After 20 Years Nick Lidstrom Calls it A Career!

Well it was 20 years ago that Nick Lidstrom stepped foot on the Ice for the Detroit Red Wings. Four Stanley Cups and Seven Norris Trophies later, Nick Lidstrom has called it a career. The following story is coming to us from NHL.com:

It was hard to believe, even with Nicklas Lidstrom speaking the words himself.

The guy the Detroit Red Wings nicknamed "The Perfect Human" -- their captain for the past six seasons and a lock for the Hockey Hall of Fame as soon as he's eligible -- is officially hanging up his winged wheel sweater and retiring after 20 remarkable seasons in the Motor City.

Most regular season GP as Lidstrom teammate

191 different players
1107	Kris Draper
992	Tomas Holmstrom
907	Steve Yzerman
883	Kirk Maltby
816	Sergei Fedorov
715	Pavel Datsyuk
703	Brendan Shanahan
648	Darren McCarty
645	Henrik Zetterberg
604	Mathieu Dandenault

"Retiring today allows me to walk away from the game with pride, rather than have the game walk away from me," Lidstrom said with reddened eyes during a Thursday morning news conference at Joe Louis Arena's Olympia room.

In attendance with a large contingent of media were coach Mike Babcock, GM Ken Holland, Lidstrom's family, Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch and several current and former teammates. While Lidstrom never fully broke down at the podium, there weren't many dry eyes watching him speak.

"Looking around, you can see it's one of the most emotional days in Red Wings history," Ilitch said. "Nick has been the Rock of Gibraltar [for us]."

The rock isn't wavering on his retirement, either -- despite teammates hoping for a change of heart even as they drove to the arena.

"I'm completely comfortable with this decision," Lidstrom said. "It's not that the tank is completely empty. It's just that I don't have enough to carry through every day to play at the high level I want to play at. I can't cheat myself."

Lidstrom, who turned 42 on April 28, helped the Red Wings win four Stanley Cups and seven times was awarded the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenseman. He also played in a whopping 1,564 regular-season games in his NHL career to put him second behind only Gordie Howe on Detroit's all-time list and piled up 1,142 points -- fourth-most in franchise history -- with 264 goals and 878 assists.

His plus-450 career rating ranks eighth in League history and nearly equals the paltry 514 minutes he spent in the penalty box. And yet, his career numbers in the Stanley Cup Playoffs are just as impressive. No other Red Wings player appeared in more postseason games (263), as he never missed the playoffs. He also scored 54 goals to go with 129 assists for a total of 183 career playoff points and finished with a sterling plus-61 rating.

"Seven Norris Trophies, that's not by accident," Babcock said. "He's just that good. We're going to miss having him. Someone else is going to get an opportunity, but you're not replacing Nick Lidstrom. That just doesn't happen. Scotty [Bowman] told me this morning the two guys he coached that affected the game the most were Nick Lidstrom and Doug Harvey, and said the game was way different in those days -- but they always made the right decision and made no mistakes. [They] passed the puck to the right guy."

It wasn't all about passing with Lidstrom, either. He also decided 11 postseason games with game-winning goals and became the first European-born player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2002 before becoming the first European to captain his team to a Stanley Cup title in 2008.

Lidstrom, who made 12 NHL All-Star Games and was voted a First-Team All-Star 10 times, also holds the NHL record for most games played by a player who spent his entire career with one franchise.

"He's had a great career," said forward Tomas Holmstrom, who formed a close friendship with his fellow Swede during his own noteworthy Red Wings career. "It's a sad day for the Detroit Red Wings, for sure. I've been fortunate, (like) so many guys who have come through the locker room, to play with him."

This past season, Lidstrom also became just the sixth Detroit-based athlete in the four major North American professional sports to play at least 20 years all in the Motor City. Red Wings legends Alex Delvecchio (24) and Steve Yzerman (22), Detroit Tigers stars Al Kaline (21) and Alan Trammell (20) and Detroit Lions kicker Jason Hanson (20) are the others.

Not bad for a guy selected with the 53rd pick in the 1989 NHL Draft by former Red Wings general manager Jimmy Devellano -- who spearheaded Detroit's trend-setting European scouting push in the 1980s.

"I think he's going to go down as one of the all-time best defensemen ever to play," Yzerman told reporters in New York on Wednesday, when news first leaked out that Lidstrom would announce his retirement. "Having played with him and watched him closely from his first game -- people know about it now, but we've said it all along: you have to watch him closely to appreciate how good he is, what a great athlete he is, because he makes the position look so easy. He is a special athlete."

Lidstrom had weighed the option to retire for the past couple of seasons, but each time came to the decision to keep playing shortly before the NHL Draft in June -- giving Red Wings general manager Ken Holland time to prepare for the July 1 start of free agency.

This time, he reached his decision faster, something Holland knew was a red flag.

"I was little concerned the decision was a lot quicker this year than it was last year, which kind of set off some alarms for me," said Holland, who tried unsuccessfully to sell the legendary defenseman on playing one more season. "We visited for a few minutes and he told me he'd made a decision to retire and I listened to him. All the things he said up on the podium today were all the things he told me and that he didn't feel he had everything he needed, the energy he needed, to play at the level he wanted to play at and he'd made a decision to retire."

Holland even put the Chris Chelios option into play by sending the legendary former defenseman who now works in Detroit's front office out to speak with Lidstrom this past Tuesday. In fact, the star blueliners went out paddleboarding to chat and then headed out to grab a hamburger for lunch -- after Lidstrom told Chelios he was 100 percent certain retirement was the best option.

Chelios then called Holland, who was at the general managers' meetings in New York and informed him that a news conference to announce the end of Lidstrom's career was indeed in order.

"If I think back to the retirements that I've been to -- [Michael Jordan's], [Wayne Gretzky's], there's been guys who are great players, but no one's better than Nick. As good? Yes. But this is as big as it gets," Chelios said. "He's one of the best athletes ever and like [Ilitch] said, if you're going to talk about someone who's perfect, Nick's pretty darn close to being perfect. He's just a great guy."

He was even greater on the ice, where the puck-moving defenseman was always seemingly a move or two ahead of everybody else and was always in the right position -- whether it was defensively or offensively.

The end of this past season, however, was arguably the most frustrating of his career. Lidstrom missed a career-high 12 games, 11 with a painful, nagging ankle injury that turned out to be a hairline fracture. The injury never fully healed before his eventual return for the end of the regular season and Western Conference Quarterfinals -- which turned out to be a five-game loss to the Nashville Predators.

Lidstrom was hampered quite a bit by the aching bone and failed to log at least one postseason point for the only time in his illustrious career. On Thursday, Lidstrom said the injury has fully healed and wasn't the reason that kept him from returning.

"With my age, just being a little bit older and not having that motivation I've had in the past and having the drive and fire that I've had in the past not be there for me, made it a harder decision -- especially saying goodbye to something I've done for 20 years," Lidstrom said. "It's become a lifestyle. You're used to getting up in the morning, working out, coming down here, skating, traveling with the team and just the competitiveness of playing games. I'm going to miss all that, too, but if I don't have that fire, I can't be to the level I want to be at."

The fire burned long and hot for 20 seasons. As for career accomplishments, they are many in number and impressive. His seven Norris Trophy wins tied him with Harvey, the Montreal Canadiens great, and put him second only to Bobby Orr's eight. He also trails only Howe, Mr. Hockey himself, in the number of games spent wearing a Red Wings uniform.

Those seven Norris Trophies all came within the past 11 seasons -- his first was won in 2001 at age 31 and his most recent in 2011, not long after he turned 41. Lidstrom also starred internationally for Sweden, playing in four Olympics, including 2006 -- when he led all defensemen in scoring and fired home the game-winning goal of the gold medal game.

He talked openly about many of those accolades on Thursday and the great feelings that came with them, but said they were never at the top of his list of goals each season. His goal each season in the NHL was simple -- and he accomplished it four times.

"[I'm] going to leave that up to other people to decide," he said of the legacy he leaves behind. "I didn't set out to play 20 years, first of all. I had no other ambitions about how long I was going to be doing this, but once you experience this you want more. Once you reach that goal, you want to get back there again. That's been one of the things that's been driving me all these years. I never set goals of winning the Norris Trophy. The goal has been to play my best, but to win at the end and hoist that Cup one more time."

There is the story. Hopefully there is no doubt in anybody's mind that this man is a lock for the hockey hall of fame when his time comes. Thanks for the great career Nick!

Kopitar OT Hero as Kings Take Game One

Anze Kopitar continued his post season heroics for the Los Angeles Kings last night as he scored the overtime winner giving the Kings a 1-0 lead in this Stanley Cup Finals. Last night's game one marked the first cup finals game to be played at the Prudential Center in Newark, the first finals appearance for the Devils since 2003, and the first appearance in the finals for the Kings since 1993.

The first period seemed more of a feeling out process between the two teams. Shots were even at 5 a piece but the Kings scored the only goal, as at the 9:56 mark of the period Colin Fraser scored his first of the playoffs, set up by Jordan Nolan. For Fraser, not only was it his first goal of this playoffs, but it was his first career playoff goal. Not a bad way to get you're first career playoff goal in game one of the Cup Finals I'd say. As for Jordan Nolan, he is the son of former NHL head coach Ted Nolan, so that family is still having a big impact in the NHL. That opening period at the start seemed to be a feeling out process, but after the Fraser goal it seemed as if the Kings would really start to carry the play after that. It was  physical start to this game, as it has been for most of this years playoffs.

The 2nd period got underway and again it seemed as if the Kings were still carrying more of the play from the first period. Martin Brodeur had to make some solid stops for the Devils to keep them in this opening game, and he finally got some offensive3 help late in the period. The Devils offense looked flat for about the first half of the hockey game, not getting too many quality scoring chances. But as that 2nd period moved along the Devils seemed to start to chip away a bit at the Kings defense. Finally at the 18:48 mark Anton Volchenkov got the Devils on the board and tied the game. He was set up by Patrik Elias and David Clarkson. It was a somewhat broken play really as Volchenkov took the shot from a tough angle along the side boards and it appeared at first to hit off Elias, who was crashing the net but after the off ice officials took a look at the play it was revealed that Elias never touched the puck and it actually redirected off Kings defenseman Slava Voynov, who was at the side of the net trying to check Elias. So the teams skated off the ice at the end of two tied at two. Shots in the middle period where 9-3 in favor of the Kings.

The 3rd period saw no scoring and no penalties what so ever. Shots in the final period where 8-7 in favor of the Kings, but by far the best chance of the final period went to the Devils and Mark Fayne:


Fayne had a GOLDEN chance to put the Devils in the lead at that moment but he just shoved it wide of the cage. But the shot missed the net. Both Jonathan Quick and Martin Broduer had to play well in this 3rd period to keep the game tied and that's what they did to force overtime.

Overtime hit and both teams look very sloppy, especially with the play in the neutral zone. But it was the Devils who made one crucial mistake in overtime and it cost them. It came on a failed pinch attempt at the Kings blueline and Anze Kopitar cashed in on it at 8:13 of overtime:


The goal gave the Kings the victory in game one. Shots in overtime where 3-2 in favor of LA.The win was the Kings 3rd overtime victory in this years playoffs. The Devils fall to 4-2 in overtime in this years playoffs. Jonathan Quick stopped 16 of 17 Devils shots and his counterpart Martin Broduer snagged 23 of 25 Kings shots.

Going into this series I thought special teams was going to play a factor in this series, and at least in game one it wasn't much of a factor. The Devils went 0 for 2 on the powerplay and the Kings came up empty on their only powerplay. Also going into this contest I thought having a week off between their game five victory over the Coyotes and this game one would have a negative effect on the Kings, but it obviously didn't have any effect at all. Looking at this from a Devils perspective there is slight reason to panic, as there was no real life from the team, no solid offensive pressure from the outset, at least not from what I saw. The team may want to consider trying to shake up the line combinations just a bit for game two to try and find some offenseive spark and consistency but that decision is going to be up to the coaching staff as to what they want to do for the next game. There is a positive spin that can be put on this for the Devils. If you think back to rounds two and three in both cases they lost game one, and in round two against the Flyers they lost game one in overtime as well. Just something to think about heading into game two.

Game Two of the Finals will be Saturday night at 8 p.m. from the Prudential Center in Newark, and the game will be televised on NBC!

2012 Cup Finals Ready to Rock as it's Kings vs Devils!

The Stanley Cup Finals for the 2011-12 NHL hockey season are now set and ready to rock and roll. This years finals feature the Western Conference Champions the #8 Los Angeles Kings and the Eastern Conference Champions the #6 New Jersey Devils. The Eastern Conference winner will have home ice advantage for the first time since 2006, since the Devils had a better regular season record than the Kings. The Devils are the lowest-seeded team to have home-ice advantage in the Stanley Cup Finals, a record previously held by the Devils when won the Cup as a fourth seed in 2000.

The 2012 Finals ended a long Stanley Cup Finals appearance drought for the Los Angeles Kings, who had appeared in the Finals only once in franchise history, in 1993, when the Wayne Gretzky–led Kings lost to the Montreal Canadiens in five games. That year, the Kings were the 6 seed in the western conference. The New Jersey Devils last appeared when winning the championship in 2003. In the Devils four previous trips to the finals they were seeded 5th (1995 Won Cup), 4th (2000 Won Cup), 1st (2001 Lost Cup), and 2nd (2003 Won Cup). So this is the lowest the Devils have even been seeded going into the finals.

The 2012 Stanley Cup Finals will mark the first time two American-born captains face off in the Final, ensuring the first American Stanley Cup-winning captain since Derian Hatcher of the Dallas Stars in 1999. It will also guarantee the lowest-seeded Stanley Cup champion, another record previously held by the Devils who won the Cup as a fifth seed in 1995. The Kings started the regular season at 13–12–4 before firing head coach Terry Murray on December 12. John Stevens served as interim coach before the team hired Darryl Sutter on December 20. Under Sutter, the Kings finished the season at 95 points, earning the #8 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Los Angeles then went on to become the second team to eliminate the #1, #2, and #3 seeds from the playoffs in the same postseason (and the first team to do so in that order), after the 2003–04 Calgary Flames, also coached by Darryl Sutter, eliminating the Vancouver Canucks in five games, the St. Louis Blues in four games, and the Phoenix Coyotes in five games, respectively. In addition, the Kings went a perfect 8–0 on the road in these playoff games and the first team to go undefeated while en route to the Finals. The Kings are the second #8 seed to reach the Finals, following the Edmonton Oilers in 2006.

This was the Devils' first season under head coach Peter DeBoer, who replaced the retiring Jacques Lemaire during the offseason. Under DeBoer, New Jersey finished the regular season with 102 points, but ended up with the #6 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Devils eliminated DeBoer's former team, the Southeast division-winning Florida Panthers, in seven games, and two of their division rivals, first the fifth-seeded Philadelphia Flyers in five games, and the first-seeded New York Rangers in six games.

Here is the schedule of games for this years Cup Finals:
WED, MAY 30, 2012 8 pm LOS ANGELES KINGS AT NEW JERSEY DEVILS NBC, CBC, RDS
SAT, JUNE 2, 2012 8 pm LOS ANGELES KINGS AT NEW JERSEY DEVILS NBC, CBC, RDS
MON, JUNE 4, 2012 8 pm NEW JERSEY DEVILS AT LOS ANGELES KINGS NBCSN, CBC, RDS
WED, JUNE 6, 2012 8 pm NEW JERSEY DEVILS AT LOS ANGELES KINGS NBCSN, CBC, RDS
*SAT, JUNE 9, 2012 8 pm LOS ANGELES KINGS AT NEW JERSEY DEVILS NBC, CBC, RDS
*MON, JUNE 11, 2012 8 pm NEW JERSEY DEVILS AT LOS ANGELES KINGS NBC, CBC, RDS
*WED, JUNE 13, 2012 8 pm LOS ANGELES KINGS AT NEW JERSEY DEVILS NBC, CBC, RDS

Now that we have you set up for the finals, lets take a closer look at how these two teams stack up.

Offense: The Kings average 2.93 goals per game and are being lead offensively by Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar. Brown has 16 points on 7 goals and 9 assists and Kopitar has 15 points on 6 goals and 9 assists. Four other Kings have double digits in points in these playoffs, Mike Richards (11 points), Justin Williams (11 Points), Dustin Penner (10 Points), and Drew Doughty (10 Points). As for the New Jersey Devils, they average 2.83 goals per game and are being lead offensively by Ilya Kovalchuck and Zach Parise. Kovalchuck has 18 points to lead all playoff scorers with 7 goals and 11 assists, while Zach Parise clocks in with 14 points at 7 goals and 7 assists. Four other Devils have hit double digits in points in the playoffs, Travis Zajac (12 points), Bryce Salvador (11 points), Adam Henrique (11 points), and David Clarkson (10 points). The Devils have had to play four more games in these playoffs than the Kings, so that may possibly help the kings out in this series. Edge: Even

Defense: The Kings have the best defensive team in the post season with allowing 1.57 goals per game. Jonathan Quick has played every minute in the playoffs for the Kings going 12-2 with a 1.54 GAA and a SV% of ,946. Meanwhile for the Devils, they have allowed 2.33 goals per game in the playoffs. Martin Brodeur has played 90% of the games in the post season going 12-5-1 with a GAA of 2.04 and a .923 SV %.  The Devils have allowed four goals in a game three times in this playoffs, which going against the Kings is going to be a tough challenge. Edge: Kings

Special Teams: The Devils Powerplay is operating at a 8.2% rate with penalty kill operating at 74.2%. As for the Kings, their powerplay is operating at a rate of 8.1% and a penalty kill of 91.2% and have been pretty lethal scoring shorthanded. The Devils have had a decent powerplay but really have to be on their heels when on the man advantage espically with the likes of Brown and Kopitar on the ice possibly for the Kings. Edge: Even.

Final Analysis: This is going to be a very Very good matchup for the Stanley Cup. Here ypou have two teams that at the start of the playoffs I don't think most analysts had playing for the Cup. This one may actually be the toughest to read. The reason being is that the Kings who are an eight seed weren't expected to get by the Canucks, did that and have lost only two games all playoffs long. As for the Devils they have had to play at least five games in every round in the playoffs to this point. The Kings might have a problem getting going in Game One as they will have had a week off after beating the Coyotes in the West Finals. This will be an even series no doubt. Prediction: Kings in 6!

(Statistics and some information provided by Wikipedia, The Hockey News and NHL.com)

The Curse is Dead! Devils Beat Rangers, Advance to Stanley Cup Finals

The long wait for Devils fans are over. For the first time since 2003 the New Jersey Devils will play for the Stanley Cup! They earned the right to do so after beating the New York Rangers in six hard fought games. The Rangers were the #1 seed in the east and had gone to seven games against both Ottawa and Washington. Meanwhile the Devils who were the #6 seed, had to go to seven games against Florida and then beat the Flyers in five games. So this was going to be a great matchup on paper.

The Rangers scored three unanswered goals in the third period, and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist stopped all 21 New Jersey shots, to take Game 1, 3–0. For Lundqvist, that was his 2nd shutout of the playoffs. Even though it was a Devils loss, Marty Brodeur still showed flashes of his former self especially with this incredible save late in the 3rd period:



In Game 2, David Clarkson's score early in the third period broke a 2–2 tie to give the Devils a 3–2 victory. Ilya Kovalchuk and Ryan Carter scored the first two devils goals, while Marc Staal and Chris Kreider scored for the Rangers. Carter's goal actually tied the game at 2 before Clarkson scored on this beautiful deflection:


Game 3 then ended up being similar to Game 1, as New York scored another three unanswered goals in the third period, and Lundqvist stopped all 37 New Jersey shots, en route to a second 3–0 win in this series. With his fifth goal of the playoffs in Game 3, Rangers rookie forward Chris Kreider set an NHL record for goals and points (5 goals, 7 points) for a player in the playoffs before his first regular season game. This win gave Lundqvist his 2nd shutout of the series and 3td of the playoffs.

New Jersey then took Game 4, 4–1, as Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur made 28 saves and Zach Parise scored two goals. Bryce Salvador and Travis Zajac scored the opening goals for the Devils in this game in the 1st. After a quiet 2nd period Zach Parise got his first of the game on the power play early in the 3rd. Ruslan Fedotenko got the Rangers on the board with his first of the playoffs, but Zach Parise put the game away with an empty netter to seal the win. The goal by Fedotenko late in the playoffs was a bit of a surprise since this guy was a hero for the Lightning during their 2004 Cup run.

Game 5 ended up being a wild contest, as New Jersey scored three unanswered goals in the first period before New York tied it up early in the third period. Stephen Gionta, Patrick Elias, and Travis Zajac gave the Devils a 3-0 lead halfway through the opening period. Brandon Prust would cut the lead to 3-1 by the end of the 1st. Ranger Captain Ryan Callahan would score the lone goal in the 2nd period to cut the lead to 3-2. Then early in the 3rd period Marion Gaborik would tie the game at 3. Ryan Carter then scored at 15:36 of the third period, and Zach Parise added an empty-net goal, to give the Devils the 5–3 win.

Game 6 was just as memorable as any other between these two teams. With visions of the 1994 conference finals dancing in the heads of most Rangers fans, the two teams hit the ice. The Devils jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in this hockey game thanks to Ryan Carter and Ilya Kovalchuck. However the Rangers would come fighting back. Ruslan Fedotenko and Ryan Callahan scored the tying goals for the Rangers in the 2nd period. The 3rd period was scoreless forcing overtime. That's when the hero emerged. Adam Henrique's goal at 1:03 of overtime  gave New Jersey a 3–2 victory to win the series.

That marks the 2nd time this playoffs Henrique has been the OT hero, as he scored the winner in Double OT of Game Seven of the opening round against the Florida Panthers. So thanks to Henrique's heroics the Devils are back in the finals for the first time since 2003. As for the New York Rangers hats off to them. What the Rangers were able to do this season deserves a hat tip. Think about this for a second, last year the Rangers finished 3rd in the Atlantic Division and 8th in the eastern conference and were bounced in the opening round of the playoffs by the Washington Capitals. Now this season, they win the Atlantic Division, had the best record in the Eastern Conference, and were two wins shy of their first appearance in the cup finals since their win in 1994. So for what the Rangers were able to do this season, hats off to them and they have earned my full respect.

But now it's on to the Stanley Cup Finals where it will see the Los Angeles Kings play the New Jersey Devils. Check back right here on Solly On Sports for a full preview of the Stanley Cup Finals later this week.

Half of Stanley Cup Finals Set. Kings Win West!

The Los Angeles Kings have made history by advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1993. After last nights thrilling OT victory over the Phoenix Coyotes in game five, the Kings became the first 8 seed ever to knock off the top three seeds in the conference to reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 19 years. It took the Kings five games to do it but they put down the Coyotes to advance to the finals. Lets now take a look at how they did it against Phoenix.

Game One was in Phoenix and it was dominated by the Kings. Anze Kopitar got the scoring going four minutes into the game, but that was answered by Derek Morris of the Coyotes, so the period ended in a 1-1 tie. The Kings dominated the opening period with a 17-4 shots advantage but were only able to come away with the tie. In the 2nd again it was one goal per team, Dwight King half way through for the Kings, and Mikkel Boedker for the Coyotes late in the period. Shots in the 2nd were more even 17-14 in favor of the Kings. LA put the game out of reach in the 3rd, shutting down the Coyotes. Shots in the 3rd were again in favor of LA 14-9 and the Kings scored the only two goals, Dustin Brown just over 2 minutes in, and Dwight King's 2nd of the game into an empty net put the game away and game the Kings a 1-0 series lead.

Game Two was another strong showing from the Kings as a team but two guys really took over this contest, Jonathan Quick and Jeff Carter. The Kings dominated from start to finish in this 4-0 shutout of the Coyotes, dominating in shots 40-24 and putting up 4 goals. Quick had a few busy spots during this game and had to make some good saves, but it didn't really seem as if he was tested too much. The scoring for LA got started with Dwight King 13:15 into the game. After that Jeff Carter took off on offense for LA. Carter, who had been a stud in playoffs past for the Flyers, had been quiet this year until this game, when he netted a natural hat trick to ice the game for LA. Carter's 1st goal came at 4:47 of the 2nd period. Then to really put an exclamation point on things, he scored twice on the power play, his 2nd goal coming late in the 2nd, and he capped off the trick with his 2nd power play goal at the 12:47 mark of the 3rd. Game two was pretty physical near the end with a ton of penalty minutes handed out, which sad to say has become a staple of this years playoffs, being one of the more physical and fight filled in recent memory.

Game Three saw the series shift to LA, and it was the tightest checking game of the series, a 2-1 victory for LA. The first period saw no0 scoring and only one penalty called.Phoenix got on the board first in this one thanks to Daymond Langkow's first of the playoffs 1:03 into the 2nd period. But the Kings answered about two minutes later thanks to Anze Kopitar, who turned into a goal scoring machine in the playoffs this year. LA grabbed the lead and never looked back in the 3rd thanks to a big goal from Dwight King 1:47 into the 3rd. Jonathan Quick shut the door in the 3rd and grabbed the Kings a commanding 3-0 series lead.

Phoenix showed some signs of life in Game Four thanks to goalie Mike Smith and team captain Shane Doan. Smith got the shutout and Doan scored both goals in the 2-0 victory for the Coyotes to force a game five in the series. Smith made 36 saves in the shutout and looked great. It was the first time the Coyotes showed a real true sense of urgency at all during this series and they really did start to look like a #3 seed. Doan's first goal came on the power play at the 14:19 mark of the 1st period, with his 2nd goal coming at the 11:10 mark of the 2nd. This game the Coyotes played a solid all around game and the Kings really didn't have an answer.

Game Five was the deciding game in the series, and the Kings did what they had to do to win, but it had to go to overtime to decide it. Taylor Pyatt scored on the power play for the Coyotes 4:20 into the game. The kings responded with yet another short handed goal, this one coming from Anze Kopitar at the 11:13 mark to tie the game at 1. With the 2nd period underway the offense really took off for both clubs. Marc-Antoine Pouliot gave Phoenix the lead, only to have Drew Doughty and Mike Richards respond to give LA the 3-2 lead. The Coyotes tied the game near the end of the 2nd thanks to Keith Yandle. The 3rd period was scoreless, but saw some great stops by both Jonathan Quick and Mike Smith, to force overtime. Then with just over two minutes left in the first overtime Dustin Penner ended the Coyotes season and set Los Angeles into a frenzy:



So thanks to Penner's Heroics the Coyotes are out and the Kings move on. This was a great season and playoff run for the Coyotes, who have been bounced in the first round each of the last two years by Detroit. Mike Smith played great in net for the team and on some nights really seemed to carry the Coyotes. Shane Doan wasn't too happy with the calls made by the refs during this series and made that fact very well known to the media after the game. Hats off to the Coyotes for one hell of a season, and they have nothing to be ashamed of for getting as far as they did this season. Congratulations to the Phoenix Coyotes on a great season.

As for the Los Angeles Kings they are advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1993, a year in which they lost in 5 games to the Canadiens. This will be the 2nd ever trip to the Finals for the Kings in franchise history. Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar are leading the offensive charge for the Kings. Brown has 16 points on 7 goals and 9 assists, and Kopitar has 15 points on 6 goals and 9 assists. Jonathan Quick has been outstanding between the pipes for the Kings playing every minute of every game, and currently stands with a record of 12-2 with a 1.54 GAA and a .946 SV%. Quick is making a solid case for Conn Smyth Trophy winner as playoff MVP. Who the Kings will play in the Cup Final is yet to be decided but it will be between the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers. Whoever the Kings play in the finals, they are going to be in for a dog fight against a very tough and very hot Los Angeles Kings!

Stanley Cup 2012 Conference Finals Ready to Go!

The 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs have finally hit the Conference Finals in the East and West and another upset has been pulled here in the playoffs to set this up. Before we can fully set the table and preview the conference finals, lets look at how we got to where we are. Things will kickoff with the Western Conference.

The Los Angeles Kings are proving to be one of the hottest teams in hockey as for the 2nd straight round they pulled an upset beating the #2 St Louis Blues in a clean sweep. The Blues were unable to score more than 2 goals in a game, losing all four games by scores of 3-1, 5-2, 4-2 and 3-1. The Kings swept the Blues to advance to their first conference finals since 1993. Los Angeles scored 15 total goals in the series, while goaltender Jonathan Quick only allowed 6 total St. Louis goals. This series marked the first time in Kings history they have swept another team in a seven-game series, and the first time in NHL history the 8th seed has defeated both the 1st and the 2nd seeds. Dustin Brown was great in this series, especially on the penalty kill, tormenting Blues goalie Brian Elliot the entire time, setting up at least 5 short handed goals by the Kings in the series, and driving both Elliot and the Blues Defense crazy.

As for the Phoenix Coyotes, they had a slightly tougher series to go through against the Nashville Predators. The Coyotes defeated the Predators in five games to advance to their first ever conference finals in team history. This also marked the first time that Phoenix jumped to a 2–0 series lead since 1987. Ray Whitney scored the overtime winner in the Coyotes' 4–3 victory in Game 1. In Game 2, four different Phoenix players each had a goal and an assist in their 5–3 win. The Predators bounced back in Game 3, with goaltender Pekka Rinne stopping all 32 shots in a 2–0 victory. But Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith responded with a shutout of his own in Game 4, stopping 25 shots, while Shane Doan scoring the lone goal in a 1–0 Phoenix win. Smith then continued to hold Nashville scoreless until 14:01 of the third period of Game 5, and the Coyotes held on to a 2–1 victory to win the series.

So the Western Conference final is set and it has the #3 Phoenix Coyotes taking on the #8 Los Angeles Kings. As listed above both teams come into this west final having overcome a pretty easy second round with the Coyotes winning over the Preds in 5 and the Kings sweeping the Blues in 4 straight. This is the first playoff series between these two franchises (including when the Coyotes were in Winnipeg). Each team won three games in this year's six-game regular season series. The Kings reached the Conference Finals for the first time since 1993, going on to lose in the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals to the Montreal Canadiens, while this marks the first Conference Finals appearance for the Phoenix Coyotes franchise, which made it past the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 1987. So this series brings the most intrigue to the table of the two conference finals. The reason being is that neither franchise has had success like this in their history in the post season. Granted the Kings did make the Cup finals in 1993, they haven't had that much playoff success since then. Here is the schedule for the games in this series:


SUNDAY, MAY 13, 2012 8 PM LOS ANGELES AT PHOENIX NBCSN, TSN, RDS
TUESDAY, MAY 15, 2012 9 PM LOS ANGELES AT PHOENIX NBCSN, TSN, RDS
THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012 9 PM PHOENIX AT LOS ANGELES NBCSN, TSN, RDS
SUNDAY, MAY 20, 2012 3 PM PHOENIX AT LOS ANGELES NBC, CBC, RDS
*TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2012 9 PM LOS ANGELES AT PHOENIX NBCSN, CBC, RDS
*THURSDAY, MAY 24, 2012 9 PM PHOENIX AT LOS ANGELES NBCSN, CBC, RDS
*SATURDAY, MAY 26, 2012 8 PM LOS ANGELES AT PHOENIX TBD, CBC, RDS

So now that we know how this series plays out on what dates. Lets take a look at how these two clubs stack up against each other. First with the LA Kings, they are lead on offense by Dustin Brown who has 6 goals and 5 assists for 11 points and Anze Kopitar who's got 3 goals and 7 assists for 10 points.Jonathan Quick has been a rock in net for the Kings playing every minute so far in the playoffs going 9-1 with a 1.59 GAA. Antoine Vermette leads the charge on offense for the Coyotes with 9 points on 5 goals and 4 assists, and Shane Doan has put up OK numbers with 7 points on 3 goals and 4 assists. Mike Smith has played every minute in net for the Coyotes going 8-4 with a 1.87 GAA.

Now for the breakdown of this series.


Goaltending: Both goalies have put up good numbers in the playoffs this year, Jonathan Quick has lost only once in the entire post season and that was in the opening round to Vancouver, and allowed a total of 16 goals in the entire playoffs. Mike Smith has lost 4 games allowing 24 goals. Advantage: Kings.

Defense: The Kings team Defense has been good in the playoffs allowing an average of 1.60 goals per game. Jonathan Quick's outstanding play in net is a big reason for that, but still he also has to have a good team of blue liners in front. The Coyotes have allowed 2.08 goals per game. mike Smith has done good so far this post season and at times his blue liners have looked OK but had some lapses. Every defender has contributed at least one point on offense for the Kings with Drew Doughty leading that charge with 7, while with the Coyotes are lead by Rostislav Klesla and Keith Yandle with 7 points each. Despite the scoring punch by the Coyotes defenders, the Kings seem to play a much better defensive game. Advantage: Kings


Offense: This again seems almost unfair to really compare the two clubs, as the Kings average 3.10 goals a game and Coyotes average 2.58 goals a game. The Kings have had a point from everybody on their roster except 3 guys and the Coyotes have 4 guys without a point. The  Kings PK has been the best in the playoffs and they have scored quite a few times on the penalty kill. Advantage: Kings.


Final Analysis: The Kings have been steamrolling everybody put in their way so far in the playoffs. Mike Smith may be able to steal a game or two but this one is pretty easy Kings in 5.


Now that we have the west covered, lets swing things back over to the east. New York eliminated Washington in seven games. In Game 1, the Rangers scored two goals within 1:30 in the third period to take a 3–1 victory. The Capitals then took Game 2, 3–2, after Alexander Ovechkin scored the game-winning power play goal with 7:27 left in the third period. Game 3 then ended at 14:41 of the third overtime with Marian Gaborik's goal to give New York a 2–1 win. This game was the 20th longest overtime game in NHL playoff history, the first 3OT game for the Rangers since 1971, and the longest overtime game in Rangers franchise history since 1939. New York also snapped a streak of seven consecutive playoff overtime losses, their last playoff overtime win coming in 2007. For Washington, it was the third-longest game in franchise history.

Washington evened the series in Game 4 with Mike Green's power play goal with 5:48 remaining to give the Capitals a 2–1 win. In Game 5, with Washington leading 2–1 with 21.3 seconds remaining, Capitals forward Joel Ward took a double-minor penalty for high-sticking Rangers forward Carl Hagelin, and on the ensuing power play New York forward Brad Richards scored the game-tying goal with 6.6 seconds left in regulation, the latest game-tying playoff goal in Rangers franchise history. The Rangers remained on the power play to start the overtime period, with Ward serving the second half of his double-minor, and Rangers defenseman Marc Staal scored the game-winning goal at 1:35 of OT, completing the comeback. Washington rebounded in Game 6, winning 2–1 as goaltender Braden Holtby made 30 saves to force Game 7. Brad Richards scored 1:32 into the first period to give the Rangers an early 1–0 lead Game 7, then Michael Del Zotto scored in the third period to make it 2–0. Washington's Roman Hamrlik cut the score to 2–1 shortly after Del Zotto's goal, but the Capitals were unable to score another goal and lost the series. Through their first 14 games of the playoffs, the Rangers did not allow more than three goals in any of the games, setting an NHL record.

The Devils defeated the Flyers in five games. In each game of the series, the team that scored first ended up losing. Daniel Briere scored 4:36 into overtime of Game 1 to give Philadelphia its lone victory of the series by the score of 4–3. New Jersey then scored four third-period goals in a 4–1 victory in Game 2. Alexei Ponikarovsky's goal 17:21 into overtime defeated the Flyers, 4–3, in Game 3. Then in Game 4, the Devils scored four unanswered goals to overcome a 2–0 deficit to win, 4–2. And finally in Game 5, New Jersey scored two first-period goals 3:18 apart en route to a 3–1 victory to win the series. What ultimately defined the series, and wins my award for the if only I could have played that one over plaque goes to Ilya Brysgalov of the Flyers for this big mistake he makes in game 5.



So thanks to Ilya Brysgalov and the inept Flyers we now have a great conference final set up in the east.

Yes that's right its the #1 New York Rangers taking on the #6 New Jersey Devils. This is the sixth playoff series between these two teams, with New Jersey's only win coming from a sweep of the Rangers in the 2006 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. The Devils and the Rangers last met in the 2008 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, which the Rangers won in five games. The teams split this year's six-game regular season series. In 1994, the Rangers and the Devils also met in the Eastern Conference Finals, with New York prevailing in seven games, en route to winning the Stanley Cup. The Devils reached the Conference Finals for the first time since beating the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals, while the Rangers reached the Conference Finals for the first time since 1997, when they lost to rival Philadelphia Flyers. Here is the broadcast schedule for this series.

MONDAY, MAY 14, 2012 8 PM NEW JERSEY AT NY RANGERS NBCSN, CBC, RDS
WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012 8 PM NEW JERSEY AT NY RANGERS NBCSN, CBC, RDS
SATURDAY, MAY 19, 2012 1 PM NY RANGERS AT NEW JERSEY NBC, CBC, RDS
MONDAY, MAY 21, 2012 8 PM NY RANGERS AT NEW JERSEY NBCSN, CBC, RDS
*WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2012 8 PM NEW JERSEY AT NY RANGERS NBCSN, CBC, RDS
*FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012 8 PM NY RANGERS AT NEW JERSEY NBCSN, CBC, RDS
*SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012 8 PM NEW JERSEY AT NY RANGERS NBCSN, CBC, RDS

So now that we know when the games in this series will be played, lets take a closer look at this series. Ilya Kovalchuk and Travis Zajac lead the Devils in scoring and are the only two Devils in the playoffs to hit double digits in scoring. In goal of course will be Marty Brodeur has played almost every minute for the Devils between the pipes. As for the Rangers Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik lead the charge on offense for the Rangers both of whom have double digit point totals, and Henrik Lundqvist has played every minute of every game so far these playoffs.

Now for a full breakdown of the series:

Goaltending: Henrik Lundquvist has played ever minute so far in the playoffs pulling in an 8-6 record with a GAA of  1.68 and allowed 25 goals. As for Martin Brodeur, he has played all but one period in the playoffs going 8-3-1 with a GAA of 1.05 with allowing 25 goals. Based on pure statistics, it may be equal in goaltending in this series on paper. Lundquvist has yet to see this round of the playoffs in his career, while Brodeur has seen this five times in his career. Advantage: Even


Defense: The Rangers defensive unit has allowed 1.60 goals per game while the Devils have allowed 2.33 goals per game. Every Devils Defender has scored at least one point while the Rangers have gotten some clutch goal scoring from their Defense most notably Mark Staal and Dan Garadi. Those two guys have been the real shut down pair for the Rangers. Advantage: Rangers


Offense: As a team the Devils average 3.00 goals a game while the Rangers average 2.07 goals a game. Brad Richards leads the Rangers in goal scoring with 6 while Ilya Kovalchuk and Travis Zajac are tied for the Devils team lead with 5 each. The Devils it seems have had the more balanced scoring attack in this post season then the rangers have. Advantage: Devils


Final Analysis: In the 14 games the Rangers have played in the playoffs this year the goal difference has NEVER been more than 2 in a game. As for the Devils it has been 2 or more goals about half the time. This will be a low scoring hard hitting series there is no denying that fact. Based on the performance of both teams in the opening two rounds of the series this one is tough to call. Lundquvist will be called upon to stand on his head again in this series and the Devils will have to stay out of the penalty box. The biggest knock on the Rangers is right now the lack of scoring. Against a team like the Devils there really is no way a one goal lead is going to cut it. The Rangers need to get more scoring and it don't look right now like they have it. Final prediction: Devils in 7


So there you have it. the Conference Finals are set. So just sit back, relax and enjoy the ride to the cup finals!

What is Wrong with Albert Pujols

Its been a little more than a month into the MLB season and it took that long for Albert Pujols of the Angels to finally hit his first homer of the season. He did not hit his first home run for the Angels until his 28th game and 111th at-bat with the team. Dating back to 2011, he had not homered in 33 games and 139 regular season at-bats, the longest drought of his career. Pujols as we all know signed that contract with the Angles worth $254 Million back in December.

Now last year Albert hit .299 with the Cardinals while blasting 37 home runs and driving in 97 runs while playing in St. Louis. The Cards decided not to try and re-sign the all-star first baseman and he then signed the massive contract with the Angels. This year, in the first 28 games of the season for the Cards, he is hitting .196 with the one home run and seven runs batted in. In his 112 at-bats this season he has 22 hits with six walks and 16 strikeouts.

Albert as we all remember went wild in game three of last years world series going 5 for 6 with three homers and six RBI's. So there were big expectations from him, and Prince Fielder as well with him signing a big contract with the Tigers. Fielder is at least somewhat producing in Detroit, while he's hitting .300 with 4 homers and 13 RBI. So Prince is adjusting it seems a little better to life in the AL then Albert.

Here's a guy who throughout his career has become one of the more feared hitters in all of baseball. Last year was the only one of his career where he failed to hit 300 or higher in a season, and last year was also the first year of his career where he failed to drive in 100 runs in a year, he ended with 99. It was his lowest total since driving in 103 in 2007.

One of the theories as to why he is struggling could be the lineup he is in. Mark Trumbo, Kendrys Morales, Tori Hunter, and Howard Kendrick are the main hitters in that lineup besides Albert. Morales and Trumbo are the only ones hitting over 300, Trumbo Kendrick and Hunter are the only ones with double digits in RBI's and they have four homers each. Meanwhile back in St. Louis, the Cardinals have SIX guys who have 10+ RBI's on the season and SIX guys hitting over 300. He would have gotten some protection in the Cards lineup. With guys like Tori Hunter and Howard Kendrick in the Lineup, Albert is going to be pitched around more than he would in the Cards lineup. With St Louis, teams have to deal with guys like Beltran, Holliday, Freese, Molina, Furcal, and Carpenter. So with the Cards he would have been pitched to more because he would have had more protection in the lineup.

While with the Angels he is the big bat in their batting order, and managers know that if he can get anything to hit he can crush the ball like it's nobodies business. Not only that but I think on the whole pitching in the American League is just better compared to what he would have seen in the National League. But now that Albert finally has that first longball out of the way he can go back to just relaxing and playing baseball. One other thing I think can help is if he doesn't try and do too much and carry the team. He has other guys with talent around he, all he has to do is try and relax play his game and everything will work out fine.

New York Mets April Recap

The first month of the season has come and gone for the New York Mets, and an interesting month it has been for the club. A team that wasn't projected to do very much this season, they have managed to hang around the middle of the pack in the National League East for the opening month of the year, they currently sit at 13-11, which is good enough for 3rd place and 1.5 games behind the division leading Washington Nationals, who is another club that has surprised a few people here in the opening month of the season. The team has put up a decent fight so far despite having to battle the injury bug early on this year.

Andres Torres, who was brought over from the Giants in the Pagan trade during the winter, has done a somewhat OK job in center field, only having played in three games due to injury. He hurt his hamstring during spring training down in Florida, and seemed to be ready to go for the opener, but during said game injured the leg again and missed three weeks, recently coming back at the start of the current series in Houston against the Astros. It's too early to tell whether he was worth the pickup from the Giants, considering that Angel Pagan has been tarring it up by comparison. To Torres credit, he's only played in three games because of the injury, so will have to give him more time before a judgment can be made but as far as his offense is concerned I'm not expecting all that much from a guy who was a lifetime .243 hitter entering this season and is hitting right at .200 after three games played.

The other big losses as of now are Jason Bay and Mike Pelfrey to injury. Bay is on the DL with a fractured rib. He was hitting .240 with three homers and five runs batted in, but even without dealing with the injury bug hasn't quite lived up to the potential that the Mets saw in him when they gave him the big contract to play in New York. He had driven in no less than 80 runs in a season every year in baseball before coming back to the team that originally drafted him and has been a bit of a disappointment. Lets hope for his sake, and the sake of the club he can return to his form once he returns from the DL.As for Pelfery his season is officially over, after having soreness in his pitching arm which is now revealed to require Tommy John Surgery. When the year started, Mike was set to make $5.7 million this year after winning that from arbitration during the winter months. So with that large of a contract he had some big numbers to try and live up to. In the three games he started, Pelfrey wasn't able to record a decision, and in 19.1 innings he pitched, he gave up 24 hits and allowed five earned runs while striking out 13. Decent numbers for early on in the season but with him now out of the rotation for the year, the Mets need to find somebody to pick up the slack.

Now then, as for the play of the team on the field the first month of the season, the Mets have looked pretty decent. They won the first four games of the year, a sweep of the Braves to open the season and then taking the first game from the Nationals. Then dropped the next two to the Nats, including a good pitching duel between Johan Sanatan and Steven Strausberg. After dropping the series to the Nats, the team responded nicely by taking two of three from the Phillies, the hated rival right now of the Mets. Then the team seamed to sort of snap back to reality after the good start, going 2-5 over their next seven in losing series to the Braves in Atlanta and dropping three of four to the Giants at home. After the Giants series they welcomed back old buddy Jose Reyes and the Miami Marlins, to which the club responded with a three game sweep. They then went on to take two of three from the Rockies in Denver before dropping the last two to the Astros in Houston.

There have been a few pleasant surprise for the team in the opening month and a few that are leaving u scratching you're head.

One of the head scratches, if you want to call it that, is the fact that Johan Santana is 0-2 in his five starts this season. Granted Santana is coming off missing all of last season with shoulder surgery, the fact that he hasn't been able to win a game yet is a bit of a surprise. This is a guy who is a four time all star and has twice won the cy young, while pitching for the Twins in the American League. He started on opening day and went five scoreless innings, then lost his next start to Strausberg and Washington. In his five starts this year, Johan has pitched 24 innings, has a 2.25 ERA and 29 strikeouts. In his starts this year Johan has allowed 8 earned runs and given up 16 hits while holding opponents to a .141 batting average. It just seems that when he does get hit this season, it causes damage, and much like Pedro Martinez had a few years ago with the Mets, has been getting limited run support. Once again its early in the season, and Santana is trying to regain his cy young form after last yer surgery. Lets hope he can figure things out.

With Santana trying to find his game again, and now with Pelfrey done for the year, the slack in the starting rotation has been picked up by the likes of R.A. Dickey, Jonathan Neese and Dilon Gee. Dickey is the Mets best pitcher at the moment with a 3-1 with a 4.45 ERA and 28 strikeouts. The ERA is a bit high for Dickey for my liking, but the fact that he has won three of his first five starts is a pleasant surprise and is worth overlooking the high ERA at the moment. But what can't be overlooked is the fact that he has been homered off of seven times already this season and that really needs to come down if the Mets want to stay competitive. As for Johathan Neese, he is 2-1 with a 4.08 ERA and has 24 strikeouts in his five starts. Dillon Gee is 2-1 with a 4.85 ERA and 23 strikeouts in his four starts. The ERA for the starting pitchers for the Mets is a bit high for my liking and will need to come down if the team wants to contend for the division. Another nice surprise for the team has been the closer Frank Francisco who has four saves in five chances  this season. He looked great at the start of the year but has come down to earth a bit in the past two weeks. But two his credit, he has been more stable in the closer role than K-Rod was last year.

On Offense by far and away the biggest disappointments has been the slow start of Ike Davis on offense. Ike missed most of last season with an ankle injury, but before he got hurt last year, playing in 36 games, hitting .302 with 7 home runs and 25 RBI's. The year before he played in 147 games hitting .264 with 17 home runs and 72 RBI's. So Ike can hit at the big league level and is a very good defensive 1st baseman, but this year has gotten of to a horrible start hitting just .188 with three homers and eight RBI's in 23 games. As most Mets fans can tell you the guy has pop in his bat, but right now I'm really starting to wonder where it is, and how quickly can he get it back.

Leading the way on offense, to nobodies surprise, is David Wright. He is hitting .395 through the first month with three homers and 14 RBI's in 21 games he's played in this season. he missed some time with injuries during the opening weeks of the season and has seemed to have fallen back to earth a bit, as he started off the year with a hot streak like it was nobodies business. Wright was able to drive in 100 or more RBI's in five of his first six major  league seasons. Last year he had a down year driving in only 61 runs, his lowest total since he drove in 40 his first year with the team in 2004, and that year he only played 40 games. Some people believe Wright has been trying to do too much the last few years with the team, and they might be right, as he hasn't had all that much protection in the lineup. But I'm looking for him to have a bounce back year this year.

Another big surprise has been the play of Lucas Duda and Kirk Nieuwenhuis. Duda is hitting under .300 but leads the club in homers with 4, while Nieuwenhuis is hitting .333. both guys have been very solid on defense in the Mets outfield and Duda has been a decent surprise in the power department for the club, whoa re trying to find a way to replace the power and runs that left when Calros Beltran was traded late last season. Wright and Duda are the only two guys who have driven in more than 10 runs this season, while the team has stole a total of 7 bases all year, which is worst in the NL. The departure of Jose Reyes to the Marlins during the winter may be a BIG reason why the stolen base numbers are down this year. Another thing the team has to be a bit concerned with is the num ber of strikeouts the team has on offense. At least four guys have struck out at least 20 times, with Nieuwenhuis leading the way with 27 strikeouts.

Like I said before, it's only a month into the season, but some of the holes in the lineup are becoming evident. For this club to become more of a contender in what appears at the moment to be a weak NL East, the pitching staff needs to get it worked out and the offense needs to cut down on the strikeouts. Otherwise its been an OK to decent to open the season.