Feeling The Pressure

This is something that the New York Rangers have to be undergoing as the team gets set for its Game 5 tilt tonight with the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden.

While the Blueshirts were the top team in the Eastern Conference, Atlantic Division and one of the best teams in the entire league, it has not been an easy postseason for this hockey club. Rather, it has been one where the Rangers, just like they had to in the regular season, have had to prove that they can handle tough situations, play comeback hockey and win games when it matters.

The team will be in that same kind of situation tonight for Game 5. Based on the way this series has been played so far, it has the makings of another seven game series for the Blueshirts and one that could end up proving to be difficult to win because the way the Capitals are playing.

The Capitals are essentially playing “Ranger hockey”. They are blocking a lot of shots, playing physical, breaking up a lot of passes in their own zone and capitalizing on mistakes made by the opposition.

In turn, the Blueshirts will need to figure out a better way to beat that system. This means finding ways around shot blockers, putting more pucks to the net on Capitals’ netminder Braden Holtby, crashing for rebounds, creating traffic in front of the net and being patient with the puck.

Source: http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/glr/comments/feeling_the_pressure/

Francisco Cervelli Chad Moeller Jorge Posada Lance Berkman Reegie Corona Juan Miranda

Jayson Werth Injury: First Place Washington Nationals Dealt Devastating Blow

The surging Washington Nationals are unfortunately losing star right fielder Jayson Werth, which is a major hit for a team that continued to surprise everyone. 

According to the Washington Post, Werth broke his left wrist while attempting to make a sliding catch in the Nationals' 9-3 loss against the Philadelphia Phillies. 

"It’s a clean break,” Washington manager Davey Johnson said after the Nationals’ 9-3 loss. “He’s going to be out for a while."

With a half-game lead over the Atlanta Braves, the Nationals are in first place in the NL East, but without Werth for quite some time they'll most likely fall back. 

A positive outlook on this is Werth is getting hurt early in the season. Losing him late in the year while the team is on top of the division would be much worse.

However, there's no doubt it messes with the team chemistry and all the good that was happening for Washington at the moment.  

The Nationals are stacked with young talent, and were definitely making some noise in Major League Baseball this year. 

Sure, it's a long season, and typically by the end of the year Washington fizzles out, but this year seemed different. 

Now that Werth will be out an extended amount of time, though, it puts a great deal of pressure on the rest of the lineup to get the job done. 

So far on the year, Werth was hitting .276 with three home runs and 12 RBI. The cleanup hitter had the second best numbers on the team to Adam LaRoche, so now Washington much find others to fill the void. 

Bryce Harper will have to step up, which the Nationals hope won't be a problem. He's a bright young star that they believe will help take them far.

Since Werth is gone, more heat is placed on Harper to get the job done.

Xavier Nady will get more playing time too and has to make the most of it. The Nationals need him to start playing like his old self, but there's no guarantee he achieves that. 

The Nationals still have the talent to stay in contention in the NL East, but it certainly won't be easy without Werth in the lineup to crush the ball and bring runners home. 

 

 

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1174621-jayson-werth-injury-first-place-washington-nationals-dealt-devastating-blow

Wade Belak Martin Erat Marcel Goc Jamie Lundmark Nick Spaling Pikka Rinne

Video- The Hotstove Talks Next Coach In Montreal

First, Ron MacLean believes Giroux will be suspended. 

Then, in a perfect world the next Habs coach could be Joel Quenneville.

Also mentioned as a coaching candidate is Marc Crawford.

Mike Gillis meets with the Vancouver owner tomorrow to discuss the future of the Canucks, including the coach.

Also some discussion on the Predators plus will the NHL look at the puck shot over the glass, should it go to video review?

Source: http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/hockey/comments/video-_the_hotstove_talks_next_coach_in_montreal/

San Francisco Giants St. Louis Cardinals Washington Nationals Jonathan Albaladejo Andrew Brackman A.J. Burnett

NBA Playoff Predictions 2012: Why the San Antonio Spurs Will Sweep the Utah Jazz

The San Antonio Spurs are playing like the best team in the NBA and will beat the inferior Utah Jazz to complete a first-round series sweep. 

The Spurs will visit the Jazz at 8 p.m. ET on Monday night leading the matchup three games to none. It won’t be a party in Salt Lake City. 

Before the NBA playoffs even started, I stated that this series will be one of the most disappointing first-round matchups in the Association.

I wrote,"The real Big Three of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili will crush Utah. It won’t even be close.” 

So far, I’m right. 

San Antonio has come out and played like the best team in the league while the Jazz have looked like a team that barely squeaked into the postseason. 

At the end of the day, the Spurs have higher hopes then a second-round series, and they should dismantle Utah with ease. 

It was an accomplishment for Al Jefferson and company just to sneak into the playoffs, and no one expected to them to be competitive.  

Utah is a young team and will be better in future years, but San Antonio is the best team in the NBA and is peaking at the right time. 

Utah has lost the first three games by 58 points combined with Tony Parker absolutely exploding for 24.3 points per game. 

The Beehive State will just be a minuscule obstacle on the Spurs' quest for the championship. This game might be closer then the others just because of the determination of Paul Millsap and his team to not got swept. 

But this was a mismatch from the start. The veteran presence of Tim Duncan and his buddies is way too much for the inexperienced Jazz to even begin to handle. 

I would like to see this young team get a playoff victory under its belt, but this is a Spurs squad that is far too dominant to let that happen. 

Prediction: The first half is close, and San Antonio takes a six-point lead into the locker room. But the Spurs start pulling away halfway through the third quarter, and the Jazz emotionally shuts down.

The home crowd gets Utah back in the game, but it is too little too late, and Gregg Popovich’s team wins by 14 to seal the series shut. 

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1174561-nba-playoff-predictions-2012-why-the-san-antonio-spurs-will-sweep-the-utah-jazz

Petr Kalus Colton Gilies Justin Falk Robbie Eal Joe Callahan Bryan Allen

NBA Playoffs 2012: Atlanta Hawks' Season on Life-Support After Blowout Loss

The Atlanta Hawks have a nasty habit of blowout losses in the postseason. 

In their 27 postseason defeats, beginning with the 2007-2008 season, the Hawks have lost 22 playoff games by double digits. In 12 of those 22 double-digit defeats, the Hawks lost by 20 points or more. 

The shocking trend continued in Game 4 of the 2012 first round, in Boston, Massachusetts, where the Celtics rolled the Hawks 101-79 to take a decisive 3-1 series advantage. 

The Hawks' season is on life support, and the squad is pushed to the brink of elimination after losing three consecutive games in the series. 

The Hawks should not be in this position. They let the Celtics steal Game 2 in Philips Arena without Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen. 

In Game 3, the Hawks took the Celtics into overtime, but they could not muster any offense in that extra period. 

In Game 4, Atlanta was never in the ballgame, as Boston could not miss early on and jumped out to a halftime lead of 64-41. 

As a result, the Hawks will have to win three consecutive games against the Celtics if they want to advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals for the fourth consecutive season. 

These Hawks have overcome adversity before, but this is a daunting task. 

In the 2010 first round against Milwaukee, they won two straight elimination games, including the series-clinching victory in Game 7.

But the Celtics are much better than those Bucks, and the Hawks don't have any answers right now for Boston's quartet of offensive weapons. 

Rondo continues to carve up the Hawks' defense while Atlanta is playing off him, daring him to shoot and allowing an open passing lane to find teammates. Rondo is averaging 15.67 points and 13 assists per game in this series. 

When the Celtics shoot the way they did early in Game 4, no team in the NBA can beat them. 

In addition, the Celtics are playing tremendous defense by forcing the Hawks to shoot erratic shots with the shot clock winding down and forcing bad turnovers.

Atlanta is averaging 81.5 points per game in this series. Boston passed that plateau midway through the third quarter in Game 4. 

Joe Johnson, the man earning a max-deal with the Hawks, only took four first-half shots. Al Horford, the man who hadn't played in months, was a bigger part of the offense than Johnson. 

While Horford and Josh Smith's return for Game 4 were nice going forward, neither player provided Atlanta with an emotional lift, and both struggled from the defensive side of the court. 

Unless Atlanta can complete a 180-degree turnaround in Game 5, their playoff run will be over. 

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1174545-hawks-season-on-life-support-after-another-postseason-blowout-loss

Brian Wilson Eli Whiteside Mike Fontenot Brett Pill Pat Burrell Jhan Marinez

The Coach Talks

from Dan Rosen of NHL.com, After addressing the media for all of 27 seconds and using only 15 words after losing 3-2 in Game 4 Saturday, Rangers coach John Tortorella was a bit more chatty Sunday at the team’s suburban training facility.

Tortorella spoke to the media for more than five minutes and handled 11 questions.

He talked about trying to get pucks through to the net against the Capitals, who have blocked 105 shots through the first four games of the Eastern Conference Semifinal-round series.

continue for the full transcript…

Source: http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/hockey/comments/the_coach_talks/

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'I'll Have Another' Won The Kentucky Derby

I'll Have Another, purchased for $35,000 last year, proved to be worth infinitely more than that in staging a dramatic rally to overtake Bodemeister by 1½ lengths Saturday in the 138th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

The colt, named for owner J. Paul Reddam's typical response when his wife puts out cookies, will be toasted as the first 3-year-old to prevail after breaking from far outside from post 19 in a full field of 20.

I'll Have Another was masterfully ridden by Mario Gutierrez, 25, of Veracruz, Mexico. He was Canada's leading apprentice rider before coming to the USA in 2005 in search of a big horse.

He had one in his first Derby.

Guttierez, fighting to catch his breath and manage his emotions, said of his mount, "He's an amazing horse. I'm sorry, but he's just amazing."

So is Bodemeister. He tore through the five swiftest fractions in the history of the "Run for the Roses" before all the effort caught up to him in the final strides to deny his trainer, Bob Baffert, a fourth Derby triumph. That would have placed him in a tie for second all time among trainers.

"The way he ran, I don't have any complaints other than he did not win," said Baffert, 59, who suffered a heart attack March 26 in Dubai while preparing a horse to compete there. "Usually I'm upset, but he showed the brilliance he has."

His exhausted Arkansas Derby champ held off late-running Dullahan by a neck. Dullahan was attempting to give his trainer, Dale Romans, his first Derby victory. Romans grew up three miles from Churchill Downs.

But the hot afternoon belonged to I'll Have Another, who earned his fourth victory in six starts and extended his perfection this year to 3-for-3 for ecstatic trainer Doug O'Neill.

"I can't explain how excited I am," O'Neill said. "I'm so jazzed."

I'll Have Another went off at 15-1 and paid $32.60, $13.80 and $9. Bodemeister paid $6.20 and $5.60 and Dullahan $7.20.

The 1¼-mile opening leg of the Triple Crown drew a record 165,307 fans, surpassing the mark of 164,858 set last year.

The next leg in the Triple Crown will be held May 19 at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. The third leg, the Belmont Stakes, will be run June 9.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/sportspage/~3/H7CriZbvmXs/ill-have-another-won-the-kentucky-derby-2012-5

Juan Miranda Colin Curtis Kevin Russo Curtis Granderson Nick Johnson Javier Lopez