Around The Stanley Cup Playoffs: Ference Fined(video), Ruutu Suspended 1 (video), Scoring First The Key To Wins

Added on Apr 22, 2011 by J Merrill in

NHL

Ference Fined For Finger

After skating about 20 feet after scoring the go ahead goal against the Montreal Canadiens, Andrew Ference of the Boston Bruins gave the Habs fans the finger(see video.) It was game 4 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal at the Bell Sentre, when the infraction occurred.

The incident was reviewed by NHL Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Mike Murphy, and the decision was made to fine Ference. The fine was levied for violation of Rule 75.5 (ii) of the National Hockey League’s Official Rules. For the record, the 2,500 hundred dollar fine was the largest that the NHL could levee against Ference, and all the money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

Game 5 between the Habs and the Bruins will take place on Staurday:

Ruutu Suspended

Anaheim Ducks forward Jarkko Ruutu was suspended for one game following a hit he put on Nashville Predators forward Martin Erat in game 4 between the two teams. In the quarterfinal game of the Western Conference, Rutuu delivered what is now being called a late hit on Erat at about 4 minutes into the second period(video below.)

Both teams are upset about the suspension. The Predators might end up losing a top guy for multiple games in Erat, where as the Ducks lose a player who plays about 5 minutes a night. When the disciplinary hearing was announced that it would take place after the game, coach Randy Carlyle was furious it was even being looked at. Carlyle said “To me, it’s absurd that’s there’s even mention of a hearing when a guy has a shoulder-on-shoulder body check as the player passes the puck. They’re saying that was so many tenths of a second after they allow. This was two-tenths, or three-tenths of a second past the allowable time. It’s kind of mind boggling.”

Ruutu will sit out game 5 tonight, below is the hit in question:

Scoring First The Key To Playoff Wins So Far

John Kreiser from NHL.com has been crunching the numbers as far as how important is it to have home ice advantage during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and it turns out that its a much bigger deal to score first.

Kreiser notes that during the regular season, taking into account all 1,226 games played, the first person o score won the game 68.8 percent of the time. This is up from 67.1 percent last season and 68.0 percent in 2008-09.

However, the number has dramatically increased in the first 33 games of 2010-11 Stanley Cup Playoffs. So far, the team that has scored first has won 27 times for a total of 81.8 percent. That is thirty percentage points ahead of last season. Last season, the team that scored first won just 17 of the first 33 games (51.5 percent) and only 30 of 49 in the opening round (61.2 percent).

So far in the Playoffs, a home ice advantage has come into play 44% of the time. Obviously, its much better to get on the board first!