So what is with the funky looking outfits?  Apparently the couple asked their guests to wear these one-piece black -and-white swimsuits to their party in Mölle.  Some of the guests even decided to take a dip in the sea.

After playing some Where’s Waldo for a while, we did manage to find a few of Zetterberg’s current and former Red Wings teammates among the bunch, including Niklas Lidstrom, Johan Franzen, Mikael Samuelsson, Niklas Kronwall, Valtteri Filppula, Andreas Lilja, Pavel Datsyuk, and Tomas Holmstrom.  Think you can spot them?

Hat Tip – [Puck Daddy]

This weeks honorable mention goes to (C/LW)-Henrik Zetterberg of the Detroit Red Wings. Last week Henrik scored 3 goals and added two assists for 5 points. He also had two penalty minutes, a plus/minus rating of plus-6, 22 shots on goal, one game winning goal and won 38 faceoffs. Zetterberg has been a bit of a disappointment so far this year, mostly because of injuries, as he’s on pace for 71 points. However, as has been the case the last 3 years, Henrik will be bringing it in the playoffs for Detroit so don’t hesitate to take him in your office pools if you think the Red Wings can go far in the playoffs.

Lets take a look at the NHL Fantasy 3 Stars for Week 23.

3rd Star – Ilya Kovalchuk (LW), New Jersey Devils

Ilya Kovalchuk is having another great year as he’s currently on pace for 40+ goals and 80+ points. Last week Kovalchuk scored 3 goals and had 5 helpers for 8 points with 3 of those points coming while on the power play. He also had zero penalty minutes, a plus/minus rating of plus-4 and 16 shots on goal. Ilya has been a point a game player (20 points in 20 games) since being traded to New Jersey but questions still surround how he’ll perform in the playoffs with his lack of experience (2 points in 4 career playoff games).

2nd Star – Jimmy Howard (G), Detroit Red Wings

Jimmy Howard has been Detroit’s saving grace between the pipes so far and is a big reason why this team currently holds a playoff spot. Last week Howard collected 4 wins while posting a 1.23 GAA, .958 SAV%, made 114 saves and had one shutout. Jimmy already has 32 wins with a 2.24 GAA and .926 SAV% in 57 games played, not bad for a young goaltender who was supposed to be the backup in his first NHL season.

1st Star – Brian Elliott (G), Ottawa Senators

Just like Jimmy Howard, Brian Elliott was expected to play the role of backup heading into the season. However, due to the lackluster play of Pascal Leclaire, Elliott has become the Senators #1 and has provided Ottawa with some solid goaltending. Last week Brian collected 4 wins while posting a 1.00 GAA, .967 SAV%, made 116 saves and had two shutouts. Elliott is far from being a big name goaltender nor is he a flashy goaltender, but he gets the job done and at 24-years old has potential to improve even more.

Remember to check back in next week to see who the NHL Fantasy 3 Stars will be for Week 24.

No matter who they are playing, you can count on them to move the puck, bulge the twine, and play some solid defense in the process.  And when their opponent is the Phoenix Coyotes, both Datsyuk and Zetterberg always seem to have “tremendous sex” against them.

Wait….Tremendous what?

In another tongue twisting, sexual innuendo moment in sports television, this one coming during Versus’ broadcast of the Wings and the Coyotes, Andy Brickley seemed to have confused “sex” with “success”, creating quite the laughable moment for all who were watching.

Although the Wings would end up losing in overtime, both Datsyuk and Zetterberg did have success, combining to record four points on the night.  As for the sex, you will have to ask them about that.

The seventh week of NHL Fantasy 3 Stars is brought to you by the color red as you’ll see it on 3 out of the 4 players’ jerseys. Don’t fret though as we do show some love for other colors of the rainbow this week with our 3rd star sniper…who happens to be from Russia.

This week’s honorable mention goes to Niklas Kronwall of the Detroit Red Wings. Last week Kronwall had 3 goals and 4 assists for 7 points with 3 of those points coming while on the power play. He also had two penalty minutes, a plus-5 plus/minus rating and 8 shots on goal. Niklas has really become a solid fantasy defenceman the past few years as he gets you penalty minutes, has started to put up the points, will also get you some power play points and a good plus/minus rating playing for the juggernaut Red Wings.

Lets take a look at the NHL Fantasy 3 Stars for Week 7.

3rd Star – Ilya Kovalchuk (LW), Atlanta Thrashers

Wasn’t too sure how Ilya Kovalchuk would play coming back from his injury but he showed last week that it isn’t a problem. Kovalchuk potted 3 goals while adding 5 assists for 8 points with 4 of those points coming while on the power play. He also had zero penalty minutes, a plus/minus rating of plus-4 and 12 shots on goal. Ilya will be an interesting player to watch this season as he’s scheduled to become a UFA this summer.

2nd Star – Miikka Kiprusoff (G), Calgary Flames

The Calgary Flames have been hot recently and a big part of that is because of the play of goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff. Last week Kiprusoff collected two wins while posting a 0.97 GAA, .969 SAV%, 95 saves and one shutout. Miikka, just like his countrymen counter part Evgeni Nabokov, is a workhorse playing for a good team and is a top 5, maybe top 3, fantasy goaltender.

1st Star – Henrik Zetterberg (C/LW), Detroit Red Wings

Henrik Zetterberg is a top fantasy player who struggled out of the gate this season but after a great week last week has Zetterberg owners hopeful that his struggles are over. Henrik scored 4 goals while adding 5 helpers for 9 points with 3 of those points coming while on the power play. He also had two penalty minutes, a plus/minus rating of plus-5 to go with 12 shots on goal, 24 faceoffs won and two game winning goals. Although he usually saves his best for the playoffs Zetterberg is still a great player to have for your fantasy team as he’s a great talented player who plays in all key situations for the mighty Red Wings.

Remember to check back in next week to see who the NHL Fantasy 3 Stars will be for Week 8.

Total Pro Sports – With the start of the 2009-10 NHL Season upon us it’s time to take a look and see how each team stacks up. As per the norm, each preview will be broken down by division in order of how we think the team will finish.

Lets take a look at the Central Division for the 2009-10 NHL Preview.

1. Detroit Red Wings

Despite suffering a heart-breaking loss in the Cup Finals to Pittsburgh after being up 2-0 in the series, the Wings look poised for another run at the Cup even with the subtraction of some key players from last season.

The loss of Marian Hossa to division rivals Chicago will hurt. Losing both Jiri Hudler and Mikael Samuelsson is a big hit to their secondary scoring as well. However, they still have the great combo of Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. Johan Franzen is another big weapon on the wing and Daniel Cleary has shown an ability to score when paired with the right line mates in the past. Of course there’s Tomas Holmstrom who’ll make life miserable for goaltenders and Valtteri Filppula will look to improve on his 40 points from last season. Jason Williams is another guy to keep an eye on as he played great after going to Columbus last season, can skate like the wind and was part of the Wings 2002 Cup winning team.

Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski are probably the best 1-2 punch in the league from the point. Brad Stuart’s been solid since coming to the Wings in ’08 and Niklas Kronwall has established himself as a great top 4 d-man who can dish out hits and collect points. Youngster Jonathan Ericsson also showed in last year’s playoffs that he’s ready to take the next step and looks like a solid defender.

Goaltending rests on the shoulders of one Chris Osgood. If he falters through parts of the season like he did last year things could get dicey as they don’t have Ty Conklin to back them up anymore. Jimmy Howard looks decent enough, but he’s still unproven at this point.

2. Chicago Blackhawks

After finally giving their fans something to cheer about making the playoff and making it all the way to the Western Conference Finals last season, everything looks nice and promising for the young Blackhawks heading into the 2009-10 season.

Hurt to lose Martin Havlat but the addition of Marian Hossa should help the team, just too bad they didn’t do their due-diligence before signing him to a big long-term contract and wont be playing for Chicago until December. Despite that, the Blackhawks still have a solid forward group lead of course by Patrick Kane and young leader Jonathan Toews. Patrick Sharp should be good for 30+ if he can stay healthy and Dustin Byfuglien should continue to develop as the team’s top power forward. Kris Versteeg will look to build off of a successful rookie campaign along with Dave Bolland who had a solid sophomore season.

Despite the lack of a true hard-nosed/tough defender, the Blackhawks defence looks pretty good. Cam Barker enjoyed a nice breakout season showing why he was picked 3rd overall in 2004 and Brian Campbell is always a threat with his speed, offensive instincts and big hit capability. Duncan Keith also had a bit of a breakout season as well collecting 44 points in 77 games and Brent Seabrook really improved his defensive game putting up a plus/minus rating of plus-23 last season.

Just like Detroit, Chicago has a reliable experienced starter in Cristobal Huet but zero experience behind him in Corey Crawford and Antti Niemi. Huet has shown an ability to be a solid starter in Montreal and for his short time in Washington so I don’t think the Blackhawks have too much to worry about.

3. Columbus Blue Jackets

After making the playoffs for the first time in franchise history Columbus will not only look to make it back for the second consecutive year, but to also be a thorn in Chicago’s side and keep St.Louis at bay.

Rick Nash will continue to prove he’s one of the best power forwards in the game and Kristian Huselius will be able to take advantage of team’s focusing on Nash and put up some nice numbers of his own like he did in Calgary playing with Iginla. Jakub Voracek will look to improve after a so-so rookie season and if the pre-season has shown us anything it’s that Nikita Filatov will be in the hunt to win Columbus it’s 2nd Calder Trophy in a row. Derick Brassard is a young guy to keep an eye on as he looked great last season before being sidelined for the year.

Defence is really the only major weakness on this team as they don’t have any defencemen that stand out as true 1st pairing guys. The young Kris Russell showed an ability to put up points and Fedor Tyutin had a great year putting up 34 points while playing in all 82 games. Marc Methot will continue to build his reputation as a tough defender who can put up a few points once and a while and Rostislav Klesla will try to stay healthy as he’s due for a breakout season.

Things look solid between the pipes with Steve Mason coming off his Calder Trophy winning season and Mathieu Garon as his experienced and reliable backup.

4. St.Louis Blues

Like the Blue Jackets, the Blues surprised a lot of people last season by making the playoffs. However, like Columbus, they were eliminated in the 1st round and will look to improve.

Paul Kariya, Andy McDonald and Brad Boyes lead a group of young talented forwards. Patrik Berglund had a great rookie season along with T.J. Oshie who managed 39 points in 57 games. David Perron had a much better sophomore season reaching the 50 point mark and David Backes emerged as a young up and coming power forward scoring 31 goals and collecting 165 penalty minutes last season.

If everything goes well and players can stay healthy the defence will be better than expected. Eric Brewer leads the defence with hard-nosed Barret Jackman. Carlo Colaiacovo played solid after coming over from Toronto and Darryl Sydor is a solid addition. The wild card this year will be Erik Johnson who had a solid rookie campaign but missed all of the 2008-09 season due to injury.

The names Chris Mason and Ty Conklin don’t jump out at you, but both have proven over the years that they’re solid goaltenders. Mason will be given the #1 role after playing amazing in the 2nd half of last season, but if he falters Conklin will be right there to step in.

5. Nashville Predators

If it weren’t for being in such a tough division the Predators would have a better shot at making the playoffs.

Two very underrated players in Jason Arnott and J.P. Dumont lead the Preds forward group. Steve Sullivan looked great when he returned to the lineup last season collecting 32 points in 41 games. David Legwand will look to stay healthy as the team’s 2nd line centre and Martin Erat will be aiming for his first 60+ point season in his career.

Shea Weber had his coming out party in the 2009-10 season collecting 53 points and 80 penalty minutes in 81 games. Ryan Suter also showed that he’s worth his contract putting up 45 points while playing in all 82 games. Dan Hamhuis was his dependable self while Kevin Klein had a decent rookie season.

Despite the departures of Tomas Vokoun and Chris Mason over the past few seasons, Nashville is pretty solid in net. Pekka Rinne looked great in his rookie campaign posting 29 wins, a .917 SAV%, 2.38 GAA and 7 shutouts. Dan Ellis is a solid backup and able to step in in case of injury or poor play.

After delievering season tickets to longtime Penguins fan Alice Kilgore two years ago, he was told by the elderly woman that the team was not ready to win the Stanley Cup in 2008, but 2009 would be their year. Kilgore was right and Crosby rewarded her this time around when he made his delivery, bringing the Stanley Cup along with him.

The event was video taped (thankfully) as it certainly delivered some good laughs. The comedy occurred after Alice was given the opportunity to kiss the Cup. As you may have expected, she wanted to get her lips on something else.  A few uncomfortable comments later, and Kilgore likely had Sid feeling more heat than a shift against the Red Wings’ Henrik Zetterberg.

She did manage to come out of the whole ordeal with a peck on the cheek of the Pens’ captain, but you can only assume she would rather take the spot of the Stanley Cup being spooned by Crosby in bed.

Kilgore expressed the joy of seeing the Cup being raised by the young Penguin players out of the bus as they left Detroit, thinking the giant trophy was never taken from its glass case. As for her future predictions, she sees the Cup staying in Pittsburgh over the next couple of years. Sid will have extra incentive to make that a reality as a return to her house empty handed again may leave him with an extra couple of kisses (initially intended for the Stanley Cup) to avoid.

Here is the clip of Sid’s trip to the house of Alice Kilgore. Things get interesting at the 1:45 mark.

Hat Tip Via – [TheScoreBlog]

Perhaps no one was more bored after the first period than Fleury.  Facing only 3 shots in the opening frame, he was up to the task.  Sometimes a lack of work will only make things harder, but that wasn’t the case in the Penguins’ goal last night.  He would see another 9 shots in the second period, stopping all of them again, but it was the third that would really be his time to shine.  With the Red Wings needing a couple fo goals to even the game, they sent a barrage of rubber towards Fleury, but he wold hang in there, stopping all but one shot and ending the game with 25 saves, thus earning himself “The Stat Line Of The Night” for Tuesday June 9th, 2009.

While many have chosen to focus on the battle between Sidney Crosby and Henrik Zetterberg, another battle between the pipes has shapen up to be just as important.  Chris Osgood and Fleury have been back and forth, and it is very likely that the more dominant goalie in game seven Friday will be the one raising the cup that very night.

Ladies and Gentlemen we now have a series!

It looked scary for a while as Pens fans saw their team go into the second intermission being badly outshot 26-11, but the third period would be theirs, out-shooting the Wings 10-3 and outscoring them 2-0, one of those goals being an empty-net.  How did they do it?  Mostly on the backs of Evgeni Malkin (3 points), Marc -Andre Fleury (27 saves), and a surprise 2 goals from Max Talbot.  Despite such great individual efforts, it was a complete team effort in the third, with all four lines and six d-men skating hard, taking the body, and moving the puck well.  That would be too much for the Wings over the final 20 minutes, as they looked like the more tired of the two teams, and the final score reflected just that.

The game started off with a goal scoring spree in the opening period.  The Pens got on the board first after a Max Talbot one-timer from the slot found its way past Wings goalie Chris Osgood.  Less than two minutes later, Henrik Zetterberg grabbed a lose puck in front of the net and brought the Wings even again.  They would take the lead on a Johan Franzen one-timer, but Kris Letang would even it up again on the power-play.

The second period was tight checking and as a result the score never changed.  That would set the stage for the most important period of the post-season for the Penguins.

They replied, first with a power-play goal from Sergei Gonchar mid way through the third, then Talbot would seal it with an empty-net goal, his second of the night.

With the series now 2-1 in favor of the Wings, game 4 in Pittsburgh on Thursday will once again be much like an elimination game for the Pens.  They will not want to go down 3-1 to the Wings for the second year in a row, as it is a daunting task to beat the defending Stanley Cup champions three consecutive games, especially with two of those being in Detroit.

Sidney Crosby was able to find the score sheet for the first time in the series last night, but even with last change on home ice, he still had a difficult time getting away from Henrik Zetterberg.  One man who did have more room on the ice was Evgeni Malkin, and he responded with a large offensive output.

The Pens will need the same from him and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, as well as an improvement from Crosby in order to win three more games.  They will also hope that the Wings do not get their star forward Pavel Datsyuk back for game 4.  His presence means another strong defensive forward that will make things even tighter for the playoffs two leading scorers.  Oh ya, and did we mention that Pavel was 4th in the league in points?  Things might only get more difficult for the Pens from here, but if they expect to raise Lord Stanley, they will have to find a way to deal with it.  Otherwise it will be Deja Vu all over again.

Here are the game 3 highlights.

Blame it on the schedule, the refs, or the goalies.  Whatever the problem is, the Penguins better find a way to solve it going home, else they will be watching the Wings raise the Cup in front of them for the second straight season.

Game one had its fair share of ugly goals and game two was much of the same.  The Pens opened the scoring in the first period with a Brad Stuart own goal that was credited to Evgeni Malkin on the power-play.  The Wings would even it up in the 2nd after an icing by the Pens led to a Jonathan Ericsson goal off the faceoff.  It was questioned whether Dan Bylsma should have used a timeout, but after doing so in a similar scenario last game and still having a goal scored against, he decided against it this time.  That would prove to be a costly error as the goal changed the momentum and the Pens’ timeout would not be utilized throughout the remainder of the game.

The Wings continue to come at the Penguins and after a very controversial non-call by Marian Hossa to keep the play in the offensive zone, Valtteri Filppula would backhand a loose puck past a sprawling Marc-Andre Fleury to make it 2-1.  Penguin players voiced their displeasure towards the men in stripes, but to no avail.

The Penguins got their fair share of chances, hitting the post on several occasions, but Sidney Crosby and the gang could not solve Chris Osgood, and the Wings Justin Abdelkader would put a slap shot on a rolling puck over the glove of Fleury to seal a 3-1 victory.

In the dying seconds of the game, as the Pens tried desperately to put one by Osgood, some rough stuff would break out, eventually leading to a mock-fight between Malkin and Henrik Zetterberg.  Malkin would be assessed an instigator penalty, automatically carrying with it a one game suspension, but the call was later rescinded by league officials. That was the right call and it is doubtful that any Wings’ player or coach will dispute that.

It is also unlikely they will dispute the no-call on their second goal, but don’t expect the same from the Pens.  The refs have decided to put their whistles away during this series and although it has resulted in “unfair” chances for both teams, it has also kept the flow going, leading some (like Don Cherry) to applaud the efforts of the referees thus far.

So now headed back to Pittsburgh for game three set for Tuesday night, the Penguins will need to find a way to score.  They have been getting the chances and even though they go back home with similar results as last year, they have been much more effective this time around and have played step for step with the Wings.  Game three will be a big one, but expect the Pens to come out hard, and if they can get Crosby going, they have every reason to believe that they even the series before going back to Detroit.  But if Zetterberg, Osgood and the rest of the Wings continue to stymie Pens offense, it could be a much shorter visit to the finals this time around.

TPS was at game one over the weekend, and we must say, it was quite the atmosphere.  The Pittsburgh fans traveled in large numbers and could be heard loudly throughout the first two periods of the game, but in the end, it was the Wing fans singing loudest.  Here are a couple of the more interesting moments shared by Wing and Pens fans we happened to witness:

• Following the game, one wing fan slapped a Pens fan in the face with my poster.  That’s right.  I was carrying my piece of Joe Louis memorabilia that someone donated to me.  She took it from my hands, smacked him, and gave it back.
• A larger Penguins fan in the row behind us had one too many to drink, and after the Penguins scored, he was caught off-balance and fell onto the family of Red Wing fans beside us.  One of the younger girls was actually injured in the incident, requiring an ice pack later in the game.
• It is pretty surprising, but there was actually Toronto Maple Leaf jerseys in attendance.  Those Leaf fans are everywhere, and who can blame them.  It’s been a while since they have seen playoff hockey in their own building.

We didn’t get to see any flying kicks, or hot dog shooters, but it was a great game nonetheless.  Here are some of the things we caught on camera.

Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup Limo

Red Wings Limo

Joe Louis Arena

Stanley Cup Finals Pre-game Skate

Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup Finals Pre-game Fire

2009 Game 1 Stanley Cup Finals Faceoff

Oilers Fans At The 2009 Cup Finals

Even with two of their best players out, Detroit dominated the pace from start to finish, leading 2-0 after the first period, and 5-1 after the second.  The team’s other big names needed to step up if there wished to avoid losing their second game in a row and that was exactly what they did.  Henrik Zetterberg scored two, Marian Hossa had two of his own, and Johan Franzen and Valteri Filppula each added one apiece.

The firepower of the Wing players caused Blackhawks coach Joel Quenville to pull starting goalie Cristobal Huet at one point, only to put him back in for the start of the third.  Huet was in for an injured Nikolai Khabibulin.  Meanwhile, at the other end of the rink, Detroit goalie Chris Osgood also left the game with an undisclosed injury.

It is unsure what the status of Lidstrom, Datsyuk, Draper and Osgood are for game five on Wednesday night, but it is very likely that if they can play, they will.  Mike Babcock will leave nothing to chance against a resilient Chicago team.

Besides all the great goals, there was also another interesting play in yesterday’s game.  With the Wings comfortably in the lead late in the third, cameras caught an altercation between Hawks forward Patrick Kane and Johan Franzen.  As the two skated behind the net after the whistle, they continued to jaw at each other.  That’s when Franzen snatched the mouth guard from Kane’s mouth and threw it.

Kane was no longer the only thing that appeared to be lost on the ice.  Now he had to worry about his mouth guard too.  If the Blackhawks are to have any chance at coming back against the Wings, Kane will have to find his game.  As for finding his mouthguard.  Let’s just hope that if he did, he washed it first before using it again.