For hockey fans...

[Nigel]

The Frozen Four is coming to the Greater Boston area. TD Garden will host the three games this weekend.

Semifinals: Thursday, April 7
5 p.m.: No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 1 Denver (ESPN2)
8:30 p.m.: No. 2 Minnesota vs. No. 1 Minnesota State (ESPNU)

Semis - In both games, the teams did not play each other this year.

National Championship: Saturday, April 9
8 p.m.: TBD vs. TBD (ESPN2)

Buckle up hockey fans!

[Brooklyn]

Minnesota St Mankato 5
Minnesota Gophers 1


After the Gophers goal, the Mavericks turned it around by getting really physical. Lots of really good stick checks by the D as well stifled all shot attempts.


https://gophersports.com/sports/mens-ic ... core/19518

[Brooklyn]

NCAA Frozen Four Finale:

Mankato 1
Denver 5


https://nesn.com/2022/04/denver-mens-ho ... 0b84832e39


The University of Denver Pioneers tallied five third-period goals to earn a stunning comeback win over the Minnesota State Mavericks and claim the NCAA Division I National Championship on Saturday at TD Garden in Boston.

Denver’s eventual 5-1 victory marked the ninth title in program history, the third of which has been claimed in Boston.

The Pioneers, members of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, faced a one-goal deficit entering the third period. Senior forward Ryan Barrow tied the game at 4:46 before sophomore defenseman Mike Benning netted the eventual game-winner at 7:33 of the final frame.

THE PIO'S TIE IT UP! ? What a goal by Ryan Barrow!!

? @espn #MFrozenFour x @DU_Hockey pic.twitter.com/hBABKZQN6R

— NCAA Ice Hockey (@NCAAIceHockey) April 10, 2022
And wouldn't you believe it…THAT'S 2 FOR THE PIONEERS!!

? @espn#MFrozenFour x @DU_Hockey pic.twitter.com/h7DsHjMbzv

— NCAA Ice Hockey (@NCAAIceHockey) April 10, 2022
Freshman forward Massimo Rizzo provided some much-needed insurance as he netted a one-timer on the Denver rush before a pair of empty-netters. Denver scored four goals in a matter of eight shots on Minnesota State’s Hobey Baker-winning goaltender Dryden McKay.

Denver is running away with this game????? 3 goals in the 3rd with this last one by Massimo Rizzo!!

? @espn #MFrozenFour x @DU_Hockey pic.twitter.com/FdYV005fHs

— NCAA Ice Hockey (@NCAAIceHockey) April 10, 2022
Minnesota State got on the board in the first period, taking a 1-0 advantage on Sam Morton’s power-play goal at 13:59 of the opening frame.


Minnesota State STRIKES FIRST in National Championship play!!

? @espn #MFrozenFour x @MinnStMHockey pic.twitter.com/lt3DABjK5m

— NCAA Ice Hockey (@NCAAIceHockey) April 10, 2022






Denver had only two Minnesotans on their roster while Mankato had eight. Seems like the rest of the country is producing better players than Lake Wobegone is producing nowadays. Lineups also had a few internationals and that always helps.

[Nigel]

2022 Stanley Cups playoffs are here!

Is this the year the Avalanche get it done?
Leafs or Laffs? Which team shows up?

Games begin on Monday...

Panthers vs. Capitals
Maple Leafs vs. Lightning

Hurricanes vs. Bruins
Rangers vs. Penguins

Avalanche vs. Predators
Wild vs. Blues

Flames vs. Stars
Oilers vs. Kings

[Brooklyn]

https://www.google.com/search?q=rangers ... r;tb2;fp;1;;



highly intense match with a fiery crowd that reminds me of the old 1970s crowds at MSG ~ neither team gave an inch - tough, tough hockey

NYRangers extend their streak of home playoff wins to eight, tying the franchise record.

[Brooklyn]

Edmonton-Colorado playoff hockey:


phenomenal, intense game that went into OT:


https://www.google.com/search?q=edmonto ... wr;dt;fp;1;;

[Brooklyn]

https://www.google.com/search?q=rangers ... e&ie=UTF-8



Darn. Tampa Bay > Rangers


Actually, a very good, intense game. Both teams had their hearts in it. Kudos to TB.

[Brooklyn]

https://www.google.com/search?q=nhl+ton ... e&ie=UTF-8

https://www.nhl.com/stories/games/Color ... 16730.html


Awesome play by D man Cale Makar. Am surprised he was not voted game MVP since he excelled at both ends of the ice. Lightning played with intensity but Avalanche were just unstoppable tonight.

[Brooklyn]

hockey season is staring in Lake Wobegone -I've already been to one youth club game and visited South St Paul to watch girls varsity puck:


https://www.mngirlshockeyhub.com/game/show/36967162


tried but could not find video highlights - will try again ...

[Brooklyn]

Medical professional calls for fighting ban:


Ban fighting in the NHL
Those of us in the medical community involved in the sport need to stop skating away from our responsibility to improve player safety.


https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/11/24/ ... hting-nhl/


Former NHL defenseman Nick Boynton was known as an enforcer on the ice for his fearsome style of play. In 11 seasons, he won a Stanley Cup title, totaled 862 penalty minutes, and 51 fights. He also suffered from at least 10 concussions. The repetitive head trauma led to memory loss, anxiety, depression, and addiction.

“They can scratch my name off that [Stanley] Cup, and I’d hand my ring back right now if I could go back and make it so that I wouldn’t have had to experience all this pain and sorrow and anger and sadness,” he wrote in an essay for the Players Tribune. “I’d make that tradeoff in a heartbeat.”

Hockey is a sport of extremes: graceful on the one hand and violent on the other. The modern game is played with extraordinary power, speed, and skill. There isn’t a more exciting game on the planet.

However, those of us in the medical community involved in the sport need to stop skating away from our responsibility to improve player safety.

As a team doctor for USA Hockey and a professor of orthopedic surgery, I have seen firsthand how a career spent fighting can dramatically alter a player’s quality of life long before they reach their fifth decade.

Players often need treatment for hand fractures, oculofacial trauma, and concussions. And there is growing evidence that repeated blows to the head can cause chronic traumatic encephalopathy. CTE is a degenerative brain disease that is associated with a range of symptoms — from depression, aggression, and memory loss to dementia, speech abnormalities, and parkinsonism. In most cases, symptoms appear years after the brain trauma, well after players retire.

In 2018, the NHL settled out of court with more than 300 former players for its failure to do more to prevent head trauma during their careers. But the settlements are a temporary Band-Aid on a larger problem.

Fighting is a serious health risk, and orthopedic surgeons, sports medicine physicians, neurologists, and physiatrists need to be a united front in speaking out about the dangers that result from hits to the head.

Moreover, it is imperative that the NHL makes a rule change: Fighting must be a game misconduct penalty. Fight in the last 10 minutes of a game? You miss the next game, too. To the penalty box after a fight? No, to the locker room for a concussion evaluation. Furthermore, the penalty should be proportionate to the number of fights, so repeat offenders get harsher suspensions.

Making fighting a game misconduct penalty is not going to be easy. Hockey culture is traditionally a warrior culture, complete with a code. There is a vested respect for the way the sport has been played. The NHL “old guard” argues that the rule change would result in decreased viewership and game attendance. Many players and coaches say fighting is a valuable tactic to help win games; that if a team is losing, a fight will switch the momentum to their side.

These are dangerous myths, and my research with colleagues proves it. In three studies this year, we examined the impact of fighting in the NHL.

We found that despite two decades of declines in fighting rates, the popularity of the game has remained unchanged. During the peak of the enforcer era of ice hockey in 1987, there were on average 1.3 fights per game. In the season before the COVID-19 pandemic, the rate was down to 0.19 fights per game. Meanwhile, NHL arenas have been near capacity and were averaging over 17,000 fans a night.

The notion that fighting helps teams win is also false. Look no further than last year’s NHL playoffs. There were 89 games played during the playoffs with a total of 9 fights (0.10 fights per game). A fight between Tampa Bay Lightning’s Ross Colton and Colorado Avalanche’s Logan O’Connor was the first fight in a Stanley Cup finals game since the 2017 postseason. Since the NHL Expansion in 1967, only two teams have led the league in fighting and won the Stanley Cup — the Philadelphia Flyers in 1975 and the Anaheim Ducks in 2007. Clearly, there is little correlation between fighting and a team’s winning record.

While the NHL did make rule changes to prevent concussions in 2011 — an amendment to the rulebook (Rule 48.1) made any hit to the head a penalty — the changes fall short of what is needed. Fighting is already a game misconduct penalty in International Ice Hockey Federation play, the Olympics, NCAA, and many European professional leagues.


The NHL should follow the example set by these organizations. Player safety should be at the forefront of the league’s agenda, and it should immediately change the rule. It’s a worthwhile investment in the players and the long-term health and viability of the game.



Here's my 2¢ :
I prefer to allow fighting limited to designated players, only. This way there is no size disparity and it lessens the risk of injury. But, let the players and the fans each have a referendum. If they agree to ban fighting then so be it.

[Brooklyn]

World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

2023 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships will begin on

Monday, December 26, 2022

and ends on

Thursday, January 5, 2023



The world's # 1 annual amateur sporting event coming soon!

[Brooklyn]

Islanders 3
Rangers 5


https://www.google.com/search?q=NHL+tod ... wr;dt;fp;1;;;


A tough intense game as per usual for the NYC Metro rivalry. A few fights almost broke out but everyone stayed cool. Coach Gallant made some line shifts and the players responded quite well to this sudden change. Sadly, it is the final game of the year between the teams. The NHL has to do a better job of putting together these schedules. I cannot understand how they can possibly disregard the interests of the fans and of the league. It is rivalries like this that make the league so exciting. The teams need to play against each other more often at various stages of the season.

[Brooklyn]

IIHF:


USA > Latvia: https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2023/wm2 ... 26/lat-usa
https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2023/wm20/video


Czechia > Canada: https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2023/wm20/video



Lots of good action to start off the tournament.

[Brooklyn]

The ULTIMATE hockey fight!



https://youtu.be/eoJvNUSwhHI

[Brooklyn]

USA wins Group B in IIHF:


https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2023/wm2 ... 88/usa-fin



This game was atypically lopsided. Finland and the U.S. have forged one of the IIHF World Junior Championship’s most evenly matched rivalries over the decades. To generalize, the Finns dominated in the 1980s, things evened out in the 1990s, and the U.S. took the upper hand in the 2000s. Lately it's been close to a dead heat.

The Finns beat the U.S. 3-2 in the 2019 gold medal game in Vancouver, the only time these rivals have played for gold. The U.S. eliminated Finland from gold medal contention with a 4-3 semi-final win at the 2021 World Juniors in Edmonton before beating Canada 2-0 for the title.

The U.S.’s record against Finland now sits at 18 wins, one tie, and 18 losses.

[Brooklyn]

Final Four in IIHF today:


Sweden vs USA (for bronze)


Czechia vs Canada (for gold)

[Brooklyn]

USA wins bronze in 8-7 OT.


So many SOGs with rather poor defense by both squads. But the medal is a small consolation at any rate. Better than going home empty handed.

[Brooklyn]

Canada vs. Czechia final score, results: Dylan Guenther's OT goal wins gold for Canadians at 2023 World Juniors


https://www.sportingnews.com/ca/nhl/new ... yuppavbj6c


Canada vs. Czechia score
1 2 3 OT F
Canada 1 1 0 1 3
Czechia 0 0 2 - 2



Kudos to Canada

[6x6]

Posting this here because not often enough do Athletic Trainers get enough acknowledgment for the great work they do.

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/army-hoc ... tent-skate

[Brooklyn]

https://twitter.com/HastingsTV14/status ... tury-video



MIRACULOUS SAVE!