SIGNS FROM ABOVE

If I may get off the topic of hockey momentarily I would love to recount all the ways this day has been completely insane. It began with the dog throwing up all the grass and foxtails she’d eaten the previous day. Soon after that we took our daily walk through nature. After walking about 3.5 miles I decided to change paths and head towards one closer to the river. The river was so high, however, that the path had become a shin deep bog and due to the layout of the path we had no choice but to wade through it and  I walked all the way back to the car in sopping wet shoes. Then moments after I got home I was notified that the landlord will be making an appearance tomorrow which sucks because he doesn’t know we have a dog (long story there) and now I have one day to hide all evidence of her. Later in the day, as I relaxed in anticipation of the Canucks game I discovered that the television had stopped working. We got a replacement television just in time to catch the last 2+ periods of that game which was a complete tragedy. And now we have all the various detritus associated with a new large appliance that I have to clean up while also hiding the dog. It’s been a somewhat eventful day.

Anyway, on the hockey front, what the hell do the Canucks think they are doing? Do you really think you can win a 1-0 game against Chicago (with that one goal being scored by Darcy Hordichuk of all people)? They did a great job stopping the Chicago offense, but as good as they played it was obvious that they were going to be able to score at least one goal. What I was watching was a complete disregard for the middle of the ice. Of the few shots the Canucks actually sent on goal, even fewer came from a good goal scoring area. You can expect thirteen or fourteen shots in a game to come from a bad angle, but not when you only have sixteen shots in a game. Well, Vancouver has the home-ice advantage again, and as long as they don’t give that up I still think they will win.

Honestly, with everything that has happened to me today, I’m too exhausted for hockey. It’s a damn shame, but the ‘Nucks/’Hawks game didn’t help. I was hoping to be invigorated by some great post-season hockey, instead I was rocked to sleep by what looked like a good old fashioned game of hot potato. Thankfully tomorrow we can go back to Washington/Pittsburgh and Boston/Carolina which have been some of the most exciting hockey games I’ve seen in a while. What’s up with Jussi Jokinen by the way? How many game changing goals is he planning on having this post-season? Carolina must be glad they picked that guy up for free.

WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR

What a boon for the NHL to have Ovechkin and Crosby playing each other. It helps that the leagues two biggest stars are playing like the leagues two biggest stars. On Monday the two both had hat tricks, only the fourth time in NHL history that opposing players had hat tricks in the same game in the playoffs. The match up goes beyond this series though, it’s cultural. This is a revisit to the old Summit Series that pitted Canada’s best against the Soviet Red Army teams. Believe me, Don Cherry isn’t the only Canadian who would fight anyone who said that Ovechkin is a better player. That’s not to say that there aren’t a lot of Canadians who think Ovechkin is better, I know a couple myself, but the entire country would love it if Crosby showed him up this post-season.

The problem is that Crosby is so hard to love. Ovechkin is the best thing to happen to the NHL since Gretzky. Every time he opens his mouth the most charismatic thing you could possibly imagine rolls out of it. When he’s on the ice his joy and enthusiasm is infectious. Crosby, on the other hand, can never quite get it right. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great – nay – amazing player. There are times when he is even the best player in the league, but as much as Ovechkin shines, Crosby whithers. During the game, in which he matched Ovechkins three goals with three very impressive goals of his own, he complained about how long it took to clean up the hats after Ovie’s hat trick. Clean up the hats? Are you kidding me Crosby? If that had happened in Pittsburgh it would have taken an hour to clean up all the hats people would have thrown. People would have left their seats, gone to the souvenir stands, bought all the hats, and then gone back to the seats to throw those.

There is a very real feud between these two, and it makes for great copy. There is a difference in how the feud is handled between the two players though. Ovechkin keeps it on the ice, Crosby brings it to the media. What this does is make Crosby seem petty and immature. Clean up the hats? Let the man have his moment in front of his fans Crosby. In the last couple years the image of Crosby the whiner has begun to fade. He hasn’t taken as many dives, he hasn’t chirped at the refs as much, and he’s played through adversity. This most recent incident makes him seem worse then ever.

In the end though, this is going to be a great series. Even if the Caps go on to sweep it in Pittsburgh it’s still a lot of fun to watch. Some people have said that it would have been better if this series had occurred during the conference final. I say that would certainly amp up the drama but the league is better served with where it is. See, this series is attracting sports fans, not necessarily hockey fans. People are tuning in to see the most dynamic pair of players in the league take it to each other, and it’s been an exciting thing to watch. Once this series is over, regardless of who wins, a lot of those people who never gave a shit about hockey before will be interested enough to continue to follow the player that makes it to the next round. People who have been attracted to the playoffs by this series will hopefully stay for the whole thing. That’s one extra round of front page news that the NHL wouldn’t normally get, so I say be glad it’s happening in the second round.

Meanwhile the Ducks have decided that they want to take down the Western Conference top teams in a row. They beat the number one Sharks and now sit one game up on Detroit. With Vancouver now one game up on Chicago (not that that series is over by a longshot), the Ducks sit in a position where it is very possible for them to go, literally, 1-2-3 and into the Stanley Cup series. The problem Detroit is facing (besides really missing Brian Rafalski) is that the Ducks are not intimidated by them. Columbus may have seen them six times during the regular season, but the playoffs are something else entirely. These are the defending champs and perennial favourites. The Ducks don’t care, they keep playing the same game they want to play. Not only that, they are making the Red Wings play their game, they are dictating the pace. Add to that the incredible Jonas Hiller and you got yourself one helluva team to beat.

Like I said before though, the Red Wings aren’t the Sharks. The Red Wings aren’t intimidated either. They have, like, 200,000,000 combined playoff games between them. They’ve won more cups then the Ducks have years of existence. The Sharks went belly-up four games in, the Red Wings will be fighting tooth and nail until that final horn sounds.

NOW ON TO THE SECOND ROUND, WHERE ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN

Do any of you still need proof that teams in the second round deserve to be there? The Canucks, Red Wings, and Bruins certainly don’t. All three teams came into the second games of their series without a single lost in the post-season. All three will be going into game three 5-1.

The first round is kind of a crapshoot. Some teams are very competitive, some teams just competitive enough to make it into the top eight. That’s the problem you have when you allow eight of fifteen teams per conference into the playoffs. It’s a nice round number but the bottom seeds tend to be more lucky then skilled (the Ducks the obvious exception).

The second round, however, pits the men against the men. There isn’t a team left that would be a dark horse to win the cup. This is why I think the second round is the most exciting. You have four incredibly tight series that could really go any concievable way. When it’s over and it moves down to two series… well that’s just two less compelling series to watch.

Of the four series going on right now the one with the biggest potential for extremes is the Caps/Pens series. This series could as easily be swept by the Caps as it could be won by the Pens after being down 3-0. if any of the other series go less then six games I’ll be surprised.

The most important thing in the playoffs is adjustments. Adjustments are what you do from one game to the next to beat the other team. if you can’t make adjustments, you die. If there is one thing that all the eight teams left in the playoffs have shared all year it’s the ability to adjust. Not being able to adjust is why teams like the Sharks are playing golf instead of hockey. In game one against Vancouver, the Blackhawks discovered they could score on Luongo up close, in game two they scored five goals right on his doorstep. Next game the Canucks won’t give them give up any space within ten feet of their goaltender. In game one the Ducks learned that they needed to win the physical battles against Detroit. In game three Detroit’s going to be pushing back. In game one Carolina learned that they needed to clog up the neutral zone, in game two Boston is going to move to the dump and chase.

This back and forth means that the first team to steal a game will win the series. Maybe Anaheim already stole one with the overtime win yesterday? Anyway, it should make for some damn exciting stuff.

PLAYOFFS WEEKEND UPDATE

I’ve watched two periods of the much anticipated Pittsburgh/Washington series and something really stands out to me. The Capitals, and most importantly Alexander Ovechkin, do not get frustrated. I’ve seen many of the Penguins, including Sydney Crosby, lose their game because of frustration. Whenever Ovechkin misses the goal or gets checked or can’t find the puck he just gets right back into the play. When Crosby gets hit you can see in his eyes that he would love nothing more then to complain about it to someone (an official maybe?).

Frustration is one of those intangibles that can be the difference in a series. In the first game so far it hasn’t been a big deal because there hasn’t been a bigger lead then one, but consider in Washington could get a two or three point lead. A frustrated team cannot come back from that kind of deficit. If Pittsburgh were to get that lead I don’t see the Capitals being up against the wall at all, I believe they would continue to play their game and get back the lead in their way. Of course, this is just game one and the Capitals are playing much better then the Flyers did so Pittsburgh may just need a game to adjust, and it’s not like they are getting beat (yet) so there is no panic.

This is an interesting goalie match-up. Both Varlamov and Fleury will give up bad goals, both Varlamov and Fleury will make amazing saves. The biggest difference is that Fleury gives up more rebounds and that may be the difference in this series.

As for the other series man was Carolina out played. It’s hard to believe that the team that beat Brodeur and the Devils in six could get rocked by anyone including the Bruins. The Bruins are out to prove they are more then just a goaltender and a 6’9” defenseman. Scoring four against Cam Ward and allowing only one against the high power offense of Carolina is a good start.

Detroit found out just how hard the Ducks can be to play against but they still won. That’s what good teams do, win against any odds. San Jose couldn’t do it because San Jose is not as good of a team as one would expect from their regular season record. As I said in this series preview, Detroit takes advantage of their opportunities, something Anaheim isn’t used to after facing the Sharks.

I’m really looking forward to the ‘Nucks/’Hawks game later tonight. Can Chicago win game two? I think they need to or they will find themselves risking a sweep from Vancouver who have become a real post-season powerhouse this year.