I now believe Anaheim is the better team, and I'm wondering if Carlyle isn't the better coach. Of course, "the better team" is a combination of any number of unquantifiable elements. But when the Ducks took to the ice in the second period, they were playing a very different game than they were playing during the first period. I'm thinking that Murray, for whatever reason, can't make his intermissions "work," while Carlyle clearly can and does.
What was going through Alfredsson's head when he wheeled at mid-ice and took a slapshot directly at Scott Niedermeyer with 4 seconds left in the 2nd period and the score tied at 2-2?
ReplyDeleteA total brain melt! The Ducks waddled onto the ice for the 3rd period and put the pedal to the metal and that was that?
Shots? How many shots by the Sens were in the general direction of the Ducks' net but, like, not on the net. Contact lenses needed?
So, for game #5 in Anaheim, any bets on which period Pronger whitewashes Alfredsson into the boards? I'll go with mid 1st period. Get out your smelling salts.
Since Anaheim has proven that Pronger is not a necessary element for them to win, I think mid-1st period could be a little on the long side. Then again, it can't look too premeditated, a la the Broad Street Bullies. The rule in our family is we can't agree with another person's bet, so I'll put my money on the first five minutes of the second period.
ReplyDeleteI thought Alfredsson's shot was one dumb-ass thing to do. On the CBC we had Kelly Hrudy making the usual too-Canadian-by-half comment: "Kids should never do what that man did ... but I kinda like it!" Don Cherry thought it was stoopid, but once again made the plea for more fights on the ice. I just thought it was incredibly immature behavior. So much for Alfredsson the "class act."
ReplyDeleteFrom over here the irony is how the Ontario based national sports media were dismissing the Ducks out of hand before the series started.
ReplyDelete[translation of the pre-series hype on TSN:] The Ducks beat a bunch of second rate western hockey clubs but now they are going to face a superior eastern division franchise.
I think the Ducks may currently be the best merger of pre-lockout grit and post-lockout speed. The once uber-gritty Calgary Flames cannot possibly compete in the new league and Sutter isn't even trying to coach anymore. But Carlysle seems to have a knack for incorporating some of the old school hockey within the new NHL.
Those wacky announcers - or is it those wacky beholders? Out here people are complaining that with Toronto out of the picture, the announcers all clearly favour Anaheim, and won't give Ottawa its rightful due. "Only Don Cherry has the guts..." etc etc ad nauseum. As if any self-respecting hockey wag would give a rat's ass about the Maple Leaves. Feh.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that the commentators I read were careful to say that, given how precious few times these two teams faced each other in the regular season (three games? can't remember), they weren't at all sure how this series would pan out.
Carlyle's presence behind the bench makes some kind of difference, though - no doubt about it. Anaheim's "well of character" seems to be considerably deeper than the one Ottawa draws from.
WP - I will gladly eat crow then. Certainly most of the TSN crew weren't giving the Ducks much chance. To be fair they have taken some flak over the years with the "Toronto Sports Network" jokes and it is evident that they make numerous overtures to non-Toronto (and non-Canada) venues. It may be possible that their support of Ottawa fits in the "talk up a non-Toronto franchise" category as opposed to the assumption I made earlier.
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