Alumni In The Playoffs - 2011

So, I found myself wondering the Abbotts' season was going in Sweden, and when I looked them up I learned that the SEL playoffs are already underway. Do you know what this means? (It means that this damn thing doesn't work at all!) It means it's time to start a new edition of the Alumni In The Playoffs thread! Since Cam and Chris were the players who brought this to mind, let's start this with them:

Sweden

After a successful first season at Lulea HF last year (during which they were second and third on the team in scoring), Cam and Chris Abbott stayed there for another season. Lulea improved from 10th to 4th in the regular season league standings, and Chris was second on the team with 36 points in 55 games; Cam missed some time (I believe I recall hearing due to a concussion), but his 19 points in 32 games were the 4th-highest per-game scoring on the team.

In the first round of the playoffs, Lulea played sixth-seeded Djurgardens (the SEL has a playoff system in which, in the first round, higher seeds can choose which lower seeds to play, and third-seeded Skelleftea chose to play fifth-seeded Linkopings instead of Lulea), and won in a seven-game series. Cam had one goal during a series in which he was limited to X games, while Chris had a goal and five assists. Lulea are now paired with third-seeded Skelleftea in the semifinals, a series that's currently tied at 2-2 with game 5 currently being played in Skelleftea, game 6 to be played in Lulea on Thursday, and game 7 again in Skelleftea on Saturday if necessary. Over the first four games (which have all gone to overtime), Chris has two assists and Cam has a goal and an assist. Chris's 8 points so far in the playoffs lead the team and tie him for third among all players.

Switzerland

Mike Knoepfli played his third season with Fribourg-Gotteron of the Swiss National League A, where his teammates included Mark Mowers (UNH). Knoepfli had 20 points in 49 regular season games, good for 8th on the team, and Fribourg-Gotteron finished 8th in the regular season, the last team to qualify for the playoffs. The team was swept in the first round by regular season league champions HC Davos, staying competitive in the first two games before being blown out in the last two. Knoepfli had no points in the playoffs.

Charlie Cook was something of a wanderer this season, starting the season with MoDo of the SEL before moving to Switzerland, making a short stop at Davos before eventually settling with the Langnau Tigers, which is also where Mike Iggulden spent the 2010-11 season. Cook had one goal in seven games with Langnau, but had a plus/minus (-11) that seems like it must be a misprint because it's so low. Iggulden was a standout in his first year in Switzerland, leading Langnau with 40 points in the 50-game regular season. The team finished sixth in the regular season but, like Fribourg-Gotteron, were swept in the first round of the playoffs, falling to SC Bern in 4 games. (Cue JTW singing and waving his SCB scarf.) Cook played in just one of the four games and had no points; Iggulden played in all four and had two assists.

Speaking of Bern, Justin Krueger played for them in 2010-11, scoring a goal and 10 assists in 50 games. After beating Langnau in the first round of the playoffs, Bern, the defending champions, drew the Kloten Flyers in the semifinals. Bern fell behind 3-0 in the series but have since come back to tie the series at 3; game 7 is being played now and Bern trail 1-0 in the third period. Krueger has 2 assists in the 10 playoff games Bern has played so far.

I believe that's it for Europe; the one other Cornellian who played across the pond last year was David LeNeveu, but he's now back in North America. The CHL playoffs have also started already, and those involve at least David McKee and Joe Scali; I'll look into those later on.

Thanks.

Sweden

Lulea and the Abbotts lost game 5 of their playoff series with Skelleftea and now trail their series 3-2. As I mentioned earlier, game 6 will be in Lulea on Thursday, and if Lulea are able to even the series then game 7 will be played in Skelleftea on Saturday.

Switzerland

Justin Krueger and SC Bern lost game 7 of their playoff series against Kloten 1-0, and were eliminated from the National League A playoffs.

Germany

I didn't realize it earlier today, but Mark McCutcheon and Sasha Pokulok spent 2010-11 with the DEG Metro Stars of the DEL (which is the top-level league in Germany). Pokulok had 15 points (4 G, 11 A) in 52 regular season games, and McCutcheon had 8 points (3 G, 5 A) in 33. The Metro Stars finished second in the DEL with 93 points. In the second round of the playoffs (the top six teams get a first-round bye), the Metro Stars won a best-of-three series against Adler Mannheim 2-1 (the third game was just earlier today), and they will start another best-of-three series against the Berlin Eisbaren (cue JTW to put on his other scarf), who finished third in the regular season, on Sunday, SUNDAY SUNDAY!

CHL

Joe Scali spent the season with the Laredo Bucks of the CHL; his teammates there included Chad Morin (Harvard). Scali appeared in 33 of the Bucks' 66 games, registering 4 goals and 9 assists. The Bucks, however, narrowly lost out on the last Berry (southern) Conference playoff spot to the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (the CHL has some great team names) on a tiebreaker.

Dave McKee is with the Odessa Jackalopes, where he appears to be part of a three-goalie rotation with Mike Mole and Joel Martin. Martin, however, has spent some time with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (the Jackalopes' AHL affiliate) and would seem the most likely choice to play in the playoffs. The Jackalopes finished fifth in the Berry Conference and will meet the fourth-place Texas Brahmas in the best-of-five first round. The series starts with two games at the Brahmas Thursday and Saturday. Incidentally, for the past four seasons the head coach of the Jackalopes has been one Dan Wildfong, who may be remembered for his playing career at Colgate from 1995-99 or for the inclusion of his name in Michigan's penalty cheer.

Speaking of the '90s, would you believe that PC Drouin is keeping on keeping on? He's been with the Fort Wayne Komets (formerly of the IHL, now part of the CHL following the two leagues' merger last summer) for the past four seasons and, at 36 years old, was the team's leading scorer this season with 44 points (14 G, 30 A) in 61 games. The Komets finished in sixth place in the CHL's Turner (northern) Conference and will face the third-place Bloomington PrairieThunder (yes, one word) in the first playoff round, which starts with two games in Bloomington on Saturday and Sunday. The Komets' starting goalie in the playoffs may very well be Nick Boucher (Dartmouth).

Still to come: NHL, AHL and ECHL playoffs.

Josh '99
the Metro Stars won a best-of-three series against Adler Mannheim 2-1

Is Lance Nethery still affiliated with that team? I believe he was their coach for a while.

redice

Josh '99
the Metro Stars won a best-of-three series against Adler Mannheim 2-1

Is Lance Nethery still affiliated with that team? I believe he was their coach for a while.

Thank you for reminding me! Nethery is, in fact, the GM of the Metro Stars. I wonder whether we might see a few more Cornell alumni playing in Dusseldorf in the future as a result.

BTW, this is the same Adler Mannheim team that tied (not counting the shootout) the SJ Sharks in an exhibition game at the beginning of the season.
I am not saying that they would be competitive in the NHL, but the level of play is obviously not too far below.

Josh '99
Incidentally, for the past four seasons the head coach of the Jackalopes has been one Dan Wildfong

You just blew my mind.

Speaking of the '90s, would you believe that PC Drouin is keeping on keeping on?

Yes, because 1996 will never die. I can't wait for that episode of the VH-1 series "I Love the Cornell Hockey Teams of the '90s"

Looks like Dan Ratushny is leaving Olten for the Straubing Tigers of the DEL. Using iGoogle's German to English translator, a recent article mentioned the following (note that Olten made the playoffs, so this is technically relevant to the thread):

"Ratushny changes to the Straubing Tigers, who missed in the German Ice Hockey League with rank 13 in the past qualifying the playoffs. Olten failed this season with Ratushny in the playoff semi-final of the National League B in Lausanne."

From another article:
"The Straubing Tigers go with a new coach for next season: Dan Ratushny takes over the table last season and the twelfth heir to predecessors Dean Fedorchuk. The contract of the 40-year-old Canadian run for a year with club side option. "Ratushny has convinced a consistent and clear concept, " said Tigers manager Jürgen Pfundtner."

Sounds like a step up. I think Dan will be a good coach, very intense and smart, and he obviously can't get hockey out of his system! I know the feeling.

Straubing has a number of North American players, including several former college hockey players. 2010-11 Straubing Tigers

Roy 82
BTW, this is the same Adler Mannheim team that tied (not counting the shootout) the SJ Sharks in an exhibition game at the beginning of the season.
I am not saying that they would be competitive in the NHL, but the level of play is obviously not too far below.

I would be inclined to speculate that the level of play in the top European leagues is probably somewhere between the AHL and the ECHL. Maybe teams in the SEL and KHL are even at a slightly higher level of play than the AHL, when you figure that top players from those leagues come over and contribute in the NHL right away.

RichH

Speaking of the '90s, would you believe that PC Drouin is keeping on keeping on?

Yes, because 1996 will never die. I can't wait for that episode of the VH-1 series "I Love the Cornell Hockey Teams of the '90s"

I think of PC as like the Crash Davis of hockey, telling the kids about the few days he spent in the show back in 1997. I'm pretty surprised he didn't at least stick in the AHL; as a kid he was probably able to play at a higher level than the ECHL (in 1997-98 at 23 he was one of the top scorers on a Charlotte Checkers team that had a few guys who went on to decent NHL careers); he must've had AHL contract offers if he was a free agent, and it seems odd to me that he'd choose to go play in the UK instead. To each his own, though.

I hope the presence of Cornell alumni in Europe can be translated into future Cornell recruiting from Europe.

Josh '99
Speaking of the '90s, would you believe that PC Drouin is keeping on keeping on? He's been with the Fort Wayne Komets (formerly of the IHL, now part of the CHL following the two leagues' merger last summer) for the past four seasons and, at 36 years old, was the team's leading scorer this season with 44 points (14 G, 30 A) in 61 games.

So, bring his name up, and he get's some ink.

Well, I guess I got this started a couple weeks ago and then didn't follow up. Time to remedy that! I think I got everybody, but, as always, please feel free to tell me where I screwed up.

NHL

Douglas Murray and the San Jose Sharks finished second in the Western Conference and have home ice advantage in their first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings (captained by Ithaca native Dustin Brown). The series starts in San Jose tonight at 10pm EDT, and game 1 will be televised on Vs.

Ryan O'Byrne and the Colorado Avalanche finished 14th in the Western Conference and missed the playoffs.

Byron Bitz spent the 2010-11 season on injured reserve; his Florida Panthers finished last in the Eastern Conference and missed the playoffs.

Joe Nieuwendyk, general manager of the Dallas Stars, fired head coach Marc Crawford after the Stars finished ninth in the Western Conference and missed the playoffs.

AHL

Shockingly, Matt Moulson and the Islanders did not qualify for the playoffs.

Raymond Sawada, who was injured while playing for the NHL Dallas Stars earlier in the season, is back with the AHL Texas Stars for their playoff run, which starts tonight. The Stars, who finished fourth in the AHL's West Division, head into the playoffs having lost five of their last six games and will hope to reverse that trend against the West Conference top seed Milwaukee Admirals.

Riley Nash had 32 points (14 G, 18 A) in his first professional season for the new Charlotte Checkers (the relocated Albany River Rats, not the defunct ECHL franchise), and the Checkers finished third in the AHL's East division. They will meet the defending champion Hershey Bears, who finished second in the division, in the first round of the playoffs starting tonight.

After spending much of the season shuttling between the NHL and the AHL, Colin Greening is back with the Binghamton Senators for the playoffs. The B-Sens finished fifth in the AHL's East Division, and will face the Manchester Monarchs, who finished second in the Atlantic Division, in the first round starting tonight in Manchester. (The Senators qualified for the playoffs instead of the Worcester Sharks, who finished fourth in the Atlantic Division, by virtue of their better record, but are bracketed with the Atlantic Division teams as the last qualifier from the East Division. This is probably good for them, as the East Division appears to have been the AHL's toughest this season with five teams with over 90 points; the Anlantic, for comparison, only had two.)

Brendon Nash had a cup of coffee with the Canadiens earlier in the year, as discussed in a previous Alumni In The Pros thread, but will be with the Hamilton Bulldogs for their run in the AHL playoffs. The Bulldogs finished first in the North Division, and will meet the Oklahoma City Barons, who finished fifth in the West Division, in the first round starting tonight in Hamilton. (The Barons, like the Senators, are bracketed with the teams from the North Division as the fifth-place team in the West Division.)

Ben Scrivens and the Toronto Marlies finished fifth in the North Division and missed the playoffs.

David LeNeveu and the Springfield Falcons finished sixth in the Atlantic Division and missed the playoffs.

ECHL

Blake Gallagher and the Las Vegas Wranglers finished fourth in the ECHL's Western Conference; Gallagher was seventh on the team with 29 points (12 G, 17 A) in 61 games. Evan Barlow and the Idaho Steelheads finished fifth in the ECHL's Western Conference; Barlow was third on the team with 54 points (18 G, 36 A) despite being limited to 39 of the team's 72 regular season games. The Wranglers and Steelheads met in the first round of the playoffs, which the Steelheads won three games to two. The Steelheads will take on the Alaska Aces in the second round starting tomorrow night; the Aces won the Brabham Cup as the ECHL's best team in the regular season. Barlow led the Steelheads with six points (2 G, 4 A) in the first round of the playoffs, while Gallagher had two assists.

Mike Kennedy spent 2010-11 with the Florida Everblades, but missed most of the season, I assume due to injury; he played in only 12 games and is listed on the team's website as inactive. The Everblades were eliminated 3-1 by the Kalamazoo Wings in the first round of the playoffs.

Doug Krantz started the season with the Cincinnati Cyclones, where he played all of last season, before moving to the Toledo Walleye and eventually the Ontario Reign, all of the ECHL. The Reign finished last in the Western Conference and missed the playoffs.

CHL

David McKee and the Odessa Jackalopes won their first-round playoff series against the Texas Brahmas, three games to one. McKee has yet to appear for the Jackalopes in the playoffs. Joel Martin was solid in all three of the Jackalopes' wins; Mike Mole allowed five goals in the Jackalopes' lone loss in the first round, which may open the door for McKee to see some game time if Martin needs a rest in the second round. The Jackalopes will take on the Allen Americans (McKee's team in late 2009-10) in the Berry Conference semifinal, which starts tonight.

PC Drouin's Fort Wayne Komets won their first round playoff series in a three-game sweep over the Dayton Gems; Drouin scored two goals in the series. The Komets will take on the Rapid City Rush, the Turner Conference's top seed, in the conference semifinals starting tomorrow night.

Sweden

Lulea HF and the Abbotts lost to Skelleftea AIK 4-2 in the SEL semifinals; in the last game of the series, Cam had an assist and Chris had two, but Cam was -1 and Chris was -2. Skelleftea would go on to lose the finals 4-1 to Farjestads BK.

Germany

Mark McCutcheon and Sasha Pokulok's DEG Metro Stars held leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in their best-of-five series against Eisbaren Berlin (which I had previously incorrectly said was a best-of-three series), but lost the last two games and were eliminated from the DEL playoffs. Over nine total playoff games, Pokulok had two goals and was -2; McCutcheon was scoreless and -3. The Eisbaren will take on the Wolfsburg Grizzly Adams (yes, that's actually their name) for the DEL championship.

Russia

Ryan Vesce spent the 2010-11 season with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the KHL, where he was second on the team with 48 points in 51 games. Torpedo finished ninth in the KHL's Western Conference, missing the playoffs by one point.

United Kingdom

Jon Gleed played for the EIHL's Belfast Giants in 2010-11, where he was the top-scoring defenseman with 39 points in 57 games; the Giants finished third in the ten-team league, one point back of the first-place Sheffield Steelers. The Giants beat the Coventry Blaze in the first round of the playoffs, but were eliminated by the Cardiff Devils in the semifinals. By the way, if you've ever wanted to buy yourself an ugly replica jersey for a Cornell alumnus playing in Europe, you really owe it to yourself to pay a visit to the Giants' online store; those things are hideous. This is Gleed celebrating a goal in their home jersey; the road ones are ALL teal.

Josh '99


AHL

Shockingly, Matt Moulson and the Islanders did not qualify for the playoffs.

So you count the Islanders under AHL and the Panthers under NHL? I'm pretty sure the fishsticks have been in the playoffs 3 times in the last decade to Florida's zero, and have won four cups to Florida's zero overall. Am I missing how the Panthers are so much more deserving to be under the NHL heading?

And I'm not even an Islanders fan.

Josh '99

Ben Scrivens and the Toronto Marlies finished fifth in the North Division and missed the playoffs.

In the past couple of days, Ben was sent down to the Reading Royals of the ECHL...Since Reading is still playing, I'm guessing that's to get him some more ice time...

redice

Josh '99

Ben Scrivens and the Toronto Marlies finished fifth in the North Division and missed the playoffs.

In the past couple of days, Ben was sent down to the Reading Royals of the ECHL...Since Reading is still playing, I'm guessing that's to get him some more ice time...

Oh, thanks. It will be interesting to see how that plays out in the Royals' second-round series. Scrivens is presumably the highest on the Leafs' organizational depth chart of the goalies currently with Reading, given that he spent much of the season with the Marlies, but incumbent starter Matt Dalton allowed just one goal on 67 shots in the Royals' last two games of their first-round series. The Royals take on the Kalamazoo Wings in a best-of-seven starting tomorrow night.

Josh '99

redice

Josh '99

Ben Scrivens and the Toronto Marlies finished fifth in the North Division and missed the playoffs.

In the past couple of days, Ben was sent down to the Reading Royals of the ECHL...Since Reading is still playing, I'm guessing that's to get him some more ice time...

Oh, thanks. It will be interesting to see how that plays out in the Royals' second-round series. Scrivens is presumably the highest on the Leafs' organizational depth chart of the goalies currently with Reading, given that he spent much of the season with the Marlies, but incumbent starter Matt Dalton allowed just one goal on 67 shots in the Royals' last two games of their first-round series. The Royals take on the Kalamazoo Wings in a best-of-seven starting tomorrow night.

Yeah, I had considered a trip to Reading to watch the game Saturday..But, a four hour trip (one way) to NOT see Ben play would be a bummer. I'll explore other hockey possibilities this weekend.

Isn't Matt Dalton the Bemidji State goalie who bounced us from the NCAA's a couple of years ago?

Douglas was a force last night. Loved that hit on Dustin Brown (he may be from Ithaca, but he's still the enemy!!) and how tough he was on the boards. I thought after that hit from behind on Ian White that Douglas might drop the gloves but clearly everyone is afraid of him. 7 hits in the game and he pinched in and almost scored once. Great game. 27 minutes played. Dan Boyle played 35 minutes, that's not sustainable.

EDIT - I fell asleep for a few minutes on the Kings second goal, I'll cut Douglas some slack on that. Can't let that happen too often though!

redice

Josh '99

redice

Josh '99

Ben Scrivens and the Toronto Marlies finished fifth in the North Division and missed the playoffs.

In the past couple of days, Ben was sent down to the Reading Royals of the ECHL...Since Reading is still playing, I'm guessing that's to get him some more ice time...

Oh, thanks. It will be interesting to see how that plays out in the Royals' second-round series. Scrivens is presumably the highest on the Leafs' organizational depth chart of the goalies currently with Reading, given that he spent much of the season with the Marlies, but incumbent starter Matt Dalton allowed just one goal on 67 shots in the Royals' last two games of their first-round series. The Royals take on the Kalamazoo Wings in a best-of-seven starting tomorrow night.

Yeah, I had considered a trip to Reading to watch the game Saturday..But, a four hour trip (one way) to NOT see Ben play would be a bummer. I'll explore other hockey possibilities this weekend.

Isn't Matt Dalton the Bemidji State goalie who bounced us from the NCAA's a couple of years ago?

*sigh*... yes.

Josh '99
Byron Bitz spent the 2010-11 season on injured reserve; his Florida Panthers finished last in the Eastern Conference and missed the playoffs.

Coindidence? I think not.

Ronald '09

Josh '99


AHL

Shockingly, Matt Moulson and the Islanders did not qualify for the playoffs.

So you count the Islanders under AHL and the Panthers under NHL? I'm pretty sure the fishsticks have been in the playoffs 3 times in the last decade to Florida's zero, and have won four cups to Florida's zero overall. Am I missing how the Panthers are so much more deserving to be under the NHL heading?

And I'm not even an Islanders fan.

If you've read any of my previous NHL-related posts, I think my reasons for doing so should be clear.

NHL

As RatushnyFan mentioned above, Douglas Murray had a solid game for the Sharks in their 3-2 overtime win in the first game of their series against the Kings. In addition to 7 hits, Murray blocked 4 shots, assisted on the Sharks' second goal, and was +1 on the night. The series continues in San Jose on Saturday night at 10pm EDT; game 2 will also be televised on Vs. (and TSN, for those who are lucky enough to get that instead).

AHL

Raymond Sawada and the Texas Stars lost the first game of their first-round series 5-2 in Milwaukee last night. Sawada assisted on the Stars' second goal, which cut the Admirals' lead to 4-2 early in the third period, and was even in +/- on a night when many of the Stars were minus. Game 2 will be played in Milwaukee tomorrow night.

Riley Nash and the Charlotte Checkers won 5-4 in Hershey last night to take a 1-0 series lead. Riley had no points or shots on goal, nor was he on the ice for any of the game's goals (time on ice information is not readily available for AHL games to see whether this was just a coincidence or whether he wasn't playing much), and took a roughing minor in the second period. Game 2 will be played in Hershey Sunday afternoon.

Colin Greening and the Binghamton Senators lost 2-1 in Manchester last night and trail 1-0 in their series. Greening had no points and was not on the ice for any of the scoring, but did have six shots on goal. However, during a particularly rough stretch in the third period while the Senators were initially up 1-0, Greening first took an interference penalty which the Senators successfully killed, then took a hooking penalty about a minute after coming out of the box, during which the Monarchs scored the tying goal.

Brendon Nash and the Hamilton Bulldogs held serve in the first game of their series against the Oklahoma City Barons, winning 5-2 in Hamilton last night. Nash had no points, shots or penalties, and was -1; he was also on the ice for the third of the Bulldogs' three power play goals in the game. The series continues in Hamilton tomorrow afternoon.

ECHL

Evan Barlow and the Idaho Steelheads start their conference semifinal series against the Alaska Aces tonight in Anchorage at 11:15pm EDT; the Aces will be well-rested, having earned a first-round bye as the team with the best record in the ECHL's Western Conference.

CHL

The Odessa Jackalopes beat the Allen Americans 3-2 last night in the first game of their conference semifinal; David McKee did not dress for the Jackalopes.

PC Drouin and the Fort Wayne Komets start their conference semifinal series against the Rapid City Rush in Rapid City tonight.

By the way, I think a lot of the minor league games have free online audio streaming, so that might be worth a look if you find yourself at home while they're going on. Oh, and in case you thought I was making this up yesterday:

Josh '99


United Kingdom

Jon Gleed played for the EIHL's Belfast Giants in 2010-11, where he was the top-scoring defenseman with 39 points in 57 games; the Giants finished third in the ten-team league, one point back of the first-place Sheffield Steelers. The Giants beat the Coventry Blaze in the first round of the playoffs, but were eliminated by the Cardiff Devils in the semifinals. By the way, if you've ever wanted to buy yourself an ugly replica jersey for a Cornell alumnus playing in Europe, you really owe it to yourself to pay a visit to the Giants' online store; those things are hideous. This is Gleed celebrating a goal in their home jersey; the road ones are ALL teal.

GIANTS_30_485065a.jpg

Sports Illustrated had a story about the Belfast Giants a few weeks ago. According to SI, it is one of the few places in Belfast where Protestants and Catholics can mix for a leisure activity. Fans aren't allowed to wear soccer jerseys to the arena because different professional teams are linked to different sides in the sectarian strife which is still simmering under the surface in Northern Island.
"The Giants are neutral ice, the only team in the city where a fan can simply be a fan."

dbilmes

Josh '99


United Kingdom

Jon Gleed played for the EIHL's Belfast Giants in 2010-11, where he was the top-scoring defenseman with 39 points in 57 games; the Giants finished third in the ten-team league, one point back of the first-place Sheffield Steelers. The Giants beat the Coventry Blaze in the first round of the playoffs, but were eliminated by the Cardiff Devils in the semifinals. By the way, if you've ever wanted to buy yourself an ugly replica jersey for a Cornell alumnus playing in Europe, you really owe it to yourself to pay a visit to the Giants' online store; those things are hideous. This is Gleed celebrating a goal in their home jersey; the road ones are ALL teal.

GIANTS_30_485065a.jpg

Sports Illustrated had a story about the Belfast Giants a few weeks ago. According to SI, it is one of the few places in Belfast where Protestants and Catholics can mix for a leisure activity. Fans aren't allowed to wear soccer jerseys to the arena because different professional teams are linked to different sides in the sectarian strife which is still simmering under the surface in Northern Island.
"The Giants are neutral ice, the only team in the city where a fan can simply be a fan."

It was a good article. I read it while being tortured at the dentist a few weeks back. They are also operating on a small budget and they did mention the this year's preseason game involving the bruins.

Josh '99

Ronald '09

Josh '99


AHL

Shockingly, Matt Moulson and the Islanders did not qualify for the playoffs.

So you count the Islanders under AHL and the Panthers under NHL? I'm pretty sure the fishsticks have been in the playoffs 3 times in the last decade to Florida's zero, and have won four cups to Florida's zero overall. Am I missing how the Panthers are so much more deserving to be under the NHL heading?

And I'm not even an Islanders fan.

If you've read any of my previous NHL-related posts, I think my reasons for doing so should be clear.

I think the fact that you're a Rangers fan explains it much more clearly

RatushnyFan
EDIT - I fell asleep for a few minutes on the Kings second goal, I'll cut Douglas some slack on that. Can't let that happen too often though!

If we have to put up with one Boyle-Murray misstep that leads to a goal per playoff year, I'm glad this year it was the very first game and not in overtime.

judy

Josh '99

Ronald '09

Josh '99


AHL

Shockingly, Matt Moulson and the Islanders did not qualify for the playoffs.

So you count the Islanders under AHL and the Panthers under NHL? I'm pretty sure the fishsticks have been in the playoffs 3 times in the last decade to Florida's zero, and have won four cups to Florida's zero overall. Am I missing how the Panthers are so much more deserving to be under the NHL heading?

And I'm not even an Islanders fan.

If you've read any of my previous NHL-related posts, I think my reasons for doing so should be clear.

I think the fact that you're a Rangers fan explains it much more clearly

Well right. My point was that my previous posts would reveal that I'm a Ranger fan. (Ranger fan after two playoff games: )

dbilmes
Sports Illustrated had a story about the Belfast Giants a few weeks ago. According to SI, it is one of the few places in Belfast where Protestants and Catholics can mix for a leisure activity. Fans aren't allowed to wear soccer jerseys to the arena because different professional teams are linked to different sides in the sectarian strife which is still simmering under the surface in Northern Island.
"The Giants are neutral ice, the only team in the city where a fan can simply be a fan."

That's an excellent article, thanks for linking it. Incidentally, there are a LOT of former NCAA players on the Giants (and also throughout the EIHL, given that guys have the opportunity to play abroad professionally without a language barrier). Gleed's teammates this season included:

Tim Cook (Michigan)
Brett Hemingway (UNH)
Colin Hemingway (UNH)
Mike Hoffman (UConn)
Simon Lambert (RIT)
Jeff Mason (Providence)
Josh Prudden (UNH)
Colin Shields (Maine)
Dan Welch (Minnesota)

Josh '99
(Ranger fan after two playoff games: )

Still, that's two more than you're used to.

Happy Tax Day! It was a weekend to forget for most of the Cornell alumni playing in the playoffs, but I suppose it should be recapped anyway.

NHL

Douglas Murray and the Sharks laid an egg in game 2 of their Western Conference quarterfinal against the Kings, losing 4-0 in front of an unhappy home crowd. Murray had no points, but had a shot on goal, a blocked shot, five hits, and was not on ice for any of the goals against. His one penalty on the night was late in the third period, long after the game was over as a contest. Game 3 will be in Los Angeles tomorrow night at 10:30pm EDT, to be televised on Vs. (presumably after the conclusion of the Canucks-Blackhawks game starting at 8:00pm EDT also on Vs.).

AHL

Raymond Sawada and the Texas Stars rebounded from a game 1 loss to tie their series against the Milwaukee Admirals at 1-1; the series is now headed down to Texas for the middle three games, to be played tomorrow, Wednesday and Friday nights. Sawada had two assists, both on power play goals, in the Stars' 3-1 win; he also had one shot on goal and a cross-checking minor.

Riley Nash and the Charlotte Checkers fell to the Hershey Bears 4-2 in the second game of their series, but, like the Texas Stars, return home tied 1-1 with a chance to win out on home ice. Nash was -1 with a roughing minor in the loss. Greening was -1 with a shot on goal in Friday's win, and scored a goal on three shots in Sunday's loss. Greening's goal, scored late in the first period, put the Senators up 3-0, but the Senators were unable to hold the lead. Games 3, 4 and 5 will be played in Charlotte tomorrow, Wednesday and Friday nights.

Brendon Nash's Hamilton Bulldogs are, as far as I can figure, the only team with a Cornell alumnus that's currently winning their playoff series; the Bulldogs won game 2 over the Oklahoma City Barons in front of their home crowd and hold a 2-0 lead headed to Oklahoma for game 3 tomorrow night. Nash had the primary assist on Andreas Engqvist's goal at 19:57 of the first period that tied the game at 1-1, and was +1 with two shots on goal. Like the above series, games 3, 4 and 5 will be played tomorrow, Wednesday and Friday nights.

ECHL

Evan Barlow and the Idaho Steelheads trail 2-0 in their conference semifinal series against the Alaska Aces after losing 2-1 on Friday night and 2-0 on Saturday night. Barlow was -1 in each game and had two shots on goal on Saturday. The series heads to Idaho for games on Wednesday, Friday and (if necessary) Saturday nights.

Also in hot water are Ben Scrivens' Reading Royals, who trail 2-0 after losing to the Kalamazoo Wings at home on Friday and Saturday nights. On Friday, Scrivens came in to replace Matt Dalton after the Royals were down 4-0 at the end of the first period, faring somewhat better but still surrendering 3 goals on 22 shots as the Royals went on to lose 8-3. Scrivens got the nod as the starter on Saturday but probably didn't cement that role for himself, stopping 31 of 36 shots in a 5-4 loss. The Wings will now have the opportunity to win the series on home ice with games in Michigan on Wednesday, Friday, and, (if necessary) Saturday nights.

CHL

The Odessa Jackalopes beat the Allen Americans 5-2 last night, and return home with a 2-0 in their best-of-five series, which continues tomorrow night. David McKee again did not dress for the Jackalopes.

PC Drouin and the Fort Wayne Komets trail 2-0 in their series against the Rapid City Rush; they lost 5-2 on Friday night and 4-3 Saturday night, and return to Fort Wayne for Wednesday's game 3 with their backs against the wall. Drouin had an assist, 3 shots on goal and a slashing minor in Friday's game, and another assist, 7 shots on goal and a high-sticking penalty on Saturday.

During tonight's Philadelphia-Buffalo Game 3 the Versus color guy, maybe Darren Eliot, noted comments by the Sabres assistant coach, definitely Brian McCutcheon.

Edit: no, it was Darren Pang. Eliot is doing some of the Cup games, however.

It was an eventful night for Cornell alumni, including a full AHL slate, but let's start with the most, um, eventful events:

NHL

Douglas Murray's Sharks made a historic comeback in their game in Los Angeles last night, rebounding from deficits of 4-0 and 5-3 to beat the Kings 6-5 in overtime. The turnaround started 44 seconds into the second period, when starting goalie Antti Niemi was lifted after allowing 4 goals on just 10 shots. The Sharks scored three goals over the next 13 minutes to cut their deficit to one goal, but looked to have had their comeback derailed when the Kings scored their fifth just 15 seconds after the Sharks' third. San Jose seized back momentum with two goals in the last two minutes of the second period, capping a five-goal outburst (a team record for a single period) and knotting the game at 5. The third period was a tight one, with no goals or penalties, but Devin Setoguchi finished things for the Sharks with a goal just 3:09 into overtime. Murray had no points and an even plus/minus, logged 2:25 of shorthanded ice time for a Sharks penalty kill that successfully killed all three Kings power plays in the game, was third among Sharks defensemen with 20:10 of total ice time, blocked one shot, recorded five hits, and even put a few good shots on goal during the Sharks' comeback. Game 4 will be played Thursday night in Los Angeles, but will not be televised nationally (unless you're lucky enough to get TSN) because Vs. is carrying game 5 of the Chicago-Vancouver series instead.

AHL

Raymond Sawada and the Texas Stars joined the Sharks on the comeback trail last night. The Stars trailed the Milwaukee Admirals 2-0 late in the third period, but scored with 4:09 left and again with 21 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime; Travis Morin (MSU-Mankato), after assisting on the first two goals, scored for the Stars 8:44 into overtime to send the fans home happy. Sawada assisted on the Stars' first goal, a power play marker by Philip Larsen, and was +1 with five shots on goal; he now has four assists in the first three games of the series. The Stars now lead the series 2-1 and will look to extend that lead in game 4 tonight in Cedar Park (which is a suburb of Austin; don't worry, I didn't know until I just looked it up either).

Riley Nash and the Charlotte Checkers were unable to complete a similar comeback in front of their home crowd. The Checkers trailed the Hershey Bears 3-0 after the first period, clawed back a goal in the second and another in the third, but weren't able to send the game to overtime. Riley picked up his first playoff point with an assist on Zach Boychuk's goal early in the third period, and was +1 with one shot on goal. The Bears now lead the series 2-1, with game 4 scheduled for tonight in Charlotte.

Brendon Nash and the Hamilton Bulldogs lost 2-0 on the road against the Oklahoma City Barons last night, but still lead their series 2-1. Brendon was -1 on the night. Game 4 will be played tonight in Oklahoma City.

Colin Greening and the Binghamton Senators lost to the Manchester Monarchs 6-3 in Binghamton last night, and now face a 3-1 series deficit. The Senators came back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game 2-2, and from a 3-2 deficit to tie at 3-3, but surrendered three goals in a span of 3:30 late in the third period, yielding the final margin of victory. Ryan Potulny (Minnesota) scored all three goals for the Senators. Greening was -1 with 4 shots on goal and an interference minor during which the Monarchs scored their sixth goal. The Senators will look to stave off elimination and send the series back to Manchester with a win in game 5, tonight in Binghamton. By the way, I don't think it was mentioned upthread, but the Monarchs are coached by Mark Morris; no word on whether he still beats his players.

ECHL

Evan Barlow and the Idaho Steelheads, who trail the Alaska Aces 2-0 in their conference semifinal, play at home tonight.

Ben Scrivens and the Reading Royals, who trail the Kalamazoo Wings 2-0 in their conference semifinal, play on the road tonight.

CHL

PC Drouin and the Fort Wayne Komets trail 2-0 in their best-of-five conference semifinal series against the Rapid City Rush; they will look to extend their season on home ice in game 3 tonight.

The Odessa Jackalopes lost to the Allen Americans 3-1 last night, but still lead 2-1 in their best-of-five conference semifinal series, and will have another chance to clinch on home ice tomorrow night. David McKee again did not dress for the Jackalopes.

Not a CU alumnus, but related. After seeing the headline: "Lake Placid trip evokes memories in Bruins' Thomas," I speedily clicked this article: [www.nhl.com]

Oh, huh. No mention of how well he did when he got the opportunity to actually PLAY in that building? Just how he remembers the 1980 USA team, eh? Sure you don't want to mention how it felt to dress up in that very building?? Or your record there? Hmm? No? Nothing? How your swaggering #1 seed UVM team choked it up against a #6 Harvard squad? Or how about all those other times that you made it to the conference final 4....oooooohhhhhh that's right. </stewiegriffin>

How he broke his stick over the goal after we beat them at Lynah in the fall of '96 made that win oh-so-satisfying. Good ol' Timmie.

"Where is your team? Clap-clap-clapclapclap."

"No, Cats, no!"

--heard at Placid in the spring of '97

Scersk '97
"No, Cats, no!"

--heard at Placid in the spring of '97

One of my fonder postseason hockey memories...

KeithK

Scersk '97
"No, Cats, no!"

--heard at Placid in the spring of '97

One of my fonder postseason hockey memories...

"Your attention, please. The time of the University of Vermont "Parade To The Arena" tomorrow afternoon has been changed from 5:30 to 1:30. Thank you."
--Actual PA announcement during the 1st intermission of the '96 Cornell-Clarkson semifinal.

I don't think I've heard such a large percentage of a hockey crowd that large simultaneously burst into laughter before or since.

KeithK

Scersk '97
"No, Cats, no!"

--heard at Placid in the spring of '97

One of my fonder postseason hockey memories...

My favorite was during the consolation game that year when Princeton was on its way to being destroyed by RPI 8-4 (and having lost their semifinal to Clarkson 5-1):

"Princeton beat Vermont! Princeton Beat Vermont!"

NHL

The Sharks built on their big comeback win on Tuesday night with a 6-3 win in Los Angeles last night to take a 3-1 series lead and push the Kings to the brink of elimination. Douglas Murray was +1 with three hits and three blocked shots; he also continued to be a major part of a penalty kill that kept the Kings' power play off the board for a second consecutive game, leading all Sharks skaters with 5:03 of shorthanded ice time. The Sharks now have three chances to close the series out, starting tomorrow in San Jose. Game 5 will be played at 10:30pm EDT and will be televised on Vs. (NB for hockey fans, which I imagine is all of you: Saturday's staggered start times mean those who are so inclined will be able to watch hockey straight through the day, from the noon EDT start of the Lightning-Pens game until the end of the Sharks-Kings game.)

AHL

Raymond Sawada and the Texas Stars fell to the Milwaukee Admirals 3-2 at home on Wednesday night, and their series is now tied 2-2. Sawada was held without a point for the first time in the series, but did register four shots on goal. The Stars will have the chance to take the series lead back in a crucial game 5 in Texas tonight, with games 6 and (if necessary) 7 to be played back in Milwaukee.

Riley Nash and the Charlotte Checkers tied their series with the Hershey Bears at 2 games each with a 3-2 win in Charlotte on Wednesday night. Nash had no points, two shots on goal and a hooking minor. Goalie Mike Murphy was the hero of the night for the Checkers, stopping 35 of 37 shots the Bears sent his way. The Checkers, like the Stars, will look to take a lead at home in game 5 tonight before going on the road for games 6 and (if necessary) 7.

Brendon Nash and the Hamilton Bulldogs are also tied 2-2 in their series with the Oklahoma City Barons, after losing 5-2 in Oklahoma City on Wednesday night. Nash was -1 with one shot on goal. Mark Arcobello (Yale) was the game's first star, scoring to give the Barons a 3-2 lead late in the second period and assisting on the first insurance goal midway through the third. Game 5 will be played tonight in Oklahoma City, after which the series returns to Ontario for games 6 and (if necessary) 7.

Colin Greening and the Binghamton Senators survived to play another day with a 5-4 overtime win over the Manchester Monarchs in Binghamton on Wednesday night. Greening was scoreless with six of the Senators' 42 shots on goal and a boarding minor in the first period. Kaspars Daugavins scored 6:38 into overtime to send the Binghamton crowd home happy. The Senators, however, still trail 3-2 in the series, with the remaining games to be played in Manchester, tonight and (if necessary) tomorrow night.

ECHL

Ben Scrivens and the Reading Royals are one loss away from being swept by the Kalamazoo Wings, after a 5-4 defeat in Kalamazoo on Wednesday night. Scrivens started in goal for the Royals but was lifted 9:49 into the first period when the Wings scored their first goal on their 13th shot of the night; the game recap on the Royals' website says he "sustained an apparent injury on the play and had to come out." I haven't been able to find any further information about his condition or whether he'll be able to play in the remainder of the series. Matt Dalton (Bemidji) took the loss in relief, allowing 4 goals on 32 shots the rest of the way. The Royals now face a steep uphill battle starting tonight in Kalamazoo; if you're interested, their games can be watched online at bctv.org.

Evan Barlow and the Idaho Steelheads also trail 3-0 in their playoff series after losing to the Alaska Aces 3-1 in Idaho on Wednesday night. Barlow had an assist on Mark Derlago's third-period goal, the only one of the night for the Steelheads, along with four shots on goal and a roughing minor. Games 4 and (if necessary) 5 will be played in Idaho tonight and tomorrow night, after which the series would return to Alaska.

CHL

PC Drouin had a huge night for the Fort Wayne Komets in their 5-4 come-from-behind overtime win over the Rapid City Rush in Fort Wayne on Wednesday night. The Komets trailed 3-0 after two periods but stormed back with four third-period goals (sandwiched around one for the Rush) to send the game to overtime. Drouin had a hand in all four goals, assisting on the first three (two on the power play and one shorthanded) before scoring the fourth one himself, also on the power play, with 3:30 to play in the period; he took a slashing minor 8:43 into overtime but the ensuing Rapid City power play was nullified by an interference penalty 39 seconds in, and Mathieu Curadeau scored on the power play that ensued after Drouin returned to the ice to complete the comeback for the Komets. However, the Rush still lead the best-of-five series 2-1 heading into game 4 tonight in Fort Wayne.

The Odessa Jackalopes lost a second consecutive game to the Allen Americans last night, falling 5-3 in Odessa, and their best-of-five series is now tied at two games each; the decisive game 5 will be played in Allen tonight. David McKee was once again out of the lineup for the Jackalopes.

Josh '99
(NB for hockey fans, which I imagine is all of you: ...

If there actually is anyone reading this thread who isn't a hockey fan please speak up.

KeithK

Josh '99
(NB for hockey fans, which I imagine is all of you: ...

If there actually is anyone reading this thread who isn't a hockey fan please speak up.

More likely is someone who doesn't know what NB means

And given the typical tenor on this board, there's probably damn few of them, too.

Jeff Hopkins '82

KeithK

Josh '99
(NB for hockey fans, which I imagine is all of you: ...

If there actually is anyone reading this thread who isn't a hockey fan please speak up.

More likely is someone who doesn't know what NB means

I think we all know what New Balance is, thankyouverymuch.

(I keeeed!)

ftyuv

Jeff Hopkins '82

KeithK

Josh '99
(NB for hockey fans, which I imagine is all of you: ...

If there actually is anyone reading this thread who isn't a hockey fan please speak up.

More likely is someone who doesn't know what NB means

I think we all know what New Balance is, thankyouverymuch.

(I keeeed!)

Tough crowd, tough crowd. Keeps posters on guard, though. Or should.

Updates from an eventful weekend, which saw mostly success in the NHL and the AHL, but disappointment in the lower minors...

NHL

Douglas Murray and the Sharks were unable to close out their series against the Los Angeles Kings in their first opportunity to do so; they lost 3-1 in San Jose on Sunday night. Murray was -1 with 3 shots on goal, 2 blocked shots, and a hit in just 13:59 of ice time (perhaps fewer than in previous games because the Kings spent just 2:00 on the power play). Goaltending was probably the biggest story of the night: Jon Quick (UMass-Amherst) allowed just one goal on a whopping 52 shots in net for the Kings, while Antti Niemi was replaced by Antero Niittyymmaakkiiii after allowing three goals on the first four shots he faced in net for the Sharks. Game 6 will be played tonight in Los Angeles, where the Sharks are 2-0 in the series; the game will be televised nationally on Vs. If the Kings are able to knot the series, game 7 would be played in San Jose on Wednesday night.

AHL

Colin Greening and the Binghamton Senators completed an impressive comeback from a 3-1 series deficit, winning each of the last three games in overtime (including game 6 in double overtime) to send the Manchester Monarchs packing and advance to the Atlantic Division Finals against the Portland Pirates. In Friday's game 6, a 2-1 win for the Senators, Greening was scoreless with six shots on goal; goalie Robin Lehner was the star for the Senators, stopping 51 of 52 shots including denying Bud Holloway on a penalty shot in double overtime, and Geoff Kinrade (Michigan Tech) won the game for the Senators after 90:01 of hockey. In Saturday's game 7, Greening picked up his first two assists of the playoffs, and was +2 with three shots on goal. Ryan Potulny (Minnesota) was the game's first star, scoring the series-clinching goal 3:07 into overtime (primary assist to Greening) and assisting on 4 others in a 6-5 Senators win. The next series starts with games in Portland Wednesday and Thursday nights.

Riley Nash and the Charlotte Checkers also advanced with wins this weekend, topping the Hershey Bears 5-3 in Charlotte on Friday night and 2-1 in overtime yesterday afternoon to eliminate the defending Calder Cup champions. Nash had one shot on goal and two minors on in game 5, and two shots on goal in the decisive game 6. The Checkers will take on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (hereinafter to be abbreviated "WBS" because that's a lot of typing) Penguins in the East Division Finals, starting with road games Thursday and Saturday nights.

Brendon Nash and the Hamilton Bulldogs have also punched their ticket into the second round of the playoffs; they reclaimed the lead in their series against the Oklahoma City Barons with a 2-0 win in Oklahoma City on Friday night, and clinched with a 4-1 win in Hamilton yesterday. Nash was +1 with one shot on goal in Friday's game, but also had some penalty trouble, taking cross-checking, hooking and slashing minors that handed the Barons three of their seven power play opportunities; yesterday's game was better in that regard, and Nash was again +1 with one shot on goal. Drew Macintyre stopped 44 of 45 shots over the two games in goal for the Bulldogs, who will take on the winner of tomorrow night's game 7 between the Lake Erie Monsters and the Manitoba Moose in the North Division Finals; the starting date of that series is not yet set.

Raymond Sawada scored his first goal of the playoffs on Saturday, a power play marker that looked like it would be enough to send the Texas Stars to Milwaukee with a 3-2 series lead, right up until Gabriel Bourque's goal at 19:55 of the third period sent game 5 to overtime. Ryan Thang (Notre Dame) won the game for the Milwaukee Admirals 16:29 into overtime, and the Stars now face a 3-2 deficit and must win in Milwaukee tonight and tomorrow night to advance to the West Division Finals.

ECHL

The Reading Royals lost 5-4 to the Kalamazoo Wings on on Friday night and were swept out of the Kelly Cup playoffs. Ben Scrivens was out of the lineup for the Royals after being injured in Wednesday's game 3, and Matt Dalton (Bemidji) allowed 5 goals on 43 shots in his absence. Dean Strong (Vermont) had two goals and an assist for the Wings; Chris Blight (Clarkson) scored late in the first period to give the Royals a 2-1 lead, which they were unable to protect.

Also swept were Evan Barlow and the Idaho Steelheads; the Alaska Aces won 4-0 in Idaho on Friday night to close out the series. Barlow was -2 with one shot on goal; Gerald Coleman allowed just two goals over the four games in goal for the Aces.

CHL

PC Drouin and the Fort Wayne Komets won 4-1 on home ice on Friday night to force a decisive game 5, but were eliminated by the Rapid City Rush in a 6-1 loss in Rapid City yesterday. Drouin opened the scoring on Friday with a power play goal, one of his 7 shots on goal in the game; he also took a minor for holding the stick. In yesterday's loss he was -1 with three shots on goal; Kevin Reiter (Alaska-Anchorage) was pulled early in the second period after allowing the first five Rush goals on just 13 shots, and was replaced by perennial favorite Nick Boucher (Dartmouth). Konrad Reeder (St. Cloud) was the offensive star for the Rush, with two goals and two assists.

The Odessa Jackalopes were also eliminated from the CHL playoffs over the weekend, as the Allen Americans completed their comeback from a 2-0 series deficit with a 3-1 win in Friday's decisive game 5. David McKee did not dress in any of the Jackalopes' playoff games.

The Texas Stars and Milwaukee Admirals are in double OT; you can listen for free on AHL live:

[ahl.neulion.com]

Edit: Never mind. Stars are out.

Last night, in a pair of overtime games, one Cornellian went on but another, unfortunately, went home...

NHL

Douglas Murray and the San Jose Sharks advanced to the Western Conference semifinals, eliminating the Los Angeles Kings with a 4-3 overtime win and ending the series in six games; the Sharks were 3-0 in Los Angeles in the series. Three times last night the Sharks took a lead, and three times the Kings came back to the the game, the latest time through a power play goal by Trevor Lewis with 8:21 remaining in the third period that would eventually send the game to overtime. The Sharks started the extra period shorthanded at the tail end of a charging major taken by Jamie McGinn with 3:23 remaining but successfully killed the remaining power play time, and team captain Joe Thornton clinched the series with a goal 2:22 into overtime, 45 seconds after the expiration of the penalty. Murray was even on the night with one shot on goal, one blocked shot, and three hits, but will presumably be upset to have been on the ice for two Kings goals, one on the power play and one at even strength. Because the NHL re-seeds after each playoff round, the Sharks' opponent in the next round depends on the outcome of game 7 of the Vancouver-Chicago series, to be played in Vancouver tonight; if the top-seeded Canucks advance, they will play the Nashville Predators and the Sharks will play the Detroit Red Wings (whom the Sharks met and defeated in five games at the same stage of last season's playoffs), but if Vancouver is eliminated, the Sharks will be the highest remaining seed and play the eighth-seeded Blackhawks (who swept the Sharks in the conference finals a year ago). It's unclear whether there will be national TV coverage of that game, or either of tonight's others; the schedule on the Vs. network website calls for NHL coverage in both the 7pm and 10pm EDT time slots, but the game schedule on Yahoo Sports, which tends to be correct, doesn't say any of tonight's games will be televised nationally in the USA.

AHL

Raymond Sawada and the Texas Stars came from behind twice last night, forcing sudden death in game 6 of their divisional semifinal series against the Milwaukee Admirals, but Mark Van Guilder (Notre Dame) beat Richard Bachman (Colorado College) 10:42 into the second overtime to win the game 3-2 and eliminate the Stars from the AHL playoffs. Sawada assisted on both Stars goals, a power play goal by Colton Sceviour in the second and an even strength goal by Travis Morin (MSU-Mankato) in the third, and was even on the night (he was unfortunately one of the players on the ice for the overtime winner) with four shots on goal; his seven points over the six games tied him with Morin for tops on the team. Jeremy Smith stopped 52 of 54 shots in net for the Admirals, while Bachman stopped 47 of 50 for the Stars.

Just one game of note last night:

AHL

The AHL divisional finals round started up last night, and the only game played was in Portland, where Colin Greening and the Binghamton Senators took the first game of their series against the Portland Pirates by a score of 3-2. Greening was -1 with two shots on goal; Zack Smith scored the third-period game-winner for the Sens after the Pirates had tied the game at 2 on a goal by Colin Stuart (Colorado College) late in the second. Greening will see at least a couple of familiar faces playing for the Pirates this series: Portland's starting goalie is David Leggio (Clarkson), and one of their defensemen is Alex Biega (Harvard). The series continues tonight in Portland.

Two other series of note start up tonight: Brendon Nash and the Hamilton Bulldogs host the Manitoba Moose, and Riley Nash and the Charlotte Checkers visit the WBS Penguins. As I mentioned, if you find yourself at home craving some hockey, there's free audio for many games at AHL Live. There's also pay video streaming, but at $9.99 per game (with bundles available at cheaper per-game rates) I can't imagine any quality level that would make it a worthwhile expenditure.

NHL

The Vancouver Canucks scratched out an overtime victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in game 7 courtesy of two goals from Alex Burrows, so Douglas Murray and the San Jose Sharks will take on the Detroit Red Wings in the second round. The series starts tomorrow night at 10pm EDT with live coverage on Vs.

More good results for our guys last night...

AHL

Colin Greening and the Binghamton Senators continued the surge of momentum from their come-from-behind series win over Manchester with a 5-3 win in Portland last night; the Senators now have a 2-0 lead in the series heading to Binghamton for the middle three games. (I believe the AHL chooses between a 2-3-2 format and a 2-2-1-1-1 format based on how close the teams are to each other; the Portland-Connecticut series in the first round was 2-2-1-1-1 but all the others have been 2-3-2.) Greening was even with one shot on goal. Bob Raymond (RIT) scored the game-winner with 3:51 to play in the third period, and Kaspars Daugavins had two goals for the Sens, including a shorty to cut into an early 2-0 lead for the Pirates and an empty-netter to lock up the win. Robin Lehner made 43 saves to get the win, while Jhonas Enroth, who played 15 games for the Buffalo Sabres while Ryan Miller was injured earlier in the season, replaced David Leggio (Clarkson) in goal for the Pirates but was unable to achieve a better result. Game 3 will be played in Binghamton tomorrow night.

Riley Nash and the Charlotte Checkers also earned themselves a road win to start their series, defeating the WBS Penguins 3-2 last night. Nash was even with one shot on goal; he was also part of the power play unit that scored the Checkers' third goal. The Checkers were outshot 30-19 on the night, but Mike Murphy made 28 saves for the Checkers while Brad Thiessen (Northeastern) stopped just 16 of 19 for the Penguins. Jon Matsumoto (Bowling Green) scored two power play goals for the Checkers, the first in the second period to break a 1-1 tie and the second coming in the third period to give the Checkers "the most dangerous lead in hockey". Perhaps proving the adage correct, Brett Sterling (Colorado College) scored a power play goal for the Penguins just 1:23 later to make it again a one-goal game, but Murphy and the Checkers held firm, despite being outshot 13-6 in the third period, to preserve the victory. Game 2 will be played in Wilkes-Barre tomorrow night.

Brendon Nash and the Hamilton Bulldogs are also out to an early lead in their divisional final series after defeating the Manitoba Moose 4-1 in Hamilton last night; Alexandre Bolduc scored 5:10 in for the Moose, but the Bulldogs responded with four unanswered goals. Nash was -1; he was also part of the power play unit that scored the Bulldogs' third goal. Aaron Palushaj (Michigan) and Dustin Boyd each had two points for the Bulldogs; Drew MacIntyre wasn't busy, but stopped 19 of 20 pucks that came his way in the Hamilton net. Game 2 will be played in Hamilton on Sunday afternoon and then the series heads to Manitoba.

NHL

Just a reminder, Douglas Murray and the San Jose Sharks start their second-round series against the Detroit Red Wings tonight at 10pm EDT on Vs.

Updates from an eventful weekend:

NHL

Douglas Murray and the San Jose Sharks won the first two games of their Western Conference semifinal against the Detroit Red Wings. On Friday night, the Sharks trailed 1-0 heading to the third period courtesy of a Nicklas Lidstrom goal, but Joe Pavelski (Wisconsin) knotted the game with a power play goal, and Benn Ferriero (BC) won it in overtime with a shot that deflected off the stick of Detroit defenseman Brad Stuart and into the net; Murray was -1 with one shot on goal, three blocked shots and five hits. Jimmy Howard (Maine) played a solid game in net for the Wings, stopping 44 of 46 shots. Yesterday afternoon the Sharks extended their series lead with another 2-1 win; Antti Niemi stopped 33 of 34 shots, including 12 of 13 in the third period, to ensure that goals from defensemen Ian White and Niclas Wallin were enough offense for the Sharks. Murray was even with two shots on goal, one blocked shot and four hits; he was also not on the ice for the third-period power play goal by Henrik Zetterberg that cut the Sharks' lead to one. The series continues in Detroit with games on Wednesday and Friday nights, both of which will be televised on Vs.

AHL

Colin Greening and the Binghamton Senators stumbled at home on Saturday, conceding two goals within the last 5:09 of the game and losing 3-2. Greening was -1 with one shot on goal. Tim Conboy (St. Cloud) scored the game-winner with just 13 seconds left in regulation; Derek Whitmore (Bowling Green) was named the game's first star after scoring the tying goal and setting up Conboy's winner. David Leggio (Clarkson) was back in goal for the Pirates and stopped 32 of 34 in a winning effort. Games 4 and 5 are in Binghamton tonight and tomorrow night.

Brendon Nash and the Hamilton Bulldogs stretched their series lead over the Manitoba Moose to 2-0 with a 4-2 win in Hamilton yesterday. Nash was +2 with one shot on goal. Gabriel Dumont scored two goals for the Bulldogs, one an empty-netter that stretched the lead to 4-1 with 49 seconds to play before Chris Tanev (RIT) cut the deficit back to two goals 19 seconds later. Drew MacIntyre stopped 24 of 26 shots in the Hamilton net. The series continues with games in Winnipeg tomorrow, Wednesday and (if necessary) Friday nights.

On Saturday, Riley Nash and the Charlotte Checkers lost game 2 of their series against the WBS Penguins 3-0, and head home for the middle three games of the series tied 1-1. Nash was -1 with two shots on goal. Ryan Craig had an empty-net goal and an assist for the Penguins and was on the ice for all three goals; Brad Thiessen (Northeastern) rebounded from a disappointing game 1 to make 34 saves in the shutout. Games 3, 4 and 5 will be played in Charlotte tonight, Wednesday night and Friday night.

Josh '99
Updates from an eventful weekend:

NHL

Douglas Murray and the San Jose Sharks won the first two games of their Western Conference semifinal against the Detroit Red Wings. On Friday night, the Sharks trailed 1-0 heading to the third period courtesy of a Nicklas Lidstrom goal, but Joe Pavelski (Wisconsin) knotted the game with a power play goal, and Benn Ferriero (BC) won it in overtime with a shot that deflected off the stick of Detroit defenseman Brad Stuart and into the net; Murray was -1 with one shot on goal, three blocked shots and five hits. Jimmy Howard (Maine) played a solid game in net for the Wings, stopping 44 of 46 shots. Yesterday afternoon the Sharks extended their series lead with another 2-1 win; Antti Niemi stopped 33 of 34 shots, including 12 of 13 in the third period, to ensure that goals from defensemen Ian White and Niclas Wallin were enough offense for the Sharks. Murray was even with two shots on goal, one blocked shot and four hits; he was also not on the ice for the third-period power play goal by Henrik Zetterberg that cut the Sharks' lead to one. The series continues in Detroit with games on Wednesday and Friday nights, both of which will be televised on Vs.

Murray almost had a great goal during the game. He more or less single-handedly fought for the puck behind the net, brought it out himself, shot, collected the rebound and shot again, and the puck got past Howard and was inches from the goal line but Datsyuk got scooped it out at the last second. For a player like Murray who usually isn't creating goals on his own that would have been amazing had it gone in. And he had quite a few solid hits. All in all a great game for him on national TV.

If "playoffs" also means "elections" and "alumni" stretches beyond hockey careers, then Ken Dryden's defeat in Canadian parliamentary elections tonight fits in well here. There aren't any news articles yet, but I'm sure many will be posted tomorrow. Oh well, Ken had to lose at something once in his life.

Relevant quotes from tonight:

"The Habs and Member of Parliament Ken Dryden bounced within five days of each other"

"Very sad Ken Dryden lost, he was the architect of a national child care program & he lost tonight. He always has inspired me."

amerks127
If "playoffs" also means "elections" and "alumni" stretches beyond hockey careers, then Ken Dryden's defeat in Canadian parliamentary elections tonight fits in well here. There aren't any news articles yet, but I'm sure many will be posted tomorrow. Oh well, Ken had to lose at something once in his life.

Relevant quotes from tonight:

"The Habs and Member of Parliament Ken Dryden bounced within five days of each other"

"Very sad Ken Dryden lost, he was the architect of a national child care program & he lost tonight. He always has inspired me."

The Liberals came in 3rd - a major defeat. He was just collateral damage.

Jeff Hopkins '82

amerks127
If "playoffs" also means "elections" and "alumni" stretches beyond hockey careers, then Ken Dryden's defeat in Canadian parliamentary elections tonight fits in well here. There aren't any news articles yet, but I'm sure many will be posted tomorrow. Oh well, Ken had to lose at something once in his life.

Relevant quotes from tonight:

"The Habs and Member of Parliament Ken Dryden bounced within five days of each other"

"Very sad Ken Dryden lost, he was the architect of a national child care program & he lost tonight. He always has inspired me."

The Liberals came in 3rd - a major defeat. He was just collateral damage.

Nah. It was probably just Leafs fans eager to finally stick it to a Canadien.

Great story on the Sharks website as to why Douglas Murray loves playoff hockey.

Sort of in the playoffs. Via ECAC site, Denver Post article on "Is Ryan O’Byrne the next Don Cherry?"

Jim Hyla
Sort of in the playoffs. Via ECAC site, Denver Post article on "Is Ryan O’Byrne the next Don Cherry?"

Whew! I thought it was going to say he wears ugly suits or is smug and obnoxious.

NHL

Douglas Murray and the Sharks ran their lead over the Red Wings to 3-0 with a 4-3 overtime win in Detroit last night. Murray was -1 with 7 blocked shots (ouch) and one hit; he was also on the ice during the Sharks' penalty kill that surrendered Nicklas Lidstrom's goal that tied the game at 1 late in the first period. Devin Setoguchi had a hat trick for the Sharks, including the overtime goal (which came not long after he had served a holding penalty); Joe Thornton assisted on all three of Setoguchi's goals, two of which came on the power play. Dan Boyle (Miami) had a goal and an assist for the Sharks, while Lidstrom (1 G, 1 A) and Henrik Zetterberg (2A) each had two points for the Wings. The Sharks will attempt to complete the sweep tomorrow night in Detroit; if they can close out the Wings, they'll take on either the Vancouver Canucks or the Nashville Predators in the Western Conference Final.

AHL

Colin Greening and the Binghamton Senators lead the Portland Pirates 3-2 in the Atlantic Division Finals; they stretched their lead to 3-1 with a 6-1 win on Monday, but the Pirates forced game 6 with a 6-2 win the next night. In game 4, Greening was -1 with two shots on goal. Ryan Potulny (Minnesota) and Kaspars Daugavins each had two goals for the Senators, and Corey Locke had three assists; David Leggio (Clarkson) was removed from the Portland net after allowing 4 goals on 20 shots. In the table-turning game 5, the Pirates chased Robin Lehner from the Sens' net with 4 goals on just 16 shots; Mark Mancari was the offensive star of the night, with two goals and two assists. Greening was even with one shot on goal. The series now returns to Portland, where Binghamton won games 1 and 2 last week. Game 6 will be played tomorrow night, and game 7 (if necessary) will be Saturday night.

Riley Nash and the Charlotte Checkers have won the first two home games of their East Division Finals series against the WBS Penguins, and lead the series 3-1. On Monday, the Checkers won 2-1 in overtime to retake the series lead they had surrendered with their game 2 loss. Nick Dodge (Clarkson) scored in the second to tie the game after the Penguins had taken a lead into the first intermission, and Brett Sutter (yes, that "Sutter") won it 5:40 into overtime; Mike Murphy stopped 26 of 27 Penguin shots. Last night, the Checkers eked out a 1-0 win (despite being heavily outshot) to bring the series to 3-1. Chris Terry's power play goal early in the third period was the game's only scoring, and Murphy stopped all 44 shots he saw to earn the shutout; Brad Thiessen (Northeastern) stopped 31 of 32 but still took the loss. In both games, Nash was even with no shots on goal or penalties. The Checkers will attempt to close out the series on home ice tomorrow night; if the Penguins win, the series would return to Wilkes-Barre for games 6 and 7 on Saturday and Monday nights.

Brendon Nash and the Hamilton Bulldogs surrendered their early series lead and are now tied 2-2 with the Manitoba Moose in the North Division Finals. On Tuesday, the Moose overcame a 2-1 deficit to win 5-4. The turning point of the game undoubtedly came in the last minute of the second period: with 35 seconds left to play, Jordan Schroeder (Minnesota) scored for the Moose to the the game at two goals apiece. Hamilton's Ryan White took an interference penalty with two seconds left in the period; Marco Rosa (Merrimack) won the ensuing faceoff to Sergei Shirokov, who scored a power play goal at 19:59 to give the Moose the lead going to the intermission. Rosa, who was named the game's first star, added a power play goal of his own early in the third to stretch the lead to 4-2, and though the Bulldogs twice cut the deficit to one goal, they were unable to tie the game. Nash was -1 with three shots on goal. Last night, the Moose won 2-1 in double overtime to tie the series. For much of the game, the Bulldogs led courtesy of Gabriel Dumont's second period power play goal, but Guillaume Desbiens tied the game with 2:02 left in the third, and Mario Bliznak scored the winner 11:54 into the fifth period of hockey. Nash had an assist on Dumont's goal and was even with one shot on goal of his own. Eddie Lack stopped 43 of 44 shots for the Moose; in the Hamilton Net, Drew MacIntyre made 32 of 34 saves, including denying Desbiens on a penalty shot early in the first overtime period. Game 5 will be played in Winnipeg tomorrow night, and then the series will return to Hamilton for game 6 on Sunday night and (if necessary) game 7 on Monday night.

Now that's a link!

Updates, including two Cornellians matching up against each other in an upcoming series...

NHL

Douglas Murray and the San Jose Sharks have been unsuccessful in their first two chances to close out the Red Wings and advance to the Western Conference Finals. On Friday, the Wings stormed out to a 3-0 first period lead, the Sharks came back to tie the game at 3-3, but Darren Helm scored with 1:27 left in regulation to give the Wings the win. Murray was -1 with three blocked shots and four hits. Nicklas Lidstrom was the game's first star, scoring the Wings' second and third goals, while Ryane Clowe assisted on all three Sharks goals. Last night the series returned to San Jose, and the Sharks looked to have a solid grip on a series-clinching victory when Calder Trophy finalist Logan Couture scored early in the third period put them up 3-1, but the Wings came back with three goals of their own to take a 4-3 lead, and Jimmy Howard (Maine) held firm to deny the Sharks an equalizer. Murray was +1 with two shots on goal, two blocked shots and five hits. Pavel Datsyuk had three assists for the Red Wings. The series returns to Detroit for game 6, tomorrow night at 8pm EDT on Vs.; if the Red Wings are able to force game 7, it would be played Thursday night in San Jose.

AHL

On Friday night, Colin Greening and the Binghamton Senators shut the door on the Portland Pirates with a 3-0 win in Portland; the Senators won their series 4-2 to advance to the AHL's Eastern Conference Finals. Greening was even with one shot on goal in the game, which featured one goal each from Jim O'Brien (Minnesota), Zack Smith and Kaspars Daugavins. Robin Lehner stopped all 36 shots he saw to earn the shutout.

The Sens' opponents in the Eastern Conference Finals will be Riley Nash and the Charlotte Checkers, who eliminated the WBS Penguins with a 4-3 win in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday, one night after the Penguins had prevailed 1-0 in game 5 in Charlotte. In Friday's game, Nash was even with one shot on goal. Brad Thiessen (Northeastern) turned aside all 23 Charlotte shots and was named the game's first star, and Chris Collins (Boston College) scored the game's only goal about midway through the third period. The Penguins looked to have Saturday's game won as well; they led 2-0 after two periods and Joe Vitale (Northeastern) scored shorthanded early in the third to stretch the lead to 3-0, but the Checkers put up four goals in the last thirteen minutes, including two from Chris Terry, and then held the resulting lead to win 4-3 and clinch the series. Nash was +1 with two shots on goal. Brett Sutter three points (1G, 2A) for the Checkers, and Ryan Craig had two (1G, 1A) for the Penguins. The series between the Sens and the Checkers will start games in Charlotte on Thursday and Friday nights.

Brendon Nash and the Hamilton Bulldogs took a 3-2 series lead over the Manitoba Moose with a 5-1 victory in Winnipeg on Friday night, but had an unhappy return to Ontario, suffering a 1-0 loss last night to bring the series even at 3-3. Nash was +2 in Friday's game. Nigel Dawes scored two goals for the Bulldogs, including an empty-netter, and Drew MacIntyre was beaten just once on 23 Manitoba shots. Yesterday, however, the Bulldogs were outshot heavily in their 1-0 loss, 34-25 overall including 12-5 in the third period. Nash was even with no shots on goal and a tripping minor. Alexandre Bolduc's second-period shorthanded goal was the only one of the game, and while MacIntyre had a second consecutive one-goal night in the Hamilton net, he was bested by Eddie Lack, who stopped all 25 for the Moose. The teams will meet in game 7 in Hamilton tonight.

Yeah, I know, not our alumni, but did anyone else notice a few more wrinkles and age spots when you realized the NHL Eastern conference finals will feature Tim Thomas and Martin St. Louis?

PS... Thank you Josh for the updates.

Rita
Yeah, I know, not our alumni, but did anyone else notice a few more wrinkles and age spots when you realized the NHL Eastern conference finals will feature Tim Thomas and Martin St. Louis?

PS... Thank you Josh for the updates.

Just the opposite. When guys from the old days are still playing it makes me feel less decrepit. It isn't like we were comparable athletes back then and I should feel bad that I've fallen apart while they've held it together. I started falling apart when I was 16.

ugarte

Rita
Yeah, I know, not our alumni, but did anyone else notice a few more wrinkles and age spots when you realized the NHL Eastern conference finals will feature Tim Thomas and Martin St. Louis?

PS... Thank you Josh for the updates.

Just the opposite. When guys from the old days are still playing it makes me feel less decrepit. It isn't like we were comparable athletes back then and I should feel bad that I've fallen apart while they've held it together. I started falling apart when I was 16.

Agreed. (About the opposite, not you falling apart at 16.) Maybe seeing one of those guys retiring or getting inducted into someone's HoF would make me feel old. But seeing them still playing makes me feel like not that much time has passed.

[N.B. I am not suggesting that either of the former Catamounts belongs in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Maybe the Flint, MI or the Laval, QC halls though, if any such things exist.]

KeithK

ugarte

Rita
Yeah, I know, not our alumni, but did anyone else notice a few more wrinkles and age spots when you realized the NHL Eastern conference finals will feature Tim Thomas and Martin St. Louis?

PS... Thank you Josh for the updates.

Just the opposite. When guys from the old days are still playing it makes me feel less decrepit. It isn't like we were comparable athletes back then and I should feel bad that I've fallen apart while they've held it together. I started falling apart when I was 16.

Agreed. (About the opposite, not you falling apart at 16.) Maybe seeing one of those guys retiring or getting inducted into someone's HoF would make me feel old. But seeing them still playing makes me feel like not that much time has passed.

[N.B. I am not suggesting that either of the former Catamounts belongs in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Maybe the Flint, MI or the Laval, QC halls though, if any such things exist.]

Waaah, waaah.

ftyuv
Waaah, waaah.

That's an awesome Tim Thomas impression.

CowbellGuy

ftyuv
Waaah, waaah.

That's an awesome Tim Thomas impression.

You should add a Facebook widget to the eLF so I can click "Like".

Updates, including the increasing likeliness that a Cornellian will lift the Calder Cup this season...

NHL

The Vancouver Canucks eliminated the Nashville Predators in six games to advance to the Western Conference Finals. The President's Trophy winners will be the opponents of Douglas Murray and the San Jose Sharks if they're able to win one of the next two games over the Detroit Red Wings to advance. As I mentioned yesterday, game 6 of their series is tonight at 8pm EDT on Vs.

AHL

Last night, Brendon Nash and the Hamilton Bulldogs prevailed in the longest game 7 in AHL history to advance to the Western Conference Finals. Sergei Shirokov scored a power play goal in the first period to give the Manitoba Moose a 1-0 lead, which held until Nigel Dawes tied the game up early in the third. The teams battled it out through two scoreless overtime periods before Dustin Boyd scored an unassisted goal just six seconds into the third overtime to win it for the Bulldogs. Boyd briefly tied up opposing center Marco Rosa (Merrimack) on the draw before knocking the puck past him, dumped the puck into the Moose zone before the opposing defenseman could collect it, then won the footrace to collect the carom off the end boards, and his seemingly innocuous chop at the puck from a narrow angle somehow beat Manitoba goalkeeper Eddie Lack. The end result was a bit unfair to Lack, who had stopped stopped 55 of 56 shots up to that point to keep the Moose competitive in a game in which they were outshot 57-30, including 24-14 across the 2.005 overtime periods. You should take a look at the highlights at AHL Live because it's really a phenomenal individual display of effort. For the game Nash was even with two shots on goal, and unfortunately was in the penalty box for delay of game when Shirokov scored for Manitoba. The Bulldogs' opponents in the Western Conference Finals will be the winner of game 7 between the Milwaukee Admirals and the Houston Aeros, to be played tonight in Milwaukee. In either case, there will be a Cornellian on three of the four semifinalists for the Calder Cup.

Josh '99

CowbellGuy

ftyuv
Waaah, waaah.

That's an awesome Tim Thomas impression.

You should add a Facebook widget to the eLF so I can click "Like".

Must be awesome being stuck in the 90s. Omg did you see that new Seinfeld episode??

NHL

Well, it's getting to be a real nailbiter for Douglas Murray and the San Jose Sharks. Once again the Sharks held a third period lead, courtesy of Logan Couture, and once again the Red Wings came back to win in regulation. Valtteri Filppula assisted Henrik Zetterberg's tying goal and, less than two minutes later, scored the go-ahead goal for the Wings, who are looking to become the fourth team in NHL history to come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series. On the night Murray was even with one shot on goal, one blocked shot, three hits and a tripping minor. Game 7 will be played in San Jose on Thursday night at 9pm EDT and will be televised on Vs. As I mentioned yesterday, the Vancouver Canucks await Thursday's winner in the Western Conference Finals.

AHL

Last night the Houston Aeros beat the Milwaukee Admirals 4-2 in Milwaukee in game 7 of their playoff series, and will meet Brendon Nash and the Hamilton Bulldogs in the AHL's Western Conference Finals. Casey Wellman (UMass-Amherst) scored with 1:21 to play in the third period to break a 2-2 tie, and the Aeros added an empty-netter soon after to arrive at the final score.

Murray in USA Today article via ECAC.

ftyuv

Josh '99

CowbellGuy

ftyuv
Waaah, waaah.

That's an awesome Tim Thomas impression.

You should add a Facebook widget to the eLF so I can click "Like".

Must be awesome being stuck in the 90s. Omg did you see that new Seinfeld episode??

There was no such thing as a "Like" button in the '90s.

Josh '99

ftyuv

Josh '99

CowbellGuy

ftyuv
Waaah, waaah.

That's an awesome Tim Thomas impression.

You should add a Facebook widget to the eLF so I can click "Like".

Must be awesome being stuck in the 90s. Omg did you see that new Seinfeld episode??

There was no such thing as a "Like" button in the '90s.

Touche.

Greening rated as the best free agent forward in Ottawa.

[www.tsn.ca]

Josh '99

ftyuv

Josh '99

CowbellGuy

ftyuv
Waaah, waaah.

That's an awesome Tim Thomas impression.

You should add a Facebook widget to the eLF so I can click "Like".

Must be awesome being stuck in the 90s. Omg did you see that new Seinfeld episode??

There was no such thing as a "Like" button in the '90s.

But the '50s were a different story

Swampy

Josh '99

ftyuv

Josh '99

CowbellGuy

ftyuv
Waaah, waaah.

That's an awesome Tim Thomas impression.

You should add a Facebook widget to the eLF so I can click "Like".

Must be awesome being stuck in the 90s. Omg did you see that new Seinfeld episode??

There was no such thing as a "Like" button in the '90s.

But the '50s were a different story

i%20like%20ike%20button.gif

Swampy

Josh '99

ftyuv

Josh '99

CowbellGuy

ftyuv
Waaah, waaah.

That's an awesome Tim Thomas impression.

You should add a Facebook widget to the eLF so I can click "Like".

Must be awesome being stuck in the 90s. Omg did you see that new Seinfeld episode??

There was no such thing as a "Like" button in the '90s.

But the '50s were a different story

i%20like%20ike%20button.gif

Everything old is new again:

Reminder, two important games tonight: At 7pm EDT Colin Greening and the Binghamton Senators take on Riley Nash and the Charlotte Checkers in the first game of the AHL's Eastern Conference Finals. If you really want to watch the game, there's live video on AHL Live for $10, and I'm pretty sure there's also free online audio from 1430 The Team in Binghamton; the AHL also does pretty frequent live updating of the box scores on their website at www.theahl.com. A little later on, at 9pm EDT (note the earlier time than previous San Jose home games in the playoffs), Douglas Murray and the San Jose Sharks take on the Detroit Red Wings in game 7 with a trip to the Western Conference Finals on the line. Live coverage on Vs.

Swampy

Josh '99

ftyuv

Josh '99

CowbellGuy

ftyuv
Waaah, waaah.

That's an awesome Tim Thomas impression.

You should add a Facebook widget to the eLF so I can click "Like".

Must be awesome being stuck in the 90s. Omg did you see that new Seinfeld episode??

There was no such thing as a "Like" button in the '90s.

But the '50s were a different story

i%20like%20ike%20button.gif

There was a


Like... in the 60's, too.

Sharks knock out Detroit in 7 games. Incredibly high-energy third period. Douglas Murray comes close to getting a wraparound goal. Detroit takes 1 goal lead into third, scores, Detroit comes back late with a goal, San Jose holds off the charge. Final 4-3. On to Vancouver Sunday for San Jose in the western finals.

billhoward
Sharks knock out Detroit in 7 games. Incredibly high-energy third period. Douglas Murray comes close to getting a wraparound goal. Detroit takes 1 goal lead into third, scores, Detroit comes back late with a goal, San Jose holds off the charge. Final 4-3. On to Vancouver Sunday for San Jose in the western finals.

Correction: San Jose took the lead into the third. But that didn't really mean a whole lot the past week... Until tonight.

Go ahead and ask Google if it's possible for sharks (the animal) to choke. Try and find a non-hockey related answer.

NHL

As mentioned above, though it (naturally) turned into a nailbiter in the end, Douglas Murray and the Sharks held off a late charge from the Red Wings to win 3-2 last night and the series 4-3. Murray had two shots on goal, five blocked shots and five hits, one of them an absolute crusher in the first period. Devin Setoguchi scored the Sharks' first goal and assisted on the third, both also assisted by Dan Boyle (Miami), sandwiched around an unassisted tally by Logan Couture. Pavel Datsyuk scored for the Red Wings in the third to make it a one-goal game, a ridiculous backhand from a tight angle that picked the far top corner over Antti Niemi's shoulder. The Sharks will take on the top-seeded Vancouver Canucks in the Western Conference Finals, starting in Vancouver Sunday night at 8pm EDT on Vs.

AHL

The first game of the AHL Eastern Conference Semifinal between Colin Greening's Binghamton Senators and Riley Nash's Charlotte Checkers was a shootout that saw both starting goalies removed from the game (and maybe subsequently put back in to replace their backups; the times don't quite add up). The Senators led 4-3 at the end of the first period and 5-3 at the end of the second, allowed a goal early in the third that brought the game back to 5-4, then scored twice more to arrive at the 7-4 final; 11 different players scored the game's 11 goals. Riley was named the game's third star with a power play goal and two assists on three shots on goal in a losing effort; Greening was +1 with no points or shots on goal. Erik Condra (Notre Dame), Kaspars Daugavins and Andre Benoit each had a goal and two assists for the Sens, and Ryan Potulny (Minnesota) scored his 11th goal of the playoffs, the most by any player thus far. The series continues tonight in Charlotte, then heads to Binghamton for the middle three games.

Brendon Nash and the Hamilton Bulldogs are set to take on the Houston Aeros in the AHL Western Conference final, starting with games tonight and Sunday afternoon in Houston.

Perhaps it's because I tend to look for him on the ice, but it seemed to me that #3 received an awful lot of ice time last night for the Sharks in the final 5 minutes, from final the penalty kill through to the final buzzer. A testament to the reliable defender Murray has become at the NHLlevel.

Jordan 04
Perhaps it's because I tend to look for him on the ice, but it seemed to me that #3 received an awful lot of ice time last night for the Sharks in the final 5 minutes, from final the penalty kill through to the final buzzer. A testament to the reliable defender Murray has become at the NHLlevel.

You're correct, and it's not terribly surprising since a lot of the Sharks' defenders are puck-movers (Ian White, Jason Demers, Niclas Wallin) rather than people-movers like Murray. According to the ice time summary, from 14:57 (when Torrey Mitchell took a slashing minor) until the end of the third period Murray played five shifts totaling 3:07, including 1:20 during the minor penalty. For comparison, in the same 5:03 interval:

Dan Boyle 4 shifts, 2:45
Marc-Edouard Vlasic 4 shifts, 2:43
Wallin 3 shifts, 1:12
Demers 1 shift, 0:19
White 0 shifts

It's pretty clear who the defensemen are that Todd McLellan wants on the ice when the Sharks are protecting a lead. Of the six, Murray is the only real stay-at-home defenseman, and he's good at what he does; James Mirtle of The Globe And Mail ranked him the 15th best defensive defenseman in the NHL this season. It's also worth noting that Murray had two of his five blocked shots during that last 5:03 of the game.

Josh '99

Jordan 04
Perhaps it's because I tend to look for him on the ice, but it seemed to me that #3 received an awful lot of ice time last night for the Sharks in the final 5 minutes, from final the penalty kill through to the final buzzer. A testament to the reliable defender Murray has become at the NHLlevel.

You're correct, and it's not terribly surprising since a lot of the Sharks' defenders are puck-movers (Ian White, Jason Demers, Niclas Wallin) rather than people-movers like Murray. According to the ice time summary, from 14:57 (when Torrey Mitchell took a slashing minor) until the end of the third period Murray played five shifts totaling 3:07, including 1:20 during the minor penalty. For comparison, in the same 5:03 interval:

Dan Boyle 4 shifts, 2:45
Marc-Edouard Vlasic 4 shifts, 2:43
Wallin 3 shifts, 1:12
Demers 1 shift, 0:19
White 0 shifts

It's pretty clear who the defensemen are that Todd McLellan wants on the ice when the Sharks are protecting a lead. Of the six, Murray is the only real stay-at-home defenseman, and he's good at what he does; James Mirtle of The Globe And Mail ranked him the 15th best defensive defenseman in the NHL this season. It's also worth noting that Murray had two of his five blocked shots during that last 5:03 of the game.

Great and meaningful stats. Murray's progression from a 6/7 defensemen to a top shut-down guy has been remarkable.

Well hello there. It's been a while. Would you like some updates?

NHL

Stop me if you've heard this one before. In game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Douglas Murray and the Sharks held a 2-1 lead going into the third period, but gave up goals 1:19 apart to Kevin Bieksa (Bowling Green) and Henrik Sedin and lost the game 3-2. Murray was even with a high-sticking minor, three blocked shots and three hits. Sedin was the game's first star with an assist on Bieksa's goal in addition to scoring his own, and Sharks goalie Antti Niemi was the second star after allowing the three goals on 38 shots. Game 2 is tomorrow night in Vancouver at 9pm EDT, and will be televised nationally on Vs.

AHL

Colin Greening and the Binghamton Senators ran their lead over Riley Nash and the Charlotte Checkers in the Eastern Conference Final to two games to none with a 3-0 win in Charlotte on Friday night. Greening was +1 with three shots on goal; Nash was even with no shots on goal, and took a slashing minor and a roughing minor. Ryan Potulny (Minnesota) continued to show a hot scoring touch for the Senators with two more goals, one during the power play resulting from Nash's slashing penalty; both goals were assisted by Ryan Keller, who leads the AHL playoffs with 13 assists, and whose 19 points so far in the playoffs trail only Potulny (22). Robin Lehner stopped all 35 shots in the Binghamton net, while Mike Murphy stopped 28 of 31 for Charlotte. The middle three games of the series will be contested in Binghamton tonight, tomorrow night and Saturday night.

Brendon Nash and the Hamilton Bulldogs trail 2-0 in the Western Conference Final after losing the first two games to the Houston Aeros by one-goal margins. On Friday, the Bulldogs lost 2-1 courtesy of goals from Chad Rau (Colorado College) and Jed Ortmeyer (Michigan); Mathieu Carle scored the Bulldogs' first and only goal of the night with just 51 seconds left in the third period. Matt Hackett stopped 38 of 39 shots in the Houston net and was named the game's first star. Nash was even with one shot on goal. On Sunday, the game looked to be tied 1-1 headed to the third period until Marco Scandella's power play goal with 10 seconds left gave the Aeros the intermission lead. Colton Gillies notched an insurance goal early in the period, and while Ryan Russell subsequently cut the Bulldogs' deficit to one, they were unable to score the equalizer and the game ended 3-2. Nash had an assist on Gabriel Dumont's goal that tied the game in the second period, two shots on goal, and a first-period tripping penalty. Russell (1 G, 1 A) had two points for the Bulldogs, while Jared Spurgeon (2 A) had two for the Aeros. The series continues with games in Hamilton tonight, tomorrow night and Friday night.

Updates from a bad night for the Nash brothers...

NHL

Douglas Murray and the San Jose Sharks take on the Vancouver Canucks in game 2 of the Western Conference Finals tonight at 9pm EDT on Vs.

AHL

Colin Greening and the Binghamton Senators convincingly defeated Riley Nash and the Charlotte Checkers in their first home game of the Eastern Conference finals; their 7-1 win has them up 3-0 in the series and on the verge of a trip to the Calder Cup Finals. The Sens led a fairly competitive 3-1 game after two periods before exploding for four unanswered goals in the third. Greening unfortunately didn't get involved in the scoring, registering a modest +1 with two shots on goal; he also was assessed a first-period fighting major for dropping the gloves with Oskar Osala after Osala boarded a Binghamton player. Nash was -2 with two shots on goal. Zack Smith took the spotlight away from Ryan Potulny (Minnesota) for a night with a four-point night including a hat trick; Ryan Keller (1 G, 1 A), Kaspars Daugavins (2 A) and Jared Cowen (2 A) each had two points for the Sens, and Bobby Butler (UNH) notched his 10th goal of the playoffs. Jon Matsumoto (Bowling Green) had the only goal for Charlotte. Robin Lehner was solid in the Binahtmon net, stopping 37 of 38 shots including 26 of 27 in the first two periods while the game was still close. Mike Murphy started in goal for the Checkers and played about the first two and a half periods, allowing five goals on 29 shots before being pulled; replacement Justin Pogge allowed the Sens' final two goals on just three shots. The Sens will attempt to complete the sweep in Binghamton tonight.

Brendon Nash and the Hamilton Bulldogs lost another one-goal game and now trail the Houston Aeros 3-0 in the Western Conference Final. Nash was -1 in the game, a 3-2 loss for the Bulldogs in which all the goals were scored before six minutes of the second period had elapsed. Houston captain Jon DiSalvatore (Providence) scored twice, first giving the Aeros a 1-0 lead and then tallying a power play goal early in the second to break a 2-2 tie and yield the final scoreline; Patrick O'Sullivan assisted on both of DiSalvatore's goals. Each team had 27 shots on goal in the game, with Houston goalie Matt Hackett outperforming his Hamilton counterpart Drew MacIntyre by just enough to earn the victory. The Bulldogs will have a lot of work to do if they want to make the series of it, but will have their home crowd behind them tonight, and again on Friday if they're able to avoid the sweep.

NHL

It wasn't a great night for Douglas Murray and the Sharks, as they lost 7-3 to Vancouver and now trail the Western Conference Finals two games to none. The game was tied 2-2 after the first period, and the Canucks led 3-2 after two, but a third-period offensive explosion put the Canucks ahead 7-2 before the Sharks added a late consolation goal. Murray was -3 with two shots on goal and six hits. For the second consecutive game, Kevin Bieksa (Bowling Green) had a big goal, putting the Canucks ahead 3-2 in the second period; he also fought Patrick Marleau and added an assist in the third to complete his Gordie Howe hat trick. Chris Higgins (Yale) (1 G, 2 A), Henrik Sedin (3 A), and Dan Hamhuis (3 A) all had three points for the Canucks, and Daniel Sedin had a pair of goals. The Sharks will hope to rebound in front of their home crowd in game 3, Friday at 9pm EDT on Vs.

AHL

Colin Greening and the Binghamton Senators completed their sweep of Riley Nash and the Charlotte Checkers last night, winning 4-3 in overtime to advance to the Calder Cup Finals; they've come a long way from needing to win three games in a row to advance out of the first round. Credit where credit is due to AHL.com for coming up with the headline "Broom(e) County". Greening was -1 with three shots on goal; Nash had three shots of goal on his own, and a hooking minor during which the Sens scored their first goal. Binghamton captain Ryan Keller scored the clinching goal 13:05 into overtime; Ryan Potulny (Minnesota) and Andre Benoit each had a goal and an assist for the Sens. Chris Terry scored two of the three Checkers goals, including the one that tied the game with 1:24 left in the third period to send it to overtime.

The Sens' opponents in the Calder Cup Finals will be... well, not so fast, Houston. The Hamilton Bulldogs responded to their 3-0 series deficit with a dominating performance in game 4, outshooting the Aeros 40-15 enroute to an 8-1 laugher. Brendon Nash was unfortunately out of the lineup and missed the fun. I haven't been able to find any information on why he missed the game, but given that the Bulldogs had previously been dressing seven defensemen, and that things worked out so well for their game 4 lineup, I'm inclined to guess he might not play in game 5 either. Dustin Boyd led the way for the Bulldogs with two goals and two assists, and Aaron Palushaj (Michigan) (1 G, 2 A), Nigel Dawes (2 G), Kyle Klubertanz (Wisconsin) (2 A) and Ryan White (2 A) all had multiple-point nights, with White also adding 29 penalty minutes to a crowded stat line. The Bulldogs will look to build on their momentum from last night's win in game 5 on Friday night.

NHL

Douglas Murray and the Sharks rebounded from Wednesday's disappointing loss with a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks in last night's game 3, the first home game of the series for the Sharks. However, Sharks coach Todd McLellan will have been disappointed to see the Sharks again jump out to a big lead (3-0 after the first period, 4-1 midway through the third) only to allow their opponents to rebound and close it to a one-goal deficit. Murray was even with one shot on goal, five blocked shots and one hit, and was named the game's third star for his efforts. Joe Thornton assisted on three of the Sharks' goals, while Patrick Marleau scored twice and added an assist and Dan Boyle (Miami) had a power play goal and an assist as well. The Sharks will attempt to even the series in front of their home crowd tomorrow at 3pm EDT on NBC.

AHL

Brendon Nash was back in the lineup for the Hamilton Bulldogs, who beat the Houston Aeros last night to cut their series deficit to 3-2. Nash assisted on the first-period goal by Paul Zanette (Niagara), and was +1 with two shots on goal. Ryan White, with two assists for the Bulldogs, was the game's only multiple-point scorer. Drew MacIntyre stopped 31 of 33 shots in the Hamilton net; Matt Hackett responded to being pulled from Wednesday's game with a respectable effort in goal for the Aeros. The series heads back to Houston for games 6 and (if necessary) 7, with the next game scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.

Murray gets a front page feature story on ESPN.com this afternoon:
[sports.espn.go.com]

NHL

Douglas Murray and the San Jose Sharks lost 4-2 in front of their home crowd yesterday afternoon, and are now on the brink of being eliminated in the Western Conference Finals for the second consecutive season. In yesterday's game, Murray was -1 with a delay of game penalty, five shots on goal, two blocked shots and four hits. Murray's uncharacteristically high five shots on goal were actually the second-most of any player in the game, and in fact his shots on goal combined with defensive partner Dan Boyle's nine were more than the Canucks had the entire game (13); unfortunately, and also uncharacteristically, Murray was on the ice for three of Vancouver's four goals, and in the penalty box for the fourth. The Sharks were undone, in part, by a particularly ugly stretch of the second period, which, in short, looked like this:

8:15 Dany Heatley (Wisconsin) high sticking minor, Vancouver 5x4, game tied
9:05 Torrey Michell (Vermont) hooking minor, Vancouver 5x3, game tied
9:15 Ryan Kesler (Ohio State) 5x3 PPG, Heatley out of the box, Vancouver 5x4, Vancouver up 1-0
10:39 San Jose too many men served, Vancouver 5x3, Vancouver up 1-0
10:55 Sami Salo 5x3 PPG, Mitchell out of the box, Vancouver 5x4, Vancouver up 2-0
11:01 Murray delay of game penalty, Vancouver 5x3, Vancouver up 2-0
11:11 Salo 5x3 PPG, Vancouver 5x4, Vancouver up 3-0

It takes some exceedingly ugly hockey to surrender three 5x3 goals in less than two minutes, and that stretch may well turn out to doom the Sharks' season. On offense, it was a Sedin show for the Canucks: Henrik assisted on all four Vancouver goals and twin brother Daniel assisted on three. Sami Salo scored two of the Canucks' three power play goals, as noted above, and assisted on Kesler's as well. After Vancouver went up 4-0 the Sharks did attempt a third-period rally to get the score back to 4-2, but were unable to get it closer than that and now trail the series 3-1. Roberto Luongo made 33 of 35 saves in the Vancouver net, while Antti Niemi stopped just 9 of 13 for San Jose. The series continues in Vancouver tomorrow night, 9pm EDT on Vs., and the Sharks will have to win three games in a row, two of them on the road, if they want to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.

AHL

Speaking of winning three games in a row, Brendon Nash and the Hamilton Bulldogs have done just that, and are now tied 3-3 in the Western Conference Finals against the Houston Aeros. In game 6, the Bulldogs trailed 1-0 and 2-1, came back both times to take a 4-2 lead, surrendered that lead by conceding twice within the last ten minutes of the third period, then eventually won it in double overtime on a goal by Nigel Dawes. Nash had one shot on goal and an early hooking minor, during which Chad Rau (Colorado College) scored the Aeros' first goal. Andreas Engqvist and Dawes each had two goals for the Bulldogs, Dustin Boyd had a goal and an assist, and Frederic St. Denis had two assists; Warren Peters and Colton Gillies each had two assists for the Aeros. Drew MacIntyre had a huge game in the Bulldogs' net, stopping 57 of 61 shots over almost 90 minutes of hockey. The teams will meet once more with a trip to the finals on the line tomorrow night in Houston.

For those of you who are in Central New York, the Binghamton Senators are selling three-game packages for tickets to their home games in the Calder Cup Finals, which are priced reasonably (in my opinion, anyway) at between $65 and $70 for the three-game set depending on where the seats are located. While you might not get to see Brendon Nash, this could be your last chance to see Colin Greening play for the B-Sens given that his new contract is one-way, as discussed upthread. However, if you're not a Sens fan, you might want to wait until individual game tickets go on sale once their opponent is set, as the third ticket will be refunded in the form of a gift certificate toward the purchase of team merchandise or future tickets in the event that the third game isn't played.

And then there was one...

NHL

Douglas Murray and the San Jose Sharks were eliminated by the Vancouver Canucks last night, losing the game 3-2 in double overtime and the series 4-1. This is the second year in a row that the Sharks have lost the Western Conference Finals. Once again, San Jose found themselves unable to hold a late lead; Devin Setoguchi's goal gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead early in the third period, but Ryan Kesler (Ohio State) tied the game with just 16 seconds to play, and Kevin Bieksa (Bowling Green) won it after 30:18 of bonus hockey. The Sharks once again outshot the Canucks by a large margin, but Roberto Luongo stopped 52 of 54 in the Vancouver net while Antti Niemi saved just 31 of 34 for San Jose; if I may briefly editorialize, I think goaltending will be something of a question mark for the Sharks heading into the offseason. In addition to the presumed frustration with their inability to hold a lead, the Sharks will be unhappy to have lost on a fluky goal. Intercepting a clearing attempt, Bieksa's defensive partner Alex Edler tried to keep the puck in the Canucks' offensive zone by dumping it from the right point into the corner. However, before the puck could get there it hit a stanchion somewhere around the hash marks and caromed directly to Bieksa in the high slot; Bieksa shot right away and beat Niemi, who was facing toward the corner where he expected the puck to be, for the series-clinching goal. Joe Pavelski (Wisconsin) had two assists for the Sharks; Edler (2 A), Henrik Sedin (2 A) and Alex Burrows (1 G, 1 A) each had two points for the Canucks. Murray was, for the second consecutive game, on the ice for multiple goals against (more specifically, both of the Canucks' regulation goals); on the night he was -2 with 2 shots on goal, 4 blocked shots and 4 hits.

AHL

Brendon Nash and the Hamilton Bulldogs were also eliminated from the playoffs last night, losing game 7 of the Western Conference Finals 4-3. The Houston Aeros jumped out to a 2-0 lead with goals 9 seconds apart at 7:03 and 7:12 of the first period, allowed the Bulldogs to tie the game within the next 6:09, took another lead early in the second, were tied again at 3-3 midway through the period, and eventually scored the winner with just 1:13 to play in the third. Nash was -1 with no shots or penalties. Mathieu Carle (1 G, 1 A), Nigel Dawes (2 A) and Dustin Boyd (1 G, 1 A) each had two points for the Bulldogs; Justin Falk (2 A), Patrick O'Sullivan (2 A) and Casey Wellman (UMass-Amherst) (2 G) each had two points for the Aeros. Jon DiSalvatore (Providence) scored the clinching goal late in the third period.

The Aeros will take on Colin Greening and the Binghamton Senators in the Calder Cup Finals. The Senators will host games the middle three games of the series next Wednesday 6/1, Friday 6/3 and (if necessary) Saturday 6/4. Individual game tickets go on general sale tomorrow morning; more information is available here for those who are interested in attending.

Murray did have that monster open-ice hit on Kesler at least. The GWG was pretty fluky. It took such a weird bounce, Bieksa was the only one who actually knew where it was, including the refs (and Luongo, for that matter), mostly because it just landed at his feet. His shot was pretty terrible. Bieksa more or less whiffed on the shot, too, and it wobbled and bounced its way into the net just inside the post. I'm not sure I can blame Niemi (or anyone else on the ice) for that goal. Some of the others, however...

Here's that hit: [video.sharks.nhl.com]

AHL

The Binghamton Senators and Houston Aeros split the first two games of the Calder Cup Finals in Houston, and now head to Binghamton for the middle three games of the series. On Friday night the Aeros recovered from a 1-0 deficit at the second intermission to win 3-1. Jed Ortmeyer (Michigan) scored the first two goals for the Aeros, and Warren Peters added an empty-netter to seal the win. Colin Greening assisted on the Sens' only goal, scored by Bobby Butler (UNH) in the second period, and was +1 on the night. The Sens rebounded to take game 2 the following night. Butler again started the scoring, this time on the power play early in the first period, but Casey Wellman (UMass-Amherst) tied the game up with a power play of his own a few minutes later, and the last 55:33 of regulation were scoreless. Jim O'Brien (Minnesota) won it for the Sens 7:54 into overtime. Greening was even with one shot on goal. Game 3 will be played in Binghamton tomorrow night.

Josh '99
AHL

The Binghamton Senators and Houston Aeros split the first two games of the Calder Cup Finals in Houston, and now head to Binghamton for the middle three games of the series. On Friday night the Aeros recovered from a 1-0 deficit at the second intermission to win 3-1. Jed Ortmeyer (Michigan) scored the first two goals for the Aeros, and Warren Peters added an empty-netter to seal the win. Colin Greening assisted on the Sens' only goal, scored by Bobby Butler (UNH) in the second period, and was +1 on the night. The Sens rebounded to take game 2 the following night. Butler again started the scoring, this time on the power play early in the first period, but Casey Wellman (UMass-Amherst) tied the game up with a power play of his own a few minutes later, and the last 55:33 of regulation were scoreless. Jim O'Brien (Minnesota) won it for the Sens 7:54 into overtime. Greening was even with one shot on goal. Game 3 will be played in Binghamton tomorrow night.

Greening had one official SOG but according to a friend who watched the game, he played a great game and rang two shots off of the post.

Colin Greening has been blogging about the Sens playoff run. The most recent, brief post is about travel, his family and press coverage.

[fans.senators.nhl.com]

Here's an older entry (May 21) about beating Charlotte and signing his new contract.

[fans.senators.nhl.com]

AHL

Colin Greening and the Binghamton Senators were beaten 2-1 by the Houston Aeros on Wednesday night, and now trail the Calder Cup Finals by the same margin. Aeros captain Jon DiSalvatore (Providence) scored just 1:08 into the game to give Houston the early lead, then set up Nate Prosser (Colorado College) for an insurance goal in the second period; Patrick O'Sullivan assisted on both goals. Ryan Keller's power play goal early in the third cut the deficit to one goal, but the Aeros held firm to deny the Sens the equalizer. Matt Hackett stopped 28 of 29 shots in the Houston net to earn the win. Greening was even and did not record a shot on goal. The Sens will attempt to once again even the series tonight in Binghamton.

Time Warner Cable is carrying all the Calder Cup games. Game 3 on now -- Channel 813 HD; 1012 digital cable. BSens up 2-0 as the 2nd period starts; Greening had the first goal.

They later changed the scoring on the B-Sen's first goal...Greening did not end up getting credit for the goal...I think it went to #16....But, I didn't get his name.

The goal went to Cody Bass.
I watched the video back this morning, and it did look like Bass was the one who actually hit it in off Greening's wraparound.

The B-Sens won game five tonight and head to Houston with a 3-2 lead in the series....A very exciting night in & around Broome County Arena...I don't believe Colin Greening figured in the scoring....It did look like he was getting a lot of ice time in the third period when the Sens were nursing a 3-2 lead...I think they might have been double-shifting him for a while....

A great night and I wish the B-Sens a lot of luck in Houston Tuesday night...I wish I could be there...They looked great these last two games...

Binghamton just won the Calder Cup series tonight 4-2 with a 3-2 win over Houston!

Indeed they did! Thanks redice and amerks for posting the news. I meant to sooner but I broke my arm on Sunday and sort of lost track of it. (Lost track of the thread, not my arm.) Congratulations to Colin!