Puck You! The Legend Returns
Saturday, May 01, 2004
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Joe Sakic seems determined to keep the Colorado Avalanche in the playoffs all by himself.
Boy, that is for sure. Joe Sakic (aka Mr. Clutch), the pride of Burnaby, BC, has scored Colorado's last three goals, and is now tied with Patrick Marleau for the NHL playoff lead with seven goals. Colorado avoided elimination for the second straight game with a 2-1 OT win Saturday, and are halfway to becoming just the third team to win a series after starting down 0-3 and first since the NY Islanders in 1975.
Is Sakic on a roll right now or what? He had several chances in this game to score more goals, but Nabokov came up huge. Aebisher wasn't too bad either in allowing a goal. He's allowed just two in his last three games now.
The Good:
The Toronto Maple Leafs are now tied 2-2 against the Philadelphia Flyers following a 3-1 victory yesterday. Great game by Mats Sundin, who still isn't 100 per cent, but managed to score two goals and come a few inches away from a hat trick. I have to say that lately I've been happy with the play of Leafs who dissapoint me during the regular season. Antropov and Belak have been playing strong, and last night Darcy Tucker had a strong game and scored on a nice tip in the third period to put the nail in the coffin on Philly, well in the game, not in the series.
Joe Nieuwendyk, who has missed three straight games with what is believed to be a back problem, participated in an optional skate Saturday morning. It would be great news if he can play Sunday. So far in the this series the home team has won every game and the Leafs need to reverse that.
The Bad:
Steve Yzerman took a puck to the eye, and had to leave the game during Calgary's 1-0 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. Although the fact Calgary won is good for many Canadian fans, the incident brings up the whole debate over whether half face shields should be mandatory or not, something that just takes away from the action on the ice. That's a big time loss for the Red Wings if they lose this guy. No word has been said about the extent of the injury yet.
The Ugly:
American Hockey League forward Alexander Perezhogin has been suspended indefinetely and without pay by the AHL after a stick attack. Perezhogin, a forward for the Hamilton Bulldogs, was given the penalty for attempt to injure when he swung his stick and struck Cleveland Barons defenseman Garrett Stafford in the head during a playoff match on Friday. Stafford was taken to the hospital with a concussion and cuts.
If you ask me, this is at least as bad as the Todd Bertuzzi incident. Using your stick as a weapon can be severe and he's lucky media reports say Stafford has been released. For anyone who pays attention to sports, if you haven't seen this incident yet, you will within a matter of time. The act is already being compared to the McSorley swing on Donald Brashear. It's unfortunate penalties are based on results, which is why Stafford may be off the hook with only a few games. Actually one guy (I don't remember who he was, Cleveland coach maybe) said he should never play hockey in North America again. Perhaps that would be stretching, but the NHL has to find a way to get rid of these acts of violence. Fighting is okay but swinging the stick at an opponents head is bringing on-ice violence to a whole new level.
Somehow the Calgary Flames keep winning, and continue to outwork the Detroit Red Wings. I heard references from two different people, a commentator and Geno Reda of TSN, that the Red Wings think they're the Harlem Globetrotters. Here is one quote I got from the commentator during the third period of Saturday's game, after Pavel Datsyuk 's failed attempt to bounce the puck off the back of the net and bring it in front of Kiprisoff.
"Who does Datsyuk think he is? A Globetrotter? That garbage may work during the regular season but not the playoffs."
Datsyuk hasn't scored a goal in 19 playoff games while Detroit suffered being shutout for the first time in 52 games, or something like that. Should make for an interesting week.
Anyways, My "puck you's" you ask?
Philadelphia at Toronto = Alexander Perezhogin
Calgary at Detroit = Alexander Perezhogin
Colorado at San Jose = Alexander Perezhogin
I'm still asking myself who is this player and where did he come from?
Boy, that is for sure. Joe Sakic (aka Mr. Clutch), the pride of Burnaby, BC, has scored Colorado's last three goals, and is now tied with Patrick Marleau for the NHL playoff lead with seven goals. Colorado avoided elimination for the second straight game with a 2-1 OT win Saturday, and are halfway to becoming just the third team to win a series after starting down 0-3 and first since the NY Islanders in 1975.
Is Sakic on a roll right now or what? He had several chances in this game to score more goals, but Nabokov came up huge. Aebisher wasn't too bad either in allowing a goal. He's allowed just two in his last three games now.
The Good:
The Toronto Maple Leafs are now tied 2-2 against the Philadelphia Flyers following a 3-1 victory yesterday. Great game by Mats Sundin, who still isn't 100 per cent, but managed to score two goals and come a few inches away from a hat trick. I have to say that lately I've been happy with the play of Leafs who dissapoint me during the regular season. Antropov and Belak have been playing strong, and last night Darcy Tucker had a strong game and scored on a nice tip in the third period to put the nail in the coffin on Philly, well in the game, not in the series.
Joe Nieuwendyk, who has missed three straight games with what is believed to be a back problem, participated in an optional skate Saturday morning. It would be great news if he can play Sunday. So far in the this series the home team has won every game and the Leafs need to reverse that.
The Bad:
Steve Yzerman took a puck to the eye, and had to leave the game during Calgary's 1-0 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. Although the fact Calgary won is good for many Canadian fans, the incident brings up the whole debate over whether half face shields should be mandatory or not, something that just takes away from the action on the ice. That's a big time loss for the Red Wings if they lose this guy. No word has been said about the extent of the injury yet.
The Ugly:
American Hockey League forward Alexander Perezhogin has been suspended indefinetely and without pay by the AHL after a stick attack. Perezhogin, a forward for the Hamilton Bulldogs, was given the penalty for attempt to injure when he swung his stick and struck Cleveland Barons defenseman Garrett Stafford in the head during a playoff match on Friday. Stafford was taken to the hospital with a concussion and cuts.
If you ask me, this is at least as bad as the Todd Bertuzzi incident. Using your stick as a weapon can be severe and he's lucky media reports say Stafford has been released. For anyone who pays attention to sports, if you haven't seen this incident yet, you will within a matter of time. The act is already being compared to the McSorley swing on Donald Brashear. It's unfortunate penalties are based on results, which is why Stafford may be off the hook with only a few games. Actually one guy (I don't remember who he was, Cleveland coach maybe) said he should never play hockey in North America again. Perhaps that would be stretching, but the NHL has to find a way to get rid of these acts of violence. Fighting is okay but swinging the stick at an opponents head is bringing on-ice violence to a whole new level.
Somehow the Calgary Flames keep winning, and continue to outwork the Detroit Red Wings. I heard references from two different people, a commentator and Geno Reda of TSN, that the Red Wings think they're the Harlem Globetrotters. Here is one quote I got from the commentator during the third period of Saturday's game, after Pavel Datsyuk 's failed attempt to bounce the puck off the back of the net and bring it in front of Kiprisoff.
"Who does Datsyuk think he is? A Globetrotter? That garbage may work during the regular season but not the playoffs."
Datsyuk hasn't scored a goal in 19 playoff games while Detroit suffered being shutout for the first time in 52 games, or something like that. Should make for an interesting week.
Anyways, My "puck you's" you ask?
Philadelphia at Toronto = Alexander Perezhogin
Calgary at Detroit = Alexander Perezhogin
Colorado at San Jose = Alexander Perezhogin
I'm still asking myself who is this player and where did he come from?
