Well the World Juniors wrapped up yesterday with a one against the world that ended up with Senators prospect Mika Zijanebad scored for Sweden in overtime on Sweden's 58th shot to win the game 1-0.
Here is the winner
For the first two periods of the game, this was literally a game of keep away as the shots were 39-4 for Sweden after two periods and Sweden had fifty shots after regulation. This probably will replace Roberto Luongo's gold medal game against the Russians in 1999 as the best goalie performance in a loss at this tournament as Saskatoon Blade goalie Andrei Makarov was the only reason the game didn't end in regulation.
Now onto some other stuff. Canada continued at least one streak at this tournament as they grabbed the bronze and received a medal for the 14th consecutive year with a 4-0 win over Finland. However there was questions whether we need an overhaul of the Canadian system in some newspapers. Excuse me, I need to go smash someone's brain in for thinking such a stupid thing. OK, I'm back. There are some people out there that think Canada is the only nation that can play hockey at a high level. Umm, I am not sure what to tell these idiots but there are other countries that have our similar climate and love the sport just as much and have plenty of talent. There is no other nation that can boast a 14 year medal streak at the World Juniors, no overhaul necessary.
Now onto something that is a little baffling for me. The NHL had approved a realignment system for the following season. However, that has been shot down by the NHLPA.
Here is the statement that was released on NHL.com
The National Hockey League announced today that it will not move forward with implementation of the Realignment Plan and modified Playoff Format recently approved by the NHL Board of Governors for the 2012-13 NHL season because the NHLPA has refused to provide its consent.
"It is unfortunate that the NHLPA has unreasonably refused to approve a Plan that an overwhelming majority of our Clubs voted to support, and that has received such widespread support from our fans and other members of the hockey community, including Players," said NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly. "We have now spent the better part of four weeks attempting to satisfy the NHLPA’s purported concerns with the Plan with no success. Because we have already been forced to delay, and as a result are already late in beginning the process of preparing next season’s schedule, we have no choice but to abandon our intention to implement the Realignment Plan and modified Playoff Format for next season."
"We believe the Union acted unreasonably in violation of the League’s rights. We intend to evaluate all of our available legal options and to pursue adequate remedies, as appropriate."
As a result of the League’s decision today, the NHL will maintain its current alignment and Playoff Format for the 2012-13 season.
What I take from this is that the NHLPA did not like not having a say in this to begin with, and the fact that the playoff format had yet to be formatted and the fact that the Top 8 got in with the best records and a team that could be truly terrible that finished fourth in the new conferences gets in.
This was taken from SunGarrioch on Twitter on the situation
Sources say NHLPA doesn't like increased travel and the unbalanced conferences. Statement from union soon. Will be interesting. #NHL
I think the team that is really pooched in this is the Winnipeg Jets. They only way they are considered Southeast division team is if the NHL was completely based on where they are in Manitoba. They still get the extra games versus as is with some of the bigger names in the NHL with Ovechkin and the Capitals and Crosby (If healthy) and the Penguins.
But overall, this is what I really think happened. Eastern based team players who hate time zone travel knew that they were going to have to play 13 games out of their time zone (Detroit and Columbus are in ETZ) and probably most Western Conference teams were pissed off that they still had to play Detroit so often (Well, some teams). I personally thought the realignment for the most part was good as teams were properly aligned due to where they were time zone wise. I really don't know what to expect now but I hope there isn't another lockout.
That is all I have for now, until next time, keep your stick on the ice.
0 comments:
Post a Comment