The Blackhawks And Flyers Will Settle Who's #1
So far this post season has been filled with thrills and spills. A #1 seed got swept – which was the only sweep thus far – the other #1 seed was knocked out by a #8 seed, series four went the full seven games, and now, two teams who haven't been to the finals this century will be going toe-to-toe starting this Saturday in Chicago.
The Chicago Blackhawks have made their way to the Stanley Cup Finals by knocking off the Nashville Predators in the Conference Quarterfinals, the Vancouver Canucks in the Conference Semis, and the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Finals. I guess they are scared by these creatures and decided to show them who's on top of the food chain.
The Philadelphia Flyers got to the Cup Finals by snubbing the New Jersey Devils in the opening round, dragging a very good Boston Bruins team to a Game 7, and manhandling the Cinderella upstarts from Montreal.
The Blackhawks are bringing the top keeper in the playoffs, Antti Niemi, who brings an impressive .921 save percentage, 2.33 goals against, and two shutouts. The Flyers, conversely, will skate with three of the top eight offensive players, Mike Richards, Danny Briere, and Claude Giroux. The trio has combined for 23 goals (7 power play), 43 assists (16 power play), and an impressive 126 shots on goal.
This should prove to be one of the best Stanley Cup in recent history, and one that will pit offense against defense in a battle between to juggernauts. I don't know about you, but I've already got my DISH Network DVR set to record every second of the action on NBC and Versus!
It's Clear The Montreal Canadiens Are Not Listening
Regardless of which side of the score you land on, 120 minutes of scoreless hockey is something worth mentioning.
One thing is clear, however, and it's this: only half of the Canadiens read my Hockey 101 column on Monday. Sure, after a 6-0 drubbing on Sunday, Tuesday's 3-0 half-drubbing might be considered a moral victory in some circles, but I'm not the mother of any of Montreal's skaters.
Props to the Flyers for blanking the Habs for the entire duration of the opening two games of the Eastern Conference Finals. There's no guarantee that just because your team can score that it can win. After all, the other team could score more. I've watched basketball teams score in the 150s and lose. However, if you keep your team off the scoreboard and, assuming you can score just 1 goal, then you will win every game you ever play.
Defense wins championships. That mantra is instilled in hockey players just about the time they lace 'em up for the very first time, and statistics don't lie. Oh, and one other thing, Montreal. You never want the first goal of the game to be the "game winning goal" in the box score at the end of the game.
It should come as no surprise that Flyers' goaltender, Brian Boucher, is the top rated keeper in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I'm glad I've got this one saved on my DIRECTV DVR. Watching highlights in the off-season is a great pleasure!
In the other game Tuesday night, the Chicago Blackhawks tied the series at a game each by scorching the San Jose Sharks 3-1 in the Shark Tank. Hard to expect anything less than the series tied after 2 games. After all, they're the #1 and #2 seeds in the Western Conference!
Check back next week for an up-to-date look at the Conference Championships!
Hockey 101: What Not To Do In The Stanley Cup Playoffs
The Conference Finals got underway yesterday, and the two games could not have been more opposite if one had been played on asphalt with rollerblades.
In a very tight game that started with San Jose scoring 1rst on the power play and then not scoring again, and Chicago scoring two unanswered full strength, I couldn't have been happier with Game 1 in the Western Conference Championships. This series was setup to go to a Game 7, with plenty of OT periods along the way, seemingly from the beginning of the season.
The other Game 1 today was a much different affair, and one that should be examined. For everything right that Philly did, the Habs did something wrong. Example: The Flyers scored 6 goals and the Canadiens scored 0. I know this won't be news to you, but on the whole this isn't how you play hockey.
Here are some other ways to not play hockey in the Stanley Cup Playoffs:
- Don't give up two unanswered power play goals.
- Don't give up six goals by six different skaters.
- Don't get penalized twice as much as your opponent.
- Don't let your opponent have 8 players with a +2 or higher rating.
So, you get the point. Pretty much the Philadelphia Flyers showed up for the opening game of the series on home ice, and the traveling "Les Habitants", The Habs, the Montreal Canadiens. As good as they've played throughout the playoffs so far I'm inclined to chalk Game 1 up to nerves, being a bit unprepared, and pretty much just getting overwhelmed in a very hostile arena.
I will guarantee one thing, however. If the Canadiens come out in Game 2 on Tuesday, which is the first game of the double header starting at 7:00pm Eastern on Verus on DIRECTV, they'll be down 0-2 to the high-flying Flyers, which, when you're the #8 seed "Cinderella" at the ball, is an unenviable position.
Check back Wednesday and we'll compare notes from Game 2 of both games.
NHL Defensemen Are True Iron Men
Sami Salo, the Vancouver Canucks' leading defenseman, was back in the lineup for Tuesday night's Game 6 in Vancouver. This, just a couple of days after taking a puck to the groin off a Duncan Keith slapshot.
I've been to more hockey games than I can count, and watched even more on the best of the DISH Network packages, my NHL Center Ice, and have witnessed some very nasty injuries. I was there when Jeremy Roenick got his face broken by a Darrien Hatcher cheap shot. I watched Kris Draper get punked by Claude Lemeiux. Having seen the shot that dropped Sami Salo on Sunday night, sending him to a Chicago area hospital, I'm in total awe that he was back on the ice Tuesday night.
Iron man that he is, Salo couldn't get his team over the hump against the Chicago Blackhawks, who pretty much dismantled the Canucks in Game 6. The final score of 5-1 is pretty much the tale of the tape. The Blackhawks showed up, played 60 minutes of hockey, and are on their way to the Western Conference Finals.
The Canucks committed two regrettable errors, one of them the cardinal sin of hockey. At the 2:26 mark of the 2nd period they gave up an unassisted goal to Kris Versteeg, and then, if that wasn't bad enough, gave up an unassisted shorthanded goal at the 19:15 mark.
Hockey's simple. When you're down 2-0 and on the power play, the entire effort of the team has got to be to change the score to 2-1 and not to 3-0. Like I said, the final score is pretty much the way it unfolded.
It's on to San Jose for the Blackhawks, which is great for hockey fans. These two teams have been the Best in the West all season long, and this best-of-seven series could be as good as any playoff hockey we've ever seen. I'm definitely setting my DISH DVR for this one!
Vancouver Stays Alive By Playing Great Game in Chicago
In one of the more exciting games of the playoffs, the Vancouver Canucks flattened the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1.
This game had everything for puck fans. Disciplined play, one team clearly having fun on the ice, fast skating, solid checking, and incredible goaltending, and, unfortunately, a wicked-bad injury to Canucks defensive star Sami Salo.
Injuries are a part of any professional sport, and in hockey they can be particularly bad. Among other things in play are sharp skates, a frozen surface, fiberglass sticks, and a puck that frequently exceeds 100 miles per hour off a solid slap shot. It's the last item that has Sami Salo down, and probably out, for at least the remainder of this series.
Salo caught a Duncan Keith slap shot right in the groin, which felled him instantly. He remained on the ice for several minutes before being carted off on a stretcher. He was taken to a local Chicago-area hospital where he was kept overnight.
Salo's injury happened in the 1st period in which the Canucks scored two goals. They rallied around the injury and dumped in two more, including an empty netter at 19:15 of the 3rd period. The win keeps the Canucks alive but down three games to two, but Game 6 will be back in Vancouver where they could conceivably send the series to a Game 7 on Tuesday night. Catch the game on Versus in select DIRECTV packages at 9:30pm Eastern.
I'll catch up on Salo's injury on Wednesday, and recap this series at the same time. Get well, Sami Salo, you team needs you!
