Bleacher Report - Sidney Crosby

Chicago Blackhawks December Preview

TAB BAMFORD — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:18:08 -0500

December begins with the Chicago Blackhawks in first place in the Central Division.

Life is good.

After a spectacular November that saw the team handle most, if not all, of the Western Conference powers both at home and on the road, the Hawks come on in December for a month highlighted by games against some of the top talent from the Eastern Conference.

Thankfully for the fans, though, most of December is played in Chicago.

The fun begins Dec. 5, when the Hawks make their lone trip to the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins. This game could not only be a showcase of some of the best young players in the NHL, but might be a trendy pick to serve as a 2010 Stanley Cup Finals preview.

After the Pittsburgh trip, the Hawks return home for New York Rangers before heading to Buffalo to take on the red-hot Sabres Dec. 11. Brian Campbell will face one of his former teams in Buffalo, a reality many Hawks will deal with in December.

This stretch of three games could serve as a good gauge of how the Blackhawks stack up against the stronger teams in the East.

But the schedule doesn’t get easy after just that one week.

After the Sabres game, the Hawks have a five-game homestand during which Original Six foes Boston and Detroit come to the United Center.

It will be the only trip for the Bruins to Chicago this year, and the first time the Hawks will face the Red Wings since their third game of the season; that loss also happened to be the Wings home opener and the first game either team had played on American soil this season.

Marian Hossa will play against the last two teams with whom he advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals in Pittsburgh and Detroit. The Red Wings should be getting some of their injured players back during December, but the losses on their roster have kept them from playing consistent hockey this year.

Following the Red Wings could be a dangerous game for the Blackhawks. The final game of the homestand is against the San Jose Sharks…the same Sharks that have lost both games against the Hawks this year and who got their doors blown out in their building during the Circus Trip.

If there’s one team on the December schedule that has a score to settle, it’s the Sharks.

The Hawks will leave town for a couple tough games after facing the Sharks, travelling to Detroit and Nashville, before returning home for Nashville again.

The Predators started the season in a funk, but have come on strong lately, and fall in a couple spots on the December schedule that could present an opportunity for a good team to take advantage of a team playing a lot of games against premier Eastern Conference teams.

The back-to-back home and home series on the two days immediately following Christmas could be a great test for both teams.

The final day of 2009 will also present a potential Finals preview when the New Jersey Devils come to Chicago. It will be the first time John Madden faces his former team, and will absolutely serve as a test of the potent Hawks offense against Hall of Fame goaltender Martin Brodeur.

Both teams are elite defensively, so that could be a bell ringer to end a special calendar year in the history of the Blackhawks.

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Matt Cooke Hit With A Two-Game Suspension, But Where Is The Consistency?

Sergey Zikov — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:22:29 -0500

Last night, the Pittsburgh Penguins demolished the New York Rangers 8-3 at the Mellon Arena. It was the largest goal total the Penguins had put on the board since a 9-2 obliteration of the other New York-based team that dated back to nearly a year ago.

Although, through the first two periods, the game was very tight. The Rangers had even made it a 4-3 hockey game early in the third period, thanks to a goal by defenseman Michal Rozsival.

But that spun out of control quickly for John Tortorella's men.

About midway through the period, Ranger agitator Sean Avery made a run at Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, looking to take off his head. Avery however, was unsuccessful as Crosby saw him coming at the last moment and was able to duck out of the way. Crosby skates away unharmed as Avery scowls at his failure.

Shortly after the Penguins scored their sixth goal of the game, third liner Matt Cooke put a bruising hit on forward Artem Anisimov, who lost his helmet and saw the birds for a few moments. Cooke was promptly and properly given two minutes for interference.

Except that was hardly enough for the Rangers.

First, Donald Brashear attempted to knock out Cooke when he came out of the box, even though the linesman was between the two.

Next, Ryan Callahan decided to drop the gloves with Cooke, having the two removed from the ice for the remainder of the game.

But finally, but not surprising at all, Avery jumped an unexpecting Ruslan Fedotenko and started throwing punches, putting the Penguins on the power play for the final seven minutes of the contest.

After the game ended, many people figured that in the new NHL, Cooke might be assessed a suspension for the hit. They were exactly right.

Today, the NHL suspended Cooke for two games, for a "deliberate check to the head area". The suspension was also given because Cooke is a repeat offender. That means he will miss the rematch on Monday with the Rangers and then the game on Thursday night with the Colorado Avalanche.

When watching the video of the hit, there are three things that stick out.

1. Cooke does not take strides before making contact with Anisimov.

2. The initial contact is made between Cooke's left shoulder and Anisimov's right.

3. Cooke's elbow comes up after contact is made, dislodging Anisimov's helmet.

While it is also true that Cooke caught Anisimov in an awkward position, the Ranger forward is paying absolutely no attention to what is going on around him. He passes the puck over to Christopher Higgins a second before Cooke arrives, but gets distracted by watching his pass.

But regardless, you can debate for years whether he deserved the suspension. Simple fact is, that he has been suspended for what could be considered a "dirty" hit in the past and this hit caught the opposing player up high, whether he intended it that way or not.

Two games is not a big deal and it was the right decision.

But with that choice, it raises more questions about consistency than the actual hits. These type of plays have happened numerous times in the NHL this season. Whether the motive was the same or the player had a history of dirty play, one thing remains the same - they all hit a vulnerable player up high.

In the exact same game, Sean Avery had not one, but two suspendable offenses. His first was the attempted head shot at Crosby, second by attacking Fedotenko.

Does that not warrant a suspension, just because Crosby had the awareness to avoid the headhunting Avery? Does that ask the question, "If Crosby did take the hit, had his helmet dislodged and saw the birds, what would have happened to Avery, a sure repeat offender himself?".

A few days ago, Buffalo Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta drilled Jared Ross of the Flyers.

Ross was behind his own cage, taking the puck from Ray Emery. But taking an extra second to do so, Kaleta took advantage and hit him from behind into the glass. As you already guessed, he was suspended two games for the hit. Sure, it was a hit on an unsuspecting player in an awkward position.

Except only one thing. Kaleta was on the receiving end of nearly the same exact boarding foul two days earlier in Washington. He had spun around to make a pass and was leveled face-first into the boards by Alex Ovechkin, who was promptly given a game misconduct.

But no suspension for Ovechkin.

I don't feel like Mike Richards' hit even needs mentioned at this point as just about everyone in hockey is more than aware of what happened.

The fact is, they are all shots up high, whether there is an intent or not. They are illegal and could have caused an injury in any of the cases. But suspensions were not given in all of them.

Let's get some consistency.

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ATTENTION NHL: Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin Are Hitting Full Stride

Sergey Zikov — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 12:47:26 -0500

Take it to headquarters - "Air Raid, Mellon Arena."

This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill. We need your undivided attention.

For the first six weeks of the season, the names Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have gone missing at the top of the NHL's point leaders, for various reasons. Crosby's wingers have been disappointing to say the least, with Chris Kunitz on the Injured Reserve and Bill Guerin only bothering to show up to the rink once every fortnight.

As for Malkin, he's been on the shelf himself, having missed a couple weeks with a bruised shoulder.

A rather shocking occurrence, as it's been some time since one of those two names hasn't been at the top of the scoring race for the Art Ross Trophy. But honestly, you didn't expect Nos. 71 and 87 to give up their chase for the scoring crown that easily did you?

On Saturday night, there was a full-fledged air raid at the old Mellon Arena, triggered by Captain Crosby's performance. The Penguins' marketing team couldn't have done a better job choosing the game with the New York Rangers to be "Hat Night", and no sooner were the hats passed out, they rained back down to the ice.

Crosby and Malkin are hitting full stride, as the Rangers found out the hard way in an 8-3 annihilation.

Crosby completed his fourth career hat trick, second of the season, and finished the night with five points after dishing out primary assists on Malkin and Max Talbot goals. Malkin, who put up less gaudy numbers, still finished with a goal and an assist. Both of the points came even-strength with Crosby.

For the record, the point explosion has Crosby vaulted right into the mix of the scoring race with 30 points, good enough for sixth place. Malkin has points in six straight games and 11 total in eight since his return to the lineup on Nov. 14.

But it's not how the point totals, it's how and when the two-headed monster are producing.

Sidney Crosby has his limitations as a goal scorer. He knows that and is completely fine with that fact. Most of his goals will come from around the net mouth, off deflections or rebounds. Many players would call these "garbage" goals, but a goal is a goal no matter how it finds it's way to the net.

However, he can not score from anywhere on the ice, like an Alexander Ovechkin may be able to do.

But, as the constant professional that he is, he is always looking for ways to improve his game. With the assistance of Sergei Gonchar, who happens to have a darn effective slapshot himself, Crosby has worked diligently to improve his slapper. While he has yet to score with the shot, he has made opponents respect it, dropping back on the power play to block it.

This has opened up what seems like acres of space on the ice for him.

In the last couple games alone, he has scored three times from range with an accurate snap shot, none more apparent than his hat trick goal. Taking a pass from newly returned defenseman Alex Goligoski , Crosby wound up for a slap shot, freezing a Ranger defender in his steps to give himself the extra time and space to measure up his dart of a wrist shot.

And that's not even mentioning his play on Malkin's goal. Working with his bread and butter behind the cage, he outmuscled Matt Gilroy, relieved him of the puck and flicked it out for No. 71 to poke home.

He may not be the most complete goal scorer, but the NHL's most complete player is still adding new pieces to his game.

As for Evgeni Malkin, many speculated that he may not be at 100 percent even after coming off the injury. Which in reality, isn't a fair thing to say.

Since returning, Malkin's stat line looks like such: 4 goals, 7 assists, +8 rating, 32 shots on goal. Does that sound like a slump? Just because Malkin has not utterly dominated a game like he did in the Eastern Conference Finals, doesn't mean he is in a slump or less than 100 percent.

He's got 11 points since returning and only two of those have come on the power play. In each of his first three NHL seasons, Malkin has registered 40, 40 and 41 points on the man advantage, a mark he is well short of matching on his current pace.

However, the Penguins power play looked 40 times more dangerous on Saturday night with a full compliment of players on the ice.

Not only did the unit score twice against the Rangers, it would have scored four or five had it not been for the solid early play of Steve Valiquette .

Malkin will no doubt be leading the power play into December, as his role has improved. Earlier in the season, he would be stationed on the right half wall, with the option to shoot or pass. Now, he has been moving all over the ice, from down low, to the point, to flying across the middle. Opposing penalty killers have no idea where he's going next.

They say knowledge is power. Lack of knowledge is a major disadvantage in hockey.

For good or better, the two-headed monster of Crosby and Malkin is starting to click on all cylinders. Don't blink, or they might just be leading the league in scoring once again.

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