Stanley Cup Finals Preview

And then there were 2...The New Jersey Devils and Los Angeles Kings are in the Stanley Cup Finals after a long 82 game season & 3 rounds of exciting playoff action.

There's no need for a deep analysis preview, I like doing Previews simple here on this blog & here comes a short, sweet & to the point one:

Both teams are red-hot and this one could go 7. Both teams have gotten hot when it mattered the most, I had these two teams in my Conference Finals prediction when the Playoffs started (not on here unfortunately, we can thank Research Papers for that! I would have loved to do a Playoff Preview like I did with the NFL, I promise one for Next Year!) but I had them losing to the Rangers & Blackhawks respectively.

Here's my prediction: I say Devils in 5, Here's why: Marty Brodeur doesn't look like he can be stopped this postseason and when it comes down to it, Lou Lamoriello has put together another great squad that will defeat the Kings and give New Jersey it's 4th Stanley Cup.

Remember folks while I may be from the Garden State...I, like my Governor, am a New York Rangers fan so my location had nothing to do with me picking the Devils just like back in February this Jets fan picked the Giants to win the Super Bowl.

When it comes down to it: predicitons mean nothing, the play on the ice does. We'll have to find out how this series goes when the puck drops in Newark tonight at 8PM EDT on NBC. Just like the Eastern Conference Finals, I will do a game-by-game recap for the Stanley Cup Finals.

#BecauseItsTheCup

Devils Win Game 6, Advance to Stanley Cup To Face Kings

The New Jersey Devils have defeated the New York Rangers in 6 games to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. Just like in 1994 New Jersey jumped out to a 2-0 lead and the Rangers came back to tie the game. The only difference between 1994 & 2012, this one went to OT & New Jersey came out on top 63 seconds in thanks to an Adam Henrique goal. I was unable to watch Game 6 down in Cape May but thanks to Twitter & Verizon GameCenter I checked the score whenever I could. I'm enjoying my vacation but this put a little damper on it, one minute I'm down about the Rangers down 2-0, the next I'm happy because I hear they tied it & after that I'm upset after hearing about the Henrique goal. Here's my reaction to the game:

I went from enjoying a campfire to this within minutes, I'm 18 years old & couldn't help it...that's what happens when you have the passion of being a true fan.

My father & brother let my mother & I hear it about the game. I contacted every die-hard Devils fan I know to say "Hey you got us, good series". First up was my best friend since 6th grade & I let her rub it in & from there it got easier with every call/text/tweet/facebook. It's going to be a long summer for my fellow Ranger fans & I but I have a feeling that they'll be back next year & hopefully go all the way.

Back to the Devils...

The Devils earned this one, their 4th line played amazing all series & Marty Brodeur was on fire. Congratulations to the Devils who will now play the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup Finals where the winner will be the lowest seed to ever win the Stanley Cup. It'll be a good one, that's for sure. The Stanley Cup Finals begins Wednesday at 8PM Eastern on NBC at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Devils Take Game 5

The New Jersey Devils are now 1 win away from moving on to the Stanley Cup Finals with a 5-3 win over the New York Rangers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Devils came out firing in the first 15 minutes, scoring 3 goals on 5 shots by Stephen Gionta, Patrick Elias & Travis Zajac. The Rangers began a comeback with a late 1st Period Goal by Brandon Prust. 32 seconds into the 2nd Period, Ryan Callahan would bring the Rangers within 1 with a goal. The Rangers tied the game at 3, 17 seconds into the 3rd Period with a goal by Marian Gaborik. With under 5 minutes left in the game, Ryan Carter scored to put the Devils up 4-3 and an empty netter by Zach Parise ended the scoring in this one.

Game 6 is tonight & if this year is like 1994 then May 25 should see the Rangers tie the series. We'll have to see tonight at 8 on the NBC SportsNetwork.

The winner of this series will face the LA Kings, who won the Western Conference Finals over the Phoenix Coyotes 4 games to 1.

Devils Take Game 4

The Devils came out firing in Game 4 and tied the Eastern Conference Finals at 2 games a piece. The Devils scoring started 8:10 into the game with a goal by Bryce Salvador then about 4 minutes later Travis Zajac put the Devils up 2-0. Following a scorless 2nd period then Devils tallied their 3rd goal of the evening off of a Zach Parise Power-Play goal. Ruslan Fedotenko scored a goal for the Rangers to break a potential Shutout for Marty Brodeur but an empty net goal for Zach Parise put an end to the scoring as the Devils won this one 4-1.

Things in this one got really, really ugly. Ryan Callahan and Ilya Kovalchuk got into a few spats during this one while a comment from Marty Brodeur got him a punch from Mike Rupp after Rupp had been called on a pair of Roughing penalties which ultimately landed him a game misconduct. Stu Bickel and Ryan Carter earned themselves misconducts after an altercation. As if it wasn't enough with the players Devils coach Peter DeBoer and Rangers coach John Tortorella engaged in an argument that NBC's Pierre McGuire was standing in the middle of. This rivalry is getting very intese as the series now shifts to MSG for a pivotal Game 5 tonight at 8 on the NBC SportsNetwork.

The ending of this one reminded me of the Seinfeld episode "The Face Painter" when  David Puddy was bragging about how the Devils "took it to" the Rangers in a Game 4 with Cosmo Kramer replying "There's still 3 games left in this series!" Clearly that was the response from myself as my phone, facebook, twitter & even in my own house I heard trash talk from Devil fans. Here's the clip for everyone to watch from the classic Seinfeld episode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftUR6AFTNMA

Sorry this Game 4 recap is up late, my WiFi was down since Monday night, I will post a Game 5 recap tomorrow at some point & if I'm lucky enough that I get the advertised WiFi at Big Timber Lake Camping Resort down in Goshen, NJ, I will post a Game 6 recap. If not you'll have to check my twitter (@Mike_Iannaccone) and the blog will be updated upon my return from my annual Camping Trip which I'm leave for Friday Morning!

On that note I hope everyone enjoys Game 5 tonight, I will not be watching or tweeting tonight as I will be attending a wake for my Great Aunt who passed away last Saturday. I'm lucky enough to have one of my best friends (a big Devils fan) updating me on tonight's game while I'm unable to watch.

Thanks for reading

GO RANGERS!

-Mike

RANGERS TAKE GAME 3!

In a carbon copy of Game 1 the Rangers and Devils went 40 plus minutes without a goal Dan Girardi broke the tie with a Power-Play goal. Chris Kreider, who's scored in every game of this series, then tacked on a goal to make it 2-0 Rangers. Ryan Callahan topped off the Rangers scoring with an empty netter to ice the 3-0 win for the Rangers. The goaltending in this game was absolutely phenomenal, Brodeur and Lundqvist are really showing why they're the best in the Eastern Conference. The Rangers now lead the Eastern Conference Finals 2 games to 1. Game 4 is Monday night 8PM on the NBC SportsNetwork.

Out West the Kings can sweep the Coyotes tomorrow at 3 on NBC and advance to the Stanley Cup to await the winner of this series.

The Rangers gave The Broadway Hat to Henrik Lundqvist today after his 36 save shutout win over the Devils

I'll be back Monday night after the conclusion of Game 4.

Devils Take Game 2

The New Jersey Devils have drawn even with the New York Rangers with a win in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Ilya Kovalchuk started the scoring for the Devils in the first with a Power-Play goal. The Rangers would come back in the 2nd and a Mark Staal Power-Play goal tied it for the Rangers before yet another Ranger Power-Play goal by Chris Kreider put the Rangers up 2-1 after a delay with the Penalty Box door not opening (you'll be seeing that on the SportsCenter Not Top 10).  Before the end of the 2nd, however, the Devils would tie the game with a goal from Ryan Carter. The game then shifted to the 3rd and David Clarkson beat Henrik Lundqvist to put the Devils up for good 3-2. This game, like the first was a tight goaltending contest and has not let up any excitment in this series. The series now shifts over to Newark with Game 3 Saturday at 1PM on NBC SportsNetwork. I gotta give it up for the Devils they earned this hard fought victory. I don't think the Devils have an MVP of the game award & if they do I'll do an update with it.

SERIES TIED 1-1

& for those of you wondering about the Western Conference Finals: LA Kings up 2-0 on the Coyotes in that Series with Game 3 tomorrow night at 8 on NBCSN

RANGERS WIN GAME 1!

The Rangers & Devils engaged in an almost 41 minute (40:53 to be exact) scoreless tie in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals before Dan Girardi got a shot past Marty Brodeur and put the Rangers up 1-0. 11 minutes & 7 seconds later Chris Kreider netted a powerplay goal to make it 2-0 Rangers with 8 minutes to play. An empty netter from Artem Anisimov with 1:27 to go and that was it for scoring as the Rangers went on to win by a score of 3-0. 

The score in this one did not translate the game played. The game was a superb goaltending and defensive effort on both sides, I have a feeling that we'll see a lot more games like this in this series and if we are then we're in for a treat.

The Rangers gave the Broadway Hat (the team's MVP of the game award) to Dan Girardi

I'll be back Thursday morning for the Game 2 report.

GO RANGERS!

Eastern Conference Finals Preview: Devils-Rangers

I figured this would be a good start to my post research paper/finals blog. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are down to the Conference Finals, out West we're down to the LA Kings & Phoenix Coyotes. No disrespect to those teams but in the New York Metro Area all we care about when it comes to the NHL is Devils-Rangers. For the next two weeks, only a 20 minute train ride will separate the venues and I'm more then sure that NJ Transit trains will be full of Red & Blue Sweaters. In the Area, it's felt like these two teams have been on a collision course for a playoff series all season long. It's no secret that the series is going to come down to Defense and Goaltending so for anyone expecting a Pittsburgh-Philadelphia like scoring series, you'll be disappointed. The Rangers are coming in off 2 exciting series with the 2 lowest seeds in the East, while the Devils went through a "better team" in the Panthers in 7 games and a Flyers team with a hit or miss goalie in 5(if Bryz doesn"t make that mistake Game 5 could have gone either way). They split the Season Series so will it be another 1994 ECF Classic? We'll have to see what goes down and see who sets the tone in Game 1 tonight at MSG. 

Tensions are going to be high both on and off the ice. Whether it's with Marty and Hank or between Friends, Co-Workers and in my case Family. For those wondering why a New Jerseyan is rooting for New York's team: I live in Jersey and don't get me wrong I love it here but when it comes to sports, I'm in an Empire State of Mind & it's because of my mom that I'm a Ranger fan. My house is divided between my mom and I (Ranger fans) and my brother and my father (Devil fans). My two closest friends agree & disagree with me: one's a Devil fan & Brandon's a Ranger fan. At the South Amboy Y, Brandon and I have only 1 other Ranger fan Co-Worker. Sayreville is a Devils infested town & (aside from my mother & Brandon) can only think of a few other Ranger fans...my mailman gave me a dirty look today with a Devil towel hanging in his truck, I drive down the street and I hear Rangers suck from my neighbors...it's rough to be a Ranger/Jet/Knick fan in this town, trust me!

I say the Rangers take care of the Devils and lose one road game, my prediction- Rangers in 5. My dad & brother are saying Devils in 6. I respect Marty Brodeur but i think Henrik Lundqvist will outdo him in this series. Marty may be 7-2 all time in the final 2 rounds of the Playoffs but remember he started 0-1 with that Game 7 loss to the Rangers in the 1994 ECF. If this really is the 1994 team reincarnated, we have to get through the Devils to play for Lord Stanley.

Out West I say Coyotes in 6. My dog Max would certainly be happy with that outcome...

due to all the different fandoms in my family besides the Yankees, I decided to declare Max a fan of Dog related teams (Browns, Timberwolves & Coyotes) even though he was adopted blocks away from Prudential Center.

1 more Devil-Ranger related note- a picture of mine from the Devil-Ranger game I went to back in March was published on icethetics.info and the blog portion of sportslogos.net because I tweeted the Devils announcement of the Devils wearing their throwbacks on St. Patrick's Day. http://www.icethetics.info/blog/2012/3/10/going-green-for-a-game.html http://www.sportslogos.net/blog/2012/03/08/logo-links-mar-8-2012-yankees-farm-team-new-name-nhl-st-pattys-day-jerseys/ great publicity for the blog on 2 great websites, so appreciative of Chris & Chris for publishing the picture for their readers.

Anyways...

  

Go Rangers! follow me on twitter for updates @Mike_Iannaccone (forgot the password for the Blog's twitter...oh well i'll figure it out sooner or later)