After Edmonton Oilers general manager Steve Tambellini had a month or so to dwell on his club’s sixth straight playoff-less season, he came to the conclusion that another big change needed to be made.

That’s why the Oilers decided to show head coach Tom Renney the door.

Renney, who spent one year as Pat Quinn’s associate coach and two seasons as the head guy, led the Oilers to just a 32-40-10 record this past season. The Oilers are loaded with high draft picks, including forwards Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the two first overall picks in the last two drafts. Yet despite the surplus of young talent (Hall, Nugent-Hopkins, Sam Gagner, Jordan Eberle, Magnus Paajarvi), the Oilers failed to even complete for a playoff spot in 2012.

”Tom’s done some great things for our hockey club,” Tambellini said in a video statement posted on the Oilers’ website. ”But we felt at this time it was the right decision to make a change.

”We’re entering a new phase of our hockey club. We’ve got some great challenges, but ones that we’re looking forward to. I want to thank Tom for his work that he’s done with us.”

Oiler fans are probably sick and tired off all these “phases.” After all, they seem like they’ve entered into a new one every season for the last five years. But hockey is a results-based business, especially in a town like Edmonton.

The 57-year-old Renney was the 10th head coach in Oilers’ history. There is no news on who his replacement will be.

In the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Jarred Tinordi was taken 22nd overall by the Montreal Canadiens. The towering 6’7” defenceman plays for the London Knights of the OHL. Tinordi is not known for his offense, but he is known for his great defensive awareness and huge frame. Tinordi is the captain of his junior team, a gold medal winner and is improving in both ends of his game.

Tinordi plays for the London Knights of the OHL, and is even the captain. With a team full of good players such as Austin Watson, Scott Harrington, and Olli Maata, that is a great thing to achieve. Tinordi has only played in the OHL for 2 seasons, playing in the NAHL and USHL from 2008-2010. He started his OHL career last season in 2010-2011. In 63 games, Tinordi recorded 1 goal and 13 assists. Not bad, but not great. He also gooned it up, taking 140 minutes in penalties. In 6 playoff games in 2010-2011, he got nothing but 17 penalty minutes. But he was used in a shutdown role for the playoffs, shutting down top lines all series.

This season, Tinordi was involved in a lot. He was a +39 in the regular season, an accomplishment that is a great thing for a defenceman to have. This means Tinordi was on for a lot of goals, and not a lot of goals against. Tinordi also lessened his penalty minute total, bringing it down to 63. In 15 less games, Tinordi also added 1 goal and 1 assist to his previous total, scoring 16 points. Tinordi also played for Team America at the 2012 World Junior Championships. He was arguably the best defenceman for an American squad that included names like Jon Merril, Jacob Trouba, and Derek Forbort. Tinordi did not take home any medals, but it was a valuable experience for sure.

Tinordi has just recently won the 2012 OHL championship, and is hoping to win the Memorial Cup in Shawinigan, Quebec. If Tinordi continues his development curve, he will be an excellent shut down defenceman for years to come.

If there’s one word to sum up John Tortorella’s Game 2 post-game presser, it would be “no.”

Oh, he also threw in a a couple ”we’re going to keep it in the room” responses, you know, just to add a little variety.

It’s no secret that Tortorella holds a cold contempt for the media, and quite frankly, there’s not too many guys in the sport—or any sport for that matter—who has the stones to be as short as Torts is with the media in, of all places, the city of New York.

But during the press conference following the Rangers‘ 3-2 home playoff loss to the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night, most agreed that enough was enough.

ESPN’s Mike Greenberg said Tortorella treats the press with such “disdain,” so “disrespectfully” that it “galls” him. NHL Network analyst Craig Button, a former GM with the Calgary Flames, called Tortorella’s media Q&A’s a “joke” and a “travesty.”

Although Tortorella’s propensity to give the media the cold shoulder has made for some great YouTube fodder over the years, most are sick of it now.

Writes Steve Politi of the Star Ledger:

Tortorella got a few YouTube laughs with his routine at news conferences early in the playoffs, but now the reviews are all about the same.

The act is tired, and especially so on a night when it isn’t unreasonable for the fans to expect some answers. You can say he doesn’t owe the media a thing, but the paying customers can’t ask the question themselves. And it’s a fair one: Why was your team so flat for most of this game?

I for one was actually disappointed that Torts didn’t go off on somebody. Look, everyone knows that answering questions after a game for a coach is part of the gig in any professional sport, and it’s highly unlikely that any of them—win or lose—enjoy it. And while it’s true that the least Tortorella can do is answer a few questions, as long as he is technically making himself “available” to the media, he’s technically not doing anything wrong; i.e., the league can’t fine him for being a smart ass.

And while it’s hard to imagine just how uncomfortable it really is sitting in on one of his pressers, it would be refreshing to hear a reporter open up with a smart-ass question during the next presser, just to see if they can get a rise out of Tortorella. At least that way, it would lead to a rant, and that way he’d at least talk for over a minute.

This summer’s blockbuster features Chris Evans Marvel comics World War II super-soldier that was frozen in time. In the NHL playoffs, three teams feature American Captains in what is considered a Canadian game. For each of these players, they have preformed well and led their teams both on the scoresheet and in the locker room. With all apologies to the Canadian Captain Phoenix Coyotes Shane Doan, this article focuses on the other captains currently playing.

Starting in New Jersey with the most accomplished and almost-hero of the 2010 Olympics, Zach Parise (Minneapolis, MN) has been the leader of the Devils for the last two years. Fighting through injuries the first season didn’t hinder his great second season. Parise is considered by many to be “The NHL’s Most Underrated Player” and that will change after this summer when Parise is going to be one of the most sought-after free agents in NHL history. Parise’s style of skill and grinding has netting him 30+ goals over five of the last six seasons. He’s does all this while being a career +57 playing Devils’ hockey. Now, he is leading the Devils on their deepest Stanley Cup run since 2003 and Hall of Fame GM Lou Lamiorello will want to keep his Captain for years to come.

Across the Hudson River resides the Rangers and their Captain Ryan Callahan. A teammate of Parise’s 2010 Olympic Silver Medal team, Callahan was groomed to become the Rangers’ captain and has responded with the best season of his career. A consistent 20 goal-scorer, Callahan is known for throwing his body around (always near the top in hits) and shot-blocking. Last season, the Rangers came back from a 3-0 deficit against the Boston Bruins and leading 4-3 while fighting for their playoff lives, when Callahan dove in front of a Zdeno Chara slap shot. The NHL record holder broke Callahan’s ankle, dooming his playoff. This season, Callahan is making up for lost time. He has 3 goals and 3 assists in 16 playoff games for the Blueshirts and is looking to lead the Rangers to their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance since 1994. Callahan is also the only Captain in Rangers’ history from the state of New York (Rochester, NY).

Possibly the best of the three this post-season is in Los Angeles, where Kings Captain Dustin Brown (another upstate NYer from Ithica) has been leading his team over the top three seeds in the Western Conference. Brown, Callahan’s linemate on the 2010 USA team, has been physical in beating the Canucks and Blues. His 7 goals and 7 assists with a plus 11 put him in the lead offensively of the players remaining in the playoffs. That he’s done all of that playing a mere 11 games is equally impressive. Brown would be on the short list of Conn Smythe candidates, but his teammate and fellow American Jonathan Quick could keep him from the playoff MVP. Brown’s team has yet to lose a game on the road and return home tonight with a chance to make it 3-0 over the Phoenix Coyotes.

Enjoy the rest of the post-season, it’s a shame that only one of these great players will hoist the Stanley Cup and join Derian Hatcher as the only American-born Captain to win the Stanley Cup. Will the Stanley Cup see Red, White and Blue hands? Who will do it out of these three? Then again, Shane Doan could lead the Coyotes back over the Kings and keep the run going for Canada.

The playoff beard shares a special connection with the NHL postseason. Every new playoff season, players from all 16 teams competing for the Stanley Cup let their facial hair grow with each passing game, no matter how disgustingly unkept some of them may become.

Whether or not they’re grown for superstitious reasons is up for debate—they’re definitely not grown for style—but the tradition is one that has been going for quite some time in the NHL now.

And that’s what retired hockey stars Jeremy Roenick and Mike Modano miss most about hockey—the playoff beards! At least that’s what they profess as the stars The Playoff Beard Follies, a silly three-part video series from Funny or Die that enlightens the world on hockey playoff beards.

If you look up “Redundant” in the dictionary, it should say, “See: Redundant”. For the Rangers, last night’s Game 2 result was predictably redundant in the playoff run. Unfortunately for the Blueshirt fans, it meant their beloved team lost 3-2 at home, evening the best-of-seven with the Devils at 1.
The Rangers third consecutive Game 2 loss had different characteristics from their previous two. Against Ottawa, the Rangers led, gave up a late goal and lost in Overtime. Against Washington, they fought back from a 2-0 deficit and lost after giving up a late Power Play goal. Last night, it was a David Clarkson deflection early in the third that made the difference. A beauty of a redirect by the Devils’ power forward off the shot by rookie Adam Henrique stood up thanks to the goalie Martin Brodeur’s 23 saves.

Possibly the key goal of the game came with under two minutes in left in the second period. Trailing 2-1, Ryan Carter tipped a Bryce Salvador shot past Rangers’ netminder Henrik Lundqvist. Lundqvist played well all night, but wasn’t as great as he was in Game 1. Can’t fault him for this game. Ilya Kovalchuk scored on a wrist shot where he was one-on-one with the Rangers’ MVP candidate and two redirections. If that’s what it takes to beat Lundqvist, the Rangers are still in good shape.

Brodeur was no slouch either. The multiple time Vezina winner made several highlight saves, most notably a double-stack pad save on Marian Gaborik. The Devils goaltender did have a bad break. The Rangers first goal came on the Power Play after a Marc Staal shot went wide, but caromed off the back of Brodeur’s leg and into the net. The Rangers took the lead with another Power Play goal. Rookie Chris Kreider tipped in an Anton Stralman shot to give the Rangers their only lead of the night. Until last night, the Rangers were 3-0 in games where Kreider found the net. It should be noted that the Rangers have scored three Power Play goals thus far against the league’s best Penalty Killing team. Will that continue?

So the Rangers lose another Game 2 at home and by the same score. If you ask Blueshirt fans, they’d like to see one more Game 2 loss… in the Finals of course. All this is disappointing, but they are 2-0 in Game 3s. Saturday afternoon will be a great game. Puck drops at one.

Your Montreal Canadiens took the smooth skating defenceman Nathan Beaulieu at 17th overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. A lot of people were not expecting Beaulieu to drop so far down. Beaulieu currently plays with the Saint John’s Seadogs, where he has played his entire QMJHL career. Beaulieu was selected in the 68th overall in the 4th round of the QMJHL Entry Draft by the Seadogs. Beaulieu is an offensive dynamo in the QMJHL, posting high numbers every season. Beaulieu has incredible offensive instincts, has played for Team Canada, won a championship and plenty more.

Beaulieu is known for his great skating and offensive prowess. Beaulieu has a great shot, accurate passes and knows how to make things happen on the rush. Beaulieu knows how to limit the amount of chances he takes by rushing. Beaulieu is an exceptional quarterback on the power play, and helps the Seadogs power play significantly. Beaulieu still has been working on his defensive positioning and physicality this season, as those were some of his weaker points the last few seasons. Beaulieu still needs to bulk up before hitting the NHL level.

In his rookie season, Beaulieu posted 2 goals and 8 assists in 48 games for the Seadogs. Not bad for a rookie season. In his next season, the season of 2009-2010, Beaulieu quadrupled his offensive output. He recorded 12 goals and 33 assists for 45 points. That is some amazing improvement from 1 season before. He also went on to add 4 goals, 12 assists in 21 playoff games that year. Beaulieu was consistent the next year, putting up another 45 point season. He was +44 that year, a nice accomplishment for the young defenceman. Beaulieu lit it up in the playoffs that year, almost being a point-per-game player. He recorded 17 points in 19 playoff games.

In 2010-2011 season, Beaulieu helped the Seadogs to win the coveted Memorial Cup. He recorded 3 points in 4 Memorial Cup games. Beaulieu also made Team Canada later in 2011, playing in the World Junior Championships. He took on a role that saw him play as a power play quarterback, and play as a top 6 defenceman. Canada won bronze at the tournament, after a heartbreaking loss to Team Russia. As long as Beaulieu continues his development the way it’s going, he should become a very reliable d-man that posts nice offensive numbers as well. He knows how to play under pressure and what it feels like to win. No doubt he wants to do it again with Les Bleu Blanc et Rouge.

Make no mistake about it, the Los Angeles Kings are the road warriors of the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs.

In fact, they just might be the greatest road playoff team in NHL history.

With their dominant performance in a 4-0 win over the Phoenix Coyotes Tuesday night at Jobing.com Arena, the Kings not only now hold a commanding 2-0 series lead, but with the victory, they’ve also continued their impressive road winning streak. They have won seven straight road games in these playoffs, tying a record last matched by the 2010 Chicago Blackhawks. Furthermore, they’ve won nine straight away from Staples Center dating back to last spring, which ties the record for most road wins spanning consecutive postseasons, previously done by the New York Islanders in 1982 and 1983.

On a night of records for the Kings, forward Jeff Carter joined some pretty elite company on his own. After being invisible through the Kings’ first 10 playoff games, finding the back of the net just once in that span, Carter netted three of the Kings’ four goals last night, becoming the first Kings player since Wayne Gretzky in 1993 to score a hat trick in a playoff game.

From start to finish, the Kings were the more dominant team, and their confidence continues to grow with each passing game.

“We really want it right now,” forward Dustin Penner said. ”We want the first goal. We want the next goal. It’s that intensity and that passion that drives us. It’s that good type of fear that stops you from letting games get away from you and continues to push you forward. We use that fear of losing to motivate us as opposed to shrinking to it.”

The Kings received some help in their dominance, though, as captain Shane Doan and alternate captain Martin Hanzal were given game misconducts for major boarding penalties. The Yotes ended up with 56 minutes in penalties, giving the Kings eight different power-play opportunities, two of which were 5-on-3 opportunities—the Kings capitalized on both.

The series now shifts to L.A., where the Coyotes will attempt to rebound in Game 3 on Thursday.

Throughout this playoff run, the Rangers have followed a pattern: Win Game 1 decisively and let Game Two slip through their fingers. Despite, the fact that the Rangers are 3-0 in Game 1s and 2-0 in Game 3s of this post-season, the Rangers are 0-2 in Game 2s. Those results have led to longer series. Here’s the reasons why Game 2 is a must win for the Rangers- more than the Devils.

Injuries
Despite that the Rangers have been pretty healthy -with Brandon Dubinsky being the only major injury- this team blocks A LOT of shots. If you think that’s not an issue, think again. Go back to last year’s incredible comeback against the Boston Bruins. Down 3-0, the Rangers fought back and took a 4-3 lead late in the third period. After Ryan Callahan’s assist on the game tying goal, he dove to block a Zdeno Chara slap shot. The record winner of the NHL’s hardest slap shot broke the Rangers’ Captain’s ankle, killing his season. The Rangers sorely missed him and lost in 5. Imagine if the series is tied at 2 and Callahan dives in front of an Ilya Kovalchuk one-timer? Playing more games not only fatigues teams, but the chance of injuries go up.

Rest
Though all the players are “healthy”, all players could use some rest at this point. It also can help mentally, though the Rangers appear to be a team that thrives on pressure. For Girardi, McDonagh and Staal, a few days off couldn’t be a bad thing. If you look across to the Western Conference at the Kings and the Coyotes, you see two teams that are healthy and rested. Now, the teams could beat each other up in this series, but the Kings have played 9 games (winning most in regulation) and the Coyotes have played 11 games (though add on 2 more if you count all the overtimes they played). Compare that to the Rangers 14 with a triple OT game in the mix, all their shot blocks, body checks and battling in front of the net. Despite that the Rangers near the bottom of the league’s average age, even young legs get tired. The Rangers worked all year to keep Lundqvist fresh, but the Rangers can’t just plug in Martin Biron for a game like in the regular season. The King could use some rest, no matter how locked in he is right now.

Practice
No Allen Iverson, it is important. Practice would help Chris Kreider for one and John Tortarella breaks down game tape better than most coaches in the NHL as evidenced on HBO’s 24/7. It also lets the team breathe and work on their system. Playing more games will hinder that (though there is a two day break between Games 2 & 3) and lack of practice means lack of sharpness, which leads to giveaways and goals against. Also, it’ll give the Rangers time to look at Mats Zuccarello and Brandon Dubinsky while they are on the mend.

Intimidation
This one isn’t as important, but if the Rangers put the Devils away quickly, it could give a little scare to the Kings/Coyotes. Now, every coach will tell you that they’re only concerned with the team ahead of you, but team’s own mentality can be affected by their play. You can tell the Rangers are confident and believe they can win every game, but a sweep couldn’t hurt. Then again, look at the Bruins from last year. A killer instinct could help the Rangers and be bad for their opponents. Don’t let the Devils think for a second they can make this a series.

Avoiding Let Down
In each series, the Rangers took care of Game 1 then dropped Game 2, but needed a Herculean effort to win Game 3. A win in Game 2 puts the onus on the Devils for the two games at home. Don’t let what happened to Philadelphia. The Flyers took Game 1 and dropped the next four because they took the Devils for granted after beating the Penguins. After the two hard-fought series the Rangers played, they can’t take anyone for granted. A let down could open the door and the Devils could storm through.

Back-to-Back would make a Finals Berth Almost Assured
The Rangers opened the season with back-to-back-to-back losses to the Kings (OT), Ducks (Shootout) and Islanders. Since then the Rangers have lost back-to-back games five times. One of those in March was a three game losing streak with the Devils starting it. Out of their 24 losses, 10 of them were back-to-back. In the playoffs, the Rangers dropped one back-to-back set (Games 4 & 5 against Ottawa). They have won three straight games (Games 6 & 7 vs Ottawa and Game 1 vs Washington). More often than not, the Rangers have avoided compounding losses all season. Losing four straight or even back-to-back games would be unlikely. The Devils would need to win back-to-back twice.

These are a couple of critical reasons for the Rangers to come out and win Game 2. If they do, they’re half way to the Stanley Cup Finals and for a team that’s expectations grew throughout the season, the expectations are sky-high and well within reach now. They can take a huge leap toward the Stanley Cup that Jim Dolan thinks is close, but don’t tell John Tortarella that.

On almost every level he has played on, David Desharnais has been criticized about his size. Desharnais has posted amazing numbers in all the leagues he has been in, and has shown significant improvement. Somehow, despite improving his production, being the captain of his team, and being named the CHL’s most gentlemanly player in 2006-2007, Desharnais was never drafted in the NHL Entry Draft. In 2007, the Montreal Canadiens signed Desharnais as a free agent after being invited to their training camp, where they must have seen something potential in Desharnais.

The 5’7 center has had a great career in every level he has played on, including the QMJHL. When he played for Chicoutimi, where he spent 4 seasons, he posted 51, 97, 118, and 108 points respectively. That is solid improvement for the young Quebec native. He was also named the QMJHL’s most gentlemanly player 3 consecutive times in his CHL career. Not to mention in his last year he was named the CHL’s most gentlemanly player.

Desharnais made his debut as a member of the Cincinnati Cyclones, the Canadiens’ ECHL affiliate at the time. He had a phenomenal first season with Cincinnati, scoring 106 points in only 68 regular season games. He then went on to put up 33 points in 22 games, leading the Cyclones to their first ever Kelly Cup. Desharnais was named ECHL Rookie of the Year and MVP. He was also named to the All-Rookie Team and the First All-star Team. Pretty nice professional debut if I do say so myself.

Once again in 2008 Desharnais was invited to the Canadiens training camp, this time getting a 2-year contract from the Habs. He was then assigned to the Hamilton Bulldogs, Montreal’s AHL affiliate. Another successful debut came to Desharnais, this time with the Bulldogs. In the 2008-2009 season, Desharnais put up 58 points in 77 games. Once again Desharnais improved in the 2009-2010 season, leading the Bulldogs in points with 78. He only played 60 games that season. He went on to add 23 points in 19 playoff games with Hamilton that season.

Mid way through another spectacular season in Hamilton, Desharnais had finally achieved his dream. He had been called up to the Canadiens to play his first ever NHL game. He only stayed on the NHL roster for 6 games. He was then sent down to Hamilton to continue his great season. In 2010-2011, Desharnais was called up to the Canadiens on December 31st, 2010. He played 43 games that season, recording 22 points. He also recorded his first ever NHL goal, a tip off a P.K. Subban point shot that went past Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. He also posted 1 assist in 5 playoff games.

This past season, Desharnais emerged as the Canadiens #1 offensive center, playing between Max Pacioretty and new addition Erik Cole. Desharnais had already developed chemistry with Pacioretty in Hamilton, so they knew each other well. Cole stepped in and took a mentor role on the line. The line was Montreal’s best offensive line, all 3 having career seasons. Desharnais put up 60 points alongside the two power forwards. Desharnais is a great example that it is not the size of the player that counts; it’s the heart of the player that counts.