Cabbie Time!

Cabral Richards, aka Cabbie, has been featured on this blog before. Personally, the guys from The Score sports highlight channel make watching hockey fun. They routinely break the mold of monotonous reporting and have fun with the highlights. Not all of them are great on the channel, but Cabral Richards' features are certainly some of the best interviews in the business. Not because he asks "the hard questions". Not because he works for a television station. But because it looks like the players actually have fun while doing his interviews. After all, how many times can you get asked "what did you think of the game tonight" before you go crazy?

Cabbie discusses the "unwritten rules" in hockey.


Cabbie finds out how much game the Commish has.

Turnovers Will Kill You: No, I'm not talking about the bakery item, although that might not be very good for you either. If you watched the Penguins-Flyers game last night, it was very apparent by the time that Malkin scored his shorthanded slapshot goal that turnovers will kill you in the playoffs.

Far too often, the Flyers found themselves chasing the Penguins into their own end after turning the puck over in the neutral zone. It directly led to three goals, and the Flyers know they have to be better.

"You turn pucks over and give up rushes against Crosby and Malkin, that's a game you can't play," said Flyers head coach John Stevens to The Canadian Press. "Every time you get an odd-man rush error, it favours them. Those are things we can't do.

"When we turn pucks over in the neutral zone, they come with too much speed, and they get you on the rush."

I expect the Flyers to be much better in Game Two tomorrow.

Hired To Be Fired: After seeing Paul Maurice dismissed by the Maple Leafs this week, head coach Joel Quenneville is leaving the Avalanche. According to reports, it was a mutual decision between Quenneville and the Avalanche, but you have to think that this has been in the works for some time.

The most cryptic comment came from Avalanche GM Francois Giguere. "Joel Quenneville has an outstanding reputation in this business," Giguere said to The Canadian Press. "When I was hired as a GM, I was a big believer in Joel. I still am a big believer in Joel. Sometimes, for whatever reasons, you need to go in separate ways. It doesn't mean you're not a good coach."

He believes in Joel, but doesn't want him around? Sounds a bit fishy to me.

All in all, there were some rumblings that Quenneville wasn't a very good "player's coach" in that he employed the trap when Colorado's stars were out with injury. He did take an underachieving Avalanche squad to the second round of the playoffs, though, so it's not like he didn't earn his salary.

This dismissal just seems odd to me.

Fabian Brunnstrom Update: This will be the only time I speak of Brunnstrom before next season. He signed with the Dallas Stars for a two-year entry-level contract that could pay him up to $2 million per season. Honestly, though, he's going to realize that NHL hockey is entirely different than the Swedish Elite League.

In 54 games with Farjestads BK Karlstad, he scored nine goals and recorded 28 assists. He led Farjestads in assists, but was only fifth in team scoring.

Personally, I can't see the 23 year-old being an impact player for Dallas. He might show flashes of brilliance, but Brunnstrom already is a late bloomer, and is now trying to catch up to the rest of the great young players.

Will he be the next Alexandre Daigle? Only time will tell.

Detroit is currently leading Dallas, so I'm heading back for more Hockey Night In Canada. Does anyone think Detroit isn't going to win? Dallas looks shell-shocked thus far, and this might be another short series if they can't find their game quickly.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!