The Sports Review

If Thursday night’s games are any indication of the excitement we can expect from the postseason this year, than hockey fans better do whatever they can to land some NHL playoff tickets ASAP. Winter Olympic hero Ryan Miller displayed his unmatched form in net at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York, as the Sabres got by the Boston Bruins in the first game of their series 2-1. Miller had a whopping 38 saves, while center Tim Kennedy set up Craig Rivet for the winning goal in the second period. The Washington Capitals were the best team in the NHL for most of the season, but the scrappy Montreal Canadians kept Caps star Alex Ovechkin from even taking a shot last night in the nation’s capital. The Canadians prevailed 3-2 in overtime when Tomas Plekanec beat Jose Theodore stick side for the winning goal. Mikael Samuelsson showed why he was such a great free agent pick up for Vancouver in game 1 against the L.A. Kings, scoring two goals in the 3-2 home victory for the Canucks. Tonight the Chicago Blackhawks and the Nashville Predators will face off in the first game of the their series at the United Center in Chicago. Hockey fans have a full plate of action to take in this weekend, so get ready!

The Washington Capitals have agreed to sign on Francois Bouchard and award him with an entry level three level contract. Previously, the nineteen year old right winger was drafted in the second round session by the Washington Capitals during the 2006 NHL Draft.

He obtained a phenomenals 92 points (36-56) in 68 games with Baie-Comeau of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League this season. He also had one goal in four regular-season games with the American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears.

Bouchard led the QMJHL in scoring in 2006-’07, when he recorded 125 points (45-80). He was also known as the younger brother of Pierre-Marc Bouchard, a Minnesota Wild hockey player. Just four years older, Pierre-Marc is a professional hockey forward player is considered to be creative playmaker as well as a resilient team player who is not afraid of utilizing unusual techniques in the ice hockey industry.

The Minnesota Wild placed  Sean Hill on injured reserve Monday. Hillis 38 and he  has played in 21 games for the Wild this season. He missed the first 19 contests of the season while serving a league-imposed suspension after testing positive for a banned steroid last spring.Hill was suspended on April 19 after becoming the first player to violate the NHL’s drug policy.Plus Hill  was given a 20-game ban, including the Islanders’ final playoff contest against the Buffalo Sabres.

The Maple Leafs played with more desperation, but the Canadiens came away with the victory. Kovalev scored 2 goals and struck one more time in a shootout as the Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 yesterday in a fight of 2 teams that were desperate for a win. The Maple Leafs had just 1 victory in 7 games, but the Montreal Canadiens had lost 5 of their last 8 games and were recently called out in the press by Montreal legend Guy Lafleur.

Jeremy Roenick, San Jose Sharks center scored his 500th National Hockey League career goal on Saturday in the game against the Phoenix Coyotes. Thus, Roenick became the 40th player to reach the milestone. Actually, it is not surprise, for Roenick has always been known as a good player. However, this goal may seem to some somewhat accidental. Who knows? But it was amazing. Roenick’s goal came 6:35 into the second period against the Coyotes – somehow thanks to a puck that seemingly had a mind of its own. After Roenick had dumped the puck into the right corner, it made a bounce off the boards and struck the right side of the goal. The puck then deflected off the body of Alex Auld, Coyotes goaltender, and there it was on the crease! Auld tried hard to put the puck from the crease, but instead, knocked the puck across the goal line… This action presented Roenick his historical goal. It was a very emotional moment, probably, the most emotional moment throughout the game.

NHL Roundup

On November 6, 2007 Chris Phillips and Patrick Eaves from the Ottawa Senators scored 47 seconds apart in the opening minutes of the match allowing the team to set a new team record with a 5-1 victory over its visiting opponents the Toronto Maple Leafs. In fact, Ottawa can be proud of the best start in the history of the National Hockey League through 14 games! They are 13-1-0, with a record total of 26 points. Of course, let’s not forget about Martin Gerber (having made 30 saves) as well as Daniel Alfredsson, Andrej Meszaros and Chris Kelly who also scored for Ottawa and contributed to the common success. Let’s wait and see what the Senators prepare for us and what results they will show in the matches to follow.