Off Wing Opinion

I'd love to give you detailed capsules of each game from last night -- but I can't. I have to admit that for the first time since the playoffs began, I took the night off and watched Buffy and 24. All I saw was Wade Redden's wrist shot for the winner as Ottawa took down Philly 3-2 in OT. I don't know about you, but when I watched the replay, I could have sworn the puck traveled like it was a precision munition guided by a GPS signal. Senators lead the series, 2-1.

Back in Minnesota, the Canucks scored all three of their goals on the power play en route to a 3-2 victory over the Wild. The Canucks lead that series, 2-1.

Tonight, we get Anaheim-Dallas and New Jersey-Tampa Bay. Down in Tampa, Pavel Kubina is denying he purposely shot the puck at Scott Stevens in Game Three -- an incident that left Stevens bleeding and sent him to the hospital so doctors could stitch his ear back together. The Devils aren't saying whether or not he'll play in Game Four, but I think it's a dead solid lock that he'll play.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 30th, 2003 at 2:56 pm by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Stars 2 Ducks 1: Stars coach Dave Tippett called this an "ugly win," but I'm sure the Stars will take it. Tonight's hero was Stars winger Jere Lehtinen, who scored twice from close in on Anaheim's J.S. Giguere. Though Lehtinen has won the Selke Trophy twice for being the top defensive forward in the league, people shouldn't forget that he set career-highs for both goals (31) and plus-minus (+39) this season. In Lehtinen's eight years in the league, he's never been on the minus side for a full season. Game Four is Wednesday night back in Anaheim.

Ducks lead series, 2-1.

Lightning 4 Devils 3: Now this game was quite a roller coaster. First, Devils defenseman Scott Stevens goes down early in the first period after getting struck in the head with the puck. He left the ice bleeding and never returned. Taking advantage of the emotional letdown, the Lightning pounced all over the Devils, scoring three times in the first period -- including a bad angle wrister from Fredrik Modin that somehow found its way under Martin Brodeur's arm for the third goal. In the second period, the Devils stormed back to tie, sparked by John Madden's power play tally. Finally, early in the third, the refs refused Devils coach Pat Burns a line change -- something that forced defenseman Colin White off the ice and leaving the Devils with four forwards out for a faceoff. Counterattacking after Madden stung the post off a slap shot, Tampa took the puck down ice where veteran Dave Andreychuk put it past Brodeur for the winner.

Afterwards, Burns was not happy:

"After all these years in the league, am I that stupid that I would put four forwards and one defenseman in a 3-3 tie in the third period? I think everybody who knows me here knows I'm not that stupid," Burns said.

"I might be halfway stupid, but not that stupid. It was the wrong call. ... We played hard and fought back. If we lose the game because they scored a couple of good goals, and they outplayed us, fine. But I just feel bad about losing the game like that."

Game Four is Wednesday back in Tampa. Will Stevens be back? I can't imagine that he won't be.

Devils lead series, 2-1.

POSTSCRIPT: Stevens got some stitches in his left ear, as well as a precautionary X-Ray at the hospital after the game. Now, at first blush, you'd think that a hockey helmet would be designed to cover someone's ears. And if you look at a helmet when it leaves the factory, you'd be right. However, once the helmet gets into the hands of the players, they'll often modify it on their own for both convenience and comfort. As I noted a few months ago, one of the most common modifications is the removal of the plastic that covers the ears. Why? Without the flaps, it's simply easier to hear your teammates on the ice. A number of other players will also dispense with a mouthguard for similar reasons, while the vast majority of players refuse to use a visor because of the fact that it can restrict a player's vision.

UPDATE: Some of the players on the Devils are wondering whether or not Pavel Kubina, the member of the Lightning who shot the puck that struck Stevens, feel he did it on purpose.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 29th, 2003 at 9:49 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Flyers 2 Senators 0: The hero of this game was Philly goalie Roman Cechmanek. After letting in four goals on just 17 shots in Game One, Cechmanek bounced back with a far stronger performance, stopping 33 shots and grabbing a shutout. But that wasn't the whole story, as Cechmanek also had to endure six Ottawa power plays -- three more than the Flyers got to enjoy. Mark Recchi continued his torrid playoff performance with an insurance goal in the third period. Game Three is Tuesday in Philadelphia.

Series tied, 1-1.

Wild 3 Canucks 2: The Wild go back to Minnesota having wrested home ice advantage from the Canucks, but one has to wonder if in the back of their minds is the fact that they were only 1.2 seconds away from having a 2-0 advantage. Credit Wild Coach Jacques Lemaire for playing against type once again, and putting Dwayne Roloson back between the pipes for Game Two. He hadn't played since Game Four of the series against the Avalanche, and was only out of the lineup because he had tweaked his groin. In any case, he showed no ill effects from his time off, coming through with 29 saves and withstanding a furious Canucks assault in the final minutes that was reminiscent of the wind-up of regulation in Game One. Turning out to be the most entertaining of the four remaining series.

Series tied, 1-1.

POSTSCRIPT: A few days ago, my hard core ice hockey readership gave me a wake-up call regarding playoff OT. As a rule, anything more than one OT period runs the risk of me shutting off the game and going to bed. But according to this story by the Washington Times' Eric Fisher, I'm in the minority when it comes to hockey fans:

The average ESPN rating for NHL playoffs of 0.6, translating to about 517,800 households, and average ESPN2 rating of 0.3, representing about 252,600 households, trail both the NHL early-round playoff marks from a year ago and ratings so far this spring from the NBA playoffs. NBA playoff audiences on cable have frequently been five and six times as large as those for hockey.

The NHL numbers are even way behind what NBC drew for the World Curling Championships and "The World of American Indian Dance" last weekend.

But NHL fans have responded in their own way to the overtimes and produced a marked, late-night elevation in ratings. ESPN's average rating for overtime games is 0.7, 16 percent higher than its regulation games, and ESPN2 jumps 33 percent to an average rating of 0.4 for its overtime contests.

The Stars-Mighty Ducks game Thursday generated an average rating of 0.8, even though nearly half of the game happened after 11 p.m. Eastern. The game also marked the second-best showing of any game for ESPN in this year's NHL playoffs.

There you have it: solid data that OT helps increase television ratings. Granted, it's a small increase in a rating that can only be described as anemic, but an increase nonetheless.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 28th, 2003 at 11:12 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Two more OT games -- but two games that ended with blessed suddeness. The Ducks and the Devils have the opposition by the throat, and something tells me that neither Tampa Bay nor Dallas is going to be able to get off the mat.

Ducks 3 Stars 2, OT: Two playoff OT games, and veteran center Adam Oates has set up the game-winning goal in both games. In Game One, he hit Petr Sykora for the winner at the start of the fifth OT; yesterday in Game Two, Oates hit winger Mike LeClerc with another pass from behind the net -- bang, and Anaheim has a 2-0 lead heading back home to Arrowhead Pond for Games Three and Four.

Oates had a sub par regular season, but in the playoffs he's showing exactly why the Ducks signed him to a free agent contract before the start of this season. Here in Washington, there are still a number of Caps fans who rue the day they let go of both Jason Allison and Anson Carter in the trade where they acquired Oates. Well, in the real world of the NHL trading deadline, you have to give something up in order to get anything of value. The fact is, the Caps wouldn't have had any shot at making a run at the Cup in 1998 without Oates centering their top line.

One thing we did find out here in Washington: Oates tended to wear down toward the end of the season (closing in on his 42nd birthday, that can hardly be considered a surprise), something which resulted in little or no production in his last two playoff appearances in a Caps uniform. This year with the Ducks, Oates was out injured for a significant stretch of the season, something that may very well have left him with some extra gas for the playoffs.

As for the rest of the game, credit Ducks goalie J.S. Giguere for not allowing the Stars to pull away in the third period -- something that kept the Ducks in striking distance long enough for them to score the tying goal with about 1:09 left in the game.

How'd they score? Another freak goal, that's how. This time, a Rob Niedermayer pass deflected off of Stars winger Stu Barnes' skate and past Turco.

It was the sort of break you get when things are going your way. It was the sort of break that can break a team's spirit. Will Dallas break much like Detroit? Stay tuned.

Ducks lead series, 2-0.

Devils 3 Lightning 2, OT: Another OT game just the way I like them -- quick and dirty. Once again, it was Devils post season scoring machine Jamie Langenbrunner putting away the game winner early in OT when he followed up his own shot while driving to the net, and was able to bang in his own rebound.

Funny, but at the trading deadline, Devils GM Lou Lamirello took more than a few shots for not picking up another goal scorer to supplement the team's lineup before the start of the playoffs. Critics liked to note that the Devils were only able to win the Stanley Cup in 2000 with the help of sniper Alexander Mogilny, currently getting ready to reserve a tee time as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Did I mention that the primary assist on Langenbrunner's goal went to ex-Selke trophy winner, John Madden? Then again, did I even have to? The assist was Madden's seventh of the playoffs, and he and Langenbrunner have 20 points between them in only seven playoff games.

Devils lead series, 2-0.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 27th, 2003 at 1:36 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

We got another OT thriller out in the Pacific Northwest; meanwhile, back East, the Senators shook off some rust in time to down the Flyers.

Canucks 4 Wild 3, OT: Now this is the sort of OT game I could stand to see a few more of. With the Canucks down 3-2 with only 1.2 seconds remaining, Vancouver's Matt Cooke banged the puck in to tie the score at 3. Then, only 3:42 into OT, Minnesota native Trent Klatt scored to give Vancouver the win.

If every OT game I saw was like this, I wouldn't ever talk about reforming playoff OT. If you don't like the idea of 2-10 minute periods followed by a shootout, then why not simply adopt the regular season format, and play OT with four skaters a side?

Canucks lead series, 1-0.

Senators 4 Flyers 2: I knew the Flyers didn't have a shot at winning this game, but not quite this way. If there was any doubt that the Flyers would have as hard a time solving Senators goalie Patrick Lalime as in the last year's playoff, it was dispelled when the Flyers scored on their first two shots. What came next? Some might say the Flyers ran out of emotional gas. Others might say the Senators simply demonstrated their superiority. It might have been a little bit of both. We'll find out for sure when they play Game Two on Sunday.

Senators lead series, 1-0.

POSTSCRIPT: Over in Finland, Denmark defeated the U.S. at the World Hockey Championships, 5-2. The Danes hadn't played at the World Championships since 1949 -- a year when they lost 47-0 to Canada. The U.S. team carries 12 NHL players -- but very, very few whose names you might recognize.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 26th, 2003 at 1:24 pm by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Ducks 4 Stars 3, 5OT: There was a time when I used to make fun of Soccer and the way they used a shootout to decide tie games. If they were real men, they'd spend all the time they needed playing the game the way it was meant to be played -- even if that meant running up and down the pitch till they dropped, and just about all the fans had gone home consumed with exhaustion.

The shootout was the easy way out, and the use of it marked the game of Soccer as inferior.

After last night's 5 OT game in Dallas, I'm not so sure.

Now, the game didn't need to go 5 OT periods in the first place. Thanks to a ridiculous call by the referees, a Ducks goal in the third OT was disallowed. Working in consultation with the league office in Toronto, the refs ruled that the net had come off its moorings before a Steve Rucchin shot caromed off of Steve Thomas and past Stars goalie Marty Turco. The ruling seemed odd, as it appeared to me that the net only became dislodged because Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas had pinned Thomas in the crease, and pushed him into the crossbar.

Two OT periods later, an Adam Oates pass found Petr Sykora for the game winner. The goal came at 1:32 a.m. EDT.

Most of the Eastern Seaboard, where a good chunk of the NHL's fans live, was securely in bed by then. And I was one of them, having given up on the game after the third OT.

Now, if you watch any of the coverage on ESPN, you see John Buccigross, Barry Melrose, et al, waxing poetic over the fourth longest game in the history of the league. But every October, when World Series games don't start until 9:00 p.m. EST, and don't finish up until the wee hours of the morning, Baseball is taken to task for scheduling games when young fans don't have a realistic hope of watching from start to finish.

Forget the young fans; when committed adult fans like me are giving up and going to bed, something is terribly wrong. As I've said before on these pages, the NHL ought to put a cap on the number of OT periods in the playoffs. If I had my way, I'd put that number at two, ten-minute OT periods. If we're still tied, then go to the shootout.

Don't like the shootout? Then find a way to score the winning goal in regulation.

Endless OT periods like the ones we saw last night serve no one outside of hockey's hard core fan base. It does nothing to increase ad revenue; nothing to increase gate revenue; and nothing to grow the game.

The time for the shootout is now.

Ducks lead series, 1-0.

Devils 3 Lightning 0: Yesterday in my playoff preview, I talked about how John Madden, Scott Stevens and Martin Brodeur would be the keys to victory for the Devils. Last night, Madden's checking line shut down the Lightning, helping to hold them to just 15 shots.

Later, Devils coach Pat Burns shifted Jamie Langenbrunner to Madden's checking line -- and the line was responsible for the Devils first two goals in the third period as they potted one a piece. Stevens grabbed an assist on both those goals, and Brodeur got a tidy shutout. Game Two is Saturday, and I don't expect the result to be any different.

Devils lead series, 1-0.

POSTSCRIPT: The Timberwolves beat the Lakers in L.A. last night, not that you would have known with an 11:00 p.m. EDT start time.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 25th, 2003 at 11:03 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Three Game Sevens. Two were yawners as the fourth seed in both conferences finally closed out a tougher than expected foe. But in Denver, hockey fans were treated to another OT upset that's going to echo throughout the playoffs and the offseason.

Wild 3 Avalanche 2: Say for a moment that you're Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Capitals. You just saw your team go down in 6 games in the first round of the playoffs to a team that hasn't won a playoff round in its 11 years of existence. And the Caps didn't just lose, they blew a 2-0 series lead heading into a pair of games on home ice. They lost four straight games, two of them in OT on home ice. Your team is led by Jaromir Jagr, a player in the midst of a seven-year, $77 million contract -- a contract that is eating a serious hole in your pocket. For the final four games of your most recent playoff series, Jagr was held scoreless.

So last night you're sitting at home, checking the scores of the other playoff series. You can't help but notice that in Denver, the Minnesota Wild, a team in its third season making its very first playoff appearance, have managed to take the Colorado Avalanche into OT in Game Seven of their playoff series -- the Avalanche that have won two Stanley Cups in the last seven seasons. You flip on the HDTV, and decide to watch OT on ESPN's high definition channel. Just a few minutes into OT, you see Andrew Brunette, a player that earns just a shade over $1 million a season score the game winning goal against Patrick Roy, a future member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

As Brunette skates into the defensive zone, he's travelling so slowly it appears he's skating in concrete. He manuvers toward the net with all the grace of a Chrysler mini-van negotiating an S-curve at the Monaco Grand Prix. Yet, he still manages to deke, yes, deke, one of the greatest goalies of all time out of his skates to score the winning goal.

By the way, a few seasons ago, your current General Manager let Brunette go in the expansion draft thinking he would never amount to anything.

In four full seasons as the team's owner, you've made the playoffs three times, and lost in the first round every time. You've lost as much as $50 million over that period, and you're not looking to lose anymore.

Think you might be cutting payroll? Think you might be looking to dump your high-priced superstar? Think you might start letting highly paid free agents walk out the door and just start all over again?

I say yes to all of it.

Meanwhile, the Wild are getting ready to move to the next round against an equally exhausted Canucks squad. All of a sudden, a run to the Finals doesn't look so impossible.

Flyers 6 Maple Leafs 1: The Leafs sure know how to suck all the excitement out of a Game Seven, as they were out of this game very early in the evening -- something which allowed me to catch last night's installment of 24 on Fox. The Flyers' ability to roll four lines finally wore the Leafs down -- something Philly is going to need to rely on when they face an Ottawa team that rolls four lines of forwards as well. As for the Maple Thugs, I won't miss them.

Canucks 4 Blues 1: I just knew Blues' goalie Chris Osgood couldn't stand up to the pressure, and the final three games of this series proved it -- at least without Norris Trophy candidate Al MacInnis knocked out of the lineup for the balance of the series. Canucks goalie Dan Cloutier wasn't all that much better, but the bit and bruising defense that played in front of him was. For their trouble, the Canucks now get to face an inspired team from Minnesota -- a series that is shaping up to be a complete toss-up in light of the way both teams have played lately.

Overall, I picked six of the eight series correctly. I probably would have gotten seven of eight, but instead I hedged on both the Wild-Avalanche and the Ducks-Wings series. My predicition for the Finals: Canucks-Flyers, remains intact. The playoffs, and my roundup get to take tonight off, but look for my preview of the Conference semi-finals sometime tomorrow.

UPDATE: ESPN.com's Terry Frei has his own reflections on the collapse of the Avalanche.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2003 at 10:44 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Who gives a damn about the NBA Playoffs? With two OT results tonight, we now get to look forward to three seperate Game Sevens tomorrow night.

Wild 3 Avalanche 2, OT: For two years, NHL journeyman Richard Park, the only Korean to ever play in the NHL, couldn't find a job in the league. For a couple of seasons, he was a perfectly serviceable forward playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins, among other clubs. But two seasons ago, he simply disappeared into the hockey netherworld that is the minor leagues.

But tonight, none of that matters, because Park delivered Minnesota hockey fans their first home playoff victory in more than a decade. First, he gave the Wild a 1-0 lead in the third period, ripping a wrister over Patrick Roy's shoulder. Then, just a few minutes into OT, he slid another wrist shot in between Roy's pads for the victory.

And the scoreboard says Patrick Roy is flying home for Game Seven.

In between those two goals, however, was a pretty exciting third period. Marian Gaborik slipped behind the Avalanche defense on a breakaway and scored to give the Wild a 2-0 lead -- the sort of lead that's usually a mortal lock for the Wild to hold. Then, in the last 3:30, Joe Sakic and Greg DeVries both scored to tie the game up, setting up the dramatic finish in OT. Game Seven is tomorrow night back in Denver. Don't hold your breath. Series tied, 3-3.

Maple Leafs 2 Flyers 1, 2OT: Just three goals tonight, but what goals they were. First, Flyers goalie Roman Checmanek loses his catching glove in collision behind the net. Then, as he's squatting to put the glove back on, serial malcontent Robert Reichel rockets a shot over his shoulder for a 1-0 lead. In the second period, Jeremy Roenick scored on a point blank slap shot that just ate Maple Leafs goalie Ed Belfour alive. Then, in the backwash of a Darcy Tucker charge to the net in the second OT, Travis Green got a backhand on a rebound and put it past a sprawling Chechmanek. Game over, and we're going back to Philly for Game Seven. Series tied, 3-3.

Tomorrow night, we'll be flying East to West to follow the three Game Sevens. First, we'll see the Leafs and Flyers in Philly; next, it's off to Denver for the Avalanche and the Wild; and for you night owls on the East Coast, the Blues and Canucks from Vancouver. Be sure not to miss a second!

POSTSCRIPT: The Washington Post has an extensive piece in this morning's paper outlining the tensions between Caps owner Ted Leonsis and Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin. Let's just say the off-the record sniping has begun.

Lots of great facts here -- including one Leonsis fails to mention too often: that his losses in the Capitals are at least partially offset by the profits he and his partners are entitled to from Washington Sports and Entertainment -- Pollin's umbrella company that controls the MCI Center, the Wizards, the Mystics, and the local Ticketmaster franchise.

And a tip of the hat goes to blogger and fellow Mets fan Jeff Cooper for passing along this gem of a photoshop mock-up. Glad to see Baghdad Bob find some new work.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2003 at 12:06 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Canucks 4 Blues 3: Time was, a 3-1 lead in a best of seven playoff series meant your club was home free. Then, in an attempt to boost post season revenue, the NHL deigned back in the 1980s that it was high time that all four rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs become best of seven affairs. It was then that the impossible, while not becoming commonplace, at least became uncommon.

Which is where we find ourselves with the Canucks-Blues series. Seemingly dead two games ago (and down 3-1 in the series), the Canucks' finally decided it was time to play some serious ice hockey. In Game Five, that task fell to the top line of Marcus Naslund/Brendan Morrison/Todd Bertuzzi. In Game Six, it was the power play that made the difference, as some bad St. Louis penalties allowed the Canucks to get some more pressure on the always vulnerable Chris Osgood. Now we go back to GM Place in Vancouver for Game Seven tomorrow night. Series tied, 3-3.

Lightning 2 Capitals 1, 3 OT: Back in the early 1990s, Washington Post columnist Tony Kornheiser coined the following riddle. More or less, it went like this:

Q: What's red, white and blue and plays golf in May?

A: The Washington Capitals.

No doubt, there's some version of that riddle floating around any NHL city that has never seen its home team win it all. But today, this riddle doesn't hold sway anymore. Why? Because back during the 1996-97 season, the Capitals changed the colors on their uniform. Hence, it needs some updating:

Q: Quel est bleu, noir, blanc et en bronze, et le golf de pi

This entry was posted on Monday, April 21st, 2003 at 11:51 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Dallas ends Edmonton's season; the Flyers set up the knockout; the Wild stay alive.

Stars 3 Oilers 2: For the fifth time in six years, the Stars have polished off the Oilers, the sort of streak that begins to cause mass psychosis among a city's fans -- believe me, I've seen it here in Washington with respect to the Penguins. So what have we learned after six games? Certainly, the Stars were able to win, but seemed to lack that killer instinct we expect out of some Stanley Cup champs. The Oilers kept coming back, and were never really out of any game in this series with the exception of Game Two. The Stars get the Ducks next, a team that plays a game that's mighty similar to the Oilers -- and with a goalie who's playing tougher than Tommy Salo. Stars win series, 4-2.

Flyers 4 Maple Leafs 1: In the 2002 playoffs, winger Sami Kapanen scored just once in 23 games with the Carolina Hurricanes. He doubled that amount in just last night's game, scoring twice on the power play. If anything, it simply looks as if the Flyers are finally wearing the Maple Leafs down. To come back and win the series, the Leafs will have not win games on back-to-back nights on Monday and Tuesday. As a reward for their efforts, the Flyers will get a date with either Ottawa or New Jersey. Flyers lead series 3-2.

Wild 3 Avalanche 2: Wild coach Jacques Lemaire had one more surprise for the Avalanche yesterday when he started his Godson, Manny Fernandez, in net for Minnesota. It worked, at least for this Game Five -- a number that seems to have caused particular trouble for the Avalanche over the course of their history. It was the fourth time the Avalanche have lost a Game Five at home in five season where they had the opportunity to clinch a series. What does this tell us? Nothing more, I'm afraid, than the fact that the Western Conference is as wide open as the East. Avalanche lead series 3-2.

This afternoon at 3:00 p.m., the Lightning have a chance to close out the Capitals in Washington. Tonight in St. Louis, the Canucks will continue their uphill battle to stay alive against the Blues.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 20th, 2003 at 1:41 pm by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Just two games last night, with nothing decided. Have the Canucks come back to life? And are we staring hard at another instance of "Same Old Caps"?

Canucks 5 Blues 3: Todd Bertuzzi and Brendan Morrison wake up, but is it in time to save the Canucks (for the sake of my pre-playoff predictions, I hope so)? Game Six is tomorrow night in St. Louis. Blues lead series 3-2.

Lightning 2 Capitals 1: I want to find a reason, any reason at all, to believe that the Washington Capitals can win this series now. Sure, they wound up on the wrong end of a bad call last night, resulting in a 4-minute power play where Tampa Bay scored the goal that gave them their margin of victory, but the Caps really have nobody to blame but themselves. As head coach Bruce Cassidy said:

"The message we sent to our players afterward was: 'Whatever [Tampa Bay] created tonight was a product of our bad decisions with the puck,' " Cassidy said. "I thought we played a pretty solid hockey game and we controlled the tempo for the most part . . . [But] we can't break down. Those are mental mistakes. You can't do that stuff in the playoffs. We have to figure that out in a hurry, because if not for those chances I don't know that [the Lightning] had any on their own."

The Caps have blown a 2-0 lead in the playoffs three seperate times since 1992. Living here in Washington, I've seen them all. Over time, the effect on the franchise has been corrosive -- something Caps owner Ted Leonsis has been fighting tooth and nail since he took control of the team before the 1999-2000 season. At the end of the day, fans, both passionate and casual, just don't believe the Caps are going to get it done. You can feel it in the arena, and you can see it at the box office. Game Six is tomorrow afternoon in Washington. Lightning lead series 3-2.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 19th, 2003 at 11:28 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Three games; the two top seeds in the East move on; Dallas takes control out West.

Senators 3 Islanders 1: Two seasons ago, the Islanders acquired Alexei Yashin from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for winger Bill Muckalt, defenseman Zdeno Chara and a first round draft pick that turned into center Jason Spezza.

In two seasons with New York, Yashin has been up and down; never more so than this season where he disappeared for a long stretch before catching fire at the end of the regular season. In any case, he hasn't been the game-changing player the Islanders have hoped he'd be -- something that was never more evident than this season where rumors were flying that New York was seeking to move Yashin to the wing and acquire a top-flight center to play with him.

On the Ottawa side of the ledger, the trade is looking better everyday. While Muckalt has since moved on to Minnesota, Chara has become the rock of the defense, forming a solid core along with Chris Phillips and Wade Redden (another ex-Islanders draft pick). His looming physical presence is something the Islanders dearly miss, and the development of some offensive skills was an unexpected surprise from the 6'9" Czech.

As for Spezza, the Senators are so loaded that they can afford to bring him along slowly -- but there aren't any indications he's any less of a can't miss prospect since he was first identified as one while still a teenager.

And don't forget, getting rid of Yashin was a case of addition by subtraction for the Senators, as Yashin sat out the entire 1999-2000 season. Then again, Yashin now gets to play close to his girlfriend Carol Alt and her family.

Why does any of this matter? Because since the trade, the Senators have gone nowhere but up, while the Islanders -- with the exception of the incredible start to the 2001-02 season -- have stagnated. That was never more in evidence than last night in Ottawa, as the Senators took control early once more, and finished off the Islanders' season with a convincing 4-1 win.

Besides the massive talent gap, the Senators were able to roll four lines of forwards and three lines of defense all series long, and simply wore out an overmatched Islanders squad. Ottawa moves on to face either Philly, Toronto or Washington. The Islanders go home, and begin hoping that Rick DiPietro is ready for full-time duty in 2003-04. Senators win series, 4-1.

Devils 3 Bruins 0: If Martin Brodeur played just a few miles East of his home rink instead of in New Jersey, he'd be a far wealthier and better known athlete. Not that he minds, as he's got one more Stanley Cup ring, and one more Olympic Gold medal than the Rangers' Mike Richter.

He doesn't seem to have a long memory either. One game after the Bruins chased him from the net in Game Four, Broduer hung a shutout on them. I still think the Devils won't win the East (Philly and Ottawa match up too well with them), but you have to like the way both John Madden and Jamie Langenbrunner are playing (how's that Arnott/McKay for Nieuwendyk/Langenbrunner trade looking now?). New Jersey will get any one of all the remaining teams in the next round, except Ottawa. As for the Bruins: GM/Coach Mike O'Connell is out the door, and someone else is going to get to turn the Bruins into a winner -- once they find a real goalie, that is. Devils win series, 4-1.

Stars 5 Edmonton 2: Didn't get a chance to watch much of this game, but couldn't help but notice that Segei Zubov scored twice for Dallas. As some will recall, it was Zubov's failure to shoot the puck more often that resulted in his trade from the Rangers after the 1995 season. Another often overlooked fact: it was Zubov who led the Rangers in scoring during the 1994 regular season that ended with a Stanley Cup victory. In any case, it looks like the Stars, and goalie Marty Turco for that matter, have finally shaken off the rust that accumulated after failing to make the playoffs last season. I figure they'll close this series out in Edmonton in Game Six. Stars lead series 3-2.

CORRECTION: As one of my readers pointed out, Muckalt is no longer with the Senators, but has since caught on with the Minnesota Wild. I thought I had remembered that, but when I rechecked the roster, Sportsline still had him with the Senators.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 18th, 2003 at 9:56 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Six games. Two OT decisions. One defending Stanley Cup Champion sent packing.

Ducks 3 Red Wings 2, OT: When teams get old, they seem to age overnight. But in the case of the Red Wings, it seemed to happen in real time, an ice hockey version of The Picture of Dorian Gray. Was the grind line of Kirk Maltby, Darren McCarty and Kris Draper really being taken out of the rotation late in the game? Ducks win series 4-0.

Flyers 3 Maple Leafs 2, 3OT: In this series, it's all about Belfour. The Maple Leafs have been outshot, and outplayed for most of the series, but with a combination of grit, sacrfice and Belfour, they were able to take a 2-1 series lead into the Air Canada Center last night. Credit the Flyers for having the mental fortitude to not let Belfour's success shake them, and hang on for the game winner well past Midnight EDT. I'd like to tell you last night's game was a turning point, but I'd be lying. I have no idea who's going to take this series. Series tied 2-2.

Avalanche 3 Wild 2: After a surprise in Game One, the Avalanche are now slowly choking the life out of the Wild like an Anaconda: slowly, efficiently, and inexorably. If I'm head coach Tony Granato, I'm happy to be hiding in the tall grass watching all the other higher seeds in the Western Conference in trouble. Avalanche leads series 3-1.

Senators 3 Islanders 1: When your team gives up a goal 28 seconds into a playoff game, it simply wasn't ready to play. Look for the Sens to finish off the Islanders tonight in Ottawa. Senators lead series, 3-1.

Blues 4 Canucks 1: No MacInnis, no problem. Dan Cloutier: beatable. Marcus Naslund, Todd Bertuzzi, and Brendan Morrison: missing in action. Chris Osgood: hardly tested. Blues lead series 3-1.

Lightning 3 Caps 1: How many times have Capitals fans seen this scenario? After jumping out to a 2-0 series lead on enemy ice, the Caps have collapsed back into mediocrity -- and this against a team that hadn't beaten them at home for nearly 5 seasons?

And then there's that bit of history to deal with, as the AP beat writer brought up:

The Capitals now have to deal with an ugly past they considered long buried. They were the NHL's collapse artists in the 1990s, blowing a two-game series lead three times from 1992-96, a bit of history Tortorella revived this week when trying to motivate his players.

"We're a totally different team,'' Washington goaltender Olaf Kolzig said. "We've got nine new players just since last year. Back in '98 everybody made a big thing about that, and we seemed to get that monkey off our back. So I don't think anybody's paying too much attention to it.''

Except for the fact that the Caps failed to make the playoffs in 1997, 1999 and 2002; and then promptly lost in the first round of the playoffs in their last two appearances in 2000 and 2001. While I don't think the monkey lives in Kolzig's neighborhood, I have my doubts about the rest of the team. Series tied 2-2.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 17th, 2003 at 6:50 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

In a few seconds in the third period in Edmonton last night, the Dallas Stars showed both how they're talented enough to win the Cup, but still fool enough to lose it.

It was then that veteran defenseman Darryl Sydor made a midget hockey mistake to let Edmonton back into the game. From the very first scrimmage every kid plays, from North America to Central Europe, every defenseman is told to clear the puck out of the zone by shooting it up the boards. It's the smart play, the high percentage play, the safe play.

It's the play Sydor didn't make.

Instead, Sydor tried to clear the puck up the center of the defensive zone. Result: turnover. Seconds later, Oiler Shawn Horcoff put in a cheap goal off Marty Turco's shoulder to tie the game 1-1.

It was beginning to look a lot like Game 3, where the Stars blew two third period leads to lose, 3-2. No matter. Just about three minutes later, as a power play was expiring, scrappy vet Stu Barnes stuffed the puck past Tommy Salo to make it 2-1.

Then, before the rink announcer had a chance to broadcast the details of Barnes' goal to the crowd at the Skyreach Centre, Nikko Kapanen scored to put the game awayStars win, 3-1. Series tied 2-2, and we head back to Dallas for Game Five.

Up in Boston, the Bruins managed to save face in front of their hometown fans, avoiding a sweep by the Devils with a 5-1 win. But as John Buccigross reminded the viewers of NHL2Night after the game, this simply allows the Devils to win the series on home ice back in New Jersey, where GM Lou Lamirello will be counting the cash from another playoff home game. New Jersey leads series, 3-1.

In the entire history of the Washington Capitals, only four players had ever been awarded a penalty shot -- arguably the most exciting play in ice hockey. Perhaps the most famous penalty shot in the history of the franchise came in 1996, when Joe Juneau had a chance to win Game 4 of a first round playoff series with the Pittsburgh Penguins late in the second OT period.

Looking back, I can still see the puck bouncing wildly on the rutted Capital Centre ice -- something that seemed to prevent Juneau from getting off a decent shot on Penguins goalie Ken Wregget -- a shot he promptly deposited into Wregget's chest.

Two OT periods later, Peter Nedved ended the madness to win the game for the Penguins, 3-2.

Last night in the first period of the Caps-Lightning playoff matchup, the first home playoff game for the Caps since 2001, Dainius Zubrus was awarded a penalty shot with the Caps trailing 1-0. And, according to the typical Caps script, he missed, shooting the puck high and wide. Not Scott Norwood wide either.

Really wide.

Granted, Zubrus redeemed himself by scoring twice later, but the missed shot seems awfully emblamatic of the Caps' frustrating team history. When given a gift, this team just can't cash in. The Caps played from behind all night -- tying the game in the third period and sending it into OT.

And that's where misfortune struck. With back-to-back penalties to Jaromir Jagr and Ken Klee, the Caps were down two men. Vincent Lecavlier scored on the ensuing power play: Lightning 4 Caps 3. Caps lead series, 2-1.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 16th, 2003 at 2:06 pm by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

In the history of the NHL, only two teams have come back from three games down in a playoff series to win. And if the Detroit Red Wings want to continue to have a chance to defend their Stanley Cup Championship, they're going to have to duplicate that feat.

I didn't catch a lot of last night's game in Anaheim, where the Ducks defeated the Red Wings 2-1. But what I did see told me all I needed to know. Simply put, the Wings looked old. The Wings looked slow. The Wings looked finished.

And don't make the mistake of thinking this is all the work of Ducks goalie J.S. Giguere. The rest of the team in front of him is playing with confidence and verve -- they're skating into open space, moving the puck, and hitting the open man. They're playing solid, positional hockey, and simply outhustling the Wings. It's great to see Paul Kariya play the game surrounded by more than mediocre talent for a change. Ducks lead series, 3-0.

Back on the East Coast, we were treated to a pair of double OT thrillers that ended within seconds of one another. Instead of a defensive-minded series, the Leafs and the Flyers are giving us scoring, skating, and hitting. The Leafs are finally getting some players back from injury, and it showed on the ice with a 4-3 win. Thomas Kaberle got the winning goal. Leafs lead series, 2-1.

One minor note: Phil Housley, who Toronto acquired at the deadline from the Blackhawks turned the puck over in his only shift in the first period and never played again -- and this in a game that went into double OT. Housley cost the Leafs two goals in Game Two, and I don't expect Pat Quinn to give him any more chances. If anything, Housley's performance reminds me of his play in the 1998 playoffs with the Capitals.

Back then, it was all Caps Coach Ron Wilson could do to keep Housley off the ice -- something that led my friends and I to dub the puck-moving defenseman, "Phil Lousy." He was exiled to Calgary the next season, and eventually wound up in Chicago. He's played well in both cities -- but it isn't hard to notice that he's never had to deal with playoff pressure since 1998. Looks like a mental block to me.

On Long Island, the Islanders jumped out to a quick lead, but couldn't keep it. The Senators jumped back into the game, and capitalized on a center ice turnover to win 3-2, again in double OT.

Why did the Senators win? First of all, they held the Islanders to just one goal in ten power plays during regulation -- a death wish for any team that wants to advance in the playoffs.

That's the big picture why. The little picture why hangs around the neck of Islanders forward Oleg Kvasha. First, Kvasha overskated the puck in the neutral zone, giving the puck up to the Senators. Then, instead of backchecking, Kvasha allowed Todd White to skate unmolested through the zone and place himself in front of Isles goalie Garth Snow. It was there that White tipped in a Magnus Arvedson shot for the winner. Senators lead series, 2-1.

Elsewhere, the excitement level wasn't so high. In St. Louis, the Blues shook off Al MacInnis' absence and beat Vancouver 3-1. Somehow, the Canucks are making Blues goalie Chris Osgood look like Terry Sawchuck. Blues lead series 2-1. In Minnesota, the planets got back into alignment and the Avalanche downed the Wild 3-0 behind a Patrick Roy shutout. On a positive note for Minnesota hockey fans, nearly 20,000 people showed up for the state's first playoff game since 1992, when the Stars fought their way to the Finals against Pittsburgh. Avalanche leads series, 2-1.

On deck tonight: Tampa at Washington (MCI's first home playoff game in two seasons); New Jersey at Boston (look for the Devils to close this out); and Dallas at Edmonton (the Oilers get a chance to pull away).

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 15th, 2003 at 9:33 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Only two games on the schedule Sunday, but to a certain extent, the playoffs are not exactly proceeding as planned. In Edmonton, the Oilers beat Dallas again, this time 3-2. Down 1-0, and then 2-1, Edmonton scored three goals in the third period to put this game away.

What sort of whammy the Oilers have over the Stars is beyond me at this point. All I do know is that the Oilers can skate, and the ice in Edmonton is the best in the league -- this time of year or any other. Dallas will still probably win the series, but as I suspected, don't have the horsepower to win the Western Conference or the Cup.

In Boston, Bruins head coach Mike O'Connell made a change in goal, starting mid-season acquisition Jeff Hackett in place of Game One and Game Two starter Steve Shields. It didn't matter, as the methodical Devils slowly strangled Boston again, this time 3-0. The Devils now lead the best of seven series 3-0, and it looks like O'Connell, who also serves as Boston's GM and took over as coach when he fired Robbie Ftorek in the home stretch, is probably on his way out of Boston for good. There's no excuse for a team as talented as the Bruins to roll over and die like this -- even to a team as tough as the Devils.

POSTSCRIPT: This is probably a good time to mention that Stars captain Derian Hatcher was serving a one-game suspension, and wasn't on the ice in Edmonton. His presence would have made a huge difference in that third period.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 13th, 2003 at 11:01 pm by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Credit the Ottawa Senators for putting together the total package on Saturday afternoon in their 3-0 shoutout of the New York Islanders that knotted their series 1-1. But the biggest news out of the game might have been Islanders' head coach Peter Laviolette's decision to pull starting goalie Garth Snow in favor of Rick DiPietro once the score reached 3-0. Laviolette refused to say who would start game three back on Long Island on Monday night, but if I'm Snow, I'm having flashbacks to 1997 when he rotated in goal with Ron Hextall during the Flyers' run to the finals.

I'm sure there are plenty of Mighty Ducks fans who are genuinely excited over how head coach Mike Babcock has his team up 2-0 in their series over the Detroit Red Wings, after winning again at the Joe Louis Arena on Saturday, 3-2. Then again, haven't we been this way before -- as in just one year ago? Back then, it was the young and hungry Vancouver Canucks who had hung a 2-0 deficit on the Wings -- one Detroit promptly erased by winning four straight (and three on enemy ice) to close out the series.

Then again, it was Dominic Hasek in net for the Wings then, not Curtis Joseph. Even though the Wings held Anaheim to just 20 shots, Joseph still gave up two goals in the final seven minutes to lose this one. When you have confidence in your goalie, your team plays with confidence, knowing that a mistake here or there is going to get picked up. But when you don't have that confidence. . .

In Vancouver, the Canucks evened things up with a 2-1 win over St. Louis. Big news here: Canucks goalie Dan Cloutier keeping St. Louis off the board until Pavol Demitra's power play goal in the last minute; and Todd Bertuzzi crushing Blues captain Al MacInnis just two minutes in, sending him to the locker room for the rest of the game with a shoulder injury. There's no word on whether or not he'll be ready for Game Three back in St. Louis.

It should be instructive that the Blues were able to fight for a top spot in both their division and the conference for most of the season even though they were without one-time league MVP Chris Pronger. But without MacInnis, they're just not the same team. Sure, he's got a 100+ mph slap shot, but he's also the brains behind the power play. If he doesn't come back right away, St. Louis is done.

Down in Tampa, the Capitals bottled the Lightning again, this time with a 6-3 win. Jaromir Jagr and Peter Bondra both scored twice for Washington. The series heads to D.C. for back-to-back Games Three and Four on Monday and Tuesday night -- where Tampa hasn't won a game since November 1998. This one is as good as over, but Caps fans ought not get too terribly excited. A second round matchup with either the Flyers or the Senators is a distinct possibility -- just the sort of tangle the Caps aren't likely to survive.

And over the horizon, I figure the Southeast Divison is about to be taken over by the Atlanta Thrashers and new head coach Bob Hartley. With Hartley providing discipline and guidance to the bevy of young talent in Atlanta, they'll be sure to dominate the division for a long time.

POSTSCRIPT: The NHL suspended Dallas Stars defenseman Derian Hatcher for one game, this after he had been ejected from both Game One and Game Two of his team's playoff series with the Edmonton Oilers (way to go, Derian!).

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 13th, 2003 at 3:22 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Not too much excitement on night three in the NHL playoffs. The tightest game was in New Jersey, where the Devils disposed of the Bruins, 4-2. Boston had the game tied in the third period, but the Devils were able to score on a two-man advantage to take the lead for good. Over on Hockey Night In Canada, Don Cherry was livid that any ref would allow a two-man advantage in the playoffs, as the eventuality in the postseason essentially decides the game. Devils lead the series 2-0, as it shifts back to Boston. I don't expect things will be any different there.

In Philadelphia, the Flyers turned in a performance that was just as dominating as their play in game one of their series with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but the result was far different, as Philly came away with a 4-1 victory. The highlights of the game came in two spots: first, before the opening faceoff when Leafs enforcer Tie Domi took a shot at Flyers counterpart Donald Brashear; and later, when the two tangled in third period. Series tied 1-1, with game three in Toronto on Monday.

Down in Dallas, the Stars finally woke up, and took it out on Edmonton, 6-1. With Bill Guerin out of the lineup again, and with no timetable for his return, veteran Scott Young stepped up for the Stars, scoring twice. But once the game got out of Edmonton's reach in the third period, the Oilers stepped up the phyicality. The result: six game misconducts in the period and a match penalty for the Oliers' Cory Cross for an attempt to injure. Series tied 1-1, next game Sunday night in Edmonton.

Interesting Dallas fact: during the national anthem, whenever the word stars is sung during the anthem, the crowd shouts along, in much the same manner fans in the Baltimore area shout along with O in the anthem's final verse.

POSTSCRIPT: The NHL has suspended Chicago Blackhawks winger Theo Fleury for six months due to another violation of his substance abuse aftercare program. Looks like the end of the road for Fleury, as his advanced age and track record will probably dissuade any other team from giving him another chance.

CORRECTION: As an eagle-eyed Maple Leafs fan pointed out to me in a note, it was actually Brashear who started things up before the game, not Domi. You can find the clip at TSN's Playoffs page by clicking here, and then following the link to the audio/video section for the Leafs-Flyers game.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 12th, 2003 at 11:01 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Four more Game Ones.

Four more favorites flame out on home ice.

The Capitals just short-circuited the youthful Lightning, with Olie Kolzig grabbing a 3-0 shutout. I'll bet Caps owner Ted Leonsis was happy to see high-priced free agent acquisition Robert Lang score twice, as his team graudually pulled away.

The most exciting game of the night probably was in Detroit, where the Ducks took out the defending Stanley Cup Champs 2-1 in triple OT. In many ways, last night's game reminded me much of playoffs past. If not for Ducks goalie J.S. Giguere, the Wings might have made short work of Anaheim. Once the game got into OT, the Wings simply dominated play, handcuffing the Ducks in their own zone. If anything, it reminded me of the 1995 Western Conference Finals where the Wings faced the Chicago Blackhawks.

Then, it was all Ed Belfour could do to keep the Wings from scoring in regulation, sending multiple games in that series into OT. Once there, the Wings dominated play much as they did last night, to the point where the game-winning goal seemed inevitable.

Unfortunately for the Wings, Giguere simply bested Detroit goalie Curtis Joseph -- something that evoked memories of Detroit's 1998 Stanley Cup run where the team managed to win despite goalie Chris Osgood's best efforts to the contrary.

The best moment: seeing all-around good guy Paul Kariya getting the game winner.

In Colorado, Jacques Lemaire and the Wild laid a beating down on the Avalanche and rookie coach Tony Granato, 4-2. The Wild jumped out to a 3-0 lead by the middle of the second period, and then fell back into the trapping style Lemaire used so effectively with the Devils in 1995. But to talk about the trap alone would be a disservice to Minnesota -- a team with the speed, guts, and enough skill on the counterattack to make the game worth watching.

Out in Vancouver, I can't explain what in the world happened to the Canucks, and they were shellacked by the Blues, 6-0. Why can't I explain? Well, because I needed to get some sleep, and couldn't have possibly stayed awake to watch the whole game.

The demands of television begin to skew the schedule starting tonight, as we'll only have three games on tap: Edmonton-Dallas; Boston-New Jersey; and Toronto-Philadelphia.

CORRECTIONS: As pointed out by one astute reader, the Ducks-Wings game went into triple OT. And the final score of the Wild-Avalanche game was actually 4-2.

I need more sleep.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 11th, 2003 at 10:59 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.