May 26 2008 Pittsburgh@Detroit (Gm 2)
Detroit got two goals early from Brad Stewart and Thomas Holmstrom, and then played their puck possession game. Then Filppula got the 3rd, due mainly to poor defensive positioning and that was pretty much the game. One thing about the wings is they never beat themselves with poor positioning or bad turnovers.
Kris Draper and Henrik Zetterberg are rated one and two in playoff winning percentage on face-offs and are frustrating the Penguins because they are usually starting with the puck. Pittsburgh is frustrated due to the fact that they usually have the puck and Detroit is not letting them have it. When the Wings do give up the puck they are plugging up the neutral zone, 4 across and making it difficult for the Penguins to generate any speed with their forwards through the neutral zone. The young pens have to adjust and play as patient a game as Detroit does. Fight through the neutral zone and dump the puck deep, then pressure the Wings defense and get it back. It is not the way they usually play but Detroit is not going to let them play their normal game.
Evgeni Malkin has to quit playing like a shadow, and needs to step up and give Crosby some support. Crosby must be thinking he is playing in a phone booth because Detroit is giving him no time or space. That being said Sid the Kid still needs to get more ice time. The rest of the Penguins have to be better at puck support. Take a page out of the Red Wings book, watch closely and you will see that Detroit is playing a great team game. They are always around the puck and can dish it off to each other on a short outlet pass. They use a pack mentality around the puck. Support from team mates is a given, not something to hope for.
So far the Penguins have had no pressure on the Detroit “D”, no crease presents to get a second chance at an Osgood rebound, and if it keeps up, no hope of winning. You heard me speak previously bout the “dirty areas” of the ice, well that is where the pens have to go it they even want a chance at winning a game. Gary Roberts was the only Pen making life difficult for the Red Wings, just ask Johan Franzen LOL. No goals for the Penguins in two games should make them adjust, if not the series will be over quick.
There was some ruff stuff at the end of the game last night, which is a positive for the Penguin’s; they have to start to hate the Red Wings. Roberts will see to that
Sincerely Walt Webb
http://allsportsontheweb.com
Showing posts with label Penguins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Penguins. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Young Penguins had a bad case of the jitters
, Game 1- Stanley Cup Final May 25 2008
The Detroit Red Wings drew first blood in the Stanley Cup final last night with a 4-0 win at Joe Lewis arena. The wings out waited the young penguins and then made their chances count in posting the win. Detroit used patience and veteran poise to frustrate the penguins. Pittsburgh for their part looked nervous for the most part and turned the puck over a couple of times, which cost them the game. Look for Pittsburgh to be better on Monday night. Being so young I think they were still a bit in awe of being in the show. The Penguins will be better but they are also up against a strong Detroit squad that rarely if ever beats itself. Detroit is playing great defense and playing almost mistake free hockey. I still believe that the series will go at least six games. Evgeni Malkin has to wake up and start playing better hockey. He has played fairly tentative since he was hit hard in game four of the Eastern Conference final.
Sincerely Walt Webb
http://allsportsontheweb.com
The Detroit Red Wings drew first blood in the Stanley Cup final last night with a 4-0 win at Joe Lewis arena. The wings out waited the young penguins and then made their chances count in posting the win. Detroit used patience and veteran poise to frustrate the penguins. Pittsburgh for their part looked nervous for the most part and turned the puck over a couple of times, which cost them the game. Look for Pittsburgh to be better on Monday night. Being so young I think they were still a bit in awe of being in the show. The Penguins will be better but they are also up against a strong Detroit squad that rarely if ever beats itself. Detroit is playing great defense and playing almost mistake free hockey. I still believe that the series will go at least six games. Evgeni Malkin has to wake up and start playing better hockey. He has played fairly tentative since he was hit hard in game four of the Eastern Conference final.
Sincerely Walt Webb
http://allsportsontheweb.com
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Young Penguins focused on the prize
Pittsburgh was up 2-0 after the first. To be honest I had to dash out from the cottage to a local watering hole to see the gold medal game between Russia and Canada. Just got the tail end, as my start time was screwed up. We did not tune into the Pens game until after. Philly won the last one so now the young Pen’s have to refocus and put the flyers away. They don’t want to go back to Philly and give the flyers any more confidence.
The Stars won again yesterday and giving the Red Wings some trouble. Detroit needs the “killer instinct” back and put Dallas away in their own barn, because they don’t want a game 7, where anything can happen.
Anyway back to the Pen’s and Flyers. The penguins scored again to make it 3-0 at the half way point in the game. They have their heel on the flyers throat, now they just have to finish them off. Pittsburgh scored on the power play again. The flyers are now just chasing the penguins around and the result is getting caught out of position and taking penalties. The pens are lethal on the power play and make it 5-0 with about 1 minute left in the second period. Jordan Staal scored on a rebound.
The final score in the game was 6-0. Marc Andrea Fleury was solid in the net making 21 saves. He made a great pad save with about six minutes to go, and then had to kill off a penalty with a buck forty left to preserve the shutout.
Michel Therrien should get some credit here as he kept a young team focused on the job at hand and the result was the Penguins most complete game of the playoffs thus far. It could not have come at a better time.
The Penguins won the “Prince of Wales” trophy as the Eastern Conference Champions. It was presented to Sidney Crosby, the youngest captain in NHL history to lead his team to the Stanley Cup finals. If you watched the presentation you would have noticed that Crosby did not touch the trophy at all. My guess is that if Detroit wins the next game, Nick Lidstrom won’t be touching the “Clarence Campbell” Trophy either.
Sincerely Walt Webb
http://allsportsontheweb.com
http://thesportingnews-walt.blogspot.com/
The Stars won again yesterday and giving the Red Wings some trouble. Detroit needs the “killer instinct” back and put Dallas away in their own barn, because they don’t want a game 7, where anything can happen.
Anyway back to the Pen’s and Flyers. The penguins scored again to make it 3-0 at the half way point in the game. They have their heel on the flyers throat, now they just have to finish them off. Pittsburgh scored on the power play again. The flyers are now just chasing the penguins around and the result is getting caught out of position and taking penalties. The pens are lethal on the power play and make it 5-0 with about 1 minute left in the second period. Jordan Staal scored on a rebound.
The final score in the game was 6-0. Marc Andrea Fleury was solid in the net making 21 saves. He made a great pad save with about six minutes to go, and then had to kill off a penalty with a buck forty left to preserve the shutout.
Michel Therrien should get some credit here as he kept a young team focused on the job at hand and the result was the Penguins most complete game of the playoffs thus far. It could not have come at a better time.
The Penguins won the “Prince of Wales” trophy as the Eastern Conference Champions. It was presented to Sidney Crosby, the youngest captain in NHL history to lead his team to the Stanley Cup finals. If you watched the presentation you would have noticed that Crosby did not touch the trophy at all. My guess is that if Detroit wins the next game, Nick Lidstrom won’t be touching the “Clarence Campbell” Trophy either.
Sincerely Walt Webb
http://allsportsontheweb.com
http://thesportingnews-walt.blogspot.com/
Friday, May 16, 2008
Dallas pride was at stake
Detroit @ Dallas (game 4)
Dallas came out flying and buzzing the Red Wings net, with a strong start. Chris Osgood was holding the fort and was keeping Detroit in it. The wings looked lethargic; they were not moving their feet. The result was that Detroit was short handed twice within the first ten minutes of the game. They were lucky the stars had no finish and were blowing their chances once again. Dallas finished o-3 on the power play in the first period, but it was still their best period of hockey yet in the series. The stars out shot the wings by a margin of 9-5, with nothing to show for it.
Dallas finally was forcing the Detroit defense into turnovers by getting on them quickly, taking away their time and space. The Dallas caught their first break of the series when Detroit (Datsyuk) scored on the power play. Holmstrom was ruled in the crease and the goal was waved off. Replays showed he was outside of the blue paint and the goal should have counted, but I think this one was called back on Holmstom’s reputation and where he usually sets up his office on the power play. No sooner had Dallas killed off the penalty when Steve Ott took one for elbowing Rafalski and the wings were back on the power play. Detroit had 3 power plays in the second and came up empty as well. Dallas drew first blood when Eriksson scored on a rebound with just 23 seconds left in the second period.
Henrik Zetterberg tied it for Detroit 48 seconds into the third period on another Dallas turnover. Mike Modano put Dallas ahead again on the power play. Just previously Daniel Cleary had broken his stick blocking a shot from the point so it was really five on three and a half when Modano scored. Brendan Morrow made it 3-1 Dallas with just under 6 minutes left. Detroit pulled Osgood and had a six on three for the last half minute due to the fact that Dallas was already down two men before Osgood was pulled. Marty Turco was very strong in the Dallas net making 34 saves. The final was 3-1 Dallas but it seemed like Detroit was just mailing it in for forty minutes of the game.
Hockey World Championship
Canada beat Norway by a score of 8-2, and moves on to face Sweden in the semi-final on May 16. Finland shocked the USA in overtime and will face Russia in the other semi also on Friday May 16.
Norway stayed close at 2-2 for half of the game, then Canada flexed the hockey muscle and turned it into a bit of a laugher.
May 15 Pittsburgh @ Philadelphia
Jeffrey Lupul opened the scoring for the flyers when his shot deflected off Hal Gill’s stick and up over Fleury’s left shoulder at about 11:30 of the first period. Daniel Briere scored on the power play to make it 2-0 with about 8 minutes left in the first period. Letang on Pittsburgh took and interference penalty which the announcer called two minutes for flipping, what the hell is flipping, makes you wonder what he was smoking.
Philadelphia was putting much more traffic in front of the Penguins net, for the first time in the series and they were playing their best game of the series. Jeff Carter made it 3-0 before the end of the period.
The flyers were doing a good job in this game of plugging up the neutral zone, making it difficult for the Penguins to generate speed coming into their defensive zone. There was no scoring in the second period.
Jordan Staal scored for the Penguins early in the third period at the 3:16 mark. Chipping a shot off Marty Biron’s pad and into the short side of the net. Staal scored again at 14:11 with a short side wrist shot. The flyers were getting a nervous because they have been known to have a hard time holding a lead this year. Staal was the best player on the ice for the Penguin’s. Lupul got his second of the night into an empty net to seal a 4-2 flyers victory at 19:27 of the third period.
I should have known that both the stars and the flyers would not be swept in their respective series. There was just too much pride in their respective dressing rooms to let that happen. I will still be surprised if both series are not over with identical 4-1 records after the next game.
Speaking of the next games, I don’t think our American cousins get it, the Dallas @ Detroit game is at 1:30 PM Saturday May 17 and The Philly @ Pittsburgh game is at 3PM on Sunday the 18th. You watch hockey AT NIGHT, that way you can enjoy the day outside, at this point I don’t know if I will see them or not as I will be up north at the cottage.
World Hockey Championship
Canada defeated Sweden 5-4 on Friday May 16, 2008, and will face Russia in the gold metal game. You guessed it the game is Sunday afternoon at 3PM. It‘s enough to drive a hockey guy crazy. Can you say picture in picture. Russia got to the goal metal game by defeating Finland 4-0. The Bronze game (who cares) is at 3 PM on Saturday the 17th at 3PM. Sweden will play their arch rivals Finland.
That’s it for now
Sincerely Walt Webb
http://allsportsontheweb.com
http://thesportingnews-walt.blogspot.com/
Dallas came out flying and buzzing the Red Wings net, with a strong start. Chris Osgood was holding the fort and was keeping Detroit in it. The wings looked lethargic; they were not moving their feet. The result was that Detroit was short handed twice within the first ten minutes of the game. They were lucky the stars had no finish and were blowing their chances once again. Dallas finished o-3 on the power play in the first period, but it was still their best period of hockey yet in the series. The stars out shot the wings by a margin of 9-5, with nothing to show for it.
Dallas finally was forcing the Detroit defense into turnovers by getting on them quickly, taking away their time and space. The Dallas caught their first break of the series when Detroit (Datsyuk) scored on the power play. Holmstrom was ruled in the crease and the goal was waved off. Replays showed he was outside of the blue paint and the goal should have counted, but I think this one was called back on Holmstom’s reputation and where he usually sets up his office on the power play. No sooner had Dallas killed off the penalty when Steve Ott took one for elbowing Rafalski and the wings were back on the power play. Detroit had 3 power plays in the second and came up empty as well. Dallas drew first blood when Eriksson scored on a rebound with just 23 seconds left in the second period.
Henrik Zetterberg tied it for Detroit 48 seconds into the third period on another Dallas turnover. Mike Modano put Dallas ahead again on the power play. Just previously Daniel Cleary had broken his stick blocking a shot from the point so it was really five on three and a half when Modano scored. Brendan Morrow made it 3-1 Dallas with just under 6 minutes left. Detroit pulled Osgood and had a six on three for the last half minute due to the fact that Dallas was already down two men before Osgood was pulled. Marty Turco was very strong in the Dallas net making 34 saves. The final was 3-1 Dallas but it seemed like Detroit was just mailing it in for forty minutes of the game.
Hockey World Championship
Canada beat Norway by a score of 8-2, and moves on to face Sweden in the semi-final on May 16. Finland shocked the USA in overtime and will face Russia in the other semi also on Friday May 16.
Norway stayed close at 2-2 for half of the game, then Canada flexed the hockey muscle and turned it into a bit of a laugher.
May 15 Pittsburgh @ Philadelphia
Jeffrey Lupul opened the scoring for the flyers when his shot deflected off Hal Gill’s stick and up over Fleury’s left shoulder at about 11:30 of the first period. Daniel Briere scored on the power play to make it 2-0 with about 8 minutes left in the first period. Letang on Pittsburgh took and interference penalty which the announcer called two minutes for flipping, what the hell is flipping, makes you wonder what he was smoking.
Philadelphia was putting much more traffic in front of the Penguins net, for the first time in the series and they were playing their best game of the series. Jeff Carter made it 3-0 before the end of the period.
The flyers were doing a good job in this game of plugging up the neutral zone, making it difficult for the Penguins to generate speed coming into their defensive zone. There was no scoring in the second period.
Jordan Staal scored for the Penguins early in the third period at the 3:16 mark. Chipping a shot off Marty Biron’s pad and into the short side of the net. Staal scored again at 14:11 with a short side wrist shot. The flyers were getting a nervous because they have been known to have a hard time holding a lead this year. Staal was the best player on the ice for the Penguin’s. Lupul got his second of the night into an empty net to seal a 4-2 flyers victory at 19:27 of the third period.
I should have known that both the stars and the flyers would not be swept in their respective series. There was just too much pride in their respective dressing rooms to let that happen. I will still be surprised if both series are not over with identical 4-1 records after the next game.
Speaking of the next games, I don’t think our American cousins get it, the Dallas @ Detroit game is at 1:30 PM Saturday May 17 and The Philly @ Pittsburgh game is at 3PM on Sunday the 18th. You watch hockey AT NIGHT, that way you can enjoy the day outside, at this point I don’t know if I will see them or not as I will be up north at the cottage.
World Hockey Championship
Canada defeated Sweden 5-4 on Friday May 16, 2008, and will face Russia in the gold metal game. You guessed it the game is Sunday afternoon at 3PM. It‘s enough to drive a hockey guy crazy. Can you say picture in picture. Russia got to the goal metal game by defeating Finland 4-0. The Bronze game (who cares) is at 3 PM on Saturday the 17th at 3PM. Sweden will play their arch rivals Finland.
That’s it for now
Sincerely Walt Webb
http://allsportsontheweb.com
http://thesportingnews-walt.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Dallas at wits end.
May 12 2008 Detroit @ Dallas
Detroit opened the scoring with a Pavel Datsyuk goal, but Dallas tied it up on a goal by Nic Grossman after Dallas had controlled the puck for one minute and 14 seconds in the Detroit end. The Wings problems started when they iced the puck. The line had already been on the ice for a while so Detroit took a time out to try and rest the players stuck on the ice. Needless to say it didn’t work. Detroit did reclaim the lead 37 seconds later though when Datsyuk finished from Thomas Holmstrom for his second of the game.
Dallas started the second period on the power play and came up empty. They had about 3 chances and missed them all. Detroit would make them pay again for their lack of finish. You don’t get that many so you had best be burying the ones you get as Dallas is no doubt painfully aware of by now. The Dallas got a bounce their way as Brad Richards tied it with a bank shot off the knee of Brad Stewart on the Detroit defense. Hudler restored the Detroit lead with a brake away goal at 11:54 of the period. Then Henrik Zetterberg made it a two goal bulge scoring short handed and taking advantage of Brad Richards (a forward) playing defense for the power play. Detroit then went into the shut down mode, sitting back and waiting for Dallas to get too aggressive and make a mistake on a bad pinch. Chris Osgood was very steady again in the Detroit net. He has not been spectacular but he has not had to be.
This was the best game Dallas has played in the series. They tried to get physical, out hitting Detroit by more than 2-1, but it still was not enough to get the “W”. Detroit bent on occasion but never did break. Zetterberg did his Houdini impression, taking the puck through 3 stars players and fed Datsyuk for his 3rd goal of the game in the 3rd period. The final was 5-2 and a 3-0 series lead. You have to admire the likes of Datsyuk and Zetterberg, not only are they great offensive players but they don’t hurt you on defense either. They back check hard all the time and more often than not regain control of the puck.
My gut tells me that Dallas won’t win a game and that goes double for Philadelphia.
May 13 2008 Penguins @ Flyers
To be honest I missed almost the whole game as I had my two girls out for their first lacrosse game of the season. I saw the last five minutes and I think the final score was 4-1 Pittsburgh. It looked like just more of the same. Philly is finding it pretty tough sledding without their top two defensemen for moving the puck.
On a side note Canada beat Finland 6-3 in the Hockey World Championship Tournament and with the win will face Norway in the quarter finals. There you have it, you are up to date.
Sincerely Walt Webb
http://allsportsontheweb.com
http://thesportingnews-walt.blogspot.com/
Detroit opened the scoring with a Pavel Datsyuk goal, but Dallas tied it up on a goal by Nic Grossman after Dallas had controlled the puck for one minute and 14 seconds in the Detroit end. The Wings problems started when they iced the puck. The line had already been on the ice for a while so Detroit took a time out to try and rest the players stuck on the ice. Needless to say it didn’t work. Detroit did reclaim the lead 37 seconds later though when Datsyuk finished from Thomas Holmstrom for his second of the game.
Dallas started the second period on the power play and came up empty. They had about 3 chances and missed them all. Detroit would make them pay again for their lack of finish. You don’t get that many so you had best be burying the ones you get as Dallas is no doubt painfully aware of by now. The Dallas got a bounce their way as Brad Richards tied it with a bank shot off the knee of Brad Stewart on the Detroit defense. Hudler restored the Detroit lead with a brake away goal at 11:54 of the period. Then Henrik Zetterberg made it a two goal bulge scoring short handed and taking advantage of Brad Richards (a forward) playing defense for the power play. Detroit then went into the shut down mode, sitting back and waiting for Dallas to get too aggressive and make a mistake on a bad pinch. Chris Osgood was very steady again in the Detroit net. He has not been spectacular but he has not had to be.
This was the best game Dallas has played in the series. They tried to get physical, out hitting Detroit by more than 2-1, but it still was not enough to get the “W”. Detroit bent on occasion but never did break. Zetterberg did his Houdini impression, taking the puck through 3 stars players and fed Datsyuk for his 3rd goal of the game in the 3rd period. The final was 5-2 and a 3-0 series lead. You have to admire the likes of Datsyuk and Zetterberg, not only are they great offensive players but they don’t hurt you on defense either. They back check hard all the time and more often than not regain control of the puck.
My gut tells me that Dallas won’t win a game and that goes double for Philadelphia.
May 13 2008 Penguins @ Flyers
To be honest I missed almost the whole game as I had my two girls out for their first lacrosse game of the season. I saw the last five minutes and I think the final score was 4-1 Pittsburgh. It looked like just more of the same. Philly is finding it pretty tough sledding without their top two defensemen for moving the puck.
On a side note Canada beat Finland 6-3 in the Hockey World Championship Tournament and with the win will face Norway in the quarter finals. There you have it, you are up to date.
Sincerely Walt Webb
http://allsportsontheweb.com
http://thesportingnews-walt.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Flyer’s backs against the wall
Well the second game in this series between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia was anything but a classic. In fact it was not really a very good game.
Sidney “Sid the Kid” Crosby put Pittsburgh ahead on the power play with 9:10 remaining in the 1st period, when his centering pass went of a flyer’s defenseman’s skate and caromed into the flyers net on the short side. The Penguins thought they had another with about 3 minutes left in the first period, but a video review was ruled inconclusive and the goal was not allowed. Personally I thought the flyer’s dodged a bullet here as the puck looked like it went over the goal line from my perspective on the replays.
Jeff Carter tied it up on the power play for Philly at 5:46 of the second period, but Marion Hossa put the Pens back into the lead with another power play goal with just over 6 minutes left in the middle period. This goal was scored just 9 seconds into the power play.
Mike Richards got Philly even again with a short handed marker with 24 seconds left in the second period. Evgeni Malkin, who was hearing foot steps, threw the puck blindly into the middle of the ice where Richards received the gift, went in alone and beat Biron with a beauty of a wrist shot into the top right corner of the net.
Pittsburgh went up 3-2 at 8:51 of the 3rd period when Maxim Talbot took a no look backhand feed from Gary Roberts and planted it into the back of the net. Late in the period Pittsburgh got away with a couple of non calls that would have been penalties in the 1st period. Jordan Staal, iced the win with an empty net goal at 19:31 of the 3rd, making the final score 4-2 for Pittsburgh. The Pens now take a 2-0 series lead into Philadelphia.
At this time I would like to elaborate on why I am picking the Red Wings and the Penguins to meet in the cup final. The Stanley Cup playoffs are the toughest grind in professional sport, and thus it makes the Stanley Cup the hardest trophy to capture. Just ask some of the players that had distinguished and long careers without ever getting even a sniff of the cup. That being said it almost boils down to this. In order for a team to have a legitimate chance at winning the cup, they need at least one playoff round where they can finish a team early, say in 4 games or 5 max. Chances are if you have to fight through two or three 7 games series to get there. There won’t be enough left in the tank to finish the trip. Just look at the Dallas Stars now against Detroit, They have no legs left and are running on vapor. Where Detroit finished a depleted Colorado team in four straight. Pittsburgh did the same in the east, beating Ottawa 4 straight and then toasting the Rangers in five games. That is why they will meet in the cup final and it should be a great series. Both teams are loaded with talent and have a very quick and decisive counter attack. Should be fun to watch.
Everyone remember you heard it here first.
Sincerely Walt Webb
http://allsportsontheweb.com/
http://thesportingnews-walt.blogspot.com/
Sidney “Sid the Kid” Crosby put Pittsburgh ahead on the power play with 9:10 remaining in the 1st period, when his centering pass went of a flyer’s defenseman’s skate and caromed into the flyers net on the short side. The Penguins thought they had another with about 3 minutes left in the first period, but a video review was ruled inconclusive and the goal was not allowed. Personally I thought the flyer’s dodged a bullet here as the puck looked like it went over the goal line from my perspective on the replays.
Jeff Carter tied it up on the power play for Philly at 5:46 of the second period, but Marion Hossa put the Pens back into the lead with another power play goal with just over 6 minutes left in the middle period. This goal was scored just 9 seconds into the power play.
Mike Richards got Philly even again with a short handed marker with 24 seconds left in the second period. Evgeni Malkin, who was hearing foot steps, threw the puck blindly into the middle of the ice where Richards received the gift, went in alone and beat Biron with a beauty of a wrist shot into the top right corner of the net.
Pittsburgh went up 3-2 at 8:51 of the 3rd period when Maxim Talbot took a no look backhand feed from Gary Roberts and planted it into the back of the net. Late in the period Pittsburgh got away with a couple of non calls that would have been penalties in the 1st period. Jordan Staal, iced the win with an empty net goal at 19:31 of the 3rd, making the final score 4-2 for Pittsburgh. The Pens now take a 2-0 series lead into Philadelphia.
At this time I would like to elaborate on why I am picking the Red Wings and the Penguins to meet in the cup final. The Stanley Cup playoffs are the toughest grind in professional sport, and thus it makes the Stanley Cup the hardest trophy to capture. Just ask some of the players that had distinguished and long careers without ever getting even a sniff of the cup. That being said it almost boils down to this. In order for a team to have a legitimate chance at winning the cup, they need at least one playoff round where they can finish a team early, say in 4 games or 5 max. Chances are if you have to fight through two or three 7 games series to get there. There won’t be enough left in the tank to finish the trip. Just look at the Dallas Stars now against Detroit, They have no legs left and are running on vapor. Where Detroit finished a depleted Colorado team in four straight. Pittsburgh did the same in the east, beating Ottawa 4 straight and then toasting the Rangers in five games. That is why they will meet in the cup final and it should be a great series. Both teams are loaded with talent and have a very quick and decisive counter attack. Should be fun to watch.
Everyone remember you heard it here first.
Sincerely Walt Webb
http://allsportsontheweb.com/
http://thesportingnews-walt.blogspot.com/
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Pen’s sweep Sen’s
For a season that started out with such promise, it abruptly ended for Ottawa last night. The Senator’s started the 2007 season the way they finished off the previous season where they made it into the Stanley Cup final. Coming up to the Christmas break Ottawa was cruising along in first place in the Eastern Conference with no other team even close to them. Then something strange happened after we rung in the new year of 2008. Ottawa began to look ordinary and along with the circus act of Ray Emery, the Senator’s began a freefall in the standings, which try as they might, they just could not correct.
Over the course of the second half of the season even The Toronto Maple leafs had a better won/loss record. Ottawa looked anything but a playoff caliber team. I thought, and I am sure I was not alone, that once the season was over and the playoffs began. Ottawa would draw on the experience and adversity they went though the year before in making it to the cup final. Well I was completely wrong and they just could not right the ship.
Injuries did not help them either as they were without Mike Fisher (in my opinion there best two way player and shut down guy) for the whole series. Daniel Alfredsson made an appearance in games 3&4 to try and give his team an emotional boost, but it just did not happen. Alfredsson played with a torn MCL ligament and just did not have any lateral movement or breakout speed. Spezza was also nursing a sore knee as well and did not look his usual self. Danny Heatley was all but invisible in the whole series. The telling story was that Marion Hossa managed more shots on goal in the final game than Heatley did in the whole series.
So Ottawa is gone and one Canadian team bites the dust. If I were a betting man I would wager that the Senators with look a lot different once September rolls around. Heatley’s and Jason Spezza’s big contracts kick in next year so they will have to prove they are worth the investment.
Sincerely Walt Webb
Over the course of the second half of the season even The Toronto Maple leafs had a better won/loss record. Ottawa looked anything but a playoff caliber team. I thought, and I am sure I was not alone, that once the season was over and the playoffs began. Ottawa would draw on the experience and adversity they went though the year before in making it to the cup final. Well I was completely wrong and they just could not right the ship.
Injuries did not help them either as they were without Mike Fisher (in my opinion there best two way player and shut down guy) for the whole series. Daniel Alfredsson made an appearance in games 3&4 to try and give his team an emotional boost, but it just did not happen. Alfredsson played with a torn MCL ligament and just did not have any lateral movement or breakout speed. Spezza was also nursing a sore knee as well and did not look his usual self. Danny Heatley was all but invisible in the whole series. The telling story was that Marion Hossa managed more shots on goal in the final game than Heatley did in the whole series.
So Ottawa is gone and one Canadian team bites the dust. If I were a betting man I would wager that the Senators with look a lot different once September rolls around. Heatley’s and Jason Spezza’s big contracts kick in next year so they will have to prove they are worth the investment.
Sincerely Walt Webb
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Ottawa needs their fans at home.
Ottawa is in trouble against the penguins after loosing 4-3 last night. They need Alfredsson and Fisher in the line up or this series could be over pretty quick. These two guys are key because you can’t replace what they bring to the game and without them all of Ottawa’s lines become much weaker.
Martin Gerber has played great for Ottawa in both losses and has given them enough goaltending to win. It is just that the rest of the team has not played well. The next game will decide if Ottawa makes a series of in or is golfing by this time next week.
Sincerely Walt Webb
Martin Gerber has played great for Ottawa in both losses and has given them enough goaltending to win. It is just that the rest of the team has not played well. The next game will decide if Ottawa makes a series of in or is golfing by this time next week.
Sincerely Walt Webb
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