Hartley Miller's Slap Shots - April 27th Edition

By Hartley Miller

In past years, the Stanley Cup Playoffs, were entertaining and exciting. In the first round of the 2007 post-season, this was not the case. There were no major upsets and just one series went the distance.

The Vancouver-Dallas match-up was the longest with a 7^th and deciding game needed. However, the goaltender-dominated Conference quarter-final was hardly a reason to jump for joy. The Canucks were shutout in their three losses. Although Marty Turco should be commended for his stellar play, the series featured few stimulating moments; in fact, it was BORING.

The best game was the opener when Henrik Sedin's goal  finished the match after 78 minutes and six seconds, the 6^th longest overtime game in NHL history.                                                     

In the aftermath of this epic, I was surprised that many fans were calling for a change in the overtime format, so a game of that length could not be repeated.

Excuse me, a rare special event in a sport that needs a boost and there is a call to switch the dynamics ! If this was baseball and teams participated in a 22 inning game which lasted 5 1/2 hours, no one would say a thing.

However, in hockey, it seems like everyone finds a reason to stop the marathons. Critics cite grounds such as health concerns of players and officials, television issues with the networks (re: their programming) and too many people who can’t stay up that late to watch the ending.

Proposed solutions include (you knew this was coming) the infamous shootout, or perhaps 4 on 4.

Well, no one has ever “kicked the bucket” from competing in one of these games. There was no damage done in the final six games as a result of game one.  The players and fans deserve much better than a skills competition to end such an important contest. As much as players were exhausted following game one, many were even more tired about having the OT format discussed.  Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo, after his 72 save performance said, “We should stop analyzing everything about the game. The game is what it is and that’s the way it’s intended to be. A game like that will go down in history. I don’t see why we should change something like that.”

Hockey has regressed (in some aspects) because of the many post lockout rule changes.  Now is not the time to flirt with the current playoff system of continuous overtime until one team scores. Games like the Canucks and Stars played in their opener rarely happen, but when they do, a true hockey fan can tell you when and where they were when that big goal was scored. After all, other than that game, there really wasn't much else to remember from the opening round.

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I have watched taped delayed hockey on TV before, but never a game involving the PG Cougars. This changed when Sportsnet showed game two of the Cougars-Giants WHL Western Conference final from Vancouver on a one hour delayed basis.

While viewing the game I found it difficult enjoying the telecast knowing it wasn't live. I had to make sure not to switch channels during commercials, just in case another network had an up to the minute score.

Ideally, the game should have been shown live, but knowing the network wasn't prepared to begin the broadcast until 8pm and the Giants wouldn't budge on the 7pm start,  I would have preferred having the game joined in progress following first period highlights.

In this era of modern technology, as it happens broadcasts must remain the priority, even if its a bit late.

From the quote rack:

“I'm pretty sure that by the time I finished, the Kenyans were already back in Africa celebrating." Jacob Seilheimer, after the 356-pound runner completed the Boston Marathon in 9 hours and 40 minutes.

“The other 53 per cent, according to Don Cherry, are Swedish.''    Jeff Funnekotter in Cam Hutchinson's Saskatoon StarPhoenix column, after a poll suggested that
76 per cent of Canadian hockey fans are opposed to a ban on fighting.

“Why should the players be the only ones using needles?"    Steve Schrader of the Detroit Free Press, after the Philadelphia Phillies announced plans to hold a "Stitch 'n' Pitch Night" (where fans during the game can  work on their knitting, stitching or quilting projects)

“Kirk Hinrich of the Bulls was fined 25K for throwing his mouthpiece into the stands. There are some that say that Terrell Owens should do the same with (agent) Drew Rosenhaus.” Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California

And in case you missed it:

Again from Bill Littlejohn: "The bad news for Minnesota Vikings CB Cedric Griffin was that he was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct after refusing to pull up his sagging pants at a night club. The good news for Cedric was that he wasn't charged with possession of crack.”

THAT'S WHAT I CALL A “BUMMER”.

And how was your week?

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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