Coyotes finish off best season ever (The Associated Press)
(Thu, 24 May 2012 18:32:08 PDT)
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) The end of the season hit the Phoenix Coyotes particularly hard.

Philadelphia Flyers Cannot Regret Trading Mike Richards and Jeff Carter: Fan's Reaction (Yahoo! Contributor Network)
(Thu, 24 May 2012 17:17:00 PDT)
The day of June 23, 2011 seemed like any other relatively normal early-summer day. It was sunny. It was warm. It was welcoming. It wasn't for Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, whom the Philadelphia Flyers dealt to the Los Angeles Kings and Columbus Blue Jackets respectively, and reshaped their entire franchise in one fell swoop. Now come the complaints from many Flyers fans who say the team made the wrong moves at the wrong times, as Richards and Carter find themselves four games away from doing something they couldn't do in Philadelphia: hoist a Stanley Cup.

Rangers-Devils Preview (The Associated Press)
(Thu, 24 May 2012 16:29:40 PDT)
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) Eighteen years ago, Mark Messier set the stage for one of sports' most dramatic moments.

Rangers have no guarantee for this ECF Game 6 (The Associated Press)
(Thu, 24 May 2012 16:27:00 PDT)
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) Eighteen years ago, Mark Messier set the stage for one of sports' most dramatic moments.

NHL Playoff Beard Watch: Blood, Sweat and Beards of unsung unshaven heroes (Puck Daddy)
(Thu, 24 May 2012 15:35:48 PDT)
(Ed. Note: We're proud to welcome two of our favorite bloggers, Chuck and Pants from What's Up, Ya Sieve? , to the Puck Daddy fold as they author our weekly NHL Playoff Beard Watch every Thursday.) By Chuck and Pants from What's Up, Ya Sieve? The stage is nearly set for the ultimate NHL showdown. The Devils and Rangers battle it out at center stage while the Kings wait in the offing for their opponent to be named. It's a long, hard fight to be among the last teams standing. Every one inch is earned. This week, we salute the beards of some Unsung Unshaven Heroes. Marquee name or rookie sensation, it doesn't matter what their contracts say now. They fight on - and the proof of is all over their faces.

Doughty enjoying playoff breakthrough for LA Kings (The Associated Press)
(Thu, 24 May 2012 15:27:29 PDT)
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) Drew Doughty began this season holding out for a $56 million contract from the Los Angeles Kings, demanding and getting an enormous sum for a kid with more potential than accomplishment.

Dodger Stadium Winter Classic; 10 worst NHL fans; ‘While The Men Watch’ debate (Puck Headlines) (Puck Daddy)
(Thu, 24 May 2012 13:00:54 PDT)
Here are your Puck Headlines: a glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media. • Viggo Mortensen is a huge Montreal Canadiens fan. What better way to remind the world of this fact than by wrapping Kirsten Dunst in a Habs flag at Cannes, continuing an odd red carpet tradition for Aragorn. [ OMG Yahoo! , via Martin Leroux] • Marty Brodeur on the Mark Messier guarantee ghosts of 1994 haunting the New Jersey Devils in Game 6: "I know if you guys look at it, it looks the same, but it's different teams and a different way of playing the game and it's 18 years ago and that's a long time. I know I'm feeling a lot different. I'm feeling a lot more appreciative of what's going on." [ Fire & Ice ] • Bruce Driver on 1994: "I ended up going to New York and played with Mark, a tremendous leader and one of the best captains of all time. In 1994 against us, Mark did what he did, backed it up and scored three goals. But from our standpoint, the way we looked at it, we blew the game." [ NYT ] • Great piece on the friendship between Devils fans and Rangers fans, unnatural that it is. [ WNYC, via Michael Raphael] • No structural damage in Michal Rozsival's knee after that Dustin Brown hit. [ Sportsnet ] • Mirtle with poll on fighting that finds hardcore fans love it, non-fans loathe it. [Globe & Mail, and see graphic ] • Earl Sleek sees a lot of the 2003 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the 2012 Los Angeles Kings. Say, are those the Devils on the other side of the bracket? [ Battle of Cali ] • Los Angeles Dodgers President Stan Kasten wants to pursue a Winter Classic at Dodger Stadium. Read this and other stories in our new book "[Expletive] No One Would Be Saying If The Kings Weren't In The Cup Final." [ LA Times ] • Rich Hammond on the matter: "Gary Bettman has sneered (literally) at any suggestion that a Winter Classic could be played in a warm-weather environment. And while the Kings would love to host an outdoor game — Luc Robitaille is a particularly big proponent — AEG is also in the planning stages of a new downtown football stadium, which would probably be a more likely location in the event that Bettman stops sneering." [ LA Kings Insider ] • The 10 most annoying hockey fans. Including you, Guy Trying To Get on TV. [ THW ]

Marek Vs. Wyshynski Radio: Ron Hextall, Luke Richardson and Rangers/Devils (Puck Daddy)
(Thu, 24 May 2012 10:49:22 PDT)
It's a Thursday edition of Marek vs. Wyshynski beginning at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT , and we're talking about the following and more: Special Guest Stars: Los Angeles Kings assistant GM and former Philadelphia Flyers great Ron Hextall joins us, as well as former NHL defenseman and new B-Sens coach Luke Richardson. • In which Marek and Wysh break down Game 5 of the Devils/Rangers series, • The politics of viewing parties. • Conn Smythe Watch. • Puck Headlines and Talking Points Question of the Day: Who on your team could you see foolishly issuing a 'playoff guarantee'? Email your answers to puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or tweet them with the hashtag #MvsW to either @jeffmarek or @wyshynski . Click here for the Sportsnet live stream or click the play button above! Click here to download podcasts from the show each day Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or Feedburner .

Los Angeles Kings Western Conference championship belt; yes, seriously (PHOTO) (Puck Daddy)
(Thu, 24 May 2012 08:30:53 PDT)
The NHL championship belt phenomenon has always intrigued us, whether it's the Chicago Blackhawks passing around a title belt during their Stanley Cup parade or the Phoenix Coyotes using it as their official postgame award to players of the game. Now, you can celebrate the Los Angeles Kings' 2012 Western Conference championship run with (Ric) flair: Somewhere, there's a John Cena spinning WWE logo without a belt ... so sad. This hastily crafted belt is available on eBay for $39.99 and chronicles the Kings rise to the Stanley Cup Final. Gaze upon the accurate home and road records, complete with unclosed parentheses. Marvel at the way the word "CHAMPIONS is oddly cropped and awkwardly spaced. Gawk at the way the semifinals and finals were preceded by "1st Rd." (That said, all the logos are correct , so the belt-maker is already overqualified to work as a local Los Angeles TV sports anchor.) (UPDATE: As Bren in the comments notes, it's the wrong Canucks logo. Expect to see whomever made this belt dropping "Brad Doty" references on LA TV soon.) As we said on the Marek Vs. Wyshynski podcast yesterday: Unless there is an historic, compelling reason to own conference or division champions gear — like the Florida Panthers in 1996, for example — then it serves two purposes only, which are dust rags or clothing a poverty-stricken village. Because in the end, Stanley Cup Champions gear will always supersede it; and if your team loses, it's just a sucky reminder of terrible times. But hey: Maybe you've got a Ring of Honor dark match to wrestle this weekend and you want to rep the Kings. In that case, $40 well spent. Meanwhile on eBay, you can buy Los Angeles Kings 2012 Stanley Cup Champions magnets and stickers. Pirated? Apparently. Hubrus? Totally.

Devils outlast Rangers, 5-3, take 3-2 series lead (The Associated Press)
(Thu, 24 May 2012 04:15:02 PDT)
NEW YORK (AP) The New Jersey Devils never could have imagined they would have a three-goal lead on the New York Rangers less than 10 minutes into Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals at hostile Madison Square Garden.

Rangers run out of playoff luck as Game 5 rally goes awry at the worst time
(Wed, 23 May 2012 23:06:27 PDT)
New York's resiliency and goalie Henrik Lundqvist's play have been exemplary throughout the 2012 postseason, but the breaks and bounces went against the Rangers when they could least afford it.

Lundqvist struggles as Rangers lose Game 5, 5-3 (The Associated Press)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 22:51:05 PDT)
NEW YORK (AP) The New York Rangers played their best game of the postseason against the New Jersey Devils. Unfortunately, it was a night Henrik Lundqvist played his worst

Devils on brink of playing for Cup (The SportsXchange)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 22:40:09 PDT)
The Los Angeles Kings await. But the New Jersey Devils still have some work to do.

Devils beat Rangers, on brink of Stanley Cup Finals
(Wed, 23 May 2012 21:44:55 PDT)
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New Jersey Devils let a three-goal lead slip away against the New York Rangers on Wednesday but scored twice late in the third period to claim a 5-3 win and move within touching distance of a place in the NHL Stanley Cup Finals.

Wednesday’s Three Stars: Devils fourth line steps up; Watch Prust dive (Puck Daddy)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 21:17:11 PDT)
The New Jersey Devils, praying harder than John Tortorella. No. 1 Star: Stephen Gionta, New Jersey Devils Gionta led the way for the Devils in Game 5, opening the scoring just 2:43 into the game and then setting up Ryan Carter for the game-winning goal at 15:36 of the third period. And that, my friends, is how you make up for going 0-for-5 in the faceoff circle. No. 2 Star: Ryan Callahan, New York Rangers The Rangers' captain was a difference-maker Wednesday, playing 20 minutes, leading the way physically with a game-high 6 hits, hitting a post, and scoring early in the second period to cut the Devils' lead in half. But was his goal kicked in? No. 3 Star: Ryan Carter, New Jersey Devils Carter scored the winner and was a part of the Devils' fourth line that was the difference in Game 5. He, Gionta, and Steve Bernier all earned praise from Coach Peter DeBoer after the game.

Canucks give coach Vigneault a contract extension (The SportsXchange)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 15:50:18 PDT)
Even though the Vancouver Canucks were eliminated from the playoffs in the first round this season, they announced Wednesday that they have signed coach Alain Vigneault to a two-year contract extension.

LA Kings conquer West, await Cup final opponent (The Associated Press)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 15:21:08 PDT)
LOS ANGELES (AP) The crowd was dozens deep and hundreds wide, screaming and chanting and surrounding the Los Angeles Kings' cars as they drove home after writing another improbable chapter in the big, mostly empty book that holds their franchise history.

Rested and ready, Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist remains New York's best player and best chance
(Wed, 23 May 2012 10:38:30 PDT)
The Rangers rarely score more than a few goals, and that's not about to change. But with Lundqvist in net, they've always got a chance to win.

In which Dustin Penner, Jeff Carter and Mike Richards edit their NHL narratives (Puck Daddy)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 09:00:40 PDT)
Why are the Los Angeles Kings in the 2012 Stanley Cup Final? Because the two drunk, locker room cancers helped set up a lazy fat-ass for the game-winning goal. At least that's how it would have been framed about eight months ago, when the narratives about Mike Richards, Jeff Carter and Dustin Penner had defined them as players. The first two were banished from the Philadelphia Flyers, ostensibly for cap relief in the pursuit of a No. 1 goaltender (or, failing that, Ilya Bryzgalov) but mostly for a culture change in the dressing room. Penner, meanwhile, was (a) a waste of salary compared to production and (b) out of shape and (c) lazy to the point where his general manager suggested he might be better off playing for the El Cid Lounge in a men's softball league . In overtime of Game 5 in the Western Conference Final on Tuesday night, Richards won the faceoff near the defensive zone. Slava Voynov moved it up the boards, and Penner kept the puck alive in the attacking zone on the forecheck, sending a nifty backhand pass to a streaking Carter. He fired the puck off of Phoenix Coyotes goalie Mike Smith with Richards causing chaos on front of the net, helping to clear the slot for Penner to fire home the rebound over Smith's glove. With that, the Kings were headed to the Cup Final. This trio was maligned and decried for the better part of 2011-12. Yet it was this Dry Island of Misfit Toys that has the Kings four wins away from the first Stanley Cup.

Stanley Cup Playoff overtimes: Historically, when are goals most likely to be scored? (Puck Daddy)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 07:06:07 PDT)
The Los Angeles Kings did some unpredictable things, statistically speaking, en route to making the Stanley Cup Final: Like going 8-0 on the road, nearly having as many shorthanded goals (5) as power-play goals (6) and beating the top three seeds in the conference. Dustin Penner's Western Conference Final-winning goal was no exception. Pancakes scored at 17:42 of the first and only overtime, and according to the history of Stanley Cup Playoff overtime, that's an exception to the expected. Chris Winchester, a Detroit Red Wings for 35 years and a PD reader, put together a spreadsheet that looked at when goals were scored in playoff overtimes going back to expansion in 1968. From Winchester: I always had the feeling that most overtimes ended in the first 5 minutes or so of overtime.  After compiling the data for every playoff overtime game it turns out that over 40 percent of overtime games ended in the first five minutes of the extra period. I did not calculate the fact that the game may have ended in the 2nd or 3rd overtime, just the time the goal was scored during the extra period. In other words, the following chart doesn't account for in which overtime the goal was scored, but rather when in that overtime it was scored. Via Winchester, the numbers; click here for the much larger, clearer image. Again, take a gander at the full chart here . A few thoughts on this chart …

A tribute to the Phoenix Coyotes’ abundant talent (Puck Daddy)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 05:52:58 PDT)
Although their postseason ended with a Game 5 Western Conference overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings, the Phoenix Coyotes deserve attention for this mammoth effort. It was said they wouldn't show up big in the Stanley Cup Playoffs — yet they clearly did. No one believed they'd round into form — yet they clearly did. It was said they didn't have the assets — yet they clearly did. Alas, they bounced last night, despite becoming a trending topic in Canada. They will be missed. Congrats again to the Phoenix Coyotes and Coach Dave Tippett, who apparently can be seen somewhere in this image. As the Canadian songstress Sarah McLachlan once sang: "I will remember you ... weep not for the mammaries."

Kings await Eastern winner in Finals (The SportsXchange)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 02:21:23 PDT)
After a 19-year wait, the Los Angeles Kings have returned to a land last traversed by Wayne Gretzky, Luc Robitaille, Kelly Hrudey and pals: the Stanley Cup Finals.

Kings edge Coyotes 4-3 in overtime to win West (The Associated Press)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 01:13:43 PDT)
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) A great road playoff run has the Los Angeles Kings in a place they haven't been since the Great One was skating in Southern California.

Kings advance to Stanley Cup final with OT goal just seconds after Dustin Brown's controversial hit
(Wed, 23 May 2012 01:12:45 PDT)
Dustin Brown delivered a borderline bodycheck on Michal Rozsival that enraged the Coyotes and might result in a call from the league for the Kings captain.