The NHL Awards

Even though I had to stay up until 11 just to watch the Sid er the NHL Awards show. I kind of enjoyed it. I mean sure, the host was...interesting. It was kind of funny when the interviewer guy forgot Paul Stastny's name. And, when Sidney Crosby said congrats to Marty and Vinny even though it was Luongo that got nominated. Dumby. Alright, I will run through the winners and who was nominated and what I thought now.

Hart Memorial Trophy (MVP)
*Winner~Sidney Crosby
*Nominated~Roberto Luongo and Martin Brodeur
*Who should have won? Luongo, no guy took his team that far. Luongo didn't really have the team to work with.

Vezina Trophy (Goalie)
*Winner~Martin Brodeur
*Nominated~Roberto Luongo, Miikka Kiprusoff, and Henrik Lundqvist
*Who should have won? I personally think the right guy won. He broke records this year...you can't dispute that.

Norris Memorial Trophy (defenseman)
*Winner~Nicklas Lidstrom
*Nominated~Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger
*Who should have won? Right guy won...you can't deny a +40.

Calder Trophy (rookie)
*Winner~Evgeni Malkin *A No Show
*Nominated~Jordan Staal and Paul Stastny
*Who should have won? Anze Kopitar

Selke Trophy (defensive forward)
*Winner~Rod Brind'Amour
*Nominated~Samuel Pahlsson and Jay Pandolfo
*Who should have won? Pahlsson or Pandolfo...although Brind'Amour's speech made me laugh.

Lady Byng (gentleman)
*Winner~Pavel Datsyuk *A No Show
*Nominated~Martin St. Louis and Joe Sakic
*Who should have won? Joe Sakic...no doubt...at least he showed up

Jack Adams (coach)
*Winner~Alain Vigneault
*Nominated~Lindy Ruff and Michel Therrien
*Who should have won? Vigneault, what a guy!

King Clancy (humanitarian)
*Winner~Saku Koivu
*You can't go wrong when you give Koivu anything.

Masterson (perserverance)
*Winner~Phil Kessel
*The kid overcame testicular cancer and came back...and was absolutely adorable with his little speech in his hand.

Art Ross (points scoring leader)
*Winner~Sidney Crosby

Maurice Richard Trophy (goal scoring leader)
*Winner~Vincent Lecavalier

William M Jennings (fewest goals against)
*Winners~Manny Fernandez and Nicklas Backstrom

Pearson Award
*Winner~Sidney Crosby...no I'm not kidding...the players voted it...I think it was rigged.

For a full break down on the voting and what not check out Mirtle

I'm cheering for...

So being that it's so far in the playoffs and my team didn't even made the playoffs I have decided to cheer for players. It's a lot easier to hope a player does well then to just pick one team. From the Eastern Conference finals it's going to B-lo and Ottawa. Now, there is one person on the Sabres that I care about, his name is Ty Conklin...and he's not even playing. But, that's alright I still love the guy. Then there is the Sens, I love Heatley. I love Spezza. I love Emery. I love all the Sens guys. They are all great they all make me happy. Then there is the Western Conference which is still up in the air. But, with the Ducks, I love Giggy and Bryz. I love the PPG (Perry, Penner, and Getzlaf) line. I love Teemu, the brothers Niedermayer, and pretty much most of the other guys on the team. Then there is the Sharks, I love Joe, Patrick, Cheech, Nabby, and Rivet. Then there is the Red Wings, this one is difficult. Being that I'm a Jackets fan I really SHOULDN'T like anyone from that team but I do. I love Chelios. And, Lidstrom. It's not so much that I like them it's just that I have a lot of respect for them. But, I can for sure do without Hasek winning a Cup. Anyway, I had a better blog to write tonight but I left all my stuff at work and am really really really tired from this weekend...so keep a look out for it tomorrow or Wednesday.

And, to honor my beloved Martin Brodeur here's a little video...

Oh I adore him.

I missed Marty...

So I went out of town this weekend right...and came home to realize I didn't DVR any of the hockey games from the weekend and missed my beloved Marty exiting the playoffs that sucks. Anyway expect a decent post tonight.

Back to bloggin!

So I took the day off to get some things in my life back together and will be posting my blog about my with the press...and tonight I will be liveblogging the San Jose vs. Nashville game tonight...and if I get distracted I will liveblog that draws me in. And, I'm hoping it won't be the Dallas vs. Vancouver game...it kept me up too late the other night haha. Alright....and sorry HG I was cheering for the Flames :(
Congrats to the Rangers, Sabres, Wings, and NEW JERSEY!! I heart Martin Brodeur!

Oh Marty...

The boys I cheer for...

This was for hlog but I decided to put it up here also...
I have a ton of players that I like and would cheer for them even when they are playing against my Jackets.

1. Martin Brodeur...I just love him. He is so impressive to me not only the way he plays but also he is such a leader on that team. He just amazes me everytime I watch him play.



2. My Cincinnati Ducks boys...Joffrey Lupul, Dustin Penner, Kurtis Foster, Shane O'Brien, Stanislav Chistov, and Ilya Bryzgalov...these guys in the 04-05 season were unbelievable...and a lot of people in CIncinnati had their hearts broken when they left to Portland...we found out during the playoffs and it was so sad. But, I still love these guys...and probably always will.



3. Phil Kessel...wow. How can you not like him? He has gone through so much his first year playing in the NHL. And, he is still going strong. It makes me feel good everytime he is out on the ice.



4. Dion Phaneuf...I'm a huge fan of his. I love watching him...he is everything you could ever want in a dman.



5. Chris Chelios...the oldest man in the NHL...and he is still going strong. He just continues to impress me...and he is pretty darn good at what he does.



6. Roberto Luongo continues to impress me. He is such an amazing goalie and so determined and I am so happy that he is going to make the playoffs this year so we can see what he is capable of there.



7. Dany Heatley oh my gosh his play this year is just amazing. When Spezza was out he continued doing well and proved he can play with anyone.



8. Alexander Ovechkin...I can't say enough about him. He impresses me on and off the ice. He has been so wonderful with the Caps. I mean at the draft announcing their pick? Come on...that's adorable. He is also doing a lot for the community there and seems like a genuinely great guy.



9. Ryan Suter this one is for sure a secret, because, I hate the Preds but he comes from one of those hockey elite families. I can't help but not cheer for him when he does well.



10. Ty Conklin yeah Edmonton disowned him last year for one bad play. BUT, he is a good goalie. I don't know why I like him so much but I found myself so excited everytime he was in the net for Columbus...and I liked him better than Leclaire.

Me and Sean Avery aren't friends...

Ok first of all I hate when people hit the goalies...there are just some things you don't do that's one of them. I already hate Sean Avery but now I hate him even more...look what he did to my poor Brodeur. Anyway thought I would throw this up so everyone could see...

If the playoffs started today...

If they playofffs started today for the Eastern Conference you would have:

1. Buffalo
2. New Jersey
3. Tampa Bay
4. Pittsburgh
5. Ottawa
6. Atlanta
7. Carolina
8. Toronto *yeah the Leafs....weird*

And, for the Western Conference:

1. Detroit
2. Anaheim
3. Vancouver
4. Nashville
5. San Jose
6. Dallas
7. Minnesota
8. Calgary

Ok so I don't really know what to write about but I figure I will just talk about the teams in my opinion what their strengths are and what their weaknesses are. So that should be fun eh?!

Buffalo...strengths...well I believe they are very good offensively and with the start they got this season they have themselves in a very good position being number 1 in the East. I think their weakness is their goalie situation. I know Ryan Miller was an all star (which doesn't mean anything) but I just don't think he's that good.

Detroit...strengths...very good defensively minded team. Also, a lot of the players on their team have playoff experience. This next thing I am going to say is a strength and a weakness...Hasek...yes he is an amazing goalie but at the same time you worry about his health. If he goes down I don't know that Osgood will be able to pull off a decent playoff run...but only time will tell.

New Jersey...strengths...Martin Brodeur and that crazy good defense they have...and they are amazing when it comes down to those 1 goal games. Weaknesses...sometimes their offense struggles...but then again...if they can get 1 or 2 goals Marty can do the rest.

Anaheim...strengths...talent...every single one of the guys on that team has talent oozing from them. They are a very complete team. Weaknesses I think sometimes they get too confident...and they lose sight of what they need to do.

Tampa Bay...strengths...offense...St. Louis...Lecavalier...Richards...but then their weakness is that's about all they have. Their goalie situation is far from ideal and their defense struggles.

Vancouver...strengths they are a great team with an amazing regular season goalie...but then a weakness pops up because you have no idea what Luongo is capable of doing in the playoffs.

Pittsburgh...strengths...Crosby and Malkin these kids are great talents to have on the ice and hard to catch. Weaknesses hardly any playoff experience.

Nashville...strengths 2 solid goal tenders...another very complete team. Weaknesses...again confidence and not a whole lot of playoff experience.

Ottawa...strengths...holy cow...Dany Heatley...Jason Spezza...have you seen these guys play?! Weaknesses Emery is a great goalie but I think he can get a little too confident sometimes...then there is Gerber...who I think has become a big flub.

San Jose...strengths...goalies...offense. Their goalies are amazing and their offense is wonderful...with a guy like Thornton on your team anything can happen. Weakness they seem to slump pretty easily. I don't know why...but confidence is not a problem for this team.

Atlanta...strengths offense...weakness...goalies. I honestly don't know much about this team so I just went with what I knew....so there ya have it haha.

Dallas...strengths...great regular season team...solid team. Weakness Turco is not a playoff goalie...but this Smith could could do it for them...he's great.

Carolina...strengths...well hell they won the Stanley Cup last year how's that for confidence? Weakness Cam Ward has proved this season that he is kind of a flop...I mean...he's good and he did win the Stanley Cup last year but was that a fluke?! I don't know I could be way off...they do have quite a bit of talent on this team though.

Minnesota...strengths great team very fun to watch...and they have an amazing coach. (Probably my favorite other than Hitch) Weakness...their goalie is injured right now...and well he has a knee injury so who knows how he is going to come back...although they did beat the Nashville Preds tonight.

Toronto...I don't even want to talk about this team...haven't won the cup in 40 years...probably won't for another 40...sorry for all you people who like the Leafs.

Calgary...strengths...great goalie in Kipper...great defense...hell great offense...aside from the San Jose Sharks probably one of the most complete teams out there. Weakness....Calgary has a weakness? Who knew...haha...I honestly can't think of anything...

IN OTHER NEWS!!!!!!!

Marty Brodeur got his 11th shutout of the season!!!! Atta boy Marty!!!!

A bit about me...

I'm 21 and got into hockey the year of the lockout by going to the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks (AHL) games. That year we had guys like Dustin Penner, Joffrey Lupul, Ryan Getzlaf, Shane O'Brien, and Ilya Bryzgalov. I started really getting into the game and started learning everything I could. Now, it's become quite the obsession...I go to as many games as possible and watch as many games on the tv as I can. I am constantly trying to learn more about the game.
My favorite goalie is Martin Brodeur.
Favorite overall player is Steve Yzerman.
Favorite team is Columbus Blue Jackets.
Favorite player currently playing is Saku Koivu.
I'm not really sure what else to say...so I will go to bed and will write more tommorow.

Martin Brodeur

I absolutely LOVE this video...I mean at the end he is so excited and smiling and laughing he doesn't know what to do with himself. Anyway just thought I would throw this up.