When we last left the NHL

Nick Russ here to report on the events of hockey. Normally in the world of sports a visit to your championship is good in terms of job security as a coach. Even if you lose your championship they want you back to finally get the final push. Apparently in hockey this is not the case. The Pittsburgh Penguins who are the current defending Eastern conference champs fired coach Michel Therrien. Pittsburgh despite its talent with Sydney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin the Penguins find themselves struggling at 4th in the Atlantic. They sit on the outside looking in, if the season ended now Pitt would miss the playoffs. The Penguins have gone 4-4-2 in their last 10 games. Some of those wins came against the Rangers and San Jose yet they dropped games against Toronto. Firing their coach has come off as a drastic move as we are now about two months away from the playoffs. Pittsburgh has Montreal tonight and rival Philadelphia on Saturday. 

One of the hottest teams on the ice right now has to be the Washington Capitals. Winning seven of their last ten against teams like New Jersey and the Rangers and twice against division contending Florida. Powered by Alexander Ovechkin and the defensive efforts of Mike Green, Washington is starting to stake its claim as one of the best in the East. Washington has some true tests down the road for them with a still dangerous Pittsburgh followed by the Flyers. The last of their home game stretch ends with Atlanta before visiting Boston to wrap up the month.

Out west Detroit continues with their impressive season. They kicked off February with a 6 game winning streak. However they had a hick up with games against Columbus and a shoot out with dismal Colorado. Detroit keeps winning yet the teams they are beating are not exactly blue chip caliber. Some of their wins came at the expense of Nashville, St. Louis, Minnesota, and Phoenix all but Minnesota are bellow 500. and most are at or near the bottom of their divisions. The only real threat on the radar for Detroit is San Jose next week but they can't take it easy with their opponents due to the fact that Chicago has kept up with Detroit. 

That'll do it for this time hockey fans!

Image courtesy of Haraz N. Ghanbari

The Beginning of the Season

As I discussed last week, after an offseason that saw no testing at NASCAR sanctioned tracks, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is getting ready for the first race of the 2009 season. Now although it is a non-points event, the Budweiser Shootout is one of the most anticipated races of each NASCAR season. It is a chance for drivers to let it all hang out in a bid for the glory of victory (and the lion's share of a 1.2 million dollar purse).
From the inaugural Busch Clash in 1979 to the Budweiser Shootout in 2008, this has been a race for the drivers who won a pole position in the previous season. 2009 will be different as the Shootout has become a race between drivers representing the four manufacturers that race in Sprint Cup. The top six cars in 2008 Owner Points from Chevrolet,Ford, Dodge, and Toyota are joined by a "wild card" from each make which is either the most recent Series Champion or seventh highest points finisher from the 2008 season. This has caused the starting lineup to swell to an event record of 28 cars, which beats the previous record of 23 cars that took the green flag for last year's Budweiser Shootout. On Thursday night the field was set by a drawing and saw Paul Menard select the pole for his first race in a Yates Racing Ford. Elliot Sadler joins Menard on the front row in a Dodge for Richard Petty Motorsports.
It should be a wild race with a lot of excitement and perhaps a few fireworks. However, this race is merely a prelude to the 51st edition of the Daytona 500 to be run a week from Sunday. Join me next week for a preview of "The Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing!"

The month of January

As the NFL packs away its pads for the next seven and half months, you might ask your self what now? How bout some Hockey! Last month kicked off things in grand fashion for the Hockey league with the playing of the now traditional winter classic. Pitting central division rivals Detroit and Chicago against each other, saw the home town Blackhawks jump out to the early lead in front of a national audience at historic Wrigley Field. After both teams entered the ice, crossing home plate bye the way, the game got under way. The Hawks jumped out to the early lead with a goal roughly 3 minutes in by Kris Versteeg but it was evened up with a Detroit goal from Mikael Samuelsson. Martin Havlat and Ben Eager would score before the end of the 1st for the Hawks. Detroit took over the next period with two goals from Jiri Hudler and Pavel Datsyuk to erase the Chicago lead. In the third Brian Rafalski nailed the dagger for Detroit and Brett Lebda threw the salt to push Detroit's lead to three. Duncan Keith managed to score one last goal for the Hawks with ten seconds to go to give the final of 6-4 for the defending Stanley cup champs. Although they lost the game the Hawks continue to pursue the Redwings behind by about ten points but are currently battling to be number 3 in the western conference. Looking ahead they have two crucial games coming up on the road, one tonight against Calgary; ranked 3rd in the conference, and one at Vancouver. Detroit started off after the classic with a great 4 game win streak they followed with a tough loss against League leading San Jose. Detroit faces off with an Edmonton team trying to find their way into the top eight before visiting Pittsburgh.

The New York Rangers started off as one of the best teams, now they have slipped out of 1st in the Atlantic. This is more to the play of the New Jersey Devils who rattled off an eight game win streak last month. The Devils scored huge wins over Pittsburgh, Montreal, and league leading Boston. The Devils have Atlanta and Los Angeles before a huge game against the Rangers. The Rangers are out of first but only by a mere 4 points or two wins. 

Boston has vaulted itself to be the top team in the NHL. Boston stands with 82 points something that San Jose thought would be obtaining first. Boston road a ten game win streak right into 2009 and followed with wins over Pittsburgh, Montreal, and Toronto. Next week the Bruins have two important games that should be a great test. One game at home against the best of the west San Jose. Then they visit New Jersey.  That'll do it for me until next time Ice fans.

Super Bowl XLIII

And so we come to the grand stage. Arizona, the underdog through out the entire postseason has won over people across the nation. Pittsburgh, the old guard looking for their sixth Super Bowl victory a feat that has not been accomplished in the Super Bowl era. These two teams will meet tonight in the pursuit of adding their names to the history of this sport. 

Arizona handled the Eagles well and proved that they belong in this game. The key for Arizona will be their offense. The Cardinals need to test the Steelers defense on every play to succeed. Using running backs Tim Hightower and Edgerin James early will help draw up the powerful safeties of Pittsburgh. Doing this will help free up receivers Larry Fitzgerald and the now healthy Anquan Boldin. Play action will be key for Kurt Warner as the pass rush will be fierce all night. On Defense the Cards will have a work load tonight. Quarter back Ben Roethlessberger will have an easier time with Arizona's defense. While Arizona has a decent run defense they allow 221 yards in the air. Arizona has to blitz Roethlessberger consistently and they will have to lock down recievers Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes and others as well. Arizona should be able to contain Steelers running back Willie Parker but he is a big gain threat, they will have to watch him.

Pittsburgh has as much offense as Arizona but the Cards can answer their onslaught. The Steelers will have to fall back on their battle tested defense. Blitzing and rushing the Arizona offense will keep them guessing. Roethlissberger MUST avoid interceptions against this defense. Through out the playoffs the Cardinals managed to win their games using quick blitzes that threw off the QB's timing and left balls up for grabs. Willie Parker's success against Arizona will be pivotal for the Steelers offense. Running the ball will wear down the Cardinals front eight. The Steelers cant just rely on passing not knowing how Hines Ward's knee will affect his performance.

I predict that this will be an offensive game early on with a lot of back and forth action. In the second half expect Pittsburgh to start to pull away. It has been an amazing ride for Arizona but they wont pull off this one. Steelers 31-Arizona 23.