Can the Rangers take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals, or will the Devils earn a split at Madison Square Garden tonight?
2012 Eastern Conference Finals: Rangers Vs. Devils - Rangers Looking For First 2-0 Lead This Postseason - Blueshirt Banter
New York hopes not to repeat what they've done in their two previous Game Two's this spring.
It seems like the running theme of these 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs has been the blocked shot - are there too many of them in today's game, and what, if anything can be done about it?
New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur had something to say on the topic, and it's got tongues a-wagging in response...
What's Patric Hornqvist doing here? This comes from a recent Sweden/Italy game at the IIHF World Championships...
The Los Angeles Kings took a big step towards returning to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1993 last night, taking a 4-0 victory at Phoenix in a game which saw the Coyotes come unglued. The Western Conference Finals will now move to L.A. for Game 3 & 4, giving the Kings a chance to close things out quickly and see what happens in the East.
Our morning hockey notes start from there, and move on to cover the Nashville Predators' roster decisions this summer, a look at the NHL coaching market, and insight from hockey's keenest mind on where all this shot blocking is coming from...
The Kings took the opener Sunday night at Phoenix, and another win tonight would give them a real choke-hold on the Coyotes before taking this series back to Los Angeles for Games 3 & 4...
WCF: Phoenix Coyotes vs Los Angeles Kings: Game 2 Preview - Five For Howling
Carl looks for the Coyotes to dust themselves off and get back to work after getting dominated for most of Game 1.
Good stuff here from Slate blogger Matt Yglesias:
The issue is the bifurcated cable television markets in North America. Right now, hockey has a national broadcast deal in Canada and it has another one in the United States. Losing the national deal in the USA would be very costly to the entire enterprise. But to maintain that national deal, the NHL has to present itself as offering a true nationwide sports league which means you need teams in the sunbelt. Atlanta's departure didn't leave too much of a hole in the map since there are teams in North Carolina and Tennessee. Probably any one of the remaining non-Dallas sunbelt teams is expendable, but if you lost more than one to colder climes you might start imperiling the League's claim to be a real major sports across the length and breadth of the United States.
Offered in response to The Economist.
Update: In case you missed it, more of my thoughts on the future of national television broadcasts for the NHL from March 30.
Hey, remember that Sergei Kostitsyn guy we were just talking about this morning? Well, there's good news and bad news from the IIHF World Championships...
Our morning hockey notes begin with word from one of Nashville's most important restricted free agents, Sergei Kostitsyn, on how he'd like to stay with the Predators for the long haul. While I doubt there's much question that the team would like him back (unlike his big brother Andrei), the question is, what role do you see SK74 playing on this team going forward?
