Alright, now that both teams I would've loved to see win the Cup are out (Chicago and Boston), I can relax and just enjoy the rest of the playoffs. I wonder if all the old legs on the Wings won't begin to tire in the next few weeks?

Watching the Detroit-St. Louis opener, I wasn't surprised to see Hasek flop like he'd been shot after Tkachuk bumped him in the corner near the end of the game. Neither was Tkachuk:

No question he is a great goaltender — one of the best, but he is very dramatic.

Even Yzerman couldn't help but grin when asked about the hit that Hasek described as a "cheap shot":

Every goalie in the league, when they get touched, goes down like they are dead. Everyone does it.

Yeah, and it's pretty funny too. Goalies wear heavy protective gear and throw themselves in front of pucks travelling 100 mph, yet tap them on the shoulder and they feign serious injury.

OK Howard - I'll bite:

Regular season awards - my picks

Hart Trophy : Jarome Iginla, Flames

Calder Trophy: Ilya Kovalchuk, Thrashers

Jack Adams Award: Robbie Ftorek, Bruins

Lady Byng Trophy: Joe Sakic, Avalanche

Norris Trophy: Rob Blake, Avalanche

Selke Trophy: Michael Peca, Islanders

Vezina Trophy Sean Burke, Coyotes

Fair? Probably not. But there you have it.

More on the Isles. Yes, the future is bright and I think that they only need a couple of more pieces to make a serious cup run. Yashin had a better playoff than you give him credit for, at least as far as effort was concerned. He didn't bury all of his chances but at least he was able to make some chances, which is a vast improvment over his Senator days.

Speaking of Yashin, I was cleaning out my filing cabinet and I stumbled across a mint condition Yashin rookie card that I got when I bought NHL '96. I wonder how much it's worth (CAN $1 ?). I also happened to have a Hamrlik card from when he was with Tampa Bay and a CuJo card when he was still with St. Louis. I am getting old.

As for the remaining playoff teams, I'm with Martin on this one, I too am rooting for the Habs (out of deference to my Montrealer girlfriend...)

Regular season award finalists:

Hart Trophy

Jarome Iginla, Flames

Jose Theodore, Canadiens

Patrick Roy, Avalanche

Calder Trophy

Dany Heatley, Thrashers

Kristian Huselius, Panthers

Ilya Kovalchuk, Thrashers

Jack Adams Award

Bob Francis, Coyotes

Robbie Ftorek, Bruins

Brian Sutter, Blackhawks

Lady Byng Trophy

Ron Francis, Hurricanes

Nicklas Lidstrom, Red Wings

Joe Sakic, Avalanche

Norris Trophy

Rob Blake, Avalanche

Chris Chelios, Red Wings

Nicklas Lidstrom, Red Wings

Selke Trophy

Craig Conroy, Flames

Jere Lehtinen, Stars

Michael Peca, Islanders

Vezina Trophy

Sean Burke, Coyotes

Patrick Roy, Avalanche

Jose Theodore, Canadiens

On the Isles: The Isles are still a young team. They missed Peca, who is their most inspired player and leader. Given the ownership's newfound commitment to winning, I see nothing but bright skies ahead.

Provided that Yashin can grow up. He was monumentally better in the playoffs this year than ever before. But given his previous disappearing acts, that is not saying much. If he can learn to play hard consistently, this team will contend for the Cup.

Since the Kings are gone, I'm back to rooting for the Habs. So - sorry Leaf fans. But you do live in Toronto, you have learned to live with it.....

P.S. Go Sharks!

Oh well. It was fine while it lasted, but my beloved Isles are now out of the playoffs. Toronto deserved to win that game and frankly, except for the last 10 minutes of the third, the Islanders were an embarrassment on ice. Maybe it's because they were young and inexperienced, but they came out with no heart and no brains. I guess there's always next year.

Flyers' coaching staff given their pink slips: Bob Clarke is laughing in the background. Yet another playoff no-show and he gets to blame it on someone else as usual. All that money, all that talent, and it just will not work in Philadelphia. It is not like he puts together an overpaid roster of has-beens like in the big apple. What is wrong? Hell if I know. All I know is that Clarke has to take the rap some day. But it won't be today.

Bobby Clarke fired his former teammate Bill Barber after a disappointing playoffs. While some players blamed Barber, I blame Clarke. What do you guys think?

Indeed. When Dryden came back after sitting out a year, he switched to the better known "bullseye" mask. After that it was never the same for me, but all those Stanley Cups did cushion the blow somewhat.

Ken Dryden!

Cheevers was the easy one, and Plante was a good guess, but Plante wore these two:



A picture of the goalie who wore the first mask can be found here. To see a bunch of cool classic goalie masks, click here.

Howard - thanks for the invite to talk hockey. I'm still in mourning over the Kings loss last night. At least the Habs advanced. Since I seem to have jumped into a discussion of equipment, I'll start off with a a quick (and easy) quiz. Can you name the netminders who wore these classic masks?

Proper Equipment. You bring up a good point, Howard...I'll never understand why NHLers don't at least tighten the straps on their helmets. But an interesting fact about the aforementioned Kenny Jonsson is that he wears a helmet that was specifically designed to reduce the chances of getting a concussion, yet, Roberts' hit was so hard that it cracked his helmet and still knocked him out.

Typical Flyer Fans?

Wear you gear, kids:
Tupper,

Your are right that the players need to watch their asses better. But a significant improvement would happen overnight if they would just wear their equipment properly. My fiancee was stunned to see a player's helmet pop off while he was simply jostling with another player after the whistle.

"What's wrong with his helmet?"

They don't do them up properly, presuming they are even wearing a proper helmet, rather than a Gretzky-style broomball one.

She was dumbfounded by NHLers' stupidity.

That rise in concussions and injuries would disappear if the damned fools would just tighten the straps around their helmets.

Just like clockwork - Round up the usual suspects: The Flyers bomb and the players blame the coach.

Charles,

Here's the best place to go for more on Oscar Robertson. On top of everything else, he's quite a fine man of the court.

A few choice excerpts from a time when there were only 9 teams in the NBA:

He is the only player in NBA history ever to average a “triple double” (double figures in scoring, 30.8 points per game; assists, 11.4 per game; and rebounding, 12.5 per game) for an entire season, 1961-62.

He averaged a cumulative “triple double” over his first six seasons.

Holds all-time rebounding records for guards: season, 985 rebounds/12.5 average, 1961-62; career, 7804/7.5 average. Only guard ever to lead his team in rebounding (twice with Cincinnati Royals).

Ok, back to hockey!

Charles,

I'll assume you were referring your questions to me, but if I'm wrong, so be it...

Rather than an All-Star team, here's what I think would be the best NBA team that could be assembled in heaven where everyone is at their best forever:

Center: Bill Russell
Power Forward: Elgin Baylor
Small Forward: Larry Bird
Shooting Guard: Michael Jordan
Point Guard: Oscar Robertson
Off the Bench: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Rick Barry

I guess some explanation is now in order since almost everyone else picks Magic for their starting team and almost nobody picks Russell. Scoring is not an issue on this team, therefore I picked the best defensive center ever, and he could score as well. When it comes down to it for an offensive center on a team like this, I'd rather have Abdul-Jabbar than Chamberlain, but that's a personal preference. Shaq doesn't merit consideration yet, being the best today isn't as impressive to me. Oscar Robertson averaged a triple double one season before such stats were considered important -- absolutely amazing. Again scoring isn't as important for this team, and Magic took a while to develop a reliable outside shot, and Magic had more talent around him than anybody else, so I'll take Oscar's skills over Magic's. Oh, and Oscar played before everyone was allowed to palm the ball and take three (or four) steps to the basket. Imagine what Oscar could have done today. If I can swap players around, I'd start Magic in the power forward slot over Elgin Baylor, though. Baylor is only marginally better than a lot of power forward who could be picked, some of whom are still playing, but I'd still take Magic over all them if given the chance. Since Magic can play center or point guard, he can surely play power forward. Larry Bird was the epitome of the point forward, he could shoot as well as anybody and he was an excellent passer. For shooting guard, who doesn't want to be like Mike? Off the bench, there's one at each position. Barry allows the team to go to what could essentially be a 4 guard offense to finish a team off with a whole bunch of high percentage free throw shooters to receive the inbounds pass from Russell. Yet another advantage to thinking of Magic as a forward. One of the most interesting aspects of this team is that I don't think there would a problem with not enough shots to go around, unlike most all-star teams.

As to baseball, perhaps the Rocket is the best in a long time. I'm looking forward to Bill James next book to help answer that question. As Mr. James has noted, we have to distinguish between what he calls peak value and career value. They usually produce different answers. For peak value, one could make an argument that Bruce Sutter was one of the most dominant pitchers ever for a few years. It's real hard to compare across eras, but Roger's only serious competition would seem to be Gibson, Seaver, Koufax, and Jenkins (won 20 games a year when the Cubs were not that good year after year). I'm partial to Fergie, but he seems to merit a lot more credit than he usually gets since his strikeout totals weren't as high as the others. The only guy who might be in that class today other than Roger might be Greg Maddox. If Kerry Wood can stay healthy, is he the next Nolan Ryan?

Enough digression?

STEVE MOORE: Greatest hockey cartoonist ever?

Too bad for the Flyers (and the Blackhawks) that scoring opportunities aren't really identified as clearly as they are in the above-linked cartoon.

The Flyers suck: I love it when even my friend Eric, a Philadelphia fan, agrees with me on such a statement. 5 games and they could hardly score a lick at the goal. What has become of John Leclair? Will the Flyers ever score again? Will Bobby Clarke finally get sent packing?

Old Time Hockey, Just Like Eddie Shore

First of all, thanks to Howard, et al, for the invitation to the Puck Hog Blog. But is this a blog? I would venture a guess that the reputation for pugilism in hockey is sufficient for this to be considered a warblog by the overly sensitive types. So, sure, why not?

Second, I must neccesarily be more of a reader than a writer on a hockey blog. The NHL was always fourth on my list of major league sports as I grew up outside Chicago, so my knowledge of the NHL's history is slim (not that this stops me as the Sine Qua Non Pundit). I remember the days of Hull, Esposito, and Mikita vaguely, but since my dad was more of a baseball and football fan that got more of my attention in my formative years. I was always a baseball fan first, but a year overseas followed by the baseball strike pretty well killed the love affair I had with baseball from my earliest days and it has never come back (are you listening Bud Selig?). As I've gotten older, I've come to appreciate football and hockey a whole lot more -- the power, the speed, the skills, and how much success is dependent on a team-oriented approach vice an individual-oriented approach, which has virtually killed any interest I had in the NBA (are you listening David Stern?).

Third, I must admit that hockey only gets a passing interest from me during the regular swason, but I do watch quite a bit during the NHL playoffs. As some of you may know, I now live in St. Louis, and the Blues present some interesting challenges and lessons on what a good hockey team is and isn't. It is fairly easy for me to get tickets to the Blue's regular season and playoff games at will, so daughter #1 is learning to be a hockey fan. The playoff run in St. Louis last year was outstanding, but the Av's had way too much firepower and, of course, Patrick Roy. I've also had the good fortune to have Rams season tickets and while they've had a good run the last few years, nothing has compared to a double OT playoff game at Savvis center last year against Dallas.

Fourth, please add the St. Louis Blues website to the links list.

Finally, here's a couple of observations...

Keith Tkachuk is one helluva strong, skilled, underappreciated player here in St. Louis.

Slapshot is more than just the best hockey movie ever made.

...and a couple of questions:

Why isn't hockey more popular, aside from the difficulty and expense of playing it when one is young?

Even though the goon quotient seems to be down in the NHL, the willingness to injure other players seems higher than ever. Are these two related?

The best revenge. Like most Islanders' fans I was screaming for blood after the Leafs continued their dirty play with Roberts driving Jonsson in to the boards head first on a charge and Darcy Tucker intentionally taking out Peca's knees. However, the Isles did the most to hurt Toronto by defeating them last night.

I'm not surprised neither Roberts nor Tucker were suspended. I wouldn't expect the NHL to do anything to hurt the chances of their beloved Leafs. However, it was obvious Tucker was trying to hurt Peca, especially after Tucker threatened to take out Peca the game before. You don't finish checks with hip checks and Tucker crouched low after Peca passed the puck.