Wicked Head Shot In France vs Kazakhstan IIHF Game

While you’re waiting for the next NHL Playoff game to kick off, you should have been watching or taping the IIHF Championships that are going on in Helsinki, Finland. The other night the U.S. team and Canada squared off in a great game which climaxed in an OT win by the U.S. in overtime. Fantastic game that was on the NHL channel and will probably be replayed so keep an eye out for that.

The games continue through the week so be sure to catch them for some great action. You can stream most of the games for free on the IIHF YouTube channel so enjoy killing some time during the work week!

Another match between France and Kazakhstan saw Brendan Shanahan’s worst nightmare. An ugly hit by France’s Sasha Treille on Roman Starchenko left the Kazakhstan player on the ice out cold! After several scary moments and the bringing out of the spine board, Roman was able to wake up and sluggishly skate off the ice under his own power.

Brad Marchand Swears He Didn’t Dive

This just in! The Vancouver Canucks are interested in trading for Boston’s Brad Marchand. The news comes after Washington Capitals fans noticed that Brad Marchand was channeling his inner-Kessler a few times and easily going down to the ice in what Caps fans look to be a move to draw a cheap penalty.

Check out the play a few days ago:

The debate on whether or not Marchand flopped or was hit legit is up for debate. But who cares because it spawned my new favorite animated GIF, via RMNB!

Fanmade NHL iPhone Lockscreens

The first round of the NHL Playoffs are finishing up and I can’t think of a better way to show your team support than to deck out your smartphone with NHL iPHone Lockscreens.

Custom made by a hockey fan, this collection of NHL iPhone Lockscreens was made by a New Jersey Devils fan, who was a bit excited about the Devils in the playoffs and decide to make a home screen for the iPhone. Being that it is the playoffs, and exhibiting some kindness, they decided to make the screens for the whole NHL set of teams. Awesome! You can download the whole set here

 

Guess What? Flyers Don’t Like Crosby Either

No one trolls like the Flyers!

Check out the t-shirts being handed out in preparation for the Game 4 matchup.  Check this post to see why the shirt is relevant in case you’re asking.

Shirt pic via
Sidney the Cowardly Penguin via

Dustin Brown Cranks Henrik Sedin

He may dive to the ice at the slightest breeze, but Henrik Sedin deserves some props for getting jacked big time on the ice Sunday and staying in the game. The hit was so massive by the Kings Dustin Brown that Ryan Kesler, who was on the bench, flopped to the ground.

The Canucks will need all the Sedins they can get. The Kings and their awesome Twitter feed have built a surprising 3-0 lead in the series and threaten to bounce the Canucks out of the postseason tomorrow.

Daniel Sedin, Henrik’s twin, is nursing a concussion and is expected for Game 4 but it’s not 100% official yet.  The Canucks played better Sunday night but they still lack the offensive power to keep up with L.A., who has outscored them 9-4 in the three games.

Lazy, Sad Penguins Embarrass Themselves on National TV

Well, that didn’t take long. The Philadelphia Flyers came ready for their first series matchup against in-state rivals Pittsburgh. Problem is, Pittsburgh forgot to bring a gameplan or any kind of defense. The Flyers have gone up 3 games to none and look to easily sweep the series that should have gone to Game 7, in OT.

Instead we were treated to a pathetic example of a talented Pens team trying to ‘fight’ their way to a win. Yeah, you just can’t do that against Philly. You’re gonna lose no matter what season you try that in.

Pittsburgh and Philly faced off on NBC Sunday afternoon in what turned out to be a blowout 8-4 win by the Flyers. But the game was never in the hands of Pittsburgh. Except maybe the first 8 minutes before the wheels fell off. And when I say fell off, I mean it. They came flying off!

I don’t know what was more embarrassing…Marc-Andre Fleury letting in a few of the easiest shots ever or Sidney Crosby acting like a baby girl. Watch as Crosby helps kick off a 10-minute fight/melee with this little childish act

Philly built a 3-1 lead quickly and soon filled the penalty box as all the Pens including Sidney Crosby tried to square off against the Flyers. That is when they weren’t giving cheap shots. Check out Arron Asham of the Pens joining the instant suspension club by crosschecking and then punching the Flyers Breyden Schenn head into the ice…from behind.

And here’s James Neal of the Penguins with a stupid, blind-side hit on the Flyers Sean Couturier in the closing minutes of the game. Sad.

It’s sad to see this type of behavior from such a talented group of guys. And it sucks it was on primetime TV so all those people catching the game and thinking hockey was a stereotypical game of goons hitting each other got their wish. Shame on you Pittsburgh. You’re so much better than that.

Heck, even Pens head coach Dan Bylsma looks confused. What the heck is going on in Pittsburgh? Are the Hanson Brothers running the joint?

Johan Franzen spears David Legwand on the bench

If nothing else, this years Stanley Cup Playoffs have provided their share of controversial calls and cheap hits. And I haven’t even gotten to the Philly/Pittsburgh series yet.

The Nashville – Detroit series had a few fights in Game 2 of their match but that was primarily because of bad refs in Game 1 that led to this.

Shea Webber and Todd Bertuzzi fought it out in Game 2 so all is clear. Time to move on. But that didn’t stop the Red Wings Johan Franzen from delivering this cheap spear to the gut of the Preds David Legwand….while Legwand was on the bench during the Red Wings loss 3-2.

At this point it’s hard to tell what the NHL and rule enforcer Brendan Shanahan will enforce and suspend players for since they have been wildly inconsistent this playoff series. Franzen should get a bit of a slap here since I’m sure once the Preds get a hold of the tape they will kindly FedEx it to the NHL head office.

Franzen gets checked into the bench where Legwand takes a quick grab of Franzen’s jersey to hold him back. Franzen, unhappy that his attire is being touched, turns around and drives his stick right into the chest of Legwand. Thankfully not enough to injure but if you’re gonna call Mike Smith flopping like a soccer player, I think this should get a second look.

This is pure goonery so I would expect a fine or something but then again I thought Shea should’ve been slapped a one gamer so who the Hell knows now. As far as I could tell, Franzen did not get a penalty for this move and I also remember in the U.S. broadcast, which I watched, they didn’t show this much or comment on it.

Man, I wish I could watch the CBC feeds for all the games.

Jagr Gets Twitter

Just in time for the playoffs, Philadelphia Flyers star Jaromir Jagr is kicking off his social media sites by pushing his Facebook and Twitter. A little welcome video by Jagr shows he’s excited about connecting with the fans during the postseason and Tweets like this are what we are looking forward to, I can say it will be fun.

Bryz is scared of bears. There were like 70 bears at the game! I wonder what would happen if he said he is scared of beautiful naked girls?!

— Jaromir Jagr (@68Jagr) April 12, 2012

It looks like he’s got this under control!

Jagr has had a Twitter for a little bit now but according to his posts he’s going to be actually writing them himself instead of feed news feeds or having an intern (I’m guessing) tapping out on the keyboard.

Blues, Senators Fans Rap For The Playoffs

The St. Louis Blues and the Ottawa Senators are two teams http://thepuckdoctors.com/wp-admin/post-new.phpthat at the beginning of the season I would have said wouldn’t have made the playoffs. A lot has changed during the season. Somewhere, an offense bloomed in Ottawa and the Blues landed a new coach and philosophy to start one of the best goalie tandems in the league on their way to a division title.

To help celebrate their success, fans from both teams have dusted off the microphones and hit the recording studios the help the fans get excited for the playoffs. It started when St. Louis band Brookroyal created the rock anthem “Bleed Blue” after the Blues won the division in March.

Brookroyal must have gotten the Blues fanbase pumped up because this week we saw a couple of dudes called Deuce trying their hand at the painful to watch rap video “St. Louis Blues Rally Song (Blue Note Boogie).” The guys dusted off their VHS camcorder and edited together a shaky, blurry video.

Not to be outdone, Ottawa Senators fans invested some actual production and editing time to create a new, unofficial playoff rap titled the “SENS PLAYOFF MIX (Ottawa Senators Playoff Rap).”

Where have I seen that guy before?

It kind of reminds me of that goon from Eddie Murphy’s The Golden Child (see video), Karl Pilkington, or….wait…I got it. It’s Kip from Napoleon Dynamite!

Can’t unsee…

Ouch! Shea Weber Turnbuckles Zetterberg

And look who will get the first suspension of the NHL Playoffs…

Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators just won himself a second game vacation I’m willing to guess. That’s because NHL rule enforcer Brendan Shanahan will be giving a look at this video of the Predators defenseman Shea Weber slamming Detroit’s Henrik Zetterberg face first into the boards at the end of Game 1 of the two teams first round playoff match. Twice.

It’s sad, too, because Shea is such a talented player and now the ‘goon’ tag is already being tossed around for this silly play.

The suspension is coming, we can all see that coming, as the act was blatant and violent. Shea gets in two solid strikes on the boards/glass with Zetterberg’s head after Zetterberg hits Shea from behind. Weber obviously losses his head and gets pissed at the hit. Still not excuse for a bad play but Shea retaliates against Henrik due in large part to the horrible officiating of the game.

Red Wings head coach stated “The referees are trying to get to Stanley Cup Final like the rest of us. What do you say?”

The refs called a ton of penalties Wednesday night in Nashville but did nothing to stop the chopping and grinding in front of the goals that elevated the blood pressure of both teams.

That helped create this scenario and the effects were bound to happen. It’s unfortunate as it hurts both teams. Zetterberg gets injured and the Preds captain will get bounced for a game or two just when his team needs him the most. Dumb play by Shea in the final seconds of a won game. Technically, Shea was awarded a 2-minute boarding penalty with no time left but consider his time in the sin bin just beginning.

The good news is Nashville loves wrestling and now Shea could send in this tape for his WWE Wrestlemania audition.

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