What We Learned From Game 1: Preds Top Wings 3-2, Shanaban Fail.

Last night's Game 1 between the Detroit Red Wings and Nashville Predators was an odd game to say the least. The game featured 17 penalties called against two of least penalized teams in the league, it had lucky and unlucky bounces go both ways, a season ending injury and even some fireworks at the game. The fireworks of course being Shea Weber slamming Henrik Zetterberg's head into the glass, more on that later.

With Gary Bettman in attendance last night(something I'm sure the officials were made aware before the game) you knew something was going to happen. That something was an increase of penalties being called as officials tried to save their job because only 20 officials are selected to work the playoffs and can be removed for doing a bad job. The amount of penalties were so ridiculous that Mike Babcock addressed the issue in-game which will likely earn him a fine(no word yet on it). Babcock was so bothered by the penalties he even complained about them as his team went on to the power play.

I don't want to discredit Nashville on their win last night but it seemed like Nashville caught their fair share of lucky bounce. Their first goal was scored after Paul Gaustad threw the puck to the front of the net, it hit off of Brad Stuart's skate and went it. Their second goal was a tipped shot from about 40 feet out that jumped over Jimmy Howard's shoulder as he reacted to the original shot. After the Wings caught a lucky break and had the puck hit a linesman and redirect to Henrik Zetterberg in front the net the Wings were then robbed as Predators' defenseman Roman Josi blindly threw his leg out and made a kick save to prevent the goal. Earlier in the game, Pekka Rinne made a sprawling save on Zetterberg as his shot grazed Rinne's flailing elbow and missed the open net. That stuff happens, just seems like Nashville had Lady Luck on its side last night.

Darren Helm returned to the Red Wings lineup last night after missing 10 games with an MCL sprain in his knee. Helm played six shifts totaling close to three minutes last night before he was hit with another injury.


Alexander Radulov's skate cut Helm's right forearm after the hit, obviously Radulov didn't try to do that but it still sucks. Helm was taken to the hospital where he underwent successful surgery to repair sliced tendons. He's expected to be ready to start training camp in September.

Brad Stuart in my opinion has already made his mind up on where he'll be playing next year and judging by his play it won't be in Detroit. The last month or so of the season Stuart has looked nothing like top four defenseman he played like. He's been sloppy, reckless and just out of position. Last night he a minus three, he got split for a breakaway which Jimmy Howard stopped, he scored another own goal and had a terrible giveaway that led to Nashville's third goal. Unless he's playing through some serious unknown to the public injury it looks like his head and heart aren't in as of late. Shame too the guy had been playing like he was ready to man the top pairing once Lidstrom retires.



Lastly we're brought to the incident between Weber and Zetterberg from last night. Yes, Zetterberg hit Weber in the back trying to jar the puck loose but what Weber did was malicious with intent to injure, it was beyond stupid not "a reckless and reactionary play". The play looked more like you were watching a WWE wrestling match not a hockey game. I won't say that I'm surprised he wasn't suspended given the fact that it would have tilted things in the Wings' favor greatly to win Game 2 and even the series but sometimes the suspension needs to be handed out and this one did.

Weber was let go earlier in the season with a fine after a boarding incident, so it's not like Brendan "Shanaban" Shanahan haven't had this talk before. But apparently fining Weber $2,500 was good enough(Weber is making $7.5 million this year) to get the message across. Shanaban says that Weber will be watched the rest of the playoffs now too, big deal. That's like catching a murder and letting him go because he promises not to do it again.

Shanaban took into consideration the fact that Zetterberg wasn't seriously hurt and will play in Game 2 also made it ok not to crackdown on hits to head, which he's been doing all year. For the record, after dropping that tidbit to the public, Zetterberg made it known that his helmet cracked in three different spots from the blow. Just imagine if he didn't have it on how damaging the hit would have been.

I understand Shanaban would hate to suspend Nashville's best player for any amount of time during the playoffs but his failure to suspend him just made a mockery of the quest Shanaban has been on this year to swiftly and harshly punish those who target the head of an opponent. How can players now take him seriously after Shanaban just granted special treatment to a superstar of the league and the marketing department?

And for those who think Gary Bettman played a role in the lack of a suspension then Shanaban needs to step down. He can't effectively do his job he was appointed to if he has to run his decisions by Bettman for approval. If Bettman forced Shanaban into levying this ridiculous fine, he needs to go public and made it known, he owes it to the players and fans to let it be known that Bettman is willing to cut the superstars some slack. However, I speculate that this decision was made solely by Shanaban out of fear that him dropping the hammer on Weber could be viewed as him helping the organization where his career flourished and he won three Stanley Cups. Whatever the explanation or reason may be the Shanaban failed on this one.

The 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Conference Quarter Finals

April 11th means a lot of things to a lot of people: a meaningless Wednesday to some, my sister's birthday, but most people will be celebrating the fact that the Stanley Cup Playoffs start that night. Say good bye to your razors and put your loved ones on notice because the most exciting post season of all professional sports is once again upon us as the Conference Quarter Finals begin. This year's match ups have some real thrillers(Pit vs Phi, Det vs Nsh and Bos vs Wsh) but also features some real snoozers(Fla vs NJ, Phx vs Chi and Stl vs SJ). Before I get into the each series' breakdown, I'd like to remind you every playoff game will be televised this year thanks to NBC, NBC Sports Networks(formerly Versus), CNBC and NHL Network.

Eastern Conference

1. New York Rangers vs 8. Ottawa Senators: Season series Sens 3-1. The Rangers are going to have their hands full this series with the Senators. While they finished eighth, the Sens have a good mix of youth to go with their vets. Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza lead this team up front while eventual Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson and Sergei Gonchar back it up on the blue line. They'll face a tough challenge in New York as King Henrik and company don't have to worry about the President's Cup Curse following them in the playoffs. They'll need to sharpen up though as the Rangers were sloppy down the stretch, something the Sens took advantage of in their four games this season. Biggest concern is if the Rangers can provide Lundqvist with enough offense to win games.

Rangers over Senators 4-2.

2. Boston Bruins vs 7. Washington Capitals: Season series Caps 3-1. Tim Thomas already cut his first media session short after someone brought up the White House to him, which means he'll be really fired up and play out of his mind or he'll be a basket case and play like a siv. Boston is the better team and really just needs to limit Ovechkin and his line. The Caps are relying on their third string goalie to carry them this series which I don't see happening. The Caps have been Jekyll and Hyde all year long and I'm willing to bet we see more Hyde than Jekyll.

Bruins over Caps 4-1.

3. Florida Panthers vs 6 New Jersey Devils: Season series tied 2-2. The Panthers earned a 3 seed by losing more than they won. Their 38 wins and 18 OTL are all-time lows and highs for a Divison winner post-lockout era. It should also be noted that the Panthers allowed 24 more goals than they scored this year. The Devils earned eight more points than the Panthers but will start this series in Florida, if the Devils and their talent(Kovalchuk, Parise, Zidlicky and Brodeur) lose this series it'll be a shame.

Devils over Panthers 4-2, I refuse to label this an upset.

4. Pittsburgh Penguins vs 5. Philadelphia Flyers: Season series Flyers 4-2. Two things hold true for this series, it's the best of all eight QF series and these two teams absolutely HATE each other. If you're a fan of hockey you hope this is a seven game slug fest. The Flyers got mixed news today Briere will play while James van Riemsdyk is still a week or two away from being back. The Penguins are healthy as can be and Crosby is back. The goalies will decide this series, one has his name on the cup while the other has imploded the last two trips to the playoffs. However, the Bryz did drop this gem the other day, "I'm not afraid of anything. I'm afraid of bear but bear in forest." Love that Bryzgalov.

Flyers over Penguins 4-3.

Western Conference

1. Vancouver Canucks vs 8. Los Angeles Kings: Season series tied 2-2. The Canucks have the dreaded President's Cup Curse looming over them and may or may not be without Daniel Sedin not to mention Roberto Luongo disappears come playoffs. The Kings have a really hard time scoring and haven't gotten out of the first round since 2001. Good news for the Kings, Jeff Carter may be ready for Game 1 which makes their offense slightly better. Good news for Luongo, the Kings can't score(second fewest goals all season). Something has to give in this series.

Canucks over Kings 4-1.

2. St. Louis Blues vs 7. San Jose Sharks: Season series Blues 4-0. The Blues have two really good goalies in Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliot. They combined for 15 shutouts and a 1.78 goals against average(Elliot 9 SO, 1.56 GAA and Halak 6 SO, 1.97 GAA). The Sharks have been notorious for choking in the playoffs, although this year wouldn't be considered a choke. Will the Sharks rise to the challenge? They have the experience factor over the Blues but Ken Hitchcock is a crafty coach and will have his Blues ready for the challenge.

Blues over Sharks 4-1.

3. Phoenix Coyotes vs 6. Chicago Blackhawks: Season series Coyotes 3-1. Like the Florida Panthers, the Coyotes have won their first Divison title in franchise history. And just like the Panthers, the Coyotes have the distinction of being a bad team to win a bad division. The Blackhawks have the more talented team and earned four more points than the Coyotes this season, however the Coyotes have a hot goalie in Mike Smith. That factored with home ice could be what wins it.

Blackhawks over Coyotes 4-3. Also not an upset.

4. Nashville Predators vs 5. Detroit Red Wings: Season series tied 3-3. The Preds went all out at the deadline making moves to improve the team and brought back Alexander Radulov from the KHL on loan. Their depth up front matches the Red Wings which is kind of scary if you think about it but after their top two blue liners the advantage goes to the Wings. Both teams have goalies that can be dominant on their own or be completely useless. The Wings got what they wanted, Nashville. They didn't want to go out West at all regardless of the seed they got. To win this series though they'll need to tighten up defensively and on the penalty kill. Also, they'll need to show signs of having a power play that can score better than their 16.1% regular season clip.

Red Wings over Predators 4-3.

That's how I see the Quarter Finals shaking out, last year I was 8-0 in QF predictions and called four of them to the very game. Hoping to repeat that luck this year. And for the record I have the New York Rangers beating the St. Louis Blues in 7 games to win the Stanley Cup. Check back for the Semi-Finals later.