April 16, 2004
NHL Playoff Notebook
Montreal 5 Boston 1: If you were looking for an act of defiance from Montreal, you couldn't ask for much better. And how about Alex Kovalev holding his own in the slot, helmetless, as a high slapper rocketed past him from the point? Not a complete redemption, the Habs will have to come back and win the series for that, but just enough to erase any hard feelings in the locker room:
Kovalev scored what proved to be the winning goal that made it 2-0 when he beat [Andrew] Raycroft from the right side after Koivu sent him into the clear at 7:39 of the second period.
"It feels great," Kovalev said. "Some people have given up on us, but as long as we believe, that's all that counts."
Kovalev took some heat from Julien and defenceman Sheldon Souray for stopping after he was slashed in the second overtime Tuesday night. That led to the Bruins' winning goal by Murray.
But Julien said any suggestions of a rift in the team were incorrect.
"We went through a lot of situations this year that have tested the team chemistry and team unity," Julien said. "We are a young team that has matured. Tonight, we wanted to have a good game so we could play Game 6 in Montreal."
Once again, we should take a moment to single out Canadiens GM Bob Gainey for the job he's done this season. What was a team that should have finished out of the money is giving the Eastern Conference's second seed an incredible fight. Remember, it didn't take Gainey all that long to get Dallas to the Cup, and with a new economic order just around the corner in the NHL, it might not be long before we see Les Habitantes battling in the Finals once more.
Boston leads series 3-2.
Detroit 4 Nashville 1: With a chance to strike terror into the hearts of Michiganders from the border crossing at Windsor to the chilly environs of the UP, the Predators came up as small as they could manage. Tomas Vokoun, so brilliant in the previous two games, gave up a goal on the first shot he faced, three of the first eight in total. Few teams come back from a deficit like that in the regular season. In a playoff game, it's a death sentence. As for his counterpart, the much maligned Curtis Joseph, he was hardly challenged, stopping 19 of the 20 shots he faced.
How would you like to be rattling around inside Joseph's brain case these days. You finish last season as the goat, bearing the brunt of the blame for Detroit's first round exit against Anaheim. You start the following season with an injury, and lose your starting job to one of the greatest goalies to ever play the game -- an eventuality that your teammates in Detroit seemed to welcome. Your waived, and nobody takes you. You play in the minors and you never complain. You get injured again, and lose your starting job to everybody's good guy backup pal. He flames out on the road, and you get your job back.
I know the Red Wings nominated Steve Thomas for the Masterson Trophy this season, but if there was any justice in the world, they would have nominated Joseph. Nashville gets another shot on Saturday.
Detroit leads series 3-2.
Calgary 2 Vancouver 1: Do we need anymore evidence that Darryl Sutter wasn't the problem in San Jose last season? Calgary has played with toughness and consistency all season long, and are a mirror image of the demeanor of their coach, a man who in turn helped turn the name Sutter into a brand world-reknowned for delivering Western Canadian grit.
How much do I love the Sutter brothers and everything they stand for. Darryl, Brian, Brent, Duane, Rich, Ron. Could they have been born anywhere outside of Viking, Alberta? Here's the Calgary Herald's George Johnson:
"I have great admiration for Darryl Sutter,'' [Canucks head coach Mark] Crawford began at his daily media briefing Wednesday. "I like his personality. I like the way his teams compete. But it's none of my business what he does with his team. I've got my own style.''
For starters, the wine/red-coloured pullover style. Very smart. Very form-fitting. Very Granville Street. The only way the far more, uh, shall we say, conservative Sutter would be caught dead in it is if he was actually caught dead in it -- for burial purposes, in which he obviously had no choice, say 40-odd years from now.
Now he's got his team one win away from their first series victory since the Mulroney days. I say he nails it in Game Six.
Calgary leades series 3-2.
San Jose 3 St. Louis 1: I had some initial thoughts after the Sharks finished off the Blues late last night (or early this morning, if like me you're parked in the Eastern Time Zone), and don't really have all that much to add. On last night's ESPN broadcast, the consensus seemed to be that St. Louis didn't have anything left in the tank after having to survive a late rush for the playoffs -- quite an achievement considering the team was without Al MacInnis and Barrett Jackman for most of the season.
But even without those players, the Blues still boasted Norris Trophy winner and former NHL MVP Chris Pronger, two-time fifty goal scorer Keith Tkachuk, former 100 point scorer Doug Weight, and quality centerman Pavol Demitra. A lineup like that ought to place better than seventh, and with CBA Armageddon just around the corner, we've probably seen the last stanza for this arrangement of the Blues. Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch summed it up this way:
Was anybody really shocked by what happened during the past week?
We thought not. Blues Nation has become conditioned to this playoff futility. The Blues always get into the playoffs and they always fall well short of the ultimate goal.
Sure, it's great to reach postseason play every season. But the Blues have reached the Final Four just twice since 1970. This franchise hasn't come close to bringing the Stanley Cup to St. Louis.
And as we know, with their first two Cup appearances coming immediately in the aftermath of expansion and realignment, those achievements have to come with something of an asterisk. The fans in St. Louis, who have shown nothing but undying loyalty to the Blues (like they do with all their sports teams) deserve better.
San Jose wins series 4-1.
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Cher Eric,
It's "Les Habitants."
"Les Habitantes" must be some Franco-Mexican futbol team.
The distinction is important for glorious Montreal victory is assured for future rounds of the playoffs.
Posted by:
at April 18, 2004 10:34 PM
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