The Hockey Stop

The result of Zdeno Chara's hit on Max Pacioretty was horrific. The Montreal Canadiens winger slammed his head against the stanchion between the bench and plexiglass. The 22-year-old was carried off in a stretcher and suffered a severe concussion and a fractured vertebra that will keep him off the ice indefinitely. His parents were among the 20,000 stunned fans at the Bell Centre who were all hoping and praying that the young player would be all right as the result of the check by Chara.

After this gruesome incident, there is no doubt that when the NHL Board of Governors meets next time they will vote to require every arena to install new padding on their stanchions to protect players from this type of event.

The debate right now is not about whether there should be more padding on the stanchions, but whether Chara should have been suspended. The NHL decided not to suspend Chara and predictably Montreal fans are in an uproar about the decision. Air Canada has even threatened to pull its sponsorship unless the league takes action to punish Chara, saying this in a statement:

"We are contacting you (Wednesday) to voice our concern over (Tuesday night's) incident involving Max Pacioretty and Zdeno Chara at the Bell Centre in Montreal. This is following several other incidents involving career-threatening and life-threatening headshots in the NHL recently."

"From a corporate social responsibility standpoint, it is becoming increasingly difficult to associate our brand with sports events which could lead to serious and irresponsible accidents; action must be taken by the NHL before we are encountered with a fatality."

"Unless the NHL takes immediate action with serious suspension to the players in question to curtail these life-threatening injuries, Air Canada will withdraw its sponsorship of hockey."

"While we support countless sports, arts and community events, we are having difficulty rationalizing our sponsorship of hockey unless the NHL takes responsibily to protect both the players and the integrity of the game."

Additionally, the AP is reporting that the Montreal police are opening up a criminal investigation into the hit at the request of Quebec's director of criminal and penal prosecutions, Louis Dionne.

Here is the video of the incident.



What do you think? Was this hit intentional by Chara? Was it just a tragic accident after a clean hit? Even if it wasn't intentional, should Chara have been more aware of the stanchion when he delivered the check?

HALAK TO BLUES

In the biggest trade of the offseason so far the Montreal Canadiens have dealt wunder goalie Jaroslav Halak to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for prospects Lars Eller and Ian Schultz. This is one of the most baffling trades in recent memory. The Canadiens today almost gave away the goalie that single-handedly defeated the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins and was being compared to Patrick Roy and Ken Dryden by Montreal's media and fans.

The Habs will now go with 22-year-old Carey Price in net and after this move it looks like UFA Chris Mason will be playing between the pipes for another team next year.


MACLEAN TO COACH DEVILS

The New Jersey Devils named former player and assistant coach John MacLean to lead the team behind the bench next season. He replaces the retiring Jacques Lemaire. MacLean was a first-round pick and played 14 seasons with New Jersey and spent eight more seasons on the coaching staff.


DONOVAN'S HOCKEY ROOTS

World Cup fever is not only sweeping South Africa but is also starting to catch on here in the U.S. after the American team tied England 1-1 in the opener.

Why you ask am I writing about soccer on a hockey blog? Because star player Landon Donovan could have easily laced on skates instead of cleats when he was growing up in Ontario, California. Donovan's dad Tim is from Nova Scotia and was a semi-professional ice hockey player in Canada.


OVECHKIN'S NEW BOOK

A book on Caps superstar Alex Ovechkin will be released this fall. "The Ovechkin Project: A Behind-the Scenes Look at Hockeys Most Dangerous Player" tells the story of his meteoric rise from Russian athlete to NHL powerhouse. Writers Damien Cox and Gare Joyce reveal a side of the Great 8 most fans never see, including how the death of his older brother impacted him. It should be an interesting read.


LEONSIS REASSURES CAPS FANS

After officially taking over the Washington Wizards and the Verizon Center, Capitals owner Ted Leonsis felt compelled to write an open letter to Caps fans who might be worried that Leonsis will devote more time to the Wiz and neglect the Caps. Here is the letter followed by a video of Leonsis speaking at the National Press Club in Washington. He talks about his "moment of reckoning" when he thought his plane was going to crash and how it changed his life and the way he does business. Fascinating.

Open Letter to Washington Capitals Fans

Thursday, 06.10.2010 / 1:00 PM / News

By now you have probably heard the news that my partners and I have completed our purchase of the Washington Wizards and Verizon Center and created a new company – Monumental Sports & Entertainment – that owns those entities as well as the Capitals and the Mystics. You’re likely to see and hear more from me on this news in the coming days – in the media, on my blog (tedstake.com), at the NBA Draft. It’s big news, and something my partners, my family and I are very excited about.

But I’m here to assure you that even if you hear me talking about the Wizards a lot, I haven’t – and never will – overlook the Capitals and our commitment to bring a Stanley Cup to Washington. I will continue to be focused on your well being and happiness.

A few people have asked how I expect to juggle these new responsibilities. I believe I’ve always been someone with great “bandwidth” to cover a variety of interests, including different companies, film projects and, foremost, my family. The Wizards will have a place in those interests, no bigger or smaller than the Caps – just as I don’t choose between my son and my daughter!

The creation of Monumental actually creates opportunities that I hope Capitals fans are excited about. We now program Verizon Center and we hope to be able to offer terrific new cross-marketing opportunities to our fans. We plan to continue to improve the fan experience at Verizon Center and will count on your feedback to do so. And we will over-index on scheduling and maintenance-oriented projects related to all of your teams.

Thanks as always for your support, and I will see you at Kettler Capitals Iceplex, the Caps Convention and Verizon Center in the upcoming months. And I’m always available to you at washingtoncaps@aol.com.

Sincerely,

Ted Leonsis

In one of the most unlikely Stanley Cup Finals in recent memory, the Philadelphia Flyers will be representing the Eastern Conference against the Chicago Blackhawks after dispatching the Montreal Canadiens in five games.

That's right. Philly handily beat the team that Washington and Pittsburgh had no answer for. I really have no explanation other than the Flyers play better defense than the Pens and Caps, and defense takes you farther in the playoffs than offense.

And now I'm going to officially eat my words and promise to never make a playoff prediction again, because these Eastern Conference playoffs have been as unpredictable as they come. Here was my first-round prediction for the Flyers:

Devils-Flyers

Philadelphia is riding high after advancing to the playoffs in a last-game shootout against the Rangers. That won't last long. The Devils are a complete team. They already were one of the fiercest defensive teams in hockey, but with the addition of Ilya Kovalchuk they are now dangerous on offense. Flyers will sneak one win in but that is all.

Prediction: Devils in 5

Seems like eons ago doesn't it?

Congrats to the Flyers for their amazing playoff run. And warning to Chicago: Do not underestimate this scrappy bunch of Broad Streeters because nothing phases them -- not an overtime shootout in the last game of the regular season just to make the playoffs, not Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils, not being down three games to none against the Boston Bruins and 3-0 down in Game 7, and not a Montreal team that beat Alex Ovechkin's Capitals and Sidney Crosby's Penguins.

No. 1 seed Washington Capitals. Done. No. 2 seed New Jersey Devils. See ya. No. 3 seed Buffalo Sabres. Eliminated. No. 4 seed Pittsburgh Penguins. It's tee time. No. 5 seed Ottawa Senators. Have a nice summer. No. 6 seed Boston Bruins. Bye bye.

Improbably the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens will be flying to Philadelphia to take on the seventh-seeded Flyers at Wachovia Center for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Wow.

Unlike the Western Conference, where the two top seeds -- the Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks -- will be battling it out for a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals, two Cinderella teams will dance on the East Coast.

Tonight the Flyers came back from a 3-0 series deficit and 3-0 goal deficit in Game 7 in Boston to become only the third team in NHL history to climb back from three games down to win a series.

Simon Gagne scored on a power play with 7:08 left in the third period to propel the Flyers into the history books.

And what makes this win even more remarkable is the fact that Philadelphia needed an overtime shootout victory over the New York Rangers in the final game of the regular season just to make the playoffs.

And on top of that the Flyers are riddled with injuries, including losing top goalie Ray Emery earlier in the season and then losing backup Brian Boucher in the Bruins series. So they had to go with untested netminder Michael Leighton, who played solid in relief against the woeful offense of Boston.

And I also heard there was an NBA playoffs going on too, but I've been too busy watching the most exciting NHL playoffs in years to pay any attention.

Félicitations! Congratulations to the Montreal Canadiens! As this legendary franchise revives the Montreal Magic on its 100th anniversary by defeating the Washington Capitals in the first round and Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round -- both in Game 7 -- the question must be asked: How did this team sneak into the playoffs as an eighth seed?

Montreal's mediocre regular season left nearly every sane person on the planet believing that the No. 1 seed Caps would destroy the Habs in four games in the first round. It must have been one of the biggest spreads in the history of Vegas odds makers.

But the Canadiens and their Super Slovakian goaltending wonder Jaroslav Halak and heavy hitter Hal Gill frustrated and confounded Alex Ovechkin and his band of scoring machine gunners to claim the series and become the first eighth seed to come back from a 3-1 deficit to beat a No. 1 seed.

So they upset the Caps and moved on to face the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. So every sane person on the planet said, OK, so they beat the Caps, but Washington was horrendous on the power play, relies too much on its offense and there is no way Halak can stand on his head for another series, especially against the playoff-built Pens.

So when Pittsburgh scored four times on the power play in four tries in Game 1 and brought Halak down to earth, it seemed to vindicate all those pundits and critics who blamed the Caps' "system" for the epic fail.

And so Sports Illustrated in their latest issue decided that Sidney Crosby is the better player than Ovechkin, after all he has a Stanley Cup and a Gold Medal. Of course everyone conveniently forgets that team Canada and team Pittsburgh won those championships. Ovechkin has collected tons more individual awards than Crosby has. So I ask you -- to all those Pens fans who jumped on Ovechkin after the Caps lost to Montreal, where was Crosby tonight besides watching Montreal score from the penalty box? I hear crickets chirping. Only silence.

Sorry but Sid the Kid could not save the Pens from Les Habs. Not tonight in Game 7. So let history be the final judge. When their careers are finished, let's see who has more individual and team triumphs and I'll bet it will be Ovechkin.

But again, congratulations to the Montreal Canadiens on their unbelievable run in these Stanley Cup playoffs.

Vive les Canadiens de Montreal!

In no other sport is there as much of a difference between the regular season and the playoffs than hockey. And in no other sport is there as much parity in the playoffs as in the NHL.

Just ask the New Jersey Devils, Buffalo Sabres and the best team in the regular season -- the Washington Capitals. They will all be sitting at home watching the Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens battle in the Eastern Conference second round.

But put aside the Devils and Sabres, I'm going to focus on the one area the Caps are sorely lacking in, and it wasn't the atrocious one-for-30-something power play. The biggest lesson of all? DEFENSE wins championships, not offense.

Offense gets a team 121 points, a 50-goal scorer and a Presidents Trophy in the regular season ... and a first-round ticket to the golf course.

This is perhaps the hardest lesson to learn in all of sports, because defensive, er, deficiencies can be easily masked in the loosey-goosey regular season when it is easy to simply outscore other teams night after night if you have Ovechkin, Semin, Backstrom, Fleishmann and Green on your side.

But oh how the playoffs are a different story. Things tighten up more than the Republicans in Congress, and every little mental or physical error is magnified a hundred times.

For example, Mike Green is a Norris Trophy candidate and has been compared to Paul Coffey as the one of the best offensive defensemen in the NHL. But Green was left off Team Canada because of his penchant to turn the puck over or take a stupid penalty at just the wrong time. Of course his lack of defensive skill and smartness is forgotten quickly in the regular season. But when he takes a cross-checking penalty in the offensive zone near the end of a first period in a Game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs and Montreal scores to make it 1-0, well then Green is really exposed.

And Ovechkin was bottled up the whole series by Hal Gill. He did an amazing job of containing Alex the Great during the series. And let's get this straight, I love Ovechkin but he is no Sidney Crosby. I was at the Caps-Habs Game 2 and I heard a Caps fan behind me chanting "Crosby Sucks!" What? What planet are you on buddy? Crosby sucks? Is this the same Crosby who scored the game-winning goal for Team Canada to win the Gold Medal in Vancouver? Or maybe it is the same Crosby who took the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Stanley Cup Finals two years in a row and won the Stanley Cup last year? Is it that Crosby? And what has Ovechkin accomplished team-wise? Nothing. Until he does, it is painful for me to say, but Crosby is King and Ovechkin is an Imposter.

And what is the biggest part of defense in the playoffs? Goaltending of course. And Habs goalie Jaroslav Halak was nothing short of brilliant and deserves the comparisons to Patrick Roy and Ken Dryden. The Caps goalie Semyon Varlamov was great too, but Halak was better and that was the difference.

So what do I hope the high-flying Caps learn from this Game 7 loss, and last year's Game 7 loss to Pittsburgh, and the year before when they lost in Game 7 to the Flyers?

DEFENSE WINS STANLEY CUPS.

Dear Washington Capitals Coach Bruce Boudreau,

Please start Jose Theodore in Game 7 against the Montreal Canadiens. Theo deserves one more chance to defeat his former team and what better chance than a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup playoffs?

Following the tragic premature death of his son Chase, Theo had his best regular season since the 2001-02 season and is a big reason the Caps had their most prolific regular season in franchise history.

And while Semyon Varlamov played exceptionally well in replacing Theo in Game 2 and then in Games 3 and 4, he played average the past two games, letting in two first period goals the past two games that forced the Caps to play catch up against a hot netminder in Jaroslav Halak.

Theo is also nominated for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy this year which honors a "player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey."

While I understand if you go with Varly, I ask you please consider Theo for Game 7. I believe he deserves a chance at redemption.

Sincerely,

Caps fan

I just got back from the Verizon Center and what a game! The hero for the Washington Capitals tonight was not Alex Ovechkin but center Niklas Backstrom who is known around the league more for his sensational passes than his scoring ability.

But on a night when the Caps had to win against a resurgent Montreal Canadiens team that shocked them in a 3-2 Game 1 overtime victory, it was not Alex the Great who grabbed the headlines but his unheralded linemate from Sweden who capped off a hat trick in overtime for a 6-5 comeback win that sent myself and 18,000 other long-suffering Caps fans into a frenzy.

This was the most unlikeliest victory with the way the game started. The Canadiens scored on their first two shots against Caps netminder Jose Theodore, and coach Bruce Boudreau's long leash disappeared as he pulled Theodore for backup Semyon Varlamov with the Caps' backs against the wall down 2-0 in the first period.

But the Habs kept charging as they built up a 4-1 lead in the second period off two goals by Andrei Kostitsyn as the stunned crowd at VC sat in silence.

After Backstrom scored to make it 4-2 at the end of the second period, Ovechkin, who was already playing a much more physical game than the first, scored his first playoff goal to make it 4-3 at 2:56 into the third period. Ovechkin then had one of his three assists on the night to feed Backstrom to tie the game at 4.

But Les Habs came right back to the take the lead off a goal by Tomas Plekanec with only 5:06 remaining.

With the Caps almost down and out, talented rookie defenseman John Carlson tied the game with 1:21 left.

That set up Backstrom's heroics in overtime as he scored 31 seconds into the extra session to send the series back to Montreal tied at 1.

The atmosphere is absolutely electric right now in this win-starved city. Even as I type this from my parent's condo in downtown Washington, I can hear Caps fans honking on the streets in celebration and walking the sidewalks screaming in victory, "Let's Go Caps!"

The Bell Centre will be rocking in hockey's holy city of Montreal, but for one night at least I'm going to enjoy the greatest victory I've ever witnessed in my many years as a Washington Capitals fan.

At least one of my first-round predictions is already wrong: The Washington Capitals will not sweep the Montreal Canadiens. Les Habs beat the Caps 3-2 in overtime, stunning the sellout crowd at the Verizon Center in downtown D.C.

I was one of those stunned fans wearing my Caps red in the stands. And after exiting the arena with 18,000 other shell-shocked fans and mulling over this disappointing loss, I realized that we had plenty of company as favorites Pittsburgh, New Jersey, San Jose and Detroit all lost game one at home (except for the Red Wings who lost at Phoenix).

Welcome to the playoffs where any team can beat any other team on any night. Throw home ice "advantage" out because the truth is that there are no favorites in the NHL postseason.

Regular-season domination means nothing. The seedings are completely arbitrary. A hot goaltender can win a series and a cold netminder can lose one. A team that struggled in the regular season and just barely sneaked in, can suddenly become hot in the playoffs.

I don't fully understand it but on paper the Sharks, Devils, Penguins and Capitals should have rolled over their supposedly inferior opponents.

And they all just might win the next four games. Or not. But the playoffs are a marathon not a sprint and adjustments will be made in Game 2.

But what a start to the playoffs. And the Blackhawks-Predators series hasn't even started! Game 2 is going to be a must-win for Washington, San Jose, New Jersey and Pittsburgh as they don't want to go to Montreal, Denver, Philadelphia and Ottawa down 2-0.

Lots of great hockey action ahead. I'm going to throw all my predictions out the window and just enjoy the ride.

Pre-game scene video and pictures from in and around the Verizon Center:

The National Hockey League regular season wrapped today with a thrilling overtime shootout in Philadelphia to catapult the Flyers into the playoffs and send the Rangers home to New York.

Here are the first-round match-ups. For the full schedule with dates, times and TV coverage, click here.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

#1 Washington Capitals vs. #8 Montreal Canadiens

#2 New Jersey Devils vs. #7 Philadelphia Flyers

#3 Buffalo Sabres vs. #6 Boston Bruins

#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #5 Ottawa Senators

WESTERN CONFERENCE

#1 San Jose Sharks vs. #8 Colorado Avalanche

#2 Chicago Blackhawks vs. #7 Nashville Predators

#3 Vancouver Canucks vs. #6 Los Angeles Kings

#4 Phoenix Coyotes vs. #5 Detroit Red Wings

Also, some awards were decided on the final day of action.

Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby and Tampa Bay's Steve Stamkos will share the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy because both players finished with 51 goals.

Vancouver's Henrik Sedin nabbed the Art Ross Trophy for scoring with 112 points (29 goals, 83 assists).

New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur and backup Yann Danis won the William M. Jennings Trophy for fewest goals allowed, with 191.

Some initial thoughts on the first-round match-ups (and guess what, it all comes down to the men between the pipes):

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Caps-Canadiens

Washington is quickly putting its record-breaking regular season behind it (first non-Original Six team to reach 120 points) and focusing on Les Habs, a team it has never faced in the playoffs. Laval, Quebec native and former Montreal goaltender Jose Theodore should be pumped to play his old team and he is sure to hear it from the crowd, which should provide even extra motivation.

Prediction: Caps in 4

Devils-Flyers

Philadelphia is riding high after advancing to the playoffs in a last-game shootout against the Rangers. That won't last long. The Devils are a complete team. They already were one of the fiercest defensive teams in hockey, but with the addition of Ilya Kovalchuk they are now dangerous on offense. Flyers will sneak one win in but that is all.

Prediction: Devils in 5

Sabres-Bruins

A good match-up between two defensive-minded teams. But the edge goes to the Sabres because of Ryan Miller. If he shows the spark he had in the Olympics for Team USA, then Buffalo will be very hard to beat.

Prediction: Sabres in 6

Penguins-Senators

This is a very even match-up but the edge has to go to the Pens because of their experience winning the Cup last year and the Sidney Crosby factor. Also, Sens star Alexei Kovalev will miss the playoffs with a left knee injury. That said, Ottawa and head coach Cory Clouston should not be underestimated. They have weapons up front like Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson and the blue line is solid, especially with the addition of Andy Sutton.

Prediction: Sens in 7

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Sharks-Avs

San Jose is a perennial playoff disappointment and that won't change this year. Despite another stellar regular season, Colorado could upset the Sharks. That is unless goalie Evgeni Nabakov plays up to his potential. If he does, the Sharks are pretty much unbeatable. But the Russian goalie has been known to put in mediocre performances just at the wrong time. Avs coach Joe Sacco has his group of young players believing.

Prediction: Avs in 7

Hawks-Preds

Next to the Capitals, Chicago has the most dynamic team in the NHL. With Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews leading the charge the Hawks are the best in the West. But there is still a question mark at goal. Can Cristobal Huet and Antti Niemi take this team deep into the playoffs? Time will tell.

Prediction: Hawks in 5

Canucks-Kings

The City of Angels is excited the Kings are back in the playoffs after a long dry spell. And with a corps of young talented players like Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown there is a bright future ahead for the Los Angeles franchise. And they will give the Canucks everything they've got. But it won't be enough. Vancouver has more depth and experience and Team Canada gold medal winner Roberto Luongo and Art Ross winner Henrik Sedin.

Prediction: Canucks in 7

Coyotes-Wings

This is going to be a great series. Both teams are peaking just at the right time and have hot goaltenders. Phoenix has MVP candidate Ilya Bryzgalov and the Wings have rookie of the year candidate Jimmy Howard behind the net. With all the off-ice problems in Phoenix, it is amazing the Coyotes are in the playoffs. And Detroit had all kinds of on-ice problems earlier in the season. But with the kind of Cinderella season Phoenix is having, it has the edge.

Prediction: Coyotes in 6