Hartley Miller's Slap-Shots - April 30th, 2010
Friday, April 30, 2010 03:45 AM
The first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs certainly lived up to the hype. Will this momentum continue in the Conference semi-finals?
Ten General thoughts on Round ONE:
· There was drama galore with five series ending in six games and two more in seven. Did anybody think New Jersey would be the first team eliminated?
· It was refreshing to see 12 overtime games decided in the old-fashioned way, five on five, with one goal ending the drama. All series, except Detroit and Phoenix, had at least one overtime.
· There seemed to be more high scoring games, something that will likely change as the stakes get higher.
· Overall, goaltending was shoddy. There were a few outstanding performances, but inconsistency was evident. It is interesting to note that the three Vezina finalists (Ilya Bryzgalov, Ryan Miller and Martin Brodeur) all lost.
· So much for home ice advantage. Home teams only won more games in two of the eight series (Philly-NJ and Boston-Buffalo). Visitors won 27 of the 49 games. Road teams also went 2-for-2 in the pivotal game seven's.
· It was ironic that each series was tied 1-1 after two games and the four Western Conference losers (Phoenix, LA, Nashville and Colorado) all blew 2-1 series leads.
· Scoring the first goal in a game was not necessarily crucial. For instance, teams scoring first in the Vancouver-LA series lost five of the six games.
· With all due respect to Boston’s Zdeno Chara, I thought San Jose’s Devin Setoguchi was the best ex-PG Cougar in the opening round.
· Round one featured 21 too many men on the ice penalties. That has to be a record, which is inexcusable.
· Please, no more Steve Smith references to Sharks defenceman Dan Boyle. He was instrumental in San Jose’s victory after his game three own goal gaffe against Colorado. Is there a more relieved player in the NHL? It is time to turn the page on this one.
Snapshot on each series:
Montreal over Washington in seven: A real SHOCKER ! There is no other way to describe the Habs overcoming a 3-1 deficit. "I would have bet my house that they wouldn't have beaten us three games in a row, and that we would have scored only three goals on almost 140 shots" stated a stunned Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau. Bottom line: Take a bow Jaroslav Halak. There are not enough words to describe how great Montreal's difference maker was.
Pittsburgh over Ottawa in six: Senators simply did not have an answer, or the talent, to neutralize, the game’s best player, Sidney Crosby. Ottawa blowing a 3-0 lead in game six will hurt all summer. Brian Elliott in the Sens goal looked nervous. Bottom Line: The Penguins had Crosby (14 points) and the Senators did not.
Philadelphia over New Jersey in five: Brian Boucher of the Flyers (.940 save percentage and 1.59 GAA) had the best numbers of any goaltender in the opening round. Now, that is a surprise. The Kovalchuk trade for New Jersey backfired. Bottom line: Flyers were better in goal and seemed hungrier.
Boston over Buffalo in six: The marathon overtime contest in game four was perhaps the best game of the opening round. The speed, tempo and goaltending in that memorable match were superb. Bottom line: Sabres had no PP production (0-for-19).
San Jose over Colorado in six: How did the Sharks win getting such little production from the “big three” of Thornton-Marleau-and Heatley. San Jose will need a much better effort from that line against Detroit before its playoff demons will go away. Evgeni Nabovkov played well in goal for San Jose although Craig Anderson was spectacular at times for Colorado. Bottom line: secondary scoring prevailed.
Detroit over Phoenix in seven: Coyotes had energy but Cinderella season came to a crashing halt in game seven. Each of the four Detroit victories were by at least three goals, but I still believe the Red Wings do not look as strong as the previous two years. Bottom line: Experience beat youth and enthusiasm.
Chicago over Nashville in six: Predators put a defensive blanket around the Hawks early; however, Chicago finally found a way through this shield later on in the series. Nashville had its chance in game five with a 4-3 lead in the final minute but surrendering that late short-handed goal was a killer. Bottom line: Hawks had more snipers than the offensively challenged Predators.
Vancouver over LA in six: Canucks were a far better team five on five. The Kings relied too much on their power play and top two defencemen. LA’s inexperience was evident. Vancouver will need to tighten up defensively and not rely on comeback wins so often to advance to the finals. Bottom line: Canucks better players (Sedins, Samuelsson and Luongo) were better than the Kings better players were.
The Canucks, in quest of that elusive cup, are now set for their much-anticipated battle with the Blackhawks. As the hype, the commotion and the hope builds for Vancouver I believe that they do not have another dozen wins in them. Do they?
From the quote rack:
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was suspended for six games by the NFL for violating the league’s personal conduct rules. I hear they may be making a reality show about his life; the working title, “Genital Ben”.
'Dancing with the Stars' dance partner Cheryl Burke told In Touch that Chad Ochocinco would 'seriously dance naked if it were allowed'. But enough about his end zone celebrations---she says he'd also do it on the show.
Washington's Eric Belanger got whacked in the mouth with a stick by Montreal's Marc-Andre Bergeron and, as a result, lost seven teeth. Not to worry--Washington's Dental Plan covers the Caps.
Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California
Thursday (April 22nd) was Earth day. To cut down on excessive gas emissions, TSN sat out Pierre McGuire.
An angry Devils GM Lou Lamoriello apparently threw a bottle of jelly against a wall after a game four loss to Philadelphia. But alas, like most of the Devils shots recently, it missed the mark.
Another sign that football has passed Oakland owner Al Davis by, as the Raiders used their first round draft pick to select Sandra Bullock.
Comedy writer Marc Ragovin of New York
A new nickname for Montreal Canadians goalie Jaroslav Halak after seeing more rubber than a racetrack... Shellak.
Paralympics curler Jim Armstrong was arrested at the Canada/US border and charged with trafficking in Viagra. Officials say they became suspicious when he didn’t have to hurry to be hard.
Contributor Derek Wilken of Calgary (http://smacksport.blogspot.com/)
A hand-written witness’s account of the 1881 “Gunfight at the OK Corral” was just discovered in an Arizona court’s storage room. Along with some of the contents of the dead men’s pockets. Rumor has it the find included a priceless rookie card for Chris Chelios.
A San Francisco Gay Softball team was stripped of its second place finish in a tournament after three of their members were determined to be “non-gay. How did the tournament organizers come to this decision? Apparently other teams became suspicious when the three men didn’t rush back to their hotels to see “Dancing with the Stars.”
Contributor Derek Wilken of Calgary (http://smacksport.blogspot.com/)
A hand-written witness’s account of the 1881 “Gunfight at the OK Corral” was just discovered in an Arizona court’s storage room. Along with some of the contents of the dead men’s pockets. Rumor has it the find included a priceless rookie card for Chris Chelios.
A San Francisco Gay Softball team was stripped of its second place finish in a tournament after three of their members were determined to be “non-gay. How did the tournament organizers come to this decision? Apparently other teams became suspicious when the three men didn’t rush back to their hotels to see “Dancing with the Stars.”
The Big Ten, trying to become dominant in the BCS, is considering expanding by adding an unspecified number of teams. No word as to which Midwestern teams the conference is considering, but presumably, a logical fit would be the Detroit Lions.
Contributor Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California (www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com)
And in case, you missed it:
Former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch has died at age 89. He will be cremated just as soon as the torch arrives from Greece.)
Comedy writer Jim Barach of WCHS-TV in Charleston, W.Va (http://jokesbyjim.blogspot.com/
Hartley Miller is the sports director for radio stations 94X and the Wolf@97fm. He also writes for the PG Free Press. Send along a quote, note or anecdote to hmiller@94xfm.com.
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