With NHL Season Winding Down, Here Are Four Teams to Look Out For

Winnipeg Jets 

Ondrej Pavelec
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The Jets have won five out of their last six games as they look to claim the first wild card spot. Winnipeg has been the surprise team of the NHL this season. They were predicted to finish in the bottom third of the league by many pundits and started off the season 2-5. Since then, the Jets are 37-19-12. The success of the Jets has been due to the Winnipeg netminders  Goalies Ondrej Pavelec and Michael Hutchinson have been great. Pavelec, who led the league in goals allowed in each of the last three season, has rebounded this year. He has a .919 save percentage and 2.35 goals against average. Hutchinson, a rookie, has put up great numbers as Pavelec's back-up. He has a .913 save percentage and 2.43 goals against average. With seven games left, the Jets need to win a few more games to secure their playoff spot. They play the current #7 seed Minnesota Wild on April 6 and the Calgary Flames, the team right behind Winnipeg in the Wild Card race, on April 11 in the last game of the season. The Jets have upper hand in the playoff race and should be able to clinch a playoff spot. While there have been hiccups (Most notably, the Evander Kane track suit incident), the Jets have surprised the hockey world by being a playoff team that will be a tough out in the playoffs. 

Boston Bruins

Boston has struggled this season. Yesterday, they snapped a six game losing streak (that included an shootout loss to 20-46-8 Buffalo) with a 4-2 win over the Rangers. The Bruins are currently in the eight spot in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of Ottawa. Tuukka Rask has been good, but not as good as he was last season. Team leaders Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara have also been worse this year than in previous seasons. There have been some bright spots on the squad; most notably defenseman Dougie Hamilton and forward Loui Eriksson. The Bruins have seven games left to clinch the final spot in the Eastern Conference. With games against Toronto and Carolina, Boston has some easy games; but, the Bruins also play the Red Wings, the Lightning, and the Capitals. All three of those teams are in the playoffs. The playoff teams may sit their starters, but that does not mean those games will be shoo-ins. If Boston misses the playoffs, the teams in the East will breathe a sign of relief because a high-quality team will be watching the playoffs from home.

Nashville Predators

After two consecutive seasons of missing the playoffs, the Nashville Predators have the best record in the Central Division, the best division in the NHL. After missing a good chunk of the 2013-14 season, goalie Pekka Rinne is having a great season. He has 41 of the team's 47 wins and has a .926 save percentage and a 2.10 goals against average. The Predator offense is led by Rookie of the Year candidate and 2015 All-Star Filip Forsberg. Forsberg has 23 goals, six of them game winners, and 36 assists. Forsberg along with defenseman and fellow 20 year-old Seth Jones are two of the most promising players in the NHL. The Predators mix of young talent and seasoned veterans has led them to become one of the favorites for the Stanley Cup.

New York Islanders

John Taveres
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In their final season on Long Island, the New York Islanders are giving their fans a season to remember. The Isles are 44-27-5. The last time a Islanders team had more than 44 wins was the 1983-84 season when they lost in the Stanley Cup Finals. This year's team has the potential to go farther than the 1983-84 team. John Taveres is having another fabulous year. He has 34 goals, 40 assists, and averages just under one point per game. While Taveres is the team leader in all of those stats by a large margin; however, he is not the only player who is playing well on offense. Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, Kyle Okposo, and Ryan Strome are all playing extremely well, just not earning as many points as Taveres. In net, Jaroslav Halak is having a very good first season as an Islanders goaltender. He has been a stabilizing force New York has been missing recently. The Islanders have the potential to make a run to the Stanley Cup Final, but it will depend on its young stars living up to their potential. 

2014 Winter Paralympics Recap

The USA Ice Sledge Hockey team celebrates winning gold
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An American Hockey Gold

Unlike at the Olympics last month, the USA won a gold medal in hockey at the Paralympics. The USA ice sledge hockey team defeated Russia in the gold medal game, 1-0 with the lone goal being scored by Joshua Sweeney. This after losing to Russia in the group stages, 2-1. The USA got to the gold medal game by playing Canada. The men's US team could not beat Canada in the same situation in the Olympics and the US women lost in OT to the Canadians in the gold medal game last month as well. This time around, it was a different result. The US won 3-0 to make the gold medal game. Canada won the bronze medal with a win over Norway. USA Goalie Steve Cash, the 2010 Paralympics Goaltender of the Tournament, was outstanding. He allowed only two goals on 45 shots. 16 year-old Declan Farmer scored three goals and had two assists and Nikko Landeros had five assists and a +/- rating of 7 for the Americans. 

Wheelchair Curling

Ten teams competed in the Wheelchair Curling competition. Only four made the playoffs, Canada, China, Great Britain  and Russia. In the first semifinal, Russia annihilated Great Britain, 13-4. The Russians scored seven points in the 4th end. Canada pulled out a 5-4 victory in the the second semi against China. Great Britain defeated China 7-3 in the bronze medal game. In the gold medal game, Canada took home the gold with a 8-3 win over the home country. With the win, the Canadian team completed a sweep of the curling events during the 2014 Winter Olympics/Paralympics. Skipper Jim Armstrong, a former able-body curler who competed in six Canadian national championships and won the Ross Harstone Trophy three times, led the the team to their second consecutive gold medal after having a difficult few years. 

Roman Petushkov

Roman Petushkov
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Roman Petushkov won the most medals of any competitor at the Paralympics with six and all of them were gold. Three of the medals were in biathlon events, while the other three were in cross-country skiing events. The biathlon events he won were the Men's 7.5k -Sitting, Men's 12.5k - Sitting, and the Men's 15k -Sitting. Men's 15k - Sitting, Men's 1k Sprint, and the 4x2.5k Open Relay were he cross-country events he won. He was one medal away from tying the most overall medals at a Winter Paralympics. However, he came in fourth in the Men's 10k - Sitting cross-country race. The Russian's six gold at the Games is the second most by a Winter Paralympian ever. 

Anna Schaffelhuber

German Anna Schaffelhuber won five gold medals in all five of the Women's Alpine Skiing - Sitting events. In the Slalom event, Schaffelhuber came in first. The Austrian Team appealed the win because Schaffelhuber's outriggers were not in the correct position at the start of the first run. The Austrian Team won the appeal, which resulted in her gold medal being taken away. The German Team then appealed to the International Paralympic Committee, who then overturned the appealed decision, saying she did not gain advantage. Schaffelhuber got her medal back.

Medalists

Bibian Mentel-Spee
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Russia dominated the Games, winning 30 gold, 28 silver, and 22 bronze medals for 80 overall. The next highest country in overall medals is the Ukraine with 25 medals. Germany has the second most gold medals with nine. Both the Netherlands and Switzerland won only one medal at the Games, but they were gold. For the Netherlands, Bibian Mentel-Spee won their only gold in the Women's Snowboard Cross - Standing. It was the first ever medal handed out for a snowboarding event at a Paralympic Winter Games. The one medalist from Switzerland was Christoph Kunz, who won gold in the Men's Giant Slalom - Sitting. Both Kunz and Mentel-Spee were the flag bearers for their respective countries at the Opening Ceremony.

2014 Winter Olympics Wrap-Up

The Most Decorated 

Ole Einar Bjoerndalen
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Norway's Ole Einar Bjoerndalen became the most decorated Winter Olympian by winning two gold medals during his final Olympics. The biathlete came in first in the Men's 10 km Sprint and the Mixed Relay. The gold medal in the Sprint tied him with Bjorn Daehile (also of Norway) for most medals by a Winter Olympian with 12. The win in the mixed relay gave him the record with 13. Of Bjoerndalen's 13 medals, eight have been gold, four have been silver, and only one has been bronze. On the combined Summer/Winter Olympics medalist chart, Bjoerndalen is now fourth. Fellow Norwegian Marit Bjoergen, a Cross-Country skier, is now the most decorated female Winter Olympian with ten medals. Bjoergen won three gold medals in Sochi, the Ladies' 30 km Mass Start Sprint, Ladies' Skiathlon, and the Ladies' Team Sprint Classic. Six of her ten overall medals are gold, with the others being three silvers and one bronze. 

Netherlands and Speed Skating

The Netherlands dominated all the Speed Skating events. The Dutch won 23 of the 36 medals given out in the 12 events. Overall, the medals are broken down into eight golds, seven silvers, and eight bronze medals. Ireen Wust won five medals, the most by one Olympian at this year's Olympics. Wust medals were two gold and three silver. Sven Kramer won two golds and a silver medal. Three of the events were a Dutch sweep, while five Olympics records were set by a member of Team Netherlands. The 23 medals won by Dutch skaters is more then every country competing but four. The Netherlands ended up with 24 medals. The one medal not won by a speed skater was won by a short track skater.

Bobsleigh 

Alexander Zubkov
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The two-women bobsled competition was close. Canada 1 (Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse) defeated United States 1 (Elana Meyers and Lauryn Williams) by a tenth of a second to win gold. The bronze medalist were United States 2 (Aja Evans and Jamie Greubel). The two-men competition was won by Russia 1 (Alexey Voevoda and Alexander Zubkov), with Switzerland 1 (Alex Baumann and Beat Hefti) winning silver and United States 1 (Steve Holcomb and Steven Langton). Pilot Zubkov, the flag bearer for Canada at the Opening Ceremonies, won his first ever gold medal. But he was not done winning gold. Russia won the four-man competition as well. The United States came in third, unable to repeat as gold medalists. 

Russian Athletes' Success and Failure

The host country's athletes represented their homeland well. They were the leaders in overall medals with 33 and gold medals with 13. Of the the 15 sports, Russia medaled in ten of them. Viktor Ahn, a South Korean born Short Track Skater who moved and became a citizen of Russia to continue his skating career, won three golds and one bronze. The figure skating team of Maxim Trankov and Tatiana Volosozhar won two gold medals. 
However, not every story had a happy ending. Famous figure skater Evgeny Plyushchenko won a gold in the team event, but withdrew from the men's short program. The Russian men's hockey team had the weight of the world on their shoulders. Before and during the Games, it was said the success of the Team Russia would be dependent on the hockey team. The only thing that mattered for many fans was a gold medal. The hockey team disappointed many fans. They lost to the US in a shootout in the group stage and then lost 3-1 to Finland in a lackluster performance. There were more successes then failures for the Russians, but the failures almost outweighed the successes.  

The Failure of the United States' Stars

Meryl Davis and Charlie White
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The high-profile athletes for the US did not live up to expectations. Snowboarder Shawn White dropped out of the slopestyle event and then finished fourth in the halfpipe, which he was the two-time defending gold medalist. Alpine skiers Ted Ligety and Bode Miller won only one medal each. No American won a medal in a Speed Skating event, while the only one Short Track Skating medal was won. Figure skater Gracie Gold finished fourth in the women's free skating event. The men's hockey team were great going into the semi-finals, headlined by the heroics of TJ Oshie in a shootout win vs. Russia, but then lost 1-0 to Canada and then 5-0 to Finland in the bronze medal game. Meryl Davis and Charlie White were one of the few stars that lived up to the billing. They won gold in the ice dance and helped the US win third in the team figure skating event. 

One Medal Countries

Only two counties won only one medal in Sochi. They were Croatia and Kazakhstan. Croatia's Alpine Skier Ivica Kostelic won the countries only medal, silver, in men's super combined. In Vanocuver, Kostelic also won the silver in the men's super combined, as well as silver in the slalom. Figurer Skater Denis Ten of Kazakhstan won bronze in the men free program.

Looking Ahead to 2018

2018 Winter Olympics Logo
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The 2018 Winter Olympics are gong to be in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Pyeongchang is 14 hours ahead of EST, which is going to make watching events live just as difficult as this Olympics. The main events occurring during prime-time Pyeongchang time at about 8pm will be on 6am. The event that start at noon Pyeongchang time is going to start at and events 10pm EST. 

The biggest question heading into the 2018 Winter Olympics is whether NHL players will participate in the Games. Since 1998, the NHL has taken a three-week hiatus to allow their top players to play for their countries at the Games. The NHL was been non committal to allowing their players to go to South Korea. The NHL has legitimate reasons for not going, which include injured players, NHL teams not getting compensated for their injuries, and the loss of revenue during the hiatus. I hope that the NHL allows its players to continue to compete in the Olympics. Hockey during the Olympics is on par or above any NHL event, including the Stanley Cup. With that being said, I don't have high hopes for NHL players to be making an appearance in Pyeongchang. 

2014 Winter Olympics Top Stories and Competitors Through One Week

Two Gold In One Event

Dominique Gisin and Tina Maze
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The women's downhill alpine skiing event had an unprecedented ending. The first time in an alpine skiing event ended two gold medals were awarded.  Four other times in Olympic history events ended in a tie for either silver or bronze. Switzerland's Dominique Gisin and Slovenia's Tina Maze tied for first, both with a time of 1:47.57. Both skiers have been involved in ties before in World Cup events. This is Maze's first gold medal. She won two silver medals in Vancouver in the giant slalom and Super-G. Maze finished 18th in the downhill. Gisin competed in the downhill in 2010, but did not finish. Lara Gut finished in third and got the bronze medal, giving Switzerland two medals in the event.

Skiathlon


The skiathlon is a really tough event. After the finish, the competitors drop like flies. For the first half of the event, the skiers ski on classic skis using classic technique and then for the second half switch for skating skis and use a free technique. The clock does not stop when the skiers switch skis. The men's biathlon was 30 km (15 km on classic skis and 15 on skating skis) and the women's is for 15 km (7.5 on classic and 7.5 on skating). For the women's skiathlon, the defending gold medalist Marit Bjoergen of Norway repeated as champion. Sweden's Charlotte Kalla and Norway's Heidi Weng finished with the silver and bronze medals respectively. Six of the top seven skiers were from Scandinavian countries. The men's skiathlon went down to the wire. Switzerland's Dario Cologna edged Sweden's Marcus Hellner for gold. Cologna finished just a four tenths of a second ahead of Hellner. Martin Johnsrud Sundby of Norway captured bronze and finished a tenth ahead of Russia's Maxim Vylegzhanin. Russia, however, protested the result, saying that when Sundby crossed into Vylegzhanin's lane a few meters before the finish line and that affected the finish. A race jury ruled that crossing had no effect on the finish. Russia planned on appealing to the Court of Arbitration of Sport, but has decided not to.

Women's Hockey Playoffs

The women's hockey playoffs start on Saturday with Switzerland facing Russia and Finland taking on rivals Sweden. The United States and Canada both have byes into the semi-finals.  Both quarter-final match-ups look to be very good. Russia is ranked fourth in the world, while Switzerland is right behind them at fifth. The player to watch in this game is Russian Olga Sosina. The 21 year-old is already in her second Olympics and has scored two goals and has also had an assist so far. The most interesting fact about Sosina is she was once a member of the Russian women's national floorball team. 

Sweden-Finland should be a great match-up. The two have been rivals forever due to being neighbors and the history of Finland being apart of Sweden. Finland is led by Captain Jenni Hiirikoski, a defensewomen. Hiirikoski was a part of the bronze medal team in 2010. She won Best Defender at the 2009, 2012, and 2013 IIHF World Championships. The 2010 Player of the Year in Finland and 2012-13 were also awarded to Hiirikoski. So far, she has two goals and an assist in the tournament. One of those goals was an overtime game-winner. She will be a game changer on Saturday.

Germany's Domination of Luge

Geisenberger, Loch, Arlt, and Wendt celebrate winning
the team relay gold medal
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Luge this year has been dominated by Germany. They won the gold medal in all four events, men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, and the team relay, and also won a silver medal in women's singles. Felix Loch, 24, won his second career gold medal in the men's singles. His total time of 3:27.526 was almost half a second better then runner-up Albert Demchenko of Russia. He also set a men's singles track record with a run of 51.613. Natalie Geisenberger won the gold in the women's singles with a time of 3:19.768, more then a second better then fellow countrywomen and silver medalist Tatjana Hufner. Tobias Arlt and Tobias Wendl, born fourteen days apart, took home the gold medal in the doubles. Then in the team competition, the Artl, Geisenberger, Loch, and Wendl dominated the event, winning by over a second. It was truly a wonderful showing for the Germans.

Favorite Quote So Far

"He will make a fool of himself. He has played so poorly," Niklas Backstorm's grandmother when asked about her grandson, a hockey player for Sweden. 

2014 Winter Olympics Preview

Men's Ice Hockey

Semyon Varlamov
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There are three groups for men's ice hockey, Group A, Group B, and Group C. Group A features host country Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the United States. Russia and the US are the two favorites of Group A. Russia's possible front line of Pavel Datsyuk, Evegni Malkin, and Alexander Ovechkin could be deadly for defenses. A big question for Russia is who will start in goal for them, Sergei Bobrovsky or Semyon Varlamov. Varlamov has been outstanding this year, while Bobrovsky has struggled after winning the Vezima Trophy. The right choice is to go with the hot glove of Varlamov. After winning silver in 2010, the US are looking to win their first gold medal since the Miracle on Ice in 1980. The Americans are strong in net with Jimmy Howard, Ryan Miller, and Jonathan Quick. Even though all three have struggled at one point this year, the expectations for all three are high. I think Miller and Quick will both play in the first few games and whoever plays the best will be the starter for the playoffs. Slovakia is no team to sleep on. Led by Zdeno Chara and Marian Hossa, they can be a surprise team. Slovenia, which only has one NHL player (Anze Kopitar) on it's team, will have a tough time against more talented teams. 

Austria, the defending gold medalist Canada, Finland, and Norway are the four teams in Group B. Canada has a high powered offense and defense. Their fourth line may feature Rick Nash and/or John Taveres, two former number one picks in the NHL Draft. The team has many pair of teammates who will most likely play on the same lines, which will help with chemistry. They should be favorites. Finland has outstanding net minders in Antti Nieni and Tuukka Rask. They will keep the opponents from scoring a lot of goals. The offense will need to score for them to succeed. 

Daniel Alfredsson
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The final group features the Czech Republic, Latvia, Switzerland, and Sweden, the number one ranked team in the world. Sweden are one of the favorites in the tournament. Their offense is led by Daniel Alfredsson, Daniel Sedin, Alexander Steen, and Henrik Zetterberg, while the defense is headlined by Erik Karlsson. With Henrik Lundqvist in net, they are strong in every phase of the game. The Czech Republic will also have a competitive team led by New Jersey Devil teammates, Patrik Elias and Jaromir Jagr. Latvia and Switzerland will have trouble against tough competition and will be lucky to make the quarterfinals. The four favorites to win gold are Canada, Russia, Sweden, and the United States, with the Czech Republic, Finland, and Slovakia being dark horses. 

Ski Jumping

There will be four ski jumping events in Sochi. They are men's individual normal hill, men's individual large hill, men's team large hill, and women's individual normal hill. The women's event is the first time women will be competing in ski jumping. The current World Champion is 19 year old American Sarah Hendrickson. Hendrickson is coming off a knee injury suffered in August and has only returned to skiing last month. If she can place, let alone win, she may become the star of the Olympics. The favorites for the men's events are Austrian's Thomas Morgenstern and Gregor Schlierenzauer, Slovenia's Robert Kranjec and Peter Prevc, and Poland's Kamil Stoch. The favorite for the team event is Austria. They won the last two gold medals at the Olympics and the last five gold medals at the World Championships.

Curling

Norway's Curling Team showing off their uniforms
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Sweden has won the last two gold medals in the women's event, but this year, they may be able to take home their first ever men's gold. The Swedish team is being skipped by Niklas Edin and includes Sebastian Kraupp, Fredrik Lindberg, Viktor Kjaell, and Oskar Eriksson. This group have curled together for years and are the current European and World Champs. The team from Norway will be vying for the gold medal as well after winning silver in 2010. Skipped by Thomas Ulsrud and vice-skipped by Torger Nergaard, four of the five curlers have Olympic and Olympic medal game experience. Nergaard is the only member of the 2002 gold medal winning team on this year's team. It would not be surprising if these teams meet in the gold medal match. Great Britian's women's team may be young, but they are favorites for the gold medals. All team members are less the 25 years old, yet they still won the World Championships last year. Skipper Eve Muirhead is a four time World Junior champion and is the youngest skipper ever to win a world championship. Now, she hopes to become the youngest skipper to win an Olympic gold medal. 

Bobsleigh

US Driver Steven Holcomb is looking to lead his two-man and four-man team to gold medals. In Vancouver, Holcomb and his team won the gold medal in the four-man, the first for the USA in the event since 1948. Now, he leads a four-man team of himself, Curt Tomasevicz, Steve Langton, and Chris Fogt to Sochi with hopes of winning the gold medal again. Some of the top competitors for the gold medal include a German team led by Maximilian Arndt, a team from Latvia piloted by Oskars Melbardis, a team led by Beat Hefti from Switzerland, and a Canadian team driven by Lyndon Rush. For the two-women's  Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse of Canada look to repeat as gold medal winners.

Luge

Felix Loch
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German Felix Loch is the favorite for the gold medal in men's singles event. Loch won the gold medal in Vancouver with a time of 3:13.085. He also won the men's singles gold medals in 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2013. His gold medal win in 2008 at the age of 18 made him the youngest winner in history. He also won the gold in the team relay in 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2013. If Loch does not win the men's singles, it would be one of the biggest shocks of the Olympics. The defending gold medalist in women's singles is Tatjana Hufner. The German won gold in Vancouver and bronze in Torino. She won gold at the 2012 World Championships and silver in 2013. The current World Champ is fellow German Natalie Geisenberger. The two countrywomen should be the two main competitors for gold. 

There is a new event in luge this year, the Team Relay and an updated event, the doubles. The doubles is now only a men's event. It was a mixed event from 1964 to 2010. The Team Relay involves a men's luger, a women's luger, and a doubles team. All the sleds start at the beginning of the course. When one luger finishes, he or she will hit a touch pad that will inform the next luger to go. It is a relay race. In both events, Germany are the favorites and it will be shocking if they don't win.

Countries with One Athlete

Hubbertus von Hohenlohe
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There are seventeen countries that will be sending one athlete to compete in Sochi. They are Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Kyrgyzstan, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Nepal, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Tongo, Venezuela, US Virgin Islands, and Zimbabwe. Malta, Paraguay, Timor-Leste, Tongo, and Zimbabwe will be competing at their first Winter Olympics. The one Mexican athlete is alpine skier Hubbertus von Hohenlohe, the second oldest Olympian ever at 55. Hohenlohe is competing in his sixth Winter Olympics, his first being the 1984 Winter Olympics at Sarajevo. He is not only a skier, he is also a descendant of German royalty and a singer. He has never won a medal at a Winter Olympics and finished 78th in the men's giant slalom and 46th in the men's slalom in Vancouver. Tonga's only Winter Olympian this year is Bruno Banani. Banani's born name is Fuahea Semi, but he changed his name in 2008. He originally did not give a reason why he changed his name, which happens to be the same name as a German underwear company. However, it was later revealed to be a marketing ploy. Banani took up luge in 2008 when he was asked by the government to start competing in an attempt to send an Olympian to the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Independent Olympic Athletes

The three Indian athletes who qualified for the Winter Olympics will not compete under India's flag. Instead, they compete under the Olympic flag and be Independent Olympic Participants. The Indian Olympic Association is currently suspended by the International Olympic Committee due to hiring tainted officials. The suspension is to be lifted when new elections are held on February 9th. Since the Olympics start on the 7th, India will still be suspended when the Games begin meaning they will be ineligible when the Olympics start. The athletes who qualified are still allowed to participate. The athletes are Luger Shiva Keshavan, Alpine Skier Himanshu Thakur, and Cross Country Skier Nadeem Iqbal.

Mascots

The 2014 Winter Olympics Mascots
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There are three mascots for the 2014 Winter Olympics. They are the Hare, the Leopard, and the Polar Bear. The Ray of Light and the Snowflake are the Paralympic Mascots. With all the controversy surrounding the games, it is not surprising that there is controversy with the mascots as well. When the mascots were first announced, there were charges of vote-rigging. The Leopard, a favorite of then Russian Prime Minister (now President) Vladimir Putin, was said to have gotten more votes because of Putin's approval. Also, the Polar Bear was accused of being the same as the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics mascot. The mascots should not have a big part of the Olympics, so there should be no more controversy surrounding them. 

A Brief History of the San Fransisco Bulls

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The San Francisco Bulls were granted membership into the ECHL as an expansion team on September 20, 2011. They folded on January 27, 2014. That is a life span of about 860 days or two years, four months, and seven days. They had a record 40-58-6-8 (Wins-Losses-OT Losses-Shootout Losses) and lost their only playoff series four games to one. The Bulls were affiliated with the San Jose Sharks.

The Bulls played their first game on October 12, 2012 vs. Bakersfield at home and lost, 4-3, in front of 8,277 fans. Their first win was the next day, a 6-5 victory over Bakersfield Condors. Their last game was on January 19th against the Stockton Thunder. The Bulls won 3-2 in a shootout, with Sebastian Stalberg scoring the game-winning shootout goal. he final home game was four days earlier, where the Bulls defeated the Colorado Eagles in OT, in front of 1246 fans. The first ever goal was scored by Dean Ouellet during the first game. The first ever penalty was earned by Kris Belan, who got five minutes for fighting Erik Burgdoerfer. The last ever goal was scored by Stalberg in the third period to equalize the game. 

The Bulls played their home games at the Cow Palace, which is located about ten miles outside of San Francisco. The Cow Palace was finished in 1941 and was meant to hold cattle in doors. It was most recently updated before the Bulls began play. As the years have gone on, the Palace has held more diverse events, including the San Jose Sharks from 1991-93. During the 2012-13 season, 149,920 fans showed up to a Bulls game for an average of 4,164 per game. That placed 15th of the 23 teams in the ECHL. During the three playoffs games, 8,578 fans attended for an average of 2,853. San Francisco played 18 games at the Cow Palace this year, with 41,263 fans and an average of 2,292 attending. 

The inside of the Cow Palace
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The 2012-13 season was an interesting year for the Bulls. They finished the year 25-38-2-7 which equaled 59 points. They were the third worst team in he ECHL, yet, they made the playoffs. Eight teams from both conferences make the playoffs. The Western Conference has nine teams, and the Bulls were the eight best team in the conference, giving them the final playoff spot.

San Francisco made the playoffs in 2013 and faced the Alaska Aces in the first round. The Aces won the series four games to one. Their first playoff game was a let-down. They gave up five unanswered goals to start the game and lost 5-1. The won the next game, 1-0, on a Kory Falite goal. The first ever home game was a 4-1 loss. Then, in game four, the Bulls lost a nail bitter, 6-5. Game five was a 5-3 loss for the Bulls, which eliminated them from on the playoffs. 

Through 40 games this season, San Francisco were 15-20-4-1 and had 32 games left to play. Even though, they had a losing record, they were still a playoff team. The ECHL plans on re-scheduling games so all teams can play their 36 home games. The road games are not guaranteed so some teams may not play the normal 72 games.

Dean Ouellet
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Dean Ouellet is the best player in the Bulls history. A lefty forward, he was number 45 and was an alternate captain last season. He had 24 goals, 28 assists, 52 points in the 2012-13 season, with six more points in the playoffs. He was awarded the Bulls' MVP last year and was the only member of the team to make the All-Star Game. This season, Ouellet had 10 goals and 20 assists for 30 points. Peter Sivak led the team in goals with 33 and points with 56 in the inaugural season. Scott Langdon is the team's best defenseman. He was named the team's top defenseman and was the captain to end the 2012-13 season and for the 2013-14 year. He had only 19 points in 107 games, but accumulated 250 penalty minutes in those games. The Bulls have never had a very good goalie. Tyler Beskorowany is the only net minder with a winning record as a Bull. His record was 14-13-2. 

The Bulls were owned by multiple investors. The leader of the investors was Pat and Elouise Curico. Pat Curico was also the team's head coach, general manager, and president. Curico, who played pro hockey in Europe and the ECHL for ten years, was 39 years old when the Bulls played their first game. About a week ago, it was reported that a deal for a new owner could not be found in time, so the Bulls ceased operations on Monday. According to Curico, the Bulls were in the red two million dollars after the 2012-13 season and were on pace for similar losses this year.

The Bulls are not the only team to fail in "The City by the Bay". The California Golden Seals played in the NHL in the San Francisco-Oakland area from 1967-1976. The Seals moved to Cleveland in 1976 and merged with the Minnesota North Stars in 1978. The San Francisco Shamrocks and San Francisco Spiders failed as well in the Cow Palace. The legacy of the Bulls, at the moment, is that it is tough for hockey teams to succeed in the Bay Area when they are not playing in the city. And even then, success is anything but guaranteed.

2013 IIHF World Championship Quarterfinals Preview

The NHL playoffs is not the only major hockey tournament occurring at the moment. Over in Finland and Sweden, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) is holding their annual world championships. This year, sixteen teams started the competition and now only eight remain. The eight teams competing in the quarterfinals are Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, and United States. The match-ups are Finland vs. Slovakia, Canada vs. Sweden, Switzerland vs. Czech Republic and Russia vs. USA.

Finland-Slovakia

Joni Ortio
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Finland may not be led by many stars, but they are number two in the World Rankings. Petri Kontiola of the KHL's Traktor Chelyabinsk is leading the offense with six goals and six assists. He also has a shooting percentage of 28.57. Both of their goalkeepers, Joni Ortio and Antti Raanta, have been good. Both have three wins each and a GAA under two. Slovakia just got into the quarters and I do not expect them to stay long. Their top goalie, Rastislav Stana, has a GAA of 2.22. They will need to keep the scoring low, as only two players have more then five points and their goal differential is +1. I expect a 3-1 victory for Finalnd.

Switzerland-Czech Republic

Switzerland was the best team in the group play. Their record was the best 6-1-0-0 and their goal differential was tops with +19. Their success was a result of excellent play, excellent net and a spread out attack. Goalkeepers Reto Berra and Martin Gerber have been outstanding. Berra has a GAA of 1.33, a save percentage of 95.7%, and is 3-0. Gerber is also 3-0 and his goal differential and save percentage is slightly worse, at 1.47 and 92.77% respectively. Six players have six or more points. Nashville Predators' defender Roman Josi has five assists and two goals. The Czech Republic has some good players, but struggled in the first round. Only a two players have five plus points. They are not the highest scoring team, but that is why they need great goal tending. Ondrej Pavelic was great in the preliminary round with a 1.26 GAA and a 93.75% save percentage. He will need to keep up his stellar play for a Czech Republic win. However, I think the Swiss get it done with a 3-1 victory.

Canada-Sweden
Coming into the match, Canada is looking very good .  In preliminary round, they did not lose in regulation in the . Steven Stamkos, who was on fire for the Tampa Bay Lightning this year, has kept the flame lit. He has six goals, five assists and a +/- of +5. Devan Dubnyk has played very well in net so far. He has a 1.48 GAA and a record of 4-0. Sweden does have a good chance to pull an upset. Led by the Sedin brothers, Sweden went 5-0-0-2 (Win-OT Win-OT Loss-Loss) in group play. Netminder Jhonsd Enroth has a GAA of 1.30, has a save percentage of 94.12%, had a shutout, and was 3-1. Sweden will need to be on the attack to win. They have the least amount of goals scored of the team still left, and when your against a high-powered team like Canada, you need to score. I like this game to be close with Canada pulling it out in the end with a 3-2 win.

Russia-USA

Josh Gibson
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This is the best match-up of all the quarterfinal games. Both teams have a history of great hockey teams, but Russia has 26 more medals then the US. The US also does not have a medal since 2004 and only four since 1960. This year's Russian team has a lot of fire power, led by Ilya Kovelchuk and Alexander Ovechken. Kovelchuk is the tournament's top player so far. He was twice the Best Player of the Game for Russia, is the leader in points with thirteen, goals with eight, and +/- rating with +8. Ovechken's first game for Russia will be the quarterfinals. He did not play in the first round because he was playing for the Washington Capitals in the NHL playoffs. The US has a tough decision to make about who should start in goal, Ben Bishop or Josh Gibson. Bishop went 3-2 in his starts in goal and was the number one goalie coming in. Gibson may be only 19 years old, but he already has key international experience. Earlier in the year, he participated in the U20 World Championships. Not only did the US win gold, Gibson was tournament MVP, was Directorate Best Goalie, and was on the all-star team. In his two games so far, he shutout Germany and beat Finland 4-1. I believe Gibson should start. He is the better player. If Bishop starts, I like Russia 3-1. If Gibson starts, the game will go into overtime, where Russia finally gets one last into the period and win 2-1. 

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. 

NHL Season Preview 2013

The NHL is back. After a 119 day lockout, the league is coming back after only a week of training camp. The season will only be 48 games and with only conference opponents facing  each other. That means the Stanley Cup will have two teams that have never faced each other during the season. That should make for a very interesting season. Here are some things and teams to look for when the first puck is dropped on Saturday.

Top Form

During the lockout, Alex Ovechkin and Ilya Kovalchuk
went to play in the KHL
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Unlike after the NBA lockout, the players have been playing in other leagues, putting many of them in mid-season form. Ilya Kovalchuk is one of the players who should be firing on all cylinders. He played for CSKA Moscow in the KHL. He captained the West in the KHL All-Star Game over the weekend and had a hat trick in the game. Kovalchuk had 42 points on 18 goals and 24 assists during the regular season. I  expect a lot for the hot Kovalchuk and the Devils this season. Same with Evgeny Malkin who played with the KHL's Metallurg Magnitagorsk during the lockout. He had 65 points on 23 goals and 45 assists. Malkin should be dominating in the first few weeks as Sidney Crosby will try to get back in the swing of things. 

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning had a bad season last year after coming into the season with high expectations. There were some bright spots and the Bolts. Steven Stamkos was the league leader in goals with 60 and 37 assists. Martin St. Louis had 49 assists and 25 goals. While the frontline was playing very well, the back line struggled. They averaged 3.39 goals against per game, worst in the league. They signed Andres Lindback to compete with Mathieu Garon for the starrting goalie spot. No matter what who starts, they need to keep the opposing players from scoring. If they can do that, they will be in good shape.

Vancouver Canucks

Cory Schneider and Roberto Luongo
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The Canucks were the number one team going into the playoffs and lost in the first round to the number eight seed Los Angles Kings. The big controversy of the playoffs was over the goaltender situation, where starter Roberto Luongo in favor of Cory Schneider. It looks like Schneider will be the starter, as Luongo might be traded soon. One thing that worries me is that they only had three players who played in Europe during the lockout. I know some of their stars are getting older, but more players should have played during the lockout. With only a week to get ready for the season, the Canucks will need time to get into a rhythm. Vancouver has a chip on it's shoulder after last year's playoffs. Expect them to start slow and finish the season strong.

NHL Lockout

NHL Lockout
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For the 2nd time in 8 years there is an NHL Lockout. It is also the 4th time in 20 years there is a labor dispute. The last lockout lasted an entire season. That doesn't give many people much hope that this lockout will be any different. The 1992 strike lasted 10 days during the middle of the season. The 1994-95 lockout lasted a little more than 3 months and cut the season from 84 games to 48. History isn't in the NHL's favor. The NHL is not the only league that has had labor issues in recent years. The NFL had a lockout last year but didn't miss any regular season games.  The NBA had a shortened 2011 - 12 season due to a lockout. Let's not forget the NFL Referees that are currently in a lockout. Recently the MLB, however, has not trouble getting a deal done.

The big issue looks like the revenue split. The players got 57% of the Hockey Related Revenue in the last agreement. The league's 1st offer had that percentage decreased by 14% to 43%. They have since moved that offer up to 49% in year one, then 47% for each of the final four years. 

If the NHL Lockout ends up going into the regular season, like the NBA Lockout, the best time resume the season would be on New Year's with the Winter Classic. It would be great timing, like the NBA coming back on Christmas last year. It is one of the league's main days and would  pump up the fans. Since it will be played in Michigan with two Original Six teams will face off.  Toronto will face Detroit. That will make it even better because both teams have loyal fan bases that will be excited for the game. With that said,the owners and the players should resolve the differences quick and try to start play as soon as possible.

Evgeni Malkin with Metallurg
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Players are already making plans to play overseas. The 2011-12 Hart Trophy (MVP) Winner Evgeni Malkin has already agreed to play with his former team in Russia, the Metallurg Magnitogorsk.  They play in the Kontiental Hockey League (KHL). Joining him on team are former Penguins' teammate defenseman Sergei Gonchar and forward Nikolai Kulemin. Detroit Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk is joining AK Bars Kazan, also of the KHL. Ilya Kovalchuk will sign with the KHL's SKA (Saint Peterburg) soon. KHL's HC Dombass of Ukraine signed forwards Ruslan Fedotenko and Alexei Ponikarovski. The KHL is a top hockey league in Europe, with most of it's team's in Russia, but the countries of Belarus, Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Slovakia, and Ukraine have 1 team in the league.  During the lockout, each team in the KHL is allowed to have a maximum of 3 players that are currently signed with NHL teams. Jaromir Jagr will play for the team he owns in Czech Extraliga, HC Klado. Forward Tomas Plekanec will join Jagr in Czech Republic. This is just the start of what is expected to be many players from the NHL moving to play this year in Europe.

If I am the NHL, I would be the most worried about losing fans and their support. The 2012 - 13 season is planned to start October 11th. This probably won't happen based on how little the sides are talking. The NHL had a great postseason last year, that definitely got the league more fans. Those new fans aren't going to wait around for the lockout to end. They may go back to watching what they did before coming to hockey. Then, there are the die-hard fans and they don't deserve this. They stayed loyal to the NHL through the 2004-05 lockout. These fans are being shoved out of the way because of money issues. If there are no fans, there will be no money.

NHL Playoffs To This Point

The Playoffs in the NHL have been fantastic. There has been so much drama in the match-ups. All of the games have been exciting. This might be the beginning of the greatest playoffs in NHL history. I think it has all the characteristics of a great playoffs, nail biters, great goaltending, outstanding play, and a little edginess and fighting. 

Pittsburgh and Philly played some intense games
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In every playoff game, you want to see the players wanting to win, anyway they can. Just look at the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 3. Captain Sidney Crosby made some attempts to get his team pumped. The result, a couple a fights and brawls. Pittsburgh may have done better in the fights, but they lost the game 8-4. The intensity didn't help the Pens as they lost the series 4-2.


The best series is definitely the 7 game series between the defending Stanley Cup champions Boston Bruins and the Washington Capitals. This series was one for the ages. In every game, the points differential was just 1 goal. Four of the games went into overtime, while 1 went into double OT. Every game seemed to keep the fans on the edge of their seat seeing who will take the game. Game 7 was a exciting game. Only 4 penalties throughout out the game really showed they were there to play. And when the power play showed up, there was so much pressure to either stop any shot there is or not to waste the advantage. When the game went into overtime, the drama intensified. The game ended when after Boston failed to clear the puck, Mike Knuble took the puck down the ice and took a shot. Tim Thomas saved the shot, but Joel ward got the rebound and put in the back of the net for the game-winner.


Two other series went to a 7th game, the New York-Ottawa series and the Florida-New Jersey series. New York was the best team in the East in the regular season. They had some trouble with the Senators. They were down 3 game to 2, but came back in Game 6 and won, 3-2. In Game 7, the Rangers went up 2-0 and didn't let the lead go, winning 2-1. The Game 7 of the Florida-New Jersey was a real thriller. The Devils took a 2-0 lead going into the 3rd period. But, Florida didn't die and tied it up. The Game went into OT and then Double OT, where Adam Henrique scored his 2nd goal of the game to send Florida packing.


The big upset series was no doubt Los Angeles over the President Trophy winning Vancouver. Los Angeles won the series surprisingly in 5 games. Starting goalie Roberto Luongo was replaced by Cory Schneider after Game 2 and didn't return. Like in the Stanley Cup last year, Luongo didn't come up clutch. However, Kings G Jonathan Quick played exceptionally well in goal. The Kings might be the sleeper team of the playoffs.

Pekka Rinne making a save vs. the Red Wings
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In the other Western Conference games, the main story was the play of the goalies. Mike Smith of Phoenix was superb, stopping 43 shots in Game 1, 46 in Game 2, 35 in Game 3, 30 in Game 4, 36 in Game 5, and 39 in Game 6. In Game 5, he shutout the Blackhawks after playing 4 straight OT games. The Coyotes won the series 4-2. Nashville's Pekka Rinne played really well, as he did all season. D Francis Bouillon had a +/- of 6 in the 1st round. The Predators beat the Red Wings 4 games to 1. The San Jose Sharks won Game 1 against the Blues. However, that's how many they would win. The Blues then beat the Sharks in the next 4 games to win the series. 


The Conference Semi's start tonight with Nashville and Phoenix. The West is wide open this year with #1 Vancouver out. All 4 teams have gotten great production in net. The East is just the same. The Rangers may be the favorites but they struggled vs. Ottawa. Philadelphia played their hearts out against Pittsburgh and I expect them to do the same. New Jersey has the greatest goalie in history in net. Washington has that chip on their shoulder that cannot perform in the playoffs.