When a team earns home-ice advantage for a first-round NHL playoff series, the expectation is that they'll win at least one of the first two games. That leaves you in position to take control of the series on the road.
However, if you lose those first two home games, and then face up with two straight games in the underdog's building, what does that mean? The Washington Capitals and San Jose Sharks are about to find out, and the facts might not be what you expect.
Most NHL teams have to get creative to entertain fans during long television timeouts. If you go to games, you'll see goofy animations on the scoreboard, activities where fans are encouraged to behave like they've been drinking even when they haven't, and advertisements for future home games and promotions, among other things. In Atlanta, the Thrashers produced a mock PSA for Tuesday's game against Washington, which pokes fun at Alexander Ovechkin'sspot for Eastern Motors. Enjoy.
Last week, as you may remember, Washington's Alexander Ovechkin came under fire from members of the hockey world -- the most well known voice being Don Cherry -- for his wild celebrations. The tipping point came when he scored his 50th goal of the year against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Tonight, the Capitals are in Toronto to play the Maple Leafs and as you might expect, the Toronto media had a field day with Ovechkin sitting in their laps. Actually he was sitting in a visitng locker at the Air Canada Centre, but you know what I mean. For Ovechkin, it was a great chance for him to speak his mind to the media and give the man credit because he did just that. But what else would you expect from the most charismatic player in the game today?
It's one thing to be a Hall of Famer. Mats Sundin, Joe Sakic, Martin Brodeur, and (soon) Brendan Shanahan are examples of active players who will definitely be enshrined once they are done. It's another to be a young superstar. I'm talking about the kind of player you can build a team around for now and the future.
No disrespect to the veterans, but this roundtable is centered around the players we would want to build a new team around. Sure, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Alexander Ovechkin (in no particular order) are widely recognized as the best players in the game today.
But would you pick them first when trying to build a new franchise?
Washington's 6-3 win over Pittsburgh Wednesday was a very entertaining game. We had the Ovechkin-Malkin drama, which seemed to play out every time the two were on the ice together. We had nine goals, including a four-goal Capital explosion in the decisive third period.
Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin both scored, and the other NHL alpha dog, Sidney Crosby, was all over the ice as usual. Crosby assisted on two of Pittsburgh's three goals, but made didn't make the Thursday morning headlines because of his crafty passing ability or his explosive skating.
With how the Minnesota Wild have been struggling offensively since Marian Gaborik's injury, any kind of comeback win is appreciated.
There are probably times where even scoring a goal feels like it will take a superhuman effort.
Friday afternoon in St. Paul, Minnesota got a rare comeback win. Granted, it was against Tampa Bay, but it was a comeback win.
The 4-2 win gave Minnesota a 2-3 record on their five-game homestand. The uncharacteristically poor homestand was keyed by an offense that sputtered to just six goals in the three losses and gave up a lead in each of the three. They also nearly blew a 4-0 lead late in the game against Washington.
Tampa Bay was the one blowing a lead Friday. They were up 2-1 heading into the third period before Marc-Andre Bergeron drew the Wild even. A few minutes later, Mikko Koivu scored the game-winner for Minnesota, and it was a thing of beauty.
While the Wild television commentators may have gone a bit overboard in comparing Koivu's goal to a famous one by Alexander Ovechkin, it doesn't change the fact that it was a very nice goal. Video after the jump.
Anyone who has watched even a little bit of NHL hockey has been bombarded by advertisements featuring wunderkind (the best player ever!)Sidney Crosby. Sidney sells, and there are no shortage of companies wetting their pants to get Crosby to pretend that he actually buys and uses their product.
How about Alexander Ovechkin, the most exciting player in the NHL? We've seen little of him in the marketing arena, as companies don't seem to be able to or want to get behind the guy.
In the works are deals with Ferrari and U.S. mobile phone company Verizon, says Konstantin Selinevich, who spearheads Ovechkin's off-ice business relationships. Selinevich says talks continue with others, including Coca-Cola. Just last month, the Wasserman Media Group, a powerful sports marketing agency in Los Angeles, was hired to buttress efforts to land endorsements for Ovechkin.
While the star already has sponsor agreements with Reebok's CCM brand, trading-card company Upper Deck and Hype, an energy drink, none has put much marketing muscle behind him. (Selinevich says that will change this summer when Reebok rolls out an Ovechkin clothing line.)
"It's been hard; in the past there have been some language-skills issues," says Selinevich, who has worked with Ovechkin since 2004. "Now, he's had such an unbelievable season that there is more interest, but we don't want him to be a walking billboard. You'll see some major deals this summer."
Yeah, I know there are language issues (although if you ever hear an Ovechkin interview, there aren't THAT many), but that didn't stop marketers from jumping on Yao Ming, despite the fact that the guy is absolutely boring to watch when he's actually working.
While I understand why the golden boy Crosby gets so many endorsements, I'm shocked that companies haven't jumped on the Ovechkin bandwagon all that much. Just put on a few highlight reels of Ovechkin, and the guy pretty much sells himself. For all of Crosby's greatness, his on-ice exploits aren't nearly as flashy and he doesn't have the same 'WOW' factor.
The following video is from the always funny Onion News Network. It's a dream of mine to figure out how these guys come up with such consistently hilarious stuff. It's pretty awesome, as I'm sure you know. Now this video isn't exactly pro-hockey. It's about Alex Ovechkin getting drafted to play professional sports so it's anything but. Sometimes we have to laugh at ourselves. If we can't, then we're just uptight and annoying to be friends with. The end of the video tries to make up for all the hockey bashing as well, as the reporter and commentator show that they know nothing about hockey or even what Ovechkin looks like. It's all in jest, so don't fry me over this one folks. Deal?
Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.
Every hockey fan knows that it's not goalie interference if a defenseman shoves an opponent into that D-man's own keeper. The rule was interpreted in two different ways in two critical games last night, leading to two very angry coaches.
In Carolina -- where Alexander Ovechkin scored his 61st goal, breaking the Capitals' single-season record -- Erik Cole was pushed into Washington goalie Cristobal Huet by defenseman Shaone Morrisonn, and the puck trickled into the net along with nearly all involved. A long video review followed, the game-tying goal was allowed, and Caps coach Bruce Boudreau had a flabbergasted exchange with the officials. Although the Capitals went on to win, 3-2, in the skills competition -- proving once again why signing shootout specialist Viktor Kozlov was a shrewd off-season move -- Carolina managed to steal a charity point and remain four points ahead in the Southeast.
The night's other goalie bump came in New Jersey. And for the goal-deprived Devils, it was a critical call.
(Coming Up Next: Last Night's Losers, Puck Headlines, Slamming Jordin Tootoo and more Jonathan Roy video.)<
Steve Simmons of Sun Media argues: "If the Caps miss out by a point or two, how does that lessen what Ovechkin has accomplished?" The answer is that it doesn't ... but making the playoffs and winning a division certainly helps increase the prestige for players like Lidstrom and Iginla and Marty Brodeur, whom his rivals argue is without question the MVP if he didn't have his own award to win. (Mirtle's argument for Ovechkin -- "poor coaching early on, bad management decisions, an inexperienced blueline, lack of secondary scoring" -- should be on Brodeur's tombstone for the 2007-08 season.)
While the super-delegates haven't all lined up behind him yet, I believe Ovie's final numbers and his panache -- with a little East Coast bias, 'natch -- will win him the Hart even if the Capitals miss the postseason. And it would be a cruel fate for Ovechkin, who has vehemently downplayed the importance of his own accomplishments when compared the significance of making the playoffs. I wonder which player would have his vote...
When a team earns home-ice advantage for a first-round NHL playoff series, the expectation is that they'll win at least one of the first two games. That leaves you in position to take control of the series on the road.
Last week, as you may remember, Washington's Alexander Ovechkin came under fire from members of the hockey world -- the most well known voice being Don Cherry -- for his wild celebrations. The tipping point came when he scored his 50th goal of the year against the Tampa Bay Lightning. 
Washington's 6-3 win over Pittsburgh Wednesday was a very entertaining game. We had the Ovechkin-Malkin drama, which seemed to play out every time the two were on the ice together. We had nine goals, including a four-goal Capital explosion in the decisive third period.
With how the Minnesota Wild have been struggling offensively since Marian Gaborik's injury, any kind of comeback win is appreciated.
Anyone who has watched even a little bit of NHL hockey has been bombarded by advertisements featuring wunderkind (the best player ever!) Sidney Crosby. Sidney sells, and there are no shortage of companies wetting their pants to get Crosby to pretend that he actually buys and uses their product.
FanHouse is Alexander Ovechkin man-crush country, so arguing against etching his name on this year's Hart Trophy is a bit like proposing an increase on the price of bullets at an NRA conference. His 60-goal season combined with Washington's dogged pursuit of a postseason berth has made his candidacy practically Messianic amongst Capitals fans: Without him, it would be a question of "Seattle or Kansas City" rather than the playoffs, and his performance in the second half has been that of "a Messier-like leader."
