25 latest articles from Eklunds Hockey Buzz

Travis Yost: Recap - Domination!

Seconds before one of the longest post-game recaps during my tenure at HockeyBuzz, my browser decided to freeze up and all was for naught. Today was not a good day at the Yost household, but thankfully my spirits have been somewhat lifted. The Senators flat out dominated the Edmonton Oilers tonight. Had it not been for some heroics via Jeff Deslauriers, the Edmonton netminder, the Senators coul......(more)
Bill Tiller: News Confirming Kane's Broken Foot Adds to Thra

sighâ¦ Wellâ¦itâs been confirmed. Evander Kane suffered a broken foot blocking a shot in Tampa Saturday night. He is expected to miss three weeks healing. By that time, the Thrashers will be preparing to play their five games in Aprilâ¦then making their way to the links for an offseason of golf. This is just the latest in a string of bad news for Thrashers fans. Two straight loss to......(more)
Aaron Musick: Avs crumble, fall to Canucks

The Avs blew two different three goal leads, falling to the Vancouver Canucks 6-4. The Avs came out hard in the first period, got two goals from Matt Duchene and one by Chris Stewart but eased off after it, letting the Canucks back in the game. Overall, the Avs couldn't stop the Sedin line, as it accounted for four of the six goals. Kyle Quincey and Scott Hannan in particular were just awful......(more)
Dee Karl: The Losing Streak Continues

It is the longest running losing streak in the NHL. The Flyers definitely OWN the Islanders as they haven't been able to win a game against them since way back in 2008. Fifteen straight wins is just pitiful. I was hoping it was a streak that would be broken tonight. The only streak that was broken tonight was John Tavares' scoring drought as he managed to poke the puck into the net while Lei......(more)
Jesse Connolly: Bruins Will Battle Leafs Without Chara

Phil Kessel can go ahead and thank his lucky stars, as Bruins' captain Zdeno Chara will miss his first game of this season tonight. The B's blueliner is suffering from a lower-body injury, keeping him from suiting up against the Maple Leafs. Chara, who currently has five goals, 30 assists and a +6 rating on the year, proved be the other "shoe to drop" after the Bruins announced the emergency r......(more)
Tom Mast: Cooke Hit Example of 'Gray Area'

Matt Cooke's hit on Boston's Marc Savard during the Penguins' 2-1 victory over the Bruins Sunday afternoon is a prime example of the "gray area" involving hits to the head that NHL GM's will try to clarify as they meet this week in Florida. Split-seconds before impact Cooke appears to be lining up for a legal, open-ice check. He did not raise his elbow and his arm stayed at his side. He's n......(more)
Eric Engels: Schedule Guarantees Nothing, Spacek--Valued, Ha

After the Canadiens went out west and accomplished some nearly impossible feats, a lot of discussion around Montreal has centered on the ease of their schedule versus that of their competitors. While it is true that the Canadiens will play 9 out of 15 games from the Bell Centre, and that most of their competition is around or below them in the standings, it doesn't change the fact that the tea......(more)
Steven Hindle: Poll: Who is the current Cup Favorite?

Who is Your Cup Favorite? With approximately 15 games remaining in the NHL's regular season, there doesn't seem to be a better time than right now to find out who YOU think has the best chance of winning the Stanley Cup? Here is a set of 3 polls, based on the 3 brackets of current contenders(based on current point standings and pre-season odds): Top Contenders poll by twiigs.com......(more)
Eklund: What should determine the length of Matt Cooke's Sus

GET THE FREE HOCKEYBUZZ iPHONE APP HERE For up-to-the-second mini updates between blogs follow me on Twitter by clicking HERE Matt Cooke's hit was vicious, but timing is sometimes everything... The GM meetings are happening as we speak. The timing isn't good for Cooke. Savard may be done for the season, and as a former concussion sufferer, it is far more scary for Savard than hock......(more)
Travis Yost: Ottawa Heads West

Since the Olympic break, the Ottawa Senators have hardly looked like the team that as of just one month ago was breaking franchise records for consecutive wins. Bitten by a tumultuous flu bug, the Senators have struggled over the past two games, but Cory Clouston has noted that the team is finally starting to recover and should be for the most part healthy when they take on their Canadian riva......(more)
Paul McCann: Game Night - Situation Normal...

Hmmm, letâs seeâ¦ the Predators are fighting for their playoff livesâ¦ check. The Preds are dealing with a rash of injuriesâ¦ check. Yup, itâs March and Pred Nation is wondering what they have done to anger the hockey gods so again. It seems like every March, the fans of the fang endure the news of player after player going down. Last year it was Erat, Arnott and Legwandâ¦ this year, so f......(more)
Bill Tiller: Thrasherville Injury Report

As we await word about Evander Kaneâs footâ¦we find out that defenseman Christoph Schubert will be out for 3 weeks with a pulled muscle in his hip. The injury was sustained in Saturdayâs 6-2 loss in Tampa last Saturday. Schubert had just recently returned from IR due to a âlower bodyâ injury. With this news, the Thrashers are down to just 6 blueliners at this timeâ¦which they will go......(more)
Jon Jordan: The Heart of the Lightning is Hart-Worthy

The hot topic right now for the Tampa Bay Lightning might be Steven Stamkos, thanks to the hot hand that has him on pace for a 51-goal sophomore season. The impact of Steve Downie as a well-rounded force, offensively, physically and otherwise, might be the surprise story of their season. And a reinvigorated Vincent Lecavalier down the stretch, sparked by the under-the-radar arrival of Teddy......(more)
Peter Tessier: Game Day- Canucks at Avalanche & Winnipeg Upd

If you didn't get a chance to read the stretch drive preview and would like a chance to look at some numbers and how they relate to the Canucks and the post season you can read it here: http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Peter-Tessier/PREVIEW-The-Stretch-Drive/119/26856 Tonight the Canucks take on the Avalanche in the second to last game of the season between the two. The teams are currently on......(more)
Jan Levine: Buff 2-NYR 1 Recap, Thoughts on Fire Sather Rall

Let's start with the game. The effort by the Rangers was for the most better much better than their last home contest - a 5-4 loss to Pittsburgh - but again not enough. Andrew Gross did a great job of summing up the issues in his first paragraph of his blog after the game, which I quote. "To me, this was about inconsistency on the Rangersâ part. They played well in the first period, generated......(more)
Kamal Panesar: Maxim Lapierre Suspension Showing How Irrelev

As we await tonight's Habs vs. Tampa game, a thought occurred to me: Lapierre was out of the lineup last game, and I didn't even notice. Did you? Did anyone except for Max? In case you didn't know, Maxim Lapierre was suspended for four games for a 'dirty' hit on San Jose's Scott Nichol this week. Sunday's game against the Ducks, was the first game of Lapierre suspension and I for one did......(more)
Brad Ratgen: Last Chance for Petr Kalus? Wild Recall Former

Petr Kalus, the often troubled, once highly touted prospect from the Boston Bruins organization whom the Wild obtained in the Manny Fernandez trade gets another chance with the Wild despite once quitting the organization and returning to Europe. Apparently, he is an emergency call up in case Cal Clutterbuck can't go after sustaining a charlie horse in Sunday's game against Calgary. Here's the......(more)
Russ Cohen: Home Grown Players = Continuity

East Top Three as of 3/9 Capitals â 37% Penguins- 39% Sabresâ 54% Bottom 3 Leafs â 26% Islanders â 39% Carolina â 33% I took a snapshot of the teams in the East to see what I could find out. After looking at this I would have to say the magic number is anything over 30%. Now all this does is guarantee some form of regular season success. Why? Continuity. The lower the percent......(more)
Frank Spizzirri: CAM FOWLER: 2010 NHL Draft Prospect

Jim Parker of the Windsor Star provides a solid piece on 2010 NHL Draft prospect Cam Fowler and the things he is attempting to work on leading up to the NHL draft. Windsor Spitfires' Fowler to play more physical brand of hockey Windsor Spitfires defenceman Cam Fowler is quickly learning that scouts become a lot more critical of a prospect as the NHL Draft draws closer. "Early in the y......(more)
Richard Cloutier: The Pipeline - March 9, 2010

Sorry I haven't been posting since the trade deadline, but let's face it: The Oilers season effectively ended on March 3, and there's really not much to talk about now until the NHL Draft. I suppose I will do what I always do, which is, to speak philosophically and hypothetically about where the Oilers are headed next season. Let's start with the trades at the deadline: Trading Denis Grebeshkov......(more)
Josh Lile: That was interesting...

I guess the Datsun survived. Barely though. Marty Turco was simply amazing tonight. He should have stopped the first goal, but from then on he was electric. The only player to beat him after that was Alexander Ovechkin. This isn't exactly a crime. The Stars were pretty lucky to get out of Washington with two points. They were squarely overmatched for 40 minutes, but Turco kept them in th......(more)
Andy Strickland: Can Blues Continue Push? Pierre Crosses Lin

The million dollar question among fans and media alike is whether or not the Blues can find a way to slide into the playoffs. It wonât be long before we find out. Itâs pretty hard to pick apart the way the Blues have been playing as of late. Winners of five of their last six games the Blues have once again asserted themselves into becoming part of the playoff picture. When talking to B......(more)
Tim Panaccio: What's Become of Hartnell?

Yeah, Scott Hartnell misses Scottie Uphall. And Joffrey Lupul, too. Hartnell ain't got no mojo. There's no glide to his stride, no dip to his hip. The swagger is gone. From 30-goal breakout year in '08-09 to bust this season. The Flyers winger is truly a ghost of his former self. You watch against Toronto and frankly, it was one of his worst games of the year. He just looks lost on the......(more)
Travis Yost: Can a Trade Ever Be a Win/Win? Montreal and Min

November 23rd, 2009. The Montreal Canadiens decided to trade the ultra-talented and mercurial winger Guillaume Latendresse to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for the ultra-talented and mercurial winger Benoit Pouliot. Both players were big names coming into the league, but still had yet to make a splash in the National Hockey League and seemed to be slightly frustrated in their current syste......(more)
Howard Berger: Give Burke A Chance... For Two More Years

TORONTO (Mar. 8) â If there is one aspect of day-to-day existence that has vehemently betrayed Brian Burke during his tenure as GM of the Maple Leafs, it is timing. Well beyond hockey, we can only imagine Double-B pondering just how differently things may have turned out for his family had son, Brendan, been driving in clear weather back on Feb. 5, rather than the blinding snowstorm that took......(more)