Sooners face big second half of the season

By: Carter Baum

With a sweep of No. 6 Illinois this weekend on the road, the No. 8 Sooners improved to 12-7-1 at the mid-point of the season.

After losing three games in three days against No. 17 Arizona and No. 1 Arizona St., the Sooners needed two wins in Illinois and nothing less because the rest of the schedule is very rough.

The second half begins this weekend with two games against in-state rival No. 16 Central Oklahoma and the first half of this season hasn’t been all that different from the first half of the season last year.

Last season, heading into the UCO weekend, OU was 17-6-1. That record included being swept by then-No. 4 Arizona State and splitting a weekend with then-No. 20 Arizona. The Sooners came off the loss to Arizona and then went on to sweep then-No. 3 Lindenwood on the road the week before playing UCO. Ring a bell?

Where the script needs to change is what happened after the road sweep. The Sooners lost 5-2 and 4-0 to a then-No. 18 Central Oklahoma.

This year, the Bronchos are 10-9, but don’t let their record fool you. UCO went 3-1 this season against a No. 9 Lindenwood team that has stumbled early, much like the Sooners. The Bronchos also swept Arizona in the two days after OU couldn’t handle the Wildcats.

After UCO, Oklahoma has a short holiday break before they touch every corner of the continent. They will play two games at the Great Northwest Showcase in British Columbia, then travel to Michigan for two games against No. 2 Adrian and one game against No. 10 Oakland. Then it’s off to Alabama to play two games against Alabama-Huntsville (NCAA D-I) before a three game stretch in Arizona with a game against Arizona St. and two against Arizona.

All four weekends of games will be tough for OU. All involve lots of travel. And all are in consecutive weeks.

Add to that two more games against UCO and then another long trip to Penn St. (NCAA D-I) to finish the season, the marathon spring for OU is going to be brutal. Four games against NCAA D-I teams on the road, three games against the current top-two teams in the nation, six games against teams ranked 10-17 right now and only four home games. 

The closest thing to a break will to be two games at home against a good D2 team, Colorado State, at the end of January and a one game weekend against Iowa State a week later. Not much of a break. Oklahoma had two weekends off in the first half, but there's no stopping after Christmas. 

That brings us back to the past weekend against Illinois. The Sooners needed two wins. They got those wins. Looking ahead, they could really use another two this weekend against UCO.

The schedule from here on out doesn’t allow for missteps. If they aren’t careful, the Sooners could find themselves in the play-in games to the National Championship Tournament come March, or possibly worse.  

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2012 NHL Playoff Preview (Part II)

Yesterday, I took a look at the pretty straight-forward Eastern Conference. I call it straight-forward not because of the match ups but because most of the teams have been in their current position for a while.

The West is a completely different story. There was an all-out assault by four of the Pacific teams up until the  last week of the season when the Stars were essentially eliminated and that number dropped to three. There was so much confusion that up until the last week, it was useless to try and formulate the 'magic number' on the playoff security. But also in that mix was Colorado trying to claw their way in and then Calgary who put themselves on the outside looking in about a month ago with a string of losses but still almost climbed back.

Not only was there a free for all just trying to get in, there was a battle going on in the middle for home-ice advantage in the first round between Nashville, Detroit and Chicago and then there was a still fight for the Presidents Trophy and number one overall seed until the last night of the year. In the West, nothing was known until it was all said and done.

So let's take a look at the match ups that we did end up with.

#1 Vancouver Canucks vs. #8 L.A. Kings
These two teams each won two of the four game series in the regular season, but that means absolutely nothing now.

The Canucks really had a bad slump from about mid-February to almost mid-March in which they went only 5-9, not what you'd expect from the top-seed in the West. Vancouver was able to hold on and turn it around at exactly the right time though. They won the Presidents trophy for the second straight year with a win Saturday and the Sedin twins once again led the team finishing 1-2 in scoring. Roberto Luongo hasn't been as great as he once was this year but its obvious he's passed his advice on to Cory Schneider who has played phenomenal in his increased role this season.

Los Angeles is a young team that has weathered the storm the past few seasons and now have the supporting cast to help young Anze Kopitar. Jonathan Quick has played out of his mind this season posting a 1.95 GAA and .929 SV% in 69 games. The Kings did have to ride him late just to make the playoffs and fatigue could become a factor especially if they make a deep run.

I think Los Angeles is headed in the right direction and next year could be their best in quite a while but Vancouver is just playing too hot right now for the Kings. Normally I would say this would be a 5 game series, but this one could go six or maybe even seven only because of Jonathan Quick.

I've got Vancouver in 6.

#2 St. Louis Blues vs. #7 San Jose Sharks
The Blues swept the four game season series and I see this series going somewhat along the same lines.

Ken Hitchcock. Ken Hitchcock. Ken Hitchcock. He is the only reason the Blues are in the position they are, just missing the number one seed by two points. St. Louis has had some down years recently and with them they were able to draft some high talent. Now Hitchcock comes in and is able to get everything to mesh together. This team doesn't have one star player, but rather they spread the points around. Backes, Oshie, Pietrangelo, Shattenkirk and Perron all have 40+ points. Couple that with two of the best statistical goalies in the league in Jaroslav Halak (1.97 GAA, .926 SV% in 46 games) and Brian Elliot (1.56 GAA, .940 SV% in 36 starts) and you've got a solid team that I see going deep. They don't score a ton of goals but they have the least allowed in the entire league playing in the Central Division where they play Nashville, Detroit and Chicago six times each.

San Jose is a good team once again led by 'Jumbo' Joe Thornton with 77 points with Logan Couture, Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski all hovering in the 60+ point range. Antti Niemi has had a good season, but his team leaves him out to dry way too much to be able to compete with this Blues team. He allows almost 2 1/2 goals per game but still saves over 91% of his shots. Especially with the Blues goaltending tandem, the Sharks aren't going to be able to outscore their opponent.

The Sharks are an aging team trying to compete with the youth of St. Louis. I just don't see them standing much of a chance in this series. I'm taking St. Louis in 5.

#3 Phoenix Coyotes vs. #6 Chicago Blackhawks
Against all odds, the Coyotes have made the playoffs for the third season in a row. And although everyone wanted the Chicago-Detroit match up in the first round, this should be a good series.

Dave Tippett is the magician that makes this team run. There was an amazing article in Sports Illustrated a while back that detailed his daily life in an organization that has been on life support in Phoenix for several years and almost had the plug pulled on several occasions. The fact that this team is here, much less for the third year in a row, can be directly attributed to him. Veteran Ray Whitney, Radim Vrbrata and long-time captain Shane Doan have led this team offensively while Mike Smith has been solid in net. Smith has a 2.21 GAA but still manages to stop 93% of the shots against him. This is a team that has almost no depth and relies on Smith way too much, but they deserve all the credit in the world for winning the Pacific this year.

The Blackhawks have been able to rebound after their purging of players in the summer after their cup victory and this is a young, talented team. Hossa, Sharp, Kane and Toews lead this team all with over 55 points. Corey Crawford isn't performing as well as he did last season, but he doesn't have to this time around. Chicago has a solid defensive core centered around Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Niklas Hjalmarson that is there to help him out. 


This will be an interesting series to see how Phoenix performs after a long playoff push and they have the ability to vary the length of the series but I don't see them winning it. I like Chicago in 6.


#4 Nashville Predators vs. #5 Detroit Red Wings
Nashville won home-ice advantage in this series by two points. That is more important to them than it is for Detroit because they avoid the extra game in the always-brutal Hockeytown. Each team was 2-1 at home during the regular season series, but those weren't playoff crowds. 


Nashville is another team that does a great job spreading the wealth on offense with seven players between 40 and 60 points. Pekka Rinne is the anchor of this team in net and is the key for this team in the playoffs. Veterans Martin Erat, David Legwand and Mike Fischer are top three in scoring and all three need to contribute in order to help out Rinne in net. One thing Nashville cannot afford to do is leaving Rinne out to win the series himself against this Detroit team. 


The Red Wings are the epitome of consistency in the NHL. Detroit has made the playoffs in 21-straight seasons including four Stanley Cups during that time. They have a great history of getting production from the classic veterans in their lineup as well as the younger players coming in and this season is no different. Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk and Valterri Filppula all have 65+ points and are followed closely by Johan Franzen and Juri Hudler with over 50 points. Jimmy Howard has taken the reins of an organization that has relied on veteran goaltenders in years past and is the future of the team, and the future is bright. 


I think Nashville will be a good opponent for Detroit and this will be the closest series in the West but Detroit is just too big of a task for Nashville. I've got Detroit in 7. 

2012 NHL Playoff Preview (Part I)

Starting tomorrow, my schoolwork will probably take a back seat and my grades will definitely suffer due to one of the greatest sports spectacles known to man -- the Stanley Cup Playoffs.


The regular season has flown by and I feel like I've lost touch with the NHL this year because here in Oklahoma, the Thunder are king. With the compressed NBA schedule they seem to be playing almost every night and simply keeping up with my Stars has even been affected. No need to fear though, due to the great invention known as the NHL GameCenter, I can hopefully watch at least some of the early round playoff games before heading home for summer.


Looking ahead to the first round match ups, we'll start in the Eastern Conference.


#1 New York Rangers vs. #8 Ottawa Senators
Although the Rangers have only been able to pull away 3 points in the 4 games against Ottawa in the regular season, I don't see the playoffs going in the same direction.


Henrik Lundqvist is going to be the backbone of the Rangers' playoff run. He once again posted career numbers this season (.930 SV%, 1.97 GAA) and John Tortorella has done a great job this season of resting him through the regular season, playing in only 62 games. The Sweede goaltender will be tougher than ever to beat come puck drop Thursday night. Combine that with the scoring tandem of Gaborik and Richards with Callahan, Stepan and Del Zotto in the supporting cast, the Rangers aren't going to be stopped, at least not by this Ottawa team.


Nothing against the Senators though. Jason Spezza had another 30-goal season and with assist machine defenseman Erik Karlsson (59 on the season) the Senators aren't going to make this a breeze for New York, especially with Craig Anderson in the net. Anderson isn't exactly posting league-leading numbers, but he is a vital part of his team's success, being in net for 33 of the teams 41 wins.


Ottawa will be a good test for the Rangers, but I just don't see them being able to pull this one out. My guess is Rangers in 5.


#2 Boston Bruins vs. #7 Washington Capitals 
This series is a tale of two teams who started out the year on bad feet but were able to turn it around when it mattered.


The Bruins started their defense of the Cup by going 3-7 in the first month of the season but were able to pull a complete 180 by going 14-0-1 in the month of November and the first two games in December.


The Caps started out the season going 7-0 but then didn't live up to their expectations, leading to the firing of Bruce Boudreau on Nov. 28th. Washington didn't lock up a playoff spot until their 81st game, but none the less made it to the postseason.


This series, like the Rangers-Senators, involved the higher-ranked team only pulling out 3 points in 4 games during the regular season. And like the first, I just don't see the Caps being able to pull the upset here.


Alex Ovechkin has been able to ramp up his production in the last part of the season which is always a plus for Washington, but as with in years past, the teams goaltending situation isn't cut and dry. Thomas Vokoun played in 48 games while Michal Neuvirth played in 38, with both post similar enough numbers to leave it to question who is the clear starting goalie. If one has an off game the questions will immediately arise about whether the other should get a chance. A team cannot be expected to play together when theres a conflict and can't simply rally around one go-to guy.


With the Bruins, the story is completely opposite. Without a doubt, it is going to be Tim Thomas in net. The Vezina and Conn Smythe winner from a year ago is the go-to guy. And if for some reason Thomas cannot play, Tukka Rask is a qualified goaltender who has the ability to carry this team as well. Add that to the four players with 60+ points -- Seguin, Bergeron, Krejci and Lucic -- Boston should be able to pull out the series win.


I'm going to say Boston in 6.


#3 Florida Panthers vs. #6 New Jersey Devils
Here, Florida is only the higher seed by virtue of winning the Southeast Division. The Devils finished the season with 8 more points and 10 more wins than the Panthers.

Ilya Kovalchuk finally began to live up to his monumental contract from two summers ago and he’s gotten some help with Patrik Elias and Zach Parise picking up some of the offensive responsibilities. Martin Brodeur is likely in his last NHL season and although his Superman-like numbers have began to slip in the last few years, you can bet he wants to go out on top and his teammates want to win this year for him more than anything.

The Chicago Blackhawks take two that Dale Tallon has assembled in Florida over the past two seasons is starting to pay off. Tomas Fleischmann led the way for this team with the likes of Stephen Weiss, Kris Versteeg and defenseman Brian Campbell following directly behind. Veteran Jose Theodore has been able to revive his career once again in the Sunshine State and has taken the brunt of the goaltending duties this season. The Panthers have one of their best teams in years on the ice and deep playoff experience of Versteeg, Campbell, Kopecky and Samuelsson, this team is going to put up a fight.

This should be a good series to watch but I think the Devils will prove to be just a little too much for this Florida team. I have Devils in 7.

#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #5 Philadelphia Flyers

If you just so happened to catch a game on NBC about a week and a half ago, you already know that this is the first round series to watch. These two in-state rivals absolutely hate each other and it reached a boiling point when Penguins coach Dan Bylsma put his checking line on the ice with under 5 minutes remaining in a game that was obviously decided in the Flyers favor at that point. What ensued was one big, clean open-ice hit, several minutes of on-ice fights and coaches hanging over the glass separating the benches screaming pleasantries at one another. Yeah, buckle up. 

The Penguins come into the playoffs as arguable the deepest, most dangerous team. Star Sidney Crosby has missed most of the season with post concussion symptoms but in the 22 games he has played in he's racked up 37 points. In Crosby's absence however, Evgeni Malkin has been lighting up the score sheets all across the league with 109 points in just 75 games. Then add in James Neal, Chris Kunitz, Pascal Dupuis and Jordan Stall all with 50+ points and you begin to see why they picked by many to win the East. Add onto that Marc-Andre Fleury's near career-high season stats. The key to this team is remaining healthy in the physical gauntlet known as the Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

The Flyers seem to have finally solved their own goaltending issues of playoffs past and now we get to see what this team can do. Last summer the Flyers got rid of two key offensive weapons in Jeff Carter and Mike Richards but that hasn't stopped them this season. Claude Giroux has picked up most of the slack tallying 93 points on the year with Scott Hartnell and veteran, long-time Penguin Jaromir Jagr putting up decent numbers of their own. Ilya Bryzgalov played in 59 games this year and the Flyers are relying on him to shut down the barrage of Penguins goal scorers. 

I think this is going to be a tight series between the two different style teams -- the finesse Penguins and the gritty Flyers. My mind is telling me the Pens with take it in 5, but I would like nothing more than to see this one go all 7 games. I've got Pens in 7 just for that reason. 

Be sure to tune in tomorrow for the Western Conference preview and follow me on Twitter,  @carterbaum15