Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press:  From one Jet boss to another…100,000 thank yous.  Would like to see the look on the bank tellers face if someone tried to cash a novelty cheque like that.  Seriously though, not sure why anyone would have an issue with the donation which will go to help our military forces’ charitable and support causes.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Patience, patience, patience  – Jets boss.  The most difficult thing you can do is ask a sports fan to be patient.  However, just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, the Jets are not going to become Stanley Cup contenders overnight and the True North brain trust needs fans to accept that building a winner takes time.  Young guys like Scheifele, Klingberg and Telegin are still going to need some seasoning.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  Swept away.  And just like that the magical inaugural season for the Jets farm club ends in a sweep at the hands of the best team in the AHL.

The Telegram:  Cup final dream ends too early.  While the Caps had an excellent regular season and a pretty good playoffs, this series loss won’t sit well with the organization.

Stanley Cup news:

L.A. Times:  Kings never lost magic touch on the road.  While many acknowledge that these Kings are not your standard 8th place team they have successfully knocked off the 1st, 2nd and now 3rd seeds in the Western Conference to advance to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 1993.  Dustin Penner of Winkler, Manitoba scored the OT goal to clinch the series.  They will have a week off before playing either the Devils or Rangers.

Arizona Republic:  Coyotes future looks bright after playoff breakthrough.  You never like to see seats go unsold for a Conference Finals game but the true test for this franchise will be the response for next season.  Will fans come flocking to the Coyotes and save this franchise?

Star-Ledger:  Devils coach Pete DeBoer has fire that is reminiscent of Pat Burns.  The Devils and Rangers rivalry extends from the coaches all the way down to the players and has made for some very good hockey.

New York Daily News:  Time for Rangers to ‘pray’.  Can the Blueshirts make the Finals without scoring from their top lines?

Jets news:

ChrisD.ca:  Chipman to make presentation to Air Force General.  The relationship between the Jets and the Air Force continues.

Winnipeg Sun:  True North’s Brown felt like the ‘grinch’.  Because there were no Jets papers the last couple of days, I’m including this article from the weekend which talks about True North’s senior director of corporate communications Scott Brown having to put out the fire of the May 19th, 2011 unofficial announcement.

Illegal Curve:  In Memory of Dr. Richard Tapper.  If you didn’t yet get a chance to read about our good friend, take a second to read about someone extraordinary.  He accomplished in 35 years what many can only hope to achieve in a lifetime.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  IceCaps on slippery slope.  Down three games to zero against the best team in the league.  This does not look like it will end well for the Jets farm club.

The Telegram:  IceCaps scoring drying up.  Where has all the scoring gone?

Stanley Cup news:

Star-Ledger:  Devils trying to keep cool but Rangers testing their limits.  When a melee almost breaks out between coaches, we have ourselves a series.

New York Daily News:  Rangers lose the battle and Game 4.  This series certainly looks like it will go the distance.

L.A. Times:  Kings succeeding despite power play woes.  Usually special team play is the difference but these upstart Kings are proving that effective 5 on 5 play can win hockey games.  With the NBA Lakers elimination last night and the Clippers also losing, it looks like Hollywood is gonna be focused solely on these Kings to get any playoff gratification this month.

Arizona Republic:  Coyotes cautiously optimistic heading into Game 5.  Can the Coyotes do the improbable and go on a 4-0 run and win the series?  If so they will start tonight at Jobing.com arena.

Illegal Curve Hockey Replay:

Part 1:  Intro, New Jersey Devils vs. New York Rangers series discussion.  Interview with Matt Laughlin play-by-play voice of the New Jersey Devils for WFAN.  John Tortorella discussion.   Los Angeles Kings vs. Phoenix Coyotes series discussion.  Interview with Robin Short of the St. John’s Telegram.   Edmonton Oilers announce Tom Renney won’t return.

Part 2: Interview with Al Maki of the Globe & Mail.  Coaching news around the NHL.  NHL News & Notes.  Interview with Gabe Desjardins of Behind the net.  Rapid Fire.

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturdays on TSN Radio 1290 from 12pm-3pm.

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show – May 19, 2012 – Part 1

0:00 – Intro, New Jersey Devils vs. New York Rangers series discussion

14:41 – Interview with Matt Laughlin play-by-play voice of the New Jersey Devils for WFAN

30:51 – John Tortorella discussion

41:55 – Los Angeles Kings vs. Phoenix Coyotes series discussion

50:37 – Interview with Robin Short of the St. John’s Telegram

1:01:25 – Edmonton Oilers announce Tom Renney won’t return

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturday’s from 12pm-3pm on TSN Radio 1290

Illegal Curve Hockey Show – May 19, 2012 – Part 2

0:00 – Interview with Al Maki of the Globe & Mail

15:14 – Coaching news around the NHL

25:35 – NHL News & Notes

37:13 – Interview with Gabe Desjardins of Behind the net

49:36 – NHL News & Notes

1:00:16 – Rapid Fire

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturday’s from 12pm-3pm on TSN Radio 1290

On Saturday, May 19th the city of Winnipeg lost a tremendous human being, when our good friend Richard Tapper passed away.

Aside from his family, friends and his work, if there was one thing that Tapper lived and breathed it was all things sports with a special emphasis on the Winnipeg Jets.  He loved attending Jets 2.0 games and got to as many as he could during the inaugural season.

I cannot possibly sum up his life or what he meant to his friends with a few snippets.  Suffice it to say he was simply an amazing person who had a positive impact on people, someone who has left us way too quickly.  He will be missed.

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press:  The four reasons.  Lots of changes before this team is ready to compete for Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Jets could be greatly affected by decision.  As will Jets fans.  Let us hope that my birthday (the 15th of September) which is also the same day for the CBA is a day of celebration.

Winnipeg Sun:  Jets return, a night to remember.  And then it was a summer of partying.  Cannot believe it has already been a year since the announcement.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  They may not have changes, but will need change.   When you lose 6-1 it is time to start making some changes to what you did in the previous game.

The Telegram:  Meet the IceCaps unsung heroes.  Much like the Jets, the IceCaps have tons of people behind the scenes who don’t get the recognition that they deserve.

Stanley Cup news:

Star-Ledger:  Martin Brodeur has no problem being in Henrik Lundqvist’s shadow.  Gotta love the downplaying by Marty.  I think his 3 Stanley Cups speak for themselves.

New York Daily News:  Rangers need Boyle to regain spark.  He was a force early in the playoffs for the Blueshirts but has gone quiet of late.

L.A. Times:  Rookie Dwight King has been a surprising scorer.  Every playoffs there seems to be some young gun who rises up from nowhere to grab the attention of the hockey world.

Arizona Republic:  Coyotes frustrated by penalties.  While you can understand and empathize with their frustration, no point in complaining.  At this point you can simply play the game.

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press:  Chipman, Thomson win Winnipeg tourism award.  More accolades for the guys responsible for bringing back the Jets.

IIHF:  Canada lost to Slovakia and USA was defeated by Finland.  Jets players Kane, Ladd and Slater will be returning to North America short on hardware after both teams suffered disappointing losses yesterday.  The Americans lost with 8 seconds to go in the 3rd period.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  IceCaps left with a sinking feeling.  Good news for fans of this upstart team from St. John’s is that a Game 1 defeat doesn’t lose you a series.  Whether you lose 6-1 or 2-1, it only counts as one game.  They will need to put this game behind them and get ready for Game 2 which goes Saturday.

The Virginian-Pilot:  Admirals romp in opener of third-round playoff series.  Remember that battle of the titans we talked about before this series began?  Well the Caps got it handed to them last night, losing 6-1 in Virginia.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Red-hot Pasquale talk of The Rock.  Better stay focused on the here and now.

Stanley Cup news:

Star-Ledger:  Devils rookie Adam Henrique playing like seasoned veteran.  As Jets fans saw throughout the season this kid can play.

New York Daily News:  Faces long as Torts gets short.  Count me as someone sick of the John Tortorella show.

L.A. Times:  Kings take 3-0 series lead over Coyotes.  Looks like the Hollywood is about to party like its 1993 all over again.

Arizona Republic:  Coyotes lose Game 3, face 3-0 series deficit.  The likelihood of coming back from a 3-0 deficit is highly unlikely.

Follow Friday:

Dave – @icdave – Co-editor of Illegalcurve.com and occasional contributor to IC Hockey Show on TSN Radio
Rich: @icrichy – Analyst of IC Hockey Show on TSN Radio. Co-editor at Illegalcurve.com
Ezra: @icezzyg – Analyst of IC Hockey Show on TSN Radio. Contributor at Illegalcurve.com
Drew: @icdrew – Host of IC Hockey Show on TSN Radio. Contributor at Illegalcurve.com
Remis: @mremis – Behind the scenes of the IC Hockey Show on TSN Radio. Contributor at Illegalcurve.com.
Kyle: @ickylek – Contributor at Illegalcurve.com

Jets news:

Jets official site:  Point of view.  Kinda cool being on ice level with the camera crew.  If they do one from up above on the cat walk, I’m not sure I’d want to have that experience (again).

Winnipeg Free Press:  Real NHL battle could just be about to warm up.  After a long wait, the Jets 2.0 finally came home, but it might all be for naught if there is a lockout next season.

Edmonton Journal:  Young Stars Tournament cancelled.  Oh oh sports fans.  It appears the first salvo in the upcoming labour war, I mean negotiations, has been fired.  Jets fans will fondly recall this tourny which took place in B.C. last year and saw the Jets young guns in action for the first time.

Jets official site:  Plays of the Year – Round 2, Match-up 8.  Quite the look of confusion on Nodl’s face after that Bogosian slam.  Something tells me Jets fans enjoyed the big hit.

Hockey’s Future:  Numerous Jets prospects benefiting from extended AHL playoffs.  While not the deepest team of prospects the Jets do have some good core players for the future.  (This was a late addition to yesterdays news so for those that missed it, here ya go)

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

VOCM:  Caps prepare for series with Admirals.  Making it to the Finals is never easy and the Caps are going to have to take out the best team in the AHL to accomplish their goal.

AHL.com:  Top four seeds left in Cup race.  Unlike in the NHL, these Conference Finals are being battled between the best teams in the AHL.

Stanley Cup news:

New York Daily News:  Rangers suffer another Game 2 letdown.  The Blueshirts seemed out of sorts all night.  They seemed thrown off by the Devils shenanigans.  Interesting choice by coach Tortorella to sit Marian Gaborik for approximately 13 minutes to start the 3rd period.

Star-Ledger:  Game 2 victory gives Pete DeBoer reason for optimism.  The Devils showed some nice resiliency fighting off some questionable penalty calls to come back and win Game 2, and earn themselves a split on the island.

L.A. Times:  What a short, strange trip it has been for the Kings.  They have knocked off the 1st, 2nd and are half way to finishing off the 3rd seed in their remarkable run to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Arizona Republic:  Coyotes must live up to their slogan.  If they hope to see another game at jobing.com arena they are going to need to tighten their game in Hollywood.

Jets news:

Hockey’s Future:  Numerous Jets prospects benefiting from extended AHL playoffs.  While not the deepest team of prospects the Jets do have some good core players for the future.

Winnipeg Free Press:  He’s making a list…But Jets GM is checking his draft plan way more than twice.  Last year the Jets went off the board when they selected Mark Scheifele.  Will they go the conventional route this year?

TSN:  Off-season game plan.  An extremely in-depth look at the Jets roster and what sort of moves this team might be making for next season.  Hope IceCaps fans enjoyed Postma on The Rock this season because the Alberta native could be spending his next winter in Manitoba.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  IceCaps will need blockbuster effort against Admirals.  The Caps are about to face their biggest test of the year.

IceCaps official site:  Face to Face with Ray Sawada.  Brian Rogers talks to Ray Sawada just before the team leaves for Norfolk, VA for the start of the Eastern Conference Finals.

IceCaps official site:  Face to Face with Mark Morrison.  Brian Rogers catches up with IceCaps Assistant Coach Mark Morrison to talk about preparation for the Calder Cup Eastern Conference Finals against the Norfolk Admirals.

Stanley Cup news:

L.A. Times:  Kings take 2-0 series lead over Coyotes.  The Jeff Carter show last night was worth the price of admission as both he and Jonathan Quick gave the Kings a stranglehold on the series. 

Arizona Republic:  Coyotes routed by Kings in Game 2.  You cannot be that undisciplined and expect to win the game.  The Yotes were uncharacteristic in their penalty taking and as a result lost the game 4-0.  Here are some stats from NHL.com which doesn’t bode well for Coyotes fans;

Teams have trailed 2-0 in a best-of-seven series a total of 291 times and have come back to win the series on 37 occasions or just 12.7% of the time.

New York Daily News:  McDonagh is looking like a Blueshirt bargain.  Where would this team be if they still had Scott Gomez on the team?

Star-Ledger:  Devils also block shots but with a different philosophy than Rangers.  The Devils are going to have to pick it up in Game 2 if they want to head back to the Swamp with a split.

Jets news:

Winnipeg Sun:  Coyotes dreaming in Winnipeg.  Do you regret not getting the Coyotes?  Aside from the return of the Jets 1.0 history (and the fact that they’re in the 3rd round) do you wish Winnipeg had received Phoenix instead of Atlanta?  If the Yotes stay and when the Jets move to the West, I still think they will be the best rival for the Jets.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  Albert’s been a fast learner.  Love the reference to the old Canadian Tire commercial.  Also enjoy the fact that fans in St. John’s appear to be as inventive as those in Winnipeg with their chants.

VOCM:  IceCaps hit the road.  First two games of the 3rd round take place in Virginia.  Only good news for St. John’s is they have been an excellent road team this season.

Stanley Cup news:

New York Daily News:  Rangers could give the Devils the bye-five.   Way, way too early to start celebrating.  Ask the Flyers what happens when you take New Jersey lightly.

Star-Ledger:  Devils have narrow margin of error against Rangers.  The Rangers finished first in the East for a reason.  They are opportunistic and a team cannot afford to give them an inch.

L.A. Times: Kings determination was key in Game 1.  After both 1st games in each Conference, people are already imagining the impact of an L.A. vs. New York final.  The Kings will need to show a similar resolve in Game 2 if they hope to storm past the Coyotes.

Arizona Republic:  Loyalists still proudly howling after all these years.  You cannot question the loyalty of fans (number yes, loyalty no).  Every team has a core of hard core fans who will support the team through thick and thin.

Jets news:

Jets official site:  Plays of the Year – Round 2 Match-up 6.  Thorburn vs. Wheeler.  Gonna have to give it to Chris over Blake, as Wheeler is expected to score those type of highlight reel goals whereas it was a bit of a shocker to see Thorburn’s wheels.

Metro News:  Ticket policy should insult artists.  Here is a crazy concept, ban politicians from receiving any free tickets that would be provided by a public corporation.  Why should you be able to use $200 symphony tickets but not $200 Jets tickets?  Makes no sense.  And hopefully this is the last we discuss the ticket-gate scandal.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

Winnipeg Sun:  IceCaps out to sink Admirals.  While the IceCaps had a very successful inaugural season, Norfolk was redefining what the word success meant this past season.  They set a professional hockey league record with 28 straight wins during the regular season.  This series pits #1 against #2 in the East and should be a doozy.

VOCM:  St. John’s reaping benefits of IceCaps.  Much like the benefits downtown Winnipeg has seen, the Jets farm team is seeing a similar spike in the economics of the area surrounding Mile One arena.

The Virginian-Pilot:  Tickets on sale for Admirals’ third-round playoff series.  First two games in the Eastern Conference Finals take place in Virgina starting on Thursday.

Stanley Cup news:

L.A. Times:  Kings give Coyotes a winning view of their road show.  The Kings ruled the rink in Phoenix.  With the exception of Quick’s mistake on the Morris goal, Los Angeles showed no rust from their 8 day layoff.

Arizona Republic:  Coyotes have their work cut out after disheartening Game 1 loss.  Prior to Game 1, the Desert Dogs were relishing the role of underdogs.   With that moniker comes the reality that this is a heck of a good L.A. team they are facing.

New York Daily News:  Rangers-Devils could get ugly.  This is the type of Conference Finals that could eclipse the Stanley Cup Finals.   Whenever the two teams across the Hudson River from each other face off, the blood feud reunites.

Star-Ledger:  Even Martin Brodeur concedes Henrik Lundqvist is at the top now.  High praise might be quite the calculated move by one of the most accomplished goalies in the game, helping to put all the pressure on his younger counterpart.

Illegal Curve Hockey Replay:

Part 1:  Show opening, New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals game seven preview.  Game seven preview, St. John’s IceCaps discussion.  Interview with Josh Cooper of the Tennessean.  Interview with Bruce Dowbiggin of the Globe & Mail.  Phoenix Coyotes vs. Los Angeles Kings Western Conference Final preview.  Eastern Conference final preview.

Part 2:  Philadelphia Flyers post-mortem, Ilya Bryzgalov, James Van Riemsdyk.  St. Louis Blues post-mortem, Chris Stewart.  Interview with Bobby Holik of HolikOnHockey.com.  NHL News & Notes.  Rapid Fire.

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturdays on TSN Radio 1290 from 12pm-3pm.

Jets news:

Jets official site:  Plays of the Year – Round 2, Match-up 5.  Bryan Little against….Bryan Little.  While I admire the uniqueness of the 5 on 1 goal the Jets scored, the goal he scored against Boston is all him, so probably more impressive.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  IceCaps advance to conference final with Game 7 win.  While WBS gave St. John’s a good fight, but with the win, the Caps are getting a date with the other Eastern Conference titans, the Norfolk Admirals.

Scranton Times-Tribune:  WBS Penguins eliminated with 3-2 Game 7 defeat.  The Baby Penguins made it a lot closer of a series than was expected.

Illegal Curve Hockey Replay:

Part 1:  Show opening, New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals game seven preview.  Game seven preview, St. John’s IceCaps discussion.  Interview with Josh Cooper of the Tennessean.  Interview with Bruce Dowbiggin of the Globe & Mail.  Phoenix Coyotes vs. Los Angeles Kings Western Conference Final preview.  Eastern Conference final preview.

Part 2:  Philadelphia Flyers post-mortem, Ilya Bryzgalov, James Van Riemsdyk.  St. Louis Blues post-mortem, Chris Stewart.  Interview with Bobby Holik of HolikOnHockey.com.  NHL News & Notes.  Rapid Fire.

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturdays on TSN Radio 1290 from 12pm-3pm.

Stanley Cup news:

New York Daily News:  Rangers-Devils is game on, gloves off.  Let the animosity begin.  Interesting that both Conference Finals feature teams that faced each other 6 times during the regular season.

Star-Ledger:  Devils’ run through the playoffs lacking one common ingredient: the playoff beard.  What are your thoughts on playoff traditions such as the playoff beard?  Can they possibly help a team?

L.A. Times:  Kings and Coyotes have overcome a checkered past.  The two Pacific Division rivals finished extremely close during the regular season.  Many are picking the Kings to dominate this series.

Arizona Republic:  Coyotes still under the radar.  The role of underdog continues to be embraced by these Desert Dogs as they continue to chart their course through the 3rd round of the playoffs.

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show Recap – May 12, 2012

Starring: Drew Mindell as Host, Richard Pollock as analyst, Ezra Ginsburg as co-analyst and Michael Remis as operator of the R-Desk.

The Highlights

­-Capitals vs. Rangers game 7 preview

-Drew deleted Ezra off of BBM this week because of his annoying, repetitive messages during the workday.

-Phoenix Coyotes vs. Los Angeles Kings Western Conference

-Interviews with Josh Cooper of the Tennessean, Bruce Dowbiggin of the Globe & Mail and Bobby Holik former NHLer and of HolikonHockey.com

-Shot blocking has become an epidemic in hockey that needs to be stopped

Washington Capitals vs. New York Rangers Game 7 Preview

Required Reading: Roy McGregor of the Globe & Mail: Shot blocking renaissance gives rise to injury fears

Required Reading: Larry Brooks New York Post: Rangers out to score big win

Richard: Tonight’s game 7 matchup should be a dandy if you like shot blocking, if you want to watch real hockey and skill, this game won’t be aesthetically pleasing

Ezzy: These systems aren’t that different than Guy Boucher’s 1-3-1 and the “protest game” that occurred earlier this year between Philadelphia and Tampa Bay.

Ezzy: The fact that the Rangers can’t put away Ottawa or Washington, will not help them beat the Devils if they get into the next round

Richard: If they get into the Stanley Cup Final against LA, who’s played one game over the minimum, who do you think will be fresher in June?

Drew: It will be difficult for a team who’s played two consecutive seven game series to make it to, and win, the Stanley Cup

-The NBA is starting their 2^nd round series while the 1^st round is still ongoing, should the NHL begin this practice to reduce downtime?

-Fundamentally there is an issue where Ovechkin and Backstrom are playing the same amount of ice as Jay Beagle and Jason Chimera

Richard: John Tortorella has mismanaged the lineup and is going too defense heavy and not letting their scorers play in a scoring role.

Drew: There are a lot of skilled guys in the Rangers top six, it doesn’t make sense why they would play this style of hockey

Richard: On what team did Wayne Gretzky, Pavel Bure, Mark Messier, Eric Lindros play once every four shifts like Ovechkin is in this playoffs.

Drew: If I’m the opponent I want to see Ovechkin on the ice as little as possible, he almost scored from his knees last game!

Ezzy: The Rangers are walking on eggshells and they are trying to play their defense so well that they’ll win. In game 7 against Ottawa they played not to lose, and didn’t have the puck for most of the game.

Carl Hagelin’s points in the first round were a result of leeching off of the more skilled Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik, similar to how Ezzy leeches off of Richard and Drew on this show.

Richard: It will be some bounce off of some shin pad in a 2-1 or 3-2 game that wins it

St. John’s IceCaps game 7

-Robin Short of the St. John’s Telegram writes that Keith McCambridge is catching the eye of NHL head coaches

Required reading: St. John’s Telegram: McCambridge’s stay in St John’s could be brief

-With the organizational depth on defense, the Jets should look to trade some of it for offense this off-season

-Paul Postma has made some impressive defensive strides this season, Jets fans should expect to see him in the NHL next season.

Drew: It would be disappointing year for St. John’s if they lose in seven games after holding a 3-1 lead

Interview with Josh Cooper of the Tennessean

Required reading: Michael Farber of Sports Illustrated – The Russian Question

-Josh says he was not the one who tipped off Predators management that Radulov & Kostitsyn were out late at a Scottsdale bar, but says that sometimes reporters walk a fine line between being a member of the media and developing relationships with players and media.

-The curfew is more of “exercise your best judgment”, than a hard curfew. Kostitsyn and Radulov could have been in their hotel room, but up until 4am

-Josh says sitting them for the second game maybe wasn’t the smartest thing to do. This is the first time where Barry Trotz and David Poille can be second guessed because they were the favorites and had the talent to win the Stanley Cup.

-Doesn’t think that Radulov will go back to Russia, but if he does, we’ll know where his intentions are. From talking to Radulov, Cooper gets the sense that the Russian forward does want to play with the best players in the world. If he would come back, things may need to be smoothed out with him and Barry Trotz who may not see eye to eye.

-Ryan Suter is a pending UFA, Cooper is not sure if they are the favourite to sign him. The way the Radulov and Kostitsyn was handled, and the fact that the Predators were favourites and “choked” against Phoenix, it may alter his thinking (in terms of staying or going). He has earned the right to test the market, and he may check it out.

-David Poille said that Colin Wilson has to be more consistent, that has been the issue with him, he’s shown flashes of being a dominant power forward in the NHL, the issue is can he do that on a night to night basis.

-Ryan Suter and Shea Weber will be difficult to replace if necessary, management will have to step up and show that they want to continue building a winner in Nashville.

Interview with Bruce Dowbiggin of the Globe & Mail

-Ron MacLean sometimes tries too hard, he can appreciate what he was trying to say, but it came off wrong. This was a prepared piece; it’s not just Ron, but everyone at HNIC. It was kind of tasteless. This is the biggest show in the country that is held to the highest standard, which was not met this week.

-Nobody at CBC knows how to tell Bob Cole goodbye. Mark Lee and Kevin Weekes have been the number two team all year, and should be given a shot.

- The NHL is getting national exposure from NBC who uses their multiple channels to make all playoff games available. It has helped ratings, and there is a “coolness” factor of the NHL at the moment.

-The NHL has done well in ratings; the NBA has been average to mediocre at best. There hasn’t been a lot of snap, crackle & pop for the NBA on TV. But to say that the NHL is taking away viewers from that would be hard to say.

-The NHL has consciously staggered game times, taking a page from March Madness, it’s been a positive. Having three weekends in the first round, does stretch it out a bit, but the league wants their weekend ratings.

-The NHL thought about starting the Phoenix/LA series early, but doesn’t think the NHL will start the next round before the previous round ends. The playoffs are tough on the body and teams need their rest.

-TV executives look at advertising revenue and ratings first and foremost, in Canada we scrutinize the play of the game. In the NFL and NBA the stars are able to be stars, in hockey, it’s a bit backwards, people in Canada would rather see Jay Beagle or the unsung hero as the guy in the playoffs. Everyone likes the Cinderella once in a while, but these days’ coaches shut down stars and it’s very hard for an offensive star to do anything in the playoffs.

Required Reading: Eric Duhatschek of the Globe & Mail proposes a three in the key rule

Western Conference Final Preview

Ezzy: After the LA Kings defeated the number one and two seeds quite easily, it’s hard not to pick the LA Kings in at most five games. Richard is taking the Kings in six.

Phoenix has played a dysfunctional Chicago team, and a Nashville team who did not know how to deal with being the favourite, and the Radulov and Kostitsyn incident.

LA is clearly the more talented team in this series, they should be able to take advantage of a players Adrian Aucoin, Derek Morris and Dave Shlemko.

The Kings are big enough and strong enough to take advantage of a young Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Keith Yandle who are not that great defensively.

Richard: “Every time I consider taking Phoenix, I look at their roster…then I vomit.”

Watching the Phoenix game in Winnipeg this season was the equivalent to watch paint drying.

The Coyotes are not Stanley Cup material, in the same way George Costanza is not Penske material.

The New Jersey Devils

-The Devils ability to create offense with their star players is much different than Washington and New York who play their good players the same amount as their lower line players.

-While Marek Zidlicky may not be the greatest defensive defenseman, he is the offensive puck moving defenseman that the team needed.

-Patrik Elias and Zach Parise have been getting time on the penalty kill, which has been the best penalty kill in the league

-It doesn’t make sense not to play your best players in all situations, the idea you have to be a great shot blocker to succeed in this league on the penalty kill is absurd.

-Peter DeBoer and Dale Hunter hate each other going back to junior hockey. (DeBoer was previously with Oshawa)

Required Reading: NJ.com Devils’ Pete DeBoer and Washington Capitals’ coach Dale Hunter have history

Required Reading: Fire and Ice Deboer has more history with Hunter

Philadelphia Flyers

-Ilya Bryzgalov has a contract that is completely untradeable. The fact that he wasn’t very good, and demonstrated character issues that were present before, makes this contract even worse.

-Paul Holmgren commented that James Van Riemsdyk is never healthy; the boys speculated that he could/should be a trade target for the Jets.

-The Flyers showed that they won both of their offseason trades of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter getting Schenn, Simmonds, Couturier and Voracek. Combined with Claude Giroux, Danny Briere and Scott Hartnell, the future looks very bright in Philadelphia.

St. Louis Blues

-Having a healthy Jaroslav Halak would have made a difference in the series.

-St. Louis was not the same team against LA that they were versus San Jose.

-St. Louis didn’t have the scoring to make a deep playoff run.

-Chris Stewart was a disappointment this season.

-The Blues are pieces a way from a team that can make a deeper run in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Interview with Bobby Holik

-Marty Brodeur has a “tremendous competitiveness” that drives him to continue to play at an elite level. He doesn’t need to be spectacular, but has to make the saves to give the team a chance to win, he has been doing that.

-Larry Robinson is one of the most qualified people in hockey to be a head coach. He’s a difference maker in the Devils organization.

-Part of the reason that the Flyers lost to the Devils was because they didn’t respect them. The Flyers needed to change their attitude and their style of play but they did not make the necessary adjustments.

-A game seven is not “just another game”, there’s a lot of anticipation. As a player all you want to do is get on the ice and make something happen, hit, be hit, make a pass, take a shot, it will get you into “game mode” and make you forget about the pressure and anticipation. It is something that is learned as you go on.

-The ice at MSG has improved after renovations and improvements in technology, it shouldn’t be as much of a factor as people think it is. The Rangers are in a tough spot because nobody in the organization thought they would be in this position playing in two game sevens against lower ranked seeds. The Capitals will be more relaxed as the underdog.

-There are too much tinkering of the rules, the reason it comes down to shot blocking is because there are 30 teams, the talent is diluted and teams have to resort to collapsing around the net.

NHL News & Notes

-The Phoenix ownership situation…call us when the deal is signed

-No problem with Brian Burke asking Rick Dudley to wait until after the draft before he goes to Montreal

Rapid Fire

Deadspin: The drunken adventures of Patrick Kane

This is less surprising after reading these:

Dave Shoalts of the Globe & Mail: An uneasy peace in Chicago

CBC Sports: Elliotte Friedman’s 30 Thoughts

Illegal Curve Hockey Show – May 12, 2012 – Part 1

0:00 – Show opening, New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals game seven preview

14:34 – Game seven preview, St. John’s IceCaps discussion

25:32 – Interview with Josh Cooper of the Tennessean

39:37 – Interview with Bruce Dowbiggin of the Globe & Mail

52:53 – Phoenix Coyotes vs. Los Angeles Kings Western Conference Final preview

01:03:42 – Eastern Conference final preview

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturday’s from noon to 3pm on TSN Radio 1290.

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show – May 12, 2012 – Part 2

0:00 – Philadelphia Flyers post-mortem, Ilya Bryzgalov, James Van Riemsdyk

15:29 – St. Louis Blues post-mortem, Chris Stewart

22:27 – Interview with Bobby Holik of HolikOnHockey.com

37:15 – NHL News & Notes

50:42 – NHL News & Notes

56:38 – Rapid Fire

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturday’s from noon to 3pm on TSN Radio 1290.

Note:  Tune into the Illegal Curve Hockey Show from noon to 3 pm today on TSN Radio 1290.  Guests include Joshua Cooper (The Tennessean), Bruce Dowbiggin (Globe and Mail) and Bobby Holik (former NHL player).

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press:  Selinger ices free tickets.  Is anyone else already tired of this ‘scandal’?

Winnipeg Sun:  Jets fans set fire to Coyotes jersey. (video).  I don’t even know what to say.   While I may have understood this behaviour prior to May 2011, at this point Jets fans have a new ‘love’ in the Jets 2.0 and there is little value in being ‘hung up’ on our previous relationship.

National Post:  Evander Kane secures Canada’s comeback win over Finland.  Big win by Team Canada, with the game winner scored by the Jets young gun.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  Penguins beat IceCaps 4-2, force a Game 7.  The IceCaps have lost momentum and that is not good considering they will back in action tonight at Mile One Centre.

Stanley Cup news:

Washington Post:  Hunter here for the long haul?  Appears that Dale Hunter might be trading London, Ontario for Washington, D.C.

New York Daily News:  History at MSG gives Blueshirts a 7th sense.  Something tells me that these Capitals aren’t going to throw in the towel because the Rangers are 4-0 all-time in Game 7′s at MSG.

Other playoff news:

L.A. Times:  Mike Richards finds success away from Philadelphia.  An L.A. and Philly Stanley Cup final would have been quite incredible, but alas it was not to be.  As Jets fans saw, Richards is quite a force on the ice and should be really interesting to watch the Kenora native in the Conference Finals.

Arizona Republic:  Hockey finally gets moment in the sun.  The Desert Dogs are finally getting their time to shine, but the question remains if this is too little too late.

Star-Ledger:  Devils Pete DeBoer and Capitals coach Dale Hunter have history.  Who needs mutual admiration when you can be fuelled by hate, which seems to better describe the relationship between DeBoer and Tortorella.  Speaking of hatred of the Rangers, Martin Brodeur began hating the Blueshirts early in his career.

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturdays from 12pm-3pm on TSN Radio 1290.

Listeners from outside Winnipeg can listen online at at TSN.ca/Winnipeg.

Unable to listen live? The podcast will be available for download after the show on iTunes, or here at IllegalCurve.com. Search for the Illegal Curve Hockey Show on iTunes to subscribe.

For a list of past shows, visit IllegalCurve.com/Radio.

On tomorrow’s show, our guests will be.

- Joshua Cooper of the Tennessean
- Bruce Dowbiggin of the Globe & Mail
- Bobby Holik former NHLer and of HolikonHockey.com

Show topics will include:

- New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals game 7 preview
- Phoenix Coyotes vs. Los Angeles Kings Western Conference Final preview
- St. John’s IceCaps playoff update
- Philadelphia Flyers post-mortem
- St. Louis Blues post-mortem

As well as our regular segments, NHL News & Notes and Rapid Fire.

For the latest show updates, follow @IllegalCurve on Twitter or like our Facebook page.

Note:  Tune into the Illegal Curve Hockey Show from noon to 3 pm tomorrow on TSN Radio 1290.  Guests include Joshua Cooper (The Tennessean), Bruce Dowbiggin (Globe and Mail) and Bobby Holik (former NHL player).

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press:  Go oboes Go!  Jets tickets out, symphony ok.  The tickets should go into a pool for underprivileged kids, to give them an opportunity to see NHL hockey.  What are your thoughts on ticket-gate?

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  Trio gets high marks, but looks to contribute more.  The Caps are looking to close out the series tonight on The Rock, and they will need these 3 guys to be scoring, in addition to their strong defensive play, in order to finish off the Penguins.  Spencer Machacek needs to regain that scoring touch he showed when he was with the Jets (9 points in 13 games).

Citizens Voice:  Penguins insider.  Some news and notes from the Penguins off day in St. John’s yesterday.

Stanley Cup news:

Washington Post:  Heart and Soul of the Capitals.  He is the type of gritty players NHL coaches love to have in a long post season series.

New York Daily News: Rangers offense needs to step up for Lundqvist.  The guy has pretty much done everything asked of him, and if it isn’t too much of an imposition, he would like to see his teammates show up on Saturday night for Game 7.

L.A. Times:  Kings foursome knows what it takes to win Stanley Cup.  Even the guys who have yet to win a championship will bring a lot to the table for this upstart Kings team.

NHL.com:  NHL announces dates, start times for Games 1-2 of Conference Finals.  Cannot believe the 3rd round of the Stanley Cup is almost upon us.

Other NHL news:

St. Louis Post-Dispatch:  Stillman ready to lead Blues into future.  We spoke with Jeremey Rutherford back in April about the new ownership group (listen here) and it sounds like fans in St. Louis are going to have a lot to cheer for.

Orange County Register:  Ducks re-sign Boudreau to two-year extension.  The guy who perhaps had the shortest unemployed streak in NHL coaching history (under 48 hrs) is getting another chance to make his mark.  Biggest off season question for Anaheim is will Teemu be returning for another season?

Philadelphia Daily Inquirer:  Updates on Pronger, Jagr, Bryz et al.  Looks like Jagr might test free agency.  Wonder if the Pens will come calling?

Follow Friday:

Dave – @icdave – Co-editor of Illegalcurve.com and occasional contributor to IC Hockey Show on TSN Radio
Rich: @icrichy – Analyst of IC Hockey Show on TSN Radio. Co-editor at Illegalcurve.com
Ezra: @icezzyg – Analyst of IC Hockey Show on TSN Radio. Contributor at Illegalcurve.com
Drew: @icdrew – Host of IC Hockey Show on TSN Radio. Contributor at Illegalcurve.com
Remis: @mremis – Behind the scenes of the IC Hockey Show on TSN Radio. Contributor at Illegalcurve.com.
Kyle: @ickylek – Contributor at Illegalcurve.com

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press:  Hydro bought tickets to ‘support campaign’.  Now everyone is fully disclosing lest they be discovered covering this up.  The logic that they did this to “help get the Drive to 13,000 over the hump” is laughable.  What are your thoughts on public institutions purchasing Jets tickets?

Winnipeg Free Press:  City crackdown on Jets freebies.  So much drama associated with these ticket scandals.  Is this worth the effort?  Well maybe these ones would be…

The Economist:  Southern Discomfort.  Mostly talks about the lack of Stanley Cup success in Canada of late.  Also discusses the success the Thrashers have found in Manitoba.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  Putting home-ice advantage to the test.  St. John’s have been excellent at Mile One of late and with whiteout conditions expected again for Game 6, you can bet these Caps will be flying.

Scranton Times-Tribune:  Penguins headed back to St. John’s with new life.  Can these Baby Pens become the 18th team in AHL history to shake off a 3-1 deficit?

Wilkes Barre Times-Leader:  They couldn’t change the past, but influenced the present.  Not dwelling on the two previous OT losses was a good move by the Baby Penguins.  They won an important Double OT victory on Tuesday night and have forced Game 5 in St. John’s on Friday at 7:30 pm NDT (5 pm cst).

Stanley Cup news:

Washington Post:  Ovechkin scores as Capitals force Game 7 against Rangers.  When they needed #8 to step up and be the man he sure did.  Along with rookie goalie phenom Braden Holtby, who is helping these 7th seed Capitals win despite having no previous NHL playoff experience.

New York Daily News:  Capitals pop Rangers 2-1, force Game 7.  Looks like all the other teams are gonna get a little more rest as the Conference Finals are going to have to wait until after Game 7 between New York and Washington on Saturday night at MSG.

Non-playoff NHL news:

TSN:  Larry Robinson would be open to returning to Montreal.  Interesting possibility of seeing the former Habs star defenceman behind the bench.

Jets news:

Metro News:  Fans embrace ‘old Jets’ during historic playoff run.  I think the Metro found 3 guys in Winnipeg who happen to be cheering for the Coyotes.  Despite the fact that the bitterness is largely gone due to the return of the Jets 2.0, I just cannot see people cheering for the former Jets.  Am I wrong?  Are you cheering for them?  Indifferent?  Speak your mind.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Glendale needs help to keep Coyotes.  Sticking with talk of the Jets 1.0, Gary rightly suggests that fans in Arizona should be asked to put their money down to support this team that the council of Glendale and the 29 other NHL teams are paying for.

Jets official site:  Best of Blake Wheeler.  The Jets show off 17 of their favourite photos of the man known as @BiggieFunke on twitter.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Jets freebies unfair.  Are we really supposed to be shocked that these public employees are surprised that they were not doing the right thing by using tickets purchased with public money?

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  IceCaps coming home to finish off Penguins.  Heading back to St. John’s where they hope whiteout conditions will contribute to them finishing off these Penguins.

The Telegram:  IceCaps lose Game 5 in overtime.  It was the third straight game in this series that these two teams went to OT.  Listening to IceCaps radio it sure sounded like St. John’s carried the play but the Baby Penguins got a good break in the 2nd OT and pulled off the victory.

Stanley Cup news:

Washington Post:  Capitals look to skate another day.  The Caps know they cannot dwell on their Game 5 mistakes, but instead need to stay focused on tonight’s tilt with New York.  Will Washington be able to extend this to 7 games?

New York Daily News:  Tortorella will not ease up on Blueshirts heading into Game 6.  This series has been too close to be self-congratulating with this much hockey left to play.  Rangers cannot afford to take their foot off the gas or these cagey Capitals will be sending the series back to MSG.

Star-Ledger:  Devils beat Flyers 3-1, advance to Eastern Conference Final.  Not many predicted this and even less would have done so in just 5 games.  Even Ezra, the lone IC prognosticator to pick the Devils, chose them in 7 games.  The Devils played a great series and deserved the win.

Philadelphia Daily Inquirer:  Bryzgalov flubs, Flyers fall.  Remember when he was in Winnipeg and said he liked it here because fans chanted “Ilya, Ilya”?  Something tells me the fans in Philly were chanting his name last night but once again, not for the right reasons.

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press:  New documents show Winnipeg Jets tickets given to liquor executives.  That’s always nice to see.  Anyone shocked that this program is being abused?

National Post:  Some hope left for NHL in Canada.  Always good for a laugh, Sean McIndoe from Down Goes Brown, brings hope to fans of NHL teams in Canada.  Don’t think fans in the Peg’ are going to be returning this team anytime soon.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  Fourth was tough, fifth will be tougher.  While they might have a stranglehold on the series, you cannot take any team too lightly in the playoffs.

Stanley Cup news:

Star-Ledger:  Ryan Carter jokes about playoff mustache and food poisoning.  When you are up 3-1 in a series, you need to keep loose and the Devils appear to have no problems accomplishing this.

Philadelphia Daily Inquirer:  Paying for Giroux’s mistake.  Losing arguably their best player, the Flyers have a tall mountain to climb in order to come back against New Jersey.

Last night’s action:

Arizona Republic:  Coyotes defeat Nashville, advance to 3rd round.  Left for dead by everyone, the little team that couldn’t appears to be overcoming all the off-ice obstacles and mowing down their opponents. Next up a Conference Finals date with the Kings.

New York Daily News:  Rangers looking like Big Blue.  Seven seconds away from being down 3-2, but instead they tie it and win in OT.  Is this Rangers team a team of destiny?

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs from noon to 3pm on TSN Radio 1290 in Winnipeg. The following interview is transcribed and paraphrased from the latest episode, available directly at IllegalCurve.com. Alternatively, you can subscribe on iTunes and have the podcast automatically sent to you as soon as it becomes available.

On Saturday’s show FS Arizona colour analyst Tyson Nash phoned in to discuss the Phoenix Coyotes playoff push, and their second round series against the Nashville Predators..

On possible discipline on Rusty Klesla for his hit on Matt Halischuk:

“No I don’t think so, I think there’s definitely been a lot worse out there. Rusty’s not a dirty guy by any means, he’s a physical player, he finishes every check. He’s not a dirty player, there was no intent on that play, there has been very little talk of Rusy Klesla’s hit.”

(Editors note: It was announced later that afternoon that Klesla would be suspended for one game for the hit.)

On the play of defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson:

“He has flown under the radar for a long time. All year there hasn’t been a lot of attention on Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The kid’s 20 years old, we’ve seen game in and game out, he’s unbelievable; he’s one of the great stories in the National Hockey League. He was in the American Hockey League last year, he was a healthy scratch, in and out of the lineup. Now, with the last 25 games of the regular season and in the playoffs he’s been probably the most consistent and offensive defenseman, that says a lot when you have guys like Klesla and Keith Yandle.”

On the emergence of Mikkel Boedker:

“He’s finally figuring it out, he can use his skill and his speed which is his best asset by far. I think he was intimidated for the longest time. He’s a big guy, he’s not tall, but he is so thick and probably has the biggest legs I’ve ever seen. He’s real tough to move off the puck. He’s now using those strengths to his advantage.”

On the effect goalie coach Sean Burke has had on Mike Smith:

“Sean Burke has really instilled a different mindset for Mike who’s a real aggressive type goalie, he’s big, very athletic, probably the best athlete on the team. Sean Burke has changed his approach, and his style, and now he’s not going after puck. He’s being very patient, which is very hard to do when you’re an aggressive athletic goalie, you think you have to flop around and be more like Pekka Rinne. But in fact, he’s the opposite, he stays way back in his net, he lets pucks come to him and relies on his talent and his instincts and sucks up all of those rebounds. That’s probably his biggest strength other than his ability to play the puck, is his rebound control, if there ever are any.”

On the handling of the Raffi Torres suspension:

“I think it was a little bit excessive if you want to know the truth. 25 games, I get it, it’s more about Raffi Torres than it Is about the hit itself. If I go out there, or if you go out there and you make the same hit tonight, you’re not going to get 25 games for it. It’s all about Raffi Torres and his past history. 25 games I thought was pretty excessive, but the NHL is about sending a powerful message and I think the players heard it.

The entire interview is available here at Illegal Curve, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturdays from noon to 3pm on TSN Radio 1290

Jets news:

Jets official site:  Plays of the Year – Round 1, Match-Up 14.  Oduya vs. Pavelec.  Gonna have to give the edge to the former Jets player in this head-to-head.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  Caps have Penguins on the ropes.  The Caps gave up 2 goals on the Baby Pens first two shots of the game, but managed to come back and take a 3-1 stranglehold on the series.  Game 5 goes Tuesday night.

The Telegram:  Maxwell gives IceCaps another OT win.  These Caps thrive on OT, although last night’s victory was just 27 seconds into overtime.

Illegal Curve Hockey Replay:

Part 1:  Friday night recap (Phoenix @ Nashville), discussion of on-going games (Rangers @ Capitals, USA vs. Canada).  Series discussion: New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals.  Series discussion: Philadelphia Flyers vs. New Jersey Devils.  Montreal Canadiens hire Marc Bergevin as new General Manager.  Interview with Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette.  Interview with Paul Edmonds, play-by-play voice of the Winnipeg Goldeyes.

Part 2:  Series discussion: Nashville Predators vs. Phoenix Coyotes.  Series discussion: Los Angeles Kings vs. St Louis Blues.  Interview with Tyson Nash color analyst for the Phoenix Coyotes on FS Arizona.  NHL News & Notes.  Rapid Fire, Cheers & Jeers.

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturdays on TSN Radio 1290 from 12pm-3pm.

Stanley Cup news:

Washington Post:  Capitals make their own breaks.  This appears to be the grittiest squad the Capitals have iced in years.  Will that be enough to get them past the first place Rangers?

New York Daily News:  Rangers aim to fire away in Game 5.  This game could define the rest of the post season.  A decisive victory could send a message to the rest of the NHL.  A loss and the Rangers would be on the brink of elimination against the 7th seeded Capitals.

The Tennessean:  Preds face daunting take to salvage series.  Can the Preds overcome one of the most difficult deficits in hockey?  Nashville got lucky in one regard though, as the Coyotes history isn’t one that demonstrates that holding onto 3-1 series is easy.

Arizona Republic:  Coyotes remaining poised with series clincher at hand.  The team nobody picked or expected to have significant post season success continues to defy the odds and the experts.  Coach Tippett has his group not looking too far ahead and that grounding in the present has served this team well.  They will be without the services of Rusty Klesla for game 5 as he was suspended for his hit on the Predators Matt Halischuk in Game 4.

Yesterday’s Games:

L.A. Times:  Kings sweep their way into Conference Finals.  The last time Los Angeles was in the Conference Finals they were being led by a guy named Gretzky and their team resembled a re-born Oilers team (Kurri, McSorley, Huddy) back in 1992-93.  Nineteen years later they have an exciting crop of young upstart players who have dethroned the 1st place Canucks and now the 2nd place Blues.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch:  LA series doesn’t wipe out Blues’ accomplishments.  With the exception of Arnott and Langenbrunner, this was a pretty playoff inexperienced St. Louis team.  I’m sure coach Hitchcock will take this experience as a teachable moment when he is preparing his team next year.

Star-Ledger:  Devils’ Marek Zidlicky proving to be valuable midseason acquisition.  Always interesting to see how players who request a trade settle into their new teams.  In this instance it is working out very well for the Devils who now find themselves up 3-1 over the Flyers.

Philadelphia Daily-Inquirer:  Flyers hopes appear to be dimming.  As someone who picked the Flyers to make the Cup finals before the season began, it appears highly unlikely at this point.  For whatever reason this team just cannot solve the Devils the way they were able to handle the Penguins.  Instead it has been New Jersey which has controlled things through 4 games and now the Flyers are on the brink of elimination, down 3 games to 1.

Illegal Curve Hockey Show – May 5, 2012 – Part 1

0:00 – Friday night recap (Phoenix @ Nashville), discussion of on-going games (Rangers @ Capitals, USA vs. Canada)

14:21 – Series discussion: New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals

27:09 – Series discussion: Philadelphia Flyers vs. New Jersey Devils

38:58 – Montreal Canadiens hire Marc Bergevin as new General Manager

49:58 – Interview with Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette

1:03:46 – Interview with Paul Edmonds, play-by-play voice of the Winnipeg Goldeyes

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturdays from noon to 3pm on TSN 1290.

Illegal Curve Hockey Show – May 5, 2012 – Part 2

0:00 – Series discussion: Nashville Predators vs. Phoenix Coyotes

12:01 – Series discussion: Los Angeles Kings vs. St Louis Blues

22:45 – Interview with Tyson Nash color analyst for the Phoenix Coyotes on FS Arizona

34:22 – NHL News & Notes

46:13 – NHL News & Notes

59:00 – Rapid Fire, Cheers & Jeers

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturdays from noon to 3pm on TSN 1290.

Jets news:

New York Times:  U.S. defeats Canada in World Championships.  Jim Slater again got things started for the Americans and Evander Kane scored an unassisted goal for Team Canada.  First U.S. victory over Canada since 2001.  Here is the boxscore.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  Pasquale’s one cool IceCaps.  You could sense even back in training camp he was a cool customer.  The young rookie netminder has forced many to take notice of his play this season.

The Telegram:  Trotter, Pasquale lead IceCaps to OT victory.  St. John’s general manager Craig Heisinger is looking pretty, pretty, pretty good for his acquisition of an injured Brock Trotter back in March.  Trotter has 4 of the 6 goals for the IceCaps in their 2nd Round series with the Baby Penguins.

Stanley Cup news:

St. Louis Post-Dispatch:  Blues face daunting odds against Kings.  The odds are against the team from Missouri but coach Ken Hitchcock will have his troops ready for Game 4.

L.A. Times:  Kings have a chance to make history.  Is this a team of destiny?  Will we see another 8th seed in the Stanley Cup Finals?

Philadelphia Daily Inquirer:  Underdog mentality may help Flyers.  As good as Philly was in Round 1, they have been lacking in the 2nd Round.  They need a big attitude adjustment to take back control from a very determined Devils team.

Star-Ledger:  Devils hold an optional skate; Martin Brodeur turns 40.  Always impressive when your veteran goalie shows up for the optional skate.  Young guys could learn from his worth ethic.  Says he still has years to play.

Note:  Tune into a  live and on location version of the Illegal Curve Hockey Show on TSN Radio 1290 coming to you live from Shaw Park in downtown Winnipeg as the Winnipeg Goldeyes have their Open House for fans.  Guests include Pat Hickey (Montreal Gazette) and Tyson Nash (Coyotes radio colour analyst).

Jets news:

No news yet.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  Macenauer and Redmond draw into lineup.  Looks like coach McCambridge is not taking a chance for his club getting complacent.

The Telegram:  McCambridge’s stay in St. John’s could be brief.  Many eyes have been on the Brandon, Manitoba native as he led the IceCaps to 2nd place in the Eastern conference.  There has been talk all season long about his possible move to the NHL but this has increased of late.

Stanley Cup news:

Washington Post:  A series of problems for Caps.  The risk/reward of playing smothering defence, is that the offense that you need appears to have been shelved.  Guys like Ovechkin, Backstrom and Semin need to show up on the score sheet if this team has any hope of knocking off the first place Rangers.

New York Daily News: Rangers are young, healthy and hungry for Stanley Cup.  One of the keys to a successful Stanley Cup run is avoiding the injury bug and the Blueshirts have done that extremely well so far in this post season.

Last night’s playoff action:

Arizona Republic:  Coyotes hold off Predators for 1-0 Game 4 win.  How many people picked a Phoenix and L.A. Western Conference Final?  While the fat lady is not yet singing both teams are on the precipice of the 3rd Round.  The Coyotes took a stranglehold (although with this franchises history perhaps not a good term) last night holding on for the 1-0 win.  Once again Mike Smith led them to victory.

Arizona Republic:  Embarrassment never ends for city of Glendale.  Just when it looked like the Coyotes could finally be that ‘feel good’ story, the city causes more problems, this time with the NFL.

The Tennessean:  Preds desperately needs duo back for Game 5.  The Preds organization needs Alexander Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn to get back and hope that the two game absence from the ice has improved their attitude.

Jets news:

Note:  For all those with Bogoian jerseys, you might want to run out and buy another 4, as he is switching numbers from 4 to 44 as per his tweet.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Get your Jets fix at Worlds.  There are 3 Jets playing in the tournament this year.  Do you plan on watching?  Does the fact that there are Jets players on the team increase your interest?

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  Peppered Pasquale proving his worth.  He has faced a significant number of shots (approximately 40 more than the next closest goalie), which is a lot considering the Caps 1st round series only went 4 games.  However the 21 year old from Toronto is proving his worth, not just to the brass in St. John’s, but to the team back in Winnipeg as well.

Stanley Cup news:

Star-Ledger:  Devils best Flyers in overtime, 4-3, to take 2-1 series as Ilya Kovalchuk returns.  The Flyers carried most of the play in the 3rd period and OT, but the Devils prevailed on a nice pass from the newly returned 100 million dollar Kovalchuk.

Philadelphia Daily Inquirer:  Flyers fall in overtime, trail in series.  The Flyers looked like the team that was going to win but when they were unsuccessful on their two OT powerplays, you got the impression that the Devils had a chance to take the victory.

Philadelphia Daily News:  Flyers ratings double Phils + 76ers.  That’s why the NHL would be ecstatic for a Flyers and Kings tilt.

L.A. Times:  Kings Game 3 victory rewards fans.  About the only disappointing thing from last night’s game was the fact that the Kings wore their slick looking black jerseys and not the awesome yellow and purple.  Fans in La La land can breathe easier as their team took a stranglehold on the Conference semi-final series.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch:  Blues on brink of elimination.  Everyone who predicted this series would be 3-0 (for either team) raise your hand?

The Tennessean:  Predators get extra edge from Tootoo.  His hunger to get back into the game was apparent to anyone who watched the Preds 2-0 victory over the Coyotes.

Arizona Republic:  Coyotes aim to get back on track.  They slipped last game making a number of costly mistakes that ended up in the back of the net.  Can coach Tippett get his players back to playing mistake free hockey?  We will see tonight how well they respond.

Jets news:

Winnipeg Free Press:  Slater named an assistant captain for Team USA.  Nice honour for the hard nosed fan favourite on the GST line.

Jets official site:  Plays of the Year – Round 1, Match-up 11.  Antro vs. Thorburn and both plays against the Sabres.  Antro has some nice foot to stick action but have to give the edge to Thorburn’s slick moves around the D and Ryan Miller.  Here is Chris talking about his slick goal from that night, including when we told him he was trending on twitter and his response to that.

Ottawa Sun:  Bergevin has plenty of work to do.  Looks like the Jets assistant coach could be getting a phone call about the coaching vacancy in Montreal.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The AHL.com:  AHL action on SiriusXM this weekend.  Tune into the action on Saturday as you can listen to your IceCaps on satellite radio.

The Telegram:  Opportunity wasted.  Before planning their strategy for Norfolk in a clash to titans Eastern Conference Finals, the Caps do have to figure out a way how they can get past a pretty solid Penguins team which finished the regular season with 1 less point than St. John’s.

The Telegram:  Penguins defeat IceCaps 3-1.  The IceCaps played the exact opposite of how they played in Game 1 and the result was a loss to the Penguins.  Now they head to Pennsylvania tied 1-1 with Game 3 going Saturday.  Interesting note:  The 50/50 payout was $20,400.00.

Scranton Times-Tribune:  Baby Pens even series.  They break down last night’s game by the numbers.

Stanley Cup News:

Philadelphia Daily Inquirer:  Jagr sticks with his faith.  A really in-depth article on the extremely talented Jagr, which provides readers a bit more insight into the man.

Star-Ledger:  Travis Zajac’s season almost ended early but now he is Devils leading scorer.  The Winnipeg native suffered through some disappointment this season in his recovery from an Achilles injury, including missing both Devils games at the MTS Centre.  He hasn’t disappointed in his return though, leading the Devils in the post-season.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch:  Elliot is the key for Blues in series.  The ability to rely on a goalie tandem is handcuffed with Halak out for the 2nd Round.  This meas that St. Louis is going to have to ride Brian Elliot, as they will likely not go to Jake Allen who has yet to start an NHL game.

L.A. Times:  After down season, things are looking up for Dustin Penner.  The Winkler, Manitoba product is producing at levels that are more in keeping with his talent level.  Can he maintain this pace?

Illegal Curve:  Stanley Cup Nightly Recap.  If you missed anything from last night’s action, we have you covered.

Playoff news:

The Tennessean:  Predators beat Coyotes 2-0.  Could be one of the important wins of coach Barry Trotz’s career.  He took a big risk suspending two of his better players but the Preds banded together and won a gritty game against Phoenix.

Arizona Republic:  Coyotes are shut out in Game 3.  Limiting mistakes is what has the Coyotes ahead in this series and if they want to continue to lead, they will need to minimize these errors.

New York Daily News:  Gaborik scores in 3OT to give Blueshirts 2-1 win.  The Blueshirts prevailed in a game that neither team seemed to want to win in the first two OT’s.

Washington Post:  Capitals succumb in third overtime.  The Capitals continued their OT futility.  In the team’s history, they have never won in the 3rd round (0/3 after last night) and 4th round (0/2).

CBC:  5 NHL stories, including the D.C. marathon.  Some of the story lines from this evening.

Jets news:

CBC:  5 sources of hearing damage.  Boasting that the MTS Centre is the loudest in the NHL comes at a physical cost as it can have a serious impact on your hearing.  Be sure to remind your friend of that when he/she brags that they went to all the home games last season and as a reason why he/she should give you some tickets.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Further proof TV rots minds.  Ed takes a look at some playoff action and comes up with some thoughts as well as questions for his readers.  His Jets related pondering takes into account the play of IceCaps rookie Eddie Pasquale and how that might impact the Jets decision to offer veteran Chris Mason a contract for next season.

NHL.com:  Americans top Swedes 3-2, Canada doubles up Switzerland 4-2 in Worlds.  Jim Slater scored the first goal early in the contest and Andrew Ladd and Evander Kane worked well together on a line, as Kane set up Ladd for the 2nd goal of the game.

Jets official site:  Behind the Scenes – Athletic Therapy.  Missed this article from yesterday giving you a behind the scenes peek at the Jets athletic therapy crew.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  Trotter scores twice, IceCaps down Penguins.  The Brandon, Manitoba product led his team to victory last night as they improved to 3-0 in front of the Whiteout wearing Mile One home crowd in these playoffs.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:  Baby Penguins lose Game 1.  The Pens got out to a 1 goal lead, but were unable to maintain control of the game and were dropped by the Caps.

Stanley Cup news:

New York Daily News:  Approaching Rangers’ Game 3, Torts get short.  I’m not sure why he even bothers doing pre or post game interviews.  When you see what the New York media has to go through to get quotes from the coach, you sure have to give them respect if they can get anything noteworthy.

Washington Post:  Capitals seek to stick to their plan.  Will the Dale Hunter game plan still bring some magic?

Arizona News:  Coyotes look to take stranglehold on series.  Coach Tippett has this team running like a well oiled machine.  Will they be able to maintain this dominance or will the Preds regain the form many expected them to have at the start of this series?

The Tennessean:  Predators never hesitate in difficult decisions.  Shows a certain level of confidence in your organization, that you can suspend 2 players when down 2 games in the 2nd round of the playoffs.

Star-Ledger:  Without Ilya Kovalchuk, the Devils are going to need David Clarkson’s grit more than ever.  The Devils sure didn’t look like they were missing a 100 million dollar player last night.

Philadelphia Daily Inquirer:  Bryzgalov stands tall, then shrinks.  Appears the Flyers decided to take the night off after scoring the first goal of the night.

Jets news:

Jets official site:  Plays of the Year – Round 1, Match-Up 9.  While Little’s actual goal isn’t as nice as Antropov’s, it has a name (5 on 1) and that has to count for something.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Burmi not going to Russia….St. John’s maybe.  An interesting proposition.  The young gun from Kazan has skills but the rush to the NHL has cost him some of his needed development.  After 2 years in the NHL, a drop to the AHL could be misinterpreted and do as much harm as good to the young prospect.  The most important skill he can develop over the summer is a thicker skin, so when he needs some coaching/criticism, he takes it constructively and not as a personal attack.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  IceCaps fans ‘take over’.  Described as a ‘mini-Winnipeg’ the fans in St. John’s are showing the AHL what they’ve missed since hockey packed up and left the East coast.  Gotta love that they’re 50/50 dwarfs what some NHL teams are able to accomplish.  Perhaps we should start doing an IC 50/50 contest for IceCaps games!

The Telegram:  IceCaps D get an A-1 rating.  Some of these names fans will recognize from their time with the Jets.  These players have given St. John’s an edge all season long and now that they have them together as a collective unit, the IceCaps have a big advantage over most teams.

Winnipeg Free Press:  St. John’s coach a big fan of junior call-up Scheifele.  Good to hear that the Jets prospect is finding success at the AHL level.  Especially given the fact that he went from the frying pan of Jr. playoffs to the fire of the AHL post season.

Winnipeg Free Press:  IceCaps eyeing Calder Cup.  The Caps would be well served to focus on their Round 2 opponent in the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, but the biggest challenge will be fellow Eastern rival Norfolk Admirals who went on the most impressive AHL run in history, winning 28 straight games.  If both teams are successful in their 2nd round match-ups, they would meet in a titanic Eastern Conference Finals.

Stanley Cup news:

Star-Ledger:  Would you tweak roster, lines for Game 2?  Whenever a team suffers a loss, whether it is close or not, it causes a fanbase to take some time for serious reflection.

Philadelphia Inquirer:  Flyers keep showing up.  Lots of talk of the steady improvement of a name Jets fans are familiar with, Wellwood.  Except in this case it is the Winnipeg Jets Kyle Wellwood’s younger brother Eric, who has drawn a lot of praise for his play in the post season.  In the Jets end of season interviews, we asked Kyle if he would be cheering on the Flyers during the playoffs and his answer should come as no surprise.

Illegal Curve:  Stanley Cup Nightly recap.  If you missed any of the action from last night we have you covered.

Playoff news:

Washington Post:  Ovechkin helps Capitals get even with Rangers.  Washington coach Dale Hunter is trying some unorthodox tactics to awake Alexander the Great but it sure seems to have Ovi fired up.  The Post has more on how Ovechkin’s ice time is an “Elephant in the Room“.

New York Times:  Ovechkin and Capitals take advantage to tie series.  These Capitals sure are not playing a brand of hockey we are used to seeing from the usually offense first Washington squad.

St. Louis Post- Dispatch:  Blues poor 1st period costly in loss to Kings.  The difference maker has been the superb play of Kings tender’ Jonathan Quick.  He has been simply sensational and Blues coach Hitchcock is going to have to do something quickly to get his team out of the 0-2 hole they find themselves in.

TSN:  Kings defeat Blues, take 2-0 series lead.  Heading back to California with a 2-0 series lead has to have these Kings feeling pretty, pretty, pretty good.

Other Cup news:

Globe and Mail:  Canada’s team -  How about the Phoenix Coyotes?  Do you care about which team has the most Canadian players?  Last season the Canucks were “Canada’s team” yet Philadelphia had more Canadian content than Vancouver.  I suspect many in Manitoba still will not be able to stomach cheering for the Coyotes although I could be wrong.

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs from noon to 3pm on TSN Radio 1290 in Winnipeg. The following interview is transcribed and paraphrased from the latest episode, available directly at IllegalCurve.com. Alternatively, you can subscribe on iTunes and have the podcast automatically sent to you as soon as it becomes available.

On Saturday’s show St. John’s IceCaps Head Coach phoned in to discuss the IceCaps season thus far, and their first round series victory against the Syracuse Crunch.

On the first round series vs. Syracuse:

“It was exciting for the city obviously, for the players also. This team has been a team that down the stretch we added in some injured guys, added in some guys through trade. We really didn’t get our group together until the last three games of the regular season. It’s a matter of really pushing along the group here, making sure they become as familiar as possible with each other.”

“In the two games in Syracuse, I felt that we were better in the second game than our first, although we didn’t get the results we wanted in the second. As the series went on you really get the sense the group starting to get that identity that you need at this type of year.”

On the play of Derek Meech who scored the series clinching overtime winner:

“After losing Mark Flood early in November, we had a void on the back end. Any time you lose a player like Mark Flood it’s a big hole to fill. Having the addition of Derek Meech back here for the playoff push has been a very huge benefit to this team. (From watching) his poise on the back end, his leadership on the ice and in the room you can tell he’s played in some high pressure games, you can tell that he comes from the National Hockey league environment where he knows what it takes to win at this time of year. His game is one that is growing every single game; he’s been one of our best players and not the best.”

On the play of Patrice Cormier and Spencer Machacek after spending some time in Winnipeg:

“I thought they had a bit more speed after having a chance to play that game in Winnipeg at the NHL level. I thought their process in the game was quicker and their skating was a couple steps quicker than before they left. They have that added benefit coming back where you can sense more confidence in their game, the ability and confidence to make plays in certain areas. Any time those guys get that chance to go to Winnipeg, play in some key situations and just get a couple minutes here and there, they definitely come back with a little more belief and jump in their step.”

On the next opponent the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins

“Wilkes-Barre has good goaltending, they have some big bodied defenseman that defend really well. They play at a fast pace, the games we played during the regular season have all been real strong games between both clubs. It will make for a real good second round.”

On Mark Scheifele’s performance

“I liked his games; I thought last night he was really good for us. The first game he was strong, as the game wore on he got better and better. I thought last night he made some really good plays. He plays a regular shift with (Marco) Rosa and Carl Klingberg. I like his poise with the puck, I like the awareness he has regarding where his wingers are going to be on the ice. Some definite real good skills out of him, he’s a real good kid, he comes to work every day, he’s professional, he puts in all the extra time on the ice before and after practice and just enjoyed playing.”

On Paul Postma’s play this season and in the first round series:

“At the beginning of the year, the offensive side to Paul’s game was always there, his reads on when to jump in the rush, his ability to get the puck to the net, he possesses a really good shot, that part of his game blossomed even more.

Defensively, he’s been a lot better, when before you might have to make sure in different situations at different parts of the games on the defensive side he’s now out in key minutes of the game when you are defending with a lead. He battles in front of the net, he’s a big man, and he’s gotten stronger. The defensive side which really needed to develop has definitely made some huge strides this year. For a guy who played two of the last three after being off for four weeks with an injury his game has definitely grown here too, it’s gotten stronger and stronger through the first round.”

The entire interview is available here at Illegal Curve, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturdays from noon to 3pm on TSN Radio 1290

Jets news:

Edmonton Journal:  KHL team offers a contract to Alexander Burmistrov.  The web has been abuzz with this rumour for awhile.  Lots of speculation as to whether it is an attempt to poach him or just extend his KHL contract. Update: The response from the Winnipeg Jets regarding the Burmistrov/KHL article, is that “we won’t be making any comment on stuff like that”.  

Winnipeg Free Press & Winnipeg Sun both have updates on the Burmistrov story.  Free Press has a quote from NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly and the Sun spoke with Burmistrov’s agent.

Jets official site:  Plays of the Year – Round 1, Match-Up 7.  Kane vs. Pavelec in today’s latest contest.  Gonna have to go with the tender on this one, as Kane’s is nice simply because Wheeler does 99% of the work.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  IceCaps turn their focus to Penguins.  I didn’t even think of all the cliche headlines this series (Penguins vs. IceCaps) will provide for writers.  Focusing on the hockey, these two squads should provide some entertaining 2nd round action.

Citizens Voice:  Pens have a date with IceCaps.  Both teams were statistically similar during the regular season.

Stanley Cup news:

Washington Post:  Ovechkin on ‘bad decisions’ and being better.  The team has gotten away from living or dying based solely on the play of their captain, but that doesn’t yet diminish the need for him to get on track, if this team is hoping to even their series with New York.

New York Daily News:  Youth serves Rangers well in playoffs.  Everyone is talking about the Flyers youth movement, but the Blueshirts from Broadway are themselves being helped by a number of young guns.

L.A. Times:  Slava Yoynov helps Kings to get going.  If you haven’t paid attention to what is happening with the team of upstarts on the West coast, read Helene Elliott’s always informative articles.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch:  Hitchcock tinkers with his offense.  Expect a better Blues team tonight then the one we saw in Game 1.    You will also see a different looking team as defenceman Alex Pietrangelo is injured.

Arizona Republic:  Coyotes take 2-0 series lead.  Anyone who expected this after two games please raise your hand.  Everytime the Preds came back in last night’s contest, the Coyotes had an answer.  If they can get a split in Nashville, the 3rd round is looking like a distinct possibility.

Globe and Mail:  Flyers nip Devils in OT to take Game 1.  This might end up being the closest series in the 2nd round.  The Flyers showed a bit of ‘layoff’ rust but were able to overcome this and win it in OT.

Illegal Curve Hockey Replay:

Part 1:  Show intro, recap of Friday night, recap of first round predictions.  Interview with Neil Greenberg of the Washington Post & ESPN.  New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals series preview.  Vancouver Canucks postmortem.  Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins postmortem.  Interview with Keith McCambridge, Head Coach of the St. John’s IceCaps.

Part 2:  San Jose Sharks, Detroit Red Wings postmortem.  Los Angeles Kings vs. St. Louis Blues series preview.  Interview with Jim Fox colour analyst for the LA Kings (FSN West).  New Jersey Devils vs. Philadelphia Flyers series preview.  Interview with Matt Laughlin play-by-play voice of the New Jersey Devils on WFAN.  Rapid Fire, Cheers & Jeers.

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturdays on TSN Radio 1290 from 12pm-3pm.

Jets news:

Jets official site:  Plays of the Year – Round 1, Match-Up 6.  Wellwood vs. Pavelec.   I suspect neither of those will make it out of the 2nd Round.

Photo via Winnipeg Jets official site

Jets official site:  Paws’itive impact.  We often talk about the positive economic impact that the return of the Jets 2.0 has had in our community, but it clearly goes deeper than that.  This is but one example of the players finding a worthwhile local cause to throw their support behind and as is discussed in the article, the benefits of this relationship will be felt by this charity for years.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  IceCaps will face Penguins in second-round series.  The Caps had a 2-1-1 record against their Conference semi-final foe this season.

Winnipeg Sun:  IceCaps finding their form.  This team is pulling together just at the right time and is looking like they could go on a long post season run.

Illegal Curve Hockey Replay:

Part 1:  Show intro, recap of Friday night, recap of first round predictions.  Interview with Neil Greenberg of the Washington Post & ESPN.  New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals series preview.  Vancouver Canucks postmortem.  Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins postmortem.  Interview with Keith McCambridge, Head Coach of the St. John’s IceCaps.

Part 2:  San Jose Sharks, Detroit Red Wings postmortem.  Los Angeles Kings vs. St. Louis Blues series preview.  Interview with Jim Fox colour analyst for the LA Kings (FSN West).  New Jersey Devils vs. Philadelphia Flyers series preview.  Interview with Matt Laughlin play-by-play voice of the New Jersey Devils on WFAN.  Rapid Fire, Cheers & Jeers.

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs Saturdays on TSN Radio 1290 from 12pm-3pm.

Stanley Cup news:

Philadelphia Daily News:  Flyers think rest will trump momentum.  Someone must have forgotten to pass that memo along to the Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues.

Star-Ledger:  Devils know it’s about to get rough against Flyers.  Should be a really interesting Game 1 today in Philly.

The Tennessean:  Profit eludes Predators despite on-ice success, public money.  When the Jets reference copying the Predators model for success, thankfully for Winnipeg fans, they are referring simply to the development of prospects.  When it comes to economics, it appears that Nashville could afford to take a page out of Winnipeg’s playbook.

The Tennessean:  Preds hope to avoid 0-2 start.  You cannot take a team like the Coyotes for granted.  While the Predators have been the better team, better teams do not always get the victory.

Arizona Republic:  Coyotes need ‘Prime Line’ to deliver.  Phoenix has relied quite heavily on tender’ Mike Smith and it is high time the rest of this team showed up.

Playoff news:

Los Angeles Times:  Kings win series opener at St. Louis.  The series many expect will go 7 games got off to an interesting start tonight in St. Louis.  Not unexpectedly defense led the way tonight.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch:  Blues fall in Game 1, lose Pietrangelo.  Fans in St. Louis are not happy the hit on Pietrangelo only resulted in a 2 minute minor.

Washington Post: Rangers seize upper hand in series.  You cannot afford any miscues against this patient Rangers team and the Capitals made a few too many on Saturday.

New York Daily News:  Rookie blasts Rangers past Caps.  The Rangers seem to have found themselves quite the player in this young Boston College grad.

Other hockey news:

NHL.com:  Rosters announced for World Championships.  Quite a lot of talent for this tournament.  Detroit…I mean Sweden will have quite the roster this spring.

Illegal Curve Hockey Show – April 28, 2012 – Part 1

0:00 – Show intro, recap of Friday night, recap of first round predictions

14:55 – Interview with Neil Greenberg of the Washington Post & ESPN

27:02 – New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals series preview

38:26 – Vancouver Canucks postmortem

51:21 – Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins postmortem

01:00:44 – Interview with Keith McCambridge, Head Coach of the St. John’s IceCaps

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs on TSN 1290 from 12pm-3pm. Keep track of updates to any changes in showtimes on our twitter account @IllegalCurve

Illegal Curve Hockey Show – April 28, 2012 – Part 2

0:00 – San Jose Sharks, Detroit Red Wings postmortem

14:29 – Los Angeles Kings vs. St. Louis Blues series preview

26:05 – Interview with Jim Fox colour analyst for the LA Kings (FSN West)

40:15 – New Jersey Devils vs. Philadelphia Flyers series preview

48:18 – Interview with Matt Laughlin play-by-play voice of the New Jersey Devils on WFAN

1:00:55 – Rapid Fire, Cheers & Jeers

The Illegal Curve Hockey Show airs on TSN 1290 from 12pm-3pm. Keep track of updates to any changes in showtimes on our twitter account @IllegalCurve

Note:  A reminder that the Illegal Curve Hockey Show starts early today as the guys will be on TSN Radio 1290 from 11 am to 2 pm.  Guests include St. John’s IceCaps coach Keith McCambridge, Neil Greenberg (Washington Post), Jim Fox (Fox Sports West) and Matt Loughlin (New Jersey Devils radio play by play)

Jets news:

National Post:  A good, long look at the NHL’s losers.  Sean McIndoe from Down Goes Brown, brings some humor to his analysis.  Quick blurb about the Jets and their ties to the past.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  Eddie Pasquale’s on his way.  The early season trifecta of goalies (Pasquale, Mannino and Aebischer) was not a great situation for development.  But when Mannino was sent to Portland, Pasquale seized the opportunity and played the majority of games down the stretch.  Appears the Caps will ride him for the post season.

The Telegram:  IceCaps advance past Crunch, will face either Bears or Penguins in next round.  While winter might be over for most of Canada, St. John’s Mile One Centre has been covered by a whiteout.  The fans have continued this tradition and their team has responded.  Two post season games on ‘The Rock’ and 2 wins.

The Post-Standard:  Crunch’s season ends with 4-3 OT loss to St. John’s.  The Crunch salvaged their season going on a great run which began in March.  However they just couldn’t get it done against a strong IceCaps squad.  With the Anaheim Ducks and Crunch ending their relationship, coach Trent Yawney will be moving on to another team next season.

Stanley Cup news:

Washington Post:  Caps bring plenty of self-assurance.  Knocking off the Stanley Cup champs will entitle them to a bit of swagger, but the reality is you have a gritty Rangers team that is still holding a grudge from the Caps eliminating them last season.

New York Daily News:  This series is personal.  At this time of year you use any type of motivation you can, so the Rangers are holding on to playoff exits in 2009 and 2011 at the hands of the Capitals.

Los Angeles Times:  Kings, Blues may stretch playoffs.  The 1st round match-up between the Penguins and Flyers was the one I most wanted to watch and coming to the 2nd round I’ve switched my focus to the battle between these two Western teams.  Which 2nd Round series are you most interested in and why?

St. Louis Post-Dispatch:  Playoff intensity rises for Blues, Kings.  This is why I’m looking forward to the West.  This will be a new experience for many of these Western franchises.  The Kings were last in the 2nd round in 2001/02 and lost to Colorado in 7.  The Blues also last appeared in the Conference Seminfinals in 2001/02 and lost to Detroit in 5.  When you throw in Phoenix (never been to 2nd round) and Nashville who was there last year but lost to Canucks in 6 the excitement of finally appearing in the 3rd round for these teams adds some appeal.

The Tennessean:  Predators lose to Coyotes in overtime.  The Preds dominated the game and the OT, but veteran Ray Whitney scored almost 15 minutes into the extra frame.  Nashville out shot the Coyotes 42 to 24.

Arizona Republic:  Coyotes take down Predators in overtime of game 1.  Coach Dave Tippett cannot be happy with the way his team played, despite the win.  Expect a different Phoenix team for Game 2.