June 06, 2006
Stanley Cup Finals Notebook
Carolina 5 Edmonton 4: Somehow, someway, after going down 3-0 to the Edmonton Oilers, the Carolina Hurricanes staged another playoff comeback and pulled out a 5-4 victory on a night when they were not playing their best hockey.
On the other side of the ledger, the Edmonton Oilers didn't just lose a game, they also lost their #1 goalie, Dwayne Roloson, to a knee injury for the rest of the series.
It's safe to say that Sacamano isn't in a good place right now:
Well, that was a kick in the nuts. The Oilers dominated the first two periods, and came out of it with a loss, an injured Roloson, and a backup goaltender who is likely to be burned alive if he comes back to Edmonton. Didn't we waive Conklin? Gawd.
A few other quick hits before I start patching the holes in my drywall...
I think it might be time to consult Bill Simmons and the 13 Levels of Losing.
And this was on a night when Chris Pronger converted the first penalty shot in the history of the Finals.
Yahoo Sports has a photo slideshow.
The unstoppable Paul Kukla has transcripts of both coaches postgame press conferences (MacTavish, Laviolette).
More later, as reaction pours in all day and night long.
UPDATE: Gary Bettman gave his annual state of the game press conference, and it was a little rough:
The salary cap as previously reported will rise from the current $39 million to about $43 million or $44 million, Bettman said thanks to revenues that will be "at an all-time high for this league."
Tom Benjamin has some questions about his accounting standards.
UPDATE: My friend Chris Lynch was in Toronto last night, and he has some interesting observations.
Covered in Oil is musing over the fate of Ty Conklin:
Is this the end? It's tough to say. Well, no: it's not tough to say when it comes to Conklin. That idiot is done. If he ever plays another game in the NHL, it'll be a miracle (or as a backup in Vancouver). Considering how the chips of public opinion were so unfairly stacked against him already, just letting in the winning goal would have been a death sentence; what philosopher could have fathomed the depth of Edmonton's hatred for Conklin now, after he gift-wrapped the winning goal so beautifully, in such a singularly perfect manner? Was there ever any way else we could have lost? Could God himself was created a more nightmarishly delicious ending to a night full of positives?
On the other hand, Andy Grabia thinks Jason Smith ought to be wearing the goat horns.
Jason Murdoch is a staffer with Hockey Night In Canada, and he's blogging from Raleigh.
CasonBlog points out a statement that Hurricanes fans will be flogging Mudcrutch with for a long time.
This passage from the Acid Queen gave me a chuckle:
Umm....yeah.
Another opposing player goes down, and yet more people whine and cry that their team would have won the game if that player had been healthy.
Nevermind that the 'Canes had already hung a four-spot on Roloson before Marc-Andre Bergeron decided to do his impression of a freight train and send the Hurricanes' Andrew Ladd (who was well outside the crease) flying into the guy. Clearly, if the Oilers were healthy they'd sweep the Hurricanes because they're Charged By God with bringing the Cup back from the Dirty South. Or something.
Some more chuckles from Sisu Hockey.
I think Neate Seager sums things up well:
For the first 54 minutes last night's game, it was building up to be the rare Stanley Cup final that's as good as the series that led up to it, with excitement and interest building with each game. Then two plays -- The Injury and The Giveaway -- turned the Oilers from vital to a vapour.
That about says it for me. With the Roloson injury, we may have been robbed of a series for the ages.
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Unbelieveable turn of events last night. How does Edmonton respond? I think Ty Conklin's ready to play the game of his life to send them back to Edmonton at 1 game a piece.
Posted by:
at June 6, 2006 12:11 PM
Market size has become irrelevant," he said before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final between the Edmonton Oilers and Carolina Hurricanes last night.
"We have, in effect, levelled the playing surface. It's about the hockey now, not the markets."
With four "small-market" teams — Edmonton, Carolina, Buffalo and Anaheim — having made it to the conference finals, Bettman said that big-city teams like Toronto, New York and Philadelphia no longer have a built-in advantage.
"We've learned you don't have to spend all the way to the cap's upper limits to succeed," he said.
That has to be one of the most fraudulent comments I have ever seen. How can he say that with a straight face. Did TB, Calgary, NJ, Anaheim, Carolina spend to the cap to get to the finals in the years before the lockout.
Bettman makes be sick.
Posted by:
at June 6, 2006 02:00 PM
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