The NHL semifinal rounds have gotten off to an unusual start with some early upsets and a wide fluctuation of goaltending. While goals are at a premium in the Western Conference with just seven total goals scored over the first three games, the East has seen 16 tallies over the first two games.

While the Vancouver Canucks have been battling it out with the Nashville Predators in a series where seeing a red light is like finding a diamond in the rough, the Flyers and Bruins ended with a score reminiscent of a Packers vs. Bears game in the fall.

After playing almost six periods of shutout hockey including a 1-0 Game 1 win, ‘Nucks goaltender Roberto Luongo finally let in a fluke shot from behind the net with less than two minutes in Game 2. The Preds went on to win that game 2-1 in the 2^nd OT period after their goaltender Pekka Rinne held them in the game stopping 32-of-33 shots. Rinne and Luongo are two of the finalists for the league’s Vezina Trophy awarded to the best guy between the pipes each season.

After Eagles fans were jeering NFL commish at Radio City Hall and chanting “we want football”, the Flyers may have gotten confused and let up a touchdown and extra point on the ice to lose 7-3 to the Bruins. This series should tighten up between these bitter rivals as time moves on but with the win the Bruins have regained home ice advantage for the series.

The Red Wings, who lost a low-scoring battle 2-1 in OT against San Jose, and the Capitals who dropped a 4-2 decision to the Bolts lost their openers as well. Detroit and Washington were favored by our staff back in October to play in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

The 2011 NFL Draft was greeted by boos directed at NFL commish Roger Goodell and Cam Newton being the first named called at the No. 1 overall spot. Then 254 picks later it ended with Rice defensive end Cheta Ozougwu being drafted by the Houston Texans to become this year’s Mr. Irrelevant.

Since the mid 70’s, the “honor” of being the final choice has included a week of festivities that includes an Irrelevant Week in Southern Cal where the player is given a trophy of a player fumbling a ball.

The trophy pictured here is the one that was awarded to linebacker David Vobora in 2008 who started five games in St. Louis last season.

In an interview later after the being chosen, Ozougwu said: “It’s funny. I had no idea it’d be me but I’m definitely thankful for it. I just wanted the opportunity to play the game.”

The biggest trade in the draft was when the Atlanta Falcons gave away the farm to move up and draft WR Julio Jones at No. 6 after their main target A.J. Green went at No. 4 overall. The Falcons five draft picks seems like a very steep price to pay the Cleveland Browns just to move up.

Other highlights were seeing D lineman Nick Fairley drop all the way onto the Detroit Lions lap at No. 13 and Da’Quan Bowers all the way to No. 51 to Tampa Bay after both players were months earlier considered a No. 1 pick in several people’s mock drafts.

And BTW, only some of these rookies were able to get to their team’s facilities in time to pick up playbooks and chat with coaches before an appeals judge sided with the league and owners and allowed the lockout to resume.

See the full 2011 NFL Draft results and player bios at Yahoo! Sports.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was fined $20,000 and suspended two games for Tweeting during a game.

After being ejected after a toe-to-toe argument with home plate umpire Todd Tichenor over a called third strike, Guillen tweeted, “This one is going to cost me a lot of money this is patetic [sic].”

Like the NFL Major League Baseball has rules against Tweeting during games and although the rules are in place to control the players, they are in affect for the coaching staffs as well. The MLB rules state that “social media messages” must cease thirty minutes prior to opening pitch but can resume after the game.

Guillen known for getting in the last word later said:

“Do I regret it? Not in that moment. The only thing I regret is that I’m going to let the team by itself for two days.”

The White Sox was without Guillen in last night’s 10-4 loss against the Baltimore Orioles and will miss today’s game as well.

Peter Woodfork from MLB confirmed this is the first incident where the league had to deal with a player, coach or manager breaking the social media rules by Tweeting during a game.

It’s not the first time Guillen has made the news on a derogatory note. The colorful skipper was ordered to sensitivity training during 2006 after calling a sportscaster a homosexual slur and later went off on a profanity-filled rant against Magglio Ordonez after the player signed a FA contract with the Tigers.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

Chris Conner of the Pittsburgh Penguins must have been looking for a hole to crawl into to hide after his flubbed penalty shot attempt in his team’s 4-2 loss in Tampa Bay last night.

The blunder costs the Pens a chance to seal the series and by the time the night was over the Lightning had forced a Game 7 to be played back in Pitt.

Sure to make it to the ESPN Sportscenter Top 10 “not best plays” here is an instructional You Tube video for skaters of all ages that features Conner showing how NOT to perform on a penalty shot:

In all fairness, Conner has scored in the past on a penalty shot with much less stakes at hand in a game against the Detroit Red Wings. Here’s that video:

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

Looks like there may finally be a heavyweight boxing title fight that fans can actually get pumped up about.

The showdown will be between WBO, IBF champion Wladimir Klitschko who will climb into the ring to take on WBA titleholder David Haye and is taking place at the Hamburg Imtech Arena in Germany on July 2nd. The 55,000 capacity stadium that is normally full of loyal German Bundesliga soccer fans is based in Hamburg, the country’s second-biggest city.

Klitschko (55-3, 49 KOs) and Haye (25-1, 23 KOs) have bantered over the years and adding hype to the fight is the fact Haye infamously donned a shirt showing him in a boxing ring holding the decapitated heads of Wladimir and his brother Vitali, another top heavyweight fighter.

During that March 2011 interview, Haye went on to say:

“I still want two fights. First, it’s Wladimir, then I hope Vitali doesn’t lose against Odlanier Soldis so I can fight him afterwards…I’m going to crush both Klitschko brothers.”

Haye earlier signed to fight Wladimir in 2009 but backed out of that match.

“I am very happy that Haye finally dares to step into the ring with me,” Wladimir said. “He is only trash-talking and producing stupid shirts…I’ve been waiting for this fight for over two years.”

Haye barked back keeping the trash-talking at a maximum saying:

“Wladimir has only fought wimps and cowards so far. I will show him his limitations and what it is like to fight a real champion. That is a promise.”

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. 

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

LeBron James and the Miami Heat also went up 2-0 in their best-of-seven series against the underdog Philadelphia 76ers with a 94-73 win on Monday. James finished with a game-high 29 points while Chris Bosh added 21 and Dwyane Wade kicked in 14 points and six rebounds.

The 76ers struggled throughout the game shooting just 34 percent from the floor while the Heat shot 47 percent for the game. The 76ers starters struggled offensively with the team’s leading scorer, forward Thaddeus Young, coming off the bench to score a team-high 18 points.

The Boston Celtics surrendered 42 points to Carmelo Anthony but still managed to take took a 2-0 lead over the New York Knicks with a 96-93 win in Beantown. The game went down to the wire when Kevin Garnett hit the go-ahead hook shot with 12 ticks on the clock.

Celtics All-Star guard Rajon Rondo led Boston with a career-high 30 points (postseason) and Paul Pierce added 20 points. Owning the floor for much of the game though was Melo who had a game-high 17 rebounds to go along with his 42 points and tried to overcome the loss of Amar’e Stoudemire who left the game in the second half with back spasms.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers postgame comment:

“The [Knicks] had no Stoudemire; no Billups; they played hard. We were lucky to win.”

In another Eastern Conference match-up, the Chicago Bulls kept momentum in the playoffs after their impressive 62-victory regular season by jumping to a 2-0 lead in their series against the Indiana Pacers. The 96-90 win in Chicago was led by MVP candidate Derrick Rose who had a solid night finishing with 36 points.

In the final Eastern Conference series, the Orlando Magic held on to take Game Two 88-82 against the Atlanta Hawks to even that series 1-1. The Hawks treated new head coach Larry Drew to his first career playoff win in Game One a few nights earlier with a double-digit 103-93 win in Orlando. Although Dwight Howard had a career night in that opener, the Hawks managed to gain revenge on the Magic after getting embarrassed in a four-game sweep last season.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

ESPN analyst Jalen Rose has been released by the network after he failed to report his recent DUI arrest to his bosses. Here’s the police cam sobriety test video we obtained:

According to reports, Rose was involved in a single-vehicle accident involving his Cadillac Escalade on March 11 when he went off a snowy road in a Detroit-area suburb.

The former NBA star played college ball at the University of Michigan and still spends time in the area.

After several unsuccessful attempts to get Rose to blow into the breathalyzer tester properly, police finally took him in for a blood test.

After being booked on suspicion of driving under the influence, he posed for the mugshot shown here.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

The Green Men, known as Force and Sully, are back for the playoffs. The wild, menacing pair of fans love to agitate opposing players in the penalty box and have gone viral on the internet. Here’s a video:

That video shows their coming out party in a game against the Predators at GM Place on December 22, 2009 and the guy in the sin bin is a former Canucks player.

As the Vancouver Canucks coasted to their President’s Trophy win this 2010-11 NHL season, the Green Men stayed active so how much credit should go to these dudes? Not much really but it’s fun seeing these morons give it to the opposing players.

Since that December 2009 night, these characters have squeezed into their skin-tight nylon green suits and entertained the crowds in Vancouver on a regular basis while making any opposing player wish they hadn’t made that trip to the sin bin.

The Green Men have been featured on several reels on sports networks around the country. The journalism students also started a Facebook page but remain unidentified but that doesn’t seem to matter to the crowds filling the arena every night. These guys are peskier than Matt Cooke or Sean Avery going into a corner.

With the playoffs right around the corner and the Canucks one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup, expect to see this green duo in the middle of the action because by the looks of it, these pests aren’t going away any time soon.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

The Cleveland Cavaliers went into yesterday game against the New York Knicks trying to complete a sweep of this year’s series while the Knicks had a different motivation; securing their first NBA Playoff spot since 2004.

“That was the goal we set at the start of the season. The plan was to make the playoffs,” Amare Stoudemire said after the game. “It’s mission accomplished and now on to the next one.”

Amare finished with 28 points on 9-of-20 shooting from the field with Carmelo Anthony  (25 points) and Chauncey Billups (23 points) also topping the 20-point plateau in the 123-107 win.

Going into this season, the Knicks were in the longest playoff drought in the NBA, tied with the Timberwolves. With the revamped roster that includes the acquisition of Melo and Billups, the team hopes to fair better than that last trip to the postseason in 2004 when they were swept by the New Jersey Nets.

Melo kepts his perfect streak alive having never missed a postseason in his career and went into the game on a three-game 30-point scoring streak.

The Cavs’ bombed this season after LeBron James packed up and left for South Beach but the one bright spot had been their play against New York. But even after getting 23 points from J.J. Hickson and 22 from Baron Davis, the team couldn’t overcome the 22 turnovers in this contest.

“I think the turnovers killed us,” said Davis.

Box score on NBA.com.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

The San Francisco Giants fan who was beaten by Dodgers fans after Thursday’s Opening Day game remained in critical but stable condition while police are trying to locate eyewitnesses to the crime. Police released sketches of the two suspects on Friday and those are shown on the right.

Police said an argument started when two L.A. Dodgers’ fans started harassing three men in Giants wardrobe as fans were leaving the stadium after Thursday night’s 2-1 Dodgers win.

Two of the Giants fans were able to get away from the assailants but the other was hit in the head and fell to the ground where he was kicked repeatedly and suffered serious head injuries.

Scary thing is, there may be a child out there who is stuck with one of these morons as a father figure because when the suspects sped off in a four-door vehicle driven by a woman, there was a child in the front seat of the vehicle.

A radio station called KGO radio in San Fran identified the victim Bryan Stow, a paramedic who spends his time helping others. Stow is said to have suffered a fractured skull in the attack and remains in a coma. Other recent reports indicated that Stow was not only “still unconscious” but that medical staff was “talking about removing one of his frontal lobes.”

This assault looks like it was an unprovoked attack and will join the list of other embarrassing Opening Day violent acts in Los Angeles including in 2009 when a fan was stabbed in a stadium parking lot.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC