2014 NHL Trophy Finalists

As the NHL season comes to an end, it’s time for the winners of the regular season Trophies to be chosen. Right now, they are still in the process of choosing who out of the few candidates that have been chosen will be getting the award, but it’s getting very close for some of these prestigious awards. Right now, I’ll detail some of these awards for you guys.

First up, well talk about the Vezina Trophy, presented “to the goalkeeper adjudged to be the best at his position” as stated by the NHL. The finalists for this award are Ben Bishop of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Tuukka Rask of the Boston Bruins, and Semyon Varlamov of the Colorado Avalanche. All these players have either set career or even team records with their performances this year and are all extremely deserving.

Next, we have  the Calder trophy that goes “to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition,” or in other words, rookie of the year. The finalists for this award are Tyler Johnson of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche, and Ondrej Palat of the Tampa Bay Lightning. It seems like the Lighting really struck gold with their new players for this season, having 2 finalists.

Next up is the Jack Adams award for the top head coach of the season. The finalists for this trophy are Mike Babcock of the Detroit Red Wings, Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Patrick Roy of the Colorado Avalanche. Every coach listed helped bring their team to a new level of playing and motivated them to do incredibly in the regular season.

Finally, we have the most talked about award, the Hart Trophy. This is the NHL’s MVP award and is presented to arguably the best player in the league. The finalists are Sydney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Ryan Getzlaf of the Anaheim Ducks, and Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers. Crosby posted 36 goals as well as a League-leading 68 assists and 104 points to capture his second career Art Ross Trophy and lead the Penguins to their second consecutive division title. Getzlaf scored a career-high 31 goals and ranked second in the League with 87 points to power the Ducks to the top record in the Western Conference for the first time in franchise history. Giroux matched a career high with 28 goals and finished third in the NHL scoring race with 86 points to help the Flyers bounce back from a 3-9-0 start to the season to qualify for the playoffs for the sixth time in the past seven years. All extremely well deserving, and competitive players. It’s hard to predict a winner!

Thanks for reading, don’t forget to tune into The Sport Report every Thursday at 11:45 on 90.7 RAV FM.

By: Danny

Toronto Blue Jays: Predictions

The Toronto Blue Jays played great baseball in the month of May, bringing a 21-9 record to the club in the month, a 9 game winning streak and 1st place in the AL East. The starting pitching has really improved, the batting has been near flawless, and our defense is fantastic. May was a great month for a Jays, as they were also ranked 3rd in power rankings for the entire MLB. Our own Edwin Encarnacion set a Blue Jays record for homeruns in May, 16! He currently is sitting at 19 homers for the season.

With all of this information, here are my predictions. If the Blue Jays can keep up this style of play, they have an amazing chance at making the playoffs. The 4 other teams in the AL East aren’t doing great, as only the Orioles and Yankees are over .500 winning percentage. You also can’t forget about our pitching. Mark Buehrle is arguably the MLB’s top pitcher currently, sitting at 10 wins (leading the MLB) and only 1 loss with a 2.10 ERA. The entire team is really clicking at this point in the season, and we still have a long way to go, but I have a lot of confidence in the Jays with all of the all stars on our team. There havn’t been many bad things to say about the Jays pitching lately, as Dickey, Happ and Hutchison have all stepped up their games, and the bullpen has been just as phenomenal. The Blue Jays are known for having a very strong bullpen, consisting of Cecil, McGowan, Loup and Janssen. The Jays have been able to close out games with relative ease and have been able to sweep many of our opponents. My prediction? Serious WORLD SERIES contenders.

By: Jon

2014 World Cup – Teams to watch for in Brazil

The 20th FIFA World Cup will be held in Brazil for the first time since 1950 on June 12th, 2014. The tournament will come to an end one month later on July 13th, 2014. Spain, the defending champions after defeating Holland 1-0 in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Many teams are going after the defending champions and trying to take them out early. So far, many teams have impressed me entering the world cup and can easily make their trip to the finals and win the cup. The teams that have impressed myself and other soccer fans are:

Netherlands –

The dutch team is very young and you can expect this team to make this world cup so much fun to watch. Key forward, Robin van Persie will still play a significant role in the teams offensive strategies as he is one of the best goal scorers the dutch team has ever seen.

Germany –

Any soccer fan will just drool from looking at Germany’s roster. Players like Thomas Muller, Mesut Ozil and Manuel Neur highlight just some of the outstanding players are on Germany’s roster in this year’s world cup. The list of this team’s talent is near endless but injuries is the only thing stopping this team from the world cup.

Brazil –

One thing is for sure, you definitely can not leave out the home team from the world cup. The Brazil lineup revamped and proved itself to be one of the most dangerous clubs in all of the tournament. New talent such as Neymar, Thiago and Hulk will really give this lineup a huge boost onto the field. This team is arguably the deepest roster in this years world cup.

32 Countries will compete and try to hoist world cup in Brazil. Many teams such as Brazil, Holland, Germany, Argentina, Spain and Portugal are the clear favourites to hoist this year’s cup. No matter what the outcome is, it is guaranteed that FIFA World Cup in Brazil will be a classic tournament. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the world’s best soccer players on one field play.

By: Banks

 

 

NBA Finals Predictions

The 2014 NBA finals is coming up between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs, and the first game is taking place tomorrow night in San Antonio. This is an exact repeat of last years finals, and the Heat are looking for a Three-peat in their 4 year consecutive championship run since acquiring LeBron James. The Spurs are coming into this series with a devastating loss against the Heat last year, and they will be red hot and seeking revenge. The Spurs have some serious power and a great lineup that can be a real threat to this years Heat. On the other hand, the Heat, possessing the lineup of all-stars they do, can blow through many teams, including the Spurs if they don’t keep the pressure on.

Personally, I think that the San Antonio Spurs are going to be the team to take this championship ring this time around, as they are coming into this series with the best record in the NBA, which has given them home court advantage, which will definitely help them take an early lead. With the Spurs possessing such players as Ginobili, Leonard, Splitter and Diaw, who are all playing amazing right now, they will keep the pressure on the Heat, who in my opinion haven’t gotten much better since last year. Their big names like Wade, LeBron and Bosh, although doing great for the average player, they haven’t really been living up to their name and the hype that goes along with it. If the Heat don’t pick up the pace and really step up their game, the Spurs could just easily take this series and end their streak.

Rarely do teams get a opportunity to have another shot at the same title like the Spurs are getting here, and i don’t they’ll let it slip through the cracks. My final prediction will be that the Spurs will take the series in 6 games and stop the Heat from continuing their streak.

Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to tune into the Sport Report every Thursday at 11:45 on 90.7 RAV FM!

By: Danny

 

 

 

 

Toronto Maple Leafs Offseason

It was an eventful season for the Toronto Maple Leafs this year. The club finished with a 38-36 record and finished 6th in the Eastern Conference Wild Card playoff race. The Leafs completely blew everything up after they were clear favourites to make the playoffs for the second straight year in a row after a strong start all the way through January.

The Leafs played their last regular season game almost 2 months ago and team managment is already looking towards this offseason to adjust the team and make a playoff run just like they did in 2013. They already locked up Head Coach, Randy Carlyle to a 2 year contract extension and hired former NHLer and Toronto native, Brendon Shannahan as team president and alternate governor and it is expected that Shannahan will oversee all hockey operations for the club.

Now GM Dave Nonis and Team President Brendon Shannahan now have to focus on locking up some of their own players and help build this roster to win. The team may look to bring in some veteran defense this offseason. Last season defending in the neutral and defensive zones were the teams biggest concerns. Nonis and Shannahan may target players like Tom Gilbert, Matt Niskanen and Kyle Quincey as those players will bring the team veteran defense and great puck movement. Any of these 3 signings make sense for the leafs as their salaries would be in line with the Leafs’ salary cap for next season.

The Toronto Maple Leafs must also adrress the team’s goaltending issues. James Reimer may not not be willing to return to Toronto as he was the backup goalie for the team last season and faced heat from the media for his poor play. Jonathan Bernier is coming off hernia surgery, the team may want to bring in a goalie in the free agent market as they may need their second goalie to play a lot once the season begins. Bringing up Drew MacIntyre from the Toronto Marlies may be another possibility for the team moving forward.

By: Banks

Western Conference Finals & Cup Preview

The Los Angeles Kings squared off against the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Chicago Blackhawks  last night in the United Centre. The Kings ended up defeating the Blackhawks 5-4 in OT  after Alec Martinez scored in the first 5:47 of overtime. LA will now go onto the NHL Stanley Cup Finals and face off against the New York Rangers.

Chicago, who had a early 2 goal lead in the first period lost the lead after the Kings came back and ended up winning the game in overtime in front of fans in disbelief. Chicago Head Coach, Joel Quenneville said “I’ve lost some tough games but nothing like tonight” after the loss. “They find a way, L.A., they’re never out of a hockey game, they’re never out of a series. They’re dangerous” Quenneville added.

LA is now the first team in NHL history to clinch a Stanley Cup Playoff spot with a game 7 overtime win. The kings also set another record as the  club improved to 7-0 in elimination games with its third Game 7 win on the road this post-season.

 

 

The Los Angeles Kings will now play the New York Rangers in front of their home crowd at the Staples Centre on Wednesday, June 4th at 8:00 PM EST. The Rangers earned their spot to the Finals after defeating the Montreal Canadiens in 6 games. The last time the Rangers were in the Stanley Cup Finals was in 1994. Bill Clinton was still the U.S President, Forrest Gump made it’s release and the #1 song was The Sign by Ace of Base. It’s been a very long time since Ranger fans had seen a team like this. Many believe that the Eastern Conference finalists don’t stand a chance against the LA Kings. But, many people do like the underdogs and the Rangers definitly do have a shot by defeating the Kings in a possible 7 games to win the cup. Los Angeles Kings Head Coach, Darryl Sutter still sees the Rangers as a powerful team. ” “Great goaltending, great defense, great forwards, great special teams” he said. The Kings are not seeing this as an easy series, that’s for sure. Looks like we’ll just have to wait and see how this series will play out.

 

By: Banks

NBA Playoffs: The Final Series

Here’s what it’s come to! The NBA Finals starts this Thursday, June 5 between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs. The two talented teams have fought all year to get to this point, beating excellent teams in the playoffs.

The Eastern Conference final consisted of The Indiana Pacers and the Miami Heat in a thrilling 6 game series. The series was physical and heated as there were many highlights and many let downs… The Heat’s very own LeBron James was held to his all time career low in points in the playoffs, at 7 for the game in game 5. As well, The Pacer’s Lance Stephenson was caught playing small pranks on James such as blowing in his ear, and tapping him on his mouth. When asked about the antics, he said LeBron James has a weakness that he is trying to take advantage of. Clearly, it wasn’t enough, as the Heat took the series 4-2.

The Western Conference final consisted of The Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs in a 6 game series. Both teams blew out the other team for their first two home games, as it looked like both teams were fairly evenly matched. Serge Ibaka really made a difference in games 3 & 4, as he made an amazing comeback from a serious injury. His defensive presence greatly contributed to the OKC wins. Game 5 was where everything changed, as The San Antonio Spurs were able to defeat Ibaka and the Thunder at home and went to Oklahoma for game 6. There, they were able to squeeze out with a win, in a thrilling overtime and move on to the finals.

The Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs is the same finals match up from last year. This is the first time such a thing has happened since the 1997 and 1998 season where the Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz went back to back in the finals. It is sure to be an exciting series. Will the Heat three-peat, or will the Spurs get revenge?

By: Jon