After Boyle’s chicken dance, Abdelkader admits he ‘would have liked to fight him’

Brian Boyle wanted to fight Justin Abdelkader at the end of Tampa Bay’s 2-0 loss in Detroit on Sunday.
That much was clear.
But Abdelkader wasn’t willing to go — for reasons unclear at the time — which led to Boyle busting out this chicken dance in Abdelkader’s direction:

NHL on NBC ✔ ‎@NHLonNBCSports

'Come at me, bro!'-Boyle#StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/CO9sB59MGf

Follow

NHL on NBC ✔ ‎@NHLonNBCSports

''- Boyle
(via @PeteBlackburn)pic.twitter.com/9W1btzfkzU

Only afterward did the full explanation come out.
Turns out Abdelkader was not, in fact, chicken — he had his injured hand taped up and, per NHL Rule 56 (b), “any player wearing tape or any other material on his hands (below the wrist) who cuts or injures an opponent during an altercation will receive a match penalty under Rule 52 – Deliberate Injury of Opponents.”

“I would have liked to fight him,” Abdelkader said, per MLive. “I asked the ref if I cut him, is it a misconduct, and I already got one, so I got to be careful.

RECOMMENDED SURE BET:

SOCCER PREDICTIONS FOR SUNDAY 18-04-2016

DENMARK SUPERLIGEAN:

Esbjerg – Midtjylland                        (2:0) 1 Alternative Handicap

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE:

Stoke City – Tottenham        2WIN

FRANCE LIGUE2:

Dijon - Paris FC                       1WIN

“Obviously, I want to stand up for myself, too, but this time of year when you got injuries and you’re banged up you got to be smart, too, and that’s what I’m trying to do.”

Just a few months ago, Rangers forward J.T. Miller was ejected from a game versus New Jersey for fighting Devils forward Sergei Kalinin with taped hands.

“It’s the call in the book,” Rangers head coach Alain Vingeault said afterward, per the New York Post. “If you’ve got tape above your wrist and the guy gets cut, it’s an automatic match penalty.”

Abdelkader, as mentioned, had already received a game misconduct earlier in the series, having been deemed the aggressor in a scrap with Mike Blunden at the end of Game 2.
So, he backed off.

As for his take on Boyle’s antics?

“It’s kind of funny, but if he wants to do that, that’s what he wants to show, whatever,” Abdelkader said. “It doesn’t affect me at all because I know what type of player I am.

“I stand up for myself when I’m healthy.”

CREDIT:http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2016/04/18/after-boyles-chicken-dance-abdelkader-admits-he-would-have-liked-to-fight-him/

Read More

Wild goalie Dubnyk sounds off on controversial call

Minnesota Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk is perplexed.

The Wild lost 2-1 to the Dallas Stars on Saturday, falling behind 2-0 in this first-round series. Dubnyk’s criticism seemed directed at the video review process, after a call of ‘no goal’ on the ice was overturned following a review, giving Dallas a 1-0 lead on a strange Antoine Roussel goal in the second period.

The puck hit off Roussel’s skate behind the net, onto the back of Dubnyk and eventually into the net. The net was dislodged and there was a question about whether there was a distinct kicking motion from Roussel.

Yet, after a review, the original call was overturned.

“It’s mind-boggling the outcome of that play in the playoffs,” said Dubnyk, as per the Pioneer Press.

“It’s not the ref’s fault. He waved it off. You tell me how they come up with conclusive evidence to overturn the call? It’s crazy. The ref made the right call on the ice. Somehow they have enough to overturn it in Toronto.”
 CREDIT:http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2016/04/17/wild-goalie-dubnyk-sounds-off-on-controversial-call/

Read More

Hot and Not: Brad Marchand, Corey Perry lead those trending up and down

 
A look at the players trending up and down across the NHL over the past week.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
A step up
Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins: Since returning from a three-game suspension, Marchand has been producing. The pesky forward extended his points streak to five games with a goal in Saturday’s 3-2 shootout win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. He has four goals and one assist during this streak. Marchand is also riding his second four-game goal streak of the season.
Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins: The veteran forward scored his first hat trick of the season to help the Penguins erase a two-goal deficit in the third period en route to a 5-4 win over the Vancouver Canucks. It was his 10th career regular-season hat trick.
Roberto Luongo, Florida Panthers: The veteran goalie made 38 saves, including 20 in the third period, to help the Panthers to a 5-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. The win was Luongo’s 422nd of his career, which is one shy of Tony Esposito for seventh place all time. Luongo is 7-0-0 in his past seven games on home ice. Overall, he’s 21-13-4 with a 2.11 goals-against average, a .930 save percentage and four shutouts.
A step back
R.J. Umberger, Philadelphia Flyers: The veteran forward hasn’t logged over 10 minutes of ice time in the past four games. Overall, he has only six assists in 30 games.
Ryan Callahan, Tampa Bay Lightning: He hasn’t registered a point in the past six games. This season, Callahan has only five goals and nine assists in 47 games. He was a minus-3 during Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the Panthers.
Marcus Foligno, Buffalo Sabres: The Sabres are on a two-game losing skid, and the forward has not registered a point in his past five games. Overall, he has three goals, six assists and a minus-6 in 42 games.

WESTERN CONFERENCE
A step up
Corey Perry, Anaheim Ducks: Perry scored twice to help the Ducks to a 4-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. It was Anaheim’s fourth win in its past five games. It was Perry’s fourth multigoal game of the season, and he leads the team with 19 goals and 31 points.
Semyon Varlamov, Colorado Avalanche: The goalie earned his fourth consecutive victory with a 42-save performance in a 3-1 win over the Dallas Stars on Saturday. In his previous start, Varlamov made 33 saves in a 2-1 shootout win over the St. Louis Blues.
Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks: The veteran forward had two assists to help the Sharks to a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. That pair of assists gave Thornton 930 for his career, passing Larry Murphy (929) for sole possession of 16th place on the NHL’s all-time list. Thornton is three points shy of becoming the 33rd player in history to reach 1,300. He has registered at least one point in 16 of the past 17 games, and has five goals and 17 assists in that span.
A step back
Blake Wheeler, Winnipeg Jets: Wheeler is having a solid season, with 13 goals and 32 assists in 48 games. However, before his assist during Saturday’s 3-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils, Wheeler had gone back-to-back games without a point for only the third time this season.
Andrew Ladd, Winnipeg Jets: Since a three-assist game against the Nashville Predators, Ladd has gone four games without a point.
Jordan Eberle, Edmonton Oilers: Although the Oilers are on a three-game losing skid, Eberle has one point in his past six games. Overall, he has 11 goals and 11 assists for 22 points in 37 games.

Read More

QU Men's Ice Hockey Ranked No. 1 In USCHO.com Poll

The Quinnipiac University men's ice hockey team was ranked No. 1 in the latest USCHO.com Division I Poll, as announced on Jan. 25, 2016. The Bobcats were at the top of the national poll for the second straight week and received 30 of the 50 first-place votes. Quinnipiac is currently 19-1-5 overall and 10-0-3 in ECAC Hockey, good for 23 points and first place in the league standings. In addition, the Bobcats enter their 14th consecutive week at the top of the PairWise Rankings.

The Bobcats skated to a pair of ties last week including a 3-3 tie at Maine and a 2-2 tie at home against national-ranked No. 16 Rensselaer. On Tuesday, Jan. 19 the Bobcats trailed 3-1 but scored twice in the final six minutes of regulation. Tanner MacMaster (Calgary, Alberta) scored the game's first goal before Maine rattled off three unanswered goals over the first and second periods. Sam Anas (Potomac, Maryland) scored the Bobcats second goal of the game before setting up Thomas Aldworth (Keller, Texas) with the game-tying goal with 46 seconds to play.

Against RPI, the Engineers jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the second period. Tim Clifton (Matawan, New Jersey) set-up the next two goals, assisting on Soren Jonzzon's (Mountain View, California) fourth of the season to cut RPI's lead in half, before Anas scored the game-tying goal with 9.4 seconds remaining. Despite the tie, Quinnipiac outshot the Engineers 48-26, and out-chanced RPI, 102-38, with four shots hitting the post during regulation.

Quinnipiac is now 2-0-5 in seven overtime games this season, while they also remain undefeated in 10 games on the road at 8-0-2. The Bobcats are also 10-1-3 in 14 games at High Point Solutions Arena. In addition, the Bobcats host a record of 6-1-0 against teams in the Top 16 in the PairWise Rankings and 7-1-1 in eight games against teams in the Top 20 in the PairWise.

The Bobcats are back in action this weekend when they travel to Hanover, New Hampshire to take on Dartmouth in an ECAC Hockey match-up at Thompson Arena at 8 p.m.

Read More

Ice hockey roundup for Monday, Jan. 11

 
Bernards 3, Pingry 1: Connor O’Neill, Michael Bliss and Trevor Clemson scored goals to send Bernards. Dakota Blain made 16 saves for the Mountaineers, who improved to 4-10-1. Matt San Miguel scored for Pingry.
Old Bridge 10, Edison 4: Tyler Kogut scored five goals to power Old Bridge (7-5). Steve Saporito chipped in five assists. Peter Hernandez finished with two goals and two assists. Heather Figueroa, Arthur Dzieniszewski and Anthony Ferrero also scored. For Edison (1-9), Robert Distefano recorded a hat trick and two assists.

Read More