Off Wing Opinion

Mats Sundin looked none the worse for wear on Friday night, scoring twice in leading the Maple leafs to a 3-1 win over Philadelphia and evening their series at two games a piece. It didn't take long for Philly to shake it off, as they thrashed Toronto back home in Philly on Sunday, 7-2.

Keith Primeau led the way for the Flyers, scoring three times in the rout. More importantly, the Flyers lost starting goalie Robert Esche to an undisclosed "upper body injury," he suffered sometime in the first period of Sunday's game. Flyer head coach Ken Hitchcock said he would disclose exactly what Esche's injury was on Monday, something that led Rich Hofman of the Philadelphia Inquirer to write:

"...After her conviction, Marie Antoinette was paraded in the back of a cart among the mobs lining the streets of Paris. She was taken to the guillotine on October 16, 1793. There, she suffered an upper-body injury."

- from Hitchcock's "History of France"

In any case, Esche was examined by a neurologist yesterday, and the Toronto Sun is speculating that he may be suffering from dizzy spells that began not long after he was struck on the mask by a shot from Toronto's Bryan McCabe during Game Four. As for Mr. McCabe, Game Five was an event he'd just as soon forget, as he ended the day at -5:

"There's no explanation for it, no reason for it," McCabe said. "I'm a professional, and I've been in the league for nine years. There's no reason for an effort like that. The loss is solely on my shoulders. A lot of their goals were the direct result of my mistakes out there."

Indeed, McCabe hit a rare double: He played terribly, gift-wrapping the Flyers' first and third goals, and finishing with a minus-5, meaning he was on the ice for all but two of the Flyers' goals. Then he took full responsibility. Imagine that - a professional athlete holding himself accountable for his mistakes.

"It was probably my worst game as a professional," he said. "But I can't dwell on it."

He get his next chance to redeem himself on Tuesday night back in Toronto. Meanwhile, back in Tampa, John Tortorella is cackling with delight at his good fortune.

The mood is not so light and sweet in Detroit, where the Red Wings lie just one game short of elimination after Saturday's 1-0 loss to Calgary. Understandably, much of the attention this morning concerns the horrible injury suffered by Wings' captain Steve Yzerman. Here's Mitch Albom:

Maybe this summer, we see the end of an era we have enjoyed for nearly a decade. The team will break up. Players will retire or be let go. The league may even shut down.

In light of such doom and gloom for Hockeytown, where do you turn for a bright spot?

How about this? Yzerman has three beautiful daughters and a beautiful wife. And for the rest of his life, he'll be able to see them with both eyes. There's a positive to think about, as the negative seems to be raining all around us.

For more on the possible options for Yzerman and the Wings, clickhere. In marked contrast is the mood in Calgary, where the Flames have a chance to finish off the Red Wings at home, but are hoping to avoid a repeat of a dramatic result from their last playoff series:

That 5-4, triple-overtime loss to Vancouver on April 17 "was an experience, more so because we learned what not to do," said Flames defenceman Andrew Ference on Sunday morning, after a team meeting and optional skate at the 'Dome.

"We came out at home, and got down 4-0 really quick. Later on . . . it turned out to be a tremendous hockey game, but it was a really good lesson to learn how a desperate hockey team plays when they're against the ropes," said Ference.

The San Jose Sharks are another team trying to make sure history doesn't repeat, but Colorado's Joe Sakic had other plans as he scored an OT winner for the second straight game in Colorado's 2-1 win on Saturday in San Jose. Of course, the history they're trying to avoid is becoming just the third team in NHL history to blow a 3-0 lead in a best of seven series -- a distinction currently shared by the 1942 Detroit Red wings and the 1975 Pittsburgh Penguins:

The 1975 Flyers earned distinction by winning the first three games of their series against the New York Islanders, then losing the next three games.

But the Flyers then avoided infamy by winning Game 7 at home and went on to win the Stanley Cup.

Terry Crisp, a center for those Flyers, has some advice for the Sharks.

"This is the playoffs so I hate to even bring up the 'P' word but certainly don't panic in this situation," Crisp said.

"If you were good enough to go up 3-0, obviously you were doing something right. Quit worrying about past ghosts and past records. If I'm San Jose, I'm saying there's nothing to get too excited about: We weren't supposed to sweep them. If anyone had picked a sweep, they should've been given a saliva test. Three-two now? This is the way it should've been to begin with.

"Colorado isn't going to give San Jose a free pass."

San Jose head coach Ron Wilson decided to rattle some cages over the weekend:

"A couple of guys have failed miserably to get the job done," he said. "So this is going to be a great opportunity for people to show what they're all about. Do you have what it takes when it really matters?"

Wilson didn't name names, but turnovers by defenseman Mike Rathje in overtime in the past two games led to goals by the Avalanche's Joe Sakic, who scored the tying goal halfway through the third period Saturday after the Sharks iced the puck to set up a faceoff deep in San Jose's end.

Also, the Sharks have gotten only one assist from forward Nils Ekman, who was second on the team in scoring this year with 22 goals and 55 points.

"Some guys have to learn that if you made a mistake in the last game, it does not carry over into the next game," Wilson said. "Now the test is going to be that certain individuals forget their failings and wipe the slate clean and move on.

"That's the challenge. It's not my challenge. Some players have to do it. They have to step on the ice and play."

On the bright side of the hockey news, Colorado's Steve Moore was able to travel with the team for Saturday's game in San Jose, though the injured center isn't talking to anybody about his recovery pending any legal action he might take against Vancouver's Todd Bertuzzi.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 3rd, 2004 at 7:46 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.