That’s it Pup… time for the Inglewood Jack!
Alas, I was wrong. Cheechoo only scored one goal last night (though he had many very good chances). At least the right team came out on top, though it was touch and go there most of the evening.
The Sharks have scored 2 goals in each game so far, with defense and Nabby making it enough twice. More goals would be better.
Cheechoo showed some incredible patience there on the game-winner, those were some gut-wrenching few seconds. :eek:
It was a great fake by Cheechoo. You need that sort of thing to beat a goaltender as good as Hasek.
Once again, that old truism that a team isn’t in trouble until they’ve lost on home ice is proven.
I had a little epiphany when I saw that video review last night, on the Buffalo non-goal in the last minute of the game. I thought, because the overhead shot they now use is too far away and at a bad angle, why not cut out a window in the bottom of the goal pipe, stick a small camera with a wide-angle lens in there (assuming the pipe is hollow; I think it is), and then you’ll have a camera shot looking straight down at the goal line, from only a few feet away (as opposed to something up in the rafters). Doesn’t that make some sense? It wouldn’t be perfect, but at least you’d have a chance to see an up close look at some of these goal line questions–a sharper and clearer look that could resolve some of the uncertainty.
I sent off an email about this to both the nhl.com web site and to my local team’s administration (the SJ Sharks). Hopefully the message will get to someone in the NHL office and they can at least give it some consideration.
What do you guys think?
I would ask for 5 cameras, a pair for the posts down low, another pair on the posts at about the 3 foot level, and the one in the middle of the crossbar, looking straight down.
As for the Ducks and the Canucks, I hated to see the Ducks on auto pilot for the first two periods, but glad that Carlyle told them to pull their heads outta their asses and play the game as if it was game 7. The question asked on XM radio was, “Are the Ducks that tired, or are they just toying with the Canucks?” Well, when the Ducks ran basically 3 lines in the first 3 games and then got a spark from the 4th line last night, I would say they were tired, until Carlyle demanded “10 more percent” from them in the 3rd. I guess that’s all it took to beat the Nucks on their rink. Good to see Selanne score instead of acquiring another cut, bruise or welt on his grizzled face.
It seems to me that they are “toying” with the Canucks. Giving it a go but not really trying until the chips are down. That will not work against better teams, but maybe against better teams they’ll be on full throttle all game. I have to say Pronger v Thornton would be a killer matchup. If that’s the way it goes that’ll be one hell of a series.
Yeah, I could see that. Put in a whole matrix of cameras, so you get to see every angle. I don’t think there’s any real technological reason this couldn’t happen. Then there would be much less uncertainty on these reviews.
And I said it before: if there’s any justice, we’ll get a Ducks v. Sharks conference final. The two best teams in the conference (top teams in the best division), top to bottom.
Keep watching.
Yes! 3-1 Ottawa, courtesy of Martin Brodeur. Sloppy game on all parts, but Ottawa was just a little better.
Brodeur stopped 33 out of 36. It’s hard to blame him for this one, even though two of the goals were cheesy. He stopped a lot of shots a normal human wouldn’t, and as usual, controlled the rebound.
New Jersey’s down 3-1 because their offense is just terrible. Their transition game is really bad and they just can’t sustain offensive pressure. After they scored the second goal (a great deflection by Pandolfo, to give credit where it’s due) I was trying to think of how many good scoring chances the Devils had had to that point, and realized that aside from the first goal, I couldn’t think of any. They got 31 shots but almost all were of low quality.
Again, this isn’t a huge surprise; New Jersey had the worst offense in the Eastern Conference except for Philadelphia, and they only beat Philly by two goals. Marty Brodeur can steal a lot of games for you, but he isn’t God.
The Devils have a reputation for defensive hockey, but their previous championship teams had much better offenses. The 2003 squad scored 216 goals, which at that time was actually a few goals above the NHL average. The 2000 squad had the best offense in the East, 251 goals. (Really. the Devils scored the most goals in the entire conference.) The 1995 squad at 136 goals (short season) was about average.
Brodeur’s never actually taken a legitimately bad offensive team to the Cup. No goalie ever has, because it can’t be done. A few teams have won Cups with offenses that were just a little bit below average, but nobody, at least not in modern times, has won a Cup with a offense that was near the bottom of the conference.
I’m happy as a clam, but the Devils aren’t dead yet, so I’m still nervous. I refuse to jinx the Sens by looking ahead to the conference finals.
I thought that he looked very shaky in the second period. He was letting out a lot of uncharacteristic rebounds and was making awkward saves.
Well, maybe, but it’s easy to clench up when you have to carry a team.
ONE goal?
I don’t understand this. They are both excellent teams , but the Pacific division included the lowly LA Kings and pathetic Phoenix Coyotes. How can you call that the best division? :dubious:
I hope the Red Wings donate some of that pile of compost they call a ‘win’ to needy families.
Hey now. San Jose provided all the material for that compost. Rivet sticks with Lang and Hannan doesn’t cough up the puck to Schneider and the Sharks would be headed to Detroit with the series all but wrapped. That’s the way the series has gone though. Whoever makes the most mistakes loses the hockey game.
After reading more coverage, I should point out that even Ron Wilson isn’t happy with his players after last night.
I’ll take the victory, though (Harborwolf, you’re up early. Go back to bed!)
I couldn’t find the game on TV last night!!!
I’m just still bitter. I told my wife before the game started that we’d need 4 goals to win the game, but once again it’s just two.
I base that statement on the fact that:
• the top three teams in the Pacific all finished with well over 100 points (Anaheim, 110; SJ and Dallas, 107); no other division in the league (let alone the conference) had 3 such teams.
• the second and third place Pacific teams each won 50 or more, easily matching the top teams in the other Western divisions (Anaheim won with only 48 wins, because they culled a shitload of points from overtime losses).
• and, just based on the games I watched, I evaluate the sad sack teams in the Pacific as a little better than the sad sack teams in the Central, though the records don’t necessarily reflect that. Phoenix and LA played a lot of division games against three superior teams, while Columbus and Chicago played their division games against only two superior teams; hence, they had more chances to earn points. (There was no middling team in the Pacific like St. Louis in the Central.)
I could also point out that the second place team in the Pacific (SJ) easily dispatched the #2 team in the Central (Nashville), and would be up 3-1 against the top Central team if they hadn’t sleepwalked through the last period and overtime last night.
And the Northwest division doesn’t enter into it, because that division’s champ is being slapped around by the Pacific champ (after being taken to the brink by the Pacific’s third place team), and the other two teams from the division who made the playoffs are, hello!, already gone fishing.
As for last night’s game, the Sharks blew it. They had the game, and all they had to do was play hard, and command of the series was in the bag. Instead, they took their skates off and put their feet up too soon. Now they have a real challenge ahead.
If the Sharks do go farther this season, it will be if more of their guys play like Mike Grier. I think he’s the biggest difference between this year’s club and last year. Watch him forecheck–he’s relentless, always bring energy, pursues the puck. That’s what the rest of the guys need to be doing.
Conversely, I have announcement that needs to be made:
“Bill Guerin. Please report to the playoffs. Bill Guerin, please report to the playoffs…”
I know he took a shot to the face last night, but that’s no excuse. He hadn’t done jack shit before that play, for the entire series. Guerin is about two shifts away from appearing on a milk carton. If he can go, he needs to step up.
For that matter, so do a lot of Sharks. Two goals a game won’t do it.
You guys aren’t actually labouring under the delusion that Bill Guerin is going to show up in the playoffs, are you? He’s a serial choker.