Braden Holtby to start in between pipes for Caps vs. Bruins
Jojo Doria – AHN Sports Contributor Arlington, VA, United States (AHN Sports) – After impressively backstopping the Capitals down the stretch, Washington is hoping rookie Braden Holtby can maintain his stellar run and lead the team deep into the playoffs. With Michal Neuvirth and Thomas Vokoun both still on the injured list, the Caps will start their first-round series against the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins with Braden as their No. 1 netminder. Holtby made 35 saves as the Capitals concluded their regular season with 4-1 thrashing of the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. That win enabled Washington (42-32-8) to finish with 92 points and take the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference. It spoiled the Rangers’ chance to clinch the President’s Trophy. It also moved Holtby to a 4-2-1 mark on the year. Though he has appeared in only 21 NHL contests and played just 16 playoff games in his career between the American Hockey League and Western Hockey League, the 22-year-old Holtby is undaunted by the impeding challenge in the battle against the Bruins. “I’m not really trying to focus on the playoffs, I’m focusing on making saves,” Holtby said via the Washington Post. “The saves don’t get any harder in the playoffs. I’ve watched them since I was a kid. They’re the same type shots, same everything. Obviously it’s more intense but it doesn’t change your ability at all.” Holtby, a fourth-round pick by the Capitals in the 2008 draft, has had success against Boston earlier in his career. He made his NHL debut on Nov. 5, 2010 in a game over the Bruins at Verizon Center that resulted in a win With that game tied 3-3, Neuvirth was pulled to pave the way for the first NHL appearance by Holtby, who stopped four Bruins shots and the Caps scored two goals to give Holtby a 4-3 win. This season, Holtby played in only one of the Capitals’ first 72 games, a 5-3 loss to San Jose on Feb. 13. Holtby played in six of Washington’s last 10 tilts, posting a 4-1-1 record, 1.99 GAA and .936 save percentage over that span, aiding Washington to lock up a playoff berth. Holtby, who is a career 14-4-3, 2.02 GAA and .929 save percentage, will be going up against defending Conn Smythe and Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas, who…
Retort over Penguins gets Rangers coach fined $20K
AHN Sports Staff NY, NY, United States (AHN Sports) – New York Rangers hockey coach John Tortorella is known to speak his mind, and then sometimes having to open his wallet to pay for it. That happened again Friday when the NHL fined him $20K for calling the Pittsburgh Penguins an “arrogant organization” the previous day. Tortorella, previously fined $30K for criticizing the officiating at the Winter Classic, which the Rangers won over the Flyers, also called Pens stars Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby “whiners”. What really drew Tortorella’s ire was Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik’s hit on Derek Stepan of the Rangers, which he called “cheap” and “dirty” according to ESPN.com. Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved
Buffalo bounced from playoff picture: Flyers top Sabres
Ed Condran – AHN Sports Correspondent Philadelphia, PA, United States (AHN Sports) – The Philadelphia Flyers had nothing to lose Thursday and they won 2-1 over the Buffalo Sabres, who failed to hold a 1-0 lead with their season on the line. Since the Washington Capitals won, the Sabres are officially out of the playoffs. After Ville Leino scored against his former team, it appeared that the Sabres had hope. However, it wasn’t to be. Marc Andre Bourdon knotted the score at one. Rookie of the Year candidate Matt Read converted on a breakaway to bury the Sabres. It was Read’s second breakaway of the game. Sabres goalie Ryan Miller made a nice stop on the first attempt but couldn’t block the puck the second time around. “I was thinking he was going to poke check me again,” Read said. “I was waiting to shoot the whole time. I was just waiting for an opening.” It was Read’s 24th goal of the season, which leads first-year players. Read, an undrafted free agent, has been phenomenal for the Flyers this season. He’s a big reason the Flyers have the most goals by rookies, 63, this season. “These (rookies) are guys we are counting on,” Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said. “The playoffs are a game away. The whole year has been in preparation to get them ready for the playoffs. They’ve done a terrific job for us all season in helping us make the playoffs.” The Flyers are locked into the fifth slot in the playoffs, which means they will open against the fourth seeded Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh next week. The Flyers still have a game to play Saturday in Pittsburgh before the meaningful contests commence. “We’re going to go in there to play the game,” Laviolette said. “We’re here to win hockey games.” Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved
Winnipeg a blueprint for hockey expansion hopefuls in Canada
AHN Sports Staff Calgary, Canada (AHN Sports) – This season has been a success for the Winnipeg Jets and at least one former player feels the organization and city can provide a blueprint for other Canadian cities looking to land an NHL franchise. The Jets have been able to create a strong fan base while also tapping into additional revenue. Former NHL player Mike Keane thinks the success in Winnipeg can be a boost to places like Saskatoon, which hopes to land a team. Toronto businessman John Graham is part of a group that has expressed interest in relocating an existing NHL team to Saskatoon as early as next season. “I think it’s going to open some eyes and maybe get people thinking a little more about it,” Keane told the Calgary Herald. “It took a little bit of time obviously for Winnipeg to get a team and they obviously did things the right way. “For Saskatoon – or whoever wants to get a team Quebec, Seattle, Kansas City – my advice is be patient. I’m not saying it’s likely to happen, but if you go out there shooting your mouth off and start throwing your weight around, it doesn’t work.” Keane played his last five professional hockey seasons for the American Hockey League’s Manitoba Moose. He retired after the 2010 season and currently lives in Winnipeg. Keane has been to around 25 Jets games as a season-ticket holder this season and likes the team’s effect on the city. “If you go to a Jet game, everyone has a jersey,” he said. “It just really gave the city a boost in the arm. So far it’s been a huge positive.” Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved
Capitals coach Dale Hunter has team battling hard for playoff spot
John Raffel – AHN Sports Correspondent Detroit, MI, United States (AHN Sports) – The NHL playoffs don’t start until next month but as far as Washington Capitals coach Dale Hunter is concerned, it’s playoff hockey right now. Every game is critical for the Capitals right now as they continue to battle for their playoff lives. They were 5-3 winners at Detroit Monday night and were 6-4-1 in their last 10 games before falling to Philly Thursday. With a 37-31-6 record, they are in eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Only the top eight make the playoffs. But the Caps were also moving within range of the first-place Florida Panthers in the Southeast Division. What was especially heartening for Hunter to see was three power-play goals from his players including two from Alex Ovechkin, who has 32 goals this season and is only the ninth player in NHL history to score 30 or more goals in his first seven season in the league. “We need him to score,” Hunter said. “He has big goals and is getting our power play going.” Hunter was encouraged to see his team kill a late-game Red Wings power-play while his squad was nursing a one-goal lead. “Guys are sacrificing their bodies, blocking shots, sliding across the net. That’s what it takes to get the points when we need it,” Hunter said. “The boys are sacrificing.” Since his team had also played on Sunday, Hunter went to Braden Holtby as his goalie on Monday. Holtby entered the game at 0-1 with a 5.09 goals against average but allowed only three goals and had 30 saves against Detroit. “He was solid,” Hunter said. “I imagine he had some nerves. He’s a battler and made the stops that we needed. He gave us a good start.” The Caps got out to a 3-0 lead against Detroit, something Hunter hopes to see more of down the road. “When you get down in this league, it’s tough,” Hunter said. “The guys came out and took care of it and showed they were ready.” The Capitals opened the season at 7-0-0 but have practically played .500 hockey since. They were struggling as of late November and coach Bruce Boudreau was fired. He was replaced by Hunter, coach and co-owner of the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights for …
Flyers deliver Capitals’ punishment with key shootout win
Ed Condran – AHN Sports Correspondent Philadelphia, PA, United States (AHN Sports) – It was appropriate and necessary that Ilya Bryzgalov made a save to close out Thursday’s game vs. Washington. Bryzgalov continues to play great in net as the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Captials 2-1 in a shootout as they continue to steady their play heading into the playoffs. Wayne Simmonds and Matt Read scored in the shootout but the story of the game was Bryzgalov. The quirky Russian goalie gave up nothing after Alex Ovechkin gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead 26 seconds in, with the exception of a shootout goal. Bryzgalov has been white hot. MVP candidate Claude Giroux knotted the game at 1-1 at 6:05 into the second period on a beauty in which he faked out Caps goalie Braden Holtby. But the goals didn’t compare to the intense hockey, big hits and strong goaltending as the teams fought for the precious points as the squads make their push for the playoffs. The Caps, tied for the eighth and final playoff position, played desperately as expected. Holtby was exceptional between the pipes as well. Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved
Injury-riddled Red Wings fall behind early, lose to Capitals
John Raffel – AHN Sports Correspondent Detroit, MI, United States (AHN Sports) – It’s almost hard to imagine this is the same Detroit Red Wings team that a month ago was establishing an NHL home winning streak record of 23 games. An injury-riddled Red Wings squad has just one win in the last eight games. Alex Ovechkin scored two first-period power-play goals for the Washington Capitals who held off the Red Wings Monday night for a 5-3 victory at Joe Louis Arena. Detroit is 44-25-4 for 92 points and is ranked fifth in the Western Conference for playoff ratings. The Red Wings have only won once in their last eight games. The Capitals, 37-30-6, have 80 points and were rated eighth in the Eastern Conference for the final Stanley Cup playoff spot. The Red Wings played without some of their top players who are out with injuries including Nicklas Lidstrom, Darren Helm and Johan Franzen. Trailing 4-1 after two periods, the Red Wings got back in the game with third-period goals from Todd Bertuzzi and Danny Cleary. Jason Chimera’s open-net goal with 20.8 seconds left clinched the win for Washington. Ovechkin scored at 7:46 into the game and Mike Knuble scored less than four minutes later for his sixth goal of the season. “I didn’t think there were a ton of chances for either team early on. They capitalized on their power-play chances,” said Red Wings coach Mike Babcock. “With the lineup we have, I don’t think we can allow people four or five goals. We have to win 3-2 or 2-1. You have to give up as little as you can and be sound defensively.” An apparent Red Wings goal with seven minutes left in the first period was disallowed because of goaltender interference. “That didn’t affect anything,” Babcock said. “It didn’t really matter.” Ovechkin then scored his second goal of the game and 32nd of the season on the power play at 14:51. Kyle Quincey scored his seventh goal of the season at 5:15 of the second period on the power play for the Red Wings. Keith Aucoin scored later in the second for Washington’s fourth goal. Jason Chimera, Mike Green, Marcus Johansson (two), Knuble, Mathieu Perreault, Alexander Semin (two), Brooks Laich and Dennis Wideman had assists for Washington. Jiri Hudler, Drew Miller, Gustav Nyquist, Brad Stuart and Brendan Smith (two) had assists for the Red Wings. “We can’t get behind, especially against…
Profits up at Quebecor Media as company eyes NHL dream
AHN Sports Staff Quebec City, Canada (AHN Sports) – Quebecor Media appears to be ready to push ahead with its plans to bring a National Hockey League team to Quebec City. The company reported better-than-expected profits Thursday and mentioned its plans to bring the NHL back to the city during its announcement. Fourth-quarter profits for the company rose 83 percent. Revenue from the company’s telecommunications business rose nearly seven percent to $634.8 million. Total revenue rose 5.5 percent to $1.15 billion. “Quebecor Media now has all the tools it needs to pursue its goals, which are to manage a world-class multipurpose center and to bring a National Hockey League team to Quebec City,” chief executive officer Pierre Karl Péladeau said. Last year Péladeau bought management and naming rights to a proposed Quebec City arena and Quebecor also purchased a 70-percent stake in the Montreal Juniors. The Nordiques were the last NHL team to play in Quebec City. They moved to Denver in 1995, becoming the Colorado Avalanche. Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved
Toronto GM Burke says he’s not looking to get Cherry canned
AHN Sports Staff Toronto, Canada (AHN Sports) – Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke may not like hockey commentator Don Cherry all that much, but Burke says he has not tried to get Cherry fired. The duo have been embroiled in a verbal spat for weeks with Cherry going after Burke and now fired coach Ron Wilson. Burke has taken his turns firing back and it has gone on and on. Cherry has accused Burke of going to CBC bosses to get him fired for his criticism of the Leafs on his Coach’s Corner show. Burke has denied this allegation. That’s not to say there aren’t issues. The Globe and Mail reported that, at last month’s NHL all-star game, a meeting between CBC and the NHL board of governors got heated over two main issues brought forth by representatives of the Canadian teams. The first issue was Cherry’s criticism of the Leafs’ management and coaching. The second was that Hockey Night in Canada is too focused on Toronto. Toronto is struggling and is eight points behind Washington for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved
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