2-4-T's Postseason Wrap Up

Congratulations to the 2013 Stanley Cup Winning Chicago Blackhawks.

On Injuries in the NHL

Injuries in the NHL are an interesting thing. First, let's go with the elephant in the room where unless an ailment is blatantly obvious, the description states "upper-body" or "lower-body" regardless of anything between a concussion to a broken toe. Most other sports will present injury reports as "shoulder", or "knee", or "ribs" or what have you. But no, the NHL could fill an Us Weekly with injury rumors before anything certain comes to light.

2-4-T's Game 4 Assessment and a Look Ahead to Game 5

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a series.

2-4-T's Game 3 Assessment and Keys for Game 4

Well that Tuukka Rask kid sure is OK. Just OK though. I mean he has only had 3 shutouts in his last 7 games, 1 of those 7 is a loss, and only let in 1 goal in each of 3 out of 4 of those non-shutouts. What's a Tim Thomas, amirite?

2-4-T's Game 2 Assessment and Keys for Game 3

After the excitement of Game 1 it was tough to predict how both the Bruins and the Blackhawks would come out for Game 2. Surely no one would have counted on seeing another game with multiple frames past regulation but we would more likely see one team capitalizing on the opposition’s weaknesses after 112 minutes of looking for where those holes may be.

This Year's Jack Adams Award

The thing I like about the NHL Awards is the discussion and reasoning that occurs not only leading up to the end of the season but even in the early stages. As a non-member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association these are basically the only steps of the process where my opinion is valid in any way. For instance, I could pose my argument for why John Tavares should have received the Hart Trophy in one video clip that happened in February with:

2-4-T's Game 1 Assessment and Keys for Game 2

I guess you could say the atmosphere at the United Center on Wednesday was....electric?

Sorry. It seems I am slowly morphing into a blogger or someone that creates headlines on NHL.com. But all weather puns aside I think Game 1 was quite the treat for hockey fans all around. Especially in a season where the conferences did not intermingle I would say we are seeing the best of both worlds come together. Yes, the Blackhawks have a reputation for their speed, offensive zone cycle, and depth. And sure, the Bruins are known to play bruising and physical, push aggressively on the forecheck, and start and finish plays from the point. But it goes without saying that neither team has seen each other's particular breed prior to Game 1.

On the NHL's Coaching Carousel

On May 7, 2013, the San Jose Sharks completed a sweep of the Vancouver Canucks. 15 days later Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault was out of a job. On June 7, 2013, the Boston Bruins pulled a surprising 4-0 series victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins and even before then whispers had begun to circulate around the league regarding whether Penguins coach Dan Bylsma would suffer a similar fate. This seems to be a common narrative in the NHL season after season where 29 positions could become vacant after the failure to bring hockey’s Holy Grail back to the home fans. Hell, even when a team struggles in the regular season we start to hear murmurs.

Officiating and the Stanley Cup Playoffs

Officiating in any professional sport has to be one of the hardest jobs in the world, especially if you value positive reinforcement. You basically have the amount of time it takes to bat an eyelash to make or not make a call. On top of that, you are married to that decision-'til death do you part-despite criticism from the players, coaches, fans, and the media. An unfortunate casualty of any game could be a win for either team and that is probably the cause of the most controversy.