Wednesday, April 26, 2017

2nd Round of NHL Playoffs are Here

Source: Bleacher Report

The Conference Semi Finals are here after, one of the best first round playoffs ever. There were 18 games that went to overtime which was an NHL record. 66.7% of games were decided by one goal, and the percentage of games going to OT? 42.9% The numbers speak for themselves on how close these match-ups were.

The first round was filled with many surprises and drama but now there are only eight teams left. The most intriguing match-up on paper is the Washington Capitals vs Pittsburgh Penguins series. The two best players squaring at it, yet again as Ovechkin is looking to finally beating Crosby and the Penguins in the playoffs. Washington is looking to end their yearly playoff disappointments vs the defending champions. Pittsburgh is looking to continue their depth even without star defenseman Kris Letang who is out for the season, and keeping in mind, the Capitals had to work very hard to advance, while Pittsburgh ended their series in five games with only one overtime game.

On the other side of the bracket in the East, is the New York Rangers vs The Ottawa Senators. New York looked impressive beating the number one team from the Atlantic division. their series against Montreal showed the continuance of amazing goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist. The Ottawa Senators have one of the most elite defenseman in the world, Erik Karlsson. The Ottawa Senators looked strong vs the Boston Bruins as, Bobby Ryan has found his game in the most important part of the season. It will be a battle of Swedish elite players in Karlsson vs Lundqvist.

In the west, we have the Nashville Predators going up against St Louis. Nashville has been the biggest surprise with an impressive sweep against one of the top contenders the Chicago Blackhawks. Nashville looks like they won off their blockbuster trade with Montreal from last years offseason, where it was an exchange of start defenseman, PK Subban to Nashville and Shea Webber to Montreal. With Webber already out of the playoffs with Montreal, it looks like Nashville got the best of it. The Blues are coming into this series with full optimism that Jake Allen will steal the series again. Jake Allen put on a show against Minnesota, making incredible saves. St Louis will look to go to the conference finals for the second year in a row.

The other Western matchup is between Edmonton and Anaheim. The Anaheim Ducks are no surprise from their recent success, sweeping the Calgary Flames. The Ducks look strong as they have a solid defense with depth throughout their offensive lines. For Edmonton, they need the same magic that produced their hard fight against San Jose. They will need a sharp Cam Talbot in net and of course the leadership from Connor McDavid.

Top 10 Revelations

Sharing right on
1.) One of the most powerful sharing tools I learned was the blogger side widget tool. This tool made it easy to bring all my social media platforms on the blog, and it keeps track of when I update my other websites. I've seen big company websites have this before but, I never knew how they did it. It makes it easier to share your other platforms without just having a boring plain url. This tool makes the blog look more user-friendly and attracts viewers by seeing all social platforms in one place. "Blogger outreach is always going to be an important component of social media strategies. These people have influence, and they are key voices within industries."


I Will Find You, And I will Fulfill you
2.) In the most recent youtube video, we had to do an elevator pitch, which I assumed to be something where you describe all your qualities shortly. The part I didn't know was the important point "Who do you know?" This simple question can lead to building partnerships and growing your task. By asking people to get your word out there, is greatly beneficial to increasing influence on others. You never know who will be interested in your product.

Be Creative, show some flare
3.) To be active on the social media platforms, means to keep posting and keeping the audience active. It's fundamental to stay up to date to keep your followers engaged. Having weekly google alert blog stories shows the importance of how managing a campaign with the latest news is crucial for success. "For social media marketing to be successful, you can't just have social media sites. You need to be active on those sites and post things to engage the audience and get people to take an action." Having constant updates keeps the audience intrigued and wanting to be more intact with what you have to say.

Growing a community
4.) The follow button is a powerful tool in social media. By following someone back, it shows a level of interest and willingness to grow your feed exposing you to see things apart from common interests. By following people back in our class, I was able to see other people's SM4SC campaigns. For Example, with Lost Adventure, I was able to learn about new cities I've never heard before. Retweeting helps people's products grow and can lead to them retweeting you, it builds a good relationship. "Social media often consists of extending your personal identity into a setting where it is observed by others who have chosen to pay attention to you."

Just Be You
5.) It's important to be yourself when trying to grow a product or brand. There's no need to build on a false image cause that can hurt you in the long run. We all made social media campaigns that interest us, and we shared it with #SHUSocialMedia to promote our cause. "Hiding behind false images or generic avatars is not looked upon kindly in the world of social media." Sticking to your identity will be seen, and your interests might help others in interactions.

Help! I've fallen and I can't write a story. Well there's Google Alerts to help you. 
6.) Google Alerts is a very reliable tool to see stories on a topic you want to search for and to stay updated from a keyword you search for. I've never had experience with this tool, and it's so effective in gaining knowledge. It's user friendly and there's an option to stay up to date, and for that article to send you updates without you having to do anything. You don't have to describe to different websites, because the news will come to you in one piece.

I'm no Mark Zuckerberg
7.)  One of the social media platforms that caught me off guard was Facebook. The first ever main social media platform that I had was a challenge in regards to making a business site. The format was different which was a little challenging to get used too, but I learned that Facebook is not just for liking, but you can promote your website, just like promoting a YouTube video. The sharing tool is effective too, to growing your product. With Facebook, you really want to make your website stand out by having important pictures in your cover header and profile picture, but a header might be more important when having a business profile.

Major key alert: Organization is key
8.) This class really gave me the insight of how important it is to organize all the different platforms. Having the right pictures and backgrounds can be suiting for the audience. Having standout pictures is good because of the visual world we live in. Also another component is use of titles we put in our videos or even blogs. With my twitter account I tried to add some funny and suiting GIFS to try to attract attention.

Social Media is Just Beginning
9.) It's important to keep in mind that social media is evolving constantly. The book emphasizes how the social media we use now may not be the same platforms we use in the future. This is why it's important to stay up to date and to make adjustments to promote our ideas in a way that will gain audience in a bigger amount. We're just at the beginning stage which means, social media will grow to a larger amount and will be part of our lives for a long time.

Blogger is the Place to Bring Everything Together
10.) Last but, not least the most important and fun tool, this class was using Blogger. This was the first time using blogger, and it was simple to choose what layout you wanted. It's amazing how you can embed your different platforms or YouTube videos to bring everything onto this site. This is the main page where you can share all your ideas and it's all thanks to one URL. This is a user-friendly site to really spread the word.




Monday, April 17, 2017

First Round Analysis, Monday 4/17 games

Source:NHL

The first round of the playoffs have showed why the NHL Playoffs are so unpredictable. On Tuesday the Toronto Maple Leafs now lead the Washington Capitals 2-1 in the series by impressive performances from the underdogs. The Capitals struggle in the playoffs look to still haunt them as the last seed in the East is causing them trouble.

All of Tuesdays games went to Overtime, as the Senators, Predators, Ducks, and Maple Leafs were all the victors in OT.

The Anaheim Ducks came back to rally against the Calgary Flames in an impressive comeback being down 4-1 with Corey Perry scoring the game winner and giving the Ducks a 3-0 lead in the series. The other 3-0 lead in the series in the West is the Nashville Predators who have surprised most people in being just one win away from sweeping the best regular season team from the West.

Despite the Boston Bruins coming back from a 3-0 deficit in game 3, the Ottawa Senators managed to score the game winner in overtime courtesy of New Jersey born, Bobby Ryan.

Game 4's begin tomorrow with the New York Rangers vs. Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Columbus Blue Jackets, and Edmonton Oilers vs. San Jose Sharks. The Penguins are looking to be the first team to punch their ticket to the second round, as they look to close out the series in a sweeping fashion

Monday, April 10, 2017

The Playoff matchups are Finally Set


Source:NHL
The schedule is finalized and the first playoff games will begin at the same time 7 p.m. ET in Ottawa and Montreal on Wednesday, April 12th. The most exciting part of the season is here and this year five Canadian teams made the playoffs after last year's disappointment of none of the seven Canadian teams making it.

The Biggest surprise is the addition of the Toronto Maple Leafs back in the post season after a four year absence. The Toronto faithful is one if not the biggest Hockey Market in the NHL. 1st round draft pick and American born Auston Matthews has led the way with scoring an impressive tally of 40 goals, the most out of any player in his first year at an original six team. 

Despite the Toronto Maple Leafs making a good run this season, they will have to verse the hottest team in the NHL, the Washington Capitals. The Capitals have spent their previous seasons on building a team worthy to finally bring the cup to Washington. Alexander Ovechkin and the Caps are hungrier than ever to win the Stanley Cup. 

The very first matchups on Wednesday consist of the Montreal Canadiens vs the New York Rangers and the other 7 P.M. game is between the Boston Bruins vs the Ottawa Senators. The Rangers and the Canadiens will be squaring off first at the Bell Centre which will be a rematch of the 2014 Eastern Conference Final. The Boston Bruins have made the playoffs after an impressive run with new head coach, Bruce Cassidy. 

The Columbus Blue Jackets will square up against the defending champs in what is seen to be the most even match up on paper. The two head coaches have worked together in New York with the Rangers, so this will be almost a chess game between Mike Sullivan and John Torterella. 

In the West, the Blackhawks finished at the top of the conference and will host the Nashville Predators. The Blackhawks continue to look strong as they have solidified their team with young and veteran talent. Last Years finalist, the San Jose Sharks will verse Conor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers who make their first playoff appearance since 2006.

The other 2 playoff matchups in the west consist of the Anaheim Ducks vs the Calgary Flames, and Minnesota vs the St. Louis Blues.

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Playoff Push

The Blueshirts have the chance to clinch the playoffs for the seventh straight year tonight vs the Anaheim Ducks. The New York Rangers look like they are going to finish in the first wild card spot which will have to verse the winner of the Atlantic Division, most probable the Montreal Canadiens.

The Anaheim Ducks are tied for first in the Pacific Division alongside the San Jose Sharks and the Edmonton Oilers. The Atlantic Division top seed is up for grabs as the Calgary Flames who are just three points behind the leaders, is in wild card position. The Edmonton Oilers are led by 18 year old captain former first round pick, Connor McDavid who is looking to bring his team to the playoffs for the first time since their Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2006.

The Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild secured their spot in the Central Division. The Atlantic Division in the East is not determined yet as Ottawa, Boston, Toronto, and Tampa are looking to finish preferably in the 2nd or 3rd spot instead of finishing in the wild card, where that spot would have to face the mighty first seed of the Metropolitan division. Toronto has been a surprise team as there are half a dozen rookies who start including this years first round pick, Auston Matthews. The New York Islanders are trying to do anything they can to stay alive as they are fighting for that final wild card spot. They had an impressive road win vs.the Rangers but fell short at home against the Boston Bruins.
Source: New York Rangers

Sunday, February 19, 2017

Celebrating Hockey Day in America with top NHL Games

Hockey day in America is a great celebration of the sport of hockey throughout the various ponds and rinks of the country. Sunday saw key match ups including a top Metropolitan Division showdown between the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals. It was a busy night in the NHL, and what a better way than to celebrate this day by having 11 games in one day. The match up that was anticipated was the Washington Capitals visit to Madison Square Garden to take on the New York Rangers. The best team in the NHL was coming off a long one week break and from a shootout loss to the Detroit Red Wings. The Rangers are starting to hit form looking sharp lately despite their recent loss to rivals New York Islanders snapping their six-game losing streak.

Minnesota native Ryan Mcdonagh opened the scoring up in the first period giving the Blueshirts the early lead. The Rangers captain has been having a great season. There were 13 Americans in this divisional game which goes to show the American representation throughout both lineups.

Despite the Rangers winning the game courtesy of Mats Zuccarello, the Capitals really tested Henrik Lundqvist. The Rangers who have won seven of their last eight games are now two points behind Columbus for the third seed in the Metropolitan Division. The Capitals are still in comfortable position at the top of the league and their division with Pittsburgh losing to Detroit.
Source: NY Times