Ritter's Rant: News And Notes From Around The NHL

Masked Men Shine

It’s funny how things work out. Heading into this years addition of the Stanley Cup Playoffs the two teams with the biggest goaltending concerns were, in many people’s eyes, the Chicago Blackhawks and the Philadelphia Flyers.

For the Flyers the loss of both Ray Emery and Michael Leighton prior to the playoffs seemed to spell doom for the Flyers who had struggled to get consistent goaltending all season long.

Low and behold, Flyers third string option Brian Boucher plays perhaps the best hockey of his career, leading the Flyers to their first round victory over the New Jersey Devils and a good portion of their second round victory over the Boston Bruins.

Then, just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for the Flyers, Boucher goes down, Leighton steps in and, to the surprise of many, Leighton stands on his head, leading the Flyers over the Bruins and taking the Orange and Black to within one game of making the Stanley Cup Finals—posting three shut outs (which leads all postseason goalies) in the process.

Comparatively, the Blackhawks abandoned Cristobel Huet early on, opting to go with rookie goaltender Antti Niemi—who has lost just four times throughout these playoffs despite facing three very good teams along the way.

The point is, it appears as if both the Hawks and Flyers have their masked men in Niemi and Leighton, no need to shop around this summer.

Ya Gotta Kill To Win

As important as capitalizing on your power play opportunities in the playoffs is, stopping your opponent seems to be just as, if not more, important.

The Chicago Blackhawks own the second ranked penalty kill at 86.6 percent. Right on their heals are the Flyers who, ranked third overall, boast a 85.9 percent success rate.

Needless to say, those “grinders” everyone points fingers at for taking night’s off during the regular season are earning their pay this playoff, serving warning that you can never underestimate your role players.

Conn Smythe Voting

Clearly, when it comers to the top candidate for the Conn Smythe Trophy Chicago Blackhawks forward Jonathan Toews has the support of most NHL fans. Teammates Patrick Kane and Antti Niemi will also garner some support, as will a few of the Flyers players, should they make the Stanley Cup Finals.

Question is, if Flyers goaltender Michael Leighton leads the Flyers to victory over the Hawks, should he get the nod as this year’s Conn Smythe winner? (Discuss amongst yourselves).

World Beaters

Does anyone really care about the World Hockey Championships anymore? And what does it say about Mark Messier’s ability to evaluate/assemble talent when Canada gets knocked out of the medals?

It says here the Worlds are a secondary tournament that, outside of Europe, means nothing to real hockey fans.

It’s “okay” to have a World Hockey tournament once in a while, seems pretty stupid to have one in an Olympic year; don’t you think?

 ***For more NHL news and notes check out my website at www.theslapshot.com

Until Next Time,

Peace!