Playoff Hockey Talk

At the start of the playoffs, you might have figured that the player with the most points would be a superstar like Sidney Crosby, and you wouldn’t have been wrong with that assertion. What many people did not see coming were the two players that follow Crosby in that category: Joe Pavelski and Mike Cammalleri.

The San Jose Sharks have been desperately searching over the past half decade for players to take the weight off of Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau. Many thought Dany Heatley would be that player. Not many would have guessed that Joe Pavelski, 5’11” and 190 lbs from the USA(a.k.a. Little Joe), would be that player. Leading the Sharks with 14 points in 8 games, Pavelski, a 7th round pick in the 2003 entry draft, is helping the much maligned Sharks shed the label of post-season choke-artists one goal at a time. Pavelski, who has nine goals, has six more tallies then Thornton, Heatley and Marleau combined.

Going into this series with the Red Wings, the Sharks, who finished 1st in the Western Conference regular season with 113 points, entered in as underdogs despite having seven more wins than Detroit throughout the season. This was due in large part to the distinction that the Wings have as perennial playoff veterans and that San Jose has never really had success after the month of March. Case in point, the Sharks have not progressed passed the second round of the playoffs since 2004, when they lost to the Flames in the Western Conference Final. During this time their lowest point total during a regular season was 99, when they finished 2nd in their division to the Dallas Stars.

San Jose is a team that has been searching for that ‘Je ne sais quoi’ to push them over the proverbial playoff hump. They might have finally found what they have looking for in an unlikely source; a guy named Joe, who may not be Jumbo, but he is playing larger than life when it matters most.


Let’s move out east…

Mike Cammalleri is 5’9” and 185 lbs; a dwarf or little person compared to almost everybody else in the NHL. But, what Cammy lacks in size, he makes up for in skill and precision. He ranks 3rd in the league in points going into game 3 against Pittsburgh tonight and is averaging nearly a goal a game; he has 8 in 9 games. He is contributing with timely goals on a team that relies immensely on the play of their goaltender Jaroslav Halak. The Habs are the only team left in the playoffs that have given up more goals than they have scored (26 for, 29 against), yet they remained entangled in the heat of the playoff race. This is due large in part to the clutch play of Cammalleri and his ability to score when his team needs it most.

The 2010 playoffs have been a coming out party for Jaroslav Halak; and the party is showing no signs of shutting down. The Habs have been out shot, on average, just over 12 shots per game, while facing an average of 39 in each contest. They made one of the greatest comebacks in recent playoff history against the Washington Capitals (The Presidents Cup Champions), and now have stolen home ice advantage away from the defending Stanley Cup Champions.

Remarkable, if not unfathomable.

The last decade has seen 3 teams defy all odds and make the Stanley Cup Final: the 03’ Mighty Ducks, the 04’ Flames and the 06’ Oilers. If Halak and Cammalleri stay the course, we could be adding the 2010 Montreal Canadiens to that distinguished list of Cinderella’s.

Moving to the junior hockey ranks if I might, the Calgary Hitmen are two wins away from winning the WHL championship and advancing to the Memorial Cup for the first time since 1999. With the likes of the WHL regular season scoring champ Brandon Kozun leading the charge and Martin Jones, WHL Goaltender of the year, stopping pucks in between the pipes, the Hitmen will be a tough team to beat going forward.

After pummelling the Tri City Americans by a combined score of 11-1 in the opening two games in the Saddledome this past weekend, the series moves to the Kennewick, Washington and the Toyota Center for games 3 and 4 where Tri-City is 6-3 this post-season. The Americans will need to re-group and figure out a way to stop the mighty Hitmen from putting pucks past goalie Drew Owsley; who has been pulled in both games thus far.

Special teams have been the difference in this series as Calgary has managed to kill off all 12 man-advantage opportunities by the Americans, and have now killed off 27 straight power plays dating back to last series. The Hitmen have gone 2 for 8 on the power play in the final, while going 23 for 96 throughout the post-season.

Kozun leads the Hitmen in points going into Game 3 tonight with 30 points in 20 games. Joel Broda, a former Amerk who played 124 regular season games in the Tri-City area, leads Calgary with 13 goals so far this spring.

Going into tonight, if Calgary is able to get a jump on the young Amerks early, this veteran laden Hitmen team could find themselves with a stranglehold on the series and one win away from the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

This has been,

Newman on the NHL and WHL

Steamrolled!

Everybody raise your hand if you thought that the 7-1 beat down on November 19th against the Chicago Blackhawks would be low point in the season? I would venture to guess that most everyone’s hands would be in the air. Well, the Flames have shocked us once again with their ability to look like a minor affiliate. 9-1…was that a rouge we scored? Was that a football game? Who allows an opponent to hang 9 on them? Maybe the Leafs, but definitely not the Flames, right? According to Rogers Sportsnet this was a match-up of two of the top teams in the Western Conference! Clearly they thought the Sharks were playing the Blackhawks, and not the lowly Flames. What, if any excuse can the Flames have for their fans? “We failed to convert on a couple of chances.” “We made one bad mistake on defence and it cost us.” Or maybe, “we were asleep and let monkey look a likes play in our place”…possibly the only logical explanation.

Losers of 5 in a row and 7 of their last 8 games, the Flames are in a serious tailspin with no recovery in site. If this isn’t rock bottom, I do not want to see what is. Maybe they just do not want to play for a hard nosed Coach. A team with this much talent does not lose this badly, this often. Something is seriously wrong. No more excuses about how it’s almost there, and if they “keep at it” things will start going right. Something has to change and it has to change quickly!

Someone in that dressing room has to step up and take charge, and it should be no one else but the man wearing both ‘C’s’ on his chest. Jarome Iginla is in the midst of his biggest scoring slump since 1997. Granted he did tally one assist against Anaheim, but he still remains goalless in 9 straight games, and only 2 points to show for in that whole stretch. What happened? What has changed? Since December 3rd, he has scored 4 goals in 24 games. Is this really the guy who scored 50 goals twice? What is different this year than in years past? Well, for starters he has nobody to pass him the puck. In years past he has had playmakers like Tanguay, Cammalleri, Huselius, Lombardi and two guys still on our team in Langkow and Conroy. Now I know that Conroy is a third/fourth line guy, but in 2002, he fit quite well with number 12. All in all, we have had a slew of Centremen/Left wings come through this town that either were not good enough or had a good year and chased more money because the Flames were unwilling to give it to them. Over the past year we have watched Keenan and now Sutter try and force the chemistry between two bona-fide goal scorers in Iginla and Jokinen. It simply has not worked, so please give up the dream. As much as I despise Jokinen though, I still think he can be a valuable asset, but possibly on the 2nd line and at a much cheaper cost. That being said, Iginla should have enough skill to lead this team on his own, until they come to their senses. People say he is one of the great leaders in the game today; well now would be an opportune time to show that skill.

The defence is another whole issue that I have picked at time and time again. The Flames D-Core for the past 5 years has been too slow to compete with the quicker forwards on all of the other teams. Darryl Sutter compiled what was supposed to be the best defensive units on paper, yet results have shown otherwise. Regehr, Sarich, Pardy, and throw in Kronwall while you’re at it, are all too slow. Phaneuf is also slow, but not on his skates; it’s the 6 inches between his ears that he lacks. The game is fast paced now, if you have not noticed, and puck moving defensemen are very in fashion right now. If Sutter has yet to realize this, I doubt he ever will, and if that is the case, the Flames are in a world of pain as teams like San Jose and Chicago are going to continue to steamroll them every single time they step on the ice!

This has been,

Newman on the Flames

P.S. Congrats to Robyn Regehr for his first goal in over 2 years...a little bittersweet I am sure




Source of Photo: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/flames-ripped-to-shreds-in-san-jose/article1435769/

Road Trip Complete

The Flames finished off their six game road trip with two stops in California. On Saturday night, they played a gritty game and came away with an impressive 2-1 victory over the league leading San Jose Sharks. The Flames played a tough road game and pounced on their opportunities, as was evident with Langkow’s game winning goal. Tonight, however, they were not as fortunate, losing 2-1 to the rejuvenated Los Angeles Kings. They outplayed the Kings but were stymied by the Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick. A surprise to say the least, Quick has helped the Kings to an impressive 18-10-3 start, putting them currently tied with the Flames in points, with 39.

The Flames finished their season long road trip going 4-2 and gaining 8 of a possible 12 points in the process. Four wins, one in a shootout, two shutouts, and two regulation 2-1 losses. Can we consider this a successful road trip?

Yes and No.

They won more than they lost. They beat some impressive teams like the Sharks, the red hot Predators, and albeit a less impressive Red Wings team than we are used to seeing, but a win over the Red Wings is still notable. As was the case tonight, their fore-checking is ‘top drawer’ and they are firing a lot of rubber on net. The cycling down low by the Bourque-Langkow-Moss line in the first period tonight was fantastic, and that was duplicated later in the game as well. Kipper played great over the trip, not counting the weak goal in Phoenix, but made up for it with a Highlight of the Year heel-kick-skate save in San Jose.

Looking at a couple negative aspects of the trip, the Flames went 3 for 19 on the powerplay, and 0 for 12 in the last three games. Subsequently they have only scored 4 goals in those three games, despite firing 92 shots on net. They have run up against some impressive goaltending in Bryzgalov, Nabokov and Quick but that is no excuse for this team. This team needs to score when called upon, and they need their stars to put the puck in the net. Jarome Iginla has only 1 goal in his last seven games coming off his torrid start in November. Olli Jokinen has been playing better, yet he only has 6 goals all season, and is on pace for roughly 17 goals. As the Flames now play 8 of their next 11 games on home ice, Iginla will need to re-ignite his scoring touch and Jokinen will have to continue his resurrection for the Flames to have success under the Dome. Just don’t call Tiger if you want help scoring at home.

The Flames style of play is getting more and more consistent as the games progress. Sutter’s influence is starting to show as the aggressive fore-checking and puck movement in the offensive zone has become synonymous with the Flames. If the Flames can replicate their road record into success on home ice, then 1st place will become a staple of this team as well.

This has been,

Newman on the Flames



Source of Photo: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/flames-suffer-rare-road-defeat/article1392226/