Two games down and Pittsburgh hasn't scored yet in the series. Looks like I might be wrong in picking them.
Also, Chris Osgood should try out for the Canadian diving team. He's doing a great job of it in this series anytime a Penguin comes near the crease...in fact, last night late in the game Petr Sykora was skating behind the net and Ozzie stuck his arm out as he went by, and then when Sykora skated into it, he went flying and laid on the ice like Sykora checked him and he was hurt, which started a scuffle and got Sykora a penalty. This was his second flop of the period, and this is all after he took a slash to his near-bullet proof chest protector in the last series and flopped around on the ice like he was just shot. Way to ruin the integrity of the game you f-ing prick. Nobody should knock Crosby anymore, but they will because NHL goalies are protected by the league like they're on the EPA's endangered species list, and it's jackasses like Osgood who abuse this power.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Coincidence?
Damien Cox, a great hockey writer out of Toronto, said in an article on espn.com that the NHL has been almost "self-destructive" over the past 15 years due to careless expansion into non-hockey markets, a deadly-boring style of play that became prevalent around 1996, and two lockouts (this wasn't in the article but countless rule changes and owners who care only about profit haven't helped much). Current comish Gary Bettman, who was a NBA man, came into office in 1992. That's 16 years ago, one year before the downfall began. Coincidence? You be the judge.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Finals Preview
Well, Detroit ended any speculation of a Dallas comeback last night with a convincing 4-1 win. It was 3-0 after the first period, so the game was pretty much put on ice early...terrible pun. Anyway, that set up a pretty sexy Stanley Cup Finals match-up between Detroit and Pittsburgh. Two teams who can score at will and are pretty good at preventing the puck from going into their net. Many people are saying that this is the series that hockey needs to start generating some interest in the sport. Sidney Crosby, often called "The next one" meaning that he is the next record-breaking player similar to Wayne Gretzky, who is "The great one" is making his first appearance in the finals...along with several other Penguin players who are either barely old enough or aren't old enough to legally drink the champagne from the Cup if they win. (Noelle, this is uncommon. The Penguins are probably the youngest team in the history of the league to make the finals.)
Because of their youth, some people think Pittsburgh will lose. Detroit has many older, experienced players who have been here before, including both of their goaltenders. The Pens' goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury, is barely older than me. I think Gary Roberts may be the only player on the team who has won the cup before.
Some experts are picking the Pens because of their youthfulness. It's one of those they might be too young to know better things, meaning that they may not cave in to the tremendous pressure because of youthful innocence.
Here's my take on the series. Detroit is the best puck possession team in the league. This begins from the breakout, is maintained through the neutral zone, and extends into the offensive zone, where they are very good at generating scoring chances. They also play in a conference where very few teams play an aggressive forecheck, if any forecheck at all, consistently. The Penguiuns consistently forecheck hard. For those who may not understand, I'll put it in basektball terms. Pittsburgh's forecheck is similar to a full court press. The Red Wings are used to (what appears to me to be) a more common basketball defense, which doesn't press as hard and allows the attacking team to come up the court easier and at their own pace. I think Pittsburgh can force enough turnovers to balance out the Detroit puck possession game, or at least force them to play a way they don't like to play.
On the other hand, Detroit also has some very big open ice hitters on their team. Pittsburgh hasn't seen a team like this yet. Their big guns like Malkin and Hossa are used to people checking and holding them up along the boards, but there's a big difference between being hit into the boards, where there's something to absorb the hit, and being hit in the open ice, where there's nothing to absorb the hit. Pittsburgh generates a lot of their chances by skating the puck hard up the middle of the ice and trying to beat the opposing defense into the zone. Knowing that there is a monster lurking in the neutral zone to hit them could cause the Pens to change their attacking style, which would be bad.
Detroit has the best defense in the league, but they also play in a defensive conference. The only team with a half decent offense that they've played yet, Nashville, gave them problems. I think an offensive team like Pittsburgh who tends to make the most of their chances can expose them. If Detroit doesn't dictate the tempo of the game, they usually lose. It's going to come down to goaltending (the two goalies in this series are the top two goalies in the playoffs), and secondary scoring, which Detroit has not consistently had yet. Their top line is dangerous but they get very few goals beyond there...Pittsburgh gets goals from all four lines.
ESPN's Scott Burnside picked Pittsburgh, ESPN's Barry Melrose picked Detroit, and LVC's Nate Yinger is going with Pittsburgh. Game 1 is Saturday night at 8 on Versus.
Because of their youth, some people think Pittsburgh will lose. Detroit has many older, experienced players who have been here before, including both of their goaltenders. The Pens' goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury, is barely older than me. I think Gary Roberts may be the only player on the team who has won the cup before.
Some experts are picking the Pens because of their youthfulness. It's one of those they might be too young to know better things, meaning that they may not cave in to the tremendous pressure because of youthful innocence.
Here's my take on the series. Detroit is the best puck possession team in the league. This begins from the breakout, is maintained through the neutral zone, and extends into the offensive zone, where they are very good at generating scoring chances. They also play in a conference where very few teams play an aggressive forecheck, if any forecheck at all, consistently. The Penguiuns consistently forecheck hard. For those who may not understand, I'll put it in basektball terms. Pittsburgh's forecheck is similar to a full court press. The Red Wings are used to (what appears to me to be) a more common basketball defense, which doesn't press as hard and allows the attacking team to come up the court easier and at their own pace. I think Pittsburgh can force enough turnovers to balance out the Detroit puck possession game, or at least force them to play a way they don't like to play.
On the other hand, Detroit also has some very big open ice hitters on their team. Pittsburgh hasn't seen a team like this yet. Their big guns like Malkin and Hossa are used to people checking and holding them up along the boards, but there's a big difference between being hit into the boards, where there's something to absorb the hit, and being hit in the open ice, where there's nothing to absorb the hit. Pittsburgh generates a lot of their chances by skating the puck hard up the middle of the ice and trying to beat the opposing defense into the zone. Knowing that there is a monster lurking in the neutral zone to hit them could cause the Pens to change their attacking style, which would be bad.
Detroit has the best defense in the league, but they also play in a defensive conference. The only team with a half decent offense that they've played yet, Nashville, gave them problems. I think an offensive team like Pittsburgh who tends to make the most of their chances can expose them. If Detroit doesn't dictate the tempo of the game, they usually lose. It's going to come down to goaltending (the two goalies in this series are the top two goalies in the playoffs), and secondary scoring, which Detroit has not consistently had yet. Their top line is dangerous but they get very few goals beyond there...Pittsburgh gets goals from all four lines.
ESPN's Scott Burnside picked Pittsburgh, ESPN's Barry Melrose picked Detroit, and LVC's Nate Yinger is going with Pittsburgh. Game 1 is Saturday night at 8 on Versus.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Good Riddance
The Flyers just joined my Avs on the golf course after being demoralized by Pittsburgh 6-0 in game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals. The Pens now await the winner of the Detroit - Dallas series, which is 3-2 Detroit. The Wings were up 3-0 before Dallas won the last 2 games. Game 6 is tomorrow night at 8 on Versus...can Dallas force a game 7? Part of me hopes so, but part of me wants Detroit to win just so they can ensure there are no sun belt teams in the Cup finals this year. I'm sick of warm climate teams who don't belong in the NHL winning a trophy that originated in Canada for a sport that, for awhile, couldn't be played anywhere that couldn't sustain natural ice in the winter. Anyway, more to come after the conclusion of the Western Conference series.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Third Round Thoughts
Each conference final is well under way, so I figured it's time for an update.
Detroit has a 2-0 lead over Dallas in the West, as they remained unbeaten at home in the postseason. They have been playing their traditional stifling defense and puck possession offense, winning game 1 4-1 and game 2 2-1. Things got chippy at the end of game 2, with Dallas' Steve Ott going after a Detroit player and earning himself a 10 minute misconduct, and then Detroit goalie Chris Osgood caught Stars forward Mike Ribiero with a sneaky butt-end to the face, which prompted Ribiero to turn around and slash Osgood across the chest. Osgood went down like he had been shot and rolled around on the ice. Umm...those chest protectors can take 100mph slapshots Ozzie...you're telling me you had to roll around on the ice for taking a little slash like that? I think he just eliminated any shot he ever had of being a big time actor.
In the East, Pittsburgh is also up 2-0, winning both games on home ice 4-2. The Flyers were in trouble on the blueline without Kimmo Timonen, who is lost for the series with a blood clot in his ankle, and then in the last game Brayden Coburn, their second best defenseman, was lost for the game when he was hit in the face by a slapshot. As a result, Jaroslov Modry, who normally doesn't dress when everyone is healthy, had to play 20 minutes, and Derien Hatcher, who can sometimes be confused for a pylon the way opposing forwards blow past him, had to play almost 30 minutes. This is a lot of ice time for those two guys. Hatcher was in the penalty box when the Pens scored their second goal (it was a weak call but going by what the rules say, the correct call) and was well out of position for the game winner. However, I don't want to hear anymore crying about the refs having it in for the Flyers, because they have had a fair share of calls go their way so far.
Game 3 of the Western series is tonight (Monday) at 8, and game 3 of the Eastern series is tomorrow night at 7:30 in what should be a raucous Wachovia Center. Both games are on Versus.
Detroit has a 2-0 lead over Dallas in the West, as they remained unbeaten at home in the postseason. They have been playing their traditional stifling defense and puck possession offense, winning game 1 4-1 and game 2 2-1. Things got chippy at the end of game 2, with Dallas' Steve Ott going after a Detroit player and earning himself a 10 minute misconduct, and then Detroit goalie Chris Osgood caught Stars forward Mike Ribiero with a sneaky butt-end to the face, which prompted Ribiero to turn around and slash Osgood across the chest. Osgood went down like he had been shot and rolled around on the ice. Umm...those chest protectors can take 100mph slapshots Ozzie...you're telling me you had to roll around on the ice for taking a little slash like that? I think he just eliminated any shot he ever had of being a big time actor.
In the East, Pittsburgh is also up 2-0, winning both games on home ice 4-2. The Flyers were in trouble on the blueline without Kimmo Timonen, who is lost for the series with a blood clot in his ankle, and then in the last game Brayden Coburn, their second best defenseman, was lost for the game when he was hit in the face by a slapshot. As a result, Jaroslov Modry, who normally doesn't dress when everyone is healthy, had to play 20 minutes, and Derien Hatcher, who can sometimes be confused for a pylon the way opposing forwards blow past him, had to play almost 30 minutes. This is a lot of ice time for those two guys. Hatcher was in the penalty box when the Pens scored their second goal (it was a weak call but going by what the rules say, the correct call) and was well out of position for the game winner. However, I don't want to hear anymore crying about the refs having it in for the Flyers, because they have had a fair share of calls go their way so far.
Game 3 of the Western series is tonight (Monday) at 8, and game 3 of the Eastern series is tomorrow night at 7:30 in what should be a raucous Wachovia Center. Both games are on Versus.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
FYI
The Western Conference finals start tomorrow night (Thursday, 8 May) and the Eastern Conference finals start the following night. It looks like all of the games are televised on Versus.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
So Freakin' Excited
The Penguins beat the Rangers 3-2 in OT today to advance to the Eastern Conference finals. Their opponent? The orange and black of Philadelphia, who surprised many people by easily ousting the top seeded bleu, blanc, et rogue (Montreal) in 5 games, a series in which they exposed a young, inexperienced Montreal team who many people thought overachieved during the regular season to get the top seed in the East. Holy shit am I excited for this series. Pittsburgh and Philly is the best rivalry in the NHL right now, which has been created by the renaissance that transformed Pittsburgh from perrenial cellar-dwellers to a team you don't want to face, a couple of lop-sided wins for both teams against each other, and some incredibly physical play that has resulted in more than one fight, including at least one line brawl (the term for when multiple players on the ice start fighting instead of the normal one on one fight). Will there be fights in this series? Maybe...fighting does not happen much in the playoffs, but with the hostility that exists between these two teams, dont be surprised if the gloves are thrown in this series. Hockey isn't about the fights though...this series will have everything that makes hockey beautiful: graceful skating, pinpoint passes, highlight reel goals, earth-shaking hits, and breath taking saves. I can't wait.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Time for Golf
Detroit took the liberty to end Colorado's misery last night courtesy of an 8-2 shellacking to complete the sweep. The injury riddled Avs just couldn't skate with Detroit. Even with a healthy roster, I'm not sure much could have been done...Johann Franzen scored 9 goals in the 4 game series, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk were on the score sheet quite a few times, and Colorado's piss poor offense couldn't generate much against a strong Detroit defense. I'm calling for a new coach in Denver...Quenneville's "try to play oppressive defense" system that worked in St. Louis prior to the lockout and crackdown on obstruction doesn't work anymore. I can see next year being the worst year in the Quebec/Colorado franchise since 1991/92 when they went 20-48-12. Some of their key offensive players are old and banged up (Sakic and Forsberg) and who knows which young free agents they will re-sign. It's going to be an interesting off season in Denver. For now, though, it's time for them to dust off the golf clubs and hit the links.
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