Ponds and Pucks

San Jose 4 - Calgary 1 — so much for the battle of the goalies. Nabokov nearly posted his second shutout in as many games, and Kiprusoff experienced his first yanking at the hands of Mike Keenan this season. Kipper was far from the problem, however. The rest of the Flames didn’t seem ready for the game, with [tag]Eric Goddard/[tag] having the best night of them all. Goddard got into two fights and had a goal called back. Battle of Alberta has more.

Vancouver 1 - Carolina 3 — Vancouver saw their road unbeaten string end and Carolina just keeps rolling. The win brings Carolina to 5-1-3, enough to be one of the better teams in the league without bringing attention to how good they are. Well, Vancouver knows now. More Canucks analysis at Canucks Hockey Blog.

Boston 1 - Montreal 6 — Ouch. I really thought the Bruins were going to do it this time. It looked like all the stars were aligning for them. But instead Montreal had 6 different goal scorers and broke the Bruins four-game winning streak, and kept the strange curse the Habs hold over the Bruins intact. A Theory Of Ice.

So it looks like all the games last night that were supposed to be interesting matchups turned out to be one-sided blow outs. I actually was relieved to turn the TV over to CSI: Miami, where the episode suspiciously featured the death of a Florida athlete named “Doug McClain.” I know the Tampa Bay Lightning’s new owner is Doug MacLean and is best known for his (lack of) coaching abilities, but….

San Jose, Calgary, Nabokov, Kiprusoff, Mike Keenan, Vancouver, Carolina, Boston, Montreal, Bruins

FanNation has posted a “shortlist” for the next Atlanta Thrashers head coach.

It looks like pretty much every other list floating around the hockey rumor-sphere — it begins with and highlights Pat Quinn and the works its way to the oft-discussed choice of Brad McCrimmon. But there’s a couple of other names in there too.

My money’s on Quinn, not because he’s the best choice, but because he’s a name, and one players respect. I’d still love to see McCrimmon get it though.

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While the rest of the city of Boston is celebrating the Red Sox and their trip to the World Series, some die-hard hockey fans are still rubbing their hands in glee at the Bruins/Habs game tonight.

The Bruins are going into the legendary match-up with the upper hand for the first time in….. well, a really long time. To Bruins fans a chance to beat their Montreal nemesis is the ultimate bonus to Boston’s strongest start in years.

Finally acquiring a number one goaltender in Manny Fernandez has likely been a huge reason for such a great start. Oh wait, Tim Thomas has been the one manning the pipes? Go figure…

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Games tonight:

Vancouver at Carolina - Vancouver is 4-4-0, Carolina is 4-1-3. Ryan Kesler broke out against the Blue Jackets with 2 goals the other night, while Justin Williams is leading the ‘Canes with 11 points.

Boston at Montreal - Boston is on a 4 game winning streak, Montreal broke a 3 game losing streak on Saturday when they beat Buffalo. Boston’s D has been particularly strong, allowing only an average of 2.14 goals a game. Montreal’s defense got a boost from free agent signing Roman Hamrlik as he potted a goal and two assists on Saturday.

San Jose at Calgary - San Jose is 4-3-1 (4-1-1 when Roenick plays, 0-2-0 when he doesn’t), Calgary is 4-2-2. Nabokov is coming off a shutout Saturday and has two career shutouts against the Flames. Flames beat their provincial rivals the Oilers on Saturday and are riding Jarome Iginla’s 5 game point streak.

Atlanta Thrashers, Pat Quinn, Brad McCrimmon, Red Sox, World Series, Manny Fernandez, Tim Thomas, Ryan Kesler, Justin Williams, Roman Hamrlik, Nabokov, Jarome Iginla

Everyone who thought Jeremy Roenick would have an effective season with the San Jose Sharks after they pulled him out of retirement, raise your hand. Yeah, me too.

But the reality is, Roenick is holding his own. He scored his 498th career goal against Nashville on Saturday night, and nearly got his 499th. The Sharks are more successful with Roenick in the lineup (4-1-1 when Roenick plays, 0-2-0 when he sits). Sure, he’s not in every game thanks to a bum knee, but if fans know anything about JR, it’s that keeping him out of a game does not mean he’s not making his presence known to his teammates.

I’ve had a love/hate things for Roenick for years. I respect any guy who speaks his mind in a league where there are far too many sports cliches and stock answers, even if I don’t like 90 per cent of what Roenick says. But I’m rooting for him to get goals number 499, 500, 501 and beyond.

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Fox Sports has a fun story on whether 500 goals still means anything. Especially fun is the 500-goal trivia in the middle, with gems such as which goalie has allowed the most 500-goal markers (Patrick Roy).

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Saku Koivu is no longer the only Koivu in town. Mikko Koivu has long languished in relative (no pun intended) obscurity in Minnesota. Sure, everyone knew about him, but beyond his famous older brother and the fact he wasn’t a bust and showed up on the scoresheet once in a while, the younger Koivu was often overlooked, or at least not given the due he deserved.

Not anymore.

Now that Minnesota is turning heads and dominating the west, Koivu has become tough to disregard.

Jeremy Roenick, San Jose Sharks, Patrick Roy, Saku Koivu, Mikko Koivu

• Drafted in 4th round, 90th overall in the 1995 NHL entry draft, by the SJ Sharks. Fellow Finn Miika Kiprusoff was taken the next round, also by the Sharks.
• Was not planning on a career in hockey at the time of his draft. Vesa Toskala was considering a return to school and leaving hockey entirely, unsure about the stability of a career in hockey. The Sharks convinced him to give North America a try.
• Scored 2 points (2 assists) against the Chicago Blackhawks on February 3, 2007, a Sharks club record.
• Earned the nickname “The Finnish Horse” from Sharks’ broadcaster Dan Rusanowsky.
• First NHL start was a total of ten minutes in relief of Evgeni Nabokov. Toskala faced and stopped two shots.
• Calls his goaltending style “bear style”.
• Credits playing soccer in Finland to his development as a goalie.
• Before Tuesday night’s debacle had never allowed 7 goals in a single game.

Miika Kiprusoff, Vesa Toskala, Evgeni Nabokov

Alfredsson doesn’t care which Leafs’ goalie he scores on.

It was somewhat surprising to see Raycroft between the pipes when the puck dropped last night for the Senators/Leafs game. It was almost as surprising to see Toskala in net for the Leafs tonight in their second tilt against Ottawa.

What’s not surprising is that it didn’t seem to make one iota of difference.

I don’t blame the Leafs for not starting Toskala at home — the pressure there is ridiculous. I know players don’t go to Toronto to remain anonymous, but how much attention and pressure would Toskala be under if the Leafs hadn’t been forced to take the problem child Mark Bell as well?

If you’re the Leafs, who do you start in net next?

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I haven’t checked yet, but I believe the Steve Downie suspension expires right before the Flyers play Ottawa again. Excellent. If you’re keeping track, tonight’s game against Calgary is Game #1 of the suspension.

Philly looked good tonight against Calgary. It’s only one game, but I swear the countdown on Mike Keenan’s first eruption is already well underway. A tale of two teams: Flyer’s star player Daniel Briere steps up and scores a goal in the latter half of the 3rd period, bringing the team to a 3-2 lead. Calgary star Jarome Iginla responds by stepping up and taking a hooking penalty. It was a lousy call, but still….

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Up the highway, the Oilers eked out a strong win against the Sharks. Still processing that one… that and Nashville beating the crap out of Colorado. All this is telling me is that I’ll need to wait a few more weeks before buying SportsSelect tickets…

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Shutout count: Backstrom - 1, Mason - 1.

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Regular, less stream-of-consciousness content will return tomorrow. I promise. (Guilty confession: The NHL is my first love. Always has been. But after this weekend, part of me is still caught up in the NFL and ex-CFLer Jeff Garcia’s performance in Tampa).

San Jose Sharks

Notable moves and changes: Signed F Jeremy Roenick (was with Phoenix). Offered tryout to D Sandis Ozolinsh.
Starting goalie: Evgeni Nabokov
Summary of last year:Another strong season, another missed opportunity. Despite the amazing play of Joe Thornton, a season points tally of 107 (which was only good enough to rank them 5th in the Western Conference), and the crafty addition of Bill Guerin and Craig Rivet at the trade deadline, once again, someone else went to the final.
Prediction for this year:The Sharks are a bit of a mystery. With the departure of Bill Guerin and Scott Hannan, it looked like the Sharks might opt to go younger to fill out their roster — only 5 defensive spots are considered “taken” — instead they brought Jeremy Roenick out of his tentative retirement and offered Sandis Ozolinsh a tryout. At least this doesn’t affect the core of the team — Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Jonathan Cheechoo — and the incredible talent there. As long as these guys keep performing, and Nabokov holds steady in net, there’s no reason the Sharks won’t go deep into the playoffs again this year. Who knows, maybe JR is the heart this team needs.

San Jose Sharks, Jeremy Roenick, Sandis Ozolinsh, Evgeni Nabokov, Joe Thornton, Bill Guerin, Craig Rivet, Bill Guerin, Scott Hannan, Jeremy Roenick, Sandis Ozolinsh, Patrick Marleau, Jonathan Cheechoo

Mark Bell has plead guilty to charges of drunk driving causing injury and hit and run.

The charges are from an incident in San Jose last September. Bell will be sentenced to 6 months in October, and will serve the sentence at the end of the season.

Hold on….he’s going to be sentenced to 6 months but not served until April at the earliest? Going to jail is never a good thing, but what a sweet deal to say “Yeah, I’m not really available until this spring….”

This man has plead guilty to a crime. He has admitted to driving while drunk, hurting another person and fleeing. This is not his first or even second offense. He told Leafs’ GM John Ferguson he hoped it would “take care of itself”. This man should not be allowed to continue to make his millions on the ice as long as his confessed crime has gone unpunished.

Celebrities and other well-known figures get special treatment — there’s no denying that. And it could be argued that Bell’s jail time could have a negative impact on the team itself (Bell was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs over the summer), but that’s something the team needs to address and deal with.

Tell me this… you think Bell is going to a focused player come the end of the season? Do you think his mind is going to be on making the playoffs or winning the Stanley Cup?

Or is he going to be focusing too hard on what he’s got lined up when his season ends? How much distraction could his pending jail time cause the team?

What if the Leafs (God forbid) win the Cup? Does he show up for jail the next day?

Players have missed seasons or parts of seasons for a lot less serious matters than this. Bell should serve his time now, like anyone else would have to, and then be ready to focus on his team when they need him the most.

Mark Bell, San Jose, Toronto Maple Leafs

So I came into the Conference Semis at 3-3-2.  How did I leave?  My picks are here, and let’s look at how I did.
Sabres/Rangers (Sabres in 6) — Right
Devils/Senators (Senators in 7) — Right team, wrong # of games
Red Wings/Sharks (Red Wings in 5) — Right team, wrong # of games
Ducks/Canucks[/tag] (Anaheim in 6) — Right team, wrong # of games
I walk out 4-3-5.  Not dreadful.

Detroit beat San Jose last night 2-0 to win their series in 6.  The big lesson that kids can take from it is in watching Dominik Hasek.  Except for one play, he knew where the puck was at all times and made sure to keep his body between the puck and the goal.  He flailed about like a beached whale at times and was far from pretty, but he shut the Sharks out.  We’d all rather an ugly win than a pretty loss.

Three stars of the second round:

1. Dany Heatley (Ott)
2. Dominik Hasek (Det)
3. Ryan Miller (Buf)

News Update
NHL & IIHF Agree on New Transfer Deal
Sidney Crosby voted top sports figure in Time.com Survey
Pharmacist makes bid for Edmonton Oilers

Trophy Update
Norris Trophy (Outstanding Defenseman)
The Finalists:

1. Nicklas Lidstrom (Det)
2. Scott Niedermayer (Ana)
3. Chris Pronger (Ana)

Three superb players got the nod here, and this may very well be the toughest category to decide on a winner for.  In their playoff series, all three have shown why they were nominated on a national stage.  And all three made amazing cases for themselves.
Who Should Win:  I think all three are deserving.  I will say that Lidstrom should win but it’s a real tossup.
Who Will Win: Lidstrom.  Niedermayer and Pronger will split the vote and eliminate each other.

Coming Attractions
This Friday, I will be starting a new feature, the weekly blog update.  Looking at hockey blogs across the web, I will give links to the top posts/stories of the week.
Conference Finals to be broken down tomorrow and Thursday.

Sabres, Rangers, Devils, Senators, Red Wings, Sharks, Ducks, Detroit, San Jose

Anaheim knocked the Canucks out last night in the second OT period.  What is the biggest stat of this game?  Vancouver had a total of 27 shots on goal.  The Ducks had 63.  Vancouver didn’t have double-digit shots in any frame.  Luongo was amazing in this game, keeping a weak Vancouver defense in the game but the loss was inevitable.  You cannot let the opposition put EVERY shot on net and still expect miracles from your goalie.  Defense wins championships, and for proof, look at last night’s results.

It appears that Bill Guerin will be out for the next Sharks/Red Wings game on Saturday.  He took a puck to the face and might have to be a scratch.  Thus far this series, Guerin has had a whopping 0 points and is skating at -2 (all from game 2 of the series; he is at 0 for the rest of the games) so it’s easy to think that this isn’t a big loss.  But his 36 regular season goals tied him for 16th both overall and among forwards.  I will grant that this isn’t a huge loss right now, because he has not performed, but Billy was a good player this year and he’s due to find his groove.  Add to that the fact that the replacement will most likely not be as high-quality as Guerin so this is not a good thing for the Sharks.

End of Season Awards
The Frank J. Selke Trophy (Outstanding Defensive Forward)
The Finalists:

• Rod Brind’Amour (Car)
• Samuel Pahlsson (Ana)
• Jay Pandolfo (NJD)

Brind’Amour is a mainstay in this category and it’s a shame that he won’t win it.  It’s between Pahlsson and Pandolfo this year because these are two of the best defensive teams in the league.  The Devils are weak on offense but it’s become clear that they are a defensive juggernaut.  Anaheim has proven the same thing this season.  Surprisingly, both are in the negative and neither had a great season scoring-wise.
Who should win: Brind’Amour
Who will win: Pandolfo

Anaheim, Canucks, Vancouver, Ducks, Sharks, Red Wings, NHL, Stanley Cup, Playoffs, Hockey

The Senators beat the Devils last night, by 1 goal yet again.  This series has been pretty much decided by one goal over each game thus far.  But the Devils have not been able to get past the Senators at all.  New Jersey just cannot put together a game that will get past Ottawa because they are too weak a team.  Brodeur puts them in the driver’s seat but when he is up against the same quality day after day he starts to get into trouble.  Ottawa is stacked with goal scorers and they will put the puck in the net.  The Devils really cannot counter that.

Detroit insists on making things interesting.  Now, I will admit that I didn’t see all of this game because it started too late and I have to be up too early but I’m wishing that I had.  The Red Wings scored a goal with 5 seconds left in the second and then with 33 seconds left in the third to tie the game at 2.  They finally put the game away with 4 minutes left in the first OT period, beating the San Jose Sharks to tie the series at 2 games each.  Nabokov stopped 46 shots and that’s the main problem that he’s facing — his defense needs to keep Detroit from pounding the net.  If they can’t do that, then Detroit will eventually just overpower the Sharks and take the series.

Breaking down the Trophies
I will take these 1 per day, instead of as originally planned.  So today we look at the Calder Trophy for Rookie of the Year.
Finalists:

• Evgeni Malkin (Pit)
• Jordan Staal (Pit)
• Paul Stastny (Col)

Jordan Staal led the Penguins with a +16, and also led the three finalists.  However, he is also 3rd in points (under 50, for a center is troubling).  His teammate Evgeni Malkin leads the three, and all rookies with 85 points.  Stastny is safe as the middle for most categories.  He also has the advantage to not being on the same team as Sidney Crosby, who causes everyone to be overshadowed.
Who should win: Malkin
Who will Win: Stastny

Senators, Devils, New Jersey, Ottawa, Detroit, Red Wings, San Jose Sharks

On Sunday, NBC had some interesting coverage in between periods and the OT of the Rangers-Sabres game.  They talked about what food was brought in for the teams.  So all of you who want to be catering director for a hockey team, you got a bit of information on what to bring in when a hockey game goes into extra periods (bananas and sandwhiches in case you missed it).

New Jersey lost to the Senators last night with Brodeur playing well in goal.  Only him though; as the Devils played a sloppy and uncoordinated game.  If not for the amazing play of their goalie, they’d have been taken out of the game much earlier and would have lost by a lot more than 2 goals given up in the third.  The Devils cannot play another game like that if they want to survive.

One of the big questions that has been floating around since the series was announced was: how would Detroit perform in the Shark Tank?  Last night we got the answer.  They didn’t do too poorly.  Even though the Red Wings lost, they held a lead for almost 20 minutes.  They survived as they needed to do.  San Jose will make this a series and this may be an instant classic, but home ice will not be as potent here as some people thought.  However, as an aside, what is going on with the glass at the Tank?  It needed to be replaced all too often (more than 1x per game is too often).  That situation needs to be looked at.  It would also be nice if the games were a little earlier — not too much but maybe a half hour.  As it is, it’s hard for us on the east coast make it all the way through.

Rangers-Sabres & Anaheim-Vancouver tonight.  Enjoy.

Rangers, Sabres, New Jersey, Senators, Devils, Detroit, Red Wings, San Jose, hockey, NHL, Stanley Cup, playoffs

Good Morning.

It was a great weekend for hockey, and there were some outstanding games on this weekend.  Friday night started off with a second Buffalo win, and a Vancouver win in the second OT period (there was 1 final OT period in the first round that I never added, so let’s add 3 right now…but there were more this weekend).  New Jersey won on Saturday in 2 OT periods (total 5), and Detroit overtook San Jose.  Anaheim beat the Canucks on Sunday and the Rangers/tag] took out the [tag]Sabres in 2 OT (total 7).  So that’s the overall picture.]

Now here’s what you need to know:
Ryan Miller was amazing on Sunday.  Don’t let the loss fool you, he played amazingly.  He kept the Sabres in the game and was pushed beyond anything that you can imagine.  The Rangers had 46 shots on goal and with the exception of the second period, was at least even with or outshot the Sabres in EVERY period.  Buffalo was not on their game — they did not play as well as they had in the first two.  Now they can give up all 3 games at Madison Square Garden and still win the series if they want.  But if they do that, if they can’t win one game on the road in this series, then they will be facing serious problems in the next round.

Detroit is in trouble.  The series is tied 1-1 and game three is tonight at the Shark Pond.  But when you watch them play, it is clear that the dominance from the first series is somewhat lost.  I might have to rethink my pick for this round.  If the Red Wings want to get past the Sharks, they will need to perform much better than they have thus far.

Ottawa is one of the best teams in the league and they may have figured Martin Brodeur out.  If this is true, this series will be done soon.  If not, then I suspect that it’s only a matter of time.

The Anaheim/Vancouver series looks like it will be the best series of this round.

hockey, Buffalo, Vancouver, New Jersey, Detroit, San Jose, Anaheim, Canucks, Rangers/tag] took out the [tag]Sabres, Red Wings, Ottawa, NHL, Stanley Cup

I have been raving and raving about Detroit since the playoffs started, talking about how great they’ve been.  Well last night they were pretty weak.  Their 2-0 loss to the Sharks was more than just an opening game loss.  The crisp, disciplined, well-structured play that they had demonstrated in the opening round was lacking last night.  The Red Wings couldn’t stop the early onslaught that was the Sharks and they couldn’t break the conservative possession game that San Jose played late.  Detroit looked amazing in the first round but they lost some of their magic last night.

San Jose was the 5-seed in the playoffs, but don’t let that fool you.  They were only 5 points below Detroit, AND they had more wins (51-50) in the regular season.  They also had more regular season losses (26-19) but fewer overtime losses (13-5).  The Sharks have a real chance, and I’ll admit it right now, I might have missed it.

Ottawa and the Devils played an interesting little game, with Brodeur’s magic fading. 
Giving up 4 goals in the first period — that’s very un-Marty-like.  But I’ll be honest, let’s call this game an anomaly and see what happens in game 2.  I would be very surprised if they don’t rebound.  Ottawa may have led 4-1 after the first 20 minutes (and at no point did they trail), but they won’t be able to keep it up.  New Jersey (whom I have called a one-dimensional team in the past) will manage to put together a few more wins and the Marty Magic will come back.  This will be a series to watch though.

The Rangers skate against Buffalo again tonight, and the Ducks face off against Vancouver for game two.

And finally, my quote of the day comes from this past weekend.  I was in Tucson with my fiance and we were watching the Travel Channel (her favorite).  The program was about how goldfish were made and someone from the factory gave us this gem: “The best part is trying the finished product at the end.”  My only question is can you try the finished product at any other time?  If it were finished in the middle, why keep going?

Detroit, Sharks, Red Wings, San Jose, playoffs, Ottawa, Devils, New Jersey, NHL, Stanley Cup, Hockey

Buffalo vs New York Rangers
Season Series: Buffalo won 4-0
It’s very easy to look at the season series and say that the Sabres will dominate the upcoming playoff series. But as has been discussed here, Lundqvist only played in one game (which was lost 3-2 in OT). Kevin Weekes was the goalie in the other 3 games (as an aside, a new backup goalie needs to be something that the Rangers need to look for in the offseason). Weekes has shown that he can be dominated by a team of mites, so the fact that Buffalo owned him is not as impressive as one would think.
Here’s the reality of the series though — Henrik Lundqvist is the backbone of the Rangers and Buffalo is Just That Good. Lundqvist will keep his team in the series but Buffalo will win it.
My pick: Buffalo in 6

New Jersey vs Ottawa
Season Series: New Jersey won 3-1
In the Eastern Conference, no playoff team had fewer goals in the regular season. And no team had fewer goals against. In fact, at 216 goals, there are only 5 teams in the entire NHL that have fewer goals scored. Of course, with 201 goals allowed, they are the top team in the Eastern Conference in that category. Ottawa, on the other hand is #2 in the league in goals scored with 288. So it becomes a question of who gets to play their game — Ottawa or New Jersey. New Jersey needs to light the lamp if they want to be successful in this series. In all three of their victories, the Devils won by a single goal. In their only loss, they lost by 7. Does NJ have a chance here? Yes. Will they pull it off? No. Ottawa is just too good.
My Pick: Ottawa in 7

Detroit vs. San Jose
Season Series: San Jose won 3-1
Evgeni Nabokov vs. Dominik Hasek. What’s not to like about this series? This has the potential to be an amazing defensive series with two of the league’s best netminders facing off. Both teams are going to be looking for big defensive efforts and both teams will be looking to their offense to produce big numbers. In the first round, San Jose played will, but Detroit had a clinic going against the Flames. They are just too hot to be stopped.
My Pick: Detroit in 5

Anaheim vs. Vancouver
Season Series: Anaheim won 3-1 (1 OT Loss)
The Canucks just finished an intense 7 game series against Dallas which included 6 OT sessions, and the Ducks are nicely rested. They have a deep bench and some of the biggest names in hockey today suiting up in their locker room. The X-Factor here is how tired Vancouver is — will they be wired and riding momentum or will they be tired and ready to lay down. This one could go 7, but won’t.
My Pick: Anaheim in 6

I complained a bit yesterday about the times of today’s games. Well the NHL has corrected the error and now the games are on at 7PM & 10PM ET. I love these hockey double-headers.

Technorati Tags: San Jose Sharks, New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, Anaheim Ducks, Detroit Red Wings, Vancouver Canucks, Hockey, Stanley Cup, Playoffs, NHL

First, how did I do in the last round?
Wings/Flames (My Pick: Wings in 6) — Correct
Ducks/Wild (My Pick: Ducks in 5) — Correct
Canucks/Stars (My Pick: Stars in 7) — Right number of games, wrong team
Predators/Sharks (My Pick: Predators in 6) — Wrong
Sabres/Isles (My Pick: Sabres in 5) — Correct
Devils/Lightning (My Pick: Lightning in 6) — Wrong
Thrashers/Rangers (My Pick: Rangers in 6) — Right team, wrong number of games
Senators/Penguins (My Pick: Senators in 7) — Right team, wrong number of games
Let’s call it 3-3-2

Last night’s Stars/Canucks game had some nice play.  I particularly liked Joel Lundqvist’s goal in the first period — you could tell how much he had on that shot with the particularly loud clang that came off the pipe right before it went in.  That was, however, the last great moment for Dallas.  Vancouver took over and took the game.  There was a sea of white in the stands as their fans were waving towels and the level of support that they had makes me wish I lived in Canada.

Three stars for the first round:

1. Henrik Lundqvist (NYR) –  The Rangers took the Thrashers in 4 straight.  But they wouldn’t have been able to do it without their goalie who kept Atlanta under 3 goals per game in 3 out of 4 games.  The Rangers had a good (and sometimes great) offense, but it wouldn’t have meant anything if Lunqvist hadn’t been as superb as he was.
2. The Detroit Defense — In the 4 Detroit wins, the Flames scored 1 goal in each game.   But that’s not the incredible part.  Here’s the part to make you stand up and take notice, the number of shots taken by the Flames in each game: 20, 15, 24, 20 with the last one in 2 overtime periods.  Even in their 2 wins, the Flames only had 28 & 21 shots.  So Detroit gets credit for keeping them down and giving Hasek as much help as they could.
3. Joe Thornton (SJS) — This was a tough one.  I was looking through the Stars box scores looking for the key players and I kept coming back here.  Thornton had one key stat: 6 assists.  That’s what sold it for me.

The semi-finals start tomorrow night with two games at the same time.  This kills me, because the two game are Rangers/Sabres & Canucks/Ducks.  They can’t play the West Coast game any later than 7PM Eastern?  That’s 4PM local.  All I can do is hope that it’s a mistake on the web page.  I will break down the semi-finals tomorrow.  Until then, you stay classy, San Diego.