Even though they’re located just a few hours apart on opposite sides of the U.S.-Canada border, Buffalo and Toronto are very different cities. One’s a blue-collar burg known for heavy snowfall and chicken wings, the other’s the largest city in Canada known for its cosmopolitan image and gleaming skyline. And in the NHL, Buffalo and Toronto have been heading in opposite directions all season long. On Feb. 6, the Toronto Maple Leafs were sitting two points out of fourth place [...]
Cold as Ice: Being an Individual in a Team-based World
As a Pens fan, I occasionally like to st roke my own ego by reading about how amazingly the team is doing (admit it, we all do it with our teams of choice). But amidst the comment section for a post discussing Evgeni Malkin’s apparent birthright as league MVP this season, I read an interesting comment that got me thinking. I can’t remember the exact phrasing but the heart of it was this: Malkin’s absurdly strong team negates his personal [...]
Roundball Soundoff Grades The Trades
Dwight Howard stayed put (for now) in Orlando, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t plenty of other trades in the NBA this past week. Here’s what we think of what went down.
t
Cold as Ice: Knowing When To Call it Quits
The current saga of Peyton Manning, the surefire Hall of Fame quarterback who’s planning to continue his playing career despite a serious neck injury, certainly resonates with fans of the NHL. Not so much the specific injury, but the situation. When is the right time for an athlete to retire? The NHL has seen several versions of this scenario play out in recent years. Most notably, the case of Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, the league’s best player, who has been out [...]
Roundball Soundoff’s Midseason Report Card Part Two: The Western Conference
Check out the first part of our midseason report card here , and make sure you’re checking out Jay’s NY Knicks podcast. Oklahoma City Thunder: A+: Having the best record in the league sure silenced the whole ‘Westbrook vs. Durant power struggle’. Reggie Jackson seamlessly filled Eric Maynors shoes after his season ending injury and Harden is making a strong case for 6th man of the year. The only concern in OKC right now is the fact that their starting center, Kendrick Perkins, looks 37 [...]
Cold as Ice: The Nash Clash
The trade deadline has come and gone, and while I could summarize the comings and goings here, it would be rather redundant, since NHL.com has already assembled a fantastic chart to show how the teams have fared. If I had to pick which teams did the best, I’d probably say Vancouver in the West (they added some much needed grit) and Tampa in the East (if only because of how many trades they made, even if their draft pick fire sale could come [...]
Roundball Soundoff: Midseason Report Card (Part One)
The Bulls are in 2nd place in the East, even having missed D. Rose for a stretch. Check out Jay’s midseason report card for the entire Eastern Conference.
Cold As Ice: Goalies Face Unrelenting Pressure On and Off ice
Hockey is the ultimate team sport, but more often than not, a team’s fortunes rest on the last line of defense: The goalie. You need more than just a good goalie to win, but things get much tougher for your team if your goalie can’t stop the puck. As the NHL season moves into its stretch run and teams battle for playoff spots, every game is crucial and immense pressure is placed on goalies. Several goalies have had outstanding seasons [...]
Cold as Ice: The Curious Case of Scott Gomez
Among all the numerous sports headlines last week (the birth of “Linsanity” , the ongoing Peyton saga, the record setting home victory streak by the Red Wings), it was easy to miss Montreal’s Scott Gomez and his game winning goal against the New York Islanders. It wasn’t particularly flashy, nor did it seal a particularly important game. What it did do, however, was snap Gomez’s calendar year long goal drought, which began on February 5, 2011. Scoring funks are nothing new [...]
Roundball Soundoff: Linsanity!
Just when you thought the New York Knicks’ season was about to tank… My hometown team has been one of basketball’s biggest disappointments in this lockout-shortened season. Although their defensive intensity has picked up tremendously (we can thank Tyson Chandler for that,) they’ve looked lost on offense. A team with as many offensive weapons as the Knicks have should be spacing the floor better, getting more open looks, and scoring more points. We can blame a good chunk of that [...]
Cold as Ice: Gearing Up for the Trade Deadline
Cynics love to complain about how the NHL regular season is meaningless, but for teams battling for a playoff spot, every game from now until the end of the season is huge. Every night, teams shuffle up and down the standings fighting to finish in the top eight in their respective conferences. The season ends April 7, but a much more immediate date looms for many teams: the NHL trade deadline on Feb. 27. As a result, teams are busily [...]
From the Diamond to Developer: The Story of Curt Schilling’s Passion for Gaming
The man with the blood-soaked “red sock,” Curt Schilling , is a hero to many a Boston sports fan. Under the mentoring and friendship of Terry Francona, Schilling went on to set records and helped to win two World Series championships within his four years with the team. What most people don’t know about Curt, however, is that he’s an avid gamer. While he was on the road, he would constantly obsess over a 1980′s board game entitled Advanced Squad Leader . He also became [...]
People Are Talking!