My Sports News Digest

NEW YORK — Alex Ovechkin is one of the most dynamic players in hockey. He commands attention from top defensive players every time he steps on the ice. For seven games in the first round of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, he battled with Boston’s Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg, exchanging huge body blows with each while trying to find space to produce offense. Alex Ovechkin Left Wing – WSH GOALS: 2 | ASST: 3 | PTS: 5SOG: 29 | +/-: -1 Ovechkin isn’t likely to face the same physical warfare in the second round against the New York Rangers, [...]

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ZURICH – It’s not easy putting a Team Canada on ice for the first pre-tournament game en route to the world championships. You have players who have been off the ice for two weeks and players who have been off the ice for two days. And there are all sorts of interesting challenges involving travel – like here on Saturday. Head coach Brent Sutter was putting his charges through the first full practice prior to today’s game against Switzerland in Fribourg – 130-kilometres away – when into the rink, carrying their Chicago Blackhawks equipment bags, strolled Patrick Sharp and Duncan [...]

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NEW YORK — There was no space out there, barely any room in any of the would-be shooting lanes. The Rangers could have gotten frustrated; they could have tried to force the issue. Brad Richards Center – NYR GOALS: 3 | ASST: 3 | PTS: 6SOG: 32 | +/-: -1 They didn’t. It’s partly why there were able to earn a 3-1 victory in Game 1 against Washington on Saturday at Madison Square Garden. “Frustration is definitely not a word I’d use. It was just patience,” said center Brad Richards, whose goal 8:30 into the third period gave the Rangers [...]

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GLENDALE, Ariz. – The Phoenix Coyotes’ first-ever foray into the Western Conference Semifinals looked a lot like the formula that got them their first-ever series win in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Timely goals from unlikely sources. An ugly overtime game-winner. And a whole lot of spectacular play from Mike Smith in between. Seven games into the postseason, the Coyotes haven’t been particularly happy with any of their five wins. But in the immortal words of “Bull Durham” hero Nuke LaLoosh – “Winning … it’s like, you know, better than losing?” Seven playoffs games have produced six overtimes and four Phoenix [...]

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ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – At 3:36 a.m. Zurich time, with most of them in the air flying here, Team Canada became Canada’s Team. When the Ottawa Senators were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs in Game 7 in New York, it became the first time since 1996 that no Canadian franchises would be involved in the second round. And if there ever was a year for that to happen again, it’s perfect for the players on Team Canada preparing for the world hockey championships, which open next week in Helsinki. They’re likely the most star-studded collection of young Canadian hockey stars [...]

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A quick scan of the NHL’s final regular-season standings showed that two divisions clearly stood above the pack. Not only were the Atlantic and Central the only divisions to have four teams qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they were also the only divisions in modern history to boast four teams with more than 100 points. But with the first round of the postseason now in the books and three of its teams having advanced, the Atlantic looks like the class of the League. “It’s pretty obvious that it [the Atlantic] is the best division in hockey,” said defenseman Steve [...]

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The first week of the postseason should have been indication enough that the opening round of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs was going to be something special. In the end, it took 48 games, a record 16 overtimes, and countless unforgettable moments to make this a first round that fans won’t soon forget. 1. More overtime: Could there have been a more appropriate ending for the first round than the double-OT finale between the Devils and Panthers on Thursday? Of the three Game 7s in the first round, two required overtime, and three of the eight first-round series ended with [...]

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NEW YORK – The Senators played their hearts out, only to have them broken by the New York Rangers. In the end, the Senators couldn’t write the storybook finish to their storybook season after they dropped a 2-1 decision in Game 7 of their first-round series Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. In what may have been his final game with the Senators, captain Daniel Alfredsson led the charge with one of his best games of his season and the only shot that beat Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist. Goaltender Craig Anderson, still looking for his first series victory of his [...]

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