NHL Playoffs - Eastern Conference Semi-Finals

The Eastern Conference Quarter Finals came to an end last night with the Rangers and the Devils advancing. The Caps managed to oust the defending champion Bruins in dramatic fashion with an overtime victory in Game 7 on Wednesday night. The East didn't provide us with stellar goaltending as the West did but there were some standout performances.

The match-up of 2 time Vezina Trophy winner Thomas Thomas of the Bruins and 22 y/o Caps rookie Braden Holtby was particularly exciting.These two went back and forth all series long with Holtby getting the edge by letting in 1 less goal than Thomas. That's highly significant (M*A*S*H reference from the 1973 episode entitled "Love Story" but I couldn't find a clip) because Holtby was thrust into the starter's role after Vokoun and Neuvirth went down with injuries late in the year. The Rangers looked like they were on the brink after Craig Anderson, a journeyman, had stifled them in the first 5 games. Anderson has only 3 years as a starter and had a 2-4 playoff record coming into this series and you can argue that he outdueled Lundqvist in a few games.

I was little disappointed when the Devils sent the Panthers home last night. The Panthers are coached by Kevin Dineen, a former Whaler who's probably behind only Ron Francis, Mike Liut and Gordie Howe in terms of most popular players in team history. So I was pulling for them. The Panthers showed a lot of moxie but in the end the grizzled veterans of the Devils and the solid goaltending from the aging Martin Brodeur won out. Hope to see you back next year Coach.

The Pens/Flyers series was especially entertaining has the Flyers lit the Pens up for a 3-0 lead before the Pens opted to start playing hockey rather than "duking" it out and therefore making the series look respectable in a 4-2 loss. The Pens were more talented (a healthy Crosby and 50 goal scorer Malkin are a lethal tandem) but  Marc-Andre Fleury (won 42 games in regular season) had a rough start and that got them in a hole they couldn't get out of (though he did play better in games 4 & 5). The Pens got what they deserved, there weren't too many people out there who were crying over their early exit.

So here are the Semi-Final match-ups:

• Washington Capitals vs. New York Rangers: The Caps doled out 1st round playoff defeats to the Rangers in 2011 (4-1) and 2009 (4-3). That when the Caps were an exciting team to watch and the Rangers were still coming together. The Caps are not the offensive powerhouse they once were since their early playoff exit in 2010 and the Rangers are a low scoring, grind it out team. The series will come down to goaltending. Not that Lundqvist had a bad opening round (12 gaa & a .945 save percentage) but in 5 previous playoff appearances his record is 15-20. The Rangers don't have the scoring punch that the Caps possess so look for this series to go seven games. Holtby is hot right now and the last time I recall a rookie goalie playing this good was Patrick Roy in 1986 when he lead the Canadiens to a Stanley Cup over the Flames. I'm going to go with the Rangers and Lundqvist edging out the Caps but quite frankly I can see the Caps winning as well. Both teams are solid goaltending, capable of scoring droughts and can't seem to score on the power play. To tough to call for me but I will go Rangers in seven.

• New Jersey Devils vs. Philadelphia Flyers: Here are 2 more teams with a history, though maybe not as much bad blood as the Flyers and Pens have. This could be another interesting series that is tough to call. Martin Brodeur of the Devils will go down as one of the greatest netminders of all time and he is not the dominant force he once was (who is after 20 years? This is the first time since 2007 he's taken the Devils out of the 1st round) but he is still capable of amazing feats. The Devils have never been an explosive team but they did have 3 players score 30 goals or more so they're an opportunistic team. The Flyers hammered the Pens in the opening round to the tune of 30 goals including 20 in the first 3 games. That's not necessarily they're style but they can play an up and down game or grind it out.  Of course I don't see the Devils taking stupid penalties like the Pens did that enabled the Flyers to run up the score. I like the Flyers in this series though I'm still iffy on Bryzgalov in net. At 31 he's a bit of a journeyman who enjoyed his best year as pro this season. His playoff experience is limited though he did notch a 3-1 record in 5 games for the Ducks when they won the Cup in 2007. However you can't rule out Brodeur as this could be his last hoo-rah. Flyers in 6. I like their offensive capabilities. 

I would to express my disappointment in the Boston Bruins fans who were Tweeting racial slurs at Joel Ward after he scored the series winning goal for the Caps against the Bruins. Ward is a black man born in Toronto and has 4 full seasons in the NHL under his belt and is a heck of a player (from what I've seen he's a bit of a "mucker," doing the little things that a teams needs to be done that usually go unnoticed on the stat sheets). It's bad enough that that kind of thing was done at all but it Boston it makes it worse. Boston is supposed to be the "Athens" of the United States but the city has a sketchy history with diversity. The Red Sox were the last team to integrate with Pumpsie Green in 1959 (12 years after Jackie Robinson) and it took them nearly another 10 years to fully embrace black players (the HBO Documentary about the Red Sox touches upon it in interviews with sports writers & long time Sox fans). Even when Bill Russell was winning championship after championship, he was never really liked by the Boston populace (there is an incident where Russell's house was broken into and the culprits defecated on his bed).  Then of course there is the Boston busing crisis that started in 1974 which is an ugly blotch on the city's history. I expect this sort of behavior from NASCAR fans (hey it's the truth, you see more confederate flags at NASCAR races) but from the alleged Boston "sophisticates" I expect better (being a northeast pseudo-elitist myself that is).

As always thanks for your time.

NHL PLayoffs - Western Conference Semi-Finals

The Western Conference finished up the Quarter Finals when Phoenix sent Chicago home after a 4-0 victory Monday night. I managed to pick every 1st round match-up incorrectly. Though I did feel that the Kings v. Canucks would go 5 games and the Hawks v. Coyotes series would go 6 games. The problem was that I picked the wrong teams. The Hawks, Red Wings and Canucks were all disappointing and should've gave it a better series but hats off to their opponents in those series as they played better and advanced. The age old adage of riding a hot goalie definitely holds true for this round as Quick (LA), Rinne (Nashville) and Smith (Phoenix) were sensational (the term the NHL uses for these types of netminder performances is "standing on their head" for those unfamiliar with hockey)! My hopes of an all Original Six Stanley Cup Final has gone by the wayside. It's still possible for the Bruins or Rangers can represent the Original Six but their playoff advancement hopes stand on the edge of a knife so we shall see.

Here are the Semi-Final match-ups in the Western Conference:

• Los Angeles Kings vs. St Louis Blues: The 8th seeded Kings beat up on the top seeded and Presidents Trophy winner Vancouver Canucks. Jonathan Quick was excellent in goal (8 goals allowed and a .953 save percentage!) and the Kings played tough defense. The Canucks had some injury issues but they still had a more talented team on paper. The young Blues dropped game 1 against the Sharks in overtime but won the next four to advance. I liked the Sharks experience but it didn't help them a lot. This is a real compelling series. Both teams are young, have excellent goaltending and have real good coaches. Both teams don't score a lot and with Quick and Elliot (or Halak) in net goals will be hard to come by. This series looks to a grind it out series that could go seven games. I don't know who on either team is going to score a crucial goal but it will be an interesting series to watch. It would be nice if the Kings making a run would turn into an interest in the NHL in Southern California but I'm going to with the Blues in six. Although if the Kings win the series I will not be surprised.

• Nashville Predators vs. Phoenix Coyotes:  The Predators beat back the mighty Red Wings in 5 games (I thought or sure this series would go the distance) and the Coyotes took care of the Blackhawks in six (in a 1st round match-up that featured two former Hartford Whalers coaching against each other). Mike Smith had an amazing series in net for the Coyotes and stopped 40 some odd shots in getting the shutout in Chicago (Smith faced 241 shots, turning away 229 for a .950 save percentage!). Nashville's Rinne allowed only 9 goals against the Red Wings (a .944 save percentage) so he's no slouch himself. This is another series where there may not be a lot of scoring but that;s not to say that the series won't be exciting to watch. Both teams are tough and like to hit. Since Dave Tippett, is a former Hartford Whaler, I'm going to pick the Coyotes in seven games.

 That's going to do it. The Eastern Conference has 3 game sevens within the next 48 hours so I will recap the Quarters and make a few bad predictions about the next round as well. Thanks for your time.

April 13th, 1997

On this day 25 years ago, the Hartford Whalers played their last game at the Hartford Civic Center. After 18 seasons in the NHL, the state's only big time professional sports franchise left for the greener pastures of that hockey hot bed...Raleigh, NC.

In there last season, 1996-97, the Whale started off strong (5-1 to start the season) but gradually started to stink more and more (15-26-5 from January til end of season) and would eventually miss this playoffs for the 5th straight year. Some of the low lights included trading a disgruntled Brendan Shannahan, 2 games into the season, to the Red Wings for Keith Primeau (who enjoyed a solid year in Hartford with 26 goals, 51 points & 161 PIM) and the legendary Paul Coffey (whose best days were far behind him). Of course Coffey would get traded after 20 games  of less than mediocre play with the Whalers. From December 29th to January 15th, the Whale went 0-7-1 and the swoon had begun (the Whale would only manage 3 wins in all of January and an anemic 7 points). They had a winless streak (they managed a tie against the Caps on January 4th) of 9 games from 12/29-1/15. They also had a 6 game losing streak from 3/13-3/25. After a 3 game win streak from December 5th-11th, they never won more than 2 games in a row. The Whalers existence was more or less summed up in a game against the Islanders at the Nassau Coliseum on April 11th. I remember watching this game at home on TV and the backbreaker was that the Whale gave up an unheard of 2 short-handed goals on the SAME powerplay! Inconceivable.

In their time in Hartford, the Whalers made the playoffs 8 times and Never got out of the second round of the playoffs. BTW, the Whalers made the playoffs 7 times in a row from 1986-1992 but the NHL had only 21 teams and 16 of them went to the playoffs. So a team didn't have to be that good to get in. In 1992 the Whale made the playoffs 15 games under 0.500 and had only 2 winning seasons during that period. They did win 1 Adams Division in 1987 but got bounced in the first round of the Divisional Playoffs by the Quebec Nordiques. The city of Hartford threw the Whalers a ticker-tape parade after LOSING to the Montreal Canadiens in the 1986 Adams Division Final 4 games to 3 (a classic series BTW). Not too many other franchises have that distinction.

I saw several Whalers games during their "glory years" in the 80's when I was in high school. After the Rangers won the Cup in 1994 I started getting back into hockey again. I went to a few scattered games in 1995, got a 10 game ticket package in 1996 then went all in with season tickets in what was to be their last season in Hartford. I made the 40 minute drive from Hadlyme to downtown Hartford. It was a lot of fun despite the Whalers losing most of the time.  My seats were in section 111 (I could be mistaken about the section number but it was near the east end of the rink and not quite center ice) and I think we were in the 18th row. Those were really good seats and they cost $41 each. Now those are probably $75 or more depending on the arena. The Whale did manage to win their final game in Hartford against the Lightning. As the players skated around after the game to say goodbye to the fans (it was a sellout crowd that day) I managed to catch a puck thrown into the stands by Kevin Dineen. So I got that going for me, which is nice.

I will say this about the whole Brendan Shannahan trade. After the 1995 season the Whalers traded 20 y/o Defenseman and future hall of famer Chris Pronger straight up for Shannahan. Shannahan had a decent season in 1996  with a team best 44 goasl and 78 points. After that one season he'd had enough and wanted out. Chris Pronger made the all-rookie team in 1994 but was probably best known for being arrested for his drunken involvement in a bar room brawl in Buffalo at 4am with other teammates in March of 1994. Of course once he got to St. Louis under the tutelage of Coach Mike Keenan he would go on to become the Blues Captain and win the Norris and Hart trophies (league MVP & Top Defenseman respectively) during the 1999-2000 season. To sum up, the Blues got the anchor of some of their best teams for nearly 10 years and the Whalers got nothing. Just another bad front office move (the worst being the trade of fan favorite Ron Francis to the Penguins in 1991).

For more tidbits about Whaler history (WHA & NHL) check out The Blowhole.  It's really funny and it has a detailed account of how the Whalers left the city. Thanks for your time.

NHL Playoff Preview - Western Conference

The Western Conference solidified their eight playoff spots after San Jose took down Los Angeles. The Vancouver Canucks finished with 111 points and won the Presidents' Trophy for the 2nd year in a row. The match ups in the West could be the most fun to watch, especially ones that include Detroit, Nashville or Chicago. Here are the 1st round match-ups (be advised...the NHL re-seeds after each round):

Los Angeles Kings (#8) v. Vancouver Canucks (#1): The Kings have the most underrated goalie in the league in Jonathan Quick (35-21-13, 1.95 GAA & a league leading 10 shutouts). The problem with the Kings is that they don't score and they're not that tough. The Canucks were 2nd in the league in goal differential at +51 so they can score and play defense and they have one of the top playmakers in the league in Henrik Sedin. The only issue with the Canucks is that they come off as soft. They're a finesse team and they don't like being pushed around. In last years' playoffs (as a #1 seed) a depleted Chicago Blackhawks (that limped into the playoffs) team took them to a 7th game in the 1st round. The Canucks  had leads of 2-0 and 3-2 against the Bruins in the Stanley Cups Finals and basically didn't show up in games 6 & 7. The Bruins turned up the dial on physical play and the Canucks folded. That's their weakness. Lucky for them the Kings are not that physical.

Prediction: Canucks in 5. The Kings rely way too much on Quick to keep them in games and they no one outside of Anze Kopitar (25 goals/76 points) who can score. Plus Qucik wold have to somehow need to play better in order to stretch this series out.

Detroit Red Wings (#5) v. Nashville Predators (#4): These two teams played in the Central Division and are about as evenly matched as you can get. Nashville has the better goalie in Pekka Rinne (most wins w/43, 2.39 gaa & 5 shutouts) but they don't have an offensive player who scare you (2 players with more than 20 goals). So who do they turn to to get a goal in a close game? Rinne will keep them in any game but where are they going to get a big goal from? Detroit on the other hand have been the Yankees of hockey since the mid 90s. Jimmy Howard may not be as talented as Rinne (35-17-3, 2.12 gaa) but he's more than capable of carrying them deep into the playoffs. Detroit doesn't have a a big time goal scorer but they have plenty of grizzled veterans who can step up & put the puck in the net in a big spot. Detroit is never done until they're 4th loss is a final (much like the Yankees...they're not dead until the body is in the ground and covered with dirt).

Prediction: Detroit in 6. It could go 7 but Detroit just has too much talent and they're too experienced. In order to win the series Nashville would have to jump out to early leads & keep the pressure on but they're not built that way. They can grind it out with the best of them but that's cool with the Wings. I suspect that this series could take a lot out of the winner but this is one series to watch (much like Flyers v. Pens in the East).

Chicago Blackhawks (#6) v. Phoenix Coyotes (#3): Chicago has a lot of talent in Kane, Toews, Sharp and Shaw to name a few. They can score but they're power play is not that good and they are susceptible to scoring droughts. Their problem is in the net. Corey Crawford was the starter to being the year, lost it to Emery midway through the season and recently won it back. Crawford is not as good as Phoenix's Mike Smith (37 wins, 2.23 gaa & 8 shutouts) so he will need to take to another level in order to advance far into the playoffs. Phoenix won the weak Pacific Division by 1 point. This is a team that shouldn't scare anyone on paper but they are capable of beating anyone & are not to be taken lightly. They can play defense and scored just enough over the regular season. BTW, this series has 2 former Hartford Whalers' coaching against each other Quennville for Chicago and Dave Tippett for Phoenix (that's 3 former Whalers coaching in the playoffs plus Dean Evason is an assistant to Dale Hunter in Washington. Just a little Whaler pride!).

Prediction: Chicago in 6. Phoenix could win this series also but Chicago has too much firepower. If Chicago wants to avoid a prolonged series they need to jump out to early leads and execute better on the power play. The Coyotes are no pushover.

San Jose Sharks (#7) v. St Louis Blues (#2): The Blues missed the playoffs the last 2 years (despite a good record each year) but really turned the jets on once Ken Hitchcock (won a Stanley Cup with Dallas in 1999) was installed as head coach 13 games into the season. The Blues are young, energetic and dangerous. They don't score a lot of goals but they play tight defense and have solid goaltending in Halak and Elliot. With youth comes questions as to how they can stand up to adversity. Halak & Elliot combined for 48 wins so who's the number #1? The Sharks are similar in a sense that they don't score a lot but not much gets past them. Antti Niemi was the goaltender for Chicago when they took the Cup home in 2010 and he had a solid year in net. Joe Thornton is still a great playmaker and they have 3 other solid centers in Couture (31 goals), Pavelski (31 goals) and Marleau (29 goals) who can put the puck in the net. 

Prediction: Sharks in 6 maybe 7 for the upset. My boss is a big Blues fan & he's got playoff tickets. By no means are the Sharks a lock to win the series but they're a veteran team that went to the conference finals the last 2 years.. Hitchcock is a better coach than Todd McLellan but Hitchcock hasn't had the recent success that McLellan has outside of this year. This is another series to keep an eye on. 

So if my predictions hold up, in the Semi-Finals would look like this:

• Sharks v. Canucks
• Blackhawks v. Red Wings

Ideally I would like to see Chicago represent the West in the Stanley Cup finals because they're Original Six and they're not Detroit (plus being from Chicago means TV ratings). We shall see what unfolds. As always you're comments & opinions are welcome. Thanks for your time.

NHL Playoff Preview - Eastern Conference

The 2012 NHL is at an end (though at present time the Sharks are still battling the Kings) and the playoffs will being on April 11th. It was a heck of a season and I was not able to get to any games during this season. For the record, I travel a lot but I subscribe to the NHL Game Center so I can watch games on my laptop & phone. I follow a few teams (Sabres, Caps, Blackhawks and Bruins) but I do manage to keeps tabs on most teams. Here's my take on the 2012 playoffs starting with the Eastern Conference. Keep in mind in the the NHL, they re-seed after each round.


Ottawa Senators (#8) v. New York Rangers (#1): The Senators were pretty steady all year and by that I mean that they were pretty much in the lower half of playoff teams most of the year. This is a good team by any standards but their leader, Daniel Alfredsson, is pushing 40, Jason Spezza is their leading scorer but he doesn't strike fear in the hearts of opponents. I don't know much about the goalie Craig Anderson but he put up a good record but the Senators gave up 8 more goals than they scored. The Rangers have one of the best (if not the best) goalie in the league in Henrik Lundqvist, he didn't play well today but he won 39 games and let up 1.93 goals/game (2nd in the league). The Rangers play solid defense but are prone to go thru scoring droughts.

Prediction: Rangers in 5. Ottawa will keep the games close but the Rangers are just too good.

Philadelphia Flyers (#5) v. Pittsburgh Penguins (#4): Here are 2 teams with a history of bad blood. In the Flyers 6-4 win on 4/1 there was a bit of chippiness on the part of the Penguins towards the end of the game. Suffice to say there were a few Game Misconduct penalites handed out as well a few ejections. If Healthy the Penguins should advance but the Flyers are really tough and do not back down. Briere was hurt in the 4/1 game against the Pens but the Flyers are still potent with Giroux & Hartnell. The Pens have Malkin (league leader in points & 50 goal scorer) and an apparently healthy Sydney Crosby. With those 2 healthy the Pens won the Cup in 2009. Crosby is the most talented player in the NHL when healthy but the Pens go as Malkin goes. in 2009 when Malkin decided to play they came back & beat the Red Wings for the Cup. Good defense and goaltending. They're a team that no one wants to face. The only reason they're the 4th seed is because the Rangers won the division. The Pens finished only 1 point behind the Rangers.

Prediction: Based on talent the Pens should win this series. However I believe it's going 7 games with the Pens advancing. But I would not be surprised if the Flyers advanced. The winner of this series could go very far.

New Jersey Devils (#6) v. Florida Panthers (#3): The Panthers are coached by former Hartford Whalers standout, Kevin Dineen so I have a soft spot for them. The Panthers barely won the Southeastern Division and the they were -24 in goal differential (the worst of any playoff team). There is NO ONE on this team that scares anyone offensively and their best goalie was journeyman Jose Theodore (19-28 for his career in the playoffs). The Panthers lost the most OT/Shootouts of any playoff team this season and in the playoffs its sudden death. I don't think any team fears the Panthers but they better not overlook them either because these guys will hang around if you let them. Martin Brodeur is not as good as he was years ago at the age of 39 so one has to ask how much he has left? The Devils have never been an explosive team over the last 20 years and they're defense isn't what it once was but they're still a solid team.

Prediction: Devils in 6. As much as I want Kevin Dineen to succeed the Devils play a little bit better defense and they have guys who can put the puck in the net (5 guys scored 20 or more goals). So in a close game (which they're sure to be), I like the Devils.


Washington Capitals (#7) v. Boston Bruins (#2): This could be a real interesting series. From 2008-2011 the Caps won 4 division titles, a President's Trophy (best record in the league) but got bounced in the 1st round twice and never got to a conference final. The Caps have the leagues most exciting player in Alex Ovechkin but he seems to be an enigma this year. Their best goalie Tomas Vokoun has been hurt, his back-up Michal Neuvirth left a game earlier this week with an injury so they turned to 3rd stringer Braden Holtby. Goaltending will make or break the Caps. The Caps needed a Sabre loss on 4/5 to secure a playoff spot. This team is too talented to have wait until the last week to make the playoffs.

The Bruins are the defending Stanley Cup champions. They started this season slowly (Cup hangover no doubt), caught fire in the middle of the season and stumbled a bit at the end (if stumbled is a good word). Offensively the Bruins don't have a "big bopper" but they have a lot of different guys capable of stepping up (6 scored more than 20) in a big spot. Zedano Chara anchors a tough defense. The Bruins will look to control the pace and play very physical. Tim Thomas didn't have the kind of year he had last season but he can still stand on his head but he may not need to against the Caps.

Prediction: Bruins in 6. The Caps don't have a goalie that's as good as Thomas' back-ups (Rask & Turco), plus who knows which Ovechkin will show up as he seems to dominate when he wants to or if at all. The Caps have the talent to make a run but you need a goalie to get hot to make a that run and the Caps are lacking in that department.

 That's what I got and by my worthless predictions, the Rangers would face the Devils and the Pens would square off against the Bruins in the semi-finals. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.  Any thoughts or opinions are welcome and it should be an exciting NHL playoff season. Thanks for your time.

The Hunger Games

Yes, I went out and saw The Hunger Games last night. Before I get into my thoughts of the film let me set the stage. I am currently in Fresno, CA with not a whole lot to do. My tractor is being repaired and I am content to lay low. However, one can only lay low in their hotel room for so long before one just needs to get out. So I watched the Pens v. Bruins game at a sports bar near a cineplex. Presently, there's not too many titles that interest me but Hunger Games has been producing a ton of buzz and it's been killing at the box office.

My sister tried to turn me onto the books not too long ago and outside of the fact that I know its a series of books, that's all I know. So I contacted at friend who was familiar with the books & film (my sister left for Hong Kong so I couldn't enlist her opinion) and she informed me that it was worth seeing and since I have no familiarity with the books that I might enjoy the film more. So I had the time to kill and I decided to see the film. Despite my misgivings about seeing films that are geared towards a younger demographic. Yes the theater was filled with teenagers (on a Tuesday night no less!).

To start I would like to say that Jennifer Lawrence is a statuesque beauty with a great deal of talent. I would hope that her career isn't wasted with ridiculous romantic comedies. There were also strong performances from a great supporting cast that included Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, Wes Bentley and an unrecognizable Elizabeth Banks. Even Lenny Kravitz (not known for his acting skills) did a nice job as Cinna, the image specialist for the District 12 Tributes (Catniss & Peeta).

The film takes place in the post apocalyptic future where civil strife has turned the country into an oppressive totalitarian regime that forces the remaining 12 districts to send forth a male & female between 12-18 to fight to the death for the television viewing audience. The government makes the districts do this as penance for a failed rebellion. So Catniss volunteers to take her sister's place (she's 12 years old & would probably get killed in the opening seconds) and her partner is a Peeta, the baker's son who just happens to have a crush on Catniss (funny how these things work out). Overall the film wasn't terrible and it was enjoyable though I did check my watch during the more gushy scenes. It's probably a good thing that I never read the books. I was a big fan of the His Dark Materials trilogy but the film (The Golden Compass) wasn't very good and it bombed. As previously stated I thought the supporting cast made the film for me. Sure Lawrence is beautiful but she does a nice job with what looks to be a very physical role (though I will never get over how she retains her freshness despite being very active in the woods for several days, perhaps it's a positive by-product of the post apocalyptic future).

Some of the problems I had with this film (as with most films) is that it didn't seem all too original. The book (written by Suzanne Collins) was published in 2008. Here's some of the films that Hunger Games borrows heavily from:

• The Running Man (1987): A televised battle to the death. Also Richard Dawson's and Stanley Tucci's characters are similar.
• Battle Royale (2000):In the post apocalyptic future, teenagers are sent to an island (or arena) to battle to the death. They are sent there by the Japanese government mostly because teens are big a**holes in the future. Also I believe that the male & female protagonists fall for each other. 
• Dragonslayer (1981): the scene where Catniss "volunteers" herself at the reaping to take her sister's place is reminiscent of the scene where the princess rigs the lottery so to offer herself up as the sacrifice for the dragon.  In fact the whole "reaping" process is similar. The "winners" face death.
• A League of Their Own (1992): Tell me that the relationship between Lawrence & Harrelson is not similar to the relationship between Hanks & Davis. He's the drunken has been that sees the talent in her, decides that being a drunk isn't a good idea, passes on his knowledge and begins to care about her because of her talent & spirit. Sounds pretty similar to me!
• The Truman Show (1998): You've got the whole "show" being monitored and manipulated by the people in the control room. Wes Bentley's Seneca is very similar to Ed Harris' Christof. Though Ed Harris' role/character was better.

Those are the 5 that came to right off the top of my head. Sure they are others that deal with teen love under extreme circumstance and the oppressive totalitarian (that's twice I've used this word in 1 segment if you're counting) government. Now the film was enjoyable but it was not a film geared towards my demographic but I'm glad I saw it. I may not take part in the sequels and probably never bother reading the books but the film was ok.

Thanks for your time.