USA! USA! USA! posted by Goon Squad

Has it been 30 years now since the US beat the Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid?(It seems like only yesterday...)

The Americans went on to win the gold medal in hockey that year - something that hasn't happened since, but don't expect any miracles next month at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. No, the United States still isn't favored to win a gold medal in hockey. In that respect the Americans remain underdogs. But with a roster stacked with young talent, they certainly are a medal candidate - one that the powerhouses from Canada, Russia and Sweden can't afford to overlook. "A little bit different situation [than 1980] in my opinion," said United States team captain Jamie Langenbrunner, a forward with the NHL's New Jersey Devils. "As much as Canada deserves all the credit that they're getting for the players they have, the 23 players named to the [United States] team play in the same league as those guys and we feel quite comfortable playing against them on a nightly basis. We feel we belong on the same ice."

That's a far cry from goalie Jim Craig and the 1980 team! US coach Herb Brooks had to convince that group of college All-Stars that it could compete with the grown men the Soviet Union sent over. But since 1998 the NHL has allowed its professional players to compete at the Winter Olympics. So this group of Americans is baffled by the notion that they would be intimidated by any of the major hockey powers.

Told of stories in the Canadian press that listed him as the only American capable of making the loaded Team Canada roster, forward Zach Parise chuckled. "I think that's kind of a bold statement," said Parise, also a New Jersey Devils forward. "I don't think there's going to be too many people that would agree with that."

And the winner is… posted by Andy Charles

 Well, we’ve made it to the halfway point of the season, so it is time to hand out a few awards to the deserving, the hopeless and the sensational.

Team of the season: I’m going to take the New Jersey Devils here since they are the one team to impress me more than I had expected. I thought Chicago and San Jose might be the quality of the West and so it has proved. The Devils; well I saw them as a decent playoff team but not the halfway top seed.

Martin Brodeur has been predictably brilliant, but the Devils continue to get offense from a team that lacks star quality after Zach Parise. And the biggest surprise among them? Has to be Andy Greene with 23 points in 37 games, already doubling any output he has managed in four NHL seasons.

Bust of the season: Plenty to choose from here but (sad for me since I am a fan) the Anaheim Ducks should try for the Anaheim Sucks. Twelve points out of the playoffs in the West and not even the best team around Los Angeles.

The goals haven’t been too hard to find and they have the scoring, but the defense has been shoddy despite Scott Niedermayer and Ryan Whitney being in town. They do have the talent to get out of their predicament and some NHL Predictions suggest they will, but it is not going to be easy given the strength of the West.

Surprise of the season: No doubt for me – has to be the Colorado Avalanche. Just on top of the Northwest Division after a season predicted to be dogged by youthful struggles. A brilliant free agency signing of goalie Craig Anderson has helped but Wojtek Wolski is finally becoming the player many thought he could be and watch out for Chris Stewart as well – the next top class power forward.

Tkachuk Signs One-Year Contract and other NHL Notables posted by Jeff Ponder

St. Louis Blues President John Davidson announced Friday that forward Keith Tkachuk has agreed to return to the club for one more year.  The Blues and Tkachuk have been having talks about a return since being ousted from the playoffs in April.  The deal is reportedly worth $2.15 million.

“Keith is a veteran leader who played a key role with our club’s success this past season,” Davidson added. “He and his wife Chantal are first class people and have been tremendous to the St. Louis Blues organization and the St. Louis community.”

Tkachuk tallied 25 goals and 24 assists in 79 games in 2008-09, along with 14 power-play goals that placed him second on the team just behind Brad Boyes.  He started the season red hot though, scoring 7 goals in the Blues' first 6 games of the season.  He was also the only Blue to participate in the 2009 NHL All-Star Game, which saw him score the first goal of the game.  His point totals have trailed off in his eight seasons in a Blues jersey, considering in 2001-02 Tkachuk netted 38 goals and 75 points.  Scoring is not what Tkachuk was brought back for though.

Tkachuk has come a long way from his days of scoring 40-50 goals with the Phoenix Coyotes and Winnipeg Jets franchise.  Not only is he still widely known as a hitter and a mule in front of the net, but he has added much depth to his game.  Tkachuk spent a good portion of 2009 as a third line center, usually between the likes of gritty wingers Dan Hinote and Brad Winchester.  When Tkachuk was on these checking lines, there was always a chance that a puck would cross the opposing red goal line.  But his strength came in when he would forecheck and pressure the other team's defenses.  Growing a little older, Tkachuk learned to adapt his game and still be a presence even though he cannot score 40 goals in a season anymore.
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NHL Playoffs Rock On! First the East posted by Joshua Tarkoff

Welcome everyone to my first post here on the hockey blogs! I know I am a Floridian, but hockey certainly runs through my veins. Today, I will first be talking about the Eastern Conference. And...how about them Bruins! They look like the team they were when the season started. I was a bit concerned about them in the middle of the season, I mean after all they lost to the Panthers and the Lightning in one road trip. I did not think they were contenders when the playoffs started, but I am starting to rethink that now. Their power play gives me nightmares. Bruins in sweep, I say.

The biggest surprise series so far has to be Caps-Rangers. Just like the Bruins, I was not much of a believer in the Rangers, but after taking the first 2 in Washington, they may just have a chance. I must say that the Washington fans are tough, I watched them lose to my Panthers in March and the team started booing after just giving up 2 goals...rough crowd! Things do not look good if Ovie gets going though. Maybe it was because he was caught watching the Rangers practice the other day ( http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2009/news?id=4083635). Lol, that Ovie. Whatever his off the ice antics, I firmly believe he is the best player we have in the game right now. I had the privilege of watching him twice this year and I was astounded at how good he is. Caps in 7.

And NJ is quietly doing their thing without much fanfare. While I am not too much of a Devils fan, it is tough to go against Brodeur and company. They may not be pretty, but they do have a solid playoff system going there. I was thinking upset by the Canes at first as they finished the regular season so strong, but I can't go against Brodeur quite yet. Devils in 6.

Brodeur Deserves More Exposure posted by Jeff Ponder

The date is March 23rd, 1994.  A packed Great Western Forum hears loud cheers and screams for “The Great One” Wayne Gretzky, to score his 802nd goal, passing his childhood idol Gordie Howe for the all-time NHL goal record.  Geoff Courtnall of the Vancouver Canucks loses the puck on a short-handed opportunity, which results in the Kings skating it back down the rink and Marty McSorley finding an open Wayne Gretzky in the slot.  It was given; the man would score the goal.  Even before the puck was in the net, people rose from their seats and announcer Gary Thorne already had the play call in his head:  “To Gretzky… He scores!  He did it!  He did it!  The greatest goal scorer in National Hockey League history is Wayne Gretzky!”  This game was televised all across the United States and Canada, since the NHL knew that no one would want to miss the special moment.  This was one of the most important days in NHL history.

Another one of those days is coming up though, yet it seems that there are few people outside of the New Jersey Devils’ fan base that know it.  Martin Brodeur is just 3 wins away from passing Hall-of-Famer Patrick Roy in the all-time wins mark, as well as only 3 shutouts away from Terry Sawchuk’s 103 shutout record.  So where is the media coverage?  Why is it that we are hearing more about Sydney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin’s quarrels than the great achievements set forth by Brodeur?

Something that has made Brodeur’s story even more miraculous is that he has been scratched just 12 games over his previous 14 seasons.  Martin faced adversity earlier this season despite that iron-man streak, missing every game from November 3rd to February 21st with an elbow injury, which translates to a long 50-game span.  He came back to face the Colorado Avalanche in his first game back in the lineup on February 26th and recorded a shutout with 24 saves.  In just his third game back, Brodeur faced 27 shots and stopped them all against the Philadelphia Flyers to record his 100th career shutout.  Brodeur is a fantastic 4-1-0 since his return to the Devils’ lineup.
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The Rangers and the Devils- The Re-Birth of a Rivalry? posted by Andreas Junjulas

It's been quit some time since the New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils actually played a game that the Rangers didn't win in! Maybe just maybe it lit a spark in this heated rivalry, and I think it showed last night even while the Devils were kicking the Rangers butts all over the ice.  For the first time in a long time it was a rough and tough game that had plenty of fights in it, more than I've seen in recent bouts between the two teams. It  looked like a game out of the mid 90s where Mark Messier and Scott Stevens would be pushing and shoving after the whistle. All it took was for the Devils to stand up to the Rangers and finally play with them, and better than them for most of the game, to be honest.  As a Ranger fan, I had seen enough in last nights mess of a game, of course if your a Devils fan, there wasn't much of a reason for you to change the channel but it was Friday night and I had better things to do then watch the hated Devils beat up my Rangers so when I met up with some friends at a local pub, it was to my surprise to see a tie game 5-5, and I must've just missed the game tying goal cause seconds later just like the Rangers had done all game,  they let the Devils play and shoot in the middle of the ice, and it cost them. After the go ahead goal I figured maybe if I don't watch they'll come back again, but we all know that didn't happen, and I'm okay with the loss, I'll lose the battle to win the war so to speak, last nights game was one of the most passion I'd see out of them for awhile. It was defiantly one of the harder fought games I've seen in awhile, (Thank goodness for Rangers Replay at 2 am).  Hopefully for fans on both sides, this was just a preview of the kind of games we'll get to see down the road, the games where the players on the ice are playing for the name on the front of the jersey!

Duke fans gearing up for 2008-2009 basketball season posted by CiCi Star

While the week of Thanksgiving may mean family dinners, visits with the in-laws, and early morning shopping, Duke fans will have something to look forward to as well: the semifinals and championship game for the 2K Sports Classic Benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer. While the teams may be playing for a good cause, that doesn't mean it's not a reason to give the other teams a taste of what to expect for this season.

The Devils kick off the tournament Mon., November 10 against Presbyterian. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU. The team is still going strong with returning stars Greg Paulus, Gerald Henderson, John Scheyer, Kyle Singler, and Lance Thomas, who all showed exceptional talent last season, but look out for freshman Elliot Williams. Williams is looking to make a splash on the court this season as he begins his career with the Blue Devils.

Keep your eyes and ears open for other Blue Devil news as the 2008-2009 basketball season gets ready to begin.

Inbound link contest winner announced! posted by Earn Money Blogging

A big thanks to everyone who participated in the "Inbound Link Contest".  We have a winner!  A big congratulations go out to Marija.  Thank you for all your hard work on this.  While we had a lot of people participate, Marija was able to win with only 4 links!  So it wouldn't have taken a lot to win this contest!  We'll be having another contest soon so stay tuned.

The whole purpose of this contest was to get our bloggers networking with other webmasters and to start to build up their inbound links which will help their traffic.  Even a few links can help you with the search engines as they will see you as more of an authority on your topic the more inbound links you have.

To learn more about marketing your blog check out this post: http://www.nbabasketballonline.com/sports_content-rev_share_faq.html#my_faq_2971

Marija's blog can be found here.  If you're a Knicks fan, check it out: http://www.newyorkknicksnews.com/marijak

The original post announcing the contest can be found here: http://www.nbabasketballonline.com/bloggers/weblog/2984.html

And if you're not already signed up with Google AdSense and making money from your blog, check out our Revenue Share FAQ page: http://www.nbabasketballonline.com/sports_content-rev_share_faq.html

Inbound link contest - Win $100! posted by Earn Money Blogging

To try and motivate our bloggers to get inbound links we're going to have a contest to see which blogger can get the most inbound links to their blog. The contest begins now and ends July 31st, 2008. To be entered in to the contest all you have to do is go out and get as many websites to link to your blog as you can and at the end of the month send us an email listing all those links. All links must be active from August 1st through August 7th when we'll be judging the entries - a winner will be announced on August 7th. All entry emails must be received by Midnight on July 31st, 2008. You can email them to sportsfan@nbabasketballonline.com

We're going to impose some restrictions on the types of links you can get so please see below for the full list of links that do NOT count.

To get started simply go to Google and find other websites and blog that are about the sports and teams that you write about. Email the website owner and ask them for a link by explaining that you think your blog would be a good resource for their readers. Or offer to write a guest post for them with your by-line and URL at the bottom of the article. Or offer to exchange links with them by writing a quick write up of their site and a reciprocal link back to them. Some webmasters will be happy to add you to their blog roll even if you don't give them a link back (which is ideal) but some may want you to link back to them - you can easily do this with a quick blog entry on your blog about their website.

To learn more about inbound links and marketing your blog in general check out this post:

Last Stand of the Triumvirate - Tim Duncan's Waterloo? posted by Paul Olsen

What can you expect if you play the game at its fundamental peak, take the lion’s share of success in your domain and handle it with the gracious respect of a true champion?  If the sports world is any indicator, you can expect a vitriolic cocktail of umbrage, resentment and contempt.  

The New Jersey Devils, New England Patriots and San Antonio Spurs are the current dynasties of their respective sports, with identities woven into tight-knit defensive schemes.  Their longevity stems from a simple approach that enhances their compatibility with free agents, while superior scouting has kept their draft classes productive.  However, the systems these teams implement would be swept off in the current of personnel change, without their leaders there to anchor the culture of winning onto newcomers. 

Martin Brodeur, Tom Brady and Tim Duncan are the categorical leaders of their franchises, single-team pillars withstanding the flood of free agency’s frenzy.  Their illustrious careers have been cornerstones in the fluid rosters built around them.  Their General Managers have followed General Motors, using interchangeable parts without sacrificing their brand name.  This has worked to such an extreme, that the franchises have taken on their stars’ understated demeanors. 

Brady is the only one of the group that has any personality; Duncan sold his for additional basketball IQ, while Brodeur’s charisma is taxed by the costly translation from French.  As a result, excitement craving fans find themselves rooting against the incumbent champions and logic itself, pulling for such unlikely teams as the Anaheim Ducks, Carolina Panthers and Cleveland Cavaliers.  The only difference now, is that the field seems to be closing the gap.

Oilers' Deslauriers defeats Devils 2-0 (AP)

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From Yahoo! Sports

Oilers' Deslauriers shuts out Devils 2-0 (AP)

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Flames score 5 straight, beat Devils 5-3 (AP)

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From Yahoo! Sports

Maple Leafs send Skoula to Devils

The New Jersey Devils have acquired veteran defenseman MartinSkoula from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a fifth-round draft pick. [read full article]

From FOXSports.com News for NHL

Devils acquire D Skoula from Maple Leafs (AP)

The New Jersey Devils have acquired veteran defenseman Martin Skoula from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a fifth-round draft pick. The Devils announced the deal on Wednesday about three hours before the NHL trade deadline. The 30-year-old Skoula had three goals and five assists in 33 games with Pittsburgh. [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports