Puck You! The Legend Returns
Thursday, April 29, 2004
Could you imagine that?
Who would've thought prior to beginning of the second round that both Calgary and San Jose would be ahead in their respective series. Mike is the only one who entered my contest on my blog who predicted the Sharks would win. With a 3-1 lead, they have a stranglehold at the moment.
The Flames, on the other hand, are looking to go up 3-1 against Detroit. I believe if they haven't already, it's just a matter of time before Canucks fans jump on the Flames bandwagon, assuming of course the Flames keep winning. Michael Briones, the sports editor here at the AV Times in Port Alberni, picked up a story off the CP wire out of Edmonton that indicated even Oilers fans, who would hate to see the Flames win during their battles of Alberta in the 80s and 90s, are now going for the Flames. Edmonton sports radio show host Bob Stauffer says about 65 per cent of callers to his show are supporting the underdog Flames.
I do credit the words coming out of Edmonton psychiatrist Doug Spaner's mouth with make it clear he's a fan of the Oilers and only the Oilers:
"A lot of people are interested in watching (the Flames) because they like hockey, but if you are a ture Oiler fan, you are not interested in the outcome. The only fond wish of an Oiler fan is that nobody wins."
He went on to say that under no circumstances will he support the Flames.
Normallly I would talk about the Leafs first, but I missed most of the game last night unfortunately. It appears Melissa summed it up okay though, and being in Toronto she gets to see everything that really goes on in T.O. Nonetheless, I have a few things to say.
First off, I like the way Wade Belak is playing right now. I'm always criticizing him on defence, saying he hasn't done very much, and while he doesn't do much on the scoresheet, he was out playing hard last night and I respect that. In the playoffs, you're looking for winning results, and quite often it's the defensive work and physical presence of certain players that can make a difference. He was hitting guys all over the place. Sports reporters and hockey analysts were calling the line the NWA line (Nic Antropov, Wade Belak, Alex Ponikarovsky), and while they aren't black, they played with some attitude. And I liked the second goal by Ponikarovsky with the tip, that was nice.
It was also good to see four different scorers beat Esche, who stood on his head at times in game two. That has to help Toronto's confidence going into game four. It was also good to see Alexander Mogilny (aka Almo) laying the hits out there. And if the shots against are any indication, the defense played strong. Toronto only allowed 19 shots against in game three. Again, I only saw the end of the third, but the whole highlights, so if I'm off on something just let me know Melissa.
By the way, I thought as a whole, nobody on Toronto stood out as playing real bad so my "puck you" is sent in Philly's direction - Tony Amonte, puck you for breaking Eddie's shutout bid!
Who would've thought prior to beginning of the second round that both Calgary and San Jose would be ahead in their respective series. Mike is the only one who entered my contest on my blog who predicted the Sharks would win. With a 3-1 lead, they have a stranglehold at the moment.
The Flames, on the other hand, are looking to go up 3-1 against Detroit. I believe if they haven't already, it's just a matter of time before Canucks fans jump on the Flames bandwagon, assuming of course the Flames keep winning. Michael Briones, the sports editor here at the AV Times in Port Alberni, picked up a story off the CP wire out of Edmonton that indicated even Oilers fans, who would hate to see the Flames win during their battles of Alberta in the 80s and 90s, are now going for the Flames. Edmonton sports radio show host Bob Stauffer says about 65 per cent of callers to his show are supporting the underdog Flames.
I do credit the words coming out of Edmonton psychiatrist Doug Spaner's mouth with make it clear he's a fan of the Oilers and only the Oilers:
"A lot of people are interested in watching (the Flames) because they like hockey, but if you are a ture Oiler fan, you are not interested in the outcome. The only fond wish of an Oiler fan is that nobody wins."
He went on to say that under no circumstances will he support the Flames.
Normallly I would talk about the Leafs first, but I missed most of the game last night unfortunately. It appears Melissa summed it up okay though, and being in Toronto she gets to see everything that really goes on in T.O. Nonetheless, I have a few things to say.
First off, I like the way Wade Belak is playing right now. I'm always criticizing him on defence, saying he hasn't done very much, and while he doesn't do much on the scoresheet, he was out playing hard last night and I respect that. In the playoffs, you're looking for winning results, and quite often it's the defensive work and physical presence of certain players that can make a difference. He was hitting guys all over the place. Sports reporters and hockey analysts were calling the line the NWA line (Nic Antropov, Wade Belak, Alex Ponikarovsky), and while they aren't black, they played with some attitude. And I liked the second goal by Ponikarovsky with the tip, that was nice.
It was also good to see four different scorers beat Esche, who stood on his head at times in game two. That has to help Toronto's confidence going into game four. It was also good to see Alexander Mogilny (aka Almo) laying the hits out there. And if the shots against are any indication, the defense played strong. Toronto only allowed 19 shots against in game three. Again, I only saw the end of the third, but the whole highlights, so if I'm off on something just let me know Melissa.
By the way, I thought as a whole, nobody on Toronto stood out as playing real bad so my "puck you" is sent in Philly's direction - Tony Amonte, puck you for breaking Eddie's shutout bid!
