Ilya Kovalchuk is holding a press conference in Newark today to announce his 17-year, $102-million dollar contract to stay with the New Jersey Devils. This for a player who has won one playoff game in his eight-year career.
What else needs to be said about the disastrous financial state of the NHL?
1 Comment | 
NHL | Tagged: Gary Bettman, Ilya Kovalchuk, New Jersey Devils | 
Permalink
Posted by tbontemps1
The Boston Bruins were one of the best teams in the National Hockey League last season, equipped with solid goaltending from Tim Thomas and a versatile defense led by 6-foot-9 behemoth Zdeno Chara.
But the thing that changed the Bruins last season from a decent team to one that could really contend for a Stanley Cup was the depth and versatility of their forward lines. Between Marc Savard, David Krejci, Milan Lucic, Chuck Kobasew and others, Boston could not only play a variety of styles, but had a group of players that would be able to play together for several years.
The one player who made it all go, however, was Phil Kessel. The Bruins finished second in the NHL in goals last season, and Kessel, who had 36 of them, was the only player on the team to finish among the league’s Top 30 goalscorers (13th). But even more than that, Kessel is still just 23 years old.
Leave a Comment » | NHL | Tagged: Boston Bruins, Chuck Kobasew, David Krejci, Derek Morris, Marc Savard, Milan Lucic, Peter Chiarelli, Phil Kessel, Toronto Maple Leafs, Zdeno Chara | Permalink
Posted by tbontemps1
The NHL has been star-crossed for years – maybe since Gary Bettman was hired as the league’s commissioner back in 1993. But while Bettman’s old boss, NBA Commissioner David Stern, is hoping for a matchup between Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers, Bettman has been lucky enough to find himself looking at a Game Seven tomorrow night between the NHL’s Kobe and LeBron, Sindey Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins and Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.
The series was pushed to a seventh game last night, when Washington’s David Steckel tipped in a shot over six minutes into overtime, giving the Capitals a 5-4 win in Pittsburgh. It’s been a thrilling series, with pitched battles taking place throughout. For a change, it’s a series like this living up to the hype that proceeded it.
1 Comment | NHL | Tagged: Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Gary Bettman, NHL Playoffs, Pittsburgh Penguins, Sidney Crosby, Washington Capitals | Permalink
Posted by tbontemps1
It’s baseball’s equivalent of Yankees-Red Sox or Dodgers-Giants. It’s football’s equivalent of Patriots-Colts. It’s basketball’s equivalent for anytime some combination of the Lakers, Celtics and Cavaliers get on the same court.
But because it’s hockey, because it’s the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins, it barely registers on the sporting landscape. And, really, that’s too bad, because it means the vast majority of sports fans failed to see Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Washington’s Alex Ovechkin put on an unbelievable show tonight. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | NHL | Tagged: Alex Ovechkin, ESPN, Gary Bettman, NHL Playoffs, Pittsburgh Penguins, Sidney Crosby, Washington Capitals | Permalink
Posted by tbontemps1
