Seventh Heaven, Who’s Who & What, Me Worry?
I hope you are all enjoying some of the first-round matchups as much as I am. After Detroit, Vancouver and Boston each disposed of their opponents in short order, we were left with a few beauties!
We already know that the two remaining series in the Eastern Conference will require a seventh game…Washington/NYR and Carolina/New Jersey…and depending on the outcome of tonight’s games out west, we could be treated to one or two more.
For a while there it appeared as though the Flyers were going to push Pittsburgh to the brink in that series as well…but they were unable to make a three-goal lead in the second period hold up. I would say “what a collapse of epic proportions”, but that might make it seem I was minimizing the effort put forward by the Penguins.
I love NHL playoff hockey!
Goalie Who’s Who?
Try to do this without looking at the stats sheet…you might find this interesting. I’ll give you the playoff stats of two goalies that are opposing each other in the first round and you try to guess which netminder belongs to which stats line.
Hurricanes vs. Devils
Goalie #1: 1.96 GAA, .942 SV% & 1 shoutout having faced 207 SOG.
Goalie #2: 2.12 GAA, .938 SV% & 1 shoutout having faced 208 SOG.
Now…which one is Cam Ward and which one is Marty Brodeur?
Rangers vs. Capitals
Goalie #1: 1.21 GAA, .954 SV% & 2 shutouts having faced 130 SOG.
Goalie #2: 3.19 GAA, .907 SV% & 1 shutout having faced 183 SOG.
Which one is Henrik Lundqvist and which one is Simeon Varlamov?
Sharks vs. Ducks
Goalie #1: 1.77 GAA, .953 SV% & 2 shutouts having faced 193 SOG.
Goalie #2: 2.57 GAA, .894 SV% & 0 shutouts having faced 123 SOG.
Which one is Evgeni Nabokov and which one is Jonas Hiller?
What…Me Worry?
Someone asked me over the weekend if I was concerned that the Thrashers haven’t yet inked Marty Reasoner to a new contract. My answer…”Nah”!
See, the way I figure it… Marty has said he wants to return, his teammates have made it clear how they feel about him given they selected him the winner of the Player’s Player Award and Don Waddell has also indicated he wants him re-signed. Plus, as Chris Vivlamore has reported, Waddell and Reasoner’s agent are in the midst of travels but plan on getting together soon about it.
Everyone wants the deal done and there is until July to do so. Easy enough…right?
Right!
Now, if we’re still talking about this come mid-June…then I’ll be worried.
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74 comments Add your comment
five_hole
April 28th, 2009
4:48 pm
Five straight years being outsed in the playoffs…the last four in the first round. How does any GM keep his job after such failure? – Rawhide
Gee, from my perspective, he’s a much better GM than the one we have (de bum bum).
Tony C.
April 28th, 2009
4:53 pm
I actually put the difference in the Anaheim-SJ series squarely on the netminders.
Hiller was exquisite-I think the Sharks outshot the Ducks by like a 2.75-to-1 ratio. Hiller didn’t just see more rubber than Nabakov, he saw a lot more “prime” chances. Late in the 2nd last night Hiller absolutely robbed Setigouchi(spl?) from right off the left post-he stopped it,-just- but he got enough. He was the difference.
Nabakov made his share of spectacular plays, but he didn’t stop the “average” shots. Not to say he didn’t play well enough to win, but Nabakov was “standard” while Hiller was “exceptional”. To me, that was the difference in the series.
Granted, ANA did a great job clogging the middle of the ice, but damn near anybody else in the net, and ANA would’ve only won one game in that series.
Hiller stopped the SJ PP. Seeing that, ANA just beat on SJ until they were docile. I mean we finally see “Jumbo Joe” show some real fire and they still can only muster 2 power-play goals???
Detroit should send Hiller’s parents a nice gift. Something.
ranallo10 (in AT)
April 28th, 2009
5:10 pm
I must agree with Bob…GMs build the team that can make it to the playoffs, coaches and players take over from there. Anaheim simply outplayed San Jose. Blowing up the roster or firing the GM is a gross over-exaggeration, in my opinion.
SJ fans should learn to deal with playoff losses…I know it must be frustrating, but not every team can win the Stanley Cup simply because they make the playoffs for several seasons in a row. Prior to last season when was the last time a President’s Trophy winning team won the Stanley Cup in the same season? San Jose’s time will come, but this might have been their best opportunity and they simply could not pull it off. They’re still built well for next season, and should remain that way.
Brendan
April 28th, 2009
5:59 pm
I must offer up that I felt, personally, that there ought to have been a sense of URGENCY for the Sharks, THISSS playoff season. I agree with Bob, Ranallo and Rawhide, that no one should be fired. But here they had a 117-point season, got home ice over the Red Wings, with the ROSTER that is arguably the BEST they’ve ever assembled. That’s called, “opportunity knocking.” They worked really hard to get to that point. Perhaps, had the loss been to Columbus, or some team of that calibre, I’d be more hostile towards the Sharks and advocate change. But it was Anaheim. No push over. The goaltending was solid, as Tony C. said, and … Anaheim outplayed them, as Ranallo said. I am not trying to make excuses for San Jose. There’s no doubt about it, they dropped the ball. But I’d hardly say, “that was it, last shot, they’re done, lucky to make the playoffs next year.” Once McLellan and Wilson come back from vacation … they should sit down and plot a strategy for how to try to avoid this from happening next year. I’m sure McLellan is thinking, “our preparation was good. We just didn’t execute. We gave games away.” He’s got a point there. Knowing what you have to do … and ACTUALLY DOING IT are two very different things.
Rawhide
April 28th, 2009
6:46 pm
I have to agree with Bob…and ranallo… on Wilson. He has put a pretty damn good team together…not much else he could do. Plus, as Tony C says, take a look at the goalie stats…there is your big difference.
Now, I’m going to leave it at that…before I find myself agreeing with anyone else. Three in one posting is quite enough, thank you.
World Be Free
April 28th, 2009
6:57 pm
Alan the Wings fan-good for you man-Detroit IS a good town.
See you are Philips
Alan
April 28th, 2009
7:52 pm
Here’s the hit on Enström.
Ouch.
shoot it
April 28th, 2009
9:50 pm
for free agents, i say we go after mikael samuelson for right wing from detroit and either samuel pahlson or nik antropov for center.
R. Stroz
April 28th, 2009
10:28 pm
Nightly Playoff Predictions:
The Capitals take the Rangers in seven
and
The Hurricanes shock the Devils in seven with an improbable end to the game.
Now, its time for the second round.
Alan
April 28th, 2009
10:30 pm
I’ll place $20 on Stroz’s predicted outcomes.
(Say, this is better than playing the lottery!)
Brendan
April 28th, 2009
10:35 pm
Tell me YOU SAW IT. The “Cardiac ‘Canes” strike again. Two goals in the last minute and a half of regulation, and they win the series, 4-3, with a 4-3 win. Until that moment, teams taking a lead into the 3rd period of the 2009 playoffs … were 26-0.
26-0.
Correction: 26 and Carolina over NJ, in Game Seven.
I’m just gonna say it. Red Wing fans should pop the champagne. ‘Cuz comin’ into this thing, I figured there were TWO (2) Teams that could stop them: (1) San Jose and (2) New Jersey. Buh-bye to both of them. So, NOW who’s gonna stop them?? Chicago?? I don’t know. There’s a lot of inexperience, aside from Havlat and Khabibulin on that roster. Vancouver? Let’s be honest. How confident are you in Vancouver winning ANYTHING? Two Cup Finals. Two losses. I think the Canucks entered the league in 1969-70. Then, there’s Anaheim. Okay, the Ducks will win some games. I feel confident in that. But can they really win four of them?? I’d say no. They’ll TEST the Red Wings, but Detroit will win.
Alright, let’s look East. Boston? Okay, look. With the Patriots going to four Super Bowls in seven years, and amassing a 16-0 season, coupled with not one, but two World Series wins for the Red Sox, and the Celtics taking home the NBA title last year, I’d say they’re in God’s GOOD GRACES. But I’m not feelin’ it for Boston this year, despite the #1 seed. Pittsburgh? Well, I won’t be shocked if the Penguins get there. They poured it on once they rid themselves of Therrien. But I don’t know that they have enough to get it done. Although, HOW HILARIOUS if Pittsburgh won the Cup, while Hossa was with Detroit! In other words, whichever team has Hossa, LOSES the Finals! Ultimate revenge, for Pittsburgh. And then there’s Carolina. It seems a while ago, but Carolina is just 3 years removed from winning a Stanley Cup. Carolina played Detroit in the 2002 Finals. Could there be a rematch this year?? Before you say “no,” look what they just did to NJ. That WAS the best series of them all. No offense to NY Rangers vs. Washington, which was also very good. Carolina took games 2,4,6 and 7, proving that “you just never know.” This series always looked like it was going the Devils way. But at the very finish line, Carolina OVERTOOK them. Imagine how SKY HIGH ‘Canes fans must be … right now. If they can beat New Jersey, they can beat ANYONE in the East. Many people took NJ to be in the Cup Finals this year.
And finally, there’s my pick, Washington. Yes, folks, the Capitals did it. It was Sergei Federov, with less that 5 minutes left in regulation who scored to complete the comeback. I like what GM George McPhee has assembled in the nation’s capital. But I don’t see them defeating Detroit for the Cup. In 1998, Washington faced the Red Wings for the Cup and were swept.
Rawhide, you BEAT ME AGAIN!! Congrats on 6-2 in the opening round. Your only misses were Philly and SJ. I finished 5-3, and am grateful I did so well! I’ve been 3-5 far too many times in the opening round. I think Maggie the Monkey went 4-4. But I’ll have to double check that.
Party like 1999
April 28th, 2009
10:42 pm
Plenty of pressure on some teams to make changes, with little or no cap space. These are the temas that will have to move good players; they have no choice.
R. Stroz
April 28th, 2009
10:48 pm
My favorite part of the Capitals/Rangers game was watching Avery limp off the ice after Federov gave him a knee special.
I wonder if Federov’s knee check was a little payback for Avery’s knee check on Kovy. The Russians tend to look out for each other.
Poor Avery, karmas a b!tch.
R. Stroz
April 28th, 2009
10:53 pm
World Be Free – I wonder if anyone else picked up on the basketball reference to World B. Free.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_B._Free
Rawhide
April 28th, 2009
10:53 pm
Brendan – Yeah…6 out of 8. It took a helluva comeback by Carolina though. Still…not bad for someone who doesn’t know what he’s talking about, eh?
Don’t ya just get a kick out of characters like David that drop their blog bombs but lack the stones to make a prediction themselves…huh?
RStroz – The younger tax exemption and I were laughing our a$$es off at Sean as he skanked off the ice.
Awwww…poor wittle Seanie.
Could not have scripted a better ending.
Brendan
April 28th, 2009
10:57 pm
Correction on the Maggie the Monkey picks: http://www.tsn.ca/story/?id=275081. Maggie came in with a lifetime record of 40-35. She’s now a pedestrian 42-41. Which means?? She went 2-6 in the 1st round. Her two wins were Boston over Montreal and Vancouver over St. Louis.
Brendan
April 28th, 2009
11:15 pm
Rawhide, you have to remember something VERY, VERY important. David’s a legend … in his own mind. People who make prank calls and firebomb blogs could probably do well to seek some new ventures and avenues in life.
On the other hand, I’d venture that Maggie the Monkey knows nothing about hockey. And yet, she’s still over .500 in her picks, lifetime. Which is sadly sobering, for those might be 41-42 over the same stretch, picking AGAINST Maggie.
Brendan
April 28th, 2009
11:23 pm
R.Stroz – I think Avery was faking it. He’s a drama queen. When they ask him what went wrong in Game 7, Avery will say, “I was injured in the final minutes, so I couldn’t score to force overtime.” Seriously. I wouldn’t put it past him to say something that obtuse.
World Be Free
April 29th, 2009
6:01 am
R Stroz-maybe the best name change of all time, from Lloyd Free to World Be Free. Goes with Bobby Moore to Ahmad Rashad and Walt Hazzard to Ahmad Rahman (then back to Walt Hazzard).
Chad Ocho was no the first
World Be Free
April 29th, 2009
6:07 am
I can’t wait until next season when Avery plays Calgary and gets his wimpy-ass head pounded in.
Just watched Toby get run into the board against Latvia. Nobody jumped the wimp that ran him.
Russ
April 29th, 2009
8:29 am
I went an un-good 5-3 on my first round predictions. Despite the bad start I will soldier on with round 2 picks as follows:
Boston over Carolina in 5.
Washington over Pittsburgh in 7.
Detroit over Anaheim in 6.
Chicago over Vancouver in 7.
World be Free
April 29th, 2009
10:47 am
All 4 series are going to be great. Detroit – Anaheim will be a classic
pond scum
April 30th, 2009
10:59 pm
Alan- Thanks for being a “fan” AND supporting the local teams. I don’t blame you on the diehard support of your home teams no matter what. I know I wouldn’t give up my support for my Thrashers,Falcons,Hawks,Braves and Dawgs if I had to move up north for anyone……. and could possibly go to and show some support for the Lions,Tigers. Your out of luck with the Wings and Pistons though. One of my best friends sounds just like you,so I hope no one calls you “bandwagon”. If you openly admitted to be a Lions fan,that’s enough proof in itself u aren’t LOL!
One thing some of you are overlooking is that the Ducks spent the last 20-25 games of the season playing “playoff” type games,actually trying to get in to the #8 spot. The Sharks,if you look back,basically coasted in.That makes a huge difference and Nabby wasn’t sharp.Actually “average” at best. The Ducks/Wings series should be VERY good indeed. I’ll take the Hawks to vanquish the Nucks,the long layoff is going to get them. As for a Ducks/Wings winner…… Ducks I say in 7.
Canes in 7 over the Bruins(yes,I picked another huge upset) and Caps over Pens in 6.(Caps now have a goalie to really believe in,if Ovy will stop puck hogging,they’ll move on forsure)
As for the freeagents- RW possiblities/ Gionta,Knuble,Kotalik I’d love to see here on the 2nd line. Afinogenov is all speed and weave,but lacks the finishing. Petr Sykora,maybe also. I’m concerned Samuelsson would be a bust outside the Wings system IMHO. If you strike out on the “bigger names”, I wouldn’t mind seeing Army stay on the 2nd line and bring in Dvorak for the 3rd line to help out the PK.
Freeagent centers/ Pahlsson would be nice for a 4th line upgrade,but I hope we don’t throw away Slater,he’s finally found his role and seems to play it well and alot younger. White,AGAIN, has shown he can handle the #1 duties and Pevs showed he is capable of the 2nd line duties. With our own cupboards pretty bare for center prospects,heck “legitimate” prospects period,we don’t have the pieces to really swing a deal for a “true” #1 center that some of you my fellow fans think we need-I’m quite happy with White! Then Reasoner WILL BE RESIGNED,so where you gonna play this “other” need at center? Bringing in a Pahlsson,Moore,Larose,Peca type would be smart cause on one hand we need depth. IF White or Pevs goes down,you could slide Reasoner up until they heal up and let the new center slide up also, take his spot on the 3rd line or just have him center the 4th line with Slater/Crabb and have a true “shut down” line during the season(so to keep him from being a frequent scratch),keeping Bolts for added grit and size when needed vs. the more physical teams. Cammy will remain a Flame,they gave up a bit to get him in the first place last summer. BUT,Langkow could be had from then for cap space they’ll need to keep Cammy and Jokinen paid. That might be affordable( but cap space dumping teams will only be a few and other GMs will be seeking to also get those deals).
Both of those moves shouldn’t break the bank. But I’d like to see us get a top 2 pairing defenseman to pair with Bogo. I like Toby,don’t get me wrong,but he needs to bulk up and add size to be able to really dish it out and not get ran so much due to his size. Karsums only did it cause 2 reasons IMHO; Toby lacks size and he is already familiar playing against him. Toby is going to have to learn that sometimes he needs to repay the folks who dis on him,not just take names and hopes a teammate remembers it. Let him spend the summer training with Ray Bear or whoever he wnats and add the size,let the worlds go for now. If he doesn’t do it soon,his career won’t last very long. OK,i’ll take a breather while yall comment LOL! I was in the need for some good hockey talk with all of you.Thanks!
pond scum
April 30th, 2009
11:26 pm
O and I thought Karsums was a Bolt now? I could’ve betted he was in the lineup in the last game of the season for the Bolts.