Four Teams To Watch Out For In The NHL Postseason

Washington Capitals

Alex Ovechkin
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The Alexander Ovechkin led Capitals are known for their postseason struggles and falling short of expectations. This years team is looking to loose that label. Ovechkin, who struggled in the last few seasons, has been on fire of late. He is the regular season league-leader in goals with 32, goals created with 23, and was third in points with 56. In April, Ovechkin had fourteen goals and eighth assists while the Caps went 11-1-1. Their March and April hot streak clinched the division and the three spot in the playoffs. Niklas Backstrom may have not scored many goals, but he had 40 assists on the season. One of their best qualities is their success on the power play. They are first in the league in power-play goals and power play percentage with 44 and 26.8% respectively. 

Ottawa Senators

Ottawa has been great on D this season. The Senators are outstanding on the penalty kill. Their penalty kill percentage is 88.5%, which is number one in the league. Netminder Craig Anderson is number one in the league in Goals Against Average with 1.69 and a save percentage of .941. He has been great this year. While the goaltending and defense has been great, the offense has struggled. They only average 2.3 goals per game, which was 27th in the league. They will need to get more goals to try to upset the powerful.

Los Angeles Kings

The defending champs are back in the playoffs and are ready to bring the cup back to Hollywood. Like last year, they are a lower seed in the first round.  This time, they are a five seed against the fourth seed St. Louis Blues. The King's offense is led by center Anze Kopitar, who had 32 assists and ten goals on the season. Jeff Carter led the team in goals with 26. Goalie Jonathan Quick has been good, but not great. They need him to be great to advance in the playoffs. They have done a very good job on the penalty kill, which was a success in their playoff run last season. The key will be the production of their top front line and if Quick can be the star he was last season.

Antti Niemi
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San Jose Sharks

The Sharks are a good team that has the potential to go far in the playoffs. Captain Joe Thornton led the Sharks in points with 40, 33 of them assists. Center Logan Couture had 21 goals and 16 assists. Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski both had 31 points on the season. Goalie Antti Neimi has been excellent this season. He has a record of 24-12-6 with a 2.16 goals against average and a .924 save percentage. Neimi also had four shutouts. Their special teams are also good. San Jose is 20.1% on the power play and 85% on the penalty kill. The Sharks have a tough first round match-up against Vancouver, but they have a good chance of making a good run. 

2013 NFL Draft Player Previews

Jarvis Jones-OLB-Georgia-6'2''-245 lbs

Jarvis Jones
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In my mind, Jarvis Jones was the best linebacker in college football last season. Playing in the rough SEC, the two-time consensus All-American led the nation in tackles for loss with 24.5 and sacks with 14.5. He was a monster for the Georgia defense. In a conference with other great defenders like Dee Milner, Alec Ogletree, and Barkevious Mingo, Jones won the SEC Defensive Player of the Year Award. He is being underrated coming into the draft due to a bad 40 yard dash time and his spinal stenosis. A team in the middle part of the draft is definitely going to get a steal with Jones. He will probably go between the 13th and 16th pick. He would be an upgrade at Outside Linebacker for all of the teams in that range. I would like to see him in Carolina, where he, Luke Kuechly, and Jon Beason would be a great linebacking core.

Tavon Austin-WR/KR-West Virginia-5'8''-174 lbs

Tavon Austin is an electrifying player, on offense and on kick returns. He was the Johnny Rodgers Award winner (top kick returner). He ran a 4.34 40 yard dash at the NFL combine, second at wide receiver and overall, only behind Marquis Goodwin, and for the twenty yard shuffle, he was second at wide out with a 4.01 to TJ Moe. Austin may have been playing in a quick-tempo, high powered West Virginia offense, but that doesn't mean he did not earn all his yards. He is a great football player. Austin will have to play slot in the NFL because most of the time he will be too short to play out wide. However, he will be a great slot receiver. His kick/punt returning and ability to also take handoffs at the running back spot are big strengths. Like Jones, Austin will be drafted around the 13th-16th pick. The Jets at 13 would be a good fit because they need some offensive firepower. Austin would be that guy. I would also like to see him in New Orleans as Drew Brees' slot guy.

Barrett Jones-OL-Alabama-6'5-

Barrett Jones
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Barrett Jones is being very underrated that it is almost disrespectful. He is type of player every team wants. Jones was a four year starter for Alabama. Three of those four years, Alabama were national champions. He is versatile and one of the most versatile offensive lineman there is. He player right guard, left tackle, and center for the Crimson Tide at a very high level. In 2011, he won the Outland Trophy for best interior lineman, his first year at left tackle and then in 2012, won the Rimington Trophy for best center, his first year at center. He was also a consensus All-American in 2011 and 2012. Not only that he won the 2011 Wuerffel Award for community service and athletic and academic excellence and 2012 Capital One Academic All-American of the Year for D-1 football. I do not know what else you want from a prospect. He is smart, versatile, an individual award winner, and a winner. Jones will be a steal for anyone who picks him up. In a few years, he will be one of the best offensive lineman in the game, no matter where on the line he is playing.

Andre Ellington-RB-Clemson-5'9''-199 lbs

There are a lot of interesting running backs in this years draft class with Montee Ball and Marcus Lattimore, among others. Andre Ellington is a running back that is really intriguing. He was a good player at Clemson, but was up and down. In his first game last year, he ran for 228 yards for an average of 9.1 yards per attempt against Auburn. Many games, he was not given a lot of carries, which did not give him impressive stats. However, he averaged over five yards per carry for the last three season and had two 1000 yard seasons. If he is drafted by a team that needs a second or third string running back and will let him develop, Ellington can become a good backup running back.

Eric Reid-FS-LSU-6'1-213 lbs

Eric Reid is a very good player who will be underrated coming into the draft. The consensus All-American had 91 tackles and two interceptions. The high riser kept many opposing offenses from throwing deep and into his area. He can become a great safety one day. At the combine, Reid showed his speed and his leaping ability. He ran a 4.53 40 yard dash that put him in the top five. His vertical jump of 40.5 inches was tied for first and his 11'2'' broad jump was also tied for first. Reid will go in the second round and will be a big pick up for a team that needs a safety.

Denard Robinson-WR-Michigan-5'10''-

Denard Robinson
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Early in the 2010 season, Denard Robinson swept the nation as a duel-threat quarterback and was a Heisman threat. More then two years later, he is going to be drafted, but not as a QB. Last season, Robinson had a elbow injury that forced him to play wide receiver and running back. Converting to another position from quarterback is nothing new for many players. Many notable players and even Pro Bowlers switched to other positions when they entered the NFL. Robinson can be one of those players. He is very athletic and has good speed. He is being labled as a wide rfeciever, but I could also see him playing cornerback. However, he would adapt much quicker to playing wide out. Robinson will not be taken on day one, but I like him as early as the late second round and as late as the fourth round. He has a very high potential to become a good role player one day.

2013 NBA D-League Playoffs

While NBA playoffs have not started yet, the NBA D-League's playoffs are in full swing. After an intense first round, four teams are left standing. They are the Austin Torors, Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Santa Cruz Warriors, and the Tulsa 66ers. The first round games were #1 Bakersfield Jam vs. #6 Austin Toros, #2 Rio Grande Valley Vipers vs. #8 Maine Red Claws, #3 Santa Cruz Warriors vs. #5 Fort Wayne Mad Ants, and #4 Canton Charge vs. #7 Tulsa 66ers. The reason that the games were not the classic 1 vs. 8 was because the D-League let the higher seeds pick their opponents. Here is a preview of the second round games.

#3 seed Santa Cruz Warriors vs. #6 seed Austin Toros

Jeremy Tyler
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The Santa Cruz Warriors beat the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in the first round. Their best player was F Jeremy Tyler. Coming off the bench, he dropped 34 points in game one and 25 in game two. He also had 11 rebounds in game two. Not only is he scoring, he is score efficiently. He's shooting percentage is 74.1%. That is incredible. G Stefhon Hannah and C Hilton Armstrong are also shooting the ball well. The Warriors have a real good core of players that have a high production rate.

The Toros upset the number one team, the Bakersfield Jam, in round one. The Toros also have a player who is on fire. G Lester Hudson was a rebound shy of a triple-double in their first game (He had 20 points, 11 assists, and 9 rebounds). In the second game of the first round series, he had 28 points and 12 rebounds. He is shooting 58.1% from the field and 42.9% from beyond the arc. F Rick Jackson had a double-double in both games, with a high of 17 bounds in the first game. The Toros have a lot of players who can put the ball in the basket. That is a key to their success.

This match-up looks to be close. Both teams have hot players who are scoring at will. I think the Warriors will win the the best-of-three series in three because their team has more threats offensively and defensively. 

#2 seed Rio Grande Valley Vipers vs. #7 seed Tulsa 66ers

The Rio Grande Valley Vipers swept the Red Claws, winning both games by a combined three points. In both games, G Glen Rice Jr. scored 27 points and DJ Kennedy had a double-double. C Chris Daniels also scored 28 points in the first game. The Vipers need to ride off of Rice Jr. and Daniels. The team lost their best player, Andrew Goudelock, because the Lakers signed him after the Kobe Bryant injury. They will need Rice Jr. to fill the role of Goudelock if the Vipers want to win. 

Rasual Butler
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The 66ers were the only team that went to a decisive third game in the first round. They defeated the Charge 100-98 in a thrilling third game. However, the team has been depleted as Oklahoma City recalled Perry Jones, Jeremy Lamb, and DeAndre Liggins. Lamb was their biggest scoring threat, Jones was an x-factor, and Liggins was playing well. Rasaul Butler has been clutch and needs to continue to be. He came off the bench in the first two games and played well. When they started him in game three, he went off and scored 24 points. Tony Taylor will try to pick off where the three recalled players left off. However, I do not think he can make it up. 

This series looks to be weak. Before the promotion of the Jones, Lamb, and Liggins, I liked the 66ers to win. Now, I think the Vipers will win easily. It's hard to recover when three starters will not be playing. 

2013 World Men's Curling Championships

2013 World Men's Curling Championship Logo
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The World Men's Curling Championship returned to Victoria, British Colombia, Canada for the 2013 championships. The games started on March 30th and finished yesterday, with a champion being declared. This is the 55th ever World Men's Curling Championship and the twenty-first time it is being hosted in Canada. There are two rounds to the tournament, a round-robin first round and then a playoff round. 

The round-robin had every team facing each other. Since there were twelve teams, every team played eleven games. The twelve teams were Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Japan, Norway, Russia, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, USA. The top team in the round robin was Scotland with an 8-3 record, followed by Sweden, Denmark, and Canada (all 7-4) to round out the top four. At 6-5 were Norway, China, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic. The USA had a 5-6 record, Russia and Japan were 3-8, and Finland was last with two wins and nine losses.

The playoffs for the curling championships featured the top four teams in a page playoff system. The page playoff system features the number one team vs. the number two team and the number three team vs. the number four team. The winner of the one vs. two automatically makes the championship game, while the loser goes to a semi final game where they face the winner of the three vs. four game. The winner goes to the finals, while the loser goes to the bronze medal game. 

In the first game, the number one seed Scotland went up against the number two Sweden. Scotland scored first with one in the first frame, but Sweden quickly countered with two in the second frame. Through five frames, Sweden had the 3-2 advantage. Heading into the tenth and final frame, the two teams were tied at five. Then, Sweden's skipper Niklas Edin, down to his last stone, placed it perfectly for a point and the win.

The next game between third seeded Denmark and fourth seeded Canada also went down to the final frame. Like the first game, Denmark score one in the first end, followed by two for Canada in the second. After seven ends, the score was tied at 4-4. In the eighth, Canada score two followed by two for Denmark. That made the score 6-6 heading into the tenth. In the tenth, Canada got three stones closest to the middle. Denmark could only knock away one as Canada won 8-6.

The semifinal between Scotland and Canada was the same match-up of the last two gold medal games. The game was low-scoring through five with both teams tied at two. In the sixth end, the game was broken wide open when Canada had three of their stones closest to the button. That got them three points. After that, Canada did not look back as they won the match 6-3 to advance to the gold medal match. 

In the bronze medal match, Scotland went up against Denmark. Scotland started off strong with two points in the first end. After three scoreless frames, Denmark score two points in the fifth to make the score 2-2. Scotland got two points in the sixth followed by two for Denmark in the seventh. Then, in the eight end, Scotland got a key three points to take the lead. Denmark would not give up though, getting two points in the ninth end. However, it would prove to not be enough as Scotland gets the bronze medals.

Sweden celebrating their title
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The gold medal game meant a lot to both teams. Canada was looking to continue their gold medal streak, while Sweden was looking to become the first team to win the 2012 European Curling Championship and the world championship. Canada had already extended its medaling streak by making it into the game. The European champs started off strong by taking a 4-1 lead after three ends. They kept it going as they were up 6-3 after six ends. Canada tried coming back, but could not, suceedig . Sweden won the tournament with an 8-6 win. This is Sweden's sixth ever gold medal (nineteenth overall) and first by a team skipped by Edin. This is also their third straight year medaling in the tournament.