The Red Wings Continue To Surprise Us

May 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment

I love playoff hockey and right now, the Detroit Red Wings are a prime example as to why I love it so much. When there were only a handful of regular season games remaining, you really couldn’t browse hockey web sites and forums without seeing the discussion about the possibility of the Red Wings playoff streak coming to an end. But then, this team went on a tear, winning their last 4 games of the regular season and outscoring their opponents 15-3 in those 4 games, which secured them a spot in the post-season. Streak still intact and now Detroit looking to turn some heads but no one really gave them a chance, yours truly included.

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Filed Under: Playoff Chatter Tagged With: ,

In Case You Didn’t Tune In: Rangers v Bruins – Game 1

May 17, 2013 by Leave a Comment

bruinsrangers-game1

 

Sometimes when you have kids that have their own sports activities, you don’t get to sit down and watch as many playoff hockey games as you would like but for Game 1 of the Rangers and Bruins, the kids were in bed, the wife was at a friend’s house putting the final touches on a school fair she’s helped organize, so that meant it was me, the TV and some playoff hockey.

This is the one series that I am just so unsure about. For this series, I expect low scoring games, huge hitting and grinding it out in the corners. Both the Rangers and Bruins play similar hockey so it should be a very entertaining series and one that expect to go long. Besides, its the Rangers, win or lose they don’t seem to know how to do that very quickly.

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Filed Under: In Case You Didn't Tune In Tagged With: ,

Playoff Hockey = Raffi Torres Being an Idiot

May 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Here we go again. Stop me if you heard this one because it’s a familiar story that I am getting tired of reading about. The NHL will be having a disciplinary hearing with Raffi Torres.

Seriously?? Again!!!

In case you missed it, As LA Kings Forward Jarret Stoll is playing the puck, Torres decides to put a hit on Stoll. That hit, that decision was Torres impacting Stoll in the side of his head and shoulder simultaneously.

So is it a dirty hit? Well, if I look back to the last round of the playoffs and the NHL decided that the Eric Gryba hit on Lars Eller was illegal, then this one has to be as well. I’d say 4 or 5 games for Raffi Torres because he’s a repeat offender. I’m just tired of it. What’s this, the third year in a row that Torres is making a questionable hit in the playoffs? Seabrook in 11, Hossa in 12 and now Stoll in 13? At what point do they just tell this clown to go away? Is the hit 100% dirty? No, it isn’t but Stoll was in a vulnerable position and Torres took advantage of it once again and makes contact with the head. He doesn’t learn from his past. He said he had learned when trying to get a reduction in his suspension for the hit on Hossa last year but clearly he doesn’t get it.

Jarret Stoll didn’t return for the third period due to “upper body issues” which is a playoff hockey term for “hurt my brain.”

Filed Under: Jibber-Jabber Tagged With: ,

Penguins-Senators Series Preview

May 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Near the end of the regular season, it looked like the Senators were going to plummet all the way into the 8th spot so this was a matchup I thought we’d be seeing in the first round. They stopped at 7 but never-the-less, we get the match up in the second round.

I don’t really know if Ottawa was impressive in the first round of if the Canadiens just fizzled. I’ll go with my gut feeling and that feeling is that none of the teams in the Eastern Conference thrilled me through the first round so I guess Montreal just fizzled. Pittsburgh made a lot of mistakes against the Islanders and the Senators are a well-coached team.(Shouldn’t Paul MacLean be a slam dunk for the Jack Adams Award?) If Pittsburgh continues to make those mistakes in this round, the Senators might just eat them up. MIGHT!!!

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Sharks-Kings Series Preview

May 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment

This is the series I am most looking forward to. These don’t appear to be the San Jose Sharks we are used to. By that I mean it’s no longer a team that hinges on the success of Joe Thorton and Patrick Marleau. Sure, they still play an important role on this team but I look at the Sharks as a team that now belongs to Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture. The Sharks easily handled the Vancouver Canucks in round one and head into the Conference Semi-Finals a well-rested and confident bunch.

Let’s not give the Sharks $200 for passing “Go” just yet. These are the Kings, the king of all Kings if you will, the defending Stanley Cup Champion. Throw out the first two games against the Blues in the first round and you could say the Kings handled the Blues pretty easily as well. After a little bump in the road to get things started, the Kings rattled off 4 straight wins to send St. Louis home….again.

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Hawks-Wings Series Preview

May 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment

This is a match up that very few saw happening a few weeks ago but a very welcomed match up since the upcoming re-alignment will put an end to this rivalry. Let’s be honest for a moment, this isn’t the deepest or most talented team or even the most experience team that Detroit has put on the ice over the last 20+ years but the growth that they’ve shown over the last month has been very impressive.

Just a few short weeks ago, the Red Wings were being inserted into the conversation about the draft lottery, not about making a run in the playoffs. Yet here they are, one of the final 8 teams to remain in the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs and they are coming off an impressive series win against the #2 Anaheim Ducks. They’ve managed to go further into the playoffs than the 2012 Red Wings, a team that put together a league record 23 game home winning streak. The Red Wings have come a long way but now, they face an enormous task, the rival Chicago Blackhawks.

It’s no surprise that the President’s Trophy winning Chicago Blackhawks are still around. They are a team loaded with guys that know how to score, defensemen that know how to minimize the opposition’s opportunities and a goalie that cleans up after those rare mistakes are made.

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The Rebirth of 2MA

May 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment

“Back like Jordan, wearin’ the 4-5”

Yes, I know, that’s a basketball reference and this is a hockey blog but I couldn’t come up with an NHL player that fit that line. Plenty of guys have left the NHL for a bit and returned but I couldn’t think of one that returned to the game wearing a different number and was as dominate to the NHL as Michael Jordon was to the NBA. Somehow, “Back like Mario wearin’ the 6-6” didn’t convey the right message. I guess I could have referenced a Phoenix rising from the ashes but the words “Phoenix” and “hockey” don’t seem to go well together.

So what is this all about? This is the return of 2ManAdvantage.com … sort of. Once upon a time for a very brief amount of time, I was pegged by Patty to help write on this site. Of course real life got in the way then and I couldn’t find the right balance between life, a job, a family and a blog. Since that time, I’ve learned how to juggle everything so I sent the powers that be a message and said I wanted to revive 2MA but changes were going to be made as well.

I’m a Devils fan before anything but I am also a hockey fan so while 2MA might still focus on the Devils at times, it’s really going to turn into a general hockey blog. I have a lot of ideas in the hopper that will hopefully come to life over the next few months. Sadly, I didn’t get to revive this blog in time for the 1st round of the NHL playoffs but there is still plenty of hockey to be played which means there will be plenty of hockey to talk about, which is what I will be doing right here.

Hopefully you will come back regularly because 2MA, while serving up some different content than what has been done in the past, will be talking about hockey on a regular basis.

Filed Under: Site News!

NJ @ The Rock For The First Time – Live Cap

October 27, 2007 by

9:40 – Devils lose… Sutter stands there looking like an idiot. Players don’t look happy and they shouldn’t. This was supposed to be our night but no one told the Senators that. Devils will be back here on Halloween night against the Lightning… The pimp in the pink is back behind Dano…they really need to keep people out of the area during this. My wife just said Dano’s hand is bigger than that kids head.

9:38 - Lots of chances… Ottawa looks to ice it.. OH CRAP… Alfredsson beat every one for it… 4-1

9:37 – Devils get a PP with 1:23 to go…. Fischer in the box for Tripping… Devils are 1 for 2 on the PP tonight with 3 shots

9:36 - Holy Scrum Batman….

9:35 - For those wondering, Red Sox up 5-0

9:33 - Two minutes to go… this isnt going as we wished… Icing called on the Sens.. Sutter takes a time-out

9:30 – Martin with a nice intercept and a shot right into the pads of Gerber….

9:29 – why didn’t we schedule the Thrashers or the Blackhawks for our first home game??

9:25- I knew they couldn’t keep the Sens 0-for on the PP … Fischer puts home a back breaker…

9:24 - Vishnevshy gets called for slashing and will sit…This isn’t a good time for a PK…

9:18 - Ottawa appears to be slowly getting a little more control of this game… Marty goes flying across the crease to make a save…Devils are making some ugly plays.

9:13 - I’d have to imagine that there is a goalie controversy going on in Ottawa. Gerber looks awesome so far this season and Emry we know is a very capable #1…. The just showed highlights of a missed Slashing call that led to the Ottawa goal..

9:12 – UGLY GOAL – Ottawa goes up 2-1 on some ugly play…Sean Donovan gets the goal…

9:11 – More crazy back and forth….Elias passes to no one with a wide open net…

9:10 – Chico said something about a penatly but the guy must be watching a different game.. TOO MANY MEN IN FRONT OF MARTY…Colin get better soon

9:08 – Brylin with a chance but it didnt work out, Ottawa back the other way… Wow this period is a lot of back and forth

9:06 – Eliase with a chance… Gerber got that one

9:04 – I will say the old broadcasts on FSN from the CAA were so dark and this arena shows up very nicely on TV.. back to the game

9:01 - Third Period coming and more talk of the scoreboard…I have to see this thing…

8:55 – This kid in the pink shirt behind Dano during the intermission report certainly thinks he’s a pimp….Pimp in a Pink Shirt….They need to not put people behind Dano during the intermission reports…

8:45 – End of 2, score is knotted at 1, shots on goal are Devils 23 Senators 15 so far (Ottawa out shoots NJ 10-5)

8:44 – Devils kill another one off

8:40 – Andy Greene will sit for jabbing at someone during a scrum on top of Marty…. Ottawa gets another chance..

8:37 – Fans are noticeably louder now after that goal and they are more noticeable now than they ever were in the Meadowlands…

8:35 – ITS A POWER PLAY GOAL….. Lucky bounce off a Senators skate so the first Devils goal at The Rock goes too….#14 Brian Gionta.

8:33 – Heatley gets another penalty, sits for slashing…

8:34 – Commercial break..penalty on the Senators upcoming…

8:30 - Box empty, Devils killed it

8:28 – Redden has a wicked hard shot…bounces off Marty to the corner…

8:27 – First NJ Penalty goes against Travis Zajac for hooking… he will sit for 2 and hopefully the Devils can kill this off and stop being the worst PK team.

8:25 Scoring change…Mezaros is being credited with scoring the first goal at The Rock, not Chris Neil…

8:24 - How many people are willing to bet that Derek Jeter doesn’t actually drive a Ford Edge…back to the game

8:18 – Well, that hurts.. Chris Neil deflects the puck under the cross bar Ottawa takes a 1-0 lead and we continue to struggle in second periods…Once again there are just too many people in front of Marty

8:15 – POWER PLAY GUYS…STOP GIVING UP SHORTHANDED ODD MAN RUSHES…

8:13 – Dany Heatley will go down as the first guy to receive a penalty at the Rock – Heatley will sit for 2 minutes for Cross Checking…

8:11 – Second Period ready to begin and Doc an Chico talk about the scoreboard again…I don’t, from the TV it doesn’t look that impressive so I wonder what it looks like in person.

8:01 – Wow the chick that sang the National Anthem was the chick from the Phantom of the Opera movie….ummmm No Comment…

7:55 – Period 1 at the Rock in the books… Devils outshot Ottawa 18-5 but nothing to show for it but an impressive showing against a very good Ottawa team…

7:52 – Nice 3 on 2 rush up the ice and Gerber had NO idea where that puck popped up to…

7:48 – I have to say, the Fire Louge looks awesome, at least from my couch….

7:45 – Rupp on a One on One and he’s got ZERO moves..

7:41 – Wow that was close…Ottawa dings one off the post…Yo..DING DONG…DING DONG YO…DING DONG…

7:40 – Dont you think Marty should have gotten more time to get acustom to the arena….

7:34 - I think I just saw my high school teams hockey jersey.. Go Morris Knolls!!

7:32 – I have to say, the Devils have come out with a little jump but now it seems awfully quiet…

7:27 – First icing in Rock History

7:24 - CMON Greene ..hold it in!!

7:20 Who sang the National Anthem? because that version was EXTREMELY long

7:08 – HELLS BELLS BABY!!!

6:52 – Radio City Christmas Spectacular commercial already?????

6:44 PM – Almost time to drop the puck at The Rock…. Is it me or am I the only one who hears either Sean Connery or The Rock when that name is mentioned??

Filed Under: In-Game Musings

Game 6 – @ Pittsburgh – We’re Now A .500 Team!!

October 18, 2007 by

Are you buckled in tight? Are you sure? Like I said after the last game, I have a feeling that there really won’t be any easy games this season. That’s not to say the Devils won’t have a good season, I am just saying that there are going to be a lot of tight games.

The Devils did get some breaks in this game, mainly due to the lack of anger management on the part of the Penguins but that happens to the best of us sometimes. I have to say that the gods smiled upon Marty and made sure the Penguins had too many men on the ice during a ridiculous 2 on none play that made it seem like the Lowell Devils were out on the ice. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a crowd in Pittsburgh get so angry but it was the right call. There were some calls that I thought were questionable but you have to take what you can get because you know there will be calls made against the Devils that will be questionable.

It is starting to become extremely clear that Sutter hockey is completely different game. These aren’t the Devils I grew up with but that is not really a bad thing. This team has really started to look like more of a run and gun type of team and not the systematic defensive team from the past, at least in the last two games anyway. After the first few games I was worried that this team was relying too much on the Parise/Zajac line but with Elias scoring 2 against the Thrashers and Madden and Pando having an extremely good night last night that worry is gone. I just hope that Sutter decides to continue to keep the Madden and Pandolfo team together.

I do still have some worries with Marty as he looks continues to have issues stopping the puck. It’s early and maybe Marty needs to get some of the off-season rust off but the bottom line is that he won his second in a row and that’s all that matters, I just wish the Defense would help him out a little bit more. Larry?? Can we get on that???
Now it’s on to Filthadelpia who seems to be living up to that name this season. This is a game where I wish we had a healthy Cam Janssen because you know that the Flyers will come out hitting.

Filed Under: Game Recaps

Game 5 – Devils @ Thrashers: Recap

October 14, 2007 by

I have this feeling that last night’s game is a preview of what the season may hold for the New Jersey Devils, a complete roller coaster ride. I think the Devils came out with some jump in the first period but once again took the second period off. I’m not sure why NJ feels the need to not play an entire 60 minutes but it’s something that Sutter needs to address in the very near future. NJ owned the third period and showed everyone that when they work together and concentrate on the basics, they can be successful, especially on the power play.

Let’s start with the bad: What is going on with Marty? He doesn’t look very confident in goal and I felt last night that he was playing too far back in his net which gave the Thrashers too much of an advantage. In the last three games, Marty has seen 12 pucks get passed him (plus an empty netter he watched from the bench). This isn’t the Marty we are used to but judging how he broke his stick against the wall on the way to the locker room after the game last night, Marty isn’t happy about it either. Hopefully he straightens this out in a hurry before Syd the Kid comes shooting our way because 6 goals on 17 shots is not acceptable. I have to put this down on paper even though the question in my head feels completely stupid but is Marty feeling some kind of pressure with a completely viable backup sitting on the bench? Or is it more that the defense is so mediocre right now that he is trying to do too much?

Now the good: Well good morning Mr. Elias, did you just realize that its hockey season and even though there are 82 games, they all count? Glad to see he figured out where the net was tonight but honestly he seemed to be everywhere when the Devils were rolling. The power play was also coming together last night. The Devils cycled the puck extremely well which resulted in a number of shots on goal.

Hopefully this comeback win can build a little confidence in the Devils as the head into a group of Atlantic Division battles starting with Sydney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Even if the Devils come out of this road trip with a 3-6 record, I am certainly not about to hit the panic button. There are a lot of new changes on the ice at the moment and I think it is going to take time to come together and really be comfortable out there. I keep reminding myself of the horrible start that was 2005 and how eventually this team came together but putting that aside, hang on because this roller coaster is going to have many ups and downs.

Filed Under: Game Recaps
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