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Made By cole*
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
This was supposed to be Marty Turco's year.This was supposed to be an easy match-up for the Dallas Stars, who don't seem to be amazing at any one particular thing, but seem to have the least weaknesses of any team.
That is, providing that Turco stops pucks. Which he isn't.
In Carolina, Martin Gerber is falling apart, one soft goal at a time.
After allowing 9 goals on 31 playoff shots, Gerber has been relegated to the bench-- which allowed Cam Ward to give the 'Canes a chance at winning game 2.
Speaking of game 2, that was the best hockey game I've seen in a while. It was fast, there was drama, it was physical and there was a lot of skill on the ice. Alexei Kovalev is continuing to show that he is a playoff performer, and is showing more poise than ever.
At the start of this series if you had told me that a) Gerber would be outplayed by Huet, or that b) Montreal would take the first two games on the road-- I would have written you off as a human being. But here we are.
The New York Rangers are in trouble against New Jersey, and at this point, I won't be suprised to see the Devils take this series in 4 or 5 games. I feel bad for Tom Renney, who gave Jagr everything he wanted all season, only to have his best player lay on egg in game one, and then sissy out with a shoulder injury that can't be worse than what Chris Phillips is playing through.
Renney called Jagr out when asked about it, saying "All you can do is listen to the athlete, he knows his body best, and hope that he's being honest with you."
I believe that the NHL had to maintain some sort of consistency with their penalty calling but this is ridiculous. 4 penalties in the Buffalo vs. Philly game. 4 in OT last night in Carolina. Nashville gives up 3 PP goals in the first to San Jose, and nobody scores the rest of the way.
Luckily, the playoff warrior mentality has not been lost. Martin St. Louis reminded us what it means to show up for the post season by playing a monstrous game against Ottawa Sunday night, capping his two goal performance off with a big hit in the corner on none other than Zdeno Chara.
St. Louis showed heart bigger than the entire ice surface, and even though it was his goal that eliminated the beloved Leafs, you can't help but respect the little man. Tampa knows what it takes to win, and their awareness of that sacrifice could lead them past Ottawa. Somebody needs to wake up Daniel Alfreddsson. It's like he doesn't know it's the playoffs.
Next post: Pronger and Niedermayer, Brian Campbell, and the physical playoffs.
Posted by Jon at 11:10 AM | | e-mail me