Per the Post-Gazette this morning, the below four division re-alignment has been proposed:
That is simply asinine.
Showing posts with label Montreal Canadiens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Montreal Canadiens. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
NHL Realignment -- A Sane Solution
With the Atlanta Thrashers at long last becoming the Winnipeg Jets, there is sensible, necessary talk of re-aligning the NHL. Currently, Winnipeg occupies Atlanta's former spot in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. Look at a map. If the Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings are Western teams, then so, by god, is Winnipeg. Re-alignment is clearly necessary, just for geographic sanity.
Per the Post-Gazette this morning, the below four division re-alignment has been proposed:
Per the Post-Gazette this morning, the below four division re-alignment has been proposed:
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Matt Cooke Out. For a Long, Long Time
After Matt Cooke stupidly threw his elbow at the head of Rangers Ryan McDonagh on Sunday, the NHL wisely suspended him for the rest of the regular season (10 games), plus the first round of the playoffs.The sad thing is that Cookie doesn't have to play like that. He's got enough game that he doesn't need to be head-hunting, throwing dangerous cheap shots and putting his team behind the eight-ball. It's frustrating to see and, frankly, kinda embarrassing for Pens fans. He vows to come back a smarter player and I hope that he does. Come back smarter, that is.
Ironically, this is the kind of 'get tough on crime punishment' Penguins owner Mario the Magnificent has been calling for since, well since his playing days.
But does it mean a permanent sea change in the way the NHL is officiated on ice and the kinds of reprimands we will see coming out of HQ in Toronto?
After the GM's meetings last week, the NHL said that they would not put an out-right ban on all head-shots; but rather they would simply begin strictly enforcing the rules that already exist pertaining to player safety and unnecessarily dangerous hits. [It's pretty much what the NFL said after one Sunday that saw four players concussed into stupors in a matter of hours.]
Per Shelly Anderson at the PG, some GM's have no interest in changing the game at all,
"'I don't think it's realistic,' he said [NHL VP Brendan Shanahan]. 'I think defenders defend standing up and forwards attack bent over.[I call shenanigans. I just love when people toss out hard percentages. I want to see the data on this 44% that Bettman referred to. Maybe he's right, but I get the feeling he pulled that number out of thin air.]
'There are other things we can do first. It's healthy that every few years we have to re-evaluate the game and make tweaks and adjustments. The game will never stop evolving.'
[NHL Commissioner Gary] Bettman said the lack of support for penalizing all head shots stems to some extent from data the GMs received Monday that show most concussions this season are not from head shots, and that 44 percent are the result of legal hits."
It is true that the NHL can call games much tighter, that rules already exist on the books which would protect players more, which on-ice officials eschew calling. Heck, when was the last time you watched a game and they actually sent somebody to the box for charging? They could call that twice per game on Ovie. They turn a blind eye to a whole crapton of cross-checks that occur and almost never call obstruction or interference. They have started calling boarding more which is great. And I also understand that hockey is fast, so maybe the on-ice zebras just can't see everything.
Which is where Colin Campbell comes in. If the officials miss something in live action (easy enough to do), he can issue fines and suspensions from his NHL lair in Toronto to address egregious, unnecessary and dangerous shots. His shot across Cooke's bow would seem to be the opening salvo.
But ... I've been led down the garden path by the NHL before. They will tire of policing the game like this, because the NHL does this from time to time. It's a dance they do every couple of years. "We're going to open the game up," they say, and the fans are happy, the sun shines and skill players flourish. Then over the course of a season (or two or three), without noticing it, they just slide back to the old clutch and grab tactics.
Eventually, the NHL again says, "Oh, yes, we're going to start calling obstruction and interference" and again there is much rejoicing everywhere. Then they revert back. The cycle repeats. Over and over again.
So I worry that they will tire of this new, more enlightened thinking on cheap shots, head-hunting and general goonery, and revert to their old, comfortable, well-worn neanderthal thinking.
But the cost is too great. This change from the league itself has to be permanent because if the league doesn't police this stuff, then the players and coaches do. You just know that one of the Canadiens is going to take a run at Zdeno Chara the next time the Habs and B's meet, right? I mean, I'd make a large bet on that eventuality.
It is precisely because of those types of situations that NHL has to be the Sheriff. It has to police head-hunting and other forms of general goonery, so that the players and coaches, many of whom live with their heads in the dark ages, won't mete out justice themselves.
There's a new Sheriff in town. I only hope he sticks around this time.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
NHL 2010 Playoffs: Montreal Canadiens Upset Pens in Round Two
From True/Slant on May 13, 2010:
Montreal Canadiens Knock the Crown Off the Pittsburgh Penguins and Dance On
Image by Getty Images North America via Daylife
The end of the line was more brutal, bloodier and more horrifying than “Friday the 13th” or “Jaws” or “Halloween.” The defending Stanley Cup Champs were not only felled by the Montreal Canadiens, but they willingly, knowingly rushed headlong into Freddy Kruger. They gave themselves a full-body moisturizing treatment with chum before diving into shark infested waters. It was as though Jamie Lee Curtis had offered herself up to Michael Myers for death and dismemberment. The final game in the old barn called Mellon Arena was the hockey equivalent of a team hoisting itself on its own petard.
All credit to Jaroslav Halak and the Montreal Canadiens. They got in the Penguins heads. It was something no other team has been able to do in the Sidney Crosby era. It’s not to say the Pens were unbeatable in that time. Clearly, they were not. But Sid’s team had never been self-defeating and self-defeated before. This was largely the same team that was so cool going into Game 7 in the second round versus the Capital last year, and then Game 7 of the Cup Finals against the Red Wings. Mentally, they could not be beaten. Until this series, until last night, until the Canadiens. The Pens hit a mental wall. To say nothing of the Halak wall in net.
The players they most needed to step up were nowhere to be found.
Sid was, once again, neutralized.
Geno seemed almost afraid to put the puck on Halak. At one point, he put a shot on net which Halak pulled in like they were playing pitch and catch, and Malkin just dropped his head. Defeated.
Brooks Orpik had only three hits and none of those were of the tooth-rattling, glass-shattering variety that are his trademark.
Sergei Gonchar made two heinous non-plays on the puck. They weren’t technically turnovers, but more like apathy toward the puck and the Hab player in front of him.
Flower. Oh, poor Flower.
On the other side, the Canadiens did everything they wanted to do and they did it to perfection.
Brian Gionta put two more in net, proving that he is still a burr under the Pens saddles. (Do penguins have saddles? Can you saddle a penguin? Gionta can.) Mike Cammalleri added a goal and assisted on another, continue to be the best player in this series. Well, the best player not named Jaroslav Halak. The defense blocked shots, altered shots, deflected shots and shrunk available passing lanes so as to be so tiny they were not visible to the human eye.
Everybody is calling this Montreal team a Cinderella, but after watching them closely for two rounds of hockey, they don’t look like a Cinderella to me. This team is not winning on flukey, lucky plays. (Okay, a bit of luck is involved, but a bit of luck is always needed for any team to advance this far in the charnel house known as the Stanley Cup playoffs.) This Canadiens group plays with the chemistry of Fred and Ginger on the dance floor and the attitude of the Bad News Bears. They were unimpressed by the hype and laser shot of Ovie and anything but intimidated by the pedigree of the defending Stanley Cup Champs.
Of course, one player is more responsible for the Canadiens miracle run than the others and too much cannot be said about the brilliance of Halak. They could have played another eight periods of hockey last night and the Pens would not have been able to get three more goals behind him. He’s quick, with a great glove and a great blocker pad. You can’t get a shot under him, either. He is almost impenetrable. But what’s most amazing about Halak is his vision. The Habs put two and three of their defenders in front of their net minder, to say nothing of Billy Guerin or Matt Cooke loafing there, so Halak is looking through a minimum of two other players to see a a small disc of vulcanized rubber flying toward him.
Any NHL caliber goalie can do that for one game. Sometimes, goalies can get in a zone like that. But to do that for 14 games? Against the likes of Crosby and Malkin, Ovechkin and Knuble? That’s an other-wordly zone, a whole other solar-system of a zone. Without exaggeration, it’s one of the greatest performances from a goaltender I’ve ever seen. And despite the fact that I wanted the Penguins to mount The Most Improbable Comeback Ever, by the end, I was really enjoying watching Halak work. That kind of excellence takes my breath away.
Last year, after Fleury had put in a particularly stellar performance, I compared him to a great mushroom hunter with his eyes on. That is to say, a person skilled in foraging for mushrooms can spot the elusive little fungi in areas that seem like a homogeneous visual plain to the untrained eye. Where I see leaves and tangled branches and such, a good mushroom hunter can edit the field of vision to spot the mushrooms. It’s an evolutionary adaptation known as “the pop-out effect.” I think Halak is the living embodiment of the pop-out effect right now. I can hardly wait to see what can do to Mike Richards or Patrice Bergeron.
Montreal Canadiens Knock the Crown Off the Pittsburgh Penguins and Dance On
Image by Getty Images North America via Daylife
The end of the line was more brutal, bloodier and more horrifying than “Friday the 13th” or “Jaws” or “Halloween.” The defending Stanley Cup Champs were not only felled by the Montreal Canadiens, but they willingly, knowingly rushed headlong into Freddy Kruger. They gave themselves a full-body moisturizing treatment with chum before diving into shark infested waters. It was as though Jamie Lee Curtis had offered herself up to Michael Myers for death and dismemberment. The final game in the old barn called Mellon Arena was the hockey equivalent of a team hoisting itself on its own petard.
All credit to Jaroslav Halak and the Montreal Canadiens. They got in the Penguins heads. It was something no other team has been able to do in the Sidney Crosby era. It’s not to say the Pens were unbeatable in that time. Clearly, they were not. But Sid’s team had never been self-defeating and self-defeated before. This was largely the same team that was so cool going into Game 7 in the second round versus the Capital last year, and then Game 7 of the Cup Finals against the Red Wings. Mentally, they could not be beaten. Until this series, until last night, until the Canadiens. The Pens hit a mental wall. To say nothing of the Halak wall in net.
The players they most needed to step up were nowhere to be found.
Sid was, once again, neutralized.
Geno seemed almost afraid to put the puck on Halak. At one point, he put a shot on net which Halak pulled in like they were playing pitch and catch, and Malkin just dropped his head. Defeated.
Brooks Orpik had only three hits and none of those were of the tooth-rattling, glass-shattering variety that are his trademark.
Sergei Gonchar made two heinous non-plays on the puck. They weren’t technically turnovers, but more like apathy toward the puck and the Hab player in front of him.
Flower. Oh, poor Flower.
On the other side, the Canadiens did everything they wanted to do and they did it to perfection.
Brian Gionta put two more in net, proving that he is still a burr under the Pens saddles. (Do penguins have saddles? Can you saddle a penguin? Gionta can.) Mike Cammalleri added a goal and assisted on another, continue to be the best player in this series. Well, the best player not named Jaroslav Halak. The defense blocked shots, altered shots, deflected shots and shrunk available passing lanes so as to be so tiny they were not visible to the human eye.
Everybody is calling this Montreal team a Cinderella, but after watching them closely for two rounds of hockey, they don’t look like a Cinderella to me. This team is not winning on flukey, lucky plays. (Okay, a bit of luck is involved, but a bit of luck is always needed for any team to advance this far in the charnel house known as the Stanley Cup playoffs.) This Canadiens group plays with the chemistry of Fred and Ginger on the dance floor and the attitude of the Bad News Bears. They were unimpressed by the hype and laser shot of Ovie and anything but intimidated by the pedigree of the defending Stanley Cup Champs.
Of course, one player is more responsible for the Canadiens miracle run than the others and too much cannot be said about the brilliance of Halak. They could have played another eight periods of hockey last night and the Pens would not have been able to get three more goals behind him. He’s quick, with a great glove and a great blocker pad. You can’t get a shot under him, either. He is almost impenetrable. But what’s most amazing about Halak is his vision. The Habs put two and three of their defenders in front of their net minder, to say nothing of Billy Guerin or Matt Cooke loafing there, so Halak is looking through a minimum of two other players to see a a small disc of vulcanized rubber flying toward him.
Any NHL caliber goalie can do that for one game. Sometimes, goalies can get in a zone like that. But to do that for 14 games? Against the likes of Crosby and Malkin, Ovechkin and Knuble? That’s an other-wordly zone, a whole other solar-system of a zone. Without exaggeration, it’s one of the greatest performances from a goaltender I’ve ever seen. And despite the fact that I wanted the Penguins to mount The Most Improbable Comeback Ever, by the end, I was really enjoying watching Halak work. That kind of excellence takes my breath away.
Last year, after Fleury had put in a particularly stellar performance, I compared him to a great mushroom hunter with his eyes on. That is to say, a person skilled in foraging for mushrooms can spot the elusive little fungi in areas that seem like a homogeneous visual plain to the untrained eye. Where I see leaves and tangled branches and such, a good mushroom hunter can edit the field of vision to spot the mushrooms. It’s an evolutionary adaptation known as “the pop-out effect.” I think Halak is the living embodiment of the pop-out effect right now. I can hardly wait to see what can do to Mike Richards or Patrice Bergeron.
NHL 2010 Playoffs: Capitals Eliminated by Canadiens
From True/Slant on April 29, 2010:
Ovechkin and the Capitals humiliated by the Canadiens in the first round of the NHL playoffs
Image by wfyurasko via Flickr
The reviews of the Washington Capitals’ 2010 post-season are in. They are … let’s put it this way, if the Caps post-season were a Broadway show, it would close immediately, never to be revived:
Scott Burnside at ESPN says,
"Call it heart or soul or character or whatever you want, but the Capitals don’t seem to have it. And until they find it, it’s hard to imagine there won’t be more of these shocking conclusions in the nation’s capital."
Tracee Hamilton at the Washington Post says,
"But the day before Game 7, Ovechkin skipped the optional skate. Nearly everyone else showed up. Semin was also a no-show. One might have thought he could use the practice. One might have thought his captain would tell him so. But it’s hard to lead by example when you’re not in the building. It’s a small thing, but it’s not, not in team sports."
Dan Rosen at NHL.com says
"Suffice to say, Ovechkin has not had a good last two months.
He was supposed to lead his country to a medal in Vancouver, but they fell flat against Team Canada and departed Vancouver with nothing hanging around their necks but shame. Ovechkin was also caught on video shoving a cameraperson and criticized for not being forthcoming with the English media in Vancouver.
He was supposed to lead the Capitals to the first Stanley Cup in team history, or at the very least to the Stanley Cup Final. They couldn’t make it out of the first round against a team that couldn’t even win when it had to in order to make the playoffs."
Sarah Kwak at Sports Illustrated says:
"While Halak’s performance made the upset possible, it was the team around him that made it happen. Clearing pucks around the crease, skillfully blocking shots with pressure instead of blinding screens, the Canadiens offered more evidence to support the old sports adage, “Offense wins games; defense wins championships.”
That’s what Blue Jackets forwardR.J. Umbergerwas alluding to when he called the Capitals out for their go-go style, saying, “They play the wrong way. They want to be moving all the time. They float around in their zone, looking for breakaways and odd-man rushes. … A good defensive team is going to beat them (in the playoffs). If you eliminate your turnovers and keep them off the power play, they’re going to get frustrated because they’re in their zone a lot.” Umberger’s got a future in coaching — or clairvoyance."
Hockey’s best player, Penguins captain, Sidney Crosby, hasn’t spoken about it. He’s far too dignified and polite to honk his own horn by comparison to the Great Eight (irony intended). No doubt Sid is a better person than I am, so maybe he’s not enjoying the shame and ignominy of Ovechkin, Bruce Boudreau & Company.
But I wonder, if somewhere deep inside Sid the Kid, far from the prying eyes of the media, and even his teammates, if he doesn’t have a tiny little envy monkey who is whispering, “Told you so. Told you Ovie is not the best player in hockey. Neener, neener, neener.”
I kinda hope he is.
Meanwhile, Boudreau and Ovie have to live with this gem on their resumes: A No. 1 seed had never blown a three-games-to-one lead to a No. 8 seed since the current playoff format was adopted in 1994. First time for everything, I guess.
Is anybody else enjoying this as much as I am?
Ovechkin and the Capitals humiliated by the Canadiens in the first round of the NHL playoffs
Image by wfyurasko via Flickr
The reviews of the Washington Capitals’ 2010 post-season are in. They are … let’s put it this way, if the Caps post-season were a Broadway show, it would close immediately, never to be revived:
Scott Burnside at ESPN says,
"Call it heart or soul or character or whatever you want, but the Capitals don’t seem to have it. And until they find it, it’s hard to imagine there won’t be more of these shocking conclusions in the nation’s capital."
Tracee Hamilton at the Washington Post says,
"But the day before Game 7, Ovechkin skipped the optional skate. Nearly everyone else showed up. Semin was also a no-show. One might have thought he could use the practice. One might have thought his captain would tell him so. But it’s hard to lead by example when you’re not in the building. It’s a small thing, but it’s not, not in team sports."
Dan Rosen at NHL.com says
"Suffice to say, Ovechkin has not had a good last two months.
He was supposed to lead his country to a medal in Vancouver, but they fell flat against Team Canada and departed Vancouver with nothing hanging around their necks but shame. Ovechkin was also caught on video shoving a cameraperson and criticized for not being forthcoming with the English media in Vancouver.
He was supposed to lead the Capitals to the first Stanley Cup in team history, or at the very least to the Stanley Cup Final. They couldn’t make it out of the first round against a team that couldn’t even win when it had to in order to make the playoffs."
Sarah Kwak at Sports Illustrated says:
"While Halak’s performance made the upset possible, it was the team around him that made it happen. Clearing pucks around the crease, skillfully blocking shots with pressure instead of blinding screens, the Canadiens offered more evidence to support the old sports adage, “Offense wins games; defense wins championships.”
That’s what Blue Jackets forwardR.J. Umbergerwas alluding to when he called the Capitals out for their go-go style, saying, “They play the wrong way. They want to be moving all the time. They float around in their zone, looking for breakaways and odd-man rushes. … A good defensive team is going to beat them (in the playoffs). If you eliminate your turnovers and keep them off the power play, they’re going to get frustrated because they’re in their zone a lot.” Umberger’s got a future in coaching — or clairvoyance."
Hockey’s best player, Penguins captain, Sidney Crosby, hasn’t spoken about it. He’s far too dignified and polite to honk his own horn by comparison to the Great Eight (irony intended). No doubt Sid is a better person than I am, so maybe he’s not enjoying the shame and ignominy of Ovechkin, Bruce Boudreau & Company.
But I wonder, if somewhere deep inside Sid the Kid, far from the prying eyes of the media, and even his teammates, if he doesn’t have a tiny little envy monkey who is whispering, “Told you so. Told you Ovie is not the best player in hockey. Neener, neener, neener.”
I kinda hope he is.
Meanwhile, Boudreau and Ovie have to live with this gem on their resumes: A No. 1 seed had never blown a three-games-to-one lead to a No. 8 seed since the current playoff format was adopted in 1994. First time for everything, I guess.
Is anybody else enjoying this as much as I am?
NHL 2010 Playoffs: Capitals Teetering on the Brink of Elimination
From True/Slant on April 28, 2010:
Paging Mr. Ovechkin: Time to put up or shut up in the Stanley Cup Playoffs
Image by Getty Images via Daylife
Good teams win games. Great teams, teams with designs on flying championship banners over center ice, win games with power, elan and dash. And they also win ugly games when they have to.
Last night, in Game 7 of the Western Conference first round playoff with the Phoenix Coyotes, the Detroit Red Wings proved their championship mettle. Backed into a corner like a feral, dare I say it, coyote, the Wings attacked. They did what championship teams do. They scored on the power play, created opportunities on the penalty kill and crashed the net. Finally, they reached inside of the chest cavity of Ilya Bryzgalov, ripped out his heart and smashed it into terrine of coyote offal right there at center ice.
The big stars, the names we all know — Henrik Zetterberg, Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk — led Detroit’s way. There’s a reason these guys are perennial all-stars who have played in the Stanley Cup Final two years in a row.
Meanwhile, over in the east, the reigning Stanley Cup champs, my Pittsburgh Penguins, crushed the hopes and dreams of the Ottawa Senators with an overtime victory in game 6 on Saturday night to move on to the second round. The Pens did that on a night when their big stars were quiet. Without Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby or Marc-Andre Fleury making their typical SportsCenter highlight reel plays, Pittsburgh’s grinders picked up the slack. Matt Cooke, Pascal Dupuis and Billy Guerin (at this point in his career, Guerin has to be considered a grinder), came through in the crunch. None of those guys are household names. Well, outside of Pittsburgh.
But both games illustrate that great teams, like the Pens and the Red Wings, find a way. Sometimes it’s in the stars and sometimes it’s the role players shine. Some games are master strokes of artwork. And others are misshapen, grunting, calloused beasts of burden. But they are champs, because they can win any which way you want to play it.
Tonight, with the Washington Capitals hosting the upstart Montreal Canadiens in a deciding game 7, we’ll see if the Caps have the heart of a champion.
You can go through the line up. On paper, this may be the most talented team in hockey. (I kinda feel like those draft “experts” judging talent on paper like that. It made me all, like, tingly. Now I know what it must feel like to style Mel Kiper’s hair.) The point is – Alex Ovechkin, Mike Knuble, Brooks Laich, Alex Semin, Eric Fehr, Nicklas Backstrom — this is the time for those guys to step up. Mike Green, too.
I know that shooting the puck at Montreal’s Jaroslav Halak is like firing a b.b. gun at the Berlin Wall right now, but shoot they must. More than that, Washington needs to play ugly, create chaos in front of Halak, make him uncomfortable and disrupt his vision and timing. They need to plant themselves in front of the net and get dirty goals. It’s no fun playing in front of the net. It’s hard work and it takes a lot out of a player.
The Caps haven’t done much of that – setting up in front of the net, that is. They fired 54 shots at Halak on Monday night, nearly a shot a minute, which would be impressive, except that I counted only a dozen of those shots that came from anywhere in the vicinity of the net. Pathetic.
The Red Wings set up in front of net. They’ve gotten to two Cup finals by planting themselves in front of the opposing goalies long enough for a fan to hit the bathroom, buy a pretzel and make it back to her seat at the Joe before one of the red suited beasts are dislodged. They camp out in front of goalies. The Penguins, a team loaded with beautiful outside shooters, will crash the net when need be. Exhibit A — Matt Cooke’s two goal game on Saturday.
The Capitals have been remarkably unphysical, unwilling to park in front of the net and unwilling or unable to hit, too. The team leader in hits this series is Ovie with 20 hits in six games (a testament to him, because scoring wingers are not usually the guys laying out the biggest hits), but a pathetic reflection on the rest of the Capitals and their allergy to going to the body. Of all the Caps defensemen, Mike Green has the most hits with 14. Compare that to Brooks Orpik with 32 or Brad Stuart with 27. No wonder these guys have to play a game 7 in the first round.
The Stanley Cup playoffs is like a series of exams. If you pass the first test, your reward is to take the second test.
The Capitals, the “best” team in the East, an unstoppable force that seemed to score at will gets exam number one tonight against the Canadiens. So, what’s it going to be Mr. Ovechkin? Are you guys true contenders? Are you willing to put your heads down, hit everything that moves, muck it up in the corners for the puck, absorb cross-checks to create opportunities in front of Halak and do all the less fun, unglamorous work necessary to win?
Paging Mr. Ovechkin: Time to put up or shut up in the Stanley Cup Playoffs
Image by Getty Images via Daylife
Good teams win games. Great teams, teams with designs on flying championship banners over center ice, win games with power, elan and dash. And they also win ugly games when they have to.
Last night, in Game 7 of the Western Conference first round playoff with the Phoenix Coyotes, the Detroit Red Wings proved their championship mettle. Backed into a corner like a feral, dare I say it, coyote, the Wings attacked. They did what championship teams do. They scored on the power play, created opportunities on the penalty kill and crashed the net. Finally, they reached inside of the chest cavity of Ilya Bryzgalov, ripped out his heart and smashed it into terrine of coyote offal right there at center ice.
The big stars, the names we all know — Henrik Zetterberg, Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk — led Detroit’s way. There’s a reason these guys are perennial all-stars who have played in the Stanley Cup Final two years in a row.
Meanwhile, over in the east, the reigning Stanley Cup champs, my Pittsburgh Penguins, crushed the hopes and dreams of the Ottawa Senators with an overtime victory in game 6 on Saturday night to move on to the second round. The Pens did that on a night when their big stars were quiet. Without Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby or Marc-Andre Fleury making their typical SportsCenter highlight reel plays, Pittsburgh’s grinders picked up the slack. Matt Cooke, Pascal Dupuis and Billy Guerin (at this point in his career, Guerin has to be considered a grinder), came through in the crunch. None of those guys are household names. Well, outside of Pittsburgh.
But both games illustrate that great teams, like the Pens and the Red Wings, find a way. Sometimes it’s in the stars and sometimes it’s the role players shine. Some games are master strokes of artwork. And others are misshapen, grunting, calloused beasts of burden. But they are champs, because they can win any which way you want to play it.
Tonight, with the Washington Capitals hosting the upstart Montreal Canadiens in a deciding game 7, we’ll see if the Caps have the heart of a champion.
You can go through the line up. On paper, this may be the most talented team in hockey. (I kinda feel like those draft “experts” judging talent on paper like that. It made me all, like, tingly. Now I know what it must feel like to style Mel Kiper’s hair.) The point is – Alex Ovechkin, Mike Knuble, Brooks Laich, Alex Semin, Eric Fehr, Nicklas Backstrom — this is the time for those guys to step up. Mike Green, too.
I know that shooting the puck at Montreal’s Jaroslav Halak is like firing a b.b. gun at the Berlin Wall right now, but shoot they must. More than that, Washington needs to play ugly, create chaos in front of Halak, make him uncomfortable and disrupt his vision and timing. They need to plant themselves in front of the net and get dirty goals. It’s no fun playing in front of the net. It’s hard work and it takes a lot out of a player.
The Caps haven’t done much of that – setting up in front of the net, that is. They fired 54 shots at Halak on Monday night, nearly a shot a minute, which would be impressive, except that I counted only a dozen of those shots that came from anywhere in the vicinity of the net. Pathetic.
The Red Wings set up in front of net. They’ve gotten to two Cup finals by planting themselves in front of the opposing goalies long enough for a fan to hit the bathroom, buy a pretzel and make it back to her seat at the Joe before one of the red suited beasts are dislodged. They camp out in front of goalies. The Penguins, a team loaded with beautiful outside shooters, will crash the net when need be. Exhibit A — Matt Cooke’s two goal game on Saturday.
The Capitals have been remarkably unphysical, unwilling to park in front of the net and unwilling or unable to hit, too. The team leader in hits this series is Ovie with 20 hits in six games (a testament to him, because scoring wingers are not usually the guys laying out the biggest hits), but a pathetic reflection on the rest of the Capitals and their allergy to going to the body. Of all the Caps defensemen, Mike Green has the most hits with 14. Compare that to Brooks Orpik with 32 or Brad Stuart with 27. No wonder these guys have to play a game 7 in the first round.
The Stanley Cup playoffs is like a series of exams. If you pass the first test, your reward is to take the second test.
The Capitals, the “best” team in the East, an unstoppable force that seemed to score at will gets exam number one tonight against the Canadiens. So, what’s it going to be Mr. Ovechkin? Are you guys true contenders? Are you willing to put your heads down, hit everything that moves, muck it up in the corners for the puck, absorb cross-checks to create opportunities in front of Halak and do all the less fun, unglamorous work necessary to win?
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