Kings Pull the Upset

The Los Angeles Kings have pulled a major upset in the playoffs by beating the Vancouver Canucks.  The Canucks were the top team in the west and was the Presidents Trophy Award winner for the most points in the regular season.  The Kings got a quick 3-0 lead in the series and never looked back from there.  One of the main reasons the Canucks did not win is due to the absence of Daniel Sedin for the first couple games of the playoffs and the shaky goaltending.  The main starter, Roberto Luongo lost his starting job after the 3rd game which allowed Cory Schneider to come in and get the start for the next two game.  Schneider played well but the offense could not help him out much in his starts.  The Kings will be playing the St. Louis Blues in the next round of the playoffs which will sure to be a good one to watch.

Can the Penguins Avoid the Sweep?

The Penguins have dug themselves into a deep hole during the playoffs going down in the series against the Flyers 3-0.  The last 3 games the Penguins have played really bad allowing the Flyers to come back from a 3-0 lead to come back and win it in overtime.  The last two playoff games the Penguins allowed 8 goals in each game and looked very bad at points.  The Penguins also lost a few key players due to suspensions such as James Neal and penalty kill specialist Craig Adams as well as Arron Asham for multiple games.  The whole Penguin team will need to step up in order to get a win and get back into the series as well as avoid the sweep in the series.

Final Four Is Set

The Final Four is set and ready to be played.  The 4 teams that have made it are the Kentucky Wildcats, Ohio State Buckeyes, Kansas Jayhawks, and Louisville Cardinals.  Out of all of the teams only one number one seed made it which was Kentucky.  All of the other teams were not a number one seed but 2 and 4 seeds.  The Final Four will be played in New Orleans and the first games of the Final Four begin on March 31 and the final game is on April 2.

Where will Peyton go?

Peyton Manning is a free agent and has his choice to go anywhere in the NFL but where will he go.  There are three main front runners for his services which are the Denver Broncos, San Francisco 49ers and the Tennessee Titans.  I think the best spot for him is the 49ers.

Penguins vs. Coyotes

There is a game tonight against the Phoenix Coyotes and Pittsburgh Penguins.  This is a match up between two teams who do not see much of each other during the season.  The Coyotes just finished up a great February where they won most of their games during the month thanks to goalie Mike Smith who was also named one of the three stars of the month of February.  The Penguins are coming in riding a 5 game winning streak and hoping to keep the winning going. This will be a good game between two teams that do not meet up a lot during the season.

Will Anyone Catch Stamkos in the Rocket Richard Race?

Steven Stamkos has just been scoring goals at a rapid pace and has 47 on the year already.  He seems a lock for 50 goals and with the pace he is scoring he has a good shot at getting 60 goals this season.  The next closest person to Steven Stamkos is Evgeni Malkin who has 9 less goals with 38.  The next closest behind Malkin are Phil Kessel and Marian Gaborik with 32.  At this point in the season, it looks that no one will catch him and he will get his second Rocket Richard Award this coming spring.  

What team will land RG3?

With the Colts most likely picking Andrew Luck with the first pick in the upcoming draft, what team will pick the next quarterback Robert Griffin III.  He had an amazing combine workout and has significantly improved his draft stock.  Earlier in the week, the St. Louis Rams said that their second overall pick was available for trade and possibly for teams to move up to get RG3.  There are teams that are looking for a franchise quarterback like RG3.  Some teams that need a quarterback are the Cleveland Browns, Washington Redskins, and the Seattle Seahawks.  With the draft coming up soon, how much will teams give up to get RG3's talents?

What goal was better?

On Saturday, Evgeni Malkin scored a goal which was one of the nicest this season and very similar to Penguins owner and hockey legend Mario Lemieux.  Both goals, the player skated around the whole defense and scored but which one was a nicer goal.  I think that the Lemieux one was just a tad bit better just because the goal was in the Stanley Cup Finals, but the Malkin goal was awesome because he went around 4 people in order to score his goal.

Lemieux Goal

Malkin Goal

These were both amazing goals, but which one was better?

NBA Slam Dunk Contest

Every year there during the All-Star Weekend in the NBA there is a Slam Dunk Contest which mainly highlights the Saturday night of the weekend.  The NBA chooses 4 players to compete and perform their best dunks.  In years past they have had some of the best dunkers such as Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, and Blake Griffin.  This year there is no big names like these but I think in the future there should be to make this one of the most watched events.  If the NBA got dunkers such as LeBron James, Blake Griffin, Dwight Howard, and Nate Robinson.  This would have all of the best dunkers in the game today and put them on one stage to see who the real best dunker is.  

Post Game: Penguins vs. Flyers

This was a typical Penguins and Flyers game, teams going back and forth and lots of hitting and scrums after the play.  The game started off with a goal by Matt Cooke and then soon after former Penguin and future Hall of Famer, Jaromir Jagr scores and then seconds after scores again to push the lead to 2-1.  In the second period, while short handed Jordan Staal forces a turnover and goes down the ice with Craig Adams and shoots and scores for his second short handed goal this season.  Then after another penalty and the Penguins go on a 5 on 3 penalty kill, Matt Cooke catches All-Star defenseman Kimmo Timonen flat-footed and scores a 5 on 3 short handed goal just before the penalty expires.  This was the first 5 on 3 short handed goal since Mario Lemieux did it in 1988.  After the Cooke's second goal the Flyers pull Ilya Bryzgalov and put in Sergei Bobrovsky.  After switching goalies the Flyers catch a break when defenseman Deryk Engelland loses and edge and loses the puck where rookie Eric Wellwood grabs the puck and puts it into the goal for his first career goal.  Quickly into the third period, Dustin Jeffery scores on the rebound and puts the Penguins ahead.  Then about two minutes later, Penguins player Pascal Dupuis throws the puck on net and gets a lucky bounce off the skate of Bobrovsky and goes into the net.  Play continues and two All-Stars start going at it Flyers Scott Hartnell and Penguins, Evgeni Malkin.  Hartnell tries to hit Malkin and they start talking and in each others face.  The later from a beautiful pass from Malkin, James Neal gets a shot off and then picks up the rebound and puts it past Bobrovsky for his 30th goal of the season and his first career 30 goal season.  Later in the game Hartnell and Penguins player Joe Vitale get into a little scuffle which results in both of them getting 10 minute game misconducts.  Then with 10 seconds left, Flyers get a goal by Wayne Simmonds which was his 21st goal of the season.  The final score ends up being Penguins 6 and the Flyers 4.  This game will definitely make the rest of the season series must watch games.  There is now a rumor that the Flyers and in talks with the Columbus Blue Jackets for their captain and star player Rick Nash.  If the Flyers would get Nash, they would have to give up some of their top prospects such as Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn as well as goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and possibly more players or draft picks.  The acquisition of Nash would be a huge pick up for the Flyers and would make them more tough to play against.  The Penguins next game is tomorrow against the Buffalo Sabres and the Flyers next game is against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.

Pre-Game: Penguins vs. Flyers

This is the third meeting of the season between the bitter rivals with the Flyers winning the season series 2-0 so far.  The Flyers are coming in with a 1 game win streak with a huge 7-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres thanks to a 5 point performance by star player Claude Giroux.  The Penguins are coming off of a 1 game losing streak after a tough 2-1 loss against the Anaheim Ducks.  This game is also a match up between the top two scorers in the NHL, Evgeni Malkin and Claude Giroux.  Evgeni Malkin with 69 points and Claude Giroux with 67 points.  A good game by one of the players could put one in the lead by even more or have a new leader in points by the end of the game.  The Flyers will be welcoming a new addition to the blueline by acquiring Nicklas Grossman on February 16 for a 2012 second round pick and a 2013 third round pick.  The Penguins will also be welcoming a familiar face back with the return of forward Arron Asham after being out with a concussion since January 15th.

This is a must watch game.  The Flyer-Penguins games are always great especially since the two teams hate each other and will do anything they can to win and have bragging rights until the next matchup.

Marketing

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