Yeesh. Those are not your father’s Avs. I caught the last half of the 3rd and the overtime. Most surprising to me, once they hit overtime, Colorado just looked like they ran down, like a wind up toy that’s spent its power. Back in the day the Avs would never have let another team win a game like that on their home ice. This really makes me wonder if someone hit the Stars with horse tranquilizers before the first round, because there’s no way this Colorado team should have advanced.
That said, Anaheim really has seized their opportunity. It should be a very good conference finals series (though I still think SJ is the better team).
Can’t wait to see what the East teams have in store for us tonight. I just hope I can squeeze everything in with the baseball games on the tube, too (the A’s are on early, against the East games, and then Bonds is going for 714 later during the Sharks game; too much live broadcast entertainment for one man).
Having been on horse tranquilizers, I can tell you they sure looked like they weren’t on 'em. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone spiked their OJ with something else though, a la Slapshot 2 but apparently not that movie’s drug of choice either.
Here in Sabreland I’m doing the happy happy joy joy dance.
At least the shots on goal was pretty even tonight unlike the lopsided but loosing effort Monday night. Monday Miller stole the game with over 40 shots on goal.
I’m really surprised that Edmonton won. I saw the second and they were flailing pretty badly. That Laroque penalty was one of the dumbest things I’ve seen in a while., especially the coaches and fans reactions. Yeah, it’s still a big deal to ram someone’s head into the boards.
I’d love to comment on the Buffalo/Sabres game. It was the series that I was really looking forward too. Unfortunately, I’m stuck with Devils/Hurricanes. :mad: This series is pretty much over. Broduer is not playing at a game stealing level and Jersey can’t get it together without that.
You’re surprised Edmonton won? Edmonton totally dominated that game (just as the Sharks dominated the first two). They had 58 shots on goal! Almost double what the Sharks had, and a new team record. By the middle of the second period, the shots on goal were something like 16-2 for Edmonton. If the Sharks’ goalie didn’t stand on his head, it would have been a blowout.
The Sharks should have lost that game in regulation, something like 4-1. That was the first bad game I’ve seen them play in a long while. The disturbing thing was they didn’t hit anyone. Edmonton took it to them from the opening drop, and the Sharks just kind of stood there. And they seemed sluggish all game, not really skating well (an odd problem to have on Edmonton’s ice). Ron Wilson has a lot of talking to do before Friday night.
Looks like Carolina/Buffalo in the East. I’m sticking with the 'Canes.
Heh…I saw only the 1st period and the 3rd OT. In the first, Edmonton smacked San Jose S-I-L-L-Y with numerous body checks and kept the puck in the Sharks zone for most of the period. The Sharks got their first shot off with only 5 minutes left in the period. The crowd went apeshit all period.
Then I had a softball game to play. Came back two hours later.
Watched my recording of LOST, assuming that the game was over and that I could catch the score on ESPN SportsCenter.
On SC, I saw the ticker say EDM-2, SJ-2. “Crap! They are in OT!” Switched back to OLN.
Saw the 3rd OT just beginning to start. Sweet goal and assist ensues…OLN packs it up and dumps the broadcast not more than a minute later…must be overbudget on coverage and they don’t even interview Horcoff.
One of the benefits of OLN being such a cheap-ass, fly-by-night cable channel is that they’re covering some of the games by just picking up the CBC Hockey Night In Canada feed. It means we get to see coverage by folks who actually know how to cover hockey, but it also means that they have no presence in the building themselves. That’s probably why you didn’t see an interview. (I never find those interviews to be particularly enlightening anyway, so probably no big loss.)
Sorry. Like I said, I saw the second. Sharks up 2-1 and Oilers on a steady march to the penalty box. The only shots I saw the oilers deliver went to their own feet.
And as a Red Wings fan who watched Detroit outshoot the Oilers in every game, I can tell you that outshooting the other team means very little.
Not a Tame Lion, I noticed some problems with the Edmonton ice during the wings series. Players were falling on their butts everywhere with noone near 'em.
Weird. Everyone associated with the league always says Edmonton has the best ice surface of any facility. Maybe it’s gotten worse. The Sharks sure looked like they were dragging their asses last night.
Did anyone else see Edmonton-San Jose tonight? What a game! That series can really go either way, even though it was a fairly lopsided Oilers decision in the end. The Sharks really looked sharp for pretty much an equal amount of time, I’d say. If I had to conclude anything from only seeing that one game (I hadn’t seen either of the teams before in this year’s playoffs) it’d have to be that the series will come down to intangibles and that either one will give the Ducks a good fight.
The first two games were totally dominated by San Jose. The last two games were dominated by the Oilers.
This has been a great series. The teams both like to play fast. On paper San Jose is maybe the slightly better team, especially given their stats in the last half of the year. The Oilers were on fire in the first half of the year, but faded down the stretch a bit. But the Oilers have the momentum going into game 5. On the other hand, San Jose has home ice advantage.
I think this one’s going 7 games, and I think it’s going to be remembered as one of the great series.
And how about Ryan Smyth? Last game he literally gets his teeth knocked out of his head, and they scoop them up in a shovel and the guy comes out and plays the 3rd period and sets up the winning goal. And then he spends half a day in a dentist’s chair, and come out playing tonight without a mouth guard. And the first shot of the game, he goes down to block it.
That’s the kind of thing that can inspire a team to just play over their heads. It reminds me a bit of the way Messier used to lead. Except Messier would also threaten to beat players silly if they didn’t step up and play.
I only saw Game 4, but I have to disagree about it being dominated by the Oilers. The Sharks looked like they had it in hand for the first half of the game. Sure, the end result was a wipeout, but this wasn’t at all what I would call “domination” (Anaheim v. Colorado, Carolina v. New Jersey), because the game was very much in doubt up until it turned 5-3, I would say.
Again, the intangibles will play a huge factor. I have to give Edmonton the advantage. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team turn frustrating impotence into a crushing onslaught of goals so quickly. (Except maybe the Kings vs. the Red Wings in the first round about three or four years back, when the Kings were down 5-0, tied the game up in the last seven or ten minutes and won in overtime.)
Concurred!
There are no words to describe Ryan Smyth. His kind of attitude is what makes hockey great, IMO.
I wouldn’t be surprised if someone spiked their OJ with something else though, a la Slapshot 2 but apparently not that movie’s drug of choice either.