Wednesday, June 07, 2006

 

Stanley Cup Finals -- Game 2






Preview

Okay, I'm no longer depressed. Losing Roli is a huge blow, considering the way Conkkanen has performed this season, but it isn't the end of the ride for this team. The fact is, Roli wasn't looking his dynamite self the last two games, and there were occassions -- short occassions -- where both Ty and Jussi got on rolls and won a few in a row. Right? Right? [nervous laugh].

The real danger, as I see it, is that the Oilers played different in front of these guys than in front of Roli. For most of the season, Edmonton led the league with the lowest shots against. As soon as Roli came, they started allowing all kinds of shots. This shift was not coincidental. With Conkkanen in net, it just seemed like the skaters were so petrified that the goalies would let in a weak goal or four, that they just decided to not let anyone shoot it on net. Great, except it seemed to kill our momentum going forward. Let's hope they can find some happy medium.

Obviously I'd go with Jussi, but who knows what Mac-T is thinking. I sure hope he doesn't take this "perfect teaching opportunity" and put Conks back in.

I still think the Oilers can pull this thing out. Ward, despite his spectacular saves on Horc, looked average at best. He gives out huge rebounds -- and lots of them -- and his save % was again below .900. Hemsky just walked around the D, and he wasn't the only one. When Hemsky actually takes it to the net rather than going around it, you know the D must have given him a ridiculous amount of room. Nay, friends, this series is far from over.

In fact, I have further proof. We have already discussed how it took exactly 99 games for the Oilers to get to this year's Finals. We talked about how Horcoff was selected 99th by the Oilers. Well, today, after 14.5 years of university, I convocate. On my official degree it says:
"Given at This University on the Seventh Day of June, Two Thousand and Six in the Ninety-Ninth Year of the University of Alberta."
This is just getting eerie.

Tonight's Prediction: 5-4 Oil in OT (Dvorak hat trick, Smyth with a pair).



Go Oil!

Comments:

Did you hear that not only did Roloson strain his MCL, but he also hyperextended his elbow? Poor guy.
 


Are we going to see Tarnstrom? Bergeron got off too easy with all the hype surrounding the Ladd hit into Roli. That took away from his horrible play during the rest of the game. He was brutal, and Carolina knew it, and they exploited it. I hope we don't see him tonight, but I think we will because if he doesn't play everyone will consider it a benching for taking out the goalie.
 


And Sac, going along with your numbers theory, shouldn't you just go ahead and predict Dvorak will score 99 goals?
 


re: Sacamano's nervous laugh

I had an email exchange during the DET series with a noted Oiler fan and Cory Cross non-lover, where I said, "I'd love to see Cross get in and score the winning goal, if only for the Jim Matheson column afterwards."

His response was, "There's only one problem with your scenario: it involves Cory Cross playing well for a duration of up to one second."

You all may or may not see a parallel here.
 


I admire and respect your faith. i really do. if it was my team going into the final with the seive that walks like a man as my goalie, I'd be cautiously confident, too. But ....

[reality check]

Cinderella only gets to the ball when all 20 guys on the ice play above their heads. Rollo gave the Oilers that for three series. But Juicy and Tie have to play at a level they've never ever approached to equal that.

Cam Ward does not get enough respect around here. His save % was diluted a little bit by a penalty shot, and the three others that got by him were unstoppable. Every other shot that could be stopped, was stopped.

Nor do the Canes get enough respect. Sure, Montreal and Buffalo had some injuries, but what about New Jersey? The Devils were a popular pre-playoff pick to win it all and had a 15 game winning streak before the Canes disemboweled them in 5. This is the best Canes team since the Howes played for them and are without question (despite other commenters views to the contrary) the best team the Oil have faced thus far.

Conversely, the 8th seeded Oilers are the weakest opponent the Canes have had (I know, Montreal blah blah, but that is another team that got good once it figured out its goaltending and was better than its regular season record showed.)

[/reality check]

I guess the Oilers could win a game or two, but I don't see it.

Go Canes!!
 


Bergeron can't do anything right. Not only did he give away a goal in Game 1 and take out Roli, but he basically scored the first goal against in Game 2. Nice fucking work, MAB.
 


Not all #99 touches is gold.

Right on about how teams play differently in front of different goalies. Prime example: when Luongo filled for Brodeur against the Czechs in the '04 World Cup.
 


While the reffing has been bad (how does Carolina not get called for a crosscheck for pushing Samsonov into Ward?) - I have to say that I don't sense any urgency from the Oilers.

They're playing like they're the team with a 1-0 series lead, and 2-0 lead in this game.
 


Carolina's mojo is frightening. Three awful goals, and getting all the bounces. Can anyone verify if they had a bunch of Voodoo priestesses relocate after Katrina?
 


Ward is in their heads. They keep trying to make perfect plays and are shooting way less. Poor Markanen. He actually looks pretty good in there.
 


Oh yeah,kudos to those "knowledgeable" Canes fans, interviewed by SportsNet before the game, who thought that Tim Horton was the Canadian Prime Minister. Clearly a media conspiracy.

(Insert dueling banjos from Deliverence here).
 


If the Neil Smith as GM and Ted Nolan as Coach rumor is true, then kudos to the New York Islanders.

It's just too bad that they weren't around last summer to do the obvious and waive Alexei Yashin and his cap-killing contract.
 


How the hell would someone from Carolina know who Tim Horton is?

Asshat
 


Yeah,ass hat, wasn't Krispy Kreme the 23rd President of the United States?
 


How the hell would someone from Carolina know who Tim Horton is?

I believe the point is that they should know who Stephen Harper is.
 


Terry Harper, Andy. TERRY Harper.
 

Post a Comment

<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?