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Biggest come back or worst collapse in NHL game seven history

Posted on May 14th, 2013 by fred999

Allsports

So the first round of the NHL playoffs are in the books and the biggest news in the sports news and sports on the web was that the Toronto Maple Leafs battled their nemesis, the Boston Bruins right down to game seven of their series before loosing it in overtime to the heavily favored Bruins. The game made history and depending on how you look at it, either the Leafs had the historic meltdown or the Bruins had the comeback of the ages.

The Toronto Maple Leafs Logo

Down 3-1 in the series , the Leafs fought back to even it at three games apiece thanks mainly to some stellar goalkeeping from James Reimer. Then in game seven the young Leafs used their speed and hustle to control the puck and the play, jumping out to a 4-1 lead after 50 minutes. They had them but then a strange thing happened. Toronto started playing not to loose and tried to just defend. A bad move considering the experienced Bruins did not want to go quietly in their own barn. Boston rallied to score 3 goals in the final 10 minutes of the game to send it to overtime. Allsports knew that the Leafs were then done like dinner and the Bruins would come all the way back. Chalk it up to experience and not having the killer instinct to put a team away when you have the heal of your boot on their throat and you can’t finish them off. Toronto needed to stay aggressive and keep pushing the play. The Bruins were a tired lot and could not keep the pace the Leafs set. Instead they fell into a defensive shell and today they are cleaning out their lockers because of it. Now they are left to wonder, what if.

15-20 thousand people watch game 7 from Boston down at Maple Leafs Square

Maple Leaf Sqaure

There was huge support for the team and the area outside the Air Canada Center, known as Maple Leaf Square was packed with as many people as what the ACC could hold. In fact 15-20 thousand people showed up to watch game 7 from Boston on the big screen in the square. Now that is support for a hockey team. But now everyone will have to wait for next year. Allsports thinks the Leafs would have beaten the Rangers in the next round if they had of managed to get by Boston.

Eastern Conference Logo

As far as the other series went in the Eastern Conference, Allsports was 4 for 4 in picking the winners. Too bad I was not wrong about Boston and Toronto.

The Ottawa Senators will travel to Pittsburgh to play “Sid the Kid”and the Penguins. At the start of the playoffs the Pens were the odds on favorite to win Lord Stanley s Mug but Allsports is not so sure. The Penguins defense is suspect and a strong fore check can cause lots of trouble in their defensive zone. Ottawa’s Goalie, Craig Anderson could give the Penguins shooters fits but in the end the Penguins just have too much firepower for the Senators to handle. Pens in Six games.

The New York Rangers open in Boston against the Bruins and I think the Bruins fore check will be too much for the Rangers defense to overcome, I thought if Toronto got through they would have taken out the Rangers too. After the scare the Leafs gave them, look for the Bruins to put it together. Mind you they did have a taxing series against the Leafs and they are a little slim on the blue line right now. But unless King Henrik can stand on his head the Bruins should win this in six or seven games. Bruins in seven.

Western Conference Logo

Out in the west Detroit heads into the windy city to take on the Black Hawks. Detroit squeaked past the Anaheim Ducks, which was one of my two wrong predictions. Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk refused to loose and carried them past the Ducks. It is a different story with Chicago. They have many weapons that can hurt you and even the heroics of Datsyuk and Zetterberg, two of the best in the game won’t be enough. The Hawks can counter with Toews and Kane and with a stronger support cast with the likes of Patrick Sharp and Marion Hossa, Detroit goalie, Jimmy Howard has to have the series of his life for Detroit to go through. Chicago in six.

The last series is the California or at the beach dude series with the Sharks starting of in L.A. against the Kings. The Kings started slowly but built momentum against the St Louis Blues and it was a tough hard hitting series. The Sharks had an easy time with the Vancouver Canucks (the other series I got wrong) and it was pretty tame although I think the Canucks did get hosed by the referees with some really lame calls. Then the Sharks power play put them away. This series was the biggest surprise for Allsports with the Canucks not winning a game. There could be some major changes in lotus land because of the embarrassing and quick exit. So how can you be called an elite player when time after time you shit the bed when the going gets tough in the playoffs. Are you listening twins named Sedin. Anyway Allsports thinks the Kings are starting to hit their stride and will be a little too much for the Sharks to handle. Kings in six games.

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It’s Time for the NHL Playoffs to begin

Posted on April 30th, 2013 by fred999

Allsports

So the toughest grind in professional sports is just around the corner and up here in Canada it will dominate the sports news and sports on the web. You might say, well what about basketball. We say what about it, this is Canada dammit, hockey rules.

So Allsports thinks the Toronto Maple Leafs let the Canadiens off the hook the other night and wouldn’t you know it, Boston lost to Ottawa giving the Hab’s the North East division title and the second seed in the Eastern Conference. Mind you they will play Ottawa in the first round and Ottawa will be tough. In fact Allsports smells an upset in this series. The only team to dominate Ottawa during the season was, you guest it, Toronto.

Official NHL Logo

So now lets go through each of the first round series and Allsports will try and make some predictions on who will advance. Mind you I have never had much luck with this in previous years, but what the hell, I’m a bugger for abuse.

Eastern Conference Logo

The top seeded Pittsburgh Penguins will battle the upstart New York Islanders. The Islanders finally made it back to the Playoffs and John Tavares carried the mail. Pittsburgh will win this series though because they have more depth and Sidney Crosby if he is healthy. New York won’t make it easy though and will push the series to 6 or 7 games.

Ottawa gets to open in Montreal after their efforts in finally beating the Bruins in the last game of the season. Ottawa will take Montreal to the limit in the series as there regular season series was a wash for what it is worth. In fact this series should go seven games ans if Craig Anderson can keep up his stellar play Allsports thinks the pesky Senators will put the Hab’s out.

Washington Capitals vs the New York Rangers. Well the Rangers have about the best goaltender in the league and have been playing do or die hockey for about three weeks now. Mind you the Capitals have been just as hot down the stretch. Alex Ovechkin for the Caps and Rick Nash for the Rangers, two of the best power forwards in the league. When all else fails, go with the goaltender. New York in seven games.

The final series in the Eastern Conference has Toronto opening in Boston against the Bruins. This should be the toughest series in the opening round as both teams are big and not afraid to throw their weight around. Toronto made some additions in the off season with Boston in mind because they have been intimidated by the Bruins in the past. Not any more though as the Maple Leafs had the most fighting majors in the league during the regular season and won’t back down from any of the tough stuff. It will be interesting to see if Phil Kessel can break out against Zedeno Chara, take a few lumps to get some dirty goals because lets face it, most goals in the playoffs are of that kind and you have to pay a price to get them. Kessel has to use his speed to get around the slow footed Chara even though he has about a 20 foot wing span with the small tree he uses as a stick. Just suck it up Phil and get your nose dirty. But it’s not just about Chara vs Kessel, the Leafs have a much more balanced attack this year and a couple of guys named Frazer McLaren and Colton Orr that are there to handle any dust ups and give the scorer’s more space. The Leafs led the league in fighting majors this season and there are a couple of other guys too that are not shy about the rough stuff. Look for Colton Orr to have a go with Shawn Thornton early on just to set the mood. There should be plenty of bumps and bruises once the dust settles in this series and which ever team goes through they will have plenty of wounds to lick before round two. Allsports heart would love to see his Maple Leafs advance but the head is saying, the Bruins are more experienced and will squeak through. I hope I am wrong though. Either way the series should be at least six games and likely seven.

Chicago was the best in the regular season, can they get out of the conference and play for Lord Stanley's Mug

Western Conference Logo

The Minnesota Wild open in the Windy City against the Presidents Trophy winning, Chicago Black Hawks and Allsports has to wonder if the Wild will even win a game. Even with the addition of Parise and Suter in the off season, the Wild can’t match the Hawks in fire power. They will have to bear down on defense to even stand a chance, unless Chicago beats themselves. Allsports thinks the Wild might win one, maybe two games. Hawks in five games.

Detroit goes into Anaheim to start the series with the Ducks tonight. Give the Wings credit as they have been in a must win mode for the past week just to get into the playoffs. This will be their 22nd straight playoff appearance which is quite impressive. Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk are two of the best in the game but will be matched by Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry on the Ducks. The problem for Detroit is there is not much left after their big two and the Ducks have a better supporting cast to help Getzlaf and Perry out. Don’t forget about the ageless wonder, Teemu Selannie who has scored the odd goal when it matters. No the bottom line here is that the Ducks are deeper, bigger and stronger than the Wings and the Wings don’t have Nick Lidstrom anymore and you just cant replace a guy like that . Ducks in six games.

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Toronto Maple Leafs are backing into the Playoffs

Posted on April 28th, 2013 by fred999

Allsports

So the Toronto Maple Leafs have finally returned to the NHL playoffs after a nine year hiatus. You can be sure that they will now be dominating the sports news and sports on the web in this area of Canada. Sure there was a buzz and some hype about the Toronto Blue Jays and all the great additions they made in the off season but make no mistake, this is hockey town and a Maple Leafs playoff run will catch a lot of ink. Besides so far this spring the Blue Jay have been anything but electric. I know the baseball season is long but as of this writing the Jays are in the American League East basement with a 9-16 record. They better get it together soon because a successful Maple Leafs playoff run could take the buzz away from the Rogers Center even more than the Jays crappy start already has.

The Toronto Maple Leafs Logo

Allsports was a little surprised by the way the Leafs have backed into the Stanley Cup playoffs, coming in like lambs instead of lions. Take last night in the last game of the regular season against the Montreal Canadiens. If the Leafs beat the Habs last night it would have solidified a first round playoff match-up with them. So Allsports thought the Leafs would come out full tilt, using their size advantage and soften up the smaller Canadiens team for the upcoming series that would likely start on Tuesday. Instead after a relatively even first period, the Leafs came out flat in the second and seemed to be chasing the Hab’s and the puck all period, getting out shot 11-1, out scored 2-0 in the process and trailing 3-1 going into the third. They played a little better in the third period, recording 10 shots but really had no sustained pressure in the Montreal zone and with 17 shots total in the game they never recovered and lost 4-1.

One of the oldest North American sports franchises.

Montreal Canadiens Logo

Toronto has played well against the Canadiens this year and still won the season series 3-2. But the two losses were of the mail it in variety. Now instead of being the masters of their own fate they have to wait and see if Boston can beat Ottawa today in the final game of the season. A Boston loss and the Leafs will open the playoffs in Boston. This would be a much tougher and more physical series for the Leafs to try and get through. They addressed toughness in the off season so they should match the physical play of the Bruins but who ever wins the series might not have much left in the tank for the next round. So Leafs fans are pulling for the Bruins today to try and get the Leafs vs Hab’s match-up that all Canadian fans want to see. The Bell Center would be electric on Tuesday night if that is the case. Allsports does not want to say it but go Bruins.

“No Guts No Glory”

Walt Webb

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Are some parents detrimental to their child’s development?

Posted on April 2nd, 2013 by fred999

Allsports

I would like to touch on parents involvement in their child’s sports development today in the sports news and sports on the web. Two things drive Allsports nuts when he goes to the rink or to the field to watch the kids play. First when kids start to play competitive sports it becomes all consuming for the parents because there are so many games and tournaments during the season that it seems parents are going to work all week and then packing up for a different venue every weekend. The parents social life starts to revolve around the child’s sports team because through no fault of their own all of their spare time is consumed with tournaments and games. So the parents start to socialize with each other and develop relationships. That is not the problem as Allsports sees it. No the problem for the kids starts when the games become secondary to the socializing, especially when alcohol is involved. You can’t blame the parents for wanting to blow off steam but the kids do suffer for it.

Little kids playing hockey courtesy of fotosearch.com

Youth Hockey

The higher the level of the sport the more it seems to happen. more time away at tournaments means more time the parents are travelling and it becomes a bit of a domino effect. The parents party and drink until the wee hours of the morning and the kids don’t end up getting the proper sleep they need to perform well. The longer the team goes in the tournament, the more important the game and the worse the kids perform due to lack of sleep. So if there happen to be scouts in the stands watching a championship game, they are seeing an inferior product because the kids are too tired to be firing on all cylinders. So parents, it’s okay to have a couple with each other but always bear in mind that you are there for your child to play their sport and make sure they get the proper rest needed to stay at the top of their game. Besides, do you really want your children watching you get gunned. Moderation is the key here.

A child pitching in a youth baseball game

The Pitch

The second peeve is when parents yell at their kids from the stands during a game. Half the time the parent has never played a sport and is living it through the child. They yell at the kid to play better and to get their head in the game. This is not good as all they are doing is embarrassing the kid and making them not want to be there. Yell encouragement from the stands, nothing derogatory. Its the coaches job to teach on the bench and mistakes should not be pointed out in front of everyone. Maybe some encouragement and a little positive input on the way home but remember the bottom line is, did the child have fun? That’s the first question parents should ask their kids after practice or a game. If the child is not having fun they will eventually quit and move on to another pursuit.

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