Monday, May 08, 2006
There is no Ducking Anaheim
More Monday Mumblings...
Should I start taking the Mighty Ducks seriously now? Two straight shutout victories over the Avalanche and, suddenly, they are scaring the crap out of me. Jose Theodore sucking Duck eggs? Not a surprise. Holding the Avalanche to 0 goals in 2 games? Quick a shock. If my crappy prediction doesn’t hold, I’m looking forward to an All-California Western final between two very late-surging squads who were built ‘the right way’.
The Armenians completed their shocking Division III World Championships with a 2-2 record! After securing their first victory, over Ireland, the Armenians narrowly lost to first place Iceland before beating Luxembourg 10-7. After finishing with a combined 142-5 score in 2005, Armenia improved vastly and finished with a +4 differential with a 23:19 margin. We definitely have our winner for most improved team!
The Vancouver Giants are just 2 wins away from the Memorial Cup after a 7-5 goaltenders’ duo on Saturday Night. Gilbert Brule, the next big thing in the NHL (forget Evgeni Malkin, Brule will kick his ass and then some), had 3 goals and 3 assists on the night in his obvious quest to win the Memorial Cup before he loses 50 games a year as Dinner Jacket. The man is POSSESSED! You know Brule is going to be ‘money’ in the NHL with the kind of attitude and work ethic he shows in big games. It’s the same kind of determination you see out of Peter Forsberg when the playoffs begin.
Brule now has 16 goals and 16 playoff games to go with 11 assists. Brule is the ONLY player even in double digits for playoff goals! The second leading scorer is Moose Jaw’s Blair Jones, who has only 21 points in 20 games.
Speaking of Forsberg, as Eric @ OffWing mentions, he’d be proud of this double-twist by Czechia’s Ivo Prorok.
The Czechs have long used the dive as an in-game tactic, and this one was so blatantly obvious that it deserves high marks for entertainment value. The landing sucked, and the crappy (as they usually are) IIHF refs didn’t even give Prorok a penalty. Maybe they were too busy laughing. In any event, the Czechs will continue to dive and flop around as long as the refs call penalties for hooking, holding, etc (they often do) and as long as the Czechs don’t get penalized for trying to induce a false call. They’ve obviously watched a lot of Italian soccer.
Some interest Playoff stats of note:
Mike Grier: 3 goals and 5 assists in 7 games. Somehow, Mr. Stone Hands has managed to put up more points per game than Teemu Selanne, Joe Sakic, Milan Hejduk, and Joe Thornton.
Speaking of Joe Thornton, he’s in real danger of becoming a playoff dud ala Pavel Datsyuk. Dude has only 4 assists and is -2 in 6 games thus far, and his career playoff totals are quite poor.
Regular season totals: 546 points and +56 in 590 games
Playoff totals: 22 points and -12 in 44 games.
Year-by-year...
Joe hasn’t scored a playoff goal since 2003, and he’s been -13 in his last 18 playoff games. That’s just brutal and not what you need out of an ‘elite’ player. For all of the kvetching about Jagr’s ‘heart’, he’s always been quite money in the playoffs. Apart from this season (due to a serious injury), Jagr hadn’t had less than a point-a-game in the playoffs since 1993. The Sharks need Thornton to start lighting it up if they want to go all the way.
Brule now has 16 goals and 16 playoff games to go with 11 assists. Brule is the ONLY player even in double digits for playoff goals! The second leading scorer is Moose Jaw’s Blair Jones, who has only 21 points in 20 games.
Brule > the rest of the WHL.
The Czechs have long used the dive as an in-game tactic, and this one was so blatantly obvious that it deserves high marks for entertainment value. The landing sucked, and the crappy (as they usually are) IIHF refs didn’t even give Prorok a penalty. Maybe they were too busy laughing. In any event, the Czechs will continue to dive and flop around as long as the refs call penalties for hooking, holding, etc (they often do) and as long as the Czechs don’t get penalized for trying to induce a false call. They’ve obviously watched a lot of Italian soccer.
Mike Grier: 3 goals and 5 assists in 7 games. Somehow, Mr. Stone Hands has managed to put up more points per game than Teemu Selanne, Joe Sakic, Milan Hejduk, and Joe Thornton.
Speaking of Joe Thornton, he’s in real danger of becoming a playoff dud ala Pavel Datsyuk. Dude has only 4 assists and is -2 in 6 games thus far, and his career playoff totals are quite poor.
Regular season totals: 546 points and +56 in 590 games
Playoff totals: 22 points and -12 in 44 games.
Year-by-year...
YEAR: GP G A PTS +/-
1997/98 6 0 0 0 even
1998/99 11 3 6 9 +1
2001/02 6 2 4 6 even
2002/03 5 1 2 3 -5
2003/04 7 0 0 0 -6
2005/06 6 0 4 4 -2
Joe hasn’t scored a playoff goal since 2003, and he’s been -13 in his last 18 playoff games. That’s just brutal and not what you need out of an ‘elite’ player. For all of the kvetching about Jagr’s ‘heart’, he’s always been quite money in the playoffs. Apart from this season (due to a serious injury), Jagr hadn’t had less than a point-a-game in the playoffs since 1993. The Sharks need Thornton to start lighting it up if they want to go all the way.
Comments:
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Hopefully, Brule will be centering our #1 line between Nash and Vyborny next season. That will be a fun line to watch. Thanks for keeping me updated on his exploits.
# posted by 
: 10:56 am
: 10:56 am
But do the Sharks need him to do that?
Marleau's lightening it up. As long as Thornton's got everyone focusing on him, Marleau is free to run around and score like crazy - as he's been doing. Having these two guys on the same team isn't really fair - they were #1 and #2 in the same draft. Thornton could remain a "dud" (or also known as the guy who takes all pressure off the captain) and the Sharks could still go all the way, I think.
Plus, having watched yesterday's game, you can't really call him a dud - he created some excellent scoring opportunities (did anyone see that pass to Scott Hannan in the slot?) just was stoned by Roloson. His time will come, but in the meantime, Marleau will keep the Sharks chugging.
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Marleau's lightening it up. As long as Thornton's got everyone focusing on him, Marleau is free to run around and score like crazy - as he's been doing. Having these two guys on the same team isn't really fair - they were #1 and #2 in the same draft. Thornton could remain a "dud" (or also known as the guy who takes all pressure off the captain) and the Sharks could still go all the way, I think.
Plus, having watched yesterday's game, you can't really call him a dud - he created some excellent scoring opportunities (did anyone see that pass to Scott Hannan in the slot?) just was stoned by Roloson. His time will come, but in the meantime, Marleau will keep the Sharks chugging.
# posted by : 12:44 pm
: 12:44 pm 
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