LATEST STORIES FROM PUCK DRUNK LOVE
Fewer European players are coming to the NHL
A recent article from IIHF.com reports that the 2011-12 NHL season saw the fewest number of European participants in nearly a decade. The article states that the number of European rookies in the NHL in 2011-12 was its lowest in nearly 25 years.Â
Nearly every European country had a drop in NHL participants this season aside from Sweden, which actually saw a rise in participants...
The Hurricanes want Zach Parise
As you probably know, Zach Parise is one of the most desirable free agents set to hit the market this summer. Aside from Ryan Suter of Nashville, Parise is in a class of his own when it comes to talent that's about to test the waters of the open market. Given the slim pickings we can all safely imagine that plenty of teams will be interested in Parise's services.
A recent...
HELLO BROOKLYN?
Could the Islanders switch boroughs?
The Nets are already headed to Brooklyn next season, and it may not be long until they have a roommate in their new arena.
Puck Drunk Love's Playoff Predictions - 2nd Round
After a wild first round, eight teams remain to battle for the Stanley Cup. Many of the league's powerhouses had an abrupt end to their end, as we saw Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Boston, and Vancouver exit stage left. Will teams like Nashville and St. Louis make it to the Western Conference finals? Will the Capitals find playoff success past the first round? Time will tell...
MARKET WATCH
Roberto Luongo open to a trade
Roberto Luongo took the Canucks to the Cup, but he's also been unstable at times. He says he's open to a trade.
Western Conference playoff winners show power of goaltending
I'm pretty sure most Eastern Conference teams would love to have a Jonathan Quick of their very own... or a Mike Smith, or a Pekka Rinne, or a Brian Elliott. Heck, a nice Cory Schneider would help any of the Eastern Conference teams out in a pinch. Quite frankly, the goaltending coming out of the Eastern Conference quarter-finals so far has been underwhelming at best. The most...
NHL sends a message, suspends Raffi Torres 25 games
The NHL finally made a decision that the majority of hockey fans will be pleased with. They've been criticized repeatedly for their action, or inaction, when it comes to handling player discipline. The most obvious was the blunder with Shea Weber, where the Nashville defenseman received a tiny $2,500 fine for smashing a player's head into the glass.Â
Naturally, fans feared...
Nickelback to rock out at the NHL Awards/irritate humanity
They can't do anything without ticking people off; just the fact that they exist makes people uncomfortable. Who might I be referencing? Nickelback, of course! As Canadian as whatever passes for Canadian bacon on pizza, Nickelback has to somehow get lumped in with the NHL because that's what they think people want. When you have an entire city begging the League to not...
Bruce Boudreau believes undisciplined play is what fans want
No one can ever dare accuse Anaheim Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau of being a shrinking violet. Loud, opinionated, and brash, he has a polarizing personality that is either love him or hate him (disclaimer: I tend to fall into the latter camp). He's found recent employment, as fired and off-season coaches do, on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada as a guest commentator. Boudreau...
Miami news uses college logo for the Florida Panthers
Let's be honest. The Florida Panthers haven't exactly been a regular fixture in the NHL playoffs. As a result, the media isn't used to talking about them this late in the year. However, this doesn't give local news stations down in Florida an excuse as they are supposed to be reporting on the Panthers all season long.Â
As found on Reddit, a Miami news station used...
NHL shows discipline seriousness through fines... for chirping during a broadcast?
There's been a large to-do recently about discipline in the NHL, from Shea Weber's fine to Matt Carkner and Carl Haglen's suspensions. There's no consistency in discipline, especially when so much of it is based off of whether someone is injured or not. There's no punishing the intent, rather, there's punishing of the outcome.
The intent here was to embarrass...
Goalie performances act as unwanted anchors for Flyers, Canucks
The glamour. The stars. The noise. It seems like Los Angeles would be the perfect setting to recapture a playoff series that had escaped him. After giving up three goals in Game 1 and four goals in Game 2, the best thing Roberto Luongo could do is put those games in the past and become reenergized for Game 3. But there was only one problem: Luongo's teammate and fellow goaltender...
NHL discipline continues to miss the mark with Carkner's suspension
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Matt Carkner has been suspended one game for his actions in the second game of the Ottawa / New York series. That sound you might hear is thousands, if not millions, of NHL fans laughing and mocking at how once again the NHL discipline department has missed the mark.Â
One game? Seriously? Did they actually mean one game per punch landed by Carkner...
Game 2s marred by physical altercations
Did you take a night off from watching Stanley Cup hockey on Saturday night? If so, you missed plenty of fireworks across all of the games going on from both Conferences. Physical play, dirty hits and fights galore summarized nearly every Game 2 on the schedule.Â
If you did miss out, fear not. We compiled a collection of video to get you caught up.Â
Â
Rangers / SenatorsÂ...
Jets coach Claude Noel's accidental interview
In case you missed it, Claude Noel delivered the interview of the year. No, not to the Winnipeg Free Press, or to the Winnipeg Sun, or to the Globe and Mail (though that's where it wound up). No, the Winnipeg Jets coach delivered it to one season ticket holder by the name of Chuck Duboff, and the Globe and Mail deemed it publication worthy. This hard-hitting interview that...
Penguins and Canucks in surprising 0-2 holes
If you read the Puck Drunk Love staff predictions from earlier this week you will have noticed that all of us selected the Pittsburgh Penguins and Vancouver Canucks to advance past the first round. After two games in each series, both the Canucks and Penguins find themselves in a surprising 0-2 hole despite enjoying home ice advantage.Â
To be fair, both of these series have a lot...
Shea Weber gets away with no suspension for nasty hit on Zetterberg
Granted, technically this hit on Henrik Zetterberg by Shea Weber wasn't a traditional hit. It was more of a "I'm gonna fight you, Steve!" kind of move than anything else:
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The reaction on Twitter was immediate and universal: "What the hell was Weber thinking?" It didn't seem to matter what team you were a fan of (disclaimer...
Kings ruffle feathers with Tweet after victory
The Los Angeles Kings pulled out a huge win in a tight game against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night. The game went back and forth and featured some lucky, and unlucky, bounces which ultimately found the Kings having the last laugh.Â
Evidently the team Twitter account wanted to have a laugh as well. As shown in the photo above, LA's official account Tweeted out after...
Weber smashes Zetterberg's face into the glass - Is discipline coming?
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We all expected the Nashville / Detroit playoff series would be a wild one highlighted by physical play between two teams that really, really don't like each other.Â
In the waning seconds of Nashville's victory in Game 1, Shea Weber proved just how much animosity there is between the Predators and Red Wings. As Weber battled with Henrik Zetterberg...
Puck Drunk Love's Playoff Predictions - 1st Round
Today marks the first day of each team's journey to win 16 games. The 2012 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs will be a roller coaster ride of excitement, despair, and surprise. Who will break out as an MVP candidate? Which goaltender will steal a series for their team? How dirty will some of these rivalries get?
While we may not be able to answer all these questions at once, some of...
Steven Stamkos was scoring tons of goals with an injured shoulder
Steven Stamkos is arguably the best pure scorer in the NHL when he's healthy. As it turns out, he's one of the best pure scorers when he's not healthy too.Â
Tampa Bay Online reported that Stamkos spent the last month of the 2011-12 NHL season with an injured left shoulder. If this news comes as a surprise to you it's likely because Stamkos was potentially at his...
The Avalanche have a busy summer ahead
The Colorado Avalanche have a unique way of doing business. Evidently, Colorado's front office prefers to handle all contract matters during the summer after the regular season has concluded. While we aren't here to say Colorado is incorrect with how they choose to handle their business, it is worth noting that their method has created a fairly unique situation.Â
Heading...
NHL releases 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs 1st round schedule
The wait is finally over! The real hockey season will begin this Wednesday as the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs kicks off. Through NHL.com and the NHL Network, all the schedules for each of the first round match ups have been released:
The Western Conference
Vancouver Canucks (1) vs. Los Angeles Kings (8)
St. Louis Blues (2) vs. San Jose Sharks (7)
Phoenix Coyotes (3) vs. Chicago...
Blackhawks sign Ray Emery to a one-year extension
The Chicago Blackhawks spent the 2011-12 season deploying Corey Crawford and Ray Emery in net. The goaltender that was the "number one" starter by definition was simply whichever netminder had the hot hand at the time. It has been a shaky system at times but ultimately it has been one that has worked, carrying Chicago to yet another playoff berth.Â
As a result, the Blackhawks...
Scott Hartnell wants your vote for EA's NHL 13 cover contest
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Earlier this month we wrote about how EA's NHL 13 would feature a player on the cover selected by the fans in a March Madness style bracket. Some players have taken it to heart, waging war against their fellow competitors in an effort to get their mug on the cover for all fans to see.
Scott Hartnell took things a step further and honestly, we...
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