Alumni in the Playoffs - 2010

[jeff '84]

Matt Moulson tours the NHL offices and meets Gary.

http://islanders.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?catid=-6&id=69115

Good stuff, thanks.

Meets Bettman -- "ah a fellow alum." Gary introduces him to a guy who went to Dartmouth.... "ah, I hate Dartmouth!"

[Jim Hyla]

ECAC writes that Jon Gleed has been signed by the Belfast Giants.

[Josh '99]

Updates:

Unfortunately it was a bit of a bloodbath for our guys this weekend, so you might want to avert your eyes if you don't want to read bad news...

Douglas Murray and the San Jose Sharks were swept by the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference finals.  The Hawks finished out the sweep by taking games 3 and 4 in Chicago, 3-2 in overtime on Friday night and 4-2 yesterday afternoon.  Murray was -2 in Friday night's game, on the ice for both even-strength goals Chicago scored.  Yesterday, he had an assist on Logan Couture's goal that opened the scoring, but was even overall; I think he might've been on the ice for Kris Versteeg's empty-netter that provided the final margin of victory.  Murray looked to get more involved in the offense late in the game with the Sharks trying to tie it at 3, but was unable to sway the outcome.  For what it's worth, while people will doubtless try to fit this into the "Sharks choke in the playoffs" narrative, I'm not sure I see it that way; the Hawks finished just one point behind the Sharks in the regular season, and got some phenomenal performances from goalie Antti Niemi (note: not the same guy as the soccer goalkeeper) in this series.  And in the context of what the Caps and Bruins and Pens did in this postseason, it doesn't seem that bad; sometimes one good team just loses to another good team.

Speaking of the Caps and the Pens, the team that upset them is on the brink of being eliminated from the playoffs themselves; Ryan O'Byrne and the Canadiens trail 3-1 in their series against the Philadelphia Flyers.  The Habs closed the deficit to one game with a 5-1 win last Thursday night, but were unable to knot the series on Saturday, losing 3-0.  O'Byrne returned to the lineup for both games, but played just 1:34 in game 3 (an early penalty for putting the puck over the glass couldn't have helped his case), and 4:45 in game 4.  The Flyers will attempt to close out the series in at home at the Wachovia Center tonight; if they're unable to do so, the series will return to Montreal for game 6 on Wednesday night.

Raymond Sawada and the Texas Stars trail 3-2 in their conference finals series against the Hamilton Bulldogs.  The Stars evened the series with a 2-1 overtime win on Friday night, but the Bulldogs rebounded with a 3-0 win on Saturday night to bring the series back to Ontario with two chances to close out the Stars.  Sawada was even with one shot on goal and two minors in Friday's penalty-filled contest; Jamie Benn scored both Stars goals, tying the game 24 seconds into the third period and winning it 5:52 into overtime.  On Saturday, Sawada had the same individual stat line; Curtis Sanford made 23 saves to record the shutout for the Bulldogs, who were led offensively by a goal and an assist from David Desharnais.  Game 6 is tonight in Hamilton; if the Stars can fight off elimination, the teams will play once more for all the marbles on Wednesday night.

Congratulations to the Cincinnati Cyclones on winning the Kelly Cup on Friday night, their second championship in the last three seasons.  The Cyclones finished off the Idaho Steelheads with a 3-2 win on Thursday night and a 2-1 win on Friday.  The Steelheads led game 4 1-0 and again 2-1 (with Evan Barlow assisting on Marty Flichel's second period power play goal to take the 2-1 lead), but Quinnipiac alum Reid Cashman knotted it at 2 with a power play goal 5:44 into the third period, and the Cyclones took the lead when Princeton alum Dustin Sproat scored just 53 seconds later.  Sproat and Mercyhurst grad Brett Robinson netted for the Cyclones in the clincher, sandwiched around a tying goal for the Steelheads by Minnesota-Duluth alum Matt McKnight.  Robert Mayer made 22 saves in goal to earn the victory; he and the Cyclones' other goalie, Jeremy Smith, were named co-MVPs of the ECHL playoffs.  Doug Krantz, unfortunately, didn't dress for the Cyclones in any of the games in the finals; he's probably in this on-ice team celebration photo from the Cincinnati Enquirer, but I can't find him.

[Josh '99]

Well heck, why wait?  Updates, a little from column A and a little from column B...

Ryan O'Byrne and the Canadiens were eliminated from the NHL playoffs by the Philadelphia Flyers earlier tonight, losing the Eastern Conference final in five games.  Michael Leighton continued his successful playoff run, stopping 25 of 27 shots.  Mike Richards led the Flyers with a shorthanded goal and two assists; Scott Gomez and BC alum Brian Gionta each had a goal and an assist for the Habs.  O'Byrne, apparently in the lineup in name only as a seventh defenseman, saw just 2:24 of ice time, including 2:13 of PK and 0:11 even strength that presumably came at the tail end of a PK.  Meanwhile, Marc-Andre Bergeron, who sucks, played 13 minutes.  If Jacques Martin is still the coach of the Canadiens next year (which presumably he will be after an unexpectedly successful playoff run), then I hope O'Byrne finds his way to another team where he might get a better shot at more ice time.  The Flyers will take on the Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup finals starting Saturday evening; the Hawks have home ice advantage for the series.  Go Hawks.

In better news, Raymond Sawada and the Texas Stars beat the Hamilton Bulldogs in overtime earlier tonight; the win means that their AHL Western Conference final series will end with a decisive game 7 in Hamilton on Wednesday night, with the winner to face the Hershey Bears in the Calder Cup finals.  Sawada had no points, shots or penalties and was -1.  Aaron Gagnon was named the game's first star after he scored the winner 18:32 into the overtime period, but for me the real star of the game was Bemidji State alum Matt Climie, who made an incredible 51 saves in the Stars' victory.  Jamie Benn and Minnesota State - Mankato alum Travis Morin each had two assists for the Stars.  For what it's worth, Sawada's line has started the game for the Stars most of the series, so while he's not contributing a lot of offense, I'd guess he's playing an important role as a defensive forward.  Go Stars, or else I'll be out of things to post in this thread.

[Trotsky]

Go Stars, or else I'll be out of things to post in this thread.

Early NHL camps begin when, June? B-]

[Rita]

Josh, thanks for the updates. I have enjoyed them very much **].

[Josh '99]

Go Stars, or else I'll be out of things to post in this thread.

Early NHL camps begin when, June? B-]

I think they actually started about three weeks ago for the teams that missed the playoffs.

[Josh '99]

Updates!  Or, I guess, "update" singular...

Raymond Sawada and the Texas Stars improbably came from behind to win their AHL Western Conference final series against the Hamilton Bulldogs, taking game 7 on the road in Hamilton by a 4-2 final score.  The Bulldogs led 2-0 mid-2nd behind goals from David Desharnais and former Michigan Wolverine Max Pacioretty, but scored four unanswered goals starting at 14:38 of the second including three goals in the third period.  Perttu Lindgren (who, incidentally, was Charlie Cook's teammate with Lukko Rauma in Finland last season) had assists on the Stars' first two goals and scored the third; Jamie Benn added an insurance tally with 1:27 to play in the third, his AHL-best 14th of the playoffs.  Bemidji State grad Matt Climie made 41 saves in the victory, and kept the game within reach with 18 saves in a second period that saw the Stars outshot 19-6.  Sawada was -1 (he was on the ice for Pacioretty's goal) and went to the box for tripping early in the third.  The Stars are the first team since 2002 to reach the Calder Cup finals in their first year in the league.  Fortunately, they'll have plenty of time to recover, as the finals don't start until next Thursday night; they'll take on the Hershey Bears, who wrapped up the Eastern Conference championship on Saturday.

[Jim Hyla]

From the Dallas Stars, via the ECAC website, article on Sawada. Also from the ECAC, Bern Reaches Agreement with Krueger.

[jtwcornell91]

Also from the ECAC, Bern Reaches Agreement with Krueger.

::banana:: Too bad my last attempt to order SCB merch went so badly.

[Robb]

Also from the ECAC, Bern Reaches Agreement with Krueger.

::banana:: Too bad my last attempt to order SCB merch went so badly.

::cry::

[redice]

I went to the Hershey-Texas Stars game tonight.   The Stars won 2-1 and took a 1-0 lead in the series.  Raymond Sawada was unimpressive.   He didn't figure in the scoring.   In fact, he often seemed to be lagging behind the play.   Not the player that we watched for four years in Ithaca.   I don't know if he has some nagging injury that slowed him.  If the series goes 6 or 7 games, I hope to make one more game in Hershey.

[Jim Hyla]

Not in the playoffs, but from the ECAC website, Pokulok to play for Nethery in Germany.

[munchkin]

Ray Sawada puts the Stars ahead 3-1 late in the 1st on a nice 2 on 1 play. Long breakout pass beats a pinching Carlson at the red line.

I'm a little conflicted here.  I'm a Bears fan since I'm from DC and they are, of course, the AHL affiliate of the Caps, but it's Sawada and seeing his name made me smile a little.

Edit: Not so conflicted now that the Bears have had 5 unanswered goals in a row.

[Josh '99]

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it?

Congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks, who won their first Stanley Cup since 1961.  Former NCAA players who lifted the Cup this week included Duncan Keith (Michigan State), Jonathan Toews (North Dakota), Patrick Sharp (Vermont), John Madden (Michigan), Jordan Hendry (Alaska-Fairbanks) and Adam Burish (Wisconsin).

In ongoing action, Raymond Sawada and the Texas Stars are tied with the Hershey Bears 2-2 in the Calder Cup finals.  The Stars jumped out to a 2-0 series lead on the road, winning 2-1 and 4-3 in Hershey, but the Bears came back to tie the series with 6-3 and 4-2 wins in Texas.  Sawada scored a goal, his third of the playoffs, in the Stars' game 3 loss, giving his team a 3-1 lead late in the first period before the Bears scored five unanswered to provide the final margin; overall for the series, he has the one point, and is -1 with 5 shots on goal and no penalties.  Game 5 will be played tonight in Texas; the series will return to Pennsylvania for game 6 on Monday night and (if necessary) game 7 on Wednesday night.