciting to see some good players be added to an already amazing team.

Click here for new information on the recently added players.

http://www.rantsports.com/nhl/2013/04/21/new-acquisitions-finally-comfortable-in-roles-for-pittsburgh-penguins/







Player Profile:  Chris Kunitz

For anybody that does not know Chris Kunitz is a forward on the Pittsburgh Penguins.  He is on the same line as Pascal Dupuis and the captain of the team Sidney Crosby.

Kunitz has had an amazing start to the season in only a short few weeks.  With the help of his other two forward Kunitz has managed to pull up to second place in the league for goals, just under Steve Stamkos.  Kunitz is third overall for points right under his lineman Crosby.

Kunitz has scored 19 goals and made 22 assists so far in this season.

Also for anybody following Kunitz throughout the season you can see that he has more than excelled so far and pushed himself to be one of the best forwards this season.

Crosby, Kunitz, and Dupuis have the best line in all of the teams in the NHL this season.

For anybody checking out the next games for the Penguins check out Kuntiz number 14 to score plenty of goals.

ALSO-   
The Pittsburgh Penguins still managed to keep their streak alive winning tonight against Philly.  They now reached a 12 game win streak!




Goal three of the Kunitz hat trick against washington on Feb 3rd.  His best game so far of the season..

http://penguins.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8470543

Pens go ten!!

The Pittsburgh Penguins have officially gone on a ten game win streak, as of Tuesday when they played the Washington Capitals.  The win sets the team up to be "the team to beat" in the East.

It was a 2-1 win over the Capitals on Tuesday that gave the Penguins their new position in the league.

The goals from the Pens were scored by Matt Niskenan and Matt Cooke.  In addition to that, Sidney Crosby added to his record assists for the season by assisted both goals of the night. 

Even with our star forward Evgeni Malkin out with an upper body injury, our Pens have still managed to keep up their win streak.  Malkin may still be out for atleast another week before he can return to the ice. 
The Pitstburgh Penguins are currently 23-8-0, with their ten win streak a record for the season in the Eastern Conference.

They play tomorrow agains the New York Islanders, a team that isn't the best, but has proven to stand a good chance agasinst the Penguins in the past. 

I just hope that I did in no way jinx the team by writing this blog about their current win streak.

 Lets go Pens!!!



Let's keep breaking records and take a look at these ten great goals by the Penguins:

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/mar/19/pens-win-streak-at-10-games-with-2-1-victory/

Player Profile: Steven Stamkos

Player Profile:  Steven Stamkos

Steven Stamkos scored his 200th career goal yesterday against the Philadelphia Flyers.  Stamkos and his team won the game with a 4-2 victory over the Flyers.  

For those who do not know much about hockey, Steven Stamkos plays as number 91 on the Tampa Bay Lightning.  Stamkos is considered one of the best forwards in hockey these days, and he has surely proven it this season already.

In the game yesterday against the Flyers, Stamkos managed to get an assist to bring the Lightning ahead. Stamkos managed to score his 200th goal yesterday on an empty net with only three seconds left to go in the game.  

The Tampa Bay Lightning are currently 13-15-1 for the shortened 2013 season.  They stand at third place in their division, which is not a horrible spot to sit.  However, can they bring their ranking up to be more competitive with other teams?  Teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Chicago Blackhawks have proven to be dominant this season, even with players on their roster being injured.

Stamkos is one of my favorite hockey players right now.  I even had him on my fantasy team this year, and he led my team in points overall.  He is a very well rounded player and his biggest strength is his consistency each game.

Stamkos currently sits at number two in the league for points.  Currently he has 40 points this season, sitting only several points under from the leader, Pittsburgh Penguin's Sidney Crosby!  They are constantly battling each other for the number one spot every week.

Stamkos, for the 2013 season, has 21 goals and 19 assists.  He is the first one this season to reach the 20 goal mark.  In addition, he was projected to score 34 goals the entire season with assisting 31.  With a couple months in the season it looks as if he will be able to break that projected total for both and go much higher.

Take a look at the video from the game showing Stamkos making his record 200th career goal.

Stats taken from:  http://espn.go.com/nhl/player/_/id/5037/steven-stamkos

NHL week one

It's been one week since the NHL has returned to the ice.  Things are heating up, with some big teams on the East coast starting to make a rise, and starting to make a name for themselves.  The Pittsburgh Penguins have gone 3-2 so far, losing to the Jets and the Maple Leafs.  Two defeats that were not only surprising, but disappointing as well.

In addition to that, the Ottawa Senators have proven themselves to be a team to be reckoned with.  Only losing to the Penguins tonight in a shootout battle.  The Penguins play Tuesday at home against the New York Islanders, and in my opinion I believe that the Penguins are going to destroy the Islanders at least by three points. 

Not many of the Penguins players have made a name for themselves this week, except  for James Neal who have had multiple goals throughout the week.  Steven Stamkos however, playing for Tampa Bay, has had two goals and six assists already, putting him at the top of the food chain. 

Just because it is the first week doesn't mean much for the NHL, this just means that things are starting to stir between the teams, and that there is plenty more to come in the more than 40 games left in the season.  It is bound to be a good season, and next blog I hope to even have more from these teams and the players that prove to stand out from the pack. 

As the season begins...

Hello everyone! My name is Pasquale Coppola, and for those of you who do not know hockey is back for the 2013 season.  I decided to write a blog about this, because as a fan of hockey, especially the Pittsburgh Penguins, I have definitely been missing out on a lot of excitement these last four months now.  Although there will only be 48 games scheduled, this will surely be one hell of a season.  I hope to keep weekly updated posts on the NHL and also the Pittsburgh Penguins.