2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 1

That time of year is finally upon us once again. Yes its time for the Stanley Cup Playoffs to get underway for the 2013 season and what a playoffs it has shaped up to be. After a grueling 48 game schedule, there are 16 teams left standing, and the two month chase for hockey's holy grail can begin. So with that in mind we here at Solly & Steve on Sports will give our predictions for how we think the opening round of the playoffs will go.

Jeff Miller (Producer and Tech Director)

Penguins over Islanders in 5

Senators over Canadiens in 6

Capitals over Rangers in 6

Bruins over Maple Leafs in 7

Blackhawks over Wild in 4 

Ducks over Red Wings in 7

Canucks over Sharks in 6

Kings over Blues in 7

Brendan Delaney (Social Media Director)

Penguins over Islanders in 5

Canadiens over Senators in 7

Maple Leafs over Bruins in 6

Blackhawks over Wild in 5

Ducks over Red Wings in 6

Sharks over Canucks in 5

Blues over Kings in 7

Danny Delaney (Intern and host of Fireside Chat)

Penguins over Islanders in 6

Canadiens over Senators in 5

Maple Leafs over Bruins in 7

Blackhawks over Wild in 5

Ducks over Red Wings in 7

Sharks over Canucks in 7

Blues over Kings in 7

Steve Carollo (Show Co-Host)

Penguins over Islanders in 6

Canadiens over Senators in 5

Maple Leafs over Bruins in 6

Blackhawks over Wild in 5

Ducks over Red Wings in 5

Canucks over Sharks in 6

Blues over Kings in 7

Matt Solomon (Show Co-Host)

Penguins over Islanders in 5

Canadiens over Senators in 6

Rangers over Capitals in 7

Bruins over Maple Leafs in 7

Blackhawks over Wild in 4

Ducks over Red Wings in 5

Sharks over Canucks in 6

Kings over Blues in 6

So there we have it our predictions for the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

(Note Danny, Steve, and Brendan refuse to pick the Rangers-Capitals series out of superstision and Director and Producer Gregory Delaney was undecided on his picks in the opening round so his are not in for that round at this time)

Jets trade Revis to Bucs

In a somewhat surprising move, the New York Jets have traded star cornerback Darelle Revis to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in exchange for the 13th overall pick in Thursday's Draft and a conditional pick in the 2014 Draft. The Buccaneers announced the deal on Sunday, saying Revis agreed to a new six-year contract. The deal is worth $96 million, making Revis the highest-paid defensive back in NFL history, but includes no guaranteed money, according to sources close to the Pro Bowl cornerback. The deal would make Revis one of the NFL's two highest-paid defensive players along with Mario Williams. With no money guaranteed to Revis by the Bucs, it gives Tampa room to work with financially if the contract doesn't work out the way they want.

Now with the trade and signing of Revis with the Bucs, its a double edge sword from my point of view. One the one hand the Jets are losing their best defensive player in sending Revis away. Now more of the pressure is going to be on Antonio Cromartie to be that shutdown guy with Revis being out of the equation. Revis had put plenty of fear into opposing wide receivers and made him even more dangerous.

On the other hand the move makes plenty of sense to let Revis go. At the end of this season he would have been a free agent and, depending on his play, who knows how much it might have ended up costing the Jets. They could have spent too much money trying to bring him back into the fold. They could have lost him to free agency and gotten nothing of value at all in return. Tampa Bay was the perfect fir for Revis and the Jets to be able to make this kind of move. Tampa Bay had plenty of cap space to be able to sign Revis to the big contract he wanted. And the Jets were able to get draft picks out of the deal so they would be able to rebuild.

As a Jets fan I hate so see Revis leave, because he has been so good in the secondary for the team. He has made a lot of key plays for the club at the right times and has been a big reason why the Jets were a success a few years back. At the same time though, he has also caused quite a few headaches over that same time span with contract disputes and holdouts. At times he looked like he would be more trouble than he's worth. So now he's Tampa's headache.

There are two interesting things that have come out of this story. One will be the reaction Revis gets when he is announced in the Tampa Bay lineup on kickoff weekend when the Bucs are in the Medowlands playing the Jets first game of the season. Also a little bit of interesting trivia to come out of this trade. The last time the Jets and Bucs made a deal was in 2000. Tampa Bay sent over their two first round pics in the 2000 NFL draft in order to pick up wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson. So the Jets and Bucs are not strangers when making deals with each other. This Revis trade looks to be helpful to both ball culbs not only now but in the future as well.

Pat Summerall Passes

Tuesday Night, legendary NFL Broadcaster Pat Summerall passed away. He was 82 at the time of his passing. During his younger years, Pat made a living in the NFL as a kicker and defensive end. He played one season (1952) playing for the Detroit Lions, then spent four years (1953-57) playing for the Chicago Cardinals, and finished his playing days (1958-61) with the New York Giants. Summerall's last professional game was the December 31, 1961 NFL Championship Game held at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers defeated Summerall's Giants, 37-0, holding New York to just six first downs. Summerall was not a factor in that game.

After his playing career ended, Summerall took up a career in Broadcasting. He got his first break in broadcasting in 1962 when he was hired by CBS radio to work as a color commentator on NFL games. Midway through the 1974 NFL season, CBS shifted Summerall from color to play-by-play. The network's #1 NFL crew now consisted of Summerall and analyst Tom Brookshier (with whom he had previously worked on This Week in Pro Football), and the colorful Summerall-Brookshier duo worked three Super Bowls (X, XII, and XIV) together. Summerall, Brookshier, NFL on CBS producer Bob Wussler, and Miami Dolphins owner Joe Robbie appeared as themselves during the 1977 film Black Sunday, which was filmed on location at the Orange Bowl in Miami during Super Bowl X.

In 1981, Summerall was teamed with former Oakland Raiders coach John Madden, a pairing that would last for 22 seasons on two networks and become one of the most well-known partnerships in TV sportscasting history. Summerall and Madden were first teamed on a November 25, 1979 broadcast of a Minnesota Vikings–Tampa Bay Buccaneers game. While the two were paired on CBS, they called Super Bowls XVI, XVIII, XXI, XXIV, and XXVI together.

Pat had a GREAT career in the booth calling NFL games, and it landed him some pretty high praise. The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association named Summerall National Sportscaster of the Year in 1977, and inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 1994. Summerall was the 1994 recipient of the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award, bestowed by the Pro Football Hall of Fame "for longtime exceptional contributions to radio and television in professional football". In 1999 he was inducted into the American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame.

Here now is a video tribute put together by the NFL Network remembering the life and works of Pat Summerall:


Pat Summerall passes at the age of 82! He will be missed as not only a broadcaster, but as a person!

Hitchcock Hits 600 Wins

with the Blues 2-1 shootout win Tuesday over Vancouver, head coach ken Hitchcock picked up career win number 600 behind an NHL bench. He becomes only the 11th coach in NHL History to hit the milestone, joining the likes of Scotty Bowman, Al Arbour, Dick Irvin, Pat Quinn, Mike Keenan, Joel Quenneville, Ron Wilson, Bryan Murray, Jacques Lemaire and Jacques Martin. Hitchcock is one of two active coaches in the NHL with 600 wins (the other is Quenneville). Only Bowman (.657) and Quenneville (.612) have better career point percentages than Hitchcock (.595).

Ironically both of the guys who have higher winning percentages than him also coached the Blues at one point during their careers (Bowman from 1967-1971 and Quenneville from 1996-2004). Both of those guys also led the blues to the playoffs every year they were bench boss in St. Louis (Bowman's first three years were appearances in the finals), so that may be a sign of things to come for Hitchcock and the Blues

Hitchcock has been head coach in four different cities, St. Louis (where he coaches now), Columbus, Philadelphia, and Dallas. During his career as coach, he won the Stanley Cup with the Stars in 1999 and the Jack Adams Award as Coach of the Year last year with St. Louis. Now as it relates to all time coaches, Hitchock is up there with some of the greats. Is he up at the same level as a coach with the likes of Scotty Bowman, Al Arbour or Dick Irvin? Not really no. Those guys are in a class all by themselves. Hitchcock does now how to be able to get the best out of his players on most nights and knows how to lead his hockey teams.

So congratulations to Ken Hitchcock on winning his 600th career game in the NHL!

Louisville Downs Michigan for NCAA Basketball Crown

After months of grueling play, at long last a national champion in hoops has been crowned. The Cardinals of Louisville claim basketball's biggest prize, beating Michigan 82-76. With the win, Louisville claims their first basketball championship since 1986.

This championship had it all: speed, aggression, a double-digit comeback, big plays by reserves. Michigan made more than half of its shots, but Louisville outrebounded the Wolverines and forced 12 Michigan turnovers. It was such an entertaining game, it's too bad they couldn't play another half … or three.

The Cardinals (35-5) lived up to their billing as the top overall seed in the tournament, though they sure had to work for it. Louisville trailed Wichita State by a dozen in the second half before rallying for a 72-68 victory. This time, they fell behind by 12 in the first half, then unleashed a stunning spurt led by Hancock that wiped out the entire deficit before the break.

Hancock lead Louisville in scoring with 22 points on the game, while Trey Burke lead Michigan with 24 points on the night. Burke started out on fire for Michigan, hitting his first three shots and scoring seven points to match his output from the semifinal victory over Syracuse, when he made only 1 of 8 shots. Hancock matched Albrecht from the 3-point stripe. Then, trapping the youngster and knocking the ball away, he set up a fast break that ended with Siva flipping up a lob that Montrezl Harrell slammed through for a dunk, capping a stunning 16-3 run in less than 4 minutes that gave the Cardinals their first lead of the night, 37-36.

Michigan had controlled play in the first half and actually had a one point lead going into the break. It wouldn't last though, as Louisville came out on fire and outscored the Wolverines in the 2nd half 45-38. What did in Michigan was mistakes, turning the ball over 12 times during the ball game and being outrplayed by the Cardinals in the 2nd half. Some would say that there were a few bad calls made by the refs during the course of the ball game, and they'd be correct. A few foul calls made against both squads were made, but the one against Michigan late is what did the Wolverines in at the end. With 5:09 left and Louisville ahead 67-64, Michigan point guard Trey Burke was called for a foul on Peyton Siva -- on what looked, on replays, like a clean block. Siva hit both free throws, jump-starting a 7-2 run that gave the Cardinals a 10-point cushion with three minutes left. The Wolverines never recovered. Now that had been a problem through most of the tournament in that the officiating had been below standards. So i just hope the NCAA takes a good, hard look at this during the summer months and get it fixed by the time basketball tips off again next fall.

With the win by Louisville it ended a 27 year drought between championships. Among schools with multiple titles in college hoops, that drought was the 2nd longest in the history of college hoops. The top four longest droughts between national championships are as follows: Kansas went 36 between titles (1952-1988), then its Louisville, who went 27 years between titles (1986-2013). North Carolina is 3rd with a 25 year drought (1957-1982). Finally its Indiana with a 23 year dry spell between titles (1953-1976).

So Congratulations to Louisville on winning the NCAA Men's Basketball National Championship!

NHL Approves Re-Alignment

It has finally happened. The NHL and NHLPA have approved the re-alignment for the league effective next season. A few teams will be switching conferences and the divisions have been broken down based on geographic location. So lets take a look at how things will work out for the breakdown of divisions plus how games will be played and the playoffs.

So we start with the new look western conference. First Division A will have in it the following teams: Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings, Phoenix Coyotes, Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, and the Edmonton Oilers.  Now with Division B it will have in it the following teams: Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Perdators, St. Louis Blues, and the Winnipeg Jets.


The Eastern Conference has taken on a whole new look as well, with the addition of two brand new clubs and some divisional shake ups. So lets start off with Division C, which will consist of the following teams: Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Finally there is Division D, which will consist of the following teams: Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Washington Capitals.

So that is what the new divisions will look like. With the new alignments in the league, that will mean new schedule breakdown and new playoff format. First here is how the schedule is going to play out. Western Conference has 7-team divisions. Within the division, 29 games will be played  5 games vs. five teams (3 Home/2 Away vs. two teams, 2 Home/3 Away vs. three teams) AND 4 games vs. one team (2 Home/2 Away). Teams rotated on a yearly basis. Now when it comes to playing teams in Conference outside the division it will look like this: 21 games * 3 games vs. each team (2 Home/1 Away vs. four teams, 1 Home/2 Away vs. three teams). Teams rotated on a yearly basis. Finally when it comes to playing Eastern Conference teams it will look like this: 32 games * 2 games vs. each team (1 Home/1 Away) (Exception: one team from each division plays one less game inside Division and one more game inside Conference outside Division).

So that is how things play out in the West. As for the Eastern Conference, where there are 8-team divisions, it looks a bit like this. When you play teams from you're Division it goes as follows: 30 games * 5 games vs. two teams (3 Home/2 Away vs. one team, 2 Home/3 Away vs. one team) AND 4 games vs. five teams (2 Home/2 Away). Teams rotated on a yearly basis. When you play the teams in the East that aren't in your division it breaks down like this: 24 games * 3 games vs. each team (2 Home/1 Away vs. four teams, 1 Home/2 Away vs. four teams). Teams rotated on a yearly basis. Finally when you play a team from the Western Conference it looks like this: 28 games * 2 games vs. each team (1 Home/1 Away).

So there is how the schedule breaks down. The playoff formatting will be a little easier to understand. The top three teams in each division will make-up the first 12 teams in the playoffs. The remaining four spots will be filled by the next two highest-placed finishers in each conference, based on regular-season points and regardless of division. It will be possible, then, for one division to send five teams to the postseason while the other sends three. The seeding of the wild-card teams within each divisional playoff will be determined on the basis of regular-season points. The division winner with the most points in the conference will be matched against the wild-card team with the lowest number of points; the division winner with the second-most points in the conference will play the wild-card team with the second fewest points. The teams finishing second and third in each division will play in the first round of the playoffs. The winners of each series will play for the divisional championship. The two divisional champions in each conference will then play in the conference finals to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.

That's how things will look in the NHL next season with re-alignment. One of the biggest disappointments expressed over the realignment is the loss of one of hockey's biggest rivalry's in the Blackhawks and Red Wings. Yet in retrospect it kickstarts a renewal of old rivalry's between Detroit and Montreal and Detroit and Toronto. Plus with having teams clustered into divisions based on geographical location, it saves on wear and tear on teams due to travel during a long season. Most players get tired both mentally and physically during the course of a hockey season. By having the divisions now set up as they are it will make things easier on the players and they won't have to travel as much. That could save the careers of some players and cut down on the long grind of travel.

It may not look like it right now but in the long run it will benafit the league and the players!

Anquan Boldin Delt to 49ers

The Baltimore Ravens made a very surprising move yesterday in trading stud receiver Anquan Boldin to the San Fransisco 49ers in exchange for a 6th round draft pick. A 10-year veteran, Boldin led Baltimore with 65 catches for 921 yards and four touchdowns in 2012. He was sensational in the postseason, totaling 16 receptions for 276 yards and three scores. Boldin spent the first seven seasons of his NFL career with Arizona, which lost the 2009 Super Bowl to Pittsburgh. In that game, Boldin caught eight passes for 84 yards.

Last season Baltimore had the 15th best passing team in the NFL averaging 233.7 yards per game through the air. Now with Boldin taken out of the mix, the top pass catches in Baltimore will be Ray Rice Dennis Pita and Torrey Smith. Nobody is really quite sure why the Ravens decided to move Boldin, who was by far the club's #1 receiver. It leaves Ravens QB Joe Flacco with a few less targets to throw to next season, so it will be interesting to see how the Ravens turn this around without Boldin in the lineup.

What hurts the Ravens will now seriously help the 49ers. Last year San Fran had the 23rd best passing offense in the league, averaging 206.1 yards per game through the air. San Fran's leading receiver from a year ago was Michael Crabtree, who had 85 catches for 1105 yards and 9 touchdowns. Vernon Davis was the 49ers other big time threat at the receiver position with over 500 yards receiving a year ago. Now with Boldin thrown into the mix, the 49ers have a great one-two punch with Boldin and Crabtree. This is a similar situation for Boldin, who was part of another great one-two punch with Larry Fitzgerald in Arizona when he played for the Cardinals.

So now with Boldin going to the 49ers and Percy Harvin headed for the Seattle Seahawks in the other trade yesterday, the NFC West just got a lot tougher to play in.St. Louis and Arizona are going to have an uphill climb in the division with the improvements made by Seattle and San Fransisco already. And if this is all done before free agency has even fully kicked off, things are going to be real interesting as the summer moves along.