Those Sens look pretty intimidating they sure do…..
Alrighty….so a lot of the mass print media doesn’t want to send their beat writers to the Stanley Cup Finals. Really, I’m not all that surprised. So, you know what….who cares? To the ones, who say…oh, its going to be boring?? Yeah I heard that too. These teams don’t play for another 3 1/2 days….now that is a valid problem in itself. I will give any person that argument any time of day. I felt that the Finals should start 7 or 8pm EDT on CBC and NBC….PERIOD! Obviously in the Bettman NHL, that isn’t going to happen. Other than that, there is no excuse at least to not have some token coverage of a final that doesn’t involve big market teams.
A number of people had complained…oh the league is catered to all the big markets….well the last few years….the playing field has tilted. The game has sped up overall as a whole….scoring is solid…not spectacular per se. So now there is a “New NHL” which honestly at times does look worse than the old NHL but what are you going to do as a hockey fan…ignore it?? Think about it, in two weeks there will be no more hockey till September. Other than the draft and free agency period (which creates a tiny amount of buzz)…what else is there??? Really?? Ottawa and Anaheim have potent scoring. Both have high goal differentials (Ottawa is a +66 and Anaheim is a +50) and also both have solid PP’s. Yes they can both play defense…particularly the Ducks. The Ducks and Sens also have very offensive minded players on their D.
Pronger and Niedermayer form a 1-2 punch on the man advantage while the Sens counter with Wade Redden…one of the best out there in creating scoring chances from the blue line. These teams can score…and not just from their top line…but from all lines. Look at how effective offensively, the Ducks were with their checking line in Game 6 against the Wings. That clinching Ducks goal comes from pure tenacity….a ferocity that only a checking line can provide. Oh yeah…but the Sens can counter with guys like Christopher Schubert, Mike Fisher, and Oleg Saprykin..and others. DEPTH…say it with me….in the new NHL…it isn’t speed and skill…it isn’t necessarily physicality and goaltending. Oh no….its talented depth….without that, you don’t get to this point in the season.
I look at these two teams…and I see something very similar to the days of the ’95 Devils…oh I can hear it now….get out the nytol…..well you know something. That team could score especially come the playoffs and always from unlikely sources. Sixteen goals in four games against Detroit…I remember that well. The goals came from all angles and all lines…from the first down to the fourth (The Crash Line). The Ducks and Sens are very similar in that sense…both are balanced TEAMS…remember that….a team concept.
This goes right down to their GM’S. Brian Burke had his troubled moments as a GM…everyone remembers the Bertuzzi incident and how Vancouver could never really get over the hump. Well two straight successful years in Anaheim put anything to rest about a “underachieving” record as a GM. Burke has built a successful franchise that can get better…that may be a scary thought. In the East, John Muckler (See Hasek and Nolan in Buffalo) has done the same with Ottawa….a core group has been built around the premise of potent timely offense with physical and aggressive D. The Vermettes, Fishers, and Volchenkovs of the world don’t get their due…well now they do. These days, you don’t get to the finals without role players who are willing to go beyond their limits in one unifying goal…The Stanley Cup!!!
The series has the makings to be a very exciting, high flying, hard hitting series. Instead of just passing judgment, why not say as those fans at the Astrodome said about The Bad News Bears…..LET THEM PLAY!!! After that, then you can say one way or the other.
