It's A Rough Road for an NHL Playoff Goalie

Squatting on blue ice between two red metal posts yet again, he is the only thing between Alex Ovechkin’s lightning wrist shot and the net. Pads surely are not the heaviest thing carried on a NHL goalie’s shoulders.

In this pants-wetting situation again and again, the pressure of a net-minder in the playoffs is one of the most nerve wracking experiences one can imagine. Ultimately, a team’s ability to win consistently in the playoffs is decided by the way a goalie can handle pressure in extreme situations against the best players in the NHL playing at their highest level. As daunting as this task may sound, it is the common expectation of a net-minder in the NHL playoffs. Yet if these pressured puck-stoppers can handle their expectations, they have the ability to single-handedly carry their team to a Stanley Cup.

Carolina Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward perfected the example of carrying his team in the playoffs last year. Ward completely shut down his opponents in the first three rounds of the playoffs, scrapping the odds that his team would have an early exit with a severe lack of offensive firepower and defensive skill. Ward was the sole reason the Hurricanes were in any position to compete in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2009. Goalies really can make all the difference.

Star players deserve their own credit for leading their teams in the playoffs. Their squads rely on them to score timely goals and perform at their highest ability. But the expected level of consistency is nothing compared to a goalie’s daily workload. If Sidney Crosby fans on an open-net shot or Henrik Zetterberg goes pointless in one or two games, it won’t be the deciding factor in a series or even a game.

Yet if a goalie is out of position or doesn’t have the right mindset in a game, they could give up a goal too early or miss too many easy saves that could easily lose a game (or two) for his team. Furthermore, goalies have to be on the ice the entire game, expected to hold their net through power plays, two-on-one breakaways and the aforementioned zooming all-star alone on the ice.

On the other side, no matter how consistent or clutch a star player may be, if the goalie can match that intensity he can single-handedly ensure a victory. Disabling a team’s leading goal-scorer can demoralize a team or even make them change their overall strategy, which would easily change the momentum of a team in a series. Of course, even when a goalie is consistent, he can still lose a series for his team.

When every player is playing at their highest level to try and win a game for their team, even the mediocre skaters will step up in big moments. As hard as it is for goalies to be consistent, if they can’t stop the nifty stick-work and speedy slap-shots from any spot on the ice, they’ll hear their name chanted in mockery for the next five minutes of ice-time.

With starting goaltender Jose Theodore struggling against the Rangers, the Capitals went with rookie Simeon Varlamov to guard the net for the remainder of the playoffs. Varlamov started off hot and proved to be the main factor in his team’s comeback to win their first series 4-3 against the Rangers. Yet just as hot as he started, he dropped three out of four games against the Penguins in the next round. The Capitals pulled him in game seven after he clumsily let in five unanswered goals in the first period. Talk about a goalie losing a series for his team.

The Penguins, on the other hand, relied on Marc-Andre Fluery to keep their team in contention. After sliding through the first round against Philadelphia, the goalie prepared to face his most difficult competition against Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals. Before Varlamov began to let in anything that crossed his pads, Fluery made an incredible save on Ovechkin-one that ended up making all the difference for the Pittsburgh team. After the save, Pittsburgh began its assault on the young opposing goaltender to seal a series victory. Who knows what would’ve happened if Ovechkin had scored the first goal.

The Capitals’ goaltending issues last year led to their downfall in the playoffs against the Penguins. But the Caps have the same issue this year, which leaves their fans wondering if the team will reach a similar and disappointing ending. Washington has already replaced its starting goalie, with Varlamov starting yet again in a high-pressure situation.

In a league full of talented players looking to earn the spotlight in this year’s playoffs, it is the goaltender that faces the highest expectations from his team. As much pressure as the job requires, the goalie’s performance is the deciding factor in which teams will be in serious contention for Lord Stanley.

NFL Draft Goes Prime Time

Scooch over drama scripts and sitcoms, because the NFL draft is now a smash hit in prime time television. This year, the league decided to move the draft from its normal weekend afternoon slot to prime time action on Thursday. Developing from Monday Night Football to Sunday night and Thursday night action, the successful draft in prime time is just another testament to the ever-expanding, and possibly dangerous, popularity of the NFL.

The ratings of this debut were, without question, impressive. As reported in a Sports Illustrated article by Richard Deitsch on April 23, the draft viewership increased by 32 percent from last year’s event on the first day. Here’s a startling statistic: the first round of the draft was the eighth most watched cable program this year.

After the first day of the now three-day-long event, Commissioner Roger Goodell said, “...to see the kind of extraordinary increase in viewership I think does reinforce the idea that we can put the draft on a bigger platform, and that’s great for everyone,” as reported in the aforementioned Sports Illustrated article.

There’s no question that growing popularity is beneficial to the league, but where does Goodell draw the line? Moving the draft to the prime time slot might’ve gone too far, as the NFL is sending the wrong message to its veteran and incoming players and fans alike.

The draft is undoubtedly an important component to the NFL season. Success in the draft is crucial to the depth and growth of each organization, and while it also boosts the popularity and interest in college football, that’s not to say that it should be made into a night show spectacle. Establishing the draft as a rating-boosting show only adds to the unnecessary glorification of these young athletes.

The league already deals with this problem from an economic standpoint. Rookie contracts have grown to a ridiculous figure, prompting veteran players to question why kids straight out of college are earning more than their proven teammates before even stepping on NFL grass.

Media coverage of the draft is just as overblown. ESPN assigns two experts in Todd McShay and Mel Kiper, Jr. to cover the draft for the entire year. Their job in its entirety is analyzing college athletes and making mock drafts. Meanwhile, Sports Illustrated has already posted a mock draft for next year on their website. What more could the media do to give college athletes overconfidence and hype about an event that has nothing to do with the competition or current players?

Other sports have ridiculous media coverage as well. NCAA Basketball has Bracketology, while most leagues are smothered with weekly power rankings, but these commentaries are at least rooted in actual competition. The flood of mock drafts leads to even more superfluous hype.

Other sports leagues may have even taken note of the switch and how it impacts their own operations. Mark Cuban, the outspoken owner of the Dallas Mavericks, voiced his displeasure about the decision to move to prime time, mainly because it took place during an NBA playoff game.

“I just don't think the NFL is playing themselves out to be a good partner,” Cuban said, as reported by Todd Archer in an an April 21 article in the Dallas Morning News. Cuban also mentioned that the NBA doesn’t schedule games during the NCAA Basketball championship. The Mavericks owner isn’t the most level-headed or entitled voice to speak this opinion, but he does make a necessary point concerning inter-league relations.

The draft also took place during the first week of the NHL playoffs. The fact that some playoff hockey games aren’t even nationally televised presents an important question for the sporting world: should the NFL draft really take precedence over these crucial playoff games?

In the end, what the fan wants is what the league is going to provide, especially if it means an increase in money and popularity. How much will the NFL change based on the fan’s demand? The spectacle that the draft has become is dangerously crossing the line that separates fan entertainment from true competition.

College stars deserve to celebrate their entry to the NFL, but having that process on a prime time marquee is going far overboard.

The State of the Steelers

Sayonara, Santonio. It's been about a week now since the Pittsburgh Steelers parted ways with their star wideout, trading him to the New York Jets for a 5th round pick in this year's NFL draft. Their arguably most talented receiver, a Superbowl MVP, for a player who may end up not even making the team. What a great deal for the Steelers.

It's no secret that the Steelers have faced a few off the field issues recently. With their star quarterback facing sexual assault allegations (again) while one of their top receivers was facing a lawsuit in which he allegedly threw a glass at a woman in a nightclub while awaiting a suspension for violating the NFL's drug policy, it looks like the Rooneys finally decided to send a message.

This isn't the Pittsburgh Steelers we are used to seeing. This isn't the class of the NFL, the perfect professional sports organization. In fact this is nothing better than the Steelers' AFC North brethren. As Steelers' fans we used to love to laugh when we saw yet another Bengals' player suspended. You're not a true Pittsburgher if you haven't once referred to Ray Lewis as a "murderer". But now it looks like the Steelers aren't too much better. Remember when the only off the field troubles that faced the Steelers came from their kicker throwing down with a Sheetz paper towel dispenser? Ah, the good ol' days.

The Steelers struggled last year in failing to defend their Super Bowl championship from the year before, and from the looks of this offseason they may struggle again. I believe that to be the champions on the field, you first have to be the champions off of it. You can argue that off the field issues don't affect the team's play, but when coaches and players have to field more questions about their troubled quarterback than about their preparations for next season, we have a problem.

Now don't get me wrong, Roethlisberger and Holmes have both made invaluable contributions to the team's success the last few years. But because of their success, these guys have become the faces of the franchise and some of the team's leaders. And when they start making headlines for stuff like this, how can you expect the rest of the team to follow them?

Besides, it's not like Holmes and Roethlisberger haven't been given their fair share of chances. From the disorderly conduct, assault, and marijuana charges for Holmes to the pair of sexual assault accusations for Roethlisberger, sooner or later you have to draw the line.

So, yeah, I'm glad to see Santonio gone and Ben facing a suspension, and hopefully that stud we pick up in the fifth round will show a little discipline. Before it's too late, let's get back to being the class of the league. Let's get back to being the NFL's model organization. Let's get back to Steelers' football.

Dukey Dissapointment

After a March full of madness, did Duke really have to win this tournament? Is this really the ending that the 2010 NCAA Tournament deserves? When this year’s tournament was full of “well, I didn’t see that one coming” moments, Duke’s championship win didn’t seem adequate or fulfilling enough to fit the bill.

This 2010 tournament had more than its fair share of brewing upsets, dark horse teams and Cinderella hopefuls, but Duke’s victory over Butler was a dry, sugar-free cherry on top of a decadent banana split. Every day of tournament action had substantial upsets and buzzer beaters. Even on the first day, Robert Morris came close to knocking off two-seed Villanova, while Ohio knocked out three-seed Georgetown.

The tournament only got better when Northern Iowa executed one of the bigger upsets in tournament history by conquering one-seed Kansas in the second round. Cornell made its own story, reaching the sweet 16 as a 12-seed to flex the muscles of the Ivy League. Even St. Mary’s got in on the upset action, crushing two seed Villanova in the second round after upsetting Richmond in the first.

Don’t forget Duke’s foe, Butler, who’s five-seed run was much more exemplary of the unpredictable “nobody believed in us” mindset that spread over the tournament field this year. The fact that a Horizon league school reached the National Championship is a testament to the possibilities of the competition, but actually beating the ACC powerhouse would’ve been so much more…what’s the word...proper.

The Bulldogs won 25 straight games, including recent victories over one-seed Syracuse, 2-seed Kansas State and returning contender Michigan State. The team’s run wasn’t necessarily the most difficult in the dance, but it was surely more exciting and unexpected than Duke’s path. Duke’s road to the Final Four wasn’t nearly as difficult, posting West Virginia and Baylor as its greatest foes. Purdue and California didn’t provide nearly enough competition for the Devils.

Come to think of it, pick pretty much any seed in the Final Four matchups besides Duke, and they’ll spit a better line than the Blue Devils’ conventional championship victory. West Virginia and Michigan State would’ve made great headlines had they won the dance.

A victory from WVU would’ve finally erased the common thought that the Big East can’t compete in the Big Dance. Each year, Big East powerhouses fall short in unexpected and embarrassing ways. The Big East always fails to live up to tourney expectations, but every year the conference seems to breed the core of the very best teams in college basketball. What about Michigan State and a go-again run for head coach Tom Izzo? MSU fell short last year to North Carolina, but its discipline and incredible coaching earned a return to late March. But this year the Spartans were underestimated and inconsistent and were therefore seeded much higher.

The simple fact that three five-seed teams reached the Elite Eight led the nation to believe that this year’s championship would be special. That’s not to say this Duke team didn’t deserve a championship this year. Behind its talented seniors Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith and Jon Scheyer, Duke earned their spot as a top seed and won six straight tourney games to prove that fact. But having three consistent and team-oriented seniors doesn’t translate to exhilarating stars and storylines for fans to focus on. The Blue Devils had the shooting, inside play and coaching to go far in the tournament; but this team didn’t have the spark to make their championship one to remember. The Blue Devils didn’t even have the favorite “everyone is gunning for us” factor they usually have in the tournament. The ACC’s dominant status in the tournament was diminished this year without North Carolina providing competition. Maryland was the closest to powerful that Duke encountered more than once in the year, and Virginia Tech was nowhere close to what UNC usually posts. Of course, no team wrote off Duke or expected the team to fail early. Sorry Durham, but the rest of the nation is writhing in boredom while you celebrate. This year’s champion just doesn’t fit how exciting this tournament really was.

Pittsburgh Pirates 2010 Season Preview

Now just because the NCAA Tournament doesn't pick up again until Thursday, the sports world has not stopped turning. With Pittsburgh Pirates opening day exactly two weeks away, it's a good time to take a look at the season ahead for the Bucs. With a young, unproven roster filled with names we may not recognize, it's really difficult to predict what this year could hold. I hate to be a realist, but the Pirates may not be ready to compete for a championship just yet, however that doesn't mean they aren't poised to finally break the string of losing seasons.

Best Case Scenario: Andrew McCutchen and Big Garrett Jones prove their rookie successes were no fluke and with a full season to play, their numbers only get better. Zach Duke and Paul Maholm finally put it all together and both become reliable pitchers at the top of the rotation, with Ross Ohlendorf, Charlie Morton, and Kevin Hart living up to their potential as well. Bob Nutting finds "You have to spend money to make money." written in a fortune cookie and becomes obsessed with increasing the Pirates' payroll. Ryan Doumit finally avoids injury and Pedro Alvarez wins Rookie of the Year. Final record: 89-73, 2nd place NL Central.

Worst Case Scenario: The Bucs' starters can find the form they've each shown. Ryan Doumit misses half the season and Garrett Jones shows why it took him so long to reach the majors. Bob Nutting's fortune cookie reads "A penny saved is a penny earned.", and he freezes all spending but the bobbleheads, trading McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez for a Single A pitcher with an ERA around 5. "We're looking to build for the future!" he says. Final record: 59-103 with a first round loss in the Little League World Series.

Player to Watch: The Pirates' system is filled with players who could be due for an excellent season. The one I particularly like this year is Charlie Morton. Morton was someone that management raved about after he was acquired from the Braves in the Nate McClouth deal, and he definitely showed some dirty stuff on the mound. Yet he also showed a lot of inconsistency. Some of that, though, could have come from the fact that he was on a brand new team, trying to prove to management that he belonged in the rotation. With a vote of confidence from this coaching staff and a firm spot in the Pirates' rotation, Morton could be ready to put it all together.

Actual Prediction: There is no denying that out of all the Pirates' teams over the past seventeen years, this is the one with the talent to end the streak of losing. The only question is, are they mature enough to do it this year? As mentioned before, this team has a plethora of potential All Stars from the top of the system on down through the minors, yet they may not be ready to breakthrough just yet. The starting rotation will definitely be better this year with experienced guys like Maholm and Duke and pitchers like Ohlendorf, Morton, and Hart, guys who may have some question marks but also have a lot of upside. Although the bullpen is entirely different this year, that doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be bad. Joel Hanrahan is a guy that can really bring it if he can find the strike zone and stay off the DL. Octavio Dotel has proven himself to be a reliable reliever throughout his career. On the offensive side look for McCutchen, Jones, and Doumit to be the stars of the lineup, that is if Doumit can keep himself healthy. I believe Lastings Milledge has finally cleaned up his act and could be poised for a decent system. There are some questions in the infield, without guys like Freddy Sanchez and Jack Wilson, but Jeff Clement could be the answer at first base, Akinori Iwamura and Ronny Cedeno are, at the very least, good fielders, and Pedro Alvarez should be ready by June if Andy LaRoche can't hold up his end at third. Final record: 82-80, 4th place NL Central. I guess I am, after all, an optimist.

Headshots

Marc Savard couldn’t even think after he was blindsided by Penguin forward Matt Cooke early last week. The hit was dirty- Cooke left Savard motionless with a hot head on cold ice while teammates, opponents and fans held their breath with worry. But as silent as Savard has been after the incident, his teammates have been just as uninspired to respond to bring their star center and point leader any justice. The Bruins should be ashamed to call themselves Savard’s teammate.

No one really knew how the team would respond to the brutal attack on their star player when the teams met again on March 18th, as pressure from the league, the media and the fans was pushing them to react in opposite ways. The fans and Boston media publicly called for an attack on Crosby. “The Penguins took our star player out for the season so theirs’ should be next, right?" Well, not exactly.

The league was pushing them to do nothing. Surrounding the game from all angles, the NHL had their VP in attendance along with assigning their top referee team to the ice. But everyone expected something to go down.

Boston Globe Columnist Ron Borges called for an all-out attack on the Penguins, writing in his article “What the Bruins should do instead is play their most physical game of the year. Contest every loose puck. Take Sidney Crosby down every chance they get. He, not Cooke, is the Penguins’ heart and soul. Make him bleed for the sins of his teammate.”
Borges continued ranting, “Take him into the boards. Knock him down every chance you get. Bounce a puck off his nose if you can. If you get a blind side shot at him, put your body through his chest.”

Although all of this attack is vicious, I understand the hate and I respect the passion of the Boston fans. If Crosby had been taken out for the season-or heck, just a week-I’d be calling for heads from the team that crossed the line. I’m all for passion and revenge, I’m just at a loss for words as to why that passion wasn’t matched by the Bruin players themselves.

Alas, all the Bruins mustered up was a sloppy fight with Matt Cooke to get even in the rematch. But the fight didn’t bring Savard justice in the least. Cooke “lost” the fight, but his grit seemed to give the Penguins more inspiration than the Bruins mustered up in the game. Penguins stood up on the bench and banged their sticks against the boards to commend Cooke for putting himself out there and taking the fall for his dirty deeds. As for the Bruins, after your star player was knocked out for the season on a dirty hit, the only thing you answer with is a little fight? Don’t those scruffs happen almost every game?

Look, its fine if you don’t want to get vengeance with dirty hits or big fights. If the Bruins had taken out Crosby or Malkin, who knows what the game would’ve escalated to, or how far this revenge would go on either side of the puck. It’s probably for the best that the Bruins didn’t go for that type of revenge. But they didn’t even play inspired, or even that vengeful intensity in game play. The Bruins went on to lose the game 3-0 with completely no offense, and a lackluster performance on defense. Is this the only effort this Boston squad can manage, when these guys are supposed to be playing for their leader, their teammate, their captain?

It’s not like the Bruins even needed further reason to win the game. They’re on the brink of missing the playoffs, and need to win every game they can get to earn the eighth spot in the conference. If this team can’t play inspired when they’re supposed to be getting revenge, is there really any hope for them?

As a Penguins fan, all I can do is chuckle and shake my head, but all you Bruins fans out there must be reeling in frustration. At this point, the fans are the people taking shots to the head.

The Real Madness

It's that time of year again. When Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Winthrop tipped off Tuesday night, we knew that March Madness had officially begun (and with no UNC in sight, this one might even be fun!!). Unfortunately, however, for many of today's "fans" the NCAA Tournament has become about one thing- their bracket.

When the feisty Robert Morris Colonials pushed Villanova to the brink of extinction Thursday afternoon, much of America was on the edge of its seat, yet many people were rooting for the wrong team. I was saddened to hear people worried that a Villanova loss would ruin their bracket. As I heard analysts joke about how President Obama must be sweating with one of his Final Four teams struggling in the first round, I wondered if even the First Fan had lost touch with what makes college basketball so magical.

Are we seriously going to stop rooting for the underdog just because we've got a couple of dollars on the line in an office pool? I put Villanova in the Final Four, but that didn't stop me from rooting like heck for the Colonials. I've got Kentucky winning it all, but when their tip off rolled around Thursday evening, guess who became a die hard East Tennessee State fan?

Now don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with filling out a bracket and trying to prove to your friends that you know the most about the game. It's when we start rooting harder for our bracket than for the upsets we didn't pick that I take issue. When we don't root for a 15 seed because we have the 2 seed they're playing in the final, that is the real madness.

The magic of March lies in the hands of the little guy and the schools we've never heard of. It's about the unexpected, the unpredictable, the fact that it is truly anyone's tournament. In what other sport do teams like Morgan State have just as good a chance at the title as teams like Duke? It's not like college football, where we let a computer decide which two teams are the best. In fact the only criticism surrounding the college basketball playoff system is whether we should allow even more teams into the world's largest dance.

The NCAA tournament is a time to rally around the next Cinderella, not root for her carriage to crash on the way to the ball. So maybe we should just throw away the brackets. I'll be rooting for the underdogs to mess them up anyways.